#I don’t really answer these types of questions

[sunnysidesevenup]

SSR - Arlo Wake - Applepom

Vignette - Not Here For You Guys (Part 1)

read fic under the cut!

“So that’s two.” Epel says, looking between the odd collection of NRC students before him. He sighs, “Where are we going to get a third person, though?”

“I find it a bit odd that you haven’t asked your fellow Pomefiore dorm members. Vil and Rook, I understand, but…” Jade tilts his head to the side, indicating one of the tables near them. Epel’s eyes follow his direction, but the minute he spots the person being pointed out, he grimaces.

“That’s not a good choice, either!” He protests, but Jade’s mouth simply curls into a smile.

“Hmm? He seems like a perfectly good candidate to me. Let me go get him.” Before the first year can stop him, the mer is already walking away to retrieve his target.

“I’m not familiar with that one.” Sebek says, scrutinizing the two second years who now seem to be having an argument of some sort. “He doesn’t seem like he’d be any good in an athletic competition.”

Epel groans. “His athletics isn’t the problem!”

“And what exactly is the problem with me?”

“Ack!” The first year startles, looking up to the two mer who have now appeared beside their table. Jade is smiling, but Arlo looks incredibly annoyed—not that that’s much different than usual. He narrows his eyes further as he takes in the group settled around the table.

Well, he’s here already, so it would be fine to at least ask, right?

“Umm, nothing! Actually, we were looking for another person. You see, there’s this sled race in Harveston, and—“

“Oh, that.” The mer interrupts, tilting his head. “I should have realized you were going to that too.”

“Yeah—“. Epel stops, “Wait, too?!”

“Oh my.” Jade’s eyes widen, “This is unexpected. You already know about this?”

“The race truly is that famous and rigorous, then?” Sebek asks excitedly.

Arlo glances at the Diasomnia first year, raising an eyebrow. “Uh, no. I don’t care about things like that.”

“And I suppose it would be wrong of me to hope that you were similarly interested in Mount Moln…” Jade sighs, shaking his head. “I can only dream.”

Arlo turns to the mer, a look of disgust on his face. “What are you talking about?”

“Neither you or Floyd have any taste, of course…”

“Jade, I swear…”

“Wait, wait!” Epel holds up his hands, temporarily interrupting the two childhood friends. “Seriously, what’d ya’ mean ‘too’?!”

Arlo tilts his head, “I was invited to watch the race.” He says simply, as if it answers the question.

“Wh-?! By who?!” Epel suddenly gets a stricken look on his face. “Don’t tell me—“

Much to the Pomefiore student’s horror, his upperclassman’s cheeks flush a bit red, something that only happens with mention of one specific person. “It doesn’t really matter who it was, does it?” He spits back harshly.

“Oh?” Jade perks up, a smirk on his face. “My, I haven’t seen that reaction from you in a very long time. Who might we be talking about?”

Arlo shoots him a glare, “It’s none of your business, you fungi obsessed freak.”

“Your words do hurt, you know.” Jade says, entirely unfazed.

“No way, Neige invited you?” Epel blinks at the mer in shock. “And you’re going? To MY hometown? With HIM?”

Arlo stares back at him, unimpressed. “It’s only polite to accept an invitation when you’re invited.” He says, like a liar.

“Neige…?” Jade tilts his head. “…Neige LeBlanche? The actor?”

“No, the florist.” Arlo rolls his eyes, “Obviously the actor.”

“I was simply surprised, is all.” Jade grins widely at him. “Although, perhaps I shouldn’t be—that was your type, wasn’t it?”

Arlo’s eyes widen, and then his face flushes bright red even as it immediately contorts in anger. “Shut up! I don’t have a type! And even if I did, he’s not—! Ugh! You’re so annoying! This is why Floyd is the better twin. I wish he would’ve eaten you.” He viciously continues insulting his fellow mer, all while Jade grins on victoriously.

Epel just stares on in despair. “So… not only do we still need to find another person, but Arlo will be there? With Neige?” He mentally starts calculating the chances of Arlo telling on him to Vil. Maybe he’ll be too distracted…? Or—

“Jade, I swear to the Great Seven if you say a single word more about this I will make sure to rip off your tail fins and eat them in front of you.” Arlo finishes, threat hissed in a low tone with his finger pointed at the other boy’s chest. It’s rather comical, considering the height difference, if only Arlo didn’t seem serious about it.

“Wh-?!” Sebek splutters from off to the side, having mostly stayed out of it yet maintaining a disappointed look. “Eat them—?!”

Arlo turns his frightening glare onto him next, anger not sparing a single person no matter their involvement. Epel, unfortunately, is used to it.

He sighs, “Uh… so you’ll be going to Harveston tomorrow too, then…?” He asks hesitantly, conscious of making the older boy even angrier.

The mer crosses his arms. “Yes. I suppose we’ll be seeing each other in the morning, then.” He scoffs.

“Right…”

“I’m leaving now.” Arlo announces, and then throws another glare at Jade, who seems to be radiating smug happiness. “Don’t talk to me.” He hisses.

“See you tomorrow.” Jade calls at his retreating back. Arlo makes a rude gesture over his shoulder.

“I see what you were saying now.” Sebek comments. “We’re better off without him on the team.”

“Yeah…” Epel sighs, “We still need a third person, though…”

[seraphinitegames]

The Wayhaven Chronicles—Update 29/Nov/2024

Pressed on with Chapter 6 this week, but then started working on the first of the Winter Scenario Specials for Patreon too!

The four aesthetics that won the poll were pretty perfectly suited to Unit Bravo, and I almost went for the obvious ones to match to each love interest out of habit. But then I decided I wanted to mix it up!

So instead of, like, the cosy book one being for Nate/Nat (my go-to for those kinds of scenes!), I’m planning on having that for Mason/Morgan, etc. Let the love interests shine in different types of scenario environments, hehe! :D

I’m actually loving how these scenarios are turning out, and I already have an idea on how to expand the idea of how they’re written for the Valentine’s scenario specials, lol!

For Chapter 6 this week, it was getting on top of the BFF backstory conversations. As I was writing the choices you could ask your BFF about this moment at the end of the conversation, I realised that—as a player—I would want to know the answer to more than just one of the questions, so I went back and made it so as the choice loops, blanking out the choices you’ve already asked so you can ask more if you want, or have the option to just move on if you don’t.

Book Four is quite a big one for a lot of major information reveals, especially to set up things in the doozy that will be Book Five! But I really want to make sure it’s done in a fun, natural flow, not just always a lore dump!

This weekend and next week, I’ll be finishing up the first of the Winter scenarios before jumping back into Chapter 6—something pretty major happens to the MC next, so looking forward to writing that…hehe! ;D Then it’ll be starting the next Winter scenario and pushing on with the chapter still! I’ve got some major things I want to check off in December, so it’s seriously full steam ahead!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! We’ll be offline as usual, so I’ll update you all again next week!

[earlycuntsets]

"“I CONSIDERED MYSELF TO BE MORE OF A GIRL”

A CONVERSATION WITH GERARD WAY from theboyzine.com 1/18/2015

"Gerard way is the renaissance-type singer songwriter // Goth prince frontman // comic book artist // proud father best known for both his solo music and his band My Chemical Romance. We got a chance to ask him a few questions in early January. Enjoy!

What is your favorite animal?

I would have to say an ape; for a long time I didn’t take the time to know the difference between primates, but my wife and I have been really into animals—apes are just very gentle creatures.

As an emotional professional, how do you feel when people tell you to man up?

You know, growing up as a boy you are always told not to show your emotions, that it is a sign of weakness. I have been lucky enough to lead a life where I can celebrate how I really feel—but there is still negative attention towards it and it is still considered weakness.

Is there a point, then, where one does need to (for lack of a better word) man up?

You know I really don’t like that phrase. “man up”, because it implies that emotional strength in rough times is a masculine trait, when in reality some of the strongest people I know are women. But yes, there are a lot of times when you should control your emotions–  times of crisis and need where you really can’t let them get involved. I have learned to pull my emotions out of a lot of big decisions.

You often make it a point to spread the message of gender equality in your shows. Could you describe that a little bit?

It is something I have been lucky enough to be educated about. I generally try to pay attention to it, make sure I get my facts from the best sources and whatnot, and I really relate to it. I never really subscribed to the archetype masculinity growing up, I had no interest in sports or anything like that. There was a time where I was called a girl so often that when I discovered the idea of transgenderism I considered myself to be more of a girl. So I identify with trans people and women a lot because I was a girl to a lot of people growing up. When I was doing MCR I think I finally got to display my femininity through the glam theatrical aspects of the band. It made me feel more hopeful, that I was allowed to be flamboyant. I want to make sure women and men and everyone in between feel safe and empowered.

Was there a person or thing that first sparked your interest in feminism?

When I was around 16 I became friends with these really cool girls, and that’s how I got exposed to Bikini Kill, Helium, Bratmobile—that was the real punk. All the other hardcore scenes at the time were a little bit hypermasculine and violent, which was totally unappealing to me. But here are these bands—Bikini Kill, et cetera that were actually talking about important things. That was real punk. Great bands.

What sort of advice can you offer to all of us boyz reading?

You have to surround yourself with ‘the others’. Whether they’re the creatives that you know or whatever it is. Because you guys will feed each other, that’s the nature of people. Find companions who will push you in the field you are in.

Do you hang onto traces of boyishness? Comics and digging up worms?

Well first off I don’t consider those things boyish. I am really happy that things like comics have become less marketed specifically toward boys—did you know that 50 percent of comic book readers are girls now? There is a really great picture I saw one time of a little girl with all the spiderman toys in a toy store clearly angry that they were in the ‘boys’ section. We need to let kids have more freedom of choice in who they want to be.

But answering your question, I have always been super into comic books. I didn’t really ever like sports, so I played dungeons and dragons a lot. That was a really important creative outlet for me. Of course I still love Star wars, and biking.

How do you find ways to stay positive?

Society is so interconnected these days, there is so much noise. It is really important I think to turn the noise down, to find ways to do so. Whether you’re in a creative field or not, you need to find a way to follow what is in your gut because that noise that is so obstructive is   creeping. Think about the art you make, the people you love.

My routine is really simple but important to me. I wake up every morning and my wife and I get our daughter ready for school and I drive her there. And that’s when work begins for me. I am lucky that one day I can be recording a new song and the next I am putting all of my energy into a comic.

Do you consider your marriage to be a partnership?

I am very glad you asked. I consider my whole family dynamic a three way partnership actually. My wife and I have been partners since day one, and now our daughter is the newest addition to the mix. Of course we have different duties to each other—my wife and my job is to educate my daughter  and make her feel great and teach her how to work hard, to let her choose what she loves. That’s very important to us. It is great coming home from the road because Lindsay (my wife) and I get to work together more.

Thank you so much for doing this interview, is there anything we haven’t touched that you want to say?

Don’t chase your dreams, let your dreams chase you

[jaggedamethyst]

…look for the light

joel miller x f!reader | 2.7k

pairing: joel miller (tlou) x fem reader

content: you're tired of hearing that old slogan from the fireflies...but maybe you should give it a chance.

notes: 18+ minors dni, eventual smut for the girlies (smfh + side eye) also unprotected in the heat of the moment unfortunately…dont be like them! angst because it's my specialty, mental health depictions (illusions to death, depression, etc. do not read if that's a serious trigger) this takes place in the time jump between tlou 1 and tlou 2…tons of existential crisis otw, grief, everything unfortunately…and i still don’t believe in proofreading

also this is the longest i've written so far...of course it involves joel too...hashtag need that.

 ࿐ ࿔*:·ﾟ🍂🌿༄。°          ° 。༄🌿🍂·ﾟ*࿔ ࿐

You hadn’t arrived in Jackson on your own. At the time, you were one of a family of four. As time passed, the number dwindled along with your will to live. Back when everything was normal--or as normal as it could’ve been in a world that corrupt, you saw a therapist. You knew it was in their career description to listen. It helped sometimes, others it didn’t. Overall, though, you’d say they’d done a shit job if at the first sign of loss, you wanted to cease to exist. 

When you weren’t overthinking, you found yourself on patrol. It became ironic that you rejoiced at the sight of a fresh dead body. Knowing that the person before you had made a mistake you could now avoid lit a small fire in you. The flame didn’t last long though, quickly blown out every day with a speed just as fast as its ignition. 

To be candid, there was this guy. Well, this man. You couldn’t do him the injustice of calling him anything but a man. You saw him often--sometimes to himself, others with this girl. No matter the circumstance, though, he rarely spoke. You liked that. Something about people who acknowledged their capability to not speak made you extremely happy. Silence is a valid option. 

As an observer, you learned his name was Joel, the girl Ellie. They’d arrived about the same time as you, which explained the lack of interaction. This was, of course, aside from glances, the fake half-ass smiles you exchanged, and your time on patrol together. 

Unfortunately, he was the worst. It absolutely burned you up. That, and the fact that even when he annoyed you, you wanted to have extremely private time with him. 

The first time you actually spoke, he’d found you by a stream. You didn’t know he was showing the girl, Ellie, something that day. But as you lay with your eyes closed, taking in the sunlight--a shadow cascaded over you. 

You opened one eye to see who’d stepped in the way. Before you could get a word out, he spoke, “You from Jackson?”

“Who’s asking?” You created a sort of visor over your eyes with your hand. 

He huffed, “someone from Jackson.” 

Resuming your position on the ground, you spoke, “You some sort of Jackson cop? You seem like the cop type.” 

He scoffed. You realized he did that a lot, not speaking, making annoyed sounds. Not answering questions directly. 

“You should get back.” 

With a quirked brow, you replied, “I’m good, thanks.” 

“Wasn’t really a question.”

“Didn’t say it was.” 

By this point you’d opened your eyes again, surveying the man. You kind of felt bad for being snippy but honestly, he interrupted your “alone with my thoughts” time. Some people can cope without thinking of the same incidents in a constant loop. Not you--you liked the hurt. It reminded you to be safe. To not trust people. 

Even in that position, though, you observed the man. He looked rough, but in a way that motioned toward experience. There were hints of gray in his hair, yet he didn’t look old. His shirt was slightly opened, tattered. The sheen of sweat covering him made him all the more alluring in the sunlight. 

“Are you gonna get the hell up and get a move on or what?” 

You didn’t know him at the time, or that he was trying to surprise Ellie on her birthday. Even worse, that on this day, he’d thought of his daughter. He was coping. Anyone or anything out of place was shattering the amazing plan he had made to go a day without feeling like a disappointment. 

He didn’t know that your “alone with my thoughts” time often consisted of thinking of your family. You’d willed yourself to shut your eyes tight, picturing those you lost; it was the only time you could see them. If you got lucky, you could dream of them. If you were unlucky, you’d see images of their mangled bodies. 

It seemed that even awake, your luck was the fucking worst. 

With swift and silent movements, you stood and turned to leave. Avoiding eye contact was the only way to hide the tears prickling in your eyes. 

“Dude,” a young voice called out, “you hurt her feelings!”

“Fuck, I didn’t mean to, Ellie!” 

Like you said, he was the worst. But you definitely took it to the next level at every opportunity. 

That’s how you found yourself on patrol with Joel giving him the silent treatment. It was customary at this point. If you two went alone, he would bark out orders, you’d follow if you felt like it. If someone else happened to be there, you two would rely on an unspoken rule to only speak to them and not one another. It worked…until today. 

Entrapment wasn’t a new feeling for you. Often on patrol specifically, you would have to maneuver your way out of dangerous positions to return. But the realization of there being nobody to return to hit you today. So even when Joel and Jesse said to stay back, you proceeded. It was a miracle none of you three were bitten or worse. Your reckless act left the trek back to Jackson completely silent. 

When you reached the gate safely, Jesse spoke first. It was obvious he was shaken up but even more annoyed with you. “Kinda fucked up you did that. Did you even consider that you would put me and Joel in danger?” 

“Nobody told you to follow me, to be honest.” 

“I don’t give a fuck! When we leave, we work together… or we don’t go.” 

Joel shook his head silently, observing the way Jesse continued to rip into you. You continued the back and forth until Jesse hit extremely low. 

“Look, I know you lost people…I remember them-”

You spoke over him, a finger out in warning, “Don’t-” 

“And just because you feel like there is no worth left in your sorry ass life, doesn’t mean I wanna die right now. Not for you. Not on a stupid patrol mission.” 

It felt like he punched you. Square in the face. The way your breath left you was unlike anything you’d ever experienced. Not since the day you realized your entire family was gone. As a result of that day, you grew accustomed to silent walks back to your house. You got used to the sounds your house made between the silence. 

You didn’t hear Joel’s faint footsteps and persistent calls to you as he followed behind. It wasn’t until the unusual sound of your door not immediately closing behind you that you turned around to see him there. 

“You didn’t even stop him, you just stood there like you always do!”

His signature sigh and no response. Just a sort of expectant look on his face. 

“Get. Out. Please.” 

You begged him to leave, your voice breaking. It was somewhere in the midst of you slowly falling toward the floor that he reached you. He knew what you were experiencing right now. The dull panging in your body, a faint scream at you, and a feeling that of anyone it should’ve been you to go, not your family. 

He didn’t want to admit that he recognized the bubble of sadness around you, as he’d be forced to acknowledge his own. The least he could do was to comfort you in a way he had yearned for when he lost Sarah. When he lost Tess. When he thought Tommy was gone. But he failed, as he always did, crying with you. 

He urged you to quiet your sobs, “It’s okay, shhh.” 

His attempts at soothing you were a sort of reassurance to himself--that it was okay. It could be okay. He eventually grasped your face, too, forcing you to look at him. He wanted you to believe him, despite the lack of conviction in his voice. The eye contact shocked you both. You had never seen the man cry let alone been this close to him. From a distance, it's easy to think that any dark-colored eye is just black but his…

“Brown…” You mumbled incoherently. 

“What?”

“Your eyes. I’ve never really looked at ‘em.” 

He was confused, “yeah, brown.” 

“It's just that, it's easy to overlook things…” when you’re so stuck in the past, you wanted to say. But you left it. You had a feeling he understood. 

It was hard to not lean into his touch, even harder to not want to be near him. He noticed you staring, but there was still so much left unsaid. Thinking about it, he never really allowed himself to carry out a conversation with you. But there was an unspoken attraction between you. It was easy to minimize said attraction to one where you needed each other. It was suffice to say that it was more tantamount to the way particles were reliant on one another. Even more, the way symbiosis occurred. Despite the urge to push one another away, you knew that you did, in fact, need each other. 

If not for a long time, at least for now. 

Without a word, you pushed up a bit, meeting your lips with his. He was obviously taken aback; there was so much behind the kiss…but he couldn’t bring himself to care. 

You pulled at his shirt, that damned shirt he always liked to wear. Always opened slightly, but never enough to give you what you needed.

“Can I?” You broke the kiss and motioned toward the buttons, breaking eye contact for a second. 

Joel let out a characteristic sound, affirming you, “Mhm, yeah…” 

You moved your hands lower, stopping at the close of his top. “Are you sure?” 

The man understood you. The shirt acted as a sort of metaphorical barrier between the two of you. As much as it scared the both of you to cross that line, there was an unspoken respect for one another. 

He noticed your apprehension, bearing the task of taking down that wall for you both. 

Joel unbuttoned his shirt, slowly, intentional in his action. 

He watched you shiver, “I haven’t…I want…I mean-” 

That same alluring stare maintained its gaze at you, Joel allowing you the time to process and say what you wanted to. 

“I want to feel…be close to you. Not because I want to use you or something…I just,” You searched for words that seemed to escape you. 

His words interrupted your thought process, a gentle but calloused hand returning to your face. 

“You don’t have to have a reason. Use me.” 

That was enough to make you attack him full force. You’d thought of each other so long that there was an urgency. There wasn’t time for niceties or the pleasantries of preparing yourself for him. You just wanted each other immediately. 

The trail of clothing that led to your room was something out of one of those old movies you watched. Before everything went to shit. You allowed yourself a smirk at the thought--Joel hot on your trail. 

Joel observed how clean your place was. He was one to keep tidy, too. Not for the thought of expecting someone, but for lack of people except him. There were few things he held near and dear, so a large space like his home was often unused save for his bed and couch. It seemed you echoed this thought, and that made him even more eager. Knowing you had so much in common made him insatiable.

You found yourselves kissing again, seeking comfort in each other. It was sweet and slow. You couldn’t handle it, the lack of him. 

“Joel, please,” you backed towards the bed. Now fully available for him. With you demanding everything be so structured to protect yourself these days, you were willing to let go for once. 

He didn’t say anything, he never did. But the way he hovered over you, maintained eye contact and pushed into you said enough. 

His pace was somewhere between painfully slow and slower. He felt your wetness, the way you were ready for him already, and it made him harder. He knew he wouldn’t last long if he went any faster. 

You reached up, pushing the hair out of his face. It was a distraction from how good it felt, even the purposely slow pressure, but you wanted more. 

You bucked up into him. He hissed and grunted in your ear, that’s new. 

The southern drawl was even more apparent on the man. “Shit. I’m tryin’ to…make it last,” his head met your shoulder, breath against your skin. “Cant.” 

“Don’t.” 

You couldn’t see his face, but you figured a look of surprise flashed there. It only took a second for him to pick up the pace. Those grunts filled the room; his wordless communication was now music to your ears. 

You continued that way for not much longer--but the high was unlike any other. He reached down to rub between you, making sure you’d finish. The thought of him caring about you in that way and the pointed pressure of his strong hands doing so was enough to make your body pulse against him. 

He pushed you back down, keeping you still, “Don’t move, baby.” 

It was a lot. 

His movements became even more erratic, but it felt so damn good. 

“Where should I?” 

You arched a brow, “You want a little Joel running around here somewhere?” 

He chuckled, so sweetly, too. Fuck. 

“Wow, even full like this you still got a mouth on ya. I’m gonna work on that.” 

He pulled out suddenly, and before you could even complain, latched his mouth onto you until he finished and your voice went dry from calling out his name. 

Okay…

The usual urge to freshen up never came. The smell of Joel was all over you, and you liked it that way. You breathed in and out, processing what happened, fighting to stay awake. The sound of the man’s snores was enough to keep you awake in itself. 

It wasn’t until you heard the snores stop and Joel stirring that you spoke again.

“I’m sorry.” 

Joel turned his head toward you, clearly still half asleep, “For?” 

“For that day, in the woods, when we first met. I was mean.” 

“I understand. A random guy shows up asking questions. You get defensive. It happens to the best of ‘em.” 

There was silence. One long enough that Joel sat up to get out of bed--you stopped him when you spoke. 

“I was thinking of my family,” a pause, and with it, your eyes burned a bit. “I don’t know why I act the way I do. I don’t know why I’m… harsh. Part of me thinks it's because they are always looking at who I have become and are so disappointed. The other part of me thinks that they don’t see me at all…or that they can’t…that there’s nothing more after this. I dunno which feels worse but I know it drives me fucking crazy.” 

He silently reached for your hand, deliberate in his response. “I like to think that the big moments we share with the people we lose are more important than anything after.” He nodded, assuring himself before continuing. “Good or bad, their memory only survives as long as we are thinking of them.” He paused to look toward his wrist, almost out of muscle memory. “Our families may not be here, but even mentioning them proves that they were real. I know my baby girl was real, I can’t fail her by going on like she wasn’t.” He inched closer to you, “If it takes me being sad to know that there was someone I loved here before, I’ll stomach it any day.” 

You nodded slightly. 

“Thanks.” 

A hum resonated from him, and he made his way out of your house. He was elusive as always, and definitely just as attractive..if not more so now. But his words stuck with you. 

That stupid catchphrase from the Fireflies…you’d heard it often. The aftershocks of the group persisted even after they’d slowly dwindled in numbers. When you’re lost in the darkness…

Wiping your eyes, you pulled the covers back a bit more. A lot of time had passed, but for the first time in a while, you didn’t feel like it was ripped from you. 

After a few minutes, the Sun started to rise, heat emanating from your window. You felt the warmth slowly reach your face--closing your eyes. 

For once, you’d look forward to sleep, and even more, the possibility of dreaming.

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Monster Hunters

Summary: Relativity/Reunion Falls, Stan realizes he and Ford have some common interests.

Masterlist

...

“Stanley?”

Despite the low volume, the fear in Ford’s voice wakes Stan up, and he jerks upright, finding him standing right at the edge of his bed.

“What?  What time is it?” Stan asks, rubbing at his eyes.  It’s light outside, but seems to be only just.

“It’s 6AM,” Ford whispers.

“And you’re awake, why?” Stan asks.

“Well— I was downstairs trying to make Grauntie Mabel some breakfast as a surprise, and— and Jeff broke in and stole her edible glitter!”

Stan snorts.  “Oh.  Yeah, he does that.  Don’t worry about it,” he says.  He moves to lay back down on the bed, but Ford grabs his arm and pulls him back up.

“You don’t understand,” he whispers.  “Grauntie Mabel was so mad at him when it happened last time!  What if she finds out it happened under my watch?”

“Uh… I don’t know how to answer that question.  She’ll buy some more edible glitter?”

“But what if she’s mad?”

“Grauntie Mabel?  You’re kidding, right?”

“We have to get it back!” Ford says.

“Woah, okay, calm down,” Stan says, holding his hands out.  And despite the fact that he really thinks Ford is making a big deal out of nothing, he looks desperate enough that after a second Stan sighs and pulls his covers back.  “Okay, let’s go find it.”

Such obvious relief enters Ford’s eyes that it makes Stan a little worried for a second, but Ford’s running across the room and grabbing his shoes before he can ask about it.

Stan groans and reaches down to fumble for his shoes.  It seems to take him a lot longer than Ford wants, judging by the way he stands nervously in front of Stan fidgeting with his gloves for the last half a minute of Stan putting his shoes on, but they get there.  Ford hurries them both downstairs and outside after that, and then starts dragging Stan off towards where he says he saw the gnome go.

Stan has more than a little experience tracking gnomes, but he doesn’t tend to do it at 6-in-the-damn-morning times, and he’s pretty sure this shows over the next half hour or so, because he’s barely awake stumbling after Ford.  He does manage to shake some awareness into his brain eventually, though, and finds that Ford seems to be doing an alright job tracking Jeff on his own— at least, if that tiny trail of glitter is anything to go by.

“Hey, when did you…” Stan yawns.  “Learn how to do this?”

“I observed the gnomes in their natural environment after Jeff stole the glitter the first time.”

“You… huh?”

“I snuck out to spy on them.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes?  How else was I supposed to learn anything?”

“I dunno, just didn’t take you for the type,” Stan mutters, trailing his eyes over the glitter on the tree to their left.  “You’re a nerdy book kid, aren’t ya?  I’m friends with one, they don’t tend to sneak out to spy on monsters.”

“Well, it sounds they’re missing valuable data then,” Ford says.  He stops.  “The trail’s gone.  Where did you see it last?”

Stan yawns again and points a thumb at the tree behind them.  Ford looks back at it too, then runs towards it.

Stan follows just in time to see Ford run his fingers over the glitter and mutter, “That’s odd.”

“What’s odd?” Stan asks.  He leans back against the tree, only to immediately lean forward again when he hears an audible clang.

There’s a loud familiar shout from what sounds like inside the tree.

“Jeff!” Stan snaps.  “I know you’re— in there?  Where are you?”

“Nowhere!” comes Jeff’s very recognizable voice.

Stan and Ford exchange a deadpan look, and then Stan runs his hand along the tree.  When his hand slips over a gap that shouldn’t be there, he pulls, and a section of metal tree opens to reveal Jeff, sitting on top of a weird metal box and holding the jar of edible glitter close to his chest.

“Ah!  I’m not here!” he yells, and starts to leap away.  But Stan has tangled with far too many gnomes in his life, and reaches out and catches Jeff by the scruff of the neck.

Ford gives him a grateful grin and grabs the glitter from Jeff, who cries out in despair and continues to squirm towards it.

“Give it back!  That blue bake off ribbon will be mine!”

Stan grins at Ford.  “You want to do the honors?” he asks.

Ford blinks.  “What?”

“Nah?  Next time then,” Stan says, and before Jeff can call for help, Stan drop kicks him hard into the woods.

Ford barks out a laugh and puts his hands over his mouth.  Stan grins at him for a second before turning back to the opening in the tree.

“Now what the heck is this?” he asks, gesturing at the metal science-looking box.

“You don’t know?” Ford asks, stepping forward next to him.

“Nope.  I’ve never seen this thing before.  What do you think it does?”

Ford shrugs.  “Only one way to find out.”  He reaches forward and flicks both of the switches on top.  As soon as he flicks the second one, though, there’s a loud whirring, and both of them turn to see a different patch of ground open up.

They turn to each other for a moment with an excited grin, and then rush forward to peer down into the hole to find—

“A book?” Stan groans.

“An old book!” Ford exclaims, sounding ecstatic.  He bends down and pulls it out, then blows the dust off the cover.

The book sure does look old, alright.  It’s torn and the blue cover is faded.  On the front is a golden pine tree with the number 3 on it, but it’s started to chip off at the edges.

Stan kneels down next to Ford as he pulls it open, because he’s admittedly a little curious, even if a book is a lame prize for the end of a gnome hunt.

“‘It’s hard to believe it’s been six years since I began studying the strange and wondrous secrets of Gravity Falls, Oregon,’” Ford reads from the first page.

“Wait, what?” Stan asks, leaning closer.  Ford turns the page, and to Stan’s shock, reveals pages on eye bats, gnomes, and all kinds of other monsters, some of which Stan had seen and fought, and some of which he hadn’t.

“It’s like, notes on everything weird Grauntie Mabel said I’d find in the town,” Ford breathes.

“Woah,” Stan breathes.  “That’s so—”

“Cool!” he and Ford both say at the same time.

Stan turns to him in surprise.  “Wait, really?”

“Yeah!” Ford exclaims, turning to him with a huge grin.  “I’ve been wondering if anyone else has ever wanted to study the monsters around here!  This is awesome, I can have other observations to compare my own with!”

“Your own?” Stan asks, eyes widening.  “Like, you’ve been looking for monsters on purpose?”

“Duh!  Are you kidding, I’ve never seen this much weird stuff in one place before, it’s amazing!  I feel like I finally fit in somewhere!  I’ve been meaning to ask you if you had a guide of some kind, just cause Maria told me I shouldn’t really go looking for monsters without any kind of background knowledge, but now this can—”

“Dude,” Stan grabs Ford by the shoulders and shakes him back and forth a couple times.  “Ford.  Dude.  Bro.  You have to tell me these things!”

“What?  What do you mean?”

“Dude, I’ve been looking for monsters since I was a little kid!” Stan says, bouncing a bit on his feet.  “I thought you were a boring nerd who wouldn’t want to go anywhere near them at first, and you know, then I didn’t want to freak you out!  You’re telling me we could have been going on sick monster hunts together this whole time?”

“You… you want to find monsters together?” Ford asks, looking like Stan’s just presented him the meaning to life on a silver platter.

“I’ve been looking for someone who wants to find the Gremloblin with me all summer!” Stan exclaims, throwing his hands out in excitement.  “You want to go find a monster that shows people their worst fears with me?”

“That. Sounds. Amazing!” Ford cries, leaning right into Stan’s face with a huge grin.  “When do we go, where is it?”

“Breakfast first!” Stan calls happily, grabbing Ford’s arm to start pulling them both back towards the house, after giving Ford just enough time to tuck the journal into his jacket.  “Trust me, you do not want to monster hunt on an empty stomach.  Oh this is gonna be the coolest!”

That plan is put on pause as soon as they both get back, however, and find Grauntie Mabel sitting on the porch looking very unhappy with them.

Oh.  Right.

“Hi there,” she says, crossing her arms.  “Do you want to explain why you two snuck out of the house before I was even awake?”

“Uh,” Ford says, with obvious fear in his voice.

And really, he’s overreacting a bit, and that’s not gonna do.  If they’re gonna start going on monster hunts together, Ford needs to know he can go to Grauntie Mabel if they get in over their head.

So, Stan takes a step forward and says, “I saw your edible glitter get stolen, Grauntie Mabel,” gesturing at the glitter Ford’s still got clutched in his hand.  “I wanted to show Ford how monster hunts go around here, cause he said he wants to do some with me!  Isn’t that cool?  I thought gnomes would be a good first option, but I kinda forgot to let you know.  Sorry.”

Grauntie Mabel sighs, but seems considerably less irritated, which thankfully makes Ford seem considerably less scared.  “Alright, but let me know next time, you hear?  I need to know if you two are in danger and I need to come save your butts.”

“Will do, sorry Grauntie Mabel!” Stan calls.  He lets Ford give her the glitter back, which Grauntie Mabel gives him a grateful smile for, and then grabs his arm again to pull them both up to the attic.

“Dude, you seriously need to chill around Grauntie Mabel,” he says, turning to Ford as soon as they get there.  Ford blinks at him.  “She’s not gonna get mad at you for stupid little stuff.  And we’re gonna need her help sometimes if we get into trouble.”

“What do you mean?” Ford asks, looking baffled at the idea.  “Parents aren’t for helping you out of trouble, they’re for yelling at you if you get caught doing something you’re not supposed to.”

Stan wrinkles his nose.  “Ugh.  Well, good thing she’s a Grauntie, then.  Because that’s not what Graunties are for.  I can always count on her if I need help.  And she like, seriously loves you, which means you definitely can too.”

Ford still doesn’t seem to know what to do with that.  “I… that’s weird.”

“Yeah, but weird is cool, remember?” Stan says, grinning at him.  “That’s what the gloves mean.”

Ford looks down at his gloves and flexes his fingers a couple times.  Then, after a second, he starts to smile, and looks back up at Stan.  “Okay,” he says.  “If you say so.”

“I totally do.  Now come on.  Let’s go convince Grauntie Mabel to add edible glitter to our breakfast!  We earned it after getting it back for her.”

He turns to start for the kitchen, only for Ford to stop him by grabbing his arm.

“Hey, uh, thanks,” he says, and Stan turns back around.  “You know, for getting up and doing all this with me when you didn’t have to.  I’ve never had a partner in crime before.”

“Ooh, partner in crime, I like the sound of that,” Stan says with a grin.  He holds his hand up to Ford.  “High six?”

Ford grins back and smacks his hand.  “High six.”

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  @alwaysurvalentine! alwaysurvalentine has 11 fics in the Stranger Things fandom on AO3 and all of them are in the Steddie tag!

@dame-zoom-a-lot recommends the following works by @alwaysurvalentine:

bad days were meant to be shared

three strikes and you're out!

aquariums and sweethearts

"If I had to put an image to their fics… I'd say a warm blanket and a piece of cake.

Their slices of life fics get cooked with so much care and thought. A lot of them are my go-to when I'm feeling kind of off or lonely. They approach conflict with so much empathy and realism. No one's just shitty out of the blue with zero reason, and characters talk things out in a way that feels like how real people would talk. There's rarely clear villains or clean-cut forever happy-ending type resolutions in real life, and their fics shine at showing the beauty of that." -- @dame-zoom-a-lot

Below the cut, @alwaysurvalentine answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

Honestly, I just really vibe with both of them as characters. It’s easy to draw some of my own parallels with how Eddie sees the world and Steve’s fall from grace within my personal life - so it’s nice to play around with characters who I can understand. Plus I love taking the “protectors” from the narrative and forcing them to allow others to care for them.

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I’m a sucker for any type of soulmate au, the ones with soulmarks are my guilty pleasures. Just something about knowing there’s someone out there destined to care about you makes me feel all warm and fuzzy

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

Anything slice of life or found family - I just love getting to give characters all the love and care they deserve. Especially when canon has put them through the ringer!!

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

With no cross to bear (these words just come out) by hitlikehammers https://archiveofourown.org/works/45052120/chapters/113340064 I come back to this fic again and again. Love their Eddie POV and all of the reactions from the party feel authentic and I just love a fic that really shows how much everyone cares about Steve (even if he doesn’t see it).

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

I’ve had a big idea about a possession type fic starring Eddie. It’s gonna be a big project though so it may be workshopped and shelved for another time while I work on some other stuff!

What is your writing process like?

Music is my biggest inspiration and I listen to Spotify all of the time (my spotify wrapped is about to be WILD), but usually I’ll get a spark of an idea from a song, scribble down a quick interaction I can see, and then once I get home it’s getting it all out on a doc. It usually takes me a few days to a week for me to get a fic where I want it, especially when the characters take things into their own hands for the narrative (I’m looking at Eddie and Robin here)

Do you have any writing quirks?

I actually write everything in red text until I decide I like the section. I have so many documents that have different colored text based on how I feel about it. Black means it’s ready to be proofread/don’t change, purple or blue for things I want to rewrite, and then red for what I’ve gotten down but isn’t edited/reviewed yet. Besides that I also go in thinking I’m going to keep it short and sweet and then I blink and we’re 2k in - but it’s been fun nonetheless!

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

If I’m doing a prompt challenge usually it’s as soon as I’m done (totally not because I finish the day of…totally not that) but other than that I have a personal schedule to have certain things done by, otherwise I’ll nitpick forever.

Which fic are you most proud of?

Three Strikes and You’re Out! It was super fun to play around with connecting baseball terms to DnD in a way that still made sense and wasn’t just a block of info text.

How did you get the idea for aquariums and sweethearts?

It was actually a little followup I did for another fic, where Eddie visited the aquarium with Uncle Wayne but wasn’t able to get the souvenir he wanted. And I wanted Steve to kinda complete that circle, plus I wanted them to have a moment where they could kinda be kids again.

When writing aquariums and sweethearts, what was something you didn’t expect?

I honestly didn’t expect it to be so long, I was just going to write a tiny follow up but got carried away with my own aquarium memories and research so I just kept wanting to add more and more

What inspired three strikes and you're out!?

I feel like I’ve seen a lot of fics where Steve meets Eddie halfway with his interests and I wanted to see the opposite. Like it’s one thing for Eddie to concede that being a jock isn’t so bad, but it’s another for him to go out and learn about a sport/something that doesn’t interest him at all, ya know?

What was your favorite part to write from three strikes and you're out!?

Oooh! Such a hard question, for me it’s a tie between the conversation Eddie has with Lucas and his conversation with Uncle Wayne. I just liked putting Eddie in a situation where he was the one learning, instead of being the one in charge/control.

How do/did you feel writing bad days were meant to be shared?

It was a little hard starting out, I knew a couple things I wanted to happen but besides that I really went in kinda blind. Once I got into the groove though, it felt like it just wrote itself. Steve knew what he was feeling and just guided me along.

What was the most difficult part of writing bad days were meant to be shared?

So fun fact, I actually wrote the first draft completely from Eddie's point of view. I was trying to find his voice (still feel like I’m working on this but progress is progress) but it just wasn’t flowing right and Dame-Zoom-A-Lot actually helped beta for me. They’re the one who suggested the point of view switch and it worked so well!!

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

A favorite scene I’ve written has to be in aquariums and sweethearts when Eddie and the Mime gang up on Steve to poke fun at him, it just felt like something Eddie would play along with and enjoy.  These couple of lines from Three Strikes and You’re Out! Make me really happy, like sent my friends a dorky screenshot because I liked them so much: “Eddie’s world narrows to the smell of Steve’s cologne, something that smells like rain on freshly cut grass and a hint of vanilla. Just as soon as Steve leaned in, he leans away, the sun painting orange and pink highlights in his hair when he tilts his head grinning.”

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

I’m working on a Steve Harrington ‘character study’ from Hopper’s point of view currently and might be starting on an Anastasia AU starring Chrissy as Anya and Robin as Dimitri - super stoked for both of these!

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

Endless thanks to my nominator!! I just started posting for Steddie this August and it’s been unreal. So thankful for all of my new friends and can’t wait to share some more of my little ideas and chat with other people about their art and stories! <3

Thank you to our author, @alwaysurvalentine, and our nominator, @dame-zoom-a-lot ! See more of alwaysurvalentine's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[lizaisdrawing]

Lwk I want to see Wallace reaction on a date

Coffee and art

POV: 😴

[sevenines]

i saw this tweet and found it interesting for two reasons. one is that some people base how good cartoon network would be to toh by how it treated su, and despite the fact that su’s treatment by the network was considered poor at the time, now its thought to be exceptionally good in comparison to modern shows.

two is how exactly su got impacted by a limited budget. a common criticism is how characters like connie, peridot, and lapis are left out of missions. but balancing a lot of characters is not only hard but also costly (extra animation, extra voices—it’s been revealed that the show is limited to a set number of characters per episode otherwise they’re over budget). animation mistakes are not uncommon since retakes cost extra. the entire reason the original show got cut short was due to loss of funding!

[ennard-is-near]

As a fnaf movie enjoyer I would be so down to hear your thoughts on it! Like genuinely curious. I like hearing people's other perspectives

Of course! I probably should have clarified anyway. Just know that everything I say is lighthearted. I’m not mad at anyone who likes the movie, I think there’s some stuff about it that is fun, it just really didn’t do it for me personally. This is going to be a long one, so I’m sorry about that. Thank you for the ask!

Of course there are positives:

It looks great! The pizzeria, the animatronics, the sets and actors. Everything is really well done on a technical level. This extends to the casting being incredible. Matthew Lillard was a perfect choice for William Afton, he does insane guy pretending to be regular very well. Josh Hutcherson, Piper Rubio, Elizabeth Lail, the guy who played Doug, MATPAT??? All slay so hard. Everything like that about the movie is good.

Mike and Abby have a cute relationship. All the family stuff is actually really well done. I think it was a weird addition (I’ll touch on this later) but as it is it’s a well done part of the movie.

The little fan service bits are super fun. I shat my pants when Sparky the Dog came onscreen. That one guy being named Carl and getting his face eaten by the cupcake, the use of The Living Tombstone’s song at the end, MatPat. All these moments are great.

Dumb fun. I mean, it’s the FNaF movie. They build a fort! Freddy Fazbear is there! William Afton is there (sort of…)! Vanessa throws Mike’s Xanax or whatever into a lake! That’s hilarious! I enjoy the movie in this regard. As a FNaF fan who is occasionally willing to overlook everything I find disappointing about the movie, it’s fun.

However, it’s still not really a good movie.

I think this movie was pitched as being “For the fans” but aside from the little moments, like the ones I mentioned earlier, it isn’t really that. And it’s not clear enough for someone who has no idea what FNaF is to follow (that’s why critics were so confused). I don’t know how to Segway this into the next topic so here’s a few things that really bugged me from a fan perspective. 

The Aftons are not prominent or interesting at all. This should have been a slam dunk and it wasn’t. I might get in trouble for talking too much shit about Vanessa because people tend to love her for some reason, but she’s so boring. She doesn’t have that much personality or clear motivation and only shows up to deliver exposition or get stabbed. She has a lot of potential, maybe I could over analyze her potential one day, but as she stands she is not interesting. And don’t even get me started on William. He’s in like two scenes, doesn’t have any clear motivation at all and then just shows up at the end to get springlocked. I want to see him!!! Lemme see William! Why isn’t he more of a constant threat throughout the movie? Instead there’s a random child custody based subplot and the antagonist for most of the movie is some random character they made up and not William fucking Afton?? What’s his deal? It’s obviously not remnant because that doesn’t make sense based off his actions in the movie. I think they should have spent more time clarifying the motives for the movie Aftons, because as they stand they are completely different characters from their game counterparts (which is fine) but with no known motivations or personalities. Like you can’t expect me to apply their game motivations to this movie when they’re clearly super different.

The pizzeria isn’t prominent enough either. Mike doesn’t enough know what Freddy’s is despite probably being a child in the 80s. Garrett is kidnapped in the woods (Why did William Afton do that?) Mike spends more time zonked out and dreaming about Nebraska than he does thinking about Freddy Fazbear. It’s a bummer because it’s such a cool location, but the climax could have taken place almost anywhere and would have had the same effect with how few shits Mike gives about the Pizzeria. Which is a bummer because if Mike had just been a Charlie Emily type character then it would have been so easy. His dad was co-owner, his brother went missing there and now he has to go back and confront his demons. Have him freak out a little when the employment office guy tells him he can only get work at Freddy’s. Have him squint with vague recognition at “Steve Raglan” but not be able to put his finger on where he knows him from. Easy, doesn’t add too much and really brings the setting together.

The dream thing is kind of a stupid addition. It would be fine in a regular horror movie, but this is the FNaF movie? And it’s not a FNaF 4 reference because that’s not how FNaF 4 is. I get that they wanted to reference Dream Theory, which is a super fun reference but not enough to be the plot of the entire movie.

Not quite game compliant enough for a couple very specific things. I get that it’s a different media but like…Why can the kids appear in dreams? Why do they respond to drawings? Hey…why is Golden Freddy able to move around and stuff? That’s like his whole thing!

Some Random nitpicks: Wouldn’t it be more fun if the animatronics had beef with Vanessa? Isn’t the whole thing in the games that they don’t really like the kid of William Afton? The cupcake is too violent. The drawing thing is really stupid imo, especially because the kids seem creepy and violent even when they aren’t listening to William. I don’t think what Mike did to Garrett was bad enough idk, like I get that he feels responsible for his death, but he isn’t. Whereas Michael Afton was totally at fault for his brother’s death, Garrett was randomly picked up in the woods in Nebraska. The springlock scene was super lame, literally just period cramps. I get that it couldn’t be too intense because the movie was PG13 but maybe don’t make the movie PG13 if you can’t properly include one of the most iconic things in the games.

(These are the big ones. There’s a billion other things I could say but I think we’d be here all day)

But also, aside from being the FNaF movie…it’s just not a very good movie. The plot is all over the place. Nothing is explained very well. There’s a lot of exposition but not even about the things that matter. I don’t want to say that it wasn’t scary because I don’t personally get scared by horror movies but it wasn’t even intense. How are the animatronics a threat when they can be taken down with a taser? (I get that this is possibly a reference to 5 & 6 with the controlled shocks and such, but in those games they had to be like in a fixed spot and the taser was just a button, this can be taken places.) There are two antagonists and one of them is super random (if you don’t know the games), I’ve got a little facial blindness so if I didn’t know that Steve and William were the same based off prior knowledge I wouldn’t have put it together. It’s painfully slow at some points. The ghost children are underdeveloped. Certain arcs don’t go anywhere. It’s just all over the place.

And I think if it was a bad movie, that would be okay as long as it was a good FNaF movie. Or if it was a good movie, it would be okay for it to be a bad FNaF movie. But it’s not really great at being either thing, so (imo) it’s sort of just a terrible movie.

And it’s sad actually because I really wanted to love this movie. When I saw it in theaters, I left thinking it was a pretty solid movie, actually. Because I love FNaF and I was just happy to see it finally get the movie I’ve been waiting on since like 2015. But then I watched it 3 more times, and I started to realize that aside from the lore for the movie characters I made up in my own head and the fact that OMG Freddy Fazbear it wasn’t really a good movie or a good adaptation. I don’t hate it, though, I just think it’s a terrible movie (if that makes any sense). I’ll still go see the second one though, I’ll probably dress up too.

Final thoughts?

I think that a lot of the love for this movie comes, not from the source material, but from everything we made up afterwards. Headcanons and fan comics and fanfiction and the like. And that’s great! I’m glad people are taking a movie that I think is terrible, really I do. It just personally doesn’t do it for me, and that’s fine. Not every movie is for everyone, no movie could have been made that would satisfy every fan (The one they made just happens to not be for me. There’s a universe not too far from this one where I think the movie was great and you hate it.) And, hey, maybe the sequel will fix all the issues I have with it? Who knows. Only time (Dec 2025) will tell.

TLDR, I guess?

The movie has positives and it’s good fun, but there are so many flaws that make it both a bad movie and a disappointing FNaF adaptation. It’s great if you love it, I truly wish I did, but it just has too many flaws I personally can’t overlook.

Sorry this is an INSANE response to this ask, I have been looking for an excuse to type all this out for so long. Thank you for asking, thank you for reading, heart emoji heart emoji heart emoji.

[ninjastormhawkkat]

Matthew chuckled. “I know. I can always count on my handsome knight in shining armor.” Carl huffed as his cheeks blushed red. “Be careful.” Carl once again pleaded. Matthew nodded and kissed Carl on the lips. He then headed out the door, ready to face his past once again. Carl sat on the couch watching his granddaughter and her animal friends, but his mind was somewhere else. He couldn’t help but fantasize about different types of tortures he could put Evangeline through if she did anything horrible to his husband. Normally, such thoughts would have horrified Carl because of what he experienced, but for some reason, they didn’t. The man let out a small chuckle to himself. Becky and Bob glanced at Carl briefly before turning back to the television set. ‘He probably remembered a funny joke.’ Becky surmised. The other heroes finally noticed the situation with the chaotic four. “Um, is that a zombie dog?” Electric Blur asked with a nervous expression. Atomic Steele raised an eyebrow but made no verbal comments. He was definitely surprised like his friend at the scene. Tristan didn’t have much of a reaction as he was used to seeing strange things by now. Patricia let out an annoyed huff. She hated how the media ruined the imagery of the supernatural. Before she could correct the heroine, Evangeline interrupted the woman. “That’s a Church Grim, right?” Evangeline remarked. Patricia and the others looked at the woman with surprise. “Um, yeah. How did you know?” Patricia inquired. Evangeline blushed. “I…have a fascination with the supernatural. I wasn’t able to pursue much of it when I became a hero, but I still know about certain stuff. I can help get you your leg back if you want.” Evangeline offered. Gene and the four looked at each other. Gene wasn’t sure about letting this lady near his friends, but he really didn’t know what to do right now. “Well, Patricia. It’s your leg. What do you want to do?” Gene asked his friend. Patricia pondered the question before giving a shrug. “Yeah, I can let her help. I’m technically undead so if I lose a body part it won’t be so bad.” The woman replied in a casual tone. Evangeline looked surprised at the comment but shrugged it off. She figured it wasn’t her place to ask. The heroine looked around and spotted some fresh, Earthen dirt inside near an opening in the warehouse. Evangeline walked towards the dirt and scooped up some in her hand. Everyone watched with a cautious expression as Evangeline took the dirt and poured in on the back of the Church Grim. She then began to rub the back of the undead dog. After some time, the Church Grim looked content and happy as he began to let out a purring sound. The Church Grim then released Patricia’s leg which Jenkins caught. Everyone looked at the woman amazed. “That’s incredible! How did you know that would work?” Patricia inquired with a gleam in her eyes. Evangeline smiled. “Pure earth dirt can relax Church Grims, almost like catnip. Since they came from holy grounds, only natural dirt can make them relax and calm.” Patricia looked amazed as she put her leg back on. “Huh. I never thought about that. Something to note for later if I do run into another Church Grim or if this little guy tries to steal another body part of mine to take back to my grave. Which I don’t have one by the way.” Patricia remarked. “So…are you a living corpse?” Evangeline hesitantly asked. Patricia nodded. “Yeah, technically I’m undead, which is why this little guy was trying to steal my leg.” Evangeline just nodded, accepting the answer.  

"Hold on a minute, some weird guy is staring at me. Probably some bum trying to get change off of me." Comments like that had ensured he would absolutely be relieved of guilt for what was to happen next. A smile spreads across the figure's facial features, revealing inhumanly sharp teeth glinting in the street lights. A hand quickly shot out, taking a hold of the rather obnoxious man. "What the hell are you doing-" A scream soon pierced the quietness of the night. It quickly became a horrendous gurgling noise. The cellphone in the man's hand had fallen in the process. Leaving the person on the other end to become worried and confused about what was happening to the man. It didn't take very long for the man to become completely still. The figure allows him to finally fall to the cement below, licking at his blood stained lips in satisfaction. "The night, it is still so young. I don't think I shall waste another minute on you." Like a ghost in the night, he had vanished. As if he were never there. Leaving only the grotesque mess he had made for others to find. Unknown to him, there was a witness to this who had seen the whole thing. Watching in complete and utter fear. The figure grinned, it was as if he were seeing the world through different eyes. The opportunities that awaited him. It sent a shiver of excitement up his spine. His thirst might have satiated but he wasn't satisfied with only that. Oh no. There was so much more he had in mind for this city. Just wait till morning until they discover his little surprise for all to see. It wasn't until hours later did he finally return to the house. Feeling pleased with himself. Carl shot up in bed, heart racing so fast within his chest. Calming down once realizing he was in bed with Matthew. It took the retired scientist to recognize his surroundings. "That's right.. we're at Gene's place." The dream he had woken up from was already fading from his memory. It was rather absurd, recalling what he could. He could've sworn the dream was incredibly vivid and felt so real. But the little bits of the dream that he did remember became fuzzy and distant in his mind. Carl wasn't as quiet as he thought. Matthew had woken up. "Love, are you okay?" His voice had brought Carl from his thoughts. "Matthew, dearest. I hadn't meant to wake you up." He frowned, feeling guilty as he wanted his husband to get as much rest as needed. "It's alright, I needed to get up early anyway. Don't feel bad, my darling. I'm worried about you, though.” He gave Matthew a smile. “It was just a dream. I was just startled from a dream. I don't even remember what happened in it anymore. I'll be fine.” Matthew pulled the other into his arms, holding him in such a comforting manner. Placing a loving kiss to Carl's forehead. “Even so, I've still got you.” The former scientist blushed. Matthew still had such an effect on him even after all this time. “Thank you, my love.” They had stayed like that for a good while. It wasn't until Carl noticed the time that he forced Matthew to get out of bed and to get ready for his community service. Though there was something that had been bothering Carl since waking up. He had not remembered going back to bed after his conversation with Gene last night. No matter how much he tried to, it just kept coming up blank to him. Carl sighed, he must've been that tired that he didn't remember. He was getting up there in age. “I could stay back. Margaret won't be very happy about it but I don't want to leave you if you're not okay.” Carl smiled once more. “I'm not going to be responsible for what she'd do if you tried. You're also expecting a new face there, aren't you?” Matthew looked surprised at that. He had completely forgotten about that. And Carl did make a point. Wincing at the thought of what Margaret might do if he actually did skip out on it. Though for Carl, it would've been absolutely worth it. Whatever punishment she'd dole out, he'd endure for his dearest husband. “Go get dressed now.” Matthew chuckled at that before doing as he said. Leaving Carl to this thoughts.

Carl still felt unsettled by the dream, it was like he was walking through a mist. Yet at the same time it was like someone or something was controlling his body and actions. The dream was scary, but also ludicrous. At one point Carl thought he saw someone who looked like his old narcissus ex boyfriend who he never thought about again until now. Carl just let out a sigh and shook his head. 'It was just a nightmare.' Carl reassured himself. He remembered how reading how the mind and senses can trick the body into thinking something is real when it isn't. His strange dream was just one of those cases. Carl decided to get out of bed and go downstairs. He was going to try and help his son and other son-in-law deal with this strange and frightening case of kidnapping. Carl pushed away the issue of the nightmare and headed downstairs, ignoring the feeling of dread in the back of his mind. Carl also did not pay attention to that fact that his mouth was no longer dry and that there was no glass cup on the nightstand when he got up that morning. Atomic Steele surveyed the area with caution and an intense gaze. He was going over the area looking for something out of the ordinary. Something that had bothered his friend and teammate Electric Blur. Something in this seemingly abandoned area affected Blur's powers. "I wasn't sure what just happened. It felt like I was suddenly communicating emotionally with a strange energy wave that was being transmitted from there. I felt uneasy and scared...but also sad for some reason." That is what Blur told Atomic when she came back to their hideout looking shaken and worried. She told him she never felt anything like that before, not even from the fallen B.E.A.W labs. Atomic Steele offered to check it out for her as the young heroine wasn't keen on returning to the spot. While Electric Blur was being comforted by her other teammates, Atomic followed the directions the heroine had given him to the location where she felt the strange and unsettling energy. What Atomic Steele found when he got there was a large but abandoned warehouse surrounded by an empty field. The area was surrounded by a rusted, wired fence. The place looked like it hadn't been used for years. Still, the normally brave yet brash young hero couldn't help but feel a child go up his spine. His gut and instincts telling him there is something dangerous here, something evil. Atomic Steele walked up to the doors of the warehouse. He grabbed at a rusted handle and tried opening it. To the hero's surprise and growing caution, the door easily unlocked. Atomic Steele took a deep breath and steadied his nerves. He then proceeded inside the warehouse in a slow pace, ready to discover what laid inside. "Oh hello there Matthew. Cutting it a bit close are we." Miss Dewey lightly teased the former villain as he just came into the library to start his community service. "Sorry about that Miss Dewey. I had some problems this morning but I'm here now." Matthew replied, feeling a bit embarrassed about cutting things close. He really didn't want to leave Carl and Gene alone during the family crisis that was happening but at the same time he really didn't want to test the limits of his second chance at freedom from prison. Miss Dewey gave the man a look of sympathy and concern. "You know, if there is a serious problem going on at home, I wouldn't mind helping you fill out some forms to request a temporary leave from your community service." The librarian offered. Matthew smiled in appreciation at her kind gesture. "Thank you Miss Dewey but I'll be alright." Matthew responded. "So has the new service worker arrived yet?", the former villain asked. Miss Dewey smiled and nodded. "Yes he is here. Matthew, allow me to introduce you to Frank Leigh." Matthew glanced over to the man Miss Dewey introduced. He looked to be a few years older than Victor but still younger than Matthew and Carl. He had dark hair and light, blueish gray eyes. The man gave a friendly wave to Matthew. "Hi nice to meet you." Frank spoke in a kind tone. @dualnaturedscientist

[napping-sapphic]

How do you feel about love bites? Like a really gentle bite on the cheek or neck or shoulder to show affection. Or anywhere really. Chomp chomp.

Ya know i can honestly say that i don’t think i’ve ever considered the idea of casual affectionate biting lmao

Idk!! It seems like one of those things where i can’t really form a solid opinion on it unless it happens to me but so long as it’s not like actual leave-an-injury-or-mark type biting I’d probably be okay with it! I usually find people’s more unexpected or unique ways of showing affection really endearing tbh so I’d probably just think it was cute honestly🙃

Also weirdly enough i read shoulder and was like “oh yeah that makes sense you can bite someone there” so that’d probably be fine i guess lol, if it was like painful biting though it’s probably a solid no from me though because i am a wimp😌

[sydney-carton-of-sour-milk]

why is it that Sydney Carton feels so much like a classic “period piece character” — both as a man of Georgian England and as a character written in Victorian times — yet also like such a timeless, eternally-relatable person who could just as easily have existed today?

because he was… a head of his time!

[shima-draws]

Curious. Since you and I both like tododeku — do you think that we're delusional for falling for this ship? Is it true that there is absolutely no possibility that they could ever be a thing in canon? Horikoshi, in my opinion, is playing games with the fandom. I personally think that he doesnt even know what he wants when it comes to Ochako because hes seemed to have given up on that. Do you think that theres any slight chance that Hori might surprise us, or do we find ourselves in a delusional hole of hope?

Anon I mean this in the nicest way possible but WHAT are you talking about lmao. I ship a lot of things that I know for certain won’t ever be canon. That doesn’t make me “delusional”, that’s just me having fun and curating my own fandom experience. I don’t have to look at canon ships and agree with them. That’s part of why shipping is so fun—I get to decide how these characters interact. Who cares what Hori’s doing. I don’t. I make the rules in this house

Essentially

Just have fun with it bro

[thornestar]

When I did my name change it was before gay marriage was legal so basically no one knew trans people existed. There were little check boxes on the form listing the reason for your name change. Of course there was no gender related options but there was a box for “other” where you could fill in the reason. I did not tick the ‘other’ box. Not me!

I picked “artistic reasons”

I wrongly assumed it would be easier to explain

My friend was getting his name change at the same time because I was helping him through the process. He picked the ‘other’ box. He was in and out with no fuss.

Not me! I was explaining all the types of art I can do to my judge. He finally let me have my name change when I offered to draw something to prove I was an artist. I’m pretty sure he was trying to understand why an artist like me needed a name change. Then he got caught up in my story and gave up trying.

[warden-melli]

Got yelled at in a store by a random man today because I’m disabled

Vent under the cut

I have an invisible disability. I’m having a bit of a bad brain day today, and it’s taking me a lot longer than normal to process things. I was in a game store and I was concentrating on an item I was looking to pick up, trying to remember exactly what it was I was after because I couldn’t quite remember what I’d come in for

The person who was working there spoke to me, and because of the bad brain day, and the fact that I was already thinking about something else, it took me a moment to realise she was talking to me. Then after I realised she was talking to me I had to try and to work out what she’d said. I have problems with audio processing at the best of times, but today has been worse than normal. The loud music and bright lights in the store really didn’t help either

Before I could figure out what she had said, and just before I was about to ask her to repeat herself, I heard my friend say something to to the worker.

Then I heard a man yelling. Again, I was having trouble processing so it took me a while to realise the man was yelling at me. I can’t emphasise enough how confused and overwhelmed I was at this point

I couldn’t understand what he was saying at first, but after a few seconds I realised he was angry at me. He was yelling at me for ignoring the worker and for apparently having a “mucky” look on my face?? (I was wearing a mask?). I was super confused

My friend spoke up and told the man that they’d responded to the worker for me, so she hadn’t been ignored, and that I had a disability and that sometimes it took me a little while to process things, and that sometimes I have trouble speaking. They explained that I wasn’t ignoring her and that wasn’t deliberately making any face

I couldn’t speak the whole time. I was just too confused and my brain just wouldn’t. I don’t know who this man is at all, but I think he was just another customer? He was talking with the worker the entire time I was in there, so maybe he was a friend of theirs? I can’t really even remember what he looks like, just that he came up to my chest, was older (like maybe 40’s?) and I think he had a British accent? Regardless even after being told that I have a disability and I wasn’t being rude, he continued scowling at me and wouldn’t hear it. He insisted that I had deliberately ignored her and that I was making a face he didn’t like?? (I didn’t think I was making any face at all??? I was just trying to get my brain to work?? Plus I was wearing a mask so idk how he could see my face at all??)

I was so confused and I wasn’t in any state to handle confrontation, so I thought it would be for the best if I just left

Anyways I never did work out exactly what the worker had said to me, but my friend told me that she’d just asked if I needed any help, and that they had answered for me because they knew I wasn’t having a good brain day. I never got to speak to, or apologies to the worker either for the misunderstanding. I passed by the same store a little while later on my way home, but that man was still in there chatting to the employee

I’d always had good interactions with that employee too, so it was disappointing to see her ignore the situation and just keep chatting to the man like nothing had happened. The store prides itself on being inclusive and supportive of people with disabilities too, so it’s especially disappointing to see such a lack of understanding and respect towards disabled customers

Sorry for venting. This happened a few hours ago, but my brain is just catching up to it now. And now that it has the OCD won’t stop ruminating on what happened. I’m genuinely so confused and don’t understand what I did wrong, or what I could have possibly done different? Especially during a shutdown

Oh well, nothing I can do about it now I guess?

[dreamwinged]

just had to fill out an intake form for my counseling appointment today bro i did not want to think about that shit at 1pm in the afternoon