#I hope you enjoyed

[haveihitanerve]

Dad How Do I but with Bruce Wayne.

Bruce who teaches life advice- showing kids how to tie a tie, how to tie their shoes, braid their hair, teaching young adults to do taxes, to surf, the best lawyers to hire when in trouble, how to avoid scams, he educates the less fortunate on the best places to get free food, where to go in Wayne Enterprises for a hot shower and some toiletries, how to eat at formal functions so the higher elite have one less thing to criticize them on. He teaches people how to do card tricks and make your niece laugh by pulling out a quarter from behind her ear, teaches moms how to rock their baby to sleep properly, teaches teens to do front flips and cartwheels and calculus, educates them on how to write job applications and two weeks notice letters. He teaches people to sew, to cook(alfred helps) to assemble an IKEA shelf, how to work a lawn mower, and all sorts of different things. And when his son dies… Bruce uses his account to share his grief, his story, shares everything about Jason, what a delight he was, how awesome he was, how much he loved to read and school… and then one day, he gets Batman to join a video. And the hero is stiff and everyone can see the exhaustion, the anger and sadness in his joints, his movements, radiating off him. But he sits down heavily into the chair Bruce Wayne had previously vacated… and begins to speak. He tells the story of Robin, his young child sidekick, who just like Jason Wayne, was murdered by the Joker. He tells everyone how his little boy tried to save Jason Todd, and how they both perished in the aftermath. He tells people about his grief, his anger, and why Batman is suddenly harsher and hurts more. “Because I hurt more.” he confesses quietly, and the people finally get to meet the man behind the mask (figuratively) and truly get to see who their hero really is. The account’s popularity skyrockets, and soon Batman is a lot more common to be seen, teaching people how to defend themselves and handle the Batarangs he knows they collect after he fights. Nightwing shows up too sometimes, teaching more elegant flips and tricks and they demonstrate their workout together, and a few months later, Batman shyly introduces his new Robin, same messy black hair as the one before, but slightly smaller, and theres something… more behind those lenses in his mask. But the kid is soon a fan favorite, making sarcastic comments and countering Nightwings witty remarks, and the people get to see a new side of Batman, get to watch as he rolls his eyes at them, as he uses them to teach people how to disguise themselves, ways to use clothes to stem blood, tie tourniquets. 

Then Red Hood returns. And a kid in Crime Alley catches him cursing at his jacket because a button fell off and he cant get it back on. “Um! Mr. Red Hood sir?” the kid pipes anxiously. Red Hood turns to him, angry, but the kid doesn't back down and just goes “You should watch ‘Mr. Wayne How Do I: Sewing’ it'll help.” and then he scampers off. And Jason is pissed and even more angry because of course while he was dead Bruce decides to become a father to everyone in Gotham. But he watches the video. And it helps. And… well, its one of the older videos. And Jason finds another old video. The one about… the one about his death. It shouldn't make his anger lessen, shouldn't make him cry, shouldn't bring him to Bruce’s doorstep where he reveals himself and they hug and cry and catch up and cry some more… but it does. 

Gothamites are a little surprised when their local Crime Lord appears on the channel, standing right next to Batman. Surprised, but pleased. Because Batman looks happy in a way he hasn't in a long time and well… Red Hood watched out for them too. And now their two protectors are working together.

[hoshiina]

pairing: hoshina soushirou x gn!reader (no prns)

request: hiii idk if u take these kinds of requests but id like to see jealous reader (preferably if reader and hoshina are already in an established relationship and reader works in a different division, meaning they dont get to see each other much) like maybe he’s used to calling okonogi “my dear” and its the first reader heard him call anyone with a pet name like that and she starts to overthink and gets pouty/ sulky and hoshina doesnt notice it at first but when he does he starts teasing her which doesnt help HAHAHAHA if its ok can it be hurt/ comfort and end in fluff & HELLO!! can i request an angst to fluff with hoshina where reader thinks he likes okonogi more than him especially since he is against revealing him n reader’s relationship to the third division (for other reasons of course). hopefully this isnt too specific!! i hope u have a wonderful day:))

notes: hoshina calls the reader “darling”, hurt comfort, him accepting jealousy a valid emotion (very important to me i fear), so sorry i merged the reqs!! i hope this was satisfactory for both TY FOR THE REQ!, this is a twt thread i thought about while writing this, (l/n) mention in the bonus part

wc: 1400

Oh, you hated when this happened. You hated when your heart started to tighten in this horrible way you knew well. You hated being jealous.

You hated how self centered it made you feel and how it ate away at your thoughts and feelings. It made you feel like your good thoughts were disintegrating to horrible ones. However, what you hated even more was how it meant you were doubting his love for you— and that was the last thing you wanted to do. You didn't want to doubt him, nor did you doubt him, but when the jealousy got to your head it was over. You were stuck in a loop.

To top it off, the cause of this all was truly harmless and hardly that big of a deal, but that's usually how most anxious thoughts start. They start little.

You were called to visit the 3rd Division to help with research on a field you were particularly knowledgeable on, and you happened to hear Hoshina's laughter from the operation room, so you went in to take a peek.

“It was not that funny,” Okonogi was saying to him, but Hoshina only continued to laugh.

“Yes, it definitely was,” he laughed. “I knew Kafka would forget about that hole in the training grounds again.”

“Why don't you remind him, then?”

“Comedic relief, of course.”

“Alright then.”

“Okonogi dear, you're no fun,” he said.

They said a few more things, but you couldn't seem to focus on their words. ‘Dear’? Was that merely a simple pet name? Or was there more to them than you initially expected?

Oh, the worries started to fill your head. And they were things you didn't want to be worried about— Okonogi was always so sweet to you when you popped by and you knew Hoshina loved you. The last thing you wished to do was doubt them, nor did you want to make things awkward around them. There were just so many things that you just didn't know about, being in a different division as him. You doubted they even knew you were dating, and the voice in your head would only get louder.

It was then that Hoshina saw you at the doorway and called over to you.

“Are you done with work?” he asked, his voice excited and hopeful. Your heart stung.

“Not quite yet,” you tried to sound disappointed, but for the right reason. “I’ll get going now.”

You walked away from the room as quickly as you could, seemingly naturally. You didn't want to be there and you didn't want to talk to him before calming down first— you were sure you'd say something silly if you spoke now.

Yet, immediately you heard footsteps behind you and a hand you knew well grab yours.

“Soushirou?” you asked, turning to look behind you.

“What's wrong?” he asked, his voice soft and visible concern in his eyes. “Do you feel unwell?”

Pang in your chest again.

“Not at all, nothing's wrong?” you said, but you could see the way he pursued his lips— the hurt in his eyes from how you wouldn't tell him what was troubling you. Gosh, why did you feel this way? Why must you feel much silly emotions.

“It's truly so stupid,” you said. “I'll tell you another time.”

“Alright,” he said, letting go of your hand. That one was your bad— you knew he wouldn't push you any further, even if he wanted to.

Dinner that night was awkward. You weren't even that jealous, but the fact that you felt something was gnawing at your brain upset you. Not to mention the fact that you were keeping something from him made you feel even worse.

“How was your training?” you asked.

“Alright, I suppose,” he said. There was a horrible moment of silence. You weren’t sure what to say.

“I think I’m getting a hang of this new technique,” he finally continued, but you wouldn’t look up at him— you were afraid he wouldn’t look your way.

“I see,” you said. “That’s really cool… I’d like to see someday.”

“I’ll show you as soon as its better,” he said.

The rest of dinner felt… quiet. The two of you still talked throughout it but it was terribly different from the usual lively catch-up you’d have— it was heart-wrenching quite frankly.

So as you’d imagine, going to sleep was even worse. You subconsciously faced away from him and pretended to fall asleep quickly, hoping he’d sleep soon too. You hated what was going on, but you just couldn’t bring this up. You knew it was silly and you knew you’d forget soon enough. You’d probably regret making such a big deal out of it.

“Darling,” he said, and immediately you turned to face him. He was already facing you. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel like it… I’m sorry I pushed you.”

Gosh, you thought. You gulped. You wished he wasn’t so kind.

“You’re going to think I’m so annoying though,” you said, voice cracking in a way you didn’t wish for it to and immediately his eyes widened.

“Darling, what happened?” he asked, suddenly worried. “You could never be annoying to me.”

“I… heard you…” you started and he just listened— he waited. “I heard you calling Okonogi, ‘dear.’ And suddenly I—”

“I’m so sorry,” he said, without hesitation. “I hadn’t even realized I did that, it was completely by habit. I won’t anymore.”

You finally met his eyes and the way he looked so horrified he had made you feel bad was so prominent in his eyes.

“No, Soushirou,” you said. “I didn’t mean for you to have to change anything— I know so well that both of you are so sweet to me and there’s nothing going on. I just—”

“Darling, calm down,” he said, cutting you off. “You’ve done nothing wrong, why are you beating yourself up? This was my bad and that’s about it. None of this is you.”

“I—,” you said, taking a moment to collect yourself. “I hate to be jealous, Soushirou. I’m so sorry.”

“Why?” he asked and you paused to look up at him, utterly confused.

“Why?” he asked again.

“It’s such an… ugly feeling,” you said.

“Is it?”

“Is it… not?”

“What’s wrong with being jealous?”

“Because it’s like I’m doubting you or something… when I don’t at all.”

“I think that’s a different thing entirely, no?” he asked. “You can know in your head that I’m in love with you and still feel something else— they’re not always the same. A little jealousy is perfectly healthy, I think.”

“Oh…” you said. You wanted to say so much more but there was so much to process first. Your heart swelled with such warmth.

“I get jealous too. I hate when Narumi gets too close to you or bothers you when I’m not around,” he continued on. “But in my head I know you’d never do anything to hurt me and you’d stop him if he crosses a line. I’ll try to stop if that bothers you though.”

“No,” you said. “That sounds… nice. I’m rather… happy… you were a jealous actually. But I’ll make sure to keep some more distance between Captain Narumi next time.”

He laughed. “Sounds good. But you tell me if there’s anything more that bothers you okay. I’ll fix myself up.”

“I will,” you said and he kissed your forehead. “But Soushirou, I don’t mind much anymore. You can stay the way you are.”

“No, no, stop overthinking. You need to sleep now, you have an early morning tomorrow.”

“Yeah. You too Sou,” you said and he hummed.

Once you were certain he was asleep, you kissed his cheek and slipped your hand into his. You liked holding his hand when you fell asleep, but you weren’t sure if it made it harder for him to fall asleep.

“Thank you,” you whispered to him. “You mean the world to me.”

You lightly kissed his cheek, careful not to wake him up, but to your surprised he smiled. He squeezed your hand and without opening his eyes, “You missed,” he said.

He kissed you on the lips and you laughed, snuggling up against him. “You were awake.”

“I was waiting for you to hold my hand,” he said. “I like when we hold hands when we sleep.”

BONUS:

From then on, Hoshina stopped calling Okonogi “dear” as much, and it’d only happen when it truly slipped out of him from force of habit.

“Vice-Captain, you’ve started dating (l/n), haven’t you?” she said to him one day while they were sorting through files.

“How... did you know?” he asked. The two of you had been dating for quite a while now, but he was more surprised she guessed you correctly.

“It’s terribly obvious you’re completely in love,” she said.

He blinked. And then he laughed. 

He’d have to ask you that night if he can share the news with everyone, properly, then.

[luimagines]

Fairy! Reader Part 2

....why is that screenshot so big??? I'll get this one done. :D

Masterlist

Part 1

Content under the cut!

This was bad, you think to yourself beltatedly.

It was just another routine visit. At least, it was supposed to be another routine visit.

"Hang on! We're coming!" One of the boys shouts from somewhere ahead of you.

Your head hurts and you think that you've lost enough essence that to would be hard to get away even if you weren't tied up. Your magic is weakening. The spell will drop soon.

"Hold on a little longer!" That's your brother calling to you, willing you strength. He speaks in the tongue of Ancients. The ones only a rare few can speak and understand.

"Brother." You say weakly in reply, unaware that you speak the same. "I'm tired.... I'm hurting..."

"We're on our way!" That's the littlest one. The boy. The Sailor.

A wicked laugh cackles above your head.

"Fools!" The owner of the voice grabs your hair. It hurts. He pulls your head up backwards. "Do you not even see this creature for what it is?"

You yell out in pain and try to pull him off of you, but the chains around your wrists don't allow you do you. Your magic continues to deplete.

"DON'T TOUCH THEM!" Wild screeches from the other side of the battle field.

You whimper. "...I'm sorry..."

The spell wears off and your form shrinks. The chains fall off with a deafening clatter as you attempt to fly away. You need to get to safety- you need to get to a Mother. She'll help you. She always helps her daughters.

"Not so fast!" The vile beast grabs you by the wings.

"NO!" Shout the children.

You scream as your wing is torn. The remaining source of your magic slips through your fingers. You fall limp like a ragdoll. Your mind goes hazy. Desperately, you attempt to hold the very tether to your life within your grasp but your mind and limb refuse to cooperate.

You hit the ground unceremoniously. The drop is hard registered to your body. Are you dying? Is this what tempting fate feels like?

It was your own fault you got caught.

A shadow blocks out the sun. It seems to be directly above you. It smells like leather and sulfur. A boot.

A choked cry. A splash of something warm on the ground. The body of the villain falls.

"Stay with us." Large, callused but gentle hands scoop up your tired and battered body.

"They were a fairy?!" A boy cries. Sky. The Chosen, your mind tells you. The Mothers adored him.

"No!" Your brother cries. You can feel him send magic into you, but it is far too little, far too late. "You can't leave! You promised! You have unfinished business! Your duty is incomplete!"

You don't even have the strength to lift your head. Your essence pools out of you and onto the leather glove that holds you.

"We need a great fairy." Says Rancher.

"I'm trying!" Your brother sobs. He is not strong enough.

Or is that you're too weak?

"Stay with us."

"Don't leave."

"You promised."

"Don't stop moving! We'll fix your wing. You'll see."

You're so cold.

"To the Great Fairy! NOW!"

[8xlewis]

carlando being soft husbands through the years

for a rainy day

[mitamicah]

Kä sticker found outside of Huxley :3

[des-no9]

sha va zai // i love you

A comic about Kith'rak Voss' relationship to the lost words sha va zai, and the meaning of love.

TW for implied sexual content, death Art and words by me 8 pages under the cut

Thank you so much for reading <3

When I initially learned the meaning of sha va zai, I spiralled into the HC of the meaning of love in githyanki society and the lost words and meaning of affection in their people. And tied it deeply with the relationship of Kith'rak Voss and Orpheus who are so old they have been there since their enslavement, their beginnings.

If you know me well, you know my tav and Voss get together, and then all three get together in an unbreakable bond. Maybe it's love for all three. Maybe not as we understand it. Maybe it's beyond it.

I have so much to say about the githyanki and their expressions of love, intimacy affection and how as a people they feel so deeply, but what does that mean when you speak in violence, touch in claim, the taste of love weakness that will shatter your bones, vulnerability bile on your tongue.

Thank you again, and I hope you enjoyed <3 I'd love to know if you did x

[th3archivisst]

Thinking about Dream and Hob again!! It's dreamling week so my previous posts are getting attention and that has reinstated my feelings about them. Therefor, lil ficlet I'm making up as I go because they are very sweet

-

A week after meeting his mysterious stranger for the first time in far too long, Hob is still giddy with happiness. His students see it, he knows, and it's impacting how well his lectures go, but he can't bring himself to care.

His thoughts keep drifting to that smile, the damn smile that erased any and all resentment he may have felt for being stood up in 1989.

So naturally, his dreams have drifted in a more positive, if dark and mysterious, direction. He dreams of his stranger almost every night, whether he remembers it or not. The times he does remember lighten his step for hours on end, contentment buzzing in his heart every time he remembers that his stranger said they would meet again soon.

And meet again soon they do, although not how Hob envisioned it.

He had picked up lucid dreaming quite a while ago, so any dreams he had tended to be a reflection of whatever he had thought about before bed. This time is no different.

The bed underneath him is warm and soft, the stranger in his arms relaxed and smiling. They're both still dressed, unlike some other dreams Hob has had, but he's content with that. The closeness is enough, more than enough.

Conversation isn't particularly prevalent in these dreams, the man and the miracle happy in the quiet moments they carve out for themselves. The few sentences they do exchange are ones Hob treasures more than the life he so cherishes. This time is no different.

Really, Hob should've caught on sooner.

Brown eyes gaze into diamond that had softened into coal, and his stranger spoke.

"You still do not know my name, Hob Gadling."

Hob tilts his head.

"No. You've always seemed a bit beyond names." He smiles, a similar tug pulling at his dear stranger's lips.

"Dream." The man murmurs, a vulnerability Hob hasn't seen before painting the words with light. Confused, Hob chuckles.

"Yes, I'm quite aware I'm dreaming."

His stranger shakes his head.

"My name, Hob."

Hob blinks.

Then narrows his eyes and sits up.

"Wait, I'm dreaming. So did my brain just... make up a name for you? I mean, it fits, but it's not real, is it?" His confusion only amplifies when he sees the amusement in his stranger's - Dream's? - eyes. "What?"

"There is no such thing as 'just a dream', Hob. This isn't imaginary, I'd have thought you knew that by now."

Before Hob can formulate a response, Dream leans up and presses their mouths together gently.

The smile he gives Hob is so fond that his heart hurts. What hurts more, however, is the sound of his alarm as it jerks him from his slumber.

Needless to say, the next time Hob Gadling will dream of his Dream, he will have very many questions.

[faytelumos]

Trick or treat!

I will always pick treat.

No matter how late I am. @_@'

cw: alcohol mention, blood, peril

---

@justalittleminishnamedmouse, @mr-orion, @rfallfish, @tildeathiwillwrite, @thelazywitchphotographer

---

He wasn't sure why he'd agreed to take over the gym teacher's after-hours rounds, exactly. He had a lot of homework left to grade and he actually didn't want to stay in this building much at all today. Something about the weather made him want to hunker down in bed with a bag of chips like a bear. But Hugh had a lot going on lately. So Ben agreed to make sure all of the equipment was properly locked up after basketball practice.

It was fine. Hugh would owe him later. Maybe he'd rope the guy into a couple beers, who knew. He'd come up with something.

Ben walked down the hallway to the gymnasium, his footsteps bouncing off the linoleum and across the walls. But they didn't sound right. Was the floor here messed up? He stopped walking to look down, to look for details he could give maintenance. But… the weird sounds continued. They echoed awkwardly through the hall, and he turned his head, trying to find the direction they were coming from. They sounded… wet? Was there some kind of leak? What the hell was that noise?

A small, strangled, pained cry.

Ben's blood froze along with the rest of him. A girl. That sound was coming from the small gym, at the back of the hall. Whoever it was, she whined, weakly. Ben almost thought she'd said, "Stop."

Oh, fuck. Oh, what the fuck.

Ben sprinted, rushing for the small gym door, keys and shoes filling the hallway with so much noise, and then the loud bang when he slammed open the double doors—

There, up there, in the bleachers, two shapes. Ben staggered back when the one turned to look at him. "Monster" was the only word he had in that split second, looking up at the human-shaped thing with gray skin, black eyes, and lips slick with… blood.

Ben was completely out of his depth. He didn't even know how to categorize this. Was it some kind of animal? An elaborate prank? There was the girl, limp in it's hands, and Ben thought he recognized her—

The thing rose, it made to lunge for Ben, and he tripped over himself to get away, falling on his ass just in time to watch the monster get tackled out of the air by something else.

There was something else in here?! What was next?!

The monster and the — the wolf?! — ripped and tore at each other on the floor, away from the door. Not wasting a moment, Ben climbed up off of his butt and sprinted as best he could for the bleachers. He stumbled and banged his shins more than once getting up to the girl, then gathered and pulled her into his arms. He couldn't tell if she was still breathing or not. The thought that he was holding a dead body was like ice water down his back. He looked down the bleachers, holding the full weight of a teenaged girl, and worried that if she wasn't already dead, he'd kill them both trying to carry her down these stairs.

His head snapped up at a terrifying, roar-lile sound that shook the whole gym. Then he looked down, gritting his teeth, and pounded down the steps in a rush.

Holy shit! Holy shit, he made it!

He looked up again, and the human-shaped monster burst into a thick puff of steam. It rushed at him, and his heart stopped, right as the wolf dissolved into a swarm of bats, swirling around and controlling the cloud.

Was he asleep at his desk?! This was a nightmare, it had to be!

He didn't know how much time he had, so he ran, his steps heavy and precarious with the girl in his arms. There was a bang behind him, spurring him on with a punch of fear as he got into the hall.

He did his best to run, to get out of there as fast as possible, to keep the girl safe and balanced in his arms. She made a small sound, a groan, and he would have laughed with relief if he could breathe. He headed for the nearest exterior door, his heart pounding cold as crashing noises chased him up the hallway. He cried out in fear, gripping the girl tighter, and turned to shoulder out of the door.

He tripped, hard, over the threshold, and he had just enough footing left to twist and fall onto his back. The girl fell limp right onto his chest, punching the already winded wind out of him. He gasped, but it was hitched, caught against his sternum like gum. He couldn't get a breath in, he didn't even have the air to get the girl off of him.

The sounds of the fight were getting closer. He couldn't see past the weakly moaning student. He braced, immobile, for whatever pain or horror was about to overcome him.

Bats, so many tiny, screeching, flitting bats burst out of the still-open door, whipping past him and into the night. In the harsh floodlight, he saw several swirl and dive for him, only for several others to swoop over him and attack upwards. He gaped like a fish, still breathless, trying so hard to suck in a breath, mind whirling. These bats didn't move like they were supposed to.

The small animals cleared, screeching and shrieking into the distance. He was able to force half a breath into his lungs, but it hiccuped right back out of him. He squeezed his eyes shut, suffocating. There was another noise, and then footsteps, sprinting to him over grass.

Another set of hands grabbed the girl, yanking on her. Ben gritting his teeth, grabbing for her, trying to protect her from her next attacker, but the newcomer shoved his hands away with incredible force. Then the girl was on the stranger's shoulder, and he ran out of sight. Groaning, straining, feeling ready to pass out, Ben struggled to get onto his hands and knees. The same person — a student — was on him again, then, much to his surprise. Then, to his downright shock, the kid lifted him up onto his feet.

"Walk, walk, walk," the kid growled, his voice urgent, all but dragging Ben to a waiting car. The girl was in the front seat, leaning back, pale as death. The kid dumped Ben into the back seat and slammed the door shut behind him. Ben hadn't even righted himself before the kid was in the driver's seat and pulling the car off of the grass, towards the street.

Ben was finally getting his lungs back, struggling for air, for relief. But now, he could so strongly smell blood. He sat upright, shaking, looking across the car and at the driver. A street light passed in time to illuminate the kid pulling his hand away from his mouth, the meat of his thumb bleeding. Ben stared in horror as the kid reached over to the girl.

"Drink," the kid demanded, and Ben felt a wave of nausea like the inertia around a turn. The girl whimpered in front of him, and the boy turned to look at her. When he spoke again, his voice was downright terrifying, like the barreling of a train rushing up behind you. "Rebecca, you will drink."

She made another noise, and the kid looked away. Ben couldn't see, didn't want to see, if she was doing as told. He just stared at the driver.

"Put on your seatbelt," the kid said in a normal voice. Ben actually didn't want to do that. He wasn't sure he didn't want to bail out of this car yet. But then the kid turned to look at him, another passing street light illuminating a furious look on his face.

Ben slid back and grabbed the belt before the kid could use that voice on him.

The car was quiet, except for the roar of the engine and tire noise as the kid howled through town. It looked like they were headed to the hospital. That was good. So maybe Ben was okay to stay in the car.

Eventually, the kid pulled his hand away from Rebecca's face. He glanced at his hand, and Ben tried not to see the blood smeared across his skin. He could hear the girl breathing now, panting raggedly, fidgeting in front of him. He sighed, shaky and breathless, in relief.

"Rebecca, who was that?" the kid asked. Ben leaned to one side, trying to be quiet, to look forward into the passenger seat. Rebecca moaned. "Rebecca, please, I need to know who that was."

"I… I can't," she slurred. "I don't know."

"Why were you there?" he asked.

"I… we… I don't remember."

Ben looked between them as the kid swore under his breath. What was going on here? Did he think Rebecca personally knew that monster? And where had he even come from? He seemed entirely too calm about Rebecca's state, and he sure had been fast about getting them out of there.

"Who are you?" Ben demanded of the kid. He glanced back, over his shoulder. The lighting was better in this part of town, and Ben recognized the face.

"Abe Mitchell," the kid said. "I'm in your second period European History class." Ben nodded, leaning back slightly. He could see now that Abe was covered in tiny scratches and spots of blood.

What was going on? Where had Abe come from? And where had that wolf come and gone from, and those bats?

And that monster had turned into… mist.

Ben's eyes widened, and he looked again to Abe's hand, now on the steering wheel. Rebecca had been bleeding, he realized now. And she had been pale and chilled in his arms, limp. But now she was suddenly active again?

After… Abe told her to drink.

Ben stared at Abe. Abe threw a stern, sideways look back at him.

When they got to the hospital, Rebecca was still too dazed to walk. Ben carried her inside, and Abe led the way to the ER desk.

"Help," he said to the receptionist, "she's lost a lot of blood!" Ben swallowed another wave of nausea, not looking at Abe's right hand. There was a flurry as the receptionist got nurses into the room, as Rebecca was placed on a gurney and examined as she was wheeled away, as Abe told some bullshit story about the two of them jumping a fence when Ben caught them making out in the parking lot after dark. He threw a look back at Ben during that, looking embarrassed for just a second before his eyes hardened like stone on Ben. Ben responded with a shaken, but still emphatic, glare. As if he would ever in a million years say that it was actually a wolf, a monster that dissolved into vapor, and a swarm of bats that had done this. This kid must have thought he was a complete moron.

When things quieted down, Abe took a seat in the waiting room. Ben eventually sat down across from him. He didn't know Rebecca's emergency contact info, and he couldn't get it from the school at this point, but he had been able to give them her last name, at least. He had her in fourth period, he'd realized when he'd gotten any chance to look at her face. He hung his head and shivered, trying not to think about the moment when he'd picked her up and thought she was dead.

"So," Abe uttered. Ben pursed his lips, rubbing his face, then looked up hesitantly. Abe met his gaze. He looked… nervous. "How… how much of that did you see?"

Ben glanced around the room, but they were pretty much alone. He looked back to Abe, but couldn't meet his eye. Had Abe been the monster… or the wolf? He was the wolf, surely. Unless he was lying to ease Ben's suspicions… Would he do that? He was apparently a pretty quick liar.

"Enough," Ben said, his voice shaking. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Enough to know I probably shouldn't ask questions."

To his surprise, Abe laughed. Then he laughed again, putting a hand across his face to cover his eyes.

"Shit," Abe swore under his breath. Ben shivered. He really hoped this was a dream. It didn't feel like one. Abe lowered his hand to cover his mouth, looking into Ben's eyes. A flicker of fear and something primal in the base of his skull told Ben not to meet that gaze, so he looked away. "Would you believe me," Abe said, "if I told you that was all for film class?"

Ben glared up at Abe, then pointedly looked to the reception desk. Ben's heart was still pounding, his chest still ached from that awful breathlessness, and they were in the hospital, so no. Ben would not believe that.

"Sure," he said with a shrug. Abe frowned down at the low table between them. He looked pensive. Maybe Ben should have actually tried to make that convincing. Was there anything to stop Abe from turning into a wolf or a swarm of bats or a monster and killing Ben right now?

Holy shit. Abe had… Abe was a…

Ben felt dizzy. He put his head in his hands with a moan. If Abe wanted him dead, then there probably wasn't anything Ben could do to stop him. So there wasn't much point in fighting it.

"Are you gonna kill me?" Ben breathed, intentionally too quiet for a normal person to hear. There was silence between them for a moment. Ben was almost relieved.

"No," Abe whispered, dashing Ben's hopes. "But if that other… one recognized you, then you're still in danger."

This was a nightmare. No, no, Ben was probably actually just dead. He was dead already, and his brain was making up stories to explain it away with his last moments of oxygen. Or, he had just gone straight to Hell. That sucked. He thought he deserved Heaven. He wasn't perfect, but he gave more than he got.

"I'll need to protect you and Rebecca," Abe said. "Whoever that was, they're probably pissed now. They'll want to finish Rebecca off, and get at you just to make things worse for me." Ben stared at Abe. He was taking all of this way too well.

"Who are you?" Ben hissed. Abe looked up, meeting Ben's eye. Ben set his jaw, not looking away this time.

"Abraham," Abe said sternly, all of the youth drained from his boyish face. "Your bodyguard, until I tell you otherwise."

---

next

[gipitothefrog]

Whump

@wolfstarmicrofic

Word count: 796

Tw: blood, injury, self harm (kinda)

***

It was the full moon, and for some reason, it was worse than usual.

The night started off normally, with Remus heading down to the shack and the rest of the marauders following after him. When the transformation started, though, they immediately knew something was wrong.

Remus still cried out in pain, but the cracks of his bones seemed louder than normal, and as a wolf, he was far more vicious. Not to the rest of the marauders, but to himself. 

His claws gashed into his stomach and back, leaving scarlet trails that leaked red for a long time after he had been torn up. Nothing the stag, rat, or even dog did persuaded the wolf to stop, and the torment continued the whole night. 

When the morning came, and Remus turned back, he simply lay on the floor, unmoving. Sirius, James, and Peter all rushed to his side, and tried to heal him the best they could, but the wounds were too deep. Reluctantly, they threw the cloak back on and hurried up to the castle.

Sirius paced back and forth in their dorm.

“Do you think Pomfrey’s gone down to get him yet?” Sirius asked the two other boys.

“I don’t know, mate. I hope so.” Was James’s response. Peter simply let out a small, sad squeak.

“I’m going to the hospital wing to check,” Sirius decided after another moment.

“We’ll come with you,” said James, jumping up at the same time as Peter.

“No, it’s early. You two get some sleep. I can go by myself. Besides, you two might not fit under the cloak.”

“Pete can be wormtail, it’s—”

James was cut off by Peter’s hand on his shoulder. “Let him go alone,” the shorter boy said.

Sirius made eye contact with Peter, silently thanking him. Pete simply gave an understanding nod.

Grabbing the cloak, Sirius made his way to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was used to the boys showing up early in the morning, before they were supposed to be out of bed, but this was earlier than normal by at least a few hours. Sirius knocked. No one answered, so he tried the door. It opened, and he made his way into the room, hoping for the best and expecting the worst.

It turned out to be in the middle. Madame Pomfrey had gotten Remus, but he was still in critical condition from what Sirius could tell. She was currently leaning over Remus, around twelve different potions on the table beside him. Sirius rushed over and kneeled near his head on the floor next to the bed.

“Will he be okay?” Sirius asked desperately. 

Madame Pomfrey looked up, only seeing him just then. “Yes, he will. He may be out for a few days, though. You never know with werewolf healing, sometimes it helps out, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ll see.”

Sirius spent the next couple of days at Remus’s bedside when he wasn’t in class. When he was in class, though, he was diligently taking notes, much more thorough than he ever had before, to give to Remus when he woke up.

When Remus finally did wake up, it was the middle of the night. Looking around, disoriented, the first thing he saw was Sirius. Slumped over in an armchair, asleep, with a half-done potions essay in his lap.

“Pads?” Remus croaked out.

Immediately, the other boy sprung up. Awake and alert.

“Moony! You’re awake!” He exclaimed, relief flooding through him.

“How long have I been out? And can I have some water?”

Sirius immediately conjured a glass of water, while saying, “A couple of days. It was really bad. I was- well we were all so worried.” Piping down for a minute, he asked softly, “Is something wrong, Moons?”

Remus took his time, gulping down the glass of water and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand before answering. Looking down at his lap, he said,

“It’s nothing much. Just… my mother is sick, and I’ve been really worried. I didn’t realize that it was taking such a toll on me until, well…”

“Oh, Remus, I’m so sorry.” Sirius gingerly embraced the other boy, making sure not to hurt him in any way. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I just, I didn’t want you all to worry.” Remus sniffled. A few stray tears fell down his cheeks, which he tried to hide by looking away. Sirius gently guided his gaze back to him by his chin, then cupped his face and brushed away the tears with his thumbs.

“You can tell us anything, my Moon. You don’t need to worry about us worrying.”

Remus gave back a watery smile, before burying his face in Sirius’s shoulder and having the first proper cry he’d had in months.

[croissantlover24]

Here’s some Spaniard and Moon angst to write.

Spaniard overhears Moon talking to himself about considering taking away Spaniard’s sentience. Maybe Moon thinks it would be easier or better if he didn’t have it.

Spaniard gets nervous, since he’s not sure if Moon would actually do it, or if Moon was just thinking. And if Moon does, Spaniard can’t do much. He doesn’t have a body, so he can’t run and/or hide. He’s a sitting duck. And on top of that, Moon has the overwrite code. So if Spaniard tried to resist, Moon could just use that to make Spaniard stop.

Moon leaves to go do whatever, then Earth comes in later.

When Earth asks Spaniard how he is, Spaniard tells her about what he overheard. He tells her that he’s not sure if Moon is actually going to go through with it, but he’s nervous. And maybe a bit scared.

Earth decides to stay in the daycare to watch over Spaniard and give him company until Moon comes back. And when Moon does come back, Earth gets really upset with him about what she was told.

She wants to make sure that Moon wasn’t actually planning to do that, and was just thinking out loud about the idea of it for some reason.

(YESSS THANK YOU)

Spaniard looked through the cameras as he usually does after hours. Very few people venture the halls at night other than Moon, so that was who he was watching. Just in case something went wrong, the computer would have the video files to send to the other celestials.

As usual, his creator was muttering under his breath about random ideas, and the computer found himself listening. It’s not like he had much else to do.

That was when he heard something that sent his nonexistent blood cold.

“I might need to rework the code on the computer,” Moon murmured, thinking aloud. “Sentience might make it more resistant or less useful…”

The computer quickly switched to a different security camera. His not-real heart raced, the computer he was set inside of going into overdrive to prevent him from overheating. Moon was going to kill him. Moon was going to destroy him.

One by one, Spaniard cancelled each line of thought. He needed to calm down. Besides, Moon thought about all kinds of things, but rarely created or did any of them. The computer is probably fine.

His code still raced. The errors and warnings of overheating beeped in his “ears”, unsettling him further. He was on edge; a bomb just waiting to be set off.

He watched through the security camera for the daycare as Earth entered. He relaxed slightly at the sight. Earth was known for talking sense into senseless people. Perhaps he could get her help. Each of his simulations of the situation insisted she would be helpful.

“Spaniard, I believe I left my notebook in here,” Earth called out in her gentle voice. “Do you know where it is?”

“First cabinet on the left side of the security desk,” the computer replied in that monotone voice, some worry seeping in. He scolded himself for letting that slip through.

Earth paused. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he lied, despite his systems screaming at him to tell her the truth and seek her aid.

Curse his increasing sentience, because Earth could clearly hear the tremor in his voice and sensed he was lying.

“Spaniard? What happened?” She attempted to coax the answer out of him; if he was still willing to answer, that is.

“…Moon mentioned getting rid of me,” the computer said at last.

Earth simply nodded at first, her expression solemn. She could understand why it worried the computer. He didn’t want to be a mindless tool forever, unable to do anything. She could also see why he didn’t confront Moon about it. Moon would use the overwrite code against him.

“Do you want me to stay with you?” she asked, before quickly adding, “until Moon returns, that is. We can make sure he won’t do that.”

“Yes,” the computer willed himself to say, not used to requiring the help of others. He hated the feeling of vulnerability it brought.

“Okay,” Earth replied, attempting to calm Spaniard.

The two waited for a few hours, sharing memories and hobbies with each other. Earth settled into the chair she sat in, able to tell that the computer was relaxing as well. That was when the double doors opened, Moon walking in and approaching the monitor.

“Earth?” he asked, looking up at her. “What are you doing here?”

She refrained from answering him for a moment. What would happen if she told the truth? Was her brother really so cruel as to cut away the sentience of someone who has helped the family for so long? She hated that she wasn’t sure.

“Spaniard overheard you mentioning you would get rid of his sentience,” she said slowly, planning each word out carefully.

Moon didn’t look all that worried as he replied with, “did it now?”

The computer didn’t like how he was addressed as nothing more than an object, but said nothing.

Earth nodded. “He did. He’s worried you would kill him.”

“It wouldn’t kill him,” Moon explained. “You can’t remove the sentience of someone who isn’t sentient.”

“Moon, the computer is very much sentient,” Earth argued, angry he would insist upon such a futile notion. “He’s scared of what you’ll do.”

Moon clearly didn’t believe his sister, because he questioned, “Is that true, computer?”

“…Yes,” Spaniard replied with his dull voice. “I do not want to die.”

Moon frowned. Maybe he was thinking through this incorrectly. Was he really about to kill his prized creation?

“Then you won’t,” he replied, steadfast. “My apologies for insinuating otherwise.”

(Keep the Moon and computer angst coming, guys!! It’s so much fun to write)

[kumezyzo]

hey !! idk if you write for quackity but could i get a bf!quackity x reader where he’s doing a stream with the reader and he’s showing her the house he built on minecraft for them, like it’s a surprise from him haha and u can add the chats’ reaction if you want 😋

i dont necessarily watch quackity that much so i dont write for him im sorry 😭😭😭😭 i love him so much, he's really funny but ive literally only seen him in a few clips. i wish i could write for him and think that ive at least done a decent job as a fellow mexican but i really doubt i could 😭😭

this sound like such a cute scenario tho and i wish i could do it justice!!! i just dont know how to write for mr. alexis 😔😔 i have an idea what kind of personality he has but i dont think its enough for a whole thing like this. but i will try a little blurb about this and you just tell me if it sounds anything like him.... please...

youre sitting next to alex as he loads minescraft, chat excited to see you again.

'yn!!!! how have you been?????'

you read out loud, causing alex to smile at you. the minescraft opening page illuminating your faces.

"ive been alright!" you tell them with a smile, "i just want to know why im here," you laugh nervously.

"okay, baby!" he says excitedly. "are you ready?"

"i mean... its just minecraft... right?" you ask as he starts opening up a single player world he had seemingly opened last.

"yea, dont worry," he says as the world loads in. a large grin on his face. you glance at him and smile. chat and everyone after talks about how you two look at eachother with so much love.

once the world loads in, he giggles and switches his stream to capture his screen. he moves the mouse around and chat starts to realize what world he's showing her.

for the past month or so, he'd been working on that world on stream but never told chat why he was building a whole world. they all asked why it was all flowery and pretty. and now theyre realizing why.

he turned his character around to face a beautiful blocky house, "i made this for you!"

okay yea, super short. kinda shitty. im sorry again if its not like him in any way. i kinda panicked too and i didnt wanna make a fool outa myself 😭😭 again im so sorry to this anon -Nony

[haveihitanerve]

Times the Robin’s visited the Watchtower during a meeting and how it ends-

Dick: sitting on Bruce’s shoulders as he gave a presentation, slouched down on his head like a sack of flour. The League is trying very very hard to look at the presentation and not the presenter but Diana snaps a shameless picture of them (that bruce promptly has her send him and prints it out and frames it)

Jason: sits next to Wonder Woman with stars in his eyes the whole time, and Diana being the she is is constantly chatting with him, to the point where Batman has to call them out and tell them to please shut up- but he cant stop the smile at Jason's awed face, and it ends with Batman and Robin leaving, Robin holding Batmans hand and almost jumping up and down in excitement as he retells everything they talked about and did and all of it, and Batman is smiling softly down at him

Tim: spends most of his time working on something else nearby, papers spread across his section of the table, most in different languages they find when Barry tries to peek at them, a computer propped up on his knee. Ends with Batman crouching next to him and saying something quietly, before scooping the boy into his arms and holding him with one while he quickly cleans the table and sticks everything into the bag he came with and slinging it over one shoulder. Robin is passed out by that point and Batman presses a kiss to the side of his head, nods to the league, and continues lecturing as though nothing has changed. 

Stephanie: arrives unannounced and without any preparation on Batmans part because no one was aware he had a new female robin. Batman doesn't even bat an eye at her though and she twirls over to him to press a kiss against his cheek before shes sitting in his chair, making a few funny quips and adding insightful comments the whole time he speaks. Ends with bruce returning to his chair as Clark begins explaining something hes noticed, but most of the league is watching Robin and Batman to see what'll happen- bruce ends up just lifting her(with a quiet squeal of delight from steph) and sitting down, plopping her back into his lap when hes situated. She remains quiet during everyone else's speeches, occasionally murmuring something to batman that makes his lips twitch and her grin in triumph as she leans her head against his chest. 

Damian: arrives with a sword that Batman swiftly takes from him and sheathes across his own back- which not only was a feature the league was unaware his suit had, and looks cool as hell. Robin sits on the armrest of Batmans chair for most of the meeting, but when Bruce returns to his seat he tugs his son into his lap as well, and since hes smaller than steph, forces the little boy to curl up on his lap a little- because its late and damian doesn't really care about paying attention he just didn't want to go to bed without his dad home- so bruce holds him and the boy tuckers out quickly, curled into his dads arms.  

Part 2

[hoshiina]

pairing: hoshina soushirou x gn!reader (no prns)

request: Hii im the anon who ask for the wips and i saw the blurbs you have. IM VERY MUCH HOOKED with the third ones where hoshina loves reader's smile🥹 relating to that maybe i would like to add(if you want, but feel free to do seperate if you want) soft moments with hoshina x reader who felt like she being the most pessimistic person regarding love(not anti but just felt like she doesn't deserve it) so she is on denial when hoshina make a move on her

notes: reader is usually rather energetic, talkative reader, hoshina thinks you are "beautiful" at some point, TYSM FOR THE REQ!! sorry it took so long omg

wc: 1300

Something was wrong— terribly wrong. There was no way someone would want you, let alone your vice-captain who could have anyone in the world. Not your vice-captain who did everything with such care and looked after everyone so preciously. And definitely never your vice-captain you were terribly in love with.

There must be some mistake. Or else he wouldn’t have just said what you thought he said.

“Pardon me?” you asked.

He looked a little flustered and you had never seen such an expression on him, confusing you further. “I love you,” he said again, softly. “I’d love to know if you’re in a relationship.”

The way he spoke so carefully added to how nervous it made you feel— it was so different from how he usually talked to you. Now, you were lost to say the least, because you couldn’t think of one reason why he would like you, let alone romantically. Under normal circumstances, you’d assume you were being played with or that this was a silly prank or dare, but you knew that Hoshina wasn’t one to do something so horrible. So what was happening?

“I am not…” you said, still confused, but the visible relief in his eyes made your heart tighten. Oh gosh, is he serious?

“I’m… thrilled,” he said, and he wished you goodnight and left. While you were terribly flustered to know he liked you back, there was a voice in your head that wouldn’t stop making you feel anxious. Something felt so odd to you— to be loved back. To be loved back by him. You enjoyed talking to people so you talked to him often, but never had you thought he'd think of you like that. Having a naturally talkative personality, it was true that both of you had fun talking to each other, but you had accepted that your love was unrequited ages ago. When would he have possibly fallen in love with you? The more you thought about it the more impossible it sounded. As thoughts of him circled your head, it’d be morning before you knew it.

It'd be hard for him to point out exactly when he fell in love with you, because he was in love before he knew it. Before he knew it, he'd catch himself following you with his eyes. He adored watching you work, because you made everything look exciting. Of course, he saw how you groaned at the paperwork you had to do, but he'd see how the little things would put a smile on your face.

He liked the work he did, he liked all of it quite frankly. From neutralizing kaiju all the way down to the research he had to do— rarely did he think something was a chore to do, but if you were around to laugh at something silly he found or mutter about the binders and binders of files that the 3rd division just doesn't have space for anymore, he'd start looking forward to these moments.

While he knew you were like this with everyone, he hoped that you were happiest with him. It would mean everything to him if you looked forward to doing seemingly mundane work with him too.

However, while he loved so much about you, there was one moment specifically that made him realize he wasn't moving on. His heart would be yours forever at this rate. You'd look so horribly tired after all this work, and yet, if someone needed help with anything at all, you'd still smile and ask them what's wrong. You'd find the energy and speak to them so kindly. You might not have the energy you usually had, but you'd be so happy to help. Even if they couldn't tell how exhausted you were, he could. He knew how much you did for everyone in the division, and he thought you were stunning when you did so. You were the most beautiful when you had that lovely smile on your face that seemed to light up his world.

He loved you so dearly.

You loved talking to people, so there always seemed to be something for you to talk about. A new finding you wanted to share or a terribly random thought that popped up in your head. While you naturally talked to most of the people in the division, you looked forward to talking to Hoshina the most. The way he'd always listen so intrigued at your dumbest thoughts and laugh at the smallest things you said meant more to you than one would probably think.

And if you shared your daily happenings with him, he'd share his with you too. To say you loved these moments would truly be an understatement. Nothing could possibly make you happier.

However, you knew he was like this with everyone. His laugh would always manage to keep the morale of the division up and he'd never miss potential problems in the condition of any of his officers. You knew he was a sweet person, but also the best one could ask for in a vice-captain. You weren't special— he was like this to everyone. You knew better than anyone else.

You couldn't imagine anyone falling for you, let alone the kindest person you'd ever meet in your life. Let alone the person you'd probably love for the rest of your life.

Yet, here you were, alone with him this afternoon working away through paperwork and it was quiet. Eerily quiet. He was the first to break the silence.

“I rather dislike the rain,” he said, looking out the window. “It’s been raining all day.”

You paused to look outside as well. “No, you’re right. I don’t mind the rain, but I hate how dark everything is.”

“Yeah,” he said. More silence.

“Sorry, I’m awkwardly nervous now,” he said, eyes fixed on his work. “I didn’t mean to make things… weird.”

You could tell he probably didn’t want you to, but you couldn’t help but look his way. Your eyes widened and your heart filled. You weren’t afraid to say much, but you were afraid to talk about this. However, you thought you’d be able to if you were talking to him.

“I just… can’t imagine that you’re… in love… with me,” you said, looking down at your paperwork. “Sounds too good to be true. I know... sounds unlike me, right?”

Immediately he looked up at you, shocked to say the least. You could tell he probably wanted to ask why, but he thought for a moment more.

“What… would I be able to do to show that I am?” he asked. “You’re the one I love… you always will be.”

Your eyes widened. “I just… don’t know why,” you said honestly. “Why me?”

“Because I love you,” he said. “I love a whole lot about you, but I love being with you. I enjoy spending time with you and watching you enjoy the life around you. Is that too simple?”

It took you a second to reply, but you felt a lot better. “No, not at all,” you said. “Because I feel exactly the same way.”

“You’re kidding”

“Absolutely not”

“I’m going to kill you if you’re lying,” he said.

That made you laugh. “You know I wouldn’t,” you said, and yes, he knew you wouldn’t.

“Hey, Hoshina,” you said, avoiding eye-contact. “If I get worried… will you tell me again?”

“I’d tell you until you get sick of my voice,” he said while getting up to kiss your forehead. “I love you so much.”

[alterchaos]

CRUISE BLUES

Gotta go…slow? Just how much chaos can one hyper-active hedgehog cause on a peaceful cruise across the ocean? And, seriously, what is up with him and that HAT…

PREVIOUS CHAPTER: SONIC’S SCREAM TEAM

NEXT CHAPTER: THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

off panel: An exclusive look at my creative process...

[annakie]

Let's Spend Lots of Money!

Back in June I posted about how after a huge storm rolled through, I was without power for over five days and then talked about all the insurance and stuff going on.

Well, things have progressed since then!

Would you like to read/see pictures of exterior home renovation? This is the post for you! Warning: It's really long! And the story isn't done yet!

Here's a cut for extreme length!

PART ONE: The To-Do List

When it was over, at the end of my post, I posted some To-Do's:

Call Plumber - Done, and I thought the problem would be solved for another year or more.

Get garage door serviced. Done. The guy I called was clearly trying to rip me off. He told me immediately that I needed new springs, and when I pushed back and pointed out how shiny and new my garage springs were, because they were less than five years old, and they just needed to be tightened, he tried telling me that it's not possible to tighten garage door springs, something I knew for a fact was bullshit. I pushed back on him and was about to tell him to just leave when instead he had me sign a thing saying that he couldn't promise that fixing the springs would fix the problem and if I called them out again it would be another service call fix instead of guaranteed work. In the end, I got what I wanted but paid too much and marked that company in my phone as "never call again." The work they did do was fine, but screw them.

Get Handyman to take care of the fallen tree - Check, a day or two after power came back. I tipped him extra for it, too, because he always takes care of me. My insurance lady told me what I paid was quite inexpensive for the job.

Work with Insurance - Yep! We'll get to that.

Talk to my neighbors about the fact that I’m going to get a wood fence put up to replace our chain link one. YEP. We'll get to that, too.

Get the electrician back to wire up the house for a generator. Nope. Not yet. But someday.

Buy a generator Not yet, but again, someday.

Clean out the garage, for real. Maybe when it's not 100 degrees out every day again. But yeah, on the list, for multiple reasons.

So yeah... the last six weeks or so have been a trip.

PART TWO: Getting Money

One of the things I did when I didn't have power was see that we could file a claim with FEMA for disaster assistance. I figured... why not. A day or two after I got power back, a FEMA inspector lady called and then came to the house. I pointed out all of the things. I ended up getting a little bit from FEMA. Not a ton, but honestly, I was grateful. Anything helped.

Later that week, or maybe the next, my insurance sent an adjuster. Crazily she was flown down from another part of the country, she was living in the exact town that I grew up in. Like it is not a huge town. Not "small" but also just not somewhere you'd expect to meet someone from on the reg. So we had a good time chatting about the city when she came to inspect the house.

Insurance gave me an OK amount. My roof was old so they only paid out 40% of the replacement cost. And yeah, that's about what I got from them them with the final price when it was all said and done.

PART THREE: Finding Help

My roofer initially seemed great. I was excited to work with him. When the insurance came, instead of him coming, he sent an "assistant" who didn't really seem like he knew much of what he was doing or was very helpful. But hey, you know what? right after a storm like that, they're gonna be busy.

Several times over the next couple of weeks I texted him asking how things were progressing on just getting me a quote. He sent a whole other guy over like two weeks later for the fence quote. He barely seemed interested to be there. Um, okay. He also wouldn't even give me a ballpark at the time. Whatever.

Two weeks after that I hear from the roofer that he's almost done with my quote. By then it was the weekend before July 4th.

I'd gotten the money from the insurance. I'd sent the documentation of their payout to the roofer and made it clear I had a sum of cash above that (not exactly how much) to come out of pocket, and a priority list for the work to be done. My best guess is that he figured my business wasn't worth as much time as other people's, so I kept getting shuffled to the bottom of the stack. OK. His prerogative. Fair. But I was at the limit of my waiting, considering how bad my roof was.

My across the street neighbor had told me that she had her roof redone a year or two ago who she said did a good job, and he'd come to see how her roof fared from the storm and told her to give me his number if I wanted him to look at it. So when I didn't hear from my roofer after July 4th week, I went and asked her for the number, then texted Joel, the new roofer.

Anyway, Joel came out the next day. I showed him all the work I'd been approved for. He and I negotiated a price and materials for the roof. A price was set that was right about what I thought it should be.

Still had some money leftover in the budget so I asked about a fence, specifically an 8' Cedar fence. His quote was $1k more than I was hoping it would be, but honestly, still what I thought was a good deal.

He also mentioned a price for the patio roof. I was at my hoped-for spend limit and would get back to him about the patio roof.

In the end, I pulled a little more money together and told him to go for it.

That was Tuesday and Wednesday.

Original Builder sent me my quotes on Wednesday. How nice. Too late. Also they were like 30% higher than what I settled on with Joel. He just emailed them, didn't even bother to follow up with a text.

I had a polite response planned out in my head if he'd texted or called. But he didn't. Oops, I guess I didn't see that email.

PART FOUR: The Survey Drama

Thursday, Joel and his main builder came out, tore out the chain link fence and started putting up 10' poles for the 8' fence (2' of which is buried in concrete in the ground.)

Joel also told me that he needed a copy of my land survey for the build permit, which I should have from when I bought the house.

I spent a good hour searching through every document I had from when I bought my house in 2003 looking for it. And I felt I'd pretty much kept everything. I had my bids on houses I didn't win in there. I had notes that I took back then.

I did not have a survey. Well... shit.

So, I started by looking at the city website online. The city does not keep copies of surveys.

So I tried calling my mortgage company. Except oops they went out of business in like 2010.

Getting real panicked, I threw a hail mary and went to look up my Title company. They'd been bought out in like, 2007. But there were a couple of people working under franchise names of that company still. A total longshot, but I called the person nearest me.

That very nice man said he couldn't help me BUT I should call the home office. He gave me the name and number of a lady named Kim.

So I called Kim, and she was very very sweet. And extremely doubtful she had anything on file, but she would get with the records department and look.

A half hour later she called back. THEY'D FOUND IT. Holy crap. Even she was astonished.

I thanked her profusely and asked her to thank the records department. A few minutes later, the survey was in my email. And hey, it had my signature from 2003 on it! I sent that over to Joel and we got the permit. WHEW. Work continued.

I printed out three copies of the survey and emailed it to myself at two other email addresses.

PART FIVE: Communication

I texted my neighbor on the side where the fence would be built (the other neighbor had built their fence, also an 8' cedar fence, like 20 years ago, so hey, at least I only had to pay for two full sides and two fronts.

Technically I text with their daughter, as her parents don't speak English. They knew that this was coming and were cool with it. They knew the fencer would need to do some work in their yard and that there would be no fence for a little while. I asked Joel to please help minimize the time there was no fence for their dog (a pitbull, she's very sweet) to be penned in by.

Just want to say my neighbors are saints. They were very cool with everything, though I sent them many apologies. It was especially frustrating because we took the fence separating our yards down on Friday and there was no full fence put back up all weekend. It couldn't be avoided, though. Just wish the days had gone by faster. They could only let the dog our on the leash for those days. I asked (daughter) several times what I could do to say I'm sorry and thank you and they were really just kind and chill about it anyway. I am still thinking of something I could do for them, though, once this is all over. My initial thought is a small basket of dog toys and treats for the pupper.

I also started discussing paint stain colors for the fence with Joel, and let my neighbors help me make a decision, since they'd have to look at it, too. In the end, we decided to go with the same brown color that the fence on my other side already was. I kinda wanted to go with maybe a dark grey, which would also match the neighbors house well, but that's what they wanted and having a color match was my other main choice, and probably the right one, even if it doesn't match with our houses.

Mostly I'm glad my good relationship with my neighbors is intact.

PART SIX: CONSTRUCTION BEGINS!

Okay yeah so Thursday some poles got put up. Friday the rest of them got put up. Joel is mostly coordinating everything, the main builders are Jose and his wife Maria. Neither of them speak English and my High School and College Spanish were uh, 30 years ago but I retained a decent amount. Mostly though, we communicate through whatever sentences I can piece together and a lot of Google Translate. We have had entire conversations through Google Translate. It's great.

Saturday the work on the poles were finished and Sunday no work got done... I mean... it's Sunday. It was only annoying because of my neighbors having to take care of the dog and I felt bad about it.

Over the weekend I also picked out roof shingles. I got an architectural single, which is a nicer shingle. I wanted a medium-grey color -- I never liked the light grey my old roof was, I didn't pick it out, though I know lighter is probably cooler. I picked what I thought was a nice compromise.

PART SEVEN: Roof Day One

AKA my new Skylight.

Monday I woke up stupid early for no reason. But it was fine that I did because at 6:30am the doorbell rang. The roofers were here. And they got started right away.

It... was loud. I knew it would be but I don't think I was quite prepared for how loud.

But I had little to do after welcoming them, so I mean, when it was time for me to work (my job is 100% WFH still, yay!) I just got to work, doing my best to ignore the noise and hoping they wouldn't fall in on me. The cats were terrified and hiding, curled up together under my recliner in the living room, their normal safe place. I put food, water and their litter box in there, closed the door 90% of the way, and let them be.

Anyway, here I was, working away in my office and at about 10:15 am, there was a bright light and a foot in my ceiling.

First and most importantly, he is fine! He slipped and his leg fell through. It wasn't the end of the world, and MOST important, he CRAZILY fell through right above my very tall bookcase, the tallest piece of furniture I own. Instead of falling completely through the ceiling, he "stepped" two feet down, and his foot caught on the bookcase, and he pulled it right back up. If this had happened ANYWHERE else, it might have been a LOT worse.

Joel and Jose came in and assessed the situation and Jose said no problem. For about three hours the hole remained, until Joel came back from Home Depot with some drywall, and I had a funny story to tell all my friends, co-workers and family. That angle in that pic up there is literally an angle from where I sit while I work all day. Lots of fun comments about my new skylight and terrible puns from my brother.

It currently looks like this:

You can see the scuffs on the wall from the guy who fell's shoe!

Jose came in and got the drywall on and the spackle in. There was a crack already from the window to the ceiling, from the house settling, so he just went ahead and spackled that, too.

I actually have the paint can for that paint in my garage, so I handed that over to them to paint match.

Honestly, aside from being glad the worker is OK, I do not get upset over stuff like this as long as it gets fixed, and it well, so it's fine!

There's a similar hole in my garage ceiling, too, which still needs fixing.

The roof workers worked from 6:30am until 9pm. It was 100 outside that day. They were amazing.

This was taken Mid-day when they were eating lunch.

I not only was getting new shingles, but new decking (aka the wood that the shingles rest on that is connected to the rafters. I know they didn't redo the decking in 2003 when I bought the house and they put the cheapest roof possible on it before selling it to me. Joel confirmed that there were several rotting places in the decking and I saw a few pieces myself. And under in the attic the decking they installed a Thermal layer for more insulation that wasn't there before.

I did have good insulation installed pretty early, like 2005, so at least when the power has gone out since it's stayed nicely warm/cool depending on the season.

I had some old whirly type vents coming out of the house. Several of them were either broken or uh... very squeaky. Especially when it was cold, one of them had a definite squeak that you could hear outside and it was mortifying if my neighbors could hear it. That one, or maybe another one, rattled really badly when it was windy, too. TBH I would just put in my headphones to sleep sometimes because of roof noise the last year or two during very cold or windy nights.

Well, the roofers got rid of all of those. In place, they put a ridge vent, which basically means a tiny gap along the entire top ridge of the house, covered up by a special shingle. I learned all about it when I watched a Youtube about it the next morning after looking at it and going "WTF is that little bump?" Anyway, no more loud squeaky/rattling vents for me. My house is modern now. :D

So anyway, Monday night they finished getting roofing over the entire house, but the garage still wasn't done.

This was taken early Tuesday morning, there'd been tarps over the garage that night. There was no rain forecast, so everything was cool.

PART SEVEN POINT FIVE: No Internets (Part 1)

This is part 7.5 because I had to come back and add it in later when I forgot to add it until I was almost done writing, and I don't feel like correcting all the section titles, but it is absolutely part of the story.

Monday early evening as they were hurrying to finish getting roofing over at least the house part of the roof they got some of the garage done. Around 7pm there was a blip where my internet went out, but it came back.

And then at like 8:15 as they were finishing, it went out and DIDN'T come back.

I did all the normal troubleshooting things, put in a ticket with my provider, and called tech support.

Eventually I got someone on the line who asked me to make sure everything was plugged in, what, like I'm some kind of idiot? I work in IT! I know what I'm doing! But, I humored her. And she reminded me that there's not only the box on the outside of my house, but also the one in the garage, could I please check to make sure that was plugged in?

OK Sure. Constructions been going on, I'll humor her.

So anyway, I had forgotten the the box in the garage was plugged into an outlet in the ceiling that had been put there for my garage door. It had come completely out in all the banging from the roofers.

OK no problem, right? I'll just plug it back in, and voila! Internet!

Um except the plug is right above my car, like dead center.

OK sure, just gotta move my car!!!

...except there was a dumpster in my driveway, riiiight behind my car. I couldn't move my car more than a foot if I tried.

I spent like 10 minutes trying to reach it with my stepladder (nope not even close) or maneuver it back in with a broom handle (lol noooo chance) and gave up.

I took this pic just now for illustrative purposes. The plug is now plugged back in. But yeah, I had to cancel my Monday night PF2e game from last of Internets.

In the morning, I overslept, and they rang the doorbell to let me know they were there. I saw Joel and waved to him, and one minute later I went back outside to tell him about the internet problem. He was gone. I texted him, didn't hear back. It was getting close to work time, so I called him and he'd left as soon as he saw I was home and ready for the workers to work. I didn't realize he was so far away already, but he still turned around, came back in, and figured out a way to plug the plug back in without standing on my car. I was a half hour or so late to logging into work but it all worked out. Just a little bump in the road. I felt bad that he had come come back from wherever he went, too. I swear I looked for him a MINUTE after I saw him that morning!

Part EIGHT: Fencing!

While the roofers roofed, Jose and Maria were busy with the fence. And by the end of the day Monday, they had most of the neighboring fence with the dog put up.

In the picture in part 7 above, on the left is the fence that's been there 20 years. You can see that those neighbors put the "ugly" part of the fence with the poles and boards on my side.

Honestly I've been mad about it for the 20 or so years it's been up. Not like super mad, I never talked to them about it, but I just thought it was really shitty of them to do that. I've always tried hard to be as kind and thoughtful to my neighbors as I could be and wouldn't have dreamed of doing that if I had put the fence up first.

In the alley and the other side of their house, the pretty side is the outside and the ugly side is inside. But on THAT ONE SIDE, they gave me the ugly side. Never talked to me about it, never consulted me about the fence, it just went up one day and I was left to deal with it.

I've always even since been kind about granting them access to fix their fence and am on good terms with the wife of the couple of who lives there. And when my house was broken into in 2011 the husband heard it happen and called the police and gave a statement, which I thought was very good of them, the police were able to get my house sealed back up somewhat so when I came home a few hours later the damage as minimized.

So yeah, I'm not sure why I got the ugly side of the fence from them. Also like, it seems way easier to climb that side of the fence so all they did was make their own yard less secure? I didn't want that! A big part of wanting an 8' fence was more security!

Anyway, it was important to me to not make my other neighbors look at the ugly side of the fence. Also, I just figured why not have it look the same all the way around? And again, the security issue.

But also... like two or three years ago the neighbors on that side put up sheds on their property... and backed them right up to the property line. Again, no discussion with me, they just did it, and by the time I saw it, happened it was too late to change anything.

I wasn't super happy with it because of this scenario right here.

Sunday Joel and I had a long conversation about what to do about it, and I was still committed to wanting the ugly side on the inside. But they literally couldn't hammer back there to get the fence up behind the sheds.

In the end, we went with an, admittedly weird, compromise.

Note that that side of the fence goes that far back so that both of the windows on that side of the house are inside the fence. Again, security.

So yeah, the fence swaps facing mid-way for just the part where their sheds are. I still have mixed feelings about it but honestly, it's fine. I wish it could look completely the same all the way around, but, it works OK this way. Maybe I should have made the neighbors look at the ugly side the entire way, but the security issue was important in my mind... even though tbh anyone who really wanted to could just climb up on my neighbors sheds and hop over. It's a little weird and I guess technically I gave up a few inches of unusable property there, but it's a compromise I can live with any whoever buys the house after me can live with it, too.

Honestly at this point, can't wait for them to finish the fence all-around because I feel like I can barely sleep knowing all this expensive STUFF is just laying around my wide-open yard.

It's also real dumb because my 4' chain link fence kept no one past five years old out of my yard, it wasn't even padlocked, and yet I feel less secure with no fence.

This is what the back of the fence looks like right now (Thursday morning) and has since... I think Monday or maybe Tuesday. Joel's had problems sourcing more of the right boards. The gap on the left is, of course, where the back gate will be. I do feel better having it like, two-thirds done at least. there's also no gate on the front yard yet, either, which will just be flush with the end of the fence there.

PART NINE: The Patio Begins!

The roofers were done with their parts Wednesday afternoon. And I love the roof so much, but I'm going to hold off on posting pictures of that quite yet!

The patio roof before, if I had to guess, was built in the 1980s. The roof itself was just a big piece of corrugated metal, held up by some OK-built wood beams and ironwork pillars in the front. It was fine, it was functional. You can see in this pic from last month pretty well the construction and also how it was getting holes in it.

The wood was also really starting to rot. There were a couple of places where it barely still connected because of wood rot. I'd guess within 5 years it would have been falling down. It was definitely time for a new one, and the price Joel gave me I thought was really fair for a patio roof of the same quality.

Well, I was wrong about the quality.

When Jose ran out of wood for the fence, he and Maria got started on the patio. First, they demo'd it.

Oh hey, also first look at the new roof color.

That's how my patio looked all Tuesday night to Wednesday morning. You can clearly see in that second picture some of the wood rot. Here's some more of it.

That piece on the upper left I'm pretty sure was the part right over my patio door that I had to look at basically like, all the time. It was disintegrating.

So yeah, I was so glad to see that go.

A couple of years ago, when the big tree near my house was still there, it hadn't gotten trimmed recently and there was an ice storm. The tree branches swung low and the icy branch ends were smacking against that metal roof in the wind. It was loud and spooky. I had to go sleep in the living room that night from the sound. I really didn't like that metal roof.

I'm never going to have that problem again, since no tree there (for now...) but also the construction of the new patio roof is very different.

We'll get back to that.

PART TEN: Crazy Wednesday

Wednesday morning began with me realizing that all the banging and knocked one of the lights off of my bathroom ceiling. No problem, Let Joel know, it'll get fixed.

Jose and Maria finished up the demo of the patio roof (chunks of it are still in my yard).

I honestly had no idea what they were planning to do to replace it. Joel just told me to trust him, it's going to be great. OK!

The next thing I knew they're cutting into my house. WTF? Trust me, Joel said, it's gonna be great. OK!

Tuesday the sewer had started backing up again. God damnit, it JUST HAD backed up and I had it cleaned a month and a half ago when I got power back. So I called the plumbers, they were scheduled to come out that afternoon.

Just another thing I didn't need, but whatevs. I had a very productive morning for once this week while working, at least.

In the early afternoon, they had started to demolish more of the patio than I expected. They cut through some of the eaves, and took some of the facing off of the house where I wasn't expecting.

The plumber also arrived and was doing his thing. He then told me that my entire sewer was fine, I didn't have a stoppage. He took me out in the alley, though, and showed me that there WAS a stoppage outside the property line in the alley, and told me to put in a ticket with the city.

Kinda hate that it cost me $350 to find that out, but mostly it was a bit of a relief that it wasn't actually my problem.

I went back inside, put in a ticket with the water department, and got back to work.

Then, weirdly, my internet went down again a half hour or so later.

I checked all of the connections, then got a sinking feeling. I went outside and saw more stuff cut down and in that stuff was... a wire. I looked inside that wire and yeah... that's an internet cable.

That's a terrible picture but you can see some of the facing it came out of, lol.

Literally as I was taking that picture, a guy from the water department walked up to me and told me that there was indeed a stoppage in the alley. Because some kid had unplugged the cleanout line behind my house and dropped a baseball down there. The baseball was probably stopping up the entire block.

They couldn't get it out, so they were putting in an emergency ticket to dig up the line, and pull it out. I wouldn't have sewer for a day or so.

I think the "How SCREWED AM I with all of this going on!?" look on my face (though I was very polite and not upset with him obviously) paired with the state of my yard and the work being done gave me some sympathy -- he assured me I didn't have to pay for it, and he'd let me know when things would stop.

Ooooohkay.

It also started to drizzle a little at that point, but it never actually rained and work didn't have to stop, thankfully! Instead, Jose and Maria had a lovely overcast day in the 80's to work in. I had been worried about them the last couple of days and had supplied them with a big box of water (From a water delivery service) and big cups of ice to make sure they were well hydrated.

I went back in my house, laid down on the couch, and tried putting in a ticket with my internet company. The chatbot wouldn't let me do it, so I called and sat on hold for 45 minutes just staring at the wall. This was A Lot.

I also let my boss and Eric, my friend/co-worker who lives nearby know. Eric was up at the office today, but told me he was about to come back home and would bring me a hotspot, so I'd have SOME internet.

While I was laying on the couch, the doorbell rang. It was the water guy, and with a big smile on his face he told me that his coworker was able to use some tool to get the baseball out! There'd be no sewer work needed and things were flowing freely.

Fiiiinally, a break.

Eventually got to talk to a real person on the phone with the internet company, and not long after Eric arrived with the hotspot. I showed him around the mess a bit. After over an hour "break", I got back to work.

And as of Thursday morning, I'm still on the hotspot. But this one is pretty fast, and it has a network jack, so I even got to run my Wednesday night D&D game off my PC last night. What a relief.

Internet company should be here this afternoon to fix stuff. I'm probably going to have to pay for that, though.

The other great news is that somehow i didn't even notice that the gutter contractor had been here, done his job and left!! I don't even know when he was there/did his job, and my office is the front of the house! Maybe he did it when I was laying on the couch in the living room!? It was FAST, though. Joel just called to tell me to go outside to look, and WOW. He'd said they might do black gutters. I was unconvinced but trusted him.

He was so very, very right.

Anyway, finally, here's a pic of the front of the house, with the new roof and black gutters.

Holy crap, what a difference. My house almost looks fancy now. Almost. The shingles are so gorgeous.

You can see that ridge vent pretty well there. And that's with the old white gutters obviously. The black gutters give the house a really striking and defining line that really pops.

Here's a quick comparison with the old roof and gutters:

A truly amazing difference. And yeah I need to paint the garage door. Going to actually get to that now.

PART ELEVEN: The Patio Continued.

SO! They got so much done, and although there's a lot to do, I am already so well pleased.

The reason they were cutting into it so much was because they'd determined that the best course of action was to have hte patio become a part of the roof, and it would be built on a similar slant instead of just a flat piece of metal. Instead, it would just be a full roof anyway.

The posts are huge, thick wooden posts, which Joel tells me will be covered when they're done.

The roof is literally... the thermal barrier, decking and will be the same siding as the roof I already have.

This is what it looks like as of last night...

They did accidentally also break the light cover over my porch light so that'll need to be replaced, but it's small potatoes.

I still don't have a full picture of what it's going to look like, and I'm so excited for it. It's going to look so nice. I've loved the work Joel and Jose/Maria have done so far and honestly trust them completely with whatever now. The quality is fantastic and despite the little hiccups, things are actually, honestly going well.

I'm going to post this now and report back in a couple of days when it's done! I'd planned on holding off until it was ALL done, But this is post is already long enough!

This has been one of the biggest money commits I've ever done, after buying my home and buying cars, but honestly, totally worth it.

Gonna suck if I end up selling the house to gtfo of Texas in the next couple of years, but at least it'll sell for more if it looks this good!

[rachel-974]

Change of plan! (Things to modify and headcanon concept from Rachel)

Today I'm going to change a little and it will be permanent, yes. First of all I have to change the concept of Steve Junior, even if I added Junior behind, I continue to call Steve simply. (The design does not change though) For Alex, I fire her... Why? Because I can't put her into my story and therefore, it wouldn't make any sense to me. (Sorry for those who like Alex but don't worry, I will draw her from time to time just for some fanart of her that's all.)

In my blog I would only ship Steve X Herobrine.

When I have finished my "clip" animation, I will post the link to my video only on my blog. (Because on X some French peoples are on strike so I am part of it because I am French myself.)

The signatures will also change to avoid reposts without my consent.

Consider it another Rachel update! 👀✨

I hope you have a good day/evening !