#I want to name this stuff but they're all so short it would feel senseless to do so. Perhaps when I write something longer lol

[gentlebliss]

"Sometimes the days blend together endlessly and I don't know what yesterday was or where a week ago went. Tie your fate to mine in an untidy knot and we will get through this no matter how much the string may waver."

[princess-glassred]

It the musical! Henry Bowers head cannons

I thought it would be fun and interesting to try and write like a sad back story for this version of Henry since we don't know anything about his homelife and why he is the way he is. So here's some head cannons about his life to explain what his whole deal is. Just to clarify a big part of this post is Musical! Henry being a closeted trans man with toxic masculinity. I am bigender so i felt like this would be an interesting thing to explor for the character but if you (understandably) get the ick from having an antagonist like Henry be trans and don't wanna read this that's fine. I get it, an unfortunate amount of villains in media are trans and seen as more scary because of it, i'm not trying to do that here but if you don't wanna hear this it's fine. I just think it would be interesting if because lots of people already read Henry as being in the closet, and he's played by a female presenting actor, i could make him trans.

So uh, yeah withoit further ado, here's the headcannons:

-Musical! Henry unlike the other versions of Henry is AFAB. (His full name is Henrietta just like his mom) It's pretty obvious to everyone that Henry is AFAB, and the fact the losers call him by male pronouns is more so just to exaggerate how much of a sexist douchebag he is, they have no idea Henry is actually trans. He himself doesn't know he's trans, he just assumes he enjoys it because being a man seems to be the best thing in the world to him. There is undoubtably some transness going on, but I don't think Musical! Henry ever truly accepts it. He just thinks "yeah im so cool im basically a guy". By the time Henry is in juniper Hills any hopes of him acknowledging he might actually be transgender are pretty dismal, especially with the way Juniper Hills treats their patients.

-The losers calling Henry a man just started as one of those stupidly insensitive things kids do, but as adults they're all like "Ohhhh. Henry really DID like being called that. That's good for him I guess." And they continue to call Henry a dude because even though he's transphobic and sucks ass they're not transphobes. I also think Musical! Eddie and Stan are trans too (Hence why the losers lovingly call Stan stan the man and Henry calls Eddie girlyboy to insult him) so they ain't judging.

-The reason Henry's Juniper Hills outfit is just like a tank top and shorts is to try and disuade his transness, since they know Henry loves wearing jackets and pants. If the Juniper Hills staff can help it they'll try to "fix" Henry in anyway they see fit. Wether it's outright referring to Henry as a woman to his face or just beating Henry senseless for exhibiting masculine traits, Henry is subjected to lots of transphobia from the medical system.

-The transphobia he's experienced in there fuels his preformance of elastic heart, the lyrics of the song are unsurprisingly about just moving on from the things that hurt you and never breaking down. It proves that despite everything Henry has had to face in his 27 years at Juniper Hills, he's still not a woman like the doctors are trying to force him to be.

-Even though Musical! Henry would still be trans no matter the envirement they were raised in, his dysphorhia has an accidentally toxic layer to it from how often Butch drills into Henry how femininity is weakness. Henry can't just be a man because that's how they feel, they also have to be a man because being masculinity is power and he wants to be seen as more valuable. Henry is so fucked in the head he can't just admit he's trans and be happy, he has to weaponize the fact he's more masculine than Eddie or Stan.

-His lack of self acceptance also makes him more prone to lash out. Obviously at home Henry is constantly called a girl and all this stuff when he knows he doesn't feel like that at all. He's a huge mess of emotions with no outlet for support or even really labels to help, so he responds to his dysphoric feelings at home by being ultra sexist, transphobic, and violent to the people around him. He has serious toxic masculinity because the only version of masculinty that he feels is acceptable is Butch's (which is also, unfortunately, a very white version of masculinity too).

-Every sexist thing Henry says about Bev is things his father has said about him.

-It the musical! Henry is mixed, their mother is black and their dad is white. Henry gets his blonde hair from his dad.

-Butch Bowers would have abused any woman but his abuse of Henrietta was absolutely emboldened by the fact she was black, it was no wonder she left.

-Henry's hatred of Mike Hanlon stems more from colorism than just straight up racism like his book counterpart (although there's definitely still aspects of that).

-Part of the reason Butch is so cruel to Henry is that he is mixed, but Henry still likes to claim his whiteness to feel superior to Mike. He's darker and had two black parents so Henry still feels better than him. Henry still very much idolizes Butch so anything he can claim to make him feel closer to his father, even if it's just a lighter skin tone or half his genes, he will use it. His anti-blackness is probably not helped by the fact his black mother abandoned him.

-The racism also affects how he views Bill and Eddie since they are also racebended in the musical. Henry is less racist to asian people than he is to other black people, but he's still very racist towards Eddie.

-As for his friendship with Musical! Patrick despite him being black, i think it's safe to say his colorism doesn't affect Patrick because he 1. Doesn't give a shit, and 2. Probably lives up to all the stereotypes Henry believes of dark skinned black men (cunning, violent, sneaky, ect.).

-It the musical Henry is really just one messy hodge podge of internalized misogyny, anti blackness, and the inability to accept his trans identity.

[senseless-wanderings]

A Sense of Wanderlust (name still pending)

Senseless Wanderings was not an iterator known to panic.  Even in the most dire of situations, when anyone else would be frying their circuts from worry, Wander would always take it one step at a time.

This was not one of these times.

They've walked to the end of the line, each step only delaying their doom.  And although they've kept up their facade of calm, in truth they're panicking more than they've ever did before.

Their systems were quickly overtaken with rot in a few cycles.  All it took was a slight slip up their projects.  One that went unnoticed until it was too late.  One that also happened to be a strain that grew suspiciously fast.

Around a hundred cycles after they discovered the tumor that infected them, and the stuff was already in their chamber, crawling down their umbilical arm.

An orange furred slugcat knawed angerly at it.  Wander's little helper.  Its mane flared up in a brilliant burst of flame, and Wander sheilded their puppet's eyes from their spot on the chamber floor.  When it died down after a few seconds, and all that was left was ash stained on their now sleek fur, Wander noticed with slight glee that the rot had retreated a few feet.

"Thank you, Ash.  I appreciate the effort."

The slugcat chirriped happily, before crawling into their lap to realish in the attention.  A ping followed by a shudder of their can interrupted their short snuggle session.

1682.759 - PRIVATE Senseless Wanderings, Silver Lining of Cycles

SLC: Wander? You still okay? SW: Still kicking. SLC: Oh good, I was worried I wouldn't get to say goodbye. SW: We've already said goodbye a million times already. SLC: I know, I know.

Another shudder wracked their can and pain flared through their body.  Wander looked down at their companion in concern.

"Are you still sure you don't want to evacuate?  This fall's gonna hurt." Ash blinked back up at them before knocking their foreheads together and purring with a small "murr."

"Haha, okay. Thank you." Another ping.

SLC: Is there really nothing we can do? SW: Unfortunately, you and I have already tried everything short of ripping me off my umbilical. SLC: That isn't too bad of an idea actually. SW: Haha.

A third shudder followed by even more pain and a loud creak.

SW: I'm sorry love, I think this is goodbye. SW: I love you.

A final shudder, pain, and long creak that slowly grew to a loud whine.  The floor started to give way below the two in the puppet's chamber.

Two last things were heard before they fell.

A ping.  And a snap.

Pain ran through their puppet as they plummeted.

~

Message for @nerdydowntherabbithole :

Hello! I'm the anon that had brought up sibling dynamics between slugcats and then asked if you wanted to see my fic so far! Here it is lol! Feel free to suggest writing tips if you'd like!

[cloudninetonine]

!!!TRIGGER WARNING!!! Hoo boy so i went on a hell of a ramble and accidentally mentioned some super dark stuff so TW for mentions(?) of: self-harm, mental illness, implied discrimination and abuse, dark thoughts, social/societal(?) conditioning, social/societal issues/corruption, negative self-esteem, implied PTSD, mentioned panic attacks, INCREDIBLY long all-over-the-place ask sorry VERY stream-of-conciousness

You know the post where someone's like "well if I get kidnapped by the fae that's the fae's problem" and someone compares that to "bold of you to assume I have blood"? Anyway Player!AU. "I do not control the brain!" "It fuckin WIMDY" "I have the survival instincts of a wet paper bag" smthn smthn Twiddy anyway I feel like there is. SO much potential and I cannot describe to you how much I'm excitedly (internally) vibrating right now.

Also I feel like Player would still bully Legend for his height and NO ONE ELSE (unless they start it) even if they were 5'2" lol. Maybe threaten to forcefeed him his kneecaps. Or sautee his teeth. I might be sleepy 💖😘 just the most Cursed(TM) shot teaching them what real fear is. And flirting through intimidation lol because they don't know how. And simultaneously being terrified of the bear Wild's got and wanting so badly to name it Sir Bearington and/or reenact the smoothie meme

ANOTHER THOUGHT: WHAT IF THERE WERE TWO PLAYERS. COMPLETE STRANGERS. SPEAKING ONLY IN MEMES. SINGING NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP TO THE OTHER INNOCUOUSLY UNTIL THEY SHRIEK IN RAGE AND CHASE THEM AROUND A HERD OF BEWILDERED HEROES. TRADING HORRIFYING INFODUMPS ON BUGS AND DEEP SEA CREATURES OR SOME SUCH. BEING GENERALLY INCOMPREHENSIBLE AND UNKNOWABLE AND UNINTENTIALLY BECOMING CRYPTIDS. ARGUING OVER WHETHER LYNELS ARE INSECTS BECAUSE THEY'RE CENTAUR-LIKE. USING WORDS LIKE SKRUNKLY (and arguing over the differences from scrungly), BLORBO, GLUP SHITTO, BASED, MOOD, "oh worm? then squirm," dancing on goatman's bridge, "GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY IT'S ALL GONE TO SHIT!" good lordy i need to stop lol. SHARING JOY THAT NO ONE ELSE UNDERSTANDS BUT IS TENTATIVELY SUPPORTIVE OF. Subtly making fun of the Daisy(dorky?) Chain (affectionate). Using "little shit" and "fuck" in many different ways and confusing and scandalizing everyone else. Two weirdos in--well, not their natural habitat exactly, but they'll make do (and make it everyone else's problem)

I was reading a fic today and there was an exchange along the lines of "hEATHEN" "but i believe in Hylia" "then start praying" and that made me think of "were i not a holy woman i would beat you senseless" "you're a 'holy woman'?" "No." Constantly finishimg each others sentences in the most nonsensical ways the chain didnt think possible. Defeating enemies with the sheer power of "wtf???" Doing/encountering something dangerous, being terrified to tears, and immediately wanting to do it again (maybe after a short break).

Casually saying super disturbing things like about how fucked up the system is and how lives only hold monetary value and continuing on with their day with the chain making horrified expressions and noises in the background

Convincing someone people only kiss on Tuesdays and Thursdays and that breakdancing is a super fancy greeting. Finding some toothpaste someone had in their pockets and icing cookies with it, then pretending they don't know what the problem is. Discovering the joys of arson translate to the real world as well as they slowly get over their (relative to the chain) intemse fear of fire. Unleashing their inner pyromaniacs. Both kicking ass and sucking at hidden role games due to the sheer AUDACITY. The whiplash between super timid (henlo anxiety) and outrageously obnoxious and bubbly joy. Someone complaining about being in "giggly bitch mode" during a bubbly joyful gigglefest. Someone trying to throttle the other after speaking in owo too long. The contrast between childish glee as they're experiencing this world of magic and goddesses IN-PERSON for the first time; vs possible cynicism, nihilism, pessimism, depression, anxiety, trauma, constant downplaying of said trauma, "others have it so much worse" AND THEY DO but trying to get it through their heads that doesn't mean they didn't also have it rough. Explaining things like hostile architecture and the homeless good lord the chain WOULD NOT react well. Automatically assuming someone is mad at YOU, not just having a bad day. Telling someone what you think they want to hear so they won't hurt you as much/as directly. There is so much potential for the chain being disturbed by their behavior, then being even MORE so once they realize those are LEARNED behaviors, like submitting instead of running or fighting and punishing onself. Getting into all sorts of super dark stuff super quickly with no warning, then continuing on with the conversation like nothing happened. DID RULIE HEAL THE CAFFEINE ADDICTION HOLY FUCK YES. Player with different brain wiring/chemical imbalances trying to make the others understand why they need to rely on their adrenaline addiction and panic themself into doing the dishes. The chain being disturbed at how horrible they are at taking care of themself/ves (and the possible intentional self-sabotaging and -harm, even/especially subconciously)

Calling Twi, Time, and Legs furries and refusing to explain. Leggplant. Singing Wellerman and wondering if Wind knows it. Accidentally fudgin your words and saying "Warnut" and callin him that when hes bein too obnoxious/holdin things outta reach (because his nuts are probably protected by a metal plate, it's too awkward to ask, and you don't wanna find out yourself,,,even with steel-toed boots). Talking about SPAAAAAACE and terrifying and aweing everyone. A somethong-or-rather starts swinging slightly, unprompted, no wind, and immediately relentlessly mocking it. Making stupid faces and noises when you're (irrationally?) scared, like if its super dark and you only have a torch. 30-second dance parties when needed. "The floor is lava!" and the ensuing chaos. Sacrificing someone (coughIcan'tpickonecough) to the lava.

Wind: *memes*

Players: ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE OF-

Have you read the fic "ridiculous optimization: the art of finding the wrong(?) tool for the right(?) situation"? Pulling stuff like that. CHAOS. Breaking hearts, minds, and rules (and 'Rules, poor lad knowing just who Player is and becoming well-acquainted with their native brand/language of insanity)

Having no combat skills whatsoever (or people skills, according to Player), but if there's a math puzzle (like algebra/geometry) or a riddle or a word puzzle or--just. Puzzles. They'll figure it out (even if it takes a while and a lot of frusterated tears)

Walking back into the room you just left to go get the thought you left behind. Brain refusing to do. No thoughts, head empty, braincells are that SpongeBob meme where they're all screaming and everything is on fire. Queer Panik(TM). Annoying the pubby (Wolfie) because you know he won't hurt you (all bark no bite). Struggling to remember the word for a leaf so you call it a "boney boneless green vegan patty hand thing." Drawing a smiley face on someone's face in permanant marker. Up(down)grading them to UwU

I may have been thinking about Player AUs for a WHILE and been stocking up. Oops 🤗😬😓

AAAAAA I LOVE THIS SO MUCH LET'S DO THIS!!

The Player being the emboidment of "I've met some insufferable people but those people have also met me"

The potential you talk about? I plan on writing that shit. This Player, while acting normally to the circumstances they will face will be dragged kicking and screaming while playing it off as a joke the entire time.

Also the idea of another Player? Absolute anarchy. Gremlin stance and both ready to fight, the Chain don't understand, wouldn't you be happy with someone else there with you?! But here you are pulling at each other's hair and screaming things they don't understand.

"THIS TOWN AINT BIG ENOUGH FOR THE BOTH OF US, FUCKER"

"THEN START FUCKING RUNNING, CLOWN"

It's like siblingship but they're 2 complete strangers.

If you know Fred and George from Harry Potter (Fuck JK fucking Terf cunt) then that would be their dynamic.

Just trauma dumping as well.

"Parents made me walk home in the dark after 'back talking' them in the car, you?"

"Single mum, but she's awesome, however, my brother used to terrorise me when she wasn't home. Chased me with a knife on more than one occasion, even a chainsaw, threatened to kill me if I told anyone though. Wasn't surprised to find out he was a narcissist"

"Fucking hell dude"

Hyrule just "Both of you here, now, I'm giving you hugs"

(Players being American and English respectively because that's just how I see it)

Brain, head empty until it comes to puzzles. One's like "Puzzles, Puzzles, Puzzles!" and the other's like "....Puzzles"

The Chain just have to witness them shouting at each other about possible answers before another fight breaks out that they have to pull apart.

"STOP GASLIGHTING ME"

"I'M NOT GASLIGHTING YOU, YOU'RE JUST DUMB"

Just complete chaos

[i-amm-writing]

Senseless Short Story Shamble:

--fluff, mystery, adventure, romance, YA

Amber and scarlet colored leaves danced on the ground, stirred up by a Southern wind. I pulled my cardigan closer around me. Always a woman who dressed for the season, I had a large collection of cardigans specially selected for the fall. But that's not exactly important. I took a deep breath. The fresh, autumn scent had a calming effect.

It was a nice day to take a walk in the park.

A man on the path walked quite a ways in front of me, slowly heading towards me. Studying him for a moment, I noticed he looked nervous. I frowned, glancing away, then looked back at him. Suddenly his eyes met mine and he smiled.

Oh shoot. Do I know him? Who is he?

He came towards me. Even more surprising, he quickly pulled me into a hug. I was speechless. He was warm, and he smelled good, but I still had no idea who he was.

"Pretend you know me," he whispered in my ear.

"What? Do I — Who are you?"

"Just do it."

"Okay," I said, nodding my head and managing a smile.

He finally released me from the hug and placed my arm through his.

I chewed on my lip. Was he some sort of kidnapper? A serial killer? Was he going to shove me in a car and hurt me?

I stopped walking, gently pulling on his arm, all the while keeping a smile on my face. "Who are you?"

"You could get in a lot of trouble if I told you."

"I could also get in a lot if trouble if you don't tell me. How do I know if I can trust you? If I can't trust you, why should I help you?"

He smiled, leaning towards me, keeping up a good act. "I'm a surveillance operative. I work for the government." He slipped an ID into my hand. I studied it. It looked real enough. He took it back.

"You're a spy," I said. "Wha—why do you need my help?"

"I don't want to get caught. I need to blend in. You were the, um, best person I could find. I'm sorry."

"But—"

"Are you going to help me or not?" His grin could melt the North Pole, but his voice pressed for a quick answer.

I nodded. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just keep walking and talking. We're friends, okay?"

"Okay."

We continued on, dry leaves crunching beneath our boots.

"So, what's your name, friend?" the man asked.

"Danielle."

"It's nice to meet you, Danielle."

"You can call me Dee, if you'd like. Um, what's your name?"

"Maybe just call me George."

"Well, if you're going to fake your name, the least I can do is give you a better alias than that. What about Derek?"

"Derek?"

"Yeah."

"I guess."

I smiled, satisfied. We walked down the sidewalk, coming back into the city, leaving behind the beauty of the park. I had really wanted to enjoy the colors -- but things were definitely not going as planned.

We walked on for several blocks, smiling and making small talk. But soon, I started to feel a new mood in Derek. His body was tense.

I chuckled nervously. "What's wrong?"

Without warning, he gripped onto my arm and pulled me into an alleyway. It was dark and stinky.

"Shh," he said, covering my mouth with his hand. He pressed my back against the wall, holding me tight around my waist. It was as though he wanted to become one with the wall — sandwiching me in between. His eyes flickered towards the street, watching for something to appear in the distance.

What's happening?

I struggled a little. He ignored me, his eyes still glued on the street. He was too strong to fight with, and too much of a stranger to trust. I shook my head, trying to get loose from his hand.

Finally, his hand slipped from my mouth. His body sagged against mine. "They're gone."

"Who?" I snapped, pushing him away.

"The thugs that were following me," he said simply. "Listen. I'm sorry I got you into all this. It's definitely not the most professional thing I have done." He growled underneath his breath. "I'm no rookie, but boy have I made a rookie's mistake."

"You panicked."

His eyes shot to mine. "What?"

"You got scared. There's nothing wrong with that," I said. "What is wrong though is you keeping me in the dark. I deserve to know what's going on. Afterall, it's no longer just your life on the line."

"You talk like this happens to you everyday."

"Well, maybe not stuff like this. It's just that I can think pretty clearly under pressure."

"Unlike me, it appears."

"Maybe, but that still doesn't dismiss the fact that I have no idea what's going on. Talk to me, or I'm out of here."

He bit his bottom lip, staring off into the street. A few minutes passed, and he still hadn't said anything.

I herumphed and started to walk away. With quick ease, he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to stand in front of him.

"Don't. Are you crazy? That would be dangerous."

"It wasn't dangerous until I met you!"

He sighed. "I don't know how much I can tell you. Above all, this is serious business. You can't be fooling around."

Voices sounded from the sidewalk. Oh great. What a suspicious sitiluation this must look like, I thought.

Suddenly, Derek jerked me towards him. His lips collided with mine. His arms wrapped around me. Surprised, I allowed him to kiss me. I sort of knew what he was trying to do -- but still, the least he could have done was warn me!

Quiet and quick, the sidewalk strollers passed by. Why disturb the lovers, right? That would just be awkward. But at least they were gone.

Still, Derek continued to kiss me. And, strangely enough, I started kissing him back.

Finally, we pulled away.

He caught his breathe. "Ar-are they gone?"

I nodded. "They've been gone for a while."

"That's, uh, good. I think." He stepped back a step and cleared his throat. "We'd better get moving again. I need to get back to HQ."

"Right."

He offered me his arm. I took it quietly. After a while of silence, Derek actually spoke up.

"I'm sorry. About, uh, what happened back there."

"You panicked again. No need to say sorry," I said. "But, maybe you could warn a girl before you do something like that again? Just some advice for future escapades."

Derek stopped walking. "Do you seriously think I plan on just grabbing random woman and doing stuff like this? Believe me when I say this is the first time anything like this, or, uh, that, has happened."

"I'd hope so. Still, just warn me next time."

"Next time?"

I stared up at him. "You know. When you panic."

He shook his head. "I won't panic."

"So, you won't kiss me again?"

He nodded. "I promise I won't. Again, I'm sorry I did it the first time. It violated your personal space and I overstepped my bounds."

I lifted my shoulders. "Well, considering everything, I didn't exactly fight you. And it did provide a good cover."

Derek stared at me. "Yes. It did. But I promise it won't happen again."

Finally, I came right out with it. "You seemed to enjoy it."

"In all honesty, I did. But that's beside the point."

"What's the point, then?"

"The point is; we don't know each other. It was just an accidental kiss. And I'm sorry about that."

"I'm not asking you to apologize."

"You're not?"

I shook my head. "I'm saying I'm just as guilty of enjoying that kiss as you are."

"You are?"

"Yes."

His brows furrowed as he continued walking. We traveled on in silence for quite a while. I wanted to smack myself. Idiot. You jumped to the wrong conclusion. He doesn't like you. Who would? You're just an awkward bookworm!

Suddenly, Derek stopped walking. He turned towards me, rubbing his chin. Then he smiled. "I actually think I'm panicking. Imagine that." His arms slipped around me, drawing me in until our lips met. After a few slow seconds of that, he drew back and looked me in the eyes.

"Satisfied?" I wondered.

He shook his head. "It might take a lifetime to satisfy this craving. But, I'm afraid there are more pressing matters at hand at the moment. We're still in danger of being recognized, remember?"

"How could I forget? But, you're the spy. Tell me you have a plan."

"Dee, you've seen first-hand that I don't have a plan at all."

"But you've made up for it by being cute."

He shook his head. "Now, don't distract me."

I smiled. "I'll do my best not to. You have my word."

But Derek didn't hear me. He was looking across the street. Then he suddenly grabbed my hand. "Run!"

-sigh-. . .I was bored again.