#I’m fine with spiders in video games but not in reality
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😭 I hate my life 😭 a huge spider came out of nowhere and landed on my pillow
#the only reason it didn’t land on my face was because I was putting on lotion and checking tumblr before bed#i Keep Finding Spiders in this house and I Don’t Like what finding them means#I’m fine with spiders in video games but not in reality#cw spiders#cw bugs#cw insects#i tried to tag commonly used filtered tags so people can avoid this post. let me know if there are more I can add#anyway I have to be at work in about 10 hours :(#every shift since last Wednesday has been 10-11 hours apart so I barely have time to exist
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I want to reveal that I played these games while Spider-Man Lotus premiered...because I wanted to watch/play better Spider-Man material...
A while ago, today...not too long. Maybe an hour ago, I think. I finished watching Spider-Man Lotus on a Twitter video. I don’t want to give Gavin any money...
And I’m going to reveal some stuff I told @kaijuguy19 about my thoughts on Gavin as a person. Before Spider-Man Lotus was announced. Gavin was some dude who seemed VERY CRITICAL about modern Spider-Man media and people on Twitter didn’t like him that much. At first, his takes really bothered me, but I remember that, I was learning more about classic Spider-Man and one time, this was all before it was discovered about the...horrible he said. I think it was in a retweet or something that I tried to defend him, telling people to lay off of him for having his own opinion on stuff. He thanked me for that...
We never had any real conversations. But only that “Thanks” and fuck...I’m trying to remember details but moving on. Listen, I love the Spider-Verse stuff and all the crossovers. But when seeing Gavin talk about Spider-Man. He was talking more about the “Down to Earth” stuff and what Spider-Man meant before he got expanded as a character. He seemed really passionate about a character and he wanted something more serious.
He was never my friend. But I thought he seemed like if he was less...serious or jerky...then maybe he’d be fine. Because he acted like HE KNEW Spider-Man.
When Spider-Man Lotus was announced. It seemed like a dream come true because it was someone, I thought was cool was getting to make a project they wanted to do for a long time.
And then...the information came out about what happened behind the scenes with the fan film, his messages, what he and others said...
Let me tell you this.
He’s a gatekeeper...Gavin is a gatekeeper. I don’t forgive him for the things he’s said. He’s a kid that needed a reality check. He should’ve made a REAL apology video, apologizing for the shit he said and ACTUALLY GROW UP. Things might’ve been better. And instead of an insult if I were to talk to him. But it’s not really an insult, it’s this.
"You think you're Peter Parker...but you're not...you're not Peter Parker. You were never him. You are nothing like Peter Parker."
It’s better than me being dramatic and saying something stupidly funny like, “YOU WERE EVERYTHING I WANTED TO BE!” because I never had a close connection to him. And I NEVER want to be like him.
Because after everything that was revealed about him. To me, it REALLY explains his attitude, his tweets, and how he acted. And I thought it would be funny if at that world premiere thing he had AT AN ACTUAL THEATER FOR HIS MOVIE. If someone took over the camera and instead of his fan film playing, it’s either Across the Spider-Verse or Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, the first episode “Moon Girl Landing” playing. I would want to be the one switching the fan film to either one of those. I would do that if I had the balls to do that.
And I hate the fact that if Gavin was a better person, if he grew up, if he didn’t say that crap, and whatever else. Spider-Man Lotus could’ve been something beautiful because THERE IS LEGIT GOOD STUFF IN IT.
If the fan film had some changes to it. Because there are some LEGIT ISSUES with it. But there is some good stuff that if I recall right, I felt like crying...it’s mainly the story stuff with Tim, them going through the scrapbook...that’s the good stuff. Seriously, if any of the stupid Gavin pulled didn’t happen like...
My God...again, if some stuff were changed...
I felt betrayed by a guy who I thought I could relate to. But turns out, he’s not who I thought he was. He’s a gate keeper, and honestly, Steve Ditko leaving the comic after they went with Norman as the Green Goblin, Peter getting out of high school and whatever else was the best decision. Because while I get Peter when he was younger was a prick. But the point is that HE GREW UP, he became a better person. There may be times where that part of him still comes up. But he grows up to become a better person.
It’s weird I mentioned that. Anyway, I think this review of Spider-Man Lotus is perfect. And it’s more powerful that...just read it.
Anyway, more information came out about Gavin. Even though I wasn’t bored like other people. But yeah, this is my favorite review of the fan film.
Other than that, watch other fan films. Watch “The Green Goblin’s Last Stand” or others like “Batman: Dead End”, “AVP Redemption”, “Michael vs Jason: Evil Emerges” and whatever else.
Think I’ve said enough...I’ve finally said my piece on that. Anyway, fuck you Gavin.
Many minutes ago, I was playing Spider-Man: Miles Morales on my PS4 and I'm going in order of some things that happened.
So, I get this cute winter outfit or a part of it like the beanie and scarf from Hailey. I finally swing over to do the selfie mission on the friendly neighborhood app, yet at one point I phase through the bottom of New York into the sea. But luckily, my game didn't go all error on me. So, I am able to finish the selfie mission, and then I continue with the main story a bit where I'm literally being tortured before I escape...I didn't finish the mission...but the fact I have Miles...wearing that winter stuff...hoping I can complete somehow with the cat in the backpack.
Also, before that, I played some Marvel's Spider-Man as well. I finally played the Screwball mission...yeah, I can understand why people found her annoying.
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Sander Sides - Coraline AU
So when scrolling through one of my favorite channels on here I saw someone mention Janus as Other Father, and this got my creativity going. I’ll hash out the characters and ideas, then give you a basic idea of what is cooking in my head. However, I’m not sure on how I want things to go in terms of plot. But I do have a general idea of the characters and their roles as well as background.
Other Mother: Logan Sanders
In this idea the Other Mother would have been Patton, but given there are so many sides, I thought he’d fit another role better. Then my sister suggested Logan as Other Mother, and it fits for the basic plot I have in mind. He goes by Logic by the others in the Other World, or as they call it the Alternate World or Pocket World.
Logan says he’s the eldest one here along with Patton and Janus, and seems to be the head of the ‘family’. He’s a very stoic mother, pushing his kids, which in this case is Roman, Remus, and Virgil, to be smart. Not in a bad way, he’s a silently content mother, and you can tell when he’s proud of you. He cleans mostly and makes sure everything is in place, and enjoys gardening. Mostly he stays in the study or outside.
In terms of power, Logan is the most powerful of them due to being the oldest person there. And no, he doesn’t turn into a spider being, he actually is a type of bird. Looking alot like harpy when you really tick him off. His buttons are dark blue with silver thread and his skin is warm but overly smooth.
Other Fathers: Patton and Janus Sanders No one is really sure who is older, they’ve always been with each other. Janus enjoys making music and Patton enjoys cooking for the family. Both are very fatherly and enjoy doting on their kids. Going by the names of Morality and Deceit/Self. When mother dear isn’t around, it’s up to the one of the fathers to sort things out. Janus is strange, as in he’s the one who gives the hints something isn’t quiet right. Though it’s unknown if these are his actions or not. He seems to like challenging kids that come to the Pocket World to think about what they are seeing and why. Yet does it a very coy way. Then there are days he’ll do a 180 and ask you not to question anything and actively lie about things. His buttons are dark gold with black thread, and he does have scales on his face still. Though, to a kid that’s nothing. Patton is cheerful and bubbly, his dinners are always the best as is his sweets. He’s the one that mostly sticks to Logan the most, and enjoys gardening also. He’s the first to make sure one doesn’t question, easily deflecting odd things, and is great at distracting people. He is Nostalgia after all, his areas when your near him make you feel so happy and get you lost in happy moments. His buttons are light blue with dark blue tread. Both take on forms of a Frog and Snake when angry, which are terrifying. Their skin is also very rubbery feeling. Other Brother: Virgil Sanders Virgil here is the youngest, looking like he’s only 15 or 16. He’s been here the shortest... and looks oddly like a kid that went missing back in the early 2000′s. The Family calls his Anxiety, and he’s rather withdrawn. But does enjoy playing video games or board games with Patton, Janus, and Logan. Soft spoken, sarcastic, and a little emo spiderling, he’s adored by Patton mostly. Who calls him the ‘Dark Strange Son’ alot. Virgil seems rather happy in the Other World. Stating to little Thomas that this world is much better than anything he could dream of. He’s however hesitant to answer questions about things not inside the Other World. Telling Thomas to not think about that, and just be happy. He enjoys his room/the attic, and outside in the front yard. When angry, Virgil is the one with the spider form, taking on a more glass like look and his skin is cold to the touch. His buttons are dark purple with light purple thread.
Other Twins: Roman and Remus Sanders The two Creativity Rascals, they are slightly older then Virgil, but much younger than Janus and Patton. They can warp reality around them when in their favorite spots, be it the Basement for Remus, or the Woods for Roman. Their rooms are actually in the basement in the door near the left side of the house. While Virgil's is in the attic. They serve as the entertainment, coming up with ideas on the fly to go on adventures, play dragons and knights, or kings and castles. The forest, quiet literally, is their playground. Having their own fort and castle there, and a while bunch of land to cover. The twins play fight alot, but they get along very well and are rather close to one another. And are like the cool older brothers who have alot of fun, but are happy to let the youngers join them. Both have tentacles in this one, though Remus is more slimy than his brother. And when they open their extra mouths on their body when angry, it’s very scary. Roman’s buttons are red with green thread, while Remus is green with red thread. And their skin is like plastic almost. Coraline: Thomas Anderson He’s about 12 in this one, just moved to the country side in a little blue house on the back dirt roads. This town is dreadfully boring, with dull, muted colors, always over cast and rainy. It’s like all the happiness has been sucked out of it and left to decay. Thomas is not upset about the move, as he never had many friends, if any, from his old home. He’s mostly upset with the fact he’s just dull, he’s not allowed to be colorful. And to top it off, his parents aren’t always there emotionally for him. Leaving him completely isolated, even more so when he’s a closeted gay in a very religious family. So when he finds a world where everything is colorful, with three dads, well two and a mom, a family who cares about him, he’s excited. Maybe this move won’t be so bad.
Plot: The idea in my head is that Thomas has moved with his parents to a rather nice when hie father got a promotion. But, like most typical rich families, he’s not really paid attention to. And Thomas feels mostly left out, having no friends to call his own, and just his imagination and books to keep him busy. When exploring his new house, finding the attic and basement locked, and a small golden key, he finds a little door. It’s been walled off, which is a bummer. That is until the middle of the night, when Thomas follows a shadow to the door. Finding it leads to a world that is perfect. The world represents everything Thomas wants, brothers, Roman, Remus, and Virgil. Fathers, Patton and Janus, and a mother, Logan, who actually cares about him. He isn’t sure if this is some very real dream or not. But he’s not complaining, he feels welcomed instantly byt he family. Taken on adventures with Roman and Remus, playing games with Virgil and learning knew things from Logan, helping Patton cook, and Janus teaches him music and among other things. But when after a week of this, Thomas starts to see strange cracks in their personalities. And when they one day ask if he wants to stay forever and be part of their family, it meets getting this pink buttons in his eyes. He’s terrified, and now wonders if he’ll ever escape... or even if he wants to. Notes:
So I’m not sure how I want it to be played out. If the Others are truly evil in just that they want to kidnap Thomas just because they are selfish and/or turn him into a doll. OR if I want it to be well meaning sinister, where they think they are doing Thomas a favor by taking him away from his neglectful family.
One thing to note is they do really like Thomas, regardless of intentions, they do like him. And either way, they want him to stay forever.
Now, I’m not sure if I want with the Other Father for Patton to be controlling Janus or Janus to be controlling Patton. One of them is well aware of what they are doing, but can’t go against the wishes of their controller or Logan. While they are happy, the idea of luring kids tends to hurt them inside.
The Other World is bigger than Thomas things, he’s just in a small area that belongs to Logan. There are MANY others out there. Who lure people away into their realm, for better or worse. It’s like it’s own reality, only everything is just perfect. It’s like a nostalgic trap, much like Patton’s room only worse.
Logan is the main guy, he’s been at this for a long time, and either Patton or Janus is their partner depending on who is controlling who. He mainly lures kids as he likes the taste of their humanity. It’s what he feeds off of, draining them of their everything, and making them like dolls, only with a semi soul. Any who does this too becomes his kid or helper. Logan is fine with this, he enjoys having a family. And he only has to feed every few decades or so. He’s been around for a long time. Most of his ‘kids’ have grown up, and become true Others who have their own areas. Virgil, Roman, and Remus though are still MUCH too young for such a thing. Others are NOT human, nor are they ‘aliens’ either. Best thing I can think of are like Fae, only... less magical as we know it. They are creatures who feed off of emotions and the essences that make people human. Which is why they all feel like dolls.
Others are near immortal should they feed properly, and Others areas tend to just attract people to them. Some go after teens, others kids, some adults, taste is everything. Adults tend to be more fulling, but can be bitter and sour tasting, Teens are half and half depending on situation, and are often spicy tasting. While kids are very sweet, and typically are fulling also depending on how well you’ve gained their trust. If you can get them to agree to being an other, even better. It’s harder than it sounds though.
Each Other does have a specific power that they use. Which I am still hashing out in my head.
They rarely get angry, but boy is it scary when they do.
The key only is Thomas’s interpretation of the entrance way, it can be anything to get into the Other World. It’s all up to the person in how THEY think to get in. It could be walking through two trees making a hole in them, opening a door that is only unlocked on certain days, or even just crawling under your bed. It’s up to the seeker how they wish to get in, which is why the Other World can stay in one spot, no matter the house or thing built on it.
There is no real moral code for Others, their world is very well hidden. But they are very protective of their charges when they find the right type of feed off of. Logan gets extremely possessive of Thomas when he shows up, not as in he punishes the others, but if Thomas ever thinks about leaving or tries too, Logan would lock him up until Thomas gives into despair.
If they are being unruly or try to escape, one way to get them ot agree is by isolating them, and cutting them off from happiness. Which makes kids and teens want to stay once they leave their isolation. Logan dislikes doing this, but going without a food source is rather painful, and he’d rather not put himself or his partner through that. So if he must, he will make sure the target stays. Even if it won’t be as filling as if they agreed willingly.
Also, their areas is often where their power is the strongest.
-0-0-0-0-0-
So Yeah, there it is, if you guys have any question just let me know. And this goes to @fangirltothefullest who when I mentioned this idea to her really wanted to see this. I still need more for it, but I like the concept of it, it’s much different from the books, but that’s what makes it interesting. Could easily be Angst with Happy Ending. Could even get more sinister than this. We’ll see. Might post more about this later. And fanart is well loved, I can draw, but not well enough in my mind lol.
#fangirltothefullest#sander sides au#sander sides coraline au#logan sanders#virgil anxiety#roman sanders#remus sanders#Janus Sanders#deceit sanders#patton sanders#patton morality sanders#logan logic sanders#roman creativity sanders#virgil sanders#thomas sanders#thomas sanders au#ts logan#ts roman#ts patton#ts remus#ts janus#ts deceit#ts virgil#long post#unsympathetic logan
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Something About the Sunshine
❣Something About the Sunshine❣
❤ Pairing: Ryujin x Reader
❤ Genre: Fluff
❤ Word Count: 4.2k
❤ Song Suggestions: Surf & Nobody Like You by Itzy and Something About the Sunshine from Starstruck
Literally everyone but Ryujin found suspicious the amount of times she had been repeating the words 'It's just a friend's trip!' when asked about your upcoming vacation together to California. Her bandmates laughed the first time, but by the twenty-seventh time they were around to hear it they just mockingly imitated Ryujin. They were a hundred percent sure every single employee on JYP knew she was going on a ‘just friends’ trip’.
But it’s not like they didn’t notice how Ryujin’s eyes glow when she’s talking about you, how she messes her hair when somebody asks her about you, or how she goes from the fiercest and bravest person when you are being attacked by a nasty spider minding its business on wall, to the softest and clingiest girl when she cuddles with you on movie nights.
Maybe the ‘it’s just a friend’s trip!’ wasn’t trying to convince anyone, but herself.
The day arrived, and you were sitting in Itzy's living room, waiting for the car to arrive to take you both to the airport.
Yuna sat down by your side eating a tuna wrap, still wearing her night suit and the messiest mane you had ever seen. You were very used to seeing them all like that, since you are really close to Itzy, others have even mistaken you for their manager since you are basically always around them.
“Want some?” The younger girl extended her snack to you courteously, her voice still raspy from being awake so early.
“I’m okay Yuna, thanks!” You tried to hold back a giggle at the sight of Yuna clumsily existing at five o’clock in the morning. “Why are you up so early?”
“Schedules, practices, couldn’t stop thinking about this wrap…” She got lost in her own subconscious as she stared at the piece of food embraced by her hands. “It’s not even mine, but why would someone leave it abandoned in the fridge like that?”
“The car is here!” Ryujin rushed out of her room with her suitcase in hand. She fashioned a huge smile and a weirdly big enthusiasm for this time of the day. “Time to go Y/n!”
You stood from the couch, scrambling the younger girl’s hair to which she just looked at you drowsingly dumbfounded. You both headed towards the door carrying all your luggage.
“Have a nice trip! Bring me a gift, and don’t come back unless you’re dating” She whispered the last part, urgently took another bite of her tuna wrap and a smirk teasingly appeared on her mouth.
The last thing you saw was Ryujin throwing a beanie straight to the younger member’s face before closing the door behind her.
Even though the flight was long, the 12 hours passed swiftly in between naps, movies and little scattered conversations with Ryujin. You could talk about anything all the time and never get tired, but couldn't fail to see something bothering her, deep inside her conscious the entire journey.
After picking up your luggage and grabbing a taxi to your hotel, the effects of hour difference and the hustle of the trip started to dawn on you. And you were both so tired that you failed to realize the room they gave you had only one queen-sized bed. It still wouldn't have bothered you, you both had shared even smaller beds before.
Ryunjin jumped into the bed as one should, patting the side for you to join her. You laid beside her, as she wrapped her arms around you. Both not hesitant to fall in a deep slumber.
The clock marked 7 O'clock, and a little ray of sunshine peeked through the disheveled curtains and rested over your eyes, waking you up with its warmth. You stretched your body grasping your reality, this was not your house and you were not in Korea anymore. Carefully stretching your body, you recognized the presence of the girl beside you. Turning around, you saw her calm and resting expression, the image plastering a smile on your face.
You silently rose from the bed, tip-toeing towards the sunrays. You warily slided open the door to the balcony, being welcomed by the sights of a waking city, illuminated by the dawn of a new day. That's when suddenly you felt a pair of arms surrounding your neck. The familiar embrace made the moment even more special, as you took in your hands those that rested in your chest. You stayed there in a comfortable silence, feeling Ryujin's breath and smile forming against the back of your neck.
"Hey…" Ryujin broke the silence first. "Sorry about what Yuna said back home, she was just-"
You released a light chuckle, finally having the answer to her worries. "I know Yuna, she's not the serious type."
"Yeah…" Even with a weight lifted from her shoulders, Ryujin couldn't help but dwell on the matter. "I guess she was just joking."
"But hey, we didn't come here to be locked down in the hotel room, did we?" You turned around, jokingly punching the other girl's arm. "Let's go!"
"Twelve hours of flying are pretty heavy," She watched your enthusiasm fly as you scattered throughout the room, grabbing some things from your suitcase and heading to the bathroom to take a shower. "Are you sure you don't want to stay a little more and-"
"Oh, c'mon!" You grabbed her by the hand, shaking her mind up. "We'll just go for a walk, grab something to eat. It's not like we're going to Disneyland right now."
"Sounds good to me!" Ryujin didn't hesitate to match your enthusiasm and rushed to get her stuff ready. "Where do we go?"
"Actually…" You fidgeted your hands playfully. "It's a surprise."
-❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️-
“Venice beach?” Ryujin’s eyes grew as big as the moon. “This is where I-”
“-filmed the Nobody Like You music video!” You both said at the same time.
“Yes!” An eager smile was painted across your face at the sight of the shimmer in the other girl’s eyes. "I thought you might like coming back…”
"And I prefer the company a whole lot more this time!" Her fingers interlaced with yours as she chuckled at her joke. "Please don't tell the girls I said that."
"I'm texting Yeji right away-"
"What, no!" Ryujin threw herself for your phone but you reacted quickly, prompting a whole game of tag for your phone.
"Hi Yejiii-unnieeeee!" You started a voice note at the same time that you tried out-running Ryunjin in the still calm paths of the boardwalk. "The flight was fine and we landed perfectly! The hotel is very cosy and the sight's amazing. But Ryujin just said that she prefers me over yo- AH!"
You felt your body be wanked from the floor, your back landing against the sand. Your phone flew from your hand, and Ryujin dove to reach it, landing beside you. An endless stream of laughter followed, one of those that make your eyes tear and your belly ache. Ryujin made sure the voice note didn't send, but to her bad fortune, Yeji had already listened to it and typed her response:
Glad the trip went alright! And don't worry, we already knew Ryujin prefers you. Not only over us, she prefers you over anything or anyone really.
Ryujin's cheeks flared up as she read the message, the laughter in her disappearing abruptly. She sheepishly handed your phone back, playing nervously with her hair as you read it too.
"Awwww!" You mockingly teased her, wrapping your arms around her head. "Do you really love me that much??"
"I… Well, maybe, yeah- I don't know-" She couldn't even finish a coherent sentence, trapped in between her nerves and your teasing.
You stood up, still giggling at everything that just happened, glaring at the fine line separating the sky from the sea as it shined a light blue with little hints of orange and yellow as the last minutes of sunrise bathed you in their light.
This gave Ryujin a perfect view of you, as your silhouette was perfectly enframed on the sun rays hitting your body. She smiled at the way the sun rested on your soft cheeks, your smile competing against it for the brightest thing in her life.
It started dawning on her, that maybe it was true. Maybe she did prefer you over anything and anyone.
"Care to give me a tour Mrs. Shin Ryujin?" You proposed with a fruity and jestering voice while extending your hand, breaking her daydreaming.
She took your hand as she stood and shook away some sand in her clothes. That Ryujin from the hotel room who wanted to rest and who was a little too much inside her head banished in a matter of seconds, pulling you around the stores and streets she visited with her group mates. You weren't complaining at all, aside from being Ryujin's best friend you were also a huge fan of Itzy. Always present, front row on their performances, shows and even sometimes rehearsals. And there was nothing better than listening to an excited Ryujin showing you around and retelling her memories with the glow in her eyes reflecting all the light of the vibrant place.
You walked among the shops and food stands, halting in front of a familiar stand, with displays full of sunglasses of different shades and shapes. You both tried a thousand different styles after finally deciding on a matching pair. A round dark frame with the crystals tinted to each of your favorite colors. You kept walking along that ally, hands intertwined as you pointed to all of the little details you found along the way.
“And here…” Ryujin smirked teasingly at you, stopping in front of the skate rental where Itzy got theirs when they filmed the Nobody like you MV. “It’s where the fun starts.”
“Oh no.” You pushed her away from you, a nervous but playful giggle escaping your mouth. “There’s no way you’re going to get me on one of those.”
“You asked for the full Itzy Experience Tour didn’t you?” She lowered her new sunglasses to glare at you teasingly.
“I- Yes but…”
“Then it’s time for you to learn how to skate.” She turned around, quickly renting a pair of skateboards from the man tending the local. She came back, holding the skateboards on each hand, handling you one of them with a triumphant smile. “Here Y/n, I even rented the helmet, knee pads and elbow pads in your favorite color, they will match with your glasses!”
“It’s not like I don’t like how they look Ryujin.” You sneered, taking the board on your hands. You examined its weight, hesitating to put it on the ground. “I don’t know how to ride one.”
“Oh I know, I’m going to teach you!” She confidently rejoiced in her talents, as she fastened the safety equipment around her body. “If I was able to make you dance Wannabe, do you think I can’t do this?”
“How many times have you rode one of these?” Ryujin stopped her movement at the question, clearing her throat pretending not to listen to you. “Ryujin-ah…”
“Maybe like…” She stood up, her face trying hard to convey a sense of security but only managing to sound arrogantly sweet. “...Once?”
“That’s it, we’re dying today.” You laughed as you put your safety equipment on, shaking your head in disapproval at yourself, since you still were willing to do anything for the girl in front of you, especially when a hit of her puppy eyes started peeking out of her.
“Okay first, one foot. Straight.” After you were both equipped and ready, she started demonstrating on her own board, stepping with her left foot on the board, turning around to make sure you were following the instructions. You imitated her movements with so much less confidence. "Now, you'll push with your right foot and…"
You only watched baffled, your body refusing to move as she glided through the plaza with no problem. Pleasantly surprised and relieved that she still had the muscle memory to remember how to stay on top of it. A smile emerged in your face at the sight of your bestfriend making an effort to keep herself going, giggles filling the air as she circled you with ease. You took your phone out to capture the moment, and the instant Ryujin noticed the camera, her idol-self came out, acting with charisma at it, flustering you with the winks and smirks she gave to the lenses.
“C’mon, now it’s your turn.” She approached you defiant, confident. Her presence and attitude helped you grab a bit of courage, but not enough to start without a little bit of help.
You innately searched for Ryujin’s hand, not surprised when you realized she was already offering to take yours. You firmly put your left feet on the skateboard, and pushed gently with the right, helping you glide, as the girl beside you jogged at your speed. You tried again, now gaining more speed, and then tried once more. The sea breeze hit your face, rampaging your hair, a big and refreshing change from the city air you were so used to breath all the time back home. Your body flinched at the velocity you were traveling to, but Ryujin didn’t let you fall, her support helping you stay on.
“You have absolutely no permission to let go of my hand Shin Ryujin.” You babbled, holding on for dear life to her hand which was probably the only thing keeping you from falling down.
“You know I never would.” For a moment, all those worries in Ryujin’s head dissipated. You blushed at her words and she smiled at your sun-kissed image.
It had a certain charm for her, you needed her protection and guidance, as she only focused on you staying alive and having fun. You stopped for a while, ecstatic at the thought of still being alive after that.
“You are a very quick learner. Or maybe I’m just an excellent teacher.” Ryujin joked, earning a slap on her arm as she helped you stabilize yourself to get off the board. “I think you're ready to go on your own.”
“I only could do that because you were grabbing on to me!” You whined.
“I’ll be close to catch you if you fall.” Her smile was kind, protective, the kind that made you melt into everything she said. A big part of your friendship was teasing each other non-stop, but when it came to serious matters, there was no one out there you trusted more than Ryujin.
“Promise?” You trembled.
“I promise.”
You, a little bit more confident now, repeated the steps to get over your skateboard and you pushed, gently. When you stabilized your body over the moving board, you repeated but with a stronger push. With a bit more confidence now taking up, you started steering with the weight of your body, your nerves releasing themselves in the form of giggles.
You noticed Ryujin skating close to you, now skillful enough to be focusing you with her phone while gliding around to get some pretty takes and pictures of you. She cheered, a wide grin adorning her face as little wrinkles appeared on the edges of her eyes, the way they did when something made her stupidly happy.
You were so focused on Ryujin’s antics and she was so into you too, that you failed to see a slightly raised sidewalk straight in your path. Ryujin caught a glimpse of it just in time to jump towards you, surrounding your entire body with hers. With her feet landing first in a patch of grass, the scenario of you both flying through the air and landing into concrete was avoided. But thanks to the speed your bodies carried and you not being able to stop them, you still tripped down, Ryujin falling on her back and you right on top of her. You were quick to raise your heads, realizing they were only a few inches away, blood rising, coating your faces in red.
“Maybe I should-” You were quick to get up, no scratches or bruises in sight. Ryujin seemed free of injury too, so you extended your hand to help her up. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t worry. I’m totally okay.” She took your hand and stood up, fixing her clothes. Her hands instinctively wished to check you, and help you fix yourself too, but a certain tension that filled the air stopped her from doing so. “Are... are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine too.” You responded, fixing your hair yourself and avoiding her glance.
Ryujin went to pick up the skateboards, leaving the silence between you lingering for longer than it should. While walking back, you both caught a glimpse of each other’s eyes, making you release an stressed giggle, easing the ambience around just a bit.
“Let’s take this back and grab something to eat.” Ryujin proposed as you walked side to side back to the skates rental, an strange and awkward quietness encircling your steps.
-❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️-
You sat cuddled between Ryujin’s arms, the sights of the sea in front of you as you both enjoyed the beach, snacking on some american-flavored chips that you found on a K-mart along the way.
“Close your eyes.” You playfully demanded Ryujin.
“Why, what are you going to do to me?” She asked.
“I’m going to give you one of these flavors randomly and you have to guess which one it is!”
She obeyed, closing her eyes and releasing you from her embrace as you reached for your target. You grabbed one chip from the five bags sitting in front of you and gently placed it on Ryujin’s tongue. She opened her eyes at the instant flavor that filled her mouth, confused and maybe even a bit disgusted.
“Is it really that bad?” Your laugh bursted at her expressions.
“No, it’s just that-'' She kept chewing the chip, her face contorting even more with each second passing. “It’s interesting?”
“That’s what people say when something tastes bad but they don’t want to be rude about it” You kept laughing, looking at her amusingly. “Well, what flavor do you think that was?”
“I’m gonna say…” Her eyes and brows exaggerated her thought process as they playfully moved up and down. “...salt and vinegar?”
“No, Pickle-flavored!” You raised the bad of chips, triumphantly. “I told you these were a bad idea!”
“No! I had some hope for these!” She grabbed the bag from your hands, disappointment in her eyes as she examined the chips closer as if that could magically enhance their flavor for better. Ryujin extended the bag to you. “Here, try one and tell me what you think.”
“After seeing your face? I’ll pass, thanks” You pushed away her hand with the bag and her eyebrows furrowed.
“You can’t make me suffer alone! The chips thing was YOUR idea!” She started throwing one of her usual tantrums, shaking the bag in front of your face now. You kept throwing your head backwards and she answered by leaning in even closer, mumbling her complaints in a cute tone. Neither of you noticed when, but suddenly you found yourself laying under Ryujin. The instant she realized your position, she stopped her fit and the blush in her cheeks flared up.
“You have some-” In your attempt of diffusing the situation, you reached your thumb towards her lips, paralysing even further the girl on top of you. She couldn’t take the flood of ideas invading her mind that the sight of you staring straight at her lips, caressing them gently created.
She quickly sat up, distress all over her face avoiding looking at you as much as possible. You were both just friends, nothing more. Why do those ideas start appearing now? No. Why was Ryujin not able to suppress those ideas now as well as before?
You followed her, looking straight at her conflicted face now being illuminated by the sunset in the horizon. Your hand reached for her chin, gently pulling it to meet your eyes with hers. You felt her breathing halting at the action, to what you offered a delicate smile.
“You know you can tell me anything, right?” You skipped the ‘something’s bothering you’ talk, you knew your best friend enough to know she would deny everything, try and cover anything.
“Yes, I know…” Now Ryujin’s eyes were the ones who could decide to rest on your eyes or in your lips, with even more ideas invading her mind. “I just don’t know where to start.”
“Would it help if I start this time?” You smiled even wider, hiding the amount of courage you were trying to gather inside your mind.
Ryujin looked at you perplexed, as she expected you to keep pushing for her to talk but got this instead. She shook her head remembering your question, to which she nodded as an answer.
“It’s not new, I’ve been dealing with all of this for a long time but I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. And maybe it’s not even the best time to tell you, giving that there’s an entire vacation together at risk…” You started mumbling, your eyes diverting all around you as your train of thoughts backed up from the enthusiasm.
“Hey…” She used your techniques against you, grabbing your chin and raising it to meet her eyes. Your nervous rambling woke up Ryujin’s protective side, as she now offered you an uneasy smile. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
You deadlocked your eyes on her, serious. You jokingly slapped her arm for using your own weapons against you, but like a magnet, the silence between you only called for your eyes to be lost on hers. You couldn’t tell thanks to your nerves, but you were getting your faces closer with each second passing. A deep sigh from Ryujin’s side broke the tension, aided you to gain back your courage, you were going to blurt it out now or nev-
“I like you. Maybe I could even dare say that I love you Y/n.” Ryujin sputtered first, avoiding your eyes. Your breath halted, earning a gasp at the sudden confession, bringing your hands to your open mouth. Your mind was way too shocked to remember how to properly function, paralysed in the moment. At the awkward silence created, Ryujin gathered all her body strength to look back at you, her mind racing a thousand miles per hour to find a way to save the moment. “It’s okay if you don’t return-”
“Shin Ryujin, I was going to tell you that!” You moaned playfully, the entirety of your body relaxing now as you could help painting a huge smile across your face.
“You- what?” It was now her turn to be astonished. Your unusual response made it even more confusing to her, as the scenarios that her head created were of totally different colors from the one presented in front of her. It wasn’t until you stopped nervously giggling and locked eyes with her again that you realized that you had to explain yourself.
“I love you too dummy.” You cupped her hands in yours, happy tears blurring your sight from excitement.
“Oh. OH!” Ryujin’s whole face illuminated as the facts dawned on her, her worries floating away with the sounds of the sea in the background. She released a chuckle as she confidently put her hands around your waist, pulling you closer. “Does that mean I get to-”
“Yes! A thousand times yes!” You giggled, not even bothering to listen to the rest of her sentence, knowing exactly that what followed was something you’ve waited for a long time.
Ryujin excitedly cupped your cheeks, pulling you towards her. Your lips clashed with urgency, dancing at the rhythm of the tropical music in the background of Venice Beach, earning a smile from both that could only be eased as you joined your lips each time after breathing for air. The warmth of the sun setting in the horizon, filled your bodies from head to toe, as your beating heart took care of the inside.
Time is never the first thing that counts when you’re sure you just found the love of your life, but when you parted your lips again and looked around, the lamp posts started turning on, some neon signs from the stores behind you started coloring the streets. You sighed, resting your head on your girlfriend’s shoulder. A comfortable silence surrounding you both, with everything but your heartbeats synchronized resonating in the air.
“The girls are going to lose their mind when we tell them.” You broke the silence first, sighing at the idea popping in your head.
“We’ll worry about them later.” She laughed as her mind painted the picture too. “Let’s keep this between us for now, we’ll plan a prank in the plane back home. Deal?”
“Deal.” You chuckled at the suggestion, glad that your best friend was back. And even better than before, cause now you get to kiss her whenever you want.
The last rays of sun lighted you both like a spotlight in the end of a show, but what it really felt like was the beginning of the best adventure, by the side of the most amazing person in your life.
#girl group scenarios#girl group imagines#itzy scenarios#itzy imagines#ryujin imagines#ryujin scenarios#itzy ryujin
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Silent Knights
THIS HAS SEASON 13 SPOILERS! Bruiseshipping (platonic?) hurt/comfort
Jay hasn't been sleeping well since they left shintaro, Cole decides to figure out what has been keeping him up.
Jay couldn’t sleep. Well to be fair, he never had much to begin with. But this was worse somehow, at the very least when he stays up there could be the faint sounds of video game console games or some movie he pirated off the internet that he would probably never finish watching. Jay liked sound, whether he had to fill that silence himself or not. But now he just seemed to sit there, it was uncanny to say the least, the glow of the frozen television casting a foreign light across the room. His face was particularly obscured in the elongated shadows that covered the small space of the bounty. But even then you could see his brows creased in deep thought.
Cole sighed before walking through the rest of the doorway. He didn’t know if Jay was aware of his presence or not but stepped lightly in hopes of not startling him terribly. He silently sat down beside him on the couch, no reaction. He leaned back trying to act calm and casual, though in reality he was nervous. This was going to be difficult.
“It’s 3:30 you know…you should be back in bed.” He spoke. Jay huffed and turned away slightly, at least that was something. He waited a moment more to see if he would say anything else before speaking again.
“…How long have you been up?” He asked in hopes of coaxing a response from the blue ninja.
“…an hour, maybe” he grunted. It was short but better than nothing, he didn’t like a quiet Jay, it was eerie.
“And you’re up because…?” It looked like Jay rolled his eyes.
“That’s a dumb question.” he said simply, and turned to face him for the first time “why are you?”
Cole didn’t respond right away. Honestly, he was right, they were both up for the same reason. The nightmares always got worse after an adventure. It didn’t feel necessary to say anything.
“I want to talk.” he replied instead, leaning forward to rest his arms on his knees.
“Then talk, I’m not stopping you.”
“You know what I mean Jay.”
“Do I? because I don’t really seem to be the one with issues here, I’m not sure you remember exactly what happened down there, Cole, but I didn’t exactly do much.” He said bitterly.
“Somethings bothering you.”
“The only thing bothering me right now is you, so say what you want or just go” he knew this was going to be difficult, Jay was stubborn, but so was he.
“…Are you mad at me?” He asked. Jay startled.
“W-what?? No of course not! How could I be, you didn’t do anything wrong you- this isn’t your fault- I-“ He blundered for some sort of excuse to offer the earth ninja.
“Then don’t act like it. I’m just trying to help you Jay.” He answered for him.
Jay paused looking guilty for a moment. “…I’m sorry…”
Cole smiled softly “I know, it’s fine.” Reaching out a hand, he laid it gently a top his shoulder feeling the muscles tense briefly. Jay looked at him through the corner of his eye. “I’m worried man, I know it not my place but if I can do something, if you want to talk, I’m here ok.” His face scrunched up like he tasted something sour before looking at the ceilings and letting out a harsh laugh.
“Don’t you have anything else better to do?” There was no aggression in his tone, only resignation.
“Not really, gets kinda boring with you moping around all day.” he laughed again, it sounded easier but there was a weight to it.
He looked at him, really looked, eyebrows pinched with indecision. He examined his face like he was looking for the lie but found only genuine concern and care. Cole was like that, he always wore his heart on his sleeve, when he was wearing sleeves that is. He felt sheepish.
“I don’t…want to bother you.” He finally answered, “You already have so much to deal with about this, for what happened and…about your mom” Cole stiffened but only just barely, “I don’t want to burden you.”
“You’re not a burden Jay, neither are your feelings, we all have our own problems but sharing them with others is what makes them easier to deal with. This isn’t just a one-way street you know, when I need to talk, I’ll come to you. Don’t put other people’s feelings above your own, you matter just as much as the rest of us.”
He nodded mutely; eyes shut tight with budding tears. Cole wasn’t sure who moved first but suddenly Jay was in his arms as he traced soothing circles onto his back. The small lightning master clung to the front of his night shirt trying to compose himself, taking in shaky breaths. But the dam was already broken, and he was losing control of his carefully constructed mask.
“When you were taken…when I saw you chained up down there, I didn’t know what to think.” The words came out in rush, “I thought they must have done something horrible. I thought I should have been able to stop it. I couldn’t let you go through that, not ever, but I failed because we didn’t listen to you and you had to go down there by yourself.”
��And then we were all stuck there, I couldn’t think because it was to much, it was so…hard to face that. I couldn’t help you; I was useless. I couldn’t do a thing. But I should of, because I knew how much it hurt and I was just being selfish again and- “
“But then we were out, and we all got separated. But you weren’t there, you were gone again and it was just like all those times before; with the tournament, and when you were…whatever, there was the temple and the…Fall.” Tears were freely streaming down his face by now, “I believed Lloyd when he said you would come back, but I thought you were out there alone and that was so scary. There’s nothing worse than being alone.”
He laughed bitterly, “Right down to that stupid spider, I-I thought for a second it was…” he didn’t finish the thought, only shaking his head.
“Adams not so bad, and that’s coming from someone who’s hates spiders.” Cole joked. Jay didn’t respond. He curled further into himself and put his head in his knees. Cole gathered his thoughts, it was…a lot…he wasn’t called motormouth for nothing. There’s was much he didn’t understand, what he did know was that Jay blamed himself, that he had felt scared, and he was afraid of losing him. Gosh he wasn’t good with words.
“Hey.” He raised his hand, tracing digits through rust colored hair, trying to coax him from his shell. He looked up at him with teary eyes.
“We are all ok now aren’t we? Here on the bounty, you and me right now. It doesn’t matter if you made mistakes in the past, everyone does, I don’t blame you and you shouldn’t blame yourself. I know things got pretty hairy but even when we’re scared, we push through, you certainly did. I know I can’t promise that everything will go perfectly in the future, but I’m here right now so you just gotta focus on the present, no one can predict the future.” He paused thinking, “Well Zane might but dream prophecies are confusing, the point is we are all safe so we can enjoy that while we have it.”
Jay unfurled, pulling away slightly looking him in the eyes. “But you had to work in the mines Cole! Weren’t you scared, down there by yourself, all alone?” He said with urgency.
“How could I be?” He said with a smile, “when I knew you were coming to get me.” Jays eyes widened before he pushed his face into his hands and shook with quiet sobs.
He didn’t know what to do, was he worried for him, or was there something more? He pulled him back towards him, fully wrapping his arms around him almost like he could block out all the pain from reaching him. He hated not knowing.
“Jay…” He took a deep breath and let it out, “To be honest…I was terrified. It was bad, but I knew you guys would find me, and that kept me strong you know. I may be the master of earth, but you guys are my real strength. And with everything about mom…I was really uncertain, and it brought up a lot of memories. But I knew that that pain was part of the past and I had to move beyond it. Just like you will. You’re good Jay, trust me on that at least.”
Jay nodded but continued to shake and cry. Cole understood, he needed the relief. He pushed his face into the nest of auburn hair and hummed a lullaby, one his mom would often sing for him. It was fair to say they were both tear covered and exhausted by sunrise. They didn’t bother going back to bed, opting to sleep on the couch. Neither of them awoke for several hours, hearts full and content.
#ninjago#ninjago writing#ninjago fic#ninjago cole#ninjago jay#cole brookstone#jay walker#bruiseshipping#ninjago season 13#ninjago season 13 spoilers#ns13 spoilers
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Everything I Watched in 2020
We’ll start with movies. The number in parentheses is the year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year. Here’s 2019’s list.
01 Little Women (19)
02 The Post (17)
03 Molly’s Game (17)
04 * Doctor No (62)
05 Groundhog Day (93)
06 *Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (86)
07 Knives Out (19) My last theatre experience (sob)
08 Professor Marston and his Wonder Women (17)
09 Les Miserables (98)
10 Midsommar (19) I’m not sure how *good* it is, but it does stick in the ol’ brain
11 *Manhattan Murder Mystery (93)
12 Marriage Story (19)
13 Kramer vs Kramer (79)
14 Jojo Rabbit (19)
15 J’ai perdu mon corps (19) a cute animated film about a hand detached from its body!
16 1917 (19)
17 Married to the Mob (88)
18 Klaus (19)
19 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (19) If Little Women made me want to wear a scarf criss-crossed around my torso, this one made me want to wear a cloak
20 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (19)
21 *Lawrence of Arabia (62)
22 Gone With the Wind (39)
23 Kiss Me Deadly (55)
24 Dredd (12)
25 Heartburn (86) heard a bunch about this one in the Blank Check series on Nora Ephron, sadly after I’d watched it
26 The Long Shot (19)
27 Out of Africa (85)
28 King Kong (46)
29 *Johnny Mnemonic (95)
30 Knocked Up (07)
31 Collateral (04)
32 Bird on a Wire (90)
33 The Black Dahlia (05)
34 Long Time Running (17)
35 *Magic Mike (12)
36 Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (07)
37 Cold War (18)
38 *Kramer Vs Kramer (79) yes I watched this a few months before! This was a pandemic friend group co-watch.
39 *Burn After Reading (08)
40 Last Holiday (50)
41 Fly Away Home (96)
42 *Moneyball (11) I’m sure I watch this every two years, at most??
43 Last Holiday (06) the Queen Latifah version of the 1950 movie above, lacking, of course, the brutal “poor people don’t deserve anything good” ending
44 *Safe (95)
45 Gimme Shelter (70)
46 The Daytrippers (96)
47 Experiment in Terror (62)
48 Tucker: The Man and His Dream (88)
49 My Brilliant Career (79) one of the salvations of 2020 was watching movies “with” friends. Our usual method was to video chat before the movie, sync our streaming services, and text-chat while the movie was on.
50 Divorce Italian Style (61)
51 *Gosford Park (01) another classic comfort watch, fuck I love a G. Park
52 Hopscotch (80)
53 Brief Encounter (45)
54 Hud (63)
55 Ocean’s 8 (18)
56 *Beverly Hills Cop (84)
57 Blow the Man Down (19)
58 Constantine (05)
59 The Report (19) maddening!! How are people so consistently terrible to one another!
60 Everyday People (04)
61 Anatomy of a Murder (58)
62 Spiderman: Homecoming (17)
63 *To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (95) Of the 90s drag road movies, Priscilla is more visually striking, but this has its moments.
64 Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (92)
65 *The Truman Show (98)
66 Mona Lisa (86)
67 The Blob (58)
68 The Guard (11)
69 *Waiting for Guffman (96) RIP Fred Willard
70 Rocketman (19)
71 Outside In (18)
72 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (08) how strange to see a movie that you have known the premise for, but no details of, for over a decade
73 *Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (91)
74 The Reader (08)
75 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (19) This was fine until it VERY MUCH WAS NOT FINE
76 The End of the Affair (99) you try to watch a fun little romp about infidelity during the Blitz, and Graham Greene can’t help but shoehorn in a friggin crisis of religious faith
77 Must Love Dogs (05) barely any dog content, where are the dogs at
78 The Rainmaker (97)
79 *Batman & Robin (97)
80 National Lampoon’s Vacation (83) Never seen any of the non-xmas Vacations, didn’t realize the children are totally different, not just actors but ages! Also, this one is blatantly racist!
81 *Mystic Pizza (88)
82 Funny Girl (68)
83 The Sons of Katie Elder (65)
84 *Knives Out (19) another re-watch within the same year!! How does this keep happening??
85 *Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (10) a real I-just-moved-away-from-Toronto nostalgia watch
86 Canadian Bacon (92) vividly recall this VHS at the video store, but I never saw it til 2020
87 *Blood Simple (85)
88 Brittany Runs a Marathon (19)
89 The Accidental Tourist (88)
90 August Osage County (13) MELO-DRAMA!!
91 Appaloosa (08)
92 The Firm (93) Feeling good about how many iconic 80s/90s video store stalwarts I watched in 2020
93 *Almost Famous (00)
94 Whisper of the Heart (95)
95 Da 5 Bloods (20)
96 Rain Man (88)
97 True Stories (86)
98 *Risky Business (83) It’s not about what you think it’s about! It never was!
99 *The Big Chill (83)
100 The Way We Were (73)
101 Safety Last (23) It’s getting so that I might have to add the first two digits to my dates...not that I watch THAT many movies from the 1920s...
102 Phantasm (79)
103 The Burrowers (08)
104 New Jack City (91)
105 The Vanishing (88)
106 Sisters (72)
107 Puberty Blues (81) Little Aussie cinema theme, here
108 Elevator to the Gallows (58)
109 Les Diaboliques (55)
110 House (77) haha WHAT no really W H A T
111 Death Line (72)
112 Cranes are Flying (57)
113 Holes (03)
114 *Lady Vengeance (05)
115 Long Weekend (78)
116 Body Double (84)
117 The Crazies (73) I love that Romero shows the utter confusion that would no doubt reign in the case of any kind of disaster. Things fall apart.
118 Waterlilies (07)
119 *You’re Next (11)
120 Event Horizon (97)
121 Venom (18) I liked it, guys, way more than most superhero fare. Has a real sense of place and the place ISN’T New York!
122 Under the Silver Lake (18) RIP Night Call
123 *Blade Runner (82)
124 *The Birds (62) interesting to see now that I’ve read the story it came from
125 *28 Days Later (02) hits REAL FUCKIN’ DIFFERENT in a pandemic
126 Life is Sweet (90)
127 *So I Married an Axe Murderer (93) find me a more 90s movie, I dare you (it’s not possible)
128 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (67)
129 The Pelican Brief (93) 90s thrillers continue!
130 Dick Johnston is Dead (20)
131 The Bridges of Madison County (95)
132 Earth Girls are Easy (88) Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum are so hot in this movie, no wonder they got married
133 Better Watch Out (16)
134 Drowning Mona (00) trying for something like the Coen bros and not getting there
135 Au Revoir Les Enfants (87)
136 *Chasing Amy (97) Affleck is the least alluring movie lead...ever? I also think I gave Joey Lauren Adams’ character short shrift in my memory of the movie. It’s not good, but she’s more complicated than I recalled.
137 Blackkklansman (18)
138 Being Frank (19)
139 Kiki’s Delivery Service (89)
140 Uncle Frank (20) why so many FRANKS
141 *National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89) watching with pals (virtually) made it so much more fun than the usual yearly watch!
142 Half Baked (98) another, more secret Toronto nostalgia pic - RC Harris water filtration plant as a prison!
143 We’re the Millers (13)
144 All is Bright (13)
145 Defending Your Life (91)
146 Christmas Chronicles (18) I maintain that most new xmas movies are terrible, particularly now that Netflix churns them out like eggnog every year.
147 Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse (18)
148 Reindeer Games (00) what did I say about Affleck??!? WHAT DID I SAY
149 Palm Springs (20)
150 Happiest Season (20)
151 *Metropolitan (90) it’s definitely a Christmas movie
152 Black Christmas (74)
THEATRE:HOME - 2:150 (thanks pandemic)
I usually separate out docs and fiction, but I watched almost no documentaries this year (with the exception of Dick Johnston). Reality is real enough.
TV Series
01 - BoJack Horseman (final season) - Pretty damned poignant finish to the show, replete with actual consequences for our reformed bad boy protagonist (which is more than you can say for most antiheroes of Peak TV).
02 - *Hello Ladies - I enjoy the pure awkwardness of seeing Stephen Merchant try to perform being a Regular Person, but ultimately this show tips him too far towards a nasty, Ricky Gervais-lite sort of persona. Perhaps he was always best as a cameo appearance, or lip synching with wild eyes while Chrissy Teigen giggles?
03 - Olive Kittredge - a rough watch by times. I read the book as well, later in the year. Frances Mcdormand was the best, possibly the only, casting option for the flinty lead. One episode tips into thriller territory, which is a shock.
04 - *The Wire S3, S4, S5 - lockdown culture! It was interesting to rewatch this, then a few months later go through an enormous, culture-level reappraisal of cop-centred narratives.
05 - Forever - a Maya Rudolph/Fred Armisen joint that coasts on the charm of its leads. The premise is OK, but I wasn’t left wanting any more at the end.
06 - *Catastrophe - a rewatch when my partner decided he wanted to see it, too!
07 - Red Oak - resolutely “OK” steaming dramedy, relied heavily on some pretty obvious cues to get across its 1980s setting.
08 - Little Fires Everywhere - gulped this one down while in 14-day isolation, delicious! Every 90s suburban mom had that SUV, but not all of them had the requisite **secrets**
09 - The Great - fun historical comedy/drama! Costumes: lush. Actors: amusing. Race-blind casting: refreshing!
10 - The Crown S4 - this is the season everyone lost their everloving shit for, since it’s finally recent enough history that a fair chunk of the viewing audience is liable to recall it happening.
11 - Ted Lasso - we resisted this one for a while (thought I did enjoy the ad campaign for NBC sports (!!) that it was based on). My view is that its best point was the comfort that the men on the show have (or develop, throughout the season) with the acknowledgement and sharing of their own feelings. Masculinity redux.
12 - Moonbase 8 - Goodnatured in a way that makes you certain they will be crushed.
13 - The Good Lord Bird - Ethan Hawke is really aging into the character actor we always hoped he would be!
14 - Hollywood - frothy wish-fulfillment alternate history. I think the show would have been improved immeasurably by skipping the final episode.
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❝ i’ll wait through your phases, peter parker.
summary: you and peter go through the years as online friends. deep down, the two of you always knew you were meant to be together, but time always came in between. inspired by this and this.
authors note: HELLO! the idea for this just came into my head and i need to write asap! so... y/n and peter are basically internet friends who met through a game. they are long distance, so most of their interactions would be done through their voice chats with the group. there will be a lot of time skips in this story, since i’m basically going through peter’s canon life in the films while adding his and y/n’s relationship in the mix. hope you enjoy!!
CHAPTER ONE. YEAR: 2015.
It was your safe place--- your second home.
Never would you have ever imagined meeting your second family through a video game called Beast Slayer, yet here you were. Sitting comfortably in your chair, grinning ear to ear as you listen to your internet friends argue over who the most powerful Jedi was (the answer’s obviously Anakin).
The group consists of five people. First there was a kid from Michigan named Isaac. The two of you met from being randomly assigned as teammates from the game, and found a connection after a thirty-minute game through voice chat. He was kind of the leader of the group, since he was pretty much responsible for bringing everyone together in the first place.
After Isaac, you met Valerie. The two of you bonded over---- well, being one of the very few females who played the game. You brought her into the group, and everyone loved her as much as you did.
Isaac brought in a guy named Ned from New York not too long after. Apparently, they’ve met through a different game, but found out that they also were big on Beast Slayer too. Ned is the funniest guy in the group--- always finding a way to make everyone laugh.
Then, there was Peter.
Peter was Ned’s best friend in real life. He wasn’t as into the game as Ned was, but would always play if everyone played together. He always found it more exhilarating if you all played as a team, and it helped that he wasn’t relying on strangers with unknown capabilities.
To you, he was the one who caught your attention the most.
“Are we just going to forget that Yoda exists?!” Ned argued over the mic, the clicking of his mechanical keyboard coming through. You could tell that he was currently in a game, though that didn’t stop him from getting the upper-hand in the midst of the argument. “He literally led the Jedi Council for ages, and he kicked everyone’s ass! He’ll definitely kick Luke’s too if he had the chance!”
“I don’t know man, Obi-Wan’s pretty up there,” Isaac remarked. “You can’t tell me his fight with Darth Maul sucked.”
“Oh, give me a break, dude. Obi-Wan got his ass kicked by Darth Vader,” Ned reputed. You could already imagine him rolling his eyes behind the screen, which made you laugh quietly.
“Well, if you think about it… Obi-Wan did train Anakin. So he probably knew how to fight against him,” Peter chimed in the call. His voice was always so soft, and quiet. It still didn’t stop you from involuntarily smiling to yourself, though.
You didn’t think it would be possible for you to feel this way towards a voice, yet here you were. Drawn to him, as if you were in each other’s lives for years. When in reality, you’d only met him three months ago. There wasn’t even a face to match the voice or the name.
“Y/N?”
The sudden call of your name had you reel your mind back to reality. You were stuck in a train of thought again, wondering what it’d be like to talk to your friends in real life. While it wouldn’t be possible now, since, you were all still Freshmen in high school---- the future might hold a possibility.
Fixing the headphones that hovered over your ears, you brought the microphone closer to your lips.
“Hm? Yeah, what’s up?”
“I’m getting tired of this conversation, are you?” Valerie answered, a hint of annoyed laced in her tone. While you were more inclined to be interested in all the Star Wars talk, she wasn’t.
“You’re just hating on Star Wars, Val,” Ned remarked. His clicking has become more obnoxious now, and everyone could clearly tell he’s widely spamming the keys.
“No--- she’s right. Let’s talk about something else,” you made an attempt to help your friend out. “I’m getting kind of sick of it too.”
“Thank you!” she said. “So… how was your day guys?”
“Fine.”
“Same old.”
You could already hear her groan to her microphone. You wanted to give her a more in-depth response, but, life at school wasn’t all too exciting. It mostly consisted of class, choir practice, more class, then home.
���Peter and I went on a field trip,” Ned replied after a moment of awkward silences all around.
“That sounds fun,” you said, scooting your chair closer to your desk. “Where’d you guys go?”
“Some science lab. It wasn’t even that great, to be honest. All we looked at were some test tubes and a bunch of spiders.”
“Spiders are cool,” Valerie said. “Are they like, the type that kills you if you get a bite?”
The conversation went on for a good while, since, it sort of went down a rabbit hole of theories and questions that remained unanswered. Throughout the conversation though, you noticed that Peter had been radio silent for a while now, despite still being connected to the call. You were curious was to what happened, since he was usually the type to say something if he were to leave. And, if he fell asleep, anyone could easily hear him snoring softly through the microphone of his headphones.
“Peter?” Isaac had finally noticed too. “You still there, dude?”
“Yeah, where’d you go man?” Ned added.
It still fell quiet for a good while. No one knew what to say, since, there was no response from the other end. You could tell that everyone began to worry. This kind of behavior was unusual, and you couldn’t help but think of the worst possible outcomes.
Finally, you hear his voice come through. But something didn’t feel right.
“I gotta go,” he spoke faintly, voice feeling further and further away. “I don’t… feel so good.”
And with that, he disappeared from the call.
#peter parker x reader#peter parker fanfiction#peter parker imagine#peter parker x you#listen 2 the songs i dare U
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Deal’s End (12)
One final wish.
(Read on AO3)
---
Months rolled by as Marinette moved on with her life without Felix. It took some getting used to waking up and not having him around. She had even avoided saying his name as much as she could. Everyone at school figured that he moved away but didn’t give it much thought beyond that. The only other people that seemed to note his absence outside of Marinette were Adrien, Alya, and her parents.
Alya was Marinette’s rock during the beginning when she was most broken up about it. A number of sleepovers that ended in cartons of ice cream and a box of used tissues.
And then there was Adrien. Marinette’s now official boyfriend. She insisted on taking things slow when they started. She was in no proper headspace to be a normal girlfriend and wanted to distance herself from the new relationship for some time before she was back to normal. Adrien didn’t question her and said that he didn’t want to rush her into anything she was uncomfortable with. So a lot of their quote unquote dates were casual lunches and hand holding in the park.
After the first month Marinette was as normal as she thought she was gonna get. Her dates with Adrien branching out to more traditionally romantic and a few kisses exchanged. The first time they kissed there was a small fluttering in her stomach but not much beyond that. It wasn’t the spark that Marinette had heard Alya talk about when she had her first kiss with Nino.
Summer had come and gone and autumn had officially began. The trees burning in colors of orange and yellow and red. It was chill enough to break out the fluffy sweaters and warm drinks but not enough that it was uncomfortable to be out. It was a picture perfect backdrop to a romantic season.
After school one day Adrien invited Marinette over to his house for a study date. There wasn’t a lot to work on but she was happy to spend some time with him outside of school. When it came to go Adrien walked her out to the front door.
“Do you need to get home anytime soon?” Adrien asked after they stepped out of the house.
“No. Why? What’s up?” She asked.
Adrien came up to her, his wide green eyes tenderly watching her. “Marinette, I wanted to talk to you about something that may not be the easiest thing to talk about. But I care about you and if one of us isn’t happy then it should be addressed. Don’t you think so?”
“What are you getting at?”
He held her hands, “Do you love me?”
“What kind of a question is that? Of course I love you. You’re my boyfriend.” She tried to laugh it off.
“I believe that you love me as much as say you love Alya.” He continued, “You love me as a friend. But not more than that.”
“What makes you think that?” Marinette backed up an inch.
“Marinette, I do love you.” Adrien held her hands tighter, “You’re an amazing person and I am so happy spending time with you. But we both know that whatever this is between us isn’t working and it is because we’re trying to force romance into what is meant to be a friendship.”
“Are you breaking up with me?” Her voice broke a touch.
“Are you happy with me?” Adrien asked, “When you look into the future is it me you’re seeing? Cause I don’t think it is.”
“I am happy with you. I love hanging out with you and if I were to look into the future I would hope that you were there with me.”
“I may be there and you may be happy with me but are you happy with me as a romantic partner?”
“Adrien…”
“We both know who it is you really want.” He stared down at their interlaced hands, “I thought that maybe I could be what you wanted. But with how sad you were when he moved away and how distant you’ve been since we started dating I couldn’t keep going on. Not when I knew that whatever this is between us was only hurting you more.”
Marinette started to break down completely. There was no use pretending now. “I never meant to hurt you or use you.” She whispered, “I thought you were what I wanted. What I needed. But in the end I was using you. You were the kind and handsome placeholder for all the emotions and love I wanted to give to someone. Then he showed up and little by little everything changed. I told myself that it was just a phase. A passing fancy. That I was your girlfriend and my feelings for him would drift away as a pleasant memory. I squashed them down and left them to wither and die in my gut. But they just wouldn’t.” Marinette sat down on the steps. “I led you on because being with you was better than being alone.”
Adrien sat down next to her. He held her close and rubbed her back gingerly. “It’s alright, Marinette. I’m not upset if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“How can you not be? I--I--”
“You’re hurting and if being your boyfriend helped you not to hurt then I’m okay. But you are still hurting. All I want is for you to be happy. You’re my friend and I love you and I want to help you however I can. But I think what is best for the both of us is if we stop pretending and go back to what works best for us.”
“You still want to be my friend?”
“Do I still want to be friends with the kindest, smartest, funniest, most talented, and bravest girl I have ever met? I think I’m gonna have to say, duh!” he said. Marinette laughed a bit.
“I love you. I really do.” Marinette leaned her head on his shoulder, “As my friend.”
“I love you too, friend.” They sat on the steps watching cars and people go by. Their relationship as a couple officially at an end. What had she done to deserve someone as great as Adrien in her life?
Upon returning home she collapsed onto her chaise and let herself have a good cry. She had put herself through all this pain and for what? Breaking up with Adrien wouldn’t bring Felix back. She had given up years of her life for a relationship she ended up not really wanting. Now all she had to show for it was a heart more broken than before.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the note Felix had left. The last thing he had ever given her. She held it close, a stray tear hitting the paper. “I wish you were here.” she whispered.
All of the sudden she felt a hand on her back. She turned around and saw her mom kneeling next to her. “Oh sweetie, what’s wrong?”
“Mom.” Marinette hugged her tightly. “It hurts so much.”
“What does? What happened?” She asked.
“Adrien and I broke up.” Marinette muttered.
“Oh, sweetheart,” Her mom held her closer, “I’m so sorry. It’s gonna be okay.”
Her sobs grew louder and her dad came up to check on her as well. Both her parents held her in their arms as she let out all the pain she had been bottling in for months. They thought it was all for Adrien and she was fine to let them believe that. The reality hurt much worse.
Marinette went to bed early that night. She was too exhausted to see the note on her desk until she woke up in the morning. Picking it up her heart leapt into her throat. It was the paper from her sketchbook. The one with Felix’s sigil on it. She hadn’t seen this since she signed it.
Quickly turning it over she saw the contract was there with large black letters that read: VOID, stamped across it. One hundred percent satisfaction or your years of life back guarantee. Just as soon as she read it the paper caught fire and burned up in her hands leaving nothing but a puff of smoke in its wake.
Her five years had been returned. She called it a small victory.
Getting ready for school was a chore. But she felt lighter somehow. Like a weight had been taken off her shoulders and she could finally move forward. Walking into class she said hi to her friends. They were all sympathetic about her break up with Adrien but she assured them it was fine. Maybe under different circumstances they could have made it work but she was happy to have him in her life as just a friend.
In all honesty not being a couple helped a lot since they could just hang out without any expectations. She’d tag along to some of his photoshoots and make funny faces at him to break his concentration. He’d come over to play video games at her house after school. They’d study together and cracked jokes and made dumb puns. It was nice.
There was still that aching feeling in her chest when she thought of Felix. She missed him and often times found herself doodling his sigil in the margins of her notes. And she would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted to try and summon him again. In the end she talked herself out of it. It was too big of a risk.
One day Adrien was over at her house studying what with exams on the way they could use all the study time they could get.
“UGH!” Marinette snapped her textbook closed. “I can’t focus.”
“Video game break?” Adrien suggested.
“No. I think I just need some fresh air and some snacks. You wanna come?”
“You go on. I’m still copying down the notes I missed.” Adrien gestured to the notebook Marinette had lent him.
“Alright, I won’t be long.” Marinette headed downstairs and stepped outside. The cold wind snapped her senses back into focus. She took a few minutes to breathe and people watch before she went back in and grabbed a couple snacks before heading back up to her room.
“I have macarons and juice.” Marinette announced. A small shiver went down her spine upon entering the room. “Adrien? What are you doing buddy?”
Adrien was half off the chaise and his eyes were wide. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. “Oh uh hi there.” He waved at her.
“Hey yourself.” she tossed him a juice bottle. “Why are you so squirrely?”
“There was a um...a spider. It’s gone now.”
“Freaking spiders.” Marinette sighed, “Remind me I need to vacuum up the cobwebs in here this weekend.”
“Will do.” Adrien was kinda restless the rest of the afternoon they were working and Marinette decided to call it off early. He wasn’t focused and her brain was going to melt if she kept trying to cram information in it.
“We still on for group study in the library tomorrow?” she asked before he left, “Alya and Max are bringing flashcards.”
“Yeah. Sounds good. See you then.” Adrien said before turning around to his car muttering to himself.
“Weirdo.” Marinette chuckled as she went back inside and got ready for bed.
The next day at school Marinette shuffled inside and placed her things in her locker. She had trouble falling asleep last night and was still sleepy when her alarm went off in the morning. What she would have given for another hour of blessed sleep.
Upon walking into the classroom she received a jolt that woke her up instantly. A figure in black jeans and a red hoodie was sitting in her seat with their feet propped up on her desk and their hood up. She rubbed her eyes but the figure remained.
She felt her feet moving beneath her without any sort of command from her brain as she neared her desk. “You’re in my seat.” Her voice was quiet.
They looked up, pushing the hood back off their head, revealing grey eyes that sparkled like silver and mussed blonde hair. “Surprised to see me?”
“Yes I am.” She took in a shaky breath. “Felix...what…”
“Come here, love,” he stood up and took her out of the classroom. They passed Adrien in the doorway who gave them a knowing smile.
Felix dragged her down to the now empty library. They stood apart from each other as Marinette tried to settle all the emotions in her head. Felix was here. Why was he here? How was he here? Was it because her wish had been voided?
“Marinette,” Felix spoke first, “I--”
She rushed him in a hug. His arms closed around her molding her to him. She was shaking and crying but god help her if she could stop. “There, there, love,” Felix whispered as he tried to soothe her, “Cry it out. It’s alright.”
“I’m okay.” Marinette broke out of the embrace abruptly. “Sorry. I got overwhelmed.”
“Don’t apologize.” He smoothed out her hair. “I can imagine that this is a bit of a shock.”
“A bit of a shock?” Marinette stepped further away from him. “A bit of a shock!”
“Oh boy here we go.” Felix braced himself, “I’m ready let’s have it.”
“I haven’t seen you in months!” Marinette shrieked, her whole body filling with anger and sadness, “I was left alone on a dance floor trying not to cry my eyes out the last time I saw you. I entered into a relationship I ended up not even wanting because pretending to be in love was better than being alone. All I had left was this note in my fridge to remember you by cause all the pictures you were in mysteriously vanished. I was finally starting to accept that you were a strange and heartbreaking moment in my life and was moving on from it.”
She rushed up to him jabbing a finger into his chest. “Now you’re here and I don’t know what to think or what to feel. I’m angry and upset and happy and confused and worried and hopeful and about a billion other things. So yes, seeing you in my seat like nothing has happened was ‘a bit of a shock!’”
She turned away taking several deep breaths to calm herself. This was too much to deal with this early.
“Marinette,” Felix touched her shoulder but just as quickly withdrew it when he saw her glare, “What do you want me to say? You want me to apologize for leaving? You want me to say that I should have stayed and damn the consequences? Cause we both know it wouldn’t have helped. It would have just made everything worse.”
“Then why are you back?” Marinette rounded on him, “Why are you back? Is it because my contract was void? Do we have to strike a new deal or something? I am not in the mood for games, Felix. I don’t want any roundabout answers or riddles. I just want a straightforward answer.”
“It has nothing to do with your contract. We don’t need to make any new deal. Your years of life were returned. That was the end of it.” Felix explained calmly.
“So what is it then?”
“I was summoned.”
“Not by me.”
“No, love, not by you.” Felix reached into his notebook and took out a piece of paper before handing it to her.
“My chemistry notes?” She scanned over the paper. “How did you get this?”
“Because of this.” He pointed to a doodle in the margin. A smear of dried blood on it. “Funny what a little paper cut can do.”
“But if it wasn’t me then…” the realization started to dawn on her. “I gave Adrien my notes to copy. I went downstairs for snacks and…”
“When you came back up he was acting weird?” Felix nodded with a crooked smile. “Yes.”
“He…” Marinette’s hands flew to her mouth. “Adrien! Oh god, what did he wish for? What was the price? I swear if you took his soul--”
“Hey, hey, calm down.” Felix eased her, “He’s fine. No soul reaping here. I promise. I understand your worry but there is nothing to be worried about. Everything is fine.”
“Has he made a deal with you yet?”
“Yes.”
“No!” Marinette was pacing again, “Oh god this is so bad!”
“Marinette, love, will you get ahold of yourself for five minutes and let me explain?” Felix grasped her by the shoulders to stop her movement. “Can you give me that? Can you give me five minutes?”
Marinette nodded. “Okay,” he let her go, “Let me start from the beginning when Adrien first summoned me.”
“A good a place as any to start.” Marinette took a seat at one of the tables. “I’m listening.”
“When I first showed up in your room I was panicked because I thought you had gotten incredibly stupid and conjured me again. When I looked around though the only one there was Adrien. He was startled and confused as to why I was there and how I had appeared. I knew you would be back any second so I quickly explained that I had never been a transfer student and was actually a demon that you had accidentally summoned that one day you got hit in the face with a dodgeball. I begged him not to let you know I was there and that I would explain everything once we were away from your house.”
“Why didn’t you reveal yourself to me when you were in my room? If anything I think I could have helped explain to Adrien what you are.”
“Given your reaction to seeing me just now I am gonna say that you would have not been any help at all. If you knew I was there it would have been extra gas on the fire and that was not going to be good for anyone.”
“That’s fair.” Marinette relented. “Go on.”
“So after we left and went back to Adrien’s house I explained the situation more and I had to tell him about our deal and how he had factored into it. He was good about it. I swear that he is one of the most understanding people I have ever met. He really does take everything in stride. He didn’t even get mad when I told him it was I that cut the air conditioning in your house that one day.”
“Felix, you’re drifting.” She said.
“Sorry. Back to it.” Felix cleared his throat, “After we got all of that out of the way I told him that since he summoned me, accident or not, we had to make a deal or else I could never leave. So we made a deal.”
“And this is where my worries come in.” Marinette said, “I fought you for a week before striking a deal. You’re alone with Adrien for one night and he’s quite literally made a deal with the devil. So just tell me what it was he did wish for.”
He reached out a hand and gently stroked her cheek. “He wished for the brute to be a gentleman,” His voice broke a touch, “or in my case, human.”
Marinette shot to her feet so fast the chair clattered to the ground behind her. Human? Her throat felt dry. “He can wish for that?”
“Apparently so.” Felix chuckled.
“But why?”
“Because he loves you. And he’d do anything to make you happy.”
“And he thought that was you?” Marinette joked.
Felix scoffed, pretending to be wounded. “Was he mistaken, love?”
“How much did that cost if not his soul?”
“Turning a demon into a human is seen as a punishment where I was from. My bosses were already pissed at me for how much time I spent up here, complaining about me going soft. They were going to punish me somehow but in their eyes Adrien did that for them. So they may have let the price slide just this once.”
“How is being human a punishment?”
“Loss of immortality and you are now under the sway of god again which you had fallen from before. It’s basically seen as a betrayal to your fallen peers.”
“I have so many more questions about the logistics of this. I mean, do you have a soul now? What happens when you die? What is your DNA? Do you even have a place to live?”
“In order: yes, I don’t know, I don’t know, and no. That being said, can I stay your house for a couple weeks? I have literally nowhere to go and no money.”
“I’ll talk to my parents. Maybe you can take the photographer’s advice and become a model. He said he knew an agency.”
“A model? I can see it. I may be mortal but I am still hot as hell and devilishly handsome.” Felix laughed. The sound filled Marinette with warmth.
“On second thought I don’t think you need your ego fed anymore.”
“Too late, I’m already imaging.” He started making ridiculous poses.
“Okay cool it, Jojo.” Marinette rolled her eyes. She approached him, resting a hand on his chest. “Are you really human?”
“Yes.”
“Are you here to stay?”
“Yes.”
“Do you…do you…” The question was stuck in her throat.
“I do.” Felix cradled her face in his hands. “It isn’t much and I’ve a lot to learn still but that’s half the fun of love isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She was crying now. Felix gently wiped away her tears and waited patiently for her to calm down.
“So, are you happy?” He asked.
“I am. I thought I’d lost you forever.” She hiccuped.
“You think you could drive me off that easily?” He pressed his forehead to hers, “You couldn’t shake me when I was a demon and now that you’re my girlfriend you’re never getting rid of me.”
“Girlfriend? Jumping ahead of ourselves don’t you think?” She laughed, “Shouldn’t you take me on a date first?”
“Was extinguishing every light in Paris so we could watch the shooting stars not a good enough first date for you? Cause I hate to tell you but I’m not gonna be able to top that now without any powers.”
“How about dinner?” Marinette suggested, “Then dessert at Andre’s.”
“Sounds perfect.” he leaned in closer. “But first I am going to drag us back into the far stacks of the library to make out because that is all I have been thinking about since that night we watched the stars.”
Marinette stood on her toes and pressed her mouth against his. Her hands balled in the fabric of his hoodie. His hands wove into her hair pulling her closer still. Butterflies, fireworks, bouncy balls, everything was going off inside her as he kissed her deeply. This was what it was supposed to feel like.
He wasn’t letting her go any time soon either. One kiss followed another more desperate and hungry and loving than the last until they were both out of breath. “I love you,” She whispered against his lips. “I love you, Felix.”
“I love you too, Marinette.” he kissed her again. “I do have one little condition though?”
“And what would that be? More eclairs?” She giggled punctuating her words with small darting kisses.
“Well yes, obviously, but more than that I want to make one last deal. An official end to my demon dealing ways.” He looked at her with so much love and adoration it threatened to strangle her. “I’ll trade you the rest of my life for the rest of yours. Sound fair, my love?”
Marinette laced her hand with his, “It’s a deal.”
THE END
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(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11)
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(tagged)
@sannsibarr @miss-mysterys-blog @maribug-adrienoir @mermaidreject @corabeth11 @goblinwhoships @symwinter @dreaming-being @yourgeekysister
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left hand free
Part II to the series, i want you to want me.
Summary: (Y/N) is checking in on Peter in Germany.
Warnings: I guess swearing? Maybe spoilers for Captain America: Civil War, but like who hasn’t seen that bad boy lol?
Pairings: Peter Parker x best friend!reader
Word count: 1,632
A/N: I’ve decided that I’m going to attempt to get this series done before I start my summer semester, so on the 15th of May, if I can’t then updates will be slow during that time, at least for a month until I finish school. Updates will ideally be 1-2 times a week since that’s about how many days I have off from work. Thanks for the support on the last part!
You anxiously pace back and forth on your kitchen floor. Lost in your thoughts, only brought to reality by the familiar ding of your phone. You let go of the breath you didn’t know you were holding. You pick up your phone and look at the text from Peter,
P: “Just landed in Germany”
Y: “Well now that the hard part is over, have a great trip! 🙄🥴”
P: “All will be fine lol. Make sure to send me a picture of us “hanging” so I can check-in with May.”
“Hey, dad!” You called to him, hoping he could hear you from his room.
“What’s up?” He popped his head out from behind the door frame.
“I have a strange favor to ask. Can you take a picture of me working on my Spanish project? Since Peter and I couldn’t work on it together, they want us to take pictures of each of us doing our halves so they know we didn’t just have one person do all the work.”
“What happened with Peter coming over this weekend?”
“Oh, it turns out he had a college recruitment thing. He didn’t think he’d qualify when he applied, so he thought he’d be able to make it. He’s gonna do his half in his hotel.”
“Oh, alright.” Your dad takes your phone from you and snaps a picture of you leaning over the poster board, pretending to write the title for the project. He hands you back your phone. “That’s an odd request from a teacher.”
“Well, that’s what they tell us, but we all really know that they’re just lacking in volunteers for the yearbook so they want to get some extra pictures of kids working on projects if they can.” You chuckled nervously, and took the phone back, immediately sending it to Peter. He went back to his room, telling you goodnight and to not stay up too late. “love you!” you shout as he shuts his bedroom door.
“Back at ya kid!”
You phone bings and brings your attention back to Peter.
P: “Oh look how cute you look when you pretend to do homework 🥺”
Y: “Shut up. I hope Captain America knocks you on your ass with his shield.”
P: “Well that’s not very nice. Maybe I should ask one of the Avengers if they’re in the market for a new best friend.”
Y: “Go ahead and do that for me because if you die then at least I’ll have someone to comfort me. Does Thor happen to be on your team? If so, I’ll gladly mourn my loss in his big strong arms 😢”
P: “As a matter of fact, he is not. Guess you’re s.o.l. Nighty night.”
Y: “Night, try not to get yourself killed dumbass.”
You continued working on the Spanish project throughout the night. After all, you were planning on having two people doing this, and now you have to make up for that. Well, that’s what you told yourself, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to sleep well all weekend with the thought that Peter might be in danger. But, if he really has been Spider-Man this whole time, then he’s been in danger for some time. But this seems like a different kind of danger. You’ve always know Spider-Man to be the friendly neighborhood crime fighter, but now that he’s working with the Avengers, you worried what that kind of exposure to a bigger enemy might mean for him. Maybe this is why Peter never told you, he didn’t want you to hold him back or worry constantly about him. You’d understand him not telling May because of that, but you thought that your friendship was something beyond just caring about each other. You thought it was the two of you encouraging each other and helping them to be the best version of themselves, so why didn’t he trust you with something that was so important to him? Maybe he thought you’d rat him out? But if he gave you the chance he would know that you would never go behind his back like that. Maybe this was your chance to prove that to him. Well, whatever his reasoning, you hoped he would be more honest from here on out.
The next day you hadn’t heard anything from Peter all day. You assumed he was probably just busy, plus being in a different time zone probably didn’t help, but you still had a gnawing feeling. That was until you got a text of a picture of Peter with some locals, and you realized he was probably sightseeing until it was time to “suit up”. You smiled at the picture and saved it. He looked so genuinely happy, and you didn’t get to see that often in pictures. You realized that this was something that he was excited about. His nerves and tension you sensed when he asked you to cover for him were gone, and he was fully enjoying himself and his chance to fight with Iron Man. You sighed contently and shut off your phone, figuring it’s probably best to not have it taunting you throughout the day.
When you finally turned your phone back on, about right before you got into bed for the night, you had a video from Peter waiting for you. It was him running around a town square and showing you all the different food carts. You chuckled, not really sure why he felt the need to share all the food carts with you of everything, but you didn’t mind. Accompanying the video is a text that says,
P: “Mr. Stark says we’re gathering at the airport in the morning because that’s where Captain America is heading, trying to escape.”
Y: “Loving the video and picture, looks like fun! Hope everything goes well tomorrow, kick some ass Pete ❤️ (oh and don’t die please)”
P: “Oh now you want me to come back. Now that you know Thor’s not here to dry your tears?”
Y: “I’ve always wanted you to come back, I’m just saying if you don’t… I might not be so torn up if Thor was sent to break the news to me 😉”
P: “I’ll put that in my will really quick “P.S. Send Thor to break the news to (Y/N)”.”
Y: “I appreciate your support on this bud! Oh by the way, here’s a picture of the project finished for May, tomorrow I’m baking Mantecados so when you get back you can be my taste tester and then everything should be ready to present on Monday!”
You’d gotten up and snapped a picture of the finished poster board. Then propped your camera on your desk so it looked about Peter's height, and set a timer. You hopped in front of the board and held your arms out in a way that someone would show off a car on a game show, and out on a big grin. You sent both to Peter so he had some options for what to send to May as proof. He responded to you after he saved them and forwarded them to May.
P: “Thank you! May is really appreciating the fun shots of you acting like poster board making is your calling. Also, I’m really looking forward to knowing absolutely nothing about our project when we present lol.”
Y: “Hey, that’s on you lol. Read the points I have on the board on your plane ride back.”
You set your phone down and closed your eyes, a smile on your face that you couldn’t shake. You were able to sleep peacefully knowing that for now, Peter was okay. You could worry about him tomorrow, but for now, he’s okay.
You decided to sleep in as much as you could, since today all you had to do was go out and get some baking ingredients, then bake. You woke up around noon, which is definitely longer than you thought you’d stay in, but you weren’t mad. You were facing your alarm clock on your bedside table then turned on your back to stretch. You looked up at your ceiling and fell out of bed.
“What the actual fuck!” You yell as you fall, scared to death.
You heard the most familiar laugh echo through your room as Peter fell from your ceiling to your bed. You stood up, grabbed your pillow and smacked him across the head.
“Hey! It’s not my fault you’re easy to scare!”
“No, but it is your fault that you’re a total ass.” You laugh at him, but then pause as he takes off his mask and reveals his black eye. You quickly take his face into your hands and gently rub your thumb over it.
“Who did this? I’ll kick their ass.” You said, completely forgetting that he was just fighting the oldest living Avenger.
“I’ll let Mr. Stark know to warn Cap that you’re coming for his head.”
“Right, sorry. I did just wake up, I totally forgot you were off fighting big bad guys. So what was it like? Are you an Avenger now?”
“It was interesting and kind of cool to be doing more than just stopping random thugs from stealing old ladies’ purses, ya know? And no, well… I’m basically an Avenger, but I think I have to wait for another assignment or something for me to prove I’m ready.”
“Well, hopefully, they’re not needing you too much.”
“Why not? I could really do this! I could be an Avenger!”
“What about school?”
“Well I could obviously do both, I would just have to only do Avenger things when I can, but I’ll manage, I’ve been managing for a while now.”
“Well, as long as your happy, and not dead, I’ll support you.” You chuckled, hoping that Peter would continue to trust you with his Spider-Man secrets.
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#peter parker#peter parker spiderman#peter parker is a dork#Peter Benjamin Parker#spiderman#spiderman series#peter parker writing#peter parker reader imagine#peter parker reader insert#peter parker tom holland#peter parker imagine#peter parker is precious#peter parker is a little shit#peter parker au#peter parker ship#peter parker series#peter parker fic#peter parker fanfiction#peter parker fandom#captain america civil war#MCU
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The other day I finished the Hikikomori route of Omori and I just want to yell my thoughts into the void before starting the true route
So, spoilers ahead!
I love all of the characters. I do not think I can choose an actual favourite. Help.
My feelings of wanting to give hugs to all of the characters has only intensified
haha kel funny chicken ball
Black Space is terrifying what the FUCK was up with that red maze with the Mari.... something.... things
Look I’m always excepting a jump scare in Black Space no matter what point I’m at, it’s just so full of suspense that I’m like “it’s gonna jump scare it’s gonna jump scare” and then it doesn’t
When I first started Omori I was like “oh hey the music’s nice I’ve never heard a style like this in a video game before” and now I’m “holy shit these are all BANGERS I’m going to listen to them on repeat every single day”
I haven’t really made sense of the Hikikomori ending. I mean in the one with the knife it’s obvious you die but in the one with the car everything’s ambiguous apart from the fact that uh. Sunny just decides to go “aight imma head out” on reality.
Poor Sunny.... maybe he’ll get therapy on the true route..... but probably not. Who needs therapy when you can fight things
I need to fucking talk about some of the creepy shit that happened
Black Space Basil dying over and over again and just being happy the entire time is!!! unnerving!!!
Black Space room where HeroAubreyKel murder Basil and have messed up sprites!!!! not. fun.
Spiders.......... I have arachnophobia so those parts were difficult, especially the literal arachnophobia boss, its sprite was just too much for me
The skeletons in Sweetheart’s castle that are actually the bodies of your friends from being trapped in a time loop of the world resetting over and over again and dying on their adventures to save Basil ahahahah
something.
I think I’ve just repressed most of what happened in Black Space because that was the part of the game where the horror aspect REALLY kicked in
Mirror jump scare not fun
Mewo..... is completely fine..... nothing bad ever happened.....
Alright more happy notes!! Hector the pet rock, very cool.
My favourite boss is probably Sweetheart, not in terms of gameplay but in terms of music and personality. She’s obnoxious but she’s super fun and I love/hate her
Mari :( the scene where you’re going up the stairs in Black Space and you see her body in the flowers :((( and then she turns into that thing which changes the tone from sad to AAAAAA
Basil cannot catch a break huh. I wonder why like Sunny’s dream manifestation of him involves him just. dying or being in general distress for 90% of the game. But the other 10% of the time he’s just gay /hj
Hero’s a certified malewife but also needs to stop prioritizing others’ needs before his own
Aubrey’s a girlboss <3
Kel’s uh. “Are you telling me a shrimp fried this rice?”
Anyways those are my thoughts for now and I’m really really excited to do the true route and actually SEE the characters in the real world and have Sunny not use unhealthy coping mechanisms!!!
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Prompt List #1
(Character List)
“Why is there blood?”
“No, it’s really not that complicated. He’s a bad person.”
“Hey… what’s wrong with your face?”
“The king is missing.”
“Ah yes, come in. Close the door behind you.”
“How could you do this to me?”
“You’re. An. Idiot.”
“You’ve got thirty seconds to explain to me what you’re doing here.”
“You gots daddy kink or some thin’?”
“I know this may be hard to believe, but I’m on your side.”
“Not spiders! Not spiders!”
“I’m just gonna sit here and probably cry.”
“I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.”
“That’s the nice thing about telling the truth. You don’t have nearly as much to keep track of.”
“Movie? Snacks? Cuddles?”
“A liar is one thing I’m not.”
“You know she/he has at least five sharp blades in reaching distance right now, right?”
“Flowers can totally be manly.”
“You wouldn’t believe if it ya seen it.”
“Stop doing that!”
“Why are you like this?”
“You owe me one.”
“Can we just leave already?”
“Your place or mine?”
“That’s a really big...”
“I’ve thought about stabbing you 12 times since you started talking.”
“I’m sorry, what did he/she just say?”
“You just wait till after my bubble bath.”
“You have five seconds to get out of my face.”
“I love you! Okay?”
“Was that what you wanted to hear?”
“I don’t
“I am not going in there!”
“What the hell is he/she wearing?”
“I’m gonna touch it.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s poison.”
“What if we do the opposite?”
“Tacos? Beer? I’m in.”
“Um, where’s your clothes?”
“Let’s just take a minute to reflect on what the fuck just happened.”
“Give him/her the food and I bet he’ll/she’ll shut up.”
“Damn, you look amazing.”
“I wish every day could be like this.”
“Just kiss me you idiot!”
“I hate you so much.”
“I like grapes.”
“But I’m so tired.”
“One handful is all you need.”
“Just follow my lead we’ll be fine.”
“We are not fine.”
“I’m not some damsel in distress.”
“Looks like I saved the day, again.”
“Video games or movies?”
“At this point I really don’t care.”
“Ok! Yes! I want you!”
“Are you happy now?”
“I don’t know, I’d give it two thumbs up.”
“Are you proud of me?”
“Where’s the off switch!?”
“Gently you idiot!”
“I can kill you and no one will ever find your body.”
“This is not a dad joke situation.”
“It’s a kitty cat! Oh, wait, never mind.”
“My brain just won’t stop.”
“How do you think it feels?”
“Oh, I thought we were naming things that would never happen.”
“You’re going on a date?”
“What do you remember?”
“Ten bucks says otherwise.”
“Do you want to go in time out?”
“I’ll give you anything.”
“I’ll do anything.”
“I don’t think that’s what he/she meant.”
“Could we get some assistance?”
“I think he/she just got knocked out.”
“I’m completely done with this.”
“No! Don’t leave!”
“I need you.”
“You have everything you could ever want.”
“That’s an exit only.”
“Who asked you?”
“Do you want to wake them up or...”
“Be free!”
“Sociopath, actually”
“Ha! I knew I was right!”
“You’re not an super villain.”
“Get down before you hurt yourself you moron!”
“This is reality not a damn Disney movie!”
“No, please, after you.”
“I can skin em.”
“Do you even know how to work that?
“Tomorrow will be better.”
“I’m so glad I have you.”
“I want blood.”
“Is no one else gonna acknowledge what they just said?”
“You’re a nightmare.”
“We can do anything as long as we’re together.”
“I liked the other one better.”
“You almost got it!”
“Ok, I’m done.”
—
Requests are open! I will mark out prompts as they are used! To make a request choose up to two characters, choose up to two prompts, and choose what kind of story (fluff, smut, angst, friendship, etc).
If you have a story idea to go with what you you chose tell me that too! Much love!
—
#nothingbutfangirlsmut#fanfiction#writing prompts#prompt list#prompt#prompts#fanfic prompt#dialogue prompt#requestsopen#request#a smutty world
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let’s talk about the themes of the Sly games
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus (2002):
Paris: this might not be the game’s main theme but it’s the theme that is most omnipresent. Paris is the glue that connects everything together. it immediately has such an impact on the player, even though it’s just the tutorial and the gang’s base of operations. Sly being a thief but also living in Paris just sounds so right, like it’s the way it should be. it fits.
The Thievius Raccoonus: this is the main theme and what provides the game with its premise. it’s the book that needs to be glued back together and its importance is highlighted throughout. almost every level has a page included so we’re constantly reminded of its significance. the skills we earn by retrieving the main ancestors’ pages elevate the gameplay and force the player to respect it. other than that it’s a clever way to spotlight the ancestors and establish that Sly does come from a long line of thieves.
Family: this doesn’t need much explaining but i’ll do it anyway. we start off with Sly’s parents getting killed and him landing at an orphanage where he creates a new family for himself with Bentley and Murray. you’ve got 3 different types of family: (A) Connor and Sly’s mom getting murdered and Sly’s aim to avenge them, (B) Bentley and Murray being true brothers when Sly was left with no one (i’m tearing up), and (C) the ancestors, which are explored more in-depth through the theme of The Thievius Raccoonus. Family as a theme explores Sly’s motivations and drive, even though Connor’s role is minor, especially in comparison to his role in Sly 3
Morality: Sly 1 is rudimental in its gameplay. it was a little game with a big promise at the time it was released, hoping to serve Sony and the Playstation 2 with a worthy mascot and an even worthier title. but right off the bat the player is bombarded with a shit-ton of lore about the world Sly lives in and how he operates. we immediately find out he’s an antihero, an honourable thief who has a code of conduct. this comes into stark contrast with the game’s villains who are basically filthy crooks. thief takes down thieves and the theme of Morality is SP’s attempt to make the player distinguish between good criminal and bad criminal. Morality as a theme is spotlighted immensely in Cold Heart of Hate when Sly saves Carmelita because he truly is the good guy, but also when it’s revealed that what’s been keeping Clockwerk alive all these years is the lack of morals and the hatred. the game establishes Morality as the outlining theme of the entire series, placing Sly on a pedestal because he’s honourable. morals trump hatred, so fuck off Clockwerk (even though ‘perfection has no age’ might be one of the coolest lines in the game lol)
Sly 2: Band of Thieves (2004):
Paris: this is the theme from the first game but on steroids. like make it x10. when you take the plot of Sly 2 and boil down to its core, it turns out to be a full-on race against time to save Paris. it provides both a nod to the first game and a sense of closure at the end: the game begins in Paris and ends in Paris. It’s both a setting and a catalyst, and it is absolutely brilliant in the game. you spend most of the game globetrotting, away from home but as soon as you find out ClockLa is on her way to unleash her psychotic brain waves and turn the city evil, you find yourself at the edge of your seat, caring more about Paris than anything else. it’s omnipresent and powerful and i don’t know why but i love it.
Spice: if you wanna be my lover. here’s an amazing replacement for drug trafficking as a plot device in a children’s game: spice. the spice trail is what pushes the narrative forward but also gives the gang something to face before the pieces fall into place and the larger scale of things is revealed. before ClockLa steals the show, spice is the main antagonist in the game. it brings the villains together, leads the gang from one location to another, provides some memorable missions and obstacles (Spice in the Sky and a raged, spice-infused Murray). but it’s not to say that it fades away in the long-run. Spice is actually the subtle thread that connects the episodes together but also is significant to the final master plan of hypnotising Paris.
Deception: obvious one here. Neyla pretending to be an ally is the major example. we’ve got the Contessa pretending to be loyal to Interpol, we’ve got Arpeggio seemingly being the mastermind behind everything (which he kinda was until he wasn’t), we’ve got the whole evil plot reveal on the spice, we’ve got Neyla ripping off Arpeggio on her journey to become the most well-written villain in video-game history. lots going on here. overall great theme. on a wider scale (and i’ve touched on this before in some recent posts) we’ve got SP deceiving the player into thinking the plot is all laid out at Rajan’s ball until it all turns to shit and nothing goes as expected. Appearance V Reality is a sub-theme that pops up when Bentley fights Jean Bison and Bison constantly underestimates Bentley until the turtle fucking blows his lights out. it’s not an instance of Deception per se, but it’s worth mentioning
The Past: Clockwerk’s return makes this a theme instead of a motif. before ‘saving Paris’ becomes the main objective, it’s Sly’s determination to prevent Clockwerk’s revamping that kicks off the game’s events. the events of Sly 1 play a pivotal role here as they lay the groundwork for the plot of Sly 2. it’s not just Sly 2: The Sequel. with its own set of characters and an intricate story it becomes its very own thing. but Clockwerk is the link that connects everything.
Morality: this one sneaks up on you in the game’s second half and just bites you right in the ass when you least expect it. Contessa, who until her boss-fight seems to be just another selfish spider bitch witch, manifests into this advocate for Sly’s inner demons through simple dialogue. fucking brilliant. ‘You’re an ignorant child playing dress-up in his father’s legacy’ (in my opinion, the best line in the entire series) kicks it all off. and then the theme becomes obviously present throughout. it explores the fine line that Sly walks between robin hood and scumbag thief, it shows how the villains are down-right criminals who want to benefit from their crimes, it cracks black and white into a million pieces because in a single game there are like a million layers of good and evil: Barkley at the very top as the authoritarian white, Carmelita as a sympathetic cop who tries to grasp onto her own code of ethics while occasionally running with the thieves, Sly and the gang as antiheroes, the villains as... villains, and Neyla as the embodiment of satan. it’s a scale and the game spotlights this. i had a different bullet point for Justice but i think it falls under Morality. basically, Carmelita’s story arc in Sly 2 deals with blurring her views a bit and re-defining justice
Sly 3: Honour Among Thieves (2005):
Ancestry (Cooper Vault): this is what the game is all about, or at least the premise. after stitching the cottdamn book back together by the end of the first game, Sly 2 doesn’t give any attention to the Thievius Raccoonus. in fact, Sly 2 exists on a completely different plane, using its amazing plot to elevate itself away from the lore of the first game. ancestry is rarely mentioned. flashforward to Sly 3, where SP takes us back to the mythos for a new caper involving a new reveal: the Cooper Vault. what we thought we knew about the ancestors is thrown out the window to pave the way for this mystical place where the Coopers buried their secrets and their loot. i’d like to point out that the theme of Ancestry is great and all but SP does a shitty job in spreading it throughout the game. whilst recruiting the new gang members we often forget why we’re doing so and it’s not until the last episode of the game that we get the fulfilment of the theme’s promise. it’s also worth mentioning that the theme pops up in A Cold Alliance when Tsao is comparing himself to Sly and he speaks of his ancestors but we somehow get the feeling that his ancestors were all colossal jerks like him and had absolutely 0 honour
Family: this is not the same as Ancestry. the new gang members could have very well been distant with each other if not for the adventures that made them bond. Bentley’s fascination with the Guru, Murray being the Guru’s apprentice, Bentley falling for Penelope, Penelope and Panda King helping Murray with the van, Panda King and Sly working alongside each other to kill vampire mantises and the Crusher. these are all moments that helped sell the ‘group of thieves’ aspect of the game. but Family also explores the bond of the original trio and how, even when they face their differences (Bentley and Murray living in the shadow of Sly), they can still make it through, even stronger than before. other references here might include: Panda King and Jing King, Dimitri and the Lousteau diving legacy, Dr. M and McSweeney being Conner’s “sidekicks”
Honour: this replaces the theme of Morality from the previous two games as the situations the characters face allude to honour (doing what’s right for the greater good) rather than morality (black and white, good vs evil). what i mean by that is SP making an effort to distinguish why Sly is a different thief and ultimately an antihero. this was sorta explored in the previous games by having Sly put an end to the villains’ various operations but the overall plot overshadowed those instances. Sly 3 on the other hand fully explores the theme of Honour by including the word in the title and having the gang save the day in every episode. stopping harm to the environment (polluting the Venice canals, destroying the Australian outback), helping Penelope come to terms with her inner demons by encouraging her to drop the facade of the Black Baron, saving Jing King from forced marriage, etc. the theme also ties into the theme of Redemption (below) but what i’d really like to point out is that Carmelita gets in on it as well. i can’t think of a more honourable moment than when she finally, after 3 games, puts the petty cop bullshit aside and comes to Kaine Island with her squad to save Sly from Dr. M. she makes Sly’s battle her own and doesn’t give up, showing up at the very end to save him from Dr. M’s horrific boss-fight (ugh)
Deception: although not as major as in Sly 2, i’ve said this time and time again: Flight of Fancy perfectly encapsulates the theme of Deception. Penelope dressing up as the Black Baron is not the only instance of deception. you’ve got Bentley and Penelope blowing their online avatars out of proportion, you’ve got Dimitri who was initially a villain finally turning sides, you’ve got an episode card full of sunshine and bright blue and gold fonts for a hub that’s all gloomy rainclouds. beyond Flight of Fancy, i can think of a few more instances: some Shakespearian shenanigans when Carmelita disguises herself as Jing King, or when the gang doesn’t reveal their Dead Men Tell No Tales plan to the player and we’re left thinking that Sly is going to get eaten by sharks
Redemption (Choices): speaks for itself, really. this one ties in with Honour and is a sub-theme, maybe a motif. we’ve got Murray’s desire to redeem himself for feeling guilty over Bentley’s accident. we’ve got Dimitri and the Panda King joining the gang after previously being villains in the series, and eventually redeeming themselves through helping with the heist. we’ve got Penelope redeeming herself as the Black Baron by joining the gang. i also named it Choices because these characters chose to redeem themselves. Choices are all over the game, whether its the lack of free will or the sacrifice characters make: Jing King isn’t in a position to choose whether or not she gets married during her capture, Sly sacrifices his cane at the very beginning of the game to save Bentley and then jumps in front of Dr. M’s shot to save Carmelita (!!!)
Closure: or the lack of, smh. SP’s trilogy comes to a close and therefore the theme has to exist even if the game doesn’t provide the player with mass satisfaction. Sly finally gets together with Carmelita, Bentley finally gets over his fear and self-doubt and lives the good life (with Penelope), Murray kicks off his racing career, and we get happy-ever-afters for the rest of the gang as well
#ya boi is FAMISHED#this beats any sly essay i've ever written#i'm exhausted bye#sly cooper#sly MF COOPER BITCHES
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365
HAPPY BIRTHDAY @notveryglittery (ok it’s not your birthday yet but in my timezone it almost is sooooo) have the fluffiest fluff i’ve ever written in my dang life
Summary: It’s Roman and Patton’s one-year anniversary, and they have Plans ™. Specifically, Patton plans to give his boyfriend a kiss for every day they’ve been together. Extreme fluff ensues.
Warnings: one (1) very mild accidental injury
Pairing: Royality
Words: ~3.7k
AO3
When Roman woke up, cozy in bed with his boyfriend, he couldn’t immediately place what was different. Everything seemed to be normal: messy nest of blankets and pillows, check; limbs tangled together like the mess of string in their sewing box, check; Patton’s hair tickling his face, check. But there was… something, a feeling, buzzing in the air and making him a little less reluctant to get out of bed than usual. He raised his head slightly and saw Patton was already awake, his phone wedged between their bodies as he watched muted cat videos while waiting for Roman to wake up- he never wanted to miss out on even a second of sleepy morning cuddles!
“Good morning, fearless knight,” Patton murmured to him in a tone laced with affection. He assumed that was in reference to the small spider he’d dispatched yesterday. “I was going to have breakfast ready, but you were sleeping on my arm and I didn’t want to wake you up…”
Ah, so that was why the pillow seemed warmer and, dare he say, nicer-smelling than usual. Roman turned his head and nuzzled into the crook of Patton’s elbow just as Patton latched onto his shirt and pulled himself closer to Roman’s chest. They sighed happily at the exact same time, then burst into giggles. It took a few minutes to pull themselves together and sit up.
“I don’t know why,” Roman said breathlessly, “I’m always so- so giddy around you.”
Patton blushed and buried his face in Roman’s shoulder, clinging to the front of his shirt to show that any attempt to move away would not be appreciated. Roman wrapped his arms around him and shifted them sideways into the pile of pillows and scattered stuffed animals they slept with, and then they were lying down again, no closer to being out of bed than when they’d started. Roman would have been very happy to stay like that for, oh, a few hours, but Patton seemed to have other ideas.
“You know, we do have to get up at some point, love.”
“If you insist.” He didn’t move.
“Ro, sweetie, c’mon.” Patton wriggled out of his arms, cooing and cupping Roman’s face in his hands when he whined. “I know, honey, I don’t wanna stop cuddling either, but I’m hungry, Roman. You can drag me back into Fluff Mountain after we eat, okay?”
Roman scrunched his face up. “Fiiine.”
Patton beamed at him- more than enough reward for getting up in itself- and kissed him softly before sliding off the bed. “One,” he sang as he very nearly skipped out of the room, and Roman finally remembered what day it was. Their one-year anniversary, to be celebrated with a day spent at home together and a game Patton had suggested: he wanted to give Roman 365 kisses, one for each day they’d been together.
It was a good twenty minutes before Roman got himself out of bed, somewhat dressed and into the kitchen, and even then he stopped dead in the doorway. Patton was stood at the counter mixing something in a bowl, half-turned away, and his face and hair were dappled with the sun that filtered through the blinds and it made him positively glow, like how honey looks when you hold it up in the light, and in Roman’s opinion that was just unfair. As if he weren’t stunning enough already. Roman shook himself from his daze and came up behind Patton to wrap his arms around his shoulders, burying his face in the soft brown curls still messy from sleep. Patton smiled and paused his stirring to pat Roman’s hands that were now crossed over his chest.
Roman adjusted position, resting his head on Patton’s shoulder for a better view. “And to what manner of delightful surprise are you treating me this morning, my darling? Other than yourself, of course,” he added, pressing his lips to Patton’s cheek.
“Waffles!” Patton chirped. “With fruit and whipped cream and chocolate chips and everything.” He turned his head and caught Roman before he moved away. “Two.”
“Um… Patton, dearest… you are going to let me be the one to cook them this time, right?”
“I guess.” He pouted slightly. “You cause one little fire and suddenly nobody trusts you with the waffle iron anymore…”
“Oh, no, don’t give me that sad look, please- I just don’t want to flood the kitchen putting it out again and have to spend our anniversary cleaning that up, alright?”
“It would dampen the mood a little,” Patton reluctantly agreed. Roman gave him a fond sigh for his trouble. “I know, I’ll let you cook them and not complain if you give me another kiss.”
“Of course.” They turned to face each other properly for this one, and it was a good one. It took a few seconds after they parted before Patton came back to reality and his eyes fluttered open. He smiled, his voice still a bit breathy.
“Three.”
Patton didn’t complain about not getting to use the waffle iron, even though he really wanted to, but he did insist on stealing more kisses the entire time. They were forced to stop after the eighth when Roman very slightly burned his hand while distracted. Kiss number nine went on the afflicted finger, along with a bandaid, to make it all better. Then Patton busied himself until the waffles were done by flitting around the kitchen, pulling out everything he could find that could possibly be considered as a topping and arranging the lot in the middle of their kitchen table, working around the vase of flowers that was already serving as a centerpiece.
“Breakfast is served!” Roman announced, setting down two plates with a flourish, each holding a tall stack of waffles. “Of course, you deserve most of the credit, my dear.”
“Aww, no I don’t,” Patton argued, pulling him down for number ten. “You did half of the work.”
Roman turned it into eleven through fourteen. “I beg to differ. You made all the batter-”
“I just used the mix in the cabinet, you know-”
“And you got us out of bed in time to actually count this as breakfast,” he finished, cutting off any further protest with a fifteenth kiss.
“Fine, fine.” Patton giggled. “No more waffling about this, let’s sit down and eat already!”
It wasn’t quite as simple as just sitting down and eating, of course- all that stuff was laid out on the table for a reason, they couldn’t exactly not use it! Roman was taking an artistic approach, carefully drizzling chocolate syrup over strawberries that were set in his whipped cream just so, while Patton simply grabbed anything that looked good and added a liberal amount to the growing pile on his plate, the waffles themselves having long since disappeared.
“That’s… certainly impressive,” Roman managed, watching him dump half a container of sprinkles on top of the whole mess. “Even more impressive if you’re actually able to eat it all.”
Patton looked at it and shrugged. “I will eventually.”
In any case, he certainly wasn’t going to finish it in one go, especially not with so many interruptions. He was barely making a dent at this rate; he hadn’t even reached the waffles yet. “Twenty-three,” he mumbled, and all Roman could think was that he tasted like pure sugar right now. Not that he minded.
Cleaning up together brought them to an even thirty, and then Roman was finally, finally able to carry out his plan of getting Patton back in bed and cuddling him. Neither of them wanted to move after that breakfast, so it was a good thing they weren’t planning to get up any time soon. Three kisses stolen while Roman got his laptop out and started a movie, and another two as they were getting comfortable. They both knew they wouldn’t actually pay it much attention, but it was nice to have something in the background- it wasn’t bad or anything, but no movie could possibly compete when they could be looking at each other. During the opening credits Patton trailed even more kisses up Roman’s neck and along his jawline, finally reaching his lips at forty-five. He pulled back for a second to catch his breath and they leaned their foreheads together, both smiling like there was nothing else in the world.
“So, are you liking my idea?” Forty-six.
“Like it?” Forty-seven. “I couldn’t possibly think of a better way to celebrate this occasion.” Forty-eight. “It’s perfect, sunshine. Just like you.”
Patton laughed and blushed. “Aww…”
Forty-nine. “Oh my goodness you’re even cuter now.” Fifty. “This is absolutely illegal-” fifty-one- “I’m calling the police.”
Patton ducked his head against Roman’s shoulder, smiling, and when he looked up again there was a mischievous gleam in his eyes and Roman knew he was in trouble.
“Well, I guess you would know, wouldn’t you?”
“What exactly-” fifty-two, surprising Roman midsentence- “is that supposed to mean?” He could already feel his face getting warm, but tried to keep his composure.
Fifty-three.
“Just that you must be an expert, you know, since you’re so gosh-darn cute yourself!” Patton held Roman’s face in his hands. Fifty-four, fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-seven, scattered all over his love’s face as if to match the freckles on his own. Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty.
“Pat, you can’t do that,” Roman practically whined as his blush deepened. He was smooth as anything on the other side of this interaction, but when the tables were turned he was a flustered mess.
“Shh, you perfect and beautiful angel, you’ve been complimenting me all morning, it’s my turn now.” He put a finger over Roman’s lips to keep him from saying any more, then replaced it with his own. “Sixty-one,” he added under his breath.
“You’re still keeping track?”
“I’m very determined. Don’t change the subject, let it happen.” Sixty-two, right on the tip of Roman’s nose.
“Fine…” Roman couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face as Patton started up again.
“You have the prettiest eyes ever.”
Sixty-three.
“Your hair is really soft and I wanna play with it every time I look at you.”
Sixty-four.
“You’re strong enough to pick me up, which is always great, but also soft enough to be comfortable leaning on. Like right now.”
Sixty-five.
“You try so hard and care so much about everything you do and when I see you get passionate about something, it makes me fall in love all over again.”
Sixty-six.
“Also, you come up with really fun date ideas.”
Sixty-seven.
“I love you.”
Sixty-eight. Patton pulled away a little and admired his work. Roman was smiling at him helplessly, half attempting to hide under a pillow. Patton took both his hands and laced their fingers together.
“One more thing… you’re even cuter when you get all embarrassed.” Sixty-nine, seventy, and then Roman started laughing and then they were both laughing and so in love and the next thing either of them knew they were at eighty-three. They never did end up learning what the movie was about.
By the time the movie they weren’t watching ended, sometime in the early afternoon, they were over a third of the way to their goal. A hundred and sixty-four kisses down, 201 to go. They might have stayed right where they were until they were finished, if not for the doorbell ringing at about two-thirty. Even Patton grumbled at having to get up this time, but it wouldn’t be very nice to invite their friends over and then not let them in, and they had indeed asked Logan and Virgil to come over and join them for a picnic lunch today. So instead of staying in bed and texting them to go away like they both sort of wanted to do, Patton went to greet them while Roman got their things together.
“Hey, guys!”
“I take it you… lost track of time a bit?” Logan asked, indicating Patton’s still-uncombed hair and Roman knocking things over in the kitchen trying to get everything ready. Patton laughed sheepishly.
“You could say that…”
“Should I even ask?” Virgil raised an eyebrow and smirked at Patton’s blush, snickering when Logan gave him a look. “Oh yeah. Happy anniversary, or whatever.” He held out a small gift bag.
“Oh! Aww, you didn’t have to get us anything!”
He shifted, embarrassed. “Don’t get excited, it’s just a gift card.”
“We thought you might like to go out to dinner,” Logan added.
“That’s probably for the best,” Patton admitted, wincing as he looked over his shoulder at the current state of the kitchen. “Why don’t you come in and sit down while we finish getting ready?” He ushered the two inside, giving them both hugs, and ran off to make himself presentable enough to leave the house. Of course, this involved going past Roman, so naturally he got sidetracked for another five kisses or so, but eventually he did manage to brush his hair. Eventually.
Logan went to help Roman in the kitchen, while Virgil waited to catch Patton as soon as he came back and distracted him with conversation to keep him out of the kitchen. Y’know, so anything could actually get done. After a good fifteen minutes of patiently allowing Patton to gush at him about the unbearably cute things that had happened earlier, Virgil was rather relieved when they were finally ready to go. That relief was short-lived, however, as soon as he realised that now he was going to be trapped in a car with the lovesick idiots until they reached their picnic spot. At least he was in front with Logan so they could make disgusted faces at each other when necessary.
Twenty minutes later, they were at the park. It was a popular destination on such a lovely summer day, but they managed to find a place to set up that wasn’t too close to anyone else. They spread their blanket out in a field of grass and wildflowers and started getting the food out. Although Roman had wanted to make something big and impressive, there hadn’t exactly been time for anything fancier than sandwiches, but he and Patton weren’t all that hungry anyway after the waffles earlier. …Which seemed to be a good thing, considering how distracted they currently were.
“Oh my god, are you two ever going to leave each other alone long enough to eat?”
“Wanna get to two hundred,” Patton explained- or rather, mumbled indistinctly, since he was in fact kissing Roman at that very moment. They both almost fell over when Logan and Virgil grabbed their shirts and pulled them apart.
“It can wait. Please.”
After that, the four of them could at least interact like human beings for a while. It was nice, just talking with their friends, but Patton and Roman were on a mission today and as soon as the conversation died down, they slipped away to a more secluded spot, AKA the other side of a tree five feet away. It wasn’t for privacy so much as to stop Virgil making gagging noises at them. As soon as they were out of sight, Logan muttered something about “worse than teenagers,” and didn’t give them long to themselves before announcing they needed to be getting home soon. The two mostly behaved themselves on the way back, so they were almost sure Virgil was joking when he swore he and Logan were never giving them a ride anywhere again.
“We should probably apologize to them for being so distracted,” Patton giggled, pulling Roman down onto the couch with him.
“Mhm.” Two hundred and three. “…Later.”
Determined though they were, even the world’s sappiest couple had to slow down at some point. They spent a few hours doing things like playing the board game Life, except with both of them in the same car, because that way nobody would lose and also duh, and then eventually went out to use the restaurant gift card from Logan and Virgil. They had to keep it toned down there, too, because it was a slightly fancy restaurant and there were limits on acceptable PDA before people starting giving them looks. When they got home, they were still about a hundred kisses away from their goal.
“What now?” Roman yawned involuntarily. “I’m going to need a lot of beauty sleep after today.”
“First of all, you’re always beautiful, so jot that down.” #270 was pressed softly just below Roman’s ear.
He returned it. “Of course the only memes you know are the wholesome versions.”
“Memes?” Patton asked innocently, going for his nose this time. “I’m just telling the truth.”
Roman made a vague noise of protest- muffled for, well, obvious reasons- and then remembered something. “I have a confession to make, sweetheart.”
“Mm, what is it?” Patton couldn’t possibly imagine it being anything bad, so his soft smile never faltered as he continued his important work.
He held up a flash drive, stepping back for a moment so Patton would actually notice it. “I planned something for today, too.”
They returned to the bedroom where Roman’s laptop was, and Patton had to wonder why he hadn’t just had whatever it was on there in the first place.
“You might have seen it, love,” he pointed out. “You do borrow it sometimes.”
Patton nodded sheepishly. “When I can’t find mine.”
“I still don’t understand how you managed to lose it in the laundry that time. It’s not as if it could have been in your pocket.” He wrapped an arm around Patton and kissed his shoulder, where his shirt had slipped a little. “You needn’t worry, though; I would buy you a thousand replacements if I had to.”
“You’d run out of money.”
“Then I would steal you a new laptop.”
“Please don’t do crimes for me, Ro.”
“If you insist.” He kissed Patton again to distract him while he finished setting up- bringing them to two hundred eighty-five- and when he pulled back, gently turned the other’s head to face the screen. “Here- look at this.”
Patton gasped at the sight of the two of them, only a little younger and a lot more oblivious. “Is that- this is from before we were even dating, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” Roman wasn’t even watching the screen; Patton’s reactions were much more captivating. “I had Logan and Virgil help me put this together… that’s why we took so long in the kitchen earlier, Logan and I had to make sure it was ready. It’s all the videos we’ve taken of our relationship, between the four of us. I… might’ve had to steal your phone at some point to get yours, but… I thought it would be nice. Like a timeline of us.”
“I don’t mind,” Patton breathed. He was tearing up as he watched Roman’s younger self blush to death the first time Patton got the courage to return his flirting, recorded by a mercilessly teasing Virgil, neither of them having any idea they’d end up here. “I- I love it…”
Roman wrapped an arm around him, pulling him against his side, and kissed Patton’s cheek so tenderly it should’ve counted as at least three. “Keep watching.”
Patton was full-on crying by the time the clip of them actually getting together came up. Roman paused the video to help him collect himself. “Oh, darling, I didn’t mean to make you cry…”
“It’s okay,” Patton sniffed, smiling. “It’s a good cry. I just- love you so much…”
Three hundred. “I love you so much, too. Want to keep watching?”
He nodded.
The video of their first date had been taken by Patton himself. They’d been friends for ages, and yet they were so awkward here, stumbling over their words only to make eye contact and burst into flustered giggles. Their first kiss wasn’t exactly recorded, because Patton had dropped his phone with a squeak when Roman leaned forward and initiated it.
“We were such a mess,” Patton sighed.
“Were?”
“…We were even more of a mess than we are now.”
“Okay, that’s fair.”
They kept watching. Nearly every moment of the compilation was unbearably sappy, and they were both tearing up again by the end, thinking about how far they’d come. The last clip faded to black, and then… something Patton certainly didn’t remember being there for.
Roman was sitting on Virgil’s couch, looking questioningly past the camera. Virgil’s voice was heard in the background: “Yes, I’m recording, start talking already!”
“Alright, alright,” Roman muttered. He took a breath and turned his gaze back to the camera. His current self squeezed Patton’s hand.
“Patton… well, first of all, happy anniversary. I mean, assuming you don’t somehow break up with me between now and next week- not that you would, I mean, who would ever break up with me-”
“You’re rambling,” Virgil said from offscreen.
“Right. Sorry. I just… I don’t even know how to tell you how happy it makes me to wake up to you every morning. I- I’m so lucky to have met you, you’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever known, and- god, I’m forgetting the whole speech…” He paused a moment to collect himself. “My point is… I don’t want to live without you, Patton, ever. I want to wake up with you every morning. So… turn around?”
He turned, breathless, and found Roman holding a ring.
“Patton, darling, love of my life… will you marry me?”
Patton fell against him, crying and giggling helplessly. “Yes, yes, yes, yes,” he chanted, “yes, Ro, honey, of course I will.”
“Oh,” Roman breathed, smile spreading across his face.. “Thank goodness. Er… why are you laughing?”
“It’s just-” Patton broke down in laughter again and dug through his pockets to present Roman with his own tiny box. “I- I was going to wait until we were done with the kisses…”
Roman couldn’t help laughing now, too, it was all so ridiculous and perfect and he was just so happy.
“I had my own little speech and everything…”
“Well, I’d hate to deprive my fiance of anything he should want to do!” Roman exclaimed. “How about we finish those up now, and you can have a turn proposing?”
“Sounds good,” Patton managed between giggles, and they set out to do just that.
#sanders sides#royality#patton sanders#roman sanders#do you even know how many times i made myself cry writing this? it was a lot#my post#my writing
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Spider-Man: Fake Red Chapter 4 Thoughts
Another good chapter!
One of the frustrations with manga and anime for me is that the serialization and pacing of the stories are so utterly geared towards watching/reading in bulk.
As such this issue flew by. I fact I’m wondering if it’s worth waiting to read this series once a month instead of every week.
If this was a standard comic the quick pace of it would piss me off, but given how to my understanding this would’ve been a cheap purchase I can’t complain, especially since this is standard practice in Japan.
What’s enticing about this issue particularly is that it shines more of a spotlight upon Peter Parker himself.
Now don’t get it twisted, this is nothing special if you are an experienced Spidey reader. But let’s be fair and remember that the primary audience of (I presume) late tween/teenage Japanese males probably haven’t read a shitton of Spider-Man comics if any, thus for them this wouldn’t be cliché or stereotypical.
The premise is essentially Spidey is trying to make a date to see MJ’s play and doesn’t want to be late as he usually is, but wouldn’t you know it hero duties delay him.
Again, very standard stuff, but it’s not meant for an audience for whom it necessarily WOULD be standard.
After all how many times has such a scenario been presented in wider Spidey media that Japan would be aware of? I confess I can’t answer that but my money is on not very much. I doubt if most people in Japan watched the 1994 cartoon or the Spec cartoon so their primary source for Spidey stories is likely the video games (which don’t do this type of story THAT much) or more poignantly the films, which also haven’t really done it to death just yet.
In a similar vein I really liked how Yu vocalizes in a way part of the central premise of Spider-Man by ironically presuming Peter’s life must be easy or exceptional because he is a superhero, but the reality of course is just the opposite. We for example see Yu struggling with a test and worrying about Emily knowing his secret and ponders that Spidey wouldn’t be dealing with this.
Even if you only know about Spider-Man from the movies you could appreciate the irony of the sentiment, and if your main exposure was just the films there has never been as direct a spelling out of the inherent irony Lee and Ditko baked into the character like that. In fact I don’t off the top of my head recall it being conveyed that way even in Western Spidey comics, usually it’s the narrator or Peter himself very directly spelling out that it’s ironic his life isn’t easy even though he is a hero.
Speaking of Emily I like how the series isn’t going for what is typical even in Western Spidey comics by having Emily be in the dark about Yu’s identity. I think even for a Japanese audience that’d be tedious as ‘keeping the secret’ is a common trope across a lot of fiction. This cuts out the middle man and creates more ambiguity, I genuinely do not know where the Emily plot thread is going to go and I like not knowing!
The manga’s characterization of Spider-Man himself is mostly on point. I spoke last time how it’s likely Spider-Man has a better public reputation to create more drama for Yu to live up to Spidey’s shadow, but other than that nothing else is out of character. It’s not diving deeper into who Peter is or anything but for the scenario it is presenting it’s fine. Which I think is to be admired because again, we must remember that the author hasn’t necessarily grown up with ready access to endless trades of Spidey comics.
And of course for me as a shipper seeing the story emphasis the MJ relationship was rewarding.
Scorpion also had a cool new look and the action art was interesting, very dynamic I felt.
Another thing to note is again in regards to the films. It’s very obvious to me the manga is presuming audiences know about the movie versions of Spider-Man first and foremost because just about everything either stems from or riffs upon them. There is a Stark billboard. The scenario of Peter going to MJ’s play is from Spider-Man 2. Him getting flowers for her is also from Spider-Man 2. Venom (who appears but gets very little movement from last issue) is obviously from Spider-Man 3 and Venom 2018. What’s cool is the author is still telling and interesting and unique story in spite of using the most obvious points of reference possible.
In a sense if this one issue was indicative of most of the series it’d be pretty banal, but because Yu is the lead and this story is actually a break and hopefully something that will resolve some of the lingering questions it is actually much more interesting than it would be otherwise.
Highly recommended.
#Spider-Man: Fake Red#Spider-Man#Peter Parker#mjwatsonedit#Mary Jane Watson#Mary Jane Watson Parker#mj watson#Venom#venom symbiote#Scorpion#mac gargan#tony stark#Spider-Man 2#Spider-Man 3#Sam Raimi#Raimi Spider-Man#Venom 2018#Yusuke Osawa
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Turns Out Being a Super Hero Is Actually Really Gay! - Chapter 3
I am so, so sorry this is late guys! A lot of things have been going on and I wasn’t able to finish the chapter on time yesterday. But it’s here now and I hope you like it. As always I would like to thank the lovely @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil for there lovely AU for without it I would not have the inspiration to write this. ENJOY!!!
Master Post
Beginning
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Next Chapter
So, after the group of teens were done freaking out because “holy shit, Thomas Sanders, top YouTube celebrity, is THE Rainbow Weaver!” Thomas decided to take them to a small but cozy pizza place down town. He bought them six boxes of pizza, hot wings, fries, onion rings, ice cream shakes and a few other goodies, much to the teens protests and insistence that they could pay for themselves. Thomas assured them that it was fine but that still didn’t stop them from arguing that it wasn’t. He payed no mind to their comments as he payed for the food and lead them towards the back of the restaurant where a large circular booth resided, big enough to fit them all.
As Thomas watched these teens…these children scarf down their food like they hadn’t eaten a day in their lives he couldn’t help but worry. He knew exactly how scary it must be for them to suddenly gain strange new powers and not know what to do with them. But the difference between them was that Thomas got his powers near the middle of his senior year of high school and these kids were still…sophomores? Junior? Either way, they were still much to young to be worrying about powers and weird things like that. Unlike them Thomas didn’t have much of a “social life” in high school and college so being Rainbow Weaver was a good distraction from that but these kids…he doubt they were the same.
They had come searching for him for help and honestly Thomas was totally willing to give them whatever help they needed. He just didn’t know what? He wasn’t a teacher, he was a chemical engineering and theater major that did YouTube videos and super heroing on the side. I mean, if they needed help controlling their powers Thomas would to the best, he could to teach them but if they wanted to become super heroes…
“Are you okay, Mr. Sanders?” Thomas looked up to see four pairs of curious eyes looking at him, still munching away at their meal. He was pretty sure it was the stoic looking kid that asked him this, Logan he believed his name was.
“Hmm, yeah,” Thomas said, shaking his head “yeah, why do you ask?”
“You kind of have this…” The loud kid, Roman if he was remembering correctly, gestured towards him “…face, like you’ve just kind of walked into your doom.”
Thomas saw how the groups shoulders slumped, the mood severely brought down by that statement and he really didn’t want to see these boys in anymore distressed then they already were.
“Oh, no, no, uh, I was just…thinking you know,” Thomas sighed, rubbing his face tiredly “like, how is it that Oscorp can screw up twice and let a multimillion-dollar mutant spider escape…again! Like, they’re supposed to be a bunch of geniuses, right? But they’re letting this happen again and god only knows how much more powerful that little spider is. I was lucky enough to have accidently stepped on mine and killed it but it seems that little guy you got there is a bit smarter.”
“Indeed,” Logan perked up “from what I was able to study and pick up from its distorted speech pattern, it seems to know what it’s doing. It was trying to kill us as it saw us as a potential threat, which is why the venom dosage increased with each victim, but it unknowingly mutated our DNA. To say it was disappointed that I woke up the next morning is…an understatement.”
“It likes me though.” The gloomy kid, Virgil he recalled, stated smugly.
Logan rolled his eyes, “Yes, well you did help it escape out your window so of course it sees you as some sort of ally.”
“Are we just going to skip over the fact that it TRIED to kill us?” Roman said worriedly.
“Yes, because I don’t wanna think about it,” The cutesy kid, Patton, whined childishly but there was a glint of fear in his eyes “and for the record tell that creepy crawly death dealer that I don’t like it either!”
“It’s nothing personal Patton,” Virgil assured “consciously or not it’s just a defense mechanism all spiders have when they’re scared.”
“I don’t care,” Patton cried “I still don’t want it anywhere near me!”
Thomas watched as they continued to argue and bicker, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips and the bitter taste of dread at the pit of his stomach. These were kids, teenagers really but still kids none the less, still full of life and wonder. He couldn’t burden them with the life of a hero. All the worry and sleepless nights and existential dread that came along with the job would definitely snuff out whatever innocence these boys had left. But he couldn’t just leave them to their own devices, they needed guidance on how to navigate their new-found powers. He’d be willing to do that, only that, nothing else. His job was dangerous as it was and he didn’t need to drag these kids into it, especially if they still don’t yet know how to control their powers.
“So, I’ve been thinking,” Thomas said, finally interrupting the boys’ argument “I can help you guys out, well, I can try. I’ll help you guys understand what you’re going through and how to control your powers better, though I’m not sure if we’re exactly the same in that regard. Again, I have no idea what advances Oscorp has made in genetic splicing. You all could have totally different powers then what I’m used to.”
“We have all the basic functions,” Logan explained helpfully “though only Virgil and Roman can make webbing and I assume you can’t hear at the frequency we have; thus, you can’t hear the spider talking.”
“You would be correct in that assumption,” Thomas nodded “though, I mean, sometimes I can sense where they are and how they’re feeling but that’s about it. Nothing too crazy. Anything else?”
“None that we know of,” Roman shrugged “we’ve just been sticking to things all day and seeing weird colors radiating off each other like fireworks and this weird buzzing in the back of our head that keeps telling us somethings happening.”
“Yeah, that would be your spidy sense.” Thomas said.
The boys tilted their heads like some sort of adorable, confused puppy, “Spidy sense?”
“It’s a thing that I have and you guys have that makes us a LOT more aware of our surroundings,” Thomas explained “how do you think I’m able to attack, dodge, and shoot things without even looking at them?”
“Oh, you mean precognition,” Logan said “like the crab spider.”
“Sort of,” Thomas said “think of it as a sort of alarm clock that goes off every time dangers near.”
“Oh great, just what I need in my life,” Virgil said sarcastically “even more anxiety.”
“Yeah, that’s gunna be a tough one for you to handle bud,” Thomas said sympathetically “given that you have anxiety it’ll feel like one and the same but I’ll teach you a few tricks to help tell the difference.”
Virgil gave him a shy appreciative smile and Thomas all but melted as the kid mumbled, “Th-thanks…that would…help a lot actually.”
No Sanders! Do not get attached to these kids! Do not!
“So, um, what are we gunna do now?” Patton piped up shyly “Are you gunna teach us to be super heroes?”
“Do we get to be your sidekicks?” Roman asked excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat.
Thomas bit the inside of his cheek anxiously, “Um, well, I’ll teach you guys how to control your powers and understand yourselves better and everything but I don’t think-”
“Obviously, we would have to train a significant amount before even considering becoming his sidekicks.” Logan stated plainly.
“I know that Einstein,” Roman huffed “I’m just asking!”
“Wait, if we’re gunna do this are we gunna have to make our own costumes or something?” Virgil asked “Because I don’t know if I’m willing to put in that much effort.”
“Ooo, Roman and I can help you guys if you want,” Patton offered “I’m good at sewing and Roman sometimes helps out the costume department at the drama club.”
“Thank you, Patton, but I don’t think we should be thinking about costumes until after we’ve completed our training.” Logan said.
“Boo you whore,” Roman grumbled “you’re no fun.”
“You are not super heroes!” Thomas said firmly causing the table to go quiet, all four boys staring at him with a mixture of confusion and disappointment. He sighed, “Look, guys, my job as Rainbow Weaver, it’s not a game. It’s dangerous and tiring and…is the biggest responsibility you could ever ask for.”
The boys fidgeted in their seats, having now realized they were sort of jumping to conclusions and not seeing the reality of the situation. Thomas continued on, “You guys are just kids, you’re still in high school, you’re still growing, you still have a life! I don’t want you guys to leave that behind. Being a super hero may seem cool and glamorous but it’s a lot of work and sometimes…” There was a look of pain that flashed across Thomas is eyes, too quick for the boys to properly evaluate “…sometimes you won’t be able to save everyone. This is a job where you can’t afford to make mistakes because they have dire consequences. For you, the people around you, their families, everyone, they’re all affected. And no one will give you the benefit of the doubt because you’re a hero and it’s your job to protect them.”
It was silent for a moment then Roman asked, quiet and unsure, “If it’s such a burden then…why did you become a hero?”
The look of pain and regret returned to Thomas is eyes as he ran an anxious hand across his salt and pepper brown hair, “To become a better person then what I once was.”
“What does that mean?” Virgil asked bravely but still quite gentle.
“Sometimes,” Thomas began carefully “things happen and…people get hurt and then you have no choice but to take responsibility for that.” No one pressed him any further but it seemed Thomas still had more to say, “You guys have an opportunity to…live a normal life. I had that opportunity but the choices I made forced me to abandon it and I regret it so much. But I knew it was something to be done and because of it I did end up helping a lot of people but…also hurting a lot of people as well.”
Finally, Thomas looked back up at them, a strong determined look in his eyes, “I don’t want you guys going through the same experiences as I did. I want you boys to live your lives as normally as possible. Go out, make friends, date, have parties, worry about exams…live a life. Because if you choose to go down this path this will be your only life, do you understand?”
It was quiet again, this time much longer and this time it was Logan who chose to brake it, “No offence, Mr. Sanders, we understand completely what you’re trying to tell us but what else do you expect us to do with these abilities?”
Thomas sighed tiredly, “Look, kid-”
“No, we get it,” Logan continued “well, at least, I know I do. I can not speak for us all but I understand how big of a responsibility this is. But do you really expect us to go about our lives normally as we did before? How are we supposed to live “normally” when we know that we are anything but? How are we going to go our whole lives doing nothing and letting our powers sit dormant when we can feel it itching beneath our skin? Honestly, could you have done that?”
Thomas thought a moment, flashing back to when he first got his powers and how everything felt jittery and loud. How he had trouble sitting still and had been restless for days. Then he became Rainbow Weaver and everything changed, it was difficult yes but it really helped get out a lot of that nervous, restless energy he had inside him. He felt he was using his powers correctly and not just sitting there while his head buzzed like an angry hornets’ nest. When he first got his powers, he knew he needed to do SOMETHING with them but he didn’t know what. That lead to a lot of trouble be even then after he knew that he still couldn’t just sit there.
“I’ll admit that I would have been restless and miserable my entire life if I hadn’t become Rainbow Weaver,” Thomas answered honestly “however, I think I still would of chosen to do so instead of taking on the mask.”
“Do you really hate being Rainbow Weaver that much?” Virgil asked. He looked…hurt? Disappointed? Thomas wasn’t quite sure but he knew for sure that he didn’t like it.
“I don’t hate being Rainbow Weaver,” Thomas said, looking out the window next to their booth “it’s just…after a couple of years it kind of takes a toll on you. I’m just a tired, grumpy old man, nothing special.”
More silence, the boys quietly mulling over the conversation, fidgeting with that same restless energy mentioned earlier and then…
“You’re special to me.”
Thomas looked back to see Roman staring back at him with a pout and a gentle yet fiery look in his eyes. “You may not think yourself special as a person but to me, be it Thomas Sanders or Rainbow Weaver, you’ve brought…just a little bit more joy into my life. And maybe it’s not a lot to someone like you but it’s a lot to me. So…if I could be able to do that for someone, even if it’s just one person, I’d be over the moon.
“I understand your concern and you’re absolutely right, this is not a game. But Logan is, dare I say it, right, we can’t just sit around letting these powers fester inside us. What are we supposed to do with our selves for the rest of our lives? Can’t go back to being normal when we know for damn sure we’re not and I don’t know about the rest of you but I want to do more with my life. Especially now that I can!”
Thomas sighed once more, rubbing a hand over his face and hair, “You gotta understand kid, this isn’t like the comic books. The dangers and hardships are real and once you’re in there is no going back.”
“And I accept that,” Roman replied firmly “I accept all of it and everything and…if I live to regret it then oh well. But I know that I’ll regret it more knowing I had the power to do something but instead chose to do nothing. In the end it’s my choice and nobody else is.”
Well, I’m not sure about the whole super hero thing,” Virgil pipped up “but…I do feel like I should be doing something with these powers. I’ve taught my self to play it safe and keep quiet my whole life but now…now I wanna do something more. I don’t want to just sit here letting the world pass me by anymore I want…I want to do something spontaneous and brave.
“A-and I know this isn’t some sort of hobby you pick up like dancing or painting or something,” Virgil said quickly “but I feel like…it’s something I need to do. Something I have to do. Do you get what I’m saying?”
“I…” Thomas wanted to say yes, yes, he understood everything that they were saying because it was what drove him to be Rainbow Weaver in the first place. But he also wanted to lie and say no, just so he can protect these kids from the horrors that awaited them down the hero’s path.
“Plus,” Patton added “you look like you could use the help. It must be difficult looking after an entire city alone. And since we all have powers now, we can make the work a whole lot easier for you in return for you helping us control our powers.”
“Indeed,” Logan said, readjusting his fake glasses “crime rate will surely go down in numbers with five on the team. It will give you time to have optimal rest between shifts as well as pursue what ever other hobbies you previously could not do. It’s a solid business proposition for all of us, we get the proper training we need to control our new-found abilities and you have a more balanced out schedule for both your vigilante duties and personal life.”
Thomas looked over these kids, determination in their eyes and fire in their bellies, ready to take on the weight of the world for him. They were stubborn and foolish and so not ready for anything yet to come…but it would be very hypocritical of Thomas to deny them this path. Plus, he wasn’t their parent, it wasn’t like he could completely tell them what to do. All he could do was warn them of what was ahead and hope to whatever god above they take his advice. Thomas sighed again, then he groaned, then he banged his head against the table because these kids were so stubborn, exactly like him, and it was all just so frustrating. He looked back up at them, face squished against the table as four pairs of worried eyes stared at him, he probably looked insane. He probably was insane but was too deep in shit to actually be affected by anything now.
“Fine.” Thomas said, he was so going to regret this.
“Fine what?” Roman asked.
Thomas made a vague gesture with his hand, “Fine, I’ll…teach you and train you guys and, if you really want, I’ll…consider letting you help me out a bit.”
“Really?” Logan said, somewhat excitedly, like a child on Christmas.
If this were not such a serious matter Thomas would of laughed, “But nothing to dangerous, just…common things, purse muggers, corner store robberies, assaulters, jay walkers, all that jazz.”
“Hey, that’s good enough for me.” Virgil said, a small excited smile growing on this face.
“Me too!” Patton exclaimed.
“I second that motion.” Logan added.
“Epic!” Roman cheered.
“But!” Thomas interrupted “You guys are still minors and in high school so you all are under my rule, got it? You do exactly as I say when I say it.”
They all nodded enthusiastically, still jittery with excitement as Thomas continued to give out instructions, “This is a dangerous job and I want you all trained first and for most. So, we aren’t gunna be going out on patrol anytime soon, get that into your head right now. Secondly, it is imperative you keep all of this a secret, everything we do can not only put you at risk but your families and friends.”
“Luckily, I don’t have any friends.” Virgil half joked.
Logan rolled his eyes, “Gee, thanks.”
“Thirdly,” Thomas cut in, his expression growing dark and serious “if you guys are going to do this, you have to be willing to put everything you have into this. No short cuts, no half assed effort, no walking away. It’s all or nothing, got it?”
“Got it.” They echoed, just as serious and determined as Thomas feared they’d be.
“Alright,” Thomas huffed, leaning back to stretch “let’s finish up here and then we have to go somewhere.”
“Where?” Patton asked curiously.
“There are a few people I want you to meet.” Thomas smirked mysteriously.
---
Thomas had been worried at first, it was very suspicious for a grown adult man to take for underaged teenagers to his house. It gave off the wrong impression to people and made him look like a creep. But what else could he do but make sure the boys were safe and comfortable, assuring them that nothing bad would happen even though when he said it out loud it still sounded mildly disturbing. Like sure, he was Rainbow Weaver, but he was still a stranger to these boys and he did not want to scare them off when they had no where else to turn to for help.
Thankfully the boys understood Thomas is worry and were careful to not crowed around too much to make it seem weird. When they got to his neighborhood Roman commented that the two-story brownstone townhouse Thomas lived in looked like the house from Stuart Little. Thomas paused a moment, tilting his head back to get a good look at his house before chuckling and reluctantly agreeing that, “Yeah, you’re kind of right.”
Inside, the house was spacious and neat, band, concert, musical and play posters hung on the wall alongside pictures of Thomas and his friends and family. There were lots of colors, figurines from movies and shows, potted plants on shelves, tables and corners, and just and overall warm atmosphere.
“Whoa, your house is really neat-o!” Patton exclaimed, excitingly looking over one of the potted plants filled with sweet peas.
Thomas smiled bashfully, “Oh, thanks, I-”
“You went to a My Chemical Romance concert?!” Virgil gasped softly as he stared at one of the hung-up posters “And you got it signed?!”
“Yeah,” Thomas nodded “me and Joan went-”
“You went to see Hamilton!” Roman squealed, looking up at another poster “And you got it signed by Lin Manuel Mirandas!”
“Yes and-”
“Do you have the entire anthology of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle’s work?” Logan asked excitedly, he ran his finger over the books of the bookshelf and plucked out The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.
“Not entirely but-”
“Oh my gosh!” Patton squealed, running over to the living room towards the shelf filled with pop vinyl’s “You have a bunch of Winnie the Pooh pops! And Steven Universe! I love that show!”
“I heard Steven Universe!” Roman exclaimed, rushing in behind his friend.
“Where?” Virgil chimed in, not to far behind with Logan tailing along, nose deep in a Sherlock Holmes book.
“You have a record player!” Roman gasped, quickly kneeling to look through Thomas is record box “What types of records do you have?”
“Oh, David Bowie!” Patton smiled as he pulled out a record.
“Cool, the Beatles White Album!” Virgil grinned.
“Isn’t that the one that Charles Manson was obsessed over?” Roman asked.
“It’s still a good album.” Virgil and Thomas said at the same time. They blinked at each other in surprise before dissolving into a fit of giggles. It was all a little more chaotic then what Thomas was expecting but it wasn’t unwelcome. Thomas didn’t usually have many people over except for Joan and Talyn so it was…nice hearing the house so full of laughter.
Speaking of Joan and Talyn…
“Thomas? Is that you?” A voice from down the hall made it’s way closer and closer to the living room where it was revealed to belong to a lanky, scraggily looking person in an orange beanie. “Talyn and I just finished-”
They paused, looking over the scene carefully as the boys all froze like deer caught in headlights. They scanned over each teen one by one before making direct eye contact with Thomas and carefully asking: “What the hell is going on?”
“Joan, uh,” Thomas flubbered in place, caught way off guard “look, hears the thing, uh, they have what I have.”
“That isn’t making any of this look any better Thomas!” Joan exclaimed, frustrated.
“Uh…”
“We have spider powers!” Roman butted in, shooting a web at a nearby picture frame causing it to fall and brake “Sorry!”
“God damn it Roman!” Virgil shrieked “Be careful, this isn’t your house!”
“Oh please,” Roman huffed “as if you weren’t just going through his vinyl collection not five seconds ago. And without permission might I add.”
“You did so as well,” Logan rebutted “so it’s kind of hypocritical of you to make that statement.”
“Right back at you!” Roman shot back, gesturing to the book in Logan’s hands.
The bespectacled man flushed with embarrassment, setting the book down on a nearby table as Virgil bounced back up, “Well, he’s not the one that broke something!”
“Come on guys, please no fighting.” Patton begged but it fell on deaf ears and soon the room was filled with loud arguing. Joan and Thomas observed the chaos unfold silently, contemplating what their best course of action should be. Wait it out? Get involved?
“What’s going on?” Another voice chimed in and the room went silent once more, turning to find a short person with orange and black hair. Joan pointed to Thomas who merely shrugged sheepishly and said: “Talyn, you’re never gunna believe this.”
---
They head down towards Thomas is basement (which still sounds super fucking creepy) and find that it has been transformed into pretty sizable high-tech lab. If Logan had been excited by the books that Thomas owned, he was over the moon by all the gadgets and text books he had down there. He kept asking question after question about how everything worked and what did this do and what did that do? Thomas found the whole thing very amusing, like watching a little kid at a candy store.
“Did you all make all this stuff?” Logan asked excitedly.
“Well, it was mainly Joan and Talyn.” Thomas said.
“Don’t sell yourself short man,” Joan scolded lightly, patting their friend on the back “you did a lot of the designing and schematics. Not your fault you had to be out saving everybody.”
“Stay still please,” Talyn ordered gently, seating Logan on a near by chair next to Patton, Roman, and Virgil who had a few suction cup wires stuck to their foreheads, necks, chests, and arms. “The scanning process will go a lot faster if we’re able to draw blood from you and use is as a sort of blue print to navigate your body. Is that okay?”
The boys looked at each other tentatively before all nodding in agreement. As Talyn got a few petri dishes and micro slides ready Joan had taken the spider from Logan’s backpack and transferred it into a small containment unit that was hooked up to the large motherboard computer. Thomas watched anxiously from the sideline as his friends scurried around to get everything ready.
“So, what are you gunna do to us?” Virgil asked nervously as Talyn carefully wiped down one of his fingers with rubbing alcohol.
“Well, we took a sample from the spider and scanning it right now to see what’s been mixed in to it,” Talyn explained as they took a clean syringe needle and pricked his finger with it dropping blood into the petri dish and micro slid before bandaging it up. It hadn’t even hurt. “Then we’re gunna use your DNA to see what’s been transformed as well as to easily scan your vitals.”
“Why are you doing that?” Patton asked as he watched them move on to Roman.
“Well for one, to make sure your mutation is stable,” Joan chimed in helpfully “and to also see what other abilities you guys may have. Keep in mind you guys may or may not have other abilities within you that will take a bit of time to, uh, activate.”
“What happens if our mutation isn’t stable?” Roman asked, rubbing his bandage finger.
The adults were quiet for a moment which of course did not sit well with the teens one bit. Talyn gently smiled at them, wrapping up Patton’s finger before finally moving on to Logan. “Don’t worry about it, it’s most likely not going to happen. You boys seem pretty stable from what we’ve observed.”
“That’s not ominous at all.” Virgil said sarcastically.
“Starting scan,” Joan announced once Talyn was finish getting their sample from Logan. They typed away quickly at the computer as a long beam of blue light scanned the quartet up and down and a light tingly sensation was felt where the suction cups were attached. The boys didn’t move once, much to fearful they might accidently mess up the scanning process, Virgil didn’t even want to breath.
Finally, after a few seconds, there was an audible beep and the blue lights shut off. Virgil, along with the other three, let out a loud sigh, shoulders still a bit tense but not as much as when the scanning was happening. Thomas quickly walked over towards them to make sure they were okay.
“You guys good?” He asked.
“We’re okie dokie,” Patton giggled nervously “just, uh, a bit frazzled.”
“I think I’m stuck to my chair.” Virgil admitted bashfully, his hands had been gripping the sides of the stool and Thomas could now see that he was physically trying to pull them off.
“Hey, hey, hey, you’re gunna hurt yourself,” Thomas cooed softly “just breath, in for four…hold for seven…out for eight. Good job, keep it up.”
Once he was able to calm Virgil down enough and get him unstuck, he looked to the others to make sure they were okay too. As Patton said earlier, he was a bit frazzled but ultimately okay, Roman was a bit jittery but seemed to be calming down as he followed Virgil’s breathing technique. Logan was just fine and was once again talking and asking a dozen questions about what just happened and how it worked and what did they find and etcetera, etcetera.
“Good news, your mutation is stable,” Joan announced and there was an obvious sigh of relief from both Thomas and the boys “we have found some interesting data though. This poor little spider has been spliced through hell and back. It’s practically a new species on it’s own, way different then the first generation that bit Thomas.”
“How so?” Logan asked, intrigued.
“Well, for one it has a few functions not typically normal for a spider,” Talyn said, looking through a few graphs on their tablet “it’s been extremely enhanced and mutated over and over again. Like if they were copying the same piece of paper again and again. It just all stacks up into this…it can barely be called a spider, I honestly don’t know what it is.”
“Well, it still looks like a creepy crawly spider to me.” Patton pouted.
“Looks are one thing, the function of it is another,” Joan said thoughtfully, pressing a few buttons and gesturing towards the containment unit the spider was in “watch this.”
The boys and Thomas looked towards the chamber and watched the spider scuttle around as the soft buzz of electricity filled its tank then it disappeared. Their eyes widened as they did a double take to make sure that really happened and the spider really wasn’t there anymore.
“Where’d it go?” Roman asked.
“It’s still there,” Joan said, typing once more and the tank was soon glossed over in Infrared light. There they saw the spider, still inside, scuttling around its tank as if nothing has changed. “Besides invisibility it seems to have other super abilities as well. We can’t for sure name all of them but I’ve got a few here listed out and ready for testing.”
“Sit back boys, Thomas move out of the way, please,” Talyn ordered gently “this’ll tingle a little.”
They typed something out on their tablet and the boys felt a slight tingle of electricity move throughout their bodies. It didn’t hurt and it didn’t last long so the boys were left confused as to what happened. Until they looked to Virgil.
“Virgil?” Logan called out, looking around the lab when he saw that his friend was no longer seated on the stool “Where’d you go?”
“I’m right here.” A disembodied voice said.
Patton screamed, jumping out of his chair and on to Roman’s lap, “There’s a ghost!”
“What?”
“V-Virgil, is that you?” Roman asked, holding Patton close.
“Yeah, what are you guys looking at?” The voice demanded.
“We aren’t looking at anything, we’re looking for you.” Logan said.
“But I’m right-” There was a sudden pause then a shriek of fear “I can’t see my-my hands or my feet or my anything!”
Thomas quickly turned to Joan and Talyn when he heard the panic rise in Virgil’s voice, “Whatever you did, stop it now!”
Talyn nodded, quickly typing on their tablet and another small tingle of electricity was sent out. Virgil reappeared slowly, arms hugging around his waist as he curled into himself and eyes squeezed shut. Thomas was by his side in an instant, gently coxing him back to reality, “Hey, its okay, you’re okay. Breath for me, please.”
Virgil took a breath and peeked out from one eye before looking down and sighing with relief when he was able to see himself again. He looked back up to Thomas with fearful eyes, “W-what was that?”
“I’m not sure,” Thomas admitted before looking over and firmly pining his two friends with a look “what did you guys do?”
They gave an apologetic smile as Joan leaped to explain what happened, “Well, we sent the same small electric pulse we used on the spider towards your brain to see if you would have the same effects. Obviously, it did and obviously we should have prepared you guys a bit more in advance. We’re sorry.”
“Yeah, that’s our bad.” Talyn added.
Thomas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Guys, we talked about this, please give substantial warning BEFORE the experiment happens. Not everyone is super geniuses like you two and know exactly what’s going to happen.”
“I take it this has happened before?” Logan stated, having now gotten up to be by Virgil’s side, a hand placed gently on his friends back rubbing soothing circles.
“Yeah,” Thomas admitted “but usually it’s with me on the receiving end. I’m used to it by now but of course you guys aren’t so…” He gave his friends a pointed look “warning next time.”
“Next time?” Virgil squeaked.
“Oh, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Thomas assured quickly “we can do this another day. I know today has been really stressful for you boys already so I understand if you guys want to go home already and get some rest.”
“No, no, I’m fine,” Virgil said quickly “really, just…you know, a little freaked out. Might as well get it over with now so we won’t have to worry about it later.”
“Are you sure?” Logan asked, his hand still remained in contact with Virgil’s back.
“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Roman added “mental health is just as important as physical health you know.”
“Yeah kiddo, if it’s gunna be too much for you we rather just wait for a bit to cool down.” Patton said sweetly.
Virgil cheeks flushed a light pink, head ducking down so that his bangs cover his eyes, “I’m fine, really. Th-thanks for checking up though. But, like, what about you guys? How do you guys feel about all this…experimenting stuff?”
“Yeah, I want to make sure you boys are all comfortable with all of this,” Thomas said firmly “if anything crosses a line or you want to stop, tell us okay?”
“I’m good.” Roman nodded.
“I am as well.” Logan confirmed, sitting back down.
“Me too.” Patton chimed in as he climbed off of Roman’s lap.
“I’ll be fine.” Virgil murmured.
“Excellent,” Joan said excitingly turning back to the computer “the next set of tests will be of a similar fashion. We’ll send a wave of electronic pules to your brain’s nervous system and see if we can get a reaction.”
“Remember, if you guys get uncomfortable or need us to stop don’t be afraid to tell us, okay?” Talyn added.
With one last nod of confirmation Joan said, “Let us begin.”
---
“Roman can you sing a note for me?” Talyn asked.
Roman gave her a look of confusion, “You want me to sing? I mean, not that I won’t do it but why?”
“With this test we seem to only be getting a reaction from your brain so I want to see if the ability we’ve unlocked is active,” Talyn explained “but make sure to face the wall over there, please.”
“Uh, okay,” Roman said, shifting in his seat towards the directed area “can I ask what ability this is?”
“Sonic sound waves,” Joan said casually “we all might want to take a step back just in case.”
Thomas and the other three stepped behind Roman who in turn rolled his eyes before focusing on the task at hand. All he had to do was sing a note, but like what note? How high? How loud? How would this even work? Roman sighed, shrugged, and decided to just riff Ariel’s theme.
“Ah, ah, ah! Ah, ah, ah!”
The room shook and shuttered like an earthquake. Everyone covered their ears from be beautiful yet ear piercingly loud tune that shook the entire building. The wall which Roman was facing when he sang had shook so violently there was a large crack that ripped down the middle of it.
Roman was quick to cover his mouth, eyes wide at the destruction he’s caused, “Oh dear…”
“Yeah, I think we should have that dormant for now until he learns how to control it.” Thomas suggested, trying to settle the ringing in his ear.
“We can’t exactly turn their powers on or off,” Joan explained “these are just electric pulses that activate their powers for them artificially. On their own we don’t know when these powers will pop up or how they’ll be able to activate them. It could take days, months, even years.”
“I just hope it doesn’t come out during the play this winter.” Roman moaned.
---
“This one is simple,” Joan said as they walked over towards a light switch on a wall “it shows that each of you have some variation of night vision, though I’m not sure how strong it is. I’m gunna turn off the light and you guys tell me what you see, okay?”
Four nods of agreement were seen and Joan finally flipped the switch. Nothing happened, well, at least for Logan. He looked around confused, was the light switch broken? Everything still looked the same to him.
“What do you see?” Talyn asked, they stared straight ahead at nothing and Logan wondered why that was.
“You still haven’t turned off the light.” Logan stated obviously.
Joan, who was also looking into the nothingness, pulled a face of confusion before breaking out into a large grin, “Logan, we just switched them off.”
“No, you haven’t,” Logan argued “I mean you used the light switch but they’re still….on.” He looked up to the florescent lights above him that were now dark and it suddenly dawned on him “I have night vision…”
“I think I do too,” Virgil piped up, squinting around the room “but when you turned off the light everything just kind of got dim.”
“Yeah, me too.” Patton chimed in.
“It all turned black and white for me,” Roman said “like, I can see everything fine but it’s all just shades of gray.”
“Excellent,” Joan smiled, flicking the light switch back on “it seems like Logan has the better night vision out of everyone. Roman’s vision is probably more what the spider would see normally and Patton and Virgil’s are about the same as Thomas.”
“Why do you think that is?” Logan asked curiously “We all got bit by the same spider so you would assume we would all be the same ability wise.”
“You’re all different,” Talyn said obviously “if you were the same person then maybe you’d have similar reactions but depending on your DNA your bodies will react to the venom differently. Plus, you did theorize that with each victim the spider used more and more venom so that can also be an important factor.”
Logan nodded thoughtfully, “I guess so.”
---
“We’re gunna do a quick test on just you Patton,” Talyn said as they tied a blindfold over Patton’s eyes “we’ve been picking up some strange brainwaves coming from you and we want to if we’re right.”
“Uh, okay,” Patton said tentatively, squirming in his seat “is it something bad?”
“No, no nothing bad,” Talyn assured “it’s just we’ve noticed that you seemed to be a very empathetic person and we want to see if that has been enhanced in anyway with your mutation.”
“Oh, well, what are we gunna do then?” Patton asked.
“Well, we’ve given everybody a note card of a certain feeling and they’re gunna try to emulate that feeling,” Joan explained as they passed out the note cards “your job is to guess what that feeling is.”
“How am I gunna do that?” Patton asked, head turning to try and track Joan’s voice.
“How ever you deem it necessary,” Joan said “I’ve known some people to sense thing through auras and given your ‘spidy sense’ that could be the case. But sometimes physical contact is needed to truly pick up what the other person is feeling.”
“Mmh, okay,” Patton said “but why the blindfold?”
“Eye contact and facial features can sometimes give away what a person’s feeling very easily,” Talyn chimed in “so this a ‘no cheating’ blindfold.”
“Oooh, sorry, I’m dumb.” Patton giggled.
“You are NOT dumb, Patton!” Roman said firmly, arms crossed stubbornly and glaring at his best friend even though Patton couldn’t see him.
Patton smiled passively, “Whatever you say, Ro.”
“I will punch you in the name of friendship!” Roman declared dramatically.
The group laughed at the two friends’ antics before quickly settling into silence as Joan lined them up in front of Patton with them going first. Patton fidgeted nervously as Joan stood in front him, he could tell someone was there but he just couldn’t read them properly. Shyly, Patton extended both his hands out, palms up, and Joan silently replied by carefully setting their own hands over his.
“I feel…curious,” Patton hummed “like, I have a lot of questions, well, they have a lot of question. I have questions too but that’s not me feeling question…wait can you feel question? Oh, it’s changing. They’re amused but also satisfied that they’re questions have been answered. Is that right?”
“Yes, it is.” Joan chuckled, letting go of Patton’s hands.
“Oh, Joan,” Patton said surprised “I didn’t know you’d be participating too. I don’t have to guess names, right? I don’t think I can do that.”
“No, just feelings.” They assured, stepping away and letting the next person go up.
Virgil carefully stepped up, looking down at his note card before stuffing it in his pocket. He just stood there a moment, staring down at Patton’s extended hands before carefully reaching out to grab them. Patton hummed curiously, soft warm hands squeezing Virgil’s gently.
“They’re kind of nervous,” Patton stated “they really don’t know what they should be doing right now. Aw, don’t be nervous, you’re doing great. Oh, they’re relaxing a little, that’s good. Glad I could lend a hand.”
Virgil snorted, Logan groaned in the background and everybody else chuckled. Patton giggled delightfully, “See, they think I’m funny! Did I do good?”
“Doing great Patton,” Joan assured “Next please.”
Virgil stepped out of the way for Thomas to move forward. The older man was hesitant at first but ultimately sighed, handing his note card off to Joan before grabbing hold of Patton’s hands. Immediately, Patton’s smiling face morphed into a melancholy frown, brow knitting together as if in immense pain.
“Oh they’re…i-it feels…sad,” Patton whimpered, voice cracked and watery “b-but it’s not a normal sad it’s like…like they lost someone precious to them.”
The others watch on with amazement and worry as tears began to stream down Patton’s face, “They’re in a lot of pain but…they also feel empty and cold. N-now they feel guilty, oh don’t feel guilty! I’m fine, really it’s just…can I give you a hug?”
Thomas looked down at Patton’s tear stained face, fear and guilt clawing at his chest for causing so much destress to such a sweet kid. Taking a breath to calm himself Thomas stepped forward and engulfed the teen in a big hug. Patton was quick to wrap his arms tightly around Thomas’s waist as if he was trying to physically mend all of Thomas is broken pieces back together. Warmth bloomed in Thomas’s chest at the sweet gesture and he couldn’t help but squeeze a little tighter and hold on a bit longer. The room was calm and quiet, no one wanting to disturb the gentle moment being had between the two.
“I know it’s hard but…I promise we’ll get through it eventually.” Patton murmured gently into his chest.
They final let go after a long while and Thomas sheepishly side stepped away while Patton wiped away the tears from under his blindfold. Roman was about to step forward but Talyn held him back to take his place, seeing that Roman’s note card also had an extreme emotion they figured Patton could use a bit of an emotional cool down. Gently, Talyn grabbed onto Patton’s hands, rubbing soothing circles over his fingers.
“They’re very clam,” Patton sniffed, taking in a breath then slowly letting it out “it’s gentle and nice, very soothing. Like, aloe being put over a burn mark…that’s weird analogy, I’m sorry.”
Talyn huffed out a laugh, “I think it’s suitable.”
“Oh, Talyn, you’re here too,” Patton smiled “did I get it right?”
“Mmh,” Talyn nodded before realizing Patton couldn’t see them “yeah, you did. We can stop now if you want, we have plenty of date.”
“No, I wanna finish,” Patton said determined “I’m fine to continue.”
“You sure?” Talyn asked carefully.
Patton nodded, “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Okay, next person.” Talyn stepped aside and let Roman take their place. Roman handed them his note card before firmly taking Patton’s hands in his. Patton pouted, his brow scrunched up in annoyance.
“I feel…angry,” Patton said “well, maybe not ‘angry’ angry but like…kind of annoyed, maybe a little more frustrated. Also, a tad bit worried. Geez, what’s got you so riled up?”
“Because my best friend thinks he’s dumb but he’s not and I love him very much!” Roman grumbled, stomping his foot childishly “Also you were crying earlier and I don’t like seeing you sad.”
“Aw, Ro-Ro,” Patton giggled, pulling Roman in for a hug “I love you too, sorry for making you worry.”
“It’s not your fault Peaches,” Roman murmured, burying his face into Patton’s hair “but to quote you: ‘if you keep talking bad about yourself, I will physically fight you!’”
The friends giggled, holding each other for a little while longer until Roman finally “forgave” Patton and moved out of the way for the last person. Logan fidgeted nervously, quite unlike his usual calm and cool self, frowning down at the note card in his hand, “Happy�� it read. Logan was pretty sure that Virgil switched out their note cards if the smug face he had was anything to go by. He glared at his best friend before handing off the note card and stepping in front of Patton, who extended his hands readily.
Logan gulped nervously, no that was not the right emotion to be having right now. Happy, he had to be happy. Think happy thoughts…what kind of happy thoughts? His mother’s homed cooked Mansaf…his first telescope his brother got him on his 7th birthday…the first time his father took him to the aquarium and the jelly fish looked like stars…the time Virgil fell down the stairs…Logan huffed a small laugh on that last one.
Carefully, Logan lifted his hands and hovered them a few inches above Patton’s own. He gulped again, face red hot and all eyes (minus Patton’s) were on him, waiting. Why was he nervous? Why couldn’t he move? Why were his hands suddenly so sweaty? This was just an experiment, it was not big deal!
“Um, are you still there?” Patton asked, confused as to why it was taking so long.
“Give them a minute,” Joan said helpfully, but the knowing smirk on his and everybody else is face wasn’t helpful at all. At least not for Logan.
“Oh, okay, take your time.” Patton said soothingly, a soft smile painting his face. Patton always had a nice smile, it made everything feel lighter. Logan was quick to stop that train of thought and immediately dropped his hands onto Patton’s.
Patton hummed quietly, his hands were soft and warm, short and fat compared to Logan’s cold, clammy, spindly fingers. They were so different and yet they felt completely natural together. It was a completely absurd and illogical thought to say the least but it was a common thought process Logan had whenever he was around the bright sunshine of a human being known as Patton Foster.
Patton smiled, a pretty blush spreading across his cheeks, “It’s really warm and fluttery.”
‘Fuck, fuck, fuck!’ Logan thought to himself ‘Abort mission! Abort mission!’
But he was frozen in place as Patton continued to explain, “Like a thousand butterflies in my stomach but I also want to throw up at the same time. Not in a bad way though. They’re a bit nervous too but also kind of excited. They’re in love!”
Logan choked on his own spit and he heard Virgil and Roman in the background quietly snickering to themselves. He threw them a glare to shut up before turning back to remove his hands but found that Patton still held them firmly in his own. Turns out he wasn’t done yet.
“They’re embarrassed now,” He said tentatively “was I not supposed to say that? Sorry, I got excited. You’re love is a very nice feeling and whoever that lucky person is to receive it I hope they know how wonderfully blessed they are.”
Logan was pretty sure his face was on fire now, he’s surprised that the smoke alarm hadn’t started beeping. Or maybe it has but he just couldn’t hear it over the beating of his own heart in his ears and Roman and Virgil’s annoying laughter. Logan cleared his throat, shaking his thoughts out of his head before carefully removing his hands from Patton’s gentle hold and rejoining the group.
“Did I get it right?” Patton asked.
“Uh, it wasn’t what was written on the note card but I think you still got it right,” Joan chuckled as they went to remove Patton’s blindfold as well as the suction cups on his head and neck “I think that’s enough testing for today. It’s getting late and you kids should probably start getting home.”
“Should we come back tomorrow?” Patton asked, blinking his eyes to adjust to the light.
“Only if you want to,” Thomas butted in before either Joan or Talyn could answer “and only if you guys are not busy. Remember, you still have school and a life to attend to.”
“Don’t remind me,” Roman whined “I still gotta finish my homework when I get home.”
“That’s ironic since we told our parents we were in a study group.” Logan said.
“What time is it anyway?” Virgil asked, stretching out his arms.
Talyn looked down at their watch, “’Bout to be eight thirty.”
“Eight thirty!” The boys exclaimed, panic rising in their eyes as they scrambled to pack their things.
“Aw, man my mom’s gunna kill for missing dinner!” Patton shrieked.
“You’re mom? Have you met my mom?” Roman voice cracked “She still thinks I’m sick and wanted me to stay home!”
“Thanks for everything Mr. Sanders, uh, we’ll come by tomorrow if we aren’t grounded.” Virgil said in a rush as they all raced up stairs.
“Pleasure meeting all of you!” Logan called out as he dashed out the basement door with his friends. The door slammed shut and there was a rumble of feet running across the hall before they heard the front door open and slam shut too.
“Nice kids.” Joan said after a moment of silence.
“Don’t get too attached to them,” Thomas warned as he walked over to the containment unit where the little spider was still scuttling around in “this all has to be taken seriously and professionally. These kids have no idea what going on to them or what they’ve just gotten themselves into so we have to there to guide them.”
“Mmh, are you telling us that or yourself?” Talyn smirked.
Thomas sputtered uselessly, “I-I…wh-what are you talking about?”
“Don’t think we don’t see how you interact with those kids,” Talyn chuckled “all maternal and such.”
“I’m not – it’s not…I don’t do that…” Thomas said meekly, but even he was starting to doubt that “I mean, they’re just kids and I know what it’s like going through what they’re going through. God knows I would have liked a bit of guidance. And they’re also younger then what I was when I first got my powers, we have to keep a careful eye on them.”
“I have a theory,” Joan announced dramatically “that by the end of the week they’ll have you wrapped around their little fingers.”
“Yeah right,” Thomas grumbled “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’m not really ‘hip’ with the kids.”
“You’re right, I should give you the benefit of the doubt,” Joan said solemnly “one and a half weeks it is.”
Talyn and Joan laughed while Thomas groaned but it wasn’t because he was frustrated but because he knew Joan was probably right.
Tag:
@immortaldystopia @metaphoricalpluto2 @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @misunderstood-shadow @fairytailtwists @0callmevirge0 @blenderkit17 @galaxy-lilies-main @lumi-1 @paint-in-flames
#thomas sanders#sanders sides#sander sides fanfiction#patton sanders#logan sanders#virgil sanders#roman sanders#logicality#prinxiety#spiderverse au#tobashiarg!
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Love in the Time Of
Anxiety. Is the first thing that comes to mind. Exhibit A- yesterday I woke up at 10:30 am. A thing unheard of for me without being out to 2am the night before, which rarely ever happens anymore. I generally like mornings. And it was Easter. And it was sunny and beautiful as all get up outside. I’m not a devout Christian, but I grew up going to church; I am closeted very spiritual, and I like human stories, community and meditative spaces. Therefore, Easter is usually the one day a year I like to go to church. It’s just a me thing; I was lucky to grow up in a progressive church so the guilt and pentinance thing doesn’t really bother me. My family was also just as likely to go out to breakfast at the local diner on a Sunday morning as we were to go to church. I think it was really just about the intentional time. (The hilarious part being that I grew up in a small town in Upstate New York, so we would have to leave the diner by 10:30 when church got out and the weekly patrons filed in for their cup of coffee and eggs tittering “oh HELLO Dunn family! We missed you today...” My dad would have his watch timed for a perfect exit. Today, empty nesters, my parents are devout patrons at what they call the Church of Danny Wegman, a Sunday morning grocery shopping ritual at Wegmans for any upstate New Yorkers out there. According to them, they’ve even converted a few friends.) So anyway I woke up at 10:30 and stayed in bed until 11:30. Christ has risen, but Erin definitely did not. The stone was rolled away to find me still lying in bed. Eventually I roused myself out of sheer hanger to eat leftover pizza and pour some cold brew from a can into a glass. I muttered something angry to Andy about playing video games and not making me breakfast because it was Easter so he should just KNOW that I wanted to wake up to a nice breakfast without any communication on my part. Duh. Ressurection indeed.
I was feeling hungry and sad and weird. You know that feeling when you sleep so much your body is confused about what time/ day it is and anything you should be feeling? Plus add the quarantine and the fact it was Sunday after a break from work aka Sunday scaries and the apartment was super dirty, because I’d been avoiding cleaning all week. I resented the sun outside, high in the sky, wishing I could roll back the clock four hours and calmly and serenly watch the sunrise out my window with the meditative curl of steam from my tea under a blanket, my cat softly lying next to me, contemplating the newness of the world. But it was almost noon, so here we are. After I ate my cold pizza and cold brew I got back into bed, waiting for Andy to be done with his video games and check on me so I could leech his energy. I laid in bed hating myself with inner monolouge like “Bitch, if you were single HOW do you think you’d be getting out of bed right now? Strong independent woman my ass” (Answer: I wouldn’t.) Credit to Andy though, he’s nothing but supportive and reliable even when I’m shooting angry looks across the apartment for no reason over my cold brew as he chats away merrily with his brother via Fortnite.
“I’m stuck,” I said as I laid under the covers. “I need an energy push. I want to stay in bed forever.” “Either not moving or going somewhere far away,” Andy said gently, nailing my reactions to anxiety (I had stayed up late the night before Googling School Psychologist jobs in small towns across the state). He laid down with with me for a moment, and then began breathing deeply vis a vis Terry Crews about to lift something gargantuous. “OKAY, HERE WE GO!” he yelled, and ripped the covers off, pushing me off the bed, pulling me up and and shoving me toward the bathroom with a towel. Again, credit to Andy.
The shower made me feel better. I think under all the anxiety and negative self-talk, I was really just sad. Easter has never been a huge holiday, but I always liked it in a kind of personal way, just connecting with spring, new beginnings etc. I missed my family I guess or any sense of celebration. And I get this thing like, I am a mental health professional, I teach yoga, therefor I shouldn’t have hard times during this, because I am above such petty emotions. (Logically it makes no sense, but the way our brains work it makes perfect sense.) I put on a nicer ish sweater and ripped jeans. Easter Sunday best, it’s all about doing the best we can. Our friends knocked on the door, and came in to stand safely in the doorway with a boquet of flowers and a bag of fried dandelions (what? but they were delicious I’ll have you know.) “Happy Easter!” they said. My towel was still on my head. My eyes would have almost teared up if I had been alert enough to feel emotions fully. They hung out for a bit in the doorway, pet the cat, then headed out. One of my friends had said he was practicing sleeping in to prep for a night volunteer shift, but only made it until 9:45 that morning. It made me feel like a lump. As they left, we said we’d go on a walk with them later. We didn’t. Flakiness doesn’t stop during a quarantine.
(flowes, fried dandelions and Felix) Andy made eggs after I complained he hadn’t made me breakfast (to which his response was, ‘I asked if you wanted breakfast and you grunted and went back to sleep.” Well... my anger is completey justifiable. Obviously.) We watched Lego Masters- Star Wars episode. It was really good. The sun fltered in. I wanted it to go away, or I wanted to have the energy to go out in it. I had a headache. My jaw hurt. I laid on the couch and read for hours intermittently scrolling through my phone and checking how many people had viewed my Instagram story, and then immediately hating myself for scrolling through my phone, until we finally found the motivation to do some cleaning while listening to a DnD podcast. That felt nice. Then we went on a walk still listening to the podcast. The characters were fighting a giant invisible spider. I felt tired, and noticed how far you could see into the foothills of the mountains. I’m scared, I said to Andy, that when things return to normal I’ll be sad. Not for like the deaths and economy and stuff, but this- that we can see so clearly to the mountains. What happens when that’s gone? We were going to cook, but felt lazy. We orded sushi. It was okay. We watched Return of the Jedi. During the Lego Masters episode one of the teams had built the battle of Endor and made all the Ewoks’ primitive weapons. It was cool. I liked all the trees and ferns. I wondered about Carrie Fischer in her skimpy Jabba outfit, how did she feel around all those men? I contemplated searching Pornhub later for spin offs and then felt weird about it. We drank wine. We turned the lights off. The cat meowed at the door to explore outside. I was annoyed at him, so Andy took him out. Andy went to bed. I laid on the couch and listened to a Brene Brown podcast about anxiety, My jaw still hurt. Anxiety she said, manifests in two ways. I thought okay Brene, sometimes you annoy me, because not to be pretenious here, but I know more about psychology than you. But you have a real way of getting people to listen. So I’ll listen. The two ways, she explained, are over and under performing. Over performers tend to do a million things, check off to-do lists, always have a task, something to be doing to stop themselves from feeling (I’m looking at all you bread makers. Just kidding, baking bread is a completely wholesome way of coping with free time, and really I’m just jealous...)
Underperformers on the other hand tend to shut down, need help from others, seem helpless from the outside, tend to fold under pressure, exuding low energy. Neither is better than the other, although society definitely favors the over performers. But in reality, both are just a way to avoid anxiety- keep it lurking in the shadows like the monster of a horror film, instead of bringing it out into the light. And we all know the suspension of an unknown movie monster is so much worse than after we’ve just seen the damn thing.
Then she went into birth order; first borns tend to be more over-performers with last borns more under-performing, which is fine and probably pretty true and all, but I don’t totally subscribe to those things as pre-destined. But I did like finding a name to a feeling or habit. Naming is the first way to remove power. I had been drastically underperforming all day. And it’s not even my fault. It’s just anxiety- that all of us have, lingering in the peripherals, and our habitual responses.
And honestly, that’s okay. I’d spent time with my partner. I’d seen friends and been the recipient of kindness. I’d gotten outside. I’d cleaned the apartment. We’d had dinner and watched a movie. We were fed, healthy and both have jobs. I’d even called my parents before they went to sleep to wish them happy Easter. Why can’t that just damn be enough?
Before I went to bed, I watched an online Easter church serivce from a local church. It was awkward. The pastor filmed himself walking around a cemetary. And yet, somehow, it felt nice. I felt a tiny bit part of something.
Check the facts honey. It is enough. It’s always enough. You’re enough.
And that’s love in the time of.
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