#Idk it's just kinda shitty to me that that's normal and fine.

[whenastrofell]

I was reminded that romantic relationships are real and I'm not doing well with that information.

[dont-look-me-in-the-eye]

nobody talks about how fucking tiring it is putting up the tough guy asshole persona

[totowlff]

hellooooo, how are you? i hope fine. After reading kinda all of your toto fics and feeling completely amazed by your writing skills, one question came to my mind:

have you ever thought of writing something about racing!toto and reader?? or like a flashback of why racing!toto have decided to quit after the accident? idk i’m just blabbing

well, maybe he had some kind of...

epiphany

The path was already familiar to you.

Every morning, before going to your clinic in Weissgerberviertel, you went to the building in the heart of Vienna, entered the flat number and waited for your entry to be authorized. After going up in the elevator and being greeted with a smile by the nurse who was there, you walked down the hallway to the white door and knocked softly, receiving authorization to enter.

Sitting on the bed, his patient looked at the window next to him in silence.

— Good morning, Mr. Wolff.

Slowly turning her head towards him, he limited himself to a millimetric nod.

— Good morning.

— How are you today? — you asked, approaching the bed where he was sitting in a rigid, almost robotic posture.

— Same as yesterday — he murmured.

— Feeling shitty? — you said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Your question caused a small smile to escape his lips.

— Yes, shitty.

— I can imagine — you smiled back, pleasantly.

His case was not one of the most common ones you had ever seen. Mr. Wolff had suffered a serious accident in Germany, more specifically on a racing circuit, a few weeks ago. From what you had gathered from the scant details he had offered you, he was trying to set a record when his tire blew and he crashed into the barriers.

The result of that adventure, which he classified as “suicidal”, was a concussion and broken vertebrae that would require long months of rehabilitation and physical therapy.

— Still not tasting anything?

— Not even the smell — your patient replied, with a frustrated expression on his face — Severed nerves, from what the doctor said. I'll need to wait for them to reconnect.

— I'm sorry, Mr. Wolff — you said, trying to show some empathy.

However, the man limited himself to a small smile.

— I told you not to call me Mr. Wolff — he said — I'm not like the old people you treat.

— But you are grumpy like them — you replied in a good-humoured way, making him laugh — Now let's get to the business, Toto.

After positioning a chair next to the bed, you requested the nurse's help to take your patient to her. The process was complicated, after all, he was not a small or light man, but, after some maneuvers and hisses of pain, you finally managed to get him to sit in front of you.

— Let's start with spinal rotation, okay? — you said, earning a nod from Toto — Feet on the ground, arms crossed over your chest, let's go.

The exercise was simple in theory, but for a person with severe vertebrae fractures, it was extremely painful. Not even his help so that the rotations were made slowly, in an attempt to reduce the discomfort, as well as the dizziness he felt when moving, was enough to stop him from grunting in pain every time he turned his torso.

— Fuck — Toto hissed as you slowly counted the rotations until they reached number ten. When the number left his lips, he exhaled heavily.

— All good?

— Yeah.

— How is the pain? — you asked, eyes going to his feet to make sure he hadn't left the position you had placed him in before.

— Considerable — he replied, without looking at you.

— Less than yesterday?

— Same — Toto grumbled — Fuck that Porsche...

You pressed your lips together thoughtfully. It wasn't your place to judge your patients' choices, no matter how much it took them to have to hire you to get back to something close to a normal life. However, given everything you knew about the accident, you couldn't resist making a comment.

— Maybe the problem wasn't the car, Toto.

Toto looked up at you, serious.

— No?

— You yourself said it was a suicide mission and went ahead with it anyway.

— It wasn't me who said it, but Niki...

— Lauda? — you asked incredulously — The guy who almost burned to death after suffering a racing accident?

— Himself. On the same track.

Shaking your head, you were really sure that you were facing a complete madman. No one in their right mind would do that to themselves, especially knowing the consequences, the worst of which was death.

— And even though he said he was suicidal, you did it?

— Yes — Toto replied.

— Why? — you asked softly.

He let out a sigh.

— I've always liked the Nordschleife, Y/N. It was the first track I discovered and I could never stop feeling attracted to it — Toto explained, with a little smile — I remember one time I rented an Opel Calibra and did 50 laps on the open day for tourists. I felt like I had found my place there, even though the guys at the rental office hated me for returning the car with bald tires.

You giggled, imagining the employees' incredulous expressions upon receiving the car used by Toto.

— You know, Y/N — he continued — I dare say I love that place. I love the stories, I love the curves, I love the adrenaline. Nordschleife makes me feel alive, happy. And I love it.

You had a friendly smile on your face, almost as if you understood his love for the place. However, a rational part of your head made you remember the reason why you were there, in front of Toto.

— And you love this place even though you know it almost took your life?

He stared at you for long seconds, as if absorbing his words.

— Well — Toto stammered.

— I don't judge you for having passions, after all, we all have ours. But, your passion for that place led you to do something completely irresponsible, not to say selfish.

— Selfish?

— I doubt you thought about them — you said, pointing to the picture frame on the bedside table. In the image, the boy and girl were smiling widely as they hugged Toto.

When he realized what you were pointing at, he pursed his lips thoughtfully. He definitely hadn't stopped to reflect on that. And, considering how long he would still need to remain at rest, he could think about it a lot.

— Well, shall we continue? — you asked.

With a nod, Toto placed his hands on his chest again, without saying a word for the rest of the session.

[justthatwwegirl]

(Idk, I'm always making imagines inspired by Laufey songs)

From The Start

(Grayson Waller x Female Reader)

Summary: Y/N finally tells Grayson about her feelings for him and it goes in a way she didn't expect.

(Warnings: Shitty summary and kinda rushed ending, two idiots in love, some cursing, Liv and Austin being icons.)

Y/N sat on one of the crates, opening her water bottle as she had just finished her match.

Her and Dakota faced against eachother, Y/N coming out on top.

Just right as she was still drinking her water, there came the face she had wanted to see, the person who made her smile and blush till she felt like a high school girl with a crush.

"Y/N/N! Congrats on your match." Grayson had said, walking up to her with some food from catering and a vending machine before giving her a hug that she returned back.

"Thank you." Y/N said quietly. She ate the food very eagerly due to her hunger. Not eating before the show or during.

Her and Grayson had been good friends since their NXT days, Y/N falling for the Australian ever since they met and falling even more in love every day after.

The two had grown very close and cared for each other dearly.

Grayson was more outgoing and very much an extrovert. Y/N liked to keep to herself, didn't like going out and was more of an introvert.

"Hey, do you wanna order takeout when we get back to the hotel?" Grayson asked in his Australian accent, making Y/N go weak.

"Um, sure why not." Y/N said, keeping a cool composure.

Grayson smiled at her, making Y/N smiled back automatically, blushing just a little (or a lot).

Grayson had sat next to her, leaning to rest his head on her shoulder.

Y/N smiled and then leaned her head on his.

Just very friendly things...

"I like your gear." Y/N said making Grayson look down at his gear with a smile.

"T-thank you!" Grayson said in a stuttering mess, making Y/N concerned.

"You okay, Gray?" Y/N asked, using his nickname.

Before Grayson could answer, a familiar voice interrupted.

"Y/N!" Liv had said giving Y/N a big hug that Y/N returned.

"I saw your match and you did absolutely amazing!" Liv said making Y/N jump off the crate and slightly nod.

Liv looked at Grayson and at Y/N before holding her hands up. "Looks like I interrupted some time between you and your boyfriend, sorry!" Liv apologized making Y/N rub her face and making Grayson start smiling.

"I'll see you later, Grayson." Y/N said, looking like a red tomato and waved bye.

Grayson frowned a little but ultimately said bye as well.

"Okay, I didn't even do anything wrong, I said the truth." Liv said and Y/N crossed her arms.

"We're not dating! And as much as I would like that, you know he doesn't feel the same way." Y/N said and Liv looked at her confused.

"Y/N, you can't be serious right now." Liv said and Y/N shrugged her shoulders.

"I am. He doesn't like me back and that's fine. I don't wanna ruin years worth of friendship just because I have a crush on him." Y/N said with a frown.

"Girl. You do realize he feels the same right?" Liv asked, making Y/N shake her head.

"I can give you multiple reasons on why I think so!" Liv said before going on a rant making Y/N listen.

Even though Y/N acted like she wasn't interested. Deep deep down, she hoped Liv's reason were true.

"I hope you know that you talk about this man NONSTOP. Pretty much half of our messages is you talking about how much you love him and want him. Well, I'm here to tell you why you should shoot your shot BECAUSE HE LIKES YOU BACK!" Liv said in a frustrated tone making Y/N jump just a little.

"1, when me and Naomi are on the topic of you guys," "Wait you guys talk about us?" "Not important, anyways." Liv continues. "We both notice how much he listens to you when you talk. Not like how a normal guy listens like this man is INVESTED and he always looks at you with those fucking heart eyes." Liv says making Y/N confused.

"Number 2, who got you matching bracelets for your birthday, AND took you to the mall to go on a shopping spree, not minding how much money you spent?" Liv asked making Y/N look down.

"Gray." Y/N whispered. Liv smiled a she proved even more of her point.

"And who gave you matching bracelets in NXT which you are still wearing today?" Liv asked another question making Y/N scoff.

"Gray." Y/N answered once again, showing her wrist that showed the bracelet.

"You can stop this rant-" "I am not done until you say you will tell him." Liv stated making Y/N groan.

"He gets you food almost every day, he literally carried you everywhere when you injured your leg even though you had crunches, even Triple H thought you guys were dating, and then, this man lets you hold his man just because you're nervous-" "Fine, fine! I'll tell him." Y/N said in defeat making Liv jump and down in excitement.

"Yes! Oh my gosh, FINALLY!" Liv says jumping and down, clapping her hands.

"Alright, Liv, chill." Y/N says while Liv takes some breathes before finally calming down.

"It's that obvious?" Y/N asks, looking at Liv.

"Yes. It is that obvious. He even talks to Austin so much about you to the point where Austin calls you Grayson's girlfriend." Liv says making Y/N blush a little and smile.

"And according to Austin, Grayson doesn't correct him." Y/N looks up at Liv.

"Gosh, if you keep telling me this, I'll die of being too flustered." Y/N said before covering her face as she was blushing and smiling too hard.

"When you're not around, the man complains to Austin 24/7 about how much he missed you."

"STOP-"

-

"You still have that?" Y/N pointed to the little wristband that she made for Grayson years ago.

"Yeah, I wear it everyday and pretty much everywhere." Grayson said, holding the door open for Y/N as they walked into the hotel.

"You didn't notice?" Grayson asked making Y/N shake her head.

"No, I thought you had lost it." Y/N said as they got to the counter, booking their room.

"Imagine if they give us the honeymoon room again." Grayson says, making Y/N let out a laugh.

"That was something." Y/N said, shaking her head in a smile as they went toward the elevator.

They entered the elevator, continuing their conversation.

She always made eye contact with him during conversations even though it made her super nervous. But she loved the way they looked and always smiled at least once during every conversation they had.

She always took his features into deep thought.

Just as they were talking, Y/N had remembered what she promised Liv and immediately groaned, rubbing her face.

"Y/N/N, you okay?" Grayson asked, putting his hand on her shoulder make her relax.

"Um yeah, but I kind of wanted to talk to you about something." Y/N said, facing her fears.

"What is it-" A loud sound had interrupted him, making Y/N and Grayson.

"What just happened?!" Y/N asked in a loud tone, looking around.

"Did the elevator get stuck?!" Grayson asked, also looking around.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now." Y/N said stressed, making her grab Grayson's hand.

Grayson held her hand, squeezing it and making them look at each other.

"It's going to be okay, they'll fix it." Grayson said, trying to calm her down even though he was terrible at it.

"You're right." Y/N said before taking some deep breathes but never letting go of his hand.

The two stood in silence. Still holding one another's hand.

Until Grayson broke the silence.

"What were you going to tell me?" He asked, squeezing her hand again as she looked at him.

"I'm going to try and tell you in the best way I can but you make me super nervous and I just-" Y/N paused.

"I just what?" Grayson asked quietly.

"I like you, more than a friend should." Y/N quickly blurted out.

"I've liked you from the start and the feeling has gotten stronger ever since and I understand if you don't feel the same or if you just wanna be friends I'm really sorry-" While Y/N rushed, before she could finish, she felt those soft lips she had always wanted to kiss against hers.

Y/N kissed him back immediately. Not wanting the moment to end ever.

Until Grayson had to pull away.

"Well, if that doesn't tell you that I feel the same way, I don't know what will." Grayson said in his accent that kept making her go weak.

"I'm still a little... shocked that you feel the same, didn't even realize." Y/N said.

"I thought I was being obvious, I kept dropping hints!" Grayson said making Y/N scrunch her eyebrows in confusion.

"I talk about you so much where Austin has to deal with it everyday. He calls you my girlfriend cause I always talk about you!" Grayson said.

'Well, Liv did tell me that.' Y/N thought.

"Everytime we were away, I always fell asleep on the phone with you and every time I see you, I feel like eyes turn into hearts." Grayson continues making Y/N blush.

"I tried giving you hints but I was too damn awkward." Y/N defended herself.

"You know how shy I am, Gray" Y/N says making Grayson smile and nod.

"I do, and every single time you opened up to me or revealed something about yourself, it gave me more reasons on why I love you." Y/N blushed even more at his statement before giving him a look.

"How long have you felt this way?" Y/N asked him.

"Since we met-" "I could have told you this whole time?!" Y/N shouted.

Grayson laughed and nodded before hugging Y/N.

She hugged back and looked up at him. He looked down at her with their eyes locking and leaned in.

He kissed her with such passion that it made her melt as she kissed him back.

She held onto him as the two continued to kiss but both of them didn't hear anything as they felt like they were in a different world when with one another.

And especially didn't hear the elevator door opening.

"OH MY GOSH!" Liv shouted, making Grayson and Y/N pull away, looking to see Liv and Austin standing next to each other.

"YOU OWE ME 50 BUCKS THEORY!" Liv shouted once again and Austin groaned.

"You guys couldn't have waited one more week?" Austin asked as he pulled a 50 dollar bill from his wallet, giving it to Liv as she danced in a celebration.

"I mean if it wasn't for Liv, I still would be dreaming my fantasies with him away." Y/N said making Grayson start blushing.

Grayson and Y/N stepped out of the elevator while Liv and Austin got in. Everyone said goodbye to eachother while the elevator closed and once again, Y/N and Grayson were alone again.

"Does this make us a couple?" Grayson asked and Y/N nodded her head.

"I hope so. I want to be your girlfriend." Y/N said with another smile as she kissed Grayson again.

"And I want to be your boyfriend." Grayson said, kissing her back while she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Then, we're together, Gray." She whispered and leaned in for another kiss which Grayson immediately obliged too.

The End ♡

[ominousvibez]

ectoberweek 2024, day 1 | graveyard shift

AO3

Victor is a janitor working a late-night shift at Axiom Labs. One night, he encounters Phantom.

A/N: Decided to try an outsider POV for this. Idk, the thought of a janitor working a late night shift kinda just stuck with me. Okay hope you like it xoxo vibez

Victor Hathorne is usually pretty content with his job.

It’s not exactly a fun job, or a particularly exciting job; but it pays the bills, and it pays pretty well. The hours are shit— 10 at night to 6 in the morning—but Axiom Labs makes up for it in generous benefits, including dental!

Victor hadn’t been to the dentist in seven years before snagging this position at Axiom Labs, and it’s a miracle he only had three cavities since.

The work is simple, janitorial duties. With most of the Axiom Lab staff leaving before Victor even arrives for his shift, it leaves most of the building to himself to clean. Four stories, technically, but he doesn’t have access to most of it. There are some higher-ups in the janitorial team that deal with the restricted areas. And they’re a team, of janitors—not something Victor ever imagined being a thing before starting at Axiom—so he’s not technically the only one working late hours, but he’s still usually alone.

Which is fine with him. He brings headphones and an old, busted MP3 player with him to work at night and he listens to music. Occasionally he’s able to find an audiobook to (not-so-legally) download to the MP3, so he isn’t just blaring loud rock/techno music for his entire eight hour shift, and he’s been actually reading books, surprisingly.

It’s a simple, easy job. Something that has helped him get a slightly less shitty apartment and a marginally better life. Not the best job, but it does what it needs to be done.

One night changes that for Victor.

The Head Custodian (what stupidly official name for just their manager) is in their break room already when Victor arrives one night. He’s not late. It’s about nine-forty, the usual time he clocks in, but the appearance of Ravenna Jones is only slightly alarming. Slightly intimidating. He doesn’t interact with her often. She’s usually in her office and doesn’t work the graveyard shift, only staying to eleven or midnight at most.  

She’s sat at the table in the breakroom, looking over a clipboard. There’s a lot of numbers and things listed on the papers, but it isn’t something Victor can easily read. Not just with his dyslexia, mind you, but it’s also upside-down to him. Not to mention—not really any of his business.

“Mr. Hathorne?”

His head snaps up as he sets his bag in the locker. He stiffens. “…Yes?”

A million thoughts go through his mind. Is she going to fire me? Am I going to be fired? Did I forget to clean something last night? Sure, he occasionally came in a little buzzed, not like any of the other janitors are much better than Victor. He’s usually the only sober one of the normal staff.

“Alexa James is not going to be in today.” Ravenna starts. “Well, for a while, actually.”

“Is-- is she alright?”

“Yes, she is fine. Maternity leave.”

Oh. Oh! He remembers, faintly, Alexa saying something in passing to him the other night. They’d been successful with IVF treatments a while ago, and her wife was due soon. The baby must have come. “Oh, that’s… Great. Good for them, I mean.”

Ravenna looks up at him from her clipboard, nodding quietly. “Yes. She will be gone for a while, and we will need someone to take over her position temporarily. You’re the only other staff member in our department who can fill in for her while she’s gone.”

“M-Me?” He hadn’t even been there for a whole year yet. The entire situation is very surprising. “I mean, Bill’s been here for years, can’t he…?”

Ravenna shakes her head, pushing her chair back to stand up. As Head Custodian, Ravenna never has to dress in clothes that are meant to get dirty (like Victor), so her pencil skirt and blouse are clean, tidy, and professional, and she brushes off the dust on her skirt. “Bill has a criminal record. I know that Jefferson comes in too high every night for his shift. And Kallie, well…” She shakes her head, trailing off. “Your background check came up the cleanest.”

That’s not surprising. For such a refutable company, Axiom Labs does tend to… take their chances on some people with sketchier backgrounds, mostly for the grunt work like graveyard shift custodian.

Still. It’s a lot more responsibility to be suddenly thrust into.

“Um, I’m, uh, not sure—”

Ravenna pays him no mind, continuing. “George usually arrives about eleven-thirty, according to his time-clocks. He’ll be the one to show you around tonight on B-1. I’ve got a new ID badge for you so you can access the floors you need to. Pay attention with what you do tonight, because George won’t show you anything tomorrow.” She explains, pulling a new ID badge and lanyard out from under the pile of papers on her clipboard. How that worked, Victor really had no idea. “Alexa is on maternity leave for the next eight weeks. If you do well during this time, there may be a permanent position open for you in the meanwhile.” Ravenna finally looks at Victor for the first time, her brown eyes staring directly into his. “That is, if you’re up for it, Mr. Hathorne.”

Up for it. Well—to be honest, it doesn’t feel like Victor’s being given a choice in whether he wants to do this or not. He takes the new ID badge—it’s the same as his current one, but less faded, at least he didn’t have to re-take the picture—and tries to force out a smile. It feels like he bares too many teeth with it. He nods, too. It feels weird and awkward. “Uh, I guess, I guess so.”

“Perfect. And like I said, George usually arrives around eleven-thirty, so in the meanwhile, work on your usual areas.”

Of course. Unfortunate that he doesn’t even get a break for this.

Ravenna makes her way to the door out of the break room, but she stops, her hand resting on the door knob. “Have a great night, Mr. Hathorne. And, oh—I suppose this goes without saying, but that NDA you signed when you first worked with us applies especially so on the basement levels.”

Right, right. It’d made sense that he had to sign an NDA, especially given the fact that Axiom Labs tends to work with experimental technology, but Victor had thought he wouldn’t be dealing with those floors, like, ever. But, somehow, it ends up finding a way to being his problem. Just his luck.

~~~

It’s night three of his new “job”, and it doesn’t feel any less unsettling to swipe his ID in the elevator to get access to the basement floors. Floors. The building was bigger than he was ever told—three different basement floors, specifically for research and development with secret projects and technologies up the wazoo.

Most of it dealing with ghosts.

Victor isn’t a religious man. He’s probably closest to some sort of pantheistic agnostic at this point, after all the ghost nonsense had started the same year he’d dropped out of college and moved back to what was supposed to be just a small city in the middle of nowhere, Ohio. It’d changed a lot, not just with Victor’s own personal beliefs, but the entire city had been literally uprooted and thrown into hell? At some point? He’s not even quite sure what happened, he’d been a little too high that day and also slept through half of it, but apparently the ghost boy, Phantom, had beaten some guy and saved the day.

But it’s safe to say he’s pretty indifferent to ghosts, at this point. They tended to leave most of his life alone, attacking through the city at night while Victor is scrubbing away at floor tiles and bathroom mirrors and chilling (mostly) during the day when he’s sound asleep in his apartment. They tended to stick to the downtown areas more; they’d attacked Axiom Labs before, too, but that had only ever been during the day.

He sighs, listening to the rock music crescendo on his MP3 player as the elevator finally dings for B2. George had gotten off at B1 already, and B2 was Kallie’s area. Now it’s Victor’s area.

It’s a lot more than he’d expected. He still doesn’t have access to all the rooms in the building. A few are locked off with “Authorized Personnel Only” signs in big letters on the door. He’d tried swiping his card through them once, just out of curiosity, but it didn’t work. Whatever. Victor doesn’t want to know what’s going on behind those doors. Possibly clandestine deals with the U.S. Government, those weird people always running around in white suits. Ghost Investigation Ward, or whatever?

Victor wished he didn’t have to care about those idiots but they’re worse than the Fentons. They keep sending people—living, breathing, human people—to the hospital from either their reckless driving or their horrible aims. At least with the Fentons, their inventions didn’t do more than stain clothes or leave nothing worse than a carpet burn, but those government pricks have more powerful weaponry that hurts. Victor remembers when Bill had to call off after he’d been caught in the crossfire of a GIW agent and Phantom on his way home. He was stuck in the hospital for a week, and the government wouldn’t pay him anything.

Taking out his ID again, Victor swipes it at the main janitorial closet on B2. Thanks to the government funding, at least, there’s a cleaning supply closet on every single floor. He doesn’t have to lug his usual mop and bucket setup from his usual floor all the way down to B2. Supplies are neatly color-coded and organized in this closet, and Victor tries to keep up with it as best as he can. Kallie’s incredibly neat and detail-oriented. He doesn’t want to mess with whatever system she’s got going here, especially since Kallie will be back from maternity leave, of all things, and will be a little more stressed than normal as schedules shift and fix themselves.

His MP3 player plays a Humpty Dumpty song next as he grabs a mop and a bucket, looking for the right concoction of chemicals to make the sudsy potion that leaves the floors sparkling clean. He knows what to mix and what not to mix—no accidental mustard gas creation here, folks— but Axiom Labs gets high quality stuff and they want it all used, all the time. Floor polish, soap, sanitation—everything. He grabs the soap first, pouring a bottlecap worth of the fluid before mixing it into the bucket until it starts to sud up. Once it does, it’s pretty easy. He hooks the mop handle under the bucket and rolls it out into the hallway, ready to start his shift.

Halfway through mopping, though, a crash echoes through the hallway, and Victor jumps.

His MP3 player stops working. There’s a fog in the air as he breathes. The temperature plummets, and the light fixtures flicker.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

Of course there’s a ghost on his floor. Actually, wait, no, it’s not even his floor, it’s Kallie’s floor, and with how Axiom Labs and the government are working together, why should he even be surprised that a ghost is down here, at this point? Victor groans as he pushes the bucket out from the center of the floor, digging into his pocket for his phone.

Protocol, protocol, protocol…! He remembers the training. B.O.O., or whatever they’d called it. Something cheesy. Back out, organize, and what was that last thing…?

His phone turns on, but there’s no signal. Or Wi-Fi.

Of course.

He’s barely able to pocket his phone before he hears another bang behind him, and a loud curse from around the corner.

Victor freezes. He knows he should get out of there. Ghosts never really meant anything good, in his experience. Especially in a building like this, which was armed with anti-ghost technology developed by Axiom Labs, some by FentonTech, and all paid for with government funds. The building had been incredibly tricked out since the first ghost attack, so Victor didn’t think he really had to worry.

But. But. Curiosity killed the cat, and Victor nervously pokes his head around the corner to see who’s there.

Is that… Phantom?

The ghost is floating a few inches off the ground, one gloved hand sizzling from something. He’s not dressed in his usual garb. His white boot are gone, replaced with steel-toed combat boots, and it looks like a black hoodie was thrown over him to try to hide some of his glow. But with his floating, it’s still obvious he’s a ghost.

“No, Tuck, that didn’t work either.” Phantom says, holding one hand up to his ear. Probably to a phone, or communicator. Hopefully not to a ghost that Victor can’t see. He laughs at something. “Oh, yeah, sure, like an ID card is just going to appear out of the blue for me.”  

What is he even doing here?

“I can try to go under, but I bet they’ve made sure to ghost-proof the floors and ceilings of that room, too.” Phantom adds, sighing. He pauses for a beat. “No, you guys wait outside, I don’t want you getting too involved with this. Yeah, I know, but I don’t want your faces plastered on wanted posters all across the city! It’s bad enough with me—" It devolves into an argument.

Phantom is here. That’s not normal. Phantom tends to avoid the Axiom Lab building like the plague. Most ghosts do. Maybe they can sense something that humans can’t. Maybe they just don’t want to deal with the ghost-hunters that are often in the place during the daytime, and they don’t have a use for it. But Phantom is here. Why is that?

Victor does believe Phantom is a good guy. Er, ghost. He died young, too young—even though photos can’t show ghosts that well, this isn’t the first time Victor has seen Phantom in the non-corporeal flesh. The way that baby fat still clings to his cheeks is obvious. Phantom died young. Everyone in Amity Park knows that. Most think he’s trying to do good, at the very least; be the hero for everybody else that he never had. It’s noble.

But Axiom Labs isn’t the bad guy.

… Right?

“Yeah, yeah, Tuck. I get it. Give me some time to think. I might be able to—” Phantom glances around, before he locks eyes with Victor, and stops. “—Um. Lemme get back to you.”

Shit, shit shit. Victor jumps back from the corner. Maybe he didn’t actually see him?

But a cold tap on the shoulder from behind gives it away. Victor tries to hide the shock as best as he can, but he still jumps a bit at Phantom’s sudden appearance behind him. How did you even…?

“Hi! You’re not gonna kill me, right?”

“U-uh, no, I’m just a janitor.” Plus, you’re a ghost, aren’t you already dead? Victor wants to add, but death always seems like an inappropriate topic to discuss with a ghost.

“Great! Good. You’re not going to call any back-up, either, are you?”

“I—um—” If he could, he probably would. But also, it’s just Phantom. And also, he can’t, probably because of Phantom. He does feel himself pale a bit, though, and he nervously pockets his phone again.  “N-No.”

Phantom nods, floating back a bit. Victor’s a little jealous of that. He’d love to float whenever he wanted. But he’s quite content with the beat of his heart and his feet on the ground right now.

“Awesome. Cool. Do you have an ID that could get me into the central room, there?”

“I don’t think I have the clearance for it.”

“Hm. One sec.” Phantom taps at his ear again. “Tuck, you still there?”

A beat of silence. Victor can almost hear a response, but it’s too quiet and muffled to make any specific words out.

“Yeah, I got an ID, but it doesn’t have clearance. Can you…? Okay, yeah.” Suddenly, Phantom is holding Victor’s ID. He doesn’t even remember giving it to Victor. “Good now? Cool! Thanks.” Phantom starts floating back into the direction, with Victor’s ID in hand. “Just need to borrow this quickly, concerned citizen!”

“I—I will, uh, need that back—" Victor starts to follow him. There’s an odd, calming aura around Phantom. Or maybe he’s been hypnotized. He doesn’t know. The older folk of Amity Park always say Phantom is manipulating and hypnotizing the younger people. Are they right? Probably not. They can’t even figure out how to print a document properly. But they might have a grain of truth to it.

“Sure, right after—” Phantom swipes Victor’s ID on the card reader. The card reader immediately explodes into flames, which Phantom quickly freezes over. The door does, somehow, slide open. He sheepishly passes Victor’s ID back. “Uh. Sorry. You might need a new one.”

It’s singed. The printed picture of Victor’s face is completely covered in ash and soot, and one corner of it is melted, now.

Victor shakes his head, pocketing it. He watches Phantom enter the center room. It is the one room he’d been the most curious about. No windows to try to peer through, a steel door, state-of-the-art security clearance… What could be hiding there? He opens his mouth, not hesitating to ask his questions. “Phantom, what are you—what are you even doing here?”

Silence. Victor hesitates, before stepping through the doorframe.

There’s a lot of anti-ghost technology scattered about. It definitely looks like a laboratory in there, but more like a mad scientist lab than what Victor had been cleaning on the higher levels. Vials of glowing green liquids lined the walls. Ectoplasm, by the look and smell of it. It’s radioactive, am I even safe to be in here?

With Phantom’s nonchalant attitude in the room, Victor assumes he’ll be okay for now. The ghost has some wild protective instincts over anyone living in Amity Park, which does rarely come in handy sometimes (like the time the town had been taken to hell. Yeah, that thing Victor somehow slept through most of).

“Ah. There you are!” Phantom grabs something from one of the tables gently, pulling the thermos off of his belt loop. It’s a small orb, about the size of his palm, and it’s pulsating with a faint turquoise glow. He uncaps the thermos, and doesn’t even press the button on the side, just sliding the orb into the tube and closing it tightly. “Sorry I took a bit, Ember, I’ll get you back to the zone pronto.”

Ember? Like, the singer?

“Phantom, what…?” Victor trails off, before getting another look at the room. There are vials of ectoplasm, but there’s also a faint trace of it on the walls. Like something had been fought in the room. It had been violent. Eventually subdued, but the glow on the walls, barely visible under the glow of the left-on computer and the ghost in front of him, looked like blood splatters. It’d been violent. Too violent.

And that orb—it’d been the only thing to survive.

Phantom doesn’t respond.

“Phantom?”

“I should go, before you get fired.”

“But wait—what—who was that? What… what happened in here?” Victor might be dyslexic, he might’ve dropped out of college, but he had a deep, sinking feeling in his gut that something was wrong. Very, very wrong. The air felt like it’d been sucked out of the room, and replaced with imprints of what had happened. It was almost… painful.

Eventually, Phantom speaks. “Under the Federal Anti-Ecto Control Acts, any creature found to have traces of ectoplasm in their blood is legally seen as a non-sentient entity that needs to be captured, studied, and destroyed. The Guys in White don’t have any lab set up in Amity, so they take advantage of Axiom during the day.”

Captured.

Studied.

Destroyed.

“Look, uh, mister.” Phantom breaks the silence again. His voice cracks a bit. “I should get going. Um, if anyone asks, I possessed you for this, okay? Then, at least, you won’t get fired for this.” He laughs, nervously. “Thanks for the help, though.”

I didn’t really help much, Victor thought. He hadn’t even really handed Phantom his ID card. But, then again, Victor didn’t really stop him, either.

“S-Sure.” Victor eventually stutters out.

And, just like he’d appeared without warning, Phantom disappeared, leaving Victor alone in the lab with his thoughts.

~~~

His resignation papers were on Ravenna’s desk by the morning.

[batboyblog]

Seeing the post about Jasmine, I can literally feel an ulcer grow within me. Are people actually this fucking stupid? Spreading VERY blatant and easily debunakable misinformation? Are they MALICIOUSLY trying to sabotage shit? Also the antisemitism only grows stronger. You literally have spoken in support of Palestine multiple times and yet these people start to froth at the mouth when they find out you're Jewish, these people have the reading comprehension of a fucking brick!!! And seeing the quote by Malcom X... Literally that's the most disgusting shit to act like you're a white liberal when Jews are not seen as white, are seen as lesser than white, the lack of self-awareness this person has is stunning. Sorry to make such a long post but what the fuck, seriously what the fuck is people's problem.

what the fuck is people's problem is a great question that I really wish I had an answer for.

I mean on the antisemitism front I suspect that the thrill of bullying transcends ideological views, just because you say you're a socialist doesn't mean you're also a good person. Just means you have justify your behavior through a new lens, so its fine to accuse Pete Buttigieg of being a sexual pervert like some conservative Catholic, if you're doing it as a "joke" because he's "Neo-liberal" or whatever, or post snakes at Elizabeth Warren, or or etc etc as long as you come up with an excuse its fine to be horrible as long as you do in the name of leftism! or whatever.

as to the wider question? why blow up chances to make progressive change by supporting nonsense candidates who are just unfunny versions of Vermin Supreme? hm I don't know, but I suspect that for a lot of them, politics aren't really real to them. It's like ideological football for them, the most important thing is to "be right" and "win the argument" over in reality, we have to sometimes work with people we loath, sometimes we have to put up with shitty things to get what we really want, and always always always its slow work. Listen, in 1912 Teddy Roosevelt put forward the idea of a national health service, over 100 years later we're still fighting for universal health care. Now we've made important steps, everyone over 65 those who need it most, have health coverage through Medicare, others have been added to Medicare, we have Obamacare which regulates the health markets and helps people get affordable coverage and more people are covered now than every before. But people like we're talking about would rather than was Nothing for anyone, that everyone was not covered at all, than take an answer that helps people but isn't perfect.

Just isn't my style really, idk I just can't help but think about all the people whose lives got saved by Obamacare and just, what we should have let them die? progress builds it doesn't just appear nothing just happens, so each term you move closer, but each time a Republican gets it, they undermine, undo, go backward. I mean for example, Trump literally wants to get rid of the job in government that advices all the many federal departs on how to be greener and replace it with a guy who's job it'll be to push departments to use more oil and gas.... literally thats a thing, what a perfect example of what a Republican Presidency is about, going backward. Then when we have a Democrat rather than making progress they have to undo all the damage to get to baseline and then start improving.

I also think there's a small group of cynical grifters, when Democrats/liberals/people on the left whatever we want to call them, are scared and frustrated and upset, ie when a Republican is in power and elections are years away, they invest, money, time, energy into things to try to feel like they're making a difference or that they're heard, or validated. Left wing podcasts boom, left wing groups that are good at social media boom, people can become kinda stars and make money. Now many of those people drift off to normal life when there's a safe Democrat not doing horrifying shit every day, the money dries up. So the cynical crowd 1. tries to undermine Democrats to keep that feeling of frustrated hopelessness alive in listeners so they keep toning in and 2. they want Republicans to win! of course! its good for them!

[suzukiblu]

Look we all know the existence of certain risks of things like child stardom, mediocre adult supervision, and people who go for specific kinds of positions of authority being fucking bastards, SO: there is an unnecessarily involved omegaverse AU in my head where Rex Leech takes way, WAY worse advantage of a freshly-decanted omega!Superboy in order to pay off all of that money that he owes to assholes, and instead of JUST betting on metahuman fights and making shitty investments and selling Superboy's likeness to anyone who's buying and all that, he kinda just . . . gives Superboy some "tips" for how to win over or get favors from certain people in the entertainment industry and similar fields. Or just anyone Rex is trying to wring some cash out of, basically.

So Rex makes better money! Pays off a couple of debts! Is still irresponsible and shitty with it and making stupid decisions, but look, a couple extra bucks never hurt, and the Kid is fine with it! ‘Course he is!! 

And this read-more will DEFINITELY support that POS POV! Definitely!! For sure!!!!

And so not-even-technically-presented, definitely-not-legal Superboy is hanging out with and being encouraged to FLIRT with skeevy older people and general creeps who are taking full advantage of this naive teenager with Superman's face every chance they get. Superboy doesn't know better, and he trusts Rex; the guy can be a little sleazy sometimes but he's still watching out for him, so . . . this is normal, right? And Rex says they REALLY need this investment/this opportunity/this money, so . . . 

So like, Superboy gets abused and doesn't have the frame of reference to understand it. He really doesn't like that part of this gig, but Rex says it's important and, well, if it's just this once . . . if he already did it last time . . . if it'll only be a night or two, or maybe a long weekend . . .

It's not technically prostitution, but also Rex absolutely DOES just fucking sell the Kid a few times and repeatedly justifies it to himself with crap like "he's a teenager, he's a horndog and a flirt anyway, and obviously he likes the attention" and other fucking awful bullshit like that, because he is more concerned with the money than, idk, anyone’s mental health?? Though he doesn’t mention it to anybody who’s not a client, obviously, Roxy’d kick up a fuss and Moon might get territorial and talk the Kid out of it, and Dubbilex, hell, he doesn’t even understand how show business WORKS!! 

But of course word DOES get around about it, just a little, and then it starts happening more and more often, and Superboy likes it less and less and starts to halfway HATE it, honestly, but Rex keeps saying it's IMPORTANT and NEEDS done and just . . . 

He gets–used to it, kind of. Almost. 

It’s just how it is. 

And then like, hand-wavey convoluted I’m-still-undecided-what-exactly shit happens and Superboy somehow ends up in alpha!Lex's official custody, probably through Lex bribing a lot of people and committing some fraud and shameless lies, and Superboy assumes . . . alright, well, he guesses now he's like a fucking kept boy or something, huh. He doesn't like that idea at ALL, but at least Luthor's only one guy. And he seems like the jealous type, so he probably won't wanna share too much. Right? 

So that could be worse, Superboy guesses. 

Lex, an oblivious supervillain who is actually NOT aware of what kind of way worse advantage Rex was taking: this is great. I’m going to get a good grade in clonefather, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve, and then we’re going to conquer the world. >:3 

Superboy, simultaneously: . . . seriously, I’ve been here like a WEEK already, is he gonna fuck me or NOT?? 

And thus ensues a not-actually-funny comedy of errors where a traumatized kid keeps expecting to get abused and even Lex FUCKING Luthor is not that much of a prick and therefore totally misses literally every sign of the Kid trying to follow the appropriate “script” with him. Hm, Superboy wants attention for some reason, fine. MERCY, get the kid a black card to entertain himself with. 

. . . now the kid wants attention even MORE? 

baffling. 

Superboy, internally: if he keeps buying me all this stuff he must REALLY want something BAD, but where the fuck else would I go anyway, so . . . 

Lex: I’m putting on a movie and reviewing my files in your general area. Congratulations on receiving my attention, now don’t interrupt me. 

Superboy: . . . . . . what is even happening right now. 

And then a very peculiar experience of very slowly accidentally making a pack happens to both of them, wherein Superboy did not expect a dad out of this kept boy scenario and Lex did not expect an actual PUP out of this world domination plot and they’re both increasingly bewildered by everything the other does.

[postmail]

hey guys i love you. its my birthday in three days have some queeshmael (and other assorted stand-alone ishmaels and queequegs) moby dick fanarts that ive drawn over the course of like... several months that i never posted because i thought they looked like shit. and tbh i still do. but also theres beauty in everything and also also i need to lead by example of fearlessness in posting shitty ass fanart just for funsises. just because it makes me happy. some of these are outdated but idgaf. enjoy inconsistent character designs lol

its under the cut cause uh wow thats actually a lot more than i expected? whoops?

okay funny story i actually lied up there a little bit i drew this several months ago and was so madly in love with how it turned out that i never posted it because i didnt want the inevitable lack of attention to sour it for me. its a little outdated now but i still love it, i just want to put here so i never lose it. ishmael please go to therapy

newer art yet somehow even more outdated designs? i think i was trying to be a bit more experimental and didnt like how they came out. i still dont like the designs very much but looking back now i dont think the art itself is actually that bad.

never posted because i just couldnt get the anatomy quite right. i actually kind of miss when i colored grays like this idk how i forgot that actually wait i should start doing that again-

this one was for mermay, just pure silliness and cringe for the soul. more of that awesome gray shading line stuff that i need to start doing again, but i didnt like how queequeg's face looked. and also i think i felt a bit silly about this? like i thought it was too cringe or something? idk why tho its kinda cute to me now. best of wishes to ishmael in his goal to fuck that fish man

more inconsistent queequeg designs! i really liked this one when i first drew it, but i thought it was too small to post on its own, being just a itsy little doodle for shading practice. now i can post it :). wonder who it is thats talking to him?

another little drawing! this one i never posted because 1) i fucked up when drawing it and accidentally drew it way too small and 2) i accidentally made it waayy too similar to another moby dick fanart by another more popular user and i didnt want other ppl accusing me of copying or smthin... i jusr didnt think this piece was particularly worth the risk of that. i think its fine now tho.

incredibly shitty doodle i really only made for myself ft. incredibly innacurate drawing of a sperm whale. ngl i still think the joke is funny tho.

shhh dont tell the cringe police about this one but this is a queeshmael fankid i made. her name is rachael and she cannot make normal facial expressions to save her life. she loves listening to her dad infodump its interesting to her. she knows so many incorrect facts about whales! whoopie!

this might have been a valentines special? idk. i was gonna redraw it but then i forgor. let this be a lesson to you: finish your drawings, or else you'll only have the older version to show to people (its okay i still like this a little bit)

oh shit i ran out ok bye guys hope you liked your gay whalers peace and love on planet earth

[bananabasedidiot]

just watched Twisters, and I have some thoughts

-i feel like Kate should've walked with a limp or something, but maybe that big ol cut on her leg just missed muscles or something idk

-Tyler's crew live streams. I think they did an okay-ish job representing the sorta YouTube thing they've got going on but for the life of me I can't figure out how they'd set up their live streams.

-idea #1 they switch out the camera angles based on which one has more stuff going on. I think this might be able to feasibly work, but it would be logistically very annoying to do.

-idea #2 they simultaneously have all the cameras streaming in a grid pattern on the screen. This would probably make more sense, but I'm not sure if people would actually want to watch something like that.

-idea #3 they have multiple streams going at once of the different cameras and cut the footage up later for videos. This one, I honestly think might make the most sense but it's also kinda stupid. Idk.

-Kate's mom. I love her, she was so funny. But please why wasn't she scared when Kate went to her house in the middle of the night. She just walked into the kitchen all normal. I was waiting for her to walk in with a goddamn shotgun or something.

-and Kate being all "Mom it's me," like ok girl. Nice of you to warn her after breaking into the house ig??? you couldn't have knocked???

-Javi is a manipulative idiot. No like seriously he is. From almost the first scene in the movie you can tell he sorta likes Kate, and that's fine and all but it's what he does later that makes things so much worse.

-Javi emotionally manipulated Kate into chasing again. He knows she's traumatized, unexpectedly waltzes back into her life, and goads her into going back to Oklahoma.

-he was mad at Kate for running away from the tornado. You can't look at someone who's basically having a freaking panic attack and be like 'you shouldn't have made us miss the storm'. Like no Javi, that's not what you do.

-trying to ask her on a date after getting mad that she's having a panic attack.

he's just doing so many things and I just can't figure out why he'd even do this in the first place, like it's all just a pretty shitty move my man. It annoyed me.

but overall I did enjoy the movie. it's a solid standalone thing and I'm glad they didn't really try to completely tie it in to the first movie.

[cowboylikedean]

the thing is, to me, is that taylor going to a tennis match with her partner’s friend’s (because as much as people are now trying to downgrade patrick to a “coworker” he and travis are actually very close) shitty maga partner (and patrick is maga too lbfr)…it just is NOT the same as us normies playing nice in the same situation. none of my coworkers are being publicly thanked by turnip himself for their support. i don’t have any kind of public platform if hundreds of millions of fans. brittany has been benefiting *greatly* from being close to taylor for the past year. being seen hugging her and hanging out with her is just. incredibly shitty. you can argue that it’s unfair all you want but being a public figure and the most famous woman in the world is a choice taylor has made a million times over. i personally have defended taylor’s right to make her own choices many many times! but this is 100% a situation in which the only right choice for her to do is never be seen with brittany again.

i think fans are right to be furious, and personally i am maybe the most disappointed by the lack of anger from fans like you and jaime, who i respect a lot.

patrick is travis's work-bestie-turned-real-bestie. the coworker dynamic in this is actually still really important to that relationship because it's NOT a "not coworkers" dynamic. if travis dials down his friendship with them, that has workplace consequences. so the fact that patrick is travis's coworker is still hugely important. I'm not downplaying patrick and travis's friendship by calling out their professional relationship. i'm emphasizing their professional relationship because travis cannot cut off his personal relationship with patrick without affecting his professional relationship with him.

how has brittany benefited from this? exposure? like idk that feels very online. brittany mahomes did pretty good for herself before she ever met taylor and she'd be doing just fine without taylor. taylor has not changed brittany's quality of life. thus this argument that brittany has benefited from taylor so much that taylor being seen with her is somehow synonymous with public support falls apart.

my argument, though is that regardless of whether or not you think there is only one right choice, the fact of the matter is the choice is not without some degree of nuance. which means that even if there is only one right choice... each wrong choice (or the reasoning behind it) caries different moral implications, and thus, deserves different judgement. and there are more likely choices (not wanting to cause friction for travis) and less likely choices (conspiring for years to trick people to think she has principles she doesn't).

also to your last bit... that's exactly what was said last summer. fans like me were not angry about taylor doing a very normal breakup thing and briefly dating someone shitty with rebound goggles that had her believing he would change for her and anonymous people in our inboxes told us they were disappointed we weren't angry. those anonymous people insisted that this situation was very devoid of nuance and that there was 100% only one right choice. and also that if taylor made any choice that was wrong, it meant that she had been conspiring for years to trick people into thinking she has principles she doesn't. and there were more likely choices (rebound goggles) and less likely choices (conspiring for years), but people chose the less likely choices as The Only Possible Other Option and treated it like it was a dichotomy it wasn't and that ended up not fair at all.

in the end, those of us who believed in rebound goggles were correct. i kinda am inclined to look at this parallel and like my odds.

[lastoneout]

you absolutely do not need to respond if you don't want to but how does the "everything feels worse because i'm finally healing" differ from "everything feels worse because things really are that bad currently"? i always wonder if there's a way to tell them apart. glad you're getting recovering!

Imo the difference so far, is that back when I was still in an unsafe place that was making my trauma worse, between the hysterical sobbing meltdowns I just felt so....normal. I would freak out and break sometimes, but after that I would feel weirdly fine. Or even at times like I didn't have emotions at all? It was like my brain was going "there is no war in ba sing se" to protect me and keep me from freaking out too bad, and like it kinda was! My major coping mechanism has always been ignoring my emotions and shoving them all in a box until they aren't bothering me anymore. And when I was in those shitty situations that was helpful, because I needed to keep myself alive and I wasn't going to be able to do that if I was a sobbing mess all the time.

Also, the one time it got really, really bad, like I was so deep in a traumatic situation it was clearly just completely destroying me, I really did feel like that part in Inside Out where Riley's console just goes dark and none of her emotions can press any buttons. There was this overwhelming sense of dread and misery, and I could barely take care of myself at all. I stopped going to school and showering and I barely ate anything, I didn't talk to my friends, and tbh I did some stuff that I am SUPER not proud of, bcs my brain legit wasn't working at all, and it wasn't until I got out that I started feeling like a person again.

The pain of healing never feels like that. Yes, I am in a bad mental space a lot of the time, I'm depressed and I have nightmares that make me legit so depressed I spend the whole day crying, but there's like...idk this undercurrent of function and focus that wasn't there before. I can keep doing things WHILE being sad(for the most part), instead of only being able to function when I am repressing everything. And tbh it really does feel like I don't have a choice in the matter, which sounds bad but it's kinda nice? Like my brain is done repressing things and isn't going to let me do it anymore. Every time I try it's almost like there's a firm but kind voice in my head saying "no, we can't do that anymore, you have to face this, it's okay".

It's kinda weird too bcs the deeper into healing I get the less my old coping mechanisms help. Hell most of them don't even work anymore. As an example my mom got into a car wreck recently and she was in the hospital for a while, and when I found out I tried to go into my "no feelings no nonsense we have to be strong now" mode, but it didn't work?? I spent the whole time I was there crying, and like!! I actually was happy I was crying!! Because I've never been able to do that!! It's such a weird thing to be happy I'm upset but like, it means I'm making progress.

And that makes every single moment of misery bearable because I know I need this. I've needed this my entire life, and it hurts and is scary, and sometimes I do have to just zone out and play video games or spend a day in bed being sad, but I just...know it's the right thing. Idk how else to explain it, I just know.

It also helps that now I know what a happy, safe life looks like and I know it's there waiting for me. I know this work is worthwhile because I don't want to live my life the way I used to. And I am in a happy, supportive relationship that actively inspires me to work on myself and be a better person. I know not everyone has that, but framing it in a way where I am trying to be better not just for myself but for the people I love helps give me that extra bit of strength I need to keep going.

Anyway this is kinda rambly, sorry, but I did want to answer. If anyone else has any advice for anon feel free to add it on!! I have to go to therapy now lmao but when I'm done if I think of anything else I'll add it!

[eclipsewxtch]

i saw the comments, and idk how to explain, but you could mixed the pairings as you wanted, i was shitty at explaining 🫠 vance x robin has so much potential and grifin x finney and their soulmatism would be like those couple that have telepathy or smth, pls talk about it sorry

it is totally totally fine 😭 but if u mean i can pair any of them how i want even w overlap its: vance/robin; griffin/vance; finney/griffin; bruce/billy; billy/finney; robin/bruce

• griffin and finney r so freaking cute but i will admit that’s my fault for always writing them as soulmates i fear this fandom saw that n never let it go but their dynamic is so cute. griffin is the equivalent to a python, aggressive in a quieter way; he tends to to be snarky, annoyed easily, etc. he has little tiny bits of insecurity in his relationships from being damn near invisible to everybody, and spent more time w books than ppl. AND FINNEY who is very sweet, but super awkward normally, falls into friendships w/o meaning to, accepts snark and rolls w it… soothes griffin’s insecurities w/o even trying. as far as i am concerned they r soulmates in every universe i create regardless of if they’re platonic or not. but they give loner x loser. love them BAD. they do have telepathy like they just talk w their eyes.

• vance and robin are just so precious to me bc u have two kids everybody fears—they’re violent and unapologetic abt it EXCEPT robin usually fights for a reason: he doesn’t take disrespect or slurs lying down, and he certainly doesn’t play abt finney. vance lashes out when he feels cornered or annoyed, typically leaving things alone and staying in his own bubble. they r comforting to each other, n honestly i feel like they dont make each other feel bad abt fighting or not being the smartest or anything. their dynamic is like if u took a german shepard and then threw him at the wounded wolf and said “become friends!!”

• bruce and robin are just sweeties and i think flustered bruce is adorable and wonderful. bruce has a flawless reputation and award-winning smile and is the very picture perfect definition of good boy! robin, however… he’s infamous and not necessarily for the right reasons (even though he doesn’t fight unprovoked… mostly) is always off doing things he shouldn’t. do i think robin flirts on purpose? no he just says things straight up n they happen to be complimentary at first… but then he notices how bruce freezes up n goes pink n decides “fuck it yeah!!” bruce tutors robin, sometimes, but they mostly hang out. turns out there’s lots of similarities between informs boxing and baseball.

• griffin and vance are like if u put a venomous snake with a wild boar. it’s definitely enough to give u pause. u kinda have to stand there n go ‘huh’ for a while. i adore vance (doesn’t tolerate disrespect) x griffin (disrespect vance like his life depends on it); griffin has never once in his life controlled his smart ass mouth n it shows😭 no one noticed bc they didn’t enough time around him but trust he is always saying something sarcastic. vance just lets it slide?? he doesn’t even know why, he just knows it’s kinda cute n he doesn’t mind. despite that, no major roadblocks aside from how they handle frustration—griffin tends to retreat w warnings, vance tries The fight it head on.

• billy and finney are just like outgoing drama kid and star nerd loser meeting by accident and then becoming a singular person. finney waits for him after school after play practice, or whatever club billy has deigned to join; billy sits in the sun n waits for finney’s practice to end. billy is a yapped thru and thru, but encourages finney to yap and not just listen which makes finney come out of his shell more, and finney doesn’t stop billy from being himself which billy thinks is more than enough reason to keep him around.

[cosmic-ships]

6am ramblings :) I did not spellcheck this so lol good luck! Aksnsk

So Mega.lop.olis is an actual mindfuck. Like the visuals are so incredibly cool but if you don't pay close attention it will seem like random and complete nonsense.

Despite everyone saying how bad it is, its actually not? I found it to be really good with a good story that goes into a pretty deep discussion about our way of living. (Again if you're paying attention!)

Now onto the other stuff (that I was screaming about last night)

They outright say my boy has mania and given how a certain scene goes and the story that goes with it it is very very deeply implied that my love suffers from the same mental illness I do which is very unfortunate but I instantly could relate to him on a deeper more understanding level. Ce.s.ar went through an episode and did some not so great things and my heart absolutely broke for him. As stated last night, the moment it started I instantly knew what was happening before it became aware to audience.

Much like my irl self and the woman who birthed me, he does not get on well with his mother. We both have very very shitty mothers (our fathers aren't in the picture. This also contributes to Ce.s.ar's moods and again my heart breaks for him because he's just so sweet and his mother is so....not...)

Pretty sure my boy cannot die, like.. ever. I yelled in the theater last night mainly because loud sound and what happened to him (he got shot in the right side of his face ;A; survived though by using the very stuff he discovered to create, to heal his face. The surgeons used it for him)

Silly rambles(?) Kinda.

I did not like the canon love interest that was happening. Ya know despite my raging jealousy lol like just viewing it, they would have been better off as rivals(?) Granted she helps him in a huge way when someone tries to lie and say he's done (x) things and proves he is innocent but in terms of relationship all I saw was someone following him around (literally stalking him in her car with her friend) and then it's just a weird little timeskip of "oh we work together now" but doesn't say or show what she actually does?

Also what confused me is Ce.s.ar's ability to stop time. Well not so much him in general but more so...can anyone use it? Because there's a scene (blah blah canonxcanon) where she gets him to think about her to try and stop time because he seemed to have lost the ability after his big episode. It works and thats what kicks off their relationship? But then their relationship isn't really..idk concrete? Its so hard to explain but I did not connect to her and his relationship. Nothing made me root for them as a couple in the way the movie thought I might would??

OKAY TIME TO GET ALL SQUEAKY AND WEIRD (kinda some suggestive kinda not?? Suggestive Marked ☆ lol)

☆ I got flustered in the theater, like I hid in my shirt. Because there's a uh...a scene while granted I do not like the visuals it was with a different girl and not his love interest. Near the start of the movie...ahem the s o u n d s lets just say Ce.s.ar is very vocal and it wasn't even the actual act of ..y-yknow. He was just heavily making out and grinding I hid in my shirt and the guy sitting beside me was like "are you okay?" And I was like "t-tooootally normal and fiiiiiine" I was not fine. >////>

☆ Don't allow this man to consume copious amounts of alcohol he'll end up in his underwear...tight black underwear to be exact AHEM

Ce.s.ar like cloakes lol he wears one often he looked realllllllly good in it too~

My man has the case of the sillies!! No really, he sometimes will randomly dance OR if asked a question he replies in a silly way "is mega.lop.olis safe?" And he just goes "absolutely not, extremely dangerous you all should RUN!" and then he got all giggly and was like "no its actually extremely safe~" also he smiles A LOT and also also there is a moment when he's learning something similar to those old games in school like miss Mary mack hand game and he gets faster and faster and faster and when its basically noncoherent the other is like "stop! What are you doing!?" And he's like "a solo!" HELP he's so fucking cute???? like I love you even more??

I was expecting softly spoken always serious. While I got it in certain scenes from him, he's actually so playful and silly which is so fucking great for me because I too am very playful and silly. He can also be loud like his voice can be very commanding and im like.."h-h..hey ~♡'

1000/10 love my man ever more now and because of the rocky//weird relationship that was happening in canon I already know how to make my self insert fit into it WITH EASE

Also it seems like more than one person has a certain type of power? Ce.s.ar could stop time and his partner before the main love interest can hypnotize people.

So who tf says I can't take elements from my ISS SI And bring em over to this work eh~? Ehehehe

If you made it this far thanks for listening to my rambles!

OH BIG THING I FORGOT big spoiler

his love interests father is responsible for making sure his dead wife's body was never found??? Hullo!? And then its touched upon a little bit but then the movie treated Ce.s.ar and the girls dad as if it was completely forgotten by the end if the movie like after that reveal it was still the dad hating him and Ce.s.ar was just....??? Still wanting his praise and approval?? I really did not like that. He should have been pissed! I mean the man convicted Ce.s.ar of killing his own wife which wasn't the case. Due to Ce.s.ar's untreated bip.olar he (like me) was deemed 'too much' and sadly, unfortunately, his wife couldn't take it and she did take her own life but it was that girls father that made it look like he killed her and Ce.s.ar was convicted (but acquitted shortly after)

So I'm taking my man, from everything. My boy now, I'm going to show him all the love and compassion that he deserves and show him he's not alone, that he doesn't have to settle for just anyone who strolls into his life, I will hold him and tell him he isn't a burden, that he is lovable and so much more than the disorder that plagues him because in that regard we are the same— we sometimes do and say things without knowing we don't have the same rationality as other people do when we are struggling but thats okay, he'll have me to lean on, we'll weather it together ♡

I am sad he has what I have but also at the same time, I don't feel as alone anymore, this isn't just me going "I hc him with bip.olar" the movie makes it pretty obvious that he actually has it. I feel even more so connected to him than I did before because I understand him and its comforting to know that he'd understand me too...

[mothmage]

20 Qs for fic writers

Tagged by @monstersinthecosmos , thank you!!!

1. How many works do you have on A03? 31 (and a few anon, i think 2 or 3. idk, when i post a fic on anon i forget about it forever)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 446,135

3. What fandoms do you write for? currently/primarily vc, iwtv (amc), star wars, and merlin (bbc)!

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? A Lovely Little Normal Life (which, honestly, kind of annoys me lol. i know it's just bc it's a huge fandom, but really? the stupid little 12k harry potter fic i wrote in two days is my most kudos? please...); Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (forever pushing my lesbian genderswap agenda); The Face of God (les mis slightly canon divergent javert character study); The Odyssey of Recollection (amc iwtv s1 pov armand); Away From Stranger Tides (potc philip/syrena fic i started ages ago and never finished, lol)

5. Do you respond to comments? yes i love talking to people in comments!!!! i've made a lot of friends through comments!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? omg. umm. merthur fans don't know this yet bc i havent finished posting but it's arthur pendragon long may she reign (BUT it's part of a series, so it's literally fine). idk, i dont tend to write long fics that end angsty. but my angstiest fic in general is probably Hollow-Boned Boy (armand contemplating his human life in the early CoD era) or Vision of the Damned (daniel's turning from armand's pov)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? i love a happy ending!! my series Odysseus in White Silk is probably the happiest ending, and in such an undeserved way hahaha it's so very AU because i was sad after s1 of the show and just wanted them all (and armandaniel) to live happily ever after

8. Do you get hate on fics? i dont think i ever have, but i tend to read comments in good faith too, so maybe someone out there is annoyed that i interpreted their vague dislike comment as a genuine comment or something, idk. in general though, i'll say no

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? yes but i dont post that often, idk if there's a particular kind, but generally it tends to be a little rougher than is probably appropriate without discussion in real-life situations, but also very...idk my friend described it as very tender, like theyre very clearly in love. which is so funny considering that that kind of tenderness irl gives me fucking hives lmfao

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? oh wow, not in a long time. i do have a wip sitting around rn that's a crossover between london spy and cloud atlas, which is really crazy until you remember that ben whishaw is in both london spy and the cloud atlas movie lol. and cloud atlas is already about weird reincarnations and parallel worlds and stuff, so it isnt too out-there.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? i dont think so!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? yes!! The Face of God was translated into Korean by ao3 user Crescent919 !! i've had a few comments on other fics asking to translate for personal use (always yes, of course), but no one else has asked to share a translation publicly

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? no!! i've been thinking about it lately though

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? all-time? probably merlin/arthur from merlin (bbc). it's the whole fate-destiny-choice thing, it just compels me like nothing else

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? hmmm, i would like to finish Roswell -- well, kinda (agent carter farm girl / alien crash landing au) because i still have all the original notes and outlines and stuff. i also made a shitty conlang when i was first writing it, which is crazy lol. but it would need some pretty serious revisions, and i would definitely rewrite the first few chapters that i posted years ago. i just kind of lost the agent carter bug, but i might return to that fic if i ever get in the mood for it again.

16. What are your writing strengths? ooh, i'm not really sure! i get a lot of comments mentioning characters' voices and/or personalities, so i would say maybe that!!! i also feel that i'm fairly good at mimicking an author's writing style when i want to (notably, i do not mimic anne rice when writing vc fic, lol)

17. What are your writing weaknesses? editing for sure. i have at least a hundred fics sitting on my hard drive fully or almost-fully written that i just need to edit. but i would simply rather die than do all of that. it's also why my whole merlin fic got put on pause while i went down the vc rabbithole, because i just can't bring myself to go edit the next chapters lol

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? hmm, i think it's usually unnecessary and comes off as a bit silly. that said, i did do it once (maybe excessively) in Daniel Molloy, Time Bandit (1984 daniel ends up in 1794 theatre des vampires, it's more of a character study than a time travel fic) BUT, let me defend myself -- i did it because daniel doesnt understand french, it's his pov, and he's incredibly confused and distraught for most of the fic. i felt like the dialogue being in french conveyed this sort of "daniel does not belong in this time/place" vibes. but, also, my french is...a little rough. so i'm sure it's an annoying fic for french readers lmao

19. First fandom you wrote for? warriors cats, a million years ago hahahah

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? ok, i have three different answers for this. the fic i think is the best, objectively, in terms of writing and content: The Story of Dani [...] (r63 devil's minion from armand's pov, starting with lestat's house). the fic i am the proudest of, mostly because it was my first "big" fic (it's funny now, bc it's only 41k) and i feel like i grew a lot as a writer while working on it, and i'm still happy with it: The Face of God (les mis pov javert, character study from childhood). the fic i have the most fun with and think about almost 24/7: Arthur Pendragon, Long May She Reign (r63 merthur, canon divergence, this is like a 4-part series that's currently over 300k lmao)

no-pressure tagging: @aunteat @leslutdepointedulac @butchybats @graygiantess and anyone else who wants to!!

[crunchchute]

HELP WANTED 2 SPOILERS

thinking about how small his hands are in these parts (sc from dawkos vid) its kinda. you know. being normal

also when his hand reached from the charging pod i first thought its just a human hand fhfhgh the lighting and everything made the stitching invisible and previously i just thought of him as huge with the biggest hands ever but seeing those dainty ones im like huhhhh no way thats him

shitty screenshot for comparison (too lazy to take more this one is old) you cant see much but if you know what blob youre looking at, your VR hands are like half the size of his

man and i still dont know how i feel about this. i wanted to see glitch again, but i was completely fine with not seeing him. like i fully believed that he Wont be in HW2, i even tweeted that before the game dropped. and IF he was to show up, then i expected a completely different form or just tiny hints (like the locked files for example, i liked that), but with what we got im just confused!! what is this lore here!! why is he back like this! what!! whos driving the plane!!

and people are already making more guesses about whos the player, cassie would mean this is post ruin and idk if that makes sense (was there ruined chica? i havent played thru everything yet and only know of SB chica) i dont know. thats a mystery. i also think its not quite it because of the ending and how we didnt see the pizzasim like this in ruin, did we? i gen dont remember and i watched ruin gameplays like 83 times atp

some saying its gregory, i dont think so. why wouldnt roxy remember him and such... at least its not just gregory

vanessa again? i dont know, that was my guess but honestly have no idea. perhaps its set during pre ruin and while she and gregory were setting up the mxes system? like that is my guess here, nothing else makes sense to me

cassies dad. i dont know. not enough proof for me? but the more i think about it the less im against it (with her speaking about him in past tense, if this was his demise, that would sort of make sense if he was the one giving the mask for her, but again need more proof. theres apparently some unused lines that could hint at it but i havent gone through unused stuff yet. i would still consider it as i did with ruinborn afton, if not for that creature i wouldnt even think of the entity being william but would have just stayed with the shadow bonnie theory pff) theres that one bonnie mask in PQ and perhaps the whole bonnie kid = cassies dad = hw2 player theory isnt all that bad

but i thought it might be vanessa and gregory? im thinking of PQ and getting rid of glitch and this 4th PQ is cool but confusing as hell but the thing candy cadet was saying about coming back and stuff idk its all a mess for me rn but yeah perhaps its not that deep and glitch is just that hard to kill off. he always comes back i mean uhh

OR wait wait. how i said mimic shed aftons remains and burntrap split back to glitchtrap and the mimic post SB? that makes sense no? instead of going buntrap -> mimic + entity, its mimic + glitchtrap Again and then vanessa wiped him for good and with gregorys help also locked up the mimic. thats it thats gotta be it right? shrimple as that

and vanessa and ggy while making the security nodes (im not 100% in it but im leaning towards it) something got in (the entity), because you cannot wipe him out, hes forever haunting this place. thats what you get for building this huge plex on top of his gotdamn house and farm and whatever. mansion. whatever he is in there. dear mr. fazbear entertainment, william afton is in your walls

anyway so that would beeee SB, PQ ending, they come back, get rid of any leftover traces of glitch and lock up the mimic, then cassie gets in in ruin. and hw2 would then take place sometime pre-ruin, we dont know how long it is so i would even say hw2 happened post-SB until ruin or it overlaps ruin (because were shown the ending scene with cassie but honestly i would rather see it happen pre-ruin and that just being a hint but i have no ideaaa)

people were also saying that cassies dad made the mxes system or vanessa but i think the system was like there originally for years if not thru the entirety of the pizzaplex' existence and vanessa and gregory only made the nodes to keep mimic inside and cassies dad was just a technician that has used the mask and stuff, i just dont know how it works with the og vanny mask which didnt yet have all the tech inside but perhaps that was just like an in-VR version of it in the first hw. man i dont know.

then theres the mxes entity player theory which is... eh, how would they function in reality? and why would they give cassie the mask if were hinting at some possession of mapbot? i dont like that idea past the entity being you know who and also getting rid of a past version of himself (glitch) man i need like a discussion circle

ooftroop and friends please make another video about this please (please)

one last thought, glitchs color seems to be magenta (or purple if you wanna say that) and the mxes system is that color, but the entity is more blue and idk what to do with that information. mr entity why arent you purple WHY ARE YOU BLUE literally my only missing puzzle piece if that mf was purple i would be 100% confident thats him (but im only 99% because he is more bluish but he is the same color as ruinborn who is afton to me and people saying its not, i dont understand you. what do you mean. what do you mean thats not frights corpse afton with his messed up face and bunny ears springing up out of nowhere. he is literally him)

when ppl say that the only people that disagree with everything being just the mimic and that dont get the current lore are just gacha kids, i WISH i was just a gacha kid making up random stories because this is HELL

also that hand puppet glitch is uglyyyy i want 10 (to put in a blender)

[jellybeanium124]

so first off SALS includes the right both to like and hate a ship. it just means be chill. but basically as someone who (sorry) enjoys steddyhands/stizzy (sorry)... man I wish more of people who were into it were normal (sorry again). like dude it sucks having to basically go into fics with a checklist of things that it needs to do or avoid, or suddenly hitting one sentence and going "fuck this shit, I'm out."

I've always been a crack-ish multishipper. putting characters into relationships who are not canonically in one and maybe shouldn't be and thinking about what might happen has always been fun for me. relationships are emotionally intense and great for character drama/interactions in general. and these ships only work if you soften izzy. like obviously. I think there are ways to do it that keep him more recognizable, but sometimes people just don't care.

to me, stizzy without steddyhands only works in some kind of au where neither of them know ed, and even then I think you should ask yourself why you are pairing them together and not gentlebeard. I think there are legitimately premises that you could explore with stizzy and not with gentlebeard. on the most basic levels there's the enemies-to-lovers thing, but there's also izzy's toxic masculinity/internalized homophobia issues. how would he deal with being in a relationship with his complete antithesis? how would this force him to confront his inner demons? how would stede react to these struggles? how would he try to help, and when would he get mad at izzy for being an asshole? you can write a story where getting together with stede forces ed to confront his inner demons, but the stizzy version of that and the gentlebeard version of that are not going to be the same story.

in the end, I think this comes down to a very basic disconnect (besides the racism and shitty tropes, and all that). in my mind there are two kinds of fanfiction: fanfiction that exists primarily to be in communication with its source text, and fanfiction that exists primarily to get an emotional response out of the audience (porn, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, any emotion, basically). this isn't a one-or-the-other situation, but every fic and every writer thinks one of these is more important than the other. every fic favors one of those goals. and having the latter goal isn't a bad thing! most bad fics have the latter goal, but not every fic with the latter goal is a bad fic.

stizzy and steddyhands, as ships, do not exist primarily to be in communication with the source text. and if they are, that communication is usually opinions I don't like (izzy deserves to be a protagonist or some shit, yknow). these ships exist for porn, for hurt/comfort, for angst, for fluff, for creating a highly specific emotional experience for the author and readers. "well why are they even writing fanfiction then?"/"why don't they go find other characters who are closer to the dynamic they're writing" because they are attached to these characters and want them involved in these emotions, and because they are okay with their work being very different from the source material.

idk if this makes any sense lol. it's not exactly a defense or anything. it's definitely not a defense of people who think ed needs to be babysat, fuck those guys. I guess I just kinda wanted to give my perspective on why these ship interest me? I think a lot of y'all's posts on the subject come down to: "why would anyone like this? it wouldn't work in canon" and the canyon response to that is "well it does actually *some fucking bullshit, etc etc*" and my response to that is "I know, I'm fine with that, I just like the situations it opens up and I like the emotional catharsis I can experience from some of these fics, even tho they are 'bad fics' in that they are not in any sort of real communication with the source text." and you can think that's bad lol, like it does sound kinda bad when I write it out like that. but you can't get the specific flavors of emotional catharsis from fics from any other medium of art, generally speaking. not in the same way, not easily, and not in 2k words.