#LMAO no need to make this super long just moving to a fresh post

[princepsumbra]

continued from here, @tacitanis

It's the mocking bow that reminds Leo of where there are, the eyes and ears most certainly cataloguing every word and movement. With visible effort, the prince schools his features back to something approaching impassive. Hiding his utter disdain is a feat he can't quite manage.

"Feigning idiocy never suited you well," he sniffs, unable to stop his hands from curling into fists. Whatever theories he says, Iago will dismiss with that irritatingly silver tongue of his. Regardless, Leo can play the game again--he's won once before.

"You want to retain some semblance of power. That much is clear; no sense in denying the obvious. You clearly enjoy riling me and my family." His looks down his nose at fathe--Garon's--former retainer. A ghost now haunting Nohr's royal family.

There's something Leo hasn't considered, a method behind this utter madness. "You seek redemption, perhaps. By showing contrition--and poisoning the new king's mind--you will try to convince the people you're a changed man. Not to mention how gracious the royal family will appear by comparison! Welcoming you back into our halls, allowing you all the privilege of your previous position."

The sneer enters his voice without his consent. "Snakes shed their skin but never change their true color."

[inexplicablymine]

@welcometololaland you have DONE IT AGAIN. bows down.

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more).

I am humbly here to present my ABSOLUTELY insane WIP list for the Firstprince fandom and tell you a little more about them!

(Also to those who asked about WIP’s in my inbox those answers are coming ~ if anyone has any more questions or wants more ask box is open! I’ll be answering all of those tomorrow instead of (or with) Seven Sentence Sunday!)

Thank you to @welcometololaland for ANOTHER amazing weekend game truly a blast. To @kiwiana-writes @daisymae-12 @orchidscript @happiness-of-the-pursuit @gay-flyboys @rockyroadkylers and @anincompletelist for the tags I LOVED reading all of your words and answers.

If you have prepared yourself, then forge on ;)

1. WIP List

- The Firstprince Files

- The Ties That Bond Us

- Super Six and the Siren’s Call

- Looking for Orion

- Balls to the Wall

- Fifteen Hours Till Forever

- Watermelon Sugar

- Mr. Party Hardy (Mr. Bodypillow AU)

- Mr. Move It Move It (Mr Bodypillow AU)

- Mr. Massage (Mr. Bodypillow AU)

- S.M.U.T.

- No Laughing Matter

- Sweater Weather

- Ground(s) Up

- Delilah

- Minty Fresh

- Beast I’m an Animal

- Mind Over Matter

- [Switchback]

- [World Cup AU]

- [Orchestra AU]

- [Yoga AU]

- [Rugby Video AU]

- [Star Trek AU]

- [Oxford Slut Era AU]

- [Model/mistaken identity AU]

- [Pomodoro Method AU]

And probably more but that’s enough for now lmao

2. Which of your WIP’s is currently the longest?

Definitely Super Six and the Sirens Call. Currently at 48K but over the next two months I think a few of my other multichaps will also match it for length.

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest

The Firstprince Files. The outline for it is 37 chapters long and the first two chapters that are written are clocking in at about 13K right now.

4. Which WIP is your favorite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

Going to go for broke here ~ my co-writes (Super Six and the Sirens Call w/ @read-and-write- and @happiness-of-the-pursuit, [Switchback] w/ @celaestis1, Watermelon Sugar w/ @heybuddy-drabbles, and S.M.U.T. with @affectionatelyrs) have been a BLAST. The words flow, I'm obsessed with the stories, getting to read others words and then add your own and make good soup will always be fun.

Outside of my cowrites? … hmmmm honestly I am obsessed with mystery and plotting out The Firstprince Files was truly a delight, but I enjoy writing all of my fics otherwise I wouldn’t write them.

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

The Ties That Bond Us. It’s a Bond/Q actor AU and there are already SO MANY great ones (and ones being written), and there is an extensive amount of epistolary writing that comes from different authors of articles and media works that need to have a distinct voice in order for the work to really work. I don’t know if I even have a distinct writing voice let alone if I can wear the masks of a bunch of other voices in a convincing way.

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

Whichever one is currently being written/focused on/about to be posted? It’s not a one size fits all answer, but at the moment I’m writing this it’s my Halloween Huh fic. It’s done and posted- ready to be revealed. I made myself go read it out loud one last time to hear it back (newsflash I hate doing this but I still do it because it helps) and that just made me doubt everything hahaha.

7. Which of your WIP’s will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why?

All of them. I always have a beta, I am incapable of posting a non beta’d work I have too much anxiety about it. The Firstprince Files deals with some much heavier themes so I will likely want a sensitivity reader there for those, and Super Six and the Sirens Call has quite a bit of Spanish in it that we have beta’s checking on.

8. Have any of your WIP’s been struck by the curse of writers block?

Yes this is why I have so many … (joking). Yes and no. I will just power through to write a bad section to have words on the page and then come back to fix them later which helps. I have a focused few WIP's that I work on at a time (small rotation inside the big rotation). The rest of these have an outline and a doc and at least a little bit written, but will not receive heavy work on them until I go through what’s first on my internal fic calendar.

What is in the current small rotation? SSASC, Looking for Orion, Watermelon Sugar, [Switchback}, Minty Fresh, my Mr. BodyPillow follow ups, and The Ties That Bond Us is my Nano project this November.

9. Which WIP has your favorite OC? Tell us about them?

At this moment Watermelon Sugar which is a co-write threesome for Threesgiving with @heybuddy-drabbles. Our third member of the threesome is AMAZING and we love them so much and we are very very excited for them to come into everyone else’s world as well.

10. Which WIP is the sexiest?

This is a toss up between [Switchback], [World Cup AU], Watermelon Sugar, and [Pomodoro Method]. We will see when they are finished what I think really takes the cake there.

11. Which WIP is the angstiest?

I mean chapter two of Looking for Orion, but The Firstprince Files has quite a bit of angst. I don’t really write a lot of heavy angst or I haven’t yet we will see if the reception to LFO changes the tide there.

12. Which WIP has the best characterization (in your humble opinion)?

Looking for Orion at the moment, but I’m really hoping that Mind Over Matter takes that one when I have more written on it.

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)?

Oh my, Super Six and the Sirens Call has quest locations that change in a rotation. Truly I can't tell you more but it is SO FUN truly so fun. The Ties That Bond Us also just is jet-setting movie stars in Bond movie locations, stunt training, doing interviews in wild places, and campaigns in larger than life locations. So that is ridiculously fun to write and I hope it is just as fun to read.

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on?

Super Six and the Sirens Call. This work has a promo schedule there is art being made, there are docs linked within docs. When I say this became a big brained thing it’s a big brained thing.

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why?

I try not to ever have expectations, it’s better that way I find ~ but based on reaction and excitement (my irl bookclub today made me promise to send them a link) I would say Super Six and the Sirens Call. Outside of that I just hope that if one person likes it then it is doing it’s job which is to create joy. (but internally we all have those fics that we hope do a little better than others for one reason or another. My Mr. Bodypillow follow ups I hope people enjoy, my two longer Multichapter works I am deeply attached to, and Looking for Orion I am currently a bit obessed with and I hope others get obsessed with it too.)

16. Do you dream about any of your WIP’s?

NO I DONT DREAM BUT @happiness-of-the-pursuit LITERALLY DREAMED ABOUT ONE OF MINE THIS WEEK SO I'M COUNTING IT.

17. Do any of your WIP’s have any particular complexities that your other fics don’t?

[Orchestra AU] is meant to be read at pace with the classical pieces that are titled in the top of the chapter which is fun and funky but is going to make pacing HARD. Because people read at different times. + that posting schedule is supposed to mimic the NYC philharmonic concert series performance schedule.

The Firstprince Files has a lot of real world implications for the characters as it is a suspense mystery novel that requires so much research on realistically how things might work or play out.

The Ties That Bond Us is going to have SO Much coding in it for the media chapters and I am now thinking I’m going to do art for it which rip me I guess (hahaha).

[Switchback] has a lot of POV changes which requires a delicate hand to know when to stop and start a perspective

Mind over Matter and No Laughing Matter are meant to be laugh out loud funny and I’m going to need help with both of them for that … truly

A lot of the one shots I struggle with because I want to give the story enough depth while still not expanding them into multichapter works, which is something I struggle with.

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humor?

Reiterating above, Mind over Matter and No Laughing Matter for sure.

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process?

Super Six and the Siren’s Call DOES and it’s SO FUN. Truly it has been a BLAST To get into the heads of these other characters, and flesh out how they see the main ship as well.

The Ties That Bond Us, every other chapter is an outside POV from the media perspective which as I mentioned earlier creates a lot of work for voice and structure.

20. Tell us one thing we don’t know about one or more of your WIPs.

Hmmm some super fast fun ones

- 14 of the WIP’s on this list are MultiChap works

- 4 of them are co-authored works

- The Firstprince Files has been outlined since February of this year and The Ties That Bond Us has been outlined since March. (They are my oldest outlined works but they are also long works).

- 6 of these works are my FirstPrinceWeek works that I will still publish. I got sick and had an “AO3 author note” standard few weeks which put me behind. I do have one FPW fic published so far.

- Balls to the Wall started after a conversation about how criminal it is that Starbucks doesn’t sell the "Off menu but actually on menu now because it is in the app" Medicine Ball Tea in take home form so you can make it yourself when you are sick.

- All of these are for Firstprince but I now have an IRL who told me TODAY that she wants me to write Tarlos so I better get started on finishing all of these.

- [Rugby Video AU] and Ground(s) Up are both based on TikTok’s that I saw and immediately went "ahhhh yes that’s firstprince."

- All of my Mr. BodyPillow follow up’s will have “Mr.” In the name, and the title of the collection is Mr. Ace Alex, though there is a bit of a push for me to rename it the snerdle collection.

- My ask box is open if you want to ask about any of my WIP's :)

And now I will be tagging my entire moot list because I have too many WIP’s (jk but … prepare for the wall of tags) there is no pressure here but this has been a DELIGHT to read through everyone’s and I want to read about a million more!

@affectionatelyrs @historicallysam @rmd-writes @treluna4 @cheesecurdsgravyandfries @cha-melodius @arand0mdutchgirl @adreamareads @vonpeepsisback @clottedcreamfudge @cityofdownwardspirals @14carrotghoul @cricketnationrise @myheartalivewrites @xthelastknownsurvivorx @mudbloodpotter05 @everwitch-magiks @leaves-of-laurelin @celeritas2997 @athousandrooms @smc-27 @three-drink-amy @sprigsofviolets @heartitinthesilence @sherryvalli @weighty-ghosts @heybuddy-drabbles @read-and-write- @raysletters @thesleepyskipper @kill8a @babiemonk @suseagull04

[pawzels-artbin]

Ight i'm gonna go ahead and dump my CQ OCs here real quick- hope you guys like reading long ass paragraphs because hoo boy did i yap with this one (may post art later; still being revised <3)

𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚

[art missing]

Dark, rusty red. 

Long ass hair that goes to their toes. 

Likes trees. Nature. Mmm yeees gimme that fresh air 

Hates being cold

Feels the urge to take care of things she thinks are small and helpless 

Swamp dwelling plant mom. Rises out of the water lady of the lake style when someone comes to her swamp to speak to her lmao

Her carapace is odd. When in the sun or in a hot area her body radiates more heat that it should take in. 

Voiceclaim: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5ul_oVObONA 

𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚 (𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦)

[art missing]

Based HEAVILY on Ramiel from Evangelion. GOD I’m such a nerd. 

Rearranges her body parts, and can make them smaller or bigger to some extent to suit her attack or defense style. Reflects an insanely intense and hot light she produces off of them, then concentrates it into a beam that she can fire directly at an opponent. Unfortunately despite her terrifying power, her attacks eat up large amounts of hemolymph, meaning she can only battle for 12 minutes at most if she conserves her energy and 5 minutes if she uses more powerful attacks. 

Her beams can (theoretically) melt through mountains. (Technically if she did this she’d expend almost all her hemolymph in one go and die though lmfao, talk about a one-trick pony) 

She does not usually speak in her puppet form, nor produce any noise. She can establish weak, fragile psychological contact with people. Sometimes when mortally wounded she will let out a deafening screech.  The mimes have only ever heard this sound once or twice. 

Her body parts can move around to protect her carapace, but usually can’t completely cover her. She always has a weak spot somewhere. She usually is fast enough to cover it though. 

Her attack power is boosted in hot and bright locations. 

Her attack power is weakened at night and in misty, cold areas. 

They have no discernible head in their puppet form, though they can manifest various body parts: 

She has a single eye with three massive eyelashes on the top and bottom that can see 180 degrees around her. This is a permanent and unchangeable feature of her puppet form. 

Sometimes she can manifest in a pair of disembodied jaws (think something like a beartrap) that can bite. 

When mortally wounded, she will make her body parts as large as possible and tries to put them together in a manner that will shield as much as her body allows while arranging them in a fashion that deflects as much damage as possible and makes it harder to do close range damage. If near a large open area with dirt, they will burrow their exposed weak spot into the ground. 

Voiceclaim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OB-MvZBAiU 

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐚

Not much rn, she just likes lamps and sleeping even though she doesn't really need to

Based on a Venezuelan poodle moth

She is in a similar place on the color spectrum to Atrox and therefore is somewhat aware of things to come, albeit to a lesser extent.

Yeah uh she is. Uh a lot more mature than she looks lol

Voiceclaim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrvMNLJJpWU

𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐚 (𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦)

[art missing]

Projectiles will just get trapped in her fluff. 

Her wingbeats stir up breezes when she flies by virtue of just how large she is. 

When in flight she tucks her legs in and folds them close together. She does the same for her antennae to make her more aerodynamic. She can also float. 

She can sleep while flying or floating, sometimes remaining motionless for hours floating in a warm spot under the sun. 

She is probably the most peaceful puppet form of all my OCs tbh. No fighting, just eeber deebers

Nothing super special atm.

𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐡

Bad relationship with Laurus and by extension Holly

Big believer in being your true self

Meme and YTP references. Will laugh if you say "fresh avocado" or "I wonder what's for dinner"

Hair is fluffy n soft

Hates. Being yelled at

Hot topic dweller

Yes her belts are either stolen or yoinks from abandoned places she has scavenged from lmao

"iS tHaT (insert Pokemon game here)" (super exaggerated :0 face)

Afraid of disappointing people close to her and making them mad

Frigus doesn't really like her (she has a bad habit of infantilizing him and babying him since she thinks he's the cutest thing ever and ends up fawning over him to an overbearing degree)

Loves partying and nightlife but ironically is the type of person to drink apple juice instead of booze (and somehow act drunk off it), say "frick", and tell people why vaping is bad for you

𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐡 (𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦)

She glows and flickers like a neon sign-glowstick and can show patterns on her body like an LED display. She usually just changes through the colors of the rainbow though. Like one of those gaming PCs. 

Loud and energetic as ever. Still friendly af in puppet form- will talk to you and hang out. Kinda like a neon scene kid bat version of Clifford the Big Red Dog.

Vomits up neon rainbow glowstick fluid. Is it hemolymph? Who knows! 

Drools acid and can and will inject it into your bloodstream with an efficiently delivered bite (tfw someone wont stop fucking w you and you """accidentally""" increase the pH in their blood to fatal levels :3). 

Voiceclaim (both mime and puppet form): https://youtu.be/HRQsMCk1PpI?si=o-haxW7XpXXFO-m6

𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐲 (incomplete!)

[art missing]

If insanity were measured with a thermometer, Misery would be fever pitch. Wired, beset with an endless hunger that only gets worse when they host, endowed with an unholy amount of stamina, and hyperviolent, she’s at best an annoyance and at worst a living chainsaw. 

Sometimes, he'll be laughing hysterically, chasing after a meal and wallowing in madness. Other times he'll bawl hysterically or have outbursts of wrath. His emotions are so extreme, they blur together sometimes.

Without moving and using up their energy (regardless of whether they're hungry or not), they'll find themselves stressed out (kind of like Vigoroth from Pokemon, i guess).

When they're on a rampage, Misery can't be stopped (sort of)! They're one hell of a biter. they've also got razor-sharp claws on them, so they've got no problem tearing through a carapace or shredding down a door or two to catch you!

Their brain will solely run on adrenaline and instinct, so consequences are(n't) a problem for them.

Misery isn’t stupid- however, his impulsivity is his downfall. In the end his hunger and boredom are what drive him and almost all of his actions. They're in a constant cycle of madness and sobriety.

They’re willing to try their best to be good- of course they’ll try to be good, whatever the hell that means! They’ll try until their frenzied hunger consumes them once more. :)

Voiceclaim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd9GxCqCGnU

𝐌��𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐲 (𝐏𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦) (incomplete!)

[art missing]

[desc missing]

Voiceclaim: [missing]

[pridepoisoned]

(ooc. Hey all, just popping in to say that I'm--mostly--back!! I had an awesome trip in Mexico [I got a tanline that would make Marlon jealous LMAO] but now I'm back in the subzero temperatures with a need to WRITE. 😤 While work crunch and new Fire Emblem are going to play heavy on my mind this week, I can't wait to kickstart my blog[s] again and slowly catch up on things around here!! Just a few important notes...

Firstly, thank you to everyone who reached out regarding my last post--your support, super kind words, and the break gave my confidence a major boost, and anons are back on!! I also noticed a good number of unread IMs over the past few weeks that Tumblr didn't bother to ping me about, so I'm so sorry if it seems like I totally stonewalled you!! To fix this communication issue, I made a fresh Discord at: dandozo#6234. Feel free to add, but please let me know who you are beforehand!! I will be pretty slow response-wise over the next week [and Tumblr IMs are still always an option!!], but I think Discord will be the more reliable platform moving forward.

To specifically help me keep track of everything, I revamped my thread tracker for Eris/Jupiter here!! This tracker is not meant to make anyone feel anxious or pressured at ALL--please take as long as you need, always--it's honestly just meant as my lil' organizational tool more than anything. If you would like me to drop, reboot, or kick off a thread, please let me know!! I'm slowly picking my way through things across all blogs, but I might dish out a new starter call sometime in the future once everything's caught up.

And...okay!! That's about it for this blog's housekeeping--thanks as always for your patience! It's good to be back. 😊)

[motleyfam]

I posted 2,267 times in 2022

36 posts created (2%)

2,231 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@desperatecheesecubes

@mooitstimdrake

@batshit-birds

@sohotthateveryonedied

@sun-moon-stars-jedi

I tagged 454 of my posts in 2022

#the batman - 25 posts

#fave - 18 posts

#batfam - 9 posts

#atla - 9 posts

#bruce wayne - 8 posts

#dick grayson - 7 posts

#damian wayne - 6 posts

#this sparks joy - 6 posts

#amen - 6 posts

#tim drake - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#thinking of that ‘superman wrecking a whole ass train to save a child on the tracks who he could have just swooped away from danger’ post

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

hey! so its 4am and ive just finished my, um... fifth(?) reread of world's saddest breakfast club and like! aaahhhh!!!

do u got abything to tell us abt this story? like sbt the writing proccess or things u thought that did not make it in or hc or anything really. i dont have a question exactly, just wanted to hear you talk about it. im a bit. well. obssesed.

Oooh cool question! I definitely do!

World's Saddest Breakfast Club: Fun Facts

The opening line is a result of me angsting to @batmoniker about how I couldn't figure out how to start my fic, and her jokingly being like "I got you, bro. Ready? 'It was a dark and stormy night'" and then me just being stubborn and committing to the bit.

The story started with a vague idea of "everyone in the kitchen at 3am for different reasons and Jason channeling his inner short order cook." All I knew going in was the order I wanted people to appear, what was wrong with them (sick, hurt, insomnia, etc) and what food Jason would be making for them. Everything else I made up as I went.

If I could go back and change one thing about this fic, I'd reduce how long Jason was kidnapped to like, 6-8 days, max. 16 days seemed funny when I wrote it, but in hindsight, I feel like he'd be a little more fucked up in the story if he were really escaping from that many days of captivity lmao

I headcanon Dick as the kind of person who straight-up forgets to eat when he's preoccupied, and Jason as the kind of person who cannot FATHOM this concept. Jason absolutely will miss a meal if the situation calls for it, don't get me wrong, but he's aware the entire time he's doing it and it makes him super antsy. (This once turned into A Thing™ when Jason was like, 13 years old and staying with Dick for the weekend for some brotherly bonding and Dick forgot about lunch and by 5pm, Jason maybe sorta kinda had a minor panic attack about it. Dick was a lot more mindful of that moving forward)

Bruce's favorite food being lobster thermidor is a reference to the Lego Batman movie

I wrote this whole fic with Julia Child's recipe pulled up in one tab and my google doc in the other

At some point I realized that since I started with fresh lobsters, I was going to have to write Jason killing them, and it derailed me so hard that the fic nearly became about meatloaf instead. (Never mind the fact that Jason canonically kills human beings — that's totally fine. I just draw the line at him killing lobsters 😰)

(in the end I just kinda glossed over it and made sure they were already cooked before Damian appeared so I wouldn't have to address it 😬)

Dick's reoccurring shoulder injury is a reference to the DCAU where I swear that man has dislocated his shoulder/injured his arm at least 4x

The line about Tim being allergic/throwing up when he eats eggs was inspired by a line in chap 11 of @goldkirk's fic Hymn, which I've reread about 37x

Jason is correct— grits are fucking delicious and definitely not baby food.

My favorite line is "Okay there’s self-sacrificial bullshit, and then there’s whatever the fresh hell that is."

The idea for Cass being a big meat-eater comes from a comic panel where Steph offers her a plate of rice and beans and Cass says needs meat and starts mischievously eying Steph's hamster. Can't find the panel to save my life, but I promise it's out there.

EDIT: finally found it!

Steph's nickname of "Zombie Boy" for Jason is borrowed from @audreycritter's Cor Et Cerebrum series (which is a fucking masterpiece, btw)

This fic was gonna be called "Creatures of the Night" until batmoniker said Steph's line made for a better title

Several people have asked me whether Jason was really cooking Bruce's lobster to spite him, or if he was actually intending to make it for him all along. The answer is... both? Like Jason's kind of an unreliable narrator in that he's trying to convince himself that he's just doing what he's doing to be a little shithead when deep down it's all stemming from his need to take care of his family, you know? Like he'll never admit it, but that's where his heart is at.

To everyone who's asked for a part 2 where the family finds out Jason was kidnapped, I'm gonna be honest: the main reason I don't think I'm ever going to write that scene is because I can't come up with a good enough joke for him to make to accidentally out himself ☠️

90 notes - Posted September 18, 2022

#4

Imagine Bruce starting therapy and learning about all these cool new tricks and gadgets that can help with emotional regulation and getting super invested (because I mean, c’mon, the dude’s like the king of gadget hoarding, he’s got a utility belt for goodness sake)

Then imagine the learning curve of him realizing that just because something works great for one of his kids, doesn’t mean it works for all of them, as illustrated by this memorable incident:

Jason gets really upset and starts having a minor panic attack about something

Bruce, proud owner of 14 new weighted blankets (in various styles, weights, and sizes), tries to wrap his adult son up in one to ground him

After all, Bruce himself finds them super comforting because it’s basically a socially acceptable alternative to wearing a massive Kevlar cape 24/7 like he’d do if he could

(Tim loves them too, so like, kid tested, parent approved™️)

Ends up totally backfiring when the added weight & restricted movement sends Jason into a full-blown flashback of digging out of his own grave, taking this panic attack from like a 4 to a 10

Whoops

130 notes - Posted December 6, 2022

#3

Sometimes I get really hung up on trying to make all the logistics and time frame work out in my fanfics

Then I see how the professionals handle this dilemma:

211 notes - Posted March 12, 2022

#2

I have a headcanon that Dick doesn’t actually like cereal nearly as much as he pretends to.

He just knew that Bruce felt bad about his own cooking ineptitude in the early days after taking his new ward in, so whenever Alfred had the night off, the 9-year-old insisted cereal was his ‘favorite food on the planet’ because it was something that Bruce could actually handle preparing for him without setting off the smoke alarms and it made him happy to do it

372 notes - Posted April 9, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Tim hardly ever wears seatbelts.

It’s not a conscious choice at this point really, he just never got into the habit. When he outgrew his last car seat at age five, his parents didn’t bother getting him a booster and just let him sit in the normal seat, so the belt always felt like it was cutting into his neck and he hated it. He put up a big fuss about it once on the way to some important event, and his parents just huffed, “Fine, don’t wear it then. Fly out the window for all I care” and that was that. They never forced him again.

He just so rarely has to wear one that it slips his mind. Buses don’t have seatbelts. Motorcycles don’t have seatbelts. The Batmobile has them, but they’re rarely used due to the necessity for split-second drop ins and getaways.

It’s not until he’s 17 and driving with Jason somewhere that he finally gets called out on it. Not only called out, but told in a no nonsense sort of way “This car ain’t moving till I hear a fucking click. What, did they stop showing ‘Red Asphalt’ in drivers ed while I was dead??”

(They do still show it. Tim just slept through that class)

557 notes - Posted November 7, 2022

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[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 294: A Half-Assed Escape

Previously on BnHA: Mirio was all “SURPRISE I’M BACK THANKS TO OUR RESIDENT SEVEN-YEAR-OLD WHO RECENTLY EARNED HER BACHELOR’S OF BEING A TOTAL BADASS.” Kacchan was all, “you know what, Dabi’s been trending long enough, time to remind the fandom what a real G looks like,” and he blasted his little bleeding body back into the fray and was all “FROM HERE ON OUT CALL ME DYNAMIGHT!!” Mirio was all, “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... oh, you’re serious,” and Kacchan was all “!!”, and so that’s the story of how my son got murdered twice in one day. Meanwhile in the Todoroki Drama Zone, Deku was all “STOP MURDERING MY FRIEND” and Dabi was all “THAT’S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS” and fandom had a whole big debate about Whether Or Not Dabi Trying To Murder Deku’s Friends And Mentors Is Any Of Deku’s Business, which went exactly how you think it went. Anyway, so then Deku yelled at Dabi, and Endeavor was all moved by his manly words and randomly went to go uppercut Machia in the chin. And, seeing as how the Momoserum finally chose that exact moment to kick in, Machia is now down for the count.

Today on BnHA: The Miriosquad handles the Nearly High End Noumus, freeing up Jeanist to jasphyxiate (okay that one doesn’t really work so well) the rest of the League. Compress is all “TIME FOR THIS MILD-MANNERED SIDE CHARACTER VILLAIN TO SHINE”, except that by “shine” what he actually means is “use his quirk to punch a literal hole right through his own ass to free himself.” The rest of the chapter is basically just a back and forth between him and Jeanist, with Jeanist trying to recapture him, and Compress repeatedly thwarting him by chopping more holes out of himself because HE’S FRESH OUT OF FUCKS, AND THE ONES AT THE STORE ARE ALL SOLD OUT, MOTHERFUCKERS. Anyway, so with Compress basically dying and all, Horikoshi is all “you know what that means”, and delivers a freshly-baked villain flashback revealing that Compress is a descendant of Harima Ouji, a.k.a. the Peerless Thief, a.k.a. some famous guy whom Gentle mentioned this one time for like two seconds back in the day. The chapter ends with Compress finally demasking himself and dumping Tomura back onto the ground, a.k.a. The Worst Possible Place For Tomura To Be. ( •﹏•)

WHY IS CRUST HERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD

-- OH WAIT, SHIT. OH

AIZAWAAAA you’re alive and receiving medical help thank GOD. HOW MANY EYES DO YOU HAVE. AND MIRKO!! HOW MANY LIMBS DO YOU HAVE, OMG

so is this Aizawa dreaming about Crust’s final moments, then?? jesus. with All Due Respect to Crust’s memory, does Aizawa not already have enough misplaced guilt on his conscience as it is?? “nope, we’re gonna keep piling it on. that’s all he is now. three limbs, an indeterminate number of eyes, sexy hair, and Guilt” well shit

motherfucker y’all really out here placing an oxygen mask on Gran Torino’s corpse. fucking shounen characters. each one comes with a lifetime warranty

DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI WHY DO YOU KEEP SHOWING THESE CLOSE-UPS OF HAWKS’S UNCONSCIOUS FACE ALL WHUMPED OUT AND EXHAUSTED. HOW MUCH MORE OF THIS ARE WE GOING TO GET. ARE YOU PLANNING ON KILLING ME WITH THE UPCOMING CONVALESCENCE ARC, BECAUSE IF SO, AT LEAST HAVE THE DECENCY TO TELL ME AHEAD OF TIME SO I CAN MAKE A WILL

for a moment I considered going back and checking my previous recaps to count how many times I’ve already made a joke about Dabi’s fire incinerating Hawks’s wings but not touching so much as a hair on his five o’clock shadow, so that I could calculate whether or not I could possibly get away with making that same joke one more time. but then I realized I could just do it in this kind of roundabout way I’m doing right now instead. so there you have it

FFFFFFFMT LADY AND MIDNIGHT NOOOOO

PLEASE BE ALIVE. PLEASE RESPECT THE SIGN ON THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING. THE ONE THAT SAYS “NO LADY CHARACTERS ALLOWED TO DIE”, WITH THE FINE PRINT AT THE BOTTOM “AT LEAST NOT UNTIL HORIKOSHI GIVES US LIKE TWENTY-SIX MORE OF THEM FIRST IF THAT’S THE WAY HE WANTS TO PLAY IT.” IT’S A GOOD SIGN, PLEASE RESPECT ITS WISHES!!

so anyway though, Jeanist is giving a speech about how god knows how many people all worked together to bring Machia down. and now RHA is getting in on those fabric puns too, I see. “A SINGLE STRAND MAY BE THIN BUT TOGETHER THEY FORM A STRONG ROPE” oh so you think you guys are funny eh? I’m a frayed knot

MEANWHILE EXCUSE ME BUT WHY ARE YOU FUCKING CRYING BLOOD, HOLY SHIT

fffffff. so much for him taking over as the Number One once all this is over. so let’s just recap real quick, because Horikoshi has long since made it clear that one of his plot goals for this arc is to wipe out every single member of the Billboard Top Ten. so how we doin?

Endeavor - was just figuratively eviscerated in front of the entire nation by his homicidal zombiepunk son. also burnt half to death and possibly down a lung. will almost certainly be forced to retire after this one way or the other

Hawks - lying prettily in a medical tent. wings status: gone. hair status: still perfect

Jeanist - WELL I THOUGHT HE WAS FINE BUT APPARENTLY HE’S OUT HERE DYING, JESUS CHRIST

Edgeshot - MIA, last seen fighting Re-Destro. I really want him to have kicked RD’s ass because fuck that guy, but realistically they probably fought to a draw at best

Mirko - alive but in critical condition and missing something like 1.5 limbs

Crust - dead, currently haunting Aizawa’s traumatized dreams. now he’s gonna be triggered the rest of his life by people giving him the thumbs up, THANKS A LOT

Kamui Woods - was set on fire which is His Weakness. thoughts and prayers

Wash - last seen floating hospital patients to safety as Tomura’s wave of decay descended towards him. probably dead ffff

Old Man Samurai - haven’t seen this fucker in a hot minute, who even knows where he’s wandered off to

Ryuukyuu - currently being treated for her wounds, looked pretty bad off. but it’s hard to tell how hurt she is since most of the injuries were acquired in her transformed state. SHE BETTER GET WELL SOON

anyways, so yeah. so much for the top ten. guess that’s another reason Horikoshi brought Mirio back now, huh

so there’s a big panel of everyone fighting the Noumu while Machia lies there all “blurgh.” good riddance my dude. it took like twenty chapters and a hundred people to stop this guy so I really fucking hope he stays down. you’ve had your fun

anyway so Jeanist is sending another steel thread towards Dabi! and he’s all “just a bit more!!” fklklj this is gonna go real well isn’t it

meanwhile Mirio’s fighting a Nearly High End with all of these weird rock formations jutting out of its skin. go on and kick his ass then, Mirio

“each of these guys is probably just as strong as the Noumu from Kyuushuu” hold on I thought Ujiko or Tomura or someone said that wasn’t the case? not that Mirio would know I suppose. anyways let’s just hope he’s wrong cuz if not these kids are probably screwed

kLSDKFHLSKHGLKLK OH MY GODDDD

IIDA FUCKING TENYA YOU’RE A PEACH. THINKS THE NAME IS OUTRAGEOUS, CHECK. USES IT ANYWAY, CHECK. “JUST BECAUSE I DON’T UNDERSTAND DOESN’T MEAN I CAN’T BE SUPPORTIVE.” WHAT A CLASS ACT

AND KACCHAN IS RESPONDING WITH AS MUCH DIGNITY AS HE CAN MUSTER

WOW, SON. IT’S ALMOST AS THOUGH YOU HAVE A HOLE IN YOUR TORSO, OR SOMETHING!! although listen up, real talk, the fact that Kacchan of all people can’t muster the energy to yell at someone questioning his ability to kick ass is HIGHKEY troubling and we may be in need of an intervention here soon :/

now Jeanist is finally turning his attention to the League! was... was it not already on the League. omg

ACTUAL SCREAMING AHHHHHH FUCK FUCKLK LK AHHLKHKFFFF

hey so um. what the actual fucked up hell. my soul left my body. imagine if you saw the reflection of this panel on your bedroom window. you would never sleep again

OKAY RHA TRANSLATORS ARE YOU HAVING YOURSELF A LAUGH AGAIN

THIS CANNOT BE WHAT HE’S ACTUALLY SAYING RIGHT. BUT IT’S RIGHT IN THAT UNCANNY VALLEY OF NOT BEING QUITE SURE, THOUGH... (　ﾟдﾟ)

(ETA: just a next-day clarification here, apparently my sleep-deprived ADHD word-skipping brain completely skipped right over the “a” in that last panel, so what I read was, “and Shigaraki’s limp noodle.” so yeah, the moral of this story is always read the speech bubble carefully before you start making running jokes throughout the rest of your post, folks.)

oh wow he’s really freaking out lmao

to be fair though, I’d argue that Dabi has gotten pre-tty close at this point :’) thrilled for him, really I am

but anyway, well then figure something out you big dramatic robot-armed fiend. didn’t you just say you could touch your own ass? can you not just Compress yourself to break free?? does it not work on you? or would you be stuck afterwards lol

(ETA: I was picturing him compressing his entire body at once, not just chunks of it. ghhhlkh.)

um

holy shit Jeanist. are you stupidly trying to cut off their air, or are you going for more of a sleeper hold (jleeper hold??) thing instead. the latter would be way smarter and faster and probably safer as well just saying

but unless Spinner is just being super dramatic, it sure looks like he’s fucking strangling them djslkjlk. this will certainly cement his popularity among the villain stans. good thing you’re not running for office any time soon bud

anyway so I have no idea what these guys are trying to do now. what is this

do you even have till the count of 5 at this rate. I mean

OH MY GOODNESS

HE’S REALLY FUCKING DOING IT!! HE’S COMPRESSING HIS BUTT!! OMFG. TOMURA HIDE YOUR NOODLE!!!

WHAT THE FUCK

DID YOU COMPRESS A PIECE OF YOUR OWN ASS. FUCKING WHAT. PUT THIS MAN’S PICTURE IN THE DICTIONARY NEXT TO THE WORD “LOYALTY”, HOLY CRAP

HOLY SHIT COMPRESS

“HOLY SHIT DID THAT GUY JUST PUNCH A HOLE THROUGH HIS OWN ASS IN ORDER TO SAVE HIS VILLAIN PALS. FUCK IT, HE DESERVES TO ESCAPE”

jeez, talk about... A HALF-ASSED ESCAPE ATTEMPT :D :D :D hahaha. but real talk though, Horikoshi has clearly never tried to leap twelve feet straight up in the air multiple times in succession with only half his glutes though. everyone, I regret to inform you that this panel right here on the left may be slightly unrealistic

also where the hell is he going to go?? did you pack a jetpack away in one of those little marbles sir. and what about Dabi?? and Skeptic too, I guess, but we don’t really care about Skeptic

(ETA: at this point I had to stop reading for about two hours because I had to go out and take care of something; that’s also why this is being posted later than usual lol. anyways so where were we.)

oh my lord

the existence of a translator’s note here implies that the earlier line about Compress being able to reach Tomura’s junk was not, in fact, ad-libbed. hmm. hmmmmmmmm

anyway so now he’s grabbing Compress again because OF COURSE HE IS, so now we’re right back to square one! except now Tomura and Spinner are secured inside of little marbles, and presumably Compress is the only one who can release them

oh nevermind he’s just maiming himself again instead, SHEESH

Skeptic a man is dying please have some goddamn respect

so, uh. is he gonna die, though??

I really can’t tell wtf is going on here, this is the most confusing the art has been in a while. Horikoshi put all of his spoons into that creepyass close-up panel earlier, that bastard

OMG WHAT ARE YOU SERIOUS

DON’T FUCKING TELL ME THE “COMPRESS IS RELATED TO THIS THIEF GUY FROM OLDEN TIMES” THEORY IS ACTUALLY TRUE WHAAAAAAT. OH SHIT

so apparently Harima was a Robin Hood type guy who stole from... heroes?? wtf. are heroes the 1% in this scenario. y’all didn’t have any Fortune 500 CEOs to steal from?

THAT’S THE BLOOD THAT FLOWS THROUGH YOU, OH SHIT. and in a related oh shit, the fact that we are getting a Compress flashback now of all times doesn’t bode super well for him. ffff

MEANWHILE THE TODOROKIS ARE STILL TODOROKI-ING

listen here boy if you touch one freaking hair on Shouto’s candy cane head I swear to god --

WHAT DID I FUCKING SAY!!!

SHOUTO NOOOOOO. WTF YOU’RE LITERALLY THE ONE GUY WHOSE WEAKNESS IS ABSOLUTELY NOT SUPPOSED TO BE FIRE. DABI YOU SHIT, YOU BETTER WATCH YOURSELF!! I’M PRINTING OUT A COPY OF THAT COMPRESS PANEL!!! KEEP AN EYE OUT ON THAT BEDROOM WINDOW YOU PUNK!!!

SO NOW POOR SHOUTO IS UNCONSCIOUS AND FALLING!! SOMEONE SAVE HIM!! WHO CATCHES THE CATCHER

COMPRESS LITERALLY HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE RIGHT NOW, WHAT IS HAPPENING

PLEASE DON’T CALL TOMURA LEADER OF THE “PLF” YOU KNOW I CAN’T TAKE IT SERIOUSLY WHEN YOU DO THAT. ARE YOU DYING. ARE YOU JUST A FUCKING HEAD NOW WTF

(ETA: “masks are removable, makeste” you know what it’s been a long day okay lmao. or I suppose Compress is really the one who is lmao.)

GASPPPPPP

okay. okay. looooool okay then

WHY WERE YOU COVERING THIS SEXY MOP OF HAIR UNDER THAT HOOD YOU TOOL. IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED SO GOOD WITH THE TOP HAT. I’M SO MAD AT YOU RIGHT NOW

as if it wasn’t enough for him to demask himself, he also had to get all shirtless and then do this weird attempt at a sexypose too huh

hard to say exactly how much of his torso is currently missing, but safe to say that’s proooooooobably not good. :///// fuck

on the other hand, Kacchan also has a torso hole and he’s still flying around like he just drank a dozen red bulls, so

this man lost his ass and he’s still out here monologuing like it’s the last two minutes of The Prestige. one might say he is monologuing his ass off

so he let Spinner and Tomura free, but is Dabi still trapped in his marble?? wasn’t he all on fire and stuff?? hopefully he can still turn off his quirk in there because if not that’s a pretty fucked up way to die. somewhere out there Snatch’s ghost is all “YEAH I’LL SAY.” oh how the turntables

last but not least, sooooooo. Tomura. back on the ground. that’s. um. ...shiiiiiiiit

[appleciders]

Rachel + Leah + Water, the Director’s Cut!

Okay, so I made this gifset exploring Rachel and Leah and the ocean, but because there’s a ten gif limit and a major point of gifsets is for them to look nice, I had to sacrifice a lot of the behind the scenes thoughts and initial versions that came along the way. I still wanted to talk about them though, because I found a lot of them really cool, so I figured I’d stick all that in this post. It’s gonna get long, so you can find the rest under the cut!

So first up, we have Leah as we first see her in the water. (I’m using shitty screenshots because tumblr has a 2mb limit for gifs on text posts and I don’t feel like compressing these down lmao.) Here, she’s face-down, unconscious, floating on a fragment of the plane. This is the first time we see any of the girls in the water.

As Leah gives her dramatic speech talks to the detectives, we see flashbacks to the girl’s lives pre-island. There we see that one of them already has a very strong relationship with the water already, in her before-life: Rachel.

Rachel, as we know, is a diver. We see her take a magnificent tumble into the pool, but when she surfaces, her coach is sternly head-shaking. She corrects Rachel’s form, and after she walks away, Rachel echoes the correction, clearly frustrated with herself. 

Back to Leah. We next see Leah waking up on her lil chunk of flotsam. When she realizes what the hell’s going on, she does what we all would do and starts screaming in terror.

Her panic gets interrupted by Jeannette’s classic Raise Your Glass ringtone. (This was my alarm for two years in high school, and when I watched this for the first time I did have an out-of-body experience). She swims her way over to the Hello Kitty suitcase and—irrationally—unzips it, but we’ll cut her some slack because she’s in some serious shock. As she tries to get the phone, it slips through her fingers and starts spiraling down to the bottom of the ocean. She dives after it.

Unfortunately, she quickly runs out of air and has to give up. She then spots Jeannette floating nearby, checks her out, judges her to be “just a little roughed up,” and then sees land and has a big oh-thank-fuck moment. Because we saw Gretchen’s team placing all of the girls, we know that Linh and Leah were the only two that were put out in the open water. The other girls were put in the beach, or, in Martha’s case, near the shore. This was probably done to quell some of Leah’s suspicions about the crash, but it does give me a couple questions about how they got the other girls wet—did they hose them all down? Pour a couple buckets over their heads? Bob each of them up and down a couple times in a big net like fries in a fryer?? 

Anyway, not important. 

Next that we see, Leah has pulled Jeannette/Linh in from the water. (My Australian parents, who can never pass up an opportunity to give ocean safety tips, chimed in at this point in our first watch to say “See how she’s doing it! You always want to hold someone from behind and pull them in that way. Good job, well done.” So there’s some approval for you, Leah.) As Leah nears the shore, Dot and Toni come tearing in and they help pull the two of them out. 

The rest of the episode after that really only concerns fresh water—Toni and Shelby set out in search of it, to no avail, and Nora helpfully plugs Diet Coke reminds us multiple times that sugar’s heavier than water, so “sugar sinks.” We do set up a goal for the next couple episodes, though: Rachel says, “I'm gonna swim out to the plane tomorrow. See if I can find anything,” and Leah volunteers to come with. Rachel gives her a nod of respect.

Moving on to episode two, we have Rachel and Leah’s (iconic) first real conversation. Rachel says she’s still going out to the wreckage. Leah looks out and looks back at her, incredulous, and says, “Rachel, the water’s insane.” Here’s a big recurring association—the water and “insanity.” (I use insanity here because that’s the language they use, along with psycho/crazy. In no way does that reflect my actual beliefs about their behavior nor am I condoning the way they use those words.) Leah points out the rip current (“well done,” said my mum), and explains her very brief stint as a norcal surfer. Rachel still looks set on going, but then Leah says:

Turns out, Leah can be as ripe with foreshadowing as Fatin. This marks the appearance of their second main association with the ocean—death. After she says this, Leah turns Rachel’s attention inland, and the two agree to climb a big hill to scope out their situation.

Episode two is also obviously Rachel’s episode, so we see a lot of her relationship with diving. 

We see her plunge over and over and over again, drilling technique and form, but despite all her hard work, we learn her coach advised her to quit the team. Instead, Rachel throws herself in twice as hard, and ends up with an eating disorder. By the time the nationals come around, she’s too physically weak to dive safely, and she ends up hitting her head as she goes down. She surfaces in the pool with blood flowing around her.

She refuses to see that as the end of her diving career. She says she’s gonna “get back out there” and “be fucking great again” and she tells Nora at the end of the episode that she needs her to let her believe that.

In episode three, we finally see Leah and Rachel’s trip out to the plane! Nora comes along with them, her relationship with Rachel smoothed over after the events of ep two. “Nora’s a good swimmer,” Rachel explains as she invites her, “We were both water babies.” Water’s clearly been central to Nora and Rachel’s identities since they were really young. 

The three of them make their escape from the rest of the girls as the topic of building a shelter comes up. “Not interested in putting down roots!” Rachel calls. In keeping with the elements theme, Rachel isn’t looking to be grounded. She climbs super high into the air and she dives deep into the water, but earth isn’t her thing. (See: the quicksand scene. Whoops.)

Anyway, the three of them paddle out into the water. Rachel dives down, scopes out the plane, tells Nora she doesn’t expect her to “fucking free dive in open water,” and then looks to Leah and asks if she’s ready. Leah reluctantly agrees. 

We get our first shot Rachel swimming down into the ocean and our second shot of Leah (first the phone, second the plane). In the wreckage of the plane, they discover the black box, affixed to the wall. They keep trying to wrench it free, but it’s stuck, and Leah—who’s primary activity is, like, reading—keeps having to surface for air. Rachel gets frustrated and grabs her leg, holding her down. 

Leah screams and fights, but Rachel doesn’t let go. We cut away, and when we see them again, they’ve emerged victorious (Rachel) and drowned as dogs after a bath (Leah and Nora) with the black box in hand. Later, Leah mutters the above line to Fatin, calling Rachel a “psychopath.” For those keeping score at home, here’s where we refer back to the association between water and “insanity.”

In episode four, the ocean benevolently bestows a bag of takis upon Nora, and we have our whole shelter-building shebang. It’s all very land-based until Leah and Fatin go head to head, which ends with Fatin smearing her blood all over Leah’s face. Leah, with her usual flair, strips off her clothes as she walks into the ocean. She stays down there, passively letting the water wash the blood from her face.

This shot parallels a couple things. First, the drifting blood visually parallels Rachel in the pool after her diving injury. Second, we have Rachel staring out at the water where Leah’s disappeared and going, “Man, that is some real Virginia Woolf-type shit.” Dot has no fucking clue what she means, so Fatin interprets: “It means that bitch is crazy. She said you were the psychopath of the group.” Now it’s Leah who’s done something in the water that’s been deemed insane. The water and “insanity;” the water and accusations of insanity within their relationship. 

Those accusations pop up in episode five, but the episode is pretty focused on the inland search for Fatin, and revolves around fresh water, not salt water. (That could be a whole nother post lol.) It’s in episode six where we again see these two return to the ocean. 

Rachel is diving in the ocean! For fun! She’s picking up pretty shells (which granted isn’t the safest thing to do in the pacific, cone snails are not our friends), and she’s grinning, and she’s generally enjoying herself. With the, uh, finale situation, we’re probably not gonna get to see her smile for a bit, which is sad, because she should get to do this more often! This shot visually echoes her diving for the plane and Leah diving for the phone, except she can be in a better mood because there is no end goal. 

So she goes diving, ends up finding a bunch of mussels, gathers ‘em up, and brings ‘em back to camp. They all chow down, but wind up with serious food poisoning. Martha and Toni ring death’s doorbell a couple of times. Rachel blames herself—she’s the one that went swimming out there, she brought the mussels back. Again, we see that connection between the ocean and death.

And that association comes back bright an early in ep seven! The tide surges higher than they’ve ever seen, taking down their shelter and leaving them all scrambling. 

While Leah convinces Fatin that her life is more important than her suitcase, Rachel is left with a decision: help Nora, screaming to her from where she’s clinging to a rock for dear life, or grab the black box. In a move that contrasts Toni’s immediate and unquestioning aid of Martha, Rachel picks the black box. 

After, when they’re debriefing, Nora’s quick to bring it up. She doesn’t hide her hurt. “It happened so fast,” she says, “we all acted irrationally. Like Fatin, who jumped into a rip current to save her toothbrush. Or Rachel, who left me for fucking dead.” I think this counts as a double whammy for the “insanity” and death count—I think “acted irrationally” is as close as Nora gets to calling anyone crazy, and is honestly a better descriptor of all the other instances of “insanity” that we’ve seen, and the ocean was the source of the very real risk to Nora’s life. 

(Honestly, I think Rachel thought she was making a rational choice here—just with some grim fucking calculus. Still, given that nobody’d responded to the black box by then, I think it was a decision fueled by the need to keep hold of hope more than actual rationality.) In a fun contrast to the rest of the episode, it’s Leah that keeps a level head in this situation. 

The rest of the episode is low on water scenes, though Leah’s paranoia about Shelby is fueled by her sneaking off to the water, which could fall under the “insanity” category. It also marks where Nora begins to take an active role in breaking apart Rachel’s fantasy about diving again. 

Ep eight has one of the best montages in a series of great montages, with the playing in the water scene! A plane has seen them, they’re gonna be saved, and they all get to get high and act like kids. 

I have this lingering and probably irrational concern that the entire water play scene is choreographed and that it’s chock-full of foreshadowing. Like I know to some extent they likely were just like “yeah guys go goof off in the water,” but like...the wave pulling Rachel and Nora apart here...I mean.... (Rachel is probably gonna get more blood on Dot in the near future, too. ) That aside, their horseplay gets interrupted when Leah notices some blood on Dot, which Rachel realizes is her own period blood.  

Fatin then chimes in with her ever-gleeful foreshadowing: “Shark week for Rachel.” So while this whole encounter with the water actually seems mostly good for a change, it’s colored by the tie-in to what we know is coming.

In ep nine, reality has set in that rescue isn’t imminent. Everyone’s starving, Leah has started to spiral, and Rachel’s unusually skittish. By the tide’s edge, Nora asks for her help fishing, but Rachel refuses, saying that she’s weak. Nora flicks water at her, and Rachel flinches, clearly scared.

Starvation seems to have triggered Rachel’s trauma around the water leftover from her diving accident. In response, Nora reaches out a hand and says, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Meanwhile, Leah’s spiral has reached critical. She starts ranting about the ocean and the water and pushes past Dot, sprinting into the waves:

And so she’s taken to heart the way they think Jeannette’s body “escaped” the island—the tide—and it’s been spun like cotton candy in her head. She’s right, technically—Jeanette/Linh’s body was moved off the island by boat, and there’s definitely an argument that if they really did all swim out Gretchen’s team would save them, or at least try to. This is also a very real suicide attempt. So it’s kind of a culmination of the threats of death and mental health issues that’ve been wrapped up in the ocean since the start.

On Rachel’s end, Nora has taken her up to a cliff. Rachel calls the whole thing “borderline insane,” walking up when they’re so low on energy, but Nora tells her she needs to make a truce between herself and the water. 

“You’re afraid of it now,” she says, and Rachel replies that, “All it ever did was make me sick.” Nora immediately surges forward to say “That’s not true!” Rachel, incredulous, says, “Isn't this what you want? For me to hang it up? For me to forget the whole fucking diving game?” Nora says, “No. I don't know. I don't want you to forget you.” She then tells Rachel she should dive off the end of the cliff, that she marked it to make sure it’s safe. Rachel says she can’t.

There’s a lot here. First, there’s the first time we’ve seen of Rachel explicitly call herself sick. In episode two, even in a treatment center, she still denies it, says she’s just an athlete who knows what it takes. But now she’s reached a place where she acknowledges her eating disorder—and also probably her recent illness with the mussels—and ties it directly to the water. It’s the reason she’s sick.

Nora’s fear that Rachel will forget herself also just hammers home how central the water has always been to Rachel’s identity. Cutting herself off from the water would be cutting off a core part of herself. (...whoops) And we’ve seen that it does bring her actual joy, when she’s allowed to relax with it, but she’s had such traumatic associations rolled up into it now. Nora doesn’t want Rachel to do diving as a sport anymore, because of how badly it’s hurt her, but she does want Rachel to keep diving and swimming as like, a form of unevaluated personal expression.

At the moment that Rachel’s refusing to jump, she and Nora hear shouts from the mainland. They see Fatin and Dot screaming after Leah. Confused, Nora asks, “Where is she going?” but Rachel understands immediately, with absolute certainty, without needing to be told—“To fucking drown to death.” Seven episodes after Leah called heading into the water a death wish, she’s finally proving it true. Rachel squares her shoulders, takes a few deep breaths, and sprints into a dive. 

Unlike all her other dives high altitude dives we’ve seen her do, this dive isn’t qualified based on aesthetics. This dive matters because of what it will do, not on how it looks. And what it does do is bring her into the ocean, where she needs to be for her friend. So with strong strokes, she swims out towards Leah.

When she reaches her, she takes hold of her, pulls her into her chest from behind. She begins to swim with her back to shore. This rescue directly parallels Leah’s rescue of Linh that we talked about above. It also, as the Out in the Wilds podcast insightfully pointed out, really calls Rachel and Leah’s relationship back to the beginning. Whereas Rachel had initially held Leah down in the water, putting her in danger of drowning, Rachel here pulls her out of the water, saving her from drowning. Together, they make it all the way back to the shore.

Finally (and, like, if you’ve made it all the way down here? bless you. thank you), we have episode ten. The ocean doesn’t really figure into episode ten until the very end. Rachel has had a long episode of healing—she’s happy to be full and she’s in a good place with her sister and things seem to be going pretty okay. She decides to heal her relationship with the water, too. She heads out, telling Nora that she’s “Just gonna float, Nor. Just float.”

Just floating. After all the times we saw her plunging into the water, purposefully, with frustration, with drive, with so much to prove and with so much sacrifice and self-abuse to prove it with, Rachel finally just wants to float. She wants to let herself relax. She wants to let the water carry her.

Of course, that means there has to be, like, a massive marine carnivore waiting to mistake her for a seal.

Visually, this shot really parallels the opening shot of Leah on the fragment of plane. Instead of being face-down, though, she’s face-up, and she’s conscious, just not of the threat from below. 

The shark bites.

In a horrible parallel to Leah’s Virginia Woolf moment and Rachel’s diving accident, we see blood pool in the water. Rachel is pulled under. The girls on the land start screaming and running toward her. We know Rachel doesn’t die, but this is still a near-death experience, one that probably cost her her arm. Leah, covered in dirt and her own blood after crawling out of the pit Nora led her into, can only stand and watch, shocked and horrified.

So that got! Way longer than I meant it to! And honestly most of this was condensed into very concise tags in a post I made a few days ago! But if you made it all the way down here, you’ve now seen everything I wanted to fit into that gifset but couldn’t. Thanks for sticking with me, friend <3

[chronicals-of-top-surgery]

~2 months post OP, too many days to count now lmao. 8/10/22

Ok, i know I barely updated for the entirety of July and that's terrible of me, but I've been kept extremely busy by having one month to pack up the place I was living at to move into my new apartment. I finally moved a few days ago and I've finally settled in at least a little. There's a lot of unpacking to do but either way, let me go over milestones I missed in July.

So, early July I started sleeping regularly on my side. It didn't hurt that much which was great, still couldn't sleep on my stomach at all. mid July, I went swimming! We went to a water park and I got to swim a bunch. I was careful and it's not like I was doing laps and shit, but I went down a water slide a few times and just did some gentle swimming and tbh I think that helped me a lot. It helped me gently stretch the muscles and skin without a ton of strain and I feel like I got way more confident after this. Late July I started work again but I was very keen to let them know I'm not doing heavy shit. I refused to lift stuff over my head or do super heavy lifting, I was not going to do deep cleaning scrubbing, and even just doing light stuff, I came home pretty sore at times. I also got a massage and laid on my stomach and it actually wasn't that bad! It helped a LOT with the tension and aching sensation in my back from being stagnant for so long while healing.

I'm certain that all of the sutures have dissolved away and my scars look magnificent! Both nipples are attached well and look great, though the left one, around the top of it, it has a bit of a lip to it because of the scabbing, but it's actually starting to smooth out and become flush. I don't have a ton of sensation still but I have more than I used to. I can feel the pressure of something now, so if you drag a pen across my chest, I can feel the pen there only because of the pressure into my muscles. I can't feel feather light touches or anything. Except my sternum, I think I have almost full sensation in my sternum.

I start classes late this month and I also start working again at the store I transferred to. It's been an extremely hectic time, moving all my stuff, helping my mom and sister move out of the state my sister went to college in, then making sure I had everything to start MY college. It's been a lot, no doubt about that, and I know my stress levels need to be brought down. I'm excited though! This is a new city that I already really enjoy and it's full of new opportunities for me. I went to college before but dropped out to focus on getting a job and bettering my mental health, not to mention save up for top surgery. Unbeknownst to me, I quit at the perfect time because right after I quit and moved states for a new job (twice), covid hit! I'm happy to be going back when this college has figured itself out, mandating vaccines, knowing how to use online schooling better, etc.

So, now here I am! New name, new body, new city, fresh start! I can't wait to start again and see where life takes me. As always, I'm going to try and keep updating, even if it takes me a hot while to do it, because I want to keep these memories here for my benefit and for the benefit of everyone who may be curious about the healing process and timeline of top surgery. I'll see y'all in the next update, be safe, you're loved, and obligatory drink some water <3

[angelicmichael]

living after midnight

Brooke Thompson x Montana Duke

Summary: Brooke and Montana get a bit intoxicated and get a bit carried away while going night swimming. Based off this post I made a week ago hehe

Words: 3.1k+

Warnings: mentions of alcohol and also vague mentions of weed, stripping (no nudity tho LOL), lotssss of sexual tension, lots of fluff, slowburn, friends to lovers, weird yearning angst for like .02 seconds lmao

A/N: Hey guys, sorry if this is random but I got random inspo for brotana so.. here this is lmao. Believe it or not I did try to make this under 1k words but.. I got carried away so I’m sorry that’s it’s long 😭. But the fic happens sometime after Brooke and Montana meet but before any camp redwood fuckery happens lmao. Anyway I hope y’all like this!! This is also probably the fastest I’ve ever written a fic so I hope it’s atleast decent haha. Anyway enjoy <3

A gentle breeze danced against Brookes exposed skin. The midnight air cold on its own regard but it seemed to blend perfectly with the extensive heat that radiated from the bonfire she sat in front of.

The night was entirely pitch black. The moon was vacant from the sky, leaving the only source of light to come from the giant fire that sat at Brookes shoes.

It was admittedly a bit unsettling being in almost the total darkness, especially with how many girls had recently gone missing in L.A as of late but the beer in her system had mostly put those thoughts to rest. Plus, being with three men and Montana was also reassuring. Even if she didn’t exactly know Xavier, Chet or Ray that well but.. she knew Montana.

It was nearly impossible to forget about how they met.. in the girls locker room in the showers and well; it’s not as if things were any less weird now. Showers or not.

It’s not as if Brooke and Montana were best friends or super close, because that definitely wasnt the case; but they weren’t acquaintances either by any means. The weird tension and ‘playfulness’ that lied between them ruled out being friends.. or that’s Brooke liked to think anyway when she had one too many things to drink. Like now.

Her legs twitched a bit restlessly; content at the ambience that surrounded her but not content with her current state of being. Like how she knew she should be enjoying herself, drunk, not caring about particularly anything at all but instead all she could do was fucking care. Her thoughts were purely infiltrated with Montana and it was embarrassing, to say the least but now that she was intoxicated there was really no harm in fighting it. No matter how annoying and taunting those thoughts truly were.

After all, Why should she not think about how nice it would be to feel Montana’s hands (which she knew had to be soft and delicate) on her waist and down her back? Why should she not think about Montana’s soft lips moving against her own, a few strands of her bleached hair (which definitely had lost it softness due to excessive over bleaching) brushing up against her face accidentally?

That was a rhetorical question; because she knew exactly why she avoided those type of thoughts on a normal day to day basis. Not because it would make things awkward between them but because it was beyond fucking painful to imagine scenarios that would never happen.. Never.

The smell of the fire and the sounds of the wood crackling, which was far too dry and poorly stacked (neither Xavier, Chet or Ray could build a proper fire to save their life), helped bring Brooke out of her thoughts and bit more into reality. So did the gentle sway of the tree branches which she could see in her peripheral vision, since they were right on the cusp of a forest that cut off to a beach. Ocean waves which slowly dragged across the sand were also soothing to listen too, albeit distant over the sound of Brookes friends screaming and laughing and being heavily intoxicated over what was more than just alcohol and weed.

Brooke reached down and swiftly grabbed the beer can which was previously lodged upright in the sand. Lifting the can up to her lips and cringing and unconsciously tensing up as she swallowed until the can was nearly weightless - wiping her mouth with the back of her hand just to see-

“Montana?!” Brooke nearly yelled. Both alcohol and temporary shock making her speak way louder than what was realistically needed.

Montana, who was previously standing several feet away with the boys was suddenly seated right next to Brooke on the log with no warning. Probably having moved over while Brooke was poorly chugging the alcohol she hated.. but she couldn’t help but to notice that their thighs (as well as basically their entire sides) were touching as she tried to wipe the alcohol that had embarrassingly dripped down her front in a frenzy.

Chet and Xavier looked back at them from a few feet away as they smoked what Brooke knew had to be a joint. Briefly laughing and giving the pair of women an amused glance before turning around and immersing themselves in whatever conversation they were previously having.

Brooke sheepishly met Montana’s gaze, feeling her cheeks grow nearly unbearably hot at the awareness that she was now being watched.. studied almost.

“Sorry,” Brooke added with a giggle.

Montana responded with a slight upturn of her lips; amused with Brookes actions not because she found it necessarily funny or pitiful, but for the sole reason that.. it was cute and endearing that Brooke couldn’t really hold her alcohol for shit.

It made her unique and different from everyone else Montana acquainted herself with. People that Montana had to basically learn to keep up with.. but Brooke on the other hand was different.. She was a breath of fresh air, and that’s why Montana assumed she was so attracted to her (besides her looks, of course).

Montana tried her best to ignore and not be bothered by the fact that Brooke was wasting perfectly good alcohol by wiping it off herself (alcohol that Montana wouldn’t necessarily mind licking off Brookes lips.. or her neck, or really anywhere else off of her). Instead focusing on how suffocated she felt here.

It wasn’t necessarily anyone’s fault. After all; she loved Chet, Xavier and Ray dearly but.. they were also undoubtedly preventing anything from happening between her and Brooke.. and that needed to change.

Montana huffed. Her deep brown eyes quickly flickering at the flame and then Brooke before speaking.

“Im bored,” she announced. Suddenly standing up and not letting her eyes break the gaze she suddenly held with Brooke.

Brooke responded with a simple hum. Her jaw quickly dropping once she noticed that Montana’s bright red nails quickly darted down under her own shirt. Hooking the material under her fingertips before quickly raising the shirt up and over her head. Throwing it back somewhere behind the log Brooke still sat on.. somewhere where Brooke was almost certain Montana wouldn’t be able to locate later.. which was probably done on purpose.

Brookes jaw still stayed ajar when she saw Montana’s hands automatically fly down to the small jean shorts she was wearing. She could do nothing but watch as she saw the button unhook- wait.. what exactly was happening?

“Montana, what are you doing?” Brooke asked with a laugh.

Brooke tried her best to fight the urge to look at her friend who was now well.. in her bra and underwear, out of what she was trying to convince herself was respect, but it wasn’t working. She knew for a fact her cheeks had to burnt bright fucking red; she tried to laugh off the feeling but Montana still stared.. her smile slowly growing wider until sudden laughter momentarily broke the tension again.

Brooke and Montana both looked behind them just to find the boys laughing and whooping as well at Montana’s sudden lack of clothes.

Brooke smiled back at them but it only lasted a second before she found herself overtaken with a emotion she never really felt around Montana before.. was it jealousy?

Just the sight of them staring at Montana (who obviously didn’t give a fuck, or was thriving off the attention more than anything) was enough to make Brooke stand up.

“Go swimming with me?” Brooke suddenly proposed. More than certain that her sudden impulsivity was coming from the alcohol more than anything.. it had to be, right?

Brooke looked Montana in the eyes again as she watched the other woman’s expression suddenly change at her words; looking utterly shocked and.. maybe a bit thrilled.

“You want to go swimming?” Montana nearly sneered, her tone reeked off utter disbelief, “and what are you gonna wear?”

Brooke laughed at what the other woman was implying. Her dark brown eyes slipped down to admire the rest of Montana’s body that she dared not to look at previously. Only looking for a second at the matching cherry red set that Montana wore. A bra which was most definitely too tight and cut a bit small, along with a thong with sat a bit high on her hips which only accentuated her figure even further.

She didn’t have time to think; her eyes darting back up to meet Montana’s which she knew were watching her.

“I’m not going naked-“

“You don’t have too. It’s not like their gonna see us anyway once we get away from the fire. Here.”

They both spoke in hushed whispers. Weirdly paranoid that maybe the boys would overhear and wanna join which- was something they both clearly didn’t want, although unspoken.

The distance between them was minimal enough due to alcohol (and other substances in Montana’s case) running high in their systems. Making personal space something that was now nonexistent.

Montana extended her hand out to Brooke to take. She quickly grabbed her hand, hoping desperately it wasn’t sweaty from how close they were to the fire and also.. just from the situation she was bound to find herself in. But due to Montana’s reaction (or lack thereof) she knew she had nothing to worry about.. sweaty palms or not, she knew Montana wouldn’t judge her. No matter how insane the circumstance; Brooke always felt safe around Montana. That’s why she supposed she was currently following her into the pitch black - her vision getting more and more sparse as they walked away from the fire and into some nearby trees that framed the beach..

“Are you sure they can’t see me?” Brooke asked, trying her best to look through the trees and see if any of her friends happened to be looking but - she couldn’t really make out anything besides the subtle outline of her surroundings which included Montana.

“They can’t see you. Relax,” Montana said with a giggle. “Now do I need to help you undress? Your taking forever and I’m hot- and it’s not like I haven’t seen you wearing less-“

Brooke tried her best to look offended and shocked by her reference to how they met. She knew that normally with nothing in her system she would’ve easily sidestepped Montana’s ruthless flirting but.. something felt different about tonight. After all; why should she keep trying so hard to resist something they both felt? And it wasn’t like anyone could see them anyway..

Brooke quickly turned her head to where she knew Montana was and stepped closer until they were barely a foot apart. Her feet nearly stumbled on Montana’s from the proximity; biting her lip to prevent herself from stupidly giggling once she felt hot breath on her cheek.

She grabbed Montana’s hands which first held hers back limply but briefly held hers tighter before Brooke directed her hands on her shirt.

“Take it off,” Brooke uttered. Her voice barely audible but not quite loud enough to be discerned as a whisper.

Montana didn’t hesitate as she quickly took Brookes shirt off, barely feeling the soft fabric against her fingertips before she quickly threw it behind them into the forest. Montana didn’t wait for Brooke to say anything before her fingers were quickly undoing the button and the zipper of her jean shorts which were only thrown somewhere in the forest as well (hopefully near her shirt.. Brooke could only hope).

Brooke tried her best to not look bothered by her sudden lack of clothes but she also knew that was purely idiotic since they were in the pitch black.

Nevertheless she looked down at herself, trying to discern whether her figure was actually visible or not but Montana grabbed her hand again. Making her gaze snap upward as she led her out. She knew they were going out to the water now; the sand under her feet and the fire now visible from a distance as they continued to go out. The sand becoming more grainy and nearly painful to step on as they got closer to the water.

Brooke quickly looked over her shoulder before she took the first step in - still holding onto Montana’s hand. She quickly glanced to see if any of the men they had came with were watching but surely enough they were still talking and laughing as if they didn’t even notice they had gone missing.. and they probably hadn’t given how fucked up they were.

Perfect.

She continued to hold onto Montana’s hand as she went further and further into the water; not phased by the sudden coolness she felt as the water wrapped around her legs.. submerging her further and further until they both finally stopped. The water lapping around Brookes waist, and well, nearly Montana’s chest since she was a few inches shorter than Brooke.

The water seemed to be a perfect temperature despite them being at the ocean; and the rocks had since disappeared under their feet and changed back into soft sand which also made the current situation a bit more enjoyable.

Brooke tilted her head back a bit, worried momentarily that her hair might get wet but it was worth it. It was absolutely breathtaking.

The night sky which previously looked completely black and void of any light whatsoever was now painted with what looked to be a million stars.

“Do you see this?” Brooke asked.

“What, the stars?” Montana answered, her voice holding a bit of amusement to it and almost as if she was trying to hold back a laugh.

“Yeah,” Brooke affirmed with a nod. Still keeping her gaze fixated to the night sky.

“What about them?” Montana asked.

The water rippled a bit as Montana started to a take a few steps closer towards Brooke, dissatisfied at the distance between them.

“Nothing. I just- it’s beautiful. I never do things like this,” Brooke responded, tilting her head down to make eye contact with Montana as she finished her sentence.

Montana smirked.

“Never?” She asked with a laugh. “C'mon. I’m not wet enough, let’s go deeper.”

Before Brooke could protest, Montana grabbed both of her hands and pulled her deeper in the water.

“But I didn’t bring a towel!”

“Your not gonna need one. We can warm up by the fire, remember?”

They continued to keep wading until the water almost spilled over Montana’s shoulders. The water barely touching Brookes collarbones but getting some of her hair wet regardless.

She hesitantly let go of the other woman’s hand in the water, intent on using her hand to help her gain balance since a few rocks were still on the ocean ground but - the exact opposite happened.

Brooke didn’t even have time to gasp or scream before her left foot quickly slid on a random rock that just.. of course.. had to fucking be there. Her hands quickly landed on Montana’s shoulders; the rest of her body accidentally falling into the other woman’s but she only felt Montana’s hands suddenly grab gently at her back. Holding her in place against her body.

Brookes eyes instinctively closed shut but when she slowly opened them and reluctantly lifted her head higher up (silently cursing herself for accidentally getting her hair almost entirely wet now) she noticed.. how close they were to each other.

Her nose was only centimeters away from Montana's shoulder.. which meant-

“Are you okay?” Montana asked softly, speaking unintentionally right next to her ear which made a shiver run up Brookes spine.

“Mhm,” Brooke responded.

She rose her head up further - her vision fully black now due to closing her eyes so tightly and being disoriented from slipping, but she knew from hearing Montana’s voice that she had to be close. Very close.

Moving her head a bit to the left.. almost microscopically, not wanting whatever ‘this’ was to necessarily be clumsy but she knew she didn’t necessarily have a choice in the dark.

“What are you doing?” Montana continued to whisper.

Brooke couldn’t help but to smile and let out a giggle that made her sound far more drunk than she actually was. She knew exactly where Montana’s lips were now due to her speaking. Thank god.

“You’ll see.”

Brooke leaned in slowly. Briefly bumping noses before catching Montana’s lips with her own. The feeling so heavenly and overdue - not enough but simultaneously far too much to take in all at once.

The taste of dull, gut wrenching beer started to flood her mouth. It was all that Montana basically tasted like.. that and a bit like smoke but Brooke didn’t mind. If anything it made the feelings of infatuation temporarily stronger. Brookes nails started to pierce the other woman’s back; wanting nothing more than to just have.. more. More of Montana; her taste, her hands, her touch.. the feeling was both pathetic but impossible to fight any longer.

The mere thought that this was something she was previously holding herself back from having was almost laughable but- that would be something to think about for another time.

Montana’s lips softly broke from hers.

“Eager.. aren’t you?” She teased.

Brookes eyes still refused to adjust but she knew Montana had to be grinning.

“Sorry.. I just-“

“Don’t be sorry. You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that,” Montana said lowly.

Montana suddenly leaned in with no warning. Her hands softly grabbed Brookes shoulders; leaning in to pull her bottom lip with her teeth.

After she let go, the feeling to kiss her again was strong but.. she thought of something better. The thrill of the chase was something Brooke always enjoyed, after all.

Brooke took a few steps back suddenly before quickly heading for the shore. Not really going that fast at all due to the resistance of the water pushing up against her legs but she laughed regardless.

She could hear Montana laughing and calling her a jerk in the distance but it was all just noise at this point. Her voice, the water rushing, the fire and their friends (which grew gradually louder as she approached) all started to sound the same.

Maybe the alcohol was finally kicking in.

Even though Brooke definitely felt tipsy, she still felt nervous the closer she got from being fully submerged out of the water. Maybe it was due to the fact she wasn’t certain what was going to happen at the fire, or if their friends had even heard anything but she knew atleast now she would have Montana. Exactly how she had Montana was something to be determined later, but as she finally stepped out and away from the nearly black ocean waves and ran up to the fire to go wait for Montana - she was comforted by the thought that things would now never be the same and forever would be different between the two of them.

Which had to be a good thing; right?

Taglist: @michaellangdonstanaccount @langdonsexual @jimmason @blakescoven @dark-mei-rose @9layerdevilfoodcake @prophecy-is-inevitable @matildaofoz @beautyiswithinchaos @frenchlangdon @king-with-no-crovvn @melodylangdon @littledemondani @celestialrequiem @sojournmichael @ritualmichael @waitinvain @twilightzone24

Let me know if u would like to be added or removed to the taglist hehe

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Alright alright alright

You’ve all been asking for it, so here it is! 

This will be (edit: HELLA) long and obviously spoiler-y, so everything is under a cut. 

Are you ready?

Before we get to it, I want to mention that for the sake of keeping things organized, I will NOT be talking about my AU (@ask-whitepearl-and-steven​) in this post. I want to just analyze the show as a viewer and a fan first. I’ll make a seperate post for AU-thoughts a bit later.

Without further ado:

EP 1: LITTLE HOMESCHOOL

This is a great way to open up the episode and show the changes through the lens of someone who has been a bit out of it for a while (we are all Cherry Quartz, fresh from the hiatus, aren’t we?) but I’m sorry, this post still takes the cake:

Okay, okay, back to the program.

“That used to be a loaded question...“

Right off the bat, Steven is SO much more confident about saying that he’s... HIMSELF! What a good feeling. I’m very proud of our boy. 

I love the name “Gemglyph” for the gem language! I’ll need to know who wrote these, though. And who the heck drew the diamonds? Hopefully it was BP. 

And I’m not the first one to point this out, but MORE ANIME REFERENCES!

Which can be seen as either a reference to the Chill Low-Fi Hiphop Beats to Study To OR Whisper of the Heart. 

And absolutely no one cares but something that caught my eye is the fact that they have an EARTH FLAG at Little Homeschool! How cool is that!

Earth 4ever!!! 

Off-note - I love how INVESTED they are in this conversation Pearl is having with Holo-Pearl.

Peak entertainment. 

I love Professor Amethyst and I love the random human who snuck in to apparently take lessons on Not Giving A Single Shit About Anything, Ever. 

And here we FINALLY are in the FUTURE

Where we FINALLY get Jasper as a functioning character

And 

She’s

SO DRAMATIC, I LOVE HER.

This is literally SO funny like she... she was just... laying on top of her house... under a blanket..... FOr WHAT? To stand up dramatically and throw it off when Steven inevitably paid a visit? 

Is that just what she dOES? 

“It’s FINE I don’t need any HELP, I’m FUNCTIONING, I’m just having a SELF CARE DAY OK”

Also I’m sorry but

Jasper: “It took forever to yank those puny green earthlings out of the ground.”

Steven: “You mean grass...?“

THIS. RIGHT HERE. is peak Jasper. 

It’s also curious how INVESTED Steven is in this:

“I’m TRYING to give you [a purpose]!“

Why are you... trying to do that, though? Isn’t the whole idea for gems to surpass their ‘purpose’ and just kinda... do whatever? Isn’t Jasper just kinda... doing whatever? 

I mean, sure, it’s not useful to anyone, but she seems relatively happy. Aside from. You know. The whole laying on rocks under blankets until she’s disturbed thing and-- okay, you’re right, maybe an intervention would be healthy. 

I’m not gonna talk at length about the rest of the episode - although I think it’s really good, I don’t know what I can say about it that hasn’t already been said. Jasper is definitely poking Steven’s buttons and rephrasing a LOT of what WHITE has said to Pink: “You surround yourself with inferior gems because it makes you feel better.”

And Steven REACTS to this. The taunt WORKS.

And yes, he gains some extra powers for it, but something tells me this AIN’T the only thing he will get. It feels like a two-edged sword. Like it’ll be his own downfall somehow....... maybe at the end of the series. 

Ashes to ashes.... hole to hole.

And oh wow I thought they were gonna bond but LMAO

“Consider your fight back there your first and ONLY lesson.“

Basically:

I love you Jasper.

EP 2: GUIDANCE

I LOVE YOU AMETHYST.

sHE’S doing SO much and she’s SO good at it!! Look at her!! Organizing stuff!!!! 

RUBIES IN SUNGLASSES. IN SQUARE SUNGLASSES. 

I need 20. 

And I also need 20 of Larimar because holy shit that’s hilarious. 

Larimar: “I want to hear the human screams forever.”

Steven: “Okay that’s kinda troubling.”

I love the reference to Monsters Inc here and I love the callback at the end of the episode when Larimar switches to Human Laughter to get her fill of that particular erm... need. 

And honestly the ensuing chaos is equally predictable and entertaining. 

I’m SO glad to know that Rubies are just... Like That and that actually Navy is not a deviation from the norm but rather a different flavor of the chaotic energy all Rubies naturally seem to possess. 

Amethyst is also super relatable:

“Ah yes, the fool comes crawling back. Come to beg for forgiveness, have you?”

In fact, the episode’s WHOLe HUMOUR is just very much My Brand

“Sometimes you save all the people but the rollercoaster still crashes into the ocean...... and that’s okay.”

Including the Running Gag that is Onion. Who... does not appear to have aged. At all. And that’s okay.

EP 3: ROSE BUDS

Okay where do I even begin with this one. Um.

I have to openly admit that I spent the majority of this episode wheezing with laughter. Let’s start with the Zoomans:

Who are CLEARLY STILL SUPER SALTY AT GREG ABOUT REJECTING THEM??? Which is hilarious. 

And also this paradise is fascinating in and of itself. 

But the next scene is basically where I started losing my shit.

Okay, okay, alright so. Uh. I have... a few questions.

Like Why. WHY. Does she look. SO MUCH like Rose? 

Clearly Rose Quartz differ in coloring and etc. But She literally looks. Like THE Rose. VERY explicitly. 

So here’s several options here:

1) Pink made Rose Quartz way before any of the Rebellion happened and Pearl just basically pigeonholed her into THIS specific Rose Quartz appearance because she (???) had a crush? Or somehow saw this specific Rose, thought ‘hot, i can make my sympathetic Diamond wear this exact costume and that would be EXCELLENT fanservice for ME’

2) Pink didn’t have any Rose Quartz until the Rebellion, and thereafter quickly decided ‘I need these gems as an alibi, so we’re just gonna make them” and she and Pearl basically inclubated Rose Quartz like a pokemon trainer hatching for a Shiny until they got one that looked Exactly Like That. 

3) There was no Thinking involved because this is Pink we’re talking about, and it was all just a huge coincidence for the sake of this Very Hilariously Uncomfortable Episode. 

While we ruminate on that, let’s look at some Relatable Reactions.

And here we have the holy trinity of “I have just seen the clone of my deceased parent/parental figure/lover.”

Featuring: Bonus ‘I’m Almost Over It’ Pearl

Also, I need y’all to make this into a meme:

For example:

Anyway, alright, alright. 

That relatable feel when your (hot) dead lesbian lover’s clone asks you if you’re okay after another one of the (less hot?) clones offers you a whole ass stick of butter to eat. 

And then you and your friends all hide in the bathroom to talk about your feelings:

Okay, the rest of the episode gives me FEELINGS and I love how hard Steven is trying, so I’ll just close it off with:

I LOVE THEM. Unironically, they are EVERYTHING I had hoped Rose Quartz would be. They’re SO MUCH like Rose herself - did she model her personality after them? Or are they just like her because she WAS like that, and they’re made from her essence? WHO KNOWS?! They’re adorable!

And the conflict between them and Steven is honestly so gooD! I don’t know if it’s completely relatable but I’m glad they ended up talking it out.

I wonder if we’ll ever see Her again... you know who I’m talkin’ about. 

Her....

I’m madly in love with Rose, ok, I don’t need a callout post. Just leave me be.

EP 4:  VOLLEYBALL

Alright, alright, alright.

OKAy,.... It’s fine. It’s FINE. I’m fINE. 

Confirmed: 8000 years. That’s. UH. A LOT? That puts our timelines quite a ways back. We kind of estimated as much, but still, it’s so jarring to think about. And PP is VERY casual about it. 

She’s also VERY casual about the injury.

“This is all Pink Diamond!”

It doesn’t seem like it bothers her to talk about it at all. She’s not even trying to keep it a secret. So I’m almost wondering - was there a connection to her being taken by White and the injury at all or not? 

She came to Steven to get healed - she clearly wants it gone. At the time she was injured, did Pink not even attempt to heal the injury? 

Follow up question: If she DID care, why didn’t she try to heal it?

Follow up to the follow up: Was it because she didn’t know she could? Or did she simply not have the time to (White removed her before she could)? 

When Steven goes pink, she gasps - but makes no further comment. It’s presumably because she’s seen this happen before. She doesn’t try to move away, weirdly enough - she asks him if everything is alright. Perhaps the context is too different for it to be triggering for her. Perhaps there’s more layers to it? HMMM. 

What follows is, perhaps, the SALTIEST we’ve seen Pearl since Greg rolled around.

“Did you come to compete?”

This is doubly curious to me because Crewniverse has previously explicitly stated that Pearl was NOT in love with Pink Diamond. She was in love with Rose. So if this is true, why would Pearl care about her place as Pink’s Pearl? She is supposed to be past all that, isn’t she? 

And yet as time goes on, the salinity grows exponentially. Alright, you two, I know you’re Pearls but tone it down with the sass. 

(Also, I’m sorry but I will NEVER call her Volleyball. That’s all. Bye.)

Also it’s worth noting that... PP is clearly VERY much in love with Pink.

This is, perhaps, where the lack of a grudge plays into it. She’s completely enamoured.

Moreover, she’s VERY casual about how she talks here. This isn’t exactly how one talks of their Diamond. This is how people talk about their romantic partners. She calls Pink silly, calls her ‘funny’. That’s not exactly a term of respect - it’s way more intimate than that. 

Also, did anyone else notice how, although CG Pearl’s gem is usually shaded in teal, it’s in Pink in this episode? VEEEERY subtle, Crew.

Also, we can’t quite see Pink Pearl’s expression fully here because her working eye isn’t visible, which makes it hard to get a read on things like

“I’m older than you.“ Is she just saying it casually? Or is she fully aware that she’s poking fun at CG Pearl? 

HI SHELL. ISN’T IT FUNNY HOW YOUR VOICE AND YOUR NAME ARE A SUBTLE NOD TO PORTAL, WHICH IS FORESHADOWING HOW BADLY THIS IS GONNA END. 

Meanwhile, Pearl continues to be in character.

“No need to be overly... attached.”

And this has nothing to do with anything but

she cute

Aaaand now it’s creepy again.

The rest of this is super important so let’s get to it:

“Oh, no. Pink did this.”

“What did you say?”

“It’s a funny story, really. Once, Pink got tired of asking Yellow and Blue for her own colony, so she went straight to White. Of course, White told her she wasn’t fit to run one... and well! That set her off.”

“Set her off? What are you talking about?”

“You remember how she was! With her destructive powers, throwing tantrums left and right! She had a scream that could crack the walls. She didn’t mean to hurt me! (giggle) I just happened to be standing too close to her that time and--”

And then Steven interrupts. 

We get more CG Pearl arguing for how wrong this image of Pink is to her. What CG Pearl knew was a totally different (or, well, same, but VERY changed) Pink. 

But what we have to prove our point is Steven himself. He rolls into the EXACT same state as Pink presumably did - and begins to over-use his powers. 

(This isn’t the first time we have seen him use this attack.)

The reactions from the Pearls are telling - this is clearly not Pink Pearl’s first rodeo with this type of Mood. 

And it’s important to note that Steven clearly didn’t direct any attack AT them. He simply yelled - and the whole dang place literally started to crack. There’s weight to the argument that possibly, Pink really DIDN’T mean to hurt her Pearl - that she was just collateral damage. 

Which doesn’t make it any better, obviously. Even if Pink had no direct intention of hurting her Pearl (and there are theories that Pink purposefully hit or threw Pink Pearl or somehow physically acted directly to damage her, which I was skeptical of) the result of it is still the same.

If you raise your voice and yell, even if you’re just yelling because YOU are hurt/have feelings, you might still hurt the people around you. If you throw a tantrum, even if your direct goal was just to let off some steam without aiming to harm anyone, whoever gets in your way is still the victim. 

And this is all very much On Brand for Pink’s timeline as we know it. We already knew this about her - we KNEW she tended to throw tantrums (like in the flashback on Jungle Moon) and that she was childish. The fact that she accidentally hurt her Pearl in the process because she had no self-control at that period in her life comes as no surprise. 

(Although it’s important to mention that perhaps hurting her own Pearl WAS the breaking point during which she finally realized how her emotional outbursts could have negative consequences on those around her.)

And this is a very beautiful message - even if Pink Pearl still doesn’t want to blame Pink for what was done to her (”But... she didn’t mean to!”) Pearl brings the point of it back around to her (”But you were still hurt!”) The point isn’t the person who did the hurting - the focus is on the victim and how they were affected. 

And the rest, I daresay, is history. 

I like the fact that they managed to still bring it back around to the main message: 

It isn’t about just “Pink was bad”. It’s about how she did bad things. And there were multiple sides to her - multiple stages. And the Pearls who knew her knew different sides of her - the side that didn’t know how to be a good person, who was selfish and childish and unrestrained... and  the side that was, arguable, too restrained. Who hated her own past, her own character and her own mistakes so much that she would rather bury them and keep secrets from everyone. 

And neither of those things were good, and neither were healthy, but they are a GREAT contrast to a GREAT character arc that is, arguably, still being unearthed. And we have so much more context for it all now. 

I, for one, can’t wait to see and discover more of Pink through Pink Pearl - no matter how ugly that side of her might be. I think it gives great perspective to her later growth. 

And if you ship the Pearls.. .well, I get why. 

Personally I’m not interested in it that way. Call me unromantic - I don’t think their relationship NEEDS to be shippy in order to be satisfyingly deep. I love the idea of them having a deep bond over this - a shared past, a shared experience, and gaining confidence through one another. 

Cheers and thanks for listening!

[yoichichi]

Bunny’s 200 follower event

request: Hey, congratulations on 200 followers, you truly deserve them :) ! Matchup for aot please? I'm bi, a preference towards girls irl but men in anime and fiction. I'm Intp, 5w6, true neutral. I like drawing, swimming, video games, sleeping. I have some weird "hobbies" like sitting in front of my washing machine when it's done and smelling all the clean clothes, taking photos of every single cat I see, sitting alone in my rooftop and listening to music late at night. I also have a lot of scented stuff laying around because I'm a sucker for nice clean smells. I consider myself smart, Im not social and I don't like crowds. Although I might seem cold or uninterested at first, I'm kind, trusting and understanding to those I open up to. I can be pretty lazy, however I always finish important stuff and never leave my room dirty. I'm 5"8, with an athletic and slightly curvy body type. I want an understanding and loyal partner. Preferably introverted, or at least someone that doesn't mind having more casual dates at home. I'm the "bottom" in a relationship so I would also look for someone who is more of a "top". I've found myself attracted to multiple ISTPs, but also other INTPs. I wouldn't want a loud, super extroverted or hot headed partner. (ex.bakugo, connie) I'm not very good at expressing emotions so I would prefer someone that can be patient with me and won't move things too fast. Sorry this is long, and thank you for doing this :>❤️

a/n: hi luv! Thanks for sending in the first request! And please don’t apologize for the length at all! I hope you enjoy! This is also not canonverse! I write these in mind with modern!au if that makes sense :)

Warnings: nsfw-ish themes but generally sfw

Reading your request, you have been matched with...

(づ￣ ³￣)づ Reiner Braun

Ok first things first with you and Reiner: naps naps naps

This man is big, warm, definitely smells like fresh laundry, and definitely likes to cuddle. So the fact you like to sleep? Yeah napping is becoming his favorite pastime with you

Definitely a big spoon type of guy but would also love it with your face buried in his chest, you can also smell how good he smells this way!

Tell him he smells good and he ~will get flustered idc

Ok but this man would send photos of cats to you

He’d be on a run and see a cat and immediately whip out his phone to send you a Snapchat, that’s like the only time he uses it at this point LMAO

Reiner would be such an understanding partner and LOVE stay at home dates

He’s definitely a bit of a homebody so getting to have cute little dates where you guys cook some stupid fancy dinner together are a must

He’s on the quieter side like you in public but definitely takes charge in the relationship with initiating things

The type to order for you in public and remember your order exactly but still looks at you after every time like, “that’s what you wanted, right?”

Please kiss his cheek and reassure him it’s correct it’ll make his year

The top in the relationship for sure, but also very soft with you

So even though he’s taking charge, he’ll always be asking for reassurance you’re alright and checking in with you constantly

He wouldn’t admit it but he would want you to draw him LMAO

Like he’d also just be so obsessed with watching you draw

Is he staring at you or the drawing? I don’t know if you catch him staring at you he will think about it for a week and get red every time it crosses his mind

I don’t see him as a big video game player but he would definitely watch you play them and just be so 👁👄👁 and ask SO many questions that I feel Iike would just make it even more confusing for him LMAO

Reiner is the king of understanding and patience

He will go as slow as you need and listen and do his best to support you as best he can

Late night cuddle convos are his fav bye ✋🏼

Your vibe reminds me of...

Another suitable match for you would be...

(づ￣ ³￣)づ Armin Arlert

This man is another VERY understanding and supportive person

Now before anyone says anything this man is not a bottom and definitely takes charge in a relationship idc

Service top service top service top anyways moving on

He loves taking care of people and that includes you

He’s very attentive and good at knowing when your social battery is running low and is taking you home and scooping you into his arms so fast

Another big spoon type of guy

He loves having his face buried in the back of your neck with your back against his chest and his arms wrapped around you

Something about feeling you that close and secure to him just hits different for him

Candle lover omg

He’s a chronic bath and body works gift card holder it’s almost a problem LMAO

Sometimes he goes to the store and if he see’s a candle he think you might like he will buy it and bring it home like :) here, smell :) and just be holding it out at your face like :) you like it?

Ok idk why but he definitely likes to cup your face

Like you’ll be on the couch chillin and he’ll get up and stretch to go to the kitchen or something and see you and just 🥺🤲🏼

“You’re so cute 🥺🤲🏼” and it’s like, grandma aggressive

Like he’s squishing your cheeks and moving your head around and talking so loud and then leaves a stupid big kiss on your forehead and then walks off after like what he did was completely justified and normal

Ok so being with Armin does come with eren LMAO

Eren would want to play video games with you ~so bad

Cause you’re his besties partner!! He wants to make you feel like you’re apart of the group!

Armin absolutely loves if you beat him if that’s an element in the game

He finds it 1. Hilarious and 2. Hot LMAO

You can’t tell me he’d be kinda 🙂😏😳🙂 if you beat Eren

He doesn’t know if it’s his pride or what but something about it...

Ok obviously he loves swimming with you like, c’mon

He doesn’t care where, recreational pool? Check ✅ Beach? Check ✅ lake? Check ✅

This man just loves doing things with you and he loves swimming so :)

He will lather you in sunscreen at the beach whether you think you need it or not

You couldn’t say anything to him about it

He’d just be putting the sunscreen in his hands and then give you a ~look

He’d just raise his eyebrows and purse his lips and look so DONE just-

“(y/n), give me your arm.”

Loves rubbing your arms while you cuddle idc

He’s very caring and patient with you and his favorite way to show he cares is through his devotion and affection 💓

Your vibe reminds me of...

eek! Here’s the first post in my event! I really hope you liked it! Please let me know your thoughts!

Requests are still open until February 26th 8:00 pm PST

-🐇out

[sarenhale]

Honestly, relating to your WoW/FFXIV post, I wonder if the 'great community, by the way' thing only has become what it has because the influx of WoW players? I hope it stops because acting like everyone in XIV is a perfect saint is only going to upset people even more if someone is even slightly less positive in game. I don't know I hope the whole WoW vs FFXIV stuff dies down, even Yoshi-P had to basically say 'shut up, WoW is what we want XIV to be, and we'll never even touch the heights WotLK had.' I just think if Blizzard hadn't been ousted as a bunch of sexual abusers it wouldn't be this extreme, like trashing WoW is kind of 'slacktivism' in a way. Sorry this is so long you're just the only person I've followed that did the WoW -> XIV jump and you haven't really done the extreme 180 everyone else has, and I think you have good opinions on things. Also I hope you have a good day :)

Thanks for the kind words! I'm flattered to hear that you like my opinions and attitude. I do try my best to not be grating over things like games.

I will put a 'read more' because I do get into a bit in detail for this ask.

I personally do get a bit tired of the costant ffxiv and wow comparison and debate too. That's why I sometimes make fun of it in a light way, and make jokes or memes about it, but also keep to myself when debates come out and people start complaining or piling up discourse over discourse. I'm just glad to enjoy my game and see people enjoying it too, that's enough for me. I honestly don't have the patience or age to withstand game discourse anymore lmao.

I completely understand why people would want to switch games because of the recent Blizz horrifying actions, the fact that the game apparently hasn't been fun or well curated in a long time, or just for funsies and switching things up. I'm absolutely not complaining about the switch in games, if anything, I'm glad people are giving other games a chance. But I am a bit tired about the costant comparison, discourse, and millions of videos essays where people try to defend wow (as if you needed to defend a game you like... you can enjoy that game, period, and not create wars over it), or people making huge ffxiv against wow essays. Like I said some months ago, I studied the whole 'wow effect' for my thesis years ago for my Uni degree and I don't plan to go back at studying the phenomenon cause I just don't care about it anymore, to be honest.

I think sometimes people are just way too over protective of things they care about, like games, and when change occurs they react with panic and overprotection over something they can't control - people migrating over games, new influx of players, etc - instead of seeing the whole thing as something of a natural process all games and popular media are subject to. Like, imagine how bad things would be for every game or media if stuff NEVER changed. Especially for MMOS, that's a death sentence. And you don't want that for your favourite game. Even WOW suffering player loss might be a good thing in the end, it might force the companies to rethink their approach to games and community, since a lot of problems laid in there.

I played my fair share of WOW during my Uni years. I played for around 3 years or something, on and off with friends irl and online, and enjoyed my experience. Overall, I still have very good memories of fun and friendship in WOW, and it's a game I still like aesthetically a lot, along with its story and fantasy races. Hell, sometimes I think about how much I miss my WOW ocs, and drawing WOW related stuff.

But I don't think my relationship to WOW was as intense as some people's - I did transition from WOW to FFXIV, but I spent something like 2 years when I stopped playing WOW (I started in mists of pandaria, stopped around the beginning of battle for azeroth times) playing almost no videogames. So it wasn't like I switched from a game to the other immediately, I think mine was more of a timed and organic switch, I didn't start playing FFXIV until quarantine hit and I had nothing to do (and was feeling really bad and needed a distraction from the imminent doom), and I also got my new desktop computer knowing I could start playing a new game comfortably, and not on a toaster-like computer like I was doing during the WOW days. (computer shutting down due to overheating mid-raid, it was fun)

So maybe the fact that I didn't do the 180 turnaround switch like some other WOW players is what makes the difference in attitude and thinking. When I started playing FFXIV, I didn't have WOW fresh in my mind so I could do costant comparisons between the two games, or my affection towards WOW kinda like... influencing my taste, or opinion of the new game in any way.

WOW was a good memory but nothing more. I never forged a huge relationship with the game anyway, so it's probably what's different between me and other players that maybe (understandably) have more history with it. I engaged with it, liked it for a game I could spend some free time on, and then moved on when I got bored with it. That's kinda it. I understand that some people who have been playing for way more years than me might have a more affectionate memory or relationship with WOW, and that might be something that influences their reasoning sometimes. But it's also a bit of a common thing withing some communities like WOW- something that people could definitely abandon and move on, change attitude. Time and game change. There's no point in getting stuck in the past with the old WOW glory days, and that kind of sentiment- we're not getting back in time, and change should always be something to be embraced, especially in games and MMOS. Changing views, games and opinions is the base of not getting stuck in the same state of mind and I highly encourage people to do it.

As for the ‘critiquing WOW has become super extreme and almost like it’s a rule’... I mean... yeah? That’s the effect that often times ‘problematic’ things have on large crowds of people online. It’s to be expected, but it doesn’t come from nothing- a lot of bad things piled up in the game, the company, the community and their attitude- and it just so happened some things tipped the waters over and everything came out in a costant flow during the past year or so. But it doesn’t come from nothing- it’s just a result of people being genuinely critic of the game they engaged with, which is something good to do. 

So yeah, I appreciate the ask! I like hearing from people that follow other games too and may have experiences similar to mine, and I'm also grateful that you've been following me from so many years since I was playing WOW, to now.

That said... I would like to keep asks like these to a minimum. I enjoyed this ask because it gave me a point of inspiration to think about my journey from games, and the chance of talking about something I care about (and I would like to think I know something about too, degree and experience and all...), but I don't plan to respond to more comments or asks that might move towards a more 'discoursy' tone of this same "ffxiv and wow" topic. I do enjoy asks like these but you can't count on everyone making a good and civil argument when asking questions, so I do have to keep a firm hand on asks and topics sometimes, or people get rowdy and think my tumblr blog is the new reddit. It has already happened with some people coming to my askbox to complain about shit I genuinely couldn't care less about. That will just get your question deleted, go to reddit if you want to complain or fuel the flames. I'm just here to vibe.

[toukenramblings]

Modern!Au: House Husband!Shokudaikiri Mitsutada

Man Mitsu sure is popular huh? I don’t blame y’all at all! He’s a goooood man <3

Warnings: NSFW WHOOO BOI

SFW

See you and Mitsu live in utter marriage bliss. He always wakes up early to make you food but then there are days when he just stays in bed. Half asleep but mostly just observing you and your form. You married him for a reason, him and his scarred self? Hello? It makes him want to cry at the thought. 

He’s a morning person no doubt, and there’s already a full course breakfast ready for you when you wake up. Lateness tends to happen and depending on how much time you have before you go to work, he’ll adjust the food to the amount/time needed. If you’re super late, you’ll at least have some kind of sandwich all wrapped up for you as you leave. 

He makes the cutest fucking lunches, social media worthy - posting it all on Instagram the minute he finished cooking and decorating it. EVen when it’s just you two and you have time together like lunch or dinner or a brunch on a day off, he will ask you to wait for a moment while he takes a good picture of the food he had made! Even if you two are out and about, he has to show everyone!

Whenever he does make something and post it on to the social media sites, there is always some kinda sugary sweet caption like, “Maybe this delicious meal for my spouse! I think I did pretty good, I hope they will like it!!”  ヽ(*⌒▽⌒*)ﾉ or “I made their favorite food today and their eyes lit up like stars! Ah, I’m so luckyyyy”  o(>ω<)o

If you do forget your lunch/have time during lunch break at work, expect Mitsu to always come and visit! He will drop everything just to be there! Will always arrive some minutes early, thirty minutes most likely; mostly to either beat the traffic and spend more quality time with you! He doesn’t mind waiting! You’re more than worth that wait!!!

Yeah a lot of people will be asking a lot about your husband, you may have to fight them off lmao. But Micchan publicly will say over and over again that you’re the only one for him! No need to worry!!! Will publicly kiss you as well!

Expect a lot of PDA in public. Sure Micchan will get all flustered but will quickly recover to press all sorts of kisses to your face and hold you hand!!! Hold hands!!!

Will get pouty as hell and will text you about it too if you don’t give him a morning kiss.

Will also send little silly texts to you at random times! It’s mostly little tidbits about his day and how much he misses you. Joking little things like, “Counting down the hours until you come home~<3″

When you do come home, kisses and hugs first! He has dinner all ready for you and had been sending you sneak peaks all day about what he’s making! Of course he posts the damn thing on the internet anyway but like it doesn’t hurt to play a little guessing game!

Expect Tsuru, Kuri, and Taikogane to visit a lot! It’s kinda like a game night for all of you!

Of course speaking of date nights, you always get food for Mitsu, he works and cooks a lot anyway. You always have date nights where you just order take out or go out to eat, just to give him a break and kisses and stuff! Spoil him!!!! Take him out to dance! Go for a walk! Hold hands!! Have a movie night!!!

Micchan is also the kind of man who will take your surname after you two married, that or combine them somehow!

NSFW

Kitchen off limits when you’re gonna do that do. No way man. Sure you can tease each other in the kitchen, like that banana trick, but like actually doing the do? No that’s for the bedroom.

If you two send each other naughty texts, be prepared for...audio clips, videos, and the ilk. He wants you to know how you make him feel, and how lonely he is without you. You have to excuse yourself to deal with his shenanigans. Of course those are rare, he prefers softcore sexting.

Yes he will do a naked apron thing, yes he will make YOU do a naked apron thing.

YEAH PRAISE KINKS ARE STILL A THING. YES HE’S GOING TO PRAISE YOU ALL THE TIME YOU TWO ARE DOING THE DO. NOTHING BUT PRAISES MAN. 

Is also that kind of man who will prepare himself when you get home, “Welcome home darling, would you prefer dinner, a bath, or me?” and while his cheeks are flushed, there is a big ol smile on his lips. He’s rEADY. 

Micchan is more than prepped when it comes to aftercare. Water, fresh bedding, kisses, cuddles, so on and so forth!!!

Your wedding night well uh, none of you slept okay? Micchan honestly had a long cry before you two started having sex. He just couldn’t believe that this happened??? YOu two are married now! TOgether! Tied the knot!! HOw could he not be happy???? And then when you two have sex for the first time as a married couple Micchan is so happy. You’re the only one who can see him like this, and he is the only one who can see you like this. It’s private and intimate, he adores it and you!

As said in my general NSFW headcanons, Mitsu is a wildcard in terms of wanting to do the do. It’s kind of sporadic, and it’s easy to tell when he wants to do the do though. His eye will wander your body, and his hands will ghost everywhere~

Glove kink and hand kink stays. He loves your hands, especially when they’re wrapped around his cock, hehehe. 

As a house husband, the house is his to watch. So he won’t lie that he hasn’t fantasized of fucking you in various parts of the home you two share. 

Isn’t afraid to lightly tease you in public either, especially if someone is trying to make moves on you.

Overall, it’s not that much different than normal TouDan Mitsu but if anything, the body worship is WAY more prominent here. 

[rothane]

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Gang violence, violence against women and violence in general. Nothing super graphic and it’s honestly mostly just fade to black and implied, but just to be safe. References to arson and housefires in part one.

NOTES: Technically the first half should have been posted a week ago but I did not get that far lmao so now it’s just all in one. I didn’t proof read so good luck ig.

TLDR; The man Georgia shot last week approached Ro for help in the hospital parking lot and she turned him down; a week later the Rogues beat her ass.

FEBRUARY 5, 2021 / MIDNIGHT

With fires breaking out all over town, the medical center had been all hands on deck. Rowan was sure she broke every traffic bylaw in the book on her way there, hastily dropping all four children off with her parent’s and barely managing to give them a rundown on what was happening. Her heart felt like it was in her throat when she left, unsure what kind of fresh hell she was going to be walking into when she got there and trying to plan for the absolute worst case scenarios. House fires are always tricky. She has a hard time putting herself in her patients shoes, finding herself walking a balanced line of emotional and professional while she keeps it together for all of their sake, even if she knows she’ll cry when she gets back in her car at the end of the night. It’s getting exhausting --- every day seems like it just brings a new battle for them, and honesty she isn’t sure how much longer the town is going to be able to stay standing.

Her shift at the hospital goes by exactly as she thinks it will. She holds herself together amongst all of the tragedy, delivering care to her patience with professionalism and empathy for their situations. It’s difficult to leave them at the end of the night, knowing that they’ve just had their entire lives ripped out from under them. Harper doesn’t have a home to go back to tomorrow when she’s released, the last memory she had of her fiance having literally gone up in flames right in front of her. Her niece will be staying at the hospital for at least a week, if not longer. Her little body has taken far more damage than it should have, leaving her lungs compromised and her breathing in need of assistance. Rowan knows, sadly, that this is only the start of a long journey of recovery for the little girl not to mention her brothers and her mother, who are all sure to have some sort of PTSD from the ordeal. Part of her doesn’t want to leave at all, knowing that her best friend and her sister could both use the support of her there but honestly, she’s running on fumes and she just can’t stay there any longer. So she makes her rounds and says her goodbyes, promising to be back in the morning and takes her leave.

When she finally makes it down to the parking lot, she’s so tired she isn’t paying attention to her surroundings. It’s something that she can practically hear her husband scolding her about, but in the moment all she can think about is going home, taking a shower and sinking into bed for the next six hours. She’s pulled from those longing thoughts, however, at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. She nearly drops her keys, letting out a yelp as she spins around to see who it is. She doesn’t recognize either of them. A man and a woman in cuts she can only assume say Rogues on the back of them, the man clearly in need of medical attention as what looks to be a bullet wound on one of his arms seeps blood onto the concrete around them.

“He needs help.”

Rowan barely hears the words over the sound of her heart beating in her chest and she’s already mentally calculating how long it will take her to turn around and get into her car. She’s pretty sure she can outrun them, given the state the man is in but she has no idea if they’re armed or not -- though she has a feeling it’s leaning more toward the former.

“He needs to go inside. The doctor on call will take care of him.”

The response that comes is what she had been expecting, but she backs up enough that her back is against the SUV when the woman begins speaking again. “We’re not here to have a paper trail followin’ us. We know you work for the club off the books. You’re gonna do the same for us.”

Before Rowan has a chance to properly respond, the man makes a noise of pain. His partner is distracted, giving Rowan a window of opportunity to make her move and within a split second, she’s slamming the door behind her as she gets into her car. A second later, the door handle is being violently yanked on, and she glances out the window to see the man slumped against a car a few rows away and the woman banging on the glass.

“If you leave now you’re gonna regret it.”

But it falls on deaf ears, shaking hands moving to put the car into drive, tires screeching as she flies out of the parking lot and watches her figure get smaller in the rearview. For a moment, she wonders if the whole thing had been some kind of exhaustion induced hallucination, sure that something like that couldn’t have actually just happened. But the blood streaked handprint on her window is a difficult reminder that, unfortunately, it had been very, very real. A string of curses leave her lips before taking a deep breath, fighting off the urge to vomit and while she wants to head straight home, Rowan knows better. While she had only seen two people, who really knows just how many members of the Rogues had been there and she picks up her phone to call Ryder while taking random turns on the off chance that someone is tailing her.  Ten minutes later she finally gets home, Ryder having met her in the driveway and his presence is more than enough to keep her from completely losing her shit.

FEBRUARY 14, 2021 / 7 PM.

Rowan is late --- something she doesn’t do very well with. A follow up appointment with a patient from a few weeks ago having gone over time and left her scrambling to change out of her scrubs and into her dress in her office bathroom. When she finally comes out, still struggling to get her shoes on, she can tell the prospect who has been stuck with babysitting duty is anxious. It’s clear in the way he checks his watch for the third time since he sat down in the patient’s vacated seat, and the way he can’t stop bouncing his leg.

“You got a hot date waitin’ on you, Todd?” She teases him gently, and his cheeks flush with embarrassment.

His voice is higher than usual when he answers back, sheepish and uncharacteristically shy at being called out. “My girlfriend. She made dinner tonight, and she’s not a real patient lady.”

“Sounds familiar,” she snorts in response, finishing the buckle on her shoe and slipping her jacket up and over her shoulders. Todd is still just a prospect and obviously has a ways to go before he actually finds himself patched in and able to give his girlfriend the Old Lady title but if she’s as impatient and stubborn as he has lead her to believe over the weeks, Rowan has a feeling she’ll be able to hold her own more than well enough.  “I’ll make you a deal, once we get down to the parking lot we can part ways. I’m just goin’ over to the restaurant anyways, there’s no need to follow me.” It’s clear that he’s about to protest, surely going over the laundry list of threats her husband has made over the last month and Rowan is quick to interrupt. “It’ll be our secret. If you make it home on time maybe you can still get lucky tonight.”

And that has him embarrassed enough that the poor kid doesn’t bother arguing anymore. Instead, they take the elevator down to the main floor where Rowan signs out and they take their leave. His motorcycle is parked next to her car, and they exchange goodbyes and Rowan gets in one more teasing jab about him having a goodnight before the two of them take separate exits. The drive to the restaurant is less than twenty minutes, and Rowan figures if she speeds, she can make it in twelve. But judging by the flashing lights behind her, she has a feeling that hadn’t been her greatest idea. She curses under her breath, pulling over to the side of the road as what she assumes is a police cruiser pulls up behind her. She fumbles to get her license and registration out after rolling the window down and she’s already spewing an excuse when someone approaches the door.

“I know I was speedin’. Sorry, office I---”

But it dies on her lips when the person leans forward and she sees the same woman from a week earlier. “Hey sweetheart. Remember me?”

The words have her blood running cold, but before she can think of an escape plan the familiar feeling of fingers tangling in her hair pulls her back to the moment, her face coming down with a harsh blow to meet the steering wheel. “You should’ve just helped us when you had the chance.” Rowan’s already disoriented, though she begins to fully panic when her door is flung open and she is pulled from the vehicle. After that, everything seems to be muted and dark, she’s barely aware of what is going on around her and she passes out after only a few moments. Two hours later, she wakes up back at the hospital --- this time finding herself in a paper gown and a hospital bed, a heart monitor beeping steadily beside her.

[cryptidofthekeys]

Yandere Chase x Reader (An Average Day in Hell)

TRIGGER WARNINGS: YANDERE BEHAVIOR, KILLING/BEATING TO DEATH, DEATH, SLIGHT MANIPULATION??? (unintentionally and intentional technically speaking), MENTIONS OF A CAR CRASH BUT NOTHING TOO IN DETAIL OF THAT, ALSO DIVORCE MENTIONS, AND SOME SLIGHT ABUSE AT THE END PLEASE KEEP THESE IN MIND BEFORE READING

im not good at titles either also this one is like SUPER fucking long as well- so a keep reading is 100% needed also probs gonna tag it with long post just to be super safe

also wanna interact with the yandere egos? Well, shoot me an ask and I’ll post a link to the sideblog on my main (not gonna copy n paste that here, it took a good few minutes to get this story off my docs n shit lmao)

You were out for a nice walk on one of the trails nearby your house, it was one of the trails you could walk on without worrying about running into anyone, and you liked it that way… You’d rather not deal with a lot of people, you continued onward, taking in the beautiful scenery of the trees, the forest surrounding the area was so beautiful this time of year… The trees were all turned to such pretty colors, that doesn’t mean they weren’t pretty before of course, they just became even more beautiful than before that’s all. You were so distracted you hadn’t even noticed the man that was suddenly walking next to you, you were so fixated by trees until the man coughed into his sleeve and this made you jump and stumble backwards until you were suddenly on your ass.

The man looked down at you and he almost seemed panicked “Oh shit dude! I’m so sorry! I didn’t like, mean to spook ya!” He extended a hand “Are you alright, bro?” You looked at the man for a moment, he had a dark gray heather shirt on, black denim jeans, combat boots, and his hair was a grassy green color, and he wore a baseball cap of sorts with a skull on it, his eyes were a bright ocean blue, overall he looked like a pretty average dude, an average bro some would say (that was the stupidest thing thats ever come outta my mouth imma shut the fuck up now), you realized you had been staring at him for the past few moments, to avoid making this any more awkward, you took his hand and thanked him for helping you get to your feet.

The man grinned happily “No problem, I mean, it was my fault after all, I scared the absolute fuck outta ya” There was a pause before he cleared his throat “My name’s Chase, Chase Brody!” He offered a hand for you to shake, of course, not wanting to be rude you returned it “It’s nice to meet you, Chase… My name is (Y/N)... I uh, don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before?” You questioned which made the man chuckle a little bit “Yeah, I uh, I’m new here technically, I just like, needed to go out and get some fresh air ya know, that’s all… I take it that not many people use this trail here, yeah?” You nodded “Yeah, it’s rare to see ANYBODY on this trail, well, except for me that is, I always use this trail for that reason” You smiled, this man was at least friendly enough… The two of you continued walking up the trail, might as well at least have someone to converse to while you're walking “Sooo…” The man began “How long ya lived in these parts, because it’s like, really beautiful!” You nodded “Yeah, it’s one of the reasons I moved here actually, because of the beautiful scenery…”

Chase nodded at this “Same, I mean, don’t get me wrong, where I lived before?” He paused, rubbing his shoulder rather awkwardly “Aha… It had SOME beautiful areas but nothing compared to this!” Chase looked as if he were about to say something else but he must’ve decided against it because he just paused for a few moments, trying to think of something else to say “So uh, what do you do exactly? Like, do you have a job? Orrr any hobbies?” You shrugged “A few things here and there, as for a job? Uhh, well… I work at that old timey family diner in town actually” Chase’s smile widened “Oh damn, that sounds cool, I don’t think I’ve been to that one yet, I have explored a little bit of the town though…” 

You nodded “Well, I mean, there’s always time to check it out!” Chase nodded and looked up towards the sky and frowned “Ah shit, it’s getting a lil late… I need to like, go pick my kids up from school n shit, you know how it goes”

You blinked in surprise “You have kids?” Chase nodded “Yep! Two boys and one girl!” Damn… You didn’t expect that, but then the man began to run off, he turned back to wave "Gotta hurry n go! I’ll seeya sometime maybe!” You gave him a wave back and just like that he was gone… You smiled, that was a nice conversation at least… Even if you usually liked to be alone on this trail and not to talk, in fact this time it was the exact opposite… You hoped you’d see him again, truth be told ...Maybe one day, for now you focused on getting through the rest of the trail, and maybe then after this, you’d head into town if you still had time for it… Eventually, you did manage to get through the trail, it took a long while, longer than you would’ve liked but you still had some time to kill for the day, so you headed back and then off into town you went, you’d just browse around for the day… Seeing what was at the shops today and such as that.

You headed into one of the bookstores to see if they had anything you’d be interested in reading or purchasing, you looked around each aisle and looked at each genre, you found a book called an 'An Average Day in Hell' ...You inspected the book and skimmed through some of the pages, it was about a man ironically enough named Chase, you snorted at the title, the dialogue and narration was just... "...This all sounds cheesy as fuck..." You then put the book back and finished up in the bookstore, nothing really caught your eye so you then headed for the next shop, it was a clothing store, maybe you could find some cute outfits in there! You headed inside and glanced around at all the options, this store had a lot of things... There were fancy suits, casual clothing, etc. As you browsed around the shop you suddenly paused and shivered, you had a feeling... A weird feeling, like someone was watching you... You casually turned around and saw that nobody was there ...Maybe you were just imagining things.

(this is future me at past me while breaking the fourth wall there: ...Hm, not the WORST but definitely not the best use of fourth wall breaks, im, not proud of that part okay moving on)

You shook your head and continued to browse around, you pulled out one of the outfits that had particularly caught your attention, and went into one of the changing rooms, you tried on the outfit and examined how it looked on you, you liked this one, you liked it a lot ...You just needed to make sure it was within your price range before you actually bought it, you looked at the price and it was... Way too much for you to afford unfortunately, you sighed and took the outfit off and put your original clothing back on, you then put the outfit back on the rack and went on your way, you headed for one of the ice cream shops, some ice cream would cheer you up for sure! You were about to head inside before three kids rushed into the shop, practically pushing you aside, a very familiar voice called out to them in a scolding manner "Now kids! It's rude to push people like that! No ice cream until you apologize!" The man turned towards you and was about to apologize for his kids before... "No way... (Y/N)? Is that you?" 

You smiled and turned to face Chase "Hey Chase! Takin' the kids out for some ice cream?" The man grinned and nodded "Yepperino!" The kids came up to you "We're sorry for shoving you (Y/N)! Very sorry!"

You shook your head "It's alright, I imagine you were just excited for the ice cream, yeah?" The kids eagerly nodded and were about to run off again before their father stopped them "Now now, don't just go runnin' off! Ya need to meet daddy's friend!" The kids came over and Chase pointed at the eldest son "This is Trey" then to the second eldest, the daughter "This is Chelsea" and then finally to the youngest son "And this is Greyson...!" 

(looked on wiki for the potential boys, so two potential canon names and one I just bullshitted til I got a girl-esque name in my brain)

Greyson hid behind Chase, the boy seemed pretty shy... Meanwhile Trey and Chelsea greeted you instantly "It's nice to meet you (Y/N)!" You smiled "It's nice to meet you too kiddos!" Greyson grabbed Chase's shirt who knelt down instantly "What's up kiddo?" Greyson whispered into Chase's ear who smiled "Greyson says it's nice to meet you too..." Chase stood back up and whispered to you "He's a very shy kid around strangers, he'll get used to you eventually" You nodded and with introductions and such out of the way, you all proceeded to get some ice cream, Chase insisted on buying you some but you refused, you were not going to make him pay for you like that.

Eventually after defeating Chase and getting him to relent from his actions... All of you then sat down to enjoy your ice cream, Trey got some vanilla, Chelsea got some strawberry, Greyson got some chocolate, Chase had gotten some cookies and cream, and you had gotten your favorite as well 

(i'm not gonna specify that, i mean y'all know what ya like)

 As you were eating some of your ice cream, you sighed and set the cup down for a few moments, Chase noticed this and he looked concerned "Is somethin' wrong (Y/N)?" You looked up at Chase before leaning in to whisper, you didn't exactly want the kids hearing this "I dunno... It's just... I was browsing in the clothing shop near here and I just... I got the feeling someone might've been watching me..." Chase's concern grew at this as he whispered back "Oh? Did ya like, manage to see anybody...?" You shook your head "Not at all... I dunno, maybe it was just my imagination playing tricks on me or something..." Chase shrugged "I'd hope it's just your imagination... I'd be pretty spooked if someone was followin' me for sure..." Chase then paused to...

...No, no, he did not just do that... He did not do what you think he just did ...Oh my god he did, he did the absolute thing you thought he did, it's evident in the ice cream... ...Chase just bit. Into. His. Ice. C r e a m... You cringed at this "Chase, Imma be honest with you, if you do that again in front of me, I WILL get up and leave this table" The man grinned and let out a little laugh "Aww c'mon bro! Don't leave me!" ...His tone sounded off there, maybe his voice cracked, because it definitely sounded like a bit of one, either way you couldn't help but giggle "I'm kidding, but please, resist from biting your ice cream like that" Chase chuckled "Okay, okay, I won't bite my ice cream again ...Maybe..." You gave him a playful glare to which he just grinned and finger gunned at, the rest of the evening was spent cracking jokes back and forth, Chase threatening to bite into his ice cream again and then threatened to bite yours, to which you responded by holding the cup near you and muttering out a 'my precious...' in a low raspy voice.

The way you said that and the sheer silliness of the situation caused Chase to practically burst with laughter, you joined in as well, it did turn a few heads but the two of you didn't seem to care, his kids had finished their ice cream a good bit ago and were just sitting there, they seemed... Really happy at the scenario right now... Eventually you looked out the window and your eyes widened as you immediately stood up, this caused Chase to pause before tilting his head "What's up?" You sighed "As much as I've enjoyed our evening... I really need to get going... It's getting super late, and I just, I hate walking home late at night..." Chase nodded "Ah yeah... I should get the kids home too, if ya want, I can drive ya back to your place" You smiled "Oh no no, I don't wanna trouble you..." Chase reached out and gently grasped your hand "(Y/N), I promise, it isn't any trouble at all, you didn't let me buy ya any ice cream so at LEAST lemme do this for ya" You sighed, you couldn't argue with this one and you nodded "If you insist"

Chase smiled and nodded, standing up and getting out of the booth, motioning for his kids to come on which they did, you all headed out and hopped into Chase's car, he cranked it up and then off he drove, in the direction of your house, there wasn't much talking in the car, as both Chelsea and Trey had fallen asleep, Greyson was in the seat twiddling with his thumbs, eventually Chase did make it back to your house, he pulled into the driveway "Welp, here we are, home sweet home! Er, for you that is I guess" You smiled and turned toward Chase "...I just, thank you Chase... Really, you know... I had a lot of fun tonight, that's the most fun I've had in awhile..." The man smiled "Honestly? Me too... I uh, I'm glad you had fun..." You nodded "...If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to do it again actually..." Chase's face flushed immediately and his eyes were wide, he turned towards you in shock "R-Really? You... Want to... Meet up again?" You nodded "Yeah, I mean, er... If you want to do that!" Chase had the biggest and happiest smile on his face "YEAH!!" He shouted, startling his kids awake and then he cleared his throat and spoke much softer to his kids first "Sorry...!" And then he reiterated what he said before "Yeah, I'd love to meet up with ya again...!"

You smiled “Hmm… Ice Cream shop meet up again?” Chase chuckled and nodded “It’s a date! ...E-Er, wait no… I didn’t mean it like that, I-I meant…” He was getting nervous to which you responded by resting your hand upon his “...It’s a date, for sure, I’d like to get to know you better actually! So how about… Six PM?” Chase’s breath hitched, whether it be at your hand upon his or your words, but he had the biggest smile on his face “O-Oh… Ye-Yeah… Yeah, okay…!” You then hopped out of the car, thanking Chase for the ride home, he gave you a thumbs up and then you headed quickly inside your house, it took Chase a few moments before he pulled out of your driveway and headed off. You smiled to yourself, Chase was such a sweet man, sure, it hadn’t been too long ago since you had met him but you already wanted to hang out with him again, this time, you wanted to get to know him a little better… Calling it a date out of the blue like that was weird, but you… You were beginning to really like the guy! 

… You then paused your thoughts, that dude must’ve been a single father, you didn’t see a wife or partner of any kind around, maybe he has been divorced or he divorced someone, you don’t know how someone could divorce someone who seemed so sweet, so loving, so kind! Then again, you also didn’t know the full story... Divorces and stuff can be a tricky mystery, it’s not really any of your business anyways so either way, you headed off towards your bedroom and got changed and ready for bed, tomorrow was going to be an eventful day, you had to get some sleep for sure, you flopped down onto your bed and closed your eyes, slowly drifting off into dreamland…

And then it was morning, you slowly opened your eyes to the sun shining brightly on your face, you squinted and slowly rose up from bed, rubbing at your eyes and looking around at your room, you looked at the time… 10 AM… You slowly got up and opened your closet, for now you’d put something comfortable on… You were going to save your best outfit for tonight! You smiled at the thought of getting to see Chase again, for now you had to make yourself some breakfast and then clean up around the house, really just so you can get that out of the way but also to kill some time today, after putting on your outfit, you then went to the kitchen, fixed yourself some breakfast and then got to cleaning for the rest of the day, you had some extra time so you freshened up a good bit and then put on your favorite outfit.

And with that you headed out the door, rushing off to the ice cream place, you had to admit while there was a nervous feeling building in the pit of your stomach you were also very excited for this… In your excitement you had arrived at the shop a little earlier than you intended, but either way, you took a seat at one of the booths and waited for Chase… When the clock hit six, he had practically rushed through the doors, a smile on his face as well, he looked just as excited as you were, he scanned over the shop but he didn’t see you which worried him for a moment… You then waved him over and he strode over towards you immediately, he didn’t have the kids with him this time “Hey (Y/N)!” He greeted you and sat down, he then took a proper look at you and he looked surprised “Woah… You look… Awesome…!” You smiled and blushed at his comment “Thank you Chase… You look awesome as well…” You looked at his outfit, it uh, was the exact same one he usually wore but you liked his main outfit, it was cute and fitting for him.

Chase was blushing as he suddenly pulled a box out and slid it over to you, it was a fairly large box and it was wrapped so neatly, you looked up at Chase who was rubbing the back of his head awkwardly “I got this for you… I hope you like it…” You looked down at the gift and slowly began tearing into it, once you got the wrapping paper off you opened the box and gasped at what was inside… ...It was an outfit, but not just any outfit, this was the EXACT same one you had wanted at the clothing shop nearby! ...You looked up at Chase in shock, you then bit your lip “O-Oh jeez… This is the EXACT outfit I wanted... Chase… I… I didn’t even get you anything in return… And this was… So expensive… H-How?” Chase smiled and laughed “Don’t worry about gettin’ me anything! And besides, I thought it’d look good on you!” You reached over to hug him from across the table which surprised him, Chase’s hands twitched for a moment before he slowly reached up to hug you back… This felt… So good to him…

“So… Warm… And soft…” Chase muttered, you blinked and pulled back from him “What was that?” Chase’s eyes widened, he had a blush on his face,  before he shook his head and just smiled “Oh nothing… I just… Was saying thank you for the uh, hug…!” You smiled and nodded “No problem!” Chase nodded and then he realized “Oh uh, we should, probably like… Get some ice cream, if ya want of course” You grinned “I’m always up for some ice cream!” Chase and you had gotten up from your seats, getting in line to get some ice cream, when the two of you got to the counter, Chase was absolutely refusing to let you pay this time, you sighed in defeat after a moment of bickering but gave him a smile nonetheless, a stubborn man this one could be… Either way, he got a milkshake that the both of you could share and you headed back to your booth, sitting down and enjoying the milkshake together. You took a few sips before pausing and looking at Chase “Soo… Were you, uh, married at one point…?”

Chase frowned suddenly and sighed “...Yeah, I uh used to be… I’d… Rather not talk about what happened of course, I’m sure ya understand…” You gave him a sympathetic look and nodded “Of course, we uh, don’t have to talk about it… Sorry for bringing it up” Chase shook his head and gave the milkshake another sip before continuing “Nah, don’t worry about it…” You sipped on the milkshake as well, trying to think of another question to ask, something that… Wasn’t, a marriage themed question… “So, why did you move here exactly? Aside from the beautiful scenery…” Chase looked as if he were in thought for a moment “Eh, to be honest? I just needed to get away from it all… Where I lived before was alright but like, I needed something new, something fresh! I got so used to seeing the same ol’ same old… And the kids did too… They were getting bored of the old place… I do feel a little bad because they did have some friends back there but… They don’t seem to mind at all, in fact, they’ve made more friends here actually”

You smiled at this “Well… That’s good, at least they have made new friends here, the people of this town are… Pretty friendly, I’ve made a few friends here myself actually” Chase seemed to perk up at this “Really? I mean, like, I wouldn’t be surprised because you’re an awesome person!” Chase paused for a moment before getting embarrassed “I-I mean…” You shook your head, not giving him time to finish his sentence “Thank you… I’m glad you think so…” You then paused and sighed “...I am worried though… I haven’t heard from one of my friends in awhile… I hope they're doing alright…” Chase gave you a nod “I’m sure they’re just fine… Maybe busy with some stuff, I’m sure they’ll call ya soon enough” You looked at Chase, he was so sweet… “Yeah… I hope so” And then there was a pause, the two of you taking the time to enjoy the milkshake in silence before you looked at Chase “What do you do for a living exactly?” Chase shrugged “Meh, I’ll take what I can get really, gotta support the kids ya know… I mostly do youtube stuff of course but I gotta do a lotta other shit, I don’t want… I don’t wanna risk them going hungry or some shit” You gave him a sympathetic look “Sounds really rough… I’m sorry…” Chase shook his head “Don’t be, there’s not much you can do about it anyways, it’s not your fault”

You nodded and offered Chase the cherry after finishing the milkshake to which he shook his head “Nah, you have it, I insist” You shook your head and used one of the knives at the table to cut it in half and you offered one half to Chase “We’ll just share it then, how about that?” Chase gave you a smile and took the half of the cherry, the two of you clinked your halves together

(listen, i know i said its an ice cream shop but they have knives there for some of the other desserts, its not just specifically ice cream, just- sh- sh, let the plot advance okay?)

“Cheers” and then popped it in your mouths, giggling slightly at the silliness of that situation before you stood up and stretched out and looked out the window “Hm… We still have some time left, is there anything else you had in mind for the night?” Chase shrugged “I mean, if ya want, you can come back to my place and we could hang out, I got some video games we could play together!” You grinned and nodded “Sounds like fun!” Chase smirked at you and stood up “Just be warned though… I’m one of the best gamers around! Although, I could let’cha win at the very least” You chuckled “That’s very bold of you… And very naive to think I need or want you to let me win, do NOT underestimate me, Chase~” The two of you exchanged a playful glare as you headed out of the ice cream shop, hopping into his vehicle and heading back to his place.

Once Chase pulled into the driveway, you looked at his home, it wasn’t.... Too terribly big, in fact rather small to have three kids in but you wouldn’t say that, it wasn’t really any of your business anyways, and besides maybe it was bigger on the inside than you thought, looks can always be deceiving you know… Chase hopped out and you soon followed, he gently opened the door after unlocking it and it wasn’t as small as you thought it’d be inside but it’s definitely not large either “I uh, it isn’t… Much, but at least it’s a roof over our heads, ya know?” You nodded at the man’s words, you then both turned around upon hearing the kids voices call out, they immediately ran up and hugged their father and gave you a smile and a wave, then another voice called out “Oh! I didn’t expect you to be back so soon, Mr. Brody!” Chase nodded “Well we didn’t have much else to do in town really, so, (Y/N) and I decided to come back here and play some video games” You assumed this was the babysitter, they approached and smiled “Ah, so you must be (Y/N) then, actually… The kids have been talking about you nonstop tonight…” They extended their hand for a handshake, you smiled and exchanged a handshake with the other, meanwhile Chase had bit his lip and looked away and toward his kids, who seemed preoccupied and happy they’re father was home.

Chase then grabbed his wallet from his pocket and paid the babysitter who then waved goodbye to the kids, Chase, and you as well and headed out, you noticed Chase staring them down as they went out which made you raise a brow, you gave him a nudge “You okay?” Chase looked back at you and smiled “Oh uh yeah, just… Thought I saw something out there?” Oh, maybe you were quick to assume he was staring at them then… Either way, you were excited to play some games with him! You quickly grabbed his arm which he gasped at, he barely had time to react as you dragged him off to the couch, the kids giggling while following the two of you. He had quickly gotten the game set up and tossed a controller your way, Chelsea had a grin on her face as she read the title of the game once it popped up “Oooh daddy’s really good at the super smash bros games! He’s gonna kick your butt (Y/N)!” Trey then interrupted “Yeah he’s the king of these games!” 

You chuckled “I hate to be the bearer of bad news kiddo but… Your daddy’s about to lose that crown of his~!” Chase raised a brow “A very bold claim your makin’ there, eh (Y/N)?” He had a cheeky grin on his face, you challenged his grin with a playful glare “I don’t plan on losing tonight Chase, you might as well kiss that crown goodbye” He chuckled at that “Alright then, whatever ya say… We’ll see what happens” And then the game booted up, Chase chose a character called Ridley (I like to imagine he has a few mains but you know he be choosin that one especially) and then you chose Isabelle (listen I’m sorry if this ain’t y’alls main but just trust me on this one okay? It’ll be worth it in the long run and I know the match up itself is… a lil silly but just shh) Chase couldn’t help but snort at the selection you made, although Chelsea seemed happy enough, she must’ve liked Isabelle a lot! And then the game began, before Chase did anything he paused it and looked at you “Ya need any tips or you good for this one?” You shook your head “Nah man, I’m good, I’ve got this… What, you scared to lose your crown?” Chase snorted “Not a chance, ya really are full of yourself sometimes (Y/N)” He unpaused it and then the fight began.

The fight… T’was an epic battle of skill and wit… This battle was like no other, the children cheered with each punch thrown, each move made, and to Chase’s surprise, you were REALLY good at this game, you were almost giving him a run for his money! BUT the fight wasn’t over yet, he was still on the stage and kicking, at first there was some banter, some swearing under your breath so the children wouldn’t hear, but now? There was nothing but pure silence and concentration, complete focus and even the kids had fallen silent now, watching in sheer awe at how good you were, and now… It was time for the ultimate end game, as you hit the buttons and watched Isabelle unleash her Final Smash and this caused Chase and the kids jaws to drop to the floor, you all watched as Isabelle delivered her move and then it was endgame… You sat the controller down, crossed your arms and had a wide smirk on your face as you looked over to Chase who wasn’t even mad, he merely looked over at you and solemnly tipped his hat to you

“Damn (Y/N)... That was e p i c… You’re really good at this!” He grinned and he seemed happy enough, which you were glad of, you nodded “I told ya, not to underestimate me, that’s what’cha get!” Chase nodded “Yeah, I did kinda do that, didn’t I?” he chuckled nervously, to which you only gently punched at his shoulder “No hard feelings of course!” The kids were clapping, Chelsea was practically beaming “Wow!! (Y/N) that was so amazing!! I’ve never seen anybody as good as dad!”

Trey nodded “Yeah, that was awesome!” You smiled at this, and then Chase was looking up at the time and then he stood up “Alright, it’s time for bed kiddos” And at this the kids pouted “Aww dad, do we have to?” Chase nodded “It’s a school night, gotta get a lotta rest so you can be ready for tomorrow” And despite the kids not really liking this reasoning, they agreed and headed off to go get ready for bed, you looked at Chase “Hey, uhh, where’s your bathroom?” Chase pointed down the hall “At the very end of the hall and to the right” You nodded and headed down that way, upon getting halfway down the hall you felt a tug at your shirt and looked down to see Greyson, you knelt down and looked at him “What’s up buddy, need somethin’?”

Greyson twiddled with his fingers and looked down, keeping eye contact with the ground before suddenly reaching out and hugging you “...T-Thank you…” He stuttered, you raised a brow at this “Uh…” You paused before carefully hugging him back “Why are you thanking me exactly buddy?” There was a pause before Greyson pulled back “D-Dad… He… He um… He seems m-much more… ha… uh… He seems to be m-much happier… Ever since… h-he fir-first… me… first met you…” You were… Shocked by this…  “Greyson’s right you know” Chelsea called out, a smile on her face, Trey was also smiling as he began “Yeah! Please… Don’t tell dad we told you this… But, we’ve noticed he didn’t seem as happy as he used to be… The last time he was happy was before… Before…” Chelsea interrupted, a hint of sadness in her voice “...Since mommy left…” You felt sorry for the kids and for Chase but even then you didn’t know the full story, and you sure as hell weren’t going to ask why, it wasn’t in your place to just ask about personal things like that… You only smiled “Well… Hey, kiddos… I… I’m glad I’ve made your dad happy at least, I’ve had a great time with him, really, he’s a sweet man and he seems to care a great deal for all of you… I’m sure things’ll be just fine, yeah?” Chelsea nodded “I hope so, just um… Please don’t tell daddy about this, he doesn’t like talking about mommy or the past really… Don’t tell him we told you” You nodded “Don’t worry, I won’t” The three kids hugged you tightly and then ran off to go to bed.

You smiled at this, they really did seem like such nice kids…  They just wanted their father to be happy again, you would try your best to help them out with their little wish, you headed to the bathroom finally to do your business and then finally back to the living room, you saw Chase laying there on the couch scrolling mindlessly through his phone, upon noticing you he gave a friendly smile and a peace sign “What took ya so long dude? Get lost down there?” You glanced back to the hallway before laughing “Nah, nothing like that… It was just that… The kids were still amazed at how I beat you at the game like I did~” You grinned to which Chase scoffed at “I let you win just so you know, just to be nice…” You laughed at this and walked over, moving his legs out of the way so you could sit down “Mmmhhmmmm suurrree you did, you just can’t admit or accept defeat can you?” Chase cheekily grinned as he rested his legs over your lap now “Nope, I can’t and won’t admit defeat, not ever, you might have won the battle but you won’t win the war! You’re going d o w n next time” You rolled your eyes at this “Yeah right” you tried to push his legs away and off of you but he seemed content just leaving them in place “C’mon Chase, get your legs off me, don’t be salty just because you lost” This made the man playfully glare at you and then he went back to looking at his phone, ignoring you for the time being as you tried to push his legs off, he was a stubborn one for sure.

Although you knew he was just messing with you, it was nothing serious, nothing serious from you either, honestly… You were having a lot of fun tonight with Chase… You sighed, you felt content “You know, Chase… I’ll be honest, I’ve been having a lotta fun with you tonight, it’s the most fun I’ve had in awhile actually” And that made Chase smile, a genuine smile… “I’m glad, I was worried I’d bore you or some shit ya know? I uh, don’t consider myself to really be any fun to hang around with” You looked at Chase and shook your head, placing a hand in his which made his breath hitch in his throat “That couldn’t be farther from the truth! Ya don’t need to be so hard on yourself Chase, you are a really sweet man, you are kind, caring, and-” And then you were trailing off, your face turning bright red as you realized what you were saying to him… 

“I uh, I mean…” Chase only smiled at this, his face also a bright red “Hey… Uh, (Y/N)...? I actually have something I’ve been wanting to ask you…” He began rather nervously, and you were curious as to what he was going to say before your phone buzzed in your pocket “Oh uh, hold on a second, then you can tell me” Chase nodded at this and watched as you pulled out your phone, he watched your eyes scanned through whatever it was and he could see the look of shock and worry on your face “...(Y/N)...? I-Is everything alright?” You immediately got up from the couch and looked at Chase in a panic “O-One of my friends is in the hospital… I...I fuck… It sounds serious too, they were in a bad car crash!” Chase’s eyes widened at this statement, while he didn’t like to see you so stressed, he didn’t like the fact this little nuisance had interrupted his confession “I mean, maybe they’ll be fine? I… I mean like, I’d hope so anyway is what I’m trying to say!” You barely registered his words and quickly shoved your phone back into your pocket “I’m sorry Chase but, I gotta go! I promise you can tell me what you wanted later, but right now, I need to go be with them, I just… oh god, fuck... ” There was a pause before Chase nodded, he wanted to clench his fist but to avoid suspicion he stood from his spot “I’ll drive you over there, you’re panicking too much to drive by yourself right now, what I want you to do is take some deep breaths while I get stuff ready” He gently placed his arms on your shoulders for a moment.

“Can you do that for me, babe?” You slowly nodded “I-I’ll try…” Chase smiled “Good, just, stand here and take some deep breaths for me, I’ll be right back” And with that he was off, he had to go get a pencil and a piece of paper JUST in case the kids woke up, he didn’t want to worry them if he wasn’t back in time… He quickly wrote a note, putting his eldest in charge until he got back, mentioning if they needed anything, they had the babysitter’s phone number and his as well, it was extra precaution, and then he grabbed his keys, looking back over at you “C’mon (Y/N), let’s go” you immediately came running over and the two of you headed out the door, quickly hopping into his car and then speeding away, he knew how to get to this particular Hospital, after all, you can never be too careful when you have children, and knowing how to get to things like that is very important, the drive was mostly in silence, until you looked over to Chase and you wouldn’t deny, something about him seemed… Off…. He had a darker look in his eyes “...You, uh… Okay…?” Chase looked over to you, that darkness quickly fading “Oh uh, yeah, even though I don’t know ‘em personally, I’m still worried about your friend and I know your worried sick too” Ah, so that was what the weird look in his eyes was for, Chase was so nice…

He cared about his family, friends, and you as well it seemed, hell, even people he didn’t know, complete strangers he had a great deal of care for, he was such a sweet man, and it felt like no time at all had passed and then you were both at the Hospital, Chase got out quickly as did you and he let you lead the way, you knew what room they were in so it’d probably be for the best if you led him there, one of the nurses had came over and stopped you both “Excuse me, are you (Y/N) by any chance?” You nodded quickly and pointed toward Chase “He’s with me as well” The nurse nodded and began to escort you both to the room “Your friend really desperately wanted you here with them, you two must be very close”

(i know thats probs not how it works in hospitals, they probs dont let’cha visit like that but listen, its just for plot- just s h h-)

You nodded at this “Yeah, we’ve uh, always been pretty close” Meanwhile Chase’s eyes darkened momentarily, he didn’t like the sound of that but, nonetheless, he just needed to calm down, before something v e r y bad happened… Eventually you both reached the room and immediately you ran over to your friend’s side “I’m here (F/N)! I’m here” (just give them whatever name ya want) Your friend looked at you and shakily reached out a hand to grasp at yours “(Y/N)... F-Fuck… Everything hurts like hell, th-that accident really did a number on me, one of the nurses just gave me s-some pain meds though” They laughed a little dryly, they looked to be in pretty bad shape “I just, I’m glad you’re alright, er, well, I mean not dead or anything… Jeez, what the hell even happened to you?” Your friend sighed “Some shithead wasn’t p-paying attention to… To where they were… Were going… I don’t even… I don’t even fucking know wh-what happened to them…” Your friend then turned over toward Chase “Oh? Who’s this guy?” You looked over and then back to your friend “Oh uh, this is Chase, we’ve uh, just been hanging out today ya know, had some ice cream and then went to go play some video games” Your friend then gave you a look and a weak smirk “Oooh~ So (Y/N)’s got themselves a lil date, yeah?~” Your eyes widened and you blushed a little “W-Well uh, I dunno if I’d call it that…”

Your friend then grinned “C’mon, (Y/N), really, your literally blushing…! It’s gotta be a date if your going that red faced over my simple question…!” And then a pause before a genuine smile crossed their lips, or well so you thought anyway “I uh… I’m… Really glad for you… Glad you found someone you like to spend time with…” Even though you couldn’t really see it, Chase could, that was no genuine smile… They were hurt… And for what? It’s not like you would have ever fallen for them, you two were just friends! ...And yet, the thought of them taking you away made Chase clench his fist and his breath hitch, he jumped however as you called out to him “You okay over there?” Even the nurse had looked concerned who was in the room, mostly checking to see if everything was still okay with your friend, Chase stood up and awkwardly chuckled “Oh uh, yeah I’m fine… I uh, I feel a bit awkward just idling here so Imma step outside, give ya some alone time with your friend…” And with that he stepped out of the room, pulling out his phones and earbuds, he leaned up against the wall and placed the earbuds in, although he definitely wasn’t planning on listening to music, he was just going to pretend he was so he could listen in on your conversations with t h e m…

Once the nurse had deemed everything was in order, she had left the room, on the way out she gave Chase a look who only flashed her a peace sign, and with that she walked away, you looked at your friend who was staring out of the room and you looked at them confused “...Uh, why are you just… Staring…?” Your friend looked back to you with a concerned expression on their face “Just, just be quiet for a few seconds…” You were confused but you did as told, staying quiet and for a few moments that’s all it was, except for the, well, the sounds of the Hospital, and then your friend turned to you “Just… Thought I heard something… That’s all…” There was a pause before you spoke “Are you like, okay…? You’re acting a bit weird…?” 

Your friend only smiled “I’m fine, I swear, don’t worry so much (Y/N), I just genuinely thought I heard something, that’s all but I guess it was nothing, aside from that, I do gotta ask… Are you REALLY on a date with this uh, Chase guy…?” You shrugged “I mean… I dunno if I’d call it that…? I uh, I mean, I do like him honestly, he’s very sweet and kind…”

Your friend looked down at this “...I just, listen, I know this might sound outta place, and hell, it’s probably not even my business… But, I dunno about the guy… He gave me some, strange vibes… How did you two even meet?” You looked at your friend, a little offended at that statement but you’d carry on for now “Well, he bumped into me while I was out for my usual walk on the trail” Your friend looked over at you “...On the trail… That nobody but YOU usually goes on, yeah?” You didn’t like what they were trying to imply but you needed to keep your cool “(F/N), I mean, come on, there’s other people out there that walk the trail I’m sure of it” They only looked at you quizzically “...Have you ever seen these people…?” You were about to argue with that but then you thought about it and your friend did have a point at that, you really never saw anyone out there… However before you could speak out against them, they continued on “Like, what if he was stalking you or some shit?” And that’s when you narrowed your eyes “...(F/N), I really don’t like what you're implying here… I’m sure there are other people who walk the trail aside from me, I just so happened to run into one of them and that was Chase that day”

Your friend looked at you, almost glaring “I just, I dunno I don’t trust this dude… There’s something off about him” You looked offended at that “(F/N)...! I don’t exactly appreciate you saying that, Chase is a lovely man, he’s so sweet, kind, and honestly very caring” Your friend rolled their eyes “I dunno I just, I just don’t think he’s good for you…!” You glared at them and crossed your arms “I don’t think this is really any of your business, he’s treated me so nicely so far, and I think if there was something off about him I woulda noticed…” Your friend shook their head “I just, like, dunno about him! ...During your date or even before, did anything strange happen?” You were surprised by your friend’s sudden change in behavior, you didn’t understand this at all and honestly, you were beginning to feel a little hurt by it before you began remembering something… “...Well, before the date, I was just browsing through the shops, and I…” You paused, pondering for a moment before you frowned “...I… I DO remember getting a sensation of being watched while going into the clothing shop though now that I think about it…” And then the more you thought about it… Your eyes widened as you realized something “...And… And I was looking at one thing in particular… And, then I left because I couldn’t… I couldn’t afford it…” Your friend was looking more and more intrigued and concerned “And then what happened…?”

You looked up at them “...I remember Chase giving me… The… The EXACT same outfit…” You then shook your head “But there’s no way, he would NEVER do that” Your friend only sighed “How do you know that though?! You don’t KNOW him as well as you think you do, I guarantee he’s got some dark weird shit to hide…” Meanwhile outside, Chase was clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he immediately stepped away and headed off to the bathroom, he had to… He couldn’t explode right there because then he’d scare you off… Eventually he found his way and slipped into the bathroom and he snarled, looking at himself in the mirror “...They're trying to take them away from me…” He muttered to himself.

He took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair, gripping it tight and tugging at it, he was s o fucking angry… How DARE they… First they interrupt him from telling you that he loved you, he was SO fucking close to FINALLY making a proper move… But nooo, that dumb b i t c h just HAD to get in his way… … He stared into the mirror for a few moments before glaring and punching it, he didn’t put enough force to break it but it definitely made a noticeable crack “...I need to take care of them… Before they take (Y/N) away from me,  before they convince them with their shitty little ‘assumptions’... I… I just…” And then his eyes went wide a bit, he began shaking not only out of anger but also, there was fear, fear of losing you… Fear that you’d believe them, fear that you’d… You’d fucking h a t e him “God, oh god… Fuck, I can’t… I can’t lose them… I can’t lose them like I lost h e r…” 

He tugged at his hair again, heavily breathing, he slumped to the floor, dropping his hat and mumbling over and over the words of ‘I can’t lose them’ mumbling all kinds of things, all the things he would do to your friend… But you’d never know about it, oh no, god no… Chase would never want that, he’d never want you to be scared of him, he loves you so much and he just… Needs to show you his love, that’s all… Needs to prove your friend wrong with the assumptions about him... After a few moments of panicking, he took some deep breaths, trying to calm himself down and focus, he knew what he had to do... He then picked his hat back up and stood up, placing it back on his head and storming out of the bathroom, he knew his plan, he’d come back when you weren’t here, that’s when he needed to strike… Meanwhile, back inside the hospital room, you and your friend had gotten into a heated argument, you not being able to believe that Chase would stalk you or be weird like that.

“Fucking hell (Y/N)! Are you that fucking dense?! There’s NO fucking way he got you the EXACT same outfit you were JUST looking at just, fucking randomly like that! He’s a fucking stalker! He was stalking you on that trail too I GUARANTEE it!” You shook your head “You don’t know that!! I… I just…” And that’s when you broke down… You were crying now, falling by their side and just sobbing, you just… Couldn’t believe this, you didn’t know if you should… They WERE your best friend, they always looked out for you, but… You really liked Chase so far, he seemed so genuine, so sweet and caring and just… Your friend’s gaze softened and they put a hand on your shoulder, maybe, maybe they took it a bit too far this time…  “I… I… …(Y/N)... I’m sorry… I just, I’m scared for you… I don’t want you to get hurt, especially not when I can’t fucking be there to protect you… I… I’m sorry for calling you dense, and being so hostile… Please, just, be careful around him okay? Stuff just… Doesn’t add up with him…” You nodded, still face down by their side, all this had made you feel sick… Your friend patted your shoulder a bit “I mean, I’ve always looked out for you, usually I know what’s best and I just… I dunno, he gives me bad vibes… ...I-I’m not, just, look I’ll be honest… I was a bit jealous of him at first but-” Before your friend could finish you roughly pulled away from them and stared at them in disbelief.

“...You…. Your jealous of him…?” Your friend had realized perhaps that was a bad time to say that but before they could speak again and clarify, you glared “No, just fucking s t o p… I’ve heard enough from you, I don’t NEED your fucking ‘protection’ I see exactly how it is… THAT’S why you’ve been acting so weird since you saw him! You’re only protecting me because of jealousy” You paused before shaking your head “Listen to me, we’re JUST friends, I’m sorry… I just, I’ve never felt THAT way about you… And I NEVER will… I can’t fucking believe you tried to fool me into thinking Chase was a bad guy! When really YOUR the bad one here!” You yelled, standing up and then storming out, ignoring your friend calling out to you, you bumped into Chase who looked confused now “(Y/N)...? What… What’s wrong? You look angry…” You only looked at him then back at the room “Go ask them, I’m going back to the car okay? Just… Whenever you get ready you can come on…” 

And then you left without another word, before Chase could even say anything, the man bit his lip and then wandered into the room, looking at your friend who laid there, sniffling just a little bit “I...I’m sorry…” They mumbled, and now, if you had been calm they might would have gotten sympathy from you, but from Chase, there was never going to be any fucking sympathy from him, he casually sauntered over to where your friend lay and startled them once he sat down in the chair “Care to explain to me why (Y/N) was so pissed? Like, damn, I’ve only known ‘em for awhile but still, ain’t seen ‘em that angry even yet”

Your friend only glared at Chase “Shut the fuck up… This… This is all y o u r fault… You sick fuck, you were following them, weren’t you? You were fucking stalking them! Nobody else but me and (Y/N) has ever walked that trail, and the EXACT same outfit they just so happened to want?! That’s not a coincidence, listen to me you shithead… I might not be able to get up and go with them right now or anything like that, but when I get out of here, I swear… I’ll p r o v e to (Y/N) that you’re a sick bastard, I’ll fucking p r o v e it to them” Chase’s eyes darkened, however there was a sly smirk playing on his lips “...Aren’t you the jealous type? Fuckin’ hell dude… And I thought I could be jealous sometimes… But you? You are really ridiculous…!” Chase leaned closer, causing them to try and lean away in case the man tried something “...What makes you think even for a second (Y/N) would even believe you…? You really shouldn’t have admitted your jealousy to them, that’s such a rookie mistake…!” Your friend’s eyes widened “You...You fucker! You were listening in on our conversation! I… I…” They immediately tried to sit up and Chase grasped at them, not too roughly of course, he didn’t want to hurt them ...Yet… However at that, they immediately smacked him in the face “GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!” And that made Chase yell for one of the nurses who quickly came running in “What’s going on here?!” Chase feigned innocence at this “I… I don’t know…! Something’s wrong with them…! They were trying to get up and walk outta here and then when I tried to stop them, they hit me…!”

(I thought for a moment that i fucked up but Chase, had probs come back from the bathroom and was right there as they admitted jealousy maybe? Idk, just- gonna cheese this part n say that- also I really dont like how the friend fight went, if I had time or patience, I’d genuinely probs try to re-write it but you gotta understand, this is already a LONG ass story so thats a big oof, and a big goof on my part so yeye)

The nurse was shocked by this, and even your friend was shocked by this, damn… He was good… Real good… They tried to explain as the nurse got the doctor and then they came over with a needle, they struggled, trying to kick at the doctor’s and nurses, trying desperately to explain that Chase was lying… But they didn’t believe it for one second, just thinking they were in pure hysterics, they gasped as Chase took a hold of them and smiled so sweetly

“Don’t worry (F/N)... I promise you, I’ll take EXTRA good care of (Y/N) while you’re here...” And with that, the doctor managed to FINALLY sedate them, the last image running through their mind before passing out was of you, of Chase doing so many horrible things to you… Chase then sighed deeply “Phew… I don’t know what happened… I just didn’t want ‘em tryna get outta here, I uh, know a thing or two when it comes to bein’ in hospitals, and in their case, I guess it’s like, really important to get rest n stuff like that” The doctor nodded “We do appreciate your help and for you notifying us Mister…?” Chase smiled and extended a hand “Just call me Chase, dude…” The doctor nodded, returning the handshake “Of course, thank you very much Chase” And with that the doctor began looking over the other’s vitals, and honestly, he seemed to be pondering what on EARTH could have caused a reaction like that…? The nurse came over to Chase and looked at the bruise forming on his cheek “Sir, would you like me to help you with that…? They must’ve slapped you pretty hard…” Chase shook his head “Nah, trust me, I uh, I’ve been through worse… Imma go, (Y/N)’s waitin’ for me in the car… I should… Definitely get them back home” The nurse nodded, waving as Chase left the room, he was turned to where they couldn’t see but he had a pleased smirk on his face, he’d be back for them tonight…

There’s no way he could just let them live now, they knew too much, they’d get in his way… He had to eliminate them but first things first, getting back to you so he could comfort you, after all, the fight you two had must’ve been pretty severe… The thoughts of your friend upsetting you in such a way only fueled his anger and hatred toward them even more as he made his way into the parking lot and to his car, he saw you through the window, he could tell you were crying and his gaze softened, a frown on his face, that fucker… They made you c r y… Oh the t h i n g s  he wanted to do to your ‘friend’ more than likely former friend after all that’s happened… He wanted to just strangle them, beat them to death with his bare hands even, he wanted to feel their blood on himself but given they were in the hospital, he needed a quicker method, luckily… He had something but, not now… He took a deep breath and hopped into his car, noticing how he startled you “Sorry! Sorry…! I just, uh, had to use the bathroom…” You looked at him, not caring if he saw your red and puffy eyes really, because you had noticed on his cheek, a large bruise forming “What happened to you…? Did you get into a fight in the bathroom?” Chase looked down “Not… Exactly… U-Uh… I just…” He took his cap off and ran a hand through his hair before putting it back on “...Your friend, was like, trying to escape the hospital and shit like that… And I just, didn’t want ‘em hurting themselves more than they already were and then they hit me… They called me a sick fuck, a stalker, all kinds of things… I just… I don’t, understand… Did I do something wrong...? Why do they hate me already?”

You gently placed a hand on his cheek, making sure not to apply any pressure to the bruise “...No Chase, no you haven’t… They were just fucking jealous, and I don’t even know w h y… I don’t like them, not like that, but… Now, I’m not sure I like them at ALL… Not even as a friend anymore, they literally just fucking HIT you…! And for what?! Because they were jealous?! That’s NO excuse to hit anyone!” You sniffled, and at that Chase pulled you into a hug “(Y/N) just, sh… I… I… I’m sorry… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to come between you and your friend… I… I never wanted to do that…” ...Well, part of that was technically a lie, Chase couldn’t care less about coming in between you and t h a t friend in particular, they are too much of a hazard…

He knew, if they had continued to live, the moment they got out of the hospital, they’d try taking you away from him ...N o t. This. Time… He might have slipped up and let h e r escape but not you… No n o… You are so much more special to him than she was anyways at this point… You wrapped your arms around him “C-Chase, please… It’s not YOUR fault… I just… I dunno about them, g-god if they hit you… Oh jeez, what if they hit me…? What if they tried to hurt me…?” Chase gripped you tighter, that thought not sitting well with him at all “...I wouldn’t let them, not ever” You couldn’t help but smile at those words, your friend was wrong, so wrong about Chase, he wasn’t a creepy stalker, he was a nice caring man, it was THEM who was bad, hell, for all you knew excluding the outfit THEY could have been the one stalking you earlier… You just didn't know… This was all too much for one night “Can we, uh, go back home…? I… I don’t wanna be here anymore…” Chase nodded “Uh yeah, I do have something to tell you though… I’ll make it quick I promise” You looked at Chase, a bit confused by this but then you remembered earlier “Oh yeah, go ahead and tell me, what’s up?” Chase bit his lip and he was shaking suddenly, it was now or never… He took your hand gently in his “(Y/N)... I genuinely care so much about you, I’ve needed to get this off my chest for a while now… I love you, with all my heart, you mean the world to me… And I… I just, uh, do you… Feel the same way…?” He looked so nervous and scared, you had honestly felt bad for him but you simply smiled and placed a quick peck on his cheek “...Despite what my ahem, ex-friend had to say… I don’t think you're a bad guy, you’ve been nothing but kind and sweet to me… And, if I’m being honest, I’ve had a wonderful time with you so far, so what I’m trying to say is, yes, yes I do feel the same…”

And that’s when Chase could swear, had it not been something cartoon-y or in drawings, his eyes would have formed into hearts right there (cursed thought: Chase doing the very stereotypical yandere pose and you know he’d have them heart eyes motherfucker) he had so much adoration and love for you, he really did… He then pulled you into almost a too tight hug and began sobbing into your chest “I… I was so…. I was so scared… Scared yo-you’d say no, scared… You wouldn’t… Love me back…” You were a bit shocked by that but you only held him back “Chase…” You spoke, your voice soft “I promise, to love you, forever… You’re the sweetest, kindest man… It’s okay hun, I promise, I’ll always love you no matter what” (-eyes reader nervously-) That made Chase smile “...Thank… Thank you… I’ll love you too… Forever and always… I promise, I’ll take good care of you…” And with that Chase let go, wiped some tears away and cranked up his vehicle “C’mon, I’ll get you back to your place, it’s uh, been a l o n g ass night…” You nodded and the ride was mostly in silence, apart from you leaning over onto Chase’s shoulder, the man smiled at that, he seemed so happy… So much more happier now that you had both confessed your love for each other “Go ahead and sleep a little babe, it’s gonna be a pretty long ride back to your place from here…” You nodded and yawned, nuzzling into his shoulder which he blushed at, that happy smile never leaving his face.

You then slowly fell asleep, comfortably nuzzled into Chase’s shoulder, now… Chase hadn’t forgotten what he had to do, but first thing was first, getting you home safe and sound… Blissfully unaware of the man’s intentions and he’d try his damnedest to keep it that way… Eventually he pulled into your driveway and looked over at you, he nudged you a little and you stirred slightly, rubbing your eyes and looking around a bit disoriented “Mm…?”

Chase then carefully hopped out of his car and made his way over to your side, opening the door and scooping you into his arms bridal style, he was careful to not jostle you too much “Don’t worry (Y/N) my darling… I’ll take ya inside... I put my kids to bed all the time, so this is a piece of cake” He grinned, and you only grumbled at that “I’m not… nng, a kid… I’m a gro...grooowwwnnnn asssss…. Adult…” You slurred, making him chuckle a little bit “I know babe, I know…” He made his way inside, furrowing his brows a bit “...Honey, you need to remember to lock your doors next time… No tellin’ what kinda freaks and sickos could get in here…” You only nodded, half-understanding what he said, he made it to your bedroom finally and laid you down carefully into your bed, letting you get into your most comfortable position and then proceeding to tuck you in, you mumbled a soft goodnight before passing out once more and Chase only softly chuckled, leaning forward to brush his fingers against your cheek before giving it a quick kiss “Goodnight babe… Seeya tomorrow…” He whispered, and with that, quietly made his way out of your room and out of your house, he crept back into his car and pulled out of your driveway carefully, his car… Wasn’t the MOST silent on the planet but he was sure it wasn’t enough sound to wake you up.

Now, before he headed home… He had one more thing to take care of, the night was going to be over soon so he had to act fast… He drove back toward the hospital, he kept thinking about your little friend or as you said earlier, former friend… But even then, that wasn’t enough because he knew, deep down, that if your friend had made it out of that hospital then they would definitely take you away from him, the thought of them trying to take you away made him grip the steering wheel tightly in anger, no… There was no fucking way he was going to let that happen, no one would take you away from him, not EVER! And with the last thought going through his head, he sped up, luckily he had the perfect weapon in the back of his trunk, perfect for this particular occasion… Eventually… He reached the hospital, slowly getting out of his car and retrieving said weapon, he looked toward the building in question, a sick grin spreading across his face “...Let’s take care of ‘em before they become a b i g g e r problem…” He muttered to himself, heading toward the building in question, he knew his way around this hospital so far, it wasn’t too terribly hard to navigate the place, and of course likewise he knew exactly where their room was now…

He headed toward the back of the building, it’d be easier to enter from there and he also wouldn’t be spotted too easily, however upon getting back there he saw your friend limping away, looking back at the door and around to make sure nobody was around to see them, however when they locked eyes with Chase their eyes widened, they immediately limped over “What the fuck are YOU doing here…?!” They half-whispered, not wanting to draw any attention to themselves, Chase only raised a brow at this, a small smirk on his face “I could ask you the same question bro, what’cha doin’ sneakin’ outta here?” They shook their head “None of your business, now get the fuck out of my way, I’ve got things to do…!” They tried to move past but Chase only shoved them back, they glared at him but he only chuckled “Now see… I can’t let’cha do that dude… I KNOW exactly what you’re gonna go and do… I can’t let you take (Y/N) away from me, I love them t o o much for that…” He paused before grinning “And besides… They k n o w what you did, they saw the bruise on my cheek, and now…”

He paused for a few moments, the weapon in question he had pulled from his car earlier was a baseball bat, he revealed it to the other and their eyes widened, suddenly their confident demeanor had changed and Chase seemed to get a chuckle out of that “They’re afraid of you… Afraid you’ll hit ‘em or do some other awful shit, I promised (Y/N)... I’d never let you hurt or take them away from me… ...And I came here to make g o o d on that promise…” They backed up as Chase came closer “...You… You are fucking insane… No w a y (Y/N)’s afraid of me…! I… I would… And I’d NEVER fucking hit them…! They don’t know what you said to me, if they did, they’d understand WHY I hit you then…! You manipulative piece of shit…!” Still had so much spite, despite their confidence going down the drain “...They even said you were their former friend now, it sounds to me like (Y/N) doesn’t wanna associate with you or be around you anymore…” Chase spoke and that made them pause, their eyes wide “...They… You… No, NO! You’re fucking lying!” They paused for a moment, even though Chase had a bat and the crazy bastard probably wanted to kill them, they still had one trick up their sleeve “I’m not going to let you manipulate and hurt my friend like this…!” Chase only smirked and tilted his head “I would n e v e r wanna hurt (Y/N), you ain’t gettin’ it through your thick skull are you? I l o v e them with all my heart, I just want to make them happy… I just want (Y/N) to be happy, with me… And besides, just how exactly are ya gonna prove to ‘em what I said? They’ll NEVER believe you now…”

A pause before he continued “They’ll never believe ya if you told ‘em I was listening in to your conversations, they’ll never believe you if you tell ‘em I stalked them on the trail and of course at some of the shops, but ya know… I’ll go ahead and admit to ya right now, seein’ as they’ll never believe shit you say… Oh and of course, the fact that I’m gonna kill you... I w a s stalking them… They were just so beautiful… I needed to know what (Y/N) liked, what they wanted, and from the very first moment I laid eyes on them I knew… They were the one for me… They were m i n e… And I just had to have ‘em” They only glared at Chase as he spoke, wrinkling their nose in pure disgust, before they suddenly grinned, this caused Chase to raise a brow “...I’ve got proof… At least now I do… See, I figured you would come back… I KNEW you’d want me outta the picture so you could be with (Y/N)...” They pulled out their phone and showed him it had been recording all this time and now it was Chase’s turn to lose his confidence, his eyes widened as he watched them put it back in their pocket “...And once I get out of here, I’m going to let them hear e v e r y t h i n g you said… The part about you stalking them, you listening into our conversations, even you threatening to kill me! I’ve got it all recorded, your ass is as good as gone when they find out, they’ll leave you, they’ll never want to be around you EVER again!”

((BTW: Here’s the fight/beating/death part, just as a reminder to you all okay?))

Chase hadn’t accounted for this… For them to plan this far ahead, if he didn’t get rid of them right now… If he didn’t finish them off right now, they really WOULD be able to take you away from him… Slowly, he began to spiral, the thoughts of losing you to anything really made his heart hurt and his eyes then darkened, he clutched his bat and immediately lunged for the other, knocking them down on the ground, their eyes widened and they pulled a scalpel from their pocket, raising up to cut into Chase who grunted and then backed off to avoid anymore cuts, despite being small, if he let them, that scalpel could do a hell of a lotta damage if he wasn’t careful, all he needed was a good hit with his bat and it could stun them or maybe even…

Kill them immediately… However, that’s not really what he wants, he wants to drag this out for a bit, he really wants to make them suffer, suffer for them for getting in his way so much, for trying to tear his beloved (Y/N) away from him, eventually they made a move and tried to get past him, not really wanting to fight him or even kill him, they just needed to get back to you with the evidence before it was too late, however… Chase saw the opportunity and swung the bat at them, hitting them in the back mostly but it was still enough to knock them down and then the scalpel had unfortunately fallen out of their hands and onto the ground, before they could manage to crawl over and get it, Chase had stood his boot onto their ankle “No, no ya fuckin’ don’t…! I’m NOT letting you take (Y/N) away from me! You just can’t STAND us being together! And for what?! Because you’re fuckin’ jealous or some shit? Lemme make it VERY clear for ya… (Y/N) is not and will NEVER be interested in you…! They are MINE…” He snarled, venom lacing every word he spoke as he leaned down to spin them onto their back, he then raised the bat up and proceeded to hit them over and over, repeatedly, as they screamed for help he leaned down and roughly slapped a hand over their mouth “Shut the fuck up…!” He spat, giving them a harsh punch with his hand, then he raised back up and continued his onslaught with his bat, making sure to deliver heavy and harsh hits to the other.

They coughed up some blood and looked up at Chase, their vision blurring as they whimpered and cried out “P-Please… I… I… I won’t… I’ll leave… you… alone… Just… F-fuck…” They groaned in pain, their eyes staring up into Chase’s “Please… Please don’t kill me…” They begged, but Chase only laughed at that “No way…! After ALL the bullshit you’ve tried to pull you HONESTLY fuckin’ think I’m going to spare you ANY mercy…?” He lifted the bat high above his head, a sick grin spread across his face “Go to hell!” He yelled, slamming the bat down hard on their head, blood splattering all over the pavement, the bat itself, and even over Chase, with that last hit they fell limp, no life detected in their eyes whatsoever, just to be sure however… Chase leaned down and checked their pulse, checking for any breathing as well, he smiled to himself when he heard nothing, not even the faintest sign of breathing, he reached into their pocket and grabbed their phone, looking over the recording and sighing, he dropped the device to the ground and smashed it underneath his boot, no way in hell was he going to let that thing stay in tact… Now however, came the big problem of getting the body out of here, and just where the hell was he going to put this thing…? Before he could even decide, he heard someone coming up and his eyes widened, he made sure not to leave his bat behind and ran off into the darkness, he needed to get back to his vehicle and quickly before someone caught him.

He could hear the scream in the distance as he made his way back to his vehicle and hopped inside, placing the bat in the back underneath one of the seats, luckily the blood was beginning to dry, well, okay no, that wasn’t THAT lucky… Considering he wanted to clean the bat later but oh well, he then sped off into the night, not even glancing back at the Hospital, he smiled to himself, very pleased with his work, at least they wouldn’t ever come between him and you anymore… No more worries, all he needed to do now was get home and- ….THE KIDS! His eyes widened as he sped up a little more, while, preventing them from becoming a nuisance was very important, he still cared about his kids, and oh god… He didn’t want them to see him like this, not with blood all over his clothes, how would he ever even explain that to them…

Eventually, he made it back home and slowly opened the door, looking around to make sure his kids weren’t awake yet, it was almost time for them to get up given it was a school day so Chase quickly crept off to his own room, firstly he put the bat into his closet, outta sight outta mind he thought before grabbing another shirt and jeans, he didn’t really care what he put on so long as it WASN’T bloodied… He went to the bathroom and looked over the wound from the scalpel, frowning slightly, he had a med kit, okay, well… A few med kits lying around, he wanted to be extra prepared just in case, he then began cleaning the wound of any blood, disinfecting it which made him hiss in pain, damn… Stab wounds are a bitch to deal with, after making sure it was disinfected properly he wrapped it up with some bandages, he then ran some water and scooped some up in his hands to splash on his face, cleaning himself up just a bit more, once he was finally free of any and all the blood stains he put the new shirt and jeans on and smiled “That’s better…” He then headed out to go wake the kids up, even though they didn’t really want to but really what kid ever wants to get up that early…? ...Eh, either way… He fixed them some food, helped get them dressed, and then waited with them until the bus arrived, he then kissed their foreheads and waved them off as they headed off to school. Now… He needed to do some laundry, get those bloodied clothes outta the way…!

Some time later in the day, you woke up with a groan and looked around, you remembered what had happened the other day and you honestly still felt like shit because of all that… You wanted to just relax for the day… Maybe later you would go and visit Chase but for now you just slowly got out of bed and headed for the shower, taking a quick one and changing clothes just to get freshened up a bit, which honestly had helped you feel just a LITTLE better… You then went off to grab some cereal, taking it to the living room to watch some tv, you had turned on the news not… REALLY to watch the news portion of it but you just wanted to know the weather for today before planning anything, as you were watching for a bit and eating your cereal slowly, your eyes widened slightly as the headline read ‘’(Friend’s full name) was found last night by one of the nurses, the reports say what likely caused their death was more than likely a baseball bat and a very nasty blow to the head, there is no information on whom the killer may be at this time but we’ll keep you up to date with any new information.’’ you stood up and accidentally dropped your bowl, it came crashing to the floor, bowl shattering and the rest of the milk and cereal pieces splattering everywhere, you were shaking as you raised a hand up to cover your mouth, tears beginning to pool around your eyes, you… Despite claiming they were a former friend just the other day, th...that was just out of anger!

You didn’t want anything BAD to happen to them! You DIDN’T want them to fucking D I E! You had broken down into sobs and almost borderline screaming, you whispered your friend’s name a few times, muttered so many apologies to them and wishes that it wasn’t them… Why did it have to be them? Why couldn’t it have been YOU instead?! You regretted the big fight you two had, you regretted calling them a former friend, you regretted it all… You wondered if they had regretted it, you wondered who could have even done such a thing?! Who had it out for your friend?! ....It… No... You didn’t want to start thinking like that… Besides, Chase would NEVER do something that cruel, that horrible! He’d NEVER fucking murder someone in cold blood!

You just wondered… Who could have done this? You just… You couldn’t… You continued to sob and wail, the grief was overwhelming, you didn’t even hear the door open… Chase sighed “Again, babe, the do-” before he could finish his scolding, his eyes widened when they landed on you on the floor, practically bawling your little eyes out, a broken bowl and a mess on the floor, he immediately dashed over and was going to reach down to pick you up but then he paused “H-H-Hey… hey baby, darling… What’s wrong…? Can… Can I touch you…? I wanna, like, help you up outta the floor…” He needed to be sure, once he got your nod he carefully picked you up and placed you on the couch, he noticed you had gotten some milk and remains of the bowl on your pants, he’d deal with all that in a moment however, first and foremost… He sat down beside you, placing a hand on your back and rubbing in soothing circles “Honey… What’s gotten you THIS distraught…?” You continued to sob, your throat was growing hoarse and you felt like vomiting, you couldn’t even manage to tell him what was wrong, you just pointed to the tv and Chase looked over, since it was still fairly early and it hadn’t been too long, the news, weather, and all of that repeated, the same story you saw about your friend came on and Chase’s eyes widened, he figured this was the case…

He would have hidden the body where no one could have found it had he had the time… He hated to see you this upset and distraught “O-Oh… Fuck… Babe, I’m so sorry for your loss… I-I know, you both had that big fight… And just… That makes it… just, fuck… C-Come here, do you want me to hold ya? I-I mean like, is… is that okay dude?” You slowly gave a nod and Chase leaned over, gently taking a hold of you and embracing you in a tight hug, it wasn’t tight enough for any discomfort, quite the opposite actually, his arms around you and being this close to him was what you needed, you sobbed into his chest and he began slowly stroking your hair  “Shhshhshsh… It’ll be okay…” He paused before whispering little reassurances into your ear “I...I know how it feels… To lose someone close to you… I-I mean, I don’t… I don’t know if she’s dead or not… But… My… My ex-wife, she left, a l o n g ass time ago, left me, the kids, all by ourselves… And it, it still hurts even to this day… Just, not as bad as it USED to... Grief… Look, I’m no expert, but grief can come in many forms but eventually… you’ll… You’ll get through it, eventually, it, it won’t hurt as bad ya know? And baby, listen, Imma be right here with ya every step of the way, I promise…” He smiled slightly, pulling you a bit closer, you listened to his words and you didn’t have the ability to speak at this point, your voice was hoarse from all that sobbing but you slightly smiled at that, you were… Glad he’d be there for you… The one thing you managed to utter out was a “sorry… about… the shirt…”

Chase chuckled and shook his head “Eh don’t worry about it, I have plenty more shirts where this one came from… Now just… Here, lemme get this cleaned up for you and then I’ll getcha some water, and then we’re gonna head over to my place, or if ya wanna stay here at home that’s fine too, I just gotta be back before my kids get home from school today though…” You looked at Chase and he could tell you were about to argue with him “Before you even try to say what I think your going to, please baby, I insist, I’ll clean this up for you, it isn’t a problem” You then sighed and just let him do what he wanted, first and foremost he grabbed some water, tossing it your way and he was surprised when you got it “Nice one babe!” He called out from the kitchen proceeding to go and look for the tools he needed.

He came back over, proceeding to sweep up all the bowl shards, he didn’t know whether to be lucky that the milk had dried up or not but either way, he managed to get the shards into the dustpan and then he began mopping up the milk, eventually he managed to get it all cleaned up and threw the shards into the trash can, and then he came back over and looked at you “So… You wanna stay here, or head on over to my place? Ya… Ya don’t gotta speak if ya don’t wanna, just hold up one finger for your place, two for mine” You smiled at how thoughtful he was being, you then took a few sips of water and held up two fingers to which he nodded at, he then scooped you up “Welp, c’mon then, let’s go chill for awhile, take our minds off all the bad shit!” He grinned and carried you out the door to his vehicle, opening the door and putting you inside, you slowly managed to get buckled as he hopped in the driver’s seat, he had really wished he had time, time to hide that body, time to prevent you from seeing that tragedy on the news, from making you bawl your eyes out, part of him felt guilt, not for killing them, oh n o… The bitch deserved it, but… You didn’t deserve to see that, you didn’t deserve to hear them announce their death, you shouldn’t have even known about that in the first place…

That was the only reason for guilt but at least you didn’t know he was in fact the one that did it… Nothing could get in his way now! Nothing could come between you, nothing could ruin this day! The drive back to Chase’s place was mostly in silence aside from Chase cracking a few jokes, he really was trying his best to help you feel better, and you won’t deny some of the jokes definitely made you crack a smile, as he pulled into his driveway, he hopped out and helped you out and inside, he sat you down on the couch and then grabbed some controllers, he handed you one and then turned on Minecraft “Let’s uh, play a more chill game this time around, yeah?” You smiled and nodded, watching as Chase created a new world for the both of you, he kept it on survival mode but he then set the difficulty to peaceful “Next time if ya want, we’ll play in easy, normal, or hell- hard if you’re feelin’ brave enough! But for now, let’s just gather supplies, food, and have some fun” You nodded, still not really wanting to talk, you didn’t want to wind up straining yourself… So you two sat in silence, just gathering up some food, supplies, and various other items, honestly this was pretty relaxing, it was really helping you de-stress… You even managed to find a good amount of diamonds which Chase seemed proud and impressed by “Guess the seed we spawned in is a pretty damn good one ain’t it, babe?” You nodded at his words.

You two played Minecraft for a long time, it was more than likely hours actually, minus getting up to fix some food or grab a snack or something to drink, eventually you got tired of playing Minecraft and cuddled up next to Chase who smiled at this, he placed an arm around you, pulling you closer to him, the embrace felt so nice… Your eyes fluttered shut as you leaned in a bit more, snuggling up close to him, you were just beginning to get comfortable before your eyes opened “...Annnd I have to pee…” You groaned in frustration and shot up from your spot and you heard Chase snickering as you walked down the hallway, you looked at his room and noticed the door was cracked open, now… Going into someone’s bedroom all of a sudden without their permission was… Pretty bad to say the least, but something in your head was telling you to go satiate whatever curiosity that had just sparked in your brain…

(it's the writer astral projecting curiosity onto the reader bc he needs them to go into that room to advance the plot- im kidding ofc but still tho)

You quietly crept toward the door, looking back to make sure Chase wasn’t there, you didn’t… Really want to upset him by doing this, all you wanted was just a quick peek and then you were done… Upon pushing open the door your nose scrunched up, you smelt something awful… It smelled… Metallic… It was an absolutely rotten stench that had plagued your nose, you looked over toward his closet, whatever the smell was it seemed to be coming from that direction, you were thinking now that maybe you shouldn’t have come in here, for some reason… The Closet had given you an unnerving feeling… You felt as though you should just turn back now and forget you ever came in here, however… It was too late to turn back now, your curiosity was too strong, just… One quick peek and then you’d forget the whole thing… You stepped closer to the closet, your body growing tense as you shakily reached out for the knob, you then pulled the door open and your eyes widened at what you had seen on the ground… It was a baseball bat… Your mind flash-backed to this morning, the reports on the news had said the weapon was a baseball bat… ...No, just no- There was no way… Chase would never- this had to be a coincidence, you noticed some dried red stains on the bat, the closer you got the more that smell overwhelmed you, you knew that scent, after all… Blood, even when dried, is a hard scent to mistake…

You slowly backed up from the closet, eyes wide and in shock, how… why… Why would he?! There’s no reason, this HAS to be a misunderstanding surely, you jumped and almost screamed when you heard a small tsk sound come from behind, you spun around quickly and looked Chase in the eyes, he was leaning on the doorway, arms crossed and a neutral expression on his face, he didn’t look angry but then again he didn’t look happy either “(Y/N)... Hasn’t your parents ever taught ya not to snoop through people’s shit…? We all have our private stuff dude, that’s so not cool…” You looked at Chase then back at the bat then back at him “Ch-Cha...Chase…” You whispered, this seemed to catch his attention and his expression softened a little bit “...Babe… I’m just, look, I’m not mad I promise… I AM disappointed however” He was scolding you, as if you were like a child… “Cha...se… did…” You took a shaky deep breath, your hands and legs beginning to shake, you… You just needed to know “...Did you do it…?” The man still had a smile on his face as he tilted his head slowly “...Did I do w h a t, baby…? Are you… Trying to accuse me…” And then there was a pause before slowly he stood, still blocking your exit “...Are you seriously trying to accuse me of murdering your friend…?” There was some hurt to his voice but something was off, he didn’t have that loving and caring aura around him anymore, you felt… Nervous… More nervous than you should have ever felt around someone you had come to love.

“You… You di….You did, didn’t you…? I….I… You… You got mad… That they hit you… d-didn’t you? You killed them didn’t you?!” You suddenly yelled and Chase looked taken aback before he frowned “...Babe, I think you’re overreacting and jumping to conclusions here… I didn’t touch your friend, I swear…” You shook your head “How...How can I trust you, how can I believe you? That bat has fucking dried blood on it!” Chase shook his head “It’s just a design!”

You then glared at him “IT EVEN SMELLS LIKE BLOOD, CHASE!” You shouted, tears welling in your eyes, this wasn’t… This couldn’t be happening right now, this wasn’t… You couldn’t… Just… Chase seemed to notice your panic “H-Hey… Heyy… Sweetheart… Please, just… Calm down, it’s alright… This is all one big misunderstanding… I promise you…” He tried to step closer and you immediately backed up “S-St...Stay away from me, Chase… Just… Just stay away… I… I don’t… I think… I-I just…” You were breathing heavily, staring into his eyes “I...I just… wanna go home… I just… I just need some rest I think ahaaa… I-It’s been a long day already and just…” Chase nodded “C’mon then, I’ll drive you-” You interrupted him “NO!” You shouted but then coughed and shook your head “I-I mean, no, no… I...I’d rather just walk…” Chase’s eyes darkened and he clenched his hand into a fist, the next sentence he seemed to grit his teeth as he spoke “Then how about I walk ya home, s w e e t h e a r t…?” You shivered as he stepped a little closer “I… I… C-Chase please-” He interrupted you “Baby, I don’t know why you're acting like I’m some kind of monster, I told you already… I didn’t do SHIT to your little f r i e n d… And b e s i d e s… Just…” He took a deep breath and looked at you, pure adoration in his eyes “Baby, I love you, so much… I’m not a monster, I didn’t kill your friend… I would n e v e r do that… Please, you have to believe me…” You looked at him, you just… You thought back to what your friend had said.

“...Maybe they were right about you… Th… Oh my god…” You had just realized something “...They told me they had a bad feeling about you, I thought they were just jealous…” Chase then tried to interrupt “Because they w e r e honey, they were jeal-” You shook your head and cut him off “No… No they weren’t just jealous, maybe there was something there but… They… They’ve been my best friend for as long as I can remember… They’d never lie to me… I… Fuck, I’ve made a mistake… I just, Chase, I just… I don… I don’t think… It’s going to work out between us” And that made Chase snarl, he reached out and gripped your arm tightly, this made you cry out in pain “(Y/N)... No, don’t you d a r e say that… I just- Listen… I have TRIED my damnedest here… But if this is how your gonna be... You wanna know the truth? Do you REALLY wanna know the truth? About EVERYTHING?” You looked at him confused before your eyes widened, the sudden grin on Chase’s face made your stomach churn “...I did it… But, I didn’t do it to hurt you… Baby… They wanted to get in my way… In OUR way… They were going to get out of that hospital and try and take you away from me… I just… I couldn’t, I couldn’t handle the thought of losing you… I… I know what I did was wrong, I know… But I just… You have to understand, I do NOT want to lose you…”

(Another BIG reminder: Abuse is bout to happen!! Chase is about to do something he regrets MORE SO than forgetting to expose that bat fkjdslfdjsl)

You felt sick, you felt absolutely sick and disgusted with what you heard “...Chase… You fucking killed my BEST friend! YOU FUCKING KILLED THEM, YOU FUCKING BASTARD- JUST LET ME GO- I DON’T WANNA BE WITH YOU ANYMORE!” You began thrashing in his grip, trying to get away from him, but suddenly out of the blue, a fist had came crashing down on your cheek, it wasn’t hard enough to break a bone but it was sure gonna leave one hell of a mark, your eyes were wide and so were Chase’s as he let you go for a second, you stumbled and fell onto your ass and held your cheek, tears beginning to well up in your eyes as you stared up at Chase fearfully who looked… Regretful, looked shocked even, he placed a shaking hand over his mouth as he stared down at you “I…” He began, but then paused, what could he say now…?

He knelt down and tried to get closer to you only for you to back up in fear, your heart beating out of your chest right now as tears ran down your face, little sobs escaping your form as Chase shook his head “No… No no no… Babe…. That… I didn’t… Please, I’m sorry… Really I am, I didn’t mean to hit you… I just… It’s just, you… You promised to be with me forever, you promised you’d love me no matter what, and I just got angry and just… Please, c-come here, let me see…” He reached out to grab you again and you went stiff even if his touch was gentle this time, he moved your hand from the bruised area and gently and ever so carefully ran a finger down it “F-Fuck… I did the one thing I said I was never going to do… I s w o r e I’d never fucking hurt you… I’m such a fucking idiot…” Tears were now in his eyes as he thumbed over the bruise “J-Just… Come with me… I’m going to take care of this…” You were like a deer caught in headlights as he pulled you up and along with him, he wasn’t being as rough or forceful this time but you were fucking terrified, terrified he was going to hit you again if you tried anything or said anything… You flinched away as he began doctoring the area he just hit, you really didn’t want him touching you, you really didn’t even want to be around him anymore, but you had a funny feeling if you said that again… Well, there’s no telling what he’d do, after he finished doctoring the area he leaned in and kissed it better, you cringed in disgust at his actions.

“T-The...There… All… All better now… I… I, (Y/N)... I know you don’t believe me right now… I k n o w you probably even fucking hate my guts right now but l-listen… I… I genuinely d o n ‘ t want to hurt you, my anger just… Got out of control but I can promise you, I can and WILL control that from now on, I won’t ever hit you again… I swear, I...I know it’s hard to believe me right now, but I’ll show you… Jus-Just, just please, give me another chance? Whatever you want, I’ll give you the fucking WORLD if I have to just… pl-please… oh god, please… Please don’t leave me… Please don’t…” Tears fell from his eyes and sobs racked his body, he… He really did regret that, but you said nothing… You just let him hold you there, too frightened to move or say anything… But Chase only looked at you, a pleading look in his eyes “...(Y/N)...? I… I can be good, y-you just… Need to trust me again… Th-That’s it… I… Look, if I could have I would have just hidden your friend, that way, you didn’t even have to see that tragedy on the news, besides… Y-You really don’t understand j-just…” He let out a heavy breath as he stroked your hair lovingly “Just how much I love you… Th-They were literally going t-to… to… Take you aw...away from me… I can’t lose you… I had a fucking panic attack in the hospital after I heard all they said… I just…” Your heart twinged at that but… N-No! NO! You… You shouldn’t feel sorry for him, he killed your best friend and then he fucking HIT you! ...T-There was no way you’d feel sorry for him…

Yet… There was something… About it… He seemed so genuine, so genuinely desperate and guilty… It made you feel… Conflicted… Chase then pulled his shirt down a little to expose a bandaged wound “This, is what your friend did to me last night… They stabbed me with a scalpel, t-this wasn’t like… This was b e f o r e I did what I did…” Chase looked as if he were about to say something before he heard the front door open and his kids all scream for their dad, they sounded so worried and both your eyes immediately widened “...(Y/N)... Please… Don’t tell the kids… A-After all… A-Ahh… Haa…” He chuckled dryly before continuing, his tone reeked of panic and desperation as he spoke.

“Y-You wouldn’t wanna upset the kids, yeah? If you tell anyone about what I did, if you expose me… Y-You’ll make these kids lives a living hell… You’ll hurt them, and I’ll be honest (Y/N)... While I love ya, I won’t allow you to hurt my kids… Nobody gets to hurt them… So please, for me, but more importantly… For the kids, please… Stay…” (despite being a yandere Chase does truly care about his kids and he won’t ever let anything bad happen to them or do anything bad to them, he’s still a monster but not THAT kinda monster) You swallowed, hard, your throat felt dry but you nodded at his words, the thought of breaking these kids hearts was too much… You remembered how happy they said you had made their dad, reluctantly you finally spoke “O-Okay Chase… I- I promise, I… I won’t… I won’t tell anybody…” Chase then looked at you quizzically “...Annnd…?” Your eyes widened “A-And I won’t leave you!” You quickly added in fear he’d get angry at you again but then he smiled, just then the kids burst into the room and saw you two there, they noticed the bruise on your cheek and Chelsea was the first to speak up “D-Daddy?! Wha...What happened to (Y/N)!? Who hurt them?” Chase only smiled nervously “U-Um…” You quickly spoke up then, the fear of the kids finding something out too much to bear, the kids didn’t deserve to have their father ripped away from them, they seemed to care so much about him “I had a little accident kiddos but, I-I’m… I’m fine now…!” You sounded strained unfortunately but the kids still seemed to believe that part “A-And yo...your dad… He was just, um… Helping me! Yeah, I’ll be fine, I promise”

Chelsea smiled “Oh…! That’s good then” Trey spoke up next “We just got worried when you weren’t at the bus waiting for us, Greyson almost started crying” And Greyson frowned at that and turned to Trey “D-Did not…!” Trey looked at him and grinned “Did too!” And oh boy, you and Chase both knew where this was going… Chase quickly spoke up “Kids, now, come on… That’s enough, how about you go, wait in the living room and I’ll be right there with you, okay?” The three nodded and went off, you both could still hear Trey and Greyson arguing albeit a bit more quieter, and then you and Chase looked toward each other, you wouldn’t deny, you were definitely still afraid of him, but you had every right to be! ...But you just, you couldn’t hurt those kids like this… and Chase, you could see it in his eyes, he was desperate “...(Y/N)...” He began and you couldn’t help but flinch as his hand reached out which he quickly retracted back “S-Shit, sorry… Sorry… Listen, I know… You really don’t like, believe me and shit right now… But, I...I promise, it’ll get better… I just… When you said you didn’t wanna be with me anymore… It just, it really fuckin’ pissed me off… but, th-that… That’s not an excuse, and I know that…”

Chase paused and looked at your arm, he winced at the bruising he seen there too “F-Fuck… We’re REAL lucky the kids didn’t see that but I-I’ll get to that in a second…. Just, look… (Y/N), I promise I will NEVER hit you again… I don’t want to hurt you, I genuinely don’t… I just… I just wanna be happy together, I want to be with you, and I don’t want you to like, be with me out of fear and shit, I genuinely want you to love me… I’ll... In fact, actually... I’ll prove to you that I’ll NEVER hit you again! And… Listen, y-your friend… I’m… Just, I was just so scared they’d get in our way, scared they’d take you away from them and y-ya know they say f-fear… Fear can make… Can make you do some crazy shit… Y-Ya know…?” You looked at Chase and bit your lip, damn this man… Even after all this bullshit, your heart can’t help but twinge, he sounds so genuinely upset and sorry… Your head was a mess of emotions and thoughts, it honestly made your head hurt…

You felt an overwhelming sense of exhaustion even, then Chase looked into your eyes “B-Babe…? Pl-please… Please talk to me…?” You sighed and there was a brief moment of silence before you spoke up “A-Alright Chase… I...I’ll stay… I… I won’t… I won’t leave you…” You shouldn’t be saying that, you shouldn’t but really, what would happen if you said no again, what would happen if you had denied him and told him you wouldn’t stay here? ...The thought of that made you shudder, you weren’t… Secretly, deep down, no, you weren’t… You were NOT doing this because you felt sorry for him, you didn’t feel any pity for him, you were doing this for his kids… You were doing this to protect the kids, and… It’d break their hearts to see their father so unhappy, just… You could get through this, yeah… I- Maybe… Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, you flinched as Chase started bandaging your arm up next “T-Thank you… Thank you so much (Y/N)... I promise… I’ll make it up to you…” And then he smiled and gently took a hold of your face, his hands were definitely shaking as he touched you and then he gave you a gentle kiss “...I promise… We’ll all be one big happy family… You and me, together f o r e v e r… And of course don’t forget the kiddos… We’ll all be happy, okay?” You nodded at his words and he seemed ecstatic “Love ya babe… I really do” You glanced at Chase, together with him forever… Christ, this… What the hell had you gotten yourself into? You did regret not listening to your friend when you had the chance but it was too late now, it was f a r too late to turn back “...I..I… Lov… Love...you too…” That made you want to retch but Chase seemed so fucking happy.

...This truly was going to be hell, your hell, and honestly, you didn’t see any ways out of it, you were trapped in a bad situation, between a rock and a hard place, you were going to be stuck here, with him, forever… If there were ever a next time, you would definitely listen to your friend instead…

(An Average Day in Hell? More like an Average Eternity in Hell amirite? Lmao anyway this shit is long and honestly I never intended it to be- And I know y’all probs wanna finish this and be done with it already so lemme clarify a few things here, 1: I completely forgot how I was supposedly going to like end this thing, I forgot a few plot points and I just went in the direction my brain told me too and now we got this. 2: In the Yandere AU I have here technically speaking, these are NOT his canonical kids names, I ripped some of these from a wikipedia page I saw, the only canon name I MIGHT keep for one of his kids is Greyson bc that’s fitting, I just needed some names for the story, im sure y’all understand.

3: Im not gonna defend Chase, but I will say, he can be… Well, hm, how should I put this… I mean sometimes im sure he can do it intentionally, but half the time his manipulative tones and the shit he says is by sheer accident, and him hitting the reader? Well, I can absolutely say this would be the only time EVER Chase did that, he genuinely means it when he says he doesn’t want to hurt ya, but you see… Rage in the wrong hands, in a person’s hands who’s heard those exact same words from a certain… OTHER person can definitely be a potent and fatal combination… Aside from that shit tho.

He genuinely just like, wants you to be happy, he wants to be with you because he really does love ya ….but, the shit he can do can make loving him a bit… Difficult to say the VERY least.

Anywho I feel like that’s enough explaining how this process went, just one more thing and I promise it’s the last thing then you can go do what’cha wanna do n shit yeah? There was going to be an alt ending but I’ve got too many other stories to do already so I present you with the alt ending summarized p much

1: Chase successfully hides the body, now on this path you probs would still find out on the news or some form of device that your friend is missing but, it’s like a 1 in one million chance you’d find out Chase did it so bam, happily ever.  Alright, im done)

[throwing-roses-into-the-abyss]

Since The People have Spoken, here's a post about some of my plants that are struggling, why I think they're struggling, what I'm trying to do about it, and some general advice.

This is very long so read more under the cut!

First, some pictures:

Top: rattlesnake calathea. Two: silver pothos. Three: anthurium & orchid in semi-hydroponics. Bottom: spiderplant.

As you can see, none of them look quite right.

Basically all plants need 3 things to thrive: sunlight, water, and nutrients. The tricky thing is getting the amounts per plant right. Different plants have different needs, depending on what kind of plant you got, where it got grown as a wee babe, what the conditions in the space its in are like, etc.

So here's the Big Issue. Most plant people will fall into one of two categories: underwaterers and overwaterers. Basically most people either forget to water/don't water enough, or water way too much. I'm in the second category. Overwatering, especially in pots without drainage, means the roots end up having 'wet feet'. There are some plants that can survive this, and even some that like it or need it to survive. Most plants however, will end up getting root rot, which is exactly as it says on the tin: the roots are starting to rot. This is the problem for most of the plants in my pictures, too. Root rot is notoriously hard to fix, and for some plants it will just be too late no matter what I try. Overwatering also causes all kinds of fungi issues (I once accidentally had little mushrooms growing in a plant container) and pest problems. 

In this post, I’ll especially focus on overwatering, since that’s my biggest problem and also the one I’m most familiar with. You can also have underwatering, sunlight, pests, or nutrient deficiency issues, though. Sunlight is generally easy to fix: just put the plant somewhere else. Nutrient deficiency is hard, and for that one you really need to look at specific symptoms and see what to do about it. Pests are also hard, and how to deal with them depends on what you have. 

(btw, mold on the surface soil is not really a problem, but if you want to get rid of it just put some cinnamon on it.)

SO, the best way to find out if you have waterlogging issues/ root rot is by 1) checking if the soil dries out at all in between waterings, and 2) by completely pulling the plant out and actually checking its roots. Healthy roots are firm and don't smell funky. Rotting roots tend to be an unhealthy colour (usually brown/black but it depends on the plant), they can be slimy, they squish when you press them, and sometimes have a rotting smell.

(If you *underwater*, plants tend to wilt and become pale, and when you do water, the water will often pool on the surface and take a while to sink through. Healthy soil immediately absorbs water.)

Now for the calathea: mine has root rot, and I had it on the windowsill for maybe 2 days (spoiler: it hated it). This one likes to have moisture in the air but not around the roots. It doesn't like full sunlight, drafts, or being moved. They're very fussy plants, and I wouldn't recommend them to a beginner. For this one, I recently changed out the old, waterlogged soil, and replaced it with fresh soil mixed with perlite, which helps drain soil. I also put gravel in the bottom of the main container, so I can put water in there instead and have that evaporate for some moisture, although I'm not doing that right now. I also moved it back to its old spot, away from my window. It is growing a new leaf, and all the other ones are still upright, so I hope it'll bounce back!

The silver pothos is a plant originally from the forests of Thailand, and it generally likes indirect light, enough water but not too much, good drainage, and some space. Mine, unsurprisingly, probably has root rot. I'll admit I've been super lazy with this one, since I basically just cut it up a bit, shoved some new soil on top of the old soil, put the cuttings in, and put it right back where it was. Pro tip: don't do that????????? I should at some point (soon) put it in a well draining container with completely fresh soil.

I frankly don't know what's up with the spiderplant. Could be root rot, the plant could be root bound (this happens when it outgrows the container and the soil is basically replaced by roots). I haven't really looked into this one yet, I've really just laughed at how stupid it looks like this.

Now the anthurium & orchid: I've always struggled with these species, they've never quite worked well for me. It happens, everyone has plant species they vibe with and ones they really don't vibe with. The anthurium was dying already (root rot! Is anyone even surprised anymore at this point lmao), and I had it in full hydroponics (aka just water) for a bit before moving on to this as an experiment in s/h, because I'd been watching youtube videos and wanted to try. It's uh. Not working. Although as long as some of the leaves are still standing upright I'm going to keep trying.

The orchid was really just a victim of my experiments. It was doing fine before this. Again, as long as the leaves look alright I'll keep trying, but I've been fully prepared for these two to die since the moment I started this experiment.

The lessons learned and that I want to impart on you young grasshoppers:

1) use inner containers and outer containers, and make sure the inner ones have lots of holes in the bottom, or just have an outer pot with a saucer. Remember to keep the size of the plant in mind: pots that are too big hold more water and will cause root rot more easily. Too small and the plant will basically suffocate.Throw out the water that's drained out of the bottom, since the soil's probably saturated and leaving it will just cause issues.

2) look up what kind of plant you have and what it generally likes in terms of water and sunlight. Some species will literally burn their leaves in full sunlight, some need lots of sunshine to thrive. Some like moist soil and lots of humidity (jungle plants), some need it dry (most succulents/cacti)

3) try to pay attention to whether you tend to underwater or overwater, and instead of trying to change yourself, change which kind of plants you focus on. I know I overwater, and I know monsteras and banana plants love lots of water and thus love me too. Get succulents / drought resistant plants if you underwater.

4) some plants will just die even if you do everything right. It happens to the best of us. Chuck it out and try again. I promise it's okay ❤

Hope this dispels the idea that I'm some sort of plant wizard, and that it helped someone out! Of course there can be other issues than watering, but this is by far the most common issue and definitely the first thing to check if there's a problem.