#Needs more slappy being a freak

[spongebob-connoisseur]

certified kreep 7 days a week weirdass fishy

[petitebonnie]

♡ FNAF 1 x reader ♡

Characters: Bonnie

Incudles: light angst, fluff ♡

Being a janitor wasn't always the best. You had to clean up after kids and adults it isn't your fault. Out of all the jobs, this small town. This pizzeria joint had the better payment.

At night, you would clean everything up, tables, chairs, floors, bathrooms - anything that needs to be tidy up.

Bonnie watched you a lot.

He loves it when u mop the stage. He can see you way more closely than afar. He notices you like to listen to alternate rock and maybe a bit of metal. Which peeks his interest since he is a guitarist.

Bonnie really liked how you looked in your working clothes, how tightly the jeans would wrap around your thighs and waist how visible your booty was to him..

Your shirt is something he likes too- especially the upper area, if u get what I mean. Whether you had big breasts or not- he didn't care. He just liked that there is something to squish whenever he is in the mood.

Bonnie is very desperate to see you. So don't be mad at him, but he makes a mess near the stage. He loves seeing you sweep and mop the floors - bend over to pick up things and how you handle that stick.

But it wasn't the best outcome for you, of course, the other janitors that work the day shift to clean don't put the cleaning items away where they belong. So you have to find them which really stinks.

Bonnie enjoys seeing you struggle. You always made cute, annoyed facial expressions when u couldn’t find the broom or gloves. If he is feeling nice, he will find them and put them where they belong.

Also, how can I say this? uhm- Bonnie loves locking u inside the closet with him. It's kinda his space to get away from the others. At first, it freaked u out because hello - it's a huge bunny animatronic in the closet with u!!

He smoothly talked his way to you. Saying there isn't anything to worry about.. he forcefully hugs you. He gets a widdle angry if u don't hug him back. So he makes you in a gentle way sometimes.

You two could be stuck in that closet for hours- but he is a very active listener. Whenever u say something interesting, his ears perk up, and you love it. His big red eyes sparkle in interest.

Since you two now hang out in there, you make sure the closet is clean so you and him are very, very clean. You sit on his lap mainly, and he loves to snuggle. He shows his love to you with a much psychical touch.

You even read him stories too, maybe R.L. books. Slappy is his favorite, and yours too. The way you read to him gets his heart racing. You like to act with each different character to give him more volume.

♡ Which he appreciates so much. ♡

When it's time to go home, you are literally dragged back in the pizzeria. You try your best to get your things, but Bonnie is stubborn he thinks u should stay with him instead of leaving him.

So yes- he takes your stuff and puts it on high shelves or even hides it from you. Too make you stay it's not like you have anyone at home, but your kitten/pup.

You brought your pup/kitten to Bonnie, and boy was he jealous - he dispises that thing. As he likes to call it- he doesn't like how u praise them so much, pet them, and give them belly rubs. Feed them or hold them all the time.

But be extra careful not to leave your kitten/pup with Bonnie.

You made the mistake of doing so, and your poor baby was stuck in one of the big trees by the pizzeria. You were super mad at him and didn't talk to him for a day.

Until he was on his knees the next day holding a bouquet of your favorite flowers, begging for your forgiveness. Of course u gave in because u know how possessive he can be.

After that incident, he made you food, pizza, and mash potatoes. You had to admit- they both weren't very good. It's not as good as Chicas, but u ate it all to show appreciation.

♡ That's your big loving bunny, but he is just a bad cook. ♡

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 3

Let’s Split Up and Look for Clues! 

Welcome back to the Seven and the Museum of Adventuring. My previous pronouncement of combat was a little premature but hold tight, we’ll get there. For now, we’re back with Antiope who just saw a glimpse of the Ending of Things (aka, Ending) and is freaking out a bit. She tells the others and they all do various checks to see what they can find out.

Ostentatia casts Commune With City and clocks that there is some kind of abjuration shield magic on the government buildings in town, stopping them from being spied on. She also clocks some lingering undead-ish magic and a weird divination effect on Antiope, specifically on the Aguefort logo of her jacket, like someone scryed on her and just got that she had something to do with Aguefort. At this, Penny reminds her that the only true piece of info they gave Ending when they broke her out is that they were from Aguefort.

Sam with a 19 Insight still feels the connection she and Ant have with Ending because of their spells turned against them in the initial encounter. Yelle does a Perception check (27) and once again doesn’t really get bad, dreadful, menacing vibes. But also, she recognizes that she’s chill with a lot of things most people don’t love. 

Antiope reiterates that she texted Charity that she’s interested in the internship so she can learn more info--even better now that they know the buildings are safe from scrying. Yelle remembers Aguefort’s warning about people watching them and Sam asks Zelda if her “weird boyfriend” (“he’s actually really cool”) is friends with the elven oracle. Zelda says yeah, they’re both friends with Adaine, she can ask about any weird divination stuff. Sam makes sure to specify she should look into TK but NOT Ending, no doubt remembering what happened when she tried to do a spell on her. 

It’s been a big day as Zelda says so they all go to the TGIF-esque Slappy McFinnigans to celebrate (which Sam has problems with--the fact that they’re celebrating I mean, but she’s mainly ignored). They’re quickly kicked out because Katja can’t help herself from trying to brush the mane of their centaur server and they reconvene at the more their speed SlamBurger, where a horse can fully destroy a soda machine to absolutely zero reaction.  Zelda says that Ostentatia was right in that they should all do the quest because it doesn’t close any doors and they have the 2 weeks to figure things out. They all seem a bit more on the same page (though Sam is still pretty frosty towards Ant) and start making plans.

Before they leave, Yelle pulls aside Ant and Sam and says hey, first of all, you two are still linked to Ending from before. Second of all, I know y’all are Going Through It right now and you don’t have to talk about it or make up right away but you need to get your heads in the game and you need to know that you’re both loved and still family. 

Penny, Zelda, Katja, and Ostentatia go back to the museum to try and get more information for their quest. Katja goes to the information desk (horse in tow, of course) and just starts asking information about TK. She’s told that she’s one of the museum’s benefactors and has been missing for years, and hey, do you understand that a museum’s info desk is about where the water fountains and exhibits are, not just random information about the world?

Ostentatia bails her out by calling her over so she can do her plan which is just to walk into the back area like she owns the place. Now, Aguefort students do have a certain level of clearance to be back there and she does have her school ID. But instead of explaining that, she tried to use her Earrings of Diamond Charm to charm the employee she runs into which fails. And then she does a pretty good tag-team lie with Katja about how they NEED to pass a class but that doesn’t fly. Then Ostentatia tries flirting which ALSO doesn’t work. Zelda at this point steps in and just headbuts the dude so they can book it away. I personally would have gone with, “Do you know who we are? We killed the dragon that’s your current main exhibit,” but you know. No backseat adventuring. 

While this is happening, Penny is stealthing like a pro, looking for anything Arcana related. Ostentatia and Katja also did checks (O getting a nat 20) and we’ll go through all their info gathered now. 

Katja basically gets info on TK we kind of already knew. She was a benefactor of the museum. She’s centuries old like Aguefort. She was concerned with consciousness and divinity and specifically how will and divine will manifested, as well as elemental magic.  

Ostentatia gets a lot of info with her Nat 20. She gets a full map to the temple where TK went which is called the Temple of Earth Defiant. The point of the temple is that it’s up in the open air and harsh winds--wind being a symbol of chaos and unpredictability to dwarves--but they still use it as a place to honor their heroes and they rebuild and upkeep it despite the erosion and how hard it is to get there. It’s hallowed from evil and lots of stories about it involve heroes racing there for sanctuary. It was made by dwarves but it’s a pilgrimage site for other primordial beings like goliaths and earth genasi (which is what TK is). There are 3 heroes who have big statues here: Asha Hammerheart (a SUPER dope name I must say), Yvonna of the Sundering Hills , and Kora Ironbrow.

Penny finds that, amongst Kalvaxus’s hoard there were 7 unrecovered artifacts--the Mirrors of the Eidolons (which are the smashed mirrors they found it seems). Eidelons are kind of like the elemental plane version of angels/celestials. They’re primordial (remember Katja saw primordial language on the wall of the dragon cave) and kind of aligned with things like titans and genies. Raw element with no agenda (unlike celestials and demons and such which have a clear alignment which makes up the D&D religious system). It is said by wizards--who look at these things in more of a nuts and bolts way than say clerics who take the fuzzier religions view--that Eidolons are the hands of the gods because gods are beings of spirit--how could they form the physical world. Will of the divine manifested by elemental beings? Sounds right up TK’s alley.

Sam decides she’s desperate enough for information that she calls her mom who she is understandably snippy with. Her mom gives her a contact to talk to when she asks about TK but Sam stonewalls her on show business talk. She tries to play the “mother knows best, you’ll thank me later,” in a kind of Gothel-y way while acting like anything in the past never happened and says Sam is attacking her but when Sam accuses her of neglect, she proves her right by hanging up the phone.

Sam then calls the number and it turns out to be Lola Embers (Fig’s agent) who has been waiting for Sam’s call for ages and wants to talk to her, even though she’s currently chasing her dog across the park. She says she met TK once at a genasi woman networking thing and also says she once saw Charity get into an argument with TK over government funding or not getting a grant or something similar. She then says she’s in a lake trying to get her dog and Sam, being a water genasi who can breathe underwater and also a fundamentally good person even though she’s currently being aggro as hell, goes to the park to help her. Lola assures her that if she’s ready, she’ll help her get new acting gigs and that the world is ready for the new her. 

Yelle meanwhile casts Speak With Plants on some trees near TK’s office and, after a super stoner to stoner conversation, gets a magical footprint trail of where she ran off to when she absconded 12 years ago. 

Antiope (who is in a sports bra because she destroyed her top with the Aguefort logo since that’s what was pinged, revealing in a wild, nat-1 fueled retcon that she got a tramp stamp reading “Leader” in the Red Waste) goes to see Charity to fill out some paperwork, ingratiate herself, and perhaps get some info. Charity has her hot, young, assistant (who Antiope is instantly crushing on) give Ant his shirt (and Charity’s lack of surprise at seeing his 4 horses pulling a chariot tattoo makes the group think they’re def banging). She kind of explains what the Ministry does and Antiope boils it down a bit to snitching on other adventurers. Charity says it’s more of a who watches the watchmen situation and visibly twitches when she has to say the word “snitch”. 

When she takes a second to call Antiope’s dad, she accidentally leaves a tab open on her computer which has TK’s file open (probably up from when the Maidens asked about her earlier). Antiope sneaks a peek and learns that the artifact that TK stole is called the Legendarium Extrodia and it tracks quests. It seems that at some point TK must have had top level access to get her hands on it. It also shows that TK was marked for assassination (which seems like a pretty good reason to get the heck out of dodge). Brennan also says she’s learned enough that she can use the L.E. if she finds it. 

At this point, Yelle tells everyone to come back ASAP so they can follow the magic footsteps. Antiope wants to come but doesn’t want to burn bridges with Charity (or chances with Preston--equally important) so she, at Katja’s suggestion--pretends to have diarrhea and is Nat 20 convincing. Interesting choice for the end of the first meeting with a person you’re crushing on. But Preston is actually pretty supportive as she races out the door as fast as possible.

The Seven follow the footsteps out of Solace and it becomes clear that TK was headed to the dwarven temple Ostentatia learned about. This is a multi-day journey so Cinnamon sings a glorious, magical, horse song and summons mounts for everyone which I will now name because this is obviously the most important part of the episode:

Snowfire - Danielle

Taffodill - Sam

Alagonia - Antiope

Candyheart - Penny

Starforge - Ostentatia 

Strawberry Dancer - Zelda 

Crucial info. 

As they travel, Antiope casts Primeval Awareness and gets that there is something ancient in the mountain. They travel through Pilgrim’s Pass (a village area most travelers to the temple pass through) but find it completely razed to the ground. They investigate. 

With an 18 Survival check, Antiope finds tracks that seem halfway between dog and cat. There are more than 4 legs and it’s hard to tell how old they are because there’s not a lot of rain in the area. They could have been left long ago and been undisturbed. Regardless, these are clearly from monstrosities. On a 26 History Check, Katja knows that this area used to be protected by Blink Dogs (teleporting dogs) but they seem to be all gone now. On a 22 Nature check, Yelle sees a weird feather made out of plant material. It seems like fae stuff but bad vibes. On an 18 Insight check, Sam knows this was a purposeful slaughter.

And on Penny’s 30 Arcana check, oh boy. Penny finds broken common scrawled on the wall in human blood talking about a queen of the mountain who rules the skies. That only the queen may see and none may see themselves. And that the people were told to destroy the seeing glass and did not obey. In from of that message is a bear hide covering something magic. Penny lifts it with reckless abandon and sees tons of mirror shards.

Friendship bracelets! She thinks.

Gotcha bitch, the thing in the mirror says.

Uh-oh.   

Penny calls over her friends to let them knows she may have made a tiny mistake. The group is pretty split between, “Understandable,” and “Girl, WHAT?” In her defense, she did try to cast Friends on the person on the other side of the mirror shards but that’s not enough to stop an entire pack of 50-60 Displacer Beast (magic tentacle cats)/Blink Dog hybrid monstrosities along with the Harpy Queen (voice from the mirror) and her plant feathered harpy minions to start rapidly making their way to their location. 

It is at this point that Ostentatia remembers that abominations and monstrosities cannot step into the temple which means it’s time to RUN. 

And NOW it’s combat time. 

The premise of this fight is that the girls are on their horses, moving towards the center of the temple as fast as they can while fending off the closest enemies. I won’t give an exact play by play but the two highlights are as follows:

Yelle conjures up a bunch of geese with raptor stats (...so normal geese) to swarm the head cat/dog abomination and has to do a truly stunning amount of math for which she is rewarded with SEVENTY POINTS OF DAMAGE. 

Antiope does some insane arrow trickery and gets the Queen Harpy in the wing (which Ostentatia helpfully gets on video so she can show Preston later) and then forces her to take damage as she falls. If not for an extremely lucky Box of Doom nat 20, she may have been down for the count. Antiope still comes away with more than FIFTY points of damage on her though. 

And we end the episode mid-combat! We will catch up on our girls next time!

Superlatives 

Penny: Most Likely to Make Friends During a Hostage Situation 

As a companion to Danielle’s superlative last episode, Penny gets this award for reading or misreading every situation as an opportunity to make friends or make friendship bracelets for the ones she already has. 

Random Thoughts

Did you guys notice that with Katja having Cinnamon and Charity’s assistant being Preston, that’s two of the main pet NPCs from A Crown of Candy?

Antiope’s Reaction to Yelle Saying That Maybe Things Ending Isn’t So Bad: Rail against the dying of the light! Why are you OK with this?

Penny’s Reaction to Yelle Saying That Maybe Things Ending Isn’t So Bad: Entropy is TERRIBLE! Everything needs order!

The greasy cashier’s response to Ostentatia’s flirty, “Come here often?” is “To my job? Honestly no.” Brennan? Chef’s kiss. 

My other fave line this episode is from Sam. “I believe Cinnamon fucks.”

It’s very cute that Penny is like, “I gotta text Riz about this Eidelon stuff!” Not because she wants help. Just so they can geek out together. 

The joke that Brennan didn’t think about the birds is so funny considering all the bird facts in Misfits.

Also re Birds attacking: “They made a movie about this Brennan!” 

Good on Ant for refusing an Aguefort sweatshirt from Charity when offered after the little scrying incident before. Remembering things like this saves lives. 

It has been brought up several times that Ending isn’t necessarily Bad just Ancient and Powerful and I trust Yelle’s vibe check but also, like, a forest fire doesn’t have malice behind it but it can still devastate a city while it clears out dead trees that need to be cleared, you know? Not ready to start wild speculation yet but I am curious. And am similarly curious about the sisters Ending has mentioned. Oh and the parallels of 7 Maidens, 7 mirrors. It’s all there, we just need a little more info. 

Honestly, get you a man who will see you rushing out of a building, loudly claiming to have diarrhea, and instead of being grosses out will just supportively confess his own stomach issues. I wish he was just a little younger cause I want that for Ant. 

I do like that D20 has been playing a little more fast and loose with the RP ep/combat ep format. I think it really helps with story flow. 

In this episode Antiope and Brennan as various non-Zelda NPCs rolled 2 Nat 20s. O rolled one. Ant rolled 1 Nat 1--which was on a self imposed roll to see how she responded to Sephie’s tramp stamp improv. And O may have rolled one for initiative also but I wasn’t sure. 

[monotonous-minutia]

top 10 favorite new-to-you operas of 2020 and top 10 favorite overall opera productions (which can be ones you’ve watched before 2020) of 2020, as well as why! (take all the time and space you need to answer this one)

thanks!! :)

top 10 favorite new-to-me operas (tried to remember the order in which I first watched them, but I could be wrong): La fille du régiment Just a really fun, humorous, adorable opera with a great cast of lovable characters and some really slappy tunes. Les Huguenots This one went onto my list of top favorite operas almost immediately. Another cast of amazing characters (aside from the really despicable villain), especially some lovely leading ladies; adorable trouser role who gets two (preferably) arias; some really gorgeous music; and an absolutely devastating tragic ending that's so powerful and meaningful. Idomeneo The ladies are fighting over the mezzo; Idamante is one of the cutest and purest opera characters EVER; incorporates Greek Mythology which is one of my favorite things; great cast of characters (though Idomeneo himself still drives me crazy); very sapphic; lovely relationship between the main couple (kinda enemies-to-friends-to-lovers); and again some really great music La clemenza di Tito TWO mezzo bois; very VERY gay on all levels; angst with a happy ending (though depending on the production the ending can be more ambiguous than happy); entire cast of Disaster Bis; one of the smartest sopranos in the world (Servilia); lovely portrayals of loyalty and friendship; and, of course, some AMAZING music. Cendrillon Mezzo love. That's pretty much all I need to say. But also it's got a lot of my favorite things: the libretto is super poetic and beautiful; the music is absolutely fantastic at evoking the fairy tale feel, especially in the scene in the forest; wonderful lovable characters; and simply ethereal music and singing for the leading ladies. Chérubin it's the adventures of our dear Cherubino, what more could I want? How can I not love an opera that's all about this wonderful disaster child? It's so lighthearted and fun and sweet and also just really spot-on hilarious. I was laughing my head off the entire time. Plus it's Massenet so the music is gorge, especially the mezzo music :D Benvenuto Cellini Not least because it introduced me to one of my favorite trouser roles, but also because (as we've discussed) it has basically everything you need in a (not-tragic) opera: fantastic cast of lovable, wonderful characters; exciting and somewhat angsty plot; joyous happy ending; really cute and pure lead couple; adorable trouser role; Disaster Bi hilarious semi-villain you just can't help but love; some really fantastic music; and so much fun and hilarity in general. La Rondine I give this one props because it somehow made me bawl my eyes out even though no one dies. And of course it's the whole Puccini "let's pretend this thing is an operetta for an hour and a half :) and make everything all lighthearted and happy :) and have everyone just have a great time singing some wonderful music :) and then break everyone's heart in the last half hour and leave them obliterated." Also that ensemble in Act II just makes me CRY even though it's like the happiest bit of the opera?? it's just so freaking pretty omg. Alcina Props for being one of the frickin gayest operas on the planet. Also contains one of my favorite pieces of music ever in the history of ever. In general has a lot of opportunities for folks being gay as heck. Oronte can fall off the face of the earth, though. Also I am a sucker for Handel in general. Plus mezzos loving mezzos. Can't go wrong with mezzos loving mezzos. (Yeah, I know technically Rugierro can be played by a countertenor, but I don't watch those ones ;p ) The plot is still "WTF???" in my head, but does that really matter when it's basically one nonstop gay mess? Die Fledermaus Really don't understand how this took so long to get into my life (especially because German operetta was my Thing back in the day) but now that it's in my life I love it to pieces. One of the most iconic trouser roles ever, and an entire cast full of lovable buffoons, as well as just one bop after another. Plus a really slapstick plot. Basically laughed through the entire show.

10 favorite overall opera productions of 2020: It was so hard to narrow this one down! I've seen so many amazing opera productions this year. To make it a little easier for me, I tried to focus on productions of operas that weren't new to me this year (though I HAD to put the Pelly Cendrillon on here. I couldn't not) so I could focus more on the production itself. These ones aren’t in any particular order bc I’m lazy:

Sher Hoffmann (Met 2009/2015) Surprise, surprise. I simply adore the production, set, costumes, staging, etc.--all so wonderfully weird and delightfully eccentric, without distracting from the very odd and complicated story. Plus, I love the casts in both performances, esp. Kate Lindsey but you knew that already ;) Sher Barbiere (Met 2017) Three words: DiDonato. Flórez. Mattei. Plus Del Carlo and Relyea and it's Sher so really, where can it possibly go wrong?? It's an absolute delight from beginning to end that just takes all the comedic gold from the story and runs with it, and, as with his Hoffmann, provides a delightfully eccentric set and staging without being distracting. Salzburg 2013 Don Carlo Super gay, amazing cast, beautiful production, contains material not seen many other places, and introduced me to Maria Celeng's Tebaldo, which will undoubtably forever be my favorite. Did I mention how gay it is? Garsington 2017 Nozze A really fun, charming, heartwarming, and beautiful staging of one of my favorite operas. I love the cast and set and costumes and that people in general are pretty nice to Cherubino, and the Count isn't as creepy or mean as in some productions, and has some legit nice moments with Rosina during the opera so his apology at the end actually comes across as kinda genuine. In particular I love the really adorable Figaro and Susanna (individually adorable, as well as being a really adorable couple) and Cherubino. Pelly Cendrillon (Met 2018/ROH 2010) Super gorgeous production that does an amazing job evoking the fairy tale feel. Not thrilled with 100% of the choreography but I love pretty much everything else about it--the sets, the staging, the cast (especially the Met cast, though there is one little detail in the ROH one I like better) and even the lighting are super intricate and effective. Munich 2011 Hoffmann Just a really delightfully weird take on this opera, with a great cast, some fantastic singing, hilarious sets and costumes, and some quirky staging and edit choices that make it really unique and fun. Met 2017 (Sher) Roméo et Juliette I should basically just say everything by Sher is my favorite now huh? I legit want to write this guy some fan mail because his work (especially for Hoffmann) has in a lot of ways just been really meaningful to me. I didn't even like this opera until I saw this production. It's so GORGEOUS and timeless and yet simple and sweet, and the cast is to die for. Met 2017 Norma Flippin gay, that's really all I need to say, oh my lord. Plus the cast is amazing. Honeslty don't remember much about the sets or costumes, I just remember how amazingly gay it is. Met 2009 Orfeo ed Euridice The dancing in particular is what draws me to this one, but also the expansive moving sets and some really heartbreaking choreography and blocking. Side note, I know a lot of people are annoyed with Amor's outfit, but I love how ridiculous her sparkly pink ensemble is compared with the sombre outfits of the leading cast (and chorus representing all those famous dead people historical figures). I mean, she's basically Cupid, right? When has Cupid every been spiffy or dignified? Plus the whole thing is super gay and really underrated in my opinion. Bonus: Stephanie Blythe is now hands-down my favorite Orfeo. La Scala 1995 Hoffmann Set and costumes are okay, effective but not particularly memorable, but holy lord is this one GAY as hell. That's my favorite thing about it, plus much of the cast (Mentzer and Shicoff, obviously, as well as Natalie Dessay being my favorite Olympia and Denyce Graves being one of my top favorite Giuliettas). There are a few kind of weird things about the staging, and the edit is far from being my favorite, but I adore how fully it embraces every aspect of gay that this opera presents. Plus it's one of the few I've seen that actually has a legit nice ending (others being Munich and Sher).

Thanks for the ask, sorry it got kinda long!

[supposed2bfunny]

Heck it! Vento Aureo Neuro-Divergent Headcanons!

Narancia

-Narancia has (undiagnosed) ADHD.

-And boy does he love to stim with his hands! Using his flick knife is his preferred method of keeping his hands busy, but that tapping he’s doing while listening to his boombox? Slappy time! 

-He also flaps when he gets served his favorite meal or a fancy dessert at restaurants with the gang.

-His feet are EXTREMELY restless and he has a tendency to kick his shoes on and off when he’s sitting around. This makes them a tad loose, which is why they always come flying off in battle.

-Surprisingly, Abbacchio is the most equipped to handle Narnacia’s energy and helps ground him with his Cool Goth Vibe.

-Abba and Nara paint their nails together sometimes when Narancia is feeling overwhelmed. Especially on rainy days when the sound of the rain puts him on edge.

-He’ll just start singing jingles from commercials at random, sometimes in the middle of a conversation. When they get in his head, he’s gotta let them out! In general, noises can be either a source of elation or anxiety for him.

-He’s often lost in his own thoughts so deep that when someone speaks to him, it can take a few seconds for him to process what’s just been said. 

-Sights, sounds, and smells all tend to overwhelm him, but touch is very soothing. Look how tight that shirt is; there’s a reason!

-Sometimes if he’s having a hard time, he’ll just ask for a bear-hug from Mista. The pressure helps him relax instantly. Since it took a long time for Narancia to work up the nerve to ask for a hug, he would at first just grab one of Mista’s arms and drape it around his shoulders, or even place one of his hands on his head. It didn’t take long for Mista to understand the wordless request for comfort.

Fugo

-Holy fuck words are hard for Fugo.

-Unless you ask him about something he’s passionate about. Then he will chat away and info-dump, his eyes light up and it’s one of the rare times you’ll see Fugo open up and look super happy.

-Since he has a hard time socially, he tries to use formalities to bridge the gap between himself and friends. Teaching math to Narancia? Formal, serves a functional purpose. A logical thing to do, really. Also means he gets to spend the afternoon with his friend :) He’s also always trying to take on extra tasks for Buccellati so he can be around him.

-He adores Buccellati, but Bucci tends to make a lot of intense eye contact, which always makes Fugo antsy because he hates eye contact. Thank god for Abbacchio, who will go on a mission with him and return to Naples without ever looking at his face. What a good friend!

-Yes, sometimes he practices speaking in front of a mirror, trying to keep his head high and make his cadence more like Buccellati’s. And what about it?

-Touch-averse to the extreme. Do not touch him. Please.

-Hands-down pickiest eater of the group because a lot of smells and textures freak him out. His sense of smell in particular is super strong. When in doubt, strawberries are always a good way to make him eat. He can devour those all day and never tire of them. He’s been known to just eat bread for lunch if the smell of his meal is Bad and puts him off.

-Also prone to stomach-aches from stress. His mind-body connection is VERY strong and his social anxiety informs how he feels. And since he’s anxious most of the time...:(

-His skin is so sensitive: his suits are made from super soft material and don’t have tags. His clothing budget is sky-high but he looks dope and he feels good!

-He tends to pick at his hair, so he has horrible split ends all the time.

-He’s probably the least likely one in the gang to self-sooth or practice self-care because he doesn’t feel he deserves to feel good. Thankfully, the rest of the gang feels quite differently and is slowly but surely memorizing everything they can do to make his life easier.

Mista

-He’s naturally extroverted and loves to be with friends, but he needs breaks to recharge frequently, which is why he always brings along books or magazines to read and have quiet time. If he doesn’t get a chance to decompress, he gets fidgety, overly chatty, and very unhappy. 

-Understanding what people are saying and interpreting other people’s feelings? Easy! Communicating back to people what’s on his own mind? Oof!

-Voice modulation? Lol never heard of her. Sometimes he’s just yelling instead of talking and that’s that on that.

-Despite the efforts he puts into being the “laid-back” type, he’s actually prone to anxiety attacks. Generally, he’s pretty helpless to communicate when he’s going into an attack, and doesn’t want to be seen as overly emotional or worse: a burden. So he tends to clam up until he reaches a breaking point. The only two people who can soothe him once he’s in the height of anxiety are Buccellati and, surprisingly, Fugo.

-His fear of the number four is 100% a self-imposed sort of order to help him feel he has control over some aspect of his life. Is that specific number linked to a childhood trauma? Probably! He’s not gonna talk about!

-Loves to eat, but he used to get distracted/lost in thought and skip meals chronically when he was younger. That’s why the Pistols are always begging for food at mealtimes. It gives him a routine.

-Executive dysnfucntion to the max.

-Hyper-empathic. Don’t let the tough demeanor fool you: he cries like every day, and adopts the vibe of whoever he’s with, which is again, why he gets overwhelmed and needs down time despite his love of socializing. 

-Zero spatial awareness. If there is something to bump into, he’s already bumped into it, knocked it over, tripped over it, or stepped on it. Half the time he’s hurt on missions, he’s the last one to notice.

Giorno

-Zero perception of personal space. Especially if he really likes you. (People are quick to assume he and Mista are a couple because his hands are always on him: it’s really just a security thing for Gio, nothing romantic intended).

-He also tends to get right up in your face if you’re having a one-on-one conversation. For the longest time, Fugo avoided talking with him alone cuz he Did Not Like the invasion of personal boundaries.

-He has a silly sense of humor, but his delivery is so flat people often can’t tell he’s joking, which leaves him feeling kinda :/

-Not good at reading people’s tones. If he has empirical evidence to glean something about someone (ie Buccellati’s hesitating to injure the drug addict teen in their first fight, which showed Giorno that he’s a kind and trustworthy man), then he’s confident. But he gets confused when he has to go off of facial cues and tone of voice alone. Those are way harder to understand for him!

-He’s constantly asking if his friends are upset with him because he can’t tell and he’s very anxious about that! At least Abbacchio is upfront about his feelings, even if he’s not too fond of Giorno. At least once a day you’ll hear a very polite “Hey, Narancia...I’m very sorry to trouble you, but you’re not mad at me, are you? No? Okay just checking...”

-Put Fugo and Giorno in a room together and get them talking about Roman history or biology and they will not shut up. They LOVE to info dump at one another!

-He had such a lonely childhood and he is hyper aware of how literal and overly formal he can be. He acts collected but he’s actually so self-conscious of it, and is terrified that the gang puts up with him because of his stand abilities, not because of who he is as a person.

-Soooo sensory-seeking. Please braid his hair! Go ahead! He would adore that!

-Has been known to summon Gold Experience just for a hug when he was really upset. These days Narancia and Mista try to be there for him instead.

-He has synesthesia all the time, which might be part of how he’s able to think so creatively when fighting other stand users. Sometimes on bad days, he’ll just communicate in colors instead of words, because it takes less energy.

-On one really bad day, Abbacchio asked why Giorno was showing Mista pictures of different gray skies in a book and not talking. Mista explained that those pictures were what was in Giorno’s head, that words were too heavy that day. After a moment’s thought, Abbacchio grabbed his headphones, set them on Giorno, and put on Monteverdi’s Symphony No. 3 in D Minor with the order “listen to that and tell me what you see.” Giorno searched through some of his books, then showed him a series of Monet’s water lillies. “That’s what I thought. Keep listening, punk. I’ll need the headphones back at the end of the day, or else you’re in for it.” Closest bonding experience they ever had.

At the moment I can’t think of anything for Abbacchio or Buccellati, but I’m happy to hear any other ideas people may have!

[helenarlett-rex]

Goosebumps Review #5

It’s time for another review in my little project of rereading all those Goosebumps books I never got to as a kid. Although today I decided to go back and re-read one I actually did read as a kid because I wanted to refresh myself. 

(Spoilers… naturally…) 

Escape From The Carnival Of Horrors.

Give Yourself Goosebumps #1

This was the first book in the Give Yourself Goosebumps series. Basically taking Goosebumps and turning it into a choose your own adventure book. Which isn’t too much of a stretch when you consider that R.L. Stine wrote a number of choose your own adventure style books back when those were actually popular, before Goosebumps was even a thing. It’s a little odd that he decided to give Goosebumps the choose your own adventure treatment in 1995, years after the choose your own adventure fad had already died, but I’m glad he did. It’s nice to see Stine returning to this format because he’s great at it. The Give Yourself Goosebumps books were always my favorite Goosebumps.

So this is the Carnival of Horrors. Not to be confused with Horrorland. I know Horrorland has always been the more popular of the two evil theme parks in the Goosebumps universe, but as a kid I always liked the Carnival of Horrors better. And for that reason I have to give a shout out to Miss Reptilia, The Snake Lady! The monsters from Horrorland didn’t make it into the Goosebumps movie but Miss Reptilia did!

Nice to see The Carnival Of Horrors win one over Horrorland. 

The main character of this book, like in all the Give Yourself Goosebumps books, is you. Instead of creating a main character, the character is always just referred to as “you” and the story is told through first person perspective, generally never mentioning race, gender, or descriptive characteristics, allowing the reader to put themselves right in the story. You also have two friends named Patty and Brad, who are almost as much of a blank slate as you are. The story starts out with you, Patty and Brad sitting around bored one evening and deciding to ride your bikes out to the carnival being set up on the edge of town to scope it out before it opens. This is where you are given your first choice in the book and I feel a little cheated by that one. 

You are given the choice to either jump the fence or go back home and come back after they open. But if you decide to go home Patty overrides your derision and you end up jumping the fence anyways. Stine is literally all like, well I know I gave you a choice, but nothing will happen if you do that, so let’s just have you jump the fence anyways. It’s not the only time in the book where a choice turns out to be no choice at all, and normally it’s done for laughs and is in all honesty pretty funny. There is actually one page where it ends with… 

If you want to go on the Mountain King ride, turn to page 75.

or

If you want to go on the Mountain King ride, turn to page 75.

I had a little laugh about that, but it was being honest about the fact that I had no choice in the matter. But to trick me into thinking I had a choice, and then telling me that my choice was stupid and making me do the other thing instead… and to do that for the very first choice in the book… That made me feel cheated. 

Once you are in the carnival however you are quickly caught by Big Al, the carnival’s manager. He’s a huge man who is described as having shoulders wider than a refrigerator and solid black eyes, like lumps of coal. This should have been a clear tip that this guy isn’t human and you should probably get the hell out of there, but you and your friends are dumber than a box of rocks. So when instead of kicking you out, he instead offers to let you have free run of the carnival and “test everything out” before the grand opening, you all happily agree to it. And this is where the story and the choices that effect it actually starts. 

There are two overall story paths to take with lots of branching side paths from each one. Each of those two paths having their own good ending and a ton of bad endings. In total the book has 2 good endings, 1 okay ending, 1 time travel ending that just makes you start over from the beginning, 21 bad endings, and one no-ending where you get trapped in an endless loop flipping back and forth between the same two pages over and over with no way out. The first real choice in the book is what determines which of the two over all story paths you will embark on and which endings you are able to get. And this comes down to the simple choice of which part of the carnival do you want to check out first? The rides or the midway? (For those of you who don’t speak carnival, the midway is the area where the games, food, and other attractions are located and is generally set apart from the rides.) 

Every time I’ve read this book, both as a kid and now during my re-read, I’ve always started with the midway. It was already established before you were ever given the choice that the freak show was located there, and that the snake lady was a part of the freak show. And I just kind of have a thing for scaly reptile women… 

Once you have to start making choices the book gets really fun and R.L. Stine really shows his talent in the you choose genre, taking something that hasn’t been popular in several years and making it fresh and interesting. It’s almost more like playing a game than just reading a book where you pick the paths taken. The eventual true ending of the midway path (if you don’t get killed before getting there) leads up to you having to take Big Al’s “Final Challenge”. But if you just breeze through everything and get there too soon you are utterly screwed and have no way of passing it. You start to hit pages where it’s not just a simple matter of do you want to do this or that. Instead you need collected items to get through it. Have you already found a can of Monster Blood? If so, turn to this page. If not, turn to this page. (Yeah, stuff from other Goosebumps books shows up in this.) Oh you didn’t have any Monster Blood on you? Well looks like you are going to be reduced to bringing Slappy to life and asking him for help. (That’s right. Slappy.) Oh but bringing Slappy to life was clearly the worst mistake you could have made. No worries. You can still get out of this… if you already got the magic page number from the fortune teller. If you did turn to that page now. Oh you didn’t get that number? Then I guess you don’t know what page to turn to, do you? Guess you’re screwed. 

It creates a you choose book where you can’t just pick the options that sound the safest. You have to actually explore the park and do things you wouldn’t normally do in order to find the items and info you need to pass the “Final Challenge”. But at the same time it’s still risky because some of those choices are going to lead to situations you didn’t want. Helping the freaks could be a good thing, but getting too involved with them has just led to you being betrayed by the snake lady. Going in a certain direction is where you needed to go, but you got too carried away and went too far. Now you have wound up in Reptile Petting Zoo. Or wait… did that sign say Reptile Petting Zoo or Reptile’s Petting Zoo? Who’s petting who here? Maybe listening to every bad idea Patty had was only going to get you killed, but rejecting every single one of her ideas has only pissed her off and the carnival has already effected her back when you got separated. Now she’s not just mad at you, she has turned into a monster and started eating you alive. It’s all a very careful balance of how much of a risk do I take? Taking too much of a risk is only going to get you killed, but no risk at all and you’ll fail the challenge. And I’m sure you don’t want to fail the challenge… unless you like the idea of having you and your friends all stitched together and put in the freak show. 

Oh yeah, did I mention the Give Yourself Goosebumps series is a lot more disturbing and gruesome than the normal books? Give R.L. Stine a reason to write over 20 bad endings per book and he comes up with a lot of twisted and violent things to have happen to you, including (but not limited to) several very creative scenes of dismemberment. Although I think having my own best friend start ripping pieces of me off and eating them while I watched was probably the most disturbing one, for me anyways. 

Taking the other main path through the rides provides a slightly different kind of game. Instead of collecting items and info through the story needed to pass a challenge, the real world environment around you as you read the book effects a number of your choices. There are more than a few pages where Stine asks you to stop reading and check the world around you. Is it daylight outside? Then turn to this page. Is it night time? Turn to this page. Is it raining? Turn to this page. What day of the week is it? Turn to the corresponding pages. I mean there are still simple do you want to do this or that pages, but this story path is determined a lot by when and where you are reading the book. And in a way it’s pretty brilliant. 

The midway path is like playing a game. You have to do and find things in order to pass and get the good ending. Reflecting the fact that a midway is filled with games. While the rides path is determined by outside environments you have no control over. Reflecting that fact that once you are strapped into a ride you have no control and are at the mercy of the ride. 

The good ending on the rides path is a bit more thematic than the good ending from the midway path and I can understand why people would call that one the one true ending of the book. But the over all story of the Carnival Of Horrors itself can’t be learned from any one ending on it’s own. I had to read through the book a number of times and get every ending in able to part together the full story and learn the Carnival’s dark secret. That being that the Carnival Of Horrors is a supernatural place that appears in a different location (and even different time) ever night and vanishes again on the twelfth stroke of midnight. Anyone still inside the carnival once that happens is trapped inside the carnival forever, traveling with it wherever it appears and never able to leave it’s gates. Big Al and his more willing followers actively try to trap more with every stop, and they don’t really care how they do it. They could just keep you trapped inside until after midnight, or they could kill you. You can work as one of the new carnies as a ghost just as easily as you can alive. Either way, you aren’t leaving before midnight. 

And I think that little fact makes Carnival Of Horrors far scarier than Horrorland could ever be. If you die in Horrorland, at least your worries are over. But in the Carnival Of Horrors death is still no escape. Even if you die there you still aren’t getting out. You will still be trapped there as a ghost, still under Big Al’s power, still forced to work in the carnival for all of eternity.

[untravld-blog]

PMD ; Verse

Seeing as I mentioned it && kinda have a fleshed out idea, I’m gonna drop it here now && hope that it makes sense to those who read!!

I’ve mentioned to a few mutuals that Somni is a canon diverge of any Darkrai really, PMD included. I mulled over the idea of whether to keep him as the main villain in the story, or perhaps just pull him out of it completely && make something new for him.

As much as I love the villain redemption trope, I’ve done it so much lately && wanted to try something different.

In his verse, he’s NOT the main (secret) villain && perhaps this takes place in a verse where Explorers of Sky never happened— or just leave it at the Darkness && time canons where it doesn’t even happen.

I had the idea that before he wandered off into the wild, to be alone. He had a human partner ( i don’t have a name for her yet)  for a few years. During that time he was incredibly abused by her && pretty much treated as a weapon more than a friend. He would spend nights chained up, because she didn’t want him to escape. She would put him through a lot of psychological abuse that STILL haunts him to this day. Many things that she did, manipulated him, && slowly cultured him into a rather self-destructive mindset.  

Which is why when she FINALLY abandoned him, it was so INGRAINED in his mind that he was, in fact, a monster && could only cause more pain.

EITHER WAY!! Somni isn’t bad— other pokemon might see him as bad, but instead he’s misunderstood. . . being someone who hides from others, it's hard to get an idea of who he is unless you meet him && get to know him. Basically doing a big slappie of my main verse onto this verse . . . both verses have him being recluse, as well as disliking himself for his abilities (thinking of himself as a monster)

The difference here is if he were approached by a pokemon, or a team && they started to understand him && show him, not every pokemon will treat him like a freak . . . he would feel included && welcome.

He’s much easier to persuade in this verse

Being possibly moved by the idea of helping && rescuing, he might come out of his shell && try the same thing. Seeing it as a way to prove to everyone that he’s not all that bad && that he wants to see a brighter future for himself && others. . . it’s also to prove to himself that he isn’t all too bad . . .

Somnis traits in this verse, he would be more outspoken about how he felt, about himself && the world— he’s not as grumpy, but he’s also not one to strike conversation && would rather someone else speak to him first before he speaks his own mind.

That being said, he will speak up when he needs to.

He likes to learn about the world && is often seen taking in the scenery of anywhere he travels.

[rhysie-cakes314]

Day 12- Childhood Fear

Summary:

Sometimes, Tony just got these ideas. "We’ll each tell you a story about our childhood fears. That way,” he glanced around the room, and his eyes told them there was no getting out of this, “Peter doesn’t grow up thinking he shouldn’t talk about his feelings like some of us did.”

That's how a perfectly normal Goosebumps marathon became a night of stories and revelations that the eight year old Peter would cherish forever. 

“Viewers beware, you’re in for a scare,” the voice played over the opening before Steve turned the TV off without warning.

“Alright, I think that’s enough Goosebumps for one day,” he told the room. Steve and Peter had been watching the show all day. Each of the others had come into the room at different points, and having been sucked in by one episode or another, settled in to join the marathon. Even Tony had eventually made his way sleepily from the lab. He was currently drooling on Steve’s left shoulder, fast asleep with his plate of pizza still sitting in his lab. Between his husband and his eight year old nestled into his lap, Steve was beginning to sweat.

“But we were just about to reach season four!” Clint whined from his spot on the floor. He was leaning against Phil’s legs against the armchair, and the SHIELD agent was mindlessly playing with his hair, eyes closed.

Tony startled awake at Clint’s outburst, and Steve could punch the archer, Tony needed to sleep. The genius reached down and took another bite of pizza as though he hadn’t just been asleep. “Wait, we stopped the show?” he asked, confused. Steve stifled a laugh.

“Peter here has bed soon,” Steve explained to everyone’s groans. “We wouldn’t want him to have nightmares, would we?” He looked down at the child pointedly, ruffling his hair.

Peter pushed his hand off as he sat up, looking like Steve had insulted his honour. “I wasn’t scared! Goosebumps are only scary to babies.” Natasha thought the pout and crossed arms made the kid look just like a mini Tony. It was adorable.

“I disagree, young Peter,” Thor spoke very seriously. “I thought Slappy was quite frightening.”

“But dummy’s can’t actually talk, it was clearly just a bot.” Peter explained.

Tony pointed at the child proudly, “That’s right, squirt. You want to make a Slappy bot?” Peter giggled as he nodded in excitement.

Thor poured the rest of the popcorn into his mouth. “The dummy was possessed by a malicious spirit,” he spoke while chewing, sending flecks flying. Tony wiped a fleck of popcorn off his face.

“I guess that’s kind of scary,” Peter admitted. Thor nodded. “I thought the cursed camera was scarier, so don’t feel bad about being scared.” The Avengers shared a look as they all stifled a laugh. Peter attempting to comfort the god of thunder because he thought Thor needed it was one of the cutest things in the world. Steve looked down when he felt his shirt being tugged. “Pops, what were all of you scared of when you were kids?”

Steve opened his mouth to respond that maybe they could talk about it tomorrow, Tony sabotaged him without thinking. “That’s a great idea! We’ll each tell you a story about our childhood fears. That way,” he glanced around the room, and his eyes told them there was no getting out of this, “Peter doesn’t grow up thinking he shouldn’t talk about his feelings like some of us did.”

While Steve agreed that they should always do what they could to make sure Peter didn’t succumb to toxic masculinity, it didn’t have to be right now. “It’s getting late,” he started, but Peter placed a finger to his lips and made a shushing noise.

“Pleeeaaseee!” Peter begged. “I promise I’ll go right to sleep after.”

“And I’ll make my special hot cocoa!” Natasha sing-songed.

The night was already out of his control. Steve shot Tony a glare. They would talk about this later. Just because Tony had no semblance of a sleep schedule did not mean that Peter should inherit the bad habit. “Alright,” Steve acquiesced. Natasha had already left the room to make cocoa. The woman refused to let any of them know what made hers taste so special, claiming it was a Russian family secret. Only Bruce was ever allowed in the room and that was only to help her top them with whipped cream.

Once everyone had cocoa in their hands and was settled into the couches, Clint jumped up. “Me first!” No one fought him on it. “When I was little, there was local legend about an evil witch named Natasha-”

“No lying Uncle Clint!” Peter cried out. Clint lunged forward to tickle Peter. His squeals filled the room. Steve snatched the mug of cocoa before it spilled, shooting a glare at Clint. Clint winked at him before stepping back towards the TV again.

“You’re too smart for your own good, kid. Fine, I’ll tell a real story, though the witch Natasha scares me as an adult.” He ducked the pillow thrown at him before continuing. His face grew more serious as he decided what he should talk about that wouldn’t be too dark for an eight year old. Not that they ever shielded Peter from much, but the kid could stand to mature a little before hearing some of their tragic backstories.

“For part of my childhood, I lived with a traveling circus/carnival. They called us carnies,” he explained. “My brother, Barney, and I worked as roustabouts at first. Since we were the only kids, a lot of the adults liked to tell us stories. I was more gullible than Barney. There was this story that everyone worked together to come up with, and they each told it to me in snippets like it was some sort of historical event no one quite remembered.

“Supposedly, there was a set of conjoined twins who used to be part of the crew. Their names were Riley and Kylie. The two women were polar opposites in personality, and their constant bickering became the source of their act. The problem was, Kylie didn’t want to be in a carnival. She wanted to get surgery to separate them, but Riley loved their lifestyle travelling around the country with nothing to tie them down. The doctors wouldn’t attempt anything without permission from both twins; it was a dangerous surgery that was rarely done anyway.

“Their bickering slowly became screaming matches that kept everyone awake at night. Kylie begged her sister to let her live her own life. Riley could come up with her own act, she didn’t need Kylie or to be a freak. She could be a trapeze artist or something, Kylie argued. Riley would scream that Kylie would never escape her, that they were born together and would stay together until the day they died.

“And it might have turned out that way if Kylie hadn’t fallen in love with the knife thrower. They sent each other love notes, Kylie only writing and reading while Riley slept. The affair was rife with tension because the man wanted sex, but there was an obvious obstacle.”

Peter snorted at the picture in his head. Sex still seemed gross to him, but it would be extra weird if your sister was attached to you.

Clint waggled his eyebrows at Peter, happy to know the boy was enjoying the story. “Together, the star-crossed lovers hatched a plan. Kylie started hinting to Riley that they should try mixing their act with some of the others, that maybe if Riley found a new partnership she’d like, they could finally agree on the surgery. Riley bought into it, happy enough to humour her sister if it meant they’d stop screaming at each other every night.

“The twins tried out a few things, including letting the knife-thrower use them as a target. The rehearsals went fine, the man never missed, and he always successfully surrounded them with knives without hitting them once. After weeks of this, the ringmaster okayed the act for the show. Kylie was thrilled, their plan would commence that night.

“In front of a live audience, Riley was murdered by knife after knife to her chest. Her screams became the talk of the town for years.” Clint heard Peter gasp softly. “With Riley dead, the doctors had no choice but to separate her from Kylie. The lovers did not get to celebrate their success for long, because the angry ghost of Riley showed up the very next night. The poor roustabout who found their bodies could barely tell who they were, they had been stabbed so many times.

“But that wasn’t the worst part! No, the rumour started that the vengeful spirit of the murdered twin still haunted the troupe and killed anybody who lied to their sibling.” Clint shuddered. “Barney held that over me for years. I couldn’t lie to him at all because I was terrified of being stabbed by a ghost!” Clint bowed theatrically.

Peter clapped until everyone gave polite applause. “That is scary, Uncle Clint! But you shouldn’t lie to people anyway,” he lectured sternly. Clint couldn’t possibly be expected not to laugh at that!

The eight year old only frowned deeper until Clint held his hands up in surrender. “You’re so very right, Peter, I’m sorry. My brother and I weren’t good kids.”  

Mollified, Peter stood on Tony’s legs to announce who would be up next. “Aunt Tasha, you’re up!”

The assassin took Clint’s place in front of her family. She looked nervous for a moment, something none of them had ever seen on her. “So,” she started, voice sharp. She cleared her throat, softening her tone. “This is complicated, my kroshka,” she met Peter’s gaze seriously. He nodded for her to go on. Peter was a smart kid, raised by a genius, but he was only eight. Natasha barely understood her own childhood. “I’m not sure which of my childhood memories are real and which are false,” she explained gently.

Peter scooted his butt off the couch, surprising the the woman with a hug. “That’s okay Tasha,” he assured her. Natasha wasn’t sure when she had become so entangled in this family; she never imagined she’d love a child like she loved Peter Stark-Rogers. Having children had never been in her own plans, but she would give anything for this kid’s happiness. “Fears are real even if their source isn’t anyway.” He looked up at her. It was such a wise thing for a child to say, all of the Avengers looked a little taken aback. “But you don’t have to tell one if you don’t want to.”

The redhead leaned down, placing a kiss on Peter’s forehead. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For you, my kroshka, I will.” Peter’s face brightened and he ran back to Tony’s lap, ignoring the squawk from his father.

“In that case, I’ll tell you one of the things I do remember.” Natasha tucked her hair behind her ears while she collected her thoughts. “Now, this isn’t real, but I remember it as though it were. The scientists that raised me made me believe that I spent years of my life training at a ballet studio.

“At this studio, I had an imaginary teacher, he name was Ms. Nida. Ms. Nida was very strict, and she scared me.” The corner of her lips twitched into a near smile, the false memories bittersweet. She sometimes wish they were real, because they were much nicer than her reality. “I know it may seem silly that I was afraid of a ballet instructor, but you know that look Steve gets when he’s angry at Tony?” She asked Peter.

Peter nodded enthusiastically. “Pops has a scary angry face!”

Tony burst out laughing when Steve blushed, looking at his son, horrified. “Do I scare you?” he asked.

Peter shook his head. “No, I know you only get mad ‘cause you care. But if I didn’t know you, it’d be very scary!” Tony continued to laugh through the entire affair. Steve thought he enjoyed it a little too much.

Natasha waited for their attention to return before she went on. “Well Ms. Nida had a similar face when she got mad. And she could yell like an angry Tony.” It was Steve’s turn to chuckle when Peter shuddered. “So when we were learning our parts for Swan Lake, and I was having trouble remembering it, I tried to hide and skip lessons. I didn’t want her to yell at me. Ms. Nida knew all of the studio’s nooks and crannies, though. There was no way I was going to avoid her.

“She called out for me in each room as she searched. Her voice grew angrier with every yell. When she did find me, she slapped me over and over, and made me explain to the whole ballet troupe why they were going to be punished the next day; that it was all my fault. The embarrassment is what really frightened me in the end. I thought all of the other dancers would hate me. So my fear was of being hated.” Natasha finished, waiting patiently for Peter’s reaction.

For his part, the boy looked thoughtful for a moment. “But you’re not afraid of being hated now?”

She shook her head, smiling down at him. “I don’t like to be hated, but I don’t fear it. Some people won’t like you, kroshka, plain and simple. There’s nothing you’ll be able to do to avoid it so there’s no sense fearing it. All you can do is be yourself.”

“I know, there’s already kids at school who hate me,” he answered sadly.

“What!? Who are they? I will march down to that school-”

Steve cut him off. “Tony, you will do no such thing. People are allowed to not like Peter.”

Tony huffed. “Well they’re stupid, then. He’s perfect and brilliant and nice…” he tickled the kid in his lap, relishing in the giggles.

Steve watched them fondly. “Who’s next Peter?”

“Hmmm… You!” He pointed at Steve.

Steve smiled. “Well that’s easy. I was afraid-”

“No! You have to stand in front and tell it like a story!” Peter demanded, Tony nodding in agreement behind him. Steve sighed, moving to face the audience.

“Well, everyone knows that I wasn’t a healthy kid. I was constantly ill, too skinny, and had pretty bad asthma. It was just my mom and I, and we never had enough money, mostly because my medicine and doctor’s appointments cost so much. The obvious answer to your question, Peter, would be to say that I was afraid of dying, but it wasn’t that simple.

“I’ve never been afraid of dying. For one, my mother always taught me to believe in God, and I’ve never had trouble knowing that I’ll be in heaven after I die. Nothing could be scary about that. There were many winters when I would go to bed very aware that I may not wake up ever again.”

A harsh burst of air punched out of Tony at the same time that Peter let out a soft “oh.” Neither of them seemed to be aware of it as they watched Steve with rapt attention, waiting for more. It was easy to forget that Steve used to be so fragile. He just seemed invincible most of the time.

Steve gave them a sad smile. “That’s just how it was when a skinny poor kid got the flu back then. The flu vaccine didn’t even exist yet. I think I got my first one in the middle of the war,” he added as an afterthought. “Sometimes, being that sick and miserable, death sounded kind of nice. My body would finally stop suffering.” Steve met Peter’s tearful gaze and locked onto them. Peter had never been kept away from the reality of death and suffering. It was something Steve and Tony had agreed on before adopting the boy. He couldn’t have superheroes as parents and not be as prepared for the worst as one can be.

“What I was afraid of, was leaving my mother alone. She was so sad sometimes, lonely after my father died, and I had made it my mission in life to make her as happy as I could. She tried her best to put on a brave face whenever I got really sick, but she couldn’t hide the terror in her eyes. My mother couldn’t lose me, not if I could help it. That fear is probably the only thing that kept me alive through the worst of it. I would feel myself make the decision sometimes, the choice to not die. Because leaving her alone and sad was scarier than the pain of living.” His husband and son were both crying now, and Thor sniffed loudly.

Peter stood and faced his pops. Steve was prepared for a hug, but Peter didn’t hug him. Instead he grew very serious. “Thank you for staying alive. It was very brave.” He gave a firm nod, then sat back down. When had the night become this serious? Peter’s words surprised a small gasp from Steve. He had to clear his throat, decidedly not contributing more to tonight’s tears.

“You’re welcome. I love you.” They snuggled into the couch again, Peter forcing his dads to lean on each other to hold his tiny hands in the middle. He balanced himself on one leg from each of them. Without speaking, he pointed at Thor.

Thor beamed. “I would be honoured to tell a story, tiny Peter!” He stood so heroically, it was easy to forget he was in a t-shirt and sweats instead of his armour and cape. “It has been thousands of years since I was a child. Growing up as the son of the All-Father, I was raised as a warrior from birth. I was too strong to fear anything in Asgard or any of the nine-realms for that matter. No, I was too confident for my own good. What I did fear, was that I would not live up to my responsibilities.

“I knew from the beginning that someday, I must take over as king of Asgard. Frigga and Odin raised me well, and I knew that in theory I would be ready. But in practice, it was far too easy to fail. Technically, past the time when my body resembled a Midgardian child, I was certainly still a child in maturity and age, given Asgardian lifespans. In the 9th century AD, I was given my first task that resembled a practice run for being a king. I traveled to Midgard, and went by the name Donner. The All-Father had tasked me to promote the worship of Asgardians amongst the Norse-men. It seemed to be going splendidly, and my fear of leading and failing was fading.

“The fear was brought forth anew when I found out how the vikings used my name after I left. They slaughtered thousands of Christians in the name of the thunder god. I had never intended my followers to become so cruel. I must not have been clear enough in my leadership. It was an important wake-up call for me. The smallest mistake in handling a people could lead to disaster. That was probably what I would consider the end of my adolescence.”

The room was silent. No one was sure right away if Thor was finished. Peter finally broke the silence, “You don’t sound like you were ever a child.” His brow was furrowed in confusion. “I love you, Uncle Thor, but you’re weird.” It was definitely along the lines of what they were all thinking, but Peter had the bluntness of a child on his side.

Thor let out a boisterous guffaw. “You are not wrong, little one. The fears of an Asgardian prince are perhaps not like the fears of a Midgardian child. You may one day understand that they’re not too different either.” Steve noticed that Thor did that sometimes. He would say two conflicting things, but it sounded entirely true nonetheless. Steve supposed it came from the wisdom of his years. “With great power comes great responsibility,” the god summarized.

Peter looked filled with awe at the statement. He was so lucky to have so many cool aunts and uncles. Who else at school could say they had a god as an uncle? “Uncle Bruce, would you go next, please?”

Bruce stood in front of them all, fidgeting a little. Bruce didn’t talk about his childhood. Ever. They all had vague ideas about his history, but even Natasha hadn’t read about it in his SHIELD file. She normally valued knowing people over their privacy, but Bruce was so private and meek, it just felt wrong to pry. The scientist pulled his glasses off, wiped them with his shirt, put them back on. He glanced between Steve and Tony a few times before locking eyes with Tony. “Are you okay with me talking about my childhood with him?” he asked quietly.

Tony was the only one that knew. Bruce didn’t open up much, and had only shared small snippets with Tony in the strange twilight hours of long nights together in the lab. They came when the two were heavily sleep deprived, and usually after Tony had revealed something painful about his own childhood. Tony was deeply honoured to be in Bruce’s trust, but he still didn’t feel like he knew as much about Bruce as Bruce did about him.

The rest of the room watched them with baited breath. Even Peter seemed to pick up on the privacy of the moment and held his tongue. Tony held his best friend’s gaze. He had no issue with Peter hearing these things, his son had unfortunately heard worse. Wade Wilson’s past was pretty terrible, and the two of them seemed to attract all the children from broken homes at school. Tony liked to assume it was Peter’s amazing kindness that brought the saddest children to his side, seeking comfort. The kid’s heart was so pure and giving. Tony was only worried about Bruce. “Only if you’re okay to talk about it,” he answered eventually.

Another tense moment past before Bruce made up his mind. He sat down on the floor, smiling at Peter. “Is it alright if I sit while I tell my story, honey?” In response, Peter extricated himself from his parents’ laps and sat next to Bruce, locking their hands together. Peter gave him an encouraging smile. Bruce kept the tiny hand in his and his eyes on Peter’s through the whole story. It was so intimate, and Steve’s heart swelled. His family was so perfect.

“Well, I’m not sure how to start,” Bruce admitted quietly. “I guess I should start by tell you that not everyone should have children.” Peter nodded gravely. “My father was not a good man. At least, not while I knew him. My mother was far too good for him, and he knew it.” Bruce took a steadying breath. Peter’s hand in his gave him the strength to go on. He could do this.

“My mother, Rebecca, loved me very much. I was the center of her universe, and sometimes it made it easy to forget that my father was there on the sidelines. If we focused enough on each other, it was like we could enter our own little pretend world, where he didn’t harm us. We both feared him. If he came home smelling of booze, she would try to hide me away fast enough that only she would get a taste of his wrath, but it rarely worked.

“You see, Brian, that was his name, Brian thought he loved my mother. I’m not so sure he knew what love was. In truth, Brian loved to own her. She was his wife and that meant she was supposed to adore him. So when my mother loved me, showed me that love, he was furious. The jealousy consumed him more than his alcoholism. Brian hated me because in his eyes, I stole his wife’s attention from him. I don’t think Brian ever showed me a single ounce of kindness, only hate. He beat me bloody and told me how much he wished I had never been born, how much I didn’t deserve his Rebecca.”

“He was wrong,” Peter whispered without thinking.

Bruce smiled sadly. “Yes, he was. I luckily had my mother’s love and her cousin’s love to counter that hate. They made sure I knew that his hatred had never been my fault.” He sighed, and Steve thought he had never looked so old and worn. “Nevertheless, I feared him. One night, my mother and I packed up some bags, and were going to escape. Brian, in a drunken rage, he killed my mother.” Peter gasped. “I watched him beat her to death in the driveway, too afraid to do anything. He ended up in a mental facility and the last I ever saw him was when I testified against him in court. Brian was my only childhood fear, but I also never faced it. Peter, I,” he cut himself off. The room was deafeningly silent. “I don’t tell you this easily, and it’s not just to show how scared I was as a child.

“I was about your age when it happened. It’s okay to be afraid, but I never stopped, and that’s where I want you to be different. My unfaced fears became anxiety and fear of a lot of things around me. The only way I found comfort was not in my mother’s cousin who raised me after the murder, but in my imaginary friend ‘Hulk.’ Hulk was fearless and angry like I wished I was, and he could handle all of my fears for me. I depended on this figment of my imagination all the way into adulthood. So when the accident happened, and I got the Other Guy, it shouldn’t have surprised me. I made him.”

Peter wrapped his arms around Bruce’s neck. They hugged, tight. No one had anything they could say to a revelation like that. Tony had no regrets in letting Bruce tell the tale, and Steve was glad for it. Peter had recently been more curious about the Other Guy and how that could be his Uncle Bruce at the same time. Neither of them felt capable of explaining the ideas of repressed anger that Bruce encompassed, but Bruce had explained it beautifully and in a way an eight year old could still understand. “I love you and the Other Guy, Uncle Bruce,” Peter spoke fiercely. He pulled back from the scientist’s arms, smiling at him brightly. “You are him and he is you. I love all of you.”

Everyone was sniffling at this point. How could they not? Peter stood there, clueless to how much they were all admiring him. “Uncle Phil!” he singsonged. It was so at odds with the mood of the room, that it broke the tension. Steve could feel them all shift, changing focus and allowing the stifling emotions to dissipate. “Your turn!”

Coulson spoke the same way he gave mission reports and debriefings. Clint was grinning at the man the entire time, snickering occasionally, and Phil was expertly ignoring the man. “I’m not nearly as interesting,” he started, all dry humour and sarcasm. “I was afraid of Bloody Mary as a kid. I’m sure you’ve heard of her.” Peter nodded in agreement. He and Wade had already tried to summon her several times before JARVIS explained that it was only an urban legend. “My older sister had me convinced that her friend at school had been killed by her. She even made a fake newspaper article and obituary. My whole family got in on it. I was terrified. I didn’t successfully make it through her name three times until I was sixteen. They haven’t let me live it down to this day.”

Peter clapped and laughed before a yawn overtook him. “Thank you guys, I loved it!” He looked at Steve. “I promised I’d go to bed, so, I gotta go.” The rascal even made it as far as the hallway before Steve caught up to him, scooping up the squealing bundle.

“I think you’re forgetting one of the people in the room.” He began walking back to the group, meeting Tony’s amused expression equally.

Peter shook his head. “Nope! Daddy’s not afraid of anything.”

Tony stretched with an exaggerated yawn. “You heard the kid, I have no fears!” His shit-eating grin was begging for a smack. Peter giggled gleefully, enjoying their little collaboration.

“Oh really?” Steve cocked a brow at Tony, smirking. “Fearless Tony Stark-Rogers never needs my comfort again, huh?”

Tony stuck his tongue out. “Yeah!”

“I don’t think so, mister,” Steve made sure to put on his stern Papa voice. “This was your idea, you can finish it up.”

Tony scrunched up his nose, never able to deny that voice. Steve knew it, too, and really, Tony should be glad that the man didn’t abuse the power. “Fine, fine. I’ll go.” He stood to face the crew. If only Peter weren’t here, he’d make something meaningless up. But everyone had been so honest, and his son deserved the truth from him. “I never had to worry about money, or being sickly, or believing in superstitions, or leading worlds for that matter.” Tony allowed time for the chuckles. He was nothing if not a showman. “Being born a Stark prodigy, normal childhood fears and wants were just not a consideration. I can relate to the abusive father bit, though I didn’t fear Howard. If anything, I pitied him.

At first, I thought I was afraid of alcohol. I thought maybe it was the reason my father could be so cruel. But even then, I wasn’t afraid of it. I merely hated my father for succumbing to it. If I could drink it as a four year old and not be so mean, then clearly my dad must just be weak.” He glanced over at the minibar against his will. “No, I didn’t fear alcohol either.”

Tony began pacing. “What kept me up at night and fed my nightmares, well it was far spookier.” He quirked a lopsided smile at his son. Peter was watching him carefully. He was enjoying the show, but he knew his dad well enough to know that Tony was only pretending to be blasé. His dad was going to tell him something important, and Peter would hang on every word like usual.

“I was afraid of myself.” Clint snorted, and Natasha smacked him. “Yeah, I know how it sounds, but I was. No matter how many times I went over the data, the only conclusion I could come to that could explain why I had no friends and not even my parents loved me was that I was wrong. Something was wrong with me. I shouldn’t exist, I must be an abomination. And it frightened me.

I was afraid that I could never be good either. If I was so utterly unloveable and wrong to begin with, how could I get better? I tried lots of ways to be different, to just be someone else other than the loathsome Anthony Edward Stark, but I always came back terrifyingly me.” He frowned, trying to think of the words to make this make more sense. “The way I saw it, I suppose, was that there was two of me. There was the one doing the thinking and the feeling, and there was the scary other that somehow always ruined it for me. And I didn’t know how to get rid of him.” He shrugged. “Whelp, time for bed!”

“What!?” Peter and Clint yelled in unison. “You can’t leave it there,” Clint continued. “There’s no resolution! What kind of story telling is that!?”

“Yeah!” Peter agreed enthusiastically.

Tony threw his hands up. “Well I don’t know! I don’t have a resolution. That was my childhood fear, I answered the question!”

Peter shook his head. “Fine, I’ll finish for you!” Peter stood in front of Tony, mimicking the man’s body language. He cleared his throat. Tony was thrilled to see where this was going. “So I kept trying to run away,” Peter tried to make his voice deep. Tony’s grin was so wide it hurt. They were all laughing silently, watching the scene unfold. Peter was so cute it was hard to remember the subject matter. “I got in trouble,” Peter gave up on doing the voice. “I made friends while pretending to be not Tony. All me new friends thought I was fun and all party, but I knew the real me. The scary other.” Tony suddenly felt kind of cold. Was he so transparent that an eight year old could read him like this? He had never wanted Peter to be the one teaching everyone else how to be. It was his job to teach Peter, but he often found himself learning more than teaching.

“It was only when I finally let some people meet the real me, and found that they didn’t run away screaming, that I began to face my fear. If Uncle Rhodey, I mean Rhodey, wasn’t scared of me, then why should I be scared of me. So then I realized I was actually awesome and cool, and I met Steve who was also awesome, and we fell in love and lived happily ever after!” Peter finished big, raising his fists in a victorious stance. Tony stood in shock behind him while the rest of his family erupted into applause.

“Bravo!” Thor shouted.

“Now that’s resolution!” Clint agreed.

Peter turned to grin up at his dad. He snatched the man’s hand, and began dragging him towards his room. “Now come tuck me in, Daddy.” Tony let himself be led away, looking back at Steve with his face frozen in shock. Steve only smiled at them.

When Tony finally joined Steve in bed, he shuddered, letting the tears fall. Steve sat up, glad when JARVIS turned up the lights without being asked. “Peter hit a little too close to home?” Steve asked, pulling Tony into his arms. Tony didn’t respond, but nodded into his husband’s chest. Steve let him cry for a little longer. “He was right, y’know.”

Tony pulled away and eyed the blond with disbelief. Steve wasn’t having it, though. “No really, Tony, he was. Look at all the awesome people who love you. If you were so abhorrent, then either we’ve all lost it, or kid you got it wrong. Now which do you think is more likely?”

Tony made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “I’m still not convinced you haven’t all lost it.”

Steve chuckled a little as well, pulling Tony down with him to lie down. “Maybe it’s a little of both,” he admitted happily. JARVIS lowered the lights again, and the two men held each other until they fell asleep.      

[sensitive-pigeon]

Prompt: Nicole knows mothman/ Mothman's whereabouts and Waverly is a cryptid hunter trying to get a photo! Love ur work!

i want to be known for writing weird au so let’s go. i love this. let’s go. short prompts be about 1k words so here.

nicole is friends with mothman. challenging myself to do these in a single session and its unbeta’d so LETS GOOOOO

It’s safe to say that Nicole Haught is friends with Mothman.

It started the way most friendships do: In a dark cave on the full moon with lots of rope involved. 

Nicole had just descended into the opening of a pit during her weekend caving before she realized that the two red eyes staring up at her belonged to something.

That something was Mothman.

It seemed to be just as surprised. Neither moved for what seemed an eternity, Nicole holding her breath and praying that it was a prank until she realized those eyes had just blinked. 

The creature looked remarkably different from the horrifying statue (the one with a six pack and a defined ass that Nicole was slightly jealous of) and appeared to be covered in fur with a fuzzy neck, two twitching ears, and dark black wings of indeterminate material.

“Oh, my god,” Nicole said under her breath, scared to startle it. “You’re adorable.”

Its ears quivered and twitched, apparently listening.

“I’m sorry.” Nicole braced herself on the wall. “I didn’t mean to …” Nicole’s eye caught a gleam of metal and that’s when she realized the creature was trapped and letting out a thin, reedy whine.

Nicole descended and the whine became louder, more insistent, but she made a decision. She was going to help Mothman. She was going to rescue a supernatural cryptid, the supernatural cryptid of Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

It slapped her across the face with a huge wing and Nicole hit the ground with a dull ompf.

“Hey!” Nicole barked. It glared back. “I am trying to help you. I would appreciate it if you didn’t hit me again.”

It hit her again.

And again. And again and made this screeching, indignant squeaking as Nicole bent over and fiddled with the trap with the wing beating her back.

“Ow, fuck, shit, stop –” Nicole found the release. “God – Shit! Stop!” Mothman hit her particularly hard and Nicole stumbled back as it lifted off, free, into the dark night.

Nicole sighed, covered in rapidly growing bruises.

“You’re welcome!” Nicole called after it.

The next time Nicole saw Mothman, she had a trash bag in her hand and it was crouched on her back fence. Nicole paused, holding her breath, wondering if the thing was back to slap her around again.

“Hi,” Nicole breathed softly, hesitating slightly, bracing herself for another round episode of Nicole Haught Gets Beat up by a Cryptid, Part Deux.

Squeak.

“I…” Nicole set her trash bag down. “Did you heal okay?”

Squeak.

Nicole took that as a yes as its ears twitched and its head tilted as if curious.

“You should be careful. I have… neighbors.”

Squeak.

It lifted off into the night and Nicole let out a breath of relief.  

They were friends. Or, at least, acquaintances. Nicole had started to notice red, glowing eyes on her patrols. Instead of feeling disturbed or hunted it somehow made her feel safe. It was absurd, ridiculous, but sometimes she could swear that the Mothman warned her of trouble.

True, she turned a little brusque and rude to cryptid hunters, but knowing that adorable, friendly creature was out there, just being itself and knowing these acne-riddled teenagers were chasing it with guns made her feel sick.

Waverly Earp wasn’t like them at all. She was a beautiful, beautiful woman and Nicole couldn’t say no to dinner, nor to the invitation into her hotel room, nor to the sex afterward. She was only human, after all.

Waverly was so much more than a cryptid hunter. She was funny and charming, incredibly kind and brilliant, and maybe Nicole was already a little bit in love.

Mothman landed on her back fence again, but this time squeaking in terror. There was shouting, calling in the distance as Nicole bolted out into her backyard.  It landed on the ground and stepped toward her. Nicole braced herself for Slappy Time but it squeaked insistently, desperately.

Nicole saw flashlights in the distance, scanning the treetops.

Those assholes.

“Come on,” Nicole said, leading Mothman back into her house.

“Stop eating all my cereal!” Nicole said, snatching a box of Cheerios away from a questing tongue. It glared, raising a wing for slapping, before the doorbell rang.

“Oh, shit.”

Nicole shoved Mothman in her closet and answered the door.

Waverly Earp stood there, on her front porch, smiling at her.

(Nicole lost all memory of Mothman.)

“Hi, Nicole,” Waverly said brightly. “Sorry to just… show up. But I really enjoyed our dinner last night and I was just in the area and thought I’d pop by and oh my god, holy shit, HOLY SHIT, NICOLE, BEHIND YOU –”

Nicole pretty much kidnapped her, tugging her into the house, pushing her up against the wall (polite as she could, apologizing the whole way even as she covered Waverly’s screams with her hand) and holding her there until Waverly stopped freaking out about the freaky giant moth creature in Nicole’s house.

“Waverly,” Nicole said slowly, carefully removing her hand. Waverly trembled, staring with wide eyes tearing up with fear. “This is my friend.”

Squeak.

Waverly blinked rapidly in disbelief, slowly relaxing as the creature remained still and curious and more than a little adorable.

“Nicole.” Waverly said in an exhale, “Why is Mothman in your house?”

Nicole sat her down in the living room and explained in quiet words what had happened. She waited for the look of disbelief or disgust, the leaping cry of we need to show the world, but it never came.

“All right, I’m in,” Waverly said at last, sitting up in her seat.

“What?”

“I’m in.” Waverly gestured to Mothman staring at a lamp with its ears twitching in delight. “He needs to be protected. We need to keep him safe. Those men out there… whatever they want, it can’t be good.”

Nicole smiled, laughing a little in relief.

So that’s how they found themselves going seventy on the highway, outracing the nondescript black cars full of strange Men in Black, Mothman squeaking wildly in the back seat. Waverly took Nicole’s hand in hers and met her curious glance with a single, determined nod.

It was time to save Mothman.

(if you like my stuff and wish to donate, i have a kofi here)(more short fic)

[minimoll7]

Aaaayyyy so I found a post where someone shared their top 20 favorites and I decided I wanted to make my own to xD I made this template myself and I have a blank one (tho without text at all, I can input the “Top 20 Favorite Shows” if anyone wants me to). If you wanna do your own with my template, just shoot me an ask or PM!

Hit the read more if you really want to know my opinions on each. I suck at summarizing so it is a bit of a read, sorry about that heh

20) American Dragon: Jake Long - I thought this was the coolest show when I was a kid and I would always try to watch it whenever possible. Tho, while its not as cool now to me as it was back then, I still love this show and its characters

19) Milo Murphy’s Law - As soon as I saw the first ep, I just knew I was going to love this show. I’m a bit behind as of now but I cannot wait for new episodes! This show has a lot of charm and great characters, not to mention catchy songs!

18) Code Lyoko - I absolutely adored this show as a kid and it still holds up as a big fav now. The whole idea of going into a virtual world really fascinated me as a kid. I mean yeah sure Digimon had that to, but I was never really lucky in catching it on TV. Plus, the idea of the virtual world being animated in 3D while the real world was in 2D? Sign me up!

17) Xiaolin Showdown - Another show that I adored as kid and still do now. The characters and animations really made this show for me. I love how they all react with each other and some of the expressions it had to offer are top notch. And let me tell ya, this show has probably one of the funniest villains out there, Jack Spicer. He cracked me as a kid and no matter how times I rewatch the series, he still cracks me up

16) SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron - I never grew up with this show but I had just recently finished watching it for the first time. The animation for this show, especially at the time, feels amazing and it really does have this nice 90s feel to it. The show itself is really fun to watch and I am a suckers for cats and cool aircrafts. The SWAT Kats’s Turbokat is almost just as cool as an Arwing! I find the characters to be really likable and while I do question some of the designs for the female characters, I overall just really enjoyed them all

15) The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius - Jimmy himself was a huge part of my childhood and it still saddens me that his show doesn’t air on TV anymore. The characters are incredibly memorable to me, especially Sheen. The humor in this show never fails to get me to laugh and I always loved the interactions between a good chunk of the characters

14) Wander Over Yonder - I fell in love with this show after just watching a few episodes. The characters are well-written and the art is jaw-dropping, well, to me at least heh. The show itself is generally very sweet and the humor is great as well! I also adore the fact that Wander himself is always willing to help and its always kind to others. He’s a protagonist that we all need in our lives. Hopefully, we’ll get a season 3 someday

13) Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja - Love puns? Love action? Love ninjas? Well, this show is definitely for you (maybe). This show has a lot of cheesy jokes and puns, which is something I can appreciate. Puns are always an easy win for me haha The characters themselves to I find to be really likable, especially the main protagonists, Randy and Howard. The villains to are really entertaining as well. The animation for the show can be pretty awesome at times and its a shame that nobody talks about it

12) Fullmetal Alchemist (Brotherhood) - Despite my distaste for blood and guts kind of violence, I couldn’t help myself from watching this anime. The story was amazing in every sense of the word. I’ve never watched anything before that has played with every single emotion I have (and I’m emotional to so that’s saying a lot I suppose haha). The characters and their development was well done as well. I highly recommend this show to anyone who hasn’t seen it (and can stomach the violence)

11) Avatar: The Last Airbender (and by extension, Legend of Korra) - I’m a complete sucker for elemental stuff, which is probably my favorite aspect of this show. Watching the characters fight each other with an element is pure entertainment for me. And speaking of entertainment, the humor. My goodness, this show wasn’t just action-packed, but also hilarious. The character development to is astounding and I’m sure we know just how well-written Zuko’s arc was (like damn son, it felt like a real experience almost). Another show I highly recommend to anyone, along with its sequel series

10) My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - I remember just how shocked I was when I watched the first episode and found myself loving it. I was never expecting a girly show like this to be as good as it is (and don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a cartoon being girly, I just expected to be aimed for little little kids). I adore the animation, the characters, the story (when its present) and the lessons that each episode teaches. This show will never stop being entertaining to me, no matter what anyone else has to say

9) Animaniacs - I would’ve rated this show higher but I had to consider every segment the show has, not just personal favorites. Despite that, tho, I absolutely adore this cartoon. I didn’t grow up with it, but I first found it about 5 years ago and have loved it since then. While there are some segments that I strongly dislike, the ones I do love are completely worth it. Buttons & Mindy, Rita & Runt, Slappy Squirrel and the Warners made this show for me and I love them all (especially the brothers ha). The humor is some of the best I’ve seen in cartoons to

8) Over the Garden Wall - This miniseries captured my heart almost instantly. The animation, the story, the characters, I just can’t really hate anything from this show. I love how scary and unsettling the characters can be but yet there’s always a simple reason behind them (well, not always lol). And Greg, like come on, how can you hate this kid. True, he was annoying every now and then, but his innocence and his “words of wisdom” just makes him really likable, to me at least. I can rewatch this show over and over and I can never be tired of it

7) Ed, Edd ‘n Eddy - Whenever I think of cartoons, this one is usually the first to come to mind. This was one of my big favorites as a kid and its still one now. The humor in this show is great and its a gift whenever Ed speaks. And there’s just something special about how the entire show was animated and I can never truly put it into words on just how much I love it. Ed, Edd ‘n Eddy is just one of those where I can’t really explain why I enjoy it so much, but trust me, if you haven’t seen it, its well worth your time (and it also has a really catchy theme song)

6) Pokemon - And by Pokemon, I mean the entire series, not just a specific arc or two. Before I was even into the games or just the Pokemon themselves, I enjoyed watching the anime even as a little kid. The anime is really the only reason why I got into the games in the first place. I know the series can be repetitive, some arcs more than others, but I just can’t stay away. I love Ash, Brock, Misty, Dawn, Serena, Clement, Team Rocket and etc. The slapstick humor in the original season is probably the best of this show’s humor but as the years went on, the battles have become better and better and I just love that. I just love Pokemon and no matter what people say about the anime, I still enjoy it to this day!

5) Watership Down - I would have never imagined liking this show as much I do. I mean true, I’m a sucker for rabbits, but I wasn’t sure if this show was truly great or not, but hey its at number 5, its obviously great! Yeah, the animation and some of the voice acting is quite lacking and the design and voice change in season 3 was hard to adjust to, but the story and characters are well worth it. Its definitely one those gems that don’t get a lot of attention, I highly recommend this show!

4) Generator Rex - Similar to Watership Down, I went in not expecting to love it as much as I do now. I knew the show was going to be great, but boy do I love it or what. Like dudes, this show is incredibly underrated. The whole concept with the nanites and E.V.O.s are just insanely cool. It also had a crossover episode with Ben 10 which was an awesome episode to say the least (also Ben merged with Rex in his Upgrade form and it was freaking sick). Like seriously, if I were to try to explain why I love this show so much, we’d be here for a while. Just please, watch this show if it interests you

3) The Amazing World of Gumball - I fell in love with this show upon seeing the first episode and by that I mean I became obsessed. I love everything about this show. The characters, animation, humor, the references, designs, just everything! And seriously, if there’s any kind of animation I had favored the most from a cartoon, its this one. I adore this show so much and I literally cannot wait for the next episode. It sucks that more story related shows, like Steven Universe and Star vs the Forces of Evil (both of which are still great, don’t get me wrong), takes all the attention away from this one. Its sort of underrated in that sense but seriously trust me, everything about this show is completely worth it. I highly, HIGHLY, recommend this one

2) Teen Titans - Aaahh Teen Titans, was obsessed with it as a kid and I still am now (to bad its hard to find stuff to reblog bleh). This is just one of those shows were I can’t explain why I love it as much as I do. I mean, I know I’ve repeatedly said this (because I’m actually bad explaining why I like things and tend to reuse the same sentences over and over oops) but like, I simply adore the characters and the stories. While Starfire lacked some good character development, the rest of the characters really grows and it never gets boring watching their arcs over and over. Like, I don’t know why I can never bored of this show, but I can’t. I just love it to much (and it also has one of the best theme songs ever)

1) Fairly OddParents - No no no, not the newer seasons. The older seasons! This show was my jam back as a kid and surprise surprise, its still my jam now. Excluding shows meant for toddlers, this was the first cartoon I ever got into (probably, it could’ve been SpongeBob or Looney Tunes but I kind of doubt it). This show means more to me than I could ever say. This show sparked an interest for animation and helped really get me into drawing. I was always interesting in drawing, but this show was what pushed me to keep going. It was also the first show I ever drew fan art for. I remember drawing Timmy and Cosmo almost nonstop for a year there, back when I was 2nd grade and finally taught myself how to draw them. I remember making comics with these characters, sharing and reenacting jokes with friends, never shutting up about it aahhh and come on, well all remember the Jimmy Timmy Power Hours, that crossover was legit the coolest one for me. This show is incredibly important to me and despite the direction the show has gone now, it’ll forever remain as my favorite show <3

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #125 - Goosebumps

Spoilers below.

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: Yes.

Was it a movie I saw since August 22nd, 2009: Yes. #381.

Format: Blu-ray

1) I’m going to be honest and face the wrath from all my peers: I never got into the old “Goosebumps” TV show. I scared really easily as a child (still do) and the show just freaked me the heck out. However, that doesn’t mean I am unable to appreciate its influence on this film.

2) The relationship between Zach and his mom is refreshingly healthy, a nice change of pace from the usual “ugh mom” teenager stuff we see in movies. Immediately their relationship is established through strong writing, chemistry between actors, and the playfulness between the two of them these feed into.

3) I do love Jillian Bell but damn if her character is not just so (purposefully) painfully awkward.

4) Jack Black as RL Stine.

R.L. Stine is the real life author of the Goosebumps book series as well as a number of other horror themed content directed at younger audiences, fictionalized for this film by Jack Black and company. Black brings a wonderful sense of crazy to the role, not like Joker craze though in that he’s out there but...I don’t know what to compare him too, actually. He just is humorously abrasive and over the top and just fits with the world of the film so well.

5) Hey look, it’s Vinnie Van Loe!

(GIF originally posted by @marshmallow-the-vampire-slayer)

6) The bromance is strong.

Champ [talking about the school dance, after knowing Zach for two minutes]: “Hey, we should go together! Not together together...although that might work.”

7) Hannah and Zach are performed interestingly enough on their own but really shine in their scenes together. Odeya Rush and Dylan Minnette have a fun sense of humor between them and great chemistry. It’s not the cliche “boy meets girl, girl is super hot and boy objectifies her.” They actually like each other as PEOPLE! What a radical idea, right!?

The ferris wheel scene where Zach tells Hannah about his late father is also a really nice moment of honesty between the two that makes you understand that they actually really trust each other.

8) Where this film really shines is in its quirky sense of humor. Black as Stine is a perfect example of this, but also characters like Champ and Madison’s police officers are all fun in their own little ways that adds a nice tone to the film.

9) Honestly, can the “my totally trustworthy kid is saying something weird so I don’t believe them,” trope die already? It’s so lazy.

10) Is this cuckoo clock from a book I don’t know about?

11) This right here is why I was never into the Goosebumps stuff as a kid.

Champ: “These aren’t ‘kids books!’ Kids books help you fall asleep at night, these books will keep you up.”

12) The entire idea of each Goosebumps book holding that book’s main monster is such a clever and interesting idea to me. I think it is one of the plot elements which makes the film work as smoothly as it does.

13) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena is a great first monster to introduce us to, because it is able to be both fun and - when necessary - threatening to our young protagonists.

14) Ryan Lee as Champ is honestly one of the funniest parts of this film. He has some of the best lines.

Champ [upon viewing the snowman’s scratch marks on the wall]: “Do you see the scratches in the wall?”

Zach [looking at Champ like he’s an idiot]: “Yes.”

Champ: “Okay. Just checking.”

[A soda bottle rolls out of nowhere, Champ screams.]

Zach: “Did you scream?”

Champ: “Don’t judge me.”

15) This may be the funniest part of the whole movie for me.

Zach: You're him aren't you? You're R.L. Stine.

Stine: R, L, who? I don't know who that is.

Zach: Oh really? Just as well cause his books suck.

Hannah [terrified]: What are you doing?

Zach: I can't decide which I hate more, 'Monster Blood' or 'Go Eat Worms'.

Champ: I'm so confused

Zach: You see the endings coming from a mile away, its like, stop trying to be Stephen King man...

Stine: [slams on the brakes] Let me tell you something about Steve King. Steve King WISHES he could write like me. And I've sold way more books than him, but no one ever talks about THAT!

Everything about it works for me. How easily Zach is able to manipulate Stine, and of course Black’s blow up at the end. It makes me laugh every time.

16) Slappy!

Slappy is a great villain for a number of reasons. To start, he’s definitely the scariest character from the stories. Even I know who Slappy is and I never watched or read a book. Secondly, those are some great practical effects in an age of digital cinema. It’s simple but totally captivating and you never once feel like you’re watching a prop character. Thirdly is the fact that Jack Black voice Slappy in addition to his portrayal of RL Stine. It creates an interesting duality to the character’s, as Stine did give Slappy his voice when writing him. He’s creepy and a true menace to our heroes.

17) Going to be totally honest: the main reason my mother saw this film with me in theaters was because she has a weird taste for garden gnomes.

I ended up sitting through Gnomeo & Juliet for the same reason.

18) I have so many quips of dialogue in my notes that I loved but I watched this film two or three days ago and still haven’t posted the recap so I’m just going to focus on my favorites.

Zach [after escaping the gnomes]: Why couldn’t you have written stories about rainbows and unicorns!?

Stine: Because that doesn’t sell four hundred million copies.

Champ: Whoa. Domestic?

Stine: No, worldwide. It’s still a very impressive - shut up!

19) I’m assuming there is actually a Goosebumps book about a giant praying mantis out there.

Stine [after encountering a giant praying mantis]: I don’t ever remember writing about a giant praying mantis! [It throws up on the windshield.] Oh...now I remember.

20) The Werewolf of Fever Swamp!

The scene where Stine and company encounter the werewolf in the supermarket scene is a nice addition to the film. It’s able to keep the fun and humor which has been trademark up to this point (especially when Stine is trying to mask his scent) while there are times when the werewolf is a truly threatening and frightening creature. A nice mix of humor and horror, basically.

21) Man, I thought I had WAY more to say about this film but apparently I don’t.

22) The scene where Zach and Stine talk about Hannah and how she’s actually one of his creations (spoiler alert) is an incredibly well done scene from a writing standpoint. It is very honest on both parts, with Stine opening up about his loneliness in a way we have yet to see, while it touches on both his arc and the way Zach is dealing with the loss of his father. In a lot of ways it’s the emotional center of the film.

23) The way Hannah gets so excited just by BEING at a school dance (since she’s pretty much cooped up by Stine all the time) really tells you a lot about her character and is so endearing to watch.

24) All the monsters attacking the school is a scene which I’m sure gives fans of the original Goosebumps stories nerdy joy like when Spider-Man showed up in Civil War for me.

25) Oh Vinnie...

Ken Marnio’s Character (no, I don’t need to know his name) [to Zach’s Mom in a flirty way]: “We’re going to get through this.”

Zach’s Mom: “Not a good time.”

Ken Marino: “Okay.”

26) Man, the duality of Stein and Slappy in the funhouse is some heavy stuff for a Goosebumps movie.

27) Hannah’s goodbye to Zach before all of Stine’s creations (including her) are sucked into the book is actually pretty sad. She KNOWS this is coming and she wants it to happen anyway to save everyone else. She and Zach have a nice parting moment that really touches upon the friendship and chemistry they’ve formed over the past few days, and it even brought tears to the audience’s eyes when I saw it in theaters.

28) Obligatory RL Stine cameo.

Mr. Black: Hello Mr. Stine.

Stine: Hello Mr. Black!

Zach: Uh, who’s that?

Stine: He’s the new drama teacher.

I know it’s probably pretty obvious but I just want to take a second that Jack Black’s character is named after RL Stine and RL Stine’s character is named after Jack Black.

29) I’m glad they brought Hannah back. I want all these guys back in the sequel.

30) I 100% knew they were going to have a cliffhanger ending to this film, because I know a lot of the books end in that way. It’s a trademark of the series! So of course the film had to end that way.

Goosebumps is just a lot of fun, honestly! It’s akin to Jumanji for 2015 in its sense of childlike wonder and adventure but also honest/genuine danger and scares. Black is a kick to watch, the writing is surprisingly three dimensional for what could have been a simple “kids’ movie”, and the humor is spot on. Just a great piece of escapism. If you’re looking for something fun to watch tonight, go put it in.