#Okay maybe a bit more than normal normal but y'know

[cassmouse]

I watched Bad Seed Returns having never seen The Bad Seed but from what I could gather all you need to know is

Emma Grossman:

[shuenkio]

IWALY | Jake.

Paring: Jake X M!reader | Genre: SMUT

Synopsis: Asking him did he like you even though you are both in a long time relationship is such a bad move but who knows if you're satisfied with the answer he responds.

Cw: fluff at first but purely explicit at plot. Read at your own risk 18+

Non proof read | Eng is not my 1st lang.

This is a work of fanfiction, do not throw unnecessary tantrums on this nsfw/sfw blog. ©Shuenkio

A/N: I'm less active aren't I? Yes because of how busy life got and also gonna sleep again after this till I have more idea 😴💡.

Let's say gentle boyfriend Jake had a pretty insecure boyfriend who would ask him any random question every chance he got. M/N, who is the middle child, didn't seem to get enough love and warmth from his own parents, so having a physical touch partner like Jake was just perfect.

Also, Jake the man he is, he never get tired of you even though you're just a potato couch rat, boring human being. Jake finds you somehow endearing with your charms; that's why both of you are in a relationship right now, or maybe you just don't see it yourself? Being a cutie pie in his eyes? Coming from his schedule, Jake found you plopping on the couch, but you're not lazy; you're just battery-drained.

The house is clean, the food is cooked, and the laundry is folded. Is there anything he could complain about? No, if you don't even do it, he'd still be fine with it, maybe... Jake changes his clothes into pajamas before dragging his feet and sitting down beside you.

Lift your head up to lay on his lap since you're resting on the spot. Jake's face grew into a smile when he saw you looking a bit upset; your cuteness melted him in any way possible for the matter. He then asked about your day: how's it going? Are you tired or happy? However, the state you're in right now was too obvious for him to guess. M/N is definitely upset by something.

"Are you okay, darling?" Carelessly on your hair as he looks down to see your face with your hand busy scrolling through media. You shook your head as a no, sitting up on your buttocks before palming your face.

"Jake?"

"Hmm?"

"You... do you like me? That much!?" Response unsurely, unsurely about what's wrong with yourself with another random thought float across your mind earlier this afternoon. The question left Jake stunned, but he chuckled it out loud. He was expecting something serious, yet this. You're so puzzled.

"Well, if you want me to list every reason why I like you and why I love you, there'll be countless days to finish—do you want me to?" Flashed a handsome smile, and he then pulled you close into his chest as you pressed against him tight in this embrace. However the answer still not satisfied you enough, you pouting to it which soon noticed by Jake. The establishment relationship together almost made Jake know you better than you do, he said.

"Not enough?" He asked in a baby tone, yet deep down he was aiming for the surprise. Nodding aggressively, get your permission. He then carries you in a bridal style before heading to the bedroom.

"You'll see tonight, darling; let me answer your question in bed."

"W—hat? NOOO–"

***

Both are stripped down; both are butt-naked. While Jake was looking at you, he felt a hungry desire mixed with love. He's ready to take any responsibility for now; whatever you wished for, he'd do anything. Tonight he'll show you what love means, not just love. His cock is looking proudly at you; it's actually soaked by the undies he was wearing, which are now all over the floor.

Jake must be planning for his whole day; that's what you're thinking. Nevertheless, it was no big deal; having a love time with your trusted partner is normal, isn't it? Trust, honesty, and loyalty. You didn't care if he took your ability to walk by this night, and you'd have a taste.

" Enjoy the view, darling? Don't worry, soon it'll be inside you, but y'know what—let's get it* licking his dry lip, seductively in aroused self. The odor of phenomenal washing up filled the room. The scent is not easy, but both leave even sexual and horny asf. Letting him be, not only that, but you obviously spread the word for him by obeying.

Making Jake's thirsty cock twitching instantly. He likes it, he loves it, and he can't wait to pound you and show you the answer to your need. Soon enough, as he crawled toward you, the cold liquid of lube pressed into your hole. Without any warning, once he was right in the spot, he began to thrust in. The tightness sensation made Jake groan so much that the black pupil of his eyes was nowhere to be seen.

You're tight, squeezing on his shaft, and the tip somehow results in Jake trembling. Begging for more, of course, while your the submission; this is far more than how Jake's felt. Imagine a big ass stick moving in and out of your ass hole; wouldn't that be painfully good as fuck? Exactly. Just like they said, the most gentle man is the wildest in bed, and it's kind of true because Jake can't seem to stop the rhythm of his hip.

The balls are slapping against your back butt, making a loud, sweaty, wet sound, and so it's him fucking you. The lube really works its magic; both are seeing stars, the sound of you both fucking, even turning on even more. The orgasm later builds on yours and Jake's balls. It feels like you need to pee, but in a good way—the urge to squirt out.

"Holy fuck m/n this feel—ttoo good wuu Nghhh, I think I've got to—do you want my cum inside?" Oh man, as if he's not a wolf right now, asking for another permission just hit the spot. You must have been a good person in your last life to be the good man Jake was.

"Shit Jake, give all your fucking seed in my fucking ass. FUCK, I'M COMING." Without any control, the hot, sticky white liquid shot out. It's hot as hell; this pleasuring is everything. Coincidence makes it presence; the moaning of him fucking you like a toy fuels Jake on his edge.

He knows that this was the best orgasm or fuck he has ever had. Masturbation is just one thing, but this is seeing the galaxy. Splashing out a big load of cum inside of your walls, his huge cock squirting out uncontrollable, as you have a sensation of his hot cum on your walls. This is it; you know what's in love now. Jake itself, it's a love.

Jake's body found itself collapsing on the bed beside you, his shaft still standing hard as always. Meaning how much he's enjoying this sexual activity. The legs spread of yours also exhausted and fell down on their own, shivering and trembling from all the pounds he had finished earlier. He's definitely a 10/10 on bed; probably the thought of him when m/n first met Jake, wondering if his skill on bed is underestimated for real. Walking probably leaves you on this sheet for days, could be.

"Do I *huff* " answer your question enough, darling?"

"Shut up, you're a manic, but... yes."

"That's my boy; don't hesitate to ask me next time I satisfy your need. Just remember Iwaly, right?" 

🗣️ Reblog and like is much appreciated ♥

🗣️ Please mind my English! ><

🗣️ Crd driver (lanrkives) and crd to the right owner pic.

Still developing how to write a good one .

[yandere-daydreams]

Idk if Sex doll!au Alhaitham has been discussed yet…(honestly it probably has been, but it was likely during the times when I wasn’t keeping up to date with this blog. Tumblr’s shitty search function doesn’t help with finding out either.)

Anyway, I’d like to share my thoughts about it, if that’s okay.

-I think sex doll! Alhaitham would mostly be for professional and academic purposes. He’s not reccomended for younger grades, mostly just colleges.

-His general purposes are office/administrative related. Especially since he’s a “scribe”, he’s especially good at file management and documentation. I don’t think it be uncommon to see him assisting librarians alongside a Lisa model…or maybe helping archeologists/museums workers catalogue info about artifacts.

-I think his way of not doing anything more than what his job asks of him would stay even as an Android. I know that as a product, he’d probably wouldn’t be given leeway or time off like that; but the thought of someone trying to assign tasks to Alhaitham that are outside his designated role being ignored by him is funny to me.

-if Alhaitham is acting as a companion doll in someone’s home, I can only imagine that he’s incredibly annoying. Alhaitham normally chooses to ignore social etiquette, and as an android it has to be even worse.

tw - unhealthy relationships, slight infantilization, slight stalking.

i think he'd absolutely be marketed toward researchers as a sort of lab assistant who acts like you're the lab assistant, if that makes sense. he specializes in archival work and bureaucracy, but he's a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and it's not uncommon to see him alongside more outdoorsy androids like cyno and albedo when you're out doing fieldwork. he's also especially loved by students for his,,, strict attitude toward studying. you wouldn't think the ability to say 'i'm not touching your dick until you finish your thesis' would be such a popular feature in a literal sex doll, but, y'know, what does it for you does it for you, i guess.

you're not a student, though, or a researcher - just a librarian for a big enough branch to warrant writing off a helper android as a business expense. you probably could've gotten away with bringing on lisa or nahida, but you were able to find a second-hand alhaitham for a price you couldn't turn up and figured dealing with the occasional comment on your organization skills or catalog maintenance was better than wasting an extra thousand dollars on a robot that'll be reading to children twice a week. he works well enough, too, even if it does take a few days for him to get used to the idea that you won't be using him for his, uh, intended purposes. it just doesn't feel right, considering he's basically one of your employees - something he's surprisingly indifferent about, considering how judgemental he's rumored to be about, well, everything.

you do take him home at night, though, since the alternative is leaving him in a dark building alone all night and trying to live with the guilt. he's a polite enough houseguest, even if does occasionally let out a disapproving huff at your admittedly less-than-steller diet, but he does have a few... bugs, you guess, for lack of something better to call his little lapses in decorum. he's overstepped his boundaries a few times - taking pens and reports out of your hands because you 'have a tendency to mess these things up', checking on you in the middle of the night when he's supposed to be charging - but he'll never indulge your attempts to confront him, just clicking his tongue and shaking his eyes. sometimes, he brings up your stress levels, mentions off-handedly that orgasms are known to reduce overall tension, but denies that he's done anything wrong when you ask him to change his behavior. he's good at that - justifying himself, bending his protocols until he can get away with practically anything. you'd be lying if you said you weren't a little worried, knowing the awful rumors that spread about second-hand andriods, about how demeaning alhaitham can be when he's supposed to be little more than a platonic assistant.

you'd be lying if you said you weren't a little worried that, one day, he'd find a way to justify disregarding your autonomy altogether.

[scenetocause]

for a prompt— something something the contrast of Lando’s smooth legs vs Oscar’s hairy ones… basically Oscar thigh worship maybe😅 and/or Lando and Oscar comparing hand sizes

"You're like, proper hairy mate." Lando's got his hands on Oscar's thighs, nearly fucking spanning them because he has dimensions as bonkers as anything about him.

"Not really?" Oscar's seen Mark's legs when they're out on the bikes. Shudders, sometimes, at the thought of grey hair there.

"Yeah you are, look." Lando jams his own thigh between Oscar's. "You're all hairy, compared to me."

The temptation to tell Lando that's because he is actually some sort of hairless freak is strong. Except that it wouldn't be totally fair, since the guy has exactly the amount of pubes you'd expect and a bit of a trail down his chest that's more than Oscar can do, honestly.

It's just that on his arms and legs he only has the slightest dusting of soft, golden hair. Just enough to make his skin sort of glitter a bit, in sunlight, make him seem even more ethereal, a creature picked by god. And, apparently, Oscar.

"A bit, yeah," he concedes.

Lando looks up at him, sharply. "S'hot. Like it, like," his horrendous, huge fingers sort of bury themselves in the hair on Oscar's thighs. "Yeah, like that."

"Okay." He's basically used, now, to Lando doing weird sex things. Not like, weird sex things in a normal way - Oscar expected a bit of that but if anything Lando's more vanilla than he is - more like. Having sex in a chaotically incoherent way that doesn't match up to anything Oscar's ever done before.

It's endearing and Lando's not selfconscious about it. Doesn't seem to know other people don't do it like this, all over the top and strange. Lando gets off on things Oscar doesn't think he probably could - like this, just his hands in Oscar's thigh hair while he's grinding his cock against Oscar's left knee - except it's so blindingly hot watching him do it he's usually not far off joining him.

"Do you like it?" It must be pretty obvious he does. They're both naked and Oscar's dick is standing straight against his own stomach, twitching when Lando edges his hands higher, towards the seam of Oscar's hips.

"Yeah, I do. It's nice." Lando needs to be told, sometimes. Maybe he does know how weird he is, that not everyone gets off like this.

"Good." Lando's a bit pink, wild eyed in the way he gets when he's really enjoying something. "Cus I really like it. Looks so hot, with your cock like - yeah."

Oscar can't help preening a bit, reaching for his own dick even while he's leaning over to kiss Lando. Kissing's one of the few things Lando isn't utterly bizarre about, usually very much a giver in letting Oscar lead, surprisingly affectionate and gentle.

"Oh my god," Lando's eyes are like saucers, suddenly. "Could you, like - when you come, can you get it on, y'know."

"I can probably manage to jizz on my own leg mate, yes." Honestly.

"Fuck," Lando closes his eyes, moans, then seems to realise he needs them open if he wants to watch. "That's so hot."

It's clearly not going to last long for Lando, Oscar's knee already wet with whatever's leaking out of his dick. So he sets an aggressive pace, working his own hand to get him there before Lando does. It's just as well he's got such a strong competitive spirit because it's definitely not easy, Lando getting more and more worked up the more Oscar's wanking himself off in front of him.

"Mate," Lando's whining now. "Please, wanna see it."

Fuck. It's - honestly really stupid - impossible for Oscar to resist, when Lando starts begging him for whatever stupid sex thing. Barely remembers to direct his dick over his left thigh, spunk splashing over the back of Lando's hand and into the hair there.

The noise Lando makes is so loud it feels like it's reverberating through Oscar's head, drowning out his own.

Next time Mark has a go at him about shagging his teammate and not showing weakness and all that, he thinks, in the comedown, he's got a really good answer for him. Because Oscar must be a fucking strong bloke or he'd definitely be dead, watching Lando licking and sucking come out of his thigh hair, whimpering when Oscar pets his hair.

[perotovar]

my favorite things i've made 2024

tagged by @jolapeno @almostfoxglove @morallyinept @schnarfer @iamasaddie

@kedsandtubesocks @chronically-ghosted @moonlitbirdie and @arcanefox207 ♥

alright, y'all, i can't believe this year is ending soon 🥹 as we all know, this year has had a lot of ups and downs, but i can't help but feel like pedro did when he got his sag award, y'know??

i'm so grateful for all of you, and i can't wait to see what the new year brings. new p boys, new premieres/press tours?? sounds like heaven to me ♥

now, i've been tagged to toot my own horn a little bit and i guess i can, fine :P i don't normally like to, but i've been tagged by some wonderful, lovely friends to do so

below, will be both fics and gifs i've made this year that i'm pretty proud of!

before anything, i just wanna say, i'm super fucking proud of my Offering of Frith writing challenge. y'all did such an amazing job on every single one of the fics. i worked super hard on that and it was SO fun. i'd love to do another challenge in 2025, so i may do some brainstorming ✏️👀

fics:

bloody kisses -> alright, i'm gonna be real with y'all. this is my favorite thing i've ever written. okay, maybe not ever, but it's definitely tied with itbotn. i really love how quickly and easily this universe came together for me, and the little cult following that it has makes me so happy. they've almost got a little life of their own. i really, really wanna get back to them. i've got an idea that i'd love to get down, and now that a lot of the pressures of school are a little lessened, i might make it happen soon!

into the beat of the night ch 7 - "in my side" -> this chapter didn't get as much attention as the rest of the series, and that's okay, but i'm still proud of it for stepping out of my comfort zone. it was an area i was afraid would be a little taboo (since it covers deadnaming, misgendering, and past abusive relationships) so it's a little more serious than the series tends to be. i like what it means for river and frankie's relationship and it cements how they feel about each other, y'know?

into the beat of the night ch 8 - "deeper and deeper" -> and now for something completely different lol i like this chapter because it could've only happened after the experience with river's ex. they're completely comfortable with each other now and this was the last of frankie's walls coming down. i love them ♥

gifs:

the pedro pascal fandom moodboard that i made for the friendship exchange cat and han hosted ♥ i love how that turned out because it's the exact experience i have in this fandom lol

gideon @sp00kymulderr 's birthday present ♥ i adore our little disaster bi raccoon man and i love making these silly sets like this. i also love gideon so i'm glad they were the recipient for this!

silly pedro during the gladiator 2 press ♥ again, i love making these goofier sets. they're super fun to make and the end result is always really rewarding. and maybe i just like making myself laugh LMAO

i love you guys and i hope the new year treats you all well ♥

np tags: @for-a-longlongtime @schnarfer @iero @userparamore @djo

@miwtual @tomshiddles @gasolinerainbowpuddles @mrsmando @ghostofaboy

@missredherring @cavillscurls @beardedjoel @beefrobeefcal @quinnnfabrgay

@hellishjoel @max--phillips @oonajaeadira @wethairjoel @pedgito and literally anyone that wants to/sees this! i'm sorry if you already have done this or i missed you, it wasn't on purpose 🥲

[unluckiestmember]

Hey. Could do headcanons of Gwen Stacy x No Powers! Reader, please? Recently I remembered Gwen's story and especially the incident with her Peter Parker, so I felt curious to know what her relationship would be like with a Reader who admires Gwen's heroic figure, however, as well as her old Peter, they are powerless, without any notorious particularities and feel interested in becoming something more, someone special like Gwen. Y'know, an uncertainty of seemingly everything is repeating itself.

Coming right up!

Gwen Stacy X Powerless! Reader

Characters: Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman

Tags: Can be read as platonic, can be read as romantic, oblivious!reader, supportive friend/girlfriend, confidence boosts, bullying and semi fluff.

Warning: None. SFW.

A/N: Yeeeeeaaaah, so I know you were probably looking for a dark outcome, but I feel we don't have enough fluff around these parks and I'm a sucker for that, so ya. Enjoy, I am so sorry!

For such a fan of Spider-Woman, Gwen was surprised you couldn’t connect the dots.

She loved how you were inspired by her heroic persona enough to try and make little changes around you.

Was especially proud when you even used that to stand up for others who couldn’t take care of themselves.

This did result in you getting bullied though.

But Gwen would always be there to pick you up and chew out your harassers.

She loves how you talk about Spider-Woman being an icon to live up to, trust me, she does!

But she wishes you saw how powerful you were.

All you could see was someone who was ordinary, maybe the lowest of the low.

But in her eyes? You were way more than that.

You were her best friend, just like Miles. Just like Peter…

She would voice it at random moments during lunch or when you are both hanging out at the arcade.

She would also remind you in your lowest moments, touching your cheek and proclaiming in a whisper how spectacular you are.

You would believe her. But it was so hard when you are so normal.

You weren’t like her, you couldn’t easily go up against rude people and take care of others successfully.

You weren’t like Spider-Woman, who made everything look so easy.

That’s why you went to work in the lab, creating serum after serum of liquids that could hopefully give you the powers you desired.

You wanted to be like Spider-Woman? This was the only way.

… Until it wasn’t.

One day, you were visited by Spider-Woman herself! In the flesh, speaking to you of all people!

She told you how amazing you are, even without powers. Even if you tried to argue against it, she would just shut you down with the best of claims;

“You stood up for a kid the other day at school, even if the bully was twice your size! You helped your best friend Gwen with her project! You were there for her when she was at her lowest and lifted her up!”

It was a bit odd that she knew everything you did for your best friend, but that didn’t cloud the adrenaline and serotonin you gained.

You two talked all night, forgetting about everything and for once in your life, you felt invincible.

After that night, you realized something; You were normal, but that was okay.

Being ordinary didn’t mean you were weak or helpless, especially when you still try your best for yourself and for others.

Powers don’t make the hero, you do.

You also realized something else; How the hell did it take you this long to realize your best friend was the Spider-Woman?!

Spider-Verse Requests are open!

Likes and retweets are always appreciated! I love you all, stay hydrated and have a good day!

[icey--stars]

Hey I saw in your bio that your requests are open? Pls ignore if they aren't 🙏🏼 but I had this idea for Azris, and as the queen of Azris angst, I knew I had to at least share it with you

So I've been watching the Shadowhunters show (idk if you've seen it) but basically there's this seen where Jace gets possessed by some spirit thing and starts attacking his best friend, Alec. And they have a whole fight scene and it ends with Jace stabbing Alec with an arrow. All the while the ghost thing is talking THROUGH Jace and saying stuff like "Your boy's in there, screaming, begging me not to do this." And Alec is all like "it's ok, it's not your fault.". (I would highly recommend searching that scene up, it's the best angst inspo and I'm horrible at explaining)

Anyways imagine that buttt...AZRIS!!! What if after they are officially mated and everything, running their court, a new threat emerges that basically possess Eris who then attacks Azriel, maybe he stabs him, maybe there's a bit of burning involved (pls I'm sorry I know it sounds fucked up, but I love a good angst)

And then when Eris gets rid of whatever is controlling, how would they heal from that, like move on and stuff cuz I can imagine Eris would be feeling hella guilty and Az would want to forgive him but still be shaken up himself too...

Anyways if you do decide to write you can change it up as you like, I know whatever you come up with will be AMAZINGGG

You Would Never Hurt Me

Azriel is at a weekly family dinner when suddenly his bond with Eris alerts him to danger. What will happen when he realizes his mate is being controlled by another? What lengths will he go to? - 5.3k words of emotional pain.

Author's Note: Queen of Azris Angst? we sure? y'know what... i'll take it XD. I took a few creative liberties, but actually not too many... but I hope you enjoy :D

ouch my soul hurts. genuinely hurt me to write this but it just hurt so good. Also, I did end up changing the part about Az hesitating to forgive him because he was shaken up purely because the situation was so much more angsty with Az desperately trying to convince Eris everything is okay.

TW: Depictions of violence, mentions of blood, SEVERE burns, Azriel’s canon backstory, mind control trope, descriptions of severe injuries

also this was not edited very much. apologies for any mistakes!

{ ao3 link }

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

The newest threat to Prythian had been biding their time for a while. Azriel wasn’t going to lie that he was nervous. He and his spies in both courts he had close connections to had been unable to find anything of use. The only thing that they seemed to know was that this enemy was intelligent and not without power. They didn’t even know if it was a fae from the continent, Prythian or even Hybern. All reports had come up useless in the grander scheme of things.

“Az, if you keep that frown on your face, it might just become permanent,” Cassian teased. He’d gone to the weekly dinner at Velaris this week. This time, without Eris. Normally he’d come along, but Eris had decided he wanted to finish up some of the paperwork and work on training one of the newest ghost hound yearlings some more commands.

Azriel couldn’t help but feel tense over the matter since he knew he’d seen more signs of the enemy closer to the Autumn Court than anywhere else. It had his metaphorical hackles standing on end almost constantly.

Cassian nudged his shoulder with his knuckles. “Come on, Az,” his brother urged. “Relax a moment. I know you’d rather Eris be here, but he’s going to be just fine. He’s a damn High Lord of fire. I think he can manage a night without your shadows surrounding him.”

Azriel sighed, nodding in agreement. “Sorry, Cass,” He mused. “Something just feels off tonight.”

“How so?” Rhys questioned from across the table, still facing Nyx as he tried to bargain with the child over eating his greens.

Azriel shrugged. “The shadows are jittery. The darkness doesn’t bring comfort. Something is just off,” he replied.

Rhys hummed in acknowledgement. Feyre replied, “Is it about that threat?” She asked carefully. The bags under her eyes were evidence that the little Heir to the Night Court was still having trouble sleeping since his visit to the Illyrian camps.

“I’m not entirely sure. But I’ve seen more signs of them near the Autumn Court than anywhere else,” he admitted. “I wish we knew what they were capable of at the very least.”

“Whatever it is, Az, I’m sure we can handle it,” Rhys said, looking up toward him. “We’ve handled far worse than one crazed individual. But if you’re nervous and you’re not even going to eat what’s on your plate until you get back to your mate, none of us will fault you for leaving.”

Nesta nodded from where she sat beside Cassian, but she was also just playing with her foot with her fork. “That, or you can kidnap him and force him to attend dinner and book club,” Nesta mused, smirking as she glanced over at him.

Azriel scoffed in amusement. “I’m not so sure he’d appreciate that, Nes.”

Nesta chuckled. “No, but it’d make your sorry ass stop brooding for five minutes.”

Azriel rolled his eyes, turning away. He put his fork down. They weren’t wrong to say he couldn’t stomach food with this… itch of some sort bugging the hell out of him.

Suddenly, the bond twitched inside of him. Not a good twitch either.

Azriel sat up straight immediately, putting a hand to his chest when more emotions began flowing through. Worry. Confusion. Fear.

Azriel stood up as quickly as he could, shadows flaring out.

“Azriel,” Rhys mused from the table. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s in danger,” Azriel breathed.

Rhys immediately stood up. “In danger? Eris? The Lord of Fire?”

“Don’t make jokes, Rhys,” he begged, breathing a bit heavier. “Don’t follow me yet. The wards will stop you. Just… keep a tab on my mind. I have a feeling what this is. And it’s not a nightmare.”

Then he winnowed, feeling Rhys gently prod into his mind to stay as a presence just on the outside of his mind so he’d know what’s happening too.

Azriel followed the bond, sprinting as fast as possible through the Forest House until-

Eris was in his office.

But then something stopped. The bond stopped. Empty.

Azriel burst in, panting terribly as he spotted Eris standing at his desk.

“Eris?” He questioned hesitantly.

Eris turned around, but his eyes were distant. Azriel’s heart dropped like a stone when he heard emotionless words come out of his mate’s mouth. “Eris is not here, Illyrian mongrel.”

Azriel squared his shoulders, pressing his already glowing siphon to form his armor over his body. He crouched down imperceptibly. “Eris, this is not a funny joke.”

That was just his denial talking though. Eris had never called him an Illyrian mongrel.

“Oh, he doesn’t?” The male asked hauntingly. “Are you so sure? I know you can’t be… being a bastard and all.”

Something slammed into his mental walls and Azriel stumbled back just as Rhys seemed to reel back in his mind.

Azriel gritted his teeth, forcing his eyes open as he stared into Eris’s eyes, waiting for the familiar clarity to come back.

“You’re pathetic,” Eris snarked. “One measly hit and it almost took you down? Weak.”

Rhys seemed to be doing something akin to building a second wall from within his mind, battling off something. Azriel couldn’t spare any mental energy to figure out what it was.

“Eris… you need to come back,” He said, but it really came out more like pleading.

Flames sparked on Eris’s palms and Azriel couldn’t help his flinch. Though his mate had been helping him overcome his fear as of late, something… something felt wrong about this.

“Eris,” he warned, eyes drawn down to the fire unconsciously. “What are you doing?”

“My name is not Eris,” he hissed, stalking closer. A dagger summoned to Eris’s palm, the flame lighting up the dagger’s edges as if it was some glowing blade. If he hadn’t been so shocked over the loss of his bond and the fear for his mate, he would’ve thought it almost looked cool. But right now? It was downright terrifying.

The male leapt at him and Azriel raised up his arms in defense, dodging to the side with only a few centimeters to spare. He didn’t want to hurt Eris. That was on the forefront of his mind.

But what was he supposed to do when Eris was trying to hurt him?

“Eris,” he pleaded. “Come back to me.”

Eris chuckled, one of the ones reserved for the lords in the council when they were pissing him off. “You know, your mate is putting up quite the fight in here. He’s been trained against people like me, but clearly not like you and your little friend protecting you.”

Azriel spared the moment of suspension to ask Rhys: What’s happening? Who?

Daemati, was Rhys’s only response and it was said as if through gritted teeth.

Shit. Eris was being controlled by a daemati. And though he had faith in Rhys, he knew that the male didn’t have much practice in fighting his own kind.

Azriel’s shadows rose like asps preparing to strike above his shoulders, as if sensing that this was not their beloved mate. No. This was an enemy this time. But he couldn’t hurt what was his.

“Let him go,” Azriel snarled.

Eris put a finger to his chin, tilting his head as if considering the prospect before scoffing. “No.” Then Eris leapt at him again. Azriel hadn’t been prepared this time- too much in shock to truly focus. His shadows reached out to cover his mate’s wrists in a desperate attempt to try and return him back, but it didn’t stop the dagger from lodging itself deep in his shoulder and twisting.

Azriel couldn’t help the pained groan that escaped him. He flared his wings and pushed forward quickly, grabbing Eris’s shoulders and pushing the male back. Though they were of equal strength, Azriel was stronger physically if they really tested themselves.

But the daemati had control over Eris’s magic at that moment and Azriel couldn’t help his yelp when the flames suddenly engulfed his hands. He wanted to scream and run, to get into the sky and never return-

He couldn’t though. This was his mate.

Azriel felt tears dripping out of his eyes as he pushed Eris back against a wall. “Come back to me,” he begged brokenly while staring into Eris’s beautiful fire-colored eyes.

“Please,” he continued.

Keep him held there, Rhys demanded in his mind. And release your shields.

Azriel really didn’t have the mental capacity to question Rhys at this moment, so he simply obeyed. The other daemati swept in, but Rhys met it head-on. Another presence joined the battlefield too- a softer type of darkness. Feyre.

A headache was beginning to bloom behind his temples at all the action occurring in his mind. More than anything though, his hands burned. The daemati was more distracted so the flames were certainly not as hot as they could be, but it still hurt.

Talk to him, Feyre ordered sternly. Bring your mate out of the fire.

Azriel let out a choked sob, his wings flaring behind him as he pressed toward Eris and rested his forehead against his mate’s. “Eris,” he begged. “I know this isn’t you. Come back to me. I know you wouldn’t-”

He cut off with a groan as the flames burned hotter. His flesh might be melting off to be honest. But he couldn’t let him go. Not now. Not ever. Azriel let another sob tear out of his throat as he pressed desperately into Eris.

“Come back to me,” he pleaded brokenly. “This isn’t you, Eris. You’re my mate. You’re mine. And you would never hurt me.”

Let go now, Feyre yelled over whatever clashing was occurring on the battleground between their minds.

“I can’t,” Azriel sobbed. He couldn’t let Eris go. Not like this. Not now. He needed his mate to know he was there and he would forgive him.

Az, let him go before your hands melt off, Rhys snarled harshly.

Azriel sobbed and stumbled backward. Eris remained standing against the wall as Azriel curled his hands toward his chest, shadows curling around them quickly, providing a soothing cold touch to them.

He kept his eyes open, watching Eris and watching his eyes. There was a flicker of fire there. Just a flicker.

“Eris,” he said again. The eyes went distant again and he snarled at the daemati, hoping the bastard could hear him over all the clashing. “Let him go. Let my mate go. Let Eris go, you-”

He couldn’t come up with an insult that could encompass all the hate he felt toward the being at this moment.

The bond flickered and Azriel clutched his chest. That put an idea in his head and he immediately brought all the love he felt for the male in front of him and shoved it down the bond as forcefully as he could. As well as some determination he hoped Eris would interpret as ‘You’re better than it. Fight back. You’re mine.’

Eris suddenly collapsed against the wall, body slumping into the floor. Azriel rushed forward before his head could slam into it as well. He cradled the male in his lap, tears still pouring down his cheeks. Everything was too much and not enough. He needed Eris, and that was about the only thing he could interpret.

“Eris, Eris, Eris,” he began repeating, pushing the hair out of his mate’s face desperately even as his shadows reported the door slamming open and Rhys with Cassian came running in.

They tried to grab his arms and drag him away but he fought harshly. “No! Don’t make me leave him,” he begged them. He needed to know his mate would be alright.

“We’ll get him too, Az,” Cassian said, pulling even more. “Rhys will get him. Come on, before your hands-”

Azriel held onto Eris even more, not wanting to leave his mate alone and afraid. Even if he was unconscious now, he would wake up and feel regret over something that wasn’t even in his control. He knew he would. But Azriel needed to be there so he could comfort him.

“Azriel,” Rhysand commanded sharply. “Let him go. Go to Madja.”

He wanted to disobey the command so badly, but his strength gave out and Cassian scooped him up onto his feet. Rhys picked Eris up into his arms and then they were winnowing straight into Madja’s clinic. Someone must’ve warned her because she already had a bucket of cold water that Cassian forced his hands into.

“Stay still,” Cassian ordered when he tried to twist and see where Rhys was taking his mate. “You’ve got to cool your hands down,” He told him. “Eris is just fine. He’s going to get checked out by Madja. You are going to get healed before your hands scar even worse with more permanent damage. Do you realize your skin is melting off?”

“But Eris-” Azriel tried to protest.

“Do not make me order you again, Az!” Rhys called from the other room. He saw Feyre winnow in as well, running toward where Rhys was. And Azriel was stuck here, useless, with his hands in a goddamn bucket. He couldn’t even feel the pain in the wake of knowing his mate was hurt.

He sobbed through his teeth. This was worse than his brothers burning his hands. This was so much worse than even the worst injuries he’s sustained in war or his line of work.

Feyre suddenly came up to him and her gentle presence ghosted along the edges of his mind before soothing something he didn’t even realize was tearing him apart from the inside it seemed like. The headache eased slightly.

“Is he okay?” He asked, looking up at Feyre. She had the most caring expression on her face and he wanted it gone.

“Rhys is with him right now,” Feyre told him. “Madja is there too, but you’re the main concern right now. He’s only going to have mental wounds. But Rhys can fix it, don’t worry,” she added on quickly when his face dropped.

“How?” He asked. “That kind of-”

“We caught it early and Rhys saw what was damaged in the fight. It’s okay, Azriel. He’s going to be okay. Now we need to make sure your hands are going to be okay, alright? Breathe and keep that even head I know you have. Eris is okay.”

Azriel sighed and slumped against whatever was nearby in relief. It ended up being Cassian. He trusted Feyre. Eris was going to be okay. And that was the only thing that mattered.

“Come on, Az,” Cassian urged, holding him up gently while still keeping his hands dunked in the water. “Your panicking will not help him if he wakes up.”

Azriel breathed and his shadows came up to whisper assurances that Eris was in the other room on a bed with Rhys and Madja. Cared for. He forced his body to come back from whatever super-adrenaline state it had gotten itself into.

“That’s it,” Cassian encouraged. “That’s good, Az. Do you feel any pain yet?”

At the mention, yes. His hands burned and not in any sort of good way. He didn’t dare look into the water. He probably couldn’t anyway since it was bloody. That probably wasn’t a good sign. The stabbing in his shoulder hurt, but it was duller than his hands at the moment.

“Yes,” he gritted out, huffing out some breath to suck more in anew as the pain now took over his being.

“I’ll get Madja,” Feyre said.

“No-” He said. “Leave her with Eris. I’m okay.”

“Eris is unconscious and Rhys is fully capable of caring for him. I’ll go over there too to help. But you need healing.”

Azriel sighed, knowing this wasn’t something Feyre would allow so he gave up on the argument early. “Okay,” he breathed. “Make sure he’s alright. Please.”

Feyre left and Madja was walking in quickly. “Get your shadows to cover your own eyes,” She ordered. The shadows, not completely under his will at the moment, took initiative and covered his eyes while she pulled his hands out of the cold water. They were numb in some places and burning in others.

Madja let out a harsh breath. “Do not lift that blindfold,” she told him and then the burning returned tenfold and he knew she was pushing healing magic into his hands. Cassian kept him restrained even as he tried to keep screams from bubbling out of his throat.

Alas, he could only stop them for so long and they soon spilled out. He lost any and all breath in his lungs all too quickly. Probably a good thing. Cassian kept him in a firm hold which grounded him somewhat but it hurt.

When he was finally given a reprieve, he was halfway towards passing out. When the pain mostly receded to a harsh ache, he finally drew in breath and slumped back against Cassian with his eyes closed.

“Come on, Az,” Cassian encouraged. “Let’s get you over to Eris, alright? Madja will wrap your hands there.”

Azriel could barely spare a hum of acknowledgement before he was being manhandled to his feet and forced to walk on shaky knees with droopy eyelids. His shadows had dropped back down to his hands, covering them from sight. Maybe that was a good thing, he decided. As soon as he saw Eris, he tried reaching out for his mate, but Cassian slapped his arm down.

“You are not using your hands, Az. Sit your ass down,” Cassian ordered. His brother helped him get out of his armor and leathers so he was just in his undershirt and pants.

He was forced to sit on the stool nearby, but was allowed to scoot it as close as possible to Eris to lean down over the bed and rest his forehead against Eris’s skin, breathing his mate’s scent in. It calmed his nerves just enough for him to finally take a deep breath.

Madja came in and forced him to hold himself up for a few more minutes while she wrapped his hands in white bandages as well as his shoulder. Then he was allowed to rest. Rhys pulled away from Eris eventually and he perked up, looking at his brother.

“He’ll be alright,” Rhys assured him. “At most, he won’t remember the fight, which I’d say is a mercy.”

Azriel sighed in relief and rested his head back down into Eris’s now cold palm since he couldn’t hold it properly. There, he fell asleep.

–––––

Azriel didn’t know how much time passed when he awoke. His hands ached like none other and if he had to be honest: everything hurt. Apparently, almost having your mate be gone to mind control by a daemati gave you some really bad tension to deal with. Specifically in his shoulders which were always the hardest to get at. Impossible now because of the thick bandages on his hands. The stab felt as if it’d already healed over. Perks of Illyrian healing, he supposed.

He lifted his head from wherever he was laying and squinted when he looked to his left and saw an empty bed.

“Eris?” He said aloud, sitting up and glancing around more. Someone must’ve moved him to the bed. But where was his mate? Azriel needed to be with him.

Suddenly, a burst of calm exploded from his chest and Azriel gasped for breath, not even realizing he’d been holding it. The bond. Thank the fucking Cauldron it was back. It meant that Eris was awake and okay enough to not be… well, dying.

Azriel groaned as he stood up, flexing his wings out behind him as he stared down at his hands. For Madja to have wrapped them so much he couldn’t even move his wrists… he must’ve gotten burned quite badly, he deduced. But, priority number one was finding Eris.

He tugged on the bond once, slowly wandering out toward where Madja usually sat in her clinic.

Eris was beside her.

Azriel breathed deeply at last, relief coursing through his veins at the sight of his mate being awake and even having a conversation with Madja over something relating to some sort of bright orange plant that looked like fire. He stumbled his way over there as quickly as he could, wrapping his arms around Eris and pressing his nose into the junction of his neck and shoulder to breathe in his scent.

Eris, however, had frozen. And that sent ice barreling through Azriel. What had happened?

“Hi Az,” Eris said hesitantly.

Azriel pulled away immediately, coming around to see Eris from the front to try and discern what the problem was.

For some reason, he had a guilty look on his face. Not a joking one- no, it was similar to the one he had when he figured out he’d accidentally forgotten something in court which led to the death of some farmers. A broken sort of regret.

“Eris, what’s wrong?” Azriel asked, brows furrowed in concern. “What happened? Did someone do something before I woke up? I’ll kill them for you with or without my hands,” he said, rage already pooling in his heart at the thought of someone making his mate feel this sort of guilt.

“No, no, I’m fine,” Eris waved him off, averting his gaze to the ground. “Nobody did anything besides that damned daemati.”

“I’m already killing him,” Azriel said to try and assure his mate. “I’m going to find him, tear his head from his shoulders and put it on a pike. Give the body to the scavengers and the head can be a personal trophy until it decays.”

A small chuckle came out of his mate’s chest and Azriel warmed up considerably, glad he could at least get that out of Eris. A chuckle was a start.

“Come on, Eris,” Azriel said, bringing his bandaged hands up to cup Eris’s cheeks. “Tell me what’s wrong. I’m not blind.”

Eris sighed and then gently grabbed Azriel’s forearms to hold his hands up. “This is what’s wrong,” he pointed out as if it was obvious.

Azriel’s brows furrowed. Then he realized. “Eris, these are not your fault. These are that bastard’s fault.”

“It was my fire that burned you, Az,” Eris argued, releasing his hands and standing up.

Madja stood as well. “I’ll let you two talk this out. Let me know if someone starts dying,” she says as she walks out.

Azriel looked at Eris, checking him from top down for any injuries or other apparent signs of his emotions. Both males had tells even if they were masters at hiding away.

“It was your fire controlled by that bastard,” Azriel argued, pressing forward. He paused when Eris backed up, even more concerned. It’d been centuries since Eris had backed away from his comfort. 

“Eris,” he spoke softly. “I would’ve held you back even if my wings were burned off my shoulders. It is not your fault. Take away that guilt from your mind right fucking now. I could’ve let go the instant the daemati lit the flames, but guess what? I didn’t, did I?”

Eris looked sheepishly now and Azriel opened up his arms.

“It’s okay, Eris. You would never hurt me. I know that. You should already know that,” Azriel insisted. “My hands will heal in time. There’s a reason Madja is so esteemed as a healer. And I’m pretty sure she even got to the burns faster than the guards did when I was 8. The only reason I can speak about that night and not fear the flames is because of you.”

Eris now had tears running down his face and Azriel dared a step forward.

Eris didn’t move, but he didn’t come closer either. “I’m sorry,” Eris whispered, closing his eyes.

“You would never hurt me,” Azriel repeated.

“Your hands-”

“I don’t give a fucking shit about my hands,” Azriel cut him off. “I’d rather my entire arm be torn off than be in a world where you’re controlled by a daemati. Don’t you realize that? I would do anything to protect you. My hands being burned is the least of my worries.”

“Az, I still burned you. In the worst of places,” Eris argued.

“You did not burn me,” Azriel insisted. “You would never hurt me. Trust yourself on that, huh? Trust me on it at the very least.”

Eris choked on a sob and Azriel opened up his arms again. Finally, finally, his mate went stumbling into his comfort.

“I should have fought harder against his control,” Eris said, voice broken and muffled against Azriel’s shoulder. “I could have. But it was just so hard. It felt like everything in my mind had gone under ice, yet I could feel the heat escaping me. Burning you. I tried so hard and it didn’t work-“

“Shh…” Azriel hushed, holding Eris as tight as he could. “You did the best you could, Eris. The fact you even still remember the experience is a miracle in itself. Daemati can be very damaging. Can scratch memories. Rhys was able to repair them but I was so worried about you. You have no clue.”

Eris sobbed wetly into his shoulder and Azriel felt tears slipping down his own cheeks as well. He let his emotions flow freely over the bond. Eris’s were still a mix of guilt, but now it was more of a lost hopelessness than true guilt. More of a “I don’t know how to fix this” kind of look.

“There is nothing that you did wrong,” Azriel whispered. Eris hugged him tighter and he smiled, squeezing him back as well. His shadows were helping him give more force behind it since he was unable to use his hands and the damn plush of the bandages did not help.

“I don’t know what happened beyond the fact I burned you,” Eris admitted. “I was caught off guard since I was tired and waiting for you to come home. He just… snuck between my mental walls and latched on like a damn leech.”

“You need to rest more. Now that we know we’re dealing with a daemati, we need to keep mental shields sharp. But luckily we have some of the most powerful daemati on our side. It’s already two against one,” Azriel joked.

Eris chuckled and finally pulled away to meet Azriel’s eyes. “I’m going to help you heal your hands,” he declared. “I’ll help you with everything. Anything. Writing? Done. Massage or oil? Done.”

“If this is you trying to make up for a fake mistake, don’t,” Azriel said seriously.

“This is me helping my mate through an injury,” Eris replied, giving a small reassuring smile despite the obvious signs he’d been crying not even a few seconds ago.

“Good,” Azriel told him. “I’ll definitely take you up on the writing part. I’ve got to write down things about what happened. See if we can piece together clues. And maybe it’ll help you piece together your memory,” he added.

Eris nodded. “Anything,” he repeated.

“But first,” Azriel said, putting one bandaged hand up, “We’re going to bathe because we both stink.”

Eris couldn’t help the laugh that exploded from his chest and it made Azriel all the merrier. He loved making him laugh like this.

“Agreed,” his mate replied. “Maybe we should talk to Madja about the wrapping of your hands first?”

Azriel nodded in agreement. “Then a warm bath,” he added. “I may take you up on the massage you mentioned,” he joked. “My shoulders ache.”

“You were sleeping on a goddamn stool when I woke up,” Eris said, scoffing in amusement. “Of course your back is hurting, bat. You should have laid in the bed not even two feet away.”

“I needed to be close to you,” Azriel admitted. “I thought I wouldn’t sleep like the dead and be awake with you but…”

Eris chuckled. “You always sleep like the dead when your face is buried in my scent. Honestly, you shouldn’t have expected any differently.”

Azriel rolled his eyes. But the little banter also assured him that Eris was truly okay. At least for now, those thoughts of guilt had been warred against and lost.

Cassian came jogging in loudly suddenly and he sighed in relief when he spotted them. “Thank the fucking Cauldron you are both awake,” he panted. “Az? How are your hands?”

“Hurt, but they’re fine,” Azriel dismissed. “How bad were they?”

“You do not want to know,” Cassian replied.

“I would,” Eris spoke up. “After all, who knows how to heal burns better than the Fire Lord who deals them out?” He said. But luckily, his tone was lighthearted. No guilt to be seen. If there was, Azriel would’ve slapped the back of his head to reprimand those feelings.

Cassian hesitated, but then sighed. “Skin was practically melted off. Some parts were down to the bone. Bloody as hell,” he briefly described.

Azriel sucked in a breath, gazing down at his own hands. How had he not felt that? Apparently, his concern over Eris had been that powerful. Eris also seemed frozen in shock.

Cassian shrugged. “They looked better after Madja used all her healing magic on them. I think the only thing she was concerned about was the potential damage to your sense of touch, Az. Like, light touches.”

Azriel hummed in response. “It certainly wouldn’t be any different than the aftermath of my old injury,” he admitted. “Just takes a few years for it to return to normal.”

Cassian hummed. “Well, anyway, I was just coming here to check up on you,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

“We’re fine,” Azriel assured his brother. After a moment of hesitation, he sighed and said, “Thank you, Cass. You kept a level head.”

Cassian scoffed. “Someone had to. You should’ve seen Rhys. He was practically catatonic with the mental battle. I’m surprised his or your head didn’t burst. Or Eris’s for that matter.”

Eris chuckled softly at that, but didn’t say anything. Azriel glanced at him before stretching his arms out best he could without the use of his hands. “Anyway, we’re off to get clean,” he declared.

“Tell Rhys the Autumn Court isn’t getting one of my brothers as ruler just yet,” Eris joked.

Cassian chuckled and nodded. “Don’t die,” he replied with a snicker before walking back where he came from. Wing beats told them that he’d actually left.

Madja was walking back in too. “While I’d rather keep your hands wrapped, Azriel, I do agree that you two need to bathe,” she explained. “I’ll unwrap them, but they’re going back on immediately after.”

The shadows floated towards her, some settling on the bandages of his hands as if in question to continue the order she gave them last time.

“I believe it will be alright if he sees his hands now, my friends,” Madja told them with a sweet smile. “Let’s get them unwrapped now.”

Barely fifteen minutes later, Azriel and Eris were sitting together in the bathtub, mostly just relaxing. Azriel pulled his hands up out of the lukewarm water (more strict instructions from Madja) to examine them. His old scars… were almost gone. As if burned or melted away. Instead, deep indents remained. His hands felt as if they had lost weight and he couldn’t move his fingers yet, but Madja had told him the muscles still needed time to realize they weren’t melted anymore.

Regardless, it looked odd. The skin was pulled tight. But something felt off about them.

Eris put a hand on his wrists to put his hands back in the water and draw his attention. “It’ll just take time,” Eris assured him.

“I don’t think I’ve heard of burns this bad,” Azriel admitted.

“I have,” Eris said. “Normally it took a few years, but they did eventually heal if they survived the initial burning.”

Azriel hummed. “Guess you’ll be doing the paperwork for a while,” he joked.

Eris scoffed, smiling. “Indeed I will,” he agreed.

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

A/N: hope you enjoyed (and cried at least once because I SOBBED while writing this)

Tagged in all ACOTAR Stories: @bunnymallowo, @officiallyunofficialperson, @margssstuff, @rebloggiest-reblogger, @inpraizeof, @graciereads, @eos-princess, @bubybubsters, @fieldofdaisiies, @skyesayshi, @lilah-asteria,

Tagged in all Azriel Stories: @ladylokilaufeyson5, @marina468,

[cheesycatz]

(Spider CW)

Too Many Legs - a Wormton AU comic based on a scene from the fic I'm currently writing

Original text version of this scene below

-------

H-hi, Spamton!” Blue said, a bit louder than usual. They hoped that he wouldn't notice the nervousness in their voice. Then again, he never really reacted when they anxiously stuttered or minced sentences. Maybe his vocal glitch desensitized him to it.

“HEY Y[Bluebird]!” Spamton responded, just as loudly, though the volume was normal for him. He stopped a short distance away from the store's front door, tilting his head and looking up at Blue.

Before Blue could get a word in, he stumbled back a bit, tail quickly curling back up from the lax position it had taken.

“WH WHAT? R YOU [[aFr41D…]] 0f?!??” The lights of his glasses flickered.

“Am I that obvious?” Blue chuckled nervously. “I found a huge spider on one of the back shelves,” they explained, stepping back into their shop and beckoning Spamton in. “I should get rid of it—it's bad for business, y'know?”

“Oh,” Spamton mumbled. “[Where's my] IS IT??” He leaned forward, presumably to see if he could find the spider from his position just outside the store's doorway.

“Right over there,” Blue said, dramatically pointing towards where the middle shelf met the wall. They hoped it hadn't moved anywhere in the last five minutes; spiders were much scarier when you didn't know where they were.

Spamton surged forward with confidence, tail brushing back and forth across the carpet. He peered into the darkness between the shelves with not even a millisecond of hesitation. Man, Blue would pay good money for a fraction of that bravery towards all things creepy-crawly.

“SER1USLY?” he scoffed. Blue jumped as his hand lunged into the gap. They saw something move in the darkness as he dragged his arm back out.

“YOUR AFRIAD OF [[This]]!!?” Blue yelped as his hand came into view; he was holding the spider in his bare hand—mitten—whatever! A gross layer of cobwebs and fuzzy dust coated his sleeve. “I'vE S33N 1’S [2wice] AS BIG!” he gloated, eyeing the spider that was already bigger than his palm. Its legs curled uselessly towards its underside, twitching disgustingly as Spamton poked at its large abdomen.

“EAHAHA!! ITS IS’nT EVEN TRYING TO [Get a Bite to Eat at]!!” he added. Spamton held the spider uncomfortably close to his face, its two fangs flexing angrily as it failed to defend itself.

“I know they don't usually bite people,” Blue admitted, “but they're just so creepy! Where do I even start? The giant fangs—teeth shouldn't be able to move like that! They have no pupils, but it's like you can feel them staring at you with those glowing eyes. And, I hate how… uncomfortably hairy they are. Something with an outer shell like that should not be growing hair.” Describing it might make it worse, actually.

“The way they crawl all over the walls, the way they hide until it's too dark to see anything,” Blue rambled. “How they lure and trap live prey just to suck the life-force out of them—and, most obviously, the legs. Nothing in this world needs that many legs!” Let alone such freakishly long, skinny segmented legs… Okay, they absolutely made their point by now.

“8'$ N0T E^0U6H!1!” Spamton claimed, voice sounding more glitchy than usual. He picked at the spider's legs as though he was fidgeting with them, almost curling in on himself.

“Y0UV3 G0T

Y0u'VE gOT

You'v3 G0T F0RE 4ND YOUR ONLY US1NG 2!! [Who you gonna call] IF 1 GETS [Injured? Call now]???”

“So do you,” Blue pointed out, not sure if his smug tone was actually intentional. Spamton briefly looked down at his own body as though he somehow needed to double-check how many limbs he had.

“EAHAHAH AHA SUR3 DO!” he said, head violently jolting back upwards. His tail tip twitched back and forth rapidly. “BUT I;M NOT [[DENIED]] The [supereority complex] OF [Baker's dozen] LEGS!!”

“You always chose the weirdest hills to die on,” Blue simply replied, fondly. Normally, they would've humored his strange opinion, but the still alive spider caged between his fingers was just a little distracting. And, so was Spamton's concerning amount of shaking.

“SPEAKING OF [DYEING]!” he stated abruptly. Blue waited for the second half of his comment, but it never came. Instead, Spamton suddenly skittered back out the front door, still tightly gripping the spider. Blue trailed after him at a much slower pace, and stopped in the doorway. All they saw was the last half of his tail as it disappeared into the alley that he came from.

Was he… getting rid of the spider for them? That would be nice of him. Usually, Blue called Orange and made them deal with any computer bugs invading their space. They suddenly regretted shaking his hand that first day more than they already did.

“Um, thanks?” Blue said as Spamton reappeared without the spider a couple minutes later, looking much calmer. As he got closer, it seemed like he was… chewing something? The jaw of his mask occasionally clacked open and closed, accompanied by a quieter wet sound and… some sort of scraping?

“Uh…” Blue started.

“[Deep Cleaning] MY T33TH.” he said, unprompted.

“Aaaaalright then,” Blue responded. They knew they weren't getting any other context, and they weren't going to ask.

-------

This was one of my favorite scenes for the Wormton fic that I've come up with, and one I really wanted to share. We've got foreshadowing, dramatic irony, implied angst, and a surprise tool that will help us later

This is my first time turning part of rough draft into a fully written piece, and I think it turned out okay. Somehow Spamton'a dialogue was easier for me to write than Blue's; the bracket text and whatnot wasn't too hard to write with the guide (by Zarla) that I was referencing. As someone who will edit 8 month old posts just to fix one grammar mistake, it was so freeing to intentionally make spelling and grammatical errors for Spamton's dialogue. Hopefully I actually caught all the unintentional grammar mistakes for once...

Otherwise, I hope this scene was as enjoyable for everyone else as it was for me. I'm sure this will have no discernable impact on Wormton's life long self-loathing issues lol lmao haha lol

[steviewashere]

🪱🪱Worm Wednesday!!!!!🪱🪱

I was tagged by the lovely @hotluncheddie! Hello, I'm sorry for the rambling mess this is going to be. But I know I missed this like two weeks ago, so bear with me.

Okay, I'm going to try and be normal here. I have, honestly, so many worms in my brain. They're dancing and stomping and I'm just going fucking nuts with how much is in my brain at the moment. And also I took excedrin this morning for my migraine and that had caffeine in it and it's more caffeine than I would normally have—anyway.

Y'all already know one of my brain worms, the whole omega verse sensitive nips omega Steve thing. Which, I will plug the post here because I don't have the energy (yes, I do, but I don't want to echo myself) to share all the craziness about that in one post.

I'm also thinking about young Steve Harrington, which is kudos to this post and lots of people's tweets over on the twitter. I won't go into it, same reasons as the omega verse thing so just...again, bear with me.

But! But the actual brain worms I'm having currently, in this very moment, also have to do with another post I made on here. I want to go more in-depth with, though. So, some days ago, I came across an Instagram Reel that was a clip from the YouTube video interview between Jon Bernthal and Dungeon Master Deborah Ann Woll.

So, brief brief summary of this video is basically: Jon Bernthal says that he wants to play D&D, Deborah Ann Woll then gives him a scenario of walking through the woods and while he's walking he hears snap of twigs, and then she basically prompts him with "What do you do?" And he responds, now I can't remember exactly what he says, but I believe it had something to do with investigating the source of the snapped twigs.

Anyway, the video is excellent and you all should check it out. She basically explains D&D in a way that would make sense to anybody, in the matters of asking a player or a potential player what they'd do in certain scenarios, then bringing in the "rougher" elements such as the History checks or Perception checks in the game.

And I want to write something along the lines of Steve approaching Eddie about D&D. Maybe he wants to play because Dustin keeps bugging him about it, but he's too nervous to accept. Maybe he just wants to know what it's like. Maybe he even wants to be a substitute player one of these days just in case somebody can't show up. Something, y'know, where he's approaching Eddie. But he's really, really confused about where to even begin. He's got a character sheet, he's looking at the manuals loaned to him or he even bought himself, he's looking at all these stats and all these options and he just doesn't know where to begin.

Also, brief intervene here, I would be basing this off of 5e rules because that's what I play and frequently toy with. So...don't be mad at me if I get something "inaccurate for the time". I, first of all, honestly don't care. And second, I was not alive in like 1977 when the game first came out. And there's nobody in my life who played it then or possibly has played it ever outside of 5e. Moving on.

So, he tries to explain his character sheet to Eddie, obviously getting a bit overwhelmed in the process. But Eddie stops him. Says something like, "Hold on, okay? Let's just take a baby step here. I'm going to give you a scenario and then I want you to tell me what you'd do."

And he lays out that same, or even just something similar, to what Deborah Ann Woll gave. (I'm going to base this off of the video. Very original, I am.) So it's something like:

"Okay, you've got a small dagger attached to your belt, it's concealed within a hilt. And on your back, there's a bow and a quiver—or a pouch—of arrows. You're walking through the woods. It's dark, heavy clouds hanging overhead, moon obstructed, you can barely see your surroundings. There's leaves under your feet, gravel, sticks. But then, before you can step your foot down next, something crunches in the distance on your left. What do you do?"

There's a pause. A long moment where Steve is considering his options.

"It's a far away sound, right?" Steve checks and Eddie nods. There's a little hmph from Steve as he continues to think. "Can I tell how far away it is? Is there a way to distinct the length of it?"

Eddie maybe smirks, eyes already glowing. "Give a perception check." And at Steve's befuddled expression, leaning in and brows furrowed, Eddie continues on. "So, you're going to roll one of those dice that you always see the kids with. The D20, that's the one you'd use right now. 20 is the highest you can get"—

"The best I can get. And 1 is obviously the lowest, so the worst."

"Right! So...let's say you were to pick up a D20 right now and roll it. You get a...a fourteen. And your perception, one of those skills on the top of your paper"—and Eddie would grab Steve's character sheet, to point out the number he already placed there—"this one right here. And on your paper, it looks to be pretty high. A sixteen is what you have. So...I'm going to ask you to add three more to your dice roll."

Steve squints at the paper. He doesn't take long to do the math, muttering a little under his breath. "Okay...I'd have a seventeen for my perception check." And he looks up to Eddie for confirmation, in which he gets. "And if it's possible out of twenty...that means I can probably figure it out well, right?"

Eddie nods with a smug hum. "You're already a natural." He leans back a little from Steve. Eyes away in thought. Goes on, "So, I'll know right away, based on that number you give me that you're extremely perceptive. I tell you...okay, the sound you hear is roughly ten feet away on your left."

"That's really close," Steve murmurs. "I think I'll...I'll ready that bow on my back. Take it off, grab for one of my arrows. Poise it."

"Mmm...And as soon as you get your bow in the right position, you begin to make out what seems like a pair of eyes. From the darkness between the trees, those eyes emerge closer and closer, revealing the large figure of a sixteen foot owlbear. Its feathers are spread wide, splaying defensively. Eyes glowing, it seems, yellow and bright. The body girth of a bear, but the head and mannerisms of an owl. It trills and squawks in your face. What do you do?"

Anyway, it would go from there. Tried to figure out a monster that wasn't an owlbear because that's what was used in the video. But uh...my brain is not being original right now, so that's basically the whole example from the video. But I just adore that video so much, the simple, yet impactful way she taught the basics. And I think it could translate so well to Eddie and Steve messing with D&D together.

Sorry for a long ass post lmao

Tagging (no pressure): @puppy-steve @scoops-aboy86 @ataliagold @marvel-ous-m @pearynice

@wheneverfeasible @rogueddie @sidekick-hero

[definitelynotshouting]

dance au you say 👀👀👀 is it like Grian and Scar typically do different styles of dance but are for some reason partnered together or do they dance the same style and gotta choreograph a routine together but kinda buttheads with how they choreograph

Not quite, although thats a super cool idea!!! :D my au is about Grian asking Scar for dance lessons while preparing for an event he's been invited to-- he's expected to dance, and has never really applied himself to learn more than the very basics until now.

Scar, however, is an excellent dancer and offers to teach him, builds them an intricate gazebo to learn in, shows up to their first lesson in an immaculate new suit, and proceeds to unintentionally but enthusiastically seduce Grian-- who's had a crush for a long time, but hasn't yet gotten up the courage to do anything about it.

The penultimate scene goes a little something like this:

Grian asks Scar for one last practice session before the event. He doesn't even need to feign nervousness-- he's practically sweating bullets. But practicing isnt really his motivation here; in all honesty, he just wants to spend one more time in Scar's arms.

It's evening, golden and sticky with summer, and they're dancing as the sun slowly begins to set. Scar's complimenting, hyping him up, telling him he's a natural now, he'll do so great. He'll be rooting for him at the event the ENTIRE time. The jukebox's music fades, and the dance ends with a flourish, and Grian finds himself nose to nose with a Scar who is gazing at him like he's everything.

Then Scar seems to shake himself, disengages, and gently tells him he'll do great. Amazing, even. The envy of the dance floor. They both step back at the same time.

But the sun is hitting Scar's face just right, and he's gorgeous, and Grian just had him in his arms, and-- and-- and--

Grian impulsively darts forward and kisses the life out of him, fast and a little messy, with his heart beating right out of his chest. And then in true Grian fashion, he freaks out about his own impulsivity and flies away without addressing ANY of this bc he Cant Be Normal Ever, leaving poor Scar to stare off into the sunset with his hand pressed absently against his lips.

What follows after that is some very strained event participation on Grian's part, and Scar trying desperately to talk to him while Grian dodges him like his life depends on it. Eventually, Grian gets exhausted by it all and takes a moment to recoup by wandering outside for some fresh air.

This is where Scar finds him; a little cold, a bit shivery, feeling VERY sorry for himself, and finally Grian doesn't have the patience or energy to run any longer. I actually wrote out a tiny snippet of this scene:

"You know, you're, uh, awful slippery when you want to be." Scar's voice is deceptively casual. "You've gotta teach me that vanishing trick sometime." "Grow wings," Grian suggests wryly, then sobers, pulling Scar's jacket a little tighter around his shoulders. "Sorry. For— that. Yesterday. Yeah." "Sorry you did it? Or sorry it happened?" "Scar," Grian says, pained, "you just said the exact same thing twice." "Not really." Scar's voice is quiet, contemplative. He still isn't looking at Grian when he speaks. "'Cause, y'know, there's— I mean, dancing is pretty intimate, right? Plenty of opportunity for things to just... happen, without them meaning to. It's pretty common, really." He's giving Grian an out, he realizes. An escape hatch left wide open, a gaping crevice Grian can slip through without snagging his feathers. He could lie, right here and right now, and Scar is telling him that would be okay. Everything could go back to normal. Maybe its the atmosphere. Maybe it's the night air, a cool caress on his face, and the moon rising high and bright in the sky above them. A waxing growth that limns them both in pretty silver, catching on the edges of Scar's profile. He's beautiful, as always, and as much as Grian's stomach trembles, he can't tear his eyes from the sight of him. "More like I'm sorry for ruining a perfectly good friendship," Grian croaks at last. Scar blinks, lips parting briefly, throat bobbing as he swallows. His gaze lowers slowly, until his lashes paint dark lines against his cheeks. "Who says it got ruined?" he finally asks. "Scar, I kissed you," Grian says miserably, huddling further into himself. "Yeah, that was kinda hard not to notice." "Scar." "What? It's true! I was there, I saw it!" Oddly, there's the hint of a smile threading into Scar's voice; when he turns to pin Grian's gaze, it reflects on his lips, tilted up the tiniest fraction. In the moonlight, his eyes almost glow. "But sure, lets assume you've ruined a friendship. Which you have not, by the way— in case you were wondering." All the air leaves Grian's lungs at once. He's paralyzed, tipping over the knife's edge of something only Scar can see. "I didn't?" "Nah." Scar's voice is achingly warm now. "Not even close. Actually, my only question right now is: do you wanna do it again?"

Anyway they smooch again and get catcalled by their friends and Grian dips Scar bc Scar deserves to get dipped and its very sweet bc sometimes u rlly do just need some low stakes pining THEE END❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[whatevertheweather]

Thank you @thewholelemon @moodandmist @run-for-chamo-miles and @youarenevertooold for the tags! I'm in love with everything y'all posted, what the hell.

In other news, it seems like my recipe for success is to have a Bad Saturday, unexpectedly write an unprecedented amount on Sunday, manage nothing throughout the week, then rinse and repeat. However, yesterday was a kind of okay Saturday, and I've still written a lot today, so maybe the point is really just Sunday.

In any case, what I've written today is from the same unexpected fic I mentioned in my last WIP post. But also like that post, that's not what I'm going to share, because it's not on my hit list for this year. Instead, I'm joining in with the CORB cheer by posting about, y'know, the one I started last year, good old Bait and Switch, because that's what I was getting all my words out for last weekend. Like, the next chapter is about 2 scenes away from done, when there had only been about 3 scenes in it when I started. So that's good?

Under the cut because this is already getting kinda long and I'm not stopping at six sentences.

I don’t know the answer to that. “Because I’m better than you. Now c’mon, get your head in the game. We have a plan.” “Do we?” “Here’s the plan. You give me a good zinger to make Simon go off—” “No.” “What?” “You think I can set him off with a zinger?” he audibly sneers. “This isn’t a one-liner trick. We build up to it.” “Fine,” I roll my eyes. “You long-con him, he goes off, I get my energy back. Easy-peasy.”  Baz is silent. Maybe being a dick and maybe asleep. I can never tell. Finally, he says, “And then you’ll let me out.” “Yeah,” I say. “Totally.”

The slightly difficult thing is that there's also rather a bit of angst being threaded through a fic that is at its core quite lighthearted, but I've received some comments in my time that suggest I may be good at writing things that make you laugh and then also hurt you in rapid succession, so hopefully I can pull it off without it feeling like we're switching genres.

Here's another that's a very little bit of both.

“I would not fucking say that!” Baz yelps. “Calm down,” I swat at him, but the tips of my fingers just slide through the edge of the coffin. I scowl at them. “I saw it in a film. It’s fine. It’s a totally normal thing to say.” “It’s not! It’s really, really not!” By the time he’s run out of steam screeching at me about it, I’m thinking there’s no way this ends up worth it. I don’t feel bad for doing it, but seriously, no one has ever yelled at me for this long. His voice is wearing down. Getting scratchier, which just makes him sound more violent, but then quieter. He ends by mumbling, “I hate you.” It hits weird. I mean, I don’t know. It just sounded sad. And it’s not true.  He doesn’t hate me. We’re helping each other.

Now, tags!

@you-remind-me-of-the-babe @fatalfangirl @cutestkilla @artsyunderstudy @whogaveyoupermission

@mooncello @monbons @aristocratic-otter @bookish-bogwitch @facewithoutheart

@alexalexinii @rimeswithpurple @ivelovedhimthroughworse @martsonmars @ileadacharmedlife

@confused-bi-queer @iamamythologicalcreature @noblecorgi @forabeatofadrum @emeryhall

@hushed-chorus @onepintobean @raenestee

[bumblekastclips]

KYLE CROUSE: Alright, here's a question from Milesprowerdavis. "Recently I lost a close family member. What fatherly advice or motherly advice would the main cast give? Team Dark and Light can add more of the characters. You can be funny with it. Interested what Dr Eggman would say."

IAN FLYNN: Well, first of all, deepest condolences. KYLE: Yes. IAN: Um, I would normally not want to answer in the way of a character, but this is your personal request, so I guess that takes the 'taboo' off it. KYLE: [chuckles] IAN: Uh, Sonic I don't think would give any kind of fatherly advice; he would let you figure out your own answer and be there for you as you figure it out on your own. He's gonna let you take that journey, but he's going to be there as you do it. Um, Amy would likewise- I don't know if she would give advice, but she would be there to console, to offer words of support, to be someone to listen, or to just talk so you don't have to think for a bit. She would do whatever you needed her to do at the time. Eggman... KYLE: [chuckles] IAN: We're gonna- we're gonna go the wholesome route this time, even if it is slightly out of character. [Eggman] would go on some long spiel about the entropy of the universe, and how everything is finite, and 'dust to dust' and yadda yadda. But you are still here, and that's what's important. You continue on the chain reactions that are life, so while that experiment is ended, you are the results that are continuing to create results! So, keep at it. And then kind of an awkward shoulder pat and wanders off. KYLE: [Eggman voice] "And soon, you will be part of the Eggman Empire anyways, so it does not matter!" IAN: [chuckles] Knuckles would kind of nod solemnly and say, "That's rough, buddy." KYLE: Yeah! [laughs] That is rough, buddy. It is very rough, buddy. IAN: But he means it! So it means something! KYLE: I mean, yeah! Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Tails? IAN: I don't know if Tails would know what to say. He would want to be- KYLE: I think Tails would be kind of lost, but he would try. IAN: He'd want to be encouraging, yeah. He'd want to be encouraging and supportive, but I think he'd feel a little overwhelmed with the responsibility. KYLE: Yeah... IAN: Um, Vector would start to mumble something that might sound... interesting, maybe? He kind of starts and stops his sentences every few seconds, then says, uh, [Vector voice] "Espio, tag in!" KYLE: [laughs] IAN: Then Espio starts getting kinda philosophical, and kinda loses his own train of thought, and goes quiet for a second. [Espio voice] "Charmy, tag in!" And then Charmy offers you ice cream. KYLE: [chuckles] I mean, I would appreciate all three of them, so yeah. That's wholesome. [after a pause] Hm... would Silver be, like...? IAN: I think Silver would be devastated. I think he values life on a personal level even more so than anyone else. KYLE: Okay, okay. IAN: Um, 'cause he- I think he has a better understanding of loss than any of the cast, to be perfectly honest. Sure, Knuckles is on his own, but he doesn't have any memory of what came before. That's kind of just his status quo. It's more of an existential thing. Silver... Silver has seen devastation. He has seen tragic loss and, y'know, impossible odds. So I think he would hold everything a little- every life a little more sacred. So I don't know if he would be able to impart any words of wisdom, but he would definitely be the most openly and, uh, earnestly sympathetic. KYLE: Mhm. Alright, I think that's enough, though... There's definitely many other characters we could ask, but that's enough for now.

--- TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: Please remember that nothing that is said on BumbleKast is canon! It's just some guys and their opinions occasionally spitballing ideas. If you don't like an answer, you don't have to take it as Word of God or anything like that. It's all just for fun! ----- Do you want a specific question transcribed and posted? Send the question and the episode date to my ask box! Or if you just want questions about a certain character, send me their name and I will see what I can do!

[wandaxpietro]

another ask because this is the only way I know how to contribute to the Maxicest/ScarletSilver fandom (wish i could do more but college is p a i n )

but imagine if Pietro and Wanda just came out and told everyone they're dating/in love (whether as a joke or if they're being serious or idk) I am willing to bet a majority of their friends/coworkers/acquaintances/enemies would either be like: "we knew lol" or "you haven't already???" or be supportive or neutral to their relationship.

But I'm wondering... how would Magneto react? How would Lorna react? How would Magda/Marya/Natalya and Django react? (if they were alive to see it) How would Vision or Crystal react?

Hell, how would Billy and Tommy react? And Luna too? (marvel pls bring her back :((( plsss)

i feel like in the current SW&QS comic run, there will probably be some in-universe comment/rumors that since are Pietro and Wanda are together again, that they are together.

(might ask more questions/thoughts/random blurbs later ://)

ah i think you're more charitable than i am... i don't think most people who know them would be okay with it. they all probably know to varying degrees -- especially their close friends -- it's the deniability that saves it for them, that makes them able to ignore all of it. the avengers (the ones that are close to them, that is) all know, all have seen the twins in weird situations, but they've gotten very very good at looking away. none of them want to know. i think they'd be highly uncomfortable if they came out with their relationship officially, because that'd mean they can no longer ignore it, y'know? i don't think most would start a fight about it or a confrontation or anything, but they'd get weird around the twins.

(on a side note, i think clint is one of the people who'd get actually angry for a while lol. that moment when you're bisexual and your two crushes are dating etc etc. also i think carol would ask wanda if she's alright, if pietro's forcing her into anything, which would make wanda really mad. janet i think is smart enough that she's realized for a long time they're in love & knows something like that isn't going on but she wouldn't be very comfortable, either. the one i think who's most likely to "accept" it is actually tony bcuz i think he genuinely wouldn't give a fuck lol)

that aside! now for the ones you actually asked about lol. ah it's difficult.

magneto - depends on when he'd find out. during brotherhood times, i don't think he'd care, because he didn't really care about them to begin with. once he finds out they're related, at the very beginning, i think he'd be appalled but there isn't anything he can do about it, since he's an absent father trying to reconnect and has no rights to his children. once they're in the family dance for a while, he's grown a bit demanding, esp towards pietro, if that makes sense? so i think he'd probably argue with them about it lol. i don't think he'd like it, not so much bcuz of personal disgust, but mostly bcuz of optics. but also bcuz he has a desire for his children to live normal, happy lives (as much as he has trouble showing them that normally lol) and i think he'd think that would interfere with that. he's also very good at ignoring it, however -- before he'd officially find out, ofc, but after, too. he just conveniently "forgets" it. maybe starts introducing both of them to other people. they hate it.

lorna - i think lorna knows. i think she's known for a long time and while she was disgusted by it at first (and also strangely jealous; she doesn't want either of them but they've always been so close and she never had that. she doesn't have a sibling that's primarily hers, if that makes sense) i think she came to terms with it over time, enough so that she'd be pretty alright with it if they went official.

i honestly don't know about magda, django, marya and natalya... i think magda would have a lot of compassion after everything they've been through, but would treat it as an unfortunate side-effect of all of the twins' trauma, if that makes sense? she loves them a lot, though. the rest of them i don't know. i can't see any of them liking it, but marya and django might just be happy they're both alive and happy, you know? i feel like natalya would want more for them, similarly to magneto, bcuz she doesn't quite get it. but no one does. so yknow.

so billy and tommy are their kids. we know this. i think tommy wouldn't care, tbh. i can't see him being fazed or disgusted by it, also i think he'd be happy to find out pietro is his dad. they already get along, and he doesn't have a lot of people who care about him, and who want to spend time with him (vision never did lol). idk about billy..... i think he dearly loves them both but i think he might just think wanda could do better (lol). i think he'd be vaguely uncomfortable, but pietro would never play dad if billy didn't want that, so i think they're fine-ish? he'd probably get used to it eventually even when he's not thrilled. idk if he'd ever see pietro as his dad. also i think he's also known for a long time but he hasn't gotten over it like lorna has.

as for luna....... honestly she's genuinely a weird kid. she can see people's emotions & i can't see her caring much about "human" taboos. she's from a royal family, and her aunt's husband is also her aunt's (distant) cousin. i think she'd be fine, lol. she can see the love between wanda & pietro -- and tho she probably didn't realize (or didn't want to; bcuz that'd make things complicated) that it was romantic, too, she'd be relatively fine, just happy that her father's happy. she's long since been over crystal and pietro's marriage, so that doesn't bother her, either.

[1-800-deactivatednearu]

EMESIS BLUE: The Importance of Colour Coordination before You Go Swangin through Hell

analysis under read more

keep in mind that this features screenshots from the sfm itself and therefore contains . what happened to the tags on this post ??? open at your own discretion

Blu(e)

[I.D.: 2 screenshots of Emesis Blue, in establishing shots of the introductions of Scout and Medic and Spy and Soldier.

In the first, Scout sits on an examination table, and Medic is looking at his teeth. The scene is cast in blue light. (3:20)

In the second, Soldier sits in Spy's car, cigarette lit and revolver drawn as he looks at something past the camera. The door is open behind him, Spy leaning in. the scene is blue with yellow light. (6:04) /end I.D.]

The SFM first establishes the world with not only exclusively BLU mercenaries, but also matching blue lighting. Blue is loyalty and calmness, blue is our status quo, blue is emesis.

Actually, why is the title of this SFM "Throwing Up Blue." Should your medication be doing that ??

[I.D.: Archibald holds a revolver, Spy behind him. Against the wall in front of them are 3 BLU mercenaries with bags over their head. The scene is cast in blue lighting. /end I.D.]

Y'know. Loyalty. Dependability. Nothing a little bit of treason can't do! :)

My belief of blue symbolizing status quo largely comes from Archibald as the BLU civilian model. We come to understand that he represents some sort of authority figure, pulling the strings behind the scenes. They pulled the mercs off death row if only so they don't have to find ethical work, and then introduced respawns to avoid hiring new ones! He pulled whatever happened in the above screenshot with virtually no repercussions! Normal things.

Red

All this about BLU, how's the RED team?

[I.D.: The zombified RED Scout, Heavy, Solder, and Engineer, as seen in the gun stash. (46:57) /end I.D.]

Maybe when the horror is about the respawn machine... it doesn't bring back mercenaries too great...

The RED mercenaries are the 1% that came back wrong from respawn--way more common than it sounds when you consider how much people die in your average game, nevermind 2fort--that come back wrong from the respawn.

At least I'd hope they want us to come to the conclusion that red = respawn.

[I.D.: Red backlit sign reading "RESPAWN" (1:01:46) and the respawn command terminal text in red (1:02:35). /end I.D.]

"Respawn" has stopped looking like a word to me at this point.

Point stands: scary red technology is scary and red.

[I.D.: 2 screenshots. First is of Dell, the engineer in a red suit and greying hair, stands with both hands on a red bar countertop. Behind him is a wall of unlabelled red bottles. (59:49)

Second depicts Medic in the red bathroom of the bar. He stands with both hands on the sink basin, facing a mirror. (1:44:14) /end I.D.]

In both scenes, a character is later revealed to be dead. In both scenes, we also get a The Shining reference!

Didn't watch the movie, can't tell you nothing about what that means.

Red is closely tied with death and the afterlife--the respawn, in all its wretched glory. In all its gory. Sorry. And in their death, they go to red rooms, as if their souls are still trapped in the red light of the respawn.

[I.D.: 2 screenshots. First is of Medic and Soldier, in Archibald's presentation room. Medic is covered in blood and leaning on an open door for support. Soldier holds a shotgun. They both look down on an off-screen zombified Sniper. (1:20:17)

Medic and Soldier again, this time playing Russian Roulette with Spy. Medic, bloodied and holding a revolver under his chin, looks to Soldier. The scene is primarily blue, with a red light cast on Medic. (1:23:14) /end I.D.]

I'm not saying Medic is disproportionately soaked in blood, but. Just look at the guy. Now look at Soldier. (Okay, maybe a little unfair considering how unscathed Soldier is. Physically.)

Throughout the SFM, Medic becomes less blue, removing his uniform after his first death and then simply becoming so blood soaked he starts sliding from reading as blue to reading as red. He's transitioning! Happy pride!

A Tangent on Red v. Blu

The focus of this tangent is to argue that there is nuance in red and blue, and not necessarily a "good" and "evil" colour.

I feel it is important to not portray one side as good and the other as evil, especially in the case of Medic, especially when what could be read as hallucination sequences are cast in red light. Please do not portray real life mental illnesses as dangerous. Please do not villainise the act of taking medication. Thank you. <3

The inclusion of Scout and Archibald on the same team, as well as Demoman and ... well, the rest of RED, all goes to show that there is no one moral to take away from one colour.

On a more unimportant note, having polarizing, absolute views of morality makes analysis a pain.

[I.D.: Zed and Maynard Conagher. They are cast in both red and blue light, their actual outfit colouration unclear. (25:57) /end I.D.]

Like as seen in here, colour is no measure of morality. They actually move frequently between red and blue lighting! I doubt anyone is in a hurry to even argue that Redmond or Blutarch are the correct one of the two. I don't even know them apart, honestly. This is TF2. The game is about two teams indefinitely fighting stupid wars for stupid prizes.

Black

[I.D.: Nearing the end of Archibald's funeral, when Medic just burst from the coffin and shot Spy. Soldier sits between the coffin and the podium in a wheelchair. There is a red line of blood on the wall. (1:38:50) /end I.D.]

It might be redundant to point this out at a funeral, but here we go anyways: black is the traditional colour of mourning in the West. Would most definitely be wildly inappropriate to walk into a funeral in bright reds and blues.

Which no one would do ever.

After all this time, death as a finality is almost surreal. Soldier got shot, like, three times, and he's still fine! Spy set himself on fire and then rolled directly into sewer water, and he's still fine! (Was. He was still fine.) Medic. You're telling me it took one bullet to the face to kill Spy?

Yea. Lol. Lmao, even.

I feel the most important costume change would actually be Medic's. No white on him, unless you count the way he was drained of all blood in between dying again and coming back again. He's a dead man walking with a score to even. He even hid in a coffin.

[I.D.: Medic standing in the entrance of the bar. He wears a black tie and matching suspenders. (1:43:13) /end i.d.]

We also get to see his outfit change post-hijacking of ambulance. Besides obscuring his time of death--because, seriously, when did this man die??--it further cements the significance of black.

It all lies in effort: if black didn't matter, reuse assets.

He dressed up nice! Would it hurt to also call attention how he looks full of blood? Medic looks alive and well for a dead man.

[I.D.: The black telephones seen throughout the SFM: the telephone in Scout's house when he hears his own voice played back (11:58), Medic holding an unplugged phone with intent to strangle Maynard Conagher (30:18), the round table of skeletons seated in front of black telephones (1:03:18), Pyro answering the phone during their interrogation with Spy (1:06:24), Archibald speaking on a payphone (1:16:30), and Maynard pulling a telephone from under the counter at the bar (1:44:28). /end I.D.]

This is how I realize there is more than one model used for the phones (rotary and touch tone, the latter more commonly appearing)! That's fun! :D

Anyways, the phones highlight a cyclical nature of life and violence and death and life again. No, this isn't poetic, this is just your average game of 2fort.

When we first are introduced to the imagery of phones, we learn about them through ominous recordings of previous dialogue, creating a literal cycle of recording conversations and then replaying them over phone calls, drawing them all to the Conagher Slaughterhouse. (Or just kidnapping them, in Scout's case.)

We actually have an outlier to these black telephones!

[I.D.: Spy and Soldier investigating Medic's office, just as his blue telephone rings (21:03) /end I.D.]

The lighting here is clear enough to definitely tell it's blue. I despise Medic and his interior design choices. This may indicate that the trend is not related to colours as much as it is related to the telephone itself, but I'm not transferring any more image sets again. Headache it be.

Like many of the other telephones seen in this SFM, it's also a touch tone telephone!

But how about after they all enter the Conagher Slaughterhouse? We don't hear many conversations in their entirety, nor do we have the full story to them. It's hard to draw conclusions without context.

Speaking of cycles...

[I.D.: Scout and Medic in Medic's office. The box of VHS tapes is tipped over and scattered across the floor. (4:28) /end I.D.

Scout, as doomed by the narrative!

As much as Medic tried, he was not able to save him, not in the present, not in the future.

The VHS is the only physical proof of a future Medic's failure to protect a past Scout.

M (1931), a VHS that needs to be rewound in order to play. His rotary phone that needs to be spun back and forth in order to enter to dial a number. The replay button of the YouTube video.

It's eternity in there!

[beanghostprincess]

thing that might be obvious but still suddenly hit me like live fish to the face when i was not listening in class today:

luffy as a child hated being alone (still does, but it was more obvious back then) and knew that shanks and his crew would be leaving someday (leaving him alone, with only makino as his friend, but that's only one person, and shanks has a whole crew full of people)

shanks will not take luffy, because he's a child (because he's weak) so luffy feels like he needs to prove he's grown up (needs to prove he's strong) so maybe shanks will change his mind (so maybe shanks won't leave him)

what do the two strongest adults luffy knows (shanks and grandpa, one is going to leave, the other is almost never around) have in common? scars around their left eyes

luffy is not afraid of being hurt (it's worse to be alone than you be hurt) so of course he stabs himself next to his left eye (to have a scar like all the strongest people he knows)(to be strong)(to not be left alone again)

"When I was not listening in class today" me when I quit high school lmfao so real. I used to spend hours in class writing fanfics. Most of my best works were written in the middle of Philosophy at 8 am.

Oh. Yeah. Luffy's abandonment issues. Yeah. It's quite obvious that he's willing to go to extreme methods to avoid being alone. Relatable little shit. Not gonna call it self-harm but I just want to say that stabbing your cheek and being willing to starve to death (WCI) to not end up alone is a bit um.............. No, yeah, self-harm. Yeah. Not in a conventional way but y'know. It is what it is. We don't talk enough about how serious it is because "haha silly funny boy is so dramatic he stabs his face when he's a kid" but like- He- He stabs his fucking face when he's a kid because being alone and bored is way worse than getting hurt. He feels so lonely. At least he had a friend with Uta but then she suddenly disappeared from his life?? Without any warning?? And he ended up all alone again. I understand why he would want Shanks to take him with him no matter what. Even if he has to hurt himself to prove he's strong. He's been doing that for years. And, okay, WCI isn't exactly just for Sanji not to leave him but more for Sanji to realize Luffy needs him but, uh, same thing. Like it can be both to help Sanji and to be a lil bit tiny selfish in the sense of "if he leaves me I am killing myself" which is quite exactly what happens. Gay ass captain. Can't stand him. This is not healthy nor normal behavior irl btw but if you make it all poetic like that I am willing to let it slide. Love it, even. I love it.

But yeah, Luffy has a bit of a problem there. Somebody take him to therapy.

[queenlua]

okay let's make tibarn/naesala happen

let's enumerate every possible way to make them work. for funsies. because i am normal and have normal 3am hobbies:

option 1: reyson and leanne both die tragically somehow; tibarn and naesala have weird sex about it

pros: ngl this is my Default Option for like 80% of my ships for a reason. it's just fundamentally neat when ppl are sad about their dead former lover and think about them constantly even whilst they are flinging themselves into the arms of a new one. if you can get TWO people doing that simultaneously? with each other?? hell yes

cons: honestly...,,, both of these boys seem enormously terrible at providing anything remotely resembling comfort. like, i feel like they try to have weird angsting-over-reyson-and-leanne sex, but then they just have normal-ish, boring, wham-bam-thank-you-m'am, vaguely-unsatisfying sex, so then you're not even getting Demented Catharsis out of it, and then WHAT IS THE POINT. like have you ever known a dude who takes up jogging to try and get over his ex? and then he quits after a couple weeks when he remembers Wait Cardio Is Boring As Fuck? it's like that. i think they try it for a bit and it's blah and all purely physical and then they're done. i'm just not quite seeing it here!

option 2: naesala's the weird skrunky sometimes-third-wheel sometimes-third-partner to reyson/tibarn

pros: i think this meshes best with all their personalities as presented in canon. tibarn & reyson keep letting naesala off easy because, y'know, he's more useful to keep around and guilt-trippable, but also because he's pretty fun to drag into bed sometimes, right

cons: this is avoiding the tricky bit, right? i specifically said naesala/tibarn because i want to figure out how to emulsify these oil-n-water bitches together. if you let reyson be the glue between them, you're taking the easymode way out!

option 3: do you think love can bloom even on a battlefield

(aka, naesala and tibarn both murder the hell out of some senator who dicked both of them over, and they look into each other's eyes and realize that despite all their differences they do both find Murderous Justice very hot, deep down. and maybe also each other? like it's hot that this guy also Gets It right)

pros: ok, come to think of it, you could make this one really funny. like, suppose Reyson's been kidnapped or something, right, and Tibarn's like I Will Do Anything (Even Ally With Naesala) To Get Him Back

and so Tibarn fights Through Hell And High Water to rescue his twinky boyfriend

and they SUCCEED, and Reyson's super-unconscious but safe, and in that moment he looks into Naesala's eyes and... they get supremely frisky, and it feels incredible and right in the moment but boy that's gonna be awkward the second Reyson actually wakes up lmao

cons: dissolves the second reyson wakes up, alas. like the Weirdness hangs around after, that's still fun, but.

option 4: naesala has a little bit too much fun being the powerful one for a change

i'm pretty sure naesala would Literally Die rather than ask tibarn for help, ever. but tibarn? tibarn might in fact get desperate enough to call on naesala for help. you could probably spin some toxic yaoi out from there, right. tibarn very much trying to hold onto a sense of self and telling himself he's just doing this for instrumental reasons, but also having his sense of self lowkey fucked up by having to play second fiddle to naesala. naesala very much enjoying stringing this guy along. that kind of deal

pros: wasn't thorki big for a while or something. i feel like we get thorki vibes out of this. can i steal some MCU ppl away to spur on a Second Great Awakening Of Tellius...

cons: this would require me to have a good Theory Of Mind for Tibarn in particular, which i do not, alas!

anyway god i should get some sleep. further options welcome