#all them bert tags

[relic-seeker]

i immediately finish college & all i do is draw terrible gay art of bugs

links to original of each image: picture 1, picture 2, picture 3, picture 4 (they may not be THE originals, just what i found & based mine on)

[fullc0llapse]

[superhell]

house will literally make non stop jokes about his team being his kids and then be surprised when he cares about them like you fucking dumbass. you talked yourself into being mama duck

[microwavepopcorn]

[amphibifish]

is that offbrand rod avenue q /POS

NO WAY !!,!!

[squadmuse]

ONE DAY IN OCTOBER - Part III

A MATT CASEY X HALSTEAD!OFC FIC (Charlotte Halstead Casey)

A/N: III is here, and I hope you enjoy it. It’s building up and getting good! Please R&R. Tagging @writercole because you’re amazing 💕

The view from the twenty-fifth floor was astounding; it seemed to stretch as far as Charlotte could see from where she stood in the stairwell.

Chicago was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in the United States, if not the world, with magnificent buildings reaching high into the heavens and the serene tranquillity of Lake Michigan that ran alongside.

Charlotte knew she was lucky to call it home.

It was part of her—a part of her heart and her soul.

When Charlotte had finally pulled herself away from the breathtaking view, she made her way to Ronnie’s apartment.

It had been a while since she had visited him; usually, she’d come up looking for her dad when she came to visit with Matt since her dad had moved in.

The hallway on this floor was the same as the floor her dad lived on, and the soft carpet sunk slightly with each step she took towards Ronnie’s apartment at the far end to her right side.

Raising her hand to knock, Charlotte did so with a sharp tap twice. She did not want to alarm or annoy her father’s friend. When the door opened, Ronnie’s aged face appeared, and both he and Charlotte grinned pleasantly at each other.

“Charlotte, what do I owe for this surprise?” asked Ronnie as he rolled back into his wheelchair to let her into his home.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders.

“I was just visiting my dad for lunch when I decided that we would come see you for lunch,” she replied, closing the door for her father’s friend before following him to his kitchen.

“Pat is watching the White Sox game?” asked Ronnie as he carefully pulled out a chair for Charlotte to sit in. His apartment and the furniture had been adapted for him, which Charlotte found quite lovely to allow the veteran to keep his independence.

“What do you think?” laughed Charlotte as she sat down opposite Ronnie and pulled out the lunch she had brought for them and her dad to eat.

Ronnie chuckled, shaking his head. “I thought I was bad about the Bears, but I’ve never seen anyone so obsessed with the White Sox like your old man.”

“He’d take that as a compliment,” said Charlotte with a giggle. It was true, even though she had never met anyone so passionate about the team, and she saw patients every day from all over Chicago.

As her dad had not arrived, Charlotte and Ronnie had decided to eat their lunch. Both of them were hungry.

Charlotte had only eaten some toast this morning, as it had gotten busy when she had decided to have breakfast. She was pregnant and needed to eat for her baby to get all the needed nutrients.

After she and Ronnie had finished eating, she made quick work of washing up the dishes for Ronnie and didn’t bother with the dishwasher. Charlotte enjoyed doing these sorts of chores.

Ronnie had kept her company, however, and the pair fell into an easy conversation. He had served in the United States Army back during the Gulf War and had ended up being paralysed after a bullet hit him in the spine. He had a few tales to tell despite that horrific injury that changed his whole life.

Ronnie was quite happy to have some company; usually, it was only her father, Bert, or some other guy from their poker group that he saw. Charlotte didn’t know how he had carried on, as after becoming paralysed, Ronnie had lost his wife to cancer and then his only son in Afghanistan.

She had struggled a lot for a long time after her mother had died, and whenever Matt got hurt on the job or even when Jay got shot, it brought up the trauma.

There was a sort of heartbreaking awe that she had for Ronnie and how he seemed to be so optimistic, so full of life, and so happy.

A lot of people could learn quite a lot from Ronnie Strauss, which she knew.

After watching a movie on Netflix, Charlotte could feel herself slowly nodding off on Ronnie’s couch.

It was very comfortable.

Her dad still hadn’t appeared, and she had guessed that he had fallen asleep in his armchair yet again. Pat Halstead loved falling asleep in armchairs.

She had nearly fallen asleep when she felt something soft fall on her body, and Charlotte opened one of her green eyes to see Ronnie carefully placing a knitted blanket on top of her.

“Ronnie, you didn’t have to do that,” she yawned, turning slightly so she faced him better. As her pregnancy progressed, her sleeping positions decreased.

Ronnie shook his head. “It's okay; I could see you needed a nap,” he said, a kind smile on his face. “My Lulu needed tons of naps when she was pregnant with our son, Dennis.”

“You’re right about that,” said Charlotte as she yawned again. “I think my night shift didn’t help me, however.”

Ronnie’s eyes widened with shock at her comment."Gosh, girl, go nap away!” he exclaimed with a chortle. “No wonder you’re shattered!”

Charlotte giggled and took the veteran’s advice, snuggled into the soft blanket, and closed her green eyes.

Something odd woke Charlotte from her slumber, and as her eyesight adjusted to her surroundings, it took a while for her to realise why.

At first, it didn’t seem like anything was wrong. Ronnie had fallen asleep too, the TV softly playing as he must’ve turned down the volume to wake her.

Nothing was out of place until she smelt that same scent that had wafted up to her in the stairwell earlier, and now it was unmistakable.

It was smoke, and Charlotte was sure that somewhere in the building was on fire.

Fuck.

[its-in-the-woods]

Coyote Head - Part 4 - Dinner with Family

master list

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Pairing: Cooper Howard x Lucy Maclean 

Alternative Universe where I make things up cause I can

Synopsis: Sit down at a family dinner, and sleeping in are good for Lucy for now

MINOR GET OUT. Rating/Warning:  Animal/people death, blOod/G0re, nightmares, Alternative Universe, Slow Burn, Death, Aging, Family Feuding, Eventually: Older Man/Younger Woman, Horror themes, long form fic,

Note: that I will not be spoiling any of the reading. So you have been warned. I will keep my tags relevant without spoiling what is happening in the story.

The gravel crunches under the tires as they all pull in, kids in the back jumping over seats as Lucy and Cooper open the doors. Old trucks parked in the drive, besides Margie’s new SUV. One thing about Harris: he always made sure Margie had exactly what she wanted.

The sprawling log home stands proudly among a mix of pine, poplar, and spruce trees. The home had been built from the trees on the property, a red tin roof on top. Big wrap-around porch that had equally as large windows on each side. The place was a carefully crafted piece of art that the Maclean’s had built many years ago. Long before the land was farmed, logged, and changed to what it currently was. The Maclean was an old family, and many of the log homes in the area were built by the family. It made Lucy miss the log home she had grown up in. 

Inside the home, a smell of fresh bread, and chatter of laughter echoed in the living room. Margie standing in the kitchen popping bread onto metal racks. Two large dishes of lasagna sat out, a big caesar salad in the middle. Lucy’s second cousins Tracy and Bert were over with their spouses Reg and Stephanie respectively. Their six kids hang out in the big living room with Cooper’s two. Some elaborate game of cards was going on, what the rules were was anyone’s guess. Seeing the kids laugh and giggle at their made-up game made Lucy’s heart swell. She had never thought of herself as a Mom, life and whatnot;  but something about being around the littles always made her wonder about the ‘what if’s’. 

“How can I help, Aunty,” Lucy asked as Cooper went and started putting plates out on the dining table. She watched the man move, he was both graceful and room-filling. 

“Well don’t touch any of the cooking, 'cause we want it to be edible,” Margie jokes, Lucy smiles. She’d never been much of a cook. Lucy, Norm, and their Grandparents had lived off many frozen meals during planting and harvesting. Shirley could cook fine, but her cooking took time and a whole lot of cutting. In the winter it was stew, roast squash, baked potatoes, and local corn. Lucy had never had much time to learn to cook. 

“Well now that I am round more, maybe you can teach me a few things,” Lucy smiles at her Aunt helping her to place each dish on the big dining table. 

“Better make sure I got the ‘tinguisher on hand, maybe a few extra blankets,” Margie jokes some more, winking at Lucy. She meant no harm, Lucy had burnt just as much food as she had undercooked it in her time.  

Lucy chuckled, grabbing glasses and a few pitchers of juice. The place was set up, some budded willows graced the center of the table. Getting the kids to sit was another matter, but the promise of haskap pie and ice cream had them in their places. Harris said grace as was a custom, Lucy noticed that Cooper, who had sat beside her, didn’t repeat the words. She didn’t have much thoughts on religion, Grandpa Tim had always read the bible before bed, usually sitting at his dining table flipping through the rice paper thin pages, while he jotted down notes in a big notebook. You’d never see him at church. Nor would you see him preaching to anyone. He never even really talked about it with her either. She couldn’t remember Grandma Shirley mentioning it either. On bad days she would sit with a rosary, light a candle or two. Lucy had never really thought it odd till now. Their whole family had always gone to church, but not them. 

The wooden house was full of loud voices, laughter, and the click of knives and forks. It was the most lively Lucy had felt in a long time. Even despite the little to no sleep she had gotten.  Cooper was telling stories of wrangling cattle and bison in the south. Harris was talking about fighting fires in the north, running machinery right into blazes to save houses. The large meal of lasagne and fresh bread was mostly picked over. Some vanilla ice cream and fresh pie are being served now. Tracy was bugging Margie about getting the recipe from her. Her Mom teased about how it was nothing but store-bought. Everyone at the table knew that was a whole load of scabbie potatoes.

“So what did you all see along the forest line,” Harris asked, wringing his hand, as coffee and tea were placed on the table. 

Cooper and Lucy had scooted down the table to sit closer to Harris. Lucy’s cousin doing the same so that all the adults were more huddled for any story. 

“Ahh well we saw a few things out there,” Cooper says, voice strained, looking back at Lucy for input. 

Lucy put her spoon down a little louder than she intended, the adults turning to look at her. She felt like a bird caught in a cage, trying to find its way out. 

“Sorry,” Lucy said, “We only got about half of the place looked at before we came.” Lucy wondered how she could explain what they had seen. “There was a stump stripped of all its barks and -” She looked to make sure the kids couldn’t hear,” There was a fresh coyote head sitting on top of it.”

Silence fell at the last words, the others exchanging looks. Lucy’s stomach-turning, the image of the poor critter’s head on a slab was not a favorite. Her mind wandering back to the shadows she had seen less than twenty-four hours ago. Was it all connected somehow? 

“We didn’t get close to it. So we kept walking to where the ATV trails are and, umm, we saw some tracks or maybe an animal digging” Lucy looks over at Cooper, hoping he could maybe explain what they had seen a bit better than she did. 

Cooper digs his phone out, “Yeah these,” He flips open his camera and pulls up the photos. The phone is passed around to each person. Uncle Harris pulls out his reading glasses zooming in on the picture. 

“How big are these tracks?” Harris asks, looking up over his glasses. Concern filling everyone in the room as they looked back at the two. 

Cooper looks at the man, furrowing his brow as he thinks, “Maybe a foot and a bit? Maybe less”

Lucy nods, “Center is probably twice the size of my fist, and at least as long as my forearm and hand. Maybe a little wider where the three points are.”

Stephanie looks it over, her eyebrows raised. “Can you send me this Cooper? I know a few folks in fish and wildlife that can take a look. Maybe come out and look at the head?”

“Yeah, I can send the photos,” Cooper replies, turning his phone off and putting it in front of him. 

“If y’all want to come over that’s fine, the place is a little bit of a mess.” Lucy sighed, fiddling with her fingers, “But, if you think you might have an idea what it is, I am all ears.”

Stephanie looked over at Bert, who had gone to pick up a very sleepy-looking toddler, “What do you think honey?”

Bert smiles, clearly not having heard much of what has been said, “I am sure we can figure something out, maybe we should talk to–” He ponders for a moment, looking for the name, “ Betty, right?”

“Yes, Betty would know. She’s been around her longer than the dirt,” Stephanie grins back at Bert grabbing the little one out of his arms. “Unfortunately I think we got to get our kiddlets back home. Lisa here is exhausted, and Thomas has school in the morning.” 

Margie is up out of her chair, “Let me grab a pie for tomorrow,”

Tracy has come back from putting on some cartoons for the kids, some ridiculous jingle now covering up their conversation. Reg rubs her back as she sits down, 

Bert comes out of the living room with another sleeping child, an older boy who has drool and snot running down his face. “Lucy, make sure to get our numbers from Harris. So we can keep in touch.” 

Lucy nods, “Yeah that’s a great idea, I will keep you updated if anything pops up.” 

Bert and Stephanie wave goodbye as they make their way to the front door with a large bag of various foods from Margie. Margie coming back into the kitchen, she goes into a cabinet and pulls out a bottle of whisky along with several glasses.

Tracey clears her throat, “Do you think it could have been a person? Maybe? Trying to scare you off the land or some such thing?”

Sighing Lucy happily accepts the glass of whisky from her Aunt, “Besides those tracks, and the coyote head. Everything is pointing that way.” 

“Maybe there is a reason Uncle Tim didn’t want the forest around his land messed with,” Tracy added her hand covering Reg’s hand, as she looks at Lucy, an unreadable expression on her face. 

Harris coughing at the head of the table, everyone turning to look at him.“I doubt Lucy would mess with anything Tim had.”

“Nope, haven’t really ventured into the forest much at all. But that might have to change. Make sure no one has been coming onto the land without my knowledge.” Lucy spoke, it was always in the back of her mind that someone could be hiding in the woods without her knowledge. The place was mostly fenced, but would only stop honest people. 

“Do you think someone is camping on the land?” Tracy asks, looking at her relatives. Taking her glass from Margie and sipping on it. 

“Don’t know about that, didn’t see any signs of anyone walking around.” Lucy sighs, looking over at Coop when his thigh touches her. She pushes back against it, letting a small amount of comfort in.”Know that Henry was not happy about me getting the land. None of them were happy actually.”

“Henry has the money. Probably hiring someone to scare you off,” Margie added, her brows knitted together, as she brought some tea to her lips. 

“Well he can do what he likes, not much is gonna stop me stayin’ there,” Lucy says, her fingers rubbing over the rim of the glass. If someone had asked her that question several hours ago, she may have had a different answer; but right now, in the safety of her Uncle’s home, she felt confident she could say. 

“Besides you got us, we'll make sure that no one will mess with ya,” Cooper adds, rubbing one hand over her shoulder. Lucy really wishes he would keep his hand on her.  

Lucy nods her head, it was reassuring to know that she had all of them on her side. The table going silent for a moment as they sip their drinks. The sun was nearly down, bathing the room in a soft golden light. Lucy trying her best not to let her mind run over the whole day again. She could feel her own exhaustion tugging at her mind. 

Reg let out a yawn, Tracy rubbing his arm. “We should probably get our own rugrats, go to school, and all that.”

Tracy nodded, “Have Sunday dinner this weekend? You both should come over too,” She nods to Cooper and Lucy. 

Lucy, put her cup down, nodding her head, “Yeah, I would like that, be nice to have regular get-togethers.” 

“That would be wonderful,” Reg says, scooping one of his kids up. “Maybe once things have calmed down we can come by. The kids always loved Uncle Tim’s farm.”

“Uncle Tim’s dead,” Reg's son spoke from behind his leg. The little guy peering up at Lucy. The kid had silver blue eyes, and nearly white-blonde hair, standing just below his Dad’s hips in height. His eyes were wide as he blinked a few times, tears forming. 

Cooper ducks down beside him, “Hey, Kiddo. It’s okay.” The little man let out a muffled sob as Cooper scoops him up, the little kid hanging off the adult. 

“Oh sweet Freddy. Got all the big emotions and nowhere to put him.” Tracey coes, before offering to take him out of Cooper’s arms. “Time for sleep.”

Lucy felt her stomach turn as she watches the family of six walk towards the front door. It was hard to see the little guy upset over the loss. It made her uncomfortable not knowing how to help him.  Little Freddy was still crying against his Mom’s hair, the three older girls filing behind. They all had brown hair, and brown eyes, all looking to be a few years apart. The older two could have almost been twins. Hugs were traded and promises of Sunday dinner were planned before the clan took off into the night. 

Coop comes over, covering his two kiddos with a blanket and turning down the cartoon jingling away. He came back, his hand running over Lucy’s shoulder before sitting down. 

“Probably should be going soon too,” Cooper sighs, having another sip of his drink, “Make sure Mom and Dad are okay.”

“How are your folks doing?” Margie asks, adding a bit more to his glass and Lucy’s. 

“Dad’s rough, Mom-” Cooper shifts in his seat, looking down at his glass, the dark look crossing his face again. “She’s doing the best she can considering. Doctor says maybe a year or two.”

Harris rubs at his eyes a little, Lucy watching him compose himself before speaking, “Whatever you need, you let us know." His voice shook a bit as he spoke, "I know your family is tight, but we all need to look after each other. We are all family here, okay?”

Cooper nods a tight smile on his face, “Thank you, Sir. I really appreciate it. We can use all the help we can get.”

Lucy reaches over and squeezes his hand, “ Like you said we are just a phone call away.”

***

Waking up soaked in sweat was the last thing that Lucy wanted to do. She was bolt upright in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, with the fading nightmare of headless corpses hanging from trees dancing in her vision. Deep ragging breaths echoed in the small space, and the familiar sound of frogs and crickets echoed outside the open window.   

“You are in your Aunt and Uncle's house,” Lucy breathed out, closing her eyes and taking a sharp inhale. “It was just a dream, there is nothing coming to get you.”

Flipping a layer off the bed Lucy felt around for her phone, it was four-thirty in the morning. In a few more hours the sun would be up, and the world would have light again. She grabbed a sip of water, turning off her phone, and trying to get comfortable. As her eyes closed the visions of the bodies danced into her mind again, like some kind of horror dance party. Groaning, she rolled over, willing the images out of her mind. 

“Happy thoughts, Lucy. We cannot lose any more sleep over this,” Lucy murmured, trying to come up with something more soothing. An image of Cooper staring at her, popping into Lucy’s head. Her eyes shot open, her face going pink. "How old are you, Lucy." 

She thought about it for a moment, was it really the worst thing that she could think of? Yes, the man was older than her, had kids, and had lost his wife. Lucy cringed at the last thought, she rubbed her forehead. What was she doing, lying here thinking about a man she barely knew? Who had flown to her aid, and stood beside her despite the dead animal head in her backyard. 

Rubbing her eyes Lucy debates getting up or letting her half-asleep ass dream about someone who wasn’t interested in her. Remembering how he had leaned his knee against her, rubbed her shoulder, and let her hold his hand as he talked about his father. 

“Ugh, stop. No more death. At least for this instant,” Lucy mumbles quietly into the empty room, trying not to let her thoughts spiral out of control. 

Closing her eyes she decides to indulge herself a little, after the mess she had gone through what was a little fantasy. Letting herself think about them walking through a not haunted forest, maybe holding hands, going camping with the kids. She didn't hold back the smile as she let herself drift, after all, it was only a dream.

***

A knock on the door awoke Lucy out of a dead sleep, she blinked at the light shining around the window. Her fuzzy brain trying to put two and two together, remembering where she was. How she’d gotten there and why someone would be waking her up. 

“Lucy, sorry to wake you,” Aunt Margie calls, her voice just loud enough to hear through the wooden door. 

Grabbing her phone she realized it was past ten in the morning. She cussed, upset that she hadn't set an alarm last night. Normally she would have been up at the latest eight, groaning as she sat up, swinging herself onto the edge of the bed. 

“I will be out in a few Aunt Margie!” Lucy calls out, grabbing her clothes. Once again shaking her head at forgetting something fresh. Oh well, she'd have to change at home, and a good shower too. The thought of hot water spurred her on, as she groaned, body stiff from the long sleep. Setting the bed, she grabs her phone and races out the door. Margie stands at the counter, a fresh pot of coffee in hand.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” The woman smiles at her, handing her a cup of hot coffee. Before going over to the stove.  “I got coffee and put on a couple eggs for you.”

“You are too kind to me, Aunt Margie,” Lucy replies, eagerly grabbing the hot cup of coffee. “I am so sorry that I slept in. Usually, my alarm goes off automatically.”

Her Aunt waves a hand, scooping eggs and toast onto a plate for her. “Nonsense, I am so glad you were able to sleep in.” She hands Lucy the plate. Going around the counter with her cup of coffee to sit at the makeshift bar. “I have a feeling you haven’t been sleeping well.”

Lucy sat down using her toast to break the egg yolk and dip it in. “Oh boy, that would be an understatement. I don't really know why, but, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night.”

Margie sat down beside her, eating her own toast with jam. “Nightmares?”

Lucy nods as she works on swallowing her food, “Yes, actually, how’d you know?”

Margie hums for a moment taking a sip of her tea, looking out towards the tree line outside. “Oh you know, new house, moving back from the city. Can take a little getting used to is all.”

Something twinging in Lucy, as she watches her Aunt. She sips on more of her coffee, trying to will the feeling away, why would her Aunt not be honest with her? 

“Yeah, I am sure that’s it,” Lucy says with a fake smile, as she finishes up her food. “I should probably be on my way-” The realization that she didn’t have a vehicle hitting her. “Oh, I didn’t bring my own car.”

“Oh, Cooper said he’d come by and pick you up,” Margie says, somehow the tension is leaving between the two of them. 

Lucy blinks a few times, wondering if she could possibly walk back home. “Oh, he didn’t need to do that.”

“I think he was looking forward to it if I am honest Lucy.” Margie winks at her, “The man has been alone, with his kids and dying Father for six years. I am sure he enjoys getting to spend some time with another adult that isn't family.”

Trying to choke down some more coffee to hide her face, it is most certainly bright pink. “Yeah, I don’t mind the company.”

Margie gives Lucy a knowing look, raised eyebrows and all. She goes to speak when a knock on the door stops her. She squeezes Lucy’s shoulder as she goes to get it. Lucy sitting a little straighter in her chair as she hears Cooper’s voice. 

“Hey,” Cooper says, he almost looks nervous, fiddling with his hat in his hand. “Was wondering, if you’d be okay if we went to check on the cows this morning before I bring yah home of course.” 

Lucy smiles back, she can’t help herself. Getting him all flustered was going to be a new favorite pastime of hers. “Yah, pretty sure I owe you on that one.”

Part 5

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

** If you enjoyed the fic let me know! Likes, reblogs and comments are always appreciated.

** Want to be on the tag list let me know

** Most of my fics will be updated once a weekish possibly more often depending on how much writing I can get done! Want to keep the quality and make sure I am putting out my best work.

[zackprincebooks]

🧶WIP Wednesday 🚂

Iiiiiit's WIP Wednesday! Nobody has tagged me yet, so let's kick everything off with Chapter 2 of The Mistress of Rosehorn Hall!

I FORGOT TODAY WAS THURSDAY. UHHHH ENJOY A SNIPPET FROM CHAPTER 2 OF THE MISTRESS OF ROSEHORN HALL

The first-class carriage is gorgeously appointed. The brass implements are polished to a high sheen, the carpeting is plush, and the upholstered seats are so soft and comfortable, Sarah feels she could fall asleep the moment she sinks right into them. Bert and Josephine ease her luggage up onto the rack and strap it in with leather straps. Her outdated traveling trunk looks out of place surrounded by such finery. Indeed, as people pass by on the way to their own seats, they glimpse Sarah in her simple traveling attire and their lips turn down. Sarah averts her gaze and instead busies herself with her knitting. Josephine returns with pastries for them wrapped in paper and tied with twine. “There we are; I didn't want to purchase something too filling as Cook will have a feast prepared for us tonight in honor of your arrival.” She hands Sarah a butter biscuit with chives and a pastry made with fresh summer cherries before sitting down next to Bert. “Your knitting is lovely! Do you do other fiber work?” “Ah, just a little embroidery. I like keeping my hands busy.” Sarah holds up her knitting needles so Josephine can see the lacy shawl she’s making. Josephine oohs and aahs over it, and Bert nods politely. “Maybe I can finish it before we get to Briar Garden.” She can’t stop the laugh from escaping and immediately claps a hand over her mouth to silence it.

Chapter 1 is coming soon to my Ream page! All chapters of The Mistress of Rosehorn Hall will be available to the public. Don't forget that Ream Raids is on the 18th, and Godhunt will be available to read for free until the 25th.

Tag list below! If you want to be added to or removed from the list, please interact with this post:

@katenewmanwrites @the-golden-comet @wyked-ao3 @burntblanc

@lorifragolina @nczaversnick @glasshouses-and-stones @thatuselesshuman

@mushroommanchanterelle @phoenixofthegreenwood @ilovevewritingfanfic @jev-urisk

@lizurich @villian-lover7899 @rivenantiqnerd @pastelpinkhobbies

@ashfordlabs @satohqbanana @owlsandwich @lychhiker-writes

[littlespacereader]

AN ~ I’m so sorry it’s long past Halloween but here is the long awaited Hannibal Halloween special!! I got a little carried away and wrote a super long fic but I really hope you guys enjoy it!! Also @shadowlord23, I hope you like the inclusion with the reader being on the spectrum. I hope this did you justice:) Thank you to everyone who has been waiting patiently for this fic! I really hope it’s everything you wanted! With that please enjoy!

The Haunted Maze🎃👻

Caregiver!Will Graham, Caregiver!Hannibal Lector & Fem Little!Reader

(SFW)

(No one is evil. Based loosely on the Hannibal tv series minus the killings/cannibalism)

Tags - References to Blues Clues, pacifiers, diapers, accidents, Halloween scares, Mathew Brown is your best friend, reader is autistic, cuddles and fluff, protective Hannibal and Will.

Nicknames - Papa for Hannibal, Dadee for Will, Darling, Blue, Little Blue, Sweetheart.

Fall had finally arrived to Virginia and it was beautiful! The leafs were changing colors, it’s finally cool enough to wear sweaters and best of all it was time for Halloween!

I was looking forward to Halloween all month long! It’s my first Halloween with my Caregivers Hannibal and Will and I couldn’t be more excited!!

Though, I thought Halloween night would be spent dressing up, eating a ton of candy at home, and passing out on the couch during a fun Halloween movie marathon.

But that was all ruined when an invitation came in the mail. Dr. Fredrick Chilton was throwing a Halloween party and the three of us were invited. Like myself, Will isn’t too found of Chilton at all. The man is self absorbed and at times rude.

Hannibal also isn’t the biggest fan of his either, but he also isn’t rude. So he accepted the invitation on behalf of the three of us. So now we would be spending Halloween at Chilton’s Halloween party…

But first things first, what would the three of us be for Halloween? What would be our costumes? Naturally since this is my first Halloween with Will and Hannibal, we all had to dress up together.

Hannibal seemed enthusiastic when I brought up the idea. Will…a little less at first but I promised I would find the best fit for all of us. So the three of us started to brainstorm.

First was for me to go as Barbie and Will and Hannibal go as Ken. But as much as the two were handsome enough to go as Ken, it didn’t feel right to them. So onto the next idea.

Next was for Will and Hannibal to go as Bert and Ernie and for myself to go as Abby Cadabby. I’m a huge Sesame Street fan when I’m regressed! But the idea of being Bert and Ernie infront of their colleagues and friends wasn’t too appealing to Hannibal and Will.

Next was having Will as a knight, Hannibal as a King and myself as a princess. Simply and workable! They seemed to like the idea! So off to the costume store we went! But once we got there and started trying things on, we could see it was going to be an issue for both Will and myself who are both on the spectrum.

Most costumes are made with cheap and itchy material that just made mine and Will’s skin crawl! So that costume idea was also scratched.

After an exhausting trip to the costume store the three of us settled into the night and watched one of my favorite tv shows and hyper fixations, Blues Clues. That’s when our Halloween costume hit me.

“That’s it! That’s it!!” I sat up, shaking Will and Hannibal’s arms!

Hannibal smiled at Y/N’s sudden enjoyment. “What is it? Did you figure out the clue?”

“No…not yet. I know what we’re going to be for Halloween!!!” I started to say.

I pointed to Hannibal, “You’re gonna be Steve.”

Then I pointed to Will “You’re gonna be Josh.”

“And I’m gonna be Blue! We’ll be a Blues Clues costume together!!”

Will and Hannibal couldn’t argue with that enthusiasm. And the idea worked well! All Will and Hannibal had to get was the green striped shirt for Steve and a blue striped for Josh. Which would be comfortable and warm considering the weather outside.

As for myself, they found a comfortable onesie of Blue for me to wear, complete with hair clips for Blue’s ears. (They also had a headband option for the ears but that would be too tight on my head and would cause headaches)

So with our costume picked out and our plans set, all we had to do was wait till Halloween.

~~~

The wait was over!! It’s finally Halloween day and the Lector-Graham house was bouncing with excitement. Our costumes had come in weeks before and now was the moment of truth!

I couldn’t contain my excitement all day. It’s hard to! Not when your two caregivers are literally the host of Blues Clues and you’re Blue.

Hannibal looked adorable in the green striped polo shirt. He paired the outfit with the tan pants Steve would normally wear. Will also looked amazing in the blue striped shirt Josh wears in the new season of Blues Clues. He especially loved the choice since it was comfortable and not too crazy. Will wasn’t one for being the center of attention, something Hannibal and I knew well. And I couldn’t blame him…I’m the same way.

I ran around the house all day in my Blue Clues onesie! For starters the costume was a great choice because I felt like I was basically wearing pajamas all day! Secondly the onesie was super soft against my skin. It felt like being wrapped in a blanket!

Will and Hannibal couldn’t get over my costume either. They just kept saying how adorable I looked! All day Hannibal and Will would light up every time I came bouncing into the room in my costume. Always asking me if I left a clue being for them or start singing the theme song. It always made me giggle.

It was an hour before the party. Hannibal and Will were in the kitchen gathering everything they were bringing to the party when I popped in.

“Dadee! Papa!” I said as I burst into the kitchen.

Will smiled seeing the still dressed in my costume. “Hello Blue. Did you hide another clue for us?”

I giggled to his question, “Not yet! I have a question though, can I bring Magenta?” I held the pink dog stuffie in the air. Magenta is Blue’s best friend in the show so naturally she would have to join me!

“Of course you can darling. But you must keep an eye on her. We don’t want her to get lost at the party.” Hannibal said getting a big smile from me.

I ran over and took a seat on one of the barstools, watching as the two Caregivers packed a bag to go to the party. Well actually two bags…one being the party’s gift (a bottle of wine no doubt) and one I recognized right away, my diaper bag.

My bag had everything I could need while regressed, diapers and supplies, my pacifier, sippy cups and more I’m sure.

“Papa I don’t need my bag.” I pointed out to him. I was wearing a diaper already. I was already protected.

He stopped mid packing it and gave me a look, a look I knew all too well. “Y/N, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. We talked about this.”

It’s true, we did have this talk. It’s just that I’m new to this dynamic of being out in public while regressed. It was something I was getting used to still. Something I was still shy about.

We had a nice community of friends who had regressed Littles of their own. Jack and Bella have Beverly who’s regresses around the age of a teenager (13-16). Fredrick has Mathew who’s my best friend and closes to my headspace, being a kid (5-7) and Alana and Margot have Freddie who regresses to a teenager as well.

But I’m the youngest in the group being a Toddler headspace. (2-4) I have accidents from time to time, I drink from a sippy cup and I have a pacifier, among other little things.

I just feel shy about my younger headspace around other people. I’m okay with Will and Hannibal helping me through accidents and such while Little. Of course they’re the best, making me feel safe and comfortable all the time whether I’m in a diaper, or pull-up or not. They always take care of me and my needs. But it’s different being in public with others.

“I know, it’s just…it’s a big party and everyone will see the bag and...they’ll know.” Not that they all didn’t know my headspace, but still…

Will put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me from my thoughts. “You know no one would judge you for needing a little protection. But if you’re very worried, we can keep it in the car so incase we need it it’s there. But that way it’s not in sight of anyone. Sound good?”

I immediately nodded my head and sighed with content. That did sound better. That way if I did have an accident or needed something I would be okay, but no one at the party would see. It sounded perfect.

Hannibal continued packing. Inside was everything they could need just incase. A change of clothes (blues clues themed of course), a pacifier, extra diapers and pull-ups and supplies for a change.

In the other bag was a bottle of wine for Fredrick as a thank you for the invitation as well as some safe foods for Y/N in case there was no foods at the party she felt like eating. Hannibal was nothing if not prepared!

Finally it was time to go! With the car loaded up, bags packed and myself all buckled up thanks to Will because seatbelts were hard when regressed, we were on their way to Chilton’s house!

When we pulled up there were already a couple of cars in the driveway. It suddenly hit me the idea of seeing everyone. But before I knew it Hannibal was helping me get unbuckled. Once out of the car I paused looking at the house. A sense of dread came over me. Maybe I didn’t want to be social today. Maybe I wanted to go back home.

Hannibal knew immediately how I was feeling by just a look, being the amazing Caregiver and therapist he was. He took my hand tightly in his. “It’s just Chilton’s and Jack’s car. Looks like we’re the second ones here.” He explained.

I nodded my head and with a deep breath we pushed forward. Knowing who was here made me feel a bit better. I hated surprises.

Soon we made our way up the steps and to the front door. I was standing between Hannibal and Will, holding onto both their hands now. The front yard was filled with spooky decorations and lights, but nothing too scary yet.

Hannibal rang the front door and we waited. The door slowly opened by itself causing me to hide behind Will, hiding my face against his back. Will and Hannibal found it adorable. They could already sense who the culprit was.

Suddenly Mathew jumped out dressed in a Superman costume. “BOO!” He yelled causing me to jump slightly.

Hannibal and Will smiled at Mathew, “Happy Halloween Superman. Thank you for inviting us over.” Hannibal smirked.

“What are you guys supposed to be? Guys in striped shirts? And where’s Y/N?” Mathew asked, tilting his head.

I peered out from behind Will, “They’re Steve and Josh from Blues Clues. And I’m Blue.”

Mathew face lit up at the realization, “Y/N! You look great!! I love the costume! Come on! Come in! I gotta show you everything!”

Mathew grabbed my hand and started to pull me inside. I shot a look to Hannibal and Will, as if to ask if it was okay. With a smile and nod from both of them I was lead into the house by Mathew, Hannibal and Will not far behind.

Chilton’s house was all decorated for the holiday. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling, there was green and orange lights hanging up along with scary decorations like face blood or scary faces. Both of which had me sticking close to Mathew.

We walked into the kitchen where everyone seemed to be hanging out. All the attention was on me the moment I entered the kitchen.

“Y/N, welcome to the haunted mansion.” Fredrick said with a haunting voice. He was dressed up in his usual suit, nothing special. What was he supposed to be? Himself?

“Hi Uncle Fredrick.” I said softly, stick close to Mathew.

“He’s not Uncle Fredrick, he’s the evil Lex Luthor! My evil villain!” Matthew announced. Fredrick just rolled his eyes but smirked nonetheless.

“Hi Y/N, Happy Halloween!” Jack said as he held his arms up high pretending to be Frankenstein.

“What are you supposed to be? A blue dog?” Fredrick asked me snickering with a roll of his eyes.

Before I had a chance to defend myself and my costume, Bella, Jack’s wife dressed as Frankenstein’s Wife spoke up, “A blues dog?” She rolled her eyes back at him.

“I guess someone doesn’t recognize Blue from Blues Clues.” She walked over to me, “You even have Magenta with you?” I nodded my head and held her out for Bella to see.

She gasped and clapped her hands, “Your costume is amazing! You look adorable sweetheart!” She said wrapping me in a hug.

Bella is someone I liked to be around. She’s such a gentle and kind Caregiver. Plus she always sticks up and favored me out of all the Little friends Beverly had.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Hannibal said as he and Will entered the room and started to greet everyone.

Mathew took the distraction to his advantage, slipping away for a moment and then running back over to me. “Come on! I’ve got us something!” With that I was once again lead away.

Jack started to laugh seeing Will and Hannibal’s outfits. “It seems everyone got it easy this year. The both of you wearing sweaters, Dr. Chilton wearing a suit but Bella and I have to really dress up.”

The three shrugged. “In our defense we were originally going to be Bert and Erinie.” Will joked causing the group of Caregivers to laugh.

Mathew led me to his playroom where Beverly was hanging out. “There you are! I thought you got caught!”

“I just got distracted. Plus Y/N showed up! So now it’s a real party!”

Beverly smiled seeing me, “Y/N! Happy Halloween!” She gave me a big hug.

Beverly’s costume was so cool! She was dressed as Frankie from Monster High.

“You look so cool Beverly! I love your costume!” I really did! She looked just like the character, down to the make up and the outfit.

“Thank you! I like your costume too! Plus you have Magenta with you! That’s cool!”

“Ummm guys? Can we get back to the topic at hand? That being candy!!” Mathew emptied his pockets only the ground spilling all the different candies from it. “My dad says we can only have a few pieces of candy tonight so while everyone was distracted with Y/N, I grabbed a couple of handfuls for us!”

“Great job Matthew!!” Beverly exclaimed.

The three of us all sat around the pile of candy Mathew brought us and started to dig in. I was a bit hesitant at first, after all Hannibal and Will were very careful about what I ate. I had rules about candy, needing to ask one of them if I wanted to eat a piece first.

But if I did Mathew would get in trouble and then he wouldn’t like me…probably…maybe. So I decided that one piece of candy wouldn’t hurt to eat without Will and Hannibal’s permission.

Then after that piece I had another because I wanted to try this new one Mathew had gotten.

And I figured another one couldn’t hurt after that second piece of candy.

Then after that I said four is a nice even number. So I’ll have another piece of candy.

As we were enjoying the stolen candy we heard the front door to Uncle Fredrick’s house open up and people talking. Beverly started to panic. “Matt! Go hide the candy!”

Mathew grabbed all the candy and wrappers and stuffed them into his play kitchen’s refrigerator, then he shut the door with a slam.

He made it in record time because not a second later did Alana, Margot and Freddie walk into the playroom to greet us.

“Hi girls! Hi Mathew! Happy Halloween!” Alana said as she entered.

“Hi Aunt Alana and Margot.” We all greeted.

Alana and Margot were dressed like 1920’s gangsters. Freddie was dressed in a flapper’s dress complete with a beaded hat.

Margret kissed Freddie head, “Now you be good and play with your friends. We’ll be in the living room with the rest of the adults.”

And with that the adults left us once more, the only issue is they left us with Freddie. Out of all the Little in this immediate friend group, I like Freddie the least. She’s bossy, says mean things and away picks on me for being the youngest.

And it isn’t even her headspace because Beverly is the same one as her, but she always treats me nicely while Freddie does not. So I wasn’t too thrilled to see her.

“Beverly! Wow! You look awesome as Frankie! Mathew, looking cool as ever as Superman!” She stopped when she turned to me. “What are you supposed to be?”

“I’m Blue from Blues Clues.” I said plainly, looking down at Magenta in my hands.

“What even is Blues clues? Some sort of baby show?” She rolled her eyes.

“No! It’s a show for everyone! And it’s really good!” I said defending my favorite show.

“How do you not know Blues Clues? Do you live under a rock?” Mathew right away said sticking up for me.

“Yeah Freddie, even I know what Blues Clues is.” Beverly spoke up, siding with me as well.

“Nevermind! Okay? Today isn’t about stupid costumes anyway! It’s about who’s the bravest. I heard Uncle Fredrick has something planned that will test who’s the brave one of all.”

We all looked at her confused, then turned our attention to Mathew. Surely if anyone knew what she was talking about it would be him.

It took him a second to click into what she was saying, “Oh.” He said looking a bit uneasy. “You mean the haunted maze he has in the basement?”

I froze hearing that. Haunted maze? In the basement?! I’m NEVER allowed to go into the basement in my house for safety reasons. But I would never go down to begin with…it’s scary down there…

“I think I’ll be able to complete all by myself. You guys think you’ll be able to complete it at all?” She asked with a very pointed look towards me.

“Who cares about a haunted maze when we have candy!” Mathew grabbed a few from the fake refrigerator and started handing them out to us.

I started to eat my chocolate bar when I heard Freddie dramatically gasp. “Y/N! I thought your dads said no candies since they’re both health freaks.”

I looked at her like she was crazy, because she probably is, “They’re not health freaks Freddie.”

“So they’re okay with you eating candy?”

“Are your moms okay with you eating candy?” I replied back.

Silence hit the room until Beverly cut the tension. “Listen, none of our Caregivers want us to eat a lot of candy so no one is going to tell on anyone else. Got it? Good. Now let’s-.”

“Kids! Come to the living room for some crafts.” Will called out to us.

Mathew and I locked eyes and quickly threw the remaining wrappers into the little play fridge just in time. Will popped into the room just as the two of us stood by the play fridge.

“Come on you two, we have a movie on and some crafts.”

Beverly and Freddie left the playroom first followed by a shy looking Mathew who quicken took off the moment he passed Will. I tried my best not to look guilty but Will knows me better than that. Just before I walked past him he held my shoulder, stopping me from walking.

My heart sank and my world seemly froze. “Y/N? What’s in the fridge?” Will asked sincerely.

I was screwed. I knew I was. It was practically impossible to lie to Will and Hannibal. I mean ones a psychologist and the other is a profiler! Their job is literally reading people. But I tried anyway.

“Nothing.” I shrugged.

“Really? Then I just help myself to some plastic food then.” And with that Will started to walk towards the play fridge.

I grabbed his arm tried to pull him away but it was more like me sliding across the floor as he kept walking. “Noooo Dadee! It’s nothing! It’s empty!”

“Then you shouldn’t have to worry when I open it.” Will grabbed the handle and opened the fridge to reveal the mess of candy wrappers and uneaten candies. Will raised his eyebrow at me as if to say explain this.

I threw my hands up. “It wasn’t me! It was Mathew. He got the candy and everyone warned me not to tell. I’m sorry! I didn’t want to get him in trouble. Plus everyone would hate me if I told you.” I quickly explained.

“Did you eat a candy too or just cover up their lie?” Will asked, a bit disappointed. It started to crush me.

“I had two.” Or three, but realistically maybe seven. But hey! I was somewhat honest here. Did I eat candy? Yes. Did he need to know the amount?…..no.

He closed the play fridge and turned to me. “I don’t blame you for lying, while I’m not proud that you did I understand why you did, to protect Mathew. But what I am disappointed at is you having candy without our permission-.”

I went to interrupt him to explain again but he stopped me.

“Again, I understand where you’re coming from, you couldn’t ask us or it would’ve gotten Mathew in trouble. But that doesn’t means you should’ve had any candy.” Will explained.

I started to get more and more upset as he spoke. I didn’t want to be in trouble! I didn’t even want to be here! This wasn’t even my fault! Plus the whole no candy was stupid and everything was stupid! All at once I became overwhelmed.

Then came the water works and the frustrated tears. “I didn’t even want to come here! I just want to be with you and Papa for Halloween! It’s…this is all so much. I just…I don’t…”

I trail off and start crying. All the frustration, all the anger, all the overwhelming feeling and all the anxiety flooding out of me as I cried.

~~~

Will immediately sprang into action, scooping Y/N up into his arms and holding her close. He wrapped her legs around his hips and lightly bounced her in his arms.

If there was anyone who could see someone on the verge of a meltdown, it was Will. He knew with himself how overwhelming thoughts and emotions made him so he knew how Y/N must’ve been feeling.

He halted those emotion right were they started. One arm held her back and the other her head that laid on his shoulder. He softly shushed her and repeated “Its alright, you’re safe, you’re safe with me.”

After a moment or so Y/N’s tears and crying had stopped. She laid tired in his arms, head resting on his shoulder, arms wrapped around his neck, and a little sniffle here and there.

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Will quickly answered back.

“If you want, I can go get Papa and the three of us can go home and relax the rest of the night.” Will started to offer but Y/N whined in response.

“I wanna stay with Mathew…and Beverly. They’re nice to me.” She explained.

“And Freddie isn’t?”

Y/N shook her head, “She always makes mean comments about you guys and about my headspace.”

It broke Will’s heart to hear his Little one was being bullied around by anyone, but Freddie no less. That was not going to slide with him.

“Let’s make a plan together. The next time she says something to you when we’re not around, I want you to let me or Papa know right away. Okay? That way we can put an end to it.“

Y/N nodded her head.

“If you ever feel overwhelmed or upset or anything. You know you can come to us. No matter who’s around, we will always take care of you first.” Will hugged Y/N tightly. “I love you more than you can imagine.”

Y/N hugged him back just as tight. Still happily held in his arms. “I love you too Dadee. Thank you.”

They stayed together in the playroom for a moment more, just the two of us holding one another. It was nice, a quiet moment alone to help Y/N reset and feel comfortable again.

“Why don’t we join everyone in the living room? They’ve got some coloring books and crafts on the coffee tables. They’re also playing a Halloween movie on the tv.” Will suggested after a moment.

Y/N lifted her head to that. I felt a lot better than I did before. “Yeah let’s go.”

With all the frustration let out and a new plan for the two of them. They both felt better as Will carried Y/N into the living room.

~~~

Inside the living room all the adults sat on the couches talking about boring adult stuff as always. One of the coffee tables has an assortment of different coloring books and the other had a bunch of crafts.

Beverly and Freddie were making a craft together, with Freddie complaining about how boring she thought it was to Beverly. Mathew sat alone at the other table, absently coloring a picture in one of the coloring books.

Once I came back to the party he lifted his head and smiled. “Y/N!” He ran over to Will and I. “I found the best coloring book for us to color! It has pumpkins, ghosts, skeletons and more!”

Will looked at me almost as if to ask me if I wanted to be put down. I nodded my head and was left down out of Will’s arms. Mathew took my hand and led me other to the coffee table to start coloring while Will joined a concerned Hannibal. He sat down and quietly explain what had happened.

Mathew was right, these coloring books were awesome!! They had some many interesting designs and characters. I started with a photo of a ghost and began to color beside Mathew.

But Mathew stopped me after a minute. I looked up to meet his sadden eyes and guilt ridden face. “Y/N, I’m so sorry if you got in trouble for the whole candy thing. I should’ve stayed with you and told Uncle Will the truth. I’m a terrible friend.”

I shook my head, “It’s okay Mathew. I promise it’s okay! He isn’t mad at me. I didn’t get in trouble. But more than all of this you’re not a terrible friend.”

Mathew wiped a stray tear away, “I’m not?”

“No! You’re my best friend!”

“From now on best friends stick together!” Mathew smiled.

“Forever.” I smiled back.

The two of us hugged and it seemed all was right. Best friends reunited! Superman and Blue!

The two of us continued coloring and watching the movie which was Halloweentown. In the film when they arrive to Halloweentown their taxi driver is a skeleton. The idea of a taxi driver being a skeleton made me giggle.

I turned to Hannibal to see if he saw the funny sight, “Papa that taxi driver is a skeleton!” I giggled some more.

Hannibal smiled seeing my excitement about the skeleton taxi driver, “You’re right! I thought that taxi driver looked a bit strange.”

I giggled some more at the idea that Papa didn’t know it was a skeleton till I said something.

Jack, who was sitting next to Hannibal joined in the conversation, “You know I thought he looked a bit strange myself. Good detective work Blue!”

I smiled to the praise, proud that I had discovered the taxi driver skeleton! I grabbed another page from the book of an actual skeleton and began to color him like the one in the film.

But my coloring was interrupted when Uncle Fredrick walked into the living room to make an announcement. “Alright kids, the haunted maze is all set up downstairs. Which one of you will be the first brave soul to solve the mystery and get the treasure?”

“Will it be my brave Superman here?” Fredrick said giving Mathew a pat on the shoulder.

But Superman was anything but brave. Matthew looked at me with an eyes full of fear. I was right there with him, I’m not sure I wanted to go down to the haunted maze alone.

“I’ll go! I’ll go!” Freddie jumped up. “I’ll show these babies how it’s done.” She said with a pointed glance to Mathew and I.

“Freddie, that isn’t nice to say. Y/N and Mathew are brave in their own regard.” Will corrected.

Alana joined in, “You’re Uncle is right. That not nice to say to Y/N and Mathew.”

“I would apologize or someone isn’t going to do the maze.” Margot added with a pointed look towards her for a change.

Freddie looked like she was going to explode with anger. There was a moment you could see she was debating on whether she was going to fight it or not. But I guess her enthusiasm for the haunted maze won over.

“Sorry Matt and Y/N.” She said loud enough for us to hear but with no real remorse in sight.

“Thank you, now you may do the maze.” Alana explain.

Fredrick started to explain the maze to all of us before Freddie went down to the basement, “Your goal is to find three gold coins in the basement. But watch out, there are evil monsters that protects the coins. Find the three coins and you’ve completed the maze.”

“Pfffff! I’ve got this! Move over!” And with that Freddie pushed past him and went down into the basement.

Mathew and I just looked at each other with a fearful look. But Mathew broke out of it and shook his head, “Good riddens.” He whispered with a wink.

I smiled back and shook my head at him. We both went back to our coloring as the minutes tick by, then suddenly there was a scream from downstairs.

The scream caught everyone off guard. I jumped up and rushed over to Will and Hannibal as Alana, Margot and Fredrick ran over to the basement door.

Freddie threw the door open and ran into Alana’s arms. “There was something down there that attacked me!!” She cried.

By this time I was sitting between Will and Hannibal as the scene unfolded, Mathew joining me. I held onto Hannibal arm and Mathew did the same with Will’s.

“How many coins did you get?” Fredrick asked.

Freddie threw the one and only coin she had on the ground.

“Maybe this is a bit too scary for the little ones.” Bella suggested.

“I have to agree with Bella. How scary is this maze Dr. Chilton?” Hannibal asked.

“Nonesense! It’s not that scary. I’m going to reset the room real fast and then it’s my Superman’s turn.” And with that Fredrick turned and left.

Matthew shot me a look of pure terror. But I knew his dad, there was no way Matthew was getting out of this knowing how stern Fredrick was.

I didn’t want to do the maze at all, especially seeing Freddie’s reaction to it. But Mathew wasn’t going to make it by himself. So…

“I’ll go with you!” I said before I even had a chance to wrap my mind around it.

Hannibal and Will looked at me worried, “Are you sure you want to go down there with Mathew Y/N? It might be too scary for you and that’s okay if it is.” Will asked.

As much as I wanted to take the out Dadee was giving me, I shook my head no. “Best friend stick together.” I smiled at Mathew.

I could just see the relief wash over him. “Best friends stick together!”

Too soon Fredrick returned and it was our turn. Hannibal and Will gave me a reassuring hug and smile. “If it’s too scary just come back up here, okay? No one will be mad or judge you.”

I nodded my head and said goodbye two. Hand in hand, Mathew and I made our way down to the basement. Just like the basement at home, it’s was dark and scary. We took one step at a time will we reached the bottom. Then it began.

~~~

“Okay, so we have to find three coins, shouldn’t be too hard right?” Mathew said with voice not filled with too much confidence.

Down in the basement there were boxes set up as the sort of maze to navigate too. There was also a fog machine which added another creepy layer to the dark and creepy basement.

Mathew walked in the front, holding onto my hand for dear life. I hide behind him and followed along as we started the maze.

So far it wasn’t too bad. We came across a table with a simple bowl infront of it. Inside the bowl was a bunch of candies and the golden coin in the middle.

I went to grab it right away but Mathew stopped me. “This is too simple.” His eyes narrowed.

I looked around, there was no ghost or anything in sight. It looked simple enough to me. But knowing Uncle Fredrick, Matthew was probably right.

To prove his point Matthew grabbed a paint brush off one of the shelves and put the handle on the coin.

Suddenly a skeleton arm from under the table jumped out and grabbed the paint brush handle! The two of us yelped and jumped back. When we did, Mathew dropped the paint brush and the hand retracted under the table.

“I have an idea!”

I grabbed the paint brush off the floor and put it in the bowl again. When the skeleton hand grabbed it I used my other hand and grabbed the coin!

I threw the paint brush off to the side and showed the coin proudly to Mathew! “Look Superman! We got the first coin!!”

“Great job Blue! You’ll be in charge of holding our coins.” Mathew smiled.

But our smiles disappeared when we realized we still had two coins left. So with that we cautiously continued on.

Hand in hand we weaves through the cardboard box maze. Cloth hung from the ceiling making it hard to see what was ahead. We must set off some motion sensor thing because suddenly a clown animatronic turned on right next to me.

I screamed and grabbed Mathew for dear life. I was shaking like a leaf behind him as he stood in front of the clown.

“Hey you stupid clown! You will not scare my best friend like that!!”

And with that Mathew grabbed the power cord to the clown and ripped it from the wall. The laughing clown soon died down and become silent and motionless.

Looking down by the clown’s foot was the second coin. “Y/N! The second coin!! We got the second coin!”

But when Mathew turned to me I was a bit of a mess to say the least. Tears fell down my face as I tried to calm down from the shock of seeing the clown. My hands covered my ears, fearing the clown would somehow turn back on and continue laughing.

“Hey! Are you okay? That clown really scared you but don’t worry I took care of it. Superman saved the day!” He pulled me into a tight hug. “It’s okay! I promise it won’t turn back on.”

“Want me to get Uncle Hannibal and Will? I won’t be mad if you want to see them. That was really scary. Plus this maze is stupid anyway.”

Breaking apart I slowly brought my hands away from my ears and wiped my tears away. “I think…I think I’m okay. I can do this. I want to win this together.” I said trying to convince Mathew and myself.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He asked one more time but I shook my head again.

“We’ve got this…together.” I shared a small smile with Mathew, “We only have one more coin to go.”

“Hell yeah!!” Mathew smiled. “Oh and speaking of coins here,” he handed the second coin, “You keep this safe.”

Hand in hand we continue onward. As we began walking I realized that clown scared me a lot more than I realized. My diaper felt cold and heavy against my body. I guess when the clown scared me I was so upset I didn’t realize I had an accident.

Now walking along with Mathew with a bit of a waddle to my walk. It doesn’t seem like he noticed, not that my best friend would ever judge me after all he wore pull-ups to bed. But usually I wouldn’t stay more than 1 minute in a wet diaper, always looking to my Caregivers for a change. The feeling always made me uncomfortable. But I already promise Mathew we would continue on so I put on a brave face and stuck it through, surely it would be over soon enough.

Finally we reached the end of the maze and once again everything seemed easy…too easy…

Once more there was a table set up in front of us with the gold coin sitting in the center of it. But around were no scary decorations, no lights, no fog, no nothing.

Mathew and I shot each other a look. There was definitely something we were missing.

Carefully and cautiously we walked toward the table. I was looking to the right while Mathew was looking to the left. Everything seemed to be fine…for now…

We were about three steps away from the table when we both hit a trip wire of some sort. Suddenly from the roof the grim reaper appeared, swinging down on a rope attached to the ceiling.

Both Mathew and I screamed and fell backwards. Mathew fell first and managed to catch me before I hit the ground. The two of us held each other in a tight hug, hiding our faces as the grim reaper swing from the ceiling and a maniacal laugh track played.

Suddenly it stopped, and the lights to the basement turned on. Loud footsteps were heard rushing down the stairs and over to us. But Mathew and I were too scared to even lift our heads up, afraid it was another trick after all.

“I’m telling you it just might’ve been a little trick that scared them. We don’t have to come down-.” Fredrick began to say but was soon cut off.

“You said this was Little friendly but I do not see anything here to support that. This looks too scary for someone with Mathew and Y/N’s headspace.” I could hear Papa say to Uncle Fredrick. He sounded really angry. Something rare for him, Papa never showed emotions like anger often.

“Y/N? Mathew? Where are you?” I could hear Dadee call out to me.

Mathew didn’t seem like he wanted to lift his head at all to call out to our Caregivers. So I had to be the brave Blue for us. I lifted my tear stained face to call out.

But right as I was going to call out my costume started to get wet. At first I froze, thinking it was a second accident and I was leaking my diaper. But Mathew started to cry and soon it clicked with me what was happening. I wasn’t the only one who got scared and had an accident today.

“It’s okay Mathew,” I held him tight in the hug, uncaring for my costume getting wet. “I had an accident too. It’s okay though. It’s scary down here.”

He shook his head, “I’m s-suppose to be…brave S-Superman…” his voice cracked out.

“You are! You saved me from the clown! You are a brave Superman! But even Superman has accidents too. So does Blues Clues. And they can still fight crime or leaves clues behind.”

Mathew nodded along, “Thank you Blue.”

“Of course Superman.”

It seemed my advice was helping him, though I have to say I was just copying off what my dads usually say to me after an accident. And speaking of them…

The three Caregivers finally found us. The moment we saw them the two of us jumped up and ran over.

“Papa! Dadee!” I ran into Hannibal’s arms.

“Papa!” Mathew yelled running into Fredrick’s arms. It was no surprise to Fredrick seeing the puddle on the ground and seeing Mathew’s wet costume as to what happened.

“Papa I’m so sorry…I didn’t know…I didn’t realize I…the reaper scared me and I…l.” Mathew trailed off saying but Fredrick pulled him into a tight hug.

“Shhh shhh shhh, it’s alright Mathew. I didn’t realize I made this maze a bit too scary for you and your cousin. You have nothing to be sorry for. It’s just an accident. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” Fredrick said, taking Mathew’s hands and leading him upstairs to get changed.

While this was happening Hannibal pulled me up and into his arms. I wrapped my arms around him and hid my head against his shoulder. I started to cry softly as well, both out of pure relief having Will and Hannibal here and because of the stupid scares down here.

“Papa, I had an accident too. Scary clown tried to get me but Mathew protected me. But it was so scary! And it laughed. And then the grim reaper attacked us!” I explained.

“A scary clown and a grim reaper? This was not a good idea for you to participate in. I’m sorry I allowed you to do this. I should’ve come down here and saw it for myself.” Hannibal explained, though I could hear the anger in his voice.

“It’s okay. Mathew protect me and now you and Dadee protect me.” I hugged him tighter. I felt a thousand times more comfortable now that Papa and Dadee were with me.

“Always darling, always. Now let’s get you changed too. I don’t want you in wet clothes any longer.”

“Wait,” Will said walking away for a moment before coming back over to the two of us.

I lifted my head up to see what he was doing. He gestured for me to hold my hand out. Once I did, he placed the last coin in my hand.

“There you go, I think it’s safe to say that you and Mathew completed the maze.” Will smirked.

I smiled and held the coin tightly. We did it!! We completed the maze!! Now I had three coins!

Hannibal carried me upstairs and into one of the guest bathrooms. He helped me out of my wet costume first. After close inspection he gave me the bad news.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to wear your costume for the rest of tonight. I’m afraid it’s too wet for you. But no worries, Dadee and I always come prepared.” Hannibal smirked.

Soon Will knocked on the bathroom door. He brought my diaper bag along with Magenta who was forgotten on the couch.

“Someone missed you while you were away Blue.”

I happily took the dog stuffie and held it close.

Hannibal and Will helped me get changed out of my wet diaper into a fresh one. Plus they packed a fresh pair of clothes for me, a Blues clues long sleeve and matching blue sweat pants. They were nothing if not coordinated.

“Dadee? Can we keep the diaper bag close?” I asked sitting on the counter as Will and Hannibal cleaned up.

“Of course sweetheart. You’re okay with it staying with us in the living room?” Will asked to double check.

I nodded my head, “I don’t care what Freddie or anyone says anymore. I’m brave Blue Clues who has three coins!” I smiled holding the coins up high.

Will and Hannibal shared a look with one another. But they could help but smirk. Usually they weren’t ones to condone bragging, but tonight they let it slide. Their little one deserved a win.

“You are certainly our brave little Blue.” Will lifted me into his arms and placed a kiss on my cheek.

Once all settled for the rest of the night, Will and Hannibal took me back to the living room. There sitting on the couch was Mathew wrapped around Fredrick. He was wearing a Superman shirt and pajama bottoms.

Freddie, who was sitting with Beverly on another couch, held an evil smirk seeing us enter the room after our maze.

“So the babies couldn’t make it through the maze with a single coin?”

“Freddie!”

“Hey!”

“That is not nice!”

The adult said trying to stop the mean comments where they started but I had one better.

I simply took the coins out of my pocket and threw them into the ground infront of her. The three coins rattled as they hit the ground causing the whole room to go silent.

“We beat the maze.” I simply said, smirking with the same stupid grin she always had.

There was nothing but satisfaction on my face seeing Freddie start fuming internally.

“HELL YEAH Y/N AND MATHEW!!” Beverly said breaking the tension. Mathew and I smiled. We did it!

“My turn! My turn!”

“I don’t know Beverly. I think this proved the maze is unsuited for Littles.” Fredrick tried to say.

“Please Uncle Fredrick! You gotta let me give it a shot!”

Fredrick shot a look to Jack and Bella who just shrugged.

“If she thinks she can do it, then let her give it a try.” Jack said smirking at his brave Little.

Fredrick shrugged, a bit impressed with Beverly’s bravery. He stood up to go reset the maze but Mathew grabbed his hand.

“No!! Don’t leave! Please stay.” After everything I don’t blame Mathew, the two of us were feeling a bit clingy to our Caregivers at the moment.

Bella quickly swoop into action, “How about you come over here Mathew and sit next to me.” Her calm voice and sweet smile won the Little over.

Soon Mathew was cuddled next to Bella and I was cuddling between Will and Hannibal on the couch. The two of us needed a break after all then.

Another Halloween movie played on the tv but Mathew and I were barley watching it, both of us were physically and emotionally exhausted from our adventures. With my head pressed against Will’s chest and my legs draped across Hannibal’s lap, I started to drift off.

~~~

A little bit later I was awoken to the sound of Beverly running up the basement stairs saying she won. I sat up, Magenta on hand, pacifier in mouth, and watch the scene unfold.

Beverly bursted into the living room. She threw the three coins on the ground. “I got all three coins and something better!”

Suddenly she threw the decapitated head of the clown animatronic in the middle of the living room. How she did it is beyond me. The entire room gasped in shock. Mathew and I looked at each other both in shock and relief. The monster was dead!

“HELL YEAH BEVERLY!! MONSTER SLAYER!!!” Mathew cheered!

I smiled as well around my pacifier. Beverly is the coolest! With the clown taken out for good I let out a small yawn and I cuddled back against Will, letting the murmurs of conversation fade into the background as I drifted off again.

The clown was dead, I was safely cuddled between my two Caregivers holding Magenta close and surrounded by family friends.

At some point during the night it became pretty late so the adults decided to call it a night for the Littles.

Hannibal picked me up and held me in his arms. My head laid on his shoulder with my face turned toward his neck. I was too sleepy and too cozy in his arms to wake up and say goodbye to everyone. I just feel into a light sleep, hearing the whispered goodbyes and light kisses to my cheeks as Hannibal and Will left the party.

Then I felt the cold outside air hit my face. I whined and pushed myself closer in Hannibal’s arms. I could hear him chuckle.

“Don’t worry my little Blue, we will be back in our warm house soon enough.” Hannibal whispered before placing a kiss to the crown of my head.

Then after a moment in the cold I heard the car door open and felt myself get buckled up. Once the door closed I started to open my eyes and watch as Hannibal and Will got into the car themselves.

I smiled seeing my two Caregiver in their striped costume shirts still. I pulled my pacifier out for a moment, “Thank you for dressing up with me for Halloween.”

Hannibal and Will both turned around and smiled.

“Just as Steve and Josh would be lost without Blue, we would be lost without you.” Hannibal smiled.

“Happy Halloween to our little Blue.” Will winked.

I smiled back at the two of them, then popped my pacifier back in and rested my head against the car door window as we pulled away from Uncle Fredrick’s house. This could possibly be one of the craziest, scariest but also best Halloweens I’ve ever had.

Oh and those coins? I was going to hold that over Freddie’s head till the end of time.

[room-on-broom]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tug by @marvellouslymadmim thank you so much me luv

Tagging @heathtrash @teapotteringabout @holdmecloser-gandydancer @womble1 @janetm74 @kiwi-cackles and YOU! and who else wants to do it! more questions under the read more

1. How many works do you have on A03?

48 (60 on fanfic)

2. What's your total A03 word count?

I've no idea, i messed up on my calculator and dont have the pactience to go back over it

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently Stingray and Thunderbirds. and worst witch. its always worst witch

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Jabberjay-ded (128 vs 4 comments lol) Little Wizard, The Broken Hand mirror, Mildred's Monstrous Misadventures, (ah yeah witching kind!) and I saw Seven Idiots.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Fanfic.net dosnt let me reply any more??? but I do try to. even if its just a key smash and a thankyou. or if its an emoji spam i emoji spam back. I love those.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hm. The closest ones I could think of are Death's acquaintance and In grief we bake. I don't tend to do agnsty endings. even the sad ish ones are kind hopeful.

EDIT: JABBERYJAYED! I forgot!? litreally a hunger games fic ends up in devistation?? fool.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I couldnt narrow it down so top 2: I saw 7 Dogs and Christmas Cards

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Onlya few times in the past. two of those times were Worst witch ship trolls and just deleted them. one was my fault, i got uppity with an 'UPDATE NOW' comment and user just went a few my other fics being rude. againn deleted.

9. Do you write smut?

write yes. post no. (not yet-!) :o

10. Do you write crossovers?

yes. Ive have a good half a dozen under my belt and a couple in the works.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

angain no not that i know of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No but I would count @teapotteringabout @kiwi-collideoscope and Princess Sammi as , the amount i've bouced ideas about with them.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Mary Poppins and Bert. the OTP before i knew what the internet was.

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Froot, SEASICK and Cherrytree Carol. plus a bunch of WW ones. I keep picking them up but i feel like they might be left on the shelf a little longer.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue and character voices. I also love mixing humour in too, even just a little sprinkle into sad bits and I think i do that quite well.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot bunnies. and not finishing current WIPS. Ive made a mountain of improvement on that frount but yeah posting chapters before before the fics even 50% done. To the point ive sequeals to fics that are only two lines of an epic.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Massivise kudos who can do that. not my forte. The closest I've come is writing the odd burst of ASL and BSL for Unshackled and Chest Compressions, and a pinch of welsh for Lucretia’s Baller but as yet Hypothetical Birthday Cake.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Corpse Bride (2005). a sad little fic for a le sad victor van dort.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Ever? Probably have to Mildred's Montorus adventures. but Your mother and Mine's got a special place in my heartjust cos family and the catharisis .

Thank you!!

[askthealternateakis]

What Your Favorite MMFC Ship Says About You (Inspired By Eldena Doubleca5t)

Got bored and decide to make this for fun (andtofurtherputoffansweringasks) as I haven’t seen a post like this for any Mega Man iteration fandom, hope you all enjoy!

(Also, just a heads up, this isn’t meant to be an attack on anyone who ships any of the ships mentioned here, this is just meant to be a light-hearted joke, and as long as you don’t ship anything inc*stous, p*dophilic, or anything that romanticizes ab*se, I’m a-okay with it! And if your ship isn’t mentioned here, it’s because I couldn’t think of anything cool or funny to say for it. You’re more than welcome to come up with something for it in the reblogs though! I’d love to see what you all come up with!)

Aki x Ashley: Your ideal relationship dynamic is dumbass x smartass. Alternatively, you really like Spider-Man and/or Danny Phantom.

Suna x Bert: Your ideal relationship dynamic is girlboss x malewife.

Aki x Bert: You saw one of those memes where two bros have really tender homoerotic moments and you were like “yeah, I could probably get a pretty sizable amount of fanwork out of this premise”.

Suna x Ashley: Your ideal relationship dynamic is just girls being friends. Gals being pals.

Aki x Chaotique: Your ideal relationship dynamic is rivals to lovers and you think Chaotique is the best character in the show and possibly even the entire Mega Man franchise.

Suna x Chaotique: You like the dynamic of Aki x Chaotique, but you like Suna even more.

Daini x Chaotique: You’re either really into tsunderes, or really into bickering married couples. Or both. Alternatively, you are a firm believer in the inherent eroticism of trolling.

Bert x Chaotique: When you were a kid, your mom told you some kid was being mean to you because they like you and you never let go of that.

Aki x Ice Man: You think Ice Man is a precious cinnamon roll that deserves the world and you feel like the two of them would actually be pretty close once Ice Man manages to get all his issues resolved.

Suna x Ice Man: This is just the same joke as Aki and Ashley, but even more so and with even less screen time.

Daini x Ice Man: Your ideal relationship dynamic is “Beauty and the Beast”, and whenever you see a really long fic tagged “hurt/comfort”, your eyes go wide because you know what you’re going to be doing until 3 am tonight.

Daini x Ashley: You ship Aki and Chaotique, but you also want good things for Daini. And really, who wouldn’t?

Dr. Light x Hypno Woman: You think Dr. Light can fix Hypno Woman and/or you shun “doing your mom” jokes in favor of “doing your dad” jokes. 

Fire Man x Wave Man: Your ideal relationship dynamic is a bickering married couple, and there’s a high chance that you’ve noticed that they seem to be the two nicest members of Night’s army and you’ve never let that go.

Blasto Woman x Mega Mini: You’re always a sucker for height differences and/or you want a partner that not only can kick your ass, but will do so upon request.

Wood Man x Principal 100100: I can’t say for certain if you’re attracted to dads, but you’re definitely attracted to father figures.

Ice Man x Cut Man: You believe every uptight grouch needs a sweet ray of sunshine to balance them out, and/or they’re both your favorite characters so you thought the only logical thing to do was to pair them together. There’s also a possibility that you’ve gotten into at least one heated internet argument over whether the two of them are minors or adults.

Sgt. Night x Dr. Light: You’re obsessed with lore and/or have a crippling addiction to the “friends to enemies to lovers” trope.

Air Man x Drill Man: You believe the two of them are extremely underrated and will forever be bitter about the lack of fanworks about them, you’re a theater kid with family issues that relates to at least one of them, and there’s a possibility that you’ve had a crush on at least one Tumblr Sexyman.

Elec Man x Cut Man: Your ideal relationship dynamic is a vaudeville comedy duo. Alternatively, you like the dynamic of Daini x Chaotique, but thought that they wouldn’t hate each other enough.

Dr. Light x Dr. Wily: You’re obsessed with lore, you think scientists are hot, and/or you will be making divorce jokes about them in every continuity they’re in until you draw your dying breath.

Chemistry Man x Ms. CHO: You’ve never seen an obsessive, heated rivalry that you didn’t think had at least a little bit of romantic tension. Alternatively, if you’re a fan of Man of Action’s other shows, you saw the chance to recreate whatever was going on with Dr. Psychobos and Azmuth in Omniverse and snatched it up as fast as you possibly could.

Dr. Light x Mrs. Light: You think shipping your OC with a canon character is a little too self-indulgent, but you REALLY want to ship your OC with a canon character.

[poolboyservice]

in honor of Hesitant Alien's 9th birthday..

[ramennoodlezzzao3]

Alternate reason as to why Ponyboy joined the party! If you guys want me to make this canon in my fic, it’s not entirely too late, I could add it into a different chapter if you want

My whole life I’ve been devalued, and I was fully aware of that.

Now, of course, nobody downright told me, nobody says that to a twelve year old, but I could tell it was true.

Mom was always too busy keeping Dally out of jail. She always criticized me, comparing me to my brothers if I did anything wrong. When I skipped a grade she barely said anything, she was tryin to figure out what to make for dinner because they had so many. 

They had three, two now considering the fact I wasn’t even a Curtis at this point. 

If the gang went somewhere without inviting me, and I asked about it, she would always go on a tangent along the lines of:

“Oh come on, Ponyboy! You arn’t apart of the gang, your brothers just let you hang around because it would rude not to invite you. Let them spend time with their friends without their little brother nagging them.”

I was ten when she first told me that. That’s when the insecurity started. 

One time, she was trying to bail him out of jail. I hadn’t known he was even jail at the time so I had asked her to come to my track meet. She had never yelled at me so loud and so angrily before.

I never asked her, or anyone for that matter, to go to a track meet again. I just dealt with the fact that I never had a family in the stands and when I won I wouldn’t have a family to celebrate with. I’d be the kid who won but was alone afterwards.

Dad was loved talking to Sodapop about cars and went to every single one of Darry’s football games. Dad was the one that taught Sodapop to fix cars. He was so happy to teach him but when I asked, he was always too busy.

He was always there when Two had a hangover, when Dal needed out of jail, when Johnny was beat up by his dad, when Steve was kicked out by his, when Darry got into a fight or Sodapop had a bad breakup.

But he couldn’t spare five minutes to talk to his youngest son. 

I guess that’s probably my fault. Who would want to talk to me anyways?

Darry never had time, similar to dad. He always had football practice he was hanging with friends. If I needed help on homework, I could always “Do it myself” since I had skipped a grade. If I was ever crying, I was a crybaby.

If Johnny was down, he’d take him to play football or get ice cream. He replaced one little brother for the one he actually wanted. That had stung.

A lot.

But Johnny didn’t have family, so I never said anything. I convinced myself the reason I never got any attention was because Johnny needed it more. So I let him have it. Even if that meant I lost my brother because of it.

Two-bit was always nice to me. I always thought he was the only one who liked me. But that was quickly thrown out the window when I overheard him complaining to dad about beating a babysitter.

I turned down every offer to go anywhere with him after that. I joined tons of free activities at school to keep myself there so h wouldn’t have to babysit. 

I joined the arts club and got really good at drawing and actually enjoyed it a lot. I joined the book club where we all pick a book and read it. We can talk about it when we join again. I joined the fight team, the basketball team, the soccer team, and I kept doing track.

The teachers praised me on how many clubs and teams I joined and always commented on how my family must be proud…they didn’t even know.

I also joined Drama and got any role I wanted, I just had to ask for it. I got Hamilton I the play “Hamilton” and I got Bert in the Mary Poppins musical. My class,ages insisted it was because I was a “Pretty Boy” but I didn’t believe that.

Which is a perfect segway into the next person; Steve. He’s always made fun of me and always told me I was a tag-a-long. Until my mother confirmed what he was saying, I’d always roll my eyes, now I look down and whisper “I know” only loud enough for me to hear.

He would mercilessly make fun of my height and weight. 

“You’re too fat for how short you are”

 “You eat too much, you’re gonna be all chubby when you grow up!”

And everyone laughs. They don’t even try to stop him. Not Darry, not Sodapop. Soda only tried stopping the rude comments after mom and dad died, and I don’t know why.

Dally is self explanatory. He hates me, similar to Steve, and it’s clear. He hates everyone in the world but the gang and I wasn’t apart of the gang. Johnny was the only one he genuinely loved.

He always looked disappointed when I’d go to the drive-ins with them, so I’d make excuses as to why I couldn’t go after I agreed. He’d have a grin on his face when he’d find out it’d only be him and Johnny, or only him and the gang, or only him and Two-bit.

And Sodapop? Sodapop was nicest to me, even more than Two-Bit. He’d invite me places with him and Steve, he’d drive me places after he had gotten his license, he slept in my bed when I’d gotten nightmares.

All it took was for one singular “Shut up! God, you’re so annoying!” To have my one person, my one wall come tumbling down and left in a pile of ash and bricks.

I should have known he didn’t mean it, I should have known he was just having a bad day. But I was thirteen, and growing up how I did, you never think rationally. I asked to stop sharing a room after that too, and Soda happily agreed.

At least Steve couldn’t bug me about that anymore.

Annoying. Brat. Tag-a-long. Stupid. Loud.

Those words rang in my head all the time and they are what kept me in my room almost everyday.

So, I really have no idea why, but I did something insane. I joined a different group. A different gang. The Party.

Sure, I’ve known everyone in the gang since I was still in diapers, we grew up together, but that’s the problem. I’ve known them my entire life they have only known me for, what? Eight years? Ten years?

Sure, that’s a lot, but when they don’t like you it becomes a lot shorter.

They wouldn’t care if I made my own friends. They wouldn’t care who they were. They wouldn’t care that I took off the dog-tag necklace mom got us all when the gang was complete. They wouldn’t care if I got new brothers and new brother figures. 

They wouldn’t care.

But to my shock, they did.

[duckprintspress]

Meet Aether Beyond the Binary Contributors Em Rowntree and Kelas Lloyd

Today, we spotlight two more of the creators contributing to our current crowdfunding project Aether Beyond the Binary(a collection of 17 aetherpunk settings starring characters outside the gender binary): Em Rowntree and Kelas Lloyd!

Cadillac’s Bus by Em Rowntree

About Em: Em Rowntree’s first foray into the world of writing was with a story called The Magic Land that featured a unicorn and a flying carpet the size of a country, and they’ve been chasing that high ever since. They’ve been sharing their writing online for almost nine years, and have had poems and short stories published in anthologies. They live in the UK.

Links: Twitter

This is Em’s second contribution to a Duck Prints Press anthology; they also wrote a story for Add Magic to Taste.

Title: Cadillac’s Bus

Tags: pending

Excerpt: 

From their vantage point, the kid couldn’t see the rally racer inside. Couldn’t see the black gloves with one white star of pure aetherlight painted on each fingertip. Couldn’t see the curled mess of long grey hair. Couldn’t see the steely, hungry, fiercely joyful look on their face as their vehicle plunged on through the moorland. But the kid could picture it all, down to the last detail.

They put their hands in the air.

“CADILLAC JONES!” they yelled, loud enough for the cow to hear them a few hundred yards away and lift its head – but nowhere near loud enough for Cadillac Jones themself to know their name was being screamed as they disappeared out of sight, away down the track. “CADILLAC JONES FOREVER! YES! THE BEST –” The kid turned to left and right as though looking for someone to tell, but there was no one beside them. “THE BEST! CADILLAC JONES FOREVER! YES!”

They stood, overwhelmed, keeping the moment alive as long as they could. A few minutes after the rally racer had turned the next corner and gone out of sight, another vehicle came hurtling round the bend after them. The kid lifted their arms again – and this time turned their open hands into raised middle fingers.

“YOU SUCK!” they screamed in delight, a smile of joy splitting their face.

True by Kelas Lloyd

About Kelas: Kelas is a disabled, trans, bi author and artist currently (unfortunately) living in Texas. They graduated from the University of Central Florida with an English degree and love cats, tea, and all things speculative fiction. A lot of their writing features magic or disability or both, and they’re often found in Star Trek, Mass Effect, Babylon 5, and Untamed spaces. You can also find them in a lot of bead and resin spaces, because they love making sparkly jewelry of all sorts. 

Previously published pieces include an article on disability in The Last Of Us, short stories in two publications by Shacklebound Books, a pair of poems about being trans, an essay on disabled life, and a whole bunch of pieces about San Diego Comic-con. They’re single, an Ernie looking for their Bert, but they have a found family that stretches around the globe and some of their birth family accepts them for who they are. 

You can find out more about them at kelaslloyd.com

Links: Personal Website | Archive of Our Own | Twitter

This is Kelas’s first time writing with Duck Prints Press.

Title: True

Tags: character study, foster family, found family, friends, genderfluid, magic use, non-binary, present tense, self-esteem issues, teenager, third person limited pov, transphobia (mentions of)

Excerpt: 

“Oh,” Eva says, trying to recover. “Yeah, okay. So what’s the procedure? Are you gathering up all the ducklings and then herding us over?”

Paul looks at them as if they can see through the joking tone Eva’s adopted. “You’ve got a map in your booklet. I’m here, so I introduced myself, but there’s a schedule in there too. Everyone here is old enough to herd themselves; I’m here for support.”

“So you catch us in the trust-fall exercises,” Eva says, opening up the booklet to find the map and schedule.

“No, I make sure to drop everyone during those.”

Eva’s gaze snaps up to catch Paul’s grin just before it turns into a faint smile.

“You’re here because you’re struggling with aether,” Paul continues. “Most of the time a teen is struggling, it’s because they don’t know themselves well enough yet to let it flow through them the way as it’s supposed to. That’s what I help with.”

Make sure you visit our Kickstarter campaign page to learn about the collection, take a peek at the merchandise, read more excerpts, and more!

[cryptophasiac]

WIP Tag

another tag :)) ty han @buildarocketboys for tagging me <333

Rules: Pick a bunch of your WIPs and summarize them as badly as possible, then ask your followers to vote on which one they’d be most likely to read. Multiple/all/none options are completely optional.

im tagging @petefromarma @xpennytrickx @lakemichiganlolita @foliejpg @telegraphavekiss @oldestmovieieversaw @k1d1c4rus @melancholybride i can’t keep track of who got tagged alr sorry guys if i miss somebody

[oh-mother-fucket]

WELCOME TO UHHH THE CLOWN CAR

commisions

-> the owner of this blog is a system! and some of the fictives in this system have their own blogs! they'll be listed at the bottom of this post, along with some of the sideblogs that are run by the host.

(Sylph of Doom) (Derse) (Sign of the Reconciler)

ABOUT ME:

I love to collect pronouns! My current favorite pair are it/its, but it's okay to refer to me with binary pronouns, they/them pronouns, neopronouns, or nounself pronouns!

I go by a few names, all related to the characters I kin! My names, in order of most preffered, include:

>>Davekansprite >>Fefetasprite >>Sheriff >>Sollux >>Tricky >>Peril

My system is called the Bullets in a BB Gun! You can refer to us collectively as BB if that's too much of a mouthful.

I have dyslexia! While I do absolutely exaggerate it in a lot of my posts, it still does very much affect the speed at which I write as I have to do a lot of spell-checking. Please be patient with me!

I often overreact to things, so please keep that in mind! If I ghost you, it's probably because you or something else has sent me into a spiral and I'm trying to distract myself/discuss it with a trusted friend. I am currently seeking therapy for this, so hopefully it won't be a forever problem!

If you have the slightest suspicion that something you write to me might be taken the wrong way-- add a tone tag! You don't have to add tone tags to all your posts, but if you're talking to me i'd prefer you to use tone tags when appropriate!

I suck at communication, and I'm currently trying to work on that! Don't be afraid to drop a dm if you want to chat. Bear in mind, though, I have a lot of anxiety and it may take a little while for me to work up the courage to respond to someone I don't know too well!

TAGS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

#==> <- my talk tag! all my original posts are tagged with this. #> davekansprite: write fanfiction <- my fandom writing tag! contains my fanfics and headcanons #> davekansprite: post your art <- my art tag!

TAGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO BLOCK:

#> davekansprite: rant. <- this is my ranting/venting tag, and it may have triggering content in it. i never post any need-to-know information, and some rants may be deleted after posting. #suggestive <- used for nsfw/nsfw-adjacent posts. mostly joke posts, if I ever seriously want to make/reblog serious nsfw content I'll make a seperate blog for it.

OTHER TAGS:

#> davekansprite: post a heads up <- a tag that you should probably pay attention to! i use this when i have something important to announce!

FICTIVE-RUN BLOGS:

Tricky's Blog: @clown--posting

Sanford's Blog: @sea-monster-sanford

Sammy's blog: @rubber-hhoes

OTHER BLOGS:

@system-owned-and-operated <- homestuck kin help account!

@a-really-shitty-crossover-fic <- work in progress! multifandom!

@posting-from-project-nexus <- madness combat roleplay blog!

@tinkerer-posting <- my in-character oc blog!

@q-bert-posting <- my in-character bert blog!

@skittles-posting <- my in-character skittles blog!

@pork-tenderloin-posting <- my in-character oc blog!