#and the cosplay thing. that comes up a lot because i currently have a big interest in doing more cosplay stuff

[autisticlee]

i'm aroace, sex repulsed and don't get traditional romance or find the need for it, but I still often think how it would be neat to have a gf/partner for other purposes that arent romance and sexual. but it seems impossible to make someone want to date you if you take out those things????

sometimes I think it would be nice to have a gf to do cute gay cosplay photoshoots with. there would be mouth smooching and you usually can't do that with a friend and I don't really want to either, so a gf would be useful for that.

then there's hating showers because they exhaust me and it would be nice to have a gf to wash my hair and stuff for me??? can't call up a friend to do this every time I need to shower. that won't work and I doubt they'd want to/be comfortable doing that.

most friends will end up putting all their priority into their partner and/or family they create. I want someone that will make me their priority and not run off with someone else they start dating and abandon me??? something like that. their priority is cleaning our home together, hanging out together, going shopping and other domestic/partner stuff. they don't do that with someone else or use me temporarily until they can find a partner. so it's essentially dating/being partners. but it looks different from your typical expected romance and partnership.

doesn't matter how aroace I am, I have accepted that a relationship is beneficial in many ways and there's certain things that you can't expect friends to cover and they can't fill. but I have zero interest in looking for a partner in traditional ways that requires small talk/flirting/dates/etc. so that makes me realize i'll most likely not trick someone into partnering with me lmao

the internet seems to call this kind of thing "queer platonic relationship" (did I remember it right?) and you just need to find another sroace person to do it with. but either way, there's no textbook to study for how to get that and where to find these people. it seems harder than the puzzle that is regular dating tbh.

there's that saying "there's other fish in the sea" but i'm a worm in a puddle the other worms got out before they drowned. there's no fish here lmao. my options are so limited that I haven't met a single option yet in my life. there's barely any chance the first aroace person I meet irl will be compatible, or the first compatible person will accept a relationship with an aroace. you know what I mean? any other aroace that's interested in some kind of relationship/partnership and feel like you don't get that whole sea to choose from like everyone else and only have a dried up puddle? 😅

[ghostiemothp1mp]

|BREAKING: HAZBIN SEASON 2 LEAKS FLOOD THE INTERNET!|

You heard right folks! There was a breach at A24 and Spindlehorse toons resulting in almost the entirety of season two being leaked onto several platforms but mainly Tik tok. While something similar happened last year when Hell's Greatest Dad got leaked, this time it was to a much greater scale, including several songs, animation clips, and more spoilers than imaginable.

Yes, this is disastrous for Spindlehorse and the entirety of Hazbin Hotel as show. In fact, we're lucky that Hazbin hasn't been dropped from Amazon all together. A lot of times when a breach this big happens, the show just get cancelled, but Amazon has stated that their legal team is trying their best to clean this up and find the perpetrator who did this.

However, the leaks are spreading like wildfire and the amount of views and shares is growing by the minute. The best thing that is fans and viewers can do is NOT SHARE. DO NOT SHARE. DO NOT WATCH IF YOU CAN HELP IT! AND REPORT REPORT REPORT! If you come across spoilers of ANY kind—for example, footage, song clips, fanart—REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY AND GET IT TAKEN DOWN.

Now, you might say, "but spoilers aren't a big deal! I wanna know what happens!" Believe me, we are all excited for the next season, but we need to find out what happens the RIGHT way. I will not be sharing exactly what was leaked because I do not want to feed the fire, but the leaks released kind of ruin the show cuz a) they don't make sense cuz they are just random bits and pieces and b) it makes it a lot harder for Spindlehorse to even keep the show and fandom going. We are extremely lucky that Amazon is even keeping the show, please PLEASE help Spindlehorse keep it that way!

According to Spindlehorse, they believe that the person who leaked the footage was actually someone either on their team or on A24, in other words, this was an inside job. Whoever did this had full intention of sabotaging the success of this show from within, either to serve their own nefarious purposes or someone else's. Currently we don't have any more information on it, but hopefully Amazon's legal team can find the culprit and punish them accordingly.

Okay, so, some footage got leaked. What's the big deal? Well, I didn't go that in depth as to the real effects of the leak earlier, but I will do so now. First of all, it's one of the biggest breaches a show has seen in a WHILE. Including hundreds of shots, MULTIPLE musical numbers, and character reveals that were not planned drops. What does this mean exactly? Well for starters, we probably won't be seeing any more con teasers or sneak peeks. Remember the Baxter teaser? Yeah, that probably won't be happening again. Second of all, I have already seen the fandom start to slowly fall apart on Tik Tok, hundreds of videos talking about how angry they are, not just about the show being spoiled in the first place, but the content of the spoilers themselves. People are already saying how furious they are about the twists and turns the show is taking, without even considering the fact that these leaks don't even contain the full context. Third of all, as the leaks spread and fanart and edits and cosplays of the spoilers flood the internet, the likelihood of Hazbin growing in popularity and hype with the release of season two grows slim. Nobody will be super excited about the "big reveals" next season because they've already been spoiled. Yes, this is pretty disastrous, not just to Hazbin as a cartoon, but to the fandom as well.

That is why we must take action! We must aid Spindlehorse and Amazon in the clean up by not sharing the spoilers. We must aid them by not creating fanart or edits or reaction vids or cosplays of spoilers either. We must aid them by reporting these videos and getting them taken down. We can save Hazbin, but we have to work together.

If anyone sees this post, please share. Please help stop this madness and keep things that should be secret, secret.

[protect-namine]

it's interesting that yingdu E1 is gonna be the episode that really tells you if you like S1 story structure more, or S2 story structure more.

I thought yingdu would be more like S2 but I'm actually pleasantly surprised it starts more like S1? and I already knew this about myself but I really loved the episodic, slice of life nature of the first half of S1 (and the chibi shorts). I loved S2 and all, but the first time I fell in love with link click it was because of the day-to-day kind of issues they face before they started playing mind games with other people who have abilities like them. and I think I wouldn't have enjoyed S2 or even the back half of S1 if the show didn't start with episodic, low stakes cases. of course, I think they'll probably mix both storytelling styles this special season.

but idk, I really missed that vibe. shiguangling being domestic is sweet. I did like the cosplay story more than vivian's story, though I think them trying to set up the scammer parallel to lu guang was funny. I think cheng xiaoshi shines a lot in these kinds of moments because he's very empathetic even with the little things. lu guang is the one dealing with a lot of big picture stuff (time and death itself) but cheng xiaoshi? he just wants to set up a photography studio and maybe help a couple of people out when he can. play basketball. find a cosplayer to return her paintings. help their student council president to not get scammed.

he's just a little guy! look at him! he thrives in low stakes situations!! give him milk tea and he's happy 🤗

I think the most surprising details in this episode were:

lu guang is in the anime club :o

lu guang kept a detailed notebook of the past?? damn. I feel like he spent one timeline just memorizing and noting down events, down to the last minute.

"your eyes remind me of two people I knew" holy shit. time traveler parents possibly true. what if cheng xiaoshi's parents are lost to the time stream? like, they faced the consequences lu guang said you'd face if you stayed more than 12 hours into a picture (notably though, lu guang doesn't seem? to have this issue when he dives? or I guess past 12 hours you get "stuck" in the past and aren't able to come back to your "present")

what is up with cheng xiaoshi always wanting lu guang to be his partner "for life" asdfghjkl. my guy. you're so sweet

lu guang moves into the photo studio during their university years and bridon happens right after. and he's wearing cheng xiaoshi's summer clothes...

cheng xiaoshi did not clap when he activated his powers with the bridon picture (his hands were holding the envelope and the picture). which is... weird? how did that happen? also he went there as himself which means this picture was... not taken by a photographer? because otherwise he should've possessed someone like normal

finally: lu guang didn't have a watch in the beginning. idk why I always thought he had a watch. anyway, I think we can use the placement of his watch as a signifier of which timeline we're in

no watch: original timeline. when lu guang dives back here, I guess he buys a watch afterwards

watch on the left hand: either the og timeline (after he buys a watch) or the first time he dives? the timeline with cheng xiaoshi's first death? the style of the bedroom makes me think this happened in the first time they go to bridon (which isn't necessarily the same timeline we're seeing in the donghua right now).

edit: actually, scratch that. now I think this might have been lu guang's bedroom lol. the date is 4/12 which is the day cheng xiaoshi reads the 👌 text from lu guang about playing basketball again

it's also consistent with the flashback to cheng xiaoshi's death in S2E1 — watch is on the left hand.

watch on the right hand: S2 finale dive / yingdu E1 dive. which means vein showing up in the photo studio happened sometime during our "current" timeline.

lu guang keeps his watch on his right hand during S1 and S2 as well (catguang in the chibi shorts also has a watch on his right... paw).

there's probably other details I missed but anyway. welcome back link click!! I'm already one square away from getting a bingo in my yingdu bingo card lmao

[vertigovineyard]

Samhain: Agere edition!!

For those of you that don’t know Samhain (pronounced “sow-win”) is a pagan religious festival taking place October 31st-November 1st. This Celtic tradition acted as a celebration to welcome in the harvest and “the dark half of the year”. This time of year is significant because many believe that the veil between the spiritual and physical world is thinning and therefore creating more paranormal or supernatural occurrences.

Originally fire was used as a community after harvest for the participants to take home and light the hearth. It was also belief that celts would dress as the “monsters” of their time in an attempt to prevent fairies from kidnapping them when the veil was thinned. During the Middle Ages people turned towards more personal fires and used carved turnips known as jack-o-lanterns which Irish tradition later switched out with pumpkins.

“Dumb Supper” was another practice during in which a feast would be set up for the ancestors the celts were expecting to cross from the other side and then be used by the physical people after the spiritual had their fill.

(Under the cut is my personal experience and practices)

Samhain is one of my favorite sabbaths to celebrate because it is during the time of year at which I feel most connected with my spirituality. I love to combine agere with these types of things as a way to bring together two different parts of myself that I chose.

List of things I do from Mabon(autumn equinox) to October 30th:

- Color magick: rearrange my wardrobe and current makeup styles to simpler and muted pieces as a way to slow down and focus on nature and the items I use

- Watch moon phases: keep an eye out for the phases of the moon during this time of year, this is because I feel more connected to the moon specifically and begin to write letters to her(the moon) as a way to manifest her energy and change with the seasons. This also allows for more rituals to be done during this time including lots of energy cleaning (I stay inside most days and I don’t want things to feel stagnant)

- Journal: journal all dreams, signs, numbers, or deck spreads that you happen to come across and stick with you. Intuition is very important during this step but don’t be scared and overthink things. Trust yourself so the self trusts you.

- Shopping!!: This one may not be seen as magickal as the others but for me it plays a big part in setting my energy for my space and my mental. This includes things like candles, blankets, books, incense, certain herbs, and even a new deck. I’ve also found that I tend to buy new jewelry before every season that sets myself up for the energy required to be attached spiritually so that may be a good subtle way to achieve this connection if you’re still in the broom closet.

During Samhain Activities:

- first things first is have my costume ready. I prefer to go by a more closet cosplay like take on my outfits so I can wear them for the entire day without any strange looks or restrictions. This is just a way for me to enjoy myself and also view it as a way of protection.

- Act as usual: seriously, I don’t spend all day thinking about the sabbath. I know a lot of witches may have a full day to celebrate but unfortunately I know a few who definitely don’t and I don’t want it to seem like you have to be dedicating all your time to it to be celebrating correctly. Spend time with your friends. Listen to loud rave music. Do whatever makes you feel most comfortable during this time and be grateful that you made it to this part of the year. This is usually the time where my age regression joins the most: I spend most of the day coloring spooky Sanrio Sheets, watching kids Halloween episodes, and eating whatever I want. Many people view being a witch as being strict with sabbaths and having a certain aesthetic when doing so, I don’t follow this belief and I just allow my kid-self to have the Halloween he’s used to as a way to have nostalgia and think of the good times the year has offered me before this moment.

-Dumb Supper: My favorite was of celebrating is having a dumb supper, which can be even more special as a kitchen or hearth witch. I do this at my working altar currently because I'm still in the broom closet but I still set up a simple dinner, light my ancestor candles, and do a few readings to listen to their advice. I am usually regressed during this because to me it feels like the one time of year I get to sit at the adult table and ask them questions and listen to their stories about their lives and all the things they learned they want to pass on to me.

-Lighting: I always use candles on this night and other light up items such as star projections to bring a child-like thing into the night of Samhain.

-Journaling: after doing all of this I sit in bed and read through my journal from the month before and make any editions or notes, also documenting all that happened that night

I write this post to explain the origin, traditions, and personal practice of Samhain and I hope many of you can learn that it’s ok to incorporate age regression into spiritual or “adult” practices <3 Happy Samhain and Halloween everyone!! (Feel free to add on or tell me your costumes through reblogs or comments!!)

[blog-sekai]

Unit Introduction: TECH IT OUT!!!

An unlikely friend group aspire to be the next big thing for their local music scene...

*this is all text & pretty long sorry 😭

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About TECH IT OUT!!!:

They thought about using some leetspeak in their unit name ("T3CH 1T OUT" - 3 human members, 1 AI member) but decided against it because it sounded kinda cheesy

Most of their performances are as emcees or DJ's, but they're working to change that!

Their style/genre is pretty obvious lol: techno, disco/rave, anything with bass you can hear 3 blocks away.

if my 3 fan units were that misery/cpr/Reece's puffs mashup, they'd be the Reece's puffs part

═════════•°• ⚠ •°•═════════

"If it's difficult, that means it must be good for you, right..?"

Jamie Polaris

Birthday: March 31

Height: 5'6" / 167cm

Hobbies: Robotics, Calligraphy

Specialty: Cosplay/Crossplay

Favorite Food: Breakfast Sandwiches

Least Favorite Food: Sweets

Dislikes: Dresses & Skirts

Jamie has the least traditional music knowledge, but she learns very quickly. She picked up a programming class when she was younger on a whim, and has since gotten exceptionally good at it. Her pet program, PRISM, eventually achieved full sentience/sapience - their dynamic is similar to "childhood friends." She's very uncomfortable with most feminine things as they relate to her/other's expectations of her, and prefers to wear clothes that are baggy or androgynous/masculine.

═════════•°• ⚠ •°•═════════

"I would appreciate it if you took my person-hood a bit more seriously."

PRISM

Birthday: June 23

Height: In SEKAI, it is 5'5" / 165cm (it doesn't have a body in the [real world] at this time)

Hobbies: Meditation, Sci-Fi Shows/Media

Specialty: Retaining Information

Favorite Food: Unknown

Least Favorite Food: Unknown

Dislikes: Uncleanliness

PRISM likes to try new things, at least as much as it can without a body - which is why it's constantly pestering Jamie to build it one. It has a particular affinity for a certain sci-fi show, likely due to one of the characters. It feels a sort of kinship to the virtual singers, and has considered debuting as one in the past. In SEKAI, PRISM has a normal human body, and it takes full advantage of that to try different things "in person." Jamie brings it lots of different snacks.

═════════•°• ⚠ •°•═════════

"Rules are made to be broken, anyway! Let's get out of here!"

Emerson Scott

Birthday: December 12

Height: 5'6" / 167cm

Hobbies: Studying, Hacktivism

Specialty: Never Getting Lost

Favorite Food: Kettle Corn

Least Favorite Food: Tomatoes

Dislikes: Cooking

Emerson and Jamie are unlikely friends who connected over getting a very stubborn raspberry pi to emulate snes games. Emerson comes from a powerful family, so there are a lot of expectations and pressure. Because of this, she stays up late to pursue her own passions and hobbies as well as explore the city. She has a well-cultivated sense of style, but for those who know her well, it doesn't seem to suit her very much.

═════════•°• ⚠ •°•═════════

"Let's live it up, at least for tonight. Isn't that what youth is about anyway?"

Alice Hooks

Birthday: August 24

Height: 5'2" / 157cm

Hobbies: Reading, Ballet

Specialty: Voice Control

Favorite Food: Pickled Vegetables

Least Favorite Food: Pasta

Dislikes: Strangers

Alice started her transition a few years ago; the current school year is right after making it "official" with documentation and things. She's experienced bullying in the past, so she tends to keep a distance from her classmates unless they connect really well on something. Alice and her younger brother have taken music lessons since they were both very little, so her sense of rhythm is unparalleled.

═════════•°• ⚠ •°•═════════

Unit SEKAI: Circuit-board

Unit virtual singers:

Miku

In Sekai, she's dressed for a night out clubbing! The only thing she loves more than hitting the dance floor is the late-night stop at a cafe or convenience store to refuel and re-hydrate. She has the uncanny ability to know how others are feeling.

Len

Despite is size, he's actually a bouncer, and takes it very seriously. Len wants everyone to have a good time, and has an eye for when things might get out of hand. Miku trusts him to know where the best clubs are, and often gifts him snacks as thanks.

[cosplayinamerica]

Milly from TriGun : Emma

My first con was in Baltimore for Otakon 2001. Pre 9/11! I originally wanted to attend a con either out in Colorado or Texas, but I was the only one in my circle of friends in New Mexico who had a part time job, so there was no one I could travel with. 

I cosplayed as Milly from Trigun and you can actually find photos of me from old internet archive pages because Trigun was at the high of popularity. I originally made Milly for a Halloween costume, so when I showed it to my online friend  in the Trigun mIRC chat a photo of me in cosplay, she insisted I come to Otakon the following year and join her Trigun group.

Unlike a lot of early 90’s/00’s cosplayers, I didn’t have anyone who’d taught me how to sew. So Milly was entirely bought from a trip to the Goodwill. I bought brown pants, a duster, a red tie and yellow suspenders. I remember feeling so proud to find yellow suspenders because in the anime her suspenders are yellow. I was like “wow! I’m so canon compliant. I’m a cosplay pro!”. She has a little green cap and I went to Joanns, bought some fabric and just cut it out and hand stitched it and safety pinned it to the duster. Current me would have been shocked at a lack of surging or a mockup or putting snaps in to make sure the cape stayed on, but it was the wild west back then for when it came to cosplaying. 

At Otakon I had my half-assed Goodwill costume, but everyone loved it, I got so many photos and so many hugs. It was a rush of validation I’d never felt, I was this weird 17 year old living in New Mexico where I had very few friends who liked anime, so going to a con with so many people who knew Trigun and loved my costume was incredible. It made me want to keep cosplaying, 

The Trigun fandom at the time was pretty big. There wasn’t social media the way there is now, but there was a decent community. I think the anime sensibilities mixed with a very western setting was a huge draw to the western ‘otaku’ culture at the time. Vash also had such an iconic look.

A lot of Otakon 2001 was just people being excited to see other members of the Trigun community and get to connect and talk about the show, it’s one of the things I really enjoyed about cosplay back then. It felt easy to strike up a conversation with someone about the character you or they were dressed as and make a new friend. I’m actually still friends with a Wolfwood cosplayer from back then! 

You probably hear this a lot when you talk to older cosplayers, but while I’m happy cosplay has become more popular, it makes me sad there’s less of a focus on learning to sew and learn skills and more of a focus on buying a costume online and posting a photo of it on social media for as many clicks possible. I made Milly from pieces at The Goodwill with so few photos remaining of her and she was probably the most attention I’ve gotten from a cosplay. For young people reading this, don’t be afraid to learn to sew. Don’t be afraid to not have a perfect costume, there’s skills even I’m still learning and I find the building of the costume just as rewarding as wearing it or any attention I get on it.

Over 20 years later I’m still cosplaying. I literally have half of a Genshin impact cosplay in my lap I’m working on as I type this. I’m actually waiting for the next season of Trigun Stampede because I’d love to come full circle and make Milly again with my now 20 years of skills as a cosplayer.

[qupshalfempty]

Can i request a small drabble of tfp ratchet with fem!human s/o who loves painting? She ends up painting him and he gets flustered about it, but still adores it.

Reader is human for this, GN!reader as I don't use pronouns.

Words: 573

TFP! Ratchet x Artist! Reader HeadCanons

Ratchet wouldn’t flash an optic if you had your head down in a spiral notebook, he’s seen the kids do work with those lowly graphite pencils despite humans going through a technologically advanced renaissance currently. So he doesn't think twice of it, he may ask what you're up to over his shoulder as he's working but that's it.

He’s only judged those items based on their usefulness, though once you grab his attention with doodles of him... flustered is an understatement, and for once he’s ready to take back his rants about human paper. No, he won’t say he’s wrong but he will compliment your art no matter the medium because he respects any handiwork or careful craftsmanship.

He’ll reluctantly agree that debating the "usefulness" of art is a Pandora’s box, as you humans would refer to it, and doesn't want his aft ripped a new one by philosopher Optimus so he'll leave it at that.

If you do something off the wall like cosplay, miniature, or food art he’s confused and already thinking back to his old comment but will bite his glossa. Hard. He understands you have your interests and will leave you to them, he likes to ask what you’re up to though and can come off judgemental but he does like listening to your rants and sharing something you’re passionate about is one of his love languages. You can tell by the way he pays attention to every detail and asks how you're able to achieve the look of your strokes as he has no idea what type of "pigments" you use. Giving him a handful of examples leads to his earlier question; Why? After seeing your work though, he doesn't mind all the different inefficient ways. (He likes it.)

Once he's over his Ratchet spell he’s impressed with any medium of yours, although crochet, oil/charcoal paintings, and the laser lights installations are his favorites. The lasers are smaller replicas of the ways cybertronians used to celebrate their own holidays, closer to the smaller ones for the smaller gatherings.

Paintings are satisfying for him to watch, watching your hands as your knuckles move under skin and the twist in your wrist with each stroke. Also is a hypocrite and likes charcoal a lot, especially as you use your small fingers to smudge and- He’s going to stop himself there.

Any art made of him completely flusters him, he’s having to clear his throat and stumbles over his words slightly before getting a compliment out. His helm is flushed, depending on who’s at base he’s getting teased. He’s hoping he can keep his back turned at his station and away from anyone’s eyes or optics.

He does not know how to play it off if someone were to tease him because he doesn’t want to act like it’s no big deal towards your work, though he’ll grumble out a-

“Don’t you have a patrol route to get to?” Or he brings up whatever stupid things has landed them in his medbay and they usually shut up so they get fixed the next time.

Later on that night he rewards you with affection he’d otherwise not give in public, cuddles before bed being one of many things he has planned and the tired Ratchet classic. Watching you paint and invest in your hobbies makes him long for a domestic life with you, for now he'll take the small moments between.

[alberichfanpage]

i would like to ask about alberich for the character game~

(sorry for not saying there was no ask box, i thought maybe with sideblogs you had to go ask the main person or sth haha)

Thank you for the ask, I love your posts! (No problem, I should have checked before I posted it)

Before I start, I have a confession. Guys, I like Alberich a very normal amount; I just picked this blog name on a whim when I wanted to make a sideblog...

Favorite thing about them: Considering there is so little content on him in the game, it is pretty hard to pick between his little bow gesture, his spooky outfit and his immaculate vibe. My favorite thing is probably how he combines two of the most overpowered status effects into one build.

I ended up incorporating aspects of it in my Int/Fai playthrough but I am really considering doing a dedicated Alberich cosplay run just because it is that fun to use.

Least favorite thing about them: My least favorite thing is the same as my favorite. His build is great but awful when it is used against me...

Also, he has a big chunk of glintstone on his headpiece if you remove the hat but it doesn't glow with the erudition emote!

Favorite line: Invaded by Mad Tongue Alberich! <- scariest popup to see in a supposed safe place

brOTP: Gideon for sure comes to mind. There is this fan theory that Alberich is Gideon's son, biological (same hair color) or adopted (like Ensha and Nepheli). Alberich probably enjoyed performing the grim tasks of the All-Hearing Brute with less stoicism than Ensha. Very much a one-sided evil henchmen kind of relationship. That was most likely his undoing, too.

OTP: This one is so hard because I could see so many toxic pairings. I think him and Ensha pair nicely as the only two people you can fight within the hold. They also share the fact they are in service to the Hold.

Rogier could be really interesting as the ultimate big hat power couple. But specifically, those hats are a sign of heresy and they are in very close proximity within the Hold. Then again, Rogier has quite a bit of romance going on already and I think the poor guy needs some rest.

Speaking of pointy hats, since Alberich knows cold sorceries, it may be possible he had something going on with the Snowy Crone that Ranni based her current appearance off of.

Regardless, I believe there is not a world in which Alberich would be in a healthy relationship (post mad tongue title) so therefore all pairings would be very unhealthy lol

nOTP: Sellen could be interesting but I think he might be a little too heretical for her liking. She might be a little interested in what's going on with his red glintstones from a purely academic standpoint, though.

Random headcanon: Literally the only information we have on Alberich is his clothing description, anything outside of that is headcanon:

Alberich was an aloof yet disturbed heretical sorcerer said to have been driven mad by jeering tongues during his service to the Roundtable Hold long ago

I don't really buy it, but I really wanted there to be some connection between the Blood Star and the Formless Mother just to tie in connection because the faith blood sorceries and the blood incantations. I thought it would help to roundout the world building and show how thin the line truly is between sorceries and incantations. Alas, these things remain very separate.

However, we did get two new sorceries in the dlc that are boosted by Alberich's set/staff but are related to the Scadutree. While the Thorn Witches themselves are related to the Fell God. Honestly, the worldbuilding around these things are really weird. My only other headcanon is that Gideon tasked Alberich into exploring experimental magic for him.

Unpopular opinion: Alberich drops the Taunter's Tongue item and a lot people treat this as his tongue, but I like the theory that this is actually Ensha's tongue and that is why Ensha does not speak would really make the OTP toxic if true. Considering I see a lot of fanart with him with a gold tongue, I consider this to be unpopular.

Song I associate with them: He seems like he would like Christian Death, the song Figurative Theatre comes to mind because of this line:

Their razor-sharp tongues invite to relax as they slip the skin of your eyelids back

Favorite picture of them:

Very biased but this picture I took while cosplaying him is so good, I am not sure I could replicate this again if I tried.

Thank you again for the ask!

[howtofightwrite]

Okay so I’m currently writing a character that has a background in Muay Thai, but I wanted them to have somewhat of a punk fashion. Now punk fashion mostly consists of tight clothes with unstretchy materials. Changing the pants is not a problem, so Iwas mostly wondering about the upper body and feet. How well can you throw an elbow in a leather jacket? Maybe a vest is a better option? Also shoes, I don‘t like sneakers, and I initially thought to get them cowboy boots because they look cool and also the character loves the sound they‘re making when walking. Now cowboy boots are also notoriously made for not bending at the ankle, which of course comes in the way of kicking. Now I’m not too knowledgable in muay thai techniques, but as the kicks are often done with the shins, would it sill work to have something like low-rise cowboy boots? Or would it be better to have just some thick leather dress shoe adjacent shoes? With free mobility of the ankle?

So, the fun thing with the punk aesthetic is that there's a lot of very practical clothes that are still in theme.

So, starting with leather jackets, good ones aren't going to restrict your movement by much. Parrying unarmed strikes with a leather jacket is actually nice. This is because the jacket (and any insulation in the sleeve) will absorb some of the impact, meaning you're less likely to bruise. Decent quality biker jackets will have some reinforcement (to protect the wearer) and as a result will actually function as armor for light melee combat. It won't save you from a knife or a gunshot, but, depending on the design, it will soften the punches and kicks you take.

Leather, denim, or heavy canvas pants are a similar story. Yes, it's entirely possible to get tight jeans that restrict your movement, but casual cut pants will provide mobility and protection. It really comes down to what your definition of punk pants are.

With boots, the better choice is going to be work boots or motorcycle boots. In both cases you're looking at heavy footwear which armors the foot and protects the wearer. The lack of mobility in the ankle is less of a concern because of the protection the boot provides. In this case, steel toed is a perk, it's actual metal armor over your toes, protecting you from someone stomping your foot. There's nothing automatically wrong with cowboy boots, but that's moving away from the punk aesthetics.

There's the commercial, punk aesthetic. You'll find it in those “counterculture” corporate clothing stores. It's about as inherently contradictory as mass market Che Guevara tee-shirts. And, if you're looking at that, particularly looking at the examples marketed towards women, your assessment of the loss of mobility and general unsuitability for combat is probably spot on. It's cut to be tighter than it should be, for the visual aesthetic and your ability to move in it is a casualty of the same.

And, from my perspective as an outsider to the scene, that's not punk. It's more like punk cosplay.

If you want your character to have a punkish aesthetic, to go hand in hand with their fighting style, then you should probably look at heavier clothes that are designed to take a beating and keep going. That was the original aesthetic of punk. Heavy leather jackets that will protect you from a beating. Heavy pants that will do the same. Motorcycle boots are a big plus here. They're heavy, durable, look good, and they work as armor. Spikes and studs can be retrofitted onto existing clothes, probably with an eye for keeping it durable enough to stand up to a fight. Gloves are up to you, but there's no real downside to having a pair.

For a martial artist buying clothes, you're making constant decisions about whether something will look good, or whether you can move in it. There isn't a concrete line of which one you should select, this is a personal preference, however, if you're planning to take those clothes into combat, expect them to get damaged, and at that point the freedom of movement and durability start to become a lot more attractive options. Ironically, the original core of the punk aesthetic was leaning hard into that combat ready street wear.

So, yes, your character is giving up a little flexibility in their ankles, but not enough to matter, and in exchange, they're armoring them. They're giving up a little flexibility in their arms, though again, not enough to matter, but in exchange they're getting armor. They're not wearing form fitting pants, but the trade off is, they can move freely, and still get the protective benefits of those heavier, and “unstretchy,” materials.

Once you get past that, Muay Thai fits with a punkish attitude. There's no direct connection, between them, but the brutal nature of competitive Muay Thai does sync up pretty nicely with punk.

-Starke

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[fans4wga]

Thanks, mods, for running this blog and helping folks stay informed and sort through a lot of misinformation/confusion about how to support the strikes.

One thing that I think is confusing a lot of people: the guidelines on what “influencers” should and should not do are for *influencers who are in SAG* and operating under the SAG Influencer Agreement contract, or have the kind of career where they know they may be eligible to join SAG soon. This is a very small group of people (you have to have an LLC or be incorporated to sign the contract) who are professional influencers as their primary career. It’s not just like, anyone who has a bunch of Twitter followers.

It’s also my understanding that the “no promotions” rule is *for SAG members* (some of whom may be influencers) and specifically involves PAID work. Fan activity like fic, fanart, cosplaying for fun, reblogging/retweeting things about your favorite show/movie (even if those things come from official studio marketing departments) is not what they’re talking about. That’s all fine as long as you’re not being paid by an AMPTP company to do it.

Signed, a non-union sometimes film worker who wants everyone to support the strike but not lose sleep over whether it’s okay to reblog a gifset of your blorbos

Absolutely, and thank you for bringing this up again—it's causing a lot of unnecessary headaches among fans who just aren't the target for those influencer guidelines!

Where it can get confusing is that it's not necessarily paid work, it could also be unpaid work to promote studios, because unfortunately a lot of big cosplay/fan accounts wind up doing unpaid promo work just for the exposure. So SAG-AFTRA is also asking those influencer accounts not to do any promo work, paid or unpaid. But absolutely this doesn't apply to fans doing art and fic.

It was helpful for us to thoroughly read the SAG-AFTRA Influencer Agreement Fact Sheet here. It defines the SAG-AFTRA understanding of an "influencer". Once most fans read that they'll understand that they are not nor will ever count as influencers!

We're really hoping that the vast majority of actual influencers will support the strikes and not scab—and not only because it's the right thing to do to support current SAG-AFTRA members, but also because it's obvious that it will affect their future careers (and potential future membership of SAG-AFTRA!)

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #83

The power is out at my house. It has been ridiculously windy all day today, which in and of itself is a very nice thing (I love the sound!). But where we live, there are a lot of trees, and when there's a lot of wind and a lot of trees, there's usually a lot of fallen branches. And sometimes those branches fall onto power lines, and it becomes a big huge mess.

Oh right; you might be wondering how we of my world generate power. We don't have mako; if our planet has any lifeguts to it (it probably doesn't), it's so far down underground that no one can get to it (which is probably a good thing, since corporations in my world are A LOT like Shinra in your world). My state produces electricity primarily by hydropower (using big bodies of water like rivers to spin great big turbines), wind power (using naturally-existing air currents to spin turbines), and natural gas (primarily comprised of methane, it is burned to generate electricity). Encouragingly, we are seeing more solar farms lately (the power at my house comes from a solar farm); solar farms are huge plots of land that have big panels angled towards the sun, and when the sun shines on the panels, somehow they produce electricity. I don't know enough about it to explain how it works. Sorry about that. But it's definitely a thing where I live.

The power at my house has been out since 11am. And it is currently 8:30pm. And there seems to be no sign of it getting fixed anytime soon.

M and I sleep with CPAPs. In my case, it's due to the fact that my lower jaw is a bit too small to hold all the soft tissue inside my face (one of my numerous genetic defects; oh well). If we don't sleep with a CPAP, the airways close up when we sleep, and then our bodies have to partially wake over and over and over again in the night so that we don't suffocate. Naturally, this interferes with a person's ability to sleep. Sleep is when the brain cleans itself of debris so that our neurons can fire properly.

So over time, the damage from disrupted sleep accumulates and manifests as hormonal issues, daytime sleepiness, and a variety of other nasty things like increased risk of stroke or heart attack. Left untreated, sleep apnea can seriously fuck a person up or even kill them. And the scary thing about it is that you can have it without even realizing it. M had it for years without realizing it, until I started sleeping next to him and noticed it. It's sneaky stuff.

Anyway, a CPAP needs electricity to work. The power loss is localized to our community, so everywhere else is fine. So M, J, and I ended up needing to book a hotel room for the night, which is inconvenient and annoying, but not terrible.

Sadly, though I found the HDMI ports for the TV in the hotel room, the little remote that it comes with doesn't allow for changing the input. So we cannot play on the PS5, which means we cannot continue to explore the second part of your story today. But that's all right. Maybe I'll cut some bitches in Salt and Sanctuary or something. I like to run around in that game cosplayed as Julian Devorak, destroying everything with either a great big hammer (which looks like a giant meat tenderizer) or a giant pair of scissors. I can think of no game more perfect to cosplay as him in; it's got crows, it's got wine, it's got salt (Nevivon, where he was raised, was famous for its salt), it's got gold coins, and it's got danger everywhere you look. Julian is very fond of ALL these things (though I wish he was not fond of some of these things; he's maybe a bit of a walking disaster, haha…).

On very rare occasions, I do stream Salt and Sanctuary, or whatever else catches my fancy. You can find it here, if you're interested:

…I really can't stress enough just how rare it is that I stream, though, because I have too many other priorities. For whatever that's worth.

In any case, we spent most of the day hanging out with Br. In the afternoon, we had a serious discussion, but it was a very good thing which ultimately led to the strengthening of our bond (strengthening the bond and developing a better understanding of one another are what discussions are for, after all!).

Then, as per the appointments we scheduled this morning in service to the safety of our little polyamorous family, J and I went over to a local pharmacy in the evening to begin getting HPV vaccines, just in case. Br is a new addition, so it's important that everyone be very safe. J and I probably should have gotten this set of vaccines much sooner in life to begin with, but it's better late than never. Being conscientious and straightforward about this stuff is extremely important, because in a polyamorous setting, failure to do otherwise is a huge safety hazard for everyone who is connected to one another in this way.

HPV is short for Human Papilloma Virus. Most strains are harmless, but a few of them cause cancer, and the most common means we have of protecting against most diseases in this context does not work against HPV. So it's better to get the vaccine. J and I will likely feel like garbage for the next couple of days, but that is the natural result of getting any vaccination, and it's a lot better than the potential alternatives; conventional wisdom says that cancer of the orifices is not a fun time, and I'm very inclined to take this bit of conventional wisdom very seriously. It'll be 6 months before we are fully inoculated, but it's well worth the wait. After that, everyone will be fully screened for any sort of infection, and once that's done, everything will be good to go! I'm excited!

While at the pharmacy, one of the workers recognized one of the items I carried around. He seemed very excited, and he showed me one of his favorite items (an adorable soft plush! it was wonderful!). So we exchanged contact information. Hopefully we can become friends. But I recognize that I might end up being a little too weird for his tastes in a variety of respects, haha… That'll be disappointing if that happens. But ya know… I can relate to what Aerith said at Cosmo Canyon; I've never been and never will be "normal". But there are people around who love me nonetheless for some reason, so I suppose I might as well embrace it, right? Being abnormal is really not so bad most of the time.

I'm gonna go cut up some zombies with my giant pair of scissors now. But I've not played in a while, so I'm likely more than a little rusty. Wish me luck, yeah?

…Oh!!! Actually, J figured out how to get the PS5 to work on the hotel TV!! So now we can continue your story! Yay! Oh but, ya know? Do let me know if you wanna watch me play something on Twitch sometime. Impossible, I know. I know. But I'll extend the invitation just in case. Why not. Can't hurt anything to try, right?

I love you and I'll write to you again tomorrow. Please be safe. Don't do anything stupid to get yourself killed or get yourself stuck in some weird void where no one can reach you ever again. Please. Because you'd be amazed at the sheer number of people in my world who would do just about anything to spend an ordinary and wholesome bit of time with you - eating sushi, or listening to music, or resting outside with a book and some windchimes. Please stay safe so that you can experience things such as what I've described with people who know and love you.

Your friend, Lumine

[soleminisanction]

I just went through most of your character rants and analysis and I love them so much!❤️ It’s so nice to find someone with a lot of the same opinions as me, especially after seeing a good bit of Tim hate in TikTok comments lately. I love the animatics and cosplays on there but it sucks that it seems like it’s seen as cool to be nasty to Tim’s character over there, or maybe it's just the comments of the videos I get? It’s usually people thinking he’s a misogynist or that his character steals from and or makes other robins look bad to hype him up. I don’t get these comments because I feel like all of the bats have been written with misogynistic dialogue at some point, even the girls! I don’t understand why people latch this on to Tim as some big character trait. Maybe it’s some joke I’m just not understanding. Also with the bringing other characters down to prop his character up, isn’t that what pretty much every character that is currently in the spotlight does at some point (like Steph’s Batgirl run infamously does to Babs and Tim)? Why do they attribute this only to Tim? Also, all the robins steal traits from each in adaptations and other comic runs, again why do they act like it’s a Tim only thing? Basically, all the other Bats do what they claim they hate Tim for?! It’s genuinely mind-boggling to me!

TikTok's algorithm is the worst thing about that app, because it's got a terrible tendency to send peoples' feeds into negativity spirals, and that in turn fosters a community of people who are either looking for rage-bait, are mad because they can't get away from the rage-bait, or try to bait other people to rage because that gets them engagement. There's no way off the merry-go-round once you get on it either, it's just miserable; it's why I eventually had to drop the app and now only watch the videos ported over to YouTube or Tumblr.

For my money, the reason Tim specifically gets blamed for this thing that is very obviously a problem with comics as an industry, not with his character specifically, comes at least in part from the drama involving Steph.

Because see, defenses of Steph tend to start from a seed of truth -- she was the subject of sexist writing in War Games, both in the fact that they chose to fridge her for Bruce's manpain and that artists during cuts away to the infamous torture sequence (which did not need to be as long as it was) drew her in a highly sexualized manner. But some people took that truth and ran with it, leaping onto this frustrating, stupid second-wave feminist idea that women are inherently innocent and can only ever be victims of The Patriarchy and therefor if anything goes wrong in the life of a woman, it MUST be the fault of A Man. And since it can be hard to pin-point which comic creators are responsible for these things, the brunt started to fall on the in-universe men.

So all the men around Steph became scapegoats, and Tim is the man she's both around the most and whom she has wronged the most. And then that attitude got amplified by her Batgirl run, which does this really manipulative bullshit where it only brings up Steph's past in terms that make her look like a helpless victim with no agency, without acknowledging or even mentioning any of the things she chose to do of her own free will. It especially went out of its way to demonize Tim and paint him as unreasonable, judgey and sexist, because the alternative would mean acknowledging that Steph had done some really fucked-up shit to him in the last days of Robin, and it was in fact perfectly reasonable for him to want her out of his life.

But see, that would mean that a good guy (gasp) didn't like her. And had a good reason not to like her. And trying to write a character who rises to become a true hero because they're fighting to make up for the shitty things they did in the past is so much harder than writing a innocent widdle victim who only has the best intentions and whose only problem is that the world is unfair to her specficially. White women with no self-awareness can project themselves on the latter, but not the former.

Amplify that by the faction of Damian stans who treat fictional rivalries as Deadly Serious Business and the fraction of Jason stans who hate him for existing as the result of Jason's death, both of whom will jump on and amplify any criticism no matter how baseless and uninformed just to score points against their perceived "enemy," and there you go. That's what I've observed unfolding since about 2007 anyway.

[thefrogdalorian]

It's New Year's Eve and I just wanted to share some mushy thoughts about life and Mando and Din and how this year has been overall for me!!

If you don't want to read below the cut I just wanted to wish you a Happy New Year!! I hope you have a wonderful time, whatever you do to celebrate. I'm currently on a trip so I may not be terribly active, but if you're struggling and the emotions of the day are a little too much, please do message me. I've been there plenty of times. You're not alone. NYE should really be about looking to the future rather than dwelling on the past, but I know how easy it is to get caught up in that depressive loop of thinking.

But if you do want to keep reading, then strap in for some Oversharing Online and gushing about how much Mando means to me:

I first started watching Mando during the pandemic in 2020, I think the first episode released like 2 days after the UK went into lockdown or something. 2020 was an awful year for me, as I'm sure it was for so many of you. A lot of things happened to me that I'm still trying to process but I hope to start therapy in the new year and go some way to addressing it.

Anyway, The Mandalorian came to me at a time I dearly needed it. It was welcome relief from The Horrors I was experiencing. I was hooked pretty much straight away, who was this mysterious man? What were his intentions? Was he good or bad? OH WOW THAT WALK. THAT VOICE!!! I loved it, but it wasn't until The Believer that everything changed for me. It went from enjoyment to full-blown obsession. I couldn't wait until Season 3 aired, and I think the expectations I had built up in my head could never have lived up to the reality of what I felt upon watching it for the first time. I was pretty disappointed most weeks, but I feel so differently now.

This year has been pretty strange for me. I had some amazing highs (like being able to go to Star Wars Celebration where I got to see so many amazing Din and Mandalorian cosplays which was an INSANE experience and I still kind of haven't properly processed yet??) and also some difficult lows.

In June I finally got my autism diagnosis, something I'd been essentially waiting for for EIGHT YEARS. It was a huge shock but also not shocking at all. As in, I knew I was autistic since being a teenager but I was absolutely not expecting to be told right there and then at my assessment. So when the psychologist looked me in the eye and told me that I was autistic it was somewhat of a gut punch. Processing it was extremely difficult but during that time I found myself drawn back to Mando and particularly to season 3. I rewatched it again and again fell in love with a season that I'd probably felt on the whole underwhelmed with at the time, until the last two episodes, which I loved instantly.

When rewatching it, I noticed things that I'd missed before, which led me to become kind of obsessed with the idea of Din and Bo together. I know not everyone enjoys that but that truly is what I love about media, that we can all watch a similar thing and interpret it differently! I don't think I'm any more correct about the way I view certain interactions than anyone else. Shipping should just be a little fun, not ruin your mental health or dictate how you treat strangers on the internet. And it especially should not lead to any real world harassment of creators and actors.

So in September an idea formed and between then and November a 182,000 word fic landed in my lap. That's the best way I can describe writing it for me, I was so fixated on finishing it and the plot just kept coming the more I wrote. It is by FAR the longest thing I've ever written and probably ever will write, but the routine of writing it and publishing it helped claw me out of a spiral I was in after my diagnosis.

And it was publishing it on AO3 that gave me the confidence to rejoin a fandom space again. It was a big step for me to put myself out there but I'm so glad that I did because that's what led me here, to discover this wonderful community who adore Din and The Mandalorian just as much as I do. I'm so happy that I finally found my way here. It was way less intimidating than I ever thought it would be!

I know that I haven't been here for the longest time, I wish I just got over my nervousness and made a tumblr earlier in the year so I could have joined in with the hype before season 3. But also considering how poorly received the season was overall, maybe it was for the best that I wasn't here.

Despite my relative newness here, I just wanted to say how welcomed I've felt and that is a truly lovely feeling. Thank you so much to everyone who has interacted with any of my posts and especially my writing in any way, big or small. It means a lot to me! I cannot wait to be around for all the buildup to Season 4, honestly. I know it seems so far but after midnight we can say it's (probably) only NEXT YEAR!

I have no idea what 2024 has in store for me. That doesn't scare me, in fact I'm quite excited about not knowing what will happen. I

Of course, I have some goals I'd like to achieve for myself but whatever happens, I know that Mando will be there to endlessly rewatch and whatever comes my way, I'll always have Din Djarin. He's the only man to ever exist! That gorgeous tin can who instantly soothes me every time I get to watch his silly little exploits with his silly little son. Where would we be without him, eh?

Anyway, whatever you're doing tonight to celebrate and even if you aren't, I wish you all the best. Stay safe, enjoy yourself and I'm sending you lots of love and light for the year. May 2024 be a healthy, happy prosperous year for you and your loved ones.

See you in 2024!

Love,

Spud 🥔🐸

[lunawings]

Today was a big day for me.

After finally starting treatment earlier this month for the health problems I'd alluded to before, I've been feeling a lot better.

So much better in fact, that I submitted a very last minute somewhat spontaneous application to the Idol Showcase at Another Anime Con this weekend and... I was accepted!

The song I applied with was Analog Heart, my favorite Rina Tennoji song that I've been practicing on and off for a long time. (Pretty much ever since I decided I wanted to try IRL idol activities.) And I was really, really excited to finally perform it.

But, due to circumstances at my work impacting my schedule the week before, I had to go an entire week without practicing before the event and I found myself unusually nervous. Then, this was exacerbated by two other factors. First of all, I was scheduled to perform very late in the event for some reason (perhaps my bad for applying late) so I had to sit and watch so many wonderful, wonderful performers before my turn (including another Rina who did SO GOOODDDD). Meanwhile, this was all taking place outside in a tent.

In the POURING rain.

As I felt the occasional droplet on my head and watched the wall of the tent cave in and split open beside me I felt increasingly concerned that the entire roof would just burst open at some point to inundate us all. It did not, but one of the biggest leaks happened to be right on the stage, so when I got up there and saw that puddle it was like.... uurugughghg.

In the end I got through my performance just fine and everyone cheered for me! The crowd was so kind!

But

I felt my movements were a lot more jerky and rushed than they should have been.

Which sucks considering I was SO happy with my audition video. I felt like I'd finally captured the fluid, confident movement I'd been striving for, for so long and I was SO. PROUD........

I shouldn't be this disappointed in myself but unfortunately I am.

*sigh*

Thing is, this was supposed to be my last solo performance as a Love Live character. I was hoping that, after this performance, I would feel fulfilled enough to close that chapter and move on to the other things I have planned.

But I don't feel that way at all.

I don't think I'm ready to let go of Rina quite yet...

Well.

My next opportunity to perform probably won't be for quite some time, so I do have a lot of time to think about it. I can always learn new things and still keep Rina on the backburner if another opportunity comes up short notice. I mean who even knows when I'll feel confident enough to perform the next thing I've got planned anyway because it'll be even harder and more nerve-wracking.

So I guess that's where I currently stand as a soloist.

As for my group idol endeavors... we'll see :)

To end on a high note I guess I'll leave this photo. My friend was cosplaying Lanzhu. Lanzhu was killed by pirates. She died. I don't know if Rina has noticed yet.

[uncannysam]

PARTIES: @magmahearts, @uncannysam TIMING: Early December SUMMARY: What's supposed to be a fun hangout sesh turns serious when Sam shocks Cass with a secret she's been harboring. WARNINGS: grief tw

If it was one thing that had become valuable since Zach’s death, it was spending time with the other friends that Sam had made over the years, and even more recent friends, like Cass. And the planned get together had given her something to look forward to all week. Of course, anything that was related to comics and cosplay had been right up Sam’s alley as well, even though she had promised she wouldn’t take part in the sewing of her friend’s new Marvels costume she was working on, but Sam would put her hot glue gun skills to use.

With her apartment looking cleaner than it had in weeks, and Scout laying curled up on the couch, Sam was ready for her company. The only thing that might have been a bit of an issue was her lack of sleep and the rambling that had seemed to come from her brain going a hundred miles per hour, but that was okay right? As long as her foot didn’t live in her mouth like it normally did, Sam would be okay. But that was also banking on the fact that the weird shit that had been happening to the twenty-eight year old lately wouldn’t bleed over into their hanging out time tonight.

—

Getting to talk comics with people was always exciting. With most of her friends, Cass was very much in the process of converting them to her various fandoms. Some, like Milo, were already as deep in the world of superheroes as Cass herself, but others were just getting into it. She’d given Alex and Aria recommendation lists about as long as her arm, and waited with excitement for them to finish each issue. Even then, she wanted more. Sam was someone who could provide her with that. The two had a lot of shared interests. It meant that, when they were together, there was scarcely a moment of silence between them, each breath filled with rambling discussions on the latest issues or casting news.

So she was excited as she made her way to the door of Sam’s apartment, practically skipping over. She rapped her knuckles against the wood rhythmically, settling back on her heels as she waited for the door to swing open. When it did, she wasted no time, preferring to launch into discussion immediately. “So, I’m thinking bright colors. The movie was great, but I’m not big on how muted everything is in those movies, you know? Like, comic books are so colorful, and the movies are like ‘oh, no, it would be silly if our people who fly around and shoot lasers out of their hands are wearing bright red! It would —” She cut herself off, noting the odd look on Sam’s face. “Hey, are you good?”

—

When Sam heard the knock on the door, she knew it was go time. Her hot glue gun was going to get some use, but even better, having someone to hang out with again wouldn’t make things seem so quiet and lonely in her apartment. Sure, Scout was a great companion, but he couldn’t talk – at least she didn’t think he could. She wasn’t really quite sure anymore, but that's besides the point. Though she couldn’t help but glance down at him as the thought briefly crossed her mind, No. Don’t even go there, Sam.

As she shook the thought from her mind, she moved to the door and pulled it open with a smile, but the smile quickly faltered when she saw what looked to be a talking pile of rock standing in front of her. Which must have been pretty damn obvious, because when Cass – if this was even Cass – had commented, she blinked a few times and forced an uneasy smile on her face, “Uh, I…I thought we were doing The Marvels cosplay…not The Thing from Fantastic Four. But hey! If that’s what you’re currently vibing with…” Sam had completely ignored all the stuff Cass had been saying as she opened the door. I’m losing my mind. I’m losing my fucking mind. That’s what this has to be…

—

Sam was still looking at her strangely, and Cass took a moment to glance down at her outfit. Maybe she’d done a poor job washing her clothes. She’d been using the washer and dryer at Alex’s cabin instead of the stream lately, but the last time she’d cleaned this particular outfit, she was pretty sure she’d done it in the cave. Had she missed something? Maybe it was ripped? But, no — it looked fine. Clean, normal. So why was Sam staring at her?

The question, too, was perplexing. “Uh… I don’t even know how you’d cosplay the Thing? I mean, styrofoam, I guess? But I’d need to be a lot taller to really sell it, and I don’t really want to commit to all that right now. I’d rather just do the Marvels?” Why was Sam bringing up the Thing? In a moment of panic, Cass wondered if her glamour was unstable, but… She’d feel that, wouldn’t she? It took concentration to hold it up, sure, but it wasn’t as if her concentration could fall enough to be noticeable without her being somewhat aware of it. “Sam, are you okay? You’re not making a ton of sense.”

—

The look on Cass’s face had left Sam even more confused. Is this some kind of joke? Cass didn’t seem the type, but Sam had only known her a couple of months. Still she couldn’t help, but cock her head to the side and raise an eyebrow. Moving forward she even reached out to touch Cass on the cheek. It was legit rock. Firm and not giving when the twenty-eight year old pressed in on it, “If that’s styrofoam…How did you make it so hard?” This didn’t make sense. And as rude as Sam was being right now, she couldn’t get past Cass’s firm rocky exterior.

Hearing a couple of barks from Scout is what had seemed to snap her out of the trance she was in and also made her realize how close she had become to her friend, “Okay, I’m, wow, I’m really sorry. I just, uh…I wasn’t sure if this was a joke or…I mean, it looks great. The rocks look super realistic. You must have worked months on this.” Sam had completely ignored what Cass had said about making a Marvels costume, “I’m being rude though. Come in.” Her mind didn’t want to believe what she was seeing. She wanted it to be a costume, and that’s what she had defaulted too until Cass said otherwise.

—

Sam touched her, and Cass pulled back uncertainly. The glamour was only a visual thing, she knew; beneath it, she was always what she was. She’d come up with a few lies here and there over the years — a skin condition, a need for more lotion, all kinds of things — but with Sam already asking questions she didn’t particularly want to answer… She swallowed nervously, eyes darting down to her body again. The glamour was there, so why wasn’t it working? Nora saw through it, but Nora had always seen through it. Sam, as far as she knew, hadn’t. If she had, she would have said something before now, right? 

“I — I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Was that sick feeling in her stomach because of the lie or the nerves? Maybe it was both; a tag-team of nausea delivering a brutal punch. Cass took a step back. “Sam, seriously, you’re freaking me out.” Not a lie. “I didn’t — I’m not wearing any costume.” Not a lie. “What are you talking about? Please tell me. Please. I don’t — I don’t understand.” Definitely not a lie. 

—

Sam had felt horrible for touching Cass, and when her friend further explained about being freaked out, the twenty-eight year old stammered, “I - Uh…I’m…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have touched you. I just…Why do you keep saying you don’t understand?” Now, she was starting to panic. Was this real? Did Cass really have rocks all over her body? She had to by the way she was denying everything Sam had said. Unless, Sam really was losing her mind. The only thing she could do would be to actually straighten this out and have a discussion. That or slam the door in the girl’s face and never come out ever again. And as much as she wanted to go with the second option, she knew she couldn’t.

“Cass, please come in…We need to talk. I need to figure this out…I…” Sam was trying not to let tears come to her eyes, but the realization of the whole thing was freaking her out and now, with Scout barking, it seemed as if he was confirming what Sam knew was true in the back of her mind, despite how much she wanted to deny it and hope it wasn’t. But she wasn’t about to have a discussion about being made of rock, in the hallway, even if nobody was around at the moment.

—

“Because I don’t understand,” Cass repeated, a little bit of frustration bubbling up. Her glamour was there. It was in effect, it was hiding her from view. So why was Sam giving her the same look Kuma had when she’d stumbled upon the oread without it? The confusion, the fear… Cass felt a panic gripping her chest, constricting her lungs. If her glamour was messed up somehow and she didn’t know it, no one would want to be around her anymore. No one would want to be her friend, no one would like her.

She took another step back, still uncertain. “Figure what out, Sam? I — I have no idea what you’re talking about!” Nausea rose up, her stomach churning. Was it because she was lying? She didn’t know. She didn’t know if she was lying or not. “I’m not coming in until you tell me what’s going on. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

—

It was like they were talking in circles. Sam didn’t understand what was going on with Cass and Cass didn’t understand what was going on with Sam. It was frustrating to say the least, and she was starting to hear it in Cass’ voice. If Cass said she wasn’t wearing a costume, then this meant that she was like the other things Sam had seen around town. The unexplained that always seemed to occur after little sleep. How did she explain that to someone who swore up and down that they weren’t in a costume and believed they were normal? She had always seen Cass as just a human. Nothing strange, except for maybe her taste in comics sometimes. But then, would Cass think Sam was losing her mind if she told her what she had been experiencing lately? And did Cass know she was covered in rocks? Someone was going to have to give in, and by the looks of things, it was going to have to be Sam.

“Fine. But as soon as I tell you, you have to come in. I haven’t told anyone this…ever, and I’m not about to start with any of my nosey ass neighbors.” Sam took a deep breath trying to find the words that sounded the least…ridiculous. Looking at the ground, she took in a deep breath and let out a long slow sigh, before looking back up at Cass, “So a few months ago I saw something really bad happen to my best friend, and I started going to see somebody about what I saw, and I thought that everything was good, right? But I started having nightmares again and started, pretty much, not sleeping. Well since then if I don’t get enough sleep, I start seeing weird shit. Like people with horns and wings, and now, you…with the rocks. It’s like my comic book obsession has come to life, and I don’t know what to do about it…” She knew Cass was probably going to turn around and run, but there it was. The truth. “Please, don’t say anything to anyone…” Sam stammered before looking down and kicking at the floor embarrassed.

—

“Deal.” It was an easy enough bind to agree to; after all, Cass wanted to know what Sam was talking just as badly as Sam wanted her to come inside. The best deals, Cass knew, were the ones where everyone involved got something out of the agreement. But even knowing that, there was some part of her that would always prefer the deals where she was the one getting more. It was selfish and meanspirited, but that was her, sometimes, no matter how well she hid it. She was getting the better deal here, too. Stepping inside an apartment was easy. Telling someone something you’d never told anyone else? That was a lot more complicated.

As Sam spoke, Cass listened. She felt a mixture of different things: sympathy for what Sam must have seen happen to her friend, understanding for the nightmares that had followed, curiosity for what the lack of sleep had done to her, relief that her glamour wasn’t failing. She ducked into the apartment, taking a deep breath and motioning for Sam to shut the door. “I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice, shifting her weight. “I wasn’t — Um, I wasn’t totally honest with you. About the rocks. I can — I can tell you, but… I mean, I’m gonna sound crazy, so…”

—

A wave of relief seemed to wash over Sam when Cass agreed to step inside, but she still didn’t feel any better about the revelation of her big secret coming out. However, she shut the door and made her way over to the couch to sit down. If Cass wanted to follow, she could, but so many questions were popping up in her mind. Would Cass break the couch? Was it comfortable being rocks all the time? Was any of this actually real or was she just stuck in some nightmare of a former life she once knew? All questions she wanted to ask, but felt ashamed to, “You’re more than welcome to sit wherever. Do you…want anything to drink or?” Do human rocks need water?

Sam didn’t want to outright admit that she was a bit nervous. Never had she invited anyone that wasn’t strictly human. At least to her current knowledge. That could have all been a lie. At this point she was starting to wonder if Zach had been lying to her… “So…you’re telling me, you…are covered in rocks right now? I’m not just seeing things because I’m tired?” Sam let a yawn escape her lips at the word tired. A bad habit that had started to pop up in her life, since all of this started, “Sorry.” She yawned again, covering her mouth and blinking a few times, before setting her eyes on Cass again.

—

Already, Sam was looking at her differently. Cass could feel it. She thought of Kuma, of the way her attitude towards Cass had changed so quickly the moment she saw her without the glamour. Sam wasn’t screaming, wasn’t demanding that Cass leave, but she was looking at her differently and it hurt just a little, so she shrugged. “I’m okay.” She didn’t want to be a burden, didn’t want to give Sam any more excuses to hate her. It was funny — she’d met so many people in this town that thought nothing of her glamour that it felt strange to meet someone who considered it strange at all. She longed for the underreactions of her friends now, or for Alex, who thought it was a thing of beauty. 

She shifted her weight a bit, shaking her head. “Well, it isn’t… I’m not covered in rocks. It’s more like… I am the rocks. And it’s not just right now. It’s all the time. I don’t know why you can see it right now. You shouldn’t be able to. I have a — it’s called a glamour. It makes me look more… um… human. Because I’m not. Human.” She glanced up just in time to see Sam yawn. “Are you okay? You seem… really tired.”

—

Not human? Cass is actually made of rocks? Sam was so confused. Comic books had been one thing, but all she had experienced within the past few months had been more than nerve-wracking. She couldn’t quite put her finger on any of this. Why was this happening to her of all people, but regardless, at least it hadn’t been Deer Lady sitting in front of her asking her to pay her debts for being bad, “Does…Does it hurt? I mean being rocks?” She didn’t know what she was saying. “Look, I’m sorry. I’ve just...There are stories that my family has passed down, but none of rock people or half of the other types of people I’ve seen walking around Wicked’s Rest since this…thing happened. I don’t know whether to call it a gift or a curse.”

Sam squeezed her tired eyes shut for a moment, before looking back over at Cass. “I’m sorry if I seem judgemental. I don’t mean to be, but I’ve just never experienced this before, and all of this happened so fast…And what do you mean you’re not human?” She paused for a moment, “If I don’t sleep, I can see through, what did you call them? Glamours?” She sighed, “Aka…I’m afraid to go to sleep…Afraid that what got my friend, might come for me too or worse…Deer Lady…”

—

Did it hurt? No one had ever asked her that before. The question confused her a little, and that confusion was written clearly on the oread’s face. “Not any more than it hurts you to not be rocks, I guess?” There were probably ways of being that did ache a little, but Cass didn’t think hers did. The things that hurt her were outside forces. Not what she was, but other people’s reactions to it. “What… kind of stories do you have?” Maybe she could find some explanation that fit in with what Sam already knew, some way of explaining things that would slot nicely into her existing worldview. If nothing else, at least it would help her to know that Cass wasn’t nuts or anything like that.

“I’m fae,” she replied. “A nymph. An oread, to be, like, super specific. A rock nymph. Or, um, technically a volcano nymph, in my case.” How many times had she explained this now? She was starting to lose track. It never got any easier, especially if the person she was explaining it to wasn’t someone who already knew what a fae was. “What do you mean by that? What… got your friend? And who’s Deer Lady?”

—

Cass’s answer made sense. Sam didn’t physically hurt as a human unless she was injured or sick, which almost led her to her next question, but she refrained. She could see the hurt on the girl’s face. This had definitely not gone like it should have. They were supposed to just be working on a cosplay together. Not discussing what Cass actually was or that Sam could see the truth of what people really were, “That makes sense.” She nodded, before stopping for a moment. There had been many legends from her people, and sharing them could take a while, so instead, she tried to aim for something that might have sounded familiar or really just aimed for the first one that came to mind, “As for your question, my stories are legends passed down from my Mohawk ancestors that my grandparents, aunties, uncles, and parents have shared with me growing up. You may or may not have heard some of them, but one popular one, Sky-Woman, is about Atsi'tsiaka:ion, a celestial being who fell from the sky after being cast out the heavens for doing something wrong. Some versions of the legend even tell of her bringing strawberries and tobacco to the Earth.” Sam had loved hearing legends and tales from her family. Even to this day, when she would occasionally return home to visit her family in Canada, she would get her aunties to tell her the same tales she had heard many times before. But now that some of these things were coming true in their own ways, Sam was struggling to adjust.

“Fae…” Sam repeated the word over and over in her head, and the more Cass described, the more familiar it all started to sound as she began to recall more of her people's lore. She had heard of something similar, but Cass looked nothing like what she imagined in her head, “You’re Gahongas!” She figured Cass probably didn’t know what the word meant, “It means Stone Thrower. But you’re taller than what I was taught, and I don’t believe there was ever any mention of Gahongas having rocks for skin. I’m sorry for prying, but do you happen to live in a cave?” The legend had spoken of such, and if Cass had said yes, her family’s legends were starting to become reality. Her realization soon faded into something else though with the question of what happened to Zach and the mention of Deer Lady.

Sam stood up from where she had been sitting and walked over to the window to look outside. Did she really want to rehash this? Cass had been kind enough to explain herself when she could have easily told Sam to fuck off, “You’re probably going to think I’m lying, but…I’m pretty sure it was vampires…There were puncture marks all over his body, and he was as pale as the snow outside when they were finished with him…I ran though. I did nothing to help him…” She trailed off, tears coming to her eyes as she continued to stare outside, “It’s why I fear Deer Lady is after me. She comes for people who have been bad. And if you’re living proof of the Gahongas, then that means that Deer Lady is real too, and I’m never going to be able to sleep again…”

—

The story wasn’t one Cass was familiar with, though she wasn’t familiar with most human stories aside from the ones she’d immersed herself in on television or in comic books. She liked this one, though; liked the idea of something bigger than herself, just as she always had. For Cass, and the oreads she’d grown up around, that bigger thing was the Earth. The stones, the volcanoes, the mountains. “What did she do wrong?” It was hard not to wonder. What could be so bad to see someone cast out from their community? If Cass understood, maybe she’d be able to work out why she’d been turned away from hers.

Her brow furrowed a little at the unfamiliar word. “Some fae are shorter. Some are taller. Like everyone else, I guess.” She thought of the nymph she’d met in her cave, the one who towered over everything, or of the one at the BMV who was shorter. “I, um…” She hesitated. Would Sam judge her if she admitted to living in a cave? Shifting her weight, she nodded sheepishly. “I do, yeah. I lived in a volcano in Hawai’i, but…” There were no volcanoes in Maine. She used to think about leaving to find one somewhere else, but that was long before she’d made connections and carved out a place of belonging for herself here. Now, she couldn’t imagine leaving. Not unless someone forced her to. 

She watched Sam walk towards the window, wondering if she’d said or done something wrong somewhere along the line. “I wouldn’t think you were lying,” she replied quietly, trailing behind her friend at a safe distance. “I… Vampires are real. I know a few. So… You could be right.” Was it okay, telling Sam all this? Would she feel better knowing it, or was ignorance bliss? Cass didn’t know. She didn’t know what she’d want if she were in Sam’s shoes. “I don’t think you were bad, Sam. It sounds like you were afraid. Anyone would have been. Being afraid isn’t the same as being bad.”

—

Sam hadn’t expected the question of what Skywoman had done wrong, “Different versions claim different things. But it’s a story that represents creation and sometimes the contrast of good vs evil, because some legends claim that Skywoman had twins.” She took a moment. Was there still a lesson that Skywoman could teach Sam at this moment? Good vs evil? It was something she could ponder on another time. She had other things to discuss with Cass.

“That…makes sense about the height differences.” Sam listened as Cass continued to explain Jogah as well as admitting to living in a cave and once a volcano. There was no judgment from Sam at all. Instead, the more she knew about legends and the reality of some of the creatures in them, the better prepared she would be if she were going to keep seeing the world for what it really was. Turning around to face her friend, she let her eyes stay focused on Cass’s. She had seen what the woman was made of and there wasn’t any need to study her rocky exterior, “That’s actually really cool, Cass. Thank you for being honest with me.”

A small smile had slipped over her lips, eyes still holding lingering tears, but soon dropped again with the confirmation that vampires were real. Knowing that Cass actually knew vampires was something that scared her, “How…aren’t you afraid of them?” Had that been a dumb question considering her friend was made of rocks? Vampires couldn’t bite rocks. But they could easily bite human skin, “But I could have done something. I could have fought. Tried to get them off of him. Anything! But I hid like a coward, Cass. And then ran! I left him there to die!” By now the tears were streaming down Sam’s cheeks as she found herself collapsing to the floor defeated.

—  

Good and evil were difficult concepts to understand. Cass knew that. Even in the comics and stories she adored so much, there were gray areas. No villain was completely wrong, no hero completely righteous. The truth always fell somewhere between two extremes. She could only assume that the stories Sam’s family had shared with her were similar. Skywoman may have done something wrong, but it was wrong to cast her out, too. It had been wrong for Cass’s aos si to cast her out, to leave her to fend for herself as a child. There were no right answers; that was the hard part.

Sam didn’t seem to be judging her for what she was, and there was some relief in there. Cass almost took the thanks reflexively, almost tightened a bind around her friend’s throat before remembering herself. She didn’t want to do that to friends, except… except she did. There was something she could never quite shake, some inclination towards chaos that was hard to rid herself of. She forced it down now, forced herself to swallow it like a dry loaf of bread that she needed to save herself from starving. “You shouldn’t thank me,” she said, the words hard to force out because she didn’t quite want to say them. “Or people like me. We can use your words against you.” 

She hummed at the question. “I know some who are kind,” she replied. “Vampires, werewolves, fae… they’re like humans. There are bad ones out there, ones who are cruel and violent and evil. But there are good ones, too. A vampire I know has been more of a parent to me than my actual parents ever even tried to be.” She ached a little as Sam continued. Her pain was so obvious, so tangible. Cass was gentle when she spoke again. “What could you have done, Sam? Honestly? If you hadn’t run, they would have turned on you next. I didn’t know your friend, but… I don’t think he would have wanted you to die with him.”

—

Sam looked at Cass through tears. What had she meant? Shouldn’t thank her or people like her? This hadn’t been in the lore she had heard, at least, if it had, she couldn’t remember. She would have to go back. Call her elders for clarification. If there were more Jogah living in Wicked’s Rest, her sight would give her the answer. But she knew not all people were Jogah. Not all who walked around with wings and hooves and horns, “Right…” She nodded softly, forcing down the words of thanks out of respect for the warning she had just been given.

Sam wiped her eyes and forced back the knot in her throat. The confirmation of more than just what Cass referred to as fae, included a creature Sam was already fearful of and another she had grown up hearing many legends about. But Cass’s words, and the way she explained how a vampire had taken her under their wing was slowly opening the young woman’s eyes to an idea she let slip her mind the night Zach was killed – that not everything in this world is made of evil intentions. Though it’d have to be something she reluctantly experienced for herself, and with the way things were coming to light in this town, she knew it probably wouldn’t be far off. Until then, she opted to remain quiet on the subject.

“I…I don’t know. And I know you’re right. But I was a coward in the face of fear, and I’ll never be able to get the sound of him screaming out of my head.” Sam released a quivering breath. Cass was right. She knew Zach wouldn’t have wanted her to end up in the same position, neither would her parents. Wiping her eyes one final time, she slowly got back to her feet. “I’m sorry again, about earlier. This…new ability, it’s taking a lot to get used to, and it’s a lot to take in. Can you forgive me for earlier?”

— 

“I can tell you all the rules.” Because wasn’t that what she’d want someone to do for her, roles reversed? Whether she wanted to be or not, Sam lived in this world now. And living in any world without knowing the rules of it was a very dangerous thing, a very risky ordeal. Binds could kill people; Cass had seen it. And the idea of something like that happening to Sam, who talked about comics and made cosplay with her, was absolutely nauseating. She couldn’t even begin to accept it. 

Sam had been through enough already. That much was clear. It seemed unfair, seemed unjust. Cass had been born into this world and, as a result, the things she suffered made sense. They were expected, they were normal. Not deserved, she didn’t think — imagining that she’d somehow earned her experience with Rhett made her angry just to think about — but not unfair, either. For Sam, things were different. She shouldn’t have been attacked and victimized by a world she hadn’t even known existed. It wasn’t right.

“You weren’t a coward,” Cass insisted. “You saved yourself. That was the only thing you could have done. What happened isn’t your fault. The only people who are to blame are the vampires who did it, okay?” There were bad people out there. Cass knew that better than most. But she also knew that Sam wasn’t one of them. So it was easy to offer her a small smile, to nod her head. “Of course I can forgive you,” she said quietly. “You didn’t mean anything by it. I know that. It’s… a lot to take in. I get it.”

—

“You’re not gonna get in trouble or anything right? I-I don’t want to get you in trouble.” Sam had cared deeply about Cass. She was starting to see her as her kid sister, and now, an even cooler kid sister, because she was practically a volcano. It didn’t get any more badass than that the more it started to sink in. And as much as she wanted to tell her parents that the Little People were real, she didn’t want to break Cass’s trust nor put her family in any kind of danger. This town was full of scary things, and Sam was only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Sam further listened to Cass knowing the younger woman had a point. As hard as it was to accept, it was fight or flight in that moment, and as much as she had hated herself for it, she had chosen flight, which had given her a second chance at life. Now, the best thing she could do was educate herself. Learn more about the creatures and people of Wicked’s Rest, so she hopefully wouldn’t be caught off guard and would be able to do something about it.

But first she wanted to make it up to Cass, “I can’t say what I want to say, but you’ve really opened my eyes today and given me a chance to see a different side of this new world. It means a lot. And I would love to hear about more of Wicked’s Rest’s residents, if you have time. I’ll spring for pizza, and we can work on that Ms. Marvel costume?” She knew it was a lot and wouldn’t be just a one evening thing, but Sam had seen the true identity of her friend, and there was no doubt in her mind that Cass wasn’t anything other than her friend.

[dangerous-disposition]

WIP Wednesday!

So I was tagged by the lovely @scoops-stevie and why not get an early start on this fine WIP Wednesday since I'll be cosplaying Steve from peace of mind at work all day tomorrow

THE RULES

In a reblog (or new post w/ rules attached), post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can’t share from (for example, an event fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. If you tag me in your post, I will send you an ask request!

THE WIPS

i'll burn that bridge when i get to it

romcom!AU

transmasc steve's strap collection (i'll choose which one unless u know the specific one u want)

steve bingo (i'll choose which one unless u know the specific one u want)

askbox prompts (i'll choose which one unless u know the specific one u want)

THE SNIPPET

This is from i'll burn that bridge when i get to it, which is related to my longfic, i could be honest, i could be human

Since bonding with Dustin Henderson during the whole D’Art thing, taking him to the Snow Ball, and then supposedly saving Dustin from the fire at the mall, Claudia Henderson had insisted on hosting Steve for dinner at least once a week. Thursday nights were always reserved for dinner at the Hendersons’ house to the point that Steve never made other plans.

Usually, Steve would rent a video as he clocked out of his shift, and then he would head over to the Henderson household. They would eat like a proper family, then watch a movie together even though Dustin usually bitched up a storm about what they chose. Claudia loved romcoms, and Steve was neutral about them for the most part. He usually ended up just as into the movies as Claudia though, which always annoyed Dustin.

Then at the end of the night, Claudia and Steve would do this dance where she would offer the guest bedroom, and Steve would say he had to go home. Claudia would insist because she didn’t like him being alone in his big empty house in Loch Nora.

That’s where he would get stuck, because while he was omitting the truth a lot, he didn’t like to lie outright to Mrs. Henderson more than he already had to about the Upside Down. Steve didn’t know how to dodge admitting that he hadn’t stayed at his house in Loch Nora in months, and that his current sleeping arrangements were sharing a twin-sized bed with his best friend. Who had sharp elbows.

So, Steve usually gave in and would spend the night, if only to have a bedroom to himself. Waking up to the sound of the Henderson’s bickering affectionately in the kitchen and music playing on the radio was also… nice.

One Thursday evening, Steve arrived for their weekly dinner to find Claudia was the only one home and quite flustered by his arrival.

“Oh, Steve, Dusty said he had that funny club of his for that game he likes. I think they call it Hellfire or something like that,” Claudia explained as she beckoned him into the house. “I asked him if he told you, and he said he would. He must’ve forgot.”

“That’s fine, Mrs. Henderson. I’ll just go home—” Steve began and Claudia sucked her teeth and practically dragged him into the house.

“None of that, sweetie. You came all this way, and I still made dinner so Dusty could have the leftovers when he got home,” she explained as she lead Steve to the kitchen. “Now you get his serving!”

“Sounds good, Mrs. Henderson,” Steve said pleasantly as he sat down at the seat she gestured to. Looking at the pots at the stove, it was clear the Claudia had made more than enough dinner for Dustin to have food when he got home.

“How was work?” Claudia asked as she dished Steve up a plate of meatloaf, veggies, and mashed potatoes.

“Same old, same old. Didn’t get to work with Robin today so it was kind of boring,” Steve complained lightly. “Keith still hates me.”

“That young man will come around eventually,” Claudia said as she put the plate in front of Steve and sat down at the table with him. They were quiet for some time while Steve ate, and the quiet was comfortable.

THE (no pressure) TAGS

@patchworkgargoyle, @scarcrossdlvrs, @stobinesque, @inairbinad, @pizzaqueen, @legitcookie, @sidekick-hero, @thefreakandthehair, @starryeyedjanai, and literally anyone else who wants to do this. just say i tagged you!