#and the other half was just...a regular science book???

[greenfiend]

Mike and Will’s love will save Hawkins

Everything, and I mean everything has been leading up to this point.

Let me explain how the power of gay love will save the day…

#doorgate or #gategate

🚪🍑❤️ + 🔑🍆⚡️

TW: mentions of sex and brief mention of CSA

If you’d like to read this with a soundtrack:

So it’s been a while since I made posts about Lover’s Lake… and to be honest I thought aspects of my theory were kind of silly (but of course who cares this is just for fun). But now I’m back and more confident than ever that Lover’s Lake will be an incredibly important location for ST5, especially for Mike and Will.

To begin, let’s start with the physics set up within the show. Why physics you say? We are talking about the love of two gay nerds afterall (one of them named after a famous theoretical physicist)… of course physics is involved!

Way back in season 1, Mr. Clarke helpfully taught us how to create a doorway between two worlds. This doorway would require a massive amount of energy… “more than humans are currently capable of creating”. I appreciate the subtle hint of a possibility that one day humans could create that level of energy.

In season 2 we have Steve helpfully explain to us this alternate electricity exists. He also related it to a storm and then distinguished it from a regular electromagnetic field.

Now, interestingly enough within the book titled The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time (the conspiracy which inspired Stranger Things so much that it was originally titled Montauk), there is a mention of this type of energy as well:

“Reich was known in part for his discovery of “orgone” energy, which is orgasmic or life energy. His experiments revealed orgone energy to be distinctly different from ordinary electromagnetic energy.”

So to sum it up so far, we have learned:

1. In order to create a doorway, a massive amount of energy is required.

2. There’s an alternate form of energy known as “orgone” energy “like a sexual electricity”.

Okay. Now unto season 3…

So, season 3 had the Russians attempt to “open the gate”/door once again after it was closed back in season 2.

Back in 1984, the Russians manage to get the door slightly open but it keeps closing. The Russian working on the project begs for “more time”, shortly after (like right after the opening credits) we hear the line “just a little more time could open closing doors” from the song playing while shown a picture of Mike. Later on, we have Will claim he’s “not going to fall in love” and then the song plays “love that is new to you, you open up the door”.

We also get this association for Mike. Mike is the one who could open closing doors, in other words he is "the key".

Okay wait lets go back to the science here!

The Russians have "the key" which is said to "emit a great energy" so much so that it can "open a doorway between worlds". Alexei also mentions how the location of where the key goes matters, it is "half of the equation". They chose Hawkins because, the gate has already opened there. (I talk more about the implications of that here). In case you haven't figured it out yet, Mike is "the key", and Hawkins = Will (remember, Hawkins is not the same without him).

Mr. Clarke is back again with some more science! In this scene, he actually associates an Electromagnetic Field with two people! Implying that two people can create their own Electromagnetic Field. But of course Clarke-Byers' field is stable because there is no sexual electricity between them.

So…

We have Mike referred to as "the key". The key can create a doorway with the right location. Hawkins is the right location and Will is implied to be “Hawkins”.

Two people can create their own Electromagnetic Field.

Okay wow, are you guys still with me here?

These friends are indeed electric…

The very first one was way back in season 2. Mike placed his hand on top of Will’s and right after we cut to Will’s drawing. Look closely… there’s lightning! ⚡️ It’s “sexual electricity”!

In season 3, the electricity only grew between but simultaneously so did the subtlety of it all. They held hands in the movie theatre. Yes yes they did! That’s why we are shown a movie playing with hands popping out! This is what “triggered” Will (manifesting as a reminder of the shadow monster…). But most importantly… this is how the power went back on in Hawkins.

In season 4, it’s arguably even more subtle… but the clues are still present! Mike and Will lock eyes while the electricity flickers. Then we have the final scene which shows us a cloud resembling a heart above them with lightning! Heart with lightning… keep this in mind for later. We also have a very tiny “Live Mike” poster on Mike’s bulletin board… the association with Mike and lightning/electricity is clear…

Even in the marketing, the lightning is very much present. Notice specifically the lightning with the heart in the first picture…

Doors that keep closing…

The show constantly makes references to closing/opening doors. The gates opening are an aspect of this too! I have good reason to believe that this all leads back to Will.

I go over the door symbolism in this post but I’ll give a brief summary:

So far each time the gates have opened within the show, they have opened without Will’s consent. Now, I mean this on multiple levels. I mean this as the closet door- as people keep opening it by insinuating his sexuality. I also mean this in a more deeply tragic way. Child sexual abuse… to be blunt. This is why he’s desperate to keep all the doors and gates shut… even if it kills him. It’s a reality that forever haunts him, worse than any monster imaginable.

Will has such deep trauma that it manifests as monsters within the show. This is why I believe Will has been struggling far more than we are shown explicitly. In case you’re unaware, during the 80s and prior, there was a deeply homophobic belief perpetrated by society that gay people (specifically gay men) were predators. As a victim, Will is terrified of becoming a predator… becoming “the monster”. He’s frightened of himself.

I believe that… Will has been “pushing [Mike] away” far more than we know. He is desperately in love with Mike, yes, but the hatred he has for himself is far greater at this point in the show.

He needs to learn to love and accept himself despite all that he has been through. He needs to know that he is not a monster, and that his love and sexuality can be a beautiful thing. He needs to do this independently of Mike. Mike will be the key to his door when he’s ready.

To sum up everything thus far: doorways/gates require A LOT of energy, sexual electricity is a form of energy, and Will is associated with doors and Mike with keys. Got it?

The Russian Code

You may have already seen my post on this but it’s *very* relevant here so I’ll summarize (read the post for more depth):

The week is long because Mike and Will will be separated. Emotions affect time afterall.

The silver cat feeds the “silver cat” is a gate/doorway. Mike and Will are both associated with being a “snack” because they feed it sexual electricity thus causing it to open!

When blue meets yellow in the west. Mike will be stuck in the “East”/the UD, then return to the “West”/right side up to meet Will.

A trip to China sounds nice, if you tread lightly. “China” is on the other side of the “silver cat” doorway. Mike and Will will reach a new world through this doorway.

Again, if you think I’m reaching, please check out this post as I outline the clues in much more depth.

Opening multiple doors

As mentioned earlier, Mike is the key to opening Will’s door. This has multiple meanings:

Figuratively: Will’s closet door. Mike is struggling with his sexuality as well, but he will likely accept himself first, and inspire Will to follow.

Sexually: Will will open himself up sexually to Mike. They will have an intimate scene. I’m positive of this now.

Supernaturally: A portal door/gate to another world.

He’s truly the key to his heart…

What I theorize will happen…

So based on all the clues I’ve outlined (plus more) I will break down how everything will likely happen (leading up to the climax):

Mike confronts Will about the painting. Now, I truly believe Mike already knows that the painting and speech was all Will. He knows Will well. Will downplays the significance of the painting though making us (the audience) believe that he’s not actually still in love with Mike. (This could be why Noah now views Will’s love for Mike as a spoiler 🤔).

Will continues to push Mike away but more explicitly. Mike is frustrated. Tensions are high! Mike is “banished” to the UD, as well as nearly half of our main cast. They reunite with Max.

Will is devastated that Mike is gone. Will then faces severe homophobia and cruel accusations made his way (likely connected to those who went missing). Without Mike, he falls apart. The insecurities around his sexuality reach a boiling point for him. This will be represented by the US military closing off all the gates, separating half of our main characters from each other.

Will finds a letter from Mike. We (the audience) will realize (if we are paying attention) that Mike loves Will through the reveal of the “Love, Mike” written at the end. Will will not realize/believe it, but he is given the courage to fight on.

Will spends time with his mother and friends who express to him how much they love him unconditionally. As he starts to slowly accept himself, the gates slowly show signs of opening up.

After a long week of separation, on one fateful stormy night, Mike finds a way to escape the UD through watergate and Will is there to retrieve him. Will is likely not alone, he’s with the “right side up” crew on a boat trying to save those in the UD. Only Mike is able to get through the gate… (possibly through radio communication with Will, they create enough electricity for the gate to open).

Mike and Will are soaking wet and Mike is injured, thus he and Will make their way to Reefer Rick’s Lakeside House. They have to remove their shirts, and the sexual tension is through the roof. Will tends to his wounds and sparks fly. Mike reveals just how deeply in love he is with Will and how much it pains him that Will has been so closed off. Will turns away- not wanting to hear it at first, thinking he doesn’t deserve it. He doesn’t deserve Mike’s love.

Tears start pouring down Mike’s face as he continues to tell Will that he’s done with hiding, and he’s done with pretending that he isn’t in love with Will. Will stops, finally starting to believe Mike’s words. Mike, thinking that his words still aren’t getting through to Will, turns and starts walking away. Will calls Mike’s name, Mike swiftly turns his head. He says “I love you too” while in tears, walking towards Mike. He then kisses him ever so passionately! Mike is taken aback with wide eyes for a brief moment then is quick to shut his eyes, grab onto Will for dear life and reciprocates the kiss very enthusiastically. They go horizontal on the bed, Mike on top.

While they are making love enough sexual energy is created for thunder to erupt and lightning. One giant lightning strike hits right in the centre of Lover’s Lake into watergate and opening it up completely! The (heart shaped) lake is literally a broken heart resuscitated by electricity. The water from the lake is parted right in the middle (think Moses parting the sea… or perhaps… like a surfer boy?) making it possible for everyone to walk out easily from the gate. It opens it up SO much that everyone trapped there escapes. They’re all freed!

The sun rises, the storm clears, and of course- there’s a giant rainbow. Will and Mike wake up and smile more brightly than ever as they recall the events of the night prior. They walk out hand in hand and head towards the end of the rainbow. They find a new gate hidden behind watergate and descent into it together. It’s fairyland. They then agree to start their own party, just the two of them.

Fairyland/Feywild

Credit to @byler-alarmist and their post for bringing my attention to this very likely possibility.

The Feywild was a place of unrestrained and awe-inspiring natural beauty. The plane is always bathed in twilight of the setting (or perhaps rising) sun, with lanterns and fireflies providing additional, haunting lights. Visitors to the plane found that all sensations, both sensory and emotional, were heightened. Smells were stronger, colors were more vivid, and sounds were clearer, but at the same time shadows were darker and impulses were harder to control. x

Feywild is a location in DnD just like Shadowfell (which likely represents the UD).

What better way to represent love and acceptance than a beautiful green realm full of light? I assume that it will resemble the real world, just like the UD. I’m also guessing that Mike and Will will find the remnants of the old Creel house and rebuild it as their own castle/fortress. (Credit to @thestrangestthing89 for this beautiful idea.)

Rewriting History

After WWII, the alliance between the East (USSR) and West (US, England etc) dissolved and then began The Cold War. Leading to Russia and the US essentially becoming enemies. They viewed each other as a major threat to their safety. They also were in major competition with each other, specifically regarding space exploration. Each nation wanting to be the first to reach the Moon.

Germany was a nation that ended up being “split” into the East and West. The Berlin Wall divided the two sections. The song “Heroes” by David Bowie is about lovers separated by the Berlin Wall. In 1989, the wall fell and Germany was no longer divided.

Where am I getting at with this? Well, I believe that Stranger Things is both majorly referencing this conflict, and rewriting history. Let me explain. I think that the scenes with the Russians are representative of Mike’s struggles. He feels as though he has no choice but to conform- not unlike those who live under communism. We see he is slowly escaping this mindset, however, as we watch some of the Russian characters rebel against their government.

Yes that means- the US government represents Will’s struggles. They view El as a monster that needs to be contained/removed. This is exactly how they viewed gay people during the AIDS crisis. We see resistance there as well though… through Owens.

In Stranger Things, the gates are the Berlin Wall. Once they open up again (properly… with Will’s consent), the division between the nations will cease. The war will come to an end.

Instead of one nation “winning” the space race, Stranger Things will end with both “Russia” and “America” reaching a new world together- as Mike and Will.

All you need is love

This is the whole message of the show. So many times we let fear and hatred take over us but we must always remember… we can choose love. In a world full of division, we can choose inclusion. We can choose to extend understanding and patience to others who are different or who may hold differing beliefs. It’s all up to you. You hold the power. It’s your choice. Choose wisely.

[spider-man-199999]

No need to hide it

gif by @userjoel

pairing: college!Peter Parker x Fem!Reader; Post nwh; not too canon

word count: 6K

warnings: underage drinking for USA citizens; mentions of sex

summary: Peter thought no one remembered him after the spell, however you did, but not for the reasons he was afraid you would. Mostly fluff and slow burn romance.

a/n: I'm a sucker for college!Peter, I literally cannot think about anything else. ANY SCIENCE TALK IS A BUNCH OF BS I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT CHEMISTRY OR SCIENCE.

part2

"Hey, catch!" you heard a male voice from somewhere behind you, making you turn towards the sound. A brown leather football flew throgh the air, landing in your feet. You picked it up, throwing it back to the shirtless man that was jogging in your direction.

"Thanks!!" He said after he caught it, running off back to whoever the other shirtless dude he was playing with was.

"Yeah no problem..." you muttered under your breath, trying to hide how flustered you were.

It was orientation week at Empire State University.

The weather, apparently, was still warm enough to have people running shirtless around campus, and being the shy, awkward geek you were, it was hard not to get embarrassed by any social interaction, let alone one that included both sport and a half-naked man. Overall, orientation week was going well. You checked out a few classes that sparked some interest, went to the library, the gym, even got completely settled in your dorm room. Things were going smoothly, excluding the fact you hadn't really met anyone new. Most of the people in your classes seemed like they already knew at least one person and stuck to them. Since you were not really the type to go out of your way and approach people, it left you walking around campus alone, sitting in class alone and even eating alone. It wasn't all that bad, just lonely. Your roommate hadn't arrived on campus yet either, so everything felt especially odd to you, like you were invisible to everyone. 

Four days in and the long walks between buildings were already annoying. It was so easy to get lost or distracted on the way between buildings. You didn't know the shortcuts yet, so it was always a hazard whether you would make it to class on time. Miraculously you got there early, and gave yourself a mental praise for that. You didn't expect to actually be in a lab on the first day of class, and were glad you got there on time because there were barely enough lab coats for everyone in the room. You really didn't want to be the freak who wasn't wearing one. You scanned the room as you sat down on one of the desks, secretly praying that this class wouldn't require having a lab partner or work in groups because it was going to make you feel even worse. And as you were stalking the people around you, your eyes landed on someone who looked suspiciously familiar. He wasn't terribly tall, curly brown hair, one backpack over his shoulder, flannel shirt over a plain white t-shirt and regular blue jeans. You could recognise Peter Parker from miles away. You've never felt so terrified and so excited at the same time. You finally knew someone in this university and it had to be him of all people. He never told you he was going to ESU. In his defense, you couldn't really recall ever speaking to him. You used to have the biggest crush on him back in high school, but never gathered the courage to actually chat him up, even if it were about homework. He never got assigned as your partner on a project either (no matter how many times you would fantasize about it), so you just graduated one day and accepted the fact it just wasn't meant to be. 

But now you were presented with the perfect opportunity to actually talk to him and decided to take it. Unfortunately, the class started before you could approach him. You tried your best to keep your focus on the professor, but it seemed as if that was not necessary, he was only going over the main goals of the class and what books you would need. You sneakily looked over Peter from time to time, thinking about what would be best to say to him and not make it awkward. 

The class was over in the blink of an eye, which made your heart beat pick up because you no longer had an excuse to not approach him. There was a line forming around the coat hangers, which you thought was going to be the best way to casually start a conversation. You cut the line when you saw Peter hang up his coat, putting yours next to his and smiling at him. He smiled back when the two of you locked eyes. 

"Hey" you said "Peter Parker, right?"

He looked a bit stunned by your question. First, he was starstruck because the prettiest girl he had ever seen came out of nowhere and greeted him and secondly, she knew his name. And that was not supposed to be like this at all. His mind was rushing and calculating how it were possible. Were you a supervillain from an alternate reality trying to expose him? Or did the spell just not work on you? All of the scenarios seemed very bad for him. 

The way he just sat there and said nothing was making you extremely nervous. It did feel like a terrible idea now that you had done it. 

"We used to take Spanish together in high school." you added, your voice shaking slightly from the anxiety. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I'm really sorr-"

"Wait Spanish?" he finally said, his theories crumbling down when he realized what was actually going on. You were no supervillain, just an old classmate. Yet, he was sure he would have remembered you. 

"I really don't remember..." he continued, feeling his cheek heat up.

"Oh that's fine, we never really... spoke? Like at all, I sat all the way in the back and no one could make me say a word."

He laughed softly at your words. 

"Wanna discuss this over coffee? If you don't have any other classes?"

"I'm free, so yeah, we could grab a coffee"

20 minutes later the two of you were laughing over how ridiculous you looked in the yearbook. Peter was holding your phone and looking at the photo in which you still had braces on, your eyebrows were so badly drawn on because you thought shaping them with a razor the night before was a good idea. It was not, you shaved off so much from one of them you had to fill it in. And since it was your first ever filling eyebrows in, it was very, very bad.  Also, your hair looked like it was made out of dark matter, because you recently had it dyed black, straightened it and accidentally put a bit too much hair oil on it. You were definitely not having a good time back then, but it was a small price to pay to hear Peter laugh so hard. A 4-month accutane treatment to acne and taking your braces off could really make a person change enough. It was a glow up and Peter could really see it now. 

"Okay now that I've seen that, I actually do remember you! You're the girl that got hit in the head with a basketball while tying her shoes on the bench during gym! Somehow you fell back and got under the benches so I had to pull you out."

"Oh no" you whined, hiding your face in your hands to hide how hard you were blushing. And he was right, that really did happen once, and it was that moment that actually started your little crush on him. You were probably 14 when it happened. You fell under the bleachers and felt so embarrassed that you froze on the spot, feeling like crying. People came running towards you, Peter beating them to it, and pulled you out by the hand. He dusted your shirt off and asked if you were alright. To your teenage mind he came in like a knight in shining armor, and it made you fall for him, very hard. 

''Come on, it wasn't that bad!" he said between laughs, giving your phone back. 

"It was bad, like really bad. How can your only memory of me be my worst moment in high school?''

"If that's your worst moment, you were doing good."

You took a sip from your coffee, your finger tracing the rim of the paper cup once you placed it down on the table. You really were regretting not talking to him in school, he seemed like such a nice person, you would have been good friends. 

"Why did you decide to go to ESU? I thought you had plans to go to MIT with your friends."

"Oh, I didn't get in."

"Yeah, totally sounds believable, Peter Parker, the Stark intern, highest SAT score in our grade, didn't get into MIT" you said sarcastically, shaking your head at him. 

He sighed, looking down at his hands. His leg started bouncing under the table and he suddenly seemed tense. Now it really did feel believable, based on his reaction. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, honestly I was so sure I would get in too, but I don't think I ended up at a bad place"

"Obviously you didn't, I chose ESU, which makes it the best place ever. And now that I know you're here too, I get double confirmation for that." 

He laughed softly at your words.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few weeks later you were actually glad to have to work in pairs in the lab because Peter asked you to be his partner. 

You arrived just before the class started, sitting down at the table and putting your protective goggles on. 

"Sorry" you said as you sat down next to him, taking the empty flask that was sitting in front of him and immediately starting to mix the things you managed to read on the board. 

Peter smiled at you as he watched you, doing his own thing which you didn't pay too much attention to. 

"Roommate problems again?" he asked. 

Being lab partners meant the two of you had to talk regularly, which led to getting closer. You didn't know many people there besides him and your nightmare of a roommate. 

"You have no idea." you sighed, dropping a few droplets into a test tube. The mixture inside started smoking up slightly, you swirled it around until it stopped, passing it to him so he could heat it up. 

"What did she do this time?"

"Locked me in and took both of the keys on her way out. I had to call her to come back and unlock, she was pissed."

"Still don't get how someone can be so rude to you for no reason."

"I don't think she hates me really, she hates the idea of me. Not every 3rd year student is keen on the idea of babysitting a freshmen, I totally get that."

Peter wrote something down in his notebook after the mixture started bubbling up. You looked at it, brows furrowing. 

"What's the temperature?"

"140 F" 

"Peter that's not supposed to happen" you said worried 

"Actually it is, you didn't have the time to read the board and put only half"

"Oh-"

He removed the test tube, letting it cool down.

"It's okay, we'll just multiply it by two."

"Sometimes I wonder what I would do if you weren't here."

"Probably blow up the place."

You rolled your eyes at him before the both of you laughed, continuing your work. You tried being more concentrated now, and for the most part it was working out. Until Peter would roll up his sleeves and expose his forearms. Or when he would take the goggles off to fix his hair. You tried staring as discreetly as possible, but he probably did notice it every time.

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That same night was your first ever frat party. You weren't really a fan of parties, the high school ones you went to were boring but you were hoping that college ones were going to live up to the hype everyone was giving them. Plus, you were trying to make amends with your roommate, and she wanted some alone time with her boyfriend back at your place. The idea of frat boys really turned you off, you had seen more than enough of them in class and around campus. 

The music was booming through the speakers as you entered the house, people were everywhere. You could barely squish through the crowd, it was barely 10 pm and people were already wasted. You really wanted to let loose that night too, so you made it over to the bar and took whatever drink was handed to you first. It was vodka. Tasted bitter and burned down your throat and stomach as you drank it. The stress from university and the complicated relationship with Ruth, your roommate, were really starting to get you. Add your unresolved feelings for Peter to the mix and you really do have a strong enough pressure to make you explode like a time bomb. So, you wanted to take some pressure off by drinking and dancing. No one knew you here anyway so it was relatively easy to just do whatever you wanted. 

Five shots of vodka were already in your system by the first hour. The dance floor was yours to take. A red plastic cup in your hand while you were swaying to the rhythm of the song playing, boys were coming from left and right to dance together. And you did dance with them, probably even made out with one or two as well. It continued for what felt like forever, until 2 am rolled around and you started feeling tired and wasted. And the alcohol in your blood was about to hit you in the worst way possible and make you overthink everything that was going on around you. At that point you were sat on a couch in the trashed living room and some dude was talking to you. His hand was on your knee. You were too preoccupied by your own thoughts to even listen to whatever he had to say.

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Peter hid behind his apartment building on campus, looking around to make sure no one would see him as he took off the spider-man costume. Ever since he went back to no one knowing his identity, he had to sneak around. He couldn't risk any of his roommates seeing him accidentally so he took the costume off outside after patrol, shoved it in his backpack and walked in. If anyone was ever awake and asked where he was, he would say either the library or doing lab work with you. He really did use you as an excuse a lot to his roommates, which gave them all kinds of wrong ideas. He didn't share a bedroom with anyone, which made his life so much easier, but there was a whole other bedroom with two boys in it in his apartment. 

No one was awake when he walked in, throwing his bag on the floor next to his bed. He felt shattered. The whole studying and spider-man business was draining his batteries like never before. Peter lay down on the bed, too tired to even get out of his jeans. He was rapidly drifting into sleep when his phone started ringing. He groaned in annoyance, looking at the screen only to see it were from you. Peter quickly picked it up, any feeling of tiredness leaving his body when he heard you crying on the other side of the phone. 

"Hey, hey, what happened? Are you hurt? Where are you?" he asked, panicked. 

"Ruth locked me out again." you cried on the phone "She left her key in, she was with her boyfriend and they were probably doing the deed and locked themselves and fell asleep."

You babbled really fast, he was trying to understand what you were saying but it was muffled by soft sobs. And you didn't sound sober either. 

"Peter, you fix all of my lab mistakes, please fix this."

He wasn’t sure what to do, especially since he didn’t know where you lived exactly. There weren’t many opinions in this situation, he could either find you and kick the door down so you could get in your place or he could take you in his room and let you sleep there. 

“Can you tell me where you are?” 

“In front of my dorm?”

“I don’t know where that is, genius”

You continued sobbing at his words, which made him feel even worse. You were very vulnerable and probably scared and he was acting poorly. 

“Okay, okay, sorry, I didn't mean that. Tell me where your dorm is and I’ll come fix it, okay?”

“It’s the one next to the library” 

He hopped out of his bed, rushing towards the building. 

When he got there he saw you sitting on the steps, looking down at your feet. 

"Hey" he said, standing in front of you, his hands in his pockets as he watched you slowly look up to him. Your eyes were red from all the crying and your cheeks were still wet from the tears. Peter sat down next to you with a sigh, the second he did that he could tell you had been drinking. The smell of vodka and cigarettes were all over your clothes. 

"Hi" you muttered back after a while, not really sure what to say or do at this point. 

"So what happened?" he whispered to you, bumping his shoulder into yours

"I got locked out, again" you whispered back, looking at him. He was smiling, a warm, comforting smile that made you feel so incredibly guilty that you called him. 

It made you realize what time it actually was, and that you probably woke him up. It was the middle of the night, and you woke up the closest thing you had to a friend here to help you. You ruined his sleep so he could save you from something you could have probably figured out on your own if you weren’t drunk. 

"Come on" he said, getting up and reaching out his hand to help you up as well. ''Let's get you out of here" 

You took his hand, the tears were welling up in your eyes again as you looked at him. He seemed so tired, yet he came rushing to your rescue. 

He walked in his room, trying to be as quiet as possible. 

"Wow you have a double bed??" you said as you looked around his room.

"Oh, yeah" he said, blushing when he saw the state of it. He didn't really think about making the bed before he left and the bedding looked like scrambled eggs with all the pillows and blankets everywhere. Peter didn’t want to look messing in front of you but it was too late for that.

"Lucky duck" 

Peter was kind enough to take out some clothes for you to sleep in while you showered. It was a spare pair of pajama pants and an old star wars t-shirt. He looked away while you got dressed and helped you into bed after that. 

"I can't thank you enough for this."

"Oh, you can, you can do my calculus homework."

The both of you laughed after that. He grabbed a pillow and a blanket, with the intention of sleeping on the couch. 

"Where are you going?"

"To sleep?"

"Not here?"

"Well, no-.... I-.... Don't want to invade...."

"I feel bad enough about it as it is, please come sleep in your bed, it's big enough" you whined.

Peter stood at the door. He really didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, or crush you while he slept but at that point he was so shattered that the bed seemed like the best thing that could happen to him. You got up and pulled him towards the bed, grabbing the pillow and blanket with your other hand and throwing them on.

Peter was asleep the second his head hit the pillow, and you followed a minute or two later. It didn't feel as weird to sleep in the same bed as the two of you had anticipated. Maybe the alcohol helped. You were pretty sure that it was, in fact, the alcohol that made you call him, the one that insisted on sharing the bed as well. Sober you would probably be a flustered mess just from the thought of being in Peter's bedroom alone. 

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The second Ruth knew you had somewhere to sleep over, she took advantage of it. It was happening so often that you basically had a schedule when you would sleep over at Peter's. He didn't mind one bit because it was a reason to spend time with you. Plus, you did all your work for classes together, even in classes you or him weren't taking. So by the middle of the semester, you two were practically platonically dating. 

And it made you feel the worst and the best type of ways at the same time. You absolutely loved spending time with him and your feelings were only getting deeper and deeper with each day. Somehow, you still felt like you were taking away the college experience from him. He declined every party opportunity his roommates suggested, he rarely spoke to other girls and if he went out with friends from other classes, he would always make you tag along with them. Everyone thought that if you were not dating, then you were definitely hooking up, no matter how many times you denied it. Truth being told, it was actually kind of weird that you weren't doing either of those. And it got even weirder when someone else started expressing an interest in Peter.

Surprisingly enough, even to yourself, you actually liked going to parties. The alcohol helped you loosen up and talk and since Peter actually had other friends, now you knew some people here and there. You would always find someone to chat with at a party and you learned that socializing wasn't at all as scary as it seemed before. 

Tonight you found yourself at a random party in some basement of the dorm on the other side of campus. You knew that you'd be home late so the arrangements of staying over at Peter's were already made. As you were speaking to someone from your beginner-friendly biology class, a girl approached you. She was tall, way taller than you, had long dark hair and an amazing body. She grabbed your arm and said your name in a questioning tone. You nodded slightly taken aback from the interaction. 

"Can I borrow you for a second?" she asked, turning to the other person in an apologetic smile. 

"Sure."

She pulled you a bit away, still holding your arm right above the elbow. The whole thing was making you tense for some reason. 

"I'm sorry that I asked like this." she said, letting your arm go. "Actually, we've met before, I take calculus with Peter Parker, he brought you over at one of our group study sessions."

"Oh. Right." you did remember her now, but she looked slightly different with heavy makeup on. She definitely looked like one of the it girls on campus and you got the impression that she actually was. 

"So I wanted to ask if you and Peter were a thing?"

Once again you were stunned by a question from her. You looked around for some reason, she was making you feel uneasy. 

"Um, no, we're not."

"Great!" she said with a bright smile. "Do you think he'd be into me? He has this nerdy sex appeal, I actually really want to get with him."

You were blinking in disbelief towards her. This whole thing was really not making you feel well about your situation. She was gorgeous and she wanted to fuck your crush, it was going to end badly for you. You felt something like a ball in your throat that you knew even the gin couldn't wash down. 

"Well, good luck with that." you said, patted her shoulder and walked away before you started crying in front of her.

The whole situation really put you in a bad mood. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, but it managed to burst the bubble you were so peacefully living in. It got you wondering if Peter had his eyes on someone, if he was sleeping around with different girls, if he was going on dates. You kept imagining it, and drinking to try to stop, but nothing seemed to help. You couldn't spend every waking second with him to know, plus he never talked about girls with you. You didn't know who he was texting, or if he were going out with someone and not telling you. You were sure he wasn't because no girlfriend would ever feel okay with some random girl sleeping over as much as you did. Then again, he could be hooking up with someone, you were only sleeping over two or three times a week. 

You were so preoccupied by your worries that you almost didn't pick up your phone when Peter called. He said he finished whatever work he had to do and was going to come to the party and pick you up. It made you even more anxious. 

He walked through the door 15 minutes after the phone call. The whole thing was a sensory overload for him, the music was way too loud, the colors were too flashy, people were everywhere. He was constantly on edge because people were walking a little too close and his reflexes were being triggered. He hated parties. He hated the idea of you liking them even more. With the amount of time the two of you were spending together in the last few months, he grew very attached, he even developed a little crush of his own, but he was too terrified to admit that. Given his background and his secret, he wasn't too sure he wanted to put you through what MJ had gone through. He felt like it would be unfair to lie to you at the same time, it's not something you could hide from the person you're dating. 

People greeted him here and there, giving him brofists and handshakes. Peter really felt like a real frat boy, but he hated the experience. He froze in his tracks when he saw a girl that looked just like you making out with some dude. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, his chest tightened and it felt like someone set his lungs on fire. You were wearing black skinny jeans and a black top, hair was tied in a bun and your tongue was in someone's mouth. Was that why you sounded so weird on the phone? Was that why you waited so long to pick up? Peter was too stunned to even move so he just stood there in shock for a few seconds. He felt a hand on his shoulder, which made him snap out of it, turning his head. He met your eyes when he looked down, giving you a confused look. His head turned back to the other you that was still exchanging saliva with a guy, then back to the actual you. He finally started breathing again. Your outfit was actually nothing like the girl's, you had a long-sleeved light blue dress on that had a v-cut. It made you look really desirable and the way the color mixed so well with the lighting in the room, you looked like you walked straight out of Peter's dreams. He was practically trying to take pictures of you with his eyes for later. 

"What?" you asked as you noticed his stare, looking at your dress for accidental spills or any signs of why he was looking at you like that. 

"Nothing, actually." he said, taking the cup you were holding and finishing whatever was in it. He didn't really care what was in, alcohol had little to no effect on him but he liked to pretend. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You expected to go home shortly after Peter's arrival, but things didn't play out that way. The girl that talked to you about him earlier tonight saw the two of you and came over to chat. After 15 minutes of them talking and you awkwardly standing there, holding an empty cup in your hand, you were feeling more annoyed than ever. And pretty drunk too. You were already in a bad mood because of her, and when Peter suggested walking her to her dorm you just felt like crying. Your feet were killing you because of the heels you were wearing and you made sure to inform him but he seemed to have forgotten about that. 

And now, all three of you were walking around campus to get her safely to her room. You were giving them a side eye the whole time while she tried to scoot over closer to him. And when she said she was cold she could offer his flannel, you rolled your eyes so hard you got scared they'd get stuck and not come back. Unfortunately, they did come back and you had to witness him putting his shirt over her shoulders. Once at her dorm, she even had the audacity to kiss his cheek before walking in. It made him blush, and you, you were really about to throw up at that point. It felt like a very weird game of chess, and she had checked you in it. 

"Are you okay?" Peter asked when he saw how you looked. Gorgeous, he thought, but kind of pale and like you would collapse any second. 

"No" you said, your eyes meeting his. You could see the lipstick stain on his skin from the other girl and now you really did feel like throwing up. You were only 3 steps away from him and he made them so fast you felt like he teleported. 

"No, no, Peter, step away" you told him, your hand covering your mouth while you rushed to the nearest trash can and actually threw up. He rushed after you, holding your hair as you did. 

"You didn't look THAT drunk."  he said, patting your back while you were coughing. 

"This is so embarrassing" you cried softly, as if this night wasn't humiliating enough. 

"There, there, I hope you got it all out because I am not changing my sheets for the second time today." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm thinking about switching my field of studies." you said, looking at Peter. 

He took his glasses, looking at you in disbelief. He was sat at his desk, trying to solve a math problem while you were lying on his bed, playing on your phone. 

"Chemistry doesn't do it for you anymore?" he asked mockingly.

"No, I just hate spending so much time with you." you replied in the same tone, sticking your tongue out at him. 

It had been a week since the whole party thing. You didn't throw up at his place, but you did have the worst hangover of your life. Peter helped you through it, but didn't pass up an opportunity to make fun of you.

"Then why are you here? I'm sure there's a party somewhere on campus."

"Shut upppp" you groaned, throwing a pillow at him. He caught it mid air and put it on the back of his chair before turning to finish his work. 

It felt like it was too early to sleep but you didn't have anything better to do since Peter was so busy with math. You turned on your side, facing the wall, since you liked sleeping on the side next to the wall, and closed your eyes. You didn't know how long it had been but you were definitely asleep when you got woken up by a knock on the door. You looked up with confusion, half asleep when Peter gave you an apologetic smile and got up from his chair to check who it was. 

He assumed it was one of his roommates that either lost or forgot his key, but he was surprised to open the door to his calculous classmate. 

"Hey, Pete." She said "May I come in?"

"Sure-" he said, letting her in

The girl walked over to the couch and sat down. 

"Remember last week when you gave me this shirt?" 

"I do." he said, only now noticing what she was wearing. It was his flannel, with a belt around her waist.

"Well, I came to return it." she said, unbuttoning it and taking it off. She got up, only in her underwear and walked towards him, handing him the shirt.

Peter was so flustered that he had to stare at his feet the whole time. 

"I think you got the wrong idea here-" he started, squeezing the flannel in his hand.

"About what?" she asked, squatting down in front of him so he could see her, and, well, you know...

Just as he was about to move, the door of his bedroom flew open. You stood there, wearing his shirt as your pajamas, double taking on what you were seeing. You didn't think there would be anything serious happening, but the chatter was disturbing your sleeping attempts and you wanted to check what was going on. But now you were just frozen in your spot, staring at a half-naked girl that was on her knees in front of Peter. Both of their heads turned towards you, staring in the same amount of disbelief. It felt like your worst nightmares had turned into reality. Neither of you knew what to do or what to say and you just stood there in silence, the tension so heavy it could suffocate someone. 

"It's not what it looks like." Peter managed to say, holding eye contact with you. 

''I'm so sorry, I didn't know-'' she started, getting up from the floor. 

"I think I'll pretend I dreamt that and go back to sleep." you said, closing the door before anyone could do or say anything else. 

"Peter, I didn't know, she told me you two weren't a thing last week."

He handed her the shirt, not even bothering to look at her. 

"We're not. You can keep this, go home."

She walked to the door, stopping at it to look at his back. 

"I'm really sorry, if I can do anything, tell me." 

"Goodnight."

He knocked gently on the door before walking in. He saw you tucked in the bed, hugging one of the pillows. You weren't really sure what to feel right now and you were trying your best not to cry. It wasn't like the things between you had changed and you had no right to be upset over his personal affairs. Peter sat on the bed next to you, placing a hand on your shoulder. 

"I know you're not sleeping, can we talk about this?"

"Talk about what?"

"What happened back there."

"There is nothing to talk about."

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea."

You sat up, still hugging the pillow. You pressed the back against the wall, looking directly into his eyes.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why don't you want me to get the wrong idea? Whatever that is supposed to mean."

He looked at his lap, unsure of what to say next. 

"Because I'm not that kind of guy."

"Peter, it's none of my business what you do for fun."

"For fun? You think I do this for fun?"

"You're not doing math for fun, that's for sure."

"Are you always a bitch or is it a defense mechanism?"

"You were the one who wanted me to ''not get the wrong idea'' and suddenly I turned into a bitch?"

"Okay, I overstepped on that one. Nothing happened there, I haven't talked to her or seen her since we left the party together and you threw up."

"Okay, for some reason I believe that, but why should it be concerning me?"

"Stop pretending."

"Excuse me?"

He didn't say anything after that, just pulled your arm so you could get closer to him and kissed you. It happened so fast you couldn't really process it. Once the shock was over, you kissed him back. You probably looked like a teen movie kissing scene, you on your knees and arms while he was sitting, one arm for support and the other one cupping your face as you kissed. 

"I should have done this way sooner." he said after you parted.

[junosmindpalace]

Hihihi!! I absolutely LOVE your writing and i was wondering if i could request a modern setting senku x reader where they're academic rivals? Tho it would be cool if reader (can be either gn or fem!) was good at writing/literature and stuff instead of science like senku. I feel like it would be a silly little dynamic:3 Uhhm i hope it's okay!! Tysm in advance and pls take your time!! <3

hi hi! thank you for your request! i hope this is okay!

Though it often didn't seem like it since he is always so eager to indulge people in their scientific queries, Senku Ishigami is competitive.

This is something that his friend Taiju knows from all their gaming sessions, and later, this is something that is eventually discovered upon further watching him tackle tricky experiments. Never will Senku Ishigami turn his back on someone in need of help, on someone who wants to hear and learn more about science; but when a challenge presents itself, he’s determined to prove himself against it. Not for pride, but a sense of achievement. Excitement.

And for the longest time, you have been the biggest and most exciting challenge Senku has had. 

The same went for you. Senku Ishigami had caught you quite off guard when you first met him. An eccentric, brilliant kid who wowed you with his scientific knowledge and capabilities. And when he discovered you in a similar fashion, a sort of unspoken rivalry was established--

--If rivalry even was the appropriate term to use, because there was never any real malice toward one another, especially from Senku’s end. Yet there was this lingering competitive air between the two of you on who could come out on top in certain projects. This was for all classes and assignments. 

Jabs at one another was just part of your relationship (and sort of ritual, when in competition) with Senku, and certainly from an outsider’s perspective did it come off harsh and from a place of hatred. Any thoughts of malicious intent toward one another were instantly dissolved, however, when said outsider took notice of the way you two looked at each other, with not only matching challenging expressions, but genuine reverence and appreciation for what you bring out in one another.

Science, of course, was where Senku was primarily eager to take up a challenge. Though it was mostly him who showed you up in this area, it was you that showed him up when it came to literature. Reading, writing, communications; now that was your area to shine. It was not only this passion but your extensive general knowledge of the world (and what lies outside of it, which had pleasantly surprised Senku) and ambition for learning, forming relationships, and growing, along with your indulgence of Senku’s own enthusiasm, that made you so exciting to the scientist. 

If previously discussed outsider who assumed that the two of you harbored malicious feelings for one another couldn’t catch on to those lingering gazes and continued to hold their previously stated assumption, there were many other instances that could’ve changed their view. 

The two of you could often be found in a spare classroom sitting at the same table doing work together, asking each other questions and making conversation both pertaining to the work at hand and about whatever else was on your minds. Through the door that was often left half opened, passerbys could catch on to your enthusiastic chatter and get a glimpse through the long thin window an exchange of notes on the table the two of you occupied. 

The members of the science club can always anticipate your visits, your name and face becoming recognizable as a regular visitor despite not being a formal member. Nevertheless you were always welcomed in with updates on projects, and you spent your time looking over (primarily Senku’s) shoulders and having your eccentric friend eagerly walk you through his own recent work.

The school newspaper and book club recognize his face just as much as the science club members recognize yours. The paper has covered Senku’s eccentric projects a few times after taking up your suggestion that the work he does would make for an interesting article. He’s read them and sprouted glowing praise on the way you captured the thrilling essence of science so stunningly (all in an awed tone as he scanned over the paper, while you attempted to exude nonchalance with a shrug, though you could feel the warming in your cheeks give yourself away). The book club has discussed quite a bit of science fiction from Senku’s own suggestions. He’s sat through a couple of meetings despite not being all that interested in genres that weren’t related to non-fiction, sci-fi or fantasy. Still, his in-a-nutshell summaries of chapters and events make you laugh, and so he at least gets something out of them. 

And so when the misconception is eventually cleared up, the outsider can now see how endearing your dynamic really is; the fact that the two of you can get so into your competition but so very easily fall into a groove of working together. You encourage and build each other up to be better with your own work and questions inspiring him, and his inspiring yours. 

And ultimately this is what made you so attractive to one another; the fact that you were both incredibly dedicated, hard working and intelligent people. Now, it’s no wonder the two of you got along so well together 

(If there was something that wasn’t so endearing, and again brought up the point that perhaps you held some sort of malicious intent with your quips, it was when you’d combine your knowledge to gang up on others. The ill-natured vibe it gave off was unintentional on your parts.)

...

[captainsophiestark]

Mad Scientist

Kol Mikaelson x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2023!

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries/The Originals

Day 5 Prompt: "You're the smartest person I know."

Summary: Kol's dating a scientist who's buried in college-level work and more than ready for a ridiculous, fun version of science for a break.

Word Count: 1,685

Category: Fluff, Humor

Shoutout/Credit to The Scientific American for the info on how Mentos-Coke reactions work!

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"Darling? What do you think would happen if I made pancakes with Mountain Dew instead of water?"

I paused, my pen hovering over the page in the middle of summarizing my findings for a lab I'd been working on at my university. I didn't turn around to face my boyfriend, Kol Mikaelson, who stood behind me in the kitchen, instead just staring off in thought for a moment.

"I don't know," I said, finally turning around to look at Kol. "As far as I'm aware, water's not one of the things like baking soda or eggs that's insanely important to the chemistry of baking. As long as you have the same amount of liquid, it should be fine. Maybe a little sweeter than normal, but basically still a pancake."

Kol grinned. "Excellent."

"What exactly brought this on?" I asked, standing from the kitchen table in the Mikaelson compound where I'd been working and wandering towards my boyfriend. "Just out of curiosity."

"Well you see," he said, holding his hands out in a grand presentation gesture and fixing me with a giant grin. "While I was getting the ingredients for making pancakes, I also found Mountain Dew. The rest is history."

"Interesting..."

I trailed off as I finally reached Kol, stopping so I could hold onto his arm and lean around him to look at the ingredients laid out on the counter, Mountain Dew included. My eyes wandered back to my books, still open and waiting for me on the table. I had no desire to go near them again right now, and this was the absolute perfect distraction. I looked back up at the grinning face of my boyfriend.

"Do you need any help?"

Within half an hour, Kol and I's initial experiment had expanded to encompass the entire kitchen and just about every ingredient we had in it. The Mountain Dew pancakes hadn't been much different than the regular pancakes, so we'd gotten progressively more creative in our ingredient substations, snacking on our successes as we went. My books lay long-forgotten on the table, Kol enabling my chaotic science tendencies in the best way possible.

"What if we put pop rocks in it?" asked Kol as he riffled through a drawer of sweet treats in one corner of the kitchen. I hummed to myself as I mixed our latest version, with orange juice instead of water.

"I don't know," I said. "I think we'll just get little pieces of candy in it without the pop, since the liquid in the batter would probably dissolve the candies enough to trigger the reaction before anything else. We won't know for sure unless we test it, though."

I finished stirring, then wandered over to join Kol. He'd set the pop rocks on the table along with a few other types of candies, and now stood in the open door of the fridge. I rested my head on his arm and hummed thoughtfully, until my eyes landed on something else interesting in the fridge.

"Since you've been back in the modern world... has anyone introduced you to the marvel of Coke and Mentos?"

Kol turned to face me, eyebrows furrowed but a smile on his face.

"No love, I can't say they have."

I grinned. "Then I can't wait to be the one to show you."

I snatched the bottle of Coke out of the fridge, snagging the Mentos and a piece of paper with tape too before plopping them both down on the table where we'd been mixing our batter. Excitedly, Kol joined me, wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Okay, so first we need to make the tube to hold the Mentos,  to make sure they all drop in at the same time when we want them to," I explained while I worked. I rolled the paper into a tube, covering one end with my thumb and then holding it out for Kol. "Put seven Mentos in there, please."

He complied, sneaking one for himself and then passing one to me. I looked over my shoulder at him, smiling, and he leaned in to give me a soft kiss.

"What's next, darling?" he asked, his voice low. I leaned back into him a little more, but returned my attention to the Mentos.

"Now, it's time for the reaction. Unscrew the lid of the soda, please." Kol took care of it, shifting a little behind me in anticipation. "Good. Now, I'm gonna dump these in, and after I do we're gonna step all the way back, okay?"

"Okay. And what happens after that?"

I shot him a grin over my shoulder. "Science."

With that, I put the tube of Mentos to the neck of the bottle, then quickly moved my thumb and let them drop all at once into the soda.

Kol's grip tightened on my waist as he used his vampire speed to get me to the far edge of the kitchen, hopefully out of the splash zone. A moment later, the reaction started, and the soda quickly bubbled and fizzed until it became a geyser, exploding out of the bottle. Kol gasped from behind me as it hit the ceiling, and I smiled.

The reaction didn't last very long, but once it fizzled down, it took Kol a minute to let me go and move to meet my eyes. He had a ridiculous grin on his face that I quickly mirrored.

"That was amazing, darling," he said. I practically glowed at the compliment.

"Thanks! It's really cool how it all works, actually. See, carbonated beverages are full of dissolved carbon dioxide gas, which wants to form bubbles and escape the pressure of the liquid. But to do that, it has to break its bonds with the water and interact with itself. Because the Mentos candies are actually covered in a bunch of tiny grooves, it makes it easier for the bonds between the carbon dioxide and the water to break, making the reaction of bubbles escaping the soda happen at a much, much faster rate!"

I'd started pacing a little, gesturing with my hands as I explained, but froze when I realized I'd been rambling for more than a little. I turned back to Kol with a grimace.

"Sorry. I know you probably don't care about how it works-"

"What? No! That was excellent, the way you explained everything!" He grabbed my hands in his as he pointedly met my eyes. "Darling, you're the smartest person I know. And it's absolutely incredible. Please don't ever apologize for the way your eyes light up and your voice gets all excited when you talk about something you love. It's one of my favorite things in the world to see."

I started tearing up a little bit at Kol's words, and as soon as he finished speaking I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, kissing him, hard. He smiled into the kiss and wasted no time wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me tighter to him. Finally, after a few long moments, I pulled gently away.

"As much fun as I'm having... I do need to finish the lab writeup for my actual science class."

Kol sighed and ran a hand through his hair, then fixed me with a devilish grin.

"Fine. As long as you promise to let me know anytime you have an experiment to do that I can sit in on."

I beamed back at him. "I promise."

Kol gave me a sweet smile, then leaned in and kissed me one last time. Despite the homework hovering in the other corner of the kitchen, I could feel Kol sucking me in and distracting me to the point that I didn't care about my work. I was just about to give in, too, when someone coughed loudly from behind us.

Kol and I turned around to find Elijah standing in the kitchen doorway, his eyes scanning the disaster zone the kitchen had turned into. Soda still dripped from the ceiling, and horrifying pancake mutations were spread on almost every surface.

Elijah sighed heavily, his exhausted stare turning back to me and Kol.

"I trust that this will all be cleaned up before the two of you run off to other activities? Preferably sooner than later?" he deadpanned. Kol scoffed, and I tried and failed to fight a guilty grin.

"Yes, Elijah. We'll take care of it," I said. He nodded once, pausing to stare at everything for an extra moment before shaking his head.

"Good."

With that, he turned and walked out of the kitchen. Even without vampire hearing, I heard his heavy, long-suffering sigh from the other room. I turned to Kol and giggled.

"Oops."

"He loves it," Kol said confidently, waving me off. "We keep his life interesting."

"Well, that second part is definitely true. Come on, let's clean up at least a little bit of the mess. We need to do it at some point anyway, and I really do need to go back to my homework."

Kol booed and rolled his eyes, but moved to start helping me deal with the mess anyway. He picked up the now mostly-empty bottle of soda and held it thoughtfully, then turned to me with a glimmer in his eye that I loved.

"You know darling, if we pointed these in a specific direction for the reaction... we could probably shoot the soda at Elijah and the rest of my siblings."

I grinned. "We absolutely could do that."

We stared at each other for a few beats, nodding slowly, communicating without words.

"I'll superspeed cleanup," Kol finally said. I nodded.

"I'll finish my lab writeup as fast as possible."

"And I'll go get more soda and Mentos while you do."

I high-fived Kol as I crossed the room to retake my seat at the kitchen table and he turned into a vampire-tornado of cleaning. We had evil masterplans to enact, after all, and with the two of us working like a well-oiled machine, the rest of Kol's family and anyone else in this house didn't stand a chance.

****************

TVD/TO Taglist: @elenavampire21

[goblinhoursinsomniaramblings]

me last week: jesus i am bad at the task i have set out to do. what am i thinking, trying to write mpreg of the type i like. i'm just not good enough to pull this off so other people would like it--

me today: *jams out an entire part 1 in one evening after five drafts just out of queer spite and self-indulgence* be queer do thoughtcrimes

Part 1 of the Clone Gestation AU. expect other parts to have more characters, plots and dialogue, but I need the setup out or I'll feel weird about the other completely self-indulgent scenes percolating in my head.

Also: do not go into this expecting real science, you're getting comic book science at most.

In Vlad’s defense, the theory had been sound.

Every ghost had a… he had heard many terms, but in his research he had gone with ‘ectonucleus’ rather than the more colloquial ‘core’. Even his Plasmius form was no different, a shell of ectoplasm projected from an organ simple enough to barely count as such. Vlad’s human mind drove it, but many ghosts lacked a living brain to truly take advantage of their power. One of the many reasons he kept pulling off so many of his schemes plans in full. Ghosts seemed to be all emotion and obsession, no thought or patience.

The ectonucleus had many ectobiological functions. It processed ectoplasm, functioned as a rudimentary nervous system in response to stimuli, and most importantly for his current project, it stored what passed for genetic information–except instead of copying it into trillions of individually specialized cells, it took the information as a whole and shaped raw ectoplasm around it. Ghosts could even use it reproductively, something Vlad had decided to skip past with the cloning.

Though, admittedly, some of the early readings on the control subject’s cohesion had been… worrying. Which shouldn’t have been possible. The cloning tank was full of ectoplasm that had been subjected to so many layers of filtration he could legitimately label it as surgical-grade. There shouldn’t have been a problem making a stable filtration barrier between the ectonucleus and the surrounding ectoplasm.

He hissed as he felt a painful lurching from his ghost half, leaning against the occupied cloning tank with one arm. This had been occurring with regularity since he had first seen the decline in the results, and it really was not helping him solve the problem! His Plasmius side, as powerful as it made him, was maddeningly psychoreactive–it wasn’t the first time it had thrown one of these tantrums, and if it kept this up he would dig out those schematics for–

He felt it, before he saw it. A probe of something too aimless and unformed to be curiosity. He looked up to see the little ectonucleus up against the wall of the tank, barely outlined by a little firefly glow, as though it could tell he was there.

It couldn’t, obviously. It was only reacting in response to stimuli, extending feelers of presence, for lack of a better term, to decide if the way ahead was safe. There was no way it could fumble blindly to him unless–

A somewhat less painful lurch in his chest answered his thought. Ah. Of course. Ghost ‘biology’ strikes again.

No. He knew what this was now, absolutely not. He was already too emotionally invested in the outcome of this project, and the control subject was already showing signs of eventual non-viability–

And the smaller proto-presence flickered away. He felt a jolt as he tried to figure out what happened, but his eyes soon caught the faint glimmer of the cloned ectonucleus, on the far side of the tank.

Alright. This was… ideal. It was better to keep some distance while the process was still unstable.

And if his ghost half was unhappy about it, it would be so much worse if he let himself get too attached close.

***

Years later, when Vlad discovers what, exactly, ghosts are powered by, he will think back on this and laugh for far, far too long.

***

The ectonucleus doesn’t seem to notice him if he’s far enough away, even when Plasmius tries to signal it. Still, inevitably he will brush by the tank, or work near to it, taking readings on the purity of the medical ectoplasm or checking the integrity of the tank, and when he looks up–

“Again? Really?!”

The little proto-ghost seems to press itself against the tank at the sound of his voice. He knows it is just responding because it isn’t exposed constantly to his voice, making him new, worth investigation. But Plasmius seemed to respond like it was cute, and oh, he had no idea his ghost half had that particular set of feelings.

(‘Sublimation’ would become a very familiar word to him one day.)

He could reinforce the tank. Make it impossible for the unformed, barely-there clone to notice him. Maybe, in another life, he does exactly that.

Instead, he heaves a sigh, and decides he will simply have to make his voice less novel. Didn’t he hear somewhere, once, that speaking to still-forming humans was necessary for development? The ectonucleus had yet to project a human body, but it was a clone of a halfa, so perhaps–

He would have to keep an eye on the medical readings to see if this was pop science (pointless, in other words) or was worth doing, but… how badly could he compromise himself, talking to something with all the personality of an amoeba?

***

“... and that is why I even bothered to show up! Honestly, Jack should count his lucky stars he’s worth more to me alive than dead right now!”

The proto-clone glimmered at the steady flow of Vlad’s voice. It truly didn’t seem to matter what he spoke of, it just… wanted to be near his voice. Even when Plasmius didn’t overtly signal it.

It was heartwarming distressing how much he loved her already for that craved even that level of attention. How lonely he felt every time he visited Jack and Maddie, and came back with nothing to show for it but more envy fury over what he never had the chance to have.

Originally, the plan had been to introduce a combination of subliminal training, organic nutrients, and a rapid growth solution to the tank to get the clone close to Daniel’s age and development. But…

“Jack kept blathering on about old stories of Jasmine and Daniel. Showed me pictures. Showed me baby pictures.”

He had realized just how much he would be skipping. How much he would still feel had been taken from him.

He had quietly struck that stage from the planning before sitting with the tank for the proto-clone’s regular enrichment session. Not only would it have made him thoroughly depressed angry to falsify an entire childhood for the clone he wouldn’t actually get to experience… he had the feeling doing the full accelerated growth regimen would have irreversibly worsened the cohesion damage.

It hadn’t exactly improved, but regular stimulation had greatly lessened the rate of damage over time. The problem came down to the filtration barrier. It was the equivalent to a cell wall, and ghosts usually had a much stronger one around their ectonuclei than his the control subject was capable of forming.

He hunched forward a little when Plasmius again made his chest lurch unpleasantly, hand rising unbidden to his sternum. Oh yes, he was fully aware of his ghost half’s input on the subject. Instincts were a powerful driving force.

When a ghost reproduced, there was a stage where the unformed proto-ghost would parasitize the parent’s core, and siphon ectoplasm to produce a stable filtration barrier. From there, they could generally be removed and placed somewhere safe so the parent could get back to their usual life as it finished developing, filtering the ambient atmosphere of the ghost zone until it had enough power to project a body. Even into maturation, a ghost could generally fend off destabilization by placing their essence into something, or even someone, formed of ectoplasm until they could reform on their own, a reflex honed at that very early stage.

Vlad was beginning to believe his instincts were responding to a ghost too underdeveloped to form its own barrier. Something it might only be able to learn by example.

Vlad leaned his head back against the tank. He had not wanted this step to even be on the table. The control subject was still damaged, with no guarantee he could reverse it. He had sworn to himself he wouldn’t get attached without a guarantee of viability and this…

He let himself finally address it. This may not have been the same as the human equivalent, but it was so close it was impossible not to draw a parallel. It was essentially a ghost pregnancy, and the intensity of his ghost self’s psychoreactive nature practically guaranteed he would be thoroughly attached to this adorable awful little amoeba.

Perhaps he could do this in stages. Yes. Just a little at a time, until it could form its own barrier. Then, back in the tank.

“You are entirely too demanding. This is how children end up spoiled rotten, you know,” he scolded the single-celled nuisance.

It had the nerve to just glitter back at him. Such an attitude already.

He wondered if it was too late to go back to that tank-insulation plan.

It absolutely was.

***

He changed into Plasmius for the extraction. It seemed more conducive to holding something crafted purely from ectoplasm. He had barely placed his hand in the tank when the ephemeral little thing swam to him, settling in his palm snugly. He went intangible, and it hesitantly sank into his hand, then poked around, gradually finding its way to his own ectonucleus.

The effect was nearly instantaneous. A strand of pink energy wound around the little proto-ghost, and it let itself be cradled as the energy gently wove around it, flashes of light from within signaling a repeating cycle of weave, dispel, weave. Teaching it the ghost equivalent to homeostasis.

Now, however, came the real test. He transformed back to human…

And he still felt the new dimension to his so-called ‘core’, almost equivalent to a heartbeat. It was capable of existing flush with Plasmius, wherever his ghostly side rested when he was human again.

This felt promising. He didn’t exactly trust that.

He was so very tired of broken promises.

***

He still spoke to it. It had become a bonding exercise habit by this point. He would be sending email, or reading, or combing through footage from his many invasive discreet hidden cameras, and find himself talking as though it were listening. He listened back, as well, for the steady pulse of energy in, energy scattered, outlining the gradually strengthening core ectonucleus of his child control subject.

The only step left was to remove it as a ghost would and see if it learned to make a barrier on its own.

***

He may have put off the removal too long.

Those early reports of cohesion damage may have swayed his decision a little more than he wanted to admit. It was just easier… not knowing, until he was certain it could do this very basic thing. He would be staring at the tank, having gone to his lab specifically to see if it could function away from him like it would as a developing ghost and some new variable would come to him.

He should do a full cycling of the medical ectoplasm, just to be sure it’s as clean as possible for reintroduction.

He should make sure he has some emergency supplies on hand for his ghost side, just in case Plasmius fights him on this subconsciously and damages something.

He should go over lab security just in case, check the footage.

Really, it’s been too long since the tanks had a full maintenance cycle.

He had felt his ectonucleus shifting position a little. He needs to wait until it settles for a while.

(He really should have paid attention to where, exactly, his core was traveling to.)

On, and on, just him and the pulse of ectoplasm signaling all was, currently well. Although it did catch his attention that his ghost self seemed to be siphoning off some ectoplasm somewhere, even when he was human, that wasn’t accounted for in the energy transfer of barrier formation. It seemed to be evenly distributed over his entire body, some odd ectoplasmic underpinning to his circulatory system.

Initially, he just wrote it off as some sort of mapping of his human body. After all, the proto-clone was a halfa. It would need some extra education for when it projected a human body. There were some ‘vessels’ that terminated abruptly, but he couldn’t see to what purpose. Maybe it was waiting for something else to be finished, once it got enough of a boost.

He would have plenty of time to get the child control subject back in the tank, given the rate of growth.

***

He hadn’t been expecting a flare-up of his ecto-acne. He certainly wasn’t expecting it to behave extremely differently from every time previously. Truthfully, he only guessed what it was because on examination in the mirror, his eyes were glowing and spots appeared on his face. Itchy, awful, conspicuous spots.

No ectoplasm in them, however. Odd.

Almost like something was siphoning it off before it could–

***

By the time the Fentons helped him confirm his suspicion–and was that ever an awkward encounter–it was far too late to correct course. Well, technically, he could have worked something out. If anyone could have, he could.

‘Would’ was another matter entirely, though. Blame loneliness, a long-thwarted desire for family, age, loneliness, sentimentality, loneliness.

If going from a ghost pregnancy to an actual pregnancy was the price to pay for finally feeling connected to someone?

He had finally gone long enough without to do anything for that feeling. Up to and including planning the murder of anyone stupid brave enough to tell him otherwise.

Though he would have appreciated a warning about the word ‘clone’ no longer applying.

***

@vladdyissues I DID THE FUCKING THING i have no idea if you'll find introspective yet still in denial vlad being tsundere about wanting to be pregnant and getting hopelessly attached to as yet unnamed Dani nearly as appealing as I do but I still thank you for prodding me to do this fucker regardless

-manifesting a complete lack of fucks for the gender binary through a cis male character who would willingly be pregnant to have a kid ain't the usual way but fuck it, that's my coping method right now

[lyralit]

4.1.24 - the importance of learning new things

As much as I think academic & work focus is incredibly important going into the new year, one of my other goals is to practice doing more: to learn all of the things I want to do, in addition to work, in addition to writing. I want to know how to do thousands of little things, and I think the longer we wait, the less likely we are to do them.

Picking up a new hobby doesn't have to be buying a dozen textbooks and spending hundreds of dollars on lessons because you might have the slightest interest: it can be from whatever you have here, now, and you'll never learn if you don't get started.

Some of the things I've been getting into (as I've mentioned before) are baking & crocheting. it just feels so cozy and nice & I love the idea of comfort.

here is a list of things I want to / you should try that's new!

learning a new language. fifteen minutes a day, I kid you not. I'm learning latin on duolingo and I don't ever think about it, but when I do it (25 day streak 💪🏻), I'm starting to notice my improvements

consuming good media. and that's not scrolling for half an hour on tumblr. it's books—deep ones and silly ones and ones about romance and dragons and apocalypses. it's movies! I watched keira knightley's pride and prejudice twice in the last few months, and also three men and a baby which is something I never thought I would watch, but it was quite funny I think. and I learn from it: I cannot write humour or romance for the life of me, so it's basically studying to write (is the self-gaslighting too evident?)

learning to crochet. I made a silly little headband today, after scrolling through pinterest and desperately wanting one. I started crocheting in december to give as gifts (I completed none of my wips, much like when I write) and used the tools I had around me: an old rainbow loom hook and whatever string I could find. now I'm proud to say I can read somewhat fluently crochet acronyms.

baking. I keep saying this. I know. but when I tell you a two years ago I was exploding cupcakes in the oven and last month I made bakery-style cookies...I made bread! a loaf of bread! (in a bread machine, but it's so good and I instantly made another. there is one in the bread machine right now). honestly it just made me feel that much better about improvement, and trying new things, and that is the mindset I want for the new year.

learning to code. in all honesty, I never thought I was a compsci - engineer kind of person. then this year, out of sudden (masterminded) urges, I joined a bunch of tech and robotics initiatives, and maybe it's the sense of community (I can rejoice in finding another nerdy group) but now I am happily chauffeuring myself to these meetings 4h a week. I'm looking into pursuing more into the fields of eng and science. and I'm learning some code from one of the friends I've made!

starting a blog. ...I know most of the people who linger around my blog stay for the writing content (the last posts have turned this writerblr into a digital diary, and I'm only half sorry for that). but since I've joined tumblr (almost three years ago now!) I've got to meet so many wonderful people (including you!) and want to try so many things.

and I get it. it's overwhelming. so here are some starting goals that maybe I'll try also.

start doing art. -> make a card for someone as a gift.

learn a new sport & start exercising. (I'm trying out track & field in the spring, so stay tuned to figure out how that goes) -> see if someone will come play ball with you. do 1 or 2 youtube workout videos a week.

film videos of your daily life. it doesn't need to be for posting! -> edit together clips you've taken for a last year recape.

start a scrapbook. -> print out photos and dig up construction paper. decorate a page.

make a poetry journal. -> go on pinterest to read poetry! pin styles you like and set fifteen minutes to writing.

make a regular journal! -> write once a day. just try: goals for the day in the morning, or a recap at night.

try your hand at gardening. -> research plants that grow well in your region. see if any of the seeds you may have at home are useful. water your lawn. buy a plant and try to keep it alive (set reminders, leave it in front of your sink)

learn to make candles. -> watch a youtube tutorial. see if you can play around with candles you already have.

play chess. -> see if someone will play chess with you. no? chess.com is right there. go make an account. go find a stranger.

learn to play an instrument off youtube. -> maybe you have a piano sitting around, or a guitar you've never touched. you don't even need to master it. pick a song you like and google that. no instrument? maybe there's a way to play drums with home items.

go for a run. -> once a week. a set time. just shoes and the outdoors. too cold? go to a gym and use a treadmill. maybe that's not possible? skip rope.

start / join a book club. -> just you, or some close friends, or people online. a book a month. talk about it.

** on that note, would anyone like to join a tumblr book club? slide into my asks and maybe we can get a blog list!

thank you for reading again <3 until next time.

k.

[academicgremlinhehe]

14th november, thursday

children's day

so like.. let's just ignore how i have't been active for quite a bit. depression fucking sucks. in desperate need of a reality check cuz wdym my next periodic tests are a month away?? i was chilling in my dussehra holidays just last week (it's been a month). less depressing fanfiction, more textbooks :(

i'm going to be trying to get back into the flow from tmr!! for the past few days i've only been up-to-date with notes & submissions and that's it. i haven't done any more actual "studying". i just need to make more time for it & get through it. i like my subjects & i'm gonna continue reminding myself that i actually love what i'm learning, even when it's difficult.

soooooo, today was children's day! we didn't have to wear our uniforms and omg everyone looked so good!! like the way everyone styled their different clothes & accessories was all so pretty! we had a special assembly at school at first where our teachers danced too. we were supposed to have the first half of our regular classes but our teachers mostly let us pass our time. me & my friends were just talking & snacking the entire time (a few pics were also taken!). i usually don't get my phone to school cuz my dad directly drops & picks me up, but today i took my phone to school to take pictures! (technically my mom's, i don't actually have my own phone). then our two classes were combined (science+commerce) & our class teachers conducted a few simple games. mostly simple fun stuff involving cups & balloons. before leaving me & my friend managed to click a few more pics. then i got home & fell asleep for a few hours lol (gimme a break i got around 5 hrs of sleep. also i somehow woke up around 5:45 a.m.! i barely get myself to get out of bed at 7:30 on other days)

today was really fun tbh. like me & this one friend mostly just yapped but i'm feeling so grateful for her<3 met her on the third day of school this year & suddenly it's been more than 5 months & the only constant is that we're both always yapping in our classes. yk when u find someone u can joke around with & tease yet also have deep conversations about stuff like humanity, art, politics, religion, career, our futures, marriage, etc. we have a lot in common too (introverts, book lovers, weird relationship with parents, love writing). feels like she just gets me yk. it's really nice..

[1ovemelikeasailor]

Savior pt.3

Play the song or i stop writing AND KMS

"Sailor Song" -Gigi Perez

Summary: no matter how much Jenna wants to escape her sexuality, she can't, or can she?

Jenna Ortega x Female reader

Check out the other parts for more info!

-

No one's POV:

Wednesday

Y/n walked into her science class sitting by Mason.

"I dread this class." Y/n says to Mason putting her book bag down.

"You and me both." Mason groans. The teacher begins talking, starting the lesson.

About midway through Y/n has to use the bathroom. She raises her hand.

"Can I go to the bathroom miss?" Y/n asks putting her phone into her pocket. The teacher nods, and she's off.

She walks the schools halls to the closest girls bathroom. She eventually gets there walking extra slow so she doesn't have to go back to science so soon.

She pulls out her phone getting into the bathroom. Unconsciously, she walks into a stall going to pee. Just as she was she heard sounds from a few stalls to her right. She puts her phone in her pocket confused. The person sniffles.

Y/n knows whats happening. She has to say something.

"Uh—" She tries thinking of what to say. "Tough day?"

The sniffles stop. It's dead silent, as Y/n waits for a response.

"Something like that." The person responds. Y/n immediately recognizes its Jenna.

She whispers a curse word to herself. She can't be talking to Jenna Ortega. She's not suppose to. She a self centered idiotic bitch. At least—that's what she's suppose to be. Y/n knows she can't just leave her like this.

"You okay, Jen?" Y/n barely says loud enough. Jenna's heart flutters in a weird way from the nickname. She doesn't like it—she's not suppose to like it.

"Don't call me that."

Y/n sighs.

"Got it." Y/n walks out of the restroom forgetting about Jenna.

Jenna doesn't want her help, and it's clear, so why should she keep trying?

-

Thursday

It’s Thursday, which means Jenna has cheer practice.

The cheer practice that was already over about an hour ago.

But still, she waited. She waited in your guys spot.

She could say she waited there for a-bit, but it wasn’t a bit, it was hours. It felt like a-bit to her.

She stayed there for who knows how long. She didn’t even know why she was there—I mean she knew, she just didn’t want to.

She stares at the spot you sat at when she scared you, she smiles a-bit. It immediately drops, rubbing the golden cross necklace on her cold hands.

No. She says to herself. Stop.

She gets up after a few hours of just day dreaming, not looking at anything else but the part of the bleachers she saw.

She looks at her phone seeing missed calls from her mom and dad.

She was in deep shit, for sure.

Jenna got up still looking—she looked for Y/n. She knew she shouldn’t, but she also knew she couldn’t help it.

-

Saturday

Y/n sat there at church, her usual spot. She knew the part of the wooden chair like the back of her hand. Shes sat there for half of her life. That spot, that same exact spot.

Y/n feels the wood, remembering every part. She had explored it countless times she got bored of the pastors speeches. She couldn’t help it.

Jenna sat in her regular seat which was across the seat Y/n sat in. Jenna didn’t look at Y/n at all, trying to keep her promises to God. This isn’t Jenna, this isn’t her at all.

It’s just a phase…, right?

She pays attention to every single word the pastor says—you could say she was the exact opposite of Y/n. She wore a nice white simple white dress going down to her calves. Her mom smiles at the pastor taking every word in.

This was the life she’s suppose to live. A God surrounding life, marrying a man, having kids, staying at home, being a mans service.

…right?

Eventually church gets done after a few hours. Y/n finally stands up stretching, she yawns as well making her mom hit her in the arm. She immediately stops yawning and straightens up.

From afar, Jenna’s watching. She watches as Y/n’s mom hits her arm for being sloppy. She lets out a laugh, smiling. She see’s her roll her eyes at her mom when she has her back turned.

“Jenna?” Natalie calls out to her daughter.

“Yes, mom?” Jenna snaps out of it, looking directly at her mother, as she stands up.

“What’re you smiling at?” She raises her eyebrows “A cute bo?.” Natalie lets out a grin, it makes Jenna’s shoulders fall.

“Oh, uh, no. Just thinking about a moment with the girls.” Jenna responds trying to bypass the moment.

-

Monday

Y/n sat on the highest bleachers, looking over her high-schools football field.

It was after cheer practice, Y/n knew that, but she didn’t care.

Her headphones blasting music as she wrote some stupid essay for her english class.

She looses her attention when she feels a presence sit next to her. She doesn’t have to look or take her headphones out to know who it is.

Jenna doesn’t say anything, just looking at Y/n.

Finally after 3 minutes of Jenna just starring, Y/n takes off her headphones.

“Yes?” Y/n looks at Jenna annoyed.

She doesn’t reply to her, just looks at eyes

Gosh was she in-love with those eyes?

She shouldn’t be, right?

Jenna shrugs, which makes Y/n scoff. She starts packing up her things. She puts her backpack over her shoulder.

Jenna doesn’t want her to leave, she has to do something—

“Wait.” Jenna grabs Y/n’s wrist. It makes Y/n and Jenna look at each other from the contact.

This is weird. Jenna thinks. Its not weird because its suppose to be weird, its weird because it’s not weird. Does that even make sense?

“What, Jenna? Now you want to talk? Last time I remember I was queer kid you felt pity for, right—?”

“Y/n—“ Jenna’s grip tightens. “Im sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter, Jenna. I don’t care.” Y/n pulls her wrist out of Jennas grip and walks away.

Jenna doesn’t chase her. She shouldn’t. Her heart truly wants to run after to her and apologize a million times, but she doesn’t.

She stands there, not budging.

-

Tuesday

“I just walked away from her.” Y/n shrugs telling Jack what happened as they both play games.

“You think…you think she likes you dude?” Jack questions.

“Jenna—no. Not a chance.”

“You sure? Because it sounds like she’s obsessed with you.” Jack points at out.

Y/n does realize it is quite weird what Jenna’s doing. But there has to be another reason for it, not because she likes her.

“Probably some other reason. Every-time I see her she wears a cross, she doesn’t like me—and even if she did, I wouldn’t like her. She’s Jenna Ortega.”

“You’re probably right, but you know, you never know.”

-

Later Tuesday

It was 10pm.

Jenna couldn’t help it, she couldn’t help how she felt. After hours of crying in her bed, and after hours of praying to God, nothing worked. Why was she feeling like this for a girl she barely knew?

Maybe it was because of the two words she said. The two words she said that day when she felt like the world was crashing down on her. To simple words that meant to the world to her, yet she wished you didn’t say them.

Or maybe it wash the way you looked her the eyes while you said. The way your eyes said a million words.

So, here she sat, underneath those damn bleachers at 10pm on a school night.

I mean—what was she doing? Its 10pm. It’s dark, scary, the animals are out.

“So, tough day?” A voice scares the shit out of Jenna

“What the—“ Jenna holds her hand over her heart. It was racing until she saw who said the sentence. She looked at Y/n as she laughed from Jenna being scared. “Not funny.” Jenna cracks a smile.

“You were pretty scared there.” Y/n looks at Jenna still smiling from the moment.

“It’s 10pm, dark and scary. Of course I’d be scared.”

“You’re right, it’s 10pm. What’re you doing here?” She looks at Jenna for an answer.

“Waiting.”

“For?”

Theres a moment of silence. It was Jenna debating in her own head. She couldn’t hide it anymore, at least not from Y/n.

“For..you.” Jenna swallows the big lump in her throat from that answer. Y/n looks at Jenna, then back at the ground. “What’re you doing here?”

“Well, I was just looking.” Y/n clears her throat avoiding Jenna’s eyes.

“Looking for what?”

Y/n doesn’t answer, she stares at her own shoes.

“I was..looking, for you.”

-

[jordaninthevalley]

Stardew Valley Age Headcanons [Marriage Candidates]

I tend to put my farmer character at about 23/24 years old, so this is based off of that!

Alex: 21 His obsession with how he looks, him being unsure of himself, as well as his cockiness just leads me to believe that he is younger.

Elliott: 38 He is an older Bachelor alongside Shane and Harvey. He, clearly, had enough money to not only uproot his life completely to move to a small town to focus on his book, but to also had enough money do so without getting a job in town, leading me to believe that he has worked a long time to be able to afford this.

Harvey: 42 Another older bachelor. With the idea that he went into college right at 18 to be a doctor and spent eight years in school, making him 26 when he graduated. However, alongside the secret notes, him talking about getting older during one of his cut scenes, and just his general way of carrying himself while in a relationship with the player it does lead me to believe that he is older. That and the idea that he might be going through a midlife crisis.

Sam: 20 A relatively immature resident of the village, this is shown with the whole egg incident and the skateboarding incident. Instead of just automatically owning up to it or apologizing he tries to get us to take the blame or laughs it off. He hasn't learned to cook, instead of learning to do farmwork he just says if he knew more he would help, he is okay with being a sloppy, all of this just leads me to think he is younger.

Sebastian: 22 He is in a band with Sam and Abigail, which leads me to believe that he is around their age as well, but with his career in programming it does make me think he is at least a bit older.

Shane: 32 The last bachelor mentioned in Secret Note 7. Jas being his goddaughter leads me to believe he was at least a young adult when she was born.

Abigail: 19 The third member of the band, Abigail is a drummer. However, it's her relationship with her parents and the way that she fights with them is what leads me to believe she is one of the youngest villagers. That as well as the joke she makes if you win the game during her two heart event.

Emily: 23 A seamstress and a bartender, I feel like Emily is the older one of the two when it comes to her and Haley, and I feel like it is a decent age due to differences in maturity, how they treat others, how they treat their living space. I also believe this since it seems that she has been practicing her spirituality for a decent length of time.

Haley: 19 I feel like Haley is a somewhat fresh highschool graduate, still able to get away with her self-centered attitude and how she treats others because her age allows more people to give her some grace. The way she talks to the player is dismissive, rude, and insulting at times. The way she handles the whole "cleaning under the couch cushions" issue as well just leads me to believe shes younger and a bit immature.

Leah: 27 I place Leah as the oldest bachelorette due to similar things as Elliott. She moved from the city to the country to pursue her art dream while not having to work a regular job within the village. She has worked hard over the years to save up enough money to do this. Though we do have to help her when it comes to selling her art, and she does mention that it's hard to make it by as an artisit, she did used to live in the city as well as have a previous, serious relationship which just leads me to believe she has more life experience than most of the other marriage candidates.

Maru: 20 While she does work at the clinic, she is a front desk person. She is, however, very smart and dedicated to robotics and science as a whole. This leads me to believe that she's younger and possibly even in an online college of some kind even if that isn't mentioned in game. She is also younger than Sebastian, as she is Robins daughter and his Half-Sister, and Sebastian was from Robins previous relationship.

Penny: 20 Having Pam as her mother has made Penny mature faster than most people her age, which is why even though I do headcannon her as younger she can come off as older and more mature in her dialogue. Especailly since she is the teacher for the town. I do, however, think that she is either in the process of becoming a teacher or is looking to start it due to her love of children and wanting to help others.

I also have age headcanons for the other villagers, I might make a seperate post about that at a later date.

[slytherinn-xo]

𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕒

Full Name: Elena Isabela Maria Serrano

Nicknames: El, Ellie, Lena

Date Of Birth: 14th February 2002

Star signs: Capricorn

Place of Birth: Barcelona, Spain

Current Residence: Islington, London, England

Languages: English, Italian and Spanish.

Height: 166 cm (5 Foot 5 Inches)

Instagram: el.serrano

Occupation: Paramedic

Face Claim: Tyla (Singer and Model)

FACTS ABOUT ELENA:

* She came out, well was forced out of the closet at 16.

* She then moved in with her best friend in Barcelona for a few months, before moving to England in 2019, to escape Spain, as everywhere was reminding her of the problems with her family.

* When she came out her family found it disgusting that she is a lesbian. And disowned her, and kicked her out of the family home.

* She cut all contact with them and hasn't seen them since she left when she was 16.

* She went to Liverpool John Moores, studying Paramedic Sciences.

* And in her third year was attacked on a job, involving a regular patient, who was know to be abusive and violent towards the Paramedics. And he went to strangle her with a wire, when she went into his house alone, before her paramedic mentor did as they were bringing the rest of the stuff they needed.

* Luckily her mentor came in not long after Elena did but the damage had been done as Elena has passed out, and the man had cut her neck, luckily not cutting her jugular but she now has scars over her neck from it.

* She loves a good gossip session, she thrives on it to be honest.

* Very protective over her own trust, she doesn't forgive people quickly or easily at all.

* She dated Eva from 2021 to 2022 for about a year and a half.

* Elena is exceptionally clingy, or she loves like someone holding her hand, or just being touchy with someone, and that person has to know and like that she will be touchy with them.

* Elena is a perfectionist, she would rather something be done once and it takes a long time but be perfect then rush something.

* She thinks that if you're going into a relationship for something short term then you are just foolish.

* Has Chronic Resting Bitch Face, however in reality she is so fun and light hearted.

* Is much more on the femme side of being a lesbian.

* Is the biggest ambivert that one could be. If you don't know her she is so quiet, or can seem quiet, but if you make her comfortable, she is so extroverted, and she is wild!

* She is best friends with Jana Fernandez and therefore Bruna Vilamala. She lived with Jana and Jana's family after she was kicked out before moving to England.

* Whenever the Barcelona team come to the UK, or Jana does, they always make it so Jana can stay and see Elena.

Body Modifications: Piercings

* Elena has four piercings, her belly button, and her first through thirds in her ears.

* She got her first through thirds when she was 18 and 19, when she was in college, and on a break from uni over the summer.

* Elena then got her belly button done when she was 20, on her summer holiday from university, and she loved changing the piercing in it.

Body Modifications: Tattoos

* Elena's first tattoo was the little heart on her chest, above her own heart on the left side.  * Elena's next tattoo was 'We'll be alright' on the back side of her right arm.  * Then Elena got the sun on the front of her right shoulder.  * Elena then got then two butterflies to match with Jana as she got it on the inside of her right wrist, with Jana getting it on her ankle.  * Elena got the body and vines on the front of her upper right arm, just above her elbow ditch.  * The rose outline was the next tattoo that Elena got on her right forearm.  * Elena got the frog and duck on her right forearm.  * Then Elena got the book reading frog on her right forearm on the other side of her arm.  * Born to die was the next tattoo Elena got and it was on the inside of her left wrist.  * The latest tattoo before I Kissed A Girl was the angel wings and halo on the back of her neck. 

Episode 1 >>>

[arcticdesertjoy]

Drawfee as teachers:

(In subjects other than art)

Nathan: Math teacher. He’s very kind and patient. He knows math can be hard to understand, and tries to make it as easy to comprehend as he can. Mr. Yaffe almost always stays after school to help students with math problems they’re having trouble with or give advice. He gives out extra credit every week for graphing puzzles, which connect the dots into pictures. He wants you to do your best, and is willing to help you get there. He’s the supervisor of the DnD club.

Jacob: English teacher. He’s one of the teachers everyone requests. He’s one of the teachers that you can get to talk about his personal life for half the period. Assigns reading, but rarely assigns any other homework. His group projects are always really fun, writing/preforming plays, creative writing, drawing and building. He absolutely WILL banter back and forth with students, if it’s a roasting battle he usually loses. He tries to hide that he’s married to Mrs. LePetit, but all the students see how they pop into each other’s classes on the regular. He’s the teacher who’ll use a class period to play the movie on whatever book you’ve been reading. He’s the supervisor of the Anime Club.

Karina: History teacher. She’ll randomly decide to switch the topic to pop culture events in the last decades that made her who she was. When she does follow the books she tries to make them as entertaining as possible. She’ll most definitely give out her test sheets for students to study off of, or she’ll make all the tests open book. She pops her head into Mr. Andrews class just to annoy him publicly. She’s the supervisor for the GSA and the Drama Club.

Julia: Science teacher. She doesn’t teach directly from the book, instead she’ll usually prepare lectures where she’ll either use a PowerPoint or write on the board. Her lessons are easy to understand and she’ll either highlight or point out the exact parts you’ll need to write down. Some classes she’ll put on an episode of Bill Nye related to the relative topic, afterwards she’ll go over any questions. Throughout the years the experiments she’s done with her classes have been less and less by the book. All of them are really fun -if not a bit strange. Her classes do the most experiments of any in the school. She’s too busy for a weekly club, but once or twice a month she holds an Art History club.

[jnixz]

Arcane season 2 spoilers

SCATTERED observations and thoughts after the second batch of arcane season 2, need to get it out here since i hadn't done it for act 1

The music montage make a mark for a fair amount of time skipper episode. I also do think there is a fair bit of time passing in between scenes but not enough for a montage.

I really like Isha doing her own thing and actively encouraging the symbol of jinx of fight back. She says a lot through her actions.

Loving the new information we get to uncover in these batch of episodes, bit of backstory of the older generation and how it connects to now. and unknown future shit with Jayce and what we know of league lore (Defender of tomorrow, what did you see?)

I keep pointing and cackling whenever Singed appears, what are you up to old man and how is it gonna fuck up other characters? His actions and little plans have so much consequences. They aren't really given a whamm shot and gives you a slow burn on whats he is about.

Yeah I know he is horrible and love that bout him. absolutely fascinating. Love me some stoic scientists with no ethics fucking about.

Him showing up to the rally at Vander's statue then summoning Warwick when the raid begins. I am cackling.

Warwick lets goooooooooo

Singed has a funny way of comforting children with unknown secret of his creations.

The dread I feel for the freed Zaunites knowing that Warwick is coming.

I like that Singed didn't know Jinx and Sevika were coming, and so the Zaunites and Isha was indeed not staying there for very long. unfortunately he also knows Warwick was coming, dipped out of looking after the kid when the two came to pick her up, who had a probability of being be fine/ignored by Warwick when she was left in a cell on the opposite side of his.

what the fuck was he gonna do when warwick finally gets there like ??? baffling how was he gonna stop a blood rampaging werewolf

I do like he stayed to make a deal with Ambessa for the long term. He really ain't intimidated by Caitlyn. Caitlyn he lives like that on a regular basis you aren't threatening him like that.

Singed fans are eating is what I am sayin

also Singed and Ambessa combo, knew it. ho boy

Thoughts are so scatter but know that I have so much thoughts on Singed, how we get to see this side of him in Arcane as a character with a bit of humanity left, his mission for his daughter holding it for him until it would probably succeed but also end badly enough to say fuck it lets just go all science for progress in style of his League lore

His daughter in a golden casket with transparent glass to see her, not propped up as a display but essentially half dead half alive, ready to be buried but also to be revived. Fucker got commitment to this fr fr

buhh i was not able to note all the shit i love in this chapter but have at thee

Vi and Jinx reconnecting through attempting to help Vander and his memories. Also Vi seeing Jinx interact with Isha.

Also the Vander and Silco and the Parents' backstory glimpses. Quad parenting is what I'm saying. Or atleast like the message of Undercity being a family through and through. Everyone was so close.

The Converted Slum though. Good but also the vibes of it as someone who knows League lore.

Viktorrr, doing good and but also him dedicating his whole self again to help someone. He really just wants to help in the way he can. His patience and dedication shining once more

I imagine the plants outside the slums commune were possibly inspired by Sky's study on plants on her book

We love to see Kino but oh that audio and shots to the water, we know oh we know its her

Mel acting on instinct on the magic dungeon puzzle when she was trapped. She was definitely being tested there if she was the one the Black Rose wanted. Her surprise on how she was able to somehow know what to do makes me think she definitely wasn't lying to Jayce of how they both got unscratched by the Rocket. Its definitely magic golden tattoos making a shield.

I love that Mel and Victor got another parallel of having a magical force masquerading as a person they could trust to do something in their favour

Jayce got so fucked up from his Hextech interdimensional travel. Quite possibly a wild-magic/void corrupted apocalypse full of transformed hollowed out cultists from Viktor's group. What did you see maann?? I think we'd get his POV along with Ekko and Heimder's next act.

Definitely think both Jayce and Viktor are just doing what they think is best.

So Jayce how does it feel to save your lab 'partner' only to have to kill him to prevent a probably apocalypse, with that survivors guilt and probably savior complex of yours

Man is going through it, probably hadn't had good news since he disappear too, continuing on from act 1 of bad shit happening to him personally

That scene where the converted 'died' and seemingly gets hollowed out of magic, hoo boy. Its like the Commune had the whole vibe of Inspiration rune but then you know that there must be some Void shit happening here.

Do you think that Singed's serum stopped whatever would have happened to Vander who was getting the magic threatment (hollow and empty), but also made it worse (fucking lava through the orifices)

Isha really be out here rhyming history. Many hexorbs in a device to save someone you love bound to be a disaster. I'm giving a bit of hope for her here against the hex stuff since they tend to be more force damage focus. So if the gun chamber doesn't explode, just uh survive that falling possible corpse of a man-werewolf of her and she should be good.

Vi hugging Jinx down to protect her from the explosion.

should be noted we still are missing a scene from the trailers of the converted glowing and levitating. May not be done with that location just yet. Sacrifice cultist for Viktor revival? If not well RIP be it dead or a certain someone is gonna try to revive you.

If those two are dead, Singed will probably get Vander and Viktor's corpse and get the knowledge he needs to heal and transform Orianna. Follow that trail of the Apex of Chemtech/Alchemy and the Apex of Hextech/Magic.

Also I wanna note Rictus being the second of command present for Ambessa. Keeping an eye out, having opinions shared to her and also the shots we get of him nothing something like when Ambessa and Caitlyn were sparring and the important of kin to her, and has ofc fighting skills. And now he is gone and Ambessa loses another person close to her.

Gonna be fun to see more Singed & Ambessa interactions considering their similarities and dedication for their own respective daughter. Would Ambessa order Singed to study Hextech? Singed could tell her his student happens to be one of the inventors of hextech and gave him notes. Or he could keep that to himself and just pipe up to say 'hey lemme try'

Speaking of Ambessa, I really like her interactions with Caitlyn. It's clear she is going through it knowing Mel was kidnapped but also have this new girl she can mentor/attempt to direct to her goals.

There are definitely more thoughts in my noggin but I need a rewatch

[merkavahpartyvan]

Talking to scientist ghosts from the modern era

So, for the last... year and a half or so, I've been (largely unknowingly) exposed to enough methane gas to cause someone to have massive distress and very vivid, often anxiety-fueled hallucinations, many of which were beyond anything I've ever experienced in my life. And that goes for the other occupants of the house. This was like when a whole town gets mass hysteria without realizing it because their wheat got ergot in it. There were a lot of times that I couldn't really tell what normal was or couldn't realize that I wasn't having a sane life experience.

The thing is, while this was happening, I was also practicing a lot of magic and doing a lot of spirit work. So you know those initiations where you do a lot of some hallucinogenic herb and then receive visions of the cosmos and learn to talk to spirits and animals and connect with some sort of spirit companion or guide? Well I did a lot of that, because I was sort of stuck in the house with nowhere to go, a lot of magic books, a lot of art supplies, and the ability to predict when a specific nuclear scientist's estate went on auction on ebay. I now own basically his entire nuclear papers and library.

So like now I talk to a nuclear scientist's ghost on a regular basis. Now that I'm in the new house WITHOUT the magic stinky gas in it... I can hear him BETTER.

I don't really know how to talk about Jerry and the experience I've had communicating with him, but I do want to talk about it. Not to prove anything, but to share a kind of experience that I don't think a lot of people are able to openly share these days, for fear of stigma. Honestly, after all the weird crap I've said on this blog, sometimes under gaseous influence, I think you all can take me going on about protons for a bit.

Jerry likes to explain his favorite science to me a lot, so I hear him go on about newtonian physics, astrophysics, particle physics... and philosophy too, since he got his degrees back in the days when nuclear physics was in the philosophy department. It's part of why I keep watching so many science videos and talking so much about nuclear stuff on my blogs. He's really interesting and he's helped me do research much faster than I think I would have managed on my own. He used to design nuclear submarine propulsion systems and he also had a specialization in how crystals form on an atomic level, so in my opinion he was probably one of the most interesting people on the planet when he was alive.

Nowadays he's a very interesting ghost who wants to teach me (and anyone else who will listen) about how hard it is to hit a proton when you need/have to. Also he can rattle off quite a lot on nuclear policy and diplomacy and he keeps telling me which companies in the nuclear space are just hyping theoretical models instead of actually having a working prototype. Every time I look up what he says it's correct. (After research I personally wouldn't invest in NuScale. This is not financial advice. I am not a financial professional and Jerry was not either.)

The thing is, there should be a lot of ghosts out there like Jerry. Not just because nuclear stuff makes you psychically weird and therefore more likely to project a force ghost (or whatever astrals are), but because all manner of sciences came about in the turn of the 1900s and their degree programs solidified in the early decades of the 1900s. So there should be a lot of ghosts out there who know like, 'modern' science. And other people besides me must be talking to them.

[nerdynuala]

I don't know if you accept requests like this, but could I ask for hange hcs as a regular student? I would like to know their routine and hobbies!

Hi! It's been a while since my last headcanons but heck I find it fun and relaxing to make them up so I'm more than willing to give Student Hange a try ^^

Sooo here we go! I'm gonna go through the stages of students hahah from elementary school up to university.

Elementary School Hange

- messy kid, always manages to spill ink on themself and somehow get paint and dirt all over their clothes.

- literally so excited the first day of elementary school! While there were other kids crying or being shy, Hange was literally jumping up and down, thrilled by the new environment and looking forward to finally learn good stuff.

- the worst at music and singing, and also a really bad actor in school plays. Hange may lack the talent, but not the enthusiasm.

- very quick to learn, thinking outside the box and helping other kids out.

- Loves science but contrary to what people might expect, their favorite class is P.E. they just have too much energy. Loves dodgeball, swimming and baseball.

Middle School Hange

- at this stage, Hange is the typical student that appears as lazy and not interested in class but has actually the top marks.

- a bit challenging to authority. Hange does not lack respect, but treats professors as if they were friends. Also, gives respect only if given respect. Don't mess around with this kid.

- They literally can be chatting with their neighbor, doodling on their notebook, staring out the window, be half asleep and a large etcetera, but each time they're asked what the professor was talking about, they know everythint about it and even extend that information.

- Favorite class now is science and in their free time they investigate about chemistry. Cannot wait to take chemistry in high school.

High school Hange

- Nailing multitasking since a very young age definitely shows now: they can sit through the first lesson absorbing the information like a sponge, while doing the homework for the next class (that they should've done the day before)

- Literally the kid you see doing last minute homework even on the bus. Everything is done last minute but they manage to get everything right and perfect.

- Gets frequently asked by classmates what their method for studying is. Literally does not know. "I dunno man, I just re-read the chapter and the notes I managed to scribble in class lol"

- Needless to say, doctor's handwriting. Sometimes they cannot even read their own notes. Their professors complain all the time and one of them even refused to correct their test if they didn't write it with decent handwriting.

- Neither popular nor a nerd. Literally in between, gets along with basically anyone and can adapt to different groups. Levi calls them "chied of the nerds" all the time though. He sometimes even jokes saying "one nerd to rule them all" because Hange is literally the only extroverted nerd and they all basically worship them.

- Favorite class is chemistry by now. Shows up first and arrives late to the next class because they get entertained by chatting with the professor about chemistry stuff.

- Takes latin as an extra-curricular class.

University Hange

- Studies at night. If they don't have classes in the morning, literally sleeps until noon and studies during all night.

- Has dog ears on each and every book they own. The insides of the covers all full of messy doodles and scribbles.

- Sometimes, when studying directly from the book, will underline different types of information with different colors. Other times will just underline with a pencil and circle words with too much force and leaving the mark on like five pages underneath. Either way can study confortably.

- Coffee addict. By the fourth class in the day, they've had 5 cups already.

- Asks tons of questions. Loves debates. Will participate in everything and loves sharing their opinion on basically any topic.

__________________________________________________

There! I tried to keep it general, I hope it is what you were looking for, but feel free to ask more of them <3

[koolades-world]

more about me!

➻❥ i'm mixed; half indian, half puerto rican. i only recently settled on the label demigirl and still haven't found one for my sexuality yet, so for now i've been using queer

➻❥ currently waiting to be tested, but i'm 95% sure i'm allergic to walnuts, pecans, and avocados. apparently it's common for those allergic to avocados to be allergic to latex and birch pollen. i don't think i'm allergic to latex (because i feel like i would know that after being in culinary in high school) and there aren't any birch trees around where i live, which makes it even stranger!

➻❥ my favorite color is pink in case that was hard to tell haha. i love my cats, spicy food, rainbows, tea, plushies, fuzzy blankets, bows, hearts, sparkles, and anything dark chocolate peanut butter. my favorite school subject was science, although i enjoyed everything except math

➻❥ for fun I love to bake, read, write, and play video games. I also really enjoy crafting and being creative in general

╰—❥ pumpkin maple brown butter cookies are my signature, but i also make a mean chai cookie and snickerdoodle. cookies are my favorite thing to make, but i also enjoy cupcake and cake making. i love decorating cakes for special occasions. someday i hope to perfect my croissants

╰—❥ right now i've been hate reading colleen hoover's books lol. been annotating them with unhinged comments. i get all my copies used off thrift books because i don't want to give her my money <3 but i do have a stack of book i do want to read seriously

╰—❥ as well as writing for the fandoms i love, i also hope to write a book someday even if i never publish it. i've been writing for about eight or nine years now, and i've loved every moment!!

╰—❥ i play genshin impact, honkai star rail, zenless zone zero, obey me nightbringer, and project sekai on a regular basis. i also play stardew valley when i have time. my favs are yae miko, robin + aventurine, billy kid, satan, akito shinonome + shizuku hinomori, and haley respectively

➻❥ i'm a college student! biology major who has thought about swapping to english more times than i could count, but happy. if you ever need a random but cool science fact i can hook you up :) i did actually consider culinary school, for baking of course, but my state scholarship wouldn't cover it

➻❥ i love love love vocaloid! i adore gakupo, but rin and fukase are close seconds

➻❥ fashion is my passion! i love getting dressed up and accessorizing for no reason. i haven't recently, but i'm into jewelry making in order to create the perfect accessories

➻❥ i mostly type in all lowercase. no particular reason. when i'm writing, i use proper capitalization but just not in any other case

[frankensteinical]

Forty Days of Frankenstein, Day Two: Today’s image may not look like much, but I find it interesting more for what it represents than what it is.  This is a panel from *Tip Top Comics* #97, published in July of 1944.  Tip Top, a humor comic, was mainly a vehicle for stories about Al Capp’s Lil Abner character, however a regular backup feature in the book was the adventures of a character called “Bill Bumlin.”  He’s … fine, I guess.  Not terribly memorable.  But in this particular story Bill goes to visit Wilbur Wolfbane, an “old college pal,” from when they attended “Podumbia University” together (class of 1920, if you’re interested), to let him know about their upcoming class reunion.  Wilbur, it turns out, is a Mad Scientist™, who’s been laboring away in a pretty good-looking Mad Science Lab™ in an isolated castle on a cliff next to a graveyard.  Because of course.  In his lab Wilbur has strapped to a slab (well, a table) the body of man he found “half-drowned on the beach six months ago,” and has been working on ever since, using “certain electro-chemico-plasmas.”  It’s all fairly agreeable nonsense, and of course it’s time for the creature in question to rise at the exact moment Bill has showed up.  Bill fearfully imagines what the creature will look like, and in the process we get today’s image, which is manifestly a Karloff/Pierce-inspired Frankenstein Monster, complete with greenface, flat-head, and one neck-bolt.  We also get a couple of other images that, while less directly Frankensteinish, are still inspired by the Universal Pictures franchise which, at the time, was already five films (and three actors) deep into their Frankenstein saga.  Of course, the actual creature is nothing like this and mild hilarity ensues. Like I said, it’s not much in itself, but it’s interesting to me the degree to which, in just 13 years (1931-44) the Karloff/Pierce image (not to mention the narrative bric-a-brac that goes with it) had so meme-hacked the culture that, of course, of course, if Bill Bumlin is in this situation, this will be what he imagines: