#and when i went ghost hunting i went with 2 friends who See Things and apparently. there were a lot of Things.

[the-real-list-of-ominous-threats]

I will make you wake up at three in the morning with the worst vibes emanating from everywhere around you but no definitive sense of what is wrong

[watcherthrowaway]

also one real post about this and like, plenty of ink has been spilt on how disconnected watcher entertainment seems to be from its fans but i think the missing piece here is how disconnected watcher is from the rest of youtube. when the catastrophe hit i went to all my terminally online friends, the same way i did after the hbomberguy james somerton video, or after the ned fulmer fiasco, or the creepshowart scandal etc, or every time jenny nicholson dropped a new evermore video, including the ones behind the $2 patreon paywall we all gladly pay for, and for the first time...

no one knew who i was talking about.

these are not insulated people. these are people i can trust to have at least name recognition of almost any youtuber i mention. they know downtherabbithole and strangeaeons and cjthex and kappakaiju and miniminuteman773 and kazrowe and somemorenews etc etc etc

so when i put in the group chat, with no context, 'he wasnt even on cribs' or 'we have no cats kathleen' or 'only humble pagan commune schemes' or whatever, i usually do so with great trust that at least half the group will know what im on about.

this time, crickets.

i backpedaled a little and pulled up the 'ive connected them' meme and the fuzzy blue professor, and i got nothing at all. the only recognition i got was when someone belatedly realized that he had seen the goatman video when it dropped (although he had no idea that they had their own company now), and another person remembered that they had offered to collab with danny gonzalez, a youtuber with twice the subscribers

because she had checked back to see if danny went ghost hunting again, and lost interest because he hadnt.

i also brought it up in my dedicated buzzfeed unsolved group chat but ummmmm i am the only one in that group still watching ever since the shift to watcher oops

the only splash they had made in my again, TERMINALLY ONLINE friend group that watches hours and hours of youtube a day was a buzzfeed video seven years ago, and when they had failed to collab with someone more famous than them. i found myself in the unusual position of having to explain the situation to a bunch of dirty internet gremlins, all of whom heard the whole story and said 'why would they do that'

not 'why would they do that to their fans' but 'why would they do that as youtubers'

even aside from the moneygrubbing, we watcher stans were confused about why they tried to offer us a service we didn't need or want, and i think it obscured the confusion on why they thought it was a good idea at all, when so many other models were available to them. why werent they using their patreon like other youtubers? why weren't they collaborating with other youtubers? why weren't they putting out regular, lower quality content like other youtubers? if they wanted higher quality content, why weren't they partnering with nebula, like lindsay ellis, or netflix, like bo burnham. why didn't they run their ideas past someone like the green brothers, who have jumpstarted scishow and many other similar projects successfully, and are famously good to work with/consult with? why would they try to pull a roosterteeth? don't they know what happened?

and i think the answer is no. i think they just don't know those things. and they didnt bother to check, because they think all those things are beneath them. because they think corporate content is the only worthwhile kind there is.

why else would they think they have to have an office building, keep dozens of people on staff, buy expensive cameras, and build a streaming platform? why do they only collaborate with actors and singers who have corporate entertainment approval? why are they reinventing the wheel on buzzfeed when thousands of youtubers build perfectly stable careers with a mic and a camera, and sometimes hire an editor?

i guess my takeaway from this is that, at least they didnt break my heart as a fan entirely because they fundamentally misunderstood me. they did it, at least in part, because they do not understand how youtube works, or what part they play in it.

they dont understand how people use youtube. it is not a cinematic event worthy of the big tv, it is line goes up playing in the background for the 400th time as i wash my face and put my laundry away.

that is why they spent months and months planning this without ever noticing it was a bad idea, while millions of youtube viewers knew instantly. thats why they didn't start with a more moderate solution, why they never used their patreon properly, why they cared so much about the production value, why they thought a youtube audience, any audience at all, would jump at the chance to leave youtube.

bc youtube as a creator sucks, and we all know that, but youtube as a viewer is extremely comfortable. all i ask of youtube is to be mildly interesting in the background while i do other stuff. it is filler. some of the filler is extremely good, yes, but there is no room or reason in my life to give more of my money and attention to my filler, let alone to get a bigger screen for it.

and honestly, this is why i and others stayed on with the ghoul boys even though their quality dropped. because it's filler. im not even looking at the screen you apparently spent 100k on. im flipping my eggs. im washing my hair. im waiting for the bus with my headphones in and my phone in my pocket. thank you for being my background music. in return i will sit through your ads and push your view counter up by one. i may even hit the like button by accident bc my phone is in my pocket.

this is not to say i dont enjoy my filler. i would absolutely die without it. but it is not and never will be exchanged for the instances when i make popcorn in The Big Bowl and turn on a Real Movie on the Big Screen (my old laptop that is 15 whole inches) with my phone turned over so nothing can distract me.

my filler can't be my movie, and vice versa. nor should it be. but watcher doesnt understand that, apparently. they think youtube is cruelly preventing them from being netflix, and they think we want netflix, and they don't understand that, even with that half-assed apology that they didn't explain their dream correctly and they are jsut so destitute they had to take extreme measures after they went to europe 6 too many times...

there is a fundamental misunderstanding about how people use youtube , both as creators and as consumers. they didn't just misunderstand their fanbase. they continue to misunderstand the entire ecosystem. idk guys. maybe you should have learned something from those youtubers that you apparently think you are too good for.

and as for me, welp. i've booted people from my filler line-up for less. and there are soooooooooooooo many other fish in the sea, and they are not asking me to pay them 27 corporation salaries from my own pocket. they are asking for me to bump their view counter up by one.

goodbye boys. i really hope you find a way to fulfill yourselves artistically or whatever. but you have burned this particular bridge, like. forever. and i don't think i'm the only one who feels that way.

and not because i dont support people getting a living wage, you guilt-tripping vultures, or because i dont believe in following dreams and wishing on stars and whatnot.

but because i prefer to consume content from people who know what they're doing, and i simply no longer trust that includes you.

[davekat-sucks]

Bro vs Eridan in terms of being an awful person is tricky considering Bro was being possessed by Cal and Eridan was a 13 year who had to do Feferi dirty work his entire life so her Lusus wouldn't destroy everything. I genuinely think Bro had no choice in anything he did considering his note to Dave was something Caliborn came up with. Eridans case is a bit more complex given the circumstances of his planet, none of those things he did were ok to do but either feed the monster or have everything destroyed. He's the whole reason the trolls were alive in the first place. Considering he had to risk his life everyday for everyone else, him attempting to join Jack isn't out of the ordinary for dangerous stuff he encounters. Yea he's douchey and destroying the matriorb was dick move, but everyone on the meteor lost their minds and had or attempted to kill someone. Tavros tried and Kanaya sawed 2 people in half.

I am also on the side that Bro was possessed or mind controlled to some degree. But the fandom sees things like his strife battle with Dave as more serious because the other ones are played for laughs. Forgetting John would strike is father with a hammer and Rose threatened to commit suicide in front of her Mom. Jade's case is sadder when you remember that when Jade played with the double pistols, Tavros had used Bec to redirect the bullet to kill Grandpa English. She indirectly killed her guardian and wouldn't realize it until later on in the game. Bro's last act would be attempting to fight Jack Noir before dying. So does that mean people think Jack Noir is a HERO for killing the abuser? They forget that DAVESPRITE was present too when they both went after Jack. Bro had no reason to do anything to someone that's a brother from a different timeline. And yet, he was able to let Davesprite run away to safety and fought Jack on his own before dying.

But nobody in this nu-fandom remembers this or thinks hard about that last moment. They only care about his past actions and think it is played for straight abuse. It only applies to him and cannot be applied to other characters unless it's part of a gender arc for a character to transition. It's true Eridan would hunt lusus to help feed Feferi's. Even he admits it can be tiring to figure out when it is the proper time to hunt or not. Hinting that they can't overfeed or underfeed Gl'bgolyb. But you also can't deny he was also doing it to get closer to Feferi and be in a closer relationship with her. Which is why people label him as an incel and people flanderize that to the extreme which gave us Cronus. Then there's the line about him saying he killed marine life accidental.

If it's not sarcasm or poor flirting, it could also mean Eridan had unintentionally killed a lusus and gave it to Feferi to help feed another lusus to try and justify what he is doing is good. And overtime, he gradually accepted it and continued. Getting close to his crush Feferi would also tie in too. You know what they say about psychopaths, first sign is them killing animals. Sure the animals were parents for a troll, but they are still ANIMALS. Kanaya, Karkat, and Terezi accepted that Eridan was a piece of shit and want him to stay dead. Even if he was the reason said trolls are still around, they would never want to bring him back because of his horrid actions on the meteor. As we see when Karkat ended their friendship and Terezi talking with Vriska on who to revive back, Eridan doesn't deserve to be revived. And no mention of Equius, as being the Void player..

Nepeta may have felt Eridan had died, but it's unknown if she knew about Eridan wanting to join Jack. She wasn't even present with Aradia and others in the Vriskagram after becoming a ghost to meet up with him. Though we have yet to see Terezi and Vriska act on that promise on reviving said trolls. The reason they haven't because Terezi found out that Gamzee was trapped in the same fridge as her corpsed friends and didn't want to see him. Maybe the dead trolls will come back for Homestuck Beyond Canon, but that's just wishful thinking with how dead Nepeta jokes are still around and they only brought ghost Eridan in Epilogues for a 'redemption arc.

Eridan got what he deserved and died for his actions. But does he deserve to get brought back? How long should the punishment of his death last? To the cast and narrative, he can never be brought back to relevancy. The other reason the fandom likes Eridan recently is because of Pesterquest putting through the gender arc. Saying his seahorse dad was abusive that didn't acknowledge his gender, despite it's never shown in the webcomic he was this. And because of that, people instantly love him and ignore his past actions and stance on hemospectrum. All for the sake of making the March Eridan meme less transphobic. Nu-fans don't give a shit that he was racist, killed animals and Feferi, destroyed the Matriorb, and had killed Kanaya. All it matters is his label. Yes he is a racist asshole, but he's a NON-BINARY racist asshole. Both Bro and Eridan had done horrible things in the past. But one got more heat over the other. As one got love and attention because of a non-canon moment in a side game, despite people had hated him for those past actions. It's sort of insane about the priorities we have going on in this fandom.

[thedarkcknight]

Day 18 Ghost investigation (Ghost!Sam Golbach) FEM!READER

(Quick side note: Y/BF/N = Your best friend Name)

Y/N’S POV

Me and Y/BF/N were getting ready for a Ghost investigation at a Haunted house as we were getting stuff ready. I felt a warm present around the house but as soon as we finished setting everything up we turned on our camera and hit the record button.

“Okay 3 2 1.” Y/BF/N said.

“WHAT”S UP GUYS IT Y/N AND Y/BF/N.” Y/BFF/N shouted.

“AND WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER SPOOKY VIDEO!!” I shouted.

“Today guys we are going to be exploring a haunted house that one of our good friends recommended for us to investigate.” Y/BF/N said.

“Okay with further ado let's get started.” I said then I covered the camera and hit the pause button and we walked inside the house.

Once we were inside the house I propped up the camera on its tripod and hit the resume button.

“So guys we are now in the house and I have our EMF reader which will allow us to read the electromagnetic fields in the area.” Y/BF/N said as they turned it on.

“We also have a new piece of equipment that we will use in our videos.” I said, showing the camera a small little box. “This item is called the spirit box.” I added.

“Basically it will go through different radio stations and it will spit out a word.” Y/BF/N said.

“Now you guys are probably wondering Y/N, Y/BFF/N why are you guys now deciding to use a mother fucken spirit box like 50 videos later.” I said.

Then Y/BF/N turns the camera towards them.

“Listen you guys we are smart but not that smart.” Y/BF/N said then we started laughing.

30 minutes later

We decided to continue to do the investigation but as time went by we got a few things but not a lot all of a sudden my back started to hurt initially I chalked it down to back problems seeing as I had hurt my back a month prior to this investigation but after getting nothing we decided to end the video.

After ending the video I took the equipment that I brought with me back to the car and Y/BF/N took the stuff that they brought we had said our goodbyes and I got into my car and drove home.

I had made it back to my house once I grabbed everything from the car. I took it to my office and left everything there and went to take a shower.

After my shower I was getting dressed. As I was getting dressed I heard a noise coming from my office. I grabbed my gun and went to my office. Once I was in there I saw nothing but the spirit box on the ground and it was on as well as the camera which was also on.

I was confused as to why they were both on but when I picked up the camera and spirit box the box started talking.

“Camera…….Door……..Look” The spirit box said.

I was confused but I pointed the camera to the door when I saw a man standing in my doorway. I freaked out and looked up from the camera and there was no one there then when I looked back at the camera screen and he was there again.

“Okay Sir, you have my attention.” I said. “Who are you and what do you want?” I added.

The spirit box spoke again.

“My…...Name……..Is………..SSSSS” The spirit box said.

The box cut out at the point he was trying to say his name.

“Okay how about this.” I said putting the camera and box down.

I ran over to my shelf full of Ghost hunting stuff and pulled out the Ouija board and put it on the floor.

“Okay here you go spell your name on the ouija board.” I said hoping he would.

Sure enough the piece started to move when it landed on S then A then M.

“Sam your name is Sam okay Sam do you have a last name?” I said.

The piece moved to yes then it started to spell a last name.

It went to G then O then L then B then A then C then H.

“Golbach?” I questioned then it hit me.

“Sam Golbach like the youtuber from Sam And Colby?” I asked.

When I asked it quickly went to yes then my heart dropped to my stomach.

I quickly got up and went to my computer to look up Sam and Colby. While I was doing that I saw Sam in the facecam of one of my monitors and the ghost looked like him.

I pulled up a news article on Sam saying that he had died and his cause of death was still unknown.

I leaned back into my chair and covered my face. I started to cry then I looked at the monitor staring at him as he was staring at me.

“You know you and Colby are the reason why I do the ghost hunts.” I said crying even more now.

While I was crying I felt someone wrap their arms around me when I looked up I saw Sam then I got up and looked at him.

“You are here.” I said.

“Wait, you can see me now?” Sam asked, then he looked at his hands and back at me.

I nodded then walked over to him as I reached out for him so I could touch him.

After I touched his face he put a hand on my hand and kept it there.

“It's been so long since I've had physical contact with someone.” Sam said.

“I'm sorry that you died but how did you die?” I asked.

“I don't know I was fine one minute then the next I was standing over my own body.” Sam said.

I sat there for a minute but then Sam got closer to me.

“You know your pretty cute girl.” Sam said.

I blushed a little.

“Uh, thank you. I said.

Sam got so close that our nose could touch.

“You don't mind me living here do you?” Sam asked.

“Uh sure I don't mind but shouldn't you have crossed over by now?” I asked.

Sam shrugged his shoulders then started exploring the house.

Huh? Sam Golbach’s ghost living with me that should be something.

Wrote: Me

[booigi-boi]

1. Went through and looked all all your broms babes art. It's so good what the hell!!! I love them so much!!

2. Pls pls pls, tell me your headcanons for them pls?

Thank you, I was serious when I said I'd draw those three for all eternity 💞

And of course, here's some. Sorry in advance to Sean and Sinead, I hope we're still friends even after I butcher your boys with my headcanons, lol /j

Born and raised in Sleepy Hollow (like pretty much every other character). Known each other and Brom since they were kids

Come from rich families, at least Cal does (how many yachts does he/his family have? Another Sleepy Hollow mystery)

Never really matured, love partying but are trying to be more responsible

Highly educated surprisingly, tho I'm sure this is canon. Still really big himbos

Never saw the need to leave Sleepy Hollow due to family wealth and their brotherly bond with each other and Brom

Kind of a nuisance in town, having burned a literal bridge and them having random keg stands anywhere and at anytime of the day, but no one can really be mad at them since they do a lot of community service and love helping businesses for free. They enjoy delivering packages and groceries the most

The reason they do a lot of community service is also because they don't have jobs and live rent free with Brom. I like to think Matilda knew they were a packaged deal when their relationship got real. But again, they love helping a lot, especially in Matilda's shop

They aren't great at helping tho, but they're doing their best (one of them probably spent a day as a frog on accident once when in Matilda's shop)

Cal's hobby is hair styling and he does everyone's hair. He bleaches Blair's hair and constantly tries to do things to Tripp's. Blair's the one who chooses everyone's outfits and is very vocal when clothes get dirty. They make sure Brom looks fabulous when leaving for work.

Tripp ends up being an "unwilling" test subject for their hair/clothing projects. What's his hobby? Art, because I said so

Tripp also is the most dramatic of the three. Will start crying over littlest things

Cal's the smartest

Blair's 404 the most

They and Brom share clothing (you can see this actually happen if you watch Headless. I think it was for not having enough costumes?)

They have an actual Babes HQ at Brom's house (which I call The Van Brunt Manor in my head. Brom's family is probably rich too tbh, considering his family is one of the oldest in Sleepy Hollow)

Before the Babesteries they did a ghost hunting show. They adventured into the Storms Inn trying to find evidence of ghosts, but Lucretia found them and locked them in the attic, scaring them for weeks. They're the reason Brom goes around telling everyone the place is haunted

Actually, Lucretia locks them in the attic a lot. Babes do Babes things a fair amount at the Storms Inn

On days when they're not doing any free labour in town, at least one of them goes to work with Brom. They're either with each other or with Brom 24/7 (this is why they're allowed into the Autumn Gala, because Brom begs Baltus)

They're also probably prohibited from entering the school because they're not actually faculty, but it never stops them

What do they do at school? Help Brom teach. They're not great

They like to pretend Van Brunt/Bones is their last name. After Brom and Matilda's wedding, they changed it to Bishop-Bones

They consider Verla their sister and gave her a Babes makeover

They got sent into a nightmare dimension for that for a couple of minutes

No, they don't remember anything that happened

Gave Brom black Sperry's as a wedding gift. He most likely wore them to their do over wedding

That's what my brain allows me to think at the moment. I definitely have more, lol. Thanks for letting me ramble, I love the Babes a lot, like seriously 😭🐓🐓🐓 I'm so glad we have the Babesteries so we got to know more about them

[ashes-writing-corner]

A bit of a shorter update tonight guys! But I hope you like it anyway ^^

TW: mentions abuse/childhood trauma, non descriptive.

Taglist: @stargatenovus

Ghosts That We Knew

13- A Dead Man's Letter

You were still on the hunt for a therapist weeks after the confrontation with Ghost. Getting one wasn’t easy, and to be honest you weren’t in any rush to find one. It wasn’t that you had lied to him, at least not intentionally. You had already mentioned you didn’t like therapists, you didn’t trust them. You didn’t want to be just another doctor’s paycheck. It wasn’t like they cared about you anyway. However, to set Ghost’s mind at ease, you told Ellie’s therapist you were searching for one. Thankfully for you, they were more than willing to help you find an ideal one. 

For the time being, you were perfectly fine with running your business, which was doing pretty well. Life went on as normal. You kept Simon’s file in a locked safe in your room, so no one could get to it and you still had it close at hand in case you needed it. But on more than one occasion you found an envelope either on your bed, your nightstand, or on the floor in your room. You knew what it was. Simon’s letter. Ghost was asking you to read it, without speaking of course. Needing to regain his strength, he had gone quiet in the weeks following. 

You sat in bed, contemplating opening it, when your phone rang. An unknown number…

You didn’t pick it up, as you didn’t pick up unknown numbers. If it was important they’d leave a message. You flipped the silent phone over, thinking it wouldn’t be so distracting as you picked up the envelope. But after a minute, you just decided to put it in the nightstand and just focus on what it was he had written. Taking a slightly shaking breath, you decided to open the letter and give it a read, being delicate so as not to rip anything. The paper was already yellowing a little, meaning he wrote this a good long time ago. You blinked as you took in Simon Riley’s handwriting, which admittedly wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t illegible. 

To the poor soul reading this, 

Since you’re reading this, two things have happened. 1. I’m dead. And 2. You’re the poor sap who got stuck with this heart. Just to let you know, you’re only one of a few letters I’ll be writing, as I’m hoping all my bits get used. Hell knows I’m not using them anymore. 

A heart’s a heavy burden, and believe me I know that better than most. You’ve probably read all my stuff, as I signed the release forms earlier today. Without it, it’d be illegal for you to even see my records. But as the knew…keeper, I guess, for arguably my most important organ, I figured that was important info in there for you to know. But it doesn’t tell you everything. Only what you need to know. Maybe some notes from therapy thrown in for flavor, mental evaluations and all that. But they don’t tell you a damn thing about me. Who I was, what I wanted from life, all of that. Things about me that not even my closest friends know, few as they are.  The dreams I had, the hopes I mislaid. They’re not mine anymore. But…I want you to know this: They aren’t yours either. 

The truth is, I wanted to spend my life making the world a better place, so no one has to know what it means to suffer the way I did. This isn’t meant for you to pity me, but to understand why I made the decision to become a soldier and a donor. I lived a hard life, came from a bad home with a half mad father and, for a time, a drug abusing brother. I rose above that though, challenging as it was. I got my brother the help he needed, kicked our father out, and did my best to make sure everyone was happy before I made that choice. You, whoever you are, are the last person I’m saving, and the one who’s face at the very least I won’t know. And yet you’re being trusted with the most vital part of me…crazy isn’t it? And I don’t trust easy admittedly. 

All I got is one last wish, one last demand. I want you to live. I want you to live your life, and live it in the best way you can. Live it harmlessly, if you can. Help others when you can, but don’t enslave yourself. Live selfishly, at least a little, something I never got to do. Live…fully. I guess is what I’m trying to say. 

And drop that thought most likely going through your head: “This heart isn’t mine”. Trust me, it’s yours. It was meant to be yours the second I signed that paper to become a donor. This heart was always mine to lose, and it was always yours to gain. No matter what your silly brain is telling you, I’m telling you this right bloody now: I did not die because of you. You. Did. Not. Do. This. I chose, as I always have. And now you have a choice. Choose better than me. Choose to live your life. Be a bit selfish, because I wasn’t always able to be. But live. Just…live. And know, even though we’ll never meet, know that I’m so proud of you for fighting this battle, whatever it is that landed you this. I’m happy that I got to help you. And now you know the only thing I ask in return. 

Live your life. And take care of my heart. It was always meant to be yours, in some way or another…

Stay frosty. 

Simon “Ghost” Riley, out. 

You didn’t know what to think when you read it. It seemed a bit devoid of emotion, but it was rather matter of fact. The last part got to you. It wasn’t exactly a confession as he stated, but a reiteration of the truth. Simon lived on. Was living on. And he was doing it through you. There was something so humbling about that, now that you were thinking about it with a clearer head. It didn’t entirely change how you felt, but it put it in a different light. The familiar feeling you had at the beginning of your friendship now made more sense. Simon was a part of you now. 

Taking your phone out, you decided to see who had called, and lo and behold they left a message. You listened to the voicemail, heart pounding. An unfamiliar male voice sounded. 

“Hey, Y/N, I think that’s what Soap called you? Anyway, he told me about your situation. My name’s John Price and I’m also interested in meeting you. I hope you don’t mind, there’s actually two of us coming with him, the other being Kyle Garrick. We look forward to meeting you and hopefully clearing some stuff up” there was a pause before the man continued, “We were there that night, Y/N. The night of your transplant. As I said, I can’t wait to meet you, and I hope you and your kiddo are doing okay. Don’t hesitate to give me, Soap, or Gaz a ring, alright?” he proceeded to give you the number of their last member, Kyle Garrick, before ending the message. 

You almost dropped the phone. 

They were there. 

They. were. there…

If you guys enjoyed this please consider liking, reblogging, and commenting! Yall seriously give me life and keep me motivated! Thank you so much ^^

[katyspersonal]

Today's SoTE adventures! Hoooo boy that was awesome!! Too bad I have to interrupt to cook food and stuff but

1) So, I continued going down the road through Mausoleum where I defeated Rakshasa yesterday! But first attempted to snipe the hyppo enemies with a greatbow.. Barely reduced their health because I had whole 8 arrows and 4 of them only served to attract them to snipeable distance 🤡 I'll get them later..... :/

2) I ended up going all the way down! And it was a combo string of me thinking one thing but it was another!! So my objective was to get to that mysterious missing spot on the map. I went all the way down on a small island and saw catacombs, assuming I went to the wrong place because it is caves or mines that can lead to another location entirely, not catacombs! Then I went there in that very dark catacomb and as soon as I saw Fulgurbloom and a big talisman I assumed it was yet another Death catacomb that'd be mirroring previous two but no! Light puzzles and no Death. THEN I assumed 'there is no way the boss is anything but Knight of Death' but NO!!!

IT WAS LIKE, A CLERIC OR SOMETHING (inquisitor actually) THAT WAS REALLY HARD TO BEAT AND KEPT SUMMONING MORE AND MORE OTHER CLERICS LIKE SLIM AND FAT AS GHOSTS AND THEY WERE LIKE HOLDING THAT ONE CANDLESTICK-LIKE SYMBOL AND PILING UP GFGFHGHGB I really wish I took screenshots during the fight but I was too busy getting my ass kicked IT WAS REALLY FUN THOUGH I WON LITERALLY THE LAST SECOND WHAT IN THE DEACONS OF THE DEEP WAS THAT SHIT LOOOOLLLLL

And as if that was all not enough, turned out that WAS an actual way to the new location!! I got that right 😎

3) I however apparently missed at least two secrets in that catacomb.. I saw the ladder that I didn't know how to access, and I didn't understand the deal with an item where that big shooting Imp was. All I got was this:

Guess I'll have to watch tutorial or ask my friends like the annoying completions jerk that I am x)

4) Soooo I ran into this message when I wanted to hop on the boulder:

I saw a screenshot of this before but didn't know the context!

Meanwhile, I was looking around and thinking that the fire cracks layout was looking a LOT like Frenzied Flame. Damn, I feel like that was what scared Torrent since he pretty much burns alive in FF ending and JUST SO I DON'T HAVE ANY DOUBTS LEFT GODDAMN RATS THAT DEAL FRENZY ATTACKED ME LET'S GOOOOOO (or not ffgghfgg)

5) So on my way further there, I defeated a pretty annoying invader, just barely, and.......

*SLAMS MY FISTS AGAINST THE TABLE* THIS

*BREAKS TABLE WITH AN AXE* THIS FUCKING SHIT IS

*THROWS THE TABLE IN THE WINDOW* SHIT LIKE THIS IS EXACTLY AND I MEAN EXACTLY

*THROWS A GRENADE TOWARDS WHERE THE TABLE WAS THROWN* SHIT LIKE THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I CAN NOT EVER LOSE RESPECT TO MIYAZAKI AS A WRITER HOLY SHIT *THROWS MYSELF OUT OF THE WINDOW TOO*

Gfhgyyggyuyb I already cried a bitter tear of being Seen @ Undestood when Miyazaki managed to squeeze his trademark loathing for those who commit atrocities under belief in their sainthood in a talisman Queelign dropped, but this too.. Like yeah, I can absolutely confirm that being hunted as "heretic" by your own is the most insanity-inducing thing. I have seen what it did with another person, I have experienced this too and honestly I can't be bitter about lolrandom ship choice with Radahn or whatever on Miyazaki's side as long as he sneaks addressing this kind of stuff in his works. He actually GETS it.. This very specific grievance with human species in general that I don't see acknowledged on this level anywhere else. I feel seen ;-;

6) Also the map too!

I am going to make a wild prediction that Midra and the boys were also unfairly slandered like heretics and so the despair festered to the point of him (?) being contacted by the Three Fingers the same way Marika was contacted by the Two Fingers after her own tragedy 🤔 Listen it is not like I've had everything spoiled, I am just trying to guess! Lol I bet that the Hornsent clerics/saints/inquisitors/whatever are now looking at this land being tormented by Frenzy and go like "well see how much Midra overreacted, it was a good call to bully him :т" like you know, in the classic fashion of witch hunters completely missing the fact that they've created their own enemy. Dipshits.

(Ok sorry for getting too emotional on this bit, those three of you who followed my blog for a long time probably know why I am so occupied with this topic -_- Granted, Miyazaki already did the topic with the Nomads so maybe now he will try an alternative route and have people in this place being actually guilty? I'll see!)

7) There were strangely places on the corner of the map where rain started and ended quick, without any reason xd

I wonder why it is like this? Probably a mapping bug but it feels for me as though something is protecting this land from completely burning this way! Based if intentional!

8) Not gonna lie, I've gotten a little nervous when I've picked this thing:

Winter Lantern? oMgggg LiKe iN bLooDbOrNe IS THIS A BB REFERENCE 👀 cfhkgjhuh

Okay, but so pattern looked familiar and I suddenly remembered a creature I've seen in a trailer o_o So yeah, I just knew it was not going to be a huge pain in the ass soon 🙄

9) And I fucking died lol gfbgg

Honestly I don't know if I am mistaken, but I don't recall seeing a healthbar of this thing! It seems like all hits had no effects so maybe I did something wrong, I don't know.. I'll figure out what to do later I guess

So yes, not too much progress but a lot of emotions! One of the biggest "holy shit I love this DLC" moments so far after that pretty hard battle!

[wheredidhiseyebrowsgo]

Hi! can you recommend some angst fic where stiles dies and the pack deals with that?

I can't technically rec any, cause I just don't read MCD as a rule. Lol. But here's some for you to be sad about.

Goodbye, Sweet Boy by sapphireginger

(1/1 I 1,016 I Teen I NO Pairing)

The saying went all dogs go to heaven, but Stiles liked to say that all dogs, as man's best friend, go to paradise.

Just A Dream by 015wayward_winchester

(2/2 I 1,096 I Teen I Stydia)

Lydia thinks she has been having a reoccurring dream where Stiles dies, but it wasn’t a dream.

11 Minutes by JustJim, Useless_girl

(1/1 I 6,756 I General I Sterek)

11 minutes were all it really took in the end.

As Fate Would Have It by Nihilistic

(1/1 I 9,603 I General I Steter)

Peter's heart skipped a beat when he checked his phone and saw fifteen missed calls and two voicemails from Stiles. As he started up the first message with fear pricking at his spine, a part of him hoped he heard something stupid, like, “Peter! I’m at the store with Erica and we’re trying to figure out what kind of suspenders to get Derek! Call me back, it’s super important!!”

Peter held his breath as it began to play.

“So,” Stiles’ voice said, and Peter took extra care to assess the tight, garbled strain of the boy’s throat while he threw on his shoes, grabbed Derek’s keys and all but sprinted from the house. “I’m still alive… but… maybe not for long..."

-OR-

There's Hell Hounds on the loose, and Peter blames himself for Stiles' death. Luckily, Stiles is kind of a badass, and did he mention he has a Nemeton?

I Miss You by SterekIsMyAir

(12/12 I 12,399 I Teen i Sterek)

"What the hell are you doing?" Cora screeches a little, fast walking over to them. The pack parts like the red sea as Cora slams the laptop closed.

"Who the hell was that?" Jackson asks back, narrowing his eyes at Cora.

Cora grabs her hair and yanks it a little before she says, "That was Stiles."

"Yeah, we kinda got that. We mean 'why does Derek have him on his computer'?" Erica asks, crossing her arms and cocking her hips.

Cora sighs, long and loud, before she says, "That's Derek's fiance."

"Why haven't we heard of or even met him?" Scott asks, looking like a sad puppy.

"Because he is dead." Cora says, narrowing her eyes and grabbing the computer before walking away.

Trapped In The Shadows by RougueShadowWolf

(6/? I 13,995 I Not Rated I No Pairing)

The really unfortunate thing about being the awkward skinny boy with skin too pale to handle sunny Californian summers, while being surrounded by a group of people who could all make a carrier as models was the fact that no one ever noticed you. No one sees you. Not until you aren’t there to get them their drinks or do their research.

My Love will Never Die by GrimReaperlover11

(19/19 I 33,824 I Teen I Sterek)

when the witch hunts happen. Stiles finds himself making a friend...a friend that eventually learns his secret...a friend he eventually comes to love...but when he is put on trial for practicing witchcraft and he is burned at the stake, he fears this will be the end of it.

however, when he wakes up...he finds himself in a different time and place...everything is much different than what he is used to, and how is the Derek he loved before he died...still alive?

Of All The Ghosts by luulapants 

(13/13 I 68,281 I Explicit I Steter)

"Stiles didn’t need someone to walk through him to realize he was dead. He didn’t need to try to talk to someone only to be blatantly ignored. He knew it right away, the same way a person would know if a room was warm or cold. He felt dead."

Stiles accepts the bite, and it doesn't take. Now he's stuck as a ghost and, just his luck, the asshole that killed him is dead, too.

Only Human by SephrinaRose

(32/32 I 120,567 I Teen I Sterek)

Stiles is human.

And sometimes he forgets that fact. But, luckily for him...the universe is all too happy to remind him.

Because Stiles is only human.

(Series of one-shots depicting Stiles Stilinski's death)

[thesolemnhour]

Ten songs, ten people

Thank you so much for the tag @cassynite!! @amatres tagged me a little while ago for a three song meme, so I'm counting that as a tag too lol!

Agria:

Coolest fucking bitch in town by Haley Blais

I want my therapist to think I'm cool I call you from the office phone to ask you to come drive me home Okay I'm just a liar I never went [...] But if you see me out Know I'm the coolest fucking bitch in town You want to drink a drink that's watered down It'll just take you longer

2. INDUSTRY BABY by Lil Nas X

I told you long ago, on the road I got what they waitin' for

3. Emily I'm Sorry by boygenius

Emily, I'm sorry I just Make it up as I go along And I can feel myself becoming Someone only you could want

4. Nothing New by Taylor Swift

Lord, what will become of me Once I've lost my novelty? [...] How can a person know everythin' at eighteen But nothin' at twenty-two? And will you still want me When I'm nothing new?

5. Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender

I was far too scared to hit him But I would hit him in a heartbeat now That's the thing with anger It begs to stick around

6. Free by Florence and the Machine

But there's nothing else that I know how to do But to open up my arms and give it all to you

7. Soft Targets by The Mountain Goats

Something is wrong with my brain And the ghost of our future's awake in the attic He moans and he wails as he rattles his chain We embrace on the floor in the kitchen Emissaries from neighboring lands When I hunt down the vampire that did this to us I will rip out his heart with my hands

8. A Better Son/Daughter by Rilo Kiley

And sometimes when you're on, you're really fucking on And your friends they sing along and they love you But the lows are so extreme, that the good seems fucking cheap And it teases you for weeks in its absence

9. brutal by Olivia Rodrigo

And they'd all be so disappointed 'Cause who am I, if not exploited?

10. Graceland Too by Phoebe Bridgers

No longer a danger to herself or others She made up her mind and laced up her shoes Yelled down the hall but nobody answered So she walked outside without an excuse She could do anything she wants to She could do whatever she wants to do She could go home, but she's not going to

No pressure tagging: @offsidekineticist @morelikewrathofthebighteous @minthy-fresh @starlightcleric and @tenmillionbees if it looks fun!!

Edit: adding @arrow90-quiver and @galfrey bc this was pretty fun everyone should enjoy!!

[blxssom-221]

The Black Phone x Stranger Things?

For the love of god I swear I’m THIS 👌 close to writing a crossover fic between The Black Phone and Stranger Things. Like imagine:

The whole plot in the movie still happened. Finney and Gwen are traumatized af cause obvious reasons and their dad thought it’ll be a good idea for a fresh start, so they move to the next town over which happens to be Hawkins

And yk they’re trying to move on, trying to get past what happened to them but Finney can’t easily do that. He keeps thinking about all those boys who never stood a chance, those boys who, in death, helped him survive and especially Robin

So like in ST universe it’s around the start of season 2 or before it but yk Will is back and everything

And also the start of the kidnapping in TBP went on around the same time when Eleven opened the gate

Ok so what most people don’t know about Will is that he wasn’t alone in the upside down. He was for the first few days but then this kid appeared

He looked scared, traumatized and believed he died and somehow went to hell. But to Will, it’s hope and vague happiness because he’s not alone anymore and if someone also managed to get into this strange world then they can both find a way out

Will learned that the boy’s name was Griffin. They’d been in the upside down together for about a month now before another boy came. Then another, then another, then another

He learned all their names to be Billy, Bruce, Vance, and Robin and Will also learned that they all died in the exact same place and murdered by the exact same person. The days blurred together and the boys are having a hard time distinguishing reality from illusion and what’s worse is that their memory seems to be getting fuzzier

One day they found the replica of the basement in the upside down. There they saw the black phone. Feeling compelled Bruce grabbed the phone. They don’t know how it happened but Finney picked up the phone

They learned that Finney got kidnapped and one by one the boys gave Finney all he needed to survive. Then it’s over. The Grabber was dead and the boys are still in the upside down

At this point Will is starting to think that he died in his world too but just couldn’t remember it. Despite the different range of personalities between the 6 of them, the group worked out and stayed together. Little did they know that they only way they survived was cause of Will’s incessant humming of his favorite song much to Vance’s annoyance

And when Will got out, Griffin continued that habit on because they’re all not sure whether Will made it or not and at least this way they can pretend he’s still there with them

So Will came back and he can’t stop thinking about those boys. He wants, needs, to rescue them too but everyone is acting sensitive and overprotective around him so he can’t get the chance to tell them about the boys. Instead he does his own research. He never got their last names but it seemed that their case was popular enough that he didn’t have too much of a hard time learning about them

And that’s when he learned about the new kid Finney. The same Finney who the boys talked about

So Will approached him and Finney listened, even better he believed him especially since Will gave him hope of seeing Robin and the others again

Will also told Finney about El and how her powers helped bring him back, in turn, Finney told him about his sister Gwen who’s dreams helped find him and The Grabber’s victims

In this AU Finney (ability to communicate with spirits/ghosts etc.) and Gwen (prophetic dreams) powers came from their mom so they’re all born with it kind of like Vecna

So through them, they were able to see the boys in the upside down but they find that they have little time because demogorgans are hunting them down

So through the power of friendship and the mother gate and supernatural abilities of Finney and Gwen, the boys were able to be brought back to their bodies in a perfect state (maybe a little traumatized)

Gwen and El would be such great friends! Imagine them learning more about their powers together and bonding over that

Will and Finney are besties and together they pine and maul over their unrequited love for their best friends

Steve adopts 6 more kids

Vance and Billy H. clash bcs of how similar they are

Billy getting annoyed that there’s another Billy and everyone is calling him Hargrove instead

Erica and Gwen loves shitting on their brothers (but in a lovingly way)

Griffin and Billy are secretly menaces to society

Vance secretly admires Nancy and wants her to teach him how to use a gun. No one lets him

TBP boys often get nightmares about what the grabber did to them especially Griffin and Vance

I’m still not sure if I want a character redemption for Billy H. and have him be a tsundere overprotective bro to Max and have an enemies to begrudgingly friends to lovers trope with Steve….hmmm maybe

Aaaaand there’s the writers block. That’s all I got

[roseofithaca]

Blind Love (Part 2)

Robin & Original Characters

Set many, many years ago during one of the times Rogh "went mad for a bit". He calls on his newest fellow ghost for help.

A scream loud enough to shatter the clouds woke her up.

Aelfwyn reached for the dagger before she remembered she was already dead. Her brain needed a few seconds to make sense of why she was sleeping outside. Not that unusual if she was on watch duty or out hunting but there was no fire or bedroll beside her, just grass and the lone tree she had chosen to rest under.

But she hadn't gone to sleep alone. She knew that much. Not her sister...not the one who killed her.

Another scream, clear this time, coming from the woods.

She may already be dead, fragments of her skull still left in the ground where she fell, while the rest of her body had been buried - and partly eaten - by her family, however she didn't doubt that meant she was immune from danger.

Aelfwyn was no warrior. She had planned to be a midwife like her mother. But all in her tribe were trained to pick up a weapon and defend the village at all costs. She had a new tribe to care for now.

She unsheathed her dagger and ran into the woods, following the screams.

"It's me, friend! Is everything OK?" She called out to her one companion in this realm.

The man had not told her his name, even after the two weeks they had spent together. Because he did not remember it. Sometimes she would watch him as he slept and he'd mumble so many names, lips quivering, brow twitching. Any of them could be his own, or those he lost years past. She considered offering to name him herself but that felt wrong. Instead she prayed to Rhiannon to sooth his mind with her calming light. With any luck, she would tell her his name when it came to him.

Until then, he was just Friend.

Aelfwyn finds the crazed man in furs pacing around the woods, surrounded by piles of autumn leaves. His top half rocks back and forth in a frenzy, his hands pawing desperately at his own shift.

"Hey, hey, what is it? What's wrong?" Not sensing any threat, she sheathed her dagger and went to him.

This wasn't the first time she'd seen him deep in the throws of his madness, crying and screaming and mumbling to himself, seemingly unaware of her presence.

"Look at me. Friend. Tell me what's wrong."

"She gone! She gone, I lose her! I lose baby!" The man cried out and pulled at his hair.

Aelfwyn tried to gently catch his wrists; "Kya? You sure she's not in your furs?"

The man shook his head.

"Me check everywhere, every pocket, every flap." He pulled back some of his front to bare his chest to her, "Me even take off boot to check, she not in there! That what her sister used to do...."

She could see his mind was starting to drift again. Aelfwyn snapped her fingers.

"Stay with me. Where did you last see her?" Once again, she seemed to be stuck in the role of being the sensible sister.

It had been one of the strangest things in this new land she was trapped in. Her only companion being this strange, ancient being who was convinced that the dead wolf cub he carried around was one of his own children. It reminded her of one of the old women in her village who would sing to dolls of straw. Aelfwyn knew it best not try to tell them the truth. Not when it would only bring more pain.

The man, who was barely as tall as her, rubbed at his head.

"Me...Me take her for walk in wood to try to settle her...Used to always work. Step and bounce, step and bounce, baby go sleep." He mumbled, wistfully; "But think it make me sleepy more. I lay down in leaves with her tuck in tight and close eyes....just for second...When I wake...she gone! Kya gone, again!"

"Hey, it's okay. It's not your fault." Aelfwyn took his hand; "Is there any chance she...went up to the stars, as you say?"

"No. Me still hear her. Can't you? She cry. She looking for me but she lost!"

Aelfwyn went still, doing her best to listen for the smallest mewl that she'd grown familiar with lately.

"You can't hear...Maybe I only hear....Like I hear her brothers and sisters cry...Like I see them in dreams. Daddy, where Daddy, why Daddy no get up, Mummy why Moonah take Daddy away...."

"No, that might not be it." It was a possibility but she wouldn't say it just yet, "It's hard to hear much in this wind. Come. I'll help you look for her, yes? We can be very quiet and listen out. She can't even crawl on those legs, she can't have got far."

Her reasoning got through to him, one trained hunter to another. He nodded, not letting go of her hand.

Leading her to the spot where he fell asleep, Aelfwyn carefully crouched down and began putting her hands through the piles of leaves. They were at a disadvantage, not a single one moving at their ethereal touch. But surely there was also less to cover up sound.

"Kya? Kya, come on, little one." She tried to whistle.

"Daddy hunt big boar. We cook bum on fire. You get biggest bit if you come out." He said, voice breaking; "Please don't hide from Daddy, Kya..."

It didn't take too long for the gale to quieten just long to allow a tiny piercing cry to reach them.

Aelfwyn raced in the direction and put her hands through a large pile of yellow and orange and brown until...

"There you are! Come here, you little mutt." She laughed, feeling that soft velvet fur against her fingers. She scooped the newborn cub out and held it inches from her face; "You're in big trouble, young lady, making your dad worry like that. You're lucky he's a big softie, my father would have walloped me good-"

"Kya!" Her friend called out in relief, "Give me baby! Now!" He demanded, as if it had been Aelfwyn who took her.

She tried not to react to it, merely turning and handing the cub into her friend's outstretched hands.

The man took her and tears fell from his eyes as he cradled the cub close.

"She's okay. She's safe. Just wanted to go exploring, I think." Aelfwyn placated.

"No! No explore! No leaving! Must never leave!"

He turned and ran several yards until finding what looked to be an abandoned deer den. The man tucked the cub back under his furs and brought his knees to his chest, rocking back and forth, that glassy look in his eyes as vacant as ever.

Aelfwyn followed with caution. She thought that he'd been making some progress lately, seeming a tad more lucid and willing to talk, to meet her eyes. This seemed to have set him back.

"Must not leave. Must not leave." He muttered, one hand tucked inside to keep stroking the whining cub.

He brought her up briefly to kiss the top of her head.

"Daddy sorry. Daddy never let you go again. Daddy never leave. Daddy never leave."

Aelfwyn sat with her legs crossed outside the den. She waited a while before speaking, letting his panic ease naturally.

"Have you looked up at the sky tonight?" She asked.

He shook his head; "Eyes stay on ground, looking for cub..."

"Well you should. I think you'll see why she was trying to explore."

The man blinked at her, confused, then peered up, crawling carefully out of the den.

A bright, round silver orb was impossible to miss as it shone above the treetops.

"Moonah..." He whispered, as if having forgotten she existed.

"Wol...Babies know the moon is sacred. I think she just wanted to say hello. Even if she can't see her." Aelfwyn said, "I know she's small but even babies get bored and need more than just cuddles. She probably wants to smell new things, feel some of the world...Nothing can hurt ghosts, you said?"

He winced; "Except other ghosts..."

"Right, well that won't be a problem will it." She patted her sheath; "I'll keep us both safe if it comes to that."

He seemed to think for a moment.

"....Me no want to be boring dad. That almost as bad as mean dad." He muttered.

"I'm sure you're anything but either." She grinned.

It took a little bit more coaxing and assuring, to the point it nearly seemed like the sun was going to rise. But Aelfwyn eventually managed to tug the man out of the den and exit the woods with her.

The moon still hung relatively bright in the heavens as they stepped into the field, the sacred site just across from them.

Digging the cub carefully out from his furs, the man held her gently to face the sky.

"Moonah. You remember Kya, my baby. You bring her back to me." He whispered, "Kya give thanks to Moonah."

The little cub whimpered and stretched all four of her undeveloped paws out.

"That might have been a howl? I'm not sure." Said Aelfwyn.

"Ha! We work on that. Plenty of time."

The man smiled. Aelfwyn wondered if it was the first true one she'd seen on his face.

"Yeah, bit of practice she'll be roaring in no time."

"Roar...Roar...Oh! That it!" He bounced, excited as a youth.

She frowned, worried he was about to throw the pup.

"What?"

"That my name! I remember. Rrroghr!" He began to laugh, triumphantly; "My name Rrroghr!"

"Rogh?" She attempted, butchering it a little. "That's amazing!" She sent a silent prayer of thanks to the gods.

The man, her friend Rogh, continued to laugh and twirl with the pup held in his hands.

"Daddy called Rogh, Kya! Rogh!"

Aelfwyn couldn't help but laugh, despite the man's broken mind. It was a wonder to see such joy shine from his ancient eyes. One step at a time. She decided to take this as a sign that even in death the gods were watching over them.

[stellarcat52]

Dread Spellbound- Part 1

<Post season 2, Daniel has a small amount of dread magic inside of him. His friends are trying to trust him to fight it off, but it's hard, and the ghost of Jayce isn't helping.>

<Magic corruption, violence, forced transformation, not really a happy story.>

There are two endings, both will be linked at the end of this post. One in which the dread is stronger than Daniel, and one in which it's not.

Daniel Spellbound would quite literally always be scarred by Jayce Chinda. The permanent effect of wearing a dread corrupted, broken Chainscale, deep purple lines that glowed when he was stressed or angry. He had tried to hide it, but Hoagie could smell it. It was fragments of dread magic that were shocked into his skin by his own stubbornness and idiocy. Nothing short of giving him the same fate as Jayce would get rid of it, and it was such a small amount. Bursts of rage were nothing, as long as he could reign it in around others.

And in the beginning he could. Although worse days quickly came, thunderstorms seemed to make it worse, but also sometimes he just needed to rage. Soon enough, it wasn’t surprising for Shak and Hoagie to get kicked out of the bodega’s hidden basement so Daniel could scream and hit things without worrying about them. Lucy even only stayed behind once to try and fight him. The moment she saw his eyes start glowing, she locked him inside and told Shak and Hoagie to come stay with her.

The truth was, no matter how much Daniel claimed he could keep it back and that this would help him find the other remaining fragments, the sheer hunger the dread magic brought could corrupt anyone. The need for destruction, and the newfound frailty of every emotion but anger. There was a good chance no living thing could control it.

Within a few weeks, the dread magic’s grasp on Daniel had grown so powerful it had a voice, and only a short while later, a face.

–

The secret lair was quiet, usually. As much as the dread magic could impact him, it still left him lucid most of the time. It was hell, waiting for the next moment where he’d try ripping the door off its hinges even after he had helped Lucy figure out a way to dread-proof and reinforce it.

It was like he was sitting in his its open palm, and the moment he it started to close it into a fist…

“So, Spellbound. Will it be today?” It He always came accompanied by a headache. Daniel didn’t want to look, it only made things worse to see the face of dread. “Will you finally leave this dump? We’ve both read the texts, Dowser girl’s getting impatient, and so am I.” Daniel’s chin was grabbed and he was forced to look up at the white-eyed demon who haunted his waking and sleeping hours.

“Not my fault you have crippling claustrophobia, Chinda.” images of the soul box flashed in their shared mindspace. Not every thought was shared, but Jayce wanted him to see that. “I’m fine with staying in here for as long as I need to.”

“You’re going to break eventually. We were both trackers, don’t forget that. I know the feeling. The thrill of the hunt, don’t you miss it? Get out there, we could hunt anything. Isn’t there something you wanted to take on but couldn’t because of your little no magic rule?”

“Shut up.” Daniel growled. Finally Jayce let go of him, but the headache suddenly spiked and he could bone growing through the skin on his scalp. His horns weren’t the same as Jayce’s, they curled around his head, grazing  by his ears as they split through his skin and let blood drip down his neck. His headache stopped when they were done growing. “If you’re so powerful, haunt someone else.” 

“I would never, Danny.” The worst part about seeing him was that Jayce almost never stopped smiling. “No one else is worth my time, no one else has ever been worth my time. I mean,” The demon almost laughed. “Who else would I haunt? The pig? Ms. Primus?” Shak went unsaid. Mentioning her just brought more rage and frustration to both of them. And despite it all, Jayce didn’t like being angry at himself.

“I’m sure you’d find some idiot to listen to you.”

“Come on, you’re the Dread Spellbound. You have to hear how epic that sounds.”

What Daniel heard was the first of many deadbolts being opened. Then another, and another. Jayce was grinning ear to ear as Daniel pulled his hood up in a poor attempt to hide the horns.

“Daniel? Are you awake?” Jayce had left Daniel’s side to dance around their visitor. He wasn’t able to touch her, but he’d do anything to distract and annoy Daniel.

“Shak? What are you doing here?”

“Oh come on, Danny, let her stay!”

“I know it’s late but I just…” Shak’s face fell as she saw the shapes under Daniel’s hood. “I need to tell Lucy.”

“NO!” Both dreaded spirits were in unison. 

“I mean, I can still control it, Shak, I promise.” Daniel forced a smile. “They’re… It’s harder on a physical level since I’m not experienced with transformations. They’re just horns, I’m still me.”

Shak couldn’t decide whether or not she should believe him. “You’re bleeding.”

Daniel’s hand went to the side of his head, and then down to his neck. It was red and sticky when he brought it back to look. “Shit. Look, it just happened a minute ago. I hadn’t even thought to clean up. I’ll get that done later though, what did you need?” His voice wasn’t betraying his nervousness.

“I just wanted to check in.” Shak suddenly looked sad, guilty almost. “I guess I wanted to prove to Lucy and Hoagie that you were doing fine.”

“I’m not.” Daniel admitted, ignoring Jayce’s annoyance that sent tingling numbness up through his scarred arm. “I think I found its weakness though, boredom. I haven’t had the urge to actually destroy anything in…” he faltered. “I destroyed the last clock down here a while ago. I have no idea how long it’s been.”

“I don’t think I can trust that, Daniel.” In his momentary distraction he hadn’t noticed Shak taking a picture of him with his bloody horns. “Lucy needs to know about this.”

“Don’t let her leave, Spellbound.” Jayce warned him. “Dowser girl would kill you, like you did to me.”

“I just need time.” Daniel promised, to Shak and himself, “See? I can take back the horns.”

Shak couldn’t decipher the look he gave to Jayce, it was a reminder that if he died, the dread went with him. Jayce, the Dread rather, reluctantly, pulled the horns back into his skull. The holes that should have been left behind were nowhere to be seen. 

“You… really can control it.”

“Mostly. But it’s still not safe for you to be down here. Go back to Lucy.”

“I miss you. I think Hoagie and Lucy do too.” Shak blurted out.

End of Part 1

Daniel is stronger than the Dread

The dread is stronger than Daniel

[xplrvibes]

In your opinion, what are the top 5 most emotional Sam and Colby videos? Not including the cancer video cos that one would defo be no 1 on all lists lol.

Well shit, taking the cancer video out of the running really threw this list for a loop, lol.

Ok, so I actually included videos from their personal channels on here as well, simply because I honestly don't know if I could come up with 5 from the main channel lol. I don't know how often they get emotional while hunting ghosts.

This list is the best I could get without using the obvious choice:

1, The Chernobyl Series

I mean, the babushkas. They live all alone in a radioactive warzone and are just starving for visitors. They talk about how they don't even see their kids or grandkids that often, and you know these strangers who go there to essentially gawk at them are their only source of human interaction.

They got so excited for the boys to come that they prepared a veritable homemade feast for them, then apologized for it not being good enough. They got the boys drunk and made them (namely Sam) cry. It was just all around emotional. Every ounce of their interaction with the babushkas was emotional on a level that you don't really see too often with snc.

That alone would've guaranteed this series a spot in the top 5. But the actual story of Chernobyl, the way snc went about presenting it, interviewing the liquidator and their tour guide, Misha, who survived it all...it was just wonderfully done and very, very emotional.

2, Best Friend Gives Me First Tattoo (25x25)

I mean, come on. Colby decides to go and apprentice to be a tattoo artist so he can give Sam, who has always expressed fear about getting tattoos, his first ever one. Sam trusts him with this terrible idea so much, that he allows Colby to choose the design and agrees to be blindfolded while Colby is tattooing him.

Mind you, Sam went into this with 0 tattoos, and is allowing his first one to be done by his non-professional friend while he is blindfolded.

When its done, Colby tells Sam that he wants to match him, and that he (Colby) wants Sam to tattoo him as well. Now, Sam has done 0 training and is a little drunk by this point.

But that's the trust Colby has in Sam.

So, now they have matching 25's, and they get their actual professional tattoo artist friend to up the ante and give them a second set of matching tattoos - the ripple of water, which symbolizes them living in the moment.

This whole video, while out of the norm as far as their editing and production style goes, really just highlights the absolute trust they have in each other and this friendship standing the test of time.

3, (tie) "A Video to Future Colby Brock, my Best Friend | Sam Golbach (2017)" and "A Video to My Future Best Friend, Sam Golbach | Colby Brock (2017)"

These two go hand in hand, really, even though they are two different videos on two different channels, so I am including them as one. (If you've never seen them before, watch Sam's first, then Colby's).

Now, full disclosure, I have not watched either one of these in a long time, so I don't remember all the details of what's said in them. But, I know that when I read this ask, these were actually the first videos that popped into my mind, so they definitely must have made an impression in my subconsious, if nothing else lol.

The gist of these is that Sam made a video directed towards a Colby twently years in the future, telling him what future Colby means to him. Colby then responded with a video of his own, telling present day Sam what he means to him.

It's a love fest, lol.

4, Our Terrifying Shipwreck Experience (25x25)

Honestly, the first several 25x25 episodes before they gave up and got discouraged are a good look into snc's psyche, and follow a general theme, which is facing your fears and anxieties, and doing those things you've always wanted to do.

But this one has some suspense and intrigue and near death to it (which actually would've made it a good candidate for the intense videos list, had I included 25x25 stuff on there lol), and because of that, there are a lot of earnest moments of reflection, fear, and triumph over anxiety to it.

It's not a tear jerker, perse, but it is a good emotional story if the emotion you are looking for is nearly dying doing the thing you're most scared to do...and then doing it AGAIN.

5, I Got Robbed - Part of my 2021 Story | Colby Brock

I just plain old feel bad for him on this one, lol. His little journal entries that he wrote to try and remember the journal entries that he lost...epsecially knowing that he got into journaling in the first place as a way to combat his anxiety, only for that to be taken away...this is emotional in that "oh damnit, now I feel bad" kind of way lol.

(Disclaimer: I did not include the first episode of the new Conjuring series on here, partially because I feel that would've been as obvious a choice as the cancer vid, and partially because I plain forgot about it until I wrote all these up and didn't want to change anything lol. Sorry 'bout that)

[vigilskeep]

sometimes i get sucked into dragon age reddit and it's so scary over there.. anyway i saw a question on /dragonage which was like what are some choices your characters made for selfish reasons so now im curious on what ur ocs did selfishly

OUGH thats a fun question...

i would say minerva makes several selfish decisions. not betraying jowan during the origin quest is selfish in its way; at this point she’s settled in the idea that there are some acceptable losses to be made for the circle to thrive, but she reacts when her friend is threatened. as for her quest decisions hmm... siding with caridin over branka is a little selfish in an odd way even though it’s the “good” choice. she’s only just really gotten into blood magic and she’s terrified of the comparison between herself and branka prioritising ends over means, so she does it more to assuage her own self-doubt than out of any real morality. that’s why it’s actually the only decision in the game where she refuses to play the diplomat and persuade her companions who question her, and she snaps at them instead

sparing loghain is somewhat selfish. she does it because she’s desperately fearful of what her own reputation will be one day if she becomes the elven blood mage who killed the hero of river dane. that’s only partly for herself though... it’s also for the sake of people like her, the hope that if she’s remembered well she might save others from the judgement that’s always loomed over her. asking loghain to do the dark ritual was almost entirely selfish though. she knew he would have died to slay the archdemon without question, knew it would be a justified end for him, a tying up of loose ends... but she couldn’t let him sacrifice himself and steal the saviour’s title she’d fought so hard for. and she didn’t want to die either! so she chose to convince him to do the ritual, which is quite something to frankly manipulate a man (who she had never forgiven for his actions but who she also did honestly consider a friend, as she only realised as she was persuading him) into doing, without ever revealing her true reasons to him. not to mention releasing an unknown magic into the world despite all her circle training and maleficar’s guilt

keir is less obviously selfish because he’s the shield, the protector, fundamentally defined by what he can do for others. but leaving bethany behind for the deep roads expedition, not because she couldn’t handle it but because he couldn’t risk losing another sibling to the darkspawn, was selfish. or he thinks so afterwards, anyway. it’s hard to say in the end whether he did things to protect people or because he was afraid. as a rule there’s a fundamental selfishness to the way he is with his own people; anyone else’s loss is justifiable for them. he and anders sometimes fight bc ultimately keir can’t match justice’s absolute dedication, he would sacrifice the cause of mages to see his and only his people safe, he’s only a man and that’s who he is. it’s kind of a moot point bc half his loved ones are mages who will never be safe until they’re free, but it is also arguably what he’s doing in the act 2-3 break and the act 3 on the loose quest when he’s effectively shackled by meredith and hunting blood mages for her, bc she has bethany, and bc she can’t not know abt anders and merrill

i’ve always been charmed by da2’s description of reaver mechanics as “selfish sacrifice”, so that’s another one for keir, too

siding with the templars was a little selfish for helena. she did go to redcliffe at fiona’s invitation—she made that much effort, to placate her brother’s ghost—but ultimately it went too far for her pride to save those who had sold themselves to magisters, when the templars were also at hand. and she wanted so badly to believe for her own sake that there was something salvageable in the order. so she went to therinfal redoubt and told herself they would see what could be done for the mages once the breach was sealed

[spnhunter4life]

So Long Version 2 Chapter 1

Summary: Jenna and Dean have known each other since she was 9 and he was 11. Their fathers often hunted together, so they grew up in next door motel rooms, keeping each other company and watching out for Sammy. They were inseparable until their dads inevitably fought and stopped working together. Shortly after Sam left for college, her father had been killed on a hunt and his dad had been more and more distant, so they started hunting together. In a world where everyone has a tattoo of their soulmate’s name that appears somewhere on them on their 16th birthday, it took them a ridiculous amount of time to figure things out.

Word Count: 4k

A/N: To those of you who have been following my fic So Long, this is the second version I promised. This is going to be the exact same story just written in chronological order instead of jumping around, so people can choose which way they prefer to read it.

Series Masterlist

It was the second day at this school in South Dakota. Dad and John had gotten a call from Bobby about a possible ghost problem a few towns over from Sioux Falls and so here we were. All the moving around never got any easier. Just when I started to really get to know the friend or two that I made, we had to pack up and move on again.

Ages 14 and 15

October 15, 1994

I was eating lunch with three other girls. Kristin and Liz were sitting on one side of the table and Carly was sitting next to me on the other side, the rest of the table empty. I was appreciative of the three girls who had noticed the new girl sitting by herself yesterday and come over to keep me company. This is how it usually went. As a fairly introverted person, any friends I made were the result of the other people approaching me, not the other way around.

“Can you believe the amount of homework Mr. Cohen assigned us today?” Carly was complaining. “I don’t know how I’m going to have time to get it all done!”

“No kidding,” Liz joined in. “Does he not realize that the other teachers are all giving out homework too, not just him?”

“He gave us a week to get it done,” Kristin reminded them. “You can do a little every day. It’s not like it all has to be done tonight.”

“Says the overachiever who’s never missed an assignment or gotten a grade lower than an A her whole life,” Liz teased.

“What do you think Jenna?” Carly asked me. “You said you’ve moved around a lot. Would any of the teachers at your other schools hand out this much homework at once?” 

“I mean, it’s definitely a lot to be given at once, but I guess I wouldn’t say it’s too much. Like Kristin said, we do have a week to do it. So, I guess I would consider it a reasonable amount,” I concluded.

Carly and Liz both had little frowns of disagreement on their faces, but they dropped the subject, moving on to the much more exciting – in their minds, anyway – topic of Snow Queen. This new conversation had only just started, Carly asking the other two what they were going to wear when I saw Liz’s eyes widen at something over my shoulders. Then she was leaning in, excitedly whispering. 

“The hot new guy you were talking about is here,” she said excitedly to Carly. “Wow, you weren’t exaggerating.”

Carly turned to look at him and I saw Kristin peering around to see who they were talking about too. I didn’t need to look. I knew who it was. I sighed and kept eating. Sure enough, Dean soon walked past my line of sight, heading towards the dwindling lunch line. The girls were chattering about him, but I wasn’t really listening. Until I heard my name.

“Come on Jenna, didn’t you see him? Isn’t he, like, the best looking guy you’ve ever seen in your life?” Carly encouraged me to join in. Of course I agreed with her, but I wasn’t about to announce it out loud.

With a small smile, I said, “Well of course you guys would think so. In a school this small, anyone new is exciting.”

Liz scoffed. “Oh please. It’s not because he’s new. You did see him didn’t you? The guy in the leather jacket?”

“I saw him.”

“And you don’t think he’s attractive? At all?” Carly asked in disbelief. 

I looked for him, saw that he was a little over halfway through the line, well out of hearing range, and sighed. I made a split second decision to tell them. Why not? It was rare that I got to talk about Dean this way. I had to keep all my feelings bottled up. It would be so nice to be able to let them out, and who better to talk to about it than a group of virtual strangers who would whole-heartedly understand and agree with me?

“Alright, fine. He’s the most attractive guy I’ve ever seen.” I agreed.

Carly was watching him as he made his way through the rest of the line. “Isn’t he though?” she sighed dreamily.

“It doesn’t really matter though,” I told the girls.

“What do you mean? This school is full of girls he’s never met before. Chances are he’ll be interested in at least one of them, so why not think that any of us could be her?” Liz asked, probably thinking she was making a great argument. And maybe it was a great argument. For them. They didn’t have all the information about me though.

“Doesn’t matter for me,” I told them.

“Because you move around a lot?” Kristin asked. “Long distance relationships are a thing you know. And besides, even if he never looks at us twice, there’s nothing wrong with appreciating the view.” She turned again to watch him as she said this.

“Moving isn’t the problem,” I mumbled just as Carly squealed, “I think he’s coming over here!” and Kristin quickly spun around in her seat to face forward again.

I looked up and saw Dean just steps away from our table, as Carly had said.

“Hey, Jenna!” He greeted as he moved around the table to sit beside me.

“Hi, Dean,” I answered, blood rushing to my cheeks as the mouths of the other three girls dropped open in shock.

“Is the food at this school any good?” He asked, eyeing the chicken strips, mashed potatoes, corn, and rice krispie bar they were serving today.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” I told him.

“Great,” he replied, digging in. “So how are you ladies doing?” He asked around a mouthful of food. I elbowed him in the side. “What?” he asked innocently. He knew I hated his awful table manners, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get him to stop.

“So, uh… you guys know each other?” Kristin asked.

“Umm… surprise?” I said unsurely.

“Is it though?” Dean asked. “I mean in a school this size doesn’t everybody know when there’s a new kid or two?”

“Of course,” Carly answered.

“And nobody noticed that Jenna and I showed up at exactly the same time yesterday?” He continued.

“Well when you put it like that I guess we really should have,” Carly answered. “But no, for some reason we did not realize. I actually didn’t even see you until today.”

“Actually, now that she mentions it, I didn’t see you either. And you definitely weren’t at lunch yesterday. Where were you?” I asked him. I had initially written it off as him having a different lunch period. We often did. But this school only had one lunch period for the entire high school. He should have been there.

“I was running errands for Dad,” he responded easily. I knew that meant he was helping with the hunt in some way. I don’t know why I was just finding out.

“Your dad had you running errands instead of being in school?” I asked him, frustrated. “And you didn’t tell me.” 

“Who says I wasn’t in school?” He asked, mock offended, even though he obviously hadn’t been. “Besides, not all of our dads are as insistent on a good education as yours,” he told me. “And when you didn’t see me at lunch it should have been a clue that I was busy,” he joked.

“We rarely ever have lunch at the same time. It wasn’t unusual not to see you,” I countered.

“So,” Liz interjected, looking at me meaningfully, “aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Oh. Right. Guys this is Dean. Dean this is Kristin, Liz, and Carly,” I said, gesturing to each girl as I named them.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said with his patented charming grin, the one guaranteed to make girls from all around the world stop breathing while they were caught in the intensity of it.

“How do you two know each other?” Kristin asked, looking back and forth between the two of us. The other two were looking and listening intently too and I noted the curious stares of several other people in the cafeteria. I mentally rolled my eyes, resigned to this new topic that would undoubtedly continue for a while. 

This is what always inevitably happened. We moved to a new school. As the new girl, people would find me mildly interesting at best. I was mostly ignored except for a select few people who made an effort to be welcoming. And then people found out that I was somehow involved with “the hot new guy” as he was usually known. Dean would wave at me or talk to me in the hall, someone would see us getting into the same car after school, or in today’s case, he sat with me at lunch. Then I became interesting. People wanted to get to know me in order to get to know him.

“Our dads work together,” Dean answered for me, stealing the rice krispie bar from my tray.

“Hey!” I protested.

“What? You hate these things,” Dean said. He wasn’t wrong.

“Yeah, but you could have asked instead of just taking it,” I mumbled petulantly.

“Why do I have to ask to eat something I know you’re not going to eat anyway?”

“Well it would be the polite thing to do,” I told him sternly. He just scoffed and took a bite. 

“So you guys move around a lot,” Kristin started, continuing her line of questioning, “and it’s just you two and your dads?”

“And my brother Sam,” Dean replied through another mouthful of food.

“Ok, I know we were more out of the loop than we should have been with you, but I swear there isn’t a third new kid here. There’s no way we would have missed that,” Carly insisted.

“Nah, you wouldn’t have heard about him,” Dean told her. “Sammy’s in middle school.”

“Well thank goodness I haven’t lost it completely,” Carly joked. 

“How long have your dads been working together?” Kristin asked.

“What’s it been? Five years now?” Dean mused, looking to me for confirmation.

“Yeah, probably pretty close to that, I’d say,” I said.

I saw Kristin open her mouth to ask another question when the five minute bell rang. We all hurried to dump our trays and get to class.

~~~~~

It was about ten minutes into art class an hour later, and I was trying to find the right mix of colors to blend together for the shade of blue I wanted. We were working on landscapes this week, using oil pastels. 

I’ve found that art classes can be quite tedious or a lot of fun, depending on the teacher. I liked this one. She was pretty relaxed, giving everyone the assignment and then letting them do whatever they wanted within the parameters of the project. She was also completely fine with students talking throughout the whole class as long as they were still getting work done.

“So,” Liz started. We sat beside each other and I had been waiting for this. The questions about Dean would start now. Things he liked to do or watch or eat, what kind of girls he was usually interested in, that sort of thing. 

“You and Dean seem pretty close.” She worded it as a fact, but her tone trailed off in a questioning way.

“Yeah, I suppose you could say that,” I responded warily. I’d found the correct combination of colors I wanted and started working on the sky.

“And you guys are just friends? Nothing more?” She asked, unconvinced.

“We’re just friends,” I told her, already ready for this conversation to be over with.

“But why?” She wondered out loud as she grabbed a red oil pastel from the box between us. I felt my forehead wrinkle in confusion.

“Why what?

“Why aren’t you guys together?” She explained. “I mean, you’ve known each other for years, you apparently travel around the country together, you practically live together-”

“We don’t live together,” I quickly interjected. There had been a quick conversation in the hall about our living situation when Carly asked if Dean and I lived together. Luckily the five minutes between classes left just enough time to explain the situation without having to be questioned about it too thoroughly. “We’re always in separate motel rooms. It’s more like living in the same apartment building I suppose.”

“I said practically,” Liz quipped. “And that’s not the point.”

“Then what is?” I sighed, using a paper towel to blend my sky colors together.

“The point is…” she started, pausing to find the right words. “Well, everything I already said!” She finally settled on. “You said you guys move around a lot. I imagine always being the new kids makes you even closer with the one person you actually know,” she said.

“I have Sam too,” I reminded her.

“You mean Dean’s little brother? The one in middle school?” She snorted. “Yeah, that’s exactly the same thing.”

“It is the same thing,” I insisted. “Our dads aren’t around much so we’re all pretty close.”

Liz looked at me like I was unbelievably stupid.

“I feel like we’re having two separate conversations here. Do you really not get where I’m going with this?” She asked.

“You’re trying to be absolutely sure that we’re not dating and Dean’s single, right? Well I’m telling you that we’re not dating. Can we drop it now?” I asked, irritated.

“No, we can’t drop it,” she countered. “That’s not where I’m going with this at all.” She let out a frustrated breath before continuing. “You said at lunch that he was the most attractive guy you’d ever seen.” She said pointedly.

“No I didn’t,” I denied, grabbing a white oil pastel to add in some clouds. “Carly said that.”

“And you agreed,” Liz said. “Look, I’m not trying to embarrass you,” she continued when she saw my blush. “I’m just trying to understand. I only saw you guys together for a few minutes today and it seemed pretty clear to me that you’re really close. So why aren’t you together?”

“He’s not…” I started to say, cutting myself off. Liz waited patiently for me to sort my thoughts. “He doesn’t see me that way,” I told her. 

“Are you sure?” She asked.

I frowned, thinking about all the girls he was always flirting with. 

“I’m sure.”

“Well… I think you might be wrong,” she said decisively. And then, before I could object, “Tell me about him.”

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“Anything you want to tell me,” she said. “Isn’t it nice to get to talk about him like a normal teenage girl talking to her friend about the guy she likes? Not as the friend that can give other interested girls tips?”

“Sorry,” I apologized. “I shouldn’t have just assumed.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’m sure you had a reason. So? What’s he like?”

I thought about it. What was Dean like? I spent the rest of the hour-long class telling her about the wonderful guy I spent most of my time with. I started out a little hesitantly, but by the end I was excitedly answering any question she threw my way. She was right. It was almost freeing to have this discussion with her, to put my feelings out into the world instead of keeping them trapped inside. When the bell rang, signaling the end of class, I was feeling lighter than I had in a long time.

Dean’s POV

Ages 14 and 16

January 24, 1995

I stared at the ceiling, willing myself to find the energy to get out of bed. I heard Sam moving around, getting ready for school, but I couldn’t bring myself to do the same. I knew that by the end of the day I would have letters inked into my skin. Letters that spelled out my soulmate’s name. I had no illusions about my family’s lifestyle and what it would mean for my soulmate. It would be a bittersweet moment, finally learning her name, but knowing I could never allow myself to be with her, to put her in that kind of danger.

With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. I rubbed my eyes before standing up and starting to get ready for the day. I had decided I wasn’t going to look for the tattoo. I would put it off for as long as I could and see it whenever I happened to stumble upon the patch of skin it showed up on.

~~~~~

It had been a pretty good morning. My anxiety had faded to the background when a smiling Jenna came into our room with bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast. It wasn’t elaborate by any means, but it was more than we usually had and the fact that she took the time to make it for us, for me, made it that much more special.

The two of them had given me the gift they picked out right away this morning when an excited Sam decided he couldn’t wait until after school. He halfway disappeared under the bed for a few seconds, wiggling his way back out with a box clutched in his hands. He proudly handed it to me and then watched in eager anticipation as I opened two new movies, Jumanji and Batman Forever.

“Now we have something to watch for movie night too!” He exclaimed. I thanked them both and then we headed to school, Jenna’s dad dropping us off.

Now I was sitting in the locker room, changing back into my regular clothes after gym class. I had opted out of a shower, not wanting to find my tattoo in this miserable place, surrounded by strangers I would have to guard my reaction around. I had my foot up on the bench I was sitting on, switching out my sweaty socks for a dry pair, lost in my thoughts when I heard someone to my left snicker and say, “Isn’t Jenna your sister?”

My head whipped around to look at Matt, the guy who had spoken. He was a sophomore like me, and while he wasn’t wildly popular, he sure thought he was something special. “What?” I snapped. My protective instincts flared up. We had only been at this school for a week, but I was well aware of how attractive Jenna was, and if this kid thought he was going to try something, he had another thing coming. “Why?” I asked, failing to keep the suspicion out of my voice.

“Didn’t the two of you show up around the same time? And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the two of you coming to school in the same car,” he mused. “So you must be her brother. That’s gotta be pretty awkward. Unless you know another Jenna?” 

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” I snapped.

“Dude, don’t they have different last names?” Chimed in a freshman whose name I didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if I should be grateful for or irritated by his input. “So unless they have different dads or something… I don’t think they’re related.” Irritated, I decided. He hadn’t said anything offensive, and his analysis wasn’t wrong, but I found I didn’t like the way he was obviously looking for Matt’s approval.

“Really? How do you know that?” Matt asked. Without waiting for a reply, he continued. “Well that’s a relief I suppose. It would be pretty weird if your sister was your soulmate,” he laughed. “Too bad though,” he continued, having gained the attention of most of the locker room. “She’s not half bad looking. I might ask her out anyway, see what she really thinks about her pathetic, loser soulmate.”

I clenched my jaw. Having lived in tight quarters for years, Jenna and Sam had learned to back off at this, that it meant I was seriously pissed off. Matt had the misfortune of not knowing me so well. “Leave her alone,” I warned. I had managed to keep my temper so far, but if he actually made a move on her, all bets were off. 

“Don’t worry,” Matt drawled on. “I’ll test her out for you. Let you know if she’s actually worth your ti-”

Before he even realized I was moving, I had crossed the couple of steps to him, grabbed a fistful of his shirt, and shoved him back into the lockers. “I don’t know what you’re even talking about,” I seethed, “but you better stay away from her or I’ll make sure that my pathetic loser face is the last thing you see before I put you in the hospital.”

I turned away from him and, after taking a step, ducked, effectively dodging the punch I had seen him getting ready to throw. I spun back around and landed a solid punch to his face before grabbing my shoes and storming out of the locker room. It wasn’t until I was sitting in the bleachers lacing up my boots that I saw it. Inked into the skin of my left ankle was her name.

JENNA

Walking down the hall with the only friend I’d made at this school in the three weeks we’d been here, I laughed at the story she was telling about her brother and his mishap with a pair of scissors and a desire for a new haircut. I was about to counter with a story about Sam and Dean’s latest prank war and a bottle of shampoo when I stopped in my tracks.

Ages 14 and 16

February 5, 1995

“What’s wrong?” Abby asked, confused. She looked to where I was staring and understanding crossed her face. “You kind of like him, right?”

That was a bit of an understatement. I ‘kind of like him’ the way an alcoholic ‘kind of likes’ their drink of choice, the way a fish ‘kind of likes’ the water. 

I knew how ridiculous it was to pine for a guy who saw me as a friend at best, more likely sister, but I couldn’t seem to convince my stupid heart to get over it. I managed to close my slightly open mouth and look away from where Dean was making out with the head cheerleader.

“He turned sixteen a couple of weeks ago. You don’t think she’s…” I stopped, not able to complete that thought.

“His soulmate?” Abby finished. “I don’t know. Maybe. He didn’t tell you what her name is? You guys live together don’t you?”

“No.” I said vaguely, lost in thought.

“No… what?” she asked.

“Sorry,” I sighed, giving her my full attention. “No, he didn’t tell me what name showed up. He’s kind of private. Doesn’t like talking about anything involving feelings. And yeah, I guess we kind of live together. Our dads work together, so we end up moving to the same places a lot.”

“Well there’s really no reason to think she’s the one. Just because he has his soulmate’s name now doesn’t mean he won’t be interested in anyone else until he meets her,” she reasoned. I must not have looked convinced because she continued. “Is this typical for him? I mean, does he usually flirt and go on dates and occasionally show a little too much PDA?” She asked, wrinkling her nose as she looked in their direction again.

“All the girls are always interested in him. And he definitely notices. And likes it. So yeah, this is pretty typical I guess,” I told her.

“Ok, well then I definitely wouldn’t worry about it. If he didn’t usually do this type of thing, then I’d say there was likely a reason for the sudden change in behavior. But if it’s normal, then don’t read anything into it.”

I knew she was right, and even if she wasn’t, I had no reason to be jealous. In a year and a half, I’d get my own soulmate’s name. If I hadn’t moved on by then, hopefully that would be enough to convince my traitorous heart it wasn’t meant to be.

Chapter 2

[ariel-seagull-wings]

FICTIONAL CHARACTER ASK: JANINE MELNITZ

Asked by anonimus

@thereisnoblogonly-zuul​

@professorlehnsherr-almashy @thealmightyemprex @goodanswerfoxmonster @the-blue-fairie @princesssarisa @gravedangerahead @parxsisburning @softlytowardthesun @themousefromfantasyland @filmcityworld1 @lord-antihero @lioness--hart

@budcortfancam @bixiebeet @spengnitzed @angelixgutz @stantzed @janeb984 @amalthea9

Favorite Thing About Them: Let's face it, besides Lois Maxwell's portrayal of Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond film series, there weren't really other examples of desk secretaries so well developed as Janine Melnitz. It is a hard job, and vital to keep government institutions and companies organized, but like the also hard work of being a howsewife, it is often overlooked because is a job associated with women that writers tend to think it won't be interesting to audiences as " the stories of man of action going into a battlefield or other dangerous kind of adventure" that they often choose to focus on. So to have this simple working class lady being portrayed with charisma, as we empathize with the boredom, excitement, confidence, anger, stress and fear that she shows as she navigates trough her job, acting as the human element that helps to keep us grounded in this fantastic story about scientists hunting ghosts in New York City, is marvelous to watch. And she is also shown to be able to adapt and become a competent Ghostbuster in her own right, even leading a back up team while being someone who, like Winston Zeddemore, didn't got access to an Ivy League University Doctorate, showing that there are other forms of being inteligent besides having a golden framed diploma, like conecting with the general public and providing emotional support for friends who need it.

Least Favorite Thing About Them: The fact that when Ghostbusters 2 went to take inspiration from the cartoon The Real Ghostbusters, it made the mistake of only getting inspiration from the character design in the messy later seasons, ignoring the idea of her acting as the fifth Ghostbuster presented by the first two seasons and instead making her have a sexual escapade with Louis Tully out of nowhere to boost his confidence so Louis could be the new fifth Ghostbuster. The writers of the second movie, wich was the same team as the first one, had the template to make progress in making a urban fantasy adventure comedy story where man and woman worked together as a team to save the day without seeing anything weird about it, and didn't tooked any advantage of it.

Three Things I Have In Common With Them:

*I have short hair and wear glasses;

*I often use sarcasm as a mechanism to cope with problems;

*I also work behind a desk with a computer, telephone, pencil and paper;

Three Things I Don’t Have In Common With Them:

*I'm not an american from New York City;

*I'm not a red head;

*I wouldn't have the courage to fight against ghosts and monsters that she has;

Favorite line:

From the July 1983 Script Draft:

"The phones? I wouldn't say the calls are pouring in, Dr. Venkman."

"Good night, Egon."

"Is it alright if I watch?"

"Thank you."

From the October 1983 Script Draft:

"Who do you think you're talking to, Mister? Do I look like a child? You can't come in here without some kind of warrant or writ or something."

"It's a sign, all right... "Going out Of Business."

"I want you to have this."

"It's a souvenir from the 1964 World's Fair at Flushing Meadow. It's my lucky coin."

"Keep it anyway. I have another one at home."

From the 1984 movie:

"You're very handy. I can tell. I bet you like to read a lot, too."

"Oh, that's very fascinating to me. I read a lot myself. Some people think I'm too intellectual, but I think it's a fabulous way to spend your spare time. I also play racquetball. Do you have any hobbies?"

"Hello, Ghostbusters. Yes, of course they're serious. [she paused and sat back down] You do? You have? No kidding. Uh-huh. Well, just, uh, just give me the address. Yes, of course. Oh, they'll be totally discreet. Thank you."

"We got one!"

"Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trans-mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?"

"I've quit better jobs than this."

"Ghostbusters! What do you want!?"

"You are so kind to take care of that man. You know, you're a real humanitarian."

From the novelization of the 1984 movie:

"Would I kid you?... Well, the soonest we could possibly get back to you would be a week from Friday... I'm sorry, but we're completely booked until then... Uh huh... All I can suggest is that you stay out of your house until we can get to you.... Well, in that case. I'd be not to provoke it. You're welcome."

"Egon, there's something very strange about that man. I'm very psychic usually, and right now I have this teerible feeling that something awful is going to happen to you. I'm afrayed you're going to die."

"That's so romantic. "

"You're sweet, Egon."

brOTP: Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore, Dana Barrett, Tiyah Clarke, Louis Tully, Kylie Griffin, Melanie Ortiz, Louise, Irena Cortez, Bryan Welsh, Ilyssa Selwin, Walter Peck.

OTP: Egon Spengler.

nOTP: Ron Alexander.

Random Headcanon: Her maternal family is of german-irish, lutheran and catholic background, while her paternal family is of ucranian, polish and georgian jewish background. She always took part in traditions of both sides of her family, but has more strong identification with the jewish side.

Unpopular Opinion: I understand the idea of the Real Ghostbusters cartoon series episode Janine, You Changed being an attempt to criticize the executives that wanted to force Janine into what they deemed conventional patterns of femininity by inserting the plot of an evil fae that prays on insecurities manipulating Janine after she feels insecure about her appearance, but I think that is still out of character because when it camed to her physical appearance, Janine never seemed likely to feel insecure about it, but take pride in it. If a writer really wanted to explore some insecurity in her in a way that felt organic, it would make more sense to explore her insecurity due to the fact that she camed from a working class background and didn't have access to a college and university doctorate like Peter, Ray and Egon because of lack of money or family connections and because the universities criteria to accept new students is arbitrary and elitist, but Winston, who also shares a working class background, and the other Ghostbusters would assure her that just because she isn't a former Ivy League graduate, doesn't mean she is less inteligent or capable to understand the work of tracking and studying the supernatural.

Songs I Associate With Them:

Elusive Butterfly

If

Andante, Andante

Somebody to love

You Are the Sunshine of My Life

Stay

Favorite Picture of Them:

Annie Potts in the 1984 movie

In the original two seasons of the Real Ghostbusters animated series

In the IDW licensed comics