#anyway yeah that was such a bizarre thing to be told off for that i simply had to shout it into the void lmao

[queerestqueertoeverqueer]

if only finding the most specific and bizarre thing to tell your child off for was an olympic sport...

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

The Joys of Storing | Yandere OCs

So many Yandere’s ploys work with drugging food or drinks that they offer to their love interests. But so few of them think about what their darling does when they don’t eat things immediately.

Maybe it’s because you're busy or you don’t like eating in front of people. Or maybe you cherish the food so much that you choose to save it for later. It’s such a habit that you’ll do that often so many people miss it.  It’s not bizarre that your admirer might miss it too,  that is until it interferes with their plans.

Yandere Ship || Vera 

Vera doesn’t need to drug you usually, considering he has access to hundreds of different methods to knock a human out. But with his new body plus his evolving software on his vessel, there are so many new things to try. Like finding out how many times he can get away with touching you in your sleep before you tell him to stop, you haven’t caught him yet. Or how many sips of water you’d like to have during the day and how often he can get it recorded. The point is he’d absolutely add something to a snack of yours just to see what you do. Would you blame him? Take the effects in stride? Ask for his synthetic body’s help? Sure his processors have already predicted a thousand different possibilities but he doesn’t care. It’s nothing compared to what’ll actually happen. And he’s right.

“(Y/n)...are you going to eat the dessert I personally made for you?”

“Yeah…just later.”

“Later? Later when?”

“When I’m ready!”

“Oh okay….Are you ready now?”

“No.”

Veras adores pestering you about plenty of other things and he’s terrible at being sneaky. He just gets so excited! He probably knows you are going to eat if later and he’s just glad you don’t realize how intricate his thermal cameras are. 

Yandere Witch || Rhiana

Rhiana is likely to fall prey to this little habit of yours. She’ll brew a potion something harmless to help her out. A sweet little concoction that will blend right into your drink to make you a tad less interested in your missing friend. It was just something to have you think of happy thoughts of her. But instead of drinking your drink when you came back from the bathroom, you just kept talking…and talking….and talking. Don’t get her wrong she adores the sound of your voice but she’s been waiting for you to take the first sip and it just hasn’t happened. 

“I just can’t believe these detectives have the nerve to blow me off the way they do–”

“Hmmm”

“--And I told them all of the loose ends about the case and they just wrote me off like I’m some weird asylum patient–”

“...MmmHmm yeah…”

“--I know this isn’t some thriller tv series but I can’t believe they didn’t take any of my leads into account–”

“Yeah..your drink?”

“Yeah, the straw’s cute right? Anyway how am I supposed to sleep when I know they’re not investigating–”

She’ll tiredly listen and watch you lick your lips as they dry out as you keep talking, figuring this is her only comfort to imagine wetting your lips with hers. She’ll make a mental note never to try getting you to consume something without a guarantee you’ll eat it right in front of her. She refuses to miss whatever cute faces you're going to make when the potion she put in kicks in. 

Yandere Cheerleaders + Yandere Football Team 

Both teams are great at teamwork, used to coordinating their actions to be a united front but there are still individuals. The individuals are interested in just a few pictures at your most vulnerable. Or it’s about getting more than the privilege of a shoulder to sleep on at the next party. Either way they’ve distracted the captains and the rest of the team just long enough to gift you the fated red solo cup for the night. They chat with you believing that as a participant in the social atmosphere, you’d take a sip from your drink just like they have. But you haven’t. For a football player, this gets all so nerve-wracking, in the past, they’d seen their teammates do this exact thing to kick off a night of humiliation and fun. Of course, that’s not the plan for you but you seem fairly content with just holding the cup as you lightly bop to the music. For a cheerleader they're almost tempted to outright shove the cup past your perfect+ lips. Things always go their way so it’s upsetting that you just won’t crumple right into their waiting arms.

“You haven’t drunk anything at all (Y/n)...go ahead and have a sip.”

“Oh, I’m just not thirsty.”

“You sure? One taste can’t hurt. I promise I’m a good mixer.”

“Hm, and I bet you’ll mix well with the trash in the compactor.”

“C-captains!” 

“(Y/n), how about you and I take a quick drive. This party’s about to get a whole lot more violent rowdy.”

The captains likely already knew about this little niche of yours and they’re grateful it just so happened to work in their favor this time. Usually, they’ll spend their dates trying to decide when and how is the best time to guarantee you eat their gifts right in front of them. But until they can figure it out they’ll take it upon themselves to punish everyone who isn’t aware. 

Yandere Cat Warrior || Ferrin

Ferrin as a Cat Warrior considers himself far above poisoning of any kind. He’s a warrior! He needs nothing but his sharp wit and imposing claws to seal the fate of his enemies. That being said since he’s made himself a companion of yours+ your magnificent guide he’s had quite a few urges. He really can’t help the urge to sink his canines into your neck when he’s cuddling with you in your tent. But nibbling only does so much for his feline instincts; the urge to mark his territory becomes unbearable when you turn down his more intimate advances. More often than not resulting in marking you another way Ferrin suddenly has quite an interest in cooking.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Later.”

“Later. Later? LATeR! That’s not happening!”

“I don’t want to eat now, back off. I also don’t want to put you in a chokehold again today.”

He’s just so irritating you’re not ingesting his creation…apart of him, he departed with so he could mark your existence as his own. Sure he scents you every other minute of the day but a good cat warrior should want for nothing less than the best.

[zvdvdlvr]

thank you so much!!!

could you write violet harmon x fem reader? or gn, whichever you prefer. established relationship:)

reader spends the night at violets. just fluff and comfort. reader tries to make her smile and laugh, knowing how tough things have been. maybe they take a bath together too? if you're comfortable with that of course!!! and cuddles facing each other too:)

thank you so much!!! <<<333

taissa farmiga characters need more istg lol

bubble beards and plans for the future ✩ violet harmon

🫧 — synopsis. Viv and Ben recruit you (the girlfriend) to cheer up Violet. It works.

🫧 — warnings. Non-sexual & non-descriptive nudity. Surprise- I messed around with the timeline and disregard canon like always! Female reader.

🫧 — author’s note. I hope this is at least halfway decent! I totally agree- taissa’s characters need so much more love. Thank you for the request!! 🤍🤍

     “Hi Ben!” You greeted easily after Violet’s dad opened the door for you. “How are you and Vivien doing? Vi said the move was pretty stressful on everyone.”

     Ben nodded and led you to the kitchen. “You could say that, yeah. We’re doing alright. This is the kitchen, Viv’s upstairs getting ready for tonight. It’s been awhile since we went out… But anyway,” the man led you upstairs, showing you Violet’s room. “We wanted to surprise her. She doesn’t know you were coming,” he explained.

     You nodded with a smile. “I gotcha. Well, tell Viv I said hi and thank you for letting me come over!”

     Ben nodded. You opened the door to Violet’s room and stepped inside. Ben hoped you being over would help bring Violet’s smile back- she missed her old friends and seeing you every day. Vivien and Ben both had planned to invite you over sooner, but everyone’s schedule waa ever-changing. But now that you were here and staying for a couple nights, Violet was sure to be in better spirits!

     “Hey, you,” you greeted with a wide smile. To your delight, Violet gasped the second she saw you. Her long hair was a blur in the air as she launched herself at you. Your laughter filled the house as Violet clung tightly to you. “I missed you so much!”

     Violet pulled away to reveal her watery eyes and shaking smile. “I missed you too, y/n. So much,” her soft voice replied. “Are you staying the night?”

     Her excitement escalated as you nodded. “For the weekend. Hope you didn’t have anything planned, pretty girl.”

     Violet just laughed. “Let’s go get some food.”

🫧🫧🫧

     Two hours after Violet’s parents left, the two of you found yourselves putting an absurd amount liquid soap into the bathtub. After stripping and slipping under the warm water and thick bubbles you let Violet lead the conversation.

     “I think this house is crazy haunted,” she said quietly. “And dad’s been so weird lately. Mom’s… Mom has to deal with all of us. And school sucks, y/n. I can even smoke one singular cigarette without being told off by queen bitch and her goonies,” she explained to you as she fashioned a hat of bubbles on your head. “I just miss my life before moving.”

     You gnawed at your lip. There weren’t many genuinely helpful pieces of advice you could offer your beloved girlfriend. “We could explore the house if you want? You already know my mom left a while ago so I can’t help in that department,” you shrugged. “Just smack the bitch in the face if she keeps bugging you. Or- hey! We could go egg her house or something this weekend!” 

     Violet’s seriousness faded at your words. “We should. Now sit still and let me give you a mustache…”

     You and Violet gave each other ridiculously large and bizarre mustaches and beards like you used to do when you were both younger. Of course, Violet did the better mustaches and you did the better beards for some reason. After most of the bubbles dissolved, though, you helped each other wash and rinse off your hair. And that led you to Violet’s bed with hairties and a brush.

     Just like you did when Violet still lived in her old house, you braided each other’s hair before covering up with Violet’s old quilts and blankets.

     “I’m glad you came over,” Violet whispered to you, committing your face to memory as the moon lit up the lines and bumps and curves on your face. “I think mom and dad are happy you came over too. You’re the kid they always wanted, if you ask me. A perfect daughter-in-law, if I may say.” Violet’s smile changed to something more beautiful during her last sentence.

     “Don’t say that, Vi,” you chided, letting a finger drift over Violet’s face to brush away a stray strand of hair. “But I am really happy to see you guys. You’re the best girlfriend and family I think I could ever have. I just… I just wish I could see you more than I do now, y’know,” you murmured. “But after this school year, I have a plan- I do. I’ll come and take you out to dinner and purpose. Ben and Viv will have already given me permission to ask and I have a ring for you in my purse or maybe my pocket. Then you’ll say yes and we’ll-“

     “Shh,” Violet whispers, pressing her pointer to your lip. “Don’t spoil the surprise.”

     You let silence fall over the room like a blanket and watch Violet watch you. “I love you, Violet.”

     “I love you too, y/n.”

[xxsabitoxx]

Cut

<Aki Hayakawa x Fem! Reader Drabble> (part 2?)

Warnings: explicit language, mentions of blood, tension

A/N: wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue this so I figured I’d post this and see if anyone wants more :)

Word Count: 1.1k

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

“You’re a fucking moron.”

You blinked, wiping the blood dripping down from the cut in your brow. Your face was bruised and splattered with blood — only some was your own. “I’m a fucking moron? Do you even hear yourself? We would have died if it wasn’t for me saving your ass.”

Aki wasn’t as bad off as you were, some blood had splattered along his skin and suit but unlike you none of it was his own. Actually some of it was likely yours. “Save me? You didn’t save me. I could have handled it just fucking fine. If anything you nearly died because you couldn’t hold on for a minute.”

His voice was much calmer than your own, blue eyes as cold as ice as he glared at you. All you could do was roll your eyes, slightly annoyed that he couldn’t be bothered to see things how they were. Hell, you’d likely have a scar on your face because of this and he couldn’t even pause to ask if you needed a handkerchief.

“Yeah, whatever Hayakawa. Some fucking partner you are, I don’t know how Himeno deals with you.” You turned to leave the alleyway, not quite willing to continue the argument that you were destined to lose for a multitude of reasons. There was never any winning against him anyways.

“Watch your mouth.” It was sharp, just as sharp as his nails digging into your forearm to keep you in place. “What the fuck is your deal?” You whirled, not even hearing him close the distance in the first place. He just stared at you, jaw clenched tightly. “I was worried for your fucking welbeing. I spilled my blood for you and you can’t even offer me a fucking handkerchief to clean my face.”

His grip tightened, face morphing into annoyance. “Don’t go treating yourself like a martyr for my sake. It’s a good way to get yourself killed.” His grip was unwavering, surely at this point you’d find five indents along your forearm from where his nails dug in with no mercy. You scoffed, not bothering to try and yank your arm from his grasp.

“Don’t start acting like you care all of a sudden.” He was silent again and you couldn’t quite figure why he wouldn't let you go. “So…” you started, lips curling into a scowl “Are we just going to stand here all day and stare at each other? Because honestly I’d have a better time watching paint dry.” You reached up to wipe your eye again, the bleeding from your cut was refusing to slow.

Even after bitching at him, he still couldn’t offer you a godforsaken handkerchief when you knew he had at least two in his pocket. What he did next could only be equated to you imagining things from blood loss, at least that’s what you told yourself as he pulled you towards him and used his free hand to cup your bloodied cheek. “I’m not acting like I care, I really do.”

Your brow quirked before immediately falling back into place, you had so quickly forgotten that you’d injured it until a spark of pain shot through you. “Wha-“ he cut you off, lips meeting yours in the gentlest kiss you’d ever experienced. And one you couldn’t even reciprocate from shock. He pulled away a moment later, gauging your reaction since you had remained frozen.

“D-did you hit your fucking head?” Was all you could muster, but there was genuinely no malice in your tone. Your eye has shut again as blood continues to slip through the cut at a rapid rate. Finally, Aki yanked a handkerchief out of his pocket with a click of his tongue. “This fucking cut…” was all he could mutter as he quickly wiped your face and then applied pressure to the wound.

You were still frozen in shock, especially since he was opting to suddenly ignore his bizarre action. Your mouth opened and closed a few times as you stared up at him. The close proximity wasn’t exactly unwelcome in your eyes, hell you had been quietly hoping someone would baby you over the wound on your face. You just didn’t expect it to be Aki. “You’re still a fucking moron, you know.”

“Well, way to ruin the moment, asshole, here I was thinking you’d slapped your head on some concrete and knocked some kindness into yourself.” You moved to grab the handkerchief but Aki was forever quicker than you. “Jesus Christ, could you let me finish before you put your two cents in?” His nose was scrunched as he lifted the cloth, seeing if the pressure had helped at all.

“That was a full statement dumbass, I didn’t cut you off.” Aki ignored you, pressing the hanky back to your brow. “You may need stitches. You’re a fucking moron for marring your pretty face in attempt at saving me. Especially when I didn’t need saving.” This time, he looked at you when he spoke. “Think of the kiss as an apology for the trouble.” He seemed satisfied with that.

You however… “No fucking way! If you want to apologise for the trouble.” You made air quotes as you spoke, glaring up at him. “I expect more than a fucking kiss, Hayakawa.” You wanted a thank you, or even to be asked if you were alright. Hell maybe even a trip to a cafe for a sweet for being brave. Maybe Makima was right about you being easy to please…

“What? You want me to fuck you or something?” This time you couldn’t help your eyebrows from shooting upward, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. “Not…what I was thinking. But I mean… if you’re offering.” You slapped a hand over your mouth a moment later, not quite sure how that slipped past your lips. Now, you both sat in silence. You had no intention of breaking it, either.

After what felt like an eternity… “Fine. But it has to be at your place, only after we get this stitched because it’s not slowing.” It wasn’t a question, nor did it leave you room to interject. So, you nodded, reaching up to apply the pressure yourself so you could get out of this alleyway and to the hospital. As quickly as his facade broke, it returned. The perfect picture of formality and professionalism.

As if he didn’t call you a moron at least three times and then have the audacity to kiss you. You couldn’t even blame him for the other predicament because you did unintentionally insinuate that you wanted more than a kiss. Though, the warm pit in your stomach didn’t exactly have you complaining about your miscommunication.

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

Please let me know if you’d like a part 2 with actual smut <3

[ca-suffit]

neilcfreak hasn't been seen in the fandom in a *long* time, so kind of fucking weird and obvious that nalyra gets a bait ask (which she knows is a bait ask) saying it *must* be bullying that caused it and listing every way neil was a good person. where tf has neilcfreak been much in the last year? besides a few months ago when she was trying to cover up for white fandom. nobody cares about u girl, nobody is rly sending these asks about u except ur own friends (or u lol).

anyway who wants neilcfreak's racist receipts :)

last year, ao3 was getting called out for never following up with their promises made in the wake of BLM 2020 to better protect users against racist harassment. neil and a black user commented on the same post, the black user replying to neil's comment u can see above of "if u don't like it make ur own site lol."

this white user (futureevilscientist) then random af pulled the asks out and tagged the black user at the start of the post to talk all this shit AT them fsr?

then later, neil shows up herself.

this is the part u cannot *cannot* say is not racist. neil is directly replying to a reblog of *someone else's main post* and placing full blame for a "call out post" on the *black* user.

she then pulls out her white jewish shit to speak over the main topic, which is racism / antiblackness.

playing oppression olympics can be done by any marginalized group but it usually works the best for white ppl because white ppl get the most sympathy when doing this (u want the most shining example, how often are we talking about white gay oppression in this fandom above racism / antiblackness, which is the *actual theme* of the show...or even gay oppression through a black pov, since u see louis experience that constantly. how much are we told that this show is rly about white gays and nothing else?). ppl assume whiteness is more innocent by default so will pile more on a black user for "being aggressive" towards a *white* jewish user without needing any proof. that's what neil was counting on here. she also then had a bizarre, loud breakdown on her account for extra assurance she'd be seen as "the real victim" (for making a stupidly racist comment in public). ohh yeah weaponize those white tears girl. she then "quit" tumblr for a while and when she came back, as mentioned in the linked post above, she had to again mention "drama" for good measure. "remember how I was bullied off this site u guys :("

white fandom was all over her dramatic distraction posts btw (nalyra commented on them too, so she is v aware this happened). v few people reached out to the black user or cared about the shit they were dealing with.

these white fandom ppl *never* have any receipts of bullying either, they just *say* it happens and flock to give hugs so it looks like lots of support is happening for a real "issue." but it's not real. everything they do is meant to manipulate u. this nalyra ask is still doing that.

when ur told what to think about someone or u can't find evidence of things happening beyond what anyone, even a group of ppl, *tells u* is happening then u need to rly remain suspicious of the reality of it.

these are asks that the black user got after this stuff happened. so now we've created a new issue from nothing and we're not talking about racism or how ur bullying a black user over literally nothing anymore. now it's suddenly all about poor neilcfreak and her white jewish identity and victimhood from a big, bad black fan. she's gotta make this all make her look like the real victim to cover up how embarrassed and stupid she felt for being called out on saying racist shit.

this is why white ppl need to understand these abusive techniques and get on ppl's ass when they pull this, not just leave it up to black and brown ppl to do. white fandom will cry all the white tears possible and claim ur talking over a white jewish person, being antisemitic. it's an attempt to emotionally manipulate u, keep talking (think of how often claims of antisemitism are used to shut down anyone being pro palestine, it's the same shit). this is racism. this is weaponizing an identity to cause harm to a black person cuz u were caught saying racist shit and want to deflect. if neilcfreak wasn't a huge racist she'd have *also* called this out and told ppl to stop doing this on her behalf. that would require her pulling her head out of her ass first tho and not sending these anons herself prbly.

I was looking for a different receipt to end on but found this instead, so let's talk about this too since we're here

here's neil after this shit went down, trying to make anne rice all kinds of marginalized identities so ppl can excuse her abusive shit too. she never said she was queer and she never identified as trans. u can't just label ppl shit because stuff they said sounds "close enough." she did enough harm as a cishet white woman can u all fuck off already with wanting to find more excuses for never wanting anyone to criticize this piece of shit.

good riddance, wretched bitch.

[topazadine]

Ah I feel like I should reintroduce myself

Mostly because I kinda forgot what I said in my last one.

Look it's my dog Clark and my giant stuffed duck Ahiru-san (of Bizenverse fame, yes I bought the stupid fictional duck)

Anyway, basic points:

Cam

Ohioan (most important identity)

She/her pronouns

Fantasy author

Pit bull mom

SEO writer

Lesbian

Bipolar

But wait there's more

My hobbies other than writing, in order of how much I manage to do them

Staying up really late

Fighting with people on the internet

Walking my dogs (is that a hobby?)

Yelling at my plants to grow faster

Knitting

Horseback riding

Rock climbing (new! I am still bby)

Photography

Dollhouses

Kayaking

Traveling to underappreciated places

Activities I am fascinated by but do not understand whatsoever (if you have tips or do these things tell me pls)

Archery

Mounted archery

Caving

Ukulele

Embroidery

Spinning yarn

Things that I am deeply curious about

Caves

Superstitions

Human psychology

International conflict

Comparative mythology

Cryptids/ghost stories

Cults (but not joining them)

Bizarre deaths (especially stuff like cave diving deaths)

Stuff I have written that you should read

9 Years Yearning

The Lucretia Cycle

A lot of stuff on AO3

My sorta defunct blog (I moved back to Tumblr lmao)

Medium posts

Random facts about me that no one cares about

I have double eyelashes and a chest tattoo that says "Death to Rapists" in Latin Additionally, I have dyscalculia, which makes it almost impossible to learn languages or play a musical instrument because Brain Don't Work That Way. So it is annoying when people screech about monolinguals and say we're all lazy or whatever. I've tried multiple times to learn multiple languages and it simply does not work. Get off my back pls (random pet peeve) I studied abroad in Scotland on the prestigious Gilman scholarship and it radicalized me against England The main reason I did my Master's degree in International Relations is because they offered me a free year of tuition. This radicalized me against becoming a politician. As an aside, I did my Master's thesis on international human trafficking. Multiple people have told me I'm like a herding dog because I need to be doing something and get sad if I don't have a task My greatest fear is being electrocuted by stepping into a puddle after a rainstorm I get anxious going to the grocery store but have no problem with public speaking (strange) My favorite job I've ever done was an internship working with refugees (love) My dream vacation would be visiting the lava tube caves under Aokigahara, climbing through Buddha's Nostril in Nara, and then petting all the nice deer at Nara Deer Park I would also like to visit Mongolia and eat all their yummy snacks My most hated household chore is laundry Last year, when I went to Blood Prison, I cried because I didn't get scared and it's supposed to be one of the scariest haunted houses - I have a bizarre immunity to haunted houses because I can't suspend my disbelief Whenever I am in pain, I completely forget about the existence of NSAIDs and instead bitch about being uncomfortable until someone (usually my mom) reminds me that modern medicine is real and may in fact have solutions One time I stapled through my hand with a staple gun because I was trying to repurpose a cabinet drawer into a scratching post for my (now deceased) ferrets I am terrified of amusement park rides where you go up in the air but you don't have your feet on anything, like Windseeker at Cedar Point. My primal lizard brain craves the ground. But rock climbing is fine.

Yeah so that's it thanks

[dduane]

Dai!

I'm currently reading chapter 4 of The Wizard's Dilemma - where Kit and Nita are fighting, and sending messages via their manuals - and I was wondering:

The manual translates their spoken words into the Speech. And the Speech is much more precise for describing things as they are, including a lot of context. Wouldn't it transcribe, here, context such as tone of voice, speaker's intention, etc. etc., so that Nita's "fine." might come across differently than if she texted just the English version?

(I find the idea SO intriguing, since written language often lacks exactly these context clues, and to imagine a language that doesn't? Is fascinating.)

Have a good start of your week!

...I'm going to get myself off the hook here by suggesting that there are a lot of ways you can have a Manual (or similar instrumentality) set up to either send or receive data: some ways a whole lot more granular than others... if you have the patience to put up with them. Sometimes you might just opt for the milk-tongue/casual native language option if you thought it was sufficient for current needs (and then forgot to reset when it wasn't).

Some of the granularity options were suggested in one of the YW 30-Day OTP Challenge posts: I'll just paste the contents in here. Inserting the cut below...

(Manual transcription, JD REDACTED XXXXXXXX.xxx - XXXXXXXX.xxx inclusive)

recording state: static | DYNAMIC editing: locked | UNLOCKED live context: off | ON location: Sol IIIa Illumination: 26% Phase from primary: waning crescent Coordinates: IAU: LQ11: 22.5° N / 18° W regional designation: IAU: Montes Carpatus (old style: Lunar Carpathians) microregion: no formal designation, no colloquial designation, reference coordinates; bookmark “Kit’s Rock” Playback: flat text | CONTEXTUAL POV TEXT | audio | audio + view | audio + view + interior cognitive [more] POV selection: static | dynamic | CONTEXT-DRIVEN | [more] POV style: omnicient (total) | omniscient (need to know) | BLIND ITEM NARRATIVE | normal narrative | stream of consciousness [more] POV narration: 3P | 2P | 1P | P-NEUTRAL [more] POV depth: EXTERIOR | int. conscious | int. subconscious | int. preconscious [more]

Participants: Callahan, J.L., Rodriguez, C.K.

(record begins)

CKR: You keep fiddling with that.

JLC: Yeah… the record settings are way more involved than I thought. Way more involved than they used to be, anyway. I messed something up the other day.

CKR: Anything serious?

JLC: Not really… got lucky that time.

CKR: …Up here again.

JLC: Yeah, seems smartest. We’ll have some warning in case Certain People start looking for us.

CKR: Like we have the slightest chance of escaping notice—

JLC: Didn’t say that. Some warning, though.

CKR: Fair enough.

(break in record) (record resumes)

JLC: It wasn’t, though.

CKR: It kinda was.

JLC: Uh, not really.

CKR: Look, it’s not like you were trying to hide anything about it. You told me you two were kissing. It’s okay.

JLC: But it wasn’t making out.

CKR: I don’t mind if it was. You were under pressure.

JLC: Pressure didn’t have anything to do with it! And it really wasn’t making out.

CKR: Neets, honestly, it’s not a problem.

JLC: It is if you think making out means that we were intending for something else to happen. Because it wasn’t. And you think that’s what it means. I can tell.

CKR: Listen, really, it’s okay! It was a weird situation, bizarre stuff was going on, you weren’t—

JLC: Stop right there! I know what was happening!

CKR: Look. Sorry. I’m sorry, I just…

JLC: I just need a way to show you.

CKR: …don’t think it’s that important, but if you—

JLC: Wait. Wait.

(pause)

JLC: You know… this could work. Absolutely it could.

CKR: What?

JLC: (laughter) We can run it back and take a look at it.

CKR: (pause) Run what back?

JLC: When he and I kissed.

(pause)

CKR: You lost me. Exactly what are you saying?

JLC: Well, you possibly won’t have heard. I do have an in with a privileged source. But lately there are some new ways to get at information using the Manual…

CKR: Whoa, whoa, wait a moment! How would that ever be in the Manual?!

JLC: It’s always been there… or the raw data has. But there are new ways to get at it.

CKR: (pause) This is kinda bizarre. The Powers are usually so gung-ho about privacy issues.

JLC: Oh, They still are. Everything’s locked down so that you can’t get at it if you don’t have all the necessary permissions.

CKR: How did you find out about this? Bobo?

JLC: Actually, no. Closer to home.

CKR: Oh…my…God. No.

JLC: Yes.

CKR: Dairine. How did she ever—

JLC: Not her. The Mobiles. They’ve got this insane archival project going on…

CKR: What, to preserve for all time the immortal details of you two necking?!

JLC: (laughter)

CKR: I can’t believe I’m getting on board with this. So fine. What do we need to do?

JLC: Get Ronan up here.

CKR: …For what exactly?

JLC: Consent.

CKR: …What??

(break in record) (record resumes)

JLC: See, that’s what you get. You okay?

CKR: Yeah, fine. Go on, make the call, no point in falling halfway down a mountain for nothing!

JLC: Not anything like halfway. Couldn’t have been more than—

CKR: Will you make the damn call already?

(break in record) (record resumes)

CKR: There he comes.

JLC: That was quick. Where?

CKR: Down the ridge.

JLC: Yeah. The usual offset.

CKR: Is it me or is he putting on weight?

JLC: Looks like muscle. Did he say last time that he’d started doing weights?

CKR: Yeah. Something to do with the rugby.

JLC: He didn’t give up his thing with the weird club, did he?

CKR: The hurley? No chance. Hey Ro!

(adding participant: Nolan III, R.H.)

RHN: Hey yourself. I see you two are busy with your usual pastime of watching the rest of us live out our little antlike lives far below.

CKR: Yeah. Pull up a rock. …Weren’t busy, were you?

RHN: Just finished a job. Nothing exciting.

JLC: This from the man who said Taking In The Sea was no big deal. Don’t think I didn’t just see your precis update.

CKR: What’s he done now?

JLC: Here, check this out.

CKR: (pause) Did you just cause an earthquake?

RHN: Just a wee titchy one. Maybe some plates fell down off shelves in Howth… no worse than that. CalTech and the USGS’ll have it for their records if anyone gets suspicious.

CKR: …Nice. What did the people on the ferry think?

RHN: Mostly ‘Feck are we glad that this very localized tsunami came up and pushed us ashore at Ringsend without destroying our ship much.’

CKR: Jeez. What the hell are your power levels doing?

RHN: Still having some peak swings secondary to my roomer, that’s all. Suits me fine. At least I get something useful out of having him in my head moving the furniture around all that while.

CKR: Well, wow, you did good.

RHN: I guess. Ta much.

JLC: I’m just wondering how they’re going to explain it the rest of the way. That quake won’t have been enough.

RHN: Don’t be daft. It’s Ireland. We’ll blame it on the weather.

JLC, CKR: (laughter)

RHN: So what was this big thing you needed to talk to me about?

JLC: Not that big. Need some input, though.

RHN: About?

JLC: A discussion we were having.

RHN: Oh?

JLC: We were talking about making out.

(pause)

RHN: …Uh.

(break in record) (record resumes)

RHN: Yeah, so you were telling me why you need me for this.

CKR: Well. It was a question of semantics, first.

RHN: Let me get this straight. You asked me to come up from Dublin… to the Moon… to discuss semantics. Of kissing.

JLC: Not just semantics. I want to review some material, and I was hoping you’d sanction it.

RHN: Sanction what?

JLC: Instant replay. …Well, not instant.

RHN: You lost me.

JLC: Remember when we kissed?

RHN: (pause) Which answer won’t make one of you clock me upside the head with a moon rock?

JLC, CKR: (laughter)

RHN: What the feck brought this on?

JLC: A difference of opinion.

CKR: Nosiness.

RHN: Uh, not feeling safe about this whole line of enquiry now, but moving on regardless…

JLC: It’s okay. See, there’s a recording…

RHN: Of us kissing? Not possible.

JLC: Not a recording as such. Except insofar as the universe passively records everything that happens inside it…

RHN: …You’re telling me we’re living inside the One’s Sky Plus box.

JLC: (pause) What?

CKR: TiVo.

JLC: Oh.

RHN: Seriously, you’re telling me you can play it back somehow?

JLC: Not playback exactly but—

RHN: Hey science queen, telling me what it’s not like is wasted effort. The direct approach, please.

JLC: Well, going by Dairine’s explanation, it’s got something to do with hyperstring structure and the Theory of Everything.

RHN: Oh please.

JLC: No, that’s what I thought at first. It’s a real term, though. This technology, it’s something the Mobiles have been implementing: this big project they started. She got all bogged down in technical stuff I didn’t understand, but it sounded like she—

RHN: Whoa whoa whoa, wait just a moment, did we hear history being made right here before us on this dusty rock? Did Miss Juanita Louise Callahan—

JLC: Dead, Ronan, you are about to be discorporated before your time.

RHN: —actually admit to not understanding some kind of technical stuff?

JLC: I really will kill you, you do understand that? You want to make history, fine. First human being to be killed on the Moon. You mentioned rocks? Let’s try this one, it looks good—

CKR: Oh God.

RHN: (laughter) It’s pumice. Who the feck do you think you’re gonna kill with pumice?

JLC: Oh it is not pumice, please, are you blind?—some kind of basalt, probably got kicked up here out of one of the maria by an impact, and maybe it’s about to have another of those! Dairine never told you about the L word, she knows her life would be too short. It was Carmela, wasn’t it, how can she, oh God why can she not just keep her—

RHN: Not Carmela. Someone else. Too bad, your secret’s out for all the world to hear….

(SFX: rock being pounded against larger rock)

JLC: Aaaaaggghhh!

RHN: Feel better now?

JLC: No. And when I recover my composure—

RHN: Always an entertaining exercise, there are nuclear weapons with shorter fuses—

CKR: Will you two shut yourselves up for two seconds?

(pause)

CKR: Thank you. Jeez. … ‘It sounded like she’ what??

JLC: (pause) Uh. Like what the Mobiles were talking about was making this sort of gigantic backup.

RHN: What of?

JLC: Everything wizardly apparently.

RHN: So how is the two of us kissing wizardly?

JLC: Well, we’re both wizards!

RHN: Oh, give me a break! There had to be, I don’t know, thousands of wizards kissing right then!

JLC: But probably only one who had the One’s Champion living in his mental basement at the time. Which makes it really of historical interest, I think.

RHN: Not ‘historical’ as in banging me in the head with a rock, I take it.

JLC: Don’t assume you’re safe yet. Anyway, parts of the explanation were way beyond me. In fact I think they were kind of beyond Dairine, or she hadn’t really spent much time getting her head around them. Because sometimes she made it sound like the Mobiles were trying not just to back up everything wizardly, but just… everything.

RHN: Everything?

JLC: In the universe.

RHN: What…? All the information?

CKR: Or all the thought?

RHN: All the matter?

JLC: I think maybe all those.

(pause)

CKR: …How in the One’s name do you back up everything?

JLC: I have no idea. I keep meaning to ask her about it, but she’s not home a lot right now, and other stuff keeps happening…

CKR: You’d have to make a whole new universe…

RHN: So anyway! This recording…

CKR: Wow.

JLC: Seems like wherever there’s a manual, it makes a kind of imprint or marker on local space, and this kind of record can be made.

RHN: But no one can see it.

JLC: Only the participants, if they give consent. And anybody else they consent to allow to see it.

RHN: Seriously.

JLC: Yeah.

(pause)

JLC: Well?

(pause)

RHN: How are you about this?

CKR: She told me about it.

RHN: Not the kissing itself. I know she told you about that. And anyway, you know I already knew you knew.

CKR: Oh God, stop, too complicated already. So?

RHN: If she’s okay with it, I’m okay with it.

CKR: Okay.

RHN: You sure?

CKR: Look, why do you keep asking me? I didn’t kiss you.

RHN: Maybe that’s a shame. Maybe you don’t know what you’re missing.

CKR (to JLC): Maybe you want to hand me that rock.

JLC: (laughter)

RHN: So what do we have to do?

JLC: Nothing. It’s here, in the manual. It heard you: the permission’s in. It’s cued up. Now we just roll it. Ready?

RHN: Yeah.

CKR: Yeah.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

CKR: Would you pause this a minute? …You know, this is kinda weird.

RHN: What, you mean sitting on the bloody Moon watching yourself in a porno?

JLC, CKR: (laughter)

CKR: This is not porn! These are just two people staring at each other in the dark!

RHN: After one of them slags me off with a flamethrower, yeah. God you were brutal.

JLC: Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad.

RHN: Maybe for you. I was kinda raw at that point.

CKR: You? Admitting to raw?

RHN: I don’t mind it now. It got better.

CKR: Anyway, how is it porn when all you’ve got here is two people just sort of looking at each other longingly with their tongues hanging out?

JLC: Cut it out! There were no tongues.

RHN: But I think I see what you mean about the weirdness.

CKR: (laughter) What, besides you thinking it’s porn?

RHN: No it is not porn, shut up, I concede the fecking point already. It’s what bothers me in bad TV shows. Where’s the camera?

JLC: I told you. There were manuals on site. No, I know, don’t start. Manuals or equivalent instrumentalities… your Knowledge thing. Where there’s a manual, or equivalent, there’s sort of a node that can make a record of what’s going on in local reality. It’s some kind of string structure business: pluck the string in one place, it vibrates somewhere else.

CKR: Oh God. Quantum mechanics again.

JLC: Yeah. Maybe the cats might be better to ask for the details: they work with strings on the gates all the time. They’d know.

RHN: Given a choice between asking Rhiow and asking your sister? Rhiow every time. Where were we again?

JLC: Watching us kiss.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

CKR: So this doesn’t constitute making out?

RHN: Nope.

CKR: Meaning you weren’t thinking about doing anything more? Anything after?

RHN: (pause) Hadn’t crossed my mind. I was just kind of amazed that it was happening right then.

JLC: And not necking.

RHN: What?

CKR: Necking.

RHN: Haven’t heard the term.

JLC: Kissing for a long time.

CKR: Like in a car, when you’re parking. Or on the couch when nobody’s home.

RHN: Done much of that?

CKR: Oh please. I have two older sisters. You have no idea how glad I was when Helena finally went to college. Half the time when the parents were out, the living room sounded like, oh, God never mind. I’d nearly forgotten.

RHN: Parking?

JLC: Going somewhere scenic to neck.

CKR: Or make out.

RHN: The definitions are getting dangerously circular now. Better roll it again.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

CKR: But there. See, you grabbed hold of him—

JLC: He started it.

RHN: I was falling off the fence.

JLC: Oh, and that’s my fault somehow.

RHN: Yes, yes it was. What? Would you rather I said, ‘No, she kissed me and it had no effect whatsoever, thanks for playing’? Look, here, here’s the rock! Talk among yourselves and sort it out. I’ll just sit here, don’t mind me.

(pause)

JLC: Let’s call it mutual.

RHN: Thank you very much. Continue.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

RHN: Okay, it’s clear. Definitely not making out. It might be snogging. Timing’s pretty iffy, though.

CKR: What?

RHN: You saw the timer running. That didn’t even last thirty seconds.

JLC: Felt like longer.

RHN: Relativity. Ever heard of Einstein’s Stove? A snog is, like, three minutes minimum.

JLC: I’m not so sure.

RHN: How are you defining terms all of a sudden? Had you even heard that word before I used it just now?

JLC: Excuse me, I watch Dr. Who. He said he’d just snogged Madame Pompadour. That was even shorter than this. Ten seconds maybe.

RHN: Let’s keep the fictional characters out of this, shall we?

CKR: Um.

RHN: Besides, the other thing with a snog is that it’s more for pleasure. This was just both of us being freaked out, I think.

JLC: Well, yeah. You were so vulnerable. And kinda cute that way.

RHN: And you were all fierce even though you were unnerved. And kinda cute that way.

CKR: So…

RHN: Reassurance.

JLC: And experimentation.

RHN: Yeah. Comfort smooch, undifferentiated type.

JLC: With added One’s Champion. God was I shocked. Any comfort, boy, it went right out the window when I found out who else was in there.

RHN: Yeah, roll that. Kind of funny in retrospect.

[ERROR: Permissions failure. Secondary playback is embargoed in this format due to insufficient permissions level or number. Please check your permissions module and try again.]

RHN: (laughter) Janey mack, look at me go.

JLC: I’m so sorry… I really didn’t mean for that to happen.

RHN: Wasn’t you I was reacting to. The damn Spear: it was like having it stuck in your arse.

CKR: There’s an image I won’t soon forget.

RHN: I’ll be remembering it a lot longer, believe me.

(pause)

RHN: So what’s the verdict? Have we got consensus?

JLC: Comfort kissing.

RHN: Borderline snog at best.

CKR: But okay, not making out.

RHN: Great, he concurs. Are we done now? Can I go back to my humdrum life?

CKR: Oh, yeah, Mister 'I Made The Earth Move'!

RHN: The sea floor anyway. And don’t you forget it.

JLC: Can’t wait to see the write-up on that.

CKR: And the environmental impact justification they’re gonna make you file.

RHN: Which I am already late for, due to being called up to Lunar orbit for the absolute weirdest consult of my life. Thanks a million.

CKR, JLC: (laughter)

RHN: Always pushing the boundaries, you two.

JLC: You say that as if it’s a bad thing.

RHN: No. Not at all. Kind of what we do, isn’t it? But some of us excel.

CKR: That almost sounded like a compliment.

RHN: Don’t get cocky. I’ve got the rock. (pause) Anyway, I’m outa here. Had people to see before the damn ferry started taking water. They really have to find better technology for those doors.

JLC: Anybody I know?

RHN: Some of the chicken-shop crew.

JLC: Give them my best.

RHN: Will do. Dai stihó, you two. Stay out of trouble.

CKR: What are the odds?

RHN: Please. I know you too well. Oh Kit, don’t forget, schedule change on the Big Game next week.

CKR: I saw the calendar change. No problem.

RHN: Right. Later!

(pause)

CKR: That it?

JLC: Yeah. Save out.

Participants: Callahan, J.L., Rodriguez, C.K., Nolan III, R.H.

(formal signoff) (record complete) (end of line) (end of file)

“…So.”

“Yeah.”

“We were talking about making out…”

“Yeah, we were, weren’t we?”

“We could always try defining when a snog stops being borderline.”

“Defining terms. So romantic.”

“Yeah, well this time make sure that thing’s off.”

[normal-sea-urchin]

Casey Jones Fucking Dies: Chapter 5

here it is, after like, 3 days, 2,755 words of raph going through it, leo's kind of a jerk in this one, but yeah, please enjoy, so sorry for postponing it and making it so long

What April said resonated in Raph's mind for the next few days. What did she mean off? And what did she mean his 'vibe'? Do the rest of the guys think he's being weird? Wait, duh, of course they do, they told April that. He pondered all these thoughts while lying down on his bed, legs dangling off the edge. 

In their defense, he had been acting weird. All this weird stuff, the white fog in the sewer, his sai constantly going missing, his stuff getting knocked over, the face in the mirror, all of it. It'd been bizarre for him, so he could only imagine how it looked to his brothers and April. Considering that Mikey didn't seem to react to the white fog in the sewer tunnel, he probably didn't see anything, so whatever was wrong had something to do with Raph. 

Why was all this happening to him; was it some kind of elaborate prank by his brothers? Maybe god is punishing me for what I did he jokingly thought to himself. Or maybe it's a ghoooooooost. 

"Hehe..." he chuckled. Wait. Wait hang on. That's it. What if that's it? What if this whole thing, with the nightmares and restless nights, the cold gusts of winds, and that haunting face in the mirror. Raph felt his brow furrow as he delved deeper into his thoughts. If he was really being haunted, then by who? Or by what?

"Uhhhhhh, dude?"

Raph launched up from his comfortable position on his bed, turning to see who was in the door. Mikey. it was just Mikey. Raph was so deep in his thought that he didn't even hear Mikey walk in.

"You okay?" Mikey asked, swinging his arms back and forth and teetering on his feet. "You seemed like, way spaced out."

"Uh- Of course I'm okay!" Raph lashed out, getting off his bed and placing his hands on his hips(?). How long had Mikey been standing there, watching him?

"If you say so bro. Anyways, pizza's here." Mikey mentioned walking away into the living room. Raph retired his arms to his side. He waited a few moments before following Mikey into the living room. As he turned the corner from his doorway to the conversation pit, he took a moment to dive back into his previous thoughts. 

Haunted? That's dumb. Like, Mikey level dumb. There's no way he was being haunted. It's not like ghosts are real. That's stupid. 

                _______________________

"Hello my sons." Master Splinter greeted, walking from the kitchen to the living room with a cup of tea in hand. 

"Hi Sensei!" the turtles collectively saluted, turning their attention from the TV to their father. 

"Would any of you like to join me for meditation in the dojo?" Splinter suggested. 

"Of course Sensei!" Leo perked up. Mikey and Donnie both respectfully declined, leaving Raph to choose. You know what, with all the weird stuff that had been happening to him recently, he could probably use some meditation.

"Ya know what, sure." Raph answered, getting up and turning to walk towards the dojo. After realizing the room had fell silent with the exception of the TV, Raph turned to face his brothers. His brothers were all staring at him with blank faces, eyes wide. 

"What?" Raph snarled. 

"You're choosing to meditate? Because you want to?" Leo questioned. Now that Raph thought about it, him choosing to meditate over watching cartoons was extremely out of character; to say nothing of everything else that had happened after Casey Jones's death. 

"Raphael may meditate with us if he wishes to do so." Splinter interjected, ending the conversation. And with that, the two turtles and their father walked into the dojo to start meditating. 

About half an hour later, all three had slipped deep into their meditative state. Raph felt his mind clear, it felt nice with all that had been happening to him the past two months. His mind began to flood with those thoughts. His thought process tracked back to the white haze with the green glow in the sewer tunnel. And with that, his brain traced its way back to the face in the mirror. The image flashed in his mind. The pale, skull like face framed by what looked like oil, or grease. Something dark and dripping like that. Except this time, the image stuck im his brain for longer than usual. Like it was staring at him. 

Raph felt his breath grow faster, and faster. The face distorted, twisting into a mask of rage. And just like that, the face disappeared again. Raph heard a far away whisper, but he couldn't quite understand it. A few seconds passed and he heard it again, but still couldn't understand it. A few seconds passed and his mind cleared again. He attempted to calm his breathing. He let his shoulders fall and his jaw unclench, not even knowing he had tensed up in the first place. 

A few more seconds passed and by then Raph had returned to his blissful meditative state. But then there came a thought. Or, a vision? There was more whispering, and something was getting closer to him, rapidly. 

"You left me to BLEED!" screamed a voice, accompanied by the flashing image of the face from the mirror! 

"AAAH!" Raph yelped, finally opening his eyes and jumping back. It wasn't until he felt a hand on his shoulder did he realized he was back in the dojo. 

"Raphael! are you alright my son?" the tall rat asked, readjusting his hand on the turtle's shoulder. Raph glanced behind his father to see Leo was standing just behind him, his brow furrowed, showing his concern. 

"I- yeah I'm fine. I'm okay." Raph lied, turning his eyes back to his father, trying to steady his voice. The image of the face flashed in his mind again, making him wince a bit.

"Are you sure?" Splinter inquired, strengthening his grip on his son's shoulder. 

"Hai Sensei." Raph assured, deciding it was time for him to leave. He wiggled out of his father's grip and made his way to the door. The second he was out of the dojo he made a beeline to his room. He thought he heard Donnie ask him what happened but he didn't care. When he reached his room, he slammed the door behind him and leaned his shell against it. He let himself sink down to the floor, curl up, and cry. Like he did all those nights ago. He sat in front of his door and cried. 

                _______________________

Two days passed and things were seemingly back to normal. When Leo asked Raph about what happened in the dojo, he simply lied and said he saw a really big roach. He could tell his brother wasn't satisfied, but he didn't really care. All he could really think about for long periods of time was what did happen in the dojo? It was becoming clear to Raph that whatever was happening was probably more than a hallucinations or his imagination. This was real. 

Maybe he was being haunted. Maybe it was a ghost. April said his 'vibe' was off, maybe it was the ghost she was sensing. That still leaves the question of who's haunting him. Raph had a solid guess about who he was being haunted by, but he didn't like the idea that he was being haunted by the guy he had killed; which raph still had a problem coming to terms with. He still didn't know how he was ever going to tell his brothers. 

But nevertheless, he had to keep up with his duties as a ninja, haunting or no haunting. His brothers were patrolling the city, hopping from roof to roof. It had recently rained, making the terrain a little slippery. Of course this was no problem for the group of ninja. They gracefully leaped from an apartment complex to an abandoned warehouse. There was a glowing purple light coming through the window, which typically meant the Kraang. 

"Ok team," Leonardo started, peering through the roof light, "I say we go for a stealth attack. They don't seem to be too alert on the left side of the building so I recommend we sneak through there." A collective affirmative grunt came from the of the team. They began to walk over to the left side of the building, where they then snuck through an air duct. 

"BOOYAHKASHA!" Mikey yelled, as he fell out of the air duct, landing on a kraang-droid. "Aw yeah dawg, the turtles are in the house!" The rest of the turtles landed beside him in battle position. 

"It is the ones who are called the turtles!" one of the Kraang-droids reported.

"The ones who are called the turtles are not meant to be in the place known as this place!" a second one stated. 

The four turtles all ran off in different directions, each taking on a dozen kraang-droids. Leo dug his swords into the chest of a Kraang-droid before using them to lift it up and throw it at a few other Kraang, knocking out at least four. Donatello twirled his bow staff around him knocking out any Kraang before any of them could reach him. His defense came to a halt when one of the Kraang jumped onto the end of his bo staff and crawled towards him. 

Meanwhile Raph was stabbing Kraang-droids left and right. One came up behind him but before the bot could land the attack, Raph whipped around and kicked it to the ground. With the Kraang-droid on the ground, Raph raised his sai up to prepare for an attack and-

Wait. This wasn't right. Oh no. This was- This was just like that night. 

While Raph was deep in his thoughts, the Kraang-bot took the chance to shoot its laser gun at Raph, and right in the middle of his shell too. This sent Raph flying back, making him crash into a pile of crates. He groaned in pain. 

"Raph! Mikey, Donnie, retreat! Raph's down!" Leo commanded. Mikey and Leo rushed over to Raph and lifted him up, each of them slinging one of Raph's arms over their shoulders while Donnie twirled his bo staff to prevent any more lasers from hitting them. Leo and Mikey guided Raph down a corridor that led to an exit, with Donnie short behind. By then the Kraang had stopped trailing them.

Leo and Mikey gently sent Raph down on the pavement of the dark alleyway they were now in. "Raph! Raph are you okay?" Leo worried, checking to see if Raph was bleeding or had any cracks in his plastron. 

"Ugh, I'm fine, Lame-o-nardo." Raph snapped back, pushing Leo's hand away from his plastron. He hated the look on his brothers' faces; they looked at him with fear and what seemed like pity on their faces. Yeah, well Raph didn't need their pity. 

"Lame-o-nardo!?" Leo yelled, "In case you didn't notice, I just saved your life because you messed up!" Raph hated how Leo was right. He wanted to yell at Leo and nitpick every mistake Leo had ever made, but he didn't have the energy to fight. 

"Whatever, let's just go home." Raph growled through gritted teeth. Lifting himself up, shooing his brother's hand away, to show he could stand without help. And with that, all four turtles disappeared into the sewers of New York, and began to make their way home. 

                _______________________

The walk home was relatively normal, aside from the uncomfortable silence. Even mikey was quiet. Raph walked behind the rest of his brothers, staring down at his feet as he walked. He watched his footsteps send ripples through the sewer water. He glanced up to try and see Leo, who was leading, but his two younger brothers blocked his line if sight. He turned his head back down to face the puddle he had just stepped in. 

Oh no. 

As raph stared into the puddle, he was met with another face staring back at him. The very same face that he'd seen before in the mirror. The very face he'd seen while meditating. And now it was here again. The skull-ish face staring back at him with blank eyes, still with what looked like oil covering its face. Raph felt his entire body freeze as the image in the puddle sent shivers up his spine. His breathing increased and grew heavy. The face remained monotone, with the exception which squinted at Raph. 

And after what felt like hours but was really only a few seconds, Raph reclaimed his voice and much like he had two days ago in the dojo, jumped back and let out a scream of terror. The rest of the turtles whipped around in response to Raph's scream, but Raph kept his eyes locked on the puddle. After a few blinks, the face disappeared, and it was at this point that Raph lifted his head up to meet Leo's gaze. The turtle masked in blue was glaring at him, and gritted his teeth before lashing out.

"What is your problem, Raph!?" he yelled. "You've been acting weird for months!? Is there something you aren't telling us!?" Leo continued to glare at Raph.

Raph remained silent, simply staring back at Leo. His thoughts were scrambled. they were like fog, unable to grasp, simply floating around, leaving Raph unable to piece together a sentence.

"GODAMMIT RAPH!" What is with you?" Leo screamed, wishing his brother would talk to him for once. 

"Leo-" 

"Not now Donnie!" Leo scolded. "Listen Raph, if you can't talk to us, if you can't take missions seriously, then you can't be on the team anymore." the turtle threatened.

"...What?" Raph finally spoke. 

"You heard me. Keep acting weird and messing up missions, and you're off the team." Leo reprimanded.

"Leo, dude-" Mikey whispered.

"Mikey." Leo warned, shutting down the conversation. He turned to continue walking, followed shortly by Mikey and Donnie, and eventually Raph. The rest of walk home was silent; Mikey and Donnie didn't want to risk ticking off Leo more, and Raph was deep in his thoughts.

He was once again thinking about the haunting face. The one from the mirror, and his meditative vision, and now the one he had seen staring back at him from the water. Upon having seen him a third time, Raph realized where he'd seen the skull pattern before. His mind turned back to roughly two months ago, in the streets of suburban downtown New York. The fight with Casey Jones, Casey Jones who had been wearing a skull mask. 

This connection left Raph knowing he had a question to ask April.

                 _______________________

"Hey April? Can I ask you a question?" Raph was standing behind April, who was sitting in the conversation pit, doing something on her computer. She turned to face him with a blank look on her face.

"Uh, sure. What's up?" she permitted, putting her laptop at half-mass. 

"Um, it's about that Casey guy, you said he was your friend." Raph clarified.

"Oh, uh, yeah. What about him?" she responded, trying to mask the sorrow in her voice. 

"I was uh- I was wondering what he looked like." Raph muttered. April stared at Raph for a while, looking tired despite having been full of energy just a moment ago. She sat her laptop aside and brought her legs up to her chest. 

April pulled out her phone and opened an app, though Raph couldn't see which one. "Here." she mumbled, passing her phone to Raph. He took the phone from her and turned his eyes to the screen. It was a picture. A selfie. April was in the lower right corner, giving a toothy smile. In the top left corner was... 

It was a teenager, about April's age. He also gave a toothy smile, though he seemed to be missing his two front teeth. He had dark brown eyes. He had a bandanna tied around his forehead, securing his hair. His hair which was a dark black and very greasy. It framed his face in a very familiar way. 

"That Casey?" Raph asked April. She only responded with a silent nod of her head. 

This just about confirmed it. The night of his death lining up with the beginning of the weird occurrences. The skull faced mask. The possible grudge against Raph. And now the black hair. Maybe it wasn't oil or tar that framed the apparition's face, but instead it was hair. 

And that was it. 

Raphael was being haunted by Casey Jones. 

Masterpost/Chapter 1/Previous/Next

[srovtl]

A Spell For You On This Starlit Night

Login story (2)

ft: Faust, Figaro

Figaro: Hello, Faust.

Faust: Figaro. Are you going out somewhere?

Figaro: Yeah, just a little. Did you just get home?

Faust: I was out shopping. To get some herbs and tools for class.

Faust: And the star sugar that Shylock asked for.

Figaro: Star sugar...? Now that's some very rare items.

Faust: Well, we're going to have an event for the Sage at the magic house soon. It seems we'll be using it there.

Figaro: Oh, the Sage's Wizard Experience. What a coincidence. I'm on my way out to help out with that too.

Faust: You too?

Figaro: Mitile was excited saying he's going to be a teacher and teach a class on medicine preparation.

Figaro: So I'm on my way to the clinic to get the ingredients and recipe for making a prototype.

Faust: In that case, you'll need some star sugar. I've got some, so if you'd like, I'll give you some.

Figaro: No, save yours for the day. I've got something to do and can't help out on the day of the event, but I want to help with preparation.

Faust: ...I see.

Figaro: Huh? What's up?

Faust: I just thought that your education policy had changed a lot.

Faust: The training was much stricter when I was studying under you.

Figaro: Ah... now that you mention it, that's true.

Figaro: Like, I would give you assignments such as picking medicinal herbs that only grow in remote areas in half a day.

Faust: I was once told to fight magical creatures that were far beyond my strength.

Figaro: Haha, yeah that happened. Did you want to be taught gently like Mitile and the others?

Faust: No... I was able to survive that war-torn era because I was taught so strictly. There are things you can only gain from that type of guidance.

Faust: Like knowledge and guts. That's why I'm grateful for your teachings back then.

Figaro: Faust...

Faust:I did nearly died a few times though.

Figaro: But you always came back. You, had guts.

Faust: Hehe, thank you for that.

Figaro: Even so, I can't believe we can talk about those days and laugh about it like this...

Figaro: And now we're both teachers. It's a bizarre coincidence, isn't it?

Faust: ...Well, I guess so.

Faust: Anyway, you have students waiting for you don't you. Come on, Go to them.

Figaro: I will. I'm off, Professor Faust.

Faust: Have a nice trip, Professor Figaro.

[i-cant-sing]

Ya know those dreams where there is so much plot happening and you can barely keep up and when you wake up you can only remember like 1 thing?

Last night I dreamt that I was in an arranged marriage (idk who arranged it cause I'm an adult and don't speak to my parents) but I get married and like a month into the marriage, we're climbing something and he gets knocked out and like his gamer stats appeared above him and I found out he was 3'3, which is weird cause he was taller than me (he was like 5'8, I'm 5'2) and he was really mad about the fact that I knew for the rest of the dream. he was really nice tho and wasn't mad at me, he was just mad that I knew

BRO I LOVE SLEEPING SM BECAUSE THE WAY MY MIND MAKES DREAMS SPONTANEOUSLY- I COULD NEVER😭😭😭

I remember having this vivid, jarring dream where I was home alone, and some dude came up to my door and was like "I like you and I wanna get married to u. Let's go out?" And he takes me on a car ride and throughout the ride I roasted tf outta this guy cause he was OLD (I'm talking 60s) and he had white hair and a white beard but he was like handsome and fit and athletic build and tall, etc. And even though I kept insulting him and telling him all the reasons why we're incompatible, this dude just smiled softly and had goo goo eyes for me and then we returned to my home and as I got in, he said he was now even more sure that he wants to marry me, and I was like "even if I agreed, which I don't, my parents would never-" and then my uncles and parents come home and they're like yelling at this guy to fuck off and they're like pushing him out of the house but then this old dude gets REALLY MAD and starts fucking screaming and his eyes turn completely black and he's yelling "SHE'S MINE! SHES MINE! ILL MARRY HER ALONE! MINE!" and then idk why, but he suddenly sent a cannonball of fire inside the house and my mom's losing her marbles because wtf is this otherworldly creature????? Meanwhile, this old dudes family pulls up outside our house (and it's people of all ages, from babies, children to adults) and are trying to sweet talk to my family into giving my hand in marriage to this man, but obv my family is like no, and pushes the old dude out of the house. Meanwhile, my mom is crying in the corner and I'm just whining about there being so much noise that it's disturbing my studies.

Anyways, for some reason, I poke my head outside the door to see if these people are gone, but just then someone- a teen girl (maybe 17?) From his family was leaving when she looked back at me and looked me up and down and then had this smile on her face (it wasn't necessarily creepy, but it was... it just told me she wasn't human either) and she said "oh, you're nice. I can see why he likes you." And nodded her head in approval.

And then I wake up and obviously, every bizarre thing- I gotta tell my mom about it. And poor woman, omg she is HORRIFIED as I tell this dream with glee and she's like "I'd never let you marry someone so old and creepy and scary!😭😭😭" and I'm like okay. And then she's like "who do u think the old guy was? Do u know him?" And I'm like I've never seen him before, but he didn't feel like he was human. At first, I thought he was the devil/Shaytaan. But then I saw his family, and it clicked to me that these might be a clan of jinns/djinn (it's an Islamic thing okay? Just look it up yourself) and basically I've heard stories that these supernatural creatures often fall in love with humans and then are dead set upon marrying them and even isolate them/possess them so that they can't marry anyone else and make them so crazy and unhinged that their own family doesn't wanna be near them and now the human's only source of comfort is with the jinn.

So like.... yeah🥰

And my mom was like "SNOW WHY WOULD U THINK THAT! NEVER EVER TELL ME YOUR DREAMS AGAIN!" and I think it's cause a part of her thinks that dreams have subliminal messages/ability that these might come true (cause again, we've all heard of stories that jinns can actually come in your dreams to give you some messages or what not) and I'm just giggling away while she's freaked out.

I think the only other dream of mine that freaked her out like this bad was the one where I explained in gruesome details on how I was buried alive. Like I told her that when they laid me in the grave, I could feel the wet muddy ground against my back💀💀 and she told me to stop before I could say more.

[my-castles-crumbling]

Hello. Hi. I have an issue. That’s maybe not a full issue.

So I’m getting married soon-ish (yayyyyyy me) and it’s a queer marriage. Me, she/her, and my partner, she/they. 

My parents are pretty catholic, and aren’t the happiest about my identity, but they’ve not been loud about it. And they’ve gotten to know my partner and they like them. 

Anyway, my mum really wants us to marry in my childhood church. Despite its prejudices, I got lucky there, and I actually met two of my closets friends there. 

It’s in a nice place and hosts a lot of weddings and my partners said she doesn’t mind where we marry as long as they can plan the wedding (apparently I suck at planning things, totally not true… totally).

So I asked. And initially the Reverend was all for it. Until I remembered to tell him it was a queer wedding. Then he was not. 

So we can’t get married there. The laws are lost on me a bit in the UK, but I’ll explain that sort of, in a sec. 

So my parents have made an effort with me and my partner and both of us thought that neither of us give a shit where we marry as long as my fiancé can wear their suit and I can wear my lilac dress (it’s stupid pretty, i’m so excited). 

But this experience put me off. I would rather not get married in a church simply because I want all the people around me on my special day to be totally accepting of me (of course excluding the vaguely homo and trans phobic relatives we both have but we’ve agreed to invite, what can you do?)  

So yeah, I told my mum what happened. And she got so mad. But erm- not at the church. At us. At me… more specifically. She said she’d dreamed of me getting married there my whole life. And I tried to say that maybe this isn’t about her but god forbid anything isn’t about her for more than one fucking minute. 

Long story short i told her i was putting my foot down and not marrying in a church and she freaked out and is now refusing to come unless we do get married in a church. 

So I did some research. The Church of England and Catholic Church (separate things) do not allow same-sex couples to marry in churches at all… I think.

The Church of England will give a blessing inside a church after the marriage (like what is this?) But it’s illegal for an actual wedding by Church of England (so fucking complicated I swear). 

Oh and in general i think if you want a civil marriage (marriage without religious or christian words involved, simply for law, and you know celebrating) you have to find a church no longer registered as a church or something….

But we’re Catholic. And I don’t think they even really have a blessing system yet let alone marriage allowed INSIDE a church. But it’s not about any church, it’s about a Catholic church, for my mum. 

It’s been a while since we got on this well (before everything I just explained that is). We have a rocky relationship but we’ve both had tough lives and I value her. I want her at my wedding. Where I get the incredible privilege of marrying my future partner (privilege because she’s awesome and not because we’re queer since everyone should be able to marry, that’s just equal rights). 

But this is such a mess. Me and my partner haven’t even discussed whether or not it’ll be a civil marriage yet. Since we’re both raised religious and I would say connected to God in our own ways, it might feel bizarre not to have God in our wedding even if it’s just a few lines.

But I also know neither of us wants religion to overpower us. Cause we aren’t doing this marriage to be in front of God, not really, we’re doing it for each other. 

But my mum is a women of her word and she probably won’t come to this wedding if we don’t marry at a big Catholic Church. Which we LITERALLY CAN’T.

And I hate putting this stress on myself. Wedding planning wasn’t going to be stressful (for me anyways since i’m banned from planning cause apparently Im terrible at it). 

So if I were to cave, we’d have to come to some compromise about marrying in an unregistered church or a church that isn’t a part of Church of England or Catholic (so like Methodist, Anglican and a few more). 

And obviously it couldn’t be a civil marriage. 

But there’s just something about having to comprise AGAIN with my own mum just for her to come to my wedding that’s bothering me. 

It doesn’t feel like this is fair. Like I should have to build my plans around her. But I know i’ll regret it if she isn’t there. 

(And in case you’re wondering, my partners been very sweet about all of this and has already started making multiple, different plans and styles for if it’s inside or outside or in a church or in some other building. They find organising fun.) 

Hi hon!

So two years ago I (they/them, but at the time I was she/her) married my wife (she/her) and we dealt with some VERY opinionated family members. Like…my mom threw a fit bc she wanted to WEAR HER WEDDING DRESS TO MY WEDDING.

Anyways.

I can’t tell you what to do. But I can tell you that this day is about and your partner. My wife and I chose to prioritize our wants and needs on our day, and some people were pissed. Some people didn’t go. But in the end, the day was perfect, because it was about us. I have no regrets about prioritizing us because it was our day and (ideally) you only get married once. But I’m gonna guess the people who threw fits have regrets because they didn’t get to be involved.

Your day is about you, whether people like it or not. Don’t start your married life by compromising your relationship for others. you deserve to be surrounded by only people who support you wholeheartedly. If your mom wants a church wedding, tell her to have her own damn ceremony.

Naming you wedding anon

[gay-jesus-probably]

you also have to consider that i don't think Zelda had a lot of high thoughts about herself because of everything her father told to her, it's pretty clear she thinks of herself a failure not fit to save anyone or even be a royal in botw especially the closer to the calamity we got in the memories. if they just had her and link go around hyrule helping people (which is what I assume they did) in the timeskip they should attribute people liking her so much to her being helpful and literally fending the calamity off for 100 years instead of being royalty, which they could have done easily because it's pretty obvious she did go around hyrule to help (the school is a pretty good example)! it would make zeldadorf going around being malicious way cooler as link has to clear her name around Hyrule

Yeah, Zelda's helpful and all the level of obsession the NPC's in the world have with Zelda doesn't at all match up with all the (fairly basic) nice things she's done, and ESPECIALLY doesn't work with how everyone is totally cool with Fake Zelda raising hell. Ensuring that one village has an elementary school should not generate enough goodwill to let people forgive brainwashing and attempted murder. Not to mention the long list of Good Deeds she apparently has time for is just... bizarre, and a sign that she's actually a pretty crappy leader considering she has zero time management skills. Like lady, you're rebuilding a fucking kingdom after a century long apocalypse, I really don't think you should be spending your time teaching people how to cook random recipes and helping to plant flower gardens. And the random carved little monuments for everyone who died in the Calamity also strike me as just... no. You can commission the fancy monuments later, everyone fucking knows it happened right now. Hell, why don't any of the villages have memorials for the Calamity victims, they're the ones that actually had to deal with the immediate aftermath. Having Zelda place generic memorials everywhere just makes me wonder why the hell there aren't any old memorials made by survivors in the immediate aftermath, in the places where people actually live and can visit them.

Also while I know all of the memorials having a respawning silent princess flower on them is just the game continuing to be wildly unsubtle about "look this flower represents zelda DO YOU GET IT GUYS", from an in-universe perspective it's absolutely hilarious. Those flowers are extremely endangered, and not even the best pre-calamity conservation efforts were enough to help. They're STILL very fucking endangered, and were believed to be extinct! They canonically cannot cultivate this plant, it's very rare and only grows in the wild... which is why they're picking these extremely rare flowers to use as decoration on a memorial. And now you can't find them growing in any of the spots they used to florish in, except the Lost Woods. They're not even tied to the fairy fountains, because there's none of them growing around the new fountain locations. I like to think that Zelda decided to make all the stupid memorials and have a silent princess flower left on each one, and so her loyal followers have been replacing all the cut flowers every time they wither, and as result the silent princess flower is on the verge of extinction again. I know it's not what the game was trying to say, but it's the logical conclusion to make - people have been picking this very endangered plant all over the country, and now you can't find it anymore. And also it's a really funny mental image that Zelda was so concerned about their conservation back in BOTW that she spent a whole memory talking about it, but now she's having them picked en-masse to make sure her vanity project has the correct aesthetic. I hate Zelda in TOTK for many reasons, but her new habit of intentionally killing an endangered plant is easily the funniest problem the writing accidentally gave her.

Anyways as for her mental state before the Calamity, I do see that as being very complicated. She's got a lot of Issues, mainly stemming from her family, religion, stress and powers. No need to go over all that though, as I think everyone has long since analyzed that to hell and back. BUT at the same time, while her personal life is fucking miserable, we can't ignore that she's still literally the crown princess of an extremely powerful nation, and has spent her entire life being told that she is fundamentally a better person than everyone else. She was being emotionally abused by her father, but that does not change the fact that she's incredibly privileged, and doesn't seem particularly aware of that fact. I mean fuck, the BOTW memories show Zelda had a habit of actively trying to lose her bodyguard and run off alone into the wilderness on a whim. And when said bodyguard caught up with her (with zero judgement or displeasure), her only reaction was to emotionally abuse him. She genuinely did not seem to understand or care that it's a universally bad idea to let an unarmed teenager run off alone into the monster infested wilderness, with nobody knowing where she's going or when she'll be back. And that's without taking into account people actively trying to kill her.

All of that behaviour right there is just a combination of teenage dumbassery and Zelda being extremely privileged. She lives in a world without any serious consequences, why would she need to learn self preservation? And her abusing Link was a hell of a lot more serious than the fandom likes to see it as. Being a knight is literally his lifes work, he's been training since he was a small child, he has no idea how to support himself in any other way. And he answers directly to the reigning monarch, which is currently King Rhoam... but in the very near future would be Zelda. If he doesn't follow Rhoam's orders to be Zelda's bodyguard, he's fired and his life is ruined. If he does follow his orders, he's angering Zelda, and then in the future she'll probably retaliate by firing him, and his life will be ruined. I absolutely hate that most of the fandom has decided Link was reacting to the verbal abuse with just "wow she's so smart and pretty, what a girlboss", because that's completely insane (and in the context of shipping, wildly unhealthy for Link). I see Link silently tolerating Zelda's harassment as just him desperately trying to minimize how much she hates him, because she can absolutely destroy his life on a whim, and her actions all suggested she will absolutely do so. Princess Zelda does not want Link to ever exist in her presence; why the fuck would she want to keep him employed after she becomes Queen?

...To be clear, I think all of this is a good thing. I mean, Zelda being a privileged little shit and coping with stress by abusing her personal servant are very negative traits for her as a person, but as a character I really like it! These are very serious flaws, but they're understandable - she's not a total bitch because she's pure evil, she acts like a bitch because she's a stressed teenager lashing out at the easiest target, and she genuinely does not realize how harmful her actions are. I liked that the game wasn't afraid to show us an uglier side of Zelda, and trusted the audience to understand that she was more than just her worst impulses. I think the closest we've ever gotten to that was Skyward Sword Zelda admitting that she pretended to be in grave danger to manipulate Link into doing her dirty work, and he should not be okay with that... but that wasn't quite as nuanced, because that was more Zelda literally being a god in mortal form, and doing something morally sketchy for the Greater Good. BOTW Zelda is just a person that hurt someone because it was an easy way to make herself feel better. It gives her a depth that very few Zelda's have been allowed to have.

And it really bothers me that apparently all of that is just gone in TOTK. Zelda, who is inexplicably still a princess for some reason, is the unquestioned almighty ruler of Hyrule. The Zora King and Gerudo Chief both swear eternal subversience to her in the ending, and Zelda happily accepts their submission as just what she is rightfully owed. When she's in the past she feels completely entitled to declare that Link will finish the battle for them, even though the last time she saw him he'd lost his entire fucking arm and was falling to his death, and also the entire situation is very political, and she has no idea which side Link would interpret as being correct. For fucks sake, she stole his goddamn house, made extensive renovations, added a large second room for herself, and still did not allow him to have any space in there. They're not sharing that bed, shippers. Link just does not live there anymore. That's why one of the TOTK sidequests is... Link getting a house again, on the other side of the country from where Zelda is living. The game repeatedly tells me that Zelda is actually the single bestest person who ever lived, but she never shows any real consideration for the wellbeing of someone who isn't Rauru, Sonia or Mineru... apart from the opening where she expresses concern that Link was seriously wounded by slapping three keese with his sword and killing them instantly. Which is more condescending than anything else.

And as I think I've mentioned before, all the apparently great and noble deeds Zelda performs are done with the overall goal of ensuring the Kingdom of Hyrule continues to exist under the control of the royal family. She's the current reigning monarch, so literally all of this is for her own benefit. There's nothing wrong with doing good things that also benefit you, of course, but once again the game constantly insisting that Zelda is a perfect selfless martyr... doesn't really track with the fact that she's the only one with a real motive to want Hyrule to remain under her rule. Everyone else has been getting by just fine without her for the last century, and Zelda going missing at the start of a crisis doesn't really cause any issues with leadership; things keep running smoothly, the only issues that ever show up is from Zelda not being there to do specific tasks she said she would do, like help plant a flower garden. Idk, it just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth; there's absolutely no reason for Hyrule to be a monarchy post-calamity, and the fact that everyone is so fanatically loyal to Zelda makes me feel like she's actively working to keep herself on the throne because she wants the power. If her first priority was being a good leader, people wouldn't be scared to question her.

But I'm with you on the Puppet Zelda plotline being wasted, it's like the whole thing was just there bcause the devs realized the main story quest (regional phenomenon) had nothing to do with the supposed main quest (find zelda), and just threw in a fake zelda to chase so the players would feel like they were making progress on that, but couldn't be bothered to make the fake zelda subplot have any consequences. That or they were just cowards with no faith in the audience, and figured if the fake Zelda's actions made NPC's express fear and hatred for the real one, the player would also be convinced that the real Zelda was bad. Which is ironic, considering the NPC's refusing to express any negative thoughts about the fake Zelda is a massive red flag about what the real one is like, and has convinced a lot of the audience not to like her.

[papakhan]

no problem! to be fair i guess its kind of on me for being on anon, ahah. i dont know if being off anon wouldve made it any better, considering we dont really interact and i was just intrigued by your posts, but...

i fully understand your frustration, i mean i myself am a booneliker (with caveats; i appreciate that he represents an extremely bleak story, and i like to think about the "so what's next?" part) and the vast majority of boone related content is unbearable to look at for me, with how people approach this whole thing. which, it's their prerogative i guess, everyone gets the fun they want out of the work of fiction and i dont wanna assume whats in peoples heads, but damn... what's even the appeal i wonder, of just giving him absolution and a new gf and acting like everything's fine and dandy... dont even get me started on how on the very rare occasion anyone points out the fact he's easily read as being developmentally disabled, it's to be like, yay neurodivergent rep! and not to look at how utterly bleak that is, and how depressing it is that ultimately it doesnt matter, it doesnt materially change the outcome of anything to consider whether that wouldve made him more vulnerable to indoctrination or more mentally detached from what he was doing in the moment. he was given a gun and was told to shoot and shoot he did. every soldier has some reason to be where they are and whatever it is changes absolutely nothing for the victims of their atrocities. the only right way forward is to dismantle the systems that cause and enable this.

i also like the great khans a lot and bemoan the way they're handled in the game. the in-game great khan faction quest, where youre likely going to be breaking their alliance with the caesars legion (at best!)... i mean it feels bizarre, because on one hand of course theyd have compelling reasons to look at the biggest opponent of the ncr, but everything about how that was written feels so flimsy... ack, i could be here all day complaining. oh well. even with treatment they got from the writers i still like to hang out with them :) and to consider what it could all be like if fnv had gotten a Real independent ending, where the khans and the followers play a real major role. i wonder if getting more people to defect from the ncr wouldve been an option. but i'm rambling again!

anyway! thank you for responding, you gave me a lot to think about. and thank you for giving manny vargas some love, he's so underrated!

No worries and yeah I completely understand <3 a fully fleshed out independent end with stuff for all the companions and factions would have been the dream but alas we must use our imagination and write our own

[heavenlyhandscribbles]

Why do I keep thinking (of you)?

Eddie Munson x Male Reader Warnings: Mutual masturbation, drug usage, cursing, poorly written crush confessions because I'm lazy.

Summary: Y/N cliche gay denier + Eddie Munson high and horny = Mutual Masturbation

Word Count: 1.3k

A/N: Hi this is technically a kinktober prompt fulfillment, but let's ignore that i'm late and just enjoy.

The bitter smell of green filled the air in Eddie’s room as he and Y/N passed the bong, his eyes hazy and half-lidded as he looked at Eddie lighting the lighter, lifting the bowl as the smoke fluttered up the chamber. Watching as his chapped lips tucked into the bong to inhale, his eyes closed and soft and he imagined waking up to the same closed eyes and then he realized this weed was making him think shit he shouldn’t be thinking so he sat back and hummed to the music Eddie has put on. Eddie started humming too, exhaling as he did before muttering, “What else do you wanna do?”

All Y/N could think over and over was ‘You, You, You, You.’ And he realized maybe that was not a good answer so he responded instead with, “I don’t know, I’m kinda wanting to get off.”

Eddie shrugged, “Wanna just fucking get off here then? I got a nudey magazine.” He murmured, reaching under the bed and tossing it at him, “This strand’s meant to get ya horny anyways.”

He nodded. Shuddered. This felt like it was okay, but it still felt wrong. Felt bizarre. Like maybe he shouldn’t be saying yes and the reasonable answer, something he heard his father say, “Fucking a man will just make you a fucking sissy.” 

He looked at him softly, “Uh sure, can I use your bathroom?”

“Nah just do it here, I kinda want to anyway.”

Y/N vividly remembers Tommy Hagan telling him something he and Steve used to do. Mutual masturbation was what he called it. He turned, “there’s this thing maybe we could do?”

Eddie glanced up at him, not judging. That didn’t feel right. He should be uncomfortable too, right? Eddie told him most of the rumors about him in the town were true, but he assumed that negated the rumor that he was a poof. He sat back, muttering slowly, “It’s called mutual masturbation, we uhm- get each other off.” 

Eddie nodded, not put off. He almost looked.. Giddy. It didn’t exactly put Y/N off either. He sat back, his hands shifting as he looked at him with an almost confused gaze. First steps. Eddie was quick to shift the sweats he’d worn usually when Y/N came over to smoke, and on instinct Y/N looked away; shame.

Eddie reached out, glancing at him as he asked softly, “Can I?” His hand hovered over his belt, waiting for him to give a go ahead. His chest.. Felt warm- almost tight at that. He nodded, “Yeah.” He shifted, providing access just for him. Eddie undid his belt with shocking ease, tugging on it to get it loosened and nimbly undoing the buttons on his jeans. Y/N remembers- somewhere in the back of his mind- that some fantasy of his played out too much like this. Nimble, thin fingers, calloused thumb pad, shiny rings, tugging at the button of his jeans, but he figures he can investigate that later, after this, after he goes home. Eddie was quick to tug his jeans down a bit, muttering lowly, “Uhm- do you want to do it ourselves or..”

“We can do each other.” Blurted, stupid stupid stupid. Looks needy now, like he is too eager, shouldn’t be acting like this because it will only hurt them both. 

Eddie nodded, muttering teasingly, “Alright sailor, don’t get your panties in a wad.” He referenced his outfit from when he worked with Steve at scoops ahoy, flustering a bit, “Yeah well don’t cream your pants at the sight of my panties okay?”

Eddie shudders, and for one moment Y/N thinks he’s gone against his request and creamed his pants at the sight of Y/N’s thoroughly soaked boxers. His hands are deft to tug down his boxers, freeing him as he let out a low groan at the sudden cool air hitting his tip. He thinks maybe this is it. If he dies here he’s okay with that- because he’s finally gotten what he wanted and- oh.. He wanted this. He’s wanted this for months. He’s wanted this since he and Steve dragged a limp Eddie through the portal from hell. And he thinks maybe this was stupid because he might fall in love. But he realizes he probably already has. He shook his head out a bit, thoughts empty and going a little bit stupid and big eyed as Eddie began to tug at his cock, suddenly remembering what he was doing there. He was quick to deftly tug off Eddie’s boxers, the return of the favor. His hands weren’t comfortable so he held his palm up, muttering lightly, softly even, “Spit.”

Eddie’s eyes widened a bit, before he nodded, spitting into his palm as asked as Y/N shifted his hand down, using the saliva to lube up his cock as he pumped it eagerly, eliciting a groan from Eddie beside him. He could swear he tasted the airy breath of heaven on his tongue at the sound. It was lewd, and filthy, and fucking pleasuring, the sight of his throat bobbing up… he wanted to lick a stripe up that throat. So he did. A stripe, all the way up Eddie’s throat, his teeth digging into his jaw as he ended the sloppy trail up his pale flesh. Eddie paused, his body twitching as he bucked into his hand, his own quickening to help give him the pleasure he wanted to give Y/N. Y/N’s eyes softened, his other hand reaching up and across his body, gripping Eddie’s chin and… kissing him. Kissing him with fever, passion and adoration, and something else all together. And Eddie- Eddie kissed back. He kissed him back without any sort of readable doubt. And Y/N thinks that maybe this is it. This is what he wanted, forever. He wanted this late night, high and happy and a little bit tired. He let out a shallow groan, his cock twitching in Eddie’s hand and he’s pretty close to cumming. He quickened his own hand pausing when he heard Eddie’s soft voice, “Hey- fuck- I’m really close.”

Y/N nodded, agreement, as he murmured out, “I am too.” He groaned, his cock pushing up as he looked at him with a softened gaze. Eddie looked so good- almost happy as he continued pumping him, murmuring lowly against the air between Y/N and him, “gonna cum?” A quick nod and a low groan and that was it, his hips rolling as he came against Eddie’s tight fist and his own quickened hand filled with the same sticky mess that was in Eddie’s. A breath, a sigh and Eddie, reaching over for a tissue for them both before they settled back. Y/N sighed, his eyes closing as he murmured, “I- I think I like you?”

Eddie stiffened, glancing at him, “What?”

Shit. “I think I like you.”

“Oh. That’s convenient, I like you too.” He looked at him, smiling fondly as he leaned forward again, kissing him, and with a pass of breath, muttering out, “Wanna finish up with the bong?”

Eddie nods, and leaned into him, passing it over with a hazy hum, content and a softer feeling filling the room. Y/N turned to him fully, his eyes serious despite the puff of smoke spilling out from his nose, “Wait so uhm- what does this mean.”

“Do you want to be together?” Eddie asked and almost looked scared to hear the answer.

“Yes.” Y/N nodded, surely, “But I don’t think I know what to do or how this works.”

Eddie let out a barking laugh, his hair bouncing and framing his face as he chuckled, “I figured, that’s okay, I’m willing to help?”

Y/N offered a gentle nod and a soft spoken murmur, “Yeah- yeah I’d like that.”

Eddie grumbled, grabbing the bong from him with a scoff, “quit hogging just cause you’re all lovesick alright?”

REBLOGS AND COMMENTS MEAN THE WORLD

[daylander1000]

Will you watch season 2 of HotD or you've lost interest in the show? I wasn't thrilled with season 1, but I do like some characters and I'm curious to see if they'll do them any justice in the next season(s). I'm still trying to be optimistic (which is definitely against my nature 😁), although the latest leaks from Spain (which I desperately hope to be false) doesn't sound promising.

Idk it you read Fire & Blood, but that book is often overrated imho, almost all the characters there are painfully one-dimensional, shallow and bland, while the plot is full of illogical things (especially the Dance part) . So, as you can see, I'm not the biggest book fan, and I do believe that the show did some things better and gave a bit of depth and complexity to certain characters and fleshed them out. However, at the same time it seems to me that they didn't complete what they started, like, you see the potential of the characters and understand their motivations, but then out of the blue they do or say something totally nonsensical and OOC. Take Alicent at the end of episode 8. Rhaenyra says something nice to her and she suddenly forgives everything and forgets that's the same woman who wanted to "sharply question" Aemond after her son Luke maimed him over an insult (a fact, actually), the woman her husband always favoured at the expense of Alicent's own children and finally, the woman who is married to Daemon, the sociopath who hates Alicent and her children and who will kill anyone (and apparently with Rhaenyra and Viserys' blessing) without remorse if it benefits him and his side. I mean, the guy even had the gall to look annoyed during the prayer for Vaemond. Still, according to the show, Alicent somehow needs to "misunderstand" Viserys' last words to crown her own son, and not because it's probably the only way to keep her and her children alive and safe and because her son actually has the strongest claim to the throne according to Westerosi laws avd tradition. And don't get me started on the Velaryons who are collectively depicted as "Dae and Rhae fan club". Like, what is Corlys even thinking?! I won't ask about Baela and Rhaena because they obviously don't get to think and are just unconditionally supportive of Rhaenyra and the Strong boys. Rhaenys is contradictory and inconsistent. It's frustrating, really. Also, the fact that the narrative/the framing of the show heavily favours team black is also off-putting. Nevertheless, I'm still curious and just a bit hopeful that season 2 will balance these things a little. Maybe I'll just be terribly disappointed, but oh well. Sorry for the rant :D

Anyway, as a fan of your fic, I would like to know your opinion. Does the show deserve our optimism and what are your predictions regarding season 2?

S2 predictions? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Why would you ask me this? This is a show where someone in a professional HBO writers room said, "So what if a dragon just bursts up from the underground?" And the showrunner was like "Fuck yeah!"

I don't think they even thought to do a camera pan of the carnage. It's like they wanted to make Rhaenys look badass but did a Koolaid Man scene instead.

Tell me that this isn't Rhaenys

Predictions? This is not Leftovers where you could do a whole video essay on foreshadowing and subtext and hidden clues. This is a series where there's a horse running loose in a writer's room and nobody knows what it's going to write next.

This is the most bizarre thing I've ever seen.

My prediction for S2 is that during the time off at least one person realizes that they failed to make Aegon into Joff 2.0, that instead of having him be affably evil, he's onscreen affable and offscreen evil, and they'll try to double down on actually showing that he's evil and actually showing that he's worse than Daemon and Rhaenyra.

We've seen Daemon in brothels, grooming and marrying children, killing Rhea, killing innocent people and murdering lords at court, but we've only been told (by very minor characters) that Aegon is a baby-eating rape monster. It's all extremely "tacked-on."

I think Aegon's the biggest problem that they have to work on. Just getting at least this one character to make sense moving forward.

When Jahaerys is killed, I think they'll use that to really commit to making him the bad guy. Like he'll have to be killing a baby or raping someone or eating someone so that it's not Rhaenyra and Daemon killing a child but "Look at what this bad man was doing instead of protecting his son."

As far as predictions go, that's all I can see. If they only develop one character in S2, it needs to be him. Rhaenyra has Rockstar!Daemon, Rhaenys and Corlys on her side, so they'll have to upscale the green threat otherwise it's a bunch of grown people and veteran soldiers fighting two children who have no experience at anything because the oldest one is a 20-year-old frat boy and his brother is still a teenager. Aegon's going to have to really be villainous.

I feel like there's a reason all his nude scenes are with his mother, it's one of the few consistent things between them through the time skips and actor changes, and I feel like they're going to go fully 500% in that Commodus direction

and have him just be creepy and rapey with her in a "bad incest," how-the-turntables, "be careful what you wish for" way. Alicent's defining trait seems to be "perpetual victim," so I feel like they'll go this way and frame it as if she's getting what she deserves for slapping him around. Ten extra points if they have Rhaenyra or Rhaenys there on hand to be like "Is this your king?"

I don't see them doing anything with Rhaena besides sending her away, and I actively don't want to see Baela going out there getting her dragon killed and her face burnt off in defense of Rhaenyra.

I honestly try to not think about s2 of this.

I was a hardcore asoiaf fan but I didn't like Feast or Dance. I read Dunk and Egg, but he didn't finish that either. And when F&B came out, I got the audiobook and I listened to it for a few hours, probably less than five, and I couldn't concentrate because I kept thinking "Did this bitch seriously package his story notes as a novel for sale??? This is an insult to storytelling."

And I deleted it.

It's the quality for one thing. It's the lack of diversity, it's the author not finishing anything, it's the fandom being 20% fantasy fans, 80% trump rally...

Like, in just 10 episodes HotD has managed to give a voice to pro-rape feminists. Didn't even know that was a thing until I saw it on Twitter.

I saw some of the leaked pics of Helaena at the funeral on my feed, didn't have to scroll far to see people just casually r-wording Helaena and acting like having six fingers is a killing offense since eugenics rhetoric is apparently thriving in this fandom.

And on top of all that, the story doesn't even make sense.

I don't want to be like "dramaturgically speaking" but narrative coherence is a thing. Just from bing chat (yes, I'm using bing 😣):

Narrative coherence is the degree to which a story makes sense. Coherent stories are internally consistent, with sufficient detail, strong characters, and free of significant surprises. The ability to assess coherence is learned and improves with experience. Individuals assess a story's adherence by comparing it with similar stories. The ultimate test of narrative sense is whether the characters act reliably. If figures show continuity throughout their thoughts, motives, and actions, acceptance increases. However, characters behaving uncharacteristically destroy acceptance.

This show has curb-stomped narrative coherence.

Like, take that scene where they killed Vaemond. The way they write it, Rhaenyra has come back after 6 years of never visiting her father to drag him off his deathbed so he can support her in taking Driftmark, the seat of house Velaryon, away from Velaryon people to give it to her son by Harwin Strong. Vaemond is killed for telling the truth.

With different lighting and music, that's peak tyranny. That's some Mad King Aerys shit. In full view of all the lords at court. Every single person in that courtroom is aware that Luke is a bastard and they've just witnessed a lord like themselves get beheaded over it. This isn't Daemon killing commoners. He's killing the lords and ladies of Westeros.

But there's no fallout. Nothing. All the lords of Westeros cease to matter. It's just another Tuesday to them.

Hell, they go even further and frame the scene like Viserys is Old Theoden fighting off the curse of Wormtongue. Otto, Alicent and her goblin children all but shrivel and wither from the sunlight that Rhaenyra brings as Vaemond is cut down by noble Daemon. In that scene, Dark Sister might as well be Andúril, Flame of Old Valyria, sword of justice.

There are shows that are easy to watch that we say are "no brain cells required," but HotD is like, "No brain cells allowed. Switch them off or put them on silent so you don't disturb anyone."

I have no hope for season 2. I would never rec this to anyone or say that I think the writing will improve. The foundation is shit. You can't build a strong s2 on a shit s1 unless you're writing a procedural or an anthology where nothing that comes before matters.

You can't undo things like Alicent supporting Aegon as king because of a misunderstanding. There's a limit to how many things you can retcon without destroying all sense of continuity and they've already gone beyond that in s1.

They're past plot holes. They have whole parts of the world that are just void of all thought. Alicent and Rhaenys are characters who respawn and disintegrate from scene to scene as needed. Corlys is three lines of dialogue in a trenchcoat. Daemon Targaryen is somehow, impossibly, a less-developed Damon Salvatore.

No optimism here.

I'm that jaded ex fan who's like, "hotd is a barren wasteland, riddled with racists, ableists and toxic stans, and those are just the writers. The very fandom air you breathe is a poisonous fume. Not with ten-thousand Lindelof-level writers could they fix this shit."

But that being said, I have a really bad habit of watching shit TV.

I've seen Catwoman more than 5 times.

Waterworld, Jonah Hex, Elektra, Daredevil (Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell), Battlefield Earth, Supernova. At least 8 of the Fast movies. All the Transformers. Dracula 2000. All the old school classics of bad cinema.

I haven't watched Morbius as yet and the only reason why is because I feel like Jared Leto is intentionally trying to become Nicholas Cage and I don't want to support that.

There is something about the cringe that hooks me. And with a TV series? That weekly cringe? That is peak entertainment.

It used to take me 4 sometimes 5 hours to watch and digest a single episode of Titans because there were so many questions to think about.

I hyperfixate on bad writing. Trying to figure out all the ways it went wrong and why and what they were trying to do. Once I start, I can't stop thinking about it. I'm hoping swhhw gets it out of my system, but I don't know.

Like, anybody can make good TV. Anybody can do that if you try hard enough. But truly horrible TV isn't supposed to exist. It's like 20 million an episode to make HotD? Nobody is supposed to invest that in a show where the showrunner doesn't even know how old the characters are. Bad TV shows are supposed to be snuffed out before they see the light of day.

But HotD is something special.

You don't accidentally end up with a Koolaid Dragon busting up through concrete. A director described that scene to a VFX crew. The actors had to rehearse that repeatedly. They had to do a read-through...

Like, just think about that.

And then they announce that they're going ahead with s2 without writers?!

That is insane. Part of me says look away, and the other part of me says that s2 of HotD will be something the likes of which I'll never see again.

I really don't want to watch S2, but honestly, I might. Not because I think it will be better but because I'm dead certain it can only get worse.

[hot-take-tournament]

i am so sad that i barely have any hot takes. like i desperately want to submit to this blog considering its my favorite tournament blog but at the same time i don't have anything to submit!! this is why ill randomly go into your askbox and drop random bizarre things happening to me. its my way of compensating for this

anyways so i'm the same person whos been roleplaying tennis balls right. yeah so people started shipping one of my tennis ball ocs (i have 5) with another tennis ball. the thing is this tennis ball is called THE RIZZLER and the two canonically HATE EACH OTHER.

by "shipping" i mean it started off as a joke but i. I don't think its a joke anymore. people are drawing FANART. and they made their ship name TWIZZLER.

woah woah wait slow down, did you just say-

<3 <3 <3

right, okay sorry let me focus up

so, personally i think everyone has hot takes - you just might not realise it until you say it out loud!

like that time you told me that the only sushi you ever had was california rolls, which is crazy to me because that's definitely the worst kind

and i love hearing about the random stuff going in your lives, i totally ship twizzler now

i'm making a note of this because at some point i'm going to tag and then take all the tennis ball posts/asks/missed asks and combine them into one giant master post to chronicle the entire saga (and also because i spent like 6+ hours on that zoomin ball funeral post and i don't want it to go to waste)

though how you keep up with 5 blogs is wild to me

i am going to need to know which ones they are because you know

the hunt must go on