#bc when i come across a batman blog i go to it and i do not know what they are posting about
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what’s with literary criticism and taking freud at his word. stop that
#still reading batman essays#bc when i come across a batman blog i go to it and i do not know what they are posting about#who are those people#fandom discourse no thanks i have journal articles#but too many of them are like well freud blah blah blah so we can read this as that like no you can’t#cut that out do something else#like i’m still having fun maybe more fun than is reasonable people want to do social things with me and i want to lock myself in my room#and read more essays and i am rapidly running out of excuses to do that#alas#i should probably just try to find out what batman comics are running right now currently and just jump in#backread as necessary#then i’ll know what people are on about and i can focus on reading whatever else#probably grant morrison era batman
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who are you wearing ? ᵕ̈ timeskip!azumane asahi x gn reader ˎˊ˗
⋮⋮ ˒ ₍ᐢ..ᐢ₎ 𖥻 ⿻ : we forgot about ⋮⋮ fashion designer asahi wayyy ⋮⋮ too soon . . .
📋 content ♡ # 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧 🐮 ♡ # 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴 🥛 ♡ # 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦 🥛 ♡ # ~930 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴
🧸 directory ‹ ✩ like what you read ? check out more of my blog ! •ᴗ•
💬 kuroppiii ─ “ i ' ve seen the good people around on the asahi tag ask , and so i ' ve come to deliver ( i ' m actually batman 🦇 ) ”
fashion designer!asahi who knows how to sew and will patch up your clothes if you need, so delicate even if the tiny needle and thread gets engulfed in his big hands
fashion designer!asahi your laundry day superman who knows how to get any stain out of any fabric
fashion designer!asahi who wants to match outfits with you when you two go out
fashion designer!asahi who brushes out all the wrinkles in your clothes before you two head out the door
fashion designer!asahi that always needs to bring you to the shows or galas he attends bc he needs you by his side amongst all the ppl in the crowd
fashion designer!asahi who gets shy when you come home with one of his pieces or a fashion magazine you found with him on the cover bc your unbridled support always makes his heart flutter in his chest
fashion designer!asahi that never fails to mention in interviews how you are his "muse"
fashion designer!asahi who will later get all flustered when you wind up finding those interviews and read them back to him once they get published later on
fashion designer!asahi who always gets front row seats to catwalks for the two of you, where you whisper in appreciation to each other about the pieces as the models pass by
fashion designer!asahi who’s hair falls in front of his face in the midst of sketching custom designs just for you
fashion designer!asahi who sometimes has you model his prototypes around the house, and has hundreds of photos in his camera roll of you doing so
fashion designer!asahi who always ends up sweeping you off your feet and showering you with kisses whenever you're wearing something he's made
fashion designer!asahi who designed both of your wedding garments himself, as well as those for the best men and bridesmaids
⇩ ⇩ ⇩ 𝘽𝙊𝙉𝙐𝙎 ::
you give the softest of pushes against the handle of asahi's home studio door. careful not to make a sound, you peer your head in to see all the lights are off, except for the light from his desk's lamp.
you quietly step in a bit more, the sound of pencil scratching and pastels smearing vibrant colors onto asahi's creative visions reaching your ears. every now and then, he has to push his glasses back up the bridge of his nose since his head is hung so low in concentration.
as not to scare him, you call out softly, "'sahiii."
like instinct, his head whips around to the sound of your voice, and when he calls back you can hear the grogginess sleep has laced into his voice, "oh hello honey."
"it's getting late," you say as you saunter over behind him, resting your head on the top of his and draping your arms around his broad shoulders.
"i know," he coos. the sound of etching drifts into the still night air again as he can't resist adding a few more lines to the curve of a dress on his paper, "but i want to get these done so we can start fittings as soon as possible. fabrics in some of these colors might take longer than expected to arrive before the ceremony. trust me, i know."
you look out into the sea of drawings scattered across his desk, and your heart swells at the thought of those you love wearing such amazing works of art on your special day. the thought makes you tighten your arms around him to pull him closer, and you feel his free hand reaching up to squeeze one of your arms affectionately, as his other hand reaches for a colored pencil to shade in part of his sketch.
"why does everything you make have to be so perfect," you jokingly sulk, reaching out to run your fingertips along some silky fabric samples occupying a corner of asahi's desk.
you can feel the tiny rumble of his soft laughter beneath you, "not true."
you peel yourself off of him and crouch down next to where he sits in his chair. you take your hand and take the colored pencil out of his hand, before gently holding his face in your two palms, fingers brushing his brown hair out from his face.
"very true, actually," you correct him in a whisper. and even though his facial features are very visually tired, the smile that grows on his face as he's looking at you still manages to meet his lidded eyes. you feel his larger hands place themselves over yours, and feel the cold metal of his engangement ring tickle at your left hand.
the feeling makes you giddy and a small fit of sleepy and loopy laughter starts bubbling out of you, but asahi lovingly cuts it off, leaning in to leave an affectionate kiss on your lips.
he tastes like dark roasted coffee and beeswax chapstick. his fancy cologne lingers even when you finally pull apart, the one you suprised him with when one of his pieces made it into one of the big showcases for the first time. it mixes with one of the many scents he's gifted you in return since then. (he loves to spoil you, it really being one of the only reasons he mingles with other designers at events, so he can later get linked up with the best stuff to give to you.)
you both smile against each other. just you, your soon-to-be husband, and the many manifestations of his love for you scattered around his studio.
#🌼 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗸𝘆𝘂𝘂#🌼 𝗮𝘇𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗵𝗶#giggling and kicking my feet#tbh he has one of the coolest timeskip occupations#big artsy soft giant im sobbing#haikyuu#asahi azumane#asahi x reader#azumane asahi x reader#asahi headcanons#asahi fluff#timeskip asahi#haikyuu fluff#haikyuu headcanons#haikyu x reader#haikyuu timeskip
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ok I'm NOT much of a DC reader but your dukeblogging has convinced me. but do you have a reading list (DC has more crises than I do. it's intimidating) by any chance
YEAHAHSJS
Ok so like Im not a REAL dc blogger so I don’t really have my own reading list; I basically focus heavily on black characters across the board and then dive into wherever they’re from but I usually use other reading lists to do it and go at my own (slow ass) pace. For DC i started fandom only and then moved on to actually reading comics which is why my opinions are so strong there bc I KNOW WHAT YALL ARE LIKE!
Sorry but now for Duke specifically I KNOW there’s a specifc blogger who’s list I followed down to the T but I cannot remember their url rn so here’s a list/chart that has like. Listings for him specifically
That’s mostly to follow timeline but for me I think to get his character down u could do all star Batman, Batman and the signal, the outsiders, WAR and then branch out from there (but also saying this as someone who’s read most of it so like maybe I’m biased and missing or forgetting smth). I’m sorry if this isn’t helpful but as SOON as I find that reading list I’m posting it bc I swear I literally went down that list one by one.
Edit: the tags are part of the answer but I ran out of room so post tags;
- tbh when it comes down to it I personally try to absorb character by character and then put them all together at the end; it’s what I’m currently doing with green arrow (I know it’s been months y’all don’t call paw patrol I’m STUPID) and my plan for moving forward but also fully acknowledging this sucks as a way to interact with other established fans however. Other established fans have proven to be racist and misunderstand characterization and character interaction on a fundamental level SOMETIMES (BC y’all get mad) bc they’re so focused on their faves so in conclusion If I don’t find the specific lists I used I’d get them from stan blogs and then be careful cause u know everyone’s using their faves BEST comics so just remember this is what THEY think is the best or most accurate Interpretation and u don’t have to agree (RR the road home and YJ98 sorry to be shitting on them again. Not even them but how ppl read them. Diff story tho)
-but also despite me obviously shitting on certain characters runs or interpretations I think the best thing you could do is give everyone a fair chance. Blank slate in ur mind if ur JUST starting and see where u go from there but also remember to check ur biases and think about WHY certain things get included or retconned or explained away bc that’s where a lot of ppl falter in thinking their fave is just misunderstood or smth.
FOUND THE LIST sorry this has been in and out for the drafts while searching so in conclusion FR;
I hope this helped but I think I sound insane just please read these <3
#Oh I assumed u meant Duke reading list specifically#if more general Im a older era kinda man so shit like YJ….yj98. sorry yeah#i shit on it but I’m ALLOWed#NTT PLEASE READ NTT ALL OF IT LIL OUTFATED IN CERTAIN ASPECTS BUT PLEAAAAASE#sorry im so scattered on like timeline shit bc I literally just read integrate in my psyche and move on#like watching a show or smth i don’t remember episode names but I can tell you how it made me feel 💔#Yall Im the worst to ask for anything specific for ask my mutuals my memory is SHIT#im just gonna tell u how I got into it fr#i went to like specific character fans and literally asked for their personal reading lists for that specific character#and then i read through em (slow as hell mind you) and formed MY opinion from there#pros with this is if ur character driven and wanna flesh each person out fully before u interact with their dynamics as a whole this is 👍🏾#and u get small personal relationships that aren’t really spoken about when it’s the whole fam there (1)8#(which is actually pretty rare like do not be fooled u don’t get the whole bat family storming in usually)#shit like tim and cass pre Jason revival fucking shit up with Helena#or steph and tim being the most toxic 13 yr olds you’ll ever find etc.#cons if ur memory’s like mine it’s GOING to fuck up timeline for u#like finding out bludhaven was being bombed and dick was having the WORST time of his life while Jason’s doing his red hood shit? changed m#‘where was bruce while tim was being tied up and almost assaulted?!’ he was dead! kind of!!#also genuinely get happy batfam outta ur head they have their moments there IS love there but going in with the view of a normal family#dynamic is gonna be worse overall. if u want happy family times honestly even more recent heinous shit like Gotham war has them more#familial than most other things even if it’s just to fuck it up. I’m never gonna Rec WFA but if ur gonna read it read smth with Duke and#Damián before that please.#ALSOOOOO as a prev fandom only remove everything from tim and Damian specifically from ur mind these bitches are lying#tim is fun and interesting when u approach him newly. finding everytime he drinks a cup of coffee is gonna drive u insane#YEAH THATS WHAT IM TRYING TO SAY don’t let what u already ‘know’ impact how u read#timeline wise dynamics wise etc. walk in with a fresh pair of eyes bc imo that’s how u get to fully appreciate characters like Duke#SMTH U DO NEED TO KEEP IN MIND IS THE BIGOTRY! there will be in world explanations for why x is not misogyny and racism. we as readers#need to be able to dissect that and discuss it genuinely. like so much of tims first meeting with Damian or all of Stephanie in Gotham war#or even killing off Orpheus has in world things that make ‘sense’ but like we do with Catalina Flores#we use our critical thinking. actually smth i ALWAYS can talk about is the racism like that’s where my memory serves me ALWAYS
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some lego batman headcanons!! <3
- bruce, after adopting dick (haha), is now super cautious when taking him to school, on patrol, etc. alfred thinks its really sweet and always has to reassure bruce, on dicks first day of school every year, that his sons gonna be okay <3
- sometimes when bruce has to go on patrol and can’t hang out with dick, drive them to school, etc. and alfreds gone, he’ll call jack and ask him if they can go over and take care of dick :D (jack rly does like hanging out with dick even if they say they dont)
- alfred makes two lunchboxes for bruce and dick when they go on patrol because he didnt ONE TIME and they came back starving and exhausted shdslk he fed them and gave them a lecture :)
- sometimes, with bruces permission, jack and harley will take dick out to go shopping, get ice cream, just some real bestie shit- or they’ll come over and bake or play video games together. (bruce secretly loves it)
- jack is actually a rly good cook/baker and will make everyone breakfast in the morning after he’s stayed the night (bonus: bruce and jack got into a flour fight while making pancakes and alfred walked into the kitchen to see them on the floor losing it)
- dick has a sneaking suspicion that padre and jack arent just “friends”
- bruce and jack, flustered and stumbling over their words, quickly shut this “ridiculous insinuation” down. dick didn’t buy it but okay!
- jacks hair has gotten longer and bruce loves it so he constantly tries to come up with an excuse to braid it or run his fingers through it, but hes really bad at covering the real reason up bc hes stuttering n shit so jack will just smile at him and sit with his back against bruces chest and say “go to town, ya sap”
- jack calls alfred “jeeves” and he says it so seriously and naturally that everyone whos in the room loses it whenever he does DSKSB alfred tries to ignore it gsjgka
IM GONNA GET INTO MORE LIKE SEXUALITY/IDENTITY ONES NOW-
- gay alfred rights. no- no. you heard what i said. he never really told anyone but one day while talking to bruce in the batcave it just kind of slipped out and bruce was like “oh fr?? shittt thats cool alfred <3” SKDLSBSLF (he/him, cis, gay)
- since dick is pretty young he doesnt completely understand the concept of sexuality and identity just yet, but they fully support any and all!! theyve also come across the term non-binary and feels like its perfect for how he feels! (he/him/they/them, non-binary, not quite sure yet they just like people :D)
- bruce also is still trying to understand and learn more about all of the lgbtq+ terms/sexualities/identities, he wants to make sure that he is always respectful! he has however, come to the conclusion that he likes men and women >:) (he/him, cis, bisexual)
- jack got very excited when dick came to him for advice on these things because they love introducing and educating people on the community! he was also ecstatic when dick came out to them as non-binary and told him that their pronouns were he/they!! because now they were pronoun buddies!! jack is also ftm trans :D (he/him/they/them, trans, gay)
- i felt like i should do barbara because...idk i just want to sdshk- barbara, honestly just in this movie to me, is a straight ally (i think that apart from this movie that shes a lesbian!) who will attend pride events and pass out candy, give hugs, etc. she loves the community and like bruce, always tries her best to be respectful and correct when using her terms!! yayay! (she/her, cis, straight ally)
- harley!!! harley is a loud and proud bisexual woman and she is dating poison ivy >:)) who, i headcanon, is a lesbian YUUUP- harley was there for jack when they needed her and she was the one who taught jack about all of the terms and stuff :)) the three of them (harley, ivy, and jack) will go to pride parades/events together and sometimes jack will persuade bruce to go with them <3 (harley: she/her, cis, bisexual. ivy: she/her, cis, lesbian also off topic but ivy is black and has long red braids fucking fight me)
- ill do selina too!! selina is a butch lesbian that has her very rare moments of being feminine sjjsk i love her- she likes to go to clubs and make sure to beat up anyone whos getting a little too touchy feely towards other people or beat up anyone whos just being an asshole >:) as she should! she honestly doesnt care much about pronouns just dont use he/him and ur good (she/her/they/them/etc., cis, lesbian)
AAAAHDHDSLBK THATS SO MUCH OMG- BUT YEAH I LOVE THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE ITS FUCKING AMAZING ITS MY COMFORT MOVIE AND I LOVE MAKING HEADCANONS AND TALKING ABT THEM HSKDBSLD- feel free to talk abt ur headcanons!! re-blog this or just comment <33 ilyyy
#the lego batman movie#batman#joker#robin#alfred pennyworth#selina kyle#harley quinn#harleen quinzel#poison ivy#pamela isley#barbara gordon#jack napier#catwoman#batgirl#dick grayson#bruce wayne#trans joker#non-binary robin#he/they joker#he/they dick grayson#lesbian catwoman#lesbian batgirl#lesbian barbara gordon#lesbian selina kyle#bisexual harley quinn#gay joker#bisexual batman#bisexual bruce wayne#GAY ALFRED PENNYWORTH#headcanons
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long ass hcs that feature interracial batfam dynamics ( tw racism, mentions of this blog typical abuse )
my bruce is a ace bi trans man and alfred is a bisexual old queen so when it comes to gender & sexuality---this team of adoptive fathers has the game down. the kids always know it’s fine to be lgbt. bruce&alfred help them with vocal training if they want it. they have literally multiple billions of dollars for any gender confirmation surgery, hrt, doctors, tho therapists are sort of off the table. (reasons to become robin: free top/bottom surgery whats better than this.) it feels easy to come out to them, even bruce, bc brucie has always been public about being trans, and you ALWAYS know brucie before u know batman---and what a shock that is, this nice lgbt man who is wonderful & sensitive in every way is actually a bastard--and alfred is. well he’s camp as all hell. you don’t even really have to come out to bruce or alfred tho. one day u just go ‘i want u to buy me something’ or ‘i’m bringing my girlfriend / boyfriend home’ and bruce takes out a hundred dollar and alfred puts out his hand, and bruce goes ‘who is it.’ and if it’s who alfred thinks it is, he wins the bet LOL.
but when it comes to race stuff. bruce falls flat on his ass. don’t get him wrong. if you fuck with his kids in public or where he can see---he has ur job and ur life on the line, he will fucking ANNIHILATE ur career & ur livelihood. lose ur fucking house & probably get the shit kicked out of you for writing a shitty tabloid article about the new kid of color in a suit at the latest gotham gala. bruce has so much trauma from tabloids as the most publically out trans person from the SIXTIES, and he’s not letting that happen to his kids without brucie AND batman eviscerating them. it’s a bit of a ptsd response, in truth, but the only person who can really ‘cancel’ you in this world is bruce fucking batman wayne and he fucking will do it!!!!! don’t TEST him or his kids. ( several publications have gone out of business just bc of this shit and bruce refusing to stand for it. tmz and p/erez hilton and fuckin pie/rs morgan do Not Exist In The DC Universe Any Longer LOL )
but when it comes to connecting with them on that level, being the white parent that connects them back to their culture & mentors & friends of their own ethnicity after their parents of color die (or were just never around in the case of my jason & cass), he doesn’t really know what to do.
when bruce interacts with his children---in his best moments, it’s about HIS interests and hobbies and what he thinks a father should be, and its very. tvland in a lot of respects. it’s what HIS father would do in his mind---fishing trips, movie nights, fatherly advice, and his father was all about apperances and died when bruce was very young, so it’s like. bruce doesn’t have the best roadmap here, and then when u add interracial family dynamics on that and the ways white richness has insulated bruce---it gets harder to connect with his children on that level.
alfred on the other hand---is rich only by association and skimming off the top, and is only high society because he was an aesthete poor british kid from liverpool that wanted to be a shakespearean actor when he became a butler like his similarly poor father who sent money across the pond. he gets poor kids more than bruce does---but he’s also, just a better person and father and more willing to meet these children in ways they need him to meet them. alfred learns how to cook romani food with and for dick, writes down the recipes with him so he’ll have a piece of his family forever. alfred learns WITH cass & jason for fun how to speak mandarin & cantonese bc u know. why not. they pretend it’s for him or for fun as well, but they never have to say ‘its embarrassing when other asian people think i know their language but i don’t and i feel like an idiot.’
there’s a disonance, always---between bruce & his children and alfred and his children. it becomes bruce is the ‘public dad’ and the dad they want to be a dad when they’re older---but at the time, bruce is kind of like a big brother and boss that is not emotionally mature enough to actually raise them beyond tvland affectations and cliches. alfred is the one that does the actual paternal & maternal instincts, that connects with them as a true caretaker---but just as alfred enabled bruce all his life, alfred often enables his other children more than he should. the thing that seperates bruce’s childhood from his friends, truly, and the way he is raised under the wayne household----bruce never got the discipline he needed, and the batkids get too much from bruce that alfred just kind of has to bandaid up the emotional wounds.
in a way alfred views that as his fault as well, though. if he had raised bruce better---maybe bruce would be a better father.
alfred has a hard time seeing bruce as anything other than a son, though. likewise, he ALSO views bruce & the batkids more as siblings than adult & children. just like bruce will always view his children as extensions of who he was when his parents died and the little boy & happiness he thinks he lost---alfred never stops thinking of BRUCE that way, as the little boy he was when alfred met him, to everyone’s detriment.
#ooc: hc#fandom: batfam#fandom: dc#fandom: superheroes#ch: alfredo#hc: alfredo#ch: batman#hc: batman#racism tw#child neglect tw#child abuse tw
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Richie Robbins
Here’s my first, totally unfinished sneezefic. It’s all about loud sneezes, I haven’t edited it at all and tbh I found it on some random blog that had clearly grabbed stories from the forum bc I didn’t want to dig through all my old computer backups so ya know if it’s screwed up it’s not my fault.
As passionately as he desired to, he knew he wouldn't be able to evade it. It would come, as so many times before: unavoidable, uncontrollable, unstoppable. He closed his eyes, tilted back his head, let the itch like fire at the edges of his nostrils expand to set his whole nose ablaze with a tickle so strong, only a monstrous explosion could expel it. And monstrous explosions were his stock-in-trade.
"hehh...hehh...HEISSSHOOO!" he exploded. His stunned professor stopped her lecture, as the noise rang out through the huge lecture hall, waking up quite a few drowsy (hungover?) students. Flummoxed, she lost her place in her notes, as the boy sitting next to him, a jock, last name Stevens... first name he couldn't remember, muttered, "Nice one, Robbins. You planning to blow any houses down any time soon?"
Richard Robbins waited a moment before he replied, hoping to make sure the one great sneeze had been enough to expel the full magnitude of the tickly sensation in his nostrils. He sniffed before opening his mouth to reply, which was, as always, a huge mistake.
"Yeah, Ste-st... stevens... I... hah... I...iiegh...ieghhh..ihhh...ihhh..." He thought for a moment he'd gotten it under control, rushing a firm index finger to his quivering nostrils, but it was too little, too late: "Y-yeahhhh... ahhhKESHHHHHuuuhh. HEYY-SHEEUUUUEY!" Another of his roaring sneezes rang out through the room, again startling Doctor Renyolds, who had just managed to get herself composed enough to begin lecturing again. And the sneeze came with a brother, a great screaming affair which appeared to have erupted from the very depths of Richie's being, and, luckily enough, had carried with it sufficient force to finally blast out whatever was causing the terrible tickle in his nose.
"My!" Doctor Reynold's voice came, after only a few seconds, "Whoever has been exploding in my has thoroughly put me off my lecture. Were we speaking about Hamlet or 'The Waste Land'?"
Richie sank in his chair. He had hoped to avoid this, this time. All throughout high school he had been known as the school's sneeze factory, variously going by nicknames from Sneezy to Big Bad Wolf to Johnny Tsunami--that particular psudonym coming from a quite unfunny teacher--but in college, he had hoped to avoid being identified primarily by his nose.
Of course, when you had a nose as big as Richie's, it was rather difficult not to notice. It was nearly always the first thing people noticed about Richie, either because he was busy sneezing or because its moderately thin but hugely protruding shape, rather like a right triangle seen in profile, was the most commanding thing about his face. And his nostrils: they were great, wide, massive things, sucking up irritants with an unholy frequency, tickling with an unthinkable burning fury, exploding with almost unimaginable, messy force. There were times when he felt his older brothers' insistence upon calling his nose Mount Vesuvius was not wholly inaccurate.
Not that any of the men in Richie's family had room to complain about his sneezes. While Richie may have gotten a double portion, this was surely a family curse: when the six Ritchie men--three older siblings: Tristan, Adrian, and Sebastian, Richie himself, his little brother Max, and his father--were united in colds and allergies, it was a wonder Richie's mother hadn't gone deaf. All six of them complained of unusually strong itches that developed deep within their nostrils, which could only be expelled by their characteristically loud sneezes. Stifling or containing the sneezes would never do; it would only intensify the tickle--and the resulting sneezes--by several orders of magnitude.
No, there was little Richie could do in such a situation besides let himself sneeze and hope that no one would notice. Which, thus far, had never happened.
"Hey, Robbins," the jock queried, "should I send out the storm warning to little pigs?"
After class, Richie walked out onto the campus, on the way to his dorm room. He was hit full in the face by the bright September sun, and by his furious nasal tickling.
"Nodda... hiihhh... nodahhh... again... HEEEYY-SHEEUU! HISSHHH! ehh... ehhhSHIIEUUU!" He let the sneezes erupt into the open air, giving them free reign to bend him in half, three times, each sneeze bigger and louder than the previous, though, for Richie, they were comparatively light, more like minor aftershocks than the sneeze-quake itself. He wished these would've hit in the lecture hall, rather than the nuclear blasts he had actually let out.
"Well, you can't always get what you want..." Richie muttered to himself.
"But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you just might find...!" Sing-shouted Richie's best friend, Adam, who had, as ever, appeared behind him.
"How do you do that?" Richie asked, "Do you stalk men unawares in the night by custom? I'm beginning to think you're practicing to be Batman."
"Richie," Adam paused to say, mock-serious, "I am Batman. And even if I wasn't, I'd be able to locate those sneezes from halfway across the campus," laughed Adam. "But anyway, what's up?"
"Well, I exploded in the middle of my Poetry and Drama class, and I'm pretty sure Professor Reynolds hates me, but besides that, not much."
"Old Vesuvius come back to life? Well, no shock there. No offense dude, but your nose has been permanently set to stun since high school."
"Yeah, I've noticihhh... ihhhh... ihhyahhhhhhhAAESSHUUU!"
The pair began walking down the cobblestone path of the university, presumably towards the dorm rooms, then cut through the quad, where, of course, the flowers begot a huge tickle in Richie's nose. "Oh! W-waaahhh... ahhh..." He tried to get the tickle under control long enough to utter the phrase "watch out," but Adam had long since learned to gage when Richie was about to embark upon one of his voyages to a Byzantium of Richter-scale rocking sneezes, and had promptly set his fingers in his ears, got down on his knees, and, in a grand military manner, announced, "Cannons are aimed! Target has been acquired! Fire at will! Fire at will!!"
The fact that he had never, frankly, fired at will, passed quickly through Richie's mind before the sneeze washed over him, washing away all thoughts other than the sneezes, and all quiet in the quad: "yyeeaaaaaaHHHCHOOOOOOOSSSHHH"
Several stunned students turned around to locate the source of the booming noise, and Adam thought that he heard a "wow," somewhere in the distance. A few birds, it seemed, started from the trees. Adam wasn't even entirely sure that he had imagined the swaying he thought he saw in a few of the trees. There was no doubt about it: Richie could sneeze. Ever since they met in freshman year of high school, Adam had seen Richie's nose at the epicenter of a daily series of frightful detonations. This particular sneeze had been not only monstrously loud but torrentially wet, leading Adam to celebrate his decision to crouch at Richie's side; he did not want to get drenched, as he had been on more than one occasion. Ever since freshman year.
"Geez, Rich, you done?" Adam asked, after giving Richie a few seconds.
"SHEEEOOO!" Richie exploded, if possible, even louder.
"Guess not." he chuckled. After Richie (and Adam) felt sure that Richie's nose wasn't about to go nuclear again, Adam stood up, began walking, and quipped, "You know, I'm looking for a side-kick; before I swoop in and lock up the baddies, maybe I can get you to sneeze and blow 'em down!"
"Shut up, Adam." Richie joked, giving Adam a playful slap on the head, before the two rushed off trading barbs as they went.
—-
Richie reached the dormroom with comparatively few incidents, although he had to force himself more than once to obey his father’s favorite dictum: don’t stifle your sneezes. Don’t even try. Richie’d heard that particular sermon preached any number of times, along with his mother’s story: “When your father went on our first date, he tried to hold those things back, and when they finally came out”—“when she smothered her spaghetti in pepper,” his father would always interject—“I thought he was going to blow everything off the table! He sounded a little like you, actually, Richie.”
So, with his mother’s slightly nasally voice ever ringing in his ears, Richie forced himself to let out a series of noisy nasal explosions, in order to satiate his nose’s uncontrollable need for relief from its buzzing, burning, incredibly tickly itching sensations. Few people could imagine just how strong the tickles in Richie’s nose got; perhaps the only way to truly represent their magnitude was their own self-expression in his explosive sneezes. He felt fairly lucky that he'd only had to give in to three or four on his way back to the dorms, although the gaggle of women who had clearly bathed in perfume were less than joyous at the sudden, shocking explosion of elephantine nasal trumpeting which had suddenly erupted to their near right, and each had jumped at least a foot in the air, much to the amusement of Adam, who'd laughed almost as loudly as Richie had sneezed.
Adam and Richie had reached their dorm room, and were sitting about, not really doing anything, as college students are wont to do in lazy afternoons, after classes but before the dinner hours. Of course, they could have been studying, but who’d want to do that? Richie was busy plotting ways to avoid blasting the cafeteria during lunch (take an extra dose of Claritin, bring a handkerchief, and always avoid pepper like the plague), while Adam sat on the bed, debating with himself about whether or not to take a nap, when he felt a tickle invade his nose. Adam’s sneezes, while certainly not tiny, couldn’t compare in the slightest to Richie’s nasal artillery, and the “ihh… ihhhh…IT-CHEEOOooey” he released was nothing compared to a Richie sneeze.
But Adam’s nose wasn’t done yet; the tickle returned, the previous sneeze having done nothing to alleviate it, but rather seeming to have augmented it: “nyehhh… hih! hih! hehhh…” Adam’s nose vacillated on the edge of a relieving sneeze, its power building with every hitch of his breath, “nighiiee…hiegh… ighhhiee… iiiaaAAAAAHHH-CHOOO!” Adam sneezed, much harder than normal.
“Woah, buddy,” Richie murmured over his shoulder, “You really let that one go; you aiming to start a sneeze fight?”
“No, no, no, no,” Adam said, still feeling a bit lightheaded from the sneeze, which had taken more out of him than usual, “getting into a sneeze war with your nose is like bringing three sticks and a baseball bat to the Crimeahhhh… Crimeaaaaahhhh… Crimean... aayyYAH-SHEWWWESSH!” Yet another draining sneeze burst from Adam’s nose, this time with some considerable spray. “Yeesshhh,” Adam said, “that would would’ve drenched a tissue almost as bad as you would! I’m turning into a fire hose sneezer like y… you… you… Ah-CHOOeeeyyy!” Adam let out yet another sneeze, although this one was comparatively light, more in keeping with Adam’s usual sub-volcanic sneeze level.
Thus far, he’d been able to avoid it, having long since learned that if he was to ever do anything except sneeze, he’d have to suppress his sympathetic sneezing reaction. But ever since he’d been a teen, Richie’s nose had been envious of anyone who let out too many sneezes around him, and desired to experience such enormous relief as came with his hurricane-strength achooeys. Thus, he felt a slight tickle brewing when Adam had released his fourth sneeze, and when he heard Adam hitching up to a fifth—“ahhh… ahh… am… ah… am I ever gonaaaahhhh stahhh… stahhh… stop… ahhh…”—he feared his nose too, would begin to go into sneezy paroxysms.
“Adam, man, ah… ah… can you get a hold on those sneezes… my n-nose is starting to tickle too… hoohhhh… ohhhh…”
Richie struggled to get a grip on the still relatively slight tickle that had invaded his nose, as Adam did his best to hold back his sneezy nose from the delightfully relieving fifth sneeze that he knew was on its way. “ahhhh… ahhhh… I-I dunno… ohhhh ahhh… hah… It ruhhhh… ruhhhheaalllly tickles. Ahhhhh… AHHHH… AYYY-CHEOOOSHH!” He let out another sneeze, the strongest, wettest, and most forceful of the bunch, although not spectacularly loud.
But anyone waiting for a noisy nose would have little time to wait. Adam’s fifth and final sneeze had sent Richie’s sympathetic tickles into overdrive, and with almost no buildup, he reared his head back, nostrils flaring wildly like a bucking horse, and bellowed out an enormous, “CCHHHHEEEOOOOOOOO!” Followed by two more, slightly less loud but torrentially wet, “PLESSHEWEY! IT-CHEWWW!” Each sneeze was a spectacularly loud, messy affair, though they were commensurate to Richie’s normal sneeze volume, which, of course, approached the ear-splitting at close ranges. It was more than enough, Richie realized sheepishly, to sound throughout the entire dorm room floor, and maybe the floors above and below. He remembered to make a mental note to avoid staying up late nights—a late night tickle could easily turn peaceful dorm-mates into irate potential tormentors, irritated by being woken by Richie’s cannon-like sneeze. He realized, too, that he might’ve shaken people from any number of midday naps.
When Richie’s series of explosions were done, an affair which sent Richie’s body completely out of control, rearing back and exploding forward with abandon, his entire body at the mercy of his monstrously powerful lungs, mouth, and most of all, nose, Adam couldn’t resist making a quip. “See why I don’t want to get in a sneezing fight with you?”
“Yeah, I know. I hate those sympathetic tickles. Gotta keep that under control,” Richie said, as much to chide his nose as anything else.
“Under control? Your nose? That’s like keeping a bull in a china shop from disturbing a single piece of porcelain. Really wish I could find out why I was sneezin’ though. Those were pretty big for me, though for you it’d be like taking an earthshaking thunderstorm and replacing it with a light, pleasant summer rain…” Adam laughed, but paused when his joking was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” Richie shouted, fearing that it was an irate neightbor, awoken from a nap. This had been one of his many fears about college; each of his older brothers had brought home several stories of how they had woken up between one and several fellow dorm-mates, roommates and apartment neighbors (not that the Robbins boys needed to be in the same building with a person to make themselves known by their noses; the family’s suburban neighbors had revealed on several occasions that someone, usually Richie, had been audible through the windows). Tristan, the oldest, who had, after Richie, the second most Vesuvial nose in the family, once told the story of how he had woken up, very literally, his entire dorm with a series of cold-inspired sneezes, and how only the awesomely pathetic sight of his sickly state, ensconced as he was in blankets and almost covered in used tissues and hankies, had prevented him from receiving one of his dormmates infamously cruel practical jokes.
Richie hoped to avoid such a situation, and so it was with apprehension (and desperate attempts to remember his self-defense classes) that he opened the door.
“Hey, dude!” Said the surprisingly pleasant and excited looking young man at the door, “was that a sneeze, or did somebody set of a nuke in the room next to mine?”
Relieved as Richie was by the friendliness of the visitor, Adam slightly sluggishly slid out of bed, laughing as he did, “That’s my man here, Richie, the Nose extraordinaire, the loudest sneeze in the west, superman of sneezes, the titan of ticklish nostrils, Sir Vesuvius himself, the leaf-blower…”
“Richard, just Richard is my name.” Richie cut in, eager to cut Adam off before he got to the detested “Johnnie Tsunami” epithet.
“Well, Richard-just-Richard, I had to come over here to see if that nose actually just came out of a person!”
“Sorry, I can’t help it…” Richie said, suddenly blushing slightly, “I hope I didn’t wake you or anything…”
“Nah. I wasn’t doing anything. But really, you just sneezed that loud? You got some kinda supernose or somethin’?”
“Well, it’s not exactly thin, as you can see,” Adam began, with a professorial air, “and the protruding shape and large nostrils provide some explanation as to its loud-speaker like qualities…”
“It’s just been that way since I was a kid,” sighed Richie, mildly put off by the awkward conversation.
“Dude, I haven’t heard a sneeze that loud since, like, ever, probably. Although my dad sets off some real firecrackers back at home… I didn’t think I’d hear anything like that for another few months. Kinda reminds me of home, actually.”
“Well, anytime you get homesick, just give us a ring and bring the pepper, though you might wanna bring some earplugs actually…”
“Adam. Geez, do you ever run out,” Richie inquired, with an irritated air.
“Not really.” Adam replied straightforwardly, "I'm a joke machine. And a love machine. Just FYI, let the ladies know..."
“Well,” the visitor declared, “Adam, Richie, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jerry.” He stuck his hand out, and Richie shook it forcefully, though he found his grasp met with a vice shaking like a centrifuge.
“Nice to meet you, too.” Richie said, wincing slightly from the handshake.
“Hey, dude, we’re headed to lunch soon, wanna come?”Adam asked cheerfully.
“Yeah, totally. I was actually kinda hoping to avoid eating lunch alone,” Jerry confessed, “though I don’t know how you get through lunch, dude. Better warn ‘em: hide the pepper!”
That’s a joke I haven’t heard before Richie thought to himself. But, though not original in his jokes, this new acquaintance wasn’t half-bad, and was certainly an improvement upont the angry neighbor Richie’d feared he’d encounter. And speaking of curing homesickness…
“Are you wearing co-cologne… cologne… ehhhhh… ehhhhhhh… EHHHHHSSSSHOOOO!” Richie erupted another characteristically noisy sneeze, which, at unusually close range, prompted both Jerry and Adam to dramatically cover their ears to avoid the full blast of Richie’s nasal explosion, which was easily a nine on the Richter scale, probably a ten.
“Geez, man, I thought they were loud through the wall!” Jerry said, awestruck.
“Richie’s nose? Man, you haven’t seen anything yet. He’ll blow the paint off the walls before we graduate,” Adam joked, yet again.
“I think I might go ahead and take a shower,” Jerry responded, “I’ll meet you guys in about thirty minutes, alright?”
“Sounds great!” Adam said.
Richie would’ve replied, but Jerry’s cologne hadn’t yet finished with Richie’s surpassingly tickly and tickle-able nose. “hahhhh… HAHHHHH…HEHSHOOOH!” Richie erupted again, thanking his lucky nasal stars that his nose had seen fit, for once, to not let out a great big wet one while he was right in someone’s face. He opened his mouth to say, “nice to meet you,” but what came out was another, “TITCHEWWWEY! SHEWWWWWSH!” It was hugely, horribly wet, and in his zeal to avoid blasting his new compatiot, he had turned and, inadvertently, sprayed a great, big wet one into the face of his good friend Adam.
“Well… um… are you trying to tell me you don’t like my jokes, buddy?”
Now, getting sprayed by a sneeze was usually a messy affair, but getting sprayed by a Richie sneeze was pitched somewhere between “elephant sneeze” and “sprayed by a fire hose”. Adam was drenched, and Richie found himself reflecting yet again as to why he never, never attempted to use a pathetic tissue to hold up against the surpassing force of his all-powerful nasal eruptions, the tickly twin cannons of wind, wet, and sound that had taken up residence on his face, began full-strength operations in high school, and seemed to grow in power alone as their experience increased.
“Well, I think I’ll be taking a shower too.” Adam said, before promptly turning around, grabbing a towel and some clothes, and rushing to the bathroom, letting out an irrepressable, high-pitched, and surpassingly effete “EWWWWWW!” which sent Richie and Jerry into shaking convulsions of laughter.
—
After cleaning himself off from Richie’s hurricane-force discharge, Adam proceeded to the downstairs dining hall to meet both Richie and their new friend Jerry. Of course, he heard Richie before he saw him. “heh… heh… HAT-CHOOO!” It was a comparatively small one for his good friend Rich, but the noise still carried well out of the dining room and into the hallway. Adam often kidded Richie about his sneezes, but half the time he genuinely felt bad for the guy. After all, those massive eruptions that had punctuated almost his entire high school experience weren’t just occasional explosions, they were daily at the very least. Any number of things lit Richie’s sneezing fuse, setting off a chain reaction inside Richie’s nose that led inexorably to a blast of such volume and violence that people often inquired of Richie how such a loud noise could come out of a 45-year old 6’ 10’ two-hundred-thirty-pound ex-logger construction worker with a bad head cold, much less little old Richie Robbins. Every time he sneezed with people around, Richie would blush, shrug, and, Adam knew, mentally wish himself out of the room. It wasn’t easy having a semi-superpower—not that it’d do any good in a fight, Adam mused—for a sneeze. But it was life for poor Richie, and that was simply that.
For Adam’s part, he’d never been particularly bothered by his best friend’s outrageous a-choos. Maybe he just had ears of steel, but the volume didn’t bother him, and it did provide a decent shake-up during lulls in conversation. Heck, he’d been a regular vistor to the Robbins household, and that was an experience unto itself. Multiplying Richie’s sneezes with a father, three older brothers, and one younger made a ruckus that just didn’t make sense. If anyone needed proof that sneezes were hereditary, well, Adam knew where to bring them. He’d heard the same story from all six Richie men: it’s the tickles. The tickles, itches, tingles, and twinges that invaded the Robbins family sinuses were purportedly unbearable, like a thousand invisible brushes sweeping all the way up the nasal cavity. And the only way to get those brushes (temporarily) out was to let out a blast that could be heard across three counties (or at least a small suburban house… and a few of the adjacent ones.) Their sneezes came from their toes and then some. But the big sneezes were just the only way that they could relieve the incredible pressure and the tickle that built up in their large, protruding nostrils, swishing around their noses with an unimaginable irritation. The ones with long build-ups were the worst. He’d seen Tristan and Adrian, Sebastian and Max, even Mr. Robbins, staring up at lights, forcefully fanning under their noses, doing anything to tip the tickle out of the gate and onto the flight ramp, at which point a sneeze would shoot out from their nostrils of which any elephant would have been proud.
It was thoughts like this that preoccupied Adam as he sat down with Richie and Jerry, who were discussing the finer points of eruption-inspiring allergens.
“For my dad, is the dogs that are the worst, man, get him within ten feet of a dog, especially one of those great big shaggy things, and oh man… it’s time to break out the protective earmuffs, I’m tellin’ you…”
“Yeah, dogs get me bad too, but the cats… oh… waay… wait a second… I’b gonnahhhh… ahhh… HASHOOOEY!” Richie gasped out a “’nother… nothaaahhh” before bursting into a second tectonic shift of a sneeze, “YASSSHOOOOOO! Oh, I’m so sorry, that was a big one.”
“They’re always big ones, Rich!” Adam said as he sat down.
“Can’t argue with you there.” Richie sighed. While he often wished he could just get rid of his charateristic sneez-plosions, Richter rockers, or Richie Roars, as his nasal expulsions were variously called, Richie was grateful for friends that weren’t repulsed, shocked, or amazed by his sneezes, and he felt much less self-conscious about lettin’ it rip when Adam, or, as of today, Jerry, was around. Not that he had much (or any) choice.
“So, you two comparing notes?” asked Adam.
“Yeah,” Jerry said, “so far, we’ve mentioned flowers, pepper, animals…”
“Actually, most spices get me, red pepper worst of all.” Richie began, “In fact, the reason I sat down at this table is because it doesn’t even have a red pepper shaker, thank goodness. But I’ve blown back the fur and feathers on just about any pet you can imagine…”
They continued on talking like this, unaware that at the table just behind them, the very jock that had filled the standard role of Richie’s sneeze tormentor was subtly listening in on their conversation. Ashton Stevens was his name, and he, like Jerry, had also had a big sneezer at home. But he didn’t have such generous memories of his parents’ noisy noses. In fact, he had been driven nearly insane by his mother and father’s constant loud sneezes, which, unlike Richie’s, seemed put-on, fake, as if they both just wanted to announce to the world how noisily they could sneeze. The crowning moment had been that day, the day of senior prom… but Ashton tried not to think about it. For his part, he had rather dainty sneezes, somewhat at odds with his large and muscular build. He, of course, had never been plagued with allergies on the level of Richie’s, but he had gone through an allergic phase as a teen. During that time he constantly focused on controlling his sneezes, squelching them down until they were little more than a semi-audible, “chuh”. Richie’s gargantuan gale winds had brought him right back to that moment at the senior prom, and he secretly seethed inside every time Richie’s nose went out of control and spasmed with a silence-smashing sneeze. But he was formulating a plan, in the back of his mind, that would shame Richie into shutting up, as his parents never would.
Meanwhile, as Ashton Stevens seethed, Richie (predictably) sneezed. “yeaaaahhhh, ahhhh… aaaaahpppppSHEWWW! Uh, another one. I don’t know what’s making my nose so itchy!” The sneeze, honestly, had been the lightest one he’d let out in a while, only audible above speaking voices at the end, indicating a comparatively low-level irritation. Probably a stray flake of black pepper. While he reacted to pepper as much as anybody else, Richie had never had nearly as much of a problem with pepper as he did with dander, other spices, and the dreaded perfume and cologne.
“So,” Adam inquired, “what are you boys up to this evening. It’s Friday night, and ah… ah… HAT! CHOO!” Adam let out a neatly segregated sneeze, a firmly punctuated breath drawn in followed by a neat and tidy choo, which, although somewhat wet, was not extremely loud, as per the normal pattern of Adam’s sneeze. “Woah, I don’t know why I keep sneezing.”
“Yeah, come to think of it, neither do I,” Richie added, “do you think you’re allergic to something up here?”
“Nah, I’m as hardy as a bull, allergens can’t get me down. Try as they might, they cannot invade the fortress of my mighty nasal guard. Granted, they don’t have as big of a target on mehh… on mehhhh… me… as…. BAA-shewww!” Adam sneezed again, with a sound that sounded utterly fed-up with sneezing.
“Any chance you might be getting a cold?” Jerry inquired. Adam and Richie exchanged anxious looks. Each knew what the other was thinking: if Richie caught a cold, his sneezes, seemingly impossibly, would grow significantly in strength, volume, and mess.
“No,” Adam said, attempting to laugh away the possibility, “No way! The last time I had a cold was…”
“The camping trip in eleventh grade. And I promptly caught it and nearly blew down our tent on several different occasions.” Richie finished for him, “And I hope it’s not happening now,” he moaned, “because if you get sick, then I’ll get sick, and if I get sick…”
“Don’t worry, Rich!” Adam insisted, “I’m not getting sick! But so you don’t worry, I guess I’ll take some vitamins, and call it an early night, I guess…”
“No way, man!” Jerry interrupted, “we’ve barely been in college for a week. We’re goin’ out tonight. We’re going somewhere, and if you don’t like it, mister, too bad!”
Adam laughed. “Well, can’t argue with a command like that, sir. Where do we go?”
“There’s a nice bar nearby,” Richie offered.
“No, no, no, I mean a real club: loud music, sloppy drunks, and scantily-clad women.” Of course, at the mention of women, all three hormone-addled brains perked up instantly, and any reluctance at club-going was instantly erased.
And, Adam saw another perk:
“Plus, the club’s so loud, Richie, that it’s probably one of the few places on earth where your sneezes can’t carry. You know, places like construction sites… death metal concerts… one of my sister’s shouting—I mean singing recitals…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. But that’s actually a good point, and the sneezes have actually been comparatively light...” but suddenly Richie’s eyes got a distant, faraway look. His nose scrunched up, and the itch exploded in his nostrils like a thousand buzzing tiny, invisible flies, sending his nostrils into a rampage of twitching, his upper lip, his entire face swishing and moving with the enormous need to sneeze that had burgeoned so suddenly in his nostrils. This was gearing up to be a real monster; his breath hitched, “hahhhh… hahhhh…,” his eyes bulged. He reached his hand up to try to scrub away the itch, although he knew it was useless. This was shaping up to be the biggest sneeze that had hit him all day… “hih! hih! ah! ah! ah! ooooh, it won’t come ou… outahhhh… ahhhhhh… ahahhhh… ahahhah…” the sneeze stuck for a moment, leaving Richie’s face in a mask of sneezy agony, the corners of his mouth turned firmly down, his eyes tearing and glancing upwards, searching for a light bright enough to send his brewing eruption into its final stages of detonation, his eyebrows severely arched. His watering eyes rapidly blinked for what seemed an eternity, before he gave his nose one more good sniff and gave in to the inevitable detonation: “hhhhaaAAA-AARRSCHOOOhhh! HAAA-HOOOOOSH-SHOOOOEY! Ahhh… igghiee… hah…" He hitched for just a few seconds before absolutely roaring out the thermonuclear explosion of his final sneeze: "RAAH-SCHOOOOOOOOHH!”
“Woah.” Said Adam and Jerry simultaneously.
The sneeze was so big, it left Richie panting a little after. It wasn’t just the biggest sneeze all day, it was the biggest set of sneezes he’d had in a month! Richie had rocked back and forth with each colossal sneeze, giving his tickly nose complete abandon. The sneezes took him over, and each was a nearly-shouted affair that was louder than most people can shout. Those sneezes seemed to come from his whole body, his nose being merely the epicenter of the eruption. He was completely out-of-control for each massive gusting sneeze, his whole frame shaking and swaying at the mercy of his king-sized schnoz and the unbearable itch that had taken three of Richie’s most powerful sneezes to expel. When he opened his eyes afterward, he was half-afraid that he’d blown the table away!
Adam and Jerry, prepared by experience, had covered their ears, but the rest of the dining hall… well, being unprepared, some had dropped forks, plates, and cups, most had stopped their conversations, and quite a few shocked “what was that?”s sounded around the room. Those had been big even for Richie, far too loud, in fact, for anyone to hear the near-simultaneous soft, tickly “chuhh! ch-hoooh! chuhh! ka-chuuhhh!” that had come from the next table over, soft barely-there puffs of air in comparison to Richie’s Kansas twister sized sneezes, which he swore would have been big enough to send Dorothy not only to Oz, but to the other said of Mars.
“Dude,” Adam said, as the dining room slowly went back to normal, after being rocked by Richie’s “You totally shouldn’t have jinxed it.”
“Ha-ha,” Richie said, not feeling exceptionally prepared for laughing after single handedly—or rather, single-nosedly”—overpowering an entire dining room full of noisy college students in volume. “Let’s just get out of here as quickly as possible. I don’t want another one of those to happen… and I think… there might still be the beginnings of a… ah…” Richie quickly clamped his hands over his nose, hoping that he might fight the tiny residual tickle back before it became another of room-rocker, or at least get outside into the open air to release the beast.
Adam, Richie, and Jerry hurried surreptitiously out of the dining room. At the table behind them, sat Ashton Stevens, face upturned, irritated tears forming in his eyes, but a smug smile on his face, nose twitching and jerking with otherwise imperceptible “chooh! chuh! ha-hushh!” sneezes, with a plate of spaghetti practically drenched in red pepper. His little “experiment” confirmed, he threw the plate away, which promptly cleared up his sneezes, and walked calmly out of the dining hall, but not before slyly sliding the red pepper shaker into his waiting pocket.
--
Richie had, of course, erupted again outside, although once out of the range of the red pepper flakes that were like gunpowder for Richie’s cannon-like nostrils, the sneezes hadn’t registered quite so high on the Richter Scale (“a minor aftershock!” Adam had quipped). But sneezes that huge left Richie concerned; could he be catching a cold? That would be disastrous. Besides feeling bad, he could hardly go to class, detonating another sneeze every few minutes, sneezes that would rock a three hundred person lecture hall and perhaps even send his papers flying down to the row below, sneezes that would throw even the most concentrated lecturer off of his or her game, sneezes that, in a smaller classroom, would probably disturb not only his own class, but all the classes on the floor! Of course, he’d had mega-sneezes like that before, and it didn’t always mean he was catching a cold, but if he was… well, he’d just take a lot of vitamin C that night. But going to bed early wasn’t an option. Richie, Jerry and Adam were going to a nearby club, Club Z, for a night on the town. After running back upstairs to change (again), the threesome left their dorm and headed towards Club Z, chatting all the while.
“So, Rich, how are classes going?” Adam asked, to get the conversation started.
“Oh, pretty good, when I’m not busy sneezing through them. Sebastian warned me that his sneezes tend to disrupt standard professorial activities, so I knew mine would probably blow out a few eardrums. Not that I’m not used to that sort of thing.”
“How about you, Jerry?”
“Oh, things are going well for me too. Chemistry is kicking my butt, but besides that I’m doing pretty well. That class is so boring! I almost wish that someone would come in there with a great big Richie-cane kinda sneeze. At least that way things wouldn’t be quite as boring!”
“Oh, you would have loved our high school then,” Adam cut in, “Almost every time I fell asleep in class, Richie’s nose would get an itch and once the nasal volcano got going, sleeping was not an option.”
“Whatever, Adam,” Richie said, blushing slightly at the extended discussion of his nasal… ahem, prowess, even among friends, “I didn’t even have a half of my classes with you.”
“Exactly.” Adam replied, smiling. *** Soon, Richie and company arrived at the club. However, they were still several feet away when the perfume started getting to Richie’s nose: “ah…. ahhhh… agghhha… igghhiiie… AAAA-CHOOOOH! heh… heh… AHHH-CHOOOOOH!” he sneezed, blasting out the tickly perfume smell as hard as he could. When Richie sneezed, his whole body was involved; in fact, Adam was surprised that Richie didn’t have a six-pack from all the forceful contractions of his stomach and chest as he roared out all that sneezy air at obscene velocities, and decibel levels.
“Bless ya, buddy. Are there some flowers around,” inquired Jerry.
“Na… no, nahhh.. ahhhhh WAAAAAASSSHOOOO! ARRRR-CHOOAAAYYYY!” Richie screamed out each sneeze. While not as loud as the true Richie-canes of the dining hall, these sneezes produced more than enough volume to echo loudly off of the nearby buildings and turn quite a few heads. Richie was quite afraid that an irate head would poke out of one of the windows of the high-rise apartment buildings on the street to demand that he achieve the impossible feat of quieting down his great lion’s roar of a sneeze. He’d been asked by more than one teacher (and moviegoer, and theater patron, and restaurant waiter, and even, on one notorious occasion, a few patrons at just the sort of rock concerts that Adam had supposed would be loud enough to drown out Richie’s roars, but then again, not only were all the people there drenched in cologne and perfume, but Richie had left from a friend’s house who had a very furry german shepherd, and Richie had the beginnings of a cold) to control his thunderclap sneezes, but, like the thunder, Richie’s sneezes were a force of nature, and could not be quieted down or controlled any better than the wind.
Hoping he’d gotten his nose under control with that last massive sneeze, Richie ventured to speak, “No… it’s the perfume... oh, wait… ‘nothing one’s cahhhh…. coming…. RAAAAASSSSHOOOOOH! YASSSSSSHHHHHHHH-OOO!” Richie sniffed loudly, as two girls, one of who was probably wearing the sneeze-causing perfume, looked around. The girl wearing the perfume, alright slightly tipsy, half-spoke, half-shouted, “Ugh, I can’t stand it when people exaggerate their sneezes like that! Can’t he control it? That’s just too loud!”
Aside from the irony of the woman commenting on Richie’s loud sneezes with her loud voice (although Richie had to admit that even a trained opera singer would have difficulty keeping up with him in volume when he really got going), Adam was offended by her comments about his friend, and was about to walk up and give the perfume drenched woman a piece of his mind when her friend abruptly did it for him!
“Oh, Charlene, be quiet! They can hear you. Besides, how can you expect a poor kid to control his sneezes when you can’t even control your big mouth!” Adam had to admit that he was impressed, and as Charlene and her assertive friend got in line for the same club as Adam, Richie, and Jerry, Adam made a mental note to “bump into” her at some point that night. Maybe Richie’s wind-machine strength allergies would flare up again and give him an excuse to talk to her?
Meanwhile, Ashton wasn’t far behind the trio, cringing at each of Richie’s elephantine sneezes. He thought to himself, “This is ridiculous! He sneezes even louder than my father! How embarrassing! I don’t even know how those other goons can stand to be seen around him. I’ll teach him not to be so disgusting with his sneezes.” As the perfume got to his nose, Ashton harshly muffled three sneezes by pinching his nostils, “shhhmp! chikkk! ch!” They were barely audible. Ashton fingered the red pepper in his pocket as he watched Richie and company walk into the club. He bided his time for a few minutes, and then, after walking around the block a bit, went in as well.
—-
As soon as the threesome entered the club, Ritchie rushed off to the restroom, hoping to give his nose a good, strong blow to clear his nose of perfume and pollen, so as to head off the sneezes at the pass. But by the time he reached the restroom door, his twitching, tickling nose had had too much, and, bleary-eyed, Richie let it take over for six full-strength sneezes: “HAASSSSSHHHHHOOOooooo… hh… hhhiiiiiIIIIIIIIICHOOOOOOO! Ih-CHOOO! haaahHH-CHOOOOOO! ahhhhhHHH-CHOOOO! HAHH-CHOOOOOOOhhhhheyyy” That last one was a monster, making a gutteral, throat-scraping sound as the normal “choo” was twisted by Richie’s awe-inspiring lung power into a growling, snarling shout of a sneeze, leaving Richie somewhat lightheaded and dizzy. And of course, he immediately connected the number of sneezes (Richie rarely let out so many all in a row like that) to the head cold he was desperately afraid was brewing in his firecracker nostrils, those wide, vacuum-like tunnels where tickles went in, and sneezes came out that were second only to the Big Bad Wolf with a bad cold.
And speaking of colds, Richie was terrified of developing one. Every cold he’d ever had had settled directly in his nose, causing a near-constant tickle that he could only blow out with his biggest, most ear-drum busting, dorm-wall rattling, earthquake-causing sneezes. Even Richie’s biggest sneezes could only provide momentary relief from the tickle; minutes later, the tickle would come back with a vengence, and so would the sneezes, until Richie would deliberately blow them out as hard as he could, just to get the tickle to stop for a few minutes. Richie’s colds were events in the Robbins household (and every house on the surrounding block); he hoped and prayed they wouldn’t become events on-campus too.
Looking around the restroom and finding it (thank goodness) empty, Richie marched to a stall to give his nose a few of his patented, honking nose blows. While not quite commensurate to his sneezes in volume, those bass-note honks of his could certainly send a rumble through any room, and Richie was glad that the room remained empty as he did his best to keep his nose free and clear, so as to minimize sneezing episodes.
Meanwhile, Adam and Jerry were on the prowl, and getting shut down all the time. Jerry had offered to buy drinks for no less than three women, with no success, while Adam’s jokes were falling unusually flat, perhaps owing to the volume of the music and the near-impossibility of hearing anything (except perhaps for Richie) over the thumping bass and wailing noise of the speakers.
So it was that Adam and Jerry had given up and begun dancing their way into the morass of people at the center of the club, when Richie went searching for them. Of course, hidden as they were in the mass of people, Richie had no hope of finding either of his friends, and sat down at the bar, quickly flashing his (fake) ID, and ordered a beer. He figured he’d wait until he found Adam and Jerry to start dancing, and he was sure that his nose would give him ample opportunity before then to test Adam’s theory that the noise of the club would muffle the rumbling explosions of his nose.
In fact, as the bartender slid Richie his beer, Richie felt his nose flaring into life. His breath hitched, his face contorted, his nostrils assuming control of his face, twisting this way and that as though they had a life of their own, reacting to the bucking bronco of itch that had, as always, brushed ferociously against the twitching walls of his sensitive nostrils. And as Richie’s face contorted, his watering eyes slid closed in preparation of the great big sneeze to come…
…and Ashton Stevens saw his chance. He’d been sitting at the bar, plotting how he could cause misery for Richie at the club. Luckily, he’d been at the bar while Richie had erupted in the restroom (especially since the only thing Ashton found more disgusting than sneezes was nose blowing), but now he was sitting not too far from Richie, and had been spying on him out of the corner of his eye since Richie had sat down. Now was his chance. He slid the small shaker of red pepper out of his pocket and sent a cloud floating up into the air, knowing that the strong air conditioning in the room, as well as the breeze from the constantly opening front door, would waft the tickly spice straight into Richie’s all-too-combustible nose.
And he was right. Seconds later, Richie froze, as he felt the tickle in his nose multiply exponentially. The itch in his nose, already monstrous, became a thousand buzzing flies, scurrying through his nasal passages, wreaking havoc on his sensitive sinuses, creating such tremendous pressure in his nose that he knew that the only way to get any relief would be to blast out a sneeze at full-strength. He felt it gearing up to be as big as the one in the dining hall, if not bigger. Out of his watery eyes, he took a quick glance around him: there was no way he’d get to the restroom before his Vesuvial nose gave an eruption that would put Mt. St. Helens to shame, and the way his nose was feeling, it’d be wet enough to outshine Old Faithful. But there were so many people around. Richie had been warned about it time and time again, and he knew he shouldn’t… but he didn’t want to spray any strangers! So… he stifled.
“ahh…. Ahhhhhh… AHHHHHHHHH… AGGGHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAA…” He wound up, with huge, powerful breaths, and then… “chhhmmppppppppppp!” He sneezed, somewhat wetly, but contained, and with nowhere near enough volume to be heard over the noise of the club. Stifling successful.
But his nose was on fire. It was as if he had quadrupled the already unimaginable tickle. If he was going to fire off one eruption before, now he was preparing for a twenty-one-gun salute. Finger struck firmly beneath his nose, Richie rushed to the restroom as fast as he could, pushing past the clubgoers in the crowded club, afraid to give so much as an “excuse me” for fear that speaking would tip the sneeze into the uncontrollable zone. Richie forcefully pushed the door open as he marched into the restroom, which was, of course, filled with people. In the already small, echoing restroom, Richie’s sneezes would probably reach ear-splitting volumes and annoy, if not terrify, every patron in the restroom. But it wasn’t as if he had any choice; he had to let the monsters loose.
Richie quickly swung a stall door open and closed as his breaths became audible, and grew louder, and louder… “iiihhhhhh… HHHHHiiiiIIIHHHHHH… HAHHHHHH… HAHHHHHHH…. HHAAAAHHHHHHHHH…HAAAAAAAAAAAAA-SHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BAAACCCHOOOOOEEYYYY! HASSSHHH! HAHHSSHHHHuuhh… OOOO-SHOOOOOOOH! USSSSHHHHHH-CHHAAAHHH! Ahhhhh… Ahhhh… ahhhhh…CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
They came, sneeze after sneeze after sneeze, outrageous in volume, hurricane like in spray. Richie heedlessly swung backwards and forwards, gulping in air to fuel each massive explosion. He knew now why his parents had warned him to never, never hold in his sneezes, because this was the result: a constantly seizing nose in a fit that would last for minutes.
The reaction of the men in the restroom, as expected had been vocal and noisy. The already somewhat drunken patrons had no trouble voicing their disapproval: “What the hell?! Did somebody drop a bomb in here? Shuddup in there, I can’t hear myself think!”
But Richie, whatever he wished, he no ability to shut up. His nose was in control now, and it was going to blow, and blow, and blow until the pent-up tickle was blasted out, full-strength.
“Hehhhh… ehhhhhh… EEHHHHH-SHOOOOOH! EH-SHOOOH! Eghhhhaaaa… haaaa… haaa… YAAAAAAA-SHHHEEEEEWWWWWWWW! SHIISSSHHHHH! ISSHHHHHH! AHHHHHHHH-SHOOOH! AHHHHHHHH-SCHOOOO! AH-SHOOOOH!”
The sneezes just kept coming, unbelievably loud, unbelievably powerful. This was one of the longest fits Richie could remember (though probably not the worst he’d experienced). Gradually, the sneezes grew farther apart: “haahhhh.. hahhhh.. HA-SHOOO! Ahhhhh… HA-SHUU! iiSHHHIIII-OO!”
Each sneeze, though still loud enough to echo through the restroom, was at a more manageable volume. Still, Richie was exausted from firing off sneeze after sneeze, and as his nose finally let out its final “heh… heh-chhh-EW!” Richie just wanted a nice long nap. He sat in the stall for a moment to survey the damage. He had been right about the spray; he could see the glistening drops decorating the entire stall door as though it had been hit with a hose. He still heard the men grumbling and muttering about his sneezes, and he was sure that those who were in the restroom (and probably those near the door) would spread the word to their friends about Richie’s incredible eruption. Sometimes, Richie just wished that his nasal curse could just go away. Why was his family cursed with the world’s most massive sneezes? Why was his nose the epicenter of such eruptions? But, as he sniffed gently, preparing for a nose blow to clear the last bits of congestion in his nose, he was glad for one thing: the tickle was completely gone.
Meanwhile, Ashton had been standing near the door, and had heard Richie firing off sneeze after sneeze after sneeze. He was red with rage; that fit had been exactly like the one his dad had blasted out at Ashton’s senior prom, in the middle of Ashton’s prom king acceptance… all over the prom queen. She dumped Ashton within the week.
Turning violently on his heel, Ashton marched out of the club, certain that he had a new secret weapon to use against Richie: if he could get him to clam up those sneezes, just once, then he knew Richie would fire off a show of sneezes so loud that Ashton could use it to embarrass Richie in front of anyone within earshot; in other words, Ashton grimly laughed to himself, anyone within a five-mile radius.
—-
Ashton, however, had not been the only person close enough to the restroom to hear those gale-force blasts trumpeting out from Richie's nostrils of fury. In fact, just as Richie was beginning to launch into a fit for the ages, Jerry had decided he ought to slip off to the restroom; no need to "break the seal" yet, but Jerry had anticipated he was in for a fairly long night, partying with his newfound friends, and--hopefully--with a few more newfound "friends" from among the club's very attractive female population, and as such wanted to make sure that his tiny bladder would not interfere with his very large-sized dreams---oh, alright, fantasies---of what would go on that night.
But Jerry was pretty far from the door when he heard that tell-tale eruption coming from the men's room. He quickly stuck his head into the restroom and knew immediately the source of the disturbance. He would scarcely have believed that even Richie could sneeze so forcefully. He was putting up a good fight with the music in the club, and that was deafening as it was. Heck, at close range, Richie's nose could have outdone a shotgun, a leafblower, a small nuclear explosion... but in the midst of these musing, Jerry noticed Ashton. Unlike everyone else in the restroom (and nearby), who were scrambling to get away from the noise, Ashton seemed transfixed. He was just standing by the restroom door, not going in, didn't seem to be coming out, and he had the most peculiar, almost devious expression on his face. Of course, Jerry knew Ashton somewhat---Ashton was touted as one of the most talented football players of the freshman class, and at their D1 school, that meant a lot. But this threw Ashton in a completely different light. Why on earth was he just standing there? And what was that strange look that passed across his face each time Richie bellowed out another monsterous, "HHHHHEEEEEESSSSSSSSCHHHHHOOOOOOOOoooooh!" Jerry was not a suspicious person by nature--and as Richie's twenty-one gun salute went on, he knew he had to check and see if Richie was alright--but he filed that instance away in his mind as yet another strange happening of college life.
The more important thing was to check on Richie. When it finally seemed that Richie's nose had calmed down enough that he'd be able to speak, Jerry ventured forth a, "Hey, man, you alright in there?"
"Jerry?" Richie responded, fearing the worst, "oh, god, don't tell me you could hear me all the way out..."
"No, no, man, I was just heading to the restroom when I heard the big bang from outside the door, don't worry. But what happened there? I didn't think you were ever going to stop!"
"N-neither did... oh, god, h-here ihhhh... here it gooohhhh... ohhhhh... oohhhhhh... ahh... HA-CHOOOOH! Man, thought I was done there," Richie give a liquid sniff, "but the aftershocks just sneak up on me."
"And speakin' of sneakin', there you guys are!" Adam quipped.
"Are you just everywhere?" Richie asked, half-laughingly, half-exasperated. Adam had the strangest habit of popping up everywhere.
"A magician never reveals his secrets, young Richard." Adam gave a sudden gasp before, "Ha-chooOOSH! Huh... hashhhooo! Ugh, must be in the air," Adam said, as he grabbed a tissue from the sink counter to blow his nose. He was a bit of a nasal honker, and his blows were decidedly louder than his generally quiet, gentle sneezes (although, in comparison to a Richie-cane, your average elephant was pretty quiet and gentle), and were much louder when he had a cold---because he didn't have Richie's almighty, head-clearing sneezes, he relied much more on forceful nose-blowing to blast out the itch from his nose, and still had far less success--unsurprisingly--that a full-force sneeze from Richie, even without a cold or that dreaded red pepper.
Richie, however, wasn't so sure that something was "in the air"; the humongous fit he'd just succumbed to made him almost positive: he was catching a cold.
"No, Adam, it's not 'in the air'--we're sick, and I'm going home." Richie declared. Adam was somewhat taken aback at his friend's unusually forceful tone, but he knew that, as always, he could joke his friend out of his resolve.
"Oh, you're not sick---granted, a 300-pound body builder with a bad head cold and a wind machine up his nose probably can’t compare to the ‘ol schozz-cannon you’ve’ got… but those, my friend, were not cold sneezes.”
“How do you know?” Richie demanded.
“I still have hearing in my right ear, obviously.”
#snz story#snz fic#male allergies#male cold#wow I haven't read this in like a decade#I should reread it maybe#old fics
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thank you !
^^ dis gif isn't mine. but that's totally my face.
Here it is! This is my big dumb 'thank-you' post that I've been meaning to write. So if you weren't aware, I've actually closed this blog (aside from some random posts about Logan and a Batman Podcast - you should listen to it) due to some major, major problems with the DC fandom that I find toxic and quite frankly disgusting. But das stuff that sadly I can't change so I'm doing what's best for me and getting my ass outta here before my love for Batman is forever ruined by blind and immature fanboys.
i started writing bryce around about 2015. My first blog was called surgitisms but I changed it because someone made some burnbook callout about me copying someones url (I had no idea that blog existed rofl - surgit is latin for 'rise'). I then moved to rageinyourbones (shoutouts to joseph gordon levitt) where i spent most of my time, developing this character that wasn't even my idea - it was just a passing remark from a lovely actress by the name of Natalie Dormer. now as you're aware (and as i continually apologize for) i fucked up on that blog, and i've done my best to reach out and make amends with the people i offended (and they were super gracious and accepted my apology). but that negative bollocks aside, i grew up so much on that blog. i learned some amazing things about myself, i learned some bad things about myself, and most importantly i created a character that i personally believe is different to bruce wayne. i ended up headcannoning late at night, thinking about how she would act differently to bruce, about how she would interact with certain characters etc etc etc.
but what really made all the difference was the people i met.
you guys are fucking amazing. i mean lets be real - the tumblr rp community can be fucked sometimes. we've all seen it, but what i love is that we tend to (80% of the time) treat each other as real human beings and see that what we're really here for is just the love of these dumb fictional characters. they give us a break from the savagery of life and its endless woes. i am so, so so grateful and so so so blessed to have known the people i have on here. people whom i met on rageinyourbones and followed me across to here, and people whom i met here. holy bollocks im rambling - im just gonna tag some specific people who really really made my life on here so enjoyable. the rest i'll just lump into one big post because i'm lazy like that.
@fracturedportrait - harmony. i remember meeting you the first time. i remember it so clearly. you were so chill, so spunky (god i feel old using that word), and you had such a passion for your oc. i remember the first plot we had, the inspiration we shared... who knew that it was the beginning of my greatest friendship and my #1 OTP for bryce. you were the first person whom i ever actually spoke to off tumblr (remember when i called you?? and you heard my dumb aussie accent??). i remember legitimately getting teary over memes, i remember smiling so much during our threads, i remember (and still do) laugh about us talking about how our sin is like a lovely vintage of wine. your writing consistently, unimaginably, pushes and has pushed me to better mine. with every post you made, you helped improve my writing. you are such a blessing to me and i am not going to just let this stay as some dumb tumblr friendship. we'll face time, and i'll be sure to credit you when i'm on the red carpet with natalie dormer being like 'so what made you want to write this film about a female batman?'. i'll just be like 'yo there was this really cool chick who wrote a vampire and she told me to just write this film'.
@halysborn - SWAN. ho man. do you remember when i wrote that giant meta about how dick literally changed not just bryce's life, but bruce's? i firmly believe that dick is the most important character in bruce's life. and i mean i'm talking on the same level as alfred - even more. he's the TRUE son. the son whom saved him. like i just cry about how bruce says that line - 'sometimes i think i've never done any good in my life. then i look at dick and realize i'm wrong' or whatever that actual phrase is. i PHYSICALLY VOM WHEN PEOPLE SHIP THEM. but yo that's other stuff. what's important is that you have supported me selflessly and without strings. you've supported me here, you've supported me over on deshibcsara, you've just been a consistent rock, an unyielding foundation of encouragement. i still, and will NEVER delete that voice recording where you talk about me and my love for batman. it gives me such hope and reminds me that, yeah i fuck up, but i've at least affected someone else's life and how they see batman. my only regret is that i was so goddamn slow with replying to our stuff. and that was literally because i felt like you deserved nothing but my absolute best. you are incredible, and from one aussie to another, i love you brocookie!
@femmekill - could u pls stop spamming my facebook wall with memes?? SIKE I LIED. I FUCKING LOVE IT. my mum literally asked me the other night 'who is -insert your real name-?' and i was like 'oh thats my wife' and she was like '???' and i just said 'dont even BOTHER trying to understand'. you have been nothing but optimistic about me. you consistently, relentlessly see the good in me. i dont think there's ever been a time where like i've felt wronged by you? or at the very least felt like i was a burden to you? you never fail to spread positivity. even when you were feeling like shit and i tried to cheer you up, it's like you turned it on me and were like 'nah gus you're not cheering me up IM CHEERING YOU UP - thats how it works'. im so fucking whipped by you, because you're just such a blessing to my life. the day we shared FB's was like the day i realized 'WELP IM IN THIS MARRIAGE FOR LIFE NOW'. when it comes to your writing - i'm just breathless. the tumblr rp fandom does not deserve you. keep doing your thing man - don't ever let douchebag anons change that.
@marblebelow - I SINCERELY HOPE YOU STILL HAVE THE RECORDING OF ME SINGING 'THE CONFRONTATION'. especially with the 'DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUN'. that shit is lit. yo but mikel really. the days of us writing together - writing fisk/bryce and then writing jim/bryce... i value it so much. you've taught me to pursue every little nuance in bryce's character. and i mean that - you ask me tiny little questions, and holy crap i end up going into a massive internal investigation. and worst of all (or best??) you jsut lavish me with genuine, kind words. i regret that we didnt get to write much more (both of us having major stress/overwhelmed issues), but dude, like, never stop being you - you have such overwhelming, unimaginable depths of creativity. even if you don't realize it, or feel like you don't, believe me - you do. it sounds like -- errr.... arrogant? but ive spent the last six years studying writing/fiction/film and just immersing myself in it so i feel like i have SOME credibility - you really really do have a gift.
@ivyworn - 'yes hello i'd like to report a murder? the victim is ME' aka this is what happens whenever we talk. so we never actually got to do much writing, but honestly? i literally feel like we did writing in the SPIRIT with all of our tumblr IMs and just the amount of shit talking we did. PUMA. LEST WE FORGET. PUMA. no but real talk, i was supposed to send you a birthday gift aka im still gonna get my ass onto paypal and do that SO DONT YOU LEAVE YOUR BLOG. AND YOU CANNOT SAY NO. i've never met anyone whom has such an in-depth love and understanding for ivy. i remember chatting about Cast Shadows with you and the level of complexitity between Batman and Ivy. i mentioned this but Batman/Ivy is literally my OTP for Bruce. i just think it is such an interesting avenue that no writer (post Cast Shadows) has explored. whenever we spoke, i had such a smile on my face, i cannot even begin to desribe it. i really really hope life goes well for you and treats you with the care and respect you DESERVE.
@psyclownsis @scarestress tags both blogs bc i have no idea where you are these days. so i already recorded that voice meme thing talking about you piri - but i literally just want to further express my admiration and gratitude for you. you've stuck by me, you've pulled me aside and been like 'oi gus you're being a douche stop it', and you've just supported me and taken such an interest in this dumb character i write that literally just blows me away. the fact that we barely write but i still feel so close to you and so valued by you is just a testament to the power of tumblr rp friendships. we don't NEED to write together to be friends and to respect and admire each other. AND LORD KNOWS i admire you. i admire your dedication, i admire your 'idgaf' attitude. and honestly i just admire your unrelenting loyalty to people.
because i've literally written an essay - the rest of these tags are people that i admire and love, even if we haven't had much chance to interact.
@agoodluthor | @gunkanjiima | @grincarved | @terrifiesthem | @tcmbraider | @truthpiety | @influencedbyfear | @inexactexpiration | @aftcrshocks | @fallencomrade | @geniusfuturist | @mangledgrin | @shewolveriine | @tragicloss | @unleashedjustice | @volchista | @widowscars
#long post for ts#im gonna turn anon on just for these last few days#just in case you wanted to share something and you were like 'nah dont wanna do it publicly'#but yo if you send douchey stuff im just gonna brush you off because i aint got time for dat#anyways I FUCKING LOVE YOU GUYS
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so @justputyourheartintoit tagged me in an ask meme thing and DAMN it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these things and I’m honoured that Corinne tagged me in one so here I am!! >:D
rules: answer the questions and tag 20 blogs you’d like to get to know better
nicknames: too many, good lord. the most common ones are Nads, Naddie, and Di, but there are. so many more. I’ve gone by variations of so many characters’ names or nicknames where I’ve smushed my name together with certain characters’ names, it’s ridiculous xD
time right now: 4:29 PM (I am procrastinating my work)
last thing i googled: LMAO it’s “apa in text citation” because I’m helping write/cite a scoping review for work and I just wanted to make sure I was remembering how to do APA in-text citations correctly xD
fave music artist: look, this is the worst question to ever ask me, I never have a favourite anymore :’D I’ve been listening to Ed Sheeran’s new songs a lot lately and realizing that he’s actually an artist I’d like a lot? also really liking the songs that have been coming off of Sylvan Esso’s new album!
song stuck in my head: I was just watching “Shape of You” covers on youtube, so it’d be that!
last movie i watched: omg. last movie I really watched and paid attention to would have to be the LEGO Batman movie, which was fucking HILARIOUS and a 10/10 recommendation omg everyone needs to go and watch it right now immediately. last movie I half-watched enough to remember it? La Tortue Rouge!
last tv show i watched: mmmmMMMM WHAT TV SHOWS DO I EVEN WATCH ANYMORE. oh, would probably have to be Steven Universe, actually!!
what i’m wearing now: I’m wearing a onesie my cousin got me I think for Christmas 2015? and comfy socks my sister got me for Christmas this year :’D
when i created this blog: lord almighty, I made this blog right after prom in 2011, so that would have been like June 6 or something! I’m oLD
the kind of stuff i post: most of the time it’s anime stuff now since that’s mostly what I’m into, but I reblog things across all sorts of fandoms that I like, music, and dumb memes/posts that I find funny xD
do i have other blogs: I USED TO DO RP BLOGS BUT NO LONGER just because I’ve been terribly out of the writing habit and need to pick myself back up again. also I have a cosplay blog that’s just kind of sitting there bc @ajcrowlor and I are terrible at actually doing shit with our cosplays and organizing it properly xD
do i get asks regularly: not really, just every now and then!! but I’ve been really terrible at being on tumblr recently (I’ve been trying to get better!) so I often miss them OTL
why did i choose my url: I am a girl, and as mentioned before, I have a lot of nicknames xD at one point in my life it felt like everyone called me something different! so I thought the URL sounded cool :D
gender:��cis female
hogwarts house: GRYFFINDOR BITCHES!!!!!!
pokemon team: TEAM VALOR HELL YEAH I JUST BOUGHT MYSELF A CUTE LITTLE NAMETAG THING AT THE LITTLE CON THIS WEEKEND FROM @heybutterbee TO REPRESENT, LOOK
fave color: it seems to me that blues are apparently a favourite of mine xD
average hours of sleep: usually about 7-9, though 6 sometimes when I’m feeling adventurous and stay up late! I need sleep though :’D
lucky number: I think it’s 9!
favorite characters: omg, this is too hard. I recently fell hard for Tracer from Overwatch, she owns my heart rn!! Yuuri Katsuki from Yuri!!! on Ice and Haruhi Fujioka from Ouran High School Host Club are strong contenders for Actually Me and I love them both very much :D
dream job: I’ve always wanted to be a writer!!
number of blankets i sleep with: my comforter and then usually one blanket above it, but sometimes two if it’s cold!!
okayyy I’m not going to tag many people in this but HERE WE GO, gonna tag @ajcrowlor, @emmaandthatisall, @starsofyoursoul, @kellyzipcode, and @nbkatara in this!! :D you can go ahead and do it if you want to!
thanks Corinne!! <333
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10, 11, 16 for the fic asks!
Do you enjoy writing dialogue, exposition, or plot the most?
dialogue for sure. i honestly find it the easiest to write, as i hear the characters' voices in my head so i just try to write things i think they might say. i probably enjoy it the most bc it's how i can shift the tone in my stories, from dramatic yelling to humorous jokes and sarcasm. i feel like exposition and plot doesn't help as much to get tone across. and jumping back to humor, well, that's my favorite thing to add to my fics, and because i don't often write stories with a lot of inner monologues, the humor is all in the dialogue, so i get to really have a lot of fun with it, especially when they're playful exchanges between two characters.
OH i almost forgot that dialogue helps me establish/explore character personalities too. yeah, basically dialogue gives me a LOT of freedom in my stories so that's why i like it best.
If you could only write angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your life, which would it be?
FLUFF. fluff for sure. it's what i most enjoy writing because it makes me happy and it makes my readers happy and that's the best sort of feeling to get to share with another person, right?
angst always makes me too sad that i always have to throw in a happy, fluffy ending to make myself feel better, and smut i've only been writing for like a year or so and i STILL lack confidence in it. and it makes me uncomfortable sometimes? bc i just feel squicky going into too much detail and i worry that those sort of fics from me tend to get repetitive after a while, so, yeah. i mean, so can the fluff, but i can at least set those apart from one another with varying dialogue and character personalities and stuff. smut doesn't allow for a whole lot of dialogue unless there's a plot involved, but still, smutty scenes themselves are all action and almost no dialogue, so i don't care for them.
(sorry if you weren't looking for a long-winded answer but you got one lol.)
What is your most underrated fic?
can i make a list? 'cause i can think of a couple.
first i'll say my smutty adam brody/zac levi rpf. like i know people have a lot of issue with rpf now but it's sort of where i got my start with fic so i enjoy it a lot, and i'm actually really proud of this one bc it's got a lot of description and inner monologue while still being hot and smutty. and i also managed to make such a nice piece of work based on some silly commentary in the shazam discord about zac's obsession with taking videos of the sunset in his backyard. (ugh, i really miss the creativity i had last summer.)
not to list more rpf but while i was deep in my love for jersey boys, i wrote some fic about the actors and i had this implied poly movie cast fic for vincent's birthday a few years ago and again, i really admire what i did with it, description and dialogue and such, and i honestly still enjoy going back and rereading it. it's a fic that was written so long ago that i can almost enjoy as purely a reader, though i know i enjoyed it as a writer too when i first put it together.
okay so i originally planned to include some actual, non-rp fic on here but it turns out the ones i thought were underrated actually had impressive numbers of hits and kudos, SO my last one is another rpf, this time from my fic blog. also ironically more dceu rpf - can you tell what my biggest interests are here, in terms of fandoms? lol. i have a REALLY soff spot for ben/henry bc that bvs press tour was some god tier shit, okay? i didn't even watch the movie till late 2016 but i probably fell in love with the ship way before that from the press tour. joking about doing porn together, being super touchy-feely, all while ben was in the midst of his divorce with jen, yet he always lit up around henry... i can't not love them. i missed the height of the shipping, though, and tried to make up for it with a soft fic about them set around the release of justice league. because sadly that press tour gave us little benry, always keeping henry alone in his interviews bc supes is dead, or having them sat behind one another for group interviews. ugh. the premiere gave us sweet pics of them together, though, so that's where the fic comes in. it was my first time writing for them and i enjoyed it a lot. surprisingly minimal dialogue but it still manages to flow well, and i had to slip in some humor with a batman reference. ending with the two men being giggly and in love is like the icing on this sweet, sweet little cake.
(hopefully things'll go back to normal next year so we can get a little zack snyder's justice league press tour and ben and henry can be reunited. i mean, they gotta break up the team by trinity and newbies, right? it's only fair.)
#wirypsychiatrist#replies#this is the latest i've stayed up all of quarantine so i'm gonna head off to bed now#if i get more asks i will answer them tomorrow (er... later)
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Tag game
Well thank you @weallfloatdownhere
Nicknames? Jilleke and euh my best friend used to call me pedobeertje 😅 Gender? Female Star sign? Leo Height? 1m60 Time? 2.21am I should sleep but I'm not able.. Birthday? 23/07/1998 Favorite bands? Bring Me The Horizon,Of Mice And Men, Sleeping With Sirens, Pvris, Architects, A Day To Remember, Rise Against, Stick To Your Guns, Linkin Park, Crown The Empire, In Hearts Wake, Machine Gun Kelly, Ocean Ate Alaska, Motionless In White, Our Last Night, Parkway Drive, ... and so on 😋 Favorite solo artist? SayWeCanFly Song stuck in my head right now? 1-800-273-8255 by Logic Last movie watched? I don't really watch movies that much but I think it was Death Note (which absolutely sucked, go watch the anime kids) Last show watched? Orphan Black When did I create my blog? Euhm hard to remember correctly but I think around 2/3 years ago when I was in a very bad place What do I post? Everything I either relate to, want to relate to or just is like cute or beautiful. Basically I just reblog about everything I come across of. Last thing I Googled? Vegimite 😅 long story short I was looking for the name bc I wanted to ask the Australian kid in my kot how it is but I couldn't remember it so I looked it up. Do you have other blogs? I do have one that I started a few years before this one but I don't really use it anymore. Do you get asks? None and if I do they are about sex. So nice anons, you are always welcome! Why did you choose your url? Well idk really, my friends always where like yow your music sounds so satanic blah blah blah. And I see my music as a friend since it helps me trough a lot and bc I want to be that friend to other people I kinda based it on that. Following? 644 Favorite colours? Blue but green but black damn. Average hours of sleep? A good night would be around 6/7 but my average lies around 4 to 5 hours if I'm lucky enough to fall asleep and not wake up every now and then. Lucky number? 3 Instruments? I play the guitar buuuuut I can't really play it since jingle bells doesn't really qualify as a master degree 😂 I can play some songs th but not that many. What am I wearing? Boxers and yeah I'm serious, batman socks. How many blankets do I sleep with? 2, I have my normal blanket but at the end there's another one. Dream job? Forensics pathologist but since medschool doesn't work for me I decided to do law with criminology. But I'm not sure in what direction I wanna go with that. Favorite food? Defiantly pasta and Japanese food Nationality? Belgian Favorite song now? Pvris - Separate I tag @hannelore-v 😘
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