#but it was also . such a weird situation and my lil anxious mind was like well at least he knows i wasnt fucking lying !

[1eeminho]

story time with sari 😀

[thechillsquid]

Hillbilly stuff- Blind Eyes

I feel like Fiddleford, being the shortest of the trouble trio, just like… clambers on the other two sometimes, like a chipmunk.

Like his mind is still all there (well for the most part) and he’s an acedmic damnnit, but also, at his core he’s a fucking anxious lil fuck

So like???? You got two people that can hold your weight and sometimes being close isn’t close enough, so just… climb them. Climb the boyfriend and sorta boyfriend. Which totally creates absolutely hilarious images in my head of the kids coming downstairs for breakfast and fucking Stan’s just got Fidds kinda like piggyback on him, resting his elbows on Stan’s head and just watching the food being made.

And like, Bill is a fucking idiot and pops out randomly so there’s not very much that could jumpscare these two so they just act like this is a normal thing because well, yeah! It is a normal thing

Fidds can totally hog tie a man, but he also is a like a much smaller guy compared to the other two so… he’s like, like a terrier. Yeah like a terrier

Like can absolutely fuck shit up if given the opportunity but it’s easy to kinda like overlook that when hes the shortest of the bunch next to fucking lanky ass Bill and the unit that is Stan (when his back doesn’t give him problems I suppose)

Also Fidds probably has gotten pretty damn used to Bill getting stuck in weird places and just… clambers up after him. Like. A chipmunk. That’s just his spirit animal yall, chipmunk energy

And like post-Ford getting back? IM WHEEEZING at the fucking LOOKS he’s giving the other three, cause oh he’s hating every second that Bills around and the dude basically just sleeps in the trees outside the shack for a good while while Fidds and Stan are weirdly domestic and just oh it’ll be interesting!

Espically Bill and Ford interacting again cause Bill is just… much different than he remembers and casually Bill used the portal opening situation to slip out the nightmare realm into earths and instead of burning the town down he’s just… there

But like, in a physical form sorta, though he mostly just kinda keeps doing what he’s been doing since he got a hold of the shapeshifters corpse to posses, just shapeshifting into what’s convinent and having fun having an actual form; like dudes also lowkey so clingy and has to fucking restrain himself from pushing shit with Ford cause he does not want these efforts going to waste but ‘cmon Fordsey I’m a changed triangle’ and it’s like that ain’t cutting it you lil bitch boi you gotta grovel for Ford to even give you a sideways glance and oh he’s going TO HATE IT

HA

[ticklygiggles]

Day 1 - Ginny's Birthday Extravaganza

A/N: We have Victuuri for the first drabble/lil fic from Ginny's week! I hope you enjoy this baby! I love you very much!

Summary: Yuuri feels insecure during the off-season because certain boyfriend of his is acting weird!

Yuuri hated himself. Oh, he despised himself. Loathed himself. He knew very well how fast he gained weight during off season and he was never really bothered by it, yes it was a hassle to get back in shape, but with Minako-sensei’s help and his own determination, he could easily do it.

He never really didn’t mind gaining weight… until he started dating Victor. 

Victor, not only his new coach, but also his lover, knew about Yuuri’s little trait during the off-season. He has seen it after coming to Japan from Russia for the first time; he had helped Yuuri lose weight himself, so Yuuri never thought that Victor would actually feel troubled towards him for getting softer, until he started to notice the changes. 

They were hard to see, honestly, but Yuuri was an anxious person, self-conscious, and an overthinker, so any change, especially related to Victor, could be easily noticed by him in a second. First, he started to notice how Victor looked at him less, barely meeting eyes when they spoke to each other, let alone having his eyes checking him out like he usually caught him doing. Then, he noticed how Victor started to touch him less: the hands on his waist, thighs and hips were all gone, if he was lucky he would get a gentle squeeze to his shoulder, but even during bedtime, Victor wouldn’t hold him tight against him like every other night.

This situation was eating Yuuri alive. He was restless. Kept awake at night and felt extremely shy around Victor, almost scared of being in his sight. He did notice Victor talked to him as always, bright and vibrant, but Yuuri just couldn’t brush off those anxious thoughts filling his mind due to Victor’s behavior towards him. 

He could lose weight if that was what Victor wanted, but could he, at least, treat him like he normally would? Could he be gentle and sweet and loving towards him? Did he find Yuuri that gross? He wanted to know, he died to know so he was just mildly surprised when certain words suddenly burst out one day:

“Victor, do you hate me?” Yuuri asked one afternoon, standing right in front of Victor as the russian sat on the couch, watching a movie. 

Victor’s eyes widened widely and he was quick to hold Yuuri’s hands between his and something jumped warmly inside Yuuri’s chest. 

“Why do you ask me so, Yuuri?!” Victor said, almost breathless. “How could I possibly hate you?! What do you mean?”

Something akin to relief spread across Yuuri’s chest, but if Victor didn’t actually hate him, then why was he acting so strangely now? 

“Because… I gained weight,” Yuuri said in a shy whisper, avoiding looking at Victor’s eyes as he felt his cheeks getting warm. “You… are distant. Perhaps you hate me because I look like this now?”

Victor blinked, staring at Yuuri with a tumult of emotions before he started to laugh. Yuuri raised his face to look at him with wide eyes, the blush on his cheeks deepening. Was Victor laughing at him? Was he really-

“Oh, my Yuuri,” Victor said, cleaning a single tear from the bottom of his eye with the back of his hand. “How could I hate you for that? On the contrary,” he said, his cheeks also turning pink. “I would say... you’ve bewitched me even more so with this new version of yourself.”

“W-What do you mean?”

Victor gently placed Yuuri’s hands over his cheeks and Yuuri flinched slightly when Victor looked up at him with tenderness in his eyes. 

“Yuuri, you really do not know what you do to me, do you?” Victor asked dreamily, looking at Yuuri. “You look exceptionally adorable, cute, irresistible, with your off-season body,” he said, letting go of Yuuri’s hands. 

“Haah!” Yuuri gasped when Victor’s cold hands sneaked under his shirt and gently grabbed his plump waist. 

“I can’t take my eyes off you for a second, Yuuri, but when I notice you looking my way, I quickly turn around,” Victor explained, giving Yuuri’s waist a tender squeeze that had him gasping and squirming slightly. “My fingers itch to touch you, my beautiful Yuuri, but I was scared you’d feel uncomfortable somehow… perhaps I shouldn’t make assumptions and simply ask you, hmm?”

“You are right,” Yuuri said, feeling true relief rushing through him. “I thought… you were grossed out by me.”

Victor smiled, letting go of Yuuri’s waist to grab the hem of his shirt to stick his head right under. Yuuri flushed to his neck, gasping Victor’s name.

“Did I make my sweet Yuuri feel insecure?” Victor asked, his lips pressing a tender kiss to Yuuri’s warm tummy, making him shiver. “I’m so sorry. I am the worst, Yuuri. I truly am. You are gorgeous.” Another kiss had Yuuri lurching his hips back, his hands moving to hold Victor’s shoulders. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, I love you so much, there are not enough words to express my love to you.”

Yuuri felt the corners of his lips trembling as he felt Victor’s lips brushing his navel. “A-Ah, Victor! That… t-tihickles!”

Victor chuckled under his shirt. “You are so sensitive, Yuuri. Is your tummy more ticklish like this?”

“W-What? N-No, it’s- ahahaha! N-Not tihihicklihihing!

“I’m not tickling you, Yuuri,” Victor said and Yuuri could hear his big smile. “I’m just kissing you, Yuuri. Mwha, mwha, mmmmmhwa!”

Yuuri doubled over, laughing brightly as Victor placed kisses all over the soft skin of his stomach, blowing a raspberry here and nibbling there. He tried to push Victor out from under his shirt, but his lover had started squeezing his waist and Yuuri’s knees went weak. Victor quickly pushed him down onto the couch. 

“Will my Yuuri forgive me? I’m truly sorry, Yuuri,” Victor said and Yuuri could hear the sincerity of his words, but he could also feel those nimble fingers tickling his tummy and sides and waist, making him laugh loudly. 

“Vihihityahaha!” Yuuri laughed, squirming and trying to catch Victor’s hands. “Plehehease! 

"Yuuri, I am so crazy about this body of yours, but this spot," he said, grabbing Yuuri's hips. "I wanted to touch it the most." 

Yuuri shrieked, throwing his head back with nearly hysterical laughter as his legs kicked and his body arched and jerked around. Victor was pinching his hips, vibrating his fingertips against the warm skin.

"Nohohot thehehere! PLEHEHEASE!" Yuuri cried with laughter, hands latching to Victor's wrists; tears of mirth clinging to his long lashes as he weakly tried to push Victor’s hands away. 

The tickling stopped right away and Yuuri shrieked, tensing right up thinking that Victor would attack somewhere else, but he was surprised to feel warm lips pressing to his smiling mouth, kissing him chastely. Breathlessly and never capable of resisting Victor’s kisses, he tried to kiss him back, shaky hands cupping Victor’s face. 

“I love you, Yuuri,” Victor whispered against his lips. “I love however you look. Please don't ever doubt my love for you, Yuuri. I'm sorry."

Yuuri's eyes were filled with tears and the most adorable pout adorned his lips. 

"Ouch!" Victor said, hissing when the slap Yuuri gave him in the shoulder started to burn. "I- I deserve it, yes."

"You do!" Yuuri sobbed, closing one of his eyes when Victor's thumb cleaned his tears. "I thought you didn't-

"I know. I am sorry, Yuuri… You're so breathtakingly beautiful, I hope you know."

Yuuri pouted more, but he nodded, holding tightly onto Victor. "I love you."

"Me too, my lovely katsudon."

[grubus]

i've been following syonr for quite some time now (read: caught up and religiously check updates on mondays) and i actually don't remember if i ever left a comment or just repeated the words in my head enough times i forgot to say them. which is a shame, because you deserve many many warm words for the world you created.

the way you pace the story is SOO good. every arc has delicious hurt/comfort, just enough tension to make you sit on the edge of your seat and the characters???? can we just talk about how your characterization is THE characterization in this fandom? every single character is fleshed out and has a role, they! are! written! with! LOVE! and i love them with all my heart.

i think you were the one who made mu qingfang my comfort character. i really liked him, but you just planted him straight into my soul. he's my pookie now. the best man. should be in every fic for real. you can guess how much i loved when sy lived with him and i adore every scene with him. just thinking about it fill me with warmth. also i generally headcanon mqf as aroace, but here??? yes, he and wqw are a perfect match. no one does it like them ❣️

i have this weird thing where i can't fully imagine what i'm reading and it's like i don't see stuff in my head but more like i sense it? feel it? sometimes i read a fic and it's beautifully written, but i feel uncomfortable just because it feels tight and grimy even if the story itself is light.

but syonr feels spacious, like i can breath fully and what i imagine matches with what is actually happening in the scene. i might be anxious out of my mind but i still enjoy every bit of it. the places you describe fit perfectly into the story. that is to say, my favourite/comfort scenes are bright and sunny :D

i'm not gonna lie i enjoy sy whump. this guy can be in so many Situations and i'm here for it.

and i ADORE bingyuan. they are so sweet and cute and SAFE for each other. it's really interesting how their opinion on sqq changed bc they have each other. sy needing security and validation and binghe's cold disdain.

there actually should be like 10 hours video essay on every syonr character ii i- cant they are wonderful.

nyy my beloved treasured girl. you asked "who's going to make her shine?" and didn't wait for an answer. and shine she does!!!!!!! 🌟

wqw is a charming man, if he was an anime character i imagine him having a huuuuuge fanbase. he's just silly and hot like that.

off the top of my head lady jia's arc was the first one that made me go OH MY FUCKINGGGG GODDDD I'M SCARED AND IT'S ALSO SO COOL AND EXPLAINS SO MUCH AND AND AUGGGHJJHGGHJHJH!!! i just remember this anxiety so well it was great

the demon invasion is one of the arcs i've reread a few times. it's just... perfect. one might even say... you COOKED! i love it.

anyway. thank you for sharing with us your amazing story. it doesn't matter how much time you take to write an update or if you decide you don't wan't to write it anymore, because it already exists in our hearts. ...sometimes i want fics to never ever end at all, even if they are simply left unfinished.

and thank you for brightening my days : ) every new chapter make me squeak and do a happy little dance.

i wish you well 🌼💓

anon. I am crying a lil bit, thank you.

I almost didn't reply to this simply because I wanted to keep it safe in my inbox. I've since taken a screenshot onto my phone and also onto my pc. I've. Saved this comment in a few different places.

I just

;A;

ok ok imma. imma pull myself together and give every word the attention it deserves. *sniffles* I'm not the best at replying to comments in general, because I don't know how to accurately relay how much they mean to me. but. let's do this.

I'm so, so happy to hear all this.

syonr is definitely a love project at this point, for myself and aimed at svsss and also just storytelling in general. As someone who used to only write oneshots or shortfics, it's so fun to really, truly linger and dwell in this story as I explore it. It's freeing in a way that writing hasn't been for me in many years. And I'm so, so happy you think so too. Describing it as "spacious" is a compliment I didn't know I needed, and I love it.

MQF has been fun to explore, because he's a soft but firm character. The one in charge of keeping his sect siblings in some kind of good health- which is of course very difficult because cultivators are insane and they become more nuts the more powerful they are- and then I have had a fun time having him just. Being around SY as SY struggled with basically everything. I've also been delighted to figure out how to write WQW, as he barely says anything in canon, and I'm so happy you also agree he's a hottie. RIP to SY, but I will highfive MQF for getting the hottest man in his generation as his boyfriend. It is very funny to me that they're probably the healthiest relationship in syonr of all time, even as they keep giving SY jumpscares of the gay kind.

I also enjoy SY whump. This, uh, this might be obvious, considering what he has gone through so far. *looks at him* I planned the demon invasion for so long. Fucking up his hands was The Plan all along. Fucking up his self-esteem and confidence was also it. WHUMP!!!

But of course, angst and whump can only truly hit if you line it with fluff. BingYuan is fun to explore in this setting. I like having them be same age and all that comes with it. So much can change in a story if you just swap some things around! They're soft and gooey and idiots <3

When I first decided to let NYY play a bigger part in the story, I was nervous. Canon barely gives her anything, fanon goes in two very different directions with her and neither felt right. She's spoiled and sheltered, but always well-meaning, and I wanted very much to explore writing her in all her oblivious glory while also letting her be Pure Distilled Teenage Girl trying to figure herself out. I'm always, always so happy when people tell me they love her in syonr. It's very rewarding. Not letting her be part of the story was just not possible, either! I'm just glad people appreciate her so much.

Lady Jia... hehehehe :D she always seems to strike a nerve, as intended. And it was so much fun reading the comments for that arc, everyone trying to figure out wtf was happening! Very proud of it to this day.

Part of the thing I love writing in syonr is, indeed, relationships. I mean the entire fic is kind of a love letter to it, both bad and good. It's part of why there's different povs. SQQ's pov and SY's pov are both extremely unreliable when it comes to others, as are anyone else's. I don't think there's a single character in svsss that I dislike, which is also why it's so fun to figure out how other characters think about each other. YQY and SQQ has completely different views of SY, and we all know Binghe's pov is 99% Loving On SY.

I just. You truly made my day today, thank you so much. syonr is one of those stories I'm having fun exploring, a story I look forward to finishing but I'm in no hurry to do so. And also, I suspect, a story I will struggle to not write oneshots for once it's over. (or even before that. I do have plans for a MQF/WQW fic set in it...)

Thank you again, anon. I adore you <3

[xxxg0ryygurlll13xxx]

i have such a love hate relationship w loser virgin anime (an essay basically)

preface: i have my own opinions and so do u

WHY R THE PLOTS USUALLY SO GOOD BUT SO SHITTILY EXECUTED?? like the plots seem great but 5 mins into the first ep suddenly u get flashed by a high school girl.

like don’t toy w me miss nagatoro the plot sounded decent and maybe interesting BUT NAGATORO IS 14 SHES YOUNGER THAN ME AND THE SHOW HAS SUCH WEIRD SEX SHENANIGANS. the animation is cool the opening is great but the show is so creepy and deviant. Naoto is slightly relatable by being a socially anxious artist like myself but jesus fucking christ i cant get past Nagatoro. the slice of life aspect is decent it’s the average formula of slice of life but the will they won’t they trope is a lil long

of course there’s worse anime’s with weirder high school fanservice, for fucks sake high school dxd exist, don’t toy w me miss nagatoro was the first one to come to mind and a great example of this weird high school slice of life perversion.

now ofc the reason for all this is cause i’m not the target audience. i’m a teenage girl who likes anime the opposite of who these r made for. they’re made for teenage or adult men who don’t go outside and have never felt the touch of a woman in their whole entire life. which is also why most of the time the men in these shows are almost always the same cardboard cutout characters w little to no development.

so why do i watch? CAUSE I LIKE SLICE OF LIFE. I LIKE RELATABLE CONTENT. i like rom-coms i’m a sucker for romance and easy to watch shows and i like anime and have for a long time and i would love it if I DIDNT HAVE TO DEAL W GIRLS MY AGE CONSTANTLY IN PROVACATIVE SITUATIONS.

now i could go on and on and on abt the sexualization of minors and teens in anime esp women and girls but i’ll end it here asking pls for any recommendations of cute rom com and/or slice of life animes that either have adults or aren’t literally watered down hentai of teenage girls

[pollenallergie]

billy billy billy billy....how does he hold hands? i know thats such a like weird question but does he tangle his fingers with yours? does he hold one of your hands in both of his? is he overhand? underhand? are his hands sweaty? do you hold them anyways??? can u tell the brainrot is beginning

it may be a weird question, but it’s also the BEST question.

OKAYYY

so, i think it depends on the circumstances how he’s holding your hand, so let’s tackle the obvious first:

his hands are a little clammy, but not necessarily sweaty… mostly because his hands have never ever in his whole live been warm enough for his palms to be truly sweety. @eddies-hid3out told me once that billy probably has poor circulation so he’s always a lil chilly and his hands and feet are like icicles, and i firmly believe that to be true. the man is cold all the time. he is in need of hugs and warm tea and wool jumpers all the time. without his daily 10+ cuppas, the man just wouldn’t survive. the amount of earl grey he goes through in the span of a week is both impressive and concerning.

but obviously you hold them anyways even if they’re clammy!!! because the poor lad needs to warm up and you’ve made yourself his living handwarmer, that’s one of the unspoken requirements of being in love with him… you will make it your personal responsibility to keep him warm and cosy. he always goes on and on about how you don’t have to worry about him and how you do too much for him, but honestly? he can (respectfully) shut up about all that, because the man deserves to be pampered and well taken care of!!!

in public, like when you’re walking places together, i think billy’s mostly a finger-weaver. it’s more practical for those occasions and it gives him something to hold onto, something to tether himself to when he gets particularly anxious about being in public… it also gives you something to tether yourself to when you get anxious about being in public, which makes billy favour that sort of hand-holding even more in those situations.

however, in more intimate, private settings (at home, huddled up in a quiet corner in a bookstore, sat a quaint little table in a mostly empty café, etc.), billy’ll be holding one (if not both) of your hands in both of his own, cradling it/them as if it/they were the most precious, lovely thing(s) in the whole world (to him, they are). he’s holding both of your hands, cradling them gently within his own and pressing warm, chaste lil kisses to your knuckles while he listens attentively to you as you talk to him about any and everything that comes to mind. if billy’s feeling particularly affection-starved, he’ll forsake the hand-holding in favour of bringing your hands, gently held by his own, up to cradle his rosy cheeks, and the minute he feels your warm palms on his cheeks, he’s nuzzling into your touch like a greedy lil housecat who’s luxuriating in the pets it’s owner gives it.

bestie i am sooo soooo immensely glad that the billy knight brain rot has infected you too!!! obsessing over billiam is my favourite hobby of all time and the more people i can share that with (aka the more people i can relentlessly spam with my thoughts), the better. <3

[retaurd]

So sorry if this is an annoying or repetitive question, but I’m in a similar family situation and I was curious if you experience maternal feelings toward your brother? Or if the knowledge that he is your brother and not your son is enough to stave this off? I’ve read accounts from surrogates where they develop a maternal attachment during pregnancy that makes the handoff of the baby really difficult. Was it easier since you’re not really being separated from your brother after birth? Again I’m sorry if this is something you’re tired of explaining, one of your posts about it floated across my dash and scrolling your blog for a while I haven’t seen any posts about it that could answer my questions without directly asking. Have a good one

hi! happy to answer, especially if it helps you in some way

to clarify, just in case: what i did isnt considered a surrogacy, but a gestational carry, because my own eggs were not used in any way. surrogacy, from my understanding now (because i had no idea there was a difference or that surrogacy entailed horrors when i started this ~1.5yr ago) is when a woman gives her own genetic material in the creation of the child, carries it, then the child is removed from her and raised by someone else. what i did was have a lil test tube guy, a week old fetus basically, implanted into me, a fetus that belongs(ed? he ain't a fetus no more) to my parents. all i did was help my mom out with gestating him. basically.

anyway to answer you: i've had a heavy hand in raising all of my siblings since i was about 12 years old so i think i have a weird relationship with maternalist feelings but i'll do my best to answer as clearly as i can because for me those waters are a bit muddied. for me the most clearly maternal i felt was immediately post-birth and i will explain. the entire time i was pregnant i was fine, i had a wonderful peaceful easy pregnancy (im pretty sure comparably, aside from a couple gallbladder attacks) without much stress or anxiety mostly, but the minute i saw him, and specifically saw other people, medical professionals, touching him, i got extremely emotional like rapturously overjoyed and then also extremely anxious. they had to take him a few times for a few tests, some examinations, a bath, et c., and i remember getting overwhelmingly anxious and upset that he was apart from me and that they could possibly hurt him because a lot of them are dumb as fuck but that's a separate grievance for another time

im lucky in that i have him half of the time, im with him during the night and early day and my mom is very very freely giving with him and i am as much involved as she and my dad are, just like with my other siblings. the first night i was home he was with my mom and i couldn't sleep just weepy and wondering what he was doing. literally. wondering what a newborn was doing lol. but after a few days for me this wore off as my hormones settled and my anxiety and worry relaxed about him getting hurt, that was a constant fear for the first like 4 or 5 days for me. sleeping helped my body and mind return to normalcy, i had a c-section so i am still recovering from that and my physical inability at the time also had something to do with my fears i think, i had this sense of inadequacy that i would fail him and being physically vulnerable didn't help

overall now, im fine i think. ask me again in a couple months though, who knows about then. i definitely get all the time with him i want or need. my mom from the beginning has been discussing the possible difficulty with me and i think ive organized things mentally well enough. i never thought of him as anything but my brother so i think that helped as well, i think if i wouldve basically poisoned myself into considering him to be my child it would've made things a million times harder as well as that being biologically untrue.

my parents trusted me to do this extremely important thing for them because i volunteered several times over the course of years and have worked to prove my responsibility to them. so it really felt like an act of love for me, i love them, i love my other siblings, i love the baby, i love everyone. all i wanted was to give more. and from the beginning my parents told me this isn't just their baby, it's 'our' baby, as in my whole family. thinking about it that way helped me too.

i hope this helped. i was very scared at some points and very nervous or fearful but nothing was ever as bad as i thought and i was never presented with anything i couldnt handle. please if you need or want to, come off anon and talk to me. im here for you if you need it, even if it is still anonymous but we are able to talk privately and i can do whatever i can to help, i'd be more than happy to. thank you for coming to me, i hope with all my heart that you're okay and your family too

[hellodolleyes]

I feel like ranting about stuff so I'm gonna do that-

I've been working on my story Ashes and the story follows the perspectives of three main characters being Korvin, Tallow, and Julien.

Korvin and Tallows perspectives mostly explore the larger plot whereas Julien's is more on the slice of life end. His perspective is essentially one I explore with my friends and their own characters so there's a lot of shenanigans going on within his story lol.

Korvin

Korvin is, from an outside perspective, a normal dude that doesn't have much going on for himself. As Cyril (a character related to Julien's perspective) might say "he's the most infuriatingly average person I have ever met".

Cyril would be right as an outsider looking in (also Cyril just plain hates Korvin with no real reason other than the fact that he can't read Korvin like he can with others), it's not like Korvin makes an effort to look interesting to people though.

His perspective mostly follows what he doesn't show to others, and it gets really dark at points with serious topics about mental health and illnesses. Korvin struggles heavily with depression and bi-polar disorder with paranoid tendencies.

Which is why when he first meets Mori he isn't sure whether it's because he's having a weird episode or if the little purple guy is actually real.

Mori is a Bensu, and a supporting character that has his own struggles. A main one in terms of communication is that he doesn't speak any english at first. I mostly use Mori as a bridge character, one of a few to introduce the other perspectives to a hidden world lost on humanity.

Korvin's perspective is one of a struggle to push on even when the world feels like it's weighing him down and keeping him down. And he doesn't feel like he has the right to feel depressed because in his mind there are others who have suffered worse, therefore he struggles in any strides to get better because all he wants to do is ignore his mental state.

Tallow

Tallow is a borrower.. Or well, he's a Bensu that was adopted by a borrower couple and raised as one. He has his mother, father, and two sisters, and he cherishes them all deeply.

However Tallow struggles with feeling like an outcast despite all of the love and support he receives from his family. Being built so different from his borrower folks, he has been left all his life to wonder about himself but gets no answers to his questions because his family, bless them, they don't know what he is and can't give him the knowledge he so desperately wants.

For a time when he was growing up he despised his differences, although now that he's older he's come to begrudgingly accept that he is the way he is. It doesn't stop him from wishing he could just be "normal".

Throughout his perspective it explores his relationship with his family and especially his sister Kimber. And it inevitably leads to a story of self discovery, and especially excitement when he inevitably meets another one of his kind.

I should mention that Tallow, Korvin, and Julien live under the same roof with the exception of Tallow living in the walls with his family. So it would come to no one's surprise that he would inevitably meet Mori, but the situation is actually coincidental in nature.

By that point Mori still doesn't know much english other than the few phrases he's learned from Korb, so Tallow can't immediately bombard the poor anxious lil guy with questions like he might want to.

Julien

Julien's perspective is a little more complicated. as I've stated I mostly use him to play around with friends and the characters they've developed in support of my odd little story. Although Cyril (@cuttlealert 's) and June (@sodaspoppers 's) have a bit more of a complicated history as characters other than being apart of Ashes, I've come to love them and the dynamic they make with Julien in his more slice of life extension to the story.

To summarize Julien's perspective, it's a story about people bonding over their past traumas and moving forward to a healthier path in life. Julien and Cyril learning that they are half brothers that grew up in surprisingly similar situations of abuse. Meanwhile there's June who seemingly appeared put of nowhere, breaking into Julien and Korvin's kitchen to sit on the counter and eat cheerios.. That was an interesting night.

June is a little blue goblin, or a Nocscizu (Nu-ze-zu) who is suffering from memory loss and they are missing brain cells in all the right ways. Julien unofficially adopts them and when Korvin inevitably finds out about June the temporary chaos is glorious.

Cyril is a genius, but he's incredibly antisocial and lacking in empathy due to his upbringing. He's shut himself off from the world and is only now opening up to it with Julien being someone be can finally lean on in life (literally, 6'4" beanpole lookin ass xD).

Julien himself has found that he enjoys being a supportive person, and although he can come off as abrasive at times, he's all in all just a good guy looking to better himself after a bad streak throughout his highschool career. As with Cyril, Julien also found himself in an awful situation growing up, but he leaned more towards anger and violence to cope. He doesn't condone his past actions and actively seeks anger management and therapy.

There are even more characters relating to Julien's perspective, such as Autumn, Olive Owly, Rusty Spurr with his daughter, and Pierce- But the focus is more on the dynamic between Julien, Cyril, and June.

I love this perspective because its far more light hearted than the actual plot of the story and it makes for a good break between the more serious tones I intend to portray. Julien's perspective is just plainly people who are finding acceptance of their past and deserve the life and love they've found in one another. Korvin and Tallow included, even though their perspectives in story don't intertwine with Julien's often.

Conclusion

I just wanted to rant and I hope you've found some interest in my info dumping :)

[c03xistentw01]

ight i have a lot on my mind i gotta write it all up real good real fast before i forget.

last night i went to some random ass town called Gorizia on the border with slovania for work. The whole region was so slovanian that even in the market where we worked the signs and shit they were all bilingual in italian and slovanian.

slovanian lowkey gives off turkish vibes.

not so many of us came from padova so we just hoped on a black van and left. the driver who gave off strong leonardo vibes was playing twenty one pilots for the good portion of the time. i liked him kinda. i was lowkey admiring his long neck the entire time of the trip when i was sitting behind him liKE A FUCKING PERV YES IKR.

i didn't get to have much convo with him. i actually got none. except for the time when after legit 6 hours of work in the market he saw me and was like "lets go lets go lets go" without even looking at me for a sec thinking well since I'm speaking english the lil bitch is supposed to I'm talking to her ight?

there was this other guy from pd who i legit got to have a convo in italian with which felt nice and ... weird? cuz I'm never mentally prepared to speak italian?

and oh my god I'll never forget 'Vlad'. My team leader there.

he would see me across the hall miles away and shout my name "Paaaaaaaria" with theatrical eye rollings. And then see my work and be like "Maaaaarvelous. If you ever need any assistance (except for of course boyfriend material stuff) just call me. I'm used to be called with any consonant".

he once moved some stuff which made a loud noise i looked at him he was like im sorry i didnt mean to be this much dramatic *followed by yet another theatrical eye roll".

basta. when i got home and to my bed i was so tired i couldn't even sleep. i woke up at 11 am tho. went to mensa. got anxious. felt short (about that i was walking in portello some other day with hilal when a tall girl was walking towards us with her friend i heard her say "bassa" looking at me and the other "si sente" and looking down.

yes.

ladies and gentlemen. this happened. people are mean dead-inside assholes. They say whatever shit they want, making more space in your mind to wonder whether other people have always thought the same but never mentioned it.

although the pain the bitch inflicted was soon oddly compensated when hilal said "but girl you are average".

later that night when we were already drunk we decided to go to hilal's house and get more booze on the way because why not and also because hilal left italy to turkey on the following day.

we got there got more drunk. ade joined. we got high. I started speaking italian ade was like wtf you're at least B1.

before that hilal was talking about berfin and sometimes i get this feeling when other people are opening up to me deeply that okay but why do i not do that with them? like why do i find it so freaking difficult to open up about something that happened to me and was way more brutal but there my friends. is exactly where you start losing friends. so you keep your mouth shut.

but anyway. that night i realized it's different with hilal. when she opens up mi sento piu leggere invece.

i saw fatima today at mensa after a longass time cuz she was in cividale and i was just ... busy surviving the shitwave of shit of which I've had nothing but recently. She told me about this weirdass roomie of her who according to her has been hacked by some creepy dude for the past 12 fucking years. the dude even deleted his thesis and stuff. Fatima said i even once asked her to share her internet with me through hotspot and she was like no this is how my sister got hacked as well i dont recommend u do the same. i mean the whole fucking situation is so fucking creepily stupid we all dont know whether to feel pity whether to laugh cuz shit looks so fucking um .... surreal? or to call the police asap cuz i mean cmon.

[skunked-up-kicks]

Omg... same... I don't remember my first reaction to that kevin-andrew staring line, but like for example, it took me a while to get why Nicky warned Neil not to look too much at Kevin. And when people interpret things sexually/romantically in the fandom I'm definitely surprised, like the cigarette pack in Andrew's back pocket turned into staring at his ass etc. I did find stuff like Andrew brushing Neil's back more telling, but I didn't read every moment from a sexual attraction lense u know

I don't know if my last ask made sense but basically same sometimes im like "oh you guys think this line is about attraction. ok. i didn't know that" i feel like i learnt to see the romance/attraction in most of it bc i remember i felt like neil for the longest time -- i didn't see the signs of 'attraction' a lot of the time, though i did see more blatant flirting

lil disclaimer thingy: i understand everyone reads book differently and is coming from different perspectives, and i'm not intending to shame anyone or anything, just wanna talk about my experience reading aftg.

so, if i'm being honest... i do genuinely find it so baffling that people read certain scenes (mainly book 1 scenes) as sexual. like you mentioned the infamous 'neil sussed the twins out by which one had a cigarette packet in their back pocket' scene that people have turned into 'neil was ogling andrew's ass'. which.. neil is a respectful king and would never, okay? i hate when ppl make him into a fucking creep :// but also it's a good example of an early moment in the series that showed how observant and clever neil could be so it also makes me sad that the moment got stripped of that in favour of it being sexual :(

anyway, besides sexual clearly not being how it's intended to be read, it's also weird to me because like... my mind was not at all in the place to be reading scenes as sexual when i first read that scene.

we've just been introduced to neil not that long ago, and he's been presented to us as a traumatized teenager who's been squatting in his highschool's gym locker room, seems to have a nicotine addiction, is really anxious, has seen his mum die, and i'm also pretty sure there's lines about how lonely neil is and about how much he's grieving his mum. not that long before the cigarette-in-back-pocket scene doesn't neil have a moment at the window where he thinks "one of us has to make it mum"??

what i'm very poorly trying to explain is that, at least when i first read the books, i was really attached to neil early on and more importantly i was really protective of him. cause he's a child really... and a very hurt and distressed one at that, who's in a new and clearly unsafe environment. andrew's group is not presented in a good light early on, so i was rightfully suspicious and untrusting of them. how people can be given a character like neil in a situation like that and be playing matchmaker almost immediately is... yeah.

like... my mind wasn't in the place to be going "oooo neil thinks one of them has a nice ass!!🥴🥴"... LIKE? the scenes before certainly aren't set up in a way that's leading you down that train of thought...

it's the same as the scene where neil puts andrew's hand under his shirt, people talked about seeing that as sexual too. but andrew's been raped literally like 2 or 3 pages ago??? when i read those kinds of posts i can't help but think "how is this what's on your guys minds right now??..."

plus, when people say they saw these moments as sexual attraction they are often also implying they were thinking "maybe they'll get together". which is why i mentioned that i didn't trust andrew's group, cause i assumed everyone else felt the same, so i also assumed that like me they wouldn't be thinking of neil possibly getting with any of them... cause if you don't think they're trustworthy... why would you? i just wanted to protect neil from them ngl :') the only other character i liked at the time besides neil was wymack cause he actually showed that he cared about neil's wellbeing.

even that scene where andrew runs his fingers also neil's back, i honestly thought andrew was trying to intimidate neil... cause i didn't fucking like or trust andrew! he had non-con drugged not that long ago and i was still pissed at him and his group at the time. plus, andrew had used touching neil as a way to try and intimidate him before that so. even if i had picked up on the fact that andrew was attracted to neil from that during my first read, i wouldn't have thought they'd be getting together, or even wanted them too lol.

also because, aside from what i've said, there was also the fact neil told us he didn't swing... some scenes happened before that but most that people talk about happened after. if i'm reading a book and i'm having moments where i'm thinking maybe someone is attracted to the main character it's because i assume something might actually happen!

but i believed neil was aro/ace and so i wasn't looking for moments of neil being attracted to people, or moments of others being attracted to him. i never really bothered trying to read between the lines, it never even crossed my mind for so long... cause i had already set my mind on "neil won't end up with anyone". i only remembering it occurring to me at the "doesn't mean i wouldn't blow you" scene.

and honestly, when that happened i remember thinking something like "andrew's gonna end up getting rejected". idk? i never doubted neil was aspec, i started off thinking he was aro/ace like i said but i never went "oh he's gay", i just went "oh so he's not aro/ace but he's somewhere on the spectrum of being asexual".

and also tbh... i liked that neil never thought of things sexually. it was nice :'( and seeing his own thoughts and actions getting interpreted in that way, especially after we should have been under the assumption he wasn't interested in things like that... it rubs me the wrong way.

(i know aro/ace ppl can have relationships and/or have sex, but the way neil presented his sexuality and acted when hit on. to me, it made it seem like he was completely uninterested in either)

i can understand going back through the book after reading for the first time and being like "oh andrew's actions or words here might have been partially motivated by his attraction to neil at the time!", but through the first read? and for neil?? it's weird to me...

this is quite long so sorry bout that lol, i think i'll leave it here. it's nice to see someone else feel a similar way anyway ;^;

again, i don't think it's wrong if people read it differently. it just confuses me cause it's so different from my experience reading it and what i would expect it to be like for others

[tigerdrop]

hey i just wanna say the long posts genuinely make my day. also can you talk more about gordon freeman character because the way you write him makes me quake in my gay little boots

i would love to talk about gordon freeman. thank u for the opportunity

the first thing i need to communicate about gordon is that this dude sucks. and i say this in the fondest way possible. he is a bitch from the moment he drops into the world until the moment he goes out. if you dont believe me, give it another watch! gordons mouthy and rude for no real reason, at least so far as “being a regular dude on his way into work” goes, and this dude goes around calling his coworkers names with zero provocation. (of course, we all know that the reason is because its a funny guy improv stream that borrows a bit from freemans mind, but im talkin from a character sense.)

but my argument isnt just that gordon freeman sucks. its that he sucks in a very specific way that i find insanely endearing. i love this dude. i love to hate him. hes awful in a very mundane sense - weve all known a guy like this, at least if youve spent too much time online - and its cathartic to watch him suffer because of it.

gordons a smart guy. as written, hes gotta be - hes a recent MIT grad, on his way to work at a top-secret research facility to do weird shit with crystals and theoretical physics. but the thing about smart guys is that theyre often......selectively intelligent. we can see this in the way that he has a hard time navigating his surroundings, and needs the science crew to guide him through it and keep him alive.

this is one of those things that is a natural consequence of somebody going through the game for the first time, but that i am interpreting as “gordon is kind of stupid sometimes”. its uncharitable but its not like he doesnt deserve it. he likes to boss around the crew as if he knows what hes doing, when he often very much does not, and is fond of demeaning their intelligence. hes real bad about this with tommy in particular, treating him like hes a kid whos playing at being a scientist when tommy is actually a decade older than him. all i am saying is that gordon ought to stay humble. hes awful cocky when he perceives himself as better than others.

which, i think, tracks with how cocky he gets when he gives up on the whole “well-meaning citizen” thing and just unloads bullets into people. he puts up a front of being a Nice Guy, you know, just some dude caught in a bad situation who doesnt like seeing his companions obliterate every NPC they come across, but that doesnt stop him from cackling like a fucking madman and mowing down aliens (and soldiers) every once in awhile. when he stops seeing himself as helpless and starts seeing himself as the one in control, the gloves come off. he gets mean. and i think thats very sexy of him

this, among other things, is why i am insistent that gordon freeman is a control freak. he desperately wants to be in control of the situation at all times, shepherding around the science crew primarily by bitching at them, but its of limited success. its futile. sisyphean. tommy, coomer, bubby, and benrey exist almost to torment him with exactly the thing that would make him suffer the most: a gaggle of people running around causing problems for him, but he cant go anywhere without them b/c hes reliant on them to make it out alive.

its perpetual suffering, and its cathartic to watch. and funny, too. and if youre a little weirdo like me, its very, very enjoyable. how twisted up he gets when nobodys listening to him! how sweaty and frazzled he must look. its cute, and it also makes me want to reach through the screen and shake him and tell him to just be a little nicer. he wants control but he doesnt know how to attain it, he doesnt know how to play nice like a real leader. i think its a neat contrast to gordon freeman as we know him in HL2, where he literally is the leader of the resistance and has to live up to it. this is gordon freeman but if he was moe through helplessness.

“helpless” is, i think, a great way to describe him. a core bit of imagery in half life is this sense of railroadedness and helplessness, with gordon freeman being put into play like a chess piece and having no choice but to move forward. and this iteration of gordon leans into that by being totally dependent on the science crew in order to make progress and Not Die. and hes also subject to the whims of benrey, local eldritch weirdo who has basically made it his life mission to fuck with gordon.

gordons anxieties dont help with that. if he wasnt so fun to stress out and fuck with, the science crew probably wouldnt do it so much! too bad for him that they like fucking with him so much that he was driven into a panic attack (multiple times, even, depending on your interpretation). hes got that real neurotic mindset. always worrying about shit that could go wrong, and attempting to exert control over his surroundings in an effort to control the anxiety.

IMO the real way to nail the Neurotic Gordon Freeman Experience is to combine the ever-present anxiety with his pervasive sense of self-loathing. he openly states that he has no friends and nobody seems to like him, and to that, i really gotta say, i wonder why. he doesnt really seem to factor in that hes kind of a bitch, and has way too high an estimation of his own intelligence relative to everybody elses. its really one of the worst ways to be: aware that people dont like you, but unaware of exactly why. if he was like, 10% nicer, he probably wouldnt have had half as many issues getting through black mesa, but also, its funny to see him squawking his way through the game. so, you know.

its stuff like that that makes me headcanon him as a dude with low self-esteem in general. convinced that hes not likable, not attractive, out of his element......impostor syndrome, except that theres some truth to it. this is a guy who truly does not realize how good he has it: he really is just an average shitty dude, and yet, somehow, benrey took a shine to him. some poor motherfucker out there actually likes him and wants to suck his dick. thats dedication

also, i keep bringing up “repression” when i talk about gordon. and hopefully, what ive been talking about helps explain why. he has a strong desire to be a regular dude, not just murdering his way through black mesa, but if hes pushed hard enough he leans into it. gets bossy. picks up a cigar off a dead soldier and takes a long drag, before smacking forzen around with a pistol and ordering him around. gordon freeman is a regular, kind of anxious guy who likes competitive swimming and streaming on justin.tv and making anime references, and he is also a guy who takes a filthy pleasure in making a trained soldier his bitch. and i didnt make up any of this shit - this is purestrain canon, baby. this is a guy with problems

to me, this screams the kind of guy who represses a lot of shit b/c he doesnt feel like its morally decent. you run into this guy a lot online: the wokeboy, the online leftist, the guy who spends too much time on social media websites. (like reddit. i think he would actively use reddit and he would never get any appreciable amount of karma but he never stops posting. its sisyphean! cathartic.) from the way he talks about “bootboys”, i think it tracks. he knows about imperialism, he knows about feminism, but at the end of the day hes your average american white dude who struggles with internalizing it.

a lot of those dudes struggle with sex and gender issues. (dont we all.) when youre trying to be a Good Person(tm), you spend a lot of time thinking about your own relationship to sex and kink and all that shit. and i maintain that a too-online dude who buries a lot of his control freak tendencies would also try to bury a lot of weird sexual shit in an attempt to seem Normal and Well-Adjusted and not like a little freak. i justify this by the sheer number of times gordon blurts out weird sex shit as a joke. there are only two outcomes to making that many piss jokes: either youre secretly a piss guy, or you lathe-of-heaven yourself into becoming one. i will stand by this

ive talked a lot about why this dude sucks. now, let me talk to you about what makes gordon so much fun to write. first things first: hes funny! a subjective evaluation, yeah, but both in- and out-of-character, hes aiming to be funny. and being the straight man to everybody else plays into that whole “helplessness” thing.

secondly: underneath it all, there is a good dude under there. gordon worries when his companions get hurt, he tries to clean them off and patch them up, and hes got his lil leftist heart in the right place. you could even read a lot of his bossy, bitchy demeanor as him wanting to make sure everyone gets out okay and doesnt hurt themselves. when it comes to animals and anti-imperialist sentiment, gordons a pretty good guy.

hes the kind of guy who would probably see a dog on the street and get excited and play with it, but would get really prickly about the correct way to put dishes in the dishwasher. control freak tendencies.

finally, subjecting such a miserable, tormented guy to even more psychological anguish is really, really fun. you feel a little bad for him, but he kind of deserves it. so many problems he goes through are purely of his own making, and if gordon would just relax and quit trying to hard to maintain control - of himself, of the people around him - and own up to having Problems and Issues, he would be a happier guy. but thats why its fun to bend him until he breaks. being a little control freak myself, putting gordon freeman thru psychosexual torment is cathartic.

when it comes to writing his thought processes, the fact that he is canonically some kind of psychotic (yes, i am boldly claiming this. suck me) and i am also canonically some kind of psychotic makes it easier to write what i think his thought processes are. i just give him my brain issues of “getting lost in thought” and “overthinking fucking everything”. a touch of paranoia helps. even if i dont explicitly label him as schizophrenic please know that i am writing him as a paranoid little nutcase at all times because, uh, you write what you know.

paranoid. anxious. of the mindset that everyones out to get him (which isnt helpful when everyone is out to get him). repressed and deeply Not Normal but trying so very fucking hard to be normal and well-adjusted. a control freak with sadistic tendencies who also really, really likes getting bullied by his best frenemy. a hapless little nerd who sounds really cute when his voice starts to break from nerves. and, most importantly, a dumb jock. do not ever forget this.

thats gordon freeman, babey. hope that helps

[skaiatemple]

December 23rd is the Festival of Rage!

If you follow as a practitioner of Pop Culture Paganism, a user of Homestuck inspired Chaos Magic, or just want to use your favorite series to inspire you throughout the year, Skaia Temple is your resource center!

Whether you want to just celebrate it on the day, use it as a date for empowered energy, integrate it into your more mundane celebrations, or just appreciate your favorite characters and concepts this month, we have suggestions for whatever path you want to take with us!

Read below the cut for a condensed idea & resource list for this month of Rage!

Aspect Centered Celebrate the Aspect in all its glory if you’re all about on celebrating the Festivals for exactly what they represent: The Aspect and all the traits associated with it.

“Often the Rage-bound prefer anarchy to any of the alternate forms of civilization, which they believe to be riddled with lies and foolishness and obedient masses. They are bringers of confusion and doubt, and they can be frustratingly difficult to convince otherwise when they have attached themselves to an idea.”

This Guide has been the most difficult and also the funnest to write.

Rage is about BEING A N G R Y

Rage is about destruction of what in untrue and unfit for your life! It is revolution and difficult truths and tearing away any facade you’re no longer content with seeing!! Void was about letting go and Rage is about seeing what dumb shit is left and GOING FUCKING HAM ABOUT IT!!!!

Don’t like something? YELL ABOUT IT!!! KICK IT OUT OF YOUR LIFE!! TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU REALLY THINK AND DESTABILIZE WHATEVER SYSTEM IS KEEPING YOU FROM BEING THE BEST VERSION OF YOU MY WICKED SIBLINGS FUCK Y E A H ! ! ! !

If you like, want to do that, of course. It’s healthy but don’t cause ruckus if you don’t feel safe doing so ofc….

This month if for GOING APESHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Magical Inspiration If you want to use Homestuck concepts more abstractly and need some ideas for what brands of magic would work best for the season, if you have an Aspect or character-themed spell, feel free to send it in so it can be added to this section!

HEX A MOTHERFUCKER. MAKE YOURSELF SOME JINX BAGS TO THROW AT A BITCH TRYING TO HARSHEN YOUR DAY. LEARN SOME LATIN AND SMASH THAT SHIT TOGETHER AND WHISPER IT TO SOME FILTHY KARENS FACE AND WATCH HER CLUTCH HER PEARLS AND RUN TO HER LITTLE INSTITUTIONALIZED CHURCH HOUSE OF L I E S. TELL A SANTA FUCK YOU THIS MONTH. BANISH ALL THEM FALSEHOODS THAT ARE TRYING TO DROWN OUT YOUR GLOW MY TUMBLESTUCKED FAMILY!!!!

Or if you’re more passive just like, cleanse yourself of negative energies. But like- maybe yell while you do it! I swear it’s healthy for you.

HERE is a totally lit analysis of the Rage Aspect to help jiggle your braincells and HERE is a motherfuckin fabulous art project

Integration Route For people in the broom closet who are too timid or anxious to celebrate the Festivals openly- you can always integrate the Aspects traits to fit in with the more common trends and holidays of the month. Not even Hussie is is Homestuck God, no one will mind!

It’s time for Christmas time and Yule! A celebration of all the hope and joy we have even in the coldest of months, all about how no matter how dire the situation is, we can still be lucky enough to find some togetherness and salvation in this time.

OR MAYBE YOU THINK GOD IS A LIL HYPOCRITICAL BITCH AND YOU DON’T G I V E  A  S H I T ABOUT ALL THIS FAKE WHITE CHRISTIAN NUCLEAR FAMILY BULLHUEY. I BET YOU’RE DREADING SEEING YOUR RACIST UNCLE THIS YEAR AREN’T YOU DON’T L I E. YOU DON’T DESERVE THAT SHIT! YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO PRETEND THAT THIS COMMERCIAL ASSHATTERY IS WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN, AND YOU CERTAINLY SHOULDN’T MOTHERFUCKING BE QUIET ABOUT IT! IF YOUR FAMILY LOVES YOU FOR YOU THEY’RE GONNA SAY “FUCK YEAH MY PSYCHEDELIC PAGAN BLOODKIN YOU LIVE YOUR TRUTH I SUPPORT YOU BECAUSE THATS WHAT PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU DO”!!!!

Or maybe you’re fine with all the festivities and have a loving community you can spend time with! In which case you can also just violently, without shame flaunt how much you love this personal truth of yours. The point is to let your truest emotions bleed, because that’s what’s healthy!!!! Happy Holidays.

Fandom Driven For if you’re not all about spirituality or routine and just want to enjoy going all-out with a beloved story & characters, you can honor the ones of this month by driving full-throttle on the fandom bandwagon.

Rage is the Aspect reserved for the Makaras! Very special boys they are. Whether you find their actions just, misunderstood, or just comically silly. They’re not all bad- even if by that we mean that they’re kinda funny when they’re being all hyper and homicidal. Some people see some guys who’ve been manipulated and taken advantage of at a time where they were most delicate, and some even moreso that their actions could still have meant some of the greatest good for the situation! Or maybe you’re an anxious Terezi kin whose finally on the last gogdamn Aspect guide and your feelings about Gamzee and the Makaras as a whole are very complicated but you also admire an aspect all about anarchy and vicious revolution! And also you’re trying to meet an aesthetically pleasing word-count! Anyway stan respectively the Makaras are funny but not like Great hahaha clown men.

Draw fic, write art- I mean- ENJOY THE MAKARAS! Whatever they mean to you. Even if they mean bad things to you- but don’t like, release your Rage on real people. That’s not what I meant with all the hyper capslock. Please value real peoples experiences and opinions over therapeutic internet shouting. I fucked up. I was so close to not going on an interpretation policing tirade in any of the Guides please DON’T BE WEIRD HAPPY RAGE SEASON IN THE NEW YEAR TAKE THE BROKEN PIECES AND FIND NEW HOPE WITHIN THEM FUCK YEAH…………………… HOMESTUCK

We hope you got some ideas for activities you can do with your friends or otherwise use to inspire and better yourself this month. Everyone plays the game of life differently, and everyone's beliefs are their own. Celebrate yourself as you see fit, and Thanks for Playing with Us.

~Mod Bee

[havenoffandoms]

Sweeter Than You (Eskel/Lambert, Modern AU)

Based on Kashimalin’s 50 Types of Kisses prompt list.

Prompt: "A kiss that tastes of the food/dessert they are eating."

Pairing: Eskel/Lambert

Content Warning: Modern AU (lawyer Lambert, baker Eskel), implied sexual content at the end of the chapter (nothing graphic)

Read on AO3.

Lambert has had the shittiest day at work. 

First, he got stuck in downtown Novigrad traffic even though his traffic app told him that the roads were all clear, which in turn made him late for his 9am meeting. Real professional, great first impression. His client was understanding about the situation, but Lambert hates being late, especially when he’s trying to score new clients for his firm. The meeting went well despite his tardiness, and Lambert is convinced he’ll get the case settled in no time, but his day just kept getting shittier and shittier. He ended up spilling hot coffee on his brand new suit and the only spare he kept at the office was slightly too snug when he put it on. Great, he apparently put on weight, too. That has to be Eskel’s fault, what with all the treats he bakes for Lambert at the weekend. 

If the day wasn’t bad enough, Lambert’s car broke down on his way to lunch with an important client. It took the tow-truck a whole hour to get to him, which meant that Lambert had to cancel on his client and lose out on a potential settlement agreement. To add insult to injury, the sandwich Lambert ended up buying from a nearby bakery tasted of ass. Though admittedly Lambert’s taste buds have considerably developed since he started dating Eskel, because the man is a literal genius in the kitchen. Lambert can’t eat generic sandwiches anymore without comparing them to Eskel’s creations. 

When the tow-truck finally showed up, Lambert decided to call time of death on this generally miserable day. He called his secretary and told her to clear his diary for the day, which he knew that Essi would pull off. She’s hands down the best secretary in the whole of Novigrad, in Lambert’s eyes anyway, and well worth the considerable salary he pays her each month. After calling Essi, Lambert hailed down a taxi only to find that he left his wallet in his car, which was now being towed away to the nearest garage. Great. Just fantastic. 

Fuck this shit, fuck his car, fuck his job, and fuck the entire universe. 

Lambert just starts walking without a clear destination in mind. His suit is too tight and uncomfortable, but he can’t bring himself to care as he tries to work off the anxious energy bubbling in his chest. He wants to scream, or punch something, whatever yields the most satisfaction. Why is the world against him today? What did he do to deserve this? Lambert considers dialling Eskel, but he knows that his boyfriend won’t be able to hear the phone if he’s at work.

Oh, wait a second. 

Lambert looks around for the first time since storming off and he quickly realises that he’s not actually too far away from Eskel’s shop. The thought brightens his mood a little - if Lambert’s not able to go home and hide away from the world, at least he can spend the afternoon helping his boyfriend out in the bakery. Or just wait until Eskel has a minute to spare so Lambert can hug out all his frustrations in the backroom… or do other things in Eskel’s office. With a renewed spring in his step, Lambert makes haste towards Eskel’s shop. 

It doesn't take long for him to reach Lil Titbits, a quaint-looking shop just off the main street of Novigrad's business centre. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but Lambert knows just how hard Eskel worked to make the inside of his shop as inviting and cosy as humanly possible. As soon as Lambert steps inside the bakery, the heavenly smell of warm baked bread and freshly made coffee invades his nostrils. If he closes his eyes, he can almost pretend like he’s stepping inside his and Eskel’s home rather than his boyfriend’s shop. 

The little bell above the door chimes loudly, announcing his presence. Lambert instantly notices that the place is quiet - which is not unusual for a Wednesday afternoon, when most of Eskel’s customers are still either at work or at school. Lambert notices an elderly couple sitting in the booth by the window, enjoying a generous slice of lemon-meringue pie - oh fuck, Lambert loves Eskel’s lemon-meringue pies - between themselves. Lambert can’t fathom why anyone would share a slice of pie that good, especially since Eskel’s creations are by far the best fucking thing Lambert’s ever tasted. People are weird. 

Apart from those two customers, the place is empty. It doesn’t take long for Eskel to appear behind the counter, wearing his favourite apron, the one that reads “They Call Me Darth Baker” written in a white font on the black fabric. Geralt, Eskel’s brother, bought him that apron for Christmas, but Lambert never thought Eskel would actually wear it at work, for every customer to see, but that’s Eskel for you. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about what people think of him. Lambert has always admired that about him. 

“Hey babe,” Eskel greets him, his smile bright enough to rival the moon, stars, and the fucking sun.  The deep baritone of his boyfriend’s voice washes over Lambert in calming waves. “Bit early for you to be here. Everything alright?” 

Lambert’s legs move of their own volition, and before he knows it, he’s behind the counter burying himself in the warmth and safety of Eskel’s arms. “I am now,” he breathes, his tone just on that side of pouty, before rubbing his cheek against Eskel’s nerdy apron. He doesn’t give a shit if the customers at the back of the shop see them, nor does he care if he ends up with flour in his beard. He needs this, needs to feel Eskel close, because today’s been a shitty day and the only person who can make it better is his boyfriend. 

“Oh sweetheart, what’s up?” Eskel asks, his voice soft and reassuring like he’s talking to a spooked animal. Lambert only tightens his hold around Eskel, not ready to break the sweetness of the moment by reminiscing about his not-so-good-very-bad day. “Wanna move through to the kitchen?” 

That, in fact, sounds like a great fucking idea. Lambert almost whines when Eskel pulls away from him, but the urge quickly fades when Eskel laces their fingers together and drags Lambert through the back by the hand. Once they have regained a semblance of privacy, Lambert lets Eskel pull him into another soul-crushing hug. 

“I hate everything. And everyone. Well no, not everyone. I don’t hate you.”

“Mmh, good to know,” Eskel rumbles, sounding amused, “what happened, puppy?”

Lambert buries deeper in Eskel’s embrace as he replies, his words slightly muffled by the fabric of Eskel’s apron. 

“Got stuck in traffic this morning, then was late for my meeting, spilt coffee on my suit, my car broke down, I missed lunch with a potential client who’s worth a buttload of money, and I’m getting fat,” Lambert ends, his tone decidedly whiny when he’s reminded of just how snug his emergency suit feels. Damn Eskel and his ridiculously good treats. 

“Naw, hell Lamb,” Eskel shifts and grabs something resting on the working surface behind him. When Lambert looks up, he sees Eskel holding what looks to be a lemon and white chocolate muffin inches away from Lambert’s face. “Open up! My baking always cheers you up.” 

“Your baking is the reason why I’m getting fat!” Lambert grouses half-heartedly, his tongue poking out from between his lips to lick at the buttercream frosting covering the top of the muffin. “Mmmh, white chocolate! I knew it.” 

“Was gonna save it for you to celebrate your new client. Guess it can also be used as a consolatory muffin,” Eskel brings the treat closer to Lambert’s lips and offers a small, encouraging smile, “c’mon, take a bite. I promise you’ll feel better.” 

Lambert can’t resist Eskel’s pretty eyes anyway, so he happily lets his boyfriend feed him the muffin. Lambert takes a huge chunk out, the white chocolate and lemon flavours exploding on his tongue pulling an appreciative moan. Lambert’s eyes flutter shut as he savours his morsel, and when he opens them again, he sees Eskel’s smile has widened into a pleased grin. 

“Good?” he asks, like there’s any fucking doubt about how good his muffin tastes. 

“As always,” Lambert whispers in response, snatching the muffin out of Eskel’s hand and stuffing what’s left of it in his mouth. Eskel levels him with an unimpressed look, clicking his tongue in disapproval at his boyfriend’s actions. 

“You’re gonna choke one of these days,” Eskel tells him, trying not to laugh as Lambert tries to chew around the massive bite in his mouth, “look at your lil hamster cheeks. Adorable.” 

Lambert glares - the full effect of his scowl is probably lost on Eskel, though, with how Lambert is still struggling to swallow his treat - but the intention is there. Eskel shakes his head fondly before leaning in and catching Lambert’s lips in a chaste kiss which probably tastes sweet and lemony, but Eskel doesn’t seem to mind the taste of his dessert on Lambert’s lips. It takes Lambert a little while to swallow the food in his mouth, but when he does, he puckers his lips in a silent request for more of Eskel’s sweet kisses. 

“Yes?” Eskel teases, raising one eyebrow, “can I help you?” 

Lambert’s lower lip juts out into a sad pout at those words, an action that pulls a warm chuckle from deep within Eskel’s chest. He takes pity on Lambert and pulls him impossibly closer to his firm body, rubbing his nose against Lambert’s in a tender gesture. Lambert’s hands come to rest on Eskel’s hips, where he squeezes the soft flesh of his boyfriend’s puppy fat. Gods, but he loves absolutely everything about Eskel. 

“Can you close the shop early today and take me home?” Lambert asks, voice barely above a whisper, as he stretches up to capture Eskel’s mouth in a demanding kiss that leaves very little as to which kind of activity Lambert has in mind for their evening together. His hand squeezes Eskel’s hip more firmly, pulling a needy whine from his boyfriend in response.

“Minx,” Eskel growls under his breath, punctuating his statement with a final kiss, “I’ll see what I can do.”

As Eskel walks away, Lambert doesn’t miss the way his boyfriend has to readjust his pants which are now tenting at the front. Lambert leans back against the worktop of Eskel’s baking table, and first undoes the buttons of his suit jacket, then the top three buttons of his shirt. He, unlike Eskel, isn’t trying to hide the visible bulge forming in his far too tight pants, dammit. 

“You do what you have to do, sweetheart,” Lambert speaks in a sultry tone, the irritation brought on by a rather shitty start to the day long forgotten when he meets Eskel’s lust-blown eyes, “I’ll be right here, looking like a goddamn snack for you the whole time.” 

Eskel curses under his breath, pointedly looking away from Lambert. 

“Bastard. You just wait until we get home,” Eskel threatens half-heartedly before leaving the kitchen to empty the showcases and store the pastries in the refrigerators on the main shop floor. Lambert feels positively giddy with anticipation at the thought of how him and Eskel will spend the rest of the evening. 

Lambert’s day, in spite of everything, doesn’t seem so shitty in the end, not when he’s got Eskel to come home to. 

[ahoyhairington]

Steve Harrington as a dad: Headcanons

Warnings: dad!Steve, pregnancy, mentions of smut, childbirth, fluff, angst

Word Count: 3k

A/N: I’m back with more dad!Steve content! Hope you enjoy. Feel free to leave a comment or some feedback to let me know if you liked it! Reblogs/likes/comments are always appreciated.

As soon as you and Steve had enough money, you left Hawkins

You didn’t see anything there for you anymore and you wanted to escape the haunting memories of the events that took place there

You both moved somewhere more populated, like Indianapolis

You settle on a small, white house in a suburban neighborhood that has baby blue shutters and a decently sized backyard

It’s not much but it was perfect for the two of you

Plus, being as young as you were there weren’t many places willing to let you move in

You also didn’t want to ask Steve’s parents for money, because Steve refused to be tied to them in any way

You do everything yourself like moving furniture, painting walls, decorating the living room

It’s a bonding experience in and of itself and you both almost killed each other at least seven times because of how overworked and annoyed you both got

As soon as you get comfortable you immediately adopt a dog

It’s a puppy from a local shelter with two different colored eyes and it immediately falls in love with Steve

(It’s also lowkey gives Steve baby fever but we’ll get to that later)

The puppy is the cutest thing you’ve ever seen and literally becomes Steve’s best friend

They’re always playing together and if Steve is gone for too long they mope around the house like he’s abandoned them

They also love to sleep on Steve, even after they’ve quadrupled in size and are far too heavy to be laying on anyone’s lap

You always come home to both of them napping on the couch

Steve jokes around that one day the dog will crush him but he secretly loves it

Okay anyways back to baby fever

One day, you’re both outside enjoying your evening walk in the neighborhood with your then puppy when they see your neighbor’s kids playing in the yard

They freak out and take off running and the leash accidentally slips out of Steve’s grip

When Steve gets to them, they’ve tackled the poor toddler to the ground

Steve’s like “Oh shit oh my god I’m fucked my dog is attacking a kid” but really the toddler is laughing and squealing and she loves your pup’s kisses so much

Obviously, you both apologize to their mom that was outside watching them from the porch 

She plays it off and isn’t mad at all and says that they saw you guys walking the other day and her kid freaked out and wanted to play with them but she told them no so she’s glad they finally got to “meet”

When you approach her, you realize she’s holding another small baby, a baby boy, clearly only a few months old

Steve internally is losing his shit because he’s never really been around babies but has always thought they were the most precious things ever

After that, Steve uses your dog as bait to see your neighbor’s kids more

Eventually, you become close with them and Steve is always chatting it up with the toddler girl and bringing her home treats

He plays dress up with her all of the time and they call each other “Prince” and “Princess”

You jabbed at him once saying he’d gotten too soft and he successfully played it off but internally that’s when he realized he wanted a baby of his own

One that looked like the perfect combination of you and him

Steve always thought kids were for people that settled, but now his mind had changed

The kids’ mom loves you both and thinks of you as her own children, so she learned to trusts you very deeply

Which means you’re the one she goes to one day when she has to abruptly leave the house for the day

At first, you regret saying yes because you thought your days as a “babysitter” were over

But seeing Steve come through the door with a 4-year-old girl that adored him leeched onto his leg and a 7-month-old swaddled in his arms Does Things To You

Since the girl is better acquainted with Steve, you let him take her while you stayed on infant duty

You heard them in your spare bedroom

Steve using different voices to impersonate different characters of the game they’re playing

He got more dramatic each time he realized she laughed louder when he did

It made your heart swooooon

But so did Steve’s when he finally got the girl to lay down for a nap and he came to sit with you in the living room only to find you passed out as well with the snoozing baby boy on your chest

You looked so peaceful and natural and Steve couldn’t help but take note at how that’s what you would look like holding his baby one day 

The second their mom picks them up, Steve is already scheming up a plan to babysit them again

Okay now onto the actual pregnancy lmao

You’d been feeling sick for a few days now

It’s a nauseous feeling that never really goes away but you just thought you caught the virus that was going around at your work

It wasn’t until Steve made a poor “Are you sure you’re not pregnant?” joke one morning when you were throwing up into the toilet that it even crossed your mind

When you were finally able to get into the doctor’s office, they confirmed it for you

You were pregnant and you didn’t know whether to be overjoyed or terrified

You loved kids and, clearly, so did Steve but how would he feel about raising one of his own?

That night you came home and threw your stuff down, clearly exhausted from hearing such life-changing news

Steve heats you banging stuff around so he goes to see what’s wrong

When you see him you start crying and collapse into his arms and he’s just standing in the kitchen holding you up by your shoulders

He finally coaxes it out of you and gets you to tell him what was bothering you but you being pregnant was the last thing he expected to hear

In theory, he’s overjoyed but in reality, he’s scared

Not only because you’re clearly upset about having a baby and he thinks you don’t want it as much as him but also because he never thought this would be a situation he’d be in

He holds you close for the rest of the night, kissing your forehead and reassuring you that everything will work out and that having a baby isn’t necessarily such a bad thing

You eventually warm up to the idea of having a mini-Steve or a mini-you running around the house and Steve is so relieved and then only gets more enthusiastic about it

He’s literally the perfect partner to have when you’re pregnant

He’s always pampering you and making sure you’re as comfortable as you can be

When he joins you on the couch, he doesn’t even ask he’ll just grab your feet and swing them into his lap and start massaging them and talk to you like it’s nothing

Watches whatever shitty movie you want without putting up a fight

Doesn’t say anything when you get emotional at dumb stuff because of your hormones

(You cried when the dog died in a movie and even though Steve wanted to laugh at you, he just laid there massaging your back until you calmed down)

I also think Steve would grow a lil tummy of his own during your pregnancy

Your cravings are weird and you eat a lot so naturally, Steve joins in which means he gets a little softer in the middle

Steve hates it but it’s really cute and fun to lay on at night

Speaking of bellies, Steve is obsessed with yours

When you start showing, it’s impossible for Steve to keep his hands off of you 

He’s always got to have a hand on your stomach

Whether it’s you laying in between his legs on the couch with his arms around your bump or just having his thumb brush over it under the table when you’re at dinner with friends

It’s just a little reminder for himself that his lil bub is in there

(I also think he looooves fucking you when you’re pregnant but I don’t have time to talk about that rn)

He could sit and feel the baby kick for HOURS

He thinks it’s the most entertaining thing in the world to draw shapes on your belly and wait for the baby to react by kicking

You have to tell him to knock it off constantly because it makes the baby push on your bladder and then you have to pee three times more than you already do

He likes to use pillow-talk at night to talk about what you think your baby will be like

He’s always wondering what kind of kid they will be and what kind of music they’re gonna like and whether or not they’ll inherit his untamable hair

(They definitely do c’mon now let’s not kid ourselves)

I think he gets really anxious for a while over if he’ll be able to handle being a dad

His own father wasn’t the best example and he swears up and down that he won’t be like him but there’s always the “what if” in the back of his mind

The last thing he wants is for his child to despise their parents the way he does his own 

I don’t think he’d bring it up until you coax it out of him, though

You find him out of bed one night standing in the nursery you had both just put together that afternoon and he’s just staring at the crib with a solemn look on his face

You rub his back and finally get him to talk and he just starts crying because he’s kept it bottled up for so long

Steve’s parents were always a touchy subject with him so you know that his emotions and fear are high for a reason

You bring him back to bed and big spoon him for the only time throughout your entire pregnancy

You don’t really mold well together because of your bump but Steve likes it better that way anyway

The rest of the night is spent with you running your fingers through his hair, pressing small kisses to his bare shoulders, and quietly reassuring him that everything will be fine

And it is

Ok let’s move on to when the baby is actually born

Steve goes into panic panic mode when your water breaks

He’s running around in all directions trying to make sure you guys remembered to pack everything and he kinda just forgets that you’re sitting there on the couch covered in amniotic fluid waiting for him to help you get up

You’re like “Steve the baby isn’t coming for like at least 12 hours will you please just help me put my shoes on it’s not that serious”

He holds your hand the entire time at the hospital when you’re pushing even though he thinks you might have broken his pinky

He tries to convince you to let him look at the baby as it’s coming out and you finally agree but when he takes one look at your baby’s head poking through he’s like “yeah no that was definitely a bad idea” 

When he actually sees the baby for the first time as he cuts the umbilical cord he criiiiies 

Like a whole lot

He loved them so much when they were in your belly but now they’re alive and kicking and screaming and not just something for Steve to fantasize about

I see Steve as being a girl dad, so let’s say it ends up being a girl

For some reason, I feel like he’d want to name her something kinda weird but still cute

Something like Violet or Brogan or Aria or Phoebe or Rey

She’d look just like Steve with crazy brown hair and brown eyes

He’s obsessed with her and refuses to put her down

He has absolutely no problem taking baby duty on at night because that just means more quality time with his baby girl

Every time she cries it breaks his heart even though he knows she’s just hungry or needs a diaper change

He learns that he sleeps better with her laying on his chest

And so does she

She loves her daddy and it’s the cutest! thing! ever!

(Just the sight of Steve napping with her squishy cheeks scrunched up on his chest is enough to make you want to have another baby real mf quick)

Steve is always taking pictures of her

Which means you’re always in them too

They’re always candids that you think are going to look stupid and you hate when he does it but later on down the line when your kids are all grown up they love seeing how badass and attractive their parents were and you forgive him for all of the times you yelled at him about it

There’re ones of you passed out while breastfeeding (a common occurrence Steve finds absolutely adorable), ones of you looking sleep-deprived as hell while you’re rocking her, ones of you covered in vomit while holding her at arm's length

You get him back by taking like 1,000 pics of her yanking on his precious hair and random ones of the two of them passed out on the couch sleeping in the same exact position as each other with their arm up over their head

(When she’s older and her friends see the pics they develop the fattest crush on him)

((But bold of me to assume he wouldn’t already be the biggest dilf))

The kids are sooo excited to meet her and she ends up loving them as well

The first person Steve called when the baby was born was Dustin and after that, they immediately made plans to have Robin drive them to come visit you as soon as possible

They’re absolutely smitten over her and they keep telling you guys over and over how proud they are of you

(It makes Steve cry but only later that night after they leave)

You joke with them about how you babysat them and kept them out of trouble for so long so now it’s their turn to do the babysitting

Which they never mind because your baby is just too damn cute!

Robin still teases him about, “What’s she gonna think when she finds out her dad is a big ol DOOFUS?!” but Steve doesn’t take it personally anymore and finds it endearing

I see Steve as being his baby’s best friend

He’s always trying to get her to smile and play with her and he’s the exact opposite of most dads that sit around and expect the moms to do all of the work

He’s super involved with her and always wants to make sure she’s having a good time

He takes her to the park with your dog to walk a lot

And every single person that passes by you three gushes over her and congratulates you on making such a beautiful baby and having a perfect family

It makes Steve feel so good to be validated for stuff like that because he knows it’s true

Speaking of the dog

The dog LOVES HER

They’re super protective of her and bark at anyone that gets too close to her until Steve calms them down

Your daughter loves to nap on the dog’s belly and have them give her kisses

You also have a lot of pictures of them growing older together

When she takes her first steps, it’s when Steve is home alone with her

He’s sitting on the couch watching tv while she plays in the floor with her toys like she always does 

Steve wasn’t really paying attention until he realized he stopped hearing the rattle of her favorite shaker

When he looks down he sees her propped up on the coffee table and starting to take off from it

He realizes she’s about to start walking and loses his shit

He cheers her on and calls for her to come to daddy and she manages to take three or four steps before falling into his arms

Steve immediately picks her up and throws her into the air and covers her in kisses and tells her how proud he is of her and he can’t wait for mama to get home so she can see what she did

Her first word is also ‘papa’ and it makes Steve cry too

She’s such a daddy’s girl and you’re so relieved because of how worried Steve was over whether or not he’d be a good dad

She’s always bubbly and happy and Steve always looks forward to coming home from work, because even if he has the shittiest day possible he knows seeing her smiling face light up as soon as he walks in the door makes the whole day worth it

He’s always getting sentimental over everything she does because he wants to give her the world and he’s so proud of the little human he helped create and raise

Before she’s even a year old Steve is already talking about having another

You laugh in his face like “yeah right” but then you realize he’s serious

You tell him that you want to wait until she’s at least 2 so you can give her the right amount of attention while she still needs it

Literally the night of her second birthday party after all of the guests leave and the decorations have been taken down and your daughter is in bed in a sugar coma, Steve does his best seductive walk to your bed to try to rile you up

“You said wait until she’s two,” he said while breathing down your neck, peppering kisses along the sensitive skin, “She’s two now. So, are you ready to try again?”

[donnieluvsthings]

gonna rant about sanders sides plot bc i think about it all the time and need an outlet okay here we go. this got super long so most of it is under the cut.

fyi: i talk a lot about patton and virgil and how theyre doing. i dont think i paint either of them negatively and if i did its not on purpose bc i love them both but just be aware!! also this is just my interpretations/predictions and i wanted to share but its not The Only Acceptable Interpretation and if u disagree then obviously thats fine lol

so i keep thinking about the conflict between virgil and patton. clearly something is weird. i think it probably started when virgil asked patton to stop treating him like “some innocent harmless angel” at the end of LNTAO.

i actually think this was a good interaction—virgil was trying not to hurt patton’s feelings but also was expressing something he was uncomfortable with and he succeeded in my opinion. and patton doesn’t argue, just immediately goes “okay, virgil!” like he says his name, no nickname, no kiddo. he starts trying instantly to check himself and respect virgil’s wishes.

then in embarrassing phases their interactions seem a little more...tense? i’ll list the ones that stick out bc lists are Fun:

patton fakes being scared. virgil: “don’t patronize me” patton: “you mean pantronize” virgil: “whatever!!”

patton corrects himself from saying “bat winged cherub” to “bad....boy” while virgil shoots him a look like we just talked about this

virgil’s talking about how his style is a relic from thomas’ emo phase. patton: “we’re basically style twins!! look out just a couple of cool guys comin thru!” virgil: “okay, patton” patton: “um! sorry...”

virgil seems aggravated, probably bc patton is still treating him like a poor lil anxious baby when the whole point of this episode was virgil showing that they can’t just ignore his role as anxiety. they may be friends now but virgil’s past attitude is still part of him. one could say he doesnt want them to ignore the “dark side” of his presence. wink wink. this could be him maybe building up to revealing that he used to be a dark side, subtly preparing thomas for it.

then SvS. patton and virgil don’t interact directly except at the start and during the trial, but it doesn’t seem as strained. this is probably because theyre both on the same side when it comes to deceit—and i think thats important. in svs, both patton and virgil are anti-deceit, and like patton pointed out in LNTAO, “anxiety and morality are telling you the same thing,” which seems to signal to thomas that he should listen.

also in SvS, janus alludes to the fact that virgil was a dark side and is hiding it:

“so you’ve never been reluctant to share anything with the group?”

“dont.”

“what, i just meant your name!”

“dont.”

“maybe that’s why its so easy for you to see me for what i am! like i said before, it takes a liar to know a liar.”

i’m 90% sure he didn’t just mean virgil’s name. virgil is clearly distraught about where this conversation is headed and that just doesn’t line up with him being hesitant to share his name. his fears over his dark persona and reluctance to share his name have been addressed multiple times, so what does he have to be scared of? unless janus is talking about virgil being a dark side.

moving on! in DWIT, again, theyre both kinda anti-remus. theyre both afraid of him, and as logan points out, theyre both part of why remus is so powerful as intrusive thoughts. they dont argue much; virgil spends most of this ep arguing with logan, actually, which is interesting bc he and logan seem to have one of the closest friendships in the show.

in this episode, there’s a few final pushed that i think lead virgil to confess he was a dark side.

first remus reveals his own name and says “i would never hide anything from you!” and sends virgil a little glance. virgil looks uncomfortable. then, around the 31 minute mark, logan says “you can always talk to someone...subjects who talked about their thoughts often felt better emotionally and physically.” and you can see virgil looking around like he’s realizing something.

and then he reveals himself at the end of this episode. just to thomas, but i’m assuming all the other sides would know as soon as thomas himself does, right? if they didn’t know already. what sticks out to me is that he specifically waits until the others leave. he doesn’t want to say it directly to them. and as for how this connects to the patton-virgil stuff...patton might think virgil doesn’t trust him/doesn’t want to open up to him. and/or virgil actually doesn’t want to open up to patton as much anymore.

then in healthy distractions, we clearly see that something is up between virgil and patton.

patton: “how could he feel b-a-d with his inner d-a-d?” virgil: “i can think of a few ways”

patton: “thomas made his decision and i think we should all just try to settle into it” virgil: “how are you telling me to settle into something right now when you have taken your sweet time to settle into things that you were uncomfortable with in the past”

so honestly i don’t really know what virgil’s talking about?? does he mean the events of moving on and the whole breakup situation?? or maybe he’s calling patton out for taking so long to drop the “angel baby” nicknames/treatment. or its implying that patton didnt know virgil was a dark side and is still coming to terms with it/coming to terms with the fact that virgil didn’t want to tell him & the other sides directly.

or he’s referencing something we don’t know of. either way, their relationship is obviously strained rn and it isn’t entirely clear what the turning point was between DWIT and ATHD.

then we come to the new episode. virgil doesn’t appear in POF at all, not even a cameo. i think thats the first time this has happened since accepting anxiety part 1. the only reference to him is the purple time-clock during the mario sequence and other smaller inclusions in the other video game parts. and then what happens in this episode?

patton realizes selfishness can be good sometimes. he accepts that the world, and thomas’ view of it, are not as black-and-white as he wanted to believe in svs. it wasnt a matter of “callback = bad vs wedding = good” bc thats not how the world works. beyond that, he accepts janus.

and i’m gonna bring up the idea that virgil is super mean and gets away with it. its true that the other sides, especially patton, are hesitant to correct him or reprimand him, which i think is bc theyre afraid of making him think they hate him. this idea could even be in the forefront of their minds if they really are that impacted by virgil not telling them he’s a dark side.

the thing is...virgil IS mean sometimes and he DOES get away with it. often, its just directed at janus or remus, and the other sides don’t WANT to disagree. when its directed at the other sides, i’m not sure its taken entirely to heart, regardless of whether it should be or not.

and we all know how virgil feels about janus. suspicion, anger, and aggression are all things virgil expresses towards janus from the moment he appeared as patton in CLBG.

so this all has been building up to me saying that the virgil-patton conflict has now become a virgil-patton-janus conflict. virgil and janus’ past is going to clash with patton and janus’ new alliance, which will strain the already tense relationship between virgil and patton. even worse, now roman is firmly in the anti-janus field, which will likely feed virgil’s anger, especially if he also blames patton for hurting roman.

and if we DO go to roman’s room next, and janus shows up, and the situation worsens...we might have a full blown “patton & janus vs virgil & roman” level argument on our hands.

i think virgil’s gonna be aggressive towards janus, as he has been, but when thomas and patton don’t dismiss him—when they call him by his NAME, not just “deceit”—we’re gonna get a rehash of “are you seriously siding with deceit?” except this time roman won’t be the one saying “are you seriously so closed minded to think that everything said by someone you dont like is automatically untrue?”

the other sides—or patton and thomas at the very least—are going to see that virgil’s blatant dislike of janus is not entirely warranted. and keep in mind that we still don’t know what happened between virgil and janus to make virgil hate him, so maybe it IS warranted. but its clear now that janus is trying to help (assuming he’s not lying which i rly hope he’s not lol) and i dont think its fair to thomas for virgil to want to disregard everything janus says. thomas and patton will realize this and they’ll have to confront virgil about his treatment of janus. we just haven’t gotten there yet.

its gonna be wild, honestly. i want janus to be fully accepted but it might be a while until we get there, just like patton took a while to understand the whole “grayscale morality” idea, and how its probably gonna take a while for virgil (and janus, tbh) to move on from whatever happened between them in the past.

i also believe this is headed towards a sympathetic everyone ending where theyre all important to thomas, acknowledged by him as important, and all actively working together, no dark sides or light sides, just sides. so yeah

basically, the next few episodes will probably be an explosion of all these char tensions and its probably gonna get worse before it gets better, and thats not even considering logan angst, creativitwins angst, or the orange side. but i think (and hope) it’ll all be fine and im hyped to see where this series goes :p

[fruit-teeth]

Matters of Time and Fate (9)

She was always hurting. She was always sick, in pain, with every part of her body screaming in agony. Her head throbbed, and her eyes burned with tears so often she preferred to keep them closed, submerging her in darkness. What made it even worse was that she was all alone – somehow, pain seemed more bearable when someone else was there, comforting her. But, at this moment, there was no one.

Until the door opened.

Young Helen lifted her head in the direction of the sound, still quivering from pain. She knew it was her father before she even saw him, and when he sat down on her bed beside her, she reached for him right away, whimpering.

“Shh,” he hushed her softly, pulling her into his arms. He was not a very big or strong man, but when he held her, he was the strongest man she knew.

Helen melted into his embrace as he stroked her hair, her sobs slowly fading off. He brushed the tears away from her cheeks, soothing her with, “I told you I would come back, my angelfish…I know it hurts,”

Her father eventually laid down next to her, holding her close and pulling the blanket over her shoulders. She curled towards his warmth, breathing in his scent and closing her eyes.

“My little darling,” he crooned, touching her feverish forehead before planting a kiss there. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this…if I could take on the pain for you, I would,”

Though Helen was still in pain, having her father there was the best comfort she could have asked for. As she began to drift off to sleep in his arms, she could hear him singing softly to her:

“O bonny Portmore, I am sorry to see Such a woeful destruction of your ornament tree. For it stood on your shore for many's the long day Till the long boats from Antrim came to float it away.

O bonny Portmore, you shine where you stand, And the more I think on you the more I think long. If I had you now as I had once before, All the lords in Old England would not purchase Portmore…”

“Helen? Hey, are you okay?”

Helen opened her eyes, finding herself back in the present. She wasn’t a child anymore and her father was gone, long gone. She sat up slowly, blinking. “Who is it? Who’s there?”

“It’s me,” Miss Pauling sat down on the edge of the bed, shifting closer to Helen. “It’s almost noon, you’ve been in bed a really long time…are you all right?”

“Noon? Oh, my goodness…” Helen shook a hand through her hair, fluffing it up. “I had no idea. What are the men doing?”

“Not much for now, a couple of them went shopping,” Miss Pauling replied. “The others are wondering if you have any jobs for them today,”

“Well,” Helen got up out of bed, going to the mirror to fix her hair. “At the moment? There is not much they have to worry about, but if Saxton Hale still cannot arrive for the signing, we will send the mercenaries to collect him,” she turned around to look at Pauling again. “Has Hale called at all?”

“Not yet,” Pauling sighed. “I tried calling him, but there was no answer. I hope he and Bidwell are okay…”

“Hm,” Helen pursed her lips together. “We’ll just have to wait for now…though, rest assured, the signing must happen,”

“Right, yeah,” Pauling nodded. After a moment, she asked, “Hey, Helen? About Olivia – are you gonna tell her about…you know…”

“Why should I?” Helen’s voice lowered as she shrugged her bathrobe on. “She doesn’t have to know,”

“I know she doesn’t have to,” Pauling assured, though she stood up, gently brushing her hand against Helen’s shoulder. “But wouldn’t it be good for her to know, at some point? Maybe not now, but in the future?”

Helen went quiet again, and she grasped Pauling’s hand in her own, just for a few seconds. “We will see,” she cleared her throat, going to the door. “I need coffee,”

“Okay,” Pauling watched her open the door and head out into the hallway, before she followed after her.

Yet when Helen was downstairs, Spy stepped out from behind the corner and stopped Miss Pauling, pulling her towards him a little. “Miss Pauling, may I speak with you?

“Oh,” Pauling blinked, turning to face him. “Yeah, sure. What do you need?”

Spy took a breath. “Well, I meant to inquire about Olivia. Tell me: what is going to happen with her once the signing takes place?”

Pauling gave a little half-shrug. “Helen’s still working that out, but believe me, Olivia’s gonna be okay,”

“I see…” Spy didn’t quite believe her, but he continued to press. “Is Helen planning on adopting her? Or some such thing?”

Miss Pauling bristled visibly at that, though she maintained her composure. “Why do you wanna know?”

“I’m asking because I’m concerned for Olivia,” Spy dropped the volume of his voice, making sure only Miss Pauling could hear. “Now, you know I’m not one to jump to conclusions, but Helen has never been the parent type from what I can tell. Why would she be interested in adopting her?”

Miss Pauling took a step back, very annoyed but also somewhat anxious at this point. “Spy, look—that isn’t important right now. All you need to know is that we’re gonna handle everything and Olivia is gonna be fine, okay?”

As Spy looked at her, he could see in her eyes that she was hiding something. Though what, he didn’t know. He tried again. “You don’t have to defend her, you know,”

Pauling groaned, rubbing her temples. “Spy…Spy, I’m not—”

Just then, the downstairs phone began ringing, and Pauling perked back up. “Oh, that must be Saxton! Be right back,”

As she hurried downstairs to the phone, Spy watched her go, feeling uneasy and frustrated. He had to find some way to crack her, some way to get her to admit to what was going on…although she was so loyal to Helen, it seemed unlikely. However, Spy knew from his life experiences that even the toughest people have weak spots that will get them to reveal information of any kind, and with Miss Pauling, he knew it would be hard but he would find a weak spot in her shell. For Olivia’s sake, not for his.

At the same time, Olivia had wandered away from Scout at the store when he became distracted by a rack of sport equipment, and though she only went a few feet she soon discovered the toy section.

Her father had always discouraged her from buying toys, but she had never really been interested in them anyhow. Yet as she approached the shelf of stuffed animals, she suddenly realized that she did want one. A voice in her mind told her that they were ‘infantile’ things, as her father would always tell her, and she didn’t need one, though she pushed that back and walked right up to look through the stuffed animals.

At first, she didn’t understand what the appeal to them was. They were just animals made from fabric, there wasn’t anything terribly special or interesting about them. But then she touched one – it was so soft, softer than anything she’d touched, and it had a light yet pleasing weight to it. The animal in question was a little black cat with a blue ribbon around its neck, and she picked it up to get a better look at it.

The cat was very simple-looking, but its eyes were a bright shade of blue. Olivia smiled a little, enjoying the appearance, and she suddenly felt very drawn to the little cat. Yet it was right then that someone approached her.

“Those are nice toys,” a man’s voice said, and Olivia turned around in surprise.

There stood an older man, tall yet slightly hunched over with a thin scar crossing his forehead. Olivia didn’t recognize him at all, and she suddenly began to feel very nervous.

“Yeah,” was all Olivia could reply with, squeezing the cat tighter, really without thinking about it.

The man stooped down lower, his body appearing crooked as she did so. “Are you all by yourself? Where is your dad?”

Olivia took a step back, feeling more and more nervous. She didn’t know what to say or even what to do, but before she could even think of an answer, he stepped even closer. “It’s all right,” he said. “You can trust me, Miss Mann,”

Without even thinking, Olivia looked to her left for whatever was next to her, and when she spotted a tennis racket, she snatched it up and whacked the man across the face with it. He let out a shriek, stumbling back and yelling, “Aw, God, you little shit!”

Olivia began to wonder if he would attempt to attack her after she’d hit him, so she raised the tennis racket again, taking another step towards him, filled with near-murderous rage all of the sudden.

Right then, though, Sniper swooped in, snatching Olivia up and prying the tennis racket away from her and throwing it back towards the bin it had come from.

“There you are!” Sniper exclaimed. “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

Olivia squirmed in his grip, shrieking, “That guy was being weird to me! And he said a swear!”

The man recovered from the blow, but he looked up at Sniper, confusion crossing his expression. “Who the hell are you?”

Sniper looked over his shoulder at the man, squinting. “Huh?”

“Where is Gray?” the man asked, seemingly reaching for Olivia.

Sniper stepped away, getting an uneasy feeling. “What the…? Hey, piss off! Don’t approach lil’ kids like that, you bloody weirdo!”

As Sniper got away from the situation as quick as he could, Olivia calmed down somewhat. Once they were a safe enough distance away, he set her back down, and that was when he noticed the cat.

“Hey, you found a stuffy?” Sniper pointed out. “It’s very nice,”

“Oh,” Olivia had forgotten she was even still holding it. She felt it in her hands, looking back up at Sniper. “Yeah, it’s a cat – who was that guy?”

“I dunno,” Sniper plucked the cat out of her hands, carefully leading her to the checkout area. “But if he ever bothers you again, best believe we’re gonna keep you safe,”

“Okay…” Olivia stared at the stuffed cat in Sniper hands as they approached the register. “What are you gonna do with that?”

“I’m gonna pay for it for you,” Sniper replied, shrugging. “After I do, we can meet back up with Engie and Scout and head on back. Sound good?”

Olivia nodded. “Okay. Yeah, that’s good,” she looked back up at Sniper, watching him as he got his wallet out of his pocket to make sure he had cash on him. The memory of what had just happened in the toy isle crossed her mind, and she shuddered, trying to block it out while standing closer to Sniper.

Sniper noticed, and he took a moment to reach down with a free hand, unsure of how to comfort her but just patting her head for now.

“It’s okay.” He assured her, and although Olivia still felt nervous, the sound of his voice and the tiny gesture of affection made her feel more secure.