#don't take it out of the box it's a collectible

[stevesgother]

emmmm!!!!!!!! in honour of valentines day, I humbly and urgently request reader and steve getting ready for a date together, but steve can't keep his hands off of them 🤭 all the kissy touchy undressy pls! <3333333333333

CHLOE UGH i love this

anything for u my darling

18+ under the cut

You never needed to beg or plead for the bare minimum from your boyfriend like you had with lovers in the past.

Steve loved Valentine's Day. It was the one day a year where he could well and truly spoil you without you bashfully insisting that he 'really didn't have to'. If it were up to him, he'd bring you home a new gold pendant and a bouquet of a dozen red roses every night when he got home from work-- but he spared you for the fear of being "too much". He'd never had a partner that appreciated him so much as you did.

Standing in front of your shared bathroom's mirror, you were attempting to apply your lipstick. Your dinner reservation was in a mere thirty minutes, and your boyfriend was absolutely insatiable.

"Steve, I can't put this one when you're moving me," you groaned.

"Can't help it, baby-- you just look so damn good," his words are muffled as he shoves his face further into the junction where your neck meets your shoulder. You can feel his erection pressing incessantly into your backside as you bent slightly over the counter to get a closer look at your lips.

He'd been like this since the moment you put on that dress-- the dress that he bought for you to wear, no less. He'd presented it to you in a neatly wrapped gift box with a bow on top.

'We have a reservation at Enzo's for seven, picked you up something pretty to wear, too.'

He just hadn't anticipated you looking so fucking sexy in it. He thinks it might even be borderline obscene. Especially with that dainty little 'S' charm hanging in the valley between your breasts.

He was pressing hot, wet kisses to the vein that ran along the side of your neck; one he was well acquainted with.

"Baby, we're gonna be late,"

"I'll drive fast," he breathes.

"Steve--"

"I need you, honey, I'm not gonna be able to make it through dinner," he chuckles, his deft fingers move under the hem of your dress and he pulls at it before letting it snap back into place on your thighs, "jus' wanna take you right here over this counter."

You can't help the whimpery moan that his words elicit from you, and you know immediately that that's what breaks him.

His hand moves to cup your heat over the lace panties you had worn with the notion that he's be ripping them off of you later-- and despite how'd you been trying to play it cool, the wetness pooling there betrays you.

"So wet f'me, baby," his free hand grips you by the jaw and maneuvers you to face him. He kisses you with an urgency you don't have the privilege of experiencing very often. Steve's always been a fantastic kisser, but you love it when he kisses you like it's the last time he'll ever get to. It's passionate and deep; his tongue delving past your lips to dance with your own.

At some point in the last minute or two he had pulled your underwear to the side; seemingly too impatient to take them all the way off. The tips of his index and middle fingers circle your puffy clit, causing a whine to slip past your lips.

He's trying to get you ready for him, always the gentleman, but you can tell he's extra needy tonight. You push the plush of you ass back against his hardness and he all but growls into your ear.

You hear the clinking of him hurriedly unbuckling his belt, and before you know it, the blushing red head if his cock is sliding through your wet folds collecting the wetness there.

"Oh--Steve," you drawl.

"I need you, baby-- is this okay?"

"Yes Steve, please,"

There's no easing into it like there usually is. All at once you feel the entirety of his length sheathed into you and it takes every ounce of strength in your body not to cry out at the sensation. He's taking your face in the hand that doesn't have a death grip on the fat of your hip and forcing you to face the mirror again.

"Want you to look at yourself while I fuck you, such a little slut f'me, huh?"

The hand on your face makes it's way around to grab a fist full of your hair, keeping your head up despite the urge to let your head fall. Your tits bounce with the force of his hips plowing into you, and you know you'll be sore in the morning.

"Touch yourself, baby-- I'm close,"

You do as you're told, moving your hand south to play with your bundle of nerves where your underwear's been hastily pushed to the side. The pressure of the head of Steve's cock hitting that spongey spot deep inside you combined with the added sensation on your clit has the knot in your lower belly tightening.

"Steve!" You cry out. The thought of your upstairs neighbors briefly crosses your mind, but not enough for you to quiet your chants of his name.

"You gonna come? I can feel you, baby, let go. I've got you," he wraps a toned arm around your waist to pull you flush to him. This was his favorite way to finish-- every inch of your body in contact with every inch of his. Steve may be the more domineering partner in your relationship, but he'll forever be a sap at heart. Especially for you.

"Gonna come-- Steve! Inside me please, want you to finish inside,"

"H-oh fuck-- baby--"

You feel him tense inside you seconds before you're flooded with the warmth of him filling you to the brim. Logically, you both know you're on birth control, but even the idea of Steve knocking you up makes him finish almost instantly. Every single time. It's like his kryptonite.

He rides out his high with a few more harsh thrusts before he's pulling out and moving your underwear back in place.

"Wait-- I need to clean up," you start but he interrupts as he's buckling his belt.

"You're gonna go to dinner like that, and then when we get home later, I'm gonna fuck it back into you. That sound good?"

You're left speechless at how casually he says it. Leave it to Steve to work you up like this, and then act like he didn't just rock your world.

"Uh huh," you respond, a little dumbly.

"Good." He smiles so earnestly it makes you melt a little, "Jesus, baby, your lipsticks a mess. Better fix it while I start the car, yeah?"

You laugh, swatting his chest, but he just bends at the waist to give you a smacking kiss to your sweaty cheek as if he isn't the sole reason you look so disheveled.

"Steven!"

"Love you!" He calls over his shoulder as he runs from you.

Maybe Valentine's Day wasn't so bad when you had him.

[fanged-fanfics]

☆ Spark to Heart — Transformers x Human!Reader Valentine's HCs ☆

Genre: Fluff || they/them pronouns for reader || No warnings needed

A/N: Prompt for all of these is the bots reacting to Reader introducing them to the human Valentine's traditions!

──────.𖥔 ݁ ˖˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ──────

Autobots:

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Optimus takes the concept very seriously, encouraging his teammates to try and partake in it to respect human customs. He gets very flustered when you give him a present for the holiday, attempting to hide his blush behind his battlemask as he 'professionally' accepts

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Cliffjumper ends up overthinking it a bit. He keeps second-guessing what would be perfect enough. He doesn't want to get something too obvious, but what else is there? What he does rather than a gift is setting up a stargazing date for you both

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Ratchet almost wants to skip the holiday, he doesn't really see the point of it. But when finding out it's a way of showing affection, he subtly picks it up. Gave you a heart-shaped box of little energon cubes. Even if you can't really eat them, the thought alone was touching, especially with how embarrassed he was delivering it

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Jazz immediately sets out to make you a mix of music. He rapid-downloads all the cheesy human love songs he can find. When listening it to you, he tries to sing along to some of them, only knowing about 1/3rd of the words. It's the time with you that matters, especially seeing you laugh at his attempts

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Wheeljack immediately begins building something for you, and spends the next few weeks working through lab explosions. At the end of it, he gives you a custom-made gift— a heart that folds out to reveal a ring that ended up being the perfect bracelet size for you

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Bumblebee takes to the idea immediately, and he snags a bunch of ideas for human customs. You get practically smothered in flowers he grabbed a servofull of out of a field, and he makes sure you have a plush that's of ample side (to him it was rather small, to you it was almost twice your size)

Decepticons:

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Megatron completely brushes off the idea once you tell it to him. A holiday all about love. How cliché, and disgustingly human. And yet, you wake up with a small bundle of roses and a little note waiting for you in the morning, and Megatron just so happened to clear his schedule... just a coincidence, he insists

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Soundwave is rather apathetic to the concept. He barely interacts with bots when it comes to romance, so his approach to humans isn't much different on the surface. On the day of, he has a schedule of hangouts for you to do together all planned out, and a collection of traditional Cybertronian songs for you to listen to

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Starscream absolutely laughs at the notion. That's really something humans dedicate so much time and energy to? So simple, so inane. But... you are free then, right? Because he is, and he supposes there's a spot nearby that would be nice for a lunch. And maybe he picked up a box of those stupid chocolates that are in all the human commercials. Don't look to much into it, he says

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Shockwave looks at it from, of course, a logical view. He tries to think about how societally it makes sense to prioritize those types of relationships, even if he's never really had time for them. He'll also show up day of with a little bowtie and an invitation to dinner for you. It's customary to have a date, and he tells you outright that you were his first pick

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Thundercracker might not see the point, but he's absolutely down to hang out with you. You've been his favorite human since the beginning, why not? He doesn't really know what to do, but any time you make a romantic gesture to him, he flushes in blush and ends up nervously and very gently holding your hand

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Skywarp takes the opportunity to have fun, inviting you out with him the second he knows it's free time off of work. He offers to take you for a flight, out for some pranks, really just anything you want to make the most of the day. At the end he even gives you a gentle kiss atop your head as a thanks for the fun

[sombrashe]

2 random relationship headcanons ∿ team thanos

suggestive

✐ᝰlets you take a hit of his vape in the middle of sex. doesn't matter if he's fucking into you or if you're bouncing on his lap. he's grabbing his vape off the bedside box and blowing smoke in your face

"Quit it, Choi."

"Harsh... want a hit? It's cherry lime."

"Sounds awful."

"You say that to everything."

"That's because blue raspberry is the only flavor."

✐ᝰrolls a blunt on your lower back as you're scrolling. swatting at your ass when you laugh too hard and shake some of the bud loose. he finishes it off by keeping his tongue out too long and licking a stripe from the blunt to your side.

"Ew, Su-bong. What have I said about the licking?"

"That you love it and want me to do it."

"I get enough weed stench on me being in your presence. I don't need it embedded into my skin."

"Boring."

✐ᝰbrings home random pills he's collected throughout his shift at the club and expects you to take them with him. you always question every little thing about the pill. all he has to do is taking a quick look and knows exactly what it is.

"That's ecstasy. It's an upper."

"So I'll get like super depressed after?"

"Yeah, but I'll be here. It's fun."

"I hallucinate, right?"

"That's one of the symptoms, yeah"

✐ᝰdoes your nails because he's dead broke. He wishes he could buy you those cute sets you always linger on when online browsing. He found some nail sets on temu and went to a beauty store to buy nail supplies. he kept these hidden while he watched video after video about how to properly do nails.

"Where did you learn this?"

"YouTube."

"Why?"

"Bored."

✐ᝰdyes your hair so long as you agree to go with her when she gets a new piercing. she loves seeing all the different colors you've gone through. she especially loves how you just make shit up, mixing emerald pixie and frozen cotton candy and naming the teal color frozen pixie candy. amazing

"What color are we doing next?"

"I don't know. Any ideas?"

"What about pink. You always look so cute in pink."

"Pervert."

"I didn't even say anything."

✐ᝰrants to you about her day, everyday. at first it was frustrating, it seemed like all she did was complain. the more you bit your tongue and listened you slowly came to realize she needed a new job. immediately. what kind of boss says those things??

"You need to quit."

"I can't just quit."

"I make enough to hold us over until you find another job."

"But we would have to cut down a lot."

"I will do whatever you need."

✐ᝰblushes when you offer to go down on him. you don't do it often since he normally initiates but the few times you do offer his face turns beat red. it always starts at the tip of his ears, moves over to the apples of his cheeks, and ends splattered across his cheat like a renaissance painting.

"You're so red, Min-su."

"Don't tease me."

"I'm not! I promise, I think it's cute. Sexy even."

"Uh-huh."

"No really, It shows how turned on I make you."

✐ᝰgenuinely giggles. anytime you get the upper hand during wrestling you stick your fingers right under his chin and start tickling. at first he lets out a sharp laugh. something harsh that is accompanied by kicks. when it really starts getting to be too much he starts giggling uncontrollably.

"Stop. Stop. Too much."

"Say it. Say I'm the champion."

"You're-."

"Min-su."

"You won. You're the champion. Now stop, please. I can't breathe."

✐ᝰwatches you whenever you're not looking. He feels like a creep doing it but you're just so gorgeous. Absolutely ethereal and he physically can't keep his eyes off of you. He does it so often he ends up spacing out and you have to raise your voice to snap him out of it.

"Gyeong-su? Gyeong-su!"

"What?"

"Have you heard a single thing I said?"

"What did you say?"

"Unbelievable."

✐ᝰhypes you up any chance he gets. just woke up and need nothing more than a shower? God, baby, you look so good. putting the finishing touches on your makeup before a night out? Wow, you're breathtaking. when you're facedown and his lips are inches from the shell of your ear? Amazing how I get to call you mine.

"Which shirt with these pants?"

"You look amazing in both."

"That's not helpful Gyeong-su."

"But it's the truth."

"Then lie."

[wheels-of-despair]

Define Romantic Pairing: Eddie Munson x You Summary: Is Eddie romantic? Evil Woman ponders. Out loud. And makes Eddie squirm a little, just for fun. Contains: Lovesick losers, mildly amusing banter, a verdict. Words: 800ish

"Do you think I'm romantic?"

"Define romantic," you say without looking up from your book. This is one of the least shocking random questions Eddie Munson has ever thrown at you.

"I dunno, like… romantic."

"Yes, repeating the word really does the trick, thank you for that, Edward."

He drops his face onto the pillow and groans. You put your book aside, turn your head toward the frustrated boy lying face-down next to you in your bed, and wait for an explanation.

He flips over on his back, putting his hands behind his head, and speaks to the ceiling.

"Two chicks in third period were taking a romance quiz in some gossip rag and I was bored enough to listen."

"Ah, so we're going by Cosmo's romance standards," you surmise. He shrugs. "So like… flowers and chocolate and red rose petals on the bed?"

"Nevermind," Eddie sighs, closing his eyes. "Forget I brought it up."

"Nope." You roll over and nestle into his side like you belong there, resting your head on his chest and slinging a leg over his. "You asked, now you're gonna get it."

"Oh, God." He groans, but wraps an arm around you.

"Do you think you're romantic?"

"I don't know," he whines.

"Do you want to be?"

"Is it like… optional?"

You snort. Eddie shifts uncomfortably, and you collect your thoughts.

"I think you're romantic, but not in a traditional way. And I love that about you."

"Yes, good. Continue," he says. You laugh and proceed.

"I don't think romance means the same thing to everyone," you muse. "To me… it's not gifts that you're expected to give. Flowers and teddy bears and jewelry on Hallmark-approved holidays. It's…" You pause to take a breath and search for your words. "It's little things that make me stop and go, 'fuck, I love this guy.'"

"Like what?" Eddie asks quietly.

You think about it for a moment, and when you realize what the answer is, a smile spreads across your face.

"Like how you always 'forget' the blanket when we go to Weathertop, so I have to rely on you for warmth."

"Bold of you to assume I forget on purpose," he chuckles, giving you a slight squeeze with the arm he has around you. "What else?"

"Hmmm…" you ponder. A laugh escapes your lips. "When you ramble about Middle-earth."

"Shut up."

"I'm serious," you grin. "You get so fired up and animated, waving your hands all around and knocking stuff over. I love it."

"K, I'm just gonna go die of embarrassment now, it was kind of nice knowing you, I guess," he grumbles, trying to squirm away. You hold him tighter. He's not going anywhere.

"It's passionate," you correct him. "The way you rant and rave about something that matters to you. To me. I don't know if I'll ever fully understand the complicated world of Tolkien, but dammit, I love listening to you ramble about it."

"Really?" he asks quietly.

"Yeah!" you laugh. "You know what else stokes the fire in my loins?"

"Oh God," he groans, squirming and pulling his hair across his face and trying to hide how much he's enjoying this.

"The way your good-morning and your good-night kisses are completely different," you say quietly, kissing his jaw. He stills, and you rest your head in the crook of his neck and continue. "The way you look at me when you're on stage. The way you light cigarettes. The way you keep your fridge stocked with my favorite pop. The way it feels like we're the only two people in the world when we're alone together. The way you nuzzle your nose into my neck when it's frozen and I tell you to stop and you know I don't mean it so you don't. And those little drawings you make for me on tiny scraps of paper. You know I keep all of those?"

"You do?"

"Mhm," you hum, resting your chin on his chest to look up at his blushing face. "And I'd pick one of those over a truckload of roses or a box of boring jewelry every time. So yes, Eddie Munson, I think you're extremely romantic. In a way that's probably weird to other people, but perfect for us."

"Because we're weird," he supplies.

"Because we're weird," you confirm.

You let the words hang in the air between you for a moment, unable to break eye contact.

"So uh…" Eddie smirks, shifting beneath you. "Would now be an appropriate time for me to stroke the fire in your loins?"

You narrow your eyes. When his smirk fades and his eyes show a trace of fear, you grin.

"Ugh, fine," you groan.

He pounces.

[deke-rivers-1957]

Speedway Review

Originally planned to be a Sonny and Cher picture, the rights were sold by Columbia to MGM. It would subsequently be retooled into an Elvis movie. Given the decline in Elvis' box office success, MGM wanted to recapture the magic of Viva Las Vegas by utilizing the rising star in Nancy Sinatra. This was ironically her last film role as she would go on to focus on her music career. Naturally with movie plots being recycled where we have yet another movie involving Elvis as a racer vying for the affections of a younger woman, a burning question came up: Is Elvis still relevant?

Based on the critics reactions, the answer was no. A relatively generous critic who reacted to the movie as it came out, Kevin Thomas, stated that Nancy Sinatra's song was the high point of the movie with the film as a whole being too much of an imitation of Elvis' other movies. If even an Elvis friendly film critic is pointing out how stale and boring it is, that's a sign serious changes need to be made. But is the movie itself good despite being a copycat of Viva Las Vegas or is it a sign that Elvis and all creative minds involved stopped caring about the product they made? Let's find out.

I'm so used to having the title card with Elvis singing open up the movie, that it's very jarring to have action happen right away. For an opening that's meant to get you hooked for more, all we get is lackluster exposition regarding Steve preparing for a race. I understand that he's supposed to be a racer but why should I care about him winning this one race when we're just meeting him? "Speedway" plays over b-roll of the real life Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina. Too bad Elvis himself is rear screen projectioned in as all racing footage is b-roll. At least they showcase the real life top named stock car racers such as Richard Petty outside of the opening credits so racing fans have something to enjoy. Oh wait.

I do appreciate that there's a lot of secondary characters to fill in the scenery but too many of them with speaking roles are introduced at once. It'd be one thing if they existed to specifically set up the location, but Steve's pit crew is introduced all at once and will have absolutely no individual character traits. In a movie that's meant to be a comedy, the only thing that's mildly funny is how superstitious the racing world is. One guy kisses the lucky rabbit's foot in his car while another one ups him by taking out a whole rabbit. It's a quirky visual gag.

Steve of course wins and immediately any suspense I had is lost. There's no immediate answer to the question "so what" and it will never be answered. Nancy Sinatra plays Susan Jacks who works for the IRS to investigate Steve's income vs his deductions. The whole premise is weird and I won't bore you with my accounting and tax background on why. It all boils down to the movie's idea of what IRS collecting agents do and how inaccurate it is. I don't like poo pooing movies for not being 100% accurate because I get that to some degree you need artistic licensing. The problem is that nothing involving Susan's character and situation is entertaining to me.

I'm skipping through a lot but in all honesty it's nothing but padding. Steve handing out money for this down on his luck guy and his kids means nothing to me. It's a pitiful attempt to answer the "so what" question given that if things were that bad, these kids would not still be living with him. I don't find these kids charming and it's obvious they want to have a "cutesy" factor because it worked so well in previous movies. All I can think about is how if the dad was that down on his luck that him and his children are sleeping in his car, there would be a lot of law enforcement involved since you have at least one girl who's barely 3 years old. Steve being in the racing circuit means traveling across the country so I have no idea how he's able to keep up with financially supporting this family.

Imagine my surprise to find that at least a year has passed in this movie since it's covered by one montage of Steve winning races. This only makes the Susan issue worse since at some point you would think Steve would question why she's following him everywhere the past year. It also makes "He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad" painful to watch because we waste so much time getting to the inevitable scene where Steve finds out how bad his tax situation is. It feels like a propaganda piece that comes off as insulting. We get it, paying your taxes is important. We don't need a song number about it and everyone's faces says it all: Kenny doesn't care about Steve's eventual problem, Steve looks like he's miserable as get out and Gale Gordon looking at both of them like "oh my god I have to deal with these people". I felt like Steve sitting in the office as Gale Gordon reads off all the hokey deductions Kenny tried to make. It's another example of how nothing this is. Does it suck that Steve now owes $145k in back taxes? Yes but it's not like he's being arrested for tax evasion. They just want their money and know him winning his races will accomplish that.

I'm about an hour into this and we're just now getting to the actual conflict if you can call it that. Steve looks annoyed but it's not as if he actually fires Kenny for preparing his returns incorrectly. I get that they want to poke fun of Elvis for the things he did in real life, but even Elvis cut people out of his life once he stopped liking them. For someone that's supposed to be a life long friend, Kenny has been nothing but a creep and just isn't funny at all for someone who's supposed to be the comedic sidekick. Like him making up this wild story about a zoo escape just to keep a woman from going home isn't funny. If anything I "laughed" more at the woman knocking him out with how justified her reaction was.

In a not at all shocking turn of events Susan falls for Steve which completely compromises her position with this case. The reason why I say that is because she's supposed to be a neutral party to this yet by falling in love with Steve, this would create a conflict of interest. It's amazing how the movie is progressive for having a woman work in a pretty powerful entity like the IRS, yet reduces her to the love interest. The funny thing is, the more sexist option of having Susan just be Gale Gordon's secretary actually makes more sense to the overall story. Either that or be even more progressive by having Susan just be Gale Gordon's character so the subsequent consequences actually feel earned. I get that in real life you would have an agent regularly check in, but from a narrative perspective, it's just repetitive since this is your main conflict. The result is that both Kenny and Steve badger Susan just so they can get back to financially supporting themselves. She has absolutely no say in this decision so it makes both of them unlikeable even though the movie wants you to think this is all Susan's fault.

It gets even worse when you have Steve barge into her hotel room to confront her. The writers clearly had no desire to write a good romance as we literally go from seeing Susan running for her life as Steve chases after her to them kissing. I'm sorry what? I can't even begin to describe how disjointed everything is where it's obvious nobody actually read the whole script to see if scenes actually flow together. Not to mention how Steve even doing this makes him look like a monster even in the context of this universe so you really wouldn't want to support this relationship. I get that this is meant to be his breaking point but again THIS IS NOT SUSAN'S FAULT. As I've already stated, the only person responsible for this entire situation is Kenny. So for him to put that on Susan not only makes him a bad person but it also makes the decision to have him fall in love with Susan just terrible writing. I'm beyond confused at how Elvis and Nancy Sinatra had a very good rapport behind the scenes only for none of that to come out on screen.

So Steve ends up in debt because Kenny has a gambling problem and not even that is enough to fire him. But it's ok as with the big race coming up, just doing well enough to win any cash prize will be enough to at least cover Kenny's gambling debt and buy back all the repossessed items. Seriously why bother even having stakes when your problems are pretty easy to resolve? There's being a slice of life movie and there's being painfully boring. Even when Steve randomly crashes despite being the only car on the track, the montage of everyone fixing the car feels flat. Because based on everything you've seen, of course the car's going to be fixed in time. The only so called humor is the dad being stuck in the back seat and having to be physically removed through the front side window as there are no back doors. He's just frozen in place because he was just going over 100 mph after waking up in the "backseat" which doesn't make sense either but moving on.

The final race is a snooze fest and at this point you forget that Paul was his rival. From a narrative perspective he's supposed to be another antagonist but he's not. Steve kept winning or at least placing in his races so there's no rivalry. They're not on equal ground based on what's shown in the movie. It's not even set up where they're rivals in universe but to the audience it's so one sided that Paul talking trash would be funny. There's just nothing to the point where Paul shouldn't even exist as a character. Even Clambake had a better set up than this as you at least had Scott interact with Jamison throughout the movie. With Jamison you at least understood that him being a creep towards Diane had a point. Kenny being a creep with women is practically played off as comedy when it's not funny. I know I'm going on a lot of tangents but it's because Speedway gives us nothing and there's only so much b-roll of actual racers you can watch before you just want the movie to end. After all everyone knows it's just going to end with Steve winning.

Actually it won't. Steve doesn't win the big race. Wow. This subversion of expectations would actually be a fun twist if it genuinely mattered. But it doesn't. Steve wins enough money to pay off Kenny's debt. Of course he still owes $137k in back taxes but forget all that let's go clubbing! I know they mention how he has a long way to go since no one actually expects you to pay off that kind of debt right away, but it's still the concept of it. You feel frustrated that the whole movie built up to this only for nothing to really happen. Clambake at least had an intrapersonal conflict where Scott's trying to see if he's liked for his personality as opposed to his nepotistic roots. Here I know nothing about Steve outside of him being a professional racer. Therefore I do not care about whether he wins or not. After all it's not like anything actually changed.

Sure Steve isn't in immediate debt anymore but that doesn't mean it won't happen again. Steve is treating the symptoms of poverty and debt before treating the actual cancer that is his manager Kenny. In other words, Steve winning this one race doesn't mean Kenny kicked his gambling habit. Steve winning this one race doesn't mean the father got a well paying job that allows him to provide for his children. Nothing that caused Steve to actually be in this position was changed. All he did was win enough money to no longer deal with the immediate negative consequences. Why should I be happy knowing this could all happen again if Kenny makes one bad bet? But who cares when at the end of the day none of what just happened actually matters am I right?

I have no idea why the choices that were made were made since you have Nancy Sinatra being Nancy Sinatra when she's supposed to be an otherwise ordinary woman who works with the IRS. Even if you don't know who she is, the movie itself is just awful with many scenes only existing for padding and a painfully boring story. I'm amazed that watching this movie made me realize I was actually quite harsh on Harum Scarum. Is it nonsensical and very cringe inducing? Yes. Is it a rehash of something Elvis had already previously done and is boring as sin? Absolutely not. Speedway manages to be all of the above. I had very little joy watching it. There's so little plot that you can easily turn this into a short film. The songs add nothing and if anything demonstrates that duplicating successful Elvis movies means nothing if you don't understand why they were successful in the first place.

When combined with a terrible romance and a horrible use of characters this is the worse Elvis movie I've seen so far. If you're a fan of any of the demographics this movie is trying to target do not watch it. Elvis looks like he's permanently trapped at the IRS office with how irritated he looks most of the movie, Nancy Sinatra has absolutely no charm with how boring her character is, and racing fans would feel totally ripped off to see big name racers like Richard Petty get his own name card in the opening credits only for that to be his only appearance. This is a 3/10 simply because I don't know how bad a movie needs to be to genuinely deserve a lower score. It's so beyond shocking how we go from King Creole to this in the span of a decade. The movie being a box office success is the best example of how just because something is popular doesn't mean it's good. And this movie quite frankly is not good at all and is only another brick in the proverbial wall that is Elvis' Hollywood career.

An: Man. I don't like skipping over songs or a lot of scenes in the movie, but I just couldn't find it in me to go through it all in full detail without copying and pasting my live reaction blurbs during a watch party. What a way to celebrate Valentine's Day. I thought this movie was going to be mid at worst but I was shocked at how bad this was. I wish I had a better movie that showcased a strong romance but oh well. Better luck next time I guess. Let's hope March gives me a "pot of gold".

Tagging: @codalysssssworld, @presleysweetheart, @smokeymountainboy, @arrolyn1114, @peaceloveelvis,

@mercsandmonsters, @eapep, @atleastpleasetelephone, @without-him, @lucy114505,

@blighted-star, @rjmartin11, @elvisbdoll, @dragonkingsdaughter, @ifyouloveweedletsgosmoke,

@ilovequeen978, @fuzzymusic94, @halieghhh, @tacozebra051, @hooked-on-elvis,

@lola-1013, @father-of-2cats, @southcarolinawoman, @elvisflowerchild, @elviscinema,

@i-r-i-n-a-a, @jadeeloveselviss, @xanatenshi, @thelonelyheart, @vintagepresley,

@iloveelvis2, @elvisfangirl92, @angelelvis, @chihirolunvh, @epcoffeelovenotes,

@jd5824, @ahundredlifetime, @alienelvisobsession, @eptodaytommorowforever, @freudianslumber,

@wanderingelvis, @lustnhim, @lvrdollep, @georgefairbrother, @bioshockpunch,

and @joecartwright1842.

[drunkenskunk]

I miss when Games Workshop did shit like this, man. Because, like... I love the fact that these aren't paintings, these are miniatures. These are dioramas, dressed up, photographed, and doctored in photoshop or something to look like photos taken by a war correspondent. They look like they belong in a Ken Burns documentary, it's fantastic!

It's a wonderful expression of the actual craft involved in this hobby. Putting these together must have taken an enormous amount of time and effort and care, and... like... I don't see modern GW doing something like this ever again. Because these look amazing, but it doesn't directly make them any money, so why would they bother?

They're much more interested in taking extremely high quality photos of professionally painted miniatures that you can buy, suspended in a white void: all so you can better make out the details of these products. And if there is terrain or a background, all the minis are very obviously on bases, because hey: these are things you can buy. Only $65 for the Kill Team box. Don't you want to add them to your collection?

I dunno, just feels like they don't know how to have fun anymore.

Oh I see,you just love old forge world books

[futuremrscameron]

how the !readers celebrate valentine’s day

bahamian!reader

bahamian!reader is neutral about the holiday but rafe is excited and going all out. their first valentines was the most laid back and it was a first class trip to the bahamas

every valentine's day is a friendly competition to see who can outdo the other's romantic gesture. before the kids they would either spend the day in bed, hit the beach, or go to a club in new york. post-kids the spontaneous traveling has died down but the romance and adventure is still very much there

after dropping the kids off at school the couple have the house to themselves and sleep in til lunch. they have lunch at the country club, ordering every valentine's special available. rafe is intrigued but disgusted at the idea of to-go boxes but that does Not stop bahamian!reader from asking for them

"i guess i just don't get it." rafe watches her effortlessly position the uneaten dessert into a box.

she shrugs, "what's not to get? couldn't finish the food, don't wanna waste it, still want it, i'm takin' it home."

he frowns, "right..."

"it's not that strange rafe. no different from leftovers and i know you know what leftovers are rich boy."

he blushes, "i know what leftovers are."

"well then there you go! this isn't all for me you know? not that grabalishous." she closes the final box and licks the cream cheese from the cinnamon roll of her finger. she taps the table, "fuck that's good. i'll give you folks that, you make good treats."

rafe blushes at the casual act made vulgar by his own mind. he looks down at his watch, "we have an hour before school let's out."

"i miss our chirren too but bringing them up on a date is what you rich folks would call a faux pas no?"

he sighs, "no i mean.- we have the house to ourselves..." he tilts his head and squints.

a grin slowly stretches across her face, "ooh you're nasty." she chuckles, grabs the bag full of takeout boxes and stands up. she points at the table, "pay then meet me in the car."

he watches her strut out the lounge, "yes ma'am."

they share their sweet treats with their kids and listen to them talk about their mini valentine's day celebrations at school (and yes they do take some of their candy)

after putting the kids to bed they take a dip in their pool, reminiscing on the times they would get drunk and skinny dip and reslize how dangerousbtaht was

they end the night sleeping soundly on the couch, cuddled up together after a valentine's day different from the ones of the past but still a success in their book (who gets the point for this valentine's will become discussed the next day)

academic rival!pogue

academic rival!pogue always imagined library dates as the extent of pope's romance before she realized she had feelings for him. the reality is a welcomed surprise.

she spends the night at pope's the day before after getting permission from both their parents.

pope stares at the ceiling in his room, "is it a good or bad thing that our parents think we're virgin loaers?"

she stops kissing his neck to meet his eyes, her glare tells him that was the wrong thing to say.

"i wouldn't describe myself like that." she removes herself from his lap and plops down next to him.

he shakes his head and sits up, trying to meet her eyes. "no of course not. i just mean- you know- i'm happy you're here and i have so much planned tomorrow and-"

"pope." she glances at him.

"yeah?"

she pushes him back down and throws her legs on both sides of his legs. "stop talking."

he nods, "okay."

pope wakes her up with coffee just how she likes it and gives her an itinerary list of their day. she hates that this has made him 1000 times hotter in her eyes.

10:00-11:00 breakfast/get ready for bookstore

11:30-1:00 bookstore shopping

1:15-2:00 reading at the park + lunch at the wreck

2:30-5:00 movie

they get ice cream after the movie and head down to the pier which leads them to the beach and collecting as many unique shells as they can find. academic rival!pogue comes up with the idea of putting shells on each other and taking pictures of their work

next valentine's day they both give the pictures they took with decorative frames

kitty!reader

wake and bake. arts and crafts (card making) in their shared pajama set while they eat breakfast

"okay that's cheating." she stops kissing her envelope and turns her attention to him.

"what?"

"kisses? on your envelope? that's like ten sexy points. "

"you literally have color pencils and markers, 10 points for creativity, we're evenly matched and if it's that much if a big deal you can borrow my lipstick?"

"that's not the point."

"okay so you're just talking to talk. take your L like a man."

after swpaping cards and calling the competition a tie they go to the park. they smoke on the swings and talk about the morality of child free spaces until one of the kook parents call the cops on them. kitty's kookness saves them from getting arrested but they have to leave the park

grocery shopping for pizza recipes goes better than expected, they get everything they on their list and almost no one can tell they're high as a kite

watching courage the cowardly dog reruns while they try to make a heart pizza. kitty is running that kitchen like the navy, it's the most intense pj's ever seen her and he into it

they eat their heart pizzas while playing dress to impress. kitty makes comments on how accurate it is to the fashion and modeling world

puppy!reader

the first half of the day is a half date half treasure hunt. puppy gives him a bunch of kisses (paper) with her favorite things about written on them and he gives her two tickets to the fair

they go to the beach bright and early because john b is meeting someone ther but puppy is none the wiser. he doesn't rush them to the next destination immediately but it's less out of the kindness of his heart and more because he doesn't need to be there til much later

on the way back from the beach puppy spots a trail and says they should see where it leads. john b worries that this impromptu hike will mess up his schedule but he doesn't wanna look sketchy so he agrees

puppy brings her picnic basket in hopes that they'll find a good spot for a picnic. they do.

"isn't this amazing?" she takes in the beautiful meadow they found once out for the woods.

john b holds his knees to his chest and anxiously taps his foot against the picnic blanket. "yeah it's great."

she sits down by his side and tucks a strand hair behind his ear, it calms his nerves somewhat. "don't worry baby, we'll make it in time."

he feels his heart drop, "how did you-"

"i know you, remember? and i know what someone keeping secrets looks like?" she looks down at her lap, "can you tell me next time?"

he kisses her forehead, "of course lady."

john b spends 30 minutes at the fair before he heads off. he refuses doesn't bring puppy to the mysterious location out of fear of her getting hurt but it doesn't make it any easier for either of them. he promises to make it up to her and tells her that jj will pick her up before zooming out of the parking lot leaving a heartbroken puppy

she's woken up by a hand over her mouth and screams before recognizing the familiar hand, john b. she screams some more at his horrifying entrance and curses ever giving him a key

"what the hell are you doing here?" she turns on the lamp on her nightstand to get a better look at him.

"i told you i'd make it up to you." he takes three steps forward and caresses her face before leaning in for a kiss.

hislips on hers almost melts all the questions out her mind. she softlt psuhes at his chest, "john b. where did you go? what did you find?"

he softly smiles, "don't worry about that right now." he kisses his way down her face, to her neck. she pulls him down on top of her, trying to keep up with his kisses and wiggle back onto the bed.

he slowly lifts up her shirt, placing kisses around her stomach before stopping at her boxers that look very familiar. "you missed me that much."

she looks down at the boxers, "i wanted to be close to you."

he smiles, "i missed you too" he roughly pulls the boxers down. she whimpers in anticipation and at his manhandling.

"shh it's okay." he kisses her cheeks as he pushes his pants down.

"you ready?" she nods. he slowly pushes in, making her grip his shoulders. his breathing grows heavier from the overwhelming feeling of her warmth squeezing around him.

he lokks down. she's having a similarly hard time. "you forgive me yet?"

"mm-hm." her eyes are squeezed shut.

"huh?" he thrusts, "hey. open your eyes baby."

she grips his curls, "y-yes! yes!"

"yeah?" he picks up his thrusts.

"yes!"

he gives her a soft but passionate kiss. "i love you."

"i love you johnny." she wipes her tears.

he slows down his thrusts to lean down and whisper in her ear, "don't cry. i'm sorry."

"it's okay."

"i won't leave you alone again." he wraps an arm around her waist lifting her onto his lap.

she drops her head in his shoulder, "johnathan."

"i got you baby."

'warm' is the only word that comes to their minds when they collapse side by side.

"promise you'll tell me what you found tomorrow?"

"promise."

bestie!kook

they've spent every valentine's together since high school but finally being official stresses them both out. rafe shows up at her house with flowers and balloons and she makes them heart pancakes. it's awkward for a couple minutes before they fall back into their usual routine

rafe gives bestie!kook a letter detailing how he feels since "he's not the best ar words". first time he realized he was in love, apologizing for using her, wanting her to move on with him, they're all in the letter. she cries of course

jewelry shopping after breakfast. bestie!kook picks out a pink heart diamond ring which rafe immediately puts on her finger. makes them think of marriage which leads to them crashing a wedding

talking about the future and hopes and dreams like they used to do on the roof at family parties. they leave early and go to a hotel

a rose petal bath to unwind and two glasses of wine to celebrate a successful valentine's day

weird girl!kook

weird girl!kook drives to tanneyhill to wake jj up, knowing he crashes there 9 times out of 10. she gives him a wet willy which makes him wake up screaming and cursing until he realizes it's her. irritated that she went through the trouble of getying a box, a gift, and gift wrap for this spoiled brat she calls her boyfriend

"beautiful girl what did i do to deserve this?" his voice us muffled as he whines into her side.

"you were supposed to pick me up at 12." she pulls his hair causing him to wince and remove his face from her side.

"i know. forgive me?" he pouts. she drops her hold on his hair and stands up causing his face to hit the bed.

"gross." she tosses his gift box on the bed, "here's your gift."

he rips it off within seconds and gasps when he sees the contents. "babe! a lighter? and it's got my name on it?" he pulls her into a hug, she pats his head.

"i love you."

"i know."

can't stay mad at him for long espeically when he gets her the paint/brushes she's been talking about for months and shares his weed with her

they go back to weird girl!kook's so she can check on her babies (ferrets) before they head out

jj surprises her with dinner reservations to her favorite outdoor restaurant. he's on his best behavior which freaks her out so bad. she drags him to the photo booth and kisses him stupid

she only comes up for air after feeling his hand on her butt. she grips his face; "stop whatever you're doing?"

"wha do you mean?" it comes out slurred so she let's go.

"this well adjusted normal guy act. it's freaking me out "

he laughs. it makes her eye twitch. "you're the one that told me to be on my best behavior."

"yeah, your best behavior not your best serial killer impersonation."

he pinches her side, she pinches him back. "you're a really complicated woman you know that?"

she huffs.

he shakes his head and sighs, "i hope no one took our photo. though someone perming off to picture of us making out is kind of flattering, no?"

she shakes her head, "freak." her smile tells him it's a compliment.

going to the abandoned exhibit to paint the walls using the new brushes and paint jj got her. jj's supposed to be lookout but he's too enamored by her painting to notice the sirens, nearly getting them caught

biker!pogue

biker!pogue doesn't think the holiday is that big of a deal while rafe sees it as the ultimate indicator of whether or not a couple is meant to last

he gets her flowers and a motorcycle charm for her keychain. she's genuinely surprised at his thoughtfuless and can't help but wonder if he's only doing this out of his misguided belief that valentine's day is some fortune teller or out of actual love for her

it's proven to be the latter when he takes her to an arcade. not just any arcade, but the arcade that helped her hone her motorcycle riding skills. he talks about his intense attitude the whole day and gives the closest thing to an apology he knows

racing on the beach until the sun starts to set. rafe loses back to back to back but insists 4th time's the charm. it's not, he loses again. takes his loss semi gracefully.

they stop at a grocery store in figyre eight and the heywards' in the cut to get everything she needs for the dinner she's got planned. she makes rose-shaped pizza rolls and heart-shaped garlic bread

angel!reader

originally, angel was supposed to go to a church event but rafe somehow convinced her to take a trip with him, mostly as an apology for everything

shocked by how much fun she's having at the getaway, angel starts to think of her future and what she wants in life. making heart shaped cookies and the trial run life with rafe is nice but it reminds her too much of her old life

rafe thinks the resort will cheer her up because he's having a ball but angel doesn't care for it. choosing to go on the tour of the nearby forest instead. it's there she has her spiritual reawakening

she meets rafe back at their cabin and is surprised to find him eating the cookies she made. she apologizes for ruining his planned day but he's not bothered at all

they eat sweets for dinner and feel that pain on the drive back to the outer banks

bunny!reader

rafe actually loves valentine’s day-- not the holiday itself but that he gets to prove his worth, take care of his bunny and show her off, so he goes all out. a weekend stay at a resort leading up to the big day.

the first gift of the weekend, a trip to the salon and a new purse filled with 100-dollar bills, because what kind of man would he be letting her pay for her own nails

after the salon they relax by the pool, bunny working on her tan and rafe glaring at anyone that stares too long at her

the second day has bunny lounges by the pool, new nails shining under the sun as she works on her tan. rafe tries to take it easy on the drinking so he's sober at dinner later

candlelit dinner at a classy restaurant rafe bought out just for them. bunny has been dying to go there and is estatic when rafe tells her their dinner plan. squeals and jumps into his arms, covering him in glossy kisses.

"oh thank you thank you thank you!"

"yeah yeah, look save it for later 'kay? i paid good money for this shit, don't want us to be late."

bunny makes him coordinate with her (not those godawful pastels). she gives him a color palette and expects him to stick to it which he does, not wanting to hear her rant about the "color palette for valentine's day" again

rafe goes all out, renting out a limousine for the day driver takes them to dinner

ending the day over the moon and completely lovestruck

foxy!reader

they're still not officially together so they don't celebrate together, they just happen to be in the same places at the same time. foxy is still getting used to not hating rafe and rafe is getting used to her not hating him and getting over the betrayal he felt after she helped the pogues. things are rough.

they're both invited to a work event but don't bring a plus one just in case the other is there. they are and they do.

foxy feels rafe's eyes follow her every move and it is just as irritating as she remembers but when she moves to confront him he's chatting with not just any lawyer, but a lawyer at a rival firm who hates her.

she's up for an award but loses to said rival. she goes outside for a smoke and rafe follows suit

"that's a nasty habit you got there."

her bloods runs cold at the sound of his voice, "yeah well considering the circumstances, i think i've earned it."

he leans against the railing, "the circumstances being?"

"should i listen them alphabetically or chronologically?"

he hums and lets them sit in silence for a few seconds. "you deserved that award."

"i know." she exhales, "i think this is karma for all those years i worked for you guys."

he scoffs, "you know i don't believe in that shit."

she puts out her cigarette and turns to him, "what do you believe in cameron?"

he gives her a half smile.

spend the rest of the evening talking shit about the attendees. it's the most fun they've both had in a while.

[emporium]

Coppy Youtooz Collectible Figure • $30.00

IN STOCK IN TUMBLR'S US BASED WAREHOUSE AND SHIPPING RIGHT AWAY. THIS IS NOT A PREORDER NOR A DROP SHIP.

Toner goes in the back! Here comes Coppy, everyone’s favourite office assistant in this official Tumblr x Youtooz collab!

Coppy’s rectangular grey body sits with trays sticking out on each side as arms. He has two green handles in the middle of each bottom drawer. Just below his mouth’s opening, you see a green button adjacent to a black panel with yellow buttons. Atop the lid is Coppys’ eyes and eyebrows. Coppy’s double-walled window box shows various pages floating down with a gradient dark blue background.

3.5 inches tall

Featuring matte, embossed, protective outer sleeve

Custom-sized plastic protector for maximum protection

About Coppy

Coppy was first introduced as an April fools’ joke, which took Tumblr by storm. He is an animated office assistant and copy machine. Coppy was created as a parody of another well know animated office assistant.

[practically-an-x-man]

also I understand why people do the whole "mint in package" thing with their collectibles but also like... how is that fun? I understand that it's about the appreciation of value and maybe being able to sell it later on, but personally I want to take them out of the box and look at all the little details and put them in a place where I can glance at them and smile.

No hate to the people that do collect things with the intent to sell them, but that's just not fun for me.

[hellishtrickster]

Orianna gently takes the necklace from Masie and attachs it to her wrist. She smiles and gently ruffles Masie's hair. The little girl seemed to be chastised after her slip in 'human' behaviour, and to show she wasn't mad Orianna switched to Primordial.

"Thank you sweetheart. Stay here, and I'll be back in a few minutes."

She winks, and turns towards the ocean. The little girl's worry for her safety was sweet. But Orianna was aware of how unwarranted it was. Only creatures of the depths could beat her swimming ability. A gift from her mother. The oceans were Orianna's home. What sense was there in her being carried off by every current she came across.

Orianna waded into the water, and once she was out deep enough she dove under the water's surface. She quickly popped her head back above the surface for Masie's benefit. Orianna had never needed that extra gulp of air, but had learned at a young age that not resurfacing after diving scared most folks who didn't live in the water. She didn't know what Masie assumed she was and so she ensured the little girl was given that reassurance.

She swam toward the coral shelf, her gills, claws, fangs, third eye lid, webbed hands and feet, and the fins on her calves reestablishing themselves. The fish gathered around her, nuzzling at her body.

"Here for the pretty box, Sissy?"

"The small fry was nice. Is she yours?"

The questions didn't stop, but they made Orianna chuckle.

"Yes, I came to find the pretty box, and no the small fry isn't mine. I don't know why I'm here. Mama sent me here...wherever here is. Who am I to say no to helping a small fry, huh?"

The fish around her giggled, continuing to nuzzle at her. She only ever called Thassa 'Mama' around the fish. They were sweet and simple creatures most of the time. They called her Mama while the rest of her siblings called Thassa, Mother.

As they made it to the shelf, Orianna looked down and to either side of herself. She spotted the box to her right. It was down a fair ways. Maybe a hundred metres or so. She turned back to the fish with a soft expression.

"Stay here, darlings. The current is strong down there. I don't want you to get hurt."

The fish backed away, and Orianna began her descent. It wasn't too difficult but it did warrant the fins on her elbows growing in, and the webbing between her fingers and toes becoming thicker. There was also a rather feisty eel she had to slap on the nose after they tried to strike her. Rude.

She quickly collected the music box, and swam back up to the reef, and back to the shore. Her brothers and sisters swam around her as an escort back to the shore. It was sweet.

Orianna surfaced and walked back onto the shore, a small ways away from Masie. She hoped the little girl hadn't seen too much of her transformation.

Once back on the shore, she held up the box with a smile.

"Got it!"

Oh! Yeah! That’s right she was supposed to be playing human! And humans don’t speak primordial… at least Ori was very nice about telling her off. But she would still tell her dad and mum that she accidentally let someone know that she speaks primordial.

“Ok Ori but be careful of the currents near the caves they are strong and will push you into the rocks if you are not careful. And I am sorry for speaking primordial. I didn’t mean to I just wanted to help. And I won’t tell people I promise, and I promise to stay here until you return.” She says with a small smile. Hopefully she will be back quickly.

Oh maybe she needs a good luck present for searching? Something that is special…. Like the necklace her dad and her made! “Ori before you go searching you can borrow my necklace. It is a good luck charm that will protect you. She wades a little into the water and takes off a small necklace that wouldn’t fit Ori’s neck but it could be a bracelet for her while she searched. The black braided cord necklace had a jade with a wave pattern engraved into it. It was her and her dad’s best work her mum had said. So it must be true.

“This will protect you Ori, please come back soon.” She says with a smile on her face and her hand outstretched holding the necklace out to her.

[icewindandboringhorror]

Recent imageys

[unopenablebox]

Holy God This Is All So Boring

i am taking microscope images of the cells i'm studying. the cells were grown on a glass plate before i fixed them (killed & chemically preserved), so by default a microscope image of them is taken from a camera below them, looking up through the glass. they're stained with fluorescent dyes for four different proteins, so every single picture has to be repeated four times with a different laser light illuminating the cells (imagine taking a photo with a red filter, a blue filter, and a green filter, and then composing them all together to get the full picture. it's actually almost exactly the opposite of that, but that's close enough).

i care mostly about how the cells are shaped in three dimensions, and i'm using a laser which is specially shaped so it can collect only a very thin slice of the cells in the Z-direction, without interference from the parts of the cells just above or just below what i'm taking pictures of. as a result, i need to take lots of pictures at different depths in the cells, so i can get slices that i can stack on top of each other and get back a 3D shape. also, because i am using a tiny concentrated beam of light to achieve the above effects, it has to scan across the image to collect each picture, like a scanner; it can't just be collected in a single snapshot like a photo.

the distance between one slice and the next is less than a quarter of a micrometer. i'm using a 63x magnified magnifying lens to magnify the image, and the light detector that picks up the light is specially made to allow the images to be processed even further, so i can resolve structures that are less than 200 nanometers, which is the Abbé limit and is the technical resolution limit of light microscopy (don't worry about this). i care about things that are the size of, like, three proteins stuck together, and therefore maybe 10nm wide, so this is important to me.

all of this is, you know, scientifically great, very useful to me, i'm getting some very interesting results that i am genuinely looking forward to thinking about more, except the upshot of all of this is that just getting a single picture of two cells from the bottom to top of the cells involves 80-100 slices and takes like 27 minutes per image to collect, and i need at least six pictures tonight, and certain bastards in certain other labs habitually pre-book the microscope so i can't use it except at 5-9pm on a friday. no one else is here in the lab and my mother is busy with elder care and my girlfriend is busy with like, groceries, so i can't call either of them even if i weren't too irritable to be good company, and oh my god, i am so bored, i am so so bored, i am bored enough even to type out this whole explanation even though none of you could possibly care because it took most of my current round of waiting for 27 minutes to do

[whumptober]

WHUMPTOBER 2024: PROMPTS LIST

Welcome to Whumptober 2024 — Seventh Time's a Charm!

Please make sure to read the Event Info and FAQ below carefully, as most of your questions will be answered there already. For everything else, you are welcome to come to our ask box or ask questions in our Discord server here.

This year’s AO3 Collection can be found here.

This year's playlist can be found here.

The 'Anatomy of a Whumptober Prompt' post can be found here.

And our 'Resources for Writing Sensitive Topics' post is here.

We’re very excited to see the community come together for another year of Whumptober! Go wild with the prompts, and support your fellow creators - we wish you all the fun!

Best of luck and happy whumping,

Mods Vanne, Yenn, Kitty and Surro

(Text versions of the prompts, as well as event information, rules and FAQ are posted below the cut!)

Whumptober 2024 Prompt List

No. 1: RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK

Search Party | Panic Attack | "If only we could hold on.” (Icysami x Renegaderr, Strangers.)

No. 2: TRUST ISSUES

Amusement Park | Role Reversal | “You got away with the crime while the knife's in my back.” (Charlotte Sands, Rollercoaster)

No. 3: SET UP FOR FAILURE

Fingerprints | Wrongfully Arrested | "I warned you."

No. 4: HALLUCINATIONS

Hypnosis | Sensory Deprivation | “You're still alive in my head.” (Billy Lockett, More)

No. 5: SUNBURN

Healing Salve | Heatstroke | "If my pain will stretch that far." (Lottery Winners, Burning House)

No. 6: NOT REALISING THEY'RE INJURED

Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms | Healed Wrong | "It's not my blood."

No. 7: ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES

Unconventional Weapon | Magic with a Cost | "It's us or them."

No. 8: SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Isolation Chamber | Forced to Stay Awake | "Leave the lights on." (Coldplay, Midnight)

No. 9: OBSESSION

Broken Window | Bruises | “Frame me up on the wall, just to keep me out of trouble.” (Fall Out Boy, Irresistible)

No. 10: BLOW TO THE HEAD

Slurred Words | Passing Out from Pain | "I can't think straight."

No. 11: SEEING DOUBLE

Convenience Store | Loneliness | “Leave no trace behind, like you don't even exist.” (Taylor Swift, Illicit Affairs)

No. 12: STARVATION

Underground Caverns | Cannibalism | "Just a little more."

No. 13: TEAM AS A FAMILY

Familial Curse | Multiple Whumpees | "Death will do us part." (Set It Off, Partner's In Crime)

No. 14: LEFT FOR DEAD

Hunting Gear | Blackmail | “Because I want you to know what it feels like to be haunted” (tiLLie, kooL aiD mAn)

No. 15: CHILDHOOD TRAUMA

Painful Hug | Moment of Clarity | "I did good, right?"

No. 16: NECROSIS

Swamp | Wound Cleaning | "No, I can't feel anything."

No. 17: NOWHERE ELSE TO GO

Ruined Map | Shipwrecked | "We had a good run."

No. 18: REVENGE

Unreliable Narrator | Loss of Identity | “I see what's mine and take it.” (Panic! at the Disco, Emperor's New Clothes)

No. 19: BLOOD TRAIL

Abandoned Cabin | One Way Out | "Is there anybody alive out there?" (Bruce Springsteen, Radio Nowhere)

No. 20: EMOTIONAL ANGST

Shoulder to Cry On | Giving Permission to Die | "It's not your fault."

No. 21: BODY HORROR

Body Horror | Tattoo Gun | Spirit Possession | “Let the bedsheet soak up the tears.” (Apparat feat. Soap & Skin, Goodbye)

No. 22: BLEEDING THROUGH BANDAGES

Tourniquet | Reopening Wounds | "Oh that's not good."

No. 23: FORCED CHOICE

Public Display | Broken Pedestal | "I'm doing this for you."

No. 24: RADIATION POISONING

Collapsed Building | Equipment Failure | “I never knew daylight could be so violent.” (Florence + The Machine, No Light, No Light)

No. 25: SURGERY

Stitches | Being Monitored | "It's for your own good."

No. 26: NIGHTMARES

Breakfast Table | Parting Words of Regret | “I'm haunted by the lies that I have loved, the actions I have hated.” (Poe, Haunted)

No. 27: VOICELESS

Laboratory | Muzzled | “I have no mouth and I must scream.”

No. 28: DENIAL

CCTV | Exposure | "They caught me red handed."

No. 29: FATIGUE

Labyrinth | Burnout | "Who said you could rest?"

No. 30: RECOVERY

Hospital Bed | Holding Back Tears | "What have I done?"

No. 31: ASKING FOR HELP

Therapy | Making Amends | "I'm alive, I'm just not well." (Elliot Lee, Alive, Not Well.)

Alternatives List:

Body Swap

Communication Barrier

Finding Old Messages

Forgotten

Friendly Fire

Motion Sickness

No-Holds-Barred Beatdown

Regret

Secrets Revealed

Shivering

Survivor's Guilt

Time Loop

Used As Bait

Venom

Vermin

Event Info & Rules

WHUMPTOBER is a month-long, prompt-based creation challenge (think: Inktober, but whumpier). There are 31 official themes this year - one for each day of the month - which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like. They are meant to serve as inspiration without being taken literally (e.g. you don’t have to include the exact wording of prompts into your work). Feel free to run rampant on interpretation. For example, if the prompt is “flame", you could create something with reference to a candle/campfire, your character could have suffered a burn, or the flame could be a reference to an ‘old flame’ - an old relationship. It’s truly down to you!

In total, there are 4 prompts for each day. These are optional suggestions and can be used in conjunction with the theme, or as options/alternatives.  We want to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible, as well as increase event accessibility for folks with triggers and squicks. There is also a list of 15 alternative prompts that can be subbed in for any day, again to give participants as much creative freedom as possible.

Creators can PRODUCE work in any media they choose, including but not limited to: writing, visual artwork, photo/video/audio edits, paper crafts and elaborate recommendation lists (not just a list of links). Creators can PARTICIPATE as much or as little as they want (i.e. you don’t have to do ALL the prompts if you don’t want to) and prompts can be used in any order. They are also free to use even after the event ends.

When uploading Whumptober content to your blog, be sure to tag it with:

#whumptober2024 …..(the event tag)

#no.1, #no.2, #no.3, …..(theme number)

#bruises, #stabbing, …..(the theme or specific prompt you chose)

#altprompt …..(if you use an altprompt, tag the post with the number of the prompt you replace)

#fandom or #OC, …..(ironman, original content, oc, etc.)

#medium …..(gifs, fic, podcast, art, etc.)

#teeth, #etc …..(trigger warnings & any additional tags. Keep in mind not to add “tw” in front but only use the word/trigger itself)

#nsfwhump …..(only for nsfw content)

#your own tags go here

PLEASE BE DILIGENT WITH YOUR TAGGING. Only properly tagged posts are considered for archiving on the official @whumptober-archive blog. They must be tagged in the order above. An elaborate post about our tagging system can be found [here]

Unfortunately, due to the sheer number of participants in recent years, we cannot guarantee your work will be archived. A random selection of properly tagged posts from all genres will be reblogged each day.

Whumpers who produce content for 31 total theme days are considered event completionists and will be tagged in a masterpost at the end of the month. A form will be published at the beginning of November asking you to tell us if you completed. This is based on trust and we will not check this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please read this before you send an ask!

TIMELINE

July: Trope voting form released. Late August: Prompt list is released for at least four weeks of preparation time. Tropes cannot be posted earlier than August 25th because of Moderator obligations in real life. (But, you know, go ahead and start writing/drawing, and add the themes in later, if you want!) September: Do as much or as little on your works as you want. You can prepare everything in advance or let September go by with vibes and start working in October. It’s up to you. October 1st: Challenge begins! A storm of whump breaks upon us all! During this time, some posts will be reblogged to the whumptober archive blog. We open the yearly AO3 collection for posting (optional). November 1st: The challenge is officially over! Completionist form opens for those who want to be included in the hall-of-fame. Early November: We release completionist and participant badges, solicit feedback, and post a hall-of-fame list of completionists by the 10th.

PARTICIPATION AND COMPLETION

Q: What counts as participation? Create or continue at least one work inspired by one of this year’s prompts. Q: What counts as completion? Creating work(s) inspired by at least one prompt from each day (or alts), for a total of 31 unique prompts. Q: Do I need to create 31 works? No. You can, if you want. Or you can create one work that you add to every day with a new prompt. Or several works that combine prompts. You can also update an existing work by adding new material with the current prompts. Q: Do I need to post my works somewhere to be a completionist or a participant? No. Q: How do you know I actually completed the challenge? We’ll take your word for it! Q: Do I have to finish my work(s) to be a completionist? No, you can post WIPs. And you’re not obligated to finish them in October, but if you want it to count towards being a completionist, you must have completed 31 prompts by the end of the month. So for example, if you’re writing a long fic and you fit 31 different prompts into the writing you did in October, it’s okay if that fic isn’t finished by the time October ends, you’ll still be a completionist. Q: Is co-writing/illustrating allowed? Yes, absolutely, and it would count towards being a completionist for both/all of you. Q: Is there a min/max limit on word count for written works? No. Q: Is there a min/max limit of quality for art? No. Q: Do I have to do something each day to be a completionist? No. You can skip days whenever you want, and as long as 31 daily prompts (or alts) are in your works done in October, you can be a completionist. For example, if you wrote a 1000-word ficlet that covers prompts in days 2, 3, and 17, you can check all three days off your list even though it’s only one work. Q: Is this challenge just for fics? No! Artworks, GIFsets, headcannons, rec lists, poetry, moodboards, or any other creative work is encouraged. Q: Can I combine Whumptober with other creation challenges? Absolutely, as long as the other challenges allow it too.

PROMPTS

Q: How do the prompts work? There are FOUR prompts per day: a theme and three ideas. You can use one, two, three, or all four prompts for each day. If you don’t like any of the daily prompts, you can substitute one of the ALT prompts instead. Q: How strictly/literally should we interpret the prompts? As literally or as figuratively as you want. For example, if the theme is WATER, that could mean drowning, waterboarding, raining, swimming, take place underwater, be lost at sea, construct a metaphor about a character’s mood that changes like a flowing river, crying, or whatever else you can think of that fits that theme. Q: Can I combine prompts? Is there a limit on how many? No limit and combine as many as you’d like. If you create a work that checks off multiple prompts, that work will count for a fill of multiple prompts. You need to address 31 different prompts to be an official completionist, but you don’t have to produce 31 separate works.

WORKS

Q: What’s whump? Hurting a character, whether that’s physically, emotionally, intellectually, psychologically, or any other way you can think of. Comfort afterwards is optional. Angst is emotional whump, so it counts. Q: How do I know if it’s whumpy enough? If your character is just mildly inconvenienced, it probably needs more whump. However, no participant has to prove whumpiness to the mods. Whatever you write is up to you. Q: What kind of characters can I create for? Anything. Generic “whumpee,” OC, PC, NPC, major characters, minor characters, or whatever you want. There are no limits. Q: Does it have to take place in a specific fandom? No, you can create works for your own worlds or for fandoms or for both. You can also create more generic or pan-fandom works. You can do cross-overs or use OCs, whatever you want. Q: Can I create AI-created works? We will not reblog or promote any works we know to be generative AI-created. Q: Is there anything we’re not allowed to write? As long as it contains whump and is based on our prompts, it’s fine. Please courtesy tag your works if you post them so people who follow the #whumptober2024 tag can filter according to their preferences. Q: What about sex, minor characters, and potentially disturbing content? You can create whatever works are legal in your country and post them accordingly. Please courtesy tag anything you think might be objectionable if you post to Tumblr so people who follow the #whumptober2024 tag can filter according to their preferences.

POSTING

Q: Where can I post my work? Post where and how you want. You don’t even have to (cross)post it to Tumblr. Just keep in mind if it’s not on Tumblr we will not be able to add it to the blog archive. There is an AO3 archive for Whumptober 2024, as well as the parent collection for works completed outside of the event. Q: Can I start posting early? You can, but this is an October event and wouldn’t it be more fun with everyone doing it at the same time? We won’t be reblogging any work predating October 1st. Q: Can I post late? Yes. For the sake of our hardworking Post Fairies, only a day’s themes will be reblogged to @whumptober-archive each day of October. But you can post whenever. Some of us are still working on and posting Whumptober fics from years ago. Q: Do I have to use your tags? Only on Tumblr and only if you want us to reblog your work on @whumptober-archive. Q: How do I have my works reblogged to the archive? Properly tagged posts will be reblogged to @whumptober-archive. If you want the official archive blog to reblog you, post on Tumblr and tag correctly (see this FAQ link for more info on tagging). Please note not all posts will be reblogged each day. Q: Can we @ you? For questions and comments, of course. We’ll be getting a flood of notifications, so if you really want us to see something send an ask. Q: Can I cross post on other blogs? Yes, multiple platforms and blogs are perfectly acceptable, as long as they allow cross-posting (to us). You can also post different works to different accounts under different names, without posting them everywhere at once. If you post some works under your main and others under an alt blog, that’s fine for completionist purposes. Q: Can I upload/repost my Whumptober content to other social media platforms? Of course! We’ve created an AO3 Collection to archive any fics posted there, which can be found here. The blog is the official archive, so please respect the personal boundaries of any whumpers in your social circle (don’t out anyone as a participant who would prefer not to be outed).

Most importantly, have fun, create, and enjoy all the whump posted this October!

[agentromanoffsir]

neocities guide - why you should build your own html website

do you miss the charm of the 90s/00s web where sites had actual personality instead of the same minimalistic theme? are you feeling drained by social media and the constant corporate monopoly of your data and time? do you want to be excited about the internet again? try neocities!!

what is neocities?

neocities is a free hosting website that lets you build your own html website from scratch, with total creative control. in their own words: "we are tired of living in an online world where people are isolated from each other on boring, generic social networks that don't let us truly express ourselves. it's time we took back our personalities from these sterilized, lifeless, monetized, data mined, monitored addiction machines and let our creativity flourish again."

why should I make my own website?

web3 has been overtaken by capitalism & conformity. websites that once were meant to be fun online social spaces now exist solely to steal your data and sell you things. it sucks!! building a personal site is a great way to express yourself and take control of your online experience.

what would I even put on a website?

the best part about making your own site is that you can do literally whatever the hell you want! focus on a specific subject or make it a wild collection of all your interests. share your art! make a shrine for one of your interests! post a picture of every bird you see when you step outside! make a collection of your favorite blinkies! the world is your oyster !! here are some cool example sites to inspire you: recently updated neocities sites | it can be fun to just look through these and browse people's content! space bar | local interstellar dive bar creature feature | halloween & monsters big gulp supreme peanutbuttaz | personal site dragodiluna linwood | personal site patho grove | personal site

getting started: neocities/html guide

sound interesting? here are some guides to help you get started, especially if you aren't familiar with html/css sadgrl.online webmastery | a fantastic resource for getting started with html & web revival. also has a layout builder that you can use to start with in case starting from scratch is too intimidating web design in 4 minutes | good for learning coding basics w3schools | html tutorials templaterr | demo & html for basic web elements eggramen test pages | css page templates to get started with sadgrl background tiles | bg tiles rivendell background tiles | more free bg tiles

fun stuff to add to your site

want your site to be cool? here's some fun stuff that i've found blinkies-cafe | fantastic blinkie maker! (run by @transbro & @graphics-cafe) gificities | internet archive of 90s/00s web gifs internet bumper stickers | web bumper stickers momg | gif gallery 99 gif shop | 3d gifs 123 guestbook | add a guestbook for people to leave messages cbox | add a live chat box moon phases | track the phases of the moon gifypet | a little clickable page pet adopt a shroom | mushroom page pet tamaNOTchi | virtual pet crossword puzzle | daily crossword imood | track your mood neko | cute cat that chases your mouse pollcode | custom poll maker website hit counter | track how many visitors you have

web revival manifestos & communities

also, there's actually a pretty cool community of people out there who want to bring joy back to the web! melonland project | web project/community celebrating individual & joyful online experiences. Also has an online forum melonland intro to web revival | what is web revival? melonking manifesto | status cafe | share your current status nightfall city | online community onio.cafe | leave a message and enjoy the ambiance sadgrl internet manifesto | yesterweb internet manifesto | sadly defunct, still a great resource reclaiming online social spaces | great manifesto on cultivating your online experience

in conclusion

i want everyone to make a neocities site because it's fun af and i love seeing everyone's weird personal sites that they made outside of the control of capitalism :) say hi to me on neocities

EDIT: part 2!!

[xoxo-sarah]

My Wife

Part 2 | part 3

↝a/n: 2,605 w/c... I like this one, guys.

↝pairing: Season 1!Daryl x wife!reader

↝warning: usual walking dead stuff, angst, animal death (mentions blood. No details), reader being sexualized?, creepy men, harassment, the creepy guy getting punched (he deserved it), cursing, protective Daryl, Merle (ew), crying, moody and soft Daryl, sassy Daryl (it's season one, what do you expect?), slightly proofread

|| Disclaimer: I do not own Daryl Dixon, or any character from The Walking Dead. I only own y/n and any characters I create with my own brain. ||

↝⎙ 10.2.24

Daryl Dixon masterlist

Before the apocalypse, you'd say your life wasn't bad. You had a decent job that paid well. A husband, a dog, and a house you owned all on your own, without any help from your parents.

You had met Daryl fresh out of college. He was staying with Merle at the time. In a rush to get away from your parents, you found a rent-to-own house on the outskirts of Atlanta. It wasn't extravagant, only having 2 beds and one bath. It was still a house-your house.

The first time you went to the grocery store to stock up before you started work since the big move, an old man had hit on you. Daryl listened from afar, not wanting to cause any more trouble for you. He knew you hadn't been in these parts of town before, he hadn't seen you before.

After many attempts at shooting the guy down, Daryl had to intervene. The guy had grabbed your arm, and before you knew it, the guy was backing away from you.

“She said she's not interested.”

“My bad, man. Didn't know she was yours.” He raised his hands, grin still on his face. It was a game to him.

“So you only take no for an answer if I 'belong' to someone?” Venom laced your voice, disgust painted into the wrinkles between your eyebrows and frown lines, glaring through the guy. A chuckle rumbled out of his chest, followed by a smoker's cough that told you he had more tar in his lungs than he had sense in his brain.

“Ma'am, will all due respect-”

“I doubt anything respectful comes out of that raunchy mouth of yours.”

His grin dropped, eyes slanting in your direction. “This one sure has a mouth on her,” his attention moved back to Daryl. “She have that mouth in the sack?”

You scoffed, glancing down at the floor, collecting the words you wanted to shoot back at him.

In the time you looked away, Daryl had put the 12-pack of beer down and swung. You snapped your head up at the sound of a fist colliding with a cheek. Daryl glared, spitting at the man as he held his cheek in shock. “Give the lady some respect, prick.”

“Damnit, Dixon!” An elderly man came running down the aisle, a manager tag clinking against the pins on his shirt. Safe to say both men had been kicked out.

After checking out, you caught sight of Daryl hunched over, looking at his bruising knuckles.

“Here's for helping me.”

Daryl's head shot up, eyes flickering to the 12-pack in your outstretched hand. “Ya didn't have to.”

“You didn't have to.” He shrugged, taking the box from you.

the rest was history.

You eventually got together, then, moved in together. He supported you in your job, making jokes about you “bringing home the bacon”. The only downside was his brother.

“Damnit, Merle.”

An intoxicated Merle flopped on your couch, cackling up at Daryl. You watched from behind the couch, arms folded across Daryl's shirt draping over your form. Daryl's own top half was bare, his muscles flexing when he folded his arms in disappointment, glaring down.

“What? Did I interrupt you 'n your housewife duties?”

You scoffed, turning around to walk back to your room, the dog Daryl had gotten you for your birthday following after you. Merle watched your movement, lowly whistling. “I'd be a housewife for that piece, too.”

Daryl grabbed the collar of Merle's shirt, bringing him to eye level. “Don't talk about my wife like that.” He threw him back against the couch, “You're out by the mornin'.”

The world had gone to shit right in the middle of your workday. Everyone was running around, yelling and panicking. You tried making a beeline for your car, getting pushed and pulled every which way. The traffic was the worst you had ever seen, when you had finally made your way onto the road.

When you finally got home, the door was open.

You rushed in, looking in every room. There was no sign of Daryl besides the place being completely trashed, in a rush to leave. He wasn't there. You had no clue where he was, if he was safe, if he knew what was happening.

You cracked the backdoor open, nearly falling to your knees. A body laid on the back porch, blood dried on its way down the person's forehead. A lump of fur and blood was right beside it. A sob racked your body on your way back to your car. Your knuckles were ghostly white as they gripped the steering wheel, as you made your way out of town, away from the life you worked hard to get and worked harder to keep.

You eventually got stuck in even more traffic. Everything only got worse when your car ran out of gas.

You had to hide in the city, which was run with zombies. Luckily for you, you had found a few bodies that hadn't turned yet, stealing anything that could be used as a weapon. You were able to stay safe, hiding in an empty office building. Living off of the vending machines and what was left in the break rooms.

You regularly walked up to the roof, getting fresh air, wondering where Daryl had gone and if he was thinking of you. Sure, a part of you wanted to be mad at him for leaving without you, but you knew he had to have his reasons. Merle had to of made him run away with him when the news first got out.

While you looked over the edge, watching as dead bodies herded together, feasting on whatever had run into the city on your way up here, you saw quick movement to your left. Swirling around, you held your gun up, pointing it at the kid in front of you.

“Woah, Hey! I'm alive- I'm alive! Not going to hurt you.” The poor boy might as well have been shivering in his boots. His hands shook in the air. He was probably the third person you've seen, alive, since you squatted in the top floor. He didn't seem like the guy to kill you just to take your stuff. “Look, there's a guy in the tank down there. I'm just trying to help him.” You thought back to the sounds of pained neighing you heard when you first stepped onto the roof, but you had shrugged it off, figuring you were going insane already. No sleep and being isolated will do that to you. “C'mon, dude.” He was practically begging you to not shoot him in the head.

What would Daryl do in this situation? He wouldn't just trust anyone when it comes to survival. You reluctantly put your gun down, watching as he sighed in relief. You hid the shake in your hands when they fell to your sides, not wanting him to know you didn't want to kill him even if he were dangerous.

“We have to get down there to help him.” The boy leaned over the edge, at the tank and the 'geeks' that surrounded it.

“We?”

He looked back at you, then to the tank. “The extra help would be appreciated.”

Somehow, you followed after him, climbing down fire escapes and counting the amount of bodies in each alleyway. He was quick, but you kept up with him with ease.

He led you down the alleyway, hiding behind the trashcans and gate separating you and a painful death. “You have good aim? I need you to shoot that big guy closest to the tank.” He whispered, fixing the hat on his head.

You glanced at him, watching as he awaited your next move. You whispered back, “it's empty.” You held the gun up in emphasis. You weren't going to tell him that when it was pointed at him. He huffed, throwing his head back. “I only have a knife.”

He shrugged off his backpack, grabbing the empty gun and throwing it in there. It was useless with no bullets, and it only took up a hand, making it harder for you to climb.

“Alright, change of plans.” He grabbed the walkie, bringing it to his mouth before pressing the button. “Hey, you alive in there?”

A frantic voice broke through the static, “Hello? Hello?!”

The next thing you knew, you were running downstairs with the young boy, Glenn, you had figured out, and the guy you nearly died saving, Rick. Glenn led you two to another alleyway, before the door to the building in front of you busted open, 2 people filing out with gear and helmets on, attacking the walkers wondering in front of you.

“Lets go!” Glenn jumped over the bodies on the ground, running through the door, you and Rick following. As soon as you were through the door, you were pushed to the other side of the wall, before Rick was pushed back, a gun aimed at his face. “You son of a bitch! We ought to kill you.” A blonde woman was seething, ready to put a bullet in Rick's head.

“Just chill out, Andrea. Back off.” One of the guys who bashed the walker's head in pulled off the armor, glaring at the blonde.

“Come on, ease up.”

“Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole.” The gun was pointed at you next, “And her.” Her finger twitched on the trigger, but you were at a loss of words.

“She helped.” Glenn was ignored.

“Andrea, I said, back the hell off. Or pull the trigger.” The same guy from before stepped forward, closer to Andrea. It was silent for a second, before Andrea dropped her hand, lips quivering with oncoming tears. You took a breath, having the room to do so when a gun isn't pointed at you.

“We're dead,” Andrea sobbed, “All of us.” Her gaze moved back to Rick, “Because of you.”

You wondered after everyone as they walked through the old building, listening as they scolded rick for firing his gun.

“No signal. Maybe the roof.” The man, who was introduced as T-Dog, said, holding the walkie. Before anyone else could reply, a gun shot fired, echoing from above.

“Oh no, Is that Dixon?”

“Dixon?”

Andrea stopped her movement, looking back at you. “Yeah. What, you know 'em?”

Sadly, you were met with a distasteful Merle on the roof. He refused to tell you about Daryl-about how Merle had to drag in out of the house. About how Daryl wanted to pick you up and take you with them. About how Daryl had gone back, against Merle's wishes, and found you nowhere in the house. But you weren't told that, so the nerves in your stomach still fluttered, making you feel like you were going to vomit any minute. The only thing he told you was that Daryl was with the rest of the group by the quarry.

The nerves still fluttered even on your way to the said quarry. The thought of Merle being trapped in the roof was at the back of your mind, the thought of seeing Daryl for the first time in God knows how long, being front and center in your mind. Your leg shook with nerves as you sat in the back of the van, hitting a bump every once in a while, and knocking into one of the other people.

The van pulled up to the quarry, people piling out of the back, running to their families.

You were introduced to a woman named Carol. She was surprised when you told her that you knew Daryl. The short time she had known the man, she couldn't think of him having a soft spot for anyone, but here you were. She told you that he had gone hunting and that he should be back before dawn.

You sat around, getting to know everyone. As soon as Carol's husband raised his voice to her, you had kept an eye on him, instantly feeling protective of the woman. As she silently did for you. She kept an eye on you, making sure you felt comfortable among all of the strangers.

Night fell and there was still no sign of Daryl. You distracted yourself by helping Carol with whatever, or Dale with lookout. You hadn't told anyone much about you and Daryl. Mostly because you couldn't form a coherent sentence with Daryl on your mind. Where was he? Was he okay? Why wasn't he back? The band around your ring finger became a fidget habit. You spun it around any time the thoughts got too much.

The crisp morning air did little to wake you. You might as well have been a walker with how you sluggishly moved around camp, helping with anything, wanted to be helpful and pull your weight.

Carol handed you another pair of soaked pants, to ring the water out and hang it up to dry. While doing so, your eyes caught sight of Rick and Lori. They had been reunited. When was it your turn?

“How did you and Daryl meet?” Glancing back up at Carol, you cleared your throat to speak.

Before you could utter a word, a scream echoed throughout the camp, followed by Carl's screams for his mother.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, a few running toward the screaming, ready for the worst.

You walked behind the group, watching as Rick, Glenn, Dale, Shane, and a few others beat the walker that had made it from the city.

Dale swung down with his axe, cutting the head clean off the walker's body.

“It's the first one we've had up here.” He heaved, “They never come this far up the mountain.”

“Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what.” Another guy, Jim, said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

Branches snapped, followed by more footsteps. The guys with the weapons moved toward the sound, weapons ready.

Your breath caught in your throat.

He hadn't seen you yet.

Daryl stepped over branches, slightly taken aback with everyone standing in front of him, ready to strike.

Everyone took a step back, “Oh, Jesus.” Dale's shoulders released the tension.

“Son of a bitch.” Daryl cursed, “That's my deer!” He walked to what was left of the poor animal.

He looked how he did when you first met. Frustration clear on his brow. You had helped him get rid of the constant scrunch of his brow and frown on his lips, and here it was, making its appearance in a dramatic manner.

“Look at it, all gnawed on by this-” He kicked the headless body that laid on the ground, “filthy,” kick “disease-bearing,” kick “motherless,” kick “poxy bastard!”

“Calm down, son. That's not helping.” Dale peeped, infuriating Daryl more.

“What do you know about it, old man?” Daryl walked closer, getting in Dale's face. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to “On Golden Pond”?"

“Daryl.”

Daryl paused, his face dropping. He turned to the voice, his knees nearly collapsing from underneath him.

Before you could say anything else, his crossbow was dropping to the ground, followed by the string of squirrels on his shoulder. He rushed over, his body colliding with yours. His calloused hands pulled your face closer to his.

He didn't care if everyone was watching. Or if the scene made them think differently about his tough-guy thing he had going on. His lips moved against yours.

“I didn't know where you were.” He mumbled against your lips. “I tried looking everywhere-”

“I know, I know. Doesn't matter.”

Part 2

•2021-2024 by xoxo-sarah on Tumblr•

•My work is not to be translated, copied, modified, and/or reposted on any other site without my permission. [I don't give permission!]

[ozzgin]

I live your human streamer x monsters! Imagine them doing unboxing videos and gifts from fans. Of course you get sweet ans who send really nice gifts. Then you get the fans who might send a bit more suggestive gifts. I think it would be pretty funny off some monsters sending yn "courting gifts". Poor gullible yn who is too nice to say know. Plus they don't exactly know its that type of gift

[Referring to this story] Content: gender neutral reader, monster romance, NSFW under the cut!

You didn’t think much of it. One day, one of your monster viewers had asked if they might send you a gift in the mail. You cheerfully agreed to it and continued eating your food, moving on from the topic.

Then you found your entrance door blocked by dozens of packages.

As it turns out, a lot of your monstrous fans had the same intention. You decided to start doing unboxing videos, clearing out your ever-flowing queue of gifts.

Some are innocently sweet. The plant creatures prefer surprising you with fresh bouquets of flowers or harvests. The bird hybrids usually go for shiny, eye-catching jewelry. You’ve received a cursed locket from a deep-sea kraken, and a haunted doll from one of your cheeky ghost followers.

Other packages are bolder in their intention.

“Is this a promise ring?” you wondered out loud, fumbling to comment on the unexpectedly romantic gesture and trying to hide the deep blush.

The worst part about these particular offerings is that they always seem to trigger a certain jealousy within the other viewers; it results in some increasingly ridiculous attempts to one-up the previous. You had to threaten to stop doing these videos once you found a wedding gown in one of the boxes.

If you've decided to delve into adult content for your monster fans, the variety of presents expands even further.

At first, you mostly received additional props for your content. Maybe a revealing outfit, or a pair of handcuffs. It didn't take long for your patrons to gain more confidence in their choices. You've hesitantly unboxed different kinds of sex toys, with little handwritten notes begging asking you to use them in your upcoming livestreams.

The turning point was when you revealed a custom-made dildo, bearing the shape of your viewer's own appendage. The chat had briefly gone silent while you gawked at the bizarre toy. Of course, they thought begrudgingly, what better gift than a way to fuck you from a distance?

Needles to say, you woke up to piles upon piles of similar "donations". You wondered if there's some erotic shop out there confused at its sudden spike in sales.

"Are you guys serious?" you whined, pulling out a large, silicone tentacle the size of your torso. "At this point I think I've collected all of your genitals."

"Mine hasn't shipped yet", a viewer comments.

[More Monsters]