#guy probably collects that shit like Pokémon cards

[fellow-fandom-fruitifier]

“-and what do you plan to do? Make everything worse?” Peng’s taunting was silence by a loud BANG. Pend crumpled faster than a lawn chair, biting back a scream. Everyone turned around shocked to see Red Son holding a glock, a suspiciously hand shaped shadow retreating. Well, at least they know who he got it from. “I am not going to sit here through another abhorrent villain dialog. They want to act as uncivilized peasants? Then they will get treated as an uncivilized peasants,” Red Son spoke petulantly. They all collectively ignored the pained sounds the golden winged bird was making. “Red Son. It’s a fucking gun,” Mei stated. “I am more than well aware.”

[silvers-not-home]

my lame fucking autistic rambling

here's my massive stupid autistic rant about life series characters and my head canons for them

literally everything i'm thinking about is going on here im not even processing it im just typing sorry for any typos there will be many😭

this is also for my two (2) mutuals who i care for very deeply kiss kiss hug hug <3 /p /gen

okay it's the morning so i'm gonna continue this thumbs up emoji

starting off strong with mr grian minecraft himself (oh wow what a surprise /s)

he tried piercing his own nose in highschool. like. he was THE teenage dirtbag. sneaking out, drinking, smoking, shitty garage band that got nowhere (yes the bad boys was a garage band you c ant change my mind), mcr, pierce the veil, paramore, sexuality and gender crisis, "i know a guy", shoplifting, skipping class, you name it be probably did it with jimmy and joel during freshmen-sophomore year

pearl is his sister, jimmy and lizzie are his cousins (older cousins i should specify. him and pearl are twins but she's the older twin) and they went to the same high school. he met joel through lizzie and jimmy and joel and grian all clicked instantly

joel would stay at jimmy and grians place so much to the point it was like a second home to him and they would all hang out in the basement. joel stayed with his grandparents and helped them out a lot but they passed while he was in his bad boys phase and so he just stayed at grians place a whole lot during his depression (don't worry he's fine now just a little fucked up but they all are)

grian and pearls parents were kinda really shitty (yes i'm also counting yhs lore fuck uou) his whole life and so they got taken by cps and they lived with jimmy and lizzie's parents. and they were much better until he went to japan and all that shit happened (iykyk)

sam made him really realize that like. "oh my fucking god i'm gay. and it's for a damn sociopath. fuck." (that's like half canon)

he and taurtis DID hook up every tuesday thumbs up emoji

his wings didn't start growing in until AFTER senior year (so post japan/yhs incident)

the yhs holds a ceremony thingy for all the people that passed during all that shit and he goes every year and still has rowens glasses and ran into taurtis one year and it was awkward as HELLL but like. it wasn't an awful experience neither of them knew what to say. especially taurtks is bc by then grians wings had already fully grown in and his ass DID NOT recognize him💀

oh yeah also the four of the cousins are all winged animals so grians a parrot, pearl is a moth but like she's one of the super fluffy one (i forgot what they're called), jimmy is a canary (for obvious reasons), and lizzie is a flamingo because. fuck it (also half canary too it's from their mom) but she doesn't have as many features as the others

they all grow feathers (except for pearl) when they're stressed or feel a heightened emotion and have the little winged ears. they still do have actual ears but they grew in behind they're human ears and pearl has the little antennae things on top of her head. lizzie's kind of blends into her hair since yk. pink on pink and they're more folded then fanned out(?) if that makes sense?😭

jimmy was an early bloomer while grian was a late bloomer (i'm talking about wing/feather wise)

also some little sexuality/gender headcanons those are always fun :3

grians definitely trans masc and mlm (he/him anything else gives him dysphoria)

jimmy is THE bisexual demiboy icon (he/they)

lizzie is also bisexual (she/they)

pearl is a NONBINARY LESBIANNNN SHOUT OHT YO ALL MY NONBINARY LESBIANS WOOOO (she also uses any pronouns that would be considered feminine/androgynous or basically just. anything other then he/him/anything masculine)

mumbo is ace and omni (they/he)

scar is pan and a demiboy (all pronouns. like seriously he's collecting them like pokémon cards)

tango is bi and TRANSMASC WOOOO SHOUT OUT TO ALL MY TRANSMASC PEOPLE OUT THERE (he/they/flame)

martyn is transmasc and unlabeled. he doesn't want one/or thinks any is fit for him but is on the aspec (he/him)

scott is just. gay. goddamn fa- (he/him)

also just thought abt something grian jimmy and joel all had matching (infected and now faded) stick and poke tattoos that read "bad boys, today, tomorrow and yesterday" but that last part is faded completely since they ran out of pen ink halfway through and jimmys mom came home and they didn't wanna get in trouble (also yes their tattoos are in the same spot as each others it's on the right side of their chest) and let me TELL YOU. lizzie makes fun of joel TO THIS DAY about that tattoo and she likes to trace the words with her finger sometimes when they're cuddling, humming their old songs (he hates it but she still thinks it's absolutely adorable)

grian and mumbo are middle school best friends and he knows everything that happened to grian when he was in japan

grian, scar and mumbo all went to the same high school and mumbo and scar tried making a baking club called (you're never gonna believe this) the buttercups but grian was supposedly "too cool for that fairy shit" but would hang out during lunch with them and go to the meetings and help buy the ingredients and also help bake with them for extra credit and so would jimmy and joel. for extra credit of course

tango, mumbo and impulse were all in the computer club and coding club in highschool. doc was their teacher and cub was the senior teachers assistant trying to get early college credit

jimmy had the FATTEST crush on tango while they were in high school (yes they all went to the same highschool shut up) and tried impressing him by "making" a robot (mumbo made it and gave him the remote and told him to push two single buttons) and he pushed them in the wrong order and it short circuited and it almost exploded. he got suspended for a month and the only reason he didn't get expelled was because tango said it was his and it was a project. he complemented "jimmys" robot and said it had nice coding and a bunch of other nerd /aff terms that didn't make ANY sense to jimmy (that was his way of confessing but jimmys too stupid /aff to understand it at the moment so tango thought he didn't like him back) and when jimmy was talking to grian and joel about it they were yelling at him about how "JIMMY YOU IDIOT HE LIKES YOU BACK" and "WHAT'D YOU SAY? YOU SAID YOU LIKED HIM TOO RIGHT?" to which he (of course) responded with

"NO?? I DONT SPEAK NERD JOEL HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW??"

also tango wears a feather jimmy gave to him as an earring and has kept that earring since they started going out which was like sophomore year or smth like that

they also had an exact conversation to joel before lizzie asked him out (and she also proposed too fight me)

i can go on for HOURS about those three but i'm gonna a do stuff about martyn now because. omg. he drives me CRAZY

also just realizing how most of these are just high school head canons. sorry (no i'm not)

everyone in school always thought that the bad boys were the mean bullies bc they wore leather jackets and studs and cuffs and blah blah blah but in reality they were just the dorky, socially anxious losers that were loud in class because they all adhd. not because they were asshole

martyn and scott were the ones you had to worry about (mostly scott actually but martyn would be a passive aggressive bully)

those little twits had an actual burn book. martyn. the almost loser that pierced his own ears, causing them to get infected but refused to take them out because he wanted to match with his fellow mean gill and wore anime shirts to sleep and doc martins (only because they had his name in it dont praise him he was a loser /aff) wrote "annoying dorks" in the burn book page dedicated to the bad boys. he had NO ROOM to talk and i find that hilarious bc him and jimmy were actually really close and he ate the page. yes. he ate the page in front of scott's face after an argument to prove a point and scott has never respected another person more in his life

i also felt like it was important that martyn and scott got voted prom king and queen

martyn LOVES necklaces, rings, bracelets. he has a matching necklace and/or bracelet with all his four (4) friends that consisted of scott and the bad boys. he still has them as an adult and holds onto the charm when he misses them which is all the time (i love martyn angst evil laugh)

ykw fuck it he still wears the necklaces and tucks them under his shirt, he asked everyone else if they still had theirs and it either broke or they lost it

EVERYOEN EXCEPT FOR JIMMY BC THEY WERE CHILDHOOD BEST FRIENDS AND HE WEARS IT UNDER HIS SHIRT TOO FUCK YOU I LOVE THEM

and for anyone curious it was a dog bone that is split in half and it like one of those magnetic necklaces that you have to get uncomfortably close to eachother for it to work

okay that's enough for tonight bc i have things i need to do tomorrow and thumbs hurt and it threw in the morning and i've been typing for over an hour straight good night cleveland *proceeds to stay online for another hour*

[strangestcase]

2, 5, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20. hm that's a lot. well do whoever you want (i think i know some of your ocs but not many..). or do a combination. or anything.... idk 🫡

I'm going to do it for Sunny and Gloomy because I've been hopelessly obsessed with them since I created them in 2022 (well. "created" "them". public domain character(s) and whatnot).

(For context, Sunny/Gloomy is a version of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde that came to me in a dream and that I've been slowly turning into an OC; the gist of the world they live in is a comedy horror parody of classic monster cinema.)

2- Say your OC made a playlist on Spotify. What bands would be on that playlist? Any specific genres?

Sunny's playlist is a horrific combination of 60s hits, disco, Weird Al, and musical songs. After Here comes the sun and Mr. Blue Sky you get hit with Feed me (git it).

Gloomy pretends to have a dignified, high-brow music taste, but his playlist would be a disjointed collection of songs compiled from villain playlists on spotify. If the Jekyll and Hyde musical was canon in his world (it isn't because, well, there's no Jekyll and Hyde book if Jekyll and Hyde is real and happening in the 2010s), he'd have like four different recordings of Alive in there.

5- What's their favorite type of weather? Do they like to do anything specific on days when the weather is how they like it?

Ironically enough, Sunny prefers fresh, cloudy days in which the sun is sliiightly obscured by big puffy clouds -perfect for going on long walks alone or with one of his three friends-. Meanwhile, Gloomy prefers dark skies and rain. Thunderstorms as well. He'll go outside, no umbrella, no raincoat, and get soaked to the bone. It's fine. Strong immune system and whatnot.

7- What kind of animals would they like as a pet? What names would they give their pets if they got any? If they already have pets, what are their names?

He 100% would like to have a pet but he's not entirely sure what kind of pet. Probably something fun like a ferret, which Sunny would like to call Marshmallow or Velvet. Of course, if Gloomy got any word in it, the poor animal would go by Dementia by the rest of its days.

12- If they were an actual character in an animated film or TV series, who would they be voiced by? Do they have a certain accent that the person would need to perfect?

Sunny is voiced by Rick Moranis, no question. Well, young Rick Moranis, as a more joyful, faux-nice version of his Seymour Krelborn. Gloomy is voiced by Kelsey Grammer doing a similar performance to his Sideshow Bob, but deeper and with more grit to it, OR Anthony Warlow for obvious reasons. Both would have to have a Standard Castilian Spanish accent, though not too blatant, since this is a guy that has lived in England for years.

16- If your OC was a film director, what kind of movies would they make?

Some Skinamarink, Perfect Blue, Mother! shit.

What? You thought Sunny would make something wholesome? Sunny?

17- If your OC was a musical artist, what genres would they do?

I mean- Sunny is literally showtunes themed. Meanwhile Gloomy would do power rock ballads.

19- Does your OC like to collect things? What kind of things do they collect?

The short answer is that he doesn't really collect anything of note. Either he's too focused on other stuff to collect things, or he just forgets... he hasn't collected anything proper since he was a teen, back in the early 2000s. I think he used to collect Pokémon cards and bottle caps but eventually lost interest. He does tend to acummulate test tubes, blades, and notebooks, but that's less of a true collection and more like... stuff he uses regularly and stashes.

The long answer is that he DOES collect stuff but... "collect" is a bit of a stretch. See, Gloomy sometimes brings little "trophies" with himself after maiming someone- fingernails, ears, teeth, clumps of hair, pieces of skin, pieces of clothes, personal effects. Sometimes. And then he shoves them into a drawer that would otherwise be empty, in Sunny's bedroom. This secret serial killer stash, for a lack of a better term, has become one of the many oddities hidden around the house. Usually Sunny kinda... forgets about it until he opens it in search of clean socks, or until someone opens it thinking he hides porn in there or something. His reactions to these occurences are "ah, right, that, I forgot it was there" and "OH SHIT OH FUCK I FORGOT ABOUT THAT FUCK SHIT FUCK" respectively.

I think he would like to collect marbles.

20- Was your OC inspired by anything? Another character? A person?

Well...

Specifically, Sunny/Gloomy is -as I've said before- based off a dream I had, in which I watched a Jekyll and Hyde musical play. Jekyll appeared to be Daniel Collins from the Old Vic dance adaptation, and Hyde looked like musical!Hyde.

While the general gist of the character is a personal spin on the original book Jekyll/Hyde, a LOT of how I characterize Sunny/Gloomy is based off of movie adaptations and fanonization. Oftentimes to take the piss on them.

[leam1983]

Fat Cat Envy

The shift's ended, and Sarah's still working through the Wizard Game, while Walt and I are shooting the shit and backseat-gaming.

"I just love the boardroom aesthetic, is all," justifies Walt. "I've never been slim, I'm not built for tank tops or open shirts or anything, and I'm not the type of Fat Gay Guy who lets it all hang out, y'know? I need to feel braced, and I need a vest to do that. None of that should suggest that I'm shilling for the Fat Cat aesthetic."

Sarah pauses. "Welp, you kind of are. The difference is, you're self-aware. You're not Patrick Bateman who's expecting all of this to define him as a human, you're trying to assert a sense of identity that's only really expensive if you're hung-up on designer brands. There's a baker's dozen worth of Italian brands that don't come with Milanese pedigree and that don't have the price tag to match."

Walt waffles for a few moments and then rolls his eyes in concession. "Yeah, sure, I guess. I just don't know what's wrong about knowing what the fuck you're supposed to do with gingham and having a couple pinky rings to cycle through."

I watch Sarah as she Avada Kedavra's a big wolf-dog, whose only crime consists of being a wolf-dog in this particular location. As per usual, she does it while poking fun at Ralph Fiennes' delivery of the incantation.

"Stalin wore suits like you, Walt," I tell him. "Malcom X and Martin Luther King wore the shit out of their suits, too. You're not just a guy in a suit selling cars, and you're not a jagoff going for his fourth yacht or his third Mercedes. You knowing male haberdashery like the back of your hand isn't some moral fault of yours, okay? It's a choice you've made and an interest of yours. Some people collect Pokémon cards well into their forties, some people have a little lacquered box with a bunch of select watches like you, and I bet some other people just like you have another little box for their tie clips and pins."

I grip his hand. "Only two persons alive get to call you a Fat Cat as a positive - that's Sarah and me."

He blinks. "So you don't mind the contradiction between my values and how I look?"

I sigh. "Hon, you're a consumerist with a conscience. There's tons of people out there like you, starting with me. We buy shit we don't always need while being aware of their impact, and we otherwise try and make responsible choices. Count yourself lucky you never fell in with PC gaming or car ricing, 'cause then you'd be financing underage labor and exploitation. Christ, Walt, the last tie pin you bought came from a local artisan. You gave money to a local. How is that Blind Fat Cat logic?!"

He follows mine. "And if you bought that Oculus Quest in a few paychecks, you'd be in a moral quandary."

To which I have to agree. "I would, actually. I don't need that VR headset, but having the option to go untethered sounds nicer than my current setup. Maybe I'd get more mileage out of the Quest than my Rift S, which I only bring out with the office's VR PC for showroom car demos."

The big guy seems surprised. "And you're fine with that?"

Sarah pauses her game again. "Sweetie, real life isn't a video game. There's no Good alignment and no Evil alignment. Either you do the best you can and likely die forgotten by everyone, or you're an ass in a few select aspects and get a shot at notoriety or infamy. Please don't go down the Self-Flagellating Penitent route; my last boyfriend had anxiety attacks over which brand of coffee we bought!"

An angel passes, followed by a thoughtful nod. "So you can either be nihilistic about it and join the douchebros spending their way to an early grave, or you can be realistic about it. What then?"

I hug my Sales Adjunct. "Pick your battles, you idiot. Book sales, fantasize about that Burberry coat for next Fall while being aware you'll probably go for a Chinese knockoff at a fraction of the price, dress to the nines all you like - but make a difference where you can.

He's silent for a while and just hugs me back. After a minute or two, Walt sharply exhales.

"I take it back, I'm actually super rich, if it's all a question of perspective."

Sarah sees it coming and gives Walt a smirk and a slow sideways glance.

"I'm super rich because I've got you two," he says, assuming a bit of that Alpha Douche posture he uses it blend in, with his shoulders squared off and his girth allowed to take up space.

Suddenly, reaching the endgame phase doesn't matter all that much to Sarah. We're both in Walt's arms, and he fakes a self-satisfied laugh. "This fat cat's got two kittens to groom," he suggests, adding a deliberately lusty Meow before locking lips with me.

[krakrac]

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

im not very familiar with yours sorry:(( So !! respond with the oc that would produce the angstiest response, Or, whatever oc thatyou wanna hehe

on it bossman

💎 Several of my OCs are canonically destined to die, so yeah, but lately I've been thinking that it's actually not as many of them as I would like? Given that it's kind of a dark story I guess. It's mostly unnamed characters dying, like soldiers and stuff, because I like my characters too much I think. Not that I don't imagine the angstiest hurt/no comfort shit when I feel like it but there really is no reason for me to kill someone off in canon just because it would be dark and fucked up. All of my OCs went through shit already and I live for hurt/comfort unfortunately so most of them are gonna live.

But! I went on a killing spree in the prequel story, where I think six important characters died for Yrsk's character development 👍 Bro got the premium treatment. Plus Nyr's parents are both dead yeah.

💀 I think Yrsk probably has thalassophobia plus he is scared shitless of dogs even though he tries to play it cool because he thinks it's stupid. Nyr is scared of being alone and Kristjan is scared of men which sounds extremely funny given he gets no game (he's straight tho) but there is a lore reason for that (he got tortured by two guys and lost an eye in the process; so it would probably fit better to say he doesn't trust men I guess).

🍩 Nyr's arch-nemesis is Rivalis, even though it's not that obvious in the first ~half of the story. They have a fun dynamic because he is just some guy from a random village in the tundra and she is the literal ruler of the largest and most influential kingdom on the continent. He also has beef with a few other people like Kristjan for example.

Yrsk collects enemies like pokémon cards, first it was the guy who killed his girlfriend, then it was another guy who killed his second girlfriend, then third guy who killed his friend/mentor/father figure, then some random bounty hunter who arrested him and the last one would be Kristjan I think. You could also say Rivalis is his nemesis-in-law because of Nyr lmao.

[corpus-incorporated]

It’s really funny bc every time I make progress on my mental health journey I get excited when I get a win for a while but then I start thinking hey wait a minute I’m not done tho. Like we haven’t gotten all the disorders yet there’s still more dont go anywhere please you gotta hear me out-

[mellowrat21]

Rough Changes.

AU where the bullying Sal recieves from Travis, his school crush, gets so hard to him, it almost kills him, so he decides to close some cycles and get the hell out of the situation. Cw: mention of self harm, bullying, graphic violence, strong vocabulary, polyamorous relationships, mild (really really mild) implied sex scene(?, heavily loaded with angst. Fandom: Sally Face Words: 4800 Hope you enjoy it!

The first time Sally went out around Nockfell he used to wear a beanie to hide his bright, long, electric blue hair and wore discrete clothes, but as the time went by and he started hanging out with Larry, Ash and Todd, his confidence slowly started going higher and higher until he started going to school with his signature hairstyle, some hairpins and his favorite clothes, he was a cis guy, and he was bisexual, but who cared, everyone who saw him thought he was a girl and probably a lesbian since he hung out with Ashley so much. And he didn’t give a flying fuck about it, he wouldn’t make an effort to change his voice to make it sound “more feminine” or go to the women’s restroom because he didn’t feel the need to, he was a guy, period. Some people didn’t seem to agree and thought he was a trans guy or something, which was terribly stupid and Sal and his friends would always mock the people that harassed him on the streets “you will never be a real woman, you tranny!” or “no matter how many chemicals are in your body, you will always be a girl!”, people never knew if he was a girl or a boy, and that amused him a lot. But then, when they got to the middle of 8th grade, a new kid was introduced to his class, he was a tall, brown boy with shiny blonde hair, he had what appeared to be a bruise on his left eye but Sal thought it was rude to stare, so he lowered his head, wondering if it was a bruise or a birthmark. The kid got to sit beside him, they didn’t talk at all, if not just the common “hi” from when a new kid gets introduced to the class and you’re the one sitting next to them. Dear diary: Today in class there was a new kid, he is cute, I wanna be his friend and maybe share drawings or stickers or even Pokémon cards, what if he collects them too? I could find the ones I don’t have and he could benefit from mine too. He’s my age, his name is Travis. I think he’s religious, so not cool, religion is boring, I always sleep in religion class. I’m gonna ask him if he wants to sit with me at lunch, he might be lonely since he’s a new boy at school, I wanna be his first friend, I could even introduce him to the group!

Alright, gotta sleep, Sal out.

**

The alarm clock was buzzing, letting Sal know it was time to get out of bed and ready for a heavy Tuesday of school, he hated Tuesdays, no band club, no art classes, nothing, just geometry, math and a lot of history, Spanish and English, oh, and religion too. He got up and went to take a quick shower, it was cold and he didn’t really like turning the heater on, it was too noisy for being 6:40 in the morning the time he showered for school. When he got out of the shower, he put on his underwear and with a towel around his hair he sat on the sink to take care of his reddish scars, that day they were way more tender than usual, it stung and even hurt in some places the q-tip touched with the lotion. He sighed, getting back down from the sink and finding a meowing Gizmo on his bed, who stretched as soon as he saw his owner, asking him to pet him and rub his belly. “Aw hi little guy! Did you get some good sleep?” Sally asked in a tiny voice, thoroughly shaking Gizmo’s big belly, he earned a purry meow from him, who got up and walked out of the room to get food. Sal let out a breathy giggle and started going through his closet, thinking what he should wear; he found a white skirt he thought was really cute, tried it on but found out it was way too short and it showed the scars on his thighs, he didn’t want any more visits to the school counselor for self-harm even though his scars were a combination of cuts made by him and scratches made by Gizmo. He decided to stop thinking so much and just grabbed a pair or ripped black skinny jeans with patches and chains Larry had gifted him for his 15th birthday and a pastel blue gloomy bear t-shirt to go with it, by the time he tied his usual blue converse he thought of grabbing a hoodie, so he grabbed a red zip-up hoodie and threw it on before he went to get some breakfast, some peach slices and Greek yogurt did the job and after a little bit of him styling his hair with his dryer and iron, he went to brush his teeth, he grabbed his bag after putting his prosthetic on and headed out. On the way he found Larry, with whom he went to the bus stop while chatting a little bit. “hey Lar, did you see the new kid?” Sal asked, eager to hear the answer, he was so interested in him, he was excited to know him. “uh yeah, that Travis boy? He’s chill, why? Larry said, munching on a chocolate chip cookie that might be his breakfast, he had his hair tied back in a messy bun which showed he didn’t shower, and those bruise-like bags under his eyes made clear he didn’t sleep either. “huh? What do you mean chill, did you talk to him?” Sal’s eyelids perked up, surprised by his friend talking about his interesting future new friend. “oh hell no, he’s religious, I would never get near a religious guy, they’re scary with all their crazy ‘god loves you’ shit” Larry shivered jokingly, earning an annoyed sigh from Sal, who playfully punched his friend’s shoulder. “he can’t be that bad bro, he’s 14, he probably just uses the cross necklace because his dad makes him.” Sal tried to shrug it off, then the bus came and they got on. While looking for a seat, Sal spotted a blonde head, and when he got closer, low and behold, it was Travis. He was talking to another blue haired kid that attended their school, but they suddenly locked eye contact and Sal smiled to him, only to remember he couldn’t see it, so he shakingly waved until Larry softly pushed him to sit behind Travis and the other boy that was there. “come on dude, you’re gonna fall if you stay there!” Larry tugged on his hoodie, which made him sigh and sit next to his friend, his face red as a cherry and the blush spreading to his ears. That was so embarrassing… “woah woah dude are you okay? Do you have like a fever or something? Your face is hot as fuck and your so re- AH DUDE NOT COOL!!” Larry said worried, getting elbowed on the stomach by his flustered friend who was literally shaking on his seat. “i-I am- I’m okay it’s j-ju-just I-… fuuuuck” Sal stammered out, not being able to form a sentence from how hard he was shaking, then he hear a gasp from the

seat in front of him. “what? Are you- are you a boy?” a flustered, weirded out Travis was looking at him, he looked disgusted and scared. “uh m-me? I- I… yes, I’m a boy…” Sal stuttered again, scared, the first words they exchanged and they were not at all the ones he expected. “what the- ugh, boys don’t wear skirts, you shouldn’t wear that kind of attires, it’s ungodly.” The disgust in Travis’ face was growing with every word and Sal was literally at the verge of tears from how scared he was, even though he had picked a gender neutral looking outfit he got a bad comment, from the boy he wanted to be friends with. Sal tried to talk but the words were stuck in his mouth, when a sudden movement startled him to the point he yelped. “yo, clothes don’t have gender. Go fuck with someone else smartass.” Larry had jerked up from his sit, completely angered and with a threatening stand. Travis got scared himself and he just turned around mumbling something under his breath. Sal was silently crying, little sobs slipped from under the mask his day didn’t start well at all and he had heard what the boy in front of him had mumbled.

He called him a faggot.

His day went on horribly, boring classes, all of them where he sat next to the boy who he had a little crush on, it was all wrong, all he wanted to do was go home and curl up in a ball to cry, and cry and cry. Before lunch started, he got up rather quickly, Travis used the opportunity to trip him and he fell over, he scratched both his knees and it wanted to make him cry again, and it did, he just ran to the restrooms and locked himself in a stall, hugging his legs and silently crying again, what a shit day, he just wanted it to end already. The urge was suddenly unbearable, he needed to get himself off of that situation, he reached to his hoodie pockets and pulled out a little envelope that contained a stainless steel blade he hadn’t used in a while. He then pulled his sleeves up and angrily started making multiple deep cuts in every dimension, that made him sob and gasp, and when he was done, he was just a mess of blood and tears, he reached for the toilet paper and luckily for him, there was, so he quickly put it on the wounds and made some pressure until the blood was almost gone, he pulled the sleeves back down and sighed, he wasn’t relieved, but he wasn’t around Travis so he was good for a while. Then he remembered his next class was religion, fuck no, he was going to the principle to ask him to call his dad, he needed to go home, he couldn’t resist any more time with Travis let alone it being in religion class, fucking religion class, that was the last thing he wanted to happen to him. After he decided he was calling his dad to go home, he got off the toilet and opened up the stall door slowly as to not find any “unwanted guests”. Once he double-checked and triple-checked he was able to get out of there an run to the principal’s office, only to blink and open his eyes back up at a hospital room, surrounded by Larry, Ashley, Todd, Todd’s boyfriend (he didn’t remember his name) and his dad, all looking both worried and relieved. “oh my god, he’s awake!” Ashley almost yelled, rushing to hold his friends hand. “huh…? Wha- what am I doing here?” Sal asked, looking around, noticing his arms were uncovered, showing his fresh cuts and the catheter where the liquids where flowing. “uh, you passed out and Larry found you completely splattered on the ground, your hoodie was soaked in blood so he told us and we rushed you to the hospital. It seemed like you lost a lot of blood, Sally, what’s wrong?” Todd talked, looking concerned. “Salvatore, please tell me you’re not going to start cutting yourself again, I already signed a document to refuse your admission to the mental hospital, I know you don’t wanna go back there and I don’t want you to go either, that place only drugs you and prevents you from everything…” Henry spoke, worry and sadness gushing out of his mouth while he talked. Tears started falling down Sal’s eyes, he was mortified, and now he was in the fucking hospital, he was sure this was a nightmare, he needed to wake up, he needed to fucking- “SAL, WAKE UP!!” Larry said, worried and scared, it had been a day since Sal got out of the hospital and he stopped going to school for a while, Larry was taking care of him every day after school to make sure he was eating and cleaning himself, he was worried his best friend would kill himself if he spent too many time alone and he wasn’t risking losing another loved one. Never again. Sal jerked awake, all startled by his friend’s yelling. “what do you want Larry…” annoyed by his sudden awakening, Sal rolls over on the bed and starts falling back asleep. “I brought you some pancakes and chocolate milk… I know you like them…” Larry sighed out, he was sad to see his best friend like that, he hated it, he fucking hated whatever was going on with him to make him that depressed. Sal sat up and started eating bit by bit, the bandages on his arms were getting loose and a bit gooey, so after Sal finished eating, Larry carried him piggyback to the bathroom to clean him up.

That was only the beginning of the worst four years of his life, days of never ending bullying, depressive episodes, fights, detentions, panic attacks and breakdowns.

**

Last break of their last year of school was nearing in, that was the last day of school before break and they’d be back for a month and a half more of school and everything would be over. Sal was excited because he was going on a field trip with the squad, not knowing those plans were going to be completely crushed by goody two-shoes blonde fuck Travis, who had woke up that last day of school and chose complete violence. That day was living hell for Sal, he never stopped mocking him and calling him names, but Sal just pretended to ignore him, until… “Hey freak, you faceless faggot motherfucker, did your mommy do your hair for you? It looks shitty! Oh wait, no she didn’t. why, you ask? OH YEAH, BECAUSE SHE’S DEAD, SHE MUST BE CRINGING AND CRYING IN HER GRAVE BECAUSE SHE’S ASHAMED OF YOU, ABOMINATION, UNGODLY MONSTER” Travis was following him around, tugging at his hair and pushing his head around, until Sal snapped. He didn’t say anything, just a hit, square in the nose, a loud crack and a scream followed, Sal just kept hitting and hitting until Larry had to physically drag him away, he was frozen, scared, absolutely terrified of himself, of what he did. Luckily it was finally break time and he got to dip out of there, he locked himself at home and ravaged the tree on his backyard, then when he was tired of it, he decided to go back inside and look at himself in the mirror, he then found himself staring down to a pair of scissors on his nightstand. His breath became shaky and anxious, he didn’t want to do it, he made him do it, it was all his fault, all his fault, he fucking did it. “LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID, TRAVIS FUCKING PHELPS!” he cried out, yelling and shaking after he looked at himself back in the mirror, his pretty blue long locks were completely gone, leaving him with a mess of hair, he didn’t want it anymore, he didn’t want to look like a girl, he didn’t want to be bullied anymore, he didn’t deserve it. “I am a man, I was born a man, I will die a man, and if I am a man I will fucking behave like one. Did you fucking hear me, Phelps!? IM GONNA BE WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE, A FUCKING GUY, NOT THE UNGODLY FAGGOT YOU ALWAYS SAW ON ME!! ARE YOU HAPPY? ARE YOU GLAD?! FUCK YOU! YOU MADE ME LIKE THIS! ME! THE ONE WHO ALWAYS THOUGHT FONDLY OF YOU, THE ONE THAT THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST SCARED OF ME! The one who… the one… the one who fucking liked you…” Sally couldn’t speak anymore, he was shaking, sobbing and crying out loud on the bathroom floor, just to stare back up and find Larry and Ashley looking down at him, both crying, completely worried and scared of what they were looking at. Larry picked him up as he drifted away, passing out from all the crying. They let him sleep, he was sleeping soundly as the other two were slowly falling asleep by his sides. When he woke up he found them sleeping there, he woke them up too since he had an enormous headache and needed some assistance. “Lar… b-bring me some medicine please my head hurts like hell…” He went to grab onto his locks and all he found was a nest of tangled up short hair, he found himself scared but then remembered what happened before he went out and tears started gushing out of his eyes. “fuck, I really did it, I cut my fucking hair.” Sal unbelievably laughed, a melancholic laugh. Larry got up and Ash stayed there, hugging him softly. “don’t worry, blue, I’ll take you to a salon after you take your medicine and we’ll get that mess fixed, alright?” Ash held his hand, reassuringly squishing it softly. Sal nodded then looked up when he saw Larry pop out of the doorframe holding a pill and a glass of water which he gave him to drink. “So dude… after you get the haircut… do you wanna go get some food and maybe get high at the abandoned house down the hill? I know Ash is out of this because she has to babysit her brother but we can go if you want.” Larry asks rather shyly, trying not to give Sal any strong emotions. “I’ll take the food offer, but no weed for me today, this headache will get fucking worse if I even get near the stuff” Larry nodded, joining the hug

after Sal had swallowed the pill, closing his eyes at the pleasuring hug. After the pill kicked in and Sal was no longer in pain, the three young adults went to the hair salon to get Sal a haircut, then the other two sat back reading awfully boring magazines. Mid haircut, Sal asked the stylist to dye his hair black, he wanted to change himself completely, never look back at himself how he used to be. They finished washing his hair and he went to show his friends who looked completely dumbfounded by the new look, so dumbfounded Sal started to worry. “guys? What is it? Do-does it look bad? Do I change it or-“ he was cut off by a wave of NO’s from both of them, they were both in love with what they saw before them, they rushed to hug him and cradle him, Larry cried, because he loved him, he loved every single piece of his existence and now he looked so different, not happier, but completely different, he was proud of him, of his baby, not blue anymore.

**

The road trip never happened, but they stayed together at Sal’s house the whole break since Henry was away for a business trip that meant a lot of money coming to them afterwards. The three spent the break like a little family, they tried doing all sorts of things, like cooking, hiking, stargazing, burning all Sal’s “feminine” stuff as a symbolic sacrifice (even if Ashley wanted to keep the makeup and some stockings he had) and well, other kind of stuff between the three of them. The day they had go back to school went… not so badly. The squad had agreed not to talk to Sal a lot at school so people thought he was just absent or something, and it worked out until some person started to suspect. “hey, you, uh… Salvatore?” Travis approached the guy shyly, tapping his shoulder. “yeah?” Sal tried to lower his voice to confuse the oblivious blonde even more. “well I wanted to talk to you about something, in private, so… do you mind going with me to the school’s auditorium? I promise it’ll not take long.” Travis stepped a little further from him as to not scare him. “uh yeah sure, why not.” He nodded and followed behind, not too closely, while he texted his partners about it, he was shaking, scared and stressed about what might happen there. Porcelain doll: school auditorium, quick, heading there with Travis, apparently he wants to talk about something.

Ashey<3: oooo someone is getting confessed to!!!

Lar-Bear: be there in 3 minutes, dragging Ash with me if something happens.

Porcelain doll: nice, thanks babe.

Ashey<3: no worries boo ~

Lar-Bear: we love you, Torey.

Sal sighed in relief knowing his boyfriend and girlfriend were going to be around if something bad happened, so he ruffled his hair and jogged a bit, trying to keep up the pace. When they got there, Travis pushed the big doors to the entrance, the dim lighted room was scary enough with the theatre people in it, let alone it being completely empty, except for Ash and Larry who were hiding in the console room.

Travis cleared his throat, he was… nervous? Maybe Sal was imagining it, there’s no way that motherfucker was nervous.

“so… what did you wanna talk about?” Sal spit out rather venomously, stressed and annoyed by Travis’ presence.

“I promise it wouldn’t take long so it won’t. Salvatore Fisher, Sally Face, I wanted to tell you I’m absolutely sorry for what I did to you, all those years of suffering because of my fear of… of… uh… of…” Travis was struggling to take it out, he was disgusted by his own words though he knew he had to say it somehow. “of liking another man, of liking you, Sal… I was taking it all out on you and you didn’t deserve it, I’m working on myself, on becoming a better person for you, because I know how much damage I caused you on the outside, but on the inside, I know I left you a wound that is rotting and I will never know how deep it is.”

“Bro. You waited four years. Four fucking whole years to apologize for something you did to me every day nonstop, the words, the names, the hits, the hair pulling, all of that, and now you’re just telling me that you’re sorry? What do you expect? That I fall on your arms, begging you to hold me and forgiving you right away? Fuck no. Totally not. I will never forget what you did to me, and you know what? Fuck you. You’re the fucking faggot, you’re the one that deserves to get your shit rocked every single day of the rest of your fucking existence. You’re the sissy, little blondie piss baby, what’re you gonna do, huh? Cry out to daddy for him to save you? Only sissies cry, Travis, man the fuck up and piss your pants anywhere else but near me.” Sal gushed every word that came out of his mouth so naturally it was like he had rehearsed that speech a thousand times. He pushed him, making him trip over his feet and fall to the ground before he left, fuming, at the verge of tears, and before he closed the doors of the auditorium he yelled “FUCK YOU TRAVIS PHELPS, EVEN IF I STILL LOVED YOU, I WOULD NEVER TOUCH YOUR FILTHY FLESH IN MY MISERABLE LIFE, Y’KNOW!?” and with that said, he slammed the door behind him, actually hearing rushed footsteps from the other side. Todd and Larry were waiting for him outside but Sal ignored them, he was too busy wiping the tears off of his face as his legs gave in and let him sit on the floor, resting his back against a stack of lockers nearby. Travis barged out of the auditorium, tears desperately streaming down his face, yelling out for Sal. “SAL PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I LOVE YOU WITH MY LIFE AND IM SORRY I HURT YOU SO MUCH PLEASE JUST GIVE ME A CHANCE I PROMISE I’LL BE BETTER!!” Travis was full on begging, he needed him so bad but Todd and Larry stopped him, Larry had hit him square in the face while on the floor Todd kicked him on the side, completely angered to see how poor Sally was crying too, with Ashley by his side hugging him and comforting him, they would never let Travis get near Sal, ever again. Since the principal actually knew Sal and Travis situation, he didn’t end up expelling anyone and didn’t give them detention, Travis, Todd and Larry were given a warning and Ash was congratulated because of how good of a job she did comforting Sally while he was having his panic attack. Finally they got to go home and do their homework and onto the next day.

**

Finally, the school year, graduation and prom had been completely over, and Ash, Sal and Larry were moving out of Nockfell to live together in the city since Larry had gotten a job and Sal was planning to start university with Ash, they were both planning on enrolling in art school even though Sal wasn’t too excited about it since he wasn’t as good at art as Larry and Ashley were, but they both always reminded him that he doesn’t need to be good, he needs to be passionate. That way he would finally get better.

The news of the moving got to Travis, so, as a goodbye present, he left a letter and some candy for Sal in his letterbox, promising him and himself that they would never cross each other ever again. Sal thought it was a cute gesture, maybe in another life they would’ve been together, but in this one, they just peacefully drifted away after all the suffering they felt throughout the years. He went in to smoke some weed, he took the letter with him and read it out loud, he cried a little while, and after that he just burned the letter and went back into the empty house. Ash greeted him with a soft kiss on the lips and smiled. “The moving crew called, they’ll be here in ten minutes. Lar is upstairs saying his last goodbyes to the house.” Ash kissed his forehead and let him go with a playful spank on his butt, making both of them giggle. When Sal went up he found Larry crying, he softly approached him and sat beside him, hugging him tightly.

“hi doll, sorry you get to see me like this, I got nostalgic and I was thinking of how glad my mom would be to know that I found a job, that I have a beautiful loving relationship and that I’m moving out with them, with the beautiful people I love.” Larry sobbed onto Sally’s chest and he howled as soon as the words left Larry’s mouth.

“I’m sure little old Lisa is really fucking proud of you, of me and of Ashey, like, we’re both successful young adults and we’re taking off, we’re living our lives just like Lisa, my dad and Ashley’s wanted, so never doubt it, they’re all pretty proud of you, bear.” Sally reassured him with a big smile, Larry kissed him softly then pulled out with a huge smile.

“good god Torey, I love you so fucking much.” They ended up cuddling on the beanbag they didn’t pack, it was big enough to fit three people there, so they were comfortable, kissing and cuddling there. They started getting heated up and kissing more aggressively. Rough kissing and hickeys, until Ashley interrupted them.

“I knew I was hearing my little porcelain doll moaning, why am I not invited again?” They all laughed and pulled her onto the beanbag, but then again there was another interruption, the doorbell rang, the moving crew was there, they started loading the stuff to the moving truck and the other stuff inside Larry’s truck, then took off, they were leaving, finally leaving that damn town, the memories, the suffering, off to a new life, a better life where they had love to give and receive, wealth and success, so they weren’t sad. Obviously they were nostalgic, but never sad.

They finally got to the new house, it was big and pretty, the furniture looked perfect and the bedroom was cozy and welcoming. They were so tired that day, they just slept through the whole night and the next half of the day.

There their life started, their new life, where the worries were different and the old problems were nowhere to be seen, and they were happy, they were completely free. Free, loved and happy, just how they deserved.

[im-not-a-joke]

Badly Explained TAZ Balance Characters Part 2

Electric boogaloo

Part 1

More spoilers FYI

Ango Dango

Angus McDonald

Literal child

Can say fuck

Wakes up and chooses violence

Worlds Greatest Detective™️

Doing his best

Collects father figures like Pokémon cards

Wants a normal life but too wrapped up in BoB shit to get it

Ghost Rider

Kravitz

Works for death

Simp for the Flip Wizard

Says “I love you” before the second date

Has a Work Voice and a Regular Voice

Enjoys wine and pottery

Can’t aim for shit

80% nerd, 20% badass

Ogre WLW

Killian

Badass

Magic crossbow

In love with a lizard

Hates Magic Brian

One of the first important npcs

Hates it here, probably

Badass woman the boys need for protection

They’re Lesbians, Magnus

Carey Fangbattle

Cant carve ducks well

In love with an ogre woman

Fucking badass also

Maggie’s training buddy

Maggie’s bff

Rouge shit

Related to a different pc that I skipped the episodes of

Pod Man

Avi

Magnus makes more friends

“Avi, be cool”

Super cool actually

Just wants to chill and lift

Fantasy frat boy

Keeps alcohol on him at all times apparently

One Man Emo Band

Johann

Fucking dies so don’t get attached

Gets a dog named after him

Writes sad music and feeds it to the voidfish

Gamekeeper I guess

Always depressed

Please don’t tickle him

Sounds like he’s always high

Neutral on Magnus

Knockoff Taako

Magic Brian

“I like your cadence dear, where you from?”

Magic man

Has a spider with the same name spelled different

Oddly important for a character that does in the first 10 episodes

“You can’t get rid of me bitch”

Hungry John The Vore Man

John Hunger

Main antagonist

Somehow sympathetic

Merles Only Friend

Likes to play chess

Loses control

Attempts to help the good guys at the end

✨bonus✨

Moon Capitalist

Garfield the Deals Warlock

“Fantasy Costco, where all your dreams come true”

The best at deals

Gets outsmarted by an idiot wizard

Makes a clone of Magnus???? No one knows why, probably not even Griffin.

No canonical appearance, not even race

Probably just the Cat Himself

Really fucking weird tbh

[missjanjie]

As If We Never Said Goodbye | Jankie

Title: As If We Never Said Goodbye Summary: After their senior year of high school, a summer camp reunion is held when seven former campers return as counselors. While a lot has changed over the past six years, some haven't at all - especially for Jan and Jackie. Word Count: 1955 Relationship(s): Jankie (Jan Sport/Jackie Cox) Rating: G

read on ao3

The reunion among all the former campers was truly a heartwarming one. All of the girls were happy to see each other after six years, eager with curiosity to see how much had changed (and how much hadn’t). There was screaming and hugs all around as everyone was quick to get reacquainted, and they had a whole weekend to themselves before the campers showed up.

“Oh, well that’s just not fair,” Jan clicked her tongue and shook her head. “How did they all grow up to be models?” she asked, gesturing to Gigi, Nicky, and Jaida.

Rock nodded. “It seems like just yesterday I was fighting Nicky over pokémon cards while Jaida tried to stop her from convincing Crystal to eat glue again. Time flies.”

Jan nodded, but she’d stopped listening, instead, she was looking around, looking for something, someone.

As if she could read her mind, Rock tapped her shoulder. “Your girlfriend’s coming,” she said and cocked her head in that direction.

“Shut up,” Jan shoved her lightly. “Jackie was my summer camp bestie. I missed her,” she insisted.

Before Rock could call her bluff, Jackie ran over to them. “Jan! Rock! Hi!” She gave each of them a big hug - though Jan’s might’ve lasted a bit longer. “Oh wow, you guys look great,” she observed.

“You’re not even looking at me,” Rock retorted before she wandered off to get reacquainted with the rest of her old friends.

Not that Jackie noticed, as the world around her became nothing more than background noise when she laid eyes on Jan. It was hard to believe this was the same girl that picked her first every soccer game and sang the loudest every karaoke night. Her eyes sparkled with the same enthusiasm she seemed to get just from existing. In a way, Jackie felt like she was back home. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

Jan was grinning from ear to ear, practically bouncing on her feet. Memories of that summer never fully left her mind, it was some of the most formative months of her life, she had learned so much about herself, stuff she might have otherwise ignored for another couple years. And a lot of that was directly due to Jackie. “You too. It’s been way too long. And you, wow, you look amazing too.”

“God, we have so much to catch up on, I don’t even know where to begin,” Jackie mused.

Jan started to speak, then her eyes widened. “The time capsule!” She looked around, then began calling out for all the girls to gather back around her. “Guys! We need to dig up the time capsule,” she grinned.

The memory dawned on everyone around the same time, the group of them talking excitedly among themselves, trying to remember where it was buried, where they could get a shovel to dig it out. They settled on splitting out in two groups – Crystal, Gigi, Jackie, and Nicky would retrace their years-old steps to find the burial site while Jan, Jaida, and Rock went to find shovels.

“I know we’re close,” Crystal remarked. “I can feel it.”

“This must be it,” Gigi pointed to a spot where there was dirt piled up, standing out amidst the grass, with a border of rocks around it. “I remember Nicky and I spent ages looking for enough pretty rocks.”

Nicky chuckled softly. “We had very discerning tastes.”

Jackie was only vaguely paying attention, mostly waiting for the other group to return. “Do you guys remember what you put in?”

“I know Jaida and I both put our paper mache projects in there, so I hope they didn’t disintegrate,” Gigi mused. “What did you put in?”

“I remember what she put in,” Crystal announced, elbowing Jackie’s side and grinning far too broadly. She had watched Jackie work on her item for hours on end, she didn’t know it could take someone that long, and Jackie didn’t even let her see the final result.

Jackie blushed. “And you need to be quiet. I don’t want to ruin it,” she said pointedly.

Crystal just giggled. “Relax, she’s not even here.”

“Who’s not here?” Jan asked as her group returned with shovels.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” Gigi cut in, much to Jackie’s relief. “So, who’s doing the digging? Because I call ‘not it’.”

Jan chuckled and ushered her out of the way. “Rock and I got it, don’t worry,” she assured as the two of them started digging. “This shit is heavy though, no wonder Brooke and Kameron wouldn’t let us do it,” she recalled with a laugh.

“Aw, I miss them,” Rock hummed. “We should look them up on Instagram or something later.”

“I bet they’re still hot,” Nicky mused, causing some of the group to look at her oddly. “What? I couldn’t have been the only one thinking it,” she insisted, to which the girls reluctantly conceded to.

“Okay, we hit it!” Jan called out, she and Rock hoisting it out of the ground and setting it on the grass. “Oh, I’m so excited!” she said as if her whole body wasn’t nearly vibrating with enthusiasm.

Rock was the one to actually open the capsule (which was actually a toolbox they had all decorated), taking out the letter they had collectively written first, then squinted as she tried to read. “I’m gonna be honest, you guys, I can’t decipher any of this. We’ll have to go around and read our own entries later.”

Jan went to look through the capsule while Rock set the letter aside. “Let’s see… I recognize this little guy,” she cooed, holding up Nicky’s stuffed sheep.

“Meryl Sheep!” Nicky’s eyes lit up as she grabbed the toy. “Aw, my collection hasn’t been the same without you.” She looked back to Jan, gesturing for her to continue.

“We have Gigi and Jaida’s paper mache projects,” Jan continued, holding up the two crafts, one of a helmet that could fit the average baby doll, and the other of an apple with a comically angry face painted on. “And Rock’s Pokémon card,” she continued.

“Wait, gimme that!” Rock grabbed the sealed plastic pouch it was in. “D’you guys know how much this is worth?” She got blank stares in response, save for Nicky who shared her excitement.

“Smart move preserving it,” Jan hummed. “My mixtape!” she grinned, holding up a CD. “Miss Vanjie helped me burn a CD, and I put a song that made me think of everyone, like Burning Up for Crystal, Lady Marmalade for Nicky…” she continued looking down the list, her cheeks suddenly reddening. She didn't want to announce that she'd picked Alone by Heart for Jackie. “Well, you get the idea,” she summed up, reaching into the box and grabbing the next item, only to drop it. “Jesus Christ! Why is that there?”

Crystal picked the furby off the ground. The fur was partially singed on one side and had a bald spot on the other. “Oh yeah, I forgot I put Arson in there.”

Gigi pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tell me you didn’t actually name it ‘Arson’.”

“It survived being tossed into a campfire, Gigi,” she retorted as if the name choice should have obviously made sense. “There should still be another thing in there, right?”

Jan nodded, picking an envelope up from the bottom of the box. “Jackie, this must be yours, right?” she asked, holding it up and displaying the heart drawn in the center.

Even though it had been six years, Jackie’s heart started racing as soon as she saw that letter. Her throat tightened and her face flushed red. “I… Yeah… That’s mine,” she swallowed thickly, forcing herself to add, “read it.”

Jan looked at Jackie with a flash of concern in her expression, but obliged nonetheless, peeling off the Star Trek sticker the envelope had been sealed with and taking the note out.

“Dear Jan, I know we’re supposed to put something in the capsule that makes us think of our whole camp experience, but that’s actually why I’m doing this. My favorite part of the summer is you. I love how you pick me first every time we play soccer or kickball even though you know I can’t play. I love the way you spent your free hour helping clean all the paint and glitter off of me after Crystal’s project exploded (she’s watching me while I write this, I think she’s mad I told her she can’t copy my idea, and she’s probably watching you now, standing with Gigi anyway),” Jan looked up, noting that Crystal was standing with her arm around Gigi’s waist - all of them giggling at that before she continued.

“I love that you spent all week talking about how much you love horror movies, but wouldn’t go outside during Halloween night. I also love what happened that night, though I don’t know if it meant anything to you, or if you were just caught up in the moment. What I’m trying to say is, I don’t know where we’ll be when you read this, if we have girlfriends or pretend to have boyfriends, but right now, I love you. I love you a lot. Sincerely, Jackie.” Jan hadn’t realized tears were forming in her eyes until she finished reading and had to blink them away. The wave of emotion that hit her was hard to describe - twelve-year-old Jackie had poured her soul into this letter, and it made her heart swell.

It was clear that neither Jan nor Jackie were ready to say anything yet. “That was beautiful, Jackie,” Jaida offered, trying to ease the tension that had built up around them.

“Wow… I didn’t realize you felt that way,” Jan finally said.

“Really? Not even a little?” Nicky chimed in before Jaida elbowed her to get her to shut up.

Jackie let out a breath that vaguely resembled a laugh. “No, it’s okay,” she said to Nicky and Jaida before turning back to Jan. “It was one of those things that everyone else just knew.”

Jan chewed on her lip. “Everyone except me. I wish I’d known, though. Because I felt the same way - don’t say it, Nicky - the whole time.”

“I think you guys need some privacy,” Gigi said gently. “Why don’t you take a walk or something?”

Jackie nodded and already turned to start walking away. “Good idea,” she said, heading down the hiking trail with Jan doing a quick jog to catch up with her.

“So, um…” Jan cleared her throat. “Are you dating anyone?”

For the first time since the envelope came out, Jackie smiled and let herself look at Jan. “No, I’m not, are you?”

Jan shook her head. “I’m not either,” she said, then suddenly stopped walking. “Wait…”

Jackie stopped, turning back to look at her. “What?”

Wordlessly, Jan cupped Jackie’s face and kissed her deeply. It was nothing like the chaste peck they’d shared during the Halloween party six years ago. It was heated and fervent, both of them holding onto each other for dear life until their lungs begged for air. “Yeah,” she smiled as she stood upright, “the spark’s still there.”

“Did we just sign up for a summer romance, then?” Jackie asked with a light laugh.

“At least… Where are you going to college?”

“Columbia, finally moving out to the big city.”

“I’m not surprised in the slightest,” Jan chuckled. “I’m going to The American Academy of Dramatic Arts which…” her eyes went wide, “is also in Manhattan.”

Jackie’s face broke into a broad grin as she pulled Jan into a hug. “Isn’t that amazing?”

“Yeah,” Jan agreed as she melted into Jackie’s arms. “It’ll be nice to not have to say goodbye this time.”

[livian-lucifenia]

Soft Fic™

Literally what this was titled when I found it.

This can be manga or game verse. I tended to combine manga Red with game Green, anyway so just pick a side and go for it.

It's cute but v rushed at the end.

It's old fanfiction, there's only so much you can do to it without saying fuck it and rewriting the whole thing.

You know the drill. If anything is fucky, overlook it and keep going.

That being said, enjoy.

____________

Green has such a soft heart and Red loves that about him.

Red thinks about this as he watches Green play peekaboo with a baby shiny eevee at his grandfather's lab. It was the last one from the most recent litter, and Red really hoped Green would take it home before someone else did. He seemed to make up excuses to visit the lab just so he and his eevee, Vee, could play with it. He even bought a little squeaky toy for it, so it would have something to play with when no one was around.

Green's birthday was coming up, so Red made a trip to the lab early one morning and asked the professor if he could take the eevee. Of course, the professor happily allowed him to have it, telling him to wish Green a happy birthday for him just in case he forgot. And with that, Red was on his way back to Viridian.

As expected, Green was still asleep in his room when he arrived. Red had thought about how exactly to give the eevee to Green, and decided on placing it in bed with him so he saw it when he woke up. Vee seemed okay with this arrangement, as she curled around the smaller pokémon and both fell asleep easily. Now to just wait until Green woke up.

It was an hour later when Green's bedroom door opened to reveal a very happy, messy-haired Green with his arms full of just as happy eevees. Honestly, Red could have died right there on the living room couch. Seeing Green like this was something he would never get tired of. Green was so damn adorable and Red was so happy he could live with his best friend.

Green also had a thing for toys and cute plushies.

Red knew this well. After all, Green had collected them as a kid, so it made sense that he would still like them now. He made a trip to Celadon every now and again to get supplies and always took Red into the large toy store. He would show him various things, explain what they did, or what he liked about them, and then put them back on the shelf. He always looked a little disappointed when he did this, and Red knew it was because Green secretly wanted to buy it, but didn't want other people to see him doing so. He was a popular gym leader, and didn't want some embarrassing article to pop up online about him being seen in a toy store. Red thought it was a little silly to worry over stuff like that, but Green liked to keep up his public image.

The wall at the back of the store was filled with various plushies, and Green always gravitated towards it. He liked the small, cute ones best, "How can you not like them, they're adorable!", he'd said as he picked up one that looked like an eevee, but was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. He made comment about wanting to recreate his team with plushies, just as room decor or something, and Red instantly knew what he was buying as Green's Christmas gift this year.

And that's exactly what he did.

Of course, he had no idea how to wrap a gift, so he asked his mom for help. She gladly wrapped up the large box of plushies, and let Red fill out the To/From tag himself while she tied everything up with a pretty, dark green bow. As payment, she asked for him to stay a while longer and help her bake cookies for some gift baskets.

Red was in the middle of 'sampling' the third batch of cookies when his mom asked him a question, "You like Green, don't you?"

"Of course I do, he's my best friend. I wouldn't be living with him if I didn't.", he replied without hesitation.

She laughed a little as she slid another tray of cookie dough into the oven and turned to face him, "No, honey, I mean like a crush."

Red paused, did he have a crush on Green? "I... I don't know."

"How do you feel when you're around him?"

"Happy, but I've always felt like that with him. But there are some things he does that make me feel... different. I don't know how to describe it..."

"Do you ever think about him or miss him while he's at the gym?"

"All the time."

"You bought him those plushies for Christmas, why did you pick those over something else?"

"Because every time we go to Celadon, we go in the toy store, and he always looks at the same ones. He talks about them, too. About how detailed they are, or how soft the material is, or just that he likes them. He never buys them, though. He really wants to, I can tell, but he has an image to keep up. So... I bought them."

"That's very sweet if you. So, I take it you like making him happy?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I? He's cute when he's happy."

It took Red a moment to realize why his mother had paused their conversation to give him a knowing smile. His face felt hot and he just knew he probably matched his name and hat. The silence made him come to a realization, one he never saw coming, and probably wouldn't have if not for his mother.

"Mom, I think I have a crush on Green."

Now the question was, how the hell was he going to tell Green? Or... should he even say anything? Would it ruin their friendship? What if Green kicked him out?

All those thoughts made his head spin, and made him feel bad about even having those feelings towards Green.

He had to tell him, though. According to his mom, even though he had just realized what he was feeling, he had always acted differently with Green and vice versa. This all felt like something a teen should be dealing with, not a twenty year old league champion, but it is what it is. He couldn't complain, after all, the guy he was crushing on had a childish side too.

After having another long talk with his mom, Red decided the best way to confess was through a letter. That way, he wouldn't mess up his words or make an idiot of himself. The letter would be disguised as a card on top on his Christmas gift, and Red knew Green ways opened the cards first, so there was no way he would miss it. When Red sat down with a pen and paper to actually write the letter is where the problem came. What was he supposed to say?

It took two days to write the letter, and the trashcan next to his bed was filled with all the failed attempts to write a decent love letter.

A love letter...

That's what this was, wasn't it?

Arceus, he felt like he was in one of those sappy teen romance movies.

Finally, the day had arrived. Red woke up extra early to go pick up his gift to Green from his mom's house. He'd left it there because he didn't have enough room to hide it, and he didn't want the wrapping paper to be torn accidentally.

He placed the box and letter on Green's desk and quietly walked out, hoping he hadn't disturbed Vee or Viri, as they would surely wake Green up earlier than anticipated.

Red kept the apartment quiet as he waited, too afraid to even turn on the tv. He decided to go back to bed, it was still pretty early, and Green wouldn't be awake for another couple hours, anyway. So, after changing back into his pyjamas, he went back to sleep with Pika curled up at his back.

"...Red.... Red!"

Red woke with a start at the sound of his name being called. The first thing he saw was Green with his glasses on and tears falling down his freckled cheeks.

Oh.

Oh shit, Green was crying. Why was he crying? Is he upset? Red sat up, scooting closer to Green on the bed, "Green, what's wrong?"

Green looked down at the letter in his hands, "I... I got your gift."

Red's breath caught in his throat.

"Do you really feel like this about me?"

Red leaned in a little closer, "Yes..."

"Even... E-Even after all the shit I put you through?" Green wouldn't face him. Still staring down at the letter and wiping his face with the back of his sweater sleeve.

"Of course, I do. I forgave you, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but I didn't deserve it. I still don't. I... don't deserve any of this. You're too nice to me. I mean, I appreciate it, I really do, but I feel like I'm not good enough. I forgot your birthday this year and then you brought Viri home for my birthday... and now this. You picked out exactly what I liked, and you couldn't have known unless you really payed attention, and I can't even remember what kind of cereal you like, and I love you so much... but, I don't deserve you."

Red pressed his hand to Green's tear-soaked cheek, making him look up. "You don't have to remember stuff like that for me, or do anything special. You make me happy, Green."

Green closed the gap between them, kissing Red with everything he had. Red responded with just as much eagerness, his hands finding their way into Green's soft, messy hair.

He loved Green, and Green loved him, too.

Red broke the kiss so they could breathe, and wiped the remaining tears from Green's face, "I love you."

Green smiled, "I love you, too."

................

One year later, Red was helping Green put together a shelf for all of their collectables and plushies they had acquired over the year, Viri had surprised them a month earlier by evolving into a Sylveon, and Red was planning a different kind of surprise for Christmas this year.

He was going to ask Green to marry him.

____________

Ah, yes. More fluff.

Don't worry, there's more angst content coming soon.

Asks and add-ons relating to my content are always accepted!! 💜💜

Have a good day/night, my dudes.

[manhattan-gamestop]

Okay y’all the WORST financial decision I’ve ever made was when I was 12, and sometimes I still kick myself over it.

When I was in sixth grade, I dated this one guy in my class for basically the entire year, and I was CONVINCED I was in love with him (and like, ya know, that’s kinda yikes). So when his birthday rolled around at the end of the school year, I was trying to think of a good present to give to him, so I could show him how much he meant to me, and considering I had the resources of a 12 year-old (no car, no money, etc.), my options were pretty limited. I knew that he was really into Pokemon, so I thought that getting him a bunch of Pokémon cards would be a sweet gesture. My mom and I rummaged through our garage and found a giant binder’s worth of Pokémon cards collected by my siblings and me. It was classy shit; about three school subjects thick, it was organized by type, evolution, and we had some of the older vintage cards that hadn’t been translated to English yet. And, with the permission of my brother and sister, I gave the binder to him, and I got to look like the best girlfriend that day.

BUT the thing is, with how much time has passed and how Pokémon has been going through a lot of nostalgia crazes, the amount of cards we had and the rarity of some of those Pokémon means that the cards I gave him are probably worth THOUSANDS of dollars now. And it’s now in possession of a guy who I’ve only talked to a few times in past six years. Really, last time I saw him was at our high school graduation where we played catch-up. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice guy and he means well, but holy shit was I not qualified to make that decision at the time.

So lesson of the day y’all: you should REALLY think about it before giving up your family collections to your s/o, especially if it’s Pokémon.

(also two years after we broke up I figured out that I’m a lesbian so. there’s that)

[jadenlapointe]

🏚 🎐 💎 🐺

───   ✿    *     answered   !

🏚- Does your muse like to explore dangerous places?

“ absolutely . i need somebody to be my partner in crime , actually , to spot me and make sure there aren’t any feds on my trail . i used to .. politely trespass when i was younger a whole lot , especially up at the airforce base or alien gulch after dark . i’d love to get back into it . if you’re down to go and poke around in places you’re not supposed to , hit a guy up , “ 

🎐- Does your muse like to collect/hoard anything?

“ pokémon cards , superhero figurines , rare dvd covers , marvel memorabilia , anything with x-men on it , blue shit , toothpicks , free sauce sachets .. need i go on ?? my pockets are always filled with the stupidest , most pointless shit . “ 

💎- Is your muse drawn to things that sparkle?

“ i’m a total magpie over here , yup . maybe it’s just ADHD , but i can’t seem to keep away from anything that catches the sunlight in a certain way . that probably feeds into the last question , and totally explains why i can never part with any of my shiny collectible cards , “ 

🐺- Would your muse consider themselves a lone wolf or a social butterfly?

“ that’s a difficult one . for the most part i like being on my own , but i love my little circle of friends more than anything . i guess i’m a very particular social butterfly — i know who’s worth spending energy on . it would probably be beneficial for me to hang out with somebody that can speak in full sentences rather than goo’s and gaa’s , actually . “ 

[zelandiangelo]

so I’m working as a camp counselor this summer

The kids who go there range in age from 4 to 15, but my group was made up of 6 and 7 year olds

and here’s some amazing things that happened on just my first day

I had no idea what I was gonna do to start getting to know the kids but one of the first of them came in with his binder of Pokémon cards so I sat right down and started taking Pokémon with him and pretty soon there were like 5 kids plus me just looking at these cards and like 3 of them immediately just I M P R I N T E D on me

So after a bit of pokemans the one kid was just like “Who are you???” and I was like “I”m your counselor” and he just goes “YES!! FOREVER!?” and I was like “ahaha no probably not sorry man” but inwardly I was like “holy shit I must be doing this right he loves me already” and he was just super excited

This same kid was also like “my favorite color is pink because I love pigs and I have a collection of stuffed pigs that’s up to 26″ and none of the kids gave him shit for it

Along the same vein, this other kid was like “hey I need to use the bathroom” and I told him to go find a counselor who could go in with him (I’m a girl) and the kid who brought in the Pokémon cards was all like “Maybe you could just pretend to be a boy and go in with him” and it was clearly a joke so I was just like “haha no I think they’d notice I was a girl” (referring to my boobs but you can’t say that to a 6 year old) so he was like “yeah because of your pink shoes” and I was like “well guys can wear pink shoes too if they want” and he was like “oh yeah I actually have a friend and he wears pink shoes

Pokémon kid was also just generally adorable and we spent a bunch of time going through his card binder that he was super proud of and had organized alphabetically (like me!!) and he wanted me to tell me what my favorite one on each page was and why 

and when we got done with favorites we moved on to second favorites

and he told me some of his favorites and a lot of times the reason was just “because this one’s cute” and a lot of times little boys won’t admit to liking ‘cute’ things

We were talking about one of the Pokémon cards he had for this one called Bewear (who I’ve never heard of because I’m old I guess or at least these kids make me feel old) and how one of his moves is straight up just called bear hug so he demonstrated a bear hug on me and I was just <3 I love these kids

Pokémon kid also at one point ran up to me with this huge smile on his face and was like “Give me a kiss Mommy!” and my immediate thought was WOAH WOAH WOAH NOOO because that’s really really really Not Allowed at camp and I did the trainings on preventing abuse at camp last week so they were super fresh in my mind and I kind of had to shut him down as quickly and gently as I could

BUT at the same time I know that he’s only 6 and there’s absolutely nothing weird or dirty or fucked up in his mind about that so when taken in that context the fact that he felt comfortable enough to refer to me as ‘Mommy’ and ask for a kiss was like ‘omg mY CHILD’

And then this one kid who I’m just gonna call the Skyward Sword Kid gets his name cause that’s literally all he talked about

Like he came up when the Pokémon thing first started and I guess he saw me talking and was like “ayyyy a fellow nerd” and when I told him I’d never played he proceeded to tell me all about it

but like the way he did it okay was so fucking hilarious

So he’d be like “Yanno in Skyward Sword there’s a bazaar” and he’d talk about the bazaar for a while and then we’d do an activity so he’d shut up about it and do the activity but then I could be in the middle of counting kids, talking to someone else, ANYTHING, and just

“So another thing about Skyward Sword is you can catch bugs”

Like just out of nowhere he’d start talking like he’d never stopped and it was so funny

And the amazing part was that it was okay that I didn’t always have a lot to say about it because 1) I’ve never played it and 2) I tended to be busy juggling other campers, but he was totally fine with the fact that most of the time all I could offer was a generic “wow!!! how cool!!!” (although I tried my hardest to retain some of what he said so I could occasionally connect a bit more with what he was saying)

The best freaking part of the Skyward Sword Kid was that he didn’t even mind when my attention was diverted for a second like it’d be like “So in Skyward Sword you can collect stuff-” “HEY YOU PUT THE STICK DOWN. YES NOW.” “-like tumbleweeds and then upgrade your shield”

And I know I’ve said “best part of the Skyward Sword Kid” like twice already but the real true bestest part was that at one point this other kid came up who also didn’t know anything about Skyward Sword and at first when he asked SS Kid what he was talking about SS was just kinda like “oh it’s a video game” but I encouraged him to go more in-depth and the new kid was asking questions and being engaged and generally just being A Good Fucking Listener so not only did that give me a bit of breathing room trying to divide my attention but also I feel like Skyward Sword Kid had a way better listener than a busy counselor (as much as I was trying I really just couldn’t give him the attention he deserved for how much he loved talking about it)

AND THIS LAST FUCKIN KID OKAY

I didn’t have a Bonding Moment or anything with him but this part was just pure gold

So he has brought his Where’s Waldo book to camp and it just so happened that we had on our schedule “library” time, so the instructor there let him be a guest speaker and talk about Where’s Waldo

and when he was taking questions a kid asked him “can Waldo be in the water?” AND THIS FUCKING KID GOES

“Can Waldo go in the water? Great question; yes, yes he can.”

and I was just sitting in the back trying not to lose it because it reminded me so much of that scene from Zootopia

And the lady running it just leaned over to me and went “Wow, this guy’s GOOD.”

[serpentjulian]

Sleepy Chats || Darian

Where: Sunnyside Trailer park

When: December 20, midday

Warnings: weed use, brief allusions to past rape

Word Count: 2,204

Julian in italics, @sshardassanderson in bold.

Julian hadn't been able to get the video of Adrien Smythe killing his daughter out of his mind since he'd seen it. The whole ordeal was giving him nightmares and it didn't help that the stress was also triggering nightmares of that night with Hooks, and the two events were rolling into one giant clusterfuck of horror that was really making Julian not want to sleep. So that was how he found himself packing up a few things in a rucksack and then heading over to Dare's tent. His trailer was probably warmer but he craved the presence of another person more than any material comfort. When he got to the tent, he hovered awkwardly for a moment outside it. Did you knock on tents? "Dare it's me?" He called out, eventually, instead of attempting to knock on the fabric.

Dare finished chatting with a few people around the campsite, making sure that everyone he could was situated and prepared to deal with another night of bitter cold. There were only so many things to go around so he tried to be as fair as possible for distribution. He headed back toward his tent and saw Julian awkwardly lingering around the outside of it and approached. “Over here. Sorry, I was checking on some guys. Come on.” He got down and headed inside the reasonably sized tent where he’d laid out a large sleeping bag for laying on and had a couple blankets to himself. He plopped down in a spot and gestured for the young serpent to join him. “Don’t be shy.”

Julian felt relief wash over him when Dare called over to him, and he followed the older male into the tent, taking care to stick close to him. He didn't want to accidentally disrupt any of his things, and the tent was small enough that it'd be easy for him to knock stuff over if he wasn't paying attention. He sat next to dare on his makeshift sleeping spot. "Is everyone alright?" He asked, referencing the people he'd been talking to earlier. "Thanks for letting me visit," he added, feeling a bit embarrassed that he was having nightmares bad enough that he needed to get out of his own trailer. At least he had one.

“Surprisingly, everyone’s doing pretty alright. Nice part about being in the Serpents, we’ve got connections everywhere and there were a lot of people ready to donate stuff to help. The important part is the families with kids are out of the cold.” Dare replied evenly. “Come sit. Tell me what’s been going on.”

Julian nodded, pulling his knees up to his chest. He was happy to know that the kids were being taken care of. He didn't like the idea of them being trapped outside...it reminded him too much of his own time in foster care. He bit his lip, glancing up at the Serpent leader before looking back down at his legs. "The....video. I just can't really forget it."

Dare nodded in understanding. “You shouldn’t have had to see something that fucking demented. And I’m sorry to say that it’ll just take some time for it to go away and get easier to deal with.” He gently mussed Julian’s hair. “Hey. So that Pokémon Go thing. Can you show me what the hell it is?”

Julian didn't know how to explain that it was more than just the video...that the violence of it had stirred up other unwanted memories....without bringing up what had happened with Hooks. So he took the bait and allowed Dare to change the subject. He squirmed away from the hand in his hair, grinning a bit, and then pulled out his phone, loading up the app. "It's really fun! It's not as complex as the console games but it's cool. You basically get to walk around and catch Pokemon in the real world."

Dare had hoped that changing the subject would allow Julian to relax a little more, and he seemed excited to show off his thing. He didn’t care for it, and definitely hadn’t given a flying fuck about Pokémon since he was a kid. But he still looked over at the app and took vague interest in what he was being shown. “Seems a bit silly but hey whatever makes you happy. And you know Jaybird, if something’s ever bothering you, that’s what we’re here for. We’re a family.” He rolled his shoulders, tucking an arm behind his head. “I just don’t want you to think that you have to hide anything. Even nightmares.”

Julian went into all the different menus, showing Dare what different things did, and then spun a Pokestop and caught a Meowth, before he put his phone back down again. "I just like the simple stuff. It's nice to put yourself in a different world for a bit. Where you can do whatever," he explained. He went a bit red at the rest of Dare's comments, not quite sure how to react. He wanted to believe it but Hooks had said — and he'd been a Serpent for long, he definitely knew. And Julian couldn't lose them. Not now. "Is it...okay...to not like some people in your family?"

Dare cocked his head slightly. It wasn’t exactly an unexpected question. Moreso...guarded. He sat up a little, hands to himself now, jaw clenched. “Well...yeah of course. You know how I feel about Bruce. And I have an older half-brother I can’t stand. Usually there’s a reason for it.” He made a circular gesture to try and regain the younger Serpent’s attention. “J. If something happened, you can tell me. I don’t take bullshit in our family. So if someone’s bothering you, you can tell me.”

Dare seemed serious...and Julian knew he meant it, he had no issues cutting ties with his dad when the situation called for it, he'd seen that first hand. "But...what if you're not sure if your feelings for that person are going to make things worse or better? Like having some family members you don't like is better than having none at all?" Julian wanted to explain properly,  but every time he tried, the words seemed to get stuck in his throat and all he could see was Hooks.

Dare didn’t want Julian to feel pressured into talking about it, but also wanted to convey the seriousness with which he’d understand and undertake any problems the young serpent was having. “Are you worried if you came to me with an issue that we’d turn against you? Everything-“ He paused, collecting his thoughts. “We want to make sure things are managed fairly. The last thing the Serpents need is another set of psycho leaders. But whatever it is, J, it’s not gonna cost you your family. That’s what we’re here for. So if you feel unsafe, or scared, or frustrated with someone, we’ll work through it together. Even if it supposedly makes things worse.”

"You'd never be a psycho leader," Julian insisted, before a yawn overtook him. He couldn't help it. He was so tired but every time he slept he had the dreams. He thought for a second, rolling Dare's words around in his head. It wasn't that he didn't believe him. He did. But he also didn't want things to change. The other Serpents already thought that he was weak, a baby, someone who didn't deserve to be there. He couldn't give them one more reason why they should believe that. "I...I will. If...if I feel like it ever comes to that."

Dare didn’t believe him for a second, but pressuring Julian into saying what was on his mind would only stress him out more. “Alright.” He shrugged his shoulders like he was letting it go. Something to bring up to San and Ro to keep their eyes open for. “C’mon sleepy dork. Tell me about those damn whales and let’s see if we can get a good night’s sleep in you. Want an edible?” Dare held out a ziplock of brownies.

Julian yawned again, but smiled. "Did you know that a narwhal's horn is actually just a really long tooth?" He nodded at the suggestion, and made grabby hands at the bag, pulling one out and taking a huge bite. "He wanted to sleep so badly...he just hoped this would all help. "And the southern right whale has the largest testicles in the entire animal kingdom. One pair is about a tonne of weight. Isn't that crazy?"

Dare took a brownie out as well before he set the bag aside and gestured for Julian to take a seat beside him. “Wait, narwhals? I thought those were fake creatures? Like...a Pegasus or a unicorn.”

Julian shook his head as he settled against Dare's side. "They're real. You can find them in the north. They're pretty cool," he explained. "They're closely related to belugas and they only have two teeth, one of them being the tusk."

“I think you made that up,” Dare snorted and tucked his arm behind his head. “I think you want me going around thinking that narwhals are real and people are gonna totally laugh at me for it.”

Julian shook his head, taking another bite of his brownie and then fishing his phone out again. "No! I'll show you!" He got Google open and typed up 'narwhal' in images, before turning his phone to the older male. "See? Real."

“I mean they can fake images on the internet.” Dare laughed. “C’mon you’ve heard of photoshop. But I’ll believe you. Just a reminder that if I find out you’re lying, I get to shave your head.”

Julian covered his hair protectively, even though he knew for a fact that the animals were real. "Well the books were in the non-fiction part of the library, so ha," he said, finishing up the brownie and then yawning again.

“Maybe they just did that to trick you.” Dare made some space and gestured to the unzipped sleeping bag stretched across the floor. “Come on, sleepyhead. Come lay down.”

Julian shuffled over and curled up next to Dare. "You sound like a conspiracy theorist," he murmured. The buzz of the brownie was already starting to get to him. Maybe things wouldn't be so terrible if he closed his eyes this time. "Narwhals are real and cool."

“Uh huh and magical flying unicorns that shit gold are real and cool too.” Dare absentmindedly carded his fingers through Julian’s hair like he’d do when Blaine was a kid. “If you wanna really get crazy conspiracy theorist, I could challenge you to explain why you trust all your whale facts when they come from scientists you’ve never met. How do you know they haven’t made up stuff?”

Julian made a soft purring noise. If he wasn't so tired he probably would've been embarrassed but he was mostly just ready to pass out.  "Unicorns are not real but I kind of wish they were." He blinked his eyes back open, and fixed Dare with an incredulous look. "What incentive do scientists have to make up whale facts? Besides, if you can't believe science, what can you believe?"

“I dunno dude.” Dare laughed. “I’m just saying. You wanted conspiracy theory. Mull that one over in your sleepy little head for a bit.” He continued to run his hand through Julian’s hair. “Just try and relax a little bit. How are you gonna give us a hand if you’re so damn exhausted?”

Julian curled up into Dare's side, eyes fluttering shut again as he focused on the feeling of fingers in his hair and the soothing high of the brownie. "Don't laugh at me," he mumbled, feeling all sorts of petulant but too exhausted to move away. "Conspiracy theorists are stupid. Like why would people fake the Earth being round?" He yawned again. "I can help. I can do all sorts of things."

“Of course they’re stupid. But they’re around so everyone can laugh at his how stupid they are.” Dare’s fingers pulled lightly at a few hairs, then continued. “Yes you can. You’re the best damn lockpick I’ve got. And I’ll be putting you to work on a few things real soon. So I need you well rested.”

"I normally wouldn't want to laugh at someone but...if you're choosing to be ignorant, I kind of have to," he mumbled, feeling himself sink deeper into that nice place between being half awake and half asleep. "'m the best. Hands good. Fast. Gonna make you proud, D."

“You already do, Jaybird. You’re just as valuable as anyone else. If not a little more because you’re so damn sneaky.” Dare relaxed more easily down on the ground and wrapped an arm around Julian, holding him in close, running his fingers down his back. “Don’t forget how important you are.”

Julian felt warm inside at Dare's words. He just wanted to feel like he was appreciated, important, loved. "You're the best,D," he murmured, making a soft, pleased snuffle as he burrowed against the older male's side. He was so tired. "Thanks."

Dare could only nod as he watched the smaller boy start to fall asleep. He’d crash himself eventually but for now he was just happy to be of comfort to someone.