#he probably thinks back to how hard he had to try I'm HS and gets discourage yet also ignores the successes he's had

[bladekindeyewear]

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2024-08-15 continued

(Previous post - current page 610)

Rested up some and back into this now! Rosebot is sounding quite a bit like the Horrorterror-advised Aradia Megido back in Act 5.1 isn't she. Let's get this ball rolling and actually see what sorts of civlization(s) they've brought about. Are we going to meet actual new characters from these races, or will they be played off as unimportant, or given semi-important roles whose actions still emphasize their theoretical hero titles like the carapaces (WV, PM, etc)?

==>

Whoaaa, look at this lanky motherfucker. I don't see hooves, so this has got to be one of Rose's... tentacle hair is more likely than dreadlocks, I'm guessing, but why do those feet look like elf shoes?

DIRK: Do you feel the part? ROSEBOT: It doesn't really matter what I feel. ROSEBOT: We have a job to do, and I'm trying to enjoy myself to the best of my ability while we do it. DIRK: Trying, huh. ROSEBOT: Speaking frankly, I've grown tired of... Rose gestures about the lab, the vats of our ectobiological triumphs and failures, blasé and almost weary in a way I haven't seen from her in a while. It calls to mind the exhaustion she felt before ascending, what must feel like a lifetime for her ago, and rings faintly of mortality in a way that concerns me.

There has to be some part of Rose that knows that what they're doing -- all of this, the abuse of power, doing whatever they want even if it leads to closing the great loop of Paradox Space -- isn't going to end well for her. I think part of her has known things couldn't end well for her as soon as she left Kanaya, so she's just... having what "fun" she can with the time she has left, and the only thing that's kept her diving deep into her work with glee instead of stopping is the REPEATED narrative interventions by Dirk to keep her brainwashed into moving forward without succumbing to her moral doubts. But it can all only continue so long until the weight of her sins is crawling on her back, and that comes with the sense a good Seer of Light would have that she's not going to get away with what she's done lightly, even if she believes she's too far along and too far gone to stop it, too close to their goal.

ROSEBOT: This. ROSEBOT: Fussing over all the tedious minutiae of getting the baby's room ready. ROSEBOT: The prospect of this Contest was entertaining to me for a time, but the longer it drags on, the closer we draw to the due date, the more it... repulses me. ROSEBOT: I'm glad you've agreed that we're basically done tinkering here. I don't think I have much more patience for it. DIRK: I can tell.

Dirk had to smooth over and make her dismiss how repulsed she was at the awful actions they'd proposed to do, OVER AND OVER AND OVER early on until she was practically sadistically gleeful in creating fucked-up monsters, but... now, he really doesn't have to do that much anymore. Rose feels she CHOSE all that she's already done, and the weight of that sin is sufficient that she can't stop anymore because if they DON'T FINISH DOING THIS, then all the immorality of what she's already done would be wasted, would all just be meaningless CRUELTY instead of the meaning that would even partially justify it in the end.

As appropriate when they're basically creating the concept of Sburb from the ground up, and the incredibly harsh cost of an entire civilization that comes with the opportunity to birth new universes from their ashes.

ROSEBOT: I'm also glad you've elected to hear Terezi out vis-a-vis the timeskip and save us the hassle of guiding the Deltritans manually. ROSEBOT: I know it must be hard for you. It'll actually be incredibly easy for me. Just time traveling forward is a no-go; at the frantic rate our pursuers are hurtling towards us, they'd catch up to Deltritus far before it had a chance to birth any sort of civilization at all, and that'd be a mess, especially with us only due to pop in millennia after the fact. We'd probably return to a planet totally unfit for Game candidacy.

I was wondering about that-- if they let their pursuers arrive early into the civilization's existence, the pursuers would have a chance to interfere with those civilizations' development before the game even starts. Heck, as long as Dave Strider is with them and willing, there's a risk they could interfere with the civilization's development even if they somehow wound forward the entire PLANET, which it sounds like he's implying they need to do somehow... what's the solution to make it inevitable in a way so that everything's "already happened" by the time the pursuers arrive and they can't interfere with the session's start?

Localized time travel, while technically possible, tends to get pretty fucked even in the most ideal of circumstances, to say nothing of the fact that it's way outside my wheelhouse as a Heart player. The concept works pretty well for my purposes, though, and as a burgeoning omnipotent narrative god, I can mimic it in a way that's functionally identical. The move here is that I'm going to envelop the local galaxy group in a pocket of my influence and narratively accelerate it via Bullshit so that whatever's going on in here goes on faster, so we can get to the good shit faster, so we can get on with our jobs, and so you gawking voyeurs have more of our lives to guzzle greedily down.

Christ, that's some Lord English sounding levels of temporal control over part of the universe, there! His narrative powers are fucking bonkers.

Why the galaxy group? Why not just the solar system, or even just the planet? My answer to that question is twofold. Firstly, I want the Deltritan societies to have a convincing view of their place in the cosmos, at least locally. What kind of civilization worth its soul-searching salt doesn't look to the night sky with wonder and curiosity in their hearts? It wouldn't do for them to exist in a world where the sun never sank below the horizon, or where the stars didn't dance tellingly across the sky, revealing the kind of hard-hitting secrets only astronomy can. Secondly, I'm showing off. I've been really coming into my own, powers-wise, and it's not just my Heart abilities that have shot up a few exponentially longer echeladders.

He's acting like Andrew Hussie or an equivalent author in the ability to make up an action needed and justify it via whatever excuse needed, like some strange Meteor machinery or the like for creating First Guardians or warping items between post-and-pre-Scratch timelines, or the like. Author powers can be truly terrifying; and author powers also explain how he can ensure that because the entire civilization existed within his narrative influence before the pursuers got there, he can narratively assure that no Dave-based time travel backward interfered, I'm betting.

He still would want his pursuers to arrive in time FOR the session that had already started, because I'm sure that session will in part be the battleground he uses to confront AL (alt!Calliope) and the others and deliver them the defeat his ego demands they face.

ROSEBOT: Dirk? Of course, Rose isn't talking about the mechanics of the timeskip. She's talking about the reasoning behind it, and the lack of precise control over Deltritus' development that will result as a consequence of it. I just figured I'd take the time to address the "how" factor to you all before the fucking pedants among you started making a fuss, acting like I haven't thought all this shit out. Yeah, you. You know who you are. Also, I'm stalling. Uncharacteristic of me, I know. ROSEBOT: Dirk. DIRK: Sorry. DIRK: Got caught up with something.

So Dirk either HAS successfully kept fooling Rose that he doesn't have narrative powers, or Rose is successfully bluffing that she hasn't at LEAST figured out that he's doing some sort of narration or has some influence without knowing the full extent of how it may have affected her... unless part of her STILL deems the final result more important even if she has an inkling that she may have been manipulated.

Why is he stalling, though?

ROSEBOT: Far be it from me to stand between you and your enigmatic somethings. DIRK: You're welcome to stand wherever you like. DIRK: Anyway, no, it isn't that hard for me. DIRK: It'd be fun, but as I keep having to explain to people, I'm willing to compromise on certain points. DIRK: Though I will say it's unfortunate to hear you making them, instead of our complainer on retainer. ROSEBOT: What can I say? ROSEBOT: I don't feel particularly inclined to play house right now. DIRK: Not even with me, huh? ROSEBOT: Not even with you.

You can only keep someone brainwashed into tolerating your company completely for so long when you're so obviously a piece of shit. And as Rose's Seer of Light senses bring her closer to understanding the personal consequences to HER of her actions, potentially -- the ones that were far off in the future when she made her "decision" to help with this operation -- the less she's going to be thrilled about owning it all. And she has VERY complicated Mom-related feelings about playing Mother most likely, even to an entire race. She would rather dodge the responsibility than fuck it up, just like she did with Yiffy. That's part of her existing trauma, most likely.

Also "play house" is a good intentional pun on playing Sburb.

==>

Cool-ass panels of them walking up out of the cave, followed by this gorgeous sunset shot where Rose looks absolutely melancholy:

For a while, neither of us says anything at all. Then, still silent, Rose turns and leaves the lab, a billowing stream of orange. I follow after her, at a respectable distance, and together we leave the mouth of the cave, making our way up the steps carved into the cliffside it now burrows into until finally cresting the plateau, and wordlessly taking a seat together at the edge of the cliff to look out over one of Deltritus' vast and alien oceans. "Wait, what's with the ocean?" you might ask. A while back, it became apparent that while my Deltritan offspring were to be terrestrial, Rose's were going to be aquatic.

That's actually an excellent way to keep the civilizations relatively separate and avoid their intermixing their cultures too much before The Game begins. Also, the Ocean and deep water's unfathomability is deeply tied with the Void, so if this race ends up being the ancestor race of the Horrorterrors, it makes sense that their monstrous progeny could live in the unlimited black strangeness between universes.

Back when I figured we'd have a more active role in their development, it felt appropriate to me that our base of operations should straddle land and sea, existing impartially at the precipice between the two competing worlds.

Yep, as I just said/thought-- keeps the civilizations separate.

I elected to transport (via Bullshit, of course) our humble grotto and the wreck of the Theseus to these cliffs overlooking the sea, that we might watch over our children from a locale more suitably dramatic and liminal than some fucking plain in the middle of nowhere.

The Bullshit he's referring to, the author's ability to handwave, simply means exploiting the fact that things could plausibly have happened offscreen in order to not have to write out the detailed mechanics of (say) the machine that they alchemized/built and used to transportalize their base smoothly to a new location, and can be used to employ all sorts of tactics offscreen... including, potentially dangerously, retroactively set-up countermeasures for whatever someone is about to do to you by simply narratively declaring that you prepared something for it beforehand, sort of like Joseph Joestar in Jojo Part 2. To Rose Lalonde, it'd theoretically be seamless, where she'd have the mechanical justifications that were created offscreen even if Dirk didn't even have to "write" the specifics.

Now, however, the effort (insofar as it was one, which it wasn't) seems to have been mostly in vain. No seagulls cry here, anyway. Rose and I made a lot of other filler-fauna to help our species integrate into the local biosphere while working through our respective game-plans, but I never got around to replicating or approximating seagulls. I guess I'm not gonna bother. It doesn't particularly feel like much of a home, anymore. As we sit side by side, watching the horizon, Rose is even harder to read than usual. I begin to feel the twinge of a vexation that I've been all too aware of over untold trillions of iterations of myself, a dread that's reared its head again recently. The fear that my plan isn't understood, my efforts aren't appreciated. That I'm alone, again.

You were always alone-- you FORCED Rose to understand and fully empathize with your plan, even if parts of her Ultimate Self were callous enough to have that dark capacity within her. And part of you knows that but wants to deny it so you DON'T feel like you're alone again.

I worry that she's slipping away. Growing disinterested in our time together. And I'm not willing to lose her, so as much as it feels like admitting a kind of defeat, I prepare to make her- ROSE: Thank you for taking me with you, Dirk. ...... DIRK: Yeah?

Whoa, holy shit.

So Rose feels like even the sinful meaningful acts she's doing here are worth it, now? But is still depressed? Possibly because she's been led to believe THERE WAS NEVER A PLACE for her back home, or that she'd have led things to ruin there instead of committing their crimes of creation/destruction way out here?

And again, it's showing us that-- whether due to Rose's genuinely built-up feelings, or if she's guessed the truth and is successfully bluffing about not knowing about the narrative abilities-- Dirk doesn't need to brainwash Rosebot anymore to keep her on board with the plan, unfortunately. She's too invested, committed too much of a Great Evil to not want to ensure the results that would make that evil even partially worthwhile. :C

==>

I hate that he "won" like this-- we ALL hate that he "won" like this. Even if it eventually turns out Rose is bluffing or figured it out. But Rose has to get her companionship somewhere, and as the abusive uncle-like figure that he is, he's made himself the only possible source of validation, the only company that could possibly "understand" her anymore. She has no one else left to cling to. :CCC

ROSE: I may be less than enchanted with this stage of the work, but I know it's important. ROSE: It's just straying dangerously close to a lot of things I'm trying not to fixate on right now. ROSE: Wounds that are still fresh, for me as a sum and for the myriad legions of my parts. ROSE: Home. ROSE: Family. ROSE: Petty, little things. ROSE: Personal things. DIRK: Those are important, too. ROSE: Not as important as this is.

Yup, as I guessed earlier, the fact that she's necessarily playing the absent mother figure feels like committing her Mom's sin and her inability to raise Roxy as Alpha Rose all at the same time. Those versions of her are all part of her now, and this is tapping into parts of all those traumas.

ROSE: For all my temporary discomfort with the prospect of settling down on Deltritus and starting what could very loosely be considered a family with you, I want you to know that my heart is in what we're working towards- DIRK: Technically, you don't have a heart. ROSE: Shut up. ROSE: - and that I'm happy to be here with you. ROSE: Not drifting around in a constrictive, small pond, getting caught up in trivialities like politics and celebrity and romance, ROSE: But saving the fucking universe. DIRK: ...

Technically, this all might be "necessary" to save Paradox Space or create it in the first place, rather; but it didn't have to be done this way, done by THEM, and Dirk Strider is the one who demanded arrogantly that HE wished to be responsible for it all, for writing it onscreen, for the trauma it'd cause to be the one who did it and his ambition to be the writer of all Paradox Space as a result, instead of an unknown civilization of frogs offscreen or something as it may have otherwise been. But Rose as an overembracing Ultimate Light Player here ultimately craves importance, and finds it more comfortable than the terrible fears of messing up relationships or even just being looked at as a goddess by Earth C's population, somewhat like Candy Jade expressed she felt earlier. Being a "Hero" and doing something "Important" (Light) is the only way her terrible self-esteem and negative judgment of herself, especially the negative self-judgment Dirk forced her to embrace by brainwashing her down this path, can consider her EXISTENCE worth anything at all. :CCCC

(Also, the Ultimate Rosebot "not having a Heart" is only true in the technical pun sense, since her soul as an Ultimate Self is present at full power within the robot and not fully digitized, with only a tenuous link to her body on life support, so she doesn't necessarily suffer the Auto Responder's disconnectedness with Dirk's broader "Heart"/Soul that allowed it to be malleably transformed into Lil Hal, Arquiusprite, and then Doc Scratch. Meaning that whatever happens to Rosebot, for now, Rosebot is still essentially Rose Lalonde. But if the connection between her main body on life support were ever broken, and Rosebot were LEFT with only the malleable AI algorithms designed to SIMULATE Rose, then... she WOULD be without a Heart, without a specific soul locking her unique personality down, and then would be vulnerable to being molded into something else like the Cueballs or Skaia or the like, possibly...)

Relief pulses through me in an immense wave. Relief and unfathomable, indescribable pride. It's almost paralyzing; I just sit here for a while, grateful for my shades and their ability to protect me from making eye contact with my daughter, who is in this moment as brilliant as the aspect that adorns her hood. I should tell her. DIRK: Well. DIRK: You're welcome. She scoffs at my barebones response, and I'm forced to marvel at her ability to communicate so weightily, conveying such a minutely specific blend of emotion as understanding, affection, acknowledgement, encouragement, admonishment, and so many more, all with the hardware of a literal machine. She's an incredible person.

Dirk DOES care about Rose, quite a lot, but that only makes his abuse of her even MORE fucked up. That's often the case with abusive relationships, especially parental ones.

To my credit, I am also an incredible engineer.

And he takes credit for the molding he's forcibly DONE to her to bring her to this point, to bring out these awful sides of her Ultimate Self willing to actually do this with him, the utter fucking asshole. >:( Which is again, characteristic of an abusive paternal relationship.

At any rate, Rose might be beating my ass on the emotive front, but I'm still capable of articulating myself well enough, and I'd better start soon or I'm going to begin to look like a real fucking dork. DIRK: I don't think there's anyone I'd rather be doing this with than you.

Thanks for at least opening up your feelings a BIT to respond to hers properly, at least, you asshole prick who still deserves to die.

DIRK: The rest of them just don't have it in them right now to understand what it is we're fighting for, here. DIRK: They can't grasp the stakes. DIRK: Even now, they're on their way here, actively trying to stop us from saving them all. DIRK: They'll probably catch us right before our entrance into the Game, actually.

Technically, AL and Dirk share almost the EXACT SAME GOAL here, a desire to close the loop of all Creation in a way that makes sense as a story. The main place they disagree is who should be in charge of it all... AL clearly believes that Dirk SHOULDN'T be in charge and it should be left to propagate on its own once set up, needs to deny him his ambition of becoming the tyrannical forever-author of almost all Paradox Space. But AL has a hard time letting go of control, and as much as she believes Dirk must be stopped, her actions tell the story of someone who may be just as willing to become the Forever Author of Paradox Space HERSELF too.

DIRK: I won't insult you by asking if you're going to be okay when the time comes to face them, demanding answers they won't accept to questions they aren't even asking, because I know that you will. DIRK: So I'm glad to have you with me. DIRK: I'm glad you understand.

Yeah, we always knew this was going to be the play. No appeal or objection their pursuers make isn't going to be met with a "this is more important than you understand" from Rosebot and direct opposition that stops and traps and stalls them (though short of killing them), and any appeals that Dirk has just been "brainwashing" her are going to ring hollow to her ears after all she's truly, herself, invested in this course of action even outside the brainwashing.

This isn't going to be easy to fix.

==>

DIRK: I'm doing this for all of us. I'm doing this for all of us.

The same false justification his iterations like Bro have used to abuse people all of his myriad lives. He cares much more about him (and his) being the one to have DONE it than the fact that it gets done.

Wait, what's this next link? Candy? Who's Big Kahuna-- oh right, Meenah (or one of her codenames she mentioned last time for one of the others)?

(Big Kahuna: Check the door.)

Ah, Karkat's home!

(BIGGEST KAHUNA: Return to base.)

KARKAT: KEPT YOU WAITING, HUH?

Why'd they have to make Solid Karkat here look as sexy as fucking possible in adult form. Oh who are we kidding, of course they fucking had to, and we love it. :D

(Rebellion Commanders: Confer.)

MEENAH: took you long enough bossman

KARKAT: I THOUGHT I ASKED YOU TO STOP CALLING ME THAT WHEN WE'RE ALONE. MEENAH: big bossman KARKAT: NOT BETTER. MEENAH: sweetie-pirate KARKAT: BOSSMAN IT IS. MEENAH: you got it bitch KARKAT: I CAN WORK WITH BITCH.

Hahahahah! These two have a great dynamic. (They're a couple in this timeline right, instead of him and Dave?)

KARKAT: ANYWAY, THINGS ARE RAMPING UP OUT THERE. KARKAT: ARE YOU JUST ABOUT WRAPPED UP? MEENAH: yep MEENAH: its a good thing youre back i just got off a real shipshow of a call with mrs fencesitter and agent short shorts a lil while ago MEENAH: looks like serious shit is about to pop off KARKAT: YEAH, I WAS LISTENING IN.

Fun conversations here, also calling out Roxy for only halfheartedly aiding the rebellion so as not to do much damage to Jane, which Jane in her current state couldn't possibly appreciate as still being any less than betrayal and which likely put even more of a wedge between Roxy and Meenah.

KARKAT: ALSO I'VE ALREADY HAD KIND OF A GAUNTLET OF A FUCKING DAY ALREADY AND I DIDN'T NEED THE PAN-ACHE. KARKAT: I KNEW YOU HAD IT UNDER CONTROL. MEENAH: youre lucky youre breamy as hell when youre out there doin tacticalypso or id have mutinied and kraken over this whole operation for myshellf

Breamy = "Dreamy", right, they're together romantically like I remembered.

(==>)

KARKAT: CONSIDERING NONE OF THE MAJOR PLAYERS HERE HAVE ANY SENSE OF TACT OR SUBTLETY WE'RE GONNA NEED TO MOVE OUT PRONTO. KARKAT: HOPE YOU'RE FIELD-READY, BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA NEED TO B- MEENAH: oh fuck yes MEENAH: dude let me say it KARKAT: YEAH, GO AHEAD.

Let's make this shi(p) happen?

(==>)

MEENAH: bring in the mothafuckin LOBsT-ERs

Excuse me??

(Also, having random war flashbacks of Sniper Lobsters in Elden Ring.)

(LOBsTERs: Assemble.)

*Sigh*

(An hour later...)

Okay THAT shot's pretty cool.

Karkat doing tons of tactical talking and shit...

MEENAH: KARKAT KARKAT: WHAT. MEENAH: krillax KARKAT: NOT REALLY AN IDEAL TIME FOR THAT, ON ACCOUNT OF THE FACT THAT WE'RE PROBABLY HOURS AWAY FROM THE MOST CRITICAL ARMED ENGAGEMENT THE REBELLION IS LIKELY TO SEE. MEENAH: it hasnt been an ideel time for like 6 sweeps MEENAH: you need to take a breatht-stroke KARKAT: ... HAHAHA, WHAT? MEENAH: you know what i mean MEENAH: youve been runnin yourshellf into the fuckin dirt for ages MEENAH: take a you moment KARKAT: MEENAH, THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE TIME TO TAKE A ME MOMENT. MEENAH: actually in like a day or so were either gonna be tridentumphant and busy as fuck or dead in the water so its like the best possible time all fins considered MEENAH: youve been out on field ops for like a week

Yeah, as a Knight of Blood, Karkat is EXTREMELY unhealthy about not using almost all of his time too diligently on his responsibilities.

MEENAH: maybe i wanna chat with my buoy toy for a lil bit KARKAT: YEAH, ALRIGHT. KARKAT: I DUNNO, FUCK. UH... HOW ARE YOU DOING? MEENAH: how are *you* doin KARKAT: PRETTY FUCKING STRESSED!

Pfffffff

KARKAT: ALSO THIS COVERT-OPS SUIT IS TIGHT AS ALL FUCK. MEENAH: well if its any consolation that may be rough for you but its a pretty great time to be your rear admire-all 38) KARKAT: MUCH OBLIGED. KARKAT: ... KARKAT: SERIOUSLY, MEENAH, I APPRECIATE IT. KARKAT: IT'S BEEN KIND OF A ROUGH... KARKAT: DECADE AND A HALF? KARKAT: BUT THROUGH ALL THE SLOG AND THE SHITTY TIMES AND THE UNCERTAINTY YOU'VE REMAINED REMARKABLY COMMITTED TO THIS. KARKAT: HELPED ME TURN THIS ABSTRACT, FRUSTRATED DREAM INTO A FUNCTIONING FUCKING REALITY. KARKAT: YOU NEVER WAVERED. KARKAT: YOU NEVER FLAKED. KARKAT: YOU STUCK BY ME.

Yeah. Dedication means a whole fucking lot to Karkat, both as a person and as a Blood player. And the fact that Meenah, who flaked out in some ways just to BE here instead of with her (Vriska) girlfrond in the dream bubbles, did a pretty good job of NOT flaking it seems like, especially since this sort of Rebellion effort is exactly her jam. The main risk she might start flaking is if shit ever starts to get peaceful again.

(==>)

She continues to look VERY good. :#|

MEENAH: not like dave huh KARKAT: WOW, STRAIGHT TO THE POINT.

Ah damn, yeah.

MEENAH: i mean hey i figured youd wanna glub about it MEENAH: conchsiderin KARKAT: SO YOU HEARD THE NEWS? MEENAH: yeah i mighta been listenin in on your converseation myshellf MEENAH: along with like half the comms team MEENAH: you left your mic on KARKAT: UN KARKAT: FUCKING KARKAT: BELIEVABLE. MEENAH: its all good MEENAH: actually pretty much everyone ate it up there was like gasps and cheers and occasional applause and shit MEENAH: not shore if youre aware of this but it turns out people fuckin love you KARKAT: WELL COLOR ME GLAD MY OPERATIVES FOUND IT INSPIRING THAT I TOOK CRITICAL TIME OUT OF MY MISSION TO PREVENT THE ENTIRE PLANET FROM BACKSLIDING INTO STAGNANT CONFECTIONARY FASCISM TO YELL AT A HAPLESS DIVORCEE.

Everyone's always cheered for you, my self-depricating dude. You're a rock star.

KARKAT: ANYWAY. KARKAT: YES. KARKAT: NOT LIKE DAVE. MEENAH: how you feelin about that KARKAT: I DON'T KNOW. KARKAT: I THINK MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, JUST FUCKING... KARKAT: DISAPPOINTED. KARKAT: EXHAUSTINGLY, FRUITLESSLY DISAPPOINTED. KARKAT: WE USED TO SPEND SO MUCH TIME TOGETHER TALKING ABOUT HOW TO FIX SHIT, YOU KNOW? KARKAT: SPITBALLING ALL THIS FRIVOLOUS AND/OR GRAVELY SERIOUS CONJECTURE ABOUT WHAT TO FUCKING *DO* WITH OURSELVES AND THE WORLD. KARKAT: AND THEN AS SOON AS IT STARTS REALLY MATTERING, AS SOON AS IT BECOMES CLEAR IT'S TIME TO DO *SOMETHING*, HE JUST WILTS. KARKAT: THEN HE SPENDS YEARS MILLING FECKLESSLY AROUND IN THAT DOMESTIC TORTURE LABYRINTH OF A RELATIONSHIP KARKAT: *MARRIES INTO IT*

Lots to gripe about there, yeah.

KARKAT: AND SUBSEQUENTLY DECIDES THAT NOW'S THE BEST TIME TO PLAY SPIES, PRESUMABLY SO HE CAN CONTINUE TO AVOID HAVING MISERABLE MATRIMONIAL PROCREATIVE SEX. KARKAT: ONLY FOR JADE TO FOLLOW HIM INTO THE CAUSE!

What the fuck??? Not just him not being into sex with Jade, but-- PROCREATIVE sex with Jade? Wouldn't that be impossible for him and her with her dog-ascension-replaced equipment downstairs-- unless we're talking about conceiving with surrogates, which Dave would DEFINITELY FIND any excuse to avoid doing himself, or unless he's trans-masculine, which is a damned popular headcanon for good reason?

KARKAT: WHICH, YOU KNOW, WAS OBJECTIVELY A PRETTY BIG BOON TO THE REBELLION. KARKAT: GOOD FOR MORALE, AND OBVIOUSLY THEY WERE INCREDIBLE FIELD AGENTS. KARKAT: BUT FUCK WAS IT A SAVAGE PAIN IN THE CHUTE. KARKAT: DO YOU REMEMBER THE PERIOD EARLY ON WHERE I HAD TO ASSIGN ANOTHER CLERK TO MISSION CONTROL WHOSE SOLE PURPOSE WAS TO MANAGE THE TWO OF THEM SO THEY KEPT THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY UNTIL THEY FIGURED OUT HOW TO BE EVEN THE SCANTEST APPROXIMATION OF NORMAL AROUND ME? KARKAT: THE FACT THAT IT WAS NECESSARY AT ALL IS STILL FUCKING APPALLING.

Ugh, yeah, I was already pretty much imagining it would have sucked hard in exactly this manner back in those days.

KARKAT: AND THEN FINALLY, *FINALLY*, WE GET HIM SITUATED, HE'S ACTUALLY MANAGING TO CONTRIBUTE TO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WHO EVEN KNOWS HOW LONG.

KARKAT: AND HE JUST FUCKS OFF AND KARKAT: AND DIES. KARKAT: HE JUST CALLS IT THERE. KARKAT: SO KARKAT: DISAPPOINTED. KARKAT: DISAPPOINTED IS HOW I'M FEELING ABOUT THAT.

:'C

KARKAT: BUT- KARKAT: FUCKING- HOLD ON, I NEED TO TAKE THIS.

So what new developments are we discussing now?

(Karkat: Answer urgent comms.)

KARKAT: *WHAT*. SOLLUX: finally he picks up. SOLLUX: hey man. KARKAT: DON'T FUCKING "HEY MAN" ME.

BAHAAHAHAH! His old annoying-ass best bud! Who may or may not be contributing to the war effort with some sick hacking between video games.

SOLLUX: there's like a bazillion m0oks swarming ar0und my crib and none 0f the grubereats dudes are accepting orders right n0w. SOLLUX: probably 0n account 0f your inc0nvenient ass war. SOLLUX: could y0u pick me something up?

SOLLUX READ THE ROOM

KARKAT: MAYBE YOU'D GIVE MORE OF A FUCK ABOUT THE REPRODUCTIVE FUTURE OF OUR SPECIES IF ARADIA WAS EVER ACTUALLY THERE LONG ENOUGH FOR YOU TO GET SOME. MEENAH: ohhh snapper

Wait, so Aradia actually might possibly time travel back in her personal past over to the Black Hole trapped timeline to hang out with Sollux on rare occasions?! Is she capable of crossing back and forth when nobody else can? I highly doubt that-- but Davebot insisted she WAS still seeing someone... is it possible that she's asking to borrow alt!Calliope's powers whenever it strikes her on the rare occasion to go back for a date? No, it doesn't feel like AL would do her that favor... who the fuck is Aradia still dating? A DIFFERENT Sollux? Someone else??? Or does she have a free travel ticket that breaks the rules so hard that the whole Plot Point thing shouldn't even be necessary to break through!?

KARKAT: BETTER GET BACK TO IT, THEN, DON'T LET ME KEEP YOU. KARKAT: I'LL JUST BE OUT HERE FREEDOM FIGHTING AND DEPLETING JANE'S GROUND FORCES SO SHE WON'T HAVE ENOUGH MANPOWER TO STORM THE METEOR AND PUT A SPOON THROUGH YOUR SPINE, OH AND ALSO FERRYING YOU YOUR FUCKING FAST FOOD, I GUESS! KARKAT: GOOD LUCK! KARKAT: HOPE YOU GET A HIGH SCORE! SOLLUX: yeah im kinda in the z0ne right now. KARKAT: AWESOME. SOLLUX: hey kk KARKAT: WHAT. SOLLUX: are we still friends? KARKAT: OBVIOUSLY, DIPSHIT! KARKAT: STAY SAFE, ALRIGHT? KARKAT: ... KARKAT: ... KARKAT: DUDE! SOLLUX: s0rry im still gaming. KARKAT: BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOLLUX: alrighty bro g0od talk.

D'awwww. Same as it ever was between them. :'D

(Rebellion Commanders: Finish up here.)

Oh, the top of the Meteor (memorial) is still buried above ground, to eventually eons in the future become Calliope and Caliborn's home (EDIT: or would have if this wasn't the Candy timeline, I forgot, but the Meat timeline has it as a similar memorial there most likely). Makes sense; it just extends deep ENOUGH underground for Roxy to have described the lab as such after going through the transportalizer.

KARKAT: YEAH, I'M DISAPPOINTED ABOUT HOW EVERYTHING WITH DAVE WENT DOWN. KARKAT: BUT TODAY NEEDS TO BE BIGGER THAN THAT. KARKAT: IT'S NOT PRODUCTIVE FOR ME TO SIT HERE AND WALLOW ABOUT WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN AND WHAT MORE I COULD HAVE DONE FOR ONE PERSON WHEN NOW, MORE THAN EVER, I NEED TO FOCUS ON WHAT COULD BE AND WHO'S WITH ME NOW. KARKAT: WHO I'M DOING ALL OF THIS FOR. KARKAT: WE'VE BUILT SOMETHING AMAZING TOGETHER, AND IF WE CAN HOLD ON JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER IT'LL HAVE BEEN INCALCULABLY WORTH EVERY OUNCE OF STRUGGLE.

Yeah, said like a true Blood player and great leader.

...Lol at the crew's reactions subsequently.

KARKAT: COMMANDERS HARLEY, MARYAM, AND LALONDE ARE INBOUND, AND NOT LONG AFTER THEY GET HERE THINGS ARE GOING TO GET BATSHIT STUPID! KARKAT: BUT THINGS HAVE BEEN BATSHIT STUPID FOR A LONG, LONG FUCKING TIME, KARKAT: SO LET'S DRAG THAT IMPERIOUS CORPORATE BITCH DOWN FROM HER AIRSHIP AND REINTRODUCE A LITTLE NORMALCY!

Almost time to try and stabilize this whole damn timeline yeah, which may indeed incidentally give them the avenue to win against a more grounded-in-reality Jane Crocker.

(==>)

Quite the intimidating lineup of enemy ships.

MEENAH: target fuckin acquired

(Jane: Educate these fools on the art of war.)

You are in no position to educate anybody, Mrs. Mistress Executive. Dehydrated, grieving, and coming off of a particularly nasty sugar high, Sun Tzu wouldn't even let you substitute at this rate. What would your curriculum even be? Furious Fudge Flinging 101? Because you are completely losing your shit right now.

Hahahahahhaha.

Luckily we have already seen the beginning of these histrionics here.

Yeah, when Jane was yelling for her poison-tasting water boy because her throat's dry and she's ballistic. Jane doesn't exactly have the ROLE as a Maid of Life nor the personal experience to be a master war tactician-- all she's good at is enforcing order and anxiety (due to her Bard of Doom synergy theoretically) and, as a Maid of Life, having tons and tons of power, money and influence to throw at the problem and hope to overwhelm it with sheer might alone. Not much tactical about it.

(==>)

Oh, we're back to the tail end of that conversation! Is Jake going to decide on something he can actually do to *help* stop her here? And of course we're getting further Brain Ghost Dirk perspective.

JAKE: Oh flip. JAKE: Sorry janey i was handling an urgent matter. JAKE: Had to pop down the little boys office to shred some important papers. JANE: What? JAKE: Im spending a penny at the local water closet. JANE: Jake. JAKE: Im in the bathroom. JANE: Oh.

Hahahahah. Classic Jake-anachronisms.

JANE: UGH! JANE: You are always in the bathroom these days!

Doing spy shit, yes.

JAKE: Well my job is to taste test all your water for poison, JAKE: dear. JAKE: Forgive my impertinence but perhaps if you trusted the troops more, we could avoid all of this folderol and i could be promoted to standing by your side? JAKE: Thatd help my besieged bladder, for sure. JANE: Not happening. JAKE: Oh! Of course! JAKE: Silly me.

Jane really never trusted Jake for anything important, even when she WANTED him for a relationship. It's like there was hardly ever a potential timeline where their relationship might actually go well, it seems, unless they both got some seriously miraculous psychotherapy.

JAKE: May i ask... why? JAKE: Not to make a tit of myself here. JAKE: But wouldnt an enemy spy be childs play to spot, seeing as our troops share such similar faces? JAKE: Pretty much the exact same face? JANE: I once thought it an asset too! JANE: How clever I saw myself... JANE: "Hoo hoo! We'll avoid instating a draft by cloning an army!" JANE: "Unprecedented genius!" JANE: "Brand consistency!"

Oh wow, they've been CLONING TROOPS. That makes some degree of sense as a sort of counter for her "concerns" about the rate of troll reproduction, too. Also, she's MAKING LIFE, which seems a good hero title pun.

JANE: Of course, I realize now that if any serviceman developed mutinous, deviant intentions, he could simply slink back into the safety of the crowd.

JANE: The perfect cover for a tiger amongst zebras. JAKE: Grrr... JAKE: Friggin double agents, man. DIRK: (Amazing. Can I get a cherry on top of that?) JAKE: Why i oughta... the very thought! DIRK: (Fuck yes. Marlon Brando in the motherfucking building.) JANE: Exactly. It's horrifying.

Lol.

JANE: Thankfully I have practiced instinct where assassination is concerned. JANE: An instinct that has only sharpened in the wake of... recent tragedies. JANE: I won't be lulled into any such false sense of security this time, that's for sure! JAKE: Is that why the old henhouse has been feeling a bit spacious recently? JANE: I may have a handful or so of men in the brig. JANE: For safekeeping. JANE: They have snacks! A water trough. JANE: All unpoisoned, might I add. JANE: Who gives a toot anyways, we'll be depositing them out onto the battlefield soon enough.

Jane Crocker HAS technically been dealing with assassination attempts since childhood, too.

JAKE: Speaking of the battle... JAKE: What was the pre-established plan, again? JAKE: Just trying to refresh my simple mind on the details. JAKE: Especially the ones that situate our son near The Point. JAKE: I take it we have protocols in place a tad more delicate than simply "bombs away!" JAKE: Right? JANE: Sigh. JANE: Jake, do you remember when I went to the moon?

OH FUCKING HELL YES THAT INSTAGRAM STUFF WAS (at least Candy) CANON SHE'S SENDING IN ROBOT JACK NOIR AND HIS FELT CREW YESSSSSSS I WAS HOPING THEY'D COME BACK!!! It's the only way to make this fight interesting!!

Looks like she's about to recap anyone who missed that instagram compilation of the assassination attempt that teleported her to the moon before it was about to be shot into a crescent shape by the Carapacians as a ridiculous act of godly devotion and then she captured and rounded up the whole New Midnight Crew in collars. Jack Noir is a fearsome and fun adversary to be up against, especially when the presumed Prince of Blood is running with a destructive crew.

(Jane: Start monologuing.)

That's right, I remember, Jack brought a bunch of them back to life to work for him using Die's doll or something. Seems she has enough of a handle of them to not use prison collars on them now.

JAKE: Uuuuuuuuuuuuh. JANE: No? It was a huge deal. JAKE: Was this around the time all those carapacians took a big chunk out of it? JANE: Yes! JANE: You see, prior to that expedition, I'd been cooking up a contingency plan, of sorts. JANE: I put some serious man-hours into it. JANE: If things were to go tines up, our last line of defense is a machine that will emit a guided beam to a location of my choosing.

MOON LASER!!!! I'm getting Dr. McNinja flashbacks (which I'm a fan of if you couldn't tell by the avatar, sorry the site is down.)

DIRK: (A laser?) JAKE: So were destroying The Point now? JANE: No! JANE: No, no, no, no. JANE: Definitely not. JANE: We are *capturing* The Point. JANE: But if we don't... JAKE: Ah. JAKE: Contingency plan. JANE: Contingency plan indeed.

Jane doesn't care what the Rebellion thinks about this being important to the safety/integrity of the entire timeline or whatever, or saving the universe. She wants to win. If she can't have it, nobody can.

JANE: A surgical, precise, and most importantly *unexpected* means of victory, with virtually no crossfire. JAKE: Does that seem... JAKE: Sound? JANE: You know, Jake, you've been giving me the 3rd degree all day. JAKE: Hm? JANE: You're typically content stumbling through life as a soft-headed bimbo, and it's only now of all times you start showing stark, pointed interest in happenings outside of yourself? JANE: I find that odd. JANE: Suspicious even. JAKE: Erm...

He's definitely become more active in trying to figure out how to stop things and gather information as the critical moment approaches, yeah. And Brain Ghost Dirk's resurgence (if he ever left) is likely pushing him too.

JANE: You're thinking, "She's a bad mother," aren't you? DIRK: (Here we go.) JANE: Don't you try to deny it.

Oh pfff, not suspicion but marital fucking discourse. Heheheh.

JANE: I see you, up there on your high horse. JANE: Interrogating me! JANE: As if you have the right! JANE: Just what did *you* do, besides whimper like a kicked dog, as they took our boy away!? JANE: "TAVVY!" JANE: You can fly, you idiot! JANE: You're such a harmless, dunderheaded fucking nonentity that those seditious connivers would have *let* you tail them! DIRK: (Ouch.) JANE: Everything he has, *I've* provided. JANE: Everything he is, *I've* nurtured!

Jake probably trusts "Tavvy" in their hands more than yours, but that's neither something you know nor can accept. And the thing about Jake is that yes, he's a doormat, but Pages in Homestuck often seem to need to be given a long time in flourishing, non-traumatic environments to bloom into anything resembling their true role and power, and Jane has never had the confidence in him to try to build him up instead of spitefully knocking him down.

JAKE: (Criminy, bro, she has a death laser.) JAKE: (Like goldfinger.) JANE: Remember how I willed him out of my body, 3 months premature, because I was so excited to see him? JAKE: (The rebellion isnt prepared for that.) JAKE: (What are they going to do?) DIRK: (Fuck if I know, refract it off Commander Vantas' massive tits?) JAKE: (Were going to lose.)

HOLY SHIT AT THE PART I BOLDED JANE IS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NUTS, she could have stunted her child's growth just for that selfishness! "Arrested Development" indeed!

Jake looks like he might be gearing to do something actually heroic for once. Like, say... to fly HIMSELF up to the moon and destroy a fucking moon laser.

JANE: You might be a primo actor, English, with that perfect smile and that stupid, sexy fake accent. JANE: But you are not a caring individual. JANE: My Dad... JANE: He had so much love in him that you could feel it when he entered the room. JANE: Across all the iterations of yourself, do you think your children ever felt even a MODICUM of that?

FUCKING OUCH SHE'S GOING FOR THE JUGULAR

JANE: Jade? Terrifying, JANE: I hate even thinking about it. JANE: And I don't doubt for a second that there were more. JANE: How do you imagine they turned out?

That's right, I've only played part 1 but Hiveswap indicates there were other children, with him even using Roxy as babysitter for his frequent absences. The Page of Hope, er... with Hope's phallic and white-blast reproductive symbolic connotations, er... might spread his seed a little wide.

JAKE: (I finally grew the gumption to get off the back foot, and were all going to meet the reaper regardless.) JANE: Let's face it. I held you accountable. JANE: Without me, you'd have left Tavros behind in a peanut factory. JANE: Asphyxiating on the floor, crying "Daddy, where are you! Daddy!" DIRK: (Dude.) JAKE: (JOLLY JESUS FUCKING CHRISTMAS!!!) JANE: What the fresh hell are you mumbling to yourself? JANE: Y- JAKE: WILL YOU SHUT YOUR GODDAMN CAKE HOLE!!!!!!! JANE: !!!!!!

YEAH THAT'S TOO MUCH INSULT FOR EVEN HIM TO TAKE. Even Brain Ghost Dirk is shocked at how low she's going. CHEW HER OUT, ENGLISH!

(==>)

JAKE: Listen to you, lecturing me about parenting and flagellating me with fucking... infanticidal peanut snuff fantasies! JAKE: Tavros isnt even allergic to peanuts anymore! JANE: What?

What?

How...?

(==>)

HOLY FUCKING SHIT WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED JAKE HOPED HIM BACK TO LIFE OR SOME SHIT?!?! GAMZEE???

JAKE: Hes been cured since he was thirteen! JANE: How???? JAKE: Gamzee. JAKE: Via some vile cosmic caper or another it is *always* gamzee! JAKE: He found out! JAKE: Started rambling on and on about "how motherfuckin' malicious" it was to see "A dIfFeReNtLy AbLeD bRoThEr MiSsIn' OuT oN tHe NiRvAnA oF tHaT nUtTy MoThErFuCkIn' NeCtAr."

Yeah, Jane being in ANY sort of relationship with Gamzee was a war crime towards her whole family and reality itself.

DIRK: (Why are you doing the voice?) JAKE: "ThErE's WhOlEsOmE, hOlIsTiC hEaLiNg PrOpErTiEs AlL uP aNd StUfFeD iNtO tHe HaRmOnIoUs UnIoN oF pB aNd J." DIRK: (You don't need to do the voice.) JAKE: "WhAt EvEn Is ThIs SuLtRy BiTcH oF a LiFe WiThOuT a LiTtLe PeAnUt BuTtEr JeLlY tImE?" DIRK: (It'd be so sick if you stopped doing the voice.) JAKE: Then he pulled the "OuR dUtY aS sTrOnG mAlE mOtHeRfUcKiN' mOdElS iS tO nUrTuRe AnD gUiDe ThAt LoSt LiTtLe LeGuMe-InToLeRaNt LaMb," card. JAKE: "We StRaIgHt Up GoT tO bE tHe ChAnGe WhAt AlL nObOdY eLsE eVeR gOt DoWn To BeInG iN tHe WoRlD, fOr ThE lItTlE nEgLeCtEd NuGgEtS *wE* aLl WaS." DIRK: (Fuck me, then.)

Jake is invoking Gamzee's spirit Hopeways here, he HAS to do the voice, BG-Dirk. No getting around it.

And yeah, Gamzee would find insane fucking ways to abuse their son and Jane would turn a blind eye to it because of her pointless clown lust, it seems. NO WONDER TAVROS KICKED HIS CORPSE!!!!

JANE: He always felt you two had a common tragic upbringing. JAKE: I know... JAKE: After that, the insane clown started stowing peanuts around the mansion, tricking little tavvy into eating them! JAKE: Poor squirt was thrashing throat-first into anaphylactic shock bi-weekly. JAKE: I epipenned him so many times, i learned needlekind! JAKE: Worried myself as sick as our boy was, just wishing that nutty nightmare would nix. JAKE: Then, wham. JAKE: It did! JAKE: Thank god! JANE: I- JANE: I had no idea. JAKE: Of course you didnt! JAKE: You werent there!

Preach, Jake English!!!!! Preach all over this neglectful asshole bad excuse for a mother who gave Tavros privilege and little else!

JAKE: You might have expelled him into existence with your easy-bake tuna canoe.

SDFJ:DSKLJ EASY BAKE TUNA CANOE ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS JAKE XD

FUCK THAT'S HILARIOUS

JAKE: But i kept him alive! JAKE: I raised him! JAKE: Nelsons knickers, half the time it feels like "uncle" fucking gamzee had more hand in his upbringing than you did! JANE: Oh... my... JANE: I never... took a second to stop and think... JANE: I don't remember when he took his first steps. JANE: Or what his favorite food is. JANE: I didn't even fucking breast feed him! DIRK: (Which is fucking crazy, all things considered.) JANE: I don't... even know what his first word was. JAKE: It was "honk." JANE: Jesus Christ.

Oh my God. She's actually fucking seeing it. Maybe only for a moment, but... she's actually fucking SEEING IT. This is a radical breakthrough.

Ever since the talk between Jade, Rose, and Kanaya back there got SO FUCKING REAL, I should have been suspecting... is the stabilization they're attempting at the Plot Point working RETROACTIVELY to make the entire Candy timeline make more sense, and bringing even people as far out of character as Jane Crocker back closer to reality, radiating its effects somewhat backwards in time and not just forwards? To help people like Jane and Jake and John and such finally BREAK OUT of their respective head fogs and truly see what's been going on around them all this time???

(Canon Roxy over on the pursuit ship might even be helping Callie WRITE HER STORY BETTER than Callie started off doing! That would explain a lot, while possibly even providing a Void pocket to keep the plans they're writing to have it influence the main timeline back invisible to the dueling Authors!)

((ALSO also, if you wanted Candy to be closer to Canon, Gamzee's chucklevoodoo influence and Bard of Rage role would have gone a long way to keeping Jane in a relationship with him and unaware of the abuse of her son.))

Jane looks like she's about to come to terms with something serious, but I'm pretty sure we can't have her reverse herself just yet. Which means something is going to make her even madder-- something is going to blow her up and waste some of what she's finally realizing.

Jake might successfully chew her out, say he's leaving her, hang up and fly out from the ship (not telling her he's off to destroy the Orbital Laser), while Jane contends seriously with her sins as she approaches her climactic battle and provides an opportunity for Roxy to possibly save this version of her later...... but something gives me the feeling that this version of Jane is going to be kept irredeemable, which means that the most efficient way narratively to accomplish that... is for Jake to fuck up here by accidentally revealing he's been working for the enemy. By, for example, yelling at her for threatening to destroy the Plot Point when it's their best hope to save the universe/timeline when she knows HE SHOULDN'T KNOW THAT unless he'd known about The Point before all this. At which point he would HAVE to vamoose in a jiffy to avoid capture, and Jane would be too enraged to fully dwell on her failings in motherhood and relationships just yet. I think in the next couple pages we'll see which happens.

(AND, as I've pointed out repeatedly in the Epilogues and my earlier HS^2 liveblog-- (NO WONDER Jane never resurrected Gamzee even though she FULLY had the power to do so, and held an entire public funeral to appease his followers without revealing that she could have snapped her Lifey fingers and revived him this whole fucking time! She kicked him off the ship in the first place before Vriska killed him after all.)

Please tell me I haven't hit the image limit yet I HAVE to keep reading...

(==>)

JANE: He must hate me. JAKE: Oh, janey... JANE: It's true. JANE: Look at the way he acted during the hostage negotiations. JANE: His life was threatened, and Tavros didn't call out to me once! JANE: Like he... he knew I had other concerns. JAKE: Well, JAKE: You do.

Yeah, Jane never prioritized her family. She debated saving Tavvy mainly for the cameras.

JANE: Do you think I want to? JANE: I wanted this family! JANE: I can't help how much goddamn pressure I'm under! JAKE: Nobody asked you to shoulder any of that. JAKE: ...Dear. JANE: I had to! JANE: The rest of you couldn't be trusted! JANE: None of you even bothered to graduate high school! JANE: While you were all being shut-ins, and self-destructing, and fucking... cavorting!!! I was making public appearances. JANE: Somebody had to represent us, so people wouldn't assume the worst! JANE: They waited 5000 years for us, and for what? To see there was no plan, no reason, that none of their gods were really on their side. JANE: I had to become an adult before ANY of you decided to catch up. JANE: Sigh. JANE: If Tavros never felt any love from me, it's because I barely had anything left to give.

Holy shit, Jane feels the same way as Jade. Trying frantically to live up to the title of Goddess for the planet because she feels OBLIGATED to by her self-esteem, except she took a different route and threw herself into the role permanently at the expense of her family.

JANE: No wonder you both left. JAKE: !!!!!!! JAKE: Er... im not following. JANE: Come on, now, Jakey. When you went to go stay with John. JAKE: Zooks, you knew id skittered away this whole time? JAKE: And you arent mad? JAKE: Why? JANE: Because I love you, you bobo. JANE: I have loved you since I was 13. JANE: Sure, going off the map right after my father died was not the kindest timing. JANE: But you were always going to come back. JANE: And I mastered forgiving you a long time ago.

Whoaaa.

JANE: I even forgave you for Dirk. JAKE: Forgave me for... for being with him? JANE: What? JANE: No, I was always an ally first when it came to that. JANE: What's a... a dalliance between bros, really? DIRK: (Word.)

What is she talking about now? Is she blaming JAKE for Dirk unaliving himself in the Candy timeline???

Okay I'm paranoid about hitting the image limit soon and I'm willing to defer this revelation for JUST a moment, so let me post this now and start immediately writing my third liveblog post of the day. :)

[queenofcats17]

Is it ok if you write a thing about HS Sammy getting turned back into a child? (Both mentally and physically) I think that would cause some adorable shenanigans to occur (with the toons help ofc u-u)

Yeah, sure!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Sammy had long been the victim of magic shenanigans. And today was no different. Joey had been doing....something, and now Sammy was a child.

Now, this in itself presented a pretty big problem, as he couldn't very well do his job when he was a little kid. But there was another problem. And that problem was that Sammy had no memory of anything that had happened after the age of ten, the age he seemed to currently be. Meaning he didn't recognize anyone in the studio (aside from Jack) and didn't understand how he'd gotten here or where his parents were.

"....So this is bad," Joey said, glancing over at where Sammy was hiding behind Jack.

"You think?" Bendy growled.

"Do you think you can fix this?" Henry asked, trying to will away the headache he could already feel developing.

"Of course I can!" Joey quickly assured him, although his confidence faded quickly. "I just...don't know how long it'll take to reverse this..."

"I can watch him until he's back to normal," Jack volunteered. "He knows me, after all."

"That would be great, thank you, Jack." Henry gave Jack a weak smile.

"You're welcome." Jack returned Henry's smile before focusing his attention back on the small Sammy. "You wanna see my workstation?"

Sammy hesitated, then nodded, shrinking back further in the way that signaled there were too many people and he was overwhelmed.

"Alright, come on." Jack gently guided Sammy out of Joey's office and through the halls toward the Music Department.

As they traveled, Sammy remained glued to Jack's side, looking very much as though he were trying to hide. Which, honestly, he probably was. Sammy had never done particularly well with being suddenly thrust into new environments. He needed time to mentally prepare himself for the new space and the new people. Jack knew this had to be incredibly overwhelming for the small version of his friend. Which was why he was going to do his best to make this easier for Sammy.

When they got to the top of the stairs that led to the sewers, Sammy abruptly stopped, pulling back.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

Sammy shook his head, covering his nose. "It smells," he said. "I'm not going."

"Why don't we go to your office, then?" Jack suggested.

"My...office?" Sammy echoed with a frown.

"It won't smell," Jack said.

Sammy's frown deepened, but he nodded, taking Jack's hand again and following him back up the stairs to the office. Sammy squinted a bit as they approached the office, his gaze zeroing in on the sign above the window.

"Why does it have my name on it?" He asked, tugging on Jack's sleeve.

"Because it belongs to grown-up you," Jack answered, fishing out the key to the office and unlocking it.

Sammy's eyes widened at this. "...Grown up me must be really important..." He said quietly.

"Something like that," Jack laughed, holding the door open and ushering Sammy inside.

Sammy tentatively stepped inside, looking warily around. Jack remained where he was by the door, watching Sammy look around. It was interesting to look at Sammy and see the seeds of behaviors he regularly displayed as his adult self. The way he squinted when he was concentrating particularly hard, the way he folded his arms around himself when he was in a new environment.

He'd forgotten how cute Sammy had been as a child too. Granted, he probably hadn't noticed it when he'd been a child himself, but seeing child Sammy as an adult was really driving home to Jack just how adorable Sammy had been as a kid.

"What's this?"

Jack's attention was drawn back to Sammy as the boy pointed to the sheets of music on the desk. There were a few finished compositions, as well as a half-done song for Alice.

"It's sheet music," he answered, walking over to stand next to his friend.

Sammy let out an adorable huff, folding his arms. "I know that," he said indignantly. "But what are they?"

"I'm not sure what you mean." Jack gave an apologetic smile.

Sammy huffed again. "What are they for? The names are weird."

"They're songs for cartoons," Jack explained. "You wrote them."

Sammy's pouting was abruptly stopped as his eyes went wide. Slowly, he looked up at Jack with an awestruck expression.

"...I wrote them?" He asked quietly, pointing at himself.

Jack couldn't help but laugh. "You sure did. And I'm writing the words to go along with them."

Sammy's face split in a huge grin and he began to flap his hands. "We're making songs together!" He exclaimed, bouncing up and down.

Jack's smile widened. "Yeah, we are!"

"We're making songs together!!" Sammy repeated, beginning to jump around excitedly.

The display warmed Jack's heart. It honestly felt really good to see a little Sammy so ecstatic at the prospect of making music with him. He was happy to know his friend liked working with him.

The moment was interrupted, however, by a gentle knock on the door. Sammy froze, immediately scampering to hide behind Jack's legs.

"It's okay," Jack quietly assured him before addressing whoever was at the door. "Yeah?"

"I hope I'm not intruding." Susie's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Well, I wouldn't say you're intruding..." Jack glanced down at Sammy, who was staring intently at the door and clinging to Jack's pants.

Susie gave a little laugh. "I'm sensing there's a but."

"There is," Jack laughed as well. "Sammy's a bit skittish right now, that's all."

"Ah, right..." There was clear disappointment in Susie's voice.

"Is it okay if she comes in?" Jack asked, gently patting Sammy's head.

Sammy frowned, hunching his shoulders and continuing to stare at the door.

"...Just for a little," he said.

"Thank you." Jack turned back to the door. "He says you can come in for a little."

"Really?!" Susie exclaimed.

Like a startled cat, the loudness of the statement made Sammy withdraw further, prompting Jack to ask Susie to be a bit quieter.

After an apology, Susie tentatively entered. She looked on the verge of squealing upon seeing Sammy's little face peeking out from behind Jack's solid form, but she managed to keep it together.

"Oh, he's adorable..." She whispered.

"Who're you?" Sammy demanded, eyes narrowed.

"This is Susie," Jack said. "She sings some of the songs you and I write."

Susie gave a little wave. "Your songs are very nice."

Sammy continued to stare at Susie, his eyes still narrowed. Slowly, though, he crept out from behind Jack.

"Oh, you're so cute..." Susie said, still making a valiant effort to not squeal or scoop Sammy up.

"'m not cute..." Sammy grumbled, folding his arms. "...So you...sing?"

"I do!" Susie confirmed with a smile. "Would you like to hear?"

Sammy hesitated, thinking about it for a good long minute, before tentatively nodding.

Susie cleared her throat, standing up to her full height. Then, she launched into "Lonely Angel".

As soon as the first words left her lips, Sammy looked utterly enraptured. He stared at Susie with unbridled wonder as she sang. Jack made a mental note to bring this up to Sammy once he was back to normal. He couldn't wait to see how flustered Sammy would be.

"You have a beautiful voice..." Sammy whispered once Susie had finished singing.

"Aaw, thank you!" Susie put a hand to her chest. "You know, I was just about to go record a new song. Do you want to come watch?"

Sammy hesitated again, looking at Jack.

"I'll come with you," Jack assured him.

Satisfied by this response, Sammy turned back to Susie and gave a little nod, reaching out to take her hand.

Susie stifled a squeal, then led Sammy out of the office, with Jack following behind.

Sammy spent the rest of the day glued to Jack and Susie's sides. Despite his initial wariness of her, after hearing her sing he was suctioned to her side like a koala. Something about her made him feel safe, although he couldn't explain why.

Everyone thought it was absolutely adorable, especially Boris and Alice. They had the good sense not to say this while Sammy was around, for fear of making him embarrassed and cutting the koala impression short, but they were certainly thinking it. Wally was also making a mental note to tease Sammy about this later.

Thankfully, by the end of the day, Joey had managed to figure out a way to return Sammy to normal. It did take a bit of convincing to get little Sammy into the spell circle, but once they did it was a fairly simple process of executing the spell.

When the smoke cleared, there was adult Sammy, bright red and looking mortified.

"We will never speak of this again," he whispered.

"No promises~," Jack said with a big grin.

Sammy groaned, covering his face. Why did this always happen to him?

[meaningofaeons]

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈ obviously oblivious

⊹ character(s) - geto suguru ⊹ word count - 2.7k ⊹ notes - gn!reader, fluff, a hint of angst if you squint, fake dating, takes place in hidden inventory (before all the bad stuff so ... hs!au sort of but still in jjks regular setting), possibly ooc suguru sorry </3

this is the raffle fic for the winner of the cat-baret raffle, @psychopomp-enthusiast !! they requested a geto x reader fake dating and I was more than happy to oblige *:･ﾟ✧(=✪ ᆺ ✪=)*:･ﾟ✧ permission was granted to post this fic! also, sorry in advance if there's any she/her usage or fem terms used for reader! I try my best to edit and ensure they're 100% gn, but sometimes things slip through the cracks! let me know if I messed up anywhere!

"You want me to do what?"

You kept your hands firmly over your face, already thoroughly humiliated by the request at hand. If not for the fact that Satoru would certainly value holding something over your head as blackmail, he would've already ran and told Suguru about your little plan.

"I'm not repeating myself!"

"No, no, seriously, I think I didn't hear you!"

Satoru's disbelief had melded into disbelief and humor, his eyes lighting up at your misery. "Tell me what you wanted my help with again!"

"Satoru, you are a dick!"

"I don't think that's how you ask someone for help if you really need them to help you out."

"Forget it."

"Why do you want me to pretend to date you, of all things?" he chuckled, ignoring your words and continuing the conversation, plopping himself right onto your desk. You glared at him, having half a mind to shove him off onto the floor. "Wouldn't that just make Suguru upset?"

"No— Well, yes, but like, not intentionally."

"You literally have bad intentions with this plan."

You shoved him hard, but the white-haired boy managed to keep his ass firmly on your desk, laughing at the futility of your gesture. You slumped backwards in your seat.

"What's the point?"

"The point is that he'd realize he likes me back. Or, if he doesn't like me, I'd be able to tell by him not caring. Or something like that..."

"That's stupid."

You groaned. You knew that.

"He's definitely the type of guy to just let it go and suffer in silence. I mean, I've been friends with him for ages. He'd be all, 'I'm happy you're happy, Satoru!' or something."

You knew that too. That's one of the reasons you liked him, for God's sake.

"So let's do it."

"Huh?!"

You shot up in your seat, eyeing your friend suspiciously. He only shot you a catlike grin in turn.

"Well, you asked me, Suguru's closest friend. So obviously, I could wring it out of him if he was really upset, and then boom, the sham is up! You two date! Happily ever after!"

You gave him an unimpressed look, and he whistled indignantly.

"...Or I could ask Shoko. Whatever."

"And what do you get out of this?"

"Entertainment?" Satoru batted his annoyingly long eyelashes at you prettily, placing his hands under his chin in a mock-gesture that made you want to strangle his perfect skin. "Fun? The satisfaction that I finally get to stop seeing you pine after him—"

"What do you really want?"

"You treat me to sweets anytime I want. It fits into the scheme, anyways! And besides, Suguru kinda pissed me off last week."

"You're literally rich! And you probably started it! What do you mean, he pissed you off?"

Satoru raised his eyebrow at you, and you let out a long, deep, exaggerated sigh.

"Fine."

"Yippee!" You could've pelted him the way he, a grown ass man, pranced around the room like a little toddler girl. As if he even needed your money for his sugar addiction.

"Prick," you muttered, just out of earshot of the strongest as he walked towards the door.

"Okaaay, I'm going now, my dearest! Have some Kikufuku on my desk tomorrow and I'll consider the contract sealed!"

"Prick!" you shouted it this time, really throwing something (a small eraser) but Satoru had already dashed out the door, laughing all the way.

Regardless, you collapsed into your seat again, utterly mortified.

Would this really work?

Guess you had to try.

—

"What's this?"

Suguru, despite himself, found himself questioning the packet of Kikufuku on Satoru's desk. They'd only just come from the dorms, and they'd done so together as usual, so there was no way Satoru would've had time to get it for himself. Not to mention...

"Isn't this the specialty one from Sendai, too? What, did you do Shoko a huge favor?"

The raven-haired man wasn't pleased when the only response he got was a happy hum from his white-haired friend, who sat down and inspected the treat before popping a piece of mochi in his mouth.

"No," he finally spoke up after a beat of silence, mouth stuffed (causing Suguru to gag in an over-exaggerating fashion). "This is from the best partner in the world! My pookie bear!"

"Very funny," Suguru deadpanned.

Satoru looked offended for a moment, but his affronted expression melted into a look of pure glee as soon as he heard the sliding door open.

Suguru looked up at that, a small smile coming to his lips as he spotted you walk into the room.

"Hey, Y/N—"

"Sweetie!"

The smile dropped at once when he watched his friend bound over to your side, immediately hanging off of you. This wasn't necessarily unusual, but the pet name—not to mention how you didn't immediately shove Satoru off as you usually would—caught Suguru's attention.

"Satoru, stop. We're in class."

"But you got this Kikufuku especially for me, right? Come on, let me pay you back with some cuddles~"

You pushed Satoru away by the cheek, but didn't necessarily work to extricate yourself from him. The raven-haired man definitely noticed this time.

An unpleasant feeling rose in Suguru's gut, but he played it as coolly as he could.

"What's this? Are you two going out or something?" he mocked, chuckling in disbelief. You looked contemplative, and Satoru got a nasty smirk on his face.

As if—

"Yeah, we are," you answered back, equally as calm. The man hanging off of your arm looked all-too pleased with himself as you answered, whereas Suguru had practically gone into shock.

"S-Seriously?" The sorcerer tried to keep his outward dismay to a minimum, but a stutter still edged its way into his voice.

While you were far too distracted in subtly attempting to remove Satoru's arms from around you without making it obvious that your "relationship" was a sham, the man clutching onto you was relishing in the way his friend tried desperately to remain casual at the news.

"Seriously, seriously!" Satoru chimed in, wrapping his arms around your waist in a tight hug. That was the point you gave up trying to get him away.

"Well, congratulations," Suguru muttered, half-hearted words barely forced out. He eyed you for any sign of this being a trick, but to his utter despair, your poker face revealed none of what he was searching for—humor, annoyance, anything that might tell him that Satoru was making the whole thing up.

"Thanks," you murmured back, a bit dismayed yourself.

Did he even care—

"So who asked who ou—"

"Okay, in your seats, everyone," Yaga walked into the room, cutting off Suguru's desperate question, glaring at you three. "Shoko's out on business and won't be back until the afternoon, so it's just you lot."

"Okaaaay," Satoru dragged his feet, letting go of you reluctantly and plopping himself into his seat. You sat one over from him, right between he and Suguru.

Throughout the entire class, your white-haired friend couldn't help but chuckle to himself at your raven-haired friend's urgent glances your way.

By the time Yaga had dismissed you three, Suguru excused himself quite quickly and practically ran out the door.

Well, strode was more like it, but Satoru could see the hurry in his steps.

Off to tell Shoko all about it, he was sure.

"See? He didn't seem to care at all," you pouted a bit, head slumped on your desk. Bright blue eyes rolled in incredulity at your density.

"Seriously? He always sticks around after class to hang out. Why else would he have ran off?"

"To not see you making a fool of yourself and drooling all over me?"

It was tempting to take that Kikufuku in Satoru's hand and pelt him right between the eyes with it as he batted his eyelashes innocently, but you resisted your violent urges. He only chuckled more, popping treat after treat past his lips.

"I think you're being dumb."

"You're dumb."

"Am not! Suguru's the dumb one, really."

"He's not dumb!" you fired back. "He clearly just isn't interested in me, so let's just stop this already."

"Wow, I've only been your fake boyfriend for a day, and you're already trashing me. Shame!"

"I just don't want to owe you more desserts than I have to for something that clearly won't work."

Satoru whistled. "Well, at least I got one bag of Kikufuku out of it!"

"Jerk..." you muttered.

A beat of silence passed, and you half-expected the man to up and leave after getting bored, but when you glanced up, you saw him fiddling with his flip phone.

Then, he grinned at the screen, turning to you.

"Let's go to Suzukien."

"What? Why?" you asked. In all fairness, matcha gelato did sound pretty delicious at the moment, especially to offput your bad mood. However, you'd be loath to admit when Satoru had a good idea lest his head inflate to the size of a large balloon.

"Just feel like a colder treat. Your treat, 'cause I helped you out and all."

You grumbled and pulled your bag over your shoulders, walking over to the door. "Fine, let's go."

"Yay!"

—

The second Suguru had gotten out of class, as Satoru had guessed, he had gone straight to Shoko.

She nearly leapt out of her seat as the door slammed open, whipping around with a glare to shush her friend.

"Are you insane? This is a clinic. I'm working."

"Did you know Y/N and Satoru are dating?"

For a moment, Shoko's expression reflected pure horror and pity, but then, she stopped. It took her a total of 5 seconds of thought to put two and two together, and she shrugged.

"No, they're not."

"They just told me they are."

"Then you're an idiot for believing them."

Suguru plopped himself into the cold metal chair in the corner, eyeing Shoko and awaiting an explanation. She sighed, finishing up her technique on the patient and removing her gloves, walking over to her table full of various medical tools.

"I remember like a year ago, there was a guy I thought was kind of cute. Gojo had this grand idea to get him jealous by pretending we were going out, but the catch was that I had to buy him sweets whenever he wanted. It lasted maybe a day, but he does a good job of being overbearingly annoying as a fake boyfriend."

Suguru, for all his intelligence, was still a bit slow. Perhaps it was the implication of you having some sort of feelings for him that ran the train of disbelief in his mind.

"And that connects to this situation... why?"

Shoko looked at him, extremely unimpressed.

"Did Gojo have a pack of sweets on his desk?"

"Yeah, Kikufuku..."

"And were they from Y/N?"

"He said—" Suguru paused, his brain running a mile a minute. Then, he buried his face in his hands. Shoko only pulled out her flip phone, typing away.

"I'm an idiot."

"Yes, you are."

"I bet this is because Yaga backed me up when we were arguing over the pronunciation of a word last week..."

"Probably. That's Gojo for you."

"So do I ask them out now?"

"What do you think?" Shoko flashed her phone's screen in Suguru's face, the man squinting to get a good look at the words.

Gojo had sent a whole slew of text emojis scattered between every word, but somewhere within the endless stream of colons and parenthesis and threes was a message detailing him taking you (or you taking him, more like) to Suzukien.

He was out the door with a quick thanks before the girl could even blink, and she chuckled, popping a cigarette out of the box as she sent one more text to Satoru.

"He's on his way."

—

You grumbled to yourself even more as you sat at a small bench outside of Suzukien.

The second your money was in the clerk's hand and Satoru's gelato was in his, he had taken off, some shit excuse about having somewhere to be flying off his lips before you could process he'd ran away with the treat.

You silently wondered how much trouble you'd get into with Yaga if you were to smear mochi and red bean paste all over Satoru's desk, when a breathless voice spoke up from next to you.

"Hey."

You jumped slightly, whipping your head to the side to see none other than Suguru. Instantly, your face burned hot.

"U-Uhm, hi. What's up?"

A part of you wondered if this is why Satoru was so enamored with his phone earlier...

"I, uh, talked to Shoko."

"Oh! Um, what would that be about? Here, let me buy you a cone, it's pretty hot out, you look exhausted—"

"No, no, it's okay, uh..." Suguru toyed with his bang, trying to maintain eye contact with you and failing horrendously.

He could talk to you just fine before.

What the hell was going on with him now?!

Right. You'd gone through all the trouble to get roped into Satoru's scheme just at an attempt to convey your feelings without really conveying them, and those feelings just happened to be the same as his—

"Suguru?"

The raven-haired man shook his head. Even if Shoko said what she said, he has to be sure he's not actually trying to steal his best friend's official significant other or anything.

"The dating thing with Satoru wasn't—isn't real, right? Just... Just double checking."

"U-Uhh..." You were torn between perpetuating the lie and telling the truth, but seeing the smoldering look in Suguru's eyes, you shrunk and bowed your head. "N-No, sorry... It was just, uhm, a joke. That's right! Just a joke. I assume Shoko—"

"She told me it was because you wanted to make me jealous."

Well, that was blunt.

It seems Suguru himself realized it, too, because at your flustered expression, he waved a hand frantically.

"But that's just what she said could be it, because Satoru and her did that to another guy! She could've been lying, or just relating it to another experience! Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"No, no, she's, uhm, she was right," you laughed anxiously, scuffing your shoe against the ground and fidgeting about as your cone slowly melted. "Being completely honest, she was right. I did— I did do it to make you jealous."

"Oh... oh."

The silence was thick with tension between you two, but you soon began giggling—out of pure nerves or actual humor, you weren't sure.

It wasn't long before Suguru joined in, his tense expression softening at your laughter.

"I'm sorry, I was being stupid... I should've just told you."

"No, I think I should've told you first. That I like you, I mean."

Your chuckles ceased at once, hot shock rising in your cheeks.

"Seriously...?"

"Seriously, seriously," Suguru mimicked Satoru. Your eyes widened, and you glanced away, but the raven-haired man only leaned back into your line of sight.

"So, do you want to go out? I'll buy you a new cone to make up for distracting you. It can be our first date."

It was at that moment that you realized the icy cold that was covering your hands, jumping with surprise and embarrassment as you noticed your treat all over your fingers. Suguru only smiled, heading inside and coming back out with some napkins, helping you clean off your hands and toss your cone in the trash.

"Really, though, Suguru, I'll treat. It was my fault for going along with Satoru's—"

"Nuh uh. He already made you buy Sendai Kikufuku. I can't imagine the time and effort to get that for today."

"Well, then, um... Thanks—"

"Finally!"

You two practically spun in a circle at the obnoxious voice ringing out from behind the corner of the block. Satoru waved around his flip phone victoriously, a picture of Suguru and you standing quite close together now on its screen.

"I've already told Shoko! Enjoy your date, lovebirds~!"

Before you could say a word, he had scrambled off, giggling all the way. You and Suguru shared a glance.

"Would you be opposed to sharing the punishment with me if I fucked with Satoru's desk? I was thinking of leaving him a couple of melted gelato cones in there."

"Yaga will kill us, but it'll be worth it."

The two of you smiled, laughing a bit. Then, Suguru led you into the gelato shop, warmth filling his chest.

It took a bit of time and confusion, but he had you.

[willel]

I understood the dialogue between Bob and Joyce as meaning that he was already crushing on her in HS and she didn’t pay attention to him, not that they never interacted… but anyway, it looks like the play is trying to recapture the small town vibe of S1 with the idea that, for better or worse, everybody seems to know each other in Hawkins, and it’s pretty cool. S3 was a retcon in that regard imo.

We can interpret that way now yes.

But if it's just a matter of "I had a crush on you and you didn't pay attention/reciprocate", then I think a more logical statement would've been "You had no idea I liked you when we WERE teenagers" or something to that effect.

But again, in the grand scheme of things, it's not the biggest retcon in the world and it can be painted over with headcanons extremely easily, as I'm sure will be the case with many things in this stage play.

As for the small town mall thing, I will use an example from my own experience.

The mall in my hometown was built in 1975. Way before I was born. Now a days it's like a mini city, but back in the day, it was mostly corn and then a few streets just like this. (ST gives me nostalgia because it looks kinda similar to my hometown and is probably only a few hours away from it if Hawkins were a real town)

It's hard to measure how many people actually lived in my hometown since it had a university there. Classic college town, busy one part of the year, a ghost town for the rest. Either way, everyone knew each other. My grandpa still calls me to say "-insert name- Just asked about you the other day! You remember them right?" "Pfff who???"

Anyway, it's very flat. A lot of corn fields and in a centralized area of the state that many would have to travel through or could easily travel to. Hawkins is probably an hour or two away from Indianapolis and Chicago, two major cities.

Building a mall a few miles away from Hawkins in the middle of nowhere with a lot of space and ease of access is not that weird. It's a lot harder to build a mall in the middle of a city than the outskirts of bumfuck nowhere.

Besides all that, Starcourt mall was doomed to fail. It wasn't a real mall. It was a facade set up by the Russian government. Once they got what they wanted, they would've ditched that place and let it crumble. Though, I guess the Mind Flesher did that for them. They only built it there because of its proximity to Hawkins, not because Hawkins has a major population or anything else of interest there other than the mall.

I am happy to see we're going back to even smaller town vibes. No more cross country shenanigans probably. Other than Joyce and I guess Hopper talking about getting out of Hawkins/Indiana and Hopper eventually succeeding for a while.

[hospitalterrorizer]

diary430

11/27-28/24

wednesday-thursday

friendsgiving was...

so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so:

lovely!!!!!!

hard to have more to say but maybe that's because i'm so tired now and it's very late. the last person left at about 2:30 am or so, that was my friend from hs he was watching me play fear and hunger, picking up on that run i was doing to get ending a. i got the girl... i had to sacrifice moonless... that makes me terribly sad that i did that... that the message you get when you do that is "she doesn't seem to understand what you are doing," i felt like crying honestly. i disliked that i did that. what an odd game, that it makes you know how cruel you are. not odd, it feels truthful where most other games are not. it makes you feel terribly bad about discarding or wasting things, you get attached to everything. i've gushed about that game a lot, both 1+2 but it's worth repeating that, i dunno, there's so much possibility in that, in regret in games, to make you feel you've even wasted something or spend time with a thing, not even another person, and when you lose something, you lament it, your relation to the world and the little things you carry with you.

ok, enough of that, what a silly thing to talk about when we had 6 people over plus my gf and i that is 8 people in the house, we spent most of the night just talking, the first person to come was my friend from highschool, we talked about our other friend who has been difficult a lot, lately, the our other friend showed up and things got more like, silly, he told us about this new kanye song which was awful and later in the night my gf saw the music video and it was so nightmarish and he used to be so cool to her and now he's just this guy with a rotting mind it made her cry it was like a panic attack and he reminds her of her mom, being so fucked up and engaging in this rather abstract form of child abuse. anyway, prior to that but after us seeing it, our 2 friends showed up but one had to go back to go get mashed potatoes, which were really good, and that left us with one, and then eventually my gf and our other 2 friends came back with the food, which was also really good. also, our friend with the other friend with mashed potatoes had a pie, and i really like the pie and it makes me happy to finally eat some pumpkin pie...

we just kind of sat around and talked and were very loud and laughing and things and i think all of us were happy, i think 2 of our friends were out of their element, at least i hope that's all it was and that they weren't bothered or something...they're my gf's kpop friends + my friends since i now see them and like them a lot, but it was hard to really find a way to talk to them and i think they were both tired, some of us were really tired, my gf was basically loopy cuz she was tired but still going.

of course, no reading really, i did some writing though. here is a quote from an essay i have to finish, tomorrow, probably, along with drawing more and things:

i can see the sun!! that's not good!!

so,

tomorrow i'll try to talk more about today, i think,

so,

byebye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[idiotwithanipad]

Secret Pain

(Venting some personal stuff about my HS (Hidradenitis Suppurativa) because this flare-up won't go away🥺)

(TW: Blood, Puss, Detail of boils/abscesses, scars, pain. Anyone with HS will probably know what I'm saying)

There had been many days like this in the past, Humphrey had lost count, but the length of the list would be enough to paper a small wall. But this one seemed to be the most fiery and irate. From the moment he had awoken, tucked into the little tub chair up in the old East Wing bedroom, he could almost smell it in the air.

Something was wrong with her again. He knew something was wrong the second he glanced over at the empty bed; she never rose early, sleeping like a rock until past midday usually. To wake her would be to take the welfare of your eyelids and lips and toss it away, given her tendency to swing a clenched fist or thrust forward a heavy boot.

Humphrey learned that the hard way. On a particular morning, he'd drifted through the door and bent down at the bedside to wake her, patting at her shoulder with a slight boisterous eagerness. Immediately, without opening her eyes, she crunched her nose, curled her lip, and thrusted her knee into his stomach so forcefully that it caused the nobleman to stumble back, his head flying from his shoulders in the process. He didn't try that again in a hurry.

Mornings when the nineteen year old had already risen before the hotel staff was almost as big a concern as afternoons where even Robin shouting right beside her didn't seem to stir her. Today was one of the empty bed mornings, the room seemed bleak and lifeless without her, so to speak.

Humphrey had called out, hoping to hear a response from her, but nothing came. Somewhere in his gut, which was most likely wandering somewhere else in the house, he felt a sharp slice of dread that the girl had been taken away, ascended to the next layer. He often felt selfish for wishing that she'd stay here forever; who else would he talk to? Who else would care about him? Who else would he watch with a sense of pride when Amy set aside her defensive walls and consoled Kitty, or shared a meaningful discussion with Robin, or playfully debated with Pat on which biscuit was the best when dipped in tea.

He tried not to let his mind race with grim possibilities, but part of him always thought too much despite the other half knowing that Amy had mornings like this where she just wanted to be alone for a while; she's nineteen, nineteen year olds are like that... These days. When Humphrey was nineteen, he had already received his training for knighthood, already learned how to ride a horse with heavy armour, already progressed greatly in archery and swordplay, despite the irony of that now.

Times had changed. He knew that. And he held nothing against that.

But his nervousness won the fight with the rational side of his mind. He was fully contemplating rolling himself off of the chair, onto the floor and using his jaw to push himself across the boards like a caterpillar if it meant he'd find her sooner. But his moment of replaying his action plan in his head had been drawn to a close as a familiar friend passed through the door, eyes also set on the bed with a gleaming mischief.

"Oi, Robin, over 'ere!" Humphrey called.

The caveman jumped slightly and averted his eyes to the tub chair where Humphrey's head lie waiting.

"Where Stompy?" He asked, scratching the back of his ear and stepping over to the chair.

"Been thinking that m'self" Humphrey admitted.

Robin reached into the cavern of the tub chair and propped Humphrey's head upright on the cushion, Humphrey flexing his jaw and contorting his cheek which he had been laying on all night.

"I hate mornin's like this. Don't get me wrong, I love Amy to bits, but my God that girl can be a mystery. Drives me batty wondering what's gone on with 'er". Humphrey spoke, concern in his eyes as he blinked, looking past Robin towards the door. Robin nodded.

"She go in on shell and get yappy when anyone talk to her" Robin conceded. Amy's self proclaimed 'bitchy' side would come out with a vengeance in moments like this, the first time Robin bore the brunt of it resulted in him asking Julian for help to translate the vile words Amy had spat. Even the MP looked gobsmacked and wondered where the hell Amy could've heard such language; even in the alcohol soaked cabinet afterparties people never spoke like that.

"Worst part is, it's not always for the same reason. If it was all for the same reason, maybe it'd be easier to 'elp 'er. But you never really know what's goin' on in that brain of 'ers" Humphrey said, rolling his eyes.

Beyond the bedroom walls, hidden underneath the bathroom sink, Amy sat, balled up and unable to move. The searing pain hasn't stopped. Not for hours now. It jolted her out of sleep as she rolled over, the burning and ripping sensation under her arm only worsened as she felt the familiar and sickening trickle of warmth pool beneath her shoulder.

She rushed into the bathroom and stood above the sink, pulling the bottom of her hoodie up about her chest and wriggled her throbbing arm free of it's sleeve. Lifting her arm with a grimace of pain, she looked it over in the mirror only to see what she had expected.

It had ruptured again. The abscess in her reddened and scarred armpit that had swelled up to the size of a ping-pong ball had broken and now leaked clotted blood and vile turbid puss. The pain and the sight combined was enough to make her want to wretch; you never get used to that sight, but you become accustomed to it gradually as your brain washes over with a desensitized haze.

Fruitlessly, forgetting that she was dead for a moment, she made a pitiful attempt to turn on one of the taps to splash cool water over the draining cavity under her arm, but her fingers passed straight through the taps. Groaning and holding her breath, Amy leaned over the sink at an angle where her hoodie would not catch any of the vile dropplets of liquid that fell from her underam. With a clouded and pained mind, she watched as each vile drop disintegrated into dust on it's journey down into the bowl of the sink basin.

Whenever she thought the flooding of puss and blood had stopped, she was surprised by another flowing round of disgust. It never seemed to stop. Every time she slowly lowered her arm thinking it had stopped, more would bubble and ooze from the wound like someone was squeezing a sponge full of liquid soap.

The ghost down in the spa below seemed to be the only ones in the house to understand. On one of these days, where she was embarrassed by herself and feared that the disgusting, horrible smell of blood and puss would work it's way into someone's nostrils, she hid away, by the spa steps and waited for the pain to pass. But anothing ghost peeked their head out from beyond the door.

A gaunt, balding man with a protruding bottom jaw of jagged teeth and a scabby forehead stared at her, not yet deciphering whether she was a living of a ghost. Until she spat.

"What are you looking at?"

He couldn't have gasped and drew his head back through the door any faster. Muffled words and excitement rippled from beyond the door before a multitude of other faces drifted through the wood. Some men, some women, some youthful, some elderly, but all undeniably scarred and covered in boils with mouths full of yellow and cracked teeth.

They all regarded each other with confusion as Amy glanced over at them, wondering whether or not to get up and find a new hiding spot. The first one, the man with crooked teeth, was the first to actually address her worn out and pained appearance.

"You don't look very well. Are you alrigh'?"

Amy groaned, exasperated, and with all the strength she could muster despite her agony, pushed herself up from the step and made her way up the stairs away from the door. A series of pleads and apologies sounded from behind her, causing her to turn her head back towards them.

A larger woman, dressed in Navy blue and and a desaturated olive green stepped forward, both hands heavily blistered and calloused and outstretched towards her.

"Sorry 'bout Mick, 'e's always the first to ask the questions, 'e's just excited".

She seemed to radiate a sense of adoration and sympathy; her warm yet crooked grin and her frizzy black hair beneath her faded pink coif made her feel nothing short of friendly.

"But, in all seriousness, swee'hart, you don't look well...." The woman agreed.

A long while of convincing Amy to join them in the sauna to chillax had passed and a lot of missunderstandings had been settled. Along with that, came Amy's admission to her condition. The group seemed to gasp in delight that finally an upstairs ghost died covered in boils, but soon caught onto the girl's glare and softened their joy, putting on sympathy and understanding.

The gangly one with stringy hair and bad teeth, Mick, seemed to go in on himself and start panicking, wondering and asking everyone if he was to blame for spreading the plague to the girl, only for her to smile it off and reassure him that her condition occurs randomly and sometimes without cause, in her case anyway.

These people didn't seem to even bat an eye at the grotesque sight of the draining wound under Amy's arm when she finally showed them, rather they all leaned in and compared it to healed scars and still-draining boils of their own. In some ways, she could actually relate to them, and she couldn't help but feel a warm sense of security and belonging as one of the other men with shoulder length, greasy, chestnut brown hair that reminded her of someone she knew, nodded over to some of their friends huddled in a corner.

They sat side by side in a line on the blue tiles surrounded by thin clouds of vapour, across their laps, was sprawled a taller man with long grey hair and an equally long beard, who looked scarily similar to a certain Tory upstairs. He just barely managed to lift his head from one of his friend's knees and give a happy wink before dropping his head back down with a pained groan.

"'E's 'aving a bad week with his boils too. Poor guy can't even sit on the tiles without it hurtin'. So we take turns being the 'bed' for each other, if you will" The man said, softly patting Amy's shoulder and smiling.

The hours passed, and Amy almost forgot the pain as her new friends conversed. Maybe she could come here from now on whenever she had a flare-up? They understood. They felt her pain and worse. They made her feel welcome. Understood. She just had to hide it from the others. Especially Humphrey; he worries about her enough.

If her small and gangly figure was enough to keep her hidden beneath bulky hoodies and oversized tops with almost reached her knees, then this was the final coup de grâce on her self esteem. Keep it hidden and no one will know. No one will find out that underneath that hard exterior, all those layers and all that makeup that she was nothing but a diseased, disgusting, puss-leaking, boil covered accident.

[thatdisneyboy]

Hey It's Me Again

6/21/2024

I'm gonna start throwing dates on these since tumblr has gotten less user friendly over the years. Haven't done one of these in a while, but it's time. I wanna try to be short. I'm still struggling. Every time I feel like I'm getting better, I actually think about it and I'm maybe worse off. I just know how to hide things better, even from myself. But if I sit with it for long enough, the pain comes flooding back. I don't have any friends to talk to anymore. The one that I had is so busy trying to essential oils, crystals and will everything to be better that she doesn't even talk to me on the human level anymore. She sends me these videos about those things and I just wanna actually talk. Not use this random video that I don't even give a damn about or believe in any way as a jump off point for me to give my thoughts. And then that's the only communication we have now because when I try to start conversations beyond that, I'm met with nothing. So that's been a huge blow to me. It's especially hard because I just learned that one of my moots over on twitter took his own life recently and he had so many friends around him. So anytime I hear about suicide, it does give me pause because I am not in a good place and people like me are higher risk for completing that if we attempt. So it just makes me nervous because it does go through my head when I see news like that.

My job still sucks, but I'm only doing one more year. It's interesting because I was ready to leave at the end of this year. That was actually my plan. But once I talked to my students, one really changed my mind. All of them wanna see me happy and don't want me to continue dealing with the bs that my job puts me through, but one (who will be a senior this year) shifted my perspective a tad. He was one of the main ones telling me to do what I gotta do and he'll be okay. But I saw how disappointed he was that I wouldn't be there for his senior year. And so that made me realize that if I'm gonna leave, I'm gonna do it the right way. I'm gonna approach the school year like it's my last one with them and really make the most of it. I'll get my seniors through to college, get my junior to a steady point, get my sophomores to their upperclassmen years with strong skills behind them, get my 8th graders into HS and have the rest of my kids in a good place moving forward. So hopefully going into the year with a different mindset will help me disengage from the stupidity from upper leadership at this company that I will inevitably have to navigate. So yeah, it's been bad, but I feel at peace. Also because I know I will be reporting them soon and I might bring up a lawsuit. Idk.

Finally, I told Preston that I have a crush on him a few weeks ago. It didn't go bad but it didn't go good either. I would've loved to have had him share similar feelings. He doesn't. Or he didn't really say much other than thank you and that he didn't know. But I kinda just let him know that I had no expectations and he could do whatever he wanted with the information. I'm probably gonna end up alone though. So that does make me sad. But I've been prepared. Kinda felt like there was no one out here for me back in high school. Just never worked out with any of the folks that I liked.

Anyway, that's all. Short little post today. I'm sad. I'm struggling big time. But I'm steel here (s/o to Tisha Campbell). And I'm trying. It's rough, but I'm working on things.

[afklancelot]

For the ask game, all of them!

damn anon you're really putting me out there

well alright then :)

orchid- video game music counts, right? anyways Fanged Fastener from paper mario origami king is perfect. to me.

cactus- currently i'm learning about what would make a good gaming laptop, if that counts. i actually was trying to get into python coding a few months ago, but that's postponed until i get motivation to go back.

bamboo- usually when i get home i change into loungewear: a t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts.

abelia- i don't take to wearing jewelry unless you count my earrings, which i think came from Claires actually??? anyways, i don't really take them off because i never really felt like it.

daffodil- i got one older sister. it would take too long to list how many differences i have from them, so i'll note one similarity: we both wear glasses.

mahonia- strangely enough, impending exam deadlines. turns out trying to study for a big test is great motivation for writing creative pieces. yes i know this is procrastination.

chia- i've got quite a few inside jokes with my splatoon buddies that barely make sense in context, but here's one with a separate online friend of mine: whenever we say our goodbyes we end out messages with an emoji rat. one time i even stopped myself from going to bed because i forgot to give her my goodbye rat.

sage- probably music is the most touching. i was in band from middle school to second year of high school, including marching band in hs, so that might be why i have a greater appreciation for music in comparison to other arts.

edelweiss- ok so back when lostbelt 6 released in japan, they used fairy knight for the fae servants before their true names were revealed. having 'afklancelot' can mean three things: either "a fairy knight lancelot", "away fron keyboard lancelot", or "a fucking knight lancelot." prolly the most creative effort i had in coming up with a url. as for why lancelot, well she's my favorite out of the cast in lb6, and her scribbly face is so goofy so

camellia- i was apparently really antisocial when i was young, even as a baby. my mom once told me that i was fairly content to be by myself on the mattress and would actually start crying if i were picked up. i'm still pretty antisocial irl, but online i can actually be pretty bold in saying what i feel like, rarely with filter.

jasmine- i really liked The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, it was one of the few horror books that really captured my focus. will not be rereading though because 1) i don't have the physical copy and i have a habit of not rereading ebooks after the first full read and 2) the ending was fitting but made me a bit depressed, i felt really bad for the main character and her helplessness.

ivy- usually when someone talks to me and i answer in short terse answers it means i want to stop talking to them (tho sometimes it's because i don't have much to say). when i answer with stumbled words and a fast way of speaking, it's usually because im trying really hard to piece together what i want to say. same goes for messaging online: i tend to reply quickly to online conversations without much thinking since im excited to be included in discussions. usually when im feeling angry, annoyed, or upset, i tend to sigh dramatically.

chamomile- stuffed animals. preferably those with rounded body types, as they usually feel floofy and are comfy to lie down on/hug.

aloe vera- it's tied between 'flipping an egg on a frying pan' and 'climbing a tree'. idk this is a hard one.

palm tree- lutherrrrr from The Familiar :3 he's such an asshole who does asshole things throughout the story but he's so entertaining with surprising depth if you pay attention. one of the few characters where i'm torn between "i want to see him get a redemption arc and live on to change for the better" and "i want to see this man actively get worse and die from his hubris". so yeah.

nutmeg- aside from my bed, which has fish-themed bedding and has a lot of stuffed animals piled on top, my room's actually pretty neat from most clutter. i usually hang out in a separate room, which is neat in most places, but the only way i can describe the couch i mostly reside on is "messy as fuck".

papyrus- ive recently been listening to a few lord huron songs lately. in particular, Vide Noir and Long Lost ive been listening to on repeat, the former moreso.

taro- well, it depends on the person. if they're not into video games at much/at all, i usually just say general stuff on how i'm doing, maybe talk about books if they're also interested in reading. if they ARE into video games, i may tell them about the various games ive been playing, maybe including the antics ive been gettin into.

[frankenfaandom]

I WANNA REQUEST MORE IF UR WILLING! Could you do like, prom Mary Goore x gender neutral reader?

Prom Mary Goore? Fuck yes.

Mary Goore x gn!reader

Sorry this took so long, I wrote most of it during the hurricane and then forgot to finish it until this morning. Also, as most of my mary fics go, yall aren't exactly together-together? More of implied and not confirmed. Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Desc: mary/reader are seniors in HS, both 18/19.

You and Mary were total opposites. You showed up to class, did the minimum work to get an alright grade--you liked school dances, as stupid as it was.

But Mary? No, Mary was at school perhaps once a week if he could get away with it. Eventually, he couldn't get away, and he got expelled. So, there goes your lunch buddy. Hello, bathroom sandwich.

You hadn't exactly been dating at the time. But April came around, and it was prom season. It was all over Instagram, prom-posals and dress shopping on stories. Adds popped up relentlessly on David's Bridal and Windsor. It was a brutal season for you cause, A) you had no one to go with, and B) the only one you wanted to go with had zero interest in school dances. Mary Goore.

One day he'd picked you up after school and you did homework at his house, every two minutes you'd sigh dramatically and wait for him to ask "shut the fuck up or tell me what's wrong."

And that he did!

"Dude, if you don't-"

"I'm sad!" He scans your face for sarcasm, but none is found, just pouty lips and puppy dog eyes.

"...Should I even ask why?" He retorts, slouching back in his recliner. The thing was old, and there were too many springs and things popping out of it. It wasnt a suprise when you found out he'd stolen it from the side of the road in the middle of a thunderstorm.

"Yes. You should. And then you can help me on not being sad." You say matter-of-factly, biting the clicker on your pen. You eye him, waiting.

"Okay. Fine. Why are you sad?" You pounce quickly, forgetting your homework as you sit down on the armrest of his seat.

"Have you ever heard of this little thing.. it's very lowkey, kind of underground..."

"I am not going to a school dance with you." He glares up at you, but your pouty face makes his expression soften.

"Pleaaasseeeeeeee..." You wrap your arms around his head, pulling him into your chest. "I want to experience it. I only get one prom, and everyone says it's awesome--so, obviously it's gonna be a shit show." Mary grimaces at your words. "And you know how much I love to invite you to shit shows." You grin.

"Oh yeah, like your AP art show--OW-" He winces as you slap his arm, hard.

"Fuck off with that. This is all I ask. I'll never ask for anything ever again. Ever!"

"Doll, we both know that's a big fat fuckin lie." He rolls his eyes, but brings his arms up to half-ass hug you. "But fine. You owe me... like, wear something skimpy underneath."

"Dirty dirty, Mary Goore." You giggle, kissing the top of his head messily. "Thankyou thank you thank you!" You know he's joking about the skimpybunderwear, but you're already mentally going through which panties to wear. Will you even wear a bra? Probably unnecessary-

Mary brings you out of your excited thoughts with a pinch to your thigh. "You're thinking too hard. You'll get wrinkles." He rubs the crinkle between your eyebrows, stifling a laugh.

"Hey, don't make fun of me. Those are hereditary." You grin.

A couple weeks pass, and, yeah. Yeah, prom's tonight.

"I feel fucking stupid." And he looks fucking stupid with that sexy devil's lock and the suit you'd picked out. You try not to laugh, giving him what you think to be a reassuing smile.

"You look fine. Weird, cause, duh. But I think you look handsome as fuck." You walk closer, fixing his.. absolutely terribly knotted tie. You'd be surprised at how many knots he tied before realizing it was all wrong. Like, 5 too many.

"You're talking out of your ass." He snorts, scowling toward the mirror. "Seriously though, this feels ridiculous. Feels like I'm trying to be someone I'm not, you know? I thought we were done with that." He gets serious for a moment, and you frown.

"...Then let's fuck it up." It was a cheap suit from some Catholic thrift shop down the street named "Holy Trinity" or something, so, Mary was more than pleased to tear the thing up. You can see it in his eyes.

"You mean it?" He grins, almost like a kid who was promised another bowl of icecream. You nod, of course you mean it.

"Fuck it up, Mare. Here, let me help you." You grab the sleeve, ripping it clean off. A gasp leaves your mouth, accompanied by a wide smile. Damn, didn't expect that to work so well.

Mary grins, making a little excited sound before grabbing the other sleeve and attempting to take it clean off like you did--failing miserably. He doesn't let it defeat him though, and he tries a second time, succeeding.

"I got an idea." You run to his room. You basically live at his house, so you know every nook and cranny in his closet. Finding what you wanted, you bring it back out to him excitedly.

"We can mix and match. Put those sexy skinny Jean's back on and I think we can make this work." Another hour of getting dressed, and you're both wearing completely different outfits.

Mary walked out of the house with a deep red button up, a black tie with Jason's mask on it, those sexy skinny jeans and some nice loafers. On top, he added his special sleeveless jacket. Yeah, that didn't add to it much, but he insisted, and he was hot regardless of being fashionable or not.

Soon you arrived, parked, and walked inside... a little late, but no matter. It was.. fucking lame, that's what it was. There were friend groups dancing together, girls grinding on guys and vice versa. It felt like middle school all over again, you grimaced ten minutes in when the two of you sat at a table stuffing your faces.

"The food isn't even that good." You whisper yell over the terrible taste in music. The DJ will play justin bieber every once in a while, like, 2012 JB which is acceptable. But by the time he plays Havana thrice? You're pulling Mary out the back door to the karaoke room.

Some girl is singing her heart out on stage while her friends are basically whispering into the microphones, but blonde chick in the middle's having the time of her life. You wait, watch until it's too cringy to bare, and then Mary pulls you back inside.

You feel terrible for dragging Mary with you... and spending like 50 bucks on his ticket. He looks almost miserable, awkwardly standing around because he absolutely doesnt belong. But neither do you, so, you tug at your sleeves before going up to apologize.

But Mary stops you, grabbing your hands. "Hey, the music's lame, the food's kinda shit. But let's dance. You're only 18 and a senior once. You said it yourself," He's shouting over the music, grinning ear to ear. "let's just say fuck it and fuck it!"

You couldn't have said it better yourself. "Fuck it!" You race him to the dance floor, grabbing him and flinging each other around. You hit quite a few fellow dancers as you jam, but nothing quite matters like Mary's smile. He's enjoying himself at a place he swore he'd never be, surrounded by people and teachers he swore he'd never see again.

The hours flew by faster than you thought, and soon you were among the last crowd of Prom-goers. The DJ relays a message on the intercom, letting everyone know that the last dance will start shortly and then everyone needs to go home. Happily, Mary takes your hand as half the people leave the dance floor to go find their respective dance partners.

He bows as the music stops momentarily. "Will you do me the honor and have this dance with me, doll?"

"Oh, but of course." You do a little curtsey before he kisses the back of your hand. "You flatter me, Mr. Goore.."

He drags you closer, wrapping his arms around your torso. "You look wonderful tonight. Like everynight." He compliments into your ear as you wrap your arms around his neck. You could feel your face turn a million shades of red.

"So do you, Mare. Silly, but quite adorable." You say, quietly as the music. Was this happening? Slow dancing with Mary at prom, this was real? It feels like a dream you'd wake up from in the morning and immediately laugh at how absurd it was.

But it isn't a dream.

"Thanks for forcing me out." He says after a long moment of swaying, heartbeat impossibly fast. "This place is lame, but you made it so much better." Your cheeks flush again at how close he is to your face, his lips in your ear and his cheek pressed to yours softly.

You pull away, heart beating. Mary looks down at you curiously, wondering what you're doing--and that's when you kiss him.

He kind of stiffens, before his arms tighten around your waist and he pulls you closer. It's a soft kiss, softer for one Mary Goore. He pulls away shortly, opening his eyes again.

"Did you-?"

"I did-"

"Well-" You both say in unison, before you both burst out in a fit of giggles and laughter.

"I.. meant it." You say quickly, hoping to get the first word in. "I like you. I like your lips, your smile. Your eyes. I like your "fuck it" attitude. Your voice, oh my~" You dramatically swoon in his arms.

Mary pinches your back, stopping you with a flustered grin. "Okay, okay, I get it, I get it."

"I like you, Mary Goore. Can I kiss you again?" Mary unmistakably turns pink again, pupils visibly widened.

"I would like that." He nods, but he's the one connecting your lips again. The kiss is sweet, longer than the last, but still somehow... chaste and gentle.

"I like your lips, too." Mary starts, bringing a hand to your cheek. "I like your smile. I like the way you laugh at the stupid things I say. I love that you brought me here--" He caresses your cheek. "--I love... everything about you. Now, can we get out of here?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

[ambermondy]

Title: Doki Doki Connection

Pairing: Male!Monika x Fem!Reader

Wc: 1170

Art by: MisterZei

Doki Doki Connection Masterlist: 🖋

Main Masterlist: 🍫

Chapter 4

You were uttery confused. If your memory serves you right, Monika—or in this case, Moniko—followed the script until the day of the festival where he's supposed to make a joke, which you did not appreciate, about Satori's death.

"Come sit down, Y/N! We made room for you at the table, so you can sit next to me or Moniko," said Satori with a huge smile on hs face. "I'll get the cupcakes," Satori stated in a sing-song voice.

Naruki quickly stood up from his chair. "Hey! I made them, I'll get them!" He ran to the corner of the room.

Satori laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, I got a little too excited."

Yuri then decided to spoke up. "Then, how about I make some tea as well?" He stood up and walked towards the closet.

I smiled as I watched the three. It feels so different seeing them performing the actions other than reading it from MC's perspective, and just seeing their sprites different emotions, and actions inside a screen.

You turned your head to both Satori and Moniko. Unlike what the original protagonist did, you decided to take the seat next to Moniko.

"It's surprising that you took the seat next to me," he suddenly spoke up.

You quickly turned to him. "H-huh?" You were taken aback by his statement.

He chuckled and leaned closer to you. "I said, it's surprising that you chose me."

You faked a cough and regained your composure. "I didn't know that the club president likes to flirt."

He chuckled and leaned back to his chair. "I'm not flirting," he gave you a smile. "I'm only taking back what's mine." He winked.

Your eyes widened. "What-"

"Okaaay, are you ready?" Naruki cuts your statement off while holding a tray in hand. "Ta-daa!" He cheered.

"Woah!" Satori cheered.

Naruki lifts the foil off the tray to reveal a dozen of blue, fluffy cupcakes decorated to look like little cats. The whiskers are drawn with icing, and little pieces of chocolate were used to make ears.

"So cute!" Satori reached out to get his own cupcakes.

You raised your hand and reached out to Moniko, wanting to ask more about his statement but he quickly stood up, too fast for your own taste, and stated a familiar line from the script.

"I had no idea you were so good at baking, Naruki!" He commented.

He let out a proud laugh. "Well, you know." He motioned to the cupcakes. "Just hurry and take one!"

Satori grabs one first, then Moniko followed.

"It's delicious!" A huge smile is plastered across Satori's face as he took a huge bite off his cupcake.

You stared at Moniko as his eyes lightened up when he took the first bite of his treat. You guessed that he probably knew how it tastes like the back of his hand—considering how the game loops over and over again.

"Hey." You turned your head to Naruki who has his arms crossed out, a frown visible on his lips.

"Hmm?"

"Aren't you going to eat? Don't tell me that I baked all of this for nothing?" He pointed out.

"Oh, right!" You let out a nervous chuckle. "Sorry, something's been bugging my mind since this morning. I'd love to try your cupcakes, Naruki."

He grabbed one cupcake from the tray and handed it to you. "Then go and eat it!"

You mentally rolled your eyes. "Geez, okay." Not wanting to start an early fight with the tsundere, you reached out to take one cupcake and took a bite.

And oh, gods, your mind ran out of words to describe how delicious is it. The way the game's mc describe it can't even do justice on how amazing this cupcake taste!

"I'm not gonna lie, Naruki. This is probably the best desert I've ever tasted in my entire life!" You complimented. "Thank you!"

His cheeks turned red but a proud smile is visible on his face. "W-Why are you thanking me? It's not like I-"

"Made it for me or anything?" you cut off his famous tsundere line. "Yeah, I know!" You chuckled. "It's not like you can predict who's Satori's going to bring, right?"

Naruki's face turned a darker shade of red. "I-I-" he fumbled with his words. "I'm gonna go check on Satori! Hmp!" He pouted and turned away.

You heard a snort next to you and saw Moniko looking at you with pure enthusiasm in his eyes.

"Really?" He mouthed.

You shrugged. "What? I'm only telling the truth."

"Not actually the best thing you can say," he commented.

"But still... it was a good one." You winked.

He chuckled again and pinched your nose. "Uh-huh, but you have got to say, Naruki's cupcakes are amazing."

"Yeah! He probably should join a baking show or something."

"Competition, not show," he corrected.

You rolled your eyes. "Nah, same thing."

He flicked his finger on your forehead. "They're not."

"Hey!" You caressed your forehead that was assaulted by Moniko. "I'm going to report this to the principal, you meanie!"

He laughed hard, his hand holding his stomach. You pouted at the sight of him not taking your threat into consideration.

Suddenly, a thought in your head reminded you of something. "Hey, you're still not spared of your words earlier!"

He stopped laughing, wiping a fake tear on his eyes but his huge grin is still there. "H-huh?"

"The whole-" you copied his voice. "'I'm only taking back what's mine.' thing!" you changed back to your voice and held out a finger.

"First, that was really clichè, no kidding. I practically almost always read that line from every romance novels! If you want to win my heart, then do something original! Second, what's up with that line? There's really something going on with you..." you deducted.

You don't know why, but talking to Moniko felt so normal and comfortable that you just have the urge to open your mouth and say something. It felt so normal to the point that it became a familiar feeling the moment the two of you teased one another.

And looking from an outsider perspective... It's pretty unnerving.

Something just doesn't seemed to add up right... and it scared you.

Moniko gave you a sweet smile. "Original? You want original?" He then leaned down and whispered to your ear.

"Surely hanging out with Sayori really is original, don't you think?"

Your body ran cold at his sentence.

Sayori...

He said Sayori, not Satori!

Your face went pale as the both of you stared at each other, his emerald green eyes held different kind of emotions to the point that you were unable to figure out which is which.

"Y-you-" you were unable to finish you sentence when he turned around to face the rest of the club members.

"Alright, everyone! I have an idea for our club activity!" He then turned to you and winked. "But first, let's get to know our new member more."

You are so doomed.

- - -

A/N: Okay... I honestly don't know if I'm doing this right but I would like to thank everyone who keeps reading this story! If you have any concerns, opinions, or request, feel free to send a message!

Things might seemed be confusing but it'll all make sense as every chapters proceed, I've honestly already planned it out. And if you ever guessed what the plot is, then great! It's not like I'm really trying to hide this or something... Ahahaha. I honestly just wrote this story out of craving for more DDLC Boys content.

[lovecolibri]

I'm so disappointed and confused as to why we didn't get Belmanes

This has been sitting here since my rantings two weeks ago about missing season 2 Gregory, and Belmanes because I'm awful about answering these sometimes 😬 Now admittedly, we did get some really good Kybel content and I'm absolutely not opposed to that ship, and it's probably easier to tie the pod squad to main characters so they don't end up having to add MORE main characters when they already clearly can't handle as many as they have now. So logically, it wouldn't make sense to put Isobel with her 13 episodes with a love interest who gets maybe 5 or 6 episodes. They'd have to upgrade him to a main character and Tanner is on another show as well so I can see why it wouldn't be feasible.

BUT

The storyline is just so perfect?! LIke, Max and Michael got love stories spanning a decade and I think Isobel deserves something just as epic and earth shaking and cosmic, especially after all she has suffered. And I think it would have been interesting to have had her and Gregory having a bit of a spark in HS but Noah blocked her connection to him. Which in turn would have been a perfect way to introduce discussions of how the aliens connect to their soulmates since we are going deep into the alien science and tethering this season anyway. And you have Gregory who, like Alex, grew up in a toxic, abusive environment and worked hard to remain soft, and kind and gentle, and this shows in him working with young children, and how good he is with them. I am....whooo boy, very upset that we lost that characterization for him this season because that's part of what made us all fall in love with him in just a few episodes! And the tie between him being a teacher on the reservation and Isobel wanting to teach self-defense classes to young girls could not be any more perfect! But we also see from their interaction in season 2 that he was enchanted with her sense of humor and how she broke the rules back in HS, enough to remember it a decade later. And I think that strong connection could have spooked Isobel a bit so we could have drawn it out and still had her date some women and explore what it means to be Isobel free from Noah's influence, but built up a friendship and had a really good friends-to-lovers arc for them.

Like I said, I get why they might want to put Isobel with a character who has more episodes per season and a contract as more than a guest star and working around Tanner's availability, and Isobel and Kyle are absolutely adorable together and I won't be mad about that happening instead, but I think there could have been a really adorable story with Belmanes on both sides and then maybe we could have gotten more of Greg and Alex interacting, and Michael trying to give Greg and shovel talk and getting one right back, and FINALLY getting some Isobel and Alex Bitchy Ice Queen Besties content. But I could have withstood losing out on Belmanes for Kybel, but I can't handle losing Soft Teacher Gregory to Street Racer Greg who doesn't even remember he has a brother he said he wished he'd stood up for more, much less any desire in interacting with him, or the love of Alex's life that Greg killed his own father to save and protect, all because they wanted to pair him with someone who called his adorable class of children "sticky". And I'm still seething that we got Kyle, Greg, and Michael all in a scene together and not ONE mention of Alex, the person that connects them. So as unfortunate as it is, and as much as it saddens my poor Belmanes heart, I'd be okay never seeing Greg again after this season.

[my-strange-attraction]

hi~~

I've seen you give advice to other anons and you seem like you really know what you're talking about so I hope you don't mind me asking for some advice.

ATM I identity as aroace. I've never had a proper crush despite already being a hs junior and I really thought I never could but I might have found an exception and now I'm very confused. I have for sure realized that I am ace so it's just the aro part of my identity I'm struggling with. There's his guy in school and we are friends but I think I might have feelings for him, I'm just not sure what feelings they are. We talk a lot and we're pretty close considering how little time it's been since we've been friends. I'm just not sure if I actually have a crush or if I'm just fixating on him because I don't have a lot of guy friends. I'm Desi, and it's been pretty hard to feel "desirable" as a girl living in America so I'm worried I might just be craving male validation. I had some issues with my gender identity a few months ago for a similar reason, not feeling connected to the western image of femininity, so I'm worried this might be caused by a similar sentiment

Hi anon! Ok so these are some really good questions (questions? ponderings? idk) and it reminds me a lot of some stuff I went through in high school in regards to sexual/ romantic identity and also some stuff I've gone through more recently in regards to my gender identity. Now, I know this advice is going to sound so basic but it's really helped me out in the long run and I think it's probably what you need to hear too: In the end, it doesn't matter where your feelings are coming from--they're still your feelings, and you should follow them and do what makes you happy regardless.

Let me expand a bit on that. I can see you're doing a lot of questioning of yourself and your motivations, and questioning of what you're feeling. I know it goes against everything you've heard here on The Hellsite™ but I need for you not to analyze yourself and try to parse out where your feelings are coming from. Ask yourself: does it really matter why you don't feel connected to your agab? Will knowing it's because you're Desi change the way you feel? Will it change the fact that your self perception of your gender doesn't line up with the western image of femininity? Probably not, so what's the point on analyzing it?

Now I know that was just an example of something in the past, so let's apply it to this current situation. Feelings for people are a bit more tricky than feelings about yourself, so it's not an exact method (and I have some more to add to this advice after this) but consider your feelings for this friend. If you enjoy hanging out with him and you're close with him and you know you feel some sort of feelings for him, how much will it help to analyze where these feelings are coming from? If he makes you happy to hang out with him and gives you some sort of warm fuzzy feelings, does it really matter if you're just fixating on him because he's a guy? They're still your feelings, whether they come from a place of liking him as a person or if they're helped out by the fact that he's a guy and you don't have many guy friends.

Now, just because we've established the validity of your feelings doesn't mean you have to do anything about them. There's this idea that society has ingrained in us that if you have a feeling about someone you need to follow that, and that's just not true. Sometimes the timing is right, or sometimes you know it wouldn't actually work out no matter what your feelings are trying to tell you, or a billion other scenarios that I won't type out because this is, of course, getting long because I'm me.

No matter what, it seems like you guys have a solid friendship, and you having some sort of feelings doesn't have to change that. If you want it to change, then that's great, and he seems like someone you can trust not to hurt you from what you've told me, but if you still think you've got some work to do on yourself, in figuring out who you are, in getting more comfortable with your identities, or getting more comfortable with not fully knowing or understanding your identities, then that's cool too.

The advice I've given you today isn't a one size fits all and I'm not super experienced in this stuff myself, but what I do know is that nothing in high school sticks past graduation. I had a similar situation to you where I thought I had a crush on a guy because he was my first guy friend ever and it went on for a while. Nothing ever became of it because we weren't that close but thinking back on it, even if I had dated him and then realized I was very, very aroace, I'd still be in the same place I am now. High school (and college for that matter, seriously why am I acting like I'm so much older, I'm literally still a sophomore in college) is a very exploratory period in your life and if you spend all that time constantly questioning your own motivations I think you're taking it too seriously. Have fun, make mistakes, figure yourself out somewhere along the way. Better to do it all now than when it actually matters, right?

I hope this helped and wasn't too long, anon. You can definitely always come to me for advice and I'll do my best to help out from my own experiences. Also anyone who has some additional advice, you know you're always welcome to add on!

[jayflrt]

yeah!!! my hs is like... one of the best advanced programs in the nation, i'm pretty sure? like we partner with 4 community colleges and you can graduate with associates if you get enough credits (i'll be like 12 short)

i woke up at 6 am since elementary school-10th grade but now??? gl getting me up before noon consistently LMAO

xiao my king <333 i saved for him for 5 months when i was f2p. i spend money now but... yeah... he also has like.. 160-180 er i think? like he can fully ult bot and live on his own w/o a battery, just needs a healer or the nre. i want to min max and get rid of his elemental mastery rolls on his artifacts and get him above 200 crit dmg SO bad

omg that's so fun. i started writing (fanfic, at least, i wanted to be an author when i was eight and wrote really bad original works) on quotev and i used to roleplay 🗿🗿🗿make harry potter and pjo ocs in ~exclusive~ groups you had to pass a test to get in.

that sounds so fun!!!! i wanted to make like... a discord of my moots but then i remembered only like... 3 of them know each other and i'm too introverted to link a bunch of people together HELP

taeyong fr has such a DROUGHT on this site like. where is my boy?? where is he?? can anyone find my boy and write fics for him (other than brooke (shout out to her for carrying tyongf on her back))???

i'm excited for taeil's too!! "there's a son of apollo named after the moon" where reader is a child of hecate and you exhaust yourself using the mist and he heals you and you slowly fall for him <3

there r two child of hermes (mark and hyuck 4lyfers), child of thanatos, etc. and i'm trying to make it so the reader is related to one of the members in each fic, so every y/n is like a different person that could stand on their own and interact !!!

like in taeyong's (i fall for a man who talks to plants), you're a child of ares and doyoung is your brother, and he has a crush on a child of aphrodite (who will be y/n in doie's fic)

i think the most my long fics get is like.. 100? maybe 200 if i'm lucky HELPPPP

but i enjoy writing them so. sorry to my following u're getting long fics anyways <3

omg that’s so cool !! i’m sure that’s rlly useful for when you start college too 🤧 mine was partnered with the community college in our area but i only took like 3-4 classes, though i do have friends that got their associate degrees during their senior year !! :’) i believe it was 60 credits for an associate (18 credits of major classes i think)

i don’t even remember when i woke up during elementary 😵‍💫 i don’t think i even woke up on my own until high school tho bc i didn’t have a smart phone until then and i used to be such a heavy sleeper LOL i lowkey still am but i think i’m just considerably easier to wake up than my roommate 🥲🥲

HAHAH i was f2p until childe’s banner and then i whaled a little for him 🤧 and ofc getting welkin but i don’t rlly consider that whaling. omg yeah i usually keep xiao in a second team with jean :’)) but i wanna build yanfei ganyu zhongli and keqing better before i focus on him 💗💗

PASS A TEST HAHAHH is it like facts from the books or something 😭😭 i don’t remember how old i was when i started writing but i kept my writing to myself for a long time and then started posting on wattpad when i was like 11 ?? and then i went through fandom phases LOLL

HAHAHA you still should !! tbh i don’t think everyone in my friend group knew each other well when it was first made :o i was in a group with cat, nikki, and ace initially and then we expanded by adding ppl we talked with often in our server LOL but i still knew of them bc some of them were/are pretty big on wattpad :o

AHH RIGHT 🤧🤧 brooke does write so many of the taeyong fics :oo it’s hard to find sfw taeyong ☹️ tho my friend manx wrote a taeyong fic called sic semper tyrannis a while ago which is soooo good 🤩 probably one of the best taeyong fics i’ve read !! 💗💗 and then “flowers in your hair” by @/solarune was also so cute !! 🌸

AHHH TAEIL ANOTHER MEMBER I BARELY SEE FICS FOR ☹️💗 but that’s so cute !! son of apollo definitely suits him <33 and i get what you mean !! i did smthn similar for my nct series — mc for jaemin’s installment was jaehyun’s younger sister, and that was alluded to in other installments as well + many of the members appear in each other’s fics (ex. mark being in jaehyun and johnny’s installments as well as getting his own) 🤧

100 notes is still so much !! just thinking ab it like :oo that’s 100 individuals leaving their love on your fic 🥰 it’s crazy to think about tbh 😵‍💫

[ashren]

1, 8, and 18 for Ren! And 16 for Charlie :-) 💌 @the-lastcall

Ren:

1.Who makes up your family?  How close are you to them?

Family has always been a hard thing for me to nail down. I wasn’t close with my actual family on Earth. I made my own family and for a while that was great, but then that fell apart too... Now I try not to get too attached. That being said, I can’t help but think of the crew as my family now. I would do anything for them and even though we’ve all gone our separate ways... well, I still visit everyone as often as I can. It’s the closest I’ve had to a family in a long time.

8. What do you think had the biggest impact on you growing up?

Ooooh, trying to unlock some backstory, I see... Well, buckle up. I grew up in a wealthy family (think like, Byzantium wealthy), and blah blah boring rich kid problems, no one cares, but when I got to HS they finally let me go to public school. A kid in my class’s dad worked for my dad, and the kid ended up having to leave school to work when his dad got injured on the job and they couldn’t afford medical care and he couldn’t work. I asked my parents about it and they said something about ‘human capital’ and told me not to think about it. That never sat right with me, and from then on out I became a ‘rebel’ in their eyes (which got me sent to the farm for the summers, so a win, tbh) I became pretty anti-corporation for a while, and that kind of lead my life for a long time. ‘So how did you end up on the ship to Halcyon if you’re so anti-corporation?’ Look, I was grieving at the time and I thought maybe I could make some real change from the inside. Which... I guess I kinda did? And you definitely can't accuse me of being pro-corporation now ;)

18. What’s the best way to cheer you up?

If we're not that close? Leave me alone. I'll cheer up, eventually. If you're someone I'm actually friends with... Well, I'll never be opposed to sharing a drink and watching some cheesy serial. These things are seriously worse than the soaps back home, and they never fail to make me laugh. If you ever wanted to go above and beyond and be my favorite person ever, take me to a woolly cow farm. I love those cows so much 💕

Charlie:

16. Describe your perfect day.

Oh gosh, my perfect day huh? Once upon a time it probably would have been just staying inside with my cat and playing video games all day. But that was back home, and you probably mean in Halcyon.... In Halcyon... hmm well, I've grown pretty fond of the Groundbreaker. I think it would be just exploring the ship with Felix. He and I He know all the secret places and now I can sneak us into some of the places he could never get into... Then finishing the day off with the crew at the Lost Hope. Everyone on the Unreliable has been so nice to me, so just spending time with them in general is, well, perfect.

Thanks for the questions @the-lastcall 💕

- love Me, Ren, and Charlie 😘

[flamingo-writes]

Hey I'm the "in the dark kiss + Zoro (+ low-key muscle kink)" anon and I've just realized that in the post the in the dark kiss is in the cinema or somewhere public??? So idk if you're writing it exactly like the post says or on your own but I would prefer it to be in a more private place hihi thanks ♡

For whatever reason I didn’t get your first ask? but I’m very glad you sent this one, other wise I would’ve never known about this!! Here you go! I had fun writing this, I also mixed first kiss and heated kiss into this because that’s what popped in my head. I hope you like it! 

Words: 817

Warnings: none

The night had arrived too quickly for your taste. And once you realized the sun had gone down, you looked surprised through the window of the crow’s nest. Zoro noticed your sudden state of alert and gazed at you as you poked your head outside and the night breeze ran through the room.

“What is it?” Zoro asked putting down the wights he was holding and catching his breath.

“When did this happen? The sun was just out not so long ago...wasn’t it?”

“We’ve been training for hours, [Name]” Zoro chuckled.

“That seems to be the case…” You whispered looking back inside the crow’s nest and becoming aware of how dark it was. “We should probably call it for the day, huh?”

“As you wish, darling…”

Darling. You always felt very lucky whenever Zoro called you that. It usually happened when it was just the two of you. Why? You always wished that Zoro felt back for you what you felt for him. And at the same time, you felt foolish because of it. He was your best friend, why would you even think of him that way?

He was quiet, mysterious, and his generally tough attitude toward everyone indiscriminately. Adding that scary looking glare and his toned body. It was hard for you not to think of him in other ways. Specially because when it was just the two of you he was gentle and laid back. He often cracked a laugh at your bad jokes. He was comfortable around you, that was for sure. You were his best friend, after all.

Knowing that, it made you feel guilty. How many times had you’d gone to sleep thinking of him? How many times didn’t you wake up after having a wet dream of him? His low voice, the grunts he made while training, and the fact that he loved training shirtless. It all was an assault to your sanity.

But the crow’s nest was dark at the moment. Which would make it hard for you to notice every detail his beautiful body had to offer.

Noticing the direction in which your thoughts were drifting, you sighed deeply and st on the floor, running your hands through your face.

“Are you that tired?” Zoro chuckled walking closer to you and sitting next to you. His bare shoulder bumping next to yours.

“Yeah…” You lied, trying to sound as tired as possible.

Zoro wrapped his strong arm around your shoulders bringing you closer to him. Your heart going wild, as you tried to contain your thoughts.

“You did well today” He purred running his hand through your sweaty hair.

“Thanks” You answered dryly as his hand your scalp seemed to be unleashing all sorts of shameful images in your mind. “Zoro…”

“Hmm?”

“Hypothetically speaking…” You began nervously. “What would you do if I—” Zoro’s hand went from playing with your hair to your mouth. You glared at him as he looked at you.

“Hypothetically?” He asked, moving his hand away from your mouth as he leaned closer, still with his arm around your shoulders, he held you tightly until his nose brushed yours. You gasped in surprise as your heart seemed to get erratic inside your chest. Zoro stuttered nervously for a bit before finally leaning down, pressing his lips against yours.

Lost in the moment for a while, you remained motionless, trying to figure out what to do next. And after you finally kissed him back, hs arm tightened around you as one of your hands went up his shoulder and his neck, deliciously travelling up his toned muscles until you grabbed his hair and pulled him closer to you.

You kissed silently for a while, losing yourselves in the process. Gentle shy kisses progressively growing into a more heated make out session in which your hands travelled around his body, feeling every muscle within your reach. Zoro on the other hand pushed you gently to the floor, lying on top of you, one of his hands holding you hair tightly in his grip, as the other massaged one of your legs wrapped around his waist.

Realizing how the two of you were slowly losing control of your actions, Zoro broke the kiss, panting, as he tried to figure out what had just happened. Hoping that thing wouldn’t get uncomfortable between the two of you. You open your eyes, noticing how the crow’s nest was even darker than before, and the only light seemed to come from the stars since it was a new moon night, and the only thing you could see was Zoro’s silhouette between your legs.

You felt yourself blush wildly, and thanked our luck for being in such a dark place.

“So…” You began. “Hypothetically speaking…” You sighed breathless.

Zoro chuckled gently and with his one of his hands, he gently held your chin and pressed his lips against yours once again.

[houseswolo]

Day 17 - 'Tis The Season To Be Thirsting

"Oh come all ye Forceful..."

The last of our Thirsties to be showcased:

Wilson

(Tumblr: @wilsonthinks66​ | Twitter: Wilsonthinks66 | Ao3: Wilson66)

What got you into Star Wars?

When a certain Adam Driver revealed his beautiful face in The Force Awakens 😍 helloo handsome

What made you a Reylo? Lightbulb moment!

"You're not alone." "Neither are you."

I think I told Luke to piss off and let them kiss!

Why do you write / make art?

Because why not?! I write when I have that little niggling idea that just won't go away.

The Object of your Thirst…

Oh so many but if we're sticking to the Star Wars it's got to be the beautiful Adam Driver and my favourite ginger Domhnall Gleeson

Which Adam look do you like the best?

Unwrapped and bare chested 🤤😍

Which Adam avatar/ role do you like the best?

Flip Zimmerman, I think my stomach literally flipped (pun intended 😏) when Adam wheeled around on that chair 💦💦

Which part of Adam do you like the best? 

A part? How can you only pick one part.

Favorite Star Wars Movie

Probably The Force Awakens, it was the film that made me watch the others in preparation, although Rogue one is a close second.

What do you like to write / draw / paint the most?

Don't judge me but I love writing angst obviously with a well earned happy ending. This is what I want to write as I've made a promise to myself to focus on what I enjoy reading/writing and not worry about others' opinions.

**Eyes the dark Evil Rey idea that won't leave me alone recently**

We'll get to you soon.

(HS: Dooo eeeet!)

Your TRoS Prediction

They all live happily ever after... Hux included 🤞❤️ no I know that may be too optimistic but I do hope we get Bendemption 😍

If you were an aesthetic... (colors, images, feels....)

Red and black are my favourite colour combination, although I adore autumn colours too🍁🧡

What's your ideal environment for writing / creating? 

Silence 😂 seriously I am so easily distracted that I need solitary confinement 😅 which may be why I sometimes struggle to finish fics.

Are you a dom or sub? 

Switch baby! 🤘 For the perfect partner I'll be whatever they need 😏

What's the most exotic/wierd place you've gotten intimate?

I've spent most of my life at yards, I'm not going to miss the opportunity to roll about the straw barn, now am I? 🙊

What's your kink?

Who doesn't love a good Dom but on the flip who doesn't love a well-behaved sub? 🤷 I'm easily pleased.

Use three words to describe yourself

Loyal, kind (I hope I come across as such) and argumentative sometimes because I can fall out with myself if I'm that way inclined 😂

Meaning behind your nick / ID name

Well it's my name and I wasn't feeling imaginative 😅

Are you a big spoon or little spoon?

I'm a don't touch me while a sleep spoon, solitary spoon 😘

Do you like it rough or soft? 

See if you pick one, you lose out on the other. I'm too greedy for that.

Favorite fic you read

Unexpected by pontmercy44. The first star wars fandom fic I ever read that introduced me into this world, I guess.

Favorite fic you wrote or favorite art you made

Decades to Fall for Sunshineflying. A reyux fic (don't shoot the multishipper!) That I just loved writing and wish that every fic was that easy to create. 😍❤️

Favorite SW character besides Kylo and Rey

Oh well this is so hard for me umm 🤔 maybe that ginger General of First Order... I struggle to remember his name 😘 love me some Hux

______

Taz

(Tumblr: @tazwren | Twitter: WrenTaz | Ao3: TazWren & TrashcanWren)

What got you into Star Wars?

Literally, a lightsaber being stuck into my hand, at 7yrs, and being asked to be Vader to my cousin’s Luke Skywalker. I’d never heard of SW till that moment, and I fell headfirst into the Dark Side and in love with the galaxy far, far away! Its been the one franchise that as been a constant for me, the whole time growing up, and I’ve loved having something SW to look forward to every few years. SW and Reylo lifer! 😁😁😎😎

What made you a Reylo? Lightbulb moment!

“You are not alone.” The minute Kylo/Ben said those words, I was gone for Reylo. No true villain would give a flying fuck about his so-called adversary’s mental and emotional health. When their hands touched? I screeched in that theatre! And I may have yelled at Luke as well. Walked out and hunted for Kylo/Rey fanfics and the rest was history!

Why do you write / make art?

I do because the stories show up and make it impossible for me to do anything else but tell them. They buzz and breed and drown out all other sounds, like manic mosquitoes. They can be quite a nuisance that way, but... *throws up hands* ... I gots to do what they tell me to do! 😆

The Object of your Thirst…

Uh, do I even need to answer this? Adam Douglas Driver, Mr.Sensitive-on-a-stick, BDE Boss hisself 😎😏

Once I discovered him, all others ceased to exist for me. (Hugh, who? Chris, what?)

Which Adam look do you like the best?

I like Adam every which way, but my favorites are with facial scruff and slightly shaggy hair - Phillip Altman meets Ben Swolo. Oooh, anytime he is a sweater (or half out of one!) or with his shirtsleeves rolled up. So, um, yeah... 😁

Which Adam avatar/ role do you like the best?

Philip Altman is BAE - he always lightens my heart. And Ben Solo? He owns the frickin’ thing. So yeah, anyone who knows me, knows one ain’t enough 😏

Which part of Adam do you like the best?

His face - it’s so emotive and expressive! His eyes, those lips, that smile that launches a gazillion ships. His hands, his strong-ass arms. That glorious mane of hair. Have I mentioned them tiddies and the tree-trunk thighs?! Oh, and when he flexes his back, and...

Uh... let’s just say, everything Adam? 

Favorite Star Wars Movie

The Last Jedi was the most beautifully written and shot movie in the entire franchise, with a depth of characterization and exploration of symbolism that was brilliant. This will always rate as the best for me. A close second, and one I will always love, is Empire Strikes Back. That was quintessential Star Wars and an amazingly good watch - snark, action, angst, love, betrayal, rescue, OMFG!

What do you like to write / draw / paint the most?

Until I started writing Reylo, I’d never been able to write fiction. I could never visualize the stories. And once I started, I haven’t been able to stop! I’ll write anything Reylo, I’ll try writing anything at least once (so, yeah, there may be dark fic as well one day!). My style defaults to either mildly angsty, or humour-laced fluff, or depraved smut. So, not sure what that says about me 😂

Your TRoS Prediction

Bendemption. Reylo. *mic drop*

If you were an aesthetic... (colors, images, feels....)

Blacks, Reds, Greys, slashes of bright turquoise and white and ochre. Blue and white-striped awnings shading an alfresco cafe, overlooking a green ocean. Bright, city lights, reds and yellows glinting off the black water of a bay. A busy airport, with the scents of perfume from Duty-Free as you zoom past it.

If you were a candy bar, what would your name be?

The Ever-lasting Gobstopper 😂

What's your ideal environment for writing / creating?

In a hotel room, on my own. In the back of cab, in the window-seat of an airplane. At my desk, looking out through the window as the breeze blows through the trees, and the Burn This playlist keeps going on repeat. 

Are you a dom or sub?

Both? Both is good.

What's the most exotic/wierd place you've gotten intimate?

On the back of a bike, in the middle of the night, stopped at a traffic intersection.

What's your kink?

Size. Hands. Humour. Fidelity, and yet threesomes (go figure, I’m depraved). Mild Dom. Intelligence and thoughtfulness. Hair. Fuck it, Adam.

Use three words to describe yourself

Loyal, funny, organized-chaos (its a thing, trust me!)

Meaning behind your nick / ID name

I’ve always had Taz as a nickname, for the Warner Bros Tasmanian Devil (yes, I’ve been known to be exactly like that! 😂). Wren is a nod to Kylo Ren, and the fact that one of the earliest fanfics I read had Rey naming her son ‘Wren’ as a backhanded pointer to Kylo! So I’m, Taz, a Knight of Ren.

Are you a big spoon or little spoon?

I can be both, till I fall asleep. Then, pls leave me tf alone 😬😁

Do you like it rough or soft?

Both - why choose?!

Favorite fic you read

There are so very many in this amazing fandom! The one that I’ve loved from the beginning, though, is The Art of Broken Pieces - a beautifully written Bendemption fic. 

Favorite fic you wrote or favorite art you made

God, this is hard! My recent favorites are Brooklyn Bridge Blues, Caught Between Beats, and A Taste For Two - I like that I’m able to explore a variety of stories and emotions through them. I’m most proud of Confidences To A Stranger because I was able to explore a storytelling medium that I hadn’t before. 

Favorite SW character besides Kylo and Rey

Padme Amidala - she reminds me of my mother and grandmother, both of whom were strong women, who got shit done, while always taking care of their people. She was a queen in more than just name. Han Solo - I am weak for a scoundrel/villain/bad boy in a leather jacket, with a hardass, snarky exterior that hides a heart of gold. The reluctant hero.💙

____

Meet the other Thristies! Thirst Order Advent Calendar Day:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16

cc: @tazwren @drnucleus @ashtyntaytertot @deadlikemoi @nite0wl29 @thereylowritingden @houseplaidam @housedadam @house-crylo @housereysistance @my-jedi-life @shestoolazytologin @koderenn @thoseindarkness @areylofan @lostinqueue-ffa @queenoferebor  @cosmo-gonika @roguesinside @wilsonthinks66  @dangertaylor @lilia-ula @wandering-minds-found @looc-at-me @hopelesslyreylo @ferashacosplay @andabatae-writes @semperfidani ​ @reylo-fade-to-grey @cb-lainey-schooled