#honestly it’s interesting to see the building blocks that went into setting it up

[sleepdepravity]

Sometimes playing uchikoshi games is just like “oh my god this is such bullshit (fondly)”

[atimeofyourlife]

Old face, new place

Written for @steddieholidaydrabbles warm up: High school or College AU

rated: t | cw: none | tags: disabled Steve Harrington, pre-Steddie | wc:1000

Steve and Eddie meet again in college. The Upside Down still happened, but Eddie was never involved.

Honestly, Steve never thought he would go to college. Between his average grades, lack of ambition, and just not knowing what he wanted to do, it just didn’t seem to be on the cards for him. But it all changed after the Upside Down turned his life upside down.

After it was all over, and he’d been disowned by his parents, he and Robin moved to Chicago together. It was there she encouraged him to start taking classes at the same community college as her, to try and get a degree.

And that was how he got here, facing down the door of an art room, trying to build up the courage to go in. He’d signed up to be a nude model for a figure drawing class. At $20 a session, it would really help stretch his and Robin’s lousy paychecks that bit further. As he opened the door, he could hear the teacher reminding the class to be mindful about the model's bodies. That made him feel a little more uneasy, because it reminded him that it was the first time anyone other than doctors or Robin had seen him uncovered since everything with Vecna, and then losing his leg in the final showdown. He stripped down in the cubicle at the side of the room, changing into just a bathrobe.

As he came into the main space, he could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on his prosthetic. He reached the stool set up for him, and slipped off the robe. A collective gasp rang through the room, and he knew it was because of the scarring from the demo-bat attacks. 

He got into a pose, and tried to forget where he was. Whenever he took a minute to move because of getting too stiff, he glanced over the class, seeing if there was anyone he recognized. There was one guy who felt vaguely familiar, who would not stop staring at his scars, his gaze more intense than anyone else’s.

Eddie had always known that college wasn’t in the cards for him. Hell, it took him three attempts to graduate high school. And he was only successful the last time because everyone in the class of ‘86 was allowed to graduate without sitting their finals because of the freak earthquake, and the murders, that happened during spring break that year. Wayne had all but forced him into volunteering in the relief efforts, but as soon as he had his diploma in hand, he was hightailing it out of town, looking for something better.

He ended up in Chicago, working evenings in a bar, and getting an apprenticeship to become a tattoo artist. He was a few months into the apprenticeship when his mentor recommended that he take a couple of semesters of art classes at the local community college to help him with technique and to refine his style. He tried to deny it on grounds of cost, but it was covered under the apprenticeship program.

Which is how he found himself a few months in, sitting in a figure drawing class. He zoned out a little as the teacher brought up the rules that had been laid out on the first day of the figure drawing unit, about making the models comfortable and not saying anything about their bodies. That hadn’t happened before any of the other models came in, so it did make Eddie wonder. Maybe it would be a guy with a really interesting dick.

Instead, it was Steve Harrington, of all people, that limped into the room. Eddie couldn’t help but watch as he went into the corner blocked off for the models to change in. What had brought King Steve to be a model for an art class? Looking for more validation on how pretty he was? Trying to pick up girls?

He brought himself out of his thoughts as Steve came out in a robe and. A prosthetic leg. That explained the limp, but brought so many more questions about what had happened. Because Eddie clearly remembered Steve in those tiny gym shorts and he definitely wasn’t missing a leg at that point. 

Then Steve dropped the robe. Eddie, alongside the rest of the class, gasped. And not for the reason he’d thought he would be gasping when seeing Steve Harrington naked. He had horrific scarring on his chest and sides. Just opening even more questions to what the hell had happened to him.

He did his best to complete the assigned drawing, but his eyes kept getting drawn to Steve’s scars. The curiosity kept building as the time went on, and he was unsure if he’d be able to keep it in. 

He packed up slowly at the end, wanting to try and catch Steve. They’d never been friends, but he needed to know if he was okay. He waited until they were both out of the room, before he called after him. “Hey, Harrington.”

Steve turned around, and looked at Eddie for a moment before recognition flashed in his eyes. “Munson.”

“Are- are you okay?” He asked, feeling a bit lost, unsure if what he wanted to ask was inappropriate.

“You mean my-” Steve rested his hand on his side where the worst of the scarring was. “Animal attack during the earthquake. It’s fine now.”

“And your-” Eddie’s gaze dropped to Steve’s legs.

“An accident a few months later.”

“Damn. You’ve really been through it, Harrington.”

Steve gave a bitter laugh that Eddie couldn’t quite read. “You don’t know the half of it.”

“Maybe you could tell me some of it? Over coffee if you’re free?” Eddie suggested.

Steve looked at his watch. “I’ve got class in like twenty minutes. But I’ll be free after eleven tomorrow?”

Eddie ran through his scheduling in his mind, he was in the shop in the morning. “I’m working in the morning, but I’ll be off about two. We could do a late lunch or something?”

“It’s a date.” Steve agreed.

[mochiwrites]

Any thoughts to share about the secret husbands reunion? It's giving me such brain worms, they're so soft!

ofc!!! :D

so after they reunite on mumbo’s redstone world and catch up, grian stays there for a few days with scar Constantly visiting. and honestly I think it’s an opportunity for mumbo and scar to become better friends as well! the three of them spend a lot of time in each others company after all. but mumbo does try to give scar and grian some space (I think mumbo is one of the first to notice they’ve got feelings for each other)

he also gets a front row seat to scar becoming his normal self again. the man can’t stop smiling, and he’s like a bouncy ball with how much he’s just moving around and cheerful (mumbo catches grian looking at him with a terribly fond smile Very often)

grian probably stays with mumbo for hmmm two weeks? maybe a bit longer? after crashing into his world? it gives them a lot of time to get to know each other (they get along extremely well — just like scar thought they would) and while grian doesn’t tell him Every little detail about the watchers, mumbo does end up learning about what happened and is one of the only people who knows the most

when scar isn’t with them, he’s back on the season five world hatching a plan to sneak grian onto hermitcraft

said plan is foiled Very quickly when it’s found by cub and xisuma himself. they laugh about it because “scar you could’ve just asked us to invite grian” and scar is rambling because he knows it has to be a unanimous vote and what if not everyone agrees and he’s just gotten grian back x :( he can’t be separated from him again :(

to which cub just sets a hand on his shoulder and tells him it’ll be fine (scar brings it up at the next meeting and everyone is enthusiastic about grian joining them. scar cries. a lot.)

and when he and mumbo pop into mumbo’s world again where grian is, they drop the news on him (no scar did Not tell grian about any of this beforehand) and maybe grian gets a little teary eyed too

scar stays in the world that night, curled protectively around grian and they whisper to each other about hermitcraft, the sort of server it is and the people in it. and he’s quick to reassure grian of his place in it when grian is doubtful

after grian’s injuries heal up enough mumbo lets him have his own lil plot in the world to practice his building again. it’s been so long that he’s… nervous about doing it again. what if he’s no good anymore?

when scar comes to visit he’ll sit and watch grian build, introducing the new blocks and colors and oh he’s greatly missed the way grian’s eyes sparkle with interest or when he’s got a new idea for a build — sometimes they build together, and sometimes mumbo joins them, learning some things

(he’s kind of in awe, watching the two of them work together. it’s very inspirational)

sometimes they do a build competition, with little prompts and everything. they take turns on who judges the build/gives the prompt and who actually builds

and when it’s time for season five’s ending, grian is alone in mumbo’s world for a bit while scar and mumbo wrap up whatever they need to. it’s… hard to be alone, but he comforts himself by looking at the reminders of scar (and mumbo) and he gets through

scar gets a bear hug when they return though. and then mumbo too, just so he doesn’t feel left out <3

then finally… scar brings grian home. and they’re both very emotional about it. grian sees jellie and she’s glued to his side despite his fear she wouldn’t remember him. she is extremely adamant about sleeping On grian at night, and scar teases him about stealing his cat. “our cat,” grian replies with a big grin. though scar says something about jellie missing him just as much

(I think on those days when scar would stay at their hypixel apartment in hopes grian would come home, jellie went with him. and at night she’d curl up on grian’s pillow a lot. her favorite toy would be on his side of the bed, always. scar would hold bring grian’s pillow in close with her on it and cry)

while waiting for season six to start they spruce up the apartment a bit !!! they try to get back into the swing of their routine while accounting for the new things (grian’s wings, his fears, his nightmares, the powers they gave him)

it isn’t easy, but they get through it. and when the season properly begins, they spawn in, and grian goes off on his own to adventure and meet everyone. he’s… a little awkward and shy (very unlike him, he knows) but ironically ends up right by scar and mumbo and he’s so relieved (I think scar and grian talked about basing near each other before the season began)

and yeah :D

[dekarios]

@shadowfells OKAY HERE WE GO

i'm 25 hours in, i'm level 17 with a few perk points not spent cuz i'm hoarding for my specialisation unlock at 20, and the last side content i did was making me fight level 24-25 enemies and a level 36 boss! i did respec once because i realised champion had abilities i really wanted to use so i went a different path in the skill tree and so i've now tried nearly every warrior ability not tied to a specialisation !! i've not changed any of the hotkeys or settings from default and i play with controller ^_^

neutrally i wanna say.. ur companions dont really do much if ur not using their skills manually. they do very little chip damage. they very rarely take aggro. theyre kinda just there as moral support unless ur going out of ur way to use their skills . which i recommend ! they can do intense damage and support u in really interesting ways !!

so some cons for combat... the camera can sometimes hate you but for the most part it should be ok, auto lock on has fucked me a few times but its easy to recover, i am still learning how to properly time perfect blocking especially as a dwarf because sometimes enemies simply miss me because i am small so i'm pretty block to perfect block but nothing is hitting me and its just awkward for both me and the enemy, dodging is quite slow and there seems to be an invisible timer for it so in some bosses that say constantly unleash attacks on you but you just rolled out of the way of the first and u need 0.1 seconds to roll again but the attacks coming out too fast for you to have that time (speaking of, avoid being chilled like the plague. that dodge timer gets LONG), sometimes its just not quite clear what's going on? the game is very flashy and theres soooo much happening that it can get visually overwhelming especially when things are taking longer to die cuz they're out levelling you

ok pros....... the abilities are fun to use, warrior rage took forever to get early on but now i can get loads of rage and i feel like a rage machine so i can use abilities all the time, its copied mass effect in that biotic detonations are here and you can combo it with ur companions just like in mass effect (this game feels quite mass effect 3 and dragon age 2 like we combined those two games) and that can be pretty darn fun, especially my bellara + harding combo because the enemy gets sort of locked in place and that fucks, i love that you can interrupt enemies with staggering attacks like even big bosses they can be charging their massive red attack and if i do a drop kick or a stomp on them it cancels the attack and it can feel sooo good lining up ur ability use like that, potion consuming is fast and every companion has a heal and bellara has an auto heal which ooofff has becoming so helpful to me, the bosses actually feel like thoughtout bosses which is sooo important to me i feel like i'm dancing around a fromsoft boss sometimes especially when they out level me and the boss fight takes over 10 minutes, the opportunity for Cool Moments is everywhere in this combat system it WANTS you to feel like a badass and to have moments where ur like OUUGHHH CLIP THATTT I WISH SOMEONE WAS WATCHING DID U SEE THATTTT and i have definitely had PLENTY of those i feel very cool playing this game, i have a rune now that freezes every enemy around me with a massive radius which FUCKS SO HARD runes are REALLY cool, theres so much BUILD opportunity here like with accessories that do unique shit including new effects when you use ur potion, i got an accessory today that boosts my damage when im at low health and makes it so i can never be max health like OUGHHHH THATS SICK???, i also got an ability for warrior that makes my weapon go on fire when i parry and it makes all my attacks do like cleave damage and its so cool i feel so rewarded for playing well,

hmmm thats all i can think of right now but honestly. the games combat has become so fun to me i am eager to get to more enemies . it definitely improves once u get more abilities and perks and stuff. and once u get used to it which did take me a bit as you know. idk i love it. i want to play BECAUSE i want to go find another boss and kick its butt. .... hmm ok yeah i cant think of anything more to say

[karoiseka]

24) Bar

((annnnnnnd caught back up again! This one actually came to me via some screenshots that I took a couple of weeks ago, and then weaved it around them. I'm honestly really happy with this one!! I also haven't seen anyone else in my pool of people I follow using the word in this manner, so that's really fun to me as well! ^_^ MAJOR 6.0 SPOILERS THROUGH THE HALF-WAY POINT!!))

The stone was easy to climb, deep grooves between the large blocks, weathered by the sea breeze.  Karo had swapped one bow for another, this one with her viola now slung across her back as she climbed, amused at the crowd below.  They were, for the most part, ignoring her.  Of all the things that they could be doing, it made her laugh to herself the most.  Usually when she went climbing public property, people couldn’t stop gawping, pointing at her, or sometimes even trying to get the guard to go after her.

The people of Tuliyollal were something else.  There were a couple of small children watching her climb with interest, and one of the merchants kept looking up to mark how high she had gotten, but otherwise the busy market street bustled about it’s business, ignoring the strange foreign Miqo’te that had decided to climb the exterior of one of the dock storage buildings.  Stretching to the overhanging edge, Karo swung with ease, hanging for a brief moment before pulling herself onto the roof.  As she expected, there was an access hatch up here that she could have found her way to, but she enjoyed the quick climb.

Stepping away from the edge for a moment, she ducked out of sight, pulling her viola out from its case, and rosining the bow.  Another few minutes of tuning and softly warming up her fingers, and she was back overseeing the road.  Sitting with legs hanging and placing the instrument deftly under her chin, she set bow to strings and began to play.

The first few bars of music were played at a normal volume, no louder than what the instrument could do naturally.  A few extra faces looked up at the new sound–finally curious.  As she continued to play, Karo started to extend her bardic talents–amplifying the music carefully and gently.  Those closest to her still heard it as they should–not at an ear-splitting volume–while those further away could hear as if they were there in front of her.  Setting small magical markers at the outer edge of the range she wanted to reach, Karo let the music swell.

Now she had their attention as she lost herself to the music, half-closing her eyes as she swayed on the stone outcropping.  She had started with an almost dance-beat, lively and cheerful–an original song she had composed while traveling.  She would be beginning and ending with this melody–the one she had made with the city of Tuliyollal in mind.

Fading it out, she phased into the next–sweeping and haunting as the chill wind that visited the mountain pass.  Here she borrowed from the Pelupelu merchants traveling songs, bringing imagery of a wide open sky and the paths to tread.  Leading on a journey, but always home, somehow invoking the sound of wind whistling down off of Worqor Zormor.  The music transitioned into a more somber melody for the Yok Huy, bringing a note of solemn duty to the motif, stone rumbling and evoking memories of glory.

Cracking open her eyes, Karo could see she had the attention of all in the markets, and more streaming in once word of mouth started to spread.  Bringing a foot up, she pushed up off the ledge and back just a bit to a standing position, walking to the end corner of the building where as many could see her as possible with all the awnings out.  The music had transitioned once more into a more upbeat note as she borrowed the pulse and beat from the Ihih’hana festival, a song of hope and of growth.

Giving herself over to the flow of the performance, she was glad to see the various races recognizing the little threads she had left of their cultures mixed into her song.  For this was a tribute and a gift to the people who had welcomed her so kindly.

Dancing in place, twirling to the melody, it flowed as the raging falls of Kozama’uke–tying the overpowering majesty of the water with the deep brightly colored beauty that surrounded it.  A Moblin work song gave structure to the wildness of the sound of water, before just as the water calmed away from the rocks, so did the music once more as she invoked the jungle of Yak T’el.

It was a stern cadence–reminiscent of a long and bitter war–one that still invoked strong memories and feelings.  A hunting theme dominated for the first stanza, evoking the Xbr’aal and their prey.  The chase continued until it burst into a flurry of notes before calming into a mournful hymn to those that had been lost, haunting and bittersweet as if the hymn of cenote had settled among them.  The sorrow of the Mamool Ja would not be forgotten. 

Even as the last lingering note echoed in the plaza, Karo had another moment to look out at those that had gathered.  Easy to spot in the colorful crowd, Thancred’s coat stood out, gleaming in the evening sun.  Someone had obviously alerted the palace, for at his side was Kona and Lamaty’i both watching her–Kona a pleased and proud expression on his face–Lamaty’i in complete awe, jaw hanging open.

Using the final note from the requiem, Karo slowly spun the melody faster, weaving it ito a tapestry of all the lief motifs that she had touched on.  Each of the people’s familiar songs woven into the bright tapestry that was Tuliyollal.  She could hear the whispers of the people below recognizing what she had done and exclaiming when “their” part came up in the song as she played, dancing in the light of the setting sun.  Triumphantly, she wrapped up the song, hope on her strings and joy on her face.  She hadn’t cared if no one had listened that day, for the performance was for her own joy as well–but full glad was she that so many had gathered to hear her tribute to her journey.

Bowing to the crowd as they cheered, Karo waved and smiled until most had started to disperse.  Finally ducking back out of view, she tucked her viola away once more.  Tomorrow she left with Erenville, headed to Xak Tural, and further inland to his home.  A peaceful evening with Thancred was in order before they said farewell again, and she planned to make the most of every moment.  Finding a quick pathway down, involving the large awnings over the market street and several tall stacks of boxes, Karo was soon at his side, and hand in hand they headed back to the luxurious cabin she had been gifted to stay in.  As the stars started to appear, she couldn’t help but think of how lucky she had been on this adventure so far, and prayed it would stay as calm as it had been.  Somehow, she figured, her luck was due to change–but that was for another day.

[tabbyrocks]

odd mha ships i dont like and why

dabihawks/ hotwings

they hate eachother. dabi tried to kill him, and theres just literally no chemistry between them. if they ever DID get into a realationship it would be horribly unhealthy. also i think dabi is too obsessed with his dad to want a relationship. (hawks idolizing his abuser does not help)

endevorhawks

absolutely not. this is basically a proship due to the 20-30 year age gap and it being abuser x abused. if you like this i hope you get hit by a fucking car you nasty freak.

twicehawks

didn't realize this was a ship untill recently. gross. sure, they were buddy buddy but ONLY because hawks was trying to get info out of him. hawks liked him as a person / thought he was better then the rest of the villans but twice was set in his ways, so it would never work. also hawks like actually killed him.

bakudeku

literally VOMITS oh my god i hate bakudeku. bakugo is horribly written and the ship itself is so unrealistic. bakugo bullied and abused izuku for 10 YEARS STRAIGHT. TEN YEARS. even with bakugo's "character development" its still really bad. the closest i can see them being is pals.

monobaku

i think this might actually be worse then bakudeku on a logistic level. they both DESPISE eachother. bakugo canonly thinks he's the spawn of Satan. please just let enemies be enemies dear lord.

kiribaku

as much as i hate any sort of ship with bakugo involved this might be the most tame one on this list. i just don't like it. bakugo is overly mean to ALL of his friends and they really only have a strong mutual respect for eachother. also he uses him as a human punching bag just because he can harden. keep your hands to yourself bakugo jesus christ,,

todobaku

this one just makes me sad. bakugo doesn't want a single thing to do with todoroki but todoroki is like so heavily autistic that HE GENUENLY THINKS THEY ARE FRIENDS???? like it hurts me to my core please stop talking to bakugo todoroki im begging.

monoma x tamaki (i dont know the shipname for this and i dont care enough to find out)

I can't believe i even have to mention this one but i had a very interesting situation back when i was active on twitter where ALL of my mutuals thought that this shit was morally okay and i had to block all of them. thats a minor x an adult. i thought we established that freshman x seniors is fucking gross what is WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE. "oh but its only a two year age gap-" WRONG!!! its a 2 and a half year age gap. people seem to forget that teenage brains develop really fucking fast that even though the age gap is only 2 and a half years the MATURITY GAP IS HUGE. also, normal fucking 18+ yr olds DO NOT like dating people under 17 (some of them ive talked to, like my brother, said that even 17 is iffy and heavily depends on how mature they are). also, if we completely ignore the age + maturity gap, their personalities clash. tamaki would probably be fucking bat shit terrified of monoma due to how eccentric he is. also they havn't interacted in canon ONCE. this one is also basically a proship.

Bonus:

togachako

I used to hate this ship because i thought it would just be super toxic, but the recent chapters of the manga really won me over. its just the build up to that point was honestly ass, like we went from 20% to 100% WAY too fast.

[risu5waffles]

Sombre and sTENtorious Came the Call

Welp, maybe our last go around for one of these, so let's do it right.

Cute enough early effort from brett169. It's got all those early LBP hallmarks, but you can see the creator is stretching to do something big wiv it. There are a lot of little secrets and scorebubble caches, and i do always love to see those. Unfortunately, it's ultimately broken in LBP3. i don't know quite what it is, but Collected Object enemies from LBP1 are never treated well in 3, and even before we get to the one blocking our path, we pass by enemies that look like they've shaken themselves apart before we got there. It's not even something wonky about being in a community level, like the creators have mucked wiv the objects or something; the Redcoat enemies in the PotC DLC get up to some really weird shenanigans. Come to think of it, if i'm remembering right there's a set of chattery teeth in the DC DLC that's bugged in a way that'll keep you from getting 100% prizes there.

This one was sure a little bit of a lot and no lie. Edgy little murder/mayhem platformer, but at least is its own thing, and not another Friday the 13th knockoff. i'd be lying if i said the level was all that good, but it has its moments. The paintball rain was a fun, old-school effect; and it was kind of... cute's not the word, but the way you can choose to put that guy out of his misery (and get a prize!) or torture him more was definitely something. The whole level is definitely something for sure.

Oh my gosh, this level. This level here? This was so freaking cool it's actually kind of silly. chronos had mentioned on stream that the rotating level thing was a bit of a trend in LBP1 for a hot minute, but i don't remember playing any that committed to the bit as hard as this one. You've got mazes. You've got traps. There are all sorts of mechanisms to help you navigate. There's that neat little contraption you ride, when you grab it, it puts out bumpers to stay in place so you can control when you fall? And all that's before you get to the surface of the planet, all the buildings up there, and you parkour(ish) to get up to the Moon, and ride a shooting star to the scoreboard? Like, what the actual fuck, tho'? How do you make something that goes this damn hard and is this damn cool?

We talked about this one a lot last time, and i don't know that i have more in the tank for it now, but i still think it's really good, even for its flaws.

We talked about this one a few weeks back, when we covered Librarian's Mansion 2, and it's still as charming as it was then. i really, really wish i'd had the chance to play through some of the levels introduced here, i imagine they were pretty fun. i got the chance to talk a bit wiv Goof-master, and they seem a pretty nice kid. Very excited to create. i hope whatever their future looks like, they don't lose that spark. To be honest, most everybody i've met through doing reviews has been pretty cool. i've been inordinately lucky in that.

This is just a little giveaway level i found, tho' i don't remember why i found it. i already had a mostly complete logic bit set. Ended up working out for the best, tho'; i didn't have the old Global lighting and water logic bits, because i never used them in a level, but damn if they don't look fine. It's one thing i always appreciated about LBP1 logic, since there was a stronger possibility the pieces would be visible in level, Mm went through the design effort to make sure they would look nice as objects, the logic pieces from LBP2 on are all very readable when you have them in a chip, and that is really important, but they almost always stand out like a sore thumb when you see them in a level.

It's cute and everything, and i bet it was fun wiv a friend; but if you lose your bike, you're just fucked, and that's no fun. Honestly tho', i'm way more interested in the creator. lust-for-1985? What does that mean? What does that even mean?!

i can't rag on this level too hard, and honestly it's a good example of why we shouldn't just go and tee off on someone 'cause we don't click wiv what they've made. POBFISH's bio tells us they've got MS, and (at time of writing) were having a time of it. Also, interesting and appreciated, they updated the bio wivout erasing the previous bits, so we see them start at 44yo, to 45, a jump to 50 and expecting 51. That kind of sits wiv you a bit. When did they write that. Did they make it to 51? Did they stop updating because they stopped playing because they were done wiv the game, or because they were done? The level is... i hope they had a good time making it and playing it wiv their friends. i didn't have a bad time wiv it; the fish-vehicle-thing was a hoot. But there really wasn't much in there besides that. Well, it's not in me to throw shade here.

The gameplay here isn't too much to write home about; i feel like it struggles to maintain momentum, and there are bits that just don't parse super well visually. But dang if i didn't love the environment. Excellent use of extra layers and depth of field in the cameras to give the feeling that it's really expansive. Lots of movement, and decorations. Very solid choices in materials. Just all around nice to spend time in, and that's worth admission alone.

i appreciate this one, but i just can't bring myself to like it. The pace is just all over the map, and the timing on the hazards feels just tight enough to rack up a lot of needless deaths. It's got a lot going on, and it feels like it stays pretty true its theme, but at the end of the day, it really wasn't much fun.

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

And that's that. Still thinking of how i want to handle the DLC review bits, but unless Sumo gets the servers back up, that'll be our last TENspot. i'll be honest wiv you, but it's melancholy as heck.

Thanks everyone for all the support for this Archive project. And just for everything up til now. You've made a major impact on my life, and i could never repay you for it. Keep yourselves safe, and remember that you're loved.

[thyandrawrites]

hi! please feel no pressure to answer this ask, but as a former Dabihawks shipper I am very curious if you see any possible scenarios for their post-canon relationship? even throwing the ending out of the window, I just can't imagine what their relationship could be like after the war, which is weird with the way they were so consistently set up as close narrative foils 😅

That's valid. Honestly even tho I still ship it, this pairing has lost part of its original appeal for me too, given my preference for canon-compliant stuff and how canon went. But I think that a lot of things are possible in the realm of fanfic. All it takes is just a strong and believable enough foundation to justify why a character would make x choice instead of y, you know?

As I mentioned in previous replies, I have little to no interest in exploring any post canon scenarios that stem from the canon ending, personally. But if I were to write one, I guess my focus would be on getting Dabi and Hawks to be on speaking terms again, first. They didn't part on good terms, and there's several unsolved issues between them that I'd want to address before building up on their relationship. Here's a few off the top of my head:

Not to revive a dead horse just to beat it to death again, but Hawks... very much still thinks his actions during the war were justified. And he got a promotion out of it too, which wouldn't help him see them under a critical light, either. This poses the biggest problem to a post-canon dabihawks scenario imo because that dehumanization and Othering he does subconsciously is anthitetical to him seeing a romantic partner in Dabi. Or to being the kind of "think for yourself" person Dabi would be fond of. Unless, like. You were interested in writing a toxic relationship, I guess.

Building off point one, if Hawks doesn't think heroes did wrong in the war, then he would not have the necessary perspective to change society for the better even in his new role as the HPSC president. Ideally, I'd want to develop his character to the point where he stops thinking in such black and white terms anymore. Dabi would simply never respect him if Hawks didn't walk that mile first imo. On the other hand, if Hawks did grow from his old stances, and eventually learned to use the lesson Twice was trying to teach him before he died to make society better, I think that would make quite an impression on Dabi. It's all about overcoming that mental block Hawks seems to have against victimhood and his own complex relationship with it.

As for Dabi, he threatened Tomie and scared her so much she fled, again, leaving her son behind. And maybe Hawks didn't have much of a relationship left with his mom, but Dabi did take that chance away from him, whether Hawks was ready to cut off contact with her altogether or not. That's bound to leave some baggage, and there must be resentment there that they'd need to address and work their way past. You know... maybe reconnecting with his own family could make Dabi grow enough in turn to realize what he needs apologizing for.

The wings... I haven't read the fight with AFO so I'm not sure how Hawks ended up losing the stubs too, but Dabi did begin the process, and it left Hawks quirkless. Again, that's bound to have more consequences than him being immediately fine with it. Hawks' entire life was shaped by his wings' usefulness to those around him, and suddenly he lost the very thing he centered his entire identity around. If I was writing their reconciliation, I'd probably address the mixed feeling he must hold for Dabi, the person who did that to him, but also Touya, the son of possibly the only person Hawks has ever fully respected.

I'm sorry if you were looking for specific scenarios as in fic ideas, but even if I wasn't writer blocked right now I doubt I would want to delve that deep into this. Hope this answer somewhat sates your curiosity tho!

[thronk]

Minecraft is a shit game. Yes, I enjoy it, but I really don't think it's that good.

This recent update, I saw someone showing off features for it and I went "oh, this actually looks like a nice update with content that can be used and won't be flat-out disappointing nor busy work in place of actual content. I'll not get my hopes up because I know how these updates go" I was still disappointed.

So, they changed netherite tools now, you need a template from a bastion to do it. Bastions are ridiculously hard to get through sometimes, we only fight them after netherite and even then 1 out of 3 of us either dies or has to brick themselves in. Maybe that's just us being shit, it probably is, but it makes it so that it takes an unreasonably long time to get netherite stuff now, because that template costs 7 diamonds to replicate after finding the first one, because you don't want to use it up straight away, this means that, to make netherite armour, you need a full set of diamond armour and then 28 more diamonds to not use up the upgrade template. This doesn't make the game more fun, doesn't make it more interesting, it just makes it longer. Sure, it means you have to go into a bastion at some point, which is nice, they're now useful outside of their discs and soul speed, but with the added collection of 7 diamonds per upgrade, the game is just unreasonably long.

The plants in the update, torchflower and pitcher plant, are decorative only and not even in an interesting way. To get them, you need a sniffer, to get a sniffer you need to raid archaeology sites for shit, nice idea... we were flying over our world with our elytras, looking for structures, we were on a realm if that makes a difference. We saw villages, a sand temple and two wells. This was over the course of 30,000 blocks. 30,000 blocks is a long time to be walking if you don't have an elytra, about an hour or 2, and there was fuck all to be seen. And we knew we'd have to go back home too, because our stuff was back there, we have unfinished builds. So we found 4 structures, all desert ones, over 30,000 blocks. And the sniffer has a low chance of spawning in a lot of them, no underwater ruins, where its meant to be more findable, no nothing. We went 30,000 blocks for some pottery shards for one single urn... this isn't more content making the game longer, this is long tedious shit making things take longer than they should.

The armour trims are nice :) yeah, they're expensive, yeah they're hard to find, but I don't mind that because they're just there. Plus, I can't see my own armour half the time anyway. It's unsubstantial, sure, sp is the rest of the update, but I enjoy character customisation, so I don't really mind too much.

When looking at everything added to the update, I grouped a load of shit together. Cherry blossom stuff, sniffer stuff, archaeology, etc etc. I got 7 things out of it. 7 things from an update is honestly pretty good if they're not incredibly tedious or if they feel like they affect the overall journey in any meaningful way... they do not.

This is what you're getting from this update the unique, non-retexture stuff.

As someone that's been playing terraria in recent years and massively prefers that, I've noticed minecraft is becoming more like terraria, and failing at it, horribly. Initially people said "Don't make minecraft too complicated, it'll ruin it" but now they're past that point, the best option is to add meaningful content, which they're not doing. The resource collection is incredibly boring a lot of the time, the building is slow and awkward which makes big builds a nightmare to do. I'll level entire forests and burn through the resources insanely quickly making something as simple as a bridge. Its not so much that the collection of stuff is boring, its that it isn't fulfilling, I spend 2 minutes cutting down a tree, I get 5 seconds of building materials, it doesn't feel worth it.

Maybe I've played the game too long, its been with me since me being about 8-ish, I hated it at first too, then it grew on me once I was 10. I liked watching new, important shit get added as we went, I liked the feeling of progress I used to think it had... then I played terraria and realised minecraft is lacking hard. I genuinely love this game but, like my parents said to their favourite under-achieving son, it has so much potential that feels like its being wasted.

Maybe I'm getting old and I'm not the intended audience any more, that's probably it... I know it's made for a new generation now, that doesn't mean it gets to be shitty still.

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

That was shit, one good thing to note:

Apparently this is what the trail outpost things look like, which is really fucking cool ngl. Honestly, I just want more structures in the game, more structures that are fun, or mean something, I like that they gave desert wells a use now, that's a great improvement and I'm really happy about that. The ancient cities from previous ones, fucking sick too, we love fucking about in them. Additionally, they made it so that magma slimes can't damage you whilst they're in their death frames any more, which is great news because I won't have to watch out for invulnerable, unpredictable enemies that don't work properly.

They did add good stuff in this update, its just overshadowed by the fact that it's all hidden behind elongating the game simply by making shit take longer.

I love this game a lot, I just think it has missed the mark way too many times.

[lexpressobean]

gonna start tagging this shit as #lextalkstothevoid. i need to vent some

i apologize in advance

i can’t tell if my friends see me as this “good” person because i’ve never had a serious argument with any of them like i use to have with an old friend who’s no longer a part of my life as of this month. i knew her for over fifteen years.

the people i call friends now don’t know me as intimately as she did, and yet, just within the year we cut ties, i found myself avoiding her just to be with them. we cut ties because i was honest and tried my best to communicate what i was feeling. she decided i had become too cold and she couldn’t understand where i was coming from despite me pouring my heart out. my mistake was trying to keep distance with a tether. we all know it’s best to walk away at some point, and that point for me was quite a while ago, but she was my best friend since i was 13. it. was. hard. but now the thing i thought i didn’t want to happen happened anyway.

the event that set everything in motion was definitely her doing tho. she not only lied to me (as I found out a year later), but she twisted my words around and attacked my character. it was like she was looking for a reason to fight with me, yet when i stood my ground and i pointed out the facts, she tried to take back her instigation and didn’t want to talk about it. but you don’t get that upset for no reason, and i really couldn’t understand why she did in that moment. and when she finally told me her reason, it was such an exaggeration of a reaction, both in my opinion and objectively.

now i’ve just been thinking and thinking, since i don’t have access to a therapist, i have to figure some shit out. because even if we’re never gonna speak again, that’s actually fine by me. and even if it wasn’t, it’d have to be.

and all i really got is that we simply grew up into different types of people...

which is a very generic blanket like statement. she’s called me cold, and heartless, and scary. i know anyone else in my life would disagree.

but i guess, she had some resentment building up that she never talked to me about. because she never talked about how she really felt unless it was a positive thing. maybe she didn’t like when i told her her things honestly, because sometimes honesty hurts or is unpleasant. maybe she thought i was too honest. maybe she didn’t like that i was so safe about my business. maybe she didn’t say it out loud, but to her, i was a complete downer because of these things. maybe she didn’t think i was fun anymore. maybe she didn’t like a lot of things about me, but she never told me these things upfront

she probably didn’t because then why would we still be friends if she didn’t like me? i think about it more still, and i realized i was her only friend. i was the outgoing one and she didn’t make much of an effort to make new friends. i wasn’t cold, i just didn’t indulge her temper tantrums or pity-parties. i wasn’t heartless, we just had different priorities/opinions and i didn’t agree necessarily with everything she did or said. and i needed someone on the outside to tell me this, but i wasn’t scary. when you don’t give anyone a reason to be scared of you, but someone is still sacred of you anyway, the reason is because they’re usually up to something, and if it has to do with you, they’re scared that you’re going to catch on. they’re scared because they’re lying to you, or tricking you, or trying to play you. that’s what someone told me, because here i was, thinking i must’ve had some crazy anger management issues i needed to control, when others told me i managed all my emotions just fine. one went on to point out i wouldn’t have come this far in my career if i couldn’t since i work so intimately with people...

all it took was one person of romantic interest for her to stop giving a fuck about me completely. i used to be her shoulder to cry on, and suddenly nothing but updates about how her life was going so great while she blocked out anything else. and when i needed her to show me she still cared, told her that i felt like she didn’t care about me anymore. her response was that she knew i hadn’t been at my best... and yet she never bothered to check in and really try to help me out, even if it was to just support me... she claimed to not understand me, but now it just seems like she just didn’t want to.

she was no longer someone who was good for me. she doesn’t care about me anymore. but i know she did a long time ago. and if there was something i didn’t take into account, that honest to god slipped my mind, i wouldn’t know. i don’t know what i did to make her feel how she does now. but even if the change of her feelings was my fault, she never communicated with me and just acted so unnecessarily passive-aggressive. maybe she was more afraid of being hated than being honest with her feelings. maybe i just didn’t want to be hated either once i realized we had grown apart. i still cared at the time, even if it hurt.

now it’s hard to care. i feel more angry than anything, but not so much with her than with myself. i doubted myself all this time, thinking i was to blame for it all. but she really was just a liar with no friends left. and now she’s with someone romantically that probably shares her views and her mentality and likes her just the way she is. and that’s great for her.

i don’t wish anyone ill. it takes two to tango, as they say. i just don’t know why she couldn’t be honest from the beginning. all this time wasted trying to salvage something that couldn’t be.

... sometimes it’s not the lack of communication. it’s just a tired situation that can’t be fixed...

[theschlaepfer]

2024 goals

This is a non-comprehensive list of some things I want to achieve in the new year. Maybe I’ll set reminders to check in on this as the year goes on.

Downsize

I want less stuff. Every time we move there’s a box or two full of random stuff that just sits in another box or drawer until we move again. Not great! But also so tedious to go through! I’d love to take a week and just really decide what things I need, and what things are weighing me down. And also figure out eBay.

Read a book each month

I read my first full books since high school this year, and I enjoyed it a lot. I always envy readers and bookworms. I have a lot of other media I like that can eat away at my free time (games, shows, films). Zelda especially has just torpedoed my free time. I’ve loved every second of it, but wow is there a lot to do in that game.

Getting off topic. Point is: time short, want read book. I got a couple for Christmas so I’ll start there! To make it more of a tangible goal, I’ll try to read one book each month. I can already tell you I’ll fail but at least it gives me a framework.

Brush up on a language

I took three different languages in school: Spanish in junior high, Latin in high school, and German in college. I’d like to brush up on either Spanish or German in the new year.

Spanish is vastly more practical for me because of where I live, and would be used weekly if not daily.

German is of interest to me because my family is from Switzerland. Ideally I’d love to learn the Swiss-German my extended family speaks, but learning resources are scarce. And nearly all of them are fluent in English so it’s not a pressing matter. Just would feel nice to connect more with that family history.

Then there’s an entirely impractical side of me that wants to learn Japanese. Japan is the Switzerland of Asia in a lot of ways and visiting this past summer made me want to go back so badly. Probably has the most uphill battle to learn though, so maybe I’ll leave that for another year.

My tentative plan is to put on some videos and such while I do dishes or other chores, when my ears and brain are a captive audience!

Establish a workout rhythm

This is such the stereotypical New Year’s resolution, but yeah, I’d like to get fit. Specifically, I want to know what it’s like to feel ��in shape”. Especially since becoming a father, there are so many things in my daily life that I think would be so much easier if my muscles were just a bit stronger or my heart and lungs a little more efficient.

How am I going to do this? Not sure yet. There’s a gym club near us that offers childcare so I might try that for a bit. I’ve tried running before and I liked it when I could find the time for it. And Fitness+ gets flack but I’ve done quite a few exercises through it and it’s honestly quite enjoyable.

I’ll end up doing a combo. Or nothing at all. But maybe me saying this into the internet will provide some sense of accountability. Ideally I just want to get into a sustainable rhythm. Doesn’t have to be much, just something.

Use public transit?

This is a tough one for me. Right now I live in the mountains on a somewhat steep, busy, and narrow road with a lot of blind turns. This makes riding a bike a bit treacherous from my home, especially after dark. When the days start to get longer, I’d like to try riding my bike to the bus station and ride the bus to work more often. It tags on quite a bit of extra time in my commute, but I’ve just grown to really resent driving recently. Tough in a car-dependent area of a car-dependent nation.

Unlock the power of Costco

At the end of this year we went to Costco a few times and I forgot how much is there in terms of building blocks for easy meals. I want to come up with some meal plans using Costco stuff to cut down on grocery costs and also make dinner a bit easier at the end of the day.

Well that’s about it. I have some other vague goals of journaling or meditating but I can’t really put it into words yet.

See you in a few months, wall of text.

[galaxy-bunbie]

Bandit Flapper

A small Short-Play that I wrote for a School Project. ALL RIGHT RESERVED TO ME. If anyone is at all interested in this piece contact me on Twitter Galaxy_Bunnie or even on here!

THE BANDIT FLAPPER

BY: Karina Cabrera

CAST

HELEN

COP

JAMES

AGATHA

HELEN is at a table her hands cuffed together, around her is darkness and the chair across from her is empty. She's there in the darkness for a while, tapping her foot and fiddling with the cuffs. Moments pass and HELEN stands up holding the cuffs on one of her fingers, throwing the cuffs to the ground she smiles, turning her chair to look at the audience.

HELEN: I remember the first job I went on, like it was yesterday. It runs through my mind everyday, and honestly makes me smile a little bit more each and every time. It was a fun time, I was young, and swift. Was never going to be caught at that age, plus I'm sure I could have played my way out of any trouble. Actually to hell I think I did. Ha, yeah I remember it now that little cop, he really did try to follow my tail. Was close! Real close, but luckily I am an actress honestly, could likely beat Olive Thomas in the audition rooms. But regardless I looked at the fuzz straight in the eye giving him my best doe eyes and pouty lip. Look, watch.

The lights start to shift as the table is taken out by what seems to be movers, then HELEN is there in the dark as city noises surround the space. In the back there are silhouettes to show that she is in the city of some sort. A mover comes out and throws HELEN a trench coat and duffle bag, which she quickly puts on trying to hide the bag in the process. 

COP: Hey you! Stop what you're doing!

HELEN: Oh please sir, can you point me in the right direction? I seem to have gotten lost. I'm new to town and keep forgetting the location of the Miss Agatha's Hotel? We call her Miss Aggie though. 

COP: Oh uh, I see. I'm sorry mam I think I confused you for someone else, so uh well you see just down that street right there, you're going to keep walking until you see the big ol sign that says Main Street. Once there you should be in the home stretch as Miss Aggies hotel is the big ol red building on Main. Ya can’t miss it. 

HELEN: Oh thank you so much sir! I am forever thankful for your help. Is there anything I could possibly do to repay you?

COP: O-Oh no mam, you don't need to do that. I'm just here protecting the citizens of the city and making sure a pretty woman like you gets home alright. Will you be ok walking back to Miss Aggies by yourself?

HELEN: Oh don't worry. I think I’ll be able to manage. Thank you sir, I hope you have a nice night. You've been real. Help.

HELEN starts to make an exit but as she exits the bag drops from her coat.

COP: Oh, mam you seem to have dro-

HELEN: Thank you sir, I am so sorry I guess I must be really clumsy. Well, thank you again sir-

COP: Hold on mam, I am so sorry, but you see just a few blocks from here there was a robbery-

HELEN: Excuse me sir! You're accusing me of robbing a bank? I think you need a pair of glasses sir, I could never do that. I am practically a mere little lady.

COP: Oh, well um I am sincerely mam. I guess perhaps I am in the wrong, well, here you go. You should be on your way. The sun seems to be setting and this town is sadly mighty dangerous at night. Even if we do try to keep it as safe as we can, especially for little ladies li-

HELEN exits, and finally COP realizes that she is gone. He looks around a bit as if looking for her when JAMES runs on stage catching his breath.

JAMES: Did you catch her? She ran this way the Flapper that robbed Newman's bank. Hey, Hey look at me buddy where you looking off to?

COP: Oh detective James, I am sincerely sorry I didn't see you there. I am so sorry sir uh what were you saying just now?

JAMES: Jesus h christ Harold, look up at me and stop bowing your head. You looked like a dog looking after a bone just now. Now look at me and tell me did you see if that Flapper passed by here?

COP: No sir, just a little lady, I was uh looking to see where she went off to. See the sun is setting and it could be a mighty dangerous time for-

JAMES: Harold, I don’t care about that, did you check the lady over? Right not every lady who isn't accompanied by a friend or man is a suspect. So please tell me. Please. That you at least did a search on her or any bags she had.

COP: Well, uh you see sir. She was uh just a little la-

JAMES: Harold! I don't care if she was a little lady, if she wouldn't have been able to do it. Dear god every woman we searched today has said that because guess what genius. These ladies know how to play us, act all sweet and innocent, make us lower our walls. Do you hear me Harold?

COP: U-uh yes sir I. I understand I am sorry I will make sure to search any suspect well next time, uh real well.

JAMES: Good, now at least tell me you were able to confirm that she wasn't wearing what the suspect wore.

COP: Uh, w-well

JAMES: Jesus Christ Harold! You did not. Please tell me that you know that the lady wasn't wearing a flapper dress or so god. If I have to do more paper-

COP: Well uh, you better get that pen ready and b-buckle up sir.

JAMES: God dammit Harold, you son of a- god you're so dumb. Ok whatever its fine, do you know where this lady may have gone? I guess I’ll do your job since your fired.

COP: Oh well you see she went to Miss Agatha- Wait fired?

JAMES: Yes, fired Harold. Now, you are free to go and get out of the way of my work am I clear? (beat) Harold. Am. I. Clear?

COP: U-Uh Y-Yesir.

JAMES: Good

JAMES exits quickly following the direction that HELEN went off in, COP is there looking around for a moment.

COP: God Dammit.

COP exit. The scene starts to change showing the sunset, and we see the city line start to switch to one main building. There is the sound of the bell and doors opening and finally, the lights come up on what seems to be an inside setting. Specifically the lobby of Miss Agatha's hotel. There is a counter and behind it a door. HELEN enters.

HELEN: Ohhhhh Momma. I'm home! Momma? (beat) Oh miss Aggie! Agatha. Oh my god.

HELEN walks over to the counter and spots a bell. She reaches out and starts to ring it continuously with the next line.

HELEN: Oh Momma. Wake up lil Hel is home. Oh Momma Aggie. Miss Aggie. Agatha my Banana Mama. Miss Aggie the mega Ba-

AGATHA enters from the door, HELEN didn't see her and continues until AGATHA places her hand over HELENS stopping the ringing.

AGATHA: Every day you make me regret checking you into this hotel more and more. Now must I remind you. You don't have the right to call me Momma if you don't pay rent. An certainly not the right to call me Aggie or Agatha, or Agatha my-

HELEN: But I do got rent, see.

HELEN places on the counter the bag that had dropped earlier. HELEN also starts to shrug off her coat revealing a flapper dress underneath.

AGATHA: Helen put that damn jacket back on, I don't want people seeing a floozy in my Hotel Lobby. Now let's open this up. Oh goodness! Helen darling this is a nice haul. 

HELEN: Yeah, yeah. Now, how much more time will that buy me Momma. Please tell me you can do me a lil favor.

AGATHA: Of course, I can. That is after you put that damn jacket on.

HELEN: Oh Momma, you don't mean that come on. That jacket is just so itchy and it's hot. See look! My curls are falling out because of how hot it is.

AGATHA: Oh Helen put that damn jacket on, quickly now. Someone’s walking up to the building.

HELEN: Oh Shit. 

HELEN quickly grabs the jacket and moves to behind the counter and tries to go into AGATHA’s room. As the door opens and JAMES walks in, HELEN quickly ducks instead leaving AGATHA and JAMES there alone.

AGATHA: Well hello officer, I'm sorry but I didn't know if you saw the sign outside or not. But this is Miss Agathas Hotel for working girls. I believe it said loud and clear on the door sign “NO MEN: Unless accompanied by a Tenant. So I am sincerely sorry but you're going to have to turn around officer. Unless perhaps, you came to speak to me in which I’ll gladly have the plea-

JAMES: Ok. Mam that's enough. I am here strictly on business-

AGATHA: Now. Now! Hold up there. That is not the type of hotel that we are running-

JAMES: Excuse me Agatha. Um if I may speak so frankly but I am here just wondering about an inquiry on a young woman who's a suspect of a bank robbery a few blocks over.

AGATHA: You’re suspecting one of my girls? Heaven forbid! My girls each came from a harsh broken background. Then they came to me like little puppies in the rain. Sad, Lonely, with no roof over their heads either and no job to help support them. Well, I'll tell you, Miss Agatha. That's me: helped them get back on their feet and find them all a good little working job.

JAMES: Mam, I am just wondering if perhaps any of your tenants are a flapper-

AGATHA: Oh my heavens no! They are so modern, loud and if I dare say a whole lot of Floozys. I don't have a single Flapper here in fact oh look there is my favorite tenant right now. If I dare say she is the cream of all the crop here in Miss Agatha's hotel.

From the section that leads further into the hotel comes HELEN she is dressed in business attire with a hat on her head. But that didn't hide the fact that her hair was also a very different color, but it was still HELEN with the way she carried herself. 

HELEN: Oh Miss Aggie! I'm heading out now for the day. It seems the Office needed me to come in today as Mr. Langston’s other secretary got sick. I hope she is fine, poor girl catch-

AGATHA: Now, now Helen dear. Didn't you learn any manners? Right before you is a fine officer gentleman. He's here to ask a few questions of our tenants. Since you're the first to come down, how about you tell this fine gentleman what you were up to hmmm?

HELEN: Oh now Miss Aggie you know it's embarrassing but if you really insist. You see officer I was working upstairs on my needlework, 

JAMES: Yes well, I'm sorry to ask you mam. However I must say your makeup is very modern for a office job perhaps you should cha-

HELEN: Now now Mr. Officer. Every woman has their preference, and that was extremely rude. So I must say, I believe you owe me something hmmm? Perhaps I should know your name since you know mine. Plus you also just rudely insulted my makeup, which in my defense is the style.

JAMES: Yes, I guess you're right. But you must tell me your full name as well, so I can take you off the list of suspects. 

HELEN: Of course. So you first?

JAMES: James, James Blakely.

HELEN: Helen Debois.

BLACK OUT

[dollar-store-sparklez]

Eyes emoji for this au you speak of and this legundo- what does that whole period of time look like while they're still discovering the empty world of miniate(?)

hello poke popcornsalty my beloved friend, SO!! first of all, mianite, both seasons if i remember correctly were minecraft 1.7, the only difference is s2 was modded (heavily modded, it was insane)

so the main timeline, it takes 100 days, cause thats well. 100 days multiverse. thats the thing. so the first day, honestly, its probably just wandering around staring at everything, followed by a few days of picking a place to live, and stealing shit from the abandoned houses nearby, and setting up a sustainable food source. i image he takes up residence in jerrys tree, because its huge, kickass, and empty, its also a giant tree so there's limited structural damage compared to a lot of the other structures.

after a while of getting together some resources, its a matter of figuring out stuff while just... surviving. get better tools, look for hints of what happened here, set up a farm, wonder if he'll get whisked away on day 100 again.

the world itself, i mean, its obvious that its Old, its a 1.7 world, however i think legundo dropping in brings new live to the world, updating it to 1.19, bringing with it a Lot of new things, new blocks, new biomes, new animals, you name it. so he explores, and he fixes up the various structures just to have something to do, the dragons already been killed in this world, but hes done that before anyways, killing the warden, well, i mean he escaped the last world 2 days early, but its hard to tell if thats done anything yet, so boss battles seem optional, so its mostly just... exploration and waiting. theres no mods to make it more interesting, theres no strange twist, at least not yet, so he just... chills. takes a bit of a break. theres a mystery here in all the dust, and he'll look into it and see what happened.

i do also imagine, that the s1 gods (at least the two that are alive) are keeping an eye on him, but the s1 gods are also very hands off at the best of times, so i doubt they do anything, at least until the other streamers and co literally fall out of the sky back into the world. the timeline itself is kinda fuzzy, but thats just kinda how minecraft is the others, so, at the end of mianite s1 the 4 streamers jump into the void in order to go home, its a leap of faith. i cant tell you if that faith paid off because they didnt go home, they ended up in season 2, a completely different universe with different versions of the gods, and like 500 mods

at the end of s2, that universe is literally falling apart, and they jump into a portal in order to escape, and then s3 never happened so we dont actually know where they went. most people assume they probably went back to s1 for the lore reasons, but logically if s3 had happened they probably would have ended up in a new, maybe not as modded but updated to the newest version of minecraft world, where ianite is the beeg (bc in s1 it was dianite and in s2 is was mianite but also world historian- complicated) for this, i chose go back to s1, because it works well and doesnt require as much world building on my part, since im already combining 2 things most people havent heard of

[quixotic-writer]

Truth or Truth?

Request: Anon

Summary: Q and Sal are in a double punishment. Q is hooked up to a lie detector and is forced to answer questions about his relationship with his girlfriend who just so happens to be Sal’s sister. Whether he likes it or not, the truth will be revealed.

Warning: Smut ahead!

–––––––––––––––––––––––––

“Well, seems both Sal and Q have lost the episode.” Murr announces to the cameras with absolute joy that for once he wasn’t the one being miserably punished. Sal and Q nod their heads in defeat and chuckle out of fear of what awaits them on the stage beyond the curtain of the theatre they were stationed at for the day.

“Which means a double punishment is out there waiting for you guys.” Joe says with an equal level of glee as Murr.

“Can we just get to it now, I'm sweating buckets and I just wanna get this over with.” Sal says as he wipes his hands on the sides of his pants to rid his palms of the sweat that was building up.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get you guys out on that stage!” The two men are laughing as the other two did as they were instructed. There on the stage were two chairs. One of those chairs was next to a table filled with wires and equipment, the other had rope surrounding it. Sal and Q both look at each other with eyebrows raised in question of the curious set up. “Sal you will be taking the chair on the left, Q you get the chair on the right next to that machine we’ll get you hooked up to.” The minute he heard the phrase ‘get you hooked up,’ Q knew exactly what the boys had in store.

He complied without saying anything, it was a punishment after all and it’s not like he could evacuate or run away anywhere. He watched as Sal was sat in his chair and tied up good and well to it.

“Guys I thought this was a double punishment. Why am I just being tied to a chair and Q getting hooked up to a lie detector test? What are you gonna do? Ask him how many times he’s fantasized about fictional women while jacking off?” Sal laughs. Little did he know what the guys had in store for this special use of the lie detector test.

“So our buddy Q here has been dating Sal’s sister – (Y/N) – for quite a while now.” Joe said with a toothy grin on his face. They watched as Sal’s face dropped immediately to shock and disgust.

“So we’ve hooked Q up to a lie detector test and we’ll be asking him a few questions about their relationship.” Both Murr and Joe were laughing. “But wait! It gets better!”

“There’s only one audience member besides us here.” When the lights brightened slightly, rows of chairs could be made out now in their line of vision, and so could the one solitary audience member sitting front and center: (Y/N).

“That’s Sal’s sister!” Murr says with jubilation. You could watch the color completely drain from Sal and Q’s face.

“That’s right Sal, you have to look at your sister and your best friend as we ask all these questions and you have to hear the honest truth about it all no matter how dirty.” Sal was freaking out wanting to break free of the constraints that bound him to the chair. He was begging and pleading for anything else as the two winners of the episode were laughing at his fruitless pleas. Q had his face in his hands and his face was regaining its color in only a single shade. He was red as a fire engine knowing exactly where this was about to go. He lifted his head slightly to be met with the eyes of his lover. She sheepishly waved with a smile and he did the same.

“There’s no escaping or compromising a punishment Sal, you lost and this is what you get!” Sal had stopped thrashing and now had his eyes set on the ceiling staring off into nothing. “Let’s start with the first question!”

“Let’s start easy: Have you ever kissed her,” Q huffed as his eyebrows furrowed together. What a silly question, “With tongue?” And there was the searing bit and his expression was wiped clean off of his face.

~

It was early on in their dating days, they decided on a movie night at Q’s place. It was warm and cozy, intimate and serene. She had her head resting on his shoulder and his arm was wrapped around her, holding her in close so that he could be closer to each and every piece of her. Because they were together for only a short time at that moment, Q feared making moves as to not upset her and cause a rift between him and Sal. It was already hard enough getting Sal warmed up to them, it would make things worse if he accidentally made a move she wasn’t comfortable with and Sal would have even more reason to disapprove of what they had going on. So while he seemed relaxed, he was actually freaking out on the inside.

That’s when their eyes locked on each other, her hand was placed gently on his cheek as she smiled and started inching in closer. Her hand was moving in closer and he went with it, seeing as all the signals were there and he was given the green light. Their lips met and he could taste the popcorn on her lips, he went in for another, and another. She felt addicting, he loved it and wanted more. That’s when her tongue traced along his lips, he hesitated.

“Don’t be so stiff B. I know you want more.” She whispered against his lips. She was right, that’s when things started getting heated. He brought her onto his lap, she was then straddling him and their lips met with each other once again, parted and allowed their tongues to intertwine. He could taste her so much better and he knew he was in deep.

The rest of that evening was truly memorable.

~

“Y-yes.” He answered honestly.

“He’s telling the truth.” The polygraph reader spoke as he watched the readings carefully. Sal’s face contorted in disgust as laughter echoed through the theatre.

“Next question: Have you done it on Sal’s bed or in his house?” Q squeezes his eyes shut.

“Brian I swear, you better think long and hard about how you answer this. You have house sat for me many times. If you say yes.”

~

Sal was away on a comedy tour and to go visit his mom. Q was handed the responsibility to watch over his house and make sure that everything was kept clean. Sal stated that he didn’t mind if he stayed the night at his place if he ever drank or if he just felt like it, so long as everything was kept in proper order when he came back. That much Q could do. He never said anything about his girlfriend being over as well.

It started as it always did: chilling out in the living room. They were playing Mario Kart together and the competition was getting heated. Nothing made Q happier than having a girlfriend he could play video games with, especially competitively. Both of them already started playing a little dirty, bumping each other playfully, blocking their view of the screen during important jumps, and so on. They were having the time of their life until she took things a step further.

As they were on their second lap, she sat on Q’s lap and started circling her hips. Q had a hard time focusing on the screen now that something else began to catch his interest. She kept going and she could feel him starting to grow hard under her. He bit his lip to not moan and show weakness and focused as much of his attention on the screen as best as he could.

“(Y/N). T-that’s cheating. You play… Dirty.” She had her eyes on the screen and now added noises as she gyrated her hips.

In the end, Q crossed the finish line first and ended up winning.

“Well, B. Looks like you won.” She said with a devilish smirk on her face, “I guess you’ve earned yourself a prize.” She slithers down to her knees and settles between Q’s legs as he sits on the couch. She pulls down his pants along with his boxers as his member throbs in front of her eyes. Q’s lips are already parted as his breath hitches at the sight before him. She licks her lips and immediately takes him as far into her mouth as she could. He lets out a low groan as his eyes close to take in the sensation.

“Fucking hell baby.” He says as his hand goes to the back of her head as his hips start to work and fuck her mouth. He was already aching for release as she was grinding against him, so his inevitable end was already building up like a skyscraper. “(Y/N). Sweetheart. God. You’re gonna make me cum.” He was at the edge of absolute euphoria, he had control of her as he tangled his hand in her hair and guided her faster up and down his cock until he shoved her down and released in her mouth. “Swallow.” He commanded, and she did exactly that. All evidence of his climax gone. He pulls her up for a kiss before lifting her and allowing his feet to carry them to where he would now be staying for the night: Sal’s room.

~

“Do I really have to answer this one?” Q asked as he began sweating profusely as he remembered each sensation pertaining to his answer.

“Hurry up and answer! You’ve never had problems talking about your sex life before tough guy.” Joe criticizes.

“No.” A blatant lie and they all probably knew. This answer was proven false after the polygraph interpreter stated so. Sal was glaring at Q and Q dared not make eye contact at that moment.

“You guys have ravaged my house for a punishment before, but SEX in MY HOUSE?!?! Not only that but WITH MY SISTER?!” Q wanted nothing more than just to disappear.

“Next question. Oh this one's good!” Q closed his eyes again, bracing himself for the next question, “Had she ever called you daddy?” His cheeks felt like they were on fire now. “Not like how you refer to yourself when talking about your cats either. You know exactly how we mean it.”

~

The room was filled with the sounds of the bed frame squeaking and moans eliciting from open mouths along with steamy breath that stuck to their skin. Q was thrusting his hips roughly into her as she raked her nails down his back, leaving her own mark on him.

“You like that baby? Like when I fuck you hard?”

“Yes! Yes!” Her words felt like they were being forced out of her with each snap of his hips as he hit just the right spots to drive her crazy.

“Yes, what?” He asked her as he slowed to an agonizing pace. She wrapped her legs around him to try and speed things up, bringing him in closer despite knowing it wouldn’t do anything until that one word was uttered. “C’mon (Y/N). Let me hear it. Yes, what?” His hot breath fell in her ear and sent chills through her and she could feel her clit throb as she bit her lip and moaned at the authoritative tone.

“Yes daddy.” His hips picked right back up as the familiar sound of skin on skin began to echo once again in the room. “Fuck I love it when you fuck me like this. Harder. Please, daddy.” Each time she said it, it brought him closer and closer to climax.

“God I love when you call me that sweetheart.” He licked his thumb and began rubbing circles around her clit as he continued working his hips against hers. Whining as she felt her climax begin to wash over her, Q wasn’t that far behind as he began to grunt and moan with each thrust as he felt her tremble beneath him. “Gonna cum baby, you’re so perfect.”

~

Q wondered if the air conditioning in the place was even on. If it was, they needed to crank it if not his shirt was sure to be drenched in sweat by the time this punishment was over.

“Uuuh.”

“Not an answer buddy.” Q really didn’t want to answer this. He could feel Sal’s gaze boring holes into him. He knew how his best friend felt about his relationship which is why he never said a thing about their sex life like he had with previous relationships. He respected Sal that way and always made sure to treat his sister well. But the pickle he was in now was making this dynamic extremely difficult.

“I uuh.” He was choking on words. There was no sense in lying, but maybe, just maybe if he believed hard enough he could trick the lie detector into believing he was telling the truth. He took a breath, said over and over in his head that he was telling the truth, steadied himself, and “no.” He tried saying it with honest conviction.

“A lie.” Yup. He definitely wanted to crawl in a hole now. All three of the other men were hollering at the answer. Q looked at (Y/N) and she was just as red as he was but she was laughing. He wasn’t sure how she could be laughing at this moment, but for some reason it put him slightly at ease knowing that this wasn’t torture for her like it was for him.

“Okay last question Q.” Sal had been mostly silent for the last few minutes and Q just knew that Sal wanted him dead or something else. He was lucky there were restraints holding him back because god knows what would have happened if he wasn’t. Q was mentally bracing himself for something absolutely revolting that he would have to answer for, something that would really make Sal lose his mind. Dildos, sneaking off on tour together to have sex, road head, he was ready to answer for it and face the consequences. “Do you love her?”

~

It was early in the morning and sun peered through the windows of his house. As he opened his eyes, there she was. Her eyes closed and her breathing steady, all the cats were curled up around her and all were surprisingly still asleep as well. She was dreaming and he knew it. Seeing her so peacefully asleep made him happy. It wasn’t only that. It was knowing she was happily asleep in his bed, next to him that made his heart flutter and burst with joy. Waking up and seeing her was unlike anything he’s ever felt.

He crawled out of bed carefully. In the kitchen he began to cook up some breakfast for them and also to feed the needy little kittens. As he was at the stove, he heard her shuffle in. He looked over his shoulder and saw her, eyes hooded and still half asleep, a little smile tugging at her lips, hair covering most of her face. She was just the most beautiful person ever and he couldn’t think otherwise.

“Morning sunshine.” He says with a smile on his face, voice still groggy from waking up.

“Mornin’ B.” She made her way over and hugged him from behind, leaning on him as she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply smelling his morning musk and the food that was cooking. “Smells so good.” She mumbled. His heart was just exploding and he couldn’t stop smiling.

As they ate breakfast, she spoke most of the time and that was just how he liked it. He never tired of her voice, never tired of hearing her talk, never tired of being around her. She noticed the dopey look on his face as she spoke and she stopped and gave him a bit of a side glance and a smile.

“What’s with you this morning Bri? You’ve been acting all mushy. Not that I'm complaining or this is out of the ordinary.”

“I just like hearing you talk.” He said truthfully. “And it’s just–”

~

“–I love her.” He spoke with a smile on his face. “I really do. No doubt about that. There’s no one else I've been more in love with than her. Every part of her. Good and bad. I love her.” He looked her in her eyes, recalling each countless moment they’ve had with each other. Every time he was around her, he felt like a high schooler again. So bashful, so in love, hopelessly so. There was no one else for him.

“It’s all true.” The polygraph reader spoke with a smile. Sal looked at Q, then looked at his sister and saw them just entranced with each other. Hearing everything Q had to say was true made his anger quickly slide away. He wanted his friend to be happy, he couldn’t keep them apart. Despite thinking this was an absolutely terrible idea at the start, perhaps this changed things.

“That’s it Q. Interrogations over.” Both men were released from their punishment prisons and were left to face each other.

“So. You really love her, huh?” Q smirked as he felt the butterflies thinking about her again.

“More than you could imagine.” He said with confidence. He felt her arms wrap around him and he turned around to see her eyes sparkling like constellations at midnight. He wrapped his arms around her tight and gave her a kiss.

“Listen, I know i’ve been hard on you Q. Just protective of my sister y’know?”

“I get it, Sal. But I can promise you wholeheartedly that I’d never do anything to hurt her ever.”

“Might wanna hook him up to the lie detector again.” Joe said as he walked by. Q rolled his eyes.

“I know. I just want you to promise one other thing.”

“Anything.” Q leaned in attentively.

“I never wanna hear anything about your sex life ever again.” (Y/N) snickered as Q felt his face heating up in shame again.

“Deal.”

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Late Night Talks

Summary: After a long hunt, the reader and Dean grab a late dinner on the road. Dean notices the reader not eating much and calls her out on her recent eating habits when he gets concerned about the road she’s on...

Pairing: Dean x reader

Square: Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 1,900ish

Warnings: language, discussion of disordered eating & eating disorders, fluff

A/N: Written for @supernatural-jackles​ Tell Me A Story Bingo! 

______

“I read this article earlier,” said Dean as he popped a french fry into his mouth. You were about five hours from home, eating a midnight dinner at some tiny little diner on the side of the road after a successful but exhausting ghoul hunt.

“Mhm,” you hummed, picking at a brussel sprout on your plate. 

“It was on disordered eating,” he said, picking up a piece of bacon that’d fallen onto his plate and eating it.

“You mean eating disorders,” you said, stabbing into the sprout and eating it before you went back to your dicing up your chicken tenderloin.

“No this was something different. It’s like, how some people shift into having an eating disorder, like pre disorder I guess.”

“So...was there something interesting in this article?” you asked, picking up a piece of chicken and taking a bite.

“Actually yeah,” he said. You chewed and took a few bites before he set the burger down and wiped off his hands. “It was about how there’s dangers involved with disordered eating since it could turn into something all consuming, like a full on eating disorder.”

“Well that sounds kinda obvious,” you said. 

“Well it was about how stuff like skipping meals, limiting your calories too much, saying some foods are good and others are bad, that stuff over time can really start to mess with your head and lead to that compulsion of being obsessed with food and weight.”

“Isn’t that just common sense,” you said. He hummed and you ate another piece of chicken before pushing the plate away. “I don’t know about you but I’m full.”

“Yeah, it is common sense,” he said. You raised an eyebrow and he pulled out his phone, tapping on it for a moment before spinning it around, showing you a number.

“Are you tracking my fucking calories?” you said.

“Oh geez, Y/N. Maybe cause you hit every red flag in that article I read and I got concerned. There’s no humanly possible way you’re full when you’ve eaten a whopping 800 calories today. You’re starving yourself.”

“I’m not hungry today, weirdo,” you said. 

“You were slow on that hunt and we both know why. You’ve been doing this for weeks really extremely and honestly, since I’ve met you.”

“I’m on a diet. You know that.”

“You’re on the ‘I’m fucking up my metabolism’ diet. Ah, that one’s a classic,” he said.

“Back off. I am not hungry lately is all.”

“Eat this,” he said, sliding his plate in front of you. He took your plate and started eating, staring at you. “Eat the burger.”

“I said-”

“Take one bite.”

“I’m not hungry,” you growled.

“Then take a bite and spit it out.” You picked up the burger, covered in cheese, bacon, peppers and a sauce that smelled so good. You swallowed and put it down, Dean shaking his head.

“Dean. I’m just not hungry.”

“Why won’t you take a bite?” he asked. You sighed and closed your eyes. “Y/N.”

“Because I’ll want to eat the whole thing and this has to be a thousand calories and I can’t eat that much, Dean. I’m on a diet.”

“Today I’ve seen you have three cups of coffee, a banana, and half of a small piece of chicken and a few brussel sprouts. You need to eat.”

“I need to lose weight.”

“For what?”

“I’m overweight.”

“Because a little stupid calculator online said so? So another stupid little calculator tells you how much food you’re allowed a day? But maybe you’re having a bad day so you tell yourself you don’t deserve to have even all of that already restricted food? So you make it even smaller to the point of, hm, what’s that word, disordered eating?”

You stared down at your lap and heard him get up, sliding into the booth beside you. He wrapped an arm around your shoulders and you looked out the window.

“I do need to lose weight Dean. It’s true. I’m not supposed to be this big.”

“What are you supposed to be then?”

“Like that waitress. She’s small and thin. She’s healthy.”

“I see,” he said. She was working behind the counter, no one else in the place aside from a man at the other end and the cook. “Excuse me miss?”

She popped her head up and walked over with a tired smile.

“Can we get another bacon cheeseburger? And a big bowl of that ice cream sundae?” he asked.

“You got it,” she said, writing it down.

“One more thing,” said Dean. “Do you like the way you look?”

“Excuse me?” she said.

“Dean, shut up,” you said. “Please ignore him.”

“I mean, are you happy with your body? Do you eat whatever you want, wear whatever you want, never worry a second about what goes in it or how it looks? You’re a beautiful woman but what do you actually think of yourself?”

She was quiet for a few moments before she noticed the swapped plates in front of you.

“You know when you first asked that, I thought, you were being creepy. I get creepy guys in here a lot late at night. The cook is a big guy but it happens. I know I’m small. I wish I was stronger. I wish I looked like she does. I’m something that looks like they’d snap in the wind. She’s strong and has an ass and curves. She’s not a rectangle with no curves or chest. She doesn’t look like a guy. I wish I wasn’t so delicate but I don’t think I can change that much.”

“Probably not so much,” said Dean. “But I hear weight training is good for muscle building. Creeps are always creeps but might help to be able to deck ‘em.”

“Yeah. I’ll go put that order in for you guys,” she said with a smile. Dean turned his head back to you after she went through the double doors.

“Funny. You want her body. She wants yours,” he said. 

“She doesn’t know I’m overweight.”

“She doesn’t know how damn strong you are. Her body? She was right. She is delicate and it’d be a safe idea for her to put on some muscle given her job. You though? You I’ll worry to death over no matter what. But you’re missing the most glaring thing of all.”

“What?”

“You just said she doesn’t know you’re overweight. She doesn’t know how much you weigh. If she doesn’t know how does anyone know? Why does a number on a scale matter? Health does, don’t get me wrong, but care more about what your body can do than what size pants you fit in. It’s all bullshit anyways. You can be a small one place or a triple XL somewhere else. You can have a normal chest but be told it’s too big or too small by a different brand. I just don’t want to see you going down a path towards something worse where you’re hurting yourself.”

“I’d never hurt myself, Dean.”

“If your body is hungry and you don’t feed it, you’re hurting it. I’m talking about you’re cold, you’re starving, you have no energy, you feel like crap. But you won’t eat, not until it gets a little worse because you think you can take it because you’ve taken it before. That’s hurting yourself and you hurt yourself a lot sweetheart.”

You looked down and swallowed, taking a deep breath.

“I’m really cold right now,” you said quietly. “I’m tired of always being so fucking cold.”

“Eat,” he said, tugging his plate closer to you. “I’ll order you some soup too. That’ll warm you up.”

He took off his jacket and wrapped it over your shoulders. He kissed your cheek and you squeezed your eyes shut.

“I’ve been like this for years, Dean. I don’t know how people eat normally anymore.”

“I know. You probably fucked up your metabolism but we can unfuck it up too. You can be healthy but this, this isn’t healthy. I’ll do it with you but you gotta promise me you won’t starve yourself anymore.”

“I’ll try,” you said.

“I’ll take trying to start with,” he said. “I’m gonna order that soup. Eat up for me sweetheart. You’ll feel better soon. I promise.”

One Month Later

“Y/N!” shouted Dean from the kitchen as you walked past. “You eat lunch yet?”

“No,” you said. 

“Are you hungry?”

“A little. I was waiting for you to get done with Baby,” you said.

“What’d you eat so far?” he asked.

“I had a cup of coffee and a protein bar and for lunch I’m having one of those greek wraps I like,” you said. “Satisfied?”

“I’d prefer if you had two wraps or a wrap and snack with it,” he said. You grumbled and he sighed. “Y/N. You said I could take the lead on this.”

“I’m gaining weight,” you said.

“Yeah cause you aren’t eating what a toddler does in a day anymore which is perfectly healthy for a grown woman. I know it’s only been a month but you have so much more energy, you sleep better, you have less nightmares. Your skin looks amazing. So gain a few pounds, gain more than a few, let’s fix your metabolism and then we’ll start working out a little and we’re not gonna give a fuck how much we weigh at all and we’re gonna be the hottest fucking couple in this neighborhood I swear.”

“I like not feeling cold anymore,” you said with a small smile, Dean walking over and rubbing your arms. “It’s just...hard sometimes to not...wait to eat until your stomach hurts from no food. I’m figuring out what being hungry is again.”

“It’s gonna take some time but your body will learn again. We just gotta be extra nice to it right now while it recovers,” he said. “And then we’ll always be nice to it, right?”

“Yeah,” you said. “I promise.”

“So, one wrap or two?” he asked, opening the fridge.

“One. I’ll save the other for tomorrow. But maybe I’ll have some pita chips and hummus with it?” you asked.

“That sounds yummy,” he said. “I think I’ll have that myself.”

“You don’t have to eat my diet Dean,” you said.

“I could do with being nicer to my own body myself,” he said. “After lunch do you want to go for a walk? I have a sneaking suspicion the couple three blocks over are a pair of vamps.”

“That’s the guy with the skin condition, babe,” you said.

“Are you sure cause he got like a weird rash that one time.”

“It’s a condition,” you said with a smile. “But I would love to go for a walk with you while the day is still nice.”

“Sounds like a plan sweetheart,” he said, starting to take food out of the fridge. You walked over and gave him a hug from behind. 

“Thanks for saying something. Even if I tried pretending I was fine.”

“You’d do the same for me,” he said. “Come on, cutie. Let’s get some grub. I’m starving.”

________

[shiny-jr]

❝ ᴏ ɴ ᴄ ᴇ   ᴜ ᴘ ᴏ ɴ   ᴀ   ᴅ ʀ ᴇ ᴀ ᴍ ❞

➼ 𝕐𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕦𝕤 𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕚𝕒

It was a dream.

(Y/n) hummed as they skipped along the brick path. This place was beautiful, a sizable garden surrounded by dark woods. Gentle raindrops trickled down from the gray clouds dotting the sky, but they weren’t heavy enough to block out the setting sun’s orange glow it casted on the earth.

Merrily they jumped in the forming puddles, enjoying this illusion in dreamland. With each hop, water splashed upwards. Not caring if their hair got soaked or their raincoat was covered in droplets, they continued to have fun while singing softly all the while, “I’m singin’ in the rain. Just singin’ in the rain~”

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. 

(Y/n) stopped in their tracks, gaining the feeling of being watched. Looking back, they spotted a figure a few feet behind them. Stopping their fun, they faced the stranger fully with newfound curiosity.

The man blinked, stunning lime green eyes that seemed to glow gazed directly at them. “Hm…?” The stranger had a forbidding appearance, unsmiling and staggeringly tall. From his head were two black curved horns against his jet black hair. His voice slightly deep and he spoke clearly, his words echoing in the empty space around them, “Who are you?”

In the near silence, he could hear their quiet heartbeat. It wasn’t speeding up, it remained at a steady pace. The dripping and flowing water from the fountain sounded, calm and soothing. Right, this was a dream, (Y/n) remembered. There was no real man with horns, this was just a figment of the imagination.

(Y/n) stared back unwaveringly, just as confused as they murmured, “A guy…?” Why would a guy with such a strange feature appear in their dreams?

The man studied them from afar, crossing his arms. His expression remained unchanging, his gaze never leaving their form even as he reached a conclusion. “…You are a child of man.” Still, the question remained, what was a human doing in his dreamland? “How did you get here?” For a moment he appeared a bit irritated that his dreams were ruined by this newcomer. “This is a rare moment when I sleep, and I discover you…”

The young dreamer jumped on the stone edge of a large water fountain, continuing to watch the man from afar. Folding their hands behind their back, they too had many questions. Most importantly, “Who are you?”

For the first time since encountering, the man expressed an emotion: surprise. His eyes widened slightly, silent for a moment before beginning, “Who are… You don’t know who I am? Truly?”

“Should I know who you are?”

A smile crossed his features as he shook his head, “That is… exceedingly rare. Disregard that then. What should I call you?”

“My name is (Y/n).” Offering a smile, they hopped off the water fountain and approached fearlessly. Extending their hand out to him, they continued politely, “It’s nice to meet you,...?”

Astonished that this mere human had the bravery to approach and shake his hand. They really weren’t lying when they said they had no idea who he was. Accepting their hand, he felt their warmth against his cold skin, shaking firmly. “Likewise, what a pleasant encounter… (Y/n)? That’s an unusual name…” When they released their hold on his hand, his arm fell back to his side. The corner of his lips tugged upwards into a smile again, “I’m Mal--... Actually, no. I won’t tell you. Not knowing is for your own benefit. The moment you hear it you’ll feel a frost spread over your skin.”

“Okay… Got it, buddy.” (Y/n) calmly walked back to the water fountain, noticing that the man was following from a distance. “So, if you won’t tell me your name, what the heck am I supposed to call you then?”

“For your ignorance, as an exception, I’ll allow you to call me whatever you like… Though you may come to regret that someday…”

(Y/n) hopped back onto the water fountain, balancing on the edge before facing him again. Able to look him at eye-level now that they stood on this elevated platform. “I’ll think of a nickname eventually. For now I’ll just call you my dream buddy!” Gazing into the blue waters, they stepped in the water fountain. The soles of their rubber boots were submerged, creating small splashes with every hop. They paused once they felt the stare of the young man. Turning to face him, they offered him a hand while inquiring with an eager smile, “Wanna join me, dream buddy?”

“...” He raised an eyebrow before slowly accepting their hand, giving in to that warm smile and child-like twinkle in their eyes. “Very well. I will join you, child of man.”

The two dreamers spent their night together, (Y/n) splashing in the fountain and puddles with hops and jumps, while the mysterious man walked along the water with grace and elegance. After some conversation, he explained that the area they walked in was one he recognized, one from a school of magic he attended. The young human found the man to be strange, but interesting and calming. Even Malleus had to admit, this human he discovered in his dreams had a certain charm to them, they were unafraid of him.

“That’s crazy! There’s no magic in my world. The closest thing we have to magic is electricity and technology, but I’m not sure if that counts.” (Y/n) laughed lightly, entranced when their dream buddy spoke of magic, spells, and potions.

“Is that so?” He hummed, intrigued by their comment. A world without magic, huh?

Beep!

(Y/n) perked up at the familiar beep, scanning the area for the source of the sound. Their vision grew hazy and everything else, even that strange man, sounded distant. Looking up at him, those gleaming green eyes staring down at them.

“(Y/n)? Is something amiss?”

I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.

BEEP!

(Y/n) sat up with a jolt, feeling the loose pajamas on their skin and their bare feet against the warmth of the blanket. Underneath them they felt the familiar softness of their bed. Instinctively their hand reached out, tapping the alarm clock to prevent it from letting out another screeching beep. Yawning as they fell back onto their mattress, left to stare up at the ceiling while muttering,

“What a weird dream…”  

❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂

A few days passed from the night of that dream. That entire day after, they couldn’t help but wonder and look back at it. It felt so real and the scenery was beautiful, and their dream buddy seemed kind. However, after that day, like all dreams, it was forgotten, until nearly a week after.

And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem.

(Y/n) found themself in their dreamland, this time in an environment more familiar to them. A giant park that seemed to stretch forever with the towering skyscrapers of the city over the horizon. Like before, the sun was setting causing the sky to turn dark. Green orbs of light floated in the air, making the space appear magical. Humming as they followed the lights, singing softly as they went along, “A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep~” Walking along a bridge that arched over water, a skip in their step as they enjoyed the breeze. “In dreams you will lose your heartaches. Whatever you wish for, you keep~”

“My, what a lovely voice you have.”

The young dreamer stopped, turning around only to see that same mysterious man standing on the other side of the bridge. Brightening up, they smiled as they recognized those lime green eyes and those black horns. “Hey, my dream buddy! Malmal!”

“Malmal? By Malmal are you possibly referring to me…?”

“Yeah, you said I could refer to you however I like. You know, since I never got the full name. Just Mal, so I came up with Malmal, or I can call you Mal, either or.” (Y/n) stopped in front of him, frowning lightly as they inquired, “Would you like a different name or something?”

But if I know you, I know what you’ll do.

A smile appeared on the man’s face, laughing in disbelief, “Pfft… Haha! There aren’t many who refer to me with such nicknames. You really seem to know no fear. It is fine. I am not opposed to it, I quite like it.”

“Great! It’s settled then!”

“This is the second time I’ve encountered you in my dreams, child of man. Why is that?”

(Y/n) shrugged before admitting, “I have no clue. I honestly thought you were just part of my imagination at first, but it’s kinda obvious that’s not the case anymore. Everything feels so real, and I can actually remember the dream!”

The man’s gaze drifted towards the end of the bridge, overlooking the water and the greenery of the park. Over the trees he could see strange gray rectangle shaped buildings towering high, almost as if they were scraping the sky. “I do not recognize this place. Is this by chance part of your magicless world?”

“Yep, in all it’s magicless glory!”

You’ll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream.

Much of their time spent together that night, (Y/n) explained their homeworld to their dream buddy. However, their time did not stop there. Every week, the same phenomenon occurred, where their dreams were connected somehow despite the fact they were from two different worlds. Every time it happened, the two met and spent their time together. For so long this went on, and each time Malleus felt more connected to the fearless human that befriended him. Slowly but surely, he began to look forward to the sleep he didn’t need but still desired for a chance at connecting with (Y/n) again.

After three months, (Y/n) fell asleep eager as ever, and awoke in an unfamiliar forest. Sometime before they awoke, their dream buddy, Mal, would stumble upon their location and they’d get to spend another wonderful night together. So, while they waited for him to appear, they pranced around barefoot on the soft green grass, weaving around the pine trees as they sang a song they recalled, “I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream~”

Their dream buddy emerged from the forest, going unnoticed by the human. For a moment he stood off to the side, listening to their lovely voice sing such a pleasant and familiar melody. He watched them dance alone, his lime green eyes following their every movement as a smile curled at his lips.

“You’ll love me at once,”

Once their back was turned, he stepped forward and took their hands in his. Joining their waltz, and finishing the lyric in his low and smoky voice, “The way you did once upon a dream~...”

(Y/n) turned to face the young man, shocked at his sudden arrival. “Mal!” He continued to hold their hand as they visibly relaxed upon seeing it was just their dream buddy. “Nice day, right? Oh, I mean, nice night, huh?”

“Yes, it is a nice night.” Finally pulling his hand away, he inquired softly yet somewhat hopefully, “Are you here you provide me company once again?”

“Yeah! I was wondering where you were, you know. You’ll never guess what happened to me today!”

But if I know you, I know what you’ll do.

After six months of meeting, the strangest event occurred, much stranger than their dreams.

(Y/n) was at a party, a huge gathering at a popular bar. Deciding to take a break from the tight-packed crowds, blasting music, and flashing lights, they snuck away from their friends and found a private area on the balcony of one of the higher-level floors. It was beginning to drizzle, but they continued to watch the sunset without a care as the tiny droplets landed on their hair and their clothes.

Malleus was on one of his nightly strolls, it was peaceful and quiet, with only the chirping of crickets or the occasional hoot of an owl. It was easy to escape the watchful eye of the knights Sebek and Silver, quickly forgetting about them as his mind wandered off to the thought of (Y/n). Usually by now, he’d try to sleep in hopes of seeing them, but the human had mentioned last night that they’d be busy tonight and not have much time for sleep. He wondered what they were doing, who they were with, what were they talking about, where were they, were they smiling at this very moment?

Deep in thought, the fae was unable to think of anyone or anything but (Y/n) for quite some time. He had to wonder, would things be different if they were here in Twisted Wonderland with him? Such a thought made him smile. If that were to happen, he wouldn’t have to sleep to see them only twice or three times a week. He’d get to see them everyday, day or night, awake or asleep. Holding up his staff, he recalled the ancient spell he found in his hours of research. Perhaps, he could get another glimpse of them this way. Underneath his breath he chanted the spell. His pace slowed as he felt vibrations underneath him and in the air, the beating of music distant but he could still hear it and feel it. Lifting his head, he looked around until he spotted a familiar figure.

You’ll love me at once.

(Y/n) tensed upon feeling a gaze on them, fearing it was some drunkard that somehow made their way to the balcony. However, when they turned and saw those familiar lime green eyes and those black horns, they dropped their glass beverage.

CLINK!

The beverage shattered against the floor, the human gaping at the sight of their otherworldly friend before them.

Malleus was pleased the spell worked. He could see them, they could see him. Of course, he wasn’t actually there in their world, but he could sense some of the things around them. The booming music and vibrations, the distant sound of lively chatter. That must’ve all been around (Y/n). Seeing the shock on their face, he chuckled, “Hello, child of man.” Wanting to step forward, to engulf them in his arms, but he couldn’t move a step. He was frozen in place, just mere feet away.

“Mal?” (Y/n) appeared confused, so many questions buzzing in their mind. They too were unable to move forward, but that didn’t stop their questions. “How are you-- How is this-- I-- You’re doing this with your magic?”

“(Y/n)!” Distant voices called. Malleus looked at the source, able to see the hazy figures of multiple people joyfully calling out for his child of man, “What are you doing out here?! Let’s go back in and party!”

Party? (Y/n) skipped their meeting, the times he looked forward to, for a party with those people? He felt the vibrations vanish, and the illusion of his dear dream buddy disappeared as well. Holding his hand up to his jet black hair, he could feel the droplets that remained in his hair from the light rain in their world.

Perhaps it would be best to try a different approach…

The way you did once upon a dream. 

❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂        ❂

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.

It took a lot of work to find a spell that could transfer him to an entirely different world, it took the effort of both himself and Lilia to cast the spell. Even then, only one person could enter and he only had limited time to locate and find his dream buddy. Recognizing the park they often wandered in their dreams, the real thing was here just across the street. Looking up at the skyscrapers, he racked his memories for the one (Y/n) pointed to and called home. Finally, he spotted it.

It was a quaint apartment complex compared to the towering buildings lining every walkway. It was the middle of the night, so barely anyone was out. The building was brick and he imagined a few dozen other humans must’ve lived within, judging by the many windows. However, he recalled the important detail (Y/n) mentioned, about a small garden rooftop and their star-gazing spot.

In an instant, he teleported himself to the roof and saw it. A space made of glass with dew drops covering the clear walls, plants lining the wall and off to one-side within the glass room was a swinging bench. There they lay, his sleeping beauty, fast asleep. His green eyes gleamed, he felt his heart pick up speed as he reached for the door knob, silently entering as to not disturb their slumber.

I know you, that gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.

Upon entering, he could feel the warmth in the room that contrasted to the cold outside. Instantly, large black wings sprouted out from his back. The black feathers of his wings grazed over the green plants, causing thorns to rise up from the soil and suffocate the plant life that once grew there.

And I know it’s true that visions are seldom all they seem.

Once he towered over their vulnerable sleeping form, he knelt down beside them. Lime green eyes took in every inch of body, his mind soaking in every detail and angle of their face. They were here, truly right here in front of him, so close that he could just touch them. His pupils dilated as he slowly reached forward, cold fingers lingering over their warm skin and soft hair. The contact serving as evidence that this was no longer just a dream he could long for, this was reality. When they began to stir awake and their eyes fluttered open, he smiled as his dear child of man, his beloved dream buddy.

But if I know you, I know what you’ll do.

“Mal…?” (Y/n) sat up, dazed and confused as they blinked sleepily. Perhaps this was still a part of their dream. “W-What are you doing here…?”

That smile on his lips remained as he picked them up, cradling them in his arms while his wings wrapped around them. The black feathers brushing against her skin, for the first time ever, (Y/n) was frightened of their dream buddy. They shivered when his cold skin touched them and those lime green eyes unwavering as he spoke, “I’m taking you home, back with me where you belong, my sleeping beauty…”

You’ll love me at one, the way you did once upon a dream. 

- You might like this!