#i feel sick and stupid 90% of the time

[alolan-weavile]

oooooh i am deeply unhappy actually

[allowed-to-take-up-space]

.

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Ooo you’re doing Pressure!!

May I request an artist reader who, throughout the journey found some paper, pencil and made a little makeshift sketchbook and when later bought Sebastian’s document decided to try and draw him? Like maybe both when human and current (and maybe the monsters)? 

Perhaps he saw them sketching, got curious and decided to look through it when reader left it somewhere or just straight up snatched it and held it out of their reach and sees those sketches of him. Could be hurt/comfort or angst/fluff.

Of course you’re free to change any of the details but please keep it platonic TwT

Aw love this idea! And it works considering all the paper and notebooks in the drawers of the blacksite.

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

"Great, [y/n]. One moment, you're doing some harmless graffiti on a brick wall nobody cares about. And the next, you're risking your life for a stupid crystal in hopes you'll get a federal pardon.."

Sighing, you held onto the overhead handles within the sleek black submarine, feeling it shake and rumble as it breached the water's surface. And after hearing the chime, the door hissed and opened up, the platform extending out onto the dock of a place already familiar to you: Hadal Blacksite.

'No place like home..' As you stepped out of the submarine, you could hear HQ over the PDA system informing you of your objective in reaching the crystal and collecting any "loose assets" you find along the way...

As if you needed any reminders of what you were doing here.

Immediately, you unlocked the first door with the keycard and began your journey to room 100. Along the way, you found a good handful of research data. Nothing too special aside from folders, USB drives, and a couple blue DNA vials.

Then after narrowly dodging the Angler in one area and avoiding Eyefestation's gaze in the next, you reached a room requiring yet another keycard to exit. You checked the nearby office cubicle, finding it in the first drawer you opened.

But that isn't what made your eyes light up. Rather, it's what was right next to the card that did:

A brand new pencil to go with the sketchbook you've been carrying with you.

Because you weren't given the luxury of doodling while sitting in jail for over 90 days, you felt your creativity flames being snuffed out, leaving you itching to draw something again.

Before all of this, you had a decent following on social media with your art skills, and you could imagine that they're worried sick over your sudden absence. But you hoped that, if you survive and succeed in this mission, you'll be able to come back and reassure them that you're very much alive.

And perhaps show them what Urbanshade has been hiding from the public...that is to say the sea monsters that have taken up residence in the Blacksite since its lockdown, freely roaming and haunting nearly every room you step into.

With the makeshift sketchbook you had (and somehow kept even after death), you've filled its pages with simple and detailed sketches of each creature you encountered.

But you doubt that they would let you leave with physical evidence of entities nobody else in the world should know about...unless you somehow convinced the guards that they were "original characters" that so-happened to look like them, but you had a feeling that excuse wouldn't fly.

Regardless, they've given you tons of artistic inspiration, despite your many close-calls with them in pursuit of studying their features from afar.

Thanks to the files Sebastian Solace has shown you, you've learned how to safely observe the Angler from a distance and better remember their details. They were merely a grotesque face surrounded by smoke, so you didn't have to worry about drawing any limbs or tails (assuming they had those).

You encountered their variants so many times that you could recall the little things that made each them unique--like how Pinkie had four pupils, how Blitz was missing pupils in one socket completely, how Froger was..well..a big frog with lots of needle-shaped teeth, and Chainsmoker was a sluggish blobfish through all that smoke.

Making eye contact with Pandemonium was a death sentence..as you've already learned after trying (and failing) to safely observe him through a glass window. So you draw him as you see him in his file.

The Squiddles' "intimidating" faces were scary in the dark when you least expected them, but they served as amazing inspiration. You even had a page full of what faces you'd think they make up to frighten others. It's too bad you couldn't show them, however, as that required you getting in their personal space.

Eyefestation, Good People, and the Wall Dwellers were quite..risky to observe, as they had ways of quickly and painfully sending you back to square one if you weren't careful. Even so, you made some pretty damn good sketches..and you wish you could show them off to them, too, especially to the shark who'd probably appreciate a human's drawing of herself.

Even the DiVine, who were always frozen in poses for some reason, joined your ever-growing list of muses. The oxygen gardens were a nice place for you to rest and appreciate the flora for a few moments--before an Angler came along, of course.

Then there was Sebastian.

While he was fully aware of your artistic passions, in the beginning he seemed a bit annoyed whenever you came into his shop just to sketch.....or if you took an unusually long time to reach him. He just assumes you've stopped to "doodle" and wonders if you really care about getting out of this place alive.

He'd remind you that HQ could get suspicious if you're off their radar for too long, but you've stayed in his shop for 10-20 minutes at a time and not once did your diving gear beep. So you reassured him not to fret.

It was kinda sweet that he worried over you, an expendable, although maybe that's because you actually treat him with decency..and don't take his snarky comments to heart whenever you died.

Aside from the occasional eyeroll whenever you brought out your sketchbook, he did inquire about some of the things you've drawn, and you'd show him, bearing a little pride in your work.

All you'd get in response was a "neato" or "wowie, that's how you see them?" and nothing more.

It wasn't insulting, so...you'll take that.

Obviously he was more concerned about how much research data you were willing to fork over in exchange for supplies, and how far that equipment will carry you before your next demise. So you'd eventually close the book and barter with him for whatever wares were on his tail.

Unbeknownst to him, you've actually started sketching him as of late. Now that you've met him dozens of times, it was easy for you to recall his features without needing to stare at him for reference every five seconds.

That would not only be rude, but very creepy.

Then one day, you showed up to Sebastian's shop with enough data to be able to afford his document, which described him as Z-13, "The Saboteur" who the company wanted "dead on sight" if he was spotted or trying to escape.

When you had time to read the file on your own, you learned some..pretty shocking things about how he caused the lockdown, went through torturous experiments, and was falsely accused of nine murders and was proven innocent far too late.

The most upsetting part was that he was never informed of this.

He learned that after presumably stealing his own document.

It made you feel sick to your stomach, knowing he's the reason you're being terrorized by those beasts, but you couldn't find it in your heart to be angry at him.

If anything you were angry at Urbanshade for their "guilty until proven innocent" system--or in his case, being proven innocent didn't matter.

His human mugshot was also included in the file, and even with the black censor bar covering his eyes, he still looked like quite a handsome fellow. You could make out some details, and ended up drawing him on a separate page, too, although part of you wishes you never started.

You doubt he would kill you or rip apart your book for drawing him, but considering how volatile and rude he could be at a moment's notice..you did your best to conceal the sketches when you visited his shop.

You didn't want him to be offended or reminded of his past..and make him resent the one person who he almost considered a genuine friend.

Unfortunately, you'd soon come to realize that your actions were only heightening his suspicions.

And that it was going to come to a head next time you entered his shop.

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

"Okay, I'm going to bite...what're you really hiding in that little book?"

"Pardon?" Pausing mid-sketch, you looked up at Sebastian, wondering why he appeared so disgruntled. "I'm..uh...just doodling like I always-"

"No, don't give me that "like always" crap." He huffed, flicking the end of his tail as he crossed his two arms over his chest, staring down at you. "Last time, you couldn't stop showing me a stupid face you'd think one of those S-Qs would make...and now you won't even let me have a sneak peak of your next "masterpiece"." He spat the last word, voice dripping with disdain. "Are you really drawing something...or are you secretly writing intel to give to Urbanshade?"

"...wha.." You blinked in disbelief, wondering where he'd get that assumption from. "Why would I ever do that?"

"Oh I dunno, maaaybe because you have access to my file and know my location? I bet you're gonna sell me out to those scumbags once you reach the crystal." He gnashed his teeth. "Did they say you'd get extra cash for leaving tips on my whereabouts, huh?"

"Sebastian, there's no reason for this hostility. I'm not giving any intel to anyone-"

"Then you wouldn't mind me taking a look at this, would you? Yyyyyyoink!" His third arm was quick to snatch your sketchbook away, holding it out of your reach as you jumped up in panic.

You were already dreading his reaction.

This could very well be the end for you.

"Please give that back! You'll tear it!"

"You look frightened. So maybe I should, considering you're writing secrets about.....about...." But as Sebastian finally looked at the page, all he saw were sketches of his current self, and you began to see a shift in his expression.

It went from pure anger, to surprise and confusion, and then to....something unreadable.

"These are...all of me?" His voice became quieter as he flipped the page, only for his breath to hitch upon finding the drawings of his human form.

And for once, he was completely speechless.

The details were immaculate, everything from his hair style to the scar he used to have across his face--given to him from an angry cellmate who thought he really did kill those people and tried giving him a "taste of his own medicine".

But the way you made him look was...incredible.

That's him.

That's really him.

The man--the human--he was before...

Before...

"Yes." Your face was burning with embarrassment, and your heart was pounding with fear of both death and ridicule, now knowing that your fate laid in his hands now. "I-I'm sorry. I should've asked for your permission and I know the details aren't perfect but you didn't let me........huh?"

Ceasing your ramblings, you noticed the tears welling in his eyes, and you were stunned. Then his shaking hands closed the sketchbook and returned it to you. "Um..are you okay? I'm really sorry if-"

"I...a-almost forgot what I looked like before all of this.." He raised a claw to wipe at his watery eyes, sniffling. "They're...good drawings, friend. I'm sorry..I...I-I didn't mean to..." His voice cracked, and he forced himself to stop, bringing his hands to his face. "Why am I crying over something like..t-this..?"

He hated looking so weak in front of you, yet he couldn't help the tears that kept slipping down his cheeks. A certain sadness was weighing heavily on his heart, yet at the same time he felt...honored that you wanted to draw him, putting your heart and soul into every sketch--with him getting the most effort.

You didn't overexaggerate him as the hideous beast he and everyone else was convinced he was, but just him as, well, himself. His smiles when he realizes it's you coming through the vent again, his cheeky grins when you buy up all his supplies, and even the one time he pouted when you died to Pandemonium because you risked it all trying to draw the moldy fish-creature.

The human ones, as you could tell from the way he broke down, especially hit home for him. Just from a mugshot alone, you were able to create a near-accurate depiction of him.

It made him wonder if you two have met before any of this happened.

Sebastian sniffled, struggling to stop the tears and expecting you to make fun of him as he finally uncovered his face. But instead he saw you standing there with your arms opened up. "I feel like you could use one of these. It's okay. I know you miss being human."

".........."

"C'mon, big guy. My arms are kinda hurting--oh!"

Without warning, he accepted your embrace and squeezed you tightly in his hold. Of course he was careful not to crush your diving tanks, and you smiled in appreciation and patted his back. "It's okay, it's alright..I got you. I didn't mean to make you cry."

He sniffled a few times, but otherwise said nothing and tried making sure you weren't supporting all of his upper body weight.

Curse his size. He wishes he could experience a normal hug again.

This one will do, though.

"I-It's...it's fine. Don't worry.." He finally spoke after a few moments, calming down. "As long as you don't tell anyone about this."

"I'll take it to my grave." You chuckled, letting go and stepping away so he could straighten his back out. While he did that, you gently tore a few pages from your book, to which he blinked in confusion.

"What are you doing with-?"

"Keep them." You insisted. "In case this sketchbook falls into a pit or gets waterlogged, I want you to hold onto these. Besides, I can tell you appreciate them a lot. So...consider it a gift."

"Why..thank you." A smile appeared on his face as he took the pages carefully. "Rest assured, they'll be safe and sound." He gazed at them both one more time, feeling a tug on his heart.

But it wasn't as heavy as before.

After neatly folding and stowing them away into his pockets, he saw you already sitting in one of the chairs, your sketchbook opened to a brand new blank page.

"Sooooooo what are you going to draw this time?" He tilted his head, ear fins twitching with curiosity.

"Hm...I did see a vision of a white glowing man a few rooms back. I think he was from...the Mindscape? There was a file talking about him and some floating gears and a white ball."

"Ohh yeah, he's an interesting guy. I'd love to see your interpretation of him." Now Sebastian was 100% invested, as he curled his tail around himself, resting his upper body on it so he could see your book better. "But y'know you won't be able to leave this place with sketches of-"

"I'm well aware of that...I could always change a few things and turn them into OCs."

"Hah. You should."

"Maybe I will." You snickered, grateful that you didn't have anything to fear.

At least somebody in the Blacksite appreciated your art.

[loveriotss]

hihihi!! i love your shinso texts and your writing style is amazing !!! i was wondering if you could maybe do some sick headcannons with him😖😖

SICK HEADCANNONS WITH HIM ⸻ hitoshi shinso

INCLUDES — gn! reader, headcannons, fluff, slight crack

main masterlist — mha masterlist ༊*·˚

IF YOU FELL SICK . . .

when you fall sick, 90% of the time it's one that could have been avoided if you had listened to shinso's advice. perhaps you were sick today because you had gone out on that rainy day yesterday despite shinso's warnings.

shinso can tell something is wrong when you randomly don't reply to his messages in the afternoon and so he decides to visit your room.

when he finds you laying on your bed, he shakes his head and checks your temperature through your forehead with the back of his hand.

"i told you so" "shut up"

and thus the afternoon turns into shinso being your personal nurse.

he makes sure you're wrapped up in your blanket properly, closing the windows to keep out the cold air.

he'd even put on some fuzzy cat socks on your feet after seeing you try to rub your freezing toes on your blanket in an attempt to defrost them.

will not leave your side at all.

makes sure you've drank enough water and taken your meds properly.

will even cook you a nice warm soup, spoon feeding you gently.

he will nag you to take care of yourself and how stupid it was of you to go out, all while lovingly caressing your hair and being at your beck and call.

you found it a bit silly that he was getting so worried about a little cold you had, but were grateful nonetheless.

after he makes sure that you're comfortable, he will climb into bed with you despite your complaints that he will get sick too.

will cuddle with you, giving your body extra warmth until the two of you drift off to sleep.

IF HE FELL SICK . . .

whenever shinso falls sick, it's mostly because of him overworking his body while training which results in him losing his voice and having body aches.

he thinks hes soo slick by texting you that he's going to bed early so you won't know he's sick. THE shinso hitoshi going to bed early?? not possible.

in under 5 minutes you are knocking on his door. when he unlocks the door for you, you find him looking even more tired than he usually does. his room is in bit of a mess, he hasn't changed out of his uniform and your suspicions are confirmed.

after some nagging and pushing you finally got shinso down into his bed, clearing it up a bit before standing up with a satisfied grin.

"don't worry kitten, daddy will take care of you" "..leave me alone"

he still thinks he should be able to take care of himself but his body aches too much to even move so he reluctantly lets you do whatever you want.

you cook him some soup and herb tea, just like he does when you're sick.

you even put on some songs that he likes in a low and comfortable volume as you busied yourself in cleaning up his room a little.

shinso's eyes follow wherever you go, drinking his soup slowly. he has always kept to himself whenever he fell ill but having someone take care of him and his space mades him feel a bit fuzzy inside.

he won't admit it out loud though.

you stay by his side, caressing his purple locks gently, ignoring the forced glare he has on you because you were so close to him and he was getting nervous he didn't want you to catch his fever.

he's like a silent grumpy cat when he's sick, motioning that he can do things by himself but you never listen anyway.

when he does get better, he will take you out on a little date or shower you with affection. again he will not admit it out loud but he really is thankful that you take care of him when he's sick.

NOTE — helloo i didn't know if you were requesting for shinso to be sick or for the reader to be sick so i did both!!

©loveriotss — all rights reserved to me. please don’t try to copy/steal my work. please do not use any of my ideas/translate my work without my permission.

[cringe--is--dead]

꧁✬◦°⋆⋆°◦. 𝓜𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓵𝓮𝓽𝓸𝓮 ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂

꧁✬◦°⋆⋆°◦. 𝓚𝓮𝓷𝓶𝓪 𝔁 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓻 ◦°⋆⋆°◦✬꧂

A/N: I got sick, sorry these are all gonna be so late.

At the team's holiday party, you and your boyfriend do your best to avoid his best friend, who seems way too determined to get you two trapped under the mistletoe for you first kiss.

This wasn't the first time you and Kenma had been invited somewhere as a couple, yet from the way his team fawned over the two of you, you'd have thought it was.

It wasn't always bad, sometimes it was sweet; Yaku teased the two of you sure, but he noticed whenever you or your boyfriend were uncomfortable and backed off, Kai simply made sweet remarks about how you two complimented each other well, short phrases that had both you and Kenma beat red.

Kuroo, to no ones surprise, was the worst.

When you two first told him you were dating he thought it was some type of prank; you and Kenma had been pining over each other to him for so long he had grown hopeless. Turns out, late-night video game sessions can do a lot of good.

That being said, this was you first holiday party as a couple, and for almost 90% of the time thus far you two were avoiding said team captain.

It wasn't a big "high school party", there was no spiked eggnog or blasting music. Yamamoto tried and got told off rather humorously. There was food, drinks, some weird American Christmas music Kuroo found, ugly sweaters, and presents.

And mistletoe.

"I can't believe him," Kenma looked like he was trying to burrow himself deeper into his sweater, one you had picked out for him, knowing if you didn't, Kuroo would, and that would have been worse.

You shrugged, taking a sip of your eggnog before making a face; it may not be alcoholic but it wasn't great, "Really? This seems exactly like something he would have done."

Kenma paused, before letting out a rather loud sigh, leaning so he was against your shoulder, curling so his body was angled towards you, "It is. That makes it worse. I should have known he'd do this."

You smiled down at him, though he couldn't see you, "He kept us too busy with party favors to even think about his meddling."

"Stupid ploy of his," Your boyfriend muttered, glaring at the wall in front of him.

"Maybe we can turn the tables? Trap him under some mistletoe with someone else. I'm sure if you called Bokuto he'd come over."

Kenma shook his head, "One, I don't need to deal with Kuroo and Bokuto, secondly, Kuroo would think it was funny and it wouldn't work the way you're thinking."

Sighing, you tilted so your head was rested against his, "Damn."

You could feel him nod, "Damn is right."

The music could be heard through the walls, and you only felt a little bad that you and Kenma were hiding in Kuroo's mom's office. You both knew it was only a matter of time before he came searching there for you, but you'd be ready to either shove him out or book it.

"Maybe we can trick Yaku and Lev under the mistletoe," He suggested quietly, "Cause a distraction so big Kuroo forgets about us."

You hummed, "That works until demon-upperclassmen-Yaku torments you at practice."

He groaned, "Might be worth it."

You laughed quietly, setting your cup down, "You know," You started before you could second guess yourself, feeling the familiar flutter of nerves in your stomach, "If it were more private I wouldn't mind kissing you under mistletoe."

You felt him stiffen against you, and for a moment you screamed at yourself mentally, but he relaxed a second later, a quiet huff of laugh coming from him.

"Yeah," He reached across to take one of your hands into his, "Me too. He's only doing this cause... well," He cut himself off, and curiosity got the best of you when he didn't finish his thought.

You pulled away some, looking at him, your hands still connected, "Well what?"

His cheeks were pink, and he was doing his best to avoid eye contact, "I had... mentioned wanting to kiss you. Maybe. But not knowing when. He joked about mistletoe at the party. But I forgot until we showed up."

You think almost everyone was caught by surprise at the sheer amount of mistletoe hanging from doorways.

You waited, giving him time to feel comfortable looking towards you, a small smile on your face, "You know... you could have asked me?" Your voice was soft, teasing, "Considering I'm your girlfriend, not Kuroo."

He huffed, half-annoyed, half-laughing.

"I'm serious, just ask me if I want to kiss you. No mistletoe necessary."

It took a second for him to fully process what you said, and his eyes widened a fraction. He visibly swallowed, his grip on your hand tightening slightly.

"Will... can I kiss you?"

The simple question, even if you were expecting it, had butterflies explode in your stomach, your heart fluttering in your chest. Your palms felt embarrassingly sweaty.

"Yes."

You'd, embarrassingly, imagined what your first kiss would be like when you were younger. Entering your teens, it seemed like the biggest deal in the world. You'd have this prince charming of a boyfriend, someone boisterous who took you on spontaneous dates, someone who dipped you under the stars for your first kiss.

No part of you had imagined having your first kiss, hiding away in your friend's mom's office to avoid public humiliation at his goading.

No part of you imagined how it actually felt. All those dreams felt so silly now.

Kenma's lips were warm against yours, your hands still holding one another's. The kiss didn't go any further than this, and it only lasted but a few seconds, but it was enough.

He pulled back first, cheeks far more red than they had been when he asked, and you were sure yours were no better. Despite the anxiety that had been clear on his face, he was smiling, something so soft it made all those nerves disappear as if they'd never been there before.

"Think that was better without the mistletoe," You murmured, and he nodded in agreement.

It was quiet between the two of you for a moment, before--

"There you two are!" Kuroo was standing in the doorway, looking a bit frazzled.

You and Kenma didn't have time to react, but it seemed like Kuroo was too focused on something else to even notice.

"I'm hiding with you, I got Yaku and Lev under the mistletoe and I think--"

"Kuroo Tetsurou!"

[pleasestayawayidonotlikeyou]

I didn't know how much I needed to write this until you requested traveler 🙏🏼🙏🏼

Also yes! Ted's the name I use to write Horror (the one of the bad sanses.)

Featuring:Killer, Dust and Horror

Trigger warning: mentions of sexual content, swears, mentions of crimes and criminal cases.

Masterlist

Congratulations traveler, you are now dating three of the most dangerous serial killers in all the multiverse.

You're definitely not living in Nightmare's castle, nuh uh, it's not like he doesn't like you, it's just that your positive feelings may let Dream find the castle easily.Plus he doesn't want to hear you get banged by his subjects.

Every night it's a problem, Dust and Ted don't really mind sleeping together with you, but Killer? He bothers them until he can get you all to himself.

Which doesn't really work 90% of the time, as Ted is big enough to simply hold both Dust and you at the same time, leaving Killer to hug whatever side of your body is to his reach.

The times it does work though, it's usually when Ted and Dust are stressed out because of something, most of the time missions, they simply make Killer sleep on the couch while they sleep with you, sometimes even make him hear your moans as they senseless fuck you.

If you ever find yourself sick, worry not! Because Ted's hands don't know only how to smash skulls, they also do wonderful soup! Dust's going out to buy you the medicine you need, and Killer? Well he's cuddling you on the couch while watching some random criminal case Dust put on the TV.

Killer has a LOT of cats, like 8 in total, so I really hope you aren't allergic..

Be prepared for them to come home covered in blood and Killer running up to you, screaming how much he missed you as you think about how another of your favorite shirts is going to the washing machine because of him.

They take very precise turns cuddling you, the moment the time ends the other's already in front of you.

Dust usually gets really mad with Killer when he tries to find ANY excuse to have more time, especially when you're sleeping. "I want to get up, but they're just sooooooo comfortable here with me!".

"CABRON ES MI TURNO, DESAPARECE!!"

Ted's the one who ends their stupid discussion as he grabs and cuddles you, leaving both skeletons with their mouths open.

"Will... You two... Shut up.... Now..?"

Talking about Ted, you and him often cook together! You know, like a romantic date! Only you and him...except Dust and Killer are arguing in the background.

You snuggled against Killer's chest as he covered your head with the blanket while hugging your waist and kissing your forehead, seeing your eyes close to rest.

"Sleepy now are we, (____)..? Is your headache getting better..?"

He says, his hands brush your hair as you slowly nod. Suddenly he hears Dust's voice.

"Oh vagabundo, levántate, es mi turno."

"C'mon hood man, can't you see they're comfortable with me?"

"I don't care, it's my turn now, get the fuck up and let me cuddle them."

Killer moves so your head is laying on his lap and looks up at Dust.

"And what if I don't huh? What are you gonna do?"

He rests his arm on the armchair of the couch. Dust looks at him furiously, closing his fists as he watches Killer form a sly smile.

"Listen here you-"

The two start arguing loudly, attracting Ted's attention, who just got out of the shower and saw you press your hands to your ears, trying to muffle the noise. Ted signs and approaches you quietly, he grabs you and walks away to your room, he's gonna make sure you rest far away from any type of noisy fuss.

"...Good night.... Darling.."

[averagefairy]

i feel like europeans who judge americans for never leaving the country don’t quite get that 90% of us have 10-15 days of vacation time per year that we have to ration for doctors appointments and sick time and hardly get to use as actual vacation. like how exactly do I squeeze an intercontinental trip out of there babe please spell it out for me i’m too stupid to understand

[literallyroselacroix]

I hate when people treat Nico like they’re like, one of those stupid caricatures of people with social anxiety, bcs they’re not!! I’m like, 90% sure one of the big points of their character is that they’re not like that 😭🙏 sick and tired of the entire idea that “introverted people = shy little baby that needs protection 24/7”. Like I feel like that criticism of their character is totally invalid, bcs obviously, they know how to stand on business ‼️ most of the time

[cartoonistcoop]

ShortBox Comics Member Interview: Sloane Hong

Throughout the month of October, the Cartoonist Cooperative will be sharing interviews with members of the Co-op who have a new comic available at the ShortBox Comics Fair 2024! 

NOTE: The Cartoonist Cooperative is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way formally connected with ShortBox.  

Today’s spotlight is Sloane Hong ( @plaest2k ) and their new comic for ShortBox, Expiry Date.

We’d love it if you could introduce yourself and tell us about your background in comics.

Sloane Hong: Kia ora, my name is Sloane Hong (she/her), I’m a Korean-tauiwi illustrator, comic artist and tattooer based in Aotearoa, New Zealand. I only started making comics professionally about five years ago but they’ve always been a significant part of my life for as long as I can remember.

Tell us more about your new comic?

SH: Expiry Date is an erotic, body horror, sci-fi short story about coming home from a long day at your shitty, minimum-wage job, crashing on your couch and fantasizing about how fucking good it would feel to just die.

I mean, it’s also about transness, labour rights, our relationship with our bodies and death under capitalism, etc but it’s mostly about shitty jobs.

My friend described it as “what if David Cronenberg was a transsexual dyke who grew up reading ero-guro”.

What are some early experiences as a cartoonist that shaped you or your process?

SH: My brother’s also an artist, probably better than I could ever be, and I basically owe any good taste I might have to him. Growing up, I always got home from school first so I’d sneak into his room to admire his drawings and read his comics. He had most of the usual stuff you’d find on any Korean kid’s shelf in the 90’s: Akira Toriyama, Masamune Shirow, Yoshito Usui, etc, and a couple of Korean manhwa that are all now damn-near impossible to find. As he got older, he started getting into American comics and brought home stuff like R. Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Fletcher Hanks, etc from the library.

But it’s not just that I had someone to introduce me to all this stuff, it’s the fact I’m six years younger than him and he was already reading this stuff earlier than most. So I think I started looking at all those misanthropic underground comics by horny white men when I was, like, what… about 10 years old?

Besides my brother, the trauma of working shitty jobs for years on end, The Terrible Boredom of Paradise, and this weird and fucked up miracle we call life are probably the wellsprings of both my inspiration and ceaseless burnout. 

Tell us about your creative process; how did you develop this comic and what are the steps you took to bring it to the final stage?

SH: I did something really stupid for the 2023 ShortBox Comics Fair. I have ADHD and one of the many ways it manifests is that I have a debilitating habit of overthinking my stories. “Are the themes too obvious? Is it too heavy handed? Are the motivations for this character clear enough? Is this the right way to phrase this? Is this the right word? Is this the right letter? Is this the right punctuation?” etc, etc.

On paper, it probably sounds like something every writer goes through but when I say debilitating, I mean interferes-with-my-ability-to-live-a-normal-life-kind of debilitating. It’s kind of impossible to articulate how bad it was but it got to a point where I was so sick of myself and all the stories I never finished that I said fuck it–maybe if I just jump into a comic with nothing but a stupid premise, no planning and an impending deadline, I won’t have time to think about all these inconsequential details. So I sat down and forced myself to write, pencil and ink a comic, page-by-page.

It was essentially an exercise in automatism: I was still thinking about draftsmanship, composition, flow and everything but I kinda just let the story tell itself by writing/ drawing whatever felt like a natural progression for the narrative.

That was how I ended up with Marrow, which was kinda funny because the whole point was to make a goofy, low-stakes comic about nothing to circumvent the pressure of having to write anything good. Instead I’d inadvertently made something that was layered and deeply intimate and won the sci-fi category in the 2024 Minicomic Awards. But, more importantly, the whole process helped bring everything together. It reminded me of something I used to tell young artists: developing a style isn’t something you really set out to do, it’s something that just happens. You don’t practice drawing to get better at drawing; you do it to better channel your voice. It’s only when you can stop thinking about how to move your hand that your heart can take the lead.

I’d forgotten my own advice. I was so concerned about the technical details of how to write a story that I was basically assembling components rather than writing anything at all. Marrow helped me realize I’d already internalized everything I needed to write long ago. I just needed to stop thinking.

Expiry Date was a continuation of that process and made in basically the same way. There was just significantly less stress involved now that I knew I could trust myself.

Mostly.

Read the rest of the interview HERE! And dont forget to check out the Shortbox Comics Fair to support these lovely creators!!

[l-in-the-light]

Trafalgar Law and closeness part 5: What is he actually so afraid of and his reasons

This will be a slightly different post from the others, much more speculation, but I will include all hints and foreshadowing I gathered (which means this is a long post yet again). I might be wrong ofc, but I'm like 80-90% sure I read the signs right. Just in case my theory will turn out correct, I reccommend that you think twice before reading any further, especially if you would prefer for Oda's manga to reveal it properly and not get spoilered about the twist thanks to some tumblr post, which is totally understandable. Those who are fearless like a true D and still want to read this theory, a fair warning: this will be sad af. More so than previous posts.

Let's start with a short summary of our previous observations: Law always acts cold, he will draw clear borders and keep people at a distance, because he can't deal with losing people again. That's his major fear. His secondary fear is his fear of touch, the result of his trauma. With both of these we saw him making really decent progress on, thanks to Luffy especially.

I traced Law's progress all the way from Sabaody up to Wano. We saw him completely refusing any bonds in Sabaody, but then he takes the first step towards Luffy. Instead of trying to get closer he proposes for them to be in alliance, hiding behind the impersonal relation (Luffy's not getting any of that btw. And in case you think Luffy did it on accident it's not entirely true: he knows the actual difference between friendship and alliance, he did a normal alliance with Bege in Whole Cake Island no problem, proving to us he's not that stupid). Then we see Law slowly opening up, holding back less of his natural reactions (like getting openly angry), all while fighting his trauma related to touch and helplessness. Let's dive into his psyche.

Law is a doctor, that identity is very important for him not just because of his parents.

When he's a doctor and operates on people, he knows he has to touch them to save their lives. That's probably also the reason why he calls all his attacks and devil fruit abilities per "operations". This way he can create an artificial boundary in his mind, when he's in his "doctor mode" the touch is impersonal and professional so he is able to actually operate on people. And seems this depersonalization/desensitization technique works! The only time we see him comfortable being in contact with people is when he cuts them down into pieces like for an operation. And of course he had to be alright with touch when he operated on Luffy and Jimbei as well.

Here we have to note one more thing about his devil fruit's use. In Sabaody and Punk Hazard he cuts people into pieces and rearranges them, creating "monstrous creatures". This seems to reflect what he thinks of those people, people who usually treat him like a monster because of his devil fruit abilities (that must be a pretty traumatic experience, because doctors also called him monster before just because he was sick). So he pays them back for it, rearranges their bodies, because for him they were the monsters. This way he takes back his own liberty, he shows them that if he's the monster then they are as well. That being said, he does take advantage of his "Surgeon of Death" title, because inciting fear in enemies is helpful when you're a pirate. But after meeting Strawhats who so easily disregard the bad rep Law has and spending enough time with them together, Law stops creating monsters with misaligned human limbs. Last time we saw them was in Punk Hazard. He doesn't need that anymore, because he feels accepted for who he is, regardless of what some random marines talk about him.

His devil fruit is interesting because it creates a space in which he can easily switch items and people's positions without having to touch them. And he can activate most attacks by simply moving his finger a little or making a simple gesture, so that even in case his trauma kicks in and he freezes, then as long as he can move at least one finger, he can shamble himself away to safety. Seems like devil fruit powers rely heavily on the mind of the user, their traumas and wishes deeply influence how the power actually works. I wonder how would it work if Law didn't have his fear of touching.

Summing it up, in Wano Law didn't get touch-triggered even once, so seems things were working out well for him in this regard. He's managing it better, but I doubt that trauma is going anywhere and he will still need time to get more comfortable around people (he might never be truly done with it). But that's okay, that didn't stop him from creating a new friendship. So what's still holding him back? Is it just a regular progress-regress cycle of healing for him?

Is he just not ready yet? After all some decisions take time for him. We see it when he receives his devil fruit. We see it in Dressrosa when it takes him many chapters to admit his own desire to take down Doflamingo by himself. It takes him time to accept things he isn't mentally ready for. We saw that indeed everytime he needs to take an extra moment or two to brace himself to touch someone as well. So is that just it? He needs more time? I don't think so, actually.

Remember this beautiful moment? In my native language this translation of Ace's line is more poetic: I will accept the opened arms reaching towards me as well as the death by the blade.

What was it about accepting opened arms reaching for you? This is Trafalgar Law's first hug on screen. You can't make this shit up. This Ace-Law parallel is there in the story on purpose. And it breaks me every single time.

So I guess Law got over that obstacle as well. He's ready to move on and start new things. And then he creates a beautiful friendship with Kinemon only to retreat to step one at the end of Wano, not even wanting to admit they became friends, even though everyone knows they did (the same with Strawhats). We saw this beautiful progress, his regress for a moment in Dressrosa, him opening up and closing back again. But he improved a lot since Sabaody, he's not the same person anymore. Law in Zou won't retreat anymore before even making a first step.

I think what's holding him back now is his biggest fear. And he has a pretty good freaking reason for it.

Hint number 1: Ope-ope no mi might not be enough.

Hint number 2: lead bullets greatly affected his body.

Hint number 3: "You met Corazon and he managed to prolong your life just a little longer".

Hint number 4: "I don't have much longer to live!", why is Doflamingo reminded of that line in particular now if it's just a thing from the past?

Hint number 5: death is constantly on Law's mind.

I think we need to connect all those dots together. Yes, I know, this theory isn't new. But it makes more and more sense. Ope-ope no mi didn't heal Law from amber lead completely. He only managed to prolong his own life thanks to it. That's why his execution should be done with lead bullets, it's not because it's symbolic, it's because that's literally what will kill Law in the end. Doffy was going to make the process just a tad bit faster is all. Law isn't afraid of death, but he is afraid to die without achieving anything or "dying for nothing", like he says in his flashback. He managed to survive till age 26, but his time is running out again.

Law's supposed "awakening" means he can use rooms remotely, without the need to be inside them. Interesting thing about those attacks is that they all use anaesthesia. But shouldn't you want your enemies to feel the pain when you attack? Let's look more closely to what Law says here. "This influences your body in other ways". Interesting. Perhaps because that's the ability he uses on himself when treating his amber lead syndrome? That would explain the need for anaesthesia, otherwise the sickness would limit his mobility.

In other words: Law can remove/hide the symptoms, but he can't cure the source of the amber lead poisoning apparently. It shouldn't be so strange, he was clearly born with it, it was passed down from his parents, which means it's in his DNA. Using ope-ope no mi inside his own body is pretty clever and let me quote Doffy on that: "it's all about how you use your abilities". Doflamingo did the same with his strings to restore his organs, I think he got inspired by Law. And yes, all the hints come mostly from Doflamingo, so he knows Law is dying.

Let's look at events of Dressrosa again to see if my idea fits. In Dressrosa we learn for the first time that Law's ope-ope no mi requires a lot of stamina. Perhaps because he needs to constantly apply it to monitor his own body and that's why he can't spare as much for fighting enemies as he would want to. Then he gets shot with lead bullets and nearly loses his life as the result. Weird that few bullets could do it to him while he could take much more beating in general. Unless it's because his body is still weak to the lead and it makes the poisoning spread faster, which would make perfect sense. Then Law is put in seastone cuffs and carried by Luffy through half of Dressrosa all the way to the palace. There is no moment in which Law, no matter how tired he is by being manhandled, claims he could just run on his own. He doesn't even sit on the horse or the bull, is just lying down. There is no proper explanation as to why he was lying there lifeless like that, nothing was preventing him from just sitting down instead. Later he claims it was because he was saving up his energy.

But now let's look at this situation logically. He was lying down and compliant to insane degree, because he felt *sick*. Which should remind us of how he was sick before Corazon got him ope-ope no mi. At times he couldn't even move anymore. Putting Law in seastone cuffs means his ope ope no mi is not monitoring his body anymore so it saps out all of his strength. Remember this, this is how bad Law's health is already in Dressrosa.

Even with Doflamingo directly threatening them he can't lift himself up properly. This is emergency, this is not the time to be lying around, and yet he can't do anything and this might a sign of how bad his condition actually is. He's shivering here because he feels helpless and defenseless. His trauma isn't exactly helping either.

At the end of Dressrosa he is weezing, suffocating, but still uses room and shambles to bring Luffy to safety. We can see him there in the background afterwards, looks to me like his heart almost giving up on him. Few moments later he's lying down, most likely passed out. This all is very hard to notice. That room he used to bring Luffy to the ground was also huge, perhaps as huge as the one he used in the palace before to fool Doffy. And he says it cut down on his lifespan. Well, good to know he cut down his lifespan not once, but twice already, and just in Dressrosa alone. Oda didn't nerf Law in Dressrosa, that's not the reason of why he seems weaker than before.

If Law is dying and overdid himself in Dressrosa on top of that, then no wonder he would say this. He might have left his crew in Zou knowing very well that it might be the last time he sees them. Now it makes much more sense. But Dressrosa did tip the scales into making him believe he might literally not make it out and no strategy could help him to survive against the illness.

Now let's jump to Wano. Remember this puzzling moment? He didn't fight anyone, only did some warps, and yet he is already worrying about his stamina? Yes, I take it as a sign that his condition worsened siginificantly. It was ofc also used for the plot to move forward in direction Oda wanted it to as well, but he wouldn't do it *just* for that reason.

Now let's jump to fight against Big Mom. Law doesn't look alright here.

And he can't even get up after the fight for a while, he's panting all the time. Kid, who was also exhausted after the fight, is already back on his legs and moving around. Law meanwhile still can't. Not even when water is rushing their way and he needs to move.

That's some enourmous room he created there. It looks like 10 times size (if not more) of Onigashima. It looks bigger than the whole Flower Capital! So, how much lifespan did he cut down this time?

Now we're finally getting to Winner Island. Blackbeard used his yomi yomi no mi attack that renders the devil user who's hit with it unable to use his powers. We saw that happen with Ace, remember? (yes, this is yet another parallel to Ace. Both of them lost to Blackbeard). And this is how Law looks now without his devil fruit to support him. You have two shots from Winner, one from Dressrosa after he gets shot with lead bullets (lower left) for comparison, anime, and, finally, comparison to sick Law from the flashback. The only difference here are the missing white patches on his skin. Symptomps look exactly the same: heavy breathing, unable to move, shivering, and his forehead is shaded in same way which implies high fever. This is where we are right now: Law's now in as bad of a state (or very close to it) as the end of the flashback. I guess white patches take some time to appear, it's not instant after his devil fruit is unable to be used to repress it anymore.

We didn't yet reach this state, but it's approaching very, very fast.

Very subtle anime hints. The whole sequence with the poneglyph in Onigashima gave us a flashback to Corazon and shows him dying while covered by white snow. Whole flashback has slightly white hinge to it and Law enters the scene from the completely white background.

Just reverse the colors from that oddly coloured bit from fight against Big Mom. Oooff.

Absolutely despicable foreshadowing from One Piece Red. Hearts appear in the credits together with the ONLY line in the song that talks about death. I saw anime doing obscure hints like that countless times before, be it in openings or endings. Apparently some anime producers are aware of what's coming. The first time I noticed this scene with Law hiding his eyes and the lyrics I grew very anxious. I spent most of my life watching animes, I know what game they're playing here. Back then, I just didn't yet know what it foreshadows exactly.

Law accepted his fate and just like the lyrics suggest: "even if I disappear, my song will still ring out". Meaning even after he's gone, people dear to him will carry on and that soothes him. He smiles here, he likes this freaking song exactly because of this line. Those are his real thoughts, that's how he feels inside when he isn't pretending not to care.

This is also why he says things like this. He truly thinks it doesn't matter what happens to him, not just because he's suicidal or he wants to sound cool. No, he says it because he's going to die anyway, so indeed, it does not matter to him.

It's reversed from what we thought this was all about. It's not that he wants to kill Doflamingo so much he doesn't care for his life or chooses to die. It's gonna happen anyway. In fact, if he could, he would prefer not to die:

He wants to live.

There are many asian series dealing with terminal illnesses and protagonists coming to terms with it or embracing some difficult to make choices, like in Searching for Full Moon or Your Lie in April. But please let me tell you a short summary of Shiroi Kage/White Shadow, it's a Japanese live action series from 2001 (god, they don't make such good jdramas anymore, spoilers ahead) about a surgeon who is dying, but decides to keep doing his job till the day he actually dies. He shows a lot of compassion to his patients, because he can easily relate to their situations, especially those about to die soon. His compassionate heart saves a lot of people and helps them accept their own approaching death, even though the doctor is still struggling against it himself. He acts rough and cold towards anyone else than patients, people try to form meaningful connections with him, but he refuses any attempts. Finally he accepts someone in his life that he thinks will carry on happily even without him, because they embrace everything the life offers, no matter if it's love, death or rejection. That person becomes their most important person and shows them that it's okay to fear death. In the end the surgeon chooses how to die himself, without waiting for the illness to take him. White Shadow as a title is symbolic because white in Japanese culture is the color assocciated with death. Does that remind us of a certain disease that shows as white patches on the skin?

The actual reason why Law keeps everyone at distance is probably the same that the main protagonist in Shiroi Kage had. It's for the sake of others, not his own. He doesn't want them to get attached, to feel devastated when he dies, and if they never grow close then they might feel a bit sad but easily move on. This is how he wants to die: so people won't miss him and won't despair the same way he despaired when his parents, sister and Cora-san died. That's his kind heart right there. Kinda the same way Your Lie in April uses the concept. Luffy is still grieving Ace, he doesn't need another heartbreak of someone important like a friend dying, so Law would rather lie that this was never friendship just so Luffy can carry on.

Law doesn't have much time left. And he wants to take down as many bad guys as possible, he might have even set some plans in motion that will succeed even after he dies, Drake and/or other people will carry them out to the end even after Law will be gone.

Remember the cold goodbye in Wano? He stayed at the port after battle, he avoided Luffy and Strawhats (besides Franky) and even tried to make them leave on different day than him. He acted extra cold thinking it will prevent attachments, especially if he thinks he's seeing them for the very last time, with his health in such a bad shape.

This scene should remind you of Punk Hazard, it's a callback to it. Law already then decided that this will be how he will say his goodbye.

Q.E.D., the reason behind his uneccessary coldness is solved, every loose ties got explained, there are no inconscistencies left. That's why I think I read all the signs right, even though it's just a theory based on hints and speculation. But it all fits.

Law thinks Luffy isn't attached to him much yet and that he will move on happily without lingering too much on his death. Oh boy, he's so wrong about that. That's because he didn't see Luffy's reaction in Dressrosa after he passed out.

Luffy cares for him deeply. We saw how unusually happy he was when they reunited on Punk Hazard by chance. How much he bragged about Law being a good guy. How insightful and considerate he tried to be towards him! Sure, he pushed Law's boundaries a bit, because he thought otherwise Law would never be ready to start new friendships (and was he wrong? probably not). Luffy said goodbye to him in Wano with a smile, probably thinking Law just really wants to go for his own adventure, or maybe he needs some time to get ready to admit stuff. And Luffy accepts it and waits for him.

Once Law will realize his mistake he will regret ever starting that alliance in the first place. Because he fucked up, he will leave someone behind very devastated if he dies.

If this post made any of you sad, then I'm sorry. Please remember it's mostly just a theory. Tomorrow I will make a post that will instead make you shed happy tears instead, hopefully.

We all know Luffy or Chopper will somehow cause the miracle and Law will get cured, right? Even if Law's flower is the Queen of The Night that dies before dawn (that's another foreshadowing at work here btw). We need to believe and prepare a whole truck of tissues. Fate always found a way to spare him, we need to believe in it again.

[carolmunson]

we better make a start (older!modern!eddie)

continuation of orange colored skyorange colored sky setlist

inspired by the fact that i fall in love with someone new every time i go to trader joe's and @loveshotzz new older!steve series. tw: outside of an age gap, not much. super fluffy it borders on gross. eddie is in his late 30s/early 40s, reader is late-late 20s/early 30s. music inspo: everywhere - fleetwood mac

Wednesdays at two… You wished you’d met this guy in the fall when you still felt cute getting off the train. It was like being in a sous vide every time you got on and off, walking back out into the hot sun of the city. Would your hair frizz? Was your makeup melting? You were at least smart enough to wear bike shorts under your skirt to avoid the rubbing of your thighs – hopefully he wouldn’t notice. Your feet hurt in your 90s looking wicker sandals but at a passing glance in a store window you figure you don’t look half bad. You look infinitely better than when he first saw you in your ‘errands ugly’ clothes. Maybe he’d even think you look cute. Y’know – if he’s even there. Why’re you meeting up with some random stranger anyway? A sick flare of nervous embarrassment slides through your chest like a snake – this is stupid. He probably forgot about it. Whatever, you wanted to pick up a couple things anyway – it’s totally fine – this isn’t weird at all – and if he’s not there? It doesn’t matter. Who cares? You’ll be fine. You’ll go home and sift through a never ending collection of left swipes and ‘haha not much, just chillin naked. wbu?’ messages on whatever dating app you feel like opening that day. 

A block and an escalator later, you’re in the depths of the shopping center where Trader’s is. You swallow the sick creeping up in your belly — this is so stupid — but it doesn’t take long for you to spot him at a small table near the coffee stand across from the store. His hair sits in a low bun this time, most of his wavy curls spilling over and framing his face. He looks nice, black tee shirt that he might’ve pressed, smarter looking black chinos with a belt he likely got at a vintage store. The silver buckle looks pretty and polished, shining like the rings on his fingers and the rim of the wire glasses he had perched on his nose. He’s typing away on a laptop, black iced coffee melting next to it that he occasionally reaches to sip.

“Um…You’re Eddie, right?” you stammer out as you walk toward the table. He looks up from his laptop, the glow of this screen reflecting back in his glasses. He stops to look you over, straw still in his mouth. 

“Yeah, that’s me,” he grins, a breath of relief puffing out of his nose, “Didn’t actually think you were gonna show up — was sort of a shot in the dark.” He stands up, hand outstretched for yours to shake, “I never caught your name.” 

You take it, his handshake is firm and you can make out some of the tattoos on his fingers and hands. You introduce yourself and he mumbles a ‘nice to meet you’, your name sounds nice coming out of his mouth. “This feels like a business meeting,” you laugh, “Like I’m here for an interview.” He laughs back, “I did just come here from a meeting so I might still be in work mode, sorry.” He takes off his glasses, hanging them off the collar of his shirt. He packs up his bag, a well worn Jansport backpack covered in patches like the vest he had on the last time you saw him. You could tell it was old since there was a patch right at the center that read ‘METALLICA 1997 - Poor Touring Me’. A few other concert patches with ranging dates, 2003, 2009, 1998 littered the black canvas, you smile at it. 

“1997?” you ask, “Metallica concert at what – nine? Your parents were cool with that?” 

He looks down at it and his cheeks go pink, letting a breath puff out of his lips that makes them push out and motorboat, “What year were you born?” “‘92,” you answer, “Why?” 

“Jesus,” he mumbles, rubbing his face with a tight smile, “You’re a young thing, aren’t you?” 

“How old were you in ���97?” you ask while you both make it through the double doors of the grocery store. He grabs a basket and raises his brows with another big breath. “Seventeen,” he says, “Got this backpack two days before that show actually.” “You still have it?” you ask, trying to do the math in your head of how old he is and how long he’s had it. “Jansport has a lifetime warranty,” Eddie smirks, “I’ve been putting it to good use.” “So why’re you back here,” you ask, following him to the back aisle where the bread is, “You just went food shopping a few days ago.” “I went for my neighbor,” he explains, grabbing two baguettes, “He fractured his foot and hasn’t been able to get up and down the stairs. Been running errands for ‘im in the meantime.” “Oh,” you smile, “That’s nice of you.” “Thanks,” he says, “You like bruschetta?” 

“Why do you ask?” 

“Well,” he starts, “I didn’t really think that Trader Joe’s was an ideal date so I thought I could ask you out here and also get some stuff for it ahead of time.” “Oh,” you repeat, heat creeping up on your cheeks, “What did you have in mind?” 

“Well if you’re free tomorrow afternoon…” he begins, but gets sidetracked. He sneaks behind you to grab some yogurt covered pretzels, “I saw you grab these the other day and got some too, they’re fuckin’ delicious.” 

The spicy suede scent he had last time is replaced with a bright citrusy cedar, it matches his overall disposition. Your mouth waters when you inhale. 

“Anyway, as I was saying,” he starts again, “If you’re free tomorrow afternoon, I’d love to treat you to a little something cute in the park. It’s supposed to be not so swampy.” “Like a picnic?” you ask with a hint of a tease. “Yeah,” he says, a glow of pink perking up on his ears hidden by his hair, “Something like that. If you’re into that – like – if you even want to go on a date with me.” “I showed up here. I feel like that’s answer enough, right?” “Right, right.” The conversation quiets while he tosses a few more things in his basket. “So what was your meeting for?” you ask, watching him look over the cold cuts and cured meats in the open refrigerated section. He was one of those, a ‘stand-and-starer’ instead of just knowing what to get. You try not to grind your teeth. “Oh, new client meeting,” he says, like you know exactly what he’s referencing. 

“For what? If you don’t mind me asking.” He reaches for a package of salami and prosciutto before turning to you, “Do you eat meat?” You nod while he continues to pick up and compare products, “New client for my side gig.” “Which,” he says, tossing his selections in the basket, “If you can believe it, pays a shit ton more than my main gig.” “What’s your big money side gig?” you laugh, following him to the next aisle. “I’m a web developer,” he says, squatting down to look at granola. He hopes you don’t hear the way his knees crack, the way his face winces at the slight tightness in his joints. In Eddie’s defense, he didn’t get a chance to stretch this morning – normally he’s much more limber – he promises. “Like making websites and stuff?” you squat next to him, your own knees cracking. You hope he doesn’t hear it. “Just like that,” he says. He reaches in front of you, grabbing your arm to steady you as you wobble to move out of his way. His grip is gentle but firm, the spots beneath his fingertips buzzing with electricity, “Careful there, sugar.” A smile spreads deep across your face while your eyes make friends with the floor under you, both of you rising back to your feet. His keys jingle on the same carabiner from before, clinking against a silver chain that you’re pretty sure connects to a wallet in his back pocket. He has Nike Killshots on today, the white with a black check instead of the navy. Everyone and their father has the white and navy. “Do you like it?” you ask, holding in a giggle while he grunts getting up. “Writing code and doing graphic design? Sure,” he shrugs, “Got into it really ahead of the game. You were probably still in grade school.” You roll your eyes and he snickers, “But mostly, I make websites for trust fund kids who use daddy’s money to start new businesses. So it’s sort of like my side gig is uh…” “Exploiting the rich?” you grin, he grins too, “Super punk.” He shakes his head while you both walk out into the produce section, “No, no, super metal.”

“What’s your main gig?” “Oh, come on – don’t break my heart,” Eddie’s dramatic flare shines through when he leans up against the flat edge of the pillar holding up the bananas. He holds his free hand to his chest, looking at you with a faux forlorn face that makes his brown eyes shine. Now that you’re really taking stock, you see the thin silver hoop hugging his right nostril – something about it makes your heart thump harder in your chest. “The tattoos don’t give it away, huh?” he asks, passing the basket to the other arm, both biceps flexing against the well tailored t-shirt’s sleeves. 

“A tattoo artist?” you wager a guess with a grimace and half shrug. “No,” he says, the word covered in a soft laugh, “But I’ve been in my artist's shop enough that I might as well get paid to be there.” “I can see that,” you nod, pulling a bunch of bananas from behind him and cradling them in your arm, “So what is it then?” “C’mon, it’s obvious,” he smiles, “I’m a rockstar.” 

“Are you?” you ask, your laugh bubbles out of you and it makes the back of his neck get hot. You’re too pretty to be flirting with him in Trader Joe’s but he can’t stop trying to make you laugh and smile. 

“Well,” he shrugs, kicking off the wall, “Sort of.” “Sort of a rockstar?” your brow lifts while you scan some of the fruits, hand reaching down to a display in front of you, “If you’re doing food food, how about I do dessert?” 

“Peaches, huh?” he asks with a smirk, wrinkling his nose, “A little messy, don’tcha think?” 

“They’re nectarines,” you correct, putting a few in one of the produce bags, “They’re not the same.” 

“Hm,” he shrugs, letting his finger trail over the smooth waxy skin of one of the nectarines in the display, “Whatever you say, Peach.” “Pfft,” you shake your head the same way he did to you, tying off the bag while you try to ignore how the butterflies in your stomach multiply at him calling you Peach. “So if you’re doing dessert that means you’re free tomorrow, then?” he raises his brows, waiting for your answer while you both walk to the checkout line, “You never said if you were.” “Yes I did,” you protest. His tattooed hand reaches out for the nectarines and bunch of bananas you’re holding. You look down at them and then back up at him, Eddie gives you a look, encouraging you to hand them over.

“No, you said you’d go on a date with me – gimme these, I got ‘em–” he beckons you with his hand to take them until you relent, putting them both in his basket, “And trust me, I’m glad you’re down to go on a date with me. But I just wanna make sure you’re around tomorrow so I know to turn on my charm in the morning.” 

“Oh, it’s not on right now?” you flirt. Eddie’s smile gets boyish and shy, tucking a loose salt and pepper collection of strands behind his ear. He’s too blushy to respond, thankful that the Trader Joe’s worker directs you both for the next cashier. He hands you your bananas and nectarines and you plop them into your canvas bag while he finishes up, walking together out of the double doors. 

“Um, could I - uh – damn why am I so nervous to ask you this? What am I, sixteen?” he thinks out loud to himself, furrowing his brow at his own ridiculousness, “Fuck, could I um – get your number?” 

“You already asked me on a date and you’re nervous to get my number?” you tease, “For real?” 

“Long story, I’ll tell you one day,” he says, handing you his phone. He tucks in his lips while you take it, watching eagerly while you put in your information. You save it under ‘Peach 🍑’ with your real name in the second line. 

“Oh what, did it happen all the way back in the 70s or something? Hard to remember?” Your mean girl tone of voice has a hold on him that thrums in his chest. 

“So you’re one of those girls, huh?” he releases his lips, tip of his tongue pressing against one of his canines, “I’ll keep that in mind.” He takes his phone back when you offer it to him, taking a quick second to shoot you a text that just says ‘eddie m.’ Your phone dings in your hand, going to save his number while he watches. 

“M’gonna put it in as ‘Sort of Rockstar’,” you giggle to yourself. “Please don’t.” “Too late.” 

You drop your phone into your canvas bag, giving him a final once over. He does the same and his stare almost makes you nervous with the way his brown eyes soften when they find your face. Not one for awkward silence you reach your hand out like he did when you met outside of the store. “Pleasure doing business with you, Eddie,” you say, a lightness to your voice that has him swooning. His hand takes yours, big and slightly rough, calloused fingertips slightly brushing your wrist. “Pleasure doing business with you,” he says, giving you a firm shake, “Same time tomorrow? At the park?” 

“Sounds good.” 

“I’ll um, I’ll text you. I’ll drop a pin,” he offers. 

You’re both quiet for a moment, anxious with anticipation for tomorrow – for a real date. You say your goodbyes, your ‘see you tomorrows’. Only to both start walking the same direction towards Target. 

“Oh,” you laugh, “Are you going to Target, too?” 

He laughs back, slightly hoarse and rough, smokey sounding, “I am. Should I wait a little? Don’t wanna cramp your style or anything. I know we just said goodbye.” 

“No, no, we can go together,” you smile, big and bright, “We can both decide on what I’m making for dessert.” 

prev | next

[kurinhimenezu]

90 Day Baby Daddy - Adam - HH

Prologue <- -> Previous Chapter

Chapter 3 --> Next Chapter

Author's Note: I...actually forgot to post this 😅 I mean I did type it out had it beta-read and then saved on my doc but I forgot to post it. I am so sorry the chapter is late 😗 but here it is! I don't have a set time for posting I mostly write a chapter down when I'm done daydreaming about the scenario but anyway! Here it is! Chapter 3 Enjoy!

CW: cursing, stalking, mentions of drugs and sex, Adam's potty mouth but that's a given, one scene got heated up

It was her own damn fault for falling for Adam’s offer to take her out after his “generous” act of paying for her grocery bills.

Y/n sighs, watching Adam scarf down one of Fish’s greasy burgers before washing it down with a large milkshake. Speaking of Fish, him and the rest of her friends were trying too hard to not so inconspicuously listen in on their conversation. She had to signal Arrem to put the knife away when she pointed at it silently.

Crazy bitch…but she wouldn’t want her any other way. Y/n smiled to herself and munched on some fries she paid for.

Adam slammed a fist against his chest before letting out a burp, “Fuck that hits the spot”

“You’re gross, you know that?” She rolled her eyes, taking a sip from her own drink.

“And yet you hopped on the Dickmaster’s ride huh baby?” Adam grinned, giving her a wink. “You love me being gross isn’t that right you naughty slut-hmpf!”

Y/n shoved a handful of fries inside his mouth with her face heating up. “Okay okay!! Shut your big ass mouth??”

He slapped her hand away, hacking out some soggy fry. “Choking is kinda hot, but let’s not waste food okay sweetheart? Wouldn’t want to be a bad example for the baby” Adam had the audacity to wiggle his fingers across the diner at Addie, sitting on one of an Exorcist’s lap. Her kid didn’t seem to mind playing with them, making her head throb at how trusting her baby can be.

She blames the father.

“Okay I know you didn’t just ask me to eat at my own workplace to just ask me out…you told me you wanted to talk”

Y/n is not even going to address the whole self-proclaimed dickmaster title. It’s too stupid.

Adam stared at her and shrugged, putting down his dirty napkin, “Alright, tell one of your little friends to babysit, you don’t want anyone else to eavesdrop”

Before Y/n could even open her mouth, Pen already popped up next to their table and started to clean it up. “Oh don’t worry about it! We’d be happy to take care of little Addie!”

Pen was smiling a little too wide with Arrem giving a thumbs up from behind her. Fuck, she has a feeling she’ll be up late being interrogated by these two.

Y/n looked back at Adam, “Well…there you go”

-

“The fuck do you mean you told them about us? Way to break under pressure cheeks” Adam drove them out of the diner’s tiny parking lot.

“Well it’s not like I can keep this” She said, gesturing between them, “a secret forever! They're gonna ask why some semi-famous rockstar is hanging around me and why do you care? You’re not anyone but some weirdo who decided to stalk us around” Y/n looked at him and grinned, flicking his ear. "You're not exactly subtle"

Adam rolled his eyes, giving a nasty side eye, “Oh please, I didn’t even need to use the tracker I placed to find you people, this ‘city’ of yours is tiny as fuck and how dare you bitch, I am famous!”

Y/n gaped at him, a look of disgust on her face at how casual he sounded...at stalking! “You sick fuck?? I fucking knew you placed a tracker on Addie's gaudy pink ribbon!”

“Oh babe, how cute but I’m not an amateur, I wouldn’t use my own kid to track you down, that’s tacky…I switched your location share on your phone and connected it with mine”

“Ex-fucking-cuse me, you psychopath?? My phone?? And Adelaine is mine, she’s not yours!”

Y/n is seething, the audacity of this bastard to tell her that Addie, her baby, that she raised alone with friends, cried alone in an empty apartment while her kid also cried in her arms cause she was so terrified on what she’s gonna do with no degree, no budget and no job at that time and this man who just barreled into her life that she managed to keep afloat is now telling her that the kid is his??

Hell no.

“Don’t fucking lie to me babe, I don’t take kindly to sinners, No matter how big and juicy your tits are” Y/n saw how Adam, giving her a quick once ever, gripping the wheel as he drove her back to her apartment. “There’s no use anyways, I got that shit on paper. Keep a better eye on our brat, it’s easy to pluck a hair off of that cute head, which by the way you’re so fucking welcome for blessing you with such a cute baby”

Y/n swallowed hard, she didn’t even care with the crass way he talked to her.

“How…” At a loss for words. How the hell…?? Was she that blind?? To let Adam get too close to Addie that she didn’t notice him collecting DNA??

“I also took the used tissue when I wiped my princess’ nose the first time we met, I am just making fucking sure the brat is mine” Adam reaches over and flicks open the glove compartment, revealing official looking papers in thick envelopes with seals and signatures and number she could barely comprehend at the moment.

“Holy shit… How many times did you test my baby?!” Y/n rifles through the papers, seeing the results mock her.

“Our baby and don’t you fucking disrespect me again angel, I tested her three times if you must know”

Adam was always known to be the loud, goofy, go with the flow kind of guy or at least that’s what the media portrayed him as.

Always on the move, always partying after concerts, always having someone, male or female around his arm to warm his bed in. Hell, that’s how she ended up in this mess in the first place.

Y/n bit her lip, reading through the files. Adam was thorough. Scarily thorough but then again, no surprise if he has a team behind him to find all this out for him.

He had a huge scandal back then about some girl cheating on him and doing hard drugs in bed with some virtue church chick because of it but for some reason, it was erased from all sorts of media. No articles, no news outlets not even forums; like some sort of mandela effect. There’s still rumours but without proof they’re all just that…rumours.

“…” Y/n bit her lip, turning away from the documents to the window. “You didn't answer...you had your chance to be a father, what makes you think I’ll let you in her life now?”

He didn’t answer and that made her almost freak out. A quiet Adam was never a good sign. Too dangerous, too hard to read.

Adam parked the car in front of her apartment, killing the engine, the leather in his chair squeaking under his weight as he sat back.

Y/n turned to him, about to open her mouth before Adam exploded. “Do you have any idea how I felt?? Why didn’t you tell me! I have a daughter I didn’t know about?? I was so careful! You selfish bitch you kept her from me! How could you do this to me now??? When I have my music to think about and fuck! What would the fans think??? I should sue you for emotional damage!”

“I kept her from you??? Do you hear yourself right now you narcissistic pig!?  You’re the one who gave me your supposed phone number and then come to find out that you disconnected the line so how I was supposed to reach you?? Go to every concert you ever had??” Y/n screamed back, a vein in her head throbbing.

Adam rubbed his face in his hands, smudging the eye-guyliner under his eyes. “That’s no excuse! That’s my kid you’re keeping from me and I’m gonna be there whether you want me to or not!”

Y/n struggled opening the car door, banging her shoulder against it before giving up. “The hell you are! Fucking…stupid UGH! Child locks! Let me out Adam!”

“Not until you apologize!” Adam finally looked at her glaring at this bitch who dared to keep something HUGE from him. Going to his concerts was one thing but what about emails?? Fans send emails to his band ALL the time! Contacting his manager?? PR team?? Hello?? She could’ve used the fucking bird app!

“Okay! Shut up! We’re gonna get the cops called on us!” Y/n sighs and groaned in her hands in frustration.

Yelling at each other isn’t going to help. She knew it was only a matter of time before Adam finds out anyway. A big shot star like him with tons of connections and crazy fans reaching? Nosey people are gonna look at Addie and ask, ‘Where’s the father?’

 It’s a time bomb waiting to happen.

Adam scoffed, turning his head away to glare out the window. He has plans, plans for his sales, tours, his music, how was he gonna go touring now with a kid?

He sighs, hitting his head against the window. He’s an asshole but he’s not a monster.

Adam can already hear his mother’s voice in his head. It only takes one time to fuck up bad, Adam.

“Okay look, obviously you can’t take care of Addie the way you want” Adam held up a finger, shushing her before she protested. “This whole thing is cute and all but you really think this will last?”

Y/n slapped his hand away, tugging at the door again, “I took good care of her before you showed up mind you” She grunted, slamming her hand against the door. “We’re doing just fine”

“Stubborn bitch, just let me help! Come on, like I said she’s my kid too and you think that I’m gonna just leave now that I know she’s out here?”

Y/n sighs, slumping against her seat. He’s right and it’s not fair to him if he’s gonna actually try.

“Alright..”

Adam perked up when she leaned in close.

“I mean…It wouldn’t hurt to try…?” She mumbled, looking up at him. Her hand slowly rubbing his arm up and down as she slowly moved to straddle his lap. Fuck he could smell her perfume wafting into his nose.

Shit…now he remembers why he got with her in the first place.

His eyes focused on the unbuttoned part of that thin ass cloth she calls a blouse. He could almost see the outline of her bra. It’s plain…not like the sexy lace ones he’s used to when his groupies throw theirs on stage.

“A baby should always have a mom and a dad, right?”

His hands placed itself on her thighs, the jeans fit and tight before resting it against the curve of her waist. Shit, under all that ugly clothes, Y/n has body on her. Is this the temptation his father kept talking about?

“Yeah, I’ll be a good fucking daddy...” Adam almost groaned at her scent, tracing his nose down her neck. He could feel his pants tighten exponentially.

A click was heard before he could take a bite, unlocking all the doors of his car.

“What the fuck--?”

Y/n quickly kicked open the car door and jumped out, running to her apartment building. Adam scrambled to run after her only to be choked by the seat belt still attached to his seat.

He could hear her laughing as she autolocks the building door on him, finally free from the belt.

“This ain’t over baby! I’m coming for ya! You’re lucky I fuck MILFs too!!” Adam yelled to her apartment window, only to find Y/n’s middle finger shove out her balcony window before hearing the window slam shut.

Thanks for reading! I'm working on the next chapter now so hopefully I'll post that soon

Lemme know if I missed any warnings or tags

Tags: @sniigura, @diffidentphantom, @redspiderhunter, @ithopi0s, @sirenetheblogger, @kaseykay32

Special shout out for my lord and saviour @sniigura for helping me with this chapter 😭

[justastraymoa]

ADVENTURES WITH CHEESE EXTENDED EDITION PT 10

Im lost. Hopelessly lost with a cat in a bag on my shoulder looking at me like I am the dumbest person on the planet. And honestly, I feel like I am right now.

How do I go out for a simple walk around the neighborhood with my cat and get lost for hours. And my phone is dying on top of it all!

There is no way I could call the boys. I would never live it down. And I mean never. Plus how were they supposed to help me if I didn’t even know where I was? I couldn’t even find a street sign to give me a hint of where I was.

And im tired, hungry, have no more water, and didn’t bring any money because it was supposed to be a short walk. Only I could get myself into situations like this.

If I use my phone to get a map up, I will kill the battery and I didn’t think to pull a map up earlier when I had more battery, because why would I do that? Why would I be smart enough to do that?

Honestly when I get back to the apartment, I am just never going to leave it again. It wasn’t worth it and I am apparently too dumb to go out on my own anyways. Maybe I could flag down a police officer or something if I see one. They may be able to at least put me in the right direction if they wouldn’t give me a courtesy ride because of Cheese.

When I finally saw the boys, it was almost completely dark. The streetlights were already on and no one was walking around anymore. I was so relieved I felt my stupid eyes start to stupidly tear up. Stupid.

Binnie walked up to me and wrapped his arms around my head so I could hide my face in his chest while the emotions passed. I held onto him tightly. Someone tugged Cheese away from me at some point, most likely Lino. And there were several rubs and pats as we stood there.

“Lets get your dumb ass home.” Lino sighed. I just nodded, thankful yet again for all 4 of them. And for the terrible circumstances that lead me to meeting and befriending them in the first place.

Once at home I was deposited directly into a chair and a large glass of ice water was placed in front of me. I drank a few gulps before forcing myself to slow down so I didn’t get sick. That would be the perfect end to this perfect night. Praying over the porcelain bowl because I drank too much water too fast.

I was lucky enough to work from home most of the time. The occasional meeting forced me to go in and work trips, but 90% of the time I spent working from my bedroom or the living room couch or the dining table. Kind of wherever I felt like sitting and a lot of the times I sat at all places throughout the day, just for a change of scenery.

The boys worked from home occasionally, when they could. I always knew when one of them was home because Cheese would abandon me for someone else. Always excited to have someone new to cuddle and bug all day. Also, he knew the boys would give him treats. I was the strict parent in this relationship. But he was still a mama’s boy at heart, so I was okay with it.

Today it was Bin who was working from home. From the dining table by the sounds of it. I could hear him talking to both himself and Cheese. And could also hear the occasional thump of something falling as Cheese was a turd because Bin wasn’t paying enough attention to him. Spoiled child that he is.

I stayed at my desk, both relieved to not be bothered and distracted by Cheese and lonely because Cheese was not here cuddling and distracting me. It was an odd combination. I would probably join Bin at the dining table later just to not feel so lonely. However, for now I had 30 emails on a crisis that popped up overnight that needed attending to.

I laughed out loud as I heard Bin go into Linos room and start to look around for the sling bag. He must be desperate enough to risk Linos wrath.

“I can lend you my makeshift sling. It works just fine!” I called.

“He cant just gatekeep all the good stuff and expect to get away with it! It’s the principle of the thing!” He called back. There was a crash as something was knocked over.

“He is going to kill you for going through his stuff!”

“He wouldn’t.”

I raised my eyebrows and waited for that to sink into Bins head.

“You will save me right. He is a softie for you.” I eventually heard him say.

I scoffed doubtful that Lino was a ‘softie’ for anyone. Except maybe his cats. He was soft for them. Humans though, me included, he was not soft for. “I will try.” I promised nothing more.

Later that night, hours after everyone had gone to bed for the night, there was a high pitched scream that tore me from my peace.

On instinct I ran from the room. Bins door was open and I could see Lino standing over his bed with a very creepy, very psychotic smile on his face in the dark room. The only light source from the hallway nightlight.

(A/N: I picture something like this look)

“I see you went into my room.” Lino stated lowly, face not losing an inch of psychotic.

My body sagged as I realized what had happened. Lino was getting his revenge. In a very Lino way.

“Im sorry.” Bin said lowly.

Beside me Chan laughed quietly. “He spent all evening trying to figure out how to get back at him for tearing the room apart.”

Hyune didn’t even look like he woke up, let alone looked to see why Bin had screamed like a little girl in the middle of the night.

I rolled my eyes and went back to bed, pulling Cheese closer to rub my face on his soft fur and hear his purring as I drifted off.

A/N: And here we are with part 10. Honestly every time I do another one of these I have so much fun but I also wonder how the heck this even happened. How the heck did I turn a bunch of random pinterest cats into Cheese and create a whole ass cat. And all because I love black cats and have had several of my own that vie for the braincell of orange cats on occasion.

Anyways enjoy! See you next time

Skz + pets masterlist

Taglist: @whatdoyouwanttocallmefor

[cedarwoodtears]

anything u wanna say abt until dawn?? it can be hcs, theories, whatever comes to ur mind :)

not to be creepy but i wanna hear you yap abt until dawn 😭

HI ANON so sorry im sick so i slept in. its not creepy at all dont worry hehe ill gladly talk about this stupid game all day!!! honestly its all gonna be random hcs not much correlation whatsoever

• mike is NOT a gamer. especially fighting games oh lord as much as he tries he just cannot. he’s like a permanent noob. i fear even a 90 year old grandma can match his level…doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy those games! just that he sucks at it. whenever he plays with chris or josh it’s like watching a murder unfold infront of your eyes….it’s brutal. but i mean hey with having two amputated fingers you can’t blame him. he’s surprisingly good at rhythm games though. when you think of mike i doubt you think of osu or pjsk but god DAMN he’s weirdly good.

• chris is everyone’s go-to tech support guy. your phone is being slow? your computer isn’t working? can’t figure out where your file went? just ask and he will 99.99% of the time help fix it. not before teasingly calling them old teehee he tries to explain how to prevent it from happening again but he uses all these technical mumbo jumbo terms it flies over most peoples heads. mike likes hearing chris ramble about all that though, even if he doesn’t understand it he thinks it’s adorable…(chris x mike is REAL ITS REAL!!! still calls him a dork though. always he always will. because it’s true and mike loves him for it.)

• i ideally imagine sam’s room to be the MOST comfortable place on earth. like there’s always some candle going, cute little plants everywhere, warm tones, fairy lighting, fuzzy blankets, like it’s just a room you’d feel so safe in!!! and oh my god does she always have the best snacks. movie nights at her house go CRAZYY it’s literally the ideal spot. the gang get together every so often and have them, but sam really goes all out with the snacks and drinks and decor!! josh gets a $5 entry fee just because hes josh hehe (not really but i like to imagine josh is always like “i owe you one!” when it ends..he pays in kisses and cuddles)

• jessmatt is REAL their potential relationship dynamic is so cute!!! i feel like mike is definitely not the right guy for her, matt is more mellow which imo suits her better. him and emily are cute but….idk. all i know is matt would be an absolute sweetheart to jess, like he’d spend hours looking for perfects gifts for her and remind her of how beautiful she is inside and out constantly….always admiring her and hyping her up whenever she gets insecure….i can’t sobs she’s just as sweet back to him. jess isn’t that into sports but you best believe she will ALWAYS cheer him on in football (sometimes matt gets embarrassed from how loud she does…..) and she always has some little treat for him after he wins.

• ashley having such a creative and talented mind…not only can she write, she loves pottery and painting and occasionally knitting…everyone has a handmade gift from ash somewhere in their house. and it’s not like a quick little thing no she takes her TIME!!! and it always comes in a box with a pink bow and a heartfelt note attached to it!! she is just so babygirl. always so thoughtful and imaginative her room is full of posters and her own art and it’s all so colorful and BEAUTIFUL!!!! and oh so humble she tends to downplay her skill like girl you just wrote the most gut-wrenchingly divine well-thought out absolutely incredible piece of fiction and she’s like “it’s not the best 😓” and everyone is like “ash what the hell do you mean this is the best thing i’ve EVER read”

• josh and sam….ough….ough my heart💔❤️💔❤️……as much as sam was traumatized and by everything that went down and is still somewhat hurt by his actions, she’s still there for josh. still holds him close and comforts him, still tells him it’s all going to be okay, still lets him know he’s loved, still kisses his forehead and runs her fingers lovingly through his hair….sobs so loudly AHHH!! of course they’re still pranksters to each other. the amount of dumb pranks josh pulls on her nothing is safe hehe he’s always scheming. his favorite is the whoopee coushin because it’s so dumb and incredibly unfunny it actually physically pains her while he’s laughing his ass off fucking in HYSTERICS over how unamused she is…little does he know sam’s got some tricks up her sleeve too…

• emily’s closet is UNMATCHED!!! her habit of spending ridiculous amounts of money on clothes has only furthered but no one can lie she is just…amazing with dressing. she loves going clothes shopping with the girls and somehow always manages to find something that they all love!! she’ll help the guys too but….eh…..not really her cup of tea (men’s fashion that is). she’s made up with jess and they’re friends now, but emily will always stay emily and make her sharp, witty comments about everyone and everything teehee. she is so caring and kind deep down though, and an even better friend to get advice from!! just don’t ask her how to save money better ahem she can’t help with that 😅

• also mike went back and got wolfie. they’re best friends mike has hundreds of photos of him literally just sitting. being cute. half his posts on instagram are wolfie. he has so many damn nicknames for that wolf it’s crazy he’s already forgotten like half of them. wolfie could literally tear apart his house and after awhile of him being mad he’d be like “but he’s so cute….i can’t stay mad at you bud who’s a good boy” mike your couch is unrecognizable he is NOT a good boy for that 😭❌🙅‍♂️

[woso-fan13]

Sicktember 2023: 11

Beginner’s Guide To Faking Sick

In an effort to assess the team’s fitness and any improvement in performance, someone thought it would be a good idea to have fitness testing twice- once on the first day and once on the last. You would really like to talk to the person who made this decision, because they need to know that they just made twenty-some new enemies. 

Everyone had been complaining about it since it was announced, and you had been very vocal about how much you were not looking forward to the beep test specifically. 

Andi had the pleasure of being your roommate, which meant she also had the pleasure of being the person who had to drag you out of bed in the mornings. She’s lucky you’re relatively easy to get out of bed, she could have been stuck with a lot worse. 

—-

“Y/N, come on. You need to get up, the bus leaves in 20 minutes,” Andi’s voice woke you. 

You groan, “Ands, my head really hurts. Can I please go back to sleep?”

You hear footsteps before you feel a hand pressing against your forehead. 

“You don’t have a fever, you’re fine.”

“Andi, please. It really hurts,” your voice is quiet. 

“Y/N, I’m not stupid, I know you’re trying to get out of fitness testing. Next time, commit fully to faking sick if you want to skip. It’s a little embarrassing, I was better at faking sick when I was in elementary school.”

“‘m not lying, I promise. My head feels like it’s going to explode.”

“I’m leaving,” Andi sighs, “be downstairs and ready to go in 15 minutes. Take some Tylenol if your head hurts that bad, and get up. If you really want to stay in your bed, you’ll have plenty of time when you’re dropped from the team for skipping.”

With that, you hear the door open and shut as Andi leaves. The girl really was all about tough love, which was usually good. She could always push you to reach a new best, never accepting any excuses.  

Just this once, you wished she would. But you knew she was right, Coach had dropped people for less than missing fitness testing. So you pulled yourself out of bed, got yourself together, and headed to the lobby. 

Your steps were slow and somewhat wobbly. Which made sense, because your head was spinning and felt like it was being split in half. But you made it to the elevator and stumbled into the lobby, joining the group of players. 

Andi, noticing your presence, walks over and slings her arm around your shoulder. Leaning down, she whispers to you. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t need to be so harsh this morning. I was just frustrated and I really couldn’t put up with your antics. We’re fine, right?”

You force a smile onto your face, “of course, Ands. Sorry for being so stubborn.”

If Andi hadn’t believed you earlier, you knew she wouldn’t believe you now. So you decided that you would mind-over-matter your way through the situation. If you pretended you felt normal, you eventually would feel normal, right?

—-

You didn’t even make it through the warm up. You managed through stretches, but you only made it about halfway around the field when your body decided to prove to Andi that you weren’t a liar. 

With a thud, you dropped to the ground. Everyone froze for a moment looking towards you, as if waiting for you to stand up. Instead, you began seizing. 

Everyone took off running, the vets crouching around you and shooing the younger players away. Andi, who had crouched by your head, watched in horror as you began throwing up, your seizure still not breaking. 

As the medics arrived, they quickly pushed everyone back. Andi begged to stay, and she was finally allowed to if she promised not to get in the way. She was directed to your feet, and she grabbed your ankle tightly. 

She watched as they shine a flashlight in your eyes, speaking rapidly. She catches words such as “dilated” and “uneven” and she knows enough to know that those aren’t good. 

But she doesn’t know what could have happened. A headache wouldn’t cause this, and you were fine yesterday. You had played the full 90 and scored two goals against the Canadian team. You had been totally fin- oh. 

Andi’s thoughts screech to a halt. In the 91st minute, you had gone in for a header and had been instead met with the goalie’s fist. You had landed on your feet though, and you seemed okay. There had only been a few minutes of injury time left, and the ref had waved off the medics and resumed play. 

By the time that the final whistle blew, it seemed that everyone had forgotten about your injury. The medics didn’t come or pull you aside in the locker room, Coach had been too busy doing whatever he does to check in on you. And your teammates had been distracted with celebrating the win to remember that you had taken a serious knock. The only person who seemed to remember was the goalie, who had asked mainly out of guilt if you were fine. 

(of course, the fans remembered. when you were finally cleared to use screens, you would see edits of you being hit and then swaying on the pitch as everyone forgot about you. not how you wanted to go viral.)

No one had noticed that you had skipped out on the celebrations to go to bed once you had returned to the hotel. The only person who had any clue that something was wrong had told you off for lying. No one even knew until you hit the ground. 

[velvetvexations]

All the Dropout transmisogyny discourse anons I got, because there are a ton. I don't have much to add here that I haven't already said and aren't going to repeat a million times in the near future, and I have a million more asks still in my inbox, so these don't have answers, but each of them has values of their own and I'm happy to platform them. Yall are very insightful and articulate.

cw for suicide mention

"dropout doesn't have enough transfems"

my best friend tried to kill herself a couple of months ago just because being alive as a poor trans fem in a red state is that fucking painful and difficult. that's the state of the world for 90% of trans people. and that other 10%? thats you (not you velvet, the people that are whining about dropout).

shut the FUCK up about dropout. you don't fucking care about trans women, you care about being mad about stupid bullshit so you can get off to feeling oppressed by the only company on fucking earth who is making ANY effort to fucking platform and take care of queer artists. it is so disgustingly priveleged to be upset about a fucking streaming platform as small as dropout not having "enough" of the Right Kind of Tranny on it.

i am so sick of these fucking people. trans people are getting fucking murdered and killing themselves, we are losing our fucking siblings, and instead of trying to take action to stop & prevent violence against us, they're bitching online because Show They Don't Watch doesn't have enough trans women on it.

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Ngl this discord is coming off very white and representative politics had already been disproven by black folks in America. Representation is nice but does nothing to fix the root issues, why expect a private company to be able to fix it? This anger could be place in more productive and necessary trans issues

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the talk about dropout not including transfems annoys me on a couple of levels of like, yeah, they could have more transfems. factual statement. but there very well may be transfems working in or around dropout that either are in the closet or don't feel like making themselves known, and demanding that you know the agab (tma or tme) of every person involved in dropout just so you can fufill some kind of tme vs tma trans quota is. a tad fucked up.

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"#and people have been pointing out how its fucked that theres p good transmasc representation on drop out" wow! I hate this! like i guess i should be grateful that they're saying the quiet part out loud or whatever but how have we gotten to a point where having good trans representation is "fucked"??? just because it's not the Specific Type of Trans you want to see represented. Especially when the most prominent one came out and transitioned after being hired???? so they weren't even hired to fill some "quota" of representation ALSO i think i sent asks to you about this before but i'm tired as fuck of people just immediately pointing at nonbinary people and calling them transmasc!!!! y'all are so fucking exorsexist and binarist that you genuinely view the world as "men and men-adjacent" and "woman and woman-adjacent" we're never escaping the hell that is binary gender norms are we. also like. immediately calling all nonbinary people transmasc is actively participating in the erasure of transfem nonbinary people. you don't know someone's ASAB by looking at them. you don't know how or if someone has transitioned already. all you know is that they're not cis and use they/them pronouns. as a smaller note, i've seen people saying something like the drag queens don't count as transfem rep on dropout and it makes me so angry! why are we buying into the Rupaul Drag Race-ification of drag that tries to deny the foundational role trans people of all types have in drag? did they bother to look into the queens to see which are transfem or not?? i cannot name a drag queen in my city that is a cis man. i live in a major city. i'm sure they're out there, but the scene is rightfully filled with trans women artistically expressing exploring and celebrating their gender. this dropout drama is so manufactured and for what. what's the goal here? dropout reads to me like a group of comedians who are friends and are still sticking together after college humor died. it's not like they have constant main cast recruitment drives, from what i can tell, it's more of a "hey I (dropout cast member) know this other comedian that'd be a great fit. we should hire them". i'm just so tired of this faux moral outrage when nothing of substance has occurred and every trans person in my life is struggling to afford to survive and being crushed under the weight of the ongoing supreme court case on gender affirming care

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I don’t have the energy to unblock plaidos long enough to rewrite the anon I forgot I wouldn’t be able to send, but I don’t think she understands that Bezos (owner of Amazon Prime, a much larger streaming service with presumably dozens of original shows, but I don’t actually know and don’t really care) could buy Sam Reich for exactly his net worth literally a million times over and eat him for breakfast as easily as he could anyone else in this country. Why are we supposed to be mad at him for not being above and beyond what every other company’s standards are?? Show me PROOF trans women are getting snubbed for roles on Dropout shows or shut the fuck up. A show having any ONE trans person should be seen as a win, now we have to have multiple kinds? (And don’t think us nonbinary people can’t see the blatant fucking binary they’re boiling trans rep down to. At least make the categories “transmisogyny affected” “transandromisia affected” (that’s the term Ive seen the least hate for so in my head it’s what the tmas are most okay with) and “exorsexism affected” and pretend to care about unaligned enbans not IDing as teansfem or transmasc?????

okay im done i should really go to bed i don’t even know why i care ive never watched a dropout show i guess im just fucking sick of people inventing problems where there are none so they can feel properly downtrodden. Im in constant physical pain and going on year 5 of disability benefit denials, my anxiety is off the charts, im falling back into suicidal ideation since the election, and I’m homeless and once again living with my queerphobic just left of fundie family. Some of us have REAL FUCKING PROBLEMS and there’s plenty of other stuff being created that claims to care about queer people and has yet to have any trans rep. Go yell at goddamn disney some more, fuck!!!!)

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So how do you think all the people mad about dropout right now would react to me pointing out the lack of transmasc creators on nebula?

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i wouldn't be surprised if one of the reasons trfs are deciding to get mad at dropout is because you like it

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I was reading the dropout discourse with a furrowed brow. Real stink face situation. Just due to the ridiculousness of it all. And my boyfriend comes up and goes "hey :D! Wait, what's wrong?" N I'm like "nothing, just ppl being dumb." And he was like "oh. Well, it's snowing outside! :D" and we went outside with the dog and played in the snow and it was a real eye opening experience. Real ppl online vs people in real life kind of situation.

People online: the streaming platform Dropout is not TMA enough

People in real life: hey, it's snowing outside!

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yknow how right wing pundits will pick the culture war du jour to make a huge deal out of? remember how they were SO upset about mr potato head being potato they or whatever, which was quickly dropped because santa claus is black sometimes and we need to be worried about that, which was then dropped because the green m&m wasnt sexy enough...

and how it's this neverending cycle of picking non-issues to fight about? because it's more about riling up general-your base, making them think everyone is out to get them all the time in all these insidious ways, to make the entire world seem darker and more dangerous than it is? and when people outside this circle say these are non-issues, their lack of understanding about how bad the world actually is serves to further rile up that same base, who now think they're the only truth-seers?

anyway, dropout has marginally more tmascs than tfems and we're all really very mad about this real issue

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People are really showing their ~tme discourse~ asses with this dropout thing because like: by their own stupid framework definition isn’t TME supposed to be all non-transfems? So like… cis people? But their graphs are instead just singling out Beardsley as the Evil Appropriating Interloper Stealing Opportunities From Real Trans People. Like… y’all aren’t even PRETENDING that your entire position isn’t just “fuck transmascs in particular”

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re: the dropout discourse like yeah it did take a while for Brennan to make a transfem NPC but does nobody remember The Seven??? a whole season where a transfem PC was played by a transfem person? i haven’t finished the season yet but cmon people. it came up in like the first or second episode.