#i just want good dad!norman stuff

[aestheticitii]

do you think the gym leaders+steven all text norman to let him know how his kid is doing

because norman is the only one with a kid among the gym leaders. wattson's got a niece but she lives outside of hoenn and drake from the elite four has grandkids but like he's not a gym leader

and it's just a way to bond with norman since he clearly loves his family and the only time he gets soft is thinking of them

like roxanne gets beaten by a lvl15 mudkip and nothing else, and when she asks why, the kid is like, "actually, i want to be a water type only trainer so that i can also be a gym leader"

she lets wallace know in the group chat that he has competition

steven casually drops the fact that his kid beat up a few team magma grunts and his dad is apparently very fond of norman's kid now to one of the others and it spreads like wildfire

brawly says that his kid's been camping out for like the past three days, trying to fish for a tentacool, and then they show up to battle with like 20 potions and their tentacool as their ace

wallace pipes in briefly to tell norman that he and his wife should turn on a specific channel and watch it together.

afterwards, norman jokes that his kid really is gunning for wallace's spot and thanks him for letting him see their kid branching out. wallace starts commenting more on them because lisia tells him a lot and he's kind of happy his niece has a good friend she can hang out with

wattson happily tells him about he caught them giving pointers to wally and how they gave their marshtomp bulldoze specifically for this match and won by the skin of their teeth

and also how they nearly got into a fight with the guy who gives advice because he was like "you can't fight with water types in an electric gym!"

flannery is oddly quiet when they come to town and that is because they end up befriending each other because they WANT to be a gym leader but they know they have to live up to their dad while flannery's already trying to live up to the sort of reputation one should have

all she says is "it's a secret"

norman shares a picture of him, his wife, and their kid at a restaurant he found specifically because they like that sort of food. in it, tentacool has evolved and they now corphish and surskit and a togepi

the togepi belongs to his wife now but he mentions that it makes for a great excuse for his kid to come home more often

steven says something about how they're very passionate and when prompted to speak more about the topic, he says they nearly fought with kecleon because it was preventing them from going into the gym

winona is grateful that they asked the kecleon to go away. she's the one who has the least amount of conversation with them but she does note them trying to convince gyarados to fly, then begrudgingly resigning themselves to being a land and water dweller

(steven has to laugh at that when wallace tells him.

he never says why but when he comes back from his travels, he has a swanna for them)

the twins hear about the kid being in town but the first time they meet is at the department store while they're arguing with a kid about the last slakoth plush. they pull the "my dad is a gym leader" card and when that fails, they end up resorting to a pokemon battle

everyone floods the chat with questions after the team magma/team aqua incident. norman shuts down the gym for a bit to be there for his kid and also do gym leader stuff and the only time the kid shows up on tv is a few days later when they're trying to get to the gym and a reporter stops them

they very confidently say they can be champion, but only if they can make it past through the reporter because they need their eighth badge

norman is SO proud

for wallace, he mentions how the first thing they say after beating him is asking him where he got his milotic from. they're actually extremely mad that they couldn't find any feebas and they didn't actually want to battle him without one but they also just want to head onto victory road

this actually jogs a memory of norman's, where he remembers that he took the family to petalburg before he moved to show them littleroot and just spend time with them while they're still in johto

and on one of the screens is wallace and milotic, and after that, the three of them decide to take some time to watch one of his contests on tv, which spurs a family tradition and the declaration that they will also have a milotic

he promised to get a feebas for them, but they turned him down so he kinda regrets not pushing it a bit more

so he like talks to his kid and they basically confirm his suspicions

milotic = happy memories so my own milotic = more happy memories and since i want to be a gym leader like my old man = water types only

it's all very wholesome

norman can't stay away from petalburg much longer and his kid doesn't want him to watch the matches because they're afraid of an ungraceful showing, but they do promise to send a photo with steven after the match and verbal confirmation from the latter that they won

also norman's kid just looks up to their dad so much, like the coolest person ever, and once they become champion, they go to him for advice on pokemon—it's a running joke in the family that it should be the other way around since they're the youngest champion in hoenn

as for the feebas, someone from the weather institute finds out that they want one so they call norman to tell his kid this secret for a guaranteed feebas

the next beauty master rank has people making the spiderman meme because wallace also enters with a milotic. he wins the battle, but they win the day because their parents come to watch them and they spend the entire day together

[dontbesoweirdkira]

Idk if it’s just me but this is how I see Yandere Mark with batsib.

Batsib who had a neglectful parent and needs to be obsessively loved

Mark Grayson who’s obsessively in love with them.

I also feel like batsib is also adopted but could be blood related to Damian. Oh I also feel like batsib and Mark were close friends before they started dating. I just like the premise of Mark and batsib being friends before dating because that’ll mean they batsib trusts him.

Also I feel like mark isn’t that bad of a boyfriend it’s just his obsessive tendencies and possessiveness. I feel like Mark would def take batsib out on dates and make sure there well taken care of. Idk I’m desperate

This is so late but I def agree. My last post was purely a joke post.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely am a fiend for evil boy Mark. Evil Mark has my heart idc idc idc.

Mark is such a good boy he loves every single girl he's been with so much. Like he's such a family boy. ;-; his mama raised him right. He love Batsis more than anything and would do whatever makes her happy.

I think Mark would love being able to be an obsessive partner with batsis. Like you said it wouldn't even be in a bad way, he gets to be extremely over protective and keep you safe without ever worrying about being too much. If he ever did push a boundary he is so apologetic, he's so cuteee.

Even when he has to be away for a while doing hero stuff, he comes back and is treating you like you're the only girl in the world. How nice it'd be when he takes you on late night flights to where you wanna go. All the kisses and attention. He's great on sending you updates, you literally are all that matters.

Dates are great. Perfect teenage/young adults dream. You're always going on adventures together. I think his mom would love you and wouldn't care if you was constantly over. Like you can have that spare room.

There's tons of lazy days where Mark is holding you in his bed for hours while you guys eat junk and be bliss. He just never wants to be away from you.

Even when his dad is talking nonsense, he could never in a million years think about killing you. He doesn't care if he'll outlive you and still be young when you're old. To him, you're the only one that could ever fill that void within him. It's not years wasted to him, if it's spent with you. He'd love you as much as you need for the rest of your life..

but ughhh after Norman started being weird, can you just imagine how protective Mark would get. He's never leaving your side. He doesn't trust anyone or thing. You're his baby, he's willing to take any beating from his dad if that means you will be safe. He'll bounce back but you are so fragile...he cannot risk it. He's never abandoning you, not after you parents.

it would be funny though for him to have beef with some of the batsiblings tho, even if it's friendly. I think it'd just make sense, especially if the batsis are yanderes with too. Like come on Bruce would at least def hate him and Norman. Mark didn't even do anything wrong but he's still a threat.

[theocddiaries]

[IN THE HOSPITAL. HALLWAY] Clark [On the phone]: No, no, Dick, shut up… You are not quitting your job. Dick: Where is this coming from? Clark: It's coming from the future-- your future-- and it ain't pretty. Dick: I don't understand. In the future, I'm not pretty? Clark: Nah, you'll hold up okay. But this path you're on, flitting from one thing to the next, it ends in a pile of ex-partners and nicotine fingers. Dick [sighs]: Can I talk now, Clark? Clark: No! [BACK AT THE MANOR, ANOTHER PHONE RINGS. DAMIAN PICKS IT UP IN THE SAME ROOM DICK IS IN]. Damian: Hello? Bruce: Damian? You don't have to go on that trip with Jon. You can study as much as you want. Just know that I love you. Damian: …Okay? Clark: Listen to me, Dick: you are dangerously close to getting on a path you can't get off of!! Dick: Clark, stop yelling. Damian: Farther, stop crying, I know I'm not a big nerd. Um, Richard, here, Father wants to talk to you. Dick: And Clark wants to talk to you. [They exchange phones] Dick and Damian: Hello? Clark: Damian, book down, run a brush through your hair. You're going on that trip with Jon. Damian: …What? Bruce: Dickie, I love you. If you don't want to work in that store, I'll help you find something you like better. Dick: …Is this reverse psychiatry? Bruce: No, honey. Actually, nothing is. I just want you to be happy. Dick: B, you're freaking me out. Tim [Walks in]: Hi. Why is everyone screaming? Damian and Dick [Pass him the phones]: Here! Tim [Grabs both, puts each phone in one ear]: This is Tim. Dick: Why are Dad and Clark acting so crazy? Damian: I don't know, but it's creepy. Something's going on. Dick: Do you think it has to do with Dad's heart thing? Like it's more serious than they're saying? Damian: We have to go to the hospital. [ARRIVING AT THE HOSPITAL] Dick: Okay, let's calm down. Dad could be fine. Damian: Oh, come on. They wouldn't be freaking out if they were fine. Tim: Right, 'cause those two never freak out over nothing… They're perfect. Damian: Remember the time when Clark was switching jobs, and Father threw away all of our junk food? Dick: That was completely different. Tim: No, no, actually, it's not. They don't know how to deal with their stuff, so they obsess over us. Damian: Maybe that's all this is, right? [IN ANOTHER ROOM] Clark: I'm so glad all the tests were okay, honey. Bruce: Me too. Clark: I'm texting the kids to let them know. By the way, you did a great job of keeping your cool. Bruce: Well, I didn't want to scare the kids. You did a pretty good job yourself. Clark: Thanks. I think we're pretty good at this parenting thing. Bruce: I think we are. [THE KIDS COME BURSTING THROUGH THE DOOR] Dick [Holding his phone]: "Dad OK"?! Tim: You guys are the worst parents ever. It's the same every time! One of you guys goes through something stressful, and instead of dealing with it, you freak out on us. Dick: "Quit your job," "don't quit your job"? Damian: "Read more," "read less"? Be better at being adults! [THEY LEAVE, ANGRILY] Norman [Looks at them] Bruce: Save the judgey looks for another 15 years, if all your kids make it.

[gingersnaptaff]

Me again! Bringing in some hot gossip about the Welsh Laws of Women. (By which I mean from the laws of Hywel Dda.)

No. No! Don't run away, it's good shit, I promise!

So, the legal majority for a girl was twelve. This is different to a boy. Under Welsh law, they didn't become men until they were 14, and, if they were high-ranking, were fostered out to other nobles, whereas girls were kept at home, hence the 'father's platter.' What's interesting to me is that after she became a woman she was entitled to hold her own property as an unmarried woman and 'go wherever she pleased.'

I realise I am saying that verbatim to what I've highlighted but like think about it!!!! She wasn't bound to her family - except in marriage but I'll get into that - and she legally had the right to go bye byes! Her father didn't rule her life, basically. She's a free spirit.

NOW, the right to land is pretty tricky, on account of different parts of Wales having different customs. You gotta remember that Wales was NEVER really united* under one big fish until AFTER the Normanic Conquest, and even then that took some fuckin doing.

(*Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Owain Gwynedd, and Llywelyn Fawr are exceptions. That's the House of Aberffraw, bb!)

So, in South Wales, it seems more prevalent to give land to a lady's descendants when there were no men to take up the land. This is far better than in North Wales (and may I just say as a North Walian *clears throat* WHAT THE FUCK?) where basically Salic Law applied which is basically where u gotta give it to a male descendent. Female lineal descendants were excluded. Boo!!!

BUT!!! However, matrilineal bloodlines should not be discounted. Royal women still had claims to the throne that could be used by their descendants to press their claim. Owain Glyndŵr did this. I suspect if u were related to a Welsh lady you could try and do it but, pls, don't use this tumblr post to try and convince the jury. It's on you, bud.

MAWWIAGE. IT'S WHAT BWINGS US TOGETHER.

Now, there are two forms of marriage. Your normal one where your parents pick for you or at the very least gift u to your husbando like in Culhwch and Olwen, and the one where you can ELOPE. Because Welsh law didn't see marriage as a religious thing the sanctity of marriage wasn't in question so, therefore, you could have a little fun and y'know nyoom after your chosen beau. (Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd ap Cynan did this. She's ace.)

The Mabinogi gives us a lot of good shit about the gift of kin stuff. Branwen gets gifted to Matholwch by Bendigeidfran, all fine and dandy. BUT Welsh law states that your relatives - mam, dad, grandads, grandmum's, great-grandad's and grrat-grandmum's - needed to take counsel cuz y'know it's a big fuckin thing, giving somebody in marriage. So, that's why Efnisien is so upset because he wasn't given a say. He thinks he is legally entitled to do so. However, he's only her half-brother so not full-blooded. Therefore, he's unable to have a say because he isn't fully related to her.

(A lot of Welsh law is prevaricated on kin ties.)

Also for all u Rhiannon lovers out there - like me - the Welsh law was on her side when she fought to free herself from Gwawl ap Clud. (Although the badger-in-a-sack game was a bit much.) Welsh law forbade a woman from being married against her will. Yeah, your family could try and capture you and bring you back but like if you'd bonked the lad you could stay. You'd made your choice. Nobody can take that away from you. All that was needed in a personal bestowal was continued cohabitation. *clicks teeth, finger guns.*

Also, there are marriage laws too, but I don't want to clutter up the feed too much, or overly ramble. Suffice to say there's some fun ones!

[littlegodzilla]

Request if you want to:

Single dad Norman falls for his son's friend's single mom.

I appreciate your writing

Hi anon!!

Thanks for your request! I really enjoyed wtiting it, of course we can say it's an AU from real Norman, I'm not going to talk about Helena or something like this, I took some liberties, hope you don't mind!

Enjoy!!

******************

Norman's Secret.

SingleDad!Norman Reedus x SingleMom!Reader.

One shot. Anon request.

Warnings: none.

Words: 5000

***************

The alarm clock goes off that damnably early morning. A grunt of frustration echoes through the room as he fumbles to turn off the infernal sound that has awakened him that morning. He huffs lying face up in bed as he rubs his eyes trying to wake up fully. He has never been a morning person, at least not out of obligation, but the week has started again, and he has to be responsible. After a few more minutes of standing still, he gets out of bed looking for some old sweatpants and a sweatshirt. He walks down the hallway of the apartment and opens the door to another of the rooms, doesn't turn on the light, leans over the small body resting under the sheets and touches his blond mane.

"Good morning buddy, it's time to get up." He whispers softly to him receiving a whimper in protest. He smiles and when he feels he's already awake, he lifts the bedroom blinds to let the light start coming in.

"Daddy, it's too early." Protests the little boy again, pulling the covers over his head.

"I know, but we have to go to school, so there's no excuse."

"I don't feel well..." he mumbles under the sheets and he smiles from his position.

"Mingus, don't make me use force..." He threatens him, but when the boy pulls the sheets down, he sees his father grinning mischievously and knows he's lost.

"Daddy, no!" But his father throws himself on the bed, trapping his little body and starts tickling him getting Mingus to squirm laughing. "Okay, okay!"

Norman laughs, kisses him on the head and gets up to fix breakfast warning him that if he's not there in ten minutes, he'll be back with more. Mingus laughs but gets out of bed to get ready and go to breakfast with his father. It has always been just the two of them, Norman and Mingus, Norman has always loved children and has cared for and protected his son the best he has known and knows how, Mingus is now only nine years old and Norman knows that to a lesser or greater extent, his son will always turn to him if he needs him, or so he hopes. Norman had his difficulties with his father when he was young and things didn't get better until the man was in a serious situation and then he was gone, Norman has always regretted not knowing how to fix things sooner and he doesn't want something similar to happen to his son. He is not a spoiled child, or at least Norman tries not to spoil him, but gives him the freedoms and independence he thinks he needs, of course the boy is still learning and his father has to stop him on more than one occasion. But he still thinks he's not doing badly at all.

When the blond boy appears through the kitchen door, he is already dressed for school and is carrying his backpack in his hand, leaving it on one of the free chairs. Norman has prepared breakfast; a bowl of cereal plus some cut up fruit and juice. He sits in front of his son and looks at the notifications on his phone, most are work stuff that he puts aside to check later, others are things from the parent group at school, sometimes he regrets a bit about giving them his number because sometimes they bombard him with unnecessary information, others it is a great help because the parents discuss activities or future important school dates that the child may have forgotten to mention.

"There's a field trip next week." He mentions reading one of the messages and Mingus hums. "Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Next week you have to travel for your job, remember? I was staying at Uncle Andy's on those days." He tells him with a shrug, chewing his cereal.

Norman stands quietly watching his son, Mingus doesn't seem upset, just indifferent, it's not the first time he's missed an activity because his father can't accompany him, at first his protests led to an argument, but as he got older, Mingus came to understand that sometimes things didn't go the way you wanted and he just accepted that fact, others, like the child he is, he kept protesting and insisting sometimes he got what he wanted and sometimes he didn't.

"It's a multi-day excursion." Norman keeps saying and looks sideways at him, Mingus nods.

"That's why I didn't say anything to you, Uncle Andy can't go with me."

"Sure..." He nods as well putting the phone down on the table and takes a last sip of his coffee. "Finish that and brush your teeth, I'll pick this up and we'll go." He instructs him, Mingus finishes his juice and gets up from the table to get lost down the hallway.

As he watches him leave, hhe looks back at his phone and as he picks everything up, putting it in the dishwasher, he sends several messages. Mingus returns minutes later, ready to leave, Norman picks up his backpack and gestures for him to leave the house, but not before grabbing the bike by the door. Mingus smiles excitedly, he likes it when his father rides behind him on the bike or the motorcycle, it's fun and he feels his stomach swirl when they go at high speed, especially on the motorcycle. Mingus stands upright on the back of the bike and holds onto his father's shoulders as he pedals off in the direction of the school.

***************************

"Good morning Norman, good morning Mingus." They are greeted by several parents as they arrive at the school gate, Norman holds his son's hand as he pushes the bike with the other.

"Good morning." They greet at the same time.

The school doors have not yet opened, people are clustering at the entrance waiting, some who have more limited time due to work schedules, leave the children in the care of other trusted parents and leave, Norman makes his way through the various groups until he feels a tug on his shirt.

"Dad, there's Riley, can I go say hi?" He asks pointing to the little girl.

"Of course." He can't help but smile in amusement and lets go of his hand to watch him run over to her friend.

Riley and Mingus have been friends since they started school, somewhat scared of change, they connected right away and were almost inseparable. He slowly approaches watching as you, Riley's mother, greet Mingus with a warm smile and ruffling his blond locks. At first Norman found it hard to talk to you, making friends between parents wasn't something he was particularly excited about either, but children made friends and had to have at least a respectful relationship with each other, for the younger ones, with you it was harder, always surrounded by other mothers, curious and gossipy, maybe too interested to know why you were always alone, Norman doesn't deny that he is curious too, but he keeps it to himself. Mingus and Riley were the ones who helped you talk for the first time, it was going to be Mingus' birthday party, the boy had invited all the kids in the class, luckily there weren't many, and some had the privilege of staying over at the apartment, Riley was going to be one of them, but first he had to ask permission from her mother, you.

"Hi, I'm Norman, Mingus' father." He introduced himself to you formally.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Riley's mother." You introduced yourself as well by shaking his hand.

"I guess Riley must have already shown you the card, but we're celebrating Mingus' birthday at home this weekend." He explained and you made a surprised face.

"That cool card was made by you?" you looked at Mingus who smiled proudly.

"Yup!" Norman laughed wanting to find out from whom he had inherited that confidence.

"Mingus wanted to ask Riley if he could have a sleepover that day." He spoke again catching your attention. "There will be other children staying as well, I will be with them at all times and will personally drive them home the next day." He explained to put your mind at ease, you looked at him doubtfully just the same, they were still very young and leaving your daughter with a stranger made you uneasy.

"Mom, please!" Riley tugged on your sleeve, pouting exaggeratedly.

"Well, I guess it might be fun for them." You agreed, watching as the little ones jumped for joy.

"Great, anyway, on the card I've written my phone number, in case there's an emergency or you need to know if Riley's okay, you can call anytime or text me." Norman wanted to calm you down and you smiled gratefully.

"Thank you, Norman, that's nice of you." You assured him honestly.

From that day until today, it has been easier for the two of you to talk and connect. Norman feels that there are still strained issues between you, that you're not quite comfortable, but it's not with him, it's a situation in general, like you can't trust people just like that. Norman tries to always give you your space and not bother you, but he has to admit that his curiosity for you has been increasing every day. It's more than just a physical attraction, he doesn't deny that it's there too, but he feels good talking to you, being close, sharing little moments with your kids, telling anecdotes from school or your day to day life, you don't meet for coffee or drinks as if you were lifelong friends, but every now and then you share a message just to make sure each other is ok, if the day has been hard or just to say you're there.

"Good morning." He greets you both when he reaches you and you smile.

"Good morning, Norman." You respond and Riley turns her attention back to his friend. "Working out since first period?" you joke pointing to the bike with your chin and Norman laughs.

"I'm a sporty guy, I can't help it." He follows your joke and you both let out a chuckle. "I have to go to work later and it's across town, with this it's faster than the subway or car."

"I see, you want me to stay with Mingus? If you're in a hurry..."

"No, no need, I always have time, no problem." He shrugs. He has to admit that being a single parent sometimes at work gives him a certain advantage with the scheduling issue. "I'd like to talk to you about some business..." he tells you, lowering his voice a little, glancing sideways at the kids who are engrossed in their business.

"Is something wrong?" You ask him in the same tone of voice.

"No, it's just... I heard that next week there's a field trip with the school."

"Oh yeah, it's three days, we're going to some museums and an amusement park... Do you want me to take Mingus with us? Riley doesn't have a bus buddy yet so I'll be able to watch them both no problem."

"I actually want to go, but I have to talk to my bosses about letting me have those days off, but I want to surprise Mingus." he smiles and you look at her excitedly and nod. "Anyway, if I couldn't go..."

"Of course Norman, count me in, Riley and Mingus are thick as thieves, so it'll be great if you can go together."

"Thanks, will you keep it a secret for me?" he smiles and you laugh.

"Of course, count on it." You hold up your pinky as a sign of promise, Norman smiles and intertwines his pinky with yours to seal said promise.

Norman feels a strange current running through him, he stares at you, but lets go of your hand and takes a step back not wanting to make the situation uncomfortable. The school doors open, you all say goodbye to your children and when they are inside the building you slowly walk away, Norman walks with you to the nearest subway station, pushing his bike, the two of you plan how you want to do about next week's trip.

"You really don't want me to give you a lift?" he offers, pointing to his small vehicle.

"No offense, but I don't think it can handle both of us." You laugh nervously and shake your head. "But thanks, see you later, Norman."

"Sure, see you later." He waves goodbye to you by hopping on his bike and as you disappear down the subway stairs, he rides away towards his work.

******************

Norman needs to pull several strings to get the days off he's asked for, he's had a bit of a falling out with his bosses, but they've finally granted him the full week on the condition that he makes up those hours and works from home during the field trip. Norman doesn't plan to do shit those three days, he wants to enjoy his son, but he will take advantage of the hotel time to get organized. He has made payment for the trip, some parents didn't seem too happy about this, it had been planned in advance and some things had to be modified, you stepped in to defend his situation.

"Riley and I are going alone, we don't need to book another room, or count more bus seats, we all fit right in."

It didn't take long to hear whispers and gibbering about how two adults were going to share a room without being a couple, what would the kids say or what would they think, even Norman's heart skipped a beat at the thought of it, but he really wanted to go on that trip. Once that was settled, he talked Andy out of worrying about taking care of Mingus those days, that he had solved the problem and was going with the boy on the trip. Andy wasn't the little boy's biological uncle, Andrew had been a good friend of Norman's for many years, almost like a brother and he knew he could rely on him for things like that, that he and his wife didn't mind taking care of the blond boy for a few days.

"Are you sure things will be all right at work?"

"Yes, I've arranged it and will go another partner for me, I'll have to make up those days, but I don't mind."

"That's okay man, enjoy the trip and have a good time with Mingus." Andy encouraged him.

So that morning the alarm clock rings earlier than usual, but Norman has no trouble getting up, he is excited thinking about the reaction his son might have when he finds out they are going on a trip. He gets out of bed, finishes packing the suitcase with clothes for the two of them, not much, after all it's only three days, gets dressed and goes to his son's room.

"Wake up, champ, time to get up!" He tells him shaking his little body.

"Dad, it's too early!" He protests seeing on the clock that it's not even time for school.

"I know, but if we want to get to the bus, we have to get up early." He smiles when he sees Mingus' eyes widen.

"Bus?"

"Yes, we're going on the field trip with the school."

"But...you had to go on the trip..."

"I talked to work and another co-worker is going for me." He shrugs.

"But Dad, won't they be mad?"

"Of course not, come on, get dressed." he urges him out of the room to prepare something to eat for the trip and a light breakfast so the boy doesn't get carsick on the trip.

Of course Mingus doesn't stop smiling and bouncing, as if he had suffered a sugar overdose, he squeezes his father's hand, walking quickly, today they had to take the subway to get to school since they couldn't leave the bike there for so many days or take the bike to the excursion. Norman lets his son's excitement wash over him, allowing him to pull him along impatiently, listening to all the plans he has in his head.

"Who will I ride the bus with?" He asks curiously and his father smiles.

"With Riley and her mother, we'll be sharing a room with them at the hotel too." He warns him, Mingus' eyes snap open.

"Dad!" His cheeks take on a ruddy color that make Norman can't hide a giggle.

"Are you embarrassed?"

"Of course not!"

"It's the only spare room left and they don't mind, but if you want I can ask for a room just for us." He says pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and quickly Mingus grabs it by the wrist.

"No, no, no, never mind." He shakes his head and Norman wraps an arm around him, pinning him to his side.

"Come on or we won't make it."

The school entrance is full of parents and children with backpacks and different suitcases, some bigger, some smaller, all waiting for the bus to arrive to start the field trip. Norman gestures to his son as you and Riley spot them. The boy greets his friend effusively as they walk over to you, Norman drags the suitcase over and takes the backpack off the boy so he can go play with his friend and the rest of his classmates.

"Good morning." You greet him, Norman shakes his head in greeting coming to your side. "Are we still waking up?" you poke him laughing.

"Hush, don't think it didn't cost me." He snorts rubbing his eyes.

"How did Mingus like the surprise?"

"I think he's still processing it, he got quite a surprise, but he loved the idea."

"I'm glad, I would have loved to see his face." You comment watching the kids play.

Norman has to bite his tongue in time to keep from saying that to himself too. He doesn't want to do anything awkward, but for a while now Norman notices that the friendship you two have, for him is becoming something more, he likes you, he finds you a very interesting woman, funny, off topic attractive, but he has never made a move for fear of not being reciprocated and that it could affect the friendship between the two children. He's an adult, he knows he can control the situation without it being violent to either of them.

"Everything okay at work?" you ask him then, Norman nods.

"I'll have to work at the hotel, when we have a moment, but I'm not leaving Mingus alone." He shrugs. "I'll make up those hours any way I can."

You look at him curiously, you have to admit you love to see Norman pouring himself into his son like that, work is important, they have to get ahead, but no more so than his family, Mingus is now at an age of absorption and growth, having his father figure around to teach him and take care of him will be meaningful to him. Sometimes you'd like to ask why it's just the two of them, but then you remember that he might ask you the same question and your body aches just thinking about it. Norman takes out a box of cigarettes and lights one, moves a little away from the group of parents so as not to disturb anyone, and fiddles with it between his fingers. You approach him, placing yourself next to him, you have never liked tobacco smoke, but it's funny how that same smell relaxes you when traveling, your family has always been smokers and the smell of a new car makes you more dizzy than the smell of tobacco.

"Sorry, but it's going to be a long trip and I don't think we'll be making many stops." He apologizes pointing to the cigarette.

"Never mind, we all have our vices." You joke but he nods.

When the bus arrives, the children are placed with their seating partner, the teachers number them and the parents do their own mental head count to make sure no one is left behind. You and Norman sit together in the seats behind Mingus and Riley, all the kids can't wait for the field trip to start, they can't stop laughing and talking, chaos is assured, but it's a good thing. The parents keep a silent eye on them, making sure they don't get into any mischief that might disturb or distract the driver. You and Norman can feel the eyes of the other adults on the back of your necks, but you don't say anything. Halfway through the trip the vast majority of the children have fallen asleep and all the parents relax at the same time.

The first day's excursion is educational, they will go to several museums, an aquarium and have a little guide around the city, in the evening they will go to the hotel to check in and have dinner and the next day they will go to the amusement park, then the last day will be educational again stopping at several places on the way back home.

"It's going to be a tough day." He says to Mingus as they get off the bus at the first stop and loads up with the boy's backpack.

"We're going to the aquarium." He tells him with a huge grin and Norman laughs low.

"That's right, I forgot." He pretends to apologize and strokes his hair letting his go with the rest of the kids.

"I think someone is regretting the trip." You prod him and he laughs.

"It's not that...it's just that I'm amazed at the energy they always have, no matter what, there's always something good."

"That's why they're kids." You smile giving him a touch of encouragement on the back and fall in line with the rest of the group.

The morning is long and intense, the kids have enjoyed themselves, the museum has been a bit boring for them, Norman likes art, in fact when he has some time he always likes to paint or go out to take some pictures, but he understands that maybe for some kids seeing so many paintings has been a bit dense, the aquarium was more exciting, even Norman had fun, there, being careful not to disturb the fish, he took out his camera and allowed himself to take some pictures, the children, his son, Mingus with Riley, the installations, even some animals that he found curious. He also took some pictures of you, without wanting to look creepy, but he found you so immersed watching the main tank, your curious smile, your eyes shining with intensity, the reflection of the water on your skin, he couldn't help it and had to shoot a couple of pictures, maybe he will show them to you later, or maybe not and keep them as a little secret for himself. He hasn't decided yet.

At the hotel, dinner has been a complete chaos, the children, tired from the whole trip, wanting to go to their beds, have become hyperactive and noisy, although you try to calm them down and put some order, the rest of the hotel restaurant does not seem very happy with all the commotion. Finally you can go to your rooms, drop your bags and rest from the day. Norman opens the door and lets the kids in first, there is shouting and cheering all around the room. You roll your eyes and walk in asking them to calm down.

"Oh, shit..." Norman hears you behind you and he peeks over your shoulder.

"Oh shit, what?" he asks and then sees it. "Oh shit..."

The room only has three beds, two singles for the kids and one family size possibly for the two adults, thinking you were the parents of the two kids or there were no more rooms left with single adult beds. You fidget nervously and Norman chews his lip several times.

"Hey, never mind, I'll sleep with Mingus in the small bed." He says to calm you down.

"What? No! Dad, you move too much, you'll knock me off the bed." He protests and Riley laughs.

"That's not true." Defends his father.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter, the bed is big enough for both of us." You shrug and Norman looks at you in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah, well, unless you're uncomfortable..."

"No, no, no, not at all." He shakes his head. "It's fine like that, yeah."

"Okay then Riley and I are going to shower first...is that okay with you guys?"

"Sure, no problem, I'll take advantage and go over some work stuff." Norman says pulling his laptop out of his suitcase.

Agreed on the shower time, you grab your stuff and your daughter's and both of you go into the bathroom so as not to keep your companions waiting, as you're sure Mingus is just as tired as Riley and will just want to go to sleep. Norman sits on the edge of the bed pulling his son's pajamas out of the suitcase and an old t-shirt along with some shorts for him.

"Dad..." Mingus' voice makes him look at him curiously, his heart flips at the sight of his exhausted eyes, but he still fights to stay awake. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, champ, what's up?"

"Do you like Riley's mom?" he asks with complete sincerity and Norman feels himself lose the color from his face only to explode an intense heat in his cheeks.

"W-what?" he mumbles trying to search his mind for a good answer. "Who told you...?"

"Riley and I have been talking about how cool it would be if you and her mom were together...we'd be brothers." He comments again and Norman doesn't know where to jump in.

"Re-Really?" he swallows hard and is thankful that the noise of the shower is maybe muffling that conversation for you guys, mortified enough he feels already. "B-but that's not how it works, kiddo..."

"Why not, do you like any of your friends?"

Oh his friends... Norman has had girl-friends, not many, but like everyone else, sometimes he needs to have contact with other humans, adults, and he has had the odd date, he hasn't introduced Mingus to all of them, they have always been nice to him and Mingus has been curious, but it has never ended up being anything serious. Norman has never had this talk with him because he thought he was too young yet. He sighs scratching the stubble on his chin, thinking about what he can say to him.

"It's not about that, it's been a while since I've had those kind of friends, but you see..." He chews his lip again, searching for the right words. "Even if I liked Riley's mom, it doesn't mean we're going to be together."

"Why?"

"Because maybe she doesn't feel the same way." He shrugs.

"Why don't you ask her?" He looks at him confused and Norman purses his lips. Of course to a child everything is very logical and he understands, but we adults like to make things complicated.

"What if I asked her and she didn't feel the same way? Imagine if things got really weird and you and Riley would never talk to each other again."

"That's not going to happen. Riley is my best friend."

Mingus' crushing logic completely disarms him. He loves his son's honesty and sincerity. He smiles and hugs him warmly, kissing him on the cheek.

"Don't ever change, kiddo." He asks him, confusing the boy some more.

After everyone goes through the shower, the boys stay talking some more in their beds until sleep overcomes them and they fall completely asleep. Norman walks out onto the terrace of the room with his laptop and his box of cigarettes, he's been a good father, he's gone all day without smoking, he deserves a break. He sits down at the table outside, turns on the laptop and while it's charging, he smokes a cigarette, the smoke slowly coming out of his nose. His mind still spinning from the conversation with his son, he feels like he still has goosebumps from it.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" your voice startles him, lifting his head like a spring, you're in the door frame of the terrace, already in your pajamas, watching him.

"Not yet, I have to get some work stuff ready." He denies and takes another puff on his cigarette.

"Okay..." You look at him and walk out sitting in front of him.

"No need to stay, if you're tired go to bed, I'll come later." He assures you, feeling a little nervous.

"No, it's okay, I'll wait for you, the kids are completely asleep."

"Yes, it's been a long day for them." He nods and you both laugh.

The silence that forms between you is quiet and pleasant, you lean back against the table as Norman's fingers and eyes move fast focused on his work. It's not too much, a little editing work, he just has to download the documents and tomorrow he'll take care of it, he sends a draft of a presentation to his bosses and texts his partner to find out how the meeting went. When the documents are downloaded, he turns off the laptop.

"Okay, I'm done..." His voice drops when he discovers that you are asleep on the table. He smiles watching you, he knows it's nothing special, but he sees you beautiful at that moment. He reaches out and squeezes your arm gently. "Hey, wake up." He whispers. "Let's go to sleep."

"Okay..." You whisper, more asleep than awake.

The two of you walk noiselessly into the room, the kids not even flinching, totally submerged in Morpheus' arms, Norman rolls the bed around to his side, opens the sheets and pulls off his shirt, laying face up on the mattress. You curl up on your side, hugging the pillow, turning your back to him.

"Good night, Norman."

"Good night..." He replies, but he doesn't know if he'll be able to sleep, his heart beating so loudly he's afraid even you might hear it.

The trip is proving to be really interesting and Norman is glad he was able to get away from work.

.

.

The End.

.

Okay, I think I'm going to pass here, I'm making the story too long, sorry.

Hope you liked it!!

See you all in the next stories!!

Taglist: @green-eyedladywrites @minervadashwood @livingdeadblondequeen @bringinsexybackk69 @phoenixblack89

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Halloween Cinderella; Eddie Munson x reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so this was for a favor for a dear fav. blog of mine @sweetpeapod when she needed some help in clearing out some requests so to the requester who asked this of her during her last event, look no further than here.  Now I made some changes to the request (just some small minor stuff to fit with the time period and all that) but other than that the only warnings are swearing, cheating, some minor angst but also some fluffy, comforting and a bit flirty Eddie.  Hope you enjoy this my lovelies and to @sweetpeapod​ thanks for sending this fic my way, had a blast writing it and I’m happy to help anytime you want your inbox cleared of some work :)

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@waddles03​

@psychosupernatural​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​​

@queen-paladin​

@gay-and-ready-to-cry​

___________________________________________________________

*Halloween 1984*

I still don’t even understand why I even came here to begin with? All I wanted to do was stay at home, do candy duty and just wait for this day to be month to be over.  Not to say that I don’t like Halloween cause I do, but the fact that my douche of a boyfriend dumped me just a week before we would go as our couple costumes of Kane and Ripley from Alien.  That’s something I can’t look past, especially when he admitted to cheating on me with some slut from the swim team.

So my best friend/brother from another mother Ferris (who was dressed as Michael Myers) thought it would still be a good idea for us to go to the party just to rub Jefferson’s face in it.  And believe me when I say that it is hard to say no to Ferris Worthington, the boy’s as stubborn as a mule and won’t take no for an answer.

And that’s where I am.  Sitting in my car, parked right outside Heather’s place where the party was debating whether or not I should go in or just drive away and lock myself in isolation.

“Goddamn it Ferris. Why do I always let you talk me into these things seriously why?” I said talking to myself.  “Because I was a jackass in a previous life. Now grow a pair and get your sexy Ripley butt in there!” I said knowing what he’d say if we had drove together.  “I hate you so much, you better be in there and I swear there better be some serious booze if not a little buzz of the Mary Jane.” I said muttering to myself again as I got out of the car and locked it.

I walked up to Heather’s house and opened the door and already blaring music was playing, streamers were flying everywhere, and over a hundred people were already in the large mansion.

“Think I’ll also be needing some earplugs too and maybe whiskey instead of beer to drown this noise out.” I said adjusting my fake rifle further up my shoulder.  I had been fabricating with my dad since the start of summer, he actually works on indie horror films so he’s gone some weapons and makeup sculpting skills.

As I walked through the crowd of seniors and even a couple of juniors that somehow managed to sneak in, I noticed a problem.  Ferris said he’d be dressing up like Michael Myers from Halloween, well I’m barely at the living room and already I spotted three different Michael Myers masks.

“Brilliant move Ferris. Seems like every freaking guy in here had the same idea you did.” When I finally got to the living room, low and behold there were about seven, maybe 10 other Michael Myers at the party.  I mean Jesus Christ there are other slasher killers you can choose from; Freddie Kruger, Psycho’s Norman Bates, Leatherface, Jason, any of those guys but nope everyone chose Michael Myers.

Again not that there’s anything wrong with it, Jamie Lee, perfect final girl material and an extreme badass next to Sigourney Weaver, but come on guys.  Ferris could’ve at least given me something to distinguish himself from all the other Michael Myers’ at this party.

“Okay so first thing I’m gonna do is find that smug son of a bitch, then kick his ass for making me search for him, and then drink, drink, drink.” I said to myself before going in and walking to the first Michael Myers costume I saw.  “Ferris?!” the person turned to me and motioned to them to take their mask off. They removed their mask and I saw it was one of the football players.

“Sorry.” He told me before putting his mask back on.  Okay one down, nine to maybe a dozen or so to go. I moved through the crowd, keeping my plastic rifle close to me and walked up to the next Michael Myers I saw.

“Ferris is that you under there?!” the person lifted up their mask and it was some other random dude, probably from either another school or even a former graduate (by a year or two).

“You got the wrong guy, sweetheart. But if you stick around, I can make you forget about him.” He said as he eyed me up and down with a lustful look in his eyes.

“Yeah and I’d like to tell you a joke about my vagina but you’re never gonna get it.” I said walking away annoyed.  One by one I asked each Michael Myers I saw to remove their mask, but all of them turned out to be a bust.

I was now by the drinks deciding to just get me some spiked punch and just accept the fact that either Ferris had ditched the party all together and lied to me, or the little shithead is hiding somewhere knowing I’d probably kill him for making me search for him.

I soon took notice of another person coming up as Michael Myers coming to get a glass of punch.  I set my cup down and turned to the guy and told him.

“Need I ask if that’s you Ferris?” the guy soon turned his attention to me and removed his mask.  Unlike the rest of the guys who had short hair underneath, this guy had long, shaggy brown hair.  Deep brown deer like eyes, maybe even puppy brown.  “Oh.” I said dejectedly returning to my drink.

“Just what every boy dreams of hearing from someone who's just seen your face for the first time.” He told me.

“I’m sorry. Really I didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just I’ve been searching for my friend for what feels like hours. He told me he came as Michael Myers and low and behold, almost every guy came in dressed like the guy.”

“I know. At first I was gonna come as Freddie Kruger, but then one of my little sheepies whose part of the drama department in charge of makeup fell sick and couldn’t come to work on my makeup.”

“No kidding, they were really gonna do that?”

“Yeah. Said his dad or uncle or whatever works with VFX makeup in Hollywood. Has his own shop and everything of all the face casts and costumes he’s sculpted. Would’ve been so metal but unfortunately I got stuck with Old Michael. No offense the dude is one badass mother fucker, but the mask just suffocates me.”

“That’s a shame. Cause that is a very lovely face, a really handsome face that I’d hate to see be suffocated and—” oh shit please tell me I did not just say that to some stranger.  I slowly turned to him to see him pondering on what I just said with a smirk before he turned to me and asked.

“Lovely face? No wait scratch that, really handsome face?”

“Can I just the spiked punch made me say it?” I gulped defeatedly.

“You know what they say, drunken lips brings out sober thoughts.”

“That doesn’t even rhyme!”

“Who cares if it does?”

“I do!”

“What are you? The rhyming police?”

“Yes and I’m placing you under arrest for crimes against poor rhyming.” He laughed before saying.

“Whatever you say, Ellen Ripley.”

“You know you’re the first person to actually say who I am.”

“Uncultured swine’s!” he said exasperatedly as he gasped and placed his hand over his heart dramatically.

“Right!? Alien is a badass movie. If they ever think about making a second movie they better not fuck it up.”

“You never know.” He shrugged.  “But if I may be inquired to ask your real name? Just so I can put a name to the girl who called my face handsome.”

“(Y/n). (Y/n) (l/n).”

“Munson. Eddie Munson.” We shook hands as I said.

“With an intro like that, surprised you didn’t come as James Bond.”

“Ehh, cool guy but boring films.”

“WHAT!?”

“Oh don’t tell me…..”

“Uncultured swine!” I exclaimed.  Once again he shot his hand to his heart and threw himself backwards which made me laugh.  “How could you think the Bond films are boring!?!”

“I’m sorry but they drag the plot too long and the humor is kinda stale.”

“Which Bond films have you seen?”

“What was that last Bond film that came out last year?”

“Oh Octopussy with Richard Moore? Okay I will give you that, that one wasn’t as good. But if you get to watch any of the Sean Connery ones, I swear you’ll think he’s the best Bond ever.”

“Okay, I’ll hold you to that.” A brief moment of silence came around us.  It wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward but—comforting? “Hey, I don’t normally ask this but uhh…..do you wanna step outside? Party’s getting more crowded and all that. I was gonna offer that to you earlier when I saw how dejected you seemed earlier.”

“I’d actually like that. Promise not to murder me once we get outside Michael?” I teased his character’s name at the end.

“Oh sweetheart, if anyone’s gonna murder anyone it’s you who’d murder me Ripley. You took on a fucking alien with an extended alien tongue. Compared to that, I’m mere child’s play.” So Eddie and I walked out of the house and into the backyard.

Hardly any people were outside.  Most of them having a quick smoke break or to get some air from the mass of bodies that occupied the house.  As Eddie prepared himself a smoke, he offered me one and I thanked him and he offered up his lighter.

I took a deep inhale before exhaling the smoke as I felt the cigarette between my index and tall finger.

“So the guy you mentioned earlier, you said his name was Ferris?”

“Yeah, Ferris Worthington.”

“Hold on, Ferris Worthington?” he asked me as he turned to me.

“Yeah.”

“About yay-tall, short brown hair, always wears a sweater vest?”

“Yeah. Wait how do you know him?”

“You kidding me? Ferris the Cunning Paladin. Dude may dress like a nerd but he’s one smart son of a bitch in my campaigns. He told me he was gonna dress up as Jason from Friday the 13th and I’ve been looking for him everywhere. We were gonna try to battle it out in front of everyone. Find out just who would really win in a fight.”

Oh that little shit! I’ll kill him I swear!

“Really? Cause like I said before, he told me he was gonna dress up as Michael Myers. Seems we’ve been played.”

“It would seem so.” He said taking an inhale of his cigarette.

“I should’ve known. I’ve known that boy since we were in kindergarten and he always does shit like this. He knew I didn’t want to come to the party anymore and he still managed to somehow convince me only to stand me up just like my douche of an ex-boyfriend!” I ranted angrily and when I turned to see Eddie looking at me stunned I exhaled deeply and shook my head. “I’m sorry. You probably don’t wanna hear me rant, so I wouldn’t blame you if you left me to my misery.”

“I may be known as the ‘Freak of Hawkins High’, but being the King of the social outcasts does come with its priorities.”

“And what’s that?”

“Being a good listener. Since I’m not so stuck up in my head of my own vanity and pride, I can take time to truly listen to those who need to rant, scream or shout. Not like those who follow the force conformity of ignoring other people’s problems.”

“I don’t know Eddie—”

“I won’t pry, if you tell me to drop it, we’ll drop it. But—you do seem like you really need to rant, and it seems like Ferris didn’t really take your feelings seriously.”

“Lately he hasn’t.” I took another intake from my cigarette before exhaling the smoke out and stomping on the last bit of bud that was left.  “My ex-boyfriend, cheated on me with some bimbo from the swim team. And he told me he had been cheating on me for five months while we were still together. Not only that but he dumped me for said bimbo through a note he put in my locker.”

“Jesus what a cowardly dick.” I laughed coldly.

“I wish there was a word to describe him. Couldn’t even work up the balls to break up with me face to face. Anyway, we had planned to come together to this party with me as Ripley and him as Kane. Even made a tiny alien baby to have pop out of his chest and everything.”

“That would’ve been so metal.” I nodded.

“I hated him so much. So much so that I felt like Halloween was ruined for me. I’ve actually wanted to do a couple’s costume ever since we went out. I planned, prepped and tried to come up with a cool costume duo that wasn’t gonna be predictable or standard.”

“I hear yah. I may not look it but I can respect a good costume couple, and already seeing you I would’ve like to have seen that.”

“Sorry to disappoint in not having the other half.”

“Not disappointed. You still look pretty badass. I mean your rifle alone looks awesome.”

“Just your basic nerf gun that I painted and redesigned a bit.”

“Metal.” He said impressed.  “And seriously, I meant what I said when I called your ex a cowardly dick. He shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“I know I shouldn’t let it get to me this badly but—he was the first guy who really took interest in me. And not just because he wanted to have someone to fuck or please him. We did have a lot in common, but then it turns out he had to fuck some other girl behind my back just to keep what was between his legs satisfied. Sometimes I feel like something’s wrong with me.”

“Hey,” he came in front of me.  His head tilted downward so he could try to look me in the eye. Eventually I looked up at him and he continued, “There is nothing, okay absolutely nothing wrong with you. The relationship failed because of him, not you. If he couldn’t see the beautiful woman that was standing right at his side, then it’s his loss.” I felt my cheeks heat up as I crossed my arms over my chest and said.

“Did you just—call me beautiful?”

“I’m not the only one with a good looking face.” He said with a small grin.

“Eddie, I appreciate the comment but…..if this is some attempt for you to be Prince Charming and swoop in on a girl who’s emotionally vulnerable, this isn’t the right way to go about it.”

“I know. I’m just giving a lovely girl a compliment. I don’t expect anything in return.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?” We turned around and speak of the devil there stood Ferris with his lifted up Jason Vorhees mask.  “This was not how I pictured this going!!”

“Did you seriously think I would want another relationship so sudden after my last one?!” I snapped.

“If it gets you to stop mopping, yes! Plus you guys were really hitting it off! C’mon Eddie’s a good guy just kiss him already!” I shook my head at Ferris.

“Permission to beat the shit out of this little turd, my lady?” Eddie asked me.

“He’s all yours.” I said.  Eddie put his mask back on and as quick as lightning, he charged at Ferris who let out a girlish scream and went running for the hills.  I shook my head and decided to just head home knowing that all of this was just Ferris Worthington’s scheme to make me have another man just so I would stop my bitching and mopping.  

Monday at school, I was opening my locker to get my trig book when a note fell out of my locker.  I picked it up, unfolded it and read it.

Hey Ripley,

The party was fun, sorry about Ferris. He says he’s sorry for what he did. And don’t worry, even if he doesn’t mean it, I’ll make sure he pays for it at our next D&D campaign hehehe (devil face drawing).

Anyway, I meant what I said about both your ex being a douche and you being beautiful.  Now I’m not trying to flirt or start an instant relationship but if you ever want to rant or punch someone, give me a call.  Just know you’ve got someone on your side who will really listen to you, be your punching bag, or even a shoulder to cry on and won’t complain at all. Hope to see you around the school, or just reach me here.

XXX-XXX-XXXX

Eddie aka Michael Myers #9

He even drew little devil horns around his name.  I smiled and folded the note and put it in my flannel pocket over my heart.  I grabbed my book and headed off to my trig class with a slight pep in my step.

[aaronymous999]

The Ghostflowerbyte Headcanon Post

All of them identify as Bi! And they’re all transgender by the way, Margo and Gwen being transfem and Miles being transmasc!

All of them are also autistic, possibly ADHD for all of them too? But not too sure on that one!

Margo and Gwen initially did not get along, but eventually they became friends when they bonded over their shared difficult home lives, this was before Miles came to the Spider Society by the way. Gwen is a bit awkward when introducing two separate friend groups to each other ( she just like me fr ) which is why she actively tried not to mention Hobie, Pavtir and Margo to Miles, her anxiety makes her worry that they’ll hate each other and all her friends will blame her. ( she just like me fr. )

As for pronoun headcanons! Margo uses She/They/It/Byte/Glitch pronouns, Gwen uses She/They, and Miles just uses He/Him.

Margo actively does not want her partners to meet her parents because she hopes to move out as soon as she is old enough and has the money to do so. Gwen’s dad is pretty distant from all of her friends but gets close to Miles first, and it takes a little longer for Margo initially because of her own home life, she worries that Gwen’s dad isn’t truly reconciling and is kind of scared of him, but eventually the two connect. Although Miles and Margo both don’t get that close to him. Rio and Jefferson instantly fall in love with Margo, Rio is just like “Who does your hair? You’re so beautiful honey, you’re such a good influence on our boy make sure to watch out for him.” Margo is obviously very happy about this because, parental figures who actually like her!! Rio and Jeff take a while to warm up to Gwen though, although Rio does so sooner.

Margo and Gwen trade clothes a lot, although this is usually their pajamas since Gwen’s normal fashion sense is a lot more alternative while Margo tends to stick to a cuter style. I saw that scene of her trying out different hairstyles and I don’t know I just feel like she’d love comfy and cute clothing, like an off the shoulder top and jean shorts.

Miles has his art… Gwen has her music and… Margo has her fashion! Of course I like to think her main hobby is more technical stuff like programming but I think she’d desperately want to sew when she moves out. She didn’t have the need to before because well- she didn’t express herself much as Margo Kess and really only did so with her Spider-Byte avatar, which is an avatar afterall.

All three of them are smug and snarky but in different ways and sometimes they all kinda tease each other and it’s amazing. Margo and Gwen are also pretty sarcastic but Miles doesn’t do sarcasm well and thinks they’re serious HWJDBJEE although if Margo and Gwen heard anyone outside of their friendgroup being sarcastic they’d be like????

Margo, Gwen and Miles go on a double date with Pavitr and Gaytari and Hobie is there too but chills in the corner casually being aromantic and teasing the alloromantics is his passion. Valentine’s Day is a capitalistic scam and you all are falling for it!

Margo: I just started taking estrogen! Miles: That’s awesome my top surgery is next week! Gwen: Wow I can’t believe we’re all trans and in love! Hobie: Ay I just murdered Norman Osborn haha

Gwen and Miles are the only sporty ones out of the trio and Margo will never understand it ( she just like me fr )

Um um um those are the headcanons :3 let me know if any of them are culturally inaccurate? My mind is always open!

[a-tale-of-legends]

Hi! I haven't read much of Pokespe, what did manga Norman do? I enjoyed your prof Oak roast so if you feel like making a similar post I'd be the thrilled to read it haha

Okay so I never read the rse pokespe stuff. Most of my knowledge is from word of mouth and reading the Bulbapedia page. Just from hearing about Manga Norman, I already got the gist that he was a terrible father who had physically abuse his own son throughout the story. That's just from what I've heard. But when reading the Bulbapedia page it's just. Like.

So we already got a disapproving Dad, resulting in Ruby running away to prove his dad that contests are superior. Which is all fine and dandy, but Ruby himself is actively hiding from his dad. He is trying to avoid him at all costs. And for good reason, because when Norman finds him, he does this shit:

PHYSICAL HURT HIS OWN SON FOR RUNNING AWAY. HELLO? H E L L O?! Calling him an insolent brat, berating him for "speaking to your father like that". And I think what's even more damning is that Ruby says " I don't care how furious you are with me, I'm ready for it!", like he's been preparing for this type of reaction. Suddenly Ruby avoiding his dad makes a shit ton of sense because YEAH. I WOULD TOO.

^ this is the context for the above. Norman was the one who started it. And even when Ruby was exhausted and defeated, after saving both of their lives, Norman still wants to continue the battle. Is his son's well being really not that important to you here? Is your ego that big? And I will once again acknowledge that I haven't read the manga myself, maybe I'm blowing things out of proportion. But this is insane right? Game Norman has his faults - and I will say I can see where Manga Norman gets this attitude from going off how Norman talks in the original rse games - but I don't think he would go so far as to physically assault his own child just bc said child ran away/ preferred contests.

Also it's just insane that the only reason Norman begrudgingly stopped was because someone else of power stepped in. Like what if Winona wasn't there. What would have happened. Who would have intervened in a dispute between a gym leader and his son. Insane, all of it.

Oh and yeah, they gave him a sad reason for him becoming distant. Which. Sure! I guess! Insane that Maxie and Archie fucking burn his corpse oh my god. But also. Is this suppose to excuse all the shit he did prior? If not then, good! We like complexity in this household. But it doesn't feel that way. It feels like they're trying to sweep the abuse under the rug with a " I just wanted to protect you" thing. As if Norman did not physically assault his own son before.

Again, I have not read the manga myself, but just from this alone Manga! Norman fucking sucks, and I think Game Norman ( specifically ORAS Norman) should kick his ass. If I got the wrong read on the guy and there's more to him, please tell me! And if you want to go off on the guy, also do that.

[satrryeys4eva]

hii I really love how you write for hunter and like incorporate other fandoms and stuff hehe it’s really cool 🙃💕 so I was just wondering like if you’re up to it, if you could write something about hunter with an avenger!reader maybe :P please and thank you and lots of love to you hehe

I am so sorry for being a year late to this, but I hope you like it

Hunter Sylvester and Harry Osborn's younger sister headcannons

- a/n

So some background info, Y/n Osborne is Harry's sister whose younger than him by a few years (harry was 20, and this takes place in the middle of TASM 2, AU where harry never got sent away he and peter are still best friends) he is super overprotective of her

Also for the sake of this, 'Metal Lords' takes in NYC

now on to the headcanons!

Let me just say this right off the bat, you both have mommy and daddy issues

clashing but similar aesthetics

Hunter with his heavy metal rockstar aesthetic

you with your more toned down but just as fun chaotic grunge aesthetic 

Both of you kept your relationship a secret from your brother 

after Norman died and Harry found out that he had the same illness and that it runs in the bloodline, Hunter was terrified that you might have it as well

you on the other hand were in a horrible mental state, Norman had been cold and distant but he was still your Dad 

you were just recovering from his death and now you might lose your older brother too

While Harry was trying to find a cure you were mentally preparing yourself to say goodbye to him for the last time

the night after his diagnosis Harry came into your room to talk to you

He wanted there to be no more secrets between you two

 You guys spent all night sharing secrets, he told you some embarrassing stories from college, and you finally told him about Hunter

he reacts a lot better than you expected, he asks you to bring Hunter around the next day so that he can meet him

Now Hunter has never really cared about the impression he left on most people (aside from you, Kevin, and his idols)

But he really tries because he knows how important Harry's approval is to you and he wants to make a good first impression 

he subconsciously ends up emulating your style because he is so confused about what to wear, he doesn't think his usual band T-shirts and black cargo pants are not super appropriate for meeting your girlfriend's multi-billionaire brother 

he settles on a pair of nice black pants, a slightly baggy band sweatshirt with a white collared shirt underneath 

he also goes a little overbroad by wearing the two necklaces you gave him and only wearing your matching rings and the ones you gave him along with the earrings you gave him

Hunter was definitely not what Harry was expecting, he thought your boyfriend would be more like him or hell even Peter 

but he eventually warms up to him when he sees just how happy he makes you, not before politely but not so subtlety threatening him

He even convinces Peter to play along and threaten Hunter 

At the end of the whole ordeal, he approves 

Now, saying that you spend time together would imply that you spend any time apart

You are each other's biggest supporters, always there at every event and function

most of the time is in little cafes, hidden record stores and tiny vintage bookstores are your everyday hangouts

you both go to midtown high, but only have 2 classes together 

You guys are That Couple

you know, the couple that's always together 

Kevin and Emily tease you all the time (like their any better)

If there was ever a villain attack, Hunter would throw himself in front of you like a human shield.

god forbid any paparazzi even try to harass you

Hunter would get into a fistfight right then and there

you guys are THE It couple of New York

but if Harry ever passed due to his illness, Hunter would constantly spend time (even more than he already does)

always comforting you 24/7

this always freaks him out even more as he thinks there a bigger chance that you also might have the same condition

and he really can't lose you

ever

he doesn't really bring it up the, because god knows that you need recovery time

he's at the funeral, holding you as you cry

you spend the next weeks staying with him

you don't think you can face that empty house now

not anymore

taging you just in case

@ii-larb-you

[tplambies]

og honey i'm home lore/honey i'm home song lore from ghost

these two images read:

tw: the stuff that's in the video + suicide and unreality

so you got your local lad, norman minecraft,

no but anyways first i'll give a rundown of the story then go back and clarify some symbolism

this guy's father believes that the world is an awful place to be, and that ascending to the afterlife is basically the equivalent of waking up from a nightmare (ironically, dad was the nightmare of this family). under this logic, he "mercy"-kills his wife. owwie:(! growing up with this mindset, norman questions whether things are even real at all. like, maybe this world's some elaborate setup and in order to wake up you need to pass away. he gets into substance abuse to deal at first, but eventually decides it's time to "grow up" and pull the plug. after all, everything would be alright it he could escape to the supposed real world. that's when god and charon show up:

god confirms norman's suspicions, but clarifies that there's so much more to the situation than meets the eye. he advises norman to stay by his side though so he can show him the truth. charon offers norman an easy way out - just kissing him will poison him. because the father was essentially the heart of this reality god "eats" father as both a notion of ending the simulation and of taking his place, becoming norman's new caretaker. norman leaves everything behind, wanting to forget all about it

upon waking up, it's learned that in the real world norman had been used for public live dissections in front of large audiences of angels

as for symbolization:

father's a praying mantis due to a) "praying" mantis hahaha funny and b) a reference to how the girls will sometimes kill and eat their mates. i know that doesn't 100% line up correctly, but it's just a small reference i wanted to make

the moth is basically norman - "a tied up moth seemed to know a different way" is kinda like norman theorizing to himself that dying really might be the only way out. the moth also foreshadows what happens to norman, since the moth's stuck in a spiderweb and it's a personified spider who kills him in the end. then the moth reappears chained to god's hand, which at first is meant to seem like a sign of trust, like "yea dude ur in good hands!" but it's kinda obvious later on that it's really symbolizing being trapped by this guy. i specifically used a moth since they can symbolize blind faith, since they like, u kno, they see a light and go Oohh Lämp and fuckign die. the species of moth used (small emperor moth) was just an aesthetic choice cus oh those are just-some pretty boys!!!!

this more so has to do with out-of-song info. but charon's name came from the greek god who transports souls to the underworld. which is exactly what purpose he serves in this story

the three voices are specifically talking about norman, charon and god - the only real people who appear in this simulation ("[they] come all alone" is saying they're the only people who exited the simulation after its destruction). i will confess gramophones nave no significance, just needed something that rhymed and fit the flow of the melody

"vivisection" has two definitions - first one used in the song is that it can mean a harsh analysis, so "a vivisection of me yielded the start of a mystery" is kinda saying that he's self-analyzed a lot of things about himself and his life only for it to get more and more confusing/bewildering. the second and more popularly-used definition is that of a live dissection, used specifically with the connotation that this practice is unethical - in the last chorus, it's used literally. in Ye Olden Days, criminals were often punished via public dissections being done on their corpses and proper christian burials were refused as a disrespect the individual. this also paired alongside the belief that if a body isn't given a proper burial it inhibits the spirit of the deceased from moving on. so i wanted to sorta link those two concents to show that god was, on top of publicly humiliating the poor guy, further exerting his control over norman by refusing to let him pass away peacefully (probably as punishment for thinking he could take control back over his life)

calling the figure "god" is actually a symbolization in and of itself (same goes for the religious themes that follow) so don't worry the song isn't criticizing/against religion :) i grew up with religious parents, so i defaulted to using themes i'm most familiar with - i do wanna clarity i think that whether religion hurts or helps is entirely up to the individual. how it's taught to them and/or how they personally interpret it. so if it does good for you, great! if not, i totally understand! this song isn't a commentary on that topic though so yeyeyeye

the religious themes in the song are more so playing on the idea that, it someone sets up a simulation and essentially creates everyone thing within it, what makes them any different from a god? the bible verse used was also actually a happy accident - the song turned out to be 3 minutes 33 seconds long, and i was like "oh lol just for funsies i wonder what bible verse that is and funny enough it.... kinda fit the theme a little too well

the angels at the end are kinda like npcs, but as a group are just....... there, watching. there's a whole bunch of em and they're all watching

the title and use of the phrase "honey i'm home" is saying that norman's come home, basically. he's spent so long theorizing about and anticipating the day he'd get out of a fake world, idolizing this real world and a god he knew nothing about, only his new home isn't much prettier than the one he grew up in.

so yea like i guess tl;dr honey i'm home is about a local lad who is led to believe he's being saved by god, only to realize it's just some fuck with a control complex running a simulation

ooh edgy

[yourmommygay]

Imagine being norman reedus' daughter and being the same age as chandler.

"Hey chandler" Alex reedus said walking up to her best friend. "Hey Alex" chandler said replying to his best friend, "what's up?" Alex replies with "did you forget what today is?" She asks getting kind of sad.

"why? What's today?" Chandler asks oblivious. "Happy birthday Alex" Danai said walking past Alex smiled at her. "Oh it's your birthday I completely forgot with all the work and stuff I'm so sorry" chandler said pulling Alex into a hug. "It's fine just remember it next time" Alex said chuckling. "Happy birthday Alex" chandler's dad said to her as he passed her a card and a present "oh my god, my dad remembered it but not me" all 3 of them laughed

The end.

Hope this was good let me know what you think.

It's not my birthday but I just wanted to try somet

[charlieslowartsies]

i know you like both fnaf and batim, im curious if youve every thought about what would happen in a protagonist swap. ik aus and hypotheticals arent for everything, but i personally think it would be funny to drop mike and henry in eachothers universes. i think theyre both do well tbh, but regardless its a little funny to think about

I've tried answering this 2x and tumblr kept punting it into orbit but akjasjkasj here we go.

The Short answer: This is a cute idea! I did play with an Xover concept where Mike Schmidt from the KGA wandered into the old Studio he found back in the woods, and he eventually met Make Believe's Henry Stein post the first fic. Mike--being himself, ofc--decided to stick around and help in any way he could. He also got laid. That's a different concept than a good old switcheroo ofc.

There's more on that here, but not a big discussion on stuff, just what if arts from years ago.

The Long Answer:

At the end of the day, I know I kinda write Mike Schmidt and Henry Stein as different flavors of the same drink. Or even just, Mike is cherry cola and Henry Stein is a warm cup of coffee with cream and sugar.

They both have a found family thing going on in their central story arcs. Can you tell I like that theme? (With the major difference being Mike more or less consented to being dragged into the Pizzeria's past, and Henry stays in his situation out of deep seated guilt at his coworkers, a sense of obligation toward Bendy, and perhaps some honest fear of returning to the outside world as well after his time in the War.) Obviously Mike wasn't super cool with giving up his life, sure--but what he gained in return, (His health restored, ghostly superpowers, enhanced senses, a family that loves and accepts him as much as he admires them in turn, and a sense of purpose that makes him feel like he's living a life that makes a difference) made his choice the easier of the two I think.

In the KGA, Mike is top dog because he's the Suit of Fredbear, and then ofc he bonds with the gang from there. In MB, Henry is the true reluctant leader, and any say he has is earned when and because Norman and the others choose to give it. Sammy proves that for sure. Yes, there's a lot of fear of Bendy from Allison, Tom and Sammy, but they don't fear Henry. Henry also doesn't use Bendy's wrath and power to get his way--not that Mike is a bully either, but he's more confident than Henry and more adept at using Fredbear's powers to help him out, even just day to day mundane tasks.

Mike is the brainier of the two, but he's also the stupider when it comes to protecting those he loves. Henry is the draftsman, the studier, the thinker. He makes far more calculated moves and relies instinctively on Norm and the others to be there, or straight up defers to their judgement more than he dishes out orders. I headcanon he was a medic in the army, and if Freddy Fazbear is based off my Grandpa, then Henry Stein is based off my Poppy, who served World War II, and told stories to my dad of cleaning out tanks that...came back with bodies in them. Henry's time in the war changed him, and when he returned and entered the studio to see what his old pal wanted, his life was flung right back into what is, to him, another war zone. That's got to mess a person up, yanno?

What I like about your concept is that the first time I read it, I went "gee, there wouldn't be any difference. I'm just writing the same story with same characters, that sucks. ...how do I admit that in this ask that?"

And then later that night I paused and thought better of my initial assumptions. 'Wait a second...Mike and Henry aren't carbon copies. They don't even have the same humor.'

Henry and Mike are so much alike for sure, and so very different. Even just the obvious aside--Mike's world is full of the supernatural! ...but it's also got one foot firmly planted in reality. Fredbear is not flaunted. Mike can come and go as he pleases. He tries to be normal, he and the gang hide their true natures and pretend well for kids and adults alike. The world goes on around them, but they do go with it. The Gang ages. They had their restaurant, and then they do traveling parties when it becomes only a home base. His Animatronics are 'real' and 'functional' and their history--horrible as it was--was also one with kids and laughter and fun. Henry didn't get any of that. He never saw BendyLand, he didn't encourage Joey's actions.

Henry's world is Nothing but Supernatural, and he's still just as trapped in it as Bendy is bound to the End Reel. He can't go the store, grab some eggs and milk. If thunder rumbles overhead, Mike groans, looks for something to ground himself on. Henry might jerk back to war time, or the Studio, and be scrambled by the appearance of weather, which was not in the Loop. No sun, no night sky. There's a lot of humanity in being around other people. Mike is such a people person, and he sees in the Fazes what is only there because they were haunted. (Otherwise, yeah, they're kinda just...mechanical AIs.) Henry knows these people he lives with on the first floor were human once, he's relieved to have their company and also feels terrible about. He's afraid to let them get close, (the Projectionist being the one to ignore this lmao.)

It's two types of tragedies, and in both lives were cut short in different ways. Mike and Henry feel responsible for both sides, but they don't respond the same.

It's a lot of weight to carry on one's shoulders, and I sort of think Mike carries it better, or a little healthier, at least. He isn't shy or hesitant, Freddy pushed him away the most and Mike pushed right back. He didn't take any abuse, but he got past those walls and taught Fredbear it was okay to trust and to talk about problems.

Dropping Mike into MB's world would, naturally, be chaos. Mike is kind of walking chaos. Marion would prolly follow him--Mari follows the night guard everywhere, because as much as he brags about how good Mike is at his role, he worries so hard over Mike because Mike is always getting into trouble. (Which, fair.) Mari also doesn't like following rules, unless they're rules he set. He doesn't play nicely with others and he would quickly try to work his tendrils into the Studio, try to gain some upperhand, some semblance of control or even just find Answers to the puzzles around them. Mike would be utterly fascinated with the Ink Machine, wanting to see how it worked, and why, and if it needed repairs, and be interested in taking it apart to figure it out. Goldy's status would be useless here, so even tho Mike has his wits and strength, he wouldn't have the same level of respect he is used to in the restaurant or warehouse, or even Pizza World and not the Pizza plex.

Mike's also magnetic as hell. He'd take one look at Norm and be up in his grill too, delighted and friendly and finding the terror cool. He'd fix anything he thought needed it, that includes busted light bulbs or unhappy, self conscious little ink blots that need their ego's stroked and to be assured no, they're not Abominations. Mike isn't afraid of Nightmaronnie, and once he realizes the Ink Demon is Bendy, (if he was split from Henry which would be it's own issues.) he'd eventually apply the same logic as he did to the Puppet all those years ago, and see a scared little kid who needs some comfort and to know he has support.

Henry...would fit in less well in the KGA. He wouldn't be in danger from the Fazes of course, but he's an Adult, and he's a Male, and he's a STRANGER. And that sets off all sorts of warnings in the back of their minds. Makes them unsure and wary to the point of being unkind, cold. Unlike Mike, whose curiosity gets him in trouble, Henry would recognize to back off and tread lightly. Their children that haunted them accidentally passed on a deep seated fear of older, male authority figures, and not even Mike blames them for that. Max carries it too, and Gregory is about the only one who would be the most approachable...or the more willing TO approach Henry. He's young, but his situation is different and kids are rubber bands. By now, the best, most important thing in his world--tall, deep voiced, and strong Glamrock Freddy--keeps his opinion in Henry's favor, because they're both calm and careful in the similar ways. If Bendy is with Henry, that's another winner. Bendy loves kids, he loves kids desperately, enthusiastically, obsessively. He WANTS to prove he's worthy of what Joey Drew put on him when he was Created, that he's the most darling dancing devil there ever was. If Cartoon him can make Gregory smile/laugh, Bendy will be over the moon, and Glamrock Freddy will have to learn to share quickly, because like Mari, Bendy is a possessive little devil.

Even if Max, Ness, and Freddy are keeping Henry on a tight, wary leash, I can see Henry giving in to them easily. He's not out to make waves, or step on anyone's toes. Being docile like that will help him out big time with them. Mike might cause trouble on accident lmao. Henry would also be kind of panicky, kind of freaked out. Worrying about the Studio, his friends, Bendy being loose, what Joey's up to on the lower levels. Mike would honestly be more worried about his next meal being just bacon soup and realizing he can't be a bottomless pit because he won't take food from these...ink...monsters? ...ink people? (If Chica offered Henry an olive branch in the form of a meal, Henry might break down and Ghibli cry at the taste of real, inkless, clean food. That earns him points with her at least. Double if he tries cleaning up because he never let Linda do the dishes.)

I wrote so much I'm so sorry lmao. Thank you for this ask anon!! It's a fun concept to explore! I wish I had more energy to do so, but I just got a new tattoo last night and my brain is french fried xD

[realm-sweet-realm]

Memory Lane

I know that having one's own fan cast for the Bendy characters is a bit out of fashion now, but I wanted to take out my Norman Polk and play with him like an old toy. I hope you all enjoy this.

---

The lost one struggled against his restraints. If he had anything resembling a heart, it would have been beating out of his chest. Behind him was the sound of the angel sharpening her sawblade. The lost one may no longer remember his former life, his name, or even the name of the lost one settlement he'd been plucked from, but he remembered one thing: the angel was dangerous.

The angel's high heels clacked against the floor as she came closer, moving slowly. Perhaps, the lost one thought, she was savouring the moment, watching him squirm. She began humming a little tune as she lowered the blade to the lost one's chest.

And that's when the lost one's life flashed before his eyes.

---

"So if they make it through all of the bases, that's called a home run?" Norman asked as he clung to his dad and the horse trotted along under them.

"That's right. And we used to watch the games in these big buildings called 'stadiums,' or listen to them on the radio. It was fun."

"When you get us out of here, can we go to a baseball game?"

"It'll be the first thing we do once we have money."

Norman snuggled into his dad's back. He usually had so many questions about the world beyond the commune, but at the moment he was fresh out of them, and apparently, his dad was fresh out of important explanations. Norman thought back on his father's explanations to try and come up with some more.

In the real world, when you own something, no one's allowed to take it away just because they thought someone else could use it more.

In the real world, a single accusation wouldn't end your life that quickly. We have courts that demand evidence. And the death penalty's rare.

In the real world, we aren't ruled by a single leader who claims to be chosen by God. We have leaders of cities, states, and countries, and we're allowed to talk smack about them and vote them out. Which is good because they still have too much power.

"Why do people in the real world let the leaders have too much power?" Norman asked. "Aren't they better than us?"

"No, they're made of the same stuff the people in here are. Look, I've explained a lot to you, but just assume that there's an unspoken 'but it's not that simple and there are still problems out there,' after every sentence, got it?"

"Got it."

The two arrived at the trapping grounds, which were about an hour's horse ride out from the commune. Norman's dad dismounted from the horse and tied it up as Norman slid off. The two got out their knives and set to work collecting rabbits and re-setting traps. Frost was melting off the plants as the sun rose, and as they worked, they talked. Out here, they could talk about whatever they wanted.

Just as they finished up, Norman spotted something: on a distant hill was a brown horse tied to a tree. The horse they'd ridden in on was black. At the distance, it was hard to tell if it was one of the commune's horses, but they were over five days' ride out from anywhere else, and there was no reason for anyone else to be there except to spy on them.

"Dad," Norman whispered. "Someone is here."

Norman's dad nodded. They would be quiet for the rest of the trip.

The lost one remembered feeling calm at the time, secure because he could tell his father felt safe so long as they took precautions. But the memory brought him devastation. It was days later that his father would be banished for corruption of a youth, and Norman never saw him again.

---

Norman had been mopping up muddy boot tracks on the corner store's linoleum floor when the clock struck five. He started mopping harder and faster so Elizabeth wouldn't be waiting for him. When he was finished and the mop put away, he met her at the front door and they headed out into the brightly-lit evening city.

"Not such a bad place to work, huh?" Elizabeth asked, smiling brightly.

"Not bad at all," Norman said. It had been very interesting seeing so many people come and go that day. Norman could see their faces calculating a thousand choices, most of them difficult. He and Elizabeth had joined the world at a bad time, it seemed. Something called "The Great Depression" had left a lot of people destitute. A whole lot of people had a whole lot less than their menial jobs and a family member to stay with.

The two got home to Liz's aunt's apartment. It was a nice place- homey. He’d heard that it wasn’t normal for a New York home to have so many crystals and dried herbs, but having just escaped the cult last week, he had little sense of what was normal out here, and if gaining one would keep him from appreciating little things like that, maybe he didn’t want one.

The two helped the older woman prepare dinner and ate together.

"I'm going to take a walk. See what i can find in the city," Norman announced once they were done.

“Can I come with you?” Elizabeth asked.

“Sure,” Norman said, unsurprised. He could see that she was attracted to him. She’d been rather nervous to be with him before because they didn’t have a choice. But now that they did…

The two set out to see what they could see. They went to a bakery, a bookstore, a pawn shop, and then heard whispers of a 'speakeasy' and decided to see what that was. They ended up ducking into what looked like a residential house but was full of people dancing, drinking, and laughing. Norman had never seen anything like it before. For a moment, he just stood there, people-watching. Joy and freedom were in the air.

"Wanna join them?" Elizabeth asked, pulling on Norman's arm.

"Why not?" Norman replied.

The two melted into the crowd. They passed by a couple of ladies making out, and Norman decided that he might as well give his own love life a shot.

"You know, I never wanted to be betrothed to you, because I don't want you to have to be with me, but... now that it's our choice, would you like to try dating?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said, her green eyes lighting up as they met his.

The two made out in plain view of the partygoers. In the middle of so many oddball people, they fit right in.

The lost one remembered Elizabeth's love. It had lasted him a good, long time.

---

"And this is the music department," Mr. Drew said, leading Norman into a new set of bright, yellow-coloured hallways, "Can you imagine cartoons without music? I certainly wouldn't want to!" The two walked past a number of offices- one with a "deadline looming, do not disturb," sign on it- as Joey rambled about the importance of music to put some soul into cartoons. Before they knew it, they'd reached the end of a hallway, which culminated in a double door with the words "recording studio," painted across it in whimsical font. "And here's where the magic happens," he said, "And, conveniently enough, where you'll be working!"

Joey opened the door to reveal a number of musicians noisily playing their instruments. A red-haired, tired-looking older man was waiting for them. Norman could tell he was eager to see them and bored out of his mind.

"Alright, Vince," Joey said to the man. "Show Norman here the ropes and you can leave your role as projectionist behind and join the writing department. I'll leave you to it." Ah, that was why he was bored- he was a creative type in a not-so-creative job. No mysteries to this one.

Vince and Norman exchanged introductions, and Vince took Norman up to the projection booth. He guided Norman as he ran the film through the reels of the camera as the music department was in swing.

"I suppose I should be thanking you for taking the job off my hands," Vince said. "It's mindless work once you get a knack for it."

Norman nodded. "I hope writing suits you better."

He looked out at the crowd of musicians. He could see a lot of hidden crushes and a lot of hidden grudges. It looked like there'd be some fun drama in this place. That was another thing the lost one remembered now: he'd been incredible at reading people, to the point of considering it a power of his. It had certainly given him some entertainment over the years.

But Norman also sensed that a lot of the people below him were unhappy. Strained. Crushed. Up until then, the bright creative culture of the studio was making Norman wonder if Grant's cautionings about the place were overblown. Now, he could see Grant's point.

---

"Do you want to know something else about Joey Drew?" Norman asked Grant, grinning as he sipped from his golden finch coffee mug. Inside, his daughter Olivia was having a play date with Grant's two daughters.

"What?" Grant asked, an owlish excitement on his face. Grant loved hearing secrets about Joey. They took a bit of mystery from the man and made him less intimidating to him.

"Him and Sammy."

Grant stared at him, wide-eyed and skeptical.

"No joke, I've seen Sammy comin' out of Joey's office all flushed and showing all the signs of shame and fear and lust."

Grant laughed. "Well, I don't want to say it, but..."

"They deserve each other? I suppose they do."

Grant nodded. "It's hard to believe that someone with as much pride as Sammy would put up with someone like that. But then, with what you've told me about him... the inside really doesn't match the outside, now does it?"

"It absolutely does not. Anyhow, you're still having Shawn and Lacie over to for poker tonight, right?"

"Definitely. I can't wait for you to meet them."

"Daddy, look what I made!"

Olivia handed Norman a beautiful watercolour painting of a horse. Norman had studied a little art for his daughter's sake, but even the most naive person on earth could have seen the skill that went into it. Later on, he'd tell her what she'd done wrong and right with the anatomy and shading and whatnot, but for now, he didn't want to take her away from her playmates for too long.

"Good girl. I'll take a closer look at it later," he said, handing it back to her.

---

The halls of the studio had been dim that night. Ink oozed from the pipes and seemingly the very walls like a fungus, staining mosaics created by their artists and posters that had once contained positive messages like, "work hard, work happy." This place used to have at least the appearance of an almost saccharinely friendly workplace. Now, it was downright eerie. Filled with the same energy as Norman's childhood community. He hated it.

Norman had stayed late that night. Why? Simple. Sammy Lawrence had stayed late as well, despite the music department experiencing a rare moment in which it was well ahead of schedule with no work that could have been done early. Norman had already strongly suspected that Sammy was up to something. Anyone could have seen that Sammy had been very off lately, moreso than ever. And Norman could sense a great pain, guilt, and fear weighing on him. Like he'd killed someone and would have to again.

Norman was going to find out what Sammy was doing. He had to. He turned the corner towards Sammy's office, and suddenly felt a large metal object hit him hard and repeatedly on the head and jaw.

When Norman woke up, he was bound, gagged, blindfolded, and lying on the floor, covered in ink. Next to him was what was presumably another person, inadvertently rubbing against Norman as they squirmed and attempted to speak. No more than an hour later, Norman began to hear ink-covered boots sloshing against the ink-covered ground.

"Sheep, sheep, sheep, it's time for sleep," came the smooth and charismatic voice of Sammy Lawrence.

Norman attempted to get himself upright. An axe dug through his side. The axe slashed again and again at his torso as Norman rose unsteadily to his feet. Another slash and he fell, hitting his head and going unconscious.

That had been the last moment he'd been human, the lost one realized.

---

Norman came back to, still tied to the gurney. Alice used the saw in a circular motion on his chest. His instincts told him to be afraid of being pierced, but strangely enough, its contact was only uncomfortable, like pieces of him were being stretched too far as Alice made way for whatever it was she was doing. She took a knife and sawed through his neck, cutting off his vision and throwing the amputated head onto the floor, where it landed with a splat. He could feel her attaching wires into him and putting something that felt hard, cold, and circular onto his chest. Finally, she gave him an electric shock, and he could feel his new mechanical parts come to life. Norman could see again. She threw a lever and undid his restraints. He reached for his head and found… oh. A projector.

"There. Perfect,” Alice said, stepping towards him. “Do you trust me now that I've made you the fastest and strongest lost one in the studio? I know that you wouldn’t have agreed to this on your own.”

Norman’s mind was swimming. Why would she do this? Loneliness? Genuine benevolence? He wasn’t sure. But he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially to such a dangerous person. He attempted to thank her, but only a small, low, gurgling roar came out.

“That’s a good little mindless pawn. Now, are you going to stay near me and keep all the other nasties away?”

No, Norman thought. He had a lost one settlement to get back to. He began to wander out, taking a quick look back at Alice to see that she was smiling with satisfaction, blind to the fact that he had his mind back, however temporarily. He wandered out.

The halls Norman emerged into were ones he’d never seen before- Alice must have knocked him out quite a ways from here. Where was the lost one settlement he’d been tasked with protecting? He didn’t remember. It was like his memory was a leaky cup.

He had to find them, Norman thought as he began searching the unfamiliar halls. And he had to remember all the names he’d already forgotten once.

Apollo Polk. Elizabeth Polk. Shauna Polk. Grant Cohen. Olivia Polk. Susie Campbell. Sammy Lawrence. Shawn Flynn. Lacie Benton.

Apollo. Elizabeth. Shauna. Grant. Olivia. Susie. Sammy. Shawn… who was that last one?

At some point during his trek, he'd ended up lost. His lost one settlement was somewhere lower down- he knew it. But after going down a few levels, he couldn't find any more stairs that went downwards. Had he been down this hallway before? With the projector now permanently fused to his head, the lost one could illuminate dark hallways. Had it been dark where he came from? He didn't remember.

Some time into his wandering, Norman found a tape recorder containing his voice. He kept it with him. He had to remember who he was, even if that was all he remembered.

Sometime later, the lost one realized that he had a tape recorder in his hand and had a vague idea that it was important. Why? He couldn’t remember. He was wandering. Why? He couldn’t remember. But he knew it was important.

The lost one wandered, killed, and forgot until one day, a thin, one-eyed man came into his territory with humanoid abominations made of wires and tubes. The lost one fought. He killed several of them. But in the end, he was dragged off, incapacitated, and left to lay immobile and suffering.

---

“He’s waking up!” came a female voice that Norman didn’t recognize. Norman pried open his eyes, shielding them from the overhead light with his…

His hand. His hand was no longer thin and black. It was sketchy, like any ink creature’s, but it was the same long, scarred, hand and long, thick forearm he’d had as a human. Norman sat up to see the woman crouched down next to him.

“My name is Audrey,” the woman said. “I put you through the machine to give you your mind and body back. Did it work? Do you remember anything?”

It was then that Norman saw the people waiting for him at the door. Alice Angel was there, but her smile looked like that of Susie Campbell. With her were inky versions of Grant, Shawn, and Lacie.

“Yes,” Norman said. “Yes, I remember everything.”

[thebibliomancer]

11 Days of Comics! 1/11: The Atom Special #1 (1993) "Shrinking from the Past!"

Eleven sure is a random number. But I got a small pile of comics at an estate sale so might as well bring back the X Days of Comics! format.

And it might not be contiguous days. I'm up to all kinds of things these days that eat into my time. I'll just see what kind of pace I can comfortably keep up.

So the Atom Special kind of finds Ray Palmer the Atom in a weird spot.

He's estranged from all his friends and his ex-wife Jean Loring who all think he's a jerk, because he acts like a jerk. But also because his friends are all jerks. Jean cheated on him. And his pal Norman Brawler wrote a tell-all book exposing the Atom's secret identity.

Dick move.

Ray abandoned human civilization after his divorce and moved to South America to become the boytoy of a six-inch tall alien princess named Laethwyn and have tiny adventures.

Then the tiny alien colony is destroyed by the CIA in an attempt to persuade Ray to become a spy. So he shrunk the CIA squad down to tiny size.

Ray passes the Atom legacy to a new guy, Adam Cray. Who promptly gets himself killed working for Suicide Squad.

That's kind of a self-own. You don't join Suicide Squad for a long and prosperous career.

So Ray is the Atom again. He's doing Atom stuff, like fighting the Loaded Dice Mob. A bunch of old dudes in dice-themed duds.

But he also keeps seeing visions of his greatest regrets. The death of his dad. Jean cheating on him. Laethwyn burning to death because of the CIA. Adam Cray's death on the Suicide Squad.

And to top it all off, someone stole the tiny time portal from Ray's old friend Professor Alpheus V. Hyatt and planted a clock-face looking bomb in Hyatt's face.

Its seriously wacky for something so horrible.

The hospital wants to relocate Hyatt to anywhere else because they don't know how to defuse the bomb and don't want to deal with superhero shit. But Jean Loring and her new boyfriend Paul Hoben threaten to sue if the hospital tries to just make the professor someone else's problem.

Ray hears about it and plans to shrink down to defuse the bomb but after having an episode of seeing a vision of his dad dying in a hospital, the doctors decide he's way too unstable to be mucking around with a bomb.

Ray thinks that the visions and stealing the time portal could only be the work of Chronos, the Time Bandit. Because he's done the former before and stealing a time portal fits his wacky theme. But Chronos seems to be in a coma from the DC Invasion event.

So, instead, Ray spends some time tiny pranking his estranged friends and yelling at them to prove that he's not immature or crazy. He also spends time building a house out of atoms inside of a fork so he can withdraw from society.

Norman comes to yell at Ray but he sees all the trauma visions too, proving that they're not just in Ray's head.

Ray figures out that Chronos IS behind it, he just fooled him with an illusion of being in a coma! So he does a science to open a portal to the time portal and finds CHRONOS! AH HA!

But it was all a trap. Ray gets his tiny costume stolen off of him while he's tiny and Norman gets taken hostage.

It turns out that Chronos needed Atom's shrinking tech to get the best use out of the time portal, which is so tiny that only Atom can comfortably fit through.

Chronos demands Ray tell him how to use the Atom suit or else bad things happen to Norman. Ray pretends to give up to get Chronos to let his guard down and then tosses the time portal device through the time portal.

It lands in 15th Century France to the bemusement of a French aristocrat.

Chronos reaches through the time portal to try to get the device but accidentally pushes it off the table and breaks it. Shutting down the portal. With Chronos' arm still in it.

Whoops. And ouch.

The French lord is further bemused at the severed arm but takes the watch off it and declares it a good day.

What a silly bit character, this Frenchguy.

With the day saved and Atom's confidence back, he goes to the hospital and defuses the clockface face bomb and then kicks down his atom house.

He's not going to withdraw. He's going to live his life and spend time with his jerk friends!

And apparently get turned into a teenager by the Zero Hour event and form a new Teen Titans!

Comic books!

The Atom Special is pretty decent. Telling a story to try to get Ray Palmer back to some kind of normalcy with his supporting cast after however many years of living with tiny aliens or living under an assumed identity to avoid the CIA.

It uses elements from Silver Age Atom stories like Chronos and the time portal.

I have one of the black and white collections of old Atom stories. They were fun. Not sensational but fun. I think Atom had to clear the good name of a swan that had been framed for crime.

Atom got up to some wacky stuff.

Half the time he was only taking on cases that were relevant to his fiance's law career because he figured that if he helped her clear all her cases, she'd quit her silly career and marry him.

Iiiiiiiits not surprising that their marriage didn't work out. Honestly.

Chronos isn't that impressive as a villain. But having him be interested in the tiny time portal makes a lot of sense.

I don't know how much stuff happened in between this and Ray Palmer turning into a teenager and becoming leader of the Teen Titans. But this Special could be the last hurrah of Ray Palmer's Silver Age status quo.

I don't know if Ray got any other long-running books. Most of what I do know is that his life after this point is pretty dire.

Jean Loring goes a little murdery to try to win Ray back. When Ray finds out he exiles himself to a different dimension and is a big part of Countdown, to the chagrin of many.

So its nice that he got a story where he and his jerky supporting cast had a nice party at the end.

Its something, anyway.

[notimminent]

@boriys butted in, " are they bothering you ? "

Why is it that the boy who had stuck by her side, seemed to be there whenever she wanted or needed him to be only for him to one day tell her that he was up and leaving in a few days, now won't leave her alone? It had been years since she had seen him. She'd moved on, gotten through the heartache and the new tsunami of self-doubt and abandonment issues that plagued her in the past. It had shaped her. Then, the rest of the stuff with Norman came out and she found out her mother had been murdered by her best friend. She got a new pair of lungs, had a short relationship with her murderous best friend's brother only to find out that he and her father went behind her back to move her up the transplant list. So, once again taking all the autonomy away from her. Was she some kind of Sim in a twisted gamer's world? Couldn't she just exist and have nice things? Her and Dylan were still friends but their relationship quickly ended after a few months of being together because his Dad-Uncle let slip one time at a dinner with them about if Dylan had told her about the money and the danger they put themselves in. And that her father knew about all of this and despite having so many people with hopefully more than a couple of brain cells, they all decided that it wasn't pertinent for Emma to know any of this.

She'd moved. She was exploring the world as best she could, surprised that she was doing her best to stay out of the spotlight since her name was published with Norman Bates' story. Suddenly, her blog was gaining tons of views. Her blog that was used to talk about her struggles, she'd talked about everything. About Boris, about the heartbreak, about the betrayal. Her worries of surgery, all of it. And suddenly, people were asking her about things she didn't want to flesh out. Things that didn't need to be public. And, somehow, despite her moving on and up in the world, apparently the sadistic gamer that was controlling her life decided that she just hadn't had enough. Somehow, Boris and her crossed paths again. And, boy did he change. Not personality wise, but looks. He was older. Not more mature? Maybe more mature but she was just jaded to think otherwise. But since he came back into her life he has decided that it was fate. And he didn't seem to understand that she just wanted to forget about White Pine Bay.

And now, here they both were in a bar. She'd tried talking to a man that seemed to be slightly inebriated, but she was just existing. Shooting the piss or whatever the saying was. He started getting handsy with her and when she was about to kick him in the nards an arm pulled him away by force. Of course, it was her old fling, Boris, there to save the day. And she couldn't stop her eyes from practically rolling from her head. The man left soon after, mumbling many explatives, most of which were calling her words for a loose woman and that she wasn't even that pretty. Normal things the hurt male ego comes up with to try to lessen the blow of rejection.

But, screw Boris for looking so good while helping her in that situation. But then that familiar smarmy smirk pulled up his lips before it disappeared in concern, the situation seeming to hit him.

" On a scale of one to leaving after convincing someone to have very, very codependent feelings for you, I'd say he was just an inebriated douche. " Elbows leaned against the smooth counter of the bar as her lips pursed before looking over her shoulder at him, " I've dealt with worse. But, thanks. I appreciate you pulling him away. Meant I wasn't going to be arrested for starting a brawl. "

[beyourownanchor6]

I think they were good out of context, as standalone. But some things never made sense. Like after the first one where Supergirl joins, it's like. She found out there's a whole universe where there's no superman or supergirl, no clark kent or kara danvers, which potentially could mean krypton never exploded, and she can get to that universe with the help of her friend barry's friend cisco, and she does... absolutely nothing with that information. No desire to visit au!krypton. No desire to see her parents again. No desire to take Clark, who has no ties to his own culture because he lost it as a baby, to go see krypton. Nothing. And like she knows there is life on other planets and it matches the life in other planets on her universe because of the dominators, the alien main villains of that crossover who also exist in her universe. It drove me crazy.

Yeah i definitely went through it. But it made me stronger in the end. Yeah i loved/hated 13 reasons why. It was definitely wild. And thank you so much! One of my best friends says i should write an auto biography, but i can't imagine anyone being interested in reading about my messed up teen years. Like "ooh i was an alcoholic in high school" big deal, like, doesn't make me special. And yeees. My mom is my best friend (not in a norman bates kinda way), we're very close. Recently she's been hinting that it might be better for me to move out because i need to work on independence, and i meed to be free to fornicate at home. I'm unsure if i want that, because i love living with her.

Lol oh i'm like that with scooby doo.

Yeah, i love foggy too. No spoilers (unless you want them) but yeah, very limited foggy. Rumor has it it's basically a cameo. And yees punisher is coming back. I never got into him but he is nice to look at. Especially his nose (i have a thing for noses, i'm weird).

Thank you! I subscribed to you :D

Thank you! I'll try beans with my mom, maybe she'll get that.

Yeah indeed, second opinions are important. And it was definitely helpful! Now I can plan accordingly. And that sounds like a great weekend! I hope you have a great week!

gonna respond under the cut 😎

i think supergirl definitely ruined a lot of the series/crossovers bc they never really tied it together with everything like you said? seemed like a lot of wasted opportunities. i tried to watch supergirl a couple times but quit both times lol. it definitely had a lot of plot holes from what i remember, which honestly isn’t much lol. idk why but dc shows/movies just always seem to fall short compared to marvel stuff, imo. it’s like they just don’t know what they’re doing half the time and just go with whatever

sometimes we have to go through some shit to make us stronger in the end. the show definitely got very dramatic but i loved it anyway and was invested lol, but i can see not wanting to engage with that after all you went through. hey ya never know! your story could be just the thing to help someone out who’s maybe going/gone through something similar. LOL, i do love me some psycho. did you ever watch the show bates motel? living alone (or at least without your parents) is definitely nice! i live with my brother but he’s much more easygoing then my dad so it works. it’s like having a roommate but we get along haha. it’s a big step though so i think it’s ok to take your time and make sure you’re ready!

dang, that makes me sad. kinda weird to do daredevil without him i’d think. that shall be interesting. the punisher was one of my favorites. i really wanted more seasons of that, but i kinda felt that way about all the marvel netflix show lol

oww thanks! hope you enjoy 🥰

beans are a fun way to describe it for me. or it makes me feel less blahh about it lol

that’s always a helpful thing! thanks, i am on a trip with my bff this week but i got horribly sunburned and dont feel like doing anything now lol. hope you’re weeks been good!