#i put up a bunch take a look take a gander

[sundogscoops]

spyro the dwaaaaaagon

psst you can take this guy home at my [shop] 🐲

[alastor-simp]

Enchanting Lullaby - Insomniac Alastor x Sea Siren Reader

❥Summary: Everyone in the hotel knows that Alastor does not sleep, but what happens when he seeks you out and makes a request only you can provide for him.

❥Tags: Alastor x reader, sea siren, siren reader, insomniac, insomniac alastor, alastor does not sleep, fem reader

❥Notes: I am OBSESSED with siren songs. I find them so hypnotic and beautiful, so I wanted to write a story with a siren reader with Alastor. Wanted to give a shoutout to my friend ValerieWinks777 for helping me with this story. I recommend checking her out on Wattpad, she does amazing Alastor x reader stories.

Spending years in hell, forming unbreakable deals and ripping apart demons in his broadcasts have harden Alastor to put aside certain feelings and tasks, including sleep. Well, he used to sleep during the time when he was alive, honestly he is surprised he even could after all the horrible murders he committed. He didn't just decide one day that he wasn't going to slumber anymore, this change started slowly. Indulging gleefully in the wrath he enjoyed created new enemies, enemies he knew posed no threat, but the longer that list got, the less often he slept, as he rather stay awake and attack them head on if any of them even considered wanting to mess with the radio demon.

A couple days after the extermination war and rebuilding the hotel, it had gotten surprisingly more busy with new demons arriving to gander at the hotel, and possibly consider joining. Charlie had been working like a mad women, tending to make sure everything was perfect for the guests and also trying to lessen some of the workload on the others. She greatly appreciate everything that happened before, so she didn't want them lifting a finger with anything. Alastor, however, was not one to just stand there and not offer his assistance. He may still consider the hotel a bunch of wack-a-doo nonsense, but he has grown fond of Charlie and her beliefs, also considering how much of a gentleman he was, he wasn't going to let poor Charlie do everything herself. Charlie waved her hands in the air, saying profusely that it was okay and Alastor didn't need to help, but Alastor was persistent. "Ah ah ah. Charlie, my dear. As the facility manager of the hotel, it is substantial for me to offer my assistance. Now then! What humble tasks need to be dealt with?" Alastor said with a smile, as he bent down, putting his face closer to Charlie's. Charlie gave a sigh and small smile back to Alastor and told him of the assignments that needed to be done for today.

Alastor went about and began completing each task, stockpiling the drinks for the bar, making sure the rooms were all spick and span, obtain groceries for the kitchen and also prepare dinner for later tonight. Alastor had finally reach the end of the tasks and softly heaved a sigh. Performing small things like this was nothing to him, as he preferred to finish the job quickly and properly and not dwindle on it, but he had used a great amount of his powers to fulfill each one of them, causing him to feel more drained then usual. Alastor, for the first time, felt the need to take a good due rest, but he knew it wasn't going to be easy since it has been a millennium since he last slept. Pondering through his thoughts, he came up with an idea that could help him, as he made his way upstairs.

Knocking on your door, Alastor patiently waited, as the door to your room opened, with you standing on the other side of it, wearing your cozy pajamas. You looked up at Alastor with a smile, head tilted to the side. "Oh good evening, Al. Is there something you needed?" Alastor smiled down at you, showcasing more of his teeth. "Yes, my dear! I have encountered a bit of a dilemma and I need your assistance with the matter. Would it be alright if you could come to my chambers?" He observed your eyes glaze with confusion before you nodded your head, and walked out of your room, closing the door behind you. Alastor had hooked his arm with yours, as the both of you walked towards his hotel room.

Upon entering his room, you glanced around his room, admiring the pocket dimension he had created. It gave a calm tranquil vibe in the room, along with the static music playing from the radio in his room. Al had said nothing when the both of you had entered his chambers, and you wondered if he was displeased with something. "Um.... Am I in trouble?" You question him, twiddling your fingers together. Alastor quickly turned back around to face you, eyes widen before going back to normal, while a soft smile was placed on his face. "Heavens no! You are no form of trouble my dear, I can assure you. There is just something I need from you however." He walk closer into his room, removing his coat jacket and setting it on the chair next to his desk, revealing his red striped shirt that was hidden. He ventured closer to his bed, removing his black shoes before taking a seat on it while crossing his legs. His eyes went back up to look at you, extending his hand out, inviting you to join him.

Your face flushed for a bit, as you made your way over to where Alastor resided, taking a seat on his bed, facing him. The both of you sat in silence, before Alastor broke it. "If my memory serves me correctly, your demon form is similar to that of a sea siren. Am I correct, my dear?" He turned to face you, peering down at you while you looked at him. Your answer to his question was a small nod. "Splendid! That will be quite useful for me!" Alastor seemed almost giddy with joy, making you feel a bit confused. "Can I ask a question?" You asked Alastor. Alastor continued to stare at you, telling you to go ahead. "Why is my nature going to be beneficial for you?" Alastor eyes gazed into yours, as they were filled with confusion. Heaving a sigh, Alastor slowly grabbed your hand, giving it a soft squeeze. "As much as it pains me to say this, but I need your help, darling. I am aware of the soothing hypnotic voices of sirens, how there gorgeous songs allure sailors. I am asking you if you could sing for me, my dear." Alastor smile almost dropped a bit, his face holding a slight melancholic look as he continued to stare at you. You continued to look at him, before you asked him why you needed to sing to him.

Alastor heaved another sigh, rubbing his hair with his other hand. "It has been a drastically long time, since I have enjoyed the comforts of my own bed. However, falling asleep has not been an easy task for me, and along with the chores that I have completed for sweet Charlie. I crave a good rest now more then ever." Upon observing his face, you noticed the dark circles that appeared underneath his eyes. His smile as well seemed a bit forced, almost as if he was having a hard time keeping it up. Your heart ached for him, as you placed you squeezed his hand that was still holding yours. "I will help you Alastor, but there is something you have to do for me." Alastor raised an eyebrow at you, asking what it was that you needed. "Well, could you use your powers to soundproof the room? My siren voice may reach the others, and cause them to fall asleep as well." SNAP! Within an instant, Alastor had snapped his fingers, preventing any sound from reaching out the room.

With a nod of your head, you moved further back on the bed, waiting to make room for your transformation. A dark light enveloped your form, as your body became covered in black and white scales, and your legs had morphed together into a long mermaid tail, causing your pajama pants to slide off. Alastor continued to gaze at you in amazement, finding your form truly haunting while incredibly beautiful. Once you had completed your transformation, you leaned back against the pillow, raising both your hands up towards Alastor. Alastor stood stiff, confused at your actions. "Come here." you said, keeping your arms stretched out. Alastor realized what you meant, his cheeks become a tad flushed. "M-my dear, there is no need-" His words were cut off, as you pulled him down. His head had landed on your chest, as his whole body was placed on top of you, with his legs rested on your lower tail. Your arms wrapped around him, placing one against his hair, giving it a rub. "Shh its alright Alastor. I just want you to be comfortable okay?" Alastor hadn't moved when he was on top of you, apparently not use to actions like this. His body soon began to relax, as he nuzzled closer into your chest, moving his arms to wrap them around your back. His actions caused a soft smile to appear on your face, as you continued to play with his hair. "I'm going to start singing now, are you ready?" You looked down, waiting for his answer. Alastor peaked one of his eyes out from your chest, giving you a small nod. Giggling at his cuteness, you moved the hand from his hand to rub at his cheek, before placing it back on his red locks.

Taking a few deep breaths, you leaned your head back against the pillow. Soon, you opened your mouth, and began to sing.

(THIS SONG IS SO SOOTHING, I LOVE IT!!)

𝄞 Upon one summer's morning, I carefully did stray

Down by the Walls of Wapping, where I met a sailor gay

Conversing with a bouncing lass, who seemed to be in pain

Saying William, when you go, I fear you will never return again

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold

His hair it hangs in ringlets, his eye as black as coal

My happiness attend him wherever he may go

From Tower Hill to Blackwell, I'll wander, weep and moan

All for my jolly sailor, until he sails home

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold

My name it is Maria, a merchant's daughter fair

And I have left my parents and three thousands pounds a year

Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be

Who love a jolly sailor that ploughs the raging sea

While up aloft in storm, from me his absence mourn

And firmly pray, arrive the day, he's never more to roam

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold 𝄞

Your beautiful song had ended, leaving the room in a calming silence. Looking down, you motioned your head to look at Alastor. His head was still nuzzled on your chest, the one eye that had peaked to look at you had closed. His breathing was slowed and he was letting out small static-like snores and a few purrs. Smiling warmly, you leaned closer to his head, giving it a soft kiss. Your hand left his head, and began to reach for the blanket nearby on the bed, motioning it to have it lay over both you and Alastor. You placed your hand back on his hair, giving it a comforting rub, as you leaned back against the pillow, whispering, "Good night Alastor."

Tag List:

@alastorsgoldie @91062854-ka , @delectableworm , @iiotic

@cookiekyo , @demoarah , @danveration , @beebsbea ,

@veethewriter , @forbidden-sunlight , @pinkcrystal44 , @luujjvi ,

@unholycheesesnack , @saturnhas82moons , @jyoongim ,

@aceofcards0-0 , @ghostdoodlen , @yourdoorisunlocked ,

@starshipcookie , @ainsliemac , @aria-tempest , @nobuharashinyao

, @sweet06tart , @blakedbeanss , @ihyperfixatedagain , @ktssstuff ,

@yakultt-art , @mooniee123 , @nightmarenaya , @darischerry ,

@sadnessiscoldtea , @alastorssimp , @imacollasaltitan ,

@dilucragnvindr-my-beloved , @batmanmonstarr , @felice-jaganshi ,

@justchillaine , @crazed-flower , @ohmylovewhereartthou-blog ,

@akiooshizuka , @lokis-imaginary-friend ,

@themysteriousslenderman , @huntlowfan , @futureittomainn ,

@christinaatyourservice92 , , @just-trash-yeah-thats-it ,

@angelinevalentine89 , @yunimimii , @staryosh1 ,

@mihawksdemoness , @crystalreads , @blahblahbruhmeow ,

@madam-strawberryrose , @inkslayer , @azazel-nyx , @lixanjewel ,

@artemisandhunters , @thereeallink , @ask-theradio-demon ,

@lousypotatoes

[muriellelibrary]

ARTISTS AT THE READY 6: an OCT

Hey tumblr. I'm here to spread some late stage love for something a group of us has put together. Or, well, continued together. I'm going to start with the absolute basics, since some folks might be new to it, so here we go.

ARTISTS AT THE READY 6 is open and taking auditions!

What is Artists at the Ready (AatR)? It's an OCT! What is an OCT? An Original Character Tournament! But what does that mean? It means a bunch of artists/writers get together and have a bit of friendly competition involving characters they made up! AatR particularly focuses on telling these stories as comics and uses a bracket tournament system (like... uh, sports ball?) where two contestants are pitted against each other and the judges pick a winner based on certain criteria. It's about using competition to practice your storytelling.

So then! AatR is currently looking to being a SIXTH tournament. The first happened in 2009, back during the OCT boom on deviantArt. Many of the old entries have been deleted, but there are still some up there if you want to take a gander. (We are still posting a little on there as well, for posterity.) The second was in 2011, which had so many entries there was an off-shoot tournament called Ready or Not. The third, fourth and fifth took place in 2013, 2015, and 2018 respectively. I personally participated in 3 previous ones.

What makes AatR different from other OCTs is the premise. Most OCT have you create/use characters and place them in a specific world or scenario with a specific theme and a handful of side characters provided by the judges/people running the tournament. AatR differs in that one of the characters you bring to the story is YOU! You, the artist! The premise is that you are invited to a mysterious world known as The Real and you, the artist, end up there... ready or not. There, you will meet other artists, and possibly the people running the tournament, the Judges. BUT. What made it fun was that you got to summon your own characters to have them join you on your journey! Everyone has a "tool" that brings out a set number of OCs. (It was originally 3, but now only 2 get summoned.) So you get to hang out with your creations and... well, probably fight for your life because story thrives on conflict but there never was a rule you had to actually "fight" your opponent, just interact with them and their characters. It's about who tells the better and more compelling story, really.

(It's a little like pokemon. You are the trainer and you have two pokemon to summon. They could fight for you, or maybe help you get around or go completely out of control and try to eat reality. The world is your oyster! Except instead of pokemon, it is your favorite homemade blorbos!) Every previous season has had a few provided locations, a few judges with characters, and messengers. Messengers are creatures/things that bring you your invitation. After that, they can be used in any way to help you tell your story. Or don't use them at all. Things are very open-ended and what we provide is totally optional. The previous stories from past seasons ARE VERY MUCH OPTIONAL. Use what you like, throw the rest away. This go around, the only location we have is the Deadline Bar. It has no specific place in time or space, and no specific layout/theme/interior. Make it what you will. Our messengers are equally undefined, inky animals of your choice.

Personally, I have made some of the best friends I have through OCTs and every time I have participated, it has helped me grow as an artist and storyteller. It can be a grueling experience if you try to tell a grandiose story, but time management is also an important skill for anyone to learn. I loved it and would love for others to love it too. If any of this intrigues you, or has you hopping up and down to throw artistic hands with other artists on the internet.... please come check us out. All the basic rules are on the deviantArt page, the twitter/X page, and far more in-depth material along with cool folks to chat with can be found on our discord. The deadline for the auditions is OCTOBER 11th, which gives you just about the same amount of time to make one as you would have for a round during the tournament. OR just hang out in the server, talk art and maybe participate in some of our Spectator side contests. YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO COME JOIN US AND I BID YOU A WARM WELCOME TO THE REAL! ...just... watch that first step...

[starshideyourfics]

You Are Here - part 1

September 11, 2001 — Gander, Newfoundland, Canada

“Sorry, is this seat open?”

Eddie’s head snaps up, putting aside his book. They’ve been sitting on the tarmac in the middle of nowhere for hours, long enough that the sun has set, with no one explaining exactly why, and it’s not like he has much of his book left. It was supposed to last well-past when he landed in Chicago, but that wasn’t gonna happen, so he’s not that irritated at being interrupted.

He’s even less irritated when he sees that the question asker is the most beautiful man he’s even seen: golden skin dotted with moles, thick chestnut hair highlighted by the summer sun, a pointed Roman nose supporting wire-rimmed glasses, all wrapped up in charcoal slacks and a periwinkle button-down.

After his brain finishes short-circuiting, Eddie snaps his dangling mouth shut, composes himself, and says, “Sorry, can you repeat that? It’s been a weird day,” Eddie asks.

The man gives a weak chuckle. “It really has. Sorry, it’s just that after they started giving out free booze, things have gotten rowdy in the back and I’ve got case files I need to go over.” To emphasize his point, he holds up a briefcase and shrugs.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead,” Eddie says, moving his bag out of the empty seat next to him. He feels like an idiot, but at least Jeff and Frankie are sleeping behind him and unable to witness his flailing. And he’s pretty sure Gareth is one of the loud drunks at the back if their most recent singalong is anything to go by—it explains the short Iron Maiden interlude. But it means his bandmates aren’t giving him shit for his brain turning to mush in the face of this beautiful normie.

“Thanks,” the guy says, slipping into the seat and holding out his hand, “I’m Steve, by the way.”

“Eddie. Glad I could offer you refuge in this trying time.” His heart jumps when Steve full-on giggles at his lame joke.

But Steve sobers pretty quickly. “I just wish someone would tell us what’s happening. I’ve got my cellphone, and a handful of international minutes left, but I’d guess we’re too far away from any cell towers out here anyway… Have you heard anything up here in business class?” And isn’t that the real kick in the head? Eddie Munson is sitting in Business Class on an international flight after his band went on their first European tour, wearing ripped black jeans and a ratty old hoodie since he always gets cold when he flies, and Steve is clearly some kind of lawyer or banker or something sitting back in economy. And yet, here they are.

“The flight attendants have been whispering together, and the pilots have been out of the cockpit a couple times, but they’re doing a really good job keeping it all hush-hush. It’s not like there’s much we can do being stranded out here with a bunch of other planes. I’m sure you won’t get in trouble with your boss,” Eddie says, testing the waters and fishing for information.

“Oh, no, I’m not worried about that. I don’t have any court dates too soon.” Yes, totally right about the lawyer thing, Eddie thinks. “It’s just, my partner was flying today, too, back home from Boston. I hope she’s not all tangled up in this.” And he’s straight and in a relationship, of course, Eddie adds, because there’s no way a guy as good-looking as Steve isn’t pinned down. That doesn’t stop Eddie from checking his left hand and finding no ring.

“Sorry, that sucks. Everyone I know flying today is on this plane with me,” Eddie says softly with a gesture over his shoulder at his sleeping friends. “Our manager is probably freaking out right now, so hopefully we get back in the air soon. Or they let us off, and we can work together to track down a phone.”

“I’d like that,” Steve says with a smile that crinkles the corners of his eyes.

Just then, a flight attendant comes over the intercom and says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, we have finally been cleared to deplane. You may take your carryon items; checked luggage will remain in the hold. The flight crew will be handing out blankets and pillows as you exit the plane.”

Eddie and Steve turn to each other with wide eyes. “Guess it’s time to track down that phone,” Steve says, worry and hope warring in his expression.

And Eddie can’t help it—hates seeing that worry, knows it all too well from growing up in an unstable home—and he takes Steve’s hand and says, “It’ll be okay. There’s gotta be a bank of pay phones in there. And maybe someone will finally tell us what’s going on.” He squeezes Steve’s fingers.

Steve squeezes back.

part 2

[jadekitty777]

Exhibition

Fair Game Week is here and-!!! I AM NOT READY. 

I have maybe four completed piece out of 7, but well, we’ll see if I can manage to pull a miracle outta my butt by the end of this xD

For now, enjoy?

Prompt for Day 1: Cultural Differences

Rating: T 

Word Count: 2.7K

Summary: Clover was extremely self-conscious about his ears. So why did he have so many pairs of earrings anyways? [Takes place directly after Chapter 6 of Hunting Season]

Ao3 Link: Exhibition

~

With a small hiss, Clover clipped the last earring in place, the magnetic pieces snapping together with a sharp pinch. After a few seconds, the sting lessened to just a constant pressure and he stood back, getting a good gander at his work.

Seven in each ear, a mixture of some of his best silver and green pairs. The first, right at the tip, was a matching set to his emblem, thumb-sized four-leaf clovers with light-and-dark green streaked malachite stones for the leaflets. The next set just a half inch below were some simple silver horseshoes. 

Another inch or so was the start of the biggest piece - the same chain wrap that he’d used to make Qrow stumble a few weeks ago. The primary earring was a silver star with an emerald center. From its furthest point the chain began, tiny, silver stars interspaced in the links, leading to the end piece, which was a simple, spiky comet trail, with a random constellation of emerald gems embedded in the piece.

Dangling in between the shooting star, right in the center of the chain, was the fifth piece: little, silver crescent moons. 

To complete the look was another pair placed only a half-inch apart - a silver feather and a peridot-eyed Kingfisher. 

He tilted his head to the left, then the right, making sure everything was perfectly symmetrical. Then he reached up, tugging his ears until they were high above his head, before letting go.

The chains rattled heavily as they dropped immediately, ears angling downward demurely. 

Clover nodded. He was ready.

~

Marrow was the only one in the break room. His tail was low; short, fast wags belaying his anxiety. 

Or, Clover considered bemusedly as he watched the other man toss three sugar packs in a steaming cup, he needs to lay off the coffee.

“Good evening.” He announced as he crossed the room, dropping onto the couch. 

“Oh, heya boss.” Marrow greeted jovially, turning to him. Tried and failed not to look at his ears. “...Ready for tonight I’m guessing?”

He heaved a sigh in return. “As I’ll ever be.”

A pause. “You could ask the General to excuse you?”

“Marrow.” Clover said very firmly, locking eyes with his recruit, “When your commander says he needs you, then he needs you. No questions asked. Got it?”

“Yeah but-! Ugh… yeah okay don’t give me the scary dad eyes.”

He fought down a chuckle. “Good.” He understood and appreciated his comrade’s concern, truly, but one night of handling the Atlas’ Elite's contemptuous intolerance in exchange for keeping his semblance in play during the discussion was a price he was willing to pay. He owed James that much. 

(He didn’t, even for a moment, let himself consider that James was perhaps using Winter, Penny and himself as talking adornments to distract the council like rooks on a chessboard).

“All I need from you and the rest of the Ops tonight is to standby while we hash out the details.” He concluded.

“Yes sir.” Marrow conceded quietly, taking a sip of his drink. His nose wrinkled immediately, but he kept drinking it as if it were too much of a crime to throw out a single lien’s worth of cheap coffee.

Taking pity on him, Clover added, “Besides, I didn’t put on my finest jewels for a bunch of ugly codgers. I did it to test a myth.”

“A myth?”

“You know,” He led in with a pleased grin, “The one about whether crows actually like shiny things or not.”

Marrow groaned. “Oh Gods, I dunno who's worse, you or the kids.”

He cackled freely, unable to help it. Sometimes the rookie made it too easy. 

But just as quickly as it was there, it was gone, noticing the way Marrow tried to hide his frown behind his cup. 

“Go too far?” Clover guessed.

“What? No, no it’s not that! It’s just…” He half turned one way, then the other, as if he expected the shadows to jump out at him. “Permission to speak freely? Like, really freely?”

Okay, this wasn’t going any way he expected. But he’d known the other long enough to know he always meant well, even if he wasn’t the best at expressing it properly. So Clover stuck with a reassuring tone as he encouraged, “You always have that right.”

“It’s just - well.” His tail had started to wag, fast, agitated strokes. “I know I don’t understand this lovey-dovey stuff but, this thing with you and Qrow… are you sure he’s not…” Marrow winced, the word coming out like a croak, “Fetishing you?”

Clover blinked, leaning back.

Well.

It’s not like he hadn’t considered it himself, when he’d first met Qrow. He knew enough people like the renowned huntsman - successful, famous, idolized. Types that would use their clot to get things they wanted. How easy it was to stroke a fetish like bedding an ‘exotic Faunus’ and walk away, hands clean. 

But, even if he did have any misgivings, after last night…

“For me? This? Us? It’s the real deal.”

There was nothing left to doubt.

Selfish men didn’t make declarations like that.

“I know he’s…” Clover started, trying to find the right word, “Tactless, sometimes. But when you really get to know him, he’s sincere and speaks from the heart. I know I can trust him.”

Marrow eyed him a few moments more, before nodding. “If you’re sure, then I won’t doubt you. I just want it to work out for you, you know? You deserve that.”

He smiled warmly. It was nice, having someone in his court. “Thanks Marrow.” 

“Anytime sir.”

~

If there was anything to make Clover’s night, it was the moment Qrow caught sight of him.

The lobby area of the academy had a ceiling that was quite tall, and sounds echoed freely. So, they all heard the Vale team arriving from the elevator - the kids, particularly Nora and Yang, were loud. So there they all were, streaming out from the alcove into the main room, heading to the entrance that had been set as their designated meeting spot.

In the rear, as usual, was Qrow, already drifting sideways from the group, creating an unconscious distance. His head was turned, listening to something Oscar was going on about, when Ruby’s squeal of “Penny!” and subsequent burst of rose petals as she immediately closed the distance to crash into the android in a hug had him looking up.

Dusky red eyes met his, went wide as saucers - and then he stumbled nose first into one of the support pillars.

Clover covered his mouth to strife his laughter, while Marrow’s quiet, “Oh my gods.” from his left had him almost crying with glee. 

“Seeing stars there, Uncle Qrow?” He faintly heard Yang roasting.

“Shut it Firecracker,” Qrow hissed back, rubbing his nose as they made their way over.

Alright, don’t bring attention to it. Be professional. Clover cleared his throat as everyone grouped up. “Nice to see everyone tonight. General Ironwood and Specialist Schnee are still on their way down, but the limos are out front and waiting. We’ll debrief on what to expect on the way over, but for now, you can feel free to get comfortable.”

Predictably, this brought about a varying degree of excitement. 

“A real limo?!” Ruby wiggled. “Oh do you think they have snacks Yang?”

“We are literally going to a party with food.” Her sister deadpanned.

Weiss sighed, pushing her leader towards the doors. “It’s not that incredible, believe me.”

“The limo or the hor d'oeuvres?” And that was Blake, almost dismissively bored.

“Both.”

As the others started to follow, Oscar paused for just a moment. “Are you coming Qrow?”

“Uh, I’ll catch up. You guys have fun.”

“I think the real one having fun’ll be-”

“Nora.” Ren stressed.

“What?! We were all thinking it.”

“No.” Jaune placed his hands together, probably praying for a mind erasure. “No I was not.”

The rest of the young hunters’ conversations melded and trickled off as they piled out the doors. Clover nodded to his own team. “You guys can go as well. I’ll wait.”

“Mhm, sure. Enjoy that Captain.” Harriet replied, her teasing painfully transparent. 

Elm, thank her soul, steered the shorter girl towards the exit before her fast mouth could get her into trouble. “Come on Hare, let ‘em be.”

If any one of them said more, it was all lost behind the closing of the doors.

And then Qrow was on him, whirling around and crossing the distance faster then he could blink. “You’re killing me here Clubs.”

The laughter Clover was trying to contain burst out of him, joyful and loud. He tilted into the other’s touch as Qrow cupped his face in his hands, one index finger sweeping under the kingfisher and feather in his left ear. “Guess you like ‘em then huh?”

“Don’t be a little shit.” Qrow jabbed with no malice. “Seriously though, now I gotta think of how to one-up this.”

He placed his hands on the slim man’s waist, dragging him forward. “What are you gonna do? Come to the next debrief with no pants this time?”

“Tch, doesn’t work if you’ve already seen that.”

“They didn’t come all the way off.” He rolled his thumbs against protruding hipbones, practically purring, “I’ve bet you got some killer legs.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Qrow’s voice had dropped an octave, before he tipped his chin up, lips meeting his.

Clover shut his eyes, humming pleasantly as he pressed into it. Shivered as long fingers danced along the length of one of his ears, lightly flicking the pointed tip right above where the clover piece was.

Immediately, he felt the frown against his mouth as Qrow met a resistance that wasn’t supposed to be there. He pulled back, eyes suspicious. “These are heavy.”

“Yeah.” Clover replied, trying not to make it seem like a big deal, even as shame curled in his gut. “There’s gravity dust in the magnets. Keeps them… in place.”

A lot of other Faunus who had ears higher up on their heads, like Blake, had more practical uses for the gimmick, as with enough weight one could pin their ears down against their skull and have them disappear in their hairline. Clover just used it to mislead people. 

“Clover…”

He covered Qrow’s hand, the one still against his cheek, with one of his own, murmuring guiltily, “Tonight has to go well.”

At a bit of a loss, Qrow’s eyes flicked about, between his face and the ears that told him nothing, and finally conceded with a grumbled, “James better appreciate the fuck outta you.”

Clover laughed so hard he was weezing, tension rushing out of him. “He does, you jerk.” He peppered the insult with a kiss. “But he’s not the reason I’m wearing them. It just makes things easier, is all. Most times, I’m not doing it for anyone but myself anyways.”

“Because you don’t like them?”

“More like I don’t like the attention. Or giving people more of an excuse than they already have.” It wasn’t like it took much. 

Shortly after Beacon’s fall, when it became clear the White Fang was involved, Faunus Opinion was at an all time low. It became so bad, that for a while he couldn’t go one day without something headlining the evening news. More and more places had started to refuse service to Faunus. Faunus-friendly or owned establishments were coming under attack through vandalizing, stealing, and arsoning. Dissenting lobbyists began to rally, trying to use the public’s fear to push their agenda through. Layoffs and unemployment for Faunus climbed to an all time high. A child beaten into a coma by his schoolmates just for having bull horns like Adam Taurus.

Between that and the buckling secret of Salem, Clover had barely been able to keep himself on sure footing. 

But, the one thing he never forgot - regardless of Robyn or Nick’s opinion - was the importance of his position. As a leader and a Faunus in power, he had a duty to his team, the citizens and his people to carry on with his head held high and his demeanor in check. To be firm in his words but gentle in his delivery. To react cordially to dissenters and not retaliatory. To appear polished and pretty but non-threatening.

He knew if he had even a half-second of weakness, just a moment where he toed too out of line in the public eye, then the news casters would drag his name through the mud so fast, the many medals he had in his name would get lost in the sludge.

So the events he did attend - if they allowed him to at all - he played his part. And he knew not to get comfortable, because with tensions rising once more after Tyrian’s slaughter, things might just be about to get a whole lot worse.

“You shouldn’t have to.” Qrow growled. “To-to do all this just… for every other fucking person.” Yet, to Clover’s surprise, instead of continuing on his rant as he’d seen him so many times before for other topics, he looked away, mumbling, “Not that I should be running my mouth when I’m not a part of it.” 

Like last night, he felt his heart warm. This man was too endearing for his own good. “Hey, just because you don’t understand it all, doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear what you think.” He tilted Qrow’s chin up. “Honestly, the fact you support me means the world to me.”

An ever-so slight rosy touch came to Qrow’s cheeks that was just too adorable not to kiss. So Clover did.

He may have continued further, if not for the tell-tale ding of an arriving elevator and the familiar click-clack of Winter’s heels and the step-clank of James’ footsteps that had him pulling away.

Likewise, Qrow stepped a respectable distance back as well. It was one thing to have family or teammates teasing them - it was another situation altogether if their boss - temporary or otherwise - caught them. The one selfish thing Clover was keeping were his missions with Qrow.

“Oh, one last thing to keep in mind?” He said as they waited.

“Hm?”

He gave him a wink. “I dolled myself up with you on my mind first, Stardust.”

Luckily, Qrow had no time for a rebuttal beyond a flabbergasted grunt.

~

In a matter of hours, everything had gone wrong.

A dead man had turned the heat off.

The wall had further collapsed.

Grimm were all over Mantle.

Salem’s attack on Atlas had officially begun. 

“This is Harriet with Ace Manta, checking in.” Harriet said into the airship’s radio. “We’re on route to downtown.”

“Copy that Ace Manta. Your way is clear.” Air control reported. “Teryxs have been spotted in airspace. Remain vigilant.”

Clover stepped between the pilot and co-pilot chairs, speaking up so he could be heard clearly. “This is Captain Clover. What is the status of the rest of the fleet?”

His left ear, free of weight, perked up as the response came, “All ships have already dispersed and deployed their soldiers to provide ground cover in critical areas. Most are now moving onto evacuation efforts, sir.”

“Good. Keep a squadron of fighter aircraft in action on the lower district and tell them to fire in the sky at will. We need to keep that line and hold it.” He replied as he unclipped the earrings on his right ear. 

“Understood. May the Brothers be with you all.” Was the final blessing before the transmission cut off.

The last of the earrings, the Kingfisher, was pulled off, and his right ear joined his left in position, angled up and slightly forward. Alert. Confidant. “Alright Harriet, bring us in.” He turned to the rest of the group, nodding to the benches. “Take a seat. This ride might get rough. For the rest of us who don’t have one, Weiss and Elm, keep us steady.”

Unsurprisingly, the chairs were freely offered to the younger members first.

As everyone got settled, Qrow sidled up to him, looking stern and serious.

Despite the situation, Clover couldn’t help but give one ear a flap to catch his attention. All those weeks ago, he started doing it just to tease him; now it felt more like a greeting.

It also did the job of bringing some light to Qrow’s face, no matter how small. “Heh. Liked the gussying up Clubs, but I think I prefer ‘em like this.”

He knew he didn’t mean the jewelry. 

“Lucky me.” He drawled with a grin of his own.

He pocketed his earrings away and though they felt as heavy as the looming atmosphere of battle, Clover had never felt more ready to hold it all up.

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

The Big Itch Three 19?? Rock & Roll / Garage Rock / Novelty / Rockabilly

Welp, a few of these definitely have not aged well at all—just take a gander at this album's tracklist and you'll be able to figure out one of them immediately 😬—but for the most part, this third installment in the Mr. Manicotti label's Big Itch series of 50s and 60s underground rock oddities and obscurities is pretty great. It's not nearly as strong as the first volume, but it is leaps and bounds better than the second; and it's mainly because, just like the first one, Mr. Manicotti seemed to prioritize music that was well made rather than music whose chief concern was to be funny. Most comedy doesn't have a very long shelf-life as is, so if the music itself isn't very good or isn't itself inherently funny, then the likelihood a comedic tune's gonna succeed past the ephemeral moment it was made for is close to nil. Jokey lyrics may not stand the test of time, but if you sing them in a certain way, or the music you surround them with is captivating enough, you might have something longer lasting on your hands; and we've got a good handful of that on here.

So, favorite track of mine on this album is probably one-off act Mad Mike & The Maniacs' "Quarter to Four," which appears to have originated from the only thing that they ever ended up putting out. Released in 1961, and recorded in a party-like atmosphere, this one had to have been intended as a tongue-in-cheek sequel to Gary U.S. Bonds' own "Quarter to Three," a single that was similarly lively and went to #1 the same year, only soon to be ripped off interpolated by Dion for "Runaround Sue," which also went to #1. Largely instrumental, "Quarter to Four" leads with bawdy, loud, forceful, and totally unrefined rock & roll sax, and I am very much a sucker for that kind of thing in general. There was a lot of fun that was baked into those early and unpredictable days of rock & roll, when it wasn't totally clear if the guitar or sax or maybe even the piano was gonna lead the way as the movement's most important instrument. And it's hard to imagine a history of rock music without the vast amount of contributions that were made to it with the guitar, but it was a possibility at one point, and even in 1961, with rock & roll having been firmly established as a dominant force, this song seems to present a pretty good case for why the sax needn't be cast aside.

Plus, the 60s birthed a whole bunch of dance crazes and fads—the iconic twist, for example, the watusi, the mashed potato, and the monkey, too—but Mr. Manicotti dug up some other more eccentric ones for this album, like Glenn and Christy's "Wombat Twist" and Joe and The Furies' "Weasel," both of which are featured on the 'Dancin' Side' of this record. Not sure what these moves were supposed to look like, but the songs definitely make for some infectious rock & roll fun regardless.

So while Volume 1 of The Big Itch was damn near perfect and Volume 2 felt like a massive misstep, Volume 3 gets us back on the right track with a bunch of tunes that are both wacky and good, rather than tunes that are purely wacky but not necessarily good...as long as you stay away from the selections that are, at the very least, clearly problematic too 😅.

Highlights:

Glenn and Christy - "Wombat Twist" Gary Shelton - "The Trance" The Warlocks - "The Temper Tantrum" Joe and The Furies - "Weasel" Mad Mike & The Maniacs - "Quarter to Four" The Dinks - "Kocka-Mow-Mow"

[ikimonoeren]

𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐔𝐏

☆ warnings. drug use

☆ summary. jean and connie are trying to smoke a blunt, but reader is scared that they'll caught and unfortunately sasha is too busy being passed out to be included in the conversation.

☆ author's note. actually a fairly recent thing i wrote, and it is purely satire but i hope yall enjoy this

"I--literally everything about this is illegal."

You gave Connie and Jean a blank look as they continues to roll the blunt while they were on duty. Connie rolled his eyes as he licked the end to close it off and passed it Jean.

"Oh, shut up, [name]. You literally always have a stick up your ass."

"Yeah, put it sock in it." Jean chimed in. They both snickered to themselves as if it were the funniest thing they've said.

You looked over at Sasha her mutual disapproval, but she was already passed out. Bread half eaten in hand and all. As Connie and Jean were about to spark up a familiar voice interjected.

"Well, well. If it isn't Survey Corps biggest dumbasses."

You all froze. They were dead. No, no. You were all dead.

You were basically an accessory to the crime!

"It wasn't me!" You pleaded, as you hugged Levi's knees. He gave a slightly disgusted look as he nudged you off his feet, but you were not budging.

Connie and Jean took this as an opportunity to try to sneak off. Keyword. Try.

"And where do you dumbasses think you're going?" It was a question that demanded an answer. And an immediate one at that.

"Uh,w-we were j-just---" Connie stammered. He looked over at Jean for help.

"WE'RE SORRY PLEASE DON'T KILL US!" Jean cried out, as he hugged Levi's free knee. Connie looked at him in disbelief before joining the both of you.

"YEAH PLEASE DON'T KILL US! WE JUST WANTED TO HAVE SOME FUN!"

At this point you were all bawling your eyes out and it took every ounce of Levi's strength not to laugh at how utterly buffoonish you all looked. Although, he did crack the smallest smile.

"You know, I could have you all locked up for your entire lives." His voice icy as ever.

Man, he should get an award for being so dang good at acting.

"WE'RE SORRY CAPTAIN!" You all blubbered. Levi shook his head. Idiots.

"I could make this all go away." All crying had seized.

"R-really?" You stuttered. Your noses were dripping with snot and salty tears oozed out of your eyes.

Connie crawled closer to the bunch of you. "W-what can we do?"

Jean perked up a little and a hint of sparkle was in his eyes. "Y-yeah! Anything!"

"First," Levi spoke up. "Get the fuck off of me." He kicked first you and the Jean off his knees. For someone who was 5'2 Levi was really strong.

"Excuse me?" He narrowed his eyes at you.

"N-nothing captain!" You were literally about to piss your pants at this point. How could you let that slip out?

"As I was saying, I could let this all go away. If," He looked over at the rolled up blunt that was half way put out. "you let me smoke the rest of that."

You all gave each other the same look. Regret.

"You let me in on that stash." He finished.

That was the absolute last thing you all thought he would want.

"You want--" Connie started. "--weed?" Jean's face scrunched up in confusion. And you, you practically in hysterics, rolling on the ground laughing your ass off.

"You--" You choked in tears. "w-want weed?"

You were holding your stomach barely even able to breathe. The captain's eyes narrowed at you and your laughter came to an immediate stop.

"I mean, yeah, totalllyyyyy. Connie, Jean give it to him. Now." You glared at them and Jean handed the blunt over to the captain.

Levi inspected it for a bit and scoffed. "Amatures."

He took a long drag, clearly an experienced smoker showcasing years of sparking up. It felt like forever before he pursed his lips to let the smoke out. You were all in utter awe.

"Damn," He said while taking a good gander at the blunt. "That's some good shit. Where'd you get this?"

"It's imported from outside the walls." Jean replied in a slow and shocked manner. You looked over and him Connie and they were looking at him as if he were the sun.

Now it was your turn to scoff. "Idiots." You mumbled.

"So I'll be confiscating the rest of this." He mused, grabbing the rest of the bag that was on the ground.

Connie and Jean looked like they were going to cry again, but they felt your death glare and snapped out of it. After all, it was their fault that you all got into this mess in the first place.

"As you were." And just like that Levi walked away and you breathed a sigh of relief.

"Look what I got." Connie whispered just as Levi was out of ear shot.

"Give it. Now."

Or at least he thought.

Extra:

"Huh?" Sasha blinked open her eyes to Connie and Jean looking depressed as you laughed at them.

"Did I miss anything?" She asked trying to sit up.

"Just go back to sleep." Connie grumbled.

She shrugged her shoulders and snuggled her half eaten loaf closer to her body as she fell into a deep slumber once again.

[mouthfulloftoothpasterry]

Growing closer

summary: Harry and Loralie spend the night at Y/n and Milo’s flat for the first time and the kids spend time getting closer to the others parent. 

warnings/disclaimers: mentions(?) of smut, its not much. i wont ever write much again because i hate writing it and i’m horrible at it so this is the most you will get, sorry! barely edited so sorry about that!!!

Y/n invited Harry and Loralie to spend the night. She decided to take their relationship to the next step and make plans for Loralie and Harry to come over and spend the night. She went down to the market earlier and got some ingredients for dinner, stress cleaning her flat, and helped Milo clean his barely used room before the two came over. 

Now they sit in Y/n living room, Milo and Loralie on the floor playing together while Harry and Y/n set up on the couch together, sipping some wine. A random Disney movie plays, none of them are really paying attention to it, it’s mainly on for background noise. They finished dinner not too long ago, they had an arugula salad, then garlic Parmesan pasta. It was amazing and they all scarfed it down but now they are bloated and tired. “It’s almost Loralie’s bedtime.” Harry whispers, pecking Y/n’s jaw. She giggles, pulling her head away from him and standing up. 

She pulls Milo up, kissing his cheeks. “It’s time for bed, babe.” She says, softly bouncing him on her hip while she takes him to his bedroom, glancing back to see if Harry was collecting Loralie and joining them. They settle the kids for bed, changing them into pajamas and saying their goodnights, tucking them into bed then checking for monsters and leaving a kiss on their heads. 

They head back out to the living room, sitting on the couch and resuming their wine drinking and movie watching. They cuddle under a thick fluffy blanket, Harry’s head resting on her shoulder while they both sag into each other. “Thanks for inviting us over.” Harry hums, his lips finding her shoulders. 

Y/n nods, kissing the top of his head. “It’s no problem. I love being around you guys.” Harry’s kisses travel further up, tickling Y/n’s neck. “Yeah,” he hums on her neck, his nose rubbing alongside her jaw. She giggles, pushing him away. “Our kids just went to bed!” She says, also a little nervous because this would be her and Harry’s first time if it goes anything past kissing. Harry shrugs, lifting her up bridal style and giving her a rough kiss. 

Y/n laughs, jumping down. She wraps her arms around his neck, slotting her lips with his. Harry’s arms wrap around her waist, pulling her impossibly closer to him. He sloppily leads them to her bedroom door, knocking over an empty wine glass on the way, knocking into a wall, and finally accidentally slamming the door against the wall once he got to it. 

Y/n giggles on his lips, pulling away to look around the corner. Milo and Loralie yank open Milo's bedroom door. “Shh!” Milo says, his hair already a mess and his eyes dropping with sleep. The parents hold on a laugh, Y/n covering her mouth with her hand. “Okay, I’m sorry. Let’s go back to sleep.” Harry whispers, turning the kiddies around and leading them back to the bedroom. Y/n joins them, a small smile on her face. They tuck them back in, kissing their foreheads and heading back to Y/n’s room. 

“We better just head to bed.” Y/n says from her closet, tossing out some pajamas for herself. Harry nods, deciding they can try again another night- a night there their kids are being baby sat. They get cozy in bed, flipping on the TV. They watch some news for a bit, getting updated on a few things before they switch it off, turning off the side table lamps. They settle into bed, giving each other a goodnight peck. “There is always next time.” 

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

When they wake up the next morning it’s absolute chaos, grumpy children and tired parents, everyone trying to get ready for the day and make breakfast. “No, sit down. You can play later.” Y/n says to Milo, pointing to his chair and setting his breakfast in front of him, some eggs, a half piece of toast, and two pieces of sausage. Usually she is lucky if most of his food doesn’t end up on him. 

“Okay! Wear your pajamas for the rest of the day. Whatever, just go eat, please. And no more raising your voice at daddy or you're taking a nap early today.” Harry says, trying to keep his voice calm while he tries to settle down his two year old. 

Y/n softly laughs, “looks like we’re both struggling.” Harry nods, still in his pajamas and his hair a mess. They have both been so focused on their grumpy children that they haven’t even had time to brush their teeth let alone take a gander in the mirror and see how frightening they truly look. 

“Here’s some breakfast for your troubles.” Y/n offers a plate to him, setting a fork down on it making a little clink. Harry thanks her, joining the kids who are rudely eating with their hands and not even giving their forks a thought (but they were toddlers so no one cared). Y/n eventually joins them, setting her own plate down with a yawn. 

“What are we doing?!” Milo asks, Harry tiredly laughing. “We are eating breakfast, mate.” He says, giving him a tired smile. Y/n laughs at the interaction, covering her mouth, “No, H, he means like… what are we doing today?” Y/n informs him, a giggle in her voice. Harry raises his eyebrows, “ohhh,” Harry nods, “yeah, I knew that.” 

“Well we’re gonna let them go home, baby. Then I gotta go down to the shop.” Y/n smiles, pushing Milo's sippy cup toward him. 

They finish up breakfast, Harry helping Y/n clean the kitchen before they finally get themselves ready and part ways, having a long goodbye. 

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

Harry was taking Milo out today and Y/n was taking Loralie out. Harry and Y/n talked and they thought it would help grow their relationships, even though Harry was already best buddies with Milo, and Y/n and Loralie were the best of friends they needed to become more or parental figures than best friends with the kids. So they arranged to take the other out and get to know them more, treat them like they would their own children instead of a friend. 

Harry was going to take Milo out to a baseball game and Y/n is taking Loralie out to get Mani pedis, to the mall, then to dinner. 

Harry and Milo were already at the baseball game, getting settled in while Y/n and Loralie are on the way to their nail appointment. 

Harry and Milo get settled in their seats, the game not started yet. “Are you excited for the game, bub?” Harry asks, looking down where Milo is sitting in his stadium seat. Milo nods, giving him a thumbs up while he plays with his toy dinosaur. “Dinosaur.” he says, making it walk up Harry's arm before making the brachiosaurus bite his shoulder. “Munch munch! He got you!” Milo dramatically says, standing up in his seat. Harry laughed, gasping and backing up a little, “Ahh!” Milo giggles. Harry didn't even know where he got that dinosaur from, he didn't see it on the ride over so he must have stashed it in his pocket. 

“Okay, bub, smile for mummy. Gotta let her know we made it here safe.” Harry says, pulling out his phone and opening his camera, leaning toward Milo and smiling widely, Milo smiling widely and closing his eyes, his small dimples poking out. Harry chuckles, pulling the phone away and sending the photo off to the little boy's mum. 

Harry: Already having bunches of fun! *1 attachment* 

“Loralie, text your daddy back and tell him I'm trying to drive” Y/n jokes, making Loralie look up at her while she's strapped in her car seat. “What?” she asks, making Y/n laugh, pulling into the nail places car park. “Nothing, Lora. Let's get our nails done, girl!” she sings, unbuckling her car seat and pulling her out, softly setting her down on the concrete and holding her hand while they walk into the nail salon. 

They get seated together, Loralie giggling at the chair massaging her back. Y/n snaps a photo of her to send to Harry later when her fingers aren't wet. “What color did you pick out?” Y/n asks Loralie, turning toward her. “I got purple, daddy likes it.” Y/n heart swells, Loralie is such a sweet girl. “Good choice!” she smiles, looking at the light pink color she picked for herself. 

**

“Are you having fun, Milo?” Harry asks, watching the boy eat a snow cone almost the size of him that he purchased for him not too long ago. Milo nods, smiling up at him while he spoons another mountain of the ice treat in his mouth, getting it all over his nose and around his mouth. Harry laughs, “Here, bub.” he laughs, handing him a paper napkin. Milo takes it, messily wiping around his face. Harry nods watching him try and get it off, glancing back at the game. 

The announcer yells as the better runs to home base, making a home run. Milo cheers with the crowd, pumping his small fists in the air. Harry's eyes widened, laughing for the thousandth time today. How did he know anything about the game? Milo looks around, still excited even though the crowd has died down. Oh, he was only excited because everyone else was. 

**

“Our nails are so cute!” Y/n cheers, walking out of the nail salon. Loralie squeals, looking at her purple fingers and toes. “Lets send daddy a photo!” Y/n says, putting her hand out, Loralie quickly joins her hand between their bodies. Y/n takes the photo, sending the one she took earlier of Loralie and the one she took just now to him before getting them back in the car. 

Y/n: Our nails are done :) *two attachments* 

They zoom to the mall, hopping out and walking around first, looking at some stuff through display cases, perfume, pretty (but super expensive) jewelry, and some old lady jewelry. Then they head up the escalator (Y/n and Loralie holding hands extra tight because Loralie was scared), going to look around at all the different stores they have. 

Loralie stops a candy store, gasping and pointing to it. Y/n instantly laughs, leading her to the candy store. “Okay, we're only getting a little, we aren't telling daddy, and we are gonna eat it after dinner, ‘kay?” Y/n asks, Loralie looking up to her, nodding as if she was keeping the most precious secret. They collect their candy, definitely getting more than they should have, but it was worth it to see the little girl so happy. 

Loralie squeals, running out of the candy store, one arm clutching the candy bag and her other hand still holding Y/n’s hand. Y/n laughs, walking with her. Y/n had expected to feel a little awkward today, not sure what to talk about or how to treat Loralie but she's had a bunch of fun with her and she already feels that parental role taking over. 

They end up in a random kids store, filled with stuffed animals, toys, kids jewelry, and clothes. “Look!” Loralie basically yells toward Y/n, showing her some play pearls. Y/n smiles, taking them and nodding. “Like what daddy wears!” she gushes, making Y/n pout, she's the most adorable girl. “Yeah, let's get them and you can match daddy.” Loralie nods, pulling another off of the display and holding it up to her. “For Milo” she smiles. Y/n pouts, kissing the top of her head. 

“Sounds good, babe” 

**

“Want a hat or something, Milo?” Harry asks, looking around the gift shop with the boy. Milo shrugs, more interested in making his toy dinosaur crawl up Harry's leg. Harry chuckles, pulling the toy up on his hip, “let's get you this hat” he says, flopping the small hat on the boy's hat before stomping over to the cash register, feeling heavy and bloated from all the crappy baseball stadium food they ate today. 

They buy the hat, Harry placing it back on the toddler's head and walking back to the car with him on his hip since he was half asleep. “I've had a great day with you, bub.” Harry says to Milo, almost to the car. Milo sleepily places his head on top of Harry's, closing his eyes, “me too.” Harry's heart squeezes, thinking he could cry. “I'm happy you did.” 

**

“Dinner was good!” Y/n smiles, throwing away their trash from their huge slices of food court pizza. Loralie smiles, wiping the rest of the greasing from her face on the back of her hand then wiping it on her pants. Y/n laughs at her actions, wiping off her hands. “Well, I guess it's time to go meet daddy and Milo!” she hums, pulling her up on her hip and heading back down the escalator to hop back in the car to drive back to her flat. 

They get back to her flat in about twenty minutes, heading up the stairs. She unlocks the door, placing a sleeping Loralie on the couch before she heads to her bedroom, changing into some pajamas. She hears a soft knock on her door, unlocking it and opening it to find Harry with Milo sleeping in his arms. Y/n laughs, “just lay him on the couch” she whispers, pointing over to the couch. 

Harry places the boy on the couch softly, making sure not to wake him. He walks over to the counter, watching Y/n get a glass of water. “How was your day?” he smiles, leaning over the counter, kissing her. “It was a lot of fun.” he admits, smiling widely. Y/n smiles widely back at him, “Good. I had so much fun with her. We had a blast.” 

Harry smiles, “That's amazing to hear, babe. Now I gotta get the sleepy girl home” he peers over the couch, watching his daughter sleep for a second. Y/n shrugs, “or you could spend the night again?” she smiles, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest. Harry smiles down at her, kissing his head. 

“Yeah, maybe I'll stay the night.”

please reblog if you liked it and tell me what you thought!!!

taglist: @romionefp @harrystyles-tpwk @wholesomestyles @evanjh @hopeyoustaythenight @harrysddtittys @harrysdimple05

[literaticat]

In an earlier post, you advised not to announce on social media whenever a query is rejected. I also see lots of people post on Twitter whenever they get full requests (this seems to always garner loads of engagement, btw). Just wondering your thoughts?

Let me preface this by saying, look - post what you want on social media. I'm not the twitter police, and I don't want to tell ANYOne what to do with their lives or their social accounts. So please don't get irate at what I'm going to say, it's MY OPINION, and what I WOULD DO if I were the one querying, based on the fact that yes, I know what an agent or editor might be thinking. I'm not trying to SILENCE anyone or anything like that.

Personally, myself, I would keep all my business re querying under wraps while it is happening. That means rejections, how many, how many fulls, what people said or didn't say, whatever. All of it. Private.

Tell your friends group chat! Or your PRIVATE Facebook group! Call your BFF! Get together with writer friends to blow off steam! Whatever! -- but there is no need to vent, brag, cry, scream, show off, or otherwise expose all this on twitter where the agents you might be querying can SEE YOU. Preserve a little mystery, my darlings!

Here's the thing about MYSTERY:

To an agent you are querying, you want to appear calm, cool and collected. You are confident, you are a boss, your book is polished and you are a pro who is ready for prime-time. I don't know any different, right? After all - you're a stranger, and this query is my first introduction to you and your work. You are what you appear to be, as far as I'm concerned. So don't TELL me if you are actually nervous as a cat or don't know what you are doing - fake it till you make it!

After the introduction (your query), and if your book sounds rad, I might want to get to know you a bit better. So, as it's the 21st century, I'd probably take a gander at your social media. Does it reflect that fun, cool, professional person you put forward in your query? Obviously social media is more relaxed, and we don't expect you to be BUSINESS 24/7 on there by any means - but does it seem like you would be an interesting person to get to know and potentially work with? Any red flags? No? Great! Let me proceed with considering this book and our potential working relationship.

BUT: I go on your twitter and I see, oh, actually, she's posted some of the rejections ON her twitter and made fun of the agents, and regularly does weird rants in public about how publishing sucks... wow, yikes. rewind plz! No thanks!

OR: I go on your twitter and it's pretty innocuous and just fine, but you are tweeting about your querying journey, and I do see that you have gotten 950 rejections on this book and I'm like "...oh,". Or, that you recently were sorta bragging about a bunch of full requests from agents, which MAYBE makes me think, "oh man, she sounds like a lot to deal with, I don't have time for a beauty contest, I should probably just say no" - or you got ONE request for a full and you've been waiting six months and the agent has ghosted you, and I'm like "really??? wow. I thought this would be much more popular... I guess not"

Now mind you - these assessments are VERY subconscious. Like - I am not saying it's particularly FAIR for me to have these subconscious thoughts, or for them to affect my initial impression of you. But... you're the one who TMI'ed all over twitter, so...

Had you retained your aura of mystery by NOT revealing details about your query journey in public, I would have continued assuming nothing but the good things I already know about from the query, your work, and your regular social media life.

I'd save all those dirty details for AFTER I was agented and/or had a book deal. Like - it's inspirational to see that a person who queried for years and got loads of rejections ultimately ended up winning. But during the process? It just doesn't feel great to me, I don't love it.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

Scars That Heal || Eddie Kaspbrak x Reader Series

• Ch. 12: Changes •

A/N: The missing gaps in time are on purpose since they will be in book 2 as flashbacks, which will include references to events you have not read yet. All fluff and shenanigans this chapter to make up for last, I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: brief mention of nausea and gore towards the very end, but otherwise, tooth-rotting fluff!

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧

𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧' 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡

              - David Bowie, Changes

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

- 𝗠𝗜𝗗 𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧 -

    "I still can't believe you went after Bowers," Richie scoffs.

    As he steps off his porch and onto his lawn he looks over at his best friend and takes another gander at the bruises and welts littering her skin. Her lip was still busted and despite his and his mother's efforts to clean her bottom lip of blood, it must have started bleeding again sometime during the night as more had crusted over.

    "Yeah, well," she shrugs. "It felt good,"

    "Yeah," he snorts. "It looks like it,"

    "You know what I mean," She elbowed him and he nodded with a little laugh.

    "What d'ya want to do? I mean, we could keep standing around here like a bunch of idiots, but-" he shrugs, hands falling into his pockets, and Y/n smiles.

    "I dunno," she shrugs. A wince falls over her face, a painful-looking one at that. "But I don't think I'm gonna be welcome back at the Capitol Theatre any time soon."

    Richie nodded, a ghostly look falling over his face at all that had transpired in the past twenty-four hours alone. He still couldn't believe she had done that. He still couldn't believe a lot of things but her being in his corner after what she had found out seemed a little harder to believe right now. Especially after the junkyard... But - Jesus, that was already a week and a half ago, it felt like only hours.

    He could hear her words from the park the other day in his ears and he suddenly felt the urge to pay her back. He smiled his charming crooked smile and hoped for the best.

    "You still craving fries?"

    "Always," she answered, a look of suspicion written in her features. "Why?"

    Y/n didn't know why she kept asking these questions when she knew the answer. She didn't at all like the look growing in his eyes or the stupid feeling of guilt growing in her stomach.

    "Cause I'm prepared to make a deal with ya toots,"

     "Oh, yeah?"

    "Sure am," he says, patting his hand over his left pocket. "I'd been saving up for a long weekend at the arcade but that's a bust. And I just got a raise on my allowance ━ that's again, toots. Allowance. It's the money you get when you do stuff for people, you might never have heard of it--"

    "Is there a point here, Rich? Cause if so, you better get to it faster,"

    "Point is, I'm packing and I'm also craving milkshakes. So how's about I treat you to the biggest pile of fries your staved ass has ever seen--"

    Y/n shoots him a knowing look, ready to detest when he holds out a finger.

    "If," he continues. "you take me there."

    "Take you there?"

    "Take me there," he nodded. "By piggyback."

    Y/n gave thought to this, all while hiding behind an unimpressed look. As much as she hated to admit it, she was starving.

    Richie shrugged. "Hey, you're the one always saying you don't want to feel like charity. Well, this ain't charity, this is work with a reward. Take it or leave it,"

    Her unimpressed look grows stronger in an attempt to buy her time. But it's useless, her stomach answers for her with a long growl and a smile sneaks up on her.

    She steps forward, crouching down a bit for him to jump on her back. "Alright, let's get this over with."

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

    "You know, I was really worried about carrying you, but dude, you weigh like nothing. You're a fucking bean pole," Y/n says.

    She comes to a slow before straightened her back letting him slide off her back and onto the ground. The two of them had arrived at the nearest diner in the town square where they now stood.

    "Well, not to brag or anything, but," he fluffs his collar. "I took a massive shit before we left,"

    "Ugh!" a shocked and uncomfortable laugh breaks loose from Y/n and she sticks out her tongue in disgust. "Regretting this already."

    She threw open the doors and the two found themselves inside one of Derry's lesser diners.

    It smelled like sausage and coffee beans, and it had a vibrant red and black theme. There were maybe nine or ten people there, little kids included and they could hear the jukebox blasting a David Bowie song. Y/n had a hard time enjoying it with the combination of a full bladder and an empty stomach so she turns to Richie and nudges him with her elbow.

    "I'm gonna run to the restroom. Get us a booth?"

    "Do your thing," Y/n nods and disappears around the corner. As his eyes follow her, they land on the corner in question she had disappeared around where there sat the jukebox.

    He wanders over, eyeing the machine as Changes reaches a crescendo. A mischievous smile blooms as the lights from the window illuminated his face.

    "Three plays for a dollar, huh?"

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

    When Y/n returned from the restroom, she had expected to find Richie lounging in a booth somewhere, feet up and bugging the employees. She did not expect to turn the corner and nearly collide with the boy as he stood at the Jukebox and feeding all his money into it.

    "Dude! I carried you here, you owe me fries!"

    "And you shall get them my liege," answered Richie in a Shakespearean tone. "But first!" He dropped the act and looked away from the Jukebox for the first time, wearing an almost evil grin. "A social experiment,"

    Y/n's brow furrowed as she watched Richie punch in the same Tom Jones song over and over and over. It was then she caught on to what he was doing. She held out a hand as her eyes watched the Jukebox.

    "Hey, hey, hey, wait," she said, stopping Richie in his tracks.

    He looked up at her with a pout. "Relax, toots. I saved just enough for their biggest basket of fries, you'll get them." Then Richie saw the look on her face. He could practically see the gears turning.

    "No, not that. It's just..." she said, eyes never leaving the list of songs. "Before you put in more, you should throw in one It's Not Unusual,"

    And that's when the afternoon went from good to great.

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

    By now, the duo had ordered and waited. They now sat tucked into a corner booth with a great view of the street corner and the passers-by of Derry. Changes had long since ended, and the remaining songs in the queue had trickled out. Richie memorized the song queue and was silently counting down until the big moment as he sat across from his battered-up best friend.

    Her busted lip poked out in a bored pout, her chin propped up on her palm as she balanced her head on the table while looking out at the graying town landscape. It always escaped her how Derry could possibly look so gloomy on even the hottest, brightest days of summer. Until recently that is, the truth all too clear to her and her friends now.

    The thought of the Losers scattered all over this hellhole only added to the gloom. They should all be here, together. Pointlessly debating which condiment goes best with fries, not fighting over... Over what they had fought over.

    Y/n's eyes finally broke away from the manhole at the center of the little intersection outside and wandered over to Richie. He had stolen the salt and pepper shakers from a few empty (and not so empty) tables and was currently doing his best to construct a salt and pepper shaker tower. His tongue was sticking out from between his curled lips and his glasses were sliding to the end of his nose at the angle he looking. The tower was nearly three shakers high and Y/n could hear him muttering, 'where's Haystack when you need him?' under his breath.

    The gloom Y/n had been thinking so intently on was suddenly ebbed away at the sight, and the corners of her lips hooked into a small smile.

    At least she had her favorite Trashmouth.

    "If you keep undressing me with your eyes, I'm gonna catch a cold," said Richie, never once looking up from his tower.

    Y/n snorts. "You're unbearable,"

    Richie shrugs defensively. "Hey, you're the one who said we're stuck with each other," he clicks his tongue and winks. "No going back on that kind of deal,"

    "Oh, I meant what I said," Y/n releases her chin and folds both arms on the table. She hated getting all serious again, but she just needed to be sure. Her voice softens, trying to catch Richie's eye. "All of it, okay?"

    Richie's hand around the salt shaker stops, and he pries his eyes off the tower and to his best friend. Despite her intentions and promises, everything that transpired the day before -- good and bad -- flooded over him and made him tense.

    She suddenly offered him her pinky and a small smile.

    "Stuck forever?"

    Richie rolls his eyes. He didn't quite know who to blame, maybe just the losers in general, but he was going all soft and lame.

    "Like my ass and a toilet seat, toots,"

    He locked his pinky with hers and the deal was sealed forever.

    Y/n leaned back on her side of the booth and took a large swig of the complimentary water as her eyes returned to the streets. The chatter of the diner had died down a little. There weren't as many people since they got there, but they were still filtering in and out. But when Y/n had a hard time shaking off the images she had of her best friend in the state he had been, she deems it safe enough to lean forward and lowered her voice.

    "You know," she began picking at her napkin, making slow and tiny tears here and there. "I--" she sighs, not knowing how or where to begin. "I wouldn't blame you."

    Richie, having abandoned his shaker tower, frowns.

"I wouldn't blame you if maybe, it was -- or is hard to be..." she shakes her head again and rubs her forehead trying to find the words. "I wouldn't blame you if it was hard to be around me and Eddie," She blurts.

    "I'm gonna stop you right there," Richie says. "We're not gonna do that, okay? You have exceeded your sappy meter and you're gonna need to wait about 48 hours for it to charge up again. I think we've both had enough, right?"

    Y/n swallowed her words. She swallowed any promise she was holding out to him that their feelings for Eddie wouldn't change anything. That she wouldn't ever want to stand in their way, however true it was. And instead, she made a new one.

    "Let's just agree, whatever happens, happens. Let that be whatever it needs to be. Even if that means neither of us gets to see that adorable, asthmatic pipsqueak ever again. Deal?"

    Y/n fought the bittersweet smile threatening to appear. She could see it now. Richie knew what he needed to know about himself now, and that was already a lot for him to handle. She could see in his eyes he wasn't ready for the possibility of whatever was his feelings for Eddie Kaspbrak.

    Y/n's stomach turns to knots when the thought crosses her mind, but that only confirms to her it was time.

    She looks around the diner, looking for prying eyes and she still finds none. She leans in, voice lowered as she fiddles with her napkin again. "I'm uh--," she clears her throat. "I've never told anyone this, but..."

    She lets out a sharp breath. "Well, let's just say Eddie isn't the first Loser I've ever had feelings for,"

    Richie shakes his head, making a "what am I supposed to do with that?" face at her sudden shyness. She only gives him a solid stare until it finally clicks.

    Richie collapses against the seatback with a gaping, triumphant look.

    "No. Fucking. Way," Richie slaps his hands on the table and leans forward, and an ugly excited laugh comes barreling out of his chest. "You big homo!"

    "Would you fucking shut up?!" Y/n hisses, reaching over and shoving him back against his seat by his forehead. She looks around the diner and determines no one had heard that. Maybe except one guy in his forties, but that was most likely about him knowing they did something to the jukebox. He was sat with his young kids, looking tired and all too suspicious of their laughter at the jukebox. Finally, she laughs a little. "Beep, beep you moron."

    "You telling me you and Little Orphan Annie...?"

    "I'm saying," Y/n sighs, shrugging her shoulders. "I meant it when I said you're not alone, alright?"

    The look in Richie's eyes hardly changes.

    "No!" She answers. "No, nothing's happened but..." Y/n shook her head. "I had feelings for a really long time, up until about two years ago."

    "Wowza," Richie sighs, leaning back into his seat and plopping one hand on the table. He sighs. "We sure know how to pick em,"

    "Yeah, you could say that," Y/n laughs.

    In fact, that's all she could say. A million things ran through her head, things she wanted to say to Richie but couldn't. Cause when she looked in Richie's eyes at that moment she -- they both -- knew everything unsaid could remain that way. With one look they knew. They knew that they could both count on each other, have each other's back. And that included Eddie too. They knew that no matter who held Eddie's heart, they could both agree that Eddie's happiness -- and each other's -- was most important.

    The sound of brass instruments invaded the atmosphere, pulling the duo's eyes to the jukebox across the diner. Their faces lit up in matching grins, both of them nearly forgetting the psychological horror they had just unleashed upon the diner.

    "What's new pussycat? Woah, wo~ah,"

    And thus began the best meal they ever had.

- 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧 -

    Y/n relished at the demanding burst of cool air that bombarded her sweaty skin as she stepped inside Keene's pharmacy. The grip on the money she had scraped together tucked tightly in her right palm grew tighter when the shopkeeper's bell announced her arrival. Her eyes fell to her injured leg, and by now her feet have already begun their journey forward towards the first aid supplies. The last of the bandages secured around her leg, and she winced at the faded and stained cloth that was in dire need of a change.

    Her eyes pick up from the ground when she hears a choked gasp only to find the boy that had been occupying her thoughts standing before her.

    "Y/n," His voice is meek and heavy with sadness, and you can hear the absence of breath in his lungs that she always seemed to create.

    Despite the staggering stampede of emotions she felt, she found herself releasing a chuckle. "Hey, shrimp."

    The name itself would have been strong enough to send hooks into the corner of his lips, tugging them into a half-smile had it not been for the sight before him; she was a wreck. Looked as if she had been put through an actual wringer and his heart stops for a moment, in fear. At that moment he is grateful he has his inhaler, Y/n had a talent for taking his breath away but he never would have dreamed of it happening this way. Already his mind is going at twice its speed, a mad swarm of thoughts that dizzy his head, and as quickly as he can he tries to pluck one - just one - thing to say to her. When he finally speaks, he is thankful that his voice has returned to him.

    "How's your leg?"

    He doesn't have to ask, the first thing he saw - the very feature that tipped him off about her - was the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around her left calf. He couldn't imagine why it would still be bleeding, much less this profusely given how long ago it had been. Perhaps it had opened back up. And Eddie felt it best not to address the new set of scrapes and bandages that were scattered across her arms and legs, though each one filled him with worry. But her eye... it was completely swollen, and several shades darker than a usual bruise.

    She grew rather sick looking at the question and instantly he was filled with dread. Had It gotten to her again? Was it something new entirely? Either way, he felt a great deal of guilt he hadn't been there, and more than anything he wanted her safe. Maybe, if it wasn't too crazy, be the one to look out for her. To protect her.

    "I just," she swallows thickly, eyes darting around to avoid his eye line.

    Eddie tilts his head, encouraging her to continue. She looks as if she's about to unload a great deal off of her chest, but after a moment she shakes her head.

    "Nothing," she lies. "Just need new bandages."

    Eddie's horrified expression does not waver, but only intensifies, zeroing in on her. He just simply can't ignore the state she's in. And while every instinct inside him screams to jump in and help, he knows that's not his call nor his place. But he had to ask, he had to know.

    "Are you okay?" He blurts suddenly. He mentally slapped himself. Of course she wasn't. "What happened...? You're leg? You're eye? Are you in trouble at home? Was it...?"

    She grows tense, and Eddie scolds himself once more when he sees her walls rebuilding themselves. He hated his stupid word vomit sometimes.

    "No, Eddie!" she says tiredly, sighing at her slight outburst. "I'm..." she sighs again, staring at the floor, looking almost... calculated.

    Finally, she picks her head back up, her expression flat, but her tone a bit softer. "Just Bowers. The usual."

    Eddie couldn't help but feel like she was lying. And that hurt him. But he understood. If she had pressed him about things at home he probably would have done the same. Eddie sighed deeply as well.

    He missed the way things were.

    He missed Y/n.

    He missed the feeling he got around her, the storm of butterflies and mind-numbing fits of laughter they'd bring out in one another. He missed the way his skin would tingle like every blood cell was on fire when their skin accidentally brushed together. Eddie missed the way he'd lose himself in thoughts about her like he was now.

    Eddie didn't realize it until that last thought crossed his mind, but this was the first time in weeks he felt something other than anxiety and fear. And maybe he was crazy, but when he looked in Y/n's eyes now he thought he saw it too -

    "I'm sorry, Eddie," she says, breaking him from his daydream, sending him falling back down to earth. "But I really need to take care of this."

    He glances down at her leg, the bandage still soaked with blood and he feels fear squeeze his chest again. She was leaving. And that meant he had to, as well. He would have to say goodbye and go back home to his mother. He could hear her haunted cries, whining at him and wailing. What took you so long, Eddie? Don't you know what you're doing to my heart?

    Eddie goes rigid at the thought when he realizes; the last time he saw Y/n... Those horrible things his mother had said to her and he... Jesus, what she must think.

    "Y-Y/n," he sputters desperately as she begins to limp around him. She had gotten no answer for once again he had gotten lost in his thoughts. But he couldn't have it end like this. He just couldn't. "Y/n, I'm sorry."

    She stops in her tracks and looks back at him, thoughtfully. A sad smile graces her face.

    "I know, shrimp,"

    Her eyes hold a thousand words, a million things she wants to say to him as he wants to say to her. But they die out, and she turns away.

    "Y/n!"

    He couldn't let her go, he just couldn't. Then why was this so difficult? He always had a mouthful to say, but around Y/n L/n, Eddie was always speechless.

    "I wanna..." he gulps, a pleading, sincere look in his eyes. "I wanna see you again." He admits.

    Y/n smiles sadly. Like she doesn't want to let him go either. But still, she gives him a pleading look after gesturing to her leg.

    "Eddie, I gotta take care of this,"

     His head sunk to the floor and he nodded, embarrassed. Of course, what the hell was he thinking? She didn't need him coming in and messing things -

    Her sudden sigh broke his thoughts. "Meet me outside in five? I could use some help,"

     A nervous smile broke out, stretching and hurting his cheeks and Eddie nodded when he met her eye. He was out the door without another word, back in the alley where he had first bandaged her up all those months ago.

    His mind raced with possibility and more unanswered questions. What would he do, what would he say? What had happened to her, and could he have been there to stop it? His face still burned with embarrassment when he thought of the things he let his mother say to her, how livid he was with himself.

    It was all he could do not to bounce off the walls from the jitters. The crates from the last alley visit, or at least some like it, remained and so Eddie eagerly took a seat. His knee bounced up and down at unnatural speeds as his mind raced, his eyes wandering the alley as the wind swept in a familiar summer breeze against his cheeks.

    "I really need to focus right now," he orders, his hands making delicate work of the bandage over the new kid's stomach.

    "You need to focus?" Richie snorts over his shoulder, causing Eddie's cheeks to burn.

    "Yeah, can you go get me something?"

    "Jesus! What do you need?"

    "Go get my bifocals. I hid 'em in my second fanny pack."

    Y/n leaned forward, balanced on her knees with a crooked smile that would with Eddie for days. "You have a second fanny pack?"

    The burning in his cheeks grew, and Stan joined in. "Yeah, why do you have two?"

    Eddie didn't dare meet anyone's eye, let alone Richie or Y/n's.

    "I need to focus right now and it's a long story. I don't want to get into it."

    Besides! He was telling the truth! He needed to focus. Who knows what kind of shit has gotten into this kid's system by now?

    Eddie had nearly finished with the new kid's bandages when he heard the jingle of the store bell.

    "Yep. Thanks." Came the hardened voice of Y/n backing out and towards the alley with a pressed and forced smile before turning for the alley and away from whoever she had been talking to. Eddie was the only one to have caught the small whispered words under her breath from the silence of the alley. "-for nothing, I guess..."

    Eddie shot up from his seat, subconsciously straightening out his shirt.

    "Everything okay? What was that all about?" He asked as Y/n finally joined him. Eddie sputtered, mentally kicking himself for prying. "I mean, you don't have to tell me or anything, it's just you seemed frustrated. You know what never mind, you probably want to get your leg fixed up, right?"

   Eddie stopped again, shifting on his feet when he realized Y/n must be waiting to talk. "Sorry," he mumbled. And to his great surprise, she smiled.

    "Don't be. I've missed your word vomit," she joked.

    Eddie could feel the corners of his lips twitching up in a smile, and something happened to him he hadn't felt in a long time; flutters invaded his chest, making the air he breathed feel lighter and his stomach was doing flips. And he would have fallen harder had he known Y/n's stomach was doing flips right along with him, and a burning sensation lighting up her neck and ears.

    "Well, here-" Eddie said, snapping out of his daze, no longer able to stand by and ignore the gash in her leg. He supposed it really was like old times. He stepped aside, gesturing for the crates and taking the bag of supplies Y/n had handed over.

    "For real though," Eddie began, eyeing her nervously as he unzipped his fanny bag and begun fishing inside for hand wipes. "What happened, Y/n?"

    Her smile fell, and her eyes dropped to her lap where her fingers fiddled together. To Eddie, it felt like a long time before she finally answered.

    "A lot's happened since Niebolt, I'll leave it at that,"

    Eddie nodded, and stepped forward, lowering himself to his knees before her injured leg, and began unwrapping the first of the supplies from her grocery bag. "It feels like years ago,"

    "Yeah, it does," Y/n croaks.

    There's another small silence and Eddie feels a tug in his chest when her eyes linger over him. He only spares a moment to meet her eyes back before taking a deep breath and holding it. With a wince, he unraveled the cloth and quickly discarded it. He tried not to linger on the injury; the edges of her claw-like scars remained, but it looked as if they had been messily pried back open.

    Like deja vu, Eddie found himself battling to keep his lunch in his stomach, but the overall worry in his system for one of his best friends triumphed over it this time around. He dismissed the urge to gag and instead darted his eyes to Y/n in between his work.

    "So..." he asked, realizing he didn't really know where to start. "how have you been? Other than, you know," he laughed nervously.

    To his relief, Y/n smiled.

    "It's hard not being around the losers. I only ever see Richie anymore. Even Bev and I haven't really spoken since the fight, which has been really hard. We've been in each other's lives for so long,"

    As Eddie finishes cleaning the wound, his heart sinks a little at her words. True, he missed Beverly very much. But he also knew all too well what Y/n spoke of, and judging by the look in her eye as she softens at him, she knows it too. She gives him a gentle nudge with her foot.

    "He misses you too," she says, growing another small smile. "Won't shut up about you, in fact. Which is saying something... Guess I'm one to talk, though," she adds, watching him nervously out of the corner of her eye, and Eddie's heart skipped another beat.

    "What about you, shrimp? Dare I ask?" She says with a smile.

    Eddie, Y/n noticed, had been unusually quiet. By now, on any other occasion, he would have talked laps around her by now but something was keeping him. Maybe he just feels a bit out of step, she thinks, as she did. It had been far too long since things had been normal for either of them. But something told her he was now particularly quiet perhaps because he wasn't all that eager to share how things had been for him since the losers split. She couldn't imagine things had been well at home with his mother given everything that had transpired.

    So she didn't pry. She changes the subject, hoping to get his mind off of whatever might be bothering him. Her mind returns to his previous questions, and she bites the bullet.

    "Quitting my job." She says finally, stunning Eddie enough to pull his attention away for a split second. "You wondered what I was doing there. And aside from restocking, I was um... I was quitting my job."

    "You got a job at Keene's Pharmacy? When?" Eddie asked, reaching for a strip of gauze.

    Y/n seemed to think about it for a minute, counting the days in her head before shrugging. Leaning forward, she holds the gauze in places Eddie begins applying the bandages. "I guess a little over two weeks after Niebolt. I did little things around the store, this and that really,"

    "How come I never saw you?" Eddie asked, and Y/n shrugged.

    "He had me running errands most of the time," and she smiled a little. "But sometimes I'd stick around a little longer. I'd offer to sweep or restock the shelves or something. It's stupid, I know, but... I don't know, I guess I was hoping to see some admittedly cute... shrimpy little dude come walking in to refill his inhaler. Is that stupid?"

    Eddie paused, unable to hide the smile or the raging blush taking over his face. Y/n smiled to herself when she saw it, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't feeling a little bit of it too. Finally, Eddie spoke. Or at least, he tried to. His voice came out hoarse and he cleared his throat, quickly shaking his head as he secured the bandages in place and began disinfecting his hands.

    "No. No, that's not stupid at all. I mean, I don't know if I'd say shrimpy, necessarily, maybe a little skinny but-"

    Y/n laughed, smiling hard at the boy she hadn't stopped thinking about for weeks. Like Eddie, she hadn't realized just how much she had missed him until now. But, she hoped, maybe she could change that.

    Eddie trailed off, his ears burning at her laugh but a smile on his face all the same. At this moment, everything was perfect. Or seemingly so, at least. And then...

    "Thanks, Doctor K,"

     He smiled, a sinking feeling in his chest knowing what was coming next as she hoisted herself back on her feet. "Yeah, of course."

    A silence falls over the two, a silence they know won't last.

    "I guess I should get going," Y/n says finally, gesturing down the alleyway. "I'm meeting up with Richie later, he's swinging by my place." And for a moment, she looks hopeful and Eddie already knows what she's going to ask. "You're welcome to come. We both really miss you,"

    Yet again, Eddie Kaspbrak finds himself with a million thoughts racing in his head, but no words on his tongue. What could he say that wouldn't hurt her? What could he say that wouldn't essentially admit he was still a coward who couldn't stand up to his own mother? What could he say?

    But evidently, he doesn't have to. Y/n can see it in his eyes, and any trace of hope deflates with her. She nods sadly, eyes now on the ground and her freshly bandaged leg. "I get it, Eddie. It's fine. You don't have to say anything."

    "Y/n..." He didn't know what felt worse; knowing he let her down, or the sound of her using his real name.

    "Really, it's okay,"

    But it wasn't okay. And Eddie knew that. Today he had been given a second chance with Y/n, and already he had fucked it up. Or so he thought...

    A smile returned to her face just before she left; it wasn't nearly as bright as it had been moments ago, but it was as real as any other he had seen all summer. And then she spoke. She spoke the three words over her shoulder as she disappeared out of view that returned a familiar spark to his chest.

    "I'll call you."

    There was hope yet.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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[mit-zi]

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[seriouslysnape]

“I had a nightmare about you and I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

I found this prompt and immediately had to come to you (you’re my favorite Snape writer ever)!

Maybe, if you want, write this with a student aged Snape, who has a horrible dream about his best friend he’s secretly in love with, and so he sneaks into the girls’ dormitory and tells her this. (You can leave the house unnamed or something the reader can fill in.) And then they go into the common room together and sit in front of fireplace and talk it out to get him relaxed and a lot of romantic fluff follows!

SO you woke up today and chose hella fluff, huh? YOU GOT IT.

Also, thank you! You’re too sweet! :)

__

Night Fright

Young Severus Snape x Fem. Reader

Warnings: None.

Word Count: 1,750

“I had a nightmare about you and I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

__

His eyes snapped open in an instant, his lungs involuntarily taking a sharp inhale. It took him a second to identify where he was, or even what time it was. He eventually realized he was in his dorm room, and it was an ungodly late hour. His breathing became ragged and heavy as he tried to regain himself, reminding himself that he was safe in the comfort of his room.

He tried to slow his breathing, not wanting to wake up his roommates, who were all snoozing peacefully. He wiped at the beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead, ultimately pushing his hair from sticking to his clammy skin. His skinny legs were trembling something awful, and his fingers were so tingly that he could barely move them.

He sat up in his bed, taking another gander around his dorm. A sigh of relief flowed from his chest as it resonated with him once more that he was okay. Even more so, that you were okay. He had bad dreams before, but nothing like this. It had been so graphic and so real, he was sure that it had actually happened. It was even worse that you had been in it.

He tossed back the covers on his bed, swinging his feet over the side, and standing up. He knew you were fine, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. He would feel better if he actually saw you and heard your voice. He threw on a t-shirt, not bothering with pants since his boxers were enough and no one would really see him. He caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall saying it was half past 2:00 AM. He groaned to himself, annoyed that his sleep had been so abruptly interrupted.

He tip-toed past his roommates, creeping out of his dorm as quietly as possible. Thankfully, Severus had always been rather light on his feet. He knew what he was doing was totally against the rules. If he was caught sneaking into your dormitory, he’d definitely be punished or maybe even suspended until further notice. Severus grumbled at the thought of him getting in trouble for doing something that James Potter and his friends did all the time and were never scolded for.

His heart still felt like it would burst out of his chest, but his breathing had slowed to a more normal rate. The hallways were eerily quiet, the only sounds were his bare feet shuffling on the hard floors. He was glad no one was out, because he was sure that he looked like a wreck.

As he came closer to your dorm room, he wondered if you were still up. You had always been a bit of a night owl, so there was a possibility you were awake. However, it was the end of the week, so you were probably sleeping it off. He still had this feeling of paranoia that something was wrong.

He managed to shield his face from any portraits, although most of them were asleep anyways. He said a silent prayer that you were okay. He made it to your dorm, suddenly feeling kind of weird for entering a room with a bunch of sleeping girls. Much to his relief though, you were curled up in bed, sound asleep. He let out an exhale as he saw your chest rise and fall with each steady breath.

“She’s okay, Severus…she’s fine.” He whispered to himself, resting a hand on his still heavy beating chest.

He crept around your roommates’ things until he was in your space. He checked to make sure that no one had followed him before resting a hand on your shoulder, shaking gently.

“[Y/N], wake up.” He whispered quietly.

You let out a rather loud disgruntled groan, annoyed that someone was trying to wake you up. Severus winced, hoping you wouldn’t wake anyone up. You stirred for a moment, but collapsed back into your pillow.

He fought the urge to laugh, and shook you a little harder this time.

“Come on. [Y/N], wake up please.” He whispered again.

Your eyes actually peeked open this time, peering at him with an irritated look. Your aggravation didn’t last long. You immediately noticed that something was up with him. Mainly because he had never snuck into your dorm without telling you first, and also because he looked about 50 shades of terrible.

“Sev?” You murmured groggily, rubbing your eyes as you sat up from your mattress; “What are you doing here?”

He bit the inside of his cheek in thought. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to admit that he had come all the way up here just to check on you. That seemed a little weird, and maybe even protective. Not that you minded Severus going out of his way to see you, but he wasn’t sure how kindly you’d take to him breaking in.

“I...just needed to see you.” He half-lied.

You quirked a curious brow at that. This was odd behavior, even for him. One of your roommates turned over with a creak, causing Severus to jump. You laughed under your breath, throwing back the covers of your bed and putting on a jacket.

“Come on. Let’s go to the common room so we can talk.” You said persuading him out of your room.

“Are you sure? You can go back to bed, I just...came by.” He replied, blushing hard when you took his hand into yours.

You noted how his hands were still shaking. His skin that was usually cold was flushed warm. Something had rattled him to his core.

“Yeah, I’m sure. She’s not a pretty sight when she doesn’t get her beauty sleep.” You said, referring to one of your roommates who was dead to the world.

You both snickered as you guided him down the staircase into your House’s common room. There was already a roaring fire, likely from whoever was the last person to turn in for the night. You and Severus settled on the couch in front of it, soaking in the warmth that the fire was emitting. Severus had grown quiet now, his eyes dead set on his fiddling hands in his lap.

You looked over him. He was notably tired. His hair was a disheveled mess from where he didn’t even bother to brush it, he had dark circles under his eyes, and his eyelids weighed heavy. Something was bothering him.

“Did something happen?” You asked at a more comfortable volume than before, but your tone was still light.

He figured that you ought to know the real reason for his surprise visit. No matter how much he liked you, he would probably never slink into your bedside “just to see you”. He sighed, averting his gaze to you.

“I had a nightmare about you and I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He confessed, feeling a little silly about it.

His words really tugged at your heartstrings. You had been best friends with him for years, and every day he seemed to care more and more about you. You let out a soft, sympathetic noise and scooted a little closer to him.

“You’re so sweet, Sev. I’m okay,” You assured him, resting a hand on his knee; “Do you want to talk about it?”

He felt a lot better after seeing you, feeling you, and hearing you. He was always so afraid of something happening to you. You were always the best part of his day.

“It was one of those dreams where I knew I was dreaming, but it still felt real. I was standing with you out by the lake, and then this...thing showed up and grabbed you,” He explained, his eyes opening a little wider; “Next thing I knew, you were gone and all I could hear was you screaming. I was scared. I didn’t know what happened to you, or where you went, or if I’d ever see you again...”

His pulse had quickened as he recalled the ghastly details of his dream. He just hoped he’d be able to sleep again after that. You felt horrible for him. You threw your arms around him, wrapping him in a hug. He slowly returned the embrace, burying his nose in your shirt, smelling your familiar scent. You never wanted him to worry about you.

“I’m so lucky to have someone who cares like you do,” You confessed, kissing his cheek and causing him to blush once more; “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He was tempted to bring a hand to his cheek where you had just left a kiss. He wanted to savor the feeling forever. You refused to let him go, still hugging him until you knew he felt better.

“That’s why I was so scared. If something had happened to you...oh, I don’t know what I would do.” Severus proclaimed.

Now it was your turn to blush. You pulled back from the hug, but still kept your arms wrapped around his shoulders, his hands somehow found their way to your waist, but your head was so focused on what he was saying that you didn’t seem to notice.

“Are you saying you can’t live without me?” You wondered, really hoping that this was his way of admitting his feelings for you.

You wanted this. He just had to say one little word and you were his forever. Severus didn’t say anything for a moment, and you internally cursed him for getting shy on you now. But he did, eventually, reply as clearly as ever.

“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying,” He said; “I love you. A million times over I’ll tell you that I love you.”

You were stunned, overwhelmed, and thrilled all at the same time. Leave it to Severus Snape to profess his love for you at almost 3 o’clock in the morning. But you didn’t care that you were missing out on precious sleep. This was way better than that.

“Oh, Severus...” You breathed, surging forward and kissing him.

He felt as if time stopped. The stars had perfectly aligned in his favor for once. The girl he was willing to bear his heart to was kissing him as if he were the only other person in the world. He was undeniably happy in this moment. You were with him, you were safe, you were perfect, and you loved him back.

That was all he’d ever want.

[dailyaudiobible]

9/28/2022 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 54:1-57:14, Ephesians 6:1-24, Psalm 70:1-5, Proverbs 24:8

Today is the 28th day of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is wonderful to be here with you today. It is a joy that we live in a time where we can gather the way that we are, no matter where we are in the world and move forward together. And so, as we dive in for the day, we will return to where we left off yesterday, and that is in the Book of Isaiah. Today, we will read chapter 54 verse 1 through 57 verse 14.

Commentary:

Okay so, with our reading today, we concluded the letter to the Ephesians. And as the letter comes to a close, we encounter some very famous, very quotable verses from the New Testament. And so, I quote from Ephesians, “finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of His mighty power. Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the devil's evil tricks. For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.” So, again, as with many famous passages that we may have heard a thousand times, it can be easy to go, I've heard that and just kinda checked out and move on and…and just accept it. But the implications, that's one of the things that we've been talking about as we move through Ephesians these…these viewpoints that Paul is laying out when you stop and consider like, pulling off to the side of the road and getting out of the car, on your way up the mountain, to look out at the vista that is materialized before you, is remarkable. So famous passage or not, if what Paul is saying is correct, then it really should explain a bunch of things. If it's true that we aren't fighting against flesh and blood, or as our translation this week would say, fighting against human beings but rather we are fighting against wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age, then why are most of our battles waged with flesh and blood, with other human beings? Even battles that we would consider spiritual battles. I mean, just take a gander on social media and the Christian world and you will find people at war with each other for different verses and different ways of looking at things, all of the time, with hopefully the intent of bringing out what we believe, but most of the time we think like God's appointed us to correct everybody's doctrine. And so, media is not the forum. And I just use that as an example of the ways we can kind of be pulled into a flesh and blood battle, when the battle is a spiritual battle. I mean just that alone. There was a lot in today's reading, as we closed Ephesians but…but just that alone. If we could just take five minutes and think about how we live into our faith and how we face the obstacles that come toward us and how most of the time the battle is waged in the realm of flesh and blood. What Paul’s saying is basically, that's not how it works. Our battle isn't with other people, our spiritual battle is against wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age, cosmic powers affecting and influencing the world that we live in. We can go in all kinds of directions from here, but if we could simply understand, even though most of our back-and-forth is with other people, there is more going on than we are normally paying attention to, even that awareness alone is very helpful. Paul's intention here seems to be making us aware that there is a lot more going on than we’re paying attention to and then to describe for us spiritual tools that we must understand and utilize, in order to actually fight the battle that we’re really fighting. If we’re in a contest that we intend on winning, now we’re going to have to understand what the resources are that are available to us in the contest in order that we might master and win. Right, like, you may run around your house naked, but you're probably not going to work naked, you’re probably not going out your front door with only your car keys and your birthday suit. We seem to know how to get dressed, we seem to know how to deal with this from a flesh and blood perspective, but we also need to realize that often we’re going out the front door spiritually naked or half naked and unprepared. And so, Paul describes what is offered to us in this battle. He tells us there is a belt of truth, something that we have to put on. I'm wearing a belt right now on my pants, maybe you are too, maybe you don't need one. Maybe you have a drawstring or something. Or who knows, who knows what you're wearing today, I don't know.  I have a belt on, my belt holds my pants up. If I had a job that I needed to use tools for, I would clip those tools to my belt, it would hold it all together. And so, working through what Paul is saying, truth holds it all together. If we’re not going to walk in the truth and be truthful, truthful with ourselves, truthful before God, truthful before the world, then we’ve walked into our day missing the thing that holds it all together. That could explain a lot of things. Paul also describes a breastplate of righteousness. Right, so a breastplate covers the vital organs, especially the heart. And so, we are being told that there is essentially spiritual body armor to protect us, especially our heart and that breastplate is righteousness. And we know, full well, from what we’ve been reading in the New Testament thus far in the year, righteousness isn't something we can achieve on our own. Righteousness is the state of our believing what God has said. Right, like, remember we've gone all the way back to Abraham several times. Abraham believed God, and God counted that belief toward Abraham as righteousness. This has been given to us to protect our hearts. The very place where God dwells, His righteousness protects us, and it is given to us. Paul also says we have essentially the footwear, the shoes, the sandals, however you want to imagine it in your mind, the shoes of peace, that comes from the gospel. This is our awareness of what God has done in our lives in rescuing us and our awareness that He will never leave, or forsake us, which then allows us to be confident in whatever we walk into. Wherever we go, God is there, He is within our hearts, protected by the breastplate of righteousness. Wherever we go, we carry the Gospel with us. Wherever we go, the presence of God is within us. We are also told that we’re given a shield, the shield of faith, to stop the fiery arrows of the evil one. And we've learned over and over in the Scriptures, that faith is what makes it all possible, our belief, our faith, is what allows us to receive salvation. And these gifts that we’re talking about right now, the shield of faith protects us, because it blocks the fiery darts or fiery arrows of the evil one. It can't be penetrated. It blocks them, unless we drop our shield of faith and throw it on the ground to make ourselves vulnerable. We’re also told that we have a helmet to wear, and that helmet is salvation and if you have a helmet on, it is there to protect your head. Right, it’s there to protect your head, to protect your brain, it's there to protect our mind because we have been made righteous before God, because of his loving gift to us, because we have received salvation and are in right standing with God, then intimacy, friendship, adventure, and collaboration are available to us. We are the children of God. This is our identity. This renews and protects our minds. That helmet of salvation. And all of these gifts are to defend us and to protect us. But we’re also given something to fight back with, a sword. The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. And finally, we are instructed to pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. This lets us know that an ongoing dialogue, an ongoing, always on, never off, relationship with God is not only possible but instructed. This can change the way we live by informing the choices, the thoughts, words and deeds of our lives. So, when we look at what Paul is telling us, we realize we’re equipped, this is the way Jesus lived, we are equipped. It's just that, we often find ourselves running out the door half naked. And I suppose the most concise way, the way Paul would probably, well I don’t know, I don’t want to speak for Paul, I don't know what he would say but he's very direct and he would probably say, stop doing that. Like, stop going out half naked, suit up, put on the full armor of God. And then you will be equipped for what comes your way. So, that is worth some thought and contemplation today and that is worth some action, as well.

Prayer:

So, Father, we take what we've learned from the letter to the Ephesians, and we put it into practice. Help us, because truthfully, what we need most is to simply be aware, to be paying attention, to be intentional in this direction. And as with everything else, we’re not capable of this, I mean, we can try for a while, but ongoingly, to make this a habit of our lives, to make this our lifestyle, we need Your Holy Spirit. So, come, Holy Spirit, and lead us into all truth. Thank You for allowing us to know that this is an always on, and never off thing. That You are always with us and have richly given us what we need to navigate. May we pay attention to where we're going. We pray this in the precious and mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com that is home base, home of the Global Campfire that we gather around every day and so be aware of that. The Daily Audio Bible app is that in the palm of your hand, as well. So, you can download the app from whatever app store is connected to your device. Certainly, check into that. And while you're doing the checking out, check out the different sections, the Initiatives Section, the Community Section, which is where to get connected, that's where the Prayer Wall is. Of course, the Daily Audio Bible Shop is full of resources for the journey that we have embarked on all these months ago and wound our way, all the way to this is very day, so, check that out.

If you want to partner the Daily Audio Bible. If you find that being together like this in community and taking the next step forward, each and every day, brings life and good news sends hope into your life, then thank you, humbly and profoundly for your partnership. We wouldn't be here if we weren't in this together and so thank you. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you're using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that's the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today, I'm Brian, I love you and I'll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

I want to pray for my sister Kelly, she has medicontrail disease. She doesn’t know that Lord that well. She knows what she’s caught on to from me. She’s, my buddy. I don’t want her to hurt anymore. She needs prayer. Thank you, thank you.

Good morning, good morning, good morning, DAB family. This is Jazz from the Bay. First time calling in, but I just wanted to give a praise report. I’m not too sure if many of you remember but several months ago, I posted, not several, but yeah, a couple months ago, I posted on the Wall stating how I was in a very hostile environment with the provider I was working for and how it just took a very bad toll on my mental health and etc. God did bless me to get out of that position and I moved into another position. And I just kept praying, I just kept praying cause I still wasn’t super happy, I just felt really restless. So, long story short, with you guy’s prayers and God’s work, I was hired with one of the leading health companies in the country, I think. But I finally did get in with them and it’s been ten years and I just want to say thank you to everybody because without you guy’s prayers it wouldn’t have worked. So, thank you. Also, I just wanted to tell you all how much I love you, how much I appreciate you guys. You guys get me through the day, every single day I listen, and it just gives me the motivation I need. Lastly, Val from Vegas, I just want to tell you I love you, I love you, I love you. And I’m decreeing that God is going to touch your shoulders and touch any other pain that you have and that you haven’t expressed to us. And He’s gonna heal you. If He doesn’t heal you immediately, He’s going to touch those doctors to heal you. Nonetheless, I love you all. This is Jazz from the Bay and I pray you all have a blessed …

Hey DAB family, this is Jonathan from Denver. I’m just calling in to say and to admit that I’m not doing to hot. I’ve been feeling very emotionally drained, very far away from God. Just like, I’m just like I’ve been in sort of a dark valley. I just, I’ve been behind in listening to DAB. Haven’t really been in the word. Haven’t really been praying. I’m just tired and I realize that I can’t do this on my own. I just need my people and come around and pray for me. Pray for restoration, hope and joy. Pray that I would draw near to God again, feel whole again, be able to make it through, you know, another day, another week. So, thank you, thank you for your prayers. I appreciate all of you. I hope you have a great day. Love you.

Hi, this is Brooke from Texas. I wanted to call in and pray for Zach from Phoenix. You called in and said that you and your brother were going to have to make some kind of life changing decisions regarding your mom because of her health. And I just wanted to call in and just pray for wisdom and discernment for you and your brother as ya’ll make those decisions and for peace for your mom, that she would be willing and understanding of the decisions that need to be made. I also, remember you said that you were just lonely and struggling with that, I just want to pray that you are able to just find fulfillment and peace in where you’re at in life and I don’t know if you’re lonely without friendships or without a relationship or whatever your circumstances are but I just pray that the Lord would meet you in your circumstances and would remind you that you are not alone and that He would provide the community around you that you need and that would just remind you of His goodness and His presence and His faithfulness. Yeah, I just wanted to call in and pray for you Zach. I just life you up in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you, guys.

Shalom DAB family. This is Leo from Kathleen, Pennsylvania, first time caller. Thank you to Dawn of a New Day for encouraging me to call in. I’ve been listening since we began the Book of Job on August 21st, and the date is September 23rd. Just about one month. Thank you so much everyone for your faithfulness in praying. I just want to ask for prayer for God’s will. I trust Him and I know His purposes will prevail but it’s so hard to see His will in my life right now. I’m not really sure where I’m going, I just know the one who is leading. I’m a nursing student in community college, I’m serving Christian leadership. I’m a part-time custodian. I’m 24-years-old and this is my first W2 job since May. And honestly, I don’t know, I feel like I want to quit. I want to work in a job that involves more human relationships. I want to spend more time learning my dad’s trade, who he works with __ clients in this area. I also interpret and do paperwork for them and taxes. And honestly, I know I can’t do everything, but I want to. It’s uncharacteristic for me to be over committed but I am lately and I’m starting to let people down. And I just want to ask for prayer to honor God in all that I do. And I just, yeah, I think I want to move out of my parent’s house because they have a lot of tendencies, they’re not willing to change, that kind of drive me up the wall. But I also know that living with them has, just as moving out, has its own pros and cons, just different ones. I just, you know, I trust God with everything. I thank you so much for the prayers but just calling to let you know who I am. Love you all. Shalom.

Good morning, DAB family. My name is Lizzy and I’m calling to ask for prayer for my daughter Raquel. She had to be hospitalized last night. She had a horrible, horrible, nervous breakdown. And it seemed like she was completely out of touch with reality. She’s a Christian, she knows the Lord wonderful, wonderful, sweet girl. Something is oppressing her. The enemy just wants to destroy her. She was talking about killing herself and saying horrible things. She, she’s otherwise a healthy, healthy young lady. This is definitely supernatural. And I believe in prayer, I believe in community prayer. So, her name is Raquel. Please keep her in your prayers. Thank you so much. God bless you all.

[popculturebuffet]

One Year Anniversary: Top 12 Ducktales Episodes!

Happy anniversary all you happy people! Yes it was one year ago today I started reviewing animation and it’s been a ride to be sure. I’d always WANTED to be a reviewer: I love going on and on about stuff I love, really digging into it and picking it apart... but I could never get started. I tried youtube but I didn’t have the money for the equipment nor a proper shooting space to record, so my efforts.. were not great. And while I TRIED text reviews, my own looming pile of self hatred meant every attempt I made was shot down when it got hard as me not being good enough. 

But one year ago I finally got past that. I’d already been reviewing a bit, doing invididual issues of comics... but got way in over my head trying to do the current line of X-Men comics as it came out, and wisely bowed out of that. But that left a gap: I had nothing to cover week to week and with a demanding new job, I drifted into just doing in charcter chats, little fan fictions script styles. Not bad work, I should do some more at some point and I even got a comissoin once in a while, but nothing I could really live on and not what I wanted to do with my life. 

Enter Ducktales. I’d always WANTED to review the show.. and when the double premire happened, I decided fuck it, and put up my thoughts. And then decided.. hey maybe I can do this every week.. and slowly.. my work evolved, getting better and better, getting more and more likes. I picked up Amphibia when that came by week to week.

And eventually.. this went from a hobby, if one I was passionate about to a career. Not a largely paying one, as only one person was really intrested in paying me for it, friend of the blog and our fincial backer @weirdkev27, but .. it’s money and i’m now making about 30 dollars a month due to a comination of comissions and patreon. Other contributers are always welcome mind you, my patreon is here if your curious and comissions are 5 dollars an episode, but i’ts just nice to have money coming in. To have gone from simply WANTING to review things and make a living off it.. to simply doing it. 

And it’s been one hell of a year.. and not just because 2020 felt like hell or 2021 began with a full on insurrection. I feel like i’ve acomplished a lot in the year i’ve been doing this: I finished what I started with Ducktales season 3, getting better and better as I went. And I didn’t stop there with ducks: I started covering what brought me to Ducks in the first place, the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, and while that retrospective has slid a bit on the schedule, I intend to get it back on track this month. I reviewed a bunch of Darkwing Duck episodes leading up to the Just Us Justice Ducks.. chronologically anyway. The actual airing order reads like someone took 50 issues of a comic, made it rain with them, then just started reading whatever ones they picked up randomly. I also covered some of Duck Master Carl Barks work with the classics Night on Bear Mountain, A Christmas for Shacktown and Back to the Klondike, with more to come. 

And the Duck didn’t stop at just reviews I did on my own: Kev comissioned two MASSIVE retrospectives from me: My first for him was Ride of the Three Caballleros where in just a few short months I covered the boys entire televisied careers together from the movie, to house of mouse, to mickey and the roadster racers, to ducktales (again) and finishing with the wonderful Legend of the Three Caballeros. It has probably the worst Daisy imaginable, but otherwise is really excellent and i’m glad I finally watched it. I also covered Don Rosa’s two stories with the boys as part of it. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed every minute of it... okay most of them again Three Cabs Daisy is the worst. And once that finished Kev started up another idea: Shadow Into Light: a look at Lena’s character arc from start to finish that has gone on to be my most popular series on this blog, and that finishes next week. And there’s more to come as after that there’s a short breather with a look at Lilo and Stitch’s crossover episodes.. folllowed by me looking at all three of season 2′s ducktales arcs. And I fully intend to have covered every episode of the series by this time next year, so stay tuned. 

Outside of ducks though I didn’t slow down. I restarted my Tom Lucitor retrospective, covering what i feel to be one of Star Vs’ two best characters, tied with eclipsa, and my personal faviorite as he redeemeed himself, found love and I bitched a lot about the horrible directions the series took and probabably will more as that’s still not done yet. I did what I always wanted to do and started looks at some of my faviorite comics ever, starting with Life and Times and adding in New X-Men and Scott PIlgrim. I also threw in the awesome comic Blacksad. I did pride month for the first time and not only came out publicly, but also did two whole arcs i’m proud of with The Saluna episodes of Loud house and the rednid episodes of OK KO, and generally just had myself a good old fashioned time as an out bi man reviewing childrens cartoons. 

I started Season 2 of amphibia with it’s lows of an endlesss road trip and highs of adding Marcy to the cast and giving us more of the silky voiced keith david. And finally Patreon wise Kev’s taken me on a hell o fa journey: In addition to the restrospectives i’ve covered some additional darkwing duck, and a simpsons homage to the duck comics... but also got a bit weird and obscure with detours like the lost animnaics sucessor Histeria, the apocalyptic comedy where Santa dosen’t know how doors work Whoops! and the adventures of Santa’s bratty teen daughter jingle belle. In short.. it’s been a long year but damn has it been fun and there’s more to come. I’d like to thank all of you for reading, thank my Patreons Kev and Emma for supporting me, and thank my family for doing the same.  So with that out of the way, I figured the best way to celebrate was to do something i’ve been wanting to do for a long time, something honoring the show that gave me this calling in the first place. And with Season 3 sadly being the last, and enough weeks having passed for me to digest it between the finale and today, I could think of nothing better than my top 12 episodes of Ducktales.

Ducktales is one of the best cartoons of the 2010′s. Brilliantly taking EVERYTHING that had come before, the comics, the original cartoon and every bit of duck media period to craft a masterful, unique and wonderful reboot. It was funny, it was insane, and it had damn good character arcs. By the end every member of the main cast along with major supporting cast members like Fenton, Drake and especially Lena, had changed and signifigantly at that. The show was everything I could’ve dreamed of and more and I miss it terribly, hoping DIsney will do a revivial movie at some point. For now though, Frank and Matt’s run on ducktales, as they called it and I do too since i’m a massive comic book nerd, it’s time to look back on my favorite tales of ducks. So grab your sharks, your number one dimes and your friendship cakes with clear gay undertones and join me under the cut as I celebrate one of my faviorite shows and my anniversary in the best way possible. 

12. House of the Lucky Gander! 

 So as i’ve gone on about before and no doubt will again, Donald kinda got the short end of the stick in season 1. While Frank and Matt had good story intentions, keeping Donald away from adventure since he had no interest in it, in practice it meant a beloved Disney Icon who they and disney HEAVILY promoted as part of the series and whose being here this go round was a big draw for fans of the comics.... was only in a quarter of the season and only got TWO plots centered around him in 23 episodes, with only one being the main plot of the episode. The PIlot and Finale both centered around the family more as a whole if your curious how I counted those so while he got plenty of focus in both, it’s still not a day in the limelight sort of thing. 

But unusually for Donald, he lucked out as his one big starring role for Season 1 was both one of my faviorites and one of Season 1′s most inventive outings.  A lot of the episodes enegy comes from a one two punch of a great guest star and one of the series best settings. The guest star is of course everyone’s faviorite overly lucky himbo Gladstone Gander. The show adapted the prick perfectly: The original Gladstone from the comics.. was the worst asshole imaginable, utterly insufferable. And for a villian, and Donald’s rival, that’s all well and good.. but his super luck meant he RARELY , if ever, suffered any consequences for being just...

The 87 series simply made him nicer, while Going Quackers simply removed his luck. No adaptation really got how to make this fucker work.. until this one. Here Frank split the diffrence: Gladstone is still smug.. but he’s no longer actively malicious. While he is an insensitive prick to Donald in this one, unlike the comics he’s not constantly bragging about his luck or how great he is or actively BAITING Donald to fight with him or trying to ruin his relationship or a million other reasons he sucks and I hate him.

This version by contrast... is generous. He’s not the most empathetic, because he doesn’t get how life works, but he does share the riches of the casnio with everyone and in a cameo appearance in “Treasure of the Found Lamp” gladly offers his nephews some diamonds. He’s got a nice surface level charm to him that makes you understand why people like him.. but it’s also clear ther’es nothing UNDER that of value, making you equally understand why Scrooge and Donald hate him. Gladstone in this reboot is a perfect example of why we need reboots or new adaptations in the first place: Because sometimes the original got something wrong or something can be done much better by the new writers. 

He’s perfectly paired with the setting: The House of Lucky Fortune, a mystical casino with an East Asian astatic based in the country of Macaw and provides two great plots. Donald’s really highlights his character: His understandable jealousy at gladstone earning the boys love through nothing while he struggles to make a living for them, and how he feels like a looser and like Gladstone is simply showing that off instead of just not knowing what empathy is. Having Louie be the one to bond with Gladstone was also just pitch pefefct, as is showing some depth for the boy by having himr ealize his hero is an asshole and be the one to help donald in the end. 

The other plot is just pure joy though and is where the setting REALLY shines: Scrooge and the rest of the kids try to leave.. but can’t find the exit. This is where the creative part comes in: The Casino simply morphs to keep people trapped, and caters to them, giving them whatever they want to keep them trapped. In the cases of the kids it’s all hilarious and adorably in character: Huey becomes entranced by a fancy water show, in one of his best bits of the season, Dewey gets a pet tiger who sadly did not come home with him and Webby gets to live the dream we’ve all had of stuffing her face directly in a choclate fountain. Scrooge’s escape is likewise clever: He simply prepares to get a room.. then books it as the check in desk is ALWAYS near the front. 

We then find out Gladston’es trapped get the whole mystical contest with absolutely gorgeous animation, i’ll talk about it in full some time but this episode is just a treat to watch, has a great arc for donald and had some memorable gags. I can’t help but smile when I watch it. 

11. The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!  As I mentioned before i’m a superhero nerd so naturally Fenton was one of my faviorite parts of the show. Frank and Matt were just damn good at crafting superhero stories, and like gladstone improved fenton turning him from an awkward donald stand in to an awkward peter parker-esque science nerd who just wants to be a good person and the best hero he can be. He got into science not just because he thinks it’s neat, but because he honestly wants to help people and you can’t help but foot for him whenever he pops up. Lin Manuel Miranda is a large reason for that, bringing his incomparable a-game to the character. While we sadly didn’t get a ton of gizmoduck focused episodes, the fatct we got AS MANY as we did and that Lin didn’t drop out for a minute even with his busy schedule was a miracle and I’m acknowledging that. 

As for why this one, I feel it builds brilliantly on the previous Fentoncentric episode Who Is Gizmoduck?! which just BARELY didn’t make this list and uses the fact we haven’t seen fenton in a while as both a plot point and to move some things forward without having to spend screentime they clearly didn’t have. By having Fenton be just burnt out on superheroics it finds a way to both explain where he’s been, he’s been busy with his new job, and give us an interesting angle to the old “superhero is tired of the life” thing. He never once complains about saving people or stuff... it’s just like any job it gets tiring after a while. As someone who has his dream job but has struggled with it from time to time, I vastly relate. 

Though while I love my boy and Lin is game as always, the episodes real MVP is my other boy Huey. The episode has moved Huey up from being simply Fenton’s fanboy to being his best friend, and adorable as hell relationship. The two clearly respect and appricate each other and Huey is looking out for his buddy the whole episode. His love of love is also just really cute. Added in the mix is Webby, who in one of my faviorite gags of the series, finds out Fenton is  Gizmoduck because Huey is incredibly and insanely blatant with his unecessary coverup. But she of course is game to help while Fenton is trying to play it casual. We also just get a waterfall of great gags as everyone overdoes it wingmanning for fenton: Huey sets up an itallian bistro and tries to purposfully create a lady and the tramp situation, and sings opera (With Manny on acordian), the wonderfully 80′s suit from Fenton’s dad his mom gives him to wear, and Launchpad, who gives us a tremendous list of his exes, and plays my favorite song of the series: It’s a Date, a micheal mcdonnel riff. 

This episode also wisely ups Mark’s Beaks game as Fenton’s arch enemy, still keeping him hilaroius, with the guy acting like a bored teenager and guzzling so much nanite jucie he turns into a hulk, as well as said hulk mode leading to a ton of great gags from kidnapping the children (”I got your kids.. are they your kids? I don’t know how this family works), to “take that coach dad” to eating a pie with tins and all and wondering about said tins. But he’s an actual threat now, taking on fenton in one hell of a fight, and having an utterly transcendent scene where he hacks his way past gyro’s security while dancing.. and dabbing because of course he does. It’s a fun, well done character piece that’s mostly here for i’ts laugh but Fenton’s struggle with Gizmo overtaking his life, and finding out someone he truly hit it off iwth only wanted him for that.. it’s really good stuff and Lin’s delivery after Fenton finds out, the pure pain and betryal in his voice, is just excellent. Also that opera scene is poetry. 

10. Quack Pack!

One of the episodes that started my career naturally landed here. Not for that reason though: Quack Pack is a fun riff on sitcoms, specifically the tgif ones of the 90′s that Disney Afternoon Kids no doubt also watched, the kinds Disney Channel still makes today, and most importanly the kind the Disney Afternoon itself made like Goof Troop and well... Quack Pack. 

Riffs on sitcoms are nothing new and the last year has been FULL of them. 2020 gave us this episode, Beef House and the wonderful “The Perfect House” episode of Close Enough, and this year gave us WandaVision, my second favorite MCU project so far, right behind Black Panther, which used the sitcom deconstruction to create one hell of a character study. 

So you’d think with a year having passed and this concept happening as an entire mini series would dull this one.. but no. it’s still damn funny, having fun at the cliches while, again like WandaVision, having one of the main cast be responsible by accident but go along with it. The episode pivots from glorious affectionate parody of cheesy sitcoms, to that plus horrifying “Humans”, and a character piece for Donald. This brings Donald’s hatred and fed up ness with adventure to a head revealing his fondest wish is just to have a normal life and not loose anyone again. 

It takes one of his best friends to snap him out of it. Look Goofy is my second faviorite of the sensational seven, an episode with him was already an easy sell for me.. but the episode uses him really well. First for laughs as he’s gentically dispositioned to be a perfect sitcom neighbor.. but also for heart. With his family preoccupied and a bit hurt, i’ts Goofy who cuts to the heart of the issue, pointing out NO ONE is normal and even his normal domestic life raising Max, who we see go to prom with roxanne eeeeee, has all sorts of chaos. Normal is what you make of it and pining for some ideal that will never happen was just tearing donald apart piece by piece and by letting go of that.. he finally begins to grow as a person throughout the season. It’s also a great thematic tie in to the season’s overall plot with Bradford and what Makes donald, despite also disliking the chaos his family gets into, different. Donald accepted it and grew as a person.. Bradford clung to his hate and it ate him alive. Or turned him into a non-sapient kind of vulture. Before I close this part out Jaleel White is also excellent and I wish eh’d get back into voice acting. He’s so freaking good at it. Seriously man i’d love to see him and ben in a sonic property together as a mythology gag. Same with Jims cummings and carey. Just think about it whoever owns the sonic movies.. think about it. 

9. The Last Adventure!

Look I knew this was coming, you knew this was coming. But it had to be on here. The Last Adventure is not perfect: The lack of a build up episode like the previous two finales had really hurt this one: even at about 70 minutes, it still feels rushed in places and Huey, one of hte main characters of the season, dosen’t feel like he has a full payoff to his character like Dewey and Louie got. 

But despite those flaws.. this episode is just a damn good ending. Almost everyone gets a big moment paying off their character arc, everyone in the party that comes to rescue webby and huey, along with the two themselves, gets a moment to show off, and everything comes together to give us one last epic sendoff. There’s just moment stacked on moment stacked on moment from Launchpads heroic second wind and donning of the gizmoduck armor, to Webby’s tearful confrontation with Beakley, to Huey using the greatest adventure of all line to foil bradford in one of the most deligfhully nuts moments of the series, I could go on for days with just how triumphant this finale felt. While it left a lot of doors open.. that feels like part of the design. It’s the end of the fight with FOWL.. but our heroes will never stop adventuring, never stop going and never stop being in our hearts and the curtain call at the end is now my faviorite bit of end credits ever, perfectly giving the main cast and friends one last chance to take a bow in their own unique ways. I will always miss this show but I will never be disapointed by the note it went out on. 

8. The 87 Cent Solution!

Look some episodes are show stoppers, some are heartfelt tearjerkers, some are all this and more.. and some episodes are just clever and hilarious. The 87 Solution is the second funniest episode of Ducktales with me and my go to episode when watching the show. It’s just pure fun and with a clever premise: Scrooge notices 87 cents have gone missing, and already coming down with a cold, goes mad with paranoia as the kids slowly don face masks, something that has become even eeerier given everything, one by one realizing he needs to stop. 

While David Tennant is an EXCELLENT dramatic actor, his comedy timing is really something that shoudln’t be ignored and i’ts on full display here as his performance gets more and more deranged, to thep oint he thinks an 8th dimensional imp is repsonsible. He nicely balances the disturbing side of Scrooge’s paranoia, his distancing from his family, with plenty of great gags about it too, the standout being when he offers 2 million dollars to whoever took the money like he’s publicly appeasing kidnappers. It’s fucking brilliant. 

But while David is awesome as ever what really, truly makes the episode is my boy, one of my faviorite characters on the show if not my single faviriote FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Keith Ferguson is ALWAYS a dream as the character but this is his best performance by far. Part of this is the addition of Zan Owlson, Kev who I mentioned earlier’s faviorite Ducktales character. She’s not only throughly likeable in her own right, but provides the one thing Flinty was missing; a straight man.. or woman in this case. Scrooge wasn’t TERRIBLE in the roll, but can easily step away from his shit or foil it. Owlson has to put up with Glomgold’s nonsense while desperatly trying to stop him from undoing all her hard work with sheer force of jackass. The two jut play off each other brilliantly, Glomgold not getting sh’es not his employee but his equal and Owlson constnatly snarking at him. 

And of course both things hit their peak in the climax with the family staging a fake funeral (Though no one told donald it was fake), and we get the funniest scene in the entire fucking show as Glomgold burts in in a white suit, money shades and full dance number to “All I Do Is Win’, which when first watching this I was convinced the song was somehow accidnetly on in the background but nope. They got it after using it in the test phase and the scene is better for it. Glomgold twerking on Scrooge’s casket, trying to get on it to dance, and having to be placated like ac hild is the icing on this very rich cake

And the reveal scene is also gold as Glomgold gets into a YEARLONG staring contest with a baby, fails to steal more than the 87 cents and, in my faviorite touch, put on an imp costume just to make scrooge seem crazier... then keeps the damn thing on the rest of the time for no explicable reason. The episode is the show at it’s comedic peak while giving Glomgold a chance to be a genuine threat and that’s Glomgood. 

7. Let’s Get Dangerous!

Frank’s Rebooted Version of Darkwing Duck is probably his greatest achivment with the show. While this show is a team effort, something I slowly realized as I reviewed the show, it’s very clear from the way he talks, how well he knows the show and how much effort was put into porting Darkwing into the reboot that this was his baby. While redefining ducktales for the 2010′s was clearly a huge dream of his... doing the same for the master of suprise was an even bigger goal. And as a huge fan of superheroes i’ve seen my fair share of half assed takes on laired and complex characters. The XCU alone is one giant grab bag of missed opportunities for me. 

So i’ts no exageration when I tell you Frank.. nailed it. In one of the most brilliant moves i’ve seen for a superhero work Frank worked his love of the show into the reboot.. by having Darkwing have been a show, one Launchpad loved.. and so did Drake, who was inspried by the show to become an inspriation himself and while his attempt to do that through a zack snydery reboot failed, Launchpad encouraged him to do it for real. Drake was still himself, but the meta aspect and the toning down of some of darkwing’s more obnoxious traits that didn’t work in a universe that, while patently rediciulous still took it’s characters seriously, he made a BETTER version of the character.

This is where all that comes to it’s peak, and hoppefully convinced Disney to let Frank , and possibly matt, run the reboot. And no, even if Point Grey is producing that dosen’t stop that: Thanks to Invincible i’ve now realized that Seth and his friend Evan producing the show dosen’t mean it’ll be RAN by them, nor unrelated to this. It just means their helping make it and if anything given how lush and gorgeous invincible’s animation is, it’s a VERY good sign their helping out with it if it’s true. 

But wether this versoin continues or not, Frank gave it his best shot. Part of his diffrent angle is having Drake as a rookie here and as such here we see him truly struggle: he’s had his origin, he ahs the cape, he has the gadgets (in a brilliant turn thanks to fenton, who he actually likes... but is so far the ONLY person to not get he’s Gizmoduck), and the city.. but no crime to fight and no real idea how to go about his lifelong dream. The events of the episode slowly shape him: WHile he already had the spirit for darkwing, never giving up, looking good in a cape etc, this episode gives him the heart the same way it gave his original it: With Gosalyn. Dimantopolis and Beatriz just play off each other perfectly, as the two go from neimies to slowly bonding as Drake realizes this kid needs him and that he needs to fight for more than just filing the ohle inside, and goes to hell and back to help her get her grandpa back, with one of the best moments of the episode to me being when Launchpad helps her realize how hard he’s been working at it, an exausted drake refusing to acccept that he can’t get her grandpa back because he promised. He grows from simply trying to live the dream.. to surpassing the original. We also see more from Launchpad, who grows into his new family and helps push his boyfriend and newa dopted daughter in the right directions. The episode really evolves these characters from the simple disney afternoon versions, who while awesome were made into fully fleshed out characters. Gosalyn still has her edge but now has a hard lesson to learn about doing the right thing, forced to give up someone she loves for the greater good but finding a new family in the process. 

Part of what makes the episode work though as while it is funcitonally one big darkwing duck reboot pilot that’s awesome, heartrending and a joy to watch... it’s still a ducktales episode in parts without either part hurting each other. Huey plays a vital role, figuring the ramrod is too good to be true.. and discovering just how it is, then when captured, slowly unravling why Bradford’s there and being at least in part responsible for outing him as a FOWL agent. While this is largely Drakes story the rest of the cast is still vital to it: Scrooge trusting in huey, Louie serving as his logical counter and Dewey meanwhile bonding with team darkwing and helping Gosalyn, knowing exactly where she’s been and providing a nice foil. The episode is just one long and impressive love letter to the original show while creating it’s own thing and that’s really this reboot in a nutshell. It also has some of the best fights of the series, with the first fight between darkwing and bulba, where our hero, unlike his original counterpart, easily troucnes bulba using his speed and skill, is the standout. 

6. Woo-Ooo!

I covered this one recently so I won’t go on for too long.. but I will say I hold this one up as the gold standard for first episodes. In one hour, hell even in jus the first half we get a sense of the whole cast, the tone of the show, and the world we’ve been thrust into. It gets all the table setting out of the way by weaving it into a compelling story of Scrooge getting back in the game, finding a reason to get back to what he does best in those he loves most and setting up the season long arc effortlessly in the process. The worst I can say about the episode is it sets the bar a bit high for Season 1 and a lot of the first half really struggled to reach these heights. This episode is a masterwork and the perfect showcase for what the series would be at it’s height. 

5. Moonvasion!

Speaking of Golden Standards, Moonvasion is one of the best season finale’s i’ve seen. it’s not THE best.. but that’s a really high bar to clear and that spots currently taken in my heart by “The Crossroads of Destiny” from Avatar the Last Airbender. But while not the best of it’s kind, it’s sitll the best the series put out and is an utterly satisfying epic that ties up season 2. 

While I love the Last Adventure, it had a LOT to tie up and was really hampered by having to do all of that with no direct lead in. Moonvasion by contrast hits the ground running with the Moonlanders arriving on earth and all hell breaking loose, and the episode itself breaking into two stellar plots. Scrooge leading an army of every ally he has against the invaders, and Della seemingly going for reinforcements.. but really just trying to keep the kids safe from it, to their anger once they find out. 

Both sides end up going badly: Scrooge looses most of his army as Lunaris was one step ahead of him and is left iwth Beakly and Launchpad, while Della ends up marooned.. and finds Donald. The reunion between the two is the highlight of the special, as the two argue as you’d expect (And Dewey cutting in seemingly to stop it.. only to rant at Donald for costing him “ten years of turbo” is the best gag of the episode), before embracing. 

Our heroes naturally find ways to bounce back though. Louie, capping off his growth for the season, convinces his mom they can’t just hide.. and in the second best scene of the episode sings the lullabye she wrote.. one Donald sung them every night

And no sooner than Della gets her step back and realizes that dangerous or not she and her newly reunited family have to get back in there, do the cousins show up on Fethry’s giant shrimp/girlfriend Mitzi, and our heroes head back. 

Scrooge’s plot hits i’ts peak though as he’s forced to accept the help of an unlikely and unwelcome ally: Glomgold, who turns out to be exactly what they need: While his plan is as stupid, short sighted and insane as you’d expect, complete with forcing Scrooge to dress up as santa just to piss him off and dressing his sharks in parkas (”I call them sharkas”), the sheer lonacy throws Lunaris off as he dosen’t know how to deal with this and Glomgold not only gets the better of him but gets his company back as part of his scheme.  “You were prepared for our best but not our dumbest!” “And i’m the dumbest theirs ever been! Muahahahaha! Wait...”

And of course our other heroes arrive just in time to save things.. and the episode still manages to pull off what many works struggle to, something tha’ts very hard to: a SECOND climax. Lunaris decides to just say fuck it and blow up the earth and i’ts up to our core family to kick his ass in space. Epic space battles, Della’s girlfriend meeting the family and more insues and an emotoinal, action packed and fully satisfying finale is had by all... and it’s all topped with one of the best sequel hooks i’ve ever seen as FOWL makes themselves known to us.. and prepares to strike. 

4. How Santa Stole Christmas! This one will also be short as i’ve talked about this one.. a lottttt. The initial review, my best christmas specials list and my best of 2020 list. I stand by all of that: this is a unique and wonderful christmas special, i’ll be watching it every year, and i’ts full of charm, humor and gay subtext. In short it’s this series but on christmas footing. 

3. Last Crash of the Sunchaser! 

Another one I covered very recently, this episode is a master piece of suspense, slowly building tension as our heroes get closer and closer to the truth about Della.. and to death, the simple but deadly stakes making this an absolute nailbiter from start to finish. This is some of the series best pacing bar none... but what seals it is the ending: the masterful flashback finally explaning whatever happened to Della duck, our heroes lashing out at each other.. all cumilating in the best Scene of the show. I said it might be in the review but no I can confirm: Scrooge bitterly ruminating over things while we find out just how much he’s lost... ending with him tearfully and angrily sitting once again alone in one hell of a powerful shot echoing Scrooge’s first apperance. Damn fine stuff. 

2. Escape from The Impossbin Only one episode not only matches Last Crash in mounting tension and atmosphere but suprasses it. With FOWL and Bradford’s true nature now out in the wind, this episode uses that to create tension and rattles it’s two most unshakable characters: SCrooge’s normal boundless confidence is shot, not sure he can win this time against an opponent who knows him as well as he knows himself while Beakly slowly unravels, pitting Webby against the boys.. and pitting herself against Webby when Webby sees her terroizing them is only dividing them. Both plots start out funny enough but slowly escalate in tension and stakes until by the end your on the edge of your seat. The Beakly plot is the standout of the two, giving Bentina the starring role she badly needed, having gotten even better in light of the finale. Everyone is at the top of their game and everything builds up to one hell of a twist ending and one hell of a badass boast from our heroes: Their down.. but their far from out and this is far from over. 

1. Nightmare On Kimotor Hill!

I”ll be reviewing this episode in full later this week as part of my Lena retrospective, but I stand by putting it up top. This episode is ducktales in it’s purest form and focuses on it’s best original character as Lena grapples with her self hatred and her past. That core helps anchor an amazing concept: going into the Kid’s dreams and finding out their greatest desires. The results.. are all gloriously rediclous and are easily the best gags of hte series as a whole: Dewey’s high school musical santa claus is going ot high school nonsense from getting a’s in Dewology to running away from the abstract concept of a love intrest, to not getting the sybolism of himself crying a moon made of his own tears. Louie quite literally becoming garfield, and my faviorite scene of the show: Huey, wanting to be the tall older brother..g iving himself horrifcly long leg. While everyone else is just understandably baffled, what makes the scene is the banter between Dewey and Huey, with Schwartz and Pudi at their best as Dewey first freaks out and then asks what the hell man, while Huey defends his weird decision (”I”m not good at imagination stuff okay!”), and then tries to get a jar of pickles. Each dream is just so oddly and wonderfully specific to each kid and each one of the triplests dreams, as well as violets being color coded down tot he backgrounds is a very nice touch. The visuals here are just peak ducktales, using the setting for all it’s worth and the climax is utterly emotoinal and heartbreaking... and Lena’s break from her abuser, finally realizing she has the power now is not only a wonderful metaphor... but also just so damn cathartic. And that’s why this one’s the best to me personally: it just packs so much into 20 minutes: some of the series best and most creative jokes, a gripping emtoinal arc, and so much more. It’s just that damn good and tha’ts why it’s the best... that and starting Huelet for me. Seriously that LIbrary scene is so fucking cute. 

Thank you all for reading. If you liked this artcle, join my patreon and help me get to my stretch goal for monthly darkwing duck reviews, a review of super ducktales and more after! Until the next rainbow... it’s been a pleasure. 

[hyunyin]

i’m at work rn but my brain just keeps making me think of cuddly seungmin 😔😔😔 id give my minimum wage salary if i could just cuddle seungmin for an hour

please,,,,, let's have a look at the moodboard first shall we? have a gander...

did you see him in the recent vlive with his glasses on... did you see him in that one video where they had to wake up and dance to district nine... did you see him... during... liev.

THIS MAN IS CUDDLY AS FCKLKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but also have u seen his abs.. his arms... what I'm trying to say is that he would be surprisingly comfortable to cuddle with. he might actually really love it, even though I feel like people's general interpretation of him is that hes not the cuddliest of the bunch. waking up with him in bed, facing each other, you're nearly tucked away in his arms, head under his chin. he woke up long before you so hes reading a book that hes holding behind your back, his other hand resting between your shoulder blades. or waiting in line anywhere, and he would stand behind you and hug you from there, just ever so slightly leaning onto you. falling asleep with him, you on his chest. anywhere in public, and he'll just have his arm around you. it's so cozy. the best moments are when he gives you a hug, you know a proper one, front-facing the whole package, because when you two break apart he always just puts his hands on your cheeks and shake you head just a teeny tiny little bit while giving you the cutest largest nose-scrunchiest smile before taking you hand and dragging you off to do whatever it is that you were going to do. excuse me while i go cry for a moment.... seungmin best boy

[zestyquetzalcoatl]

Luck is petty.

Like everything else about his luck, Gladstone hates this and loves it in equal turns, often both at once.

It’s pettiness means he always knows that people’s minds are their own (or at least not influenced by him). Once someone has decided he is insufferable and deserving of only a kick in the pants, it cannot make them give him things or put up with him anyway (ignoring the odd encounters he’s had with a chicken in a bright pink cape.*1 He’s pretty certain something entirely different then luck was at play there, though he has no idea what), which is why he mostly gets given free stuff by strangers instead of people who have met him before. It can influence the physical world, and that alone.

He loves this about it because it means he can exert some level of control over it, want and hate and whittle down its options until it’s forced to give him what he actually wants. He loves it because he is terrified of what it could do if it wasn’t petty. How far it could go, how much it could effect, how badly it would twist the world around it, while he would have no control or hope of containing it.

He hates it because petty luck is petty. It cares about riches, wining bets, getting free things, and curtailing talent and hard work. It can’t (and doesn’t) win him friends or happiness or love. It protects his physical health but doesn’t give a damn about his mental, content to let him be abused and taken advantage of (especially if that gives it another chance to win a prize), so long as he isn’t hungry, isn’t homeless, and isn’t injured. (Liu Hai’s was not the first gilded cage he’d been trapped in, just one that was unusually hard to escape.)

Luck is petty but Gladstone is not.

Sometimes (when the chips are down and the stakes are high) this means that his luck has to play by Gladstone’s rules.

———————————————O0—0—0O————————————————

Gladstone had run into Fethry by complete chance earlier in the day, and he’d spent the last several hours cheerfully walking and chatting with his red-hatted cousin as they meandered their way across town. Gladstone’s luck had been in full effect as they walked, guiding their route via construction sites that had blocked roads, flying $20 bills and interesting butterflies that tempted them down back alleys and side streets, and a very memorable dumpster that gave Gladstone a bad jump scare by falling over and releasing about twenty cats into the general area. The path they’d taken had been dictated largely by whatever looked like the least hassle, and had eventually ended up with them down by the docks, getting lost amongst the warehouses and shipping containers of the many trading companies that had operations in Duckburg Harbor.

Gladstone didn’t mind being utterly lost, he never had. His luck meant they’d get where they ought to go without being late, so he was content to simply wander at random while he enjoyed his cousin’s enthusiastic rambling.

Popping out of a particularly out-of-the-way alley, he realized that he and Fethry had ended up at the main road, less then twenty yards from the beginning of the pier. What was more, he could see Donald’s car.

It was pulled just off of the asphalt and onto the concrete, and parked behind a pile of boxes large enough that it likely couldn’t be spotted from anywhere except the small alley they’d just exited. The 313 was old, and in even worse repair then normal, with one of its mirrors duct taped on, and a couple of its fender skirts boasting decently sized dents. Slumped in the driver’s seat was Donald, with blood on his beak.

For a moment Gladstone felt like he had been plunged underwater.

He had seen his unlucky cousin injured before, many times even. Donald, Della, and Scrooge were always finding a way to get themselves into life-or-death danger, and even when they weren’t trouble managed to find Donald anyway. He’d seen his cousin thrown through walls, struck by lightning, almost crushed by falling boulders, and passed out in all sorts of places weirder then his own oddly parked car. But for all that, he’s rarely, if ever, seen his cousin bleed, so he thinks it’s probably the blood that makes everything about his just scream wrong.

The underwater-feeling, the feeling of wrongness, is intense, blurring the edges of the world and muffling all sound. He can just barely hear himself shout through the veil of unreality that, for one long moment, seems to drown him.

“Donald?!”

Beside him Fethry stops talking, then the underwater-feeling shatters to make way for the electrocuting feeling of ice-cold terror, and the next moment he and Fethry are both sprinting for the car.

Donald wakes up when they reach the car, both of them somewhat crashing into it in their panic. The more important thing, is that there are bloody petals in Donald’s lap. Gladstone suddenly feels like there’s something caught in his own throat that he has to force words out past, because he knows what bloody petals mean, but no no No NO—

“Donald, Donald what, w-who—“

Any doubt is swept away when Donald goes to respond and starts choking instead, coughing up not just bloody petals but entire flower heads. Red, Blue, Green, Pink, Gold, and White, all different shapes and kinds. Gladstone feels like every emotion he has has been flicked on at once, a white-hot intensity that burns through him just waiting to explode outward. The world around him is in crystalline clarity, all his senses turned up to eleven and recording in overwhelming detail, and he’s feeling everything at once. He knows what hanahaki is but he doesn’t know his flowers, can’t decipher what’s before him. Can’t know and can’t guess and can’t let Donald die.

Donald finishes hacking up a morbid bouquet and starts trying to tell him and Fethry, voice garbled even worse then normal, about having several hours left and wanting to be next to the ocean. Fethry is listening to Donald. Gladstone is doing anything but.

He hasn’t been Cloverleaf in years, and it’s been just as long since he actively controlled his luck. Focusing in the draining way it takes to Curse or Bless is not something he does outside of the mask, instead just letting Gladstone Gander be blown wherever his luck wishes to take him.

But by god he does it now, pouring everything he can into Blessing Donald more intensely then he’s ever done before, wanting and pushing, making bets against himself with devastating consequences if Donald dies. Deciding, with no hesitation or room for chance, what he’ll do —do to himself— if this goes wrong. Gladstone will never be okay again if Donald dies, making his luck agree is just a matter of making sure it knows that he means physically too.

He stifles and kills the urge to Curse whoever hurt his cousin, because that won’t help Donald now. But eyes are burning red with roiling anger, fear and worry adding fuel to the fire, the temper he shares with Donald on the few occasions he’s well and truly ticked on full display. And he will not release his death grip on his cousin’s arm.

And Gladstone doesn’t know it, but Paperinik has seen Cloverleaf Curse and Bless before, and can very much recognize the light static electricity jumping between his cousin’s feathers and the look of vicious concentration on his cousin’s face, even if he wasn’t expecting it at all.

Several miles across town in McDuck Mansion, six people discover they abruptly need Donald for something all at once. The worry that begins to break out when they can’t find him anywhere bubbles over into full blown panic as one of them trips into a trashcan, and a bunch of bloody petals are flung out as it goes flying.

———————————————O0—0—0O————————————————

Well! That wasn’t how I was expecting to loose my day. @bamboozledeagle this is your fault, I woke up to your Hanahaki post sitting at the top of my Tumblr dash, and spent the whole rest of the day writing it on-and-off. Then when I went to post it the WiFi crashed :/ so I had to wait a day.

This is completely unedited, so sorry about any glaring mistakes. I probably change style several times and I think I even changed tense once on accident. Oops. Also sorry about the formatting, I wrote it on notepad and then just copy-pasted to here, and only bothered fixing the italics.

The Gladstone/Cloverleaf on display here is my own version that I started playing around with after reading this post by @adamarinayu: https://adamarinayu.tumblr.com/post/176467180262/hey-yall asking for a competent version of Cloverleaf, but haven’t actually written anything with prior to this.

Blessing and Cursing is just what he calls manipulating his luck to make good things or bad things happen to other people. It also has the added bonus of helping protect his identity by making Cloverleaf seem magical instead of lucky.

Oh and Bam, the chicken in a pink cape line is also your fault by the way: *1 https://bamboozledeagle.tumblr.com/post/617956657118511104/i-love-how-in-your-and-other-peoples-aus

Sorry if the links don’t work on mobile.