#i was thinking about his line ‘see there’s no monsters in the closet. Well now there is but I’m not gonna scare you I’m off duty 😃’

[james-p-sullivan]

ive put a ridiculous amount of monsters inc gifs in the queue

if there’s any specific scenes you guys can think of let me know!

[pablitogavii]

Pablo finally succeeding at pranking reader with something and she’s really hurt so he has to tell her it was a prank and they have a fluffy ending :)

Well this one went too far Pablito..:)

You were done cleaning the kitchen while your boyfriend of two years was taking his post-training shower. You made some dinner for the both of you smiling at the bouquet of roses he surprised you with when he came home.

You always adored how thoughtful Pablo is and how he would always make random surprises for you even after two years of being together.

While you were smelling one of the roses, you noticed his phone keeps ringing on the dining room table. You two have no problem going into each other's phone, knowing each other's passwords, so you went to see who it was expecting it to be Aurora or his mom.

New Text from Bombon;))

You almost choked seeing your own nickname on his phone but knowing it wasn't you who texted him..Pablo was cheating on you!? And he didn't have the decency to give her another nickname! Hijo de puta!

What you didn't know is that Pablo only turned the shower on and was spying on you from the bedroom while Pedri sent the texts you were currently reading.

bombon;)): you left me craving last night papito

bombon;)): come give me more of that monster cock tonight :*

bombon;)): i miss you so much!

Texts kept coming and you kept reading them while being frozen in place not knowing what to do with yourself. Do you tell him you've seen them? Or do you just leave right now while he is showering??

How could he cheat on you?? He was the last person you've expected to hurt you like this..he knew about your past experience..and he promised to show you how a real man treats a woman he loves..why did he have to hurt you too??

"Amor?" Pablo walked in since you weren't doing anything wanting to see your face expecting you to be angry and yell at him but when he saw tears flooding your face, he was the one who froze in place. What did he do!? Mireda!

"She's texting you..said she misses you after last night. Just..go to her" you said giving him the phone and walking away into the bedroom with tears flooding your face and he cursed himself walking in after you.

"Amor listen to me.." Pablo knew he took this too far, he felt horrible when he saw that you were starting to pack your suitcase. He never wanted to see you do this again..he didn't want you to ever leave your shared home..this wasn't a home without you here!

"Stop calling me that! Just stop! And go to her..I'll be out of here when you get back" you said trying to walk towards the closet but he stops you grabbing your shoulders and making you look up at him with tears falling faster down your cheeks.

"Please don't cry amorcito..it's not real..it was a prank but it's not funny and I'm sorry.." he said and you felt weary not knowing weather you should believe him or not.

"I don't believe you..just let me go!" you said trying to push past him but he pulled you into a tight hug you couldn't get out of since he was much stronger than you.

"Do you really think I would ever do that to you? I love you so much amorcito..you're my whole world and I made you that promise, remember?" he spoke kissing the top of your head but you still didn't fully believe him. You were scared that you've really lost him..that it was over and that broke you.

"So why did you hurt me too?" you cried and he pulled back a little but still holding you tightly so you couldn't leave him. It broke him seeing you like this, he was such an idiot!

"I promise I didn't..here, call the number and see for yourself" he said giving you the phone and you gulped dialing the number shocked to hear Pedri's voice on the other line. Cabróns!

"I hate you! I hate you both!" you hung up crying louder while he hugged you to his chest letting you cry for as long as you needed but making sure you knew he was right there besides you and wasn't going anywhere.

"And you gave her my nickname too.." you sniffled and he raised your chin up to look at your adorable face drying your face with his hand.

"Amor, she doesn't exist..you are my only bombon princesa!" he said and you smiled weakly nodding your head with a pout on your lips that he kissed smiling slowly.

"Really, the nickname hurt you the most??" Pablo said chuckling a little when he saw that you've calmed down and you nodded your head making him laugh and carrying you bridal style onto the couch sitting besides you and letting you cuddle up to him.

"I want to be your only bombon..para siempre" you say kissing his neck to his jaw and he smiled nodding his head moving to the side and kissing your lips passionately.

"And you are bombon..para siempre!?" he said deciding this was the last prank he will ever pull on you.

Hope you like it :) <33

[starxrocket11]

Monsters under the bed - Leosagi being cute parents

A monster coming out of under his bed was pretty scary for a little kid. 

Being exactly what was going through the mind of little 5-year-old Jotaro, who was trying his best not to start crying because of that horrible nightmare. 

He sniffled and held his turtle plushie close to his chest. His room was pretty illuminated by the blue bunny night light, courtesy of his Uncle Tello, but for some reason, his closet and the simple thought of looking under his bed were extremely scary. 

He looked at his door being slightly open and he could hear the low volume of the television in the living room. 

Counting in his head, he jumped from his bed and ran so the monster couldn’t get him, making a direct line to the living room where he knew his Dad was, as he knew that sometimes he couldn’t sleep. 

He could see his Dad sitting up from his laying position on the couch, with a worried look directed at him. Jumping to the couch, he immediately was hugged and held close to his Dad’s plastron. 

“Hey, hey, buddy, what’s going on?” His Dad asked while sitting him on his lap and stroking his head. 

“T-there’s a-a monster” He sniffled. 

“A monster?” 

“Y-yeah, under the bed, and-and the closet!” The small bunny felt himself being picked up, which allowed him to put his arms around his Dad’s neck. 

Understanding what was going on, Leo gave him a tight hug and started rubbing his back. 

“Ay nene, It’s ok, you had a nightmare right?” He whispered. 

Jotaro nodded, still hiding in the crook of his neck. 

“Well, I can promise you that there are no monsters here, you know why?” 

It took the small bunny a little bit, but he separated himself from the hug enough to look at his Dad in the eyes. 

“Why?” He tilted his head a little bit. 

It took Leo’s whole mental strength not to coo at the action, that reminded him so much of his husband. 

“Because your Papa and I will have found them and kicked their butt for sure.” He tickled his son’s tummy, smiling softly when he saw him giggle. “They’re super scared of us, so they don’t even come close” 

Jotaro thought about it a little bit, and it made sense. His dad was the best ninja ever and his Papa was a super cool samurai. They kicked bad guy butt all the time! His uncle Mikey told him a ton of stories. 

Nodding, but still not wanting to go to his room, he hugged his Dad again. 

“How about you sleep with us tonight? Tomorrow I’ll make sure to check for any monsters in your room, sounds good?” 

Jotaro nodded again, now leaning his head against his Dad’s shoulder, who gave him his turtle plushie back and he hugged it close. 

Leo turned off the TV and started walking toward his room, where his husband was already sleeping. 

“Mm? Leo?” Usagi asked sleepily while looking up and immediately noticing their son in his arms. “Jotaro? Everything ok?” 

“A small monster problem, but everything’s ok.” Jotaro almost jumped out of Leo’s arms when he got close to the bed. Being immediately hugged by Usagi while the turtle lay down, leaving Jotaro between the both of them. 

“Dad said that monsters don’t get close to the house because they’re super scared of you guys.”  Jotaro couldn’t help but snuggle in his Papa’s chest. Letting out a small yawn. “But I don’t wanna go back until Dad checks, can I stay here?”

“Of course baby” His Papa was rubbing his back softly, which made him more sleepy. “And, your Dad is right about that, monsters are super scared of us”

“Of course, I’m right, as always.” Leo’s smug tone earned him an amused look from Usagi. “Anyways, I think it’s a little bit past your bedtime, nene.”

“Not-” Jotaro was interrupted by his own yawn, “-tired” 

“Mhm, totally” 

The adults noticed that just a couple of seconds later, Jotaro was out like a light. Both looked at him with soft smiles. 

“We have a good kid,” Usagi said, whispering and still rubbing the child’s back. 

“We have the best kid ever” Leo answered, now laying down and thanking the ancestors for the family that he has. 

[piracytheorist]

Do you think any of the Forgers believe in ghosts or have a fear of the supernatural?

Anya is part of a supernatural force, courtesy of her mind-reading powers. And she's a child, so she definitely has some kind of belief or fear of something related. I wonder what kind of nightmares she might have and whether she has the instinct to run to someone for comfort after she's had one, cause she most likely didn't have someone to comfort her after one when she was in the lab or in any of the orphanages. Maybe the scientists drilled into her the thought that nightmares aren't real and there's no monster hiding under her bed or her closet.

She probably believes there are aliens and the kinds of monsters she comes up with.

She's like, five, and her imagination runs wild. And again, she herself is a result of human experimentation and has a dog that can see the future, so her imagination limits are probably even broader than the average five-year-old's. But I don't think she has a particular fear of ghosts or anything. Again, maybe the scientists took that fear away from her and maybe not in the kindest and most supportive of ways.

Twilight is a very logical person, and I doubt he believes in anything he cannot see or prove for himself. Even his own feelings are a difficult concept for him to grasp. Shameless self promo of my time loop fic, in which upon his realization that something supernatural is happening to him, he doesn't think "OMG magic is real! What else, am I gonna see ghosts or whatever?", instead he goes like "Okay, how do I work around this".

He's also a spy, putting himself in danger and dirtying his hands to create the world he wants. He doesn't seem to believe in a higher power or benign force that could help him in his mission; if he wants a better world, he has to work for it himself. He also probably doesn't fear of any divine judgment, I doubt he'd be able to do as much morally questionable stuff if he feared he'd be judged for them in the afterlife. He may not even believe in afterlife, period. How would he deal with the idea that, if judged for his actions, he wouldn't get to see his mother again in the afterlife?

As for Yor, she might be somewhere in the middle. Like Twilight, she took it upon herself to rid the world of dangers; she isn't expecting from a higher power to help her. No-one protected her and her brother when they were innocent, so she might as well dirty her hands to protect her brother, because what kind of a higher being that didn't help them when they needed it would have the footing to judge her for that?

That said, I wonder how accurate the translation of that line of hers is here. Cause here it sounds like she will be punished (by whom? Some higher power? The Shopkeeper if he finds out?) for thinking about harming an innocent person.

In the manga translation, it sounds like just by thinking of hurting an innocent person, she could jinx it and actually cause it to happen... or that if she thinks about it too much, she'll somehow end up convincing herself she should go ahead and harm Fiona?

In any case, she might lean more towards thinking supernatural things could happen, but it's not something that concerns her on a day-to-day basis. I don't think she fears of anything supernatural... if nothing else, because she might be confident enough she'll be able to fight off anything with harmful intentions. Gurl was absolutely ready to fight sharks if needed, I wouldn't doubt she'd be able to kick some ghost and demon ass no problem. I doubt she fears of divine judgment either, but unlike Twilight it wouldn't be because she doubts it exists, but because she concerns herself with the present and protecting what she cares about now. Future her can worry about that. And then kick the ass of the deity or demon punishing her for committing murder on the regular because excuse me sir where were you when me and my brother were two starving war orphans? Yeah, thought so.

(anime only here, don't spoil me for the manga)

[henrysglock]

You ever think about how Brenner said he always thought Henry was out there, hiding in the darkness. You ever think about how that line is followed directly by a recap of them exploring the original lab gate.

And then maybe you wonder about how El managed to escape in 1983. Her escaping out that tunnel, just like Henry showed her in NINA.

Then maybe you think about closet scene in NINA happening at night...despite the massacre happening during the day...and the 1983 escape vibes that has.

And the fact that that scene was entirely spliced in, and we never see closet guy again after that scene.

And then...I just think...Season 1

"And the boy?" "Still missing."

We assume Brenner's talking about Will when he says "the boy", since Will is our main focus at the time, but now, with the "First Message from the UD" not being Will's first time talking from wherever he disappeared to...

I'm not 100% sold anymore.

We've always assumed it was Will talking through the lights whenever they're being helpful, despite ST showing us over and over that the lights blinking and shifting just means someone is near them.

And now, in this latest TFS teaser...

It's the origin of the Upside Down. The first message from the Upside Down.

It does make me wonder who, exactly, was speaking when the lights spelled out RUN.

On a directly related note: Another thing that's struck me as odd all along was the teasing and commentary about monsters in TFS—

There are a lot of monsters.

And I initially went "but how, if no one opens gates until El does it in 1979? Is someone else opening them in the 50s? Are we talking about something else entirely?"

We've always assumed that Henry had never opened a gate/didn't have the ability to open gates because we never see him do it in the flashbacks. We've also assumed that he can't do it because Vecna couldn't do it. But if Henry isn't Vecna...then who's to say what his powers entail?

There's something about the Lost Sister, too. Kali having these vision powers but no remote viewing. All of Kali's One coding, behaviorally, as opposed to El and her refusal to go along with it. El having gate powers and remote viewing (remote viewing seems to be less unique, Ten had it as well, it's less of a tell)...especially when compared to the BTS teaser:

That plus the lost sister having initially been titled "The Lost Brother" and casting for men like Jamie...Something stinks about Henry-El Kali-One copycatting, here.

It makes me wonder who may have been opening gates like the one in the tree...or the one in the wall of the Byers' house, which would have allowed Will to escape, but only ended up drawing attention to him. Something about trying to help and making things worse by doing so.

Anyway, back to my original point.

We all assume Will has powers (and maybe he does, I don't know), and that he was the one who told Joyce to run in ST1, but now I'm wondering if we haven't been duped all along.

After all, who's the boy we just saw in the TFS teaser, the one who's shown using (what seem to be) remote viewing powers while holding hands with Sue Sinclair? How about the boy Patty Newby falls for? The boy Victor Creel loves to the moon and back? The "sensitive" boy who keeps spiders as pets in fully furnished jars? The boy who's so paralleled to Will that it's almost comical?

That's Henry, no?

So when we ask "Who's signaling for Joyce to run?"...let's put Mister "I tried to help, but it only made things worse", the guy who knew Joyce in the 50s, back on the table.

Pretty please. As a treat to me.

[kay-wren]

I'll Come Running - R.C. - Chapter 12

Rafe cracked open every door in that endless corridor. He finally found the room that he was looking for. With a subtle knock on the door he entered, almost scared to disturb her peace. He wondered why he even cared about her peace, she clearly didn't care about his. Not four years ago and certainly not now.

Rafe still didn't have many words for Jessie, but he managed a simple statement.

"If you're going to be here, claiming to be my wife after all these years, then you're going to give me some answers." He sniffled and said coldly looking over at Jessie lounging on the window sill overlooking the water. To Rafe, she hadn't changed a bit, but he could tell she had matured. She still looked beautiful to him, just as beautiful as he thought she was dancing so freely at the Island Club. He wanted that Jessie back, and he thought maybe this was his chance to see if that Jessie was still hiding somewhere in there.

Jessie simply looked over at Rafe, she understood where he was coming from. As much as she hated opening up, she knew he deserved answers. That's the main reason she didn't want to ever see him again, because she would have to have tough conversations. She hated those, and Rafe knew it. Jessie simply nodded in response.

Rafe couldn't believe it was that easy. No snide remark? No snarky comment? No attempt to weasel her way out of it? Odd, but he'll take it.

"Meet me downstairs for dinner. I have reservations for us." He said still showing slight anger. No hope in his voice, but he couldn't have hope until he had clarity.

"What do I need to wear?" She asked almost apologetically, suddenly feeling like a burden. She needed to get her act together. She wasn't a burden, she was his wife, and she wanted what was hers. How could he make her feel guilty so quickly? She knew it was because once she finally laid eyes on him again she would see the hurt she had caused, and like she said years ago, she was cold, but she wasn't heartless. She still had a moral compass that forced her to know that she had some explaining to do.

"You can go through Sarah's summer closet." He said as he stared off and closed the door.

- - -

"You're married to that man?!" JJ screamed over the phone as Jessie was trying to get ready for her date— no, dinner— with Rafe.

Jessie sighed, "Yes, JJ. This is not how I wanted you to find out but... I knew you would."

"Gee, thanks for the warning Jess." He sassed back. "When did you even-"

"It doesn't matter, ok?" Jessie snapped as she threw up her mascara-clad hand in defense even though JJ clearly couldn't see her. She was growing annoyed, but she knew JJ deserved the conversation as well. "We're married and that's all that matters."

"Like... legally? Because you know if this is some star crossed lovers shit than it's not going to hold up in-"

"It's real, JJ. We signed papers. Rafe knows it." Jessie exclaimed with confidence.

The line went dead, clearly JJ was thinking. He had to snap himself out of whatever he was thinking. It made him sick to think that his sister was legally bonded to that monster. He had secretly hoped that it wasn't actually legal.

"Whatever will get the gold back at this point." JJ replied, Jessie could tell he was most likely running his fingers through his knotted hair, tension and confusion clear in his voice.

"Wow, thanks." Jessie said with offense in her voice.

"You know that's not what I meant." JJ argued back in a tone only a brother could.

"Doesn't matter, I'm really starting to feel like a pawn in this little game of yours and I'm not about it." Jessie said louder, hoping Rafe wasn't around to here.

That hurt JJ.

"You know what, you have NO clue how hard it was for me to call you. I knew you wanted nothing to do with Rafe Cameron and-"

"Then why'd you do it, huh?" Jessie sassed. The line went silent again. "Right, the gold. It always goes back to the gold. You're just like dad, you can't let go of something that good even if it kills you trying to have it! Well I'm not like you, JJ. I can quit. I have quit. And I'm going to get this money, make you happy, and then go back to living my life, because unlike you, I actually know when to stop." Jessie finished.

No, THAT hurt JJ. He wasn't like his dad. He just wanted a better life, for Jessie too. This is all he had, and Jessie knew that. She regretted her words immediately.

"Look, JJ, I didn't mean-"

"Save it." He sniffled. "You wanna go home, fine, see if I care. The only reason I'm doing this is because I have nothing else. Not even my sister." He said as his voice cracked.

"Yes you do, JJ, don't be ridic-"

The line went dead.

Jessie had to brush it off. She's done that plenty of times in her life. It was time to have dinner with Rafe, and she couldn't let any emotions get in her way.

She made her way down the stairs in a red silk, cocktail dress with a perfect slit down the front, accompanied by some red strappy heels. Both her and Rafe shared regal exchanges, neither one of them wanting to see the other falter.

Rafe was enamored at her beauty, like no time had passed. Still, he remained stone faced as he watched Jessie glide down the stairs. He clenched his jaw in an attempt to not say what he was thinking. God she was gorgeous.

"You ready to go?" Rafe asked, never taking his gaze off of Jessie as he held his hand out for her with a straight face. He may have been angry with her for a long time now, but he couldn't forsake being a gentleman to his lady. Jessie couldn't help but swoon at the action, remembering all the times before when he acted like a gentlemen towards her. She took his hand and gave him a slight smile as if to silently thank him. They walked to the car that was waiting for them. Rafe wouldn't be driving tonight, probably because he needed security at all times considering the treasure he was in charge of.

Rafe and Jessie rode in silence, neither of them quite sure what to say to the other. Rafe mainly just wanted to wait until they got to the restaurant in hopes of catching Jessie off guard to prompt her to tell him everything he wanted to know. Jessie mainly didn't speak for fear of that exact scenario, she had to remember not to be impressed. She was on a mission, for JJ.

After a short car ride, they arrived at the restaurant, which was just as fancy as the mansion Jessie entered just hours earlier. Rafe helped Jessie out of the car and into the venue, being met with mood lighting like she'd never seen before, a large open dining room, light Bahamian music, and white table cloths meeting the floor. Rafe really spared no expense. Rafe pulled out the chair for Jessie, yet he never cracked a smile since they left for the evening. Rafe seemed... focused. Jessie had to remember that Rafe could play the game just as well as she could. That's what made them so dangerous... so explosive.. for each other. Message received. Game on.

"Anything I can get started to drink?" the waiter asked.

"We'll have the best bottle of wine you got." Rafe stated with a smirk as he looked over at Jessie. "What about you, Jess?"

"I'll just have water please." Jessie smiled politely at the waiter.

"No wine tonight?" Rafe inquired with confusion.

"Better not." Jessie said as she returned the smirk and rested her head on her hand. She knew what he was doing. Trying to wine and dine her wasn't going to work, she needed to stay stone-cold sober for this night. "Besides, I don't really drink anymore." Jessie declared.

Rafe scoffed in disbelief. "Since when?"

"Since I grew up, Rafe." She replied as she took the cloth napkin and laid it flat on her lap, ending her sentence looking back up at Rafe with a serious expression.

"And when was that exactly?" Rafe asked as he knitted his eyebrows together.

"When you gave me no choice." Jessie snapped.

"Oh come on, Jessie. What's the real reason you left?"

"I really left because of you, Rafe. And that's not a surprise to you and you know it. Don't act like you didn't totally screw up what we had." Jessie said with a hint of irritation in her voice. Rafe knew Jessie was right, he didn't press the subject anymore. He simply looked down and nodded in agreement. He unclenched his jaw to speak again.

"Okay, well, uh... how's life?" Rafe attempted a normal conversation.

Jessie laughed, "Life's fine." was all she could muster. That's not what she really wanted to say.

"So what does life look like for you nowadays? Where are you living?" Rafe asked as he poured himself a glass of wine, and poured one for Jessie also despite her previous statement. Jessie brushed off the gesture.

"Life looks like me going to work, coming home, cooking, cleaning, going to sleep, and repeating the same thing every day until I die. Living the dream." Jessie responded sarcastically. "But, hey, I mean I'm sure your life is much more interesting, what have you been up to since I left?"

Rafe just chuckled. "This dinner isn't about me." He calmly proclaimed.

"Then what's it about?" Jessie leaned in hoping to intimidate Rafe.

"It's about you leaving me without so much as a goodbye." Rafe retorted through gritted teeth and an iron fist. Jessie could see him starting to crumble. "We were married, and in love, or so I thought." He trailed off.

"Rafe, this isn't exactly the time or place to unpack this." Jessie explained.

"No, Jessie, this is the perfect time and place to unpack this. Because if we were anywhere in private right now, I would not be able to keep my cool."

Wow. Charming.

"What're you gonna do, Rafe? Huh? Nothing. You know why?" Jessie asked as she leaned in further.

"Yeah, I know exactly why. Because despite all of these years of trying to hate you... I can't." Rafe claimed in a hushed tone with frustration evident in his face as he leaned in closer as well.

"And I can't hate you either, Rafe. So can we please just start out with something a little lighter?" Jessie admitted. Damn it. She let her guard down, but maybe it was just what Rafe needed to hear to get him to calm down, she hoped.

Rafe leaned back in his seat again and spread his legs further apart as if to intentionally take up more room and let himself cool off. He breathed out heavily.

"Yeah, yeah sure." He stated as he took the wine glass in his hand and tried to get back into more of a flirtatious state of mind. "You remember the first time we were dressed up together like this?" He smiled sincerely, clearly regaining the sweet memory.

Jessie looked down at her napkin and smiled as well. "How could I forget?"

[star--joy]

Hold My Hand & Watch the Sun Rise

When Vex is woken by a nightmare, Percy has the perfect remedy: watching the Whitestone sunrise together.

-

Perc'ahlia Week Day One: Dawn/Treasure

-

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: None

Words: 1208

Originally posted: 9/24/23

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50305858

The nightmare is a vague thing. Incomprehensible, really. There is no monster, no big bad to be afraid of, nothing of the sort. It’s just dark and empty and Vex is running, running, running, away from nothing and everything at the same time. Thick, syrupy dread pools in her stomach.

When she finally jolts awake, she does not scream, or thrash, or even whimper. No, she’s had far too much practice to allow such obvious distress to show. The only thing to leave her trembling lips is a gasp. Quiet, easily swallowed by the still night air.

Alas, Percy was always a terribly light sleeper. The tiny noise is enough to pull him to consciousness. “Mmh?”

Vex holds still, hoping he’ll decide that nothing is wrong and fall back into a full rest.

No such luck. Her hitched breathing must give her away. Or perhaps he can feel the pounding of her heart from where their bodies press together. Either way, he leans up slightly on his elbow, blinking as he tries to see through the darkness of the room. “Vex, I know you’re awake.”

“No, I’m not,” she huffs, scooting a few inches away so he’s no longer spooning her so closely. “Go back to sleep.”

Percy is silent for a long few moments, but Vex isn’t foolish enough to think he actually listened to her command. Even if she couldn’t feel him watching her, she knows him well enough to know that returning to sleep is now a lost cause for the gunslinger. He’s going to be too focused on making sure she’s okay to get any more rest.

Gods damn him and his loving fucking care.

“Shall I call for Vax?”

“No, I’m fine. Just— please, Percy, I don’t want to talk about it.” The last thing Vex wants is to worry her brother with something as inconsequential as this. She can’t even remember any details of the nightmare, for Pelor’s sake! It’s nothing. She can handle it.

Percy ever-so-gently reaches for her arm, letting his calloused fingers slide down her wrist until their fingers can wrap together. “Dear Heart,” he whispers, eventually, and Vex curses the way that moniker always sounds so lovely on his lips. “Have you ever seen a proper Whitestone sunrise?”

“…what?”

Without letting go of her hand, Percy reaches over to fumble on the nightstand for his glasses. “It’s extraordinarily beautiful, if you have the patience to see it through. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to watch it together.”

Vex turns to peer at him, the squint of her eyes caused half by the dim lighting, half by a confused suspicion. “Why?”

His throat bobs, and he takes a few seconds to consider his answer. “Because I think it would calm you.”

Instinct clamps around Vex, demanding she turn sharp and defensive, deny his care on principle. If it were anyone but Percy, she would probably give into that instinct without hesitation.

As it is, she fights her gut response and tries to meet him in the middle. “Alright. But I’m not talking about it. Yet.”

Percy nods. “Whenever you’re ready, I trust you’ll come to me. Until then, I won’t pry,” he assures her, bringing her hand up to his lips, kissing the fingers before he guides her out of the bed.

Vex’s silky sleep dress ripples around her as she follows her husband, who only makes a quick stop to their closet so he can throw one of his fur-lined tailcoats over her goose-bump covered shoulders before leading her out to the balcony attached to their bedroom. 

The fresh night air is a balm Vex didn’t know she needed as they step outside. No signs of sunlight appear over the trees, but she reckons it won’t be long before it begins to peek out. In the meantime, she sits on the edge of the bench they’d had installed. Percy sits a few inches away from her, connected only by their intertwined hands, but it doesn’t go unnoticed how he keeps his posture open. If, or rather, when she will inevitably want to, Vex will have no trouble curling into his side. Just now, though, she appreciates the distance.

Time passes. Even in the silence, Percy does not twitch, does not fidget. His eyes are locked onto the treeline. Vex pulls her knees up to her chest so she’s hugging her legs, chin resting on her kneecaps. Focuses on breathing, slowly, in and out.

“Look,” Percy whispers, after what she would estimate to be half-an-hour has slipped by. He points to the forest, where the first beams of purple are beginning to cut across the sky, just barely visible. “It’s starting.”

Vex trails her gaze over the slowly-lightening dawn. “Do you watch this often?” she asks, voice raspy with sleep, but steadier than it had been before. The fresh air and silent company has helped her calm down remarkably well. 

“Not for a long time. This used to be my mother’s remedy to our nightmares, when my siblings and I were young.”

While he speaks, Vex tilts herself into his side, and he’s quick to tuck her into his blanket. Her voice is small when she whispers, “I don’t even remember what I dreamed about, really. Isn’t that stupid?”

It’s a relief when he doesn’t immediately sprout off some practiced response, but rather considers it deeply. “It’s illogical, perhaps, but feelings rarely fall into the realm of logic. We’re all bound to have emotions we can’t explain. Whether or not they’re ‘stupid’, as you say, does not have an effect on whether or not we are.”

The answer is so true to Percy that Vex can’t help but snort a tiny laugh. “Eloquent fucker.”

He shares her laughter, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m not called a genius for nothing.”

They lapse into silence once more, and Vex soon finds herself enraptured by the pinks and oranges and yellows that scatter across the dim sky, a mirage she’d been entirely unprepared for. It casts warm light on the city spread out before the forest, as the early-risers begin to leave their homes and do the first errands of the day. Everything is painted in gold. She’d assumed that Percy was exaggerating about the beauty of it all, but looking at it now, there’s no denying how correct he was. “Holy shit,” she whispers.

He pulls her in tighter, running his hand up and down her upper arm. “I told you.”

“Don’t be smug,” she laughs.

“I would never,” he lies, resting his head on top of hers.

The colors continue to mingle and blend as the sun lifts higher and higher. Whitestone’s streets grow busier, shops opening and parents taking children to school. Mingled chatter rises through the air, reaching their ears.

It’s utterly soothing, and Vex cannot help the way her eyes flutter shut for several seconds too long every time she blinks. Percy notices, because of course he does, but does not comment. All he does is tuck his coat more securely around her shoulders and continue to stroke her softly.

When the dawn finishes, she’s long asleep once more. This time, she dreams of nothing but the feeling of being loved.

[lou-iz-stat]

Well I got to episode 5 in my IWTV S1 rewatch…

Truthfully I probably won’t say much about this episode since there is so much of it in season 2 that I think will be revisited. On top of that I am at the end of my semester at school so I probably won’t say much because of that too. Also out of all of the episodes of s1 this the episode that I have seen the least.

But we still have 3 more weeks until season 2 where I have no doubt that s1 will be tame when compared to it. I’m getting more and more nervous each week not going to lie.

Ok… here we go!

IWTV S1 E5: A Vile Hunger for Your Hammering Heart

The episode starts with Daniel reading Claudia’s diary and how she records the last words of the people she kills.

But then Daniel is interrupted by Louis feeding on ‘Rashid’. It is pretty nasty for Louis and Armand to do this in front of Daniel. He even reads his mind to try and throw Daniel off his game. I notice that whenever Daniel tries to talk about something negatively about Claudia, Louis will always try to do something to throw Daniel off that even holds through in the ‘Paris sucks’ clip we have in s2.

It’s funny that Armand tells Daniel he would not let him anywhere near his neck. He must still be mad at Daniel for something maybe Devil’s minion related? 👀

Then we go back to 1923 where Louis thinks that she has gone on a hunger strike because of Charlie but Lestat knows that she is just escaping when they have to go feed. Since they are so similar Lestat knows that Claudia would not skip out on meals.

Also the line “I know what I’d do, but you cut my hands off.” Like!!!!! Fucked up Nikki reference. 😭

Also Lestat reading the diary and the dairy being so graphic ugh… 🤢

Everything is just such a mess… oh boy… with all the bodies coming up

And of course Tom Anderson is trying to distract Loustat since the Police chief is there in the speakeasy.

I feel so much anxiety with all the cops in their home! And Claudia is not helping! 😬

There are still some comical bits such as the “We sell… incinerators.” Louis’s little shrug at Lestat. “To various American cities.” The delivery is actually very funny.

Also what’s funny is Claudia’s acting when the cop opens her door. Her face when she drops the blanket and the closet door opens to show the rotting man.

But all the fun and games stop when the cop is homophobic.

Yes Lestat is a jerk and treats Claudia like shit and still sees Antoinette so Claudia only feels like she has to leave.

Also establishing that Claudia is unable to turn people is a great thing to set up now.

And even though it’s heartbreaking I do love that Claudia gets mad at Louis for not just taking her to a hospital but made Lestat turn her into this monster. Bailey’s acting is just so perfect here.

We go back to Dubai and Daniel is telling Louis some harsh truths about what the public could do with Claudia. Yikes

And their home turns into a ruin after they wake up from their long nap

Man…Fuck Bruce

The part where Louis makes Daniel’s Parkinson’s go out of control as always annoyed me even if Daniel was stepping out of bounce it just never sat right to me. And of course Armand is there to ‘calm Louis down’

We go back once again and we see the scene of Louis saying his final goodbye to Grace and his makes Claudia come home after everything.

Lestat is such a bitch when she comes home. I understand what he is trying to do but it’s just all wrong.

And the fight happens. We will revisit what happened during the fight in the coffin room that we don’t get to see. But as an indication by some parts of the trailer we have already seen a glimpse of it. Hopefully the writers handle it well…

Also the during the drop scene it sounds a lot like what Armand said to Lestat before pushing him off a tower in TVL so I guess we’ll see what comes of it.

Okay good got through that one. Now I can get back to some class work lol.

I cannot believe that we are now 3 weeks away from seeing the premier for season 2 and for some of you, you will be seeing it in about a week and a half. Good luck to the NYC people that get to see it early.

[butmakeitgayblog]

Sorry to bother you but that anon question (the one about CI Lexa being "the little spoon" of cuddles and more) made me wonder about Clarke. I really appreciated your answer about Lexa, it's really interesting especially for her character's psychology but what about Clarke? She is not dumb, even though it is a recurring joke between the two, she is not. Maybe she is emotionally dumb (in an affectionate way, CI Clarke is one of my favourite Clarke's of yours so only love for her) but she is sharp and clever when she wants (😂😂) so I suppose she knows she has this "power" - whether it's given by Lexa or not - and I suppose that at some point, maybe when they're already married (so with a few years behind their backs and out in public), Lexa will talk with Clarke about what does this mean to her, what does it mean to give this particular "power" away to Clarke. So Clarke has to know how important it is to not fuck this up, to not betray it. And I can't stop thinking about how much this power can create a need to protect her wife, to be fair and good to her, because even though they bicker and banter, they know how much the other suffered and they know how much this relationship means. So (I swear I really have a question 😂) my question is: is there a moment where, even though this power is not used in public, except for maybe some holding hands or an arm around Lexa's waist, Clarke uses it to protect Lexa? Because I know Lexa knows how to protect herself, especially against people that don't really know where to draw a line with her, but is there a moment where Clarke is like:"You know what babe? Let me punch this fool in his face for you just for fun, I know you can do it by yourself and I know people expect you to do it, but I'm gonna do it because I'm your wife and I need people to know that I will kill them for you." Something like that, I may have lost my train of thoughts but something like that. I don't know, I can totally see Clarke being scold at home for such a big reaction but then being kissed because of it. CI Clexa (in some ways) remind me of canon Clexa:"Yes, you may be the Heda, but I'll try to kill Nia because she pissed you off."

That last line, right there. That's their dynamic at its very fundamental core.

The thing is, most people don't fully realize the extent to which Lexa allows Clarke to be in control because she is someone who carries and conducts herself with so much poise and power. From an outside perspective it would look more often than not as tho Lexa is just this "I don't need no bitch, I run this shit" woman, and unapologetically so.

But they don't know her the way Clarke does and they certainly don't understand their dynamic. They don't understand that while, yes, Lexa is an extraordinarily strong and self sufficient woman, there will always be that little girl in a black dress and braids, standing next to her dad's casket thinking, "I'm alone now." They don't know that while, yes, Lexa is a Grade A heinous bitch who enjoys manipulation and toying with others, a part of her will always be that little girl who had to teach herself how to survive in a cold and unloving home. Who taught herself that there wasn't anyone else there to really look out for her without a selfish motive driving their actions. Who told herself that it was ok that there was no bigger bed to crawl into at night when she needed protecting from the monsters in her closet.

But when Clarke looks at her wife, she sees that. She sees her exactly as she is. Powerful and conniving and manipulative and hedonistic, but she also sees that scared little version of Lexa as well.

And the urge protect every iteration of this woman makes. Clarke. Go feral.

It's just like the moment when Hellen slapped Lexa. Clarke was this 🤏 close to beating the shit out of her. Lexa knew without a doubt if she hadn't stepped in, Clarke would have closed fist punched her mother repeatedly without question. Clarke maybe 80% bark and biting words - her weapon of choice has always been her words and malicious intellect - but when push comes to literal shove, Clarke fights dirty. She's a brawler. She's not interested in fair fights, she's interested in what will make her win.

That being said, she's also learned a lot from Lexa over the years in the sense that the best course of action is to simply ruin their entire life. Physical fighting is so messy. Half the time you come out looking like a degenerate and taking a knock to your reputation anyway. Hence part of Clarke's less than steller reputation before they were together 😬

So rather than physically fight more, she becomes more nefarious. More of a malignant entity in the life of whoever manages to get themselves in her crosshairs.

Someone in their social circle begins whispering little unsavory rumors about her wife? Clarke will make sure their spouse just so happens to catch wind of their own little dalliances over brunch. A board member challenges Lexa's competence at the helm? Clarke will systematically burn every personal bridge they have within the company until they're voted out. You flirt with her wife beyond what Lexa's comfortable with? She'll pay an escort to seduce yours instead. She'll even pay extra just have them fuck the little Mx. right in your bed (with pictures 🙂). You try and make Lexa look foolish among your peers? Don't be surpised if you're getting pulled over with glove box filled coke. Whether you're into it or not...

She will literally smile in your face while driving a knife square into your back.

The woman has very little conscience and a protective streak a mile wild. While she had her fun punching a few handsy bystanders in her youth, dating and then being married to someone like Lexa for years has had so many delicious advantages, one of which was learning the fine art of subterfuge.

And while Lexa may be the master, it turns her on like crazy when she's surpassed by her very sexy student 😏

[violivs]

NMTDaily: Preparing for Pedro’s Party

- There is SO much clever symbolism in this episode that I didn’t get before. Get ready!

- Aww I love this episode, it’s so sweet to see the girls just being sweet friends having fun.

- Justice for Ursula, they should’ve invited her over to raid the costume closet too!

- Do we know what the occasion is for Pedro’s party? Is it his birthday or something? Or is it just a classic teenage “my parents will be out so I’m throwing a party for no reason other than opportunity” situation?

- Oh my GOD Meg no. I forgot about “nude bodysuits are the worst” “I don’t have to wear the bodysuit!”

- Bea and Meg hugs are cute!

- “You can dress as whatever you want as long as I approve of it” classic overbearing Bea.

- I am CERTAIN that Beatrice’s devil horns are a Much Ado reference but I can’t remember the particulars. 😈 🧐 Isn’t it like, horns represent the cuckold so Benedick swears you’ll never see him with horns in his head like a married man? I feel like that’s talking about bull horns rather than devil horns- but Hero is also brandishing a red cape like a bullfighter in this moment so that works too! This is definitely a reference.

- “Making a point” love a good pun lol

- That is significantly more wigs than I ever had in my dress up box growing up. (Well- mine were Ariel wig, Rapunzel wig, and witch hat with grey hair attached, I guess that’s kinda three wigs, so we are at equal wig numbers. Wig tangent!)

- Bea holding up a leather and metal belt thing and Meg saying “oh that’s mine”. Margaret you are too young to be making that kind of joke. I am shocked!

- “I could be a lion” *roars while wearing a lace curtain as a mane* - see, something about this reminds me so much of the Mechanicals from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and their makeshift costumes. Love that.

- Beatrice’s horrible pink dress that looks like a sea monster also reminds me of a flamingo! 🦩🦩🦩

- I was gonna say imagine Ben’s reaction if Bea went to the party as a flamingo in that dress. But then I realized he might still be watching Bea’s videos at this point in the story, and even if not, he IS still gonna get to see her in this dress when they watch back all the videos together at the end, lol. “You’re a beautiful flamingo!” - Ben, reacting to the dress and making Bea blush, in my headcanon I just made up right now.

- Meg, kind of staring at Bea’s cleavage in the pink dress: “I love it!”

Hero: “I’m sure you do”

Look, maybe this was more slut shaming, but in MY head, this was just the first sign that made us all think Meg was bisexual- and Hero knew it.

- “Pink is scientifically the most painful color for the human eye to look at, so. Enjoy.”

- Punk Hero! Yeah girl, step out of your comfort zone for a night!

- They really are laying on Meg’s characterization as the sexual and outrageous one in this episode. The jokes she makes, trying to get Hero to unbutton an extra button. It makes me worry about her, how that can be used against her, and we know that worry is unfortunately well founded.

- “You’ve gotta hunt him down-“ “Like a PREDATOR” poor Bea is so uncomfortable with the dating/flirting talk and trying to diffuse it here, I almost feel bad for laughing

- “I just don’t think anyone’s that awkward around me. I think I just bring out the best in people.” Never lose that self-confidence, Meg! (Also, this line has def been juxtaposed with Freddie’s anxiety to show how Winterking could work in the lolilo era of the fandom- I think I made one of those edits myself.)

- Meg’s spiky hat after the next cut is giving Dalek tbh

- Oh man, I’m obsessed with Beatrice’s Benedick cosplay. Like, he does have a garish space cat shirt, but when have we ever seen him wear a hat apart from the Where’s Wally sketch, which Bea isn’t supposed to have watched? And he only wears sunglasses once, during a video that has not happened yet. But somehow she expects everyone to get who she’s making fun of right away? And they do?

- Also it’s a great example of how she clearly has Benedick on the brain. Why did you bring Ben up again, apropos of nothing, right after Hero was talking about the boy *she* likes? I see you, Beatrice.

- Love that not only can she not do his accent, she also can’t help making him sound like an annoying small child or an elf or something, lol.

- Wait oh my god! I just noticed that throughout this video, Beatrice is wearing a black watch! Just like the one Ben wears! Somehow I never noticed Bea’s watch before, even though I always notice Ben’s and think how quaint and old-fashioned it is of him to wear an analog wristwatch. I love that. Costuming parallels. Soulmates.

- Beatrice doing the Ben voice: “Yo!”

Meg: “No.”

Ben, in the video description of literally the next video: “yo yo yo!”

Lol amazing she nailed his brand of utter cringe

- “It’s beautiful!” “No, it’s heinous!” “I think that you should never take it off.”

- Can I be overly literal and point out that Hero just said Bea should never take off the shirt that represents Benedick, and then (spoilers) Bea is gonna actually literally proceed to be life partners with Ben forever after? I.e. never taking him off. Squee! It’s a very adorable (heinous?) metaphor!!!

- And it reminds me of “you are too fine to wear for everyday use”, Beatrice comparing another suitor to clothing in the play while shooting him down.

- “Oh, bucket hat? Always!”

- Hero with the boots: “I just want someone to dress up as a cowboy so they can wear these.” Remember this line for the party episodes and look out for cowboys 👀 There will be one!

- Beatrice the ironic/as-a-joke princess! A great moment, a great character choice.

- Also obsessed with her “that’s creeping me out” about wearing a bridal veil and holding a green wig bouquet. TCW found a way to make modern Beatrice say she’ll never marry without actually saying she’ll never marry. Adaptational choices!

- Meg puts the devil horns on Hero and says “I really love you in that” and Hero says “I don’t know about this.” Holy symbolism Batman! Literally visually foreshadowing her being villainized against her will. Wow.

- “Boys, Leo, we’re talking about boys! Come and join us!” Lol

- I always crack up at Leo’s terrible helmet-ass hat hair when they take off his cap. I’m sorry buddy, you need a brush.

- I also love them putting him in the cape and clown wig. He IS about to be clowning hard when the rest of the plot unfolds.

- Bea calling Leo an old man and I am suddenly very relieved to do the math and figure that Leo is still chronologically older than me, even though I’m older now than he was during NMTD. I was about to become the crypt keeper otherwise, my god.

- This is interesting too because now the girls already know Leo thought Pedro liked Hero, so they should be able to head off Claudio’s confusion ahead of time. Why don’t they?

- Also interesting that Leo assumes Bea would be jealous of Hero dating Pedro. That would probably piss Bea off, like “quit assuming I have a crush on every guy I’m nice to, that’s so reductive”. It’s another example of her feeling like the idea of dating is being forced on her.

- We definitely get a taste of Leo’s patriarchal view of Hero and need to pass judgement on her dating life here. Even otherwise good men are steeped in the patriarchy and take certain ideas from that that can quickly turn toxic. The themes of the play are being seeded here. Onward!

- Comment section boogaloo: lots of comments loving Leo and the setup of his character for what’s to come; discussion of how most of this episode was improvised by the actors; comparisons to Darcy Costume Theater from the LBD.

- Best comment award goes to DillyBlue from two months ago, saying “Hero, forget Claudio, Meg is clearly into you!”

- We all see the vision and the vision is that Meg Winter likes girls.

🦩🥭💖

[pilichainartandmemes]

FFVII fic - What Howls Inside Your Head

The way out of that basement of horrors is just a stupid poorly light corridor. It’s easy: Zack only has to prove he still trusts Sephiroth and not turn back. A Doubt Comes In, Hadestown songfic.

I had brainworms listening to Hadestown and somehow only waited a year to write it. Enjoy!

Crossposted on ao3

No warnings except it's Hurt no Comfort.

“So what’s the first thing you’re gonna do when we’re back in Midgar? Me? I’m thinking takeout! Cissnei handed me recs as a thank you for being ‘a delight to shadow’. Probably not a good thing but hey I’ll take the nice food. Oh by the way! There’s this kid in infantry, he hasn’t had great luck with the SOLDIER exam and I was wondering… well if you could give me a tip or two?”

Only the walls and echoes of footsteps answer Zack. That’s completely fine! What kind of friend would he be if he couldn’t handle Seph being out of sight? It’s that stupid basement, that stupid library and that stupid lab rattling his nerves. Once they’re outside, he’ll be able to focus. Then the only thing they’ll have to worry about will be-

SOLDIER is like a den of monsters. Don't go inside.

Shinra. It was bad when they left but now… with what they learnt… Still he couldn’t just leave Kunzel or Aerith like that. Could he convince Sephiroth to stay? …Yeah, right. Zack’s attempts with Genesis and Angeal had worked so well after all. No. Seph wouldn’t stay only for one guy. Not for Zack.

Would he just leave alone then? Sure, he mentioned it on the way to Nibelheim… then what? Maybe the demon of Wutai would be fine living on the run but for how long? He used to see Shinra’s Firsts as pinnacles of strength, all of them. One impaled himself on Zack’s sword, another is dying and set on taking as many as he can with him, the last is this close to flying the coop.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths… The buster sword is a familiar burden on his back. There may be no meaning in fighting for Shinra. Still Zack can fight for his friends, including those he can yet save. He can do this. He has to. No one else has got as close of a shot.

“All that ancient stuff flew over my head, you know? But Guess what! I know a girl down in the slums who is ALSO a Cetra. Maybe you two could bond over the planet and talk about your moms.”

In retrospect spilling that secret of hers wasn’t the smartest thing. Tseng and Aerith will rightfully scold him if, no when they go back, but it’s FINE! Sephiroth wouldn’t do anything harsh, would he?

What about Jenova? Didn’t Hojo say she was not an ancient but a calamity from the sky? After being trapped by Shinra for so long, would that monster give up so readily on Sephiroth? No and neither would Zack put in the same spot.

… He is out of ideas. Still there has to be something, anything! Maybe the hippies at Cosmo Canyon could help out. He’ll take the guy snoring in the coffin at this point. Well he would if he wasn’t afraid of more skeletons from Shinra’s closet falling onto the two of them. And in the middle of that storm a thought stops Zack dead in his tracks: he can’t hear any footsteps.

No, no, no. Sephiroth can’t have just left without him noticing! All of these enhancements, all that training, all that fighting and he can’t even keep an ear out for a friend. Where is the silver lining that kept him going despite Shinra’s bullshit? Where is Sephiroth?

He can’t breathe. He can’t see the end of this tunnel. He can’t hear anything but his own stupid thoughts and his heart hammering in his chest. Fuck it. He has to make sure his friend is here. He has to-

 “No matter what you cannot let your companions see your doubts.” A memory of a lesson with Sephiroth rises above his dread, a glimpse of a far off star in cloudy skies. “They are counting on you to keep calm even as death takes their friends. As long as their leader stands, the formation will hold. You stick the course and do not look-“

Zack turns around.

“Seph, I-“ But he doesn’t get to finish as Sephiroth’s icy glare shoots down any further excuses. Without another word the general heads back towards the library. The last thing Zack hears is that damned door slamming shut once and for all.

[yallemagne]

Why do folk call Dracula thee book about repression when the strange case of men of inhibitions: the novel is right there

I'm so fucking angry I was writing a whole thesis in response to this and tumbles ate it.

When it comes to repression found in men, the typical stuff you see is the Oedipus complex and the idea that all men are feral animals in a perpetual rut. Not really sexy concepts.

But you know what people find sexy??

LYING ABOUT WOMEN!!

What are we even gonna do with J&H? There are no women to project the Madonna and Whore complex onto. Adapters literally have to add a love triangle in order to slutshame women, too much work. But Dracula comes prepackaged with two women to grossly misrepresent.

Blah blah, men find it sexier to lie about women than about men, most people misinterpret the whole basis of Jekyll and Hyde anyway, so they don't realize it's about repression, yada yada yada.

Gross old men like the idea of female sexual repression. Though, not in a way that they would vouch for women's reproductive rights or a female sexual revolution. They love the idea of a "good girl" who secretly wants/needs to be corrupted by their unwelcome advances. It must be a secret! She must not reciprocate! Otherwise, she'll be seen as a whore. Women with internalized misogyny feed into this too. Hate all other women because they're "sluts" but you still want sex? Write a story depicting a good girl being assaulted but paint it as "good" because "she secretly wanted/needed it".

But there's no women in the book J&H to give this treatment to. Adaptations will give Jekyll two girlfriends to match his duality or something, but they're not the focus of the story. It's all about Jekyll.

Most takes I've seen on J&H take the "the true monster is man" approach where they don't explore the themes of repression at all. We get a line about how Jekyll wants to separate good and evil, but it's either never explained or twisted around in an attempt to make him seem more sympathetic. They just simplify it to "spooky potion makes nice doctor mean :0".

Now, male sexual repression. is a fucking doozy. The common misconception is "we're all rapists but we just keep ourselves in check". People who have this viewpoint need to stop. But honestly, I haven't seen a J&H that is explicit except for the Wildhorn musical, and they make him straight in that one. There's no interest in adapting the part where... well, Jekyll is a repressed gay man who just wanted a little relief from his own repression but things all went horribly wrong. They make it more about how Jekyll is a bit of a prude, and then he drinks rude boy juice and becomes a monster.

I don't know if you've heard... but academia is scared of gay people, and Jekyll's unspoken crimes scream gay shenanigans. RLS dangles the idea that Jekyll's been sinning over our heads but won't tell us how. He says "fill in the blanks" and like??? OKAY WELL, WHAT IS STRANGELY MORE CONTROVERSIAL THAN MURDER IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND! HOMOSEXUALITY. He sneaks in the implication that everyone thinks Hyde is Jekyll's lover. Jekyll deciding from a young age: "I cannot be myself, I have to hide everything about me" is a closeted queer mood.

But do you expect people to talk about that? In this society? They just don't get it. Most people misinterpret Dracula being a story where good girls get seduced by a bad man. And then? Jekyll and Hyde is about a good boy who drinks bad boy juice. People fail to realize that Jekyll is originally a mix of good and bad and instead paint it as if Jekyll manifested some daemon with his potion. So then it isn't a story about repression in the eyes of most, it reads more like a possession story.

Also, I'd just argue Dracula is more popular. People find it sexier. There's not a swath of artwork where Hyde is skulking over a sleeping Jekyll in a suggestive manner. But look at any Dracula book cover and there's a good chance it's an illustration of Lucy's boobs. People are hornier about Dracula so they project their poor ideas about repression onto it.

[leoalvarez-clowncarcommittee]

Furry Visual Novel Book Club: Echo Week 7 SPOILERS

Hi everyone, here is the SPOILER FREE discussion post for “Echo - Carl’s Sunday-2 Electric Boogaloo???”  

Links: Previous - Next - Original - Spoiler Free Version

Feel free to respond in reblogs/replies/or asks :D

We open this section with Jenna on the scene, having just struck Carl with a stool 

Jenna ignores the ram she had just knocked over the head and explains she stumbled into the house looking for Tj and that things have been crazy after Carl and Chase left the lake... About Tj seeing Sydney among Leo acting strange. She continues that something is happening to everyone, mentioning gunshots from main-street. The trio explains that things aren’t much better here either. Really dying for the reverse Carl-Route fic with Tj, Flynn, and Leo

This is the really only ‘Silent Hill’ type route, where the party is trapped in a nightmare dimension while all other routes deal with experiencing the Hysteria. This initially disappointed me on my first play-through, because I got hooked on the Silent Hill aspect. We do get more, with the horrors generating themselves mostly as these the subconscious nightmares of the characters, but this is the only time it’s front and center. It’s definitely more in-line with Cosmic Horror nature of the Entity to do it the other way, but at least one more nightmare route would have been appreciated. Good fanfic space where we can throw out themes because the game did the themes though!

Raven opens the newly unlocked door, and the group all pass out. Chase awakens to Raven calling out for Chase and Carl, reminiscent of events of the kitchen. Chase hobbles downstairs in a new location, to find Jenna and Carl in front of wardrobe containing a screaming Raven. Raven is let out and the group determines they’re in a log cabin of some kind.

I think this is where Raven works the best in the narrative. They need someone a little dumb and someone a little detached from the horrors other than Chase to help ground things (As well as giving Jenna SOMEONE to talk to). Also is this a ‘Raven in the closet’ joke??? He’s obviously a LITTLE fruity, at least how he acts/responds. Maybe he’s just metro-sexual.

Chase peers out of a window for the source of beating drums and sees a large bonfire some ways from the cabin. The group see ‘something’ moving outside and resolve to find more evidence as Neutral kicks in, relaxing the mood. The group split up to look, with Chase commenting on Carl’s possession condition.

I was initially upset by the ending of the route where Carl and Chase don’t end up together, but seeing lines like this so before the ‘climax’ makes it make a lot more sense in full context. Carl was truly mostly gone.

The music cuts as Chase dwells on the feeling of being watched… From the lines “I hold still, then lean back, tiling my ear towards the sound,” a twenty second timer kicks in before playing ‘Bent’, an unsettling piece, accented by the ‘something’ from earlier presumably rustling around just outside the cabin. The ‘something’ appears in the window to Chase, Chase’s body freezing upon seeing it. An unknown voice commands it to stop, something from INSIDE the cabin. 

My best interruption is that this is ANOTHER Echo/Ghost of John Begay. With James I being the voice over Chase’s shoulder. Which leaves us with maybe three? The one possessing Jenna, the Smoke Monster, and now this fox. The spirits are also more ghost-like (white and appearing over shoulders). Definitely something I’m looking forward to getting some more concrete answers to in either TSR or a potential rewrite. (As this ‘entity is dropped too... unless it’s supposed to be the shadow monster from the next part too? And it’s just taking different forms to spook people??)

The creature cackles in response, replaying the cackling sound from earlier in the route. The rest of the group rush down stairs as Chase is finally able to scream. Carl badgers Chase for information on what he saw, only for the conversation to be interrupted by Raven finding a newspaper clip. The newspaper catches fire only after Raven is able to read a single line

Carl and Jenna argue about the burned paper, attacking and defending Raven over igniting it with a candle on accident respectfully. The group end up searching for a few hours and decide to sleep on different floors for the ‘evening’. Chase comments that all of Carl’s mannerisms are different and the two settle into bed together to sleep. Carl embraces Chase, pulling the otter into him. Chase has trouble falling asleep, and after doing so, explores downstairs to find water after waking. Chase finds Raven asleep, and a convenient cup of water on the table.

-----

mmhhh... buppy <3

-------

He takes a sip only to spit out a foul liquid. A loud sound scares Chase and he goes into the adjoining room to investigate. The wardrobe Raven was trapped in early starts to shake. 

Black tendrils from the wardrobe make the shape of hands and feet, before the wardrobe opens violently, followed by a black creature from within attacking Chase. Chase suffocates as the creature engulfs him… Chase wakes up from a nightmare, only to see Carl over him in bed.

We also see this kind of creature in another game doing something very ... similar. It feels at least especially inspired by this line too...

EXCELLENT use of nightmare setup. We’re already conditioned to just accept whatever weird thing is happening, and with the layers of nightmares already seen, it fits in while still being ‘explained.’ Also was the liquid in the cup this route’s piss joke?

I had completely misread this scene wrong the first time. I thought Carl/James I was shaking Chase awake/drove off the monster... but it does sound like he was trying to ‘mount’ Chase in his sleep and the weight on top of him caused his sleep paralysis nightmare...

Jenna barges into the room as “Anger” begins to play. Jenna tackles Carl out of bed and starts to beat on Carl who is now on the floor. Chase notices a shadow making Jenna appear larger… only for Chase to notice the same kind of shadow around Carl. Raven shows up to drag Jenna away from the scene. He questions her and she responds: 

The forms of the shadows disappear, and Chase helps Carl up. 

Neutral comes back in as the two talk and have a serious talk about ‘them’. Intimate plays as the two discuss what’s going on, asking how much of James influenced the ram. 

(Hi, as soon as Silent Echoes is wrapped up, I’m going to be entering my Carl Brain-Rot era after replying this scene)

This is where the Route splits into two branching narratives. For the purpose of this Book Club, we will be selecting ‘Fight it.’ We will cover ‘Let it help us.’ at a different time! In my opinion this was the ‘harder’ route split option to choose ‘correctly’. They really did make Carl to be a bit inept, and I was on the bamboozle train that John was the child abuser not James I (which after a scene in TSR, maybe they both are????)

Chase doesn’t trust the entity and tells Carl to fight it. 

‘We ARE in this together’... the ship that only sails when Carl has the pedo-ghost... truly fucking tragic these two idiots don’t ever talk to each other otherwise because they make such a good/cute pair when they do.

------- 

🐺   🪢  ......... I like to think this was on purpose

------

Chase awakens to Carl spooning him, and the two let themselves enjoy the moment. 

They eventually remember the spooky hell dimension they’re in after being a little to loud.

Personal Note: BOOOOOO, GET BACK TO THE BED AND STOP THINKING. Also this frumpy, bloodied up Carl sprite is TOP FUCKING TIER

Chase heads downstairs to resume the search… 

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

And that wraps our reading for this week. Despite the ‘length’ of this section, not much happens. The new setting is certainly interesting and Jenna and Carl’s worsening conditions sure are interesting.

Next week will be our longest one, approximately double the length of previous weeks. There’s a fail state on the next choice, so make sure to save in case you don’t remember/want to reread the death scene yourself. It’s not very long but I’ll be sure to cover it!

This will be the end of Carl’s Route. Be on the look out for a poll about the branching narrative option!

Remember, this is the spoiler version, Spoiler Free Version HERE

[the-ghost-gardren]

I think someone needs to say it.

The JRWI fandom as a whole has a lot of issues with gender roles the expression of ones self. More specifically towards the guys with longer hair. Which is what I'm talking about the most. Characters that are the core example of this are characters like Gillian, Kian and Ashe. The latter two moreso. Both of these characters are canonically cis men with long hair, yet both are consistently headcanonned as transfem. And whilst I literally headcanon Ashe with he/she pronouns (prefferring he mostly though) I really want to make a point of what I'm going to say.

And I'm making a point of saying this now that: I don't have any fucking issues with transfem headcanons. In fact, there's several that I have and several that I see that I adore. Mostly they're outside of this fandom, both are examples of story and for fun:

Hunter from the Owl House is one. It adds so much to the character when you add breaking free and seperation from the control of your abusers, self expression that they can show once free of their uncle. It drives a really nice narrative which works so beautifully for their character. Transfem Hunter is an interesting thing to look into, especially with the issues they have with having longer hair but how having longer hair is always percived as something a girl has. It works so well as a narrative and could be such an interesting thing writers and artists alike can look into.

Another is my one that is literally just for fun. It's Scott Pilgram. It's purely from a piece of fanart I saw that derrives from the 'im in lesbians with you' line said in the comics and film and it's such an interesting take as well. Even though it's one that's just for a silly, I can imagine so many in-depth takes and conflict that could happen in Scott's mind because of this and who they are as a person. As well as the tale told in the film being one of self acceptance and the baggage that carries through in relationship.

Now my massive reasoning for why I'm not against transfems as a whole and people shouldn't butcher me and call me transphobic (because yeah, transphobic trans people exist-) is out of the way, I can get to what I actually want to say:

All the time I see folks headcanoning these canonically beautiful boys as transfem. And whilst that's cool and all, I feel like we should actually look at why we're headcanoning these characters with long hair this way. It feels like it's almost enforcing typical gender roles, that pretty boys with long hair are women. And that's just not the case.

It's gotten to the point that people outside of the fandom think and even sometimes go into PD thinking Ashe is canonically a girl. And whilst yes, popular headcanons exist in all fandoms (see Tubbo with horns in the DSMP fandom) that they leak into the mainstream, it's gotten to the point of where I'm starting to think peoples brains really do just link: boy with long hair = girl all the time. All the time I see people basically going 'boy + long hair = you're a girl now' pretty much and the ammount of just dysphoria that gives me as someone who wants to dress more feminine and grow out his hair long after he starts T is driving me insane.

It enforces a lot of particular gender roles when you're deciding that anyone with long hair is a woman. that they're girly. That they're just that. A girl. And I've seen ages ago (when I was much younger so I don't remember the fandoms) people do the same with women with short hair. Women who are buff and strong and don't have traditionally 'girly' frames. Just instantly making them men. It's kinda fucked but a lot of people don't think the same when It's about men, do they?

You never see extremely masc presenting characters headcanonnoned this way.

Never Rolan Deep, who you could say having this hidden 'monster' inside of him is an analogy for being in the closet, about sexuality or even gender. About not knowing a part of yourself and then seeing others 'express' themselves (murder and maim and kill) in a way that makes you realise something about yourself that you're not who you thought you were in life. That you've been repressing this part of you, that you've discovered this part of you, that feels so weird and foreign that even now you decide to try and push it down, to pretend to be yourself.

Not Ryan, and his very heavy masculinity, how he engages in frat culture and how that can effect a someone's psyche. And how he plays sports and is very traditionally a 'boy'

And you don't see people headcanoning Mark fucking Winters as Transfem. A large, muscularly built person with facial hair.

It's always the folks who are more lithe, lanky, skinny canonically. Always the people who have long hair and are just pretty. Always them.

And I'm just wondering why?

This post isn't anything to start discourse. It isn't asking for you to 'fight back' against what I said with even more content of this sort of stuff. It's just asking for you to stop and think for a second. As to why it's always these pretty boys with long hair that you're thinking are femminine. That's all.

I think my desire to talk about this has been sparked a little more with someone using she/her pronouns for Sylnan in the jrwi-kiss bracket. Sylnan's very masc in apperance, although has long hair like my point, so it did make me curious about that person's headcanons and why they think that. There's another person on ao3 who headcanons Rand as using she/he pronouns and whilst that's not my cup of tea I still am a little curious as to why, as a lot of this fandom does just present very 'femme' or pretty looking guys as transfem.

And I'm welcome to other people's opinions on the matter. I'm welcome to open discussion. I will say though that I find it very hard to disscern tone over text with people I don't know well and that I'd appriciate if you state things such as the fact that you don't mean it argumentativly and such if that is the case. That we're talking civally. I've been attacked a lot over minor things in past fandoms, hell, I even got called racist randomly in THIS fandom for just mentioning colour theory in art styles and how colour picking source art for skintone might not work for your art style. Which, when you think about it, is moreso calling Wyvern racist, if anything. So please just make sure you mention your tone or even use indicators or brackets.

Also going to say: when talking about characters on this post, if you usually headcanon them as she/her or using she/her pronouns, if it's in the context of your headcanon and we're not talking about the canon character seperately (as fanon an canon are completely seperate), I'd appriciate if you use they/them for the characters. I will follow in suit when talking about fandom interations of characters as well. As I have done litearlly throughout this post. It's moreso out of respect for eachother and our personal headcanons, if anything.

[kozmicxblues]

Stranger Things Masterlist

I'm keeping a running list of the fic I've written. You can also go through the #eeriewrites tag to find anything I've shared here or the #st4 tag for my headcanons and other ST posts.

How Do I Get You Alone? (T)

COMPLETE Dustin rolls his eyes and pushes off of the counter. "Your shift's almost over, right? Wanna hang out?" Steve scoops up the fallen movies. "I would, but I've got plans. Me and Eddie are meeting up at the diner." "Oh, that's cool. I'll just come with you." Steve pauses his work and looks over his shoulder at Dustin. He's got a pinched look on his face, like he's thinking something over. Dustin knows that can be a real struggle for him. "Uh... I don't... I don't know if that's a good idea." 5 times Dustin accidentally crashes a steddie date (+ 1 time Steve crashes a Hellfire Club meeting)

Time Keeps Moving On (M)

WIP When he turned around, Max was on the ground clutching her knee. Even from a distance, he could see the blood dripping down her leg from behind her fingers. Billy glanced up from his car and took in the sight before him. Then he ashed his cigarette and went back to work. That’s all it took, really. The sight of Billy Hargrove’s cold eyes as they glazed right over his bleeding sister. Eddie was digging the first aid kit out of the hall closet before he’d even made the conscious decision to go out. When the Hargroves move into Forest Hills Trailer Park, Eddie finds the younger sister he never knew he wanted. Unfortunately, she comes as a package deal with the former King of Hawkins High.

she took a look at my palm (and said you're in love) (T)

COMPLETE “Now, let’s look at your heart lines. Yours is chained. You’ve had a rocky love life, haven’t you?” “I guess that’s one way to put it.” He certainly wasn’t going to air out his series of failed relationships – stemming from his abandonment issues and the fact it took him nineteen years to realize he couldn’t connect with any of his dates because he was going after the completely wrong gender – in front of a complete stranger and a group of children. He definitely didn’t want to be discussing this in front of Eddie. He’d put too much effort into hiding the crush that had steadily developed over the summer before it could ruin their friendship. But any hope of avoiding that had clearly died the moment Steve stepped through Madame Loretta’s gaudy curtain beads. Steve and Eddie take the kids to a fall festival

make 'em turn their heads every place we go (T)

WIP Steve has always dreaded going home for the holidays. He's tired of putting himself back in the closet for the sake of his judgmental relatives. He's ready to stand his ground this year. Luckily, he knows just the right man for the job. In other words, a steddie fake dating au

You Still Catch My Eye (T)

WIP There’s a wave of excitement coming from somewhere in the bar. It’s almost midnight, the night ticking by even faster than Steve had realized. When he turns back from the clock, Eddie is already looking at him. He decides to be brave. “Kissing someone at midnight is supposed to be good luck, right?” Eddie smiles. “Right.” He sighs dramatically. “It would be a shame to start the year off with bad luck. Don’t you think?” Steve’s had about all the bad luck he can stand. He could do this. He’d faced down a junkyard full of monsters with nothing but a bat. He could let himself kiss a boy.

It's a Strange Magic (G)

WIP “Haven’t you ever wondered about the stuff that happens in our house? Like why Mom tries to pretend Halloween doesn’t exist? Or why she gets weird about us talking, watching, or reading anything that has the word ‘magic’ in it? You had to fight with her for months before she let you play D&D. Or about why stuff flies off of shelves every time Holly has a tantrum?” “No,” he lied. “Well, I have. And now that I know the truth, I’m not gonna stay here and turn all boring like you. If Joyce doesn’t start my training tonight, I’ll lose my powers forever.” Nancy stomped past him. “What do you mean, boring like me?” Mike chased after her. Halloweentown AU

[random-conspiracy]

I'm livebrogging me watching PERCY JACKSON for your knowledge

Well let's continue.

adkaddsakj Imagine is Chiron was just gaslighting Percy for funsies. "There's no teacher with that name"

The painting, I'm 100% sure it has some mythological background but whatever. A shipwreck or something like that, it works for me. I want to see water motifs bitch

Chiron do something or I'm killing you. AAAAAAH, TREASON!

Ok, call me crazy but I think TELLING HIM THE TRUTH would be easier than all this gaslight hashahshahsa. You're a demigod, monsters are real, you're not going crazy and we're here to help. Easy peazy. BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, WE MUST GASLIGHT GATEKEEP GIRLBOSS ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE CAMP BECAUSE "ItS dAnGeRoUs".

y o u r s p e c i a l.

There it goes your young fantasy. Now kill me. hahshasha

GABE!!! MY MAN MY BRO MY DUDE!!! YEARS WITHOUT HEARING YOUR NASTY VOICE!

Ugh!

He looks younger. And less pathetic... ok that is horrible... DID HE JUST PLAYED THE "I CAN ACCEPT PUNCHING A GIRL BUT I DRAW THE LINE AT EXPULSION" CARD???????

Sally your character is already sad, help me here.

I forcen my brother to clap because what else can we do?? The blue candy, ladies and gentlemen!

This works as an allegory for mental illness soooooooo good.

IDK, I liked the movie's Gabe more. This one is awful but the other one was a creep. But TBF it makes more sense for Sally to be with this guy. It was super incomprehensible how she ended with the last scumbag but this one at least reads like "he used to be charming... 10 years ago".

HAHAHAHAHASAHASHAH

THE WAY HE SAYS "I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING IMPORTANT" FEELS LIKE HE'S ABOUT TO COME OUT OF THE CLOSET AND CONFESS HE FEELS SOMETHING FOR GROVER

That gooooooooooooosh he was. Is any one of ye old fandom reading this shit? Percy x Grover has been dead since 9/11.

He's so gay coded ahshashas.

It would be sadder if Sally had an historial of hallucinations.

Seriously Sally? Hhshasasha the good ol' "I never said that" trap? So.... you met Poseidon next to the sceptic tanks? Ya naaaaaaaaaasty. SALLY, SLOW!!!! A BIT AT A TIME!!!! BITCH STOP BEING SCARYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

JHASHASHASHAHAHA PERCY AS THE STRAIGHT-MAN????? HAHHSHAJSHADAHADKJADKJAKJSHSAJASHHAHAHAHSHASHAHHSAHASHASHAJSHAHS

Heeeeeee is already heeeeeeeeere :]

That's racist bro

He's so hurt, Grover. YOU TRIED TO TEACH HIM TO DEAL WITH THIS WITH MYTHOMAGIC??? I respect that. That's actually a good idea. however it brings to mind the horrible world were MagicTheGathering is real.

WHERE IS THE TREE??

I saw the tree.

Sally stop being sad you're making me sad. And Percy... oh boy ahshashasa. No one is explaining a shit to him but ok, gotta keep up.

And here it comes, THE HERO! Brave! Mighty! Clever? Come on boy, steal that horn, daddy needs a new rack.

That shit was crazy. Killed a Minotaur in his first day???

Horse.