#i'm still trying to get all the endings i guess but i have gotten credits twice

[kaereth]

Been playing Slay the Princess and Witch Princess is my fav so far

nya >:3

[eufezco]

civil war!bucky x fem!reader ( angst , fluff ) no use of y/n

based on the captain america: civil war post credits scene

a / n : english is not my first language so yeah 😭 also my request are open for mavel characters (especially bucky and steve)

You had doubted whether to go or not.

You had been up almost all night, the dark circles under your eyes spoke for themselves. You tried to get some sleep but it was impossible. You moved nervously in bed from side to side. After not finding a comfortable position, you got up and started walking around your room in an attempt to calm your nerves but the four walls were suffocating you.

Steve found you throwing up in the bathroom, on your knees, and with tears in your eyes. He held your forehead so you could let it all out and then wiped your mouth. Steve gave you enough time to recompose and when you were done, he sat on the bathroom floor with his back against the wall and let you lean against his chest while you sobbed. You should let him sleep, it had been a long day for everyone, your bodies were still aching from the fight and Steve had enough to worry about. But despite all that, Steve's strong arms held you tightly close to his body, as if he was trying to hold back the part of you that he knew would leave with Bucky.

Steve took you in his arms and carried you to the couch where he placed your head on his lap, wrapped you in a blanket, and caressed your hair until you fell asleep. When you woke up, Steve wasn't home.

You had doubted whether to go or not but in the end, you went because if you didn't, you would never forgive yourself.

—Hi.

—Hey —. Bucky let out all the air he'd been holding in, relieved to see you.

When Steve arrived and you weren't coming with him, Bucky couldn't help but feel bad. He knew it could happen and he didn't blame you for it. You had already lost him twice, you weren't going to take one more, you didn't deserve to go through that again. The idea of being away from you again did not appeal to him either.

Steve, on the other hand, wasn't surprised to see you. Last night you let it all out in the toilet and on his shirt, and you got some sleep, so he figured you would have regained your strength. Or at least you would pretend that you had, the thing was, that he knew you were coming. —I'll go and talk to King T'Challa —. He said and walked out, leaving you and Bucky alone.

You slowly approached the gurney where Bucky was sitting. The metal arm was gone and only the part attached to his shoulder remained. His wounds were treated and on his face, you could finally see a peaceful expression. His brows were not furrowed, his jaw was not clenched, instead he was showing you a sad little smile.

—How are you—? How are you doing?

—I'm good. I'm ready. How are you? —He asked back.

—I'm fine I guess.

After your answer there was silence.

Bucky knew you were lying because of your tone of voice. He was aware of your disagreement with his decision. Steve also had asked him many times if that was what he wanted but this was not about what he wanted or not. Now that he had reclaimed his ability to choose, he had to use it to do what was right, and what was right was to go back to sleep until there existed a way to free him completely from the Winter Soldier program.

—Buck, you know you don't have to do this.

He shook his head at your words. Of course you wouldn't stop trying.

—I can't trust my own mind. —You were going to complain again but he talked before you could. —And as much as I would like to make up for all the time we've lost, I have to do this. Until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head I think going back under is the best thing. For everybody.

Now it was you shaking your head. For everybody but you. After all these years you had finally gotten him back, after thinking he was dead, after fighting your friends defending his innocence, you were going to lose him again.

Without saying a word you placed your hand on top of the one he had resting on his leg. The sad smile appeared on his lips again and he looked down at your hands. The touch of your fingers on his skin felt nothing like the human contact he had been experiencing these past few years. Your touch was gentle, your fingers rested on his hand delicately, as if you were afraid of breaking him. It was the first time in a while that anyone had cared about that. Bucky flipped his hand over to link your fingers together.

Using your free hand you lifted his chin and you not only made him look at you but also made his lips at the perfect height for you to kiss them. You pressed your lips against his, he squeezed your hand. Yours moved from his chin to rest on the side of his jaw, your thumb caressing his cheek. You didn't know how or when you started crying but you felt the hot tears slide down your cheeks until they mixed with the kiss. Bucky felt the salty taste and after a few seconds, he broke away from your lips. He rested his forehead against yours and let your hand go to cup your cheek and wipe your tears.

—You are making this very hard —. He mumbled against your mouth.

You kissed him again because it was either that or trying to convince him one last time not to do it. Bucky's hand cupped your cheek, god, if only he had his two arms and could touch you and feel you the way he wanted. Bucky's lips gladly kissed you back one more time, until you both heard Steve fake coughing behind you.

You parted ways, already missing the feeling of his lips and hand on you. Steve came with two nurses and you knew that it was time. You felt your legs weakening but you could not break down in front of Bucky so you hugged yourself and hid yourself in Steve's chest. Your friend wrapped one of his arms around your body.

—She'll be fine. I'll take care of that.

Bucky pressed his lips together and nodded, thanking Steve.

—I'll wait for you —. You said and Bucky flashed you one last smile. He hadn't asked you to because he didn't want to be selfish but he was waiting for you to tell him so. Hearing you say that you’ll wait for him gave him the peace of mind he needed to breathe in the cold gas filling the cryostasis chamber.

[heavyhitterheaux]

Heart's Desire

First Lady of Private Garden Fic

Synopsis: You have the difficult task of telling your parents that you're moving to Atlanta with Jack and Urban and it becomes clear to you the desire to prove to them that you're making the right choice

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader (baby Jack and baby FL)

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

The television was on a low volume as you and Jack were laying down in the bedroom with his arms wrapped around you as your head rested on his chest with him stealing kisses from you every few minutes.

It had been a long day of packing up your apartment to anticipate the move to Atlanta since Jack had gotten signed to Generation Now. The goal was for the two of you as well as Urban to move in the next three weeks. Some of your things had already been taken to your apartment in Atlanta in the hopes that you all wouldn't have to move so much at one time. There was just one problem.

The fact that you hadn't told your parents yet and Jack had no idea.

“Babe, you have to show me all your favorite spots once we get to Atlanta. Are you excited?” Jack asked as he looked down at you.

“Yes and I definitely will. Louisville has grown on me but I missed it so much. So I'm happy to be moving back.”

“We'll leave around 6 am or maybe earlier so I guess we can see our parents the day before. What did they say when you told them?”

“Umm, about that….” You started to say and then trailed off.

“What's wrong?” Jack asked as he played with the ends of your curly hair.

“I still haven't told them.” You mumbled into Jack’s chest and he couldn't make out what you had said.

“What was that? You have to speak up, baby.”

“I still haven't told them.” You said louder and Jack looked at you in disbelief.

“BABY! We are literally leaving in a matter of weeks. So, they're just going to come over one day to see our apartment empty and us missing?”

“I know! I know it's bad! But…. I just have a bad feeling.”

“About what? Us moving?” He asked, trying to get more information out of you.

“No, telling them about it. My mom really more so than my dad. I feel like he would be fine with it. She won't be.”

“Why do you think that?”

“I… it's just a feeling that I have. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know that she's not about to take it well.”

“But you need to tell them as soon as possible. You're technically an adult so it's not like they can really tell you no that you can't go and you're married, but they don't know that part yet.”

“And they're definitely not going to find out until we want them to know.” You replied while sitting up.

“Sooo, when are we doing this? Preferably sooner rather than later.” Jack asked as he sat up with you and rubbed your back.

“Tomorrow I guess. Just drop me off and if it goes to shit, I'm walking across the street to Maggie and Brian.”

“I don't think you're giving your mom enough credit.”

“Maybe you're right but we just have to wait and see. I want to be wrong about this whole thing, truly I do. But I don't know.”

“In the meantime, you need to get some sleep. Come here.” Jack said as he opened his arms so you could lay back down on his chest. He reached over to turn off the lamp that was perched on the bedside table while you grabbed the remote to turn off the tv.

“Baby?” You said after a few minutes of you two laying in silence.

“Hmm?”

“Your entire life is about to change.” You answered as you traced his features with your pointer finger.

“Correction. Our entire lives are about to change. You know wherever I go that you're coming with me. We're a package deal and we really are now that we have rings on our fingers.”

“I know I tell you this all the time, but I am so proud of you. I knew all of your hard work was going to pay off. Even when you didn't believe it yourself and at one point wanted to give up.”

“But I knew better because you wouldn't let me.”

“Because I knew how important this was to you and what it would mean when it actually happened.”

“If I'm honest, I'm actually nervous as hell.”

“Why?”

“I just want everything to play out how it's supposed to. I mean you hear stories of the industry and what can happen. If this doesn't work out what the hell am I going to do? I literally won't be able to support the both of us.” Jack confessed as his worries were now coming up to the surface.

“Okay, stop. You're making yourself upset. First off, we're not thinking like that because it will work out. They obviously see how talented you are and see your potential just like I do. It's going to work out and then we can look back and see that there was absolutely nothing for you to worry about. However, if the worst comes to worst and we come back here as long as I'm with you, we're going to make it work.”

“You really love me, huh?” Jack asked as he cuddled you closer to him and leaned down to kiss you.

“More than you could ever imagine. You mean the world to me and I will always be here for you.”

“Well the feeling is mutual.”

“There's just one thing that's going to suck when we do move.”

“What's that, babe?”

“Now we really can't wear our rings. I mean we barely wear them now, but it's going to be close to nonexistent. They have to market you to appeal to a certain audience and are going to push the single narrative.”

“Well they can forget that. You are my top priority and they'll just have to deal with it.”

“I know.” You said while laughing. One thing that Jack didn't play about was you and your well being. Wherever he went, you were going too.

“Okay, last thing and then we really need to go to sleep.”

“What's wrong pookie?”

“I'm going to headline Forecastle.”

“I'll do you one better. One day you're going to be headlining your own festival.”

“You really think so?”

“We've made it this far, right? So what's one more thing?”

It was 11 in the morning when you and Jack were sitting in his car outside your parents house. It was the fact that you had gotten there at 10:30 and still hadn't quite made your way inside. Jack was probably on his fifth pep talk at this point, but he didn't mind if it was going to help you feel better. He planned on dropping you off and coming back whenever he finished what he had to do.

“Baby girl, I'm not trying to rush you but…”

“I know. I'm going.” You said as you were fidgeting.

“Baby, you have said that for the past thirty minutes.” Jack quietly said while looking over at you.

“You're going to throw me to the wolves.”

“Baby, those are your parents that YOU lied to. Not me.”

All you did was sigh before responding to him.

“Promise to get lunch afterwards? If this goes to shit?”

“Of course sweetheart. Anything you want. But, you need to take off your ring. And if it doesn't take me too long, I'll just get pizza and bring it back here.”

You glanced down to see that you had forgotten to take it off before coming here and quickly slipped it off and handed it to Jack for safe keeping.

You sighed and Jack quickly cupped your face in his hands and gave you several kisses after putting your ring in a safe place.

“Whatever happens, it's you and me forever alright?”

You nodded your head as Jack kissed your nose and pinched your cheek making you laugh.

“Okay, here goes.”

Once inside, you were sitting across from your parents and they were waiting for an explanation from you ever since you said that you had something to tell them. When you had first gotten there, you made brownies with your mom as you all sat around the kitchen catching up. An hour and a half had passed and you figured that it was time to get it over with.

“Okay, Lil Bit, where's the fire?” Your dad asked as he laughed and you were looking everywhere but their eyes.

“Umm…”

“Baby girl, what's wrong?” Your mom asked and that was when you blurted it out, ripping off the bandaid.

Because it was either now or never.

“I'm moving back to Atlanta with Jack and Urban is coming with us.”

At that moment, Jack walked in the front door holding three pizzas and stopped in his tracks when he noticed that all eyes were on him and had a feeling that you had just told them.

“Umm, I'll put these in the kitchen.”

Your parents were quiet for a few minutes, but your dad was the first to speak as Jack came back and sat next to you.

“When?”

“In like a few weeks.”

“A heads up more than a few weeks before this was supposed to happen would have been nice.” Your dad told you as he looked confused.

“That's what I told her.” Jack quietly said and you eyed him.

“Wait, what are you two going to do to make money? And where are you going to live?” Your mom asked the both of you.

“I know, but I was nervous to tell you.”

“I already have a job lined up for when we get there. It's at Chick-fil-A.” Jack proudly said, but it didn't look like your parents were pleased.

“And how are both of you supposed to survive off of that? And wait, how did you even get approved for an apartment? Neither of you have credit.”

“Well Aunt Keisha signed for us since she knows the landlord of the apartment building.” You explained, but it looked like your parents were getting more pissed by the second.

“She what!?”

“Well you asked us what our plan was and we told you!”

All Jack did was look back and forth between you and your parents.

“Mom, Jack got signed to Generation Now. This is huge for him and I'm going to be supportive of this.”

“Being there is what got Danielle wrapped up in whatever she was doing and…”

“I'm not her so why compare me? It's not like I'll be there by myself. We have plenty of family there to look out for us.” She would tend to bring up Dani's past but would never go into details so you had no clue what she was referring to.

“That isn't the point, Y/N!”

“Why are you so against this?” You asked her and she took a deep breath before responding.

“Let's be serious for a second. Jack got signed, okay fine. But that does not guarantee anything. Jack, no offense.”

“Um, none taken.” Jack quietly said as he took your hand in order to try to get you to remain calm.

“Your college fund is literally just sitting there.”

“I'm not going! We already talked about this. Why don't you just give it to me so I can be able to pay for things when we move?”

“For you to blow through it and then come back begging for more when things don't work out?”

“Ivy….” Your dad started to say but all she could focus on was what you were telling her.

“Do you not have any confidence in me? That isn't going to happen. I write songs and produce music so it's not like I won't be doing anything.”

“And you know how the music industry is. I just want to protect you! And if it doesn't work out, what's the back up plan?”

“I am now an adult and I can make my own decisions. No matter what you say, I'm doing this. But, I would rather do it with you being supportive of me. And I haven't got a back up plan because this is going to work.”

All your mom did was scoff before letting out a sarcastic laugh.

It was at that moment that tears started to prick the corners of your eyes.

“You don't think we can do this, do you?”

“Hmm. It clearly doesn't matter what I think because your mind is made up, so there's nothing left for me to say. Jack please know that this isn't anything against you.” Your mom said as she got up from the couch.

“Wait, mom? Where are you going?” You asked as you lowkey started to panic.

“Have fun in Atlanta.”

“Mommy, I….”

“Like I said, have fun in Atlanta.”

Once she was out of earshot, your dad made his way over to you and brought you and Jack into a hug.

“Just give her some time. She'll come around. Make sure you two send me the address of the apartment and all the details. I know how important you are to each other so there was no talking you out of this. Even if I don't like the idea very much.”

“She's mad at me.”

“She's not. Reality is hitting her that her youngest is growing up and she doesn't quite know how to process all of it. But whatever you need, we'll give it to you without a second thought. And Jack, you better take care of my baby girl. I know you will, but I still have to threaten you.” Your dad said and let out a small laugh afterwards.

“You know I will and that she's not going to want for anything.”

Your dad nodded his head and when he glanced down at Jack’s left hand, he noticed that he was wearing a wedding band, and simply smiled to himself.

Deep down, he already had a feeling but wasn't going to say anything until you two did and made sure to keep this small observation to himself.

He figured that the two of you had been through enough with everything that had just happened.

Once everything was settled, you, your dad, and Jack sat around the kitchen and ate pizza while explaining your plans about what you two were going to do first when you got settled in Atlanta. Soon, it was around 3 in the afternoon and you two decided to see if Jack’s parents were home and knew that only Maggie's snickerdoodles were probably the only thing that could fix how you were feeling at the moment.

After saying goodbye to your dad, you and Jack went across the street when you saw that Maggie's car was in the driveway and knocked on the door because Jack had mysteriously lost his key again. Once she opened it and saw the look on your face, she moved to the side to let you in and all of you went and sat in the kitchen.

She poured both of you a glass of strawberry lemonade and sat a plate piled high with snickerdoodles in front of you and Jack and you slowly began eating as she asked you what was wrong since neither of you had said anything.

“Why are the two of you looking like that?” She asked, but all you did was stuff another cookie in your mouth as you waited for Jack to answer for the both of you.

“Umm, Y/N's mom isn't really happy with us moving to Atlanta and she's obviously upset by it.” He answered as he went to grab a cookie from the plate. Your eyes went wide as you noticed him reaching for it with his left hand and quickly grabbed it and put it under the table and Jack looked at you confused.

“Hmm, she just sounds concerned and her feelings are valid. But it's not like you haven't lived there before.”

“She's not confident that I can make a name for myself.” You quietly said and you mouthed ‘take off your ring’ to Jack and his eyes suddenly went wide.

He slipped it in his pocket before going back to the plate to grab a snickerdoodle and was praying that Maggie hadn't noticed.

“She just wants for your future to be secure is what it sounds like. I know that it probably hurt to hear her say those things but whatever happens, we're all going to support you no matter what.”

“You don't think this is a mistake, do you?”

“I think that sometimes what I want for my children might not be what they desire in their heart to do. My job as a mother includes supporting you, even if I may not like the idea. But good thing that I do. You two are going to be just fine and I know it. I can't hold your hand forever.”

You started to play with the ends of your hair as you thought about what Maggie said and knew that she was probably right. That didn't mean that your feelings still weren't extremely hurt by what was said by your mother, but the best thing to do in the end was to prove her wrong.

Nothing was going to get in your way of making sure Jack became famous and was known all around the world and you wouldn't have to beg your parents for anything.

When the two of you were back in Jack’s car after visiting with Maggie, you let out a sigh before you heard Jack from beside you.

“Do you think she saw the ring?” He asked as he gave it to you to slip it back on his finger and he did the same thing with yours.

“I don't think so. I mean she would have definitely said something if she did.”

“That means I had it on at your parents house too. Fuck!” Jack exclaimed as he laid his head on the steering wheel.

“That wasn't even their focus so don't even worry about it. We have bigger things to deal with babe.” You told him as you rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him.

“I'm sorry they made you upset. I feel like I pushed you to tell them and now I feel bad about the entire thing.” He told you as he started driving back to your apartment.

“It had to happen sooner or later. And don't feel bad. I shouldn't have waited so long to do it.”

“But now I see why you did.”

“It's all going to work out in the end despite what may have happened.” You told him as you were doing your best to try not to cry.

The person that was always in your corner and was your biggest supporter ever since you could remember basically shot down your dreams and told you that she didn't have an ounce of confidence in you and what you could achieve.

As far as you were concerned nothing else needed to be said between you and your mother. That was the way she felt and you just had to accept it.

“Babe?”

“Hmm?” Jack answered as he turned to look at you while the two of you were sitting at a stop light.

“Why wait to leave in three weeks? Let's leave now.”

“Wait, like now now!?” Jack asked as he looked at you in disbelief.

“The sooner, the better so I can get started on proving her wrong.”

[inkyvendingmachine]

Avedone With All of This Season 4, Episode 4

💀 Call of Cthulhu: Haunted Hijinx Masterpost ���� Call of Cthulhu Season Four Masterpost (Coming Soon)

Warning: This campaign is an edited version of  a Call of Cthulhu scenario from the Tales of the Crescent City book. While a lot has been changed, there IS spoilers for it throughout these posts.

GUESS WHO FINALLY SHOWED UP!!! and also a lot of other stuff happened. I'm sorry, this one is very long because I didn't take notes, and struggle to leave out details when I'm writing from the records instead of the notes.

Art Credit: @inkdemonapologist : sketching + inking @inkyvendingmachine : concept + colouring

Somehow Jack’s car, with all its original passengers and no extras, manage to make it back to the studio. Joey immediately rushes into the studio, to go rant at Bendy about everything that happened… and possibly to go fuse with Bendy because he feels utterly helpless now after completely draining himself with panicked magic. 

But it’s probably just the first one.

Sammy and Henry arrive as well to find Jack and Peter quietly picking glass out of his broken car in something like shock. Upon getting no responses from Jack about what happened, Sammy storms off to find Joey.

Joey is all too happy to start his entire rant over again for Sammy as he works on fusing with Bendy. They were just following Peter’s leads and driving from location to location and then all of the sudden this ASSHOLE shows up out of nowhere and just stands in front of the car. Busts the car, terrifies poor Jack, and then on top of that tries to break INTO the car and abduct Peter?? It’s a good thing Joey managed to blast him out, but they weren’t even DOING ANYTHING that would have possibly summoned him NOTHING AT ALL... And on top of all that, being an absolute PRICK as he’s doing it! 

… Anyways, how was the moooob?

Sammy updates Joey on everything that happened with Johnny Nero, which is pretty much just that he had seen the Yellow sign, that Henry removed it, and that Nero was pretty intent on getting his hands on whatever the Phantom wants first. Which like… yeah, if you wanna solve all our problems and fix this mess, go ahead! But Joey’s pretty sure that’s not going to happen, so he goes back to working on his ritual.

Sammy leaves to go back to Jack, and right as Joey feels ready to start the ritual his phone rings. The special one. And it’s… Avedon??

Avedon immediately starts info dumping on Joey about everything that’s been going on already… like, all the information Joey already knows. A lot of flat “yeah?”s in reply as Avedon rambles on, until he mentions that it’s already gotten to Norman. Wait, what?? But Avedon doesn’t stop, telling Joey to meet him at his hotel room in NYC so they can go over more information. Before Joey manages to get any clarification, he hangs up. 

That’s Joey’s thing!!!

Joey is the one who hangs up on others!!!!!!!

Frustrated, Joey does try to call Norman, and… Yeah, Norman is talking in weird riddles and speech that doesn’t fit with the Normal Norman Vibes. That call is also ended with little information gained… but at least it DOES seem like Avedon knows what he’s talking about this time, so Joey’s willing to meet with him, even though he’s also feeling done with him already.

Joey finishes the ritual and merges with Bendy.

On his way downstairs, Sammy is still turning over the car event he just heard about… and the increasing evidence that Peter might actually be the Phantom’s target?? Why else would he be trying to drag him out of the car?

Sammy approaches Peter, who has since started exchanging information with Henry as they all get the last of the glass shards out of the car, and says that he wants to see if Prophet can tell anything about what happened. Sammy looks distracted for a moment, and [lack of surprise because it was actually somewhat communicated beforehand,] Prophet is here!

Prophet concentrates, and with no hesitation, mushes his hands all over Peter's face. 

The good news is that, while Prophet can tell that Peter’s been grabbed by the Phantom recently, that’s actually all that he can detect. No additional eldritch stuff, he’s not possessed, he’s not weirdly marked or damaged in a way that can’t normally be seen. Great!

But Prophet can’t tell if Peter is the target or not. For his part, Peter has been muttering that it seemed like the phantom was trying to pull information from Peter on someone else he was looking for, someone who “followed us out”, but there’s nothing Prophet can sense to confirm that… but he realizes he can sense the distortions to reality increasing throughout NYC. They’re in the air, moving about… getting stronger.

Henry can feel it too.

But that’s all the energy Prophet has, and he unfortunately misses Joey showing up and dumping his new plan of action on everyone. He, Henry and Peter are going to go find Avedon’s dumb hotel room and figure out what’s going on with him, while Sammy and Jack are going to go check up on Susie and Norman because Norman is definitely acting weird now and he’s not quite sure if Susie is in over her head or not…

Nobody objects to the plan. And with NYC losing more and more of its reality to the yellow mist rolling in, it seems important that they do something.

Henry, Joey and Peter do make a detour to Henry’s house though to make sure all is well there. The car is gone, the lights are out, things seem as they should if Linda managed to follow through and get the kids out of the city. Peter is concerned when he notices some of Henry’s wards, but don’t worry, those are supposed to be there. Henry checks them over, and they all seem good. Bendy finds a bucket of clay he and Henry's kids had played with before, and brings it along to entertain himself on any following sleepovers, since that is a thing that will probably keep happening. For once, it seems like everything is actually left alone? 

Until they look out back and find the treehouse Henry built for his kids is gone. Actually, it’s almost like all the landscaping and such in the area was just… cleared away? Or never happened. Joey meanwhile is tabbing through Henry's photo albums and makes sure everyone is still there, which they are. But the treehouse isn’t. And, perhaps even worse, there’s also an extra guy in the JDS staff photo now? Joey pockets it, since this guy seems to be in the music department according to the photo, but Joey is sure he’s never seen him before. And it’s not Alan. So. Hopefully the music boys can shed some light on this.

Henry grabs some supplies and his gun, and Joey turns him around to fix his outfit and make sure the gun is properly hidden. Avedon is 2 trigger happy, we don’t want to say our hellos by instantly showing off the weapons we brought.

Meanwhile Jack and Sammy’s drive to Norman’s is more fraught than the previous ones. Not only has he moved house again, (though at least this time they have evidence of his new address from the junk mail they took last time) but… many other roads are starting to move too. Also Sammy is driving, so, speed has been cut in the engine department too… don’t need to hit two things in a single day with all this mist building up, and any sort of navigation trouble puts even more delays in.

At least they do manage to find the place and head on in, with hope that also maybe now that Avedon has arrived Norman will stop being so “sticking it out in a house that keeps wandering off apparently.” Things seem kinda fine at first at least, like they’re not immediately shooed out or attacked or have any weird monsters hanging over the house waiting for them to try the door… But upon Sammy questioning Susie while Jack goes to find Norman in the back, the music boys find out that things are very much not fine.

Susie is… very confident with a knife all of a sudden, and very confident that she will be able to just stab the Phantom when given the word to go out and hunt him down. Y’know just… stab the guy who couldn’t be damaged by a 2 ton vehicle slamming square on into him. And when Sammy tries to argue this logic, it just becomes more and more obvious that Susie and Norman are both… in character. Susie’s speech cadence is even reminiscent of when she’s performing rather than talking normally. But they don't seem aware that their actions seem more scripted than decided.

Jack finds Norman in the back, with a hatchet and a very similar plan to Susie’s. But whatever is happening isn’t strong enough to make them completely forget themselves, and with some facts being pointed out and reminders of who they are, the boys manage to get these two actors back to themselves... kind of. There's still some weirdness going on, and this also doesn't answer the question of what could be done to prevent this happening again?

Neither Susie nor Norman really realized when it started to happen, and it took some serious outside convincing to snap them out of it at all… Do they need Henry to expel something to truly get back to themselves again??

ALSO, IF THE PHANTOM CAN’T BE HARMED WITH A CAR, WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO ABOUT THAT TOO?? THAT SEEMS CONCERNING!!!!

Meanwhile, Henry parks near the hotel they were directed to by Avedon, and the trio look upon it in… concern. First of all, it doesn’t even look like a hotel, or look like it belongs in NYC. And the entire place is surrounded by a yellow mist… and while they could wait it out or try to somehow call Avedon and tell him to come out, it just feels like the longer they wait the worse it will get. 

Really, it’s starting to feel that way for a lot of things.

But even though everything about this feels bad, they press on and enter the “hotel”. What should be the hotel lobby is abnormally empty, and when they start up the stairs… well, that’s not normal either, the stairs just keep going. Joey is flipping any rugs he finds though to make sure they don’t have stupid destabilization spells underneath them.

After a few rounds of strange rooms, weird hallways, some alien screeching outside the windows, and Henry noticing that NYC is not the city outside said windows, he stops everyone out of worry that they’re walking into a trap… and Joey agrees. But not that this hotel is specifically a trap.

All of New York is a trap.

It doesn’t matter where they go next, the longer they don’t solve this issue, the more of a trap everything will be.

They just gotta press on.

…

Aaaaand start yelling for Avedon because clearly they aren’t gonna be just walking up to his hotel room at this point.

Good news! Avedon replies! Bad news!! Only Henry can hear it for some reason!! And… Avedon can hear Joey but not Henry?? 

It’s all very confusing. They find Henry’s reading glasses on a table. Those were in his pocket how did they get there excuse me. All of this isn't fine actually.

But after a few rounds of Avedon Polo, they finally stumble across each other in a… garden. In the middle of a hotel. And of course, the first thing Avedon says is that they need to leave immediately. He didn’t know it was going to be like THIS, he just stepped out to get a coffee and suddenly the whole place is weird??? Well, now that they’re here, time to immediately leave because YEAH THAT WAS THE PLAN FROM THE START. 

Going through another door leads out into a familiar courtyard, at least familiar to Joey. He had been here a few nights ago, while invading Y’s dream, and indeed, right where he’d expect, he finds the Y twins chatting amongst themselves. Marching up to them, Joey demands to know what they’re doing and what’s going on.

They respond by addressing him as royalty.

✧･ﾟ: *Joey Drew, as Your Highness･ﾟ: *✧

Normally, this would probably inflate Joey’s ego! Currently, it sinks like a stone into his stomach!! He does not want to be part of the play!!!

Unless…

Joey suddenly wonders, because it’s the same courtyard, if they are in a dreamscape of some sort… Does he appear different than himself… and that's why they're addressing him this way?

But no, he looks like Joey, and Henry looks like Henry, and Peter looks like Peter, and Avedon is still here… except Joey also notices some of their hands are starting to turn transparent…………. That's probably fine.

He still doesn’t want to be part of their play.

The Y twins try to get Joey to go somewhere with them, and he makes up a story why they need to not do that rn, so that the group of normal fading humans can attempt once again to leave this place. 

Since it's all weird here, Joey tries his little will-what-he-wants-into-reality trick and… well it doesn't work. Instead, he finds a throne room?? and realizes that they aren’t just in Carcosa, they’re in the castle where the Yellow King’s play takes place. And Joey manages to follow his intuition from here to find some kind of portrait hallway, covered with familiar faces… all labeled as characters from the play. Not recognizing all of them, Henry starts drawing them so we have a record of it later.

But there's a few he doesn't have to draw.

One is Alan Leroy, the guy that they're becoming sure is the target of the Pallid Mask. Part of the royal family, apparently. He's a slender man, black hair slicked back, young looking, quite pretty … kinda looks like Joey…

Which makes more sense perhaps when the portrait of the eldest son in the royal family is none other than Joey himself. Guess this is why he was being addressed as royalty… but that means the Y twins are not quite in their right minds, and anything he finds them doing here is probably just play nonsense.

Also Denis is the youngest prince but who cares about that guy.

What they DO care about is the fact they’re getting more and more transparent, so the boys go to find Avedon, who is oh so helpfully knocking shit over and muttering in french, and Joey manages to get his door trick to actually work this time; he opens the door and there’s…

STAIRS!!

Everyone starts running down them, managing not to get turned around when they start making twisty turns, and get to the front door of this stupid castle in a hotel lobby.

They peek outside.

Sure enough, on the side of the building, there’s a shadow shaped suspiciously like nothing they can really identify, so it must be some sort of angel monster or something.

At this point, there’s really only one option they have: try sneaking to the car and hope it’s looking the other way, and if not, run!

Everyone agrees that this is a great plan.

And then they do that.

There’s a bit of fumbling in the middle, but the car was parked outside of the yellow mist for once, so the creature just fades out as soon as it leaves the mist to chase them. 

Well! Okay then!! That problem is solved!! Let’s go deliver Avedon to Norman so that he can take responsibility for his mad man and then maybe stop hiding at home or something!

Henry drives off, and things seem fine for now…

Until Joey swivels around in the front seat to question Avedon, and out the back window, sees something flying after them, only visible whenever it passes through the mists…

Problem… not solved.

[ynscrazylife]

Hi ml! I have a request!

Reader is always a super happy person, even when overworked and sick. Wanda is trying to pull R out of her school work, but R replies with something cute and happy like "don't worry your pretty head about me, I'm fine! " which makes Wanda blush, but still worried. Eventually R gets the flu or something, but is still working. Wanda is surprised at how happy and cheerful R is even  though their miserably sick. Eventually R starts to cry at their desk from feeling so sick, and Wanda is finally able to get R away from their desk, and helps R feel better.

Them!

Magic Kisses

Summary: Your feelings are revealed when Wanda takes care of you when you’re sick. 

Request to be on a taglist (or multiple) here! (Taglists are at the end of the fic)

Main Masterlist | MCU Masterlist

PSA: Do NOT copy, steal, translate, plagiarize, republish, etc any of my works on Tumblr or any other platform. Also, do NOT claim any of my works as your own. All of these works are either requests I’ve gotten that people have wanted me to write or original ideas I’ve had for works. If you happen to take inspiration from anything I’ve written and want to write something inspired by that, please a) ask me first and b) IF I say yes, credit me as inspo in your post by tagging me and link whatever work of mine that inspired you. Thanks.

“Y/N, did you need something?”

Suddenly hearing F.R.I.D.A.Y’s voice through the lab’s speakers made you let out an undignified yelp as you promptly fell off your stool. Landing in a heap on the floor, you grunted at the pain that spread all over your body and decided to just lay there for a second. Glancing up at the speakers, you said, “Why would I need something, Fri?”

(Even the sound of your own voice made you cringe. You were so nasally with your runny nose).

“You’ve been staring at your blueprints without moving for the past few minutes and from what I can detect, you seem to be developing a cold,” the AI answered matter-of-factly.

You bit back a sigh. You may have been able to hide from the team just how overworked their resident teammate and engineer was, but there was no fooling technology. As much as you loved tinkering around in Tony’s expensive lab, it was times like these that made you second guess your decision to be an Avenger and an aspiring engineer whilst in your senior year of college.

“Just zoned out for a bit, that’s all. I’m alright,” you assured F.R.I.D.A.Y. as you picked yourself up. But as you went to climb back onto the stool, a throbbing pain in your ankle made you hesitate.

You grit your teeth, intent to ignore it, until F.R.I.D.A.Y. piped up. “I’d suggest that you visit Dr. Cho, Y/N.”

You gaze shot to the speakers with a glare. You didn’t want to be pulled from your work now — the blueprints for Tony’s next invention was almost finished! “You do realize that I fell because of you, right?” You snapped at her.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. didn’t respond after that.

You went to get back to work, glancing over the blueprints for the umpteenth time. However, when the pain showed no sign of letting up, you knew that as self-destructive you were, you had to do something about this. You could already hear Tony in your head now, whining all about workers’ comp because you had injured yourself in his lab whilst working for his company.

Dragging yourself to the medbay, you froze in the doorway when a certain redhead caught your eye. Wanda, a close friend and your subsequent crush. It was hard not to like her—she was insanely powerful and, for lack of a better term, hot. The way she was affectionate with you made butterflies swarm in your stomach and you swore her smile was as bright at the stars. When she looked at you, it was like everything fell away, and you had become almost addicted to that feeling.

“Y/N! Everything alright?” Dr. Cho asked and a smile lifted up your face at the sight of Wanda.

“Oh, uh, yeah — I was just hoping to get some ice, I fell off my stool,” you explained, showing them your ankle.

Dr. Cho nodded and went to grab the ice from the freezer. “I can examine it if you need,” she offered.

You glanced at Wanda. “I’m fine, don’t wanna interrupt you guys,” you said, unable to help but wonder what the redhead was doing here.

“You’re not interrupting anything. Dr. Cho just needed me to update some info for my medical file,” Wanda assured you, matching your smile.

You accepted the ice from Dr. Cho with an appreciative nod. “You sure you don’t want an examination? You’ve been holed up in the lab for a while now, might be good to take a break and make sure your ankle’s alright,” Wanda said, eyeing you carefully.

You blushed at the fact that Wanda had noticed. Taking a chance, you said, “Don’t worry your pretty head about me, I’m fine!” Your voice was cheerful, which wasn’t uncommon for you, but there was some force, a push, to it.

Wanda, however, didn’t notice because now she was the one blushing. She went to respond, but it seemed like her brain was short-circuiting, and she just stifled a noise and smiled. Thankfully, Dr. Cho came in to save the day for the redhead.

“Well, if you do want an examination, I’m here all day, okay?” She said, prompting you to nod.

“Thank you,” you said, sparing one last look at Wanda before returning to the lab.

For the rest of the day, Wanda couldn’t seem to get her mind off you. Not only was she flustered by your comment (little did you know, she did reciprocate your feelings for her), but she couldn’t help but note how long you stayed in the lab.

When it was getting close to dinner time, Wanda caved and went up to the group, most of them hanging out in the living room. “Hey, has anyone seen Y/N around?” She asked.

A chorus of “No”s went around, making her hope deflate. “Check the lab,” Tony suggested.

Oh, she was definitely going to. As she set out for the room, Wanda found herself wishing that you weren’t there. Maybe you had gone to your room to rest — though she knew that was wishful thinking. Once she turned the corner and reached the lab, Wanda’s heart absolutely shattered.

There you were, hunched over on the stool, still hard at work. But it wasn’t that that made Wanda break—it was the fact that she could hear and see you crying, muttering to yourself angrily. She resisted peeking into your mind, no matter how loud your thoughts were or how tempting it was.

“Y/N,” she said softly, gravitating towards you. You seemed to perk up a bit at her presence, but not in the way Wanda hoped. Instead of realizing that she was here to help, you began hurriedly wiping your face and gathering your strewn papers, as if wanting to hide this from her.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. Are you alright? What’s going on?” She cooed, delicately taking the papers from you and putting them into a neat snack.

Your shoulders slumped, looking away from her. “It’s—” you began, voice small and cracking.

“Don’t tell me that it’s nothing,” Wanda cut in quickly, stern but not unkind.

You relented with a long say. “I’m just—I’m so tired. I have so much work to do, but my ankle hurts so much and I think I’m coming down with something,” you admitted, wiping your nose. There was a little bit of a whine to your words, but Wanda didn’t care. You could whine all you wanted with her.

“Oh, honey. Take a break with me, okay?” Wanda said, not waiting for an answer before she fixed up the things at your station and put the papers away. You watched her, not arguing against it, but some part of you still felt guilty about it.

“I have school and work for Tony—” you began. It was a weak argument and you knew it, but something inside you was compelled to say it.

“There are always extensions and Tony would much rather you rest than continue to work yourself sick,” Wanda pointed out, turning around when she finished organizing your things. She offered her hand out for you to take.

Deciding to give in (this was Wanda, after-all. You’d never say no to her), you accepted her hand and stood up. But when you tried to walk, you ended up stumbling. The pain in your ankle had gotten much worse with it being untreated.

“Okay, first stop: medbay,” Wanda said, doing her best not to get frustrated that you had neglected your health. She knew that you were only trying to do your best and hadn’t meant to hurt yourself.

You nodded. Deep down, you knew it was needed — not just for your ankle, but also for whatever you were ailed with. Wanda looped one of your arms around her neck and one of her arms around your waist, allowing you to give her most of your weight as she helped you walk to the medbay.

It took some time, but the two of you made it there. “Hey, Dr. Cho. I have a patient for you,” Wanda greeted as they entered, causing Dr. Cho to turn around from her computer.

“Of course, sit up here,” Dr. Cho said, gesturing to an examination table before she went to grab her medical bag.

Wanda wasted no time in lifting you up and setting you down on the table. “Do you want me stay for this? I can wait outside if you want,” she asked, not wanting to invade on your privacy.

“Only if you want to,” you said. Normally you weren’t so shy, but when it came to Wanda? She seemed to have some sort of power over you.

Wanda smiled and waited with you while Dr. Cho grabbed her things. She walked over and instructed you to lift your leg up on the table. After probing around the ankle and seeing that it was swollen, she determined that it was a bad sprain and wrapped it up. Then, she grabbed her stereoscope. Wanda watched as you breathed in and out patiently. When she was done, she grabbed a thermometer to take your temperature.

“You do have a fever, 101.2. It is a little high, but I’m not too worried about it right now,” Dr. Cho said, before looking in your ears and throat. “I think you’re just going to need plenty of rest and fluids. Rest your ankle, too. You can take some medication for your fever and any pain.”

“Thank you,” you said, throat a little croaky.

She smiled. “Of course.”

Wanda helped you off from the table and to your room. You were content to rest on your own, but realized that wasn’t going to happen when Wanda propped up pillows for your back and ankle and went into your bathroom to grab some stuff.

“Y/N, you don’t have any medicine in here?” Wanda called, making you chuckle.

“I’m fine, really—” you cut yourself off with a string of your own sneezes that soon dissolved into violent coughs.

Wanda immediately reappeared, walking over to rub your back. Once the fit was over, you leaned back, suddenly tired. “Okay, I’m feeling it now,” you muttered, sniffling.

“Aw, poor thing. I’ll be right back, okay?” Wanda said, brushing some of your hair back. You didn’t want to see her go (you got clingy when sick), but just nodded.

Somewhere along the way, you must’ve dozed off, because soon you woke to the smell of hot, delicious soup. Blinking your eyes open, you found a tray with soup being placed in front of you and your favorite sitcom playing on the TV.

“Oh, Wanda, you didn’t have to,” you said, heart warming at the kind gesture.

Wanda was sitting next to you with a large smile. “I wanted to. Is there anything else you need?” She asked.

Your shook her head. “I’ve got everything I need right here,” you said.

“Me, too — now eat up!” Wanda urged, making you laugh.

Doing what she said, you began eating the soup. “Did you cook this yourself? This is amazing,” you complimented between slurps.

Wanda giggled. “I did,” she said, leaning back against your bed and stretching an arm out. You gladly leaned against her, relishing in her warmth.

Meanwhile, Wanda was freaking out on the inside — you had leaned into her touch! She couldn’t be more happy and did her best to pay attention to the sitcom (though her mind kept on drifting to you) as you finished the soup.

When you were done, you found your head falling onto Wanda’s shoulder. The Scarlet Witch did her best not to freak out but when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, your grip loosen on your spoon, she dared to look over.

A smile lifted up her face when she saw you fast asleep on her shoulder — god, you were the cutest. Wanda very gently went to maneuver you so your head leaned on your pillow, but a whine from you made her stop. “No, want you,” you mumbled, clearly out of it with sleep, as you just nuzzled your head against her.

Wanda blinked. This was just sleepy nonsense, right? “W-what?” She said, laughing it off.

“I want you, Wan. Don’ leave,” you said.

Her smile grew brighter. “I’m not leaving you, just gotta move the tray, okay?” She said.

You nodded a little at that and allowed Wanda to move your head onto the pillow. She moved your tray and put it on the table. When she turned back to you, you moved closer to her, your arm draping over her stomach.

Wanda just giggled. “You want me to stay?” She asked quietly, so as to not disturb you.

You nodded. “Mhm,” you said, eyes still closed.

Wanda turned off the television and laid down, fixing the blankets over you and herself. Just before she put her head on the pillow, she took a second to look at you. You warmed her heart. This was perfect. Wanda had an idea and her instincts, her gut, told her to make the leap and go for it.

She dipped her head and pressed her lips to your forehead, giving you a sweet kiss. She went to pull away, only to hear you say, “Could you . . . Could you do it again?”

She leaned back in. “On your forehead?” She asked.

Now, your eyes fluttered open, meeting her gaze. “Nope,” you said, smiling yourself.

Wanda kissed your lips this time and you kissed back, your arm tightening around her.

When you leaned back, you were a little dazed. “Wow,” you whispered. “Your magic even extends to your kisses.”

“Does it?” Wanda asked, teasing.

You nodded and leaned your head back against her. Wanda wrapped her arms around you and in minutes, you had fallen back asleep. She didn’t even care that you had kissed her when you were sick, she was just happy to hold you. Which was what she did, looking over you, until she fell asleep herself.

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Wanda Maximoff Taglist: @kacka84 @eichenhouseproperty

[theinquisitxor]

October Reading Wrap Up

October was a great reading month and I got through ten(!) books in the month. That's more than I've read in a while, so it felt good to be able to know I can still read that many. I read some spooky/halloweenish books, as well as continued a few series, and finished a series.

1.Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters 2) by Juliet Marillier, 5/5 stars. I started the month with reading the second Sevenwaters book. Just like with book 1, I enjoyed this immensely, and I found the characters and storyline to be strong and engaging. This one is even more romance heavy than the first books. Adult historical fantasy

2.Paladin's Hope (Saint of Steel 3) by T. Kingfisher, 4.5/5 stars. Another good installment in this series and new mystery that our characters are faced with. This one was a bit shorter than the first two books, and I wish this was a little longer, but otherwise it was great as always! Adult fantasy romance

3.The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way by Bill Bryson This was my nonfiction book for the month, and I read this on audio. Enjoyable, but I felt like it was a little dated. I've read other more recent books on linguistics, and enjoyed them more. Nonfiction.

4.Echo North by Joanna Ruth Mayer, 4/5 stars. This was an enjoyable YA fantasy, and a good blend of fairytales I really enjoy. I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but this reminded me of some of the 'older' YA that is really good. East of the Sun West of the Moon, batb, cupid & psyche retellings all blended together. The author also credits Robin McKinley, DWJ, and Edith Pattou as big inspirations, and I could tell. YA fantasy

5.Last Argument of Kings (First Law 3) by Joe Abercrombie, ?/5 stars. I honestly was so done reading this trilogy, and just wanted to know how it ended so I could just finish it. I skimmed most of it, and only read the Glokta chapters and the ending. This type of fantasy is 100% not for me. I only finished the series because my brother gifted me the boxed set (and he read them). Adult fantasy

6.I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacquline Harpman, 5/5 stars. This is a lesser known classic that's gotten some popularity recently. It's part dystopian, part science fiction, and reminded me a little of The Wall which I read earlier this year. Very poignant, dark, but an exploration of self and a woman on her own. This is translated from French!

7.A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher, 4/5 stars. Another good T Kingfisher fairy tale retelling (however this was quite loose on the retelling), but also dark, featuring child abuse and animal horror. But there is humor, and a good cast of adult characters trying to fix the situation, and I like how T Kingfisher writes competent adults.

8.Witch Week (Chrestomanci 3) by Diana Wynne Jones, 3/5 stars. I started this on audio, but finished with the physical book. Can't say I enjoyed this one as much as the first two. This just reminded me of how horrible middle school was! A good halloween time read though. Middle grade fantasy.

9.The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky, 4/5 stars. This is a historical fantasy that has been on my tbr since 2019. This is light on the fantasy elements, and about first contact between Inuit and Vikings in present-day Canada about 1000 years ago. Our main character is an Inuit shaman, and they and a viking have to team up to save the land and their peoples. Super detail rich and well written.

10. Graveyard Shift by ML Rio, 4/5 stars. A good read for Halloween, and excited to see that ML Rio is publishing again! A thriller about 5 people trying to discover who made a new grave in an abandoned graveyard. As someone who works in academia, I liked the academia element in this story, I only wish it was longer!

I'm on track to finish my Goodreads Reading Challenge this year, which is 80 books. Usually I get somewhere in the 90s, but not this year I guess. For Nov and December, I'm planning on finishing the Sevenwaters series, and Chrestomanci, so I'll be prioritizing those books.

November tbr:

The Scorpio Races (reread on audio)

Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters 3)

Heir to Sevenwaters (Sevenwaters 4)

Chrestomanci: The Magicians of Caprona (book 4)

Paladin's Fate (Saint of Steel 4)

Nonfiction

The Word for Woman is Wilderness

Cape Cod (on audio?)

The Virgin in the Garden

[imagine--if]

E. Nashton

A/N: Here you go, I promised, I hope you like it 😅💚 I think I'll do a part two of him confessing later, maybe disguising himself as The Riddler cus he's still a little shy 🥺️

Words: 1069

Everyone at work is the same. Quite loud and obnoxious, money-makers, party-goers, busy professionals. As professional as you can get in a city like Gotham, anyway. You just wanted to make enough money to have as easy a life as you could bargain for in this place, or maybe save up to move somewhere else. For now, though, you're stuck in the same office building, checking over the same papers sent up by the forensics accountants team downstairs.

But there's one employee down there who's just as quiet and polite as you try to be. You probably wouldn't have noticed him, just like his peers, if it wasn't for seeing his name signed in a rather odd style of handwriting at the top of a folder of pages full of numbers.

"Might be something to do with money laundering, I reckon," Zach tells you with a proud smirk, the man who sends the files up. "It's a good job we caught it, right?"

"Yeah, it's really good," you respond with a grateful smile, flipping through the pages absentmindedly. Your thumb stops under a top corner, and you study it, noticing the name. E. Nashton.

"And... this is your work?" you ask him with a slightly raised brow, Zach shrugging in answer.

"Well. No. The, uh, one of the guys did some of it, but I brought it to the team's attention and all. Obviously."

"Yeah, nice work, Zach," you agree, which does the trick, and he leaves smugly, going back downstairs and saying something to a man who seems startled when Zach thumps him a couple of times on the shoulder, in a friendly sort of way. You watch in interest, wondering if it's the E. Nashton written on these papers. Clear-framed glasses are pushed up the man's nose, and curious green eyes peer from behind them, delicate strands of sandy brown hair framing his round face. The face that looks defeated and mildly frustrated by the time Zach's left.

You frown to yourself, glancing at the work that's ordered perfectly and ready to send to your boss. No one else here puts the same level of effort into their work. Zach's probably told the poor guy that he's gotten all the credit. Maybe you could talk to him? It's just a word of encouragement from a colleague, right?

As everyone finishes their projects at the end of the day, you grab your things and head downstairs, weaving your way between people pushing at doors to get home. You only just catch the man you'd seen earlier, tapping him gingerly on the shoulder. But even that seems to surprise him, and he flinches, whirling round to face you with a wide-eyed expression. His cheeks flush when his eyes take you in properly, but you don't notice, apologising awkwardly.

"Hi- oh, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's alright," he breathes, scarcely blinking, and you nod slowly at the reaction.

"Um, okay, well, I just wanted to thank you for the work that went up. It was all written really clearly, and I don't think I'll have to do much before it's sent off. It's nice to see someone putting more than the bare minimum in what they do, I guess. Kind of makes my job a bit easier, too."

Edward looks at the folder in your hands, then back up at you.

"I thought... Zach said-"

"Yeah, I know he sent it up and commissioned the work, that's... great," you say, not bothering to hide the slight tone of sarcasm, and a fond smile tugs at Edward's lips in response. "But you did it. So, thanks."

"W-well... you're most welcome," Edward says happily, almost giddily, and you smile back in amusement.

"Cool. It was nice talking to you. Edward?"

He nods quickly. "Yes, I- I'm Edward."

You reply with your name and a half-smile, Edward repeating it like it's something fascinating. You observe him for a moment; a little odd, but kind of sweet. You should have spoken to him sooner.

"See you around, then."

He seems somewhat disappointed as you take a step back, your hand lingering on the doorhandle that leads outside, but says goodbye anyway with a small smile and a watchful stare. You look away first, going off in the direction of your home, the interaction replaying in your head vaguely as you let yourself into your apartment.

Nice guy. There aren't many people like that in Gotham. Maybe you could chat again soon?

And then the thought's replaced with the next thing that nags for your attention.

...

Meanwhile, a man goes mad behind his laptop.

Square pictures are pulled up onto the screen from various social media sites, and Ed can't help but smile back at your naturally happy expressions in every one. It seemed so easy for everyone to be so happy and carefree. He wasn't everyone.

But then, neither were you.

Someone noticed him. No one ever notices him. And his boss was so quick to dismiss the scheme he had bought up, practically threatening his job for poking his nose in. Zach just likes every bit of praise he can get, and he gets far too much of it. But not this time. For once, somebody praised him. You praised him.

"You're so lovely," he whispers adoringly into the solitude of his apartment, the blue-white glare of the laptop reflecting in his glasses.

A part of Edward finds himself such a creep, so disgusting and wrong and alone, especially for stalking a pretty young workmate he'd only met half an hour ago. But no one ever spoke to him unless they had to. You didn't have to. But there you were, bright eyes and sweet words, appreciating justice as much as he does, and not letting the darker cases go like any corrupt citizen would.

He'd keep watching. He'd give it, what, a week or two? Just to be sure he wasn't mistaken, though he was almost certain he wasn't. That you really were some sort of beacon that stood out to him, company he liked at work, could fantasize clearly about at home. And then...

Then what? Blurt it out to you? Scare you off? No. Too risky. He could almost hear the pity and confusion in your voice with a rejection. E. Nashton was nearly as confident and important as he wanted to be...

...but The Riddler was.

｡ₓ ू ₒ ु Taglist ू ₒ ु ₓ｡

@simestandswithtaylorswift-blog @carley-carley-carley @lostbunn @dencchan @dragovegogrimborn @i-wished-upon-a-star-one-night @edwardspumpkinpie @murderbimbo00 @sweetums0kitty @beel-mcburger @cml-san @jervis-tetch-my-beloved @r4iner @bimboanime @phoenixgurl030 @vaylordd @dangerouslittlefairy @katjourno @yoyoanaria @yaeyuuki @vinxlsketches @beenz-beenz @ghoulsgraveyard @birds-have-teeth @repostingmyfavs @r3ptiliaaa @for3v3rda1sy @glitterycheesecakegladiator @moonwritesblog @lilyevans1 @httpsunflowers @hxney-lemcn @confusedchildsstuff @callsigncrash @sugahbabieexo @bokksieu @skateb0red @wilburrrsworld @philiasoul @darthcringe @felicityofbakerstreet @bloodypantomime @deadlights-darling @tianotfound @mortem-muse @ireadandream @tinyryder @kpopgirlbtssvt @truecobblepot @jessicainhell

[accirax]

(Reminder that you need to click the link that's beneath the screenshot.)

Already read the translation. Hopefully you can too because it's hilarious!

agreed, the three of them (and Jake as well) should be friends. although, i don't know if Drew really has any bullshit for Dan to put up with? he seems like a pretty chill guy. really, it's more Dan and Drew having to try to talk Tom out of whatever trouble he's gotten into now, yet Tom still following his heart and making mistakes constantly.

i'm also going to combine some more of the tweet asks below the cut!

This is actually pretty cute ngl. (saying as someone who doesn't particularly care for aleriya either way (though I can see the appeal/aesthetic))

ooh, they look good in red! maybe it should've been the red team instead of the yellow team. well, then we'd have to put Grett and Yul in red as well. maybe not.

this artist did a great job of capturing all of the detail in the costumes, and i like the kinda painterly brush they used. even though i don't ship aleriya either, they totally look like they'd be the romantic leads of a kids' picture book.

Aww~ :)

stop staring at me with them big ol' eyes-- (/j)

very cute! i like the color palette. sucks that this baby already has to wear glasses, though. imagine your eyesight being so terrible that you have to wear glasses before you can even read.

(or, maybe they're Cheryll's glasses. that would be precious.)

Love the redraw! :)

Aiden looks so over it, lol. as if you wouldn't be doing the exact same thing if James was out there doing cartwheels.

the artist did a good job reinterpreting the pose with the more realistic proportions of their style. maybe i should try doing some Disventure Camp pose redraws someday; that could be fun. although, i'd wager that the next DC thing that i draw will probably relate to season 4, though i can't say that for sure.

AWWWW!!!! X3 Really hoping that we get, at the very least a 5 second cameo of Drew in TomJake, since they all live in Canada. I need it. I miss my baby. He was gone too soon. ;-; I won't lie, I personally do not care for Jake and Tom getting a spinoff story, AT ALL. But I might end up watching it anyway, for the extra lore. And who knows, if it gets enough views and does well enough in the community, it *might* convince Jared and Robert to make spinoffs for other characters. Like Drew. Or Ashley. Or Alec (which is what I'm hoping most for if you could n't already tell).

the pose sort of reminds me of a polaroid that they would show in the credits of the movie to reassure that everyone is having a great time after the plot is over. actually, i guess it has similar vibes to the canon instagram post of Ellie and Tess graduating, so maybe that's where i got that idea, lol.

including Drew as a background gag would honestly be a brilliant idea. like, Jake runs off somewhere, and in the background, there's just Drew holding up a piece of paper that says "???". i have no clue where in Canada Drew and Tom/Jake/Miriam live-- the country is quite large, so it could be an equivalent distance to Ashley living in Texas and Ellie/Tess living in New York-- but given that Ellie will be in the series, someone is travelling somewhere! so it's definitely possible.

i'm pretty neutral on the TomJake series, mostly because i don't know what it's going to be about. in a best case scenario, it's a delayed wrap-up to All Stars, further exploring some of the plot threads that weren't fully developed leading up to and after Riya's win. in a worst case scenario, it's a disjointed collection of mildly confusing fanservice, a la "Derek and Trevor accidentally kiss in the shower." (i actually liked that episode as a whole, but man was that moment in particular cringe.) i'm definitely going to watch it just so that i know what's up, but i do feel like they probably could have better used this time elsewhere (more staff stories, official season epilogue, start s4 faster).

but, Sapphire, if they did an Ashley, Drew, or Alec spinoff, how would they lure people in by putting gay people in the thumbnail??? (/s) mostly kidding, but i'm sure it is true that they were willing to bank on a TomJake series because they knew that those popular characters would get the clicks. if we got another spinoff, it'd probably be jaiden-centric, lmao.

of course, Ashley and especially Alec are also pretty popular, so it's not outside of the realm of possibility! an Alec series would definitely good, to clarify his relationship with Fiore, learn a bit more about his family, and perhaps touch on what Riya's up to after the show. an Ashley show i fear would lack any conflict (because she slays at life so hard), but maybe we could learn a bit about her family too.

They would make a neat duo ngl. If Dan ever made it to All-Stars that is. 😅 I actually remember one Ally greeting where she said she thought Dan was a pretty cool/nice guy and how unfair it was the way Gabby cheated him in eliminations, or something along those lines. I can try to find it later.

oh, these two could definitely make a nerd alliance. throw in Alec and Lake and you'll have brains that brawn and beauty should definitely watch out for.

are Ally, Dan, and Alec the only (main) characters thus far to wear glasses? oh, i guess there's Oliver too. typecast fr.

Enjoy this random art of Lill leading a family of ducks

so cute!!!!! i love the ducks' little hats and scarves. the purple team deserved an animal mascot. i bet Ashley would love to pet these little guys as well :)

Add Dan, Drew & Tess and this book club is complete! 😁

"Disventure HS" intrigues me. is this an AU where they're all students in high school? even if Alec was a senior and Fiore was a freshman, having them that close in age would be cursed as hell. hopefully Alec is just the literal librarian. maybe it's "bring your niece figure to work day".

Ellie/Alec/Fiore/Lake/Dan/Drew/Tess would be a really interesting tribe to start with. i wonder who would get voted out first?

Hm. Interesting chart. The one I agree most with is that I definitely would've liked to see an interaction between Tess and Alec. Those two do have quite a few things in common (quiet, reserved/introverted, level headed, fairly intelligent, logical, lone wolves who like to read, etc.) so I'm sure they would've clicked well with each other. Eh, who knows? Maybe there was some interaction at the motel off camera. Though that is mostly just wishful thinking, since I highly doubt either of them would ever see a reason to talk to the other with how little they know about each other, being from separate seasons and all.

yeah, and Alec was in the Motel for a pretty short amount of time (2 episodes, maybe like 5 days). canonically, he probably spent a lot of that time talking to Fiore and then Connor. Perhaps Ellie and Grett as well.

god knows Alec could use a therapist friend, though. maybe if people started following each other online, they could wind up chatting with each other then! or, i'm sure Alec would read Lake's book someday, so he could at least see her illustrations then.

i think you can probably guess which box i agree with most. (it's the favorite friendship one)

thanks for sharing all of these tweets with me!

[basedkikuenjoyer]

Doll Parts

"Yeaaaaah he really wants one, he really wants one a Nami-swan." Hole does not get as much credit as they deserve. Hello hello my lovelies, we are back for 1129. And we'll have a fine time with it. Starting with the reveal of the mysterious Sun God figure. Big props to Tekking for guessing this one btw, I kinda got over the whole OP YouTube apparatus long ago but he was always fun. It's Road!

Who the fuck is Road? One of Hajrudin's men, we saw him in the cover serials. Fitting for someone with that name he's their navigator. And turns out it was worth noting the use of sessha as a personal pronoun (which Sanji acknowledges), because we'll go on to see him using a fair few linguistic trills that give off a major otaku vibe. Or is he a weeb for trying to act like he's from samurai-land? Is Road really just mad that Hajrudin got to meet real samurai? By the way...love that Luffy just thinks the giant Lego room is cool and doesn't want to wreck it too much.

That said...Road sure is one weird fuckin' dude. I can get the basic logic with the Straw Hats. Hajrudin pledged to follow them, that doesn't mean Road did. And it doesn't seem like the way funnier rationale of respecting Buggy more. There was never any real loyalty to Buggy's Pirate Dispatch, that was mercenary work. Hajrudin pledged a son's cup to Luffy. That pissed Road off because how dare a giant swear allegiance to a human. That's a great theme to play with as our time with Elbaf unfolds. And while there is some ambiguity as to what the gang saw when they burst out I'm pretty comfortable with this actually being Elbaf by now. Or at least maybe a Green Bit-style linked island.

What I think is the most interesting about Road though is this obsession with the story. His "living dolls" getting up to heroics. These are two very core themes I've been interested in, we've talked about how they've come up from Totland until now. What I see in Road here is a much darker, much more obsessive version of that immature side of Yamato. This glee at the Straw Hats running amok for the entertainment value, because of the story his "dolls" are telling all their own, has a lot of room to build some cool thematic ties to Wano. So we'll keep an eye on that going forward.

Meanwhile, Nami is not too happy about the second weird guy on this voyage to doll her up in a lil outfit. The sleeping gas belt and the crow picking them up are pretty interesting justifications for how this happened. I'm wondering what that'll mean for the rest of the crew still with the main giant ship. This does also mean part of our objective here will be to locate Sunny. Which is a great excuse to sorta keep things around here. Because like, Road is clearly not an actual threat here. Hajrudin wasn't one at all to Luffy back in Dressrosa. Not wanting to anger the giants and Luffy's appreciation for the craftsmanship of this diorama are good excuses to get around that.

But Nami is different. Nami is the type who will break your Lego castle and release your prized beetles out into the wild without a second thought. And that's why we love her. I also love her two faces here, not to mention her rationale leading up to...

Pull pervy crap, get zapped. Loser. Definitely wonder what we have in store next. Would be very Oda to pull back and update us on the elders in the crew. Or even see something completely different. But for now I'm still very into what we're introducing here. Especially since it has now become somewhat connected to the Grand Fleet. Starting with Cabbage end of WCI, we've now gotten a proper main story update on all of them in some form save for the XXX Martial Arts Alliance and the Yonta Maria Fleet. And Bellamy too I guess if you count him. But that's still proving to be a thing that feels like it's accelerating.

[unhingedmarvelandclassicwhobuff]

I would like to know, what was Natasha’s role in episode 5 of What If (Season 2), what was her relationship with Peggy, and did she interact with Steve at all? I have gotten some updates on Marvel’s ongoing crusade against Stucky, but not so much about the ongoing crusade against Romanogers, so I am curious.

To be totally honest, at first I could barely remember that Natasha was even IN the episode. That's how little she added to it. Here's a rundown of everything she does:

the very first scene of the episode is the iconic "Avengers assemble" moment from the first movie, but with Peggy giving out orders instead of Steve. The exact same orders. I don't think a single word was different. And the scene ends with her doing what Steve did for Nat and launching her into the air off the shield.

the next meaningful thing she does at all is hop in a jet and try to shoot down Hydra Stomper Steve when he tries to kill Secretary of Defense Bucky.

once Nat and Peggy bring down the suit, they take the unconscious Steve to one of Nat's safehouses. This one is in Scotland. She argues with Peggy for a bit about what to do, but she doesn't say a word once Steve wakes up.

since in this universe Hydra was totally wiped out in the 1950s, the Red Room takes its place as the Super Secret Evil Organization That Was Here The Whole Time. And to that end, Nat is once again used as a plot device to get Peggy and Steve to where it is.

they end up in Russia, in a bizarre Pleasantville-esque American town (and just as an aside, since Elizabeth Olsen was in the opening credits I'm sure a lot of people, me included, were thinking that in this reality Wanda had been taken by the Red Room and this was something they were having her do. But no, Wanda is only in the final seconds of the episode to set up another one. I'm glad she didn't appear, as seeing her as a Red Room agent would've made me pop a blood vessel, but still).

Apparently in this universe Natasha succeeded in killing Dreykhov, so Melina is the head of the Red Room. Yet while you'd think this would be a great chance to do something with Nat, 99% of the confrontation is between Melina and Peggy. At one point Melina even says... I wish I was kidding... "Even in Russia, little girls dream of growing up to be Captain Carter".

the big final battle is between Peggy and Steve, and during that Nat is fighting a bunch of other Black Widows, but most of it is offscreen.

Nat is completely outmatched when Melina steps in, and Melina is on the brink of strangling her when Steve breaks his programming and latches onto her with a grappling spike before launching both of them into the air to destroy the Red Room. So much like in her own damn movie, Natasha didn't get to resolve her own past issues.

That about sums it up. Natasha was pretty much an afterthought in the episode. The only characters she directly speaks to are Peggy and Melina. Which I guess is slightly better than taking everything she does for Steve and giving it to Peggy, but it's still enraging. I didn't get a single bit of chemistry from the two of them.

[canonically47]

post-DCAS character ranking

18. yul. the worst dsvc character to ever grace our screens. i should not have to explain myself for this, i feel like it goes without saying he's the worst of every cast ever

17. riya. a one-dimensional character who refuses to change. the only reason she's ranked higher than yul is because she's not racist which (virgil sanders voice) that CANNOT be where the bar is.

16. ashley. her entire development was becoming jake's friends and helping in a very small way to get tomjake together. she did nothing for herself, her entire character was just jake's bff and that goes to show how little ONC cares for their female characters

15. ally. the worst development of the season, with the most boring ending, with the least pay-off. how she made finale is beyond me

14. hunter. somehow higher than ally because he was funny

13. tess. higher than both of them but she just existed to me

12. tom. he existed and i still dislike him despite the finale desperately trying to make me not to.

11. connor. a whiny manbaby who achieved nothing this season, whose only role was being there for riya’s drama. genuinely, why did they bring him back if this was all they were going to do with him? only ranked this high because the others behind him are somehow worse or even more boring.

10. lake. similarly to tess, she also just existed. they brought her back just to nerf her like idiots. because guess what if the drama doesn't revolve around a mlm couple then it's not interesting to ONC!

9. miriam. poor queen how you have fallen. decent but deserved more

8. james. consistently funny and good, just wish he had more screentime. others rank higher than him because they actually got some type of development.

7. ellie. pains me to put her this low, she's one of my favorites ever, but i gotta do what i gotta do. she should've gotten better and more believable development. i dearly miss her season one self

6. aiden. he and jake were gay and i don't remember anything else that he did. only ranked this high because he made it far again, played fair, was super entertaining, and his VA is my all-time fav. sue me, i got biases.

5. fiore. she managed to not be ruined my baby <3 she escaped the bad writing so proud of her

4. gabby. it's okay gabby we all know in the better timeline you won the money and helped ellie pursue her dreams. you did your best. yes gabby we are all ignoring how weird the whole evil shadow realm you thing is. we love you too much to blame you for it. that's all ONC. you're innocent. we love you gabby we all say in unison

3. grett. i am sooo happy she got her development this season but by GOD did she need to get her justice earlier. she should've killed yul tbh

2. alec. he was at his worst mid-season, but fuck it, i'm biased and he actually bounced back. he was not likable from beginning to end, but he was a strong player with a consistent and (somewhat) believable character arc. in a better timeline, we got an alec - rosa-maria - grett finale and alec won.

jake. this will come as a shock to anyone who's followed me for a longer time/has seen my early reviews, and even to myself. i never expected myself to like jake as much as i did, but credit is due where credit is due: ONC did something with him this season. he got his development. he became a better person, outgrew his mistakes, befriended those that did him/he did wrong, forgave them and/or made it up to them, and he even got the guy in the end. never thought i'd say this, but jake is probably the best written character in this show, and will be one of the only characters or overall things i will miss about disventure camp seasons 1 & 3.

thank GOD it's over

[echodrops]

The Promises I’m Making (2024)

Sheesh, this year it was even harder than last year to make promises. In particular, I really wanted to focus on promises that wouldn't cost as much money as in prior years, so I tried to steer clear of too many promises that would cost above the basic spending amounts... But it turns out it is really hard to make resolutions if you're broke. 😂

So here's what I'm going with:

2024 Promises

1) Step down from my administrative position and return to being a full-time faculty member. I literally cannot take the clown show that is admin at my work anymore. It is actually killing me.

2) Related to this, redecorate my new office as soon as they decide where they are going to move me.

3) Apply for new jobs!! APPLY FOR NEW JOBS!!!

4) Train my replacement in the chair position well so they are super prepared to take over in fall.

5) Put a new sink/vanity in the downstairs bathroom of the Utah house.

6) Get both bedroom floors sanded in the Utah house upstairs.

7) Finally get rid of the dirt pile in front of the Utah house.

8) Take down the remains of the wooden fence posts at the Utah house.

9) Fully clean out and prepare the Utah house to be rented out to new renters. Hopefully the next people won’t sneak in a parrot that poops all over the floor… RIP…

10) Clean off my back patio/car port area so I can park my car there again.

11) Call the plumber and replace the faucets. Even if I end up having to do it myself.

12) Get the dead tree removed from the Texas house yard and call the internet company to see about the cable around the tree root.

13) Plant roses where the old ones died in front of the Texas house. 

14) Replace my CPU fan; the bearings are going out and it’s making an annoying noise.

15) Organize my documents (especially student papers)—my desktop and documents folders give me nightmares just looking at them. 

16) Related to that, lose at least 20 pounds. 2020-2023 was not kind to me and the stress eating was real.

17) Do at least one artwork to actually use that paint program I bought. 

18) Pay my credit debt down by at least $2000. I’m still paying off the hell year, but I hope I can make progress on this.

19) Buy all the Noragami volumes I am missing and do a complete re-read of Noragami now that the series is finishing up.

20) This is super nerdy, but my bro got me the FFXIV cookbook and made me promise to actually use it, so I guess I’d better at least try to make something from it.

21) Finish at least five books this year.

22) Update HaaH at least once. Please, Echo???

23) Reach the new level cap with all jobs in FFXIV!

24) Go to the graduation ceremony for my family friend.

25) Catch up with hanging up all the charms/pins I’ve gotten recently on my corkboards; these are just sitting in boxes/bags around the house. D;

26) Fully deep clean and vacuum/detail my own car at home. No more of the “It doesn’t make sense to clean it out now; the dog is just going to go back in it.” The dog is always going to go back in it. Clean it, Echo.

27) Help my parents tear out the carpet in my old childhood bedroom.

28) See at least three new species of birds. Doesn’t matter where, just three new ones!

29) Reach 3500 followers. Can I do it? You should follow me if you’re not already; I’m pretty cool. Just sayin’!

30) Cancel all the subscriptions I don’t need. There’s literally no reason to sit around letting companies passively profit off me when I don’t even really use the services/the services keep getting worse while the costs keep going up.

31) Go out on at least a day trip to take pictures with my friend. We haven’t done this in quite some time. I need to touch grass.

32) Repair the lovely one-of-kind ceramic plate that my dog broke with kintsugi. I want to try it at least once!

33) Really look hard for my passport in my house. It’s been missing for like a year and a half now, and I don’t want to have to pay for a new one.

34) Put all the small prints, postcards, and stickers I have collected in my new mini-print books. I can even use up washi tape to decorate too. (Finally, a purpose for the washi tape…)

35) Shred the million pieces of old mail I have lying around the house. I finally got the shredder so it just makes sense to use it.

36) Have more follow-through with chores. It’s not enough to wash the clothes or do the dishes if I then procrastinate on folding the clean laundry and putting the dried dishes back in the cabinets…

37) Put reminders for birthdays and major events in my phone as well as set a monthly reminder to check these promises. Maybe I’ll be able to keep more promises if I look at the list more often throughout the year!

38) Since I can’t afford to go to the salon, spa, etc. too much this year, I should at least do some self-care days at home. Will this be the year I finally manage to use all the fancy scrubs and face masks and bath salts I keep getting from people?

39) Use up one whole notebook. It doesn’t matter what goes in the notebook, but I gotta use the whole thing from cover to cover. I have so many pretty notebooks that never get used just because they’re pretty.

40) Change the burned-out lightbulbs in the recessed lighting in the Texas house ceiling. It’s like twelve feet high and the lightbulb charger stick I bought didn’t work, so I’m going to have to find someone with a ladder. Save me, handyman. Save me.

41) Build the pretty koi paper lantern my brother got me, or the Korean temple model my coworker gave me after his trip to Korea.

42) Actually use the yoga mat I bought forever ago. At least a few times, please???

43) Finish watching the Fruits Basket remake with Kacchan. I think we stopped in the second season, RIP.

44) Spend more time with coworkers—go out to lunch more often.

45) See about removing the PMI from at least one of my house loans to try to save money. I’ve been paying on these loans long enough I shouldn’t need PMI anymore.

46) Practice my German skills (or I guess other language skills?) by translating something at least once a month.

47) Get a new bookshelf. The current ones in both my office and foyer are already overflowing. @_@

48) Make more time to call people and talk on the phone. Texting is not the same. D;

49) Get the new COVID vaccine to stay healthy.

50) I will keep my promises! 

Good luck, 2024’s me!

[doeeyeseddie]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @shitouttabuck @littlespoonevan @gracieryder and @rewritetheending, thanks friends!!

how many works do you have on ao3?

102

what’s your total ao3 wordcount?

971,053

what fandoms do you write for?

currently only 911, unless inspiration strikes elsewhere (like with the hsm fic i wrote last year)

top 5 fics by kudos:

good love grown you'll have what's meant to be my heart aches with love for you and longer by far darker days, brighter endings

do you respond to comments?

i do! i fall behind pretty often, but eventually i always catch up

what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i'm not really in the business of writing angsty endings, but i guess i sometimes write "open" endings for codas, in the sense that there's no resolution or get together because i'm keeping it canon compliant. the angstiest is probably when the weight we carry breaks us, simply because of eddie's state of mind just pre-breakdown

what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i've written so many incredibly sappy endings, i can't give a definite answer to this sdjgskj

do you get hate on fics?

not really. i've gotten a negative comment or two before but i guess you can't make everyone happy

do you write smut?

very occasionally

craziest crossover?

never written one!

have you ever had a fic stolen?

yeah, in a previous fandom someone posted one of my fics on wattpad without credit

have you ever had a fic translated?

a few times, yeah!

have you ever co-written a fic before?

no, none of my collabs with friends have ever made it out of the drafts at max, most stayed a conversation lmao

all time favorite ship?

maybe it's recency bias, but buddie

what’s a wip you want to finish but doubt that you will?

hm...there's the actors au, though i'm not even that sure i want to finish it anymore at this point

what are your writing strengths?

i think i'm decent at characterisation and dialogue?

what’s your writing weakness?

i feel like i could be more creative with my plots, and i definitely could be better at moving from one scene to another

thoughts on dialogue in a different language?

if it's used by someone who would use it in that situation and is correct, then yeah. unfortunately a lot of the time it seems to not be used like that

first fandom you wrote for?

...twilight, way back when, but those fics don't exist on the internet anymore

favorite fic you have written?

i think it's maybe we'll make something, i'm just really proud of it and i poured so much time and love and energy into it, i can't not love it. and then a random prompt fill that still makes me smile, might crash staring at you in the car

idk who hasn't done this yet but i tag @capseycartwright @hattalove @clusterbuck @bibibuck @oatflatwhite

@homerforsure @sibylsleaves @try-set-me-on-fire @mellaithwen and @bucktommys

[starwritesficsandstuff]

I read your headcanon regarding Craig Of The Future. Pretty cool. 👍👍. I know you don’t do fics of COTC anymore, but out of curiosity if you could write a plot for any kind of story regarding those headcanons what would they be?

(In reference to this)

I definitely can see quite a few different plot lines for Kelsey, Stacks, Wilderness, and Maya as a group. Them finding ways to all hang out, trying to find things that are adventurous enough, but not so dangerous that Stacks would feel out of her element and not destructive enough to make Wildernessa upset about the effects it might have on the environment. Them all pitching in to give that pet store an overhaul would definitely be cool to explore, too, with Nessa knowing what animals need, Kelsey being a bird expert and in general very in-tune with how the animals feel, Stacks being a good source of information on things outside of animal expertise like where to order things they need, how to keep the store running, being the stores treasurer, ect., and Maya just having great management skills overall.

As for Craig, he probably spends a lot of time freelancing. I think he ends up following a few bands around, helping them design and sell merch on tours, that kind of thing. It probably ends up taking him all around the US, so I imagine if there was a fic about it, it would be a small anthology of Craig coming home, showing a bunch of photos he took to his friends, and each photo having a contained story to it. He's probably been to New York and Austin and Seattle, a lot of big cities with interesting climates.

Omar definitely has a lot of plots. He goes to trade school instead of college like the rest, so there's a lot of potential stories there. He falls out of archery and then back into it when he has more free time, and there was a small story there in the original post where he goes out with some friends and takes them off guard with his archery skills and then is just like "haha, guess I'm a little rusty still" while they're just in awe of how well he did. Not to mention, he has a lot of fun dynamics with Craig, Maya, and JP. I think Omar might have the most potential storylines out of the main cast.

JP is a lot more difficult. His role in my headcanon is the guy who knows everyone, so if he were in a storyline, him being there would usually means a minor character of some sort is going to appear, too. I feel like JP appears in other plots as comic relief and an ideas guy more than he has his own plotlines. That being said, there are a few stories to be gotten out of him playing hockey in college, like him making the team and trying to figure out which role on the ice he'll fit best, him trying to get along with a difficult teammate, him having to seriously debate if sports is really what he wants to pursue in live or if its just an extracurricular he enjoys.

I feel like if any other characters got a Craig of the Future plotline, I'd love to see future versions of Jason, Handlebarb, and Sparkle Cadet. Jason probably is a scout leader, and is a lot more mellow. Handlebarb is probably a professional bike stuntman or a stunt double on movies, and obviously still has that love of biking. Sparkle Cadet is a teacher, and her goal is to make sure the school's art and theater departments stay well-funded so her students always have the opportunity to express themselves via art the way she did as a kid.

There are some thoughts. If anyone wants to use these ideas, feel free; just remember to credit me. Thanks for the ask!

[cirrus-grey]

I have now finished watching Good Omens Season 2

If you haven't already, please block the tag "good omens spoilers" - I won't post anything else until Friday night at the earliest, but after that all bets are off.

@albertinesimonet, I did not manage a full liveblog but I did jot down my reactions after watching each episode, and those are compiled under the cut :)

(SPOILERS!)

Episode 1:

Holy flipping fuck are they actually making the ineffable husbands canon???

Okay.

Look.

I saw that it was trending alongside Supernatural and OFMD. I suspected it was going this way, and the season had ended with some sort of confession/immediate separation.

That did not prepare me for the season to open with Crowley saying "hello gorgeous" to a nebula and Aziraphale being disappointed that Crowley wasn't talking to him. Or for Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy to be playing while Crowley rushed to Aziraphale's aid, like-

This is a fanfic. This is a motherfucking fanfic, and I am pleased to say that my brain is processing it as such, a well-written but ultimately non-canon fanfic (*puts on my "I still have book!omens brainrot" shirt*) that just so happens to have been written by one of the original authors.

Anyway, outside of my snorting disbelief that the first ship that I ever shipped is apparently going canon in one 'verse, I do actually have some legitimate theories, which run as follows:

A. I know this season is the plot-bridge between the original novel and what would have been the sequel, and B. I know the sequel was going to involve the second coming of Christ, therefore C. I suspect this Resurrectionist group that kept getting hinted at in the promos is trying to bring Jesus back, Gabriel found out and tried to stop it, and that's why he lost his memories. I'm a tad bit surprised Heaven as a whole doesn't seem to be involved in the return of their special boy, but I guess we'll see how that plays out as the season goes along.

Episode 2:

Oh hey, I've read this one before! "It's ancient Biblical times and Crowley and Aziraphale are angsting about their orders and finding solace in each other's company" may have never gotten its own tag, but there are certainly enough fics about it that it could.

"Can I be a blue one?" Weird kids are the best.

So the Resurrectionist is a pub, not a group. Still think they have something to do with the second coming, but I'm open to being proven wrong.

Gotta say, I didn't expect Every Day to be plot-relevant. I knew they had it for the soundtrack, but I'm really liking this sort of spooky-mystery-music-mixup they've got going with it - love the way its incorporated into the end credits, too.

Totally down for master-thief Jane Austen, btw.

How many people are writing fics about Crowley and Aziraphale getting caught in a rainstorm and hiding under an awning even as I type...

Episode 3:

How to run a bookshop, a guide by A.J. Crowley: Carry large stacks of books around aimlessly and then toss them on the floor when you get bored.

I'm honestly surprised his awning plan nearly worked. Curses be upon weak awnings, I suppose.

I do like that the Bentley recognizes that it has to play nice with whichever one of its dads is in the driver's seat lol

Okay so they keep drawing attention to the fact that there's flies in the bookshop, and now Beelzebub is acting off. Are the flies like... telepathically communicating Gabriel's worldviews to them? Is that how they figured out he was there?

That bit he said when Crowley mentioned tempests is definitely from the Revelations. I unfortunately don't know enough about the Revelations to draw any new conclusions from this. I know they deal with the apocalypse and the antichrist, but that was S1 stuff so there must be something else...

(That bit definitely sounded like Rapture stuff though, just saying)

Lotta talk about people coming back from the dead, here. It's doing little to dissuade me from my idea that this is all related to the second coming. Their "little" miracle was strong enough to bring 25 people back? Okay. How did Gabriel add his own power to it... and who did he bring back? (Does 1 Jesus = 25 normal people?)

...Okay yeah I just googled it and the second coming (and the rapture) is definitely in Revelations. Apparently the appearance of the antichrist is its herald. *insert 'oh yeah it's all coming together' gif here*

...

Several-hours later addition: When they were talking about gravity Gabriel seemed upset that the book didn't stay where it was put, "it goes down." And that flies go up.

...did he "go down," turning into a human, and is Beelzebub "going up," and that's why they're so worried about finding Gabriel? Figure out what happened to him, so it doesn't happen to them as well? Hmm...

Episode 4:

"The rumors that you two are an item..." Yeah holy fuck they're actually doing this. I don't know why it keeps catching me by surprise??? I guess it's not like, the forefront of the plot, so every time it comes to the front it feels a bit like a new thing, but still.

Aziraphale's smug fucking little eyebrow raise at that "I didn't think you were his type." He's like yeah, and what do you know, hm?

Did not expect the entire episode to be backstory, but that was very cute, especially given how much people fixated on the church scene in S1. That little showcase of their trust, both of them worried it'll go wrong but still willing to try because they feel safe with each other. I like that they managed to keep the tension of the setting, that "I'm pointing a gun at my best friend and this could go horribly wrong" feeling, even when it's well-established that the worst that could happen is paperwork.

Also, Crowley trying really, really hard to give Aziraphale positive feedback on his magic tricks even when he knows they suck. That's true love, right there.

Another showcase of people coming back from the dead. We've had the kids getting "brought back" from shape-shifting, the "resurrectionists" digging up dead bodies, and now actual honest-to-god zombies. I am Sensing A Theme.

...are the zombies still around? What's-is-face the demon did say eternal undeath...

Aaaaaand there's going to be an army of demons dropping in on the local business association meeting. I hope Aziraphale has enough tea cakes for everyone.

Episode 5:

SEAMSTRESSES SHOUTOUT ITS A FUCKING DISCWORLD REFERENCE

I know most people are probably going wild over the Dr. Who references but. It's the seamstresses guild...

I'm sure Mrs. Sandwich and Rosie Palm would get along famously.

In other news wow they're just being blatant about the ineffableness of these husbands now, aren't they? The great thing about that is I'm watching it with my parents and I don't think either of them have clicked that it's going canon - like, they're just interpreting it as a running bit, 'haha isn't it funny that everyone keeps mistaking them as a couple' kind of thing. The same thing happened when I showed them OFMD, neither of them realized Ed and Stede were actually going to be a real canon thing until the kiss. I mean, maybe they've worked out that this is going somewhere by now? But I don't want to ask in case they haven't, because I'd love to see their reaction if it blindsides them.

I am Not Normal about the dancing. Aziraphale's giddy little grin when he drags Crowley to the floor? The fucking. Hand presses. I've probably read too much Jane Austen if I'm going this insane about them just pressing their palms together.

And just... that whole fucking scene. The amount of queer people - either queercoded or just flat-out obviously queer - is making my heart feel full. When Aziraphale referred to the magic shop owner's partner using 'they' before we met them I thought it was just, you know, being polite, he'd never met them and didn't want to assume, but then they showed up in person and folks were still using they and they were so obviously giving a huge middle finger to gender norms I just-

Man I need to watch more queer shows I love this feeling.

And the army of demons is more of a large crowd but, well, still threatening. I like the use of masks to hide demonic traits, clever costuming detail there.

But. My dudes. Don't split up, what the fuck are you doing? You've been here for all of human history, you know how stories go, surely you know things always go wrong when you split the party??? I love protective!crowley, I do, but my dude taking off to bring this mess to heaven's attention is not the way to go about saving your angel. And Aziraphale, buddy, I don't know what you're planning to summon there but I really don't think it's going to go well.

...Maybe he's planning to teleport himself, Gabriel, and the humans up to heaven, too, to get them away from the demon crowd. It would be funny if Crowley and what's their name, Muriel, step out of the elevator and Aziraphale is just. There already.

(I don't think that's gonna happen though. I think everything is just gonna get Worse)

Anyway sidenote Lottie if you've read this far, when Gabriel started talking about feeling like a house I immediately thought of you, I know that's a theme you like ♡

Episode 6:

Jesus Christ!

(Called it!)

So I got a lot of the details wrong, but I was spot on with my two big predictions from the beginning. (Hey that ending reminded me of OFMD and Supernatural, I've got a great idea, why don't we all blog about the three of them and get them trending together-)

Gotta say, I'd only given a passing thought to Gabriel and Beelzebub being a Thing, their shippers must be going wild.

I knew there was a reason they kept drawing attention to that fly.

*Spots fire extinguishers* "Hey is that a Magnus Archives ref-" *Is brutally murdered with a lead pipe before I can finish*

I actually kind of love that Nina and Maggie didn't get together at the end of it all? I had felt like it was all going a bit too fast for them and I'm so glad they acknowledged that. They've got time, now, to work things out, and I love that they left it with the certainty that they'd be there for each other in the future... but not quite yet.

Oh! Oh! Oh! And they fit in the halos-used-as-lethal-frisbees-sequence! That was fabulous, I want to see more exploding headgear.

...anyway I think that's all the little bits I wanted to mention before getting to the Main Event.

I'm actually... not all that devastated about that ending? Like, okay, my heart was breaking watching it, the miscommunication and assumptions leading to a dramatic separation, it's tragic and angsty and oh my god my ship kissed my first ever ship kissed they did it they did the thing-

But. Two seconds after the credits started rolling my mind was already flying to, "oh thank goodness, they've got a Source On The Inside now and they might actually have a shot at stopping the end of the world instead of, you know, being blindsided by it because no one in heaven or hell is talking to them"

Like, sure, major breakup here, Crowley's gonna be pissed and Aziraphale might have to do their silly little "I'm sorry" dance three or four times before they can actually get down to business, but I don't think there's a question that both of them still trust each other immensely and know they can rely on each other to help out in a pinch. They'll be walking on eggshells for a bit, but it's pretty obvious that Aziraphale wouldn't have taken the promotion if he'd known Crowley wasn't going to come with him and as soon as he manages to properly communicate that fact they'll be fine.

(Sidenote, this, right here, exemplifies the difference between Book!Aziraphale and TV!Aziraphale. Book!Aziraphale is way more cynical about the whole heaven-and-hell system, he'd never say "heaven's still the good guys," and he'd be very, very suspicious of a sudden promotion landing in his lap after such a tumultuous sequence of events. TV!Aziraphale might not be the sweet little innocent bean fandom makes him out to be, but damn is he naive compared to his book counterpart. Makes me wonder how much of the hypothetical sequel has to change to work with this plotline - I'd bet my ass he wasn’t an archangel in that one.)

Can Crowley... hear the soundtrack? "No nightingales" like how does he know that's significant? Sir you are breaking the fourth wall-

(And how powerful is he? He's a nobody in hell but he keeps stopping time and could access classified documents up in heaven, something made his and Aziraphale's miracle blow up and apparently it wasn't Gabriel, and he also just brought a whole ass dude back from the dead??? Maybe those "Crowley is Raphael" theorists from S1 had a point)

Anyway, to cap it all off: my current predictions for S3 are the aforementioned ineffable husbands makeup and subsequent spy shenanigans as they scramble to try to stop Apocalypse 2: Jesus Boogaloo; they fail and Jesus comes back, but instead of following the Great Plan he instead chooses to side with "all of humanity against all of heaven and hell" (maybe Adam shows up too to help out?); and Crowley, despite his repeated protests, actually does end up running a bookshop because he doesn't trust Muriel to do it properly.

I summation, yes I am still alive, and very excited for the next season, whenever it happens. Also I need gifsets of the dance scene and that kiss ASAP please and thank you.

[dread-pirate-mumbles]

more sea of stars thoughts (less shitposty this time, maybe??)

spoilers for true ending below

First: what the fuck was Romaya doing with Moraine's staff in that one end credits cut scene??? she better not have been trying to pull a Duke thing again but with Moraine (sometime in the future, after he's passed)

Additionally: i absolutely adored pissing Romaya off throughout the entire game. I really hope B'st got to go back and talk with her about whatever he was gonna say after the second fight.

Second: Valere and Zale have to come back for Garl's bday every year, but I'm guessing keeping track of time while on patrol across the various worlds is Difficult, so I like to think that they tracked down Resh'an and asked him to set up a yearly reminder for them. I like to think that Resh'an has a connection to all of the Solstice Warriors (which is how he finds them once they are born), so he can find Valere and Zale wherever they are, and obviously time is His Thing

Third: (and keep in mind im just a Baby in the lore rn, just limited to in-game stuff)- I think that Aephorul made the Catalyst to try and remove his and Resh'an's souls from their bodies. I think the immortality potion has tied their souls to their bodies thus preventing their souls from passing on, and I think Aephorul made the Catalyst to either 1) remove their souls from their bodies and finally die together; or 2) put their souls into new bodies that would not be subject to the curse of immortality in the way that their original ones were

I also think the World Eaters were initially designed with the same end goal of death for Aephorul and Resh'an combined- something that can destroy the very fabric of time would likely be strong enough to break their immortality. However, Dwellers were not strong enough to do so, and there was no guarantee that a world eater would be strong enough either (nor was there anyone Aephorul could use as a test subject), so Aephorul continued to try and make them more and more powerful, and perhaps even experimented on some people to try and mimic immortality to see what would happen

I've also wondered about the pronounciation of Aephorul, because if you read it as "Aye-For-Rule", it (if you squint with your ears) kind of sounds like "All For You", which. fits with this idea of Aephorul doing this initially *for* him and Resh'an.

Fourth: I really want to write a post-canon fic where Garl goes back with Serai and B'st to their world, to help build things back up and restore hope. The dinner at the Golden Pelican and the comment when you send Garl to the hot spring (where he's like. "I gotta tell Serai something important") have inspired a *little* bit of a Garl/Serai shipper in me. I'd also want to include what the Dumbass Immortal Gays are up to, too, because I really love their dynamic, and I'd love to Literally Fucking Kill Them For Good. I really, really want Resh'an to like. Talk with Garl, maybe Valere/Zale, about his failings and his mistakes. He's just a human, still, after all, and he has basically no one else to talk to about his Bad Life Choices

Anyway- Garl goes between homeworld and Serai's world on the Vespertine, but he always makes sure to be in mooncradle on time for his birthday. (side note- I wonder if he made jam from the sap of the willow on the thought that it would like. make zale and valere more powerful?? that seems like a him thing to do)

Fifth (aka assorted plot holes or complaints):

-Why did we never see the Dweller of Strife or the Acolytes again? I thought maybe the idea was that they became the World Eater at the end, but there's not like. a lot of game details pointing to that.

-How did Serai end up in our world anyway? Did she teleport based off of information about the home world (how would she get it? how far can she teleport? how can she teleport away the *top of a fucking mountain*??)? She couldn't have gotten information from Resh'an, since he didn't know about the Great Eagle thing, so maybe she stole info from The Fleshmancer/his subordinates? Maybe this is related to the Queen that Was- maybe the queen worked with the fleshmancer, and Serai took over her house and thus information when the Queen left??

-How did Serai get her powers? Was she an experiment from the Catalyst, or was it something she pursued on her own? Also, *please* tell me the rest of her crew who knew the fuck she actually was, she was so obvious

-I'm assuming the academy is no longer needed, with new guardian gods, no need for new solstice warriors for this realm, but that means Moraine is the only solstice warrior on both home world and serai's world. I feel bad for him cause he very obviously suffered from the loss of so many fellow warriors due to strife (and took it out on brugaves and erlina, unfortunately), so I wonder if he feels lonely about it sometimes