#just putting my toe into it

[flieslikeamoron]

WIP Wednesday

I guess I'm a little bit writing the one where Steve can't feel anything but Eddie. 

---

Dr. Owens’ office looks like a normal doctor’s office. Maybe a little too sterile. No pictures or posters on the walls. But you’d never know walking in that he’s some of kind of top secret military doctor or something. Of course the sign on the outside of the building says "Medical Supply Center." And Steve wasn't allowed to tell his mom Joyce Byers was bringing him here. And there was nobody else in the waiting room. But still-

When Dr. Owens comes into the examining room, he just looks like a guy in a lab coat. Like any of the eighteen other doctors Steve’s already seen. The eighteen other doctors who haven’t been able to figure out what’s wrong with him. It's some kind of neuropathy. Except they don't know why it's his whole body. It's hypoesthesia. Except that's really a symptom more than a diagnosis. It's similar to CIP. Except they don't know why it's not just the pain he can't feel. Or what's causing it. Or how to fix it.

“So tell me about what’s going on,” Dr. Owens says.

It’s kind of a relief to be able to tell the whole story. Steve had been able to tell the other doctors about getting cracked in the head with a plate, the fight, the concussion. But he couldn’t say polywog, demodogs, got sprayed in the face with some noxious Upside Down spunk… He can still remember the rotten taste of it coating his mouth even through the bandana. It wasn't too long after that this whole thing started.

He hadn’t noticed it then. Maybe his toes seemed a little numb, his cheeks, the end of his nose. It was winter. It was cold. Maybe when he took a girl out, holding her hand felt a little strange. Muffled. Maybe kissing her wasn’t as vivid as it usually was. Maybe when she sucked him off it took him longer than usual to come, but he got there. It still felt good. It was like the lights were dimmed a bit, not like he couldn’t see. And maybe he thought, after Nancy… Well, it didn’t seem so strange to him that he wasn’t as into the other girls. That nothing felt like it had with her.

It was kind of weird when he'd dropped a bottle of balsamic vinegar on his socked foot and it barely even hurt. He took his sock off later, and his toe was swelled up. The nail black. But it hadn’t felt like much. There was another time too. He cut his hand sawing open a bagel. Blood everywhere, his mom in a tizzy, and it was just a far away dull throb. 

He started to think something might be wrong then. But he kept hoping if he kept his head down, kept acting like it was nothing, then it would be nothing. The gate was closed. It had to be nothing. 

He told himself it was nothing until he woke up one random Wednesday a couple months out from the gate being closed, and it was like he wasn’t in his body. He couldn’t feel the sheets under him, the blankets on top of him. Couldn’t feel the heat blowing. Couldn’t feel his shirt against his chest or the elastic of his briefs. And when he pinched himself there was nothing. He’d done it harder, twisting, fingers digging hard enough to bruise. Nothing. He did bruise. He wasn’t invincible. He just couldn’t feel it. He couldn’t feel anything.

Not the heat of the shower. Or the cold when he desperately turned the knob. Not the scratch of his fingernails across his arm, hard enough to bleed. Not his hand on his dick. Nothing. He leaves the last bit out when he’s telling it for the doc. 

Dr. Owens doesn’t seem to think it’s all in Steve’s head, which is a step up from most of the doctors his mom has taken him to. But he can’t really say what it is either. Other than probably related to that thing where a whole other dimension had been leaking into the town for a year.

“We’ve had a few cases,” he says. “Of other-” He cocks his head over what word to put there. “Effects.” He frowns. “Hawkins has been exposed to all kinds of bio material, maybe even radiation, we simply don’t have enough information to understand. We did as much testing as we could at the lab before the gate was closed, and we’re working on reversing the effects. But there’s so much we don’t know. Each…” He looks for a word again. “Each affliction is different.”

Dustin calls what Steve’s got a superpower, but to be honest Steve thinks affliction fits better. A superpower is being bulletproof or flying or moving shit with your mind like El. Useful stuff. Steve burned the shit out of his hand the other day and didn’t notice until he smelled his skin cooking. Steve keeps cutting himself shaving because not being able to feel the blade on his face makes him doubt the muscle memory of it. Makes his hand uncertain. Steve can’t even get himself off. He tried a couple times in the beginning. His dick sort of half-heartedly chubbing up with the friction of a hand he can’t feel. He can’t get himself hard though. Can’t make himself come.

Afflicted sounds about right to him.

“Normally,” the doc is saying, ���in an area exposed to toxins you’d see consistent effects: elevated cancer rates, lung damage, lead poisoning. But this…” He shakes his head.

“What kind of things are you seeing?”

“I can’t share names or too many specifics of other patients,” Dr. Owens says. “But we’ve seen some very unusual things. A girl whose touch seems to burn living tissue. A boy who seems to be exhaling some kind of poison, small amounts, but they build up when people are exposed to him for long."

"Jesus, I guess mine could have been worse," Steve says. "Did anyone get any actual good powers? Why is it all-" He shakes his head, rolling his eyes. "Afflictions."

"They're biological anomalies," Dr. Owens says. "Not magical powers."

"I don't mean magical powers, I mean like… El. She has a good power. I know it's her special brain or whatever and not magic. But did anyone else get something like that? Something useful?"

"El didn't get her telekinesis from the Upside Down. She was born with a special brain, like you said. And as for you and the others… We don't know." He tilts his head, leaning in toward Steve. Face pretty kindly for a secret government operative who probably has the authority to burn Hawkins to the ground if he decides it's too contaminated with- Biological anomalies. "I hope you’ll let us do some tests. The more information we have, the more likely we can figure out how to reverse it."

Steve can't imagine there's a test he hasn't had. His mom's been on a mission. Toting him from specialist to specialist. He's been all over the country. He's been scanned inside out and head to toe and toe to head and back again. He's given pints and pints of blood. He's gotten zero results. He's not getting his hopes up that this'll be any different. Owens basically said as much. They don't know what this is. How the Upside Down's changed people. But... At least these doctors know where to start looking. And hell, this is what Steve's here for. Might as well try.

His mom signs him out of school to see a fake doctor at a clinic that doesn't exist. And Steve spends a week in an underground bunker. They do new MRIs, new CAT scans. They strap Steve into a few machines he hasn't seen before. They hook him up to electrodes and videotape him all day long. They test out blunt pressure, sharp blades. Hot and cold and soft and hard. He feels nothing. They make him bruise and bleed while machines beep around him, spitting out long lengths of incomprehensible measurements. Nothing. They starve him for most of a day. That he feels. They keep him up until his head feels like swimming through tar. They give him drugs. He feels that too. Hungry, tired, dizzy, sick to his stomach. He can feel all of that. But anything they shove at him from the outside... Nothing. 

They scan him again, again, again. 

They don't know. They can't fix it.

---

It comes in handy that summer though. He isn't exactly going to break under Russian torture when he can’t feel shit. They can tear off his fingernails, hell chop off whole fingers and it won’t make any difference… No, that’s not true. He gets a queasy feeling in his gut thinking about being left with nothing but bloody stumps. But it wouldn’t hurt. He tries to make sure they take it out on him instead of Robin. Finally, something this stupid, shitty biological anomaly is good for. He can take it. As much as they've got. So she doesn't have to.

He can tell it's bad from the blood dripping into his eyes. From the way it's hard to talk. From the way Robin looks at him like she wants to cry. He screams because he knows that's what they want from him. Because that's the only way to make them stop before they do something really… Permanent. But he could take more. He could keep taking it until they kill him, and it wouldn't hurt at all.

Robin hugs him when they finally make it out. Sagging into him, clinging to him with exhausted relief at surviving the Russians, the meat monster, but also surviving what she told him in the bathroom. Steve's always been a fan of hugs. The solid comfort of bodies pressed together. But he can't feel the heat of her, the squeeze of her. He settles for the sweaty smell of her head right up against his nose. The sound of the wavering sigh she lets out. He tries to hug her back without thinking too much about if he's holding her too hard, not hard enough. His arms uncertain.

He looks at himself in the mirror at home once he's dropped her off. His swollen, blood-streaked face, his eye shut. The bruises deep and ugly. The nasty split of his lip. The break in his nose. It's like looking at someone else. Like the person in the mirror isn’t even him. He presses down on the worst bruise around his shut eye. Presses down and feels nothing.

[crowliphale]

Can't always be about those other two

[wetdeadroses]

ace loves it when you’re sleepy, because you’re just so damn soft and cute. he never thought he’d find so much joy in lazing around into the late hours of the day, your legs tangled with his in the sheets. he’d pretend he has work to do, all so he can see that precious little pout on your lips as you pull him even closer with those delicate hands of yours, pleading for five more minutes. he would give in, and he would try his hardest to hide that cheeky little grin, but when he buries his face in your neck, you can feel his smile playing across your skin. he craves every second, every moment, of your touch; he basks in this sanctuary made up of the two of you. even if it is just five more minutes, he can’t wait to do it again tomorrow.

[stellewriites]

Hii! Can you do ghoap x reader fluff? Like cuddles with mild flirting (from soap, obviously) and like soap is the little spoon, because in return he gets head scratches in return, reader in the middle, and Simon as the big spoon just pressing his face into the crook of readers neck?

Would rlly apreciate it <3

-🌑

i loved this idea when i read it and then proceeded to take far too long to actually answer it lmao BUT!! here it is,, ghoap x fem!reader fluff - ty for the request 💓

you picked up the cheap jar of pasta sauce and compared it to the branded version stacked next to it. as far as you could tell, the ingredients were the same and the little veg chunks included weren’t any smaller.

you nodded to yourself. it was decided, you weren’t paying two quid extra just for a name, fuck dolmio.

you looked higher to the top shelf and frowned when you saw the pasta had been pushed away from the edge and you’d be unable to reach it on your own.

“need a hand, dove?”

you turned to see a handsome man with a mohawk beelining towards you, his eyes tracing your frame with hot familiarity. without waiting for your response, he bullied his way into your space to reach over you for the pasta. barely stepping back, he handed you the pack and looked you up and down.

“thanks, stranger,” you said, holding back a laugh at his amused smile. you saw the moment he decided to play along.

“pretty skirt,” he said and nodded down to your bare legs peeking out beneath the denim.

“hm, my boyfriend got me it,” you said, a little teasingly.

“oh? and this boyfriend, he’s left ye all alone to do the shoppin’ has he?”

“no, he’ll be back soon. and he’s kinda protective, won’t be happy seeing me talking to other guys,” you said trying not to smile.

“ah’m no’ scared,” he scoffed, his own smile breaking out as he looked around the aisle eagerly for the aforementioned boyfriend.

“i don’t know, he’s pretty big and strong, wears a scary mask,” you said.

“aye? reminds me o’ my boyfriend,” he said and you finally giggled, leaning in to kiss him and giving up playing pretend.

“dove, they got their tiger bread in stock again,” simon said as he rounded the corner of the aisle and interrupting your kiss. “i ha’n’t ‘ad this in ages.” simon barely paused at the unexpected appearance of johnny, his eyes turning up in the corners as he smiled under his mask. “johnny, look, tiger bread.”

“yeah, i seen, si,” johnny said fondly, crowding you back against the trolley. “only getting the one loaf?”

simon paused. “hm. you’re right.”

you snorted as he dropped the bread into the trolley before heading back to the bakery section and leaving the pair of you alone again.

“work was a fookin’ drag, dove, cannae stand all this paperwork they’re keepin’ me busy with,” johnny groaned into your temple. you petted his arm consolingly before turning back to your list and shopping trolley.

“you were injured less than a month back, john, you can’t have been expecting to be back in the field so soon?” you hummed as you continued shopping with johnny leant over your back.

his silence spoke volumes.

you shook your head as you made your way through the store and waved simon over as you passed him by, hoping he hadn’t harassed the bakery staff into making more tiger loaves last minute for him. the absolute fiend.

“wha’s wrong with him?” simon asked as he got back, hands full as he nodded to johnny’s slumped frame. you refrained from asking simon if you really needed three tiger breads and instead nudged your other boyfriend up from your shoulder.

“he’s bored,” you said easily, grinning when johnny pulled back properly to send you a betrayed look.

“fuck’s sake. c’mere,” simon huffed before dipping down to kiss him, chuffing a laugh as johnny sputtered at the woollen texture of the mask in between them. “you’ll be back in no time. just behave or it’ll be longer.”

“ye sound like cap,” johnny grimaced. he wiped a hand down his tired face. “when are we goin’ home, hm? fuckin’ knackered, could do with a nap before dinner.”

“y’drive ‘ere?” ghost asked while you grabbed a box of eggs, checking for any cracked inside.

“aye.”

“then you can leave whenever,” ghost said flatly, though the glint of his eyes in the overhead lights betrayed his amusement at johnny’s plight.

johnny pouted.

“yer cruel, si. tell him, dove, he’s heartless,” johnny bemoaned dramatically.

“you’re cruel and heartless, simon, would you prefer strawberry jam or raspberry for a change?”

“could be a treat,” ghost conceded.

johnny groaned at the both of you, pinching your hip when you laughed.

“you both know i cannae sleep without someone’s arms around me,” he huffed, turning his big puppy eyes on you both.

you caved immediately.

“aw poor baby,” you cooed, biting your lip when you saw simon roll his eyes. “let’s get this done quick then, yeah? go grab the burgers we like from the frozen section and that ice cream we got a couple weeks back.”

“yes, ma’am.” johnny jogged off.

“si, can i trust you not to make your way back to the bakery if i give you a list of items to grab?”

“no,” he admitted without shame. “i saw the lad in the back prepping more for tomorrow, think i could convince ‘im to cook ‘em now for me if given the time.”

“right. hand holding it is as we find the toiletries then. ‘s like herding cats with you two.”

simon hummed, his eyes trained on the section you knew the bakery to be hidden in.

—

once home, johnny packed away the majority of your shopping in record time, snatching the jam from simon’s hands and almost throwing it onto the work top before plying his mask up one handed and dragging him down into a rough kiss with the other. you watched, amused, with raised eyebrows as johnny dragged him back towards the bedroom desperately, waving a hand at you and gasping out a needy, “dove, c’mon, stop fucking around,” in between wet kisses.

you didn’t need to be told twice before attaching your hands onto simon’s thick waist from behind, guiding them from bumping into any furniture or walls as they stumbled blind to the bedroom.

johnny pulled back with a dopey smile and pushed simon none too gently onto the bed. you took advantage of his lowered height and pulled off his mask completely, rubbing a gentle hand over his buzz cut hair and down to his jaw. you leant in for a soft peck before feeling johnny’s hands and arms wrap around your soft stomach.

he clung to you, nuzzling at your cheek over your shoulder until you turned in his arms to share your attention.

you heard the bed creak as simon settled further up the bed as johnny kissed you. you shuffled back, parting from johnny just long enough to get your bearings and climb onto the bed, simon’s hands moving to guide you back as johnny hummed against your lips.

you flopped back into simon’s arms, got comfortable as he wrapped you up and held you tight against him.

johnny sighed in relief at the sight and shuffled down so he could rest his head on your chest.

you gathered him close and laughed when he started whining when your hands stayed on his shoulders.

“so needy johnny, have you ever heard the phrase ‘patience is a virtue’?” you teased as you started to run your nails through his hair, lightly scratching until he sighed and dropped his body weight against you and simon.

“too t’red,” he mumbled.

simon lifted his warm hand from your hip and draped it heavily over the back of johnny’s neck, keeping him close. soon enough, the scot was snoring.

you tried not to laugh, your chest bouncing johnny with your muffled chuckles. “i think that might be a record.”

“tired lamb,” simon said condescendingly, but he rubbed his thumb lovingly over the soft skin behind johnny’s ear.

“don’t be mean.” you grinned back at him.

simon hummed and rested his head into the crook of your neck, tucking you in closer with the arm still wrapped underneath your waist. “not bein’ mean.”

he nipped at your neck, a soft nibble that had you gasping and clenching your thick thighs around the one johnny had slipped inbetween.

“prick,” you huffed without malice when he stopped and let out a long tired breath in your ear. he hummed with closed eyes, clearly not listening.

you chuffed a laugh into johnny’s hair. the low thrum of arousal simon had brought on was easy enough to ignore but you’d have rather he’d finished what he started. instead, you tucked your cold toes between his large calves behind you in penance and tugged johnny even closer, enough to smother him. with your arse perched perfectly in simon’s lap and johnny nestled close to his second favourite place on your body, you were sure they’d give you what you were after once their nap is over. you closed your eyes with a smile; you could wait for them to get their energy up, and you loved your puppy piles just as much as they did.

[lycansprites]

straight up destabilizing in the mosh pit lol the people here love our molecular deconstruction, think it's a sick bit

[stressfulsloth]

Sorry, I'm still on this. It's funny to me. And by funny I mean really sad actually. That it's always bisexual characters whose sexuality gets viewed as "up for debate." Like you have Harry Du Bois, a character who clearly expresses his attraction to his ex wife, who can ask Klaasje to "have fuck" with him within the first five minutes of the game, who is attracted to Joyce and keen to go on a date with Lilienne, but who ALSO gets flustered over the smoker on the balcony and his unbuttoned shirt ("he smells good. Why does he smell good?"), who fixates on impressing Tommy le Homme, who smells Kim's cologne and immediately calms down ("GABA receptors aflutter"). The "thrashed like a school boy" line. The "preferably a large man dressed in nothing but a towel, to thrash you while you're spread naked and helpless on a cool slab" line. The whole "bi-curious" conversation. The "it's good, but I'd prefer a man. A solid muscularity would support me better" line. The "muscles, I said muscles! I want manly-manly muscles". The line suggesting Harry's familiarity with bottoming?? ("Not many people know that. But you do. Go figure.") The way that sexuality interacts with class and expectations of masculinity and how that ties in perfectly with the games overarching themes, with the hope and the fear of the world surrounding him.

And even with all of that, somehow, it's apparently still up for debate.

[malifiquemakes]

First kiss

[ilovedthestars]

i drew this while watching season 2 episode 3 of Misfits and Magic. to cope.

if you haven't watched s2e3, this is just a cool symbolic representation of that whole shadow thing that Evan Kelmp has going on. don't worry about it

if you have watched s2e3, you know exactly what this is and what i just went through

sketch layers under the cut so you can appreciate how much effort i put into making a completely flat silhouette

[brofightiscancelled]

the anan movie Q&As are really interesting to me, so i wanted to attempt my own translations! 🙇‍♂️

[phoenixwithapencil]

Here’s an evil thought: a version of ffxv where all the foundational bits are the same.

Except

There is no decade long reflection.

I think a decade of darkness, a decade of Noct being all but dead, a decade of being curled up in the void with naught but endless blue and Bahamut and memories as company, at the end of which everyone walks into the capital chin up and dressed to the nines to go kick ass knowing the ending and accepting it- makes the whole thing feel very fair, very regal. It’s all very just, don’t you think?

But without it, Noct is twenty and he touches the crystal and gets its powers-

And then he gets the truth.

Does that feel just?

You’re going to fight Ardyn, Bahamut will inform Noctis, and you must not die before you defeat him. And then you will die afterwards. To save the world, of course.

Does that feel just?

Noctis ascends the throne at twenty, bruised and battered and wearing raiment that feels like dressing up in his father’s clothes. He says goodbye to his friends, who at most a month ago believed their journey had reached a happy end with a wedding in Altissia. Their friend will die and the world will keep spinning for it and time will march on for it. Noct’s voice wavers, cracks, as he tells his friends to walk tall.

And then he’s gone.

Does that feel just?

Anywho thanks for listening to the nth reason for ‘why Bahamut is actually just a vile trickster masquerading as an arbiter of justice and is the true BBEG of ffxv’ (because without that decade timeout corner no one would be remotely as chill about the ending as they end up being)

[o-sunny-day]

I had a thought about Zoobles behavior/actions in the adventure-announcement scene in episode 4, and now everyone has to hear about it.

After Zooble hears about what happened during the Mildenhall adventure, they are quick to RIGHTFULLY be like “what the fuck” for several reasons. “WHY?? Why on EARTH did you think id like that? Why did you think ANYONE would?? What's wrong with you??? STOP????”

But... Zooble has also just recently seen what happens when you criticize Caines adventures, (through the therapy session) and are now faced with the looming threat of his fragile ego. Because of that, they try and take all of those thoughts, and that experience, and find some diplomatic way to phrase their feelings on the matter. That's what I think this face is- both taking in what was said, but also thinking of how the hell to respond to that after knowing what might happen as a result of speaking their unfiltered thoughts.

And then the way they try to get out of this adventure specifically- IM OBSESSED.

Despite everything, they're not going to accept this, not just gonna submit to the whims of this guy all because he’s so insistent on adventures being so important. Zooble still think they can realistically get out of it. In ep 2 they straight up just say “no.” And in ep 3 they just dont show up 😭 all very BLUNT ways of avoiding. Even in ep 1 theyre like “AUGH, NO!!!” at the prospect of an unavoidable adventure.

But this time, they're all casual like “welp… alr! see ya guys.” trying to slink away before Caine resists. And when he does, Zooble immediately bites back in their usual blunt manner, after their attempts to say no in a polite-indirect way falls on deaf ears. Its like theyre saying “Look- I tried to be nice about it, guy.”

And then when Kinger makes it look like Zooble will ACTUALLY have to go on the adventure this time, they look completely exasperated, and get way more elevated, losing any amount of tact they tried to have before, calling the adventures stupid again.

This is when we, the audience, and Zooble, the character, see Caine has somewhat lost his patience- He wont let them skip any more adventures, because he has the power to make them. To make them do whatever he wants. And the only thing holding him back is the fact that he likes them

it seems like before this, Zooble had planned on just being more careful with Caine and his adventures, but still of course had no plans to give up. NOW however…..

I feel like this episode was a "last ditch effort" on their part. It wouldn't have made sense for them to give up before, since they do seem fairly stubborn. But after this, it seems like something has clicked in their mind, shown by their conversation with Jax

Well, we’ll see next episode!!!

[teddybeartoji]

[beemochi-art]

Kilomegs week day 4: Memories

Could you imagine admitting something cringe to your boyfriend and he doesn’t diss you for it cause he knows you’re all kinds of messed up.

Nope! can’t imagine that! Noooo stop being nice to me 😭, you remind me of my dead mom!

[mammomlette]

People don’t talk about MC needing to wear a magical ring to not accidentally yk cause NATURAL DISASTERS with their powers??? Not only accidentally but without realising???

Diavolo or smthn is asking too much of MC or being a bit too annoying and their other hand slowly drifts towards the ring and they hold onto it while maintaining dead eye contact. Like continue to piss me off hoe I’ll blink and blow a hole in your castle idk

Obv they never do it (or do they?) but the threat is there and it’s a risk dia (or whoever but I’m using dia) can’t take

[hallowclave]

She para on my humans till I [GRUESOME SOUNDS OF BUG FUELED VIOLENCE]

Redraw of a skitter design I did a little over a year ago, comparison under the read more

And the sketch. As a little treat. Just for you.

[mollysunder]

For now, it's about 50/50 for whether or not these mysterious people that were included in the new trailer are members of the Gloriously Evolved. For fun, I'm going to break down why these people might be entirely unrelated to Viktor.

First, their bodies are clearly inlaid with gold, which does not replace their flesh. In the brief scene we get of these people the gold works as a conduit between their melodies and the magic around them. Meanwhile hexcore has entirely transformed Viktor's hand and leg into metal.

We know that Viktor's entire hand and leg have turned completely into metal because not only do his limbs make metal clinking noises and conduct electricity, but the animators on Bridging the Rift confirm it.

I've also seen some mention that the markings on the faces of these unknown characters represent Viktor's touch when he "healed" them. Upon closer inspection each character does have a five markings on their face, but they're detailed runes rather than Viktor's hand print, implying this may be related to a more intricate ritual rather than Viktor simply laying his hand on them and transforming them with the hexcore.

Really, these people have magic more similar to Mel Medarda. Mel is the one who appears to wear magical gold embedded in her skin to serve as protection magic. What Mel is doing with magic is likely far more simple compared to these people, but it's in the same vein. And that may be the entire point.

Viktor and his cult are the outliers. Whatever Viktor has done in season 1, and what he will continue to do in season 2 is a divergence (possibly perversion) of how magic should work/be treated in the rest of Runeterra, which makes sense! Viktor literally said he doesn't know what he's doing, he just keeps going.

What's likely happening in this scene is that some sect of mages, maybe they're acolytes of the mage that saved Jayce have become aware of the magical shenanigans in PnZ... and it's bad.

Then again, I haven't seen the leaks. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this is all worth pointing out. (This is not a solicitation to tell what happens in the leaks).