#my lil stinky ghost guy

[mpsansy]

Since it's that time of year for ghouls, I have to get in these Casper drawings in each day! This one is a little miscellaneous since I got two drawings of a sad Casper, but the ones with his uncles are real sweet.

[juvenillia]

~ Death of Peace of Mind ~ 21: broken

Simon 'Ghost' Riley x fem!reader

photo credits go to very talented @ave661

a/n: peeking around the corner, ehrm hey i am kinda back? sorry for my very long radio silence, as a lil excuse i got an extra long chapter for you guys, i hope you're still interested in this story. and dont worry i'll finish it, updates will just take me longer but they'll come! just leave a comment if you wanne be add to the taglist to not miss an updte, well let me know what you think! lots of loves jules

CW/TW: fluff, longing, teasing, mentions of angst, trauma, nightmares, suicide, rape, enslavery, loss of loved ones, torture

wordcount: 6.6k

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It was still early when Simon woke from what appeared to be some sort of clicking noise. Usually his eyes would've snapped open, but something was different. This wasn't the usual situation he found himself in the morning. He felt utterly relaxed and secure. His sleepy eyes went through the area. Though upon closer inspection of the room, he couldn’t identify the source of the sound. The common room was empty, the sound of your steady breaths filtering into his ears. He didn't dare to look up, fearing that it’d be one of those damn dreams.

But it wasn't. Your hand was still placed flat on his back, the other was nearly trapped in between his gloved ones. Closing his eyes once again, he allowed himself some more time to enjoy the moment, his head rising and falling with your soft breaths. You were still fast asleep, the situation causing a smile to tug at the corner of his lips for a few seconds before his face fell back to its usual resting stoic manner. Reminding himself, he couldn’t stay like this, especially not in this place, that's why he slowly pushed himself up, trying not to wake you during the process. 

Sitting at your feet, he tugged you back under the blanket, causing you to shift and grimace in discomfort before relaxing once more. The corner of his lips twitching upwards again at the sight. It was the same peaceful face he saw so often before, when you fell asleep around the team and he'd carry you back to your bunks. How often did he have to pull himself out of your room, when he actually just wanted to stay in your company. And now, he was here, in your embrace. He shook his head, somehow in amusement and somehow in disbelief, and made his way to the other side of the room.

Quietly preparing some tea in the little kitchen corner, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was what a normal morning could feel like? His eyes occasionally dart back to your sleeping figure. He let himself dream for just another moment. Imagining how the mornings in his small apartment in Manchester with you by his side could feel like. Images of you wearing his shirt, sharing a bed instead of this stinky couch, laughing while enjoying your favorite tea. It appeared like one of the most peaceful thoughts he had in a long time. Just like last night was one of the most peaceful sleeps he ever had. He wasn't even sure if he ever thought of something like this. Not after Ghost came into his life, that was for sure. Almost all domestic thoughts flooded his mind and a smile clung to his lips, well hidden behind his mask. Everything about the possibility of a different life. A life he could and wanted to share with you, although he was quick to shake those thoughts aside. He hadn’t a different life, so he’d allow himself to cherish the little moments the world - you - could give him.

“What a beautiful…” Johnny's voice boomed through the common room, but got immediately interrupted. Simon signaled him to lower his voice, an open palm stretched out to him before pointing to your sleeping figure on the couch. Johnny’s eyes were filled with concern as he took your figure in. “Did she sleep here again?” You often escaped your room in the last weeks. Always explained it with noisy neighbors.

Simon only nodded, concealing the fact that you’d slept in each other's embrace and suppressing a smile behind the mask. He couldn’t let the Sergeant win this. Johnny started to make himself some coffee as Simon moved over to the couch, sitting down next to you in his usual spot. The cushions shifted beneath his weight as the scent of your favorite tea flooded your nostrils and you slowly woke from your sweet slumber. That was a little perk of being a light sleeper.

Blinking the sleep from your eyes, you looked up at him, nodding sleepily when he held out the cup of tea for you. The smile that adorned your face was grateful, cheeks flushed with heat when your fingers brushed his as you accepted the offering. Looking into his gaze now in the morning light you froze. There was something lighter in his eyes now, a softness permeating through the usual coldness. Beneath the warpaint, the chaos of high stress missions and the stoicism he always hid his emotion behind, something had been allowed to shine through. Something that looked an awful lot like hope.

“Thank you, Simon.” You sleepily said with a genuine and nearly shy smile on your lips. Soap watched on with mixed feelings while sitting in the armchair across from you. He was annoyed his Lieutenant still hadn't asked you out despite encouragement, and overwhelmed by the obvious pining. Still, he somehow enjoyed this show. He thought it was adorable how helpless the behemoth of a man became when it came to you. Even if Simon thought to conceal all those things, Johnny knew fairly well and in his opinion he already had won. 

It was a lazy morning, you and the boys went separate ways, after sharing the preferred morning drinks, to complete the day's work. Stopping by the office to drop off Simon’s hoodie at his desk (again), you noticed a package sitting on yours. 

“What’s in there?” Kyle skipped all polite morning phrases and just asked directly, coming to stand behind you as you opened the box. He hovered over your shoulder trying to get a better look. Was it still awkward how close you grew to all of them in such a short period of time? Eventually? Did you mind? Not anymore.

“You know Kyle, curiosity killed the cat.” You smiled smugly and closed the box again. “Need any help, mate?” Your glance wandered to the wall, at the map you produced over the last few days. Kyle shook his head no, still that usual soft smile on his lips. “Call me if you change your mind,” you said simply while patting his shoulder, before you turned on your heel, taking the box from your desk and one from your drawer, to bring them back to your room. 

The day continued peacefully. The usual drills like working out with Johnny, taking a run with Kyle, looking after some recruits. Nothing too thrilling. But somehow, you felt uneasy around the recruits. Usually Simon would’ve kept you company but today you were on your own. Nothing you were afraid of, but you had a bad feeling in your stomach and you learned to trust that by now. So you stayed cautious, and you shouldn’t be disappointed in your feelings. The hour was late when you were called in to see Price in his office, your curiosity only growing when you met the familiar brown eyes of your Lieutenant. He held a little envelope in his hand, that he immediately shoved into his pocket as you walked up to them.

“Perfect. Just the two I wanted to see.” Price announced facing you, as you stood next to Simon. John’s usual soft features were serious and stern. You swallowed, fearing that he might have taken notice of your unprofessional behavior. Maybe some of the recruits had seen both of you this morning. Maybe that’s why you felt so uneasy around them, because they did report it to Price.  Nothing so uncommon, nothing you haven’t seen before. Especially as part of a special ops unit. Price handed a file to his first mate before he continued and pulled you out of your thoughts. “Thanks to all our hard work, we tracked down the main center of actions and transactions. If we can get access to the bank accounts, we are as good as finished with the job. I want you two to go get it,” he explained while his gaze switched between both of you. “Skadi you’re the expert when it comes to hacking and Ghost is best at slinking about in the shadows.” Your shoulders loosened in relief as you realized it was just a regular briefing. But somehow you were sure that you weren’t off the hook. Price was way too observant. He knew his team too well to ignore the changes you brought.

“When are we heading out?” Simon handed you the file, and your eyes instantly started to read through the lines. His voice was calm as always.

“Early. 0300. Laswell will await you on the other side. Any more questions?” Price looked at both of you.

“Negative,” you said with ease, looking up at your Captain, whose glance switched the slightest. His eyes darted between both of you. It crossed your mind again, that he definitely knew and you would be totally damned. 

“You got each other’s back. Right?” His open palms stretched out in front of him. Both of you nodded simultaneously, which made a smile appear on Price’s face. A well known smile. “Good. Dismissed.”

Heading out was easy as always. You bid your goodbyes to Johnny and Kyle who were heading out themselves later, trying to get rid of the next weapon delivery from the warehouses. Same task for Price and König. The mission was simple. Maybe it was because you and Ghost were able to work perfectly in tandem, a well oiled machine also in silence. Even after splitting up, it was no big deal. He was your missing piece and you knew that fairly well.

Staying in contact, you quickly found the room you needed. Thanks to Ghost taking care of anything coming your way, you could easily log into the computers and fight your way through the security softwares. You could watch Ghost over the monitor and warn him if any uninvited guests would cross his way while he made sure to have a way out ready. 

“Skadi,” some time later Ghost’s voice echoed through the comms as you browsed through the various files, your eyes darting to the monitor. He didn’t need an affirmation that you watched him, he simply knew. He always did. “Look at that.” His head pointed onto different huge containers, the latest order of weapons you supposed.

Your eyes widened as you noticed the flag of the United States of America all over the containers. “What the hell.” Your eyes found his, as he looked directly into the camera. Even over the distance you had this special connection and an unsettling feeling spread over both of you.

An alarm setting off in the distance pulled you back and gave the sign to leave. “We need to leave.” Ghost’s voice was stern, as he immediately made his way back to your position.

“Give me one second.” Your eyes scanned through the files to get more information about the possible supplier. You needed to dig deeper. Russians and Mexican cartel working together was one thing, but what did god damn America have to do with it now? Was it just a cover for the deliveries? Or was something more behind it? You needed to find out.

“Skadi. Now!” It was a clear order as he stood in front of the door which separated you. You pulled the hard drive out and ran after Ghost, trailing close behind and trying to not gain any more attention. “Laswell sent coordinates of a safe house. 4 clicks away.” He already sent all the new intel her direction, to make sure she could find something out. Bursting through a door you spilled out onto the rooftop, frantically looking for an exit that wasn’t through the horde of enemies which flooded your original way out.

“How did the alarm even go off?” You pushed the door closed again while Simon barricaded it with a thick metal pipe. Afterwards you searched for a possible escape route.

“Doesn’t matter now, ’st need a way out of here.” Ghost joined your search for a safe way out, gaze scanning your surroundings until he found a pipe connecting to what looked like the sewerage system.

“It could lead into the lake.” You voiced, having remembered seeing one on the opposite side of the safe house as you entered. Not exactly ideal, but far better than shooting your way out, not to mention the added benefit of washing away your tracks. “We could give it a go.” You shrugged, watching as your Lieutenant already opened the pipe.

“So, a midnight swim?” He looked at you while placing the seal of the pipe onto the floor.

“How romantic.” The words crossed your lips before you could stop them. An awkward silence settled over the two of you as you screamed internally, slapping yourself for the unprofessionalism. While you had accepted the complicated bundle of emotions you held for him didn’t mean you had to shove them into his face. Hoping he’d take it as your usual teasing jokes. Especially after neither of you had talked about the night in the common room. But the sweet chuckle of your kneeling Lieutenant eased your mind a bit, and at the same time you cursed him for that same reason.

What you didn’t know was that your comment somehow struck a nerve deep down in him. He promised himself to not waste any more time and still he did nothing to help the situation to even make some progress. Something he really had to change. Nobody could know how much time you’d had left with your career paths, and still he couldn’t bring himself to take the first big step. “Ladies first.” He held out a hand to guide you into the huge pipe.

“What a gentleman.” You took his hand, gave him a sweet smile before sliding down the pipe, clutching to your rifle to not lose it. Simon waited a bit before following. Making sure to close the pipe before and to be sure that he wouldn’t directly bump into you during the process. To your fortune the pipe actually led into the lake, so both of you quickly made your way back to the shore. Completely soaked with the cold water. “Jesus. H Christ…Kate really owes me a hot bath,” you said while checking the hard drive while the cold crawled into your system. 

Simon only laughed while he checked the coordinates. “6 clicks. Yer gonna make it?” His voice held a bit of concern, but his eyes were still stoic as he looked at you. Putting his rifle back in its usual position. He was still in survival mode.

“Well, it’s either that or dying out here in the cold.” Your voice was slightly sarcastic. Even as you were a year-long trained soldier who had been through hell and back, you still hated the cold. It was your greatest weakness, besides the inner demons you kind of summoned yourself. “Could be worse.” You added softly while putting the hardware away and pulling your own rifle back in position.

“’t least we ‘ave each other.” His accent grew thicker as his eyes burned themselves into you with that sentence. A sentence that held a deeper meaning that you knew right there and then. You blinked at him in confusion about the sudden change in his tone. “Well…” He cleared his throat. “...imagine havin’ Soap whinin’ the whole time.” He cleared his throat once more and averted his gaze into the direction of the safehouse. Johnny could get whiny when he had enough and the mission was as good as over, but he merely did it to annoy his teammates rather than to be actually complaining. It was his way to ease the mood after a long and draining mission. With a sweet laugh of yours you started following Simon’s lead, which would bring you to the safehouse. Waiting for your pick-up after another successful mission.

It took you a good amount of time to arrive at the little cabin. It was nothing special, but well hidden. So, you actually could get some rest and maybe a bit of warmth into your soaked bodies. Simon held the door open for you to step in, after that he locked it and made sure to barricade it. The cabin itself was small, only two rooms. Something like a living room with an old couch in it, which you moved so it faced the door. A little kitchen corner, smaller than the one in the common room back at base and it was definitely out of order. And a small bathroom. Only a sink and a toilet that didn’t seem to work either. “Cozy.” You exhaled while stripping out of your tactical vest and placing it onto the little wooden shelf Simon used as a barricade for the door.

“Could be worse,” he repeated your sentence from earlier while he also pulled himself out of the vest and jacket. Slowly slipping out of his complete survival mode. “Seems like Watcher was prepared though.” He pointed at a duffle bag sitting on the ancient looking couch. Simon leaned against the shelf while you opened the bag.

“Hell yeah!” You pulled out some more civilian, but more important dry clothes. “Prepared as always. Even packed a spare one for you.” You pulled a casual black balaclava out of the bag. You smiled at him while handing him the soft and dry fabric. Nobody followed you here, nobody knew you were here besides Laswell and the driver who’d pick you up. So why not change into dry and warm clothes before the next life or death situation awaits you?

“Maybe we'll find some towels as well,” he said calmly while taking the black mask out of your hand. His gloved fingers brushing against yours for a brief moment. Before he went to the bathroom to look for said utensils, taking the bigger shirt and pants out of the duffle bag and with him. 

“Well, no luck therefore.” You could hear his voice with ease from the other room, followed by a shuffling of clothes. You decided to take that time to quickly change out of the soaked bodice and exchange it with the simple shirt Kate packed for you. As well as you switched the wet cargo pants against the ones out of the bag. Getting out of the soaked fabric wasn’t that easy as it clung to your skin. It took you a moment longer than usual, a moment that granted Simon a view he’d never forget. Standing back in the room, the wet clothes in his hands, as he gulped at the sight of your ass in nothing more than the wet panties that fitted you like a second skin. His hands clutching tight at the fabric in his hand. He had to force his eyes away. It wasn’t appropriate, he knew that, but he couldn’t suppress the burning in his abdomen. A feeling that was quite unfamiliar for him. 

“Lieutenant?” Your innocent voice dragged his attention back to you, while you couldn’t even imagine that he might peek. “You broken?” It was a teasing comment as you sat down on that stinky old couch after. A place most people would’ve been disgusted by, but you rested on worse things.

“’m good.” His answer was almost shy as he walked over and leant against the wooden shelf in front of the door. Placing the clothes down. You nodded as answer and rolled your shoulders back. Why did you suddenly feel so uneasy, almost nervous? Still you couldn’t help but take in the sight in front of you. It was rarely that Simon wore a plain shirt and jeans around you. Kate made sure to pack some very casual clothes in case you had to take cover. So it really was an unusual choice of clothing for the man in front of you. Most of the time on base he’d still wear some tac trousers and a hoodie. Still you could get used to this sight. Your eyes stopped at his arm. Or better said at his tattoo, staring at it a moment too long.

Simon chuckled, what immediately brought your eyes up to his masked face. “But ‘m the one with a staring problem, hm?” He laughed while crossing his arms in front of his chest. His teasing comment made you smile while leaning a bit further into the couch.

“Maybe I’m just a fan of tattoos?” It wasn’t a complete lie, more of a half-assed excuse. You’ve never seen his sleeve complete. He preferred to wear concealing clothes rather than revealing. Having his beefy arms so clearly on display did something to you, but his tattoo indeed caught your interest. “Never saw yours completely, that’s all…” Before you could continue the sentence, you could hear a deep exhale from him, followed by Simon pushing himself up from that shelf and sitting down next to you on the couch. Knees and body facing towards you. Both of your rifles were leaned against the couch on each side, giving easy access just in case.

“Go on ‘en. Take a look.” His voice contained that challenging undertone again, while he held his arm into your direction. It made you sit up straighter. Your eyes looking into his eyes before averting down to his arm. Taking in the different images, which built the whole piece of art together. He was so close next to you, and still it felt like you were worlds apart. You could feel his gaze burning on yourself, as your own eyes got hooked onto a specific part of his tattoo. A pair of dog tags. Your fingers twitched and before your brain could stop them, your hand reached out to his arm to twist it a bit to take a closer look. He tensed at your sudden touch, but he didn’t interrupt it. Too curious what you’d do again and where it’d lead you. Your fingers brushed gently over that spot on his arms, your brows furrowed slightly as you took the symbol for a fallen soldier in, asking yourself who he had lost on his way that was worth the daily reminder.

Simon observed every move you made, every twitch of your fingers and eyes. He took in the concerned features of your face and another deep breath left his lungs. C’mon Riley, she’s fuckin’ worth it. He mentally punched himself, before he found his voice again. “’ey’re mine.” It was only a whisper, something so uncommon for him, but it was enough that your head tilted in his direction. Instantly meeting his piercing and unreadable gaze. The teasing fractures lingering in between completely vanished. There was nothing more but sorrow and regret in them, but also trust. You couldn’t make out what he really wanted to tell. “Reminder for ‘e day Simon died.” 

Your eyes darted between his, processing what he just said. There were so many questions circling your mind, but you couldn’t say anything. It was like your tongue was tied and you didn’t want to dig deeper into that, to push him even more. The statement alone was more than you thought he'd ever tell you. Your fingers lingered on his forearm, gaze turning back to them and your face relaxed a bit. Simon literally was your calming spot. Even with the storm of thoughts in your mind, you felt relaxed with him next to you. Not to mention the warmth his body provided.

His eyes trailed from your soft features to your hand lingering on him, over to this daily reminder. It was a part of him, of his past. The day Simon Riley died, and Ghost was born. It took him plenty of therapists, and a lot of effort to become Simon again. But here, alone with you, it wasn’t hard at all. The feeling of your somehow calloused and still soft hands on his skin. The sound of your calm breaths. It was like Ghost didn’t need to exist. Did it scare him? Eventually. But he needed that. He wanted it for himself more than anything. His hand found yours, as his eyes lingered on your knuckles. A deep scar was sitting right between the first two digits. It was a shame how much you already had to endure, he thought. The scar didn’t look old. Not as old as he supposed it to be. 

“What?” Your voice was calm, but his sudden movement surprised you. Never before did Simon initiate contact with you, if not for work purposes of course. His bare thumb brushed over your knuckles, over the damaged skin. It was a different sensation to feel his skin onto yours. You thought his hands to be rougher, but you felt nothing but a soothing tingle. His thumb stopped over the deepest part of the pointy scar. 

Before he could even ask, you responded. “Oh…” A desperate chuckle left your throat but got stuck. “It’s … It’s nothing. It was after a nightmare…”, you paused for a moment. Why did everything feel so natural when it came to Simon Riley? You didn't know, but you knew that it was so easy to open yourself up around him, even if he never demanded it or insisted for you to tell him about your past. It just felt easy. “... of Randy’s death…” The chuckle was completely gone, but the softness remained in your tone. “I was mad at myself, again… and I punched a mirror because I hated what I saw. A shard got stuck.” You explained while he pulled your hand closer, to take a better look. His eyes were soft as they looked back at you. He didn’t say anything about it. He didn’t need to. His eyes told you everything you needed to know. It was the same one thing you always saw in those brown orbs: 

I understand. You're not alone.

He slowly let go of your hand, to push the sleeve of his shirt a bit up. Hesitant first, but nevertheless he revealed a weirdly shaped scar. Two dots, they looked way too small on his thick arm. “My… father…” He started to be hesitant. He took his time while his chest felt heavy. Simon had never told anyone else besides Price, but he knew that you deserved this. “He had some weird…hobbies…” Simon’s eyes were pinned onto the wounded skin. “Brought fuckin’ snakes into our home… wanted us to become brave…” You absently reached out to the spot. Your thumb circled around it while your hand couldn’t reach around his whole arm. “Said that’s how we’d become real men.” 

Brows furrowed, as your brain processed all the information. Your eyes found those dark ones again. Just like him you didn’t respond to his words. He didn’t need any pity. The look in your eyes was enough for him. A glance full of understanding, of empathy and at the same time adoration. Something he always found in your eyes. Even after the darkest moment, they brought a light into his life. A warm feeling did spread in his chest. That was something he couldn't let go off.

You swallowed the lump back in your throat while pulling your hand back. Somehow this became the time you reveal your lifes to each other. This was the turning point you never thought could happen. Simon let you in, he let you see his soul. So the only thing you could do was repay the amount of trust. Aiming for the hem of your shirt, you slowly pulled it up. “Back when I became Lieutenant,” you started slowly, but it was so natural to talk about it. Completely different sensation to talking to a therapist.”, they sent me out to take care of some hostages. I took König with me. It is his specialty.” You pulled the hem higher up, revealing a huge burn mark beneath. From the left side of your abdomen to way higher was nothing but burned skin. “It was a trap… a set up. I miscalculated the whole thing. König saved my life, and in the process, he burned nearly half of his face and upper body. Still feel fucking guilty about it when everything I got was… this.” 

Simon slowly reached out to let his hand stroke over the burned skin. Your tense shoulders relaxed as his hand stroked over your flesh, while your heart started pounding against your chest.. His hands were much softer than you ever expected and his touch so warm. They came to a halt. But not on that injury you told him about, it was a bit lower, a scar he was too familiar with. His hand took the grip of your waist, gently but destined. His warm hand lingering over the scar you got back in the chem factory. The scar he caused, the one he felt immense guilt for. He pulled you a bit closer, his forearm resting on your thigh by now, he didn't dare to let go of your waist. You only shook your head knowing about his internal fight, signaling to him that it is fine. Even if he wanted to apologize another time; he didn’t. But he decided something different.

Simon’s head hung low for a second, you could see how the wheels in his head kept turning and working, before he took his free hand to pull up his shirt. Mentally he was having a fight. Simon vs. Ghost. The familiar fight he always had when it came to you. His other hand stayed on your waist, glued onto that spot even when your shirt was already down again. His hand felt like it belonged there and you couldn’t mind after all. 

His free hand revealed his bare stomach and part of his chest while pulling the shirt up. If this were a normal situation between civilians, then you’d be already on another. But this was anything but normal. You both open to another in a way that was more intimate than anything you have ever witnessed. It made your heart ache. There were several scars planted onto his perfect body, but one stood out. 

It was just below his chest, above his rips. His free hand pointed it out before he looked into your eyes. His glance held nothing but trust as your hand already reached out and you placed your flat palm onto his rib cage. You could feel his muscles flex beneath your touch. You could feel how his chest heaved to let go of a deep breath. A breath he didn't notice to hold in. “I…I once was captured.” He started slowly; his voice was so low and nearly trembled. You just knew that this was hard for him to talk about. “They tortured me. Tried to break me.” 

He still faced you but his eyes shifted into the distance. Another deep breath followed while you listened carefully, keeping track of every word. “Raped me. Hung me from a hook which they put through my ribs.” Your eyes went back to the spot your hand was placed on, your thumb slowly brushing over the spot said hook left. Simon knew that even after all those years he could still feel the pain within these scarred skin. But suddenly here, in this decrepit cabin, with your soft touch it felt okay. “They even buried me alive. They…he took everything from me.” A pathetic chuckle left his throat, while his eyes focused onto your figure again. “But Ghost came back.” 

The hand on your waist gently squeezed you, while the slightest smile tugged at the corner of your lips and suddenly you realized the real meaning of his tattoo. Suppressing the need to say something, it became an unspoken deal. Telling each other about those things without any commentary. Because it was easier that way. Because you literally knew what the other would say about it anyways, because you did understand. You always understood each other. You were his missing piece and he was yours. That’s what you really needed to say to each other and still, neither of you could.

Maybe those emotions were misplaced in this very moment, but he trusted you enough to tell you all of that and you trusted him. You withdrew your hand and went for the strains of your hair sitting on your shoulder. You tilted your head to the right side to reveal your throat. A deep scar just sitting at the side of it. A scar Simon already had seen during the time you were unconscious in the infirmary. His hand immediately reached out to lay soft over it. It made your breath hitch for a moment. “I once…” You started but could feel how the air left your lungs. Simon squeezed your waist once more. Just a sign of comfort, of reassurance to take your time. One hand on your waist, the other on your shoulder. “Before the 141… before the Wolves… there was someone.” 

You averted your glance from his. Staring down to your lap where your hands found each other. “He … I … “Simon’s hand wandered from your shoulder to your cheek. Taking a firm grip and you instantly leaned into his touch. Closing your eyes at the comfort he brought you, the strength to go on. “… we made a promise. We’d rather see the end together or we’ll go down below with each other.” Biting the inside of your cheek he didn’t hold, you looked back at him. “He did go… and I couldn’t keep my promise.” A burning sensation spread through your throat and you could feel tears building up in the corner of your eyes. You couldn’t remember the last time you cried in front of a person that wasn’t Randy nor König. “I didn’t succeed.” 

Your words let his stomach turn. The vicious look in your  watery eyes, a look he knew too well. He pulled you a bit closer, your knees now trapped between his thighs, while his thumb caressed your cheek. In this moment he wanted to break the silence, to tell you so much, he wanted to thank god that you couldn’t keep that promise. That he got the chance to meet you. That you had changed his life and point of view. His masked forehead tilting down to rest against yours by now. His eyes closed while your hands were still clutching on another. The tears stopped. His touch sent shivers down your spine, the coldness was completely gone as you leaned more into him. Your heart was pounding in your chest and still you felt nothing but save.

Before you could start to enjoy this closeness, he pulled back. His hand leaving your face, he didn’t want to force you to look at him, as his thumb hooked under the hem of his mask. He didn’t want to pressure you to do anything. “’ose folks.” He slowly pulled the black fabric up, revealing his chin covered in a blonde stubble, something you had seen often before during your night smokes. But he kept pulling the fabric and with every inch he pulled up, he knew that Ghost had finally lost this fight. “They didn’t stop. For nothing.” 

Your heart was nearly exploding as the mask slipped past his lips, past the tip of his nose. You couldn’t help but stare. His upper lip was parted through a huge scar that reached his cheek. It was on his right side, the side that was always hidden when he sat next to you. His nose crooked. Your hands let go of each other as you reached out to let your thumb hover over the scar, over his lip. Not daring to touch it. 

“Wanted to mark me in every way possible…” His thumb let go of the mask to let it sit halfway on his face. Already revealing some of the warpaint on his cheeks. He tilted his head slightly so one of your hands cupped his cheek, just like he did with you before, and he nearly melted under your delicate touch. 

Your free hand reached for the mask, pulling it the slightest to see if he’d intervene. But he didn’t, he only closed his eyes, and you pulled the mask completely off his face. Revealing his messy blonde hair underneath. Some more scars all over his face, mostly covered by the black paint. He opened his eyes once more as you didn’t move any further. Breath caught in his throat, bracing himself to find any sort of disgust or regret, as his glance were pinned onto yours but he found nothing but adoration. 

As you took in all the features of his face, you couldn't help but trace some of his scars with your finger. Soft and carefully. Like he could break any second under your touch, but he did nothing but absorb even the slightest touch. Simon Riley was nothing less than perfect to you. He was equally handsome as pretty and every part of his damaged skin told a story. A story you were a part of now and you couldn’t wait to write the next chapters.

You were sitting closer together than before, the hand that held onto the black fabric lingering on his thigh as you leaned just a bit more into him. Your lips brushing only the slightest over the scar on his cheek. So close to his lips, but still not there yet. Still enough to make him squeeze your waist another time. Your thumb caressing his cheek afterwards. A moment so short that Simon asked him if that really happened. He wasn’t the person to grow nervous or lightheaded, but right now he felt as helpless as a kid again, but for the first time in a good way. Somehow awkward and still so hopeful. His free hand found your other waist, as his now bare forehead was pressed against yours. 

Nobody said anything anymore. You just stayed in that moment. Both found more than you could’ve ever wished for. Both of you were broken, shattered into pieces. But Randy once told you that even a broken piece could become a whole. Maybe he was right. Because right here, in that cabin in god knows which forest, both of you found some peace. Some solace. You found an intimacy stronger than anything you could’ve imagined. You found something neither of you thought could ever happen to you.

His hands held you firm by your waist, while you clung to his cheek. Foreheads pressed against each other. No words were needed anymore. Nothing left to say, as he pulled away. Only the slightest. Only to be able to look into your eyes again. By now you were sure, that the thing you slightly witnessed in his glance was hope. Something you thought yourself had lost. 

The slightest smile tugging at his lips, causing you to do the same, as his eyes darted between yours and your lips. You could feel your heart exploding beneath your ribs as he leaned in again. Different than before. His head slightly tilted, his nose only merely millimeters away from yours. You could feel his hot breath brushing over your skin and you closed your eyes, entrusting him with whatever he’d do. And Simon acted. He didn’t listen to the internal screams of Ghost. He didn’t think with his brain. He did something he thought he had forgotten: He listened to his heart. It would only take one more second till… 

taglist: open

@yyiikes @saffronimagines @originaldeerhottub @illuminwtesz @killergoddess97 @kaelaiscool @spiritndrain @zhodie @anothersimpsblog @backupgal @hungryhungariann @victoriazynui @ohworm-writes @kmbrlyy444 @just-pure-trash @shadowtfpcod

[sparkdoesart]

I took a sniff of you once. Stinkiest thing I ever smelled. Smelled like layers upon layers of cat. *Stinky* cat. There was something else, with it, too… It had an *edge.* I mean, apart from the stinky cat smell. I mean, you are a stinky cat. So the smell of a stinky cat is the smell of a stinky cat plus this edge, right? A set can contain more than the set is itself or something. I don’t know mathematics. Anyway, this *edge…* there were lemon. Orange. Tangerine. Citrus, citrus, citrus… that was the strongest part of the edge- no, no, no. Not citrus. *Acid*.* there was some citrus in the edges yes, but it was more general acid. Like stomach. Like vinegar, mmm vinegar… like hydrochloric. Say, have you ever had your arm eaten off by acid? Hurts like hell, doesn’t it. At least you can go get a new one at the acid refund shop. God, where would we be without those guys… I got a new arm from them once. Fucked up my claws. Returned to them and said ‘hey you fucked up my claws’ and they were like ‘ok and’ and I was like ‘can I get a new one’ and they were like ‘sorry no refunds’ and I was like ‘yeah but that’s what you do you give refunds’ and they were like ‘we don’t refund our own refunds’ and so anyway that’s the story of how I ended up with claws made out of plastic and wood and, I don’t know was it wolf fur? It was some type of fur I took it to a seasoned taxidermist about a year after they got my claws wrong and they said it was wolf fur. But I’m not ahundy cent sure. Anyways that on my right arm for a week. And then I was like ‘fuck it this hurts’ and grew new ones. Have you seen my claws? I think you have. They’re beautiful aren’t they. Real pieces of work. Did you know I often break into people’s houses in the middle of the night and graffiti their drywall with my super awesome claws? Sure, I get implicated in the odd home invasion case but it really is fun to hear about all the people who have stuff like ‘gorm’ and ‘gorp’ and ‘gort’ and ‘gorg’ and ‘gorb’ clawed into their wall. Have you done anything similar? I know you’re mischievous and all that — all cats are, aren’t they? I mean, look at Rico. He sure is a piece of work. He once chewed my leg of. Couldn’t go to the acid refund shop as he’s not an acid. I mean he could be. He could have acid in those cute lil fangs of his but that’s beside the point. Anyway I could go there because he’s presumably not acidic. So I had to spend the energy to regrow it, you know how it is. Except every night he’s come in, take a little nibble out of my regrowing leg. An he kept at this for *years*. So instead of the usual sixth months, I was a leg down for 8 years. God, to think I’ve known rico for twice that amount… anyways, once it was done he told me about it and we laughed it off. Good prank, too. Rico also once threw me into deep space. I was out on a spacewalk, he cut the tether, the rest is history… I was out there floating for about two months. Before I got a lift from some guy in a Honda Civic. Don’t know how he got it spaceworthy, but it was comfortable enough. Those two months were nice too, got to spend all that time looking at the stars as I slowly tumbled through them. Now I know all my star charts. Also solved plinko, but that’s a story for another time. Where were we? Mischievous cats! June is a cat, isn’t she? Well. *Some* of the time at least. Do you know June? She’s a real banger. Loves eating all your files and laughing maliciously. I opened a message from her once on my phone and it got straight up haunted and floated away. Never saw that phone since. No idea how she did it, either. She might’ve possessed it for all I know. Also hear her laughing sometimes when I’m in my bed. Her laughs carry really far, y’know? Anyways. You. You you you you. Ruffles your head. Pats you vigorously. You’re also a piece of work. You *make* pieces of work. You’re a pretty damn good artist. You draw ghost with those sad wet eyes. You should give yourself a pat on the back. Or I mean since I’m already patting you I could do it for you. Anyways. Do you have any spare human souls? Like f

(Will do part 2 in a moment)

A very nice conversation :]

[marxthedumdum]

silly lil steven headcanons i have in mind that i wanted to show for no particular reason

▧ bro is beefy (can be either buff or dadbod) and is hairy asf. never shaves. stinky. worn out clothes. his hair at this point would be very long and, although fluffy, is very tangly and messy, it prob has knots everywhere ▧ cis man, biromantic, heterosexual n dark skinned ▧ old ass man, hes 40. but keeps his appearance when he was in his late 20s or 30s thanks to missingno fucking with his ass ▧ he regrets absolutely nothing abt strangling mike, thinking he deserved it. (with his bare hands instead of commanding miki to do so like in the og pasta) though whenever he sees a vision of his brother he'd try to make the 'ghost' go away by screaming/flailing at it, which is why his house is so broken since he sometimes punched the wall or anything in his abode super hard ▧ he still worries abt how the pallet town residents are doing, especially daisy oak, red and blue. so he sometimes stalks the town to see if theyre still having a good life without him even after what he has done ▧ sometimes he would come across red and blue having their own little rivalry with each other, just like he and Mike. he thought it wouldve been so awesome to battle blue if the whole incident didnt happen (then watch red beat blue's ass 2 seconds later after blue takes the champion title from him LMFAOOO) ▧ his team before the incident would be miki, nidoking, gyarados, raichu, gengar and snorlax ❥ ALR THATS ALL MY GENERAL HCS FOR HIM NOW UHHHHHH, CRIMSONOAK/STEVEN X READER HCS. ❥ he hugs like a bewear and would (accidentally) break your spine in the hug like one too, i hope youre able to take his hugs because he'll hug you A LOT ❥ give him a ton of kisses, especially on the cheek, and he'll blush SO hard ❥ he would let you style his hair (if you ask him ofc), daisy def has done smth sily with it like giving him pigtails or giving him her hairstyle (but long cuz steven's hair is, well, way longer than daisy's) :333 ❥ if you can give this man a shower or a bath i beg of you PLEASE do. as i said, this dude stinky af- ❥ he still has miki but will never let her be out of her pokeball in front of his partner in fear that you/daisy would go 'holy shit what is that thing???? get it away from me!!!" before running off ❥ the type of guy that will try his best to cook food for you sometimes, whether its breakfast, dinner or just to give you a snack. (he usually burns the food LMAO (be proud of him >:()) ❥ if you can teach him how to make macarons he'll be so fucking excited (theyre one of his fav foods next to deep-fried food :3c (hes a foodie guy)) ❥ he would get insane zoomies when he sees daisy, bros down bad and head-over-heels for her ❥ before his downfall, steven def has and often tried to flirt with daisy with (cringy) pick up lines, even before dating and after their relationship became official LOL- he doesnt do it anymore though pensive emoji ❥ would pick you/daisy up and give piggyback rides for the shits and giggles ❥ he sometimes gives daisy uhhh, daisies as a small gift as it reminds him of her. he would do the same to you if you also have a kind of flower as your name (like rose, blossom etc.) ❥ if youre poc/lgbtq+ etc. and someone was being racist/homophobic/transphobic etc. to you, steven would go hunt them down and give them the worst beating theyve ever experienced and could even die from that (do you know that one reddit post abt a guy who beat up someone for kicking his cat? thats him and daisy/you teehee)

[glueghost]

back in august/september 2020, i started making youtube videos (as glueghost) again - i left glueghost a year prior because i was a stinky piss baby who took my lil funny videos too seriously

since starting my channel, i've redesigned my lil mascot like half a dozen times... well, i would get other people to do it lol

i won't show any of the old designs here out of respect (and one out of disrespect) for the artists - sorry for being an idiot back then

but one day while doodling ideas in MSPaint, i drew these:

all of these little doodles would eventually be my twitter and youtube banner (with some minor tweaks and adjustments)

now you're probably not thinking: "hey, these lil guys aren't ghosts at all!"

:)

anyways i wanted to reveal this new design in a funny way, so i actually learned how to animate in Krita to make the lil animation for this video:

here's the animation in gif form for fun

i mean looking back it's kinda not good - but i'm happy with it nonetheless

a year or so later i decided to update the design a little bit:

at the time my hair was getting longer, and i kinda went through a "summertime never ends" phase - warmer, more vibrant colors - and i made the hawaiian shirt design all by myself 'cause i'm a big boy

but then i shaved my head, it got cold outside, and i had another identity crisis, so i made this:

but i was getting tired of MSPaint and wanted to try out Krita again, so i made this:

this is the shortest living mascot design on my channel - only used in two videos lmao

i went back to the summertime design shortly thereafter

and of course i can't forget about this lil goober

i don't really have much else to say - it was fun to kinda look back on these past two years here. happy holidays to you and yours

before i go to sleep lol, here's a never-before-seen doodle of what was going to be my channel icon:

[wigglew0rms]

Something something you should try being dead yada yada

[jrwiyuri]

List of shit we need to bring back / start as a fandom:

Dad schlatt (with whoever tbh, Fundy, Tubbo, Tommy, idfc just bring it back it was cool!)

Glattbur (i just think it was funny. Also the fanart of Ghostbur seeing alivebur in the after life was cool as shit)

Mexican Dream

Nikis bakery

Weird ass theories we had (L’Manburg members were all like teens in war, wilbur was just pretending to be Ghostbur and had like.. idfk sharpie on his skin?? That kind of bullshit we would spew out of no where and where half of us were like ‘yup this makes sense’ and and the other half were like ‘literally what the fuck are you talking about??’)

Dreamon hunters (and also include sapnap in it more it’s cool)

When people used to think about what the different characters would be like as ghosts (around when Ghostbur was first introduced and we were like ‘yooo new concept?’. Revived a lil bit when Tommy died but I’m talking about people who weren’t dead)

The funny little aus where the dsmp was real life things such a school or a subway or a mall or something!!

Misferns dynamic

Also Tubbo and Fundy dynamic besides just in the dreamon hunters

Tales from the smp (this is a personal attack towards Karl Jacobs /j)

Think we should bring back specifically the election era and specifically the vibes of when they built the White House

How cool pogtopia looked. I mean I love the arc but tbh you guys could just draw the little ravine and I’d be set I think it looks so cool :))

Karl Jacob time traveler theories that everyone else thought was annoying because it was like taking away from actual plot (idc about actual plot tho Karl jacobs is actually going to solve every problem on the dsmp I predict <3)

Karlnapity… bring it back please- they’re still happy together I swear

Fanart of George as king. I’m sure there’s plenty probably should just follow more people who draw George but still

Funboo ice cream shop vs puffychu flower shop

Funboo in general :(

Puffychu in general :(

Eret adopting Fundy (still so sad this never happened)

TUBBO adopting Fundy (funny as shit, also a lil upset this never happened lmao)

Philza adopting fundy 🤔🤔 (a little trickier but like their relationship gets better so yknow- it’s possible pre Wilbur revival times. I mean he doesn’t actually need to adopt fundy but more content with them as grandson grandfather, yknow?)

Fundy was taken- I don’t care that it’s dead in cannon Fundy deserves love god dammit!!

Early soft L’Manburg Tommy & early batshit insane L’Manburg Tubbo. We were all in the phase of Tommy being loud and annoying while Tubbo like da bee n shit that we never got to draw them like this 😔

Wilbur being petty towards Eret and Dream cause he didn’t really roleplay trauma yet so he was kinda just like “grrr bark bark”

Specifically the manburg flag. Just the flag, I think that it looked cool :)

No Fundy angst only him being mischievous :))

Dream XD. I know this isn’t old but I feel like we moved past this too fast- maybe I don’t follow the right people tho idk 😔👊

Lmanburg anthem but where people created their own other verses. I know that it’s actually been finished by Ghostbur but ignore that

Guys I just rlly want people to talk more about the funny little things we had early days when people were allowed to be less in character or just didn’t have trauma with each other (like the Wilbur vs Dream quiz thing. That was so fun!! We can’t have that shit current day dsmp ):< )

Dsmp aus where the members literally just fuck off and say no thanks and go to a completely different server (like fundy moving to cogchamp n shit)

The rust sever. I know it’s not actually dsmp and also that it’s dead but everyone had cool designs n shit man;;

The different Tubbo personas (personal favorite is drugbo- or whatever one that was in the mines lol)

Capetian sparkles is tubbos dad

The big ass lore we created for the first tales of the smp??! How robin was like non-binary and Dream was immortal and corpse was going to be Robins dad and how the people played were all ancestors to the current them and all of that shit!!! Guys holy fuck please bring this back omg;;

Sam nook- please, bring my boy back

Tommy vs Team rocket but it wasn’t the angsty shit or anything no it was just comedic moments of Niki and Jack somehow not being able to fuckin kill Tommy

Also team rocket in general guys talk about this more

The Niki Tommy Tubbo dynamic during pogtopia era that didn’t last super long

More bad being a dad to Sapnap

Bring up the bad and Skeppy soulmates thing / share cannon lives? I don’t even know if this is still canon or was ever actually cannon but who cares bring it back!!

People with their pets except it’s not Tommy with Henry it’s like literally anybody else (I love Henry and Tommy but I feel like we didn’t draw a lot of content with people with their pets?)

Tubbos many jobs. I think we need a list of all the ins Tubbo has lol (I actually think there is one idfk where the hell it would be!)

Smelly Wilbur. Just the fact that he’s probably canonically stinky which is funny

[soggycheesefry]

Live Thoughts I had while watching The Grinning Man (while lowkey high) (SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED IT YET)

The makeup of the clown dude is so nice?? i love this aesthetic and his voice

actually all of costume and makeup is absolutely just *chef kiss*

TBH I am kinda confused on this opening number, but I’m still here for it

Ok stinky clown man’s laughter during the end of the song and how he MOVES with it is actually low key terrifying to me.

UM that QUOTE about laughter without crualty??? Im deceased.

that shIP TRANSITITION WAS SO COOL WHOA

um okay this puppetry? immaculate

Grinpayne’s voice? immaculate

So far I’m not impressed with the actual music tho

the role of the father would be better if it was david harbour

Oh OKAY THANKS RANDOM GHOST DUDE!

ok Dea your bABY CRY THO IS TOO REAL

the wolf’s name is mojo :’)

the puppets are sincerely alive though jfc they’re amazing

Dea is so adorable and pretty??? omg

Beauty and the Beast is a beautiful song wtf

Grinpayne owns my ass and could hold my face in his hands any time any day.

I happen to like David, he’s cute and his voice is cute.

Angelica could kick me and i’d say thank you

okay so i know that Grinpayne and Dea are endgame but tbh it’s adorable how David gushes about him to his sister.

Oooh Grinpayne needs medicine to help with excruciating nerve damage that he got as a child traveling in the snow??? ooh you know how much I love characters with chronic pain

um there height differencce???

“GET READY TO SHIT KITTENS 8D”

I am the freak show is god send

Labyrinth??? Holy SHIT THIS GUY CAN SING

I think I’m a official stan for Grinpayne

o shit his medicine makes him forget?! This is getting heavy doc.

He’s a NOBLE?

RANDOM GHOST DUDE IS HIS DADDEH.

Oh god that’s how he got his grin? Oh jeez

did he really go see the princess just because she loves his grin as a fetish but he doesn’t care because SOMEBODY is attracted to him? y i k e s

Oooh nice high note JoJo

OOH SOMEBODYS ON A LIL SECRET DATEEEE (it be David)

‘O-oh shit-‘

Dea’s solo ‘Beauty and the Beast’ when she achieves the doll??? An angel???

She’s an angel in general tbh

Wow you didn’t change your GARDER mask for your WEDDING?

I KNOW stinky clown man’s name.... but Stinky Clown Man is easier to say and it’s the truth.

It feels kinda gross to watch but tbh yeah just let JoJo and David go at it. They’re totally adopted anyway like Grinpayne and Dea.

That MASK tho is SO FUCKING COOL THO. I’m in love

But....... h o w do you kiss.... with no lips.....

You’re just kissing TEETH

ew

And wow they WALK ON THE CROWD to escape this hell wedding and that’s a mood

But no seriously this was.... really good? The music caught me off guard but I really learned to like it and the leads voices are all sincerely out of this world??? I’m gonna show this to my sister to have an excuse to watch it a second time in one week ahaaaa

[bugmangaka]

(please click for better quality! This was the best picture I could take ;w;)

A few weeks ago I made a giant poster for mother 3 for my art class! The entire thing was done in regular ballpoint pen (no microns or art pens or anything), and I put a lot of detail into it! The logo is surrounded by the 7 needles, with Lucas and the Masked man racing to the last one. Below the logo is the townspeople and most of Lucas’ allies, while above the logo is all of the bad guys, with Porky in the front. At the very top is the sunflower field.

I put a lot of thought into everything, so I’m going to try to explain them all, but it’s quite a bit, so it’ll be under the cut.

I’m gonna try to start from the bottom up:

- the masked man is slightly closer to the needle because he got there first

- he’s reaching for the needle and staring straight at it, while firing up a beam from his arm canon towards lucas to emphasize how he doesn’t recognize him anymore and has become a puppet

- Flint is armed with the wooden plank he gets from Lighter during the forest fire

- Salsa and Samba are together with hearts in their tails

- Thomas is shouting while wielding his siren

- Fuel is cheering on Lucas

- Wess is behind Duster, yelling at him

- Nana is looking at Lucas with a heart

- DCMC is there on the left

- The saturn table, as well as a mr saturn with the barley tea, and the hooded mr saturn with the “courage badge” is present

- The drago and the baby drago are there, carrying a save frog on its head and looking at a magic butterfly

- There’s a normal save frog, the frog in a barrel, balloon frog, car frog, and magic butterfrog present

- Mr Passion as well as some stinky ghosts and the abstract ghost are there on the right

- Leder is sticking out up in the middle

- Tessie, lighter, and Alec are also present in the lower ‘good guy’ half

- All magypsies (minus Locria’s orginal form) are present. Phrygia is asleep, and Lydia is holding one of their bunnies.

- Porky is in his suit from Earthbound, but in the spider mech from mother 3. He’s pointing down at the needle, commanding the masked man to go get it. His mech is digging into and cracking the O in the MOTHER 3 logo, which becomes the earth at the end of the game. This is because he’s esentially ending the earth

- Claus is on the edge of the 3 in the MOTHER 3 logo, holding the knife. He’s close to the edge, like he’s going to fall off (like he did in the game)

- The fierce pork trooper, lil’ miss marshmellow, pigmasks, almost-mecha lion, clayman, mecha drago, new fassad, new pork statue, mr batty, flying mouse, and the fireflies are present in the top ‘bad guy’ half

- The sunflower petals form a heart at the top

edit: I forgot! the mole cricket is next to the dragos because that’s when he was first introduced, and he’s asking for a fight

[turtle-steverogers]

safe with me

mmm here’s some canon era sprace cuz i never write that

warnings: past death (kinda graphic), alcohol

ship: sprace

word count: 1925

editing: no

-

Race kicked his feet onto Albert’s lap, humming contentedly as he toed off his boots, letting his feet relax for the first time that day.  It had been a particularly hot selling day, the new Summer sun blaring relentlessly down on the city, leaving Race more tired than usual.  

It wasn’t like the Summer bothered him.  In fact, he preferred Summer to Winter.  It was a lot easier to manage intense heat than intense cold.  Besides, their clothes were all painfully inadequate for the biting cold of Winter, but that was never as issue in the summer.  You couldn’t pull a jacket out of thin air, but you could strip down a layer.

Albert lifted the apple he was nursing away from Race’s feet, “Getcha stinky feet offa me,” he whined.

Race just smirked, lifting one of his feet to poke at Albert’s chin, “Nah, m’comfy right ‘ere.”

Race cackled as Albert groaned, trying to shove his legs off his lap, but huffing when Race stayed put.

“Can’t I ever enjoy a simple, quiet meal around ‘ere?” Albert complained, batting at Race’s foot when he tried to lift it again.

“Not with me around,” Race said, innocently.

Albert glared at him, holding challenging eye contact as he lifted a hand, a small smile flitting through his eyes as he began to tickle the bottom of Race’s foot.  Race yelped, jerking his foot upwards and accidentally kicking Albert in the jaw.

“Ow, fuck!” Albert shrieked, successfully pushing a now laughing Race off of him, “Ya damn shit, I’ma soak ya.”

“Looks like I gotcha first,” Race countered, moving to cross his legs underneath him.

“‘Ey, Higgins, ya in here?”

Both boys looked toward the doorway, brightening when they saw Finch poking his head into the room.

“Right ‘ere,” Race said, waving to get Finch’s attention.

“Right,” Finch was shifting awkwardly on his feet and Race’s stomach sank.  Something didn’t seem right, “Uh, Conlon’s outside.  He, uh, he asked for ya.”

Race nodded slowly, allowing the words to sink in.  His odd relationship with Spot Conlon wasn’t a secret, but they generally kept their little meetups private.  It was rare that they ever met up in Manhattan.  Usually, Race would head over to Brooklyn for a night, and even then, it would be awhile before he and Spot slipped upstairs unnoticed.  They were never this blatant.

“Did he say what he wanted?” Race asked, trying to leave the nerves out of his voice.

Finch shook his head, “Nah, but he’s drunk as shit.”

Race paled, wordlessly standing and pushing past Finch.  He could hear people murmuring behind him, but he ignored it in favor of rushing towards the front of the lodging house.  Spot hated alcohol.  He couldn’t stand the taste, or the way it made him feel, and the memories associated with it were enough to leave him trembling against his will.  Race had never seen him do more than scowl at a beer bottle.  

If he was drunk, something was very, very wrong.

Spot was sitting on the front steps of the building by the time Race got there, a bottle of god knows what held loosely in his grip.  His head was ducked down, hanging low between his legs.  He was completely still, but as Race neared, he could see the slight tremor of his hands around the bottle.

Race was careful to approach him, keeping his footsteps quiet, but loud enough to warn Spot of his presence.  He cautiously knelt down in front of Spot, reaching out to tap his chin to get his attention.  

Spot jerked, unfocused eyes meeting Race’s own.  They were red and bloodshot, pain and something that looked sickeningly like terror swimming below the surface.

“Sean,” Race breathed, lips slightly parted as he searched Spot’s face for a clue to what was happening, “What-”

Spot shook his head, bowing his head back down, “I don’ wanna.”

Race frowned, “Don’t wanna what?”

Spot stayed still, his eyes glued to the ground between his feet, “I dunno, I jus’-” he looked at Race, desperation the only discernible emotion on his face, “I need you.”

A shiver went down Race’s spine, as if cold water had been dumped down his back.  Spot never allowed himself to be this vulnerable, even around Race, whom he seemed to trust a greater deal than others.

Race blinked pushing his shock aside and mentally forcing himself to stay focused, “What do you need?” He asked, gently prying the bottle out of Spot’s grip and ignoring his weak protests.

Spot seemed to be having trouble forming his thoughts into words.  He opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking increasingly distressed as each dragging second passed.

“Can I…” he swallowed, “Can I stay the night?  I- I can’t- I don’-”

“Shh,” Race reached out, cupping his cheek.  This sort of comfort was rare between them, but it felt necessary, “‘Course ya can stay.  C’mon, m’sure Jackie’ll let us have his penthouse tonight,” he stood, hoisting Spot up with him, “ya good ta walk?”

Spot shrugged, “Dunno.”

Race sighed, “Aight, that’s okay.  I gotcha.”

He draped Spot’s arm around his shoulders, firmly holding him around the waist as they made their way back into the lodging house.  Race bit his lip, considering his options and settling to set Spot on the back stairs while he looked for Jack.  

He found Jack in the kitchen, trying to sort out a quarrel between a couple of the littles, who seemed to be fussing over their bread.  Race cleared his throat, earning a few awestruck look from the younger newsies.

Jack turned his head, the worn tinge to his eyes evident, even in the dim lighting, “Heya, Racer, whatcha need?”

Race’s eyes flicked to the littles and he jerked his head, indicating for Jack to follow him to the hallway.

Jack sighed, “Ya’d better not kill each other,” he muttered to the kids as he joined Race outside the kitchen.  The kid’s giggles rang out behind them.

“What’s goin’ on?” Jack asked, looking vaguely annoyed and incredibly off-put.

Race scuffed his toe on the rotting wood floor, feeling strangely nervous to be asking Jack such a big favor, “Could I, uh,” he cleared his throat, “listen, so, uh, Conlon’s here-” Jack’s eyes widened and Race held up a hand, “-n’ he ain’t doin’ too hot, so uh, can we stay in your penthouse just for tonight?  I wanna make sure he don’t do nothin’ he’s gonna regret.”

Jack frowned, shifting his jaw, “Not doin’ hot how?”

Race shrugged, “Dunno exactly, but he’s drunk and ya know he don’t ever drink, so somethin’ ain’t right,” he trailed off for a moment, thinking, “an’ he looks pretty spooked.  Somethin’ bad happened over in Brooklyn I think.”

Jack seemed to have an internal argument before he clicked his tongue, throwing up his hands, “Yeah, go ahead.  Jus’ don’t touch none of my drawings.”

Race saluted him lazily, already turning to retrieve Spot, “Will do, Kelly.  Much appreciated.”

Spot hadn’t moved since Race had left him, but he seemed to be shaking harder now.  Spasms were ripping through his torso and legs and it sounded as if he were struggling to take fulfilling breaths.  He would gasp helplessly for a few seconds before forcing a deeper breath, but it didn’t seem to do the trick.  Race watched him for a moment, his worry growing heavier in his stomach.

“C’mon,” he said, kneeling in front of Spot once more, “Jackie gave us the okay, let’s getcha somewhere quiet.” he helped Spot up again, his heart breaking as a ghost of a whimper escaped Spot’s lips.  He seemed to curl closer into Race.

It took awhile, but eventually they made it up the ridiculous amount of stairs and singular ladder length to Jack’s penthouse.  There were two mattresses up there, but Race decided to settle them both onto the one closest to the ladder.

The journey up must have worn Spot out, because he was already dozing by the time Race got comfortable.  He pursed his lips, taking note of the way Spot’s eyebrows still scrunched, even in his sleeping state.  He ran a gentle hand through Spot’s hair, pressing a soft kiss to the crown of his head before sinking into the mattress and allowing sleep to overcome him as well.

XXX

“Race?”

Spot’s small, scared voice jarred Race awake, leaving him alert in a matter of seconds.  He sat up, taking a minute to gather his bearings before turning to Spot, who was also sitting up.

His teeth were chattering and he had his arms wrapped protectively around his stomach, eyes flicking helplessly around him.  The lost aura that manifested around him almost made him seem younger.

“What’s goin’ on?” Race said, shifting closer to Spot, “What’s wrong?”

Spot locked eyes with him, terror growing stronger, “Where am I?”

Race blew out a breath.  He’d been dreading this.

“Jack’s penthouse,” Spot’s eyes widened and he rushed to continue, “Ya showed up hammered as shit an’ scared as shit and I wanted ta take ya somewhere private.”

Spot seemed to relax, though it did nothing for his tense composure, “Oh.”

Race hovered his hand over Spot’s arms, waiting for the nod of approval before carefully pulling one of his hands away from his stomach and intertwining their fingers, “What happened, caro?”

Spot looked down at their hands, a slow eruption seemingly happening in his chest as he began to speak, “I...Boots, uh, ya know.  The little bugger from my borough,” he stopped for a moment, forcing a deep breath, “he, um, he was messin’ around in the streets today ‘cause it was warm enough ta play and he-he-” Race squeezed his hand, prompting him to continue, “he didn’t see the carriage comin’ an’ I tried ta warn ‘im, but,” Spot shook his head, “was too late.  Ran ‘im right over.  There-” he choked, “there was so much blood, Racer.  Ain’t never coulda guessed there was that much blood in such a lil’ guy, but it was all there.  On the pavement, on the carriage, on his clothes...on my clothes.”

Race sucked in a breath, feeling slightly nauseous.  He forced himself to push the images that entered his mind out.

“He was my responsibility,” Race looked back at Spot as he spoke again, “he was my fuckin’ responsibility an’ I-” He cut himself off, blinking rapidly as his face crumpled, giving way to a vehement sob.

Race ran his thumb across Spot’s knuckles, searching for the words to say.  There was no way to fix this- no way to take away Spot’s pain, but damnit if he was going to try his best to make him feel safe again.

“My mama used ta say this thing to me,” he began softly, “when things were bad, or my dad was mean, she’d say, ‘Tieni duro, passerà’.  Over and over, she’d repeat that, until I eventually believed her.”

Spot hiccuped, looking at him, “What’s it mean?”

“Stay strong, it will pass,” Race said, confidently, “whatcha had ta see sounds like hell, but it’s not your fault, Spot.  Sometimes shit happens an’ it’s fucked up, but it’s jus’ how it came to pass.  Ain’t no one’s fault.”

Spot let out a shaky breath, leaning into Race’s chest.

“An’ ya know what?” Race asked, wrapping his arms around Spot and burrowing his nose into his hair, “Sono qui per te, tesoro.”

Spot hummed, sending warm vibrations through Race’s chest, “What’s that one mean?”

“I’m here for you, love.”

-

sorry if the italian was wrong lol

thanks for reading, chiefs

hmu to be added to my tag

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[arcenergy]

4, 8, 12, 13, 20, 21, 27, 32, 34, 39 for your lil destiny guys

this got long as FUCK but i LOVE YOU MOLLY!!!!!!!!!!

4 is answered !!

8. - What do the like best about their partner?

augh i feel like saint really appreciates mustard’s perseverance n fortitude against all odds even tho it kinda fucked him over in the long run to charge in head first to situations saint still likes the fact that mustard doesnt easily give up. mustard on the other hands rly likes how saint is Very Committed to keeping his word and is pretty much a hardass when it comes to not budging bc of others opinions. but on the other hand they also really like how nice and sweet the other one is 

12. - Is there a wedding? What was the proposal like? Any kind of honeymoon?

idk if guardian marriage is even a thing but i dont actually think they’d get married regardless they’re just 2 bros sitting a hot tub for all of eternity

13. - What do they do for fun? Do they have a favorite activity or do they like to switch things up?

birdwatching like unironically. saint n mustard love to fuck around in the middle of nowhere and just see what they can find and they dont care if its more heads to bash in or something ancient from the golden age or if its just some funny lookin plant. saint also convinces mustard to walk around the city a lot but mustard doesnt like all of the people and the attention it brings but it isnt so bad when saint’s good at deflecting attention back onto himself 

20. - What does their home look like? Their room?

guardians also dont really have homes. i dont think its really confirmed if guardians actually *live* in the tower and have their own rooms. i dont think they do bc it wouldnt really make sense considering they’re Dead and dont need sleep or food. i have absolutely no idea if they need to do other bodily functions or if they get Stinky. here’s what my destiny clanmates had to say about it: 

the closest thing to a house would be is their ships which at least in game do Not look very spacious. considering that guardians are basically dead and their ghosts can just take care of any physical ailment so kitchens and bedrooms and stuff arent really necessary

DESPITE that fact i still am convinced that guardians do take it upon themselves to decorate their ships with whatever they have gathered over their adventures, mostly things like mementos and guns. maybe some guardians would keep snacks that they like on their ship because they just like eating them, or they’d have a larger ship to actually keep small furniture pieces on it. saint and mustard have their own respective ships and saint’s ship is fucking t i n y in comparison to literally any other ship we get in game. i dont doubt that saint and mustard keep whatever gifts they’ve gotten from each other in their ship though like the 100+ cookies that i gave saint for this year’s christmas event 

if they ever DID own a house though it’d probably be a cute little farmstead like..wood furnishings up the ass and hanging rugs on the wall and some other shit. and then there would be like 10 different guns and armor pieces laying in different places because guardians are just like that 

21. - Do they share any interests or hobbies?

bord

no seriously they both really like animals. mustard spent the first like 5 or so years as a guardian just living on a farm and saint lovessssss birds. other than that mustard really likes working on his ship and just Making things so that he has something to do with his hands. he also draws but not nearly as much as he did before he became a guardian. i feel like saint would also probably b into metalworking and electrical work (he DID build the obelisk) so i feel like the two of them just like keeping their hands busy and getting lost in their work 

27. - Do they have kids? Grow old together? Split up?

they grow “old” together because guardians dont really like. age. i mean they DO die but average guardian lifespan is 200-300 years unless if you get unlucky. i dont really have a lot of long term lore for them because they’re New Content and destiny lore isnt really like dragon age lore where the story is directly tied to literally everything its mostly just uhhhhhhhh kill bad guy. u did it. congratulations. MAYBE someone dies. who knows! i just like to think they spend a very long time just feeding birds together and havin fun. nothing super serious just me and my bros givin each other a lil kissie 

32. - Do they ever get into trouble? Is it serious, or are they just mischievous?

together? nah. i think the most serious offense they’d commit would be a prank. but alone........mustard is a vile man and Sometimes he commits a little bit of murder along w some other dubious acts. as a treat. to cope. but this was before saint actually met him but i dont doubt killing princes eventually comes back to bite him in the ass. mustard isnt really mischievious he just had to have some Me Time after a certain dlc and made some choices of questionable morality but he’s never felt too great about that whole situation and saint forgives him for it (more or less) 

34. - Do they have any pets?

keeping a pet probably isnt a great idea when u run headfirst into battle every 2 seconds (although that hasnt stopped guardians from keeping their own pets) but i dont think that stops saint and mustard from trying to befriend the local pigeons. also its kind of up in the air who actually owns cayde’s pet chicken now considering cayde dieded (its probably a communal effort) but mustard keeps a close eye on him and i dont think id put it past him to visit the tower just to see that lil dude and feed him whatever he has on hand

but if saint and mustard ever actually got a pet it’d totally be some kind of bird

39. - Who initiated the relationship? Who kissed who first?  When did they realize they were in love?

hrmmmmmm i think mustard was probably more forward than saint just bc its been like easily over a century since saint was actually in the relationship business so it took him a Second. i think saint n mustard realized they were in Love when mustard showed saint around earth and saint was seeing it for the first time in centuries n mustard took him to meet the family that had helped him when mustard first became a guardian and had amnesia and was Definitely Panicking but they were really nice to him and taught him a good deal of stuff n was the main source as to why he actually turned out to be a pretty nice dude all things considered. but throughout those few weeks they were actualyl like. vulnerable w each other and kinda realized that yearning for ur bro actually means something 

also exos dont have lips so no kissie from saint :(. mustard can give saint a little kis tho. as a treat 

[postmastered]

Sanders Shovels - Shovel Knight AU

i havent worked on this in months hA but i finally jotted down some things and bada bing bada boom were done babeyyy lets get into it

Logan Wenn - Plague Knight

very very book smart, but like, what's social interaction again????

likes blowing stuff up

disaster shorty

spooky raven aesthetic

can only tolerate virgil

Safety? Who's she? Never heard of her.

small gay

color codes potions, alphabetized his supply stock

really good at bartending as a result (not something he does often, mind you)

wears a plague doctor mask and a hood to hide his identity

has a prosthetic arm

Virgil Ware - Mona

will never EVER let go of his cloak

logan tried helping him sew patches on it, but he sucks at sewing, so virgil took care of it himself, appreciating the sentiment

gothic castle-y aesthetic

helps logan make potions and organizes beakers by size

takes care of the "little guys" (minions)

average height

still a lot taller than logan tho

lives in town, her room underground leads to an even deeper level, the Explodatorium, where he works with Lo to make potions

provides adult supervision

"logan, you need adult supervision"

"Virgil, i am an adult."

"mm yeah sure now eat your apple slices"

logan hurled a potion at him because of this incident and stormed off

eventually came back and apologized, pretending like he didnt cry

logan dont like bein treated like a child

virgil can bake, he makes a bunch of the recipes he uses himself

average gay

Patton Wye - Polar Knight

6'10-ish idk

has a snow shovel he loves dearly

"her name is shelly!!!!!!"

likes snowball fights

And also snow

and ice

makes popsicles and ice cream

has a cow named terracotta

big boy. wide. good for hugs. bear man.

almost every aspect of him makes roman want to cry

"roman!!!!!!! hi!!!!!!!!! its me!!!!!!! patton!!!!!!!!"

"*sobbing uncontrollably* h-hi pat...."

"roman???!?!?!? r u ok??!?!?!?!? what happen??!?!?!?!!?!?"

massive bean

can and will pick up all his friends

hagrid but colder

VERY BIG GAY

Roman Howe - King Knight

Roman, but more extra

his castle is made of solid gold

has a sparkly scepter

wears a crown for every occaision

if patton sits on the couch by himself he will crawl over and cling to patton and then Patton is just there like "huh. guess i cant move sorry virgil go stop logan from blowing up the fridge yourself pal"

very clingy

pat pat is very warm despite being in the cold constantly and roman is a cold boy despite being in the heat all the time

saunters and/or sashays

We dont walk in this household

wears heels

slightly below average height

VERY GAY

Declan Watt - Tinker Knight

shortiest shorty to ever shorty

made a giant robot to make him taller

stays up way too late

fixes Remy's propellers and Emile's submarine constantly because they kEEP BREAKING

tired

his boyfs are there to help tho dw

stress city usa

handyman

smells like oil. stinky boy.

demi child

Remy Hew - Propeller Knight

Flappy boy

fucking adores swords

"Oh, gurl, the hilt, goddamn that's gorgeous wait lemme see the blade- BABE IS THIS FUCKING CLAY-TEMPERED?????"

if an enemy has a sword he will geek about it for hours dont test him

he'll still fight them, but compliment it while fighting

if the sword they have is sub par he will get them a new one

his boyfs think its cute

his propellers break too often for it to not seem suspicious

"dee? babe? one of my propellers broke again..."

he does not break them to get declan to pay attention to him i promise

emile is happy to give him as much attention as he so desires if declan is busy

turns into a pile of flying mush when emile gushes about him

disaster bi

Emile Picani - Treasure Knight

"Ooh! Shinyyyy...."

almost cried when he saw roman's castle for the first time

knows too much about gems for it to be normal

does his best to protect his boyfs and stop his submarine from breaking down too much cause fixing it puts dee out of commission for a year or two

Keeps the Iron Whale in tip top shape

ocean boy. splish splash.

very good swimmer

loves seafood

remy can cook fish and nothing else

good for emile, but sucks for dee, the boye lives off vegetables and nothing else

pan

Nathan Lukas - Mole Knight

Lil gossip goblin

lonely :(

goofs about rocks with emile tho

sometimes they hang out together

ace/aro bean

values his platonic relationships like he values his life

Toby Ross- Specter Knight

Ghosts!!!!!!

Zombies!!!!!!!

CONSPIRACIES!!!!!!!!

legitimately raises the dead

Nate is his best chum

Grows roses

and other plants

made his clothes himself

dont trust that many peeps tbh

himself and virgil both have a Gothic Aesthetic they bond over

Lone wolf

Virgil held his scythe once and told toby he felt like his soul almost got stolen

toby laughed and said "good thing i dont have one!"

lives for spookin people

plays the organ

K thats all hmu if ur interested in any way lol

also i have to credit @spectralheartt for the name and also for humoring me like four months ago about this idea :)

[the-mf-bread-babies]

29/5/20

– REBUILD III –

= RUNAWAY RENEGADES =

· COLLECTION I ·

“backstories”

– VOLUME ONE–

“Dennis, Aaron, Damon, Sawblade”

· PART TWO ·

———————————————————

“Hm? Yeah. Look at Twitter, dude, it's trending,” Damon replied casually as the two quickly pulled out their phones. “What? It's not– oh, it changed,” Aaron stated, “It was normal, then it refreshed, and now I have over twenty notifications and DMs. Sorry, Denny,” Dennis narrowed his eyes at his husband. “I literally gave you that raccoon video last night. I know you didn't look at it,” he pointed out, petty. “How was I supposed to kn–” he argued, before Damon cut it off.

“So are you guys having the apocalypse Twitter now or what?” he asked, interrupted their quarrel. “Oh, I never update mine so I can still have the square icons and stuff,” “I'm just getting normal stuff right now; cat videos, ads, recipe videos, the occasional out of context fandom drama and discourse. The usual,” Dennis confessed. “Like, ever? Never updated it? You don't have lights out mode?” Damon asked, trying to understand this man's level of dedication for square icons. “Yup. Minecraft's square, which is nice,” he replied, smiling honestly. “Okay…” Damon processed.

“Oh, like, she really stabbed him. Like, with a knife. Like, to death,” Aaron said, bringing them back to the current conversation about apocalypse Twitter. “Hm? Oh, yeah, that. The dude, like, died, and stuff; F,” Damon said respectfully. “Chrissy Teigen bought rights to a nuke…” Aaron added. “And Hatsune Miku is leading a protest. Good for her,” He scrolled through his timeline. Dennis made a sad face. “Why's my feed so boring…” “I'm getting hockey spoilers. HOCKEY,”

“Maybe if you had circle icons…” Damon suggested quietly. “SQUARE ICONS ARE GOOD, DUDE, AND I–” Dennis's passionate and tenacious yelling was suddenly interrupted by an inhuman growl. “Oh, stupid cannibal rats. This isn't New York, goddamn it,” Aaron grumbled as he grabbed a broom and walked angrily towards the noise. “This is why stray cats are important, you dumbass mayor,” “Just friggin’, spay and neuter ‘em if you hate them so much, clip their ears and shit…”

“So, about Borderlands. Which one’re you playing?” Dennis said as they both waited for Aaron to investigate. “TWO!! I'M PLAYING BORDERLANDS 2, ON MY THIRD ULTIMATE VAULT HUNTER MODE PLAYTHROUGH, AND ALSO THE PRE-SEQUEL, AND I'M PLANNING TO BUY BORDERLANDS 3 WHEN THERE'S A GOOD SALE LATER!!!! I LOVE BORDERLANDS!!!” Damon explained excitedly.

“I wanted to buy the legendary collection on my Switch, but I… panicked and bought Animal Crossing instead. I have Raymond on my island, by the way,” Dennis said sadly. “I built a cage around his house the other day,” Damon stared sadly at this man, understanding his complicated dilemma. “That's very nice,” he said, “how does your island look like?” Damon leaned against the wall, holding Sawblade, who was now sleeping. “Bad,” the man replied, looking down in shame.

Aaron, on the other hand, was whacking the living hell out of the ground, determined to find the creature. “Wait, I probably shouldn't scare it off or something,” He realized, calmly holding the broom. “C'mere, lil guy,” he repeated as he whistled. Another odd growl echoed in the alleyway, sounding much closer than the previous one. “Hm,” Aaron thought as he stopped walking for a bit, unsure whether to call the two over or to keep going alone. “DENNIS! DAMON!” he yelled, extremely scared of whatever monster was luring him over. “Yeah, I have Graham, he's just ok–” Dennis conversed. “Aaron?! Did you find it?” He shouted.

* CHAPTER TWO *

The Mystery

“COME OVER HERE!!” Aaron yelled back. “What about Sawblade?” Damon worriedly asked. “SAW– Uh, just– just put her in the back, there's some food, water, litter boxes, toys, treats, ghosts, cable,” Dennis listed down as he carefully took her from the boy and carried her to the back room. “Well, basically, it's for cats,” He said as he closed the door. “Alright, let's go,”

As Aaron was waiting patiently for the two to follow, he took out his phone and browsed through a shopping app. Unsurprisingly, this had also changed. The feed was filled with knives, jackets, concrete powder, more knives, advertisements for people looking for commissions, and… snacks. “Oh, apocalypse stuff, huh?” he mumbled as he eyed the “Food” tab, tapping it, eager to know what apocalypse snacks are like. Hopefully not like, chips made out of gasoline or something.

Wow.

WOW .

“Tubby custard, Cookie Monster cookies, Why Does Anime Food Look So Tasty, Hottie's Microwaved Chicken, Salad Fingers’ Salad Fingers, ACTUAL rice fried by chickens, Lembas bread, and–”

“Zeruel meat, $20”

Aaron hastily pressed the “Add to Cart” button, uncaring if it's a scam or not. He continued browsing all the snacks sold in this new world, forgetting what he was doing before until Dennis and Damon came running into the alley. “YOU OKAY?!” Dennis yelled, the surprise of it giving his husband a flinch. “Yeah, honey, do you want to drink the blue milk from Star Wars?” Aaron said calmly. “Is Aunt Beru there?” Dennis asked, casually placing his head on his husband's shoulder to look at the phone screen, his arms wrapped around his neck, but like, in a loving and non-strangling way, you know how, placing a kiss onto his cheek.

“Hey guys, I have bread at my house. It expires tomorrow, so I'd recommend eating it if you want :)” Damon suggested. However, his voice was too quiet for them to hear it and they continued doing gross couple stuff like holding hands and premarital eye contact. Ew. “Now about that cannibal rat…” Dennis retracted his arms from around Aaron's neck, his hand still lightly wrapped around the other’s shoulder. He placed himself in front of the shorter man, close enough for Aaron to smell his stinky-ass breath that reeked of ranch dressing. Dennis smiled softly, waiting for an answer. “cannibal what now” Damon asked to himself.

“That can wait,” Aaron replied, his arms slowly wrapping around Dennis. “I dunno, guys, what if you're kissing and stuff, and then we all die or something,” Damon interrupted the couple's flirting. “When the hell did you– Uh, yeah, okay, let's, um, take care of that first,” Aaron said, only now noticing the boy's presence. “Hell yeah! Let's kill some rats!” Dennis yelled exuberantly. “Capture, Denny, don't kill anything,” Aaron corrected. “That's literally the first thing I taught you about the pet shop thing, honey,” Dennis looked down in shame and disappointment.

The trio went further into the alleyway, staying close to each other in case anything happened. “Wouldn't it be funny as hell if, like, it turned out to be a fridge or something?” Damon asked. “And the fridge was full of killer snails,” Dennis added sarcastically. “Killer snails are scary, you guys don't understand,” Aaron said angrily, “Just imagine sitting at the beach and some bitch-ass cone snail runs straight at you and you die right there on the spot. That's scary as hell,” he explained. “Run. A snail. That would take five months,” Dennis questioned his co-worker, “Babe, for a vet, you have really weird and specific and unrealistic fears,”

“It's because–” Aaron argued back, his sentence cut off with another growl, this time coming from the wall on his left. “A fridge, guys, a fridge,” Damon assured. “Nah, it's a zombie bear,” Dennis said, smirking. Aaron looked around for a door, or a window, so he could investigate. “Aliens, guys, aliens,” he mumbled, finding a foggy window. “Aha!” Aaron yelled as he turned on the flashlight on his phone. “So, Damon says it's a fridge, Denny says it's killer snails and zombie bears, and I said it's an alien, right?” Aaron said smugly, knowing his vague theory is way more likely than their guesses.

He directed the light through the window, its light revealing the inside of the building. It was dusty and empty, probably built as a store room. Or a weird cult place. “Well, that's that,” Dennis said, disappointed in the truth. “Cobwebs, huh? We're all wrong, then,” Damon said sadly. “ALIEN cobwebs!! I'm right, suckers!” Aaron yelled enthusiastically.

“You sure about that? Could be normal ones. Only way to find out is to go in… ;)” Dennis said, taunting the others. “Really? We wanna know that? They're clearly aliens. Not fridges…” Damon asked, looking down. “Suuuure, man. But y’know, it could be zombie bear fridges in those cobwebs… We could be right, and Aaron's wrong…” Dennis suggested. “So, honey, if you wanna make sure you're right…” Aaron scrunched up his face in offence. “I am. Do zombie bear fridges not sound alien to you.”

“Yeah, but… Florida probably has that, yeah?” Dennis said, angering Aaron more. “You think I'm gonna rush in there to prove that I'm right? You think I'm that dumb. Den, babe, I won't go in there,” Aaron asserted. While the two was arguing, Damon, bored, just walked around them in circles. As he was dragging his feet blindly, he accidentally stepped on something hidden under dried leaves, sinking it down. “SECRET DOOR!” he yelled out excitedly.

Damon kicked apart the leaves from each other, uncovering the part of the ground. “Who the hell puts a button here?” he questioned. “Oh, what the–” the ground shook, a piece of it falling down, revealing a staircase. It was carved from stone and it looked straight out of a history book. “Uh… should we go back, or?” Dennis said, weirded out by it. “Homestuck says we shouldn't trust stairs, so,” he added. “Karkalicious, definition: Makes Terezi loco,” Damon sung. “She wants to taste something something photo, dyin’ just to know the flavour, I ain't doin’ HER NO FAVOURS, no reason just season fresh and comes and goes like seizures, I'm Karkalicious,” he mumbled. “What the fuck?” Aaron whispered.

The three stood in front of the staircase, unsure what to do. Aaron was gripping a broom, while Dennis and Damon considered making a quick pit stop at the pet shop.

* CHAPTER THREE *

The Pit Stop at the Pet Shop

Dennis had made the decision to go back to get some tools to help them, and Aaron and Damon waited in the alley.

“So, you wanna look at the stuff they're selling here?” Aaron asked, passing the time. “Sure, why not?” Damon agreed as he peeked at his new friend's phone. “Alright, what're we gonna browse? There's video games, food, clothes, weapons…” “VIDEO GAMES!!” he shouted happily. “Okay…” Aaron said as he clicked a tab.

“Doom Crossing: Eternal Horizon Solid III Dawn”

“Borderlands: The Pre-Threequel – Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Apology Video ft. Tiny Tina: The DLC”

“Overwatch 2: Please Buy This Game – $3 Super Duper Legendary Deluxe Origins Edition”

“Gun Shooting War Tanks Rockets Missiles VR Simulator 46”

“Low-Poly Art Game with Hidden Metaphors”

“Gritty Old White Men Who Are Detailed And Angry 3: This Time There's More Pores”

“Not-Subtle-At-All Metaphor for Society and Politics, As Told By A Cishet White Man, Ultra 4K HD”

“Racing But Very High Quality and Immersive and Also Like $80”

“Ah. This is basically the same.” Damon stated sadly. “Wait, what about this?” Aaron pointed to a familiar video game. “Angry Birds Seasons,” it read. They both began to cry out of nostalgia. “Maybe this world isn't so bad after all…” Damon said gratefully as Aaron downloaded the game.

Meanwhile, Dennis struggled to carry an assembled cat cage, a carrier, a bottle of water, a ball, dog toys, flea shampoo, gloves, cat and dog treats, cat and dog food, and a partridge in a pear tree at the same time. Somehow, he did, and he wobbled over to his husband and the kid, his vision completely blinded by everything he carried. “Man… Aaron's gonna be so… impressed when he sees this. I'm so friggin’… strong…” He whispered to himself as he panted.

“Holy shit, it's Angry Birds, dude,” Damon said happily. “Rock, paper, scissors, whoever wins plays,” Aaron suggested. “Nah, you go first. I'm not really sure if this is the Angry Birds Seasons normally in our world or if it's some weird clone of it.” Damon said, scratching his head. “Wonder what's Sawblade doing,”

As the sound of dry food rattling and a cat cage being dragged across the street grew louder, Aaron excitedly went to help his husband, who immediately fell on his back in tiredness at the sight of him. “Carry,” Dennis panted, closing his eyes and probably about to take a nap. “Why'd you bring toys and treats?” Aaron asked honestly. “Just in case the little guy's angry,” Dennis explained badly. “It could be a zombie or whatever, you know… I'm pretty sure that growl didn't come from an ‘angry little guy,’ dude,” Damon argued.

“Well, okay. Who's going down first?” Aaron asked, making a face that was a combination of scared and taunting. “Uh, I'm like, a minor, and could die, so it's kind of illegal if I go first. Like, I'm all endangered and stuff. Yeah,” Damon stated. “I have scoliosis,” Dennis blurted out, giving Aaron puppy dog eyes. “I could trip and fall and die,” he added, nodding slowly while still maintaining eye contact. “I ate a doughnut for breakfast today, so I'm pretty full; if I go first, I'll just slow you guys down,” Aaron said. “Wolves do that. The slowest and oldest ones go in front so they don't get left behind,” Dennis replied with a smile. “Uh, my leg hurts a lot, I can't go downstairs,” Aaron added. “How about you roll down? It's a much more fun solution :)” Damon replied back, really not wanting to be the first one.

“Fine, we'll do rock paper scissors, then,” Dennis suggested impatiently. “There's three of us, it'll probably take a long time,” Aaron said, tilting his head and looking away from his husband's demanding glare. “Oh, lat tali lat,” Damon said casually, confusing the two. “Huh?” “Shooooot. Um, well basically, where I'm from, there's this game where it's like rock paper scissors, but it's for more than two people,” Damon explained in a very complicated manner, clearly wanting the situation to drag on longer.

After explaining how the game works, the trio finally came to a conclusion on the sequence they enter in– first, Dennis, then Damon, and Aaron behind them. “Oh. So who's carrying the luggage?” Dennis asked to Damon and Aaron. “Do we really need to bring that big ass cage?” Aaron asked. “Like, how the hell are we supposed to bring it down there? Just kick it downstairs and run?” Dennis thought for a bit. “Um, yeah.” “Oh, good idea, you can check for traps and stuff,” Damon agreed.

“A: What about the food? What if this alien–”

“D: No one said it was an alien except for you.”

“A: Fine, this zombie bear–”

“d: – Killer snails in fridges,”

“A: THIS THING, THIS ALIEN THING,”

“D: Ok”

“A: You think it eats kibbles? Little seafood delight kibbles?”

“D: Uh…”

“A: Maybe some of those chicken flavored ones?”

“D: I guess…”

“A: Huh?”

“d: Yeah, why'd you bring dry food?”

“D: Because if I brought wet food, I'd have to bring a plate and stuff.”

“A: Or, you know, just serve it in the can it was in,”

“D: What if it hates the texture or whatever?”

“Aliens probably like crunchy food better.”

“I like crunchy food better than… like, mashed-up meat drenched in some weird liquid. Aliens are like that too.”

“d: Good point, dude,”

“A: Hm. Yeah, can't disagree with that, man.”

“D: See? This is because I was kin with Megamind back in middle school,”

“A: That– okay.”

“D: Yeah. Take that, bitch.”

“Hell yeah.”

“d: So Megamind likes catnip too? We're bringing catnip downstairs?”

“D: That's to make him all chill and stuff.”

“A: Chew toys? Bouncy balls?”

“D: That's if there's guard dogs.”

“d: Oh, and the crab treats are for Jessica, only child, Illinois, Chicago?”

“D: Yeah…”

“A: You really brought everything from the shop, huh?”

“D: Yup! Except cat beds, leashes, collars, custom collars, microchip trackers, heat lamps, cat litter, litter boxes…”

“A: Okay, well just enough for this, then,”

“D: Yeah!”

“d: What if they're lizards, and they're too cold?”

“D: … Shiiiit.”

“A: Aliens aren't– Oh damn, you're right,”

“d: Well, let's just hope I'm not,”

“I don't want them to shit everywhere or whatever, man.”

“D: What.”

“d: This one time in kindergarten, my teacher brought in her iguana and it was shitting all over my desk. My poor, poor, desk.”

“A: Um? How?”

“d: I dunno. Just did. Like, splat, bitch, fuck you,”

“Wait, oops, sorry,”

“D: That's very sad.”

“d: Yeah. Thanks,”

“…”

“d: So are we going in or what?”

“D: No”

“A: dennis.”

“D: do i still have to be first”

“d: DUH”

“D: FIIIIINE OKKKAAAAAY”

“D: this is like that one anime with the big guys”

“the one thats pretty racist”

The three finally went downstairs in the order they agreed upon, and their discovery will be told…

In the next part.

—

still reading this? loser

—

??????? go do smth else

—

...

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helloooo get outtttt

—

hey? you're reading this?

hisoillu is fucking canon

and Fuck parigings. if future me is reading this i really hope ur not pouring your heart out for the rat and the pig men. Really , Dude , Really .

nah jk if they g/y , they ok

unless its weird.

n e ways next part coming soon ,

uhhhh written by rocco wulfram cyaaaa

[tumblunni]

BUNNI WATCHES RANDOM OUT OF ORDER SINNOH EPISODES THAT WERE LEFT ON THIS HARD DRIVE I GUESS

Today is diamond and pearl season one episode 28 "Drifloon On The Wind!"

Huh this one had a cold open showing the climactic moment from the end of the episode before it actually happened. Thats the first time i recall the anime doing that? I thougjt initially it was a flashback and i missed the first of a two parter.

Such a cool neat weird premise! A traditional pokemon centre out in the countryside! That adds so much worldbuilding to the setting! They never state it in the english dub but it seems to be a joke on a japanese onsen? (An inn built around hot springs) the archetecture just seems to be very similar, and from what i've seen in anime the "my mum and my mum's mum and my mum's mum's mum worked here" thing is a common trope. The nurse joy family is probably a joke to exaggerate it? Also i loved the scene where Brock is like "wait what the fuck this identical nurse joy is actually old enough to have a daughter ash's age and also OH NO A WEDDING RIIIIIING" And then he thankfully,blissfully GAVE UP and we had one nurse joy centric episode without him being a fuckboi. Seriously, the older you get the less funny you find brock, it sucks that the stuff that's meant to be over the top jokes is now barely more exaggerated than how some dudes act in real life. All you real life brocks, nobody finds you as charming as a fictional goofball! You're just rude! AND REAL BROCKS DONT HAVE A CROAGUNK TO STOP THEM

Anyway i LOVE the cute cottagey aesthetic pokemon center/hotel place! It seems the family mostly treats wild pokemon in the forest and they were actually so surprised to see customers that they thought they were burglars at first! And then daww ash and co help out doing chores to pay them back for the meal and bed even though the family is like 'no dude thats the duty of a pokemon centre'. I think that was a really mature moment for ash? He realized that this pokemon center gets less business than usual ones and figured he should give them a hand. And its so nice to see him being so super excited and wowed by the chores?? Like i mean its CHORES but for him its all so new cos its learning how to work in a pokemon center. Ash's best characrer trait is how his enthusiasm really has no limits, he'll go 100% be the best choremon master ever! Or maybe he was intentionalky being all THIS IS SO FUN because the joy daughters were fighting and he wanted to help cheer them up? In a lot of ways i prefer season 1's bratty egotistical sarcasm ash just cos he had more of a visible personality and you didnt have to sorta sleuth it out like this and always be left wondering whether they really meant to write nice-Ash this way or you're just imagining it. But when nice-Ash has monents like this he's way better and i just wish it hapoened more often and was 100% confirmed, yknow? Most of the time in sinnoh he feels less like nice-ash and more like nothing-ash or changes-every-day-into-whatever-the-plot-requires-him-to-be-ash. But in sun and moon season they have all those more slice of lifey and emltional plots and he's the more nicer ash that i always wanted, and i love it!

Anyway lol im going wildly off topic. Also fun fact i spell "the" wrong so much that "tge" is the first result in my autocorrect now...

Another thing i like is that these Joys seem to be a ghost type specialist family? The kids have a big pile of drifloon cuties and when the gang first arrived they saw a bunch of happy gastlys enjoying their stay at the inn. I like to think maybe all the ghosts they have are "drifty" types like that? I feel that the writers ppicked gastly cos the pokedex entry saying they blow away on the wind like drifloon. Cos this is actually the valley windworks adaptation episode! That was such a nice surprise when it turned out momma joy's husband was the windmill electrician guy!! He looks SO cute in the anime too! He's really chubby and has such a nice round face with a button nose and big anime eyes and a cute turquoise jacket electrician uniforn thing. And he's funny and goofy with his kids and very caribg and cautious about letting them ride home alone in the bad weather, and also he's a GIANT BADASS with an ampharos that thunderpunches the shit out of team rocket and defeats them before ash can even get there lol! Actually they never show what momma joy's main pokemon is? I like to think maybe its a gengar cos thats the most chansey-ish ghost type. And also itd mean the chubby guy has a tall and thin pokemon and his tall and thin wife has a chubby pokemon. Theyre such a cute couple so itd be even cuter!

Oh and i forgot to mention that everyone travels around via drifloon??? Thats so surreal when you consider their pokedex entries saying them carrying children is a bad thing that means theyre kidnapoing them. Like, they domesticated a very dangerous pokemon and now it uses its dangerousness for the powers of good instead! Maybe its just the anime censoring a scary thing or maybe it was intentional to show how badass this momma joy is that she could tame so many spoopy ghosts that everyone thinks are pure evil? Seriously i LOVE how they show this family working to protect and heal the local wild pokemon and them all being super friendly to humans because of it. And it makes sense theyd be ghost tyoe trainers cos if youre befriending all the pokemon in a forest youre bound to find a few lost souls. Mountains and forests are like the deadliest areas for travellers so mountain forests especially so! Everyone's lucky they have this badass family team watching over the area like guardian spirits~

OH SPEAKING OF WHICH

I forgot to mention that the main conflict of the episode is that the joy sisters have a fight because the older sister is a bit overprotective and dismissive of her little sister, causing her to be reckless and get lost trying to "be grown up and help mommy". And in the end the big sister rescues her with the help of the guardian spirit of the hot springs and they reconcile their differences and have big cute hugs! Its all very well written and dramatic actually.i really felt for the older sister's determination to save her, and i felt it was a good case of a conflict where both of them were wrong and both made mistakes and it was just like they coulda avoided those mistakes if they talked it out better. And both of them had a point at the same time, yknow? So it didnt end with either of them losing the argument or anything, it was more like the lesson is just to appreciate your siblings while theyre there and also talk about your problems in clear language with younger kids instead of using excuses like "you just cant, cos im older and i said so".

Oh also SUICUNE!

The super onsen spirit is suicune?? The little sister just casually mentions her biggest best friend in the forest is suicune and is surprised when ash says its a legendary! Wow thats actually a really cool idea? You wouldnt necessarily think of it cos you kinda think of hot springs for the hot part but theyre also a sort of super clean water like how suicune is meant to be able to purify polluted lakes. Maybe it came here to make its nest cos places that are already purified are comforting to someone who wanders the earth blasting stinky water with its powers every day. I like to think maybe this is the same suicune from Generations where they said the legendary beasts are roaming legendaries because humans treated them as demons when they first walked out of the ashes, and now theyre still scared of us even centuries later. Itd be sad if they literally kept running forever, so i like to think they all have a comforting spot to sleep in, somewhere. And for suicune its this little isolated lake in the sinnoh region which used to be super far away from human civilization. But then this family's ancestors built this hospital here and suicune was initially like "oh no my house is ruined" but then it saw that these humans were helping protect tge forest pokemon too. So its like "ah fellow coworkers" and theyre the only humans it trusts. And whenever theyre in trouble it sneakily helps them and dashes away before it can be seen, but one day it got unlucky and the kids saw it and now OH NO it is stuck havibg CUTE TINY FRIENDS! I bet the littlest joy just treats suicune like a big puppy, and this great noble beast of legend plays along because it loves her so much. But if anyone else sees it demeaning itself with a game of fetch, it would be Total Social Death In The Legendaries Club

Anyway there's some cute moments of Emotionally Wise Kind Ash The Best Of All Ashes where he finds the lost little-joy and he tries to cheer her up when she's scared by the storm and keep her dry from the rain. And he has absolute faith that his friends will come to save them both! The only thing i think coukd have maybe made it better is if the big sister joy didnt beleive in suicune? Cos it just ends with her going to ask suicune for help and then suicune helps. There's a lack of tension cos you know suicune could easily resolve all this and you already know suicune is real cos the lil sis says that big sis told her to keep it a secret cos its a Big Deal and Bad People Could Take Suicune Away and stuff. Like it might have worked better if the big sis thought that little sis was just making up rumours to be all boastful, or playing with an imaginary friend. Then her going to ask suicune for help would have symbolized something, yknow? And the audience might have been tense about whether it was real or not.

But even without that added suggestion it was still a great episode! Lots of cuteness, emotionalness, familyness and a few great jokes along the way! Also i just loved them giving unique character designs and a full backstory to these minor npcs from the game. Whenever i play it now i'm totally gonna headcanon this all as true! I mean all we know about the daughter character in the game is that she says "papa youre stinky but i still love you" and that feels very in character for the slightly mischievious little sis joy that we meet in this episode. Though you only see the one daughter and she acts like she hasnt caught a drifloon yet and dreams of seeing it if you can fix the windmill problems so it'll come back. So maybe the game version takes place a little before the anime? Like, that daughter is the engineer dad's daughter from a previous relationship and the older daughter is joy's daughter from a previous relationship. And i dunno maybe lil daughter's hair colour actually is the generic npc brown from the games but she begged her momma to dye it so she could match. Like she just loves her new momma and sister so much!! And now the struggling mountain poke-center is doing better because both parents work difderent jobs now and have enough money combined to be able to keep the family in a better quality of life. And maybe the team galactic incident at the valley windworks got it a bit of publicity as a tourist destination? and after the daughter caught that drifloon everyone who visited was like GOSH ITS SO CUTIE and the dad was like "yes our special windmill attracts these pokemon that are normally only found high up on the mountains, speaking of which my wife runs an inn up there and you can go on pokemon wildlife tours to see them in their natural habitat!" And just I LOVE THESE GUYS AND I WANT THEM TO HAVE ALL THE SUCCESS IN THEIR LIFE!! There is NOTHING better than "hey we're adapting this gane what should we do?" "Add MORE FAMBLY" Like oh my god whoever had that wonderful idea should be promoted!

Thus ends bunni's disjointed review of FAMBLY EPISODE

[faiyrn]

random facts about me!!

i was tagged by @acnlvelvet, tysm! ABC random facts!
A - age : 15 (im a lil bby) B - biggest fear : failure oops C - current time : 9pm D - drink you last had : a glass of water im livin that healthy life E - every day starts with : me waking up confused and wondering where i am lmao F - favourite song : ok recently i've been jamming to best i ever had by drake G - ghosts, are they real? nah lol H - hometown : a small town in the west midlands, in the uk! literally full of chavs I - in love with : my stinky bf, james, he is a right twat (jk i lov him lots n lots <3) J - jealous of : like every pretty girl lmaoo K - killed someone: ive nearly killed myself a bunch of times bc i daydream too much and nearly get ran over oops L - last time you cried: yesterday :))) M - middle name: i have 2 middles names! catherine ann, i hate them so much ugh N - number of siblings: one younger brother and one younger sister O - one wish: to be actually comfortable in life without having too many worries?? like that would be so nice and calm P - person you last texted : my mom!! Q - questions you’re always asked: “are you chinese?" (apparently i 'look' chinese when i smile?? lmao tf) R - reasons to smile: when my bf and i express our deep love for noodles and we connect over that (we're so weird wtf) S - song last sang: helpless from hamilton omg T - time you woke up: 7am ugh U - underwear colour: pure n white just like me :)) (who am i kidding) V - vacation destination: FIRSTLY ITS HOLIDAY NOT VACATION GRR and HAWAII I LOVE HAWAII W - worst habit: i pick at my cuticles until they bleed oops X - x-rays you’ve had: none Y - your favourite food: idk like i have different cravings?! but i lov chinese food, icecream, pringles and haribos Z - zodiac sign : virgo ayy ok i tag @cedarlings, @townstarfell, @girlcrunch, @lazybeau, plus anyone else who wants to do it idk (soz i think some of u guys already have done this but like i feel safe to tag u eek sorry) and anyone can take part in this it's super fun to do! thank you again @acnlvelvet for tagging me :^)

[themoderndana]

Skoki: Not as Stinky as it Sounds

Hey you guys,

Matt had to work July Long Weekend so I did my first trip ever where it was all up to Yours Truly to carry the food AND the tent, figure out how to mix the chemicals that make water safe to drink, and above all keep myself company.

Being alone on the trail makes me feel quite untethered; joyful but with nowhere to express the joy; ruminative with no one to interrupt oneself to; concerned but with no one other than oneself to really deal with whatever is coming.

Above you see the view behind me; looking back down the trail at the ever present Mt. Temple.

Below you can see old-ass Skoki Rest Lodge, where tired travellers have broken bread for 85 years while skiing in to Skoki Lodge. The cabin smells old. It has been around since before plastic wrap, tech fabrics, selfies and the Trudeaus.

There are 4 ghosts of skiiers rumoured to roam these parts; they play poker all night and drink rum, which has been around at least since Blackbeard’s time, so there’s one thing that predates the cabin.

Below is the view from the back window of the cabin. Mt. Ptarmigan!!!!

Fast forwarding a bit. By the time I hit the cabin I had hiked aroun 7 or 8km. I took a side trip to a place called Hidden Lake, which is tucked in below Mt. Ptarmigan, above. You hike up up up to the bowl before the mountain and there were still chuncks of ice floating on the lake. I love hiking up to mountain lakes because it’s fun to follow the stream to the source and see the hyrdological path from start to well, somewhere along the line (the finish must be the Bow River? which flows through Calgary. What a journey for little drops of water!)

Anyway I cam back down from Hidden Lake and started up Boulder Pass to the valley before Deception Pass (so named because it looks like you are not getting anywhere?)

I took a yoga- and snack-break and was feeling quite pleased with myself until 15 minutes into the trail when i realised I left my phone on the trail after snapping the first pictures of the trip. Three days in the woods with no way to document it?? No way Jose!!!

I ran back down the trail, learned a perfectly nice couple had picked it up and sent it down the trail with a big slow moving family, and kept running. I found them at rest in the cabin and then I resumed my journey. It took like 45 minutes out of the day and the trall was noticeably busier after my detours.

Ok so once you get over Boulder Pass (so named for some craggy boulders that landed there, by the looks of them, last week, but probably 10,000 years ago) you are treated to this totally savage and wild valley that appears to stretch on forever. Two big lakes are whumped right in the middle of it. You hike up Deception Pass, past a nice tourist family who is resting en route to Skoki Lodge (very fancy but you MUST get there on your own steam) and here is the panorameathat awaits you on the way down:

Left, Ptarmigan Peak, right, Wall of Jericho. As you will recall the lake called Hidden is on the other side of Ptarmigan.

The Lakes tucked in between Ptarmigan and Wall of Jericho are called Myosotis and Zygadenus, but for the purposes of this blog I shall call them Zygadana. I’m not sure if you can tell but it is so beautiful and impressive I almost cried.

Those are larches all over the place, I would definitely barf if I went in larch season.

Above is the view from the creek whence I drew water on the way down into Skoki Valley due to my parched condition.

Behold below Merlin Meadows, where I camped the first night! 

I went to bed at 8:30 after a dehydrated meal (it turned orange in my Nalgene and looked radioactive but I’m positive it was just ramen.) 

So the next day I got up bright and early and did a side trip to Merlin Lake, because i looooove a good lake in a cirque. Below is the clever sculpture denoting the fork in the road between the path to Packer’s Pass and Merlin Lake.

You hike up up up through the woods until the trail flattens out on the side of the Wall of Jericho. You then traverse the scree below the wall, sun shining on you always, water trickling past occasionally, the vast Merlin Valley below you. Marmots lick salt off rocks and do not give a crap you are there at all. At the back of the valley there is a headwall you must scramble up or the day’s over. Over the lip of the headwall (surprisingly not too bad getting up there) you are treated to this very lively and utterly human free place where the lake is slowly filling up with glacier melt and draining into the valley at the same time.

Here’s the rocky view form the top of the headwall:

Here’s the meadow where the lake is.

Ok so after a magical morning at Merlin Lake I descended, packed up my tent, and boogied on down the trail to my next campsite. However there was a ton of evidence of recent avalanche activity. This winter there were some bonkers weekends for avalanches. In particular on March 18 the entire Rockies were level 5, very unstable, don’t even fart out there avalanche danger. Not only were normal exposure places experiencing very unpredictable and unstable conditions, they were draining with bigger runout paths and slides in previously rare or unseen paths were triggered as well.

You can tell it has been a while when mature trees are torn down by the sliding snow, as below:

This is just one lil example. The entire creek between Fossil and Skoki mountains, which you cross in between to get to campsites on the other side, was rife with evidence of recent slides. I climbed over some precarious timber stacked on top of each other and got a bootful of water in like a new river bed created where the snow was melting.

I took a detour to Red Deer Lakes campsite and went looking for the lake. I got tired and gave up before I found it but the campsite was lovely. Here’s Oyster Mountain and a cool old sign for cowboys directing me back to Baker Lake:

Below is the valley en route to Baker Lake from Red Deer Lakes. To my right is Fossil Mountain, between me and my campsite from the first night at Merlin meadows. Before me is Heart Mountain and Crooked Mountain and some other neat stuff.

Ok so here’s Baker Lake, with a pool behind it, where it is, like all lakes, draining into a valley.

Rushing waterfall behind the lake.

Again I tried to go to bed as early as possible. For some reason I was feeling impatient and wanted to get the heck out of there though I had a nice soak up to my knees in the lake and met a couple from San Francisco who let me use their water filter and ask about their travels. 

The next morning I departed good and early as is my wont, and here is the valley on the way out:

Here is a mountain across the valley with the first few hours of light on the grasses:

Here is the trail, past Boulder Pass and nearing the boring kilometres down the access road. Mt. Temple on the horizon guiding you home.