#probably a lot when you consider I drop your eggs like they are going out of stylez

[gonzodangerfeels]

Can I state for the record I only fuck with vagina.

If you are a sissy you need to be someone's sissy, not someone's brother with a mental retardation.

Right, well I am going to go fuck my Sissy's aunt now

[yyokkki]

Dire Crowley

The mayor of NRV! 

He’s always giving you quests to complete while you’re at NRV claiming he’s too busy to get it done himself but his daily schedule consists of just walking around town doing daily ‘check ups’ on the businesses.

Dubs you a beast master after you gain three hearts with more than two villagers. He says nobody is able to acclimate themselves with the townsfolk so quickly!

He may or may not have been scared off by the scarecrows in your farm once or twice.

Is a total suck up to Governor Ambrose the 63rd but shit talks him behind his back. He plans to overthrow him one day but it’s not looking bright…

Absolutely hates the city and the new Royal Sword Mart that opened in town.

You basically get tasks weekly from him. Don’t worry the rewards are generous as he is a very gracious man~

Loved Gifts: Any Gems, Glass Shards, Gold, Meat, Universal Loves

“How generous of you, farmer! It seems my graciousness has rubbed off on you~”

Hated Gifts: Royal Sword Cola, Any Spicy Foods, Hot Pepper, Universal Hates

“Boohoo! Despite all my generosity and graciousness! How could you give me something so vile!!"

Divus Crewel

The local scientist! I’m not going into his specific field but he does a lot of experiments on the geography and ecosystems of the valley.

He also seems well versed in Chemistry as he regularly supervises Trey and Rook as they do their experiments too. (He’s afraid the pups are gonna injure themselves)

He owns a cool classic car that doesn’t work anymore after years of not travelling out of NRV. He grieves about it a lot.(The junimos fix it and he chaperones you over to the desert!)

His hobby is fashion design and he has a room in his house fully decked out with sewing machines, mannequins and the like.

He keeps a very good dalmatian named Spot at home. He is the most spoiled boy in town.

Occasionally visits the library to play chess with Trein but it usually ends with some kind of argument…

He’s the one who offers to set up a fruit bat/mushroom cave for you! (He may or may not have inspired Jade)

Loved Gifts: Raisin Butter, Wine, Cloth, Dye Materials, Universal Loves

“Good pup! This is a great gift.”

For Cloth and Dye Materials: “Might as well make you something with this… Especially considering your current attire.”

Hated Gifts: Universal Hates

“Bad pup! What is the meaning of this?!”

Mozus Trein

The librarian and teacher!

He holds classes for the kids twice a week but when he’s not a teacher he looks over the library with his cat, Lucius, whom the kids (and Idia) absolutely adore!

He’s quite strict with the manners and knowledge of the young people in town so it’s always a shock to see him so patient and gentle with the kids.

He has grown daughters who are currently working in the city! He regularly pens letters to them and sends over care packages. They come to visit him often too!

He finds it absolutely unacceptable how barren the library in town is and finds lost books more important than artifacts, though he thinks they’re a valuable educational tool as well.

Loved Gifts: Duck Feather, Vichyssoise, Tuna, Leek, Universal Loves

“This is a good gift, farmer. Thank you.”

For Duck Feather and Tuna: “Lucius will enjoy this, I thank you on his behalf.”

Hated Gifts: Universal Hates

“Ugh. How distasteful.”

Ashton Vargas

The town blacksmith!

Honestly? Might’ve become a blacksmith so he could work his arms out… He’s off every Thursday for leg day!

He encourages everyone in town to work out more! Certain townsfolk avoid him because of this.

Approves of you since farming requires a lot of physical labour! Actually offers to help you out with heavy lifting too.

He lives off of the forests too, he hunts and grows his own harvests! 

He has a few chickens too for sustainable egg supply.

Probably one of the nicest villagers if you ignore his gloating!

Loved Gifts: All Eggs, Beer, Universal Loves

“Thanks! Why don’t you drop by later for some weight training? I’ll tell you all of my tips!”

Hated Gifts: Universal Hates

“I hate this stuff!”

Sam

Owner of the general store!

Not much is known about him but he has lots of friends on the other side! (They’re the travelling cart merchants cooperating with him to sell out of season products)

He sells absolutely everything! Except for other shops products since he doesn’t wanna stir up the competition!

The general store has another branch in the city too!

Loved Gifts: Chicken Gumbo, Void Essence, Universal Loves

“Daw, thanks little imp! Now, don’t go thinkin’ this’ll get you a discount~”

Hated Gifts: Solar Essence (His friends hate this stuff), Universal Hates

“Hate to break it to ya, but I have a million of these in the back… You can keep it!”

Grim

The sewer rat? Basically the Krobus of this universe because it was between him and your farm companion! I mean c’mon you can even have him move in with you after you become good friends! He’s the true route fr.

Wants to live on the surface but that bird brained mayor won’t let him! So now he sells random stuff he found in the sewers to you…

He does sneak out pretty often though, it’s how you found him pretty early on.

The poor boy, get him some tuna. It blows his mind the first time he tries it. (He’s been living off of radioactive fish, he’s fine though)

Actually starts living with you even if you’re pursuing a bachelor as soon as he hits ten hearts.

He constantly complains about your other furry companion though…

It’s probably harder to give him a gift he hates since he’ll eat about everything. (Yes he eats all your gifts)

He wants to overthrow Crowley and become the mayor of town! He never succeeds. (He thinks mayor is the highest position in the whole world because it’s all he knows)

Loved Gifts: Tuna, Stone, Any Gem, Universal Loves

“Funa! You’re the best henchuman!!  I was feeling a little hungry!”

Hated Gifts: Universal Hates (Except clay maybe? Feels like he’d eat that too…)

“EW! This is worse than that time you called me a raccoon!”

---

TWST x SDV Masterlist

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[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

'You're reading too much into ATSV.'

[aka meta analysis is good for the soul]

I often get told on this blog that I'm reading too much into plots or scenes or things in general.

And honestly, fair point. I do the most.

And as a writer, I will say that I do it out of pure respect.

[actual photo of me reading the script and going for my 'reading too hard at ATSV notebook']

Movies take years to write.

People spend months of their lives genuinely toiling over these characters, often times creating more work than what can ever be reasonably used. Months of revisions and scraping work.

For weeks, about a dozen people probably went to sleep dreaming or thinking up what Hobie would wear, what Gwen would say, what emotional cues Jess will have.

A lot of people dedicated years of their lives and creative labor into that story.

To me, it isn't at all bizarre to take an hour out of my day to sit and consider the story they spend a lot of time trying to tell.

Compared to the labor they have given me, multiple 40+ hour work weeks for years - an hour or two is literally nothing lol

It's literally the least I can do.

As a writer, I feel like its only right to sit back and look deeper into a story.

To analyze the writer's intentions, or examine their storytelling tactics and abilities.

We are taught to consume media so quickly and rapidly that to offer time to critically analyze a piece of work is considered bizarre, too much work, or pointless.

As if there's nothing to read into. Or as if speculation and meta analysis is helpful to no one.

If someone spends five hours drawing fanart that is accepted. If someone spends two hours writing fanfic, this is expectable behavior.

But I spend the same amount of time to look deeper into the work of the writers, and often times I'm met with surprise or treated as if I'm overly uptight.

It's like snickering at a person who asked there was deeper meaning behind a painting. While standing in an art gallery.

When streaming shows drop all in one day, it becomes about the Easter eggs and watching it as fast as possible as not to be spoiled.

Then at the end of it, you wash your hands of it and wait for the next big release.

People spend years, decades of their writing career trying to write realistic characters with layered motives. Or stories with complex themes.

Comic Book and Screenwriters included.

I myself try very very hard to do so - to provide foreshadowing, and emotional insight into the characters, their motives, their faults.

If I heard someone say that the piece is not worth looking that far into, all the work I've done as a writer gets overlooked.

Writers cannot grow if people are consuming their media without caring enough to look critically at it as the work of a storyteller.

So yes, I'm looking too far into it. Cause writers can write that far into it. And that deserves to be examined, acknowledged, and praised.

To assume less is too assume lesser of the writers who put everything into the media you enjoy.

This year of all years, we should be appreciating the work Screenwriters put in.

I guess what I'm trying to say is - I'm not being an asshole (well, not trying to be).

I'm looking at writers as vital parts of a movies production. Because they are.

We look deeply at the art style, or the animation, or the music. Writers are not shadow figures. They're people with careers. And them and their work deserve to be spoken about and acknowledged as a work of effort just the same as CGI artists or editors, or directors.

I implore you - Read more into it.

If you're a writer yourself, doubly so.

Read FAR into it. Build your analyzation skills, come to your own conclusions. Break the story down every which way and look at the characters from every angle.

It's fun, it's free, it makes the characters so much more real.

So many people on this website hope to one day become published writers. One thing they do to help you achieve that in college, is by racing things like scripts, and looking critically.

Meta analysis is good for you as much as it is the writers.

If you don't think you're cut out for it, or would have nothing to add, still try. Not for the brownie points, but to feel closer to the characters and the story.

If you've seen ATSV (or any Fandom media) and haven't ever really sat and thought about it - everyone's moral stances, why they want what they want, why they've made the mistakes they've had, where you stand on it all - I highly recommend it.

You might come away with some surprising conclusions about characters or even yourself.

Think about your favorite characters, and what might happen to them in the next movie.

There's really nothing wrong with reading that far into it.

Fifteen minutes of thinking, or an hour of writing is nothing compared to the months of work that went into this absolute masterpiece.

Trust me, the first time you catch some shit that makes you go

ITS LIKE A HIGH I TELL YOU.

Touch grass? Nah bro, touch your local library card. Go there right now. Take out this book.

There's gonna be a discussion tomorrow in class.

If you read this far heyhello I think you're rad as hell.

Here's a Hobie for the road because he's a great companion.

Bye.

[conceptofjoy]

i enjoy how you made hal take after mom (and rose?) in clothing... i feel like its important but i am probably overthinking it bc i am not sure if the i think about it is even a little close to the original idea... i was wondering about her (hals) feelings once she started to realize that she could actually take care of her wardrobe and. It would be kind of dilemma considering she is still somewhere between i should look up to dirk (aka the concept of masculinity she had to inherit) and fuck this shit. so to see some1 who can indirectly "help" you crack the egg problem apart and become more aware of your self after is very wholesome. SWeet gods give hal her happines.s

.. also just remembered my first crisis when i couldnt decide what exactly i wanted to dress up. I was like obsessively relying on stereotypes (i honestly dont know what word to use here because it wasnt exactly stereotypes but i dont want to be tautological), so just dressing the way i wanted seemed too alien and dressing the way everything expected from me made me feel hideoufuuUCKKK. hope it wasnt too weird to just drop it so thank you a lot a lot!!! for letting people just ramble in your asks <3 Its really nice to look up here and see things that will make you feel nice even if make people feel nice wasnt the exact goal

YES that was what i had in mind :D its a hal and dirk struggle that they’re either doing 100% or barely at all. in this case 100% being alpha mom’s style of femininity, and not much at all being just wearing dirk’s hand me downs.

ultimately she has to find her own style/ identity and branching out into copying various women in her life is a good start, but she also has to figure out that there isn’t a By The Book Right Way to do this. shed totally feel like she was a faker at first ugh, not only was she supposed to be dirk, what does it mean that she’s trying to emulate other people?

is this free will or Stockholm leading her to do this?

why bother if people are going to see her as dirk no2 regardless?

in the effort to try to distance herself from from visually looking like dirk, is she doing this for herself or is she just repulsed at the idea of looking like this? something like that.

[becauseplot]

it’s Stupid Hours (aka way too early in the morning) and after 0.2 seconds of searching on YouTube ive come to the conclusion that there is no qsmp John Mulaney “The One Thing” animatic yet and ive gotta say guys. im disappointed.(/lh) im so used to every fandom having at least one The One Thing animatic that realizing there isn’t one for qsmp is bonkers to me. i’ve watched so many of these over the years that if you played The One Thing audio, i could probably recite it in time w the audio (i won’t say from memory bc my memory is shit.)

anyway here’s what i would personally do for a The One Thing animatic if i could draw. remember that this is gonna be skewed to the POVs im more familiar with so im sorry if your cubito doesn’t make it into the role you’d expect. i tried to include as many people as possible.

Edit: "Back in high school..." - not really necessary, but i imagine this story/"AU" taking place during the egg disappearance, which would explain the overly chaotic behavior of the islanders. not that they ever need a reason to be chaotic.

Narrator - Charlie. he’s not on the server as often but bc of that he would make a good “outside” pov narrator. also he’s just a got a really quick-with-it type of humor, cracking jokes and puns and doing wordplay/inprov’d songs at the drop of a hat, and he also loves telling stories.

Mr. Macnimara - Cucurucho. “And Mr. Macnimara was an asshole.” need i say more?

Jake Macnimara - Jaiden. beloved bird of the Federation, though that absolutely would not stop her from throwing a wild party for her friends in their offices if she could. Edit: also Quackity would make a really good option here. Cringefail man that the Federation likes to toy with, we love to see it. Also with his shit luck it makes sense that a party that he decides to host at the Fed offices (a bad idea in the first place tbf) would blow up in his face so hard.

(Bonus: Mrs. Macnimara - the Duck. the Watcher. ElQuackity. idk who’s funnier just whoever your heart desires.)

“And we all got up individually and thought: okay, let’s go over there, and destroy the place.” - split screen of Cellbit, Baghera, Maxo, and Bad. there could be more, like Mike, Etoiles, Phil, Tubbo, really anyone who hates the Federation and/or has an affinity for chaos. Foolish would be a really fucking funny option for this one because yeah he works for the Feds but He Absolutely Would. all of the characters would get up calmly, and on the word “destroy” flip to a Chaos Mode Engaged expression (Cellbit with a grin and bloodstains on his cheeks, Baghera w flames behind her and in her eyes, etc etc)

“People were drinking like it was the civil war and a doctor was coming to saw our legs off” - Tubbo and his backpack of 3749588383 chainsaws. tazerraft could also be a good option considering Pac’s love of beheading people and Mike’s generally unhinged behavior. tbh just anyone/everyone in morning crew.

Person who breaks the pool table - Etoiles. someone would dare him to and he’d get so fucking excited he would absolutely HURL himself at that pool table. (dogboy behavior)

Person who takes a shit on the computer - … look ive been blankly staring at this one for like 7 fucking minutes. my heart says Aypierre but i could not tell you why. just. anyone who would absolutely do some rancid, unhinged shit when given the opportunity. Foolish again maybe. idk.

Edit: "Something something, police." - Jaiden, if she isn't Jake Macnimara. She would totally say it in a "LOL UH-OH" manner. If not, I could also imagine Missa, Bagi, or Fit nervously/bluntly trying to warn people while laughing.

“Fuck da police!” - “Fuck da Feds!”/“Fuck da Federation!” from what i can tell, Charlie doesn’t have an active animosity towards the Federation, but a lot of his friends do, and he will do anything, ANYTHING to commit to the bit. he will do ANYTHING for the funnies, and if he thinks that shouting “Fuck da Feds!” at the top of his lungs is going to get a reaction out of people, he absolutely will.

Edit: "'I served my nickel, you come and take me!' confidence." - Mike. I have such a strong mental image of Mike drunkenly shouting this while Pac and Fit hold him up/hold him back. Fuga references my beloved. Also the fact that he was put in a Fed freezer for a while.

The Police - the Federation workers. obviously. bonus points for one unnamed guard/officer being impressed like “wooooow :0” and then widening the shot to reveal an unamused Agent 18 standing next to them, leaning into his walkie talkie saying, “Get the paddy wagon.”

“SCATTER!” - Phil. (if you know you know.) generally, people who don’t know Phil tend to think he’s pretty chill, so no one would expect him to do something like that. also when Charlie says “And my friend John—” it would cut to a ‘pause screen’ over the scene, Charlie coming on screen to clarify the “father” and “baby” parts by providing helpful pop-up images of family pictures with Chayanne, Tallulah, and Missa on screen. Resumes, presses play and the screen clears: “He grabbed a 40…”

Edit: "Until, two years later..." - again, not really necessary, but it could be something like, "Until, after Purgatory..."

Alex (guy who stole the photos) - Roier. HEAR ME OUT. Roier, similar to Phil, is just such an unassuming guy. he’s cheery and laughs a lot and cracks jokes, but deep down, he’s smart and he’s got a burning HATRED for the Federation. he’s not the kind of guy to start fights, but with everyone else causing chaos at the party, breaking shit in the offices/house, he would absolutely take the opportunity to steal Federation documents for his husband’s investigations. (or antique photos, if you want to keep with the high school setting/theme.) i mean he stole a fucking lamp from their offices once just because there was so much shit going on and he knew the Feds probably wouldn’t notice (iirc).

Edit: SOMETHING I FORGOT TO MENTION ABOUT ROIER. you could totally make the line “because it’s the one thing you can’t replace” a reflection of Bobby, who the Federation ‘killed’, so now he’s getting back at them. (i’ve put way too much thought into this.)

anyway that’s all! feel free to contribute if u want i just really love The One Thing. it’s an older fandom meme but yeah it still checks out.

(the sheer number of edits to this thing really speaks to how much it lives in my head lmaooo. there's more details but im not gonna include them here bc they're too visual.)

[duckapus]

Since splatfest is it's own thing in the squid meme au what teams was Meggy?

(so I'm going with the North American Splatfests for this since in SMG4 canon the Mushroom Kingdom and Inkadia are in the US for some reason)

Splatoon 1

(since this would all be before she met Mario I can only base them off her pre-character development personality and Vibes. I have explanations for a few of them but for most I'm kinda-sorta picking at random)

Cats (since she eventually gets a cat in canon)

Roller Coasters

Marshmallows (we saw how that one food fight episode went)

Autobots

Art

Planes

Ninjas

Burgers

Naughty

Future

Pokemon Blue

Snowman

Spongebob

Costume Party

Early Bird (She would be a Morning Person, wouldn't she?)

Marie (I HC that she used to have a celebrity crush on Marie. Because I Can)

Splatoon 2

Cake

Ketchup

Flight (Mostly because she picked her team right after getting home from Mario's Challenge and was thinking that flight would've made some of those floors a lot easier to get through)

Vampire (This one's just for me ;))

Sci-Fi (the Fest started the same day she did a Matrix scene for a movie audition, it just makes sense)

Sock (honestly she kind of just picked one at random since she was too worried about Paige to really care. she almost didn't bother going at all)

Action (duh)

Money

Egg

Soccer (anyone notice a pattern developing?)

Leo (okay losing streak aside I genuinely think Leo would be her favorite of the four)

Mikey

Raph

No Pulp (the texture just feels wrong to her)

Octopus (She ended up in matches with Desti a few times and it was awkward being on the same side)

Fork (FINALLY A WIN! Just in time for Waluigi Time...)

Skipped (she was a little busy being the first victim of the Waluigi Apocalypse)

Treat

Salsa (she may or may not be allergic to avocados)

Hero

Friends (considering what I've implied Meggy and Paige's parents are like compared to the NSS and Glitchy Gang is it really surprising?)

Pancakes (she might have just flipped a coin for this one)

Skipped (she doesn't have time for Splatfest there's TRAINING TO BE DONE!!!)

Skipped (kind of hard to participate in Splatfest when all your weapons are stolen)

Skipped (both because she wouldn't have had time with the Tournament going on and...you know...the whole Being Kidnapped Thing)

Narwhals (after Mario's pep talk part of her getting back into the swing of things includes doing Splatfest stuff)

Chaos (she probably would've picked Order before she met Mario, but...)

Ketchup (a lot of things have changed for Meggy. her preference in condiments isn't one of them)

Treat

Super Mushroom (apparently she likes how they taste)

Splatoon 3

(I know she doesn't live in or even near Splatsville but thanks to the DLC we know that Inkopolis participates in Splatsville Splatfests and I figure that by this point there's be a large enough population of Inkfish living in the Mushroom Kingdom that they would too. Plus Meggy's still at least part inkling and is still culturally an Inkling so...)

Rock

Skipped (since her very existence happened to be illegal at the time and she and every other OC dropped dead the exact same day the Fest started)

Grass

Sweet

Milk Chocolate

Aliens (in honor of Greg, of course)

Courage

Skipped (depending on how the timeline works out this is either during or immediately after everyone being stuck in a simulation for about a month. no way they're bothering with an ice cream Splatfest of all things)

Love (time changes a person)

Big Man (she did feel a little awkward picking between people she considers friends by this point. that being said, BIG MAAAAAAAN!!!!!)

Skeleton (I know this happens at the same time as Heist WotFI but she isn't even in that episode (I don't care that she was credited for the song that was her voice actress not Meggy herself she was not physically present and had no idea what anyone was doing that night))

Hug

Friends

Friday

[We interrupt this broadcast to bring you PUZZLEVISION!!!]

[And this one too!]

Save the World (obviously)

[cocainever]

hiii i noticed that you were in band! i play a pretty heavy instrument and i wanted to know how you keep strength while being so small :3

hii anon! Thank you for sending an ask! ❤️❤️☺️

(TL;DR : make sure you have a carb rich snack before and sleep plenty. Also be motivated)

So during marching band I actually alternated between Bari sax and tenor sax and honestly probably one of the hardest things I had do to. Tell me why I’m in the ballad on tenor, marching to the pit, and then grabbing my bari while it’s cold?!???!! 😭😭

Anyways here is how I kept my strength up!

I didn’t. For like the first months I was passing out constantly, I would be caught chewing and spitting my lunches before masterclasses, and I used to have to sit in my directors office and eat before they let me out.

Nowadays before I have to do anything physical I make sure to eat something rich in carbs like a mashed up banana mixed with one tablespoon of peanut butter so I have energy. Also it’s all about resting because I have practice around 4-6 pm and my school day ends at 2:35 because we start so early. And on tuesdays, we had stadium rehearsal from 5:30 to 9pm. So during my downtime I would sleep for 1 hour or 2.5 hours and then go on a walk before practice started to warm myself up and shock myself.

I guess it comes down to taking care of your body, since even though I didn’t want to I was forced to by my directors and eventually I just didn’t want to have to waste my time going to see them to eat a piece of bread with shitty peanut butter from this unknown brand while they watched me. It was awkward and humbling. It comes down to eating carbs and resting. You also have to have willpower.

There was so many times when I just wanted to cry on the field because “oh my back hurts, the neck strap on my spine” or, “ughhh I feel sick.” NO! You can’t have that!! You need to stay motivated. I was thankful to be on that field, from 100° weather to freaking thundering and raining on area day and having to do visual rehearsal in that weather.

Regarding concert season it is a lot different considering region is going on (good luck if you’re doing that!) and things are a lot more relaxed. I’m sitting in a chair and I don’t have to hold my instrument up I can usually just rest my bassoon on my legs and wait while the director is speaking with other sections. I have rehearsal so early in the morning so I’m still running on the energy from my breakfast (usually whole wheat toast and peanut butter / an egg) so I have good mental clarity. Whenever I feel weak or lightheaded this sounds embarrassing but I put my instrument down and I go into the hallway and lay in silence until I feel okay because it’s really dangerous if you drop it or pass out on the instrument.

I guess you have to stay locked in and motivated during concert season because it’s really competitive still. I learned the hard way that when you’re passing off music, you should probably eat something before so you don’t look like an idiot while forgetting fingerings or even what it sounds like. I hope this could help!! It was a really long post but honestly I don’t mind writing all this for you ❤️❤️Stay healthy and stay safe!!

[leebrontide]

One thing about our new garden is that the soil is shit.

I am begging people not to rake up all their leaves in the fall and all their grass clippings in the summer. Every time you dispose of this organic "waste" you're taking the nutrients those plants pulled up out of the soil and throwing it away. Plus, you're destroying habitat for loads of important insects and fucking with the whole ecosystem.

The people who owned the house before us clearly raked and removed loads of leaves and clippings for the 30 years they lived in the house. The soil is practically sand. Just no nutrients left in it and very little ability to retain water.

People used to ask us why our soil in our old place was lovely rich nearly-black soil. The answer was that we didn't take our leaves up till mid April, after most insects didn't need them for hatching and hiding anymore, and they've broken down a fair amount of their nutrients into the soil. Then we'd mow up as much as possible and leave the chopped up leaves all over the lawn, to further break down and return the nutrients to the ground.

I've been looking for a rotatable compost bin for the new place, even though we're all small enough that rotating them can be sort of a pain in the ass.

But I'll confess that an ad-algorithm got me. I go on YouTube for 3 minutes, because my usual music streaming service was down and I do enjoy the "17th century villain" playlists on there, and I got an ad for an electric countertop composter.

This is not some kind of supported product placement on my part. The Lomi, which is the thing I saw an ad for, is a good $500 bought new, and I just flat out wasn't gonna do that.

But, I was curious enough to read some reviews, and then check craisglist. Lo and Behold, I found one for cheap, for sale from someone who bought and liked one, but also has an honest to god farm, and decided to go back to larger scale outdoor composting.

So, now we have a Lomi countertop composter.

You take the food waste from the day (our kiddo, Starling, eats a staggering amount of fruit, and a lot of eggs, so there's always shells, cores and peels and stuff laying around) and you put it in the bucket, and lock the lid, and push one button.

In two hours you have totally dry, totally broken down compost that smells almost like dry hay, ready to drop on the yard to put back in nutrients.

I'm a bit in love with it.

And, on top of that, it can break down dairy and meat. You shouldn't ever put cooked meat in your outdoor compost, because birds will try to forage it, and get cooked fat grease on their feathers, which they can't clean off and can lead to illness. They're not evolved to handle cooked meat. But this way the meat is all broken down and safe to put outside. Which means throwing less away, which is great.

I will say, we didn't put in the charcoal the first time, and it had the used up charcoal from the previous owner in there and THAT was a mistake. Made the whole house smell like sweet vinegar. Which could be worse, considering this is food rotting down, but it was terrible when it's too cold to even open a window.

You can get Lomi brand charcoal filters, but it's just little charcoal pellets, so I'll probably just buy some from the aquarium store when we run out. But this batch should last us several months.

The thing also came with Lomi "tablets". So far, we've used them. But I'm going to experiment with not using them at some point, since the webpage for the Lomi says you don't NEED them. They do genuinely add helpful bacteria and fungi to the soil, which is great, but I can buy soil improvers that can do that, much more economically, from my local urban farm supply in the spring. No branded little pellets required. Plus, with the lawn being under snow, and the processed compost having to go on top of the snow, I'm not sure how much of that bacteria would be surviving right now, anyways.

[bonesandthebees]

It's very funny to see my dash filled with QSMP stuff yet not being into it myself. I think now I understand how all those people felt when they were exposed to DSMP content/discourse, because the stuff I see now sounds absolutely insane sometimes (I dropped off after Juanaflippa died and haven't been up to date ever since).

Anyway, the Halloween story! I really liked what you did with leading us to believe that Wilbur was the guilty one (the conversation in the bar really sold that idea) and then slowly letting us realise that maybe things aren't the way we think they are. Small towns hold so many secrets..

Burning down the corn somehow felt like the last punch they could pull and in a way it was very poetic. A nice sense of closure.

I also wonder what was Phil's reaction when the boys told him the story. Could you tell us more about it? (or redirect me to a post if this was already answered)

-🌹

LMAO I'm so sorry for filling your dash with qsmp I'm sure that's gotta be wild to experience. qsmp is insane enough when you know what's going on, the outside POVs have gotta feel so wild

I don't blame you for dropping off after juanaflippa died I definitely considered dipping but then the wilbur soot tallulah week happened and I was revitalized and became extremely invested in that beanie wearing egg with hair. then I got highkey attached to everyone else and now I rotate q!phil in my mind constantly he's soooooo :)

(general reminder to my followers: if something I post a lot of and don't tag is annoying you feel free to ask me to tag it so you can block the posts! I stopped tagging my qsmp posts a while ago but I can go back to doing that or create a new tag for them if you don't wanna see them)

anyway moving on

aw thank you I'm so glad you enjoyed!! I had a lot of fun playing around with the misdirection in the foreshadowing. that conversation in the bar was especially fun to write because quackity holds the same assumption as the readers: that wilbur killed their father. wilbur knows this is what quackity thinks and doesn't do a whole lot to dissuade that notion, thus further cementing the idea to the readers as well. it was a lot of fun wordplay for me

ngl I've just always wanted to write a midwestern gothic type thing that ended with a cornfield burning down the mental image is just too cool. also like you pointed out I thought it gave the story a nice sense of closure :)

okay so this ask doesn't get too long (and so people can keep things vague if they want) i'll put the 'what happens when phil finds out' bit under the cut

so I wanted to leave things with phil vague so the readers could make their own interpretations, but I'd like to think that phil actually suspected that wilbur and tommy had something to do with their father's disappearance from the start. he never put too much stock into it though because he always thought they would've told him if they did actually have a hand in it. so instead he just kind of purposefully turned a blind eye to all the signs and imagined their father probably went and pissed the wrong person off at the wrong time while drunk and got a bullet between the eyes as a result. it wasn't exactly wrong.

anyway, finding out that his original gut feeling was right and they were the ones to kill him hurts phil a lot. not because his brothers murdered their father, but because they didn't tell him about it for ten years. when more details get revealed and he learns that tommy was the one to shoot him and not wilbur, he understands a little more why wilbur was so reluctant to tell him but still, the hurt is there. at the very least, he understands why wilbur left now, and that's been an open wound for him for years at this point. so that bit of closure, combined with knowing for sure that their father is never coming back, makes up for the pain of knowing how long his little brothers lied to him.

basically the conversation ends with phil reassuring tommy a lot while scolding wilbur for leaving for eight years instead of telling him the truth. hours later though, probably once the sun has risen and tommy has passed out in his room, phil sees wilbur sitting at the dining table staring blankly into his coffee mug. he thinks about what wilbur told him before about how he learned to run away from him, and that phil wasn't there when they needed him. he thinks about the guilt in wilbur's eyes when he told phil that tommy had to shoot their dad because he just couldn't pull the trigger himself.

and phil goes and hugs his younger brother, and tells him that it wasn't his fault. that he did the best he could. that it's okay that he couldn't pull the trigger. and wilbur hugs him back, feeling like a little kid again wrapped up in his big brother's arms.

it's not okay yet. it might not ever be fully okay. but they're dealing with it. as a family this time.

[garciaasfluffypen]

bright beginnings pt. 9.

pairing: single dad!joseph quinn x fem!reader   wc: 865  warnings: very brief mention of jordan and her bf making out

part 8 • part 10

3/11 a/n: WOW MELLY UPDATING?? WHACK. also hi im back!! i ended up writing more to this part after and just never updated it??? so here’s the newly updated part (: 

a/n: im sorry this part is so short y’all, my brain has been FRIED after the week i’ve had at work, i’ll be self caring and writing (hopefully) parts that are a lot better than this one next. anywho, we’re back to y/n’s pov now.

“jordan i think he’s seeing someone.”

you dramatically flopped on jordan’s bed, not even caring that her boyfriend was literally inches away from punching you in the face for interrupting them. 

“what?”

“he mentioned a girl, grace, she was coming over tonight.” 

jordan pushed herself off lap, her shirt falling back into place. “say you’re lying.”

“i wish i was. he even left early today. with the twins.”

“no!” jordan let out a dramatic gasp. “that cheeky fucker! there’s no signs that he has a girlfriend at all.” 

“right? so that’s why i’m confused.” 

shawn sighed. “you’re confused? i’m confused.”

“not now shawn.” both you and jordan turned to face him, stoically faced. 

you turned back to jordan. “how could he openly flirt with me when he’s literally seeing someone?”

“you said he’s in the middle of a divorce, right?” you nodded. “he’s probably just mucking around, getting his feet in the pool. you don’t even know if they’re exclusive.”

“well he introduced them to the twins so it sounds pretty fucking exclusive.” you huffed. “i really thought there was something there, you know? it’s been so hard to find anyone over here because men suck- no offense shawn- and the moment i thought i found something that could turn into the relationship i wanted, he’s seeing someone else.” 

“why don’t you just ask him?”

“ask my boss about his love life? no thanks.” you scoffed. “i’m not making it obvious that i like him.”

“well considering how girls night went i’m sure he at least likes you a little bit. he touched your knee!”

“that could mean anything now that i know of grace.” your hands flew over your face, dramatically groaning. ���am i stupid for lusting over him?”

“not at all.” jordan patted your knee sympathetically. “you had no idea he was even talking to other people.”

“thats the thing!” your hands dropped to your lap. “he doesn’t seem like that kinda guy! he seems very much like a mutually exclusive ‘i don’t talk to anyone else while i talk to you’ type of person.” 

“listen,” shawn started. “maybe he’s exploring his options you know? not everyone is exclusive during the talking stage.”

“i see your point babe, but i raise you- he just divorced his wife. how could he be seeing someone that fast?” jordan turned to you. “how messy is the divorce?”

“um, i think messy. i haven’t met julia in the months i’ve been working there, it’s only been joe so far.”

“so they probably haven’t been in love for a hot minute.”

“we don’t know that.” you sighed. “i probably put too many eggs in one basket. maybe i should just go back to tinder.”

“no no,” jordan ripped your phone from your hands. “you are not getting on that hellsite just because you think joe is seeing someone else. i’m banning you from tinder.”

“but-”

“no! no buts. if i see it on your phone or hear that stupid little bell it’s on sight.”

“you’re mean.”

“and you clearly need a mimosa. get off your ass about this! it's one mishap. just give it some time and maybe he’ll realize you’re the one for him.” 

you rolled your eyes. “yeah like drinking my problems away is going to help.”

“i’m just saying, it’ll help!”

“like fucking your boyfriend helps when you don’t want to talk about school?”

jordan let out a pathetic whine. “econ is hard, okay?” 

shawn looked like he was about to say something, but stopped himself. you sighed, looking back to jordan.

“you swear you saw no sign of a girlfriend at all on his facebook?”

“promise. girl guide honor.” jordan looked at you. “why would i lie to you about something like that?”

“to protect my heart.”

“well yeah, you got me there.” she shrugged. “i promise you, if i find anything i will tell you.”

you held out your pinky. “if you break this promise i’m killing you.”

“good to know.”

“hey so can i have my girlfriend back now?” 

“yeah, sorry. i uh, yeah.” 

“don’t go sulk!” jordan gave y/n a pointed look. “i know you.” 

“stop reading me like a book, it's weird.” 

“it’s not weird, it's intuition. go relax and read a book or something. leave it to me. i got this.”

you raised an eyebrow. “should i be nervous?”

“always.” 

with a roll of your eyes you climbed off of jordan’s bed, flipping her off as you went back to your room. she was right— you needed to relax. there was probably a chance he was talking about a friend. men were allowed to have friends. flopping onto your bed, you looked over to your bookshelf to try and figure out what to read. finally finding one, you picked it up off the shelf. you were about to open the book you had grabbed when your phone dinged. a facebook notification popped up on the screen, prompting you to hold it up so faceid could unlock your phone. the notification almost gave you a heart attack as you read what it said over and over again. 

“jordan…!” you yelled out, waiting for her reaction. “there’s been a development!” 

[vulturereyy]

HI, YES, I SAW YOUR PHAROM/HEGEMOL HEADCANON (AU?) AND I AM INTRIGUED

I hope you don't mind getting questions about it? It just seems super interesting and I am a huge fan of scenarios where other knights survived

So, did Hegemol knew the Hollow Knight personally, or even Hornet? If yes and if THK survived the infection, would they ever reunite? How would it be like?

Also, does he ever get to reunite with Ogrim? My mans deserves at least one of his friends back 😭

Hi omg my first ask.... Thank you!! I would love questions though I honestly haven't thought out every aspect. Questions help flesh that out though :) Headcanon, AU, I'm not quite sure what the terms are myself, I normally don't do things like this. But I sure am having fun, whatever it is! I don't think Hegemol knew the Hollow Knight as personally as the other knights. I can't remember if this is backed up by lore or not, but timeline wise, I do imagine there was at *minimum* 10-15 years between the idea to create the vessels to the sealing of THK in the Black Egg. I think Hegemol would have known *of* THK and definitely met them himself, but would have already been in the early-middle stages of his infection, and starting to drop some of his duties in favor of rest and trying to recover. Unfortunately, Hegemol only got worse, and so THK's time at the white palace until they were sealed would have coincided with the worst of Hegemol's infection. I do, however, think that Hegemol did know Hornet. As I understand it, Hornet was born and raised *after* the dreamer deal, but possibly before the vessels were created? Or at least, before THK was 'chosen'. They were probably still in development. Hornet was probably around just before to just at the start of Hegemol falling to the infection, and if she ever visited the City of Tears or White Palace, he would have definitely been very fond of her. I think Hegemol loves kids at heart, especially those who are ornery and full of mischief. He'd fake spar her as well, and let her believe she won, when she was just a little bug. I think he would reunite with THK and Ogrim both, though especially the latter! Of course, Hegemol isn't... Quite what he used to be, but. I think He would have a sense of... Solidarity? Not quite, but definitely a deep sense of *regret* for THK and what they went through. Hegemol probably opposed the plan when he could, even if he could not think of anything else that could save Hallownest. It just wouldn't seem right to him, mind or no mind, to raise something (someone, in his eyes) as if it were a child, or even a squire becoming a new knight, and watch it flourish... Only to punish it for doing so in the worst way possible. The fact that this plan failed would be heartbreaking for Hegemol, especially in the sense of like. His king just tortured a guy for decades for no reason, and killed like 1 million weird shadow children in the process. I think Hegemol is going to have a lot to come to terms with, and honestly may not even choose to enter the Pale King's service again because of what happened. As for what it would be like, I think it would be... Quiet, really. I always envision Hegemol as the type to consider 'hanging out' to be 'just sitting quietly next to each other, content.' And he conveys a lot of emotion that way, through silence, but through the gesture of companionship. I think he'd show THK the best places in the City of Tears to sit, where one can almost hear a song from how the rain hits the glass. Also I always imagine Ogrim is the youngest of the knights, and as the eldest (in my hc), Hegemol was definitely like. This guy is my little brother now. I also think that given their same shape, Hegemol may have taught Ogrim some battlefield prowess, though he would have been Isma's squire. I like to think Ogrim and Isma were likely stationed around the City of Tears and Fungal Wastes with Hegemol as well, and were probably the two that he was closest with. This unfortunately means that they were also the ones to find him dead at the gates, after the siege that made him seal off the city. But he would be happy to see Ogrim again.... Granted Ogrim takes a bath first.

[watatsumiis]

AUUUHHH i don't have a lot of time before I gotta go out for the day but I want in on this Minecraft au soooo bad. so here is a hastily typed list of things my brother does in minecraft that i think dottore would also do

1. minecart race to test the optimum ratio of powered rails to glitched regular rails (several curved rails in a straight line will make your minecart teleport to the center of the next block thereby making the minecart *move* faster BUT its actual momentum and velocity will still decay without powered rails BUT it's still half the distance so there's still an optimum (we found it was about 1 powered per 3 curved regular rails))

2. Unethical Villager Breeding Box In The Sky to generate villagers for experimentation, iron golem farming (which involves isolating the villagers on air beds and frightening them occasionally with a real zombie), and villager trade generation

3. villager experimentation, including causing raids on purpose, intentionally leaving some villagers more vulnerable than others, and dropping many villagers into the ocean by accident, as a side effect of tricking them into walking over holes in the ground

4. flying machines

5. fully automated chicken farm including lava to cook the chicken. the excess eggs are also automatically used to grief other players' front lawns with chickens. he thinks this is very funny, and at first it was an accident but he has no intention of fixing it/refined the system to work better later

6. TNT dupe glitch canons.

7. TNT in general. netherite stripmining using beds

8. never sleeps, has a full hotbar full of crossbows to kill the phantoms with

9. dripstone death machine hovering above common pvp locations and also above other players' houses

10. secret bases and tunnels everywhere but never bothers to make a "house" just like. hidden holes with chests and furnaces lying around. also lots of pistonwork

Ok first of all your brother lowkey sounds like a menace (/lh), but also someone I would love to observe in action

second of all, you're absolutely right in saying that these are things Dottore would do. This man will stop at nothing to break the server, the game, and the other players if his heart so desires.

The idea of netherite stripmining using beds actually lowkey bangs (ha)im gonna be real.

You know Dottore has all the primo gear and is practically invincible. The only people who have killed him have been Yae Miko (she's slaughtered everyone in the server at least once - she uses Ei's account to find ways to enable PvP for those who have it off), then Klee (totally by accident, by hooking up obscene amounts of TNT to some redstone machine he was working on) everyone online lost their collective minds, Dottore was on the warpath for days trying to figure out who did it (literally everyone except him knew the moment the death message popped up on screen). Albedo took the blame in the end because Dottore wouldn't stop cussing people out and Klee was starting to pick up on the bad words. People gave Klee so many rewards for knocking Dottore off of his high horse though.

Some of the 'mods' (read: archons) like to use /kill on him if he's being extra insufferable. (imagine Zhongli saying "i will have order" while clicking the enter key on the /kill command. comedy gold)

The last person who has killed him was Capitano. Dottore was probably being an annoying little snit about something, wandering around outside of Cap's castle and building weird traps and stuff. When Barbara got caught in one that crashed her game while she was trying to bring Cap some new flowers and a banner she made, Capitano just wordlessly went out and beat Dottore to death with a wooden axe. Nobody knows how he won that duel, considering Dottore dons himself with full netherite enchanted gear. Some even joke that Dottore was 'intimidated' into going AFK, since a lot of the harbingers play from the same place.

[kalid-raven]

Raincoats for Ducks (Quotes)

Wolf: Why should I make my bed, when I'm just gunna unmake it to sleep in it anyways? Bell: Why should I feed you if your just gunna die anyways? Wolf: Wolf: I'll go make my bed-

Bell: Don't break someone's heart, they only have one. Wolf: Break one of their bones instead, they have 206 of them.

Bell: You spent all our money on THIS?? Wolf, putting tiny raincoats on ducklings: They live outside. They need this.

Wolf: You’re charged with…..breaking into a pet store? Bell: I thought the animals might be lonely.

Wolf: Sleep is the body’s best safety mechanism. Bell: How so? Wolf: It keeps you from screwing up for 8 hours.

Bell: I’ve been dropping them the most insanely obvious hints for like a year now. No response. Wolf: Wow. They sound stupid. Bell: But they’re not. They’re really smart actually. Just dense. Wolf: Maybe you need to be more obvious? Like, I don’t know… “Hey! I love you!” Bell: I guess you’re right. Hey Wolf, I love you. Wolf: See! Just say that! Bell: Holy fucking shit. Wolf: If that flies over their head then, sorry Bell, but they're too dumb for you. Bell: Wolf.

Bell: I found a note in one of my old word .docs that said Note to self: Get revenge on Wolf. Bell: Except I couldn't remember what I was supposed to get revenge for. Bell: But I trusted my own judgment, so I went with it. Wolf: Hmm... I don't know what you were supposed to get revenge for, either. Bell: I can only assume you got what was coming to you. Not 100 percent sure, though. Wolf: Well, whatever I did, I guess I deserved it. Bell: Let that possibly be a lesson to you.

Bell, pointing a camera at Wolf: There they are, our sweet baby. Wolf, holding a cigarette and a beer: What-?

Wolf: Every zoo is a petting zoo unless you’re a coward. Bell: I’m worried about you.

Bell, throwing a pokeball at Wolf: Wolf, I choose you! Wolf, not looking up from their book and catching it: You need an Ultra ball to catch this Legendary Pokémon.

Bell: Wolf, no. Wolf: Wolf, yes.

Bell: Hey Wolf, I’ve got an idea for how to solve this. Wolf, pulling out a shotgun: Yeah? Bell: Wh- No! That’s not the idea, Wolf!

Wolf: Life is like Bell. It's short.

Bell: My hands are cold. Wolf: Here, let me hold them. Bell: My lips are cold too. Wolf: *covers Bell's mouth with their hand*

Wolf: I won a new phone in a race. Bell: Huh? What kind of race lets you win a phone, Wolf? Wolf: A race between the store owner, the cop, and me.

Bell: If I run and leap at Wolf, they will most certainly catch me in their arms. Bell, running towards Wolf: Coming in! Wolf: No! I’m holding coffee! Wolf: *Drops coffee and catches Bell*

Wolf: Hey guys, I found a spider. Cool little lad. Thanks for eating the mosquitos. Wolf: Oh no, where did it go? Bell: WOLF WHAT THE FUCK?!

Bell: Sorry it took so long to bail you out of jail. Wolf: No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have used my phone call to prank call the police station.

Bell: I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Wolf: Damn, that sounds like a marriage proposal. Bell, getting down on one knee: That's 'cause it is.

Wolf: How do you want your coffee? Bell: Black, like my soul. Wolf: Wolf: Bell, your soul is a latte.

Bell: Hey, wanna help me commit arson? Wolf: What the hell!? Bell: Oh, sorry, my bad. Bell, whispering: Wanna help me commit arson? Wolf, whispering: Of course. What do you need?

Bell: How many vampires do you think have been hit by a car backing up in a parking lot because the driver couldn’t see their reflection? Wolf: I’ve never considered it but you’re really shining light on what’s probably a very serious issue.

Wolf: Ow! Bell: What’s wrong? Wolf: I have this weird pain right above my eyebrow. Bell: It’s called a stress headache. I got my first one when I was four.

Wolf: Did you buy eggs like I asked? Bell: Even better! Wolf: What the fuck did you- Bell: *holding up a chicken* Her name is Fluffy.

Wolf: Is five a lot of followers? Bell: Depends on the context. Bell: On Instagram? No, not a lot of followers. Bell: In a dark alley? Yes, a lot of followers.

[therealslimstrider]

hey dirk, i'm trying to get my last 5mil for the golden clock- i've got truffles being made, golden eggs making mayo (item ID name glitch my beloved), i'm working on converting my island farm into a fairy rose honey farm... do you recommend anything else to make it go faster?

Before I get started on my tangent - If you're doing truffles, make sure you maximize your friendships with the pigs. Truffles are also affected by these two perks, as well as the Artisan perk.

If you've already chosen different perks, you can change them at the fatassed inflation fetish KK Slider statue in the Sewers.

The key thing to consider when playing at all is exponential growth. If I were give you 500 gold, you should be thinking about how you can turn that into 2000 gold, or more. And then you want that 2000 to make you 10k, and 10k to make 50k. You're looking for a high profit margin - meaning the gold you make is much more than the gold you spend.

This may vary depending on what you have available to you, but the tried and true method of raking in cash is as follows.

Go to the desert and spend a couple hundred thousand on Starfruit. You'll make it all back, don't even sweat it. You want enough for a couple harvests. As much as you're willing to plant.

There isn't much of a point to fertilizing since your farming is probably maxed out. Cover your farm with Starfruit. (If you're not already decked out with iridium sprinklers - Krobus sells one every Friday.)(They don't work on sand.)

Harvest it all and drop another crop. I think you have enough time in one Summer for two harvests. Sell all the Gold and Silver quality ones. Drop the others in Kegs to make wine. (I wouldn't bother with Casks. Two month payoff.) Between a Big Shed full of Starfruit Wine and Iridium Max-friendship Max-perk truffles, that should get you going.

I find it also helps to do little things around the area that help make money or even craftables along the way. I have several beehives in the Backwoods area behind the farm, because they produce honey there.

Also for my Greenhouse I have 4 iridium sprinklers. Three are watering a crop of Ancient Fruit (Toss Ancient Fruit in the seedmaker until you can fill all the plots.) and coffee. The coffee is mostly for speed boost + schmoozing villagers though. (As it's an Artisan Good, it's Universally Liked.)

If you're in Spring: replace Starfruit with Rhubarb. Fall: Cranberries. If you have the Ginger Island farm, Starfruit and Pineapples are your best friends.

There aren't a whole lot of options for exponential growth in Winter, as your pigs are just going to chew through your hay. Winter Seed crops do actually sell pretty well. Otherwise, spend every good luck day in the Skull Cavern. (Jade in a Crystalarium; take a stack of it to the Desert Trader on Sundays for staircases to save stone.) And sell your gems + iridium bars if you can spare them.

If you fish a lot, or use crab pots often, turn all the fish into Sashimi before selling. (Some exceptions apply but obviously for Normal Quality crab pot items this works wonders.)

Take the Master Slingshot and Explosive Ammo into the Skull Caverns. My god. You won't regret it.

[glapplebloom]

Oh boy... The Deadbeat...

It begins nicely enough. Spike is learning how to fly. Twilight tries but he needs a dragon teacher. And luckily Smolder is there to help. And then a set up to possibly the best Observation Comic I ever made and I bet for many the beginning of the Spike and Smolder ship. Of course, plenty of opportunities already...

After giving Smolder the gift, another dragon called Sludge comes crashing in. He acts tough, but he’s hurt so Spike takes him to the castle to recover. But the way he said castle immediately makes you think he’s pretending to be hurt to get special treatment. And after a montage of his “recovery”, he’s ready to go. 

Then he hears that Spike is an orphan and it just so happens he claims to be Spike’s father. He claims he was looking for Spike everywhere but then the others say he’s pretty well known everywhere. Well, about as much as Twilight so outside the Crystal Empire they probably know of him at best. But that’s probably why he headed towards Ponyville to see how Spike was living.

He then tells a story about how Spike was an orphaned egg. He claims she went to scout for the migration but he went to find her so she can meet him. But when he said he went to Mount Aris, that’s when he found out he couldn’t BS a story since they had been to there and Klugetown. So he makes up something about a group called the Scale Collectors: dragon hunters. Where he sacrificed himself to them to save the egg.

But when they asked follow up questions, he began to cry saying he wished he had all the answers. Though I think some of them are figuring it out. When the two dragons went out, Spike pulled out a list of all the things he wanted to do with his parents. That worries Sludge, but when he sees this upsets Spike, he decides to play along and do the list. It is nice, but so sad considering we know the truth.

After that montage, when Spike asked what he would want to do, Sludge almost dropped the ball. But he recovered saying if he had a castle like that he would just lay around like a real dragon. This led to Sludge making Spike feel self conscious about himself since he was raised by Ponies. So Twilight suggests that Sludge helps Spike be more dragon-like.

Cue song where Sludge takes advantage of Spike. And in the first verse, there’s a contradiction. He was happy to live in a castle and lie around, and then sings that Spike can’t do that in the castle. If you didn’t figure out he was a faker by now, this song should have clued you in. Especially the ending where he basically confesses he’s trying to take Spike’s home.

When Twilight tries to talk to Spike, she finds Sludge resting in Spike’s place while Spike is living outside and working for him. Basically everyone who is seeing this is thinking something is up. Sadly, before Spike could get a second opinion from another dragon, he basically breaks Twilight’s heart thinking she’s upset that he got a real parent now.

Luckily Smolder is there to reveal that Sludge may not be telling Spike the truth, as she contradicts a lot of his lessons. When Spike told Smolder everything he’s been teaching him, the two came up with a plan. Later, the plan is simple: they’re moving out. Sludge doesn’t take it well. Especially when Spike sings his song back at him. 

Then the reveal happened. Sludge isn’t Spike’s father. After Smolder confirms that Sludge is a Phony Pony Full of Baloney, Spike realizes who he really is and who is responsible for it. He apologizes to Twilight for what he said earlier and Spike confirms that he knows who his real family is. Twilight double checks it's her.

Overall, it is a nice story about the family that you have over the family you don’t have. Regardless if they gave birth to you or not, if they raised you, fed you, took care of you and made you what you are today, that’s your family. It's just a shame that they introduced a dragon so jerky they had to reform Garble next season to bring balance to Dragon representation.

Click here to see the original review and how it fits in GLAB canon, which TL;DR, he doesn’t even try to pretend since he’s a farm dragon.

[zepskies]

@iprobablyshipit91 Hey friend!! So happy to get your thoughts on this. 😍😍

Ooh yes, the plot is hitting right, left, and center on this one. 😂 The connections will start to really knit together in a couple of chapters, but I know your gears are already turning. loll

John is definitely keeping secrets from his sons, I just hope it’s for the right reasons and it doesn’t come back to bite anyone in the arse.

Ha! Because that's never happened in canon. 😂😂 Cas is definitely going to be a help in the long-run.

Lmfaooo I loved writing Meg in this one. 😂 She's kind of a wild card character and it's been fun to keep Cas and Dean on their toes with her. (Especially with the "I stole your BF line." 🤣)

The bit about the tv shows really made me smile - made me think of our conversations lol. Oh and dean watching smallville is hilarious

LOL I knew you of all people would appreciate that little easter egg!

I liked the tidbit about not dropping friends when you get a boyfriend. I think that can happen all too often, hopefully it won’t be the case here as Andrea seems a good friend.

I love that you chimed in on this part as well because that's going to be a future plot point. 😶‍🌫️

Oh dear Gordon. Fair enough he didn’t know about her relationship with dean, though I did feel his ‘shooting’ was quite pushy. His and deans conversation after was quite stiff, I’m trying to work out if there’s a past there. Have they tried for the same woman before? Is it almost like a competition? Whatever it was, it doesn’t feel over.

Omg you're literally the best at reading the vibes I try to put out. 😂 So you're heading in the right direction for sure with "a past." Not necessarily competing over women, but there's definitely an underlying friction between Dean and Gordon that will be explored in a couple of chapters.

The double date with Cas and Meg started out really fun. I enjoyed the light teasing and I love Ellen so seeing her be motherly to dean was lovely. But then Meg did take it a bit far. She perhaps wasn’t wrong with her comments about deans past but it really isn’t fair to bring that up at this point as she did.

Yep you're absolutely right loll. Meg was drunk, so Dean might forgive her, but it wasn't cool. And then Jo coming at the reader from the other side lol. Dean and the reader are going to have many a challenge in this relationship. 😅

But damn that conversation with John! I’m glad he’s finally told more to dean. If he’s going into these fires he needs to know what he’s getting himself into. But the plot thickens and I look forward to seeing where this goes. The burn marks, and Azazel.

Ikr? It's like on one hand, it's a relief that John finally told him a bit of what's going on. On the other hand, probably could've told him in person to help his son from not reeling as much. 😅

But there is a lot to go with that end of the plot. I'm working on the later chapters now, and I'm sorry for the tease, but I cannot wait until you guys see how it all threads together. 😂 I think it's going to be fun.

The next conversation with the reader… I mean it needed to happen but I felt for dean, it probably was the last thing on his mind considering the news he just had but equally the reader has been left in a really crappy position and is reading things into his behaviour that have nothing to do with her.

Yeah I totally agree with what you're saying here. It's a necessary convo, but difficult for Dean considering how much is on his mind already. She equally has been through a lot tonight loll.

I’m glad he was truthful though, both about not wanting to be casual and as much of the real reason his mind was elsewhere as he could. And it was lovely to see the reader just be there for him without pressing for more details or anything like that.

Yeah I didn't want to draw that part of the drama out to much and just let him be as honest as he could be, about both issues. That way we got to the hurt/comfort of it all! But regardless, because you know me, there will be more drama ahead. 😂

You know I’m obsessed with this story and I absolutely cannot wait to read more 💕 you’re doing an amazing job of building up the story, characters and relationships!

Thank you SO, SO much, lovely!! I'm doing my best on this AU. There are a lot of threads and I'm trying to hang on to all of 'em. 😂

But I'm so glad you like what I'm doing so far. Your thoughts and encouragements brighten up my day and help keep me invested as I work on finishing this story! 💕💕

Smoke Eater - Part 6

Pairing: Firefighter!Dean Winchester x F. Reader 

Summary: Dean Winchester is the cocky, but well-respected Lieutenant at Firehouse 25. He leads by example, but he’s also known to break a few hearts. He’s starting to crave something he’s never had, though. Something stable. Something real. 

That’s when he meets you, on a truly terrible day, trapped in a rickety old elevator.   

🔥Series Masterlist

Word Count: 7,000 Tags/Warnings: Fluff, jealousy, angst, hurt/comfort

Part 6: “Just Casual”

A few days after the house fire that claimed the life of Paul Richardson, father of two, Chief Bobby Singer was joined in his office by Detectives Winchester and Novak, along with his resident Squad Captain and Truck Lieutenant, Benny and Dean.

“The Richardson fire has officially been determined an arson,” Bobby revealed.

“They found a time-delay incendiary device hidden in the attic. No fingerprints. But that’s not even the odd thing,” he said. “The medical examiner found a brand mark on his wrist that was inconsistent with his other burns. Which is why you’re here, I reckon.”

Bobby directed his gaze at both John and Cas, who didn’t look surprised to hear this news.

Dean raised a brow. His gaze shifted to his father, but John only met his stare for a moment before he answered Bobby’s unspoken question.

“We’ve been investigating a series of murders in the area over the past six months,” John said. “Each victim died in their home, with the same brand somewhere on their body. Typically the wrist, or the back of the neck.”

“So we officially have a serial killer turned arsonist on our hands,” Bobby concluded. His attention shifted to Benny and Dean. “Keep this close to the vest, but keep your eyes open.”

“Arsonists are hard to catch,” Dean said, looking to the detectives. “What do you know about this guy?”

Cas glanced at John. The older man could feel his stare, but had to ignore it for now.

“Not much as of yet,” John said. “Right now he’s a coil of smoke, if you’ll pardon the phrase. Our psychologist says he’s most likely a white male, statistically speaking. College educated, or at the very least intelligent, efficient, and so far, he thinks every step through. Like he said, no prints. But the brand is a message.”

“To who, and why, is what we’ve been trying to figure out,” Cas added. “We think that’s the key to pinpointing a suspect.”

“Really,” Dean said. He raised a brow and crossed his arms. “Six months, and that’s all you’ve got?”

“Dean,” John started, but the Lieutenant shook his head.

“Come on, Dad. I know you. Who is this guy?”

“Dean, this is the best I can give you right now, but believe me, we’re working on it,” John said, that tone that boded no further argument.

Bullshit, Dean wanted to shoot back. But he held his tongue for now. He knew that John wouldn’t budge. Instinct still told Dean that his father was holding something back though.

As the men filtered out of Bobby’s office, Dean held Cas back for a moment.

“Watch the old man’s back, all right,” Dean said. “He’s got a penchant for being reckless.”

Cas gave him a wry, pointed look. “I’m doing my best. Winchesters are a stubborn lot.” 

Dean smirked and walked out with him. Meg was headed inside, having just come in from an ambulance call. She smiled when she saw her boyfriend.

“Hey, lover,” she greeted. And she smacked his ass in front of God and the entire Rescue Squad, who liked to sit outside the firehouse and play cards at their table.

Ramirez and the others smirked and called out their customary whoops and cat calls. Dean smirked at the actual blushing discomfort that tightened up Cas’s face and shoulders.

“Dinner tonight at Casablanca’s, right?” Meg asked, unfazed by the catcalling peanut gallery.

“Right,” Cas said stiffly. But he still brushed her cheek with his thumb in affection. “See you later.”

“Yep,” she nodded, though she shot Dean a wry brow. “What? I stole your boyfriend. Get over it.”

She continued on her path back inside the firehouse, leaving Dean and Cas to stare after her in annoyance and begrudging fondness, respectively.

Dean turned to his friend and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Good luck and Godspeed, my friend. That woman’s fuckin’ terrifying.” 

Cas gave him a lazy salute as he walked away. He found that John had already started up their police car. He was in the driver’s seat, as always, with a hand resting casually on the steering wheel.

Dean typically sat in much the same way. Cas thought both men were more comfortable in a car than anywhere else in life. Except, maybe, the precinct and the firehouse.

Cas slid into the passenger seat and gave his partner a knowing look.

“I still think you should tell Sam and Dean what’s really happening here,” he said.

John looked over at him with an almost unreadable expression. But they had been partners for a few years now; long enough for Cas to get a read on the older veteran.

“I understand why you want to keep them out of this, but now this guy is starting fires. Here, in Dean’s district,” Cas pointed out. “Wouldn’t it be safer for him if he had clearer eyes walking into the next one?”

If, God forbid, something should go wrong on the next call Dean responded to, John would never forgive himself. Both he and Cas knew this, but John never answered his partner’s question. He didn’t want his sons getting their noses in this just yet, even if it meant the worry he saw in Dean’s eyes.

So he put the car in “drive” and peeled away from the firehouse.

Trying to match your schedule with Dean’s was a challenge you two were trying to figure out. Though you’d fallen into a pattern of talking on the phone to fill the void when you two couldn’t meet.

Even after almost two more weeks and a third date, you were pleasantly surprised that you and Dean still had plenty to talk about. You told him more about your childhood with your grandparents, while he told you funny stories about him and Sam growing up with their dad, though he was often gone while working on cases.

It was family friend and Fire Chief, Bobby Singer who looked after them whenever John couldn’t, or his old partner Jody Mills, or even Ellen Harvelle, owner of the Roadhouse.

The more you learned about Dean, the more invested you became. And he listened to you when you went on tangents about new recipes you wanted to try out (as long as he got to be your official Taste Tester).

You two argued, playfully and fervently, about music. And you’d been creating a list of old shows the other hadn’t seen, but absolutely needed to.

Dean had suggested Dukes of Hazzard, for example, while you suggested Smallville. You each only agreed to put up with this list if you two watched it together. (Needless to say, there would be some marathon binge watching in your future.)

That was why you didn’t think much of it when Dean invited you to join him at the Roadhouse to meet Cas, one of his best friends, and his girlfriend Meg. You’d invited Andréa to come along, and even Dean’s friend Benny, who she’d also been seeing ever since that night at the Roadhouse.

Apparently, the couple had their own plans.

You tried not to feel some type of way about her brush-off, but your friend had been increasingly distant since she met Benny Lafitte. However, you supposed you couldn’t judge. You hadn’t been calling her as much either, ever since you met Dean.

You knew that if you kept dating him, some adjustments would have to come in your life. You also promised yourself that you’d never be someone who forgot your friends for a man…even for a man like Dean Winchester.

Tonight, however, you’d come directly from work to meet him at the bar. It made more sense than to make him come pick you up from your house, so you sat with a ginger ale while you waited. He’d promised you via text that he was on the way, just stuck in traffic.

Okay, drive safe. 😘 Don’t speed, please.

You knew how he liked floor the Impala with that damn lead foot of his.

No promises. 🏎️

You wanted to roll your eyes, but you were smiling unconsciously as you read his reply.

You were soon knocked out of your thoughts when a smooth voice said your name. You looked up and to your right, and there stood a familiar face. The man greeted you with an easy smile as he sat down next to you.

“I thought that was you,” he said. He reached out his hand and re-introduced himself. “Gordon Walker. Not sure if you remember me.”

“Oh, yes! Of course I do, Gordon,” you smiled and shook his hand.

“It’s good to see you again,” he said. His dark eyes subtly took you in from head to toe in your skirt, heels, and blouse. “Though I’ve gotta admit, I’ve never seen you here before.”

“Ah, right,” you said. “Well—”

Before you could explain, Gordon held up a finger as he noticed your drink of choice.

“Oh, wait a sec. Let me get you something stronger than soda,” he said. He started to flag down Jo, but you shook your head and made a cutting motion with your hand.

“Uh, no, that’s okay,” you said. “I’m waiting for someone.”

“What?” Gordon asked.

It was getting busy in the bar, making it loud enough that you could understand why he hadn’t heard you. You leaned over towards his ear.

“I’m good for now, thanks,” you said, raising your voice a bit. Gordon leaned in even closer and chanced resting a hand above your knee.

“You sure?” he asked. He gave you a smile that was all smooth sex appeal and confidence, without being arrogant.

It was undoubtedly attractive, but you were more shocked than charmed in your blush. You instinctively leaned back when you felt his hand on your thigh. Your hand clenched on the counter.

While your brain scrambled to figure out a response that would successfully remove it (without snapping rudely like you were itching to), a hand slipped along your lower back.

You jolted a bit in your seat with a flare of unease, until you turned your head and found Dean.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted, and dropped a kiss at your hairline. He also clapped a heavy hand on Gordon’s shoulder and squeezed. The other man graciously got the hint and leaned back, withdrawing his hand from your thigh.

“Hi,” you said, finally able to breathe a bit easier. You gave Dean a smile, and he returned it.

He looked over at his friend with a sharper smile. “Hey, Gord. How’s your night goin’?”

“Good.” Gordon nodded, now with a knowing gleam in his eye. “Though I’m sure your night’s gonna go better.”

You weren’t sure how to take that remark, considering the way Dean reacted with a tighter expression and pursed lips. Then, they flickered at a smile.

“Well, we’re meeting up with Meg and Cas in a minute. You should join us,” Dean said. Even though his tone wasn’t so very inviting. The two men seemed to have a wordless conversation between the lines that you couldn’t decipher.

Gordon shook his head, but raised his drink. “No worries, you guys hang. I’m leaving in a few.”

“All right. Let us know if you change your mind,” Dean said. He thumped Gordon once more on the back, more friendly this time.

Dean’s other hand slipped around your waist. He tapped you on the side.

“Come on, I’ve got us a table. It’s quieter,” he said.

You nodded and slid out of your seat. You offered Gordon a polite smile, even if you’d rather not.

“Have a good night,” you said.

The other man’s smile was less flirtatious and more polite this time as well.

“You too,” he said. 

Dean helped you onto your feet, like the gentleman he was, and he continued to lead you away from the bar with a hand on the small of your back. You instinctively pressed against his side to squeeze past the throng of patrons.

When you reached a high-top table in the corner, he pulled out your chair and held your hand as you climbed up in your skirt. You thanked him with a more genuine smile. Though once he was seated next to you, you leaned towards him and laid a hand on his arm, which rested on the table.

“I tried to tell him I was waiting for you. He took me by surprise,” you whispered.

Dean’s brows rose, but his face soon evened out with a smile. He tucked a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Don’t worry about it. He didn’t know about us,” he said. “He was shootin’ his shot…a bit aggressively. Sorry about that.”

“Oh…it’s okay. Nothing I haven’t dealt with before,” you replied. Though butterflies ran through your belly when you considered what us meant.

You noted his frown at what you’d said though, and so you aimed to change the subject.

“But Cas and Meg know, right?” you asked.

Dean nodded. His frown started to lift. “Yeah. Cas is one of my best friends. Meg is…well. She’s the little sister I wish I didn’t have.”

You shook your head in amusement. Then you let out a squeal as Dean hooked a foot around the leg of your chair and brought you closer. He stopped you from becoming too unbalanced by wrapping an arm around your waist. You clenched your hands into the open panels of his plaid shirt, and his charming smile greeted you.

“Hi,” he said.

You laughed. “Yeah, you mentioned that earlier.”

“Well, I’m doing it right this time,” he said. And he dipped down for a lingering kiss.

Across the bar was Jo Harvelle, doing her job behind the counter. She poured five shots in succession and doled them out to a party of frat bros without even looking.

Her eyes were drawn to the back corner of the bar, where you and Dean sat closely together, exchanging whispers and the occasional steamy kiss.

“Mind your business,” came Ellen’s whisper in her ear.

Jo whipped her head to glare softly at her mother, but she saw Ellen’s point. It was both obvious and pathetic of her to stare.

Despite the unease making her feel a bit sick to her stomach, Jo went over to Gordon down at the end. His sympathetic smile bothered her; she knew then she hadn’t just been caught by her mother.

“Interesting, isn’t it?” he remarked.

“What?” Jo said. She began wiping down his area of the counter. “Would it kill you to keep it in the glass?”

Gordon gave her an amused look as he sat back in his seat. His tumbler of whiskey was drained.

“Look, I’m sorry, all right?” he said.

Both of them knew he wasn’t apologizing for the spill.

Jo’s brows knitted together, mostly in annoyance. “Again, for what?”

“I know it’s gotta be hard to see him actually moving on,” he replied.

Her lips pursed, and her eyes darted to the back of the room again. She stared for a moment at the side of your face.

“Knowing him, whatever it is won’t last,” she muttered.

Gordon hissed at the "burn," with a deep chuckle. She knew her words weren’t kind, but it was how she felt.

“That may be,” he allowed. “But he’s not just chasing tail anymore. That’s what scares you.” 

Gordon dropped a nice tip for her next to his glass. He grabbed his coat off the back of his chair and left Jo with the churning in her gut.

Cas and Meg finally arrived a few minutes later.

Dean knew you’d been to the Roadhouse before, but this was different. You were meeting some of his friends, and he realized how much he wanted you to. He felt…comfortable around you. And he wanted his friends to know you, and to like you.

“As you know, Meg’s our Paramedic in Charge over at 25,” he began, gesturing at the woman as she got settled in her seat.

You admired her long brown hair, tall boots, and black leather jacket. She seemed to ooze confidence and dark charisma as she tossed you a smirk.

“Guilty,” she said.

You smiled back. Dean gestured at her boyfriend next, clad in a beige trench coat, slacks, and blazer.

“And Cas, who bravely suffers being my dad’s partner on the job.”

Cas nodded wryly at the introduction. His dark hair and blue eyes were striking, you could admit. His tie was loose and slightly rumpled. Along with the stubble coating his face, he was handsome, if a bit scruffy. It was hard for you to believe he’d earned the top scores his year in the Police Academy, but you supposed that looks could be deceiving.

“What’s that like?” you asked with a smirk. “From what I’ve heard about John Winchester, he sounds like he’s a bit of a hard-ass.”

Dean barked with a dry laugh. “An understatement.”

“He has a crab-like shell,” Cas agreed. “But he has a soft center where it counts, not unlike his sons.”

You turned to Dean with a more teasing smile. “Aww…”

He rolled his eyes, even though his arm, which had been draped across the back your chair, now dropped to curl around your waist.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Columbo,” he remarked at his blue-eyed friend.

Always had to get the last dig in, it seemed, but you couldn’t help but laugh a little along with Meg at Cas’s expense.

“You guys all seem really close,” you said. It was nice for you to see.

Dean shrugged like it was no big deal. Or rather, like it was commonplace.

“Well, maybe family ain’t just about blood,” he said.

Meg rolled her eyes. “Ugh. What a friggin’ sap.”

“You love it,” Dean grinned. She smiled, begrudgingly.

Family ain’t just about blood.

You liked that sentiment as well. It seemed to be true here. 

Even Ellen Harvelle treated Dean like a son when she came over to greet your table. She kissed his cheek and gave Meg and Cas’s shoulders a squeeze. Even you got a warm hand on your shoulder when she introduced herself.

“Welcome, hun. I understand it’s not your first time here, but if you got any questions on the menu, you let me know,” she said.

Dean shot you a conspiratorial smile, and it got you wondering what he was about to do.

“I mean, I don’t know why you don’t put the order in for chili fries the second you see me come through the door,” he teased. “Come on, Ellen. How long’ve I been coming here? Since before I had a license?”

Ellen narrowed her eyes and flicked the side of Dean’s head, regardless of his flinching protest.

“Don’t you go sayin’ that so damn loud,” she reproached. “You never drank underage at my bar.”

His eyes averted with a smile, in a way that told you Ellen was a damn liar. You bit your lip to try and hide your smile.

“Anyway, I’ll get your damn fries—”

“And a beer,” Dean interjected. She rolled her eyes.

“And a beer. Four?” she pointed at the rest of you, and you, Cas, and Meg nodded in agreement.

“All right, four beers. Anything else, darlin’?” She looked at you with a mother’s charm.

You looked up from the menu and unconsciously smiled.

“Um, sure. Can I get the chicken sandwich?”

She patted your shoulder. “You sure can.”

Ellen then took the rest of their orders without writing a thing down. You were impressed by her memory. At the end though, Dean didn’t let her go without a hand on her arm.

“Thanks, Ellen,” he said with a more sincere smile.

“A-huh,” she replied, with all due sarcasm. But there was a fondness in her eyes that was hard to miss when she playfully grabbed the back of his neck. “Knucklehead.”

A giggle escaped you, and Ellen tossed you a wink before she went to put in the orders and get the drinks.

Conversation flowed easier when the alcohol came. One beer became two, and even three (four, for Meg). By then, you were sure it was one beer too many for yourself, but you didn’t want to be the odd one out. You were mostly listening to the three of them bounce back and forth between reminiscing with old stories and roasting one another mercilessly.

It was hilarious and entertaining, but you were trying not to get caught in the crosshairs of the volleying. Inevitably though, Meg’s attention turned to you with a certain sly smile.

“You must be real special,” she remarked, gesturing at Dean. “He usually doesn’t bring his girls around here, where he actually likes to hang out. Guess that’d mean he’d have to see ‘em again with the lights on.”

You blinked in surprise.

“Meg,” Dean’s voice cut like a warning.

Your eyes widened as you took in the change, his deeper voice, his more serious gaze, versus Meg’s nonchalance. Even Cas gave her a chiding look.

“Not sure I want to know what that means,” you tried to joke.

But you could guess. It was fairly obvious.

You glanced over at Dean, whose lips pursed. Before either of you could say anything more, Meg chimed in.

“Oooh, is this gonna be your first fight?” she teased.

Dean’s brows furrowed with a glare. “That’s enough.”

“And that’s our cue,” Cas nodded. He’d already slipped out his wallet as soon as his girlfriend started talking. He left a generous few bills to cover their half of the night, plus tip, and got up out of his seat. He claimed his coat and then encouraged Meg off her chair.

“What? I’m not done with my beer,” she protested.

“I think you are,” Cas said.

Meg scoffed, but she allowed his manhandling as he wrapped a supportive arm around her waist.

“You’re not the boss of me, Clarence,” she snipped.

“Certainly not,” he agreed. “But you’re a lightweight. Time to go home, before you insult the entire bar.”

“You’re no fucking fair,” she groused, hitting his chest over his jacket. Cas leveled you and Dean with a long-suffering look of apology.

Dean waved him off with a “no sweat it” look and a shake of his head. Meg annoyed the shit out of him sometimes, especially when she was drunk. He turned to you with a sigh.

“Again, sorry about that. I didn’t think I’d have to apologize for my friends more than once tonight,” he said.

You shook your head. “It’s...okay. Overall, they were really fun.”

Dean scoffed. “I don’t think Cas has been called fun even once in his life.”

You smiled in amusement, but Meg’s words still swirled around in your head like heady wine.

“Dean,” you began, but your attempt to broach the issue was cut off by his cell phone ringing. He gave you an apologetic look and fished in his pocket for his phone. His brows rose when he saw the caller ID.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I gotta take this,” he said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, okay—” You’d barely nodded when Dean was up and out of his chair, heading out of the bar. You could still see him through one of the faded glass doors as he held the phone up to his ear.

It was late, and quieter now. A blonde server came to take your plates, and you actually remembered her.

“Oh, hi! Jo, right?” you asked. She hesitated when you spoke, but she bobbed her head.

“That’s me,” she said. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, I’m good. Thanks,” you said with a smile. “I met your mom. She’s really nice.”

Jo uttered a wry laugh as she stacked the plates and silverware. You helped her collect the silverware and empty beer bottles.

“Yeah, when you get her good side,” she replied. 

You smirked at that, remembering how Ellen snapped back and forth with Dean. You had no doubt that woman could be a pistol if you pissed her off.

“Well, it's nice here,” you admitted, once again taking stock of the décor. The music, the warm lighting, the good food… “It’s cozy.”

Jo’s smile quirked to one side as she paused.

“Well, it’s been in my family for three generations of Harvelles,” she said. “This was my father’s favorite place in the world.”

You caught the note of melancholy in her words, in her eyes.

“Was?” you echoed. She met your gaze and nodded.

“He was a firefighter,” she said. “He died on the job.”

You dimmed considerably. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Jo only nodded.

“How did he…” Your curiosity got the best of you, but you soon shook your head and backtracked. “Never mind, you don’t have to explain.”

“It was a fire that wasn’t properly vented,” Jo answered your half-spoken question. Her blue eyes were heavier. “He got caught in an updraft…but he actually worked at Firehouse 25. He was their brother. That’s why this’ll always be their place.”

You processed that with a slow nod of wonder.

“It’s good that you and your mom will always have that support,” you said eventually. “Even though…it might be hard too, to always be reminded.”

Jo’s lips quirked again. “It’s more the first one, but…sometimes the second one. A lot of these guys have known me since I had braces. It’s hard to shake that perpetual little sister thing.”

You smiled at that. “Yeah, I’d imagine that gets old real quick. A bunch of over-protective older brothers.”

“Overbearing, more like,” she scoffed. You laughed.

Unconsciously, you glanced over to the front of the bar, where you saw Dean still on the phone. You remembered the second date you were meant to have, when he was late due to a five-car pileup his team responded to.

You remembered that night he called you for the first time, after a long day he didn’t want to tell you about. He’d let you distract him instead. All the while, it had you wondering what he’d seen. What he’d responded to that day.

Had it been another car accident? A fire? What made someone as upbeat and funny and smooth as Dean seem to lose all the life in his voice?

Though while you were lost in your thoughts, Jo was watching you.

Jealousy roiled inside her, unbidden. She didn’t want to hate you, because unlike the girls Dean usually messed around with, you had some self-respect. Jo heard Meg’s snide clips at you earlier, and no one could fake the surprise in your eyes. Unless you were just that good a damn actor…

But no, she didn’t get that vibe from you.

It didn’t mean she had to like you though. 

“You’re right to think twice,” Jo said, earning your attention back with a swivel of your head. “What Meg said…she wasn’t wrong. Dean’s broken a few hearts, if you catch my drift.”

Just a few well-placed words, Jo thought. She realized then that she had the power to twist the wrench here, widening the gap between you and Dean. Feed your doubts.

She didn’t have to feel bad about it if it was the truth.

And yet…she saw the way your gaze fell. The disappointment setting in, the anxious clench of your hands on the table. You glanced over at Dean again out of the corner of your eye.

Jo realized then just what she was doing, not just to Dean, but to herself.

You’re not some petty bitch, she dully reminded herself.

“But,” she found herself adding. You raised your gaze back to her. Jo let out a subtle breath.

“It’s not always his fault,” she admitted. And maybe she was speaking a bit too much from experience. “The job demands a lot from him.”

Slowly, you nodded. You looked pensive, but not like you’d made up your mind.

Fine, Jo thought, as she collected the dishes and left your table.

She didn’t know if she wanted to sway you one way or the other on taking a chance on Dean Winchester.   

While you were talking to Jo, Dean was taking his father’s unexpected call.

“Hey, Dad. What’s up?” he said.

“Hey, son. How are ya?” John’s voice was gruff and tired. Dean frowned to hear it.

“I’m good. I’m out right now, but did you need something?”

“Have you responded to any fires lately?”

“You mean like the Richardson fire?” Dean asked pointedly. “No, haven’t had one since. And no cattle prod brandings either.”

“All right, good. Just checking in.”

Good? Dean thought. John would be chomping at the bit for a new arson. If he was “just checking in,” then he was worried about something. Is he worried about me?

“What’s going on? Is there something I need to know?” Dean asked in suspicion. This was why he had taken the call. “Seriously, you can tell me. I’m not even gonna bitch at you like Sam does.”

John chuckled. But then he hesitated. Dean knew he’d hit on something.

“Dad?” he pressed.

John’s sigh was a heavy one. “Okay. What I’m about to tell you, you don’t fucking repeat. Not to anyone, you understand me? Not even your brother.”

Dean’s brows furrowed in trepidation. “Okay, fine. What the hell is it?”

“Richardson, the father of two?” John reminded. “He was a lawyer, linked to a money laundering scheme through a company called Stull Storage. It’s an old company, dates back to the seventies.”

“Okay…” 

As John continued to explain, the more confused Dean became… 

About 30 years ago, John Winchester had been a young, but promising officer in the Narcotics division. He’d married young, and by then was just barely clearing the five-year mark. Already he had the house he’d inherited from his wife’s parents, a four-year-old son, and a newborn.

Stull Storage’s units were used by a drug ring that John had been trying to infiltrate, undercover. Those units had stored cocaine, illegal weapons, and other flavors of contraband, mostly from South America (and back).

“We got close to breaking that case, once, but after the fire…I transferred out of Narcotics, as you know,” John said.

Dean knew the real story there. After his mom died, his father went into a spiral, trying to find whoever set that fire—even after the Fire Department found no evidence of arson. John had eventually been forced out of Narcotics. He requested Homicide.

As he’d told Dean once when he was extremely drunk: I seem to do better at my job when the bodies are already dead.

“Now I know that I was right about your mother’s death,” John said.

Dean released a shaky sigh. “Aw, man. Not this again, Dad. For Christ’s sake.”

“There was something wrong about that fire, Dean,” he said, raising his voice to be heard over Dean’s objections. “I just didn’t find the connection…until now.”

Dean muttered a curse under his breath. His gaze fell to the ground. Sam was usually the one who drew a hard line at hearing any more about their mom’s supposed murder, but now Dean had reached the end of his tether. It was too much.

He glanced back through the glass doors to make sure you were okay. He saw you talking to Jo, and he frowned at himself.

Here you were, waiting on him back in the bar, and his dad was calling him in the middle of the night, chasing ghosts again.

“Look…it’s been my whole damn life with this.” Dean held the phone to his ear with one hand, and rubbed at his forehead with the other. “I just can’t do this with you anymore.”    

“Dean, listen,” John urged. “You wanna know what I’m digging into, this is it. I got Mary’s file unsealed.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “What? Thought you couldn’t do that without new evidence and a court order.”

“Well, I’ve got the evidence…maybe I was a bit impatient with the court order.”

Dean rolled his eyes. His father liked to play a little fast and loose with the rules.

“At the time, the medical examiner dismissed it. She’d been burned…” John paused on a deeper breath. “But I saw it. Mary had a burn on her wrist. It was the same brand found on Richardson. On Jerry Stillwell, CPA. Amanda Waller, journalist. It’s all connected, Dean. How they’re connected to one another, I’m not sure yet. We’re still digging…but I do know this. Richardson was a message.”

Dean’s back hit the wall of the Roadhouse. His brows furrowed as he struggled to digest everything John was saying.

“A message?” he asked. “To who?”

“To me, I think. Those kids, and their mother…you got ‘em out alive, but they weren’t meant to,” John said, his voice sounding heavy. "The wife told me her husband was erratic when he got home, holding his wrist. He'd been burned before the fire. He wouldn't say what happened...then they smelled the goddamn smoke."

"Shit," Dean replied. He leaned heavily against the wall, pressing a hand to his forehead. There was an ache starting between his eyes.

“Yeah," John agreed. "The drug ring I was investigating, when I was in Narcotics. I was getting close. And I mean close. I was about to get the Big Kahuna. The kingpin of the whole operation…and then the house fire.”

Fuck. Dean wiped at his mouth anxiously as he realized what John was saying. Fuck.

“He burned me, Dean. He must have,” John said. Meaning, the drug lord he was trying to pin down somehow discovered his identity. “Your mom paid the price of that.”

“Who is this guy?” Dean asked. His hand holding the phone was starting to tremble.

“I still don’t know his real name. Workin’ on that one too,” John said. “But they called him Azazel.”

When Dean eventually hung up with his father and returned to you at the bar, he saw you brighten. But you soon dimmed with a tinge of worry. Something of his thoughts must’ve shown on his face.

Shit. He tried his best to school his features.

“Hey, sorry about that,” he said, grasping your shoulder. “I’ll take you home.”

“I met you here, remember?” you asked.

Dean paused, then shook his head. Get it together, asshole.

“Right," he said. "Well, I’ll walk you to your car. Let me just pay real quick.”

After he sorted out the bill (he didn’t know that you’d slipped in an extra $30 in Cas’s stack for your part), he led you out, saying goodbye to Ellen and Jo while you went.

You hesitated when the two of you got to the car. Something wasn’t right with him. And both Jo and Meg’s words still rolled back and forth through your head.

“Dean, are you okay? Who was it on the phone?” you asked.

“I’m fine. It was just my dad, called to have me take a look at his car. We were just arguing about our schedules…I’m sure you can relate,” he replied, trying at a smile.

You weren’t sure if you believed him. Though he was nearly convincing, he was also shifting on his feet, hands in his pockets. His gaze roamed away from yours, above your head and over your shoulder.

“Um, I might’ve had a beer too many,” you said with a half-chuckle. “Could you walk with me for a bit? Just until my head clears enough to drive.”

“I could take you home,” Dean offered.

“And leave my car here?” you asked. In a public parking lot behind a bar?

You shook your head and pointed down the road.

“Just there and back…but if you need to go, I guess I could just sit in my car for a while.”

Dean shook his head with a frown. He couldn’t tell you that a damn serial killer was on the loose.

“No, it’s okay,” he said. “It’s a relatively safe neighborhood, but not so much at night. Not by yourself.”

He laid a hand on your back to start walking with you, but his hand soon fell back to his side. You glanced at him, but he looked straight ahead, unusually quiet and reserved.

It felt like he was checking out of this night with you. Like he just wanted to usher you into the car and leave. Did he just not want to deal with what Meg said?

“You must be real special,” she remarked, gesturing at Dean. “He usually doesn’t bring his girls around here, where he actually likes to hang out. Guess that’d mean he’d have to see ‘em again with the lights on.”

Letting out a breath, you tried to see if you could broach the subject.

“It was nice to meet some more of your friends,” you said, and with a nervous laugh, “even if it did get awkward there at the end.”

Dean finally looked over at you.

“We never exactly talked about what each of us was looking for,” you said. “What we were really doing here.” 

You stood your ground, but you tried not to look censuring. Just open to whatever he might have to say. Even so, unease churned inside you.

Dean sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “Look, she wasn’t exactly wrong about me.”

You considered that with a nod, biting the inside of your lip.

“When was the last time you were in a relationship?” you asked. Dean gave a humorless huff of a laugh. This really was the last thing he wanted to get into tonight, but he had a feeling he had no choice.

“A few months ago, for about a minute,” he said. “But uh, before then…never.”

Together, you began to cross the street while the cars on either side waited at the red light. Pedestrians had the right of way for the next 30 seconds. You looked over at him and steeled yourself.

“Dean, is this is something casual for you?”

“Define casual,” he attempted to joke (or to deflect). Though the bravado fell the moment he saw that look on your face: tight and disappointed…and hurt.  

He reached for your hand, but you weren’t having it. You slipped away from him and continued walking at a more brusque clip, even in those platform heels.  

“Okay, hold on.” He quickly followed after you and tugged you back by the hand. It had you both stopping in the middle of the crosswalk.  

Dean squeezed your hand and peered into your eyes.

“Look, I’m sorry. Don’t close up on me,” he implored. “…Please.”

Despite your better judgment, and your pursed lips, you waited. Something told you this man didn’t often say please.

“The truth is, I’m trying to do something different here with you. I don’t think we would’ve made it to date #4 if we were just casual,” he said. “I’m not playing games either.”

You wanted to trust that he was serious. Once again, your mind and your heart were at odds; the former told you to be wary, while the latter told you to trust the earnestness in his eyes.

Your heart won. “Okay, Dean.”

“Yeah?” he asked, with hopeful brows raised.

“Yeah,” you nodded.

You finally smiled. And you leaned up, resting a hand against his chest, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. His stubble was coarse, but familiar against your lips.

Dean turned his head and leaned in for a proper kiss. His hands found the curve of your waist and brought you closer against his chest. You both sunk deeper into it, your lips gliding as your head tilted into the kiss…

Until a horn honked loudly, making you both jolt at the sound.

The streetlight was green, and several cars were waiting for you to cross. You snorted in amusement, leading Dean to grin down at you. He tugged you back into step with him across the street.

Again, you hesitated at your car. Dean was more himself as he’d held your hand all the way back.

He now held your car door open while you threw in your purse. But when you turned back to him, you still saw something brooding behind his eyes.

You drew near and grasped the open edges of his shirt. This man wore a lot of plaid when he was out of uniform, always with an undershirt. Tonight it was green plaid on gray, complete with some faded jeans and a pair of boots. This was the only “casual” way in which you wanted Dean.  

“Hey,” you started.

“Hmm?” he replied, holding you by your arms.

“I get that we haven’t known each other all that long. So you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to,” you said. “But did something happen when you stepped out? When you talked to your dad?”

Dean paused. His eyes, a pale green under the streetlamp, flicked to yours.

“I just want to know that you’re okay,” you said. “And if you’re not, that’s okay too.”

After a moment to blink in surprise, your earnestness got to him. His grip moved down your arms, and he took one of your hands. His dad’s warning echoed through his mind.

What I’m about to tell you, you don’t fucking repeat. Not to anyone, you understand me? Not even your brother.

Dean knew his dad didn’t make demands without a reason, even if he wasn’t typically so forthcoming with them. But Dean drew enough courage to be as honest as he could be. You deserved that much, after everything you'd put up with tonight.

“My mom died...when I was about four,” he said. “It was a house fire.”

Your eyes widened. All this time, you’d assumed his mother had passed away. You hadn’t expected that, though. You squeezed his hands.

“I’m so sorry,” you said, and you meant it. Dean just shook his head.

“It was ruled an accident. Really they just didn’t have much evidence either way,” he continued. “But uh, my dad’s been obsessed with the idea that it wasn’t. That someone started the fire on purpose… Well, today, he might’ve found his proof.”

He held your gaze for as long as he could, but in the end, he just couldn’t. His chest was tight. Saying those words out loud made them real, and he wasn’t sure of how to handle it.  

“Oh, Dean,” you said, starting and stopping, as you struggled to formulate a response that wasn’t just “I’m sorry,” or “Are you okay?” 

He clearly wasn’t. You also didn’t want to give him platitudes like, “That’s crazy,” or the ever-inspired: “Wow.” 

Or some other variation of what you’re supposed to say. You wanted to give him something honest. Something real. 

So you curled your hands around his arms, earning his gaze.

“You must be reeling right now,” you said. “Do you think he’s onto something this time?”  

“I don’t know what to think,” said Dean. “I’ve been pressing him for answers, but…honestly? I wish he hadn’t told me a damn thing.” 

You didn’t know what to say to that. You were surprised that he actually confided in you with this. But the only thing you could think to do was lean up on your toes and slip your arms around his neck. You hugged him, warm and tight. 

You couldn’t even imagine what he was feeling, but you just wanted him to know that someone was there for him. You were there for him. 

Dean eventually hugged you back. He held you, reassuring you as well as himself. He blew out a cathartic breath, and his hand came up to cup the back of your head. His lips tugged upwards.

“You’re a sweetheart, you know that?” he said. 

A smile spread across your face. Your fingers soothed through his hair gently. You pressed your lips into his neck.

“I aim to please,” you said against his skin.

Dean smiled more fully at that. The new warmth in his chest warred against the roiling in his stomach. Despite his best efforts, his smile faded.

His mom’s killer was still out there.

The thought was haunting his mind, and he knew it probably would for many nights to come.

So for now, he’d just hold you a bit tighter.

AN: 🥲 I honestly didn't mean it to end so angsty, but Dean finally got some much-needed hurt/comfort there! What did you think of how Jo handled her jealous side? And Gordon "shooting his shot" lol.

Coming soon in Part 7, we finally get to a huge milestone between these two lovebirds, with a side helping of baking shenanigans. 😏❤️‍🔥

Next Time:

“Ey, ey!” he raised a warning finger with his free hand. “You’re about to take this to a new level.”

You met his gaze through your lashes with a playful smile. “So?”

Dean raised a brow at you. He could admit, you had audacity. All he could do was call your bluff.

He took one of your battered fingers into his mouth. Your eyes widened at the feel of his soft tongue swirling around your finger, sucking it clean. All the while, his eyes never broke from yours.

Lord have mercy, you thought. Really, it was the only coherent one in your head.

Dean Winchester Masterlist

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