#so this post means i have two to three school days which is 1 week until comiccon

[elina-bnhagirl4]

Not me starting my first post with my first husband. It's an example of my current writing.

Abbreviations here:

N/N: His nickname for you

Y/N L/N: Your official name

H/N: Your nickname for him

F/I: Favourite Ice Cream

F/B: Favourite Beverage

B/S: Body size (All of you are beautiful no matter what size you are, remember that 🥰)

Bold! Izuku Midoriya Boyfriend Headcannons

• He'd definitely pray to God that he got a girlfriend/boyfriend/Significant Other as youself.

"Oh heavens, I pray to thy self..."

You raised a brow at his kneeling figure, having head bowed to the ground, "Izuku, what're you doing?"

"Praying to whatever deity is out there who have blessed me"

"With what?" "You"

• He won't believe that he'd get a gorgeous/handsome/amazing partner like you. Even though, he knew you'd retaliate saying otherwise.

"Like, how did I get so lucky to have you? Maybe having a bad past was worth it after all"

You chuckled nervously feeling the stares around you due to his continuous rambles, "Izuku, sometimes your mentality makes me question myself"

• He'd everything in his power to make you happy such as weekly dates, late night calls and even skipping his plans if you'd ask him to.

"Izuku, are you sure you don't have any plans?"

He replied back sweetly as if he didn't had his one hand covering Denki's mouth to stop him from making fake kissing noises, "It's no worries, N/N. I didn't have anything to do all day"

• If you're in the same high school as him, he'll immediately introduce you to his friends and even invite in their sleepovers, parties or just in general.

"Hey guys, this is my partner Y/N L/N"

"Wow, you look so cute!"

"It is my pleasure to meet the significant other of our fellow friend"

"Hi"

• He'd tell you about his past after he got to know you a lot better. And I mean very very well. It's a very sensitive topic afterall.

"Izuku, are you sure you want to tell me about this now?"

He raised an eyebrow at your worried look, "Do you want to talk about yours?"

"No... I don't think it's the right time"

He shrugged and held you closer while continuing, "So, you know these guys, they made me..."

• He'd do his best to cheer you up when you're feeling down. He'd also immediately know when you are sad, depressed or in a bad mood.

"Hey, are you okay? Do you want to talk about it? Who made you sad? I just need a name. I think I have F/I and F/B in the mini fridge. Do you want them?"

He quiet down feeling your body slump on his. He held you close feeling your murmur, "I need peace and quiet"

He hugged back gently before laying on his bed comfortably, "Okay"

• Even though you warn him about not being self sacrificing, he exactly does that.

"H/N, I told you to not be so reckless everyday!"

"But N/N, this is the only way to improve myself to be the hero I aim to be"

"Izuku, getting admitted in the hospital three times a week is not in the quota of being a hero!"

• If someone both of you may or may not know implies to leave the other, you'd get defensive to prevent the other for being self conscious.

"Hey, cutie~ How about you and me ditch your plain boyfriend and spend quality time together"

The person began sweating feeling the invisible daggers digging in the body from your stare, "You got a lot of nerve to insult my boyfriend right in front of me. If you want your body intact, I suggest you leave right this second"

"Hey, handsome~ What do you even see in that B/S person, anyway? I bet I can make you feel much better"

She got a nasty glare with deep voice oozing in hatred, "One, get your chest away from me. Two, I dare insult my partner one more time and you won't have any less than 5 bones to be mend after I'm done with your B.S."

The girl flinched back before scurrying away without a glance.

• If he's sure, you're his one and only, he'd introduce you to his mother after the 3rd date.

"Mom! Look who I brought!"

"Sweety, is that you?!"

"Yes, Aunty Inko"

• He'd propose to you after 3 years of becoming officially together, which is 1 year after debuting as a Pro Hero. He's sure in his life that there is no one else for him other than the love of his life.

"Y/N L/N, will you make me the happiest hero in the world by being my Mrs. Midoriya?"

You stood speechless staring at his sheepish expression while he held a small box having the most beautiful emarald ring in it.

Your eyes watered and you nodded not finding any words in your brain right now, just the grin on his face and him putting the ring on your figure.

Ignoring the clapping sounds echoing around you, you knelt down and hugged him tightly while sobbing quietly.

He hugged back just as tightly while murmuring soft words of how gorgeous you look right now. He definitely knew he made the right decision by choosing for a life together with you.

(⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ⊂⁠(⁠・⁠﹏⁠・⁠⊂⁠) ✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧✧⁠◝⁠(⁠⁰⁠▿⁠⁰⁠)⁠◜⁠✧

[suddenlybambi]

as long as you stay here [1] ♥ kyle broflovski

pairing : kyle broflovski x reader

college AU - 18+

tags : strangers to friends to lovers, slow burn, fluff, angst, alcohol, afab reader, she/her pronouns, eventual smut

words : 1.9k

chapter 1

next | alaysh masterlist

main masterlist

a/n - okie dokie this is gonna be a longer one friends! i plan on updating twice a week (hopefully)

this chapter is kinda just the introduction so i'll probably post chapter 2 soon 🥰

let me know if you want to be on the taglist 💕🦜

Y/N and Bebe had been struggling to make rent after Wendy moved in with her boyfriend, Stan. It wasn’t that they weren’t friends and didn’t want to live together anymore; it was more the issue that Wendy and Stan didn’t get any privacy in the apartment. Plus, Y/N and Bebe were fed up with having to wait to use the only bathroom because the couple were in the shower together. Meanwhile, Stan’s roommate was apparently the sort of guy who just studied in his room all day, so they had plenty of privacy there.

That was when Bebe suggested that her boyfriend move in with them. According to her, they had broken up in high school but remained friends and had just resumed their relationship a month prior.

A lot of South Park students ended up in Denver for college and got apartments together. Wendy and Bebe needed a third roommate, and Y/N needed a place to live as she was the only one from her hometown to attend that college, so she didn’t know anyone. Things just worked out, and they moved in together, a friendship forming easily between the three.

Bebe’s boyfriend had supposedly missed the deadlines when it came to getting an apartment with roommates, so he was stuck with two guys he didn’t know or like. He jumped at the chance to move in with Bebe and Y/N when Wendy left.

Y/N hadn’t met him before but trusted Bebe’s judgement. At least, that was until she heard Bebe loudly moaning his name on the first night, and she realised that she did, in fact, know exactly who he was.

“Just because you think he’s-” Bebe started to protest to Y/N, but she was cut off.

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Y/N pointed at her as though she were catching her out in a lie. “I don’t think in general!”

“Can’t you just be happy for me?” Bebe pleaded, holding her hands up to cup each side of Y/N’s face, squishing her cheeks together a little. Y/N pulled Bebe’s hands away and held them.

“Babe, I’m your biggest supporter. I would be happy for you if you were dating a literal toad. But Clyde?” Y/N knew Clyde. She sat behind him in English Literature and constantly got distracted by the games that Clyde would play on his laptop instead of listening to the lecture. Particularly when the games were anime-girl dating simulators which featured a lot of boob action. She was guilty of playing them herself, that wasn’t the problem, but she didn’t play them in the middle of a lecture. It was hard to listen to her professor talk about how the mountains in Frankenstein portrayed Victor’s emotional state when the limits of jiggle physics in games were being tested right in front of her. “I mean, really, of all people, it had to be Clyde? Clyde?”

“What?” Clyde appeared in the doorway to Bebe’s bedroom, or rather, what was now their shared bedroom. Instantly, Y/N covered her eyes.

“Goddamn it! Put some clothes on!” She yelled, having seen far more of her classmate than she ever wanted to. 

“Oh shit!” Clyde looked down at his completely bare form and darted back into the room. Y/N only knew the coast was clear to lower her hand when she heard the door slam shut.

“Don’t give me that look!” Bebe sighed.

“My eyes are singed! I can’t give you any sort of look right now.”

“Give him a week?” Bebe asked, putting on her best puppy dog pleading expression. “Please? For me?”

“You’re so lucky you’re the hottest person I’ve ever met, and I would let you step on me repeatedly if that’s what you requested.” Y/N sighed, giving in instantly.

“Flirt with me all you want; it won’t make me dump him,” Bebe rolled her eyes playfully.

“One day, it’ll work!” Y/N shrugged. She had a habit of flirting with her friends for fun. It didn’t really mean anything. It was just a playful little joke. If someone wasn't comfortable with it, she would instantly stop, but it was so much fun when they played back.

“I gotta admit, you’ve come close before.” Bebe teased, throwing her a little wink.

“Come close to what?” Clyde emerged from their room again, now, fortunately, with some pants on. He was still shirtless, but he had attended lectures shirtless on multiple occasions despite being told he would be kicked out if it continued, so this was nothing new to her.

“Your girlfriend was just admitting that I’ve come close to seducing her,” Y/N proudly stated. “So if you don’t treat her right, I will.”

“She means that,” Bebe added with a nod.

“Wait-” Cogs started turning in Clyde’s brain. “Are you the one that almost split Stan and Wendy up when he wasn’t treating her right?” Y/N nodded, though the whole situation had been blown a little out of proportion when the information was passed around like a bad game of telephone.

Y/N hadn’t intentionally tried to break them up. She hadn’t even really flirted with Wendy in that way. Stan kept on bailing on dates, but Wendy would always forgive him. Y/N simply took her on a date when Stan bailed and showed Wendy how she deserved to be treated. She took her out for a nice meal, they went on a walk, they went to the theatre, and Y/N walked Wendy to her door at the end, which, since they lived in the same apartment at the time, was right across the hall from hers. She even gave her a little kiss on the cheek as they parted ways.

It succeeded in giving the couple the wake-up call they needed to get their relationship back on track. Stan needed to show his girlfriend that he actually loved her and treat her better, and Wendy had to be reminded that she was deserving of love and better treatment.

“They call me the homewrecker,” Y/N shrugged, deciding it was best not to elaborate on the whole situation with Wendy and Stan to Clyde so she could use the same technique if he dared to treat Bebe poorly. “And not just because I’m terrible at DIY.”

“Oh! That reminds me!” Bebe pointed over to their small kitchen unit. The living room and kitchen were smooshed together, and both looked pretty pathetic, but it was livable. “Don’t touch anything under the kitchen sink. It is duct-taped together and holding on for dear life because someone is too stubborn to admit she can’t fix it.”

“Oh, no, I freely admit I can’t fix it!” Y/N held her hands up in surrender. “I just refuse to pay that asshole plumber to fix it.”

“After what you did to him, I don’t think he could be paid any amount of money to come anywhere near our building to fix it,” Bebe mumbled. “And he was the only one we could afford.” 

“Look, it’s not leaking currently, so the duct tape is working. Just… don’t breathe on it,” Y/N instructed Clyde. “Or look in its general direction or even think about it because it really is as fragile as my ego.”

“This is the most I’ve heard you talk,” Clyde suddenly pointed out. “You’re so quiet in class.”

“HA!” Bebe let out a loud snort of laughter, pointing at Y/N. “This one? Quiet?”

“When there is no one worth talking to, I don’t see the need to waste my breath,” Y/N explained.

“I’m in that class?” Clyde seemed confused and a little hurt.

“My point exactly,” She mumbled, looking down at the ground.

“You’re talking to me now,” He pointed out, now seeming smug. In response, Y/N turned around and wordlessly walked past him to get to her room, closing the door behind her without so much as looking back at him.

“Give her time,” Bebe assured Clyde, placing a hand on his arm encouragingly as he watched the door close. “She’ll warm up to you.”

“Did it take her a while with you and Wendy?” Clyde asked, turning back to face his girlfriend.

“Noooo! We were instant BFFs! She started talking to us and hasn’t stopped since. I don’t think she slept for three days when we first met because she was so excited to make friends,” Bebe laughed but stopped when she saw that Clyde looked genuinely dejected over the fact that he hadn’t hit it off with his new flatmate. “Just… buy her a drink or something while we’re out, and you’ll be in her good books.”

“She’s coming out with us tonight?”

“Of course! She’s our friend!” 

“I thought it would just be the South Park group?”

“If Kenny and Tolkien can bring their girlfriends, we can bring Y/N.” 

“I’m not going,” Y/N suddenly spoke up from behind Clyde.

“What the fuck?!” Clyde spun around, clutching his chest as though he were having a heart attack. He hadn’t heard her open her door or walk back up to them. “How did you do that?”

“Sorry, I should have warned you about that,” Bebe winced as she watched her boyfriend try to catch his breath again. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Are you a vampire or something?” Clyde questioned Y/N. She could tell he was completely being serious. “You have to tell us if you are, right? Like undercover cops?”

“Yes, Clyde, obviously I am a vampire,” Y/N nodded, her voice oozing sarcasm. “I am an immortal being who decided that she wanted to spend her eternity going to college and living in an apartment where everything is broken. Now you know my secret I have to kill you.”

“She’s a dancer, so she’s light on her feet,” Bebe explained, ignoring Y/N. “You’ll never hear her coming.”

“Unlike your mom,” Y/N couldn’t stop herself from making the joke. It may have been childish and in poor taste, but she had to. Bebe ignored it, and Clyde didn’t understand, still caught up on everything else.

“A dancing vampire?” He asked. Y/N couldn’t help but snort in laughter at how serious Clyde looked.

“This is your man?” She questioned Bebe, pointing at Clyde.

“Yes!” Bebe groaned, feeling a little secondhand embarrassment from her boyfriend. “You are coming tonight.” 

“So is your mo-” Y/N started to repeat the crappy joke, but Bebe’s glare silenced her. “I’m not going.”

“See! She doesn’t want to!” Clyde insisted. “She’s not going!”

“Wait, do you not want me to go?” Y/N asked Clyde, who hesitantly nodded in confirmation. “Oh! Well, in that case, I’m definitely going.” Clyde deflated at the realisation that she was going purely to annoy him.

“Yay! Come on, let's find you the perfect dress!” Bebe grabbed Y/N’s arm, dragging her to her bedroom.

“Wait, why are we going to your room?” Y/N questioned, trying to wiggle away. Bebe could be quite strong when she wanted to be, and her grip on her arm was like a vice. “I have my own dresses.”

“Not the right sort! This is a nightclub, not a barbecue at your grandparents’ house.”

“I’ve always felt my style was more ‘I’d rather be at the ren fair’ than family barbecue, but you’re the one studying fashion, so what do I know?”

“I say this with love… You know nothing.” Bebe shook her head in pity at Y/N. “Now let’s get you in a dress that shows off your cute ass.”

[sweetsweetjellybean]

In the cold November rain

Eddie Munson/Fem!Reader Steve Harrington/Fem!Reader Ao3

TW: Story runs congruent to events in the show. If you know what happens in season 4, then you'll know how this will end.*Be warned.* 18+ Eventually Smut, Angst, High School Fuckery, Drinking, Drugs Let me know if I miss any.

Can you have two great loves in a lifetime? 

You've had the ideal childhood in Hawkins with your best friend & protector Steve Harrington. When it's ripped away, can you pick up the pieces? Eddie Munson may be able to help. 

A story about the pain of growing up, unrequited love, and loss. 

Part 1 /12? Masterlist

Sincerest & Eternal Thanks To @loveshotzz A magnificent writer & phenomenal human who sparked my Eddie love. I never would have posted this without her.

Inspired by @loveshotzz & notes by @eddieandbird

The bell tinkles as you enter Family Video, a girl with shoulder-length hair is behind the counter, flipping through a magazine. She barely looks up as you walk to the romance section. You've been looking forward to tonight for weeks. You have the perfect evening planned, you and John Huges alone in your parent's house. Microwave popcorn, teenage angst, and no thinking. Your workload is crushing this semester. With the deadline for three big projects looming, your stress level is at an all-time high, and Jake Ryan is sure to cure what ails you. Your parents tried to convince you to postpone your plans for another weekend. They were at the lake all week and didn't want to miss your short visit home. As much as you loved them, you planned it this way on purpose, wanting to be on your own for a while. You were scanning the shelves when a familiar voice interrupted.

"Can I…Oh! It's you." Steve Harrington is beside you, with his long hair pushed back from his face looking perfect and handsome in his green vest with his name pinned to it. "What are you doing here?" He asks, pulling you in for a friendly hug. He still smells the same, Irish Spring, Faberge shampoo, and all the other little things that make you think of home.

"I needed a movie." It's overwhelming having him so close again. "You work here?"

"Yeah. It's kind of depressing, right? This is actually a step up from my last job." It's not like him to be anything less than confident.

"There's nothing wrong with working here, Steve."

"You look so different. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Gee, thanks." You tease.

"You're beautiful. Just old. I mean, not old..older."

You laugh as he stumbles over his words. "That's what happens when you grow up."

You've known Steve Harrington all your life. Your parents are friends, and your dads do business together. When you were little, he used to run around naked in your backyard, and you spent many summer days swimming in his pool. There are albums full of photos of the two of you on family vacations and during the holidays.

He was your best friend in Elementary School. You were shy and quiet, and he was confident and cool. Even back then, he was larger than life. He protected you from bullies and ensured you always had a seat next to him at lunch. You never had to make your own friends because it was just expected that his crowd would welcome you. In return, you took care of him. His parents were frequently gone, and he wasn't their top priority when they were home. Your mom always had an extra snack waiting for him and an extra place set in case he stayed for dinner. You think your dad had secretly wanted a boy. He spent hours with Steve playing catch in the backyard. He even coached one of his little league teams for a season. You were in awe of him. You'd play whatever game he chose and watch all his favorite cartoons. The only thing that mattered to you was being by his side. He would talk endlessly about sports, which you were never interested in, but you never missed a single one of his games.

Things start changing as you head into middle school. He grew taller and his features sharpened. Being a natural athlete gave him lean muscles that girls started whispering about. Your social status was elevated for just knowing him. The other girls told you how lucky you were that he spent time with you. And that's how you felt lucky and special. He was always one of the cool kids, but now he spent more time working at it. He liked the benefits of being popular, and so did you, so you never questioned him.

One afternoon you came from school, and your mother tearily told you your dog Pepper had been hit by a car. You ran to his house crying, throwing yourself into his arms. You expected him to cry with you or at least be sad. You wanted him to get you through it, make it okay like he always did. A few boys from his basketball team were hanging around when you arrived. They traded uncomfortable looks while you explained what happened. He held you at arm's length and told you that Pepper was just a dog and that you were embarrassing him. From that day forward, you understood that there are expectations that come along with standing by his side. So you became what he wanted. You wouldn't swear or gossip; you were a nice girl, a sweet girl. You always wore nice clothes, sweater sets, and preppy loafers. Your frizzy hair tamed into a high pony or a bun. You looked like you belonged with him. When you were alone, he'd act more like himself, playful and even a little goofy. Those moments made you fall in love with him, and you fell hard. He could make your whole day with only a smile or a kind word.

He started dating the summer before high school. That's when the first cracks appeared on your heart. He didn't see you anymore. You were just…there. An accessory. He still treated you kindly and made sure you had a seat close to him at the lunch table, just not next to him. Not anymore. That seat was for whoever had caught his eye. He climbed through your window late after practice or after a date to tell you about his day. More cracks came when the conversation would turn to his girlfriends, but if you could be what he needed, maybe he would come back to you. Someday he would realize that you were the one that truly cared about him. So you grew a thick skin and waited.

You picked all the same classes as him so you could help with his homework and have more time with him. You had a seat with the popular kids in every class. Steve's parents started going out of town more often. He threw parties while they were gone cementing his title as King Steve. You were always invited, and they were always fun. You would stay over and help him clean up so his parents wouldn't find out. You took your place at the top of the high school social hierarchy. You walked the halls beside him with your head high in the air. Everyone knew who you were, and you got used to being treated a certain way. He gave you everything, and you never earned any of it.

Part 2

[jackfrombaskinrobbins]

daredevil fam x teen!intern!reader [pt. 1]

CLICK HERE FOR PT. 2

type of writing: headcanons / scenario

word count: 1.5k

request: yes / no

original request: DYING over your matt post– i'm a sucker for casual family hcs with teen readers, it's always the cutest !! could i request something similar like the whole team (nelson, murdock, & page) taking care of an intern? just a teen who usually takes care of filing ends up wandering into the whole found family dynamic they have set up? thanks !

dynamic: daredevil fam (nelson murdock & page) x teen!intern!reader

characters: reader, matt murdock, foggy nelson, karen page

a/n: hiii tysm for this request!!! i love found family hc's too -- especially with daredevil bc i feel like i haven't seen many :( if y'all ever have more daredevil requests like this i would be more than happy to write them!!

taglist: @nutellani @thecloudedmind

(fill out this form if you'd like to be on my taglist!!)

-----------------------✰----------------------

your school had an internship program.

basically, during the last few weeks of the year, everyone in your grade was matched up with a company to go be interns!

and sometimes that led to summer jobs which was cool

anyways so you were pretty excited

you had been looking forward to getting your assignment for a while now.

you had told the people who assigned the internships that you were interested in law, and you were holding out for a good assignment

but you were kind of worried because a lot of people were interested in law as well

so finally the day came

and you were confused to see someplace called “nelson, murdock, and page” listed there

like who the heck were these people

even worse, a couple of the really egocentric & mean kids got internships at landman & zack.

LANDMAN & ZACK

and they were really rubbing it in.

“y/n, where did you get assigned?”

“uh.. nelson, murdock, and page.”

“huh, never heard of them. i got assigned to landman and zack!!! aren’t you happy for me?”

blech

anyway the first day that you were supposed to go came finally

the one upside to being assigned to nelson, murdock, and page was that it was fairly close to where you lived

like only a block or two!!

you honestly weren’t sure what to bring so you kind of overpacked

well not crazy but still

you probably wouldn’t need three packs of pencils AND two staplers

but hey, this was new york! anything could happen.

you took a deep breath as you walked in, and as you approached the door, you could hear what sounded like an argument inside.

“listen karen, i’m not gonna take it anymore! the shamrock shake is gross!!”

btw i agree with that statement not that it’s relevant but still its nasty spearmint is blech

oop back to what i was writing

“foggy, you’re wrong. it’s what really makes spring for me!!”

“hey, you two. there’s someone outside.”

and just like that, the two who were arguing turned to face the door. 

you gave a sheepish wave, embarrassed that you hadn’t just walked in.

“aw, no way!! are you the intern? uhm… your name… uh..” said the shamrock shake hater

“y/n.” said another man, the peacekeeper, it seemed. 

you had remembered the internship assigner telling you one of the lawyers was blind

and judging by the red glasses, this was the one.

“yeah, that’s me. you must be murdock… i think.”

“call me matt.” he said, extending a hand for you to shake.

then the woman, (shamrock shake lover), also extended her hand.

“i’m karen. it’ll be nice to have someone new around here!!”

“yeah”, said the shamrock shake hater, “nice to have someone to do all the filing!”

“oh.. filing?” you asked, brow furrowing. 

you could feel yourself deflating a little bit.

“don’t worry, there’ll be plenty of interesting stuff for you to do y/n.” matt spoke, a small smile on his face.

“foggy, how about you show them how to do it?” karen said right after, pointing at shamrock shake hater.

foggy, now.

“aw, karen!! you know i’m no good at filing!!”

“that’s a lie. you just pretend to be bad at it to get out of doing it.” karen replied, and matt nodded.

a big dramatic sigh from foggy

“al-RIGHT, al-RIGHT! jeez. c’mon y/n. seems like we have work to do!!”

you couldn’t help but laugh bc these people were ridiculous

in a good way

at least for now!

turns out foggy WAS good at filing

and apparently you were too!!

he made a game out of it to see who could unlock the cabinet & put the folder in the right spot first

and not to brag, but you always won :) 

he even bet his lunch that you couldn’t beat his time!

“don’t mess with them, foggy. i think they’ve shown they can run circles around you.” karen laughed as he challenged you

and yet he still did it!!!

and you won!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!

so you had a delicious sandwich & chips for lunch courtesy of foggy nelson :D 

the rest of the day was pretty nice too

like most of it was filing but matt told you about some of the cases they were working on

and karen was so sweet like y’all were gossiping fr

she told you about all the crazy stuff that happened at the firm

and honestly, you were so glad you had been assigned to this firm

because were the people at landman & zack having this much fun???

no i don’t think so!!!

plus it helped that they all hated landman and zack too

foggy told you all about how stuffy and uptight everyone was there

so it was kind of a relief!

-----------------------✰----------------------

I HAD TO DO THIS IN TWO PARTS SO HERE'S THE SECOND ONE

CLICK THIS FOR PT. 2

[ssturniolo92]

Matt Sturniolo-Fight (pt2)

pairing-matt sturniolo x reader

genre-angst/fluff

warnings-cursing

a/n-i’m sorry for the long wait i’ve been so busy with school; also in this matt and y/n are from a small town near boston

part 1

“hi.” the voice said

you looked up, and felt all the air get knocked out of your lungs. he still looked as handsome as the day you left.

you had three urges. one was to run. the other was to breakdown crying. and the other was to scream at him. none of these you knew you could actually do.

“it’s been awhile.” you breathed out.

“yeah…can we talk?” he asked hesitantly.

you sucked in a breath. you should’ve known this would happen. i mean what were the chances of you not running into matt in your small hometown.

“yeah. yeah, why not?” you said. you pulled your phone out quickly, texting the guy you had planned to meet up with that something came up. this guy lived twenty minutes away from your hometown, which was convenient, but you never felt a spark anyway.

the two of you began walking. you both had your hands in your pockets, and you could see your breath in the air.

it was that short time between thanksgiving and christmas, the time where you started getting gifts but not quite the time where you start traveling yet.

but, of course, you decided to come visit home early. beating the high flight prices and the rush of traffic that seemed to be everywhere.

you and matt walked in silence before you spoke again, “how are chris and nick?”

“they’re good,” he said with a nod and a small chuckle. “they’re back in la right now, i decided to come home early.”

“so did i.”

“how’s school?” he asked, turning to look at you.

“uhm it’s good, hard. but i like it.”

“you always did love a challenge.”

you had forgotten what it was like, to have someone know you. not just know you, but really really know you.

you knew matt like you knew the color of your hair. and he knew you the same.

you had seen a post on instagram a few weeks ago, some girl in the background next to matt. they seemed to be laughing together. you still followed nick and chris, so their posts showed up on your feed. but you would give anything to unsee that.

“if i wanted to know who you were hanging with while i was gone, i would’ve asked you.”

but now here he was, smiling at you just like old times. and you tried to ignore how he didn’t mention anyone new in his life.

“it’s the kind of cold, fogs up windshield glass, but i felt it when i passed you.”

you and matt were always so in sync. you both had anxiety, so you helped each other with it. but now, something felt different. almost like there was some sort of hurt that you only felt with him.

“there’s an ache in you, put there by the ache in me.”

but, you decided, if he wanted to just have this one thing. and hang out just like you used to, pretend nothing had changed. then you would too.

“but if it’s all the same to you, it’s the same to me.”

suddenly matt stopped, you turned around to look at him. he was already looking at you, he took a step forward and you were only inches apart.

“i missed you,” he whispered. you just nodded.

“so we could call it even.”

he leaned in and so did you, and god you missed that feeling so much.

“you could call me babe, for the weekend.”

he put his forehead against yours, and you just felt him. his hands on your waist, and his hair under your fingers. his body against yours, you almost forgot you were in a public place.

“‘tis the damn season.”

“i’m staying at my parents house,” you told him. he just nodded and looked down at you. sometimes you wondered what would have happened if you had stayed with him. but you tried not to let that thought linger. you reminded him of your parents address, but he most likely knew it by heart.

“write this down, i’m staying at my parents house and the road not taken looks real good now.”

it seemed like no matter what happened, you always seemed to come back to matt. you would get into fights as kids, but you always, always, always made up.

“and it always leads to you, in my hometown.”

that was a few days ago, now you were meeting him again. you pulled up between the old church, and the elementary school. you remembered meeting matt there like it was yesterday. you had been on the swings, and he just sat on the one next to you. simple as that, and from then on you were inseparable.

“i parked my car, right between the methodist and the school that used to be ours.”

now more and more people had been filling into the small town. you remembered all the old faces, reminding you of the holidays that were coming up, and the fact that after they passed you had to go back to school.

“the holidays, linger like bad perfume.”

a lot of the people from high school left this town, wanting more than a small life in a small town. luckily you had gotten out, sure you liked the idea of that, but you mostly wanted to escape.

“you can run but only so far, i escaped it too.”

seeing all these people reminded you of how you left, and what you left behind.

“remember how you watched me leave.”

you and matt met on main street, walking through the small shops and greeting people who you passed. you got a couple weird looks when the two of you ran towards the elementary school playground, but the hours of laughing after that was worth it.

“but if it’s okay with you, it’s okay with me.”

you decided to spend christmas together, like you used to.

“so we could call it even.”

you acted like a couple in front of your families, and no one questioned it. they knew that the two of you missed each other, and you guys being happy was all they ever wanted.

“you could call me babe for the weekend.”

nick and chris had come back too, which reminded you of how much you had missed them. by leaving you not only lost matt, but you lost your best friends as well.

“‘tis the damn season.”

everyone met at your parents house, mary lou had even brought some casserole. all this just kept reminding you of what you could’ve had, and how good your life could’ve been.

“write this down, i’m staying at my parents house and the road not taken looks real good now.”

you looked out the window near the front door as matt pulled up in his dads truck. he always used to pick you up in it, and you would just drive around.

“time flies, messy as the mud on your truck tires.”

matt met you at the door with a smile, the smile you had missed every moment you were apart.

“now i’m missing your smile.”

the two of you decided to just take a drive. you held hands, and he occasionally glanced at you. you missed him, you missed this.

“hear me out, we could just ride around. and the road not taken looks real good now.”

you drove through the neighborhoods, passing by the houses where you both attended birthday parties and sleepovers as kids. the nostalgia rushed through you, remembering all the times you had ridden on bikes through here with chris.

“and it always leads to you, in my hometown.”

you woke up on christmas day to the smell of hot chocolate and mary lou’s casserole. you checked the time to see it was already noon.

“sleep in half the day, just for old times sake.”

you were leaving to go back to school in just a few days, and neither you nor matt had said anything about it.

“i won’t ask you to wait, if you don’t ask me to stay.”

you knew he was going back to LA soon, to his influencer friends and his fans. so for now, the two of you sat in your dads big armchair. surrounded by your family and friends, you even invited some of your old friend group from high school. all of you laughed and ate until you might explode.

“so i’ll go back to LA, and my so called friends who’ll write books about me if i ever make it.”

you knew matt would always have a special place in your heart, first love and shit like that. so you knew you would always wonder about him, no matter how much time passed.

“and wonder about the only soul who can tell which smiles i’m faking.”

and you also knew that this short relationship or fling you guys were doing would break you. but it was fun while it lasted right? even if it didn’t last forever, cause let’s be honest, what does?

“and the heart i know i’m breaking is my own.”

tags-

@opheliaofficial07

@ssturniolo

@idont-really-know

@matthewmurdockswife

[campbyler]

ok. a genuine question. how do u guys write 20-30k *chapters* bc i will outline fics minutely or i will just let myself start writing based off a vibe & either way i will get 600 words out of maybe. two hours of work. on a good day with no distractions/interruptions, & i very much do not have an uninterrupted two hours to write very often, so you can imagine how slowly things get written T_T so i’m interested if there’s any aspect of any of your writing processes that really enables u guys to write so much or if it’s not really something you think about? anyways i really like ur guys’s work, & thank you for deciding to write for byler bc i know me and a lot of people enjoy it a lot. thanks!!

hello !! this is a super valid question and i’ll try my best to answer it for you 😗✌️

andi infamously writes a lot faster than thea and i do (she finished draft 1 of chapter 3 in like. two days. which was so scary. i’m in awe of her fr) but she has also spent a lot of time editing ch3 so it’s definitely not like these chapters are publish-ready in a short amount of time by any means! it took thea a couple of months total to fully write + edit ch1 and it took me about 3.5 weeks to write ch2 and another two weeks to edit it which is part of the reason we’ve spaced out our posting schedule like we have — we put a lot of effort and care into these updates and we want to give ourselves as much time as possible to get ahead before all 3 of us inevitably get so super busy with work and/or school in the fall!! so while we do write a lot, please don’t think we are so insanely speedy about it because unless we are having Really Good Writing Days, that’s definitely not the case. sometimes we do have days where we are really in the zone and write more than usual, but at least for me, this is so so so rare. whatever i write in this time gets heavily edited because so much of it was nonsensical brain vomit LOL

as far as writing process goes, i think one of the things that motivates us a lot is that we genuinely do just talk about this au constantlyyyyy like we’re always coming up with silly little hcs or drawing for it or adding to the Lore ™️so we’re always getting inspired to write! all three of us are definitely people who use writing as a way to relax or even reward ourselves after a long day; we would probably die if we had to go too long unable to :/ messages like “i can’t wait to get home and write after work today” or “i’m going to write a little bit of ___ before bed because i deserve it” are very commonly found in our gc because we really just look forward to it so much! as for our scary word counts, i feel like there is a lot of worldbuilding in this universe specifically, and pacing is really important to us — we want to make sure introductions and set-up to a scene and character interactions are meaningful and flow naturally, and building tension (which is a hallmark of this fic hehe) does take some time, which can definitely add up word count-wise.

for the most part, none of us usually have a solid few hours to sit and write either (unless it’s on our days off or after work if we’re not too tired) and we get a lot of writing done in chunks! we hold each other accountable for short check-ins (“ask me for a snip in 30 minutes”) which is super helpful when you’re stuck, because it kind of forces you to get Something down without worrying if it’s super polished and edited and perfect. if you’re writing on your own, something i’ve started doing lately is setting a 15 minute timer and just seeing how much i can get done in that time, and then setting another and doing it again (up until however much time you have to write that day). i’ve found that the artificial deadline helps break the monotony of sitting in front of your computer for Hours on end with nothing to show for it bc TRUST we’ve all been there and it sucks so bad 😔✊

this got super long so i apologize but i hope at least a little bit of it was helpful! it definitely helps that we are constantly feeding into each other (i.e: having brainrot) and offering inspiration and advice, which does wonders for creative flow tbh. we’re definitely not cranking these chapters out as quickly as people might seem to think — thea started chapter four, which won’t be posted for about a month, maybe a week or two ago. i just started chapter 5 — about 6 weeks away — yesterday lol so we do take our time! don’t be scared by the giant chapters, we just had a lot of content we wanted to include in each one and are in too deep to take anything out 🥳🥳 thank you for the question! good luck with your writing we believe in you 🫡

[justalittleegg]

CC WEEKEND BASH DAY 2!!

I'm making this the same day as my day 1 post so it's not as hype.

@and-stir-the-stars

PROMPT: HAUNTING / FAMILY

This is set in my AU that I don't have a name for in which Henry goes crazy and commits murders because Charlie got cromched in the Bite of '83. Mike is his first murder as revenge. Basically a William / Henry roll swap.

Evan is CC. Evan's POV.

TW: murder,

______________________________________________________________

It had been three months since Michael was found dead in a back alley. Two deaths in the span of a couple months, it was strange, especially considering Henry's absence from work and... life, I guess.

I mean it seemed connected; Mike killed Charlie and now he was found dead in an alley, it had to have a meaning.

I couldn't be bothered looking for that meaning though. I couldn't be bothered doing anything actually. I didn't draw, I didn't speak, I didn't even eat much anymore. I mean, what was the point? With Michael gone life felt, empty.

I missed his jokes, his drawings that were way better than mine, and, in a way, I missed his senseless bullying.

You never realise what you've got until it's gone.

Before his death, I thought I didn't like Mike, the thoughts of his scares and his mask were all that filled my mind. But in retrospect, I had so many good times with him that feel so much more important than the bad.

Like this one time just after school. I was in my room, crying after a bad day at school. Mike came in, probably to scare me, but seeing me like that, instead he just sat down, took out a piece of paper, and began to draw. After a moment he lifted up the drawing. It was a rabbit in a top-hat and monocle. It was so silly it made me stop crying. He started teaching me how to draw like him; it's what got me into drawing in the first place.

I was at the pizzeria sitting at a table, alone, quiet. The only reason I was here was because there was no one to watch us at home. I had to be here while Dad worked.

Dad had gotten over it so fast, or at least it seemed that way. The pizzeria was temporarily shut down for a couple weeks while things were getting sorted out, both with the police and funeral services. I had been at two funerals over the past half year; Charlie's and Mike's.

Charlie's was just how I thought a funeral would be. People crying, boring speeches that never really said much about the person other than 'they were nice', and an overall vibe of sadness.

Michael's was different though. Sure people still cried but it wasn't the same. His friends were there; I didn't know they're names. They shared actual stories about Mike and actually knew him. I guess it's since he was older, he actually did stuff. It was just, less sad and more... bittersweet, I guess.

Elizabeth was here somewhere, probably with her friends. She had taken it well too, not as well as Dad, but still pretty well.

I don't know haw they can all just move on and act like it didn't happen, act like two of the people closest to us hadn't just died. I quietly stared down at the table and began to sob while kids played around me and concerned parents watched on.

Suddenly, a slender figure was in front of me. I looked up, it was the security puppet that Dad and Henry had installed after Charlie's death to keep people safe. It had a thin, black torso with long, striped arms. It's face had two large eyes, a wide grin, and curiously, tear streaks from it's eyes that I didn't remember being there.

It was holding a piece of the children's drawing sheets from the pizzeria labelled 'My Happiest Day!' in one had and a couple crayons in the other. It placed down the paper and began to scribble in a way I had never seen it done before.

When it was finished, I looked down at the sheet.

It was a drawing of a rabbit in... in a top-hat and a monocle...

Just like Mike had drawn.

______________________________________________________________

[keplercryptids]

Hey, I sent an ask earlier asking about help with medications for migraines and I now see a bunch of your past resource posts. Thank you for taking the time to write and post about your experiences.

I was prescribed sumatriptan a few months ago, but haven't taken it often because it makes me feel dizzy, fatigued, lightheaded, and gives me brain fog. But I've been taking 50mg and never considered decreasing the dose! I plan to try 25mg now. I've been relying on ibuprofen, excedrin, and cannabis to treat pain which isn't great for my long term health. If you have any more suggestions, they are more than welcome and very appreciated

I guess I have 2 new questions, if you'll have em :)

1. So far I haven't found any of your posts that discuss preventative options. Do you have experience with these? What was your experience like?

2. Healthline says that one shouldn't cut or crush the tablet. Based on your posts, I assume your experience with doing this is fine, but I wanted to make sure before trying it.

Genuinely thank you for any help you may be able to give me. I downloaded the keeler method because of your recommendation.I appreciate it🐝

hi! some folks definitely get some gnarly side effects from sumatriptan. i was told by my physician that cutting the pill in half is fine, and i've been cutting the pills for 10 years without issue. but take that with a grain of salt, i'm obviously not a chemist lol. you may also want to ask your doctor about other triptans (rizatriptan, zolmitriptan, etc). it's possible that you'll react similarly to all triptans, but maybe there's an option that you'll tolerate better.

there are many options for migraine preventatives, which i have been exploring for 7 or 8 years now. keep in mind that my experience comes from living in the US with private health insurance. i can't speak to how you'd go about this in a different country or if you're uninsured, etc. also keep in mind that health insurance might not approve you for preventatives (especially the newer, better ones) unless you've been diagnosed with chronic migraine (meaning, 15 or more migraine days per month).

something i highly recommend to everyone suffering from regular headaches is to start taking magnesium. start at a lower dose (200mg daily), which you can increase to 400-600mg. magnesium is affordable, accessible and well-tolerated by most people, and is shown to be effective at preventing migraines. the main side effect is a laxative effect, so proceed cautiously if you have problems with that.

as far as prescriptions go, older migraine preventatives fall into three classes: antidepressants (usually amitryptaline), anticonvulsants (topiramate is a common one), and blood pressure medications. newer (and better, but more expensive) preventatives are: botox injections and CGRP inhibitors. in most cases, you'll need to jump through hoops to get these better preventatives. health insurance usually requires that you try and fail two of the three classes of old-school preventative before approving you for botox or CGRPs.

i've tried amitryptaline (did nothing; also, i don't tolerate antidepressants well) and three different anticonvulsants (topiramate, gabapentin and lamotrigine). i had horrible reactions to the anticonvulsants, with side effects like constant brain fog, tingling in my extremities, changes to how food tasted, increased headaches, and a full-body rash, to name a few. i don't say this to discourage anyone from trying these preventatives--in fact, many folks have great results with them. but they're medications used to stop seizures. they're heavy duty and the side effects should be weighed against their benefit.

botox (injected every three months by my neurologist) worked amazingly for about 6-8 months, and at its best i was only getting one or two migraines a week (which for me is great). but over the last six months, it stopped working as well and i was back to getting 10-15 migraine days per month. i would have liked to keep getting botox while pursuing other options, but insurance wants you to try monotherapies first. so i stopped botox and i'm in the process of getting approved to try aimovig (a CGRP inhibitor that you inject yourself once a month). there are other CGRPs that are in tablet form, like nurtec. CGRPs work remarkably well for lots of people, so i'm hopeful.

as a final note to this very long post lol, if you're able to get a referral to a neurologist or, better yet, a neurologist with a migraine/chronic pain specialty, i highly recommend doing so!

[visualnovelzombie]

Furry Visual Novel Book Club: Echo Week 15 SPOILERS

Hi everyone, here is the SPOILER discussion post for “Echo - TJ’s Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday”

Links: Previous - Next - Original - Spoiler Free Version

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

We begin from the route split by following after Tj, who ran off after Flynn’s tirade. The music cuts and we’re left with the sound of the river. We’re met with three options.

The first two will set Chase’s mood for the next bit of dialogue while the third will lock us out of Tj’s route, which is something we haven’t seen before. 

>Leave him be…

Chase narrates that he’s “not exactly graceful with this sort of thing, especially with TJ.”, and then decides to go with the others, giving us the options for the other route choices but not TJ’s.

>Say Something…”

Chase tries to comfort the lynx, but Tj doesn’t respond.

Until Finally…

>Say Nothing…

Chase sits next to Tj and starts breaking twigs in half, eventually annoying Tj. 

Chase asks TJ if he wants to go eat, and he responds with a firm ‘No.’ Until Finally…

>Reconvergence

Tj is upset Flynn was so mean in front of everyone. Chase comments that Tj is clearly frazzled because the lynx has allowed his fur to stay unkempt even after sitting by himself for a while. Chase comments that Tj’s inability to express himself fully is part of what’s dragging the Lynx down so much. The two continue to discuss Flynn’s tirade

I would like to note, this is 71 lines into the route, and the foreshadowing is already on thick lmao

Chase speculates that Flynn is after ‘more than the truth’, and we learn Tj saw Sydney drown. Tj becomes angry at Flynn, because the gila hadn’t realized how much the event affected Tj himself. Tj wishes he could go back to the day, and that he isn’t mad he didn’t save Sydney, he knows he couldn’t have… hinting at wanting something else. Chase glosses over that he could have probably saved Sydney from drowning if he was there.

Chase wants to help Tj with what happened, but says he needs to come to terms with it himself first. We’re treated to a brief flashback of the scene… Flynn drags Chase into the water, and forces the otter to get Sydney while Jenna and Leo try to help where they can.

This is one of the few times that Chase acknowledges, at least in some part, that he had SOMETHING to do with it. Which is an extremely rare case in of itself, but especially on this route. Even late on the same day, we see him act angry and unusual, already over protective of Tj. He doesn’t interact this way on other routes, and to me, reads as the Otter ALREADY being pestered by the entity the fandom has dubbed, ‘Mirror-Man’.

Tj expresses being upset again, which makes Chase angry at Flynn for hurting Tj so much. Come Over begins to play, as Chase reminds Tj about their planned hike. The two plan their hike and talk about what their plans for school, promising to meet up one more time before graduating. The two return to the group who have packed everything in the van already. Leo asks if Tj is fine and after a satisfactory answer, is done with the conversation and heads off to work after dropping everyone else off at the motel.

This is part of my Mirror-Man USUALLY attacks Leo theory but is on/after Chase this time, but Leo’s complete lack of interest or pestering for more information stands out to me greatly here. After talking it out with some people, if it isn’t ‘Mirror-Man’ himself that also goes after Leo other times there’s two ‘alternatives’ that I can see work.

1. The entities in general work through mirrors. Like how they all ‘slither’ along the ground.

2. Chase, now already fixated on Tj, is purposely ignoring Leo/not narrating what’s happening exactly. We know from later that Chase’s narration becomes EXTREMELY unstable/unreliable, and I will admit that maybe some of Leo’s aloofness on this route might come from that, instead of another supernatural dealing.

The remaining four spend a lazy afternoon together before coming back to discussing Flynn. Carl tries to defend the lizard but Tj hard pivots the conversation to ice cream. When asked what his favorite flavor is, Chase’s head buzzes and he’s unable to think of an answer, blurting out Vanilla after a few moments. Chase’s headache gets worse and he’s unable to continue the conversation, and closes his eyes.. Very particular things happen over the next few lines:

Chase wakes on the couch, after some time has passed, indicated by the fade in, to the room being dark, Tj and Jenna in bed, with Carl on the floor asleep.

The scene fades to black, indicating some more time has passed. Chase is in bed next to Tj and is staring at the door.

We’re then met with a dream sequence… Before going into it I would like to point out the two previous scenes both took places at different times, indicated by the fadeouts, and that they were (most likely) NOT dreams. They don’t have the track associated with dreams playing in them, and Chase doesn’t ‘wake up’ from them into this one, like we’ve seen on Carl’s and Leo’s routes. Just bits of time are hard cut by the writing.

--

I want to talk about this for a bit. We’ve seen Chase dip on Sunday night from the motel room to go do... something that’s never explained. Something odd from how it cuts, and the way this sequence is cut, calls into question how much is really going on. I think the first instinct is to accept he’s just going on a walk the previous night, and this night is just his head hurting. BUT, the way this section glosses over large chunks of the day in just a few lines, reads to me that everything is being directly narrated, IS important.

The important bits I get out of this are: Chase takes pictures of someone, or something. (I don’t remember if they come up later in this route or not!), and/or heads for the night. This is to vague to work with right now, but just more lost time at night with our narrator.

With the second being the time cut to lying in bed. Two things stand out to me:

1. Chase is lying NEXT to TJ. Every other time he’s described lying platonicaly with someone, it’s head-to-toe. That’s how he sleeps in the bed with TJ and with Carl normally. 

2. Chase is starring at a door. There are three doors in the room, and we know two are very important. The closet door is where a fox hung himself, but we don’t learn that till Arches. The other door important to the room, is the door to the bathroom. Later on in the route, Chase (and Sam!) are both terrified of what’s in there, the ‘Mirror-Man.’ I’m perposing, at this time, whichever one of them is in control during the night, is sensing that entity or presence already from the bathroom. I’d LOVE to hear other interpretations of this scene though!

--

 Tj is drinking alcohol by the lake. He starts to run away after hearing something, but is eventually pulled back into the lake by a chain. Chase tries to help… but is also chained to the lake.

Chase and Tj are on their hike, with Tj trying to comfort the boiling otter.

...Tj you can’t just say that to Chase, gawd!

After a terrible and awkward attempt at playful flirting, the two continue on their hike. Chase calls into question his understanding of Tj’s sexuality, realizing the two have never discussed it, and how it might intersect with the lynx’s vague faith. We then this is INSANE lore tidbit.

Two hours pass by as the scene cuts, while Old Winds begins to play. Chase, struggling with the intensity of the hike, trips and falls. Tj soaks Chase with another water bottle, much to the otters continued annoyance. Tj is concerned for Chase because HE asked the otter out on the trip. After a bit of rest and… determination on where they should eat, the two continue to the peak of the trail. Tj soaks his shirt with water, showing off his fit form. Chase is … attracted to the sight.

The two make it the peak, resting on a stone bench at the top. Chase enjoys being alone with Tj like this… until a tarantula jumps in his lap.

Tj had pranked Chase with a plastic spider after Jenna insisted upon it. One microaggression later, the two enjoy a nice lunch and we’re treated with a CG

Chase takes off his shirt and the two accidentally touch paws while reaching for a bag of chips, sending Tj squirming off embarrassed. The two make awkward small talk while Tj fixes his fur. The two reminiscent on how they met, with Chase being a bit of bully in the story.

Chase heads off on his own for a second to get shots for his project. Drone begins to play, as some THING narrates FOR Chase inside his head… distinct from Samuel, based off of its font. 

Chase either ignores or pays no attention to the entity and takes the shots he needs. Tj finds Chase taking the shots and comments on the otter’s body, making Chase question Tj more. Tj peers over the edge and we’re met with a Choice…

>Shove him.

The voice narrates Tj’s corpse lying at the bottom of the Canyon… and we’re given the other two options to choose from.

Notable because Chase almost never, if ever, questions Sam outside of the Murder Pit where Sam is the most separate.

We’re given the option to only Grab him and do nothing…

>Grab him.

Chase scares Tj and the two end up flailing around away from the cliff, locked in each other’s arms for a few moments.

>Do nothing

Chase doesn’t want to actually scare him off they cliff so the two stand there for a few moments.

>Reconvergence:

The two try to yell into the canyon, trying to get it to ‘echo’ back to them. The sad and nostalgic track, Canyon, begins to play.

The two comment on the quality of Echoes in Echo. Chase laments the town, while Tj wishes everyone could have come today. The two share an intimate moment for a second, until Tj gets a text message. It sours the Lynx’s mood, but he lies to Chase about it, the music cutting once the lie starts. The two head back home.

...

The two plan the rest of the trip, and tell Jenna to meet them at the diner for dinner. Upon arriving, Jenna remarks on Chase’s… ottery smell. Janice comes to take the groups order, happy to see the trio after they graduated. She also remarks on the mudslide musk in the area, blaming it on another patron. The coyote talks about needing to do some housework in a relatively polite conversation, resulting in Tj volunteering him and Chase for the job. After Jenna and Chase chide Tj for agreeing to the work, Jenna makes another musk comment towards Chase. The otter storms off to the bathroom to clean up in a fit of rage.

Chase tries to alleviate his headache by washing his face in the mirror… but it suddenly continues to worsen.

Chase sees a twisted reflection of himself in the mirror and becomes extremely disoriented. The non-diegetic music and sound effects is described IN text from Chase’s narration, quickly becoming diegetic. Chase writes the episode off as a migraine. Chase cleans up the musk under his armpits, then drops his pants to clean under his tail….

Chase returns to the table embarrassed, passing TJ on the way. Chase makes conversation with Jenna, and learns about Carl’s party tomorrow. Jenna lets slip the Tj wanted to see Chase the most during their trip back home. Jenna shows Chase a stick figure recreation of the prank that TJ had drawn, before heading out back to the motel to grab her purse. Tj returns to the booth.

Chase tries to explain the situation and Tj says its fine… even saying it was kind of cute.Come Over starts to play. Chase ribs Tj, playing gay chicken with the lynx… thrilled to be doing it with a guy again, let alone Tj. Their eyes meet again, and Tj smiles.

Another dream sequence…

Leo is driving Chase’s car on top of the lake, ‘shooting’ Chase with a finger gun from across the water. Tj swims after the car…

The dream sequence CUTS, with NO fade or dissolve, something very peculiar for the novel. Something intentional (IMO). A new track, ‘Unease’ plays, distinct from other Dream Sequence tracks or events. The background is Echo Canyon, now black and white, labeled ‘canyoneg’. Tj is lying at the floor of the canyon, maggots eating him. A paw reaches towards the lynx… 

The dream fades back to the lake, unease still plays. Six bodies float in the water.

Chase knows something isn’t right. A tool-shed sits on the edge of the lake, one that doesn’t exist. It opens, and the scene cuts…

--

Okay, a LOT happens with this one. We get our usual dream sequence intro, with everyone doing weird shit on the lake as usual. BUT, this dream is interrupted. By a different force than usual, something showing Chase new kinds of nightmares. The lack of fadein is EXTREMELY noticible, especially when 99% of transitions has them. Some new entity has hijacked the dream. Something connected to the maggots from earlier... the ‘thing’ that is narrating FOR Chase. Something that isn’t Sam. The ominious paw is concerning and something we’re not super familiar with. It’s to vague to speculate on, even with TSR ghosts (as an addage not a planned explanation)

Six bodies, for six fiends (Carl, Leo, Tj, Flynn, Jenna, Sydney) on the lake. As if the entity is telling Chase that he SHOULD kill his friends. This is how ~I~ read it, but we know there’s been many other drownings related to the lake, but the number lines up to noticeably for me. There���s also the case of the shed... WHAT does that mean? The only other shed we get mention of that I can remember is Chase’s grandfather’s shed (which WAS a peculiar mention), or somehow foreshadowing Janice’s eroded shed for the next day? It seems to specific for that. There’s also a shed in the LATEST TSR build... but they aren’t thematically linked at all really so I don’t want to discuss it. VERY VERY specific, for something that I can’t substantiate at this time. Maybe some more bits out of the remaining routes that I forgot will help fill us in?

One last thing is the ‘This isn’t right, this isn’t me. what is this?’ To ME, this reads like something has taken control of Sam’s nightmare powers. Before this line, I would have just called it normal foreshadowing dreams, but the part of ‘this isn’t me’, makes it sound like it usually is a ‘me’. It was pointed out that Sam is always refereed to as ‘you’ usually, but why would Chase say ‘this isn’t me’ in this circumstance? If he was lucid dreaming, enough to say a line like this, it would have been ‘This isn’t normal?’. The rest of the lake based dreams are definitely ‘normal’ for the otter. But the lack of chains, introduction of maggots as a motif, and unknown presence appearing on the scene before cutting IS new. These are things I missed/forgot when I shotgunned this route AND Flynn’s route on the same day for sure... and raided till 2am right after, completely frying my already fried brain so...

Jenna and Chase discuss going to Carl’s as Tj showers. Tj finishes, and rushes to grab his shirt that he had forgotten, before running back into the bathroom embarrassed to finish dressing. En route to Carl’s house, the scene with Janice plays out the same…

We cut to Carl’s house, the ram unable to be found. Flynn is cursing as usual… but Chase asks him to stop. Leo boosts Jenna into the window again, and she unlocks the door for them. While Flynn searches for Carl, Chase and Tj discuss going to Janice’s later. Tj decides he wants to make sure she’s okay, and Chase agrees to go along. Chase recalls ditching Tj at Duke’s place while him and Carl got junk to build the ram’s tree-house. Chase comments on the bullying stemming from being two years older than Tj. Chase is sent to search outside while Tj is sent to search in the basement... definitely enough time to plant the the scavenger hunt...

Chase walks back inside after some reminiscing and…

Followed by Jenna walking by, indicating it wasn’t her orange tail walking down the stairs.

Presumably John? Showing that he isn’t always attached to Jenna? The children probably wouldn’t have a ‘fat’ tail... but that begs the question. Why is the tail orange? The only orange foxes important to the universe are the Byrnes (who would have maybe existed, at least in concept, by this point), but why would any of them be here. Is this a simple case of the writer going ‘oh fox tail, orange!’, forgetting the blonde/yellow complexion of the Begays?

--

In the basement, Chase walks into Flynn talking to Tj. Flynn apologies for sending something, presumably a text, to Tj yesterday. Flynn holds Tj by his shoulder, dropping his paw once he notices Chase step into the room. Flynn walks out of the room without a word, and Tj frantically grooms himself in front of a mirror. Chase tries to comfort Tj, but the lynx is to frazzled to talk about it. Chase offers to go out and walk with Tj around town to look for Carl, and the two head out.

The two talk about school, Tj going in depth about his schooling as an athletic trainer, and how he’s enjoying it and sports in general. Chase receives a text from Leo, stating they found Carl and that the party is cancelled because Carl isn’t feeling well. The two debate on going to Janice’s. Chase is worried she’s tripping on something while Tj argues she doesn't use drugs… Tj guilt trips Chase to going with cuteness and the two head over to Janice’s.

The two make it to Janice’s house. The coyote is completely nonchalant, as if not remembering the incident at all. She tasks the boys with removing a mass of weeds and moving firewood, promising refreshments and cookies for the two. Chase contemplates leaving, before Tj soaks himself with hose water and offers it to Chase. Chase soaks himself and the two get to work. Come Over starts to play.

Leo texts Chase asking where he’s at, and once Chase tells him, Leo doesn’t respond anymore. Chase takes off his shirt due to the heat and teases Tj with the ‘show’. The two make plans to go to the diner in the evening, but are interrupted by Tj spotting a tarantula in the weeds.

Janice comes outside due to the two boys screaming. She admires their twink bodies, causing Tj to become flustered. The two get back to work but are unable to find the tarantula again. After finishing, Tj offers some sports medicine advice to Chase, rubbing one of the otter’s tense muscles… after a promise for a full massage later, the two start on the pile of wood.

I’m not sure how to read Tj seeing a phantom tarantula. I’m assuming it signals that he went through some kind of flashback/dream sequence like Chase does in a bit upon seeing the spider. As it is most likely he’s already setup the Scavenger hunt earlier in the day, I don’t think this is Sydney a possessive Echo taking it’s roots in him. Maybe this is just the simpler explanation of Spiders representing guilt. Janice sure has a lot of guilt built up (rip Sam), and the spiders coalescing around her and the center of town makes sense. Chase AND Tj are both feeling really guilty to, maybe it’s just that simple explanation.

Chase comments on Tj faking the tarantula, saying how it’s stressed him out. As Tj returns from Janice’s house with a plate of cookies, Chase sprays him with a water hose. A new track, “Tj Theme’, starts to play. Chase is callous and carefree, eating the cookies and openly flirting with TJ… who is reserved and anxious as the upbeat tempo track continues to play in the background. The two continue working, Tj feeling worse and worse as the day continues. The track continues to play... The two continue their spider-infested laborin the gayest-twinkiest way ever, but make short work of the pile. Chase offers to go hiking tomorrow, trying to invite everyone.

Tj’s Theme being Chase completely overstepping any semblance of his feelings and being a creeper really fucking sets the mood for the theme of route......

The pair are about to plan it out, when on the last plank of wood, only for Chase to see a tarantula on the backside of it. The music finally cuts. Chase passes out and we’re met with a dream/flashback…

Sydney, a blue eyed otter, is talking to Chase. Both of them are young children. Sydney starts rough-house playing with Tj, the lynx losing on purpose to get out of it. Sydney starts to strangle Tj with the lynx;s shirt. Chase yells out ‘STOP’, before his view shifts to the present.

--

I will say. The absolute jaw-drop of Sydney being an otter, and HOW MUCH that calls into question him drowning completely missed me the first time through...

--

Chase wakes up from him passing out, puking up the snacks. Tj pulls Chase inside to cool off, where the Lynx agrees to more manual labor.

The two walk back towards the diner, arguing on the way. Upon arriving at the diner, an old friend takes their order. Julian, a white deer, catches up with the two. Chase stays out of the conversation, glad when Julian eventually leaves. Tj is upset that Chase called him Toby after waking up from the dream sequence, but doesn’t press the issue. Bittersweet starts to play as Chase realizes how he’s made TJ uncomfortable.

FURSONA

Chase asks Tj if he wants to try and find closure about Sydney. He wants to go to the lake with everyone except Flynn and talk about it. Chase confirms that Tj didn’t see the tarantula that caused him to pass out…

We’re met with another dream/flashback where Chase bullies Sydney for bullying Tj… Almost like it’s a cycle of abuse or something...

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

That concludes Tj up until Wednesday. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read and interacting <3 Some very... interesting stuff is being done here. Howly, the author, is really getting into using the medium to its fullest potential, and we’ll see more of that as we continue on.

Next Weeks Reading Assignment is just TJ’s Thursday! End on this line:

"He runs up the road and back toward town, disappearing into the bright sunset."

Or this Day Card:

[thetruearchmagos]

15 OC Questions!

Thank you kindly @theprissythumbelina for the Tag!

You mentioned my MCs, but I wouldn't say I have any considering how I do the whole writing thing. So, for the sake of actually having something to talk about, I'll go with Gustav J. Schmidt, specifically in his post-Wars iteration.

1. Are you named after anyone? No, no, I don't believe so. 2. When was the last time you cried? Last week, and I'm not afraid to say it. We'd just wrapped a memorial, you see, and that night I suppose it all washed over me, as strong as ever. It was, nice, and at least I had Higgs with me... 3. Do you have kids? Oh, no, none at all! But, well, I've always... that is to say, we're not old crows yet, if you get my meaning! 4. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Too often, and yet at the same time not enough. 5. What’s the first thing you notice about people? How they dress, followed by how they walk. 6. What’s your eye color? Blue like clear skies, and as sharp as they were a decade ago. 7. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings, any time. Never quite understood the appeal of horror, once you've seen enough of the real stuff cheap gore is soft stuff. 8. Any special talents? I'll have you know I played for the Army team at the Services Billiards Tourney for three years straight when I was a Captain at GSI, and we won the whole run! Oh, those were the days... 9. Where were you born? Well, that is for me to know, and for you, not to. 10. What are your hobbies? Well, these days I've finally found the time to polish off some old writing I left unfinished back at GSI- the General Staff Institute, that is. It's work, but the sort I for the passion of it more than anything else. 11. Have you any pets? Never could stand animals, myself. We had Ol' Sarge Scalie back in Shatihab, the Corps mascot, but I left him in the care of the veterinary folks as much as possible. Cute creature for a desert lizard, but acidic bile never had a place in my tent. 12. What sports do you play/have played? My old Colonel put me on the Battalion rugby team for a game, and that accounts for the sum total of my sporting career. Damn near broke my back that day... 13. How tall are you? Oh, last I checked I was fifteen short of two metres, which isn't much less than when I commissioned. The difference being that I was considered lanky at 19, and now decidedly less so. 14. Favorite subject in school? Oh, I adored history! Majored in it at Northrop, and whenever I was out of field work I tried to get sent somewhere academic to get more of it. Military history, for the most part, though I suppose that comes with the uniform. 15. Dream job? Well, unless another war breaks out and my services find themselves in need, I'm hoping to keep where I am now. A permanent residency at GSI would be nice, or perhaps the new Combined Services Staff Institute they're opening. I've every confidence that our new officership will prove themselves to be every bit our superiors, and I'd like to help make that happen.

I, myself, will be Tagging @hessdalen-globe (For you nagging!) @athenswrites @thatndginger @avrablake @coffeexafterxmidnight and anyone who'd like to take part!

[angelanimedesaray]

📚,🥐, and 🦋for the truth and dare game!

Hellooo! It's good to see you, thank you so much for gracing my inbox 🥰 and for an ask game too, ack, it's been a good week 🥰

Okay! Yes! The questions.

📚 What's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?

Okay, two things. 1) I am super old school, i like physical books, physical notes, i have three corkboars, index cards on pins with tags handing from them, stacks of partially used notebooks, and sticky notes literally covering the wall and desk and bookshelf within arms reach of the computer. So this is not a notes app entry, cause i dont use it, its the last sticky note i put on the wall. And 2) this is going to be spoilers for one of my series because it was dialogue that occurred to me for near endgame of one of my big stories. But I think the fact that it's massively out of context even for those actively reading the series because it's so far down the road HELPS.

So, having said that, what it was, is:

Erwin, thank you, for allowing me to step into the light and take this journey. Hange, I'm forever grateful for all your help in unfurling my wings. And Levi...everything I have ever been and could be, I give to you. The wind lifting my wings ever higher.

🥐 Name one internet reference that will always make you laugh.

Honestly, any good placed reference will always land right with me. I'm the fool that always quotes road work ahead, I can't help it lol. I'm also a sucker for Sanders Vines. BUT for this I chose a Tumblr post about video games from back in the day that is 100000% my playstyle in dnd and video games hahahaha (which one depends on how badly actual stealth goes haha).

"I love that there are two approaches to stealth games. It's either no bodies for the guards to notice or no guards left to notice the bodies." "No one can call the cops if there's no one to call the cops."

🦋 Share something that has been on your heart and mind lately.

Oof, um...it's hard not to get heavy on this one 😅 I mean, I've been thinking a LOT about the deeper topics of life, ngl, which makes sense with a lot of what's going on in my life right now. My dad's been having a lot of medical issues pop up, mothers day is tomorrow and I've been ruminating on a pretty deep letter to write her to go with some flowers I bought her, my brother LITERALLY just graduated high school and I spent the ceremony comforting my little sister whose distraught and told me she's going to be the only one left, like...oof. lots of thoughts about life right now on the one hand. On the other, funnily enough, just yesterday I was talking to my dad, who watched aot as well, and we were talking about the overarching theme of breaking cycles of hatred and how it unfortunately went over the heads of a LOT of people who end up in a twist of bitter irony further illustrating the point 🤷‍♀️, and that was a pretty deep conversation because of my dad's life experiences and what he teaches for a living now, so yeah. Pfft, just "light" over coke floats and tuxedo Sundays in a hidden corner ma and pop ice cream shop conversation, you know 😅

Coincidentally, this question comes at an interesting weekend cause it's been the weekend for heavy topics in Angel's head so far, and there's still a whole nother day to get through 😅

Thanks for the questions!!! I think this is the most attention an ask game I've posted has gotten and I'm loving it 🥰

Ask Game Here

[danglovely]

Regrading Taskmaster: S06E08 What kind of pictures?

*Score changes noted in parenthesis.

It has been awhile! Not gonna lie, I'm a little burnt out on the Taskmaster regrades, but that doesn't mean I want to stop doing them. I have been watching Series 17 and I'm a little underwhelmed by it. I absolutely love Nick Mohammed, but haven't connected with the rest of the cast easily. Additionally, the location task setting isn't all that interesting and there hasn't really been super interesting task design. All that said, underwhelming Taskmaster is still Taskmaster. Plus, I'm here to talk Series 6 anyway.

Alex made a brass rubbing of Greg's face and there really isn't any more to say about it.

Prize Task: The Most Interesting Footwear

I'd love to hear you drop the C-bomb. Crikey?

Asim supposedly stole one boot and one trainer from Post Malone (who is currently Billboard #1 collaborating with Taylor Swift right now). Alice brings in a pair of Verrucas Socks which caused me to learn what the purpose of these actually are. While I did learn something, antiviral wart socks don't become anymore interesting with the knowledge.

Tim's big toe bobble hat is adorable. It also raises the question of when it is appropriate to wear it. Liza brings booties for dogs. I will say the idea of a dog walking in them is interesting, but the shoes themselves aren't interesting. Anything you force a pet to wear that they don't want to wear is going to be interesting to see. Russell got a signed cleat from Phillipe Coutinho, current Al-Duhali soccer player (and played for Liverpool at the time).

So, Tim is easy first and Alice is easy last for me. Liza will bring up fourth for also submitting something impersonalized. That leaves Russell and Asim . . . I lean Russell because (1) his is signed and (2) I'm not sure how much I believe Asim's story.

Alice: 1 (0) Asim: 3 (-2) Liza: 2 (-1) Russell: 4 (+2) Tim: 5 (+1)

VT 01: Put something genuinely surprising in this chocolate egg.

You've got to go, otherwise it's rude. I've got to go, otherwise it's rude.

No win condition dictated, so we default to "most genuinely surprising thing wins." There are two easy candidates for five points . . . Alice and Tim. Alice's is much funnier, but it is genuinely impressive that Tim managed to catch a fly and keep it alive in the egg. That impressiveness earns the five in my mind.

Alice stole Alex's financial information through his wife, but Rachel historically has seemed fairly ready to ruin Alex throughout the history of this show. Asim's worm is the same as the fly except many levels down in impressiveness. It has to take one.

The one legitimately impressive thing about Liza's is that she was able to make a recording that triggered when Alex opened the egg. The Jeremy Irons themed message was thematically confusing and honestly, a lot of contestants brought it for this task. Russell put a lot of effort in, but he can only manage three despite going on an actual day trip with Alex and his son.

Alice: 4 (-1) Asim: 1 (-2) Liza: 2 (-1) Russell: 3 (0) Tim: 5 (+1)

VT 02: Find out what you have in common with this person. Most remarkable things in common wins.

Swear on your life. What's the point of that?

So there is both a quality and quantity aspect to this win condition. It kind of asks that you aggregate two medium-remarkable things and compare it to one REALLY remarkable thing. The easiest way to do this is to list the things the contestants had in common with Carol that were actually any sort of remarkable.

Things we learned that brushed against "remarkable" (because honestly, slim pickings):

Tim and Carol are both good at Scrabble.

Tim and Carol both used to play tennis poorly.

Russell and Carol both die their hair.

Russell showed Carol an earwax removal video that she humored (though I somewhat question how much genuine enthusiasm she had for it).

Alice and Carol were born the same week.

Asim and Carol were both school teachers at some point (Asim not for very long, but still).

Liza definitely lied about her favorite color. She's getting the 1-point. Ranking other facts I'd say Birthday > Die/Earwax > Teachers > Tennis > A lie. Thus, easy scoring --

Alice: 5 (+3) Asim: 3 (-2) Liza: 1 (-2) Russell: 4 (0) Tim: 2 (0)

VT 03: Wearing these heels, create the best dot-to-dot picture on this canvas.

That's what Picasso did. He took an image and then made it unrecognizable.

Best picture? Seems to come down to a couple elements: (1) ambition and (2) accuracy. Asim whiffed on accuracy; Alice whiffed on ambition. Russell has to take 1-point because he didn't attach numbers to it. It's rough, but there is an argument for zero as well (but I guess he did make some dots).

Was Tim actually going for the remnants of the Titanic? I can actually sort of see it. Liza did what one would expect from any non-artist with a childish sense of humor asked to draw a picture. It's not a great drawing, but I kind of think it's good enough for second.

Alice: 3 (+1) Asim: 2 (+1) Liza: 4 (0) Russell: 1 (-2) Tim: 5 (0)

Live Task: Stick a plaster to the correct body part. The slowest person to stick a plaster to the correct body part is eliminated.

Thank you Alice. Thank you Alex. Body part. Body part.

I don't see any dispute-worthy claims within this task. The original scoring stands.

Alice: 3 Asim: 2 Liza: 4 Russell: 5 Tim: 1

F I N A L:

Alice: 16 Asim: 11 Liza: 13 Russell: 17 Tim: 18

TIM WINS. NO TIEBREAKER NEEDED.

[the-scaredy-crow]

OC Deep Dive

Thank you for the tag @finickyfelix! It's been a couple weeks! Between work, moving into my apartment, and school starting again, I have fallen behind on tags a bit, but I finally carved out some time to work on them.

I will be filling this out for both MCs in Kindling Bones, which means we finally get to see Adam in one of these games for once.

I'm leaving an open tag for anyone who wants to try this out. Happy writing! <3 (Template is at the end of the post)

What common/uncommon fears do they have?

Rhys: His two biggest fears are fire and losing people. He also gets scared by loud noises, like explosions pretty easily.

Adam: Adam has a big fear of failure and of disappointing literally anyone. Most people probably aren't scared to take pills, but Adam won't even take pain medicine unless it's absolutely necessary.

Do they have any pet peeves?

Rhys: Nosiness, staring, questions, etc... (he is loving all these questions)

Adam: Irresponsible pet ownership.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

Rhys: His barely-unpacked suit case, a charging port, and his most prized possession: a nautical key chain his brother got from some tourist-trap. It never leaves his person, so it isn't always in that room specifically.

Adam: His bedroom is a lot more cluttered. The top three things include: a calendar marked with due-dates and inspirational messages; his desk, littered with textbooks, playbills, and markers; and the occasional foster cat or patient from the vet who needed a little extra help with pain.

What do they notice first in a person?

Rhys: He pays close attention to how much the other person notices about him. If they have a neck tattoo, he notices that even quicker.

Adam: He is very perceptive in a way most people don't notice. Adam knows the signs of someone in pain—physical, mental, or emotional—and is good at spotting them.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how high is their pain tolerance?

Rhys: His pain tolerance is probably a bit heightened after being nearly killed in a fire. It's not much more than an average person's though. Maybe a six or seven?

Adam: Definitely a 10. His ability allows him to take pain from others, so he's been in pain for much of his life.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure?

Rhys: As much as he believes himself a runner, he is definitely more the type to freeze. It is very hard for him to react any other way.

Adam: He might not look like it, but Adam goes into fight. When it comes down to it, Adam is the type to run into danger rather than from it.

Do they come from a big family/are they a family person?

Rhys: It was mostly just him and his brother, Zach, growing up. Zach's friends welcomed Rhys into their group and acted more like a family than their parents ever did. He is a huge family person; it just happens to be more found family for him.

Adam: He is an only child. His parents constantly teeter between being overwhelmingly controlling and completely detached. Luckily for Adam, his aunt and uncle are happy to act as pseudo-parents. He would love to have a close family one day.

What animal represents them best?

Rhys: He is a raccoon on so many levels. For one, he is obsessed with finding his brother. Nothing will make him let go of this obsession, not even the knowledge that he's actively being hunted. He would also chew his own arm off if he was trapped. All in all, he just very much has raccoon vibes to me.

Adam: You would think he is a cat with how much time he spends with them. I think elephants represent him best, though. Elephants are highly empathetic. They are known to care for others and for their kindness. Adam is extremely empathetic, so it fits him well.

What is a smell they dislike?

Rhys: Smoke. It brings back very bad memories.

Adam: He can't stand the smell of alcohol anymore. He also doesn't like the smell of hospitals—not an easy thing to dislike as a nursing student.

Have they broken any bones?

Rhys: Sort of?

Adam: He hasn't broken a bone, but he has felt the pain of doing so when using his ability.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

Rhys: He has been described by people in town as scarred, broody, mysterious, and by some as attractive—though it makes him uncomfortable to hear.

Adam: Everyone describes him as kind. The rest varies greatly depending on what context they meet him in.

Are they a night owl or a morning bird?

Rhys: A morning person. He struggles to sleep a lot, but he is always up for his morning run with the sun or before it.

Adam: He is a bit more of a night owl, mostly just because he is definitely not a morning bird. The only reason he is ever up before eight is for a shift, a class, or because one of the animals needs pills/treatment/to be let out/etc.

What is a flavor they love and a flavor they hate?

Rhys: He loves spicy food and hates coffee and anything overwhelmingly sweet.

Adam: Pretty much the opposite: Adam loves sweets and hates anything too spicy.

Do they have any hobbies?

Rhys: Running, reading, hiking.

Adam: Acting, art, volunteering; does fostering animals count as a hobby?

Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises?

Rhys: Surprises are not a great idea for him. Once he settles down from the initial spook, he would be really touched and might tear-up a bit.

Adam: At this point, he would probably assume it's an intervention. He also doesn't handle surprises very well anymore, but he would definitely appreciate the effort.

Do they like to wear jewelry?

Rhys: This one depends on your definition of jewelry. And it's not so much like as much as it is that he has to.

Adam: He loves wearing jewelry! Rings, necklaces, earrings, he wears it all.

Do they have neat or messy handwriting?

Rhys: He used to have decent handwriting, but he's probably a bit rusty since he hasn't done much writing in a few years outside of rushed notes.

Adam: His handwriting is downright illegible. He is decent at doodling though. For work, Marty wrote his name on his name tag, and Adam decorated it.

What are the two emotions they feel most?

Rhys: Fear and guilt.

Adam: Love and guilt.

Do they have a favorite fabric?

Rhys: He will wear pretty much anything that doesn't touch his skin too much.

Adam: He isn't super picky about fabric either, but he does love stolen clothes...

What kind of accent do they have?

Rhys: He might have some sort of European accent? Or something from a port city?

Adam: His accent would probably be some Midwestern (US) mix? (That's where I'm from, and everyone says I have a very thick accent, but I am imaging his more faintly.)

// I honestly have no idea; I usually leave this kind of thing up to whoever is reading it.

~

Here's the template:

What common/uncommon fears do they have? Do they have any pet peeves? What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom? What do they notice first in a person? On a scale of 1 to 10 how high is their pain tolerance? Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure? Do they come from a big family/are they a family person? What animal represents them best? What is a smell they dislike? Have they broken any bones? How would a stranger likely describe them? Are they a night owl or a morning bird? What is a flavor they love and a flavor they hate? Do they have any hobbies? Boom, surprise birthday party! How do they react to surprises? Do they like to wear jewelry? Do they have neat or messy handwriting? What are the two emotions they feel most? Do they have a favorite fabric? What kind of accent do they have?

[orelsemystery]

Me & Academia & Publishing & Pittsburgh

I’ve just posted the first three chapters of Or Else. I wrote this yesterday in anticipation. 

I’m sitting in Mellon Park, in the shade of a big tree, drafting a blog post for tomorrow. Off to my right, I can see the bell tower of East Liberty Presbyterian and the white dome that I’ve always assumed is an athletic facility that either belongs to the park on the other side of Fifth or to the Ellis School for Girls, I’ve never been sure which. In some summer in the late 2000s or early 2010s, I used to cross this park on my way back from Shadyside to the house in Point Breeze where I was staying with family friends. I would stop and sit on a bench and read that week’s edition of City Paper. Some other summer, I lay on the hill in the sun and read P.N. Furbank’s biography of E.M. Forster. Now I am here, again, in 2024, because I chose to be.

Academia insists that you move wherever the job takes you, and since traditional tenure-track (i.e., stable and well-paying) jobs are so horribly hard to get these days, you feel guilty if you’re not grateful for whatever you get, no matter how bad a fit the location is. Or so my friends say. I didn’t get a tenure-track job after getting my PhD in English. I don’t have any real idea how much that was my own fault: whether it was because I stubbornly chose to do an unconventional project; whether I didn’t try hard enough to legitimize my project in my job documents; whether I hadn’t published enough. Maybe I hadn’t worked hard enough. Maybe I wasn’t that strong of a scholar. Or maybe there were just so few jobs to begin with that the academic job market is in large part simply a crapshoot, and I didn’t win.

It’s possible I just didn’t stick it out long enough. I don’t know. But I suspect that when all is said and done, the underlying reasons I am here and not there can be boiled down to two things: (1) I want to make my own choices about what my work looks like and (2) I want to be happy in my own life.

So after I finished my Ph.D., I moved back to Pittsburgh. I love the city—it’s where I went to college, and I’ve missed it ever since leaving—and there are enough schools here I figured I could at least adjunct somewhere. I’m actually getting to teach literature right now, which I love doing and am very grateful for. But I am on no ladders to academic glory. 

For the last couple years, however, I’ve been clinging to another possible means of professional success: I could publish the novel I wrote as part of my dissertation. Then I’d be impressive in another way. I queried a number of literary agents, at an inadvisably slow pace, shooting off emails when I could stand the accompanying anxiety. It felt clear, though, that what I was going to need to do to get anywhere serious was network, some of which (workshops, conferences) costs money. And I hate networking and I hate paying money for someone to give my work a chance. I am so cognizant of how many people can’t afford that, and how unfair the whole system can be.

And anyway…I didn’t really want to make my work more marketable. Which is inevitable if you’re going to try and market it.

So I made a different choice, again. To put the novel, the project, on a website of my own. I’m lucky and I am privileged to be able to make this choice—I have a job, for now, that pays enough. I have a safety net in my family and friends. I have a cat but not kids; I have rent but not a mortgage. I have an advanced degree. I can afford to not pin any financial hopes on writing.

Yet it’s hard not to feel like a whole litany of well-meaning teachers and colleagues from over the years are going to be disappointed in me for doing it this way. Or just…disinterested. People who would perk up their ears at a commercially published novel will simply pass by one posted online for free—even if they have good politics generally around capitalism and professionalization. There was only one right answer to the head of my undergraduate drama school’s question, “What are you working on?” and it always involved something that would look good on your resume (and the school’s promotional materials).

Oh well! Here I am! Sorry, everyone: I love amateurism. I love art and writing that people do because they want to. I love fanfiction. I love community theatre. I love zines, I love high school marching bands, I love queer craft fairs. I love adults who rediscover Shrinky-Dinks and polymer clay and make potholders for their friends. I love local book clubs and writing communities on Discord. I love Pittsburgh—I think Pittsburgh’s whole vibe is slightly wonky DIY: faded old signs painted on brick buildings, tree roots pushing up through sidewalks, folding chairs saving parking spots, memories of the Beehive and Garfield’s Nightmare and whatever happened to that one ice cream place that became an illegal banking cooperative or something? Or Else is set in Pittsburgh, at a made-up university I’ve shoved next to Pitt and Carnegie Mellon (who says there’s not room in Oakland), and it’s about people who sort of…make their own worlds, for better or worse, who live one foot in the kind of scrappy imaginary I find so possible in this city. And I am glad to be here, in Mellon Park, writing this, watching a dog with the spindliest legs I have ever seen in my life walking past (sorry Juno), preparing to launch my big little project into the world.

Later update: After I finished writing this post, I walked around the garden in Mellon Park. I was appreciating the Pittsburgh hallmarks I’d just been writing about—bumpy bricks, crumbling walls, etc., and then I tripped on an uneven sidewalk and skinned my knee. I will take this as a reminder that choosing one’s own road comes with obstacles of its own. I am sticking some metaphorical antiseptic into my metaphorical knapsack as I venture down the mysterious path through the woods.

<3 Miranda

[vethsoddities]

Hold Me Like a Grudge

Summary: Ted Sankpoffski Holds A Grudge Against Stephanie Lauter For What She Had to Do In Cool As I Think I Am reprise

CW: Spoilers for NPMD and mentions of what Steph having to do in the moments after the summoning and during In Cool As I Think I Am reprise and mentions of canon things and spoilers for nightmare time 1 Time Bastard(kinda) Ted and Steph get into a argument

Master List

Credit 1:The idea was given to me by @veeicecream screenshot at the end of this post to see the idea

Credit 2:I took the white streak idea from @capriciouslyterminal with permission of corse

Credit 3: To me my idea of Duke Keane and Miss Holloway taking in Steph and teaching her how to bake and Steph working at mode Retro’s which is getting its own fic soon which is a technical part one of this story that on how Holloway and Duke took in Steph

remember requests are open and I evey so often rp if anyone wants to and I’m always looking for proofreaders if you are interested DM me if I messed up anywhere let me know the prequel to this coming at some point this took me long enough as it is lol I suck at endings lol

Ted Spankoffski was acutely aware of Eldrich away’s of the boring town of Hatchetfield, How couldn’t he when the local homeless man looked exactly like him but 50 years older than him and Pete, and how during the honey festival anyone crowned Honey Queen goes missing afterward even if there was reasoning to why the Honey Queen was no longer there in Hatchetfield. Or how so many people go missing every day and how most of the people in town seemed to always have a case of mass hysteria and blame each other like they were in a trial in a courtroom.

For example, in the recent murders of three Hatchetfield High students two out of three were Pete’s best friends Richie Lipschitz and Ruth Fleming and the third was Maxwell Jägerman Pete’s bully for years now since the fourth grade which from what Ted had seen for two weeks Pete seemed happier after Max went missing. Pete was even talking about Stephaine Lauter the mayor’s daughter and how she thought he was funny he even changed his outfit which was a tapestry of his trauma he dropped the bow tie and suspenders for her. 

 Ted approved of the new outfit maybe that was because he gave Pete the sweater a while back even if it didn’t follow the idea of picking an outfit and sticking with but, but sometimes change is good. Though he never moved on from Jenny he didn’t know where she was at all but where Jenny was he hoped she was safe. 

Speaking of being safe Ted sat in his apartment with his head in his hands in disbelief across him was his younger brother Pete was talking to him about some eldrich beings called The Lords In Black and Max Jägerman coming back from the dead which Ted didn’t know what to believe but he was wanting to hear him out. “After we went to the school which is one of many of the black alters and with the black book to summon The Lord’s In Black and the only way we could stop Max. Was one of us had to give up what we Cherish Above All Else,” Pete started as he looked at Ted whose head was still in his hands.

“And for a moment Steph was the one to do it from what one of them said she was lying to herself about what it was before one of them told Steph that,” Pete paused for a moment as he started to quote Wiggog Y'Wrath while trying his best to copy his voice “You can lie to yourself but not to me, think about it” after quoting Wiggog Y'Wrath Pete did his normal voice as he continued to tell Ted the whole story “When Steph Realized what he meant one of The Lords in Black had his hand on my hair said something like  ‘ah their he is’ that had me confused until I realized myself what he meant, which let me tell you having an eldrich being touch you is fucking terrifying. That thing even left a white streak in my hair which I honestly don’t know how to feel about it but Steph said she likes it and thinks it cool so that means that it has to be cool if she thinks then it must be,” Pete said trailing off topic for a moment. 

Ted was about to say something when  Pete got back on topic and  continued to speak “The whole time before and after Maylor Lauter brought us to the witchwood to get the black book Steph had a gun on her,” when Ted heard mention of a gun he looked up at Pete and cut him off to say “A fucking are you Serious Pete, Please don’t tell me this is going where I think is going.” 

To which the teen gave his brother a look and nodded his head and continued to speak before Ted could speak again 

“We didn’t have a choice at that moment, Ted it was either I die or the whole damn world did and I wanted to be cool this time and take the bullet, Ted don’t be mad at Steph she didn’t have a choice as I said and I’m still alive because of  Max stopping the bullet and Grace having sex with a fucking  ghost.” 

Ted had a Scowl on his face hearing that Stephanie Lauter the former Mayor’s daughter almost Sacrificed his younger brother screw the fact the world would have been doomed because of his living. Ted couldn’t even think of being i n a world without his nerdy little brother in  it 

“No Pete I think I will be mad at her hell I'm even holding a grudge against her she got you in trouble for cheating and she’s the reason Max beat you up and she almost fucking killed you and you expect me not to be mad or hold a grudge then you’re damn wrong Pete” Ted looking at Pete Scowl still on his face but it wasn’t directed towards Pete at all. Pete just sighed “I understand where you’re coming from Ted but we didn’t have a choice and I hope you know Steph would never hurt me on purpose and I hope someday you’ll understand that Ted.” With that, the Conversation between the brothers ended.

Over the course of a week after learning Stephaine had almost killed Pete, anytime Steph came over to Ted’s apartment to hang out with Pete she notched the looks Ted threw her way and the snide remarks that she got thrown her way from the elder Spankoffski. Though the remarks were never as harmful as her Father's were Ted was a sleazeball with a grudge but he was respectful to her he heard from Pete by accident what Solomon was like to her and he wouldn’t insult her too badly but he isn’t above being an asshole.

Eventually, the next time Steph came over was after she made brownies with Duke Keane and Miss. Holloway in Miss Retro’s.She had even brought hot chocolate that she also made at Miss Retro’s for Pete she’d rather make it herself or buy it from Starbucks.

Don’t get Steph wrong she’s all for supporting small businesses, But seeing as at Beanies they take forever for getting the order and spit into the drinks in general or if you’re a tad bit rude about not getting your order. Steph will always remember how Pete yelled in Beanies about not getting his hot coffee and how the barista spits in it she’d rather not get it from there.

But she also always liked Miss. Retro’s better because of how understanding and nice Miss. Holloway was to people than the baristas at Beanies were. Maybe she was a little biased on that account of liking Miss. Retro’s because she’s working there until she graduates and gets back on her feet. But that’s another story for another day.

The next time Steph came over was with brownies and hot chocolate like I said before was made with Miss. Holloway and Duke. So when she got to the apartment she knocked on the door and waited for it to open which it did but instead of Pete it was Ted “Hey Spankoffski senior I brought brownies and hot chocolate for Pete can I come in because it’s freezing out here” it was late October which was starting to get colder out.

Ted rolled his eyes and said “Sure come in sycophant make yourself at home and I’m not that old I’m 35 ” Ted muttered and then yelled “Pete your girlfriend’s here with a few things” After a second of Ted’s glaring at her Pete came out of his room and smiled wide at Steph.

“Hey,” Pete said starting to talk as he walked over to Steph “Steph you didn’t have to bring me anything at all” Steph smiled “Well Pete I did anyways plus Miss. Retro helped me make these” Stephanie said lifting her hand that had a dessert box with Miss—Retro’s Dinner logo on it.

“I also made you hot chocolate because I’d rather not give you a drink that the crappy barista at Beanies spits in,” Steph said Ted despite the fact he has a grudge against her agreed with Stephanie on that fact. He knew Emma was crabby he’d seen it himself and yet how co-worker and friend Paul liked her.

Steph gave Pete his hot Chocolate that wasn’t hot or cold it was warm which was just right to drink and Pete wouldn’t have to wait to drink it. After Pete Took the hot chocolate Steph handed him the brownies and he went to put the brownies in the kitchen.

Stephanie in general had enough of Ted’s snide remarks toward her Stephanie decided to confront him upfront about it when Pete wasn’t close enough to hear so she took the chance to confront Ted here and now. So she took the chance to speak to Ted

“I have a question Ted what the fuck did I ever do to you Ted to make you hate me enough to make snide remarks around me” Steph looked him in the eyes as she spoke “Because whatever I did please tell me so we can get over this whole irksome indifferent’s.”     

Ted looks back at Steph and lets out a harsh sigh “Alright i will we’re do I start you almost shot Pete and then acted like it’s nothing and causing nothing but trouble for Pete since you started to talk like how you caused him to get beaten,” Ted continues as he stares at Stephanie done

“And even summoned fucking Eldredge beings called the lords in black and one of them touched him which caused a white streak in his hair” Ted wasn’t going to hold back on what he was saying as he continued to speak. Steph looked at him with a sight shocked expression realizing what this was all about the snide remarks and comments that were aimed towards her.

It took her a moment to speak “Is that what this is about?” Steph said her brows furrowed as she looked at Ted a be it a little hurt “Yes that is what all of this is about Stephanie you act so alienating yourself from showing how you feel,”

“It seems like you don’t give a damn about shooting at my brother to save the whole damn world, and not because of you he only lived because of fucking Grace Chasity of all people.” Ted’s tone was one of anger and indifference towards Steph as the scowl Ted tended to get when angered or annoyed was etched onto his face.

Steph raised a brow and asked “Really? Is that why you hate me honestly I don’t blame you for that I don’t, but you know it was an impossible situation, you know there wasn't a lot of options, so what do you want from me!” Stephanie’s tone was a defensive one.

Ted took a breath and admitted “Yeah there weren't many options, but that's my baby brother, that's all I have And I almost lost him and I never would have known why. It isn't logical or rational to be pissed because I am.”

Ted and Steph sat in silence ending the conversation and the silence tension went painfully slow for a moment before it dawned on the two of them that Pete hadn’t come back yet from putting the hot chocolate on the counter that Steph brought for him. Almost as if it was on queue the sound of something dropping alerted both Steph and Ted.

Steph quickly got up and rushed to the kitchen beating Ted there before he could. Where the sound came from was from the kitchen Ted followed after to check on Pete in case he passed out from low blood sugar.

When Steph rushed into the Kitchen she saw Pete drop one of the hot chocolates she brought. Pete was panicking and Steph’s brows furrowed in concern “Pete? Are you okay can you hear me?” Steph asks knowing that he isn’t good but she thinks she might as well ask him.

Through panicked breaths, Pete looked up at Steph “Steph?” Pete asks his eyesight blurred by tears “Yeah Pete it’s me I’m going to need you to breathe with me okay can you do that?” Steph asks walking to Pete.

Pete nods as he feels Steph put a hand on his shoulder as she tells him to take a deep breath in which he does and then out. After awhile Pete is a bit more calm as Steph tells him to do ‘54321’ he starts to list enter off. “Hey how about we get you into the living room for you to have a seat would you like Pete?” Pete nods as Steph takes his hand and starts to walk back to the living room.

Ted seeing them move steps out of the way side eyeing Steph but with a less aggressive more softened seeing how She handles Pete with such care and compassion. This causes him a moment of trying to fathom how Steph was willing to shoot at Pete but seeing the caring and loving expression with care and understanding for Pete the look she held when she looked at Pete.

It reminded him of Jenny and himself. especially when Jenny did the same thing for him when he had a panic attack in college. He loved Jenny more than a friend but he never got to tell her seeing as she moved to Clivesdale before he got to. The more Ted stared at both Steph and Pete as they talked Pete seemed more calm than he was before.

As the time bastard watches the pare he starts to realize he missed judged Steph. Ted knows that if he had to shoot Jenny to save the world he’d would be especially to keep Pete safe. As he came to that realization he felt bad but he wouldn’t say it out loud at least not right now not in front of Pete.

Ted noticed Steph looked over at him her brows furrowed in confusion trying to pin out why Ted was staring. When he noticed Ted’s gaze had softened more he gave Steph a nod of approval and a scent promise that they’d talk about this later. When Steph got the nod of approval from Ted she had a small smile forming on her face.

Despite the irksome indifference that is sightly still there between Stephanie and Ted at the end of the day the two of them care for each other. Even if Ted still holds the grudge he has towards Stephanie it’s now softened as he slowly understands why she had to nearly sacrifice Pete for the sake of the world.

[chirpsythismorning]

For what I've seen, the ST production team has been working all o this time since none of them are part of neither the WGA nor SAG-Aftra. This probably means they've advanced a lot of work. Do you think that once the strikes are over, this will make it easier for them to start filming as soon as possible or even for the filming process to take less time than initially predicted? (Around a year)

It’s possible.

But it’s also worth noting that them needing a full year to film ST5 is for a multitude of reasons.

With all the delays, they now have to rework their entire schedule post-strike, as it won’t look the same as it looked before the strike. They need to be able to fit dozens of cast-members schedules together to ensure that their availability aligns with other cast-members they have scenes with.

While ST does get first dibs more than the casts other projects because of their contract with Netflix, it’s a lot easier to plan a schedule when you get everyone’s schedules, put them all together, and look at what aligns and what doesn’t, to make it easier for everyone.

For example, it made sense that despite certain cast members being unavailable in May to film, there were rumors (multiple statements from Noah himself) that he would start filming in May. And that’s likely because he started school again in the fall, and so it makes sense they looked at his schedule and determined it would be best to squeeze in as much filming for him as possible from May-August before school started in the fall, with him having a good chunk of time throughout the school year to go back to school for tests, etc..

Another example is David Harbour, who said he was going to be filming Thunderbolts in Atlanta simultaneously while he was filming ST5 in Atlanta. This means he would likely have at least 1-2 weeks of filming for ST and then 1-2 weeks of filming Thunderbolts, with days off and on within the mix, in order to accommodate both films schedules and when they need him for certain scenes.

I think a lot of fans assume that 1 year of filming means nonstop filming for each cast member, which is just not the case.

Even if certain actors have a lot of scenes in each episode, there are still scenes without them.

For example, let’s say Millie has 8 scenes total in 5x01 or something. There are still going to be several scenes without her, upwards of over 10 scenes give or take. That's scenes with other characters filming without Millie present because she does not have to be because she is not in any of the shots. Millie does not need to be strictly in Atlanta for those 1-2 weeks that it takes to film the block of scenes that do not include her. If they can make it so actors are able to be gone for 1-2 weeks of time, as opposed to just filming 1-2 scenes and then having to wait 2-3 days for their next scene, they’ll try to. Not saying that won’t happen occasionally, as I'm sure there are times when it's maybe a week on and week off or three weeks on and one off, but still, doing it in larger blocks to make it easier and accommodate everyone, is much more realistic because it just makes it a lot smoother to flesh out the schedule like that with their main (high demand) cast, and then fit side characters (not as high demand aka more wide open availability) around that.

For example, Amybeth only had like 4ish scenes total throughout the entirety of s4, and she lives out of the country, so it wouldn’t make sense to have her stay in Atlanta for upwards of a year. Instead Amybeth was only in Atlanta filming for two weeks total for those scenes featuring her, from mid May-early June 2021. That meant they had to ensure Maya (and Joe lmao) were available during that time Amybeth would be on set bc they had scenes together. Fun fact, if you pay close attention to the shots with Vickie during the pep rally, it's clear that it was filmed on a different day than the rest of the scenes, bc in the wide shots we don't even see the band on the bleachers (TV magic!). This means that only that corner with the band was filled up and the rest of the bleachers were empty when they shot that scene with Amybeth and Maya. No one else needed to be there since it wasn't necessary.

Usually, filming for 1 episode takes about a month. But it’s likely much of ST5’s episodes will be a little over 60 minutes as opposed to like 50 minutes. So giving them about 1-1.5 months to film each episode, 8 total (unless that changes), puts them at approximately 12 months aka a year. While some episodes might take only a month (or maybe even less) to film, the finale is going to be over 2 hours, which means filming for the finale will take closer to 2 months potentially.

This means 12 months is a very good estimate for how long it could take to film ST5 overall. Though to be fair, given the circumstances of them being on hiatus for so long and maybe being more prepared, maybe it’ll take a little bit less than that? But I honesty don’t think it will be by much, as most years they end up underestimating and it takes a little bit longer than anticipated bc of impromptu delays. (This is also assuming the strike ends and filming starts in Oct, only a couple months from now, which isn't guaranteed whatsoever either).

Even if the strike ends and filming is in full swing and they have a plan to finish in 12 months, there’s no way of knowing for certain if something else could impact filming and cause it to take longer. We should know by now with COVID and the strike that nothing is guaranteed until it’s all filmed. Once it’s all filmed, THEN we can actually start theorizing about when it will premiere.

ST5 premiered about 8 months after filming, not only because post-production is time consuming in and of itself, but because they wanted to have it come out in summer as opposed to Spring. Maybe the first few episodes were ready way earlier, but the later ones weren't even close, so holding off for a more suitable release period, Summer, which they prefer for ST releases anyways, makes sense.

A best case scenario rn, that I allow myself to hope for still, despite everything (assuming the studios get their heads out of their asses asap), is ST5 starting filming in October this year and finishing in October 2024. This puts them at a similar roll out period to ST4, with about 8 months of post-production and a premiere in the summer sometime in 2025 between May-August, whether that include two volumes or not. Netflix is a lot more likely to push for a summer release, regardless of them starting/ending filming sooner than October. Hell, even if they finished editing those first 5 eps by like March or something, Netflix would much rather stretch and wait to release those in early summer with the rest in mid/late summer again, bc they’ve never done Spring releases and I don’t think they’re going to start now. Especially bc I think it will be pushing it in terms of the working conditions being way too strenuous for VFX/editors. I'd rather have them push for a summer release and take their time and make it as good as they can, then to rush and make a spring release and have it feel half ass, only to be over forever.

I know people get sad knowing how long it's going to take to come out. But I just can't comprehend wanting it to be out ASAP, and most likely poorly, only to be over forever. Like this is the end for real. Maybe you'll see one of the characters pop up in a spin off, at best, but it wont be any of the mains that is for certain.

ST5 in 2024 is 100% not happening, so unless you want s5 to be edited for a mere 2 months at absolutely shit quality, let it go. If you want to hope for Spring 2025 go ahead, but that release period is already unprecedented with/without the strike, so don't hold your breath. I would try to accept ST5 Summer 2025 and hope that is as far as it goes. TBH if the strike goes past October, Netflix is going to have to come up with a deal because they are risking ST not premiering in the Summer like they want. If they don't make a deal by then, they'll presumably be forced to make a deal asap, otherwise they’d just be fucking themselves over.