#talk to me and keep me sane

[hinamie]

all i have left

[unclewaynemunson]

Pt2 to this post

'Is something wrong?' Nancy asks, not long after the two of them have taken their familiar spots on the hood of Steve's car. They're basking in what might be the last warm sunlight of the year, looking out over the quarry, at a safe distance from the edge.

It's become a tradition the two of them share, ever since they reconnected back in March. It calms them both, to just sit here and take in the view, no one around but each other. Nancy is one of the few people Steve can share a comfortable silence with: sometimes they sit here quietly for what feels like hours, side by side, listening to music or to nothing but the birds singing around them. But they also have their best conversations here: it's the place where Nancy entrusted him she wanted to break up with Jonathan; it's the place where they talked about their shared past and decided they would always love each other as friends; it's the place where they finally talked about Barbara in a way they couldn't when they were younger. It's where Nancy talked about the ghosts still haunting her and Steve talked about how lonely he sometimes felt.

Steve huffs. 'How did you guess?'

'When you frown, you always do it with your whole face,' Nancy notes. 'So it's hard to miss, really.'

Steve glances at her side profile. There's a serenity to her features that's still relatively new. It means she's healing, slowly learning how to be happy again. It means she stopped waiting for the end of the world and started believing in a real future again. It makes Steve proud of how far they both have come.

'I had a fight with Eddie,' he confesses. 'And with Dustin, I guess.'

'What happened?'

He sighs. 'It's complicated.'

'Wanna tell me about it?'

The look in her eyes is kind and inviting. Steve hesitates. He wants to, but he doesn't know if he can. It's a risk. It's scary.

But he can't imagine Nancy Wheeler ever being careless with his secrets. He can't imagine her judging him, can't imagine her being as small-minded as most people in this town.

He was planning on telling her anyway, because things had been going so well with Eddie lately and – no, he shouldn't think about that right now. But maybe it would actually be nice to talk about it with Nancy.

'So, um...' His throat feels tight and his hands are sweaty. 'I recently discovered some things about myself. I-' The words get stuck somewhere on the way to his mouth, and he clears his throat.

Nancy doesn't push, but only gives him an encouraging nod, waiting for him to find his voice again.

'I found out I like boys,' he finally manages to confess. 'And I need you to know that – that that doesn't mean that what I felt for you wasn't real. It was. I loved you, and now I fell in love with a boy. And-'

'Steve.' Nancy's hand suddenly covers his, causing him to finally jerk his head away from the view over the quarry, to focus on her face again instead.

Her eyes are wide, and she squeezes his hand.

'You don't have to explain yourself to me,' she tells him. 'We're good. But thank you for telling me. For trusting me with this.'

Steve heaves out a relieved sigh, and Nancy smiles; it's that genuine kind of smile which reveals all kinds of dimples and soft lines across her face.

'We might be more similar than you thought,' she tells him, a faint blush spreading over her cheeks.

'Really?' Her words make his breath catch in his throat. He squints at her, trying to see her in this new light. 'Are you saying what I think you're saying?'

She shrugs. 'I don't know. I'm not sure yet,' she admits. 'Still figuring things out.'

'Take your time, there's no rush,' he tells her. 'But...' He bumps his shoulder against hers. 'When you're done figuring it out, talk to me, okay?'

She nods. 'Okay.'

For a while, it's quiet between the two of them. Some kind of raptor circles high above them in the sky. They both follow it with their eyes until it disappears among the tree tops west of the quarry.

'Is it Eddie?'

Steve blinks dumbly a couple of times.

'Wha- what?'

'The guy you were talking about. The one you fell in love with. It's Eddie, isn't it?'

'Jesus, Wheeler, what kind of sorceress are you?' Steve exclaims.

Nancy laughs again. 'You're not being as subtle as you think,' she tells him. 'The two of you have been hooking up for a while now, haven't you?'

Steve huffs dramatically. 'This is unfair. You know everything; I can't even tell you my own secrets anymore!'

'So what happened?' Nancy asks. 'You said you had a fight with him?'

'It's fucking stupid,' he sighs. 'Dustin was getting way too excited about the fact that I was gonna be hanging out with you, so I told him I was seeing someone. Next thing I knew, he was telling Eddie all about how I was seeing a girl.' He waves his hands around to make annoyed air quotations. 'I wanted to tell Eddie it was a misunderstanding, but Dustin was there, so I couldn't out us just like that, and he looked so betrayed and heartbroken... He didn't wanna listen to me.'

Steve sighs; he still can't manage to forget that look in Eddie's eyes when Dustin delivered the big news. 'I wish I would've talked about what I felt for him earlier. I should've been honest when I had the chance, y'know. But I was afraid he wouldn't wanna label what we had, that he wouldn't feel the same way – and now we're in this whole mess. God, he must hate me right now, Nance.'

To his surprise, Nancy gives him an unexpected slap against his arm.

'Ouch, what the hell was that for?!'

'What are you even doing here with me, Steve? You should've gone after him, tell him how you feel!'

'I tried, obviously, but he didn't wanna listen to me!'

'So make him listen! You're in love with him, he obviously feels the same way about you, and you let him leave to wallow in a broken heart he doesn't even need to have!' She rolls her eyes and slides off the car, adding something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like an exasperated 'Boys!' before she pulls Steve off the car as well. 'C'mon, time to get your ass over to the trailer park. Right. Now,' she says through gritted teeth. And, well, Steve knows better than to argue with a determined - and truthfully quite terrifying - Nancy Wheeler.

Read the last part here Taglist: @withacapitalp @ultimatedreamer104 @irregular-child @jcmadgirl @estrellami-1 @myguiltyartpleasure @hallucinatedjosten @jaybren @thew1ldblueyonder @melodymeddler @alycatavatar @zoeweee @lolawonsstuff @fairy-princette @saramelaniemoon @phirex22 @krazyperson @xxsky-shockxx (I only put people on this list who explicitly asked to be tagged. That's really no problem, I love to do that so dw about asking, but I got a lot of relatively vague reactions to the previous post that i'm not gonna dissect and interpret, bc I don't wanna clog anyone's notes unwanted. So just to be clear: i consider it a huge compliment if anyone asks for a tag but please do it clearly if you do!)

[noodles-and-tea]

I keep alternating between your tiktok and tumblr just to ensure I don’t miss any of your Merlín art!!

Awww 🥹🥹🥹🥹

[promisedastoria]

[sorrelpaws]

>be me >make a friend >hang out with him >he gets hurts due to hanging out with me >mfw my only friend might die because of me

[lazybakerart]

NO GOODBYES ONLY SEE YOU SOON

for @weird-an !! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! here's a lil drawing of argyle and billy, where Things are still new and hawkins is some place neither of them have ever heard of. you're a wonderful friend an and you mean the world to me!! thank you for being you!! <3!!

++ close up!

[sundrownsthehouse]

please i am begging you to listen to what i found I'M CRYING

[ironicsoap]

you are expendable, you are not expected to return

[murdleandmarot]

Sometimes you have to make shitty little OCxCanon comics to keep yourself sane

Sorry @mysticalcats I stole ur oc (foxglove)

[yourplaceinaugust]

making non tumblr user friends was a mistake bc i was ranting about symbrock to my friend and ended it by saying "the third movie needs to be rated r so they can fuck" and my friends only response was "what the fuck"

[brainfilehasstoppedworking]

when ur son died in a killing game and u have to survive being one of the hit list targets but ur just a chill guy (im sorry)

His son is dead but he chillin' in Towa's Science Memorial Hall

[snakeeyesdraws]

can you do more Mario scenes? I really enjoyed your first post xD

Yes of course! I'm so glad you did, and I'd be more than happy to do some more posts about Mario game scenes!

Now, originally I had thought to keep it to more obscure games, or at least games that aren't talked about as much, like Super Mario 3d world. But I'm very stressed and exhausted at the moment, and I'm indulging with one of my favourite Mario games, so perhaps....

Overly Analyzing Luigi's Mansion 3; Mario Rescue cutscene

All screenshots taken from this video (hence the watermark, sorry, I cant record it myself)

So, in order to rescue Mario, the player has to defeat the hotel owner, Hellen Gravely in her office. Each boss ghost has their own unique animation before being sucked into the Poltergust G-00, and hers is to demand Luigi pause long enough for her to apply her make up. Queen moment, if I'm to be honest.

Luigi also has a celebration animation after he defeats ghosts and bosses, and here he tosses his hat off in celebration. It's such a cute moment; he's been constantly terrified in this haunted hotel, but he's so proud of himself for conquering this particularly scary obstacle!

Now, the main reason I'm looking at this scene today. Luigi uses the Dark-Light feature of the Poltergust to rescue Mario from the portrait he was trapped in. Said portrait was hanging up in Hellen's office, and she used it to taunt Luigi to come fight her to save his brother, I should add.

Mario falls from the painting and is seemingly dazed and confused at first. Unlike in the first game, the portraits here are frozen, unmoving images, so it takes Mario a moment of checking out his body and arms to realize he's free.

The second he looks up at Luigi, though, he instantly lights up. I recommend you check out the scene for yourself, because the way he bounces up and stretches his arms out as he goes "OH YEAH!" is so cute and expressive. They really outdid themselves with the cutscenes in this game.

Mario runs over to Luigi, exclaiming "Way to go, Luigi!" and his joyful energy is immediately returned by Luigi. Luigi spreads his arm, happily exclaiming "Mario!" while Mario jumps into his arms and just. Look at them.

Look at them.

(I had to find a gif of this specific moment because screenshots would not do it justice)

I can't even begin to describe how happy this makes me. Mario jumping right into Luigi's arms like it's so natural and common for them to do, Luigi's leg lifting up as he catches Mario, Luigi holding Mario up for a split second, Luigi's loud "MARIO, hey bro!" it's so tender and wholesome. This is the kinda sibling energy I wanna see with them!

There's so much display and affection and trust on display here in just a few seconds of animation. And there's just something about Luigi being the one to do the hug lifting that's just, so cute. Chefs kiss, no notes, perfect scene.

Luigi sets Mario back down on his feet, and I love that this shot allows us to see Mario's perspective. While this is overall a very joyful and upbeat scene, I think it's nice to also show Mario getting some much needed comfort after his third time being rescued from a portrait in the Luigi's Mansion series, poor guy.

Very briefly, before they step back, Luigi is also shown patting Mario's back with his hand. Again, even though Luigi has navigated this hotel scared out of his mind, the fact that he's shown to be consciously giving his brother some show of comfort is adorable.

Luigi steps back and they both laugh, Mario placing his hand on Luigi's shoulder. They're both equally happy to be reunited! Smaller note, but Luigi appears to be ever so slightly bending his knees, probably to be closer to Mario. Yes the height difference between them really isn't that noticeable, but I'll take what I can get, okay?

For a second, the scene lingers as they simply stare at each other in relief. Then Luigi seems to snap back to it, having a small "wait a minute-" moment as he looks at the camera.

Immediately, Mario's smile drops too, and his hand drops off Luigi's shoulder as he straightens up. You can tell Luigi kinda forget where they were for a moment, probably because of how relieved he was to see Mario again, and now he's remembering that oh yeah, they're kinda stuck in a haunted hotel with a giant Boo that specifically has it out for them.

Luigi grabs Mario by the shoulder and exclaims, "Come on! This way!" clearly referring to Professor E Gadd's lab.

A bit of context for those who haven't played the game; before rescuing Mario, the player rescues the three Toads who also accompanied them on the vacation trip to the hotel, and every time Luigi escorts them to the elevator so they can stay in E Gadd's lab, safe and sound from the ghosts. So we can infer Luigi's immediate thought was to also get Mario there, so he wouldn't be in danger anymore :'3

He keeps his arm on Mario's shoulder, and grabs his other hand to literally start leading him in the direction of the elevator. Which is just.... so precious. Literally "I just got you back and you are not leaving my side until I know you're safe" energy. They care so much about each other guys. I love protective big bro Mario with all my heart, but protective Luigi fretting and worrying over Mario's wellbeing is so special too.

However, unlike the Toads who were more than happy to stay in the safer lab, Mario has other plans.

While wiggling out of Luigi's gripe, Mario corrects him with "Ah ah, ah ah, this way!" and pulls him back into the office. Luigi's confused, and his hand reflexively almost reaches for the Poltergust since they're heading back in the direct of danger (or it could just be his arm swinging back from Mario's pull, but again, over analyzing.)

The camera pans over to reveal the wall with the portrait Mario was trapped in on it.

Mario turns back to Luigi, clearly gung-ho and ready to go. We don't see much of Luigi's face, but I like to think he had an "oh no, not this again-" expression, because he knows exactly what Mario is about to do.

Mario gestures over his shoulder with a "Come on!" and takes off, leaving Luigi to startle and raise his hand. Here we get their classic dynamic; Mario, head strong and determined, running recklessly right into the action, and Luigi, timid and cautious, taking a moment to really sit and think about the situation.

Mario throws himself at the sliding wall and pushes it aside, demonstrating some serious physical strength. That's a pretty thick wall, with a portrait and tv screen on it to boot, but he manages to throw it open fairly easy.

Once past that, we see Mario stumble a bit from the momentum of pushing the wall. He immediately sets himself upright, gesturing again for Luigi to "Come on!" without much of a pause. Again, so much character on display here; Mario is flinging himself right into the action, and while he isn't particularly clumsy, he's practically stumbling from how fast he's pushing himself.

You can read this as that's simply in Mario's heroic nature - to run right into danger without so much as a second thought - but you can also read it as him being ecstatic to be out of that portrait. Even though he knows at this point that King Boo is waiting for them and Princess Peach still needs saving, he's still smiling and urging Luigi to follow him, like they're on an adventure. This is much more his speed, as opposed to being the one needing a rescue.

So Mario opens the door, not bothering to actually wait for Luigi, and continues on ahead. I read it as a bit of his impulsiveness with charging ahead, and also as trust that Luigi will follow him anywhere - albeit at his own pace.

For a split second, Luigi hesitates with a confuse "Mario?". Even though he knows his brother, he probably wasn't expecting Mario to bounce back so quickly. But hey, if his brother is still willing to forge on ahead even though he just escaped a trapped portrait, Luigi can't hold himself back either, can he?

He grabs his flashlight and exclaims a energized "Okay!". Again, keep in mind that this whole game, Luigi has been terrified out of his wits and scared of every obstacle in his way. But now having his brother back has him grinning and ready to face the challenges up ahead. The way they inspire courage in each other can actually be so personal-

Even though Luigi's Mansion 3 came out first, and the two don't really have a lot of connections outside of being based on the same property, I can't help but connect the new movie's "Nothing can hurt us, as long as we're together!" theme to this scene here.

Such a good scene, great animation and personality on display. Literally my only complaint is that I want more of well thought out cutscenes in Super Mario games in general.

Oh, and more bro hugs. Definitely more bro hugs.

[cosmictap]

TOKIO MY DEAREST LOVE OH HOW I LOVE YOU

Z lahkimi prsti, “anata ga suki”

si čez hrbet napisala mi.

Ti tudi meni, “watashi mo”

so po tebi risale dlani.

[bitethedevil]

Not about Raphael! If my ex is now going out with my friend is it it weird? I can’t understand why people say it’s fucked up situation..

Again, this is a Raphael thirst blog 😭 But I think it’s very sweet that you value my thoughts like that.

[northernscruffycat]

The best joke I heard last year was:

What happens if you can't pay your exorcist?

Your house gets repossessed 👻

Anyway, reblog this to make a landlord lose all their extra houses in 2023

[temtamtom]

What if I started talking about my very very goofy ahh self indulgent Veneziano-Vatican-Seborga family dynamic headcanons huh what then huh what will you do huh huh- 💥