#that’s definitely a big jumble but i just wanted to get my thoughts out there

[piperslovebot]

Seddie's downfall in iLove You was being way too dependent on Carly.

In iDate Sam & Freddie, we see Carly finally being fed up with being Seddie’s counselor and given the way that episode ended, I’d guess that Sam and Freddie had a talk about their relationship.

And then in iCan’t Take It, Sam mentions that they’ve been fighting less. And yes we see Carly helping Sam make up with Freddie, but that’s the only time she’s involved and even that it’s like…of course she’d want her friends to make up. Plus Sam isn’t always that good with words, so Carly was just saying everything that Sam was thinking.

It’s just in iLove You that it’s weird. It seems like Seddie are doing their own thing, and I don’t fault Carly for saying 'dating is learning to like things he likes' and all that, but the fact that Sam and Freddie were listening to Carly’s advice to Spencer it what gets me. Instead of talking about what happened with them, they’re relating with happened with Spencer and his girlfriend to their relationship.

I wish they had both had a real conversation about their relationship and talked about what happened, rather than just going to Carly yet again. Not that there’s anything wrong with going to Carly for advice, but they shouldn’t be doing that almost all the time.

[multifandomthoughts]

Spy, Sniper and Medic with a southern reader

Author’s Note: big thanks to @deathsimage for help with some of these, as they are southern themselves and were able to give me a perspective on what it’s like in the south!

Spy

First of all, all three of the mercs absolutely adore your accent. They think it’s adorable and fits you very well. Spy might have a harder time deciphering some of the idioms or phrases you use than others, however.

Finds your stories of you playing in the dirt catching frogs adorable. However, the thought of him doing that makes him grimace and shudder. Too messy for him. When and if he trusts you enough, he’ll tell you about his own childhood, which will different, still entails shenanigans.

Can’t help but laugh every time you get mad, as your yelling becomes a jumbled mess to him. He shakes his head as you scream phrases like “What in tarnation, I damn near broke my neck!”

In response to you teaching him southern phrases, he teaches you some easy French phrases. You do your best to incorporate them into your vocabulary, and when Spy hears this, he melts internally.

Sniper

Is super enthusiastic about you being from the south and doing all sorts of outdoorsy things as a kid. It means that you wouldn’t be opposed to doing outdoorsy things like camping or catching fish with him.

Tells you about his own childhood, and it’s a bit similar to yours. You bond over shared experiences and memories. Sniper has definitely had a lot of experiences with Snakes, so hearing you wrangled them as a kid impresses him.

You and him have very similar accents so you exchange some idioms with him. You laugh at all the different silly phrases you learn from each other.

You imitate each others accents every so often, bursting into laughter when it sounds particularly accurate. It’s all in good fun and you always make sure that it’s seen as such.

Medic

Is immediately interested in how much time you spent outside as a kid, and wants to do experiments determining if it had any impact on your immunity.

Wrong pronunciation? Wrong pronunciation. He feels comfortable around you because some of the words you say sound different due to your accent, and he’s aware that his accent can do the same.

He also thinks it’s adorable that when you get mad that your accent comes out, just like his does. You giggle at him when this happens, and he does the same for you.

For funsies, he teaches you German words that do not have any direct translation into English, like Backpfeifengesicht (face that begs to be slapped) or Dreikäsehoch (three cheeses high, measurement) so that you two can exchange insults towards the others without being caught.

[fueioekjfisks]

Im so sorry im losing my absolute mind but please hear me out for a second.

Mild tw for implied SA - NOTHING ACTUALLY HAPPENED PEOPLE JUST THINK IT HAPPENED

You know the common misunderstanding au in the danny phandom rn about vlad being a creep and people thinking hes like a CREEPY CREEP and not just a supervillain creep?

Well imagine danny is going on break or something and his dad wants to bring the whole family up to vlads castle for whatever reason.

Danny, obviously, does not want to waste his ONE FREAKING CHANCE of getting some god damn sleep being tormented by vlad and his stupid birds. Plus, vlad will probably plan some big murder plot for his dad and danny CAN. NOT. HANDLE. THAT. RIGHT. NOW.

So danny decides to make a PowerPoint presentation about why he doesnt want to go.

Obviously he cant reveal vlad or his own halfa status so its mostly just really jumbled information about vlad being creepy.

He gets backup from sam, tucker, jazz, and even val. He also knows his mom already dislikes vlad and knows hes a total creep so all he really needs to do is convince his dad.

But??? As hes compiling evidence??? And rehearsing his presentation with hes friends??? He realizes that it sounds super fucked up???

And like, it’s mostly just bad without all the context. But he realizes that Vlad is actually kinda sick in the head. Danny knows he would never actually do something that terrible, but its supper concering how similar his actions are to like, actual bad people.

Danny isnt mad about it or anything, he’s actually just worried about it Vlad.

Danny is not perfect by any means. But Vlad is the only other member of his species besides, like, his fucking clone (which holy shit Vlad what the fuck) or maybe dan who is also fucked up.

Danny knew that Vlads death definitely messed him up, but he never really thought about Vlads actions beyond “obsessive fruitloop, at it again :/“ and is just now realizing that vlad might need psychological help. Which he feels pretty (REALLY) bad about.

Danny has no idea what to do, and no idea who to go to.

So he sneaks out, doesnt even go ghost as he takes the powerpoint to vlad who obviously freaks tf out because holy shit thats SO MUCH WORSE THAN ANYTHING HE COULD HAVE POSSIBLY IMAGINED. What if he had actually hurt daniel? What if he had hurt his precious Madeline?? He needs help like yesterday! How did he ever get so bad???!

So Vlad freaks, trashes his own house, apologizes to danny, and books it through the portal to find the far frozen or somewhere else he can get help.

Danny is somewhat shellshocked about the whole situation. It doesnt get better when people start investigating Vlads disappearance.

The state of the manor indicates foul play and the police look into it further. Find security tapes. They see danny, frazzled and paranoid, enter Vlads property, everything goes to static, and only danny leaves.

Hes arrested of course, and he and his friends/family are interrogated.

Everybody vehemently denies that Danny would ever do such a thing, but when they are asked if danny has potential motives everyone (except for jack) gets all squeamish.

Its practically common knowledge in Amity Park that the mayor and the weird Fenton child had beef. People just were unsure why.

I think it would be really cool to focus a story around the polices pov of the investigation/ random Amity Parkers interpretation of the events.

Danny being kinda creepy after the accident (because death) could totally make people assume he did it and that would be awesome.

We can also add in de-aged Dani/Ellie and or Dan for that extra spice.

Imagine the fentons finding out about Dannys supposed kids in the context that they are MOTIVES FOR THEIR SON TO MURDER THEIR COLLAGE FRIEND ( AND DANNYS OWN GODFATHER) WHO APPARENTLY GROOMED HIM???!? AND THEY DIDNT EVEN NOTICE??!?

This could totally be a crossover too. Lucifer tv show. Batman. Supernatural. All are good.

Anyway, thought this could be kinda interesting

Please continue if you want

[theyapper0]

Doodles for the finale and some things that I picture will be BIG points in S2 of this rewrite!!!

A lot of the post-finale stuff is written w the drawings BUT I do wanna say that the hotel isn't getting rebuilt in just one 4 minute song

It's gonna be something that's gonna be in the slow process of rebuilding over the course of season 2, serving not only of a physical representation of how the whole idea of the Hazbin Hotel is basically starting over from scratch due to what happened in the finale (tarnished reputation bc of Adam's death, redemption being possible, etc)

AND it will also be another force in the season why characters STILL won't take our gang seriously DESPITE THE FACT THAT CHARLIE AND VAGGIE'S THEORY WAS RIGHT, the hotel is nothing but scaffolding and garbage by the time season 2 takes place, who's gonna believe THAT PLACE is the holy grail for redemption?

And there's some ramblings about this rewrite and what im considering moving forward!!! Just about my thoughts for season 2!! Feel free to read, or not!

I'm still on the fence with how I wanna go about season 2. On one hand, Im really curious to see how the writers decided to have the next season play out in canon and I'd totally be willing to implement any ideas that I liked just like I did with what I have so far!!!!

But on the other hand..... I HAVE SO MANY IDEAS........ So many plotlines for the story and the characters that I WANNA DO!!!!!! I WANT LILITH TO BE THE ONE WHO ALASTOR MADE THE DEAL WITH, I WANT ALASTOR AND CHARLIE TO FIGHT, I WANT LUTE AND VAGGIE TO FAC EACH OTHER AGAIN I WANT EMILY AND CHARLIE TO BE ON AWFUL FOOTING I WANT SO MANY MANY MANY THINGS MAN!!!!!

I have a lot of ideas and theories that I wanna do in this that I KNOW will get disproven when the actual show gets its next season and Im scared of this turning into something else entirely.

I mean, Im not scared of it being something different, Im just worried that people wont wanna read it if it strays too far away from the source material. Ik a lot of people (myself ESPECIALLYYYY) get turned off when it comes to super convoluted aus that has so much story and shit and is so far away from canon, too much to follow -> ppl don't care (like i get it, I AM THE SAME WAY OK........)

But does this stuff make any sense??? idkkk

I have a couple posts worth of doodles that I'll be uploading w in these days so look forward to that!

And I definitely have some ideas that I'll be sharing about this rewrite's version of S2 so.... I guess if people like what I have planned for it, I'll keep going? IDK!!!!!!

Thanks for reading this jumbled mess!

[abbonation]

More Than A Match... | Chapter 1

Joel Miller didn’t think love was in the cards for him—not as a single dad navigating the chaos of fatherhood and life’s endless responsibilities. But a late-night Match.com notification changes everything, leading him to you: bold, captivating, and completely unexpected. What starts as cautious conversation soon ignites into a sizzling connection that just might redefine everything Joel thought he knew about love and second chances.

An 18+ Joel Miller x Reader fanfic!

Word Count: 5.3k, tags and warnings under the cut

Warnings/tags: NO USE OF Y/N!! PreOutbreak!Joel x Reader, Single dad Joel, Descriptions of arousal, male masturbation, reader is tatted

A/N: Helllloooo! Long time no speak, y'know the usual yahda yahda, school is kicking my ass and whatnot. I'm on winter break right now so there has been plenty of time to lock in and pump out some writing that's been itching the walls of my brain. I hope you guys like this! I've had so much fun designing the headers and stuff. I'm really leaning into the 'divorced dad rock' of it all here, and reader is def alt vibes.... sorry if that's not your thing! Talk soon!

Creating a Match.com profile wasn't his idea; he was just nodding along with Tommy's apology after his efforts to set him up the last time had majorly failed. He definitely didn't expect to ever actually open the website again after that dinner with his brother, and he definitely didn't expect to get a match from you that evening. 

Sarah slept on the couch while Over The Hedge played on the television. Joel was cleaning up the kitchen in preparation for the school week; he packed Sarah's lunchbox and soccer snacks, leaving a note inside the plastic grocery sack before setting them on the lower shelf in the fridge so she could see them when she woke up for the school bus. On Mondays, Sarah rode the bus to school, but Joel picked her up; on Tuesdays, Joel drove her to school, but the bus brought her home. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, Tommy picked her up, and Friday was soccer night- Joel would come to watch the game and take her home after. He was putting away the dry dinner dishes when an enthusiastic "MWAH, you've got a match!" rang through the house. 

Sarah shot up just as Joel jumped and turned towards where the computer sat in the corner of the kitchen, the plate he held falling and shattering near his feet. 

"Dad?" Sarah rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she approached the kitchen. "What was that?"

"Hangon Sarah, broken glass on the floor. I'm not sure what it was-"

Joel carefully stepped over the large porcelain shards and grabbed the broom and dustpan, returning to the mess to sweep it up. "Remember to put your slippers on if you walk in here, Pumpkin, don't want you gettin sliced up." He told Sarah, she nodded as he dumped the broken pieces into the trash can. "Time for bed, make sure to set your alarm, I'll be gone by the time you get up tomorrow." 

Sarah yawned and hugged Joel, too tired to argue about staying up to finish her movie, and he leaned down to pick her up, she was just about too big to do this anymore, and he wasn't looking forward to the day he couldn't easily tote her around on his back and shoulders. "Let's go baby girl, I'll give you a ride upstairs, how 'bout that?" Joel flipped the light in the kitchen, turned off the computer too, and switched off the T.V., putting the house to sleep for the night. 

He settles in bed, all but forgetting the actual cause of the plate dropping in the kitchen. He was sure it had something to do with that website Tommy had shown him earlier in the evening. What had the robotic woman said? He had a match?

. . . . .

A jumbled up, chaotic mess, this was normal for a Monday morning. His alarm went off late, even though he certainly set it for the correct time. The dryer turned off in the night, so his jeans were stilly soggy, Tommy had left an empty carton of cream in the fridge, so there was none for his coffee, and, to add insult to injury, when he caught a peek of his reflection in Sarah's bedroom mirror when he popped in to give her a kiss goodbye, his hair was ten kinds of fucked up. Not that he ever took the time to fix it, but still, another thing to toss on the pile. Luckily, it was quickly becoming springtime, and he didn't need to heat the truck up, so he flew out of the neighborhood as fast as the morning nine to fivers would allow. 

He thought nothing of the notification that played through the computer speakers the previous night, instead opting to wonder if the lumber shipment would get in on time, where the fuck Jeffery was despite it being 8:23 AM already, and trying to fry it into his mind that today was his day to pick up Sarah from school. "MUST LEAVE BY 3:00," He said to himself; he refused to leave her hanging again. It happened one time during her first year of middle school. He could tell she was embarrassed when he finally pulled in half an hour late, and no amount of apologizing could make a tween girl forget something like that. 

Lunch came and went all too quickly, and, before he knew it, he was pretending not to hear people ask 'where he was headed' as he sped-walked to his truck to leave the jobsite for the day. 

Sarah bounces from the doors with the swarms of middle schoolers leaving to enjoy one of the first warm afternoons of the year with a trifold board in tow. She piles up into the cab of his old Dodge, immediately rattling off about her new project for Social Studies. Her joy never fails to light him up, somehow, she makes American History interesting on their drive home from town, back to the peaceful suburbs where they'd get ready to do the whole thing again tomorrow. 

"So then Thomas Jefferson was like, that's really messed up we aren't gonna stand for this okay, John?" 

"And then what?" He nods along, pulling into the driveway where Sarah hops out to get the mail.

"Well then they met with all these other guys and wrote the Declaration of Independence, which is what my whole project is about." 

Joel unlocks the door, plops Sarah's purple and pink embroidered backpack down on the couch, kicks off his steel-toed boots, and goes to the fridge for a soda. 

"So I need to use the computer to design my poster, that's okay, right?" 

The memory of last night and the website all pop into his mind at the sound of his soda tab opening, and he works to act as normal as possible so as not to raise her suspicion. 

"Yeah that should be fine, I just gotta do something there first, actually."

She stops rifling through the fridge to look at him, "You have something to do on the computer?" Her eyebrow raised to him. 

"Gotta email a client about some lumber, it was supposed to get delivered today but the supplier got delayed with the hurricane down the coast." He might've spit it out a little fast, but it was the truth anyhow. All he gets is an mhmm as Sarah plops on the couch with the remote in hand. 

He settles into the dining room chair and turns on the machine. He waits for the dial-up to finish connecting and opens the Netscape Navigator. Here, he follows the sticky note Tommy wrote down to type in MATCH.COM. Before he clicks the little magnifier to search, he carefully leans around the kitchen wall to make sure Sarah is still watching her show; her new favorite, Lizzy McGuire, is just starting, so he has some time.

The screen loads slowly, the purple header leading to a big pink heart in the middle of the screen: "Over 3,100,000 singles have used our services worldwide!" "Click here!" He clicks to type his username and password: JoelMiller1973 and Sarah1234, respectively. 

When his home screen loads up, there's less than a second before your profile pops up, right under his cursor: a little grainy picture of a young woman with her hair down, smiling with teeth at the camera. There's your name is right below it, followed by 24, Austin, TX beside that. Above your photo are swirly letters reading, "You matched! Chat now?" 

He vaguely recalls seeing your name across the screen last night after dinner while Tommy was giving him a tour of the website. "So basically, you click the heart next to girls you like, and if they click the heart on you too, then you match." 

"Tommy, you realize how asinine this sounds, don't you? This feels like something for teenagers, not grown men with kids." Joel glares at Tommy, where he sits in front of the monitor. 

"Kid. Not kids, Joel. And for your information, my friend at work Bailey met her boyfriend Josh on here and they are perfectly happy together."

"Well, good for Bailey and Josh, we're talking about Joel Miller, 27-year-old single dad of an almost teenage girl, who hasn't had sex in 8 and a half months." Joel doesn't really mean for the last part to slip out, but he's kind of getting desperate at this point; there's only so much your right hand can do for a fella.

"Jesus man, TMI," Tommy says, holding his hand out to stop him. "But I am sorry, though. I know it's hard with Sarah and everything. And I'm sorry about what happened with Jill—I didn't think she was like that."

. . . . .

That past weekend, Joel let Tommy set him up with Jillian, Jill, from his apartment complex. He met her at a little bar where The Nosedives, a little local band, would be playing, and she was just like Tommy described, sweet, smelled good, and laughed at everything he said. The only thing was she flipped shit when he mentioned Sarah's soccer game when the bartender was changing channels on the television and flipped past a Duke vs. NC State game. 

"Your daughter? As in, you have a kid?" She raised her voice, gaining the attention of the patrons sitting around them. 

Joel ducked his head slightly, "You didn't know? I thought Tommy woulda told you?" 

"Would I be here if he had?" Jill stands, grabbing her clutch and getting up from the bar. "That's some pretty fucking important information, Joel. Don't call me."

And that was the last he saw of sweet, smelled good, Jill. 

. . . . .

"It's fine man. I'm not mad, really. No one like that is worth crying about, I'm just glad it happened there than here at the house. God forbid Sarah hear something like that, that's the last thing she needs." 

Tommy nods, clicking through the pages of women from the general Austin area, "Hey, she's pretty cute. Close by too, think she's available tonight?" 

"Fuck off," Joel laughs at his brother, he points at your little picture on the screen, "What about her?" 

"Sure," Tommy clicks the heart and scrolls, "The world is your oyster with this, man, you can have as many as you want as often as you like." 

Joel rolls his eyes, "You know that's not what I want for us, even if I could have that." Joel often finds himself speaking in terms of Us, Us being himself and Sarah, of course. Unfortunately, part of dating as a single parent is always including your kid, whether you want to or not.  They aren't just something to sit down and pick up when it's convenient, so until he met someone who could respect that, it would just have to be him and her, and that would just have to be fine. 

He hovers over the Chat now! button, visions of Jill plaguing his mind. He sighs and moves to press the big 'X' in the corner instead. He really shouldn't. Right now just isn't a good time for his dating life to be his priority. 

But, it is so tempting. As much as he loves Sarah and Tommy and adores being a dad, Joel spent the winter feeling that pull, an unshakeable chill in his bones every time he went crawling into bed alone. He was longing, lonely and in need of some relief.

He didn't want to put all that expectation on a random woman from his computer, but you were pretty, in all your grainy glory, cheesing at him from your little picture. What could happen? You don't respond, or you do respond and don't hit it off with him? If that was the worst-case scenario as opposed to his recent experience, this sounded like a walk in the park. 

So he moved the cursor over the Chat now! Button and clicked. 

A little creaky door sound played as 'JoelMiller1973 has joined the chat.' Followed by a little blinking text box showing up on his screen. Fuck. He had no clue what to say or how he was supposed to start a virtual conversation. He knew you were in Austin- that helped some, but shit, he hadn't ever done something like this before. Usually, women would approach Joel, at most he'd send them a shot at the bar to get their attention. 

"Hi there, how are you?" He typed out carefully, making sure not to misspell anything, but his big fingers and lack of practice with the keyboard made it difficult. Fuck it, he thought, "Good enough." He clicked enter and sent it off with a woosh. 

He didn't want to raise suspicion with Sarah for what took him so long, so he quickly logged out of the website and emailed the client he had needed to get in touch with about the lumber, setting a record time for the fastest email he had ever typed. 

. . . . .

Tuesday and Wednesday flew by as they normally did. On Thursday, Tommy was going to pick Sarah up and take her to the mall to buy a present for her friend's birthday next week. Joel hadn't planned on having his afternoon free, but the continued delay in the lumber shipment meant he could leave the job site early, and he headed home to a very rare empty house. 

Quickly, Joel's mind turned to other things. He remembered the message he had sent on the dating website Monday night and settled down at the computer desk to check if you had responded.

He logged on to MATCH.COM to a new popup; this time, there were multiple other photos of women with the caption, You have 5 New matches! 

'Wow,' he thought out loud. Maybe Tommy was right about the whole whenever and whoever he wanted thing. In the moment, though, he really wanted to see if you had even gotten his message. There was no point in contacting anyone else if no one really answered. Sure enough, as he closed the first, another popup appeared. 

'Just4girl77 has sent you a message. Would you like to view it?' A smile formed on Joel's face; this was fucking cool; what a time to be living in. He clicked 'Yes!' On the screen, and a new box now featuring both of your screen names showed up.

Your message came through in a cute purple font, 'Hi JoelMiller1973, I guess that means I don't need to ask your name and age LOL.' 

What the hell was 'LOL'? His brow furrowed and his hands hovered over the keyboard, he debated calling Tommy, even though using the minutes for something like this is what Joel wouldn't say is a "Necessaries only, emergency call."

He wiggled his fingers, typing out, 'I see your name. Are you a No Doubt fan?' He sent the message and stood from the desk to make a sandwich. He was no further than slathering mayo on the bread when a door opening creak sounded from the speakers, and he moved over, bread and knife in hand, to see what the screen said. 

'Just4girl77 is online now!'

'Just4girl 77: Yes I am! I saw them at the Pavillion in Houston last June.' 

He huffs a laugh and sets the bread on the kitchen island to respond. 

JoelMiller1973: Last time I was at the Pavillion was for the Creed tour in 99. What is your favorite song by them?

He gets back to making his sandwich. He doesn't want to become some hermit, sitting inside on the computer all day messaging a virtual woman; and that was another thing, what if you turn out to be some creep? He was always warning Sarah about staying away from strangers on AOL; how was this any different? 

A few minutes later, he sits back down at the computer to a new message.

'Just4girl77: Well, Just A Girl, obviously, but probably Bathwater or New off the Return of Saturn album. How about you with Creed?'

He scrolls down and sees a photo you sent; it looks to be from within the pit at the concert; in the background, Joel can see a faraway Gwen Steffani raising one hand up in the air. The picture captures who he recognizes as you from your knees up. The girl next to you is hugging you around your middle; you're wearing jeans and a short white tank top that shows off your belly and midriff, your foot is kicked up behind you, and you don leopard print platform sandals. Your eyes are closed, and your hand is pointing the rock and roll symbol at the camera, with your other arm flung around your friend's neck. Your hair is in spiky pigtails on top of your head, and your left arm is almost covered in tattoos.

It's funny that they say a picture is worth a thousand words because he has about fifteen million running through his mind at the moment. If his mouth was dry before, when he squints and realizes your nipples are pierced and sticking through the tanktop, he might as well be chewing sandpaper now. 

"Holy shit." He says out loud, for real, now. He keeps scrolling to see your next message. 

'Just4girl77: This is me and my friend at the concert, we wanted Gwen to be in it, but she never came over to us! Haha. We had a good time tho.' 

He swallows his bite and gulps down a big swig of his beer. You were smoking hot, not to mention super fucking cool looking. Cool? Jesus, he should just go re-enroll in high school now; this is ridiculous. Now he was nervous, definitely not wanting to fuck this up.

Joel tried to come up with the coolest Creed song he could think of. Beautiful was the first thing he thought of, but that was maybe a little too on the nose. 

‘JoelMiller1973: Honestly, I think Faceless Man is my favortw.’

Fuck. typo.

'JoelMiller1973: I meant favorite.'

He cringes. You were probably going to close the chat and never reopen it, and he couldn't blame you; you were way out of his league. 

'Just4girl77: Cool! I'll check it out next time I'm at the mall, I don't have their CD yet.'

'Just4girl77: So what do you do?'

Oh. Maybe not. 

Joel messaged with you periodically for a few hours until Sarah and Tommy arrived home, he sent off a quick goodbye message and closed the computer for the night, choosing to think about everything later.

. . . . .

Sarah had picked a raspberry body mist set from Bath & Body Works and a CD case with the Powerpuff Girls on it for her friend.

Tommy came in with a bag from Spencer's.

"Please tell me you didn't take Sarah into Spencer's, Tommy." Joel rubbed his forehead.

"No, he made me wait in front of the store even though they were having a huge sale and I could've found something for Khloe in there." 

Sarah rolls her eyes at him, and Joel breathes a sigh of relief. "Alright, thank God." 

It isn't until Saturday morning that Joel can log on and message you again. Sarah slept in after her soccer game the previous night, and Joel would probably have the computer until at least 11 o'clock. 

'JoelMiller1973: Hey there, sorry I haven't had a chance to talk. Been busy with work.'

He wrings his fingers, he wants you to be online, he was looking forward to messaging you as often as possible now, imagining what your voice would sound like if he were really talking to you. 

After five minutes he decides to start the pancake batter for breakfast, to give himself something to do, but is all too happy to nearly slide on his socks back to the desk with the notification chimes that you had messaged back. 

'Just4girl77: Hi!!1 It's okay, I've been busy too. Maybe we could exchange phone numbers and call for real, that way you can reach me whenever you want?' 

'Just4girl77: (512) 555-4468'

Joel nearly jumps up out of his seat with excitement. He snatches the home phone off the wall and, probably too eagerly, keys in your number. 

He clears his throat as it rings, and then-

. . . . . . . . . .

The phone rang almost immediately upon sending you number to Joel. You popped up from your desk and grabbed the phone off its base on your dresser, yelling out to your roommate, "I've got it, Sadie!" 

Wait two rings, and, "Hello?" You try to sound normal but slightly more sensuous than you would any other time picking up the phone. 

"Hey there, um, this is Joel." 

Yum, his voice is deep and sort of gruff, from the picture on his profile, he was probably a DILF, and his voice certainly matched. 

"Hello, Joel, so what are you wearing?" you ask jokingly. 

A cough comes through the line, "uhum, huh?" 

"Oh, too, soon?"

He stutters over his words, "Well, I uh-"

"I'm just kidding, Joel." You wait a beat, "So what're you up to, today?"

He laughs into the phone, "Right, I knew. Well—right now I'm making pancakes, and later we're going to see that new movie Shrek at the mall." 

"Who's we? And why are you going to see a cartoon?" You laugh and he thinks he nearly passes out, it sounds so incredible. 

Joel heads for the front porch, stepping quietly through the living room so as not to wake Sarah up. "Well, this is why I'm glad to finally get to call you," he says, sitting down on the step and stretching his legs out in front of him. "This isn't really something to say through text."

You brace for the worst; he's married and wants this to be a secret, a load of drama you're definitely not up for right now. 

"I have a daughter. And I didn't tell you before because I wanted you to hear it from me so we could talk about it properly, face to face, er, well, you know what I mean."

"Sure Joel, I know what you mean, what's her name?" 

"It's Sarah. She's twelve, hence the cartoons and pancakes-" 

You chuckle into his ear, "That sounds fun, twelve is hard, I bet you're a great dad, though." 

Your admission makes his heart skip. You're sweet, really sweet, and apparently, not put off by his being a dad. 

"Thank you, that's nice-"

"I'm sorry, I hope that isn't weird to say, I'm embarrassed," you interject.

"No! No, it's not weird, it's really nice to hear, actually." He's fully smiling now, imagining your face behind the phone.

There's a beat of silence before you clear your throat, "So, the mall, huh? That sounds fun!" 

"Mhm, it's Sarah's friend's birthday, so they're going to celebrate. I was gonna watch the movie with them, but say, if you're not busy, we could pick you up on the way, and I could show you that Creed album we talked about." His boldness surprises him; there's a frog in his throat, and the hand on the back of his neck is clammy as he spits the question out. 

You sound surprised at his words, too, "Oh- Joel I-" 

For some reason, this is the first time he's really registering that you're saying his name, and damn, does it sound perfect coming off your lips. 

"Honestly, I'm a little nervous to meet anyone from online in real life, but you seem to be okay and I do have something to return. Maybe I could just meet you there? Which mall will you be at?" 

"I completely understand, I was just thinking that meeting people online is so new, I wonder how many people are fake on there . . . We'll be at the Barton Creek Mall around 2:30 this afternoon, if I can get the sleeping beauty up in time to do her hair."

You think you may swoon right now, jesus, that was attractive, "That sounds perfect, Joel, I'll see you there, by the Macy's okay?"

"Okay, b-bye." He hangs up and, in a move pulled directly from the 'I have a tween daughter' playbook, holds the phone against his chest and closes his eyes, letting a whisper-soft "Yes!" slip through his lips. 

. . . . .

When you arrive at the mall and find a parking space, you stop to check your appearance in the Macy's bathroom before going to look for Joel. You wear a black and white floral printed maxi skirt with a slit up the calf, a black tie-neck top, and black strappy platform sandals. A young girl enters the bathroom on your way out, and she eyes you up and down, ogling the tattoos on your arm. It's so cute; you love seeing kids' reactions to your tattoos; they can never hide their true feelings about them the way adults try to. 

As you go to make your way back to the entrance to look for Joel, you see him and are stopped in your tracks; he's leaning against a beam by the restrooms in a dark grey tee shirt with an open short-sleeved button-up over top, jeans, and sneakers. The outfit is simple but damn effective; you'd definitely take a second look if you were seeing him for the very first time with no context. 

"Uhm- Joel?" You call out, praying you were right in your assumption. He looks up from the floor and pulls his hands out of his pockets. There's a lack of recognition on his face until he suddenly lights up. His smile is gorgeous, and he walks towards where you wave at him and pull our bag up higher on your shoulder. 

"Hey, hi-" he greets you but isn't sure whether to shake your hand or hug you, so he just half waves. "Wow you look-" 

Beaming, incredible, sexy- 

"Great, you look great, too, Joel." You smile at him. "Why're you over here?" 

"Just waiting for Sarah in the bathroom— oh there she is now,"

You turn around to see the girl who was looking at your arm earlier. "Oh, hi there, Sarah," you introduce yourself. It's nice to meet you."

She smiles timidly and stands beside her dad, "Who're you?" 

"This is my friend, we met at, um at work. My work. She was at one of the jobsites." 

Sarah looks back and forth between the two of you. "Alright, dad. You're so weird. Let's go; I don't want to be late." 

You smile and nod at her, and Joel motions for you to walk beside him to take Sarah to the theater attached to the mall. 

After dropping her off with her friends and the birthday girl's mom, you turn to Joel and say, "So I guess this is like our first date, huh?" 

He stiffens a little, "I'm sorry, I should've planned something nicer-"

You shake your head, laughing, "That's not what I meant Joel, this is perfect, c'mon, show me to the record store." 

You pick up coffee on the way through the mall and end up inside the FYE by the CD section. You sift through until you find the No Doubt album you told Joel about, along with the newest Limp Bizkit album you didn't have. The conversation between you and Joel flows naturally, talking about work, how you're finishing school soon, life, and music, and each of your interests is seemingly complimentary to the others in some way. Your hand brushes Joels as you shift down the row to the 'C's' to find the Creed album. Electric shoots through your limb, and he smiles down at you. It's nice. 

After you checkout, you walk to Victoria's Secret, where you have to make a return. 

"You don't have to come in here, but my aunt seems to think I need fancy bras in the size I wore in high school, so I'm gonna return them real quick."

"It's okay, I'm not totally perverted," thoughts of the first time he found a porn video online flash behind his eyelids. Now that he thinks about it, a woman that looks a lot like you is wearing pretty lingerie like what was sold here. He swallows; just don't think about it. It's fine.

This was the first date; you were worth more than having Joel eye fuck you while you walked around the mall, but damn if he couldn't help himself. When you pulled out the red ribbony thing and plopped it on the counter with the receipt, he wanted to fall to his knees, imagining your breasts draped in the soft material, letting his lips follow the line of your belly down to the crux of your pretty legs. 

"Whaddu think Joel?" 

You were asking him something, shit. "Wha- what is it?" He smiles, feigning innocence. 

"Do you think I should just get a refund or get them in my size, this nice lady says they have it in my size."

The employee is turned to the back counter, refolding things when Joel leans to your ear. 

"In an effort to not sound like a horny guy on a first date, I'll tell you to just get a refund, but if you really want my opinion, I think it'd look mighty pretty on you, sweetheart." 

His voice so close to your ear melts you, and you meet his dark eyes up close for the first time, understanding why they say, 'you can get lost in them.'

"I think I'll take it in my size." You turn back to the woman, and Joel has to turn away to quickly adjust his pants.

Outside Victoria's Secret, you and Joel walk back towards the theater to wait for Sarah. You reach down and grab Joel's hand. He looks down at where you're joined and then to your face. You just smile at him and rub your thumb against the top of his knuckles. 

. . . . .

"How about a real date next time? We could do dinner?" Joel says as he opens your car door for you. "I can cook or we could go out? It's up to you."

"Well, I'm glad to hear there'll be a meeting next time, Mr. Miller. Today was really fun." You stand sandwiched between Joel and the car, hands holding your bag behind your back. You meet Joel's eyes again and watch his gaze drift down your face to your lips. When he looks back into your stare, you lean in and press your lips to his, tilting to slot against his sharp nose. Joel raises a big hand to cup your skull and deepen your kiss. The pull away is quick; then the fire is lit when Joel dives back in, hungrier against your mouth. He kisses you deeper now and peeks his tongue out to taste your lips where they meet, you hum into him, and he groans back to you, moving his other hand around your waist. 

When Joel pulls away he's breathless, your cheeks are heated, and his pupils are enlarged. "Sorry, got carried away-" You cut him off with another peck.

"It's okay. You're good at being in charge," You tease.

Joel breathes in, "I'm so glad Tommy put me on that website."

Sarah walks out the doors of the theater then, distractedly laughing with her friends still. Joel backs up from his close position to you. "So, I'll call you, kay? Next weekend, probably, for dinner." 

"Okay, Joel, sounds good. Drive safe!" You slip down into the driver's seat and pop your new Creed CD into the disc player.

That night, Joel came faster and harder during his shower than he had any time in his recent memory. He kept replaying pulling your hair from in front of your ear to whisper what he said and your little breaths while kissing you. Oh, the plans he had for you. Joel imagined draping you against his pillows on your side and pushing into you from behind, learning every little spot on your body that made you sing. He spilled over his knuckles at the memory of opening his eyes from kissing you and seeing you already looking up at him, eyes wide and hair ruffled from where his hand was in it. He covered his moan with a washcloth, knees going weak with the intensity of it. He was so fucked, but he couldn't have been more excited. 

[autumnheartsprice]

beta!simon + omega!johnny NSFW

|breeding, praise, mentions of poly!141, anal, fingering, humping|

Omega!Soap who has been running around base like a bitch in heat all day, humping against his Captain's boot yet being denied relief. Soap was desperate enough to even go to Gaz, only to be laughed at, "I'm not letting big guy catch me touching his mutt without permission. Sorry babe, but no." Leaving Soap with no other choice but to wait for his alpha to come home.

It felt like hours (it was probably not even 30 minutes.) before the door of their shared bedroom opened. Soap heard the loud boots make a stop, right after closing the door, causing Soap to roll over in bed and look over at his alpha staring at him. Simon was clearly taken in the sight of his pup - waiting for him in the comfort of their blankets, a small little nest was made which was definitely not there before he left this morning, and his pretty little thing was shirtless and hot right in front of him.

"Simon, Alpha, you're back!" Soap happily exclaimed. He quickly kicked off the blankets on top of him and crawled over to the other side of the bed to Simon, reaching out to him with grabby hands. His Alpha let out a tsk before walking closer, letting his pup finally touch him after waiting allllll day. "Hmph. Don't know why you're so excited, thought you went to go get off with the Captain, huh?" Simon husked, wrapping his hand around the base of his pup's throat.

"N-no! No, Alpha! I was just uhh.. ye know..!" He nervously jumbled out, he had no damn excuse but couldn't help the way his cock was hardening as he was feeling his Alpha's chest. "I need you, Si.. pleaseee?"

Simon felt amused just looking at his pup all needy for him like this, his leaky puppy cock begging to escape from his trousers. Simon took a step closer, his body standing at the edge of the bed to where his breath was close enough to hit his puppy's face; his hand reached down to palm Soap's somewhat-covered dick, his red tip peeking out and leaving a mess all over his waistband. Soap takes this as an opportunity to rutt against his palm, grinding his swollen dick along his Alpha's hand.

Simon has his pretty puppy laying down on all fours, face stuffed into his pillow while Simon slowly presses a finger into Soap's hole, feeling his gummy walls clench around him, "Mmh, bad puppy, ye gotta loosen up for me if you want my cock later, mutt."

Simon slides 2, then 3 fingers into his little hole, spitting into his entrance every once in a while as a lube replacement. His poor little whiny puppy moans into the pillow while desperately humping the air. "Feels good, don't it, pup? Ye ready to take my cock like a good boy?" Simon whispers, only to be answered with pathetic nods and whimpers as his pup arches his back in desperation. Simon chuckles before spitting on his own hand and jacking himself off to get it a little wetter for his pup. He can't be too rough with his mutt, now can he?

He slides his cock in slowly, stopping for a moment to let Soap adjust before beginning to rock his hips back and forth. "A-Alpha! Hurts.." Soap whines, his hands tightly gripping the bedsheets. Simon removes one of his hands from Soap's hip so he can hold his poor pup's hand. "Shh, shh.. It's okay, pretty.. Could've loosened yourself up instead of going to other Alpha's instead.."

Simon continues fucking his cock in and out of his baby's hole, slowly but surely increasing the pace, leaving his puppy in a fucked-out state already. Simon reaches his hand around Soap to grab his leaky cock and slowly jerk it, feeling him twitch in his hand and start to rutt against it again. "Shh.. there ye go, puppy.. Doin' so good f' me.. Can feel you clenching around me, hm? You close? Ye gonna cum for Alpha?"

"Yes, Yes Alpha, please!" Soap begs, pathetically falling apart in his owner's hands. "C'mon.. cum f' me.." Simon husks out, maxing out and fucking ruthlessly into Soap's tight hole, building his own orgasm. With moans from Soap and a few grunts from Simon, they both cum together, letting their pleasure flow.

Simon slows down, keeping his cock rested in Soap as his semen loads into him. He takes a few moments, slowly petting Soap and holding his hand, softly cooing at him and whispering soft praises before pulling out. His sticky release starts to drip out of Soap's hole, causing Simon's dick to twitch at the sight.

"Let's get you a bubble bath, puppy, yeah? Get ye all nice and clean."

[fallloverfic]

@tired-of-life-86 replied to your post "Thinking about how people assuming Seth isn’t into men is also a big reason why. . .":

I feel like Seth doesn't have too much interest in sexual relationships. He wants love more than anything and since lust is a form of love, he doesn't mind that too much either (if it's with the person he loves.) Seth has been hurt, betrayed, defiled, and tortured. He also has not been allowed to mourn. Since he hasn't mourned or focused on healing. His thought process and emotions are just messed up and jumbled. My poor baby, I just wanna see him happy! ❤

I've generally thought he doesn't have much active interest in sex, like I don't think he proactively seeks it out, but he doesn't mind it with partners he enjoys if they want it. He does very much want to just be loved, and he likes making his partners happy. The problem is that we don't have much of him being in a relationship he seeks out on his own. Just one panel of him kissing Nephthys in the past(?) in S01E18, and the time he spent with Horus in Abu Gorab in S02E70 onward. We don't know why or how he fell in love with Nephthys. We only know how he's fallen/falling in love with Horus, and that relationship hasn't been centered on sex, but involves physical intimacy (e.g., the kiss in S02E70). It involves sex, too, but Horus initiated it that time.

I also don't know that I'd agree that "lust is a form of love". Lust is a desire, and physicality can be a way to express love. But it doesn't have to be (e.g., Osiris, Kuentamen, Fenu). It's one reason people differentiate being "in love" and being "in lust" and a commonish-ish phrase is something like, "you're not in love, it's just lust". I again think Seth doesn't mind physicality with people he likes, particularly if it makes his partner happy.

CW: discussion of mental illness, mention of canon cannibalism

I'm not precisely sure what you mean by he's not allowed to mourn? What is he mourning? Do you mean losing Anubis (or at least the Anubis he knew)? Anubis isn't dead and he's working on getting Anubis back.

Or maybe mourning the brother/siblings he thought he knew, or losing his marriage? He hasn't been supported through the difficulties and trauma he's experienced. But I think he had plenty of time to mourn his siblings if he felt the need to during the hundreds of years of his being king (I think it's one major reason he treats Isis the way he does during the trial; her turning her back on him still hurts, but he's had years to deal with and accept it's just part of their relationship, even if he still hates it and feels hurt by it). He definitely still has issues processing his relationship with Nephthys, which he mostly handled through putting distance between them. His attempting to process/attempting to not process everything is likely part of why he was so focused on getting drunk and drugged out of his mind. I think he might have mourned the loss of who he was before he discovered what Osiris was, but what we've learned in recent episodes leads me to think he's used to giving up versions of himself (e.g., changing to a god of war) for what he believes is necessary (e.g., someone had to guard everyone and he wasn't good at anything else).

I also want to see him happy, which is why I'm glad we actually have in many recent episodes. In Abu Gorab when he and Horus were talking, with the kiss, and to a degree I think with Seth fighting the attacking men, and with Seth hanging out a bit with Anubis in Abu Gorab, and with the cat in Hermopolis. I think he's also been more comfortable with Horus in places. It's important to remember no one is happy all the time. It's just not how people work. We find what happiness we can in between the rougher parts of our lives. I don't think Seth will end up fully happy all the time, no matter how the story ends. I think he'll end up happy to a degree, at least, if not much happier than he's been for a lot of his life, particularly since he and Horus seem to be increasingly honest with each other in a way Seth seemingly wasn't with Nephthys, and it's something Seth values (he likes feeling seen).

I think this leads into an important point (that's not really what you're talking about, and apologies for the text spam, please ignore if you don't care, but I felt like going down the rabbit hole): the idea that Seth wasn't happy after the night of usurpation because that (and following events) messed him up, but that he potentially was happy before that, and that doesn't seem true, not just because of what I said about his being happy at points afterward, but also because of what we've seen of who he was and what he did before. We have a lot of evidence Seth wasn't happy even before the night of usurpation. Like yes, he was with Nephthys, they had a kid he loved, he was friends with Isis and got along with Osiris, and he was a very successful war god and had appreciation from the humans, as well as temples. But even when he was with his family, as Sekhmet notes in in S01E36, the four siblings acted "like they were the happiest family on the planet". How much of that was an act, at least on Seth's part, is up for debate. But even outside Sekhmet saying at least some of it was an act, Seth wasn't happy in his life.

The way Seth describes becoming a war god in S02E89, that it was his duty and there was no liking or disliking it, speaks to me of someone who doesn't have a particular interest in what he does for a living (outside being good at it). We're shown later on that he seems to take pride in his martial prowess and winning fights (e.g., in S01E56, in that panel of Seth catching Horus, I honestly think he's having fun), particularly during the trial, but part of that is his arrogance and bluster and trying to convince people he's an egomaniac who needs to be put down, along with his distaste in losing because Osiris told him that he's weak (e.g., how he reacts in S01E56 to Horus at the idea that it was due to Seth's weakness that Horus assaulted him). In S01E05, Seth tells Anubis that being the god of war is not respectable, and that war itself is awful, and he hopes Anubis doesn't become a god like him. This is reflected in how he talks about the horrors of war in S02E88-9 and how he mentions hearing the cries of humans who died in war calling to him in S01E48.

Seth looks so bitter, angry, and pained about this. Perhaps he was able to tolerate it because he had the love of Nephthys, Anubis, and his siblings to sustain him. Perhaps that's part of why he was so desperate they not forget him, because it's what got him through things. As he says in S01E05, "War is sometimes necessary when you need to protect your family, your land." He did all this out of necessity, not love or enjoyment. And he suffered through it. There's a manic gleam in his eye as he looks at Osiris while the dead are screaming for him in S01E48.

And we know at least part of the reason he doesn't like eating (particularly meat) is because his soldiers had to turn to cannibalism (S02E88). He saw a lot of horrible things in war long before Osiris assaulted him, and he just sort of lived with it, seemingly keeping it apart as much as possible from his life in Heliopolis and the people he cared about. Even Osiris seemingly doesn't know Seth can hear the dead calling to him, nor did potentially Isis.

He also doesn't seem to care about his followers at all (even before he starts slaughtering them en masse), and his awareness of them is quite distant, even before the night of usurpation (e.g., he had no idea who Kuentamen was, despite Kuentamen being the/one of Seth's high priests in Heliopolis, and gods having, allegedly, perfect memory/minds). They're convenient when he needs them, and an irritation when not. So while I imagine he appreciated being worshiped (and while he notably still expects humans to respect him), it wasn't that big a deal. As Seth says to FG in S02E85, "What do you mean, how will [humans] worship [gods]? Humans don't doubt us."

And of course we know that he was afraid of being forgotten, and that this is a fear he had that predated the night of usurpation.

As he explains to Osiris in S01E41, "I always just acted angry so that I wouldn't have to hear what [Nephthys] had to say. She was probably afraid of things ending up this way..." He had anxiety about his marriage - and his fatherhood - from numerous angles before he had confirmation that Anubis wasn't biologically his, and that Nephthys had sought out another man. It's not clear if he and Nephthys fought, or if he was verbally abusive, but he used anger to avoid talking to her directly. To avoid her admitting that she was moving past their relationship in some form. Their relationship was messy even before he knew why Nephthys had made it messy on her end.

So his marriage was a mess, he was at times distant from his son (their relationship is shown to be loving, but it had its complications), he didn't care much for his work, and he was distant if not uncaring to his followers, he had anxiety, he had some anger management issues, he had self-esteem issues, he wasn't communicating well with people, and he was prioritizing other folks in ways that were unhealthy for him all before the night of usurpation.

Isis describes the era before the four siblings ruled Egypt, before Seth became a god of war, as "a quiet, peaceful, beautiful era" in S02E80.

But we also know she was completely oblivious to Osiris' lust for Seth and his experiments and Nephthys seemingly being in love with Osiris at some point. Even in the peaceful era image, Osiris looks kind of upset/embarrassed. He might just be reacting to whatever Isis and Nephthys are laughing about, but I think it's notable he's behind her, where she can't see him. Perhaps for Isis it was beautiful. The question is if it was beautiful for Seth.

A lot of Seth's unhappiness seems to come from his being a god of war, and obviously things that came after that with Nephthys, Sekhmet, Osiris, Isis, Anubis, himself, etc. Perhaps he was happier in that time, before he became the god of war. We don't know. But what we do know is that Seth has been unhappy, in various ways, long before Osiris assaults him, and long before the events of the manhwa in present happen.

Why any of this matters: as someone who's dealt with depression and family members and friends with depression, it's very meaningful to me for various reasons that we have a character who might have some form of depression and/or other mental health problems and who also has happy moments, and I like to emphasize moments where he does find happiness. That not only is it possible for him but it also does happen. His being unhappy a lot does not negate the moments he is happy, or at least stable. A lot of folks in fandom look at Horuseth as it exists and are like, "well Seth's clearly not happy; he needs to not be around Horus to be happy." It's the main reason the Seth x Happiness "ship" exists. They expect him to always be happy, as if that's attainable and not kind of exhausting. As if no relationship ever has ups and downs (heck, even the purportedly "happy" relationship he had with Nephthys had downs from Seth's side due to his own insecurities and worries; love doesn't solve everything). But Horus has made him happy. Seth has reached out to him. Seth kissed him while being a bit overwhelmed by his own happiness at Horus seeing him. Seth finds joy in learning. He finds some joy in being good at fighting. He finds joy in protecting people and being useful.

He is happy in the manhwa, at least in moments. And I believe he'll be happier in future, too.

[chickwiththepurpleguitar]

I’ve always thought that "Hope ur ok" by Olivia Rodrigo and "The Story" by Conan Gray could easily have been songs Bobby wrote but never recorded, because they’re “as good as Luke’s” or something like that.

I don’t think the lyrics completely match the little we know about the characters’ backstories, but that could definitely be explained by artistic freedom, or maybe I just can’t think big enough.

Anyway, three years ago I said to myself I’d write something based on those songs, but I never did. Maybe you’d like to take a look at the lyrics and see if they inspire you? I hope you’ll reach your goal :)

Thank you for this prompt, and awesome excuse to listen to these two great songs again! I hope you like what I ended up coming up with. It's definitely a pretty abstract inspiration, so if you end up wanting to later, you could easily write something else yourself with this concept :)

Send me prompts to help me reach my 2024 writing goal!

“Are you writing?”

Bobby startles, slamming his hand over the fretboard of Rose’s guitar to silence the last echoes of his playing.

Ray, hovering in the half-open doorway, gives him an apologetic smile. “I should’ve knocked. Didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“You didn’t.” Bobby’s gripping the guitar like a lifeline, tense and defensive. He makes an effort to relax. “I mean– I didn’t hear you come home.”

“Rose is still bringing the bags in,” Ray explains. “Will you join us for dinner?”

“Sure.”

Ray doesn’t say anything more, but he also doesn’t leave, and Bobby’s gaze flicks nervously toward the notebook laying open on the ottoman in front of him. At the moment, it’s mostly filled with scribbled chords and scratched-out lyrics– nothing incriminating, really, but he finds himself silently praying Ray won’t come closer and look at it anyway.

Maybe because all the other times Bobby’s let Ray and Rose “take a look at the song he’s been writing,” they’ve been neat recreations of Sunset Curve songs Luke wrote, transcribed from memory with a couple random doodles and typos thrown in to make them look new. He’s never been a writer like Luke was, so he didn’t know how wrong it was to claim a whole song came to him easily and all at once, until he actually did try to sit down and write something of his own for once, and ended up with this jumbled mess.

He doesn’t know how to explain to Ray and Rose why this song is different. He doesn’t know how to explain why he’s writing a song in the first place.

He wouldn’t be able to play it in front of anyone. It’s too… not as good as Luke’s.

An hour later, he’s put Rose’s guitar away and hidden his journal at the very bottom of his sock drawer, and he’s sitting at the kitchen table, shoveling arroz con pollo into his mouth so he doesn’t have to make conversation.

Regrettably, his roommates are not exactly the “let Bobby get away with not making conversation” types.

“So!” Rose says, laying her fork down on her plate in a terrifyingly decisive manner. “Bobby, niño. How was your day? Get up to anything exciting while we were out?”

Bobby chews slowly, glancing from Rose to Ray and back again and wondering what he could’ve possibly told her.

They both keep looking at him, waiting for an answer, to the point where their expectant silence starts to become too much to bear. He swallows heavily and says, “I didn’t, like. Get into your liquor cabinet or something, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Ray chokes on a laugh, ducking his head to hide it, but Rose just frowns, eyes bright with concern. “Cariño, this is not an interrogation, you’re not in trouble. We just… care about your interests. We want you to feel like you can share things with us.”

Bobby stabs halfheartedly at his dinner. “I know,” he grumbles unconvincingly. “I know I can–”

But he can’t even finish the sentence, can’t assure them that he trusts them when he’s keeping the biggest secret in the world from them– that his entire career is a lie, that he has to process his darkest thoughts in private because they’ll hear one note of his original music and know he’s a fraud. 

“I borrowed your guitar today,” he says finally, just to get them off his back. “Hope that’s okay.”

Rose’s smile is warm but satisfied, like she got exactly what she wanted from him. “Of course, sweetheart, any time. What’s ours is yours.”

Bobby relaxes a little, nods his thanks and changes the subject by asking about both their days at work, hoping that will be the end of it.

But of course it isn’t. It never is, when Rose Molina sets her mind to something.

He’s getting ready for bed that night when Rose knocks on the door. Bobby considers pretending to be asleep already. He considers climbing out the window, changing his name again, and disappearing into the wilderness to become a goat farmer. But he knows any of that would just be delaying the inevitable.

“Come in.”

The door opens, revealing Rose in her Christmas pajamas (red and fuzzy, with snowflakes on them), holding a mug in each hand.

“Tea?” she offers. “I thought you could use some, it’s cold tonight.”

Bobby’s pretty sure the cold rock in his stomach has nothing to do with the weather, but he nods anyway, sits on the bed next to her and takes one of the mugs, if only just for something warm to hold.

Rose sips her own tea and leans in close, laying a comforting hand on his thigh. It lets Bobby relax a little, reminds him that Ray and Rose are not his parents, that they actually do have his best interests at heart.

“Ray said you were writing a song today,” Rose says cautiously, and he doesn’t even flinch.

“Trying to,” he admits. “Not sure it was working very well.”

“I get that.” Rose pauses, and then continues, “You haven’t written a song in a little while.”

God, in longer than she thinks. He shrugs.

“You don’t have to share anything with us that you’re not ready to,” she promises. “Songs are special, they’re… deep and personal and publicly vulnerable like no other art form is. You know that– you’ve written twice as many songs as I have.”

Bobby almost chokes on his tea, chokes out, “Right.”

“All I’m saying,” Rose continues, “is if you ever want to talk… about the feelings or experiences you’ve been trying to convey in a song… then Ray and I are always here to listen.”

Bobby holds his mug, breathing in the steam. He thinks about the journal stuffed in his drawer, hiding lyrics that can never see the light of day. He thinks about all Ray and Rose have done for him in the three years since his life fell apart. He thinks about the fact that for all the things he can’t tell them, there are a thousand more that he can.

So he tells Rose a story. About the boys who filled his life with so much life before their own was snuffed out. About problems he couldn’t solve, prayers left unanswered, feelings he didn’t understand.

And when he’s done, when he’s poured his heart out and Rose kisses him goodnight, he digs his journal back out and scrawls down the feelings he couldn’t put into words with a guitar in his hands. 

He writes his boys’ story, a song just for him.

--

Taglist (lmk if you want to be added or removed!)

@wr0temyway0ut

@phantomwriter95

@littlepetbee

@secondhand-sunlight

@ddaxnggirl

@trustworthytoast

@interestinglittlerelationship

@fangirl17-07

@manualamadrugada

@easybugboy

@moonlit-asthers

[juniperhillpatient]

Hi @juniperhillpatient ! How has the new year been treating you so far? I must first preface this by saying my family had gotten me a honey whiskey jack Danial’s for the holidays which I have cracked into. So if my writing seems jumbled that’s why.

I wanted to ask after the stories that you’ve been writing so far. Are you planning to release them on Amazon? And are you planning on printing them or purely having them be online? Because I think I speak for everyone when I say that your stories are well worth paying for!

Also, I have too ask, if your ever planning on writing on Azutara again? You and @theowritesfiction are just the best at writing he greatest romantic pair known to human kind!

Also, I know that you like horror, so I was wondering if you’ve ever watched the you tube channel “Thought Potato”? It’s mainly a series speculative cryptozoology videos. Myself, I find the videos on Sirens and Loch Ness to be my favorite.

Hi old friend! The new year has been interesting. There are quite a few big changes happening in my personal life, not necessarily "good" or "bad," just different. I'll be moving back home & that's bittersweet. I am working on hopefully getting my original works published on Amazon in the near future & that's both exciting & daunting. Thank you so much for your faith in my abilities & interest in my writing! It truly means a lot. You've always been so kind to me, & I appreciate it. I have 3 original projects that I'd like to see published within the next year on Amazon. I don't necessarily have official pitches ready, but I can talk about what to expect!

The first project you'll probably see published is titled "Ice Scream" & it is about a serial killer called the Ice Cream Man, a kidnapping, a desperate bid to save a little girl, psychic powers, & two crazy anti-hero girls who have to catch a killer while evading the cops themselves after faking their deaths. It's sort of a campy fun thriller that I'm really excited to share especially with people who like how I write out of control & intense romance, because that's at the heart of this one! My wonderful & talented dad will be illustrating the cover, & that's the main thing I'm waiting on before I can start promoting this project more officially. I do need to do a final edit, also, but shhhh.

The other project is technically one manuscript now, but the goal is to make it a trilogy of short books because it's a bit too long to be one. The trilogy will be called "Welcome to Barren Lake." The first book will be titled "The Butcher." Book 2 is "The coven" & book 3 will be "The Staircase to Nowhere." This story is about a small town, ghosts, witches, devil worshippers, old gods, grief, betrayal, mystery, star crossed lovers, tragedy & death. I'm SOOO proud of this story & I can't wait to share it. @soft-puppy-boyfriend is helping me with this project & doing art for it & I'm INCREDIBLY excited to have someone so talented onboard. It's going to be epic!

The above projects are written & just need art & maybe some last minute touches & of course I do need to separate the Barren Lake trilogy & decide how that will look.

I am currently working on a project titled "Skeletons in the Closet." It's about a small town, a murder mystery, secrets, the line between love & obsession, unreliable narrators, the lies we tell ourselves, finding beauty in the grotesque, & the way family can fuck you up. I'm SUPER excited about this one, & I have it all planned out, but it's not done yet.

As for if I'll ever write Azula/Katara again? Well....Never say never. I certainly still have some ideas, & I still love them, don't get me wrong. However, I have really been enjoying diving into original fiction. I don't want to say definitively that the future of my writing is going to be one thing because I tend to focus on one thing at a time. We'll just have to see where my head is after Skeletons in the Closet is done & I do the last-minute final edits of my other projects.

I certainly agree that Theo is very talented & I appreciate you a lot for your compliments on both of our writing! I will be SO sad when Azula's Kitchen Nightmares is done. I am loving that project. Ozai being in town right now is so stressful!

I have never watched Thought Potato, but I looked them up & their videos do look super interesting & fun. I love speculating on that kind of thing, so it seems right up my alley :)

TLDR: I am absolutely planning on publishing my original stories on Amazon. I might write Azula/Katara again someday, but I don't have actualized plans for it. Oh, & to answer your other question - both ebook & physical copies will be available. I plan to promote way more heavily once the plans are more set in stone.

How is the new year treating you? I hope you're doing well & that 2025 is kind to you!

[myeyesandheartadjust]

Thoughts while listening to The Mad Ones (fully) for the first time

Disclaimer:

I've heard a smattering of songs already but keep getting distracted while trying to listen to it from beginning to end

It took two days to get through it (it's a heavy musical, y'all!)

I definitely look at this through a queer lens

Here we go!!

Starting off strong with The Girl Who Drove Away

"Leave the fear and doubt behind! Choose the road less traveled! Not the memories to real! Not to guilt that leaves you paralyzed!"

"If only i could turn the key...." This whole song is just Sam needing a hug

Hi Kelly!!! 👋 👋

"Map's are for brain deads"

Sam, you don't sound convinced about college.

"But what if she doesn't?? OH TWIST!!" KELLY 🤣🤣 Also, i was right

"Not a memory jumble" 🤣

For real though, WHY DO SAM'S MEMORY JUMBLES SOUND SO PRETTY

"I was figuring out who I was – the whole year – saying what I wanted, doing it, and one day the phone rings....." Oh, Sam :(

"What? You think it's gonna bite?"

"LET'S GOOOO!"

"She believed in listening to the highway. You start driving and keep driving. There's no stopping 'til Kelly says you're arrived."

There's queer vibes in this song, and I'm here for it!!

"Very slow, Brown." I can picture the smirk and the look Kelly's giving Sam, and it's very gay

"Freedom! Freedom! FREEDOOOOOM!"

I love how Sam's saying big things and Kelly's all like, "I want Arby's. I wanna go skinny dipping!" 😂

"Let's go! Let's go! Pick a road, pick a highway. Any road is going my way. Let's go! Live it up with no complicated philosophies!No college, no career! No kids, no fancy house! No! Let's go! ANY ROAD BUT THE ROAD WE'RE ON!"

"NO COLLEGE! NO CAREERS! NO SCREAMING KIDS! NO MORTGAGE!"

"There's something buried within here, a lesson to keep, the impulse, the life force, the diving in deep. I feel it. The chaos. I usually flee. If I hold on right here, could I learn to just BE?!" 😭

"Don't talk about it. Live it. Don't feel the loss of it. Feel it." 👀

"Trees blurring into nothing. And i am nothing. And she is nothing." Poetry! Also gay vibes!

"It's so real and so like a memory. And the sun is so bright that I'm squinting. And it feels like I've found FREEDOOOOOM!"

Kelly and Sam being rock stars is so funny, and it sounds like car rides with them would've been epic

Sam singing in Ordinary Senior Year is so sad 😪

A statistician teaching someone how to drive .... sounds like a recipe for disaster

"Sam failed her drives test...four times!" I was right 😁 Poor Sam! Half of them weren't her fault but still!!

"DRRRRIVE!!"

Top Ten is a really fun sounding song. If you heard it out of context, though, you'd be like what!

"Old age. Lame! Impossible!" 😂

Some of these are really hilarious, like the alien one, the mentos, and the poor Sting one!

"Hit by a car on the way home from the library." 👀 Ouch! Is that how she actually died?

Sam and Adam... okay??? Sam can be bi but Smple As That sounds like a friendship song (minus the makeout bit)

"For sure. He's the perfect guy for a girl like me." SUURE!! Sam

The Proposal = a song that would sound incredibly weird out of context and one that i can't take seriously

Sam, if you're this conflicted over this about wanting to have sex with him, you're probably NOT in love (or like) with Adam. Not even for pancakes! (Also, side note, but I can see Sam as ace/aro and secretly wanting a QPR with Kelly or being a closeted bisexual/lesbian)

Lyrics like "Feel your carnal urges taking hold" and "EMBRACE YOUR DESTINY," is why I can't take this song seriously

Kelly's with a TA. Okay, Kelly's either deeply repressed about her love for Sam or is bi. Or both!!

"All alone. Was I lost, or was I alive. In the space in the hole, she CREATED!"

Yeesss The Mad Ones!!

Jack Kerouac quote my love 🥰 (This song introduced me to it, and I fell in love with it)

"IF WE'RE GONNA GO, WE GOTTA GO TONIGHT!"

"Pushed to the edge, out on the ledge. Will you die out or burn, BURN?!" 🔥🔥🔥🔥

"'CAUSE THOSE GOOD OLD BOYS! THEY'VE HAD THEIR GOOD OLD DAYS. BUT NOT THEY'RE GONE, AND NOW THEIR WORLD IS OURS TO TAKE."

Here we gooo!! "We're mad to go. Mad to drive. Mad to be alive. We're chasing stars. A thousand suns. The mad, THE MAD ONES!!"

I know how this song goes, but two drunk girls making a plan to run away sounds A: gay and B: like a recipe for disaster

"STOP SAYING CAN'T! STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" Kelly is kinda bossy, I'll admit Sam

"It's never or now! YES! Time to take your foot off the BRAKE!"

The key change and the blended harmony is just ahhhhhh!!

The back and forth call of "WHO LET DOWN WHO?!!' So pretty yet so sad in context

"If we'd only gone that night, then I wouldn't be DEAD!!" Still an OUCH every time I get to this part

"YOU! YOU! YOU! YOU!"

"WE BREAK THE LOCK! WE KICK THE DOOR. TO REACH FOR MORE, WE MAKE THE RULES. We MAKE A VOW. TO BE MAD. GIRL, WE'RE WHAT MATTERS NOW!"

The beginning piano and strings of I know My Girl is pretty

Okay, Sam's mom, Beverly, didn't impress me at first, but I kinda like her in this song. Now I'm hungry for cookies, though :(

Miles to Go, I'm not entirely sure how it's supposed to fit in the plot, but I love it, and it would sound lovely out of context

Freedom callback!!!!! Ahhh!!

Two really pretty songs in a row and one of them Say The Word being about Sam's relationship with Adam and possible sex?? Wow

"Let me go if it's easier. But say the word, and I might have to stay!"

"I wanna love. I wanna ride. I wanna be the girl by your side!"

Moving On is fun (even though they're avoiding the obvious)

"I'M ALIVE. YOU'RE ALIVE!!"

Freedom melody callback part 2

Go Tonight = the second song I've ever heard from this show and one that got me through when I thought I almost lost a friend

"She was- She was sitting on the roof of her beat-up car, half singing, half laughing, half going too far."

"If we're gonna go, we gotta go tonight. GOOOOOOOOOO OOOO TONIGHT!!! 😭

I saw a clip from what must've been a workshop or preview that had Sam singing the words, "She was everything I loved," instead of, "She was everything I'm not...." and honestly, I think both would've worked. 🥰

"SINKING DOWN IN THIE VOID LIKE A CRATER. GETTING LOST IN A WORLD THAT I CAN'T REWIND. IT'S TOO LATE AND IT'S JUST GETTING LATER!" 😭😭

"I unravel until I REMEMBER, SITTING ON THE ROOF OF YOUR BEAT-UP CAR!" 😭😭😭😭

"What I didn't know was that time doesn't stop - prom still has a theme, the valedictorian still gives a speech on a future she knows nothing about." 😭😭😭

Run Away With Me!! That is the first song I ever remember hearing :)

"We'll be on the road like Jack Kerouac, looking back. Sam, you're ready. Let's go!"

The "I'm not trying to make you a wife here!!" isn't helping your case, pal 🙄

Please tell me you broke up with Adam after this, Sam, because Adam does NOT get to pull a Kelly, wip out a Jack Kerouac reference, and ask you to run away with him!! That was Kelly's role.

"Do you wanna die? Do you wanna fail?" OUCH, considering Kelly's dead and Sam has perfectionist issues

"DRRRRIVE!!"

"If you follow my instructions, I can free you. I can make you alive! I CAN DO IT ON MY OWN!!"

All the overlaps in Drive are pretty

"EIGHTEEN YEARS, YOU'RE MY WHOLE LIFE!"

"I don’t wanna be safe!"

The road you take should feel right…The road will tell you who you are!" 😭

Run Away With Me, and My Mom is a Statistician callbacks

What do I want? What do I need? It doesn’t matter if it’s a mistake. It doesn’t matter if I fail. I have to think big. I have to take control. Even if I disappoint everyone. Even if no one ever speaks to me again. I have to feel something!" 😭😭😭😭😭

"LISTEN TO ME!! I never dreamed of running away, but I do dream about the highway. I start driving and keep driving. I can’t stop 'til I feel alive again!" 😭

I Didn't Say Goodbye = another favorite that I've heard before and a really emotional one

"I can't do this alone." 😭😭

"You’re scared. You should be. If you’re not, you’re not doing it right. You do it now, you do it for you, and you do it alone!" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"Be mad, Sam. Be careless and wild and squeeze the life out of every second!" 😭😭😭😭

Kelly's crying, Sam's crying, I'm close to crying!

"And do not crash my car. I’m serious. I will like haunt you." I would laugh at that, but I'm trying not to cry

"You take the risk. You pay the cost. You drive until you're lost. And look around. See where you went. And your life will be a MONUMENT!"

"What did I always tell you? Maps are for braindeads? That's right!"😭😭

"I didn't get to say goodbye! Sometimes, you don't get to say goodbye." 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

"I really miss you. I know, it sucks right?"

"I live in what you do! In what you want to do. Now that I'm gone..... I'm moving on!" 😭

"What do you want Sam? I want the deafening sound of driving fast with the windows down! I want to reach the horizon of IMPOSSIBILITY!"

Now we're back where we began with the theme for The Girl Who Drove Away

"Remember this! The racing heart, the faded dawn. Remember this, before the moment’s gone!"

"Remember feeling like your life begins today. Try to stop and feel each second slip away. Remember this"

"REMEMBER EVERYTHING THAT LED YOU HERE! Each road trip and every single tear!"

"You look back on your life. On the girl you were for eighteen years. You look back one more time. THEN YOU LET IT GO!"

Freedom callback one last time.

"Freeeedom! Freeedom! Freeedom! Freeedom! Freeedom! FREEDOOOOOM!!!"

[darkfictionjude]

hiii I was given an excuse to talk my head off so I will! any excuse not to think about current events tbh!

my crownie's name is Asphodel, but I just call them Azzie. idk if their name fits with the other siblings well like, Salvatorem, Percival, Asphodel, Orla? I'm iffy, but i feel like im too far in now. a big like, design note for me about them is their hair is naturally like dark brown but they fucking bleached it to shit so it's totally fried. it was a major impulse choice, it's gotten to the point where the roots are pretty visible but they are not gonna fix it. in my brain the way the roots split up are the actual flower. I wanna draw them later so it's more clear... not realistic at all but my artist design brain takes forefront. I imagine they have really droopy eyes. in my head they're very wet cat.

my favorite characters are Sally and Percy!! I love sibling dynamics in IFs and I love that we actually get to spend time with them in game. I made lime a bunch of design notes about them to match Azzy at some point but I definitely lost them. one thing I do remember is noting I think Percy would have like 3B textured hair if you know what I mean? and Sally is thicker at like 3c - 4a but would either keep his hair really short or in locs for tidines sake so it's. irrelevant. i just like to think hes stressed out so hed like a hair style that doesn't require as constant Maintenance to look good. this is the situation that they are black men cause my crownie is black so (vague hand wave). I imagined Orla also has like 3b hair.

I ended up romancing Lorcan because. man do I love sibling dynamics! I love the idea of Azzy seeing in Lorcan something they couldn't have, a remnant of their sister, someone they miss but also resent to some extent. of course not consciously, I always imagine they like can acknowledge they feel something towards Lorcan, but not fully what and that freaks them out so they just choose not to think about it? especially since I play them being very nice to him and I like to think they don't even fully know why they're being like that. they're naturally conflict avoidant, you get into so much trouble for things you can't control, you sort of want to avoid it whenever you can now, but this is weird. and they're already weird if they think something Is weird? what the FUCK is going on? can't tell anyone either, want to more reasons for people to think you're a freak? choosing not to think about it. 3000 other things to think about that are not this.

that's all I have to share about them I thiiiink sorry for sending you like an essay of thoughts. thank you for letting me distract myself in your inbox for a sec, I actually feel a lot better ^^.

What’s interesting about that name that refers usually to lilies is that it is also associated with Hades (the place) and even if it’s more ritzy than the other kid’s names as a classics major who thinks about the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece 24/7 I do like anything that reminds me of antiquity ☺️

As you said 3B I knew your characters were likely black and that’s cause for Nia I thought about her her hair type far too long than was necessary I literally agonized for some reason 😭😭😭 and honestly if one day you find them or make other art for the family I would love to see it

Ohhhhhh I like that, your Crowny resents and misses Orla that is so cool cause I don’t get many people who don’t hate Orla and like I said certain things affect your relationship with her. In this case the future does change the past. I like how you got into Crowny’s jumbled mess right there for Lorcan hahaha yeah it must feel fucking insane

[shadedheart138]

I Left My Body Lying Somewhere In The Sands Of Time

This piece of writing focuses on a certain coping mechanism that I don't know if everyone is comfortable with, so I'm putting a border up. And here, I will put a definition! "Age regression is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when someone's thoughts, emotions, or behaviors revert to a younger developmental stage. It can be a temporary or long-term response to stress, trauma, or other factors, and it can happen at any age."

So this is NOT A KINK, and I only say this due to the people I know are out there who perceive it as such. People have this in real life. People cope with this in real life. This is just a personal headcanon that I was learning how to write with, and I'm doing my best to know all the research. Please let me know if anything doesn't fit or doesn't seem right or anything that I've gotten wrong, I'm trying to learn.

If you don't want to read it, no one is forcing you to. Be safe, readers!

Time was supposed to be unshakable, wasn't he? Their leader, the man everyone turned to for answers? When something goes wrong, who's the first person everyone knew had the answer to the given problem? Always ready to give advice. Ready to comfort. Old and wise.

So why was he curled in the trunk of an old tree, not feeling old at all?

His adventures had been hell, with time travel. More than double of his lifespan had been spent as a child. But he was in his late thirties now, he was sure, so why did he suddenly feel so small like the world was too big and he wanted to hide? Where was the strong leader people looked for?

He was gone, and a child was left in his place.

Link sniffled and cried, hugging himself. Thankfully they'd been at his and Malon's ranch, so whatever this... this was, was at least occurring in woods he knew were safe. But to someone who felt so small, feeling like the treetops hit the sky, like his memory wasn't quite there or complete, the forest was a maze. Almost like he was nine again. If Time was Time, he'd walk home in five minutes, no problem. But he... Was he Link out of Termina? Link after beating Ganon? Where was the math, what was his age? Would the Mask of Truth show him how old he really was, deep inside?

Was he nine, seventeen, sixteen, eight, five, thirteen, eighteen, or thirty six? That was too many numbers to think of. Masks he could do. He knew them, he wore them, he was the person inside for a bit. Somebody different. Certainly not the mess he was now.

He couldn't walk out, no problem, this time.

Link's hands- at least he knew he was Link, if not anything else. Was that a comfort or a curse? - fumbled at his belt. So many masks usually lined his belt. Where did they all go? The details were fuzzy. Only three of them were still there. At least there were three and they weren't all gone.

He hit his elbow on the tree and instead of flinching, his cries renewed, quiet and confused. Ow, why were even the trees being mean to him today??? It wasn't fair! It wasn't his fault that his limbs were too long and he was too tall and he felt too old to sit here and cry. Brain and body were not the same. Both complex in different ways. All mixed and matched and jumbled. He couldn't quite get a proper grasp on that feeling in the back of his brain, starting to spread and bleed fuzzily into the rest of his consciousness.

Link sniffled and rubbed his eyes. Right, what was he trying to do again? Masks? Ah. The first one he'd ever held.

He unclipped the Deku Mask with shaking, too-big fingers and cradled it gently. Perfect. He sniffled again. " 'M sorry." His voice was thick and small. He then slipped the mask over his face.

XXX

Why did transformations hurt so much? He'd forgotten how much they hurt. He didn't want to hurt. Had he, at some point, gotten used to it? But when had he had the chance to forget, it couldn't have been that long ago?

No matter. Link was maybe a little shorter than he was at nine, with the mask, and that almost cured his sniffles completely. Small in both body and mind, perfect! Matched like Malon's favorite cucco socks! But now what was he going to do, in these woods, in the late hours of the day? It was rapidly getting dark.

Being small wasn't useful in the dark.

And oh, Link didn't like the dark. Things that screamed and cried and took your life lived in the dark. The moon lived in the dark. Majora. Ganon. They all lived in the dark and he was surrounded by it, barely able to see the trees. No fairy to light his way. No song of home faintly heard through the trees to be his guide. Not even a night light.

He burst into tears again.

Link's tears weren't really there, seeing as he was effectively a Deku Scrub. There were no tears to cry. But the frantic breathing was there, the choked sounds in the back of his throat where vocal chords used to be. His hands were clumsy, made of wood, but they were small, how he wanted, needed, felt. How would he get home?

Oh, no no no, Link couldn't go home. They would think he was so silly, Mido would laugh. But was he going home to the Kokiri, or home to Malon? Would Malon think he was silly? His boys?

He didn't want to think of his boys. Link wasn't someone's dad. Being a parent was an adult job. And Link had just made the rule that he wasn't allowed to think of adults, effective immediately. Perfect rule, and rules were to be followed. Rules kept you safe.

So, instead of trying to go home, he scampered off deeper into the woods. He could find fairies, some light. And maybe when he felt better, they could guide him home. Navi always seemed so good at that.

XXX

"Where the fuck is he??" Warriors hissed, looking at the darkness outside. Time had gone out hours ago, claiming he needed firewood. It didn't take hours to gather wood from a stack of wood that was already chopped. He'd seemed a little detached as he told Warriors where he was going, but Warriors had chalked it up to needing some alone time from everything around.

"He jus' fuckin' up an' vanished." Twilight was pacing again. Time wasn't known for just disappearing. Or for saying he was going one place and turning up in another. That was Wild and Hyrule's job. Sometimes Legend's, if he was pissed off enough.

"It's nearly night, don't you think-" Four was cut off by Warriors grabbing his sword.

"I'll go get him. He's somewhere out here. I'll find him. He can't be far."

XXX

Oh, Link was so far away from home, and he wanted to go home NOW. Forget looking silly, the trees were all looking at him and they were mad and there was no moon and he could hear all the noises the forest made. He wanted to go home.

Link made soft, wounded noises, heading this way and that. No fairy bushes, no mushroom lights. No Navi. No Tatl. Just the dark and ohhelpno-

A very small hole he'd wedged a foot into. Had something grabbed him? Link pulled and pulled, but his foot was stuck and tight. Maybe some sort of burrow? He'd know if he was bigger. For sure. Link whined softly. He could hear the forest moving, which meant he had to GO GO GO or else something would find him and snatch him and he'd be gone forever-

Footsteps, quietly crunching, soft to try and not be heard. Link held his breath.

And immediately lost it in a grating sob, unnatural in the transformed body. Link's hands were too clumsy, no matter if they felt the right size. He couldn't magically dig himself out of the burrow-hole. The footsteps were getting faster, more urgent. Link couldn't get up, couldn't get free, one more footstep, Link curled up over himself, two more, hands on his face, covered in dirt one more two more three and four- "Heyyyy, shh. Are you okay?" The voice was warm, calming. As if talking to a frightened, wild animal. "I'm not here to hurt you, just looking for a- Time?" A time? What a funny thing to be looking for. Vaguely, Link recalled that he responded to that name. He paid it no mind, instead continuing to try and wiggle free.

XXX

Warriors looked down at this... Deku Scrub? That clearly seemed to be Time. The scar, the eyes, even the markings had transferred. Time was making an odd rattling noise, sort of like shaking deku nuts in a bottle. Trying to talk? Trying to explain? No. Warriors noted that it was some attempt at Hylian crying, though the body wasn't built for the sound.

Oh, dear.

"Okay, okay, I'll just- I'll try to figure out what's going on, okay? Is- is it some sort of curse? Can I break it? Here let me-" Warriors reached under Time's arms to lift him free, and Time was immediately clinging to him.

XXX

A curse? Was he cursed? Link cried into Warriors' neck. He knew Warriors, knew him from stern talks and warm mugs and being carried when he was too sleepy to walk. Warriors was safe. And he'd brought light with him! Link sniffled again, hands fisted in Warriors' scarf.

Warriors started to pat him down and check him over.

"Are you hurt? Are you okay? You've been gone hours, Time."

Link shook his head. But he didn't answer the second question, nor did he respond much to his name. Warriors found the small dip under Link's chin that meant that he was wearing a mask. Warriors frowned.

"Hey, can you look at me?"

Link looked up at him.

"Are you wearing a mask?" Link nodded slowly.

"Sprite, why? You've told me you don't like using those." Link jolted at the nickname and watched Warriors with wide eyes. 'Helps', Link signed, struggling to properly move his hands the way they should for the sign.

"Helps? With what?" Warriors only got a shrug as an answer.

XXX

Time shuffled to try and lay his head down on Warriors' shoulder, but Warriors gently held his head back up. Time was being so vague. He didn't seem to be fully there, his eyes distant. What could the Deku Mask help that Time couldn't do himself? Time didn't like using masks anymore, he'd said on multiple occasions.

"Can we take the mask off?" Warriors asked, moving his hand to try and get his fingers under it-

Time startled and pushed at his hand, making that same rattling noise he'd made earlier. 'Need it!' Time signed with emphasis, shaking his head.

"Time, c'mon. We've gotta get it off, so you can tell me what's going on."

Time made what was clearly some sort of whine and tried to hide his face in Warriors' neck. Warriors made a startled noise and tilted his head a little to make more space. "Is- is there a reason you can't take it off?" Time didn't answer that one, too busy clinging.

He was acting like a child, frightened and desperate. Warriors put a hand against Time's head, holding him close. "What's going on, Time? I'm just worried." Time made an unhappy noise at the name, and Warriors was sort of freaking out inside. He hadn't seen anything like this, where someone who was normally a functioning adult acted and sounded like a child-

Oh, wait. He had.

Back in the war, once things were starting to simmer down. The nightmares and flashbacks were terrible for many people. And Warriors had seen many a person cry and wail and ask for a parent. He had seen them draw and play in a safe tent. He had watched them seem at ease for the first time in a long time. He couldn't recall what Proxi had called it, but he knew it was some form of coping. Something to make them feel safe.

Time... maybe that's what Time was facing, now. The overwhelming feeling of being small and vulnerable again. These dark woods were no place for a child, whether only in mind or not.

"Alright, Link. I'm gonna need you to take off the mask for just a little while, okay? I've gotta talk to you and need to make sure you can talk back. It might hurt, and it might not make you feel great, but I've gotta check you over. Then, if you want, you can put it right back on."

Warriors softened his voice, hoping that he'd listen.

Time- Link. He could call him Link for now. Just in case.

Link sniffled and cried... and put his hands up to take off the mask. It came off quick, and as soon as it unlatched from Link's face it fell to the ground, and Warriors was met with wailing. He'd been right, the rattling sound had been an attempt at crying.

Now with an armful of a very heavy man, Warriors grunted a little and made to sit down. Link wound up in his lap, shaking and visibly trying to make himself small as he fisted a handful of Warriors' scarf.

"Hey, hey. Okay, see, wasn't so bad. I'm gonna check you over now, okay?" Warriors started gently moving Link's body to make sure that all the nicks that'd been in the Deku Scrub body had been scars and not cuts. Finding that that was the case, Warriors then gave him a hug.

"Alright, good. You're not hurt. Can you..."

Should he really ask this question, was this an invasive ask, would he be mad-

"Can you tell me how old you are? Or how old you feel?"

Warriors bit his lip, rocking Link gently back and forth, waiting for an answer. Link gave a wounded noise and shook his head, closing his eyes and pressing at them. Worth a shot.

"Okay, can you talk to me at all? Tell me why you were so far out here all alone?"

Link visibly tried to gather himself.

" 'S hard." He whispered, voice thick and upset. Link started crying a little harder, and Warriors was quick to console him.

"No, no, no, Sprite, it's okay. You don't have to talk if you can't. I can do without. Can you sign okay? Just give me a simple yes with your hands, if so." Link signed a shaky 'yes' and then moved to hide his face again.

"Okay, buddy. Do you think we can go home now?" Link shook his head, his tears soaking Wars' shoulder. "Why not?"

Link's hands were hard to read, as he shook and clung to Warriors. Warriors caught half-made signs of 'sleepy', 'scared', and 'can't'. He sighed and moved to rest his back against a tree.

"Alright, Link. We'll just sit here until you feel better, okay?"

[thebramblewood]

4, 18, 22, 25, 26 🤍

4. How did you choose the name of your story?

I remember trying to come up with something evocative but not spoiler-y. I think the biggest contender I had was Fresh Meat, which was supposed to be a play on Helena starting off as a naive college freshman but also a hint toward the vampire element (though it might actually give more werewolf). I also kept trying to come up with something using the word "blood," but that didn't work either. Ultimately, I just decided to make it as blunt and straightforward as possible, a., because I think the why and the how are always more important than the what, b., because I liked that it seemed to give everything away but also raised more questions, and, c., because it perfectly sets up the title for part two, if we ever get there. 😉

18. Answered (boringly) here.

22. Choose a favorite character from your story so far.

I'm going to say Ulrike because she's definitely my type physically but I also ended up way more attached to her emotionally than I thought I would. When I first brought her into the story, she wasn't very fleshed out beyond being Helena's future girlfriend, but she really became special to me and is a lot of fun to write as a big softie with a heavily sarcastic and guarded exterior. 🥹 Caleb is, of course, the other character I went in with a generalized picture of, and he's now my tortured vampire baby. 😭

25. What inspirations have you drawn on for your story?

I feel like a big fake answering these sorts of questions because I'm truly just coasting on subconscious vibes!! I have no mood boards. There's just a big jumble in my brain that gets sorted out semi-coherently in a way I can't explain. I suppose my initial inspiration was just wanting to explore vampire gameplay, which I'd never done before in any Sims game, and that really spiraled! Both ironically and unironically, though, it always comes back to Twilight.

26. Have other sim stories inspired you?

Absolutely!!! I was inspired to start one in the first place because of amazingly talented people like @gunthermunch and @softpine. Recently, I've been so inspired by what @fallstaticexit and @dreamlandiasims have been doing with sci-fi/fantasy themes! And I've also been inspired by historical storytellers like @aheathen-conceivably and @antiquatedplumbobs and @bloodylittlemess (and yourself!) to develop more of the Vatores' past! And there are, of course, so many others I've left out!

[lunarsun12]

Han Sleeping Habit Part 2/2

Masterlist

Previous Part

After the sudden discovery of BamBam friend. Chan and Lee Know needs to find BamBam, to make him fix the mess as well for some payback. For getting them roped in this. As well to make his friend say sorry for stressing Han out.

However, Han had a sudden confession about Lee Know which made Lee Know wanted to commit against BamBam.

What confession did Han make?

Back At Stray Kids Chat

Today 22:09

Seungmin🐶: Accidental marriage?

Lee Know🐱: Definitely not accidental marriage perfectly normal. Right Chan?? Heh heh

Bangchqn🐺: Seungmin, you know how your Eomma gets words jumbled up!

Felix☀️: He has a point…he always mixes up with crush with hug when he talks to Han

Bangchan🐺: I thought he was keeping it lowkey

Changbin🙄: BamBam who? I don’t know a BamBam just some werid guy. Kept on saying he is my second uncle

Seungmin🐶: This is getting interesting…I was gonna say Felix supposedly Appa…

I.N🦊: Seungmin shut up! Appa doesn’t like it when Felix calls wooyoung like that!!

Hyunjin🕺: Wow this is way better than my spa time!!

Han🐿️: WAIT! I remembered!! It wasn’t Eomma and Appa bestie but that werid friend. Who BamBam always brings and always gives Eomma an heart attack

Lee Know🐱: No it can’t be him…he is literally BamBam partying buddy. He is on a different level of cringe

Bangchan🐺: Wait! Binnie tell me who it is and I can help fix the problem

Changbin🙄: Here…?

Bangchan🐺: NO ABSOLUTELY NOT HERE! It’s erm erm what’s the word

Lee Know🐱: You all too young to know!

Seungmin🐶: We aren’t kids…well I can vouch for myself

10mins later…

Back At Super Secret Chat

Changbin🙄: It’s Jackson! You know BamBam bestie and gives Eomma trauma

Bangchan🐺: HIM OUT OF ALL PEOPLE

Bangchan🐺: Why does he want Han? I mean the two of them!

Han🐿️: Ohhhh no wonder, he is super werid and he kept calling his chipmunk

Lee Know🐱: I never want to party with those two again!!

Changbin🙄: Idk how he found my address, he literally dressed in werid suit. Demands I hand Han over

Bangchan🐺: Binnie? Have you got his phone number? We can finally find BamBam and make him pay

Han🐿️: Also Eomma…I know you like me…so stop acting so werid…

Bangchan🐺: Good joke Han heh how did he find out

Lee Know🐱: I don’t know what you mean…

Han🐿️: Before you get married to Appa…it so obvious you were flirting with me…I might have liked you back and then you and Appa happened…

Lee Know🐱: BAMBAM I AM GOING TO KILL YOU! HE RUINED MY CHANCE WITH HAN

Changbin🙄: Just get a divorce and minsung can happen

Bangchan🐺: WE ARE TOO FAR IN!! IF WE GOT DIVORCE THEN THOSE TWO HAPPENED! It literally sweet home Alabama!!

Changbin🙄: I never view Lee Know as my Eomma anyways when Han won’t stop talking about him

Han🐿️: BINNIE SHUT UP! THAT WAS PRIVATE! He is my Eomma now!!

Lee Know🐱: Can I buy a gun? I will commit murder!! ME AND HAN COULD BE A COUPLE!!

Bangchan🐺: Look you two! We are a family now! Whether you like it or not…drop those feelings

Changbin🙄: This a werid confession

Lee Know🐱: Binnie you got Jackson phone number?

Changbin🙄: Of course, he is super fun butttt I’m not gonna give. This is gonna be world war 3

Bangchan🐺: Give his number to me…i don’t trust your Eomma right now…

Back At Stray Kids Chat

Felix☀️: Eomma said a lot of bad words right now!!

Hyunjin🕺: Eomma is literally about to commit murder…he must have hurt han badly

Han🐿️: Eomma will be okay, he just needs to calm down and accept reality

Seungmin🐶: I sense there is more to this than meets the eyes. Eomma never gets this worked up and I know his cats are safe and sound

I.N🦊: Why I got the feeling…something big will happen to our family very very soon

Previous Part

[marimbles]

I know this is super random and like a year late, but as the consummate marichat fan, what were your thoughts on Elation?

first of all, apparently there are two definitions of the word “consummate” and until now i only knew the first one. HDNSND

second, i have many thoughts about elation but they are honestly kind of mixed and jumbled!!! On one hand, WHAT AN EPISODE!!!!! it still feels like a fever dream lmao. marichat fell in love and went on a cute little date and he took her up way in the sky with his baton carrying her princess style and then they tango’d over to andre’s and wanted to get Love ice cream and then they had the CUTEST KISS EVER!!!!! nose kiss cheek kiss lip kiss combo are you kidding. Are you KIDDING me. then he was trying to be respectful and not take advantage??? 😭 and she got AKUMATIZED bc she wanted to keep kissing him so bad??? HDJDJD and then the angsty second kiss to break her free omfggggggg people died (im people). the little moment at the end too when they agree to go their separate ways but hug like good friends who are in love. Waaaaa my heart. It was all really really good. I loved it. When I first watched it I kept having to pause and pace around like a madman fhsndn

On the other hand, it was so different from my personal vision of marichat that I wasn’t totally sure how to feel! The essence Marichat to me has always been a friends-to-lovers slowburn, so “sin ship” stuff or fics where they very quickly fall into a relationship against their better judgment have never been my cup of tea. And this episode felt like sort of a tamer, canon-appropriate version of that? It came on so fast and was over just as quickly. marichat ended up being just a one-night fling, basically. which is fine because I i always figured it wouldn’t play a big role in the plot—we got wayyyy more marichat than I ever expected to get! So I’m grateful! I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth haha. But at the same time I couldn’t help but feel sort of disappointed in how it all played out. because while I’ve always been rooting for reverse crush development, I never truly wanted a “love square flip” in the sense of them completely switching love interests from ladrien to marichat. That idea never felt super authentic to the characters to me. I feel like OG crush is so baked in to the love square, you know? This probably sounds rich coming from such a loud annoying marichat stan lmao but I always think of them as still being partly in love with OG crush underneath it all, even if marichat are together.

Anyway, i guess I just had a hard time processing it at all because I had a very specific vision/preference for how I wanted the love square to play out—which was basically, reverse crush develops simultaneously with OG crush and they have to figure out how to deal with being in love with two people at once, and then at the reveal they get the relief of knowing it was always the same person all along, and of course they fell for them twice. Idk to me that would be the most satisfying culmination of the love square—one of the most interesting romantic plot elements I’ve ever seen! And that’s not how the show writers decided to go. Which is OK. We got so much good love square and there will be more to come. I really have been trying to let go of what was always just my personal preference for the LS. But at the time I couldn’t help but feel it was sort of wasting a lot of potential by going in this direction. And that did kind of sour my experience watching elation. marichat was set up and discarded so quickly, as if to both satisfy the fans and also shut them up lol. like “here, you got your marichat, you animals. and now that door is permanently closed bc we just proved how it would never work.” Hahaha. And tbh maybe that was a necessity! Like the closure of that possibility.

All in all elation was an amazing episode. It just made me sort of sad at the end, watching marichat die within minutes of becoming canon. also at the time there were a bunch of marichat stans being kind of obnoxious and salting on ladrien which also dampened the mood a lot for me. So I felt weirdly sad for a while after watching it, even tho it was such an exciting ride that I’d been looking forward to. I guess I just keep thinking “yes this is what I wanted!! …except not like this tbh”

lol I’m so entitled Im sorry….we ate SO good. Elation will always be iconic. Weredad is still my all-time favorite episode though! :)

[ahundredtimesover]

You did your big one with the last update.  I was on an emotional roller coaster. It took me almost 2 hours to read all 23K words because I had to stop several times to process my emotions with our couple. OMG so many feels and my babies I was just drowning right now, like their lack of emotional maturity, it’s so pitiful to see play out I feel like they are definitely sabotaging their own happiness and as much as I want to be mad, considering both of their backgrounds, it makes sense. it also is why they are so perfect for each other so it’s hard no scratch that is painful to see them  be a part when we know they are so much better together. Sorry my mind is all over the place. I hope for JK’s sake Namjoon has a wife. When the two families history was being revealed I really thought Daddy Jeon maybe had an affair with her mom so I was totally shocked that isw as an emotional affair with Mr Ri , like shocked stupid . Ugh I love how Hobi is all for family and willing to there fore JK at anytime . I hate how she feels that burden to server the family/company . But I do feel that JK is now being punished for something outside his control . I am drawing a parallel of how her crazy father lead to him being left in the rain as a kid and now her moms history with the company is leading to him being left by the women he loves now . It makes me question the string of fate that connects them , is this string a string of destiny or a noose that will burden their relationship to be ill fated . I am on the edge of my seat waiting for them to follow up now that everything is out in the open.

In a perfect world OC works for RKive and has a longstanding partnership with the Arts Center , I marry Yoongi and we all live happily ever after . Also I am curios where the hell is JK’s older brother at , do we know as readers . Will the family’s all reconnect at some point . Which supporting character delivers the speech to push OC to analyze her feelings for JK and his words . Is the ex boyfriend gone for good . Anymore plot twists , I am going to be up all night now .

Thank you for posting I love the series so far . I hope you ace your test/paper !!

Sorry if this is a big thing jumble i used text to speech for a large portion because I had to speak these thoughts into the universe

🚧spoilers 🚧

HI OMG U USED TEXT SPEECH? Haha why does that amuse me! I'm just imagining someone just expressing all this and says "In a perfect world... I marry Yoongi and we all live happily ever after" with a straight face hahaha but... same. 😂😂

Anyway. If 23k took you that long... Well, there's 24k and 28k. I can't shut up. 🫣🫣 But yes to emotions! We'll have more of those!

Of course, it's so easy to say that they're so stupid and perhaps they are. But similar to what you said, they have a lot of baggage that they carry and it's not easy to just give in to one's feelings when there's so much weighing them down.

And lol at the thought that there could've been an affair haha someone said that, too! But no, it's actually much more painful. And true, JK's experiencing all this and it's out of his control - he loses whether he asks OC to stay or lets her go. It's similar to her feeling selfish whether she resigns or not. We lose something with every decision we make but like Mr Ri said, we have to make them; it's the only way we can stand by them.

It makes me question the string of fate that connects them , is this string a string of destiny or a noose that will burden their relationship to be ill fated - getting all poetic on me now? BUT HMM interesting question. We'll just have to wait and see! As for your other questions... I can't say much but it'll be fun!! 🤭🤭

Pls don't apologize. I love these messages. I'm sorry I got to it late. I managed to submit my paper and my brain's just been tired for the past few days and I have 2 more to submit... HAHA but yes, I appreciate you. Hope you enjoy the rest of it!! 💕💕