#the 'weird elbow things' have a real name. because they're real

[askshivanulegacy]

By "weird elbow things," you mean the same ones pictured below? Which are a normal part of a full suit of armor, as the equipment of a professional soldier that made total sense and people did really actually wear?

Which also looks like shiny metal, like aluminum happens to be? If you've ever seen full plate armor in person it looks like this. And yes, absolutely as opposed to the comparatively piecemeal armor that Eowyn wears. Galadriel has a professional and well-equipped soldier's uniform. It looks on point, considering fantasy elements. Eowyn has a different set of armor produced by a different people centuries removed, with different resources, which also has its own fantasy elements. It's super weird to compare the two as equivalent. Even in LOTR the elves were depicted as having better and more complete armor, which Galadriel does.

And it goes without saying that Elrond has more than one outfit, as does everyone else in the series, and they look amazing with incredible detail. It's not noteworthy that one of his many outfits has plain colors. Also, it's being compared to nothing at all.

Back to my point that if you're trying to use those images to say that costume design in ROP is "bad," your argument is superficial and you've failed. Also, you didn't actually watch ROP. It takes more than one really badly chosen comparison to make a point about costume design.

the decrease in costuming quality over the last 20 years has been soooo precipitous & nauseating. i’m not even talking abt marvel’s cg supersuits or anything this time, look at the fabric quality, structure, layering, character, and craftsmanship of older costumes in 102 dalmations (2000) vs cruella (2021)

ever after (1998) vs cinderella (2021)

lord of the rings (2001-2003) vs the rings of power (2022)

this trend should upset you not just because it looks cheap, but because it suggests a strong anti-art and anti-labor movement in film and tv making. don’t forget costumers are unionized

[milflewis]

Brocedes Shot glass of tears

1.

“So,” Jenson starts, shaking an unnecessarily large amount of salt onto his side of roast potatoes. “I learned something new the other day.”

Nico sips at his glass of Viognier — he’s having seafood. “How to spell your name?”

Jenson smiles at him. “You always were funny, Britney. No, did you know that it doesn’t matter if you don’t fuck — that it doesn’t actually kill you if you get that,” he waves a careless hand in the air, salt shaker shaking, “Fuck Or Die drug thing?”

He pauses. Frowns. “Or is it a flower pollen?”

“It’s a drug made from a flower, like heroin,” Nico says, instead of saying, no, he did not know.

Jenson hums consideringly. His faux pensive expression is hideously exaggerated. It isn’t as charming as Nico suspects he thinks it is. He also suspects that Jenson doesn’t much care at the moment.

“Or,” Jenson continues. “At least, it didn’t kill Lewis.”

2.

James isn’t returning his calls. Nico doesn’t even bother trying Valtteri or Bono. He has no desire to be laughed at so Susie and Sebastian are also out.

Toto picks up on the seventh ring.

“This is Wolff” he answers, already sounding tired.

“Is it true?”

“Ah, Nico, hello,” Toto starts. “Is what true?”

Nico makes an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. His gut is doing something weird and cramp-like, and his head feels hot and stuffed even though he only had three glasses of wine with a full dinner.

“Lewis. And the drug. Is it real?”

“Hmm. Is this Friend-Nico talking, or Sky-Nico talking?”

It is a question that Susie likes to regularly ask Nico, though her version of the term ‘Friend-Nico’ is distinctly more mocking.

Nico does not snap at him. He is in control, even when he isn’t. He is.

Nico has never carried a bag of sweets around in his pocket. He is not one for setting himself up for failure. He knows what he is good at and what he isn’t. It is it’s own form of self discipline.

Nico isn’t sure Lewis ever really believed that. Other people definitely didn’t.

“Toto,” Nico says, and Toto sighs heavily.

“It is true. He — he had no one, and nothing happened. He has been medically cleared. No lasting side effects.”

Toto says the words like they’re not the first times he spoken them, and still, there is a note of slight reluctant disbelief. He has e never been one for awe.

Nico hangs up without saying goodbye.

3.

The fan had been aiming for Sebastian.

Apparently they had taken offensive to his excessive flirting with everyone in his five foot radius. Nico understands their pain.

He doesn’t know what happened after Baku. No one does. But, even three years later, whatever it was meant that it wasn’t surprising to find Lewis hanging off of Sebastian’s elbow at races, laughing at his terrible jokes.

It is because of this that Lewis gets a face full of Amyl Nitrite, instead of Sebastian.

The layers of irony here amuse Nico for a nice long moment. It helps that Nico knows from Jenson that Lewis was left to deal with it on his own. No Sebastian in sight.

“His poor dick must be stripped raw,” Nico says over the phone.

Mark makes a high despairing sound. He doesn’t like it when they talk about Lewis’s dick.

4.

Ted makes Lewis laugh seven times in his three minute paddock pen interview on Thursday. Nico is used to seeing Ted make Lewis laugh. They're both pretty shameless in that regard.

There are no circles under his eyes - no visible ones anyway, concealer is a thing - or tightness around his forehead. Nico squints at the screen to see if he has any of those tiny broken blood vessels he gets he presses his knuckles into them, trying to sleep. He can't see any.

His braids are neat and pulled back from his face in a high pony and his shirt is loose around his neck, thick silver chain glimmering. He is wearing his usual amount of jewelry.

"You know what it's like, man," Lewis is smiling, face scrunching up behind his mask. "We always try to start off on a good vibe and see where we go build from there. We've got a good team and a good car, and I like where we're at."

He does not look like he's in any form of discomfort, let alone pain. He does not look like his dick is raw. This means nothing as Nico knows.

Ted says something else and Lewis laughs for an eighth time. Nico turns off his tablet.

5.

It is from Fernando that Nico finds out what happened in the end.

Fernando tells him that Lewis came to stay in his hotel room for the night, to ride out the drug’s effects, like this set of actions were obvious and he couldn’t imagine why Nico was even bothering to ask.

Absence, Nico realises, does not always make the heart fonder. At least where Fernando Alonso is concerned.

“Where else would he go,” Fernando says slowly as if Nico is particularly dim. “I don’t do that sort of thing, and I always have a lot of alcohol on me.”

He is filling another two shot glasses from a bottle of clear vodka he already had at the table when Nico arrived.

“Right,” Nico says. “Of course.”

And then: “Is that how he survived then? By drinking himself limp?”

The thought isn’t as funny as Nico would like it to be.

Fernando rolls his eyes. “I told him he didn’t need it. People are just weak. This drug does not kill. People get scared. They give in. They want. After, they are ashamed, so they make up stories, is all.”

Fernando’s mouth twists into something sour. The lighting in the hotel bar is low and dark, throwing shadows across his jaw.

“Hamilton is not weak,” Fernando tells him and Nico does not snap back that he knows.

Instead, he informs him calmly that his opinion on drugs and people’s susceptibility to them and their effects is outdated and uneducated and privileged. He leaves Fernando to pick up their tab. This seems to piss him off more than the lecture.

+1.

Lewis flips the pancake high in the air, grinning to himself as it lands perfectly back into the pan. He’s shirtless, shorts low on his hips, and barefoot. The curve of his belly is softer than it was back when they were racing.

“Morning,” Nico murmurs, pressing his mouth against the knob at the top of Lewis’s spine. His skin is still shower warm and only slightly damp.

“Hey,” Lewis says, reaching a hand back to squeeze Nico’s hip. “You hungry?”

Nico checks in with himself as he takes down two glasses from the cupboard. He opens the fridge to grab their jug of water — already Britta filtered and with several slices of lemon bobbing on the surface.

“Nah, not really, I’ll only have one or two.”

“Mhmm, okay.”

Nico pours them both out two glasses and grabs a pair of forks. He sits up on one of the island stools and sips at his drink.

He should really have his shot of apple cider vinegar and greens but his stomach is feeling kind of weird this morning and he wants to eat first.

Lewis’s cross tattoo is fading. He’ll need to get it touched up soon.

“Bon appétit,” Lewis declares sweepingly, setting Nico’s plate down in front of him with a flourish. He’s in a good mood this morning which means he deliberately butchers the pronunciation, saying it like “Bon apple teeth”, to annoy Nico.

Happiness on Lewis has always looked childlike.

It is strange — the times Nico thinks about it, after all these years.

You were going to kill yourself before letting anyone fuck you again, Nico does not say to Lewis. He cuts into the top pancake, smothered in syrup, and chews slowly.

Lewis turns back to the stove, already sure it will be liked. It’s a well used recipe.

Did you know that it was an old wives tale, or did you just not want to pick up the phone that badly?

Nico’s therapist has been pushing him to ask Lewis for years. Nico told her he will when he is no longer afraid of the answer. He is trying to be more honest, if not with Lewis than with himself and his therapist. She had looked remarkably unimpressed.

“This is enough for me,” Nico tells him. “Thank you.”

Lewis hums, throwing a grin over his shoulder. He is shimming slightly to the music coming from the speaker perched on-top the fridge.

Roscoe is snoring on the couch in the sitting room area of their open floor plan.

“I’m thinking of going swimming later.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“How much later?”

Nico thinks for a second. It’s a Saturday and he has no meetings. Neither does Lewis.

“I told my Dad I’d give him a call at around eleven, so,” he checks his phone. It’s a little before ten now. “Maybe have an early lunch after that and then go at around two or so?”

“Okay.” Lewis turns off the stove, plating up the last of his banana pancakes, and comes around to sit next to Nico. He turns a little so he’s facing him, knees nudging his thigh. “Sounds good.”

At this angle, one of Lewis’s nipple piercings keeps catching off the light when he moves to eat his food and winking at Nico. It’s vaguely distracting in a distant this is your favourite meal but you’ve just eaten kind of way.

“We’re having dinner on the yacht tonight,” Nico decides.

Lewis glances at him, that half amused look he only ever gets around Nico on his face, like he doesn’t even have to thinking about being that way, it just happens naturally.

“Okay,” he says again. “Sure.”

“I want to suck you off under the stars after,” Nico tells him and rinses off his plate before putting it in the dishwasher, and leaving the room to call his dad.

“And they say romance is dead,” Lewis calls after him, grinning, eyes hot. It would be embarrassing for him, the way Nico knows Lewis’s dick twitched when Nico said that, if Nico wasn’t just as easy for him.

[legolasghosty]

your rarepairiest pair: Is this a mid-life crisis because if it is I'm a bit worried about your lifespan.

Oh gosh yes please! I will take any and every excuse to write JuBobby! (Also I think I accidentally set this in my Jem and the Holograms AU... whoops! Oh well, I think it makes sense still without context.)

Bobby generally considers his girlfriend a levelheaded person. Sure, she's done some crazy stuff (See the history of how they even met in the first place), but in general, Julie thinks things through before she does them. And that's probably a good thing, considering the insanity of at least half of her brothers/band.

But even for the most even-keeled individual, fame does weird stuff. So when Julie gets back after what was supposed to be a casual family dinner (no significant others allowed on the first night of the visit to give Julie and her brothers a chance to catch up with Ray, Victoria, and Carlos), crashes onto Bobby's bed, and says, "I'm going to get a yacht," Bobby isn't entirely sure how to react.

He hits the save key on his computer and rises from his desk. "Is this a mid-life crisis?" he asks slowly, approaching his girlfriend and sitting down on the edge of the bed beside her. "Cause if so, I'm a little worried about your lifespan. I don't want to outlive you by that much, Molina."

Julie groans and rolls onto her side to look at him. "People can't recognize me on a boat," she states, voice flat.

Bobby winces, suddenly understanding. He'd turned off most of his notifications while he was working, which is probably how he missed whatever pictures have made it online of Julie and her brothers just trying to spend time with their family. He reaches out to run his fingers gently over her arm, offering what comfort he can.

"We didn't even have our food yet before someone came to ask for an autograph," Julie sighs, wriggling a little closer to him. "And then the waiters were staring, and...sometimes I wonder why I told the world my real name."

Bobby hums softly and lays down on his side, pulling her into his chest. "I'm sorry, Ju." This sort of thing has been happening more and more over the past nine months since Julie took to the stage as Dahlia and the crowd was chanting her real first name by the time she and her brothers finished the show.

"So I'm gonna get a frigging boat so I can hang out with my family without getting interrupted," Julie huffs, curling into his embrace, letting his cool hands smooth out the rough heat racing through her body from all the unwanted stares.

"I mean, I know it doesn't really solve the actual problem," Bobby begins, resting his chin against her hair, "but you could just bring them here if you wanted. Get some fancy takeout and just stay in together."

"I wouldn't want to kick you out of your own house though," Julie protests, looking up at him. "I mean, I know the guys and I live here too, but it's your home too. You shouldn't lose your safe space just because my family is in town."

Bobby forces down a joke about being used to it from how things were with Caleb up until a year ago. His therapist says that's not healthy, to downplay it like that. "I don't mind," he promises instead. "They're important to you. So, important to me. I can stay out of your way no problem as long as no one ends up in my room."

Julie cracks a tiny smirk. "Awww, so no sleepovers while they're here?" she teases.

Bobby chuckles and shrugs as best he can without loosening his grip on her. "I suppose something could be arranged," he responds. "You know, if the situation were desperate enough."

"So... you last maybe one night without me," Julie snarks.

"Hey, you leave my insomnia out of this," Bobby complains lightly, unable to resist the slow grin spreading across his face. "I managed just fine before we met."

"Lies," Julie retorts, pushing herself up on one elbow so she's above him.

"Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?" Bobby challenges.

"Go sleep in my amazing bazillion thread sheeted bed in my room by myself," she answers, smirking. "We'll see just how well you sleep by yourself."

Bobby raises an eyebrow. "I don't see you moving."

"Hey I got accosted by twelve-year-olds today, I'm not moving very fast," Julie says.

Hah, Bobby thinks. An opening. He reaches out and grabs an edge of his bedspread, flipping them over and pinning her down with the blanket and his body. "Well then you're not going anywhere," he teases.

"Oh no, woe is me," Julie laughs as she fumbles one arm free to cup the back of his neck. "I shall never escape."

"Nope, mine now," Bobby agrees before giving into her gentle tugging and leaning down to kiss her. "I'm serious though," he adds, pulling back a hair after a moment. "Just bring your family here. I know it's not ideal, but we can make it feel just as fancy as those stupid restaurants downtown. And here you can just be you."

"You're amazing," Julie says. "Think we can make it happen for everybody dinner tomorrow night?"

"Caleb has an impressive wine cellar," Bobby promises. "And he owes me and Willie and Carrie like... a lot."

"You know I'm technically underaged, right?" Julie jokes.

"Well, rockstars are allowed to do fun stuff sometimes," Bobby responds, leaning down to kiss her again. They'd figure it out, one way or another.

[cgsf]

Men's Hockey (RPF) fanfiction recs:

Travis Konecny/Nolan Patrick

"how to cherish your own shadow" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 15,525 | Nolan thinks about praying. He thinks about TK, how good it's been to have him here, how easily they move around each other. He thinks about the stretch of days ahead of him once TK heads home. TK looks over and smiles, soft and crooked, and Nolan imagines leaning in to kiss him, pressing their bodies together. He smiles back.

"an illicit divide" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 2,851 | TK unbuttons his shirt, opens his belt. He turns around and Patty's still standing in the doorway, a shoulder against the frame. "You coming over?" "Can't," Patty says, and drags his socked foot along the threshold between their rooms. "Against the rules."

"but i pinky promise i'll try" 🔒 (E) by anonymous | 12,152 | Nolan comes across one guy, just a scant two miles away, who actually has his face in his profile picture, which is a refreshing change. He’s cute, longish dark hair with a sneaky smile, and his name is Travis. Nolan has never started a conversation with anyone before, but again: antsy and horny.

"how winning is done" 🔒 (M) by jolach | 8,823 | Travis isn’t buying it. “Nah,” he says. “You’re not good.” He sees Patty whip his head around, ready to start shit, which normally Travis would be into, but– “You’re fucking...” he searches for a word, “awesome.” “Trav–” “You were a fucking monster out there tonight, that call was bullshit–” “Oh my God–” “You’re better at COD than me, I’ll never repeat that–” “–you don’t have to, we both know–” “You’re a goddamn smokeshow, you bagged a fucking NHL captain without even trying–” “Jesus fucking Christ,” Pat says.

"hear the river say your name" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 2,481 | "Howdy's got plans, so." Pat says it like it's a whole explanation, low and easy. It's been a while since they've been in the same room, but the way they talk to each other, the half sentences and shorthand, it's all still there. They're good to go and Pat's leaving it up to him.

"teach me how to cry" 🔒 (NR) by notthequiettype | 693 | TK knows the second he hits the ice his season's done.

"Combative" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 3,517 | "You know you could just fuck me without setting weird little benchmarks for yourself." "Yeah, but like, if I don't have a goal, how do I get better?"

"when i see your light shine" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 4,700 | Patty says, "Hey" and TK pulls him into a hug, lets himself hang on slightly longer than is chill. Patty just spreads his big hand out between TK's shoulderblades and holds on back. When they pull back TK says, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"this will be our year" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 4,380 | When TK turns back around, there's a tall, handsome guy leaning on his elbow on the bar, two fingers rubbing at his temple under his shaggy hair. "What can I get you?" "What's the least annoying thing to order?" "For real or like how people are always asking bartenders what they like to make?" The corner of the guy's mouth twitches a little. The tops of his cheeks are flushed. "For real."

"absolute ultimate" 🔒 (E) by heroics | 4,669 | It’s a kind of ritual, now, that Travis and Pat spend at least the first night of every road trip at the hotel, bickering over the Discovery Channel.

"dial this lover’s heartache" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 5,219 | TK hits Pat, 21, 7km away and pauses, mostly to size-up the bass hanging from his hand in his profile photo. TK swipes right because he likes Pat's wide, open-mouthed smile, like he's in the middle of a laugh, and the soft curve of belly sitting at his waistband in another shot. TK's not expecting the match to pop and it startles him into dropping his phone on the counter.

"just like this" 🔒 (E) by jesuisgrace | 1,144 | TK plays beautifully. He knows they should wait, but when TK rips his helmet off after the game and flips his disgusting, sweaty hair back, he wants to eat him alive.

"Slow and low" 🔒 (E) by bitter_leaf | 10,451 | “You really gave that girl a lap dance, eh?” “I fucking said I did, didn’t I—” Travis starts, irritated, because he just told Patty not half an hour ago that he did and— his stomach drops through the floor. Oh fuck. Oh shit. Oh no. No no no.

"take down some summer time" 🔒 (T) by manybumblebees | 2,507 | Summer is lake days and fishing and coolers full of beer, the boat kicking up spray in its wake, and Nolan coming to stand next to him on the deck in his too-short shorts, holding his forearm next to TK’s and complaining about his Irish skin, which burns and freckles but never tans.

"it's hard to look right at you (so here's my number)"🔒 (E) by backseats | 2,914 | “Why’d you, like…” Trav tries to kick his brain back into conversation-mode, momentarily distracted by the way Patty’s flushed all the way past his throat, down to the divot of his collarbone. “Why’d you call me, man?”

"Motivation" 🔒 (E) by connectknee | 4,696 | Kevin knows when to back off, the article said. He knows just when to shut up and leave Patty alone, something Travis has never known how to do.

"Strange Torpedo" 🔒 (E) by connectknee | 31,270 |In which TK is the unconventional first-grade teacher in charge of Nolan’s niece, and Nolan is trying to figure out what to do with his life after crashing out of hockey.

"Dead reckoning" 🔒 (E) by murkya | 10,768 | Patty came over after lunch, one eye hecticly red and his jaw occasionally grinding about as if something was wound too tight inside and he was stuck on trying to work it free.

"History, and other forms of strife" 🔒 (M) by murkya | 16,925 | Summer of ‘26, Nolan got traded to the Flyers. That was fine, just great. Shit happens.

"don't let me fall behind" 🔒 (T) by growlery writes | 2,187 | It happens quickly, too quickly, but this is how it ends: the guy is on the ground. The guy isn’t moving. Nolan is safe. There’s a knife in Travis’s side. Nolan is safe.

"keep it on a high note" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 3,915 | Nolan has never been a particularly tactile person except for with the people he's been closest too. Nobody's expanded those boundaries like TK and Nolan likes the ease of it, that he has someone around all the time who he likes to be close to.

"hold on to your aftertaste" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 8,305 | Kevin stops him at the door. "You are my beautiful, gay, virgin friend. And we are going to go take care of the one part of that description that's bothering you." It's strangely heartening and Nolan follows him in.

"Cheetle" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 7,061 | Nolan made Travis kind of stupid in all these strange, inarticulable ways that didn't really have anything to do with how smart Travis wasn't, but instead were about like, how he felt.

"see you in the depths" 🔒 (E) by eversincewefellapart | 6,718 | "You're a virgin?" TK repeats incredulously.

"my heart is thrilled by the still of your hand" 🔒 (E) by callabang & manybumblebees | 3,139 | Patty tries a lot of shit to help with his migraines, but TK still isn't expecting to hear that he’s doing a “chastity cleanse” because Tazer said it would help him to “reset his mind.”

"save your first and last dance for me" 🔒 (E) by manybumblebees | 21,374 | They're several hours, a slow dance, and too many bright orange shots that taste of cinnamon and paint thinner into their joke date to G's wedding when TK looks up at Nolan and says, "Marry me." And that's just their first wedding of the summer.

"play with fire till your fingers burn" 🔒 (T) by manybumblebees | 6,048 | Nolan goes through his first NHL camp knowing three things about the guy in the next stall: 1. He talks a lot. 2. He likes to fish. 3. The ducks in his tattoo are named after the Ninja Turtles.

"port stanley is for lovers" 🔒 (T) by manybumblebees | 7,518 | “Imagine–” Nolan chokes out, trying to stop laughing long enough not to totally butcher the delivery on this. “Bro, imagine making a whole town think we’re hooking up because you couldn’t shut up about me.”

"i'm dying, i'm dying to touch" 🔒 (E) by anonymous | 2,023 | Patty won't look at him. He's not paying any attention to TK, sitting there shooting the shit with Raff like TK doesn't even fucking exist. Fuck it. Fuck him. Fuck this.

"like home" 🔒 (T) by anonymous | 4,595 | The entire season feels like it’s going on in the next room, like Nolan’s watching it through a one-way mirror. Him on one side, hockey on the other. And then it stops, the whole season, the structure he's been clawing himself along and against, and... It's not a good week.

"if you leave the light on" 🔒 (M) by countthestars | 7,753 | “Do you really want me to come to Winnipeg?” TK doesn’t mean to blurt it out, but he’s not good at being subtle or holding back or thinking through any of the possible terrible consequences for his actions before he’s already done them, so. The question’s just. Out there. Ball in Patty’s court.

"the new three's company" 🔒 (M) by blaahaj | 3,000 | There are probably better ways to seduce your teammate than asking him to have a threesome with you, but this is working out alright for Travis.

"let's get drunk, i’ll pour my heart out through my mouth" 🔒 (M) by anonymous | 7,139 | Holy fuck, did he pick someone up last night? Travis isn’t in the habit of waking up with strangers, not really, but at least he’s in his own bedroom, that doesn’t— Wait. He knows those shoes.

"a line that we can just go cross" 🔒 (M) by whiskey_in_tea | 3,266 | Travis thinks about when he chipped his own tooth: how it felt to run his tongue over the unfamiliar jagged edge of it, over and over and over again. That’s the only reason he got it fixed, is because he cut his tongue on it, worrying at it, and that seemed unnecessary. That seemed, like, bad. He imagines saying to Pats, I’m worried about your tongue.

"I'm Your Wreck" 🔒 (M) by whiskey_in_tea | 7,126 | “If I was gonna,” Nolan says. “With a guy. Why would it be you?” “Because you love me,” Travis says, smug, shit-eating grin on that ratfucker’s face as he walks over to where Nolan’s sitting on the bed. Nolan tries desperately to trace how this night got so out of control so quickly and comes up with only: this is what happens when you make friends with the craziest person on your crazy-ass team.

"wild thoughts" 🔒 (M) by whiskey_in_tea | 6,996 | Nolan watches Travis’ hands, browned from the summer, scarred by fishing hooks and trigger pulls and ice burns and god knows what else, as they finish putting dinner on its plate. That’s the thing about Travis: he understands how to make the life he wants for himself. He’s not stupid, except about the things he’s fucking stupid about.

"working for it all the time" 🔒 (E) by whiskey_in_tea | 8,105 | It’s just, like, Travis thinks, as Patty lets go of his wrists and they walk inside together, Patty saying something about dinner plans. With other guys, there’s this static zone between them. Travis doesn’t think about it because there’s nothing to think about. But with Patty… it could happen. Just technically. It is possible. The door is open, he thinks, for the possibility of something. Not that he wants something to happen. But Travis has to admit that he thinks about it. He does.

"Surveilled" 🔒 (M) by notthequiettype | 639 | The thing about TK is that he doesn't lack impulse control; it’s that his impulse control was getting in the way of his life, so he just kind of learned to suppress it.

"Horseshoe Lake" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype | 5,386 | "So, what, you just came over in the middle of the night to like, end our lifelong friendship?"

"Eye to Eye" 🔒 (M) by canary | 4,077 | Five times TK asks Nolan to talk about it, and one time he doesn’t.

"never have i ever" 🔒 (E) by anonymous | 5,653 | “Never have I ever kissed a guy,” he said, without really thinking about it. Nolan didn’t respond right away, and Travis realized about five seconds too late that that was probably a really weird thing to say.

"same building, different views" 🔒 (E) by atswimtwobros | 5,636 | Patty’s not always easy to read but Travis can tell that he hates this, being held down while Travis just looks at him. He can feel Patty’s pulse thumping in his wrists.

"haven't left your bed since" 🔒 (E) by heroics | 6,002 | "So, is it a rule that all bassists have to be really stoic and hot?" Travis asks.

"second sun came past the glass" 🔒 (E) by heroics | 3,614 | When TK glances at him across the elevator, Nolan leans against the wall and lets himself stare back. They start going up, agonizingly slow, dinging past each level. He really hopes nobody else comes in.

"headed your way with the devil on my fucking shoulder" 🔒 (E) by eversincewefellapart | 5,434 | They've been rooming since September and TK had tried valiantly, in the beginning, to strike up a friendship. When that seemed impossible, he attempted to go for a casual acquaintanceship at the very least. But Nolan consistently and coldly turned his advances down each time, shrugging into his big purple and yellow Laurier sweaters with his snapback pulled low over his eyes. TK has still never seen him hang out with anyone. He apparently runs a one-man show.

"only demons come to mind" 🔒 (T) by manybumblebees | 3,727 | Next to Nolan, TK’s slamming his gear around and swearing, and that, too, is becoming routine.

"sunlight on our clean clothes" 🔒 (E) by sarcangel | 19,923 | “Turns out I have a thing for centers,” Travis started. It came out pretty good, just a little wobble. “Or, um. Mostly one center. A center. Like, 6’2”, born in Winnipeg. Virgo. Likes cabins, dogs, weird music with violins and shit—”

"great expectations" 🔒 (E) by atswimtwobros | 5,287 | It's starting to give Travis a little bit of a complex, is all. or: the small dick fic.

"Close ain't close enough" 🔒 (E) by bitter_leaf | 33,590 | They’ve only got three nights left before they head back to Philly, training camp starting up a little over a week after that. With a heavy heart, Travis realises that he’s gonna head back home and have to deal with this same stupid flickering torch that he’s been carrying since Patty got put on long term IR that just will not go out, no matter how much he tries—and fails—to ignore it.

"Call me out (bring you home)" 🔒 (M) by bitter_leaf | 19,319 | Nolan’s gaze flickers periodically to the rear-view mirror as he barrels down the highway, one shaky hand shoved under his thigh, the other slung over the wheel. The road is quiet now that he's clear of the city but he can’t bear the thought of getting pulled over and having to roll his window down for some bored traffic cop, tell him he’s heading across provincial borders in the middle of a pandemic to get Manitoba’s favourite son to rail the existential angst out of him.

"break my bones" 🔒 (E) by anonymous | 3,387 | Nolan’s been here enough times that he heads straight to the counter. He does a double-take when he sees the new barista, then immediately kicks himself for being obvious. It takes a surprising amount of concentration to order coffee while acting like he's never gotten off to videos of the guy getting fucked to within an inch of his life.

"pictures of success" 🔒 (E) by whiskey_in_tea | 16,171 | “The trick,” Travis is saying, “is to get past where the waves are breaking.” He gestures to where the water is rising like a wall in front of them. “See how it comes up and up, then it starts falling in on itself?” The ocean crumbles, collapses, sprays them with spume. It seems angry. What’s it so angry about?

"all candor and style in the crook of your smile" 🔒 (M) by p3trichor | 12,031 | It’s a photo of Nolan on his knees with someones’ fingers in his mouth, lips slick with spit. Travis flicks by it almost too fast and he’s only got seconds to decide if he wants to screenshot it, if he wants to just give up the ghost right then and there.

"but your heart got teeth" 🔒 (M) by countthestars | 6,619 | Patty’s gonna wolf out. Travis has never seen him do it before.

"i saw you in the water" 🔒 (E) by LouLa | 24,944 | “Why are you always collecting my garbage like a weird, violent crow?” Nolan asks, bewildered. Travis doesn’t have an answer for that, he just shoves at Nolan’s face instead.

"Nothing to Prove" 🔒 (E) by canary | 42,342 | Nolan picked a college based on two criteria. One: That it didn’t have a hockey program. Two: That it was in some random corner of the southern USA, where the air was thick enough to bite, and football was the only sport anyone talked about in October. He should have known his dumb ass was still going to fuck it up.

"Sugar Honey" 🔒 (T) by canary | 3,904 | TK had always liked color. TK had always liked Patty. TK had always liked it when Patty smiled, and it seemed like he smiled all the fucking time in Winnipeg.

"How the Future Knew" 🔒 (E) by canary | 63,728 | It had been some stupid, throwaway picture from the gym. He’d been shirtless, taken a selfie in the mirror between sets. Nolan hadn’t been thinking about it, really, just like, oh, my abs look pretty good for this late in the season, and he’d thrown it on the gram. It had made some horny Canadian’s “boys next door thirst trap compilation” post on Tumblr. Nolan hadn’t heard of Tumblr before but apparently it was a thing. He’d gotten like, thirty DMs about it.

"the space between your words" 🔒 (E) by TheNorthRemembers | 18,189 | Travis visits Nolan during the offseason and starts spiralling into his insecurities after being told by Nolan's sister that she doesn't like him.

"Made of Glass" 🔒 (M) by makeit_takeit | 14,689 | Inside the locker room it’s pure chaos, noise and people and Nolan immediately feels overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it all, both literal and metaphorical. His heart lurches and his gut tells him immediately, this is a bad idea, and you don’t belong here.

"Things We Missed" 🔒 (T) by makeit_takeit | 4,622 | It was literally, unquestionably, like - the dumbest thing he’s ever done, hooking up with Hallsy. Because Nolan is very - . Like, extremely, super, totally, literal-hours-of-his-life-lost-to-conversations-on-this-topic aware, that Travis Konecny is mad jealous of Taylor Hall.

"Last Ones Standing" 🔒 (E) by makeit_takeit | 22,772 | At the bottom of the ad there’s a link, and Travis finds his finger hovering over the screen, lip still caught between his teeth. “I mean,” he says very reasonably, speaking out loud to his empty apartment like some sort of possibly-crazy person, “just applying doesn’t mean anything. Maybe I just fill it out, and see what happens. It’s not like I’m really gonna get picked to be on TV, come on.”

"Just Getting Started" 🔒 (E) by canary | 10,719 | Several things clicked into place. “Are you trying to court me with Bud Lite Lime?” Nolan asked in disbelief. “Dunno,” Travis said, with his crooked smile. “Is it working?”

"body's in trouble" 🔒 (E) by cloudsandpassingevents | 55,915 | “I don’t know,” Nolan finally mumbles. “I’m not, like, trying to – ” the rest of the sentence gets stuck in his throat. He takes a sip of tea to force it back down. “Like. I wouldn’t do anything drastic. But, like.” He gestures vaguely at the air between them. “If you had a bike that was broken, you wouldn’t just keep it around anymore, you know? Like, it’d just be useless. You’d throw it away. So, like, if your body can’t do stuff that it’s supposed to be able to do, then…” he trails off, chewing on the corner of his lip. “What’s the point, you know,” he finally finishes.

"when the night falls" 🔒 (E) by anonymous | 16,519 | In which Travis is strangely fascinated by the moody guy who keeps showing up at his coffee shop right as he’s closing. Well. The dude is hot. It’s not that complicated, actually.

"River for the Sea" 🔒 (E) by LoveLeah | 39,152 | It’s not that Nolan’s, like, hugely fucking into Travis. He literally barely knows him, but obviously he’s hot, tan and athletic with nice hair and pretty eyes and this dark tattoo just dipping out from under the sleeve of his t-shirt, wrapping around the thick muscle of his bicep.

"Bathe with You in the Sea" 🔒 (M) by LoveLeah | 2,549 | “Chase told us something,” his mom says. Travis' body feels fire hot under his parka, sweaty and closed in. “He says he thinks you didn’t come because--Travis, he says you told him you were gay.”

"Breathing Room" 🔒 (E) by makeit_takeit | 16,149 | “I dunno, dude.” Travis chews on the inside of his cheek, rubs his hand over the whiskers on his chin to feel them bend and slide and prickle under his fingers. “You ever just get tired of being in the city all the time? Just seeing like – airport, hotel, arena, bus, airport, and that’s it?”

"faith between our teeth" 🔒 (E) by waytoobright | 10,602 | For Travis, it feels like home. He knows the streets up and down every block, and he’s been working at his family friend’s hot dog stand since he turned fourteen and was legally allowed to work in the state of New Jersey. He’s got friends who work at other restaurants and shops down the boardwalk and everyone still comes back every summer. They all come rolling into town during the first few weeks of sun and sand, and then the summer really begins.

"The Strangest Trip" 🔒 (E) by makeit_takeit | 19,562 | Pat’s at the bar, back turned to the speeches. He looks like always: big, beautiful, perfect in his almost-pink-but-still-technically-taupe suit. Hair slicked back off his face, jaw clenched and trying hard to hide how much he doesn’t want to be here, gripping his wine glass a little too tight. Just looking at him, Travis can feel the almost desperate pull in his chest, the longing.

"Two Halves of a Whole Idiot" 🔒 (E) by littleconnections | 19,089 | Nolan's hair is getting long too, flicking into his eyes and Travis sits on the shore and watches, the pulling in his gut both familiar and not. What if I kiss him, he thinks.

"Friends Don't Look At Friends That Way" 🔒 (E) by Matriaya | 5,519 | Travis knows as soon as Sara suggests a threesome that he's gonna pick Patty. Obviously. Patty’s his best friend, and they see each other’s dicks like every fucking day at the rink, and he’s definitely walked in on Patty boning a chick before, so it will just be like that only… together.

"Hot House Grapes" 🔒 (E) by LoveLeah for Matriaya | 7,636 | Even after TK told him; after he found out he and TK both liked guys, he hadn't thought about TK as anything more than just TK. Like, he hadn't thought he wasn't hot, but he'd just never thought that much about it at all. Then they came back from the summer after their junior year, and Nolan walked into their dorm, and TK was sprawled out shirtless on the bottom bunk, dark tan and smiling, and Nolan took one look at him and was like: oh.

"Twice As Many Stars" 🔒 (E) by TheNorthRemembers | 230,251 | “Told you,” Nolan says, and it’s meant to be teasing but somehow his voice trails off into something softer at the look on Travis’ face. It’s not really surprise or shock like Nolan had expected, not entirely anyway. There’s disappointment there too, mixed with defiance and sadness. “You can’t save everyone.” The character's death screen is still showing, and it feels mocking in a way Nolan didn’t quite see coming. “I had to try, though,” Travis still says, unmoving for another second before he musters up a smile and presses the controller into Nolan’s hand. “You always gotta try.”

"in the name of being honest" 🔒 (E) by coastalhighway | 51,655 | From the moment the Flyers had stepped on the ice, Nolan had tried to catch TK’s eye, tried to make him fucking look at Nolan, but— The entire goddamn time. The entire goddamn game, TK never once met his eyes.

"Coming Undone" (E) by Linsky | 3,184 | For the record: Travis does hook up. A completely normal amount, even. He finds girls on Tinder and totally does go out with them. Just, that’s a lot of work, and sometimes he’s tired from hockey, and it just seems easier to stick to messaging. It’s still sort of like hooking up.

"latibule" (E) by wolver | 40,601 | "You're Nolan Patrick, right?" The guy presses on whether he gets an answer or not (he doesn't), "Bro, it's sweet we get to play together. You're fucking sick; your stick-handling skills are off the charts, my man, this is gonna be so sweet." Nolan can fucking feel the vibrations of Travis stifling a laugh, but of course Travis isn't going to throw him a rescue line like the fucker that he is. All Nolan can really do is stare blankly -- his first choice of words are highly inappropriate and he smothers them into an unintelligible mumble.

"before the wave hits" 🔒 (E) by anonymous | 16,477 | It's not really a big deal, is the thing. It's just that Travis thinks it's kind of weird that they've been best friends for three years and he's never seen Patty's dick.

"let's get tangled up together" (E) by wolver | 3,236 | Patty's back. A slice in the life from training camp.

"he's kinda quiet (but his body ain’t)" 🔒 (E) by thestarsatnight | 2,956 | Nolan is looking at him and with soft, knowing eyes, because he knows exactly how taxing it is sometimes to manage anything past getting up, breathing, and going back to bed.

"Tazete Tazone" 🔒 (M) by soupbowlfulofsins | 7,464 | One drunk kiss does not a bromance make. So obviously, Travis and Nolan step up their bro-kissing game.

"So long, Honey" 🔒 (E) by TheNorthRemembers | 11,649 | Nolan and Travis have been friends since they've been kids and in love almost just as long. Nolan is a hockey player, but Travis isn't, but Nolan still comes home to him every off season.

"wouldn’t know where to start" 🔒 (M) by anonymous | 7,090 | Travis just keeps pressing, keeps touching Nolan the same way he always has, and waits for it to stop feeling normal. It never does.

"what we do when we stop thinkin" 🔒 (E) by Matriaya | 6,687 | Travis leans up and presses a kiss to Nolan’s cheek, right smack in the hollow of it, where the fuzz is starting to creep up. It’s no more than a second, lips on skin, barely a glance, but he can’t quite meet Nolan’s gaze as he pulls away. “For good luck!”

"Good For You" 🔒 (E) by TheNorthRemembers | 40,282 | Travis finds out that Nolan has a big dick and becomes obsessed with it, discovering some stuff about himself along the way. Nolan mostly just enjoys the ride.

"Does Anybody Know" 🔒 (E) by thestarsatnight | 3,509 | Kevin was beaming at him. “Better believe we’re gonna celebrate that hatty once this pandemic’s over, TikiBar.” “Sure, sure,” Travis said, bobbing his head. There was a lot he’d told these guys over the years, a lot that he’d shared with this team, but some things were just for him, even in the jumbled up excitement of his brain. Instead, he said, “Plenty of time for you to catch up, Hayesy,” and Kevin’s answering laugh was enough.

"Rattling Cages" (E) by LoveLeah | 48,562 | Nolan gets ditched, wears short-shorts, and tries to figure out his head. Travis buys a dildo, spends $2000 on Etsy, and makes a folder for all the Nolan pictures on his phone.

"worn but young" 🔒 (E) by grace | 28,525 | Somehow though, with Patty it’s all felt different so far, though he would never have guessed it would in a thousand years. Travis keeps looking back to check how far ahead he’s gotten and every time Patty is right there with him, pacing him quiet and calm. Acting like it’s normal to want the things with a friend that Travis wants, the constant closeness, acting like Travis isn’t bothering or taking from him at all. It makes Travis feel giddy inside, like bubbles fizzing.

"shines when the sunset shifts" 🔒 (E) by grace | 15,391 | Nolan feels all the things he’s been wanting to say to someone and can’t rise up and crowd in; a pressure, a weather system. I thought I was better. I’m not doing well. It is happening again. It will happen forever. Instead he says, “Does that hurt?”

"born to be crazy, born to be wild" 🔒 (E) by anonymous | 6,353 | Nolan was not throwing himself a pity party. Was he injured? Yes. Was he injured for the seven-millionth fucking time? Unfortunately. Had he succumbed, under the covers in the wee hours of the morning, to his weakest impulse, searching his name on Twitter? Also yes. Had that sent him into a shame spiral? Obviously.

"if you need me, i'm the same as i was" 🔒 (T) by donderwolk | 4,719 | TK clears his throat, tries to go for sultry again then, but it’s part of the bit now, a little in-joke between the two of them, says, “What are you wearing?”

"i miss this time, last year" 🔒 (M) by donderwolk | 18,048 | Travis calls him about two hours after the news drops, says nothing for a whole ten seconds, then comes out with just a, “Nolan.” It’s less a word, and more a sigh. A strange and desperate thing. They haven’t spoken in eight months.

"stuck in my head, heart, body" 🔒 (E) by donderwolk | 2,434 | God, what would TK even do if he just — showed up? Pretend, Nolan thinks. Knows, really. He’d pretend, at least for a little while, that Nolan standing on his doorstep in fucking Haddonfield unannounced and on Valentine’s Day was the most normal thing a guy could do.

"sing it in my sleep" (M) by fadeastride | 3,954 | It takes three days after leaving the bubble for Travis to check his phone. He deletes most of the texts unread, but there's one from Nolan that just says, "You should come see me."

"the most exciting thing I'd ever known" (T) by fadeastride | 3,072 | The first time Nolan starts to actually think about it, they're in Claude's backyard for some kind of "welcome spring" barbecue that's really an excuse to drink too much cheap beer and cook meat over a fire. Nolan's four, maybe five, beers in when he tells Travis that he's got the balance of one of those goats that walk sideways up mountains and that he could totally walk the fence like a balance beam. "You cannot," Travis says, smashing another bite of hamburger into his mouth.

"any thrill will do"🔒 (E) by hackysack | 8,372 | Pat copes with it the same way he’s been coping with every other part of the Philadelphia break-up: he goes on Grindr.

"hold (me) still" 🔒 (E) by notthequiettype & solarperigee | 3,343 | Nolan watches out of the corner of his eye as TK gets more and more jittery, before he finally springs to his feet, presses a kiss to Nolan's cheek, and announces, “I've gotta go jerk it so I'm not sitting here with a boner all game, 'kay?” Nolan doesn't know what drives him to say it, but the words are out before he can stop to think about them. “You can do it here, if you're quick about it.”

"occupying space" 🔒 (E) by toxica939 | 4,278 | Nolan loves him. The thought’s like a bruise. Something better left to poke at later, press down on, see if it hurts.

"I Wish That It Was Easy" 🔒 (E) by littleconnections | 10,393 | Getting stuck in a time loop has never made anyone realise their feelings any quicker.

"Someone Else's Solid Ground" (E) by Linsky | 21,757 | Nolan’s body has never been his friend.

••••••

That's 100!

[augustheart]

house of the dragon (only a good show occasionally despite my high hopes) airing again... have you seen/do you have any thoughts on the hbo dragon designs

i think they're pretty good! full disclosure i haven't really seen them in action beyond gifs, and i'm looking at a combination of their base design when it's stripped of most digital effects, concept art, the final product, and whatever hbo's "dragon index" is to try to get a well-rounded idea of them.

my primary critique is the same as what i have for a lot of fantasy animals with wings, which is that i think the webbing is kind of fucked. like i know this is a magical creature and this is a fantasy realm but if you're making extremely realistic dragons then the webbing of their wings should be attached to their body right? i know i'm a raving lunatic about this stuff but it's weird that the webbing pretty much ends at the elbow.

i think the heads are over designed :( like this is nonsense to me:

as far as movement, i really like how they move when on the ground. i think the claws on the wrist of the wings could do with a little more prominence since they're bearing the majority of their weight down on them, but that's really it. i particularly like the way they sway when they take steps. i read something about their movement being inspired by chickens and i can totally see it! i think that's great.

one thing that's getting me in the hbo dragon index is how different some of the names are but we don't have time to get into how confused i am that a dragon named "dreamfyre" exists in the same country as a dragon called "vermithor." not because i don't think we would name dragons like this in real life, because we definitely would, i just am shocked that the edgy world of game of thrones allows a dragon called dreamfyre.

also i really want the noble collection's dragon statues now.

[zmediaoutlet]

happy wincest wednesday💖, today i give you the challenge of naming the 3 episodes that would be the hardest to write first time wincest for. and why. if you feel like explaining.

oooooooooooh coming out swinging with a tough one, okay, I see how we're playing this evening:

well the problem with who I am as a person is that I take anything like that as a Writing Challenge and start going, immediately, well but what if you did x y or z. But I will take it in the spirit meant and also not include any episodes where they're not in the same state or whatever bc that's cheating. So!

8.02 What's Up Tiger Mommy

Why? First of all, ooooh boy this episode. I mean, yeesh. Second: while I think you could go for first time wincest in the previous episode even with the immediate fight that ensues, this where we really start to lean into the episodes where we see how Off the boys are. They're getting along (mostly) in a superficial way but there's a real distance. Sam's defensive; Dean's pissed. At the same time, they're not stressed enough -- for real first time when they aren't in a 'liking each other' period, they need some breaking point moment that makes the transgression feasible. This episode doesn't have it. It does have a whole lot of 'arithmetic is the same thing as intelligence,' though!

9.13 The Purge

Why? Sam's cruel but he's not cruel, and even at his nadir of self-loathing there's a place beyond which I don't think Dean can go. Sam says some SHIT in this ep and Dean takes it because Dean's been taking these beatings as his due, but that last argument is a full-on evisceration, and for the characters to be in-character I just... can't see them taking that step, not then. Even if you did it where, idk, Dean got super shithoused drunk and decided Sam can't hate me any more than he does, can he? Let's see if he cares if I break this last boundary, I can't see Sam going for it. He'd be more likely to push Dean off in a sad/vaguely pitying way and tell him he was drunk. Up to you if it counts as first time, but there are some times that penises just shouldn't get involved, imo.

12.06 Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox

Why? It could happen immediately before, with Dean's radiating delight about killing Hitler (he killed Hitler! imagine Sam's eyerolling fondness!), and it could happen immediately after with Dean comforting Sam after Lucifer reveals his whole omnicidal maniac plan via Jesse's Girl Guy, but that weird blah of a funeral episode seems like a weird spot for me. First of all, way too many people around who know who they are, and who really know who they are. Plus, even if you want to be generous to the ep, its mood is (necessarily) elegiac and strange. They're seen as legends, not as people. Then of course their mother unfortunately shows, and in all the confusion of saving each other and her there's just no elbow room. And even in the space afterward once they've finally ditched her, after whatever breakfast of bacon and awkwardness, I feel like that space just isn't available. They've been too reminded of the social aspect of who they are and for good first time I feel like you need the isolation provided by a world of two. Get back to your lonely bunker, boys, and boink there.

[atmilliways]

Dreams In Which I’m Dying (15-16)

parts 15 & 16 of 16 | 710 & 174 words | Teen +

Donnie Darko AU | parts 1 & 2 | part 3 | parts 4 & 5 | parts 6 & 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 & 11 | parts 12 & 13 | part 14

Summary:

Eddie Munson has had his life turned upside down, but it’s been a few months now and things have started to settle again.

15 - Life turned upside down

Eddie Munson has had his life turned upside down, but it’s been a few months now and things have started to settle again.

The government has replaced the decimated one-bedroom trailer with one-bedroom apartment. Steve’s house, on the other hand, has three guest rooms and an obscene number of bathrooms, so Eddie moves in. Temporarily at first, because it’s the easiest place to hole up while Hopper (not dead) clears his name.

He and Steve help each other tend to their scars, which match. Steve's hands always linger on the slash across Eddie’s cheek; Eddie’s on the marks that ring Steve’s neck. Sometime around when Steve starts putting an arm around his shoulders during movie nights, it starts to feel like home.

Robin, is the only other member of the group who seems to notice them circling each other. Eventually she comes out to Eddie—and that opens the floodgates.

“She taught me a lot about gay stuff,” Steve admits to Eddie one night. They're in his bedroom, huddled under the blankets and playing sentry against nightmares for each other. “I mean, mostly so she could talk to me about stuff and I’d at least kinda know what she meant? A lot of it seemed weird at first, but turned out not so much once I actually thought about it.”

Déjà vu.

Another night, floating on inflatable loungers in the heated pool, Eddie finds out that Robin dragged Steve to his first gay bar.

"To blow off steam after Starcourt," Steve explains. He's explained about Starcourt, in abbreviated yet still graphic detail.

“Did you like it?” Eddie asks, flat on his back and staring up at the stars. He’s been to a few places on his own, but doesn’t recognize the one Steve describes. “I bet you got a ton of free drinks, pretty boy.”

He glances over, and Steve is definitely blushing at the nickname. “I was driving, so not really.” Which means he declined offers, ruining some guys’ hopes for the evening in the process. (Good, Eddie thinks possessively.) “It was weird, getting hit on by guys. Kind of flattering, but. . . .”

Ripples along the pool surface announce Steve paddling his float in Eddie’s direction. When they bump up against each other, Steve’s hand rests tentatively over his.

“I didn’t know if I liked it, until you,” he adds. 

Eddie’s heart is in his throat, a problem that even swallowing hard can’t help. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I mean—” Steve has gone up on one elbow to look at him, and Eddie sees the inevitable happen in real time. The slide, the startled expression, the look of realization and oh, shit on Steve’s face as he overbalances his pool float and goes over with a splash.

Without pausing to think beyond ‘Steve! Shit!’, Eddie throws himself in after him. His own float flips up and falls after him, landing on his head like a whack-a-mole game mallet.

Of course, he’s rolled in the same direction Steve just fell, so he’s on top of him in the water now. Their limbs tangle, which is the only reason Steve doesn't rebound off him back to the bottom of the pool. Even underwater Eddie can make out the burbled shout of protest, and winces.

Oops.

But Steve’s grinning once he breaks the surface (and finishes coughing on what little pool water he’d managed to inhale). “Dude,” he laughs, hair dripping into his eyes, while Eddie struggles to shove wet curls out of his own face, “why did you jump in after me?”

It’s a good question for three reasons. One: Steve was the captain of the swim team. Two: certified lifeguard. And three . . . the water is only five feet deep here.

“Jeez, Wile E. Coyote.” Eddie huffs in embarrassment and gives an awkward little shrug. “You’d’ve done the same for me.”

And that undefinable softness in Steve’s eyes is back, his eyelids drooping a little as he smiles. His hand finds Eddie’s waist under the water, anchoring them together. 

“Yeah,” Steve murmurs. “I would’ve.” And pulls Eddie into a kiss. 

A few hours later, when they’re both freshly showered, sated, and thoroughly kiss-drunk, Eddie nuzzles his cheek into Steve's chest hair. Just before he dozes off, he finally realizes why the exchange felt so familiar.

16 - Picks up a book

Eddie Munson picks up a book at the library by pure chance—not researching something that may or may not have happened, no sir. The worn red binding reads The Philosophy of Time Travel, by Roberta Sparrow, and he doesn’t put it down until he’s read all eighty or so pages.

It’s not, he decides, an exact match for what he’s looking for. An “unstable tangent universe that collapses with next to no evidence remaining” and “spears” coming out of people's chest to show their path sound kinda right. . . . He hadn’t encountered any Manipulated Dead though, and he has no idea what an Artifact would be. Divine intervention might be the only explanation for coming out of that cyclone of Demobats alive, but—

Nah. No way.

Would make one helluva premise for a homebrew campaign, though. He’ll keep it in mind; the kids have been lobbying hard for a one-shot to introduce El and Robin (and, if Eddie has anything to say about it, Steve) to the game. Could be fun.

Maybe he’ll decide tomorrow.

~

The End

~

Donnie Darko - A Film Overview; The Philosophy of Time Travel

Donnie Darko, The Tangent Universe; The Philosophy of Time Travel

Yes, I did research for this because I am that kind of dork, but hear me out. Water is the element that time portals are constructed from, and metal is the transitional element for the construction of Artifact Vessels. In the movie, the Artifact is a jet engine, which is obviously made of metal. 

Eddie traveled through time immediately after his performance in the Upside Down; this whole fic is an extremely elaborate “Eddie is totally metal” joke. #notsorry

[cyberrat]

73rd Batch Of Fics: 2nd Fill

Hanzo/Cole – Pokemon AU side story – Part 2/?(4-ish) – dream logic; soft; comfort – They're both living their best lifes.

---

It doesn’t feel weird to be sitting at a kitchen table one moment and standing outside on the dusty road in the next. It makes sense in that dream logic kind of way.

Hanzo is just standing there and watching as Cole works away. There are wooden logs and tools strewn about. Somewhere in-between is his shirt because it’s nice and warm, though Hanzo can’t see the sun. Not that he’s looking up when he has such a perfect view right in front of him.

Cole is glistening with sweat, his muscles jiggling gently with every movement as he saws a log in half. His belly is, too. Hanzo’s mouth waters as he bites at his tongue. It’s that or biting into Cole’s hairy stomach until he leaves marks in it.

Rockruff are bouncing around them but they don’t have any real features. Hanzo just stares at Cole.

“I wonder… is this my dream? You became friends with Munna and Musharna…”

Cole pauses briefly while putting the new wood pieces to the side, then throws them the rest of the way and stands up straight, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“Why do you think that?” he asks.

Hanzo is left just staring at him; at that sturdy, big body that he wants to eat as much as that stew that he can still taste on his tongue. Cole is a sweaty bastard – but he’s also so damn gorgeous. Hanzo can’t get enough of staring at him. Admiring him. Thinking about how all that power is right at his fingertips because Cole for some reason chose to just obey his every whim.

Hanzo shrugs slowly. He doesn’t know how to say that all without losing face.

Cole has started grinning. Not that crooked little thing he usually does; a big, goofy grin that makes him look different somehow.

Hanzo flushes when he realizes that, just like before, Cole has somehow heard his thoughts. He watches as Cole carefully steps over the half-constructed dog house to get to Hanzo, his big hands curling around Hanzo’s elbows to keep him from pulling away.

“Well ain’t that just the cutest damn thing,” he drawls softly. He is hot like a furnace. Hanzo can feel the warmth pulsating off of him as if it was something living. There’s sweat pooled in his clavicle. Hanzo can’t stop staring at that; or the bob of his Adam’s Apple… or the crooked teeth in his crooked smile as Cole keeps grinning down at him.

“Think this might be my dream after all,” he tells him with that deep, silky voice. He pulls Hanzo flush against his front and then curls his arms around him in a hug.

“You’re the meanest bitch I know,” Cole croons and somehow makes it sound like the sweetest pet name Hanzo has ever heard. “It’s so damn hard to get a read on you. You always look like fuckin’ murder an’ I wonder what the Hell might be goin’ on in that pretty li’l head o’ yours. And you were just horny all along, huh?”

Hanzo groans like it physically hurts to hear Cole say that. In a way it does. In a good way.

“Shut your mouth,” he mutters but it sounds more like a plea.

Cole is laughing at him again. He pets a hand over Hanzo’s head, then pulls back and grasps his chin, tipping his head back for a slow, warm kiss that Hanzo can feel throughout his body like a hot drink sliding down his throat.

When he pulls away after an eternity, Cole mutters: “Such a mean little bitch…” His hands are now framing Hanzo’s face, thumbs brushing over his cheek bones. He leans in for another kiss. When he pulls away again he whispers: “How about I finish up this here dog house… and then we have a nice cool dip? You can wash my back if you like…”

“You’re just lazy,” Hanzo mutters back without any real heat. In actuality he would very much like to get his hands on Cole’s… everything at this point.

Cole’s grin widens. He steps back and Hanzo blinks slowly.

When he opens his eyes again, they’re at a little lake.

He vaguely thinks it might be the one from Viridian Forest where he met Cole that very first time. The one he let his Mudsdale drink from while King and Hanzo had stood there, staring with their mouths open at the sheer size of the thing…

A little sound from behind has Hanzo turn around. There they are: Cole’s Mudsdale, absolutely ginormous – even more so next to King who has become a Ponyta once more.

Unlike the Rockruff, the both have their faces but they do not pay attention to Hanzo. Their heads are down and they peacefully eat grass despite the great splashing coming from the lake.

Hanzo turns around again. Cole is in there, making a great big ruckus as he splashes water onto his body to cool off.

Hanzo looks around. The forest is tinged the same purple that Coles kitchen was. There are no real sounds coming out from the trees; not like he remembers them from that time. A constant buzzing and chirping from various bird and insect Pokémon. It is quiet… other than the sound of the grass being ripped behind him and the splashing of Cole in front.

He moves a bit closer, eying how Cole cools himself off in the lake after a long day of work.

A small part tries to remind him that it hasn’t been a long day of work; that they’re just hopping through time and space as they please – but he ignores that. It’s not important. What is important is how Cole’s chest hair looks when it is flattened to his skin with wetness or how delicious his brown nipples look when they’re hard and sensitive from the cold…

Cole looks up and directly at Hanzo. He’s never seen him grin so much before. It seems to be just a constant on his face and it hurts to see. In a good way. Hanzo rubs at his aching chest, willing his heart to stop thumping so fast.

“Well don’t just stand there and come in. Though honestly… I kinda like that view.”

Cole’s gaze wanders down Hanzo’s body. Hanzo looks down and notices that he’s naked. When had that happen? He just stares at himself, then slowly moves closer to the edge of the lake, his toes sinking into the cool, silky mud that Cole had produced with his insane splashing.

Cole moves closer as well. He curls his arms around Hanzo’s legs and puts his cheek against his shins.

“Come in… I wanna play with ya, princess.”

Hanzo mutters something vaguely insulting. It’s probably something along the lines of Cole not calling him things like that, but he’s not paying attention to his own words. He slowly squats down, not dislodging the other, and curls his own arms around Cole’s head.

He presses a kiss on top of his head.

Yes… he’d come play with him.

[justbagworm]

Don't mind me, just contemplating the world and making it relevant to writing...

So, yknow how people are always like 'you can tell when someone studies something because they write about it in a very detailed manner?' I raise you: the weird shit the human body does when you follow a sport or a physical discipline for a very long time. I love reading fics and books by people who have ACTUALLY engaged with what they're writing about, because you can tell they know what they're talking about when they mention something that seems utterly wacky but is, in fact, true.

Source? I'm a rock climber and a writer. The sheer NUMBER of times I've gone back and reread my writing, only to realize that something I've incorporated is very niche climber slang and/or knowledge, even when the piece doesn't relate to climbing at all, is astounding.

That very bad segue will now allow me to gush about my past with climbing, because I miss it and I see my own little idiosyncracies from it and get nostalgic. Elaboration after Keep Reading!!!

The first thing you need to know about rock climbing is the SHOES. Anyone who has ever gone to a proper rock gym will be commiserating from that word alone. Climbing shoes are similar to pointe shoes, in that they can EFFIN HURT. In every other way, they're pretty much the opposite tho lol. Climbing shoes are generally about a size to a size and a half smaller than your normal shoe size, though if you're just getting your first pair you'd probably be best sticking to the one size smaller rule of thumb. Personally, my street shoe size is 9 1/2, whereas I comfortably wear an 8 to climb. The reason is that the shoes are designed to curl your toes under, which makes them stronger, thus allowing you to bear all of your weight on an area which can be smaller than a US quarter. If you tried to do that in street shoes, your toes would bend backwards and break. People who don't know climbing would probably say that at a gym, the climbers would wear street shoes, while on real rock they would wear boots, which is actually a terrible idea. (Like really. Boots would cut your dexterity too much to actually climb.)

That's another interesting thing about shoes, actually - the social norms. No sane or respectable climber wears their shoes in the bathroom, on the street, or pretty much anywhere they could pick up gross germs. Why? Because the same places your shoes are touching, so are your hands, your elbows, your knees, and occasionally your face. Your hands will inevitably wind up in contact with your mouth at some point, and if you've forgotten to wash your hands and someone has just dragged bathroom germs onto the climbing wall, good luck with that.

You would think after all that care, climbing shoes are really pristine then, right? PFFFFT! No. Depending on how new they are and how stubborn the climber is, shoes can be the most ratty things in existence. They are, at minimum, scuffed as shit. More likely, they're scuffed as shit, smudged with climbing chalk, have holes worn in the rubber on the toes from use, and when not on a climber's feet they may or may not have fabric bananas sticking out of them. (The bananas may be regional, however.) About the only consistent qualifier for climbing shoes being usable I've ever seen is 'do they make me slip off the wall? No? Good to go, then.' Obviously I'm a recreational climber, of course, because I highly doubt the big names would climb with a shoe that had the innards sticking out, so bear that in mind.

So, putting aside the shoes, because we don't have time to unpack brands of shoes, the varying opinions on resoling, pricing, and their inherently replaceable nature, I mentioned weird shit a la human body. For rock climbing, that means doing things like hanging off of door frames, heel hooking to pull yourself up from the sofa, pivoting on your feet without moving literally anything else, etc, etc. (This is, of course, my own experiences.) Allow me to elaborate:

Personally, I have no core strength. None. Nada. And yet, I can still pull myself up from a completely prone position as long as I have something to hook my foot around. Fence? Yup. Corner of a wall? Sure. The bottom edge of a couch? Child's play. Give me the tiniest anchor for one foot, and suddenly I'm vertical. Hooray! I literally cannot do sit-ups without hiccuping so hard I feel like I'm going to puke, but heel-hooks to pull myself up are so ingrained in me that I can (and do) do them half-asleep. I do this because my legs were always my main source of power and control as a climber, which for me led into figuring out the best and easiest way to capitalize on that. Woo climbing!

Of course, that's not to say that my arms were unaffected. The corners of walls are like launchpads for me. Why should I exert energy on shifting my direction when it's easier and more efficient to grab a corner or a pole and let my current momentum carry me into my turn? That's absurd. I will say, though, that's definitely something I only do in places I'm familiar with - the idea of throwing myself bodily into a person on the other side of a corner because I'm moving like a moron is HIGHLY unappealing.

Probably the biggest thing about climbing that is noticeable to those 'in the know', I think, is the way we carry our arms. When I'm using my arms - carrying something, gesturing, even just wiggling my fingers - my shoulder comes up, my muscles engage, and I use the energy I need to. When I'm not doing anything, my arms are dead weight, essentially. My shoulders aren't engaged, nor are my elbows, until I need to DO something with them. The joints hang, because that leaves my energy in reserve for when I actually need it. That's a habit I developed from shaking out soreness on longer route climbs, because loosening your limbs entirely to shake them out helps a lot. Also, why hold yourself with your chest to the wall and your arms all scrunched up when that's just stealing valuable energy? Hanging from your extended arms (shoulders engaged now, you heathen) allows you better vantage, and it takes significantly less energy. So, the same habit carries into daily life. It's actually pretty fun to play 'spot the climber' because the shoulders can be a pretty big tell!

There's a lot of other little things like slang (chips, jugs, down holds, dynos, bat hangs, traverses, first sends, first ascents, rainbow roading, etc.), routines, gym ettiquette, and stuff that only gets learned through experience or talking to someone with the experience. It's like that for all things, and it genuinely makes me so happy to see someone whose passion for a discipline or a hobby leaks into their writing because it gives me a little giggle or a moment of, 'hey! I know that reference!' and makes me happy. So yeah, this is probably incoherent and uncohesive af, but that's my thoughts! Rant over! :D

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 30 September 1954

This title screams novelty to me, and not the good type of novelty. Points for the striking title, I guess, but I really hope this is listenable.

Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen By the Sea - Max Bygraves (peaked at No. 7)

Well, I was right, this is novelty, and not the good kind of novelty. It's not the worst or most offensive we've had, but I find it hard to love these "silly" novelty songs that are deliberately made for kids and/or feature kids. And this song checks both of those boxes, sadly.

It starts particularly bad, with Max saying "Good morning kidlets" in some sort of strange accent. The title of the song suggests German to me, but he doesn't bother with it for the rest of the song? It's weird.

Once we get singing, things do improve, with Max spinning a nonsense sort of story about how "There's a tiny house / By a tiny stream" where a lady life who falls in love and gets married to a man. It's cute enough, and very much not the point of the song, which is just to periodically repeat the nonsensical but silly-sounding title.

Actually, the title annoys me, because it's clearly means to sound German, except Kazenellen Bogen is the only German-sounding bit, and it's close to but not the equally stupidly-named Katzenelbogen, which is a real place, whose name literally means "cat's elbow". It's a fabulous place name, and I'm sad they didn't just name it that, not gonna lie.

That aside, it's fine. I get strong scouting vibes from the way that a children's chorus repeat every line. It feels like the sort of song you'd sing on a bus, or around a campfire, and it's giving me some major nostalgia.

Maybe that's why I mostly don't mind the children's choir? Normally I can't stand that - putting kids in a song's the best, most surefire way to get me to hate it, normally, but these kids sound reasonably realistic, like they're actually having some fun here. I don't know if they were, but it's surprisingly tolerable.

The one who chips in after the verse repeats with an inane "I think I'd like to go there" is the exception, because he is annoying. I'm amused by everybody chipping in entirely unnecessarily on the final word of "That's a good idea SON!" though, so there's that.

I'm also weirdly charmed by the part where Max encourages the kids of "Sing it very soft / Pianissimo / Like a little bird / Walking in the snow". I know for a fact that children do actually enjoy joining in with silliness like this, so it's a fun, cute little thing to include. It feels like it needs a counterpart where they sing it really loud, but it doesn't, and the song sort of fades out happily into the background.

I didn't hate this as much as I might have, but I'm not going to be scrambling to re-listen any time soon. Perhaps if I need to lead a campfire sing-song anytime soon?

Favourite song of the bunch (Favourite song of the bunch): Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen By the Sea

[yams-here]

hi guys my name is yams and I'm addicted to character designing

best team I mean Juniper!!

Jaune looked a little boring tbh (and his sweatshirt looked weird) so yknow, just basic little changes. changed his bangs, gave him some bandaids to show his lack of aura from the beginning of the show and his tendency to get hurt, just made his overall look a little simpler. a lot of designs in this show tend to have a lot of detail so I streamlined him a little bit

NORAAAAAAAAAA she is beloved so I got rid of those weird blue and red details from her first design. give this bad bitch elbow pads cute heart earrings and Ren's signature green as an accent. her ankle boots kind of alude to those chunky boots that tend to be associated with vikings and while I was doing her sketch the sentence "thunder thighs" flashbanged in my mind so I had to lmao

Pyrrha GIRL why you so skinny give her muscles goddamit I gave her pants for some variety and made her chest... thing an actual chestplate. Her actual design was already top tier 10/10 mwah chef's kiss so there isn't much to say lol

Ren's shoes from chapter one weirded me out like boy why do you look like you'll play a sax solo that will change my life. not much has changed but I made his colors a little more vibrant and made his pinks match better with Nora's. He Is Tallest Of The Team Because I Said So

Team that is totally canon and not just a The judgemental critter[tm] idea that I fell in love with, SVCP (sugarpea[?])

(This titters in AU territory but idc so basic background: They're second years, Penny is an exchange student from Atlas because she wanted to have a more normal school girl experience [and I imagine she's quite famous in Atlas] and if there was one person Ironwood would trust to take care of one of his most powerful weapons I mean Pietro's daughter is Ozpin, therefore she studies at Beacon. Cardin USED to be in Team CRDL but he flunked his second year at school so he got reassigned with Sun, Velvet and Penny much to his dismay. idk who was the previous member that Cardin replaced or how it would work and again idc maybe they're also transfer students or Velvet joined school one year late than usual with some experience idk)

Sun's design is lowkey weird to me like everytime I see some detail of it I just think "why tho" So I just kinda threw the skin of it away and kept the bones, like the open shirt and more streetwear look of it. I tried making him look more like a dude that does parkour and also made his shirt actually slightly relevant to his fairytale? idk it looks like he actually does martial arts AND is a fuck boy instead of just being a fuck boy. Give this slut some cool kicks

Velvet is SO CUTE but Too Much Brown bring back the light cyan from her original concept and give some slight modifications to her outfit to streamline it for her various fighting styles (specially her main one with lots of kicks) I gave her a hime cut and made her hair more straight from some variety and gave her ocular albinism to allude to rabbits with red eyes (also her surname is literally Scarlatina give this girl a little red at least). She gets a hairclip because she's a cutie patootie and she's more bottom heavy because again, she's a kicker and it alludes to rabbits :)

Cardin's hair bothers me SO MUCH why does it look like a plastic cap. I made his weave look like REAL hair and gave him some moles to make his face a little more interesting. I didn't change TOO much about his outfit but I gave him some hip armor that resembles folded wings and a butt cape for a brighter shade of red and to resemble a Cardinal's tail. Now go have your character development sweetie!!

Penny's first design was already perfect to be fair, I just did some adjustments for style like having the lace from her boots (socks?) reappear in other places on her outfit, changing her skirt into shorts to call back more to Pinnochio (and also there's too many girls wearing skirts already) and made her bangs actually have the same texture as the rest of her hair

School faculty!! with like only 4 characters in the lineup because I was lazy

Tried making Glynda a little more like The Good Witch from the classic movie while keeping her original "vibe", so I gave her some half up, half down wavy hair, some butterfly motifs and exchanged the dark gold for silver. And her semblance is magic bubbles (they can be big or small and fast or slow, and they can move in big clouds of them) so alude to the original inspo + making her powers make a little more sense

Oobleck is already best boy so I just added some details to make him more visually interesting, like the different shoes now being accentuated by different colored socks, a wrist watch to imply he needs some help keeping himself more organized, (and to imply speed maybe) his necktie being flung over his shoulder and a jacket just barely being held on by a safety pin, maybe he kept misplacing it before that lmao

Coco Adel!! Yes she's a teacher now because I loved her too much to fully discard her for this idea I had. She teaches Care of Weapons (which is weird that it wasn't there already) And is the sassy and fashionable bitch we all love!! Who is now a faunus so she can be the hound to fox's... fox. I just generally tried to keep her fashionable vibe while actually making certain aspects of her outfit make more sense

Fox!! there isn't much to say about him I just tried to make his outfit more visually interesting. Now he's actually a faunus and he has a fox tail + a low ponytail that looks like a fox tail... And he's a teacher now. He teaches about semblances

OK FINAL LINEUP I PROMISE

Neo was already perfect, I just changed some aspects I fould weird personally (Like the shape of her jacket and the double belt) and gave her some moles and lipstick so she doesn't look like a baby and to invoke more of this old timey hollywood criminal vibe. Also her two hair colors swirl!! like a soft serve!!

There isn't much about Roman that I really want to talk about, I just made his hair look more like hair and less like plastic and made his lower half more interesting. Otherwise he was fun and ok enough as is, there isn't much that I could change without just. getting rid of his vibe entirely lol

Emerald was already great, I just changed her for the sake of her not being the only one that remained the same and made her pants a big baggier, hopefully it helps alude to her inspo of alladin a little better

TRY TO MAKE MERCURY ACTUALLY LOOK INTERESTING CHALLENGE: IMPOSSIBLE (?) because idk if I succeded lol, I moved his armor to his legs because that's what he uses to fight, plus added an accent color as a wing on his heel, so it alludes better to his hermes inspo (also makes his color pallete slightly less boring) My ideas for him were literally just... add. give him piercings, give him olive skin, give him the fox eyes so then there's a reveal that he has silver eyes that he can't use because he doesn't love anybody, etc etc, I hope it worked lol

RWBY redesigns cuz idk I just really like the power system

Ruby's design was already great and iconic but I just wanted to bring more red and a little more color variation to her because it kind of blended all together for me? also I miss her poofy skirt bring it back. I think that the corset idea is great but wasn't very well executed Weiss is based more on her snowpea outfit as you can see but brought some ice blue to it (lowkey inspired by her manga design) and golden buttons, not only to have SOMEONE from team rwby have yang's yellow but I feel like it makes her look a little more regal. Also make her blind on one eye fuck it. her fighting with limited field of view is more impressive. ALSO her and Ruby having the same type of skirt threw me off. her skirt is floaty like a ballerina's instead (she's wearing shorts trust) I legit think Blake's vol. 1 design is perfect but I changed it because 1. For the sake of her not being the only one that remains the same and 2. I wish at least she got pants from the beggining, if only for the sake of variety Yang I obviously based her design on her Hunter outfit because that was the only time she truly slayed and love love love it- I would have totally kept her purple bandanna but the idea of her carrying around a piece of Ruby's cape tickled me- and it would connect them as sisters yknow, them having the other's signature color on their hips

[love-toxin]

OK, ellie, hear me out, I'm on a run with this idea of like an angelface, who somehow accidentally Timetravled all the way back to the 80's, from our time, (could easily be something to do with gates that somehow keep opening?) And ends up waking up in the woods that apparently all of em live by for some reason, say like eddie or Steve find you, lost, confused, scared and dirty cause god know what ever hell you saw and were in before you finally appeared in hawkins in the 80's.

They end up bringing you in and kind of gather everyone to just try and get things figured out. Get your name, information like where you're from and if you happen to know what even happened.

You end up explaining that you're from a completely different time, in the future none the less, I mean, how hard could it be for them to believe? They've fought and seen stuff far less likely to be real than some random time traveling person, right?

They get to know you, get a little attached and obviously dread of the idea of you having to go back to your time and maybe try and convince you to stay, but ultimately understand that you have to go back

UNLESS its the yabdere fruity four. Not only keeping you trapped with them in whoever's house, I'd assume steve's and would also switch between his and eddies but they're also keeping you from going back to your own time. Like, listen, I've been obsessing a little bit over your yandere fruity four and this idea of some accidental time traveling angelface has been on my mind and I think its mostly cause I started watching time wasters, but like, just having to help them fight something from the upside down again just to get home is just my current brain rot and it makes it better with yanderes. I'm sorry I'm like this oml 😭

hey felly how does it feel knowing you're literally making me feral, this is SUCH GOOD SHIT-

like, super-traumatized angelface stumbling out of a gate in Hawkins after being chased through one by some weird....dog....thing, with horrible leathery skin and way too many teeth and that piercing screech. and just your luck, you keep running through the forest without knowing whether or not you're still being chased, not knowing if you're still in that horrible other world, until you crash right into somebody and hit the dirt on top of them.

Steve, i feel like, wouldn't let you get up right away--he'd grab you by the arms and ask if you're alright, because you're shaking so bad and he can tell you must have saw something terrifying, and will help you up while trying to reassure you that it's okay. whoever you are, he won't let you get hurt. you remind him a little of the kids, his kids, in that moment, and he just hurries you back to the closest house with an arm wrapped tight around your shoulders to keep you close. there's no way you could fake terror like that, and he keeps a close eye over his shoulder, because he knows just what kind of things happen in Hawkins and he won't let someone else fall victim to them, if he can help it. especially not someone as cute as you, even with all that dirt in your hair and your face.

Eddie would be dumbstruck for a few moments, but when you scramble to get up with tears in your eyes and start running again, he chases after you until he manages to catch you. probably gets an elbow to the face or a kick to the shins when he grabs you and you start thrashing, crying and wailing for him not to kill you--but luckily he's pretty good at calming you down and promises he's not gonna do anything of the sort, he just wants to know why the hell a pretty thing like you is out in the woods so late at night? shouldn't you be at home, like, watching a movie or listening to pink floyd or something? and the look you give him when he says that makes him just as confused as you look, the "what's pink floyd?" even more so. and yeah, Eddie's not gonna let you wander around the woods when you're clearly an amnesiac or something--he's gonna take you home and let you clean up, without yet knowing just how much of this particular time you're not familiar with. and show you some real music in the meantime, while he calls the others to figure out what to do with you.

[jiyansthesis]

TATTOO PARLOR ☆ CRUSH

MICHAEL ☆ AFTON

x reader (gender neutral)

summary: it's your first time getting a tattoo, and you can't help but notice that your tattoo artist is a bit. . . hot

I need michael moots hmu + I'm taking over the michael tag :) this also might have 2 parts

I had to search up abt tattoos in the 80's for this ong and I use the word arm so much help

not proofread

part one ## part two

the bell above the door rang, announcing your presence. it was a pretty small shop, and there were only two people working there. one was occupied with inking someone and the other was wiping down equipment.

"hey, you here for a tattoo?" the man who wasn't working greeted you. "sorry, stupid question. you're obviously here for one."

you nodded, smiling. woah, he was attractive.

"there's this one thing I want. can I show you?" you started pulling your reference out your bag as he agreed.

"this is cool," he examined the drawing. "where do you want it?"

you pointed to where you wanted it on your lower arm.

"alright, just wait over here. I'll make a stencil." he pointed you over to a chair and went somewhere to the back.

a few minutes of absently swinging your legs and looking around the store, he finally came back.

he sat down in the chair that was facing yours, and grinned.

"ever had a tattoo done, love?" he motioned for you to show your arm to him and he began to wipe it down to sterilize it.

"no." you shook your head, shivering at the cold wipe. or was it because such a hot man was literally touching you? has to be the cold wipe.

"well, you picked a decent spot to get your tattoo, so this shouldn't hurt." he ran his hand through his mullet after throwing away the wipe.

his hair looks really soft.

you mentally scolded yourself, pushing that thought into the back of your mind as he pulled on some gloves.

"so, what's your name?" you asked when he began to place the stencil on your skin.

"michael. yours?" he seemed concentrated on placing it just right.

you gave him your name, and he slightly nodded in acknowledgement.

after nearly 20 tries, he seemed content with the placement and focused his attention on his equipment tray.

"I'm gonna have to shave the area real quick," he held up a razor.

he did this in silence, the buzzing of the other tattoo gun the only noise in the shop.

you were busy thinking about something- or someone- else, and michael snapped you out of it.

"this is gonna feel kinda weird, alright?" he waited for you to answer before settling the tattoo gun's needle onto your arm.

you slightly flinched, and michael locked eyes for you for a second before putting his gaze back to your arm.

"steady, love."

you slightly flushed and decided to admire his arms. he has zero right to be wearing a band shirt with rolled up sleeves.

"you work out a lot?" you broke the silence.

his muscles rippled, and he chuckled. "yeah, I do. you like them?"

"i didn't say that!" you defended yourself.

"I didn't say you said that," he smirked, wiping off some excess ink.

"mhm," he hummed.

yeah, you were gonna shut your mouth from now on. but man. . . he smells like vanilla and something more darker.

there wasn't really that much pain, until he grew closer to the inside of your elbow. you let out a little yelp, and michael asked you:

"you okay? it starts to hurt more in bends like that."

"I'll be fine. the pain isn't even that bad." you replied, holding back little tears.

"sure you aren't a masochist?" he joked, and by then he was done with that area of you arm.

"depends." you shot back.

he laughed.

"do you have any tattoos?" you haven't seen any on his arms.

"I do."

you started looking more closely at him. "I dont see any."

"you really love checking me out, huh? that's because they're in places where only some people can see."

your face heated up at the implication of that, only letting out a small "oh."

the rest of the linework was done without either party speaking to each other. you decided it was best you leave him alone.

of course, you still jumped a little whenever the pain got worse, and michael would comfort you, but other than that no real conversation was made.

nearly an hour later, michael shut off the gun and let out a sigh, standing up.

"you like it? all I have to do now is wrap it up." he stood, grabbing something that looked like saran wrap and applied it to your tattoo.

"I love it!" you exclaimed.

he was happy with your response, and then began to tell you about taking care of the tattoo.

"keep this bandage on for three days, and then you're going to have to take care of your tat for two weeks." he went on about self care, but you weren't exactly paying close attention.

you were pouting about not being able to see michael again. well, you could get another tattoo, but that means you'd have to get a lot.

"hey, love, did you hear me?" he waved his hand in front your face. "you're staring."

"I heard you," you lied. that's embarrassing.

"hope you did. if not, I'll give you this pamphlet that gives you the same instructions I just told you. jack over there will take your payment." he gestured over to the redhead and left to the back room again.

you payed, and michael came back.

"here," he held it out. "make sure you read it closely."

he winked and you were sure the tips of your ears were turning red. you took it from him, thanking him.

"thank you so much, michael."

"no problem. you should totally come again. you're one of the best clients I've had."

"I'll try my best," you promised.

you left, looking back at the store and seeing michael waving at you. you waved back and made it into your car.

you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and looked at the paper in your hand.

'call me love <3 xxx-xxxx-xxxx' was written on the front.

oh, you were definitely coming back.

[fandom-hoarder]

Seeing that post about how Sam and Dean acting childish and Mary getting disturbed by it has me feeling all kinds of things.

Like for the Gen area it's her feeling like John and her failed them because they are so codependent and have been in each other's pocket and act like kids because they never learned how to be around anyone else.

But the Wincest area is so much more fun and interesting. Apart from the childish pranks and behavior she notices something else. The lingering touches, the affectionate name calling, the looks thrown at each other that reminds her of how John used to look at her. Each second spent with the boys has her spiraling, lost in what if thoughts and she doesn't want to actually give it another thought. That would be around the time she leaves.

Late seasons Mary was WASTED on the writers she got. Thank Jack for fandom, anon <3 [referenced post]

I can just imagine how Mary's thoughts would spiral: thinking about her own childhood, and how she still turned out relatively normal, and what life must've been like after her death for them to be like this. Wondering if she doesn't get it because she's an only child--even when she was still living with her parents, she wasn't like this with her cousins. But cousins aren't siblings. Or maybe having cousins from other branches of the family actually helped round out her attachments--she's 29 from 1983, she doesn't know!!

She'd wonder, if she hadn't gone in the nursery, could she have changed her family's fate??

Then Dean shoots a rubberband at Sam from across the room and Sam drops his book and chases after a cackling Dean, and her thoughts derail.

Mary's overwhelmed like, "I'm so weirded out and I feel really guilty about that, but how the fuck do I undo all this damage? How do I help men older than me grow the fuck up? This is a throw out the entire child situation. I'm out. ✌"

A Mary that sees or even just suspects actual Wincest is so fun, though. And horrifying. She doesn't want to suspect. She doesn't want to fully form the question, even in her mind. Because letting even the suspicion be real opens her up to so much guilt and horror.

Not only does she have the guilt of her own decisions and how they affected her family, but now she's thinking, 'how could John let this happen?!'--especially with her recent memories full of her and John's 'greatest hits' in Heaven. The freshest version of John is almost as idealized in her mind as she is in her boys' minds. (Including John's when he was alive.) If she lets herself fully think these thoughts, how does she reconcile the John she knows with what he became?

She's wondering, 'if I'd told him, if he'd known about hunting, would they still be like this? Would their lives have been different enough to keep them normal?'

The thoughts inevitably spiral in, but she won't let the final thought in that thread form. The evil little nag that tries to wonder if maybe John crossed a line somewhere to normalize this for them.

She'll leave before any of those thoughts materialize enough to leave her brain and enter her mouth.

She tells herself she's reading too much into things. Dean told her some things about their life, but surely not all, so she tries not to judge how often they're in each other's rooms after a nightmare; or the fact they do their nightly ablutions side-by-side, sometimes spitting into the same sink while bumping elbows, despite several other sinks in the MOL communal bathroom; or the way Sam blushes when he does the laundry and Dean makes wifey jokes; or the way Sam gives into Dean more easily when Dean "little brother"s him--shouldn't that have the opposite effect?? Or the way it seems routine for Dean to smack Sam's ass with a wet hand during dish duty--it's just a 'good job' pat, right? His hand doesn't actually linger; doesn't squeeze.

Then she walks in on a tender moment, Dean's hand on Sam's face, foreheads together. They part calmly when she walks in, unbothered, Sam giving Dean a little nod when his thumb brushes Sam's stubble and pulls away, and Mary's stomach clenches. She tells them she's got to go find herself.

...gotta find herself somewhere that isn't the Bunker o' Incest. >_>

Maybe at some point these were her boys, but they're so very much not anymore. Maybe her choices were the catalyst for starting their horrible hunting lives, but she had no hand in creating THIS. This is not her zoo and they're no longer her monkeys.

[clubsmarties]

Wally didn't need to look over to know how the word tia affected her. He was used to hearing it since he knew Annie really did think the world of Liz and more than that kept wishing that'd she'd become her official aunt at some point in time. Without drawing too much attention he pushed his elbow into her side slightly and showed her a side smile. In the midst of the hug Annie gave her head a kiss like she'd seen a million times before. Though her kiss came with one hand grabbing on her hair gently. "Asterix. It means little star king in French. Trix for short! Do you like it?"

One of his playful eye rolls came as he checked his wrist. "Not too long. Maybe ten minutes. Still, if I'd done that then that'd been considered cheating." His thumb grazed her chin as a small act of affection. The handshake she tried on the pup made him chuckle softly and lean himself against the counter. He handed her over and Annie wrapped her arms around her neck as she watched her uncle go away to feed the cat.

"It's nicknames for people you love. You love him, no? My mami tells my momma sweet names and they're married. My tios Andy and Janny have nicknames for their wives too. So, tio wally has one for you!" She smiled as that was pretty clear to her. When you loved someone enough to make them a wife or husband then nicknames came. Of course to a child who was surrounded by love it was easy for her to grasp the concept and then make it easier to understand for herself. That was love. "I would like you to be real tia. You make my family happy. You make him happy." She remembered telling her this when Wally was in the hospital a long time ago now and was met with the same expression. "Tias only become tias in marriage or family but that one would be weird because it means we'd be blood related." She made a face at that one. "On the floor!"

As Wally was filling the bowl he noticed the cat come on down and pace around him. He still didn't believe Antares liked him better and this proved nothing. As he leaned down Dolly came to lean on his side. One arm lifted to pet her head as Antares got the food and he backed away slowly taking Dolly with him. Wally pointed at her own food at her station and whispered into her fur making the dog's tail wag in happiness. He gave the same love and attention he gave to his nieces and nephews to his animals he shared with his girlfriend.

Annie nodded her head as she got the dry erase marker and uncapped it. Excitement bubbled out of her as her eyes stared at the TV and then looked at Liz. "You're really smart at puzzles. How did you learn?" She asked being curious to know if she was a visual learner or not. A giggle escaped her as she hid her board with her long sleeve.

Wally came back, this time with his own snack, the chocolate covered pretzel sticks and sat down across from them. He shared a look with his love and noticed wheels were turning. Though, over what he wasn't quite sure. "The things you're teaching her." He shook his head and popped a pretzel into his mouth. "If this was a quiz show about math equations, I'd sweep the floor with you two." He teased, he was good at math but mental gymnastics when it came down to it was all lucie's territory. Annie frowned and laughed. "Math is tia lulu. I think your topic would be ancient history, like the pyramids and the era of king tut!" The little girl turned to Liz, excitement on her face. "Can we go to the museum?!"

The kiss made her smile as she placed the things down and patted one of his arms before it came up to Annie's back in a small pat. "Well, we'll see about that." Giving Annie a side half hug from where she currently was on her uncle, she froze for a second at the the girl calling her, her aunt. Something in her was stirred and she wanted to cry? Sure, Orion had called her his aunt sometime, but that was a given. She was his godmother. They were family But to have Annie, chose to call her, her tia, made her tear up slightly. Something she blinked away and tried to not make a big deal about as she pulled back. "I see." Glancing at the cute pup she looked back at her. "What is its name?"

"Well, how long has she been here?" She asked playfully teasing her boyfriend. "You had the perfect opportunity to ask Annie to help you win while I was out and you didn't. So early bird and all that. Your loss because Annie is really good, you might have had a chance to beat me." Holding her hand out for Annie to high five she giggled. " See that the spirit, you're going down Wallaby. Sorry." Leaning against the counter she said a small thank you before taking a bite of the sweet pastry.

Hearing the title of tia again made her smile, the same tears she tried to blink away began to surface again as she tried to ignore them. "Loud and clear." She said as she took the treats and bent down to the puppy wolf. Letting it sniff the back of her hand first before giving it a small head pat, she then held out her left hand and with her right hand took one of their paws, and placed it in her left hand. Giving it a small shake she said, "handshake". Trying in her own way to teach it a small thing, knowing it might not stick but no harm in trying before giving it a treat.

Chuckling at the fact that the whole gang seemed to be awake now. "Of course not, " she smiled at the term of endearment and held out her arms to Annie. "We can go grab your board and be ready to win." She was about to agree with Annie about liking the nickname herself when the girl threw her for another surprise. "What?" Her married nickname? Her eyebrows knitted in confusion for a moment before continuing her way with Annie to grab one of the dry-erase boards she had made for the kids to play along. She wanted to ask Annie why she had said that but as the show began to again. "Over there, of course. Want to sit on the floor with me or on the couch?" Making their way over to the living room, she couldn't help but look over at Wally for a quick moment wondering what could have possibly conspired while she was out.

"Okay, remember, we cross out the letters as they are being said so we can make sure we don't mistakenly use them again." She handed Annie a dry-erase marker with an eraser tip on the end. "But make sure Uncle Wally doesn't look at your board! " She teased as the wheel began to spin. Marriage? Aunt? As much as she was trying to concentrate on the game and being in the moment that was happening right now, she couldn't help but have so many thoughts rushing through her head. Was there something that she didn't know?

[ofallthingsnasty]

"Master Overhaul, please don't put that thing me! Not again. It still hurts from last time. I promise I'll be good!"

For your milestone event! Congratulations! 🎊💓

catheter idea is ‘napped from babyduck (my love) (and this won’t be the last time i’m stealing it either haaa) tw.medical malpractice, yandere MILESTONE CHARACTER INTERACTION EVENT

It’s a catheter. Again. The words bubble out of you before you can stop them - you are still hurting, still humiliated by the process, something you’ll never get used to, you know that. With your bottom exposed, and the rest of you in nothing but a flimsy hospital gown you feel like a human guinea pig, not someone in need of medical attention. He doesn’t even have the decency to throw a lab coat over his dress shirt, just rolls up the sleeves until they settle a little above his elbows, another indicator that this is merely an afterthought to him. You watch him with bated breath, knowing full well that you’ve spoken out of line - and that the consequences can be severe. But he hasn't said anything, hasn't even looked at you in the last seconds. Not even his shoulders slack with that faint sigh that usually indicates that he has heard you, that you are being noticed. You aren’t sure if this is a good sign. The rubber tube rests in his hands as he holds it up against the light, carefully inflating the little balloon attached to the tip. He’s checking it, you know that much after all these times he’s made you wear it. That’s going inside of you, you think and you have to keep yourself from squirming. The white covers are already under and on top of you - they're sterile, too. If you shift them around by moving, you will be punished - nothing he hates more than you breaking up his carefully crafted routines.

It feels weird. Unnatural to have something inserted into your urethra and even weirder for that little balloon to blow up. It burns, always burns even though it shouldn't (as he always says while dismissing your very real pain). Sometimes - rarely, really - he has the decency to apply a numbing agent beforehand, but that’s for when you’re good. When you’re demure and polite and agreeable according to his standards. Which you never really are. But it’s worth another try, you think, hope you won’t regret it in a moment’s time.

"What about that gel?", you mutter, racking your brain for the name. Your attempt is brave, especially when he’s already ignored you once. "Lido-, Xylido- The one with lidocaine!" You finally stammer out, glad to even remember the agent - something he tells you from time to time, but you're no pharmacist. Memorizing all the different substances and medications is hard, especially when he changes them daily.

Finally he sighs, then lowers his hands again, deflating the balloon and putting the syringe aside. He turns to you, those yellow eyes so sharp your heart tightens for a single, terrifying beat. “I am not breaking sterility for a gel. If you just listen to me and relax like I told you to the last time, it won’t hurt.”

A reprimand. Your face immediately burns up with the shame of being scolded by him, blood rushing to your head just to pool behind your ears. You lower your eyes again, unable to hold his gaze because of his annoyed tone. No gel, just the slick residue of the betadine swabs he sticks into you to disinfect you. You can’t help but clench up a little, even though he hasn’t even spread you apart with one hand, hasn’t even touched you yet. "Now", he shuffles over to you and leans down just enough to make his intentions clear. "Take deep breaths when I tell you to, understood?"