#then they lived happily ever after and nothing bad happened

[tallmatcha]

Diallos and the jars lived happily ever after, and nothing bad happened in Jarburg. The End.

[stackslip]

Something I’ve noticed on Twitter wrt mangaka is how people will either completely deny they’re into xyz thing they obviously have a kink for because they think it taints the work (Fujimoto being a prime example of this) or completely reduce them to Epstein and Diddy jokes.

it's because people don't see irl incest and csa as forms of oppression and harm that make the world a worse place and destroy lives, but as objects of primarily moral disgust that they can joke about to distance themselves from as an "ewww, everyone look at this and groan with us" point not an actual harm to combat. alternatively, it's because they think incestuous abuse and csa only happen because someone has Weird Kinks or has written a bad fic or something, not bc the nuclear family and the legal/cultural status of minors allows young people to be easily abused and discarded with little fear of repercussions. as for the jokes about diddy and epstein, wait til people find out that most abusers don't get away with it because they're rich conspirators, but because their friends and family will cover for them and pressure victims--you don't want daddy/the pastor/cousin robbie to go to jail, do you? hell, most trafficking victims in these cases have been sold by their families. it's almost like most csa happens via people the child already knows and trusts.

when it comes to people like fujimoto they think it's impossible for an author to have a kink AND to think of the real life implications of the abuses depicted, but mysteriously everyone knows that just because kojima thinks military shit is cool as hell it doesn't do anything to diminish the anti imperialist and anti war messages in his work. and besides they love making jokes about their favourite fictional war criminals bc sexual abuse is a Real And Serious Thing That Happens as opposed to war crimes apparently which Never Happens To Anyone.

anyhow i've already complained about these kind of losers. they'll happily go after some rando trans person online for tweeting/posting a fantasy about a fictional sister and cry about how she's single handedly responsible for incestuous abuse while combing through her sexual life to have her exposed and shamed to thousands, and that apparently doesn't count as sexual harassment in any way. and then maybe they'll hear she's a csa victim and a few of them will go "oh wow i'm sowwy i didn't know she was a *victim* trying to *cope*, but nevertheless couldn't she have done so more privately? why didn't she get therapy? it's not like that art LOOKED like vent art it looked like fetish" after having told their minor followers to go gawk at her sexual life and gasp in shock with them at how much of a freak she supposedly is.

anyhow nobody owes you an explanation for their Bad Kinks. there's horny stuff i find tasteless and dislike (ask me about why i didn't bother to go past the first chapter of dandandan), as long as they are not materially harming anybody--who cares. your moral disgust and shock is not actual inflicted harm! you acting on said disgust to try to ruin lives and convince your teen followers that they are surrounded by sex pests and that sexual predators can be spotted bc of their weird kinks/tastes in fiction and nothing else is doing more harm than anything a so-called "weirdo" who enjoys momson hentai doujinshi in a corner ever will and i stand on that

[casscainmainly]

All Stephanie Brown Nicknames for Cassandra Cain in Batgirl (2000)

B.G (Batgirl #20)

Elvira (Batgirl #26)

Spookygirl (Batgirl #32)

Batghoul (Batgirl #38)

Cassie (Batgirl #54)

[cannedmuffins]

Daddy Simon 💕

Bonus:

Daddy Ghost 👻

[sojutrait]

wittle time jump!! the girls aged up into infants and have officially been adopted so... bye for now sisters 😭😭 the fam is slowly healing 😌 chu hua is a proper celebrity now and emilio is even taking care of luca wow look at this growth

[krysmcscience]

Don't mind me, just slacking on a big Billford comic by making other far more ridiculous Billford comics and also some AU art (please excuse my slapdash human!Bill thank you please, also before anyone asks the art style is messy and all over the place because idgaf LOL)

This started out as an excuse to design a Bill Cipher-inspired "wedding" dress, but then spiraled wildly out of control. Various rambles and a bunch more human!Bill arts under the cut, including another silly little comic at the end! (Feel free to skip the rambles, I won't be offended. I know I'm bad at shutting up. XD)

I may or may not write some comedy stuff for this AU, which I'm calling 'For Better Or Worse (But Mostly Worse)'. While Ford DOES remember getting sloshed enough for one thing to lead to making out with another after karaoke, neither he nor Bill remember this wedding, At All. The Love God did nothing to dissuade them from going hog wild on their marriage spending, either, so it got...uh. Exorbitantly Expensive. As in, the grand total could probably buy the entire fucking MOON sort of expensive. (It's fine, don't worry, Bill's good enough at crime to be able to afford it.) Also, because the logic of this AU is mostly dictated by Rule of Funny, the Love God's powers are close to unlimited when it comes to matters of romance, but ONLY when it comes to matters of romance. (Like weddings!)

Want an empty human vessel to smash the soul of a triangle into for date nights or when it's convenient, or perhaps even when it's NOT convenient? Easy peasy! Want the marriage to be recognized in every corner of the multiverse from now until the end of time, thus making any potential future divorce nigh-on impossible? Can do! Want to buy an entire beach for the ceremony and honeymoon and in general, and totally not at all because it would be Super Hilarious to prevent any specific movies from being made on that very same beach in the future? Fine, whatever, it's not his finances he's ruining!

Does the Love God also provide special rings that just so happen to turn incorporeal as long as the "happy couple" doesn't remember that they barged into his dreams to bully him into presiding over their marriage? ...No comment!

He spends the next thirty years trying and failing to get in touch with either of them for payment. This is why you should always demand half the money up front, my guy!

Also it's absolutely a traditional Jewish wedding, because I like the idea of Bill demanding all the keepsakes from the marriage that he paid for, and being completely confused when one of the things he's handed is a fancy container full of broken glass. He gets it later, but in the moment, he thinks the Love God is just fucking with him some more.

Ramble over! Here's the full dress that caused the comic to happen, along with what Ford wound up wearing at the wedding (and begrudgingly agreeing to put on again later for Reasons), aaaaand also a close-up of Bill's ring:

I may have forgotten to draw Bill's hair floofier when drawing the back of the dress, lmao

Since double ring ceremonies have been leaking over into Jewish wedding customs for a while now, Ford also has a ring, but his is the much more traditional plain gold band. There's definitely a message engraved on the inside - embarrassing, cringe, or incriminating somehow - but I haven't decided what it is yet, so use your imagination for now. XD Bill, on the other hand, saw the phrase 'traditional plain gold band' and said "No Thank You" before proceeding to embellish his ring to his liking. And because he's a secret sap who adores Ford's extra fingers, the triangle points add up to twelve, as do the engraved stars. Yes, they're stars, not dots, I just got lazy. There's also six lashes on the eye gem, and probably an eye engraving on the inside with another six lashes. (Bill's got it BAD, okay? We all know this.)

Here are the initial scribbles of Bill's custom vessel in more casual attire, please ignore the wonky anatomy and the fact that I flat out refuse to ever draw him with a proper top hat:

He does actually need a cane in this vessel; since Bill tends to possess men and especially Ford more often than not, he's used to having a higher center of gravity when in a human body, so his ability to balance is pretty garbage. (He may or may not topple over with concerning regularity.) As for his empty eye socket, his bangs don't do much to hide it since he's so high-energy (dude is constantly on the move), and he also refuses to wear a patch over it, because 1.) why bother, and 2.) it's more fun to freak people out.

To better align with Ford's attraction towards the strange, the vessel was designed with super minor shapeshifting ability - Bill can look like a perfectly normal human, but he can also make the teeth and fingers sharper whenever he likes (which is mostly just when he's angry or being more of a menace than usual), as well as slit down the pupils or outright ditch the irises altogether. He can also have whatever he wants in the downstairs department, just because I'm an indecisive bitch on that front, lmao. Maybe he can have boobs if he wants them, too, but I ain't drawin' tits on no triangle, nuh-uh, no sir. His powers are otherwise limited down to what humans can do, because for some reason, the Love God doesn't trust Bill to not snap into Immediate Apocalypse Mode if he's given a physical form that's actually all his and no one else's.

Due to the body being all his and no one else's, it's also not really a standard possession so much as it is just...Bill being temporarily human. He's a lot more aware of and in tune with his human body's senses than he ever was with his "puppets", which makes things like pain a lot more intense. (He is mostly fine with this, because he's a fukken masochist.)

A bit more fashion stuff, including beach and party attire~

The beach outfit was mostly me trying and failing to nail down his body shape, which is still not bottom-heavy enough. I then decided to slap a bikini on it, before making it supremely unsexy with a pair of fugly shorts, because Bill's fashion choices are not allowed to be conventionally attractive. Meanwhile, the party outfit was mostly me looking at the casual attire I designed, asking 'how would Bill make this Worse', and then drawing the result. The mismatched thigh-highs are killing me inside! :D

No, his vessel can't actually summon fire, I just drew it for funzies before I decided on said vessel's limitations. Yes, the gold brick tattoos are absolutely a reference to the fic 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' - I simply could not resist.

I also HAD to draw Bill in one of his canonical(?) shirts, just made tank-top'd:

He is absolutely about to over-correct and fall backwards after this. USE YOUR CANE, GOOFBALL!!! (I meant to draw Bill closer to this degree of bottom-heavy in the other images, but. Alas. I am bad at anatomy, LOL)

And, last but not least before More Comic Time, I attempted to draw him closer to Gravity Falls style:

Jury's out on whether or not I succeeded, but - hey. I tried. Now have some Handyman Bill AU, but with my goofy human design, instead:

Hey, it's a 'mystery snack', and the guy wanted A BITE to eat - the joke was right there, guys!!! (Based on this post, because it just screamed BILL CIPHER to me.)

whoops i forgor bills ring and cracks ahaha too late now

I WILL SHUT UP AND STOP RAMBLING NOW K THX BYYYYYE

[excaliburswielder]

I’ve seen so many fics where, after Arthur wakes up/comes out of the lake, Merlin spends his time teaching Arthur about modern life, and just catching up on all he’s missed.

And while that’s very nice and good, I don’t think enough fic writers are taking advantage of the angst that can come about from Arthur reemerging.

Obviously Merlin’s first reaction would be joy to have Arthur back, but if I were him my second reaction would be pure terror. Imagine everything Merlin’s seen the world go through since Arthur left. Picture all the plagues, all the wars, all the moments of human history where humanity was on the brink of ending itself. None of those moments were big enough to bring Arthur back.

Now, all of a sudden, there is something big enough. No world war has ever called Arthur back, but now something is. So anyway I think we need a tad more of Merlin freaking out because he planned for Arthur’s return, but he hadn’t thought about the next step.

[temporal-discounting]

Many people have pointed out the parallels in Ed's body language, voice patterns, and eye contact between the bathtub confession and the lead up to the first kiss.

In both cases, he keeps himself turned away from Stede, he speaks haltingly, he averts his gaze until the very last word is spoken.

In the bathtub scene, Ed is confessing his deepest secret. And he is terrified about what he will see on Stede's face. If Stede is disgusted, or if he's afraid, then it will confirm Ed's greatest fear - that he is a monster, unworthy of love.

So then are similar fears plaguing him here, when he making a confession of a different kind? Does he keep himself turned away because he is terrified that Stede will be disgusted? Frightened, even? And if so, then Ed was right all along - he really is an unlovable monster.

So imagine the joy and the relief when Ed's confessions are met with acceptance and love.

[10sokii]

nap time with the hayakawas

[ifwebefriends]

Starting thinking about Jonmartin/teaholding again and how Jon is canonically asexual again and it just makes me so happy and crazy 19 dead 7 injured event kinda shit

[strawberryxfieldz]

Garden of Eden (Wally x Reader)

a fluffy Wally/Reader one-shot I posted on my AO3 and figured I’d post on Tumblr!

since my main Wally/Reader fic has a darker plot, I really wanted to write some fluff for the puppet man. no experiencing the dreadful horrors here! Just pure fluff and stuff. short and sweet! Enjoy! @:)

CW for eye contact (yknow how it is)

Welcome Home Masterlist

When you wake up in the morning, you always have the assurance of Wally’s presence beside you. He had a sleep mask on and pajamas but you knew he wasn’t really asleep. Wally didn’t really understand the concept of sleep and took to repeating “I’m sleeping” over and over again in a hushed whisper that lulled you to sleep at night. Right now, though, he was simply smiling, hands folded on his chest.

You leaned over to pull his sleep mask off his face and press a gentle kiss to his forehead. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

“Oh!” His face lit up with delight. “You’re awake!”

You cuddled into his side, resting your head in the space between his neck and shoulder. He smiled and put an arm around you, hugging you closer.

“Yeah…” you replied with a tired groan. “Five more minutes before we get out of bed, though. I’m still sleepy.”

“Take your time, my love.” Wally kissed your head as you lay there, peaceful and happy in his arms.

You weren’t sure what you did to deserve this life with Wally but you certainly knew you loved it. You loved that you realized your feelings for each other, that you moved into Home with him, and that you were able to start off every morning like this.

Soon, you’d be out of bed and in the kitchen, helping each other make pancakes. Perhaps some would burn—Wally wasn’t the greatest cook—but you would laugh it off. At some point, you’d push back Wally’s long blue hair that liked to cover half of his face when down. He didn’t enjoy having to go without his pompadour (he used to hate you seeing him like that especially) but he was used to it now. You’d told him enough about how pretty you found him without all his hair products until he believed it. When his whole face was revealed, you gave him a loving, sweet kiss that he'd lean into with a smile.

After, you’d find yourselves underneath the big apple tree in your yard, humming songs and telling stories. Wally’s hair was done by now, and he had a sketchbook in his lap as he doodled many things, including you. You, meanwhile, were doing your best to make a flower crown. Julie taught you how to the other day. Unfortunately, you didn’t seem to be a quick learner.

“It’s not coming out right,” you whined, disappointment high in your voice.

Wally glanced up from his drawing to look at you. “Here. Let me see.”

You handed him your sad attempt at a flower crown with a frown. Wally didn’t hesitate to put it on his head and he gave you a small smile.

“How do I look?” he asked.

You suppressed a laugh at seeing the ridiculous mess of already-unwinding flowers sat atop him.

“The most.” You leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Just as always.”

Wally smiled warmly at you, a bit lovestruck, and you couldn’t help but kiss him again, this time on his mouth.

Being a puppet, Wally didn’t exactly have lips to kiss, just felt. It also meant he didn’t understand the concept of kissing. He knew it was a declaration of love and, by now, he knew it was one of your favorite ways of giving affection. Still, he didn’t actually kiss back so much as press his face against yours as best as possible and make a ‘mwah’ sound when you leaned away. You considered it kissing, though, even if he did it wrong. He was just too adorable.

“You’re the one who's the most, darling,” he cooed.

You felt something ignite in your chest when he called you that. ‘Darling’ being his surname made it all the more flustering.

“But you’re so beautiful,” you insisted. You moved to cradle his face with your hands and he instantly stilled. “Here…” You kissed his forehead. “…here…” You kissed the space between his eyes where a nose would be. “…and here…!” You quickly pressed another kiss to his mouth.

“Mwah!” Wally said enthusiastically when you pulled back.

You giggled and scooted closer beside him. He rested against your side, leaning his head against your arm.

"What're you drawing there?" you hummed after another minute or two.

Wally held up his sketchpad proudly. He was only working with a few crayons and there was nothing but scribbles on the page, yet you were able to recognize your likeness pretty well between the lines. 

"You!" he replied with a sappy smile. "It's my favorite thing to draw, after all!"

You immediately threw him into a hug. Wally was much more accustomed to hugs thanks to his fellow neighbors but still went limp in them. It was like embracing a warm ragdoll, and you'd think Wally didn't like it from his lack of reciprocation if it weren't for the happy hum he made when his face was pressed against your shoulder. 

"Wally, you're so talented," you told him as you leaned away. "I'm so lucky."

Wally beamed back at you before continuing to color, content. You let him draw, relaxing in the relative silence between you, mind still whirring. As peaceful as the moment was, you couldn't help feeling dismayed. 

Wally did too much for you. He was always making art for you, his greatest muse, and he learned your ways of physical affection for you, even if he still didn't understand it all too well. There had to be something you could do for him in return before you felt like a totally inadequate partner to him. You racked your brain as you sat there, quiet, listening only to the sound of Wally's crayons moving against paper. That gave you an idea and you bit back a cheery smile as you made sure to store it away in your thoughts for later.

A few days later, you found yourself in the living room of Home, putting the finishing touches on your masterpiece. Well, okay, 'masterpiece' was a bit of an overstatement. In front of you, sitting atop a pile of old newspapers was a lump of clay very generously deemed a ceramic sculpture of an apple. There were too many bumps in the wrong places and the stem was leaning too far in one direction, making it askew, but it was still an apple!

At least, this is what you told yourself as you leaned back to examine your work. You put a finger to your mouth thoughtfully.

"I don't know..." you talked out loud to yourself. Then, remembering who you were with, asked, "What do you think, Home?"

Home made a sound that sounded like a door squeaking. You were pretty sure that was a good thing.

But, before you could mull over it any longer, you heard the front door open. You shot up from your spot on the couch, taking the ceramic in your hands and hiding it behind your back. A moment later, Wally walked in, a slight smile on his face that grew bigger upon seeing you.

"Hi, love!" you greeted, trying to seem as not suspicious as possible. "How was hanging out with Julie and Frank?"

"Fun." Wally nodded. "We chased a lot of butterflies. Frank got mad when I asked if I could keep them."

"Aw, I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Wally shrugged. "Friends shouldn't be caged in anyway. They should be flying free."

You smiled at the sentiment and leaned in to kiss his cheek, only to stop when he spoke again.

"What do you have behind you?" he asked, genuinely curious. 

You leaned back suddenly with a nervous smile. "Huh? Oh, nothing!"

"Can I see it?"

You rolled the ceramic in your hand, feeling every lump and crevice with a frown. Yet, you looked into Wally's big, black eyes, soft and caring as they stared back at you intently, and couldn't help but give in.

"Okay. Fine..." you sighed as you pulled the apple out from behind you. "It's, um, a thing I made for you."

You held it out to him so he could see it, bracing yourself for his reaction. 

Wally's eyes widened and his mouth parted with a small gasp. "An apple?"

"Yeah! It's made out of clay," you explained. You watched as he studied it before carefully taking it into his own hands. "You know, I figured since you like staring at your apples but they eventually all go bad... I'd make you one that never goes bad!"

Wally was quiet for a moment and his whole face brightened. "It's perfect!"

He walked over to the mantel and placed the ceramic there gently as you continued.

"Really?" Your smile twitched. "I know art is kind of your thing, I'm not as good at it but I just thought I'd do something for you since you do so much for me and-"

Wally smiled before pressing his mouth against the side of your face, effectively cutting off your rambling. You relaxed when he made a 'mwah!' sound as he leaned away. 

"I love it," he reassured you, voice soft. 

"Oh." You let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

"But why would you think you have to make something for me, silly?" Wally tilted his head. 

You looked down, suddenly feeling sheepish. Wally gingerly took one of your hands with his, giving you an encouraging nod. In return, you gave him a warm smile.

"I don't want you to think I'm inadequate," you replied with a shrug. "Because you're so talented and nice to me and all these other things and you deserve the best!"

Wally chuckled. You couldn't help but smile more at the sound of it, slow and monotone. You loved his laugh.

"You are the best," he told you, rubbing your hand with his thumb. "You're the most, darling. Your love is more than enough."

You felt a bundle of emotions begin to take over you, all so overwhelmingly happy you could hardly even fathom it. Gratitude, comfort, and pure love rushed through you as you continued to stare adoringly into those beautiful eyes. You wanted to jump for joy, hold Wally close to you and never, ever let go, and see to it that you made every day of the rest of his life perfect and full of love. Maybe then he would be able to feel a fraction of the amount of adoration you had for him and understand just how much he meant to you. 

Instead, you frowned playfully. "See what I mean?! You're too kind! It's not fair!"

Wally just laughed again. 

[lavellaned]

Solavellan + those moments

[smeddiemunson]

November 3rd 1984.

It wouldn’t be long before Steve was graduated and didn’t have to drag himself out of the house to do something that felt more and more pointless everyday. He knew he wasn’t going to collage. Despite what Nancy said about his essays being a good start and his parents pushing him to apply to places he knew they could make sizeable, anonymous donations to, Steve knew it was completely hopeless.

Finishing high school, getting his diploma was a case of dotting an I and crossing some T’s. It was something he had to do so he could move on with his life, and it would be simple. Something so easy he wouldn’t need to stand in front of the house phone, convincing himself that calling Nancy for help was a stupid thing to do, only to do it anyway and still feel completely an utterly crushed when Mrs Wheeler told him Nancy was doing something with Jonathan.

Easy. Simple.

All he had to do was keep his head down.

At lunch he sat by himself, shaking his head slightly— but not too much to cause any more throbbing— so his hair fell over his face in just the right way to obscure his more bruised eye as he started down at his lunch tray. A green apple, some weird looking lunch meat and potato concoction, and a cartoon of orange juice stared back at him.

The cafeteria was always loud, always bordering on overwhelming, but today it threatened to swallow him whole. He couldn’t focus on getting his hands to unclench so he was able to eat his food. The noises were just too loud.

Not for the first time that day, Steve started mentally counting down the minutes until he could retreat to his cold, empty, quiet house. Being alone didn’t quite fix the coiling dread in his stomach, but it did let him calm enough to get his thoughts in order. He could walkie Dustin to check in on the kids, and with the correctly placed questions, he could check in on Nancy and Jonathan too.

Only when he knew all of them were okay, knew all of them were safe could he let himself relax.

An arm settled over his shoulder. He flinched away on instinct, barely managing to keep himself seated and not reaching for a bat full of nails that didn’t exist.

“Sorry, man,” the person responsible for the reaction soothed quickly. The arm left his shoulders as quickly as it appeared. “You’re good, it’s just me.”

Steve pulled his eyes away from the table to stare at the man next to him.

Dark brown eyes a colour so deep that they couldn’t be anything but earnest stared back.

“Munson,” Steve grunted. “What do you want?”

Instantly on the defensive.

He didn’t know how to play the role any more, how to puff up his chest and sniff his nose in a way that would get people like Eddie Munson to roll their eyes and back off from him. So he didn’t try to mask the way he could barely see out of his left eyes, and he didn’t try to hide the obvious scabbing on his knuckles.

If he couldn’t scare people away with the King Steve mask, then the monster he’d been covering up all along would have to do.

But Eddie didn’t scare easily.

“Saw you were alone, figured you might want to some company.” Eddie shrugged and twisted his body so he could straddle the bench to face Steve.

Eddie didn’t seem to know what personal space meant. The knee he had under the table pressed into Steve’s thigh, just above his knee and the other Steve could feel the heat from at his lower back. His left hand was splayed against the bench, holding him up as he leant closer into Steve’s space, and the fingers of his right hand drummed an idle tune into the plastic coating the wood of the table.

“And perhaps I have a proposition for you,” Eddie said slyly.

Steve just raised his eyebrows. He couldn’t imagine what proposition Eddie Munson had for him. His fall from high school Grace had been well documented, told to anyone and everyone that was willing to listen to Tommy H or Carol gossip for longer than the two minutes fourteen seconds that had been Steve’s record.

Eddie’s smile was dazzling, in a word, when he realised he wasn’t going to be punched in the gut for trying to talk to previous high school celebrity. He somehow shifted closer. His breath smelt like pretzels and cigarettes, and in fell hot against Steve’s cheeks.

“If your commitment to seeing King Steve being dethroned is as staunch as I believe it may be, I say you need allies.”

Steve scoffed. “Why would I need allies?”

“Because high school sucks without them.” Eddie sounded honest.

From the times that Steve had listened to him talk before, he knew that he never sounded unhonest. He was terrifyingly authentic in every moment of his life; from the words he said to the clothes he wore, everything was one hundred percent honest.

And if anyone were going to be honest about high school, why wouldn’t it be Eddie?

This was his second go around at being a high school senior and if the rumours were to be believed, he was already on track for a third try. Which Steve thought was an insane rumour to spread before the Christmas break, he didn’t think anyone could be that bad at school.

“So what’s this proposition then?” Steve asked.

Eddie wasn’t wrong. High school did suck and he did need allies. But he didn’t need allies because high school sucked, he needed them because he always felt as if something was going to pull his ankles out from behind and drag him away to the pumpkin patch and the hole in the ground where he swore he saw his life flash before his eyes.

“Join Hellfire,” Eddie declared proudly.

Steve struggled not to laugh in his face.

He obviously didn’t do such a great job because Eddie’s earnest eyes clouded over with annoyance.

“No, no, sorry,” Steve was quick to explain. “It’s just funny because, this kid I know, babysit really, keeps trying to convince me to play the Dungeons and Dorks game. I wasn’t expecting you to say that.”

Something complicated passed over Eddie’s face that Steve, even with his usual ability to read social cues, couldn’t decipher.

“You know what Hellfire is?”

Steve snorted. “You’re not exactly quiet when you give those lunch table sermons you know, Munson.”

Eddie ducked his head slightly, his cheeks colouring a light shade of pink, as he chuckled. “I didn’t think anyone listened to those,” he confessed. “I mostly just do them to get my sheep to laugh.”

He nodded his head backwards towards the other end of the table.

Steve peered around his shoulder to see a group of four other kids, all dressed in a similar style to Eddie, staring open mouthed at him. It was only then that Steve realised that he managed to sit himself at the unoccupied end of the freaks table, and it really felt so fitting for the moment.

“Your sheep are staring,” Steve informed Eddie. He felt the small curve to the corners of his lips.

Eddie sighed dramatically. “They’re still early in their training, Harrington. Give me until Christmas and they’ll be lining up for their wool to be sheered without so much as a bleet.”

That did make Steve laugh. Not much, but enough of a chuckle that he actually made a noise with his mouth instead of his nose as he had been in the conversation thus far.

Which Eddie seemed to take as a monumental win. “So? Hellfire?”

Steve rolled his eyes, “Why?”

“Can I level with you?”

Steve nodded because he wasn’t sure he knew how to say no to Eddie in this moment, and saying no would have defeated him asking why in the first place.

“Being town pariah is tough. But, and I speak from personal experience here, it’s way easier to deal with when you’re not alone.”

Steve thought about going home to his cold, empty, quiet house. He thought about Nancy breaking up with him. He thought about how his only real friends isn’t he world right now were a bunch of twelve (thirteen?) year olds.

“I’ll think about it,” Steve said, and he meant it. He wasn’t sure he was ready for it, wasn’t sure if he could deal with the burden of being a nerd just because he was desperate for human contact. He didn’t even know how to play Dice and Dragons.

Eddie dazzled him with a smile again. “You know where to find me.”

Steve nodded.

Eddie migrated back to the other end of the table, holding court again with the rapt attention of four lost sheep, all clambering over themselves to ask about the peace treaty he’d offered to the foreign ruler.

Steve raised his cartoon of orange juice to Eddie as a toast.

He would think about it, but decided that Dustin could never know.

[suddenly-frankenstein]

all i want is nothing more

to hear you knocking at my door

'cause if i could see your face once more

i could die as a happy man i'm sure

— (kodaline – all i want)

who knew that it was their last farewell?

[ladyofvoss]

FFXIVWrite 2024 #21: Shade

noun: comparative darkness and coolness caused by shelter from direct sunlight. or color, especially with regard to how light or dark it is or as distinguished from one nearly like it.

“Tell me what it’s like”

Thalia looked down from the book she was reading, to where Haurchefant was lounging comfortably in her lap, stretched out as they sat comfortably in front of the fireplace in his quarters.

“Tell you what what’s like?”, she inquired, absently running a hand through his locks. He practically purred at her touch, a hand lifting to stroke her wrist.

“Your home”, his answer was punctuated with a kiss to her palm, “where you grew up. Everything.”

She laughed, playfully pinching his cheek before smoothing her thumb over it. “I hardly think there’s anything interesting to tell.”

But he looked at her expectantly, an intensity to his gaze that had Thalia blushing, as if he was prepared to give her his undivided attention, even if she spent bells going into monotonous detail about the various shades and consistency of the dirts and sand throughout Thanalan. His eyes seemed to tell her, I’d find anything you love fascinating.

So she told him as much as she could, the holidays and festivals celebrated, the legends and myths she’d be fascinated with as a little girl. Her favorite foods to eat, the food stands that would line the streets in the city, rich aromas of cooking food thick in the air. She even spoke of the weather, joking about the unforgiving heat, how even the summer storms would not cool things off for long, as the blistering sun would return moments later.

Haurchefant patiently listened to all of it, interjecting with questions, hanging on her word with a pleased smile on her face, and it made Thalia wonder. Wonder what it would be like if they were like this back home. Perhaps it would be after one of Ul’dah’s many lavish festivals. They’d be in her grandmother’s garden, just like this. Lounging in the shade of a nearby treat finding refuge from the sun, Haurchefant’s head in her lap, her stroking his hair as they told each other mundane details about their day.

A poke to her cheek and Thalia blinked, before glancing to see Haurchefant watching her with a confused and bemused expression.

“Gil for your thoughts my friend?”

She couldn’t explain why, but something in her ached. Something suspiciously like longing.

“I….” she began, “I was just thinking……once everything is behind us….it’d be nice if I could bring you to my home.”

The way his face lit up, the smile that spread from ear to ear, and Thalia felt a newfound determination to see that dream a reality.

“That”, he said, kissing her fingertips again, “would be splendid, my dear.”

[hotgirlbedtimescenarios]

You bitches have got to stop making the most depressing, gut wrenching, heart destroying TLOU2 edits on tiktok I’m begging you. My heart can’t handle it.