#what tags do people even use for these two I’m just guessing based off what tumblr suggests lol

[deviantly-inspired]

Genshin impact Wriothesly/Neuvillette is on tbe brrrain

So I’ve been consuming fanfic like crazy for the past week or so. And. I love all of, but to switch things up a bit: Neuvillette as the one who falls first and pines longingly from afar.

He’s livedd a long time, and just because he doesn’t act on his emotions doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel them. He’s not self aware of how others view him, and he’s full of doubt, but he does know his own mind (even if he won’t admit it or speak it allowed) by his own story and voicelines.

So Neuvillette in love with Wriothesly for so long but also deciding to never act upon it, because he doesn’t think it returned and because he knows that Wriothesly’s own natural death will already break his heart: there’s no need to add more pain to it. Better to be a friend, a comrade, and a supporting pillar in Wriothesly’s life than to try and cast himself as a main character in it.

The end of the prophecy shifts things. The guillotine has fallen, at last, with as few casualties as possible. A tragedy no one will ever know has been closed. And Neuvillette realizes that, even if returned love is not in his script, the very least he should better appreciate what he does have. So he allows more and more personal conversation and shares his private thoughts and feelings and fears. Even gods die. It is foolishness to not enjoy wriothesly in his life while he still lives.

(The water sovereign was always the most gentle, no matter his form. It is how he was unmade the first time: his kindness exploited and twisted unto itself. He had thought himself rid of the trait in his new life, but even now the skies cry for both the people created from the blood of Neuvillette’s murder and for the so-called gods who uphold the order set down by the usurpers.

He is still water itself. In the end, Egeria was correct in one aspect of her rule: water, above all, is love)

And wriothesly… is absolutely not prepared for these softer moments. He had always found Neuvillette handsome and was honored by the friendship offered when he recognized it for what it was. But this is… more. Intimate in a way he doesn’t understand but wants to glut himself on. Every bit Neuvillette offers of himself Is sequestered away and held dear like the most valued treasure. The only thing that had ever stopped Wriothesly from falling for Neuvillette was the knowledge that such feelings wouldn’t be welcome. But with each piece of dispensed knowledge and shared laugh and quiet support offered that knowledge crumbles away into something a bit more hopeful.

Anyway. What I’m getting at is this:

“Neuvillette… I’m afraid I must confess: I am afraid that I’m falling in love with you.”

“Ah… I suppose it is only fair, then, to also confess: I am in love with you, and have been for some time.”

[blackbirdsblackberries]

Don't drink the Kool-Aid pt.1

I'll create a tag list if people want to be tagged. There's a meaning behind Savior Anwir's name! This chapter is a bit short considering it's technically a prologue.

Your day is a boring loop yet one you’ve grown to love.

You wake up, get ready for the day, wait in line for your tray of shitty food, sit with your “team”, finish eating. 

During the morning you spend your time exercising until you’re about to collapse. This will end around lunchtime in which you’ll get your lunch delivered to wherever you are in the place. Afterwards you are expected to show your devotion to your higher-ups, your family, your saviors. The rest of the day you either practice combat or defense.

Tiring as it might be, it was your life and you loved it. 

You don’t remember your life before joining Savior Anwir in her division of the Daughters of Eve. The division is based in Gotham City, a place even the devil himself had abandoned. Atleast, that’s what you’ve been told. 

You see, you’re not allowed out of the confines of the estate. It’s too dangerous, what if men take you away and use you? What if you get lost? What if you accidentally get killed? It’s terrifying to think of and keeps you away from the outside world.

Today however things have gone a bit differently, after showing devotion to your saviors you and everyone else is herded to the main hall - which was just the foyer area. This only happens when they take on new members. 

Will they be mean? Would they be overjoyous? There’s so many options and you don’t like any of them, you don’t like new people or change, you like how everything is now.

You take your place in the second row. 

The first row is for kids, the second for teens, the third for young adults, the fourth for adults, and the fifth for people over that age.

Savior Anwir stands atop the stairs in front of everyone, two people next to her. 

One is a girl with blonde hair, tanned skin and striking blue eyes, she’s in a purple hoodie and black leggings. The other is a girl with short black hair, brown eyes and beautiful clear skin, she herself is in a blackish gray graphic t-shirt and light gray sweatpants.

People start to murmur, a teammate of yours turns to you. 

“They seem off, right?” You don’t know why she’s asking you. Frankly, you don’t care, your team is full.

“I guess, but they seem nice enough.” Is all you say, no point in conspiring against people who haven’t even been in your presence for more than a minute.

The murmurs die down as soon as Savior Anwir raises her hands.

“Now, I understand everyone is excited for new sisters to be joining us,” Savior Anwir glances at the two beside her as if silently asking if she’s correct to call them sisters. Savior Anwir doesn’t actually care, she is simply doing it to make them seem more welcomed - you’ve been around long enough to know that.

She continues.

“But we must calm down and not cause strain on their mental capacities!” Savior Anwir puts a hand on either girl’s shoulders. “Please, introduce yourselves.”

The blonde one speaks up first “I’m Stephanie but everyone can call me Steph!” She seems energetic and like she doesn’t truly belong here.

The other one doesn’t speak up. Steph chuckles and speaks up again “This is Cassandra, you can just call her Cass! She’s mute.” Mutism is common here due to many people coping by not speaking at all. That’s probably why she’s mute, she was attacked and now chooses to be mute!

Right? Right.

Silence envelops the room then and you don't miss how Steph awkwardly looks around as if expecting applause - something you will not do until Savior Anwir says so.

Savior Anwir nods. "Thank you girls, you are very lucky to be joining today, it just so happens we've found some of our trainees have been plotting against us. So we have openings for you!"

You raise a brow, who would be so stupid to plot against your own family? The very family that graciously took you in and nurtured you, protected you and showed you true love.

Savior Anwir holds her hands out. "The two traitors who have decided they do not love us are none other than Mary Hailstone and Annie Malcomb! Please, come up here and shake hands with your replacements!"

You freeze, Mary and Annie belonged to your team, you three were as close as people get in this cult. They wouldn't of betrayed you... Right?

You watch as the two slowly ascend the staircase, heads down and hands shaking.

When you betray DoE there is only one punishment.

Mary and Annie both shake hands with Steph and Cass before Savior Anwir hands the traitors a gun each.

They had a choice, shoot each other or shoot themselves. They chose themselves.

You watch as Steph's eyes widen in horror and Cass's eyebrows twitch slightly.

You suppose you should pick up on little things they do now considering they'll be your new team members...

[pynkgothicka]

ＸＳ ＫＳＪ

Pairing - Jupe! Dark! Kim Seokjin x AFAB! Reader

Synopsis-Based off NOPE, you and your friend visit a new attraction called Jupiter's Claim, and a grown up child actor begins to fall for you. Part One of the Movies Series

Featuring - Megan Fox

Word Count - Around 2k

Tags and Warnings - Kidnapping, Allusions to Death

Authors Note - While studying the movie and pulling what I wanted, Steven Yuen was looking FARRRR TEW FINE. Also cried at the end, the unknown is scaryyyy

A friendly reminder that all my works are dark fanfiction! Please if you do not like that do not read them! These depictions don't pertain to reality. This is your final warning before hitting the keep reading button!!

You hated RV parks.

You felt trapped at Megan's make-up artist job. The only benefit you had was being able to be around the horses they had brought in regularly. You stood by one in particular, Lucky, and next to .him was a quiet man, who you learned his name was Oj.

You knew better than to not bother him as he seemed on edge, but you liked being around Lucky. You would pet her mane, and just like being around her.

Soon however, Megan finally had her things together and motioned towards you. Letting out a sigh you wave towards Oj. “Bye, thanks for letting me hang out with you.”

“It’s nothin’.” He mumbled singling you off with a hand gesture.

“You like him or something?” Megan said walking next to you as you guys walked to her RV. You laugh her off slightly shoving her.

“Nah, I liked Lucky though. Oj was pretty chill, he just kind of let me be around. Guess I wasn't pestering him like the rest of that crew…” You deduct making your way inside her RV. You had your own space, in which you settled in. You dropped down on your bean bag exhausted. “Besides didn’t you want to go to that attraction or something?”

“Jupiters Claim? Of course, I paid good money for it, so you can bet your candy ass we’re going to see what's there.” You groan at Megan's want to go to some random attraction. You honestly rathered the RV at that point.

“Fine, just let me rest before we head out. You know I hate being out there in the sun like that.” You complain. Megan lets out a small squeal as she tackles you onto your small bean bag.

“Thanks! I could just kiss you right now!”

“Mhmm, the things I do for you.”

🏇

Walking into the attraction you were quickly put off. The old-time Western theme wasn't appealing to you at all. But from what Megan had told you on the way there, she wasn't there for the actual attraction. “I’m telling you, that kid Jupe, from Gordies Home, he owns this place.” Megan raves leading you towards the back of the attraction up towards the staircase to the main office. “I paid good money to see his memorabilia and talk to him.”

“Why not use it for something valuable, like a nice piece of jewelry or something?” You say walking behind her as she opens the door.

“Because I had extra money lying around and well I wanted to spend it.” Walking inside you were greeted by two people, one of them being a lady in a baby blue dress, cowboy hat, and boots complete the look. She stood talking on the phone and Megan tapped on the class making a motion towards the back door.

The lady smiled and gave a thumbs-up before getting back on the phone. Megan led you into the back office space. Sitting behind the desk was a man in a white top, obviously fitting the western aesthetic. His hair was black and slicked back, lips curving into a sweet smile. “Megan right?” He asked looking at her and shaking her hand.

Then his eyes turn to look into yours. He stood in a daze looking at you.

You give him an awkward smile and take his hand. He shakes his head and takes your hand in a firm grasp. “Sorry, I should’ve said something about bringing her around,” Megan begins clearing her throat. Even she could tell it was awkward. “She's cool people trust me.” Jupe seemed to be in his own world before finally pulling away.

“Oh it's fine, you know I don't usually let people bring others around, but just this once I'll let it slide.” He says laughing. He steps from behind the desk and puts a hand on the small of your back to move past you. You jump and look at him, Jupe giving you a smirk before continuing to move past you.

Megan smiles laughing along with him. “Trust me she's like a tag along, real chill.”

He smiles turning to look at you. “Let's just hope you’re a real Gordies Home lover.”

“Trust me, I’m really not.” You say laughing awkwardly. You really wanted to leave already.

🏇

Once his tour was over you felt weird about it all. Megan was ecstatic though, finally coming one step closer to one of her special interests. She asked questions the entire time, while you stood at the door pensive.

Megan then dismissed herself to take a call. This left you inside with Jupe. “So, are you usually traveling with her while she does makeup?” He asks as you stand near the window peering outside, watching Megan. You turn around nodding at him.

“No, I just tagged along when she invited me.” You say before speaking up again. “Listen I’m sorry if she was just being a lot in there. She's my friend but I know you have feelings and all.” You say looking at him. He seemed to be lost in his own world before snapping back to reality.

He blows out smiling. “It's right really, thanks for caring though. But let's not focus on that. What do you do for a living?” He said standing up and laughing, making his way closer to you.

You laugh with him awkwardly. “A horse jockey. Yeah, I mean when I saw some of the horses you guys had, I was excited. Like a way to be committed to the western theme.” You ramble on leaning by the window. You really just kept talking to not focus on how close he was getting towards you.

He nodded smiling towards you and sat on his desk, his body close to yours. “Yeah, I know a ranch where I get them, real quiet bunch… I bet you’d like that wouldn’t you?” He said looking at you.

“Like what?”

“You don't seem to fit the whole being a side character to Megan's story. Like just look at you, you’re just gorgeous.” Jupe rambled leaning in. You leaned back as he got closer. “I think honestly you’d like it here. I can make you a star ya’ know.”

You tilted your head shaking it at him. “Listen Jupe-”

“Jin. The name is Jin.”

“Jin, I’m not really interested in whatever you’re trying to do. I’m just here because I want to support my friend.” You say putting your hands out to put some space between the both of you. “I’m not here for my claim to fame moment.” Jin shakes his head, pursing his lips together.

“You sure you don’t want more than what you have? You never even considered all you could have is someone, who gave you a chance at getting it?” He rambled. His hand went back as he grabbed a stapler on his desk. “I can make you happy… happy with me.”

Seeing him go for it you ducked as he first swung it. Your back hit one of the walls, your hand trying to stop the blow. But that failed as you instead injured your wrist. You held onto it losing your grip on the wall. “Get the fuck away from- AH!” You’re cut off by the stapler hitting your head. You see a bright light before you officially are knocked out.

Jin let out a deep breath as he dragged you into his memorabilia room. Jin closed the door, locking it, but not before making sure you were knocked out. Just around then, Megan comes back inside looking around. “Sorry, did she leave or something?” She asked looking around. Jin nodded going to sit back behind his desk.

“Yeah, she said she had a headache or something. Talked about going back to you guys RV.” He said snidely. “Did she not tell you before leaving?”

“No… Thank you once again, I'll head back now.”

🏇

He kept you in that room for weeks.

Only just recently were you moved out from there, and put in one of his set dressing houses.

He preached about falling for you and wanting to spend his days with you. Laying with you late at night, his hands around your waist. He laid kisses on your neck as he would tell you sweet nothings, yet what was even more messed up was that the entire time you were chained to the foot of the bed.

Of course, the chain had some length but still, you felt as if it was fruitless to escape. But you didn’t dare stay locked up forever. Especially after he told you Megan filed a missing persons report for you and had been asking around for and about you.

She even decided to go to his live show just to get her mind off things.

So you began walking and dragging the bed as you walked around the home. The bedframe would hit the door and you pulled at it hoping to snap off the leg the chain was hooked to. You kept doing it until it was the day.

The day of Jins live show.

Jin stood in front of you showing off his tailored suit. “Do you like it my Star?”

You hated that nickname.

“Yeah, I-It’s amazing… It’s really fancy.” You replied feeding into his decisions. Jin smiled and kissed your lips. Before standing up and heading for the door.

“Be safe okay, after this I’ll be back, and Amber will be gone.” He smiled wickedly walking out and locking the door. She was one of the reasons he moved you here. He wanted you away from his wife, who obviously hated you. You could've sworn whenever you did have to stay trapped in his office, that she tried to poison you more times than once.

But that's beside the point.

You heard the sounds of people, music everything. You spent that day continuing on your escape. You finally pulled off the leg and started banging a heavy piece of the chain on the doorknob.

The loud PA system made you speed up as you growled slamming the chain on the knob. The incessant drone of Jin talking acts as background noise to what you are focused on.

“And so, as I said, in just under an hour, ‘The Star Lasso Experience’ is gonna change you.“

CLANG!

“Stay in your seats. So that was new. They’re early...”

CLANG!

You let out a loud fuck as you cry out.

Then you hear it.

Screaming.

You stop what you're doing as the wind blows in the distance, the same amount of distance as you hear the screams. It's droning and you stop what you're doing to cover your ears, your head hurting at the sound. You wait as it all goes away before you put down the chain realizing you were probably in a life-or-death situation. With one final kick, you knock the door down.

Looking around you see that Jupiter's Claim is a mess. You couldn’t even begin to figure out what happened. But you begin to clamber away, your body hurting as you do so. You hadn’t moved like this in a while.

You make eye contact with a man. It hits you exactly who it is, Oj.

He stares at you too in shock. “Help…” Was all you could muster up to say to him. He makes a motion for you to follow him and you do. You speed up getting into the truck as he grabs Lucky.

“Just get me the fuck out of here now.”

Let me know through a dm or ask to be included in my official Taglist- @darkuni63 @captainengineer-trixie @chimmisbae @iloverubberduckiez-blog @mageprincess7 @looneybleus @whipwhoops @mayvalentine33

[ladykailitha]

Never Hold Back Your Step... Part 15

So... just one more chapter to go. I've experienced a wide range of emotions with this fic and to be honest, I'm grateful it's nearing the end.

I still will do the final book, just not sure when. As always keep an on the #boy with a bat, tag.

We finally get the moment you've all be waiting for. Robin and Steve on the floor of the bathroom.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14

~

Eddie spotted the Russians in military gear first. Two beefy guys with huge fucking guns and looks that would absolutely kill. Then he spotted two little blue sailors ducking into the theater. As far as he could tell, the soldier boys were looking for his friends, which meant the little idiots found their secret base.

“Found him,” Eddie hissed into the walkie talkie. “Only there are bad people looking for him. Please advise. Over.”

“You two together?”

“That’s a negative,” Eddie whispered. “Subject has ducked into the theater and the two bogies are in the food court and little ole me am stuck in the middle.”

“Is there a way you can lead them away from Steve without putting you in danger?”

Eddie chewed on his lip a moment and then said, “I don’t think so.” His lip quivered and a little sob escaped.

“Hey, hey,” Wayne said soothingly. “It’s going to be fine. I want you safe just as much as I want Steve safe, all right?”

Eddie breathed in deep and then let out a shuddering breath. “Yeah, I’m really worried now. Even though I’ve seen him, it’s somehow worse than not knowing.”

“It only feels that way now,” Wayne murmured gently. “Just keep an eye out for both our boy and those Russkis, you hear?”

“Yes, sir!” Eddie replied weakly.

“I found out our beloved chef of police hasn’t been in town for the past couple of days either,” Wayne said, his tone grave.

“Shit!” he hissed. “This is beginning to look like an actual fucking conspiracy and I hate those.”

“I’m heading to the Sinclairs next,” Wayne said, “There has to be something–” there was the screeching of tires and then, “Holy fuck. I nearly ran over the younger Byers boy and the Sinclair kid. It doesn’t look good, Ed. They look like they’re gearing up for war.”

“Get them here as quick as possible,” Eddie said, “I have a feeling that what those shitheads are up to, it has to do with what’s going on here.”

~

Wayne let out a long piercing whistle got all the kids attention. “You need to get to the mall, I can get you there faster than on foot.”

“Excuse me, sir,” Lucas said politely, “I don’t think you want to be involved in this.”

Wayne scoffed. “Look kid, I’ve see a lot of horrible shit in my time, and I don’t know much, but I do know that Steve is in trouble and you guys are the only ones who can help him. So maybe cut the bullshit and get in the god damn truck.”

They all looked at each other and then nodded.

Mike pointed to El. “She’s hurt, can you help me get her in the truck?”

Wayne immediately hopped out of the truck and walked over to her. “I’m guessing any suggestion to take her to the hospital would met with resistance if not outright hostility?”

El and Mike looked at each other for a moment before El said. “I like him.”

Wayne laughed and bent down to pick her up. “I’m going to lay her on the back of the bed of the truck, you can stay with her if you like.”

Mike nodded and hopped up to the truck to help him get her situated. Once he was sure they were comfortable he hopped back into the driver’s side.

“Um...” Will said nervously, “how did you know they were at the mall? Dustin just contacted us, we just found out.” He left out the part that El had read Dustin’s mind to find out he was there.

Wayne glanced at him sidelong. “Your answer is on the other end of that walkie talkie.”

As if on cue the walkie talkie squawked to life. “Uncle Wayne, I just spotted the subjects going into the bathrooms by the theater and the bogies have moved off past the carousel. I’m going to make contact.”

Wayne grabbed the walkie talkie. “Sounds good, Ed. I have the sheep and am on my way back to the mall.”

“Eddie!” Will exclaimed excitedly.

“Baby Byers!” Eddie cried back. “I’m guessing things are freakier than Russians under the mall.”

Will went on to explain what was happening in town and what the plan was.

“Yeah, that’s pretty freaky,” Eddie said solemnly. “But between you and me we can deal with freaky, right?”

Will smiled and Wayne fought down a smile of his own. It was good to see his boy make Will feel better about the situation around his disappearance. Will had been called a freak a lot after that, and that was what they called Eddie too. But Eddie learned to own up the moniker and now he was helping Will feel the same.

~

God Steve hated puking. It was the worst. Right after concussions and being told by your very drunk girlfriend that she never loved you.

“Let’s see if the drug is still in us,” Robin suggested, leaning up against the wall.

Steve slid under the stall wall and into hers. He looked at her and breathed a sigh of relief. She was shaken but unharmed.

“When was the last time you peed your pants?” he asked, going for silly instead of trauma mining or secret finding.

“Today,” she admitted and then let out a gasp. “Yup! It’s still in there.” She covered her mouth with a giggle.

Steve’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what? You peed your pants today?”

Robin held up her finger and her thumb and put them close together. “Just a little. When they were interrogating you.”

That made sense he supposed, with a wince. He was pretty terrified himself. He nodded and then waved at her to ask him something.

Her expression got soft. “Have you ever been in love?”

Steve was little surprised by the answer if he was honest. Which considering the drug running through his veins, he had to be.

“Twice,” he admitted softly. “The first was Nancy Wheeler.” It actually physically hurt to say that. He had loved her. Despite what she thought about her cheating and his sexuality.

“Seriously?” Robin said with a laugh. “Miss Priss?”

Steve huffed out a laugh. “Turns out, not so much.”

She was fierce and tenacious and everything Steve wished he could be, but wasn’t.

“The other is this most amazing, weird, talented person imaginable,” he muttered. “I never thought I’d fall for them, but fuck I thank whoever every day that I did. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without their support.”

“Steve...” Robin muttered. “I appreciate it, but if you really knew me, you wouldn’t like the person I am.”

Steve blinked at her for a second and then tilted his head. “Huh?”

“There was a reason I was so mad at you when you first started working at Scoops,” she murmured. “Last year in Mrs. Click’s history class. You would come in late, make a mess of the stupid bagel you ate, and all the while, she was looking at you instead of me.”

“Who? Mrs. Click?”

“No!” Robin huffed, kicking her foot against the toilet. “Tammy Thompson. She was looking at your stupid hair and your stupid smile and I would just go home and scream into my pillow.”

Steve blinked for a moment and then burst out laughing. “You thought I was talking about you?” He laughed again. “God, I thought I had terrible taste! Tammy Thompson is a dud.”

Robin’s mouth dropped in shock. “No she’s not. She’s going places. She can sing.”

“No she can’t,” Steve teased and broke out into song.

“You sound like a Muppet!” she hissed, kicking at his thigh instead.

Steve snapped his fingers. “Yes! That’s it she sings like a Muppet!”

She burst out laughing again. “All right dingus, if you weren’t talking about me, who were you talking about?”

Steve picked at his nails for a moment. “Eddie Munson.”

Robin’s eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. “If we weren’t under the stupid truth serum, I would tell you to fuck off. Are you gay?”

“Yeah,” he said not looking up from his nails. “He was so kind to me after the whole shit with Hargrove and Nancy and he just makes me feel like a full person again. And he knows about all this bullshit, too. Because I told him.”

“So you and Eddie, huh?” she asked softly.

Steve nodded again.

Just then the door to the bathroom swung open and standing behind Dustin and Erica was Eddie.

“Hey, darlin’,” Eddie said, leaning against the door frame. “We’ve really got to stop meeting like this.”

Steve blinked up at him with a dopey smile. “Like what?”

“You puking your guts out.”

Steve’s smile broke out into a wide grin.

~

Eddie blinked at the flying car. Of all the things that he’d heard about, that was definitely not one he ever thought he would ever see. Not that he was complaining about the rescue. Of course not, that would be rude. And Uncle Wayne did not a raise him to be rude.

Then Super-girl collapsed in pain and a wiggling, squirming thing could be seen under her skin. Jonathan bent down and was going to cut it out but his hands were shaking too bad.

“Out of the way,” Eddie bit out. He grabbed the knife and pushed Jonathan to the ground. He turned to the brave girl. “You ready?”

She nodded once.

With the flick of his wrist the thing burst from her skin landing a couple of feet from them. Thankfully the opposite direction Jonathan had fallen but still gross.

Eddie turned green and scrambled to get away. Everyone else froze at the sight of the thing as it tried to get to El again.

BANG!

Eddie looked up to see Wayne with the rifle and Hopper and Joyce flanking him, with a small weaselly looking guy, peering around Joyce.

“Jane!” Hopper cried and ran to her.

She held him close and whispered, “Why didn’t you kill it?”

Hopper chuckled and turned to face Wayne and Joyce. Then he turned back to her. “I’m a good shot, sweetheart, but Wayne is the best and there were just too many people around and I didn’t want to hurt no one.”

El thought about it for a moment. “Thank you.”

Wayne nodded slowly and lowered the rifle.

Everyone filled everyone else in. Mind Flayers were real. Cool. Cool, cool, cool. And by cool he absolutely meant terrifying.

Dustin and Erica offered to show Joyce and Hopper to the Russian base.

Hopper looked down at Dustin with the absolute despair of an adult who knows the answer to the question but absolutely has to ask it anyway.

“Why does it have to be you and Erica and not Steve and the other girl?” he asked after drawing his hands down his face.

“Because Robin, that’s the girl by the way,” Dustin said cheerfully, “were drugged and really don’t remember anything about how we got out.”

Hopper lifted his eyes skyward and put his hands on his hips, pursing his lips. Yup. That was the answer he thought he was going to get.

Murray stepped up. “You can do it through a walkie talkie kid,” and handed him his. “I’m not going to let a couple of eight year olds walk into that mess. Especially now that we know what’s going on.”

“I’m eleven you bald headed freak,” Erica sassed back, hands on her hips.

“Besides,” Dustin said, looking smug as hell, “we know walkie talkies don’t work beyond a certain point so they would be absolutely useless.”

“Yeah,” Erica agreed. “We only went down in the elevator and the walkies wouldn’t work.”

Dustin rubbed his hands together. “What you need is someone who has seen their com room, has a communications tower big enough to get to you below the mall, and knows the way there.”

“Oh wait,” he said with a smug grin. “You have me!”

Eddie and Steve shared a glance and they both rolled their eyes as Hopper ran his hands over his face again.

“We’ll need a head start,” he said ignoring all the groans around him. “And a car.”

Steve held up his hands. “Don’t look at me, the Russians took my keys.”

Hopper shook his head. “Now that we know it’s Billy, your car would stand out too much.”

“I’ve got my van,” Eddie said, raising his hand.

Hopper scratched his chin. “And do you think that Billy would recognize it?”

Max scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah...”

“Do I want to know?” Hopper asked with a raised eyebrow.

Max opened her mouth to reply but Eddie cut her off with a hard, “No.”

Hopper looked Eddie up and down and then nodded. “Right, you’ll take the car I ‘borrowed’ instead.”

He tossed the keys to Steve who caught it one handed.

Everyone went their separate ways, with the five of them, Robin, Steve, Eddie, Erica, and Dustin, heading out to find this car.

Steve threw out his arms and sighed. “This is more like it.”

It was a suped up yellow hot rod convertible with the vanity plate of TODFTHR

Robin raised an eyebrow and sneered, “The Todd Father?”

“Steve’s her daddy now,” he purred.

Eddie started laughing. “Honey, we aren’t playing who’s your daddy right now, but we are sooo going to talk about that later.”

“What does that even mean?” Dustin asked, scrunching up his nose.

Eddie grabbed the keys out Steve’s hands.

“You probably have a concussion and at least double vision,” he huffed before Steve could protest, “I’m driving.”

Steve sighed and let him take the keys.

“Back seat, Buckley,” Eddie huffed, sliding into the car as Erica got in and Dustin hopped over the door.

She rolled her eyes but did as she was told, sliding next to Erica as Steve hopped into the passenger seat.

~

Part 16

Tag List: THREE SLOTS REMAINING

1- @mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @zerokrox-blog

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @messrs-weasley @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @justforthedead89 @irregular-child @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @blondie1006

5- @anne-bennett-cosplayer @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @littlewildflowerkitten @genderless-spoon

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @angels-of-hades

7- @mugloversonly @y4r3luv @greeniebean911 @birbsauce @acingthecounts

8- @cryptid-system @counting-dollars-counting-stars @ravenfrog @dreamercec @sadisticaltarts

9- @clockworkballerina @bluelightsinthevoid @blcksh33p1987 @i-go-pink-in-the-night @mamafaithful

10- @w1ll0wtr33 @samsoble

[amethystfairy1]

I rewrote my novel. Admittedly I deleted it because it felt like it was me ranting and you wouldn’t enjoy it, but it made me feel good that you wanted to read a random person’s analysis.

To get out of the way first is the potential wild card invisible stalker. I saw some people speculating it was Mumbo because that seems like a rogue ability, but there’s no reason for him to have been stalking this group he barely knows instead of be with his own. I think it’s a new character, which you didn’t tag either for spoilers or because they don’t truly appear in this story. The latter is my guess, and their purpose is to be another thing hanging over Gem’s group as they go into the fight. As to who they are, because of that recent post on spoilers and the ninja thing, I’m going to guess Etho. The “why” for whoever it is is “to be revealed” information.

Next, the bird reunion. Based on that summary, they have to fight and it’ll definitely be intense. My guess is either during the pre-fight banter between the others or when they first come in contact and a failed sneak attack, the twins will recognize each other, hesitate, but go into the fight anyway because that’s what their friends/masters want. Major cognitive dissonance. I predicted one would get the upper hand and almost, but not quite, finish the other, but more specifically I think Grian will beat Pearl because she’s still injured. If I was writing it, he’d notice the injury, target it because that’s what a good killer does, and simultaneously hate himself for it. And then more delicious angst because a good avian would finish her off, but he can’t do it.

Meanwhile, I think Gem would be fighting the other two. She says in the first chapter that she’s low on magic, but she’s scary enough without the spirits. If I had to guess, I’d say she could normally solo everyone in the other group (not without difficulty, but would win in the end), but it would be the combination that could get her. Scar is also running low on magic, but we don’t know how the two compare. I don’t think we’ve seen Scar fight without magic either, so he could quickly empty his reserves. Mumbo is a very scary opponent and has the element of surprise, but I’m not sure how he’d stack up in a brawl. Judging by that summary of him nearly dying, I’m not optimistic. Scar has previously detected enemies with the spirits, but it’d be interesting to see if another nature elf can go undetected with their own magic. Then it’d be up to Grian to notice them when they’re pretty close, if he’s in a state of mind to do so effectively.

Speaking of state of mind, that was just them physically. Mentally no one is doing well. Mumbo and Scar are worried about Grian and are probably mulling over the target they painted on their backs. Gem is stressed out about the stalker, always worried about Pearl, and her guilt and frustration are turning to rage. That could all cloud her fighting abilities, but so could that empathy she’s trying to shut down. Recognizing Mumbo could give her pause, as could seeing Pearl in Grian and herself in the other boys. A vision just came to me of Grian using his wings to protect one of them from Gem and that causing her to stop. I could also see her stopping if she thought Pearl was about to die again. Both sides would stop if one of the avians admitted they’re siblings, but I can’t see them forcing that information out in the middle of a fight. I think the fight will end with one side recognizing themselves in the other and choosing not to continue. Then we can get a more wholesome birb reconnecting.

The thing I’m less sure about is Impulse and Skizz. I don’t quite know if they’d even participate in the fight or how that would go. I can easily see Impulse deciding not to participate because it’s not his job and he wants to protect Skizz, or him going with the group and being worried about Pearl with this job. If they do participate, that weighs things more in the favor of the Soup Group. From what we’ve seen, Impulse is strong and can tear through normal adventurers. Of course the boys are much stronger, but I’d expect him to hold his own. Skizz is a little more tricky. If he fully fights, I’d expect he’d be a beast. He was nearly retained, so he had serious skills, the only concern would be how much fighting he’s done since being sold. Granted, that didn’t seem to hold Grian back. I doubt Skizz’s heart would be in this fight though, and he’d be looking more to see if Impulse will die or if he can kill him. That won’t happen of course. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if a moment comes and Skizz either saves Impulse or doesn’t take the kill, and later has to ask himself why.

So, yeah. That’s my thoughts on what I think is being set up for this story. You don’t have to respond to this. Now I know that even if you don’t, you still enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing if I’m right or be proven wrong. Doubt I’ll be disappointed either way.

I

LOVED

THIS

SO MUCH

RAHHHHHHH

This is so so so so sooooo cool!?

Obviously I'm not gonna super in-depth respond to any of your predictions because I don't wanna give any tells because spoilers but I need you to know that I LOVED THIS.

I WAS BEAMING THE ENTIRE TIME I READ IT

It just makes me SO happy that my stories have the moving parts that make someone able to think it through and come up with theories about what's gonna happen, and that you enjoy the story enough to do so just makes me so very glad! Thank you so much for retyping your novel because I ADORED IT and I will be saving it and I love it very very very much!!!

I'm so glad you're looking forward to this fic, I have so much planned and lots is gonna happen, I'm just SO excited to share it all and it's so wonderful to see everyone is trying to figure out what's gonna go down!

Thank you thank you thank you for sharing!!! 💖💖💖

[pippin-katz]

I wanna get this out of my head and you’re one of the people that I know will set me straight. I am so beyond proud of Nicky and his new show! That teaser for M&G was fucking amazing and I know it’ll definitely get him so many nominations and awards (as he rightfully deserves - the man has been putting the work)!!!! I guess I’m feeling….bitter? Idk if that’s the right word. I’ve been living on a high from RWRB I want to see more of him and Taylor together, more RWRB content. It’s his job of course and I know he’s got so many more roles to come in his career. I just……yea don’t know how to deal with seeing so many M&G posts in the RWRB tags when I don’t think I’ll ever move on from Alex and Henry 😔

I know what you mean and I understand that feeling. I don’t think you’re entirely wrong or unjustified. The thing is, we didn’t get the full experience for Red, White & Royal Blue. There’s a big difference between these two projects.

Neither of them could even acknowledge RWRB, let alone celebrate it, despite it coming out and smashing expectations for over a month straight (lol).

It’s also not the same in that Nick, despite for some reason being labeled as “a rising star” by some news outlets and YouTube channels, has been the lead in a major production with a famous costar before (Purple Hearts & Cinderella). There’s no need to hype up working with Julianne Moore; people have already been laughing and pointing out how despite being the bigger and more notable actress, most people are talking about Nick. In contrast, Taylor had never been a lead before, so talking about working with him would’ve been significantly different.

They’re also the same age, which changes the dynamic between them. I’m not sure if or how much press they will be doing for this, but I think it’s fair to say that it would be more fun/entertaining to see Nick and Taylor together than Nick and Julianne, which is nothing against her at all. I’m sure she’s absolutely lovely.

Another difference is that RWRB is an original story based off a popular novel, and it was doubted from the start. Mary & George is based on real history, which gives it a significant advantage. Both have LGBT+ sexual elements, but it’s far easier to grab attention if you can slap the “based on a true story” in front of it; it simply intrigues people who aren’t fully convinced more, and that’s why they use it.

Basically, the “what could’ve been” for RWRB is probably the bitterness you’re feeling.

I’m not going to tell you that you can’t or shouldn’t feel that. Instead, I’ll just tell you not to let those feelings bring others down; if you want to express them, find a friend that you know you can talk to, and talk to them about it. I’m sure there’s plenty of others that have similar feelings. I myself was experiencing a weird negative emotion deep down in my chest underneath the excitement that I couldn’t place until typing all this out.

The important thing to focus on is how proud of Nick we are/should be. It’s that positivity that we want to spread. Hopefully that helps!

[topguncortez]

Day 12: What could go wrong? ➣prompts: "Mayday, Mayday!" ➣Character: Robert 'Bob' Floyd ➣warnings: drugging, attempted sexual assault, physical assault, blood, vomiting, happy-ish ending ➣word count: 2.7k

|| masterlist || whumptober || whumptober masterlist || library page ||

Y/N and Bob were inseparable, the true definition of “best friends forever.” They grew up next to each other in Wyoming, their parents' ranches separated by a barbed wire fence. They were in the same grade all through school, and eventually both went to University of Wyoming. The only time their lives went in different directions was when Bob decided to become a Naval aviator, and Y/N decided to become a Naval nurse. They went to bootcamp at different times, Y/N having to say a tearful goodbye to Bob, as she had to wait an extra three weeks until she left. 

It was nearly a whole year until Bob and Y/N were reunited at their first duty location in Virginia, and since then, they were once again inseparable. Even when Bob got sent back to Miramar, Y/N was sent back too, and worked at the hospital on base. To everyone, they looked like a couple, they did things like couples do, hell, they even lived together. They both wanted to be a couple, but both of them waited for the other to make the first move, which neither one did. 

“How long do you want to stay?” Bob asked her. They were currently at the Hard Deck, waiting to meet with the other members of the dagger squad, “The bachelor is on at nine.” 

“I said you didn’t need to come,” Y/N giggled as she snacked on the pretzels at the bar, “And besides I’m uh. . . meeting someone.” 

“Meeting someone? Like Coyote?” Bob asked.

“No,” Y/N shook her head, “A guy I matched with on Tinder.” 

“Y/N. . . “ 

“Before you say anything, cause I know that look Bob Floyd,” Y/N said, pointing at him, “I met him the other day and got lunch. He’s a nice guy. He works at a start-up doing stock production design, has his own house, his own car, and a cat.” 

Bob sighed and looked down at his shoes. It wasn’t unusual for Bob to tag along to when Y/N met guys for drinks. He hated it, but wasn’t about to tell her that. He was jealous of the guys that she got to meet and talk with and occasionally go home with. But it wasn’t like Bob was going home empty handed either from those nights. He usually would find a girl later on, and wind up at her house. 

“Well I guess he’s already better than Derek,” Bob said and Y/N giggled, “Just be safe.” 

“I’m in a bar full of people,” Y/N said, and waved her hand around at the crowd, “If I need help, I call out ‘mayday’.” Bob smiled at that. It was their signal that they used when the other one needed help. It was only to be used in cases of emergency, and it meant drop everything and help, “Oh! He’s here!” 

Bob watched as Y/N jumped off the bar stool and walked towards a man in a leather jacket by the door. Bob rolled his eyes, Y/N hates leather, she’s a vegan, he thought to himself. Bob focused his blue eyes on her yellow sundress clad body, and watched as she greeted him with a kiss. Looking down at his drink, Bob tried to ignore the sting that he felt. 

Bob was sulking in a booth, across from Jake and Bradley. They were in an argument about some sports team that Bob could care less about. The WSO’s blue eyes were locked on his best friend and her date at the bar. She laughed at something he said, tilting her head back and placing a hand on his thigh. Bob jumped as he felt Jake kick his leg from under the table. 

“Ow,” He said. 

“Quit staring at her,” Jake said, “It’s a little weird.” 

“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Bradley asked. 

“She doesn’t like me like that,” Bob shrugged. 

“Oh please, you two have more sexual tension than Rooster and I do,” Jake said, and put his drink down on the table, “You need to stop being a pussy and go get your girl.” 

Bob looked back at the bar and noticed that Y/N was gone, but Leather Jacket guy was still there. Bob sighed and looked back down at his drink, “I know she doesn’t like me.” 

“How?” Jake asked, sitting back in his spot. Rooster put a hand on Jake’s thigh, giving him a warning squeez. 

“Cause I told her once and she said she didn’t feel the same,” Bob mumbled, “It’s fine. I told her that I would always be her best friend. Always be there when she needs me.” 

Y/N sighed as she sat back down on the barstool, rubbing her hands to warm them up after washing them in the bathroom. She smiled at Jackson, her date, as he slid over another vodka lemonade for her. She took a sip from it, and squinted her eyes at the taste. 

“Shit, that’s strong,” She giggled, putting it back down. 

“Yeah, the barkeep kind of had a heavy pour with it,” Jackson said, and shifted a bit closer to her, “So what were you saying about this farm incident of yours?” 

Y/N had to think for a moment, suddenly forgetting the conversation she had before going to the bathroom, “Oh,” She blushed, “It was uh. . . my sister and I, and we were messing in the cow pin. . . Are you hot? I feel really hot right now?” Y/N said, feeling a rush of warmth throughout her body. She fanned herself, and could feel her cheeks turning red. She reached out to grab her cool glass, but noticed the fuzziness of her vision. 

“You alright, babe?” Jackson asked. He was now standing behind her, his hands slowly trailing up her body, until they rested on the edge of the bar. She was suddenly very aware of the heat that was radiating off his body, and the smell of alcohol on his breath, as he moved her hair off her neck, and placed small kisses on her neck, “Do you want to go home?” 

“I-” Y/N tried to get her mind to think of something coherent, but it was completely blank. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Something was wrong, something was very, very wrong. 

“Let’s go home, okay?” Jackson said, grabbing her body, and helping her off the barstool. She swayed in her spot as Jackson put cash on the bar for the tab. Everything was moving in flashes of light as she looked around the crowded bar. She managed to focus her eyes on the general direction Bob was sitting in, “Alright, let’s go.” 

“Wait,” Y/N slurred, “My friends. . .” She pointed over to them, “I need to. . .” She tried to take a step forward, but stumbled. 

Jackson steadied her, “No, we need to leave.” 

“Please,” She whimpered and looked at him. 

“No, sweetheart, we can’t,” Jackson said, and guided her away from the bar. 

Y/N felt the tears now falling down her cheeks as she felt her body moving under his direction. It was like everything was moving slow, but she knew they were probably moving fast. She looked back in Bob’s direction, seeing him deep in thought with Hangman talking about something, gesturing wildly. When the doors shut, she felt like she was running out of time. 

“M-my purse!” Y/N squeaked out, “I. . . left it. . .” 

“Jesus fuck,” Jackson rolled his eyes, and looked around. He found a nearby bench in the dark part of the building. He quickly walked them over to the bench and sat her down, “Don’t fucking move. Got it?” Y/N nodded weakly. Jackson huffed as he walked back into the bar. 

When he was out of sight, Y/N pulled her phone from the pocket of her sundress. The brightlight made her head hurt worse than it already was, and she had to force herself to focus on finding the messaging app. She wasn’t sure who she was messaging, but she clicked on the first contact and typed the message the best she could. 

“All I’m saying is, Bob, you are sixteen, things change! I didn’t think I’d ever like Bradshaw, but here we are!” Hangman said. Bradley rolled his eyes as he heard his phone ding next to him. He picked it up and furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Why would Y/N be texting me ‘may day’?” 

Bob snapped his head up and looked at Bradley, and then over to the spot at the bar she was sitting out with her date, “Call her,” Bob said, standing up quickly, his eyes searching the bar for her. 

“Why?” Bradley asked, feeling the frantic waves coming off of his friend. He quickly dialed her number, not hesitating. 

Bob didn’t answer, but spotted her date walking around the bar as if he was looking for something. He huffed and threw his hands up as he couldn’t find whatever it was he was looking for and headed back out the door. Bob moved quickly, pushing through the crowd over to the door. Hangman and Bradley shared a look before following the WSO. Bob ran out the door of the Hard Deck, looking around in the dark of the night to hopefully spot a glimpse of that yellow sundress. 

“Bob,” Hangman said, pointing over to the parking lot. Bob looked over at the direction Jake was pointing, and took off towards her. 

Y/N could barely keep her eyes open as Jackson led her to his jeep. She was praying that someone would spot them, or that whoever got her message was on their way to stop this, but it felt like the light was dimming. She let out a sob as Jackson opened the door to his car, and bent down to pick her up. 

“Hey!” Bob yelled as he ran up to them, “What the hell are you doing?” 

“What does it look like?” Jackson smiled, setting Y/N’s feet back on the ground, “Taking my girl home. She got too carried away with the vodka lemonades.” 

“She’s not yours,” Bob said. 

“Listen, I don’t know who you are but-” 

“Bob,” Y/N cried out. She found the ounce of strength she had in her body, and pushed herself forward. Bob moved and caught her as she stumbled into his arms. 

“I got you, I got you,” Bob said, and held her securely in his arms. 

“Let me take my girlfriend home,” Jackson grabbed her arm, but was stopped by Jake grabbing his arm. 

“Don’t fucking touch her,” Jake said. 

“I want to go home!” Y/N sobbed, and Bob felt his heartbreak. 

“We are, I promise, we are,” Bob said, as Bradley pulled up in his bronco. He jumped out of the driver's seat, and opened the backdoor, “Cops?” 

“Penny called as soon as he walked out of the bar with her,” Jake said, “Go, I’ll wait here.” 

“Hey,” Bradley said to him, “You have a career.” 

“I don’t give a fuck,” Jake said, “Fuckers like him,” Jake looked at Jackson, “Need taught a fucking lesson.” 

“Just don’t get caught,” Bradley said, and Jake nodded. 

“You two fuckin-” Jackson’s speech was cut off by a sick crack of his jaw as Jake punched him. Jackson fell to the ground, spitting blood out of his mouth. 

Bob had her head in his lap as Bradley drove to their shared apartment. Y/N had passed out the second that she laid her head in Bob’s lap. Bob ran his hands gently over her hair, occasionally wiping away the tears that threatened to spill. She didn’t look peaceful like she usually did when she was asleep, her eyebrows were furrowed and small whimpers left her mouth. 

“You saved her, Bob,” Bradley said, looking in the rearview mirror, “Who knows what that sick freak would’ve done if you didn’t-” 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Bob said. Bradley stopped talking as he pulled into the apartment complex. He opened the doors for Bob as he carried Y/N into the apartment. He laid her down softly on her bed, placing her on her side, “Stay with her a sec.” Bradley nodded and sat down on the bed next to her. Bob was only gone for a couple minutes, coming back with a bucket, a bottle of water, and a damp washcloth. Bradley stood up from his spot, as Bob placed the items on the bedside table. 

“Do you need me?” Bradley asked. 

“Jake’ll get himself arrested,” Bob mumbled, and placed the back of his hand on her forehead, “She’s hot. Her body is burning it off.” 

“He’ll be okay,” Bradley said, and watched as Bob walked over to her dresser and pulled out an oversized t-shirt that must’ve belonged to him. Bradley moved back over to the bed, and helped Bob change Y/N out of her sundress and into the shirt. Bob gently laid Y/N back down on her side, and placed the cool washcloth on the back of her neck. 

“Jake will be fine,” Bradley said again, and Bob looked up at him, “But will you?” 

“Mayday is a distress signal,” Bob said. 

“I know-” 

“It’s a distress signal that means drop everything and come help. And I was so caught up in feeling bad for myself that I almost missed stopping-” Bob bit his lip as tears threatened to spill, “She’s everything to me. I can’t lose her.” 

“You got to her, Bob. You saved her,” Bradley said. 

“Yeah,” Bob nodded and gently ran a hand down the side of her face, “Go bail your boyfriend out of jail,” Bob looked over his shoulder, “I got this.” Bradley nodded and quietly left the apartment. 

Bob stayed by her side the whole night, scared to leave her. He sat in the chair in the corner of the room, switching between playing on his phone, to looking up youtube videos on his laptop. Every sound or move she would make, had Bob rushing to her side. He had googled the effects of date drugs so he would know what to expect. He knew she was going to sleep for a bit, until her body started pushing the toxins out. It was about 2AM that she started coming to, crying and whimpering in her sleep. 

“Y/N,” Bob said softly, rubbing her back as she threw up into a bucket. He ran a cool washcloth over her clammy, sweaty skin, “You’re okay, darlin, I got you.” 

“I don’t. . .I don’t. . .” She whimpered out, retching again. She had a fever, her body trying to break down whatever drug was in her system. Bob shook his head, realizing that the cold washcloth wasn’t doing enough. He pulled back her covers, and picked her up. She leaned her head against his chest as he walked down towards their bathroom. He gently placed her on the shower floor, sitting down behind her and pulling her against his chest. He reached up and turned on the cool water, clenching at the feeling. Y/N let out a cry as she rested against him. 

“It’s okay,” Bob said, running his hand over her hair, “It’s okay, Y/N. You’re safe.” 

“I’m so sorry,” She sobbed. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, baby,” Bob said, “This isn’t your fault.” 

After a couple more seconds, Bob turned the water off, and reached for the towel on the rack. He wrapped her up in it and sat on the floor for a moment longer, before maneuvering to stand up. Bob set her down on the closed toilet seat, and grabbed another one of his shirts to put her in. 

“Why can’t every guy be like you,” Y/N slurred, her eyes still shut. 

“Oh, I’m just nobody,” Bob said, and dried her hair, “Take a sip,” Bob said, grabbing the bottle of water. He helped take a drink before setting it back down, “I’m taking you back to bed.” Y/N nodded and lifted her arms as Bob picked her up bridal style. 

“You’re my Bob. You know that?” 

“Yeah,” Bob said, and placed her softly back down on the bed. Her eyes were still closed, but she nestled back against her pillow, “Do you need anything? Do you still feel sick?” 

“Tired,” She mumbled. 

“Okay, you go back to sleep. I’ll be right here.” 

“Don’t leave me,” Y/N grabbed his hand, and opened her eyes to look at him, “Please, don’t leave me.” 

“I’m never leaving you again.”

[thepalaceofmelanie]

Martell Week: Character of the Day: Elia Martell

Tag list: @adriennegabriella @morby @wingsoftheangels @candycanes19 @tashastrange89 @elvinaa

(A/N: Going an AU route with this one. As someone who like Elia has, chronic illness; I wanted to write something on this. I’m not planning on having this as a self-insert but I’m basing certain things off my issues. Character won’t be named or described.)

TW: Medical talk, wanting to give up (not the hard S, you two are just tired.), mention of cheating and death.

Song inspired: “Aerith’s Theme” from Final Fantasy VII

Character of the Day: Elia Martell

__

“Elia, how are you?” I asked.

It was shockingly a good energy day for us both. We found ourselves at a Tim Hortons having something to drink. The smell of the mocha ice capp filled my noise, made sure to have extra chocolate in it.

“Hey you, I’m okay today. How about yourself?” She asked in returned.

The weather was warm, so at least our anemia won’t start making it cold for us. Elia took a sip of her iced tea and I could see she was trying to smile through a storm in her body. Both of us born premature, but our conditions differ a lot.

“To be honest, I’m just tired of it all. I don’t want to die, but I just want to sleep till they make a cure for everything. I can’t regulate my thyroid; I’ve only done it once… so now the Endo, thinks I have not just Hashi’s, not just hypo, but also hyper! Honestly, between the medication, the blood work, the side effects, and everything, I just…”

“I understand, and then when they tell you “it’s going to be okay.” a part of you feels like they’re lying. They don’t understand what people like me and, you go through every second of our lives. Then again, we don’t understand either. So, the point is moot.”

Elia, she must have had a rough morning though with the kids; she didn’t even braid her hair like she normally would.

“How’s Rhaenys and Aegon? I’m guessing their Father is watching them?”

Meaning Rhaegar, I don’t like using his name or talking about him. I mean he cheated on Elia, how does someone forgive that?

“Yes, he is. It’s his day to have the children anyways. So I guess it works out for me.” She semi-chuckled.

“Your heart?” I asked.

Elia’s eyes tried to give some spark of hope; I knew it was bad news.

“They still don’t know what’s going on. They tried an echo-cardiogram but they found nothing. I nearly dropped to the floor twice yesterday.”

Yikes!

They really need to find out what’s causing this and soon. I’m worried she’s going to hit her head and those children won’t have their Mom around. I feel her take my hand in hers, I could see her trying to hold back tears.

She’s scared.

I don’t blame her one bit.

“All I feel that I can do is say that “I’m sorry” but honestly, we both got to be fed up hearing that phrase. I don’t know what I can do for you to be okay as best as you can feel.”

“Just still be my friend. Knowing I’m not alone, helps at times.”

I nodded, if that’s what it takes, I can try. She knows we can’t make promises; some of us just can’t keep them. If we do, nine-times out of ten, we have to cancel last second. For us just to meet together today was a big thing.

We both drink our drinks in silence.

Moments past, the sounds of the shop filled our ears; the smell of the cafe woke people up and the two of us were thinking of what to say next.

Both of us probably already wanting to go back to sleep.

“What was your panel?” She asked.

“My T4 was normal, it’s the TSH was high. About 36.88.”

“How do you feel though?”

“Believe it or not, I’m fine. I feel “normal” I suppose. I’m not tired or losing hair any different or whatever else. I just been having a hard time eating and honestly taking the meds at times.”

“Please tell me you didn’t cause this.”

“Why my thyroid is effed? I can’t tell you anymore, I don’t know. I’m more worried about my mental health half the time.”

Elia squeezed my hand lightly, trying to get me to smile. I can’t smile at this, the fact that my body is ill like this and I’m not sure if I’m at fault or not, really does suck.

“Yours?” I asked.

“It’s a little under but I hope the new dosage helps.” She smiled.

“Yeah, for sure, you need your energy basically watching over the children. At least Oberyn and Doran are helping as well. They’re both good men.”

“I do love my brothers, Oberyn though is my favorite; out of all my family, he supports me the most.”

I felt a pang of envy in my heart, her family loves and cares about her. My Father...not so much at times. It took him years to believe in my depression and anxiety. Elia could tell something was wrong, her facal expression showed it.

Sorrow…

“I’m fine, I’m honestly happy for you. It just sucks that not everyone’s accepting like Oberyn and Doran are.”

“I agree with you; just because your Father doesn’t see your illnesses doesn’t mean it’s not there. It’s real just like us, it exists like us, but it haunts us.”

We both pause, feeling like time stopped. We both finished our drinks and tossed them into the trash, before sitting back down.

“Will you be alright?” Her voice cut gently.

“I will be, I’m just used to it by now. I’ve had certain issues from a young age and the thyroid didn’t get put on paper till a few weeks before my fifteenth birthday. Picture this, you get home from a wonderful vacation with your Father; you go into the doctors and they tell you, you have this issue and basically you’re stuck on meds forever, it messes with everything in your system. Seriously, this sucks, but I’m just so used to it by now; what people say to me doesn’t even phase me anymore.”

Elia didn’t say anything. I could tell she was taking in what I had said.

“But you’re here, you’re dealing with it.”

“So are you.”

She’s right…

We are.

“Your hopes and dreams matter, of course I could go into the whole “Life gets better” and such, but we don’t always want to hear it. That’s fine...do you remember how I asked if we could both do this thing? That list about reasons to keep going.”

“Yeah, I wrote mine on my phone.”

I take my phone out and go to note pad. I noticed she took out her notebook and sat it in front of her. She asked me to list at least three things before we met next, I guess we were both able to do it.

“Okay we’ll trade off. I’ll go first. First reason to keep going is to love my children and be a good Mother.”

“That’s a real sweet one. Okay first reason to keep going, to find a partner.”

I blushed, but I’m lonely. It didn’t matter if it was platonic or romantic at this part; but I knew that would be years later. I have to work on myself first.

“Second reason is to support my brothers when they’re dealing with something.”

“Elia, c’mon, you could have had the first one just be “family” and called it a day!”

The two of us laughed; she knew I had a point, but we both did need the laugh. I’m thankful for her friendship. Elia was always that person who would pour her heart and soul into life; she truly loved her family.

Damn you, Rhaegar, you fuck up.

“Reason two, to kick the ever living crap out of Rhaegar. Listen, if he wasn’t happy, he should have just told you and do something about it. That’s not right what he pulled; did he even ask for an open marriage or whatever before you found out?”

There’s nothing wrong with polyamory, open marriages, ect, but for the love of the gods!

“No, he didn’t. To say the least Oberyn and Doran want to throw hands,” Elia laughed. “Okay, seriously, last reason. To actually have a good life.”

Honestly, that was a reasonable thing. It would be hard but you know, sometimes we don’t know what life has planned for us. I just hope she doesn’t see her last sunrise before achieving this. With being chronically ill, it’s like our bodies are time bombs, depending on what’s going on with the person. With my thyroid issue, my thyroid is slowly dying because the white blood cells are attacking it.

“Yours?”

Oh right…

“To see my favorite band in concert for the third time.”

I could see her smile at that; to her it was a good one. The rest of the time, we talked; we talked about old memories, we cried, laugh and just tried to live for the moment. But little did I know was…

This would be the last time I’d see Elia.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Find the word tag

Thanks @oh-no-another-idea for the tag!

My words: change, grace, escape, mine

Your words: sweet, smart, alone, away

Tagging @thepeculiarbird @awritingcaitlin @theeccentricraven @loopyhoopywrites @badluck990 @mysticstarlightduck @stesierra @sparrow-orion-writes @aziz-reads @ashen-crest @amandacanwrite or anyone else

Keep reading for:

Short snip of meeting Liam

Ash just used those telepathic probes she's not supposed to be using!!!!!

Slightly longer scene with Maddie and Kelsey featuring angst!! And me attempting sci-fi bs

Part of a grilled cheese debate scene that admittedly goes on for a very long time and I'll probably have to cut it down but it's so funny I'll be sad...

Change - from The Secret Portal Part One (Gwen POV)

“Oh, I forgot to introduce myself,” said Liam before I could ask what wamps were, though I assumed that red currency. “I’m Liam Beaumont.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, then paused. “Wait, I was told you were the first recruited. How old are you?”

“You were told about me?”

“I gave a quick list of everyone,” Gabriel explained.

“Oh. Well, I’m eighteen.” My mouth dropped unintentionally. Liam sighed, playing with the zipper on his light brown jacket but seeming to find it humorous. “I know, I look eleven. But, like, I’m five-seven and people still think that. It’s not like I’m super short like Tyler.”

Tyler gave Liam a rude gesture.

“So…” I said, looking for a subject change, “your power is turning into diamonds?”

“Sort of,” said Liam. “It’s shape-shifting. Level-3, which is turning into different materials.” He held out his hand. His skin morphed from flesh to wood, a sleek metal, stone, then back to flesh.

I gasped in awe. “That’s amazing.”

Grace - from The Secret Portal Part One (Ash POV)

I sat there for about twenty minutes, breathing slowly as I felt myself return to reality. I wiped sweat off my forehead. My heart slowed. Once I felt like I could stand, I did. It was easy to navigate despite the dark—everything seemed brighter. My head still spun. I entered the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinet, and pulled out a glass. I filled it with water from the fridge, guzzling it down. I almost spit it out. As soon as the water graced my lips, a sudden flash of blue light swirled before me. Shaking it off as an effect of the probes, I refilled the glass to the brim. The blue lights happened again. During the third refill, my eyes rested on the time, a small light on the fridge. It was six am. There was no way I used the probes before even two. And there was no way that vision took more than five minutes. “Shit!” I hissed as my shock caused the water to spill over the glass. I guzzled the water again before grabbing a towel to clean up my mess. Once I did, I stood back up, tossed the towel on the counter, and looked at the clock again. I sighed. I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the remaining time that I had before everyone else awoke. I went back into the living room and sat on the couch. I lay back down, crawling under the covers, and tried closing my eyes again.

Escape - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Maddie POV)

Kelsey ran her hands through her hair. “I dunno, Maddie. It’s just that my powers? I don’t— I don’t understand them; no one does! And I—” She pressed her hands in her lap. “Ever since my… explosion, at the other base… I’ve been struggling.” She wrung her hands together anxiously. “And… my family? We’re living with my cousins, right?” “Yeah,” I said, leaning forward, hugging the post of my bed. My tongue ran over my braces as I listened. Kelsey exhaled. “It doesn’t make sense that no one in my family knows what Alii are. I… I guess it could’ve been earlier down the line. And my cousins, they… they viewed me like I was cool for a bit but then I showed them my powers. Accidentally. It was during a family argument, you know how those things go.” “Yeah,” I said. “And… I broke a lot of glass.” “Whaddaya mean by ‘a lot’?” I asked. “Just the glasses we were drinking out of during dinner,” Kelsey said, her eyes becoming fixated on her hands. “Deanna got some glass stuck in her hand.” “Oh,” I whispered. “She’s okay, now,” Kelsey said. “But that didn’t matter.” “Did that weird oxygen thing happen?” I asked. Kelsey shook her head. “I think that only happened because I thought I was in danger.” “Did they figure out why you did the oxygen thing?” Kelsey exhaled. “It has something to do with spontaneous combustion, I think.” She squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her hands to her head. “I dunno, something about, uh, raising the temperature of an object to its ignition temperature, I think?” “Ignition temperature?” I asked, leaning forward out of curiousity. “Yeah, when something catches fire without a source,” Kelsey explained. “The heat builds, and it can’t escape. There’s a steady flow of oxygen, then boom!” “So… you can also create a steady flow of oxygen?” I asked. “Yes. No-no— I-I dunno, Maddie, I can barely understand my powers as is with the science-babble the doctors are rattling off.” I looked down at my bare feet. “I’m sorry.” Kelsey shrugged. “It’s fine, I’ll… figure it out on my own.” I pushed myself off the bed and crossed the room toward her. “You don’t have to,” I said. Kelsey looked up at me. “Thanks.” Kelsey leaned forward in the chair, buried her head in my chest, taking off her glasses as she did. I hesitated before hugging her back. After a moment, she pulled away. “Thanks,” she said, about to put her glasses on. “Those are filthy,” I informed. Kelsey scoffed and reached under her hoodie to pull out a section of her shirt underneath, beginning to clean the lenses. “Fine, Mom,” she said in jest.

Mine - from The Secret Portal Part One (Ash POV)

“Ash! Come here right now it’s urgent!” “What is it?” I asked, crossing the room. “What’s the proper way to eat a grilled cheese sandwich?” Robbie asked intensely. I stopped in front of the couch. Everyone eagerly leaned forward in anticipation. “Um, American cheese, tomatoes, cut diagonally.” “Boom!” said Robbie. “I was right.” “Just because Ash agrees with you doesn’t make either of you right,” said Akash. “Besides, you clearly cut horizontally.” “You’re insane,” said Robbie. “Horizontally-cut bread is a valid way to cut bread,” said Gwen, pressing her palms together. “It doesn’t taste right though!” Robbie protested. “How does it taste different?” Akash protested back. “Texture,” said Maddie. “It does taste different,” Lexi confirmed. Robbie gestured at the sisters. “See? They get me.” “I’m all for texture,” Sam said, standing and walking to a more open space. “Which is why I put no tomatoes in mine.” “Tomatoes give it texture,” I pointed out. “But I don’t like the texture,” Sam said, making a face.

[lovely-vermin]

Welcome home cast with a single parent reader

A/N:My mother was a single mother and so I wanted to do this in dedication to her! Also this can be seen as platonic or romantic! Reader is GN but their baby is a boy named Harvey whose 3 years old. Also if I forget any tags tell me so! Also my oc Matteo is in this! Maybe Out of character but also Teenage mutant ninja turtle is told.

A/N 2:It’s mostly with Harvey because Harvey is based off of me a bit and I was an adventurous and chaotic yet well behave kid so I’d make friends fast. Also VERY LONG and cussing but never from you,Harvey or the characters also I didn’t do Poppy as I just can’t really figure out how to write her

Wally darling

•Wally finds your son adorable! Harvey and Home are best friends who are best friends! (Other then he and Julie of course) Wally is willing to help around as he sees your the only parent

•Everyone who was raised here (I’m guessing Wally was as it’s not stated or if it was I haven’t read it) they all know the way around. Wally who was raised here gives you tips and tricks around this place and also areas where Harvey might get.

•If your busy then he’ll offer to watch over him. Harvey is a well behave kid but has ADHD so often he’ll start rambling with Wally. Wally just smiled and nods even if he doesn’t understand what Harvey says.

• “O-oh and Mikey is my favorite! He always says ‘CAWBONGA!’ Then attacks with his brothers” “oh wow! How about you tell me more?” He doesn’t know what the fuck Teenage mutan ninja turtles but loves to listen to it!

•Wally loves to draw with Harvey and you. Harvey draws eyes mostly but there never realistic as he kinda hates drawing them.

•In all Harvey loves your son and also is willing to baby sit!

Eddie Dear

•He finds Harvey very adorable. Also you get more mail then anyone as because your a single parent from people.

•Eddie makes Harvey the Honorary mailman. He probably tells you before hand so that you don’t get uncomfortable or worried. Harvey is very helpful and mimics a military walk to only tumble a bit the giggle

•He isn’t a babysitter as he only has the weekend off (then you take over bc you two have turns) and he uses that time for self care. He doesn’t mind playing with the kid if he has free time or if he chooses to on the weekends.

•Harvey made his own hat that sorta looks likes Eddies but instead it has a lot of patches but Eddie finds it adorable.

• “Look It’s Frank! You wanna give him the mail buddy?” “Mhm! I got this!” “Alrighty! Here’s the mail and remember to make yourself known” “Okie dokie!” Harvey then skipped to Frank’s house. “FRANKIE! YOU GOTS MAIL!” “AHH! Oh my goodness! You scared me Harvey but thank you buddy” “Yous is welcome!” Harvey left giggling as he was happy. Eddie was smiling the whole time

•He’s sorta a dad figure to Harvey and Harvey has called him dad on many occasions but Eddie doesn’t mind as he finds it cute.

Frank

•Frank is actually the main babysitter because Harvey has nicknamed him ‘Uncie Frank!’ Or ‘Frankie!’ But also he’s the one whose most likely to make Harvey actually have nap time and get his energy out.

•Frank is willing to help take over if he sees your overwhelmed because on some weeks you work with Howdy and on some weekends you work with the mail office! You are on and off between weeks and weekends

•Frank tells him all about butterflies making Harvey come over often just to hear more. Harvey usually sits down,looks up with him with a curious puppy face as he listens.

• “Uncie Frankie,what dat?” “That is…not a butterfly but it’s a moth but what type?” Soon you came behind them to pick up Harvey. “Oh an oleander hawk moth! Beauty ain’t it?” “DADDY/MOMMY!” Frank jumped a bit the sighed in relief. “Ah Y/N,also it is beautiful” picking up Harvey as you placed him on your hip you took a picture of the hawk moth with the camera around your neck. “I did a whole essay on that when I was in school!”

Julie Joyful

•Julie loves both you and Harvey! She’s often at your house to spend time with you or Harvey or both! She’s basically become your second child and Harvey’s sister.

•She actually lets you take naps as she plays with Harvey. She’s worried as you overwork and overwhelm yourself. She makes sure Harvey lets you rest so they’ll play outside for your nap.

•Julie is the second babysitter if Frank can’t babysit. Harvey and Julie get each other’s energy out fast with the many games they play! Mostly play pretend or hopscotch or their playing games they made up together

•Knocking on your door Julie smiled as she swayed side to side. You opened the door yawing as Harvey was on the ground pretending to be a worm. “Julie,hey guessing you wanna play with Harvs?” “Mhm! You can take a nap Y/N! I’ll take good care of him!” “Thank you,been on chaotic week” Soon you face planted into the couch immediately falling asleep. “Hey Harvey wanna go play hopscotch?” “Yes peas!” Harvey got up running towards Julie as they went outside to give you peace.

•Julie sometimes has sleepovers because she loves the way you make her feel oh so safe! Plus more time with her favorite buddy! She’s now the sister figure of Harvey

Howdy

•Howdy meet him because Harvey secretly helped him with his job. He didn’t notice until all the cans he needed to be put up were gone to only see a three your old put them away how he likes it. “Heya kid,where’s your guardian” “Mommy/daddy is with Uncie Wally! Said I can get candy but wanna help you because you look like Mommy/daddy when they work a LOT!” Howdy chuckled at Harvey’s comment. Ended up letting the kid take it for free for being so helpful

•When he met you he saw Harvey again but how he kept begging to push the cart which you allowed with your help as he is so tiny! He loved your personality and now sees why Harvey said that the first time they met.

•The others often come in talking but you and Harvey always come up. He does make conversation with you both becoming friends with you two fast as Harvey gifts him drawings or old action figures he no longer plays with but wants Howdy to have!

•He can’t babysit as he’s very busy but that’s not needed when Harvey will just sit by his counter rambling about things and playing with the toys he brought or his fingers. Finds it adorable to only realize Harvey has a habit of wondering away

•May or may not offer to make him a balloon for you to tie around his wrist…your still considering it

Sally Starlet

•Adores Harvey as he always makes it to her shows with you but she doesn’t get mad when you fall asleep,she knows it’s very difficult as a single parent so she’ll make sure to let you sleep during her plays.

•Harvey sometimes joins her plays but when he does their usually easy plays as he’s only three years old. She is amazed how a three year old can make outfits (He learnt from his GamGam aka Grandma because she knit and sew a lot!)

• “Okay Harvey what’s your lines?” Sally was smiling as she was bending down to Harvey’s height. Harvey thought for a while. “It’s ‘I shall slay da monster!’ Right?” “Yeah good job buddy!” She gave him double high-fives making him giggle

•Will hold your son under her arm while she carefully speed walks as Harvey pretends to be an airplane. She can be a babysitter but it depends if she’s got plans or shows

Barnaby

•He fucking loves the kid! Is like Harvey’s best friend as he’ll just pick up the kid and run around making Harvey laugh.

•When he met you he knew immediately that he’ll start to take the kid just so you can rest because of how energetic and adventurous Harvey is. Will also let you sleep on him as well as Harvey because he’s super sort(his fur helps)

• “Harvey! Wanna play hide and seek?” “YES PEAS!” “Okay! I’ll hide!” “Otay! I count to…20!” Harvey turned around shutting and covering his eyes while Barnaby went to hide. When you went to pick up Harvey you were met with your son hiding on top of a tree while Barnaby looked for him. You took a picture before calling for Harvey. They played again tomorrow.

•He’s Harvey’s big brother figure.

Matteo Beloved

•He and Harvey are twins. Will take Harvey to his radio station just so they can spend time together as Harvey loves him and Matto sees him as his little brother.

•He was raised by a single mother so he knows how tricky it will be for you. Always comes over and cooks for you so you can rest for a while will also become Harvey’s teacher as he was in the past. Honestly the neighbors just assume he lives with you now instead of his radio station but he still lives there

• “Heya chiquito!” “UNCIE MATTIE!” Matteo was smiling as he crouched for the boy to hug him. “Oh super big strong hug!” “Hehe! I super strong!” “Yeah you are! Wanna help me with today’s broadcast?” “Mhm!” You smiled as Matto put him on his shoulder as the two chaotic boys laughed on their way to the station.

•He and Harvey both ramble about their hyper fixation,ends up with them falling asleep. You gave him a copy of your key as he basically lives with you. You came home one late night to see Harvey sleeping on the boogie man’s chest with the TV playing Teenage mutan ninja turtles which you of coursed took a picture of!

Over all the whole neighborhood loves you and your son making them all be a big old family with you

[spicysix]

i was a no (never 'maybe'?)

"Robin takes her by the waist with one hand as the other reaches her face for a caress. Their eyes meet and Chrissy smiles before tilting forward. Her skin is silky smooth and as their lips meet there are fireworks- “Whatcha’ doin’?” Eddie’s voice is right by her ear. ❀ She’s pressed against a door, and Chrissy’s hands are on both sides of her head. She smells citric, her hair’s up in that cheerleader ponytail with the bow to make it better. Her lips are glossy, and Robin knows they taste of berries, and she confirms it once Chrissy leans in and their lips meet. There are fireworks- “What are you doing?” Robin wakes up from her daydreaming with Nancy’s voice behind her." or: Robin has a chronic problem of daydreaming about her crush.

warnings/tags: pining, friends-to-lovers, farmer market!AU, Robin is gay and oblivious, everyone else is gay and a meddler, fluff!! word count: 3.8k author's note: happy buckingham taking over jargyle jursday - so i guess it's Buckingham Bursday? anyway. and happy pride! 💚🏳️‍🌈 entirely based on the song and music video of 'chance' by Hayley Kiyoko (lesbian Mother yayyyy). you decided this one, remember that poll? heh, thanks for that. also shoutout to the ST rarepairs discord server for the help coming up with what everyone in this farmer market sells. hope y'all like it, happy reading! ♡

↳ ao3

Robin takes her by the waist with one hand as the other reaches her face for a caress. Their eyes meet and Chrissy smiles before tilting forward. Her skin is silky smooth and as their lips meet there are fireworks-

“Whatcha’ doin’?” Eddie��s voice is right by her ear.

“SHIT!” she shrieks, startled, before turning to face Eddie as he has a knowing smirk on his lips. Steve is behind him, trying to hold in his laughter. “I’m not doing anything!” she defends herself even if she knows they’re not gonna buy it.

“If you’d just let us meddle, you’d be together by now,” Eddie says as he shrugs.

Robin’s eyes go back to where they were just a few seconds ago. Chrissy is now talking to a client, a candle in their hand as she tries to make a sale. Robin knows that one, it’s the Lemon Meringue. Robin has three of them. The client should buy it, even if the delicious refreshing citric smell is not what makes them, Chrissy’s smile should do it. It’s what does it for Robin, anyway.

“I’m not gonna let you two idiots meddle. Either this will happen by god’s own will, fate’s written words, me growing metaphoric lesbian female balls, or it won’t happen at all!” she answers without taking her eyes off of the client putting down the Lemon Meringue and picking up the Passionfruit Martini. An excellent choice too. Robin once had six of them from when Chrissy started trying them out. She’s down to just one now, finally.

A loud bleat interrupts her train of thought, and Eddie’s screaming goat scares Hennifer Aniston and she starts cackling loudly as well.

“Jesus Christ, get out of here with your Baphomet,” Robin shoos Eddie and he laughs before pulling the rope around the goat’s neck. Robin picks up the chicken, Hennifer’s a very cuddly one so she calms down once she’s in Robin’s arms.

“This one’s Phillip, babe, you’re mixing them up,” Eddie says.

“They all look the same and you know it!” Robin fights back and he just waves a hand in the air, not caring about Robin’s antics. He knows she’s just mad because he’s a meddler.

“So do your chickens, by the way,” Steve notes as Robin puts Hennifer back in her little playpen.

“They do not! Stop siding with your boyfriend, don’t you have jam or pies or cakes to sell or whatever?” she retorts once again and Steve laughs. “You gay people don’t take care of your own lives and want to meddle in mine! Absurd!”

“We’re bisexual, don’t erase our sexualities! You’re gay people too, Bobbin, and my love life isn’t disastrous as yours is so I could be a good adviser.” He shrugs before leaving a few bills on Robin’s counter and picking up a tray of eggs she had separated for him earlier. “But you’re right, I do have jam and pies and cakes to sell. See you later, Bobs.”

She hums at him as he leaves for his own stall. The peak rush hours are closing in and Robin will get busy soon. She knows the chicken in a playpen gathers attention, and so does the little poster she has containing the chicken’s informations — name, age, personality. Kids love them. And the parents love the eggs, she’s been on the papers once with her high-quality chicken eggs. She’ll start getting her regulars in a few minutes and she’ll have to deal with her stall all alone because Nancy couldn’t help her in today.

Yet, she lets herself lose a few minutes more staring at Chrissy’s stall. The client is leaving with a Tangerine Drizzle — they clearly like the citric ones. Chrissy is counting the money and storing them away in her little detailed wood box, an Argyle Original. She doesn’t notice Robin staring, she never does.

A client approaches, and Robin lets out a sigh. She’s got work do to.

❀❀❀

She’s pressed against a door, and Chrissy’s hands are on both sides of her head. She smells citric, her hair’s up in that cheerleader ponytail with the bow to make it better. Her lips are glossy, and Robin knows they taste of berries, and she confirms it once Chrissy leans in and their lips meet. There are fireworks-

“What are you doing?” Robin wakes up from her daydreaming with Nancy’s voice behind her.

She squeals and turns around too fast, and the cornflakes in her bowl fly out and scatter around on the floor. The chickens are happy with that. Nancy is leaning against the fence, and the knowing smirk on her lips says it all.

“You really have to make a move, this is getting pathetic,” she says as Robin finishes spilling the corn.

Robin leaves the chicken coop and marks the tally on the mental note of tasks to be done.

“What’s with you bisexuals and your inability to stay away from my love life. I don’t wanna hear it from Ms. I Have A Boyfriend-In-Law.” She rolls her eyes as she starts going back to her house and Nancy follows after snorting.

“Jon and Argyle are pansexual, don’t erase their sexualities. And it’s called a polycule, by the way.”

“I’m not erasing-” Robin starts, but stops herself once she sees Nancy’s playful smile. She’s just teasing. “You people will be the death of me.”

Nancy just laughs again and they enter Robin’s house.

Chrissy’s there.

“Robin! Hi!” she greets excitedly when she turns around and sees them entering.

“Chrissy, hello,” Robin’s gotten better at not stuttering when she’s around her crushes. It took her half her life, yes, probably, but at least she’s got it now. She doesn’t ramble and babble awkwardly anymore. “Is there something I can help you with?” She’s also a professional.

“Steve asked me to get some eggs for him? Said he’s got a big order and can’t find the time to stop by himself,” she answers, that beautiful smile of hers still on her lips. Nancy is already heading to the place where the eggs are stored.

Robin narrows her eyes as discreetly as she can while her mind runs. Steve has no big orders this week. Robin knows that, because Steve lets her know every time he does, because she’s gotta separate the eggs for him. He would’ve told her about a big order.

Lying, meddling son of a bitch.

“Here it is, Chris,” Nancy shows up with two dozen eggs and Robin narrows her eyes again.

Chrissy hadn’t said how many eggs Steve asked for.

Lying, meddling sons of bitches.

“Thank you so much!” she says to Nancy before turning to Robin again, who’s just standing there acting weird. “Your birthday’s coming up, right? You’re gonna throw something?”

“Uh, yeah, next week. I don’t know, I’m not much of a partier. Maybe just a nice brunch,” she says, and Chrissy’s still looking at her with expectancy. “If I do, I’ll be sure to let you know, of course! You’re always invited.”

Robin’s answer widens her smile, and Chrissy looks down at her feet with blushed cheeks. Robin feels like screaming. She’s so fucking cute.

“What’s your favorite fragrance again?” she asks and Robin snorts.

Yours, she wants to say. She holds it in.

“Um,” she looks around.

There’s one of the Lemon Meringues on the table by the door. The last Passionfruit Martini is on her bedside table. She knows there’s a Cherry On Top somewhere in her office, and a Blackberry Cobbler in the living or the dining room. She’s been meaning to get a Tangerine Drizzle since she’s seen that client buying one that day, but she’s also been thinking a lot about a Banana Boat to replace the last one she had in the bathroom.

“Ambrosia Salad?” her answer is more of a question, because of course she can’t decide, but it seems to be enough for Chrissy. She tilts her head like a puppy dog — so adorable, really, Robin’s about to implode — and smiles again.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she says. Robin’s heart is about to flutter out of her chest.

She hands the money to Nancy, who’s the one now just standing there, but she’s not being weird like Robin was, she actually has that annoying know-it-all smirk. Robin wants to strangle her.

But then Chrissy comes closer and leaves a kiss on Robin’s cheek, and maybe Robin is about to defy every single rule of the universe and become a puddle, liquefy instantly to the floor. Her cheeks are burning, and her brain seems to have short-circuited and, seriously, it’s fucked up that a single little blonde girl has so much power over her. That shouldn’t be allowed.

Chrissy leaves and Robin watches through the window as Chrissy crosses her lawn. She throws kisses to the chickens and Robin feels like she has no more place in her heart to fall in love even more, and yet she still does. Robin stares until she hops up on her bike and leaves, and she doesn’t notice Robin staring, she never does.

“Bet you wanted to answer ‘her perfume’ or something sappy,” Nancy says behind her and Robin turns around too fast, head going dizzy.

“Will you shut up!” she yells, and Nancy laughs.

“Robin, seriously. Talk to her! I could cut through the tension between you two five minutes ago.”

Robin doesn’t answer, instead, she comes up with a random topic to talk about. Jonathan’s and Argyle’s woodworking, or whatever. How’s that going? Selling lots of wood… works? Nancy lets her change the subject, because she knows Robin sucks at talking feelings, and honestly, Nancy kinda sucks at it too. With each other, at least.

“I wanted to say her actual skin smell, which is much better than any cheap or expensive perfume on the market, by the way,” she still teases back before Nancy leaves later that day, and Nancy laughs loudly and Robin lets herself giggle too.

When it doesn’t hurt like a bitch, being in love is actually kinda funny.

❀❀❀

They’re lying side by side on the grass, and their fingers are intertwined in between their bodies. Chrissy rolls to her side and so does Robin, and their noses almost touch. She’s got that pretty smile of hers that makes her blue eyes shrink until they almost disappear, her little wrinkles show how much she smiles all the time, and it makes Robin’s heart beat so fast. She leans in to kiss her, and the stars above them twinkle and there are fireworks-

“What doing?” Robin’s startled by a tiny voice beside her.

She’s sitting on the park grass, her back against a tree and she could’ve been more undercover if she had just remembered to put her sunglasses on her eyes instead of resting them on the top of her head.

“Doing nothing, Holly,” she answers, and the smallest of the Wheelers just shrugs and sits beside her on the grass.

“She’s pining. As usual,” Dustin answers, and only then Robin sees that the entire Party is there.

Holly doesn’t mind the answer, probably doesn’t even know what the word means, and just starts ripping grass out of the ground. Will and El sit close to Holly and start playing with her. Mike stands and hovers above the three of them, all knight-in-shining-armor pose.

“Huh, the babysat become the babysitters. Steve handed you the business keys?” she asks as the rest of the teenage menaces approach. “It used to be the other way around, you know? It was one guy with a gaggle of children, and now it’s one child with a gaggle of guys,” she finishes.

“Yeah, world’s funny that way, don’t try and change the subject, your pining is disgusting,” Dustin retorts and Robin rolls her eyes.

“Now the teenagers are meddling too, what have I done to deserve that?”

Robin stops looking at them, puts her sunglasses over her eyes this time, and focuses back on her initial interest. Chrissy and Heather are a few feet ahead having a picnic, far enough not to listen but close enough that Robin has a privileged view. They had picked a few flowers and Heather had weaved a few of them into Chrissy’s braided hair. She looks beautiful, like a fairy or something. Robin wants to be Heather so badly, touching Chrissy’s hair so absently, handing her flowers and basking in the late winter sun with her. If she didn’t know Heather was painfully straight, she would’ve been painfully jealous.

She swears she’s not stalking. They got here after she did. She just lost interest in the book she was reading before they appeared. But Chrissy didn’t notice her staring anyway, she never does.

“You and Chrissy have made it the entire town’s problem with your longing and yearning and lack of action. We’re obligated to see it, so you’re obligated to listen to our complaints until one of you actually goes ahead and asks the other out,” Max is leaning against the tree but Robin doesn’t tear her eye from Chrissy to look at the redhead.

“You’d be such a cute couple,” Lucas says and Robin wonders what kinds of sins she had committed to be karmically pestered by a gaggle of teenagers about her private business.

She’ll talk to the others later, tell them to get a hold of their younger siblings. They are so out of line.

“Look, you children don’t understand, okay? I don’t want to risk our friendship, because I like her very, very much. And this is a small town, and we have to see each other weekly and if things don’t work out it’ll be very awkward. There’s so much at risk, things that you kids have no idea about, and I will not! Risk them!” I won’t risk us, she wants to say.

They all look at her for a while after her heart-gutting speech. She looks back, defying them to say anything, and she’s almost sure she’s won her made-up staring challenge when they look at her with sympathy. But Erica ruins it.

“This is not about the gay thing, is it? Because, like, half of our group is part of the rainbow community, birds of a feather or whatever. Girl, we’ve been knowing.” Lucas hisses at his sister for her lack of touch, and she shrugs. “Just the facts.”

Robin takes a deep breath and starts thinking how she’ll answer that without cursing or being very rude and possibly scaring the Little Wheeler forever. Holly doesn’t deserve her rage, she’s clearly the best sibling in that family.

“She doesn’t even like me back, okay? Just the facts,” she mocks through gritted teeth. “Let’s just drop this,” is the best she can manage in a really dry tone, and she thinks it’s enough when they all go quiet again. Until Will speaks.

How did Steve manage, honestly? The man’s a saint, he’s gotta be. Kids are infuriating.

“Robin, I promise we’ll stop talking to you about this, and you don’t have to do as we say,” he says. “But, really. Just consider the possibility of talking to her. If it goes well, and I think it will, it really pays off,” he finishes and Mike, who’s still hovering and looking around as if a monster is about to appear out of nowhere, actually blushes. It’s almost cute.

Robin gives Will the smallest of smiles, that woman-love-woman to man-love-man solidarity smile, but doesn’t answer him. Doesn’t let them know that she’s considering following the advice coming from fucking teenagers (who all seem to have better love lives than she does, but that’s not the point).

Damn you, Will The Wise.

❀❀❀

She’s coming in Robin’s direction, the sun making her blonde hair shine bright and her skin glow, but her smile’s the most blinding of it all. She smiles at Robin in a way no one ever had, and it makes her warm inside. Chrissy’s finally close enough to touch, and Robin doesn’t hold herself and takes her face in between her hands. She smells of chocolate chip cookies in the oven, of laundry softener, of a flowery garden, she smells of home. Robin’s eyes almost tear up simply at the thought of her, and she can’t keep it in, she say’s ‘I love you’, and Chrissy answers, ‘I love you too’ before leaning in to kiss her, and Robin knows there are fireworks-

“Robin?” Chrissy’s voice sounds uncertain and it snaps Robin out of it.

Okay, she really is pathetic. Daydreaming about the girl while she’s talking to her, wow, this has reached a new level of absurdity.

“I’m sorry, so sorry!” she sputters, cheeks burning, hands sweating. “You were saying?”

“Just… happy birthday,” Chrissy smiles, hands Robin a gift box, but it’s such a small smile. A shy one, not good-shy, but fearful-shy. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

Robin can only nod, and she hands the gift box to Steve so he can keep it safe for her. No one around her is making any noise, and she knows they’re being watched by all these meddlers, so she glances at Joyce before turning to Chrissy again.

“Inside,” she almost whispers, before turning around and heading for the Byers’ house.

They’re having her birthday brunch there because Joyce’s porch is the best and her backyard is one of the only ones without animals or trees or woodworking stations. She also loves hosting, so it’s a win-win situation. Argyle cooked, Steve baked, Hop’s working on the barbecue and everyone’s having a great time.

Or, was. Until Chrissy appeared, made Robin’s brain stop working and now there’s that weird tension in the air. Robin knows she fucked up, she fucked up big time, but oh god, Chrissy looked so beautiful. She looked so beautiful every day, but she had such a pretty dress on today, and her hair was up in that cheerleader ponytail with a bow to make it better, and she has a shiny lip gloss that makes her lips look so kissable, and she smells of honey and coconut, and Robin wants her.

Robin wants her so badly, and Robin dreams of her when she’s asleep and when she’s awake too, and she has never wanted someone this much. And she has never known so deep inside her soul, how she can’t have someone as much as she knows she can’t have Chrissy. Robin’s not a particularly insecure woman, but she knows Chrissy would never pay her any mind.

“Why do you hate me?” Chrissy asks once they’re inside, and when she turns around to face Robin her eyes are wet.

“WHAT?” Robin yells, then cups her mouth for a second. “I’m sorry, shouldn’t have yelled, but. What?”

“I don’t understand. I keep catching you looking at me sometimes, but then you look away immediately and sometimes you look almost angry. You don’t hold big conversations with me, you seemed pissed at me that day with the eggs, and just now you weren’t even listening as I was talking.” Robin is in total shock as Chrissy starts listing things on her fingers. “It wasn’t like this! We were friends, Rob, and suddenly you started being so weird. Why invite me to your birthday if you don’t want me here?”

Yeah, they were friends and then Robin caught feelings. And apparently made it weird. Maybe she wasn’t as good with the girls she liked as she thought she was. She stopped rambling and babbling awkwardly, sure, but now she apparently shuts them out. Definitely not great either.

“Chrissy, I want you here, I do!” she says, and her voice falters because Chrissy has no idea how much Robin wants her. “I’m so sorry I made it weird, I just…” She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and remembers Will’s words. Oh wow, that’s pathetic for sure. “I don’t wanna be just your friend, Chris. I want more.”

She opens her eyes to face her demise because if she’s gonna be turned down she’s gonna take it proudly.

“You want… more?” Chrissy asks, and she takes a step further into Robin’s space.

“Yes. I like you. So much. So much, it’s pathetic.”

“You… like me?” she asks again, eyes wide open, and Robin gulps before nodding. Oh, god, here comes the blow. “Oh, Robin.”

Robin has no time to ask ‘what?’ because Chrissy throws her arms around Robin’s neck and their lips touch.

For real.

There are no fireworks, actually.

Fireworks are deafening loud, they’re bright and blinding. They jet, they spiral, they splatter. They can be scary, they’re everywhere and they’re overwhelming, and they’re too much sometimes. Just like Robin is most times. Loud, spiraling, everywhere, and overwhelming. Too much.

Chrissy’s kiss is not too much. It’s just enough.

It’s calm, and it’s relaxing, and it’s giving and giving and giving, but it’s receiving just as much. It’s stillness in a once stormy ocean, it’s silencing of all the high-pitched sounds that can be deafening, it’s thrilling in a way that makes Robin’s heart stump loud but rhythmically. Robin’s body loosens up, tension and anxiety leaving her, brain going quiet in, for once, a good way. She’s not overwhelmed, her senses aren’t screaming at her, she’s focused on the present moment. Chrissy tastes of fruit, of course she does, and she smells of home because it’s what she is. Her skin is warm as Robin holds her with no intention of letting her go, but it’s nothing like her dreams.

Because it’s real. And it’s so much better.

They separate their lips but their foreheads are still touching.

“You have no idea how much Eddie and Heather have been pestering me to talk to you,” Chrissy whispers almost against Robin’s lips, and she snorts.

“Oh, I sure do.” She wants to hate her friends for being right all along, but she can’t find it in herself to be anything but insanely happy.

“We’ve been two blind idiots, haven’t we?” Chrissy giggles, and it’s angelic as a sound can be, and Robin wants to crack Chrissy’s ribs open and live inside her chest. She nods at Chrissy’s question.

“I was so sure you didn’t like me,” she admits. “I looked at you all the time, daydreaming of this all the time. Reality’s so much better.” She tightens her grip around Chrissy’s waist to prove her point, to prove to herself it’s real.

“You didn’t see me staring right back.” It’s not a question, because the answer is obvious.

“I was too much of a blind idiot to see it, apparently.” She smiles and she leans in and she kisses Chrissy again. Because, oh god, she can do that now.

“But you see it now?” Chrissy asks.

“My eyes are wide open, Chris. And I see you now.”

[eilaafterhours]

Fluffy Thing [Belphegor]

Content: Mention of Sex Toys, Finger-Fucking, Squirting, Oral (Reader Receiving), Dirty Talk, Coming Inside

Pronouns: None

Remember: I’ll block you if I catch your ageless or under age (not 18+) ass in my activity :)

Reblogs: Let me know that you enjoy my work and want to see more, so don’t forget to like and reblog (and comment in the tags. I love seeing people’s rambles in the tags)!

This work’s concepts, plot and original characters are my own which means I do not allow any sort of creative theft nor do I allow my work to be entered into any sort of A.I. bots. Thank you for respecting my space and boundaries.

Belphie: Where are you?

Me: I’m in my room. Why?

Belphie: Great.

Belphie: You should come to my room.

Belphie: There’s this fluffy thing I want to try out. Together, with me.

You weren’t expecting much.

A new pillow, a new blanket, or maybe a new sweater. But definitely not this.

Well—

You really should have known when he locked the door.

You placed a finger over your lips as you stared at the object that laid on his bed.

It was a butt plug…

With a cat tail attached.

There was also a cat-ear headband as well.

You looked at him.

He looked at you.

Then you said, “Honestly, I’m surprised you have this kind of stuff here.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I just wanted to try the plug…”

“Really thought you could have used your demon powers to just give someone ears and a tail.”

You didn’t see him freeze, eyes darting over your form.

You shrugged. “I guess, but like, dude…I’m not even properly prepare for—”

You were cut off by the sudden force of Belphie shoving you down onto the bed.

“You’re right.”

You were beginning to panic, “W-what are you talking about? I’m not ready for that!”

He sighed, grabbing the tail and headband. “I’m not using these anymore.” He tossed them on the floor.

“Then what are you talking about…?”

“This.”

He ran his hands over your ears, fingers through your hair, then he gently pulled away. You were confused, but less alarmed than before, so when he ran his hand down your back, you willingly curved your ass into him.

But then you realized.

“Holy shit!” You flipped around.

Right at the base of your back,

was nothing.

You kicked him. “You dick!”

Belphie smiled. “I mean…we can do that sort of stuff, but I’m too horny to do it now.” He gently guided you back to your previous position. “Now…on your front.”

You did as you were told, ass high in the air, legs spread for him. You bit your lip in anticipation and just about sighed when your hot cunt was revealed to the cool air.

“What’s this?” He swiped his thumb along your folds, spreading them open. “...you were playing with yourself.”

It wasn’t a question.

“Y…yeah…”

“So you don’t need me.” The bed shifted.

“No!” You hadn’t meant to sound that desperate. “I didn’t even get to finish, and we haven’t in awhi—fuck ah ah ahhhh…”

He had shoved two fingers in your cunt. “Then finish. Fuck my fingers.”

Honestly, at this point, you couldn’t tell what kind of mood he was in, but if you didn’t take your chance now, he’d have you sit on his dick till you were in tears then fuck you silly.

Which…you wouldn’t have minded that, but you were too horny now.

You brought yourself to a steady pace, gyrating your hips on his still fingers. But it wasn’t enough, despite the loud squelching sound your lower lips were making.

“B…Belphie…” You clenched on his fingers. “Please…”

He said nothing, but did add another finger. It still wasn’t enough. As a matter of fact, it felt like he was deliberately keeping his fingers away from that one spot.

You huffed. “Belphie!”

You were just barely able to pick up the faint chuckle. Just as you were coming down, he curled his fingers up right into that spongy spot.

“Belphie—aaah!”

You came just from that, juices flowing down your shaking thighs and onto the towel below.

You wanted to flop down, but Belphie had a firm hand on your hip, keeping your ass up,

As well as, his fingers were still plugging the most of your come.

“Ah…what a waste.” He slowly pulled his fingers from you, “But I guess there’s still some…”

You were about to sigh in relief when he finally removed them, but then you felt the bed shift again and the warm heat of his mouth against your puffy pussy. His mouth worked face, slurping and lapping the rest of your slick.

Once he had his fill, and you were thoroughly wet again, he pulled down his pants. You took a deep breath, then released it as he pressed you down further into the mattress. He lined himself up, then inch by inch you swallowed him.

Until his pelvis was flush against your ass. Then he slowly pulled out, then slowly put it back in.

He was fucking teasing you.

Brushing along all the right spots, but not hitting them hard enough. And with the strong grip on your hip and the other in your hair. You really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Besides—

“Fuck—stop that.”

You did it again.

His grip tightened in your hair.

You clenched again.

And this time he wasn’t having it,

He yanked you up, pulling flush against him as he slammed into you hard.

“Fuck!”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing?” He murmured against your neck. “Fucking that tight cunt of yours.”

By this point, you were reduced to nothing but moans.

“Maybe next time—hah— I should have Satan make me a potion—fuck—one where you’ll be in heat and begging to ride this dick.”

You felt yourself nodding. Even in this fucked out haze, some sane part of you wanted to try to it. To feel so aroused that you couldn’t stand it, and to have Belphie fuck you through it, then take care of you afterwards.

“Yes…I want you fuck me—aaah—while I’m in heat.”

Another quiet chuckle, “Oh I won’t fuck you through it…I’ll stick a few toys in you and watch you bitch and moan and do nothing.”

“Fuck—aaaaa!”

You don’t know what did it, the filthy talk his was doing in your ear or the thoughts of him sticking a bullet and a vibrator up your cunt, wand on your clit and a butt plug up your ass that had you coming undone.

Hard.

He wasn’t far after you. His come had no room inside you, and was making its way down both your thighs. Seconds later the two of you collapsed with him still inside.

After a minute of catching your breath, you nudged him. “Can’t breathe.”

Instead of pulling out and moving off you, he instead wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you over as he rolled on his side.

“Belphie, no. We gotta get cleaned up now.”

“...but I’m tired.”

“And there’s fucking cum all over my thighs.”

“Fineeee.”

Long time no fuck

Yeah, so, yet another case of the fic got away from me. Originally, you were supposed to have ears and a tail but then they kinda disappeared when the fucking started.

Don't count on that last bit happening lol

Unless *points to commissions*

Masterlist

[askthedespairkids]

What I was Made For

*With today being their possible last day of training Sly has Komaru wake up early so they can get training out of the way and have the rest of their day to prepare. After a couple hours of training he ends it with the two of them meditating outside. The two sit side by side not a sound besides their respective breathing until*

Sly: *He opens his eyes and looks over at Komaru, who is still focused on her meditation. He quietly gets up and positions himself right in front of her. He reaches his finger out and pokes her attempting to knock her off balance* Komaru.

*She doesn't even wobble this time but her eyes fly open in surprise* Huh? What's wrong?

Sly: Hmm. Would you look at that. Not even an inch off center. You’ve gotten better

You think so? It doesn't always feel like it, but I'm happy if see something. *She stands up as well*

Sly: I think with that, we can call it a day. How are you feeling?

It's hard not to worry, but at the same time I'm thinking...that this is what we've all been fighting for. So, more than anything, I don't wanna disappoint anybody. I don't wanna disappoint you after you spent so much time teaching me.

Sly: Hmm. I’ve been waiting to ask you, but have you decided on where you’re gonna be for all that’s coming?

Honestly...I think I should stay here. I think I'd just get in the way of the others if I went somewhere else.

Sly: I’m not sure I understand what you mean? Get in the way?

It's all well and good train here, but when I was out there at the Despair Base and I fought Towa-san. I just thought to myself afterwards 'I could have easily died just now'. And...it's gonna be so much worse tomorrow that I'm worried I won't be able to think of anything else. I don't want to be a liability...

Sly: So you’re scared?

I guess. Isn't it normal to be scared during this sort of situation?

Sly: Ya know, *He looks down at the ground* this thought has been creeping into my head since the announcement, I’m scared too.

...y-yeah right. Aren't you used to being on death's door? It's like your whole thing...wait. Are you really?

Sly: *He sighs* No. Not like that anyway. I’ve sent so many people to “deaths door” and after the mission with my dad I should’ve went through them myself. My death doesn’t scare me. In fact I think im truly lost my right to have the fear. What scares me is living.

You're...scared you'll survive? Why would you be scared of that?

Sly: I…Komaru…*He rubs his neck. Fingers grazing his dog tag* What do you think of me? Honestly?

Hmm...what do I think of you? I mean, I think you're an amazing teacher. I feel like I'm way more capable than I've ever been and it's all because you saw something in me.

And you're scary, but not mean. Not mean in a cruel way, in any case. Sometimes you're still harsh, but from a place of support...I guess, that's what I think?

Sly: A good teacher huh. I figured it’d be something like that. *He clutches his dogtag* The reason I'm scared of living is because of this. I’m sure as you know…this was my mother’s dogtag…. She uh…she passed away when I was young. Before I was even officially considered an assassin. Whenever I could be, I was attached at her hip. I loved my mother. More than anything in the world and when she was killed it left such a huge hole in me. When I found this tag at the orphanage she grew up in it never left my side again. It’s my memory of my mother…but even with the tag, at the end of the day it’s just a tag. As time has gone by…I…find myself forgetting her face. Forgetting her voice. Her mannerisms. I know we’re assassins. Born killers and die killers. But that was still my mom and I can’t tell you much about her…. It’s just not there anymore. The scary part isn’t dying but it’s having someone you care about die and your memories fading away. In my time here I’ve come to care about so many people that are gonna be in harms way, my fear is that if I lose one and I keep living…what if I forget them too.

…Sly…I can't begin to really imagine it. That after this time I could ever forget the people that helped me get here. I think I'd struggle to forget Koizumi-san’s voice. Or Otonashi-san’s smirk when she notices you lying about something. Or the way that Harukawa-san's eyes shift when she tries to pretend she doesn't care about something. Or even when you used to try and stop yourself from smiling like you would deny yourself joy.

You used to do it for so long, but even to this day I haven't forgotten what that looks like…the people we care about today might not be here tomorrow, it's true…that's why we have to cherish those details while we can because we really don't take note of them until we aren't able to see them all the time anymore. I think what's scary is the fear that you took those things for granted when you could witness them.

Sly: Which is why I’ll be on the front lines. It’s easier to see that you took things for granted once they’re gone but I have no plan of losing anything. I’ll fight my hardest to protect the ones I care about. As your teacher the idea that you would be in the way is asinine. You are more capable than the majority of people here. I’ve seen the work you’ve put in and there’s no doubt in my mind that you are an asset. Not a liability.

Even if you say all of that, it won't mean much if I just end up freezing when push comes to shove...but despite that I still want to protect everybody.

Sly: I’m not gonna tell you to come out on the front lines. Everyone has their own path to follow. But I don’t wanna hear that it’s cause you’re incapable. You wanna protect people? Trust in your training and do your best wherever you are. Everyone around you has more confidence in you than you have in yourself.

...okay. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I don't want to be anywhere but the front lines.

I want to be useful! I want to help everyone as best as I can...so I'll do it.

Sly: *He places a hand on her shoulder* You’re gonna be okay. I’m sure of it. You’re gonna have to be cause *He takes off his dog tag and reaches it out to her* I want you to return this after all the dust settles.

Huh? But isn't this important to you? Are you sure you'd wanna entrust it to me?

Sly: I know for you I’m just your teacher. If we’re honest you’d prolly stay far away from me if I wasn’t. But for me I think about some of the moments we’ve had since we met. Like how you said it’s hard to trust me since it doesn’t seem like I trust you as much. I’m not very good at stuff like that but this is the best way I can think of to show you that you have my deepest trust as a student but also as a person. You are whether you believe it or not someone I care about so taking this is also a promise to me do your best but to also do all you can to survive.

*She's very visibly speechless. Hesitantly she picks up the dog tag and puts it on*

I...I want you know as well that I've really valued this time as well. I wouldn't still be here without you.

So, I'll repay you and make sure you get this back tomorrow.

Sly: It’ll be my honor to fight besides you. So let’s show them what we’re made of.

You got it!

[drawnaghht]

tag guide anyone? + differentiating between usagis (thinkpiece)

I'm really just curious now if something like a "tagging guide" would help? If you would like this, or know if anyone else has posted something like this, sound off in the comments or like/reblog to agree ^^ 

I posted a poll about this on twt and it looks like 13 so far really want one, so I’m putting a lil test post around here too. I also found while researching for this post that apparently on tumblr, the first 20 tags show up in search! so I guess they changed that from 5 to 20 at some point. huh. that’s a bit more helpful than just 5 tags!

I’ve noticed sometimes people have no idea what to tag with a show like Usagi Chronicles that is less than 2 years old and is based on existing IP, but also that ppl use a lot of tags in general, perhaps confused about what is the “main tag” or most used tag for a character in rottmnt for example. So I started writing a little tag guide, which I’ll post the draft of at the bottom this thinkpiece. The main issue around tumblr seems to be excessive mis-tagging or multi-tagging i.e when a character isn’t there. I think I’ve seen this in some other fandoms too (primarily bigger fandmos), but I’m not gonna get too deep into it. You can skip to “tagging guide” via CTRL+F to search it on the page. I’ve also included a little character “separator” part with graphics, cuz it seems some are having trouble seeing the characters differently from fanart alone. I thought it would help to post more of the “source” materials ^^

Also if you have problems differentiating between the two in general…aside from both being white long-eared rabbits they are almost as different as night and day, at least on the surface ^^;; Here is a helpful post by Freakova, about how to tell the difference between Miyamoto Usagi and Yuichi Usagi, ancestor and descendant respectively: 

https://freakova.tumblr.com/post/707461151549702144/i-made-this-for-my-besties-to-help-explain-the

But I kinda get it! Especially if characters are intentionally obfuscated a bit (e.g. there are characters in the show who can’t tell between Miyamoto and Yuichi Usagi, but it is mostly used as plot hook/humor). But they have different names and characteristics and slightly differing fanbases on a site like tumblr, so separating them in tags is helpful. I think part of it also comes from the name confusion, but I already wrote a post about that. Imo, if you have your own design already and it looks like neither of the two characters, you can just use “Rise Usagi” or “rottmnt Usagi” or other variations as tags, those are popular and used enough already that you don’t need to use the main character tags ^^

Personally, I would only like to see Yuichi Usagi in his own tags when it applies (he’s in the pic/fic), but if he’s not, well, what are you doing tagging him there?

I also get that some newer/younger TMNT fans apparently didn’t know the Usagi characters are from their own franchise for a short while last year (but ppl probably learned, right? I’ve literally only seen posts/tweets asking what the series is abt and unrelated posts exasperated that ppl don’t know) but visually they’re quite distinct, even if they are all white rabbits. I’ll post these comparisons just so I can use the tags properly and not piss off anyone else.

We have the original Usagi and his 1000-years later descendant.

Stan Sakai based Miyamoto Usagi largely on his childhood inspiration of samurai films, mainly “Samurai Trilogy” starring Mifune Toshiro playing Miyamoto Musashi, a real-life samurai who inspired many other films and adaptations. You can hear more about how Stan created Usagi here in this Portland Art Museum video where he explains and draws his Usagi. The story usually goes that he drew a rabbit with a chonmage (the edo-period top-knot) and suddenly, Usagi was born.

In the show he has a slightly older-looking design? but in the comics his look varies slightly because the series has been going for 40 years and the character has developed over the pages. so he can look slightly different cover to cover, page to page, but mostly it’s all him, the same character, just different situations, life periods and emotions. So he can look different in official material depending which publication period you start reading from, but mostly the same. 

Then we have both the Miyamoto Usagi’s in different animated mediums,

And Yuichi in different media (show itself in 3D and 2D and merch by Stan)

And then there’s also Jotaro (very important Usagi Yojimbo character introduced early on/vol 1) and Yamamoto Yukichi(introduced in later stories/vol 4), who I think people aren’t mixing up with any of the previous rabbits yet, but who knows, i don’t look through absolutely all the tags myself after all and tumblr seems to have a problem of not showing much older posts in the public tag search anymore, so I can’t find older posts I used to see anymore ^^;

More thoughts on tagging + being a fan under cut. 

This … is not really a vent or analysis post, I can't get that upset about it myself. with real life worries etc - fandom is supposed to be a fun outlet for creativity, at least for me. So I try not to feel anything about it. But tagging has always seemed fairly straight-forward to me and it’s mostly to organize a blog/find other people with similar interests. Writing non-structured non-essays is basically how I interact with a piece of media when I feel like fanart is not enough. And because tumblr posts now apparently Do Not HAve Limits, this is a better alternative to tag rambles.

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So when I saw the post about the Miyamoto Usagi tag I remembered that this was why I didn’t use the “follow tag” feature + the “your tags” tab as much myself (aside from not having it before and not being used to it on tumblr). Because usually with bigger fandoms, people do mis-tag or tag their other shows/fandoms into it without including the main character, this happens on occasion because there are a lot of people using the tag. I also don’t follow the Leosagi tag anymore for the same reason, that people can’t seem to differentiate between the characters and it becomes hard to tell what they want to post or which character they are talking about/drawing ^^;

As pointed out by Tamalinvonpineapple's post about it, people mis-tag Yuichi Usagi and Miyamoto Usagi and that’s a problem for people who would like to see just one of those characters but not mis-tagged as the other. I’m not gonna assume these are made in bad faith e.g. intentionally to piss off other fans, cuz there can be so many different reasons for people doing this. This post is also not gonna get into ship tags much because that is a contentious topic and tbh, left for a separate thinkpiece (I also already wrote smth abt tags for myself).

I tried to find out more possible reasons for mistagging in general or what the general consensus on tumblr is about tagging but it seems (or we can assume) it is a “bad practice” from how social media sites have given a slightly different use for tags tiktok/instagram/twitter - “tag for reach” - so like those social media accounts for companies that spam other tags. I do see this in anime/manga fandoms occasionally. Not just for the different spellings of characters (e.g, when a dub would give the character a new name; japanese vs western way of writing names) but specifically when 1 character is the only one there and the tags then have 30 other characters listed as well so the post/media would show up in search. But I wonder where this habit is from? Aren’t people curious to see what other tags their character/show have? I remember that on sites like blogger, we only tagged so that we could find things later, so people often made their own custom tags, i.e. "my work on the show" or "midnight doodlies". if a show got tagged, for example TMNT or Usagi, it would probably get 1-word/1-phrase tag (i.e. “turtles” “turtlies” “mutant turtles”) or just the series title tag - either the abbreviation or full name of a series/comic/cartoon depending on content. When it comes to tumblr tags, I remember getting annoyed at NOTPs permeating the tags as well. Or just posts about other seriesM multi-crossovers where your blorbo is only there to die, but then is still tagged after that; edits that have no relation to the character but they share a name or tag for whatever reason and you keep seeing these unrelated posts in the tags. I’ve seen more than enough from almost any of the fandom tags I’ve visited on tumblr. So I get how annoying mistagging itself can be.

But basically in regards to tags on tumblr itself, it seems people misuse them mainly because they don't know or don't like the tags for the other shows. Folks also like to see their posts get to as many people as possible, which I understand, I do the same on instagram, cuz that’s what I’ve learned by other artists example. Seems to make sense that more tags = more views. On tumblr, this sort of doesn’t always work this way. I could post a drawing from a popular cartoon and get maybe 5 notes total in 12 years, while a scribble I deemed too ugly to tag properly might get 54 notes on it’s first day. It’s almost like a Murphy’s Law of Tumblr that what you expect to do well, doesn’t. It’s just how it is here and I’m so used to it, it feels weird to complain about it, even on other sites with actual algorhitms and working apps etc.

Well, as a fan of the Usagi Chronicles show, perhaps what makes me more sad is that this has had the adverse effect of older TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo fans being so angry that they can’t stand the show/character itself now, even if they already disliked it before seeing other fans post about it. Which is just plain sad because some people even make up stuff about it just to discredit it as a show that Stan Sakai worked on. I understand that people have different reasons to dislike the show, most probably valid, but they also assume many things about it, to the point of stating them as fact when the opposite is true. I have… a different post about it. In general, we can say that being online seems to be the common thread between fans annoyed at fans.

In some ways, what’s even sadder however is an empty or unactive tag. Imagine that the last post you saw in that tag is still the one from 2013 you made yourself. It’s a bit annoying seeing people mistag or post unrelated fanart in it but hey, maybe this means they also read the tag? A chance to educate or get more views on your own fandom? Just a chance for communication? I know that doesn’t seem very appealing when those same fans are the ones mis-using the tag, but it just seems better than something completely empty. Of course, this is not a problem for TMNT fandoms perhaps, but from my experience in smaller fandoms, or being a fan of smaller/less popular media. And with how much there is mainly ship-related posts in almost all the Usagi Chronicles tags, this seems to be a matching experience I’ve been having so far in the Usagi tags. The comic series tag itself is also often full of other things, or only ship things, or sometimes only TMNT things for a short bit, but overall, I guess at least people use it?? But I would still like it that Samurai Rabbit, SRTUC, etc stuff gets tagged with those tags so I can actually find it instead of combing through multiple tags at a time just to see something new. While the newer “Your tags” feature on tumblr makes this a bit easier, I can see the easy annoyance at when people tag a character but then don’t include the character. and to add insult to injury, they tag a different character, but without acknowleding the first character at all.

But this is now like a joint fandom for a crossover for two franchises which have had crossovers before and now… there’s sort of a joint fandom? Sort of? So because it’s a bit bigger, it feels nice when other fans are considerate of small things like tagging. Now, on the whole, while many do still mistag and the leosagi tag is still mainly yuichi x leo for many, I’ve also seen in my own tagscrambles that not as many do this as much anymore, or going through a tag in time, the newer stuff seems to do this less. So like I’ve written in previous posts, my honest hope is just that fandom will adapt and grow into healthier online habits. Still, there are a few other things in the tags that I just can’t help but notice each time. it’s also why I don’t bother too much with repeat-viewing tags unless I’m looking for something specific.

It often feels like people just make up their own versions of any Usagi and/or write off the show as “too bad to watch”. And. idk, this just makes me feel sad about it because as mentioned above, I’ve seen it before in other smaller fandoms I’m in. In transformative works, it’s fairly normal that people make their own versions of a show or it’s characters, because that’s something fun to do with fanart and fic. But to openly hate a character? idk man, just feels weird to me personally. Like I don’t have the energy for hatedom. I know my little sibling really gets into hating one series that really disappointed her as a viewer, but even she now says that it’s an odd way to spend time, when she could be making fanart of something she likes instead. And I get that. I also spent my earlier non-internet days being more hateful of new media I disliked at the start, and while expressing that isn’t always bad (it’s just an iopinion), it became weirdly detrimental to me actually enjoying stuff in my tweens. Everything me and my friends and their friends ever talked about, was related to somehow being more above others or knowing better than others, being hateful of anything new or popular. And without quite realizing it right away, that was really tiring. Even if I spent time on things I did like, hobbies I enjoyed, that hate and childhood snobbishness sorta simmered there. I remember that for me it mainly came from “oh, I want to be a real animator one day, I should act like a real profesional adult and always be critical of the media I view, because that’s how I see adults treat real serious film.” Fast-forward 15 years, I’ve been through making comics as a tween, making fanart as a teen, I’ve been making a lot of different kinds of “cartoon art” in general as well as some actual art education, thinking, maybe I want to have some more general art schooling too. Later in my mid-twenties, I met someone with this similar mindset to my childhood self, who at first I got along with. We laughed at cartoons we didn’t like and made fun of the bad endings of those we did. At some point, I listened to them talking about getting to visit a big animation festival. And how they completely unironically expressed their hate directly at a leading crew member of a cartoon they didn’t like. And then I realized like. Wait a fucking minute. I don’t wanna act like this to other people! And this is why I don’t really “shoot the shit” about cartoons I don’t like as publicly anymore as I maybe once would have online on tumblr etc. Like I just don’t get it anymore. At most I’ll write down my thoughts somewhere private or to friends and try to understand why I don’t like the thing. And if it’s a very simple dislike, I just don’t spend time on it.

So like, I don’t get the hate the show (SRTUC) and character(Yuichi Usagi) get. Like I can understand sort of where people are coming from. but I don’t get why they gotta publicly tag it, announce it, or put it in the reblogged tags sometimes. the og poster sees that after all? so that’s like a bigger thought for me when it comes to tags.

I believe people can learn to be nice about a show they don’t like, but if they start to feel annoyed at fandom parts of the web they see online, they also start to feel hate toward a specific show, even if the show or thing itself might not be as bad. Example - I have this toward Star Wars for example, it’s a big fandom. I feel indifferent now, but in my youth, I found it annoying that everyone was talking about it as if it was the best thing ever, when it was spoiled for most of my childhood for me, and also felt like a generic movie series after all that. Something growing in popularity, or being really popular in a niche fandom can make ppl dislike it in general and that’s fairly ordinary as fandoms go. Often, people just don’t like a popular thing. Just think of series of like GoT/ASoIaF or HP. But then again those go down the cultural road so easily, I suppose in countries where western-media is really popular/common, it becomes like a cultural osmosis and fans can assume *everyone* likes it, even if not everyone does. I’m thinking about the fresh 30+ dads from 10 years ago I read about who only interacted with their kids through their own nerd interests. Pokemon is such a culturally permeated thing, it’s everywhere and everyone seems to assume everyone has played it or at least knows about it, even if at some point, some of us were big fans of Digimon instead, or some don’t like it at all. At some point, my dad gifted me a Harry Potter book, even though I (non-vocally) disliked it, but it was in the cultural osmosis here so strongly that it was everywhere and he just assumed I was into it (bless his heart, he genuinely didn’t know). HP was something that I initially disliked because it was so popular, but the idea of a “basic magic premise, but extended” seemed interesting, and it was required reading in my middle school, so at 11, I went to see the movie and thought, alright, maybe I’ll give it a chance. But reading the book I found things that didn’t make sense to me, that didn’t match what seemed like the themes of the book (the whole slave freedom plot for example) so I always sort of kept it at arms-length - not quite getting into it, but also not turning it away if I found anything, not saying anything upsetting to people who were fans of it. Everyone at my school read it though to varying degrees, or at least everyone knew things about it even if they weren’t fans or weren’t invested at all. (This was all before we knew JKR is a vocal TERF, so now I feel a bit validated in my dislike, even if I feel sad for the fans who got something positive out of the series).

So point being, fandom can have different types of people in it. A type of media will often accrue a specific type of fan and sometimes it won’t match what the show itself puts out. E.g. fans acting in ways that go squarely against what the media talks about (Steven Universe is a popular show with many fans that comes to mind), or a show having an unexpected viewership next to it’s intended demographic (us 90s kids still being cartoon fans in our late 20s/30s/early 40s). It’s slightly unpredictable in a general way. 

Of course, TMNT fandom is a bit different from those bigger properties because it was an indie comic made in the 80s that was so different and off-the-wall indie for a comicbook, it sold out and gave its creators Eastman and Laird a hefty legacy, lasting careers and actual money. Good for them! Personally I think it’s thanks to how genuinely creative and collaborative their work was then. Like Usagi Yojimbo, it’s an old comicbook/franchise now, so the “fandom” as such differs from generation to generation, from childhood to childhood. I met the turtles for the first time with the 87 series in the early 90s, then the next time w the 2003 series, which i initially hated as that angry, cartoon-critical tween, but was surprised at how much it seemed to take from the comics. I think I was initially angry about it for different reasons, mainly, “why is it so serious? why are the jokes so lame?” and also because I had invested so much emotionally into the idea of seeing something as good as the 80s cartoon again... but then found that it grew on me and now 20 years later I can look at it with nostalgia. As a result, my reaction to the 2012 series was mostly “wow another TMNT cartoon?” and “huh it looks interesting” and “oh I’ve seen this person work on another cartoon before”. My little sibling on the other hand only saw the 2003 cartoon and their reaction the the 2012 adaptation was “Wow, THEY’RE FINALLY TEENS” because as kids, we thought the 2003 TMNT looked and sounded “too much like boring adults”. But from many online fanspaces back then a lot of the more vocal reactions was around “THE 3D IS SO UGLY” and “WHY ARE THEY SO YOUNG”. You’ve probably heard similar sentiments of various degrees if you’ve been a fan or viewer of any TMNT cartoon. 

Usagi Yojimbo is unique in this sense because Stan Sakai has been the only one drawing and writing the comicbook for 40 years. Some of the visual style and writing tone change from book to book, but it’s gradual because Stan has changed as an artist and writer too. If you look at any comic series like this, it’s actually a natural part of many comics i.e. webcomics used to be a prominent example of this, as the creators were often complete novices at the beginning and graduated to a more consistent style. But even from a surface level view, lets say, reading other people’s reviews, you can see that people really enjoy Usagi Yojimbo for how consistent it is with it’s treatment of its characters, story and Edo-period culture. Stan Sakai really does his research and puts respect back into fiction inspired by samurai. Even though guides will often tell you that you can jump into the series from any point in the series, there’s just something really consistent about it as a whole. Sakai gets to do whatver he wants with his books and what he does seems to be thought-out usually. Even if the early animated adaptations were a bit incorrect, comic readers in general have a lot of respect for Stan and his work. My favourite part about this all is how Usagi Yojimbo is actually used to teach about japanese culture in a college course in the US.

Because both TMNT and UY are originally creator-owned comics (still so with UY regardless of publisher or adaptations but not so much TMNT as Viacom bought the rights in 2009), perhaps the general fan experience is more similar to original comics fandoms in Japan. Although whether a series is creator-owned varies from series to series, the manga and magazines culture in Japan seems wholly different from what US comicbooks were in the 80s and even what they still are now in that regard. Because a series will more often be written and illustrated by the same creator/artist/team, there are less variations and book-to-book differences both visually and tonally. In the US, a comicbook series can start with an artist-writer team, but then switch if the editorial decides some change is needed. This is something that often affects consistency and a story or character’s canon eventually and in a convoluted way, it’s the reason why we got “alternate earths” and “multiverse crossovers”. Which, while fun, make american comicbooks hard to read for some newer readers. Even with TMNT, once Eastman and Laird started having less time to make the comics and their other problems, it led into breaking off their creative partnership and never speaking again. But they had to continue the comic. If before the feud, they would just have fun passing the pages between each other, now they actually  so they wrote it he series became different based on who was writing it. One more sci-fi leaning and one more martial-arts and mysticism leaning. You can see this difference in the TMNT animated adaptations as well. The 2003 series namely is more based on Laird’s storylines in the comics and he was also consultant on the series. After the 2009 sale of Mirage to Viacom, we get the 2012 series, where Eastman acts as consultant, so it’s more heavy on his ideas of what the TMNT are. In 2019, the documentary series “Toys that made us” brought them together for the first time in almost 2 decades. And then we fans got to have The Last Ronin, a collaboration between the two again.

(What I’ve paraphrased here is mostly based on this video overview of how the comic became a franchise “How did a violent indie comic become a $15,000,000,000 franchise?” by matttt if you’re interested in seeing and hearing a more picturesque summary of this)

So getting back to fandom, because it’s mostly been one comicbook series, both the more avid and casual UY comics fans might not be used to there being adaptations of Stan’s Usagi. Yes, even with the visual examples I brought up above, perhaps some simply haven’t seen the animated adaptations because these are still marketed “for kids”. This is like the only reason I can think of that people who are 30+ adults, go online to complain about the Chronicles series online, even though it’s obviously for kids, meaning they probably didn’t even watch it. Folks are “surprised” Stan “let Netflix ruin his series” etc - even if it’s explicitly in a new futuristic setting to avoid affecting the comics canon. It will be interesting to know how people react when or if Sakai puts out his “Kagemusha” anthology, where the idea is about different creators telling different Usagi stories.

Even TMNT fans, many of whom don’t know Usagi beyond the animated adaptations, might jump in with this similar mindset of “different = bad”. Maybe there’s a manga/anime adaptation out there with the fans having similar concerns about their adaptations. Sailor Moon comes to mind, but as always, people’s grievances with an adaptation may have good reasons underneath. But also I’ve personally never seen an avid Sailor Moon fans be as annoying as the casual Star Wars fan. It might also depend on the age and lifestyle of the fan. Someone who is a teacher or parent, maybe they’ve met more people, put more thought into it, might feel milder about new or different things vs someone who is used to going online to see people angry and enjoys getting into arguments.

If I start to think about it, I can get a similar reaction out of myself. It was hard to look at mid-00s fanart of Usagi because it always felt a bit “extreme” like fans changed things about Usagi to suit their own understanding or image of samurai, which was always more based on popular movies or anime rather than the comic. I think this is just a general thing about fanart over the times. I still balk at some fanart, either UY or SRTUC, if for example the sides of the clothes are opposite - right over left, for burials vs left over right, like the letter ‘y’ - because it just means the fanartist didn’t bother to look up even references. Most times people just don’t know about this sort of stuff, they might be anime fans or they might even be part of a different asian culture, but it it’s not something that’s taught, of course it won’t reflect in something like fanart. But then, it’ll just be something new to learn. To me it also speaks of a wider annoyance of people liking things only for the surface-level appeal.

Usagi Yojimbo I’ve noticed has much more of a fanbase than fandom. I know fanbase doesn’t get used much as a term these days as more and more media gets an active fandom rather than staying at a fanbasem but it’s a term I’d like to use in this case. “The Wilkes Beacon” in 2014 defines the difference so: “Not everything with a fanbase has a fandom, because a fandom is a group of committed fans who are always vocally interested in their “thing,” usually expressing that on a social website such as Tumblr. Just because you’re a fan doesn’t mean the fandom will accept you.” Indeed sometimes fandom feels almost like being in a separate part of the club, only for people in the know about it. The origin for fanbase is attributed to early 20th century baseball fans. The origin of fandom, most well-known as a portmanteau of fan + kingdom, is often attributed to the original Sherlock Holmes fans who actually gathered to mourn the character when Arthur Conan Doyle decided to kill him off (bless your hearts and souls, sometimes it feels like fandom has never changed) but also from early 20th century sports fans and 60s Trekkies, who saved their show. A lot of different sources give different origins and histories for these words and many will also equate them as synonymous.

My own experiences tell me that a fanbase is more general - any fans of a thing, whether they attend conventions, buy the media or no (i.e. Sherlock Holmes readers, sports fans) and will comprise the “base” of any activity - the larger number of fans that exist for a piece of media/sport/celebrity. A fandom will be the more “active” part, more interested in being connected with each other within that fanbase. Of course, to any other person outside of fans, both of these will be synonymous and a fan will look weird and fanatical regardless of how little they invest themselves into a media. But I’’m making this distinction to describe what I see as more casual and more active “fanbase as a whole”. Fanbase as a word feels more general, while Fandom sounds more specific. So as an example, the One Piece “fanbase” might feel large and more everywhere, like with pokemon or Sherlock Holmes the book, but the OP fandom can feel more active and particitative, like the .It’ll depend entirely on what way each person interacts with the media. Do you have friends who are also fans of the series? it’s like a fandom. You just watch it but don’t participate as much? You’re in the fanbase, but you might partake in fandom activities if you feel like it. You might be a more casual fan, but you might have more avid feelings about the series as well, but you’re not that interested in making fanworks or posts or reacting to other fans at all. A fandom might be big, but more ubiquitous, more silent and conversely, some fandoms may be small, but still very active and vocal. I’ve often theorized that this is because So UY online fandom sorta feels like the latter, but more under-the-radar. Small and active but also more silent and appreciative. With the previous “big fandoms” example, it’s also the juxtaposition between Old and New that comes into play. An old Spidey fan from the 70s might have become an official Spiderman fanartist, but they might not partake in all the fan stuff they used to anymore. Still a fan, but maybe the newer and younger “fandom” as such is just not appealing to them in the same way.

The larger or more advertised a TV series or book is, the larger and more annoying its fanbase in general. If a piece of media has less popularity, it will ergo have a smaller fanbase and sometimes no “active fandom” at all. So now with the Samurai Rabbit: the Usagi Chronicles TV show as an animated spinoff-adaptation, we have a similar problem that TMNT fans have been familiar with over the decades. Thanks to the show, there’s a more active, slightly younger fandom who want to connect over the series and maybe even read the comicbook, know more about the source and origins, they might want to even know how the show was made, make fanart or fic. So fans like any other, but just that the media they’re a fan of now, is still relatively new. Maybe these newer fans act or write differently online from how older fans are used to. Maybe they even treat the original source comic differently or just don’t know anything about it. In any case, new series and new fans will generally seem annoying because culturally that’s what we’ve started to associate some of fandom with. Otaku culture etc. So it and it’s fans might get the “new thing” treatment as mentioned above with the TMNT animated adaptations.

The difference here is that Stan Sakai has been wanting his own animated adaptation for a long time (just look at the Space Usagi pilot for proof) and while many suggested projects to him before, this one actually piqued his interest bc they did something new with the characters. You could say that what people don't like abt this series are some decisions resulting from this being a netflix cartoon for kids. the decision to set it in a near-future with a new younger for example, was made in the beginning by netflix and I haven’t found any articles yet that’s found a legit reason for why it stayed this way. My guess based on interviews with Stan and crew is that Stan found it interesting as a possible new way to get more readers to the comic. Something for the younger generation. Although many readers and even parents will attest that the comic is child-appropriate (and really, it is), the TV-Y7 ratings and so on exist for a reason. And while I would love for more western studios to get funding for more adult animation in general (I’m not from the US myself and animation such a large medium, the way that genres are explored or what gets made for adults vs kids feeks so different elsewhere), I think it’s good that the first full series based on UY is this “non-violent” (your mileage may vary). Because a lot of the more vocal adult fans of UY seem more focused on the violence vs what kids might get out of it. A popular quote from Sakai is “Once, a mother asked me, 'What is Usagi Yojimbo about?' and before I could answer, her son said, 'It’s about honor.'"   (Komai for JANM, 2011). Sometimes it seems like the “older adults” or the “more casual” fans of UY sort of don’t get it.

Even the naming of the series and character has reasons, which I’ve seen some Rise Leosagi shippers make their own reasons for. So the various hate from “older fans” I see about it is strange because all evidence points to the show having Sakai’s approval and his full involvement. Of course, I could also be wrong, but watching the series, it doesn’t feel to me like an “empty cashgrab” as one angry TMNT fan put it. It feels more like something made by other UY fans, those more familiar than I was at the time, with both Usagi Yojimbo lore as well as the culture and lore behind it. In their quest to properly honor the comic series they loved, crew put a lot research hours into making sure both edo and post-edo periods got to be part of their show. Like “trips to japan during a pandemic” type of research. The show is an interesting fusion of old and modern in futuristic setting and feels wholly unique as an experiment.

Another aspect of course is also the shipping parts of fandom. I can never quite get my head behind this “arguing about ships” because it just reminds me of my Grandma and her older sister fighting over their soap operas and who should get together with who. And alright, maybe this was fun for them...? I’ve never been that invested in this myself but it can be fun to have a pairing you root for in a show, when it’s just a bunch of connected ideas over the story, there really seems like a real genuine connection between the characters or if there’s a chance to connect with other fans over it. That’s kind of what fandom is for me in general, but with crossover ships, it’s like a strange and interesting combination of “oooh what interesting similarities and differences” and “lets find out” with fanworks. 

This is the main way I enjoy making crossovers in general work, even if I’ve never finished an actual fic (I’m more of an artist) and even if the works sometimes don’t go together (it’s like a fun challenge). I wonder sometimes if the SRTUC crew also imagined crossovers with TMNT? As in this fanart post on facebook by Samurai Rabbit character designer Andry R, I wonder what that could have been like. After all, if many of the crew are fans too, it just makes sense to think about that? it’s fun to think of crossovers after all! And since it’s fanwork, I personally don’t feel as obligated to make some of the quality as insanely good as I would have in my younger days. I want to enjoy the art making process too, so putting research and sketches into a piece is sometimes my own “enough”. So I don’t really care about views either because I know even now, tastes might still just be not geared toward something sketchier that I make.

Even so, despite the experience with online sites and social media people have in general, or other artists/fans encouraging to feel a bit less worried about socmedia algorhitms, it might be frustrating that posts are not as popular even if your idea feels great.

So connecting all of that fandom talk, I can only assume people mistag between a popular and non-popular series for similar reasons. As said earlier, fans might assume everyone prefers the popular thing and that it’s better to tag that popular/bigger/older thing. Because at least that So in our case, I’ve noticed more that ppl tag Yuichi Usagi with the Miyamoto Usagi tag. From the surface, it seems like people don’t know about the Yuichi tags/show or they just don’t like it for some other reason. Now Tumblr is more a “home of fandoms” than casual fans, as most of the user-generated content is entirely by people who get much more invested in a series than a casual fan. Similarly I’ll see people tag their TMNT 2012 inspired fandesigns as ROTTMNT as well, because that is simply seen as the popular fandom at the time ergo, more attention on your post.

Maybe a solution for the mis-tagging could be smth as simple as fandom outreach, something active to unite the different types of fans into using tags correctly, but of course, something more active and social might feel more unnatural, as most of us are more wall-flower than social butterfly - working off the assumption here that most fans are shy. I used to be pretty shy as a fan and now I’m more active and out-going in general in my adult years, but at the same time, doing something socially more active is still a scary thought in my brain so I can understand that it’s easier to just tag and hope it’s correct. Or easier to make ticked off posts vs something with a different kind of effort. But then again, as brought up in my examples of other fandoms, being a fan can make people very active in taking part in similar fan activities. As we all enjoy the same thing in different ways or different media in similar ways, we are all still fans at the end of the day. Whether casual or more involved, that’s a unique experience that should unite us. So I’ll have my peace with the older cartoon-hating fans who only view Usagi Chronicles as an empty children’s cartoon etc etc. 

So, because I’m an adult, but also an artist and animation fan, this is how I’ve been approaching TV cartoons for the past 5-10 years. Against my first reaction of “oh, this is too slow for me” the way I chose to view the series once I saw more of it was “I’m an adult, and this is a cartoon made my other older adults, for kids - let me see what it’s about”. It’s more about curiosity and seeing what other creatives have done to put connective tissue between one idea to another.

Personally when it comes to tagging I try to keep to a general amount of “minimum amount of tags possible” bc I’m a bit lazy but also, I will never find anything on my own blog later if I used more than 20 tags about a simpler fanart post. So maybe like 1-2 tags for show/series, 1-2 tags for characters and my own art tags. I am lazy but I also like being considerate with other people. But also because of my previous experience with blogging, I like to keep tags I re-use as consistent as possible so I have the same experience. Of course, sometimes I forget what I’ve actually used if there are many tags i.e. many characters. so keeping the tags short is a boon for that end.

Here is the draft version for the UY and Usagi Chronicles tag guide, i'm gonna change this more but this is mostly how I've been tagging stuff (or have tried to so far) and I wrote a small guide back in march before all this, but have been coming back to it now with more general and character tags in mind. 

== Tagging Guide ==

Hello Rise of the TMNT and Usagi Chronicles joint fandom! Here’s a guide on how to tag Usagi Chronicles/Samurai Rabbit stuff! Mostly it’s my own view on how to tag things based on how I interact w the fandom stuff posted here but also from my experience of using tumblr and older blogging platforms - how I see the most common/make-sensical ways to tag characters/shows. But maybe you will find this useful too, fellow fan!

Usagi Yojimbo - the name of the original comicbook series - I decidedly reserve this for posts and reblogs ONLY about the Usagi Yojimbo comic (pages covers,, screenshots, memes), or general fanart of the comic or its characters. This helps me keep it separate so I can find posts about it later.

Usagi Chronicles - personally I use this for all content for the show, but especially the crossover stuff and my own art posts. This seems to be the most commonly used unique tag about this show.

SRTUC - acronym, good for short posts, for quick tagging. but I also use this to tag general reblogged posts about the show

Samurai Rabbit - I only try to use this if it is about the official stuff, like interviews and GIF/screenshots in bulk (more than 2). This tag gets used a lot for both the series but before that it was also used for posting general UY comics content and alternate covers by other artists, as well as for original samurai rabbits unaffiliated by UY. It is too general for me to use it on my own posts outside of text posts maybe.

Samurai Rabbit the Usagi Chronicles - mostly I use this tag for more general posts, but also reblogs if someone else has made something directly related to the series.

SamuraiRabbitNetflix - lol I only use this one on twitter, bc I saw someone from the crew use it and it has stuck for most of my more finished posts I guess ^^ Literally nobody else on tumblr uses it which is fine, but I think it’s a good way to separate the series and the more general posts people make about the comic or guest art of it (or sometimes original art unrelated to UY)

Characters:

Miyamoto Usagi - I try to mainly use it for just comic Usagi and fanart, but occasionally I will use it for fanart depicting

Rise Miyamoto Usagi - Any Rise!versions of comics Usagi. Usually these are fandesigns, but sometimes fans will adapt it wholesale (usually adapting him from his younger years). Sometimes it is unclear which version it is based on or it is a completely original version so I simply tag these as Rise Usagi.

Yuichi Usagi - pretty self-explanatory! I only use this for posts/fanart including Yuichi Usagi (but not when he is only mentioned in passing). Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between these versions however, 

Usagi fandesign/Yuichi Usagi fandesign/Miyamoto Usagi fandesign - I use all these tags to organize the fandesigns ppl make of all these characters, reserving “Usagi fandesign” when it’s really an original design based on various canon Usagi concepts or more of a “general” Usagi than a specific one i.e. meant for the Rise or 2012 TMNT crossover AUs. This counts for me in reblogs also when the OP hasn’t really decided what the character is and has tagged both characters. Lol there is a lot of different fanart of these characters and for my own sake, I tag these separately where possible so I can find the fanart easier later (especially if the posts themselves have text which doesn’t use these names, or if tumblr search is not working on blogs)

UY character - I use “UY” as the common acronym before characters from UY, but I also generally tag their names in reblogs. idk, this just makes it easier for me to find them later in my own blog and that’s all (Kenichi and Mariko for example are quite common Japanese names)

Tomoe Ame - This character just deserves her own tag, but also, I think the 03 version, while quite different, can fit in the same tag because people don’t post about them as much ^^;;

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And now for the TMNT tags!

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - the official name! long, but good if you are tagging official stuff i.e. screenshots, gifs, concept art, tweets from crew etc

ROTTMNT - good short catch-all tag, lots of ppl use this to tag their reblogs quickly, but shorter posts can also go under here

Rise of the TMNT - Slightly longer tag than the full acronym, but more descriptive, if you wanna make sure people know it’s a TMNT show

Rise TMNT - I’ve seen a few ppl use this as a tag and it’s a valid way to tag (short and unique) but it’s not as popular as the others

2018 TMNT - again, general tag for the series. Common way to make a tag for a TMNT series - adding the year of airing before the TMNT acronym. Same with TMNT 2018. Same for the comics! I’ll use IDW TMNT as a tag for example, bc it seems widely used and understood.

TMNT18 - same as the previous one, but shorter! There are a lot of TMNT media besides the comics, (movies, animated series, etc) so it’s a general easier practice to tag via year. Ppl also sometimes use the variation 18TMNT. Anything is basically fair game with these general tags as long as the author of a blog finds stuff later.

Characters![I’m not sure about the characters yet bc I use the tags differently than other people apparently. my blog my rules i guess!]

rottmnt [character] - reserved for when i tag this character in crossovers, eg rottmnt April, rottmnt donnie. I generally use nicknames for the rottmnt boys cuz I am lazy.

Rise [character] e.g. Rise Leo, Rise April - I try and use this just for 

April O Neil (full name) - for when I’m tagging them in general and just want to see them in this tag with the other versions

12 April or 12April - for the 2012 TMNT versions of the characters. I often write the tags together bc I am just lazy but in the case of numbers, I can also forget. On tumblr I try to remember to use spaces cuz that is allowed here lol.

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And that’s it! I have more in the list, but that is the gist of the style of it. Basically hust explaining what I’ve seen and if/how I use it on my own blog. Let me know if you have more thoughts about this. I’m curious to know what other fans of both series think!

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Mark Watson recently asked on Twitter what comedy show people would like to see. He meant in terms of people who might do stand-up over the internet, so I’m going a bit outside the scope, but how’s this for an answer?

A campus-based sitcom about the performing arts troupe of an unnamed prestigious university. Two people who have just been cast in a play spend the first episode not getting along too well due to having somewhat clashing personalities (one is very cautious and reserved, one is always looking for trouble), but at the end of said episode, they get drunk together and find they actually enjoy each other’s company. They end up sitting outside a bar while having a mildly slurred conversation.

Person #1: You know, I have to tell you something. I’m supposed to keep it secret but I have to tell someone.

Person #2: I knew it, you’ve killed a man.

Person #1: No, it’s just… I’m not really a student here. I lied on the forms for the play. I don’t even have an email address.

Person #2: Oh, thank God you have a weird secret too! I’m not really Welsh. [note: Person #2 has been speaking with a Welsh accent for the whole episode so far, but at this point he reverts to an English one, from the general western region but not so far west as to actually be Wales.]

Person #1: Well that’s interesting, that we both have secrets that will now bind us together. I lied because you have to be a student to get into the plays and I just want to perform comedy. Why are you lying?

Person #2: I… I’m not really sure, actually. I just sort of started doing it one day and then I had to keep it up to avoid social embarrassment so I guess I’ll have to be Welsh forever now.

Person #1: You are the weirdest fucking person I’ve ever met, let’s be best friends for the next twenty years.

The rest of the show is about these two people being friends and taking part in the troupe while trying to protect their own and each other’s secrets, with many near-misses that are only saved by comedic misunderstandings and hijinks. There’s the occasional bit of social commentary as they explore the way pretending he’s part of a prestigious institution opens up opportunities that Person #1 would have missed otherwise, but it’s mostly just classic sitcom shenanigans.

One time they go to an off-campus bar where a man named Ghod Rilbert hears them talking in their normal accents about the web of lies they’re both spinning, and he tells Person #1, good on him for sneaking his way in with all those posh assholes who actually are students at this prestigious university (Person #2 listens to this with comedic discomfort), it’s time the working class people got a chance. Person #1 heartily agrees, but is too embarrassed to admit he did actually recently finish a degree at a different university, not as high-level a one but still. Ghod Rilbert then yells at Person #2, telling him he shouldn’t pretend to be a member of his culture (Ghod, of course, speaks with a very gruff Welsh accent), but admits that it’s too weird to be really offensive, so he buys them both beers and hangs out with them for the night.

They become friends and the two main characters continue going back to that bar because this somewhat older guy (sort of thirty-ish instead of early twenties) will buy them beers whenever they’re there. This makes things awkward for Person #1, since around Ghod Rilbert he has to keep up the ruse that he’s a working class guy who’s never attended university, while keeping up the ruse to everyone else that he’s a current student. Person #2 feels awkward during these times because he actually dislikes the taste of beer and prefers to drink wine, but he’s trying not to look like one of those posh assholes that Ghod assumes all university students are, and of course he’s too polite to complain about free drinks, so he forces down the cheap beer that Ghod buys them. In one episode they tag along with Ghod on what was meant to be just some errands but in classic sitcom style it turns into more than that, we get a look at Ghod Rilbert’s life outside that bar, and of course what we see is completely unhinged.

Now look, I realize this requires a little artistic license. I realize Mark wasn’t using the Welsh accent in university and Tim got caught out as not being a student pretty early into the lie. But just go with it. We’d all watch that sitcom, right? Incidentally, I want Rhod, Mark, and Tim to play themselves, and the show to just never mention why the actors look a couple of decades too old for the characters. Person #1 and Person #2 will have their characters named in some similar way to Ghod Rilbert, like Kim Tey and Wark Matson. The other major character will be a musical redhead who's their friend in the comedy troupe, and that character will just be named “Alex Horne”, but he’ll be played by Tim Minchin.

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Thank you for sending these, nonnies! I appreciate you taking the time to send these!

I’ll be sure to use a different name and/or use censors for it!

What I will say is that there’s no way they can just get me off Tumblr. I’ve been on this hellsite since like... 2012 or so? Granted, the only reason I responded was to point out that they were trying to start shit on a post that they just grabbed at random because their comments weren’t even related in the most distant way to my post.

As far as the dumbass who responded to that post, I did block them once I responded. I could tell immediately that their comments had nothing to do with the post and that they tried to warp it into “this is hate for the character and ship” when it wasn’t hate for either of those. It was me pointing out that those types of people are gross for their bi erasure, and in my tags I also expressed that anyone who does that I feel the same way about.

In other words, I know exactly what they’re trying to do, but evidently they can’t read nor comprehend English and so failed to realize the post literally had nothing to do with the characters themselves and was entirely about the circle jerk of bi erasure in their community.

That was it. That was the post lol. If they try to get involved with me or send henchmen after me for advocating against bi erasure, this person is making themselves a problem in a much larger community than the nonsense they pull in the Houses fandom. The post itself wasn’t about their little waifu or ship, so as a group of people they have nothing to use as leverage for “but this is hate!” (especially when it wasn’t in any tag whatsoever to do with FE). The post wasn’t about her or the ship. It was about how stans are not supportive of LGBT+ as long as they continue to exclude, you know, the B part of that term (also hilarious how it’s the stans themselves who take offense simply to that term when the comments have nothing to do with the character at all, and as soon as they see the term they cry “character hate!”... despite it not even being related to the game or its characters, etc even remotely).

So yeah, I may not like the stans but I would like to guess that not all of them are that level of moronic that they would see a post complaining about bi erasure and go “character hate spotted!”. This nutcase just saw the term hooha stans and replied with a post full of incorrect assumptions. On a site like Tumblr, I would very much not recommend bullying someone for defending bi people, lest, again, the person wants even bigger problems than their fictional media.

What they did would be like if I took a post about Ferdinand talking about his morality and then being like “okay, here’s my ship headcanon for Ferdinand and Dorothea”.

Not that I don’t appreciate you two sending these asks! I just really hope their entire fan group is not that idiotic that they would see a comment about LGBT+ and somehow connect that to hate for their faves. Also, Tumblr is kind of my Home Base tee em and I happen to enjoy talking about Ike here, so... no matter how much controversy they start, I’m not really deep in Houses discourse. I’m just cycling through FE as a whole and making posts they don’t care about.

Thanks for caring though, nonnies! I send you huggies and happiness!!!