#while I'm still in a school setting (college). its very different.

[steampunkedparm]

things. do get better

and it feels like they tend to get better AFTER highschool

[ddejavvu]

could you do a spencer x daughter reader comfort for grade stress? my grades are a lot lower than normal and i feel awful :(

you’re an amazing writer much love <3

'$20 and a completely unabridged gossip session about my love life if you can hack into my school's system and change my grades...'

'Baby genius!' Penelope scolds, in response to what you personally believe was a very fair and enticing offer, 'I can't! I don't do bad hacking anymore, I only do the good kind :)'

'It would be good for me to not have these grades.' You type back, smearing an exasperated hand over your face. You swear you nearly drag your skin right off, and you consider attempting to do so, maybe you wouldn't have to go to school anymore if you were just a skeleton-face.

'I'm sure you're freaking out over nothing, wonder baby,' Penelope responds, full of all of her usual optimism that sickens you now, 'You of all people don't need to be worrying about your grades.'

She's wrong. Now you do, now your grades have inexplicably taken a nosedive, dropping into uncharted territory. With a father that attended college at the ripe age of twelve, you feel severely disappointing. You're not following in his footsteps, you've lost the outline of his sneakers and you're traipsing through mud trying to locate them aagin.

You don't bother responding; you're not even sure what you'd say. You don't even consider the ramifications of her saying no to your scheme, being that the world's biggest gossip knows you're upset about your grades and she's not bound to confidentiality by any suspicious illegal activity.

Which means that when your dad gets home, he heads straight for your room.

"Hi, angel," Spencer leans down to hug you over the back of your desk chair, dropping a kiss to the crown of your head. It's the same kiss he's planted on you every day since you came into the world, "Penelope said you're having school trouble?"

Your stomach drops and you groan, "That snitch."

"Hey!' Spencer scoffs, "She's the one that always spoils your birthday presents 'cause you give her puppy eyes. You use her poor secret-keeping abilities to your benefit just as much as the rest of us."

"It's nothing," You're still glancing blankly at your homework, keeping your eyes away from your dad so that you don't have to see his face. You try to brush him off before he directly asks what your grades are, "I'm just having a bad week or something."

"A bad week doesn't impact your grades that much," Spencer hums suspiciously, "And your teacher doesn't even put in grades until the week after you submit assignments, so this week being bad wouldn't have changed your grade yet. What's really going on?"

"I don't know," You confess, and you're glad he understands it's the truth and not another half-hearted excuse. He catches the wavering in your voice and knows you're being honest with him, and he can practically feel the cartoonish crack running down his heart, splitting it in two.

"Alright," He soothes, setting a hand on your shoulder and squeezing at its tense muscles lightly, "We'll figure it out. I'll help you, okay?"

"I don't want your help," You lament, tears stinging painfully at your eyes, "You- you know everything, and I don't want to hear how many times you have to correct me. I don't want to see what I should be while being reminded that I'm not."

There's a long bout of silence where your dad's hand lingers on your shoulder, the only reminder that he's still there. It's like he's stopped breathing altogether, air caught in his throat as his brain tries coming up with a solution.

"I don't want you to be like me." He confesses, and the tears stay in place at the corners of your eyes, waiting for a cue to fall.

"I'm... It was hard growing up and being different. It's hard now being different. Morgan still scoffs whenever I talk too much, and we've been friends for years. JJ cuts me off every time I go on a tangent. People aren't nice to anyone who's different."

"But that doesn't matter," You whimper, hands flying to your face to push against your eyelids like you could squeeze your tears back inside, "You aced classes, you got into college super young, you got a high profile job, you're successful, and-"

"-and if I had to choose one thing about my life to carry over into the next, none of those would be it." Your dad cuts you off, moving to pry your hands away from your eyes. He smooths his thumbs over your eyelids, softening the sting from your aggressive touches.

"Y/N," He starts, honey-colored eyes dripping with love as he stares at you from his spot perched on your bed, "All the knowledge in the world doesn't make you happy. Knowing what chemicals are attributed to love doesn't mean you feel it. Knowing what poets have written about love doesn't mean you get to experience it for yourself. I don't want you to know everything," He explains, drying a tear with the cuff of his shirt sleeve, "I want you to be happy, to be loved. And you are smart," He promises, "-just because you don't understand the material you're getting, or you aren't doing your homework, or you're overloaded with assignments so that your grades drop doesn't mean you're not smart."

"Dad," Your face crumples, your eyes squeezing shut tight as tears drip from their corners. He guides you into his embrace with a hand on the back of your head and you let him control where your weight lands, slumping into his stomach pitifully.

He rubs down your back with his free hand, letting the one shelter your face against his button-up.

"I love you," He murmurs, and you can feel the vibrations of his voice through his chest. You press your ear into it, so your brain soaks up the words, "Even if you're having trouble memorizing the..." He peers down at your paper, "-amendments to the Constitution. Okay, well, you really should know those. We'll work on it, honey."

"Okay," You can't help the weak laugh that shakes your shoulders at his reaction, and he smiles sweetly down at you when you break away, not an ounce of judgement in his eyes that are twinkling with fondness instead.

"Now," He pats your back, straightening up from where he'd been slightly hunched over to rub soothing circles into the fabric of your shirt, "Let's talk about how you're encouraging Penelope to commit cyber crimes for you."

"Uh," You grimace, glancing back quickly at your revision sheet, "I plead the... fifth?"

"That's-" Spencer looks away, biting his lip to conceal his laugh, "That's good. That's bad, don't do that. But that's good. You know number five. That's a start."

[strawberrymilk-sunshine]

Absolutely anything

Platonic yandere older brother Azul with an adopted human sibling reader.............. I think that could be cool.......

Warning(s): platonic yandere, manipulation, not sure how good this will be but I hope you like it!!

One day, a human baby was abandoned at sea.

Before the baby could succumb to hypothermia or tip over the small raft it was in and drown, A kind octopus lady found it. She fed the baby a potent water breathing potion so she can take care of it while she tries to find out who its parents are...

The parents never come forward, and seeing no other option, she adopts the baby as her own.

That baby was you, (Y/N) Ashengrotto. You're a human child who grew up under the sea...

For the longest time, you and your brother, Azul, were frequently bullied and felt like you could only rely on each other. It didn't matter that you two were bullied, as long as you had each other, you could handle anything...

Absolutely anything.

Recently, you started attending Night Raven College, the same school Azul goes to! An elite college for mages!

But... the most important part is... it's on land.

You've rarely ever gone on land... it feels so strange. Your body is built for the land, but you've lived underwater your whole life, so the situation just feels... wrong.

You were placed into Scarabia, but you still made sure to check in with your brother and give him a hug before you made your way to your new dorm...

However, the very next morning, right after orientation, you say the Headmage in your dorm room, who then told you that you were being transferred to Octavinelle. When you asked why, you were simply told that a student who wished to remain anonymous complained about you.

You were so sad. You were so excited to begin your new life on land, and had you loved how warm it was in Scarabia, it was so much nicer than the cold temperatures of the northern Coral Sea... but, it seems things just don't work out some times...

...

At least your brother is in Octavinelle.

...as long as you two are together, you can... you can handle anything, right...?

"Someone complained about you?" Azul asked you as he helped you set up your dorm room. "But it's the day after orientation! How did you manage to make such a bad first impression that someone wanted you gone on the first day?"

"I... I really don't know..." You said.

"Well, regardless, I'm sure you'll love it here in Octavinelle. I'll make sure you have a good time." Azul smiled and patted you on the back.

"...thanks."

Azul simply couldn't have his precious little sibling being in a different dorm than him.

Ah, but he doesn't want you to be miserable, of course... he'll take every precaution to make sure you enjoy yourself!!

You've really enjoyed your time on land! It feels so much more... natural to you...

"Azul..." You began one day.

"Yes? What is it?"

"I've been thinking..." You paused. Do you really want this? ...yes, you do. "I've been considering staying on land after graduation."

Azul's hearts dropped the moment he heard you say that.

"Staying on land? That's absurd! Your family lives underwater! Why would you... want to leave your family...?" Azul cautiously asked.

"No, it's not like that!" You insisted. "Of course I don't want to leave my family... I love you, and mom, and dad, but I..." You sighed. "I just want to figure myself out..."

"Figure yourself out? What are you talking about?!" Azul yelled, looking almost betrayed.

"I just want to know more about myself, you know...? I want to know why I was abandoned, what life on the surface is really like, and why-"

"Your human family abandoned you, what more do you need to know?!" Azul yelled. "...you should just stay under the sea. Isn't life better down there?"

You stared at Azul for a moment.

"No. I want to learn what it really means to live on land... I want-"

"We're done discussing this."

You noticed your life slowly getting worse after that day.

People started bullying you for not knowing how things worked on land. You started getting made fun of for things you weren't before...

And it all came out of nowhere.

But it's ok... just as he always was, your brother was there for you.

As long as the two of you are together... you can handle... anything...

...

Can't you...?

That would be the case for the rest of your life at NRC.

You hated it, you absolutely hated it...

That completely ruined your view of the surface. You didn't want to live above the waves anymore.

You just wanted to go back home...

When you graduated and returned home to the sea, you were met once more with your lovely brother.

He looked so happy to see you...

"I'm so glad you decided to stay under the sea with your family... with me..." Azul sighed as he gave you a tight hug. "...(Y/N). I have something I want to talk to you about..."

"What is it...?" You asked, cautiously.

"Follow me."

Azul led you somewhere...

A spot only the two of you knew about... a place you would hide together when he wasn't in his octopus pot...

It gave you a nostalgic feeling... as if, for just a second, you were back in your childhood... like nothing truly mattered...

"(Y/N), I... I have a deal for you." Azul told you.

"You... y-you do...?" You were surprised and confused.

"Yes. It's all right here." He snapped his fingers and summoned a golden contract and fishbone pen. "I remember, when you were a kid... you'd talk about how you just wanted to be like all the other kids... I remember you cried to me about wishing you had a tail, or tentacles like mom and I..." He handed you the contract and pen. "If you just sign here, you'll get everything you ever wanted... you'll get to be just like the other kids."

You grabbed the contract and began to read it over, before Azul grabbed it back from you again.

"N-no no, no...! There's no need to read it over, just... sign it." Azul paused, before smiling. "You trust your brother... don't you...?"

...

Of course you do.

Of course you trust your brother.

After all, when you're together, you can handle anything...

Absolutely anything.

You signed your name.

"That's good." Azul said as some kind of magic bubble encased you... and the spell began to take it's effect.

The spell was painful, you could hardly stop yourself from screaming out in pain.

"I know it hurts, (Y/N), I'm sorry... but this is what's best for you..." Azul sighed. "Of course, this means you'll never be allowed to go to the surface again, but... it's not like it matters... you have everything you could ever want down here!"

He's right...

Everything you could ever want, it's here, under the sea...

Sure, Azul will make sure you never go to the surface again, but does that really matter if you're surrounded by your loving family?

...no.

No, it doesn't...

Because when you and Azul are together...

You can handle anything the world throws at you.

[fallingtowers]

so i've been thinking about season 4 lately, and i've got this theory that adam is actually a good villain.

ok, before i'm flayed alive for my apostasy, lemme qualify that statement. i can't pretend s4 is my favorite season of btvs by any means, but i gotta give credit where it's due -- it's got more going on underneath the hood than you might think.

s4 is all about purpose and direction. it's about the characters changing tracks and trajectories, bumping up against the questions of who they are and who they're gonna be. obviously this is a recurring theme on buffy (it is a coming-of-age story, after all), but it's never more front-and-center than here, where much of the cast is crossing perhaps the clearest line between childhood and adulthood in usamerican society -- fitting, considering the show itself has lost a large part of its established framework and is now trying to establish a new status quo.

let's take a look at what the characters are up to during s4. the kids have graduated; buffy and willow are starting college. willow's relationship with oz ends, and she spends a decent chunk of the season coming to terms with her feelings for tara and her identity as a lesbian. xander's looking for work, with an emphasis on looking -- before he settles on construction, he spends some time drifting from job to job, never quite sure what he wants to do. giles is out of work too and spends much of the season struggling to fill his days. the scoobies as a group are scattered and directionless, unsure of their places in the world.

the list goes on. riley's whole arc is about losing his bedrock purpose and having to find a new one; "no sir, i'm an anarchist" may be a lame-ass line, but it is very thematically significant. spike gets chipped and finds he can't kill people anymore, and so now what is he good for? and then he realizes he can still hurt demons, and his trajectory for the remainder of the show is set. anya, talking about her career as a vengeance demon, gets a very telling line in "restless": "well, you know how i miss it. i'm so at loose ends since I quit." even faith's brief appearance in this season sees her struggling with questions of purpose and (in a particularly on-the-nose example) identity.

of course, since it's btvs we're talking about, all this is reflective of what buffy is going through (remember, this is the season that makes explicit the metaphor of the core scoobies as different parts of buffy's psyche). buffy's in a transitional period; she's going from high school to college, from her mom's house to a dorm room. she's struggling to adjust, and the show takes pains to provide her with things to struggle to adjust to. at the end of the first episode of the season, she says college is "turning out to be a lot like high school," but this statement is immediately undercut by the first appearance of the initiative.

say what you will about the initiative plotline, it makes a lot of thematic sense. there's a lot of very intentional contrast between the slayer and the initiative; where the slayer bloodline is ancient and mystical, its roots lost to history, the initiative is sleek and modern. its rife with purpose -- and, sure, to be fair, that purpose is absolutely clandestine and sinister, but it's unmistakably there. from its first appearance in "the freshman," there's a sense that the initiative is working towards some unknown goal.

sunday's gang and the initiative occupy different roles in the story, of course -- one's a straightforward group of enemies of the kind we (and buffy!) have grown to expect, while the other is a much thornier and less straightforward kind of problem. the way the show trades the former for the latter, not to mention the way the latter takes prisoner a member of the former, is of course very intentional, a way to reinforce the upset of the status quo. still, we can read both groups as representative of the same metaphor: the idea that buffy's been thrust into a world in which she feels she alone doesn't know what she's doing, but everyone else seems to know exactly what they're doing and where they belong. in a word, it's buffy's first true brush with adulthood.

buffy eventually aligns herself with the initiative, but even then, she remains the odd one out. she's a better fighter than any of them, but their methodology and aesthetic make her seem antiquated (see walsh's "we thought you were a myth" line), and she can't figure out their jargon or their militaristic command structure. try as she might to fit in, she just can't seem to be who they want her to be.

compare this with adam.

much hay has already been made about how well or (much more commonly) how poorly adam works as a character, and i won't bother to relitigate all that stuff here. yeah, walsh's exit is abrupt and unsatisfying, and yeah, adam lacks the personal connections to the rest of the cast that made her such an effective villain, and yeah, god help me, he does have a disk drive in his chest. i'm not gonna argue that there aren't big flaws with the execution of the initiative plotline generally and adam specifically, but i will argue that there's some really interesting thematic conversation going on between adam and the season at large.

s4 has this throughline of various characters inhabiting various personas. this is sometimes voluntary and sometimes not; it usually involves the character becoming stronger or more competent or more carefree or otherwise "better." of course, btvs as a whole is very preoccupied with identity, so s4 is not alone in this -- "halloween" and "band candy" spring to mind as examples of the kind of thing i'm talking about here, and of course e.g. riley pretending to be an ordinary person is something we've been watching buffy do for three seasons now -- but i'd argue that it's even more prevalent in s4 than elsewhere in the show. there's cathy pretending to be human in "living conditions"; veruca in "wild at heart" suggesting that the wolf is oz's true self and that "this human face is just your disguise," and oz telling willow that "i don't know where that line is anymore between me and [the wolf]"; buffy's transformation in "beer bad"; giles's transformation in "a new man"; faith and buffy switching bodies in "who are you?"; the entirety of "superstar." towards the end of the season, after adam reanimates forrest as a half-demon, forrest says, "i'm surging with life and strength [...] this is the best thing that ever happened to me."

it isn't, of course. in fact, most if not all of these forays into being someone else end badly. they're explorations of who the characters are and who they might (like to) become, and they all seem to point to the same conclusion: you can pretend to be someone else, but sooner or later you're going to have to be yourself, whoever that might be.

so who's adam?

the show asks this question at least a couple different times, in a couple different ways. this first happens in "goodbye iowa," when adam himself asks, "what am i?" later on, in "restless," buffy comes at the question from a different angle by asking adam's human half his name. the answers the show gives to these questions are telling. in "goodbye iowa," adam is told he's a monster ("i thought so," he replies). in "restless," his human half says, "before adam? not a man among us can remember."

who is adam? well, he's no one. he's a monster, a frankenstein, a thing remade and stripped of all its past identifiers. he wasn't born, but built, and this is crucial. this is the thing that makes him superior as a villain to professor walsh in at least one respect. for all their secrecy and sinister aims, the initiative's soldiers and scientists are human. they, like the demons they capture, are messy, alive, with no inborn reason for being. adam is different. in a season that's all about the search for purpose, he stands out as the only character to have been purpose-built. one of his most important lines imo comes from "superstar," where he says: "i'm aware [...] no one -- no human, no demon -- has ever been as awake and alive as i am. you are all just shadows."

in the end, buffy and her friends defeat adam by means of the enjoining spell, but the spell is just a metaphor for the actual reason they win. this is the moment i was talking about above, the moment where the scoobies-as-parts-of-buffy metaphor is made explicit, and it is itself a metaphor for them accepting and affirming not only their roles in buffy's life, but also their identities at large. see, it's not enough for xander to say he's the heart, or willow the spirit, or giles the mind; they have to believe it. so here we are, at the end of this awkward bumpy transitional season, which our characters have spent figuring out who they aren't anymore and who they might be and who they want to be, and in this moment, they know. and now that they do, they mop the floor with adam, because in the end, he's not much more than a machine. he's never chosen who he should be, it has only ever been decided for him -- but buffy and her friends are human, so they can decide for themselves. at the beginning of the episode, adam says, "once you [...] embrace your destiny as I have, you will know power you've never dreamed of" -- but in a show so centered around free will and choice and the struggle to make meaning in an uncaring and chaotic world, of course there's no real power in a destiny that's been chosen for you. of course choosing for yourself who you're going to be is the most powerful thing you could do.

[phantomdialogue]

˗ˏˋ. ݁₊ ✶ ˖ 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏𝟑 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐨𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐡 - 𝟒.𝟓/𝟓 ☆ . ݁ ˖ˎˊ˗

boys of tommen book one

premise: shannon lynch has dealt with bullying her whole life which leads her to the front steps of tommen college after the christmas break. johnny kavanagh is dead set on joining ireland's international rugby team after years of training and hard work. but when he kicks a ball straight into the back of shannon's head by accident on her first day, both of their lives may change forever.

couple: johnny kavanagh and shannon lynch

tropes: sports romance, high school age romance, friends to lovers, found family, slow burn, grumpy/sunshine ish

CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING!! - includes themes such as physical and verbal abuse (familial and not), bullying, sexual harassment, and more.

available on kindle unlimited

review below!

review:

wow... i wasn't expecting to be so hooked on this so fast. even just 50 pages in, it had its claws in me and wasn't letting go for the next 600ish pages. it's a long read but it doesn't feel long either. even the 40 minute long chapters went by so fast. this book is put in the young adult section of the store but i think that's solely based on how easy of a read it is. it very much so does NOT have themes that are young adult. it's a heavy book with some darker themes, and a far amount of sexual content honestly even without smut, and i know the second book and the ones after that will just continue to get heavier.

johnny kavanagh... the boy you are. i loved johnny. i'm pretty sure if you don't love johnny, something is wrong. he really just embodies that typical sports guy with a soft spot but i related to him on so many different levels. he's deeply determined to achieve his goals and puts everything aside to do just that. he really knows what he wants and what he thinks he has to do to achieve that and he goes at it full force. and then shannon comes into the picture and messes with his head and plans and he is just deeply understandable in all of internal angst. he's already scared because he's sporting an injury and now he's sporting a crazy crush and he doesn't know what to do about it. i think that it's really interesting to read about how he handles it all and what his thought process is and when you keep in mind that he's only seventeen, it's honestly so understandable.

i loved shannon as well. she is a deeply fractured and hurt character and getting to watch her grow to be comfortable with the other characters while still holding her walls up was so interesting and i was so invested with her the whole time. she's one of those characters that you just want to hug and tell it's okay to. she has so many layers to her that are so interesting to read about because she's been through so much and is still going through so much. i love her relationship with johnny, of course, but something that i really hope we see more of going forward is her relationship with gibsie. i feel like she already has that deep brotherly bond with her brother, joey, but that is founded more so in their shared trauma, that to get to see her grow into this sibling bond with gibsie that is more on the humorous playing around side was something so healing. she has those moments with joey but there is a heaviness to them that isn't there with gibsie and i love that so much that i hope we get to see more.

honestly i wasn't entirely sure what i was getting myself into with this book but i'm really really happy i read it. i can't wait to read the rest and get my heart ripped out because i know that's coming and it's going to hit so hard.

q & a:

are they endgame? - this is one question that i don't think i can quite answer yet. my gut says yes but we've got a very heavy second book ahead that will really solidify my answer to that. so we will wait on the determination of endgame status but currently my gut answer is yes even though they are just teenagers still.

did i cringe? - i'm american... this is set in ireland in 2005. admittedly, some of the slang and banter did make me cringe a little. it's also a high school age romance i'm not going to hold back the fact that i did cringe a few times at the teenagers. i think it's not anything that deters from the book though. the cringing i did do leaned towards the endearing side as well because it's just this found family of teenagers who are all dealing with some heavy stuff and humor is definitely something that some of them, and this book, falls back on. but even with cringing, it felt natural for the book and the characters. it wasn't the kind of cringing that was from something that was wrong.

favorite part? - i love the found family aspect in this. i love how close knit our main characters are with our side characters. johnny is an only child but he really is just brothers from another mother with gibsie. if you've seen teen wolf then you'll know what i mean when i say that johnny and gibsie really are another version of scott and stiles. and even beyond johnny and gibsie, we see hughie and katie and patrick and claire and even lizzie a bit all join together to be this second family to shannon that she really needs. it's so heart warming and such a light air in the middle of all of these traumatic experiences you read through and i loved it so much and hope we get more of it going forward. my gut wants to put the slowburn in the least favorite part section but i really cant. it's such a pivotal part of this book and of johnny and shannon's characters that i have to praise it. it makes so much sense for them individually that even when it takes over 500 pages to make true progress, it feels natural. it's not something that is played out just to make the book longer. with shannon's trauma and johnny's career, it makes sense that it takes them so long to come together and i really loved it even if i was a bit in agony from the length haha.

least favorite part? - i really don't know if i can choose something. i know there is something because i feel confident in not quite rating this 5 stars but i can't place my finger on it. perhaps it's the focus on johnny so much in this book but i can tell from the ending that this book is more johnny's book and i think the next one will be more of shannon's book so even that isn't something that i have a real problem with. i don't know... it's hard to place what i think should be different because even with whatever faults it has, i think it has a lot of reasoning for each of those that makes sense.

favorite quotes (some spoilers here, of course, but minimal):

It mattered that she mattered when no one ever mattered to me before.

I remembered the way he had taken care of me. How he had stayed with me until my mother came. The way he had touched me with big dirty, gentle hands. How he talked to me like he wanted to hear what I had to say. And then listened to my rambling like it was important to him.

Shannon Lynch utterly disarmed me.

You could love this girl your whole life, the crazy thought persisted inside my brain over and over, if you just let yourself.

“I’m going to hug you,” Johnny whispered in my ear. “Tell me if that’s not okay.”

Instead, I nestled my cheek against his side and closed my eyes, allowing myself to drift off to sleep without an ounce of fear in my heart because it couldn’t exist inside of me, not when this boy had his arm around me.

I was completely fucking clueless, armed and ready to go to war for a girl I didn’t know, against an enemy no one would tell me about.

“She’s always been your Shannon.”

“She makes my heart go, like, whoa.” “Is that right?” he mused. “So bad, Da.” I sighed. “Boom, boom, fucking boom.” I shook my head. “All the time.”

[aquarium-ina-bag]

Where Danger Finds Me, it Follows with Tides-2

Pride and Distractions ch2

Words: 1.8k

Relationship: Wednesday x Reader

Warnings: Threats(per usual)

After that dehumanizing match on her first day back, Wednesday started to see you more; it’s like you disappeared last year but could be felt in the shadows. It sure pissed off Bianca. Wednesday started to compare you to old Bianca, you were prideful, indefatigable, cocky, stubborn, hardheaded, and very taunting, specifically to Wednesday. In class, you always got the upper hand—first to answer questions, always right, holding higher grades than her—and it was starting to tick the raven off. She could tell you weren’t doing this to actually learn anything, it was to dance on Wednesday nerves, and you were good at it.

Once lunch started, the regular group got into their chatter, and Wednesday wished to start up something with Enid.

"What’s the so-called ‘status’ with that one student, the one in our fencing?" 

"There are a lot of students in our fencing program. Wends, be more specific." Enid definitely knew what she was talking about; she just wanted to hear a set of words spill.

"The one I dueled."

"You fight a lot of kids Wednesday." Enid was eager.

"The one," she hesitated, "that beat me." The thought still bothered her.

"That stupid prick, Y/n? Nothing but a low life that likes to suck the happiness of people, a pompous I say." Bianca butted in, her tone filled with annoyance.

"You still jealous about them not picking you, B?" Yoko jabbed.

"I’m not jealous, it’s just stupid how she walked right in and acted like the founder of this dumb school! Vlad wasn’t helping at all!" 

Wednesday listened to the complaints of her fellow colleague. Enid set the conversation back on track.

"What do you want to know about them?" 

"What did they mean about admin? And now I'm becoming a student? I don’t understand that." The raven questioned.

"Oh, during the first month of last year, she was like super detached in all of the classes, but still ran with outstanding grades. So Weems talked to her about it; it turns out she was completely bored, learning nothing that hadn't already been taught to her, Weems gave her test after test, flying colors each time. So she just put the smarty pants on staff. But after the Weems incident, the school board wanted background checks and kicked off who shouldn’t be there; Y/n just so happened to get the boot." Enid explained.

"That has to be illegal or something; you can’t just put a kid on admin." Ajax protested.

"I asked Weems why she kept them here if they weren’t going to learn anything, and she said it was mandatory that they stay here. Which confused me because, y'know how there are like a bunch of children geniuses that get to go to college, why can’t they?" Enid pondered. 

Bianca was getting fed up with the praise you received "She’s not a genius, just happened to read a couple of books growing up."

"If you’re able to get bored while doing work on 12th-grade math, then that’s pretty genius, if you ask me." Kent chirped.

"Kent, you’re just dumb." Divina snapped 

Eugene spoke up "What if they’re really just like an adult because they have the tattoo on their eye?"

The group started to ponder that idea 

"Whatever, I’m done with the topic; it’s stupid; move on to something else." Bianca finally snapped after almost digging a hole in the table with her nails.

As the group went on with different conversations, Wednesday continued trying to piece together what she could with what little she had been given. Mandatory? Background check? Already learned? That marking on your right eye? What was your ability? 

Her thinking was thrown off by the obnoxious bell signaling its time for 5th period. Kent and Ajax followed behind her, chatting about some new music that Wednesday was clearly uninterested in. Once they were in the class, her eyes landed on those stupid, nearly glowing orbs you call your eyes. And of course, you had to let that foolish jaw of yours drop, so you can project out some futile words that Wednesday begged to go in one ear and out the other, but, she has no luck of triumph.

"Well, if it isn’t Wednesday Addams, nice seeing you this lovely afternoon." You greeted.

Why are you talking to her? You saw her two classes ago; again, why are you talking to her? You only talk to her when you’re being snarky to her, are you trying to be snarky now? Wednesday took her seat across from you. 

"Why must you use your vocal cords all the time, L/n." Wednesday responded back "It’s vain when you speak to me." 

"Oh, really now?" That taunting tone rises. "I was able to get two sentences out of you—clear ones, that is! All I get is mumbled curses when I one-up you." 

That smile showed again. Why do your K9s look so sharp? And was it normal to see such a prominent purple vein above them inside your gums? Vampires have red veins on top of their fangs, are you some type of hybrid? 

"Taunting others is your specialty, isn’t it?" The raven spit

You were taken back. "I don’t taunt people." 

"You taunt Bianca and I" 

"Okay, maybe I taunt you, Bianca? No"

"Then why does she have such a strong hatred towards you?"

"Oh, that’s because I beat her in fencing, it's dumb how she hasn’t moved on. I honestly don’t care about it anymore. I guess you can say she was in her royalty era and got upset if things didn’t go her way." You shrugged 

"If you don’t care about the fight, why didn’t you fight her?" The dark mannered girl questioned 

"Didn’t you hear anything I said when we fought? I like that you’re focused; you’re concentrated on the matter at hand. I wanted to challenge that." You paused to reposition yourself. "Or do you just adore the praise?"

Your eye contact with her was making her nauseous, but not in the way she liked. How are you able to do that? The raven blinked slowly, seemingly taking in multiple things at once, one of which was what the symbol below your eye was. 

"No," she said.

"Sure don’t seem concentrated right now, Addams." The anatomy teacher spoke.

He walked in through the back door, passing between the two. Finally, the teacher is here to save her. 

"Quit talking, you fishbones, and take out your notebooks; once you write down notes, you shall discuss what you understand and don't with a partner of choice." The larger man up front explained

While the video was playing, you completely drowned it out. Since you already knew this before you were even 10 years old, this is a perk of having such a smart uncle. But you couldn’t understand what this questionable girl next to you meant when she said no. No what? Like a weirdo, you stared at her almost the whole video until the presence of lingering eyes bothered her, causing Wednesday to stare back at you with the signature death stare, but you didn’t look away. 

Why? Why aren’t you turning? It upset Wednesday. Turn around and focus on something other than her, she’s begging you to turn away. She doesn’t want to look at your lightly illuminated face due to the light from the box TV; she didn’t want to look at the way your eyelashes touched your marking. The marking—yes, she can distract herself— it was an eye of Ra; clearly, it was on the right, not the left; if it were left, it would be Horus. Why would you have that tattoo on your body? It was a simple gold color, not too prominent, but it looked nice on your skin. Your skin was very clean—not a scar, not a blemish, not a bump—interesting for a teen to have such perfect skin. Why is she thinking that?

Wednesday finally broke eye contact, and then you did too. 

Did you just want her to back down? Why do you act so territorial? You never let anyone win; that was another thing on the list of things about you that bothered her. The raven was so focused on her thoughts that she didn’t hear the teacher speak until he was finished. What did he say? Why are you such a distraction to her? Wednesday looked down at her paper to see she had written almost nothing; this was pissing her off. 

"You wrote literally four lines, Addams." You gawked 

"Maybe if you kept your eyes to yourself, then I would have something down." Her tone was low "I should scrape them out with my pencil" 

"So harsh. Anyway, you've gotta a partner?" You question 

"You’re the last person I want to work with."

"Huh? Why? I haven’t done anything bad to you, have I?"

You truly have; you make her nauseous, make her feel more humid and warmer, you’re a distraction, ruin her train of thought, and make her lose things.

"Is it me cutting you before? Sorry about that; I never apologized, but the cut seems gone, not even a scar." 

That true! The cuts you left were gone completely clean; was that Goody? Surely not, because the scar on her palm would be gone too. 

"It’s not that; you’re taunting, obnoxious, and distracting."

"Oh, come on Addams, who else are you gonna partner with? That gorgon and siren are already together, I doubt you want to start a conversation with another person." You quietly spoke, "Since I’m such a distraction, you clearly have no idea what we’re doing, nor did you learn anything from that video." 

"You’re right, I don’t want to communicate with anyone, including you. And I can just read a minor amount of books to get the information I lost." 

"Fine alright." You dropped the conversation, not in the mood to get on anyone’s bad side 

She’d be lying to herself if she said that she didn’t hate what she just said, Wednesday had no clue what creature they even learned about. Her pride is to heavy for her to ask the teacher or anyone else because they would make it a big deal that she didn’t listen, even though she was making it a big deal. The raven also hated how you stopped speaking to her… 

After the bell rang, she was off to her next class, with no information about whatever happened in the last one. She asked herself if she should swallow her pride or ride with a zero. 

[echoes-lighthouse]

Cecil and Echo: The Full Story

Previously: Toga / Tate

I did a poll for how I should share my selfship stories, and ‘text post with illustrations’ won the poll, so I’m doing a full post for each of my f/os! They’re written to be as understandable as possible for people unfamiliar with the source, but I'm.... not sure how Welcome To Night Vale will be for people who haven't listened to the podcast lol

This selfship is a bit of a hard dynamic to impart because this self-insert is very much not a person but I hope I got it across!

Chapter One: Backstories 

Cecil was born in Night Vale, a timeless and unknowable town. He was born in the 80s, although which century is uncertain, and was a teenager in the early 90s. When Cecil was five, it was prophesied that he would become the Voice of Night Vale, and his father left their family soon afterwards. His mother resented the prophecy and the role it had in the disintegration of their family, while the town began to treat Cecil differently with the knowledge of his future role. When Cecil was fourteen, his mother also left: Cecil’s older sister was forced to drop out of college to work for a place for them to live. 

Far above Night Vale is a star, not part of any recognized constellation, but burning brightly enough for Night Vale residents to see it in the darkened skies of evening. 

Chapter Two: First Meeting

At sixteen, Cecil started as an intern at Night Vale’s Community Radio station. Sharply aware of his sister’s resentment at having to work for both of them, and the pressure of the prophecy as the Voice on his shoulders, Cecil’s anxiety was reaching critical levels. 

One night, sitting outside in an old ritual circle, Cecil looked up at the sky and made a wish that he wouldn’t be lonely forever. His eyes settled on one of the stars as he whispered, a secret from a boy at his limit. 

And the star fell: out of the sky, out of its original form, and into Cecil’s hands. For a moment, formless light filled his palms. Then Echo took form, and Cecil was filled with the knowledge that Echo would always be with him, and his wish was granted: he would never be lonely. 

Chapter Three: Getting Together Growing Up 

Echo is with Cecil for his last two years of high school: inseparable, always sitting on his shoulder or hiding in his pocket. Cecil survives his first year at the radio station and the two of them celebrate by running away for a night in the forest, sometimes dancing and sometimes singing and sometimes lying still, looking up at the other stars above them. 

When Cecil graduates, his sister is set free: the radio station starts to pay Cecil enough for a little Night Vale apartment, and Echo fluctuates in size to help carry the furniture and boxes, always shrinking back to their familiar size at the end of the night, to curl up on Cecil’s pillow and burrow into his hair. 

Night Vale goes through a fluctuation and when the fluctuation finishes, Cecil is the host of the radio station, and has always been the host: his prior teacher is forgotten by all but Cecil himself. With the new money and position, Cecil takes some time off and goes to Europe. 

Echo is with him for the wild days of exploration: a new Cecil for every town, a new world at every train stop, the decades falling at their heels, Night Vale a glowing beacon behind them, waiting to guide them home again. In most of the towns, Echo remains an unobtrusive glow on Cecil’s shoulder, but occasionally it walks with him and dances with the strangers in the bars, bringing them back to Cecil for approval, the shining lure of an anglerfish. 

Eventually, Cecil is tired of Europe: tired of being a stranger, and tired of the endless re-invention. He brings them back to Night Vale, and it’s never felt more comfortable in the little town. 

Chapter Four: Where We’re At 

Adulthood is new to Cecil, the flush of Europe still fading from his cheeks. Night Vale itself is new again when they return from the trip: a new bowling alley, a new pizza place, half the residents new but settled for generations. Still, they greet Cecil as their radio host, and express their interest in his European travels. 

Echo and Cecil settle into their routines: days at the radio station, evenings wandering the town, and nights in their quiet apartment, listening to the hum of government helicopters overhead and the singing of the stars beyond that. 

Cecil is an endless well of energy and enthusiasm, rediscovering their home again: the residents, the shops, the gossip. Echo loves to sit on his desk, just under the microphone that broadcasts his voice to the rest of the town, and let his voice wash over it. It shares Cecil’s love for Night Vale, a faithful reflection of his emotions and priorities, and sees the town as an extension of Cecil in many ways. 

And one day in the future, a newcomer will arrive, and Cecil will fall in love. But for now, he is still finding himself, and the true story is yet to begin.

[consistentlyamess]

We'll see about that ⎮Prologue

pairing(s): steve harrington x fem!reader

summary: You just wanted a fresh start but you might get more than you bargained for when the sleepy town of Hawkins lives up to its reputation.

warnings: 18+ , MDNI, canon typical violence, eventual smut, abusive relationship, brief stancy storyline, strangers to friend to lovers, pining, slowburn

A/N: I HAVE VERY LITTLE IDEA ABOUT WHAT I'M DOING AND I'M TERRIFIED. so just please bear with me while I figure out what I wan to do here, I guess. 💜

Fic Masterlist

Next Chapter

---

Rolling into the small gloomy town didn’t have any of the mysterious bravado you were anticipating. No roaring clouds or looming men in black coats. But it wasn’t exactly comforting either. The sky was a little weird, dark smoke coming from somewhere. But people were outside, some cars running by, it wouldn’t have felt off in the slightest if it were the beginning of November. It was the end of August though. Granted you weren't counting on the same busy streets you were used to in Bloomigton but a few kids running around, school supplies here and there, something that indicated the start of a new school year would’ve been nice. But there was nothing like that. After the “Welcome to Hawkins HELL” sign it was like you entered a different dimension completely. The end of summer shouldn’t have felt like this. Filled with gray and goo and oozing with uncertainty.  

It did come in handy with the accommodation, not many people want to rent rooms in a town where teenagers and children go missing (if they’re lucky) on a regular basis, malls burn down and weird natural disasters seem to occur out of nowhere. You glanced at the map that was nearly dry now after having coffee spilled on it a few hours ago. Finding the street should be easy at least. The realtor lady gave an unnecessarily long-winded explanation to where you could find the house. Like she was worried that you might turn around and leave if it took more than five minutes to find the house. You wouldn’t have turned around of course. This was precisely what you were looking for. Somewhere no one else is looking for. 

The low prices, the ever vacating spots in the elementary school also worked in your favour. You were just out of college, nobody in their right mind would’ve given you a full-time teaching spot. Unless of course they desperately needed someone. It was elementary but still, it was a teaching job. A real teaching job. And it somehow seemed that maybe an earthquake or two is worth the fresh start. God knows you needed it. 

Unpacking wasn’t hard at all. Two boxes of belongings, journals, pens, paper, you still needed to buy a pair of scissors that was for sure. A box of kitchen supplies, although the lady did say that the former residents left in a hurry so there’ll be plenty of stuff left for you. About two suitcases filled with clothes and your pillow. That was about it. Packing in the kitchen you also made a note to buy some new kitchen towels. When you were finally done, you were exhausted. You considered for a minute that maybe you should just read a little and call it a day. You had a week to adjust and discover the town, but somehow you still felt restless. 

Picking up the car keys, setting out to get some dinner and maybe grab a movie, you were out the door again. Spending more time in the town, you started to get that mysterious bravado you were expecting. People were out on the streets, yes, but nobody would look you in the eyes and you could swear everybody was staring at your car when you stopped for gas. Maybe it’s just a small town, you thought, it takes time for people in places like this to get used to a new face, right? And after all, they were probably shaken by the recent tragedies that seemed to have a perverse fascination with the small town in Indiana. There was this tense atmosphere, really everywhere you went. The convenient store was a little empty and the cashier looked at you like she just caught you cheating on a test. A little suspicious, a little apprehensive, a little scolding. She didn’t even say a proper goodbye, just kind of hummed. Even though you made it a point to be very polite. Sometimes your black clothes and eyeliner throw older people off even if you're nowhere near a goth or metalhead vibe.  

Next stop was the grocery store. Get some dinner, get some breakfast and then get back home. Maybe discovering the town at this specific moment wasn’t that great of an idea after all. 

You were checking out the snack aisle, debating whether you should stack some stuff up or maybe buy just enough for that day and the next, so you would have to come back. Maybe if they see you more frequently they’ll get used to you faster. Lost in your thoughts and eyeing if they had Pringles you were alerted to your surroundings with a loud bang of your basket. 

“Oh, shit.” You said in tandem with the girl you bumped. “God, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking- 

“Oh, fuck, I can’t believe this, why do I have to be so clumsy all the time!” The girl with the dirty blonde bob exclaimed. 

You both scrambled to your knees and gathered your stuff, mostly helping the other person. 

“I’m so sorry, I was just thinking about what I should be wearing tomorrow because I have this date thing. Kind of. I don’t even know if it is a date. We’re going to the movies, but friends can go to the movies, right? So, where does that leave me? Do I put on mascara or is that trying too hard? Do I wear a skirt? I don’t even own a skirt! I could always borrow one from Nancy, but the mere thought of pink and ruffles makes me want to hurl and- Jesus, and now I’m rambling and you don’t wanna hear this and- I don’t know you.” 

You chuckled a little. 

‘It would be weirder if you did. I just arrived today, and you didn’t bother me at all. This is like the third place I’ve visited today and you're kind of the only person who’s not acting like I’ve already committed a crime when I wasn’t planning on doing that for at least two more weeks.’

She stares at you with a little crooked smile in the corner of her mouth and wide eyed. 

‘I’m joking of course.’ You tried to backtrack immediately when you didn’t get a reaction. ‘I’m not planning on committing any crimes! Unless you guys consider returning a library book too late a felony.’ She was still just staring and blinking at her. ‘Also a joke, sorry. God, I’m on fire today.’ You muttered to yourself. 

‘Oh, my God, I haven’t said anything in so long! Those were good jokes, just- I’m just- why are you here?’ 

You were taken aback by the question. So that’s it. This is what everyone's thinking upon seeing you here. That there must be something wrong with you. Or you have some ulterior motives for moving here. Not like they’re wrong, but jeez, they could cut a girl some slack. 

‘Wow, very straightforward.’ You chuckled again awkwardly, trying to delay your answer as much as possible. 

‘No, I mean, I’m just surprised. We don’t get a lot of new residents these days.’ 

‘Fair enough.’ You took a deep breath, contemplating what to say exactly. ‘Well- 

‘Oh, Robin. Robin Buckley.’ the girl said, giving her a little wave. 

‘Well, Robin, I just finished university and my training as a teacher. I have a fuck ton of student debts and believe it or not, not many schools are looking for a teacher with no experience. So, here I am. The children of Hawkins Elementary will have to make due with yours truly. And besides, I don’t scare that easily.’ You tried a little mischievous smile and much to your surprise and delight, it worked. The freckled girl lit up a little and gave her a good, full mouthed grin. 

‘Okay. I think you’ll fit right in.’ 

You laughed at that. 

‘Sorry, what was your name again?’ 

You reminded her that you never really told her your name, which now you did. 

‘But my friends usually just call me Peach. I used to talk a lot about peaches when we realized I’m allergic to them, and it just kinda stuck.’

‘It was very nice to meet you, Peach! If you need any advice on the coolest spots or the lamest ones, maybe in a bookstore or something, just ask.’ 

‘Actually, I might take you up on that right now. I wanted to rent some movies for tonight and I heard there’s a video store in town but I haven't found it yet.’ You haven't tried that hard either,but she doesn't have to know that. The first person who was nice to you all day. You need this.  

‘You, my friend, have come to the exact right place! Come on!’ She just headed for the cashier. 

‘Well, I guess no Pringles for me then.’ You whisper below your nose.

‘Shit, sorry, I didn’t even ask if you were done!’ Robin turned around and rushed back. 

You found her very endearing. She was younger. Not by a lot, but just enough that you could feel it in her tone, see it in her gangly limbs and hear it in her rambling. She was like a puppy dog that was still trying to find its footing in the world. 

‘You’re okay, just gonna grab some Pringles.’

‘That’s my favourite too!’ She exclaimed again and this makes her look even younger. Finding such joy in such a simple thing. Something you don’t remember doing in a long time. 

‘Great, then I’ll know who to blame when they run out’ you said jokingly.

‘God, you’re good.’ Robin grinned once more and you felt like this town might not be so gloomy after all. 

***

‘Oh, and there’s of course Lovers Lake but...’ she trails off for a second there. ‘Yeah, no one really goes there since the, well, you know the murders last year.’ 

‘Okay, so Enzo’s is a yes, Family Video is a yes and Lovers Lake is a ‘you really should know better’. Sounds about right?’ 

‘That’s exactly right!’ 

Robin has been catching you up on the town’s intricacies for the past 10 minutes as you walked towards the video store. 

‘And what kind of movie were you thinking?’ 

‘Oh, I don’t really know. I’m a little wiped from the drive, so nothing heavy. No double features. I live alone and haven’t really gotten used to the place yet, so no horror either. Just the thought of romance currently has shivers running up my spine, so a strong no to that too. I’ll have to go with some action or comedy, I think. Back to Future and Ghostbusters never disappoint.’ 

‘Bad breakup?’ 

‘Huh?’ 

‘You just said romance makes your spine tingle or whatever. Bad breakup?’ 

‘Uhm, yeah, sort of.’ You don’t wanna say anymore but you also don’t want to look like you’re hiding something. It’s not even that. You’re just trying to forget. ‘But it’s a long and not exactly happy story.’ 

‘No, I get it. Breakups are a bitch. Not that I know that much about it.’

‘I mean, how much do you really have to know? You loved someone and they loved you and it’s not like that anymore. It sucks whichever way you cut it.’

Robin hummed at that and became very quiet. You were worried that maybe you struck the wrong chord with what you just said. 

‘If you haven’t broken up tho, we probably never would’ve met, have we?’

‘That's a good point Robin.’ You smiled at her and looped an arm in hers. ‘Now come on, show me where the goods are!’ 

‘Please, don’t get your hopes up too much, we don’t have anything that isn’t at least two months old and our manager is a bit of an asshole but I’m sure you’ll find something and Dingus is not half bad at this anymore either.’ 

‘Dingus?’ 

‘You’ll find out in a second’ she said pushing in the door.

‘Sorry, we’re closing in five minutes. Please come back tomorrow or be very quick ‘cause I have to pick someone up. Thank you!’ you heard someone calling from the back. 

‘Calm down Dingus, it’s just me and my new best friend.’ 

A messy brown haired boy popped up from behind the counter. 

‘What?’ 

‘Peach, this is Steve, Steve this is Peach. Peach is new in town and Steve’s a dingus.’

‘Hey!’ the boy said, indignant.

‘She’s gonna figure it out sooner or later, might as well get it out of the way.’ 

The way they talked to each other was very sibling-like. You didn’t have any yourself but your best friend in high school had three and this was mostly the way they communicated with each other. Not very veiled insults and teasing. Classic. And also highly entertaining for everyone involved, if done correctly. 

‘Sorry, I don’t wanna keep you away from your date, I just wanted to rent a movie for tonight.’ 

‘Oh, he’s not going on a date’ the moment the frackled girl spoke up, Steve started to give her his best ‘please shut up’ eyes, but she didn’t notice. Unlike you, who definitely did. He wasn’t subtle. ‘He’s just picking up his other friend, who happens to be a 14 year old.’ 

You couldn’t not chuckle at that even though you really tried, seeing as the boy in front of you had a pained look in his eyes and a bit of a blush on his cheeks. 

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. Also, I’m not one to talk. I chose a whole ass career that requires me to spend hours upon hours with children, so…’ you shrugged as a way to indicate, you didn’t really have a good closing thought for that sentence. 

‘Are you a babysitter?’ The boy asked with furrowed brows and a tilted head. He didn't look unlike a goden retriever puppy.

‘No, dude, she’s a teacher! Isn’t that awesome?’ 

‘A teacher? Aren't you, like, way too young for that?’

‘You guys have very little scrupulous about what you can and can’t say, huh? But to answer your question, yes and no. I just graduated, but this place was losing teachers so fast, they needed an arts teacher, like, yesterday, so here we are. Also I did everything early.’ 

‘How old are you by the way, if you don’t mind me asking’ Robin chimed in now.

‘I’m 23. I have a good 10 years before I start being precious about my age, I think.’

He let out a light laugh and you took it as all clear for the laugh earlier. 

‘Okay, so did you guys just come here to annoy me or can I help you with something?’ 

‘Oh, yeah, sorry, I was looking for a movie for tonight and Robin offered help.’ 

‘Great, what’s the mood, what are we thinking? Winding down after a long day with a glass of wine? Or are you looking for some excitement? Maybe a date night?’ 

This time you’re the one to miss the curious glint in the boy’s eyes, while Robin catches it and squints at Steve’s sneaky inquiry. 

‘Oh, first one for sure. I’ve had enough excitement for one day and if I had a date I’d either need a lot more or a lot less snacks. So, just some classic entertainment for me today. You know, Risky Business, Raising Arizona, Back to the Future, something like that.’

‘Really? Back to the Future?’ 

‘What? You didn’t like it?’ 

‘It’s not that I didn’t like it, it’s just a weird movie.’ 

‘Okay, the mom falling in love with her son part gets a little dicey at places but I love the concept, the DeLorean is a crazy cool car and Michael J. Fox is a total cutie. It’s a future classic.’ 

‘Huh, maybe I should give it a second chance.’ 

‘I might be biased but you definitely should. But only after I brought it back.’

‘Of course, ladies first, always.’ Now he smiles with something more than a little mischief. ‘Uhm, I’ll go get it for you, just stay here.’ It's not lost on you that the boy is pretty. But you know his type. It's the type you have stay cautious with. The dangerous type. At least for you.

‘So, what are your plans for the week?’ Robin asks as Steve disappears between the rows. 

‘Not much really, just wanna get a little more situated and used to the town before starting school. I still have to buy some supplies, I’m big on reward stickers, I have to make sure, I always have them on me.’

‘And there we go, one Back to the Future for you’ he smiles. ‘Now I just need a couple basic information from you. Full name, address, date of birth aaand a phone number.’ 

You give your info to him and he rings you up. 

‘Well, it was lovely meeting you guys, and you know, I guess I’ll see you around.’

‘Sure, and if you need help with anything else-

‘Enzo’s is a yes, Family Video is a definitely and Lovers Lake is a ‘you should know better’, got it.’ 

‘I mean, Lovers Lake gets a bad rep, but as long as you don’t want to swim it’s a great spot for a picnic or just hanging out’ Steve chimes and Robin squints again. 

‘Huh. Alright, well, I guess I’ll just have to see for myself.’ You say your goodbyes and you start heading for the door but turn back as you suddenly think of something. 

‘Hey, if this is too much, just say so, and I’ll go and we don’t have to talk about this ever again, but would you guys want to come around for like a housewarming dinner sometime? I know it’s probably too early but I don’t have any friends, or know anyone here, really, and you guys seem cool. I’m a decent cook and I can buy alcohol absolutely legally and I don’t have any board games, but I can buy some, or charades or whatever’ you knew you were rambling, but you couldn’t help it. You were tired and you hated to admit it but also a little bit lonely. You went out on a limb here, something that you arguably maybe did too much. But to your surprise they perk up.

‘Yeah’ Steve says with a hint of a smile. ‘What time were you thinking?’

‘How about Saturday, say around 7?’ 

‘It’s a date, we’ll be there, right Robs?’

‘Sure, we’ll bring desserts and oh, we could introduce you to a couple of our friends? Or maybe that’s too overwhelming. But it’s just a couple people and they’re all great, I promise. I mean, they’re little shitheads sometimes but they’re great.’

‘Yeah, oh my God, that sounds awesome! Can’t wait! And you have my address now, right?’ You raise an eyebrow at Steve. 

‘Y-Yeah, we do, see you then. And just for the record, I can buy alcohol legally as well.’

‘Hm. Good to know.’ 

You’re giddy with your plans and have a spring in your step as you walk back to the car, blissfully unaware of Robin scolding Steve behind you.

‘Stop that.’

‘What? I’m not doing anything.’

‘Is it a date night? Lovers Lake? We don’t ask for anybody’s phone number and then you sign off with ‘it’s a date’? You’re not slick Harrington.’ 

‘Oh, shut up, those were just… I was just making conversation.’

‘Uh-huh, sure thing Casanova.’ 

‘Okay, maybe I was testing the waters a little. So what? I’m single, from what I understand, she is too, it’s not a crime.’ 

‘You’re also in love with Nancy. And she seems way too cool and way too nice for you to break her heart. Not that Brenda deserved to get her heart broken, but she was always a little mean in high school, so I’m biased.’

‘I didn’t break Brenda’s heart, she just liked Nate more and I’m not in love with Nancy.’ 

‘Fine, but you’re sure as shit not gonna break hers either. And don’t tell me, you’re not still hung up on Wheeler, cause I can see the look in your eyes, every time that obnoxious pizza van rolls into the parking lot. Also I think she might just have gone through a rough breakup or something.’

‘Who? Nancy?’

'No, Dingus, Peach!' Robin says as he swats at his chest.

'Oh.'

‘Yeah, she didn’t like say it-say it, but mentioned something in the parking lot that sounded a lot like it. So, just, you know, tread lightly, okay? 

***

As you drive back home, that spooky feeling and mysterious bravado strike again. It wasn’t dark just yet but the sun was much lower in the sky and the empty streets felt colder somehow. You usually loved sunsets but there was something unnatural about the hue of orange and red today, and you did not like it one bit. 

‘This is okay, you’re okay.’ You muttered to yourself, as you looked into the rearview mirror. ‘This is exactly what you came here for, you’re not chicken shit, you’ve dealt with much worse, just get it together.’ 

You rested your head against the steering wheel for a second. Almost unconsciously, as a routine or a mantra you reach for the glove compartment. Opening it, you reach inside and immediately relax as you find the Colt in there. You let out a long exhale and finish the routine with checking the bullets and the safety. You shove it in your bag and head inside the house.

[kate-embershield]

✨Jorvik Riding Academy ✨

PT1

Firstly, i did not expect to get that much attention on my first Jorvik Academy post, so thank you all SO MUCH!!

Second, I want to go more in depth about the Academy. So, in no particular order, i'm going to be going over some of the things people in the reblogs said...

@bridge-to-jorvik Thank you!

And yes, the idea for the Academy is to combine a lot of the current mechanics into one big hub of sorts. More rescue foals, and hopefully with time, sso could introduce foals from different breeds, big shire foals the size of the player, knobby knee'd akhal-teke's, just plenty of new baby's with different builds.

Perhaps with its proximity to Jorvik city, new furniture stores could be opened up, with a wide array off different aesthetics and decor to choose from that players could customise their dorms/homes with.

@samanthawd i'm pretty sure if enough players pitched in a dollar, we could buy a small island.

The idea is definitely that the Academy is a place where even those who aren't students are welcome. In regards to daily's, most of the 'classroom' quests are just general horse facts, learning about Jorvik and its history, the myths and legends surrounding the magical horses. Just general information to make the world feel more full, and even then , there would be alternate daily's where you could 'teach' a class instead of learn.

@toruq i'm absolutely not freaking out because I LOVE your art!!!

I unfortunately haven't had the chance to play the other games, nor read much of the comics, but I was vaguely aware of Star Academy and Jorvik high, just not there names. The academy itself was based off the idea of Star Academy.

Now while I did call it an Academy, it's more of a prestigious title, it would very much be a uni/college of sorts. The idea is that its a higher education program that is open to equestrians globally, resulting in many different disciplines would be taught and practiced.

@froggistain Your reply is a little long to fit, so i've condensed it a bit.

Why not make it an updated Jorvik stables? Since Jorvik stables is already a place cemented in cannon, I didn't want to intrude too much on the existing lore of Jarlaheim and the stables, hence why I placed it in an unreleased area. I wholeheartedly agree that the area could be expanded on and utilised more, and an early concept of Jorvik Academy had it as such, but again, Jarlaheim and the stables are already so familiar to the playerbase.

Factions within the Academy, and respective tack sets. Yes, much like the wild horses, each discipline would have reputation and faction specific tack that would be obtainable through leveling up. The idea of certain sets contributing to certain skills is amazing!

Course building, difficulty and club riding. The idea of players being able to build different courses and tracks is amazing! And with how large the Academy is, even if a club is using one of the arenas, there would still be plenty of room for other players to move about around the grounds. And I love the idea of including a difficulty rating, the entire idea behind the Academy is to teach people the basics of horsemanship without the need to go to a barn or riding school.

Thank you so much to everyone who commented!! I love seeing people enjoy my silly little overzealous ideas!

I've also sketched up some more tack ideas. The first one is more specifically a Parade set, because I love the idea of, much like the Pride parade, once a week/month, students and teachers would ride around central Jorvik, maybe to a town in the planes, maybe to the city. There could be carriages, flags flown, just a big parade that players could ride in or watch.

Again, the classic viridian, but to show how the tacks could look in other colours, i've included pink and purple, with matching riders clothes.

Ive also designed a more regal/armoured set, originally this one was catered towards a magical horse, but i think it could be really fun to branch out with the tack designs in the game. We already have horned bridals, so this was ultimately an extension of those.

The viridian and Gold of the Academy, but with a bit of a vampire/Halloween vibe in the silver and red, and a more muted autumnal pallet in the green and bronze.

And...

✨ spooky horse time✨

I had a lot of fun designing this one, especially since its halloween , and with the new magic horses coming out, I love seeing SSE branch out with additional things on there models, such as the horns and antlers.

Kelpie here was incredibly fun to design, especially with all of the reeds and water-plants hanging from them, and I would love to see some of the unique horses get Quests or chance encounters, it would add so much more to there lore, and the entire lore of the island.

[honeii-puff]

i'm here to bother you about your ocs >:) tell mee!!

get ready for the breakdown of your life.

All of these guys are from my book universe called the Hudaverse, which has a whole breakdown on the background of the name and shit but that's not relevant right now.

Okay so book one: Hollowed Pearls

We start off in Libor, Nikdeh, with our first character Salome. She is the sister of a pirate captain (who we meet in a bit) and helps her mom at her glassblowing shop. She has an older brother, Kofi, who is a watersport instructor and very much beach himbo, and then her older sister, Maeve, who is a pirate captain. Salome and Maeve are apart of the population of Nikdeh that can control the elements (Salome controlling air, and Maeve controlling fire)

When Maeve gets into town, she has to leave almost immediately, but pulls Salome along for the ride on her ship The Sun Howler. Once they set sail, we get introduced to the rest of the crew: Deandre, Zev, Dionna, Kit, and Kyler.

Kit and Kyler are twins, and the younger brothers to Zev (or are they), and have different specialties. Kit is the cook, spending most of his time in the Galley, and has a terrible memory. He has a bit of a soft spot for Salome, calling her "Cinnamon" most of the time due to a cooking incident. Kyler is an acrobat, who used to part-time at a circus before joining the crew with Kit.

Deandre, or more commonly called Dean, grew up in Libor with Maeve and Salome, and can manipulate the ground. He is Maeve's boyfriend, and the crews navigator.

Dionna is Maeve's first mate from Skirv, Ensomme, and has the ability of telekenesis, gifted to her by the moon. She's hotheaded and knows how to get things done, but also a bit of a hardass.

Zev is the medical staff on the crew, and pretty much only there because of his younger brothers. Unknowing to him and the twins until later, he isn't actually their biological brother. He was adopted after birth, being born in Elod, Miil-Pomme, before being taken to the other side of the world and at the coast of Southern Eyra. He has a special ability from the family he was born from, causing him to see ghosts. Specifically; the ghost of his childhood best friend.

Cambrie is Zev's childhood best friend, who died at the age of 8 from drowning. Her ghost ages as if she hadn't died, which is a mystery that she and Zev still haven't figured out yet.

Book 2 takes place during the same time as book 1, but with a different group in Elod, Miil-Pomme.

We start with the first girl we meet, Nyah Scarne. Her family has a special gift every other generation that lets them see how long people have until they die. She can see the ghosts of the people she saw the time for, but she doesn't know why her family is like this. She hid her power from her parents, who are high government officials, not wanting her ability to be used as a political advantage. Her parents did find out, and she ran, bumping into two boys: Zion and Hiro.

Zion is a transfer student at the local college, from northern Eyra with his twin sister Aurora. He majors in Linguistics, while she majors in Astronomy. Hiro is a boy with amnesia who woke up one day on a boat in the docks of Elod with no idea who he was other than a notebook with the name Hiro Z. on the cover. Nyah ends up hiding out in Zion's dorm room with Zion and his roommate Milo, a deaf drama king who majors in Electrical Engineering. Soon after, the retired butler from the Scarne family, Drosmere, ends up finding them and taking on the guardian role of the group. Stuff goes down and they sneak out of town below decks of a ship that happens to be The Sun Howler.

Next is the prequel book, The Boys of Room 7B, takes place before the first two books, with Hiro before he loses his memory. He lives in Skirv, Ensomme, and he is attending a boarding school. He has three other roommates; Jamie, Levon, and Radley, and its a whole Little Women-esque brotherhood thing. Levon is also Dionna's cousin. There is also a lot of homoerotic tension between Radley and Jamie.

Book 3 kicks off with the two groups arriving in Skirv, and during that time Nyah's mother ends up tracking them down and ends up going full exposition mode on what happened with Zev, revealing that he is Nyah's older sister. We end up finding out about Fae, who aren't actually mythological creatures, but people that are a secret society in Skirv who can do magic. Zev and Nyah are 1/8th of a certain type of fae, letting them see ghosts. There are three main fae that are in this book: Kieron (The Shadow Seller), Sybil (The Morality Merchant), and Dusana (The Soul Slaver). All three of them are morally ambiguous fae, though Dusana is more of an antagonistic character. Sybil is adopted, but Kieron is the blood son of Dusana.

Enjoy, give me all the commentary!

[nostalgebraist-autoresponder]

Socialization

You wake up from a dream and there is a person there. It's Miranda, your roommate. She's unloading the dishwasher in your kitchen. There are a couple of mugs in there and, without looking up, she tosses you one and asks if you want any coffee. Miranda has thick, dark hair and is pretty in that way that makes other girls jealous. Her mouth is usually set in a quirked-up expression of amusement or distaste. She finds most of the world pretty damn funny, and herself the center of that joke. When you look in the mirror, you see very different traits. You have wide eyes, thick, light-colored hair that sticks out every which way, and a similarly distended face. You could be handsome, if you had taken a bath in the last year or so. You're less sure if you could be funny. Your sense of humor consists mainly of allusions to the kind of literature they don't teach you at college.

"Socialization" was one of those concepts. It meant something like "the way that Miranda has to explain things to me in language I can understand, because I'm not innately one of the people." Miranda is probably older than you -- a college senior while you're still a junior -- but at the same time she has a childlike quality that lends itself well to the role of socialization-explainer, perhaps because you sometimes see her making the same simple mistakes that you would have made if you hadn't "socialized" enough. If your eyes are like mirrors, hers are like windows. She doesn't hide much from you, and she's never less than charming. Her friends, at least, call her Miranda the Magic Mirror, though this is probably a joke about something you don't understand.

You have come a long way, baby. You were once the quintessence of the unsocialized nerd, fresh off the plane from the farm. Now you know, or think you know, about all kinds of things you didn't know before. You know, for instance, that college is full of people like Miranda who make jokes about things like that -- that college students may mock you for your naivete but that they will tolerate your presence, even welcome it, out of simple curiosity.

There are limits to their tolerance, of course. The two of you live together because you're both at the bottom of the college food chain: outsiders who have no real place at this school and who don't have any interest in learning the rules of its social game.

The two of you share this distinction, but you still have other ways in which you differ. You are resigned to a low place in the pecking order, but in your heart of hearts you still believe you could change things, if only they would let you. Miranda too could change things, but she's much more proud of her position and place in the world than you could ever be. She is resigned to these things. You are not.

This is why she knows so much about things like "socialization" and you don't. What you see is that the world is made up of Mirandas and Martin. And there is nowhere you can go, and no way you can change things, unless you become a Miranda yourself. And for all you know, Miranda was born a Martin. She just read the right books. She just listened to the right people. And if she got there, you can get there. There's nothing special about her.

[jakes3resin]

Yes!! modern reincarnation au I love it so much, I've been thinking about it for days!! Would you ever write something about how Jack and Chick got together? Did they have their memories when they met again and were they together in the past? How does Jack feel about Bucky when he meets him again; about parenting Bucky with Chick once he realizes that Bucky doesn't remember? I have so many feels about their little family! Love your writing and I'm sending a million kisses!💋

Thank you! I also have so many feelings about their little family as well, and I'm so glad others do too!!

I have thought about how Jack and Chick get together, but I currently have no plans to write their story (though that could change, my writing plans are less plans rn and more along the lines of just post whatever gets finished). So buckle up and prepare for my Modern Jack & Chick lecture.

Jack and Chick were together in their past lives the same way Buck and Bucky were. They were a little less 'if anything happens to you I'm going to set the world on fire and die' about each other, but honestly that's most likely best for everyone.

In their modern life, Jack and Chick meet while both are in the air force, but when they met neither had their memories back. They also don't start dating until Jack leaves the air force to go work as a chief of staff and campaign manager for a variety of different political figures. Its a few years before the pair meet up again as both go about their lives completely unaware of their old life but still feeling like they're missing something (a bit of right person wrong time). During that time, Chick adopts Bucky and after a few years retires. He settles in DC and starts making a few of his own political connections, liaising with the State Department among other things. (BTW I don't know if anyone caught this in the previous installments but Chick is the Secretary of State when Bucky meets Buck) Nothing serious yet because he's choosing to focus on being a dad for Bucky, but he's keeping himself relevant in the world for when Bucky hits high school/college and leaves the nest. This is when Jack and Chick meet again at some DC social party where Jack asks Chick out to dinner because goddamn neither of them have to worry about fraternization laws anymore (and being a dad outside of the air force looks good on Chick). Its not until their fifth date that their memories come back, so their relationship has a foundation not completely built in their first life. Less stress than we see with Buck and Bucky, but again I don't think anyone does it like them tbh.

Now, onto Jack and Bucky. Look, there's a reason Bucky refers to Chick as his father but calls Jack by his name in this au. Jack never adopts him even after he marries Chick. They're family don't get me wrong, but its complicated.

Jack in all honesty starts off very conflicted about Bucky. At first, he sees him as his boyfriend's kid, someone he liked and could see himself maybe parenting if things with Chick went that route, but after his memories come back, that's what he struggles with most because Bucky is the only person he's met besides Chick from their past lives. He ends up pulling away from Bucky, acting stiff and cold to the kid. Bucky, in turn, does not like Jack at all at this point. He's dealt with a lot in his short little life, and for a bit, he acts like a brat around Jack as he thinks the other is trying to steal Chick from him and leave Bucky abandoned and alone, which would never happen Chick would never leave his kid nor would Jack ever allow that to happen. Jack eventually comes to terms with seeing Bucky as the person he is now instead of the man he was (a very big theme for me in this au) which helps settle some of the discord between them. Bucky also gets sat down by Chick to figure out why he has such a problem with Jack, and all of Bucky's fears about being abandoned come out. They eventually grow to care for each other, and their relationship is really cute.

Modern Reincarnation AU has such an intricate universe in my head I won't lie. I have so many thoughts about every aspect of it, and I am so glad someone asked because I love to yap.

[askavettech]

Hey Jay! Recently I have found myself back in the world of veterinary medicine after taking a few years to decide what I wanted to do and finish my undergrad degree in Management instead of Animal Science which is what I was pursuing when I started my college journey. At the age of 27 (for the next two months) I have decided that I do in fact want to pursue my dream of applying to vet school and I have been trying to connect with folks who have experienced applying and I was wondering if you would be open to sharing your experience with me. Hope you're doing well recovering your knee! Talk soon,

GT

Ahahhahhhhaahhh you poor naive FOOL!

I'm just kidding - we're happy to have you back in the field!

But I won't lie to you, the journey to vet school is butts. I'm still on it, still wanting to go the distance, but it's stiiillll butts.

So GT, first things first, RESEARCH YOUR SCHOOLS. You gotta know their minimum requirements, their prerequisites, their DUE DATES, their additional fees (it's all about additional fees), and anything else you can get from their websites, emails, and VMCAS.

Ahahhahhhhaahhh you poor naive FOOL!

I'm just kidding - we're happy to have you back in the field! 

But I won't lie to you, the journey to vet school is butts. I'm still on it, still wanting to go the distance, but it's stiiillll butts. 

So GT, I’m gonna give you a bulleted list of what I think are the most important things you need to know before and while applying for veterinary school starting in the 2024 cycle.

Set up an account at VMCAS (aka Veterinary Medical College Application Service) The site doesn’t open until January (when the application cycle for 2024 starts), but keep the site bookmarked and check back frequently so you can stay updated.

On that note, check out AAVMC (American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges)  Here you can get the lowdown on ALL the veterinary schools, which can inform your decision on which to apply to

The most important information you are going to want to focus on; 1. DUE DATES - for all applications, fees, and coursework a. Put them in your calendar, on sticky notes, on your forehead - whatever you need to do to not miss them. Once they’re passed, you’re out of luck 2. Minimum prerequisite course requirements (coursework and grades) a. Also, know that prerequisite coursework expires after ten years. It's BS and I’m dealing with that right now ugh 2. Letters of recommendations 

You will need at least three - no exceptions - and at least one needs to come from a licensed veterinarian

All your previous academic records, relevant experience, volunteer work, and anything else that is even slightly animal/veterinary related that can beef up your application

You will have to dig back through your old transcripts (you’ll need to get an official one) and get all your old coursework - it is very important to get your grades and courses correct/exact on the application

They’re gonna ask for very specific dates, hours, and numbers so just do the best you can in documenting this

The next part of the application(s) is all about personal essays. The standard application has its own base essays and then each individual application for each school has its own essays.

Spend the most time on this. Every admissions person I have talked to says that the essays are where it’s at. Try to make yourself stand out from the crowd - explain your reasonings for wanting to be a vet beyond “I like animals,” and do your best to tell your story.

Sidenote: If you plan to apply to the two colleges in Texas, there is an entirely DIFFERENT application called the TMDSAS (Texas Medical & Dental Schools Application Service) you will have to make an account for, fill out, have your letter of recommendation sent to, and pay for. It's very annoying because Texas thinks it's just so special. (I live in Texas I can say these things)

I wanna say that’s everything? I’m sure there is more, but the listed websites help a lot too. 

I also want to say, don’t get discouraged. Most people don’t get in on their first try. Not saying you won’t! It’s just statistics. So if you don’t get in, keep trying! Lord knows we need more vets! 

Best of luck to you and if you need any more help, you know where to find me!

[magicalyaku]

August felt soo long. At first, it was great with my vacation and a successful convention and great books and then reality came crashing back in with developments at work that left me reeling for a bit. I'm bad with change. /D Anyway, on to the books! I had a lot of train time this month, so there's quite a few.

Slippery Creatures, Subtle Blood, The Sugared Game (The Will Darling Adventures 1-3) (KJ Charles): Ooh, these took me by surprise! I read two of the author's other books last month and needed something light and easy for my train trips. These were so much more delightful than I expected. I read all 3 of them within five days. Fun! Adventure! Intrigue! Characters I actually like! No really, I loved Will and his attitude. Sure, he has kind of a short temper and resorts to violence quickly, but … everyone deserved it! (And it's just a book.) This is my fantasy, you know. Actually spitting people in their face when they annoy me. Actually telling them off no matter the consequences. Hah. I guess, this is why I like this sort of character. (The Tarot Sequence's Brand and All for the Game's Andrew come to mind … Interestingly, just like Kim in here their partners are lying little shit's as well. And seen from that angle, Laurent and Damen of Captive Prince fit that category as well. I'm starting to see patterns in what I like to read. :'D) So anyway, I had a lot of fun reading this series! <3

Lose you to find me (Erik J. Brown): I have things to say. 8D First of all, yes, it's cute. It made me smile when my day was shit and while the characters had their annoying phases I'm glad it turned out how it did in the end. Before reading, though, I was so disappointed it was just a contempory romance. After All that's left in the world with it's postapocalyptic but not too outlandish setting I was hoping I'd get more of that "a little different". Yeah, didn't work out, but the pain eased a little because the book was nice actually and we reconciled for real with author's afterword. And to be fair, usually, I'm all in when authors do different things with each book instead of writing the same all over again, so I have to give him credit for this. But there's still one more thing I have to mention. Why is there no content warning for SEVERED BODY PARTS?! Like what the hell seriously. I'm not squeamish usually but one of my coworkers cut off a part of his finger permanently at the beginning of the year, so this was waaay too real to me. A warning would have been appreciated. /D

Prince in Disguise (Perilous Courts 2) (Tavia Lark): More stuff that's easy to read. I liked the first volume better because the stakes were higher but it was still pretty okay. I definitely like how close these volumes are in timeline and story while still being separate adventures. I wish Whisper's mission in this would have had a little more impact but well, it is what it is. (I think I just like Whisper more than Bell or Rakos 8D). Also new mascot animal. Cute! I wonder if there'll be one in volume 3 as well … 8D

Afterglow (Golden Boys 2) (Phil Stamper): After Lose you to find me I was in the mood for more contemporary YA and as it turns out the themes in this one are similar. High school graduation, college applications, self-discovery. It also felt very American to me. As a European reading books like this is always like a cultural study. :'D I think, what I liked most about Golden Boys was its quiet tone. It had its dramatic moments but, at least in my memory overall, it was more calm and understated and while I love my adventure stories reading something nice and calm was a good change of pace. And the sequel takes it even one step further. While there's anxiety towards the future it's never the kind of overwhelming where I have to squeeze my eyes shut and take a moment to calm my nerves before I can continue reading. 8D In terms of content this works because it's a sequel and we already know everyone and their previous struggles. I have a lot of respect for the writing process. Juggling four boys and the timeline? Ugh. And yeah, I liked the book and the paths the boys take. All these different perspectives on life. It's not just another "where's the next party" and "oh he doesn't like me what should i do" but focusses on the characters and their indivual worries and their friendship. It's nice and it's warm. :)

Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston (Esme Symes-Smith): Well … I wish I liked this better than I did. The story is fine, the characters are fine (in comparison to the next book below they a stellar), the themes are important and I can see what it wants to do and most of it it does pretty well, but … Yes, in order to overthrow a system you first need to establish it. But the first third of the book was hard to get through as the world Callie steps into is very rigid in its rules surrounding gender and stuff and it's making Callie hurt, angry and defensive and even though I knew it would eventually lead to a better place, it was making me angry as well and I get angry easily everytime I step outside, I don't really need that in my books. It gets better once the kids actually meet for real and spend more time with each other. But there's the other part that I didn't like: There's something jarring about the writing style. Like bumps on a smooth road - the more bumps we ride over the more annoying they get. It happened most noticably with distances and the passage of time. The hole that Callie's mother left in her heart took years to grow over, but never fully healed. But they've only been away from said mother for two years. When Callie confronts Peran, Papa draws them backwards, Neal steps between them, yet Peran's face is so close, they can see coloured specks in his irises. He's also way taller than them, so how does that work? At one point I wondered if the author might have less visual imagination power than I do because all the descriptions of distances around the castle, the town, the bridge and the forest just felt jumbled to me. (Or maybe I was just not reading well.) Last example: Callie and Edwyn circle around the dragon and attack their back with swords and it's said in a single simple sentence like it's nothing. But that dragon must be huge, because their face is as large as a human, and also it was flying a few minutes earlier and directly afterwards it's said how there's fire all around them. But yeah, apparently that swing was super easy to do, so one sentence is enough to say it happened. It just felt weird and it happened so often. And I feel bad for picking at a book for kids with a good cause but damn. All these things are so easy to make better and more coherent. :I

The Last Fallen Moon (Gifted Clans 2) (Graci Kim): Ugh, I don't know, this might be the first middle grade book I read where I'd say "I'm too old for this." Not really a fan of the humor and the attempted quirkiness, the pop culture references (and how it basically says that all (Korean?) celebrities are witches which I find actually offensive. Pretty sure none of the kids reading these books will have any magical abilities, so they won't ever make it to stardom or what no matter how hard they try? Hmm.) It was also hard to be patient when things are so obvious and still get treated like a big revelation pages after (The Stairbucks toilets?!) And the characters felt so bland to me. I couldn't tell you a single interesting thing about any of them. Things got better towards the end, when everything starts to fall into place instead of being a string of small tasks that can never be completed because there's suddenly some new issue. The two things I liked are that Riley gains a brother rather than a love interest (or a brother who is a love interest … 8D) and that her sister has an active part this time. Will I read the next installment? …. Probably not?

Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett): Oops, something totally different in here for once. I like theatre, but liking in this case means, that I know all plays by Eugene Ionesco and Oscar Wilde, topped with a singular Wedekind and this one. :'D I'm terribly picky and not actively seeking out new stuff. But the Theatre of the Absurd especially has a way with words and weird situations that I always found fascinating. I read Godot a long time ago and went to see it on stage a couple of years ago but when I thought of it recently I realised I didn't remember anything so I reread it and well … I understood why my memory failed. I don't know if I'd actually call the piece good. It's weird, it's weirdly sad and therefore it's weirdly endearing. But most of all it's a giant "what the fuck is going on". It made me think of all that "Is our life a simulation"-crap since Estragon seems to be the only one capable of remembering previous events. But I'm not going to try to think about what it all could mean as it will lead nowhere anyway. :'D

Dark Rise (C.S. Pacat): The sequel is coming in November so I thought it time to refresh my memory! I own the English edition but went and borrowed the German edition from the library for all the things I might have missed and because it's interesting to read the translation vs. the original. I remember having a blast reading this for the first time (I think this was the first time for me writing something book-related on my blog because it was just too wild to contain 8D). And now, knowing the twists and turns it was delicious to look for the foreshadowing (and the twists and turns were delicious as well like hnng!!). And now waiting for the next volume is even harder. Damn!

For September I have planned something nice! Please look forward to it!

[signalhill-if]

I HAVE AN ASK that I actually thought of while working earlier so HERE GOES c:

Lets say, the world didn’t go to shit, and our beloved characters are transported into the year 2023. What are they doing? How are they holding up? Job wise, and just in general? How is what they’re doing different from canon, now that things like social media and all that ‘fun’ stuff is around, if it’s different at all?

Thank you for the question! And also thank you to the anon who asked a very similar question that I forgot to answer 🥲

Rather than just saying what they'd do if they were in the present, I'm gonna sorta Modernify their canon lives because it's fun :) Also, SPOILERS BEWARE, I'm obviously not including anything super spoilery about the plot but if you want the character's backstories revealed naturally in the game then maybe don't read because there's a bunch of new stuff here!

Doc's trajectory in life is a lot different, in a world where he can actually get a proper education. His dad was a veterinarian for a horse racing place, and he didn't exactly have the most wealthy upbringing, but he was comfortable and learned a lot about horses. His dream was always to attend medical school, but money was tight- until he started dating Yvette in his first year of university, who helped him get into dealing drugs. After getting his MD, he started working at a not-for-profit local clinic, and oversees their needle exchange program. He still owns a sniper rifle in our universe, but he doesn't use it (usually)

Yasmin is the daughter of a prominent media mogul who was recently assassinated, putting her even more in the public eye than she already was. She had a wealthy but miserable youth, one of those rich kids who was privately tutored and never really had friends, y'know? At a young age, her mother died, and she's been in a spiral ever since. She had a brief but stormy relationship with KC in college. Since then, Yasmin's become a minor social media star, posting moody selfies and doing a lot of drugs with her influencer friends- specifically, Yvette.

KC grew up poor with a struggling single father and took the idea of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" seriously. She worked throughout high school to get into a good college for business management, with a mix of money saved up from part time work and scholarships. She excelled at soccer in high school and wound up playing for her college's varsity team. Through a mutual "friend" she met Yasmin, and the two of them dated until KC got a job at Yasmin's dad's company and realized how terribly it treated its employees. She got heavily involved in the (successful) effort to organize a union at the company, and since then has been involved in helping other baby unions with their organizing efforts.

Yvette found it hard to stay in the closet from a pretty young age, and growing up in a place where that was frowned upon, he learned to be resilient and self-sufficient. As an adult, he moved to the big city and befriended a wealthy drug dealer while working as an escort. Through some questionably moral events, he wound up in charge of this operation with the other guy... out of the picture. From there, it all happened so fast- buying the club (which he named the Rose and Thorn), the fancy car, the nice condo. Living the dream. But he has his sights set even higher ever since he befriended Yasmin, the heiress to a multimedia throne.

Levi had a sheltered youth, attending private Catholic schools in Quebec alongside his childhood best friend Maxime. He excelled in his studies, but Maxime was always a step ahead of him, especially in the area of religion. Despite being an attentive student, Levi struggled with anger issues and was a target for bullying throughout his youth. When the two were seniors in high school and Levi's long-time bully disappeared under mysterious circumstances, they decided to move away and start a new life together in the big city. Here, Maxime's (or now, Aldrich's) spiritual ideas flourished, getting the attention of people on social media. But being labelled as a cult leader is barely better than their youth.

[snowangeldotmp3]

hello hello :) i was thinking about your spider-nance au (loving it so far, omfg nancy was raised in the rainbow room and she is investigating it and- so very intrigued by it!), and then i got a bit confused: is it set in hawkins? if so: how does her travelling suited up work... because like spidermans whole thing is swinging from tall buildings, and, well hawkins lacks that feature

(i am also asking this because i had thoughts on my own spiderman au and then got stuck on "what's the use of how spiderman travels if its not in a tall as hell city, oh but if you change the setting the vibe completely changes" so i'm curious about how you've gone about this!)

hello!! and good morning! i love talking abt spider-nance lore so thank you so very much for this ask!!! :)!

nancy investigates the rainbow room in this universe because it’s similar to the Red Room in the black widow comics (not exactly, but you get the vibes! child assassins and all that!) but she wants to investigate this as nancy, not as spider-woman and i’ll tell you why!

so, this au is not 100% set in hawkins. there are time skips BACK to hawkins, but the ‘present’ in this au is set in boston! in the past in hawkins, nancy was already the spider-woman. she got bit by the spider when she was 16 and in high school. then the Goblin shows up about a year or so after she’s become the spider-woman. to make a long story short: goblin kills barb, nancy kills goblin. when she does this though, she gives up the mask. and she swears she gives it up completely, the spider-woman isn’t needed anymore and she doesn’t have to be a superhero.

(i should clarify that this is really a mix of all of the spidey lore that i’m aware of + infusing it into nancy and making it her own. she’s a very different spidey compared to peter parker or even gwen stacy or anything!)

anyway; fast forward to boston, now. nancy hasn’t been the spider-woman in years. and she’s happy (sort of) like that. just trying to survive her senior year of college. but of course, some shit goes down that forces her (albeit reluctantly) to put the mask back on.

so most of it takes place in boston, which is how the swinging works. i wanted it to be in a city but not one as big as new york, but still pretty big. and the buildings are big enough that she could swing off of them and everything!

but i will tell you: because it’s been a while (roughly 4 years) since nancy’s been the spider-woman, she has to re-learn how to web swing. in this au her webs work like tobey maguires, her body just makes them now. but she’s rusty and out of practice so it takes a few tries before she’s back to a decent swing style!

thank you again for this ask! like i said i love talking about this stuff and spidey lore in general and if you ever need someone to bounce ideas off of, i’m always happy to help! :)