#wow blast from the past

[saccharinerose]

ouch, watch the claws (or don't, he seems to like it)

[vertigoartgore]

2024's Action Comics Vol.1 #1067 cover by artist Eddy Barrows, inker Danny Miki & colorist Tomeu Morey.

[zuzuzuko]

Made this a LONG time ago (like four years ago) and never posted it??? Although it's very possible that I posted it on my old art blog that I don't use anymore. Anyways... here's Damian.

I was playing around with just using the polygonal lasso tool in photoshop to make all my shapes! And I'm pretty sure I was using animated movie Damian as reference as you can probably tell.

[willowser-but-nsfw]

this is just. a mess. of sad boy katsuki LOL angsty. not meant to be a sad ending. on this account because i will probably do a little more with it.

"alright, jus' sayin',"

katsuki looks up from the label of his beer, how it's peeling back from the glass with all his anxious fiddling, only to fix kaminari with a heated glare that has the blonde raising his hands in surrender.

"between me and you, she thinks you're not interested."

—and his stomach drops. considerably.

this entire night has been a bust, just as he knew it would be, and if he wasn't so sure that walking out would ruin any and all chances with you then he'd be long gone. filing himself down into something likeable has never been katsuki's strong suit; there's a wicked resentment the size of a wild little blonde boy, one that thrives on being as stubborn as possible in times like these.

kaminari whispers loudly, concealing nothing within the hand he cups around his lips. "you gotta make your move, dude!"

and if the doors to the women's restroom hadn't swung open at that exact moment, then there would have been only tatters left of the sparky little shit. katsuki leans back in their shared booth, wiping the threat of his hands off on his pants before tucking into his shoulder; what little bit of alcohol is in his system already has his face hot, and kaminari's subtlety is only furthering his flush.

it's hell, how aware of you he is.

before moving to acknowledge your return, already he can smell that you've reapplied your perfume—something spicy and dark that has his stomach tightening with a desire he doesn't know what to do with—and upon looking at you, all your features are sharper, brighter. remade, maybe, and the dreary tone of his thoughts has him wondering if he's caused the need, that had you wiping tears from your face because he's a fucking idiot.

you look — katsuki doesn't know the words, because they're too fragile and light for his vocabulary, too soft for his bite, for someone like him to hold; the only comparison he can make is to a dream, how you look in all of his.

but still — he finds himself leaning back into the corner, averting his eyes back down to the wood grain as he traces patternless shapes into the table. the heat of your attention makes his cheeks burn and his stomach flux; isn't it obvious, how nervous you make him? katsuki's sure you must be able to see right through the passive facade he's been trying to front all night. that he's been trying to keep up since he met you.

the blue light of your phone glows in his peripheral vision and when he dares a peek, your lips are in a thin line, withdrawn, before you look up to stare at jirou across the table — who just so happens to receive a chiming notification.

talking about him, most likely. how fucking bad he is at this, which is why he never should have agreed to coming out in the first fucking place. should have just kept his interest in you to himself, all in his head where you were safe and out of reach.

"i'm ready to go." ears says it while openly glaring at him, not softening her attitude in the slightest. denki shrinks, eyes jumping to the ceiling as he loudly slurps on his frilly drink. "do you think you can handle getting your date home, bakugou?"

it sounds an awful lot like a challenge and his jaw locks, nostrils flaring as he withholds from flipping the whole table on her. if it weren't for you being in his way, at the end of the booth, he'd be long fucking gone—

"oh, no, that's okay," your voice is soft when you speak up. defeated, almost, and all his annoyance fizzles out at the absence of a smile on your face. "the train station isn't far. don't worry about it."

and that sounds like doubt, so he grits out, "i can handle it," teeth grinding when ears rolls her eyes. something gets mumbled under her breath and denki pales and you take enough of a hint to step out of the booth, eyes on the ground as he shuffles past.

it's not until everyone is outside that you even say anything, hugging jirou too long, whispering in a too-low tone meant just for her. whatever it is earns you a sympathy that makes your eyes shine, and katsuki has to turn away before all the yeast and sugar brewing in his stomach comes back up. if he's made you fucking cry, then he'll never—

"sorry that we dragged you out," you've caught up quicker than he expected and finally, finally, you smile at him — but it's dim, and katsuki knows it's due to more than just a busted streetlamp. looks twice as heavy as it was when you first spotted him tonight, going so far as to leave your seat in order to meet him at the door, only to have him shy away from the hug you'd tried to offer.

a car blows by with the wind and katsuki feels the hands of time ticking away from him; how many nights has he laid awake, wondering what it would feel like to have you? just to touch, just to hold. all for himself.

and now he's fucking up his only chance.

what he should tell you is that he's been looking forward to this night all week, that he spent way too long picking out his clothes and fucking with his hair, that he even broke into whatever designer-brand cologne his old man got him last christmas.

but instead he shrugs, stares at the snow flurries collecting on your shoulder and mumbles, "wouldn't have come if i didn't wanna."

it's not the answer either of you were looking for, but it placates you some, enough that the smile on your face lifts with sincerity. katsuki loses himself in its curve and the apple of your cheeks, how cozy you look all bundled up for the winter; his stomach drops, hard, at the inescapable fact of just — how pretty you are, looking at him like that. intrigued, even after the failure tonight has been.

the hope in his chest thins out and he's taken back to your first meeting, at some show of ears'; intrigued then, too, but you were blind to the ugliness of his insecurities, his indecision. back then you didn't know that it would be like this, that he wouldn't be able to open himself up even a little fucking bit—

"i'm really glad you did," you say, raw and unafraid. "i like spending time with you, y'know?"

and what katsuki should say is that he likes spending time with you, too. enjoyed it since that first night, sitting far down the table from you, snickering to himself at the sharp-witted sarcasm sparkplug was constantly on the receiving end of. funny is a trait he doesn't find often, not in just anybody, and you're loved by the people closest to him and you don't know who he is or who he was and it's like a new beginning; katsuki can be whoever he wants to be, with you, and not just the worn remnants of an angry, vengeful child soldier and yet he's just — fucking it up.

"sorry," you laugh once to break the silence that's found its way back to the two of you, twisting your lips to one side so that the corners won't fall. "ah, i'm being so weird, huh? sorry."

"no, you—" his teeth grind as he thinks, hurried, though it seems like the harder he searches for the words, the faster they slip away. "it's—"

"i keep telling kyouka that she definitely read this wrong," the soles of your shoes scratch across the sidewalk and he thinks you've finally decided to abandon him, but you're just staring up at the high-rise buildings of downtown. blinking heavy, anywhere but here. "maybe now she'll finally get off my case about this."

this: him and his inability, his unwavering fear of coming up short. it's been a long time since he's had to meet someone new, had to hook them and keep them. all the shits in his inner circle planted themselves there against his will; katsuki doesn't know how to try, because he's never had to, not at this. there are very — very — few people whose approval he's ever needed, and wanting for it has never been anything short of painful.

it's okay, he tells himself — but it's toshinori's voice that echoes. it's okay to let people in.

another car goes by, another minute wasted; katsuki grunts, digging his fingers into his eyelids before frowning at you. at the zipper on your jacket, so he doesn't have to witness your disappointment any longer. "'s'why they need to stay the hell out of my business." his discomfort dissolves into irritation and makes itself known in his voice and in his scowl, the way everything does. "then shit like this wouldn't have to fuckin'—"

"it's okay, bakugou, really." you offer a wooden smile, the kind you have to hang up with nails. "you should head home, i don't want to keep you out any longer."

"i already told you i wouldn't—" the edge of his temper flares, reins coming loose. "if i didn't wanna be here, then—"

"seriously," you interrupt, "i'm a big girl, it's fine if you're not interested."

"that's not—" the snap of his teeth rattles his jaw, a muzzle over a wild animal; the bakugou he doesn't want you to meet is making his way out, ill-tempered and too sensitive for his own good. "there's no—fuck. look, i ain't stupid enough to believe that dunce face doesn't tell his little girlfriend every goddamn thing i say about you, so no, ears didn't read shit wrong."

(but maybe this is the only way to get the words out.)

katsuki sighs and steps back, inhaling the harsh december air until his lungs hurt. it's the most he's spoken all night and it's become the hardest thing he's had to say. "i just—don't—fuckin' know."

how to fix this. how to keep you. how to let the cracks in his foundation spread, until they're wide enough to slip past.

quietly, you nod, as if you could possibly understand the disaster of him. as if maybe you'd want to. headlights shine in the city-sheen of your eyes and his heart throbs, literally; how many times has he stared into nothing, wishing to know what it felt like to have you look at him like he was something more than he is? something better?

"what is it you don't know about?"

what he wants. how this will end. the depth this scar will wear into him. and— "you."

finally, finally, you smile at him again and it's as soft as you are warm. as safe as you are terrifying.

"do you want to? know about me?"

and what he should say is yes. what he wants to say is teach him, please, because if he has to go another night wondering if he really is better off behind his walls, he'll crumble. collapse back into himself. if he keeps looking at you as the battle and not the victory, then he'll never survive.

—but instead another car passes, and only silence follows in its wake.

[marigoldbaker]

wrote some original fiction look at that!!! have been thinking very loosely about writing the bakery ladies in a modern setting, and a love interest for marigold keeps insisting i give her some attention, so i gave her some today. :)

amazing news for all: this DOES read completely fine without any context! it's a standalone. soooo if u wanna meet my girls but have found the new fandom confusing: meet them now!

~~~

Marigold hadn’t actually been expecting to find anyone else under the table. She’d sort of been hoping for the opposite: a people-free location, somewhere that no one was looking at, where she wouldn’t be surrounded by a thousand incredibly thin people wearing as little as possible because they didn’t have any reason to feel like an overstuffed sausage when they wore a glorified bra to a social engagement. And she wasn’t one of those thin-girls-who-thought-they-were-fat-but-were-really-just-charmingly-curvy, either–she had cellulite, she couldn’t ever find anything in a Target, and stretch marks covered her hips and breasts and upper arms in such a way that low-rise jeans and corset tops wouldn’t have looked half as charming on her, at least in her estimation. 

Not that the size of the people here was what had Marigold under the table–no, that was just what she’d been thinking bitterly about for the first fifteen minutes of the party, as soon as effortlessly beautiful Evie had shown up with equally effortlessly beautiful Amara, both of them looking practically emaciated, both of them wearing the sorts of things that Marigold had sort of thought people only wore for Instagram photos. And absolutely everyone at the party was beautiful, too, of course, with Marigold easily the biggest girl there, never mind that she didn’t know anyone there, because she still didn’t know a single meaningful thing about Evie. 

Evie had swanned off immediately once it was clear that Marigold was “settled in,” or at least “settled in” by her definition, which mostly seemed to mean “physically present.” Marigold suspected that she was off with Amara, or with one of the many boys bearing down on her like they could smell blood in the water. That was the sort of thing that was supposed to concern a sister, wasn’t it? Would have, if it was Marigold getting flirted with at a strange party and Roslin and Lenora lingering reprovingly in the corner–but Roslin and Lenora would never have left her alone at one of these, and Evie had, which was maybe the difference between adoptive and biological sisters. Wonderful to find that out now.

So Marigold had stayed standing there, awkwardly, and made excruciating conversation with people she hadn’t wanted to talk to, because she’d come here to talk to Evie, to spend time with Evie, to learn more about a sister who she’d lost and somehow found again, only to find that the feeling wasn’t mutual and Evie really just wanted to go be social with another party-goer in the host’s bathroom. And she wouldn’t have ducked under the table if not for the fact that one of the party-goers had asked, “Wait, you’re Evie’s sister? That chick she’s always talking about who got, like, murdered or some shit?” at which point Marigold had found herself so blazingly angry at Evie that she’d known she couldn’t talk to anyone at the party anymore.

Hence: table! Not the world’s most normal hiding place, but most of the party-goers were drunk enough that no one was looking very hard for Marigold. She’d seen a flutter of movement under the tablecloth, remembered that one of the hosts had mentioned a cat, decided that mortification was better than fielding even one more question about a story no stranger had any right to (and no sister had any right to tell). So she had ducked under the table, and she had found her eyes locked with eyes so green they seemed to glow in the dark.

Marigold said the only thing she could think of. “Is this seat taken?”

The eyes blinked. The face they belonged to was pale and sallow, possibly East Asian–though of course, Marigold, being something of a mix of things herself, had never been very good at ascertaining where anyone else hailed from, which made guessing probably not a good idea. The girl had long, dark hair, blacker than even the dim light around them, and she was wearing thick-framed black glasses that only added to the large luminescence of her eyes. She didn’t say anything, just tucked her feet in so that Marigold could shift all the way under the table.

Marigold never did well with silences, and she wasn’t really sure how to fill this one. What did the standard social contract have to say about dinner table conversation when one or both party members found themselves under it? “Do you, um.” She smiled awkwardly. “Come here often?”

The small smile that danced across the girl’s face immediately settled Marigold’s nerves. Anyone who smiled at an awful joke like that would probably be a very permissive conversationalist, which Marigold always needed in a conversation partner; her mouth ran on and she wasn’t very good at stopping it when it started. 

“I’m Marigold,” Marigold offered.

The girl raised a hand and waved. She was wearing quite a lot of rings and none of them matched. More than a few were the cheap plastic sort one might get as an arcade prize. She said something, barely a whisper, but the music was loud enough that even a whisper would have been impossible to hear.

“Sorry?”

The girl bit her lip. She leaned forward. At normal volume, she said, “Beetle.”

“...Beetle?” repeated a bemused Marigold.

The girl jerked her thumb towards her chest.

“Oh, you’re Beetle?”

The girl smiled again. She was wearing lipstick, Marigold noted, blood-red, but with a blackish undertone that made her look positively gothic. There were really quite a lot of things to look at when it came to this girl; it felt like Marigold could spend more than just a few centuries looking at her, and still have places she wanted to keep looking. Mostly the eyes. Her lashes were sharp and thin, like spider legs.

“I’m Marigold,” said Marigold, winced, and said, “I think I said that already.”

Beetle moved forward a bit more. Stared at Marigold, unblinking. Marigold felt pleasantly unmoored and incredibly aware of how pretty this girl was. Was this the sort of party where people kissed each other? Marigold was a bit too sober for drunken kissing, but maybe Beetle was drunk and wanted to kiss her. She didn’t smell like alcohol. She smelled…sort of like hand sanitizer. A lot of hand sanitizer. 

Beetle moved back again, still staring, still smiling. Clearly this interaction appeared to be going successfully, at least from her perspective, which was a baffling relief. Marigold was fairly certain all she’d done was say her own name and usurp Beetle’s solitary hiding place.

There was a crash from the living room, followed by raised voices. Marigold flinched involuntarily.

Beetle’s hand rested on her shoulder, feather-light, as if waiting for permission to close her fingers and hold Marigold all the way. It was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one; Marigold liked very much when people touched her, though she wasn’t always sure how much touching was allowed between people who barely knew each other. She shrugged her shoulder up a bit so that it connected more firmly with Beetle’s hand, which made Beetle smile again, reassuringly, and tighten her grip just enough to make it less of a hovering question.

“It’s a bit loud,” Marigold confessed.

Beetle nodded emphatically. 

“Do you think anyone will notice if we, I don’t know,” Marigold glanced furtively at the moving feet around them, “leave the table and go somewhere else?”

Beetle said, “Oh, I don’t care. I don’t know these people.”

Her voice, while warm, was somehow a lot lower than Marigold had expected–a warm alto voice. This, too, Marigold liked immensely. She let Beetle steer her out from under the table, made brave by Beetle’s hand on her upper arm. A few people by the table stepped back, alarmed and bemused, and Beetle fixed them with a hard look that held nothing of the still, sweet curiosity she’d shown Marigold under the table, which made Marigold like her even more.

Evie was kissing Amara on the sofa. Marigold turned her eyes away, towards Beetle, as they stepped quietly outside.

The street was silent save for the muffled sounds from the party indoors. It was chilly, but pleasantly so; Marigold hadn’t brought a jacket, and didn’t half regret it. She liked the cold. 

Beetle said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you at one of these before.”

“So you don’t know these people, but you’ve been here enough times to know I’m new to this?”

“I live upstairs,” said Beetle. “They mostly just invite me to be nice. I came today because it’s November and I have a shit-ton of discount Halloween candy that I didn’t know what to do with, so I was just like, hey, why not give it to a bunch of drunk people and keep it from cluttering up my room forever?”

“Where did you get the discount Halloween candy?”

Beetle smiled. “At the grocery store.”

“Too much to just eat yourself?”

“I have little siblings,” said Beetle. “I was putting together a care package to send to them in California, but I guess I sort of overestimated how much Halloween candy was gonna be in those bags. You know how usually they fill potato chip bags only halfway? Kinda thought the Halloween candy bags would be like that. Or maybe I wasn’t really paying attention. I don’t know.”

Marigold asked, shyly, “Do you still have candy left over, or would we have to go back into the party to get it?”

“I got like seven bags,” said Beetle. “I think I brought four down. I left three upstairs because I felt like I might need them for something.” She shrugged, then smiled. “I guess it’s this?”

“You’re awfully nice, you know,” said Marigold.

“Not a lot of people tell me that,” said Beetle.

“Well, you are! I wouldn’t give my candy away to a stranger, if I had any–”

“Oh, please. You’re not a stranger. We’re under-the-table buddies. That’s basically like the antisocial shut-in version of brothers-in-arms.”

Marigold was opening her mouth to say something else when a car across the street honked its horn, once, twice, three times, with particular urgency. She recognized the sound immediately. Turning slowly, she exhaled through her teeth with exasperated frustration. “Oh, hold on,” she said, and crossed the street.

“No no no don’t come over here!” shrieked Roslin from the front seat. “We’re not here! We’re–Mom, why would you do that?!”

Thea said, “Bunny, did Evie leave you at that party by yourself? I keep saying–”

“Did you follow me here?!” Marigold demanded. 

“We came along to try to stop her,” said Lenora, who was sitting in the backseat with Sofie in her lap. She added, somewhat redundantly, “Didn’t work.”

Sofie babbled. Marigold said, “You brought Sofie?! It’s well past her bedtime! And you know I’ve been trying to get her on that regular sleep schedule–”

“Couldn’t find a babysitter,” said Thea.

“One of you could have stayed home! I told you,” Marigold continued indignantly, “I said it was fine, and it is, and I don’t need some sort of police escort if I want to go and spend some time with my sister–”

“I don’t like the look of some of the people that girl trusts,” said Thea ominously.

“You don’t like the look of anyone, Mommy,” said Marigold, even though she did actually agree. “Butt out.”

“Will you need a ride home?” said Thea. “Don’t see Evie round.”

Marigold had, in fact, come to the party with Evie, and her phone was still the old flip phone that Thea had gotten all of them because Thea didn’t believe in smartphones, so calling an Uber wasn’t really an option for her in the same way that it would have been were her mother, oh, remotely fucking normal about anything. But the thing about Thea was that because Marigold couldn’t call an Uber, Thea would also do things like this, which, annoyingly, pretty much balanced things out.

She said, “You came to give me a ride home?”

“Case you needed one,” said Thea. “Parties run late for girls your age. And you don’t go to these things often.”

Marigold said awkwardly, “Well, I’m–sort of going to go get Halloween candy from this girl’s apartment?”

Lenora sat up straighter, staring incredulously. Roslin said, “Bunny, how are you even a real person. Oh my god. She’s literally going to kidnap you.”

“I am twenty years old,” said Marigold.

“They’re going to–” Roslin was starting to laugh. “They’re going to have to put your face on the fucking milk cartons. You’re going to be the first ever college student to get kidnapped the same way they get kindergarteners. You would literally get into an unmarked van for candy. This is why we’ve gotta drive out with the baby at butt o’clock in the morning and make sure you’re not getting yourself roofied or something!”

Thea stiffened. Marigold said, “Rosie, do not say roofied in front of Mom?”

“You’re the one saying I’m going to get Halloween candy from this girl’s apartment in front of Mom!”

Marigold glanced over her shoulder. Beetle was standing across the street. The March family was pretty historically good at being really loud for no reason, which meant that there was a less-than-zero chance she’d heard all of that, even with the distance. “Look, just–wait in the car, I’ll call you,” she said.

“Not even slightly,” said Thea. “You’ll get the candy and you’ll come home.”

“I am twenty years old! Mom–”

“You’ve got class in the morning and you’re not taking the train before it’s light out, which you’ll have to do to get to campus on time. We’ll wait out here to drive you home.”

“God,” said Marigold, “fine,” even though she wasn’t really all that mad and they all knew it. Having a family who drove across town just to make sure you got home safe wasn’t always a guarantee. She leaned in through the open window and pressed a firm kiss to Thea’s cheek. “I love you, mommy.”

“My bunny,” said Thea. Her hand passed gently over Marigold’s hair. “Evie been good to you?”

Marigold didn’t really want to answer that question. She squeezed Thea’s hand and hoped that this would count as a response. 

Lenora said, “If she turns out to be a total bitch, we’ll stab her.”

“Do not talk about stabbing in front of the baby,” said Marigold immediately. She turned back towards the lit-up house and the too-loud music, picking up the pace. 

Beetle was still standing there, waiting. She said, “Cute family!” in a tone of voice that was decisively amused without being mocking, which Marigold liked. 

“They brought the baby out at whatever the fuck time it is,” said Marigold tiredly, “just to make sure I was fine, which I am. You’re not going to, like, take me up to your apartment and murder me with your Halloween candy, right?”

“I’m thinking of calling it Death By Chocolate,” said Beetle, straight-faced. Marigold snorted. “Bummer you’ve gotta go, though. Kinda felt like we should get to know each other.”

“Really?” said Marigold. Her heart flipped over.

Beetle smiled, that eerie, lovely smile, and said, “You ever just feel like maybe you’re supposed to know someone?”

Yes. No. Sort of. Marigold had felt that way about Thea, Roslin, Lenora, very much Sofie, but it hadn’t felt like this. “You could be wrong,” she said, carefully.

“Okay, yeah, I could be,” Beetle gamely agreed, turning on her heel to head back towards the house. Marigold followed. “Tell me about yourself.”

They walked through the front garden, everything halfway wet the way it always was on that kind of a cold November night. Beetle didn’t take the front door in, instead weaving carefully towards the side of the house and a rickety set of stairs leading up to an upstairs apartment. Plants, Marigold noticed: she had a whole bunch of plants in pots on the landing outside the apartment, which felt a lot like their home and all the plants Ros was always fussing over. Maybe that was one of those supposed-to-know-her feelings right there. 

“Well, I’m Marigold,” she said. “Marigold Baker. I mean, technically Marigold Riverborn, but that’s way too long a story to tell this early in the relationship, probably, so let’s just say Marigold Baker for now. I’m in culinary school—”

“Marigold Baker in culinary school?” said Beetle—again, laughing, but without any malice to it. “I’m kind of obsessed with you already. Keep going.”

Marigold grinned at her shoes, darting her eyes back up as they climbed the stairs. Beetle’s miniskirt rode up a little and showed off a rip in her fishnets, higher up her thigh. “I’m in culinary school,” she continued, “because I want to be a pastry chef, like, licensed and everything. My mom Thea runs a body shop and I think it would be super great if I could figure out a way to make it a body shop that also serves cupcakes. We kind of have to look into all the different business things we’d have to do for that? And Thea’s money’s still tied up in the divorce, which is—so not something I’m supposed to be talking about. Do not tell her I said anything.”

“Sure,” said Beetle, mouth twitching. “I kind of haven’t met your mom, so I feel like that might not be too hard?”

“Well, if we’re supposed to know each other and you’re obsessed with me, it stands to reason that you will meet my family,” Marigold pointed out, “them being my beating heart and all.”

“Oh,” said Beetle, “you’re one of those family-is-everything girls! Kinda dig it.”

What a complicated sentence. “I’m…adopted,” said Marigold carefully; it was not the whole story, but it was as much as she gave out. “As are my sisters. So, yes, they all mean a lot to me. We sort of chose each other.”

Beetle tilted her head thoughtfully. “Neato,” she finally said.

“What about you?” Marigold asked. “Is family everything?”

Beetle’s easy smile flickered. She said, “I’ve got a brother and a sister and I send them a shit-ton of candy whenever I can, like I said.”

Marigold knew the cadence of a half-truth. She didn’t press—just watched Beetle unlock the door.

The apartment was wallpapered, and poorly, in an intricate black-and-emerald pattern that made the space feel even darker than it probably was. Beetle turned on the lights to reveal that the walls were covered in photo frames. “Bugs,” she said cheerfully.

Marigold scanned the walls, a fascinated smile stealing across her face. Every framed photo was of a different insect—some of them drawings, some photographs, some scientific diagrams, all with a small identifying label attached to the frame. “Beetle!” she said, delighted.

“Yeah, it’s actually Beatrice, but Beetle feels like a better opening statement,” Beetle supplied. “Makes people go oh, okay, all the bugs make total sense, rather than whoa, that chick’s got so many bugs in her house! Is Marigold your name, or is it just ‘cause, you know, the hair?”

Marigold twined a red curl cheerfully around her finger. “Marigold is really my name!” she assured Beetle.

“Does anyone ever call you anything else?”

“Mari, usually.”

“How do you feel about Goldie?” Marigold’s nose crinkled. Beetle threw up her hands and said, “Mari it is. Or, I don’t know, what about Riri?”

Marigold felt a slimy shudder run through her. Face perfectly composed, she said, “My sister’s boyfriend calls her Riri. So.”

“Oh, which sister?” said Beetle with interest.

“...The one who invited me to this party,” said Marigold.

Beetle waited. When Marigold did not supply any further information, she said, with a note of friendly and deliberate finality, “Sounds complicated,” and moved further into the apartment. “Do you have, I don’t know, an Instagram or something? I kinda want to send you this artist I follow. I feel like you might really like her work.”

“...No,” said Marigold awkwardly. “My mom’s sort of got a whole Luddite thing going on. Like, right down to all the machinery-smashing.”

Beetle said, “You know the Luddites were just trying to go for job security, right? Not the worst thing to have happening.”

Marigold grinned a bit. “My mom is big on job security,” she agreed. “And also fucking up computers.”

“You should get an Instagram.”

“I use my sister’s. I’ll give you hers.”

“Your party sister?”

“No,” Marigold giggled, mostly because she wasn’t sure what else to do, “the sister in the car. Um, one of them. Roslin.”

Beetle was rummaging in a cabinet. She pulled out a large orange bag, handing it to Marigold, and said, “Take it. No razor blades, swear to God.”

Marigold opened the bag and laughed out loud. There wasn’t a trace of any name-brand candy—rather, the bag was full of themed chocolate, milk and dark and white chocolate insects in a variety of shapes and sizes. “You’ve got a really consistent aesthetic!” she observed. “So you just send a whole bunch of chocolate bugs to your siblings, usually?”

“Nah, they get the name-brand stuff,” said Beetle. “This candy’s what I bring out for the cute girls.”

Marigold blinked, nervously, and kept her smile on her face, not entirely certain what to say next. An affirmation, possibly? It wasn’t as though she hadn’t been considering it, only that as soon as it was on the table, it felt objectively terrifying. She wondered if her reticence would be read the wrong way and the candy would be put back in the cabinet. She hoped it wouldn’t.

Beetle’s smile softened a little and she ducked her head. “But if you want the name-brand candy,” she started.

“Probably it would be a bit easier to transport,” said Marigold awkwardly. “This is a full bag of unwrapped chocolate, and I really don’t want to take all of your good bugs home.”

“A good bug going with a good bug,” said Beetle, solemnly.

“I have no idea what that means.”

Beetle took the orange bag away and handed Marigold a fun-sized bag of Snickers bars. She said, “It’s seriously fucked up that I don’t have a party mix bag on me; this thing is depressingly uniform. Oh, fuck, are you allergic to nuts?”

Marigold shook her head.

“God. Good. Should have asked about food allergies before I just started handing you shit.” Beetle smiled again, self-deprecatingly. “Snickers okay? I might have some other stuff if you wanna see.”

Marigold didn’t care one way or the other. She liked this beautiful, strange liminal space she’d stepped into, where she was suddenly an almost-grown-up holding a bag of Halloween candy with a new friend who thought she was pretty. She wanted to stay in it a bit longer.

“What do you have?” she asked.

Beetle turned back towards the cabinet. “Uh, Three Musketeers, Butterfingers, and this one’s kinda polarizing, but a whole bunch of York peppermint pies.”

“What’s polarizing about peppermint?”

“I knew this guy who said it was like eating a bunch of toothpaste. Almost put me off it for a year or two before I forgot I totally love eating toothpaste.” Beetle shifted the bag down. “Is that a yes to the peppermint?”

“Norie loves peppermint,” said Marigold.

“Okay, but they’re for you. Do you like peppermint?”

Marigold blushed, and smiled again. “...Yes to the peppermint.”

“And because I’m kinda thinking maybe you end up giving all of them to Norie,” said Beetle, “because you’ve got that kinda sparkly-sweet thing going on, I’m going to give you the Three Musketeers too and say those are for your mom and your sisters, and the peppermint’s literally just for you.” She considered. “Two are for Norie, who I’m guessing is…your other sister?”

“My other sister!” Marigold brightly confirmed.

“So which one brought you to the party?”

Marigold thought about Evie, almost certainly throwing herself at someone who wasn’t her insufferably slimy boyfriend, and her jaw clenched.

Beetle didn’t ask again. “That enough candy for you?”

“Almost too much!” said Marigold.

“No such thing as too much candy,” said Beetle firmly. “At least not if you’re starting from zero. I’m starting from seven bags; I’ve gotta offload some of this shit.” She took a handful from the orange bag, pressing a collection of half-melted bugs into Marigold’s hand. “Take at least a few. Y’know, as, like, a token of my affection, or whatever.”

She was blushing a little, which showed up really easily on her pale face. Marigold felt a sense of profound satisfaction that her own golden-brown skin didn’t redden half as visibly. “Thanks for the beetles, Beetle,” she said, which made them both smile. “Can you actually hold onto them for a second, though? I’m going to give you—”

“Your sister’s Instagram?”

Smooth and sweet, Marigold said, “My number.”

“Oh, shit, okay!” said Beetle. Her blush deepened and she smiled in a way that was much more silly and excited. “Sure! But I do want your sister’s Insta too, because that thing in your pocket is super obviously a flip phone, and I’m one of those long texters.”

“I’ll just make an Instagram and text you,” said Marigold. “The handle is—”

“—no, man, you gotta check to see if it’s available before you—”

“Marigold underscore Baker underscore Tasty underscore Pastry underscore Nature apostrophe S no space Masterpiece.”

Beetle bit her lip, clearly trying not to laugh, and said, “Dude, that is not gonna work with the character limit. Just give me your sister’s for now so we don’t have to call each other like old people.”

Marigold pressed the melting chocolate into Beetle’s hands. It felt sort of like a kiss, somehow—wet and sticky and silly. Full of warm honesty. There was a magnetic whiteboard on the fridge, a schedule written out in neat handwriting. “Is it okay if I—”

“Go ahead, man!”

Marigold wrote her phone number, and Roslin’s Instagram underneath, then added, in parentheses, Marigold Baker the Party Girl, with a little heart next to it. She liked the thought of existing as Marigold Baker the Party Girl on someone’s fridge. She wondered if Beetle would do what she’d do were their positions reversed, and just never erase it, letting the erasable marker dry into that permanent foreverness that was the worst thing ever to clean. 

Beetle said, “Okay, cool. Tell your sister I’m gonna text her and it’s gonna be about you.”

“Ominous,” said Marigold. “I hope you say nice things.”

“No, dude, I’m gonna text her to talk to you. We’re not starting a group chat about you when there’s still so much stuff I don’t know about Mystery Marigold. Like, okay, what’s your favorite color?”

“Green,” said Marigold.

“Don’t tell me now!” said Beetle. She handed Marigold the chocolate back. “You go have a nice class tomorrow, okay? Get down there before your family thinks I killed you.”

“I don’t think I’d mind if you did,” said Marigold. “Bug girl.”

“Flower girl,” Beetle said, like they’d said goodbye like this forever. Maybe they really were supposed to get to know each other. 

~~~

Thea had put on “Baby Shark” to try and get Sofie to go to sleep, which wasn’t working, because whenever Sofie saw Marigold, she’d stay stubbornly awake until Marigold came back to rock her to sleep. Under most normal circumstances, because Sofie was the kind of baby whose idiosyncrasies seemed perfectly designed to psychologically torment her caregivers, “Baby Shark” would put Sofie perfectly to sleep so long as it was played exactly fifteen times in a row, but they’d hit seventeen and Sofie was still babbling half-coherent nonsense to an exhausted-looking Lenora, who kept trying to hand her off to Roslin.

Marigold hurried over to the car. Sofie said, “Mama!”

“We’re not doing that, she’s twenty,” said Thea, but Sofie was already making grabby hands towards Marigold, who scooped her up in a flurry of kisses. 

Roslin said, “Are you trying to reason with the baby?”

“The baby is a little terrorist who cannot be reasoned with,” said Lenora. “We need to get home so I can play first-person shooters and not listen to Baby Shark, ever again.”

Thea said, “Get in the back, bunny. How was the party?”

Marigold wasn’t sure how to tell them all about Beetle. She didn’t know if she wanted to. She sort of had to tell them about some of it, though, so she said instead, “Rosie, it’s okay that I gave someone your Insta, right? She wanted mine—”

“Dude, make your own,” said Roslin. “How many times is this gonna have to happen?”

“No one needs to be on social media,” said Thea immediately.

“Okay, well, Mommy, I am twenty-five, you don’t get to take away my phone,” said Roslin. “This would not be a problem if you just got, like, a MacBook or something. Whatever you have in your office is legitimately evil.”

“I bought a computer,” said Thea stubbornly. “I have a computer. I don’t see the problem.”

“That thing has to be from, like, the Revolutionary War!”

Marigold settled into the backseat with Sofie, resting her cheek against Lenora’s shoulder. She said, “Actually, there weren’t computers in the Revolutionary War—”

“Do not start this at like one in the morning.”

“You started it at like one in the morning.” Marigold buckled Sofie back into her car seat.

“Defending you! Do you want Mom to start burning laptops in the backyard again?”

“That was out of context,” said Thea immediately. “And mostly an accident, anyway. Didn’t realize lithium did that.” She started the car. “We turning off Baby Shark now?”

“No, Sofie likes it,” said Marigold.

“YES,” said Lenora. “Sofie’s awake anyway, Mari—”

Sofie had fallen asleep. 

“See, you have to leave it on now,” said Marigold, “she will wake up if you turn it off. We all know this.”

“Torment nightmare torture baby,” said Roslin affectionately. “You know sometimes it starts to make me sleepy when I listen to it? Something about the baby shark doo doo do do do do—”

“I will kill you if you start singing it, Roslin, it’s bad enough that we have it on without—”

“Doo doo do do—”

Thea said, “Quiet, I need to make this turn!”

Marigold cuddled into Lenora’s shoulder again. Lenora said, “Your baby is ruining our life.”

“Stop calling Sofie her baby,” said Thea. “Mari is too young to be raising a kid.”

“I’m twenty!” said Marigold.

“You’re a baby,” said Roslin. Her eyes lit up. “Baby Mari doo do do—”

Lenora said, “I am going to murder you, Roslin. I am going to kill you dead.”

“No murder until I’m done getting onto the highway,” said Thea, eyes on the road.

The girls quieted. Marigold cuddled into Lenora until Lenora leaned forward and towards her, letting Marigold use her as an all-the-way pillow. “Good party?” Lenora asked quietly.

Marigold didn’t answer. She wondered whether Evie would even notice she was gone.

“You’ll see her on her Monday shift,” Lenora said. “You can catch up with her then, if she wasn’t—I mean, you know, if she got. Distracted, or something.”

Marigold said, “It was a good party,” and realized that she did actually mean it. “I…met someone.”

“Oh, shit!” said Roslin from the front seat. “Goth Halloween candy chick does, like, bug taxidermy?”

“Roslin, do not stalk her Instagram!” yelped Marigold. “Just—just give me your phone! Give me your phone so I can—”

“I AM MERGING!” said Thea. “YOU ALL NEED TO FUCKING SHUT UP!”

Sofie squirmed happily and continued to sleep. Marigold was fairly certain it would be six more plays of Baby Shark before they were in the clear. 

~~~

beetlenecromancer: hi marigolds sister lol

beetlenecromancer: can u send me her insta when u have it? she said she’d make one

strawbrosie33: hey man if you fuck up my sister i’m going to use norie’s poison kit to poison you

strawbrosie33: HI THIS IS MARIGOLD

strawbrosie33: SORRY

strawbrosie33: SHEHS TRYINGG TO GBRAJB THE POHNE BACKC

beetlenecromancer: lmao

beetlenecromancer: nw

strawbrosie33: I AM ROSLIN I TRIUMPH

strawbrosie33: im so serious though bro i will literally kill you she is so fucking baby. you have no idea

strawbrosie33: you’ve known her for like five minutes we’ve known her forever she is THE BABIEST

strawbrosie33: Hi this is Marigold again I am So So So Sorry 

beetlenecromancer: dude you need a smartphone so bad this is so dire for you

[pngblog]

could you do xiaolin showdown? it's a 2000's Warner Bros cartoon

(I'd like backgrounds specifically but just characters are great too, i am not picky)

[future-circuit]

happy birthday to my favourite loser catboy. been a while since i last made a sevens meme and i have not improved the quality at all.

part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4 || part 5 || part 6 || part 7 || part 8 || part 9 || part 10 || part 11

or alternatively instead of clicking on all these links, you could just look through my 'yugioh sevens memes' tag which also has (better) posts from other people

[mirensiart]

You're so right Damian is definitely one of the best characters

I love him so much, that entire arc with him as the robin to dick grayson's batman changed the trajectory of my life

I'm also a tim drake enjoyer, I love that lil nerd sm

[hermits-that-craft]

hey I know you've retired now (yay!) from here but on the off-chance you see this: I just had the mother of all double-take moments after earlier this month re-discovering a fic from the early, early days of my dsmp fandomhood that I had been searching for for years. I saved it in my browser to read when I needed a moment of comfort, anyway today was the day I finally cracked out staying with the traitor again and the absolute FACE I pulled when I got to the end and it said "follow me on tumblr (hermits-that-craft)" like WAIT HOLD ON this entire time it was you!! anyway I know it was like 3 chapters long but that fic is legendary to me. thank you for writing it all that time ago and thank you for leaving it on ao3 even after you left our sphere behind :)

jkbhjd im so glad you refound it! there is actually a fourth chapter, and there was plans for a longer fic, but i was writing this during some of my final exams for that year, so i never ended up finishing it!

honestly its very heartwarming that you still enjoy it! im glad you found that fic, i hope it continues to bring comfort for as long as you need it!

[lonelyasawhisper]

ok. these past few days i’ve sort of… took a trip down memory lane and fallen down the queen rabbit hole again..?? there have been a lot of changes in my life but somehow i ended up watching the entire montreal recording again two days ago and i put on live at the odeon in the background today. and then i realized oh wow i forgot how much i love queen. and damn i love the guitar. two-years-ago-me had incredible taste.

[mooniladragon]

the muffin song is stuck in my head. its suddenly 2018 again

[glittergradient]

really fucking surreal to be spending my sunday evening watching a dan and phil sims video in 2023

[the-hawkeyes]

MiqoMarch: Introduction

This is Shokta Saab! A girl I haven't broken out for a long while.

Hunter and jewelry maker of the Saab tribe deep in the Shroud.

A transwoman, but her journey has been met with love, and very little strife. The tribe all working together to help Shokta become comfortable in her body, as they have done with other members.

A hearer, able to hear the whispers of the elementals, but she had to do go several things to be able to hear them clearly.

She's young, shy, probably on the spectrum, and she once dated a matriach of another miqo'te tribe, Rhel, played by @bramble-star.

[sanguineterrain]

I believe the first fic of yours I read was No Such Thing? There are parts of that story that have lived rent free in my brain since I first read it. It's been years and I'm so happy you're still here and sharing your ideas, no matter what fandom you're in 🖤

This is sooo late I'm sorry, but thank you very much Aud ���🫶🫶 you've forever been supportive of every fandom I'm in and I forever appreciate you <333 you're a lovely mutual and I'm so glad to know you and see you and your fics on my dash!! 🥹❤️❤️

[bayoubodycount]

Digging through some OLD cd's, completely forgot I'd bought this when it came out🤣

[unabashedly-so]

because I was thinking about 10years ago, it unlocked a memory.

anyone play or remember Harvest Moon: A New Beginning? well, 10 years ago, I was down SO BAD for this fucking asshole.

Putting aside the compulsive heteronormativity and subtle misogyny that's just kinda baked into the game and its era, he calls the player (only once dating, I think?) "princess" all the damn time. imo this guy was only kept in-bounds by the rigid mechanics of the game needing to be wholesome.

but here's the thing here's the thing.

I went back and watched some of the heart scenes tonight and... listen. first obligatory self-call out "the more things change the more they stay the same yadda yadda something something Allen to Elliott maturity pipeline"

Listen to me.

do you understand

do you understand

if this game came back around right now with a few LGBTQIA+/feminist modifications

the absolute fucking porn fodder this condescending fucking asshole twink would generate

he calls the player "princess" several times per scene (once dating, at least, I think)

he consistently asks the player if they'll be a good girl for him

one of his heart scenes revolves around him requiring the player to "ask him cutely" in order to unlock his back story. He straight up will not disclose anything if the player won't ask cutely.

another one of his scenes revolves around him touching the player's hair (he's a hair stylist). The player can admit to liking him touching their hair, and he'll say, "That's because I've got the magic fingers. Or perhaps its because of your feelings for me?" (the player shows a delighted animation) "Both, it is! It sure feels great to have my cute girlfriend say things like that to me."

some choice lines include, "Don't forget that I'm the one who made your wish come true." "You get petulant so easily. It just makes me want to tease you all the time." "That means you're my girl now. You better do your best to make sure you don't lose my favor." "I love you, my princess. I'll make you the happiest woman in the world." once marriage is set:"On [marriage date], [Player Name] will truly be mine... Are you looking forward to it, princess?"

I could have sworn there was also one about sweet nothings all night but I can't find it.

anyway what I'm saying is 1.) if you want a mean but soft dom twink to call daddy, look no further and 2.) i'm fucking terrified of what smut might be out there already, it's been 10 years, y'all need jesus