#has to keep it consistent you know

[morganbritton132]

Continuing from this (starting here and here)

Hopper doesn’t want to think about Steve.

He doesn’t really want to even see the kid or his broken arm or his wide gap-tooth smile where he’s starting to lose baby teeth. Every interaction is a reminder that he’s not doing anything to stop this clear case of child neglect.

He’s failing Steve and if he’s failing a kid whose problems are so blatantly obvious, then he could fail Sarah when the problems are close to home.

So no, Hopper doesn’t say anything when he walks into Melvards and sees Steve at the check counter. He nods to Joyce and continues on.

He’s got a list from his wife and that’s all he’s here for.

Sure, he noticed that on the check out counter is a tube of toothpaste, a box of cereal, and a pint of milk. Sure, he clocked Steve with his chin resting on the counter, pushing coins across it to Joyce and asking, “How ‘bout now?”

That’s just good observation. He’s a cop. It’s his job.

“That brings you to $2.54,” Joyce tells him. “You need 1 dollar and 0.32 cents more.”

Hopper is not listening to Steve sigh. He’s not standing next to a shelf of sunscreen watching Steve push the toothpaste to the side like, “I don’t need to brush my teeth. Is it enough now?”

“How about this,” Joyce whispers, leaning on the counter like they’re going to share a secret. Hopper is sure she’s crinkling her nose when she pushes the money back over to him, “How about you take all your quarters and I let you take your cereal, and your milk, and your toothpaste.”

Whereas he can’t see Joyce’s face, he can see the instant suspicion on Steve’s face when he steps back from the counter, “That’s stealing.”

“Yeah, silly, if you steal it. You’re not doing that,” Joyce concedes. “I’m letting you have this stuff.”

“I don’t think you’re allowed to do that, Miss Joyce. You’ll get in trouble.”

“Well, how about a trade?”

“Like a Quick Pro Skrull?”

“Sure,” Joyce says easily. “I will trade you $2.54, one box of cereal, one pint of milk, and a tube of bubblegum-flavored toothpaste….if you let me sign your cast.”

Steve’s voice is soft, considerate the way kids aren’t supposed to be when he says, “Miss Joyce, that’s not a fair trade.”

“It’s the only thing I want, baby.”

“Fine,” Steve agrees, laying his casted arm on the counter. “I get my allowance in two days and I’m going to buy you a flower.”

“That sounds lovely, sweetheart.”

Hopper leaves the sunscreen- it’s not even on his list - and goes to the canned goods in the next aisle. While there, he has a better view of Joyce writing her name on Steve’s cast.

“You know, Steve,” She tells him. “I’m going to put my phone number right here because I have little boy about your age. His name is Jonathan.”

“I know Jonathan from school.”

“That’s good! Maybe some time you two can play together.”

“Oh, no thanks, Miss Joyce,” Steve shakes his head sadly. “My dad says you’re poor an’ I’m not allowed to play with poor people ‘cause poor people are lazy and don’t work hard even though you have a job…”

Steve pauses like he’s contemplating that before continuing, “And Tyler - that’s Tommy’s big brother. Tommy is my best friend and I wish I lived at his house - he says that sometimes people are so poor that they can’t a’ford food and they eat babies. He says that happened in Ireland and he would know too ‘cause his great-great-great-ate grandpa is from there.”

“I’m not a baby,” He tells her seriously, “But my Nonna says I’m a sweet boy and one time I was playing with a kid from the trailer park and he bit me.”

He tells her, “I don’t wanna be eaten.”

Joyce blinks at him.

Hopper blinks too where he’s listening in.

Steve doesn’t blink at all but instead gathers up his stuff. He gives her a big smile and says, “Thanks, Miss Joyce. I love you. Bye.”

Then he’s gone.

The store is empty except for Hopper in the baby food aisle and Joyce at the counter. She asks aloud, “Did I just get accused of cannibalism?”

Hopper has never laughed harder.

[screwpinecaprice]

Evil Steven maybe? 乁⁠(⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠ര⁠ ⁠ʖ̯⁠ ⁠ര⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠)⁠ㄏ...

Lmao well that was at the back of my mind while sketching this ngl.

The amount of influence and power you have when practically everyone likes you; on top of that you have one of the highest political position just handed down at you just like that? Idk It might be at least a liiiittle fun to use it for evil. Haha So. Like. There's a backstory for context at least.

Just wasn't sure if this is an AU or a human AU though (Which is why Connie has glasses there.

[aroaceleovaldez]

just read the plot summary for Wrath of the Triple Goddess and. wow this is. painful this just sounds painful to read.

Why is Grover the incompetent inciting incident character? That is not his narrative role ever, really. That's like, the fanon conceptualization of his character where he's reduced down to comedic relief and nothing more. He's mostly exposition and support. Why not have the inciting incident be something about Annabeth's hubris - something that has gotten the gang into situations tons of times before in a way that doesn't put down any of the characters? Heck you could have even tied it into some Sea of Monsters stuff, like Circe having told Annabeth that she'd make a good sorceress. That'd be perfect for how this book literally just exists to be advertising for s2 of PJOTV. Or maybe call-back to Percy's introduction, where he talks about how he doesn't try to cause problems but problems tend to find him. Or use the established personalities of Hecate's animal companions from HoO, since we know they have attitudes. Just what are you even doing here????

[hyakunana]

Riders in arms

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

No teen farewell is complete without embarrassment.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[canisalbus]

To me, Machete kind of has the energy of a secondary villain/coldhearted side character in someone else's story that a lot of fans latch onto, moreso than the protagonist. Question is, would he be the villain in anyone's story?

Why, thank you! I'm actually glad to hear he gives off that vibe. I don't think he set out to become a villain but a lot of people certainly view him as one.

[vaguely-concerned]

walking through lucanis' mind prison. the tam lin of it all

[gascreates]

avatar the last airbender x legend of zelda tears of the kingdom corssover les gooooooo

ive been working on this for far too long so im forcing myself to say it's done even though the background is just my color mock up. to draw fast, i must accept messiness

[lesbiannieism]

okay i’m a mclaren hater as much as the next sane person but it has to be said that i appreciate their commitment to helping their drivers (especially oscar) develop. like with so many other teams it feels like they’re just evaluating and judging their drivers instead of actually making an effort to help them improve (*side eyes RB*). and while yes you do need to have a solid foundation coming into f1, you can’t expect any driver to be perfect right off the bat. there is no amount of competing in the lower formulas that could fully prepare a driver for f1. idk, maybe i haven’t paid enough attention to other teams and how they operate, but as an oscar fan, i’m so grateful that mclaren has given him the support and infrastructure to develop as a driver to the extent that he has. he and his team have worked so hard to identify his weak points, set goals, and work at them until they see tangible improvement. some of the credit definitely goes to oscar (he’s got that drive to succeed and has been able to take full advantage of the support that mclaren has given him), but i don’t know that he would have been able to make such significant, definitive improvements in such a short timespan without a very dedicated team by his side. and i haven’t been into f1 for that long so i don’t know what the beginning of lando’s career was like but i would imagine that he’s received a similar level of support since he’s decided to stay with the team for so long. and the fact that they both keep signing long-term contracts shows that mclaren is dedicated to their drivers in a way that a lot of other teams just aren’t. so yeah, mclaren’s strategy calls and management from a team perspective are definitely lacking, but i really appreciate how much they’re committed to helping their drivers improve on an individual level

[customizablefriend]

My true self still loves Tommyinnit I am still an inniter at heart I have not changed

[infinitelyweary]

Has anyone endlessly dissected Armand's subtle Marius shade yet

[quietwingsinthesky]

the doctor is emotionally manipulative. he’s very good at it, and even better at justifying it both to himself and the people he’s doing it to. he can see when his approval, his affection, is valuable enough to someone that withholding it will be an effective way of getting them to do what he wants. this is one of his best flaws, that he’ll do this to people and do it to them for his own definition of what’s good for them.

(gestures vaguely) twissy.

[canisalbus]

*gasp* ITS THE PERSON WITH THE SICK DOG ANTHRO DESINGS AND INTERESTING AS FUCK LORE WHO'S ART I FOUND UNCREDITED ON PINTEREST!! I HAVE FOUND YOU IN THE WILD! FUCK YEAH

.

[3416]

"dont put 1634 back together" "mitch is playing out of his mind without him" blah blah blah none of the 5v5 lines theyve been running have been consistently good, mitch is lighting it up on the powerplay, and mitch and auston continually put up career numbers next to each other. eat shit, half of you sound like actual middle aged men with a hateful hard on. nothing you say is based in logic or numbers whatsoever, lmao. also if auston's injured/it's lingering, you put him with a man who is playing out of his mind, thanks. don't need a defensively mid top line with an injured goal scoring center getting top matchups. and if he's NOT injured, then he can start sinking the 379238 chances he got before his ir.

[mikodrawnnarratives]

Thought about my theory while reading the trilogy for the first time. I had gotten right that Maggie was Evie very early on but I had also theorized that she'd have a much bigger role in the story. I was consistently getting hype to see Maggie investigate Nova more, like I REALLY wanted to see Maggie be ONTO Nova's identity, and the bracelet was just the beginning.

This went along with my theory that Maggie was found by Captain Chromium and her different name was a result of being put under some kind of witness protection. A niece of Ace Anarchy that survived him just wouldn't be safe if she was in the public eye as Evie Artino. But Hugh and Simon would know, probably not Adrian, and Maggie wouldn't be clueless to her real identity. Theory went that she was trying to find her sister and she'd help Nova escape prison! Maybe..

Nowadays I like some aspects of the theory since it would make much more sense for THAT to have happened, but Maggie's character doesn't align with it very well. It would change her a lot if she secretly had connections to Hugh and Simon, knew her real identity, and all. It would make Hugh and Simon also look a little bit like jackasses cuz REALLY??? THE DUMPING GROUND??? FOR THE ARTINOS DAUGHTER??? WHERE SHE GAINED A SURVIVOR MENTALITY?? If they put her there they'd take her back quickly if they were to be written like they Cared

A more updated au-ified version of this that I thought of was: What if the Tucker Family took her in? Either adopted or fostered, doesn't matter too much for au purposes. Idr how young Adrian was when he met Ruby, but maybe Maggie was at the children's home for a little, they realize it's overcrowded and underfunded, take her out and fund the place, and then they meet the Tuckers.

They'd HAVE to get money for it of course, since they are crammed at their home already in canon, but the family that swears on no secrets sounds pretty fitting for Maggie. Secret girl who wants to know everything about her family.

She gets an older sister and two barely older brothers, she's the baby!! They'd remind her of it constantly and she'd hate it!! She'd be little contrarian. She doesn't get as hyped as her siblings do for the Renegades Council, bc contrarian but her own list of reasons for being upset with them. From failing to protect her family (she knows WHY still hurts), then didn't consider adopting her (doesn't fully understand their reasoning), and Dumping her at an orphanage that SUCKED but they at least took her out of not toooo long afterwards (maybe she'd be there for four or five years? She wouldn't remember a ton but enough to dislike it)

The Tucker's would know at least a little about her backstory, and the gravity of it staying a secret in the family. The twins would know less than the rest, I could see Maggie not wanting them to know as much

Since Margaret Tucker would have a family that'd struggle with money, she'd probably still steal a bunch to help out. She'd have spent some time at the children's home where she'd learn that, but she really puts it to use to help her family. She'd steal, pawn it off, come back and hide the money in various places around their home so it isn't a sudden increase in cash. Just "oh sweet! Must have lost this"

She's not very good at the "no secrets" rule.

One secret they'd def find out about is her becoming a Renegade, but Ruby might defend her. She'll be with clean up teams and could really exercise her asset perception to help the city! She wouldn't be in danger

Maggie Tucker may be a little less of a problem than canon Maggie? Since she'd probably have a little more stable life and having an actual family would do a lot for her methinks. But she'd still steal Nova's bracelet, and No Secrets Maggie who's been waiting for this moment immediately investigates Nova. And Supernova would go different, as well as many interactions between them

(post reveal here would feature sister jealousy lol "oooo your jealous of Rubbyyy!!" Nova: "I'm not jealous!!" "LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE" Maggie loves them equally)

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

havent we already been in a new reality since 14 and donna ran into newton?