#still impressed with its technical stuff

[vseahn]

Sodo!

[loathsomespider]

at some point in the past couple days, myhouse.wad finally clicked with me, several months after it was the zeitgeist

[bloodchapell]

drunk n party - armin a.

brief summary: armin finally decides its time to introduce you to his friends, and the perfect occasion is the party eren invited him to. the party is the perfect occasion for other, far more important, matters.

what to expect: alt and very nerdy reader, equally nerdy armin, mutual pinning, physical touch, lots of tension, touching kissing, things escalating but not to THAT point

your sword's note: my princesses, it is now time 🙏🏻. all past and future parts of this au series available in my mistresslist, also sorry for the delay, life has been bizarre

As some kind of miracle, both you and Armin’s friends, independently of course, finally convinced him to introduce you to each other. He agreed to attend a party (shocker) and accepted passing on the invitation to you as his friends had always requested (bigger shocker).

“I don’t know what to wear!” You cried out going back and forth in your dorm, “They will think I am weird!!”

“I promise they won’t…”He said knowing that his friends would almost instantly love you. He was starting to regret the whole thing because he had a feeling that someone would tell you every detail about his feelings; he was biting down on his lip piercing like every time he was nervous now, he used to bite the skin off his lips but after getting his lip pierced he had acquired the new habit. “Anything you choose will be a good option, they are still impressed by insects so that is not a problem.”

You nodded and selected some pieces of clothing to then try them on, while Armin stood outside of course. When you were done, he walked back in and you applied some makeup and put some jewelry on, the makeup that you would practice, goth, vkei or straight up clown makeup was too much, so you decided to go for a simple look.

Finally you both walked out of your dorm, the contrast between you and Armin was impacting, though he already had gotten another pair of earlobe piercings and his vertical labret shined in his lips, he dressed the same as always, gray dress pants and a navy sweater over a white button up on comparison to your vintage bondage pants and corset jacket set.

“Are you sure I don’t look like an abomination? You look like Mr. Peabody if he was human and I am this...bizarre entity.”

“I don’t know if I should be honored or disgraced by that comparison.” He chuckled walking besides you to the house of the party. “It doesn’t really matter, the fashion student here is you, and apart of Mikasa, the rest of them dress relatively average.”

If there was something Armin loved about you, was your style and fashion sense, it was otherworldly for him, everything, your confidence and bravery to wear stuff that people normally don’t and that they judge, your ability to make any outfit work, that kin eye you had to elevate any look… he was a little envious of that ability since he started hanging out with you and diving into more alternative music and culture in general; he was still trying to build courage to ask you for help with renovating his closet.

“Your hand looks sad, let me just…” Taking of some of your rings off you mentioned before placing them in his fingers. He wore the silver ring you had given him on the day you two first hung out every single day, but apart from that he didn't wear any sort of necklaces or bracelets.

“I wish I had gotten the armor ring.” He joked knowing that it didn't fit him.

Walking into the party was a little awkward as Armin had insisted to arrive early, technically before it even started, so there was only a few people. When you two walked in everyone stayed silent and turned around almost breaking their necks to take a glance at the millenary event: Armin with a girl.

“Umm, hi.” You introduced yourself briefly and everyone waved.

“Well Hello!” Soon a tall guy jumped to greet both of you. “My name is Jean I am practically Armin’s twin, nice to finally meet you.”

“This… this is beautiful!” Connie said about the whole scene.

Soon faces started matching names, Armin gave a seriously scary look to everyone and he sat down quietly by Mikasa’s side so you sat besides him. You knew Mikasa was Mikasa because she matched the description Armin gave of her perfectly and you were soon complimenting her v-shaped bangs and she smiled and complimented you back; knowing that Mikasa wouldn’t say any unnecessary comments, Armin felt instantly calmer.

"The alc is here!” Eren celebrated walking into the house, showing two bottles, one in each hand as trophy’s.

“What if we actually got drunk?” You asked Armin knowing that neither of you had ever been genuinely drunk and he seemed hesitant for a second but ended up agreeing.

“I just hope I don’t do anything embarrassing.”

“He will for sure do sum embarrassing shit!” Eren laughed launching at the sofa. "Did you not invite Tiffany?"

"No she is busy studying..." You said turning to take a glance at Armin whose eyes were wide open.

Inevitably people started walking in and the real party started. Loud music and the so called alc that Eren and Sasha brought being passed around in clichey red cups.

“What is this again?” Armin asked yelling, pointing at his cup for a second.

“Malibu rum.” Eren answered.

You took a sip of the tasty liquor and stayed seating, there were some people dancing already but you and Armin just looked at each other laughing.

“How was your piercing been?” You asked seeing that he kept biting on it.

“It’s almost healed but I can’t stop playing with it.” He admitted defeated. “So what are we supposed to do here?”

“I would like to know… We are so smart and still can’t figure it out!” You exclaimed throwing your arm over his shoulder and pulling him a little closer to hug him sideways.

“I think I wanna dye my hair… I’ve been too corrupted. If me from a year ago saw me now, he’d have a heart attack.”

“For sure, from how cute you are.” You smiled and he looked away embarrassed. Since you both didn’t know what else to do, you started sipping slowly from the cup and since Eren made sure to fill it up every time he noticed, you two were already somewhat tipsy. “I will dye your hair, but not all of it.”

“Can I have a…uhm, vkei cut?” He asked and you nodded, “And some dye.”

“Do you think we are becoming stupid?” You asked out of nowhere and seeing him nodding lit your lips in laughter. Then, absorbed by the influence of the alcohol, you decided to stand up and extend your hand to ask him up too. He took a good while denying but eventually stood up lightly holding on to your hand, asking why you were making him stand up. “Let’s take a breath outside.”

You held his hand across the people jumping around and reached the door, there were some people smoking and chatting but you stood away from them and simply leaned on the wall.

“Have you read a fanfic about a party and wished you were there but now that we are in a party it’s kinda dumb?”

“What makes you think I read fan fiction?” Armin asked back to your question laughing; he was organizing his hair and his concentrated face made him look really attractive. “I really don’t mind it here if I can just be with you.”

“Oh really?” You tried to ask after the liquid in your mouth escaped to your throat making you cough for air, he nodded in a very serious manner.

“Let’s stay for a little and then leave… we can read… or watch a movie or have our own party.”

“You’re so unhinged when you’re drunk.” You laughed and he immediately argued that he wasn’t drunk.

Eventually you went back to the house, and after seating in the same spot and talking with Armin while Eren kept refilling your cups for a good while, you both agreed to leave and spend your time in a place you two felt more comfortable in.

“Mikasa said she left my jacket upstairs, I’ll go get it.” You said after coming back from talking with her, Armin said he’d go with you and you agreed. You immediately grabbed his hand to not get lost from each other and went upstairs. Mikasa had said she left the jacket in the last room of the corridor. People were doing a line to go to the bathroom and trying to get in a room, so when one of the doors opened someone ran to go in and pushed you. Luckily Armin was still holding your hand and prevented you from falling.

“Oh God I could’ve fallen…” You stayed still for a moment and in your intoxicated state decided that it was best to thank Armin by hugging him. “Thanks ‘Min.”

He was oddly not so shy to receive the hug and corresponded by hugging you back. He was so drunk and he felt oddly decided about life so all timidity had vanished from his nervous system.

“You don’t need to thank me, how am I going to let you fall right in front of me?” He mentioned still clinging to his cup in one hand while with the other one he held onto the entirety of your waist, whispering in your ear just to make sure that you could listen regardless of how loud the music was.

“Armin shut up…” You moved away shyly.

“So when I do hug you back you don’t like it?” He held somewhat firmly to you. “Do you not like me back?”

“What…?” Your heart dropped when hearing his words. “What do you mean?”

“Answer my question first.” He demanded, in a serious manner. His hair was sticking to his forehead and his cologne impregnating onto your clothes too, his eyebrows were furrowed over his eyes and his mouth still had the bittersweet taste of the rum. He was gone. “Why don’t you like me back?”

“Armin…” you felt slightly suffocated by his arm holding you, but his words reverberated in your brain. Since the moment you saw him in class you liked him, since he was shy to talk, since he met you in the library, since the beginning you had liked him. “I do like you.”

His eyes slowly opened when the realization hit, almost enough to sober him up for a whole second.

“What…?” It was him now asking, his heart about to kill him.

“I don’t know where you got that idea of me not liking you, but I do, I like you.”

He stayed silent for a good time, the grip of his arm on your waist softening up and his eyes locked in yours because if he looked away once he wouldn’t be able to look back at you.

“I’m sorry… I already ruined it.” He finally averted his gaze to look at the floor.

“Armin it’s okay, you didn’t ruin anything.” Though you tried to make him look back at you, he refused to, so you lifted your hands from his neck to his face to make him look at you. “I won’t stop liking you just because you get silly.”

He kept silent so you decided to give up everything and approach him softly to kiss him. A soft and quick peck.

“I’ve been liking you since I saw you.” You confessed, his lips remained slightly opened and his intense eyes went back to yours, “I’ve been about to kiss you many times before but I just wasn’t brave enough... but I really, really, like you."

The door of the room in the back suddenly opened and since you saw some girl walking to get in, you grabbed Armin's hand and ran towards the room. Once inside you closed the door and looked at him. “So like you back, you said?”

His overall mood seemed enhanced, but he was as embarrassed as he could be.

“I like you a lot… but thought I had no chance.”

“Sometimes you forget to charge your brain.” You close the distance by walking to him, he closes his eyes as to avoid looking at you so you hung your hands on his neck. “I had a feeling you liked me but didn’t know how to act with this situation… I should have confessed…”

“Do you really like me?” He asked opening his eyes and you softly squeezed his cheek.

“Really!? How could I not? You are the smartest person I know, you have a wonderful personality, you are insanely attractive and cute…” You held his face now and forced him to look at you. You let your fingers caress his soft skin, his eyes were focused on your face, all over, analyzing every feature of yours like he had done a million times before, memorizing the exact shape of your lips because he couldn’t look away from them… how had he felt them, how dare he, he had been blessed… but he already started to forget the feeling.

“You are just drunk.”

“I am drunk but that is unrelated.” You said serious. “Ask me tomorrow. Ask me any day. I don’t know why you’re doubting me.”

“I’m not doubting you… I just don’t get it.” Armin kept talking bout you were quick to shush him.

“I don’t wanna hear it.” You said firmly and he nodded almost obediently. “This is what will happen. I take my jacket and sit in the bed for a minute to catch my breath, if you want to continue denying that I like you, you can leave. If you accept that I like you without questioning my reasons, you can sit besides me and give me a kiss back.”

After hearing the options, it seemed clear that he had made his choice, yet it took him some long seconds of finding his balance standing up and then sitting besides you.

"There." He softly kissed your cheek, clearly too embarrassed to give you a real kiss and you cursed not having specified that the kiss should have been on the lips. "I can't yet bring myself to dare kiss you, I hope that suffices."

"You little mischievous leprechaun." You scolded him and he couldn't help but laugh at the odd wording of your insult. "It does not really suffice."

He looked at you clearly thinking of what to do but you were quick to grab his hand and kiss him again.

You had never talked about romantic stuff, both of you too embarrassed to ever bring it up, but from kissing him you noticed his relative lack of experience: he didn't move his lips much and simply held your hand.

"Am I hurting your lip baby?" You asked carefully brushing a strand of his hair behind his ear and he denied, shockwaves making him shiver at the way you called him; he sighed strongly as to calm down his nerves. He gently passed his tongue across his piercing as to move it back to the place he liked it. You went back to kissing him and now it seemed he had picked up what you had done before, his lips were gently sucking on your bottom lip and his free hand was placed gently on your cheek while the other one still held onto yours. Both of you seemed eager to finally kiss after months of suffering and hiding your feelings, the warm alcohol running through your veins turned you bold.

"You picked that up already?" You asked pulling away after finally noticing that he had learned from the short kiss you had given him before. He nodded.

"You kissed me like that and it felt good, so I replicated it."

"I should be scared of you." You laughed nervously.

"I may be inexperienced but I am not dumb." His statement sent shivers down your spine. You stopped for a moment to look at his eyes that were consumed in determination like you had never seen them.

"You can't possibly win..." You muttered and he laughed saying that it was not about winning but you gently pushed his back towards the mattress, his expression changing fast at the sudden movement. He blinked once and when he opened his eyes you had shifted from his side to his lap. He gave a simple look at his lap, your knees to each side of his hips and your weight resting on him. He looked up and saw your gaze, on him like a predator, his pupils expanded. He quite did not know you were this type of lover, it looked like it was not just because you were drunk.

"You are much of a fast learner," You complained tying up your hair as to take the long strands out of your face. "If I am not careful with you, soon you will have me subdued." You pointed at him and he bit your finger. You both erupted in laughter as you approached him to kiss again. His eyes expectant of your movements, so you gave him a loud kiss in the cheek before going back to his lips that were impatient to have yours again. He made sure to let you know that he had missed them, tangling his arms around your neck and interlocking his lips on yours in a wet kiss. After pulling away a few inches to breath, you switched to encage his bottom lip now and he corresponded with your upper, gently licking your lip before opening his eyes daring. You caught the glimpse of his gaze and reciprocated the daring look before opening your mouth and meeting his tongue with yours.

While he got lost in the moment, tasting your mouth and exploring cautiously, a thought creeped in the back of his head; he knew he was acting oddly and realized that he was in fact drunk. Something in him ought to decelerate the moment but he lost his determination when your lips gently moved from his lips to his neck and your hand started trailing down his jawline, to his chest and to the waistband of his pants.

The door then opened abruptly and though your first instinct was to yell that the room was occupied, when you and Armin turned to look at the door, you saw Mikasa and a disheveled Eren almost holding tears, both in shock at finding his friend finally getting some action.

Both you and Armin immediately sat straight and he moved you from his lap back to the bed.

"What happened?" You attempted to say.

"Eren has separation anxiety." Mikasa rolled her eyes as Eren clung to her. "He refused to go home without finding him first."

You looked at Armin, who seemed almost angry. You both got up as if you had agreed mentally and walked towards the door.

"I didn't know though," The look in Eren faced changed immediately from sorrowful to a malicious grin.

"Whatever." Armin pushed his friend out of the way.

[stellasfictionalworld]

\\in spite of darkness//

superman x anti-hero!reader 

pt. 1: first impressions matter

pt.2: sun sickness (OUT NOW)

black cat x golden retriever !! darkness manipulation yay yay :)) takes place a year before the movie btw

cw: mentions of blood, injuries, violence, swearing, no use of y/n, she/her pronouns, not proof read, also i hope i don’t miss characterize clark AHH

comments and reblogs are always appreciated <333

—

you’ve lived in metropolis all your life, you loved the city with all your heart. your compassion for the dear city led you to use your abilities to protect it. you lived in the southside of the city. where things were more rough, unfortunate, and violent…

you were a “hero” before superman came into the picture, well you weren’t as well known as him. you clung to the shadows, punishing those who wouldn’t learn, who’d hurt the innocent people in your city. your name was rarely whispered, people were afraid if they’d say it too many times you’d appear like beetlejuice. 

the phantom.

your name was never on a headline, overtime though you’d found a blog or two. you shut them all down after pulling a few strings, unfortunately you weren’t a huge tech whiz. you were able to loop camera footage, interfere with walkie talkies, and find ways to get into buildings (with or without force, depending on the day.) the basics. the darkness helped conceal your appearance even if a camera picked you up, and you secretly liked the identity of the boogie man. however, after the first year of your vigilante business. suddenly many posts on social media about a shadow in allies, beating people (who you think deserved it) to a pulp, telling them to remember your lesson. 

luckily, around that time, superman flew into your city. a true superhero. you remember the breath of relief you let out as the press focused on him, and all the social media posts of you were pushed far back into the corner of the internet. big blue making headlines almost daily and you had to say you were impressed. the man was compassionate, genuine, and did everything he could to help everyone. he barely used an ounce of his strength on a robber, while the robber you chased down visited the hospital before heading to jail. the idiots you dealt with lips trembled when they spoke your name while superman’s idiots were a little more relieved he was there to stop them instead. 

you still helped the people in your city, mainly as a civilian. you’d made a name for yourself as the phantom, a dark cloaked figure that only revealed themselves to punish others. you figured you’d help the old lady carry groceries home wearing sneakers, jeans, a white-t. you’d climb a tree without using your powers, to get that damn cat, snowball, down from the tree for the third time that week. your arms scratched while you returned the white feline (you were pretty sure was the devil) to its owner. you helped at your local food bank, chatting with your neighbors. you were just being a good samaritan. 

some days though you slept through the entire day, it was obvious your sleep schedule was fucked either way. your eye bags were apparent no matter how hard you tried to hide them. when you were in civilian mode, you told people you worked as a security guard, working only night shifts. Technically, you were guarding the city at night. how’d you afford your apartment? well… the goons weren’t going to need ALL that cash since they were going to jail… 

you rarely made appearances during the day time as is, since most of the shady stuff happened at night. however, you made exceptions. superman had been in metropolis for 2 years then. you in your apartment, dozing in and out of darkness. literally. when you slept you became enveloped in it, it had terrified your parents as a child, but you found comfort in it. you fell into the shadows like it was second nature. in between brief moments of being awake you caught the news headlines constantly changing. a live report about superman’s fight against a single magic user. it seemed to be going well but somehow this magic user had been there for over– hold on– you sat up in your seat– OVER AN HOUR?

not a single member of that fuckass justice gang was there either? you watched your laptop screen, noting superman’s movement, he’d slowed down. he had enough energy to still save civilians constantly but not enough time to give another blow to the magician. you got up from from your chair, falling back, your body enveloped in darkness. your fingers reached for your eye mask with white slits in them. you switched out the rest of your clothes for your dark one piece suit and then threw on your cloak. your mask was there incase, you needed to show a semi-kind face to a civilian in need. while your victims received a cloak that belonged to a face of a swirling void. 

you let the shadows pull you in many directions, till you found the right place. you never saw where you were going, but it always just felt right to you, so you emerged from the shadows. your boots hit the ground without a sound as you strode out of the alley. there was a park ahead, tall buildings surrounded it. most civilians had cleared the area by now, you stopped in front of an abandoned car. eyes slightly going wide at realizing many elements were decorated across the city. it was summer, but you were freezing all of a sudden, it was colder than your very own shadows. icicles, snow were decorated around the park and there were large holes in the ground. you realized there were boulders wedged into a couple buildings and suddenly smoke filled your nose. 

you were brought back to reality, just as it became dark. thunder rumbled as you looked up, the magician floated in the air, looking untouchable. you could barely see the smug look on his face as he held something in between his hands. it looked like he’d conjured a red sun in between his palms, emulating his face. this magician was a master of elements, conjuring suns in his palm, starting fires. 

the ground rumbled under your feet as you saw superman emerge, he was in the air again. not aiming for the magician but the building enveloped in smoke. he didn’t make it. the magician created a wall of the same sun he held in his hands, superman let out a shout as he fell down. you blinked, surprised superman was in pain, before quickly bending the shadows. he fell into the shadow that looked like a large manhole before completely disappearing. 

he was in your dimension for the moment, you were tempted to keep him there, sort the situation yourself. the building on fire crackled. you sighed, knowing better not to have the man of steel being annoyed by you. first impressions were important afterall, plus civilians' lives were at stake. your turned to your shadow that rose to stand in front of you before spitting out the man. he squinted while stumbling forward, emerging from the inkiness. you caught his arm, having to root your feet to the ground so you wouldn’t fall down with him. you were eye level with the emblem on his chest which was dirtied now. 

“what– where was i?” he asked and you looked up at him. he was more breathtaking in person. the clouds lets some light pass through, coating him in sunlight. handsome, blue sky eyes, and his black hair was damp due to sweat, a single curl still stuck to his forehead. his face was dirtied due to dirt, blood and his skin still sizzled with a new open gash on his right cheek. his forearm in your hand was so weighted, god, how did he not sucker punch this magician yet? 

“shadow realm,” you answered coolly, you were thankful your heartbeat wasn’t pounding against your chest at the moment. it seemed he was too out of sorts to focus on that anyway, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. 

“what’s your problem? you’ve let this guy use you as his own personal punching bag,” you said, letting go of his arm slowly. he managed to stand on his own, he swallowed thickly. 

his eyes back on the blazing building, “those people…” he choked up and you followed his gaze. “i got them out, don’t worry big guy,” you tapped his chest. using your like disappearing shadow trick to move the civilians. 

“thank you,” he looked down at you with soft blue eyes, your heart may have skipped a beat.

“phantom,” he sounded uncertain. you nodded, “so you have heard of me,” you said quietly and nodded.

“yeah, i’ve heard of you and the way you handle–” a bolt of thunder interrupted him and you both whipped your heads up. immediately the man stood in front of you, his tall frame blocking your view (not that you minded honestly). 

“are you two gonna chit chat or fight me?” the wizard asked. you tilted your head to the side so you could see the wizard. the magic user was still holding the miniature sun in his hand. you eyed it curiously, remembering the wall he’d created that left a mark on superman. 

“the red sun,” you muttered and superman whipped his head back to you.

“what?” he asked quickly. 

“i can make it disappear, and then you can beat this asshole right?” you asked, needing the clarification. 

“yeah,” he seemed hesitant to agree but he didn’t have much of a choice. you were a hero, it he seemed aware of your… “methods”, but he had a good feeling about you. “you can get rid of it, you’re sure?” he asked, looking at you through a different lens, making sure you were strong enough. you scoffed, “watch me,” you said, sinking into the shadows. 

“wait!” he stepped closer to your shadow pool but you were gone, “nevermind…” he said to cement. he stared at the wizard, standing tall, hovering a couple inches off the ground. it happened so quickly, suddenly a shadow emerged around the ball of sun in the old man’s hands. when the shadow disappeared, superman immediately knocked out the wizard and you’d vanished. 

… 

superman stayed to help out after the battle. he helped civilians to get to the nearest hospital, he helped a kid find their mom, and he did his best to clean up the area. he also kept an eye out for you, his eyes lingering on shadows but he never saw you. after the clean up, he went back home. he’d soaked up plenty of yellow sun earlier, his wounds had healed quickly. it was the first time superman almost lost, the thought troubled him. luckily, you’d crept out of your usual shadows and came to help him. save him really, if he was honest. 

clark could only think about you as he finished his nightly ritual. his bed creaked as he laid down on the comforter that felt like a cloud at the moment. he sighed. something didn’t feel right as he fought his eyes from closing. not single sign from you that you were okay… maybe he’d check in with you. that is, if he could even manage to hold an audience with the phantom.

clark couldn’t help himself as he read up on blogs about you. not even a single article from the daily planet or any other news outlet. he was hunched over his desk as usual, pushing up his glasses occasionally. all he got was your hero name, which everyone knew and he thought he finally had found something. someone had commented under the blog, a link. clark looked around, made sure to turn down the volume so only he could hear. he was hoping it wasn’t a link that would crash his computer. 

a video loaded up on his screen, his pointer finger tapped against his desk. he waited with baited breath, and huzzah it started. the quality was crap, it was night, a single street lamp gave light in the alley. whoever took the video had half their phone tucked in their pocket, creating a black square at the bottom of footage. it was the recorder and older man wearing a hoodie. 

“you got the money?” the man asked with a sly grin. clark frowned, not liking where this was going. then the recorder spoke, and oh boy he didn’t like the situation at all.

“y-yeah,” the teen spoke. 

“good,” the older man held his hand out, and clark’s frown deepened. the man was clearly selling a substance to the kid. clark picked up something in the background of the video, like a swoosh sound, yet subtle. the lamp flickered for a split second and the kid handed the money. 

the man started to count out the money and then the video goes completely dark. 

“what the–” the man says before going quiet. a minute proceeds to go on with the kid breathing rapidly in the darkness before the sound of something hits the floor. then it’s silent for another 5 seconds and the darkness slowly fades away. the video is still blocked halfway but this time the footage is on a street.

“call 911,” you whisper and the kid turns around and you're standing tall. half your hood in view, inside is a swirl of darkness. he lets out a scream and clark swears you rolled your eyes, even though he can’t see your face. you sigh, the darkness disappears from your face, you don’t pull your hood down. however he can see the glimpse of a mask, your face hiding under it. he wishes there were more details to the video, he could see a glimpse of your hair color though.

“c’mon kid, you’re not gonna be in trouble here,” you tell him cooly, “i’ll stay with you till your parents come,” you told him assuredly, he swears he can hear a genuine smile through your voice. it’s smooth like silk and warm, not the blunt way you’d spoken to superman yesterday.

“you just watching that video?” jimmy speaks up and clark jumps in his seat. he quickly closes out the tab and he swivels around in his chair. before clark can say anything, jimmy puts his hands up in self defense with a cup in hand, “i didn’t know you were interested in the phantom, that’s all,” he assured. 

“and you are?” clark asked curiously, “what do you know?” he asked. jimmy shrugged and took a sip of his drink. “i know they’re a real life boogieman,” he let out an exasperated, “now getting a photo of her, would be one of my life’s biggest achievements," he said. 

“you sound like you want more than a photo,” lois said while passing both of them. jimmy coughs up his drink and shakes his head. he didn’t have time to recover as lois gives clark a pointed look. she stops in front of his desk, “just stick to your superman pieces, clark. the phantom is dangerous,” she lowered her voice. the two men leaned in as she looked around before revealing her big news. 

“i heard when she started getting popular after 6 months in the city, a reporter had found her. they attempted to interview her, so she kept disappearing at first. then when the reporter barratted her, she snapped. the reporter ended up stuck on top of the lex corp building,” lois spoke quickly yet quietly. 

“totally, one of my,” he struggled to find something, “...friends knew her. she was from a small news outlet. reporter wanted a story, ended up stuck their all night, brutal,” jimmy said and clark was in disbelief. he’d been in metropolis for 2 years, and this was the first he heard of you. especially placing an innocent (annoying) civilian on the city's tallest building was much in his opinion.

“yep,” lois formed a thin line with lips, “so stay out of her way clark,” she warned him.

“unless you wanna help me take a photo,” jimmy joked and lois hit him with a newspaper. “ow,” he whined dramatically and rubbed his arm. “why are you asking by the way?” jimmy asked. 

clark stared up at the two and they both had cheshire cat smiles. they were greedy to get the latest scoop. “just heard the name for the first time, so i was curious," he told them with an apologetic smile. it sold them, for now at least. 

“too bad,” jimmy said.  

once clark was left at peace all he could think of was you, your soft words replaying in his head. he’d now gotten a proper idea of you in action too, you’d sent that dealer to the hospital. he was infuriated by the dealer as well but he’d never had hurt him, not enough to go to the hospital at least. it gave him a lot to think about and he still wanted to cover all his bases. the justice gang was never too far...

[venum0us]

It makes me really sad you’re anti-proship. I am a huge fan of your work and was really happy when I saw your art. But then one day on Instagram you called proshippers “freaks” and that you wanted anyone like that off your followers list. I’ve never hurt anyone, I try to be kind to people and give them the benefit of the doubt, I don’t think I’m a dangerous person or something. It just makes me so sad. A lot of the proship content I consume or make is due to trauma I’ve suffered in my past. It helps me feel not so alone and not have all my feelings bottled inside. And there’s a lot of artistic merit to darker stuff, but I won’t get into it.

I’m not angry or anything. I’m not gonna report your account or make a call out post/harass you or something terrible just cause you said something that hurt my feelings. I just thought I would maybe make a plea for you to be a little more open minded.

No matter what conclusion you come to, I really hope you have a lovely day and I still think your art is amazing and technically impressive.

Hey, I'm real sorry you feel that way, but I have my reasons for why I am not and will never be comfortable with proshippers. I feel like it is never assumed or taken into consideration a lot of us have trauma, too. I am not going to get into that on my public art account because that is for me to know and I dont owe my trauma to anyone, but my issue with proshippers is the constant hiding behind trauma as an excuse to romanticize deplorable things. Imo Its not healthy to be surrounding yourself and consuming things that are going to romanticize and justify horrible things that have happened to you because instead of recognizing it as what it is, its further normalizing it in your mind. THAT is fiction affecting reality. Its not wrong to depict dark stories and intense themes, I think those are very important things that should be shared and talked about. What shouldnt be happening is the romanticization and justification of the horrible things in these stories regardless of if its morally just. Thats what proshipping is and I would prefer not to surround myself with people who think my or even their own trauma is something to be made into a cute ship or something to be admired when it is inherently harmful. It doesn't sit right with me and is not a healthy way to cope.

I really shouldn't have given this the time of day but since I haven't really spoken on this before here I guess I'll make it clear now: I do not like proshippers and you aren't welcome on my profile.

[jpitha]

They’ll eat what?

A Telmurian is walking around the promenade on the station, talking to their family on their pad.

What was that? Your signal is pretty weak. Oh! Yes, they have humans here.

I know. Their planet has a really big moon, they won’t stop telling everyone they meet. Yes, they told me about it at least three times. I saw the photos, it’s pretty big I guess.

Yes, they’re strong. I remember the time that human from the helm picked up two Sefigans and carried them around on his arms. I didn’t tell her, but I was impressed. Why didn’t I tell her? I don’t know.

They also have odd thought processes. Remember that story about the one that learned that the water filters were the same as the outer compensator on the FlashWarp drive? They still teach us to check other parts for commonalities like that. The Sefigans are building a whole reference of parts that can be exchanged for other parts.

They walk around, oblivious to everyone else on the promenade. A Gren glares at them, and clacks their mouthparts irritatedly. They are speaking loudly. They walk on, oblivious to the disruption they are causing.

I didn’t call you to talk about any of that stuff.

I just learned about their ‘food.’

Did you know they don’t have a specific food? They don’t have one or two or even three items that they consider food, they have hundreds.

Maybe even thousands.

They stop and stare out a window and are silent for a few moments.

Not only that, but they combine them in so many different ways. Even wilder, they have modifiers to their food. Can you believe it? They have things that aren’t technically food that they add to food to make it ‘taste’ different. They’re called spices or seasonings.

I know! Have you ever heard of such a thing?

They have this thing called ‘taste.’ It’s a whole sense for them! It’s what enables them to try and test foods and discover ones they like and reject ones they don’t like.

I have a hard time with it, to be honest. Imagine, food you don’t like. It’s food right? By its very definition it’s something you consume to survive.

They clack their wing covers together, like a sigh. A Sefigan sitting at a cafe near them makes a gesture, like they’re trying to shoo them away.

Not for the humans I guess. They have whole careers, whole philosophies, maybe even whole religions about food and its preperation.

I read about the first time some humans came onboard a Coalition ship. They asked where the kitchen was and when we said “the what” it was like you unplugged them. They just stood there with their mouths full of their scary sharp teeth open in surprise.

I imagine we had a similar face the first time they showed us a kitchen. Imagine, a whole room, a whole part of the ship that was turned over to their pursuit of food.

That’s another thing! They can get bored of food. Whoever heard of such a thing. It’s food! You eat it, you feel full, you continue with your day. That’s like… like being bored of breathing.

Have I tried any of it? I mean, so much of it is straight up poisonous to us. No, you’re right, some of it isn’t.

All right fine. Yes. I tried one. There was this one, it was something they called a cookie. It was made of something like ten ingredients all in very precise measurements, then mixed together and shaped into balls and cooked at a high temperature. How did they ever come up with that?

The cookie? I don’t know, it was fine I guess. I didn’t get sick. I guess I can’t taste like they can it wasn’t much of anything, just food. I didn’t want to hurt their feelings so I said I liked it. They gave me four more! I didn’t know what to do with them. They’re still in my room.

Okay, yes, I love you too. Tell the rest of the crèche I said good evening.

They disconnect the call and look up. There’s a group of humans sitting down at a human style cafe eating. One of them looks up at them. Their large wet eyes seem impossibly deep. In the corner of them, wetness wells.

“You didn’t like the cookies?”

[pastadoughie]

listen buddy Pornography IS an artform & a very important one at that. And I Dont think. Frankly. That it is Weird or Sexual to insist as such. There is an assumption- That- if you are looking at a certain type of media that IS pornographic that you must be there like. To Jerk Off. & its like, do u not, Like ? Artwork? Perhaps it is just because im an artist Myself &, I admire the ammount of technical Skill that goes into NSFW Content. That people simply will not Appreciate in an artistic/technical way if I Dont. but i Do Not understand why Porn is like. seen as MORE taboo or Inappropriate to Partake in then like. I Dont Know. looking at like, Horror & Gore?

I do think the borderline torchure-porn esque Obsession with true Crime can at times be Significantly More Worrying then a guy like. Saying that the lighting in a peice of Furry Pooltoy Inflation R34 is really impressive & beautiful.

Its very much an extention as sex being like. Uniquely Devient or Perverse or Cruel. That whole "Rape is worse then Murder" type stuff. Its Puritanical at its roots But its deeply frustraiting to try & have a conversation about because People get all like. Smug, Aboiut it. Like im just some Pervert Tranny Shoehorning My [Insert Arbitrary Fetish] Into Things. and like. 1) I like when transgenders are perverted or sexually subversive So write that down. But 2) Why. Why Would It Matter.

if i have a Genuine Artistic analysis of a Fetish artwork, If i have commentary on its Technical Skill & Execution, Or political implications, those opinions dont become Less Valueble then like. if i also jerk off to it. I can Jerk Off to Many Things. Its not a special quality. i can Make a sandwitch. Sexually, With Intent to Eat it Sexually or something. But like. brother that doesnt Make the sandwitch, Different? It Still has to go through the same Technical steps as you would to make a Non-Sexual-Sandwitch. Why is this so difficult to explain.

[spacedace]

“Hey, I need to get married for bullshit Infinite Realms reasons, you two in?”

“Tt, of course.”

“Sure thing! Do we need to get going for that like, right now? Or later?”

“Eh, like in a couple of hours? The Observants are demanding some Royal Ball or something and they pulled out some stupid old laws out of their collective asses that if I’m not married by the time it starts they can assign me spouses of their choosing, can you fucking believe that shit?”

“Woah, what the hell? Can they even do that?”

“I was under the impression they were only permitted to observe.”

“Right? It’s total crap, but apparently there’s like this super old law on the books and they didn’t bring it up until now when there’s like no time left to try and force me to marry someone they pick.”

“They are training to gain influence over you?”

“Eh, more like they’re trying to get control of my Dad by way of me. But still fucked as hell.”

“So why do you need to marry both of us? Or do you just need to marry one of us and we should play rock paper scissor for it?”

“Technically I only need to marry one of you, but I don’t want them pulling out any loopholes or something. So, it’d be great if one of you could be my consort for my role as Queen of Mirrors, and one could be my consort for my role as Crown Princess. You two can figure who’s who on that all that, I’m good with whatever.”

“Oooh, can I be consort for the Mirror Court? I can annoy Kon more that way.”

“I am amenable to that. Grandfather will have a fit when he learns that I can cut his access to the Pits off at my discretion and there’s nothing he can do about it.”

“Awesome, okay are you two good for meeting up at like, three? We can pop over to my Lair and get everything sorted out there.”

“Works for me, my only class til this afternoon is at one and the professor already said we’re cutting out early because she has to go out of town this weekend.”

“Four would be more agreeable if possible, I have to take Titus to the vet for his checkup.”

“Okay let’s aim for four then. It’s just signing some paperwork, making some quick blood-slash-ectoplasm pacts and swearing a couple binding oaths… Should only take like five or ten minutes?”

“They’re not gonna make you have a huge royal wedding or anything?”

“Nah. Dad keeps things pretty chill so as long as the paperwork is all in order we’ll be good. Though once Auntie Dorathea finds out she’s absolutely gonna make us have one. She loves planning weddings. Swear its what she makes her hoard out of somehow.”

“So long as we have a say in some of the proceedings I have no issue with that eventuality.”

“Same, it sounds like it’d be a fun way to annoy the Observants even more.”

“Don’t for get all the weirdos trying to be my suitors and all that bullshit.”

“We have an accord then. We can reconvene at the usual place.”

“Awesome, you two are the best! I gotta jet and let everyone know and get the ball rolling on the paperwork stuff. See you guys at four!”

With that, Nomad - Stella Phantom, Crown Princess of the Infinite Realms, Queen of Mirrors, Core of the Speedforce and ghostly hero of the Titans and the Justice League - tore a rip in the fabric of space and time and darted out of the room the same way she came. Through the mind-bending tear in reality the eerie, eye-searing green of the Infinite Realms glowed in all its unsettling glory, Phantom Keep a glittering expanse of night sky made solid in the distance.

Jon waved at her cheerfully as Damian gave a nod of farewell before both silently turned their attention back to their respective tablets as the portal closed behind their friend and teammate and the glimpse of the Ghost Zone disappeared again. Completely unbothered by the conversation just held or the life changing implications that came with them.

Jon was humming as he tapped away at something on the screen before him, Damian propping his head up on his fist in vague boredom as he frowned down at the information he was reading.

The rest of the room Nomad had left behind was caught in a frozen, stunned silence in the wake of the baffling conversation they’d all just been witness to. All eyes in the room darted between Flamebird and Pheonix seated calmly at the end of the table, then to the space where Nomad had disappeared to, back to the young men, and then towards the head of the table where Superman and Batman sat looking bewildered and a bit on the verge of heart attacks.

The short status update meeting was about to become much, much longer it seemed.

Though a lot more entertaining.

[glitchthedemon]

What I believe chapter three tells us about Kris

Naturally there will be spoilers for chapter three and some for chapter four, so read at your own risk!

As we know, each dark world represents the will of its creator, which is why Susie's foutain was slightly different to the first fountain in the church, and because Kris created the third Dark world when the soul was *outside* their body, then we can assume that this dark world represents Kris's thoughts and wants, at least to some extent

I believe this can be best seen in Tenna, someone loud, somewhat attention-seeking and desperate. Of course, this doesn't really sound like the Kris we know, but the "Kris" we know isn't really Kris, it's us, but since the Dark Foutain was created while we were not controlling Kris, it represents Kris's will minus any of our influence. Back to Tenna, we see him wanting to make people happy, to bring/keep people together, to keep the good old times lasting forever.

The Family

Multiple times he brings up the divorce of Toriel and Asgore, and how the family used to be, including having the Holiday family round a lot. Tenna explains how much that deteriorates after Dess goes missing, Asgore and Toriel breaking up, and Asriel leaving for college. During his break down in board three, he says one line that really stuck out to me, as it didn't sound like he was talking to anyone

Despite not technically being part of the family, Tenna does seem to be a legitamate casualty of divorce, I imagine that as Asgore and Toriel argued more and more, Kris would distract themself with whatevers on TV, turning the volume up as their parents started to yell.

Since Asgore and Toriel are still on poor terms with each other, It's likely that Kris wants the family to be how it was before, with Asriel home and his parents happy together, and this can be scene in Tenna's persistence of them being one big happy family

(there are several other lines of his dialogue that show this)

Keeping up appearances

Tenna is always talking about how great classic TV is, that he's still relevant! Still wanted! still needed! But people have moved on - as Tenna says, "nothing stays big forever" - I imagine it's quite hard to feel wanted or relevant when your newest (and only) friends see that soul possessing you more than they see the real you

Kris was "the weird kid" before the events of deltarune, which can be inferred from a lot of dialogue in hometown, like Bratty's conversation about Asriel. Kris likely felt very alone, especially since they are the only human in their town. But now, with that thing possessing them, they have friends, they get to go on fun adventures, they're hanging out with Noelle again.

But without that soul? who knows what would happen to them and their friends. Would they fade away into the darkness, becoming just as irrelavant as they were before? Would they become useless, without any adventures to be had anymore? Would Susie not want to be their friend anymore once they aren't the same person from the adventures? (remember how much Tenna wanted to impress Susie because she was one of the first people to pay him real attention in so long?)

Minor Events

Didn't know where else to put this but Kris's darkworld events almost directly mirror lightword stuff they had previously experienced

Blue guy awkwardly involved with a broken-up couple

TV world directly affected by some of Kris's last memories before creating the dark fountain and going to sleep

There's likely a lot more but i don't want this post getting too long, so thank you reading this far!! If anyone has any other ideas they'd like to add then feel free!

[rei-ismyname]

X-MEN #17 Review

"I am Magneto and I do not give speeches."

The X-Men vs fake X-Men rodeo in the snow continues as Xorn searches for Quentin and the twin rampages on Merle. There stands Magneto, full of gumption and dexies, the only thing between a monster and a town full of ingrates. 3K yap on and reveal the identity of another member, a D-lister Mags knows well. Spoilers for all issues and solicits of adjectiveless X-Men.

RIP The Marauder, probably

Surprise! Quentin ain't dead. I don't think a single person thought he was, but a few minutes rest will be great for his health especially after falling out of the sky. I'm not sure how I feel about technobabble making its way into X-Men, as we get a flashback to Quentin writing 'code' to protect his body when he's unconscious. It's something Jitter in Uncanny does occasionally when her powers give her technical mastery - the mall fight was especially egregious for just shouting medical terms that few readers could understand, let alone The Outliers. I think it mostly achieves the intended effect here, highlighting Quentin's impressive capabilities and the 'levelling up' he's been doing since Cyclops gave him a talking to back in issue #9.

Kid Omega has been yapping about his mighty brain for decades, so I'm happy to call it payoff for all the 'supercomputer/10 million thoughts a second' stuff. As someone who coasted without effort on natural ability then hit a wall hard in high school, it's a bit of a power fantasy to see that potential as unlimited. 'Hey brain, make my body do exactly this at exactly this time' even more so.

X-Men are like communists - they spend too much time fighting each other. The 3K X-Men accusing the real ones of being fake sellouts just makes that hit harder. Honestly I'm over this fight with the amount of combatants standing still. I know it's meant to be a delaying action preventing the X-Men from backing up Magneto, but a team vs team fight lasting 3 issues is decompressed to the point of barely moving. Feels like AvX or similar stalling in an eternal second act.

I figured out what seems off about Magneto - his angles! He's usually chiselled and angular, even gaunt at times. Rounded features looks odd on him. I'm not even nitpicking there, I just needed to elucidate the nagging feeling I've had. In a word, he looks ugly. I enjoy Stegman's pencils in general but Diaz does a better Magneto. Just quietly I'm a little salty that Uncanny is getting Valerio Schiti - they do a stupid hot Magneto and I'd love to see it again. Anyway, Mags sounds like a fool here, as he makes a speech about not making speeches. I hope he's lying, because this motherfucker gives so many speeches. They're one of his best features.

Heard you the first time dude.

Another is that he's a mutant menace, a term that's been thrown around a bit lately. Mags and the twin go at it but he's not trying to kill her and it's unclear if he actually could. Either way, when they speak Mags responds with cutting regret and an implicit challenge. With Quentin still knocked out there's nobody to counteract Cassandra Nova's influence on the twin. Cassandra refers to the twin as a '13 year old girl' so add 'forcing gender binary on a non-corporeal entity' to the list of her crimes.

You used to be somebody, man

It's implied that Nova is laying it on thick here, or otherwise the twin has a really good grasp of race war concepts and rhetoric. If it's the former, I think something is lost by Cassandra Nova giving them a script to follow and basically puppeting them. Mags is trying to appeal to agency - the ability to choose, and they're actually having a back and forth.

The twin repeating Nova word for word raises questions about the degree of agency as they smash Magneto, who was just answering the question. The hope spot of his words staggering them is brief but suggests that this crisis will eventually be solved non-violently. I do have to laugh at Mags getting called out for betraying mutantkind by driving a sentinel to protect flatscans, especially as it's Cassandra Nova saying it. There's a real opportunity to show how this propaganda sits with the mutant on the street, so to speak. These X-Men are very mutant focused yet Graymalkin still stands. They have a history of being establishment lackeys and beating down/imprisoning mutants who step out of line. They failed the Morlocks and Xavier killed Krakoa. It's not that simple but propaganda is a powerful tool especially when life sucks. Cassandra Nova might be the worst spokesperson there though - Genosha was not an act of mutant solidarity.

I love Ben Liu and Beast cheerleading Magneto. Get these boys some popcorn! Ben's finger pointing is unfair but hilarious, 'hooptie-ass sentinel' is not a phrase I expected to hear in the year of our DOOM 2025. Ben running off to help Magneto is a beat that really works, especially if you take Magneto's mentoring allusion seriously. We haven't seen Ben use his powers since issue #2, so anything can happen. The flipside is any kind of success is going to feel a bit unearned, but fuck it - jab my boy with dexies too and get out of the way!

Wyre talks a huge game with not a lot to back it up. I kinda want someone to kill him for being cringe, a sentiment Cassandra Nova seems to agree with. There's a production joke here - Mackay wanted to use Sabertooth for his role but he was killed off in Sabertooth War. Creed is certainly more impressive than this dipshit and Quentin has nightmares about the guy. It's a beat that can work, giving Wyre something to prove, but we'll see how that plays out. Right now he's delivering exposition and stating his feelings plainly like it's 1975. He's not alone in that...

Me too, Astra, me too.

We get a better look at 3K, as the third member is revealed to be... Astra. *sad trombone noises* If you're not familiar she's an old Magneto worshipper and the one who created Joseph, thrice, I think. Bit of a one trick pony, though she does teleport. I can't say that she's particularly interesting or threatening, but I do like her 'clone an army of Magnetos, sorry Josephs, and flip the magnetic poles' idea purely for its unhingedness. The idea that she keeps bringing it up is pretty funny, these meetings must be so tense. Like I said, one trick pony even if it is a great trick. Her being an F lister with minimal development might actually work in her favour, as aside from being obsessed with Magneto she's a blank canvas. That she was last seen in House of X #5 suggests that 3K itself is fairly new. If that's their #1 reason for not inviting Sinister they're idiots. Like there's a very good chance he'll subvert your project for himself even if you don't invite him - MF does mutant science crimes for breakfast lunch and dinner. He blew up the universe with cloning!

More interesting is 3K's agenda - mutant supremacy taken to the extreme end point. It's very blatantly a great replacement conspiracy theory, which is a really uncomfortable idea to put to print. Turning humans into mutants has been done a lot, though the proposed scale is new. Another way to look at it is 'give everyone superpowers, kill the rest' though we don't know why they want to do that. 'Hating humans' is pretty dull but maybe more will be revealed next issue when we find out who the chairman is. I wish they'd just get it out now, this slowrolling is tedious. I'm almost positive it will be the cliffhanger next time, but like, just fucking spit it out! Let's get the plot moving, yo! We've been fighting in the snow for 70% of the run at this point, just tell us who you are and do your thing. Some C-list genetics bad guy from the 90s/00s? Thought so. It took 17 issues to reveal Astra, for fuck's sake, which doesn't exactly hype me for who's under the helmet. At that point, why bother? Just get on with the plot.

Magik's Soul Sword keeps getting wider, right?

In a lot of ways these 3K X-Men and their masters are The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with some ORCHIS scraps and a bigger budget. Extremists coming at the X-Men with accusations of failing mutants is one of the oldest X-Men tropes in existence. It can be interesting, but it needs to have something to say. I want to see a pamphlet on their beef or something, see if they've got anything fresh or if they're just another extremist mutant group. The thing is that a mutant who decided 'fuck humans. I'm done with these genocides' is a pretty reasonable position right now. Fighting the X-Men like every other group before? Not so much. Go destroy Graymalkin or something, you know? If you really want to show the X-Men how it's done, do that. Do their job better.

Ben spearheads Jen flying Piper to her mother, ideally to help convince the twin to cut it out. It's a solid plan, though there's a very high chance she gets reduced to a smear real quick. Mama Cobb is a mutant hater and is culpable for this mess, and she's terrified. We'll see how that wraps up next time, or maybe the issue after that with this fucking pacing. It's great to see Ben and Jen coming into their own, and Beast looks like he'll have to fight Wyre. The greasy weirdo has snuck into their base, and while it'd be great for Beast to fuck him up I kinda hope Glob bonks him with a frying pan or something. Why not both? Solicits have told us that agent fuckface comes to jail Scott in the wake of this second Iron Night, and something about Revelation/the artist formerly known as Doug Ramsey, I think. That sounds fun, I just wish it didn't take so long to get there. Not out of impatience, I just object to the padding and repetition plus slowrolled mysteries that don't land. Or impact the plot/characters even. That's probably not happening, so this book will remain fun but very frustrating.

Also... Why is Tom Brevoort answering all the letters for this book and Uncanny? That strikes me as really weird. Really fucking weird. Does that seem odd to anyone else? We're still seeing letters about Raid on Graymalkin and Chuck Hunt, all answered by TB. If I was writing anything and the editor was handling the forward-facing fan interaction in a book with my name on it I'd be like 'all due respect but what's the deal here? Maybe stay in your lane.' He is the 'conductor of x' but this feels like clearing the orchestra to be applauded solo. I admit I'm super biased against him but it really sticks out to me.

Thanks for reading and much love! 💓

[urfavdilemma]

Hii! I hope you are having a good day :)

Do you think you could maybe write something with Smosh cast? Maybe reader playing smosh vs dread with them?

Idk i just recently started this series and I'm obsessed (and a litttle crushing on George, their dm)

Pull at Your Own Risk

Smosh x Reader / George x Reader

Summary: Y/N joins the Smosh crew for a tense round of Smosh vs. Dread and tries to survive both the game and the unexpected attention of their DM.

Warnings: none! just fluff and fun and maybe some flirting :p

Word Count: 635

A/N: Hi anon! thank you sm for the request!! sorry its kinda short, i haven't really watched this series so i had to do a little research and may or may not have consulted chatgpt for some inspo... go easy on me and i hope you enojy!!

divider provided by @anitalenia

You weren’t totally sure how this happened, but somehow you ended up at the table for Smosh vs. Dread—hands sweating, stomach tight, and an unsettling Jenga tower standing between you and survival.

Tommy had given you those big, pleading eyes. Angela hyped you up like you were about to win an award. And honestly? You liked horror stuff. Just… not when it meant relying on your shaky hands and cursed coordination in front of several cameras and George Watsky’s intense, unblinking eye contact.

“Y/N,” George said smoothly, his voice low and just a little too calm, “you can either sneak past the creature… or try to fight it. If you sneak, you’ll have to pull a block.”

You groaned. Everyone else groaned harder. “Don’t do it,” Shayne whispered, dead serious. “That’s how I died last game.”

“Technically, you got eaten by a haunted vending machine,” Damien offered helpfully. “Not helping,” you muttered, staring down the tower like it owed you money. George was grinning—smug, amused, a little evil. “So, what’s it gonna be?”

You leaned back with a dramatic sigh. “I just wanted to scream and hang out. No one told me I’d have to risk public humiliation via tiny wooden rectangles.” Amanda laughed. “You’ll be fine, babe. Just trust your instincts.”

“That’s the problem,” you said. “My instincts suck.”

Still, you reached. Your fingers brushed the block near the top, heart pounding like this was real and not improv horror theater with your chaotic friends. The block was wedged tight. Your hand shook. George didn’t look away—not once. You hated that it made your heart flip a little.

“If I die,” you muttered, “tell my story. Make it sound cool.”

“No promises,” Tommy said. “If you die, I’m telling everyone you tripped on a mop and screamed like a raccoon.”

You laughed, then finally—finally—the block slid free. The tower wobbled. You held your breath. It stayed standing. The whole table erupted in muffled celebration.

“Success,” George said, and even though it was just one word, it made your stomach do something dumb. “You slip past the creature unnoticed… and find a flashlight with one bar of battery.”

“Okay, rude,” you said, laughing.

“I’m being generous.”

As the session went on, your nerves eased. You started to have fun. Really fun. The kind where you’re not even thinking about being filmed or messing up—you’re just reacting, bouncing off everyone’s energy, making increasingly reckless decisions and somehow surviving anyway.

And somewhere in the middle of all the laughter and chaos, you realized George was kind of watching you. Not in a creepy way, just… observant. Impressed, maybe. Or curious. You weren’t about to overthink it.

By the final scene, the monster was closing in. Blood on the walls. Flashlight flickering. Tower swaying. George leaned forward, voice quiet and steady. “One more pull. If you make it… you live.” You didn’t even say anything this time. Just reached. Held your breath. Pulled.

The block slid out clean.

You dropped it on top of the tower like it owed you something and threw your hands up. “Y/N SURVIVES!” Amanda shouted, and you collapsed back in your chair, laughing like you’d just run a mile.

Everyone was cheering, but George just gave you the tiniest smile. Subtle. Sincere. His eyes caught yours for a second longer than necessary. “You’re a natural,” he said, just quiet enough for you to know it was meant for you and no one else.

You raised an eyebrow. “At surviving horror games? Great. I’ll put it on my resume.” He laughed, a little low and surprised. “You should come back for another episode.” You tried not to grin. “Only if you promise not to kill me next time.”

“No promises,” he said, and you hated how much you didn’t mind that answer.

[kelocitta]

I'll say that I have been in some fandom with extremely impressive and dedicated artists but consistently some of my favorite artists are ones who technically make 'unimpressive' art to outright loving posting 'low effort' doodles. I love skilled work thats beautiful, but I also deeply admire a freedom from perfectionism and ambition. Sometimes those are just non-complicated but still clearly skilled works, and sometimes thats loving the wobbly simplicity of crude lines vs. rendered beauty. One of my favorite artists back when I was big into Hollow Knight was a korean artist who could absolutely make some extremely beautiful stuff, but many of the pieces I remember most and loved the most looked like this

Even here I know I mentally worked harder to make this imitation than they did for the OG. I can't draw fast and loose, and I like work that is clearly faster and looser than I can do. I envy people who can do things imperfect and carefree. Sometimes thats still very obviously skilled work, sometimes its very stupid doodles that were blatantly done in 30 seconds in mspaint. I don't think its say, disrespectful to love the doodles more than the rendered stuff said artist makes- but my love for it comes from a place that a lot of people wouldn't guess. That is to say, its hard to tell who, why, or when something you make might click with people- and it doesn't take a masterwork for someone to see something in your art as inspiration.

[loveinhawkins]

ao3

Steve’s got a soft spot for the Henderson’s Christmas tree—and sure, he’s biased as hell considering he once helped decorate it: a week or so before Dustin’s Snow Ball, he’d gone round to drop off some hair stuff, and ended up hanging baubles on the branches.

It’s not like he planned to; it’s just that he got caught in a festive whirlwind from the moment Dustin dragged him into the house, and then when he saw the tree, he couldn’t just leave it like that—not with a whole section bare right near the top, and the star wasn’t even on yet.

And then he didn’t really notice the time passing as he worked. His main impressions were of a grateful Claudia mouthing, “Thank you,” while stuck on the phone with her sister, followed by a cat constantly getting under his feet.

Dustin found a spare bow on top of a pile of wrapping paper and batted it towards the cat.

“It’s good we have another cat now. Like, it’s good for mom,” he’d said once Claudia was out of the room.

It was delivered in that precocious, self-assured way Steve was already getting familiar with. He knew what it actually meant: that Dustin was really torn up about… what happened to poor Mews.

But neither of them got around to addressing it—not when it was made clear that Dustin was taking the oath of secrecy so seriously; standing there, with the can of Farrah Fawcett spray hidden up his shirt, he looked like a terrible spy doing his best to conceal classified documents.

Steve disguised a laugh by pretending to fiddle with the Christmas lights.

When Dustin was busy putting the star on top, he surreptitiously left a present under the tree. It wasn’t anything big, but still, he didn’t want the kid feeling obligated to get him one in return. That wasn’t what it was about.

A year later, and Steve’s looking up at the same tree—technically, he’s trying not to get jealous over something so stupid: that the star’s already on top, the tinsel draped perfectly. There’s nothing for him to…

It’s just that he liked …

He blinks. Looks again.

“Finally,” Dustin’s saying, shoving a cardboard box into Steve’s hands, “you can finish it.”

And then he steps away, goes into the kitchen to unpack groceries—adds after God knows how long, “Uh, preferably before New Year’s, Steve!”

Steve jolts into action.

“Yeah, yeah,” he says dryly, but it’s just on automatic pilot as he starts unpacking the box of baubles, and the full impact hits him.

That Dustin must’ve made sure these decorations were kept separate. That he’d left a space clear—right near the top of the tree. That he’d waited, just so Steve could…

Before he can hang up the baubles, Steve has to spend a couple moments just standing there, blinking hard.

Dustin pokes his head in after a little while, nods his approval. It’s when he’s reciting the Christmas dinner options to Tews (Steve stifles a snort, this goddamn ridiculous kid) that Steve seizes his opportunity: drops off his present, hidden in plain sight.

Well. It’s tradition, now.

Just when he’s about to reverse out the driveway, Dustin runs to the car.

“Steve!”

Steve winds down the window. 

Dustin grins, sticks his arm through.

“You forgot your card, duh.”

Steve smiles back. “Thanks, bud.” 

And it’s funny, Steve knows that a part of him will probably always see Dustin as twelve. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s getting taller, that the first year of high school is flying by, and Steve almost wants to get out the car there and then—to ask him to stop, even though it’s impossible.

He doesn’t. He just gently places the card in the back. Starts the engine.

He kind of feels like he did when the box of tree decorations was against his chest. A warmth, a catch in his throat—quickly blinked away as if it never existed.

Time’s gonna go on, another year reaching its end; and all of this will get stacked up like superimposed images, so that Dustin will always be twelve, and thirteen, and fourteen, all at once.

But as Steve takes a last look in his rear view mirror, he thinks maybe this one will stick the most: Dustin, waving hugely, scraps of tinsel in his hair.

[acupofinkedblood]

Medkit and adventurer reader [Be Careful, Again]

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝

Medkit won’t claim that he’s the most patient doctor ever in Inpherno, but with how much he has to put up with a certain adventurer whose brain is as large as a weirdly mutant grape — in which it might seem a bit bigger than its own kin somewhat, but nonetheless, it’s still the size of a goddamn grape — such as Sword, he’d gladly accept that title to pay up for the endless groan he has to bite back every single moment the young man comes to him

“Try to be careful next time,” he’d sigh, “You haven’t paid the bill you owe me last month”

“Well, that might be a bit of a toughie- But I promise that I will remember it next time I’m back home!”

“Sure you do”

As much as he hates being a doctor, at least he takes this job seriously. It’s not like he can refuse whenever Sword needs his aid anyway. He always has a bit of a soft spot for this guy like how one would view an annoying younger brother. Sword probably mesmerizes his lecture about being reckless and all by heart at this point being since that’s mostly what Medkit usually brings up for conversation with him. But then again, that’s still debatable because Medkit doubts his birdbrain can ever remember the details of his nagging. Well, Sword is just Sword, and that’s something he can’t change. Best to learn how to get used to his presence to make things easier, right? Another thing is that Sword does pay him to do so. For someone who has to bathe in a bucket, who is he to ever refuse a bit of extra bux? It’s still a hassle though, to deal with Sword’s injuries and stuff

One Sword is definitely enough to be a pain in the ass, so imagine how Medkit’s jaw would have dropped when this stupid young man decided to have the goddamn audacity to drag another person to his place and asked him to heal them. Safe to say, Medkit almost choked on his coffee when that time arrived earlier than he would have expected. Rocket doesn’t count though, that’s a whole different story

Not because he was stunned because Sword technically banged his apartment’s door down, but rather out of spite because of the nerves this adventurer had. When he announced that you’re his new companion for his adventure trip, Medkit wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to cry at the news. Hell, he’d probably need a smoke break if you and Sword share a brain cell - which unfortunately for the doctor, his worries aren’t misplaced

You are technically another headache that the up and beyond decided to throw directly into his face, as if Sword alone isn’t a nuisance to deal with already, now he has two idiots to keep an eye on. With how much he has to treat Sword after each adventure, he dreads the idea of you will be the same way that boy is: Too naive and too reckless. It’ll just add up to his already occupied backache served with a side of the distress when he will have to worry about you two’s safety in case he also tolerates you like how Sword manages to worm into his life without a warning

One would say that being dragged by your companion to a stranger — who he claimed was the best doctor ever, a bit unconvincing but then here goes nothing — after you got yourself in a not-so-pretty mess all black and blue isn’t the best first impression that one could think of. But hey, it’s not like you can do anything about it. Before you have the time to object, Sword already threw you over his shoulder and rushed back to Crossroads. He brought you to this certain doctor who he trusted so much

It’s predictable, but that’s your first impression of Medkit: Looking at Sword with a frown that’s basically saying “You definitely have some explanation for me before I drag you down by the horns” as he unconsciously reaching out for the distinguished cigarette in the ashtray again with that expression which you can only describe as if he’s about to gasp then faint dramatically in offense like in medieval times. To respond to that, you can only grin out of confusion as you watch the man goes through five stages of grief within a few seconds

Sword, being the lovable idiot that he is, chimes in to ease the invisible tension without even aware of his eye twitches due to annoyance

“Don’t you worry about the bux, Medkit! We can take care of it next time when me and my pal get our stuff back”

“Wait, by that, you means..?”

“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind me and my buddy dropping by more often in the future!”

Oh yes Sword, yes he does mind when the two of you decide it’s a brilliant idea to assign him to be your official caretaker out of nowhere. Though he does get paid to do so, at least have some consideration for him when having to deal with two idiots at the same time, no? And the fact Sword just trusts people so easily that he thinks it’s completely fine to bring a stranger to the doctor’s doorstep, it’s questionable. Sometimes Medkit has to question if Sword’s naivety is a blessing or a curse, and then he comes to the conclusion that Sword’s kindness is just genuinely too stupid to even understand

And that marks the start of Medkit having to involuntarily take another dumbass of an adventurer — no offense, he meant it in a lightheartedly way, probably? — under his wings

It does take quite the time before he grown a better tolerance to you like how he did with Sword. You can’t really tell him to just let his guard down when he barely knows you in person, right? Even when after that first meet, Sword does fill him in about your entire character in details so he can be less worried. But Medkit knows Sword longer than just any average Inphernals do, and he knows that this guy was too caring for his own good sometimes. It’s easy to impress someone like him, and that paves the perfect path to gain his trust. Yet Medkit isn’t that easy to get through though. He has to be certain that you will possess no potential harm to him first. Sword can trust you from the start, but Medkit prefers to play it safe

He originally meant to keep a distance with you unless Sword is there to force the circumstances of which requires his aid, even when he suspects that you’re barely younger or a tad bit older than Sword, this man can’t just go ahead and be comfortable around you immediately. Can’t blame him though, if you have known the trauma he endured since the very beginning before he first reached the warm embrace of the sunlight

But then again and again, you keep showing up in front of his door whenever you can’t bear the pain no more. During the few first times, Sword has to drag you to Medkit because of your stubbornness that insists that you’re fine even when it’s obvious that you are far than just ‘fine’. That has been going on for long enough, even with your companion’s reassurance that surely the doctor won’t be bothered of your appearance — Medkit, however, was still holding his neutral yet ready to get defensive attitude when it comes to you — you still get cold feet when thinking of how you will have to see that unpleasant expression of Medkit again as if you were a burden

As much as Medkit prefers to put up that nonchalant facade alongside with the infamous aloof attitude, he still has some underlying concern for others hidden behind that tough exterior he built by himself. Seeing you like that doesn’t sit right to him. You act as if he’s a boogeyman haunting the children’s hospital and steal other young patients’ candies. Sure, he might look a bit unapproachable, but surely not to that extent, right? Being asocial as he is, Mekdit doesn’t really mind at first. But as he noticed just how tensed up you are as if you tried to be on your best behavior in front of a strict adult — and it’s already multiple times despite Sword’s presence to ease it up — he isn’t having it so far. At least if you are being dragged here for him to treat your wounds, then all he asks is that you for you to stop being such a wreck like he is about to eat you alive. Have some trust in his professionalism even when he doesn’t actually have a license and calm your nerves down, damn it. Your demeanor catches his attention enough to forget that whole thing of keeping a distance. Because then again, as Medkit thinks about it, what can you possibly do? He doesn’t know you well enough to determine whether or not you are a bad apple, but since you manage to be friends with Sword, he might or might not assume your intelligence based on that decision of yours. The point is, he soon comes to his senses that you will bring no harm, as he hasn’t noticed any ill intentions coming from you based on his observations for a good while

That realization does the both of you quite a favor. Medkit takes it easy on you, not keeping that intimidating glance to urge you to keep your distance anymore. It’s a positive change, even when it’s a tad bit subtle as Medkit doesn’t seem to be the type to show his emotions well. In his mind, he has already shown his tolerance to you. Whether you can pick it up or not is just a matter of time, and hey, you’re probably going to have a tough time trying to recognize the change of attitude coming from Medkit. It’s not that clear as he thinks it is after all

Regardless of that, you soon find yourself to be less anxious at the presence of the doctor. Mostly because of Sword’s reassurance rather than Medkit’s attempt to appear less hostile to neutral, but hey, that’s still a win for each side. Medkit is a man of few words, you have figured it out. But he does have this certain sense of humor which is even dryer than a sunburned fish which makes you feel less anxious. Most of those are sarcastic remarks, yes, but he means well. Medkit doesn’t mind if you respond to his sarcasm or not, though after a few attempts of trying to do so, it’s actually not that bad. He doesn’t bite after all, as long as you know your manners

As a fellow adventurer, danger is always present during your journey. Getting injured is a normal thing at this point. Yet unlike before, you two have a medic in which you can turn to this time. Sword used to have to drag you to see Mekdit, yet now you already have the courage to seek him out on your own without it being against your will. Your visit to Medkit has a high frequency from that day. Sometimes it’s you who have to pull Sword by his cape to meet Medkit, oh how the turned table. It does take quite the time for you to achieve that sort of inner strength, but since Medkit doesn’t really mind as long as you still pay him in times, you just decided to roll the dice at this point. Aside from Sword, you have become a regular patient knocking on his apartment. He does let you off if you can’t pay him just yet, probably transfer it on Sword’s bills. But hey, his company isn’t actually that bad. You soon grow fond of the doctor’s company, as sometimes he also provides you a couple of good advice coming from his experiences too. Medkit is like that standoff type of a trusted adult, you know you can turn to him whenever you’re at a tough spot. He might sigh aloud as a little protest, but you know he still cares. At least he tries to

“Medkit, we’re back!”

Medkit looks rather unamused as you make your way into his apartment while carrying a smiling Sword on your back. The two of you really share a brain cell, that alone should explain the similar smile you both keep on your faces even when it’s obvious that you and Sword look as if you two just survive an explosion. Rubbing his eyes in mild disbelief, Medkit can’t help but groan

“What did you two do this time”

“Well,” you grin, “Just the typical thrill of the adventures. Although, Sword sprained his ankle, I think?”

“And?”

Medkit keeps his gaze on you, waiting for you to report your own condition to him before he has to check it out himself. You can still walk on your own, which is better than the swordsman on your back. However that doesn’t mean you’re any better when it comes to physical injuries. You do notice the judging look on Medkit, and as a response, you can only sigh in defeat. Hiding things from a doctor isn’t the wisest move, you know? You don’t go and see a medic while bringing a huge basket of apples from the avoiding-my-problem garden, Medkit will probably shove an apple in your mouth if you dare to do so. An apple a day keeps a doctor away after all. There is no point in beating around the bush, so you just mumble quickly under your breath

“And I might or might not been stabbed in the stomach-”

Medkit literally facepalmed himself on spot when you say that. He almost drags you by the horn and lecturing the hell out of you. Why do you think it’s a good idea to carry someone on your back when your wound is barely patched up? You could have lose more than just blood! But then Medkit holds himself back since there is a high chance that Sword will be fallen off your back and then things will just get even more messier. And he is too poor to even acquire a new good attitude for the day, so he’d rather avoid spending on unnecessary change of broken stuff

If Medkit has a bux whenever he has grown to care for an idiot of an adventurer that just hopped into his life with no warning, he will have two bux. Which isn’t a lots, but it’s weird how it has happened twice. That’s being said, you managed to achieve his tolerance. Congratulations! Although it’s not much of a privilege, you do have someone new that cares for your well-beings in the very moment. Just don’t die on him, Medkit genuinely think he can’t take that shock

Another day, another oddly peaceful moment in his own apartment. The day has been going slow for the doctor ever since he decided to hide away from his fellow cultists at Crossroads. The cult hasn’t contacted him just yet, though Medkit can’t seem to get used to the unusual tranquility just yet. He feels like he has been walking on eggshells as far as his memory can travel. It’s infuriating, how much of a tight spot his life has been cornering him. Putting the book down before distinguishing the almost burnt out cigarette in between his fingers, Medkit relaxes his facial expression slightly as he stares into nowhere. Peace, he has soon forgotten how peace actually feels like ever since his life takes a left turn with that rotten bastard. Sword’s unannounced appearance alongside with you does distract him from his worries slightly. You two are just pipsqueaks in his eyes no matter how tall you get physically, and before Medkit knows it, he already looks out for you two like how an older brother would. He cares for Sword, he cares for you. Medkit won’t have it another way, at least in this vulnerable moment of his mental

Then again, as if getting too sentimental on one’s own is forbidden, because Medkit almost flies off the couch when the sudden bangs against the door suddenly knocks out of the blue which indeed ruins his very own rare moment of silence in his mind. His eye immediately moves the front door where the sound occurs. His body tenses up slightly at the possibility of who can be there. For a good moment, Medkit keeps his mouth shut for his own safety. He prays to whoever up there that it’s not anyone from the Cult of True Eye, because then his life will probably take another dark turn if that even happens

“Medkit! Medkit, are you home?”

“Keep your voice down! And you’re poking my wounds man!”

Wait, that’s just his idiots’ voices. Two of his idiots who are just kids in his eyes, to be specific. Two of his idiotic adventurers who he views as his younger siblings yet at the same time also the harbingers of headache whenever they come to visit him, to be even more specific

Medkit lets out of a deep sigh in relief. At least it’s just them, not anyone else. But with how urgent Sword’s voice is, he probably shouldn’t be too happy just yet. If Medkit isn’t hearing things, then your voice sounds as if you’re in pain. That’s definitely not a good sign. Damn, his horns will probably turn gray soon because of the two of you. The doctor immediately sits up from the couch then makes his way towards the door to open it up. And just like he expected, you two are even louder when there is no door serving as an obstacle to muffle the sound

“I told you I’m fine! It’s not like I’m about to die there,” you grumble as if you’re about to bite your companion’s head, “You’re basically dangling my body damnit!”

“I’m just worried, you look like everything but fine!” Sword protests, “Plus it’s not that bad. You don’t let me carry you after all!”

“Are you two done?”

It’s comedic how the two of you immediately stop bickering when Medkit’s annoyed voice breaks it out. At that moment, the doctor decides to look over to the state of you two. Sword looks fine somewhat compared to the questionable state you are looking now. SFOTHs above, you look like you just got revived from death

None of you or Sword dares to speak up even more. But your eyes already say enough for Medkit to understand. Though before that, as the doctor glances over to how Sword is currently carrying your arm around his neck, he frowns as the position is definitely not comfortable for you at the very moment at all. He offers his arms, carefully yet firmly taking your damaged body from Sword before shoots the swordsman a warning glare

“That’s not the way for you to carry a patient,” Medkit scoffs as he holds you, “You might as well break their arm while you’re at it”

Sword looks down like a guilty puppy that is just accused of something bad. But Medkit knows him, he will get back to his sunshine and rainbow state soon enough. It’s barely noontime, and the two of you are making a fuss in front of his apartment. All he wishes at the moment is for no one to make any complaints because that will just make things worse in Medkit’s situation. You and Sword combined can be way worse than a newly-bought speaker sometimes. In another sense, it can be pretty annoying

The doctor shoots his glare back at you, but then quickly closes his eye with a deep exhale to calm his own nerves. He can’t help but mumbling a few curses before putting on his no-nonsense business face. He can’t really take his irritation out on neither any of you, he knows better than that. In addition, you’re also hurt, so it’s best that he takes you inside for proper treatment first

“Come inside then,” he gestures you both to enter, “Let me have a look. And Sword, close the door too”

Thankfully, the wounds aren’t anything too serious aside from a few scrapes and bruises. A part of Medkit is relieved because he won’t have to treat any broken bones today, which means you’re still smart enough to a certain extent to avoid such misfortune during your little adventure. For someone with such a stern face, it’s quite the pleasant surprise when you figure out he can be rather pretty gentle while treating his patient. Or to be specific, you. Medkit makes sure that everything is alright with you, asking you if the bandages are too tight or telling you to take it easy when he cleanse the cut. He does take his job seriously after all, don’t be so dumbfounded. Time passes by with Medkit carefully dressing your arm up in silence. Out of the blue, Sword decides to break the ice by start to ramble on what happened to keep the doctor on updates even when no one asked him just yet. It’s the thought that counts

Turned out the two of you were playing the heroes. Spotting a group of bandits in the outskirt of Lost Temple, jumping in to fight them because of the convincing argument being ‘bad guys have to get their butts kicked’ — Sword’s words, not his — and then as expected, you claimed the victory after dragging all of them down to the nearest police station. You might or might not have let your tongue go a bit too far while taunting those bandits, which pushed their buttons away too far. One thing that none of you can foresee was how one of the thieves managed to break free, and the first thing the bastard decided to do was charging directly at you. The intention was as clear as day: If he had to go down, he would go lower by bringing another life with him. Of course, it caught you off guard. Sword interfered in time before the criminal could pull the trigger of his gun which was aimed at your forehead, yet it did give you quite the fright, no? Not to mention how he did put up a good fight against you when you were distracted too, so it was understandable when Sword had to bring you to Medkit. It wasn’t fatal, but you looked like you were dragged all over the hot sand by a cart - can you blame Sword for being a worrywart?

Medkit could only shake his head as the tale is finished. Why is he not surprised anymore at this point?

That’s definitely something the you two will do: Risking your own safety for this confident sense of justice no matter the cost. Personally, Medkit can’t understand it. He can’t understand you or Sword, maybe he’s just a coward. Though one thing about Medkit is that despite not giving a damn about this whole interfering in other’s business with high and mighty attitude — he can’t even look out for himself, let alone meddling in other’s business — since that’s just straight up asking for more troubles upon his own self, he isn’t exactly heartless. He still has some people that he genuinely cares about in his own way, like you and Sword. Hell, the two of you are certainly a package deal of an once in a lifetime’s kind of hassle, but the doctor is used to it by now

“Sword, go to the kitchen and get me a some ice. Then come back so I can check up on you as well”

At Medkit’s words, Sword stops fidgeting with his cape before nodding slightly. It’s best to keep Sword pacing around, since Medkit learns that making Sword sit still with nothing to do while he is treating you will make the swordsman rather uncomfortable. Sword has too much enthusiasm stored inside his body which makes him similar to a ball of energy, and no one in their right mind should try to tie that ball down into one place. So when Medkit tells Sword to go and find what he needs, you do see why he does that. Slumping down to be comfortable on the sofa, you avert your eyes from nowhere to his face. Medkit doesn’t look at you directly in the eyes just yet, though he does speak up while he is cupping your face to push it aside just to check if there is any wounds left on your head

“What did I say about this?”

By ‘this’, he means the lecture he goes over and over again about you being reckless while you’re traveling around with Sword. Though technically speaking, you don’t see it coming since the bandit charged directly at you when you least expect it. But please pardon him, his doting is just a slight facade of care he uses to make himself clear in front of you. That’s just how he is, as the idea of caring about your safety like a mother hen doesn’t sit right with him. Emotion isn’t his strong suit, keep that in mind. Call it tough love is not wrong at all, but hey, it’s not exactly that tough

“Well,” you sigh begrudgingly like a disobedient child, “Always keep an eye on my surroundings, never put my guard down and be prepared for the worst…I know, I know”

“Very well. Keep that in mind next time then. But it’s good to know that there isn’t any serious potential risk, or else thing can be much more complicated”

He lets your head go after a good moment of examining it in a meticulous manner. Medkit was about to make a sarcastic remark at how despite there is no sign of brain damage, you still seem to unable to comprehend his words despite repeating it all the times. Though upon looking at your sulky expression, he decides to take it easy on you today

“I’m glad that you’re safe”

“Huh?”

Medkit’s words catch you off guard as you look up in surprise. Your ears aren’t playing tricks on your mind, although it’s just a quiet murmur, you actually hear it word by word. The doctor already plays it off casually as he looks to the other side mindlessly, as if his words earlier were simply but a gust of wind passing through. Believe it or not, he actually feels embarrassed when saying that aloud. Usually his thoughts will be kept to himself, yet seeing you like that does make his shoulders less tensed up. Because you’re fine. That alone is everything he wants to know at the moment. Will he repeat himself to your amusement? Definitely not a chance. But of course, you heard it loud and clear. He was worried for you, even felt relived when acknowledging that you’re alright. It brings a sly smile on your face. It’s not often that you have the chance to witness Medkit being soft, it’s definitely something to be proud of, even when the said moment is rather rare to catch

Mekdit can read your thoughts, no, it’s not exactly thoughts when it’s literally written all over your face. That growing grin of yours only adds up to his theory. He immediately clicks his tongue as a mild gesture of protest since he knows that you’re not going to let him get away with that

“Don’t you dare,” he warns, “You hear nothing”

“But you do care!”

“One more word of that and I will be charging you double”

“Oh c’mon! There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” your laughter causes Medkit to physically groan, no hard feelings though, so rest assured, “You’re like a mother hen, you know?”

When that sentence is said by you, Medkit cringes at the mental image when he’s like a babysitter for the both of you like a mother hen. He can cringe all he wants, but there is no point in arguing because he does act like a doting know-it-all parental figure to you. Once again, emotional aspect isn’t Medkit’s specialty, so he doesn’t really know how to comfort others or what comes with it. Yet in your eyes, you realize that he does it in his own way. Not with sugarcoating words or gentle pats, but with a reality check to keep you on your feet. Sometimes with guidance too. Not to mention how he tends to your wounds no matter how much he acts like it’s a bother to him. Maybe you don’t know Medkit enough to know him inside out, but you do understand his characteristics to a certain extent in which you can be sure when saying that he actually worry for you

It’s actually sweet, considering how stoic Medkit makes himself to appear in front of others

“Is this enough ice?”

Eventually, Sword comes back just in time to see you smiling proudly on the cough while Medkit is resting his hand against his forehead in defeat because of how cheeky you have been acting. Though when he sees the amount of ice in Sword’s has hands, he facepalms himself to drag his own mind back to reality. Medkit gestures Sword to sit down. He attentively picks the ice up from the adventurer’s hands to move it on the coffee table instead. Ripping a small piece of bandage to make a small cloth, he places one of the ice pieces inside then wraps it up carefully. Without another wasted moment, he turns back to you with the wrapped up ice in his hand

“Keep this on your cheek,” Medkit presses the ice against your face until your own hand reaches up to hold it, “Keep it there, I’m going to check on Sword now”

You chirp a sound of positive acknowledgment to Medkit. When he turns away to tend to Sword, you can’t help but look at your companion. You two share a brain cell after all, even when it’s just metaphorically. But Sword already knows what are you thinking at the moment, hence the smile quickly appears on his face. You title your head to get in the way between Medkit and Sword with a shit eating grin much to the doctor’s surprise

“Can we get some juices after this?”

“Ugh, again with that childish drink?”

“Hey! It’s not childish,” you disagree with a lighthearted giggle, “You’re no fun, Medkit!”

You and Sword both laugh aloud at Medkit’s response. Childish, that’s what he always uses to describe you two. Medkit just shakes his head once again as headache number one — which is Sword — and headache number two — of course, you — look at him expectantly with that smile of mischief. What did he get himself into again? He should really charge the two of you extra as the babysitting fees in the future. But for now, he simply huffs after flicking your head first to push you aside

“You two are impossible”

Whether Medkit agrees or not is up to your skill of negotiating, that means you still have a chance to bound with him through that silly request of yours! A win is still a win, but his answer still remains a mystery as he has to focus on taking care of Sword’s wound. This noon’s tranquility might be ruined by you two’s appearance, but it’s not necessary a bad thing. If anything, Medkit is not upset with it. It’s just you after all. You do keep his mind distracted from those bad thoughts. And even when he doesn’t say this out loud, he’s glad that everything is still within control

But most importantly, he’s glad that his idiots are still safe and sound, enough for them to laugh it off like this

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝

Note: Out of the blue, I’m carving for something sweet and refreshing in the middle of the night while writing this ♪(´ε｀ )

[harryinramshackle]

𝕀𝕟𝕜𝕪 ℝ𝕚𝕓𝕓𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝟙𝟘𝟙 / 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠 ℙ𝕠𝕤𝕥 🐙🎀

Template | Dividers

Their tag: #inky ribbons | Ship Pinboard | Moodboards | Icons | Playlist | Fankids | Genderbends | Other filled templates: 1 - 2 - 3 (will keep getting updated)

Inky Ribbons is a romantic (yume)ship between Azul from Twisted Wonderland and my OC Jovie. Jovie is not my self-insert/twst sona (I'm a guy lol) making it purely oc x canon. Note: This post will be about them in an established relationship, along with other fun little stuff, not how they became a couple (that needs its own post lmao).

Basics:

Azul Ashengrotto | 17-18 y/o, February 24, 176cm | Bisexual Cis Male (he/him) | Talented in Mental Arithmetic | Housewarden of Octavinelle | An Octo-merman of Coral Sea | Twisted after Ursula (The Little Mermaid)

Jovelina "Jovie" Enspellika | 17-18 y/o, March 1, 158cm | Bisexual Fem Enby (she/they) | Talented in Singing | Member of Ramshackle (not Yuu) | A Witch of Wicked Grove | Twisted after The Sanderson Sisters (Hocus Pocus) 

Anniversary: March 11!

(more undercut)

First impression/How they met:

How they met:

Azul and Jovie are technically childhood friends. Jovie was originally born in a seaside house near the Coral Sea, where her family lived before moving back to their homeland.  One day, as kids, these two accidentally met by chance at the beach. At the time, Jovie was Azul’s first friend, as he hadn’t met the twins yet. They were friends for a few years until they eventually lost touch after Azul stopped coming to the shore to see her (around the time he started focusing on his studies and weight). They met again in NRC as freshmen (Jovie came as an international student seeking new experiences).

First impressions:

Jovie: (as kids) She was AMAZED by his appearance, much to his surprise. Jovie loves things that look/are unusual, so once she found out merfolk with tentacles exist she was THRILLED! (after reunion) She was shocked, almost didn’t recognise him! Not only because of his appearance but also because of the way he behaved and carried himself. It’s not that she didn’t like him! She was so happy to see her old friend again, he was just…different, in both good and bad ways.

Azul: (as kids) Terrified, someone saw him, a human no less! He was incredibly flustered by her overexcitement and kindness, even if it initially overwhelmed him. He quickly got attached to her and swam to see her every day. (after reunion) He immediately recognised her. Of course he would, in his eyes, she hadn’t changed a bit. Because of that assumption, he assumed he wouldn’t be interested in her again— until he noticed how able she was to catch him off guard constantly, then his feelings started to change.

Old doodle from April: First Meeting

Nicknames:

Azul calls Jovie: Angelfish (main), Angel, Dear, Darling (the simple and classy options).

Jovie calls Azul: Azzy (main), Zuzu, Sweetie, Honey, Honeypie, Moonbeam, Baby, Baby boy, Babe (the list goes on, she likes calling him by various ones).

Primary Love Languages/PDA:

Azul: (giving) Acts of Service, Quality Time, Gift Giving // (receiving) Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time

Jovie's: (giving) Physical Affection, Quality Time, Words of Affirmation // (receiving) Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Physical Affection

Azul wanted to keep up appearances initially, so he prevented most of the PDA Jovie initiated. However, as he got more comfortable in the relationship, he let Jovie be more physically affectionate with him in public (it still flusters him, though). However, they're still much more affectionate in private.

Jealousy?:

Jovie is much more jealous compared to Azul, and it stems from her abandonment issues. She fears Azul may find someone who is less "difficult to deal with" and leave her. This fear makes her extra clingy and possessive since she worked hard to be with him and she's terrified of losing him (again). She tries to improve this aspect of herself since it does push Azul away a few times.

Azul doesn't get jealous as much as he gets envious. He feels envy when Jovie pays attention to someone else for qualities she usually admires in him (ie. intelligence, looks etc.). He'll analyse in his head why they did that, and try to adopt those qualities himself. Jovie usually notices this behaviour and reassures him they still think he's the most beautiful and intelligent person in her eyes.

Idea Dates:

Azu: He prefers when the two of them enjoy quality and peaceful time together, often accompanied by coffee or tea. Whether it's relaxing at the lounge after closing time, in their bedrooms, or just taking a stroll around the campus, he cherishes the time they spend alone together. He also loves to organise special dates, putting in the effort to make them memorable for her. For example, he'll set up a tablet at the harbour, surrounded by candles with food already prepared (example). These surprise dates are often planned for special occasions or simply when he wants to show how much he cares for her with a grand gesture.

Jovie: She adores dates where she gets to dress up— restaurants, bars, dance events etc. The process of finding her best dress and doing her make-up brings her joy, both for herself and because of Azul’s compliments. She's delightful to see Azul all dressed up too, taking every chance to shower him with praise (his fluster expressions are always worth it after all). However, unlike Azul, she doesn't necessarily prefer for things to be "nice and neat"— quite the opposite, in fact. If rain starts during a date, instead of finding a way to get back to school as Azul would suggest, they will pull him into the rain for a dance (example). There is nothing better than dancing with him, even in the rain (and even if it means getting sick because they're accustomed to the cold like Azul).

Favourite/Least Favourite feature about the other:

Azul:

Favourite: He loves her ability to think outside the box and find solutions to problems quickly, even with unconventional means. She will go against the professor's orders to not touch a ruined potion, only for her to fix it and prevent a mess inside the classroom. Admittedly— there are times when she scares him, but the majority of the time her free spirit ends up being useful.   Least Favourite: Although he loves that she can freely solve issues, this free spirit of hers is often the source of many headaches. They will often do things completely on their own, often not taking the time to listen to him on why she may be wrong or what she’s about to do is a bad idea. Although, he knows Jovie’s actions are her own and the best he can do is advise her— even tho it’s annoying when they won’t listen.

Jovie:

Favourite: Jovie absolutely adores Azul’s determination to put effort into everything he does. Whether it’s for his studies, for the lounge or even their relationship they know he’ll give his 100%. They very rarely care about things being “perfect”, they value effort, and Azul puts plenty of that in everything. Even if a date he planned somehow goes wrong she won’t care at all, he still tried his best for her, and that fact makes her love him even more. Least Favourite: The way he tries to make things transactional. She understands why he does it, and they truly try to be as patient as possible with him, but damn i,t it does get annoying. He’s been improving since the start of the relationship, but doing things for him in the beginning would be exhausting, because he’d often worry she’d expect something in return from him (she didn’t). 

Songs that fit their relationship:

Azul’s POV:

Outset Island - Hot Freaks  Stupid Cupid - Connie Francies  Hidden in the Sand - Tally Hally Dream Girl - Annaje Kiss the Girl - Little Mermaid | Cover by VoicePlay

Jovie’s POV:

Baby Boy - Hot Freaks  From the Start - Laufey  Sally's Song - The Nightmare Before Christmas Your Reality - Doki Doki Literutare Club Fight For Me - Heathers the Musical

Both:

Line Without a Hook - Ricky Montgomery (ft mxmtoon) If Only (Quartet) from start until 2:17 minutes - The Little Mermaid Musical Therapy - tick, tick…BOOM! Here Comes a Thought - Steven Universe / Cover by Caleb Hyles Good Old Fashion Lover Boy - Queen Seventeen - Heathers the Musical Must be Love - Laufey   Finale/Reprise (Sally’s and Jack’s part) - The Nightmare Before Christmas (Royal AU) Sixteen Going on Seventeen - The Sound of Music (Pirate AU) Calico Jack - Karliene 

Trivia:

🐙 They enjoy spending time together alone after the mostro lounge closes, enjoying a nice cup of tea and just talking about anything that comes to mind. 

🎀 They're the only person who can give Azul a gift, or do him favours, without feeling indebted to her (however it took him a while to get there, and he still tries to find ways to “repay” her actions).

🐙 Jovie hoards earrings. She ADORES earrings, she has 3 holes in both ears. No wonder Azul's gifts tend to be...well, earrings! (sometimes necklaces too).

🎀 Jovie sucks at giving gifts (and often doesn't have the money for them) so instead she asks Azul what they wanna do for the day. Whatever he says, it happens, just a special day where they can do whatever he wants.

🐙 Azul knows that for Jovie words often aren’t enough (even though they’re appreciated). So Azul makes sure he shows how much he cares about them through various actions (taking food for them at the cafeteria, remembering the things she tells him, offering to carry her books etc). It's the small things that get her.

🎀 If Azul wants to convince Jovie to do something all he has to do is smooth talk/flirt with her and she gives in. However, he’s not any better than her, they’re both each other’s weaknesses.

🐙 They're in the same class! Azul will usually playfully scold Jovie for not paying attention in class. Jovie can get help from him with homework (for a price of course) (the price being a date) since she struggles with the non-practical aspects of lessons.

🎀 Azul did an excessive amount of research on Jovie's culture so he's prepared for the day they'll tell him "my family wants to meet you". He thinks it'll prepare him to make a good first impression if he's knowledgeable about their culture (It, in fact, does not help him regarding his stress over actually meeting them). 

🐙 The first time they publicly held hands was during the SDC, and he initiated it, causing Jovie to freeze in place for a moment as they tried to process what he had just done (he’s very private about the relationship, so it was a surprise).

🎀 She's the only one allowed inside the bathroom in cases where his potion has worn off and he needs to wait for the next refill inside the bathtub.

🐙 With Azul’s birthday being on Feb 24 and Jovie’s on March 1, they spend Feb 28 as their own personal date to spend time alone between their parties.

🎀 Occasionally, when she hangs out in his VIP room with him, Jovie will quietly hum (mostly songs from her homeland). He finds it extremely relaxing, although sometimes he may get distracted from work and be enamoured with her voice.

🐙 Jovie likes to sneak into his room in the middle of the night and crawl under his blankets to sleep with him. 9 times out of 10 he knows she’s doing this, but after the first 3 times, he just stopped reacting and let her be. 

🎀 Jovie occasionally enjoys preparing meals for Azul, and she's developed the habit of cutting his food into hearts. Whether it's veggies, meat, sweets, etc., she will make sure they're heart-shaped. Originally, they started it as a small way to help him deal with his eating issues.

Author's note: Wow, okay, this is *check notes* 2069+ words in total. Feel free to call me insane! Help, what do I even say? I feel like the post speaks for itself. I’m not normal about them. I WANTED TO WRITE MORE, LMAO. Umm, I hope you enjoy my…silly ship or whatever. Heh... I'm not sure what else to say. Uh, embrace your insanity, guys. It may lead you to make an almost 2000+-word post about your OC X canon ship.

If you read this far I love you forever muah muah kisses kisses hugs hugs/p

tag list: @ramshacklerumble @thehollowwriter @summerspook @scint1llat3 @skriblee-ksk

@cyanide-latte @twistedwonderlandshenanigans @oya-oya-okay @viperbunnies @gimmeurmoneyagh (lmk/dm if you wanna be added)

[nyxi-pixie]

Hiiiii.

Sorry to bother you, I wanted to know if you had any fic recs? Your writing is so good and your tastes are immaculate, and I am starving for any kind of good content. Please?

its not possible to bother me love dw <3

NOW. i dont actually read all that much anymore bc i am horrendously picky but this does give me an excuse to hype up the few authors that have satisfied my unreasonably specific tastes 🤩.

so. a few bsd recs for you (except theyre 99% skk because im horribly predictable forever). everyone go read all of these and tell the authors how wonderful they are in the comments please <3

anything @booksandpaperss has ever written is genius work and everyone should read it. could talk abt all of their stuff for hours (and i have🤩 they put up w so much of me bothering them godbless). also our brains do some accidental crazy mind melding shit whenever either of us write fic so if you like any of my stuff you will like theirs. thats the rules. <3

like twin stars in the dark (we collide)- dead apple skk porn as a vehicle for 22skk analysis. makes me salivate i have read it so many times. they get 22skk better than anyone🙏

my lies are for you to keep (my love for you to lose) - the only take on beastskk that matters to me ever. you can actually see me losing my mind in the comment i wrote on this fic bc of how fucking insane every single line made me. theres SO much packed into this thing its fucking crazy i NEEEEED everyone to read it. thats all <3

till death, I'll give you my breath - dazai death timeloop. this fic terrifies me so much i await every update with my teeth chattering and my heart pulsing so rapidly i should be hospitalised. the first scene of chapter 2 genuinely had me on the verge of tears im unwell about it.

(elli also has some jjk stuff thats REALLYREALLY good and if ur into jjk u should check that out too.)

NOW. aside from being a propaganda machine for my fav writer ever. Heres some other stuff i love.

the second perspective by @wildflowerteas. murder mystery/detective noir stuff w some time fuckery. the au of all time. mashes aspects of beast, canon, and some extra special niko sauce into a mixing bowl and goes crazy w it. just Such a genuinely impressive piece of writing. i could talk abt the technical brilliance of it for hours but i will stop myself. you gotta commit to this thing because it WILL make u crazy. also i loveee the sskk. its like if we had the beast first meeting sskk forever. SOSO GOOD!!!!

did fate guide the gun or did you? by @kanetheo. i read this pretty soon after chapter 109 and it genuinely fried my brain for months. the writing style is beautiful (as for everything they write AUGHH!!!) and the angst is delectable. the way it intersperses more fun silly skk moments with just. complete misery. GOD. it just hits. ive reread it quite a few times and it never fails to make me go crazy. srsly cannot rec this enough.

the decomposition of dazai osamu by @hella1975 this shot several bullets through my brain and i still havent recovered. i keep thinking 'oh i should reread that' and then i dont bc some part of my brain still concerns itself w maintaining whats left of my sanity. BUT its crazy good and everyone should read it and suffer at least once. EVERYONE LOVES YOU OSAMU!!!! EVERYONE EATS YOU!!! line of all time lets all kill ourselves.

smoke held conversations by feralrookie - i havent reread this in a while but it does cool stuff with nlh and the skkisms are really good in this too. ppl often write teen chuuya as less intelligent than he actually is. hes very observant, esp of dazai, and this fic gave me that 🙏

i called your name til the fever broke by forest_raccoon - vampire chuuya. biting is involved. i blacked out reading it. enough said.