#Doddle Jump

[professionallyamateur1o1]

Reference :

[fabled-fiction]

Maybe a Hobie Brown x Mabel-Pines-Type!Reader? Older obviously, with just like, her personality and fashion sense? A Chaotic Sunshine meets Chaotic Rebel type thing.

If not interested, just ignore. But I look forward to whatever you write!

Starstruck (Hobie Brown x Fem!Sunshine!Reader)

Summary: You’re Jess Drew’s gal in the chair (in training), and when you have to make a quick trip the spider society you happen to catch a certain punk’s eye.

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: MINOR SPIDERMAN ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE SPOILERS, use of (Y/N)

A/N: I hope this meets your expectations!! I had alot of fun writing this!

EARTH-1618

KINGS, NEW YORK CITY

Your desk was more glitter than wood at this point.

It was hard to tell where the stickers stopped and where the wood of your desk started.

Especially now, as you squeezed glue on top of whatever artpiece you were currently working on. An array of different paint tubes and what looked like glitter bombs were spread about your work area, dangerously close to what looked like very expensive monitors and pcs. Though it was kind of hard to tell based on all the string worms and star stickers pasted on any surface that wasn’t a screen.

The project, which could only be identified as an oversized button pin upon closer inspection, was coming together nicely. Atleast in your eyes.

It read “BEST SPIDER” with a cute doddle of a spider surrounded by loads of blue, yellow, and red glitter. Currently you were putting your finishing touches on it by attaching color coordinated ribbons to the bottom ruffles.

The craftsmanship alone of it was indeed impressive, you just needed to look past the blinding reflectiveness of it.

It was for your mentor, Spiderwoman.

Who had taken you under her wing for the past two years, “training” you to be the best. Well, best in the sense of “gal in the chair”. At first it didn't make a whole lot of sense to you, but neither did the world you were thrown into. She apparently saw something in you from all the way across the multiverse.

The rest was history.

“(Y-)..(Y/N)...(Y/N)!”

The glue bottle currently in your hands spun in the air, a chaotically beautiful cascade of glue spewing in the air and (thankfully) somehow none of it landed on you. Slowly turning your head, you gave a small wave as you saw said mentor on the screen staring down at you.

“Jess! Hey…did you..did you try calling my watch?”

“What do you think?”

Spinning your chair across the room, you snatched your multiversal watch and flicked the screen on.

You did in fact have about five missed calls from her. You could feel her iced stare from across the room, hell from across dimensions.

“But it was getting in the way of my creative liberties!”

“I don’t care! As the second half of a spider person you need to be available 24/7! Your future spider will need to be able to rely on you.”

Slipping the watch onto your wrist, you shot yourself back over to your desk and smiled widely at her. She knew that whatever scolding she gave you would only have about a few moments effect. Sure the message would stick but she always had that nagging feeling in the back of her mind of how long it truly stuck.

“Well, You have me on the horn now! What's up? Who do I need to aid with my technological wonders? My sleuthing skills? I'm ready to Sherlock it up!”

After a few more long blank faced seconds, Jess reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

“We actually need you here. Our resident Spider who usually deals with all of our technological deals is having some connectivity issues.”

Your heart stopped for a moment, but only for a moment before you were shooting out of your seat and whooping. Jumping around your room, you threw your fist in the air before a sudden realization dawned upon you mid air.

It was almost comical how you seemed to pause mid jump.

“Oh my god…I have to change. I can't show up to Spider Society looking like this!”

“(Y/N) there's no time! Grab your bag and get here now.”

Standing in shock, you huffed as you watched your computer screen clip off.

She was crazy if she thought you weren’t at least gonna put on some body glitter.

-

“Jess said to meet her here…do you think she got lost?”

Hobie shrugged, shoving his hands into his vest pockets. His fingers found themselves fiddling with whatever computer chip or part he had nabbed as he leaned against what could be considered a front desk.

“You know ‘er best. She usually punctual?”

Gwen looked up from her watch with an exasperated look. That told Hobie all he needed to know as he leaned his head back with a sigh.

“Listen! I've never met her in person! She’s one of Jess’s other trainees! I just know she's not a spider, and that despite having worked with Jess for two plus years she's never stepped foot in Spider Society!”

“She’s a chair?”

Pinching her nose, Gwen nodded. “Yea. A pretty good one too. She is a bit…eccentric though. And loud…I think she blew my eardrum out one time. I had tinnitus for like a week...”

“So she’s got some vocals on ‘er aye?”

“Thats all you picked up on? C’mon Hobie help me look for anyone who looks lost we’re supposed to chaperon h-”

Usually the portals that opened here were the usual semi-chaotic reality altering ones. But for some reason the one that just opened in front of them was nothing of the sort. No..this one opened with a loud tear; Everything and everyone in the vicinity was enveloped in a neon pink hue.

It was hard to tell who came stumbling out of the portal, as Hobie feared that if he moved his hand he would temporarily blind himself. But as the portal closed, and everything returned to its normal color palette, he finally dared to move his hand.

Maybe he shouldn’t have moved his hand.

Cause he was only met with a very different, blinding sight.

You had just fully stood from what he could only assume was a clumsy entrance. You wore what could only be described as almost every color of the rainbow but someone you pulled it off. There was absolutely no way you could move silently, as you were adorned in a plethora of kandi bracelets, pastel chains and pins. Your hair was adorned in a multitude of clips that matched the ones on your bag. 

Was your smile an accessory too? Hobie was sure it was, cause it was blinding him just as much as the body glitter that was spread over your legs and arms were.

His hand slowly reached up to clutch the chest of his jacket, in hopes that it would remind his heart to beat.

It wasn’t until Gwen had elbowed him in the side (hard enough to bruise might he add) that he remembered to breathe.

“Don’t stare, it's rude.”

He didn’t want to look away.

“Hi! Im Gwen…Stacy! We’ve talked a few times over coms?”

You smiled even wider as you grabbed Gwen’s hand and shook it rather violently (or enthusiastically it could have been confused for either). When she removed her hands from your drip it was left brighter than before for only a moment.

“Hi! Its nice to finally put a non-masked face to the name! Im (Y/N). And you are?”

Your sneakers squeaked as you took a sharp turn to face Hobie fully.

“Im Hobie Brown. Quiet the entrance you made.”

He holds his hand out, and is relieved when you shake it for just as long as you did Gwen’s. He watches as it glowed then returned to its normal saturation.

“Yeaaaa. Apparently my Earth is like WAY brighter than most. I would’ve brought sunglasses if I had known that would happen. Anyways…can you show me to the computer lab..hub…wherever this Spider-Byte normally operates?”

Gwen had taken it upon herself to lead the charge, and include a quick run over tour of whatever facility you all happened to pass on the way to the lab. 

Everything was so bright, but what amazed you more were the amount of Spider people that were just casually walking about. Either they were coming back from patrol, returning from break or coming for the first time.

You were sure your neck was gonna hurt or have a permanent crook in it from how much you were whipping your head around and turning to take everything in. You weren’t sure when the next time you would be here would be, so you wanted to take it all in.

“And here is where all the computer magic happens! You uh…know what you’ve gotta do from here right?” Gwen awkwardly raised her hands as if to present the lab.

“Yup! Im TECHNICALLY supposed to monitor your guys software and stuff and blah blah blah but I actually connected with Layla on the way here-who is super sweet by the way-and Im actually just gonna fix Spider-Byte’s connectivity issues here so she can get back to it. Y’know since she’s more knowledgeable with everything here. I would probably just mess something up.”

Despite the fact that you spoke about a mile a minute, and it was obvious Gwen was struggling to keep up, Hobie hung onto every word.

You moved like you had been here before despite this being your first time even stepping foot on the premises. You just moved with this sense of self confidence that had the aura of the room commanded by your presence alone. If you hadn’t told them your Earth just naturally saturated Hobie would have just assumed your essence was just too potent that it leaked off you and onto whatever you touched.

You were leagues above him when it came to the coolness factor.

Watching as you moved around the consoles via spinny chair (when did that get there?), each screen popped up and immediately began to run code. Hobie liked to pride himself on being a tech wiz, but this was levels beyond what he knew how to do. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from you.

But as he watched your hands, he noticed…were you TAKING code off the computers too?

Oh, that just brought a smile to his face.

As Gwen wandered over to the other side of the console to watch the miles of code run across the screen, Hobie took the opportunity to have a moment with you on the opposite side of the room.

Right when you went to shoot across him (and might he add it was almost like you had spider like reflexes with how you moved around on this thing), his hand went to grab the back of your chair.

Pulling the chair back, he watched as you rubber banded back into the seat and stood straight up. He leaned over your shoulder to look at the screen in front of you both. His hand reached over to tap a few keys and pull up the results onto just this screen.

Ignoring how his spider senses were shooting down his spine at an all time high with how close he was to you, he looked at you with a smirk.

“Did you just ‘alf inch some of our code?”

“Im sorry?”

Leaning in closer, he pulled the thumb drive out of only this terminal and held it up. Your cheeks turned a dark red in realization to being caught, and you crossed your arm as you started at him.

“You know wha’ I said”

Turning quickly, you pulled ANOTHER flash drive out from your pocket and stuck it into the port. The downloading resumed, and much to Hobie’s surprise you stood and snatched the thumb drive from him.

“First of all, I am part of the ‘’our’’ and second of all…it's none of your business.”

Suddenly multiple of the screens, well practically all of the screens in the room flashed green. With a pat of his shoulder, you rolled over to every computer and pulled out each flashdrive. Hobie counted…12!

He covered his mouth, trying to keep his cool disposition as he watched you quickly shove each one in your bag. You little grifter you…he would definitely have to find out what Earth you were from…

With the push of a button, you turned to them with a smile as you placed your hands on your hips.

“Alrighty! My work here is done…wait..,”

Turning around, you pressed the enter key on the computer behind you only to whip right back around smile as all the screens returned to normal.

You had been here all but twenty minutes and you managed to do solve all of their problems and then some.

“Now Im done! Gwen, you have my contact coordinate. Call me if you need me at all.”

Your eyes raked over Hobie, and you couldn’t help but feel a flutter in your chest as he watched you carefully. The hair on your arms stood when he had leaned over you earlier. You could tell from his punk aesthetic and impressive hair that he was definitely anarchy incarnate…

He intrigued you. You were sure the data files you had picked up from the archives would barely answer every question you had about him.

You would have to push off your paper mache project for tonight…

“It was nice meeting you Hobie! Hope we can meet again sometime. Im like, basically free all the time…Later!”

Signing off with a peace sign, your neon portal opened again and closed in an instant as you fell into it.

“See what I mean, eccentric.”

“I thought she was pretty cool.”

Walking over to where you just stood, Hobie ran his fingers over where you had last touched hoping to catch some of the light leftover.

It was then he noticed you had left behind one of your thumb drives. It was definitely yours, a bright neon yellow covered in white glitter that fell off as he picked it up. His other hand came down to pick up the tag on the string connected to it.

‘Oops! Guess I left behind this VERY important thumb drive. Mind returning it to me? I like really need it for super duper important chair stuff…Earth 1618, Kings, New York City things y'know.

– (Y/N)’

[roosterscockpit]

Their First Halloween All Together | H.C |

This is within the same universe as my story 🥹❤️

Please let me know if you received/did not receive the notification that you’ve been tagged, thanks besties! 

click here to see the master list

Happy Halloween! Be safe! Check your candy, babes!! 🎃🫶🏼🍭

Bradley wakes up super early to go to the store to get a bunch of spooky decorations for the inside of the house.

Makes Leia and you a spooky basket full of everything you both love.

Decorates the kitchen area with skeletons, ghosts, spiders/spiderwebs, strings bat fairy lights all over and sets up all the Halloween activities.

Plays Nightmare Before Christmas as background noise. 

Cuts up a white bed sheet and drapes it over himself.

Runs into his sleeping daughter’s room and dumps a bucket of candy on her to wake her up

Jumps on her bed in his ghost costume until she wakes up. 

Cuts a white pillow cover for her to wear.

They stand in front of your door and look at each other. They nod in unison and Bradley swings the door open. They run into your room and scare the shit out of you. 

Makes both of you jack-o-lantern pancakes in the morning. 

Carves pumpkins with Leia. Bradley carves a ghost with aviators with a sick mustache. You help Leia and she carves a scary face with a mustache and names it spooky doddle-doo.

Bradley gives you your spooky basket. It has skeleton-printed socks, a Starbucks card, a squishy stress ball in the shape of a pumpkin, a cute pumpkin-headed teddy bear, a pumpkin cake pop, a pumpkin spice-scented candle, a wine glass that says, “I need more boos” and your favorite candy, a KitKat. But the king size with 16 pieces.

He gives Leia hers. It has cute jack-o-lantern spooky slides, a shirt that says “Creep it Real” with a skateboarding ghost, black and green striped socks, a pumpkin cake pop, an Oogie Boogie plushie, squishy toys in the shape of a skeleton head, a cat head, and a pumpkin, Halloween themed hair bows, and a bunch of different candies. 

Bradley runs to his bronco for another surprise. He comes in with matching pajamas for the three of you. They are mummy themed. Your’s says “Mummy”. Bradley’s says, “Dadcula.” Leia’s says, “Lil’ Monster.” 

You and Bradley decorate cookies with Leia. Leia makes a zombie pilot and says it looks like her papa Mav.

You all make cupcakes together. Bradley and Leia team up and throw flour at you. After you are done making them, Bradley feeds you one and smashes it into your face. Leia licks the icing off of your nose.

Bradley helps Leia dress into her costume. He adds the finishing touches and kisses her nose. “You look good, baby girl.” He steps back and admires his masterpiece, “Really good.” They nod in unison.

You dressed up as a vampire.

Bradley comes out into the living room wearing his flight suit. You admire how hot he looks.

“And I present to you… Mini Rooster!” He throws his hands to the side of him and out emerges Leia in a small version of Bradley’s flight suit. She’s wearing a fake mustache and a pair of Bradley’s aviators. 

Leia sings danger zone while you and Bradley die of laughter.

You and Bradley load the car with sleeping bags and the new pajamas Bradley got you all.

You and Bradley bring Leia to Penny’s house for her first house to get candy. Mav and Penny open the door and laugh hysterically. 

Mav wants to fit in so he goes and throws his flight suit on too. The three of them stand together to take pictures.

You and Penny die internally of a cuteness overload.

Leia finishes trick-or-treating and comes back with a Star Wars pillowcase full of treats. 

Bradley checks her candy and eats at least a quarter of it as he “checks.”

You all go to Mav's hangar for a Halloween party. 

You and Bradley bring out all the sweets you three made at home. Everyone goes after them.

The squad sees Leia and dies of laughter. They think it's the cutest thing ever. They all take turns taking pictures with her in Mav's P-51.

All of the dagger squad are dressed up as scary monsters for the haunted house Mav created for Leia and the other kids. 

Leia is the only kid not scared through the whole house. 

She says hi and gives hugs to all the dagger squad while she goes through. All of the other kids hide behind her.

When they reach the end, Mav opens the curtain to let them out.

Leia screams bloody murder. Mav is confused.

“Sorry Papa, you’re the scariest monster here.”

The squad members come out of their hiding spots and laugh at Mav.

Mav is just in his regular old flight suit.

Mav has a Halloween Party playlist playing and everyone is dancing. 

Thriller comes on and everyone dances. Bradley and Hangman lead the group. 

Leia shares her candy with everyone’s kids. 

Mav set up a bunch of games for the kids. The favorite one being ghost bowling. Rolling a pumpkin at a bunch of toilet paper rolls with ghost faces drawn on them.

Another being pin the spider on the web. 

The adults had a pumpkin carving contest. All the couples were pairs for teams. 

The winners were Cyclone and Davina ( @cycbaby​ ) for their drunk pumpkin throwing up. 

They won a Halloween-themed bath box. It had various bath bombs in the shape of a pumpkin, ghost, and skeleton. 

Cyclone gave Davina a devious look when they opened it. “We can use these later.” 

Bradley overheard and yelled, “Baby Typhoon underway!” Everyone joined in.

Cyclone winked over at Davina, “Halloween means spooky sex.”

Penny brought batches of Jell-O shots for a game of trick-or-treat shots. A bunch of Jell-O shots with 1 that actually had alcohol.

Whoever would get the one with alcohol had to get a pie pan of whipped cream to their face. 

Hangman and Bob were the unlucky ones. 

There was a spooky Photo Booth. Everyone crammed into it and took pictures.

Mav had a scrapbook outside the booth for everyone to glue a copy of their pictures and write something.

You, Bradley, and Leia took a picture and put it in Mav’s book. You were biting Bradley’s neck as Leia was mimicking a scream. 

Bradley wrote, “A pain in my neck.”

After the party, everyone changes from their costumes into Halloween-themed Pjs and set up their sleeping bags all around Mav’s hangar.

Mav pulls out the projector.

You, Bradley, and Leia change into your matching pajamas.

You all watch Halloween movies for the rest of the night. 

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[terriwriting]

And I got an idea for a classic SF setting where

it turns out once a civilization collects all the low fruit, technological and scientific progress grinds to a haul. As a consequence, there are million year old civilizations out there but the difference between us and them is more like Classical Rome and the US, not Homo habilis and us. There's no singularity, rockets still obey Newton, and there's barely any fusion (oddly, total conversion turns out to be a doddle and often the last thing civilizations invent).

Alas, while FTL is doable, it's slow and limited, and lifebearing worlds are hard to get a foothold on so civilizations tend not to spread. When they do spread, it's unevenly (see Percolation Theory).The downside of FTL is it means collapse can spread all across even interstellar civilizations.

Also alas, aliens are _alien_ and bridging the communication gap is hard. As a consequence of that and slow travel times, there's less contact than one might expect. The Great Silence is because almost no one thinks it is worth the investment to talk and if they did, it would be by messenger courier (months to years), not radio (years to millennia).

There _is_ a large scale organization to reduce friction, because experience says not having one is worse. Its name translates as "the least we could do." It's poorly funded and draws mainly from the species at the very high end of the gregariousness scale. It's there to prevent violence. It won't preemptively nuke potentially troublesome species because experience says being the sort of organization that does that leads to poor outcomes. It will jam their jump points so that they can't be used.

The Least has automated monitors in every solar system. The Least has a very large database on the development of civilizations, and all the likely Great Filters they have to survive (or in the majority of cases, fail to). Each new group is an additional headache, so if the Least notices a group barrelling toward self-annihilation, they generally do nothing. Which gets us to Earth.

They've known about Earth for millions of years, maybe longer. They've known about hominins since we started affecting the environment in a major way. Humans check off a lot of the warning signs for a doomed species. As a consequence, the monitor misread the hundreds of nuclear weapons tests as a sustained nuclear war. It sent a notice to the Least to that effect. Then the Least jammed the Sol jump points from the far side, cutting off all communications.

While the data on humans is correct, interpretation by officials who skim those records isn't. Those who remember the humans at all remember them for comparative proximity to a impending supernova (the main reason galactics are interested in our otherwise unfashionable part of the Milky Way) and for being chaotic, fearfully energetic, narcoleptic, violent [1], obligate carnivores with an insane birth rate [2] from a giant, bright, doomed [3] star system. Happily, humans might have wiped themselves out. If they didn't, rebuilding from a thermonuclear war should keep them too busy for space flight for a few centuries. If they do make it into space, all their jump points are impassible.

So where did the human starship come from?

The Least is sufficiently adept for its needs to create translators and thousands of years of watching Earth gave them databases on all the major languages, including a bunch now extinct. As a consequence, the Least will speak to the human ship in English. However, since none of the Least's databases were updated since the 1950s, all of the slang is archaic.

1: Actually, lots of intelligent species are far more violent. They tend not to get past the nuclear weapon Great Filter. Some esp violent examples don't survive pointed stick.

2: For a K-strategy species. The R-strategy guys produce far more offspring but they have a proportionately larger mortality rate.

3: Most ETs come from red dwarf systems.

My responses:

That's a fantastic bit of worldbuilding. Thinking along my own lines… Assuming FTL develops out of roughly contemporary experiments in physics and follows a standard engineering timeline, we're about 100-200 years away from developing FTL. If the Least hasn't updated its linguistics databases since 1950, that would make it over 200 years out of date. It would be like trying to hold a conversation with Jane Austen. Or the basis of FTL could be something with immediate engineering applications, which would optimistically put FTL about 25-50 years away. That would make the gap more like trying to talk to someone from the 1920s. And you'd have the bonus of humans running around in tin cans strapped to nuclear reactors and whatever absurd high energy physics-thing makes the FTL work. You wouldn't really need jump points to blockade a star system either. If the FTL is a convenient warp or hyperdrive type, just slap some sort of blanket interdiction field around Earth. Say from a TMA-1 type object (or maybe a pair and a spare set-up) buried under the Lunar dirt, to protect it from radiation and micro-impacts. The Least comes by once every two hundred years or so to make sure interdictor is still working. It's not that important to them; even if your species survives a limited nuclear war, all of your easy to access resources have been used up, your environment is crap, and your population is minuscule. The interdiction field is more of a technicality, to make sure the really violent types don't somehow manage to crawl out of their own wreckage. An interdiction field would also explain why humans didn't discover the principles behind FTL until relatively late. Our systems had to be really sensitive to detect whatever the signs are. And it would be an interesting bit of tension between humans and everyone elese. "You expoxied our apartment door shut." "Yeah. Sorry. In our defence, we heard gunshots and assumed you were dead. We didn't want the smell to bother anyone."

And:

Thinking some more about it… 1850s-1920s: The observed world has clearly entered a phase of rapid industrialization, with a high potential to develop nuclear weapons. Build the interdiction facility on the moon, take as many low-altitude scans now as you can (There were various UFO crazes through to the 1920s), and then pull back to remote observation. 1920s-1950s: All observations are now done through automated remote systems, including various stealth drones. Observations of Earth's atmosphere reveal growing levels of toxic heavy metals (leaded gasoline), a degraded ozone layer (fluorocarbons), wartime use of nuclear weapons, and growing tensions between nuclear powers. In March 1954, following the Castle Bravo detonation, a mass shooting at the US Capitol, and the start of the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the remote observation team decides to pull out of the system and activate the interdiction system. The last atmospheric data shows the Castle Romeo detonation, and is taken as the start of a thermonuclear battle.

[razorblade180]

Abyss Dominance

Sequel to Abyss Pain <-

Aether and friends waited at Musk Reef for what had to be almost half an hour before the portal glowed it’s menacing light as the two teams emerged.

Aether:Hey how was-

Yae Miko staggered out with Keqing on her back Nahida in one hand, and gripping Diona’s clothes with her teeth. All four were critically low and Yae finally dropped everyone as she fell towards the shallow water in relief. Keqing did her best to get up but her trembling arms only got her to her knees.

Behind them came Zhongli using his spear as a can to keep himself up while Yun Jin helped him along, also exhausted. Yoimiya came out with several huge bruises and a bloody nose that Kokomi was frantically trying to stop.

Aether:What…HAPPENED!?

Kokomi:Strategies… don’t account for power…

Keqing:We covered every aspect of each chamber. Knew every weakness…

Yae:But that doesn’t make the adversaries hurt less. We all made it through the rift hounds and didn’t doddle, but by the end the only person healthy enough to take the lead was our little shogun over here.

Nahida:Keqing…fought all the Serpent Knights. Took every hit, worked every angle, all while defending us.

Keqing:A Captain…protects their own.

Diona:*sniffling* I’m sorry I couldn’t heal faster! Or give you more defense.

Keqing:You did wonderfully. That giant robot would’ve had us dead to rights if you didn’t shoot it down so quickly. I wouldn’t have managed without any of you.

Yae:That’s my line. No stop trying to stand.

Aether:*looks left* Okay, you guys hold the fastest time for destroying the Thunder Manifestation, so I don’t that was the problem.

Yoimiya:That was no problem. Chamber one went smoothly our end. Two on the other hand…

Yun Jin: Those Lawachurls were something out of a nightmare. Not only did they obliterate Mr. Zhongli’s shield, but the cryo affect caught Yoimiya in place. They both jumped and…yeah.

Kokomi:Thank goodness one got petrified but Yoimiya was sent flying across the room. That was before the two electro ones showed up…

Zhongli:I must apologize. A shield should hold firm when all other options fail, but looks like I wasn’t up to the task.

Yoimiya:Nonsense. You’re wonderful. Things would’ve been different if I could move properly but I ran out of room and flames. I’m supposed to lead but got taken out near the start. Sorry for making you all worry so much.

Aether:What about chamber 3?

Kokomi:Much simpler. Not half the ordeal but we were still pretty tired. In the end…we achieved 35 stars.

Keqing:Sorry. Those knights ate up time.

Yun Jin:We weren’t much better, struggling as we did and needing lots of time. Looks like we have improving to do.

Aether:Geez guys. We’re only missing a star. You all did amazing. Don’t worry about it.

Yae:The primo bag is nearly empty.

Aether:…Well you’re correct but it’s fine. I honestly can’t think of a better combination to get through everything timely.

Nahida:I really want that last star.

Yoimiya:Yeah it’s gonna bug me! But…I won’t ask you all to go back in there. Frankly I don’t know what I’d do differently.

Keqing:Sorry everyone, but I’m spent.

Yae:Fine by me.

Diona:We don’t think less of you.

The groups let out sighs of exhaustion. Footsteps through the water made ripples as Nilou came walking towards Keqing and grabbed Jade Cutter.

Nilou:I’ll go on for you.

Everyone:….

Keqing:I mean, I won’t stop you. But are you sure?

Nilou:Won’t know unless I try, right? At the vet least, I don’t think I’m letting corrosion take me out.

Keqing:You…have a point.

Nahida:I’ll join again.

Nilou:Thank you. I humbly request Kokomi and you Aether.

Collei:(Oh thank gods I’m safe.)

Kokomi:Of course I’ll help you. The hounds should be easy for us.

Aether:Shouldn’t you take Collei for the robot.

Nilou:Oh you’re right!

Collei:…

Kokomi:Don’t worry. I’ll keep you and Nahida nice and healthy. Just stay behind us.

Collei:Okay….

Bennett walks over to help Yun Jin while Hu Tao walks over and smiles at Yoimiya. She then looks over at Zhongli mischievously.

Zhongli:…I’m working overtime?

Hu Tao:Oh don’t phrase it like that! If anything you’re actually working less. Let’s show them the power of mono pyro!

Yun Jin:I leave them in your capable hands.

Bennett:We’ll be back before you know it!

Aether:Guys. Seriously, 35 stars is-

A fierce look of determination from all of them hit Aether with immense pressure. He simply smiles and gives them the okay.

Keqing:If you pull this off Nilou, I’ll personally recommend you to get another crown and be captain.

Nilou:Oh well now I know I gotta give it my all!

xxxxx

There can beauty in anything if you look hard enough. Food, weapons, nature; Collei never thought she’d find beauty in a place like the abyss. However, as she stood with Nahida on her shoulders, the Court of Dreams shining down on them, and their circling around them, Collei could only be left in awe. Even the slight sting of poison and blooms were numbed immediately as Nilou twirled through the abyss creatures on Collei’s left while Kokomi gracefully attacked to her right. Before she knew it, their performance was over. Complete and utter dominance. All with gentle smiles on their face as if they weren’t in a place of danger.

Nilou:Good job everyone. On to the next room.

xxxxx

Meanwhile on the other side, Zhongli witnesses the phrase “frolicking flames” personified in three people. Perhaps it all their battle experience, but the three pyros moved in sych even though this was their first ever team up. Bennett matched Yoimiya’s pace and stuck by her at all times as the she launched arrow after arrow at the cryo Lawachurls. Zhongli took personal satisfaction watching his boss tear through their shields like paper then proceeded to push both of them back. Ice trapped her feet but HuTao laughed as she dashed out, following Yoimiya firework mark.

The two electro barreled through the funeral director, knocking her away but only getting a few feet before Zhongli petrified them so Yoimiya and Bennett can move further back. Meanwhile Hu Tao got up and rushed towards them to hit a devastating blow that all but turned them to ash. She looked at her friends and gave a thumbs up.

Hu Tao:See? What did I tell ya?

Bennett:Your nose and lip are bleeding.

Hu Tao:Oh I took that hit on purpose!

Bennett:….

Zhongli:Don’t worry. She’s fine, somehow….

Yoimiya:Let’s roll everyone! I gotta great feeling about this run!

xxxxx

In half the time, both teams came back from the abyss with a few scratches but calm looks that said everything; mission complete.

Aether:Credits give where credit is due. Beautiful work.

Bennett:Aww hehe, just doing our best.

Nilou:Want the sword back?

Keqing:Hang on to it for now. I’ll take it back when the next challenge arises, Captain.

Nilou:I look forward to it, Captain.

[jinxedwood]

Holy shit, the USA College system is a nightmare. 

I’m doing research for this HotD Mafia AU, and there are a variety of time jumps, where Rhaenyra is graduating High School, then finishing her degree, then finishing graduate school and beyond.

And all I can say is that the US college system is extremely geared towards the uber wealthy. It’s not good enough to get good grades, you also have to shine in your extra curricular activities, and do AP classes just to get a look in at top tier schools. And even if you get in, you will most likely have to pass up the opportunity because you don’t have a spare 150,000 dollars. What the fuck?

I mean, the wealthy have advantages here too. We have expensive private schools and most middle class families send their kids to grinds, or summer school in the Gaelteacht, but nobody expects you to excel in sports to do engineering, or asks if you got onto your school’s debate team - and there is none of that Legacy shit, thank fuck. 

Also, colleges here are government subsidised, so if you go to a technical college, or Trinity college, it still costs the same - currently  3,000 euro a year (12,000 for a four year degree) 

The Leaving Certificate exams, which you need to apply to college here, is a bitch though. It’s a point based system, so those two-three weeks are intensely stressful. College was a doddle compared to it (Serious, I still have anxiety dreams about it.

(Also checking out expensive private schools for gIrls in Manhattan  - and 50,000 a year?!?  Are the textbooks made out of solid gold?) 

ETA: Forgot to mention our college fees are also means tested, which means you can get a state grant to cover your fees if you come from a low income family

[belokhvostikova]

Holy shit. I'm done in. This was epic. I'm so glad posting it all together won in the polls. To break that up would have been criminal.

The structure of this was fantastic, I've said the same thing about a previous chapter I think, but it paced the story so well. Building up to her arriving at the trailer while simultaneously taking us through her being at the trailer, it created such suspense. Her staying the night at Eddie's being broken up by the lead up to, and then the actual date, kept it from being too much though, like little pauses of slushy goodness to combat the angst. There were a lot of time jumps but I found it easy to keep track of what point we were at.

The date. I loved it. Couldn't stop smiling. Them both freaking out getting ready 'why the hell do people let him walk out of the house like this?!' I snorted at that whole section 🤣 the bickering over music and the Shrek reference were hilarious but his reaction to her teasing and flirting was my favourite part. the hand holding in the van! I nearly expired. that date in theory should have completely tanked. both of them rushing from other plans, creepy old men, the hideout in general, but it worked so well! Them being so into eachother has overridden any scetchy date locations.

Wayne! I'm so happy they met, I like when he's a bit standoffish with Eddie's love interest in fics, at first at least. He's not used to many people being nice to Eddie, so the drill is to be protective from the get go. Especially with that he knows of their history. But then they make Eddie cook the pancakes and sass him the entire time 😍 absolute gold.

Urgh then her dad. Feels like he needs his own essay to deconstruct everything wrong there. He's interesting in this though, because it's not as simple as just 'good' and 'bad' people. Good people do bad stuff sometimes and vice versa, it's hard figuring out which way round people are sometimes. Like he sees himself as a good person for not leaving, not hitting her, pushing her for good grades and college, and doesn't see his emotional detachment, cruel words and punishments as being a 'bad' person. It's so sad that parents see their children as just an extension of themselves and everything comes back to how it affects them or how they are seen. Seems very narcissistic. Although his teeny tiny reaction to her words imply that there's something there, maybe of who he used to be, or who he could be, but refuses to explore it like Eddie is doing. That Harry potter quote about our choices defining us comes to mind. Her dad isn't choosing to try and change anything, whereas Eddie is.

Chrissys redemption arc remained fully intact and she was major comic relief at times in this, the 'get real, Eddie's probably wearing that t-shirt he doddled on with markers' line got me 🤣 and stopping the kiss, then her bickering with Eddie later on for the suprise date. 'just give me my food' yes Chrissy. you eat that burger. And then her being completely oblivious to 90% of what's gone down between them, and still hitting the nail on the head. She's great.

But obviously my favourite thing thoughout the whole chapter was the build up of love. It's like he's completely dismissive of it at first with the strike through text. But then it's becoming harder to ignore, finally coming to a head right as he thinks she's leaving him. When she goes to him at the lake, that whole section was gorgeous. He's come so far, he's just accepting so readily that she's going, the Eddie from the beginning of this fic would have been pleading and manipulating and trying anything at his disposal to keep her. And her reaction, her cashing in on him making it up to her. Really beautiful.

And then the thing through this whole chapter of 'being ok' Eddie asking her at the start and her being anything but. And then him being far from ok himself being heartbroken over how she's been treated and the college news. They both say to eachother 'its ok' for situations and past actions that really aren't. But by the end they really are.

I'm so sad it's all over, loved this so much and really had to edit myself on not commenting on every tiny detail (her calling him mean so many times this chapter when it's the least mean he's been this entire time 🤣) stuff like that! Loved reading and commenting on this so thank you for sharing, so glad I found your blog 🖤🖤

I love you *literally screaming* You were one of the first people to comment on chapter one when I was new to writing, and ever since then, I have anticipated your thoughts every time I update, because you are quite literally one of the only people who gives me commentary on my series! AND I LOVE IT! You are a writers’ favorite type of reader, and I hope you know that. I’ve seen you give your thoughts on other writers’ fics, and it’s such an incredible feeling seeing someone take genuine interest in our work. Your commentary is heavily appreciated to me and this fandom!

I’m so happy people were okay with it being a long read, because I was panicking wondering if it was too much, but I’m so glad you and everyone else enjoyed it!

Thank you so much for the structural feedback, I was a bit hesitant with it, thinking it may have been too confusing, but hearing your thoughts, it’s great knowing that it provided some relief from the angst. I was heavily focused on the buildup of the story, and mapping out the events that lead to the catalyst of the story was my main goal, and I’m so happy it worked out! 

And the date! It was literally one of my favorite parts to write. Getting to see their dynamic when it wasn’t revolved around their personal issues was so comforting to delve into. Particularly knowing how bad the setting was, but seeing them triumph through, because moments like that are so scarce for them- ugh! And I got the idea of reader meeting Wayne from you! You had suggested it after chapter five, and I fell in love with the idea, so all credits to you! Thank you so much! If anyone has seen “The Notebook,” the scene where Allie meets Noah’s dad is exactly what I was going for. Just that homey vibe.

And meeting Wayne would end up opening reader’s eyes to how much she just yearned for a great relationship with her father. I really wanted to show how something so simple, like wanting to eat dinner together, could transpire into a huge argument, because of how strained the relationship is. And thank you for picking up on his subtle emotions, it was so important! Her father’s ego has essentially tainted everything for them. I wanted people to see how different their forms of love are; reader desperately wants the little things, and her father believes superficial support, like basic care, is enough. But because he refuses to believe he’s in the wrong, it ultimately destroys them. But, of course, there’s still an underlying love for her, it’s his daughter, he’d just rather be right. I loved your comments on that!

And we love our best friend Chrissy over here! A pure friendship between teenage girls was heavily needed, and Chrissy truly provided that support. Her and Eddie working together for reader, because they love her is everything!

And truly, I cannot thank you enough for paying attention to the minor details. They played a big part in the buildup to their relationship, especially the question of “being okay.” The whole journey was them realizing the severity of their mental and situational state, and going through the path of finding happiness. 

Again, I can’t say it enough, thank you so much! You and everyone else have been so kind with the feedback, and I’m so glad people like you enjoy my work enough to share your thoughts!

[the-victorian-alchemist]

Final Halloween Fic ~ Halloween Party

(Happy Halloween everyone!)

The event started late in the evening, and many of the Londoners had appeared, dressed in their finest outfits, tailored for the occasion. While hard to see, as the building was dark, excluding a few lights, you could still see some of the decorations, Jack o’ Lanterns among them. Many of the guests were costumed in black cloaks, and gothic attire. There was also a plethora of vampires present, but not the one Jekyll was looking for. He readjusted his jacket, tweaking his raven pin until it was perfectly straight, and took a deep breath. It would all go well. It was an informal event, surely nothing could go wrong. Jekyll stepped down the stairs, tailcoat flaring as eyes followed him. He smiled, the same one he gave to most of London, but anxiously looked for Lanyon. Where was he?

“You look perfect, Henry.” A voice whispered, causing Jekyll to jump slightly, whirling around on a heel. Lanyon was there, his bat-winged cape enveloping his shoulders, the hints of red in his costume drawing Jekyll in more, along with the older man’s eyes. Jekyll blinked off the feeling. “Thank you. You look marvelous as well, Robert. Shall we check on things?” He asked, Lanyon, who Jekyll could’ve sworn had the faintest blush on him, nodded.

The two men walked around the Society, where Zosi and Gertrude freely wandered around, and guests mingled around and chatted. A few groups of individuals were playing parlor games, finding mirrors in hopes of finding the future, or balancing spoons on teacups. Jekyll breathed a sigh of relief that the guests were all enjoying themselves.

“Henry! Why don’t you try a piece of cake?” Rachel called out, where there was a cake, and a group of people, including Ms. Lavender, Jasper, and Mr. Doddle, nearby it. Jekyll and Lanyon took a look at each other, nodded, and Jekyll (a bit hesitantly) walked over to the group. Rachel, a wide smile on her faced, shoved a piece of cake into his hands. "Thank you, Rachel.” He said with a smile and began to eat the cake. He was halfway through it when he bit down on something hard. A small cry escaped him as he pulled out the fork, find a sliver ring inside.

“Ah! Looks like you’ll be the next of the group to get married, Henry!” Rachel chirped, a slight, knowing grin on her face. Jekyll blushed profusely, trying to laugh it off, but ducked his head down and hurried to find Lanyon. “What happened?” The older man asked, concern across his face. Jekyll shook his head, a short laugh escaping. “Apparently, I’m next to get married.” He explained, Lanyon’s cheeks definitely tinting pink from it. They stood together for a moment, before seeing a group gathered around the fire. “Shall we?” Lanyon extended a hand. Jekyll eagerly nodded “Absolutely.” He replied, taking Lanyon’s hand as they walked together.

It was a start of something coming together once more.

[tru-neutral-good]

i never get tagged by name in these things lol @grimmusings

meet the mun.

— basics

NAME: Sunny

PRONOUNS: They/Them

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: tumblr dms are fine by me! i dont usually make a 1v1 discord server but, discord is still open to people i know well

SINGLE / TAKEN: Happily married and also taking a break from being polyamorous while my husband gets used to America, but i am usually, yuh. what a weird question to put on this thing

— three facts

🍳I just got a cat not too long ago! His name is Yellowstone and the way that i came to be his owner/butler is very uh dark and not what people expect lol

🍳I love to sew! I mostly do historical but ive definately have dipped my toe into critical role cosplay

🍳i got a huge burn from scalding butter a couple days ago and its still under wraps and in recovery so i cant hand sew OTL

— experience

I uh *embarrassingly* started RP when i was in middle school just between me and a friend. we used to like exchange paper and would write chat style dialogue and * style actions. After a pretty embarrassing bit of some kid reading one out to the class, i stopped untill maybe.... idk 2018, right when Infamous second son was still fresh i had my mutant oc for like nearly 3 years before i started playing Dragon Age Inquisition and started out @not-your-chosen with my inqui margaux when i was not even halfway throught the game lol, and then, like all things, it spiraled from there and now were here!

— sub-genres

you all know im a slut for found family dynamics!!! i dont get to play the guardian that often but my kiddos get alot of love through their counterparts, even when its angsty and even when its not like super fluffy all the time.

— plots vs memes

winging it is mostly what i do, i have like a small plot talk but i love seeing where our characters take it organically

— long or short replies

oof this really depends on spoons, how much i can jump off of from the other writer, and how passionate i can be about the thread. It even comes down to the character, like sunyoung is more a straight to the point replier, while say Elliot is more of a thinker and likes to doddle around in prose. its alot of factors

— best time to write

i can legit write anything any where if i have enough passion for what im writing. Usually i write in the mornings on days i work and interspersed thought the day on my off days

[everygame]

Flicky (Arcade)

Developed/Published by: Sega Released: 5/1984 Completed: 02/07/2022 Completion: Finished all 48 stages. Version Played: Astro City Mini Trophies / Achievements: n/a

So! I’ve had an Astro City Mini for a while (since it was decently discounted on the ol’ Amazon Japan) and not really done much with it except dip in and out of the odd game, and so I was excited that after finishing TwinBee I’d finally get to play the first game on it in my list chronologically, Sega Ninja!

Until I checked the system and realised that I’d made a mistake in my spreadsheet and Flicky actually came out in 5/198*4* not 5/1985, placing it first, and a contemporary of games such as King’s Quest (which I, uh, also missed at the time) and Tower of Druaga. Coming, in fact, well before Mappy on the NES, which I not-particularly-memorably referred to as “The game my brain always puts in the same bucket as Flicky, wrong or rightly.”

Anyway, it turns out rightly because (at least according to Wikipedia) Flicky came from Sega’s “desire to exceed Namco's Mappy” which originally came out in arcades in 1983.

And guess what! They did!

Flicky is a simpler game than Mappy, and in my mind, all the better for it. It’s a basic collect-em-up–collect all the wee birdies and take them back to the exit–but it’s actually got a fascinating decision at the heart of it: it’s a single-screen platformer in that you can see the entire level on one screen, it wraps-around, but it scrolls meaning that the level somehow feels about three times as large as it is. You almost don’t realise it’s a single screen game! (Or maybe I'm just an idiot.)

I’d be interested to know why this decision was made–was it just to scroll like Mappy? Or was it intentionally done to avoid that annoying thing where you get killed transitioning between sides by an enemy you can’t see? Either way it’s a spark of minor genius.

It’s not all gravy though. Flicky herself has a touch too much floaty inertia, and while jumping onto platforms is nothing like the insane bullshit you have to put up with in Ice Climber, there’s a ton of head-bumping and wall-bouncing to be had making the game progressively more annoying as the levels get tighter and more complex; there’s a pretty remarkable 48 levels in this, but the last five or so are… very irritating.

Plus, artist Yoshiki Kawasaki apparently drew this on a “poorly calibrated graphics tablet” and you can kind of tell. All the art just seems sort of messy; there’s a charm to it, but in movement, you’ve got to give it to Mappy. While simpler, it’s crisper and more readable.

Flicky is still a ton of fun, though (well, for about 42 levels) with really nice score attack potential; you’re not just trying to get Flicky’s chicks back to the exit but get them back in one go, and while they fly behind Flicky, if a cat touches them they’ll scatter, requiring you collect them again, made harder by the fact that some chicks (with sunglasses, hilariously) will immediately run off. You get a bonus for doing levels as quickly as possible, too, which can be traded off against trying to knock down cats with the objects Flicky can pick up and… flick at them.

(Weirdly, Flicky does that when she jumps, which feels like something that would be better on a second button, but I think it’s intentional rather than a way to save, uh, the cost of a button–because you can’t jump with a weapon, you might have to wait for a cat to reach you, or just move unnaturally for a while not to use it, either costing your precious seconds. Cerebral!)

If I had any more complaints it’s probably just that with 42 levels Flicky is a bit too easy at first (the first ten levels are quickly a doddle) but it’s hardly the worst thing in the world. To be honest, playing this made me a bit sad that Flicky got so quickly relegated to being “that bird Sonic rescues”. Put some respect on her name!

(Which was originally “Busty” until someone pointed out that’s… not a good name. What were they thinking?)

Will I ever play it again? I’ll be quite happy to play it if I ever see it in the arcade, and if they stuck it on the Mega Drive Mini 3 or something I’d play it, it’s solid.

Final Thought: Actually speaking of the Mega Drive version the box art of the western version is absolutely seared in my mind. It’s terrifying! Protect your babies, Flicky!!! Compare it to the Japanese art for the SG-1000 version… Stop abusing that cat, Flicky!

Support Every Game I’ve Finished on ko-fi, either via a one-off donation (pay what you like) or by joining as a supporter at just $1 a month and get articles like this a week early.

[moonrisecoeur]

eheehe i want him to tell me to be careful when i jump on the back of the cart and push it like a skateboard down long isles, i want him to eat the desserts i love making for special occasions and tell me how yummy it is, i wanna paint his nails and do his eyeliner while kissing his cheek, i wanna use him like a body pillow at night and wake up next to him in the morning, i wanna come home or have him come home while waiting on the couch to watch stuff and have snacks after a stressful work day, i wanna wake up to a love note and refrigerated meal he made me before his occasional super early shift, i wanna trim his hair when it gets long enough for a cut, i wanna hold hands and go on cheap dates at the mall or mcdonalds, i wanna play coop games with him, i wanna tell him how much i love him and him tell me he loves me just as much <3<3<3 i am sooo normal about himmm i could keep going on frrr hehehe

-🐕

right like i want to get coffee with him i want him to endearingly make fun of me for my complicated ass drink i want to paint for him pretty little pictures or doddle cute little drawings for him and he’d ask what they’re for and id just be like “cuz i love ya” and he’d smile so so sweetly and look away as he thinks about how much he adores me i want to sleep in the same bed with him i want to wake up with him and come home to him after a long day of work i want to get him so so many gifts some practical and some silly and i want to wrap all of them and put little love notes on each and i want him to get me gifts too and i want to create traditions with him that are unique to us and i want to write out all the little things i love about him in a journal and give it to him i just wanna adore him :(

[dcaiv072793]

no one

50 euphemisms from “doing it” to “squat thrusts in the cucumber patch”.

“Sex” carries considerable meaning for a one-syllable word. But for the endless breadth of verbs that fall under the umbrella of “intercourse,” it comes as no surprise that we’ve also masterminded an impressive roster of euphemisms over the past few centuries. 

Think about it: Sex has been around for time immemorial—and for just a long, we’ve been giving it clever, pithy nicknames. In fact, the first recorded use of “F*ck” as a stand-in for intercourse occurred in the year 1508—and plenty of the other outlandish word-combinations we toss around were formulated at a similar time when public sex talk was deemed far from inappropriate. They were code words if you will. So, whether you prefer, “bone,” “bumping uglies,” or “amorous congress,” the fun, alt-sex terms within your standard lexicon come from a great, long tradition. 

That said, if you’re looking to expand your traditional limits in the realm of sex synonyms, boy do we have some vocabulary words for you. With the aid of friends, colleagues, the occasional historical novel, and the World Wide Web, we’ve culled together a list of our absolute favorite sex-adjacent terms, divided into classics, one-word-wonders, food-related phrasings, and “WTF,” Use it wisely. 

Classics 1. Doing it 2. Getting laid 3. Funny business 4. Making love 5. Hanky panky 6. Tapping ass 7. Shaking sheets 8. Amorous congress 9. Jumping bones 10. Knocking boots

One-Word-Wonders 11. Shagging 12. Screwing 13. Nailing 14. Boning 15. Banging 16. Doddling 17. Boinking 18. Porking 19. Yentzing 20. Tromboning 21. Shtupping

Food-Related Phrasings 22. Baking the potato 23. Buttering a biscuit 24. Putting the bread in the oven 25. Getting one’s kettle mended 26. Horizontal refreshment 27. Bam-bam in the ham 28. Planting the parsnip 29. Sending out for sushi 30. Tossing a hot dog down the hallway 31. Having your corn ground 32. Groping for trout in a peculiar river 33. Bringing an al dente noodle to the spaghetti house 34. Doing squat thrusts in the cucumber patch

WTF 35. Bedroom rodeo 36. Basket-making 37. Doing the Devil’s dance 38. Hot yoga 39. Parallel parking 40. Rolling in the hay 41. Wetting the willy 42. Matrimonial polka 43. Bumping uglies 44. Chesterfield rugby 45. Dancing the goat’s jig 46. Two-person pushups 47. Going heels-to-Jesus 48. Putting the wand in the chamber of secrets 49. Seeing a man about a dog 50. Taking old one eye to the optometrist 

can you make sex last longer?Only A Matter Of Time. 

how to use a warming lubricant.Heating Things Up.

what could pleasure-positive sex ed look like?Sex Education 2.0

what is aftercare?Before, During, And, Especially, After. 

when foreplay is better than sex.It’s All About The Prologue.

[tiger-ink]

Chapter 5: Crazy night

He returned home, tired after a fight for nothing. He entered the dark living room, finding a yellowed paper on the table. Charles remains amazed, at the same time curious, thinking how this paper appeared. Then, in a bookshelf, an album of important drawings had fallen on the floor. He startled because of the noise, he was about to have a panic attack, but he realized something: his drawings woke up to reality! The geometric figurines started running all over the house! Charles rushed to catch them. But in vain. He ran all over the house to catch them because they were fast. In the end, he managed to collect by throwing, jumping, but the only figure was his version in the drawing. He bit Charles' leg badly, and he howled:

-Argh! That would be bloody senseless! Get off me and stop biting my leg! Bleeding out! Down! Now! he kept shaking his leg until he couldn't anymore. All for nothing. He grabs his version of the drawing in his hand, the figure starts to struggle in Charles's hand.

He screamed like a child, the figurine started to cry loudly. Charles got scared and put it on the table. The figure looked around him, and then at Charles, at whom he stuck out his tongue. The sorcerer began to laugh and calmly said:

-I won't hurt you anymore, Doodle-C! See? My hands are free! He shows his empty hands. Nothing bad happens anymore.

Nothing. The figurine shows his middle finger. Charles got a little angry and said.

-Hey! See, it's not pretty! It's very ugly, dwarf! He raises his hand, and Doodle-C piles up, and Charles, laughing, puts his hand down. Do you think I'm really doing this to you? he smiled.

The figurine looked at him and said:

-Go to hell!

Charles sighed. He had nothing to do with this naughty figure. All he had to do was beat him, but the figure got scared.

He was crying more and more. The only thing that calmed him was Ra. He started looking for the motan. But, in fact, he forgot the creature in the palace. All he had to do was stay up all night with Doodle-C's crying. He was rolling on the table and crying. Charles didn't know what to do anymore and kept trying to find solutions.

-Good! Plan A, I put it in something so that it can't be heard! He put it in a box and put it in a closet with clothes. It was not heard from again. He felt freer and started taking his treatment. He went to the bathroom to make a spa, quiet without anyone. He started to fall asleep until Doodle-C started crying again.

He got scared and slipped into the water and drowned. He got out of the tub and ran into the closet, with the towel wrapped around his waist. He took out Doodle-C, and thought and said seriously.

- Now it's time for plan B... and she started to cry loudly. Finally, Doddle-C calmed down.

The door opened. Someone enters Charles's house. It was King Handel, with Ra in his arms. When he saw Charles almost naked and crying next to a figurine, he was shocked and said:

-Ch-Charles...?

The doctor started shouting. With one leg raised and his face covered and breathing hard, he said:

- You don't know how to knock on the door?!

-But why are you looking almost naked in front of me?!

-I-I was taking a bath... do you want too?

Handel is shocked. he slapped his face and said:

- Go get your cat and get out of here! Change into clothes, pajamas or something! That I'll get if you don't change!

-Ok ok! And he ran to get dressed in pajamas.

-Good now?

-Yes... better.

They looked at each other, in silence. Charles went to the living room. He calls Handel into the room.

-Come on. That I have something important to discuss with you.

-Oh! Okay, dear friend! He hurried to the couch next to Charles.He looked at the king, smiling, but also a little confident, he said:

- Go a little further because it's too intimate for me for this moment

.- But what happens if I get even closer to you? Handel says enthusiastically and gets even closer to him.Charles tries to get away from this envious man. Handel takes him in his arms. And Charles gets up and pushes him, but in vain! Handel was tightly wrapped around Charles' abdomen. He pulls him to the ground. They both fall.

-AAAARGH! That would be damn huge! For this you are two meters and forty three?! To kill me?

- That's how it happened! Charles said nervously to Handel.

- Do you know that I am the king of Dridall? Handel changed the subject. I'm going to challenge you.They both get up and sit on the couch again. There remains a moment of silence, be moved. Charles looked into Handel's eyes and asked:

-What challenge are you giving me? he asks, curious but at the same time excited.

- I dare you to moan...Being a mind reader, Charles interrupts Handel, saying the right word in his place.

- Do you kiss? Why did I kiss you at this hour, man? I'm a grandfather and you're young!Handel slapped his face.

- Alas, you are always stupid! Are you really stupid or are you faking it?

-I am not stupid! Charles contradicted, ashamed.

-Then what are you?! says Handel. Are you still old now?

- No, I'm not... I'm a forty-two-year-old man, and you're a thirty-eight-year-old king

.- Yes, and that means we are of the right age. And now, when will you give me a kiss? Change the subject again.They got closer and closer and, with a lot of shame, they kissed. After a good few seconds, they stopped. They looked at each other, and Charles began to speak.

-Was it our first kiss?

-Yes Dear. Handel strokes Charles's face.

- I think I love you much more than that. Good... I wanted to discuss today's meeting. Has something happened or is something changing?

- Well... It was hard to control Serena to calm down from laughing...

- I'm not interested in what he said or what she did. I wonder if they believed me about this dragon!

-Oh! Only priests and monks believed you. but Doctor Nicholas is a stubborn fool! Because I know him, he didn't go to school. I don't know how he became a doctor... Only you are the only one with school.

-I understand... And they planned something to eliminate the dragon? Charles asked thoughtfully.

- Yes, Pontifex Veronica planned for you to destroy his precious star.

-And this old woman? He has had the same plans for many years and I keep doing the same thing and nothing!

- Yes... And priest Laurent contradicted the pontiff who said that I must go with you and the others.

-Which others? And Hasumi, Abram and Serena.

- Yes, and Howard, your brother and Jonah.

-Seriously?? A stepbrother who will ruin this important and perilous journey for me? With Jonah?? What the hell am I supposed to do with a math teacher? to say how much is a cosine with I don't know what? says Charles nervously when he heard these names.

- Well... maybe you don't know. Jonah has a magical power that you don't know about. He can control the emotions and movements of others, when he has these rings on his tail and in his eyes and changes his colors according to his emotions.

- Do you think I can believe you anything? He only knows how to teach math!

- But do you remember when you were at my birthday party when you couldn't stand him anymore and he changed the color of his tail to black, then you became a whiny child and danced. Handel started to laugh.

- Well... maybe he lost his magic power since he started teaching math.Handel looked out the window, looked at the cuckoo clock, because it was past eleven in the evening, he said.

-I should go, Charles. Tomorrow you will come in the dignity of the palace! That I caught someone a supporter of the Star Dragon.

- Good, Handel. Have a nice evening. I go out together. 

Charles remains on the threshold of the entrance door, and Handel mounts his black horse. Leaves.Charles enters the house. He saw Ra on the table, next to Doodle-C. They were sleeping. He remembered the yellowed paper. He opened it and began to read: "On the nineteenth of next autumn".

-What the hell is this? I will keep...

[offthefieldsmau]

⚽ 1.92

Wednesdays, attentive reader, were the bane of Stede’s existence. It was lucky for him that since Mary and Doug were back from their vacation; Alma and Louis spent their Sunday thru Wednesday with them, relying on Stede to pick them both up at Alma’s nighttime soccer practice for the rest of the week. The duo would then be deposited back into Mary and Doug’s careful hands at family brunch on Sunday.

However, with the recent honeymoon trip and re-acclimation back into reality, Mary and Doug had been frazzled. Post-wedding chaos was palpable, especially with all the legalities that one had to go through.

Lucky for Mary, she didn’t have to worry too much. Doug was keen on taking over just about every detail that he could. Down to changing his own name, solely because he didn’t want Mary to stress too much about the process all over again.

The bar may have been low, but Doug was hell bent on raising it for the rest of society.

You’ll be inclined to know, however, that while Doug was busy taking care of all the Marriage Things, that left Mary to take care of all the Art Studio and New House Things. And Wednesdays were always fairly busy for Stede as hump day meant all kinds of meetings and check-ins with his infant team of real estate aficionados.

Routine was paramount to him: wake up at 6, breakfast by 6:30, dressed by a soft 7:15 (you never know how his hair will behave, especially by mid-week,) and out the door by 7:45. The drive to the office was a short fifteen, but even then, Stede was the boss.

If he showed up late, but with an armful of donuts, who in the office would have protested?

So his Wednesdays were down to a science, that not even a loose cog in the wheel could disrupt. He gave himself time buffers, just in case he doddled too long getting his skincare routine done, or matching the perfect button-up for his suit.

Which was why his well-oiled Wednesday machine sputtered to a stop when he got a phone call from Alma at 7:00 AM sharp.

“Petal?” Stede patted the lapel of his bathrobe as he stood in his closet, “Why are you—”

“Mom and Doug aren’t home,” Alma sighed and muttered something offhand to Louis, “I think they forgot us.”

Stede scoffed, “They did not forget you. That’s wholly unlike them,” lucky for them, he was ahead of schedule and pulled a blazer off the rack, “You’re sure they’re not home?”

“Pretty sure, dad,” she bemoaned, “my homeroom starts in 30 minutes and we can’t be tardy again. They both left this morning, like, super quick. The coffee pot was still brewing when I came downstairs for breakfast.”

Stede already had his top-half clothed and jumped into a pair of slacks, “I’ll be over in fifteen. Please eat or grab something for the drive to school—”

“Already fed,” her smile in tone was familiar — Stede could see the fondness on her face, “and thank you.”

“Of course,” Stede stopped what he was doing and grabbed the phone, “anytime. You ever need me, you call, okay?”

“Okay.”

Once Stede got in the car, he had to give Oluwande a call about a late show to work, since the school was in the opposite direction of the office from his house. With that push-back, he had to reschedule two morning meetings with prospective buyers. 

Like dominoes, his whole day was thrown for a loop. Lunch was an hour later than Stede normally took it (and his stomach protested violently.) His mid-afternoon tea had to be canceled for the day as he got email after email about bank appraisals needed for not one, not two, but three homes.

Someone at Bank of America had it out for Stede Bonnet, surely.

One gold, lone shiny star (like the stickers on his fridge) from the day was the fact that he was not late picking the kids up from school. He and Alma were nearly late for practice drop-off (to which Stede didn’t even get a chance to say hi to Ed, much to his heart’s dismay.)

[doddleinmynoddle]

[drakereagan]

Kangaroo #art #homework #schoolwork #pencil #charadesign #animal #savage #kangourou # kangaroos #babykangaroo #cute #illustration #sketches #drawing #draw #doddle #jump