#I guess that's superhero movies for ya

[corroded-hellfire]

Pixie Dust and Dates - Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Trying to get over your crush on your boss Eddie, you’re going on a date after you finish babysitting tonight. So, why do things seem to get tense between the two of you when he finds out?

Note: Needed a little jealous Eddie in my life. This takes place before part one so I guess it’s a bit of prequel. I hope you enjoy! 🩵

Warnings: older!eddie, babysitter!reader

Words: 2.8k

[As You Wish masterlist]

“Luke, are you not going to let me leave?”

The little boy hangs onto your waist, his little feet on each of yours. A devious giggle leaves his lips as he buries his face into your stomach. 

“Never!” the little boy cries. “You’re my prisoner!”

“Oh no!” you feign gasp. “Whatever shall I do?”

Ryan jumps up on the couch and does his best superhero pose with his hands on his hips. “I’ll save you!”

“No, she’s stuck with me forever!” Luke says, tightening his hold on you. It’s sweet, but he’s also getting pretty heavy on your feet. 

“She’s got school, ya know,” Ryan says as he jumps down from the couch. 

“She can come to school with me,” Luke reasons.

Ryan rolls his eyes and shakes his head. Can you believe this guy? you can practically hear him say.

“She’s in college, Luke. She could teach your kindergarten class.”

“All right, you two, that’s enough squabbling.”

“But do you have school?” Luke asks, looking up at you. 

“It’s Friday,” you say, poking the tip of his nose with your pinky. “It’s just like you, I don’t have to go until Monday. But I do have plans for tonight and tomorrow. So you can’t hold me prisoner forever!”

“Whatcha doin’ tonight?” Luke asks, grip loosening on you only slightly. 

“Well,” you say as you feel your face getting warm. There’s no harm in telling them the truth, right? It’s nothing bad and you don’t want to lie to them. So, why is there a sinking feeling in your stomach about the Munson’s knowing you’re going on a date? Just because you’re head over heels for your boss doesn’t mean you’re cheating on him by going on a date. But that’s what it feels like for some reason. All of your emotions are so consumed by one man who is married and has beautiful children and now it’s so bad you feel guilty over going on a date with a guy from your history class. The boys are still looking at you expectantly as your mind wanders off. “Oh, um, I’ve got a date.”

“A date?” Ryan asks with the most adorable grin. 

“Yes, a date,” you reply, face getting hotter by the second. 

“Oooooh!” Luke coos, smirking up at you and looking identical to his father. His wonderful, beautiful father. “Where ya going?”

“Dinner and a movie.”

“What’s his name?” Ryan asks.

“Peter.”

Luke gasps and gives your aching feet some relief as he jumps off of you. “Like Peter Pan?”

“Or Peter Parker,” you say.

“Who?” Luke asks, scrunching up his nose. 

“Spider-Man!” Ryan informs his little brother.

Luke shrugs, not caring about the web-slinging superhero. “Peter Pan is better.” 

Ryan gasps and begins to excitedly jump up and down in front of you. “Ooh! Ooh! Can we play Peter Pan?”

“How do we play that?” you ask.

“I mean like, play pretend,” Ryan explains. “I can be John, Luke is Michael, and you’re Wendy!”

“Who’s Peter then?” Luke asks with a huff, obviously wanting to be the main character.

“Daddy,” Ryan says, turning to him. “When he gets home and comes in the door it’ll be like when Peter comes in the window!”

Luke crosses his arms over his tiny chest, not sold on the idea. “Who’s Mom? Tinker Bell? They got the same hair color.”

“Mom is Captain Hook.” Ryan answers so quickly and with such conviction that it’s a struggle for you to hold in a bark of laughter. The kid is right, their mom is definitely the one most suited to play a villain. “She’s Hook because when she comes home, she’ll make us stop playing the game. The bad guy!” The words break your heart. You’re not sure which is worse: the fact that the words are true or the fact that Ryan has learned how cold and uncaring his mother is at such a young age. 

The younger Munson brother looks more convinced of the game now, his arms dropping to his sides and his shoulders relaxing. 

“Where’s Tinker Bell? And Nana?” Luke asks, apparently looking for plot holes in his big brother’s imaginary scenario.

“Well,” you say, “Tinker Bell is a pixie. So she’s so tiny that it’s hard to see her. She could be anywhere!”

Mollified by that answer, Luke nods his head. “And Nana?”

“Nana didn’t go to Wonderland,” you say.

“Neverland!” Ryan corrects, his face full of offense at the fact that you would mix those two up. 

“Right, right, Neverland, sorry. Second star to the right and straight on ‘til morning!” 

Ryan looks around the room and gasps, pointing to a spot about three feet above your head. “There’s Tinker Bell! We need some pixie dust so we can fly!”

You stand on your tippy toes, game to play along, and reach your arm up as far as it can go. Concentrating, as if you’re almost reaching something, you close your fist over the empty air and stand back down on flat feet.

“I got her!” you say. “Come here and I’ll sprinkle the dust on you!”

Luke hops over and stands underneath your cupped hands. You pretend to sprinkle some pixie magic on him before doing the same to Ryan. The older boy holds his arms out to the sides like an airplane and runs around to the other side of the couch.

“We can fly!” he shouts. “Come on, Michael, Wendy!”

“We’re coming,” you tell him, ushering Luke to go in front of you. The three of you run around the house with your arms out, pretending to be soaring through the sky on your way to the mystical home of Peter Pan. 

Ryan stops for a moment and purses his lips. He looks deep in thought before he bolts down the hallway and into his room. There’s a handful of action figures in his arms when he re-emerges. It’s an assorted bunch containing The Hulk, a Ghostbuster, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and a GI Joe. You’re even more curious as to what he’s doing when he walks into the bathroom with them.

“Uh, Ryan?” you ask, heading down the hall towards him.

“It’s John,” he reminds you. 

“Right, John. What are you doing, John?”

Ryan sets his action fingers up so they’re sitting on the rim of the bathtub.

“It’s Mermaid Lagoon!” he announces proudly. 

“They’re boys,” Luke says.

“Mermen are a thing,” you say, ruffling his curls. 

“Okay, where’s Skull Rock?” Luke asks. Ryan thinks for a moment before darting out of the bathroom and down the hall again. Luke chases after him but you take your time with a leisurely walk. 

“It’s here! But it shrunk!” Ryan pretends to be baffled as he picks up a chunky silver skull ring of Eddie’s. It was sitting in a bowl that was on the table near the front door. Your only guess is that on days where his hands weren’t covered in dirt and grime, he had the rings in the perfect position to slip them on when he walked through the door. 

“Maybe Tinker Bell shrunk it with her magic! Revenge for when Hook tried to kill Peter!” Luke adds. 

If your logic is right—which you know it isn’t in this case of make believe—Ryan and Luke are talking in terms of the events of the Peter Pan movie already happening. Which means Hook would’ve been eaten (or maybe just chased) by the crocodile. The mental image of a cartoon crocodile chasing Brittany down the street is enough to make you giggle out loud. 

“Wha’s so funny?” Luke asks, turning to you. 

“Hmm?” you ask as you shake the fantasy from your head. “Oh. Just, um… Well, look!” you point up at the ceiling and drag your finger around as if you’re following something that’s moving. “It’s Peter’s shadow! It looks like he lost it again!”

“We have to get it for him!” Luke says.

“How do we do that?” Ryan asks, putting the ring back in the bowl. 

“I think only Peter can catch it,” you say with a sigh. 

“But you can sew it back on him again, right Wendy?” Ryan slash John asks. 

“I will certainly do my best,” you tell him. 

The front door opens and Luke races over. Eddie is prepared for the ambush and hoists his youngest son up over his shoulder. 

“Hey, munchkin,” Eddie says.

“Hi, Peter.”

A confused frown grows on Eddie’s face, and he maneuvers the little boy so he’s holding him out in front of him and can look him in the eye. Luke giggles as he dangles from his father’s grip.

“Whatcha call me?” Eddie asks.

“Peter! You’re Peter Pan!”

Eddie cocks an eyebrow and looks over at you. “Is this some joke about me never growing up?”

You giggle and shake your head. “No, we’re playing pretend. You were unanimously elected to be Peter.”

“Uh huh,” Eddie muses and settles Luke on his hip, even though he really is too old to be held like that. “So, who are you, little dude? The dog?”

Luke huffs and rolls his eyes overdramatically. The apple clearly did not fall far from the tree. “I’m Michael.”

“And we’re John and Wendy!” Ryan tells him, proudly taking your hand in his. 

“Well, why aren’t you flying then?” Eddie asks. Before either boy can ask him what he means, he lifts Luke over his head as the five-year-old giggles and holds his hands out in front of him. Eddie brings him over to the couch where he plops the boy down on the couch. Luke instantly scrambles up and tries to jump on his dad’s back. Eddie lets him and holds his son’s small legs as he wraps them around his waist. 

“How ya doing, Wendy?” Eddie asks as he walks past you into the kitchen. “These lost boys aren’t driving you too crazy, huh?”

“Never,” you say, trying desperately not to ogle your boss. You clear your throat and rest your hands on Ryan’s shoulders, jostling him gently. “They make my days fun. How was work?”

“Eh, loud and greasy,” Eddie replies, pulling a beer out of the fridge. “Glad to be home.”

The smile he gives you has your knees feeling weak. Mentally, you berate yourself. This is exactly why you’re going on a date tonight. Peter is a nice enough guy but doesn’t really do anything for you. But when he asked if you’d like to get dinner as the two of you were leaving your shared history class, you agreed. The way you feel about Eddie quickly evolved from just thinking he was attractive as soon as you got to know him. His kindness, humor, gentleness, and wit quickly had you falling down the slippery slope of feelings. Hopefully, Peter could catch you with his own charm before you fell even further down the rabbit hole for Eddie. 

“You gotta catch your shadow!” Luke’s words break you out of your small daze. The little boy is bouncing in his dad’s grip, gesturing towards the tall shadow on the kitchen floor. “Wendy has to sew it back on for you! Then you kiss!”

Both you and Eddie blanch at the five-year-old’s statement. 

“Huh?” Eddie manages.

“After Wendy sews Peter’s shadow back on, she tries to kiss him!” Luke clarifies.

Dear God, I wish, you think. 

Eddie chuckles and shakes his head, avoiding your eyes. He opens his mouth and you’re almost afraid of what he’s going to say. Luke beats him to the punch though, annoyed that the game has stalled.

“Daddy! Shadow!”

“Hurry, before she has to go!” Ryan adds. 

“Yeah! She’ll be late! Late, for a very important date!” Luke laughs against his dad’s neck, finding it hilarious that he was able to quote another Disney movie.

“Date?” Eddie lets the refrigerator door slip from his grip, and it slowly slides closed. You think you’re imagining his hand tightening around his beer bottle but can’t help but hope that your boss doesn’t like the idea of you going out with someone.

“Uh, yeah,” you say, suddenly feeling nervous. That is ridiculous, you tell yourself. Eddie has never made you feel nervous–okay, that’s a lie. But a good, giddy kind of nervous.

“A boy from school?” Eddie asks, bringing his beer up to his lips to take a sip. 

“Yep. From my history class.” 

“He’s taking her to dinner and a movie,” Luke informs his father. Eddie’s head turns over his shoulder to look at his son, as if he’d just remembered he was there. 

“Oh. T-That’s nice.” Eddie’s words have an edge to them, despite how casual he tries to make them sound. Luke releases his grip from his dad’s neck as Eddie crouches down to let the little boy down. He scampers out of the room, officially bored now, and Ryan looks between you and Eddie once before following behind his little brother. 

“You, um,” Eddie says as he leans against the counter behind him, setting the bottle down. “You have to get going now? Get ready?”

Truthfully, you do. But leaving Eddie is always easier said than done. 

“I guess I should,” you say with a shrug. As you move to leave the kitchen, Eddie steps forward and extends his arm as if he’s going to grab your arm but thinks better of it. Awkwardly, he shoves his hands in the pockets of his coveralls and clears his throat when you turn back to him.

“If, uh, you need anything…like, if he’s an asshole and you want to bail or um, anything else,” Eddie says, looking at you from underneath his impossibly long eyelashes, “just give me a call. I’ll come get you. Whenever and wherever.”

The offer has your heart swimming in your chest. Even if he doesn’t have feelings for you, Eddie definitely does care. Being so kind and thoughtful are two of the reasons you were already so crazy about the man, so this offer is doing nothing to dampen your feelings. It’s so touching though, that it gives you goosebumps. 

“Thank you,” you say, giving him a small smile. “I really appreciate that.”

“Of course,” Eddie says before he clears his throat again. “As long as you’re safe.”

Unable to come up with anything else to say, you nod your head. A goodbye with Eddie has never felt this way before. Uncomfortable, yet you don’t want to escape it. How could you ever want to escape Eddie? You blame your own awkwardness and mentally scold yourself for projecting how you want Eddie to feel onto him. 

“I’ll, uh, see you on Monday?” you finally ask.

“Yeah. Sounds good.” Eddie’s smile doesn’t meet his eyes, but neither does yours as you turn to walk out of the kitchen.

“Your homework better be done,” Brittany says as she thunks down a bowl full of microwaved macaroni and cheese. Eddie moves around her in the kitchen, his jaw squared and tense as he pulls the pork chops from the oven. Brittany and both boys keep glancing at him every time he slams something around on the counter. 

“It is,” Ryan says of his homework as he takes his place at the dinner table. 

“Luke?” Brittany basically snaps.

“Did it when I got home,” Luke says, reaching for the cheesy side dish. “Before we played Peter Pan.”

“Who did–oh, the babysitter?”

Luke frowns, not liking his mother’s tone or how she doesn’t refer to you by your name. Neither does Eddie, judging by the way he practically tosses the pork chops onto a platter.

“Yeah,” Luke answers his mother. “We played Peter Pan and then she had to go ‘cause she had a date.”

Eddie yanks his chair out from the table, the legs squealing against the floor at the ferocity with which he pulled it, so he can take a seat. He doles out a piece of pork to everyone’s plate, his knuckles white from holding the fork so tightly. Brittany just arches a recently-shaped eyebrow at her husband before returning to the conversation. 

“A date, huh? Wow.” Her snark is clear, and Eddie has to bite his lip from barking out something he’ll regret.

“What’s wow?” Ryan asks as he jabs his fork into the mac and cheese on his plate.

“Oh, nothing,” Brittany says with a shake of her head. “Nothing at all.”

The table is quiet for a few minutes, the only sounds coming from knives and forks working on the food. Ryan keeps sneaking peeks at his dad, wondering why he’s so unusually quiet. Normally, Eddie would be asking about their days at school and telling them about anything funny that happened at work today. His silence is making Ryan fidget in his seat. Brittany is the one to break the silence, though the three men silently wished she wasn’t.

“My sister is going to come over tomorrow. Eddie, did you hear me? Eddie?” Brittany glares daggers at her husband when he doesn’t answer, or even acknowledge her. But Eddie isn’t looking her way. Of course, this only irritates Brittany further.

“Eddie! Why in the hell are you staring at the phone like that?”

[distort-opia]

It's strange how differently people from different culture react to famous characters. Even outside of batjokes shippers, I have seen a lot of DC fans of my country just straight up telling that joker loves batman and batman's obsessed with joker. Or just thinking that's he's gay, cuz like, you have a hot Blondie but you only thinking of batman? Well buddy I have something to tell ya. But it doesn't have the same reaction from people from USA, at least the one that aren't from batjokes fandom? Like, they seemed to get offended when someone point out joker obsession with batman and how it would be read this thing they two had....

How do you think people from your country read theses two? Because it was a kind of shock to me see a lot o straight man fans of DC just accepting that, welp, Joker definitely not straight and batman is... 🤨 suspicious for not killing him already. I guess its because the film with heath ledger is very famous here, and the line where he said that batman complete him stuck.

This is a really interesting question, trying to look at it from a cultural standpoint... I definitely heard of or encountered people entirely lacking knowledge of comics, readily agreeing that there's something more to Batman and Joker's relationship. As you say, just with tangential contact with Nolan's The Dark Knight or maybe the Arkham games.

However, I think that no matter where we're from, there's a distinction of three groups, with their own relevant factors, which explain their attitudes (at least to me). There's people who aren't into Batman or superheroes, but who obviously heard of them or maybe saw one movie or two. Then there's casual fans: people who like Batman and maybe watched the movies, maybe liked The Batman Animated Series, maybe played the games-- but you won't find them on Reddit or Tumblr or Tiktok as super active in fandom, just because it's not their main thing. And then there's hardcore fans, people who write and read fanfic, people who post on different platforms about Batman characters, the ones who consistently engage in fandom. But I'm putting the rest under the cut since I got long (with unnecessary psychological analysis, lol).

This is of course simply my personal opinion, based on what I've observed over time. A couple of factors might influence how these groups view Batjokes, though the first two I'm mentioning are a bit more likely to be found within non-fans and casual fans. A non-fan homophobic/conservative individual is still likely to reject actual canon of Joker professing romantic love to Batman or of Batman having to deny more than once he's in love with the guy-- although I guess you could hit them with straight Batjokes, hah (Thomas and Martha Wayne of Flashpoint). Leaving this type of person aside though (which you're more likely to find in some countries compared to others), I think non-fans usually easily agree to a romantic side of Batjokes, or at the very least to the existence of obsession. Just based on the tangential knowledge they have, it's obvious these two characters come as a pair and are defined by the other, so it doesn't take much to convince them. But within casual fans and hardcore fans... and here I'd add someone who's male, homophobic or conservative... well, we start to encounter one big thing about Batman that this kind of individual cannot get over-- projection.

For many men, Batman represents the ubermasculine ideal. He's handsome, at the peak of physical fitness, rich, has the coolest car and gadgets, has got women begging to sleep with him. He's cold and controlling and bad at social skills but still somehow beloved by all. Bruce Wayne has got terminal Main Character Syndrome, and it's undeniable a lot of fans consider him the epitome of the Alpha Male. So if you're gonna bring up that he's gay for the Joker... no matter how much proof you throw at them, they'll employ any and all mental gymnastics to shut you down or prove you wrong. That's not even getting into the guys who project on Joker, and who see Joker as this incredibly cool "agent of chaos" and strive to emulate that; trying to get them to admit Joker has been written as queer for decades (with multiple writers admitting to it) is another exercise in futility. They'll tell you Joker only said he loves Batman to scare him! He flirts with men to throw them off! It's all a tactic... because of course, being gay can only be scary to someone as masculine as Batman. It's the decades-old problem of queer-coded villains which I won't get into. But my point here is that fans who project onto either Batman or Joker specifically for how "Alpha" they are, are not likely to be open to Batjokes interpretations, no matter their nationality. But of course, just as with non-fans, there are plenty of casual or hardcore fans who are perfectly fine with shipping or potential homoerotic connotations. Hell, many times you might get them to go down Batjokes rabbit holes by letting them know about comic or game adaptations. They'll easily recognize the classical enemies-to-lovers trope this ship embodies.

But then again, both within casual and hardcore fans (though it's much more often the case of the latter) you'll have people who have no issue with shipping, who follow comics, who read fics etc. But to whom Batjokes is anathema, because they're too invested in a different way: not in the characters, but rather in showing how Good and Moral they are to other fans, and how they ship only the Good ships. It's the hordes of antis you see on Twitter and sometimes here on Tumblr too: the purity police kind of fan. "How can you ship Bruce with the monster who killed his son?" or "Joker paralyzed Barbara, how can you--" but it's entirely hypocritical and mostly rooted in the current trend of hating Joker. There's plenty of DC villains who have done similar things to Joker, or harmed the Family in similar ways to Joker, but he's the scapegoat right now for multiple reasons I talked about before (Joker fatigue and DC writing him like shit, the pushback from seeing all the alpha male dudebro fans latch onto him and hating that, etc.).

I got way too long, lol. But basically I think these generalized types of fan behavior can appear no matter the nationality, though there's undoubtedly a higher frequency of one or the other in different countries. Frankly, Romania is intensely religious and conservative, so in my country... even among my younger peers it's likely I'd encounter homophobic stances. And purity policing and that way of thinking is more likely to happen among fans from the US, like you pointed out.

[sciderman]

Hi Sci! You always have the best Peter Parker Takes™️, so I was hoping you could help me with something! I like a lot of things about Peter, but I find it so hard to reconcile the fact that he tends to be written as pro-police and politically moderate. I personally headcanon that he was more of a morally black-and-white hothead when he first started Spider-Manning, but as he grew older and wiser, he started understanding that everything tends to be shades of gray and thinking before swinging in with punches. Still, you’d think a kid who grew up poor in Queens would know better than to just go “ah you are stealing and therefore Bad” ya know?? I know these grievances are more with what the comics/film industry will publish, but still, my kingdom for some nuance!!

oh, bless you anon! god - the cop question is so interesting in superhero media, it really is - and, honestly, my take is kind of the opposite of yours. peter parker wasn't aligned with the cops in any way when he started. in fact, he kind of had a general distaste for cops because, you know, the cops kind of had it out for him.

never forget, peter being a bitchy little bitch boy to the cops is kind of his origin story.

when peter started he actually had very little respect for other heroes or law enforcement at all. he kind of just worried about himself, and his aunt may and that was all. he wasn't any sort of beacon of morality who was seeking to deliver justice or anything. he kind of just wanted to take photographs and make a buck. it took him a long time to start playing "hero" - and even when he did, law enforcement and him were generally not on the same side.

i think his first real positive relationship with someone on the side of the law was captain stacy - peter, obviously, respected him a lot and, you know, captain stacy died heroically.

still, spider-man's relationship with the law continues to be rocky at best - he's constantly being hunted by the law but also some individual cops kind of have a soft-spot for him and let him off the hook - sometimes he helps them, sometimes he's on the run - they love him, they love him not - kind of fluctuates. i think the spider-man comics are generally noncommital about the cop question and kind of just play whatever song will give peter parker the most drama. spider-man comics were are generally lighthearted about this sort of a thing.

i think it's not until a post 9/11 world where copaganda kind of became a lot more prevalent in superhero media and you suddenly started seeing all the heroes working with law enforcement. suddenly, i think, it became unquestionable - a hero had to respect the law, even if they were a vigilante. i think - especially with spider-man comics being set in new york - there was a desire to see these heroic figures working alongside "real life heroes" - so, i think all of the sentiment that peter is pro-cop came from a post-9/11 world, which - to be fair, with the first spider-man movie coming out when it did, it's no wonder that the public consensus on spider-man is that he'd be pro-cop.

andrew's spidey - andrew's spidey isn't full-on anti-police, but he doesn't exactly hold law enforcement in the highest respect

the movie itself isn't police-critical but peter is portrayed as your general "no respect for authority" kind of kid in tasm1 who's relationship with the law i guess shifts after captain stacy helps him and dies heroically. andrew and the cops are presumably bffs in tasm2 – he's kind of just totally beloved by the city in tasm2. i feel like tasm2 probably really severely under-explores spider-man. in fact, it feels like spider-man is barely in tasm2. he's barely a character. i think maybe that's where the tasm movies stumble, actually. those movies really aren't about spider-man at all. they're entirely about peter parker. and yes, there is a difference.

tom holland's spider-man is a cop. police don't really feature in his story, but he is one. funded by the elite class and basically tasked with looking after their property. hate that. gross.

i think it's why i hate seeing peter working with the avengers. the avengers are cops. he doesn't belong there. it's only a recent development where we started getting spider-man on team-rosters - he was always a solo guy who didn't really particularly want to play with others. he had his own stuff to deal with and it didn't matter to him hugely whether he was playing on the side of the law or not. he was dealing with his stuff.

personally i'm not about seeing a morally black-and-white peter parker. i don't think he's ever been that way and i still hate seeing him reduced to that - i think we see him painted as politically moderate because spider-man stories really aren't often about asking greater questions - i don't think it's the platform for it. peter is always too concerned with his own personal troubles to pursue any sort of activism - i think it's quite funny - as active as spider-man is, peter parker is generally an apathetic figure, and i think that makes him a certain degree of relatable. i think characters like gwen and mj and even aunt may are more politically active than peter parker is. peter's kind of too busy just trying to survive.

i love the thought of a peter parker that does punch first. i think that's his whole bag. he's not thoughtful. he's quick to anger. he actually isn't particularly thoughtful and doesn't always approach situations with some moral wisdom. sometimes he punches the wrong people. sometimes his anger is misguided. his energy is practically always going into the wrong places. he doesn't always know what's right and wrong. but he tries.

i'm so not into the stories that paint him as a moral beacon because - more often than not - he's doing it for himself. if he really did have unwavering respect for the law and his morals perfectly aligned with the cops, he wouldn't put the mask on. it's like, the whole point. a vigilante exists fundamentally by it's disobedience to the law. otherwise they'd be carrying a badge.

[bethanydelleman]

do you have any book recommendations beyond classic lit + Jane Austen? Love your blog by the way!

Thanks! I read/have read a ton of books. My favourite genre as a child was fantasy, but I read almost everything except true crime*, thrillers, murder mysteries, self-help, and biography. But I do sometimes read those, my favourite thriller is Sometimes I Lie by Alice Feeney. I'm going to start with children's books because honestly, I find so much imagination in that genre.

Children's/YA Books: Gail Carson Levine, specifically The Princess Tales 1 & 2, and Ella Enchanted, among others Jean Little/Kit Pearson - these authors have the same vibe to me. Willow and Twig is a favourite from the first one, The Guests of War trilogy and Awake and Dreaming from the other. They both write coming of age novels for girls, both Canadian. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs - I loved the whole trilogy (haven't watched the movie). The story being based around real antique trick photos is my favourite part The Echorium Sequence by Katherine Roberts - a trilogy of books about magical singers with blue hair and their interactions with half-human magical creatures Margaret Peterson Haddix, specifically Running Out of Time, the Shadow Children series, and Double Identity. Margaret Buffie, who writes stories about teenage girls and ghosts. Also Canadian, which I guess isn't that surprising. The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Re-read it last summer and it's as good as I remembered. Roald Dahl, I really loved Matilda as a child, it's been fun to read some of these novels with my kids. Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar - and it's sequels. Amazingly quirky and funny stories about a class of students in a weird school

Fantasy: Mercedes Lackey, specifically the Five Hundred Kingdoms series and The Obsidian universe. I also loved the Elvenbane series, but due to the death of Andre Norton it may never be finished. I would advise caution if sexual assault is triggering for you, the ones I like are mostly free of it but that can come up in her other works. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - obviously. Also loved The Hobbit, have not read further The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin - the book opens with the triggering of an apocalypse. The world contains people who can control earthquakes A Baroque Fable by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - this book is so hilarious but I don't know if anyone has heard about it Once Upon a Winter's Night by Dennis L. McKiernan - and it's sequels. This is a romance retold fairy tale series

Science Fiction: Michael Crichton - who spans a bunch of genres but I'll put him here. I've read everything he's written and I recommend most of it. State of Fear has not aged well. His books are very fast-paced and Timeline has one of the best enemies to lovers. Orson Scott Card - I am aware, but Ender's Game is a masterpiece. He also has this single novel called Magic Street that is a sequel to A Midsummer Night's Dream. I also loved Memories of Earth but it's been a while since I read it. I, Robot by Issac Asimov - short stories about artificial intelligence and how it might go weird

Graphic novels: Astro City by Kurt Busiek - superhero, but more focused on how living in that world would affect normal people Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra - every male on earth dies, except for one, and his monkey Fables by Bill Willlingham - after being attacked by an army of wooden soldiers, fairy tale characters and creatures seek refuge in a non-magical world (ours) Nimona by ND Stevenson - a villain gains a shape-shifting sidekick, but she is not what she seems Scurry by Mac Smith - post-apocalyptic earth, the main characters are all surviving mice. Best artwork I've ever seen in a graphic novel American Vampire by Scott Snyder- vampires have different traits depending on their home country, this is about the new, American species. Asterix and Obelix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo - a small group of powerful Gauls defend themselves against the Romans using a magical potion

Non Fiction: Stephan Pinker, I've read both of his trilogies on language and the brain. Trying to get through his huge book about violence The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks - writen by a neurologist, fascinating book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery - what it says on the tin

Toddler/Young Child Books: The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone - I give you a 100% guarantee that if you read this book aloud, the kids will be fascinated. It is literally always a hit Robert Munsch - most of his books are amazing, but if you don't want to cry, DO NOT read the backstory of Love You Forever. The Paper Bag Princess was one of my favourites as a child. Little Critter - only the older ones, the new ones are religious for some reason. Just for You and I Was So Mad were favourites for my kids. Early lesson in unreliable narrators. Phoebe Gilman - Something From Nothing, the Jillian Jiggs series, The Balloon Tree... so many good ones! Really good illustrations too Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - a book about a pea who hates eating candy. This book is fun to read and my kids loved it (I have the box set) The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak - kids love when adults have to do weird things I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen - perfect opportunity to do a lot of funny voices The Mitten by Jan Brett - a whole bunch of animals squeeze into a mitten. That's the whole thing. It's great. The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland - and the rest of the series. These are fun to read because they rhyme. Jonathan Stutzman - my kids LOVE Tiny T. Rex and the Llama series. We haven't read the others An Elephant & Piggie by Mo Willems - we have this entire series, they are a delight. An elephant and pig are very silly friends. Good drawings Dr. Seuss - be careful with him though, his books are quite long and can be hard to read, so I recommend waiting until your kids are a bit older. But The Lorax slaps and my personal favourite as a kid was The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins

Other: Still Alice by Lisa Genova - or any of her books really. She is a neuroscientist and her books are really interesting explorations of different disorders. Book is better than the movie Warm Bodies by Issac Marion - zombie Romeo and Juliet Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - a novel that is also an intro to philosophy course Calvin and Hobbes - I own all of them, so excited for when my kids can understand them. I also love The Far Side, Zits, and the earlier Dilbert comics The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John - this book is absolutely charming. I saw the Netflix movie and then bought it right away.

*I avoid true crime because I have heard that the genre causes harassment to victim's families

General Note: I am aware that some of these authors are now considered controversial, some for more serious reasons than others. Sometimes flawed people make really good art. I mean, flawed people make all art because nobody on earth is perfect.

[jessequinnfirstofhername]

you said ask you stuff so.......uhhhhhh.......hmmmm.

Favorite/top 3 Star Wars Alien Species,

Favorite Star Trek Alien species/ obligatory which Captain

Fav Super Hero team? aesthetic, name and group member energy you like the best. if a specific group of a team brand that cool too.

Werewolf or Vamps! or Zombies I guess on fav monsters. just expand to fav movie monster group.

Gen 1 Pokemon who is your Fav Starter?

dunno, anything else you want to gush on. any of the above or something.

wish ya well.

Top 3 Star Wars Species:

Togrutas

Chiss

Pantorans

Favorite Star Trek Alien Species/Favorite Star Trek Captain:

Tribbles! Seen here assaulting my favorite Star Trek Captain (Kirk):

Favorite Superhero Team:

If I’m allowed to count supervillains, it’s gotta be The Rogues, from The Flash comics. Gotta love supervillains with a code ;) my favorite Rogue is Pied Piper/Hartley Rathaway, followed by The Trickster I/James Jesse, and then Weather Wizard/Mark Mardon.

Werewolves, vampires, or zombies:

Vampires! Vampires, vampires, vampires!

Favourite Gen. 1 Pokémon Starter:

…can I choose Pikachu? Pokémon Yellow is Gen. 1, isn’t it?

Anything else?

Nothing I can think of off the cuff, so keep the questions coming!

[yourpalmickeymouse]

Hey Mickey! Hope you are having a good morning/afternoon or night!

I have a question, what do you think about… spies? Cause they seem to have some similarities to detectives (unless they’re the same thing I’m not sure-), with them working together in an organisation to take down bad guys or evil corporations.

And do you believe you’ll ever become a spy one day? (Cause you being a spy would be cool!)

Last question, about your friend Donald… Do you think he has a secret double life that you don’t know?… specifically being a superhero?👀

Anyways that’s all I wanna ask! Sorry if they are too personal! It’s okay not answer them if you don’t feel comfortable, see you later Mickey!

-Sunny☀️

Hiya Sunny,

I am havin' a good night. Though also a very busy one. I'm workin' on this really tough case and it's been kinda takin' away time from Tumblr. I hope y'all forgive me for the delayed responses.

But enough 'bout that, you wanna know what I think 'bout spies. Well I think spies are the COOLEST!!! 🤩🤩🤩I remember when I was younger, I would pretend that I was a spy on a super secret mission. I used to find hidin' spots and spy on my neighbors all the time... until I started to get into trouble and learned why that wasn't a good idea.

But I guess I never thought 'bout how similar a detective and a spy is. They really do the same kinda work with the investigatin' and puttin' an end to evil schemes. Though I suppose the main difference is that a spy's true identity is usually kept a secret, while a detective's tend to be public. I actually would find the secrecy very useful. I'll admit one challenge I'm currently facin' as a detective is criminals who try to get their revenge on me off the clock. I kinda wish I went under an alter-ego so people didn't know who I was when I solved crimes... and would leave my loved ones alone.

But ya know, I never really thought 'bout bein' a spy as a career before 🤔, but I also never thought 'bout bein' a detective either, ha ha. Gosh, bein' a spy must be so much fun. I'm not sure if it's like the movies, but I'm gonna pretend it is, ha ha. I can just imagine the amazing globe-trotting adventures. Oh and think about all the super neat gadgets and tools just beggin' to be used. Oh, and what 'bout the super cool secret agent names. I like the sound of "Agent Mouse" or the "M". If ya happen to be aware of any secret organizations lookin' for a spy, send 'em my way... That is... if I'm not already in one 🥸.

But to answer your last question... Donald as a superhero? Hm... Well... I guess... I mean... I dunno. He's already a pretty busy guy. I mean he's currently raisin' three boys who can be a handful at times. Plus Scrooge is always draggin' him 'round Duckburg or even the world to do some kinda job. I just don't think he would have the time. Plus I love Donald, but he has some traits that are pretty iconic and I feel like would be a dead giveaway on who he is. First of all he does struggle a bit when it comes to luck, which could make bein' a hero difficult. But also, not to be mean, Donald has a bit of a... well... ya know... a temper.

I'm not sayin', he could never be a superhero. I think he would be a great one, despite his... flaws. But I think what truly stops me is what superhero would he be. Gizmoduck? The Red Bat? Darkwing Duck? Cloverleaf? The Duck Avenger!?!? Honestly, none of these seem right, especially the last one. I will say though, I'm very interested in where this question comes from. I never really thought 'bout my friends havin' secret identities as superheroes. It's actually kinda fun to think about. Like imagine if Goofy was... Hm... Oh! I got it! Supergoof 😆 ha ha ha. Oh, and Minnie can be... well... she can be... Okay, I don't know many female mice superheroes... But maybe she can change that. 😏

- M.M.

[pynkhues]

Please rate some of my favorite movies for the movie meme

Parent trap

walked to remember

Save the last chance

Honey

Drumline

Slumdog millionaire

The Incredibles

Dirty dancing

To all the boys I loved before

Ooo, yes, thanks!

Parent Trap

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

I'm guessing you mean the 1998 version with Lindsay Lohan, not the 1961 one, but I do actually really like both of them. They're fun, and have such a good energy to them, even if the plot itself is totally off the wall, haha.

A Walk to Remember

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

Oo, it's been so long since I've seen this one, but I remember liking it at the time? The plot is pretty saccharine, but it's nice to have that sometimes, particularly in YA romance like that, and Mandy Moore's always been a charming and underrated actress, so I'm always rooting for her.

Save the Last Dance

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

My sister and I were obsessed with this movie when it came out, haha, along with Centerstage. I don't think it's aged super well, but I appreciate it for what it was at the time, and Sean Patrick Thomas was dreamy in it.

Honey

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

Okay, I do know that I've seen this, but I could not tell you a single thing about it, so I don't feel like I should give it a vote, haha. Jessica Alba was hot though!

Drumline

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

This plot sounds delightfully early 2000s in a way that does actually make me want to see it, haha.

Slumdog Millionaire

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

I remember loving this when it came out, but I'm not sure it necessarily holds up as well on rewatch? I actually watched Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay for the first time recently too and it staggered me how much inspiration Danny Boyle must've taken from it / how much he was influenced by it. I still like Slumdog Millionaire, but yes - would highly recommend Salaam Bombay, which I think is overall a much better, more nuanced film (and one by an Indian woman filmmaker!)

The Incredibles

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

Genuinely pretty hard to fault as a superhero film, but more than that, I think has really compelling things to say about middle age, parenthood, purpose and self-identity. I rewatched it recently with my nephews too, and it really holds up!

Dirty Dancing

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

So sexy! I only watched it for the first time recently, so have my Letterboxd review, haha:

It’s such a funny thing to watch these 80s movies that just ooze sex when there’s this rise of puritanical cinema again. It’ been a minute since I last saw this, but man, if it isn’t easy to see why it’s got the cultural legacy it has - it really stands up! Just full of charm and chemistry and just bonkers enough to sell its own fantasy. Love it.

To All the Boys I Loved Before

never seen | want to see | the worst | bad | whatever | not my thing | good | great | favorite | masterpiece

Pretty perfect as far as frothy YA romances go. Lana Condor should be a star.

Ask me about movies

[literaticat]

Hi Jenn. Can you have an MG or YA novel with an adult protagonist? Kind of like the film NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM, where the main character is an adult and most of the characters are adults too, though it’s still child-like as a story, plus the main character does have a son who’s a child. If that was a novel would the kid of the main character have to be the main POV or could the adult he like in the movie?

The short answer is, No.

BUT! There's nuance here, so... kinda?

There are certainly examples of children's books with adult NARRATORS. (Series of Unfortunate Events. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.) -- but the stories are not ABOUT the narrator, they are about the kids.

There are certainly examples of children's books with adult protagonists, especially in classic books, but the adults are weird/child-like. (Mr. Popper's Penguins. Amelia Bedelia.) In those, while the adults are the main characters, they are acting like kids, and/or the kid reader will see why they are funny / wrong / whatever and will either relate to the character or feel "more grown up" than the character.

There could be a MULTI-POV book in which one or a few of the many POV characters are adults. (My client James Klise wrote THE ART OF SECRETS, which is a YA art hoax novel in which there are 12 POV characters, a couple of whom are adults, but the adults are hardly the stars of the show.)

Or a there could be a book with an adult character who is quite important, but it's not from their POV. (BECAUSE OF MR TERUPT has a lot to do with the teacher, the titular Mr Terupt -- but it's from the POV of multiple kids in the class.)

Or a there could be a book with a main character who isn't technically an "adult" because they are not technically a normal human. The BARTIMAEUS series by Jonathan Stroud comes to mind -- it's alternating POV between a kid and a genie. The genie is like, a million years old, and knows everything, so I guess is An Adult... but IS HE, really? SKULLDUGGERY PLEASANT is about a 12-year-old girl who is the apprentice of a skeleton sorcerer, and he's a main character, obvs -- like it's named after him! But can a "skeleton sorcerer" be said to be a Normal Adult? Lots of superheroes are adults, technically, but if there are kids books about them, they are usually kid/teen versions of themselves, OR, if it is a straight-ahead book about their "grownup" version, they aren't REALLY regular human adults, are they?

But regular human normal-ass adults? No. They have their own dang books!

[uncxntrxllable]

@wexarethewalkingxdead sent:

general questions - //what got you interested in roleplaying? //what do you consider your strengths as a writer? //what would you like to improve on as a writer?

original character writers - //is there a specific character archetype you enjoy writing the most? //is there a specific character archetype you find difficult to write? //how many ocs do you have? //what do you enjoy the most about creating ocs? //what do you find the most difficult about creating ocs?

what got you interested in roleplaying? I think... My sister? I feel like I remember my older sister introducing me to it, but then once I got into it, I loved it so much that just being part of it is what kept my interest all these years. I have always loved the escape from reality, because reality sucks, man.

what do you consider your strengths as a writer? Oop, forcing me to compliment myself how dare thee 😂 but in all seriousness, maybe, I guess, I always try to remember to go back and re-read my partner's previous replies so I don't contradict myself when I am making a reply. Sometimes this means going back a few previous replies. I don't like to contradict myself in my replies. If they're sitting on the couch, I don't want to randomly write them standing without them first getting up off the couch. If ya know what I mean!

what would you like to improve on as a writer? My communication. Now, it's definitely improved a ton since I was last on tumblr. I only came back here... Last year? In 2022. But I still need work in that department. My autism and adhd really makes proper communication such a massive challenge for me, and it's even harder when I have a tendency to read way too much into a message to the point that I end up believing the person is bored with me, doesn't wanna chat, is upset or mad and that I'm just a bother. The worst part about it is being consciously aware that this way of thinking is ridiculous and likely not true, yet being almost entirely powerless to not believe it with ever fiber of my being 🥴 but I do hope to improve my communication skills. especially when it comes to discussing like, super random shit like, ships? the dilemma of wanting ships and having 0 confidence to ever approach anybody for it lmaooo

is there a specific character archetype you enjoy writing the most? Soooo I had to google what "character archetype" even means, so bear with me here as I attempt to go by what google explained... Google used "hero" as an example, so uh, I'm going with the opposite of that. I like dark characters, I love morally grey characters who can tip the scale between being "good" and "bad. I love the type of character that the show tells you is supposed to be a villain, but you end up rooting for them instead of the "hero" of the show. And of course, a good back-story that explains why they are the way that they are, you know? They're not "bad" just because they woke up and chose evil. Although I ain't gonna lie, I do love my dark characters, so I'd enjoy that too! Which is kinda hilarious, because I as the mun, am the opposite of dark in real life. I require rainbows and unicorns every hour of the day or I'll cry thank you. But my characters have to be dark, k thanks. Remember, people, mun does not equal muse!

is there a specific character archetype you find difficult to write? Heroes, goody-two-shoes. A character that strictly follows all the rules and won't deviate, the strict "good guy." I just don't like characters like that, and oftentimes, the heroes in those superhero movies piss me off because listen up people, some of those super powered evil dudes ya'll be fightin' should be dead man because guess what happens when they ain't? They become the main supervillain for like 10 seasons of the damn show like COME ON man quit with the "the good guys can't kill" come on bro. The supervillain constantly escaping is the REASON your dang city is constantly in ruin everybody dyin' and shit. I mean, I can't be the only one who feels this way... Anyways. Yeah. Oof. Sorry.

how many ocs do you have? I have 17 original characters at the moment and I am kinda hoping to keep it there. Which is, basically everyone I have on this blog. If I were to make a new one, I think I'd have to retire some muses off this blog before I'd allow myself to write them. But I am happy with who I have. Everyone you see on this blog, are all the muses I have! Some are old muses that I have revamped... Nevaeh, Jamie & Aiden, Rex. Alpha is a muse I began making a few years ago and never finished until roughly, last year? Rex literally used to be a dinosaur dragon hybrid and a female.

what do you enjoy the most about creating ocs? The creativity. I love watching the supernatural creatures in tv shows and movies, and creating OCs gives me the opportunity to create a supernatural creature of my own creation to explore things that are not seen on tv! I love my spirit shapers, and I love the concepts I've put into Lakota and Lorelei, being able to create something that is entirely MY idea, my creation, that nobody else has ever come up with, really really means a lot to me. I just love having the freedom to come up with anything I want!

what do you find the most difficult about creating ocs? I like to have faceclaims with my muses, as I believe most people do. I find it difficult to find a FC that suits the muse. I don't pick FCs willy nilly, the face MUST match the vibe for the muse. They must be suitable. I need to be able to look at the face and be like, now THAT'S *insert name of muse.* Not just ANY face can portray my muse, and once I've chosen a FC, changing it — personally — would be like casting a brand new actor for the main character in your favorite tv show. Ya know what I mean?

Aside from that, their details. I put a lot of details into my OCs. I mean, I go a little overboard... My google slides are insane, but I just can't help it. I need the detail for myself if nothing else. I do my best to write out as much as I possibly can, and even then I could probably still improve BUT, compared to how I use to create OCs, I have gotten better at making characters. The hardest part is the back-story, coming up with something unique each time and avoiding any recycling of ideas from other muses.

And lastly... Portraying each muse in a way that they are their own person. Giving them their own unique personality, attitude, whatever, all that stuff that makes them who they are. I always worry that all my muses may sound the same or act the same.

[bluedalahorse]

Rambling? Venting? Idk. Vulnerability. Let’s call it vulnerability.

I don’t know if I want to even tag this because I’m trying to protect my verbal processing abilities right now and my eternal comfort movie Luca is playing in the background, so this isn’t going to be formal or polished the way I usually like to be when I’m posting, but… anyway, it totally kinda knocks me over that there are people out there who insist YR S2 wasn’t well written or Lisa is a bad writer or something because… something something our-oversimplified-version-of-wilmon-is-better-than-canon-nuanced-wilmon or some reason or other.

And I mean, when I say it knocks me over, I don’t mean it surprises me. That feels fairly standard for the internet and fandoms. I’ve been in fandoms long enough to know there’d be people with those takes. But I guess it knocks me over in… a Tired kinda way? A Deflated way? Something like that.

YR is special to me because of when I watched it the first time in summer 2021, and the things that were going on with me at the time. First, I saw it when I was completely burned out on Franchise Media (TM) and like, so incredibly exhausted from the MCU and how much everyone was still talking about it. It was refreshing to watch a show, not based on any existing IP, that delved into characters’ flaws and vulnerabilities, and that didn’t apologize for making you feel emotion and didn’t rely on quips or winking really obviously at the camera or whatever.

Second, I watched YR when I started my MFA in writing for children and young adults. The further I’ve gotten along in my program, the more I’ve felt that young people and adults alike deserve stories with moral complexity. And when we write young people as characters, the more we need morally complex stories for those characters. Teenagers live in a world that isn’t easy to navigate, and we do them a disservice when a story’s moral questions are too swiftly answered. As part of my program, I probably would have thought about issues of justice and human rights in YA lit regardless, but YR really pushed me to think of these issues in writing beyond just “good representation/bad representation.” (Which is important, but not the sum total of what authors should be focused on, and sometimes I feel like members of all fandoms overuse the word “representation” to justify their preferences. Sigh.) ANYWAY I love the way YR consistently resists easy answers and leans into its tensions. I love the way it’s always asking us, do you really want to find catharsis there? Certainly it doesn’t resolve issues by having superheroes shoot lasers at sky beams. I imagine season 3 will attempt to find some resolution for certain long running plotlines, but I also imagine what it doesn’t resolve will have the potential to open up some really interesting conversations, if we let it. Ugh, I just. Love dissecting the craft in this story! I love taking YR apart and seeing how it works.

Third, I discovered YR around the time I started to seriously think about ways in which I might be neurodivergent. (I’m doing my first intake call with a local neuropsych group in a few weeks.) While I have related to various ND or ND-coded characters before, Sara is pretty important to me because she was the first of these characters I connected to while exploring that aspect of my identity. I can see a lot of my child and teenage self in Sara’s arc; I wasn’t a horse girl but I did once beg my parents to send me to private school because I thought I’d be bullied less than in public school (they didn’t send me, because we couldn’t afford it.) I read novels set at boarding schools with a certain fascination because I imagined it as a place I could reinvent myself and be the best version of myself. I now know that I was romanticizing a pretty classist and elitist experience, but as a young person I didn’t really have the perspective to see and understand that. So I feel like I get where Sara is coming from, and I feel like her arc is such an important addition to the themes of the series. Like, we’re pulling the gilded veneer off of a really messed up system! Someone has to be drawn in by all that gold. When criticisms of season 2 boil down to “Sara had too much screen time” I like, can’t even be rational about it ahaha. (I hope people can forgive me this. I’m not saying Sara did nothing wrong, but I’m saying she has an important place in the story.)

Fourth, @heliza24 and I were friends before YR, but we were able to take our friendship to a newer and more exciting level while collaborating on our fanfic. And now we have ideas for original pieces we can write, too!

Idk like. I’m not saying YR or Lisa are perfect. I’ve got my quibbles with like the occasional thing here or there. Season 3 could still let me down. But I love it because it’s a well-crafted story with dynamic characters and resonant themes. I love it like I love Tana French and Elena Ferrante’s novels. I love it like I love Revolutionary Girl Utena and the history of the French Revolution and Socrates’s Antigone and Oedipus. I love it like I love Adib Khorram’s Darius the Great is Not Okay. I love it like I love so many of the songs in Ragtime and Les Misérables. All of which have their own flaws, but really make something in my brain light up and be happy.

I’m not really sure what my overall point here is. I think I just wanted to express this because I am currently having A Lot Of Feelings about other things in my life, and this feels like a place to rechannel them. And maybe if you read this far you got a chance to know me a little better, too.

[vincells]

for the ask reblog...

Everything.

1. If we ever met in real life, what would be the first thing you’d do? 

hot, wet make out. next question.

2. What kind of restaurant would you take us to if we visited your city?  

Fuuccckk, ion remember the name of this joint.. it's a small, black family business out in the middle of dum-fuck no where. best steak you will ever EVER have, I stg..

4. We go dancing at a club, what song are you telling the DJ to play for us? 

chic'n' stu- DUH

5. People are making fun of you, how do you think I’d react? 

you stand there.. awkwardly.

6. Would you help me commit crimes? 👀

ermm ya

7. What is our Superhero duo team name? 

mega faggot

8. What are our Superpowers? 

yaoi

9. It is road trip time, are you driving, playing the music, bringing the snacks, or being the navigator? 

too scared the drive, you're doing it. GPS exists sooo I'll bring snacks, you drive

10. Guess what? We get to go to Space, but it needs to be three of us. Who are bringing as our third helper? 

ghosty!!!1!1!1!

11. I become an insane Supervillain, what do you do? 

be even more in love with u

12. What is a movie/book franchise we both would dominate in?

home.. homestu

13. A song you’d play at my funeral? 

Creep.

14. You bring me to a concert, who is the artist that is playing? 

SOAD.. who else???

15. The fate of the planet is hanging in the balance, but to save it you’ll have to kill me. Would you? 

killing you would be funny so if there was an option to ironically doing it then like.. idk.. maybe you get a stab in the leg? other than that, no, of course not

16. We’re outside late at night, what are we doing? 

frolicking into the woods where we'll probably get kidnapped or murdered

17. They are making a movie about my life, who are you casting to play me? 

idk any actors tbh.. the only one that comes to mind is Charlie for OBVIOUS reasons

18. If I had a theme song that would play when I enter a room, what song would that be?  

the nyan cat theme

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Mouse/Mountain Updates

On the Disney Animation front: ONCE UPON A STUDIO's trailer got out, and it looks fun, and it's quite the twist that it'll run on ABC a month before showing with WISH. It makes sense, though, for October 2023 *is* the 100th anniversary of the Disney enterprise, and of course the once small cartoon studio that started it all. I particularly appreciated some of the deep cuts here, not just characters from features like BROTHER BEAR and HOME ON THE RANGE, but also from featurettes. Like, we're dipping into Mini-Classics territory here, as Amos the mouse and Benjamin Franklin from BEN AND ME (1953) can be spotted, along with John Henry from his 2000 titular short. One particular detail I greatly appreciated was the Xerox linework on Winifred from THE JUNGLE BOOK in this shot.

I don't have cable anymore, so I'm likely catching ONCE UPON A STUDIO on the big screen first, with WISH, in late November.

Everything also looks pretty good, too. Not bad from the few 2D people they've still got at that studio.

On the Paramount front: Looks like THE TIGER'S APPRENTICE, previously set for a January 2024 release, has also been orphaned, much like the still-without-a-release-date UNDER THE BOARDWALK. It will now release exclusively to Paramount+. I guess Paramount's CEO really meant that about "slightly" more original movies... (I say slightly, before any burping nerds come at me with "TIGER'S APPRENTICE is a BOOK!")

Though it seems the studio still wants to go through with movies that are not based on well-established IPs that have been adapted into movies countless times (Transformers, Ninja Turtles, ya know-), as Paramount Animation is now set to adapt the SUPERWORLD books by Yarrow Cheney (director of THE GRINCH and SECRET LIFE OF PETS) and his wife Carrie. "Set to", being the key words... Paramount Animation has optioned other titles like STRAY DOGS and such over the past few years, and I haven't heard any movement on those pictures. I think the top dogs just want instantly recognizable things for animated features, hence MUTANT MAYHEM, PAW PATROL 2, and TRANSFORMERS: ONE being priorities... and RUMBLE, UNDER THE BOARDWALK, and TIGER'S APPRENTICE not being just that.

With this gap, and likely no feature being put in that 2/9/2024 slot Universal reserved a long while ago... 2024's theatrical animation lineup looks to begin with Pixar's Adrian Molina-directed ELIO on March 1st, with KUNG FU PANDA 4 to follow on the 29th... Should they not get delayed because of the studios being dinguses about paying actors and writers... This means TROLLS Tre, WISH and MIGRATION are the only theatrical offerings for the time being, the rest is all on streaming: LEO, CHICKEN RUN Deux, etc.

SUPERWORLD sounds like it could be a fun animated feature, though. Set in a world where everyone is a superhero, except this one kid named Noah. While it may seem like superheroes are past their prime, fun things can still be done with that format. This year we had ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE absolutely *school* the recent swaths of workmanlike homework MCU/DCU movies on how it's done, even one MCU chapter - GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 - managed to surprise me. Flipping the script, doing cool things with superheroes, using the framework for something interesting- And animation is the best medium where that can be pulled off.

But like all things in this industry, it's moot, but the announcement sounds cool.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

COSMIC - S2:E6; Chapter Six, The Spy - [Pt. 2]

A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series

will's connection to a shadowy evil grows stronger, but no one's quite sure how to stop it. elsewhere, steve and dustin forge an unlikely bond.

WARNINGS: descriptions of v*miting, but it should only the very first paragraph here, and the flashback paragraphs designated under "DEC 1983" I believe.. Just in case you feel it best you need to skip!

||𝟑𝐑𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐕||

Dr. Owens peaks his head in the door uneasily, where, inside, Hopper sits on the edge of the bench hunched over a bucket. He is still in the gown the lab had provided, his new pair of scrubs still sitting folded and untouched to his left on the bench. Another retch is torn from his strained throat as his insides empty into the bucket. Owens fights a grimace and clears his throat announcing his presence.

"All right, cowboy, good news." He steps inside, his assistant behind him. "We're giving you the green light. How're you feeling?"

Hopper, still shaky and weak from his night in the tunnels and the full hose down from the medical team, turns to give the doctor an exaggerated grin.

"Never better." Says Hopper through gritted teeth.

"All right, well, we got a present for ya," Owens says, letting the sarcasm roll off his back.

The assistant steps forward, a folded hazmat suit in his hands. Hopper attempts no such efforts to hide his grimace at the sight.

"The hell is that?"

"Uh, something you should see."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The heart monitor beats steadily as Will sleeps, color has begun to return to his cheeks but it is scarce. Mike is tucked under a blanket, fast asleep in the bedside chair while Joyce and Bob speak in hushed whispers in the corner. Joyce had, for the most part, filled in Bob on the events of the past year.

"They made me sign, like, a thousand documents. I mean... we all had to. We had to! I mean, I lost track at a certain point. They're gonna make you do the same. I'm sure."

Bob nods, his eyes returning to Joyce after lingering worriedly on Will.

"Yeah. Well, hey, whatever."

There's a brief pause as Joyce gauges his reaction suspiciously, surprised by his shockingly relaxed demeanor. Finally, Bob speaks.

"What kind of documents?"

"Uh, confidentiality, and there were these official forms saying, like, nothing ever happened, which is why..."

Bob steps towards Will's bed, clarity written on his face.

"...Will got lost in the woods."

"Yeah."

Bob shakes his head, the wave of shock finally crashing over him in full.

"Man, I always thought stuff like this happened in movies and comic books. Certainly not in Hawkins," He returns to Joyce's side. "and certainly not to someone like you."

Joyce nudges Bob. "Or you."

"Yeah," he chuckles, quirking a brow. "Bob Newby, superhero."

The pair share a smile, but it does not last long before it fizzles out in the unresolved tension in the air. Joyce notes the shivers shaking Bob's body and throws him a concerned glance.

"You cold?"

"Just a little jitters, I guess." He says, drawing the blanket around his shoulders closer. "Hey, don't you start worrying about me. Okay? I'm fine. I'm fine."

Joyce nods in understanding, though she can't quite seem to shake the worry.

"It's not like you didn't warn me. 'This is not a normal family.' Isn't that what you said?"

The ends of her lips curl into a weak smile, a deflated chuckle escaping her. Bob soon joins in, gesturing to Will.

"You weren't kidding."

There's another thick pause, and Bob takes a silent breath before returning to a familiar subject.

"It kinda makes my idea of moving to Maine sound a little less crazy, right?"

"Oh, it... it's not crazy at all." She reassures.

A warm smile tugs at his lips and Joyce can feel the effects of his contagious charm, a smirk coming onto her face as well. But the moment quickly slips away at the sound of a familiar voice stirring from the bed.

"Mom?"

The couple is quick to join his side, and Bob enters the hall in a beat calling for the doctor. Joyce reaches him in no time, her palm reaching out for her son to stroke his cold cheek.

"Sweetie, how are you feeling? You okay?"

Bob steps back into the room, leaving the door ajar and Mike stirs awake at the small commotion.

"Okay, they're on their way," Bob says, joining Joyce's side, and gives Will a warm smile. "Hey."

Will frowns at his mother, gesturing to Bob.

"Who is that?"

Joyce chuckles nervously, and worry quickly settles into everyone's chest.

"What?" Joyce asks.

"It's me, big guy. It's Bob."

His palm extends to meet Will's, to give him a reassuring tap on the arm but Will pulls away reluctantly. There is suspicion and fear in his eyes as he inspects the man for what looks to be the first time.

"Are you a... doctor?"

The tension in the air rises, but Bob tries to push through it. Joyce and Mike only watch the exchange with great worry.

"No. No, it's just me. Just... just Bob."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

Lucas coasts down Old Cherry Road, his heart rate climbing steadily. As he approaches, his ears perk up at the muffled rock music blasting from inside one of the many houses. He knows this is the one he has been looking for when he recognizes the car Max had climbed into many times. And more importantly, the one that nearly ran him and his friends over.

Inside, Billy hardly fights the anger rising in his chest at the doorbell that keeps ringing. He continues his set, his fuse shortening when it goes unanswered. With an angered grunt, he drops the bar and grabs his cigarette from his lips.

"Max, are you getting that or what?" He roars.

An impressive huff escaped her, her eyes rolling to the back of her head briefly in disdain.

"Okay!" She snaps, chucking her half-taped board on her mattress before standing.

The doorbell rings once more, and not a second later Billy continues to berate her.

"I swear to God, Max!"

She stomps down the hall in a fury, making an effort to glare menacingly at her stepbrother in a last act of defiance. She moves swiftly around his equipment, hair flying behind her as her speed increases with every frantic ring of the doorbell. She rips the door open, expecting to deal with another noise complaint from Billy's music that would somehow get her in trouble. To her surprise, it wasn't. The sight Max finds on her front porch is much worse.

To her horror, Lucas, flashing her a tiny, sheepish smile. And completely unsuspecting of her brother and his malicious, bigoted ways only a few feet away. It sinks Max's heart right into her stomach. She knows if he is caught here, there was no telling what Billy would do to him. Her head whips around to the living room, grateful Billy has his back turned. Quickly, she steps outside closing the door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" She hisses.

Her voice is urgent and hushed, and oh how she hates that Billy holds this power over her. The power to make her feel unsafe in her own home, the power to make her fear for other people's safety no matter where she is.

"I have proof," Lucas says, not without a trace of excitement.

"What?"

"Proof that what I told you was real. But we have to hurry."

"What kind of proof? Y/n proof, or something-I'm-gonna-regret-seeing-later proof?"

Lucas winced.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

With a half-hearted grunt, Billy places the weights back on the rack and sits up. He takes one long drag of his cigarette before exhaling, his attention returning to the front door. He realizes he hasn't heard any conversation and when he sees he is alone-no sign of the nuisance he called a step-sister, and a closed front door-he knows Max is up to no good. In his eyes, she isn't. He rises from the bench and stalks forward towards the door, taking a swig from his beer can and placing it on the mantle just as the door swings open.

Max slips inside through the small gap she created in the doorway, quick to close the door the moment she was inside. As if on autopilot, she stomps through the living room-not very far-before she halts suddenly in her tracks. Billy is blocking off the entryway, his shoulders squared and a fixed glare on her-clearly unafraid of reminding her the many physical advantages he had over her. She jumps, not expecting his presence but she does well to hide it.

"Who the hell were you talking to?" He asks with venom.

Max collects herself, her eyes struggle not to dart around the room and he notes the uneasy twitch in her brow line.

"Mormons."

A sick smile tugs at his lips, a smirk made of a mix of disgust and triumph. He can almost laugh at her pathetic lie. Almost.

"Mormons?"

She nods, a rising sense of confidence in her tone that makes it harder for him to confront her.

"Talkative ones."

With that, she slips past him and makes a swift exit to her room. He stares after her, the gears turning in his head but he can't quite pin anything on her yet, much to his chagrin. He heads for the door, ripping it open as she did moments ago and steps onto the empty porch. His eyes scan the street but he sees no sign of anyone, just an empty lawn and others like them up and down the road. His jaw clenches, his anger flickering inside him more but he shoves it away for now, and heads back inside.

Meanwhile, Max reaches her room, closing her door behind her and making her way to her window. She's gets it open in record time-and perfect silence. Just as she had instructed, Lucas awaits outside her window, his movements urgent as he beckons her down.

"Come on, hop on!"

Max quickly climbs through the window, her feet planting on the small landing just below and jumps onto the grass. She quickly takes a seat behind Lucas, grabbing his shoulders she leans around him to speak.

"This better be good, stalker."

In a matter of moments, the pair is off. Silently, they slip around the back of the house and disappear down the road.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The yellow beam of light shifts from eye to eye and Will does his best to ignore the flash of negatives his brain sees. He is surrounded by somewhat familiar faces. He does not understand the fuss being made, his mother and friend he recognizes but now there was a strange man in scrubs that stayed behind. Bob. He wasn't sure why he was being treated like this.

"Do you know your name?" The doctor asks.

"Will."

"Your full name?" He asks, tucking the flashlight into his breast pocket.

"William Byers." He says simply.

"Do you know... Do you know who I am?"

Will thinks for a moment, the question obvious and unnecessary.

"A doctor."

Will tries to ignore the fact that he is surrounded by a medical team that watches him studiously. He does all he can to focus his attention on the doctor before him, and answer his questions but he can't help but start to doubt his own sanity. Or at least the sanity of everyone around him. Was he supposed to have known everyone circling him now?

"Have we met before?" The doctor asks.

Will's brow fell into a crease, he shakes his head simply.

"I don't remember."

"Hmm."

Elsewhere, a large team of staff assigned to the Byers case watches the feed with intrigue. The live footage from Byers' room is displayed on one of many monitors and they watch, paying close attention to the quizzical and unexpected turn the boy has taken.

"You don't remember me?" They hear Owens ask.

They see the boy shake his head, and Owens nods.

"Okay," he extends an arm and points in Mike's direction. "How about, uh... How about this guy here?"

Mike shifts uneasily, his heart pounding against his chest as his best friend slowly turns to look at him. Nervously, he retracts one hand from his pocket and waves weakly before returning to the comfort of the is pocket. He suddenly felt silly for it, but the fear quickly won out. His fingers fumble anxiously with the loose thread from the shoddy stitching as he waits for answer.

Will does not answer immediately, his eyes are darker and his gaze is distant and detached.

"That's okay, take your time," Owens assures.

The look in his eyes bothers Mike, and the longer Will neglects to speak the longer eternity seems to stretch on. Never, not even once has Mike seen this look on Will. He is not himself, and he fears the worst. The ghost of their conversation at the Byers house being shoved to the back of his mind as it creeps up. Not himself. He isn't frowning, like Will usually does when he is stumped. His brow isn't furrowed, and there is no sign that he is frustrated by his stump. He just... stares. All emotions devoid from his features and he is much too calm. Finally, he speaks.

"That's my friend." He says slowly. "Mike."

Mike doesn't fight the breath of relief, but he can't help but think that their troubles were far from over.

The next person to speak is the tallest man in the room, Will notes. He had joined them not long ago and had stuck by his mother's side. He smiles weakly, but he can tell that for the man, it is genuine.

"What about me, kid? You remember me?"

His attention slowly shifts to the tall man, and he searches his brain, what's left of the foggy memories that have only grown clouded and dark in the past few hours. But he sees nothing, nothing about this tall, bearded man and he shakes his head. He recognizes the look of disappointment and worry, but he quickly tries to bury it.

"They tell me you helped save me last night. You remember that?"

Will shakes his head once more. His attention is once again shifted to the doctor at his bedside.

"Do you remember anything about last night? About what happened?"

Will feels a twinge of anger, and the ghost of the pain from the previous night ignites his memory.

"I remember they hurt me."

《•••》

Will collapsed to the ground in agony. Mike dropped to the ground quickly after him, grasping his friend trying to get him to calm. But it was no use. Will was now lying on the grass, his entire body felt like it was on fire. His vision was as white as the white-hot searing pain running through his veins.

《•••》

Joyce winces at the memory, her stomach turning and her palm reaches to her face, her fingers massaging her temples. She feels Bob's hand reach her back and pat her soothingly in an attempt to calm her.

"You mean the doctors?" Owens asks.

His eyes still dark and blank-his composure flat and calculated-he shakes his head.

"No," he says, his tiny voice as dark as his eyes. No one had seen the boy so still. "The soldiers."

《•••》

The figure, who had been properly equipped, aimed his device and a violent spurt of fire erupted from the end. The vines writhed and shrieked violently as they shriveled up.

《•••》

"The soldiers hurt you?"

Will blinks slowly, the first he has in a while and his voice grows hoarse and angered. He is enraged-betrayed-the darkness clouding his usual hazel green eyes and now they seem almost black. His tone only sends spikes of fear into the hearts of those who are closest to Will. And it only reminds Mike of the previous day, when Will had forced Y/n away.

When Will spoke, Mike felt a familiar chill run down his spine. And only now does he recognize the tone in Will's voice. How it held no emotion and he seemed so distant. And cold.

Not himself.

Mike felt as if he was reliving that moment over, but the only difference was the person who hurt him. Or something inside him.

"They shouldn't have done that." Says Will, darkly. His pale face slowly slips into a scowl, a threatening glance anyone would be unsettled by and his voice grew more venomous.

"It upset him."

The blood was pounding in Mike's ears by now, and on instinct he finds himself looking to Mrs. Byers. But all she can focus on is her son. Or rather, what looked like her son. What used to be. Mike had to shake the dark thoughts from his mind, but he couldn't help but blame himself. He had already slipped into this state before, why hadn't he done more? Talked to Mrs. Byers? Tell him how he changed so briefly but drastically right before his eyes? At least he managed to break free from it last time. But now... now things were different.

All he can manage to do for now is watch as Owens takes a photograph from a file folder that sits on the bed, he hands it to Will who takes it.

"You say, "Upset him." Is that him?"

Will's darkened eyes trail up from the picture and meet the man's eyes. He merely nods, and even though no words are spoken aloud, the room is hit with another dreadful chill. Owens takes the photograph back and sets it on the folder as he looks around the room.

"Okay, I want to try something." He instructs. "It's gonna seem a little odd at first, but I think it's really gonna help us understand what's going on."

He gently places a hand on Will's shoulder, sending a reassuring look to the boy as best as he could manage.

Will's eyes flicker to the hand on his shoulder. He tries to ignore the small but uncomfortable body heat from his palm, and he tries even harder to stifle the anger. It reminds him of the boy-the threat-and what he did, how he hurt Will. He pushes the memory aside and looks to the man, nodding.

"Okay."

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The steel cart jostles as it crosses the bumpy threshold of the room, a glass case with no lid sits on top. Inside, a loose tentacle collected from the tunnels. Hopper quickly recognized the thing, and he felt his insides twist in knots, alarms going off in his head. He had only just been shown the lab's secret, he couldn't say he was surprised but Owens and his team had just taken them underground. Where they had their very own, private access to the tunnels he had previously been trapped in.

He had been assured they were monitoring it, but it all felt like a load of crap to him. He shifts on his feet as he watches it all unfold.

"Now, Will," Owens begins. "I want you to just let us know if you feel anything. Okay?"

He nods once more, and Owens gives the assistant the all-clear. The blowtorch in his hands flick on, a steady hiss emanates from the strong flame and the man slowly lowers it inside the case. Will stares wide-eyed as the blue flame is lowered, his breathing hitches and speeds up. Short and ragged, and his face has already begun to pale.

The creature begins to hiss. Its dark violet body begins to write against the steel, leaving behind strings of slime. It shrinks back, clearly in pain. The others watch, their attention breaking from Will to the heart monitor he is hooked up to. Beeping increases as his heartbeat picks up.

"Do you feel anything?"

Will's breath hitches, his face twitching in pain. He begins to stammer as he fidgets.

"Little sting."

"It stings. Where?"

The flame lowers further and Will shifts on the mattress, his left hand suddenly clutching his heart. His face contorts in pain, and his cold demeanor has begun to melt into pain.

"My chest." He whimpers.

"Okay, son." He mumbles, patting his arm but he makes no effort to stop.

Joyce reaches out and places a gentle hand on his leg from the end of the bed and begins to mumble encouraging thoughts and showing her concern and support. After a determined and swift nod from the man, the assistant nods and lowers the flame. Everything immediately intensifies, the heart monitor beeps faster, the creature squeals turn to shrieks and Will begins to writhe, clutching desperately at his chest.

"How about now?" He asks urgently.

Will begins to choke on air, he is desperately trying to speak through the pain but he can barely manage the words.

"It... It burns."

Dr. Owens only grows more intense, he leans forward in the slightest as his bushy brows furrow. The flame lowers further and it nearly touches the creature. It cries in agony and so does Will.

"Ah! It burns!"

"Where?"

Another screech and Will gasps for breath, he chokes on his words but he manages a scream that tears through his scalding chest.

"Everywhere!"

The flames lick at its slimy, moist and sizzling skin and it ignites a deafening, agonizing scream from Will. Joyce's face hardens and she begins to shout.

"That's enough. That's enough!"

Will's cries climb higher and louder and within moments it's just as he was when they brought him in. The assistant does nothing and the flame continues to burn the flesh of the creature. Will shifts feverishly on the bed, his head rolling back as he shrieks at the sky. His agonizing cries pierce Joyce's ears and stab at her heart. She continues to try and stop their efforts but her voice is drowned out in Will's screams and even then they ignore her. Hopper jumps in, separating Will from Owens and throws his arms out and he roars at them viciously.

"Stop! You heard her! That's enough!"

The flame retracts and the man shrinks back as the creature does. Patches of its skin are burned away, showing pinkish and inflamed skin, and Will gasps for breath. Hopper stands over the boy protectively and himself as Joyce sends deadly stares to every staff member.

"That's it! We're done!" Hopper barks.

The rooms falls silent and every staff member squirms uncomfortably. Joyce sets aside her fury and redirects her attention to her boy. Soothingly, she pats his leg-the only place she can reach from the end of the bed-and whispers encouraging words.

"Sweetie... Sweetie. It's okay."

Will visibly relaxes, his breathing is still harsh and spotty. He pants heavily, and the heart monitor gradually slows. The creature's wails die down to a ragged hiss and everyone looks around the room.

Owens ushers Joyce and Hopper outside to the hall where they now speak in hushed whispers.

"Our best guess right now is it's some kind of virus which is causing this neurological disorder." The man explains. "Now, when... when a typical virus attaches itself to the host..."

《•••》

── DEC. 1983 ──

Will grips the bathroom sink, his knuckles turning white as he feels a gag shake his body. He lurches forward over the sink as nausea coils tightly around his stomach. He can feel movement traveling up his throat, and something tells him it's not vomit. A disgusting salty taste travels across his tongue and he watches in horror and disgust as a thick slug-like creature hits the bottom of the sink with a shuddering 'plop'.

Will manages to keep his coughs stifled, hopefully his mother and brother do not hear him from the dining room table. His stomach plummets, not only in disgust that this thing was living inside him but also fear. It slithers towards the drain, leaving a trail of paled green slime in its tracks.

《•••》

"...it duplicates, right? It spreads, essentially hijacking the host."

Joyce winces at the man's words, and once more do her fingers reach her temples and rub fixed circles as he continues.

"A virus is alive. It has an intelligence."

《•••》

Will was panting heavily, but he slowly turned around coming face to face with the monster. It towered over the school, looking directly at Will.

《•••》

"That's not... That's not unusual." Owens pauses with a frown, gesturing down the hall. "What is so unusual here, this virus... the infected hosts seem to be communicating."

《•••》

The figure, who had been properly equipped, aimed his device and a violent spurt of fire erupted from the end. The vines writhed and shrieked violently as they shriveled up.

At that exact moment, Will-who had been waiting worriedly outside as the army of men surrounded and descended after his mother and Bob-collapsed to the ground.

•••

Will convulsed uncontrollably, his limbs on fire, spreading as rapidly as the flames in the hub below. As the vines screamed in agony, Will screamed too. He was now on his back, screaming violently into the night. Mike jumped back startled, watching helplessly in horror as his best friend writhed in the grass, his mouth wide open and his eyes rolled back into his head as he shrieked in agony.

《•••》

"It has some sort of hive intelligence, and it's connecting all the hosts."

《•••》

The monster bellowed, and one large tentacle began twirling down onto the ground, the size of a small tornado. The swirling gust of black fog engulfed Will.

•••

Dart looked up from his meal and faced a horrified Dustin, his long slimy tail flicking back and forth. He roared, causing his head to open up, hundreds of bloodied teeth showing as any other Demogorgon would.

•••

The flame lowers further and it nearly touches the creature, it cries in agony and so does Will.

《•••》

"The good news is a virus can be cured. We... We're gonna continue to run tests. We're gonna see what we find."

Joyce shakes her head in disbelief and fights back her tears as she speaks.

"What happens when he can't remember anything? W-When there's nothing else there?" She steps forward towards the man, who once again grows uneasy. "What happens when my boy is gone?"

The man stands dumbfounded and without an answer. Joyce brings a trembling hand to her quivering lip, choking back sobs at the horrendous thought. She feels helpless like there's nothing she can do. And she loathes it.

[boxofbadaddiction]

I've never really been a Spider-man girly...

I loved reading Marvel comics and watching the TV shows and movies but Spidey just didn't appeal?? Much more a Thor and Ironman bitch to tell ya the truth

But like- I loved Toby, growing up his movie was one of the first superhero films I'd seen, and he still gets points now for nostalgia. I was eventually on board with Andrew once I actually watched the movies however was pretty against it in the beginning cause I loved Toby's sm [William Defoe + Alfred Molina>>> carried.] and truth be told I only watched when Jamie Foxx entered the chat. I warmed up to Tom?? [Not really] But still not much a fan of the character, I liked No Way Home and his appearance in CW + IW that's about it. So, no, I haven't seen Into the Spider-verse even though everyone I talk to who has seen it thinks it's amazing and I lowkey wanted to but just didn't cause it felt so pushed [I hate being told to try things specifically if it's currently trending]

And yet...because I'm a useless fucking pathetic Big Boy SIMP I have currently found myself tryna talk me into watching the movies thanks to a certain variant I'm sure we call all guess who-thefuck-why.

When the movie was first announced I saw exactly ONE clip of him. It mentioned he had fangs- I've been a fucking goner since.

Anyway, this has been a pointless post about my reluctant Spider-man crush and a free pass to any sudden spam posting about Said Character that will may appear on my page, thanks for reading ♡

[clarktooncrossing]

Blue Beetle vs Moana

HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW!

IT'S ME, CLARK, BACK WITH ANOTHER DOSE OF WEIRDNESS!

Man, March is gone. Good riddance! The first three months of this year have sucked! The weather sucked, my health has sucked, it's been a non-stop suck fest! Yet here April is, already off to a kick@$$ start! Little Caesars brought the Pretzel Pizza back, Disney clap backed hard against Florida, and DC released a trailer for a superhero movie I've been dying to see! Ladies, gentlemen, and weirdos, may I present to you the Blue Beetle!

The Positives:

+ That perfect photo-realistic translation of the costume! Not since Raimi's Spider-Man or the original Iron Man have I seen a supersuit this sexy!

+ Apparently the actor chosen to play Jaime is a fan favorite. I haven't seen Cobra Kai, so I have no prior exposure to Xolo Maridueña, but he seems to be having a blast!

+ Emphasis is placed on Jaime's family life, making it very clear from the start they're as essential to the story here as they were in the comics.

+ Dang, that initial suit-up is something out of a horror story! Nice!

+ So many references to the prior Blue Beetles, Ted Kord and Dan Garrett, including The Bug! Heck yeah!

+ More representation for non-white superheroes is always a win!

+ DC is releasing all of his original adventures from the Pre-Flashpoint universe! FINALLY!

The Negatives:

+ Suffers from 'generic trailer' disorder, meaning I don't know a ton about the plot or Jaime's antagonists. Then again, I actually haven't read a ton of his books. Yet. Here's hoping Trailer #2 is more interesting.

+ George Lopez's stupid joke about Batman being a fascist. First of all, how dare you waste the comic genius of Lopez! Second, unless Frank Miller wrote this, Batman is not a fascist!

All that said, I am super excited for this movie! Let it be known that were it not for Across the Spider-Verse, Blue Beetle would be my most anticipated film of 2023! Good lord, I am so hyped for this! This trailer had me riding high this morning. Only for Disney and Dwayne Johnson to have me crashing down to Earth.

Much to my shock, this is not a late April Fool's Day prank on behalf of the Mouse House and Ex-Black Adam. This is actually happening. Disney is remaking an animated movie that's not even a decade old. Now I'm not a huge fan of Moana, but even I think this feels desperate on Disney and The Rock's part. In terms of Disney, it feels like they finally realized they're running out of classic cartoons to 'reimagine', forcing them to result in current critical darlings. Sure, they could bring retell stories like The Black Cauldron or Atlantis, but they didn't make money the first time! Why take creative risks when you can make stupidly safe ones? Mark my words, Frozen is next. As for The Rock, this feels kinduv' insulting following the praises he sang towards animation at this year's Oscars. I guess his alliances changed following Shazam: The Prequel securing the final death nail on the DCEU's coffin. Maui needs moola. No matter which way ya' look at it, it looks pretty freak'n stupid. Thankfully I'm not alone on that though. Currently the like to dislike ratio leans heavily on the later and there are plenty of comments wondering why this is happening. What about you weirdos?

Are you excited for a live-action Moana or do you think it should stay in the realm of animation? Furthermore, are you eager for Blue Beetle's first big screen adventure? Leave your thoughts in the comments below! Until then-

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

[maxdurden]

get to know me

i was tagged by the amazing @johaerys-writes, thank you so much!!! 

Share your wallpaper: my phone background is really dope artwork of arthur morgan from red dead redemption 2. the art is sooo pretty and i’m sooo lazy so i haven’t changed it even though i haven’t played the game in months lmao. my desktop wallpaper is just,,, a black screen. which is really messed up, but it glitched out and deleted my old wallpaper (which i don’t even remember rip) and,,, ya know, the aforementioned laziness

The last song you listened to: Morbid Stuff by PUP

Currently Reading:  i just finished the v1 titans run of comics (1999-2003)!!!! i literally can’t recommend it more, it was so fun ough. but i’m currently in that phase after reading something really good where you can’t read anything else because of the misery of finishing a good read. it’s rough. honorable mentions go to the copy of the great gatsby that my coworker has been trying to make me read,,, (i’ve gotten through an entire one (1) page of it, sorry steve), and buy back the secrets, which is an incredible fanfic that everyone who likes timkon should go read immediately or i’ll kneecap your closest friends and relatives <3 (also also also in the family of things by @deadchannelradio which is so incredibly amazing and even tho i finished it a while ago i think it should still count for this because everyone should also read it immediately, the kneecapping threat still withstanding ofc)

Last Movie: Batman: Year One (with @darkravenstag, can you sense a pattern in the media i’ve been consuming jesus christ)

Craving: tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo, tattoo!!! (i’m broke)

What are you wearing right now: white soft sweatpants, my fluffy housecoat, and a shirt that says “i ❤️my gay cat” which was a birthday gift from @darkravenstag

How tall are you: last time i checked i was 5’4 but god knows if that’s changed by now (i doubt it), apparently that’s 162 ish centimeters 

Piercings: i have piercings in my ear that i got when i was like,,, four years old that are somehow still around god bless them. and i have a septum piercing. i really desperately want an industrial next

Tattoos: only one!!!!!!!!! it’s a neat little ouroboros but by god do i need more desperately

Glasses? Contacts?: nope, got that 20/20 vision, babey

Last drink: water (i honestly rarely drink anything but water)

Last show: i guess probably technically the mandalorian? it’s in the middle of its new season and @darkravenstag and i are watching it when it releases weekly :3

Last thing you ate: ice cream sandwiches,,, 

Favourite colour: i’m really bad at making decisions like this lmao. i don’t know myself well enough to know my own favorite color, if i’m tbhing. but a lot of different shades of blue are nice, and i like burnt orange and mustard yellow type vibes. green is also nice! so who knows

Current obsession: god i wish it weren’t obvious. to all the folks who started following me because of my greek myths stuff (and that includes you jo lmao) uhhhh sorry. greek myths were THE hyperfixation for like,,,, three or four years but dc comics is back in a big way. i simply cannot stop thinking about these little superhero guys,,,,

Unrelated Obsession: right now??? i’m not kidding when i say that dc comics has left me with literally no other computing space in my brain. like i’m at the stage of brain rot where having a conversation about something that isn’t dc related is a little bit hard,,,, it’s abysmal out here guys. but i’ll give a shout out to greek myths,,, when will my interest in the iliad and odyssey return from the war??? my brain basically works in two modes, which are dc comics nerd and pretentious classics obsessive, so eventually the classics hyperfixation will return but i couldn’t tell you when that’ll be 

Any pets: i have two cats!! their names are achilles and briseis and they are the worst little creechers but also god’s greatest gift to humanity (achilles is currently curled up in my lap purring his stupid little head off). they turn six this april!!! 

Do you have a crush on anyone: lol uhhh sure

Favourite fictional character: this is an incredibly mean question actually. you want me to pick a favorite son??? i am holding my hands over jason todd’s ears while whispering dick grayson,,, but also if we’re allowed to include ocs then rn everyone can get fucked because my baby wes is having a renaissance (in my head)

The last place you traveled: lmao the last place i traveled was back to my hometown (a small town in northern indiana) for the county fair this summer. the ice cream at the local ice cream stand is still the best in the country and i’ll die on that hill but yeah i’d kill to travel a bit more soon but probably won’t really travel until my sister’s wedding happens in georgia in october

tagging @darkravenstag @thrustin-timberlake @deadchannelradio @sarcasticbeanie and any other beloved mutuals (or followers!!) who wanna do this! it's fun, have fun!