#SPIDER’S NEST「deck」

[zoldsick]

Kings and Jesters

♕ summary: zoro x f!reader - a silly game on the Thousand Sunny causes Zoro to confront his feelings about their newest member. Based on my original bullet point HC here.

♕ tags: fluff, first kiss, sfw

♕ wordcount: ~2.2k

♕ read on AO3

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Zoro was drunk. He needed to think and therefore was on his second bottle of hard liquor. He always did his best thinking when he was drunk, right?

Zoro thought long and hard about you. What was it about you? Why did he keep feeling himself drawn to you? Whatever it was, he was done letting you in so carelessly. He would not let you invade his mind. He had decided whatever he was feeling was most definitely not romantic feelings. He was sure of it. He would make sure of it.

After coming to this decision he continued to sit back on the bird's nest and enjoy his drink, all the while he desperately tried to tune out the charades taking place on the main deck. One voice in particular, he begged to stop hearing.

…

It was a silly drinking game. 

You were the one who introduced this game to the Strawhat crew, and everyone was having a blast. The game involved drinking, stupid challenges, and inconsequential punishments. Everything a silly party game needs. 

After you introduced the game to the Strawhat crew, they picked it up in stride. The game was called “King” and it involved competing in a handful of goofy challenges in which the winner of each round was crowned the King and the rest of the losers had to drink. The King was then allowed to penalize one of the losers by implementing a punishment- which was usually making them complete some sort of dare. Additionally, to add incentive, Nami decided she would be collecting a “Cowards Fee” on anyone who didn’t want to complete their dare. Suffice to say, everyone was going through with them. 

In other words, it was a fast, fun way to get wasted. 

The Sunny was sailing into an autumn climate and the air was chilly. You were grateful for the fireplace Franky had built as you felt the gentle breeze glide along your back. You smiled as you watched Sanji bring out a tray of marshmallows towards Chopper, who perked up at the idea of sweets. The moon was nearly full and everyone had finally settled around the fireplace living off of the alcoholic buzz and comradery that the game created. Well, almost everyone. 

Sanji cried out in anguish as the whole crew choked on their laughter. Franky was the previous winner and had declared that Sanji would be punished by eating a bite of a dangerously spicy pepper he had picked up on a previous island. It was not a pretty sight.

They had all come up with pretty good punishments this round. Usopp was forced to hold a spider that Robin found under the deck, Luffy was punished by Usopp, who dared him to jump into the ocean—given that Usopp would rescue him shortly after— and sweet Chopper made Robin give him a head massage behind his ears. Of course, Robin didn’t think this was much of a punishment, and happily scratched Chopper's head. 

“I WIN!” Nami shouted, jumping up and looking devilishly at the crew. Who knew Nami would be so good at card games?

Nami peered around at the crew grinning as she thought about what punishment would bring the most entertainment. 

“Pick me Nami ~” Sanji said, earning an eye roll from the orange haired girl. “Punish me please ~” She ignored his begging, but this did give her an idea. She suddenly turned towards you. You flinched under her mischievous gaze. You had been spared all night and now had a bad feeling it was about to become your turn. Just as predicted, her finger shot out and pointed straight at you. 

“Y/N. Don’t get cocky because you’re new on this ship. Stand up!” 

You got up from your seated position chuckling nervously at Nami’s antics. You doubted she would give you something too terrible, she’s been very protective of you since you boarded the Sunny. The Strawhats all cheered as you walked over to Nami, hooting and hollering for a good punishment. 

Nami slapped her hand across your shoulders, “Alright, Y/N. As a guest on this ship you must show your gratitude to the crew! I demand you give one of our crewmates a kiss! I’ll even be nice and let you choose who, though I think the answer is easy enough.” Nami said, batting her eyelashes at you. 

Your eyes widened, mouth agape, you couldn’t find the words to respond. You could feel your ears turn red as the whole crew exploded in excitement. Sanji went comatose. 

“Nami… I don’t know about this.” You complained, “I don't know if I’m comfortable with a …kiss.” 

“What’s wrong? Too many good options?” Shouted out Franky, “Choose me! I’ll definitely make it SUPER!” 

“It’s just a small kiss. No need to read into it,” said Robin. 

Sanji, staggered to his feet, “Y/N, I would be honored if you chose me as a representative of this ship, to bestow a k-k-kis-” he stopped to cover his nose as a jet of blood shot from it and he collapsed back again. 

Luffy protested, “But I’m the Captain! I’m the representative of the ship!” 

“Luffy, do you really want Y/N to kiss you?” questioned Usopp. 

“What? No. I’m just sayin’ I’m the Captain!” 

“SO! Y/N, who is it going to be?” Nami interrupted, stopping the crew from getting too off-topic. 

“Guys, I really don’t know about this. It’s not really something I’m, particularly… experienced in.” You beg your face to stop changing colors but feel your cheeks betraying you. 

“What do you mean?” Robin pressed, “Have you ever kissed anyone?” 

You desperately try to avoid eye contact. “Uh…” 

The deck of the Sunny suddenly went silent and you felt your embarrassment deepen even more. Suddenly everyone exploded in astonishment and reinvigorated competition. 

“Oh. My. God.” Nami couldn’t believe it, “This changes everything. ALRIGHT EVERYONE! This is now a competition to see who deserves to receive Y/N’s first kiss!” 

…

 Zoro’s drunken brooding was interrupted by shouts and arguing. He shifted from where he sat, the shouts weren’t in fear or danger, but emotions were definitely high. Luffy’s laugh pierced through the yells. What the hell are those idiots doing?

Zoro stood up and stumbled a little, suddenly feeling the liquor working through his veins. Zoro descended the birdnest’s ladder and staggered towards the main deck. As he turned the corner an odd scene appeared before him. Zoro couldn’t quite make out what the argument was about, but he heard everyone shouting over each other.

“I’m the one who initiated the dare in the first place! So I’m the obvious choice here! It’s only fair!” screamed Nami, pulling hard on Usopp’s ear who yelped out in pain. 

“Oh yeah?” Usopp winced, “Well I was the best kisser in all of Syrup Village! It should be me!” 

“That’s nice, but if we are basing this on experience, the older members should be at the top of the list. Right, Franky?” Robin asserted.

“RRRRRRRRRIGHT AS ALWAYS, ROBIN!” Franky posed showing off his muscles, “Y/N! Robin and I are obviously the best choices!” 

Sanji was incoherent, struggling to stop his still bleeding nose. All that could be heard was a pathetic beg, “Please… Please… Y/N’s first… Please…” 

Luffy and Chopper sat back laughing at the whole crew, uninterested in the prize and stuffing their cheeks with marshmallows. 

“What the hell is goin’ on here?” Zoro said gruffly.

You jumped slightly. You were so focused on the chaos that was taking place in front of you that you didn’t notice Zoro walking up. 

“Oh, Zoro. Uh… We were playing a game and…” You struggled to get the words out. 

Zoro waited, watching you squirm with cheeks flushed. This is unfair. 

You launched into a story, something about a game and a punishment, but Zoro wasn’t following. He was just staring, watching the way your lips formed each word. One might say he was distracted. Thankfully, he tuned back in to hear the conclusion. 

“- and so now everyone is arguing about who’s going to get my… first kiss. I guess. It’s all so dumb, I just want this to be over with.” you said burying your face in your hands as you heard Nami smack Sanji’s head back down after he had finally gotten back up.

“They’re what?” Zoro finally comprehended the implications of this punishment. Y/N’s first kiss…

“I know, I don’t know how to get out of this. Nami will probably bleed my pockets dry if I bail out. Probably best to just choose someone and get it over with.” You peeked out of your hands up at him. You were getting redder by the second. 

Zoro looked at the brawling party and then back to you. His chest hurt. 

“First kiss, how stupid.” he mumbled.

“I know! That’s what I’m trying to tell everyo--” 

There was a crash and suddenly Zoro’s hands were gripping your face, and before you could process it, his lips were crashing into yours. 

It was nothing like you imagined your first kiss would go. It was clumsy and he tasted like liquor. One of his hands gripped your jaw and the other tangled in your hair. You could barely keep up with his pace. One of your hands gripped his shirt and the other gripped his arm to ground yourself. His tongue was gliding over yours forcefully, you squeeked at the unfamiliar sensation, which only seemed to encourage Zoro. 

It only lasted around 10 seconds, but when Zoro finally broke the kiss you couldn’t move. Your whole body felt like jelly. His face hovered close to yours, eyes barely open, as if he couldn’t decide whether or not to continue. He suddenly took a long step back, clearing his throat and touching his mouth with his fingers.

All members of the Strawhat crew were staring, mouths wide open. Zoro’s bottle of liquor was still spilling out from where he dropped it. 

There was a beat, then the crew fell into disarray.   

Zoro ignored the ruckus happening next to him and struggled to look down at you. He shouldn’t have done that. He finally mustered up the courage to look at you and noticed you were an alarming shade of red. If steam started coming out of your ears he wouldn’t be surprised. Your mouth hung slightly open, lips slightly swollen from his rough kiss, he could tell you were struggling to register what had just happened. He froze as you looked up at him. 

It was like he got punched in the gut. You were incredibly flustered, your eyes slightly watery, and your hair disheveled. His breath hitched. God, what did I just do? 

He quickly looked away, struggling to maintain his composure. Trying to look anywhere besides you. Seeing you this flustered after a simple kiss was not going to help his current crisis. Suddenly a sob broke through the noise and Zoro turned to see who it was coming from. 

Sanji was on the floor crying, looking straight at Zoro, “How… HOW COULD YOU! YOU BEAST!” 

He jumped up, joined by all the other competitors for your first kiss. Chopper knocked down Zoro’s legs and he fell onto his stomach, Usopp jumped on his back and grabbed his hair, yanking it back and yelling back, “How was that fair, you jerk!” 

Sanji took advantage of the fallen Zoro and got a few weak kicks in, still wiping the tears from his eyes. He can’t even speak, he’s too furious, seeing Zoro kiss a woman was the nail on his mental coffin. Luffy can’t stop laughing. 

“They’re RIGHT Zo-Bro,” Franky says, twisting his arm to engage his weapons-left, “I never heard the lady give her permission.” 

“Hey! Argh! Stop it! What’s the big deal? It’s just a first kiss! I’ve never done that before either, it’s nothing!” 

There was a second pause while everyone took in this new information. Robin, unaware she was  about to rub salt in wounds, spoke up, "So, you’re each other's first kiss?" 

Zoro struggled against his crew and managed to look at you. The second you make eye contact neither of you could hold back the blush that made its way across your cheeks and up to your ears. 

The crew bursts into hysterics once again. 

Unable to withstand the attention and incapable of processing everything that just happened, you turned around and ran off into the women’s bunks. Gotta cool my head, gotta cool my head, gotta cool my head— What was that?! 

The crew watched as you retreated, then got in a few more blows to berate and beat Zoro. After a while everyone felt satisfied that Zoro had been appropriately punished, and left him alone. But Zoro didn’t move, he stayed facedown on the lawn of the Sunny, defeated. He was in time out, trying to think about his actions. 

He heard Usopp goofing around with Luffy and Chopper, bragging about how he alone managed to defeat the feared pirate hunter Zoro. Sanji had also dragged himself away sniffling, leaving to make the crew some hot cocoa before bed per Chopper’s request. Finally the deck was silent once again.

Zoro finally sat up, looking down at his own hands, “She didn’t need to run off like that, it’s not a big deal.” He spoke out loud, still trying to convince his crew, but mostly himself. 

Just then, Robin sprouted a hand from his back and slapped him on top of the head. 

He looked up at Robin in disbelief, “Not your best move, Swordsman,” she said from a distance and walked away. 

It’s possible that Zoro does not do his best thinking when he is drunk. 

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author's notes: hope that was a little more fun than the original bullet points. this was originally in a much longer slow-burn story that I decided to ditch, so it's been written for awhile. I might just post the fun parts of that story and edit them to make sense as a one-shot. As always thanks to @nanpecan for editing, go read her nanami fic, it rulez

[anonymous-dentist]

An introspective merpepito moment:

-

They’re a week away from land, which means they’re a week away from Pepito And Captain Celbi’s Super Secret Special Mission, which means they’re a week away from Captain Celbi and Apa Roier becoming Best Friends!!

But.

But Apa Roier already isn’t paying much attention to Pepito thanks to Richarlyson. What’ll happen when he and Captain Celbi become Best Friends?

Pepito looks out over the Ocean, up in the crow’s nest keeping watch while Mister Felps uses the bathroom. It’s just Pepito.

…Just Pepito.

Pepito wants Apa Roier to be happy. Pepito hasn’t seen Apa Roier smile this much… ever!! He’s been happier than he’s ever been! And it’s all thanks to Captain Celbi and Richarlyson, they’re the ones Apa Roier smiles at the most.

Pepito likes when Apa Roier smiles. He has little wrinkles next to his eyes that crinkle up, and his eyes almost squint shut. His teeth aren’t as sharp as they are in the Ocean , but he has a lot of them. (Too many for a Sky Pepito, probably, but who cares?)

A pod of dolphins jump out of the water near the ship. Pepito waves at them with both hands; maybe they’ll tell his other parents that he’s fine!!

Pepito’s smile freezes. It falls.

He takes back his wave. Maybe his other parents should think he’s just dead. That way, they can be happy with their New Pepito.

On the deck, Richarlyson screeches out a laugh as Apa Roier scoops him up and throws him over his shoulder.

Pepito sniffs and wipes at Pepito’s eyes without really knowing why. He likes when Apa Roier is happy! When Apa Roier is happy, Pepito is happy.

He sinks down in the crow’s nest and sits with his knees to his chest. He can hear them having fun on the deck.

Together.

Minutes of painful, joyful noise later, Mister Felps climbs back into the crow’s nest with a loud groan.

“What a climb!” he moans. “Fuck!”

He flops onto floor dramatically. He’s breathing heavily, poor Mister Felps.

After a moment, he turns his head to look at Pepito with a smile. (He’s always smiling.)

“Did you see anything fun while I was gone?” he asks.

Mister Felps’ version of ‘fun’ is… not quite Pepito’s version of fun. He likes to stare into the sun and talk to it. He makes seagull noises to ‘echolocate’ other seagulls to see if the ship is close to land. He sits with a pencil and some paper and writes notes to throw at Captain Celbi from the crow’s nest.

So Pepito shakes Pepito’s head. The only ‘fun’ around is with Apa Roier.

And Richarlyson.

Not on the Ocean, and not with Pepito.

“Awwww.” Mister Felps pouts. “I was hoping you would have a story for me!”

Mister Felps doesn’t mind that Pepito can’t talk. He says that Captain Celbi didn’t talk a lot when he was a kid, either. He apparently kinda just growled and swore, which isn’t really talking. Not really.

Pepito tries really hard not to flinch as Richarlyson starts laughing again on the deck- he tries!! So hard!! But he fails, because he’s a Bad Pepito.

He’s happy when Apa Roier is happy. But why does he feel so heavy right now?

Something in Mister Felps’ face shifts, and then he’s sitting up and smiling just a little mischievously. He crosses his legs and puts his hands in his lap.

(He has so many tattoos, and they’re all of wings and eyes and he’s so cool!! Pepito would want to be like him when Pepito grows up if Pepito didn’t already want to be Apa Roier.)

“Did you know,” Mister Felps says, “that Cellbit is scared of spiders?”

Pepito’s eyes widen. What?? No way!

Mister Felps nods as if he’s reading Pepito’s mind.

“Yes, way!” he exclaims. “Every time we find one in the hold, he screams and runs to get Baghera to throw it overboard. He tried making one walk the plank once when he was a teenager. He hates them!”

He reaches out to take Pepito’s hands. He doesn’t hold them, though. He just plays with Pepito’s fingers, but that’s fine. He always does this when he’s talking: fidgeting.

“Listen,” Mister Felps continues, smiling wider, “it always sounds like this…”

And then he screams- high-pitched and ear-piercing and totally horrible, but the thought of Captain Celbi making that noise is enough to make Pepito burst out laughing.

“What the fuck?” Apa Roier shouts from the deck. “What was that?”

“Did Cellbit find another spider?” Mister Pac asks.

“I’m on the deck!” Captain Celbi protests. “I’m literally driving!”

“Are you?” Miss Mouse asks? “Or are you staring at-”

Captain Celbi cuts her off with a hurried: “Felps! What the fuck, man?”

Mister Felps puts his finger to his lips, winks, and hops onto his knees so he can wave down at Captain Celbi and shout, “Heeeeey!”

“What the fuck was that, Felps?!”

“I didn’t hear anything!”

“Are you deaf? What is wrong with you?!”

As Captain Celbi and Mister Felps keep arguing, and as the rest of the crew keeps shouting at each other, Pepito drinks in the silence.

Richarlyson, at least, isn’t talking.

[little-hag]

✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: My Ideal Nest ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ:

📍Lighting & Ambiance

Fairy Lights: Battery-powered (old Christmas ones), cozy but questionable fire hazard. Mama-approved if they don’t flicker to the rhythm of her sarcasm. Setted on the entrance of the nest

Pink Sheet Curtain: Adds privacy and ~aesthetic~. Bonus points for doubling as a tear-catching system during Parks & Rec marathons. Setted on the nest'floor and as curtain on the entrance.

🛏️ Comfort & Structure

Pink Fuzzy Blanket (with flower prints): Sentimental value (gifted by dad) + sarcastic burrito potential. Critical for "blanket fort structural integrity."

Pillows: Strategically bent in a corner, ideal for sudden gremlin naps. Warning: May disappear if Mama steals them for lumbar support. Two Pillows, placed on corner

📸 Wall Shrine

Polaroids of me + classmates (Secretarial college, Brazilian student meet, Vet college)

Family at the beach

Aubrey Plaza with a baseball bat

Joe Tazuna chibi + Batman being... Batman

Mini posters: Naruto (detailed with release and direction), Fairy Tail (vibes only)

🍫 Snack Arsenal (aka snack bag)

Snacks: Snickers, Twix, sour belts, gummy worms, gummy spiders, chips like Cheetos, Doritos and Lays. Sufflair chocolate, M&Ms, shrimp crackers (for Mama and plushies only), etc

Veggie Zone: Baby carrots, baby tomatoes, blueberries. It's "frazzled bunny" rations or therapy avoidance tools.

Beverages: Juice boxes, soy milk with juice boxes, coconut water ones, sparkling water and regular water, Coke and Sprite cans, Red Bull ones. These are high spill risk, take care

📚 Supplies & Chaos

College Copybooks: Empty pages = passive-aggressive note territory. Golden labrador/kitten covers = emotional armor.

Coloring Book: For stress relief or doodling Mama as a Team Rocket boss.

Backpack of Oddities:

Post-It collection: bigger post-it with baby dinos at corners, neon colors heart shaped post-its, small post-its in orange, green, yellow and pink. Cheap brown post-its, past pink bigger post-its, mini post-its from Choco Monsters collection (Cacau Show brand) Lab coat + surgical tools in a metal cage + alcohol spray = "Future Nobel winner with a sugar problem" vibes. Anxiety/cramps meds/female pads are nest survival essentials. Fabric pencil cages + some cash = because even chaos needs organization. (Fabric pencil cages: pencils, pens, from colorful to black ones, glitter glue, kid scissors, a basket shaped pen sharpener, erasers, small stapler) Deodorant, parfum vial and make-up small purse (soft pink lipstick, black eyeline, sparkle red gloss, purple lip tint, a small mirror) to keep fabulous

🎮 Entertainment

Pokémon Games, like Omega Ruby: Symmetrical level 29 team (Gyarados and Kadabra = overachiever).

Omega Ruby: Grovyle, Kadabra, Gyarados, Aron, Swellow, Manectric Pokémon X: Fennekin, Diggersby, Charizard, Gyarados, Lucario, Kadabra FireRed: Charizard, Pidgeot, Nidoqueen, Gyarados, Kadabra, Kabutops

Dell Laptop and a cell phone: Chargers + adaptor = emergency Netflix or secret grinding sessions. On laptop, Dino Run (by PixelJam) installed, besides Undertale and Your Turn To Die games too. Phone has Cats & Soup, Duel Link.

Galar Zapdos metal box - filled with opened boosters, Heliolisk themed deck, and rare Pokemon' cards separated on shelves, like a Dedenne X, a Venusaur X, etc. Placed on a corner aside the plushies

🧸 Stuffie Pile & Fidget Toys

Companions, not decorations. Rubber ducks, plushies, and a spare outfit (for mess or magic).

🖤 Location Perks (the perfect hideaway under Mama Aubrey's desk)

Dim & Safe: Just enough light to see my snacks, not enough to hurt my eyes

Quiet Vibes: Muffled sounds, no scary noises

Mama Nearby: Can hear her typing/breathing (best comfort sound ever)

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —

💌 Why I Love My Nest It’s where I can be small, silly, or quiet. No explaining, no pretending. Just me, my snacks, and my plushie army.

Do you have an ideal nest too? Tell me about yours! 🥺💕

[a-babe-without-a-name]

Sister Lovers, Water Brothers

Chapter Five: Speak of the Devil

Masterlist

Steve wasn’t happy with the way Munson was treating one of his kids. So unhappy in fact, that he forces himself into their club leader’s van to see what he’s getting up to with Chrissy Cunningham, and maybe it’s a good thing he’s so paranoid because it might just save her life.

Or, the one where Chrissy doesn’t die in the Munson trailer, and, despite the world-ending, the king(former) and queen(current) of Hawkins High cannot take their eyes off Eddie Munson

Read on AO3 (content warnings in notes on A03)

The living room was bright when Chrissy woke, having slept longer than intended. She groaned when she tried to sit up, her entire body aching from sleeping directly on the hard floor. Looking around the living room she found it empty. The nests of beds were still on the floor, on opposite sides of the coffee table. She could tell no one had slept on the couch in her absence. She felt bad about that.

Carefully she stood, wincing as she stretched out her sore body. She spotted the bag she forgot Steve had bought for her sitting next to the couch on the floor. Grabbing the bag she headed to the bathroom, deciding to take the shower she didn’t get the chance to last night. On her way to the bathroom, she heard Steve and Eddie speaking lowly in Rick’s bedroom. The door was cracked open and Chrissy was able to get a glimpse of them sitting on the bed holding a deck of cards. She darted into the bathroom before they could notice her, she wasn’t trying to sneak around, she just wanted to avoid any conversation.

Luckily Rick’s bathroom was in decent condition. When they first showed up at the house Chrissy had found Windex and a rag sitting on the counter, heavy spots of clear dried up on the glass. Both Chrissy and Eddie came to the conclusion that the police had come with a warrant for Rick mid house clean. Eddie had joked that they should have let him finish before putting him in cuffs, but at least the room that had the potential to be the nastiest in the house ended up being the cleanest. 

Chrissy found a stack of towels under the sink and took the one with the least stains on it, shaking it out for fear of hiding spiders. She turned on the water, letting it heat up while looking through the bag Steve brought her. It was his mother’s clothes but Robin had picked out the items for her. It held a pair of jeans with a belt and a plain T-shirt as well as some socks and in the very bottom a pair of underwear with the tag still on - something only a girl would think of. Chrissy made a note to thank Robin for packing this for her. There were also a few half-empty bottles of soap that they had probably snagged from Mrs. Harrington’s shower. Chrissy stripped and slowly folded her old clothes into the bag. When the water was suitably hot enough Chrissy stepped in, the water instantly turning her skin red.

Chrissy didn’t get out of the shower until the water began to run cold, realizing all the hot water in the world wouldn’t cleanse her of the memory of last night. Slowly she dressed, drying her hair as much as she could with just a towel, and stared at her bare face in the foggy mirror. She frowned at herself, hating the way she could hear her mother's nagging voice in her head. ‘You look tired,’ she would have said. Of course she looked tired, she was being hunted by a creature from a parallel dimension, mascara, and blush weren’t going to hide that.

Deciding she couldn’t stall in the bathroom any longer, Chrissy stepped out into the hallway, the cooler air feeling good against her skin. When she looked down the hall to see if Eddie and Steve were still in Rick's room, she found Eddie alone. He was in the same spot as she had seen him earlier, but instead of playing cards, he had fallen asleep. She watched him for a moment, his face wasn’t quite peaceful, every few seconds he would twitch, furrowing his eyebrows and grimacing in his sleep. She debated waking him up, but before she could come to a decision she heard Steve calling her name in the other direction. She turned to see him at the end of the hall, he waved her over with a nod of his head. 

“How are you feeling?” Steve asked her as she reached him in the dining room, he had a shoebox on the table in front of him.

“Fine,” Chrissy knew it was a lame answer, but it was better than awful, “thanks for the clothes, by the way, I appreciate it.”

“Of course…” He hesitated, she could tell he was trying to gauge where she was at, “any more visions since last night?”

“No,” She wasn’t sure if the nightmares counted as visions, but she didn’t feel like talking about them.

“Okay, well…” Steve figured he wasn’t going to get much out of her right now, “here’s a Walkman. Music worked for Max, so it should work for you too. And I grabbed some tapes from my house and Eddie’s van if you want to pick one out.”

“Thanks,” Chrissy offered a tight smile, immediately picking up the Queen tape she had put on in Eddie’s van. 

“Will that work? Me and Rob can swing by the store too if you need us to.” Steve assured her.

Even when she was being standoffish he was being nice to her, “No, this is perfect, thank you.” This worked last time, she knew it would work again.

“He was terrified by the way…Eddie I mean,” Chrissy’s head snapped up from the tape.  Steve was watching her intensely like he was still deciding how much to reveal. “He didn’t sleep for a second last night, just stayed up and watched you.” Cracking a smile, he kept talking, “I think he’d fist-fight Vecna for you. He’d do…anything for- to protect you and he hates that he can’t promise it won’t happen again.”

Chrissy felt tears prick at her eyes, she opted not to say anything for fear of them spilling over. 

“We- this group, we get stuck together,” Steve explained, “That’s the only way this works- we all care about each other enough to stay alive and I know you’re scared and I know you're having a hard time trusting anyone right now, but… you and Eddie got dragged into this together so you’re, like, extra stuck together, so you need to talk to him. All he wants to do is keep you safe, he’s… he cares a lot, and I really think you should talk to him.”

“I want to. I just don’t know that I can be the same person I was yesterday, I… I'm just so scared, Steve, I don’t know what to do.”

“I know, I’m not going to pretend to know how it feels, but I know you're scared and he-” Steve searched for the right words, “he’s played a pretty big part in keeping you alive. He’s a good guy. So, you might not want to cut him loose just yet.” 

Steve walked out, leaving Chrissy alone in the dining room staring down at the Queen tape in her hand, Eddie’s tape. She put it into the Walkman, and slipped the headphones around her neck, ready to hit play if she needed to. 

Chrissy was still standing at the counter, milling over Steve’s words, when Eddie woke up and came out of the bedroom. She looked up when he stopped at the corner of the hallway.

“I’m sorry.” She said

“I know, I’m not mad,” She knew he would say that, “I’m just worried.”

She knew he would say that too.

“I shouldn’t have been like that last night,” Chrissy picked at her nails, embarrassed as tears began to choke her up, “I just… I know it’s not fair and I know you didn’t do anything , but it felt so real , Eddie. So fucking real.”

“Hey, no,” Eddie said softly, reaching out and then dropping his hand, “You don’t need to explain yourself to me, this is a weird fucking situation and I get it, okay?”

Eddie ducked his head when she wouldn’t look up at him, lowering himself to get in her eyesight.

“Chris?” He tried, “Please, everything is going to be okay.”

“I hate how nice you are,” She sniffed, meeting his eyes, “It’s not fair.”

“It’s easy to be nice to you, Sunshine.” He offered, reaching out again and gently taking her hand, stopping her from tearing at her nails. 

He held her fingers lightly, hesitant. She didn’t pull away but he didn’t want to push it. 

“Everything’s gonna be okay,” He told her, she could tell he wanted to tack an ‘I promise’ to the end of his words, but was grateful he didn’t.

*

Robin slammed the passenger's seat door behind her, large backpack in hand.

“What the hell is that?” Steve asked when she disappeared under its size and weight.

“Uh, my preparedness kit?” She said like it was obvious.

“I’m sorry, your what?” Steve laughed. Leave it to Robin’s ridiculous nature to make him feel better even when people were dying, and Steve was breaking his own heart.

“My preparedness kit!” Robin defended, “My dad was a Boy Scout! Preparedness is important! Especially when fighting a literal demon!”

“Prep-aired-niss?” Steve sounded out the word, over-enunciating each syllable, and started the car. “Is that even a word?”

“Yes, it's a word,” Robin grumbled, trying to shove the bag in question down by her knees but it was too full.

“No, it’s not,” Steve denied, “What in there is going to help us fight a demon anyway?”

“Uh, a flashlight,” Robin argued, “That’s pretty useful, and there’s a pocket knife somewhere in-”

“A pocket knife! You want to take down Vecna with a pocket knife?!” The idea of getting close enough to the psychic-teen murderer to get him with a tiny knife was horrifying, but Steve couldn’t help from smiling brightly.

“Well, it’s better than nothing!” Robin argued back before dissolving into peels of laughter.

Steve smiled proudly. He knew Robin found him funny, they were always cracking each other up, but making her laugh right now made him feel normal, good even. They trailed off into a comfortable silence. Robin turned up the radio and they soon were pulling into Steve's driveway.

Steve desperately wanted a shower, a change of clean clothes, and two minutes where he wasn’t thinking about Eddie Munson. Robin put something on the TV and settled herself in, while Steve went upstairs to do just that.

He had looked so pretty that morning, Eddie. Cold water rushed over Steve, flattening his hair, and he knew there was no getting Eddie off his head. 

They’d passed the morning together, both waking up before Chrissy. Or Steve had woken up, but he didn’t think Eddie even managed to fall asleep. In the morning, after he pulled himself off the hard floor too early in the morning and ran home to grab supplies, he’d found him lying sprawled across Rick’s bed. His hair was splayed out around him in a dark halo. It was frizzy and tangled. Steve had been so careful not to touch any when he sat, but Eddie quickly rose, groaning all the while, and that mass of curls brushed his cheek.  The bags under Eddie's eyes were concerning but didn’t look that out of place given the gloom settled around him and his typical dress. Steve had managed to find a shirt from his own closet that wasn’t too offensive to his taste. Seeing as it was just a black t-shirt, Steve didn’t know how it could offend anyone.

They’d sat there, a careful distance kept between them, and played cards as the morning light filtered through the blinds. Steve had done his best not to think about the fact that Eddie was wearing his clothes and failing. It didn’t matter. Eddie was Chrissy’s, or close enough to it.

Steve watched the water spiral down the drain. He shut off the shower and blearily made his way to his closet and put on the first thing he grabbed.

The laundry basket of Chrissy and Eddie's stuff was on the couch next to Robin, folded neatly and waiting to be returned to its owners. Steve moved it out of his line of sight and crumpled next to her.

“I’m sorry,” he frowned, curling around himself, hesitant to fully lean on Robin.

“For what?” she asked, stroking a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face.

“It really, really sucks… the whole Eddie thing,” he admitted, “and I’ve just been…pushing you all school year to go after Vickie, and I just, I get it now.”

“It's really okay,” She told him, shuffling to tuck her feet under him. “You were just trying to talk me up, and I mean… It helps, sometimes, to at least dream of hope.”

“Chrissy’s just really good, you know?” Steve said, “I like her, I do, I just…”

“Also hate her,” Robin nodded wisely.

“No, not even that,” he shook his head. “She’s great and great for Eddie, and I want to be her friend, but it hurts.” Robin didn’t know what to say without saying everything so she wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. “But I think Nancy hurt worse.”

“Halloween?”

“Halloween,” he agreed.

“She’s been weird, with all the upside-down stuff again,” Robin pointed out.

“She’s just being Nancy,” Steve shook it off, pushing harder into Robin, and she took that as her cue to shut up and take a nap with him.

*

It had been a long and boring day at Rick’s house. Chrissy and Eddie had been getting sporadic updates from Dustin as they prepared to break into the Creel house until a couple of hours ago when the radio silence started. Chrissy could tell Eddie was anxious about his - their- friends breaking and entering into the supposed Vecna house. She had tried to get him to sit down to watch a movie to keep his mind off of it, but both of them had been thoroughly over movies by this point, having watched several today already and it wasn’t long before Eddie was up and pacing around.  He needed to do something with his hands.

That’s how they had ended up playing Rummy. She hadn’t asked him, instead she just gathered the deck and sat down at the kitchen table to shuffle. When he paused to raise an eyebrow at her sudden and silent action, she just nodded at the chair across from her, scooting it out with her shoe. 

That was five rounds ago. He was starting to relax, his leg had stopped anxiously bouncing at some point and they had fallen into casual - i.e. non Vecna - conversation. She doesn’t know who had started talking first but they had ended up on the topic of family. Eddie had easily steered the attention away from his own home life, simply stating that he loved and was grateful for his uncle, and asked about Chrissy’s instead. She had also been hesitant, making a deal with herself to tell him about her bitch mother at some point, but that was a rant for later. Instead, she got to talking about her little brother.

“...and, oh my god, he’d adore you!” Chrissy said, waiting for Eddie to play a card.

“Me?” He raised an eyebrow, “Really? I figured your brother would be more interested in the type of guys you hang around.”

“You mean like Jason?” Chrissy said as Eddie discarded, “Yeah, no. I mean, Ryan used to really look up to Jason, but recently he’s been kinda getting into his own thing.”

“Ah, so Ryan’s not into the whole basketball and preaching thing?” Eddie snorted.

“No, not particularly,” Chrissy rolled her eyes, drawing off the deck, “He’s been really into fantasy stuff lately, he even mentioned playing that dragon game your club plays.”

“A Cunningham wants to play DnD?” Eddie asked dramatically, “I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Haha,” Chrissy mocked, “Believe it or not, but not everyone in this town is a carbon copy of their parents.”

“Well, congrats on breaking the chain,” Eddie smirked up at her, “You should bring him by sometime.”

“What?” Chrissy tilted her head, looking up from her hand.

“Ryan,” Eddie clarified, “If he’s been wanting to play DnD, when this is all over, you should bring him by the club sometime. We’ll teach him how to play.”

“He’s 11?” Chrissy wasn’t sure Eddie was aware how hard teaching an 11-year-old could be.

“Never too young to be introduced to the devil.” Eddie joked, shrugging.

“That’s exactly what my mom would say,” Chrissy scoffed, thinking about her mom ranting and raving about a kids game in the kitchen.

“I bet,” Eddie laughed, leaning back in his chair, “You should come, too. I could see you as an elf, they're the pretty ones- and maybe a druid? but I don’t know, maybe you’d really like to punch something- fighters are always fun.”

Chrissy bit back a smile, trying not to react to him basically calling her pretty, “I don’t know, I’m kind of a slow learner with stuff like that.”

“No, really, you should come,” Eddie insisted, and then, “It’d be fun, and I mean, what’s gonna happen? You think one of the guys is gonna be impatient with you? I’m in charge, I’d like to see them try.”

Chrissy laughed as he puffed up. Before she could respond the loud crunch of tires on gravel made her turn her head over her shoulder. They hadn’t been expecting Steve or the others tonight, but even if they had been, it didn’t sound like Steve’s car. He had been driving in slow and parking close to the tree line to avoid anyone noticing his car.

“That didn’t sound like Steve’s car,” Eddie vocalized the exact thought Chrissy had.

“Hold on,” Chrissy stood, dropping her cards on the table, “I’m gonna check it out.”

Slowly she approached the front window, keeping towards the wall to avoid being seen from the outside. Carefully she pulled the edge of the curtain to the side, trying to see who had pulled up in the dark. What she saw made her stomach drop .

Jason’s black Jeep Cherokee was sitting in the driveway. Chrissy couldn’t see him or who else was with him, but the back gate was open and she could see some movement.

“Eddie, we need to go.” She dropped the curtain and walked quickly back towards him.

“What?” He asked standing and nearly knocking over his chair, Chrissy jumped forward, grabbing the back of it and keeping it from hitting the ground. Both of them flinched hard, anticipating a crash that never came.

“It’s Jason,” She said, sitting the chair upright and grabbing her cheer sweater from the back of her own chair, “We need to go.”

“Fuck, fuck. ” Eddie scrambled for a moment, mind going blank in his panic, “Where?”

“To the boat house,” She headed to the back door, “Grab the walkie, quick before they get here.”

Eddie snatched the walkie off the counter and slipped his jacket back on as he followed Chrissy out the door. They stayed as low to the ground as they could and ran across the hill and down to the boat house. Luckily, Jason had parked on the opposite side of the house, allowing the pair enough time and cover to move without being seen.

Chrissy’s heart pounded as she slid to the ground in the cold shed. She could hear the water under the elevated boat, the way it lapped gently at the wood and metal beneath her, she tried to let the sound calm her enough to think. Looking out the window, Eddie frantically tried to reach Dustin.

“Hey, Dustin. ‘You there?” Eddie seethed into the walkie, “It’s Eddie, you remember us, right? ”

Nothing. Eddie crouched down below the window, his back against the wall as he waited for a reply.

“Hey, uh, if anyone's there, I really think we might be in a bit of trouble here, okay?” Eddie waited another moment, then through gritted teeth, “Harrington? Anybody?”

He smacked his hand against the silent walkie and jumped up, pacing around and cursing under his breath. Chrissy sat in silence, zoned out on a knot in the wood floor, simultaneously having too many and not enough thoughts. She cursed herself, the boat house was too obvious. She should have made them run into the woods or fight or anything. But now they were cornered, stuck in a cold wet shed where Jason was probably going to kill Eddie and there was nothing she could do. 

*

Thanks to Robin's lack of concern for destruction of property, Dustin’s spare flashlight, and Nancy’s brilliant idea to split up, Steve had to listen to the aforementioned little shit spout Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes, whatever. He rolled his eyes and let the kid wander away when he spotted something under a grate in the bathroom. Pulling it up revealed a collection of different shapes and sizes of jars, that upon closer inspection, held little habitats for long-dead spiders. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve made out something on his arm. Swiping at it madly, he shattered the jar on the ground and stumbled into Nancy. Frantically trying to rid himself of any other spiders, Steve continued wiping at his clothes and told Nancy as much when she asked what was wrong.

“Don’t go in there,” he told her, shutting the door firmly. There were probably more of them in there, and he didn’t want one of the kids getting bit.

“Oh, oh,” Nancy winced, reaching out to touch Steve's hair even as he moved away, running a hand over his head. “Wait, stop moving?”

“What? Is there something-” Steve ducked away from her hand again and leaned forward to shake out all of his hair, clearing any spiders that might have been trying to hold on. “Got it?” he asked, doing a quick spin.

“If there’s a spider nesting in there,” Robin warned, “you’re never gonna find it till it lays eggs and all the babies spill out.” With that horrifying thought, she giggled and kept walking.

“Robin, what's wrong with you? Seriously,” Steve bitched.

“She’s got problems,” Nancy said like she knew any of Robin's problems. Steve let it slide and told her,

“It’s cool that you two are like friends now.”

“I don’t know,” Nancy thought, flicking her flashlight around the room, looking for anything of note, “She seems to like Chrissy a whole lot more.”

“Uh, well, yeah I guess we should…” Steve struggled to get out of the conversation, and get away from Nancy, “Get back to the investigation?” Nancy nodded, smiling up at him, but didn’t move. “The obvious things are not what… people… observe,” Steve tried to remember the quote Dustin had just told him, but he knew that wasn’t right. Either way, it distracted Nancy enough for him to make a quick getaway.

*

It felt like hours had passed of them waiting for either a reply back from Dustin or Jason to break down the door, in reality, it had probably only been 15 minutes. Chrissy hadn’t moved an inch, but Eddie didn’t pressure her. He knew there wasn’t anything she could do that he wasn’t already.

“Dustin? Please.” Eddie begged, voice cracking, “Are you there?”

Chrissy stood up, pushing past Eddie and heading for the boat.

“What are you doing?” He asked, stressfully watching out the window.

“No one is going to help us,” Chrissy examined the cranks and straps holding the boat just above the water, “Help me get this thing in the water.”

Eddie didn’t hesitate to step in, moving to the opposite side of Chrissy and helping her. It wasn’t long before the boat was freely floating in the water, bumping gently against the padded sides of the port. They pushed it to the end, not letting it leave the cover of the boat house, but far enough away that there was no chance the motor would catch on anything. Eddie extended a hand, carefully helping Chrissy into the boat before he clumsily joined her. 

“Okay, we just need to get to the farthest side of the lake, that should give us enough time to run,” Chrissy knew the instructions were obvious, but she needed to say them out loud for her own sake. Eddie didn’t comment, instead, he just nodded firmly, reaching for the motor, “Once it’s on, they're going to know we’re here. We have to get this thing to go as fast as possible.”

Chrissy prayed it was fast enough.

Eddie kneeled next to the motor, taking a deep breath before he yanked on the starter rope. 

Nothing.

He yanked again. And then again. Cursing as the motor failed to make even the smallest of sounds. It was dead. Their luck had run out. Chrissy stared at the back of Eddie, only the side of his face visible to her. She could see him grimace as he pulled and pulled again, begging for something to save them. Anything.

The only sound was of the back door of Rick’s house slamming closed and Jason’s voice. Eddie began frantically ripping at the motor cord, he was going to hurt himself.

Chrissy stood in the boat, putting a hand on his arm to stop him. She held out her hand, asking for help as she stepped out of the boat. 

Eddie shook his head at her in confusion, but obeyed, eyebrows furrowed, terror flickering behind his eyes.

Chrissy pulled an oar off the wall. There was only one, but it was better than nothing. She handed it to Eddie. He took it easily, and then held out his hand to her, waving for her to grab hold of him once again.

Chrissy stepped back, glancing over her shoulder. 

“Chrissy,” He warned, sensing her intentions, “Chrissy, get in the boat.”

“He’s going to kill you, Eddie.” Saying the words out loud broke her heart. The boy she loved once was going to kill the boy she loved now. 

“Chrissy, please .” He begged, reaching for her.

“He’s going to kill you.” She said again, “He’s going to kill you, but he won’t hurt me.”

“Fuck, Chrissy, get in the goddamn boat.” He demanded through gritted teeth. She could see the tears welling in his eyes. 

“Row as far as you can,” She took a step back, “I’m going to buy you time.”

He shook his head at her, “No, I’m not leaving you.”

“Eddie, please .” She begged softly, “I’ll meet you on the other side of the lake. But you have to go now. ”

If this were a movie, she would have kissed him. But this wasn’t a movie, and he was out of time.

Chrissy kicked the boat away from her, mouthing ‘go’ at him one more time before turning. There was a beat of sickening silence, and then the splash of water as Eddie did as he was told. 

Chrissy’s mind roared as she approached the door. She felt like she was standing in a hurricane. Then silence fell around her as she stepped out the door. The eye of the storm was worse.

*

After Robin quickly moved past Steve and Nancy and the most awkward conversation ever- and that meant a lot coming from her- she caught up with Dustin. They snooped around the creepy bedrooms upstairs, gagging at the thick cobwebs and creepy old children's toys, untouched on the shelves.

She knew it was coming, but it surprised her anyway when Dustin asked,

“So why aren’t you and Steve dating?” Robin gawked, but he didn’t wait for her and instead kept talking, “Because I definitely like you more than Nance, I’m you guys are actually friends. Nancy is just Steve, like a cool status thing, get the best grades, break the big case, save the day, get the guy, and all that. But I don’t know why you won’t go out with him.” Now he wanted an answer, and Robin had a sneaking suspicion that she would be cornered in this little girl's frilly pink gothic nightmare until he had one.

“He- I- we- I just don’t want to go out with him? Sorry squirt, it’s that simple,” she shrugged and tried to squeeze past, but he blocked her in and Robin really didn’t want to fight one of Steve’s children.

“Not good enough!” he told her.

“Fine, look, Steve… he’s interested in someone else- Not Nancy!” she interrupted him before he could go back to trying to butter Steve up on a silver platter for that bitch, “just someone else, and so am I.”

“Who is it then?”

“No one you’d ever expect,” she laughed a little mean, and managed to push her way out the door while Dustin thought over what she could me.

“Who?” he demanded after her, “come on, you have to tell me.”

“I don’t have to do anything, Henderson,” she warned and stumbled down the stairs to where Max and Lucas were stuck standing still, watching the chandelier flash and flicker above their heads.

“It’s like the Christmas lights,” Nancy whispered, as everyone joined them.

“The Christmas lights?” Robin questions, her attention focused on the chandelier’s electric candles flickering above their head. Nancy explained how Will used them when he was stuck in the upside down, and Lucas put it together,

“Vecna’s here,” he breathed, “just on the other side.”

The lights dimmed, then, and shut back off, signaling Vecna was on the move. They didn’t know if he could hear or see them, or if he was actively hunting them, but they knew how they could track him. So they shut off the lights and began to wander through the house once again.

The sun had set in the time they’d been here, and after his encounter with the spider, Steve wasn’t especially happy about wandering around a known haunted house in the pitch dark. He wished Eddie was here, maybe if he had the motivation to look tough he wouldn’t be so scared.

Fortunately- or very unfortunately, Steve couldn’t really make up his mind- Robin caught Vecna in her flashlights only moments later. She lost him quickly, and Steve picked him up as he moved down the hall.

The rest of their group fell in behind him. They followed Steve and his flickering flashlight up the stairs and to a door they hadn’t opened yet but could see light coming through the cracks. 

It led to an attic.

“What if it’s a trap?” Dustin asked, but they were climbing the stairs like moths after a flame, ignoring him calling, “Guys. Guys!” that finally dissolved into panicked mumblings.

The narrow stairwell opened up to a landing with peaked ceilings and a single light bulb on a simple wire hanging in the center. As they circled up, the light grew brighter and brighter, the energy also lit up all of their flashlights. They watched in awe, as Vecna reached across the barrier between worlds. The buzzing of the old wiring and their old family flashlights grew louder, bulbs burning hotter than they ever had before…brighter than they should.

Steve’s flashlight shattered first. Glass firing up at his face. Then one by one everyone else's went, until they were left once again in the dark, and the veiled between worlds felt that much thinner.

*

Jason froze, eyes wide as Chrissy stepped under the spotlight above the boathouse door. He stared at her, mouth open, as if he was seeing a ghost.

“Chris?” He asked, his voice low and weak.

“Jason,” Chrissy tried, her voice breaking, “Jason, you need to stop.”

“What?” He flinched like she had hit him, “Chris, baby, what are you talking about.”

Chrissy could only watch as he looked her over from where he stood, mouth suddenly dry. She swallowed hard, trying to speak again.

“You need to go home,” she hoped her voice wasn’t shaking as much as it was in her head, “Please, just leave him alone.”

“Chrissy, what are you saying?” Jason furrowed his eyebrows, almost sneering at her, “Are you with him?”

She knew he knew Eddie was here, “Please, he didn’t do anything.”

“He-” Jason shouted at first, then lowered his voice to continue, “He killed Anne, Chris!” 

“No, Jason, he didn’t!” Chrissy begged, “There’s stuff happening that you have no idea about.”

“He fucking killed her, Chris.” Jason snapped, “What’s gotten into you?”

“You need to go,” Chrissy felt her composure break as she realized he wasn’t backing down. She hadn’t expected him to really give up, but she hoped he’d at least listen to her, let her buy Eddie more time. 

Any angry or nasty words she had planned for him were gone now, all she could do was beg, “Please go home.”

“What did that freak do to you, Chris?” Jason suddenly stepped forward reaching for her, “He’s pulling you in, isn’t he? He’s fucking brainwashing you.”

Chrissy wanted to laugh at the irony. 

“Please Jaso-”

“Where is he?” Jason snapped, glaring at Chrissy, face cold, “He’s not getting away with this. Where is he?!”

Chrissy opened her mouth to respond, but before she could Andy's voice rang out from the porch of Rick’s house.

“Hey, Freak!” He shouted across the lawn, jumping over the railing and running down to the water, “Where do you think you're going?!”

Chrissy felt sick as Jason turned and ran around the house to where Andy and Patrick were standing. She sprinted after him, looking over her shoulder as she tried to stay between him and Eddie.

“Jason, no!” She tried to shove him back, “Fucking stop!”

“Andy,” Jason started, eyes trained on Eddie out on the water, “take Chrissy to the car.”

Before Chrissy could move, Andy was on her. Large hands wrapped around her arms tight. She struggled to break free as Jason bullied Patrick into stripping off his suit jacket and headed into the water to swim after Eddie. 

“Eddie go!” She screamed across the lake, continuing to thrash against Andy. She heard him call after her and cursed, “Fucking go, Eddie! Get out of he-”

Andy slammed a hand down on Chrissy’s mouth, holding it there as he tried to muscle her up the hill towards the car. Chrissy flailed, dropping her weight, twisting her shoulders, trying anything to get him to let go. Something told her if he got her to the car, her life would be over.

Doing the only thing she could think of, Chrissy yanked her head back and bit down on Andy’s hand, Hard. She could taste his blood filling her mouth and feel the crunch of flesh and bone as he wailed, dropping her with an instinctual shove. Chrissy fell on the ground, pain shooting through her wrist as she landed. She was up in a second, adrenaline pushing her forward. 

She sprinted forward, heading for the tree line. If she made it that far she might be able to lose him with some cover. Andy was right on her heels. She was halfway there when Andy swiped out at her. His fist came down hard on her shoulder and knocked her to the ground once again.

Chrissy turned over onto her back, arm numb as she scrambled backward away from him. 

“I’ll kill you,” Andy spat, holding his bitten hand to his chest, “You freak fucking bitch.”

The sound of splashing and Jason screaming made him pause. Chrissy followed his line of sight, horrified at the thought of Jason catching up to Eddie. 

The relief she felt washed her in guilt, because Jason catching up to Eddie wasn’t the source of the noise. Instead, Eddie was missing from the boat and Patrick was hovering 10 feet above the surface of the water. She watched in horror as Patrick’s leg snapped up at a disgusting angle. It was too late for him, she knew that, but not too late for her. She took advantage of Andy’s shock as he watched his friend’s bones snap, scrambling up and sprinting into the woods. 

She could barely feel her own body as she ran. The trees whipped her in the face and caught on her sleeves, but it didn’t matter. She struggled to pull the headphones around her neck up to her ears, holding them tight with one hand and pressing play on the Walkman with the other.

[ghostly-sunflower]

"I don't know. I expected you to feel something."

[tw! self-harm(?), violence, blood]

Gwen’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, but no words came out.

What was she supposed to say? Of course she feels something, but that something was everything and nothing all at once to the point where she was practically numb with hay-wired confusion.

She had gone through her own hell, self-inflicted most of the time but she wouldn’t tell anyone that, and had beat herself black and blue to the point where she felt like a zombie.

She was dead on her feet, dead to her world, dead to herself, and most importantly, dead to one of the people who meant everything to her.

She was a mess, a shell of the person that she was before. So, she did what any sane person would do, and she filled that hollow shell with work.

Spider-Woman work, to be specific.

She felt like a cliché, pushing everyone away and hunkering down to push herself to the brink of insanity. And yet, she reveled in that feeling.

She felt awful, and it was amazing.

She felt alive when she would get decked across the face.

She would be thrilled upon hearing that a new villain was in town so she could pound her anger into them to the point of disfigurement.

And most importantly, she soaked in the feeling of bleeding. It felt like she was ridding herself of her sins, atoning for the pain she caused.

Every-time she would come home, face black and blue, busted lip, blood from her nose streaming down her chin, and her hair messed up like a rats nest, she would be beaming.

Proud of herself. Of her work.

Her dad would be worried, of course, but she always brushed it off with a laugh and a finger jabbing over her shoulder saying ‘you should see the other guy.’

The ‘other guy’ nowadays, would be worse. She used to pull her punches, taunt and have a laugh with her villains.

Now, Gwen prides herself on her stealth. She’d liken herself to a predator stalking its prey. Watching, waiting, till the moment that she’d sink her teeth into her prey and watch it writh in agony.

Then, she plays her villains like a drama, dancing around them like a ballerina, her eyes filled with mirth as she plans which punches she wants to take, which punches she wants to feel, to make her bleed, and which punches she’ll grab with ruthless efficiency and crush, breaking the bones with a satisfying crunch.

She would leave them like a serial murder would leave the crime scene. Making the police vomit as they see the handiwork she proudly left behind.

She wasn’t heartless though, she would attend their funerals. To make sure they were dead, of course.

Gwen’s jaw clicked as her eyes zeroed in on Miles, breaking out of thought.

“Of course I felt something.” Gwen said, her stance becoming defensive, her hands folding over her chest.

The problem is, she felt too much.

[wolpatinga]

Heyyo, you seem pretty cool! (Tumblr randomly recommended your blog)

I saw in your tarot reading Tag that you're using a non-standard deck, what's up with that? Would love to know more :3 hope you'll have a great day

oh wow, hi! welcome!

this is the first time i've been asked about my deck, and i really don't know how to explain it. technically speaking, it's a deck i put together about five years ago, and it's comprised of the standard major arcana, and two suites of minor arcana (outwards and upwards)

the upwards suit is 1. sunflower 2. rings 3. flock 4. fruit tree 5. volley 6. nests 7. sharps 8. footprints 9. planets 10. neon Kn. encounter P. broken spine Q. hyacinths Ki. scepter

the outwards suit is 1. lookout 2. rabbits 3. teddy 4. tea 5. train 6. die 7. river 8. spider 9. stitches 10. lights Kn. clock P. timber Q. pen Ki. keys

i'd give a full explanation for what these mean, but truth be told i'm kinda bad at cartomancy. i was running an rp blog for a wizard OC a few months ago, and then haiku-bot caught onto one of the readings and i was a little in over my head

i didn't come up with these designs myself. the deck is heavily heavily inspired by the first tarot deck i was ever shown. i was in high school, and somehow ended up being invited to a party (a rare event). there was a girl there who brought her custom tarot deck, and my closeted brain refused to admit i was into her, so instead i studied her deck. i hadn't seen tarot before and was trying to convince myself it was the cartomancy that drew me to her and not, yk, bisexuality. and i think she was deliberately giving me readings to prod me into coming out, like she knew before i did, but it didn't work out. i didn't get her contact info and haven't seen her since

anyways, during the pandemic i was bored and lonely and i found the notes i took on her deck, so i tried to recreate it, and it's still my favorite deck because she was cool

[mingos]

「 h.c. ー shoulder injury 」 　

　　　doflamngo as a teenager was an idiot.

　or i guess delusional is the correct word. he was so delusional with that belief he was untouchable & incapable of being seriously harmed (or killed) that it often overrode his own self-preservation instinct. this caused him problems ー everything from getting beaten harder by the mob than anyone in his family because of his refusal to beg or apologize, to nearly drowning at 12 years old because he believed he could overcome his body's weakness to seawater if he just willed himself hard enough.

granted, as an adult, he's still delusional ー but at least he looks before he leaps now.

doflamngo started fantasizing about using his strings to 'fly' as early as 13, when he watched a spider drift into the sky from his window sill using nothing but their webs & an air current. by 15, he figured out have he could do it, too. sort of.

　　it's more complicated than it looks; yes, he anchors himself to clouds and his strings are durable enough to pull him weight up & pull him forward... but it's a bit of a dance. to keep that momentum, he alternates between using his hands and using his feet ー that is to say, geppo (sky walk).

　so: string. string. geppo. string. string. geppo. etc. it's sort of like climbing across a set of monkey bars really quickly; you put your whole body into it, not just your arms.

but, also like monkey bars, if you panic and miss a rung ー things can get pretty bad pretty fast if you don't catch yourself. and even if you do.

　(cw: descriptions of shoulder/rotator cuff injury)

　doflamngo had neither the arm strength, muscle memory, or practice using 'sky path' to warrant being as high up as he was: 35 feet in the air, peaking out of the crow's nest down at the deck. he had to make sure trebol & the others were watching; no use showing off when no one was looking, after all.

he stretched, cracked his knuckles, and leapt off the crow's nest like some sort of trapeze artist. it went well for a few minutes ー he swung the length of the ship several times, ascending higher & higher until he was 75 feet in the air ー but he quickly realized he overestimated himself. he was getting exhausted, and with exhaustion... sloppy.

he screwed up the pattern ー swung when he should have kicked, which caused a panic that he couldn't shake off in time to correct himself ー and that's all it took. he was falling towards the hard wood of the deck, too quickly to stop himself. he tried, though. reflexively, he reached for the crow's nest as he was rocketing down, managing to grab it one-handed... for all of one second. until he heard something crunch.

it ripped his left shoulder straight out of its socket ー to this day, it's a wonder to him if didn't rip clean off his body, because it certainly felt like it had ー and eviscerated his rotator cuff, as well as several of the surrounding muscles.

　the whole thing was mortifying. agony, but mostly mortifying. and, to top it off, doflamngo's fall was cushioned by a pile of mucus, courteous of trebol.

it never quite healed correctly, and gives him a lot of grief as an adult. barring a couple visits to the doctor in the first few weeks, he deluded himself into thinking he could 'look after it' himself. and he did. that is to say ー poorly.

[theotherwesley]

Title meme: the necklace with seven jewels

WIP snip from a strange little horror story that came to me in a dream, still much under revision.

---

And when she was alone with herself and her plainness, a drab dun bird in a drab dun nest, she thought about her handsome trader, setting out his enticing wares in port after port, dazzling all who met him in distant cities filled with other, dazzling people. If the trade-winds drift, or the trade-routes shift, she thought, what will keep my trader coming back to me? What have I got, that he could not find better in a thousand, thousand others? She looked at her home, and doubt filled her. She looked to her mirror, and fear filled her. 

Now on the edge of the plain town where she lived, there was an old, dry well that had not been in service for many years. It lay open and uncovered, choked with ivy, the disused bucket still hanging from its rusted chain. Sometimes when the wind blew, the old well told secrets– this was known. 

So it happened one day, on the doorstep of winter, when the faire had ended and the colorful stalls were packed away and the trader waved farewell from the deck of a ship, the plain girl wandered out past the town, beyond the rubbish heap and old middens, and up the hill to the old well, where she sat on the stones and wept. She could not bear to go back to her empty house, her vacant bed, and her cold, cruel mirror. So she stayed sitting on the well as the sun set, and the air grew chill, and the night winds began to blow. 

Why are you crying? the well asked.

 “My house is empty, my bed is vacant, and my mirror is cruel,” the plain girl replied, her eyes stinging with cold, “my lover is handsome, and I am plain. Someday he will surely leave me.” 

You are plain and he is handsome. Someday he will surely leave, echoed the well. Look down, and tell me what you see.

The plain girl wiped her eyes and leaned over the wall, and just then, the moon rose like a bright silver coin, tossed into the sky for a gamble. In the hard and colorless light, she could see her own shadow, her silhouette cast down, down in the wet, black mud of the well, and there, just on the edge of it– something glittered.

“I see my shadow. I see a pale glimmer.”

Send down my bucket, said the well, and the plain girl did. The chain rattled and clattered against the stones, but the bucket made no sound when it reached the damp earth at the bottom, as though it had been caught. 

Something tugged upon the chain, and she pulled it up, length by length. In the bucket, covered with black water, was a necklace of shining silver. It was like lace, like a spider’s web in moonlight, with seven, empty frames woven in. 

Wear this necklace, and do not show it. Each time you meet, say to him ‘you do not love me’. You must say it five times, and for every five, he must answer ‘I do love you’. When he does, a piece of his heart will stay with you, to keep and wear forever as a jewel.

“And what will happen when the necklace is set all with jewels?”

Then you will have his whole heart, and he will never leave you, said the well, and a cloud darkened the moon, and the night winds ceased to blow.    

The plain girl walked home, and clasped the empty silver necklace around her throat. 

When next they met at the market, she wore a plain spun scarf under her chin, so that nothing glittered, and nothing was revealed. The tents and stalls around them were full of color, her trader was more handsome and dear to her than ever, and in the crowd every face more beautiful than hers drove a splinter into her heart. 

You do not love me, she said thrice to him, though she did not think it true, and did not wish it to be true, but only feared one day it would be so. And though puzzled by her sorrow and more so her accusation, he answered “But I do love you. I do. I do!” You do not love me, she said twice again, and gently he replied, “I do love you, I do.” 

Around her throat, she felt the necklace sag, and swing a little lower, heavier by one-seventh.

[lunardragonhandicrafts]

Sorry for not giving project updates in awhile, life has been a bit unhinged.

Here's some stuff I made:

I crocheted a progress flag from embroidery floss and markered/painted a drawing figure for a Pride event at work.

I'm not crazy about how it turned out. I was making up the flag as I went, and the markers smeared when I tried to seal them with modge podge. I would do this whole project differently if I did it again.

I also crocheted some pot holders for the break room. I was tired of burning my hands on dishes from the microwave.

Blue and yellow are the company colors, so this yarn was perfect. First attempt at pot holders, and embroidering writing onto crochet. I'm satisfied with it as a first attempt.

I also lost my tcg deck box pattern (that I had created and wrote down), so I tried to recreate it from memory. I themed it for my June Spider Tribal Magic: the Gathering deck.

It needs to be a little taller so that I can fit a hard collector's sleeve in there for the feature card, but not a bad prototype. I forgot to take a picture of the inside. There's a slot for the Commander window that can also hold tokens or a small sideboard. I'm currently working on a slightly taller prototype for my spouse's Jeskai Storm deck, so keep an eye out for that.

Finally, I have also designed a sliding pencil box design. This one is for my sister for Christmas. It's so she has a case for her Cricut picks and such.

I had to resize the top a bit to get a good fit, but I am very happy with how this came out. Another self made pattern for the books!

I have many other projects upcoming, including the Minecraft Nesting Dolls (the OVERWORLD theme won the poll), but my life is experiencing a bit of upheaval currently, so I'm not sure when my next update will be.

Until next time, happy crafting!

[laylainalaska]

We decided to Live In Harmony With the Yellowjackets in about 2012 and since then the Hornets' Greatest Hits include building a nest literally on one of our windows and also right above my greenbeans in the greenhouse, but the worst things that have happened have been:

Me getting stung once on the ankle while chilling on the deck on the Wasp Nest On the Deck year with a giant nest right over my shoulder (though to be fair, that year I largely ceded the deck to the hornets and didn't spend much time out there, so they didn't have much opportunity to sting me; also it was really annoying to try to eat lunch out there with several hornets inspecting my sandwich, Can You Not). The Lady who bit my ankle because she decided to crawl into my sock, I do believe was being a bit of a jerk, but then again every group of people has that one dumbass, I guess.

Having to accept that the wasp end of the greenhouse simply belonged to them that year, the one time I closed the greenhouse vent on that end through which they had been coming and going, they basically Lost Their Shit, but at the same time I harvested green beans right above their nest for most of the season, literally within inches of the nest, and it was fine. Stings that year: 0, despite me being in the greenhouse for the entire summer. They enjoyed their end, I had my end, it was fine.

If you're allergic, obviously do whatever you need to do be safe! But the reason why we decided to Live In Peace was because they kill garden pests and do various other useful things, and apparently are legally protected in some countries. And in 10 years or so of living with the hornets and having them literally all over the place, I've been stung once and it hurt like fuck for about 2 days, so really not that bad, I feel.

And it really has been cool to have multiple instances of watching them build their nests on various transparent surfaces, such as the window or the greenhouse glass.

(Also completely shocked by people who kill spiders, why would you EVER, we are 100% a catch and release household.)

Been working in pest control for 3 months now and i can confidently say that nobody on earth seems to understand that sometimes You Will See A Bugs and that's Normal if you live literally anywhere with oxygen

[theclubhero-blog]

Legion Go S com SteamOS supera versão com Windows em performance e autonomia

Por Vinicius Torres Oliveira

Canal no YouTube mostra verdadeiro potencial do Legion Go S com sistema operacional da Valve para portáteis

O Legion Go S foi lançado no início do ano usando o Windows como sistema operacional, do mesmo modo que muitos outros portáteis. Agora, no entanto, uma nova versão do handheld com o SteamOS começou a ser disponibilizada, e parece que a simples diferença no sistema já oferece resultados positivos para a performance e autonomia do dipositivo.

O canal Dave2D no YouTube fez um comparativo das duas versões do Legion Go S em um vídeo chamado “O Windows era o problema o tempo todo” (tradução livre). No vídeo, vemos diversos jogos testados com cada versão do handheld.

Em termos de performance, Cyberpunk 2077 mostrou o ganho mais expressivo de desempenho. Doom Eternal e Witcher 3 também melhoraram bastante e Helldivers 2 sentiu menos impacto, apesar de ainda mostrar melhoras. Apenas Spider-Man 2 não se beneficiou do SteamOS,O Legion Go S com o sistema operacional da Valve baseado em Linux se beneficiou mais ainda na autonomia. Como mostra a captura abaixo, em jogos mais leves a melhoria foi mais que o dobro de tempo longe da tomada. Em Cyberpunk 2077 o impacto não foi tão grande, mas a versão Windows continuou atrás

Legion Go S se torna um concorrente digno para o Steam Deck?

O vídeo de Dave2D faz comparativos com do novo Legion Go S diretamente com o Steam Deck também. Não é para menos, o vídeo argumenta que o portátil da Lenovo se tornou o “primeiro VERDADEIRO competidor para o Valve Steam Deck”.

E a competição do Legion Go S em relação a si mesmo é ainda mais favorável para a versão com SteamOS. Ainda que o portátil não tivesse ganho algum na performance e autonomia, manter seu desempenho já tornaria o produto atrativo porque ele é mais barato.

A versão com Windows pode ser encontrada neste momento na Amazon por US$ 650, enquanto o portátil com SteamOS sai por US$ 600 na Best Buy. E a tendência é ver os preços melhorarem, já que a variante com sistema Valve baseado em Linux é mais recente.

[jasondiana18]

The Role of Exterior House Washing in Preventing Pests and Insects

Maintaining the exterior of your home is about more than just boosting curb appeal. It also plays a crucial role in protecting your living environment from unwanted pests and insects. Many homeowners are unaware that the dirt, mold, and organic buildup on their siding, deck, or roof can actually attract pests. Fortunately, regular exterior house washing can serve as an effective preventive measure, helping to keep bugs and rodents at bay.

Why Dirt and Grime Invite Pests  

As homes weather the elements, grime, algae, mold, and mildew begin to accumulate on surfaces. These substances often trap moisture and create perfect hiding and breeding spots for pests such as ants, spiders, cockroaches, and even mice. Mold and algae, in particular, retain moisture and warmth—two things pests love. For example, insects like wasps and spiders often build nests in nooks or behind shutters that have been left dirty and undisturbed.

Moreover, if there is any decaying organic material—like leaves, bird droppings, or food remnants—clinging to the exterior walls, it can serve as a food source for bugs and rodents. Over time, these pests may find their way inside through small cracks or crevices.

Common Problem Areas  

Certain parts of your home's exterior are more susceptible to pest attraction than others. These include:

Under eaves and gutters, where damp debris collects and insects like to nest

Window and door frames, where small gaps can serve as entry points

Decks, patios, and porches, where food and organic waste might accumulate

Siding and fascia boards, which are often overlooked during regular cleaning

By thoroughly washing these areas, you eliminate the environments pests depend on.

The Power of Prevention  

Pest infestations can be costly, not only because of the damage they cause but also because of the professional extermination services often needed to address them. Washing your home’s exterior once or twice a year is a proactive way to reduce the chance of infestations. This approach doesn’t involve harmful chemicals—just water pressure and cleaning solutions strong enough to remove buildup and discourage pests from settling in.

Hiring professional exterior house washing services ensures that the cleaning is done safely and thoroughly, especially in hard-to-reach areas that are most prone to pest activity. These services use appropriate pressure settings and eco-friendly cleaners to prevent damage while delivering effective results.

Additional Benefits  

Preventing pests through exterior washing has added benefits beyond immediate pest control. It helps protect your home’s structure from long-term damage caused by insects or mold. Clean siding lasts longer, requires fewer repairs, and saves money in the long run. Also, eliminating pest breeding grounds outside your home improves the cleanliness and comfort of your outdoor living spaces.

In conclusion, regular house washing is not just about aesthetics. It’s a vital part of home maintenance that supports both structural integrity and household hygiene. By removing the elements that attract insects and rodents, exterior cleaning plays a key role in pest prevention—offering peace of mind and a healthier, safer home environment.

[thelorelounge]

Jorōgumo 101: When Your Date Night Turns Into a Web of Lies

Let’s meet the Jorōgumo, Japan’s eight-legged heartbreaker and the very definition of “looks can kill.” On the surface, she’s your dream girl—graceful, alluring, decked out in a silk kimono that probably costs more than your rent. But don’t let the soft smile fool you. Beneath that elegant upper half? Full-blown spider. Big. Hairy. And absolutely done with your nonsense.

She lures wandering men into her lair—usually a creepy old house or a cave dressed up like a love nest—then wraps them up like sushi rolls for later. Charming, right?

But here’s the kicker: Jorōgumo isn’t just a monster. She’s the embodiment of seduction, danger, and the age-old truth that some red flags wear lipstick.

Moral of the story? If a mysterious woman invites you into her home in the woods, and you hear skittering? Run. Or at least bring bug spray.

[greatlakesworks]

The Benefits of Regular Exterior Cleaning for Homes Near Water

Living in close proximity to a body of water—whether it’s a serene lake, a meandering river, or the expansive sea—provides stunning vistas and a tranquil atmosphere that is hard to beat. However, this picturesque setting also presents unique challenges for maintaining the exterior of your home. Here’s why staying on top of exterior cleaning is essential for homes situated near any type of water:

1. Combatting Mold and Mildew

Being close to water inevitably increases humidity levels, creating an ideal environment for mold and mildew. These unwelcome guests thrive in damp conditions and can quickly take hold on your home’s siding, roof, or other exterior surfaces. If left unchecked, mold and mildew can lead to unsightly stains and potentially costly damage. Regular cleaning helps to prevent their buildup, preserving both the appearance and integrity of your home.

2. Addressing Salt Damage

For those residing by the sea, salt spray is a constant issue. While it might seem minor, salt can significantly impact your home by deteriorating paint, corroding metal fixtures, and clouding windows. Routine washing to remove salt residue is crucial in preventing these problems, helping to extend the lifespan of your home’s exterior and reduce maintenance costs.

3. Managing Pests and Critters

Proximity to water often attracts more pests and critters. These creatures are particularly fond of nesting in sheltered areas like eaves, window sills, and other nooks around your home. Regular exterior cleaning can eliminate spider webs, wasp nests, and other pest habitats, making your home less appealing to these unwanted invaders and contributing to a more comfortable living environment.

4. Maintaining a Clear View

One of the greatest advantages of living near water is the breathtaking view. To fully enjoy this natural beauty, it’s important to keep your windows, decks, and patios free from grime and debris. Consistent cleaning ensures that your views remain unobstructed and your home maintains a polished appearance, which is especially beneficial if you decide to put your property on the market.

5. Prolonging the Lifespan of Your Home

Moisture and the organisms that thrive in damp conditions can be tough on your home’s exterior elements. Regular cleaning acts as a protective measure, helping to shield your paint, siding, and other surfaces from premature wear and tear. This proactive approach not only reduces the frequency of repairs but also provides you with greater peace of mind and less overall maintenance.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, maintaining a regular cleaning schedule for the exterior of your home near water is essential for preventing damage, preserving aesthetics, and extending the life of your property. By addressing the unique challenges posed by your location, you ensure that your home remains in top condition and continues to offer the serene, beautiful environment you cherish.

[fictionz]

New Fiction 2024 - February

"Amos" ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

I don't even remember. A blur of prophets.

"Abdias" ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

At least we're closing in on the end of the old testament.

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli & trans. Elisabeth Jaquette (2020)

The rape and murder of a girl in 1949 catches the attention of a woman in modern day West Bank. Harrowing from the start and a very different approach to a story like this. The characters are rare in literature and it makes the course of events all the more tragic.

Scream School by R.L. Stine (1999)

The least interesting Goosebumps stories are those with no supernatural element at all...

The Mummy Walks by R.L. Stine (1999)

And someone decided to release two in a row.

Gargoyles - "Fiends in High Places" by Martin Pasko, Amanda Conner, Greg Wright (1995)

An alright side option for anyone who needed more at the time.

Gargoyles - "Always Darkest Before Dawn" by Martin Pasko, Amanda Conner, Greg Wright (1995)

But not enough to keep me hooked.

"Be My Valenstein" by mcnostril (2019)

Get monster smooched.

"Who Is Superman? A Private Interview with Lois Lane" by JESNCIN (2024)

Whoa I'm in.

Spider-Man 2 dev. Insomniac Games (2023)

The key lesson is save the side quests for the post-game.

"Our Uniform" dir. Yegane Moghaddam (2023)

A glimpse.

"Letter to a Pig" dir. Tal Kantor (2022)

Chased and chased.

"Ninety-Five Senses" dir. Jared Hess & Jerusha Hess (2023)

Unbalanced reactions.

"Pachyderme" dir. Stéphanie Clément (2021)

Those moments no one took seriously.

"War Is Over!" dir. Dave Mullins (2023)

If only we could.

"Wild Summon" dir. Karni & Saul (2023)

Who knows why the water flows?

"I'm Hip" dir. John Musker (2023)

Hep cat.

"Invincible" dir. Vincent René-Lortie (2022)

You and I can't know.

"Knight of Fortune" dir. Lasse Lyskjær Noer (2023)

No one has to look.

"Red, White and Blue" dir. Nazrin Choudhury (2023)

Cause the most harm.

"The After" dir. Misan Harriman (2023)

Fall to the bottom.

"The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" dir. Wes Anderson (2023)

Nested dolls.

"Mooned" dir. Jonathan del Val (2023)

Could've lived without it.

Origin dir. Ava DuVernay (2024)

The systems are complex.

Argylle dir. Matthew Vaughn (2024)

Too cheeky.

My Fair Lady dir. George Cukor (1964)

Right proper.

The Zone of Interest dir. Jonathan Glazer (2023)

Ugliness throughout.

Lisa Frankenstein dir. Zelda Williams (2024)

Fun with death.

Turning Red dir. Domee Shi (2022)

Crossing the barrier.

Out of Darkness dir. Andrew Cumming (2024)

Is it so easy to realize?

Bob Marley: One Love dir. Reinaldo Marcus Green (2024)

Peace for myself.

Migration dir. Benjamin Renner (2023)

Gotta go somewhere.

Les Misérables dir. Tom Hooper (2012)

Eep, best not sing it.

Dune: Part Two dir. Denis Villeneuve (2024)

We're in the middle sags.

The Outer Limits - Volume 1 (1963-1964)

Stone cold classics.

Star Trek Lower Decks - Season 4 (2023)

Time's anchor drags us all.

Star Trek Short Treks (2018-2020)

Gimme more.

Goosebumps (2023)

Parental apology tales.