Hi Yuuri I just wanted to say I miss Howell. That’s all I hope you have a good day😊
I do too! There's still a lot about him I want to know and figure out. I was able to delve into him a bit more (and get some much needed closure) with some friends. I don't think he's really a character that I want to do various iterations of in different worlds and campaigns, because it's that specific story of his that I love. If it's removed from that world and story, I'd rather have another shot at a new character.
I was able to salvage a couple of relationships out of the rubble from the entire ordeal surrounding TnD, and I've got no beef with anyone who wasn't literal human trash, so Howell's place in my heart is unscathed in terms of being attached to a really shitty time and situation.
Reflecting on those days, that shit was a nightmare scenario. Obviously my own emotional turmoil pales in comparison to the literal criminal and victim in our midst, don't get that twisted because those most directly impacted by one asshole's actions should be the primary concern. It is a hell of a pill to swallow having something that dear to you go up in flames in such a public and grotesque way.
I don't blame anyone who feels any type of way about how it was handled and the aftermath of it. The truth of it all is, one person's really fucked up actions had widespread effects on a lot of people. The radius of that bomb was no joke.
Howell is very dear to me, and those Sundays were genuinely the favorite day of the week for me over that time. The backlash, anger, resentment, and then emptiness of it all really took its toll, as I'm sure it did on everyone caught in the blast zone.
The bad guy got got in the end, and I'm thankful for the folks who made sure that happened.
That year as a whole was really difficult. That wasn't the only heavy thing I had to work through that year. There was a stretch of six months that were probably the worst of my adult life in terms of interpersonal turmoil. The universe really took a bat to my kneecaps.
Saying ALLLLLLLL of that to say, if I had lost my love for Howell, it would have taken a significant toll on me creatively. I would not so freely share the parts of myself it takes to create the stories and characters I do now. I can pretty confidently say that something like Echoes or Shattered would never happen.
I struggled mightily with BitterSweet Chapter 3 for that reason. It was hard to want to carve out pieces of myself to share with the world, and certainly very difficult to work with anyone else out of fear that their bad actions could rob me of my passion even more.
But I learned a lot, and over that time I also think I was able to show my community how serious situations get handled while I'm at the helm. I hate that me and the team have been on the frontlines of a few really serious community PR nightmares, but I do think we've been able to exhibit an ability to treat things with maturity, respect, and direct action.
So Howell means a lot to me. We've been on two journeys, one fictional, and one real...and boy we've gotten our asses kicked more than a few times.
There is a chance, albeit a small one, that there's a DnD story to be told with Howell and some friends, for the world to partake in. Don't know if it'll happen, but the chances aren't 0%...
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A moldable body
God hides in a small corner of my room
where I've washed off the water of the womb
bare beneath a nightgown —
fracture of a tooth when I bite down
and it multiplies under the weight
like the endlessness of a vein as I wait
following pathways of decay I carry within
family bloodline spiders underneath my skin
my hands a chain link of my father
mere definition of their fragmented bother
written down on a torn regrettable note
and it's lodged in my throat
curvature of my mouth like a missed uncle
unreachable for a young girl
in dreams I'll never be the same as me
shame in the bend of a knee
in my sleep I've severed the limb in two
the tissued scar tried and true
sharpened nails on the exposed bone
the unfamiliarity of my own
childless at the table beside the narrowed eye
watched and covered by a multitude lie
— I've barely known the elder
where there's no love found to be tender
they say to grow it takes a village
I'm covering my corner with all their spillage
and the vein will close as an old wound opens
like an angel going through the motions
watching from my shoulder
the scarred tissue never feels older
God never granted me that sword to swing
and I became a horrid thing —
no weapon to yield and no weapon to steal
made a body destined to heal
the length of my fingers digging into flesh
brought upon the blood still so fresh
broken bones sharpened to a knife
held only to protect a life —
be it seeping from mine or my neighbor
bending under family labour
lonely creature left beneath this decay
hardened eyes watching the rot wash away
molded by God's pressing thumb
I feel how my nerve endings have gone numb
until all my fight's revealed —
my God given right hand to yield
through the sharpened teeth and leather skin
where once my softness would have been
in the set of a jaw and the slit of familiar eyes
the angel inside my body the same size
I am still who I was before
in the light crawling underside the door
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Symbiosis isn't just mutualism. Parasitism is symbiosis. It's uncomfortable to confront parasitic relationships if you want to see your human ideas of good and bad reflected in Nature.
But gazing into something huge and utterly Other, being uncomfortable means you're engaging your mind with it. "Uncomfortable" is actually a whole spectrum of emotions that become a vivid and satisfying rainbow.
There was a post a while back with some artwork of Dendrogaster, a crustacean that parasitizes starfish, and its body is like this branching fractal of fleshy lobes made to fit inside the body of the starfish mirroring its structure, and I was absolutely horrified to look at this, and this horror was the same emotion as a strangely visceral wave of sympathy for this parasite.
Creative works about parasites often invoke the horror of bodily invasion, which is visceral and strong for me, but this artwork inverted that horror, instead showing the horror of being made so perfectly for fitting within someone else that you lose everything you are and become unrecognizable.
I also think of the post about the cowbird chick. It's awful that the bird pushes its siblings out of the nest as it grows, and the mama feeds it because she instinctively must feed her chick, but the cowbird is just a baby. Was it wrong for him to hatch, to be alive, to be hungry, to be a baby and to need love?
Symbiosis is intensely beautiful, and sometimes it's beautiful because it's grotesque and terrible. Of course, the symbiosis between two organisms isn't an allegory for a relationship, it just is a relationship, but looking at the way organisms become entwined feels like you're seeing things that, if words described them, would also be human experiences.
Being invaded by a parasite is a horror of powerlessness and loss of autonomy, but being a parasite is also defined by powerlessness. In many cases, the parasite will die without the host, but the host can live without the parasite. I wonder why it is expected to sympathize with one and not the other.
Your immune system fights against internal parasites like a tapeworm...Imagine being a tapeworm. The body of your host is your universe. Do you find your world to be kind? Benevolent? Does your god love you?
Sometimes people call disabled people "parasites." When I think about my future sometimes I'm uncertain and afraid.
But when a rare non-photosynthetic orchid blooms in the forest, this is not the forest's weakness and failure, but its crowning glory.
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hi hi! I was hoping you could do slashers with a super bubbly and affectionate s/o who would beat up anyone who dares hurt the slasher while still holding their sweet smile
Slashers with Sweet and Dangerous! Reader
Slashers x Reader (Separate)
Includes: Freddy, Michael, Jason, Thomas, Bubba, Brahms, Norman, Billy, Stu, Vincent, & Bo
A/N: So I got a bit carried away and wrote this as if Reader is willing to kill for the Slashers. So hopefully it's not too intense for what you were wanting! Feel free to let me know what you think :)
Freddy Krueger
He knew there was a reason he was so drawn to you
You were sweet, kind, and just an overall ray of sunshine that Freddy never knew he needed
He loves basking in your warmth
But seeing you hold that damn grin while ripping out someone's throat for just punching Freddy has him weak in the knees
He loves the affectionate sweet side to you, don't get him wrong
But knowing that you can do a complete 180 makes him feel like he's in his own beautiful type of dream
He feels more comfortable telling you his plans now and the types of ideas he has for killing future victims
And you just sit there all happily and nod along like he's telling you a bedtime story
It's cute but also so foreign to him
He has a hard time remembering that you can be just as deadly as him when you want to be
Michael Myers
He honestly has no idea how to feel about this situation
It took him some time to get used to being with someone so cuddly and happy all the time
He wasn't much of a fan of it at first, but something inside him refused to let you go or kill you
But seeing you smile over his victims and even step in to prevent him from getting injured has him confused
He is more than capable of protecting himself
He doesn't need you getting involved
But at the same time, knowing he isn't the only one with this grotesque side makes him feel.... content, in a way
He just doesn't like you stepping in too much
His victims are his, and he refuses to share
But if you save him from getting stabbed or set on fire
Well... then that's fine he guesses
Jason Voorhees
You two are practically different sides to the same coin
He comes off as deadly, incapable of emotions, and just an overall killing machine
But when he's with you, he's the sweetest and most kind man you have ever met
You're practically the opposite
You come off as an innocent, bubbly goody-two-shoes to most of the public
But when someone dares hurt Jason, a hidden poison emerges from within you
Jason never thought you were capable of picking up his notorious machete, nonetheless swinging it right through someone's skull
He just froze up in shock at this realization
He was drawn to how sweet you were to him, but knowing that you're capable of killing only makes him more happy
He was always worried that you would leave him after dealing with his darkness for too long
But knowing that you aren't all sunshine and rainbows has reassured him
Thomas Hewitt
Considering what his family eats every night for dinner, he would have hoped that you were capable of similar actions to him
Killing is just a way of life to him, so knowing that you can do the same is so normal
That isn't to say that he wasn't surprised the first time you stuck up for him
But if anything, that surprise was immediately followed by a sense of relief
If you can do that, then you can fit right in with the rest of his family!
They liked how affectionate and kind you were to Thomas, but they were always worried that you were going to be too soft for their way of life
Now he knows there's nothing to worry about
Well, maybe except for getting on your bad side
You always have that sweet smile on your face, and he'll be damned if he pisses you off one of these times
Bubba Sawyer
The first time you killed for him, he couldn't help but jump around in glee
You're just like him!
You're covered in blood and guts but still smile sweetly at Bubba
Just like he does for you
It honestly just reinforces the idea that you were meant to be together in his mind
You stick up for him, and he sticks up for you
With that being said, he does still paint you as this sweet little angel that needs to be safe at all times
He doesn't want you to get your hands dirty unless absolutely necessary
So he prefers for you to stay away from all the carnage he goes through on a daily basis
But he won't try and control you
As long as he is met with that soft smile and big hug at the end of a long day, Bubba is content
Brahms Heelshire
Oh...
He's flattered, don't get him wrong
The fact that you're willing to protect him shows that you really are devoted to him
And he loves that
But he also doesn't want you intruding with his desires
That person is going to die?
Brahms wants to be the one to see their last breath
It's not very often he gets to feel like this, so he wants to soak up every exhilarating second of it while it's there
And you're just so pure and kind that he doesn't want you becoming all tainted like him
Your job is to be the good in Brahms and take care of him
Not to let this darkness take over
You provide, he protects
That's all he asks for
Norman Bates
And to think after all of this time, Norman just assumed you were like him
Quiet, sweet, affectionate
He had no idea you'd be capable of fully plunging a knife into someone's neck just for saying a couple mean words to Norman
But he secretly couldn't help the way he admired your blood splattered face, that smile he loved so much shining through it all
He likes feeling protected by you
It lets him know that you really care about him
And the fact that you can flip from one side to the other is so intriguing to him
In every other situation, you speak softly and gently laugh at the smallest things
But when one bad thing happens, the darkness creeps out
It doesn't freak him out as much as he would have originally thought
He just still can't believe that these sides to you are coming from the same person
Who is he to judge though?
Billy Loomis
Billy was immediately attracted to your warm energy
But he was also hesitant that he would somehow contaminate you with his trauma and dark fantasies
He wanted to keep you as were: the bubbly and happy partner that was always by his side
But when a last minute heist was going wrong, he would have never expected to look over and see you all bloody, a stained knife in your hand and a lifeless body on the floor
When he called your name, all you did was look up at him and smile
Billy just about lost it
He had always thought that he needed to be the one to protect you and himself
But seeing you throw yourself into violence for his sake was absolutely beautiful
He didn't think you'd be capable of something like this
But knowing that you are makes him love you that much more
You're nothing but perfect for him
Stu Macher
He won't say it out loud, but he's the tiniest bit scared of you
Not in a bad way by any means
If anything, he thinks it's sexy
And he can see a bit of familiarity in the way you act too
You both enjoy laughing at stupid things and keeping the energy up when needed
At any given moment, you two are all over each other and smiling so wide that you can feel your cheeks burn
You two make the ultimate power couple
But if someone dares say something bad about you, they're dead the next morning
And if Stu gets hurt by one of his attempted victims, you better believe you'll be there to finish the job
Stu honestly loves how deceiving you can be
No one would ever look at you and expect you to have this darker element
But to be fair, he's in the same boat
No one would ever suspect him of such behavior
And that's probably why you two make the perfect team
Vincent Sinclair
He never thought he'd ever meet some who cared for him the way you do
Especially resorting to violence just to keep him safe
This must be some sort of dream
You practically tore this person to shreds and yet, you're still able to turn back at Vincent and smile sweetly, asking if he's okay
Are you even the same person he was just cuddling with 10 minutes ago?
He worries that you'll get yourself hurt one of these times, so he tries to advise you against doing something like that again
But he won't deny the thrill it gave him seeing you act so... differently
Just please don't step in unless absolutely necessary
If anything happened to you, he wouldn't know what to do
He knows you can clearly take care of yourself, he just doesn't want to risk it
Bo Sinclair
What a precious little thing
It would be a lie to say that Bo wasn't immediately drawn to your softness and positivity
You radiated sunshine, and it was a new experience for him
He has always wanted to be the protector in his relationships
And he truly had no clue that you weren't just another damsel looking to be rescued
He remembers the first time you saved his ass
He turned up to see the man with a metal pipe sticking out of his chest
All the while, you're standing behind him, that sweet little smile still on your face like usual
Bo was at a complete loss for words
He loves this side to you
He still likes to feel all bad and tough
And he loves when you ask him for help and play up the innocence
But when something comes up, he knows he doesn't need to worry about you
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