#blip sticker

[shironezuninja]

I’m starting to learn how to make Blip Dust on PicsArt. The latter half of 2022 has been very productive for me.

[gods-of-kanto]

If we can force the streams to merge, can we force them to NOT merge? Like, if people start saying 'oh alpha *can't*/*won't* hurt king' will that work? Or, if *more* people say 'he can't do anything' than those who say 'he could', does the majority win and avert the crisis? Or is it a futile effort because, by acknowledging it in the first place, you've now made it *possible* to happen?

Pepper: Its not a fucking- you cant

Pepper: No! You'd need to convince Alpha that there IS no other King. But you've all made it hard to convince the other way!

Pepper: Its not a Fucking IT moment where you bully the being into being useless. Its trying to convince him that there is no such thing as another King.

Pepper: And you all did such a good job as making sure he does know. Even the ones that tried protecting this other King, by acknowledging that he was there, youve made it IMPOSSIBLE to say otherwise now.

Pepper: Now we need to hope he doesnt ever find out how to cross....

[projectshiro]

Finally, new stickers arrived! Just in time for the Blip Vendor Market this Saturday. If you're in KCMO stop by and grab some! Also, holy cow, I didn't realize they'd be this big. <_<;

[fnlufrs]

[whoahoney]

Unbelievable

Eddie Munson x friend!Reader

Summary: reader has a crush on eddie and plans to confess her feelings at the bar, when she finds him sitting with a gorgeous girl, she doubts herself… what will she do?

Warnings: minors DNI, unwelcome advances, drinking, jealousy, anxiety, making out, allusions to smut

A/N: dedicated to the lovely @easy-peasy68 and this awesome request she sent in! I hope you love it, darling! 💖😌

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Tonight was the night—you were certain.

Tonight you’d worn your best clothes and redone your makeup twice. You prepared to drink until you were drunk of sorrow or happiness, one of the two.

“You’re not allowed to say that.” Robin chided over the phone as you walked to the bar and roll your eyes, “Think positive! He’s your friend, if he doesn’t return your feelings, how mean could he be about it?”

“I know he won’t be mean, Rob, he’s perfect!” You whine. “If he’s gonna let me down I know he’d do it in the sweetest most earth shattering way.” You watched the sidewalk pass beneath your feet and tried not to imagine the look of disappointment on his face.

“I have it on good authority that people can still be friends even after one rejects the other! Just look at me and Steve. We’ve been sailing this platonic love boat for years now! His dorky love confession is just a blip in the past now—“

“Whoa, wait, my love confession was not dorky—“ You hear Steve in the background and roll your eyes as you come to a stop before the sticker covered door that you’d grown quite fond of, this being Eddie’s favorite spot.

“Alrighty, Rob. I’m here.” You mumble and lean against the building.

Robin gasps, “Okayloveyou, call me after please, byeeeeee!” She almost sings as you end the call.

You take a deep breath and pull the door open. You’re so distracted looking for Eddie that you nearly blow right by the bouncer, sat at his laptop watching Lord of the Rings as he checked IDs.

You roll your eyes as he shoots you a questioning look, comparing your birthdate to your face before handing it back to you. You mumble a thanks and let your eyes scan the seats along the bar, where Eddie always sat.

You wondered if you beat him here for once, if you could be the one with two drinks waiting in front of you to be shared when he sat down like he’d always had with you.

You wonder if he’ll compliment your outfit, if he’ll even notice it. He typically always had a little compliment at the ready for you, about your hair or perfume, simple words that made you wanna shudder and savor the feeling forever.

A group of people grabbing drinks from the bartender caught your attention. They laughed merrily with each other and grabbed two tall glasses each to take to their awaiting table of friends, but when they moved, they also revealed a scene you never wanted to see; Eddie sat at the bar, and a gorgeous girl in your spot next to him.

Your heart ached and sank in your body, the beating of it suddenly so powerful it thudded in your chest. You wanted to swallow the lump in your throat, but your mouth was so dry you couldn’t, it just added to the sandpaper feeling prickling all the way down.

You wanted to cry at the way Eddie’s shoulders shook with a chuckle, facing the wall of bottles while she faced him, leaning closer on her hand and letting her ample cleavage show. She wore a red dress, one you wouldn’t even dream of wearing. Her lips were painted the same color and her eyes were lined with black so thick it reminded you of the music videos that sometimes played at the music store Eddie worked at.

She was perfect. And you suddenly felt as if you were not.

You feel someone bump into your shoulder and realize you were standing in the middle of traffic, grabbing a place at the bar with shaking hands, on the other side of three large old men that frequented the bar too.

Your mind was reeling and spinning without any alcohol to fuel it, so you opted for a water to collect yourself. When the bartender sat the tall glass in front of you, you take three big gulps of it and then some deep breaths. “Just go on over there, honey.” A gruff voice said.

“Yeah, that’s your spot!” Another said.

You turn to the right to see the old men looking at you, their leather vests, fading tattoos, and bald heads usually intimidating you, but when you saw them now, looking at you, you only saw concern in their eyes. You shake your head, “I don’t know what you mean.”

The men chuckle kindly, “Sweetheart, we know that’s your boy over there. And that broad has been buggin him for the last ten minutes about buying her drinks.”

Your brows push together and you lean over to view the two down on the other side of the man that spoke to you. Eddie had a tense smile, one he used when he didn’t wanna be rude.

“He could be nervous. She’s awfully pretty,” You think.

Another one of the men notice the skeptical look on your face, “He’s here to see you, ain’t he?” He asks incredulously through his thick mustache.

You shrug and nod, “We come here every week. W-We’re just friends though, so I should leave him alone.”

The men chuckle again before the third one pipes up, “Uh-uh! We gotta pool goin on how long it’ll take you guys to kiss. Poor boy always looks like he’s gonna make a move and doesn’t.” He rolled his eyes and his friends agreed.

Your jaw dropped, amusement on your face, “He does not!” You quietly chide before sneaking another glance at Eddie’s almost cowering figure as he kept his body facing straight, barely turning his head to respond to the girl.

“Between you and me,” the man closest to her almost mumbled, “if y’all kiss after this week, I lose—so it’s now or never.” He tsked and took a swig of his bottled bud light. You blush crimson and close your eyes. “If you go over there and plant one on loverboy, I’ll give you $50.” He held out his hand for you to shake.

You try not to chuckle when you notice these old men have you almost convinced. You take a deep breath and shake his hand, “I have to right now?” You ask.

“You just have to go over there right now, okay? And if it don’t work out, you gotta seat right back over here.” He nodded and gave you a firm pat on the back that almost knocked you over as you picked up or water and climbed off the stool. As you pass by them, you hear their rumbling cheers while they no doubt watch you.

You keep stepping towards where Eddie and the girl sat, Eddie’s hair practically a curtain between himself and her.

“You’re just shy, aren’t you?” She purred when you got close enough. She reached out to stroke Eddie’s hand that rested on the counter only for him to drag it away into his pocket.

“Nah, no, I-I’m typically not.” He said with a dry chuckle.

The girl tsked and leaned forward as you stepped up right behind her, still undetected, “Aww, so you just act this way for little ole me? All cute and shy?” She flattered herself and giggled in a way that you figured was supposed to be alluring.

As Eddie turns his head to face her, you step over next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, “Actually I think you just make him uncomfortable.” You remark, as you look her over and school your face to look unimpressed with the girl before you, as if you hadn’t envied her at first sight.

You look at Eddie, who stared at you with brown eyes wide with awe. Your lips twitch when they attempt to smile at the two waiting glasses in front of him, sips yet to be taken. “Can I have my seat or do I need to sit in his lap for you to understand?” You look back at her coldly.

She scoffs and looks between you two as she stands with her purse and returns to her table of friends in the corner.

You exhale deeply and look over at your biker friends who had heard the whole exchange. They raised their newest glasses to you and drank with hearty laughter.

“Friends of yours?” He asks with a uneasy chuckle, checking out the old men skeptically before he spotted their patches and smiled.

You shrug, “New friends.”

He nodded. You lingered by Eddie, your hand still on his shoulder before you move to sit in your spot, “My lap, huh?” He chuckled, amused and impressed at your display of courage he’d never seen before.

You plop down, the seat pleasantly warm from the bitch that previously occupied it. “Yeah, sorry about that, you just seemed…” you shook your head as he nodded gently.

“Thank you.” He looked you over, his eyes growing large again when they paused at your chest. “You look… fantastic, wow.” He says with a dumbstruck smile as he took you in again.

You chuckle and shake your head, “Oh, this old thing. Just threw it on, y’know, but, uh, I’m-I’m glad you like it!” You smile at him, feeling the difference in the air between you tonight. It felt good. Full of possibility.

Eddie clears his throat and slides your drink over to you. “A toast— to my best friend;” he started as you lift your glass with a quirked brow, “The bravest, wittiest ….” He hesitated, peering into your eyes, “…prettiest girl I know.” He nodded as he finished.

“Here, here!” The familiar gruff voices echoed behind you in agreement, lifting their shots before throwing them back. You guys chuckle and sip your beers, your nose wrinkling at the first taste as you usually did.

Eddie chuckled at you as you set the glass down, foam on your upper lip. “What?”

“You got a little…” he pointed at your mouth, but didn’t give you a chance to clean it yourself, bringing his thumb up to wipe it off with one gentle swipe. “There… much better.” He said softly, his face inches from yours. His touch sending pins and needles where he touched. He’d never touched your face before—not to mention your lips.

You look down and blush, finding your knees between his and his body leaned close to yours. He looked so much more like himself now, that ornery glint in his eye, his boyish smile that always said ‘trouble’ when he flashed one your way.

You watch his ringed hand rest on your knee, stroking in loving circles before you look up at him, his gaze more serious, yet not stone. Something else was hidden in the look he gave you, something that felt familiar to you.

He whispers your name, “—Tell me something.”

You cock your head and give him a single nod, “What’s to tell?”

He scoffs and rolls his eyes before taking a drink, “S’gonna be like that, huh?” He looks at you again, playful smile on display as he leans closer to you again.

“Like what?” You chuckle, enjoying this game. Eddie rolls his eyes with a smile and goes to turn back forward when you catch his knee, “No, no,” you pat him before turning him to you by the knee in your grip, Eddie’s gaze darkening as his eyes flicked back up to yours. “No need for that.”

You go to withdrawal your hand, but he catches it., “Were you jealous?” He asked, his hand stop yours.

You can’t help but balk, your mouth opening and eyes widening before you can pinch your brows together and shake your head, “N-No,” you find yourself in the lie, “I just—“ you shrug, finding his eyes on yours expectantly, obviously working hard to keep his mouth straight and resisting the smile that threatened to curl up at the corners.

“Just?” He prodded.

“Like—ugh, the way she was touching you. And looking at you—”

“And… that’s not jealous?” He broke a little, one side of his smile lifting as he bit the other cheek.

Your cheeks blossom into magenta, your avoidant smile rising up on your face as you grab your drink as a buffer, not daring to move your other hand from his grasp. Eddie watches you as you gulp the brew and set down the glass, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand.

“Okay, maybe a little..” you shrug before looking up at him from under your lashes, your eyes darting back down when you saw his smirk.

Oh, great. It’s a joke to him.

“But if it was a guy, okay,” you start, “And if I was you, and I was looking the same way you did, you’d do the same thing, wouldn’t you?” You shrug in question. “You’d wanna protect me from an unwelcome conversation, right?”

Eddie nodded, “Yeah, absolutely.”

“See?” You go to move your hand from his, turning to face the bar when he catches you again.

“To protect you, yes.” He said, hidden urgency in his eyes as he squeezed your hand gently, “—But also because I’d be jealous.” He smiles at your hesitance to believe him as you gently shake your head in disbelief.

“So.. now would be a good time to tell you about my feelings?” You ask quietly.

“Feelings?” He asks in feigned incredulity. You fight the blooming smile as he teases you. “Feelings about what?” He mocks you at your own game.

You roll your eyes and push at his chest, smiling when he caught your wrist and released your other, turning his hand to face palm up, his fingers lingering on yours in the hope you’d wind your fingers through his.

And you do, just as he’s begun stroking his thumb over your hand, the one he caught on his heart.

“Tell me.” He says just above a whisper despite the chaotic barroom.

You nod, “I… I like you. A lot. An embarrassing amount, actually— since the day we met.” You stumble, looking down at the rings on his hands you’d never brought yourself to play with, though you thought about it a lot.

You’d never held hands like this before, always sure to stay in your own bubbles. But tonight, everything was different, and you both knew it wouldn’t ever be the same.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” He said casually.

You look up at him in surprise, to find him leaning forward and releasing your hand to hold you steady as he pressed a kiss to your lips. Your eyes melt closed and you kiss him back, not shying away from the urge to touch his face and neck.

You barely hear the cheers behind you until Eddie breaks the kiss to glance at your friends a few seats down the bar. You turn shyly to find them paying their tabs and handing cash to the man that convinced you to come over here in the first place.

He saunters over to you, cap on his head and a new dip in his mouth, the lump bulging beneath his bottom lip. “Here ya go, darlin, take your new boyfriend out on a date.” He dropped a fifty in front of you and shoved his winnings away in his pocket.

Your jaw drops and you go to hand it back to him, “Sir, I can’t take this—“

“The hell you can’t!” He said as his friends joined him, one of them taking his free hand. “I’m $200 richer because of you, let me share the wealth!”

“Gary, you leave them alone.” The man chided. “Congratulations, you two,” he said when he turned to you, “Seeing you guys here these last few months had us thinking about our old times—Gary and I have been coming here with our friends since ‘82.” He beamed at his partner and it was only then you noticed the pride flag patch, beneath the Satyrs Motorcycle Club emblem, along with a BACA patch to boot.

You smiled warmly as Eddie took your hand again and swiftly pocketed the $50 for you. “Well, we owe you fellas drinks the next time we meet!” Eddie said.

You smile at his heart and nod in agreement, “Thank you, so much.” You smile at Gary who nodded.

“We wish y’all the best—treat her right, pretty boy, she knows where to find me.” He pointed a thick callused finger in his direction with a teasing wink and a final pat on the back as they departed, hearing the unmistakeable revving of their friends preparing to leave.

Eddie looked back at you as you sighed, the tension from the last couple weeks finally falling away with each careful stroke of his thumb over your hand.

I could get used to this, you think.

“So…” Eddie said, in the way he always did when he had a new plan of action, “How about… we blow this popsicle stand, grab some food and then.. maybe spend the night at yours.” He said, looking down at your hands as he spoke, the way he did when he was shy.

You smile and think about the advantages you have now that your best friend might just be your boyfriend, how well you know each other already. How easy this felt since you said the words that felt like wire bristles coming out of your throat.

“Spend the night?” You ask with a hand pressed to your chest. Eddie blushes as he meets your eye, not bothering to clarify the sentiment of spending the evening at your place like you’d done plenty of times before.

But never spending the night.

You bit your lip before letting it slip out of your teeth, “You wanna?” You ask quietly.

His eyes shift again, that darkness taking over again as his mischief fell and lust took hold of him. He nodded.

“And before our first date!” You say in a theatrical gasp that had him giggling and shaking his head before taking a drink.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to—“

“Who said that?” You scoff, taking a sip of the water you brought over with you as Eddie chuckled into his now free hands, shaking his head and groaning, “you’re unbelievable.”

“I bet it won’t be the last time you say that tonight.” You say daringly.

Eddie’s mouth drops open before he lurches off his stool to pay your tabs. As he stands in line his gaze keeps drifting back to you, knowing you’re watching him with a coy smile he’d never gotten to see before now. He figures now you must’ve been too nervous and it makes him chuckle as he looks you over again.

You notice this and shoot him a look, narrowed eyes and a suspicious smirk, only able to guess what he’s thinking about you.

Your eyes shift behind him to find the girl from earlier still sitting in the corner, her eyes on you with curiosity. You wonder if she saw your kiss, or how Eddie held your hands. Before you can think too much about it, Eddie’s obstructing your view as he approaches and holds out his hand for you, something else he hadn’t done before.

You take it gratefully and smile as you fix your purse. You step forward and feel his hand at your lower back, almost bringing you to your knees at first. You gathered yourself quickly and smiled when you saw his hand shoot out from behind you to grab the door, ushering you through into the warm night air.

His hand slips into yours and he pulls you closer to him. His smile is set on you and he wraps his arms around you, staring at you for just a minute.

“Thanks for my drink.” You smile, finding a hand on his chest and the other stroking the column of his neck.

He chuckles, “Of course. More than happy to cover my girl’s drinks.”

“Ooh, your girl.” You sing teasingly.

You feel him stroking your back at the edge of your shirt where a sliver of skin was exposed. “Yeah. Unless your mind has changed about me in the last five minutes—“

You’re quick to cut him off with a shake of your head and a “Mm-mm, nope!” That sends him smiling wider as he pulls you over to his car.

“You didn’t drive, did you?” He asks as you approach the Kia. You shake your head again and catch his smirk.

“You dirty dog.” He tsks and puts his hand against the passenger door you leaned against.

“What??” You ask through a giggle.

“You came here with a plan didn’t you!” He leaned in close, til his nose brushed yours and you could smell the alcohol on his breath. You thought he was going to kiss you before he pulled back and appraised you. “What—plan A I’m your ride, plan B, you Uber?” He asks.

You nod.

“I’d never let you get into an Uber.” He scoffs and opens the door for you, guiding your body around the door and into the car.

He watches you buckle up, and waits patiently til you look up at him in question, wondering if he asked something you didn’t hear.

“What?” You ask softly, trying not to melt at the way he looked at you.

He shakes his head gently, “Nothin,” he leans closer to you, “Just… glad I don’t have to pretend anymore. Feels nice.” He smiles again. You nod in agreement. “Plus I need a kiss from my girlfriend if she wants a ride home.” He pauses right in front of your lips waiting to you to close the rest of the distance.

“Is that how it’s gonna be, Munson?” You ask.

He nods, “Oh, yeah, I’m capitalizing on it. I’ll do anything for you if it means I get a kiss.” He looks down to your lips and back up again.

You smile and push your lips to his, with more fervor than you did in the bar, his lips warmer and wetter than before. Eddie practically drops to his knees to keep the kiss going, internally debating on climbing inside the car this way until—

“Excuse me? Excu—Excuse me!” A voice said from in front of the car. You’re the one to pull out of the kiss, Eddie following you before following your gaze and finding the girl from earlier, her friends behind her as she holds her keys in her hand, “Can I get into my car please?” She asks in uncomfortable calm.

Eddie stands up, “Oh, yeah, for sure!” He shuts your door and jogs around the front of the car without another look in her direction, scrambling inside the car and starting it just to turn to you and pull you in to continue your kiss.

You crack your eyes open to find the girl’s friends opening the back doors to her car and piling in, as she remained frozen to the spot, her mouth dropped as she watched how Eddie kissed you. You close your eyes and open your mouth just a bit more and feel Eddie’s tongue slide inside, and you hate that you hoped she saw it.

You moan into his mouth and let him explore before tangling your tongue with his. His taste was intoxicating, even after the beer. Kissing him in his car was a different feeling than kissing in the bar, this was more private—special even.

You’d spent a lot of time in the passenger seat of his car, smoking, telling secrets, singing together, crying after hard days, eating take out when neither of you feel like cooking, it was another one of the places that was special to you because it was somewhere you shared with Eddie. And now you got to share this in here too.

Eddie let out a savoring groan before parting his lips from yours. “Now that, was unbelievable.” You said as he smiled in the same goofy way he always did.

You giggle and look away as he turns up the music and put the car in reverse. “Bet it won’t be the last time you say that tonight.” He says before sticking his tongue out. You look over at him with a glimmer in your eye and a smirk that had him driving 15 over the speed limit and kissing your hand every few seconds, like he had waited for this just as long as you had.

And just in case you’re wondering—Eddie had you calling him unbelievable (and a few other things) by the end of the night.

-

-

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: The Mysteries

Bill Watterson: what ho, mortals Watterson: it is i the hermit bill watterson Watterson: i have lived up in my cave on the mountain for nigh on 30 years Watterson: in silent contemplation of the mysteries of the cosmos Watterson: but now i descend to walk amongst you Watterson: to speak of the revelations delivered unto me Watterson: thus spake watterson!

Stephen King: oh my god! bill watterson! Watterson: yes King: i'm a real big fan of calvin and hobbes you know Watterson: thank you King: i've got so many bumper stickers of calvin peeing on things i don't like! Watterson:

Watterson: listen, people! i bear important news- Koontz: i have a question! Koontz: is the transmogrifier real? Frank Belknap Long: god i wish the transmogrifier was real 

King: i love the spaceman spiff strips haha so good Poe: i prefer the tracer bullet arcs, funny stuff Barker: hey did you draw frazz? c'mon you can tell us, we're cool Watterson: see this is why i don't come down here much

Bill Watterson: submitted for the approval of the midnight society, I call this the tale of the mysteries Watterson: ok so follow me here Watterson: what if it turned out that man was just an insignificant speck in an unfathomably vast and hostile universe HP Lovecraft: i know the answer to that one

Watterson: so i realized, in my years of meditation, that man is a meaningless blip in the vast nothing of space King: Poe: Koontz: Barker: Lovecraft: Barker: hahaha Poe: clive Barker: did you just rediscover cosmic horror from first principles?

Watterson: what if there were things in the universe that we didn't understand? King: Poe: Koontz: Barker: Lovecraft: King: is there more? Watterson: no that's it

Watterson: see, the thing is Watterson: mysteries exist Watterson: what are mysteries? we just don't know Watterson: i'll leave it to your imagination to fill in the rest Watterson: you know, like the noodle incident Watterson: anyway i'll see you all again in another 30 years

Barker: ya know i was always more of a far side fan anyway King: i always liked garfield, ya know garfield? King: like eating lasagna, hating mondays King: classic strip, classic! Frank Belknap Long: i liked ozy and millie Barker: wow frank big surprise 

[indieblueart]

Slugcation (slug vacation!)

Character credit under the cut

Bonnet: @ambassador-blip

Bananacat: @pansear-doodles

The Herbalist: GroveRelic

Alrik, Li, Glowurm: FluffyMothballs

The Courier (+ Snacks); @gloucester-carousel

Aequill: BlasphemyTheeWorm

Strawberry: Corvin-Ito

The Beetlecat: @FrigidCoast

The Revenant: Artist

Seita + Sploinky: LunaCantSpell

Perforator: @mossyflowers

The Mescaline: DD3182

The Abyssal: _Petri

The Fluffball: Sloine

The Wavemaster: @passsionfish

The Muldoze: Dava

Battery Acid: @zeooo-q

Bittersweet: @ayipdoodles

Calder: aryinewoul

The Guide (and co.): @focshi

Yellowleap: H2so4

Flicker + Nettle: @north-winds1

The Preserver: Sugaryveins

The Galaxy: @reveks

Orange + Iridescent: seyriix

Jetcat: Hammy4463

The Bounty Hunter: @grapejuicedragoon

The Gardener + The Firestarter: @caranoelle

The Seafarer: SolarXeno

The Siren: Bluemauller

The Aquatic: Boba_theartist

The Sticker: DiamondzQwQ

The Jolly: @gargecko

The Coward: MarineLaChatto

Dummy: Sadness_Factory

The Caustic + The Bluff: Whispurr

The Chimera: Lakewaltz

The Ruse + The Sightseer: The-Dictators-March

Popcorn: avisqon

Lush: @buggleburger

The Wader: @hiroshotreplica

The Clairvoyant: kaarne

TBN: fiznoodles

404: Waspbee

Sun Shade: @oleandy

The Fool: @stimming4dayz

The Marked: MxZepix

Kip: @dexaroth

Dragon Slayer: @slink-a-dink

The Chimera, the Merchant, The Prophet, The Guard, The Aviator: @ask-sparkling-sea AKA me!!

[minimoosedraws]

blip sobbing for a sticker in the OCs discord :)

[son1c]

if you like robots so much, then maybe you should become one :/c

falling stars fic masterpost

There was no escape from the tank. Sonic was stuck like a fish in a bowl, and he didn't even have the comfort of colorful pebbles to help ease his claustrophobia. Not that it would've mattered, since the cables at the top of the tank soon became alight with electricity, and the Roboticizer roared to life.

The feeling started in his eyes. They were as wide as dinner plates when the electricity coursed through them. It was like they were being peeled away and replaced by something else, something colder. Something that glowed dimly through the bubbles of the tank.

The feeling quickly spread to his nose. His ears. The rest of his body.

It was cold. So cold.

By the time it was over, Sonic couldn't even shiver. Temperature wasn't even a blip on his radar anymore, he was so incapable of registering it. His body was no longer flesh, fur, and bone. Now, it was metal, circuits, and wires. He saw the world through a red-tinted screen. At first, the image was fuzzy, but it quickly sharpened, the pixels that made up his environment rendered in crisp HD.

He saw a motobug with a star sticker on its forehead cowering by the door. He saw Doctor Eggman standing on the other side of the glass, grinning at him triumphantly. Sonic stared back at the man, the gears in his head beginning to turn.

Then, he realized something. He wasn't in pain anymore. The lingering ache that had been holding him down for days had been obliterated, and he was left feeling strong. Powerful. Like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders--or, more accurately, his leg. And the person responsible was standing right in front of him. Examining him through those round glasses and down that big, long nose.

Doctor Eggman.

Sonic… was supposed to listen to him. That's right. He was supposed to do whatever the Doctor said. As a part of the Eggman Empire, it was Sonic's job to help see its conquest through. And he would. He would do it. It was what he was made for. Yeah, he remembered now. Serving the Empire was what he was always meant to do.

The water drained from the tank, and the panel at the top slid open.

Eggman said, "Well? Do you plan on staying in there forever? Front and center, if you please."

Sonic's shoes sparked to life, and he flipped out of the tank in one swift motion. He stood in front of the doctor, still dripping, with his head tilted upwards. Even with the extra inch or two his new metal shoes added to his height, Eggman was still so much taller than him.

"Remarkable," Eggman breathed. He was admiring his handiwork. "Perhaps this old machine has held up better than I thought. How fortunate for you, Sonic… since the alternative would've been much uglier."

Sonic caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Immediately, he snapped his head toward the door, and only just barely managed to catch the back of Metal Sonic as he angrily flew away.

With a wave of his hand, Eggman said, "Oh, pay him no mind. You know how it is with look-alikes, don't you? They tend to become quite envious over time."

Suddenly, Eggman stepped away from Sonic. The doctor's attention was now on the motobug that was still cowering by the door. He shot it a loathsome glare. "Now, to take care of that miserable little traitor…"

The motobug curled in on itself when Eggman approached. It knew what was coming. Deactivation. Or dismantlement. Or something else that any sensible robot would be wise to quiver in fear of. It covered its eyes with its claws, unable to look at the disappointment on the doctor's face.

However, right as Eggman was about to lay a hand on the little robot, Sonic appeared in between them. He had crossed the room in the blink of an eye, so fast that neither the doctor nor the motobug had even seen him move at all. Now, he was standing protectively over the little robot, his glowing eyes boring into their leader like hot coals.

"What do you think you're doing, Sonic?" Eggman hissed.

"Easy, sir," Sonic said. His voice was covered in a layer of robotic vocal fry, and far too flat. "I'm just lookin' out for the Empire."

Frowning, Eggman leaned back. There was a hint of genuine curiosity in his narrowed eyes, but it was well hidden. "I don't remember telling you to do that," he said.

Sonic's heroic nature was, of course, common knowledge to Eggman. But to see it translated to--and even directed toward--his own robots wasn't something the doctor was expecting. And it was a strange sight to see. After all, none of his badniks had teamwork programmed into their code. None of them cared about each other.

The only thing that mattered was that they were loyal to Eggman himself. That was the driving force motivating each and every one of them. And Sonic, now a Robian, should be no different.

Should be.

"I- I know," Sonic said quietly. He looked down, the new programming in his head fighting against the will of his heart. It was hard for him to get his next words out. "It… won't happen again. I'm s- suh- sorry."

The motobug didn't dare move. It stayed perfectly still, every mechanism in its body locked in place while Eggman stared down at it over Sonic's shoulder. Slowly, the doctor's expression changed from resentment to rapacity.

Eggman stroked his mustache. He was calm now. He'd realized how to take advantage of this. "Actually, Sonic," he began, "it would save me a great deal of resources if you protected my badniks. You have no idea how expensive it is to replace them! And money doesn't grow on trees, you know. It's hard work printing it all myself."

Sonic looked up. His processors, which had just been whirring loudly from the war being waged inside of his mind, suddenly shushed. He smiled. "I'll keep 'em safe. Promise," he said. The faintest glimmer of emotion shone through his robotic voice: gratitude. "I won't let you down, Doctor Eggman, sir."

Eggman spun around on his heel. He started down the hallway, the sound of his footsteps echoing down the long corridor. His blood red coat trailed behind him, a stark reminder of what he could have done to the motobug. If he'd wanted to.

Finally, the motobug allowed itself to relax. It was lucky to be online right now.

After letting his own shoulders slump, Sonic turned around to face the motobug. He winked at it with his electronic eyes. "Don't worry, little buddy," the Robian whispered. "I've got your back!"

"SONIC!"

Hurriedly, Sonic followed after Doctor Eggman. But not too hurriedly--he didn't disappear from view like he had when the motobug's life was in danger. He just jogged down the hallway at a respectable pace before falling into step at the doctor's side.

He didn't notice Metal Sonic watching him from the shadows. And he was too focused on Eggman's voice to hear when the look-alike exited the Scrambled Brain Bowl. He and the doctor continued on through the complex, unbothered.

While they walked, Sonic thought about how good it felt to have two functional legs again. He was thankful that Doctor Eggman had fixed the broken one for him. The Robian cherished it--cherished his freedom of motion.

For the next few days, Eggman kept a close eye on Sonic. The Robian could always feel the doctor's hawkish gaze on the back of his neck while he worked. But the brand new code swirling around his mind told him not to worry about it. And Eggman kept him too busy for any doubts to creep in.

So, he didn't ask questions. He served the Empire.

He ignored his whispering heart.

But the static in Sonic's mind was building. It grew louder every time he listened to Eggman. And it grew more insistent every time he ran an errand for him, or took down a G.U.N. drone that had wandered too close to Scrap Brain Base.

It pulled on his heart like a drawstring every time he was reminded to stay away from the deepest part of the basement.

No amount of un-OSHA-regulated labor could kill the part of him that was fighting. Fighting hard against Eggman's control. And as the days turned into weeks, the static plaguing his mind became impossible to ignore. Now, it was deafening.

At the same time, Eggman stopped ordering Sonic to follow him around everywhere. The doctor probably assumed his Roboticization was flawless. That he could be trusted not to rebel. So, his leash got a little longer. And Sonic was left alone with his thoughts more often. Thoughts that oftentimes, didn't match up with the programming that had been drilled into his brain.

Thoughts that he didn't belong here. Thoughts that he was forgetting about something.

Thoughts that he should really just go and check out that room in the basement, the one that was locked behind a heavy blast door.

Sonic groaned. All of these thoughts were giving him a headache, and that shouldn't even be possible. Annoyed, he kicked his feet. They were hanging off the edge of the Brain Bowl, because he was sitting on the very tip of one of the Bowl's mustache spikes. The movement made him feel a little better, but it wasn't enough to get rid of the static that was ringing in his ears.

Beside Sonic was the motobug with the star on its head. It balanced expertly on the thin strip of steel, having gotten used to Sonic's weird hang out spots by now. It looked at him curiously.

Sonic smiled. Maybe a little thinner than usual. "Just thinkin'," he told the motobug.

The little robot kept looking at him. It beeped once.

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck. "What else? About his vileness, Doctor Eggman. Duh."

The motobug beeped again.

Sonic pinched one side of his mouth and looked away from the little robot that could always, somehow, see right through him. "Alright, alright. You caught me. But it's nothin', bud. Seriously."

The motobug wasn't convinced, and neither was Sonic. But there was no more time to talk about it, because an alarm suddenly started going off in the Robian's head. His eyes flashed red.

[INTRUDER ALERT. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED.]

[LOCATION: BB-F3.]

An intruder? That was different. But Sonic's directive remained the same: protect the Base and its badniks.

In a flash, Sonic stood up, hopped over the motobug, and slid down the roof of the Brain Bowl. He made his way inside and up to the third floor landing in ten seconds flat, his thrusters allowing him to skip the elevator entirely. Once there, he looked around, but the landing was empty. The only things up there were benches and tables, and a few spare tool boxes.

Sonic frowned. Could it have been a false alarm?

The thought had barely finished processing when he noticed it--something shiny on the table at the far end of the landing. Sonic bounded over to it and found that it was a card of some sort. He turned it over and was confused to see a bat printed on it with the words "Thank you" written over top in pretty cursive letters.

A voice from behind Sonic said, "Hey there, Blue. Nice of you to drop by. Mind lending me a hand? I'm looking for something special, and I heard it's stashed around here somewhere!"

Sonic froze. The static screamed in his ears.

Blue.

His sensors warned him of an incoming projectile, and he snapped out of his daze. He whirled around and caught the boot that was about to slam into his head with one of his hands. It belonged to a bat Mobian with white fur. And on her wrists, she wore two gold bracelets.

Sonic recognized her. From the photograph. The photograph that Doctor Eggman had shown him and…

Him and…

Sonic's heart tore desperately at the code that had his mind in a chokehold. It shuddered. Wavered. But remained intact.

The bat wrenched her leg free of Sonic's grasp. Then, she used the momentum to send a sweeping kick at his feet, attempting to knock him over. But Sonic recovered fast, and used his rocket boosters to dodge the kick and flip over her head. From there, he grabbed her by the arm, and threw her across the landing.

She used her wings to stop herself from crashing into the wall. But she was slower than Sonic, and he caught up to her before she had the chance to recover. He dug his claws into her shoulders and slammed her into the wall, and his momentum carried them all the way through it and into the room on the other side.

It was the room with the big green tank. The room he had been reactivated in, a little over a month ago.

The bat used her feet to push Sonic off of her. Then, she jumped up, and dusted herself off. "Wow!" she said, her eyes sparkling. "Not even Metal Sonic was able to get in a move like that. You can really do it like the True Blue himself!"

Sonic stared at her. The static was so loud. So loud.

Finally loud enough to unhook the claws of Eggman's nefarious programming from his mind.

"You," he gasped. Like he had just come up for air. "You're the one who stole Shadow's inhibitor rings!"

[autisticlancemcclain]

prev chapter

–––

The alarm drills straight into his ears, shrillness hooking the inside of his head and yanking him out of sleep so fast he screams when he’s finally conscious. He tumbles straight out of bed, armour on and out the door before he opens his eyes. 

It’s not the emergency alarm. This one is three short blips repeating, rather than one long and loud one, so it’s a mission alarm. It doesn’t freak Keith out any less, though. He hates all the alarms. They’re so loud they’re painful, digging into his head so intensely they push out any room for thought. They remind him of fire alarms, too, which only makes everything worse. 

He’s first to stumble onto the bridge, nodding at Allura and Coran and collapsing into his seat. He hunches his shoulders up to his ears, knowing it won’t make a difference but doing it anyway. God, he really hates the stupid alarm. He wishes the rest of the team would hurry up. 

As if his thoughts summoned them, they pop in one after the other. Shiro first, unsurprisingly, armour polished and perfect, strides even. Then Hunk, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, dragging a bitching Pidge by her ankle. 

And, of course, no Lance. Keith has done everything he can to try to train Lance to be on time. He’s tried to goading, which didn’t do anything but make them both late once Lance somehow managed to drag them into an argument that made them both lose track of time. Then he tried dragging Lance out of bed early in the mornings to get him on track, which did nothing but make him half-deaf from all the angry Spanish hurled his way and bruised from a surprisingly hardy pillow to the face. Finally he tried one of Hunk’s suggestions, which was to give Lance a sticker every time he was on time or close to it. 

That, despite it being the number one strategy of kindergarten teachers across the globe, worked really well. Lance actually managed to be on time more than once, which was insane. They ran out of stickers, but Lance did manage to get much closer to getting on time every day. Now he rarely goes past five minutes of making everyone else wait. 

Keith checks his watch, shaking his head fondly as the hand ticks right past the five minute mark. Can’t win them all, he supposes. Some days Lance will be tardier than others. He’s at least on time occasionally, now, so –

The realisation hits him like an anvil over the head, like in one of the old movies. The shrillness of the alarm suddenly seems a thousand times louder, swelling up in the room, drowning Keith in the incessantness of it.

Lance is not coming in late. 

Lance isn’t coming in at all. 

Lance is dead.

The admission in his own head stings, somehow, like pinpricks all over his skin. His throat is dry, completely evaporated of moisture, painful to swallow. Never again is Lance going to strategically goad Keith into an argument to distract him from everything and anything. Never again is Lance going to smack the shit out of Keith with a pillow in the mornings. Never again is he going to show up three seconds before he’s supposed to be somewhere, cheeky smile on his face, and ask Keith for his gold star. 

He’s gone. 

“Fuck, sorry, guys! I forgot to sleep last night ‘cause I was painting something on the ceiling, so the alarm scared the shit outta me enough to hit the ground, and unfortunately I dislocated my shoulder a little, but it’s all good ‘cause I fixed it. That’s why I was late, actually, had to pull a Gloria Delgado and slam it into the wall! Anyways, that’s why –”

“Lance,” Shiro interrupts, amused. “Are you okay?”

“Yep!” he says, beaming brightly. Keith gasps when he sees it, the sound punched out of him, choked and pained and strangled. He’s shocked no one looks his way. “I can still shoot, don’t worry.” 

“Alright, kid. Go sit down, we’ll go over the briefing.”

“What?!” Pidge explodes. “He’s ten minutes late! Where’s his punishment? He needs to be grounded! I get grounded when I’m ten minutes late! That’s not fair!”

“Lance is grown, Pidge. You’re under my guardianship. I reserve the right to ground you when you do dumb things. Also, Lance is my favourite.”

“That is a bold-faced lie! Allura is your favourite! You just said that to make me mad!”

“Nope. It’s the truth. In fact –”

“Hey,” Lance whispers, startling Keith when he pops up next to him. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I have. In fact, he’s sitting right in front of me.

“I’m good,” Keith chokes out. 

Lance tilts his head, brown eyes soft and concerned. He places a gentle hand on Keith’s arm. “You don’t look good.”

Keith swallows roughly. “Nightmare.”

It must have been a nightmare. Somehow, yesterday’s mission must have been some elaborate, horrible nightmare, straight from the cruellest parts of his subconscious. It’s the only thing that explains it – Lance, here, safe and whole and unharmed, the rest of the team not shocked to see him, proceeding as normal. None of them look like they’ve been shaking, like they’ve lost the only light in their life. Everyone looks as well as they usually do, considering their circumstances. 

There are no blood splatters on Allura’s armour from the carnage yesterday. No missing shoulder pad on Shiro. Even Keith’s own armour is free of the hole that was ripped into it from the hit he got, distracted by Lance’s sharp inhale when he fell. 

And Lance, obviously. Keith glances up at his head, just to make sure, and he’s fine. There’s no perfectly cauterised blaster hole going straight to his brain. No leg that’s bent the wrong way. 

He’s fine. 

“Nightmares, huh?” Lance asks, smiling slightly, kind and understanding and not fucking dead. “Must have been horrible to have our fearless leader so shaken.”

Keith shudders slightly, chill zapping down his bones, blood freezing in his veins. His words are barely audible. “You have no idea.”

–––

next chapter

[verosvault]

🚨SPOILERS FOR FANTASY HIGH JUNIOR YEAR EPISODE 6🚨

Dimension20 "Fantasy High Junior Year"

Episode 6 "Party Politics"

Timestamp: 1:24:48

Video Length: 3min. & 33sec.

Gertie Bladeshield, Queen Bee of the Apiarists' Society (Pt. 1 | ‣Pt. 2)

Kristen pats Gertie's back and puts a sticker on her back that says "It's always happy hour at Applebees." 😭✋

Riz: "Gertie is already voting for you!" 😂🤣💀

Gertie turns around with the sticker on her and looks at Kristen.

Gertie: "And hey, I made this for you, by the way."

Brennan: "And you see it is a little bumblebee, but its little body is in the shape of an apple with a little stem coming out of the top of its back. So it's a little black and yellow striped- "

Riz: "This is great."

Kristen: "Oh, thank you."

Fabian: "Is it alive?"

Kristen: "Omg, this is so cool."

Gertie: "It's just a little toy. It's a little thing.

Fabian: "Oh, thank god."

Fig: "Ohhh, okay."

Gertie: "But if you unscrew it-"

Brennan: "And you see that she takes, it's almost like a little makeup jar thing where it has a flush lid that you can unscrew, and you see there's a little glass jar of honey inside."

Kristen: "OMG!" *eats some*

Adaine: "So we don't even need to join, 'cause the honey's already here."

Gertie: "There you go, and a benefit of honey is-"

Fabian: *tries some* "Oh, that's not that good."

GERTIE GETS MAD AT FABIAN!!! 😂😂😂😂👏👏👏👏

Riz: "Gertie! Gertie!"

Ally: "I give her the Help action." 😭😂✋

Fig: "Gertie, tell him!" 😂

Gertie: "Get ready for Bladeshield! Stinger, come to me!" 😂🤣💀

Fabian is so confused 😂

Fig: "Gertie, Gertie, Gertie!" 😂✋

Gorgug: "Bladeshield, no!" 😂🤣💀

Ally: "I give her the Help action. I give her the Help action." 😂

Lou: "It's not that good!"

Gertie's initiative is 22 😂

Fabian's initiative is 14 😂🤣💀

Brennan: "She's gonna go to disarm you."

Ally! 😂😂

An opposed athletics check between him and Gertie! 😭✋

Murph: "Wait!" 😂🤣

Emily: "Can I Hex Fabian so he has disadvantage?" 😂🤣💀

Brennan: "Disadvantage? Yes, you can." 😂🤣💀

Lou: "All right, I got a 20."

Brennan: "Okay, you resist being disarmed. It is your turn."

Fabian is gonna trip attack! 😭✋

Lou: "Does a 27 hit?" 😭✋

Brennan: "27 hits."

Emily: "Silvery barbs. Like a bee's barbs!" 😂🤣💀

Lou: "That's better. Yeah, that's better, so 28."

Emily gives advantage to Gertie 😭✋

Zac: "I cast Heroism on Gertie." 😭✋

Lou: "DC17 check to resist the trip."

Brennan: "She resists the trip."

Lou: "Okay."

Ally: "I bonus action cast Shield of Faith. Her AC goes up by two." 😂🤣💀

Brennan: "She resists the trip, but you do, thwack, she has to step back from it."

Lou: "Yes."

Gertie: "I'm leaving."

Brennan: "As she walks out, Fabian, you get a blip on your phone."

"Nemesis Alert. New Nemesis Detected." 😭✋

Riz: "What is everyone doing?!"

Kristen: "It's so good!"

Riz: "We're falling into such easy traps!" 😭✋

Kristen: "It's so good."

Fabian: "I've had better honey."

Brennan: "There's a list that says Gertie Bladeshield and Chungledown Bim."

Riz: "Okay, we have just learned that Gertie is very forward when she's angry at someone and had just made you an enemy. But, there was a possibility that Gertie could have been someone sent to do something to us, and we just ate the honey! We just ate it! We need to be more careful!" 😭✋

Ally wants to do an insight check

Riz: "We got people that are trying to get us kicked out of school!"

Kristen: "You're right, you're right. Why did it come in a special hand-whittled thing?"

Riz: "No, but that's good! Gertie seemed fine!"

Kristen: "Gertie seemed fine."

Ally: "Can I do an insight check on the honey? Is it bad?"

Fig: "If we get the bees on our side, we'll be unstoppable. They're everywhere."

Ally: "Nat one."

Riz: "I don't even know if we're invited to the bee club."

Brennan: "This honey's so good. Even if it's poison, it's just so good." 😂😂😭😭

ALLY!!! 😂😂😂😂😂

Fabian: "Let me get you some real honey, all right?"

Kristen: "Back off!"

Fabian: "Okay!" 😂😭✋

Adaine: "You don't know where anything in your house is, except the milk."

Fabian: "Cathilda had better honey. It's somewhere in here."

BRENNAN AND EMILY JUST LAUGHING AT ALLY GOING CRAZY WITH THE HONEY! I'M CRYING!!! 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

Gorgug: "It's probably just got more sugar."

Fabian: "Probably."

Kristen: *clears throat* "Oh, sorry."

Fig: "Apple bee."

Kristen: "Yeah, exactly."

Fig: "We need to partner with Gertie."

[potatoidunno]

gojo related ideas that i need shouted out into the void because i'm having a miserable day (ft pokemon go)

abusing the fact that he can levitate and teleport by making him your pokemon go lackey

aka he piggybacks you as the two of you chase down gyms during raid hours and community days

he'll frantically motion for you to toss him your phone (despite you being in the middle of teaching a lesson) and he'll blip away (for looooong minutes at a time) just to hit a raid

"babe...! babe wake up-" he'll say with such urgency that you think there's a mission or something wrong--but no, it's just that someone keeps taking over his gym (and he needs you to place your pokemon up to help him keep his claim on it)

he pouts and whines if you don't open his gifts every single day (and send one back)

and when you do send a gift, he genuinely thinks you're mad if you don't add a sticker

he takes waaaay too much pride in those excellent throws (lowkey kinda condescending about it)

he complains to no end about his account's stupid RNG and how it's not fair that you get the shiny wooper

he still claims digimon is better (but can name all the gen 1-3 pokemon on sight and is extremely offended when you doubt him)

having to talk him out of willingly taking more missions overseas (he just really really wants those region locked pokemon okay)

[redxx95]

Rough translation of the fifth batch of manga pages for volume 14:

P1 A: gasp Sfx: Tap T: Registration done! That's a cute profile pic. T: Well then, I look forward to working with you. A: Okay.

P2 A: Thank you very much. Sfx: Tap T: I'll be in touch.

P3 A: O. kay. Sfx: Train Noises Sfx: Blip Message: I'm done with the meeting. Coming home now. 　 (Sticker: Going Straight Home)

P4 A: HUH? A: When did he find out? Did I mention Kurosawa at all today? I did say I used them* at home but I didn't say with who. (*TN: Referring to the products Tachibana's company makes, see comic nr. 137.) Maybe he saw something in the image gallery that one time… And anyways, even though he saw Kurosawa there, he still has ulterior motives it seems. Exchanging stuff like contact information with the other party must've been careless of me… A: Uhmm. Hmmm… Sfx: *Ping* A: Tachibana… Message: Tachibana - 1 Notification

[marveltrumpshate]

November 2023 MTH fills

Are you in the festive holiday mood? See all the fills that people gifted in November below!

The best way to see all the fills that have been shared with us is our monthly roundups tag or our #MTH-fills channel on our Discord, but you can also view them through the following methods:

Our Tumblr tags: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Our AO3 collections: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 (only has works posted to AO3)

Completed works tag list

To find specific content, use our completed works tag lists above which includes instructions on how to search for a particular character, gen or romantic relationship, universe, and fanwork type. 

SOLO CHARACTERS

BUCKY BARNES

Ginger/@your-ginger-angel - Cross-stitch piece of Bucky holding flowers based on art by eklixio for epicstuckyficrecs (MTH 2022)

LOKI

Eustacia Vye/@eustaciavye28 - "Glorious Purpose" (post-Loki S2 finale fic where Loki visits the people he cares about) for moonyroony

KAMALA KHAN

Jason K Jones/@jkjones21 - Art of 616 Kamala in her X-Men uniform running and raising her embiggened fist for illogicalkat

Jason K Jones/jkjones21 - Art of 616 Kamala chilling out reading fic for psychiccatpanda

MIGUEL O'HARA

@caiabresebun - Art of shirtless Miguel toweling his hair after showering for nostalgicatsea

SAM WILSON

@ghostcwtch - Handmade ceramic mug featuring Sam's Falcon symbol for bulkyphrase

STEVE ROGERS

ghostcwtch - Handmade ceramic mug featuring the Captain America shield for bulkyphrase

RoseRose/tehroserose - "Wherever Flames May Rage" (an AU sonnet about firefighter Steve) for starksnack

TONY STARK

@deehellcat - Fingerless knitted Iron Man gauntlet gloves for hannahshattuck

RoseRose/tehroserose - "Interrobang" (a sestina about Tony finding joy in discovery) for @kerravonsen

VENOM

deehellcat - Tiny crocheted Venom dragon for Turbulent Muse

GEN/PLATONIC RELATIONSHIPS

AVENGERS TEAM & TONY STARK

@queenofalotofdifferentworlds - "The Customer" (bakery AU fic where Steve and his team run a bakery and meet Tony) for sofreakinmanyfandoms

BRETT MAHONEY & MATT MURDOCK

@not-madder-red - "Saved" (canon-divergent MCU Brett & Matt fic where Brett is the officer who came to the scene in Daredevil S1E8) for kimmycup

PETER PARKER & FLASH THOMPSON

seekrest/@seek--rest

- "on little light" (Devil Wears Prada-inspired secret identity AU fic where Peter works as Tony's assistant at SI) for LoveReading84

PETER PARKER & TONY STARK

Khalixa/@khalixascorner

- "Made From Love" (fluffy AU fic where alpha Tony is a single dad to omega Peter) for muscatlove (MTH 2022)

seekrest/seek--rest - "on little light" (Devil Wears Prada-inspired secret identity AU fic where Peter works as Tony's assistant at SI) for LoveReading84

SHIPS

BRUCE BANNER/THOR

@cthooliac - Matching chibi MCU Bruce/Thor charms for @blueeyesblazing (MTH 2022)

BUCKY BARNES/CLINT BARTON

cassandrasfischer - "Espresso" (MCU Bucky/Clint fic where Clint tries to figure out what kind of coffee Bucky likes) for effervescentaardvark (MTH 2022)

BUCKY BARNES/NATASHA ROMANOV

@spinachgarden - "no grave can hold my body down (i'll crawl home to her)" (canon-divergent post-Blip MCU Bucky/Nat fic) for call-me-kayyyyy (MTH 2022)

BUCKY BARNES/SAM WILSON

@sumbacky - Art of Sam and Bucky on holiday together for yavannie (MTH 2022)

BUCKY BARNES/STEVE ROGERS

@cutecumber-flower - Art of Steve and Bucky visiting a war friend's grave for randomosityb (MTH 2021)

BUCKY BARNES/STEVE ROGERS/NATASHA ROMANOV

@cristinuke - "l'enfer fini" (Bucky/Steve/Nat MCU A/B/O fuck or die fic) for zepysgirl (MTH 2021)

BUCKY BARNES/STEVE ROGERS/TONY STARK

Dodo/@dodomedic - "The affairs of Tsums and Dragons" (Steve/Bucky/Tony dragon A/B/O tsums AU fic) for aquatigermice

BUCKY BARNES/TONY STARK

@kandisheek - Bucky/Tony package including lavender-scented pillows, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, magnets, and Avengers stickers for ruquas (extra photo)

ERIK LEHNSHERR/CHARLES XAVIER

flightinflame - "What Makes You Stronger" (post-X-Men: First Class Charles/Erik soulmates fic) for redgauntletblueshield (MTH 2022)

JAMES "RHODEY" RHODES/TONY STARK

holistic_alcoholic/@holistic-alcoholic - "The Power Throuple of the Century" (MCU Rhodey/Tony fic where everyone thinks Rhodey, Tony, and Iron Man are a throuple due to Tony's secret identity) for sofreakinmanyfandoms

LOKI/MOBIUS

WinterRaven/@ravensonata - "Alchemy of Love, Illusion, and Fire" (shapeshifting dragon!Loki/knight!Mobius AU fic) for mirilya (MTH 2022)

LOKI/TONY STARK

SpaceCrazyArtist and @arabesqueangel - "Centuries Old and Unbending" (Loki/Tony arranged royal marriage AU fic which SpaceCrazyArtist is illustrating) for Xavier845 (MTH 2021)

NED LEEDS/PETER PARKER

happyaspie/@yes-i-am-happyaspie - "Catalyst" (MCU Ned/Peter fic where they get together—awkwardly—with a little push from MJ) for Lady Gigi

PETER PARKER/MARY JANE WATSON

seekrest/seek--rest - "everywhere, everything" (Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (PS5) Peter/MJ hopeful epilogue fic where Peter takes a break while dealing with his guilt) for metaderivative (MTH 2022)

PETER PARKER/TONY STARK

khalixa/khalixascorner - "Like Father Like Son" (dark Peter/Tony AU fic where Loki messes with them with a fake paternity scare) for guardianofthepeanutwrites (MTH 2022)

stillheremydear - "The Best Kept Secret" (canon-divergent Peter/Tony secret identity AU fic) for muscatlove (MTH 2022)

STEVE ROGERS/SAM WILSON

ghostcwtch - Handmade ceramic mugs featuring the Captain America shield and Falcon symbol for bulkyphrase

STEVE ROGERS/TONY STARK

queenofalotofdifferentworlds - "The Customer" (Steve/Tony bakery AU fic where Steve and his team run a bakery and meet Tony) for sofreakinmanyfandoms - "Captain Obvious and Oblivious Man" (post-Avengers Steve/Tony fic where Tony gets kidnapped) for starksnack - "Nowhere Else To Go" (Steve/Tony AU fic where warlord Steve offers himself to king Tony to save his people) for oper1895

RoseRose/tehroserose - "Pride Blinds" (2012 MCU Steve/Tony enemies-to-lovers sonnet) for starksnack

[shootingstarpilot]

Y'all, @themonopolyhat has blessed us once again with The storm and its fury broke today:

For a moment, Helix is only here, holding a cold cup of disgusting tea and watching Mace laugh in his mismatched socks— —barely a blip in the span of their lives, here and gone, but— —for just this moment, the lab and its horrors are far away.

Or: Helix and Mace, getting the job done. An AU/remix of Night_Fury's how to bring him home.

Absolutely, astonishingly devastating, and everyone has to go read it immediately. I feel like I've been hit over the head with something heavy and it's great.

...Gonna go write something soft about Needle and glitter stickers to recover.

[beardedmrbean]

“To be honest with you, I hate guns,” Peter, 76, shouted over the sound of gunshots Saturday afternoon as his wife took aim at a target at Gun World in Deerfield Beach. “But it’s better us than someone else.”

The Jewish couple had arrived for their Intro to Handguns lesson with Florida Firearms Training about noon. Peter, who asked to keep his last name private for safety reasons, had shot a rifle decades ago; his wife had never shot a gun before. By the end of the day they would be returning home with one.

So would Justine Youngleson, 58, and Sandi Lazar, 65, a South African Jewish couple from Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and Jackie Rubin, 64, a former orthodox Jew who converted to Christianity, who wore a T-shirt with a giant heart on it and described herself as a “very peaceful person.”

Across South Florida, Jewish residents are buying guns and learning to use them, many of them older, more liberal-leaning people who never thought they’d touch a gun in their lives. Spouses are dragging each other to lessons, children are going with parents. Introductory shooting classes are booked up months into the future, even on the Sabbath, because people are so desperate for slots.

Still others are buying security cameras, taking self-defense classes like Krav Maga, the Israeli martial arts that focuses on surviving real-life scenarios, contemplating leaving jewelry at home, and removing mezuzahs from their doors, as they speak of a fear they have not felt before.

‘A huge blip’

On the door leading into owner Kim Waltuch’s office at Gun World, a picture of a menorah reading “Happy Chanukah” sits adjacent to a sticker of a Glock.

Her office is similarly cluttered: Piles of papers, a mug reading “Boss Lady,” sound-canceling headphones, and a box of chocolate ammo cover her desk. On the wall are children’s drawings next to a framed picture of Hebrew word for love. The kids make the drawings while they wait for their parents to be done shooting, Waltuch explained.

In the last month, Gun World has had a “surge” in interest in guns, Waltuch said. So many people want lessons, they began offering double the amount per week.

“As soon as the guns have been going in, they’re going out,” she explained.

As she spoke, people kept popping in to say hello; the store was crowded. One of the customers was Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, an outspoken supporter of Israel who reiterated the same motives as everyone else: “I just thought, with everything going on in the world, it’s better to be educated.”

Florida Firearms Training has had so many requests for the Introduction to Handguns course that it is booked all the way into December, said Will Farrugia, the company’s director of training, who led Saturday’s lesson, which was also on the Jewish Sabbath.

In an average week, FFT sees about 40 students in its intro class, Farrugia said. Now they’re looking at 80 to 90 students.

“There’s definitely a blip on the graph, a huge blip of just an influx of new shooters,” he said. “Of which I would say fifty to sixty percent are Jewish.”

The students are not gun nuts, or even necessarily conservative. Many know little to nothing about guns.

These are “people that have never thought of buying a gun, that are now saying ‘I need a gun,'” Farrugia said. “It’s all for the same reason. There’s that concern of, ‘Can something happen here? Can something happen to my family? I need to have a way of defending my family and my home.’ Sad, but that’s where we’re at.”

On Saturday, students spoke of their dislike for guns at the same time as they prepared to buy them, their own shooting targets in their hands.

Lazar said that she still thinks guns are bad, and she does not believe she should have them while driving around or in the supermarket, an opinion that did not change Saturday.

“She’s the neurotic one,” Lazar said, gesturing to Youngleson. It was Youngleson’s idea to buy the gun, and Youngleson said that she was going to do just that, but Lazar needed to know how to use it if it was going to be in the house.

“This is not what you think you’ll be doing at 58,” Youngleson said.

Need for self-defense is critical

The heightened fears aren’t present only in gun-training classes.

Lazar and Youngelson have bought Ring cameras and lights for their home. Growing numbers of Jewish residents are looking for situational awareness or self-defense classes like Krav Maga, said Carson Nightwine, the director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County.

“Never has the need for self-defense been more critical,” reads a Facebook post from the Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services, advertising a Krav Maga class in early November.

The owner of AIKMO Krav Maga in Oakland Park, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, said that he had seen a small uptick in the number of students in his own classes, as well as a larger increase in synagogues asking for workshops.

While they’re warming up, students trade stories of having their cars slapped at stoplights or being told to “burn in hell” for putting up posters of Israeli hostages, he said.

He tries to keep the class positive but practical, in the spirit of Krav Maga, which is meant to address real-life threats. At synagogues, AIKMO teaches kidnapping prevention, self-defense, knife and gun defense, forced entry and active shooter drills.

“I hate to say it’s become necessary and timely,” the owner said. “If we lived in a better world I’d be happy to be put out of business. This would be the new yoga; we’d do this for fun.”

Rising antisemitism threat

Since Hamas terrorists massacred over 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7, national and local officials began warning the public of the heightened potential for antisemitic incidents and hate crimes. But those early statements turned increasingly ominous as hatred brewed and the Israel-Hamas war stretched on with a bombing campaign that has killed thousands of Palestinian civilians.

In one week, a Jewish cemetery in Vienna was sprayed with swastikas and set on fire. Stars of David were spray-painted outside of buildings in Paris. And in Dagestan, Russia, a mob of protesters stormed a plane from Israel and searched a hotel, looking for Jews.

On Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told members of Congress that the terrorism threat to Americans, already elevated in 2023, had increased “to a whole other level” due to the war and warned of “historic” levels of antisemitism.

For residents of South Florida’s predominantly Jewish neighborhoods and cities, already on alert, a different kind of fear followed Oct. 7.

“This is the first time I really feel unsafe in the U.S.,” said Michele Lazarow, a Hallandale Beach city commissioner who is Jewish. “Maybe it’ll finally be when I get a firearm.”

The chabad houses that pepper Hallandale Beach always used to make her feel safe. Now she wonders if, like herself, the city is a target.

“I don’t even want to say it,” she told the Sun Sentinel on Tuesday. “There’s a very large Jewish community.”

Already, stirrings of hate have emerged in South Florida; in Parkland last Saturday, a group of masked minors shouted threats at Jewish congregants as they left synagogue, according to deputies and Rep. Jared Moskowitz, who belongs to the synagogue.

Palm Beach County has seen an uptick in reported incidents since Oct. 7, said Nightwine, the community security director. At the same time, rumors, false threats and hate speech have exploded online, which add to people’s fears.

He spends much of his time trying to distinguish misinformation from real threats.

“Just getting to what is actually credible and providing the community with a sense of safety, and the amount of just utter hate speech, and these threats, it’s a colossal work,” Nightwine said.

Islamophobic incidents and hate crimes have also risen nationwide since the attacks. In Illinois, a landlord is accused of stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy to death, shouting “you Muslims must die.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations has reported the largest wave in incidents since 2015, when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States.

But as home to one of the nation’s largest Jewish populations, South Florida has long contended with antisemitism. Over the two years prior to 2023, antisemitic incidents had already sharply increased in South Florida, though they were largely perpetrated by right-wing, neo-Nazi groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Almost 60% of all religion-based hate crimes in the U.S. in 2020 targeted Jews, more than any other group, despite the fact that they account for only 2% of the U.S population, according to the FBI.

Since the Oct. 7 attacks, antisemitic incidents across the country have increased nearly 400%, mostly attributed to pro-Palestine and anti-Israel sentiment and protests. Antisemitic rhetoric has also increased on the right; the ADL reported an over 1,000% increase in “the daily average of violent messages mentioning Jews and Israel” on right-wing extremist Telegram channels.

On Thursday, when Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody visited the Florida Department of Law Enforcement office in Boynton Beach for a confidential security meeting, a reporter asked whether she thought Palm Beach County was vulnerable.

“It’s no coincidence we chose to come to South Florida to make sure we’re imploring our communities to stay on guard,” Moody replied.

‘We’re Jewish, we don’t feel safe’

Kayla, 22, went to a gun range with her parents last month at her mother’s request. Her family had shot guns once, in Israel, where the recent college grad, who asked to keep her last name private for safety reasons, was supposed to move on Oct. 10. The plans are now delayed indefinitely, though that has not spared her family worry as antisemitic incidents unfold across the world, including the U.S.

“We were like ‘okay, we don’t really feel safe anymore,'” said Kayla, who lives in Hollywood. “We want to arm ourselves, especially because we’re visibly Jewish and we go to synagogue. Every aspect of our daily lives is Jewish: The supermarket, the restaurants we go to, and the neighborhood we live in.”

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Soon after submitting her request, she got a call from Steve Triana, a local firearms instructor who works for Florida Defense Training and runs his own company, Triana Training Concepts.

When Kayla, her mother, and her 63-year-old father arrived at the range for their lesson, he asked them for their back story and why they chose to learn, as he does every lesson.

“If you’re coming and you’re over twenty-one, my question is, ‘why now?'” he explained, referring to the legal buying age in Florida. There’s always a reason, something that makes the person feel unsafe in a way they hadn’t before.

Reluctantly, Kayla shared hers.

“It’s always kind of scary to tell people ‘We’re Jewish, we don’t feel safe,'” she told the Sun Sentinel. “I told him anyways, ‘We’re Jewish, we’re really not feeling safe.'”

Triana, it turned out, was also Jewish. He told Kayla’s family that they were not the first to call.

His evenings have been booked with students like them since Oct. 7. In the last two-and-a-half weeks, he told the Sun Sentinel on Tuesday, he has had 18 students, 14 of whom are Jewish, what he estimates is a 90% increase in Jewish students since before the war.

He knows they’re Jewish because he asks, but also because many are openly orthodox. Some have told him they’re rabbis; others come in with yarmulkes on. Like those in Saturday’s class, many are older, often couples.

For Triana, the influx began four days after the war broke out, when the company he works for, Florida Defense Training, began sending a large number of new students his way.

The fact that most of them were Jewish and Triana is also Jewish was a coincidence, said Carlos Gutierrez, the company’s co-owner. But word has since spread to others in the community; Kayla told Triana she’d share his contact information with her synagogue.

For Gun World, word-of-mouth in the Jewish community has also brougth new business. People in the community want to support a Jewish-owned business, Waltuch explained, even though, she added, “as a nice Jewish girl who owns a gun range, I like to go under the radar.”

A political shift?

The new interest in guns perhaps signals a broader shift since Oct. 7 and its aftermath as Jewish South Floridians re-examine their politics.

On the right, Gov. Ron DeSantis has used his pro-Israel stance as a selling point, sending law enforcement officers to protect synagogues and schools, decrying left-wing protests on college campuses and criticizing the Biden administration for sending aid to civilians in Gaza.

Rabbi Mark Rosenberg of Miami-Dade, a chaplain for Florida Highway Patrol, thanked DeSantis publicly on “behalf of the Jewish community” at the news conference in Boynton Beach on Thursday, saying that “Florida has emerged as a leader during troubled times.”

But many of South Florida’s Jewish voters have leaned away from DeSantis and the right, where antisemitism has also mobilized extremists.

“A lot of my friends who are liberal Jews are very, very confused right now,” said Triana, the firearms instructor. “They are struggling to make sense of the world. The world they saw on 10/6 is not what they’re realizing is the way the world worked.”

Commissioner Lazarow, a self-proclaimed liberal, said that she, too, had recently begun to question her political leanings.

“I used to say I vote Democrat, woman, Jewish,” she said. “Now I vote woman, Jewish, maybe Democrat.”

Before the war, Lazarow’s Jewish identity was rarely foremost in her mind. She would have mezuzahs on her door and wear a Star of David around her neck and think nothing of it. Now they are conscious decisions.

“This is the first time in my life I’ve ever worried about wearing the Jewish star,” she said incredulously. “Now I’m wearing it as a resistance. As a symbol of resistance.”

By the end of class on Saturday, some students described a sense of empowerment mixed into their fear and aversion to guns.

“That’s good, honey!” Peter said Saturday, as his wife hesitantly lifted her paper target, the bullet holes a bit off from the center, but still very much within the silhouette. “Don’t worry, you would stop them.”

Each time Rubin finished her turn shooting, she was so nervous that her hands shook. But as class neared an end, she appeared more determined.

“I think I know what I want,” she said, walking over to where some of the other students were sitting, repeating it out loud as she scrawled it on the back of her target: “A Smith and Wesson, nine millimeter.”

The 64-year-old says her friends think she’s crazy for buying a gun, but her Jewish family doesn’t. And even though she no longer practices the religion, Rubin said, she is still a Jew, she doesn’t know what is coming next, and she wants to protect herself.