#holly blue is such a nice name

[rupertholmes]

:3

[vintagesewingmachine]

[lostloveletters]

Still Crazy After All These Years (Bucky Egan x OC)

Summary: It's a perfect Saturday evening in spring, which means only one thing for the Egans: baseball (specifically their son's Little League game).

Note: Fluffy post-war fic of Holly and Bucky being unhinged Little League parents (but we love them for it🥲) Do not interact if you're under 18, terf or radfem, or post thinspo/ED content.

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: None.

“C’mon ump, that was out!” Bucky shouted from the bleachers. “Foul ball my as—butt,” he muttered to Holly, who had three-year-old Cynthia in her lap, her chestnut hair pulled up in twin ponytails that blew along with the late spring breeze.

The mid-May air was heavy with DC’s summer creeping up on them. The swampy, humid season dragged along until he finally reached fall’s reprieve. Spring was perfect, though, with its early season baseball games and cherry blossom festival. 

“It’s ridiculous.” Holly shook her head, her hand in the bag of pretzels she brought along, having carefully broken some into smaller pieces for Cindy.

“Who’s pitching? Is that the Baker kid?”

She nodded. “Yeah, Terry and Lynn’s youngest boy, Danny. He’s pretty good when he’s focused.”

“I can’t see,” Cindy pouted.

“Come on up, princess,” Bucky said, lifting his daughter and holding her on his hip. “Better?”

She nodded, wrapping her small arms around him as best as she could. 

“You know, when you’re a little older, they have leagues just like this for girls.”

“Honey.”

“I’m just letting Cindy know she has options!”

“Where’s Henry?” Cindy asked.

“You see him, right over there?” Bucky pointed at the boy playing shortstop whose dark, curly hair was barely contained beneath his blue baseball cap, a big orange ‘B’ for Bears embroidered on it. All of the local Little League teams were named after some type of animal, and Henry’s game schedule made him feel like he was in the Wizard of Oz with how many lions and tigers and bears were on the sheet of paper he brought home from his first day of practice.

“Henry! It’s Cindy!” she shouted, waving frantically at her brother.

The boy looked up, waving in the general direction of his family. Bucky and Holly had been in the middle of packing up the Christmas decorations when Henry asked them if he could sign up for the neighborhood Little League team that upcoming spring. Holly nearly dropped a box of glass ornaments in excitement.

Watching a major league game, Yankees or not, paled in comparison to cheering on for his own son. Even strikeouts and missed catches made Bucky overwhelmed with pride, because Henry was out there trying, making mistakes he could improve on in their backyard with Bucky’s encouragement to buoy Henry’s spirits if he felt a little discouraged—or got distracted. He had to give the coach credit. Keeping the attention of a dozen six- and seven-year-old boys long enough to teach them how to play a decent game of baseball couldn’t have been an easy feat.

“Out!” the umpire shouted.

Holly clapped as Henry’s team left the field to line up near home plate. “Now we’re talking.”

The kid batting before Henry hit a pop fly and was out before he could even make it a few feet from home plate. Bucky heard Holly take a deep breath when Henry walked up to bat. First pitch was a strike, but the second was almost perfect, the crack of the bat breaking through the crowd’s murmuring. The ball flew into the outfield, landing just in front of the chain link fence that separated the baseball field from the playground.

“Nice hit, Henry!” Bucky shouted.

Holly jumped up, bag of pretzels spilling across the bleachers. “Way to go, sweetheart!”

Bucky grabbed Holly’s hand as they watched their son pass first and make it to second before the centerfielder could throw the ball back to the infield.

“Kid’s a natural,” Bucky whispered excitedly, as all good parents do, adoration filling his chest. He pressed a kiss to the top of Cindy’s head. Holly liked to joke that the day Henry was born, Bucky cried more than their newborn baby did, but their son, and later their daughter, too, were the culmination of every hope and dream he desperately clung to for the better part of two years of just surviving. Because of that, he’d do anything for them.

He watched as the inning continued, his eyes on Henry the whole time. The next batter managed to get to first, but Henry flew past third and made a break for home just as the second baseman caught the ball.

“Go Henry!” Holly shouted. “Go go go!”

“You got this Henry! Come on buddy!”

Bucky was sure his heart was going to explode by the time Henry slid to home plate, barely a second before the ball flew into the catcher’s hand.

“Safe!” the umpire announced, nearly drowned out by Holly’s screaming.

“Attaboy Henry!” Bucky cheered.

“He did it! He fuc—flipping did it!” Holly gave Bucky a celebratory kiss, the two of them hardly able to contain their smiles long enough for their lips to meet for all that long. 

The rest of the game flew by. Nothing could compare to the rush of watching Henry steal home. The Bears won by a run, and Holly and Bucky were equally convinced it was thanks to their son. As soon as they found him after the game was over, Holly engulfed him in a hug, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“You did fantastic, sweetie! What a game!” she exclaimed, almost looking a bit teary-eyed when she took Cindy’s hand in hers.

“Look at you! Stole home like a champ,” Bucky said with a smile, pulling off Henry’s cap to ruffle his hair.

Henry smiled, front tooth missing, the first of his baby teeth to fall out. The tooth fairy had left him a quarter to mark the occasion. “Thanks, dad.”

“I think this calls for ice cream,” Holly said, as if they didn’t go for ice cream after every game Bucky was able to go to.

Bucky nodded. “Definitely. Whatever you kids want.”

——

Scoopland was one of the first places Holly had taken him to when they were stateside and he made the move to DC with her. A neighborhood staple she frequented before the war, she’d been excited to bring him there. The place boasted over 20 different flavors of ice cream, and after trying them all over the course of their first summer together after the war, found he liked their Rocky Road the best. Holly was partial to mint chocolate chip, a newer flavor which he thought tasted like toothpaste. 

Bucky walked up to the counter, tasked with ordering the ice cream while Holly wrangled Henry and Cindy into a nearby booth. She had the most difficulty getting Henry to sit down, since he spotted some friends from his baseball team on the other side of the ice cream shop.

“How’s it going Mr. Egan?” the teenage boy behind the counter asked.

“Can’t complain.”

“The usual for you guys?”

Bucky smiled. The usual. He wasn’t sure he ever figured himself to be the type of guy to have a usual at an ice cream place, but parenthood changed a lot of things. Sometimes, Cindy dealt out tea parties and temper tantrums in the same day. Henry got himself a trip to the emergency room just a few months prior while he was sledding on a snow day with his friends and went straight through a neighbor’s fence. He wasn’t sure how Holly managed on her own when he’d go away for work. At least her parents were nearby and took every opportunity to spoil their grandchildren that was presented to them.

He brought the four cups of ice cream over to the table, two in each hand, and placed the hot fudge sundae in front of Henry and tutti frutti with extra rainbow sprinkles in front of Cindy. He gave Holly a kiss as he handed her the cup of mint chocolate chip and snickered to himself when he sat down next to Cindy and saw Henry’s nose scrunched on the other side of the table.

“Listen champ, if there’s ever a day I don’t kiss your mom, that’s when you should be making that face.”

“‘S gross,” Henry said through a mouthful of ice cream.

“So is talking with your mouth full.”

Cindy stuck out her tongue, a distorted rainbow of ice cream and toppings that made Henry laugh.

“Next time, we’re taking you both to the zoo and leaving you there so the monkeys can raise you,” Holly said.

“We’re going to the zoo?” Henry asked. “When?”

“I wanna see a zebra and a giraffe!” Cindy exclaimed.

“How about next weekend?” Bucky looked to Holly for her approval, which was given in the smile that’d begrudgingly spread across her face.

Everything said and done, they made a damn good team as parents. Maybe he indulged the kids a little more than he should have, but Holly did her fair share of it too, letting Henry skip school to bring him and Cindy to weekday Nationals games for the hell of it. 

“Can I go say ‘hi’ to Danny and Paul?” Henry asked, looking over his shoulder at his friends who were waving at him.

“Fifteen minutes, but we’re heading home soon. It’s past your sister’s bedtime,” Holly said. “Don’t climb over the seat, Henry, that’s—” She sighed as he climbed over the back of the booth anyway, leaving a streak of dirt from his sneakers behind him. “He definitely gets it from you.”

“Me? The first time I met your parents, they made a point to tell me how much of a wild child you were,” Bucky reminded her with a grin.

Her parents were gracious enough to let him stay with them until he and Holly found a place of their own, although he was sure her returning with a ring on her finger made it easier for them to welcome him into their home. Holly must have done a hell of a job talking him up in her letters to them, because none of the awkward tension he’d been expecting was there when he first walked through the door to meet them.

Holly laughed to herself as she wiped off the seat with a napkin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Drawing on your bedroom walls?” he pressed.

“Can I draw on my walls?” Cindy asked.

“No. It wasn’t good when mommy did it.”

“Why not?”

“Because you have nice paper we bought for you to draw on, baby,” Holly said.

“It’s not as fun.”

“Sure it is,” Bucky said. “Remember the other day when we drew that castle with the unicorn and the dragon?”

She yawned. “You made the unicorn look funny.”

“Are you sleepy, Cin?” Holly asked.

Despite shaking her head, Cindy rubbed her eyes. She always did whatever she could to push out her bedtime, as if she were afraid she might miss something big if she went to sleep.

“I guess I should’ve asked mom and dad to watch her, huh?” Holly said. “I didn’t think we’d be out this late.”

Cindy mumbled something incomprehensible before dozing off.

Holly laughed softly, “And she’s out.”

“I got her,” Bucky said, picking up Cindy from her seat and placing her in his lap. She immediately curled up against him, and he tried not to think too much about how he wouldn’t know when the last time she’d ever do that would be. Hell, Henry was six and already ditching them to hang out with his friends. He glanced over at his son, face scrunched up in laughter at a joke one of them told him. His smile was like looking in a little mirror. 

Bucky ate a spoonful of ice cream, trying to tamper down the ache in his chest.

“You ever thought this would be how you’d spend your Saturday nights?” Holly asked teasingly.

“No.” Bucky smiled. “This is a lot better.”

[xoxo-sarah]

I Wanna Be Yours || Part 3

Part 2 | part 4

↝a/n: I'm so confused on how to spell Vickie's name. I had been writing Vicky but it looked wrong so I looked it up and it's apparently Vickie. I don't care enough to fix it with my other work so ignore it.

↝pairing:Robin Buckley x fem!Wheeler!reader

↝Warning: slightly proofread, mention of death, the graphic details of what Eddie said with Chrissy's death, Possible spoilers if you still haven't watched season 4, everything that happens in stranger things, slow burn, Vickie doesn't exist here, not because I don't like her, but because it's easier to write for Robin when she's not madly in love with another chick.

↝⎙ 7.11.23

Italic is memories

“The way he looked at you!” Chrissy continued to gush, kicking her feet in a 'schoolgirl' way. She stared up at you with her head in her hands, laying on her stomach. Homework was long forgotten.

“He looks at everyone like that.” Rolling your eyes, you turned back to your dresser, looking in the top drawer for a certain shirt you were meant to have worn the day before. You were pretty sure Nancy had stolen it at this point. Wouldn't have been the first shirt that had just wound up missing just for you to see either in Nancy's clothes basket or on her. “I saw him look at Mrs. O'Relle and I thought he was going to combust. He's just a naturally flirty guy. I don't even think he realizes it most of the time."

“Oh, okay. Yeah.” With her tone and the smile on her face, it was obvious she didn't believe a word you said.

After closing the drawer harder than you meant to, you turned, glaring at the girl. “Anyway… I don't like him.”

You regretted the way you said 'him' as soon as it rolled off your tongue. But you tried to play it off cool. However, she didn't.

“So there's another guy!” You were quick to shush her, with it being night and Holly had already been put to bed and the fact you did not want your parents or siblings knowing anything about your love life. “Sorry.” She moved to sit up, watching as you sat on the edge of the mattress. “So…?”

“So what?”

“What's so special about this guy?” She said it as if you were stupid for asking.

“Nothing. Well, not like-” Closing your mouth, you couldn't find the words. Your eyes danced around your room, taking in the tacky paint from your childhood that you have yet to cover up. “He's different.” No matter how much she tried for you to meet her eye, yours stayed glued to the wall In front of you.

After a few moments of silence, you glanced over, her face telling you to continue. Her smile was so sweet, happy for you.

“He's nice.” She. She's nice. But Chrissy didn't need to know that. This is the first time you've told her about anyone you have ever fancied in the 5 years you two have been the best of friends. She was over the moon. “He's smart. He looks good in blue or green.” Chrissy noticed the way your lip twitched into a small smile at the thought of this mystery 'man'.

“What does he look like?”

“Light-brown hair, blue eyes.” You began fiddling with your nightshirt. “Tall. Taller than me, at least. Uh,” You glanced back over, not wanting to be telling her this anymore. Sure, you've wanted to tell someone how you felt, how a girl you barely talk to could make you feel all kinds of giddy without meaning to. But this was too much. “Actually, I don't want to talk about this anymore. If you don't mind.”

Before she could reply, you clicked your lamp off, leaving you to get under the blankets in the dark.

Robin's nice. She's smart. She looks good in blue or green. She had light-brown hair and pretty blue eyes. She is taller than you. She is beautiful. She is someone you couldn't even admit to liking to your closest friend.

You know Chrissy would never judge you or make you feel less than, but it was just different. It always would be. Sadly.

“He sounds nice, like someone you should admit your feelings to.” Chrissy spoke up after a moment of silence, of which you had stared above you, darkness blocking the color of the ceiling. You nearly scoffed at her words. But you settled on humming in agreement, or maybe just to satisfy her.

“Her body just, like, lifted in the air and uh…and she just hung there In the air.” You all but flinched as Eddie explained what had happened, more in detail than what Max had explained, obviously. Robin glanced at you every so often, seeing you winch, wanting nothing more than to reach out and cover your ears or make Eddie stop talking. But they needed to know this, what had happened and maybe figure out why and what caused it. Because it certainly wasn't him.

You glanced up for a split second, catching Robin's concerned eyes. She held eye contact for a few seconds before looking back at Eddie, who was distraught and certainly didn't know what to do and where to go from here.

“Shh!” You tried to steady a giggling Chrissy. She kept moving and wobbling, making it challenging to walk straight when you, yourself, were drunk. You really didn't want your parents to hear you stumbling through the house.

“Tonight was so fun!” She whispered yelled, getting a look from you before you shushed her again. You tried to help her up the stairs, cringing when she'd giggle again or the stairs would creak.

Today had been a close game, making everyone stressed, which made tonight the night where everyone got drunk in a close celebration. You and Chrissy weren't people to drink, mostly because you were underage, but as said before, today was stressful. Maybe Chrissy had gotten a little too drunk. This was the first time, however. She's never one to take more than a few sips, out of the bitter taste that she hated. She would've probably drunk more if you hadn't told her it was time to go.

Finally up the stairs, you turned her body towards your room, holding your breath before you tried to guide her in the darkness.

Hearing a door creak open, you froze. Turning slightly, you saw Nancy looking at you with a disappointed mom face. She rolled her eyes before closing the door. You went back to your friend, shushing her again when she decided almost tripping over air was hilarious. She's definitely a giggle drunk.

Opening your door, you gently pushed her in. She dropped on your bed, face first, most likely smearing her makeup on your duvet.

Sighing, you went through your drawer, before throwing a big shirt at her. She flipped over, looking at the shirt as you went to the connected bathroom to change.

Walking out, you saw she had changed and was already under the blanket.

She motioned for you to hurry, bringing the blanket up more. “Tonight was so fun.” She repeated.

You hummed, getting under the blanket.

She continued talking. “Robin seems nice.”

“Mhm.”

“You two seem to be getting close.”

“Yeah, we work together in, like, 2 classes. She's smart.”

“Smart and nice.”

“Yep.” You flipped over, hiding the slight blush from talking about Robin. Not like it was much use, with how dark it was.

“Smart, nice, brown hair, blue eyes. She's taller than you. OH MY GOD.” She jumped up, eyes wide.

You quickly turned, shushing her yet again, trying to get her to lay back down.

“She's just like your crush!” She whispered yelled, again, not really whispering.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever, just lay back down.”

“That's so crazy.” She began to lay back down.

After a few moments, she spoke up again. You had to stop yourself from huffing, after nearly going to sleep.

“Y/n?”

“Yes, Chrissy?”

“Is Robin your crush?” You felt as if your heart fell out of your ass.

“No, why would you think that?” You stayed looking away from her, stretching your hands out so they'd stop shaking.

“She's the exact description of your crush. I mean, it makes sense. You have been hanging out-”

“We're partners in class-”

She continued, “You act differently around her.”

“Only because I don't really know her like I know you-”

“It's okay. I promise.”

You turned, knowing she's looking back at you. You feel like you could cry right now.

“Chrissy, please go to sleep.” You whispered, closing your eyes.

“Okay!” She turned, getting comfortable, before her snores started not even 3 minutes later.

Good God.

“And her bones-” Eddie made a sound, cringing, hating how it all replayed in his head. “Her bones started to snap.”

You stood from where you had squatted, feeling like you were getting strangled by air itself. Rubbing against your chin, you didn't know whether to keep listening or step outside, where the cool night air might make you feel better. Eddie continued, “Her eyes, man.”

Turning, you stepped over the other people and the mess of the shed floor, not really giving yourself time to grab your flashlight. “It-it was like there was something, like, inside her head, pulling.”

The door slammed closed behind you. The cool air fanned against your face, feeling the complete opposite of the frantic hot breaths, making your lips and hands tremble.

After a few moments, the door creaked open, a flashlight shining around until it shined on you.

“Dustin's telling Eddie everything.” Robin finally spoke after a moment. You simply nodded, looking into the nothingness of the night. “They said something about Vecna's Curse?” It sounded more of a question than a statement, honestly.

“The D&D dude?” She shrugged, not really knowing, herself. “Oh my- if I hear one more thing about that stupid game… I'm actually going to lose my mind.” She dryly chuckled, pointing the flashlight around the shed, noting how scary it looked with all the trees around. “It's getting chilly, let's see what they're doing for the night.” Her hand skimmed the tin door, looking for you to follow her. She watched you shakily inhale before stepping behind, following her back in. She didn't really know what else to do than send a sympathetic smile before turning around, opening the door.

“I'm scared!” You wailed, utterly done with this world at the moment. You really didn't care if you sounded like every teenager going through it.

Chrissy looked at you with so many questions, not prying questions. She wanted so dearly to hear you, to know how you're feeling and what's making you feel that way.

This wasn't how she pictured the conversation going. She innocently asked about Robin and how she was. But somehow it escalated to her telling you to just tell her how you felt, how you longed to be able to touch her soft skin, tell her all the things you have held back all this time.

“Why?”

“Why?” immediately, you felt bad for raising your voice when Chrissy's own voice wasn't. Hers was soft, genuine. “I can't just tell her.”

She wasn't oblivious, she knew why you couldn't openly express your love for someone, not like she could with Jason. “You don't have to kiss in public, just…tell her. She could feel the same-”

“Or she couldn't. And next thing you know, I'm the laughingstock of Hawkins. People can be cruel, Chrissy.” Your voice was strained, as was your head pounding. “I just don't want to talk about it.”

Although Chrissy wanted nothing more for you to open up to her, she let off for the time being. Maybe she felt guilty for always coming to you when something is a slight convenience to her. Or perhaps she felt hurt that she would tell you everything, while you were so closed off. It made her think that you didn't trust her like she trusted you.

“Jesus!” Dustin kicked the door to the shed open, startling Eddie.

“Delivery service.” The kid tried to lighten the mood, seeing his friend so on edge.

It was disgusting how Eddie was stuffing his mouth with food, but you get it. He hadn't eaten since the day before, and probably heaved that up.

“So we got, uh, some good news and some bad news.” Dustin started. “How do you prefer it?”

“Bad news first, always.”

“Alright, bad news.” Dustin continued. You couldn't help the yawn that made you cover your mouth, turning to face the water that looked so calm. “We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you. Also, they're uh,”

“They're pretty convinced you killed Chrissy.” Eddie turned to look at you as you turned your eyes away from the open view.

“Like, 100% kind of convinced.” Max spoke up from where she sat behind you.

Eddie turned back to his friend, awaiting the supposed 'good news'. “And the good news?”

“Your name hasn't gone public yet.” Both you and Eddie turned to Robin, both for entirely different reasons. Her eyes fell to yours for a split second, before returning to Eddie's curious ones. “But if we found out about you, it's a matter of time before others do too and, once this gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother is going to be gunning for you.”

“Hunt the freak, right?”

“Exactly.”

“Shit.”

“So,” Dustin spoke up again, “Before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him, and prove your innocence.” The way he spoke, it seemed like the easiest thing to do in the whole wide world.

“That's all, Dustin? That's all?” Sarcasm dripped from Eddie's words like venom.

“Yeah, no, that's pretty much it.”

“Listen, Eddie.” Once again, your attention was on Robin.

Her hair looked pretty today.

“I know everything Dustin is saying sounds totally delusional,” You couldn't help watching her hands as she waved them around. “But we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have a…few times, and I have once. Mine was more human-flesh-based, and theirs was more smoke-related.” She sighed, catching herself rambling. “But the bottom line is, collectively, I really feel we got this.”

Even as Steve began talking, you stayed looking at her, maybe longer than you should have because she glanced back down. “We usually rely on this girl who has superpowers. But uh, those went bye-bye, so…"

Robin spoke, “So we're technically in more of the-”

“Kind of-” Steve waved around.

“Brainstorming phase.” Max concluded.

“Brainstorming.” Steve snapped his fingers at her.

Eddie looked the most unsure of something you've ever seen somebody.

Dustin began sputtering, his voice going up an octave. “There…there's nothing to worry about.”

Steve scoffed, nodding along with Dustin. Eddie titled his head at them.

“Eddie, look.” He turned to you, looking for some kind of help here. “You don't really have a choice.” You didn't mean for the words to come out as harsh as they did, but with the lack of sleep -and the headache that was soon to be coming-you really didn't feel like apologizing. At least, not right now.

Sirens rang out, causing everyone to panic and rush forward towards Eddie.

“Tarp.” Robin pointed at the blue tarp. “Tarp. Tarp.” Eddie rushed to hide back under the thing he had been hiding under all night.

You all ran towards the window, watching as cop cars and an ambulance flew past.

“Nancy.” You were the first out of the car when Steve parked, nearly climbing over Robin in doing so. Nancy looked out of it, not knowing her right from left, up from down. She watched the car pull up, looking as if she were about to burst out in tears any second.

You held your sister in your arms, rubbing your hand up and down her back, trying to ease her emotions from your spot beside her.

“So, you're saying that this thing that killed Fred and Chrissy, it's from the Upside Down?”

“If the shoe fits.” Steve responded to Nancy.

“Our working theory is that he attacks with a spell or a curse.” Dustin wasn't quite sure of anything, at this point. “Now, whether or not he's doing the bidding of the Mind Flayer or just loves killing teens, we don't know.”

Nancy shrugged your arms off her, causing a frown to form on your face. But you didn't push it. Instead, you folded your arms over your chest, pushing another yawn down.

Max spoke up, “All we know is this is something different. Something new.”

“Doesn't make sense.” Nancy stated. Of course, it doesn't make sense, nothing has for the past few years.

“It's only a theory.”

“No, Fred and Chrissy don't make sense. I mean, why them?”

“Maybe they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Dustin countered, “They were both at the game.”

“And near the trailer park.”

"…"

“We're at the trailer park.” You and Steve spoke in unison, looked at each other, uneasy.

“Uh, should we maybe not be here?”

Everyone glanced around, uncomfortable.

“There is something about this place.”

“Let's go.” You stood, kicking your legs out from the table.

Yet, no one followed.

“Fred started acting weird the second we got here.”

“Then let's leave.” You urged them to get up, maybe run to the car and get the hell out of here.

“Acting weird as in…?” Robin questioned, watching as you looked around, a pit in your stomach.

“Scared, on edge, upset.”

“Max said Chrissy was upset too.”

“Yeah, but not here.” Max stated, remembering back to the bathroom. She turned to you, knowing you said she'd been acting weird around you too.

“We can actually talk about this in the car.”

Max continued, “She was crying in the bathroom at school.”

Looking away from everyone, you nearly jumped out of your skin when Robin touched your arm, trying to ease your nerves. Your face grew red, from the scare, of course. Not from her skin touching yours. Not one bit.

“Serial killers stalk their prey before they strike, right?” You gawked at her, “So maybe Fred and Chrissy saw this vecman-”

“Vecna.” Dustin quickly corrected.

“Dunno about you guys, but if I saw some freaky wizard monster, I would mention it to somebody.”

“Maybe they did.” Max states, “I saw Chrissy leaving Ms. Kelley's office. If you saw a monster, you wouldn't go to the police. They'd never believe you.”

To be fair, if you hadn't seen it multiple times in real life, you wouldn't believe anyone either. Unless it was Chrissy.

“But you might go to your-”

“Your shrink.”

Max's nod was enough for you to begin walking back to the car, knowing they were going to do the same. The faster you were out of this trailer park, the better.

“Woah, woah, woah, Nance. Nance!” Looking back, you watched Steve go after Nancy, seeing her walking away from his car. “Nance, where are you going?”

“Oh, there's just something I want to check out first.” She continued to walk backwards.

“Something you wanna share with us?” Dustin threw his arms open in question.

“Nancy?” You questioned her, not quite sure what was going through her brain, but you knew it was moving too fast right now.

“I don't want to waste your time. It's a real shot in the dark.”

“Yeah, okay. Are you out of your mind? Flying solo with this Vecna creep on the loose? No, it's too dangerous. You need,” He glanced back at the rest of us, before looking back at her. “You need someone to…" He trailed off before turning and throwing his keys at Robin. “Here, I'll stick with Nance, alright. You guys take the car, check out the shrink.”

“I don't think you want me driving your car.”

“Why?”

“I don't have a license.”

“Why don't you have a license?” He looked utterly flabbergasted, as if he hadn't been driving her around everywhere.

“I'm poor.”

Steve turned to you, getting a frantic shake of your head.

“Absolutely not.” It was too nerve wracking for you. The first time you tried driving, you nearly had a panic attack and your mother had to calm you down from the passenger seat.

“I can drive.” Max spoke up, nearly making Steve have an aneurysm. You could practically see memories of before flashing behind his eyes, causing you to hide your smile.

He automatically pointed at her, “No! No. Never again. Please. Anyone but you. No.”

Dustin shrugged, suggesting himself. “No chance.” Steve sighed, “No.”

“C'mon.”

Alright, okay. This is stupid." Robin grabbed a flashlight out of Dustin's bag, walking towards Steve and dropping his keys back in his hands. “Us ladies will stick together.” She turned, grabbing your arm and walking to Nancy. She gave you a questioning look, asking if you wanted to go with them. You slightly smiled, grabbing a flashlight out of the bag next, as Robin continued to poke fun at Steve. “Unless you think we need you to protect us.”

Steve sighed.

Robin smiled at him as he shook his head, before turning to walk towards Nancy's car.

“Be careful!” He called out, watching as you got into the car.

“Just gonna stand there and gawk?”

"Shut up.”

•2021-2024 by xoxo-sarah on Tumblr•

•My work is not to be translated, copied, modified, and/or reposted on any other site without my permission. [!I don't give permission!]

[freehounyaoi]

HALF LIFE VRAI (+gorgeous & og gordon) HEADCANONS IF YOU EVEN CARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BENREY WOOO

during. the end, he had 2 extra eyes, one above his left eye one below his right eye, now he has scars where they laid, they’re faint but he. is autistic im sorry he’s too me to not be he had a tail during the end too faint freckles ^_^ he REALLY likes red meat he likes blue flavor, not blueberries, not blue raspberry, blue stubble YAYY specifically in end, benreys feet to knees and hands to elbows fade into rlly dark blue/black looks like he’s dying of illness but like. has never been sick disassociates very often very touch very very touchy polyamorous, exes with forzen & is now crushing on both Tommy & gordon orphaned, kinda lived on his own since he isn’t human, picked his own name doesn’t actually have brothers, he’s a loser breaths through his mouth esp when he’s comfortable weird but like imagine he’s cuddled up to someone and he just yeah

COOMER YAYYY

fat, idc i’m right

gender-fluid, transmasc & gay ^_^ old man yaoi with bubby YAYYY

cool little funky punching enhancement thingies

big ol’ doe brown eyes

brunette hair before he started graying

after the resonance cascade he retired, they deserve it

has nightmares over clones. a lot, a big lot

autistic, everyone knows the science team kinda is autistic,

going off the autistic thing, one of his vocal stims is hello gordon

loves talking, loves it so much, he loves just talking to people she likes

has a high score on punch out & that one punching game where you punch the punching bag to get evaluated on

the reason is divorced because he realized he was gay

hawaiian shirts FTW!!

(most of these are somewhat canon, holly (his va) headcanons him as transmasc, short and stocky, and 5’4!)

Bubbster

Intersex & bisexual (idc if gir hcs him as straight it’s my world now/pf)

if he didn’t live with Coomer after the resonance cascade, he’d probably just be a basement dweller and just sit in the corner and cry

Bionic legs :3

canonically test tube baby, he’s probably really freaked the fuck out over it & has had genuine panic attacks over being artificially made, only in front of coomer

literally always has epi-pens for coomer

naturally(?) ginger idk what you wanna consider it, he’s canonically like 6 but in my head he’s like 67, he’s been locked in black mesa for 67 years

blue eyes

has a leather jacket with a tiger on it he will wear just to do so

has made the science team watch scrubs.. twice

picks at skin as a stress tick

has tourettes

near blind

when he got his bionic heart he died so he will sometimes just be like “hey guys i’ve died before”

being put back in the tube after betraying gordon was one of the worst things he’s been through, it was terrifying

GORDON FEETMAN!!!

also fat

joshua exists but he was an accidental pregnancy (gordon seahorse father yayy)

ftm based off last hc, that’s just canon cuz i said so

joshua is like, 9 in my head so gordon had him at like 18

bisexual

has a crush on benrey (canon but yk)

mexican and african

curly ass hair, takes really good care of it, always smells nice

bilingual

blind in left eye, 25% prescription in right eye

feels guilty as fuck even when everyone would joke about him being the cause of the RC

also autistic

wayne did not dk him justice when he lost his hand, he was screaming so gutturally loud it was painful, he strained his voice so bad, the pain was so excruciatingly terrible

tommy genuinely was the only one he could trust after benrey & bubby turned their backs on him, and that sucked because his feelings for benrey before that point were getting to him

only was adamant about not being friends with benrey at the end because of the betrayal, he wanted to hate benrey

tommy is like his. comfort friend, he doesn’t have to worry about him.. he does but he always feels comfy around him

Tommy cool man

Autistic, ADHD, PTSD and OCD

G man species, half human

strawberry enthusiasts:3 (me too)

every flavor tic tac enthusiast, always give the science team tic tacs like all the time

not very good at games enjoys playing them though

very touchy for multiple reasons

Sunkist service dog for multiple things as well, helps with panic attacks, PTSD symptoms, anxiety attacks etc

Tommy doesn’t know how Sunkist was trained to do all this, he made her sk he just kinda accepts it for how she is, and loves her

compression hugs, likes being laid on top of, it’s comforting

looks scrawny but can like. genuinely pick up all the science team & benrey with ease

started collecting propeller hats after the RC

the reason he can read sweet voice is cuz g-man species

thinking about getting a cat, maine coon or norwegian forest cat, he likes big ass animals

Sunkist is LARGE like large as fuck for a golden Tommy made sure she was huge

milk enjoyer :3 drinks it with most of his meals

wears readers

ANGEL KISSES!! (moles or beauty marks whatever you wanna call them)

tooth gap :3

walks on tiptoes

Gorgeous

6’7

cuts his hair into a fringe, lets it grow out to shoulder length, then cuts it fringe, never ending cycle

beauty marks man

freckles too

nobody fucking knows his trauma

doesn’t understand why he can understand cicero?? he just.. can??

learned ASL as a kid

clearly has some form of mommy issues he will not touch on

wears solid colors, he doesn’t wear shirts with decals, or anything, a. he doesn’t like them. b. for ASL purpose, it’s recommended to wear light/dark clothes (light in his case) depending on your skin tone to MAKE it easier to read sign, usually in light pink

prefers skirts cuz.. they’re comfy, usually knee & ankle length.. sometimes he will wear mini skirts……. cuz he’s gross

actually hates head crabs.

would be a nudist if it was sociably acceptable

actually really enjoys video games! he doesn’t talk about it, he’s good at them too

he’s a dog person, he wants a saint bernard

freeman YAYY

6’

beauty marks

patchy beard

dark hazel eyes

starting to grey, short pony tail

has scars from his HEV suit

actually lost his hearing DUE to the RC, his mother was deaf so that’s why he knows ASL, it completely shot out his hearing

has always dressed nice

cat person

Alyx is like his daughter to him

i can’t decide if he’s trans or not

same situation with gorgeous, he wears solid colors for ASL purpose

him and cicero have yet to find a way to communicate

when he found out alyx learned ASL for her boyfriend (this is canon, was planned for episode 3) he was over the moon

enjoys IASIP (it’s always sunny in philadelphia)

scary when he’s pissed off

G-Manual samual

major RBF

scottish

moles kuz hes kawaii

wears readers

hes autistic

going on with him being autistic, the fabric his suits are a comfort fabric to him

enjoys sitcoms

drinks his coffee straight black

he is trans masc to me

praises his employers like god tbh

if he were to drink, which he doesnt, his go to drink would be rum on ice

some form of alien, not from xen though, no one knows where hes from

some type of holy creature??? he cant die?? hes weird

you'll never see it but he doesnt bleed red, his blood is black

enjoys fishing

goes to bed at 11pm, wakes up at 4am hes weird

hes also the best father ever???

songs that remind me of science team members + benrey the 6th

Benrey the 6th

I Will - Mitski

Kiss Me, Son Of God - They Might Be Giants

I’m Gonna Win - Rob Cantor

Mad World - Tears for Fears

We Will Commit Wolf Murder - Of Montreal

Gallery Piece - Of Montreal

Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears

The Party's Crashing Us - Of Montreal

Tommy Coolman

Living Island - POGO

Fireflies - Owlcity

Teenage Dirtbag - Weetus

rises the moon - liana flores

Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy - Queen

Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears

[my-name-is-bunnyfoxy]

So for the TMNT shipping thing…

Leosagi maybe? It doesn’t matter which version though.

I'm not gonna include 1987 and 2012 since I'm pretty sure in those versions Usagi is an adult. I'm unsure whether I should put Yuichi since most people ship him with Leo but you know what why not.

2003 Leosagi:

I actually really enjoy their dynamic and how they act towards each other. It's so sweet and wholesome.

I also love their ship name, katana duo (I think-)

Honestly to me they work as both bros and gays.

I do like the episode where Leo was yeeted into Usagi's dimension.

And oh my god them in the big brawl episodes>>>>>>>>>>>>

TMNT WHY DON'T YOU MAKE THEM GAY ALREADY??

Please just give us normal Leo love interests...

Wish we got more of them though

Pretty much I'll give this ship a solid 10/10. Very nice.

Rise Leoichi/Leosagi:

This was my actual introduction to the Leosagi ship. Also ironically Rise was what got me back into the fandom last year xd

I really wanna watch Samurai Rabbit because of Yuchi. He's such a dumbass.

Dumbass x dumbass who have the ability to be smart but don't use it

When Worlds Collide fanfic... (Okay i haven't actually red it but from the animatics and fanart GOD DAMN IT)

Blue boys

They definetelly would talk about their ancestors 24/7.

Like 2003, I'm cool with them being platonic friends who maybe as a joke act gay cause they find it funny.

My BIGGEST gripe however, with this ship is how much I hate the reused stereotype and how they meet. I stopped liking and ended up hating Yuichi being a bartender at Run of the Mill. It just became overrated. And sometimes Yuichi has almost little to no personality and is reduced to the love interest the main character must have. Also I feel like people should tag Rise Leo x Yuichi Usagi as Leochi because Miyamoto Usagi and Yuichi Usagi are two different characters. Plus I don't like how some fans get pissed off all because you don't ship them (ngl I have a huge fear people will attack me cause I ship Leo with a girl HOLLY SHI- Honestly that also would be funny at the same time xp)

I kind of doubt they will use Yuichi as a crossover with TMNT but we can always rely on fannon.

A good enough ship, 7/10. Mainly because I want more original ideas for Yuichi and that people stop copying each other's stories.

[koukaaa-descent]

tell me more about monsoon and indigo please (politely) ((its Hollie and Rose)) (((Rose is our Bracken)))

HI AGAIN HOLLIE IMGLAD YOU LIKED LAMP,,, HELLO ROSEITS NICE TO MEET YOU 👋👋👋

starting with monsoon,,

Monsoon gestated on Vow and was born there. Its birdlike attributes came about because a manticoil died and was absorbed into the soil almost directly above Monsoon’s incubation area, further changing its features. A Bracken is a very adaptable creature in its early life stages.

Monsoon’s beak isn’t explicitly hooked as you might expect in a hawk or falcon. It has a small curve and remains very sharp but seems otherwise harmless. (Indigo would say otherwise; whilst raising Monsoon, it bit him enough times while feeding that he has enough scars to cover half of his hands and some even go up to his forearms. Three bites went down to the bone. Monsoon has, indeed, consumed some small pieces of Indigo.)

The blue dots scattered on Monsoon’s body are a result of a regular variation in Bracken markings, typical of the baseline species. They work typically to confuse its prey or otherwise disorient, seeing as the contrast between the reds and stark blues serves to strain most of its prey species’ eyes. This usually presents in normal brackens as varying browns, light blues and whites.

They also have a lot of symbolism for Indigo. Beneath the light, they appear to be a stark shade of (the color) indigo. Indigo considers them to be the mark that he himself has left on Monsoon’s life.

Monsoon is a ‘special case’ among brackens regarding symbiotic behaviors typically shown with the ones that raised it. Normally, a Bracken leaves their pseudo parents after reaching a juvenile age. Monsoon stays with Indigo far beyond that age range, and displays behaviors that are incredibly odd. You could consider Monsoon to be technically tame. (It is still a wild thing!!!! A very wild thing!!!)

There have been no recorded cases of a Bracken being raised by a humanoid before then. This excludes Masked and Coil-heads. Thus, the behaviors that Monsoon has adopted are recognizable as Indigo’s own habits, body language, and tones.

Monsoon’s kind of like a very large bird. It does sometimes ‘preen’ the foliage on its back. (Yes, it tries to preen Indigo too, to varying success.)

Monsoon runs fairly cold, as it does not have blood.

It does not have bones.

It does have organs.

Monsoon has never met another Bracken, but has interacted closely with Nutcrackers, Masked and jesters. (It likes the music :])

Monsoon is very flexible. It does not have bones to restrain it.

It’s an extremely messy eater. Indigo mostly just lands on March or Vow and lets Monsoon hunt down some manticoils. There have been multiple occasions where Monsoon’s dragged a masked’s corpse back half eaten, oftentimes with the masked still writhing. It’s kind of like how cats drag rats back home.

Ok. Ok I could say More. But I have to move onto Indigo or else I never will

Indigo has four molars and an overbite.

He cannot hear amazingly well, but his sense of hearing is very keen in regards to small, barely audible sounds. For example, he would sooner pick up on a Bracken’s leaves rustling a room away than he would a jester’s song. There are certain frequencies that Indigo cannot hear at all (which also ties in a bit regarding his struggle to hear a jester’s song.)

His eyes are rounded and fairly similar to a Bracken’s, minus the glow. They’re just a solid, glassy white. He is not blind.

Due to his biological composition, there are certain entities who may entirely ignore him. Coil-heads, Masked and Nutcrackers never pay much attention to him unless he explicitly attempts to catch their attention. The chances that they outright ignore his presence are about an 80/20 ratio.

Indigo does not have a good grasp of his emotions.

Indigo is the one who named Monsoon.

Indigo has no real idea how old he is physically, yet retains physical reflexes and body language from previous ‘iterations’ of him. (previous individuals/creatures he was made from.)

He has salivated blood before. Small amounts that stung the inside of his mouth. Wonder where that came from?

Indigo does not have a stomach.

Indigo spent 2 weeks of his life raising Monsoon. Before that, he’d only been alive for roughly four days and with his original crew for two days before getting two of them killed as a result of his actions. The third died in the attempt to protect him from a Masked, which was curious about him, which ultimately meant nothing.

There are incredibly small spines that extend from the bones of his spinal cord, usually remaining pressed flat against his skin to avoid chafing. The longest is only an inch long.

Indigo bites things a lot as a way to stim. It also feels good for his teeth.

Autism. He’s just not alive long enough to discover most of the symptoms aside from biting.

Again, he’s very bad at social interactions. He’s more likely to stare than he is to respond if you greet him.

this is all I can think of rn .,,,. My brain Empty….

[annahanover]

Writing Masterpost

Hatchetfield:

Your burden is a lie, so you lift your head up high - Grace Chasity character study

I'm just a pawn in your game; not your partner in crime - Miss Holly's Toys AU

Can't you hear it? It can hear you - Miss Holly's Toys AU

The devil has won, it can't be undone - Miss Holly's Toys AU

Many children she has buried; their memories are mine - Miss Holly's Toys AU

Now I laugh and make a fortune off the same ones that I tortured - Miss Holly's Toys AU

Everything stays, but it still changes - Holloweane

By the moonlight in the cemetery - 5+1 fic about Holloway and death.

Past loves linger like phantom limbs - Miss Holly's Toys AU

Swap AU Ficlets for my Mental Health - Miss Holly's Toys AU

Even a hero needs some hope - Miss Holly's Toys AU

Call me pretty, not my name; they'll forget it all the same - Holloweane

sheep in wolf country; perfect all your smiles so you look a bit less like a threat - Miss Holly's Toys AU, Dukebur/Social Apple

All the things I could've been, but I never had the nerve - Miss Holly's Toys AU, Hollowebby

I am expecting you to betray me - Campfire Confessions

You tell me I'm wasting time in your embrace, I wish you knew that I would stay - Holloweane

i knew you before we met (i don't even know you yet) - Holloweane

candles and confidences - Roleswap Holloweane

hold your light to the darkness in my head - Campfire Confession

I would say I'm sorry, if I thought that it would change your mind - Multichapter, many ships. Max doesn't die AU

a silver storm - Fantasy AU, Social Apple

look at the clouds as lightning struck - Fantasy AU, Social Apple

just a different kind of lonely - Miss Holly's Toys AU, Social Apple

i will not cry, i'm okay; i tried so hard to play their way - Grace Chasity character study, canon compliant, heavy trigger warning for the aftermath of sexual assault

moments of apotheosis - How multiple Hatchetfield characters got infected.

i am with you, or i'm alone - Campfire Confession

just as sweet as arsenic - Halogear

daughters of sinners, sons of saints - Halogear

i've seen her walk and her feet barely touch the ground - Holloweane

everyone isn't bad (everything's not a sin) - Carrie AU Lautity

a pair of blue eyes with some nice things to say - Holloway/Becky

some sunny room somewhere - Lautity

your friend in this world (and the next) - Holloway/Emma Perkins

Spies Are Forever

The words I speak are wildfires and weeds - Owen and Tatiana character study

these hands of mine are clumsy, not clever - Curt and Tatiana, character study, featuring little!Tatiana

be wary of all those things dead - Spies Are Monsters AU, Owen and Tatiana, little!Tatiana, caregiver!Owen.

what's lost is won, and so what? - Curtwen

i keep a book of the names (and those only go so far) - Curtwen

once a man that i trusted (where have you been?) - Curtwen

heroes, villains, vanish in the tide - Curtwen

i'll be your lambs blood on the wall - Tatiana, Camp Here & Spies AU

it seems to me what we want and we need are the same (and that's someone who'll worry about us) - Spyentist, Camp Here & Spies AU, little!Tatiana, caregiver!Barb.

Adamandi

telling me to hold on longer when I inevitably fail - Quincy Martin

if i can't be perfect (why am i here?) - Ambrose character study

Love in Hate Nation

it seems all we see is misery at the end of our ropes - Dorothy Donaldson, examining her parallels with Asp, and her relationships with the other girls.

finding bones, finding ghosts - Sheila Nail, while in solitary.

Danger Days

The Kids From Yesterday - Multichapter, Kobra and Poison.

Sweeney Todd

Let my spirit flow to the sea - Multichapter, Johanna's perspective of Sweeney Todd.

Heartless

when have you ever known the world to be a fair place? - Hatta, following Jest's death.

Pulp Musicals

murder wouldn't even cross their minds - Part 1 of the Anna Hanover Has A Bad Time Cinematic Universe, which features the events of Newton's Second Law going horribly, horribly wrong.

i'm the well they're gonna drag you down - Part 2 of the Anna Hanover Has A Bad Time Cinematic Universe, in which Anna visits the Brick Family on the Ellen Austin.

stolen sympathies for all my worst mistakes - Before the great moon hoax, Anna and Benjamin meet in a bar and Benjamin struggles with his feelings.

tell me it's inevitable that i'd end up with scars - Anna Hanover and Charles T. Coram do their best not to hate each other. Script format.

Little Shop of Horrors

and who's to say that someone new would treat me any better than you? - Audrey/Seymour, hurt/comfort

I Am Not Okay With This

next time i'm home i'll still be the same - Stanley Barber, after Syd storms out of the bowling alley.

Tuck Everlasting

left alone, left to drown in my prime - Miles reflects on his immortality.

Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story

ghosts in a graveyard of broken bows - Multichapter, ongoing, Matilda Bishop and Kat Van Tassel.

Pippin

spotlight on Mr Ingénue - The Leading Player and Pippin, during the Finale.

[djsherriff-responses]

Personal opinions and general character design critique regarding the Nymphs from Rayman (spoiler: they all suffer from having same face/body syndrome and the designers being too horny to consider other design elements)

Betilla: I feel her origins redesign was a downgrade from her whimsical style in the first game, but I also do understand why they wanted to change her, as origins was meant as a reboot of the franchise and they wanted Rayman to be the only limbless in the Glade of Dreams. But since origins ended up not being a series reboot (with its plot only existing in code) and Rayman having skins/costumes who are meant to be different limbless characters anyways , changing Betilla drastically was already meaningless in the long run , much less the choice to make her be a basic hot nymph

Outside of it being impossible to Google her name in front of family , I personally don’t mind how she looks in Origins as the red hair contrasts really nicely with the greens, if you really wanna push some symbolism imagery here you can make arguments the red + green is meant to be reminiscent of flowers or berries. Ultimately though it is just a green bikini outfit with thigh highs and the only real connection to her role as the nymph of the forest/jungle area of the game is the colours, and maybe the odd stitch work pattern

Which is a bit of shame as you can easily replace the blue stars of her old design with an actual star-ish looking flower called Bletilla (literally one letter off from her actual name) or other flora

I don’t think the issue was they wanted to give Betilla a redesign that had sex appeal , I just think they went in the wrong direction with it. Considering that she played a large role in the old educational games and she was a sort of mentor figure to Rayman (if not just straight up his mother depending on one’s headcanons), they could’ve given Betilla a personality and sex appeal by making her a hot teacher type character (who may or may not count as a milf), hell give her signs of age like small wrinkles to really get the point across she’s older than most of the player characters, and she’s aged like spicy fine wine

Her design in the first game is adorable while giving her the vibes of a mature fairy god mother type mentor, but I don’t think it would work in the more modern Rayman games without some updated tweaks. It is pretty though and does has more personality than her origins design, and the other nymphs for that matter

Holly: I like that there’s some actual details on her and some colour variation compared to her sisters, even if she’s 3 out of 6 nymphs whose main colour is some shade of blue

Besides giving her an outfit that isn’t a skirt and bra, I think her design could better reflect that her domain is the desert of dijiridoos by having some musical elements to her design. It’s kinda odd her tattoos/body paint (which do look good on her and her skin tone) don’t reference musical notes at least, wasted opportunity there

I have this issue with Edith and Annetta as well, but I’m a bit confused about why dead animals seems like a popular fashion choice for these ladies , especially since (in the origins game) none of the nymphs are shown as fighters (not saying they’re incapable, the game just doesn’t show them as such) and we’re not giving lore hints about it? I’ll talk more on this issue when I get to the other two , but it’s odd that Holly’s domain is populated by birds and she’s wearing a bird skull

Was it a nightmare and she kill it? Is it a beloved pet and she couldn’t part with them even after death? 🤷‍♀️

I can’t really think of any alternatives for her or the other two animal hat sisters atm, but at least it’s looks badass even if it doesn’t do much personality wise, so points for looking cool at least

Edith: Edith I think is the worst design of the sisters , hands down, no competition. I mean , what is there to really say about her? “Oh we have a level based around a combination of spicy food and ice drinks with dragon butlers , how should we design this chick?”

“Just put her in red with a lizard hat”

Almost nothing about her design reflects her domain besides that she’s blonde and wears red , and that’s only half of the domain she’s meant to be part off. Her outfit pattern could’ve at least have some reference to the ice levels, or give her literally anything to connect her to those ice levels

I also don’t like how her hair is styled, the colour is fine but the shape looks ugly

Incredibly morbid Edith walks around with a dead butler on her head, especially considering the final boss/king of her level is also a dragon. Unlike Holly and Annetta, I can’t even give Edith credit for looking cool because it’s just more red on a very red and bland design

…… do you think Edith uses her corpse hat as a hand puppet?

Annetta: While I think it’s a weird choice to have nymphs of nature walk around with corpse head gear (much less ones of their domain’s general population) I think Annetta is the most justified of the nymph sisters to be wearing a hat made of a dead animal

Considering that her domain has a notable fishing population and she’s already dressed in fish scales, Annetta wearing a fish skull does actually contribute to showing the lore of her as a character and her connection to her domain. Unlike Holly and Edith , I don’t need to come up with some theory about their fashion choices when Annetta’s reflects already existing lore in origins (what little of it at least)

I personally do think the outfit looks ugly and plain uncomfortable, but I will give this design some credit for having one of the more visually detailed designs by virtue of her scales alone, and it actually makes sense for the nymph whose domain is the literal ocean to be in a skimpy outfit, even if her shell bra has to be glued on to her boobs

Unlike Edith’s outfit colour which is just red, Annetta’s has various shades of blues and teals that are reminiscent of the sea. It’s pretty I like it

Helena: Much like Edith there’s not that much to say here but what I can say is mostly positive

Helena’s a pretty standard design of “blonde chick in cool blues with white fluff details” and yeah that’s generic usually, but here I really like her. I think it’s how the fur and cloth looks textured along how her hair front is styled that makes her incredibly cute to me

Yeah, Helena is a simple but cute character design

Weird that a mountain nymph who has to live through cold weather wears a skimpy outfit with her bare thighs out , but I’m gonna assume that’s because she , much like her sisters, was designed to be sexy first and given aesthetics after they made the body model

Fée de la Mort/VooDoo Mama/Big Mama: As cool as she looks, when compared to both her monster form and the other nymphs , you can tell she wasn’t planned to be one of them, especially when you look up Mamma Hite

I bring that up because while Fee has a good design, she is also a visual metaphor that reflects Origins’ identity: a failed series reboot whose plot was scrapped in favour of goofy extremism (or sex appeal in the nymphs case)

So about Fee’s actual design: I personally don’t like the pink used on her and would’ve liked her Nymph form to reflect the monster form besides the hair

probs to the fact she’s the only nymph with her own pose which already gives her a lot of personality , but the combination of her tattoos, bone jewellery and her baggy looking eyes really sells the fact she’s from the land of the livid dead and thus sticks out amongst the other fairies, even if you ignored the bat wings she has

visually she does work as a undead fairy of the underworld who likes to rock and roll, so job well done with that

I kinda do wish they stuck with the frog though

[sorryjustafangirl]

make it to christmas

a/n: in the absolute middle of exams, winter, homesickness, and holiday stress, i was well overdue for some (resolved) angst me thinks. this is also based off one of my fav christmas (sad but upbeat) songs of the same name by canadian icon alessia cara. i really hope you enjoy!

word count: 2.7k+

pairing: quinn hughes x gn!reader

warnings: swearing, kinda rude parents, mentions of Christmas, sad quinn a little, i can't think of anything else?

disclaimer: this is a piece of fiction so don't come for me about real life stuff. also i didn't make the gif, @gabelandeskog did (and it looks amazing!)

Quinn gets distant with you when the team is on losing streaks. When the team was on losing streaks in the winter? It would get worse. 

After three years with him, you’d noticed that this time of year makes your boyfriend get in his head a little. His frowns were a little deeper, the light rarely reached his eyes even around you. He always said it was the lack of snow Vancouver got that messed with his winter routine. When he told you that, you made him promise that he’d tell you when he was feeling particularly sad. 

He was good at keeping that promise. During the winter months when the sun set too early and the sky was grey for days on end, he’d be quiet for a day or so before confiding in you under the comfort of the covers. If things got bad, the two of you would watch reruns of Friends until he fell asleep to your heartbeat and the claps of the theme song. You’d always savoured the winter because there were so many of those moments you’d get to spend together.

But this year, it felt different.

The whispers in the dark never came and he never gave the pleading eyes to watch a show. He’d open his phone again and again, the blue light reflecting onto his face but a smile never came. You’d try to pry a little — he never did respond well to it — but you knew this wasn’t your Quinn, winter or not. 

The breaking point came when he stopped saying ‘I love you’. He never failed to say it or even send a text with it before one of his games, and he especially never forgot on road trips. But now? You couldn’t remember the last time you were able to slip into bed beside him, and say a ‘love you’ without the ache in your chest of knowing you won’t get anything more than silence in response. 

“Do you still want to come home with me for Christmas Eve?” you asked one night, when you saw the date in your calendar. 

“If you want me to, yeah sure,” he mumbled, barely looking up from his phone. You couldn’t even fake a smile at his response, just settled into bed. He may have been beside you but he might as well be a thousand miles away. 

On Christmas Eve, the two of you had dressed silently. It wasn’t like a no words communication, it was no communication, a stark contrast to other occasions when music had been playing and Quinn had been asking your opinion on which tie matched your clothes the best. Now, you waited by the door, the car keys in your hand until he came out of your bedroom, took them, and silently moved out the door. You locked the door on your own, your boyfriend twenty steps ahead of you. You sighed. 

“Just make it to Christmas,” you whispered to yourself. 

The car ride was silent and you just couldn’t take it anymore. 

“I got Milo and Coolie some cute toys I thought they’d like. They’re wrapped under the tree for when you see Brock next,” you offered. He just grunted in response and you sighed a little. 

“Did Petey say what he was doing for the holiday break?” You asked, turning slightly to see his face better but the frown never left his face.

“No.”

“Oh, Holly sent us their family Christmas card, they all look so nice. Did you see them?”

“No.”

You took a pause. “Did you want to see?”

“No.” 

You pursed your lips, sighed a little, and sunk further into the seat, looking out the window so he didn’t see how his behaviour was affecting you. 

When he pulled into your parents driveway, you could see all the bright yellow lights and your family already sitting in the living room with smiles on their faces. Usually, a sight like this would make you excited to bolt out of the car and be in the warm familiar house. This time, it only filled you with dread, having to pretend your relationship was okay, and you sighed for the last time. 

“That’s the third time you’ve sighed like that,” He said, unbuckling his seatbelt. Oh so now he was attentive? Sure. “What’s up?”

“It’s nothing, let’s go.”

“It’s not nothing, what’s the matter?”

“Q, can we not do this right now? My family is waiting on us and I don’t want either of us to be grumpy. Let’s just try to make it to Christmas please,” you grumbled. He just grunted and got out of the car, his door slamming behind him. You took a deep breath before exiting the car yourself. At least he’d been bothered to wait for you before walking up to your parents’ house. 

But when your dad opened the door, it was like a switch was flipped. Your boyfriend smiled, shook your dad’s hand, and passed the gift (that you were a little confused on where it came from since you hadn’t bought it — and you did the holiday shopping for the both of you) to your mom. 

He sat on the couch with his arm draped around your shoulders. He brought you a drink in your favourite mug without asking. He held your hand and caressed the back of your hand when your dad brought up a work project that frustrated you. There would be times when you were talking to your sister and his arm would rest on your thigh and you’d forget about everything that happened before and just relish in his love. But as soon as it moved, the cold seeped in and you were reminded that this was not the regular anymore – this was a one-off and only a matter of time before it wasn’t there at all.  

“Y/n, honey, could you help me in the kitchen really quick?” You mum asked.

“Yeah, sure. Be right back, Q.” You started to get up from your place on the couch but Quinn leaned over, quickly giving you a peck on the cheek. 

“Hurry back babe.” He winked, throwing you a little off-guard. This was like the Quinn you knew, but where has he been the past four months? You walked into the kitchen, ready to help your mom but she was ready with questions.

“Is everything okay sweetheart?” Fuck fuck fuck. You tried to give her your best confused face instead of the panic in your mind that she saw right through your facade. 

“Yeah, why do you say that?” 

“You just look a little down,” she said, rubbing your arm lightly. “Even with that boy so nice to you, you just don’t look super happy. And it’s Christmas! Is everything going okay with him? He’s not too busy with work, is he?”

“No, Mom, he’s fine,” you lied. “We’re fine, thank you for checking.” 

“Well, if you say so sweetheart. There’s no shame in breaking it off with this hockey boy so you can have something where you’re happier.” 

You swallowed a lump in your throat. “I’m going to be right back.”

“Don’t go anywhere! I’m making hot chocolate with marshmallows before the board game,” she called after you, seemingly aware that she sent you into a tailspin. 

“I’ll just be a minute, you can get started without me.” You were already halfway down the hallway by the time you said it, your focus on nothing but getting out of the room. 

You walked out the back deck, taking in the night sky and silence. You took deep breaths. It just didn’t make sense. How could he just think that nothing is wrong in front of your family? Act so carefree so easily? You were struggling to even smile at his gestures, wondering what got into him to act like his old self and your mom noticed. She noticed and basically told you to break up with him, so nonchalantly, like she’d never taken your relationship seriously. 

“Hey. Here.” His voice interrupts your racing mind and you turn around to face him. In his hands is the hoodie he keeps in the car in case you get cold, outstretched to you. You suddenly are aware of the goosebumps all over your arms and how you could see your breath. You take it and pull it over your head as Quinn walks closer to be beside you. 

“What’s wrong?”

You scoff. “What's wrong?”

“Yeah, you never miss out on a hot chocolate, especially not with the marshmallows. What’s wrong?” He didn’t seem to have caught onto the slight edge in your voice, and you dropped the attitude. 

“If I’m honest, it’s us,” you huffed. 

“Us?” You could see the furrow in his eyebrows even if you weren’t looking at him. “We’re fine, aren’t we?”

“For the past two hours when we’ve been in front of my family, sure. But even my mom noticed I’m not really happy. In two hours, my mom saw what you couldn’t in months! Q, it’s been weeks since we’ve been really fine. Weeks. We are not fine! There’s all this distance between us, even when you’re sleeping right beside me! When was the last time we went out on a date? When’s the last time you even had time for a date? Time for me? We haven’t talked about anything other than hockey and my job for what feels like months!“

He goes to open his mouth but you cut him off. “And I know, I know, it’s winter, this is how you get. But it’s not. Quinn, I’ve been around enough to know what it’s like in the winter but this is something else. You give me one word answers, you’re shutting me out. I can’t even remember the last time you said you loved me. It’s fucking different and I’m so so close to saying fuck it and throwing the towel in!” 

“Then why didn't you? Why did you invite me here?”

“Because it’s Christmas! Because I’m an idiot! Because I’m not ready to give up on you! Because I keep thinking that this is just a bump in the road and one day, we’ll feel like us again, just like we did in there! Because if you didn’t come, my dad would give me such a look of pity at the empty chair beside me and my mom would tell my sister “I told you so” when she has evidence you’re too busy for me. And on Christmas? I…I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it. Break up with me on Boxing Day, but can we please just make it through Christmas?”

“Wait, break up? Who said anything about a break up?”

“Isn’t that what you’ve been wanting to do? Why else have you been so distant these past few months, so engrossed in your phone?” You said, crossing your arms across yourself and looking down at your feet. 

“I’ve been trying to propose.”

You stared at him blankly. “To me?”

“No, to Brock. Yes, of course to you.”

Your mouth hung open in shock. “You’re joking.”

“I wouldn’t joke about this.”

“I’m not following,” you said, genuinely confused. Where was this coming from?

“This isn’t how I wanted to tell you all this, but you remember that night out on the lake in July? When we went out and watched the sunset and you told me you could do this for the rest of your life?” You nodded.

“That’s when I knew I wanted to marry you. So I started looking at rings, asking some of the married guys for advice, that sort of stuff. But when I went to my mom to ask for her help picking out a ring, she…she just seemed surprised that I didn’t know what you wanted. I went through your jewelry box and everything but I still couldn’t figure it out. So I started to think that maybe I didn’t know you as well as I needed to before we got married.” He looked down at his feet as he started shuffling them side to side. 

“And then when I asked your parents about marriage, your dad didn’t look very impressed with me. Like they said fine, but they didn’t seem over the moon that I was going to be the one asking. That’s why I acted so different in there. I…I didn’t want your parents to think they made a mistake by telling me yes. I guess that all of that just made me feel really insecure about me and this lifestyle that threatens to move us across the country in one second! I was insecure in our relationship, convincing myself that you and your family wanted no part in being part of the league, part of the drama, the chaos. Believe me, you’re the last person I ever want to hurt and I was just too much in my own head to see how it was hurting you, and baby, please, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I-“ he cut himself off. “I can’t believe I let myself get so caught that you don’t remember I love you. Because I do. I love you a lot. A whole fucking lot, I can’t even explain it. I want to marry you, please, I don’t want to break up.” He made eye contact with you then, his brown orbs void of anything but sorrow. 

You felt your own eyes welling up but you had to get it all off your chest before consoling him. “Why didn’t you just talk to me about this?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want you to tell me our parents were right. I thought if I kept it to myself, you wouldn’t notice how I might not be enough for you.” 

The tears that had welled in your own eyes started to fall and there were no words coming to mind that could do your feelings justice. Instead, you wrapped your arms around his neck fiercely. His arms wrapped around your waist with as much ferocity and one of your hands held the back of his head. 

“Not enough for me? You are everything,” you whispered into his ear. 

“Don’t quote The Office to me.” His voice was muffled by your shoulder but you could hear the slight smile in it. 

“Q, I don’t care what my parents said. I don’t care that you don’t know what ring I would want – I don’t even know what kind of ring I’d want! I don’t care about any of that; I care about you. I love you. And you are enough. You are all that matters to me.” 

He pulled away from you, slowly, to see your face but his body stayed as close to you as possible. 

“I don’t know what I did to deserve someone as good as you.” Your face softened. One of your hands moved to cup his cheek and he leaned into your touch. 

“It doesn’t matter. You have me. But the next time you feel like this you have to talk to me, okay? I was absolutely miserable when you wouldn’t communicate with me and I thought you didn’t…”

“Believe me, I’m never again going to let you believe, even for a second, that I don’t love you with every fiber in my body. I’ll talk with you next time,” he promised, pressing a long kiss to your temple and pulling him towards you again. “Now, you’re freezing and look desperately in need of a hot chocolate, so let’s get you inside.” 

As the two of you walked back towards your parents place, hand in hand, you turned to look at him. 

“Oh, and by the way, my answer is yes,” you said.

“Answer to what?”

“When you ask me to marry you. My answer is yes and it will always be yes.” His face softened and he slowly turned you to face him. His fingers, although cold, cupped your face and he brought you in for a slow kiss, dragging it out for as long as he could. 

“I love you,” He said breathlessly, a sliver of light reaching his eyes again. “I love you so much.” 

You gave him another quick peck, before leaning into his chest for a hug. 

“I love you too, Q.”

taglist (join here): @heatherawoowoo @4ambagelbites @typical-simplelove @2manytabsopen @stars-canucks @lorrmorr @fallinallincurls @plds2000 @barzysandhughesbaby @yummygoldenfood @drei-mrssvechii @bananarantanen @pulpfixion

[orxcalot]

Just remembered I have these guys :3!! All of these drawings are somewhat old coz I need to draw them more... Shark and octopus mimes don't have names so any name recs would be awesome!

@chickenstab

They were all made with random prompt generators so I'll go more in depth:3 I don't usually write oc's so pls be nice😭

blue was made with the prompts: confident, jewelry,agender, their color, etc. I'm hoping she doesn't give off too much Holly energy😭 she is more formal though. They are pretty self centered and have a weird obsession with the color blue? The less blue you are the less they trust you👎 her host is probably a blueple. I couldn't decide on a name but a friend recommended Azul (or Azzy as a nickname) and I think that's cute!

Orange was made with the prompts: adventurous, octopus,demi-boy, his color, etc. I didn't really keep the adventurous part that much but he's very trusting and likes animals! He's pretty slow and quiet though and tends to spend his time sitting there looking at animals.

I don't have much to say on shark boy yet and I forgot to write his prompts down. All I can remember is shark, boy, and his color. He's pretty shy though and initially comes off as somewhat rude. Also in mime form I thought it would be cool if he had some sort of clear/ see through shark fin were you can see his hemolymph inside but I scrapped that because it didn't make sense too me and I didn't like how it looked👎...

[cryptidclaw]

Falconclaw! aka. Lionblaze! He looks like a round brighter version of Mothwing hehe

I gave him blue eyes bec they look nice on him :) I also thought the blue eyes would be neat, bec he would have the same eye color as his bio brother Jaywing, while Hollyleaf, who is secretly their cousin, has green eyes! 

I gave him eye-like spots on his sides, and a star shape marking on his chest! Im going to keep that motif going for the all of the 3! I also gave him a little water droplet on his forehead to reference how he will join River Order in RoC!

I kno he doesnt reallly have Falcon colors but I like the name! And I want all of the three to have bird names with bird related suffixes! He can be named after how the chests of falcons can be a gold color! 

Im thinking about trading his and Holly’s early plots where instead he will be friends with Willow and Holly will be friends with Heather, I think it works well because I want him to eventually join River Order! He is very fluffy and loves water.. very strange for a totally full blooded Thunder Order cat... LOL

Image IDs below v

[Image ID: a digital drawing of Falconclaw an au version of Lionblaze from Warrior Cats. He is standing with his right side showing, and he has an exited, expression with his mouth open as though he is talking. He is a big, round, fluffy, long furred golden tabby tom with blue eyes. He has a bright golden yellow coat, with brown-orange stripes, and a distinctive, diamond/ eye shaped marking on his side. He has a white neck ruff, stomach and lower half of his legs, and a cream and white muzzle. He has a spikey hair tuft in the color of his stripes./End ID]

[vagueandominousvibes]

Hi @quorou! I'm a little later in posting this than I would've liked to, but here's the rest of the gift exchange from Discord. It may have been a little longer than I expected. Hope you enjoy it :)

(Fanfic under the cut — 1,377 words, contains some light Vio/Red)

You'll Be Brilliant

Books. Old books, forgotten books, abandoned books. They had been Vio’s treasures for as long as he could remember. They had taught him everything he knew of magic, from how to sprout a seed to how to summon rainfalls during summer droughts. The little chest in the back of Town Hall Library had taught him everything his home could need.

Then, one winter night at the end of the year, the mayor had invited his family to share in their Midwinter Feast. There weren’t large gaps between the social layers of their town, but Vio’s mother had been honoured nonetheless, and Vio and his younger twin-brothers were told to dress up nicely and behave themselves. After all, the mayor had a lovely daughter, and maybe one of them could make a good impression. (Vio desperately hoped it wouldn’t be him.)

Wrapped in their nicest capes they trudged through the snow, carefully avoiding the muddy puddles where carts had passed along the road. 

Vio still remembered his mother’s hair before him, carefully braided and pinned in a rose at the nape of her neck, with dried flowers woven into it. He had whispered a spell under his breath as they walked, and the flowers had brightened and grown into a midwinter crown of holly and rosehips.

At the mayor’s they had been kindly greeted and invited into the sitting room, but there were no lovely daughters there. Instead, a tall bearded man, narrow and ageing, warmed his hands on the fireplace. Fine embroideries, brushed furs, velvet, and polished leather caught the firelight, and when he turned towards them, piercing blue eyes landed on Vio’s mother’s midwinter crown.

“A fine spell,” he acknowledged. “This is your work?”

Vio’s mother curtsied. “My oldest son’s, sir.”

The piercing eyes shifted to Vio, who straightened and inclined his head.

“Come here, boy.”

Vio approached.

The man caught Vio’s chin and turned his face this way and that, examining it in the light. Unreadable, he let go and turned to Vio’s hands. 

Vio had never been embarrassed by the callouses — indeed, had been proud to show that he had worked hard to take care of his mother and brothers — but under this man’s gaze he wished he could withdraw his hands and hide them.

Finally, the man said, “You have potential,” and turned to the mayor and Vio’s mother. “I will take him.”

Vio’s mother curtsied deeply, while the mayor bowed. “Thank you, sir. I am certain he will make you as proud as he has made us.”

The man didn’t look at Vio. “That remains to be seen.” He stepped away from the fireplace, and Vio hid his hands in his sleeves. “Red! We are departing.”

Footsteps sounded from the kitchen, and a dark-eyed golden-haired boy, likely a year or so younger than Vio, in a red waistcoat, dark trousers, and polished leather boots, emerged carrying a bundle of sweet pastries. “Ready!” The boy grinned.

The man shook his head, though his gaze softened. “Leave some for the good folk, Red.”

“But they said I could have it!”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“Fine.” Red handed the bundle to one of Vio’s brothers, keeping two pastries only. “They taste amazing. Enjoy them.”

Vio’s brother blinked.

Then Red was at the man’s side. “So?”

“If he has the aptitude for more refined spells is yet to be seen.” The man inclined his head towards the mayor and Vio’s mother, then headed for the door.

Red offered Vio a grin and one of the remaining pastries. “He’s always like that. I’m sure you’ll be brilliant. What’s your name?”

Red, Vio soon learned, had a talent. Where Vio spent long nights memorising words and phrases of power, and poring over ancient tomes in the Royal Library, Red’s magic was instinctual. In all the years Vio spent as an apprentice to the Royal Mage of Hyrule, he never saw Red read a single book on magic theory or spellwork.

Where Vio struggled, Red breezed through. And by all that was holy, Vio envied him. Not that Red made a point of his talents — not at all. Red was sweet, kind, and full of joy. He helped Vio when he could, spent his afternoons working with herbists and helping out in the infirmary, and experimented with new and convoluted spells that, to him, came as easy as breathing.

Which was why it came as a shock to Vio when Red decided to leave.

Vio stared at him across the dining table, his turkey slices and pudding forgotten.

The Royal Mage put his silverware down and folded his hands. “I cannot say I’m surprised.”

“Really?” Red laughed.

“You are a brilliant mage, but you never took to your training as much as I hoped.”

“I just find it a little tedious.”

“So I gather.” The Royal Mage’s eyes twinkled. “Well.” He picked his silverware back up. “Where will you go?”

“I want to see the world. I’ve saved up enough money to keep me comfortable for a year or so — or maybe start a business somewhere. I know a lot about herbs and healing, but I would like to know more.” Red smiled. “I would like to help people.”

When it was polite to do so, Vio excused himself. For ten years, Red had been a fixture in his life. It had seemed inevitable that Red would become the next Royal Mage, and that Vio would become his assistant. Indeed, if anyone left, it would have been Vio. 

He had fantasised about it occasionally: about returning home to his mother and brothers; about settling back into small-town life; about meeting a clever merchant or traveller his own age, who wouldn’t be opposed to settling down.

Of course he had always known it was a fantasy. Going back would be admitting defeat — to himself, to his mother, to his brothers, and to his home. He would not disappoint them.

Still, that tantalising fantasy had made staying feel like a choice — like he could get up and leave anytime, but chose to stay. Chose to learn. Chose to practice. The castle floors felt cold and unfamiliar under his feet, as if he had never truly noticed them until now. The halls felt vast, dark, and frightening. Now, he had no choice.

He hurried through the cold and the dark, up the spiralling staircases to the East Spire, and murmured quiet words to escape the notice of guards and servants until he could close the heavy wooden door behind himself and collapse onto his bed.

Some time later a knock on the door disturbed his darkness. Softly the door opened and closed. Footsteps approached the bed. The magic that always seemed naturally attracted to Red  — that gathered around him like a warm glow — illuminated his face and his hair, and flickered in his eyes.

“Hi.” Red sat next to him.

“Hi.” Vio’s voice cracked.

“Were you sleeping?”

“No.”

Red nodded. The magic around him brightened, creating a bubble of light around the bed. He looked down and fiddled with the edge of the covers. “Remember what I told you that first day when we picked you up?”

“That I’ll be brilliant.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m nothing compared to you.”

“That’s not true,” Red admonished. “You’ll be the next Royal Mage and you know it.”

“It’s not like I have a choice.”

“You always have a choice.”

“Not now. He won’t have time to train someone else.”

“So you don’t want to become the Royal Mage?”

Vio pinched his lips together in a thin line.

“Vio.” Red shuffled closer and leaned over him. Even when Red wasn’t smiling, the crinkles around his eyes and the dimples in his cheeks were never far from the surface. 

Vio looked away.

Red blew a stream of warm tickling air directly into his ear.

“Hey!” Vio shoved him off and sat up, rubbing his ear. 

Red was laughing.

“Rude.”

“Are you done being miserable?”

“I’m not miserable.”

“Sure.”

Vio sighed. “Fine. Yes. I do want to become the Royal Mage. I just don’t know if I’m good enough.”

“You’re everything a future Royal Mage would want to be, and more.” Red took his hands and smiled. “You’ll be brilliant.” Softly, he kissed Vio’s palms.

[blysse-and-blunder]

In lieu of a long weekend

sunday, may 19, 2024 ~ 11:30pm

technically tomorrow is a day off but the nice thing about grad school is that means essentially nothing for me, and tonight still feels like a sunday night—but it was a beautiful, mostly work-free weekend up until now

reading i forget now whether i mentioned this in my last ilcb, but last month i listened to the audiobook of jenn lyons’ the ruin of kings, which means that now it’s time for the sequel! started these huge fantasy epics on the recommendation of @booksmithereens, who has yet to steer me wrong—but i will say that upon first getting started, I didn’t especially follow (or care) all that much about most of the world building, especially since trok starts in with a lot of slavery and physical / sexual violence. upon second read-through, because i did go back with the ebook as soon as i finished listening to trok the first time, i think i was able to take more pleasure from the characters’ dialogue—there are very funny moments—and from the originality of certain features of the series’ take on deities and magic. i’m 28% through the audio book of the second novel, the name of all things, and i adore that we’ve got a new snarky editor leaving footnotes and editorializing comments, and that we have a new female pov character who really adds to the (intentionally) one-dimensional view of her we were given in the first one. these are good companion books for when i’m toiling in the hollow knight mines (have i explained how i have hacked boss fights for myself by turning off the game sound and instead relaxing, listening to an audiobook, and just getting to focus on the visuals—the flow state this induces can last for. hours. and has yet to get old), and they are another worthy entry in the dragons/magic/demons/swords/prophecy type fantasy canon.

watching finally finished (screaming, cringing, laughing, etc) season one of the white lotus with g and @hematiterings. all things considered, an easier ending than i feared, weirdly? i lost count of full-body cringe reactions (from sheer gut-churning dialogue, not the way kids use ‘cringe’ these days) at like 10, and then we started season two (which we’ve all seen the first few episodes of) and the counter had to start over at the beginning. still fun though. still fun.

also watched the first three-four episodes of dungeon meshi! which i thought were excellent, but i now have just enough context to be really actually affected by casual spoilers, so i may have to blacklist it here on the blue hellsite for now, and watched episode 4 of house of the dragon this evening whilst folding my laundry. i am holding out for when this show introduces the new lead actresses because I have seen their interview in gifs going around and i would like to see it. so far though, i’m distressed by the politics and bored by the action, as is to be expected from a game of thrones show.

listening hmmm chappelle roan Hot to Go has been stuck in my head for a while now so let’s go with that. initially I thought the lyrics to most of her new album really didn’t live up to pink ping club (see my 2021?2? Ilcb where i went on at *length* about how good that song is) but you know what, we’re capable of admitting when we’re wrong and this is one of those times. H! O! T! T! O! G-O!

playing i got the sharp shadow charm in hollow knight today! Nosk and the enraged guardian have been kicking my ass by turns. i had so much geo I had been carefully carrying around and reclaiming every time i died because millibelle had her career pivot and closed my account 😝 and i finally lost it today. Alas. but since there was nothing i could buy at any of the three vendors i visited, it was all going to end up in the fountain anyway.

making this was a little while ago now, but i finally did it, i made a recipe following a b. dylan hollis video! the coffee loaf from 1959– surprisingly, i had all of the ingredients on hand (including powdered milk?!) and i was so excited by this that I didn’t stop to ask whether i *should* make this caffeinated baked good. recipe worked well, the consistency was great and all, but a single square inch of it and i feel like i’ve single-handedly drunk a pot of strong coffee. this is a me problem, i’ll grant you, but it is amusing to me that i’ve made a cake I physically cannot eat too much of in a single sitting. it is drying out in the fridge as we speak. heart palpitations aside, i am proud of it though.

working on it occurred to me today to look back at the timeline i made for myself at the beginning of the month, and i’m four days past the first deadline on it without having even really touched the chapter itself. blargh. sent two emails yesterday, and two that had been worrying me the day before, and worked a bit on the newsletter today. chipping away at things.

[lovelytsunoda]

good girls go bad // lando norris

summary: inspired by good girls go bad by cobra starship, y/n fancies the suave british dj that she meets in ibiza. mentions of sex but not written out.

dj!lando x female reader au

he got a way with the girls in the back acting like they're too hot to dance

authors note: lets be real lando gets more girls through his shitty djing than he does by racing... anyways ive been on an emo club music kick lately so there's that. still can't get over the fact that blair waldorf herself did guest vocals on this-

it’s spring break in ibiza and they’re a group of six

college sophomores travelling outside of england for their first time over spring break

the plan was benidorm since it’s cheaper but one of them managed to get a deal on a party trip to Ibiza

and y/n, ever the party hater, said why not. she’s trying to get over a breakup and her friends think she needs to get laid

y/n thinks its the worst idea ever when instead of letting her relax by the water, her friends insist on hitting up the sketchiest of spanish clubs

they're all wearing tight and skimpy dresses, high heels, faces full of makeup

i know your type, you're daddy's little girl

they travel in a could of confidence and bath and body works

y/n feels like she's someone she isn't, uncomfortable showing off so much skin as her best friend angela opened the club door

a large poster on the the door announces the entertainment for the night

emblazoned in big, comic book style letters is the name 'lando norris', and underneath it in comic sans, 'max fewtrell'

the music is loud, bright lights almost blinding as y/n followed her friends to the bar

the group of six found a table in the back corner, drinks between them as they watched the british dj duo behind the turntable.

one was stockier and had more facial hair, wearing a white t-shirt and jeans

the other was lankier, fanning himself with a collapsible handheld paper fan

he was wearing a navy blue button down shirt, and there were no lights on behind his eyes. the man was well and truly drunk

"hey y/n." angela suggested, pointing at him. "that one is quite fit, dont you think?"

"absolutely not." she's shaking her head like crazy. "not him, there's no way. get me drunk and i'll consider it."

just take a bite, and let me show you the world

"his friend is pretty nice, too." her other friend, holly, remarked, eyes travelling over to max fewtrell

"come on!" angela insists, grabbing y/n's arm and pulling her over to the dancefloor

its not even y/n's kind of music

its the bleary, strobe-light, electro-dance music that makes her head hurt.

angela and holly blend in to the crowd right away

ang is trying to get y/n to dance, and holly goes straight to flirting with max

and lando's eyes are immediately drawn to y/n

the girl with the soft face and the little maroon dress, the goofy smile on her face as her friend tries to get her to dance.

now, we've all seen the lando ibiza videos. there are no lights on in his head behind those sunglasses

but that does not stop him from going over to the girls

angela just grins and backs away, mouthing 'good luck' as y/n turns around and sees lando

"can i have this dance?" lando's accent is thick, so drunk his words are blending together

and y/n isn't sober either, the three mixed drinks she devoured while they were in the corner hitting her like a truck

"i don't dance." she practically yells, trying to be heard over the music

just one night would it be so wrong, i i'm gonna make you lose control

"but you could"

"but i choose not to."

"ah, choice. there's the problem. you just need the right song and the right partner!"

cue the song changeover, piloted by max and holly

holly looks over at y/n with a wink as cobra starship begins to play

against her better judgement, y/n finds herself starting to sing along

and even further against her better judgement, she allows lando to guide her in a dance

his hands on hers, starting gentle as he spins her in a circle and they bounce around together

she's slowly letting loose

lando is already as loose as it gets

taking off his plastic sunglasses and putting them on y/n

soft giggles and wide smiles as they keep dancing

you were hanging in the corner with your five best friends, you heard that i was trouble but you couldn't resist

she knows hes trouble, she can see it in his face

but she doesn't care. the perfect rebound has presented itself in her lap

she slowly gets bolder

her back against lando's chest

his hands on her waist, gently guiding her movements as she brushes up against him

and lando is trying so fucking hard to be suave and smooth as he leans down and whispers in her ear, his shirt undone, necklace hanging in between his pecs

"what do you say we get out of here, sweetheart?"

her senses are clouded by his dior cologne, it's the only thing she can focus on, every hair on her skin standing on end

his hands slyly slipping up the sides of her dress, gripping her thighs

lips on her neck

shes running her fingers through his hair, breathing heavily

"my hotel or yours?"

dress on the floor, lando's shirt hanging off the small mirror over the dresser

sheets tangled around bodies

bright red scratches down lando's back

hickies all over y/n's neck

they're at it almost all night

she wakes up first, making coffee and getting dressed

leaves a note on the dresser for him: thanks for the great time, call me <3 with her phone number and name

[dawn-likes-cigarettes]

{Dawn Wilson Information}

My name is Dawn Wilson. I’m 18 years old and I’ve lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma my whole life. I’m a drug addict, which I wish I could change but I can’t help it… I occasionally drink and I live with my brother with his wife and kid.

OOC: GOT INSPIRATION FROM @s0dap0p-curt1s :3 I made this for fun to have more information lol 🐭1. {Basics} 2. {Appearance} 3. {Personality} 4. {Relationships} 5. {Interests} 6. {Background} 7. {RP information}

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆Full name: Dawn Holly Wilson ⁃ {Nicknames} ⁃ Dusk; it’s the opposite of Dawn lol ⁃ Hollandaise sauce; her middle name ⁃ Kid; cause of her height ⁃ Little sis; by Austin ⁃ Pretty little grease; by male socs ⁃ Whore/slut/hoe; by female socs ⁃ Drunk/smoker; by little kids that have terrible parents (cause they don’t pay attention to their kids) ☆Age: 18 years old ⁃ {Birthday}: June 5, 1949 ⁃ {Zodiac}: Gemini ☆Gender: Cis Female ⁃ {Species}: Drug addicted human

☆Sexual Orientation: Lesbian ☆Nationality: American, German background ☆Ethnicity: American German ☆Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma: North side

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆Occupation: Waitress; does not pay well so her brother gives her money

☆Religion: unreligious; parents are Jewish-Germans ☆Languages: ⁃ English ⁃ Some German, but barely

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆Height: 5’4” ☆Weight: 95 lbs ☆Body type: petite, curvy

☆Skin: ⁃ {Texture}: soft, a little dirty ⁃ {Tone}: tan ☆Hair: ⁃ {Color}: golden blond ⁃ {Length}: middle-back length ⁃ {Style}: always down but swept to the side

☆Eyes: ⁃ {Shape}: Doe ⁃ {Color}: light light blue ☆Scars: ⁃ Not a lot of scars ⁃ Practically scratches now ⁃ Cigarette burns on her thighs ☆Piercings: two piercings each on both ears ☆Accessories: ⁃ bracelets ⁃ Rag outside her back pocket ⁃ Usually wears a headband when she’s feeling pretty 😋

☆Clothing style: Dirty (dirt and grease dirty) casual

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆No drugs personality: ⁃ mean, quiet, compulsive liar, a bitch, cranky, hateful, stubborn, isn’t toxic or abusive, dramatic, suicidal ☆With drugs personality: ⁃ nice, loud, childish, still a bitch but a bad bitch, stubborn, happy, positive, dramatic

☆Positive traits: street smart and positive ☆Negative traits: stubborn, forgetful, and cranky, suicidal

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆Habits: ⁃ Extremely hard drug user ⁃ Constantly getting hurt physically ⁃ Very addictive smoker ⁃ {tw; self harm} Cutting self ☆Pet Peeves: ⁃ extremely rude ⁃ Toxic relationships ⁃ Ignorance

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☆Usual first impression: ⁃ nasty drunk but is actually a smoker ⁃ Mean and carefree ⁃ Disrespectful ☆Fears: ⁃ fear of losing family ⁃ fear of boredom ⁃ fear of old men ⁃ fear of dying too young ⁃ fear of being forgotten (OOC: same)

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆Mother: Martha A. James ☆Father: Unknown

☆Siblings: ⁃ {Brother}: Austin K. Wilson ⁃ {Sister-in-Law}: Jazzlynn K. Wilson ☆Niece: ⁃ Marygold E. Wilson

☆Grandparents: ⁃ Thomas F. James ⁃ Cleo H. James

☆Friends: ⁃ Ponyboy Curtis (only met once and now Pony thinks they’re best friends. Wtf bruh)

☆Lover: ⁃ no one yet, does have a crush on a girl named Callie Collidge (eh eh, see the reference hehe)

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆Likes: ⁃ smoking ⁃ Teasing ⁃ Cookies ⁃ Flowers ⁃ Self control (but she herself cannot do that…) ⁃ Parties ⁃ Compliments ☆Dislikes: ⁃ Quiet rooms ⁃ Leprechauns (Staar…) ⁃ Calming environments ⁃ Reading ⁃ Church (it’s boring to her since she’s not religious)

☆Hobbies: ⁃ {Music}: Rock, Metal, loud, head-banging music ⁃ Shoplifting ⁃ Pretending to be a cowgirl ⁃ Smoking ⁃ Dancing aggressively

☆Talents: ⁃ can surprising make extremely good food ⁃ Being a bad bitch ⁃ Can get high and after 2 hours, is back to normal

☆Skills: ⁃ Fights ⁃ Shoplifting ⁃ Flirting ⁃ Getting burned and not caring; high pain tolerance

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆Favorite people: ⁃ Austin Wilson ⁃ Jazzlynn Wilson ⁃ Marygold Wilson ⁃ Jibril Wa’el (thinks of him kinda like a father figure :3) ⁃ Staar (only cause they are a hilarious duo) ☆Least favorite people: ⁃ Launcey Williams (only cause she’s kinda rude) ⁃ Dallas Winston (he’s annoying) ⁃ Curly Shepard (same as Dally) ⁃ Tim Shepard (he’s like an old man)

☆Tolerable people: ⁃ Angela Shepard (she’s okay just judgmental towards EVERYTHING) ⁃ Johnny Cade ⁃ TwoBit Mathews ⁃ Steve Randle

☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆Background: ⁃ {childhood}: ⁃ She was constantly bullied for being fatherless. ⁃ Of course Austin was a butthead as a kid as well, being 16 when she was 6. ⁃ Their mother was a drunk and constantly had panic attacks. ⁃ {most of teenage life} ⁃ Same bullying but their mother went into a coma, leaving Austin as the “parent” of the house. ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

☆RP Information: ⁃ {is it open?} ⁃ Yes!! It’s always open!! ⁃ {what am I comfortable?} ⁃ I am comfortable with nsfw, sfw, agere, petre, anything as long as it’s not pedo, rape, or anything like that. (I also do angst.)

OOC: Hello it’s @i-like-ratsssss !!!! Hope this give enough information, it definitely did for me so I can go back to this and see what to tell people 😭