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mwolf0epsilon · 4 years

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Hello! Writing prompt for you! in your after studio au what about the point of view of the toons finally free inside an unknown world? Do this only if you want or if you haven't already done it. Thank you very much ^w^

Summary: After the studio, there's a lot of new development with the toons.

Another case of getting two birds with one stone. I had a request on AO3 for some Sammy X Norman goodness for Post-Studio AU and I also wanted to play around with the toons, so here you go!

[[MORE]]

One of the hardest challenges was without a doubt healing and rehabilitating the twisted and imperfect toons that had come out of Joey's revolting experimentation. Creatures that had once been broken, feral and horrifying to look upon if just from how wrong their forms had turned out. Pipers, Fishers and Strikers that hadn't been good enough to be Charleys, Barleys and Edgar's, among a few other creatures that had evaded Henry during his journey through the damned cartoon studio.

Toons that were slowly stabilizing and becoming less what he associated with danger and more similar to what they were truly meant to be, if not a little unique in their own way.

Well, not counting the ones that had been absorbed by those who had "donated" pieces into their creation that is… Some toons just weren't meant to be and others were just the missing piece that a Searcher needed to ascend into higher thought as a Lost One.

Still, even after a series of purges, there remained a few sets of Butcher Gang clones as well as one singular Chester creature.

There was also something else that had been a little alarming at first. What Henry could only describe as pulsating "embryos" (not really but he didn't know what else to equate them to) that had been formed from excess ink that had sloughed off from the more stable studio employees.

A process that didn't start immediately after leaving the studio, rather, a few months after everyone started to settle.

Henry still couldn't forget the vivid image of Sammy being sick for an entire week, spitting up ink every so often, and then throwing up a massive blob of congealed ink that had slowly shaped itself into a Bendy clone with the most unsettling pair of eyes he'd ever seen. He doubted Sammy himself could forget the disturbing experience, and was also pretty sure he was a little traumatized by it.

Even so he seemed to almost have taken to toon in as if he were his own child. Not as worrisome as veneering the little fella, but still quite hard to grasp considering his… unorthodox birth…

"Any more Searcher incidents since I've been gone to check on the girls?" Henry had asked as he was let inside by Allison, catching a whiff of breakfast being cooked. Pancakes and coffee from the smell of things. Like a quaint little cafe or the Stein household in his youth. Comforting.

"Not since two weeks ago. All Searchers have actually become Lost Ones since you've been gone." She'd responded as she led the old cartoonist into the spacious kitchen.

The table was quite long, and the seats provided were no longer mostly composed of pillows and stacks of books to boost certain inhabitants of the house. The Projectionist was still forced to kneel to eat thanks to the added weight of the machinery that was a part of his body, but he didn't complain from where he was leaning into Sammy and his height more than compensated for it anyway. Henry could just about see Susie carefully braiding the many tangled wires and thick cables connected to the Projectionist's head and back.

"Uh, really? How many toons left then?" Glancing around he noted that not everyone had come down to eat yet. Tom and Buddy likely both being in the bathroom washing up from running outdoors. A favourite activity of his.

"Three sets of Butcher Gang clones. Two are incomplete." Allison explained. "We think we know who was the originator of the complete set, but their Charley has stated that the trio is fairly happy to remain as they currently are. They are nearly perfect if you ignore the heavy scarring and prosthetics."

"I take it that's Mr. Allwine's set?" Henry guessed. Humming in understanding when she nodded rather than verbalizing her confirmation.

"I recall Mel now that things are coming back to me. He really enjoyed voicing those three, so I'm not surprised he'd rather remain as the Butcher Gang." Susie added as she finished the messy braid of wiring. "I'll miss his jokes though…"

"I certainly won't. He was a jackass at best…" Sammy huffed, eyeing the unblinking toon currently hiding under his chair. "Don't repeat that around the Edgars… Charley and the Barleys will wallop you into fine impish ink."

"M'not stupid." The little imp retorted in Sammy's own voice, although it sounded much younger. Less weighted down by a bitter and heavy conscience.

"I'm not implying that you are, just giving you a fair warning. Socialized or not, those crooks are always eager to pick a fight." Like a parent passing on sage advice, Sammy offered the little wandering menace a pat before pressing a kiss to the Projectionist's neck.

The larger ink man rumbled happily and seemed content between his two favourite people, and even passed a piece of toast to the little devil hidden under the chair. They made for an odd family unit, but Henry was very sure they were happier than they'd been for a long time.

"Sometimes I forget you had to raise a kid before all this…" Henry chuckled, amused by the domesticity of it all, before turning back to Allison. "The incomplete sets?"

"Not a clue. Well, there's one that's just an Edgar, but we know he was part of Grant… Although he reformed without needing to assimilate that piece." She shrugged "The little guy is more mature than the other two Edgars. I'd say he's more of a teenager even."

"And the remaining incomplete set?"

"An Edgar and a Barley. They lost their Charley a while back, but they haven't clung to any particular employee that we can tell… Grant's Edgar has been around them a lot though, so they seem content." Allison flipped the pancakes over as she spoke. "They also orbit around Mel's Butcher Gang. I think his Charley makes them feel safe."

"Good to always have an emotional safety net I suppose…" Henry was at least glad that they hadn't reverted into feral creatures. Socializing them had been pretty difficult considering how messed up they'd been from their failed creation process. Like teaching feral cats to trust. "Anything else?"

"Norman's been leaking a little." Sammy offered. "Not enough to be alarming, but just about enough that we're sure we're uh… Well. Expecting extra company."

As if to prove Sammy's point, the Projectionist let out a choked wet cough, the tube connected to his esophagus uncoiling and shuddering before a blob splattered onto Sammy's lap.

Henry winced at the mess, and gave the curly haired musician a sympathetic look as his face went completely blank. Likely registering what had just happened.

"Ewwww…" the not quite perfect Bendy clone inched away from the drippy mess, while Susie shook her head and got up.

"I'll get the napkins…"

In the Projectionist's defense, he looked quite sheepish for a creature that couldn't properly emote. Hunched shoulders and claws tapping together as he looked down at his knees in shame.

"Lovely…" Sammy pinched the bridge of his nose and just let the blob fall to the ground. It twitched slightly but remained as it was. "You'd think the miracle of childbirth would be nicer to bare witness to..."

"Even if it were the more conventional and biologically sound method, I can assure you it's not as beautiful as most would have you believe." Henry offered with a tight smile as he tried not to think about the tiny inky organism that was slowly reshaping itself into the vague figure of a comic strip character. "And I was there to see it happen twice."

"I take it there was a lot of screaming involved?" Sammy smiled at Susie as she returned with the napkins. He started patting the stains carefully, letting the ink soak into the napkin.

"On my part? Plenty." Henry winced "No one ever told me there's more after the baby comes out… And it didn't get easier the second time around. Linda nearly crushed my hands…"

It didn't take long for breakfast to be done and every single household member to rush down to eat once called upon.

Only now the Projectionist was holding a toon of his own, while he vacuumed up cut up pieces of pancake and orange juice.

All things considered, having a new playmate for the other toons wasn't a bad thing.

If only the little blighter wasn't a troublemaking super villain… His first action was to shoot the pancake pieces out of Tom's fork and the large toon wolf was none too pleased when the little jerk started giggling about it.

Binky was surprisingly the easiest of the toons to get along with, right after Buddy. Outside of the studio, the Ink Demon was no longer a sinister figure that haunted the imagination of those who'd suffered in Joey Drew's nightmare.

Instead he was something closer to the cartoon character he was meant to be. Except he was much less troublesome than the mischievous and often misguided devil darling himself. In fact, the lanky imp was rather shy.

Sure he still looked far too human in proportions, and he was still learning how to speak, but honestly nothing about him was as off-putting as Henry initially thought. He felt bad judging him on appearances alone. Just like Joey had…

And, knowing what he did now, Henry didn't blame Binky for any of what he did in the studio.

The tiresome plotline, the living Ink's conflicting will, and the isolation had been the source of the Ink Demon's violent actions.

A scared and confused toddler following the bad examples of others.

But not anymore.

Not for as long as Henry was here to protect these people and help them grow.

Binky's less rumbustious disposition also meant he had a tendency to opt for calmer and more relaxing things to do. Like sleep under the shade of a tree when the weather was nice, watching the fish swim by in the stream, or pick flowers of all shapes, sizes and colors. Often doing so while watching the other toons run around and frolik like wild children.

Most often the poor guy was the unsuspecting victim of the Wanderer's shenanigans (despite Sammy's constant reminders to play nice).

With the addition of Cameraman, things were more hectic.

Others had lost their own excess ink in the span of the few days of Henry's visit, so the roster of toons consistently grew the better some people recuperated.

Jack had actually come down to visit as well, looking positively happy to find so many were experiencing something similar to himself.

In the first week of living with his husband and roommates, he'd apparently shed some more of his own ink and later found a small cartoon sheep staring up at him from under his bathroom sink. That had been an interesting night for the Fains.

Said sheep was eager to meet two others who'd been formed off of two other members of the Music Department. Johnny Brokeheart, the organist that had once been imprisoned inside his beloved instrument, and Julian Whitaker, the cellist that had sometimes visited the Prophet's domain for protection as a Lost One with a prominent limp.

The Woolly Triplets were happy to be together for a few hours before Jack returned home with his third of the trio. The little guy was reluctant to leave Jack's side, and both he and Theo had grown attached to him anyway.

It'd feel strange to part ways so suddenly.

Henry had marveled at the interesting cast of characters that were still coming together.

There were now three wolves, three angel, a demoness, a living camera, two imps, a leprechaun, two pirates, a living pirate chess, and three spiders.

He could only imagine what else might pop up the next time he came around to check on everyone.

It was truly a full house.

One full of silly shenanigans and exasperated parents that didn't want to admit their kids were adorable but little hellions. Such an odd thought, being a parent to a cartoon character that had at one point been their means to earn money… Odder still how easily they connected with them.

Perhaps because they'd come from them? Like an actual offspring?

That seemed to be the case with Sammy at least. If anyone had reasons to resent a certain grinning devil, it had to be the false prophet who'd grown disillusioned.

He loved the little Wanderer though.

Unsettling eyes and grin be damned, he was a proud da and did what he could to raise him.

Same with Norman who actually had proper experience as a father, and then even Susie who'd been a little miffed that she didn't have a little Alice to tend to, but still took on the responsibility of teaching Miss Twisted to not be too much of a nuisance (she loved her really, like mother like daughter they ended up becoming in less than an hour).

Even those who Henry hadn't pegged as the sort to want to be parents were doing grand with their own toons.

Grant was an exemplary father despite his neurotic personality, and even Bertrum and Lacie seemed fond of acting as an uncle and aunt to the toons. Teaching them things and letting them get away with things their parents wouldn't.

It was… honestly very nice.

Nothing the toons didn't deserve after such a rough start.

#eps writes:#bendy and the ink machine #batim #Post-Studio AU

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hellfirenacht · 5 years

Text

Can’t Be Unseen Chapter 5

Sal Fisher x Reader

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

AO3

Chapter Summary: You have a DREAM and think back on MEMORIES.

Larry didn’t stay long that night, at least no more than two hours. It was getting late, past midnight, and though he didn’t have an official curfew, he didn’t want to make his mom too worried or suspicious. He put his long-since cast off shirt back on and gave you a hug and a kiss on the forehead before he headed to the basement floor.

You closed the door behind you and made your way back to your room. As you changed into your pjs you noticed a small mark on your collarbone, and felt very thankful that it was sweater season. You didn’t really want to worry about covering hickeys with make-up come Sunday when your parents came home. You’d already had the talk way too many times with your parents. As lucky as you were that they were more than willing to tell you where they kept condoms in the apartment, you really weren’t feeling that right now.

Sleep came easily to you that night, without thoughts of overthinking for once. Though it was mostly because you were so tired from everything that happened that day. Within minutes of laying down you were passed out.

It‘s almost time for school, the late autumn sun threatens to set and yet you worry about being late. You are in the school hall, your class is towards the gym but each turn of the corner puts you between your old elementary school and your current high school. But that’s normal, right? Yes, this is what “school” is.

Travis is in the library giving you a dirty look from behind the help desk. He calls you a dirty harlot for kissing Larry. You aren’t allowed to use the computers anymore.

Class has started and you’re late. You wonder if it’s even worth going to class since you can’t open your locker and you’re late. Oh, you aren’t supposed to be here. This is your old elementary school anyway. It would be best if you left.

You exit the building; something feels off. You are outside of your high school and your childhood neighborhood is right across the street despite it being a few states away.

There’s someone next to you. You tell them you think you’re dreaming as if you are commenting on the weather.

“Oh, that’s cool.” they seem to agree. You ask them what you think you should do if this really is just a dream.

“You should probably leave. It’s not really interesting here.”

School is a dull place for a semi-lucid dream, you decide walking back into the building. If this is a dream, then you might as well find some company.

You walk into the first classroom you see. Larry is sitting on his desk and you tell him that this is a dream and that he should explore with you. He responds by standing up and throwing his backpack across the room before jumping down and following you out.

He asks if you usually know if you’re dreaming and in kind you explain this has only happened a handful of times. You’re outside on the sidewalk, he tells you to try and fly.

You doggy paddle in the air at best for a few seconds before landing on your feet. You know you can’t actually fly and that ruins your dream logic. Larry is still impressed that you did as much.

It’s nighttime and the street lamps are lit. The moon is full and close, way too close. The craters of the moon are more prominent than you’ve ever seen and you feel uneasy. You tell Larry you don’t like the moon.

He makes a big leap over your head, landing easily as though for a moment gravity didn’t bind him. He lands in front of you and you keep walking. It’s Halloween and pumpkins are everywhere. One is carved to look like Sal’s mask.

Larry asks if this is your dream then where is Sal? You aren’t sure. It’s honestly pretty rare that people you know play a big role in your dream. You simply shrug your shoulders and Sal appears in the distance before walking into the shadows of the woods. You cry out for him but he’s gone and you go after him.

Larry has disappeared and you run through the trail and find yourself at the edge of a lake. Sal stands at the edge next to a doc and you approach him.

He asks you, if he’s Jason-chic does that mean he should jump in the lake and scare children? You deny his request, noting that the stuffed animal you won him so many months ago (which he isn’t even holding) would be ruined. You tell him you’re dreaming and he nods, unphased.

He says that even if it is a dream he’s real and you agree. Of course he’s real, and you’re sure that when you wake up that both of your friends will remember this adventure. It is science and a fact.

You feel Larrys’ arms around your waist and you look at Sal who’s still staring out into the lake. This is normal, right? You close your eyes and someone kisses you and you kiss back. Larrys’ nose pressed into your cheek. The lips on yours turn hard and unmoving like plastic. Sal’s hands were so nice and cool. No, wait Larrys’ hands were warm. No-

You open your eyes and gasp in horror taking a step back. Sals’ mask is gone and his face is distorted, glitching, loud, static-

Larry asks if you’re really going to look at his best friend like that. You can barely hear what he’s saying over the static. Sal says’ something but his voice is distorted. Sal reaches a hand out but you push it away as the world around you starts to pulse. You don’t deserve Sal You don’t deserve Larry You don’t deserve You don’t deserve You don’t deserve you don’t deserve-

The world was quiet as you woke up, the distorted sounds of the dream halting in an instant. Outside the sun was just starting to rise but still you found yourself unable to move from the nightmare. You took a few slow breaths and began to relax back into your bed, reassuring yourself that it was only a dream.

You don’t deserve-

No, you weren’t going to think about it. You were not going to let some stupid dream tell you what you did or didn’t deserve.

Sal deserves better. You claim to like him yet kiss his best friend.

‘Shut up.’ you think to yourself. ‘I’m allowed to move on!’

You spent the next hour trying to get back to sleep, but ended up tossing and turning instead until you gave up and made your way to the living room. You laid down on the couch and turned on the tv in the hopes that some cartoons would help you turn off your mind.

The couch still smells like Larry.

It took you three minutes to find some air conditioner to make the couch smell like gingerbread. That turned out to be a small mistake when the scent was too overpowering. Giving up on laying around you started putting away all the decorations that you had brought over from the previous night and having some breakfast.

By this point it was 9 am, and you dared to glance at your phone for the first time since you woke up. You didn’t know if you were hoping that Larry would text you or not.

There were no direct messages, but there were a few in the group chat.

ToddFace: Thanks for inviting us to the party, Sal!

SallyFace: glad you and neil could make it!

AshleyFace: Jamie had fun too. Shes looking forward to seeing you all again

SallyFace: lol glad we didn’t scare anyones date off

Had anything with Larry not happened last night, you would have thrown in a “Sal you could never scare me off ;)” but instead you closed the chat. No reason to make things harder on yourself than it already was.

So many times you found yourself staring at individual conversations with your friends. So many times you considered reaching out to talk but you faltered each time. It had never been hard for you to reach out to a friend before this whole mess with Sal and Larry so why was it hard now? You used to pride yourself on letting your friends know when you were hurt or confused or just needed to vent but it felt impossible right now.

The rest of the day went by with nothing to report. There was some scattered small talk in the group about holiday plans, Christmas lists, inside jokes, and questioning about what would be the best way to sneak snacks into a movie theater with increasingly weird food. All good distractions until you found yourself sucked into a computer game that lasted you until bed.

...

Sunday came with your parents waking you up with bright and happy smiles on their faces telling you to get packed because you were all going to the old lake house!

A feeling of excitement and unease spread over you. On one hand, you loved going to that lake house with your parents. After spending so much time moving around as a kid and teen, that lake house was the one consistent place you could go that would be unchanged.

On the other, there was no wifi in the house and even with unlimited data, the signal was spotty at best and non-existent at worst. You’d be cut off from your friends for the next two weeks. It would be after Christmas that you’d see them again. You wouldn’t even really get a chance to say goodbye to them either.

But this is what you wanted, right? A chance to get away from everything to really think things out. You pulled your suitcase and started shoving clothes haphazardly into it. Not like you really needed to dress nice to be around your parents. It’d be two weeks of board games, decorating yet ANOTHER tree, carols, eggnog, and every other cheesy Christmas cliche your parents could think of.

Still though, you grabbed your laptop and charger. When your parents were making kissy faces at each other, this could be a good time to catch up on all those games you’d been meaning to play. Maybe even watch some movies or-

Your phone dinged twice, alerting you to two messages from Sal and Larry and your heart jumped slightly. No, you needed to calm down. It was just the group chat and they’re just shit posting.

It was not the group that.

LarryFace: hey I got some free time today, wanna hang?

SallyFace: So it’s been a while since we’ve got to see each other one on one. Are you busy today?

You could almost laugh at how absurd this whole had become. Why is it that every time you wanted to clear your head, these two managed to have the worst possible timing. It was almost a blessing that your parents came home just to whisk you off on a four hour drive to the middle of nowhere.

You responded to Larry first.

BlankFace: Hey sorry I can’t. My parents are actually taking me to the lake house for a few weeks

LarryFace: oh that’s a bummer. Any idea when youll be back?

BlankFace: Not til after Christmas, looks like.

LarryFace: wanna hang out when you get back?

BlankFace: It’s a date-

You delete the last message, changing your mind.

BlankFace: Sounds like a plan!

Your direct your attention to Sal’s message, hesitating on how you want to approach it. He hadn’t asked to hang out one on one since you two talked things out. There was a slight pang in your chest that you wished so badly would go away. What was it about Sal that was so hard to get over? He wasn’t your first crush, or even the first guy to turn you down.

BlankFace: I’m really sorry, I wish I could but my parents are taking me on vacation for the next few weeks and I’ll be out of town til after Christmas.

SallyFace: They’re taking you today?

BlankFace: Yeah, you know how they are. Overly spontaneous during the holidays. I’m packing now.

SallyFace: Do you want any help?

You typed and deleted the word yes. There was an insistent thumping in your chest, telling you to say yes but you pushed it back. If you saw him right now, after making up with him and making out with Larry, you were sure that you’d end up saying or doing something you shouldn’t.

BlankFace: I’m almost done, thanks though!

You grabbed your backpack and dumped it on the floor before shoving your toiletries in it. Then you reached under your bed and grabbed a shoe box and fitting it into your bag. You flipped through the binder that was in your backpack and pulled out some of its contents, shoving them into a side pocket.

SallyFace: When are you leaving?

“Are you done packing? You’re mother and I are ready to go when you are!” you dad called from the living room.

“Almost done! Give me two seconds!” you replied, shoving your chargers into your backpack, and grabbing your headphones.

BlankFace: Now.

Within moments you were in the backseat of the car as it pulled out of Addison’s designated parking lot. Your headphones were in, but before your music kicked on, you swore you heard something.

Turning behind you, Sal was running after the car before he seemed to run out of breath and wave at you. You waved back, watching his figure grow smaller in the distance. A few months ago he had been a few inches shorter than you, but looking at him now, had he grown a bit? What had you really missed out on in those embarrassing months after the failed date?

‘He came to say goodbye.’ you thought to yourself as his figure disappeared. ‘He came to say goodbye and I snubbed him because I’m still a coward.’

The early morning was a good excuse to lean against the cool window and pretend to sleep. You covered yourself up with the blanket that your parents kept in the car during the cold months and allowed a few tears to escape your eyes.

When did you become someone who couldn’t face their own feelings? A few months ago you had always been so honest with everyone about everything for the most part. Or maybe, that was a lie. Did all that flirting with Sal really count as the truth? Thinking back, you never did have a chance to really say how you felt about him, even as a friend.

Guess you weren’t as mature as you thought. Maybe you just always hid the big truths with smaller, flashier truths.

SallyFace: see u when u get back. I’ll miss u.

‘I already miss you.’

...

It was late afternoon when your parents pulled into the driveway of the small lake house. You’d lost signal a while ago but you’d had it long enough to tell the group chat that you were gone for a bit and that you’d miss out on the next few weeks. Ashley promised to send memes by snail mail, and Todd said to have fun.

The lack of electronic entertainment wasn’t a big deal for the next few hours as you and your parents set up decorations and going out to chop down the tree with your dad.

“So, why did we decorate the apartment as much as we did when we were gonna have Christmas here?” you asked as you untangled string lights.

“Because the holidays should be celebrated in different ways!” said your dad, wrestling with getting the tree to stand straight. “At home we can have a flashy Christmas but here we can be away from it all and just enjoy the simple things!”

You weren’t sure if that was a real answer, but you had no reason to say no to it.

“Tomorrow I think we’ll turn on the fireplace.” mused your mom. “Yes, and we can roast chestnuts and marshmallows. And maybe if you’re good, Santa will come and leave an early gift!”

You couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Though your parents had given you the “Santa isn’t real” talk many years ago, they still liked to believe in the spirit of the holiday to the fullest. You wondered what was it about your parents' relationship that made everything so happy? Normally, you ignored it whenever they started going on and on about how in love they were but after what happened with Sal and Larry, you couldn’t help but wonder; what’s it mean to be in such a loving relationship?

That night after dinner, you decided to ask them. The three of you sat around playing a card game, when you finally managed to spit it out.

“Mom, dad?” you started. “How did you two first know that you wanted to date each other?”

Your dad looked a little surprised. “Well, it all started on the first weekend of December a little over twenty years ago- I saw your mom standing in the park and-”

“‘-Said to yourself “that’s the woman I’m going to marry’. Then you took a chance and asked her on a date and you both went dancing a five star hotel and proposed that very night.” you finished. “I know that, you’ve told me the story a million times but... what really happened?”

He smiled at you. “I guess you are a little too old for fairy tales aren’tcha, kid?” you nodded.

“I was lost.” your mother explained. “It was cold and it was miserable and it was raining- not snowing. I was supposed to check into a hotel for a business meeting that evening but I couldn’t figure out where it was, when your father approached me.”

He took her hand. “She looked like she was having a rough day, so I offered to walk her where she needed to be. Turns out It was at the hotel I was working for at the time.”

“I had graduated college a year before, and your father was working his way through trade school.” your mom added.

“Even half drenched and frazzled, I still thought you were beautiful.”

“I thought you were cute enough for a bellhop.” they both laughed.

“I did ask her out though, the next day. I was clocking out and she was about to leave and-”

“I asked you out, dear.” your mother gently corrected. “I asked if you wanted to grab coffee.”

“And your mother, the charmer, asked me out. She swept me off my feet and was enchanting and funny and wonderful and-”

“Dad. Please.”

“Right, sorry. She was just really something special. Still is, of course! But our first date was us sitting in a hole-in-the-wall cafe, decorated for Christmas with the snow falling outside.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“So how did you know that you wanted to see each other?” you asked. “How did you know it was going to last?”

“We didn’t.” your mother explained, honestly. “We saw each other once, and then wanted to see each other again, and we kept up that pattern until we realized that we always wanted to see each other.”

“Is that what love is?” you asked quietly.

“It’s what it means to us.” your father said, looking your mom and for a moment you didn’t see your parents. You saw two people twenty years younger and madly in love.

“I think I like that story better than the fairy tale.” you admit.

“I wouldn’t trade our story for anything in the world.” your dad said. “Now, does this sudden interest in asking about dating and love have anything to do with... anything?”

“I like Sal.” you admitted finally.

“A fine young man! Very polite though I do wish he’d let us take a peak under that mask.” Your dad said, taking a sip of his drink.

“It’s a prosthetic, dear. He needs it.” your mom chided gently.

“Sal doesn’t like me.” you added.

“Now I can hurt him for you, though it would be a long drive back.”

“Dad no.”

The floodgates opened at that moment, and you told them everything. About how long you’ve had feelings for him, the date, his face (dad tried to press for details about what you saw, but your mom shushed him), and finally about Larry kissing you. You fudged some details about how much kissing went down, saying it was just a goodnight kiss rather than how far it went.

“I just don’t know what to do.” you said. “I’m so confused and I don’t know how I feel about either of them anymore. I don’t understand how this can be so easy for some people.”

“You’re father and I did get lucky, but that doesn’t mean we both didn’t have our share of past relationships that weren’t messy and confusing.” your mother said, handing you a mug of hot chocolate.

“Lord knows I messed up plenty of good relationships before I met your mother. The main thing you need to do to have any relationship work is to build a strong foundation of trust and communication.”

“If you feel like you don’t know what to say, maybe write them each a letter explaining how you feel.” your mom suggested. “You always did like to pass notes in class.”

You couldn’t stop yourself from smiling a little. “That’s not a bad idea.” you admitted. “Maybe I will.”

“You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Your father said. “But if you’re going to be kissing anymore boys- now I do know that I want grandkids or at least grand puppies someday- but you know the condoms are in the-”

“WELL GOODNIGHT MOM AND DAD, GREAT TALK. SEE YOU IN THE MORNING.” you suddenly stood up and rushed into your room. As gross as your dad could be, the talk had made you feel better, just a little.

You sat at the small desk in the corner and turned on the lamp. Reaching into your backpack you pulled out the shoe box that you had crammed in there and opened it. Your mom was right, you did love to pass notes in school. You loved it so much that you tried your best to keep every single one that had been passed between you and your friends, carefully dated, folded, and set in this very shoe box for safe keeping.

In this box was every memory you had since moving to Addison Apartments; notes between you and Ashley in art, scribbles and doodles from Larry, old tests that Todd helped you study for with encouraging comments in the margins, and misheard lyrics from Sal.

Sal and Larry had been fighting over lyrics to a metal song they had been listening to, each hearing different words through the fried vocals of the lead singer. It had become a game that they’d pass the headphones around to everyone at the table to try and decipher what was being sung. Each time, Todd would look up the song online and announce who had come the closest. Usually everyone was wrong.

There were even a few pictures in the box from Ashley’s old Polaroid; everyone wearing their hair (as best they could) in pigtails on April Fool’s day, Larry and Sal at Homecoming with Sal wearing a stunning yellow dress, all of the boys on top of each other in a dog pile, Maple painting Ashley’s nails, and one of you and Sal.

This was one you hadn’t even shown Sal. In the photo, he was playing a game on his Gear Boy and was attempting to explain how to get through the level. In that moment though, you weren’t looking at the screen, you were looking at him. Ashley had managed to capture you looking so softly at him that you had to make sure that he never ever saw it until you were married with children or puppies.

You never did beat that level.

Looking through all of this, you grabbed a few sheets of paper and started writing.

Sal Fisher, today is the day that I’m going to tell you everything and then I’ll be able to move on.

Next Chapter

#sally face x reader #sal fisher x reader #sal fisher #sally face #cbu #nacht fic #sally face imagines

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burnouts3s3 · 5 years

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a Spoiler Review

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously. I enjoyed all 5 Michael Bay Transformers films, for crying out loud.) Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Ticket Price: Will Vary Theater to Theater How much I paid: Nothing. A friend took me to a screening. Rated: PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action. Running time: 142 minutes (2 Hours and 22 Minutes) 3-D: Yes, but I didn’t see it in 3-D. Post-Credits Sequences: None. My Personal Biases: I’ve watched all of the main Star Wars films. I’m mixed on the Phantom Menace. I actually like Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. I like the Original Trilogy. I’m okay on The Force Awakens. I actually really like Rogue One. I do not actively dislike the Last Jedi. I haven’t seen any of the Star Wars Cartoons past Rebels. I have not seen Solo or the Mandalorian. Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 are among my favorite games. I had a subscription to the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. I haven’t played Jedi Fallen Order. I have not read any of the Star Wars books. Did you read the leaks online: Yes. Are the leaks close to the theatrical release?: Pretty much, though a subplot about Lando Calrissian’s long lost daughter seems to have been removed. Wait, is Rose Tico in this?: Yes, but she’s basically a background character. She hangs around the Resistance base delivering exposition with Leia. Is Admiral Holdo in this?: Not that I saw. I heard people say she’s a voiceover Force Ghost but the ghosts’s voices overlap so much, I couldn’t tell one voice from the other. My Verdict: After all that’s said and done, it feels like the sequel trilogy doesn’t add up to the sum of its individual parts. It feels as though Abrams and Johnson’s visions for Star Wars have vastly differed and without someone such as producer Kevin Feige to oversee the plotline, it sort of feels like a mess. Still, I had fun. (Warning: SPOILERS ahead!) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a Spoiler Review

Ever since Disney acquired LucasFilms, there’s been a curiousity that Disney would make the new Star Wars films better than the prequel trilogy of George Lucas’ vision. After the divisive reaction between fans and critics over The Last Jedi, what will returning director J.J. Abrams do?

Ladies and Gentlemen, Haters and Fans, HK units and Meatbags, this is a review of Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker.

One year after the Battle of Crait, Kylo Ren obtains a Sith Wayfinder device and travels to the planet Exegol. He discovers a physically impaired Palpatine, who reveals he created Snoke as a puppet to control the First Order and lure Kylo to the dark side. Palpatine unveils a secret armada of Star Destroyers and tells Kylo to find Rey, who is continuing her Jedi training under General Leia Organa. Meanwhile, Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca retrieve information on Kylo's discovery originating from a First Order mole. After learning that Palpatine has returned, Rey discovers notes on a Sith artifact in the Jedi texts Luke Skywalker left behind. Rey, Poe, Finn, Chewbacca, BB-8, and C-3PO leave for Passanna to seek a contact Luke knew, while R2-D2 stays behind with Leia.

Rey and Kylo Ren’s lightsaber duels are nothing compared to the dueling tones and continuities’ of Rian Johnson’s revisionist take and J.J. Abrams overwhelming need to pay tribute to the Original Trilogy.

It feels especially after the mixed reception from the Last Jedi, Rise of the Skywalker is the film they made to appease everyone, even going so far as to contradict the last movie. I have an easier time believing Ant-man and the Guardians of the Galaxy belong in the same cinematic franchise than The Last Jedi and Rise of the Skywalker.

I’m going to spoil the film so I’ll give my verdict and explain how I felt after the cut. If you don’t want to be spoiled, look away now!

Verdict:

Matinee and turn your brain off.

LAST CHANCE TO TURN BACK BEFORE I SPOIL THE FILM.

-Rey is Palpatine’s Granddaughter. Kylo continues his rant from The Last Jedi and explains her parents became nobodies BECAUSE they were Palpatine’s children and gave everything up to make sure Rey was kept away from him.

-Rey, Finn and Poe go along a journey to find Palpatine and kill him once and for all before he destroys the galaxy, such as finding Sith Daggers and erasing C-3P0’s memory to find the coordinates.

-Rey and Kylo Ren have a fight on a sunken portion of the Death Star and Rey kills Kylo Ren in a fight. Kylo Ren was distracted because Leia “used the last of her powers” to redeem Kylo Ren, thus giving Rey the opportunity to stab him. Rey heals Kylo Ren and steals his ship to go back to the planet in the Last Jedi. She does this because she’s afraid of becoming a Palpatine. Leia dies because of this (probably to pay tribute to Carrie Fisher). Poe becomes the new general of the Resistance.

-Force Ghost Luke talks to Rey while a vision of Han (it’s unclear if he’s a Force Ghost or just a vision in Kylo Ren’s head because he isn’t blue and transparent like Luke) and Han redeems him. (I’m guessing and, this is pure speculation from my part, that the scene originally had Leia come back as a Force Ghost, as in she would be the one to succeed in redeeming Kylo Ren where Luke and Han failed, but Carrie Fisher sadly passed away before the scene could be photographed.)

-Palpatine unleashes a fleet of Star Destroyers, each equipped with leftover pieces of the Death Star, meaning each Star Destroyer has the capability of destroying a planet. (Can we please have something besides the Death Star to be the final weapons? There’s been a plethora of other doomsday weapons we could use, we don’t need to keep going back to this one. Hell, SWTOR came up with a bunch of doomsday weapons.). The Resistance goes in one final battle to stop him.

-Rey confronts Palpatine and Palpatine attempts to taunt her to killing him, risking her friends dying to the fleet. If she does so, “all of the Sith” spirits will transfer into her. A redeemed Ben Solo comes in to save her. Using their Force Bond, Rey sneaks a Lightsaber to Ben while she uses another one to deflect Palpatine’s Lightning.

-Ben and Rey both confront Palpatine but Palpatine uses the Force to extract the Bond from them and let him power up his Sith Lightning so it’s capable of shooting up to the sky and destroying Resistance ships.

-Palpatine throws Ben over a Ravine and states “And so the Last of the Skywalkers Falls”.

-Palpatine shoots Lightning at Rey but Rey deflects the Lightning to Palpatine. Palpatine states “I am all of the Sith” to which Rey replies “And I am All of the Jedi”. She successfully kills Palpatine but it causes her to die as well, allowing the Resistance to defeat the Star Destroyer armada and save the galaxy.

-Ben climbs up the Ravine and sees a Dead Rey. Using the technique Rey used to heal him, he successfully brings Rey back to life. They share a kiss on the lips but then he dies.

-The Resistance meets up on a jungle planet and everyone hugs each other. Moz gives Chewbacca a medal. (I liked that part). Rey, Finn and Poe all hug each other.

-In the final scene, Rey returns to the burned Lars residence and buries Luke and Leia’s lightsabers. She draws out her own lightsaber which has an orange / yellow hue. A stranger passes by and asks her name. Rey, after seeing the Force Ghosts of Luke and Leia in the distance, answers, “Rey Skywalker”, adopting the name of her masters. She and BB-8 walk off to the twin sunsets of Tatooine and the film ends.

Obviously, there’s a lot to go over so I’ll just post my thoughts.

I don’t dislike Rey, but she feels too much like a series of reveals. I don’t think she’s a Mary Sue, but the living embodiment of J.J. Abrams’ Mystery Box, where in there’s always some sort of twist to her character. I don’t even mind the reveal that she’s Palpatine’s granddaughter and the final climax of the film is her rejecting her biological family in favor of her new family. It’s too bad that the other protagonists, Finn and Poe, don’t have much to do because their individual arcs wrapped up in the Last Jedi. Sure, there’s lipservice to the idea that Poe will be the new General following in Leia’s footsteps and Finn is still around because, as a former First Order soldier, he knows his way around ships, but they feel really perfunctory while Rey gets the spotlight.

I realize the reason I dislike the idea of Leia being Force Sensitive isn’t so much the Retcons to continuity but moreso the idea that she’s an accomplished General because she had Force Sensitivity as opposed to being just a capable woman. It’s inadvertently stating “This woman is awesome because she had space magic” as opposed to “this woman is awesome because she didn’t need Space Magic to get the job done”. It’s funny; producer Kathleen Kennedy was trying make the vision of a Female Jedi cool (which I can totally believe she’s genuine in that vision), but in doing so, it makes non-Force users such as Finn and Poe seem useless. To me, personally, I would have preferred (not demanded but preferred) that both Ben and Rey defeat Palpatine together and they both inherit the Skywalker surname. It feels like Rian Johnson was setting up parallel storylines of Ben and Rey to join together to be the new Jedi order but for whatever reason, they killed off Ben. They want to set up that Luke and Leia were a Force-sensitive Duo, but they don’t do the same for Rey and Ben? Maybe, this should have been “Rise of the Skywalkers” instead of “Rise of the Skywalker”.

Apparently Finn skipped that part of Stormtrooper orientation about Jet Packs.

Apparently, you can also plug in ancient Sith Holocrons to your ship and it will still be legible for Future Generations. Always forward thinking those ancient Sith Lords.

CAVEAT: You know what’s weird? For all talk about continuity and lore and fanservice, the one franchise I do think accomplishes what the new Star Wars trilogy was trying to do is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (which is also a Disney owned subsidiary AND promotes an inclusive globalist message). I realize the strength of the MCU comes from the fact they can do prequels, sequels and side stories in the universe and develop individual characters and do ensemble pieces since all the character work is in the other movies.

Meanwhile, Rise of the Skywalker is overstuffed with giving each of the characters screentime, dealing with the continuity and paying homage to the original movies.

However I feel about Rey, Finn, Poe, Kylo Ren, Rose and BB-8, it just doesn’t seem to mesh together as seamlessly as Groot meeting Steve Rogers.

Does that feel weird to anyone else?

In a film franchise that gave us Midichlorians, Pod Racing, Jar Jar, the Clones, and Boss Nass, it doesn’t really surprise me that the silly stuff here is going to be added among those. The effects are handsome looking, the score is awesome and I’ll probably bring my family to a screening just to spend the Holidays together, but it didn’t really come together for me.

I don’t need a retcon. I don’t need an extended cut. I won’t sign a petition asking for LucasFilms to rewrite the movie. And I don’t think people that genuinely enjoyed this movie are paid shills (which clearly doesn’t work since this film has a Rotten Critic score on Rotten Tomatoes).

To me, this silly movie is just as canon as Anakin Skywalker being a snot nosed 9 year old who said cheesy lines about angels to older women. And I’ll buy the Rifftrax track for this film so I can rewatch it again with the commentary.

Then again, what do I know? I’m just some anonymous jerk on the internet.

#rise of the skywalkers #star wars #star wars 9 #rise of the skywalker #rey #spoilers #the last jedi #the force awakens

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naomiknight-17 · 7 years

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Spooky Story Time

Okay this may not be the spookiest story ever, but I was chatting with my pal @allhailweegee recently about phobias and such and this came up, so I thought I’d share it here. I don’t think I’ve ever told this story online.

Behind a cut due to length.

So way back when, when I was a tiny little baby 9-year-old and my younger brother (who I will refer to as ‘Duck’ for the purposes of this tale) was around 4 or 5, some spooky things went down in our little apartment complex.

Now this probably wasn’t the first time we had spooky encounters in that apartment, and it wasn’t the last - we had mysterious shadows walking around when there was nothing to cast them, we had unexplained noises, cupboards opening and closing themselves when you left the room, all that kind of generic paranormal junk. But this particular week or two I’m about to tell you about was the peak of activity in that home, as far as we experienced.

To rewind a little and fill in a bit of background info, this apartment complex was run by a non-profit organization, and the rent was subsidized, so we and everyone else living there were pretty damn poor and had nowhere else to go. There were a few families like ours where our parents were out of work, some disabled folks, addicts, mentally ill people, retirees low on savings - all kinds of different people with different backgrounds, all struggling one way or another.

One neighbor we had at the time was a thin, tiny, friendly old man. He was also terribly lonely, and would come by our apartment to borrow very basic things as an excuse to stand in the doorway and chat with my Mom for however long he could keep her there. So one day he’d come by to borrow a broom, the next day, to borrow a plunger, always returning things in a timely fashion so he’d have another chance to chat.

Occasionally my brother or I would come to try to pull Mom away from the door for whatever reason, and he’d pull us into the conversation, asking about school or what have you. Frankly, I was caught up in my own priorities at the time and don’t really remember what we chatted about.

In any case, to the spooky happenings.

One day, a few days after the old man’s last visit, I was using the washroom. Beside the toilet was the plunger, one we had often lent to our neighbor. I was not touching it, it was neatly and tidily tucked between the toilet and bathtub in our tiny washroom. Without any provocation, the plunger flipped over - end over end, and came to rest beside my feet. I looked around in alarm, but of course, it was only me in the washroom. I convinced myself I must have knocked it over by accident somehow, and went on with my day.

At the time, my brother had a small collection of Fisher Price Little People play sets. Does anyone remember those? The old ones from the early nineties, where the toys were barely heads on round pegs? Anyway, we were playing with those. We had watched a good deal of Looney Tunes lately, and I was semi-reciting one of the bits from the cartoon, something along the lines of “Which way did he go, George? Which way did he goooo” as my brother giggled and played along, when we were very rudely interrupted.

The sound of a music box cut through the room, and my brother and I both turned to find its source. On top of a wardrobe - too high for my brother to reach, but just short enough that I could touch the shelf on tiptoe, stood a clown doll. It was the type where if you wound it up, it would play a song.

And there it was, its head slowly moving to the music, as it played a few seconds of ‘It’s a Small World After All’.

We stared in awe. No-one had touched that toy in ages, it shouldn’t have been wound at all. No-one and nothing was near it that should have been able to set it off. It stopped after a few slow notes, and we went back to playing. I shrugged it off, rationalizing that some adult must have been messing with it recently, and it was malfunctioning. I told my brother it was probably just broken, and not to worry.

But the next day, it happened again. Again my brother and I were playing in his room, and as soon as I started quoting the Looney Tunes bit, the damn clown started moving and playing its song. This time we were spooked, and ran downstairs to play Nintendo instead.

That night, I was laying in bed trying to sleep, and trying not to think about the weird and spooky things that had been happening. My room was small, and crowded with a twin bed, a desk, a dresser and a nightstand. The only really clear space was in front of my window, where a blackout roller shade hung, to shield my room from the harsh streetlights outside. This was directly across the room from my bed. As I stared at the shade, unable to sleep, it began to move.

The bottom of the roller shade drifted away from the windowsill by a couple inches. I thought I was seeing things until THWACK! It slammed back against the sill! I watched in silent horror as this repeated, increasing in frequency, until I reached the point of panic where I leaped out of bed and ran to the hallway, screaming for my Mom.

She must have been busy with something downstairs, because she didn’t come up to check on me, but simply shouted back, trying to tell me that if my blinds were moving, I should close my window.

Of course, it must just be the wind! I tried to convince myself of this as I warily went back into the room. The blinds were still. I gingerly lifted the shade to check the window. It was closed. No draft was coming through at all. The tree outside my window showed no movement - it wasn’t even breezy outside.

My terror renewed, and certain that my Mom would not come to help me, I dove back into bed and pulled the covers up over my head. Moments later, I heard it again - tap, TAP, THWACK! - as the blinds resumed moving on their own. I don’t know how long I endured the noise and fear, but at some point I became frustrated and yelled, “STOP IT! JUST STOP!!!”

And I’ll be damned - it stopped. The blind ‘thwack’ed one last time as it came to rest against the sill, and was silent. Finally, I calmed down and somehow got to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning, the strange events of the last few days were still on my mind, and I was starting to piece together that something paranormal may have been happening in my home. But I had to be sure.

That day, Mom had gone on some errand - probably to buy groceries, and Dad was out scouring for construction and renovation jobs as usual, so I was left very briefly in charge of the house. This was my chance.

I walked into my brother’s room, where he was quietly playing with his Thomas the Tank Engine toys. Without warning him of what I was up to - and maybe I should have - I started quoting the Looney Tunes bit again. Right on queue, that damn clown doll started playing. Duck started crying. I got mad.

I rushed to the medicine cabinet where I knew my very, VERY religious, very superstitious Italian grandmother had left us a gift on her last visit. Several vials of holy water. I grabbed one of these, and then dashed into my room to find the rosary Nana had gifted to me some time before. I knew nothing about exorcisms or ghosts save for what I’d learned through the media and Nana’s stories, so I was running blind - but I felt like I had to do something. I had to confront this thing that was terrorizing my brother and I!

So I went back into my brother’s room. Duck had fled at some point, and if I recall correctly, was hiding in our parents’ room where he felt safe.

I stood in the middle of the room, holding up the cross of my rosary at the doll, and with my other hand sprinkling holy water about the space as I’d often seen my Nana do on her visits. I can’t recall my exact words, but it was something along the lines of:

“If there’s a ghost here, you are not welcome! You need to go to heaven now! You’re scaring my brother and we don’t want you here!”

The clown did not respond.

The clown never responded again.

Later that very day, Mom came home with the groceries. She had actually taken a bit longer than expected, and apologized for such - but then told me to sit down so she could explain why.

You see, Mom had run into another neighbour on her way home, and found out that the old man who so often visited us to chat had been found dead in his home the previous day. He’d probably been dead for 2 or 3 days when he was found, because a neighbour had gone to check on him and gotten no response. Some of these details I learned a little later (my Mom wasn’t super forthcoming with this kind of information) but she gave me the basic facts that our neighbour had passed away a few days back and that we wouldn’t be seeing him anymore.

His name, which I had never known while he lived, had been George Atkinson.

#spooky stuff #ghost #ghosts #haunting #true story #mod post #story time

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