#its crazy to see where he was 20 or so years ago and then now

[chrisstopherfilmed]

🍒 CAUGHT 🍒

Nate doe x sturniolo reader

Summary: Chris, Matt, and Nick catch their little sister y/n and their best friend nate drunk making out in her room after a party they had. Will they be mad? Will Nate and them still be friends?

A/n: first storyyyyyy🌸🌸 also if its bad just tell me Pleaseeee

Warning: NOT PROOF READ

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Y/n pov:

You walk in your front door with party supplies for the major rager you’re throwing tonight for your 17th birthday with the help of your older brothers Nick, Matt, chris, and the best friend Nate who you’ve been seeing lately without them knowing.

Nate and you have always had a thing for each other, but lately you and him have been alone a lot more and 4 weeks ago when you and him where in your room and this all started, he kissed you.

Of course you kissed him back, both knowing that your bothers, his best friends where just up stairs. Things got a little heated and it turned into and really hot messy make out sesh.

But things stopped when you heard your brothers coming downstairs. That’s when you knew, sneaking around with Nate doe was gonna be one of the hardest things you could have ever signed up for.

You were only 2 years younger than him so when you really think about it, it’s not that bad. But to your 20 year old, overprotective, bat-shit crazy brothers, Oh it was the worst thing you could do.

You take your shoes off and set the stuff on your kitchen table. You walk over to the couch to find Nate, Matt, Chris, and Nick all playing fortnight. “Hey” you say pretty loud over the tv that is now blasting from gun shots. They all ignore you.

“HEY” you say even louder talking a pillow and throwing at Chris who had the controller in his hands. “WTF Y/N WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO WIN” Chris yells at you dropping the controller and leaning back on the couch, rolling his eyes dramatically. “If you couldn’t tell we were playing a game” Matt chimes and chuckling. “Guys stop being rude to her it’s her 17th birthday” Nick says rolling his eyes hitting Chris in the head.

“I got all the things we need for tonight. Cups, food, party essentials, ect” you say proudly with a smile on your face as you sit down a little to close to Nate. Matt and Chris give each other a look and Nick grabs you scooting you closer to him.

“I hope you know your NOT drinking tonight” Nick says “yeah there’s absolutely no way we are letting you drink anything but chocolate milk and apple juice” Chris says laughing “maybe just chocolate milk apple juice is a little to grown” Matt says laughing along with Chris’s

“Ok so you all can drink and I just have to sit there and look stupid at my birthday, great thanks” you say sarcastically looking at Nate, Matt, Chris, and Nick. “Whatever you all set up and I’m gonna go get dressed for tonight, I have to look hot for ALL the boys that are coming” you say getting up walking towards your room.

“I hope you fucking know if one god damn boy puts there hands you, 1 your fucking grounded and 2 they will be knocked the fuck out” Chris says. You roll your eyes and close your door.

-later-

7:30

“Shit shit shit” you say rushing to do your makeup and tie the shirt you had on. You hear the boys setting up around the house and you slip on your shoes and touch up your make up. Your wearing a white tube top, with and black leather mini skirt and some converse while your hair is curled.

Nate’s pov:

Me and the boys are setting up for y/na party. Putting out cups plates. All the necessaries. Matt bought drinks, alcohol and non alcoholic. We are about to head out to get some food.

“Nate will you go get y/n so we get go get food before the party” Nick says from the living room. “Yeah sure” I say walking over to y/n’s bed room.

Your pov:

You hear your door open assuming it’s one of your brothers telling you to hurry up. “Wow babe you look gorgeous” Nate says. You turn around and Nate grabs your waist closing the door behind him. He leads down kissing you. You kiss him back putting your hands around his neck and going on your tip toes to reach him better

He trys to slide his tongue into your mouth but you pull back out of the kiss. He groans from loss of touch. “Not now nate, your gonna mess up my makeup” you say arms still around his neck and on your tip toes.

“HURRY UP Y/N” Matt yells from the living room were all 3 boys are waiting for you. “IM COMING JESUS WAIT A MINUTE IM PUTTING ON MY SHOES” you lie so they wouldn’t suspect anything with you and Nate.

You and Nate walk out of your room. Chris drops his Pepsi and Matt’s face hardens. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WEARING” Chris screams so loud the neighbors could hear him “oh yeah be a little louder I don’t think the guy down the street heard you” “are you fucking serious, no go fucking change right now” matt says with a look of disbelief on his face

“I think she looks cute, guys don’t be so hard on her she’s 17 now we can’t baby her forever” Nick says “yeah Nick thinks I look cute” I say with a pouty face as I spin around so matt and Chris can see me whole outfit.

“Oh my god Nick do you not see how much fabric is on her body, like none” matt says trying to convince Nick to make you change. “Literally like 2 inches of fabric is on your body” Chris chimes in.

“Well your shirt is cute at least” Nate says trying to lift the mood “thank you” you say with a sheepish slime on your face “yeah I agree, for a stripper” Chris says rolling his eyes “CHRIS” Nick yells hitting Chris’s arm

“Can we just get in the god damn car and get the damn food” you say already annoyed enough “fine, and you can wear the outfit but so help me god if 1 boy even looks at you, your not coming out of your room for the rest of the night” Chris says walking to the door while you all follow.

-later at the party-

The music is blasting, everyone is dancing, drunk, and having a good time. This is one of the best birthdays you’ve had. And to spend it with your brothers and Nate makes it even better

“I can’t believe they haven’t caught me drink yet I’ve had like 5 drinks already” you say to Nate who has had only 1 drink. “Yeah well Nick and Chris are also a little drink and matt is too worried about clean up after everyone so I think your good” Nate says chuckling while holding your hand where no one can see.

“Follow me” you say with a smirk as your grab the tie Nate had on pulling him into your room. As you both into your room you close the door slip of your shoes and push Nate onto your bed to were his sitting on the edge.

“Mm I like were this is going” Nate says with a smirk as you climb onto his lap. “Yeah?” You say as you start to kiss his neck. “Yeah” he says. You start to take off his tie but he stops you. “Are you sure you wanna do this? I don’t want to take advantage of you while your drunk” “yes omg just shut up and kissing me” you says laughing.

He deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue in your mouth. You let him not even trying to fight for dominance. He makes you feel like you’re floating on air by the way he kisses you. You just can’t get enough.

His hand slide down your waist to your ass lifting you up a bit. He scoots back on the bed to were the back of his knees touch it. You slide your cold hands up his shirt and he jumps a little making you laugh into the hot, breath taking kiss. You pull back and just stare at him for a second.

Letting reality hit that your in a hot, handsy, make out sesh with all your brothers, best friends. And you could get two shits if they cared right now. You slam your lips back onto his and continue.

Chris pov:

Nick and matt try to help me find y/n. She’s been gone for a little bit and I can’t seem to find Nate either. “Guys I can’t find Nate anywhere either” I say worried something happend “you don’t think-“ matt says with a gross expression on his face “no they would never” Nick says

“They barely hang out” I say with a worried face “well do you really think it’s a coincidence they both went missing at her party” matt says “yeah y/n would never leave her own party” Nick says worry plastic on his face. 

My heart drops just the thought of my best friend and my younger sister. Chills run throughout my body and my head hurts. I run to her room scared to open the door.

“Matt you do it, I can’t” I say shaking. “WHAT NO IM NOT DOING IT” matt says grossed out “move idiots I’ll do it” nick says grabbing the door to open it

Your pov:

You and Nate are still making out but a little more heavy now. He’s now fully on your bed laying down with his shirt off. You’re on top of him, hands in his hair. His hands fully up your skirt but were your skirt isn’t up on your ass.

He flips you over and starts kissing and biting your neck definitely to leave marks. You turn your head away from the door to give him more access. As he’s biting on the sweet spot on your neck you let out a little moan.

Then you hear the door swing out and you both stop and swing your head to the door jumping off each other. Your heart stops. You’re still a little drunk but you can feel the emotions flooding to you.

“What. The. Fuck.” Nick matt and Chris says standing in your doorway. You and Nate look at each other and you jump off your bed running to your door to explain to them what they just saw.

“Look ik this looks bad but I promise I can explain”you says grabbing Nick 1 because his in the front and 2 so Chris or matt couldn’t get into the room. “Y/n let go of Nick right now and go downstairs to my room” Chris says looking like he wants to rip Nate’s face off

“I promise I can explain just please-” you say before matt cuts you off “y/n if you don’t get the fuck to Chris’s room right god damn now I will have Nick drag you down there” matt says with his jaw clinched so tight he could break a tooth

“Please just let me explain” you say before Nick grabs throwing you over his shoulder and drags you down to Chris room. “LET ME GO” you kick and scream “fine” nick says and throws you onto Chris’s bed, closing Chris’s door and locking it so you couldn’t get out

-15 minutes later-

You assumed Chris matt and Nick kicked everyone out because there was no more music playing and all you could hear was them screaming at Nate. You were still a little drunk, and laying on Chris’s bed made you tried.

You started to close your eyes with your arms crossed and curled into a ball. All you heard was Nate getting ripped (screamed at) by his best friend’s about how he was dating their younger sister without them knowing.

And that’s the last thing you remember before falling asleep.

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A/n: SORRY SORRY IM SO SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER, but lmk if yall want a part two and I hope yall liked this cus it took soo long and comment if you wanna be on the tag list for it😭



[mybworlds]

CHAPTER 20: EPILOGUE

status: completed

pairing: joel miller x f!reader

summary: your life is full of 'must'. You live with your overprotective mother who controls every aspect of your life. You have a dream, to write romance novels, but love - real love - you haven't found yet. Your mother has even decided what you must do in your free time: play music. One day, however, when you go to your music teacher's house, you will have an unexpected encounter and from that day on things change…

Masterlist

rating: 18+ explicit (minors, DNI)

Before to start... I got chills, this is the end. And. . . I don't know how to feel, I just want to thank you for everything. It means a lot to me ❤️

Thanks @vase-of-lilies for the banner and thanks @saradika-graphics for the divider.

Taglist: @harriedandharassed

It has been five years since you left your small town, your home, your mother and her crazy beliefs, Joel.

Even though you're almost on the other side of the country, you've never stopped thinking about him, but most of all you've wondered what it would have been like if you hadn't seen that memorial plaque and opened that door, Joel wouldn't have yelled at you, he wouldn't have insulted you, he wouldn't have looked at you with those eyes wide open full of hatred, but now what's the point of thinking about it?

“I hate you, get out, I don't ever wanna see you again!” he thundered at you, you still remember his trembling voice and your eyes filled with tears at what you found out, at his lack of openness to you and his words.

You open the window of your hotel room, the warm air gently brushes your face and hair, you light a cigarette.

You inhale and think back to how naive you were, how the you of five years ago believed in certain things, in many wrong ideals, how you believed that love could overcome any obstacle. However, as you think back to that, you also think that basically it was love with all its nuances that brought you here, today in Seattle, where he had sort of directed you, to present your first book, the publisher even told you that if you keep it up you might win the best first-time writer award, not the Pulitzer Prize as he had joked, but it's a start.

You take another shot, you're a bit nervous, you've prepared a little monologue, you've chosen to wear a blue jacket with a shirt and jeans underneath to break it up, you don't want to look older than you are, and most of all you want to be yourself.

The book kept its original title “Bittersweet,” but unlike your ending, the one in the book after a bad fight had the two main characters reconciled within two days. He reached her before she left and asked her to stay with him, and she, precisely because she loved him above all else, stayed with him. The publisher loved that bullshit.

You remember writing it in the hope that you could experience that moment yourself, what would you have done if he had caught up with you? If perhaps as you were climbing the last steps of the plane, he had managed to reach you and begged you to stay and not leave?

You smile bitterly, you will never know. He did not come, he let you leave, he let time come between you, let silence come between you. So many times you typed his number and then deleted it, so many times you wrote long messages to send him and then trashed them, so many times you listened to his vowels again so as not to forget his voice.

Will he ever have done the same? Or will he have even deleted those few photographs of you from his cell phone? Will he have completely erased you from his life?

You swallow, you miss him.

You can tell yourself that he had a overreaction, that he was an asshole for never really trusting you, for not being honest with you, but the truth is that you can't think of him with hatred, you think of him often and never with hatred, but with regret.

You think if you hadn't snooped around in that room, he would still be with you today and you would still be at home with him, he would never have kicked you out of his house, he would never have yelled at you, he would never have vomited all those horrible things at you, he would never have called you busybody, you know he didn't mean it. You're sure he said it in anger, and when you're angry you say the worst nastiness, but later he could have called you back and asked to see you and talk about it, instead nothing, silence, a deafening useless immense silence that hurt you even more.

Leaving seemed like the best thing, the cure, but putting hundreds of miles between you, it didn't make you feel better: it certainly helped you realize your big dream, it introduced you to a lot of interesting people, but you lost the most important person to you.

You can't deny that you've also had other boyfriends throughout this time, but nothing serious. A couple were just one-night stand, then there was another, but even with him you've been for a short time, not because you didn't like him, on the contrary. He was sweet and kind, understanding, but that spark that made you want to stay with him and continue on your path together not been sparked.

You put out your cigarette in the ashtray, close the window and turn on the air conditioning, take a shower and then go straight to sleep, you must be in great shape tomorrow.

When the alarm clock goes off you feel like you have been asleep for five minutes, you feel tired and you would not want to show up for that meeting you yourself must preside over for your official debut.

The room they have set aside for you is a nice, quiet little place, characterized by exposed wooden beams with steel tie rods on the sides that give space and light to the room, there are several bookcases on either side of the meeting room and then a small stage with a desk and three chairs, one is for you, another for a woman in her fifties who acts as moderator and one more for your publisher, in front are a dozen rows of chairs. When you arrive there is already someone seated who warmly smile at you and you nervously return the smile, copies of your book are stacked on a small trolley at the side of the stage and then a copy for you on the desk ready to read some excerpts at the end of the presentation. You go to sit in the center, immediately joined by one of the Library staff who asks if you need anything besides the water she brought you, you shake your head thanking her.

Slowly, and unexpectedly, the room fills up, the editor just barely squeezes your arm with an encouraging smile sensing your nervousness, then whispers in your ear, "It's going to be okay." you smile tightening your lips nodding, then take a deep breath and look towards the audience, "Good morning everyone! " you greet and are immediately greeted by everyone in the audience, then the moderator takes the floor and introduces you, you lower your gaze for a moment nervously clasping your hands, then you hear the woman conclude by saying, "Well, I'll leave the floor to you now, more applause." you smile then say, "Thank you Becca for what you said, you are so dear. When I started writing, I had a stone age computer!" you make a joke and smile "Not everyone approved of my need to write, to tell the reality around me or sometimes to read it and narrate it as I hoped it would be. " you swallow feeling your throat dry, you take a deep breath "Then, someone one day..." your breath stops as your eyes set on the last person you thought you would see at your introduction, you almost open your lips wide in amazement, it's Joel, he's there, standing at the back of the room.

Someone coughs, someone looks in the direction of your gaze, you clear your throat realizing that you need to start talking again "Um... sorry, as I was saying, um... someone gave me a computer one day, a decent computer with which I was finally able to write as and how much as I wanted, he never stopped me from writing, in fact, he even lent me his house so that he could help me write! " you exclaim, then look up at him and lower your gaze "And I snooped around his house in return," you whisper, losing yourself for a moment in that memory, in those angry eyes and at the memory of those hands that yanked you and almost threw you out of that room.

Your editor coughs "Yes, um...what our brilliant writer wants to say is that..."

You resume "What I want to say is that if I hadn't had that person's help," and this time you look intentionally toward Joel "I wouldn't be here today, if it weren't for him I would never have started writing the first draft of Bittersweet, I wouldn't have met you today; so, I say to that person thank you" then you go back to look at your small audience as well "and thank you if you'd like to read me, thank you. " a shy applause rises in the room and you smile quickly at the audience, but then turn your attention immediately to Joel, wearing a pair of faded jeans and a black t-shirt.

Your heart is pounding, oh how you missed him!

The editor says your name, "Would you like to read us an excerpt?"

"Sure," you reply, opening the book at a point you had already chosen, and now that Joel is there, it seems more than appropriate that he listens, you clear your throat "She had never believed that her handsome prince, the man who had rescued her, discovered her, helped her, healed her, loved her, could suddenly reveal himself in a nature that was entirely new and unsettling to her. His eyes became so dark that they seemed to want to swallow her, she had entered his innermost, most painful recess of his heart and had struck him so hard that the man's reaction had been to attack her in return. Ella could not believe that she had been so wrong, that she had not understood the man she had been with at all, and yet the man's violent reaction had just told her to flee, to go away from him, because he doesn't want her there, in that place, she's the wrong person to be able to share this secret with him. Oh, how much pain Ella felt, she trembled for a day and a night," out of the corner of your eye you catch a movement, you look up and Joel is gone, maybe you hit the nail, maybe you were wrong again, you don't know. The fact is, he's gone, turning his back on you. Again.

The presentation is ruined, yes the audience applauds you and the publisher applauds you too, you smile, but inside you feel dead, wrong, humiliated, still. You sign at least forty copies, and part of you hopes that he is also in line to get his book signed, but he is not there. He couldn't have been a hallucination, right?

Your editor walks you to the car giving you lots of compliments again, smiles at you, has encouraging words and indeed tells you that for your next writings, he will be there, you can only be glad, you need an ounce of support from someone. You then get into your car and drive back to your hotel, you think back to his dark eyes, his now very visible wrinkles, his slightly longer patchy beard with a few gray hair, his broad shoulders, you think about how you wished that, at the end of the presentation, he was there outside at the library and hugged you apologizing and asking you not to leave each other again. You are a fool, you think, wiping away the tears blurring your vision.

In the lobby, however, you find another surprise that is very welcome to you, your three wacky friends are there now more mature - perhaps - but certainly changed as well, but still so cheerful, exuberant and always knowing how to bring good cheer, even on the darkest and saddest of days. They hug you, ask for your autograph, take a lot of selfies and post your photos on social media with the strangest and most curious hashtags that, however, end up making you quite clicked and searched for on your Instagram pages. You tell everything you missed about each other, about your happy moments and sad ones, they update you about their private lives and their small successes in the everyday, you are happy for them, for all of them.

And you? Are you happy for yourself?

When it is now almost midnight, you say goodbye to them, they have not found a place in your hotel, but in one a few blocks from it and so after a long silent hug you say goodbye and they leave, you ask for the key to your room and slowly walk up the stairs, you don't want to take the elevator, you need to walk and when you reach the hallway, you find someone you didn't think you would see again in the same day, Joel.

He is leaning against the wall next to your room, he looks up, and you find your eyes bore into him at a very short distance apart. You haven't seen him so closely in so long, and for one long moment you feel like that time never really passed. You find yourself swallowing hard and moving closer, you lower your gaze only to insert the key in the lock of the room, then you look up again "What are you doing?" you ask him.

"I wanted to talk to you," he replies.

"Now?" you question.

"It's important," he says, moving away from the wall.

You let your gaze wander from his dark eyes to his full, soft lips, then lift it back to his eyes "I don't think I want to listen to you right now," you say, opening the door.

"No, now!" he exclaims putting a hand on your forearm "Please " he adds in a softer tone.

Your heart beats hard in your chest, you are about to say yes to him, but then you reconsider "No, you waited five years, you can wait until morning and now leave me!" you exclaim releasing from his grip and entering the room. You make to immediately close the door behind you, but Joel resists by pushing the door and entering, you take a few steps back as he closes the door behind him.

Joel sighs, then looks into your eyes murmuring your name, your heart beating wildly in your chest as you look at him with sad eyes, shaking your head "I wish... I wish that... that - but what the hell do you want from me now? Why now?" you feel the blood boiling in your veins, the pain, the bitterness, the shame, the sense of emptiness all pour out at once and lead you to hit Joel full in the chest, you push him, you give him a series of repeated punches on his mighty chest, and you find yourself repeating aloud, "Why? Why? Why?" your eyes fill with tears.

Joel places his hands on yours stopping them and engulfing between his own, "Please, baby, listen to me, please," he begs wrapping your face in his hands and wiping away the tears that have taken flight down your cheeks "You have no idea how sorry I am, baby girl, I'm so sorry, please forgive me."

"Why did you wait five years? Five years, not five days or five weeks, but five years, you abandoned me, you allowed me to live alone, you made me feel stupid, I felt..."

"Empty." he completes for you, "I've felt that way every day since my daughter's been gone, always. Then you came along and brought light and warmth and love, I felt loved, so loved, and I was a fool for not recognizing this, if you don't want anything to do with me anymore, I understand." he tells you staring into your eyes and stroking your cheeks "It'd be obvious. I wouldn't fight it or look for you anymore, but I wanted to tell you. Sorry it took me so long."

You shake your head, "You know it's too late now, right?"

He nods lowering his eyes and then raising them again, "I know." he replies, but contrary to what he just told you, he kisses you, his lips are soft against yours, and even though you told him it's too late for you, you can't help but return that kiss, you missed him too much to repress everything all the way.

"It doesn't change anything," you say resting your forehead against his "It doesn't change what you put me through, how you made me feel..." you add kissing him again and this time more impetuously "I hate you," you tell him between kisses clenching your t-shirt in your fists as he slips one hand into your hair bringing you even closer to him and with the other he encircles your waist.

"Forgive me." he sighs with his eyes closed, "No." you reply out of breath.

"I would make love to you if it wasn't too late..." he confides to you, "Yeah." you reply again raising your eyes to meet his "I would too..." you add "But I hate you..." you say again, but your tone falters.

"I love you." he tells you, moving a strand of hair behind your ear.

"I hate you." you repeat again, but in an increasingly less convinced tone.

"I love you." he repeats again.

"I--" you falter, "Joel," you whisper clutching at him and grasping in the fist of your hands his T-shirt even more forcefully as if to keep him from escaping.

"I'm here," he says under his breath, "My love."

You tighten your grip even more on his shirt, "I never stopped thinking about you," you confess to him.

"Neither have I, baby." he whispers softly "I know what I did changed our relationship forever, but..." the words die in his throat when he sees you take just a half step back and slip off your jacket and unbutton your shirt without taking your eyes off his that become, as you remembered, two dark pools in which you now just want to drown.

You remain in your bra and with your jeans still on, you move closer, it's your turn to sink your hands into his hair and kiss him, you feel him hesitantly and almost shakily place his hands on your back one at the base of your back and the other between your shoulder blades, "Babe," you coo through your lips "it won't..." you're about to say, but he lays another kiss on your lips.

"It won't happen again, I swear," he tells you, looking for your eyes, "if you still want me."

"You swear?" you ask feeling another tear take flight, so many emotions you are feeling at that moment.

"On my life. I will never, never, never leave you again." he repeats caressing one cheek and placing a kiss on the tip of your nose "I love you, darlin', forgive me, it will never happen again."

You smile, you really smile after five years, it feels as if that bitter sweet feeling that had accompanied you for five years has been washed away and serenity has returned, love in his arms, in his sweet kisses, in his caresses, you have found each other eyes to eyes and you have promised yourself that never again and for no reason in the world would you be separated from him or allow someone or something to divide you. You are together now.

[dinkbear]

camp camp s5 e1 review (MAJOR SPOILERS!)

yea i thought it sucked

i just watched the new cc episode and i thought it was....not great

the pacing was very off, i feel like they had the potential to tell an emotionally complex story regarding max's feelings to returning to camp and seeing so much different, but that's difficult to do in 15 minutes, i feel like it could've worked better if it were even just 20 minutes. also, in "With Friends Like These" i thought max's new VA sounded practically the same as his old one, but in this episode he just sounds...off. again, a lot of the lines felt forced, when i hear this new guy i don't hear the little shit-stain max i just hear Some Guy™. i understand WHY they changed the va, but as a poc myself i genuinely could not care less if a white actor voices a poc character esp in an adult cartoon. it actually really brought me out of it when max was snapping at the obstacle course because it just felt like nothing, like i didn't care.

i. hate. CJ. i think he's unfunny, i don't like his design, i just...don't like him. hoping and praying that gwen stays and he LEAVES or there's some crazy twist or SOMETHING i just do NOT like him. also, why does he have the authority to deny the campers food??? is david not his boss??? DO SOMETHING BRO

david also felt off, i know that now he knows the campers better and he's had character development but he just seemed disingenuous

the bit with nikki freaking out over max possibly being mad had so much potential to be built on and have something done with it but it just...didn't. it was just that one line and that was it, i was excited for some crazy conflict that didn't happen.

i thought the thing with neil's clip on earring was hilarious and im sad that it'll probably only be in that one episode </3

UGGGGH they CAN tell heart-wrenching stories, they CAN expand on these characters emotionally, they CAN DO SO MUCH and they HAVE....but, for me, a big part of what made episodes like "The Order of the Sparrow" and "Parents' Day" so moving was that it was out of the formula. i LOVE LOVE LOVE shows that set themselves up as being episodic/formulaic/sitcom-y and then slowly introduce lore and show that the characters are 3-dimensional and have conflict, etc, etc. but in this episode and in "With Friends Like These," the emotional story-telling feels forced. it's not set up like its a regular camp camp episode where something unexpectedly emotional happens, its set up to be the unexpected thing...which makes it expected and lose its value. especially because, back when i was SUPER hyperfixated on this show like 4 years ago, post watching "Parents' Day" or "The Order of the Sparrow" or whatever, when i rewatched other episodes i saw more to these characters hidden in little aspects of their behavior or their reactions or their dialogue that was there the WHOLE TIME, but seemed like it was just a regular old episode where regular old things happen, but now it seems as though they are straying away from that and instead having the emotional development and storytelling be completely unsubtle and on the nose. i suppose it is the writers' choice and they have every right to do that even if i don't like it.

speaking of on-the-nose, i wasn't a fan of how they just flat out said "max is upset that things are different," in the episode he said how he didn't like that everything was changing over and over and over again. and like.....take "Parents' Day" for example, max was being an extra asshole to everyone subconsciously before realizing and admitting the real reason, which was great and how kids work (because remember, max is 11) but in this episode it was pretty much "GRRRRR EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT AND IM MAD ABOUT IT!!!!!" and i know it was supposed to be like 'well WHY is he so mad about it :o" which could've been good and interesting if there were...buildup...or anything...and not "This camp sucks, but you know what else sucks? Life out there. Family, school, a crumbling society?" and "You're just as lame as before, which is why you didn't have any friends back home to begin with." its just like....come on. was that REALLY the best way to get that across??? THEY CAN WRITE SUBTLY SO WHY DON'T THEY!?!?!?!?

i feel like there is SO MUCH potential to exploring max's emotions but they just seem to keep being unsubtle and on-the-nose about it, which an emotionally neglected kid would NOT be. we have to remember, they're kids. i feel like the earlier seasons did a great job of making that obvious- making them little rascals, oblivious to things, mischievous, full-of-energy, little devils, the line "I saw it on TV!" from s1 e4- but in these newer episodes its treated as though that aspect is not important (note: i have never rewatched s4 because i didn't like it, so i am not going off it for reference bc i barely remember anything that happened) max wouldn't know that he's upset with them changing because of how lonely it is, and i know he was supposed to be projecting but the dialogue felt so forced it didn't even feel like projecting it just felt like admitting. i don't expect the writers to have a phd in child psychology or something, but if they want max's emotional reactions to have power and be meaningful, i feel like they should be a CHILD'S emotions.

granted, this is all my opinion. i'm sure for the reasons i disliked the episode, someone really loved it for the same ones. i would give it a 3/10, but there was no jasper, so it gets a 0/10. very excited for the next episode, the post-credits trailer made it seem like it'll be good.

[jadeylovesmarvelxo]

The Trouble With Love

Part One 🌸❤️

Based on an idea I had a couple of days ago ❤️🌸

Steve Harrington x Reader fic where he's married to Nancy but the fantasy he had in his head many years ago doesn't transpire and he's deeply unhappy as is she.

Both are too stubborn to admit anything is wrong. He's fine Dustin stop being a butthead okay?

Jonathan is around all the time and so are you... His next-door neighbour and his goddaughter's (Robin and Vickie's kid) preschool teacher who he can't stop running into, arguing with or thinking about.

Steve is 33, reader is in her 20's

Warnings; Angst, trouble in paradise, a bucket load of sexual tension.

Part one, possible series ☺️💕

Lmk if you want to be tagged x

I don't give anyone permission to copy, repost my work.

If you enjoyed this pls consider liking or reblogging.

💕

It was quiet this morning, too quiet, Steve didn't like when it got too quiet because the thoughts he so easily pushed aside came rushing to the surface.

Thoughts about Nancy and their marriage and the hopeless sense of despair he had been feeling for months maybe even longer now.

After a few years away from Hawkins with Nancy becoming a well-known journalist and Steve staying in Hawkins with Robin to help rebuild the town after its destruction by Vecna and The Upside Down's defeat, he and Nancy met again and took a second chance at dating.

This time things worked out at least for the first few years. Nancy's ambition grew bigger and bigger while Steve did his best to support her even though his dreams of discussing starting a family were out on hold again.

He had that fantasy, the perfect fantasy of him and Nancy with six lil nuggets in the summertime, on a road trip in a Winnebago.

He told Nancy that years ago and he was still hopeful that could happen. He was thirty-three and they had time to do it.

Well, maybe not six lil nuggets but even a few would be nice because Steve had always envisioned a big family for himself.

It's just he wished Nancy took his dreams seriously such as he did for her.

He grew up as an only child with a mother and father who thought throwing money his way for several years constituted as them being attentive.

The truth was he spent more time with nanny's and his grandmother than his parents and he knew that when he had kids he wanted to make sure they knew how loved and treasured they were.

He never wanted them to feel lonely as he did, in truth the only decent thing his father did for him now was get him a great job in his company, flex hours, benefits, amazing pay.

When a child did finally come along then he would be able to stay at home as much as he possibly could.

The thoughts of how he was going to broach the subject again to Nancy was fully in his mind once more but the phone ringing caught his attention.

It was Robin "Hey dingus, can you pick up Anna for me? Have to take Vickie to an emergency dentist appointment and she's fteaking out incase we're late to pick Anna up"

This brightens his mood considerably, he adored his goddaughter.

"Yeah, sure Rob, I'll pick her up" Robin briefs a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Steve, I owe you one" With a click she's gone and he heads to Hawkins Preschool to pick up Anna.

His good mood lasts until he sees you, Anna's teacher and his next-door neighbour who drove him crazy.

Anna adored you and called you Miss Smiley because you were always happy, smiling and saccharine sweet to everyone in Steve's opinion.

It irritated Steve to no end because you weren't sweet as pie to him, you called him out on his bullshit all the time, and he had never known anyone to get under his skin quite like you did.

He reaches the preschool with time to spare and finds you and Anna waiting outside, she's holding your hand and babbling excitedly to you, there's a big grin on your face as you listen to Anna indulgently.

"Good afternoon, Mr Harrington," you say sweetly and he scowls because being called Mr Harrington makes him feel like his dad or some shit.

"It's Steve" he reminds you for the umpteenth time and you look all innocent and sweet but he's sure you're doing it to annoy him.

"Uncle Steve" Anna beams giving him a toothy smile and hugging his legs, his heart melts and the ache for a child of his own grows even more.

"Hi, Anna Banana, how's my best girl?" she shows him the drawing he did. A picture of him, Robin and Robin.

"See Mama, mama, and you" She beams and he picks her up and hugs her close, all his stress melting away for a second due to the picture.

It's all squiggles mostly but there are two figures holding hands, Robin and Vickie and then there's Steve, he identifies himself through the vast amount of hair that Anna has drawn.

"I love it, sweetheart" he assures her and he catches your eye surprised to see you smiling at him, genuinely.

"She got a gold star today for that drawing, well all the kids did but Anna's was a personal favourite" he cocks his eyebrow curious.

"Oh yeah?" you nod and gesture to the picture.

"Captured your hair and pose perfectly" pose?

"Mama!" Anna squeals and he sees Robin coming out of her car. She beams at him gratefully and takes Anna from him.

"Vickie said to catch up with you and invite you to dinner tomorrow. It's pizza night" That goes down well with Anna who claps excitedly.

"Yay! Pizza" He nods confirming this with Robin then turns back to you annoyed.

"What pose? I don't pose" you chuckle and Robin watches the both of you amused as Vickie comes to get Anna to take her to the car.

"Oh you know it's kinda like a scolding dad, hands-on-hips, I'm so over this shit look" His eyes widen and he hears Robin stifle her laughter.

"I do not... He realises he's doing the very same pose she was talking about and rolls his eyes. Great.

Robin realising that the two of them could argue for hours wisely decides to head to the car and go home.

She will hear all about it from Steve later, she always does.

Can you believe that yn said this? She's such a brat? Do you all believe this Miss Smiley shit? I can't stand her.

Lather rinse repeat. Blah blah blah. For someone he couldn't stand, he talked about you enough.

It did take his mind off him and Nancy though and while Nancy was her friend Steve was her platonic soulmate and she knew that his and Nancy's marriage wasn't as perfect as they tried to portray.

There were too stubborn to admit any problems and it didn't help that Jonathan was back in Hawkins again.

Dustin had tried to get through to Steve as well but Steve would insist nothing was wrong.

"I'm fine Dustin don't be a butthead" is all he would say, she wishes she could help but until Steve admitted there was a problem what could she do?

💕

"You need to relax a little you know Mr Harrington, stress isn't good for you, plus the kids pick up on it" you tell him.

He looks at you like you've grown two heads and counts to three to tame his irritation but it doesn't work.

"I am relaxed. It's you that drives me crazy, just cut the shithead antics yeah?" You're quiet and he turns away then you speak again.

"Yes, sir" It's a little taunt, teasing and he freezes at the sir. Freezes because the sir goes straight to his cock and he feels a wave of guilt wash over him.

What was this? You were irritating and nosey and he couldn't stand you and he had Nancy! He storms away from you and vows to stay far away from your annoying sweet smile.

💕💕

Nancy is back once he gets in from work, also Jonathan Byers's car is parked in their driveway and he puts a smile on his face not wanting to fight.

Jonathan is showing Nancy some of his photos of his various trips around America, and the two of them are laughing and drinking wine.

Jonathan gets up and picks up his jacket giving him a small smile.

"I better go, I'll see you later" Nancy nods and see him out, when she comes back inside she gives him a quick kiss.

"I've got some papers to write. Do you want takeout for dinner?" he nods and pulls off his jacket.

"Just spent some time with Anna, she drew the cutest picture, Nance" Nancy smiles at this and he feels his heart thump nervously as he broaches the subject of kids.

It's been a long time since they talked about it.

"Hey, Nance? It would be nice if we could think about having a little nugget huh?" she sighs and runs her hand through her hair.

"Not now Steve, I'm getting really far with this new story and I don't have any time to take off for maternity or even think about the amount of childcare we would need to think of" his heart sinks because it's the same thing she said almost a year ago.

"Right okay" He nods and she rolls her eyes.

"Don't do that okay, don't make me feel bad about it okay? I don't need you pressuring me" he gapes.

"Pressure you? We talked about it last year Nance! I barely bring it up because you get like this. You know having kids is a big dream of mine, you've always known that.

"I support every dream of yours 110% but mine? You just dismiss them." she shakes her head.

"You know what? This is bullshit. You're bullshit and I don't have time for this" she picks up her jacket and storms out.

"Nance wait!" she's gone before he can apologise or say anything to stop her.

💕

He heads into the garden just to take a minute, the argument with Nancy firmly in his mind.

The pain he's feeling is intense and he's so tired of the arguments, he massages his head feeling sick to his stomach.

"Are you okay?" he looks up and finds you standing near his fence. Your eyes are full of concern and he nods.

"I'm fine" He pinches the bridge of his nose to stop the tears from coming, a minute or so later he hears his gate open.

When he looks up you're beside him, and the alarm is written all over your face, you gently place an arm on his shoulder.

"Steve" your voice is kind and he's startled that you've called his name and not Mr Harrington.

"It's uh, just Nance and I have been arguing a lot, it's nothing" but that wasn't true when they were getting to the point that they argued frequently, that something was breaking between them.

"I'm sorry, really I am," you tell him sincerely and he is grateful. It's nice to have someone with him, it's nice not to feel this crushing heartache alone.

It feels like his whole life is falling apart and he doesn't know what to do. He would never ask Nancy to give up her dreams but would she want him to give up his?

Why couldn't they find some compromise?

"I want kids and Nancy is really focused on work which is amazing, I'm so proud of her it's just... She knows how I feel about having a family and yet when I bring it up she shuts down like there's no hope of a compromise or anything"

You don't say anything you just stay with him and after a minute or so passes you gently tug on his shirt.

"You look like you could use a hug and I've been known to give good ones" you suggest and Steve thinks that sounds pretty great, he could use a friend right now.

Your arms wrap around him and he finds comfort in your embrace for a moment, there's a weird tension in the air though and it makes him nervous and he pulls away giving you a soft smile.

"Thanks" He squeezes your shoulder and he heads back inside confusion racing through his mind.

💕💕

When you head inside your house your heartbeat is just returning to normal.

This couldn't happen you couldn't focus on these feelings for Steve. It was so stupid and reckless and for goodness sake, he was married!!

Nothing could happen between the two of you, you really needed to get over this stupid crush.

It wasn't like he liked you anyway. Even if he wasn't married he found you annoying, he said so himself.

Why did you have to be attracted to someone who was completely unavailable? It made you feel like an idiot and just very low.

It was imperative that you needed to get over this crush before you ended up very hurt.

💕💕

[sniigura-archive]

where are you? (i don’t want to die alone) 3

all might x child! reader

chapter 1 ; chapter 2

tags/cw: child neglect, slight self harm, unhealthy coping mechanisms, VERY unrealistic everything

read on ao3 for better formatting + tagging

when you turn up on time to your first class, your friends seem relieved. ah, you nearly forgot, since its the 20 year anniversary for your school, the students will hold a cultural festival. there will be a concert, dancing performances and food.

you don’t perform on stage, especially not in-front of huge groups of people. your stage fright was too severe. still, you will spend the day helping to set up everything. being the man behind the scene and everything.

right now you were behind the gymnasium with your best friend, he was rolling a cigarette for himself. you were too paranoid to smoke, what if your voice changed too much and everyone ends up hating it?

leaning against the wall, you finished telling him of your crazy morning. he was the only one who knows who your father is. not because you told him, but because all might barged into your apartment and revealed his own secret identity. you don’t know how that could have happened, because you extra texted him AND left a message on his voice mail. who would have thought, he didn’t answer and screwed himself up.

the gymnasium is painted in a graffiti style, the new first years alway re paint it. a few years ago your group project was presented for everyone to see. now, it is buried under layers and layers of paint. even though the wall has been painted again and again, it still had a rough texture. your finger glided across it, nervously.

“…when’s your birthday anyways?” he asked, while patting his pockets, searching for his lighter.

scowling at him, you pressed your finger harder against the rough surface. your finger was starting to become raw.

“dude, that’s like the least important information in the whole world you could ask for.” reaching into your pant pocket, you pull out a lighter and give it to him. he quickly thanks you.

“it’s important to me! mmm, what’s your zodiac sign?”

sighing, you rub your forehead. you made sure not to tell the birthday story, yet. if someone congratulated you for your birthday you would start crying at this point. you straightened up when you heard voices coming close towards you. your best friend puts his cigarette out against the wall and puts it in his hoodie pocket. he stepped towards you, trying to look who was coming.

of course it had to be class 1a with their two teachers. so they were able to make it. with them was the director, giving them a tour of the campus. ugh you can never catch a break. you have to think fast, do you leave as quickly as possible or stay?

thank god you’re not a hero, so you don’t need to be brave and face uncomfortable situations!

“..i’m running, bro.”

“huh? wait..!”

before you could really think everything through, you started sprinting. not too far, just to put some distance between you and them. after a few seconds you slowed down and looked over your shoulder. the group just rounded the corner. quickly looking ahead again, you decided to walk towards the main building, since your next classes will be there. while you walked, you ignored the feeling of being watched.

________________________

end of the day, somewhat.

while your classes did end, it didn’t mean you could go home yet to rot away in your room. since today was the anniversary of your school, your job is to prepare the stage, so others can perform.

you aren’t late for the preparations! which is a blessing in disguise. right now you’re behind the stage, stashing away your bag.

“…so that’s why the hero class is here.” someone explained, a first year.

immediately perking up at the mention of hero class, you asked,

“why are they here?”

“ugh! dude, i explained it, like, 100 times already! they are here to play through like a boomb threat scenario. you know, since hero work also includes assisting during terrorism threats.” you knew if you were not an upperclassman, they probably would have refused to answer. children.

nodding your head at the explanation, you straightened your back and sighed. maybe you could fake sick…nah. gotta pull through.

massaging your temples you simply tried to focus on breathing.

“they will leave before the perfomances tho! they hid like a secret paper cut out somewhere. they also are not allowed to disturb us. so don’t worry, senpai!”

“well at least it is something. image how annoying it would be if they, like, were around us all the time…annoying like flies, man.” with those words you left backstage area. stepping into the stage was, maybe, not your best move.

the class, with their teachers (because why would they ever need to be independent) stood infront of the stage. at least they were no on here with you and a few others. you diged your thumb nail into your raw finger. the pain should ground you.

“ah! yagi! you know, our school was able to bring out not only small starts, but also a few big ones.” she winked at you.

schooling your face to stay neutral, you could hear a few whispers from the students. of course they remembered your face from the morning. that was some wild shit you pulled there. jesus.

“oi! aren’t you the one from the train station?!” called someone out.

furrowing your brows at the question, and thanking yourself for taking that action class as a joke, you answered in monotone voice, “huh? no, sorry. i have never seen you guys before, in my life. i swear on my fathers life.”

and then you smiled at them, brightly. fuckers.

what the hell are you supposed to say? yes? no way. why did you even do that. are you mentally unwell or something? …maybe it is some time for self reflexion.

turning around and scanning the stage, you make a mental note on what was missing. the piano was already there, thankfully. speakers, microphones, the drum set, amplifiers, the lights have to be tuned. and and and and.

much to do, with not a lot of time to spare. is the piano even tuned properly? ugh.

fucking back off back stage, you decided on starting with the lights and speakers, since you aren’t sure on what kind of perform order there is. not everyone needs microphones, but everyone needs lights.

“ayo! do we have anyone on the lights yet?” you called out. the answer came fast with a solid no.

thank god, you have a job. taking out your phone, you checked you text messages. your friends were not here yet. those traitors, tell you to be punctual but can’t do that themselves.

while you send out text messages, you could hear hushed whisper in the background.

“hello there! kid, which i have never meet before! could you assist me?”

great.

[noras-dc-shenanigans]

Harley Quinn as Billy’s Mom

Right so Harleen Quinzel goes to college at 18, gets pregnant at 28, gives birth over summer break, puts the baby up for adoption, goes on to graduate later that year, gets a job at Arkham, gets manipulated by Joker, and becomes Harley Quinn at age 30.

She’s now 38 and mostly rehabilitated, living in a little city called Fawcett that Batman sent her to as a type of witness protection from the Joker. It’s pretty effective, since as of a few months ago the city has its own Superman-level hero, and even if the Joker found Harley here he’s not that crazy. Big Red shook off giant robots and laser guns, Joker knows he can’t compete with that.

Then one day, she gets a knock on the door. It’s a young boy named Billy Batson, who’s shows her a taped-together birth certificate and asks if that’s her name on it.

It is.

So. Turns out her one-night-stand kid is now a superhero. Who knew?

Eventually, someone starts spreading the rumor that Captain Marvel is a Kryptonian like Superman. The Justice League, already interested in the powerful man, decide to go talk to him. They arrive to find that the Joker had apparently found out Harley was in Fawcett, took the rumors at face value, and tried to shoot Marvel with kryptonite bullets.

They didn’t work, and the Leaguers arrive at the warehouse just in time to see Marvel smack the guy into a wall, and then while helping Harley Quinn free of the chains she’d been wrapped in, everyone present blue screens when the very powerful not-Kryptonian turns to the ex-criminal and asks:

“Are you okay Mom?”

Emergency Fake Backstory Time: they tell the Leaguers that Harley gave birth earlier, as a teen (False), and gave the baby away (True). Marvel’s adoptive parents died (True), he went into foster care (Sorta True: he ran away at 8), and a few months ago he was able to strong-arm his horrible uncle into giving up his documents (Sorta False: he snuck in and used magic to scare Ebenezer into telling his where the documents were). Saw the name on the birth certificate, used magic to track her down, they reunited, and voilà! Here they are now.

Batman is having a very quiet conniption in the corner because one of his Rogues has an overpowered adult-child superhero and he didn’t know.

For clarity-

• Harley- 38

• Joker- 50

• Batman- 46

• Oracle- 26

• Nightwing- 25

• Red Hood- 22

• Black Bat- 20

• Red Robin- 17

• Spoiler- 17

• Signal- 16

• Robin- 14

• Billy- 10

• Alfred- 70s

[nualaofthefaerie]

Who am I, and why I'll always show where Nuala is mentioned?

So hello guys.

I came to the realization that a lot of people on Tumblr do not know me, and I came kind of suddenly to you guys. So, allow me to tell you who I am and why I hope to become a big part of your "Sandman" experience. I will attach some pictures for references 🩷🪷

My name is Li. My main platform is Twitter. Most of my friends are there too. I hope I can make a lot of mutuals here, too. I came across "The Sandman" one year ago. Now, the Sandman is a wonderful piece of media for people to explore a plethora of dynamics they enjoy. For me, it was a bit of an adjustment.

Before reading the comic, I tried to stan Dreamling. However, for me personally, I very rarely enjoy dynamics with no women in them. That is, of course, me personally. I am not the one who should tell people what they should enjoy. Bi/Pan WLM and WLW, those are dynamics I truly enjoy. However, at the time, I was trying to fit in with what was popular. Truly, it didn't make me very happy because I just don't see it the way Dreamling shippers see it.

So I tried changing my angle. I tried to get into Calliope and Morpheus (I apologise, I do not know if they have their own little ship name). This one fitter me a bit better. However, I have personal issues with the concept of divorce, and I could never quite brush aside the fact that at the end... they were divorced. I even made a Calliope cosplay at the time and met Tom (loveliest person on Earth).

(I envisioned this ballerina Calliope cosplay, and for the most part, I made it work. This was my VERY first attempt at anything.)

He kind of convinced me to just read through the comics. And I did. And it all really fell into place. And Nuala of the Faerie became my spark. I want to make it clear that I love Nuala so much more and so BEYOND Sandflower. She is just so exceptional, so complex. I became SO excited to explore what the Internet could offer on her only to get...nothing. Absolutely nothing. Whatever little official art there was (three-five drawings and it was usually not even Nuala centered, she was just there) and two three pen drawings on DivienArt made in 2010.

Now, one thing about me is that I am persistent as all hell. And it is completely out of line that Thessaly is a "main character," but Nuala isn't. So, in January, I had a very "If no one is going to do it, I will" moment. I began talking about her every day. Analysing, sharing panels, commissioning artists (uni student making commissions, I was kinda of crazy for that one. I made one commission once and then had 20 bucks left for the week to buy food) and every minute since January until today, I do it all for her. Because she deserves to be recognized. Nuala is no less than Lucien/ne or the Corinthian. I have an ask sitting in my inbox that I simply don't know how to answer:

"Why do you think "x" is more popular than Nuala?"

I do not know, to be honest. Frankly, I also try not to care. Because my love for Nuala is not based on bringing other characters of the Sandman down. I do this to uplift her to a status where one day, I won't be the only person on the Nuala tag (I was SO happy the other day when like five new people had made art, SO happy) and not the only one on the Sandflower tag (that is ONLY me for now). And until then, I will be the only one. It's okay. And when I no longer have to be, I will sit back and enjoy the fruits of my hard work.

This may appear very self-centered to those who do not know me, but those who do will tell you I work day and night for her. I have a 70k Sandflower fic, 50k of which is only its first arc, just sitting in my google Docs. I have sketches upon sketches. I talk with artists about more commissions and how to make it so she gets a new outreach. I have conversations and try to introduce her to as many people as possible until they notice her and care for her at least a fraction of how much I do. She inspired me to try sewing and really get to cosplay a SOLID version of her (still working on that).

(I sewed most of the outfit and and it was my second attempt to do anything from scratch. I'll get better at it 🪷🌿🩷)

I like to think she would love it. She only ever longed to be loved. And I love my girl.

So much. We help each other every day. We exist together. And when her actress joins our little triangle, we will make the perfect fairy. The perfect personification of womanhood the way I see it.

My Nuala (Lala, Lali, Lalita, flower, the pearl, sun, if I missed any of my moots nicknames for her, hit me up).

So that's it, dear Tumblr. I am afraid you won't be able to mention Nuala of the Faerie without me because somewhere in May, we started co-existing.

And we are not going anywhere.

Love,

Li and Nuala 🪷🌿🩷

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

NCT Spooky Season [Day 6]

Spectral Lover

TW: Ghosts, Mentions of a Murder (via Shotgun) Genre: Romance Pairing: Lee Taeyong x Reader YN Pronouns: Not specified Word Count: 0.8K Prompt: They had an unjust death, and now they haunt the house their reincarnated lover lives in

[NCT Masterlist] | [NCT Spooky Season Masterlist] | [Yesterday] | [Tomorrow] | [Part 2] [Ao3 Link] | [Wattpad Link]

Notes: Spooky season is officially here! And since I skipped 20 days of NCT for Christmas last year, what the hell, why not do spooky season instead? Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

Feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for reading!

Things have been so... boring.

Taeyong laid down in the middle of the bedroom floor, the room was devoid of anything, really, just some old floorboards and peeling wallpaper, but nothing of note. His belongings from decades ago were long moved out and sold, leaving behind this empty shell of a room. His soul was bound to this house, cursed to never move on with the nature of his death, and blessed to never bother anyone because of it.

Until today, that is. He heard the front door open, what with its creaky hinges and its partially falling-off knocker. This new owner would be like the last one, probably. He'd move a few things around, get them spooked out, and watch them move away. He didn't want trouble, he just wanted peace. He could hear the movers bringing things in and placing them on the floors, he could hear people moving up and down the old stairs and through the hallways.

Boring. Taeyong would go scare them off later, but for now he'll stay here. Then he saw the bedroom door open.

"Alright, this is the main bedroom," the mover walks in first and the new owner after. And, as soon as he saw who it was, he sat up.

"Oh, it's a lovely room," you pushed back the peeling wallpaper as if smoothening it out would set it in place. "Definitely a fixer-upper, though," you looked around, and Taeyong felt his heart stop.

Look at you, living, breathing, and reincarnated. Due to the suddenness of his death and the unfairness of it all, his soul was held back here and tied to this location forever, and the worst part of it all was seeing how you grieved, how you lived in this house alone for such a long time that he prayed that someone would come along and give you the strength to heal and that they did.

And here you were again, decades later, young and bright-eyed just how he remembered you.

"We'll go ahead and bring in your bedroom items, (Y/N), let us know if you need anything else," the mover signals his employees to come in and they start setting up your bed and dressers.

"You know, (Y/N)," one of the employers chimed, "no one stays past a year in this house," he says.

"Is that so?"

"Place is haunted, you see?"

"Really now? That's exciting," you look around again.

"Yeah, poor bloke got shot point blank here," the mover points at the wall. "Murdered cold and by his own shotgun, crazy," the mover shakes his head.

"Oh, that poor man," you frowned. "And he haunts this place?"

"Allegedly," the other mover huffs after placing the nightstand down. He brushes his hands together. "I think that's the last of it, boss."

"Did you need any assistance with anything else, (Y/N)? The boss asks. You shake your head and pat one of the boxes.

"I think I've got it from here, thank you!" You walked the movers out and, after a few minutes, you returned to the room. "Alright... I'll just unpack the bedsheets for now, and a few things so I can shower," you spoke to yourself and pulled the necessary items out. Meanwhile, Taeyong watched your movements. You placed the boxes in a way that they were in the vicinity of where its contents would be stored or displayed and you moved around in a way that just seemed so free. And slowly he felt himself falling in love again. That bitterness he felt for what he thought was eternity was slowly melting away with each tune you sang.

Then, after all was said and done, you tucked yourself into bed, and Taeyong waited until you were truly asleep before he opened the first box.

~

When you woke up the next morning you were almost scared. All of your boxes had been folded up neatly in a corner of the room and all of your items unpacked and placed into their intended areas, you were more impressed than you were scared.

In fact, Taeyong was putting the last touches on the kitchen when he heard you running down, and he was quick to drop the kettle on the floor so as to stay hidden, but when you walked into the kitchen you seemed to be looking right at him.

"A ghost... huh?" You asked absently. "Well... I suppose I don't mind a roommate," you grinned. "Thank you, Mr. Ghost, and I look forward to getting to know you a little more."

And, slowly, Taeyong felt his chest grow lighter, as if you were now helping him lift that weight. Then, you rubbed your eyes and walked toward him.

"Strange... maybe I need to sleep more, I thought I saw a shadow," you wondered aloud. Then, you walked away and back upstairs.

Did you see him? That would be the first time ever that any of the owners even saw a glimpse but that should be impossible with this curse. He can interact with things around him but no one would be ever to see him and yet, somehow, you did, even if it was just a shadow, you saw him.

Maybe you were the key to helping him move on?

General Tag List: @stopeatread @bat-shark-repellant @raeincitizen @umbralhelwolf @yangsrose @kazooms @sadcoffeecritic 

NCT Tag List: @cherrylovr @minjiville 

If you want to be added to either tag list or removed just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

[sebsgirl71479]

Shoot your Shot

Sebastian Stan x Curvy Actress Reader

A/N: My own mood board and watching the Emmys a few weeks ago gave me the inspiration to write this. Also, you're not a dramatic actress like Sebastian you are funny as hell but lack the confidence when it comes to your love life. Another inspiration for this is lizzos absolute bad assness and confidence. Its a tad rushed but I just had to get this out there before my brain malfunctions. After this one is posted I'm working on a Day of the Dead with Bucky.

Y/N POV

“I just want to thank everyone for this wonderful award. The fans of the show, the cast and crew. Oh my gosh this is crazy! And now I'm about to do something so out of my element. Sebastian Stan, you beautiful specimen of a man, oh my god……….”

You're probably wondering how I got here? Well let's see where I should start. How about 12 years ago. I was an up and coming actress and a huge marvel comics fan since childhood. When they released Capitan America: The First Avenger I fell completely in love with Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes. From then on I kept following his career before and after the first avenger. After struggling getting acting jobs I finally got a role in Ted Lasso. I proved myself as a comedic actress and here I am at the Emmy Awards with a nomination for best supporting actress in a comedy show.

The day of the show I'm a bit of a nervous wreck, not because I'm nominated but because of who I know will be there, Sebastian Stan. Man did he have one of the best years of his career. The 355, Fresh which was just a masterpiece for modern horror and Pam & Tommy. He immersed himself into Tommy and he got a well deserved nomination. The whole time I'm getting ready I'm trying to psych myself up for what I will do if I do get the award. My team is looking at me like I'm crazy but they don't have to know why I'm constantly talking to myself. 

Once hair and makeup are out of my hotel room I take a look at myself in the full length mirror. Being a curvy girl there aren't many dresses that make me feel good about myself, but this dress i found really has set the bar. A beautiful deep blue dress with a see thru lace top and satin from the waist down with a high slit on my right leg. It was the most beautiful dress I have ever worn. 

When I get the red carpet it is just a madhouse. Cameras everywhere, fans in the distance it's almost overwhelming. But I push my nerves to the back of my head and wait for my turn to head down the carpet…..Ok Y/N you can do this girl.

Sebastian’s POV

I have no idea what is going on, but the one woman I have had my eye on for the past year is getting her well deserved award and she just called me out. What is happening?????

When I got nominated for Pam & Tommy I was very humbled about it. Then I saw the other actors that were nominated for various other shows and that's when I saw it. Y/N- Y/L/N. I thought to myself, I hope I get to meet her and tell how wonderful she is. But I was too shy to really tell her how I really felt about her. How beautiful she was and how I wanted to ask her out. He loved everything about her, especially her curves. 

The day of the awards show came and I was really excited, deciding to take my manager of almost 20 years as my date. They were on their way. When I got to the red carpet I could feel the energy around me, and immediately was looking for Y/N. I was hoping she was already there but no such luck yet. While I was walking down the line getting my picture taken I heard the cheering of the crowd and looked to my left and there she was. 

“Oh my god. She looks absolutely gorgeous” he said under his breath. I was practically speechless, I couldn't hear the photographers shouting for me to take a picture. Finally my manager nudged me to start moving down the line. We got inside and were surprised to see tables like at the golden globes, with champagne and little appetizers. I sat with Lilly, and Seth from Pam & Tommy and as soon as I sat I decided to shoot down a glass of champagne to calm my nerves. My category was up first. I was a little disappointed I didn't get it but I was happy for michael keaton. During the show I kept looking around for Y/N and I finally spotted her just before her category was announced. I watched her the entire time, then they were announcing her award. “Holy shit she won” I stood up and clapped and cheered for her.

I was listening to her speech thanking the show and the fans then all of a sudden I heard my name. I have no idea what is happening but I'm looking right at her………….

Double POV

“I just want to thank everyone for this wonderful award. The fans of the show, the cast and crew. Oh my gosh this is crazy! And now I'm about to do something so out of my element. Sebastian Stan, you beautiful specimen of a man, oh my god, I’m shooting my shot everyone!” 

The crowd is going absolutely nuts, I mean Lizzo is giving the double thumbs up. That's all the courage I needed. 

“Sebastian, will you go on a date with me?!” 

I was almost in shock, I got a pat on the back from Oscar and then I got up from my chair and jumped on stage to get to her. I couldn't believe it, she was asking me out on national television. I had to make a bold statement as soon as I got to her. I walked up to her and she had the biggest smile on her face, just breathtaking. I got up to the microphone and just kept my eyes on her. 

“YES! I will go on a date with you!”

The audience went berserk cheering and clapping. I tuned all of them out when I looked into her eyes, then down to her lips, and almost like she could read my mind she gave a little nod yes and I kissed her. It wasn't rushed, just soft and sweet. I didn't want to give her tongue on live tv. We parted and we just looked at each other, finally we were asked to exit the stage and I followed her backstage. Once we found a quiet area we just started laughing.

“What do we do now?” Sebastian had asked her. As if on cue both of your managers came around the corner, both of them handing you your phones with big smiles on their faces. You both gave each other your phones and put your numbers in them. Just as you were about to be taken away to do a small press conference Sebastian spoke up again. “I don't know which after party you're going to but would you like to join me at the one I'm invited to?” “I would love to, if it's ok with your manager, I know she came as your plus one?” I turn to her and she gives me a reassuring smile and nods her head yes. 

“Ok then, would you like to share my car and driver to get to the party?” she adds. “You can meet me at the back right after the show ends.” Sebastian nods a yes and all of a sudden a PA comes over and whisks you away to speak to the press. 

You and Sebastian head to the Disney after party and the press is  having a field day when you show up hand in hand, It's almost blinding. You both head in and just dance the night away, and a few drinks as well. You end up being introduced to lilly james and seth rogen, Sebastians co stars on Pam & Tommy. Lilly is absolutely beautiful in person and very sweet. Seth is a riot to talk to. 

During a slow song, Sebastian is holding you tight and swaying back and forth looking each other in the eyes. You two are like magnets that can't be torn apart. He leans in and meet him halfway, this time the kiss is more passionate like you’re committing this to memory. He kisses you like he wanted to the first time, you grant his tongue entrance and it’s all over for you. He squeezes your waist and you let out a tiny moan. Your arms snake up his shoulders to hold on to his hair and tug just a little bit. He gives a growl that could rival a lion. You finally part when your brain registers the need to breathe. You both lean on each other's foreheads with huge smiles on your faces. 

“I still can't believe you asked me out on national television.” 

“ I know, I told myself when I got nominated that if I win, this would be my only chance to get your attention.” 

“Well you definitely got my attention. Can I tell you something? I've kind of had a little crush on you and was trying to figure out how to talk to you and ask you out.”

You giggle and hug him tighter. “ I guess we had the same idea tonight.”

You and Sebastian end up staying another hour at the party, but don't want to part. “Do you maybe want to come up to my hotel room? I don't want the night to end. We don't have to do anything, I just want to spend the rest of the night with you and talk and get to know each other.”

“ I would really like that. Would it be ok if we swing by my room so I can change into something more comfortable? As much as I love this dress, but it's not for staying in all night.”

“Yeah that would be ok.”

Sebastian leads you out of the party and to your car. You tell the driver to take you to your hotel first. “The Chateau Marmont please.”

“Hold on, that's where I'm staying as well.”

Smiling at each other, the driver takes off and heads to your hotel.

You both get back to his room after changing and just spend the rest of the night talking, ordering room service and just getting to know each other on a deeper level. Of course every once in a while you have a few heavy makeout sessions. Around 5:30am the night starts to turn to dawn and you are both lying on his bed just staring at each other, Sebastian wraps his arm over you to bring you closer to him and you nuzzle your face in his neck. It doesn't take long for both of you to fall asleep in each other's arms.

“This was probably one of the best nights of my life y/n, and it's all because of you.”

“I’ll have to agree with you on that seb.” After a chaste kiss on the lips you fall to sleep.

Remember, no matter how nervous you get, sometimes shooting your shot works out for both people. Even when you don't even know it.

Shoot your Shot the Sequel --- >

@buckyalpine @altagraye @christycurlswrites

[boozles]

Boozle's Top Ten Movies 2023

So, this was another list in my 2023 review that was super difficult to put together. According to my Letterboxd 2023 list, I watched 178 new movies this year. (Looking at all the dramas and movies I've watched, I honestly do not know where I found the time to consume so much content?! Working from home has its plus side, I guess?)

So, it's been a bit difficult to narrow my list of favourites down, but this is what I ended up with...

(i) Barabarian (2022, Dir. Zch Cregger) This film was NOTHING like what I thought it was going to be. Split into three tales that merge together to tell the story of one house and it's history, this movie managed to surprise me and be unpredictable at each turn.

(ii) The Outlaws (2017, Dir. Kang Yun-sung) This is the first movie in The Roundup series (the fourth movie is due out in 2024) and I have to say this is my favourite Korean action franchise. Ma Dong Seok is perfect, and the action sequences are mind blowing. It has the perfect balance of crime, action and comedy, and is a definite recommendation if you're looking for a good Asian crime movie.

(iii) Evil Dead Rise (2023, Dir. Lee Cronin) I absolutely love the Evil Dead franchise, and I had initially been a little wary at this sequel due to the fact they were taking the deadite insanity into an apartment block instead of the usual little cottage in the woods. I am so glad I was wrong, because this movie was probably the best horror to come out of 2023. The cast were amazing (Morgan Davies was a stand out) and it managed to feel like an Evil Dead film but with a fresh perspective.

(iv) Dark Harvest (2023, Dir. David Slade) Okay, I couldn't find a gif from the movie so y'all will have to make do with this still image. Now, I fully expected Dark Harvest to be a lame b-movie with terrible effects and a lame storyline, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! It managed to keep me captivated, and it was extremely aesthetically pleasing. I'd love a sequel with Emily returning to town.

(v) Five Nights at Freddy's (2023, Dir. Emma Tammi) Gosh, I was so happy when I enjoyed this! I am a huge FNAF fan (though for a while I kept it on the downlow due to Cawthon's support of Trump/the Republican party) and I adore the lore, as wild and complicated as it is. The movie really managed to keep me captivated, and kept me guessing, whilst still staying true to the original canon. I cannot wait for the second installment.

(vi) Guns Akimbo (2019, Dir. Jason Lei Howden) This was a wild and fantastic film. I love watching Daniel Radcliffe get further and further away from the HP movies and prove that he's a great actor. Also, I just love Samara Weaving.

(vii) The Meg 2: The Trench (2023, Ben Wheatley) Yeah, I'm surprised to see this on my list, too. This movie was just so much fun. That's all. The effects were great, the acting was pretty good, and I just like watching sharks take out humans. IF YOU DON'T WANT EATEN BY A SEA CREATURE, STAY OUT OF THE SEA.

(viii) Ichi the Killer (2001, Dir. Takashi Miike) I don't know why it took me over 20 years to finally watch this classic, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying it! The acting was insane, the story was batshit crazy, and the effects were fantastic. I'd expect nothing less from Takashi Miike, tbh.

(ix) Salo, or 120 Days of Sodom (1975, Dir. Pier Paolo Pasolini) Okay, hear me out - was this one of my favourite movies of the year? No, it really wasn't. However, it's the movie that has probably left the biggest scar on my mental psyche of the year, therefore I had to include it. I've been fascinated by Marquis De Sade ever since I saw Quills years ago, but I never watched this movie because I knew it would do something to my brain. If you've seen the movie (or even read the book), I'm sure you understand what I mean when I saw one chapter in particular REALLY fucked me up to the point I couldn't eat chocolate for quite some time afterwards, and I struggle to not throw up when cleaning my cat's litter box these days. It takes a lot for a movie to scar me in a way that makes it pop into my mind every now and then, and this movie did that. However, I'd like to add that the point of the film isn't just to shock, but I am terrible at witing coherent analysis. If you haven't seen this movie, I would suggest doing a little research before watching, just to make sure you can handle it; it is full of triggers that I don't even want to mention because I'll probably get blacklisted. But yes. Whilst it may not be a favourite of the year, it sure left a huge impact on me.

(x) Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022, Dir. Daniel Scheinert, Daniel Kwan) I think everyone loves this movie, but I was surprised at how much I loved it! The whole message of the movie is just so brutal and honest, and whilst I know that it's probably people of Asian heritage that can relate to it the most, I feel like we all can find something in the relationships that we can relate to. The cast were fantastic and I'm so glad to see Ke Huy Quan on screen again! Heartwarming, sad, and absolutely hilarious.

Honorary Mentions: (i) Midnight (2021, Dir. Kwon Oh-seung) (ii) Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018, Dir. Jung Bum-shik) (iii) Glass Onion (2022, Dir. Rian Johnson) (iv) The Night House (2020, Dir. David Bruckner) (v) I Saw the Devil (2010, Dir. Kim Jee-woon)

[reyski]

could I get armin x reader where they both have crushes on eachother and eren and jean tease them about it? maybe a confession scene? if not thats fine, make sure you drink water and sleep and all that

i’m on a bit of an armin kick so i thought id do this just for kicks. also sorry if you dont like fics with drug use, but i think its incredibly hot. 

pairing: armin x reader (post timeskip media: attack on titan content warnings: drinking, joint smoking note: gender neutral reader!! 

it was a little hard to admit to yourself that you had a crush on armin. you had met through mutual friends (eren) a couple years ago, and even then you were quick to dismiss the little butterflies you felt when he would sit close to you, or say your name. but after a couple months of secretly pining you decided it would be best to admit it, at least to yourself.

a normally smart person, it was entirely too embarrassing how you would trip and fumble over your words when you were around him. letting out nervous laughs, and trying to play off your mistakes was becoming increasingly annoying. and after your friend's weekly hangouts you were bombarded with texts from eren and jean with texts to "just fucking admit it already" and "jesus christ he probably already knows". but every time you thought about asking armin to talk in private, and confessing your little crush your hands shook and your chest became tight just thinking about how he would react.

why would you risk your friendship with armin over a stupid crush that would probably just end in shambles? jean always told you that you had nothing to worry about, and that even if armin turned you down you would always be friends. but you knew that it would be different, not something that your friendship could just bounce back from.

after class one day you and eren, who had been working on a sociology paper in the library, were sitting waiting for lunch that you had just ordered.

"come on you know he'd probably faint if you told him you like him, right?" eren prompted.

"yeah yeah yeah, as if your little conjecture about what armin 'would do' is gonna get me to fold" you retorted, making eren give you a disgruntled look. his lips curving down into a small frown.

"well you're never gonna get anywhere with that attitude"

"im not trying to get anywhere, just leave it alone" another annoyed look was shot your way.

"fine. but if i go crazy waiting for one of you to make a move it's on you" eren said finally relinquishing after the number on his receipt was called by the woman behind the counter.

"fine" you said to yourself quietly as he walked away to pick up the food.

the next couple of days you spent with your mind crowded by the idea of armin possibly mirroring your desire. every time you tried to sit down and work on an assignment questions flooded your brain. you tried to weigh out the pros and cons of confessing, but ultimately it made no difference in your plight.

suddenly it was a couple hours before you were going over to jean's house to see everyone and you were staring at nearly your entire closet thrown around your room.

‘ugh fuck what am i doing, it's not like anyone's taking notes on what i’m wearing’ you noticed you were definitely thinking of armin when you said 'anyone' and groaned a second time, hating how much having a little crush could affect you.

finally picking up something off the floor and wiggling your way into it, fixing your now-tousled-hair and looking into the mirror once again.

‘eh good enough’ you said defeatedly, picking up your things and giving yourself one more once-over to make sure you weren't missing anything. your heart was beating uncomfortably after getting in your car.

after driving over to jean's you parked a block away and quickly walking up his driveway, noticing you were 20 minutes late.

‘shit im definitely getting flack for this’, you knocked on the door shouting a quick "open up!", and hearing shuffling coming towards the door followed by the jingling of the handle and a "jean how the hell do you unlock this thing" along with more shuffling.

when the door finally opened up you were greeted by the friendly faces of sasha and jean beaming at you. hearing a chorus of "hi"s as you walked in and set your stuff down. deliberately not looking around too much in fear of making eye contact with armin and giving yourself away.

"geez what took you so long, we’re almost through the first round" connie remarked as you turned around to say hi to everyone.

"oh wowww, did you save me one?" you asked, mildly joking to connie.

you felt a presence next to you and a small nudge on your shoulder, followed by the clearing of a throat.

"here, i saved mine too so you wouldn't feel too left out" armin said, handing you a can of whatever eren got his hands on this time, shooting you a small smile. you accepted it, returning the smile with a "oh thanks!", cracking open the tab and taking a small sip while observing your friends all going back to whatever they were talking about before you arrived.

you sat around and joked for a while, getting to the end of your can, and settling for whatever other shitty alcohol there was lying around. slowly becoming more inebriated by the minute, you resigned to sitting on the sofa listening to mikasa and sasha hash it out over a small argument, laughing along to the commotion.

the alcohol in your system had dulled any previous worries about armin, so immersed in the conversation that you almost forgot about it until he sat down next to you.

feeling the sofa dip you looked over, "oh hey, hows it going" you asked.

"im ok, just needed a break from eren and connie. too much energy" he said slowly, also obviously feeling the effects of the alcohol.

"you dont say? god i would have never guessed" you joked. armin cracked a smile and let out a small chuckle at your sarcasm.

a bit of silence between the two of you before he leaned over and whispered for you to follow him over to the kitchen. you gave him a quizzical look and slowly stood up to follow him where he was headed. as you rounded the corner into the kitchen you saw him leaning over to pull something out of his backpack, turned so you couldn’t see exactly what he was getting. looking over your shoulder to see what was happening out in the main room you noticed everyone carrying on, not noticing your sudden absence. 

“ok lets go” armin said turning around with a joint sitting in the palm of his hand. 

raising your eyebrows you responded “oh i didn’t know we were smoking tonight, i would have brought my stuff”. 

“dont worry about it, i just brought it incase anyone was interested” his eyes flickered to yours through his bangs and then back down to the joint. 

“right right, should i go see who wants to join” you started turning towards the open door before armin made a ‘shhh’ sound and waved his hand towards you. 

“i was thinking that we could just go alone, it’s not really that much anyways” he said, even though it was clearly untouched and enough to go around your group at least twice. 

“oh! yeah sure lets go” you said quietly, heart just about jumping out of you, body trembling at the slight hint that he wanted to be alone with you. you shook your head a bit, trying to return to the present moment and not overthink it. he probably just wanted to get away from the commotion. 

you walked together quietly through the back part of the house, reaching the backdoor. armin pulled it open and ushered you through, closing the door behind him. you both sat down on the small steps down to jean’s backyard. armin fished a lighter from his pants pockets, fumbling trying to find it, offering the joint in your direction, asking if you wanted the first hit. you took it out of his hand, placing between your fingers as armin held the lighter up allowing you to get it started. 

the peaceful glow of the lighter spread across your faces, illuminating the darkness for a second before you leaned back and puffed out a cloud of smoke toward the empty yard, sighing in contentment. you handed the joint over, letting armin have a turn and letting the feeling of smoke in your lungs settle, relaxing a little more into your spot on the steps. quietly you passed it back and forth until it was just about gone, and the burn of the weed was almost intolerable. 

“do you want to go back in?” armin asked after another moment, looking at you but not making any movements to get up. 

“no, its nice out here, and besides if we go back in now they’ll be mad we smoked without them” you said in response, smiling a bit to yourself thinking about your friends and their antics. 

“true” armin giggled “i just wanted to make sure you weren’t bored of me” he joked. your eyes widening. 

“never! i don’t know why i’ve been so quiet lately, just thinking about things” you explained, looking at armin meekly. his eyebrows raising in question. 

“thinking about what? you know i’m always here to talk” he sounded genuinely interested in what was troubling you. 

“eh nothing, just life things you know? don’t worry about it” you dismissing his question knowing full well what exactly you were so worked up about. 

“yeah i get it, life’s weird like that. sometimes i get so wrapped up in it i don’t know what to do with myself” you shot him a concerned look, turning a little more towards him. 

“you want to tell me about it?” you asked, prompting armin to let out a laugh, his head falling back.

“hey! you cant just brush me off and then ask the exact same question to me” he smiled, and you felt yourself jump a bit at his beauty. 

“i’m not brushing you off, its just hard to talk about” 

“you want to try?” 

“only if you tell me about yours too. otherwise i’m kind of getting the short end of the stick” you persuaded him, in a moment of bravery. 

“oh gosh we wouldn’t want that” the sides of his eyes crinkled a bit, giving you the go ahead to start talking. 

you felt the repercussions of your words coming back to you, not knowing whether to lie, make an excuse, or just tell him the truth. your heart started beating faster, and butterflies erupted in your stomach. small bits of sound came out of your mouth in an attempt to start talking but no words came out. 

“i ... ah i don’t know its just...uh” you fumbled as armin looked intently at you, eyes gleaming in the most spectacular way, letting you know that he was listening. 

“i think theres something wrong with me” you relinquished as armin’s gaze turned to worry. 

“theres nothing wrong with you, you’re perfect” he said plainly, as if he hadn’t just frazzled you even more and given you the best compliment you’d ever received. you felt your face grow hotter, cheeks buzzing with heat. 

“is that what you’ve been so worried about?” armin asked, mouth creating a small frown. you shook your head, not saying anything else.

a moment passed, you both sank back into the silence of the minute before. you turned your gaze to your lap, but could still feel armin looking at you. you felt him wanting to say something, but another moment passed with nothing said. there was definitely something different about this silence, it wasn’t as comfortable as the one before, and you could tell there was something hanging in the air. you felt the pressure building up inside you, feeling that maybe your comment made it awkward. in a moment of recklessness, and an attempt to break the silence, you slipped out,

“i think i might like you but i didn’t want to make things weird and i know you probably don’t like me back but now its already weird so i might as well tell you” breathing deeply, not looking over at armin who remained in silence. your cheeks somehow even hotter than they were before, and your whole body trembling. 

another moment passed, and you finally decided to take a small peek over at armin. you slid your eyes to the side not moving your head, and he sat eyes wide open, and lips sightly parted in surprise (image). your eyes darted back down into your lap, already regretting your actions, and preparing to just get up and go back inside. your eyes burned in a tell-tale way, you shifted to get up. 

a little tug on your arm “hey” you paused to see if he would say anything else, “i think...we feel the same way” he finished, and to both of your relief you turned back around and sat back down. 

“you do?”

“yeah” 

“thats good” 

“hah, yeah” he chuckled, his own cheeks turning pink and his eyes shimmering in the minimal light. armin turned towards you, 

“would you mind if i kissed you?” armin questioned “no pressure”. you turned away in the good kind of embarrassment, unintentionally smiling.

 “please do”

yayyy lmk what you guys think!! i sincerely hope this isnt toooo gushy and cringy. 

as always feed and water yourself! <33

[wolfofartblock]

Trying to get some semblance of a story put together for the Researchers Au because I want to be consistent with what I draw, but I'm not a writer lol, so this is going to be long, it might run on and on, it'll probably be full of typos and errors because I'm also listening to music while typing it up, and more so please be patient >.> Things stil might change but for now I'm mostly satisfied with this.

Researches in the south pole find two creatures trapped in ice, as if they were frozen in the middle of a big fight. Both are cut and thawed out to be studied.

Dr. Mercer is such an important and world-renowned scientist that the (corporation/organization/government/idk) that the team works for lets him do whatever he wants when it comes to the research project. This includes him being the sole person allowed in the labratory containing the first creature's body (Alex).

Dr. Mercer was weirdly obsessed with Desmond, but also really hated him. Didn't think he deserved to be there, just like most of the scientists there, but to the extreme. While studying the creature he comes to theorize some of its abilities, including how it's able to consume and replace any organism, but of course this is just at theory and he needs a ginea (<- how do you spell that) pig.

Dr. Mercer then lures Desmond into the lab and attempts to get the creature to eat him. This backfires. Even while trapped in ice and subsequently the cyropod, the creature was aware of the presences and actions of each person at the station it came into contact with. It kind of liked Desmond and it was aware of what Dr. Mercer was trying to do. So it ate him instead. Easy.

Desmond obviously sees this, tries to tell the others but is not believed when "Dr. Mercer" appears behind him looking just fine and clearly not eaten. The real Dr. Mercer had never shared his theories with anyone, so no one suspected a thing.

Once everything is settled (for the night), Desmond goes to bed and the creature disguised as Dr. Mercer (Alex) goes to find the creature #2 to finish what they started however many thousands of years ago, but it's gone. No where to be seen. He thinks maybe it took advantage of the chaos Desmond caused running down the station's hallways screaming about Dr.Mercer's death. He swears and leaves the room.

For the next week Alex takes advantage of Dr.Mercer's refusal to allow anyone into the lab, pretending to hole up in there studying while actually crawling around through vents and pipes trying to find signs of the other creature so that he can take them down. Instead all he manages to do is give Desmond 20+ heart attacks a day and once again every time Desmond tries to tell someone he just saw something, he's brushed off, but at the same time some are worried. They think the isolation is getting to him, the way it did to his predecessor, Clay. They ask Alex to keep any eye on him because they've "noticed" the two getting closer recently anyways, but Alex was already watching him due to other reasons: already being 100% Desmond is a human since they were in the same room together when everything went down (or at the very least, that his locations can be checked and verified in some way or another the day of) (Thank you @teecupangel for that!)

At the start of the second week (as in week 2 since Dr. Mercer was eaten), one of the many sled dogs go missing. Desmond is distraught and some of the others at the station go from worried for him to scared of him. There's talk of sending him home or possibly getting him into some trouble. He's reprimanded and sent on his way. It's after this that him and Alex really do start to become a little close. There's still some odd behaviors from him here and there that weird Desmond out (stuff that Desmond would've easily connected to Alex being one of the creatures had the rest of the station not already convinced him he's being paranoid/crazy/needs help/etc.).

At the start of the third week, another dog goes missing. Desmond is once again pulled aside but this time with the promise that soon he will be returning home. He's either 1) incompetent and can't take care of them properly or 2) doing something to them and it's scaring the other station members (alongside his other recent actions). He finally goes to confront Alex about everything, because he knows that Alex knows something. Alex finally admits to being creature #1 and answers every question Desmond throws at him. He also admits he needs help finding creature #2 and Desmond is probably the only one who's able; Alex stating that he's noticed Desmond's abnormally keen senses for a human (or maybe that he might have a 6th sense altogether) and his knowledge of their environment and survival skills (thank you @twitcherpated-replies) would go a long way. Desmond says he wouldn't be able to because he leaves at the start of week 4. Alex says by then it might be too late. Creatures like them get stronger the more they eat, and the fresher the food they eat is. Alex being the good creature he is has been eating normal human food, and while it doesn't do much, it keeps him sustained. After some talking, Desmond of course agrees to help. They share whatever information they have with each other, anything and everything (turns out Desmond has way more information than Alex does because like he said, Desmond has something of a 6th sense and has noticed more wrong at the station than he's let on to others), and come up with a list of suspects that creature #2 could be: Daniel Cross, Elizabeth Greene, Lucy Stillman, etc. (thank you again @teecupangel for that one)

While carefully observing their suspects, Desmond questions how they're going to stop creature #2 if it's stronger than Alex. Alex brings up a drug Dr. Mercer had created called bloodtox, one that he was going to use on Alex had things actually gone according to his plans and Alex had eaten Desmond. They have three viles. Alex has one, Desmond has another and the last is back in the lab.

Finally, the day before Desmond is set to leave, they confront their #1 suspect, Lucy. While doing this, they're stopped by creature #2 revealing itself and the fact that it was just sticking close to Lucy because she was a really good scapegoat for them. A big fight ensues.

Alex's syringe is broken in the fight against creature #2. Desmond's syringe is broken while luring creature #2 away from Alex's unconcious body, letting himself get chased down multiple hallways and even thrown around a little. Rebecca runs into a security room and puts the building on lockdown (think of the doors closing in among us lolol), momentarily cutting creature #2 in half long enough for Desmond to get up and run and hide (2 doors closed in on it). The entire time it tries to go through the station, Rebecca is slamming doors in its face or turning on something or another to slow it down. It finally gets fed up, stares into the nearest camera at her, and flings itself into a vent. Desmond realizes creature #2 is no longer after him but after her and goes to stop it. Lucy and Shaun are left to find the last syringe. After some debate between each other they take the bloodtox out of the syringe because clearly these things aren't working. They find an empty spray bottle and decide that it'll just have to do. Desmond gets to the security room just in time to save Rebecca and Alex gets there just in time to save the both of them, but creature #2 is still stronger and the presence of Rebecca and Desmond is a little bit of a hinderance. Finally Shaun and Lucy show up and just start spraying creature #2. It's working, it's getting weaker and weaker. It tries to swat the spray bottle out of their hands but unlike the syringes, it can't shatter on impact with the ground or wall, so Alex just picks it right back up and keeps spraying them.

Finally the fight is over, Alex wins and consumes creature #2, to the horror of everyone but Desmond.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Every now and then, I see tweets about 2D animated movies made around the 2000s... Typically action-oriented movies that were aimed at a "big kid" audience. Typically boys around 8-12 years old-ish. Movies that infamously flopped pretty badly upon release...

The likes of... THE ROAD TO EL DORADO, TITAN A.E., ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, TREASURE PLANET, and SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS...

I'm gonna assume a lot of these people who pine for those kinds of movies to be made again weren't alive in the early 2000s, or were very very little when they were first released...

(I'm not specifically singling out Okiro, their post was simply wishing that these movies had done well when they first came out. No harm in that.)

Anyways... A lot of other people wonder why these movies that *slapped* flopped so hard back in the day...

For starters, it's because these movies were not very well-liked back when they first came out.

A lot of them got really mixed to negative critical reception, adults on message boards and forums thought they were or looked absolutely dumb, it didn't help that they were 2D animated during the era where any given new CG film was a big novelty worth seeing on a big screen. Keep in mind, the likes of SHARK TALE and CHICKEN LITTLE - both critically lambasted movies back in the day - still made more money than a beloved movie like LILO & STITCH.

Times changes, tastes change...

For example, in 2001, ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE was attacked for having a diverse set of characters. Swap "woke" for "politically correct", and you'll see that 2001-times were really no different from now times... We just didn't have social media back then. It was also ripped apart by some American anime fans who felt it was a deliberate rip-off of NADIA: THE SECRET OF THE BLUE WATER, and this was definitely fueled by the whole LION KING/KIMBA controversies that arose in the mid-to-late '90s. A lot of people were convinced that Disney was ripping off another anime classic. (Miramax, who were owned by Disney back then, also infamously tried to cut PRINCESS MONONOKE for its North American release, which also added fuel to the fire.)

But the main sort-of consensus on ATLANTIS was that it was a toothless PG-rated action movie that was probably too intense for younger kids and too silly for anyone over the age of 10 who would rather see a harder PG-13 movie, or something R-rated. They would be likelier to try to sneak into the SOUTH PARK movie than see something like ATLANTIS. That also affected TITAN A.E., TREASURE PLANET, etc. etc. Those movies targeted an audience that was never going to be there to begin with.

Meanwhile, in 2001, adults went and saw the CG animated comedies SHREK and MONSTERS, INC. in addition to families heading to them. The writing and the characters hooked them. I was at a Christmas party a week ago, and one of the older adult guests - who was maybe 10-15 years older than I am - was saying in a conversation about Disney and Pixar movies that he happened to like MONSTERS, INC. In a sorta, "oh yeah, that MONSTERS, INC. one. I like that!" It was hard to get a mid-20s adult to see an animated movie back then, and movies like SHREK and MONSTERS, INC. had the hooks for them.

The year prior, TITAN A.E. and EL DORADO flopped hard, but also, so did buddy comedy THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE, and the general release of FANTASIA 2000. All largely 2D movies, at that. Aardman/DreamWorks' CHICKEN RUN did great, RUGRATS IN PARIS made back its budget, and DINOSAUR was popular despite not making enough for Disney to greenlight a sequel and to keep The Secret Lab (the production company set up to make the movie) operating.

2002 was when TREASURE PLANET came out. That shared the year with CG comedy ICE AGE, which did very well, and Disney's 2D family drama LILO & STITCH, which did pretty good! The anomaly of that sorry era for 2D animated movies... Everything else, though... EIGHT CRAZY NIGHTS, SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON, POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE, etc. Rough year. The big hit was the 3D funny animals movie, and also the hybrid STUART LITTLE sequel. Oddly, THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE managed to somewhat make its budget back.

And of course, SINBAD happened to share its summer with FINDING NEMO. SINBAD didn't even make a fraction of FINDING NEMO's opening weekend gross... And that same year, RUGRATS GO WILD, BROTHER BEAR, etc.... All just grossed in the sub-$100m regions domestically and didn't do much better worldwide.

Movies like ATLANTIS and TREASURE PLANET, struggled because they didn't have an adult hook. I remember at the time, the lack of interest (I was 8 when ATLANTIS came out), and later seeing on forums what adults thought of these movies. How they didn't want to see them. How they looked uncool and stupid. Meanwhile, the likes of SHREK, MONSTERS (comma) INC., ICE AGE, and FINDING NEMO? That was where it was at!

ATLANTIS and TREASURE PLANET likely just looked like kiddie action movies that... Little kids probably couldn't go to see, so... For no one, really.

But some kids out there had the VHSes and DVDs of these movies, and watched them again and again and again... And took them, along with several other 2D flops of the era, into their adulthood. The ones who have kids are showing those same movies to them, so that's the happy ending. It's also kind of a Disney tradition... PINOCCHIO, FANTASIA, BAMBI, ALICE IN WONDERLAND, and SLEEPING BEAUTY were massive flops on their first releases, too... I do know that ATLANTIS and TREASURE PLANET did much better on home video than they did in theaters, and I'm sure TV airings helped as well.

Video saved many a non-Disney animated movie, too. Like, there's a reason why there were sequels to movies like ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN and FERNGULLY. They were video hits. Heck, if anything, the video sales for movies like EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE and BROTHER BEAR are why they got direct-to-video sequels (and in NEW GROOVE's case, a TV series).

I could also go on a tangent about people pining for the '90s Disney animated movies like THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME and TARZAN, and those same people comparing those movies to the rather focus-grouped and toothless Disney animated films we get now. Like STRANGE WORLD and WISH. And yet, when the likes of HUNCHBACK, HERCULES, MULAN, and TARZAN were released? They were treated as dull, more of the same, "politically correct" (especially in MULAN's case), insulting even. Those movies were also test screened for random groups of toddlers, and stuff was cut or altered because of what they felt. Things weren't perfect back then, either... We may look back on '90s Disney Animation and say "What nerve they had, adapting all those dark stories, folklore, and even American history into G-rated family friendly musicals!" And back then, that really really rankled and even offended folks.

So it's a real case of "you had to be there". In hindsight, a movie like HUNCHBACK or ATLANTIS seems amazing compared to some of the stuff that comes out today. It hits different, for sure. "How could the world have skipped these movies at the box office???" The world was very different back then. Box office reflects where the zeitgeist is at, and it too reflects lots of things, more than just "audiences loved the movie". Sometimes seeing a movie that everyone else is seeing for whatever reason is like some larger cultural thing, that same movie could very well be forgotten within a year.

Let's use 2001, ATLANTIS' release year, as our example... Some of the highest grossing movies of that year were PEARL HARBOR, JURASSIC PARK III, VANILLA SKY, etc. PEARL HARBOR, for example, is pretty reviled... But lots of people went and saw it, but I don't see or hear an ounce of the positivity regularly given to ATLANTIS, given to that movie. And that's a Michael Bay movie, no less! His once widely-despised TRANSFORMERS movies have seen reappraisal in some circles, along with some of his other pictures... So, long story short, box office means a whole lot of things... It just captures where the public is at, not so much the perceived quality of the movie nor if audiences actually liked the movie.

And sometimes, a movie is too late or too early. It's hard to make an impression when you never know where the larger public is at, and there's lots of other stuff out there... Maybe the old way of measuring a movie's success has been archaic for decades now...

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Christmas Reruns 2023 Day 12: Eli the Elf

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and happy holidays if you don’t!  One of the things I love about Christmas is watching reruns of all the old classic Christmas movies–Christmas is a big time for nostalgia.  A few years ago, I decided to incorporate that tradition into my fandom life and post my CS holiday reruns.  So here you go!  Enough holiday (mostly) fluff to get you to New Year’s Day. (With a new story posting on Christmas Day.)

Rating: G

Word Count: 5394

Other chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Note:  This fic was originally written for Fluffy Fridays in 2019

Emma collapsed onto the sofa in her living room.  Being the parent of a rambunctious, mischievous three-year-old was not for the faint of heart, that was for sure.  Not that she’d change her crazy life for anything.  Emma loved Hope Swan-Jones with all her heart.  After all the months and even years she and Killian had tried for a baby with no success, there was no doubt that Hope was their miracle, their second chance, their opportunity to be a family.   

As Emma’s maternity leave had neared its end, Emma and Killian had come to the decision that they wanted to be there for and with their daughter every hour of the day.  Daycare simply wasn’t an option for them, so they’d come to an arrangement: they’d trade off days.  One day Emma went into the station and Killian stayed home with Hope, and the next day they swapped.

Lately, it seemed like Emma was far more tired at the end of her days with Hope than she was at the end of her days as the sheriff.  Who would have thought those early months where Hope barely slept would actually end up being the easy parts of parenting? 

Hope was a good girl, sweet, affectionate, smart as a whip, but she was also the daughter of a pirate.  Seemed like Emma couldn’t turn around for a second without Hope making another mess or getting onto some sort of mischief. 

Emma let herself succumb to sleep while Killian put Hope to bed–no doubt with a thrilling, overly dramatic bedtime story, like he did nearly every night.  Hope adored his tales…and everything else about her Papa.  Emma knew her daughter loved her, but there was no doubt she was a daddy’s girl.

 The couch dipped beside her, waking Emma abruptly.

 “My apologies love,” Killian said, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Emma yawned before settling into Killian’s waiting arms.  “Don’t worry about it.  I was just kind of resting my eyes.  Don’t want to sleep through the evening when we finally get to have a little alone time.”

Killian brushed a kiss against the crown of her head and tightened his arms around her.  “I worry about you love.  You’ve been so tired lately.  Are you sure nothing’s amiss?”

Emma kissed him gently.  “I’m fine, Killian, I promise.  Guess I’m just having a tougher time navigating life as a working parent than I thought I would.”

“Are you sure…?”

“I am,” she said decisively.  “It’s just, we have a very busy, active toddler on our hands.  I love her like you would not believe, but by the end of the day, I’m so tired I feel like I could sleep standing up.”

Killian’s brow furrowed.  “The lass is three now, old enough to begin to understand consequences.  Perhaps we should begin discussing disciplinary tactics.”

“You know, I was thinking about that today,” Emma said, settling against Killian’s chest and resting her hand over his heart, loving the comfort his softly thumping heartbeat gave her.

 “Christmas is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I thought maybe we could make use of some of the traditions to convince her to work on her behavior.”

“Swan, if you’re referring to that Santa Claus fellow, I’m not entirely sure I approve,” Killian said, voice sternly disapproving.

Emma laughed.  “You are morally opposed to Santa Claus?  Why?”

“One cannot seem to patronize any establishment in this town without hearing his song,” Killian said, “He sees you when you’re sleeping.  He knows when you’re awake.  He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake.  Swan, this Santa fellow sounds like one of the worst villains we’ve faced yet.”

Emma laughed again.  “Killian it’s just a song, and it’s all in fun.  Kids love Santa.  He’s the one who brings them presents.”

Emma could see in Killian’s face that he wasn’t convinced.

“Anyway,” she continued, “that’s not what I was talking about, not really.  There’s this other tradition parents do sometimes.  Called Elf on the Shelf.  You get this toy elf, and the idea is that it watches the kids and kind of reports to Santa.  Each night the parents move the elf, so it’s like it’s alive.  The fun of it is that the kid never knows where the elf is going to show up next.  Plus, knowing there’s an elf watching you, well, it’s extra incentive to be on your best behavior.”

“Are you daft, Swan?” Killian exclaimed.  “This ‘Elf on the Shelf’ sounds, if possible, even more horrifying than Santa Claus!  I’d rather not traumatize our daughter.” 

“Would you stop being such a drama queen?” Emma asked, laughter still evident in her voice.  “I promise you it’s all in fun.  This isn’t some Christmasy ‘scare the kid straight’ thing.   Kids love it.  It brings the magic of Christmas to life.” 

Killian was clearly still skeptical, but finally conceded.  “Very well, Swan.  We’ll try this Elf on the Shelf, but if it gives Hope nightmares, I must put my foot down.”

“Relax babe,” Emma said.  “If the elf gives Hope nightmares, I’ll personally lock it in our dungeon. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

The next morning 

Killian stepped into Granny’s and made a b-line for the large booth at the back of the establishment, seeing David and Rogers already present. 

After the realms had combined, Dave had suggested he and Killian get together with Rogers, as the town decided to continue referring to his alternate reality version, to help him get adjusted to life in Storybrooke.  This get together quickly became a weekly thing.

Emma referred to their weekly breakfasts as the “brot3 convention.”  Killian hadn’t a clue what that might mean, but the phrase brought a delighted smile to Swan’s face, and that was enough to make Killian adopt the language.  There was very little he wouldn’t do to make his wife smile. 

“Hey Killian! Good to see you,” David said. 

Killian noted the fatigue in his father-in-law’s eyes and the yawn he was attempting to stifle. 

“The lass keep you up last night?” he asked sympathetically.

David and Mary Margaret’s daughter Ava was quickly approaching her first birthday.  She’d come as a surprise to the couple who’d believed their family was complete after the birth of Neal, but she was a very welcome and loved surprise. 

“Yeah,” David said, and then took a bracing sip of his coffee.  “She was up every two hours last night.” 

“I thought you said she’d finally begun sleeping through the night,” Rogers said. 

“She did,” David said, “but I think she’s teething.  Runny nose, running a bit of a fever, wanting to chew on everything.” 

Both Hooks nodded in understanding and sympathy.  “I don’t miss those days with my Alice,” Rogers said.   

Their conversation was put on hold as a waitress, wearing a festive Santa hat and necklace made of Christmas lights, took their order. 

“So how about you, Killian?” David asked after the waitress walked away, “How’s everything going with your family?” 

Killian frowned.  “I must admit, I’m a bit concerned about Emma.  She’s been so exhausted lately and a couple of times she’s gotten dizzy.  She insists it’s nothing, but I’m near to insisting she visit Doctor Whale.”

“Tired and feeling faint?” David asked.  “Any other issues?”

“It was the strangest thing,” Killian said, furrowing his brow.  “This morning I attempted to serve her her customary PopTart for breakfast, but she insisted she couldn’t stomach it.  She actually asked for boiled mackerel and grapefruit.” 

“Tired, feeling faint, and with significant changes in appetite,” David listed off.  To Killian’s surprise (and consternation) a grin covered his father-in-law’s face.  “I think Emma’s right.  I think you have nothing to worry about.” 

“Other than life getting significantly busier in eight or nine months,” Rogers said with a grin identical to David’s. 

It took Killian a moment to put the dots together, but then his eyes widened.  “You think Emma could be with child?” 

“I have very little experience with these things, my own daughter’s birth being so very….unorthodox,” Rogers said, “but it certainly seems possible.” 

Killian felt the joy bubble up in him.  Another child!  He and Swan may have another child.  It was a blessing he hadn’t even allowed himself to wish for, given the difficulties they’d had conceiving Hope. 

“I suppose there was that one weekend away we had just before Thanksgiving,” Killian said slowly, “when Alice and Robin stayed with Hope.  We did engage in copious amounts of intimate activities…” 

Rogers barked out a laugh and David groaned, reminding Killian of just how much his father-in-law did not want to hear the specifics. 

Breakfast was a joyous affair following the pregnancy speculation, the three men discussing their lives over the past week. 

Killian walked home with an extra spring in his step.  This Christmas was shaping up to be one of the best he’d ever had. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Grandma, what do you think about putting the wreath here?” Lucy asked, holding the Disney’s Captain Hook themed wreath against their front door. 

Emma laughed.  “Looks great kid.  It’ll get a good natured grumble out of your gramps every time he walks by.”

It was still weird to get used to being called Grandma, but Emma’s heart warmed at the thought that Henry was back to stay and that she’d have the chance to get to know her daughter-in-law and granddaughter in a way she’d missed out on over the first decade of Lucy’s life.

Lucy laughed, turning to Charming to ask him to hammer a nail for her so she could hang the wreath.

It had become a Christmastime tradition since the merging of the realms.  The whole family got together to decorate each other’s houses and then have dinner together.  This weekend, a mere two weeks before Christmas, it was the Swan-Jones household’s turn to host (and get decorated). 

Emma took a step back, watching as her family, her whole, big boisterous extended family worked to make her home look like something out of the Hallmark channel.  Regina and Zelena stood by the impressively large pine tree stringing garland, Alice, Robin and Rogers worked to make the hearth festive, Henry, Jacinda, Killian and her dad were braving the frigid temperatures outside to string lights on the bushes and the front of the house, Neal was occupying Hope in the playroom, Ava napped in the nursery and Snow worked away in the kitchen on what Emma was sure would be an amazing dinner. 

It was the type of scene you’d see in one of those cheesy Christmas movies.  Happy family enjoying each other’s company while they decorate for Christmas and listen to carols.  It was even picture perfect outside, with the snow gently falling. 

It was perfect, and Emma loved every minute of it.

While Hope was occupied with Neal, Emma grabbed the elf on the shelf, looking around for the perfect place to move him.  Maybe she’d put him in Hope’s room tonight. 

Emma wasn’t sure if the elf was all that effective as a disciplinary tool.  She hadn’t noticed a significant lessening of mischief since she and Killian had introduced “Eli the Elf”, but Hope certainly seemed delighted in looking for him every morning. 

And the joy on her daughter’s face was really what was most important, when it came down to it.  It was Christmas, the time for child-like wonder. 

Emma wandered into the kitchen, pausing for a moment and taking stock of her stomach.  Seemed like smells nauseated her at the drop of a hat lately—one of the main reasons her mom had offered to make the meal for their get together (the other being neither she nor Killian could cook worth a damn).  Emma sighed in relief when she noticed the smells elicited hunger rather than nausea. 

“Anything I can help you with, mom?” 

Snow turned from the stove where she was stirring something as it bubbled merrily away.  “You sure you’re feeling up to it?  I know how rough it can be in the early months.” 

Emma gave her mom an assessing look, subconsciously placing a protective hand over her belly.  “You know, don’t you?” 

Snow abandoned the pot on the stove and rushed over to give Emma a warm, motherly hug.  “About the baby?  Your father told when he came home from the last brot3 convention.  Oh Emma!  I’m so excited for you and Killian!  Is it official?  Do you know for sure?” 

Emma felt the familiar mix of anticipation, joy and fear bubble up inside her.  After his last breakfast with the guys, Killian had come home with a smile on his face. 

“What’s up with you?” she’d asked.  “I haven’t seen you so excited since they had that buy one get one special on rum at The Rabbit Hole.”

Killian had led her to the couch.  “It’s been some time since your last monthly, hasn’t it?”

 “Uh…yeah.  I guess I’m a few days late.  Why?”

“I was talking to your father and Rogers…”

“You were talking to my father about my period?” she asked, brows furrowed. 

He laughed. “Of course not, love!  I merely mentioned your fatigue and appetite changes.”

“Okay…..” 

“Your father…” Killian said, taking her hand, “your father raised the possibility that there could be a very specific cause for your symptoms.  Love, is it possible you’re with child again?” 

Emma’s eyes had widened, the possibility not even entering her mind before he brought it up.   

“With child?  Killian, we haven’t even been trying.” 

“No, but we’ve also not not been trying,” he said. “And I can recall a few very satisfying encounters over the past few weeks that could have very well resulted in a new life…” 

Snow tapped Emma on the shoulder, and Emma realized she’d spaced out, her face flaming slightly as her mind went to a few of those “very satisfying encounters”.  Killian’s skills as a lover were ridiculous.  She’d really hit the jackpot. 

“Uh…sorry mom,” Emma said, “what were you saying?” 

“I was asking if you got it confirmed.” 

“No,” Emma said, thinking of the pregnancy test currently residing in their bathroom medicine cabinet.  “I’m a little afraid to take the pregnancy test, to be honest.” 

Snow led Emma to a chair at her dining room table and urged her to sit.  “Why, honey?” 

Emma shrugged.  “What if it’s negative?  I mean I have all the classic symptoms, and this is exactly how I felt with Hope, but….I mean, we had such a hard time getting pregnant with Hope. What if this is just some weird flu or something?  Killian and I are already excited about Baby Swan-Jones #2.  If it turns out he or she isn’t actually on the way…” 

Snow reached over and hugged Emma.  “For what it’s worth, from what your father told me, I really, really don’t think this is a false alarm, but if it is…” Snow shrugged. “Well if it is a false alarm, you and Killian can have lots of fun trying to make it a reality over the next few months.” 

“Mom!” Emma said. 

Snow shrugged again, a wicked grin on her face.  “Remember, I know how much you and Killian enjoy…pancakes.” 

Emma made her hasty exit, opting to check on the kids before her mother started talking about her own taco sessions with David.

Still, apart from the very uncomfortable thought of discussing her sex life with her mother, Snow had a point.  What did she and Killian have to lose?  She resolved she’d take the pregnancy test the very next day. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

The next afternoon, around nap time. 

Hope Swan-Jones was not happy.  

She wasn’t sleepy.  Why did Mama make her take naps?  Sleeping was no fun at all!  Uncle Neal didn’t have to take naps; why should she? 

She’d asked Mama that one day, and Mama said it was because Neal was twelve years old.  Twelve-year-olds didn’t have to take naps. 

Hope wished she was twelve.  Not three. 

Hope glanced over at the shelf high on the wall and noticed Eli the Elf peering down at her.  She stuck her small, pink tongue out at him.

“I’m not going to go to sleep,” she said rebelliously, “and I don’t care if you tell Santa!” 

Hope continued to look at Eli as her eyelids started getting heavy in spite of herself.  That was another thing.  Why didn’t Mama and Daddy ever let her play with Eli?  He was a doll just like the others she had in her play chest.  Why couldn’t she play with him?

Hope knew better than to leave her bed when Mama said to take a nap, but still, she reached out her hand as though to reach for the elf.  Suddenly she felt kind of funny, like there was something warm and bubbly just under her skin.  She watched in amazement as a beam of white light shot from her outstretched fingers, and suddenly Eli the Elf was zooming towards her, right into her arms. 

Did…did she have magic like Mama did? 

Maybe she should try again. 

She looked at the elf and then reached her hand out the way Mama did when she did magic.  “I want you to play with me, elf,” she whispered. 

The strange warm bubbly feeling happened again, and another burst of magic shot out.  

Suddenly Eli the Elf stood up on his own, blinked twice and then grinned at her in a way Daddy would have said meant trouble. 

“Eli the Elf at your service,” he said with a bow.  “So kid, you ready to have some fun?” 

Hope glanced toward the door, afraid Mama would hear.  “Shhhhhh!” she said. “We’re supposed to be asleep!” 

The elf rolled his eyes.  “Naps are for Grinches.  You’re not a Grinch, are you, kid?”

She shook her head no. 

“Good,” Eli said, “so here’s what I think we should do next….”

Eli the Elf went on to outline a plan of chaos that made Hope’s eyes widen.  Surely he wouldn’t dare! 

She shook her head.  “We can’t!  We’ll get in trouble!” 

“The threat of getting caught is half the fun,” Eli said, before jumping off the bed and making a dash for the partially opened door.  “I’m going to do it, whether you follow me or not.” 

Hope climbed out of bed and tiptoed to the door.   She had to stop him!  She was going to be in so much trouble! 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

That evening 

Killian closed Hope’s door and made his way down the stairs to the kitchen where he set about preparing a nice steaming mug of hot cocoa. 

He had a feeling Swan would need it after the day she’d had. 

Killian had come home from the station, smile on his lips and spring in his step…only to find the living room in shambles and Emma on the couch crying. 

He’d rushed to her.  “Swan!  What happened?  Are you hurt?  Is Hope alright?” 

Emma swiped at her cheeks and got to her feet.  “We’re fine, Killian,” she rushed to reassure, stepping into his arms and burying her face in his chest.  “It’s just…I’m so damn tired, and she was supposed to be napping, and I come downstairs, and…well, just look!” 

Emma gestured to the living room.  The bottom half of the Christmas tree was completely bare, the baubles that had previously adorned its branches were strewn over the floor, a couple of the delicate glass ones broken against the hearth. 

His eyes widened.  Hope had done this? 

“Swan, there must be some mistake,” he said, “Hope is mischievous, to be sure, but she’s never blatantly engaged in destruction and she loves our Christmas tree.” 

Emma collapsed on the couch, pulling him with her.  “She was in here, Killian,” Emma said, one fat tear of exhaustion rolling down her face.  “I caught her red-handed.  Literally.  She was holding that stupid red Santa ornament in her hand when I showed up.  When I asked her what she was doing, she lied to me. Lied right to my face.” 

“That doesn’t sound like my lass at all,” Killian said, his brow furrowing as he wrapped his wife in his comforting embrace.  “I’ve never known her to speak a falsehood.  What happened?” 

“She told me…get this…she told me Eli the Elf did it!  That damn elf on the shelf was lying on the ground next to the tree.  Not only did she disobey me and leave her room during naptime, she somehow got her hands on the elf, went on a tree destroying spree, and then lied to me.  Killian, I don’t even know what to do with her anymore!” 

Emma started crying in earnest, and Killian hugged her to him, rocking her slightly and caressing her hair.  “Where is the lass now, love?” 

“She’s in her room,” Emma said, voice thick with tears.  “I…Killian, I kind of lost my temper.  I raised my voice a little.  She looked so surprised and almost, I don’t know, betrayed.  I sent her to her room, because apparently I can’t parent worth a crap, but I wanted a chance to cool down before I said anything else to her that I might regret.” 

“Sh,” Killian said. “Emma you are a wonderful mother.  Never doubt that.  We all lose our temper and have moments we aren’t particularly proud of.  We’ll sort this out.  Together.” 

He’d stayed with Emma a few more moments, holding her as she cried, and then he’d gone to have a talk with Hope. 

Now, 20 minutes later, steaming mug of cocoa in hand, he returned to the Christmas carnage that was their living room. 

Emma took the cocoa with a grateful smile.  “How is she?”

Killian’s brow furrowed.  “She’s settled for the moment, and she seems quite apologetic over what happened.  What say we put this tree to rights, aye?” 

“Killian, you don’t have to…” she called after him as he began gathering discarded ornaments and placing them on the tree.  “I can just zap it with my magic…” 

“Nonsense, love,” he said, “you’re exhausted and at your wits end.  Rest, let me handle this.”

He made quick work of righting the tree as he heard Emma sigh behind him.  As he worked, his brow furrowed.  He knew Emma was upset after her difficult day with Hope, but he knew Emma Swan-Jones, perhaps better than she knew herself.  There was something else on her mind, something else that was causing her significant distress. 

Killian set the last bauble on the tree and then sat beside his wife, opening his arms and waiting for her to settle against him before he spoke. 

“Swan, I know when your heart is heavy,” he said.  “Share your burden with me.  What’s amiss?” 

“Well Hope…” 

He stopped her with a gentle finger to her lips.  “Aye, she’s been rather difficult today, but there’s more isn’t there?”

She glanced aside, before reaching for the small box on the coffee table and handing it to him.   

He glanced at it, noting it was one of those wands that could tell if a woman was with child. 

“Swan…?” 

“I…I thought I should take the test,” Emma said, voice thick, “you know, to make sure we’re really pregnant like we think we are.”

“But it’s still in its box unopened.” 

“Yeah,” she said, glancing aside.  “I wanted to wait for you to take it, and then…” 

“Then?” He prompted. 

“Well I got scared.” 

“Of what?” he said, hugging her to him, “what frightens you?” 

She was quiet for a moment, taking the test back, and turning the box over and over absent-mindedly.  “What if it’s negative?” 

Killian rubbed her back in a comforting motion.  “Swan, we’ll cross that bridge if we get to it.”

“But I know how excited you are already about this kid…What if…?” 

Killian stopped her with a soft kiss.  “Emma, I would be delighted to welcome a new wee pirate or princess into our home, but even if it doesn’t happen, even if it never happens, I will be perfectly contented.  I have a wife I adore, a daughter I love beyond measure, and a step son with a family to dote upon.” 

She sat up and looked carefully at him.  “Do you really mean that?” 

“Aye,” he said with a decisive nod.  “But I can see the toll this uncertainty is taking upon you.  Perhaps it’s best if we find out once and for all.”

Emma took a deep breath, seeming to steel herself for whatever was to come, and then she got to her feet, taking the box with her.  “Okay, I’m going to go take the test.  Wait here.” 

Emma padded to the powder room off the kitchen, emerging two minutes later, pregnancy test in hand. “Okay, babe, moment of truth,” she said, handing him the small, white wand.  “I can’t look.” 

Killian took a deep breath and then looked down. 

Two pink lines.

“Swan,” he said, smile suffusing his whole face, “it’s positive!” 

She reached for the device, looking for herself before letting out a joyful shout.  “Positive!  Killian, we’re gonna have a baby!” 

Killian got to his feet, enveloped her in his arms and swung her around, both of them laughing and crying.  Emma leaned down and captured Killian’s lips with her own, pouring all of her joy and relief into her kiss.  They collapsed back onto the couch, the kiss continuing as they smiled against each other’s lips. 

Suddenly a shout pierced through their haze of love and happiness.  A shout coming from the direction of Hope’s bedroom. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Hope swiped at the tear tracks on her cheeks.  It wasn’t fair; it just wasn’t fair!  Eli the Elf was the one who did the bad things and she got in trouble for it.

No one believed her.  Not even Daddy.  Oh, he wasn’t as upset as Mama was, but he didn’t believe her either; she could see it in his face. 

And he was disappointed in her.  That was the worst. 

She wished Eli the Elf had never come here!

As soon as she’d followed him from her bedroom and saw him about to start messing up their pretty tree, she’d tried to stop him.  She’d tried to use her magic like Mama did, but it hadn’t worked.  Maybe Hope sized magic wasn’t as powerful as Mama sized magic.

When her magic hadn’t worked, she’d tried to catch him and make him stop, but he was too fast for her. 

He wouldn’t stop until Mama walked into the room.  Then he played dead and let Hope get in trouble. 

“How long you gonna let them keep you couped up in here, kid?” Eli asked from the shelf where Mama had tossed him when she marched Hope to her room.  “The Christmas tree was fun, but there are lots of bigger and better things we can do to shake up this place a little.” 

“Don’t you dare!” Hope growled at him under her breath.  “You already made Mama yell at me and cry.”

Eli shrugged, and hopped down from the shelf, opening her drawers, rifling through, tossing toys and clothes every which way. 

“You stop that right now!” Hope shouted. 

The little imp ignored her, continuing on with his perusal of her things.

Hope was normally a good tempered child.  She rarely got upset, but now, finally this elf had gone too far.  She was not going to get in trouble again for something he did!  She closed her eyes, concentrated as hard as she could and then thrust her arm toward the elf.

Hope knew her magic was working even before it shot from her fingers, the warmth and electricity flowing from her surrounded the elf, wrapping him in light magic bands, like a glowing rope. 

“There!” she cried triumphantly.  “Now I’ve got you!” 

Eli the elf grinned.  It was not a pleasant sight. 

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Eli said in a smug voice.  “You see kid, your magic brought me to life.  It can’t stop me.  It can only make me stronger.” 

Hope watched in horror as Eli puffed himself up until he got bigger and bigger and bigger.  Soon he was almost as big as Daddy. 

“Mama!  Daddy!” Hope screamed, knowing things had gone completely out of her control. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Killian burst through the nursery door, his hook at the ready, prepared to battle whatever foe was menacing his daughter. 

Or so he thought. 

Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of the Elf on the Shelf not only alive but gigantic.  For a moment, he stood frozen in the doorway, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide, and then he jumped into action, bursting through the door, putting himself in between Hope and her elf. 

“Cygnet go!  Get to safety!”

The elf laughed, knocking Killian aside as though he were merely a ragdoll.  “You think you can defeat me?” the elf taunted.  “You think you can…” 

But before he could finish his thought, suddenly he shrunk, eyes becoming glassy, body turning back to cloth and cotton.

“Yeah, I’m sure he could have,” Emma said, stepping into the room and kicking the elf she’d just turned back into a toy, “but he doesn’t have to.  I’ll take great pleasure in kicking your…” she glanced toward Hope “butt all the way back to the North Pole.” 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Several hours later, Emma climbed into her big, comfortable four-poster bed and burrowed into her husband’s warmth. 

“So, never a dull moment in Storybrooke is there?” she said, deadpan. 

Killian laughed, rubbing comforting circles along her back.  “Final battle won, final villain defeated, and yet it still seems there’s more excitement in this small burg than in any of the realms.”

Emma chuckled and then sobered.  “I didn’t believe her, Killian.  My own daughter, and I didn’t believe her when she told us the truth about what happened.  What kind of a person does that make me?” 

“A human being,” Killian said gently.  “Her story was rather outlandish.  I had my doubts as well, if you’ll recall.  Hope is resilient love.  She knows how much you love her, and she’s forgiven you already.” 

After she’d zapped the elf, turned it back into an inanimate object and then locked it in their creepy Dark One dungeon that they kept padlocked until they could figure out how to turn it back into a normal basement, Emma had returned to Hope’s bedroom and given her a long, comforting hug, feeling her toddler sniff against her as the fear and excitement of the day slowly receded. 

“I’m so sorry, baby,” Emma murmured into Hope’s riotous blond curls.  “I should have listened when you tried to tell me the truth.”

 “It’s okay Mama,” Hope said.  “It was my fault Eli comed to life.”

Hope had gone on to explain the whole story to her stunned parents. 

“We really did make an amazing kid, didn’t we?” Emma said.  “How did it never even occur to us that she might have magic?” 

“A terrible oversight on our part, love,” Killian said, chuckling.  “She’s the second generation product of True Love.  Of bloody course she has magic.” 

“We need to talk to Regina, have her train Hope, get a handle on this thing,” Emma said.  “Magic’s great, but man can it go wrong if you don’t have it controlled.” 

Killian kissed her.  “Aye.”  Reaching down, he cupped her still-flat stomach, caressing their unborn child in the only way he could at the moment.  “What do you think are the odds this wee one will have magic as well?” 

Emma groaned.  “We’re in for a wild ride with two of them, aren’t we?” 

Killian laughed.  “That we are, Swan, but it’s nothing we can’t handle.  Together, this family can handle anything.” 

Emma hummed in agreement, and for a moment they fell silent, and then Killian chuckled.

“What?” she asked, noting the mischievous look in his eyes.

“I think it would only be good form, love, for you to admit that I was right about the Elf on the Shelf.” 

Emma rolled her eyes with a grin.  “And you’re never going to let me forget it, are you?” 

He shook his head.  “Never.” 

Emma sighed.  “There’s going to be no living with you after this.  I dread the moment you learn about the Easter Bunny.”

NEXT CHAPTER->

[thinenotthee]

Ro's Treatise on Makishima Shogo

I have been into Psycho-Pass for about ten years now. It is the second or third anime i ever watched and it has had a vise grip on me since. I rewatched the first season a countless number of times before finally biting the bullet and watching the rest. I am rewatching the first season again. From the beginning, I have never liked Makishima Shogo.

Preface: I historically do not like villains. They can be the most interesting character ever but I'm like "they do bad things so they suck and I don't like them." No hate to people who do like them, I have just never really been one of them.

I have never been involved with a media that loves its villain as much as people who watch Psycho-Pass love Makishima Shogo and it makes me crazy! I think for a lot of people watching Psycho-Pass, Makishima represents a character type that we don't see often in media: guy who challenges the status quo in the same way we as the audience do. Many of the people I talk to about Psycho-Pass cite Makishima as their favorite villain because he’s “right,” or because he’s “challenging the system.” Or to cite myself from a few years ago, “All the dudebros are like ‘he thinks so deeply about society and really questions it’ and I'm like dude that's everyone in Psycho-Pass, including you, the viewer of Psycho-Pass.”

Because the fact of the matter is, Makishima’s not right about anything.

Sure, Makishima observes and acts upon the depravity of Japan's society under the Sibyl System, and makes active attempts to undermine it. Ederlyn Peralta of CBR states, “[Makishima] has a vision of how the world should be, making him an appealing character to viewers.” However, I think a more accurate assessment is that Makishima has an idea of what the world should not be. He does not work to undermine the Sybil System for the good of common people. He does it in a self-serving manner to prove that he is right and society is wrong. He wants to watch the world burn and not do anything about what happens after it. He has no plans to protect the people in said society after the upheaval, evidenced by the fact that his goals are to get people to kill each other, and then starve the country by destroying its primary food source. He sees the members of Japanese society as worthless sheep unworthy of his protection.

And we see what happens to people once he decides they are no longer worthy of his protection or involvement! During the Spooky Boogie case, we see Makishima immediately discard Masatake Mido after he deems him uninteresting. The same thing happens to Rikako Ouryou. He discards people in the same way the Sibyl System does. Once they no longer serve his purposes or prove a liability to him, he gets rid of them. He is judge and jury and proxy (if not actual) executioner, just like the Sibyl System.

And yet I'm supposed to believe he's got something right?

I think this would be less infuriating if Makishima was the only member of the cast criticizing the Sibyl System. However, as I stated before, everyone is criticizing the system! The entire show exists as a criticism of the Sibyl System! Kogami hates it, Akane has made it her life mission to question and critique it, every cast member that we get to talk to for more than a few minutes has their critique of the System. And these are people who work directly in service of it! So I cannot find it within myself to stand with Makishima's thoughts and declare him right in any matter.

Akane has a beautiful line in episode 20 where she says that anyone can decide they want to look for happiness anytime they want, as long as they are alive. Makishima has given up on the promise of human potential in the same way, and has decided unilaterally who he thinks is capable of pursuing higher thought. But that's not his decision to make.

TLDR: Makishima Shogo makes my blood boil and I am tired of him. Good riddance.

[blacknwhitemood]

It's somehow sentimental if you wanted a certain musical album the most but you bought it for last. This is 101, and now I have it accidently in 4 pieces, moreover double discs. Of course I had to have the LP but the sight as much important as the sound so I bought DVD too. Story below.

I found at my favourite online market a West German 101 LP that was very expensive for the first sight, but I looked around on the net and I didnt' find cheaper included delivery except the new edition (Sony). This is the 2nd LP on the picture above (front, back and inside), included original white and black vinyl sleeves that have its pressing number at the top, if you zoom in the pic.

Later my old dealer wrote me that he found an original British LP much cheaper than this German one I talked him about previously. Although I prefer prints from "homeland", I said no, coz I've already written to the other seller for a meeting - but the British version was ordered by that time from the UK… Communication failure, I wasn't enough determined, I accepted the situation. Photo to the left above, I got it 4 days ago. First I was considering to sell the German, but the cover and beautiful booklet's photos' quality is much better, not that dark, you can see all the details (I learnt manual photography 20 years ago).

Made in Great Britain

German booklet - OMG

Considering my failure I convinced myself easily to buy 2 DVDs haha, both are new. I bought the latest (2021) edition at the DM shop, this version's quality is better, but the old one (2013) has more interviews, so… I found only one shop where I could ordered direct from the Sony.

DVDs were cheap, LPs weren't. Expensive hobby. I can sell one or two of them, if I got in trouble, but - for now - I'm really happy with them. I keep in contact this two cunning, crazy dealers who help me in my choices in detailed, they own 5-6 different editions of 1 record. "The Spanish cover is shiny, a small poster included" said one of them. "I had to have the first Japanese edition, but it cost a wealth" said the other. They can get literally anything by their connections, that's why I didn't make a list for them, prices would be painfully all together. Actually it's nice to meet these people occasionly, we can talk about common subjects. I rather believe in my luck like gold diggers. It means more surprises and joy <3

101 1989 Made in West Germany

101 1989 Made in Great Britain

more: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5