#miles made her those stickers

[maishiia]

Hobart Brown and his drummer🕸️

[firewalkzwit]

arabella // hobie brown x reader (one-shot)

oneshot of hobie trying to pursue a reader who's effortlessly cool and has strong arabella vibes cuz i love that vibe. inspired some on slc punk and sex pistols lore, cool fic for the music enthusiasts

New girl's hip New girl's cool New girl's interesting New girl's hot.

"She came straight out of 70's New L.A. She's no rockstar's girlfriend, she's a rockstar herself! Crazy hair, mysterious bassist, she's from outer space."

AO3

And when she needs to shelter from reality she takes a dip in my daydreams...

"Ay, who's the new girl?" Was the first thing Hobie asked as he nudged Pav's shoulder, not breaking his intense stare at the new recruit. 

"New girl? Oh that's YN." Pav shifted his narrowed eyes into Hobie's, a teasing grin drawing on his face.

"Yea' but what's her full name...?"

"Go ask her yourself man, everyone calls her YN." Hobie never got her name, she refused to be called anything but those particular initials.

To say she was pretty was an understatement. She was stunning, show-stopping, alluring. 

At least to Hobie, all adjectives were perfectly applicable.

She had this quirk, this confidence and these slight Chrissie Hynde vibes, boldness when she spoke that made her so attractive, and to top it she was a great musician. 

Back in her dimension it was the seventies, and she was the leader of a girl band where she played the bass, doing small gigs in downtown New L.A.

She wore flamboyant black cowboy boots and scandalous skirts, with chunky sunglasses that looked like the eyes of a bug. She had crazy hair and wore Vivienne Westwood's accessories on her pierced ears and fingers before it was even cool in the US. Her dark tights were always ripped but she didn't care, she called it a fashion statement. So did she call her Spidey suit, which had a unique design that caught anyone's attention. 

Love was for posers Hobie thought, but what's more punk than going against your own structures?

"Gwendy I gotta' talk to this girl more." Hobie's frustration was something Gwen wasn't used to seeing. His nature was often relaxed, only energic when invited to disrupt the order, but hardly ever frustrated.

"Well, you don't have to." Gwen shrugged as she tried to mask the frown that was forming in her face, but her wrinkled nose gave away her displease of jealousy.

"I know, but I want to." His attention was fixed on YN, how she moved and talked. "I wanna hear her play. You're a girl right? When you girls think a lad's fit, how much of that comes from his coolness?" He asked as he leaned on Gwen's side, resting his body weight on her. She scoffed in disbelief at the absurdity of his question, something only a man could ask. 

"Since when do you want to conform to the arbitrary standards of women?"

"I don't, I just wanna' know how many I can get away with breaking and she can still like me yea'?" Hobie chuckled before getting up again. "Don't get too jealous on me alright?" He joked, patting his friend's shoulder as he jumped down from where they were sitting, approaching her once again.

"He's never gonna give up is he?" Miles sat once again close beside Gwen, who sighed at the sight of Hobie attempting to come off as nonchalant with a girl who only seemed to curve his insinuations over and over. 

"That's such a man thing to do, no offense." Gwen spat as her hand slid down her face, pointing at what she could only describe as a humilliation show.

"Yeah... right." 

It's not that she didn't notice, she just dodged him. She thought there was more important things to do than let herself be conquered by some co-worker. But she was lying if she said he wasn't winning her over.

He also was so her type.

The funky hair, the spikes on his leather vest, the stickers and carvings on his guitar, his Iggy Pop vibes and his weird slang. But he thought he was so it, he was a nice guy but he needed some humbling. Their first conversation was about Bowie, and he played her a bit of Moonage Daydream as she recalled when she saw him live, getting all starry eyed whenever she'd narrate the part where she gave him a ride in her car.

"You gave Bowie a ride?"

"Spider's Tour, yeah..." She giggled, flipping her hair in a way that had him starstruck. "In my mom's car."

"In your mum's car? Oh get out." She went on to talk about how that changed her view on music, going on about her gigs in New L.A and how she moved there to make it big. 

Hobie was sure he was listening, but as much as he tried to contain himself, keeping in comments was not in his book.

"You always dress this mad? Like, all the time?" He bursted out with a smile, cutting her off. They were sitting on a counter table, with his guitar on his lap. He leaned closer to pick on the fabric of her coat. 

"Always. Do you always dress so pretentious?" She retorted with a smug grin, pushing her hair out of her face. His eyes shot up to look at her, puzzled. "I mean, aren't you like... rebelling against society?" Hobie let out a slight laugh, his head tilting in interest as he looked into her eyes. 

"Well, yea'. Why?"

"Don't you think it would be more of an act of rebellion if you didn't spend so much time buying stickers and pins and going out to get punky clothes? Stop me if I'm being offensive, I think the style's hip, but it just seems counterproductive to your cause."

"Na' its cool, keep going." He struggled to discern if he was actually listening, or simply invested in watching her mouth smart words as her long painted nails tapped on the counter.

"You want to be an individual, but it's like you wear a uniform. It's just punk fashion, not rebellion." Hobie's eyes fixated on her's, leaving a strong silence as she ended her phrase. 

"I'm not judging you, just kind of a general critique to what they call punk movement."

Hobie brushed her off with his usual humorous comments to maintain his pride, but he was dazzled. Even if she had criticized his way of thinking and how he dressed, she was so outspoken, without caring what he had to say or thought about her opinion, and he was crazy for his first impression of her, as much as he hated to admit it as he'd call 'Love is for posers'. Hobie was sure he was just trying to win her over, to prove a point he'd say, but deep down he loved the way she smiled and shook her head whimsically everytime he'd say something or take time off his schedule to nag her.

It was a few times that she gave Hobie the chance to play with her, to which she soon learnt that he did not know how to read tabs. Of course the punk kid is self-taught. Trying to lead, they would play messy numbers and solos. It was ocasionally just her and Gwen, who had let YN grown onto her sharing her love for girl bands, doing some jamming with their instruments as Hobie payed vague attention. But he would pound on any chance to be alone with her and try to take her out.

She didn't know what was in her that day, but she let him take her out.

He toured her around his universe, before taking her to what he called "his palace". 

The small canal boat was ridiculously a very Hobie place to live. If she were to guess, she'd think he lived in a tree somewhere in Birmingham. However it had it's charm, it was very humid and it wobbled when they walked, but it was unique and she loved it. Hobie showed her the collection of things he had stolen, proving himself to be a brilliant thief. He owed most of his 'talent' to his Spider-Sense and speed, but he'd never bring it up. 

As she sat on the mattress where he slept in, Hobie picked up one of his records, sitting beside her to show her the signed insides of the vinyl. Her eyes paced from the inscriptions to his face, as he ocasionally caught a glimpse of her through the corner of his eye. He left the vinyl aside to go on about his encounters with the infuential musicians on the area, how he attempted to steal the microphone the Bowie of his dimension had used when he was touring in his city. Her gaze shifting from his eyes to his lips back and forth. 

He was hesitant about making a move, afraid he'd mess up what had taken him so much work. But wasn't even given time to think it through before the proximity between them grew, and her hand softly caressed his bony cheek and down to his neck, inviting him to lean into a kiss. As they made out, his cold piercing was quickly warmed by her damp tongue and soft lips that sucked and kissed his. His hands caressed up and down her waist, undoing the buttons on her blouse with his slender fingers as she revealed her naked torso, no bra underneath. YN did her usual hair flip to watch him undress her, and himself, jumping on her once finished to continue what he had briefly interrupted.

"We won't sink, will we?" She asked between soft giggles as the boat quivered at his abrupt movement, Hobie nibbling down her neck and kissing her chest. 

"I wank pretty crazy here every night, we won't." He teased before crawling backwards, kissing down her navel. 

songs i listened to while working on this:

(ofc) arabella - arctic monkeys

moonage daydream, lady grinning soul and starman - bowie

hey, velouria - pixies

rhiannon, gold dust woman - fleetwood mac

[starscourgc]

bloodborne characters and what cars they would drive

laurence: 2020 mercedes c-class, his dad bought it for him as a graduation gift but never drives it . He just bums off everyone else for rides.

gehrman: 1997 toyota camry. it’s got 400k miles on it, the brakes need to be replaced, windows don’t roll down, but it’s gonna outlive gehrman and everyone he knows. has been set on fire before and still turned on.

maria: 2012 audi a5 coupe. got it off Ye Ol Marketplace for a banging deal. all the windows have 2% tint on them and she can’t drive at night as a result. keeps it spotless and won’t let anyone eat or drink inside.

ludwig: 2023 toyota prius. smthn smthn big man small car joke here. it’s fuel efficient and he cares about that type of stuff, the holy moonlight sword gets buckled in the passenger seat.

alfred: 2003 ford ranger, THE work truck. He has to hotwire the engine, get out and push it 20 feet forward, say a prayer to logarius, and then hope it turns over. radio doesn’t work unless you beat on the dashboard a few times.

gascoigne: 2005 dodge grand caravan. has enough space for himself, viola, his daughters, and henryk. the back windshield is covered in “my daughter is an honor student at yharnam elementary” stickers and a stick family.

djura: lifted ford f150. can hear it turn on from 10 miles away, and you Will go blind cause djura installed those blinding LED headlights. doesn’t know how to turn off said headlights.

eileen: 1989 jeep cherokee 4x4. Laments constantly about how cars aren’t made how they used to despite her getting 5 miles to the gallon on a good day.

edgar: 2006 volkswagen beetle. i dont have an explanation it just feels right.

brador: modded ford escape. loves it more than himself, and it REEKS of cigarettes bc he smokes with the windows up.

micolash: crashed 5 cars until he finally got his license revoked, walks everywhere or gets a lift from edgar.

[evenmorebeetles]

I come bearing Team 7 road trip headcanons

(very american road trip because that's what I'm familiar with)

Naruto calls shotgun, but that doesn't even last long enough for them to get on the highway before Kakashi sentences him to the back seat because he put his feet up on the dash and tried to steal the aux cord for his Super Awesome Road Trip Playlist

Sasuke tries to claim shotgun for himself afterwards but Kakashi declares that the front seat is now off limits.  Call it a bonding exercise

Whoever sits next to Naruto is inevitably going to smack him at some point and while Sakura hits harder than Sasuke, she's more patient than him, so she's in the middle with Sasuke behind Kakashi and Naruto behind the passenger seat so that he can kick the back of it without causing an accident or a murder

No one ever actually sees him take it off somehow but every 45 minutes someone has to yell at Naruto to put his seatbelt back on.

Naruto wants to play a road trip game, which Sakura thinks is a novel and fantastic idea.  She makes puppy eyes at Sasuke until he agrees to play.  It actually goes well until Sasuke starts cheating during I Spy by describing billboards that passed them in half a second.  Naruto and Sasuke bicker over whether this is actually cheating or not, and Sakura takes Naruto's side, much to Sasuke's indignation and Naruto's excited woops.  They get so loud that Kakashi threatens to start playing educational podcasts at max volume if they don't shut up

Sasuke puts his headphones in and you'd think he's listening to some punk alt emo rock album but nope he's got on a mixtape playlist Sakura and Naruto made him for his birthday

He leans his head on the window but the road is too bumpy for it to be comfortable.  Naruto notices and offers Sasuke his hoodie to put between his head and the glass, and Sasuke grumbles but ultimately accepts it if only so he can stop having a conversation that involves his friends being kind to him

Sakura tries to read but eventually gets too car sick and falls asleep with her head on Sasuke's shoulder

Naruto pulls out a handheld game and is careful to turn the volume all the way down so he doesn't wake Sakura up

Kakashi puts on a forest ambiance soundtrack instead of music, and Naruto is very confused.  He doesn't know that due to them being in the middle of nowhere, Kakashi can't get any service, leaving him only with the things he has pre-downloaded to his phone.  These are limited to forest ambiance and every Icha Icha novel on audiobook

Sakura does eventually wake up to go into a rest stop with Kakashi while Naruto and Sasuke wait in the car because they didn't feel like putting their shoes back on.  She comes back with each of their favorite snacks

Naruto has to use the bathroom 10 miles after leaving the rest stop

Everyone newly recharged with sugar, they agree on another road trip game where they have to find words starting with each sequential letter of the alphabet (chosen for its collaborative and therefore cheat proof nature)

They absolutely do the COWS thing whenever they pass a field

Sakura finally smacks Naruto upside the head when she catches him without his seatbelt on for the seventh time

Kakashi imposes a tax where he's owed a bit of snack every time someone asks if they're close or how much longer

Naruto and Sakura end up sharing a blanket (Sasuke isn't cold due to his recently acquired hoodie)

Naruto and Sasuke compete to see who can put more stickers on Sakura without her noticing.  When they get caught, Sasuke claims to have no knowledge of the game at all, and sure, Naruto never saw Sasuke put anything on Sakura, but he knows for a fact that not all those stickers were from him

Sai, who has been in the third row of seats the entire time unbeknownst to everyone else in the car, is very pleased with himself for winning

[polyhexian]

The more I think about it the more I love the Jasper/Enoch rivalry.

Well, to be fair, I think Jasper actively hates her, and she's just there. She's murder daughter because she sees murder as the best way to achieve her goals, not because she enjoys murdering people. She's not looking for a fight, she just calls it as she sees it, and she sees Jasper as un unimpressive wimp who failed to kill Belos because he was too sentimental.

Enoch: I'm just saying, you could totally have killed him if your feelings hadn't gotten in the way.

Jasper: EXCUSE YOU, IT TOOK A LOT OF EFFORT FOR ME TO RECOGNIZE THAT I WAS CAPABLE OF FEELINGS.

Enoch: Yeah, ironic.

Jasper can't comprehend this kid. She knew she was a person?? with EMOTIONS??? AND SHE THREW THEM AWAY??? Jasper took 12 years to come to terms with the fact that his feelings WERE real and they DID affect him and they DID matter and meanwhile this kid had just decided emotions were useless and didn't bother with them??

Jasper: HOW was someone who HAD emotions and KNEW she was a person BETTER at locking all those feelings away than I ever was??

Enoch: Skill issue.

Jasper: AKLSDJFDKASJFJDSLKAHDJFKAASDFKDSD

Caitlyn: To be fair, I didn't exactly do a good job modeling feelings for her.

Jasper sobbing around a bottle of god-knows-what while Caleb awkwardly pats his back and Jasper's like "Hunter's gonna end up like ENOCH."

Tell: Okay on the one hand I can see how that'd be distressing, but Jasper, that IS my kid.

Enoch: No, no, he has a point. I still failed to kill Belos. We should be hoping that Hunter is even better than me at killing Belos. *watches Hunter follow his uncle around with stars in his eyes* But in all honesty he's shaping up to be a spectacular disappointment.

Jasper: YOU TAKE THAT BACK.

She doesn't really hate Hunter, probably. She thinks his loyalty is stupid, obviously, but like. When he was a baby she just saw him as an obstacle Jasper failed to overcome, and as the Golden Guard she's like "when I was his age I was actively plotting an assassination", and after Hunter runs away she's like "well he's got half the right idea now that he knows the truth but of COURSE he's just running away, ugh" and then Hunter attempts to murder-suicide himself and Belos and she's like OH YES FINALLY OKAY RESPECT ACQUIRED GET IT BOY!

She probably can't even fault him for not succeeding in killing Belos. Like that wasn't his fault. He gave an honest shot at it and for all we know the only reason it didn't work is cuz Camila pulled Hunter out of the water which let Belos depossess him.

She just judges everyone by how close they got to killing Belos and what made them fail, and the people who get judged the harshest are the ones who came close but failed for whatever she perceives as a stupid reason. Virtue, John, Temperance? Not even worth judging over this, they were too stupid to even think about killing him. Dust? An attempt was made, not a very good one but it's not like he had much time to think about it, he can have a You Tried sticker. Miles? Should've used those bombs on BELOS, yeesh, and he was more concerned with running away than with killing the guy, BUT he earns a lot of points for spending his final moments writing out a warning to anyone who'd come after, which may eventually lead to Belos's death, so A for effort. Jasper? Colossal disappointment, oh my god, you literally HAD HIM, IF IT WASN'T FOR THE BABY YOU WOULD'VE KILLED HIM, GOD. Hunter? Disappointingly brainwashed, but the moment he decided to kill Belos, he WENT for it, and she can respect that.

Luz? Oh my god she's probably so pissed at Luz. Like. You beat him! You literally beat him! You had god-given powers the likes of which no witch has ever been graced to wield, you took him out when he was arguably at his most powerful, and YOU DIDN'T EVEN TAKE THE SHOT?? YOU LET THE RAIN DO IT? AND THEN YOU LET RAINE AND EDA AND KING DO IT?? WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO WASTE MY DREAM???

So yeah, just. Jasper actively hating Enoch, and Enoch passively hating Jasper.

Jasper: HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT???

Enoch: Why are you booing me? I'm right.

In the far distant future, Darius passes away from old age, and one way or another, he's finally going to see Jasper again--

Darius: Jasper. I spent sixteen years having beef with a child, and then I felt extremely bad about it, and strove to become a better person. And now I have died, and I find out YOU'VE spent the last SIXTY years having beef with a child??

Jasper, glaring at Enoch in yet another staring contest: When I first met her, she'd been dead longer than I'd been alive.

Darius: I just feel like maybe I beat myself up a little too much regarding how upset you'd be at how I treated Hunter.

Jasper: YOU were a dick to a brainwashed child soldier who needed healthy adult relationships in his life because you were misplacing your anger and grief. I am having a mutual standoff with someone who ACTUALLY believes I'm a failure for NOT LETTING MY BABY DIE, and who continues to be a bitch despite having DECADES since her death to figure out how to not be.

Enoch: I don't "believe" you're a failure, it's just an objective fact.

Jasper: ALSKDJKSDAJFKLJDSKLFSDKLFK

Darius: I can see why your ortet keeps the liquor cabinet well stocked.

Uruwydhfjdijebrg riqyshJFGHEHAH I'm fucking OBSESSED jasper having genuine beef with a fifteen year old and desperately trying to justify why that's different from Darius having beef with hunter and he has a lot of points but he keeps saying "SHES OLDER THAN ME LIKE SHE LIVED LONGER THAN I DID AND SHE HAD SO MUCH MORE AGENCY AND ALSO SHES BEEN DEAD LONGER THAN I WAS ALIVE LIKE COME ON

Enoch: Darius you were mean to a brainwashed child soldier. How could you possibly not see what was happening and realize it was evil?

Darius: I know, and you're right, I should have been kinder. I wish that I-

Enoch: how could you not see Belos was evil right then and there?? Like, he killed your boyfriend and you didn't even murder him for it?

Darius: I mean. I.

Enoch: pussy

Jasper: come on

Darius like okay I get why JASPER is still here watching hunter sixty years later but why are YOU still here

Tell: Enoch won't leave

Enoch: for the bit, mostly

Enoch fucking... ROASTING previous Grimwalkers.

Miles: Had no reason to seek vengeance yet. Passable if only because he is so early in the timeline respects the viciousness of his ending. The anger and the commitment to warning the future.

Virtue: loser who died too fast and didn't learn to think for himself

Dust: easily manipulated but most of them are since they've been groomed to be. Hard turned at the end, respect. Willing to take child hostage +10 points for commitment. Ultimately a failure but she'd share a beer with him

Temperance: idiot loser who didn't even learn anything

Caleb: you RAISED his ass and didn't see he was an evil fuck? Wow. Yeah sympathy is great huh tell that to the kid you didn't raise shit lips

Jasper: you're the fucking worst oh my god. You had the best chance and threw it away. Absolutely pathetic. You're grounded kid

Tell: lame dad. Complacent and pessimistic. I want a bed time story but also you're mid af

She's just like. The worst. They're all dead they've had to get past the point of "she might actually be evil and I don't really want her here" and just have to live with this thing in the house and she's emboldened by the fact she is tolerated

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Scripting: MtOU Ending Scene

PREVIOUS POST

After the whole ordeal in More than One Universe, My Last Trauma and Hanelm Crackdown came to a close, OMT!Tails landed by a street looking over the city, watching out over it.

"Okay. Let's do this one last time. For real, though. This is it! My name is Tails. I was given the mantle of the hero of Mobius by my best buddy, Sonic, and I've been protecting my home for about a year and a bit. I think you know the rest."

"I met a whole bunch of interdimensional friends, I cured beings with their own problems, got caught in a lot of trouble, did some singing with my girlfriend, Mina, graduated for science class with her, Cream and Max…"

"Likewise, I finished my essay in full, saved some more people, got hit by some drones, did a custom mural for Sonic and Sally with Knuckles and Amy, fully bonded with my roommate, Danny... and I even slapped a sticker at a place the SIGU are never gonna find it, haha!"

"And when I feel alone, like nobody understands me, I remember my friends, near AND far, who get it."

A montage is shown of the other multiversal characters back at their homes;

Mini Sonic (and his Tails) admiring the Rubik's Cube together,

Mr. NM eating a chilli dog while on the move (this time with no villain to interrupt),

EX!Alice working on some new tech with her new Chao companion,

Nitro admiring a photo he took of his friends,

D-Sides Mighty and Hefty looking out over the view of their world,

Black Knight Amy enjoying tea with Merlina,

CU!Sonic and CU!Sonia playing together,

CR!Sonic reuniting with his kids in his Super form,

Nine reminiscing on the community he made in the Blur Gang,

Antho looking out over his home (whilst using anti-gravity shoes to stick to a ledged ceiling),

Ex-Prince Brian doing some writing to pass the time,

Devy preparing his engagement ring for his Vanilla with Smol Devy by his side,

MFF!Sonic hanging with the cured/redeemed Sonath on a beach,

Hog looking out over the city himself with a smile,

and finally Wacky looking back at the closing portal, eager to go back to the adventures again.

"I never thought I'd be able to do any of this stuff. But I can! Anyone can wear the shoes of a hero! YOU could wear those shoes, too. If you didn't know that before, I hope you do now. 'Cause I'm Miles 'Tails' Prower! And I'm not the only hero out there, not by a long shot!"

"And if I need help from any friends I made during my last mission, I can easily go between dimensions now, or it could even work to interact with them more and enjoy time with them as people. It's all at the tip of my fingers."

"For now, though..."

"It's time to go save the world once more!"

And so, Tails leapt forth, fully at peace with himself and truly ready to be the hero his world needed.

At another ledge with OMT!Mina...

"As for me... I've never been able to find the right band... So I started my own!"

She looked forward with the Blur Gang next to her.

"With a few friends I made along the way!"

She looked to the screen as she prepared to take the leap.

"You want in?"

Finally, after one more exciting day, OMT!Tails returned to his school dorm, just as a portal opened with a familiar silhouette on the other side.

MV!Tails: Hey, young me! You got a minute or two?

[smaptain-smerica]

Female Reader x Rooster

Time: Post-Top gun: Maverick

Y/n Blackwood - L/n, daughter of Charlotte "Charlie" Blackwood. Y/n took a strong interest in planes from a young age. Knowing her father was an esteemed pilot drew her even further into the navy. Quickly, she became one of the best solo pilots and graduating at the top of her class at Top Gun.

Her next mission? Return to Top Gun, Face certain death, romantic interests, and finally, her thought-to-be-dead, father.

This book contains strong language and sexual content that may be sensitive readers under the age of 18

This story was originally posted on Wattpad, follow me on there for faster updates. I have published a non-binary version of this story published there for those who do not identify as female or use she/her pronouns. It will follow the exact same story line. Link to Wattpad Account Link to the Non-Binary version

Master list

Whenever You're Ready

I must have read that letter 5 times sitting in front of Maverick. The silence between us was deafening, I could hear everything, but nothing at all. Every time my chair squeaked it made me jump, but the sound of the air conditioner and the footsteps outside were inaudible.

I finally gathered the courage to look at Maverick. He had his head in his hands, making it a point to breath slowly. Finally he looked at me, his eyes meeting mine. We stared at each other, unsure of what to say.

I took the letter and handed it back to Maverick. He looked down at the letter, taking it in his hand and then placing it aside. Then he did something unexpected. Maverick stood up and walked around the table.

Instinctively I stood up too, my heart beating out of my chest with anxiety. Our faces met and I could see the glossiness of his blue eyes. They were red around the edges, clearly despaired.

There was a silent understanding between us, nothing more had to be said we both just knew. He took his arms and wrapped me in them. I reciprocated, hiding my head into his chest as I let out a shaky sigh. All the emotion left my mind and my body all at once the moment I was engulfed in his arms. It felt weird, after one letter, someone who was a total stranger to me now made me feel safe, comforted, and loved.

Tears were inevitable. I could feel myself shake as I breathed and Maverick's grip only tightened around me. It was hard reading that letter. I heard my mothers voice while reading it. I had no idea she felt that way about Pete. She always told me they were old friends who had a falling out. Her life was moving too fast for him to keep up so she never reached out.

We pulled apart from the hug and Maverick left his hands on my shoulders. We stared at each other, me still not knowing what to say. "Wow." Pete sniffled his nose, letting out an astonished laugh. "Um, come over for dinner. I'll make dinner and- and we will talk."

I nodded, a small smile curling up onto my lips. "Okay."

Maverick smiled, moving his hands to either side of my face. I could see his eyes moving around every inch of my face. He let out a breath of relief along with the smile. I couldn't help but smile back. The realization he had on his face, the relief.

"Now I know how you got so good at flying." Pete commented. We both shared a laugh, our red faces and teary eyes bright again with new found joy.

"It's the Pete Mitchell blood." I winked at him with a playful nudge.

"That just means I can push you as hard I want, huh?" He joked back at me. "Oh please don't." I groaned.

Maverick pushed me towards the door despite my complaints. "You better be ready for tomorrow then. Here is the address." He quickly grabbed a sticker note from his desk and scribbled it on there. " I need to talk to the Admiral about this, there's probably a mile long list of paperwork."

I nodded in understanding, reaching for the door knob and opening the door gently. "I'll see you tonight." Pete called at me, a weak smile. I nodded, stepping outside the door and shutting it behind me. I leaned back against the door and let out a long breath that I hadn't realized that I was holding.

Tears brimmed my eyes as I let out another shaken breath. I wiped my eyes and sniffled loudly to clear my airways.

"Y/n." The voice caused me to roll my eyes. I looked to my left and saw Bradley standing there. He looked awkward, like he didn't know what to do or how to approach me. I could see the guilt in his eyes as he looked at me.

"Why did you think I would lie to you? Lie about getting into the program and to this mission? I worked hard, I worked my ass off to get where I am today, as good as I am today. I did it by myself. Why was that so hard to believe?" I was angry, anger boiling up from deep within me as I took a few steps closer to Rooster. There was about three feet of space between us now. He simply stood there, shocked as I came closer to him.

"You had to much to say before why are you silent now?" I demanded.

"Because I was scared, okay?" Rooster finally snapped back at me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise at the sudden raise in his voice.

"I was scared, because I recognized your name on the roster for this mission. And I was scared that I would lose Pete to you." We shared a moment of silence, nothing but our angered breaths filling the air. Rooster took a long breath through his nose then out through his mouth.

"My dad was best friends with Pete. They flew in the navy together then at Top Gun together. Then he died. He died when I was 4 and I resented Maverick for pulling my papers from the navy and killing my dad up until last year. Now, I go over to his house for dinner, I'm friends with His girlfriends daughter and I pick her up from school because her friends think she is cool when I do. I was scared that was going to get taken away from me and I would have nothing, again. I was holding a grudge against you and that wasn't fair."

"Bradley."

Our attention turned to behind us, where Maverick stood in the doorway of his temporary office.

"Oh fuck." Bradley hissed under his breath, grabbing his hair with his hands. He brushed past me, walking towards Maverick and then into the office, the door closing forcefully behind them. I closed my eyes and sighed, shaking my head.

"What is happening to me?" I question the universe, making my way towards my room to change and shower, hopefully clearing my head about this whole situation.

~~~

I was nervous, beyond nervous to go to Mavericks house. I would have been nervous before but now knowing he was my father? Let's just say my hands were sweating. I rounded the corner, and pulled up to the house with the corresponding number from the note Maverick gave me.

I noticed, an all too familiar vehicle parked in the driveway. I pulled up right behind it, my heart beating faster in my chest. Bradley's Bronco. What was he doing here?

I put my head down on my own steering wheel, closing my eyes tightly as I calmed myself down. "You can do this." I encouraged myself.

I stepped out of my car, shutting the door and then walking around to the passenger side door. I struggled with what to bring. Was it complimentary to bring the host a gift? I thought, maybe i should bring some food. I can't cook anything I'm living on the air base. I thought about wine; but do I bring red or white? Maybe liquor to make some cocktails; what if he was allergic to whiskey for some reason? Truth be told, I didn't know Pete at all. What I did know, is he would drink beer.

I picked up my 6 pack of Budweiser bottles from the passenger seat and stood upright, straightening out my dress. I don't get to go out that often, wearing the dress made me feel pretty, special even. Although, I was worried I was overdressed. Would I be judged for my choice in outfit?

I walked up to the door and raised my hand to knock. Something stopped me, I retracted my hand as I could hear my heartbeat inside of my head.

I gathered the courage to knock finally, holding my breath as I went to connect my knuckles with the door. The door opened before my fist even reached the wood, catching me by surprise. I retracted my hand and was face to face with Pete. Our eyes met, staring wide at each other. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a deep blue button up top. The top few buttons were undone where I could see the white undershirt he was wearing. A red kitchen towel was throw over his shoulder.

"Y/n, hi. You look-" he looked me up and down, a soft and sad smile on his face. "You look just like your mother."

I felt a blush run over my face as I looked down, forgetting the drinks in my hand. I lifted it up to put in our eye levels. "Beer. I didn't know if I needed to bring anything or not, I settled on beer." I was suddenly awkward, not knowing what to say in this moment.

Pete grabbed the beer from me and chuckled a little bit. "Hey, I'll never turn that down."

I looked behind me back at the Blue Bronco parked by the street. "Hey, Um, is Rooster here?" I questioned, turning back around to face Pete. He sighed a little with a smile. "Yes. I know that we just met and... figured out the truth. But Bradley is part of my family. Along with my girlfriend and her daughter. I thought that we could eat dinner together. Then after that we can talk, and maybe you and Bradley can talk and get back on each other's good sides."

As if my anxiety couldn't be any higher right now, it somehow heightened. Pete opened the door, allowing me to walk in first. "Hey penny!" Pete called into the house.

"Yeah Pete?" A female voice called and walked out from the kitchen area. Her eyes fell on me and she smiled widely. It was the same woman from behind the bar on the first day that I got here. I gave her a weak smile and a wave.

"Hi, I'm y/n." I held out my hand to shake to hers. She ignored my handshake, pulling me into a hug. "It's so nice to meet you. Pete was so nervous, he wanted everything to be perfect tonight. I hope you don't mind him telling me about you."

"Penny..." Pete groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well I guess it's too late to care now." I laughed, giving her a small squeeze before pulling away from the hug from her. I looked behind her and saw Pete walking to the back door and sliding it open.

"Amelia, Bradley!" Seconds later a younger teenager came running into the house with excitement. "Is she here?" The girl asked, looking around the house before laying eyes on me. She smiled, waving at me.

"Hi, I'm Amelia." "Y/n."

Bradley came into the house wearing a pair of khaki shorts and his usual 'Beach boy' look. He let out a huffy laugh and took his sunglasses off as he entered the house. "Amelia you're so..." his voice trailed off as he laid eyes on me.

His face fell to surprise, eyebrows raised and mouth gaped open ever so slightly. Amelia elbowed him in the gut, causing him to let out his breath and draw his focus away from me. Amelia giggled loudly as she whispered something to him.

"Please, everyone take a seat." Penny encouraged.

The dinner went good. We had mashed potatoes, rolls, corn, and some deliciously seasoned fillets. Maverick sat at the head of the table with me to his left and Bradley to his right, straight across from me. Amelia sat next to Bradley and Penny on the other side of me. We made small talk, telling stories about basic training and the years of flight school.

I was helping Amelia and Penny clean up the table and bring some of the dishes into the kitchen. I was putting the left over food into Tupperware when Amelia came to my side, a large smile on her face.

"He likes you." She hummed in a sing-song voice. I twisted my face into confusion and tilted my head at her. "Who are you talking about?"

"Bradley!" She whisper shouted. "Amelia that's enough." Penny warned, holding a serving spoon in her hand and pointing it towards her.

Amelia motioned for me to come closer to her, which I did. "He kept looking at you at dinner and smiling. And he clearly liked your outfit earlier."

I felt a hot blush cover my face hearing this from a younger girl. I stood up straight, clicking the Tupperware lid onto the container. "Oh, I don't know." I stammered.

"Amelia don't you have homework to go do?" Penny encouraged her daughter, giving me a sly wink. Amelia then went off to her room with an exaggerated sigh.

Thankful to be released from the grasp of a teenager, I walked outside where the two boys were talking by the fire pit. Their attention turned towards me as I made myself present. I took a beer out of the cardboard case and popped the cap off.

Bradley excused himself inside and went to the kitchen to help Penny. I sighed, taking a seat in front of the fire and taking a long drink of the beer. I heard Pete sit down with a grunt as he leaned back in the outdoor chair. "This has been a weird day for both of us."

"Boy I'd say." I huffed out in a laugh as I stared at the fire and kept on drinking slowly.

"I know it's a lot to process. We haven't even had the chance yet to get to know one another. The only thing I know about you is you're a fantastic pilot. It almost feels unfair to shove two strangers together and call them family."

I stayed silent, unsure of what to say. What do you say in this situation? I looked over at Pete, his stoic face illuminated by the warm amber glows of the fire.

"I can't imagine how you must feel. Being lied too your whole life and not being able to confront the person for the lie. It's going to take time to adjust to but, whenever you are ready, I want to be there for you. I want to be a part of your life. I already missed so much, I don't want to miss a second more."

He finally looked over at me, a kind smile pulling on his lips. I returned the smile and nodded to him. "Thank you. I appreciate it."

He returned the nod and then took a drink of his beer. "You know I always wanted kids. I wanted to watch my son grow up and love planes and flying as much as I did. After your mom left, I never connected with anybody until Penny came back into my life. By then it was too late for either of us. I never thought it would happen. And here you are. You took after me, the love for flying and chasing adrenaline. Better than any son anybody could have asked for."

Pete held out his hand to me which I gratefully took in my hand. He gave me a comforting squeeze, rubbing his thumb along the top of my knuckles.

"Of course if you had said you wanted to join the navy I would have tried everything to stop you." We both let out laughs at his statement, I shook my head back and forth.

"Well I guess it's a good thing you weren't around then." I made a playful jab at Pete, seeing how he would hold up with the non-present father humor.

"Oo ouch!" He sarcastically said, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze to show he didn't actually mean it.

From there we talked for hours about our favorite things. Foods, animals, colors, movies, anything and everything under the sun we shared. Eventually Bradley and Penny came back out to join us and we all shared in a few good laughs. I could feel the warmth inside of me. And no, it was not coming from the fire. It was joy, I felt so happy in that moment just talking with these people. My actual family and my Navy family merging into one. It was almost serendipitous.

Midnight came around, as Bradley pointed out. We needed to be off to bed before wake up the next morning at the base. I said my goodbyes to Penny and Pete. Amelia made a point to remind me of what she thinks was happening between me and Bradley before I left.

The front door closed, leaving Bradley and I awkwardly on the front porch. "That went better than I expected." I huffed, meaning for it to be mostly under my breath.

We walked down the pathway together and back to the street where our cars were parked. He walked me to my driver side door, opening it for me as I stepped inside.

"You didn't have to do that." I challenged him as he shut the car door.

"Yes, I did." Bradley leaned down into the rolled down window, putting his arms folded on the window sill. The smell of his cologne wafted into my nose and I savored it for a brief moment.

"Goodnight y/n. Drive safe."

"You too, Bradley."

With that, the smell was gone as he walked to his car and got in. I started the engine on mine and drove off back towards the naval base.

Next Chapter

[womanofwords]

Brown and Parker Decorating

Hobie squinted at the sheets of stickers in Mayday’s chubby hands. “What the hell are these?” he asked her dad.

Peter B. Parker made a face and jerked his head towards the infant girl. “Watch your language in front of my daughter!” he hissed.

Hobie kissed his teeth. “You do know that in my dimension, I lead riots against the police for fun? And I did tell you I wasn’t a role model. Now, what are those?”

“Those are fun stickers for children. Mayday really likes the glittery princess ones,” Peter said. A unicorn sticker was stuck to her forehead, and Mayday just laughed. Hobie shook his head.

“These stickers are part of a clever ploy by bourgeoisie capitalists to placate the masses and imprison them in restrictive gender norms,” he declared. Peter yawned.

“If you rein in the language, I’ll let you put them anywhere you want,” he said. Hobie looked at the stickers, looked at Mayday, looked at the man with the pink dressing gown sprawled on a sofa, and had an idea.

He waited until loud snores were coming from the dad, and he quietly stole away with Mayday. He had an establishment to mess with.

“Now, my little anarchist, this room is pristine and government property. What would you like to vandalize first?” Hobie asked. Mayday’s arms stretched out wide, and Hobie let out an appreciative whistle. “Everythin’? All right, guv’nor.”

They were halfway through pasting unicorn stickers onto the buttons when Miles, Gwen and Pavitr walked in.

“What are you doing and why do you have Mayday?” Pavitr asked.

“What are you doing here?” Hobie asked them.

“We asked you first. And we don’t have to tell you anything,” Gwen said, her arms folded.

“We’re looking for Pavitr’s missing bracelet,” Miles said. Gwen facepalmed.

Hobie looked at Pavitr’s wrists. One was missing a bracelet, so the story checked out. “Cool. I’m giving Mayday her first taste of anarchy by sticking these all over O’Hara’s shop,” Hobie said. “Gives it a bit of colour. And she just likes sticking them on places.”

Miles grinned. “I have some paints in my room in my dimension. I can help.”

“Yes! My guy, Miles! You do that!” Hobie grinned and threw up a peace sign.

Gwen grabbed Miles and dragged him away to the portal. Pavitr watched them, smiling happily. “They would go so well together, wouldn’t they?” he said to Hobie.

“Yeah, they would. Little rulebreakers, both of them.”

When Miguel walked into the room where it happened, he stopped dead in his tracks. It had been vandalized.

Glittery stickers all over his workstation, obscuring the labels on all the buttons with images of unicorns, fairies and rainbows. No consistency at all. The wall was graffitied with the silhouette of a very small figure. The words “The Future” were in large bubble writing above the silhouette’s head. The letters were a variety of colours in no particular order: blue, pink, silver, white, black, red, and gold.

“WHO DID THIS?!” he screamed. Meanwhile, Hobie, Miles, Gwen and Pavitr were walking around with Mayday and trying to hide the cans of spray paint.

“You did such a good job staying still, May-May,” Miles cooed.

“We should get away soon before Miguel finds out,” Gwen said.

“That won’t happen for a while,” Pavitr said.

“HOBIE!” Miguel screamed.

“We should run,” Hobie said.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

“Hey, how did you get back so fast? Does she need to be changed or something?” Peter asked.

“She . . . really wants her daddy, is all,” Miles said, everyone smiling. Mayday cooed and reached out for her dad, and Peter melted.

“Come here, little May,” he cooed. Miles, Gwen and Pavitr covertly sidestepped out.

“She’s going to grow up to be amazing,” Hobie said, looking down at May with a smile. “See ya, man.” He opened up a portal and fell backwards through it. Mayday giggled and pointed at it.

“Hobie’s nice, isn’t he?” Peter said. Mayday mimicked Miles’ spray can, tracing a person in the air. “What were you doing when I was asleep?”

Mayday simply smiled.

@spicy-apple-pie, I heard through the Tumblr grapevine that you wanted a fic of Hobie, Pavitr, Gwen and Miles babysitting Mayday, so I found this. Not sure if it’s specific enough for whatever you had in mind, but here you go. Somebody listened.

[cloudcountry]

Heya auburn :3 wanted to share a bit of a wild danganronpa related story bc holy SHIT

(This is a mutual of yours I’m just going anon bc it was a public discord server and idk where any of those people are atm, I mainly wanted to get this off my chest

(It ended with me and a few other discord users on the black list of a danganronpa roleplay server).

Basically this danganronpa discord server had a black list a mile long, which is, in theory, well and good but…what was on the list…?

- strict parents

- running water

- the name “bryce”

- stickers

- bandages

- death

- blood

- cults

- I’m pretty sure Angie yonaga and teruteru were on the list

- school

- bandages

- car accidents

Essentially, if you can name it, it was on the list. And it like….you had to censor the triggering part of your message, and also warn about the trigger, and I think also you had to censor the warning about the trigger???

Now I completely understand wanting to make sure people aren’t triggered don’t get me wrong. I completely understand and realize that it can be a very good thing. But with my experience in the server, it was….not.

See, I need to give a bit of context. I had an original character from a fan game my friend and I have been working on since 7th grade when he introduced me to danganronpa. I’m leaving her name and talent out bc I wanna talk about her a bit more but anyway! At the time, strict parents and school weren’t on the trigger list, so in her backstory (bc it is royally messed up), I simply put that “her parents were strict and forced her to study extremely hard.”

Long story short, I was soon no longer allowed to roleplay as my character because….she was too triggering and I was scaring potential members.

I wasn’t allowed to edit her in order to make her work, and I tried a new character but I was careful and censored her entire backstory just in case…and that led to the character being rejected and me not being allowed to edit the backstory in order to work

It was a very creatively stifling place to be in, so I eventually decided to leave, I left a note in the general chat, caused chaos, and then my username was on the blacklist. A few other people had a similar thing happen to them, as well.

And then I made a new server without any sort of limitations whatsoever and it ended up with a really wild plot- one cult, two students auctioned on the black market for their organs (one was sold for like I think 25 million yen and like ten people, Junko made that bid I remember), and also like. More than one cannibal

THEY CENSORED MY HUBBY??? MY POOKIE??? THE MAN WHO WOULD COOK ME DINNER EVERY NIGHT??? MY SWEET COUNTRY BUMPKIN??? MY PUMPKIN PIE??? MY CINNAMON APPLE??? MY LOVE MY LIGHT MY STARS???

anyways.

guys do you understand how astronomically down bad i was for teruteru like yes baby i'll be your wife in a heartbeat

ANYWAYS.

...woah holy shit anon after reading past the mention of my shnookums i am shocked but also not shocked at all...that's very quotev culture and i'm not surprised you ran into that in the dgr fandom :((( im sorry my beloved mutual i hope you can express your creativity freely now <3

[brokenmusicboxwolfe]

I’ve been busy today.

I moved not one but two bookcases, requiring two trips with the pickup. One bookcase was so dang heavy I wasn’t sure I’d manage. When I got there I discovered that I had scratched the wood pretty seriously, AND that the part that had been in the “wet” corner of my bedroom** has a wee bit of mold to deal with.

Then I ran out of gas with the pickup. I was afraid of this. Since I have to pay a bill for $100 this coming week and buy another $100 worth of medicine for the dogs, I can’t buy gas for it. The pickup will now have to stay parked until next month, when (fingers crossed) I can at least afford a 1/4 tank worth. I mean, I have $5 right now, so….

I went to vote. I always vote. I have to. It’s my duty, even when it feels like screaming in a tornado. I hate it.

Now you are going to say “Why didn’t you early vote or do mail in?” Well, the early voting place is 10 miles away and not near where .i do my errands every two weeks. I’d have to burn extra gas. And as for mail in, well now that my state does photo ID you need to send a copy of it when you vote. My printer is broken, and the only way I can print anything is to beg folks to be kind and let me use their printer. I hate over begging.

Speaking of photo IDs…ugh!. Besides the obvious reasons to hate it for making voting harder, I hate it for more petty reasons. My driver’s license photo actually made me cry when I saw it the first time. I keep it in my wallet backwards so I don’t have to see it. And it’s just one more damn step, particularly in a rural place where when I walk in people say “Hi Stephanie”.

Not that I am keen on the “Hi Stephanie” thing. People ask me questions I hate answering. They do ask about Mom, of course, which is always nice when I can tell her someone asked about her, but I wince as any question about me. There is no question that can’t remind me what a disaster my life is. The thing is, they probably don’t really care and are asking because it’s a “thing you do”. I agonize, start to answer, and if I go one sentence too long they don’t exactly hide their disinterest. And then that hurts too.

At least here there are no lines at all. There were four workers and three of us voting.

Man, voting in local races sucks in rural place like this! You know that your vote matters a hell of a lot in a race like county commissioner, but where can you get the info of the candidates? Maybe if I could afford to subscribe to a local paper, but I can’t. And most these candidates don’t even have a damn Facebook page! The ones with no track record as incumbents to Google up, are the worst. The only one that had social media that I could find was involved in a nasty tiff with someone hassling them in bad faith, which, I mean, seeing how they deal with a troll is informative, but WTF about issues?

Anyway, I kept up my “be responsible” track record and voted. And Woo-Hoo! They are giving stickers again! I can finally go back to sticking them in my journal!

Yeah, getting excited by an unimaginatively designed “I voted” sticker is silly and childish, but what the hell. Got take pleasure in dumb things, because pleasure is hard to come by and most things are dumb!!

Now to get back to those bookshelves….

**Next to the leak from the pipe coming out of the well that I STILL can’t get fixed!

[darkspine10]

GF Fanfic - Keeping it in the Family

Dipper and Mabel Vs. The Past (11,054 words) by darkspine10

Chapters: 2/9

Fandom:Gravity Falls

Rating: Teen and Up

Dipper woke up to the sound of rain pattering down on the roof. It was a rare enough occurrence in California and he was over-observant enough that he always picked up on the repetitive sound echoing in his old bedroom. He fumbled around in bed, finding it empty. His clock said it was around noon. Pacifica had let him sleep in; no surprise given his mammoth road trip the day before.

He rubbed his eyelids, wishing his slumber had been more relaxed. He’d been plagued with dreams retelling past times he’d quarrelled with his parents. It hadn’t happened much - his parents weren’t the strictest, and with two excitable and curious kids they favoured a light touch. The few times they had got angry with the twins stuck in Dipper’s mind like creatures frozen in amber.

Whenever something went wrong the twins would close ranks, confiding only in each other and defending themselves against the world. They had their falling outs, as any brother or sister would, but when united nothing could come between them.

It had been the case on that disastrous picture day at school, when Mrs Pines had been shocked to find both her children with messily shaved heads. Asking why Dipper hadn’t simply given Mabel his hat to cover up the conspicuous gum, he seemed confused, and said that he’d rather that they be on the same level, without either one feeling any kind of shame. They’d embraced what made them stand out instead of suppressing it.

The same thing happened a few years later, when Mabel had done the reckless teen thing of getting tattoos inked all up her arms as part of a short-lived goth phase. Their parents berated her for an hour, criticising the choice relentlessly. They were shocked she’d gone behind their back to do something so permanent. She hadn’t even thought they’d be mad about it. And when they pressed Dipper for what he thought about the situation all he said was that if she was happier with the tattoos then she should be allowed to live with her choice. There was no idea of discussing it with him, only full support of his sister no matter what.

That was the usual pattern, one of them would do something that seemed perfectly acceptable to them, only to be confronted with confusion from their parents. This faded as they grew older and more understanding of the way the world worked, but Dipper knew it was only a matter of time until he faced something similar again. Stepping out of bed, he skimmed through Journal 9, filled with sketches of monsters and calculations that could tear holes in reality. He didn’t have the first clue where to start with explaining it all to Mom and Dad.

Sighing, he put the book back with its siblings in the crate. Better to treat his parents like normal and chat with them about family and the holidays, then he could ease into the heavy stuff. Before heading downstairs Dipper was briefly distracted by another set of books, those few remaining on the shelf in his bedroom. He’d shipped most of the books he wanted to keep to his own home a few years ago. The ones that his parents hadn’t donated or got rid of over the years had gathered a thick layer of dust.

He laid a finger on the spine of one of the books and slid it out enough to see the cover. It was a kid’s book about space, with pictures of yellow five-pointed stars and silver rocket ships zooming across a night sky. With the starry background it wasn’t a million miles away from his current journal cover design, with the sigil of the Big Dipper that Mabel had designed for him. The book still held a small sheet of stickers of aliens poking out of the top. His parents had bought the book when he was 6, before they’d realised Mabel would most appreciate the stickers. They’d probably never have imagined books like these could spark a lifelong obsession with otherworldly exploration, nor comprehend the lengths Dipper had actually travelled across space.

He slid the book back onto the shelf. There were a lot of mementos in the house and he hoped they wouldn’t all make him feel so morose. He plodded out of his room, eager for company and to start the day properly. In the kitchen he found his mother, Pacifica, and Zera, sitting around the table drinking mugs of hot cocoa. Dipper brushed aside a miniature Christmas tree in a flowerpot to make space for him to sit down and be seen.

His mother smiled and put down the newspaper she’d been reading. “Good morning Mason, did you sleep well?” He took a second to process the use of his real name. It had been a long time since he’d been called ‘Mason’ by anyone other than Pacifica or casual strangers in professional settings. Most everyone else knew him as Dipper.

“I’m good Mom, well rested,” he lied, enviously wishing for a hot drink to wake himself up.

“We were just talking about places to go out when the weather’s better,” Pacifica said. “You and your folks can take Mabel and Merrise out to some museum or the bay or something.”

“Are you two not coming along?” Dipper said, raising an eyebrow at Zera. She hid behind her cocoa and sipped noisily.

Pacifica slid her chair back and signalled for Zera to follow her out. “Zera and I think that you and Mabel deserve some time together to reconnect as a family. Merrise can get to know her grandparents better without me or Zera getting in the way. I can take Wendy too if that makes it easier.”

“Thanks,” he said, mulling over the idea. He couldn’t tell if Pacifica was trying to help, by nudging him to face his parents more directly, or simply wanted to get out of the firing line when things inevitably hit the fan. The two of them left him alone with Mom, who was back to quietly reading the paper. He peered over and saw nothing interesting. Sports news, weather reports, local events. Compared to the Gravity Falls Gossiper it was bereft of anything unique or bizarre. It reminded him of his teen years, pining for adventure and the summers up north. He must have scoured every column inch printed in California hoping for leads.

“Can I talk to you, Mason?” Mom asked, breaking the silence.

“What about?”

“It’s Merrise.” She gave a smile that tugged the edges of her mouth but didn’t quite reach her eyes. “She’s a lovely girl, very curious about… well, everything. How I made my morning coffee, the way I tend the garden, where we get our water and electricity from.”

“That’s good. It shows she wants to get to know you. Trust me, if she wants to stick her nose into anything she’ll do it. Sometimes it’s hard encouraging her not to want to know every last detail of every person we pass on the street,” he said, chuckling.

“Yes, very bright,” Mom said. Her smile faded. “Although… “ Dipper waited to see what his mother could have picked up since last night. Merrise’s history wasn’t that obvious, was it? “I wanted to do the festive crossword with her, I thought she’d find it fun. She seemed to struggle spelling even the simplest of words. May I ask, is she perhaps special needs?”

“Not exactly. More like… uh, neglected home.” Dipper scratched his neck and flailed around for an acceptable answer that didn’t include the words ‘planetary war’, ‘orphaned in a bombing raid’ or ‘survived as a pickpocket on the street’. “Back where Merrise came from there was… always fighting, and she didn’t get much food… well, you get the idea.”

“I won’t pry into her background. I see a lot of kids like that passing through.” His mother rested a hand on his shoulder. “But like I always tell the new teachers we hire, it helps to seek out these educational issues as early as possible to nip them in the bud. It’s lucky that Merrise has sharp cognitive abilities despite her upbringing. You’ve done a good job of making sure she doesn’t fall behind her peers.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Dipper replied, genuinely touched by her praise. It had been a real struggle teaching Merrise the basics she needed to get by at school, a struggle not helped by her complete lack of knowledge of Earth or its customs. Between himself and Pacifica they’d given her a crash course in everything they could, though Merrise still had large gaps that singled her out as a stranger to this world.

“I’m sure you’ve made a world of difference to Merrise,” his mother added.

If you only knew the half of it, he thought. Out loud he said, “You’re still working at the school then?”

“Yeah,” she said idly.

“Ever think about retiring?”

She gave a short laugh. “In this economy? No thank you. It must be hard enough for you and Pacifica to keep afloat, ever since you quit your jobs.”

“I’m still looking for new work,” Dipper pointed out quickly. He’d been rather too preoccupied with raising two girls and hunting mythical creatures to really consider replacing the astronomy job which he’d abandoned a year and a half ago to go gallivanting across the globe. “In the meantime I’ve been sending off my portfolio to local magazines; wildlife photos, landscapes, animals, you know?”

“A stable career wouldn’t be a bad foundation for looking after Merrise and Wendy though. You don’t have to start completely from scratch. What about pursuing something more directly tied to journalism? Editing or publishing or something like that. You always used to like putting videos together.”

“Mom, that was years ago. They were only dumb little projects. I haven’t done anything like that since…” he trailed off. He’d never really thought about all the old hobbies he’d used to have before. Before finding the journal had sent his life in a new direction. Suddenly he hadn’t had time for anything other than research for his journal, writing down accounts of adventures in his journal, solving some mystery that revolved around the journal. For better or worse, the journals and the events they’d led him to had become his entire life. They had subsumed all his other passions, creative or otherwise, into one large endeavour, one he couldn’t share publicly. His video editing projects had become nothing more than an offshoot, recording supernatural encounters before fizzling out once he got more into writing his thoughts down on paper. “I’d better go check on Sixer,” he muttered, excusing himself from the kitchen. It was already hard enough thinking of ways to justify this to Mom, let alone making sense of things for himself.

Zera and Pacifica had moved into the sitting room and were reading a local guidebook, searching for somewhere to send the family for a bonding experience. Wendy was sitting between them, gurgling and clinging to Pacifica’s arm. Dipper acknowledged them with a wink and left them to the task. His father and Merrise were also here, heads down over a game board. While Mr Pines did the busywork of wrapping presents, Merrise was intently studying a grid in front of her.

“D6” she abruptly stated.

Mr Pines checked the board then cursed. “Ah, another hit. You’re too good at this, kiddo.” He placed a peg on the board and looked up at Dipper. “She’s a real wizard when it comes to Battleships. E6.”

“Miss,” Merrise said, wickedly grinning and planning her next assault.

“Only Battleships?” Dipper said, crossing his arms. “Sixer, you’ve gotta up your game.”

“I tried,” she whined. “I didn’t get any of the other games.”

“I played a few rounds of Uno and showed her how Poker works but she didn’t have a head for matching the numbers.” Mr Pines shook his head. “Snakes and Ladders is too simple for the younger generations apparently.”

Merrise smugly smirked. “It took me a little while, but I think I know why this one is so fun. It’s a war game, all about anticipating where the enemy is and blasting them before they blast you! A1.” Mr Pines threw down his peg and Merrise cheered another victory.

“Uh huh,” Dipper mumbled sotto voce. “War strategy, totally natural for a ten year old to be interested in. You should play Risk, Merrise” he said louder. “You’d probably love that one.”

“Maybe if she’s good then Santa will bring it for her,” his Dad said with a cheeky grin.

Merrise cocked her head. “What’s Santa?” Mr Pines was visibly disappointed and turned to Dipper.

“Oh, sorry Dad, Paz and I haven’t really bothered with the whole Santa Claus stuff.”

Across the room Pacifica shrugged. “It’s been a pretty hectic last few months, what with the adoption and pregnancy. Mabel will probably say something about us neglecting the traditions. Then she’ll try to teach Merrise about Hanukkah and the Solstice and every last Winter festival under the sun.”

“Speaking of, where is May?” Dipper asked.

“In the garage,” Mr Pines said, “I sent her to look for some old Christmas lights and tinsel. It was feeling a little spartan in here and I wanted to raise the excitement levels.”

“We’ll go see if she’s found it!” Merrise said, abandoning the blasted remains of her grandfather’s fleet to sprint off.

“You know what, let’s make it a quest,” Dipper said, scooping Wendy off the couch. She gabbled some baby talk and laughed in his arm. “You two can help me find your aunt.” Merrise grinned and ran out into the hallway “Getting colder,” Dipper said with a sly grin as she spun around and hurtled off to the opposite side of the house.

When Merrise opened the door to the garage she raised her hands to cover her eyes. Bright light spilled out and Dipper squinted inside. Hovering in the air was a glowing orb of purple energy, illuminating the garage. Hunched over a metal table, Mabel was going about her business completely blasé.

“Mabel!” Dipper shouted.

“Oops, oh my god, sorry! Nullus!” Panicked, she flicked her fingers and the offending light flowed into her fingertips and plunged the room into darkness. “The bulb was busted and I thought-”

“Yeah. You thought no-one would wander in here. You’ve gotta be careful, damnit! Flaunting your magic is not understated! What if Mom and Dad had blundered in?” Wendy began bawling, confused by all the yelling. Dipper hissed a whisper. “Remember how many close calls we had just like this one?”

“Alright, I messed up, whatever. Here.” Mabel gingerly stepped across the garage to a workbench piled with old junk. “I found some Christmas lights that still work.” The lights were in a twisted up tangle, but Mabel didn't seem to care. Flicking a switch, she illuminated the garage with a dim red and green ambience. “Ta da.”

“Thanks,” Dipper sighed, not pressing his point any further. Mabel’s red cheeks told him she’d got the message. He gently shook Wendy, trying to calm her down.

“Give her here,” Mabel said, taking the whining infant into a rocking motion. “It’s ok little goober, Aunty Mabel’s being a dumb dumb, that’s all.”

Merrise gingerly stepped up to the workbench and peered over its contents. “What is all this stuff?” While Dipper took deep breaths to compose himself, Merrise picked up a large leather-bound album. “Another journal?”

“Not quite,” Mabel said, having succeeded in pacifying Wendy.

Merrise flipped over the cover and found inside dozens of old photographs neatly packed into plastic sleeves. “It’s you guys!” she exclaimed. “You’re so tiny!” She pointed at a faded image of the twins from before they’d even started elementary school. They were wearing matching cat costumes. Laughing, she studied a more recent photo. Mabel, with a severe undercut and wearing nothing but black, was holding the camera in one hand and a red plastic cup in the other while madly grinning. In the background, sitting on the floor, Dipper was smiling and waving while reading his journal. A patchy beard covered his chin.

“A house party, with some high school friends,” Dipper explained. “That was back when I was on my first journal. Where’d you dig this up from?” he asked his sister, his anger fading as a new curiosity occupied him.

“There were a couple of cardboard boxes with ornaments and junk - plus so many old computer parts, you wouldn’t believe! - but a few at the back had some actual cool stuff. Here, look what else I found.” She handed Wendy back then dived into a dark recess of the garage, contorting to fit behind the cupboards. Dipper was taken aback when she waved a large bronze menorah in his face. It was weathered with rust and dirt but he still eagerly took it.

“Is this from Grandpa Sherman’s stash? Man, that’s a flashback and a half. Do we still have any of that old incense?”

“There’s a few mouldy candles; still smell just like they did when we were really little kids.”

“Wow, that must have been 25 years ago or more. We only did four or five Hanukkahs before Sherman moved away.”

“What’s a Hanukkah?” Merrise asked, her attention still on flipping through the photo album. “Is it like a Santa?”

“It’s Jewish festival tradition - we’re Jewish, or at least part of the family is. Mabel and I don’t really celebrate it much specifically.”

Mabel stuck her head down into the box, rummaging for more goodies. “I always associated Hanukkah with old relatives gossiping in Yiddish. That really takes me back. We should spruce some of this stuff up, you know, experience a little cultural heritage.”

“That would be cool!” Merrise said, brushing a finger though the dust on the old metal menorah.

“It would be nice, yeah,” Dipper said. “This thing’s a real hand-me-down. I’m pretty sure it used to belong to our Great-Grandparents, Caryn and Filbrick. They brought it from Europe when they emigrated.”

“Refugees like me, huh?” Merrise said with a smile. “On Tengosa we never had any seasons, so no special holidays. Except one time my mother threw a party with some of the locals in our tower block for some reason. I was really little so I don’t know what it was about, only that they all drank lots of wine, brewed all the way in the outlands! Dad let me have one sip and it tasted so sweet I felt like I would never get to sleep again!”

“Well, I hope this year we can give you some new family traditions to carry forward,” Dipper said, patting her on the shoulder. On the table beside the album Mabel’s phone buzzed and lit up with a new message. Dipper’s innate nosiness made him bend over to peek, and he saw the text was from their old friend Grenda. He only had a split second to read that it said ‘due to arrive next week’ before Mabel snatched the phone away.

“Don’t look, that’s private!” Mabel blurted out. She held her phone inches from her nose and peered at it, the soft glow reflecting in her glasses.

“What are you up to?” Dipper asked with a raised eyebrow and a self-satisfied grin, as if he’d caught her stealing snacks from the fridge at midnight.

“Nothing you need to know about yet.” After dashing off a reply she held the phone against her chest and made a triumphant grin at successfully hiding it.

“Whatever, weirdo.” Dipper shook his head, interest waning. “Just don’t involve me if it’s some festive prank or something.”

“Aw, that’s it?” Merrise had reached the end of the photo album. There were only two photos on this final page, with a scribble from Mabel dating them to 2021. One showed Pacifica and Mabel, adults now, reclining on a beach beside a lake and a forest. She could tell it was one of her father’s photos, he’d framed the pair nicely and they were in sharp focus compared to the landscape. The last photo showed the Pines family living room. Two old men sat asleep beside each other in armchairs, while Mabel stood beside them suppressing a giggle, evidently amused that they’d been unable to stay awake. Merrise recognised the two 70-year olds as Stan and Ford Pines, the twins’ great uncles. Even though she’d never met them they were a huge part of ‘family lore’.

“The last Christmas,” Mabel stated. “Dip and Paz weren’t there that year. Too busy with wedding planning. After that year I didn’t stay long in Piedmont. Flying visits only, without my brother. Stan didn’t make it to the next December. Ford was in no shape either.” Mabel looked away, wiping her face, and Dipper was equally pained by the memories.

“What about your grandpa? Is he still around?” Merrise asked.

“He’s alive if that’s what you mean,” Mabel said, smiling. She’d gone back to digging through the boxes, trying to perk herself up. “Ooh, old man cologne. Stan used the same brand.”

“Sherman retired to some island in Greece,” Dipper said fondly. “Last I heard he was spending his days reclining on a beach. That guy knows how to retire in style. He was the same when Ford came back through the portal, treated both his brothers like idiots for hiding the truth then gave them both massive hugs. Good times.”

“So he knew about the portal?” Merrise raised an eyebrow. “How come he knows but your parents don’t?”

Dipper rubbed his neck. “It was hard to hide it from him. Stan and Ford were his brothers, we couldn’t pull the wool over his eyes that something weird had happened. A family member back from the dead is one thing, impersonating them is another. But Mom and Dad weren’t as close to them, didn’t make as many trips to the Falls. They took what Mabel and I told them at face value.”

“But surely they’d figure out something was going on?”

“It’s not that simple…” Dipper said, trailing off.

Merrise was intent on understanding the whole truth. She wandered over to Mabel since her father remained tight lipped. She’d stopped her searching to listen and sat cross-legged on the bare floor. “You were, what, 12 when you found out about magic being real?”

Mabel nodded. “It was easy for us. We found Journal 3-”

“But you guys are always telling me about how you had to hide your adventures from your parents. If it was so easy for you to stumble upon then how could they miss all that stuff? I mean, I’ve been on Earth for a year now and I’ve seen all sorts of craziness. Firebirds, Mishipeshu, ostriches, you name it!”

Dipper raised a palm. “Now hold on. Firstly, Piedmont’s no Gravity Falls when it comes to weirdness. Half the time we kickstarted our adventures ourselves, summoning creatures or misusing artefacts. Mom and Dad weren’t going to run into anything like that in the street.”

“But you still found plenty of crazy things though. Mom told me, she had all sorts of stories of when she came to stay with you. What about the giant bees or nature spirits?”

“We did find lotsa stuff,” Mabel said, “but only because we knew what we were searching for. When you go looking for trouble it usually finds you. It’s the Streisand Effect.”

“The what? That sounds made up.”

“It’s real! It’s named after an old actress. When you learn about something you start to notice it cropping up all over the place. It’s just an illusion really. Or Dipper has his own theory of Weirdness Magnetism. Because we know about the strange, strangeness finds us more easily. At least that’s his idea.”

“Baader-Meinhof,” he said.

“Gesundheit.”

“No, it’s the Baader-Meinhof effect. What you’re talking about. When you’re aware of something you notice it more often. People think it’s more common all of a sudden when in fact it was always there, you just didn’t see. The Streisand effect is when something becomes more widely known when someone tries to suppress it.”

“Sounds relatable,” Merrise said harshly. “Why don’t we just be honest with Grandma and Grandpa? The more of your lives you keep a secret, the more they’ll want to know what’s going on, right?”

The twins stayed silent, but then Dipper broke into a grin. “That reminds me. Dad and I did run into a Cycloptopus brood one time. He thought they were nothing more than a weird calamari-fish hybrid.”

“He saw it close-up, for real?” Mabel asked.

“Yeah”, Dipper said, smiling to himself. “It was… nice.”

Mabel stood up and placed her hands on her brother’s shoulders. “Dipper. We need to tell them everything. I’m tired of bottling this all up.”

“We can do it,” Merrise said, squeezing his hand.

Even Wendy clung to his chest as if to give support. Dipper looked down at his daughter, equally ignorant of spells and spaceships. He wanted her to grow up with nothing hidden, no veil over a part of himself that she wouldn’t know. Dipper took a deep breath then relaxed. “You’re right. Of course, you’re right. We should rip the band-aid off, march right into the living room and tell them-”

“The rain’s stopped!” Mom thrust the garage door open, smiling. “Marc’s packing a lunch then we can head out.” She noticed the odd closeness between the three of them. Mabel quickly removed her hands from her brother’s shoulders and failed to appear nonchalant by whistling. “Everything ok?”

“Perfect,” Dipper said, affecting a broad grin. “Where are we going?”

“Pacifica found something in her guidebook. Said it jogged a memory. She’ll take Wendy to go for a coffee with Zera. She wants us to have some time to get to know Merrise. Is that ok?”

“Sure,” Merrise said. “As long as these two are up for it.” She threw a knowing glance upwards at Dipper and Mabel, then skipped out of the room.

“You wanted to tell me something?” Mom asked. The twins stared at each other, Mabel daring her brother to crack.

“It’s nothing,” he said, and Mabel deflated. “Although… maybe once we’re all together… there’s something I want to show you… in my journal”

Mom grinned, uncomprehending, and left the garage. Mabel subtly patted him on the arm and went to leave, before forgetting her hoard of discovered Christmas ornaments. She tangled herself up in lights and baubles before shooting Dipper a wink and following her mother out.

His smile wavered. The moment was fast approaching for him to bare his soul. He stood there with Wendy in his arms, paralysed between blurting out the truth and saying nothing at all. “I can do this,” he said, attempting to manifest the words as reality. He looked down at Wendy and smiled. “I can do this for you.”

[monty-glasses-roxy]

💜

Chica and Roxy

💜 (Purple heart) for a dealers choice!

AHAAA MY BEANS!!! The Pupcakes ship! One of my favourites! I'm doing all the options again because I've had them in literally every one of those relationships before so I got plenty to talk about! I'm so sorry mobile users this may end up a long post for you.

Okay so starting with friendship, they would both be surprisingly physically affectionate with each other. Hugs, and linking arms are just the norm for them. They also have the most fun with their animal bases, trying to figure out what each other are saying via barks and clucks. The pair of them have the wildest girl's nights ever. Like, Roxy turned the bumber cars into a hyped up waltzer so the two tried to see how fast they could get it to go before either it couldn't go any faster or they both fell off. Chica likes to try and start prank wars with Roxy but whenever she's been got, Roxy just fucking trumps her with the most over the top mousetrap style contraption ever and the best Chica can retaliate with is drawing a massive dick on the wall of Roxy's room. Like Freddy, Roxy is also pretty big on parallel play as well as every other type of play, so the two also have spent many a night vibing in one of their rooms or Roxy's garage with Roxy playing some sort of game or working on fixing something while Chica talks nonstop for like three hours or practices her guitar or something. They have the occasional playfight but they usually settle their differences with a game of Uno... which yeah, solves the problem technically but it also starts an all out war so really, it's not doing them any favours.

As siblings? Hm okay gonna be honest, I haven't played with that idea as much but it would be much the same as their friendship except with less boundaries. Chica will just randomly burst into Roxy's room out of nowhere and never leave ever again. Roxy's room is Chica's room and Chica's room is Roxy's room. Oh my god don't ever let them play Monopoly. As general family, they can be much sweeter than that though. They vibe and bounce off each other really well and can typically tell when the other one is having a hard time a mile off. They share pretty much everything and will do the odd little thing for each other if the opportunity presents itself, and of course they're ride or die for each other. Chica would kill for Roxy and Roxy would heavily intimidate and maybe throw a few punches for Chica, whatever's necessary.

As romantic partners, the sweetness is amped up but also so is the nonsense. I like to think that Chica, knowing that Roxy loves attention and big grand gestures, tries really hard to ask her out in just as big and flashy a gesture as Roxy typically admires. And on the flip side, if Roxy does try and ask Chica out, she knows that Chica prefers the smaller, more personal ways to ask someone something important like that and thus, tries to ask her out like that. Which means you could easily have Chica get cold feet and back out of asking Roxy out because her idea was big or grand enough for her, and Roxy showing up afterwards with a bowl of love heart sweets that all read 'DATE ME' on them and sits there with her until the penny drops and they're a thing. I may have planned for that to be a thing in a fic but that's neither here or there, it's sugary sweet okay? They were both wrong anyway. Roxy talks about hijacking shows to show someone you love them but she honestly implodes on the spot every single time Chica does something small like drawing a picture for her or replacing the stickers on the windows the staff keep cleaning off so Roxy can see there's a wall there. Chica is the opposite, always talking about the little things but the moment Roxy performs a love song for her, in front of all of their friends, Chica is on cloud nine.

In terms of their chaos amping up? Chica made titty shaped chocolate for her one Valentines and Roxy wrote 'I ♥ Chica' in literal fire. Date night? It's fucking roulette. Are they gonna watch a movie together or are they going to add another six pages to the rule book and break a hole in the wall? Who knows! Not them! It always ends on sweet and soft cuddles though. The amount of physical affection only increased when they got together and now they're practically joined at the hip. They're so in love too! Roxy's tail just wagging constantly when they're together and Chica's eyes going heart shaped whenever she zones out thinking about her... they could be so sweet!

And now the reverse. Oh boy the reverse. Listen, these two? At each other's throats? All the time? The only time they're in the same room with each other is during rehearsals, group photoshoots with kids or when on stage together. Believe me, you do not want to get between these two when they're fighting. A truce?? From these two?? Incredibly rare. They've done it maybe twice ever and only in the most dire of situations. Left unattended, they will rip each other to shreds. Roxy will be pissed off about it for like a month and many of staffbots will die to her over it while Chica will just rant and rave the moment someone mentions Roxy's name in her presence for a while. One of the big things they fight over? Well, their animal bases have very different ways of treating people. Roxy being on the side of 'look out for your pack' and Chica being on the side of 'know your place'. Yeah it doesn't end well very often. Chica comparing her to Foxy and invading Roxy's space on purpose when she knows it stresses her out and makes her mad while Roxy has fun sabotaging the music players in Mazercise to piss her off and getting Mapbot to haunt her for weeks at a time. Getting them to get along is Bonnie's life work and it's not going very well. They were on the same team in Fazerblast once and they currently hold the joint record for most points lost to friendly fire. They both have some S tier roasts though. They can absolutely obliterate each other whenever they get the chance.

They have so much potential!! They could be funny besties or they could be madly in love or chaotic siblings or lifelong enemies! They're very versatile! I love them!

[sicsidsimp666]

MAGGOTS! MAGGOTS! LOOK LOOK! ITS A CARE PACKAGE FROM @dysphorie

Okay so like I am so sorry for this being so late! This came in the mail forever ago! I've just been so busy! BUT MY FRIEND ORDERED @dysphorie 's SLIPKNOT COLORING BOOK! So in the picture above the ONLY thing she paid for was the coloring book BUT LOOK AT ALL THE GOODIES THAT CAME WITH!!!

Here is a picture of just specifically EXTRA ITEMS!!! And hang tight I'm going to go through a review of everything! But I just want to say thank you so much @dysphorie for putting all this effort into her order for my birthday gift! It was already going to be spectacular when she ordered it, but when I actually got it I was blown away by the level of care everything was packaged and the personalization of everything sent!

So obviously the most anticipated item first: the coloring book and colored pencils. WOW THE QUALITY OF THE PAPER IS AMAZING. SO THICK AND DELICIOUS AND CAN TAKE MY SHADING LAYERS FROM MY PRISMAS!!! WE LOVE TO SEE IT!!! Every picture is unique, and there are varying styles in the book that make it so fun and interesting. It never gets dull as you go through the pages. It is also true to it’s name that it is an activity book, there are some draw in your own stuff, and other activity book games with areas to color, too on the same page (because if you are like me, drawing your own things stresses you out so there are other things to do on those pages). Overall you can tell the level of care that @dysphorie put into this true work of art is noticeable to even those who aren’t Slipknot crazed (as proven by my boyfriend who likes the band, but isn’t crazy like me. But he thought the book was just so cool and was envious that I said I am the only person who gets to touch it because I am a perfectionist and I can not WAIT to spend hours on each page). The colored pencils were a very nice touch! I will not be deceitful, I have been an artist for a long time so I have my own colored pencils that I use that are for blending and that I like. HOWEVER THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS INCLUDED FOR FREE THAT DID NOT HAVE TO BE INCLUDED!!! And is great for those who might not have their own preferred colored pencils. Or if you have your own, guess what you got a free pack of colored pencils that you can use some other way!!! 

On to: THE FUCKING EXTRA SID PINS THAT JUST MADE MY HEART MELT. Okay so if you don’t already know Toad loves Sid, and then you put Sid on a little thing that I can touch, wear, and hang up, it very much so pleases the little crow brain Toad has. They are currently hanging up in my room because I am scared to death of it falling off somewhere. So I can just stair at the little rat for hours. JUST TO CLARIFY AGAIN, I DID NOT PAY FOR THE PINS @dysphorie INCLUDED THOSE FOR FREE. And the fact that they were all Sid ones (except one Slipknot band logo one) proves that she knows her people in her fandom and goes the extra mile to send them their favorite of the nine screaming men.  

Next: the stickers!!! We love stickers. Especially FREE stickers. And it gets even better when they are FUN stickers. So I got two very cool Bone Sugar stickers, which if you ever catch Toad in the wild they are on my laptop so then you can know that you have caught Toad in the wild. @dysphorie also gave me a swaggy tooth sticker which I very much like because its a great conversation piece and very much so a work of art. AND TWO FREE JIM STICKERS UNBELIVABLE. JUST ABSOLUTLY TOO GOOD TO BELEIVE! But none the less, they are there. One in color, that is so pretty, a soft fluffy Jimbo. And another a black and white sticker of the print she sent me, which is the next item. 

FREE JIM PRINT AND VERY COOL COFFIN PRINT OF ORIGINAL ART: Okay so this was just the cherry on top of this birthday order, because this is art. That was given to me for free. Many of us have forgotten the value that art holds with modern society, and I am not going to yell at those who have forgotten it, but I am going to ask that they take an opportunity to consider that someone in the world had to spend time to create it. With nothing promised, they carved out of their timeline precious hours that they are not going to get back. As we all know, everyone dies, everyone has a time limit so to speak, so the fact that someone created something for others to enjoy by giving up something that not even money can buy makes it art. And that is what makes art something so profound from so many angles. So I want to say thank you personally @dysphorie for letting me have the pleasure of enjoying art that you created with minutes of your own life. Both prints are very high quality paper, and are stiff so they came to me in great condition. They are also now both hanging up on my walls next to the Slipknot stickers and album picture from the We Are Not Your Kind vinyl. Very much so completes the look. 

The final thing, but certainly not the least THE FREE FUCKING GOOGLY EYES: Oh holy fuck how this breathed life back into me. It is something small. It is something that most people would ask why? But for Toad I said, “holy fuck I want to put these on my boyfriend’s nipples.” And I did. and then we died for laughter. So much joy from such a tiny item. So 10/10. 

Overall this was way more than I expected to get, and I can not express enough how much I love it and how much joy it brought me. I would highly, highly, recommend buying from @dysphorie. This is not the first time I have purchased something from her, and just like the last times, I am so happy that I did! 

[out-and-aboot-eh]

Day 13 - Tofino to Victoria

It wasn’t the best start to the day when I discovered there had been a suncream explosion in one of my bags, but after a quick clean up and some eggy bread coated in maple syrup (sorry heart) I was back on track. We had a fair amount of miles to cover before we reached Victoria, so off we went making a few stops along the way, but nothing major of note. Other than to ‘Old Town Bakery’ where I got a sarny for lunch and G opted for a cinnamon bun the size of her head. She did share a bit of it with me, but it was so tasty I have no doubt she could have forced it down on her own! We also went to a visitor centre and by the time we realised there was a more interesting discovery centre across the road it was almost time to go! Google Maps informed us there was a bit of traffic on our route, so we wouldn’t be getting to Victoria as early as planned.

But before we could head to Victoria, we had to go pitch up our tents. I didn’t catch the official name but I’d hazard a guess at Redneck Camp Site. Some of our party weren’t all that impressed with the facilities, but as a novice camper I was happy for somewhere to crash for the night! We were given half an hour to get our tents up and be back on the bus. There were several outfit changes and make up bags flying around and that was just me! By the time we arrived in Victoria it was too late to visit the museum, which G was most disappointed about, but we couldn’t have got here any quicker, so it’s more an issue with the itinerary and will be reported in the feedback I’m sure! There was a lot of activity around the fisherman’s wharf, including a live band and a bit of pow wow for the local ‘American’ football team, the British Columbia Lions.

Instead of wallowing in our grief at the lack of culture we had planned to absorb, we went for a walk around the park, which may not have been as informative, but had beauty and charm of its own. There were totem polls, patches of plush grass for chilling out, lakes and fountains, lots of vibrant flower beds and exotic plants, various sporting activities and even peacocks and black squirrels. We opted for a trail that took us as far as the beach front via the world’s tallest totem pole - wouldn’t have seen that in the museum! We headed back via some of the tackier souvenir shops we’ve seen out here until Mikaela mentioned one that contained items made from local businesses, in which Georgie picked up some stickers for her journal.

We rendezvoused at a restaurant by the name of Frankie’s Modern Diner, which had an excellent selection on offer as well as good Whitehouse size portions (like most of the places we’ve eaten at to be fair!) Their only downfall was the lack of apple cider! I opted for a bbq chicken burger and upgraded the sides to poutine (the best I’ve had so far I think, sorry Chief!) and G went for Parmesan chicken with a fettuccini in a cream sauce and vegetables (and very nice it was too she tells me!) As this was to be our final dinner we presented Megan with a thank you card and a combined tip from all of us, which should be enough for a new pair of crocs!

Despite it being our last night the spirits were high as we went for a little stroll around the wharf to take a few sunset photos and then a group picture over by the Canada sign, which wasn’t as easy as it sounds! Firstly lots of people are taking pictures so you have to wait for your chance to jump in, secondly the sign is lit up, meaning those stood around it or in front of it may be blurred out depending on the phone and who’s taking the photo! After a bit of trial and error we eventually got one that was half decent, but I think the crap ones are far better for comical effect!

Whilst waiting for Little Fingers to attend a little business (after some how demolishing a huge sea food linguine) we were approached by a gentleman from Guernsey no less as he recognised a couple of British accents coming from our direction. It turns out he was there for marine research and couldn’t recommend the BC museum enough (salt in the wound!) saying it was even much better than the Natural History museum! After pulling Georgie back from hearing any more about the museum that never was, we jumped back in the minibus and headed back to Redneck Campsite, for a final sleep in our tents!

Georgie’s highlight of the day: Cinnamon bun and the flowers in the park!

[timeoverload]

Today was the worst day at work that I've had in years. I was there almost 12 hours. I got a 10 minute break for breakfast and 20 minutes for lunch. There were 5 add-on eye cases on top of an already busy schedule. I busted my ass all day. The surgeries weren't even done when I left. They weren't scheduled to be done until at least 8pm. Luckily my co-worker offered to finish out the day for me because she had to stay late anyway so I'm grateful for that. The cut off time for add-ons is supposed to be 5pm but I guess that doesn't matter anymore.

The eye coordinator was in a really bad mood. I understand why because I was also in a bad mood but she didn't have to take out her frustration on me. She yelled at me because I left 2 clamps out of a pan. I try to check things thoroughly but I'm only human and I fuck up sometimes. I'm so embarrassed. I process hundreds of pans a month and I rarely make mistakes. I was already upset about it but she made me feel a million times worse. I feel terrible because the doctor needed them and there weren't any peel packed so she had to find something else to use. She gave me the nastiest look when she saw me leaving. We had been getting along better but I'm assuming she's going to start acting really petty towards me again because of that. It's so fucking stupid and no one else gets that mad at me about that stuff. I am going to apologize to her again tomorrow and tell her I will try harder to slow down to check my pans to make sure everything is there. I'm not trying to make anyone's day more difficult. I always try my best to help out the surgical techs to make their days easier but it's never good enough. I want to give up and I don't know why I bother trying anymore.

My back is killing me even though I wore my brace all day but that doesn't surprise me anymore. My ankles are so swollen and I have bruises from my socks. I'm so dizzy and my head hurts. I know I should probably take a shower and eat but I don't want to do either of those things. I'm not even hungry so at least I ate earlier. Maybe I will eat a snack later or something. I'm too tired and I don't care right now.

I don't want to go back tomorrow at all but I don't have a choice. I have to keep doing it even if it's killing me. I don't have eye cases in the morning so I will be in decontam for 2 hours so I'm not excited for that. I have some cases in the afternoon so I really hope I don't have to stay as late and I'm going to be pissed if I do.

I really don't want to go to that party this weekend now. I know I'm not going to feel good at all. Also, that creepy guy in my department is going and he was asking me if I was going to be there and I said that I didn't know. He was asking me what kind of alcohol I like because he was planning on bringing some. He was talking about how he wanted to make his "special" lemonade. That sounds sketchy to me. I wouldn't want to drink anything that he makes and I don't trust him as it is. I don't think I would have much fun anyway so I'm probably just going to stay home. I don't want to put myself in an uncomfortable situation. I'm not going to say anything to anyone about it right now so I don't disappoint anyone.

I also went out to the back hallway to get a drink and noticed my co-worker had some tarot card stickers on her water bottle. One of them is almost identical to that photo of that tattoo you posted on Sunday. I thought that was kind of eerie.

Also, the 3 of swords tarot card is relevant to my situation. I have been feeling very sad and disappointed about our relationship for a long time. I just want us all to be a family and I don't want to be separated anymore. It has been very traumatic and confusing for me because I don't understand what the problem is. It's truly breaking my heart and I am very depressed.

I have driven so many miles and have probably spent at least a couple thousand dollars to try to prove how much I care about you. I have been so loyal and I can't see myself wanting to be with anyone else but you. I never want to be with anyone else.

I have done my best to be open and honest with you about everything. You have encouraged me to be better. I have grown a lot as a person and I'm trying to be the best person that I can be. I have worked so hard and I will continue working on myself.

I love your art so much and I'm so proud that I get to carry it with me wherever I go for the rest of my life. You are so talented. It's not about the tattoos though... I just really enjoy spending time with you and you make me so happy. It sucks that we can't spend time together when I'm not getting tattooed. No one else has ever made me as happy as you make me. I always look forward to seeing you. You are my perfect match. I am literally obsessed with you. I think you are so handsome and you always look good to me. You will always be my favorite person. I am so grateful for our special connection and it is such a blessing.

I wish you could come see me somehow because I miss you every day. I'm constantly reminded of you everywhere I go. Although I don't mention it, I see you in my dreams often. I have had dreams about you for years, even before we met.

I'm not doing very well at all and I'm so tired and sick. I'm trying so hard to keep moving and stay strong but I'm scared I am going to die. I feel like I'm not going to make it. I'm afraid that one of these days my body is going to give out on me and I'm just not going to wake up in the morning. I don't want that to happen and I'm terrified. This is serious and I don't want to die alone without you. I need you to be here now. I want to hug you.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong and it's killing me. What do I need to do? How many times do I have to try to come see you before you believe me? How long do I have to wait for us to finally be together? What is getting in the way? I have so many questions and I just want to understand. I'm so discouraged but I'm trying not to let it get to me.

I'm so tired and it's very difficult for me to articulate my feelings right now. I just want you to know how important you are to me. You have made such a positive impact on my life. I'm so thankful that I know you.

Maxwell, I would do anything for you and I'm not giving up. I really hope that we can overcome whatever obstacle is in the way so that we can finally be together. I will love you forever no matter what.

💖💖💖💖💖💖

I can't think straight anymore so I need to get ready for bed soon. I stayed up way too late last night. I am so exhausted and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open right now. I'm not sure how much time I will be able to spend on the internet this week. I don't want anyone to think that I am ignoring them. I'm going through a lot right now but I will do my best to stay positive and continue to work hard. I'm glad that I get to vent on here because it makes me feel a lot better. Thank you again to everyone that checks on me and listens to me. I appreciate you all. I hope you all have a good night and enjoy the rest of your week.

[fairest]

The strums

I love summer tourist season. Especially when it’s hot and muggy. The suburban vibrates through my grid like ancient black holes compose music for the universe. The husband and wife in matching Cubs gear or sacrifices to St. Louis. In the lobby of the Willis I watch the foreign families place orders. The men take care of the children, the women take care of themselves. The stateless hide here, the fallen, while on the skydeck you buy tickets and pretend to fall. When I leave the lobby I greet the smell of human sweat in the wedge of revolving door. I go around again, I do it all before, my contribution to our stench. On Michigan Avenue I am the gray urban man. Oohing and aahing the climate control on my way into your experience. I embrace my role as a Karen. Stop riding your Divvy on the sidewalk! I am the cop, the trembling Russian soldier, the notetaker, the lookout. In the median strips of Mag Mile the state troopers idle. They protect not you, not me, they protect Neimans and its mormon products. “If the message of western civilization is I am alone,” you won’t find any notifications here. One thing I love about originality is doing the same thing all over again. Like dropping a thirty dollar bill in the beggar’s cup. This man is older than my arrhythmia. Mein herz gets medicine but his is still beat. It doesn’t give me the blues so much as the strums.

I am the body in joy. My happiness complete. It’s hard not to get sentimental about vinyl records, when you pull out a Nonesuch and hear, the first movement of Horenstein’s Mahler 3. Last week I streamed it three times after the barista made me the Purple Eye. He wanted to prove to me it was a real thing, three shots of espresso and drip, he showed me the listing in his training manual, a binder of three rings. On Monday morning I found the Horenstein vinyl. Gregg told me he’s not so into these slower tempo interpretations. Gregg pauses when I talk about my love for Tinter’s Bruckner 2. Tinter even got mad when people killed cockroaches, and you know those Europeans have seen a lot of vermin, and you know to be a vegetarian you must take things as they come. I watched All Quiet on the Western Front. I wasn’t moved, like the war’s advance. You can just read current events if you must be moved by World War I. An exhibit in progress.

Every June, happy intern parade, we love you Miss Hannigan. My conservative girls are poetry stars from eight years ago, frescos up their quads and down their hammies. With Uptown girls you need to talk, find out what they’re interested in, quote Pennymaker, quote Badioo. You’ve got to say things about boygenius like, Phoebe is the waitress wearing a mask, Lucy is the waitress not wearing the mask, Julian Baker is the waitress in the back on her smoke break, and then Uptown girls have to call you a romantic or a misogynist. You talk the same time they talk, like Iris and Nate in Dimes Square.

Downtown my girls are different. You can say um or for sure and not feel like an idiot. What are they carrying in those shoulder bags? Mischievous and tight and testing the sexual patience of the men on this commuter train. Even I can’t concentrate on my cancer while she does her eyebrows. The Evanston of the Mind. The Digestive System of Lake Bluff. She sees my hard chest in a Performance polo, licks her lips. Maybe I’m not like every other award-winning dentist who chose the quiet car. We’re back at her hotel and when I go to leave I see Nordstrom Rack price stickers in the heels of her heels.

Back at home they’re all asleep. I sink my feet into the bowl we use for salads. After seeing the home runs I put on California Split. Elliott Gould once said “blogging is not writing it is graffiti with punctuation.” That’s more Monica’s Dad on Friends than Charlie Waters, his character in Split. I want to write Patrick back about all the thrilling stuff he said about Succession and tell him it has the word success in it. He made this typo for “like” as “lips” and he corrected it and I said, don’t correct your typos, don’t bother writing, just keep typing, because when I’d read “lips” I’d thought it correct. The topic made you wanna open your trap, loosen your jaw, and let the spit that gathers at the collective corners of our mouth water the lawns of our brains with meanings. I want a creamy white sweater like George Segal wears in Split but it won’t look the same on my frame.

Yeah, I will write Patrick, all cunty poetry a footnote to Ginsberg’s “I won’t write my poem till I’m in my right mind.” I think there’s a lot of cunty poetry out there but it’s still very academic. We’re using cunty in a good way. I feel like I heard a lot of cunty stuff in Seattle this year with Charles, who manages to find the cool things. When I go to those creative writing events I always end up applauding a White guy who lives up to his capitalization. But all the freakazoids Charles finds, they’re working through interesting stuff, as those types usually are. Yeah, it was the best stuff about Succession. Better than my sentencing mind. Dad had to die early in the season, “an absence that needed to be felt in order to feel the full force of Kendall’s ecstatic embrace of fascism in his eulogy at the funeral, a funeral that he transforms into a black mass, baptizing himself as one of the True Killers…” we all want big fat letters like this stringing a zither across our navel, not “the hostile shafts of paid critics.” What I really need to tell Patrick is I wouldn’t have California Split without him, the two-toned credits my safe space, the absence of music but the engorging sound just like an OG Columbo episode, the murderer money, the finest example the elevator thrumming at the beginning of La Notte. Have you ever noticed the sign outside the titty bar. When Gould’s just walking up. Licking his likes. Lipping his money. The sign that says the titty bar has “the worst piano player on earth.”

My son says Daddy, what do you call the lines you string, do you call them the plucks, and I say you call them the strings, and on the strings you strum, but you can call them whatever you want because I will never forget the things you used to say. I wake up just after midnight and reorder the flow of the deck. In the morning I carry my son’s bike up the street and ride him around the track. Tears come to my eyes when I say the thing you need to do is look straight ahead, tighten your tummy, and think about what this will feel like when you don’t need Daddy’s help. He says that won’t be today. I say it could be today. He says it will probably be in, like, 200 days. I say it could be in 50 days. He says it won’t be tomorrow. I say, well, it could be today. The lesson of western civilization is that our children grow up. I’m sweating and overusing an underutilized part of my shoulder, the name of the part I forget, my masseuse says it helps with the initial lift. Helping with the initial lift is my business.