#no bullshit this is some of the writing i'm most pleased with of late

[enhaheeseung]

BREAK UP - L. HEESEUNG

Pairing: heeseung X fem reader

Warnings: crying, break up, angst, cursing, heartbreak, arguments.

Word count: 2,072k

Note: I'm just writing a few drabbles for now, hoping to get my engagement up a bit. This is really rushed, so it’s not good, but oh well.

Part 2 Part 3

-

“Babe, when are you coming to bed?”

It’s twelve am, and you have been waiting hours past your bedtime so you can finally go to sleep with your boyfriend for the first time in literal months.

It’s been a while since he started working from home, and you thought that would free up some space for you both to spend time together.

You thought you guys could go back to normal like how you used to be but now it seemed like he worked even more after being able to work from home on top of his promotion.

You received no answer, and you sighed. This had been going on for months, him ignoring you and solely focusing on work. You disappointedly slipped under the covers so you could patiently wait for him to be finished.

Staring at the clock, you counted down every minute until a full thirty minutes passed.

You decided to give it another go thinking half hour may have been enough time for him to conclude his work. “Honey, it’s so late,” your voice is groggy, eyes half opened, and you’re still worried about your boyfriend’s well-being. How could you not be when he barely ate and barely slept anymore? The last time you two spent quality time together was so long ago you couldn’t even remember. “Please come to bed. I know you’re tired.”

He snaps at your words, only increasing the annoyance that he currently feels. “Can you just stop talking, damn?!” He agitatedly shouts out of nowhere, turning his head in your direction with an angry expression plastered on his tired features.

Startled by the sudden loudness of his tone you jumped a little bit not used to him speaking to you that way. “S-sorry I was just worried” you tucked back under the covers your heart aching in your chest cause of what he said to you.

He was always on edge lately, but you never received that type of treatment from him. Ever even in your five years of dating, he has always been respectful to you.

“You’re sorry?” he scoffs. “You should be sorry I’m the one working hard every day to provide for you and all the frivolous bullshit you buy, and this is the thanks I get. Do me a favor and stop fucking bothering me while I’m working,” he rubs his temples, turning his attention back to his computer.

It most certainly wasn’t the first time he’d said such harsh words to you after your constant nagging for him to eat and sleep more, but this was the first time you felt pure anger from him, and it worried you cause he was never this bad before and you feared that as time went on like this it would just get worse.

“O-okay.” You looked at his stressed back, noticing how tense his shoulders were, and you felt bad knowing he was taking on all of the work to provide for you both. Apparently, all you were doing was bothering him, but you weren’t doing it intentionally. “I guess it’s a crime to care about my boyfriend.” Your voice broke a little, and you turned your back to him, calling it quits for the night. He could come to bed whenever he wanted.

“You know what?” He shuts the computer and sighs. “I think.” he pauses for a moment, the silence getting the best of your nerves cause you were scared about what he was going to say. “We should just break up.”

His words dangle in the air for minutes, and within those minutes, you feel tears pricking your eyes and your heart breaking into little tiny bits. “Hee-“ you sat up now, looking at him with your bloodshot eyes.

“I know you’re going to run down every reason why we shouldn’t, but I’m done. I’m tired of this, and I’m tired of talking. I can’t do it anymore, and nothing you say can ever change my mind.”

You’re left absolutely speechless too stunned to even say anything not to say he would want to hear it or listen now anyway.

You’ve spent so many long years of your life with him that you couldn’t see yourself being with anyone else besides him you thought that he was your happy ever after and to hear him say he wants to break up felt like a dream a very bad dream never in your life did you ever think he’d say the words but he did and it came out so easily like he’s been wanting to say it but only now decided to.

And the thought made you upset because if he’s been feeling this way for this long why did he even bother to string you along knowing he didn’t see a future with you anymore after your guys relationship went downhill?

In the midst of your thoughts his voice brings you back to the present. “I’ll call your mom in the morning so you can get all your stuff and be out by tomorrow.” You don’t respond, and the only thing you hear for the next few hours is typing on a keyboard.

You would go to the sofa, but you’re literally glued to the bed, paralyzed by grief.

The tears wouldn’t stop flowing, and they definitely didn’t stop once he came to bed. If anything, they got worse when you felt his warmth so close to you but yet so far away.

He tried slipping his hand around your waist, but you slapped it away. “Don’t touch me,” you say through your heartbroken cries.

He immediately retracted his hand, a little surprised at first by how quickly you rejected his touch.

He didn’t care really he just thought it might comfort you a little so you could sleep since you’ve been up crying for literally hours but it didn’t matter one way or the other to him as he turned on his side and shut his lamp off.

Heeseung slept soundly while you lay awake, crying every last tear you had left in you.

-

When morning struck, heeseungs alarm woke him up. His eyes shot open, and he quickly grabbed his phone, turning the awful sound off.

He turned towards your side of the bed and patted the soft material in search of your warmth, but he found none.

His eyes opened, and he was met with a few luggage bags that looked to be packed already. He sat up confused for a moment until memories of last night flooded his mind.

He heard a rustle coming from the closet, and you appeared a second later, already fully dressed this early in the morning. Usually, you would still be asleep when he started work.

But obviously, today was different.

His eyes shifted throughout the room. Most of your stuff was already gone.

As you walked to each end of the room collecting your stuff, his eyes followed you, watching your every movement.

The moment he saw you grabbing all your ornaments, he felt an ache in his chest.

You didn’t have much in the bedroom, but those little ornaments had you written all over them, and it was one of the few things that made it obvious to him that he wasn’t living alone, and seeing them all getting wiped out made him feel sick to his stomach. “Y/n?” He mumbled out while nervously picking at his nails.

You didn’t answer. Of course, you didn’t. He said he was done talking, and so were you. Last night, you came to terms with this. It took hours, but you just accepted it.

You had to.

Were you going to miss him?

Yes.

Was it going to hurt?

Yes.

But you didn’t want to be in his life if he didn’t want you to be in his.

You continued to pick up the little porcelain cat decorations, and that’s when he decided to slip out from under the covers and walk over to you, standing behind you and taking the figurine from your hand, setting it back down where it had been sitting for the last couple of years. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in your ear while back hugging you, the warmth of his bare chest sending electricity throughout your body. “About last night, sweetheart, I was just tired and said a lot of things I didn’t mean, and I know that it sounds like a shitty excuse, but I really didn’t mean it, baby. I’ve just been so stressed lately, and I hate myself for taking it out on you. I’m so sorry I made you cry.” he closed his eyes, inhaling your scent, the one he’d been missing for months.

You hated yourself for the way you melted into his arms after all the things he said to you last night, but it’s just been so long since you felt his touch on you that you couldn’t help it.

You leaned into him, his body pressing flush against yours. It felt so good being in his strong arms again.

But as fast as you melted, you hardened up even quicker, slipping out of his grasp.

You started packing up your things again, keeping a good distance from him because right now you know you could easily forgive him, but you didn’t want to because there’s no way he could say what he said to you last night and change up so quickly in the morning you weren’t falling for it.

When you walked by him, he quickly extended his hand, grabbing you by your elbow, pulling you into his chest, and hugging you closely. “Little one, please forgive me.” he rested his chin atop your head, stroking your back softly. “I need you. Love, without you, I don’t have anything, you know that. Remember, I’ve told you so many times everything I do is all for you. I know I made a mistake, but I’m sorry. Please forgive me, please?” His voice shook slightly, and you could feel just how fast his heart was beating against your chest and the words were on the tip of your tongue, but for the way you feel right now, you think breaking up would just be for the best.

You two were living different lives, and the compatibility wasn’t aligned anymore. As much as you hated living a life without him, the thought of living a life where he was working and you were being neglected was something you hated even more.

Your breath got caught in your throat the moment his lips pressed against your neck. “Please,” he begged in between each soft kiss he left on your neck. “Say something, please,” he sniffles softly and rests his palms over your stomach.

You peeled his hand off your body, turning around to tell him that you were done straight to his face, but it was so hard cause he looked absolutely distraught. “Heeseung, I’m leaving, and that’s final.”

The sob he let out almost made you break down in tears yourself. He tried to cover it by cupping his mouth, but it was too late. It was one of the most heartbreaking things you’ve ever heard from him, and you had to leave now before you ended up forgiving him.

You quickly grabbed your things, wheeling them to the front door with him close behind you. “I can’t let you go, y/n. I-I love you.” his arms were secured around you again, and you stood there, trying to remain as emotionless as possible until he finally let go of you. “So that’s just it? What am I supposed to do without you, baby?” He asked warm tears running down his cheeks he looked so sad and vulnerable.

“You said you were tired of talking, and at this point, so am I. Goodbye, heeseung. I hope work treats you better than I ever could.” You unlocked the front door and opened it.

“Y/n-“

“Enough!” You shouted at him, losing your patience finally and letting all your months of pent-up anger get the best of you.

He stood there completely stunned by you raising your voice at him, and it left him speechless.

Even though his mouth was parted like he wanted to say something, the words just never made their way out.

The last thing you saw before slamming the door was his sad, tearful expression, but this was what he asked for, and he got it.

-

Thanks for reading likes comments and reblogs are always appreciated sorry for any typos or errors I hope you all have a good day/night♥️

[hxney-lemcn]

Care for Yourself my Love — Overblots x gn! reader

summery: taking care of yourself wasn't your best skill, thankfully you have someone to help you build it up.

tw: unhealthy eating habits! If you're sensitive to this please don't read this fic! I'm not glorifying or romanticizing this, I just wish I had someone to help keep me on track (you'll notice I make the reader actively try to better themselves). mentions of depression/depressive traits (leona, idia).

a/n: I wanted to write something, ik people have done this already but here's my two cents because I've delt/deal with this too

wc: 1.7k (~250 per character)

Master List

Riddle Rosehearts

You don’t try to be so forgetful, it’s just you're either always running late or you find yourself procrastinating to the point you don’t have time. Unfortunately, your carelessness has gotten to the best of you and you found yourself nearly passing out while preparing for the upcoming unbirthday party. Even more unlucky, you swayed dizzily in front of Riddle, nearly toppling over and knocking over paint buckets. At first he felt his temper flare, that paint wasn’t cheap and now they’ll have to get more. Not only that, but now your shoes, socks, and pants were covered in red paint. But then he noticed the concerned look on Trey’s face and how you held onto him for support while holding your head, eyes closed tight. That was when the worry set in, were you alright? Why had you been so clumsy in the first place? You apologized to the two, casually bringing up how you can’t remember eating anything yet and that was most likely the cause. After that, Riddle tried keeping track for you, scolding you anytime you mumbled about forgetting to eat. How could you forget something so important! You couldn't learn properly if you didn’t take care of yourself. Not to mention the heart attack he nearly gets every time he recalls that moment of you nearly fainting in the rose garden. He doesn’t want that to happen again, so he’ll continue to help you out until you learn to take care of yourself better.

Leona Kingscholar

Honestly…I think he’s in the same boat. People call him lazy, selfish, and rude, and his only escape from all his problems is his dreams. Where people love him, where he’s important, where he’s cherished. So this can go one of two ways. 1) You both feed into each other's bad habits and become worse. Or 2) you notice his bad habits, and in trying to correct them (Ruggie helps tremendously with this…he also gets free food so he doesn’t mind) you find yourself improving on your own. Leona lets you take however much money you want, little does he know, most of that money is being used on him as well. You end up buying matching water bottles on a whim and you find yourself actually drinking a healthy amount of water now. This also goes for Leona, as every time you get food, you bring some for him, every time you go to get water, you bring some for him. In fact, he actually uses the water bottle you bought him, but it's only cus it reminds him of you…not that you’ll ever know. Slowly over time, you both improve each other, and you find yourselves feeling more healthy than ever before. Especially when Leona decides to have you join him for his spell drive training, making you participate in it as well. Not because he hates you, but he sees what you’ve done for him, and wants to help you in his own way in return…he just makes it seem and feel like a punishment. 

Azul Ashengrotto

Azul is a sharp one that never lets a detail go. He noticed your bad habits from the start. It only bit him back when he started to genuinely care for you. He felt his mind want to tear itself apart when you came by the lounge after school, immediately being placed in his VIP room, and him hearing your stomach growl. When he asked if you wanted food you denied, stating you didn’t have the funds. That made him want to rip Crowley apart. Instead of letting that anger show, he only smiled, making up some bullshit about how its on the house today. Azul made sure that the Leech twins kept an eye on you, and if your self-destructive habits got too out of hand they would step in. At first you were apprehensive when Jade would randomly appear, asking if you’ve eaten or drank anything recently. Azul nearly broke down in tears when one time you shrugged nonchalantly, asking if it mattered. It was then that you realized that your habits not only affected you, but the people you cared about as well. So you promised him you’d try to better yourself. If you forgot breakfast you at least had a granola bar on hand. If you forgot water, Floyd would throw a water bottle at you. It was a slow process, but after a while you started taking better care of yourself, and all Azul could do was breathe a sigh of relief. He was not going to let someone he cared about become their own greatest downfall. 

Jamil Viper

At first, he’s annoyed. Out of spite he won’t help you, his gray eyes watching to see you stumble with slight gratification. Those feelings soon crumbled the closer you two got, and that gratification slipped into apprehension. Jamil was going to lose all his hair at this rate. So when you forgot to buy food, or used all your money for other necessities Jamil started packing you a lunch alongside his own and Kalim’s. He quickly grew annoyed at how pleased he felt when he watched you scarff down his food, exclaiming how great it was. You forgot how warm the Scarabia dorm was and were currently sweating to death beneath all your layers? Don’t worry, Kalim had bought you tons of outfits already (no matter how much Jamil tried to stop him), he’ll take you to a spare room for you to change. You start feeling woozy, there’s a seat nearby and he’s already got water and a snack. Even though he’s still a bit annoyed he had to do all this in the first place…you had managed to wiggle your way into a soft spot in his heart. So for you, he doesn’t mind taking care of you. Not as long as you promise to try and learn to take care of yourself as well, because he’s not sure how much more his heart can take seeing you accidentally hurt yourself in one way or another. Plus, he won’t always be there to stabilize you…not unless you choose to stay by his side. 

Vil Schoenheit

This mf knew right away. He could tell with the way you cared so greatly for others, that you had no room to care for yourself. Vil makes a whole schedule for you, when you should eat, drink water, and exercise to be your best self. You are now an honorary pomefiore student with the way he treats you. Even with the added slack of not living on the dorm grounds…you’re still not safe. Vil gets spider senses with you slacking on self care and sends Rook to check in on you. He makes you set alarms, gets you a fashionable yet hefty water bottle for you to carry around. Honestly…he works the best when it comes to self care. He doesn’t even have to text you anymore, you’ll be slouching and he’ll pop in your mind and you fix your posture. Talk about living in your mind rent free. He’s also the harshest, his whole thing is being your best self and he’ll be damned to see you hurt yourself because you weren’t thinking clearly due to not eating enough. It all comes from a place of care though, he’s just not the best at expressing that. Just know that every time he scolds you it’s because he cares about you. If it gets too much though just tell him, he’ll pamper you a bit with a self care spa day sometime soon. At the end of the day, he wants to see you thrive, not survive. 

Idia Shroud

…worst person. Sorry. He’s worse than Leona. At least Leona is a part of a sport and still has to slightly take care of himself because of that. Idia has no motivation whatsoever. He is in his room nearly 24/7 with barely any contact outside. Never drinks water, barely eats (it's mostly snacks at that), and does he even sleep? Ortho is the one who does constant check-ins and brings him food and water. Although Ortho keeps constant health checks, he can’t help but be sad everytime he sees his brother push food to the side and forget about it. So if you’re looking for someone to help you with your habits I’m sorry but Idia will feed into your bad ones. If anything, it's Ortho helping you out. One time, you and Ortho had a little cooking hang out, and you brought a portion to Idia, and he ate it right away. It was then that Ortho found out a way to make you and his brother eat more. So expect more invites to cook with Ortho. In fact, he even got Idia to join! How fun! Even though the outcomes were more or less mid, you all had fun while making it. It got to the point that you and Ortho would keep challenging yourselves and would have Idia be your taste tester. Besides, how could he say no to you when you stared at him so expectantly? Just don’t ask why he never rates your food under a 7 out of 10. 

Malleus Draconia

Fae’s and humans were similar and different. One big difference was how much one needed to consume in order to sustain themself. You’d think a dragon fae would need to eat a lot in order to sustain such a powerful body, but they actually eat less. So if anything, Malleus didn’t see anything abnormal about how little you ate or drank. So when you immediately fell back in your seat after attempting to stand up, Malleus had rushed to your side, unsure what was wrong. You smiled in a carefree manner while trying to wave away his worry, explaining how you probably should’ve eaten more. It was then that he realized he had been negligent about your health and went to Lilia for answers. He visibly paled when Lilia told him humans needed to eat at least three times a day and drink tons of water. Now you have a dragon fretting over you 24/7. He knew humans were fragile, but every day he finds out they’re more fragile than he originally thought which caused him to fuss over you. You needed to eat more, child of man, he doesn’t want you leaving him earlier than expected. Humans die if they don’t drink water for three days? He now carries a water bottle for you everywhere you go. You’ll never have to worry about forgetting to eat again…in fact, you’re probably pleading with Malleus to give you a break, you’ll die if you overeat too…which causes him to spiral again…

[amnestria-the-elf]

So we're all just supposed to be fucking grateful that Larian gave us "new Wyll content" (evil ending for a man who is canonically incorruptible, what the fuck) and simultaneously broke him again (giving low approval greetings to a romanced PC, what the fuck).

I... I just... the simultaneous feelings of rage and utter hopelessness are overwhelming.

Listen, if you've read any of my posts you know I have a pretty clear "Don't yuck anyone's yum" policy. If you think an evil Wyll ending is interesting, fine. But here's why it falls flat for me.

First, like I said above, Wyll is canonically incorruptible. It's literally the entire basis of his character. He is a man who was coerced into making an infernal contract to save a city and had to pay a horrible price for doing so, then spent seven fucking years alone in the wilderness doing his damned best to protect the people of the Sword Coast, while all along telling his horrible, abusive patron to just fuck off already.

Now, could you argue that during the events of the game, Wyll develops a taste for evil? Sure. There are plenty of opportunities for his villain origin story to unfold. But they never do. His moral compass never wavers. Turned into a devil? He feels shame, because it's an outward sign that he was doing things for Mizora that were morally wrong, and he didn't see it before. His approval rating for the PC shoots through the roof if you save Karlach, a sure indicator of his true moral compass. His father kidnapped? Fuck that noise, we're gonna save him. Rescue Zariel's "asset"? Ugh, fine, but don't get distracted from the real reason we're here. His father gets tadpoled? Oh hells no, we're gonna take down these assholes and save the godsdamned world. His father accuses him of being an agent of a devil and is super pissy about it? "Everything I did, I did for the people of the Sword Coast."

For fuck's sake, he will leave the party if the PC gets too evil, even knowing it means he'll probably turn into a mindflayer immediately. Even if he's romancing the PC. Unwavering moral compass. So giving him an evil ending without also going back and changing everything about his character just feels like lazy writing to me.

Which brings me to the second reason all of this rubs the wrong way. Wyll deserves so much more content. More romanced greetings, more reactions to other characters' choices, a final boss battle that is actually about him, a default ending that actually makes fucking sense (I have another post cooking about the Avernus ending, so I will leave it for now.)

And please, spare me your "But Wyll was rewritten after early access" bullshit. That's Larian's problem. They chose to listen to feedback and do a late-stage rewrite. They then chose to implement it poorly and never fucking fix it. Other characters, who already have far more content than Wyll, have had even more added over the course of the seven released patches. Wyll, on the other hand, has been sitting around completely ignored until now when we get this evil ending.

Many have rightfully pointed out the inherent racism steeped in all of this. I want Larian to be better. But as Maya Angelou said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them." I already didn't have much hope about Patch 7 for Wyll, but this... honestly, this is worse than him just being ignored again.

The thing that kills me the most is that this is just going to be more fodder for the fandom to completely mischaracterize Wyll, for those who already haven't bothered to think critically about his character at all to just be like, oh, cool, Wyll is evil now. Nope. You've completely missed the point.

I'm just... so tired. I've worked very hard to put this little bubble of Wyll enthusiasts around me (hi friends I love you all!) so that I can hold on to some shred of sanity in this fandom. The world needs heroes of color. Just let Wyll be the hero in peace.

[grey342]

you're amazing 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻

could you write something about Phil asking reader to marry him? saw the first hangover movie recently and this man screams husband material 🥵

Marry me?

Phil Wenneck x reader

synopsis - Phil's and his girlfriend go out for their anniversary and she notices he's acting different.

warnings - Phil being nervous (he's adorable) and reader being oblivious.

authors note - Thank you! You guys are too nice to me, making me blush and kick my feet frrr🤭. I love this request so much and I TOTALLY agree. Again so sorry for this coming out so late 😀 I promise I’m working on it for you guys! Lmk what you think and send in any more requests you have!

please do not steal my work - belongs to @grey342

Holy shit.

Tonight is your four year anniversary and he's acting so weird.

You noticed first when you were both getting ready to go. Fidgeting with his hands, wiping the sweat from his brow and constantly tapping his pocket.

You tried to ignore it but it was becoming more and more difficult as time went on. You struggled to understand why he would be behaving like this, the night was going perfectly.

You were at your favourite restaurant, outside by the beach. You were even alone which was strange considering this place is usually packed with people. The table was covered with rose petals and candles. The sun was setting beautifully, it was the perfect night.

"Isn't it pretty?" You ask looking at him.

"Hm? What?" He stumbles on his words. You smile softly and take his hand in yours, an attempt to comfort him.

"The view," you say looking out, "isn't it pretty?"

"Yes..Yes it is." He replies looking at you. You look at him, blushing when you realise. You notice his smile drop slightly and it's replaced with the same expression he's been wearing all night. You rub your thumb over the back of his hand, gaining his attention.

"Sweetie?" You call.

"Hm?" He mumbles.

"Is everything okay?" His eyes look directly into yours, widened with panic.

"Wha-What do you mean? Everything's fine, why wouldn't it be fine?" He responds too quickly for your liking.

"Are you sure? You know you can talk to me about anything." You smile at him.

“I know” he places his other hand on top of yours, “ everything is fine I promise.” He forces a smile. You’re still not convinced but you let it go not wanting to cause an argument on your anniversary. You look back out, when he takes a deep breath and calls to you.

“Baby..”

“Yea - holy shit" You whisper, stunned by the sight before you. Phil down on one knee with a velvet box in his hand.

"Alright, you know i'm not good with the sappy crap," you chuckle quietly, "but 'm gonna try my best. When I first met you I thought you were the most annoying bitch I had ever met. I mean in my entire life and i've met some bitchy women let me tell yo-"

"Phil,"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe..don't talk about other women when your proposing to me."

"Oh, yeah. Whatever, the point was you were a cunt," you let out a loud laugh, this calms him instantly, "but the more I got to know you, the more I realised how beautiful you are. Inside and out. You made me feel things I had never felt before, you trusted me enough to show your vulnerable side and that made me want to do that with you. I know we've had our tough patches but, you pulled us through it. Never giving up on us. Never giving up on me." Tears are blurring your vision.

"Anyway let's cut the bullshit and get to the important bit.," you kick him lightly, he giggles, "My love, my life, will you marry me?" The tears are rolling down your cheeks now, you can even see tears brimming his eyes.

"Yes, yes..Yes! Of course i'll marry you!" He stands up pulling you with him and embraces you. He grabs your hand and places the ring on your finger. You admire it for a couple seconds before he grabs your face and pulls you in for a passionate kiss.

He pulls away and rests his forehead against yours, staring into your eyes with so much love you felt yourself getting choked up again.

"I love you so much." He whispers.

"I know.." You reply, he chuckles in response and closes the gap between your lips once more. Your heart beaming, excited for what the future will bring you.

[dinogoofymutated]

Happy halloween everybody!!!!

Well, Happy early halloween, that is! I hope everyone is having a good day! As some of you know, I'm choosing to celebrate my 1000 follower celebration in the incoming months!! (well, technically like 1300 right now, I'm a little late 😭) I'm doing something especially special for this event, and I'll be letting all of you guys customise your fics!!

So the way this is going to work will be fairly simple. I will be writing these fics exclusively in the incoming months due to the fact I've been extra short on time lately, Overall, I will be posting four customised x-men fics in the month of October (once every week) Plus a special guest appearance on halloween day!

Sounds good, right? Well, you might be wondering, "Goofy, how in the world are these customisable?" And let me tell you!!! I will be creating seven writing prompts for all of you to choose from! The first three fics will all have two prompts per poll, with the winning prompt being the one used for that fic in particular!

But don't worry if the prompt you voted for doesn't win, it won't be lost to fanfic limbo completely! The fourth fic in october will have four prompts to choose from, the three losers + a brand new prompt! That way each of the losers gets a chance at redemption!

Once a prompt is selected, I will then create another poll to choose what character will be chosen for that fic! Not every character in X-men will be on every single poll, as candidates will be chosen by prompt compatibility. Once a character is selected, there's also a chance I will create a third and final poll choosing what sort of halloweeny character they should be!

These polls will be posted in the weeks leading up to october, with my hope being that I will have them all finished before october actually starts. I'm very excited to do this with Y'all, as I definitely have not done an event like this before!! Y'all better help me stick to it!

(Also, I have most of the characters I plan to put in the polls in the tags, but if you have someone in mind and want them to be considered as a candidate, please reblog, reply, or send me an ask!)

Poll 1: Haunted Mansion vs. Hocus Pocus!

Prompt one: Haunted Mansion

You've recently moved into an old, spooky mansion that your great-aunt left you in her will. It's been uninhabited for years but is strangely well-kept. You're sure you live here alone, but every once in a while you can't shake the feeling of being watched…

Prompt two: Hocus Pocus

You've been working at the Harkness museum of witchery for about six months now. One night after you get off of work, you decide to take a walk through the graveyard across the street to look at the stones. You find a very strange cat stuck in a trap in the process, and let the poor thing out. Turns out, he's not actually a cat at all, but working at a witch museum has its perks, and you find yourself helping the kitty regain it's true form!

Winning selection: Haunted Mansion!

Character poll:

Candidates: Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, Cyclops,

Winning selection: Nightcrawler!

Poll 2: Howling vs. Bloody halloween

Prompt Three: Howling

Something has been spotted in the woods behind your house. You don’t believe any of the bullshit all these reporters and wannabe horror vloggers are pushing, all you know is that you really want them off your land. Until you have a personal encounter with this creature, that is. What is the thing that has seemingly moved into your neck of the woods, and does it have anything to do with your new neighbor?

Prompt Four: Bloody Halloween

A bat flies through your window one night, and although you're dreadfully afraid of rabies and scared to touch the little thing, it's in really bad shape and you can't stand by and just let it die. You spend the next few days nursing the little guy back to health, when one day he up and disappears. The next night you go out with your friends, and feel like you keep seeing a familiar pair of eyes in the crowd.

Winning selection: Bloody Halloween!

Character poll:

Candidates: Gambit, Quicksilver.

Winning selection: Gambit!

Poll 3: Season of the Witch vs. Halloween town!

Prompt Five: Season of the Witch

You’ve always considered the rumors about your family’s witchy and magical past to be fictional, absolute nonsense. Well, you did, until you found yourself accidentally bound to someone who’s more or less your familiar. Neither of you particularly wants this, so you focus on whatever magical skills you managed to inherit on breaking the bond- but is that really what you want?

Prompt Six: Halloweentown

You've won the title of best pumpkin carver for the past five Halloweens, which is a big deal in Halloween town! The Sixth year rolls around, and you're determined to keep your title. Until some dude accidentally smashes your masterpiece mere steps from the festival. You make him swear to you he'd make up for it next year. You've almost forgotten about it when the end of August rolls around, only to find him right at your doorstep.

Winning Selection: Season of the Witch!

Character Poll:

Candidates: TBA

Winning selection: tba

Poll 4: Redemption round

This poll was a chance for the losers to win, and one fresh prompt to round them out

Prompt 8: Practical Magic

You recently found out that your family is cursed for any man you love to die. You’re devastated when you find this out the day after you realize you’re deeply in love, and make it your mission to keep your boyfriend alive. Shenanigans and ridiculous conflicts ensue, and after a very long couple of weeks- He reveals to you that he’s been immortal the whole time.

Winner: Practical Magic!

Character Poll:

Candidates: TBA

[machiroads]

Don't look, i'm about to overthink this panel

Long post under the cut.

Notwithstanding that I can't figure out what's going on with Aizawa's legs here because he's twisted around or something—it's a good panel. Look at them, they're adorable. 11/10 no notes.

Actually that's not true I have so many notes.

Will someone also please get this man a blanket for god's sake

I'm going to unpack the implications here from two perspectives: Aizawa telling Eri he got hit by a truck, and Eri trying (and failing) to save Aizawa.

Tis But A Flesh Wound

Aizawa tells Eri he got hit by a truck, and a common interpretation I've seen of this is that nobody told her what happened to him. I don't necessarily think this is true, because:

A) She rewound Mirio the day before the raid

B) She was watching the fight on TV with All Might.

Canonically, she is at least tangentially aware of what happened. Aizawa also knows that she's at least somewhat aware of what happened, vis-a-vis excerpt A.

I've also seen the interpretation that Aizawa is trying to obfuscate the truth about his injuries from her (presumably because the quirk-deleting bullets were created from her blood), but again, she was watching the fight on TV.

The most rational (hah) explanation is that he's just back on his bullshit, lying to children for his own amusement.

which is. hysterical.

Anyways, onto item 2!

The Deus Ex Machina

As we saw above, Eri rewound Mirio the day before the raid. I am not a scholar of the BNHA timeline, but I did do some research while I was writing Nine Lives. My understanding is as follows:

The Shie Hassaikai raid is sometime in September

The Jaku raid is at the end of March

Mirio corroborates these two points when he arrives at Jaku, noting that he's been out of the game for about 6 months

Post-Jaku is where the timeline gets weird.

Tartarus is breached the night of the raid on Jaku and Gunga

Midoriya is brought back to UA about a month after that

The Star & Stripe fight happens the day after that

The day after that, All Might reveals they have at least a week to prepare for the final battle. Aoyama is revealed to be the traitor on the same day.

In summary, the final battle happens somewhere in the ballpark of a month and a half to two months after Jaku / Gunga.

With the timeline sort of squared away, let's move on to the interpretation I've seen some readers make, which is that Eri didn't have enough energy to rewind Aizawa. The translation of Ectoplasm's dialogue has varied between the original leaks, the fan scanlation, and the official release, leading to some ambiguity of interpretation here, but there are a few different reasons that this doesn't make any sense:

Based on the timeline outlined above, where Eri successfully sends Mirio back 6 months on the day before the raid, it doesn't really make sense that 0 to 2 months later, she couldn't hypothetically rewind Aizawa by 0 to 2 months after he loses his leg and eye. Eri's power is wishy washy at best, but this seems like it's entirely within the realm of plausibility if Aizawa wanted to be rewound.

From a storytelling standpoint, what's the point of rewinding Aizawa to de-nerf him for the final battle if him and Monoma are ultimately removed from the fight via Sad Man's Parade anyway?

My interpretation is that this doesn't actually have anything to do with Eri trying and failing to rewind Aizawa, but rather she's trying to go rescue Midoriya and help him the same way that she did during the Shie Hassaikai raid.

The inference Ectoplasm is making is that it's too late for that, because she's at home watching the fight on TV rather than already being on the battlefield. This was also the case at Jaku, where she was canonically watching the fight on TV with All Might. She must have seen Aizawa go down and wanted to go save him, but it was already too late for her to try to help.

There's an entire separate essay worth of discussion on why Aizawa continues to live with one leg and one eye (both from a canon and a meta perspective), but I won't get into that here.

In conclusion:

This panel is fucking adorable

Aizawa continues to lie to children for fun and profit

Eri is baby and is physically perfectly capable of controlling her power at this juncture, she's just geographically removed from the action because she's like seven years old

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk

[cielie-voss]

Don't you dare think I have a crush on you.

~ Eddie Munson x Reader

Masterlist

Summary: Who would've thought, that a supposedly broken fridge would bring Eddie and his neighbor, aka former classmate Y/N closer together. (This takes place a few years after season 4, everyone's okay and doing well. Eddie and reader are like in their mid 20's)

Triggerwarning: tipsy reader, mention of alcohol and abusive partner, my awful writing. Let me know if I missed something. Likes, reblogs and comments are always welcome! If you'd like to request something, just send an ask or dm me.

Word count: 4.6k

It's late at night when he finally arrives home after a long and tiring shift. As every night, he can see the flickering of her television through her open window. She's probably watching some documentaries again to help her fall asleep, like most nights.

A gentle smile creeps unnoticed onto his lips at the thought of this grown woman who still needs some light and voices around her at night to fall asleep, like a frightened little child during a thunderstorm. She's mostly like a scared little kid, to be honest.

He pulls out his keychain and tries to open the door, but since the light's broken since... he doesn't even know if it ever worked, it's really hard to find the keyhole, although he should be able to find it blindfolded.

The stairs creak under his feet as he carefully walks up to his apartment because he doesn't want to wake anyone in this poorly soundproofed house. As he enters his apartment, he hears the sounds of the documentary next door. Something about sharks, he realizes after a short while. Interested in what the voice is saying, he tries to keep quiet while changing from his work clothes to sweatpants and a faded Metallica shirt.

With a sigh and a bowl of cereal in his hands, he flops down on his battered couch to follow the explanation of a shark's hunting behavior. Before the spoon can touch his lips, however, the phone unexpectedly rings.

An annoyed "What the hell?" slips from his lips as he gets up again, wondering who is calling him in the middle of the night, and rushes to the phone, afraid the ringing will wake his neighbors.

"Yeah?" He answers the phone and brushes his hair back.

"Eddiiiie!" Her squeaky voice is so loud and shrill that he has to hold the receiver away from his ear to prevent tinnitus.

"Eddie, you home?" she asks, not giving him time to realize who's on the other end. Eddie furrows his brows and, a bit confused, replies, "I um... yeah, I really hope so. At least physically. I mean you dialed my home number and I answered, so I -" but before he can explain further why he's, in fact, home, she cuts him off.

"Eddie, I can't open my fridge." A small single hiccup interrupts her. "I need your help please." Only now can he hear the slight slur in her voice, but he's too confused about what she just said.

"You... what? Why can't you open your fridge?"

"I don't know. I'm just... maybe, you know, it's broken or blocked by something. I need ketchup and eggs and I'm so hungry. And I want cheese,” she cries out like a little kid desperate for candy at the grocery store, but her parents said no.

"Please, Eddie, I'm begging you. Can you come over and fix it? I'm starving!"

He rubs the bridge of his nose and sighs.

"Yeah, ok. Give me a second."

"Thank you sooo much!" She stretches the 'so' to an unbearable level before telling him, "Door's open." And with that she hangs up the phone.

After this long day he had hoped for a relaxing night. Just him, his cereal, and some bullshit to make fun of on TV. But now he is interrupted by her. Not that he wouldn't like this disturbance of his well-deserved rest, not as long as it's her. He knows her from high school, they graduated the same year. All those years of high school, he was the one that everyone bullied or just ignored. Except for her. She was always nice to him, although they hardly exchanged a word. After finding out who had moved in next door, he was kind of relieved to see her again and get to know her a little better through little chats in the hallway and later some movie nights and Sunday hangover brunch.

Eddie puts his bowl back on the counter and grabs his small tool kit before leaving his apartment.

There is a sign on the door across the hall that says "Enter at your own risk". But he had entered several times now, and mostly he was fine afterwards. Sometimes her fiancé would come home drunk at night and kick him out screaming because he thought she had cheated on him. But she was the most loyal soul Eddie has ever met. Even after the first time she had to cover up a nasty black eye, she was so soft and sweet, told anyone who asked her that she had fallen or crashed with her door or a closet. She never admitted that he hit her. On the other hand, the walls between Eddies and Y/N's apartment are so thin that he can hear every step, every word, and every cry. So he knows everything that goes on behind closed doors.

He puts his hand on the doorknob and carefully pushes the door open.

"Y/n?" he asks, peering through the crack. The narrator's voice can still be heard from the living room, reporting on the life of the sharks, and the flickering of the television illuminates the small hallway in which he now stands.

"Here." He follows her voice into the small kitchen to his left. Their apartments are built the same way, just mirrored. But hers looks so different. Welcoming, warm, cozy, like a real home with personality, something that is a safe place. In contrast to his apartment, which is barely more than a simple place to sleep with a somewhat crappy kitchen.

He finds her on the kitchen floor in front of her fridge, wrapped in a home-knit blanket, one hand on the fridge door, the other holding a glass of wine. There's a pot next to him on the stove, the water boiling over and sizzling as small drops smash onto the hot stovetop.

"Jesus Christ!" he hisses. He quickly picks up the pot and sets it aside, turning the heat down before turning to her.

"I'm so hungry, but I can't open the fridge" she cries as she looks up at him. To prove her efforts, she pulls on the door, but nothing happens.

Eddie takes a step forward, kneels down next to her and inspects the fridge. Y/N moves aside so he can see better and nearly spills her wine. A soft "shit" escapes her as she catches the glass in time.

Eddie doesn't have to be a mechanic to spot the problem. He sits cross-legged and looks at her with a worried expression.

"Y/N," he begins, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah?" She takes her eyes off her glass and now looks at Eddie with those incredibly soft and warm eyes.

He carefully takes her glass away and clears his throat. "Y/N how many drinks did you have tonight?"

She tilts her head and frowns. "I don't know, two or three. Why?" Another little hiccup makes her jump up a bit. The boy in front of her puts his hand on the fridge door, now on the other side where she tried to yank it before, and opens it. Her eyes light up, only to be covered by her hands in embarrassment a split second later.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry Eddie."

"It's okay, it can happen to any of us," he laughs, patting her shoulder to emphasize that she doesn't have to be ashamed. Everyone is a bit dumber when drunk. When someone knows how dumb people are when drunk, it's him and fully out of first hand.

"But you shouldn't try to cook when you're drunk.", he adds kind of worried.

Outraged, she defends herself and steals the glass from his hand. "I am not drunk!" A little pause. "Well, maybe a little tipsy," she adds quietly, barely above a whisper.

"What do you want to cook so late?" He grabs the desired ketchup and some eggs from the now open fridge and puts them next to the stove.

"And where is your fiancé by the way? Shouldn't he already be at your house? I mean, I don't want to seem like a creep, but every time I come home from work his car is always blocking my parking spot. But I didn't see it today. And honestly, I don't want to be kicked out again like I'm a burglar or something."

And that seems to be the point that kind of hurt her. As soon as his question was out loud, she froze, the grateful crooked smile fading.

"Yeah, no. I don't know." She drains the wine with a long gulp. "I do not know where he is." The glass hits the tile on the floor next to her with a loud bang, and Eddie is surprised it didn't shatter. There's a hint of pain and anger in her voice, but he's too shy to ask what's going on.

She wipes her face with her hand as if to wipe away the thought of her fiancé and stands up.

"Can you pass me that bowl from over there?" With a short nod in the direction of the bowl, she indicates where the desired bowl is.

She thanks him and cracks open some eggs on the edge of the bowl with one hand. “You don't have to stay any longer, the fridge is open now. Thanks again." It's a mixture of shame and fear that fills her and keeps her from looking at him, but all she can hear is a disdainful "Pffft". Eddie crosses his arms over his chest and shakes his head.

“I certainly won't let you cook unattended while drunk. You almost” he catches a glimpse of the pot he ripped off the stove and looks at her in disbelief. “You almost burned pasta? Do you really think I'll let you keep cooking and risk burning the whole building down?" Actually, it's only meant as a rhetorical question, but to his amazement, she nods.

"I won't burn anything, trust me." She replies slightly snippy while trying to grate the cheese into the eggs with shaky hands and a foggy vision.

"Come on, give it to me, I'll do it. It hurts just to look at it." Firmly determined, he snatches the cheese and the grater from her and now grates the cheese into the mixing bowl himself until she says stop. He hadn't expected that she would let him help her and accept his offer without any arguments. Finally, she adds a dash of milk and whisks everything together.

"I'll get something to drink, can you drain the pasta and heat a pan?" Without waiting for his answer, she disappears slightly tottering from the kitchen with her glass, leaving Eddie behind.

"A pan..." he murmurs to himself as he rummages through the cupboards until he opens the last door and a heap of pots and pans nearly falls out in front of him. He reacts quickly, trying to stop the shaky stack with one hand while pulling out a pan with the other. After making sure the noodles are cooked, he drains them and moments later, Y/N re-enters the kitchen, her glass filled with red wine again.

"Nope." His fingers close around the thin stem of the glass and before she can protest, he puts it on a higher cupboard where she can't reach and looks at her. "I don't think you should drink any more. Really, trust me." She looks at him sullenly and presses her lips into a thin line.

"Spoilsport" she growls as she puts oil in the pan.

"Spoilsport? Yeah, say that again tomorrow when you only have a slight hangover." With a wink, he puts the noodles in the hot pan.

As punishment for this comment, she gently pushes him away from the stove and goes back to cooking. Eddie takes the opportunity to dump the wine and fill the glass with water.

"Here, drink some water." He puts the glass down next to her and watches her as she frys the noodles with the egg and cheese mixture.

"You see, nothing burned." She defiantly holds the plate with the food under his nose. "I wouldn't have needed your help."

But he only replies with a laugh: "Oh, and what was that about the fridge? YOU called ME because you desperately needed help.”

"You called me because you desperately needed help." she mimics him and grimaces, whereupon both of them burst out laughing after a moment.

"Do you think you have everything you need now or should I stay before you call me in 10 minutes anyway because you need help?" No matter what her answer is, he will still try to stay with her. Not because he's pushy. Rather, because he's a little worried. This whole situation and the way she reacted to his question about her fiancé makes him suspect that something is wrong. And he couldn't deal with himself if something happened after he left her alone.

"Now that you're here," she begins, mouth full with noddles, "you can stay here if you want. Then we both won't be so lonely." Now it's her who gives him a meaningful wink.

"Lonely," he repeats, raising his hands for imaginary quotation marks. "I am not lonely."

"Pfft, of course," she agrees, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

With a cheeky expression that cues him to follow her, she squeezes past him and goes into the living room.

The documentary about sharks is already over and has since been replaced by a news program. As Eddie enters the living room, he freezes for a moment. The large dining table in front of him is set for a big dinner. With a bouquet of flowers, a candlestick whose candles have already burned down, and a meal that has been prepared with great effort. Steaks, bacon-wrapped beans, hash browns, gravy. The plates and cutlery are prepared like in one of those posh restaurants, beautiful wine glasses are ready, two champagne glasses are filled. But the champagne stopped sparkling long ago, the food is cold and the wine bottle is empty.

With furrowed eyebrows, he turns to Y/N, who has flopped down on the sofa and is now seasoning the noodles with ketchup. He's not entirely sure whether to address the table setting and good food, or ignore it the way she does. Eventually, however, he gives in to his curiosity.

"You know, you have a table full of delicious food, probably very expensive food by the looks of it, and you call me to help you open the fridge so you can make noodles with eggs?" he asks her in disbelief and points to the table with a very sweeping, expansive gesture.

"Oh shut up.", she whispers to him grimly. “You don't have to stay here. Fuck off and leave me alone too." At least now he is pretty sure that he has hit a sore spot. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together.

“Woah, woah, woah! Now, slow down, Megaera." With a short laugh, he tries to lighten the mood, in vain. Cautiously, as if he were approaching a starving big cat, he takes one step toward her and stretches out his hands in a reassuring gesture. "Did he stand you up?" His voice is softer than before, more caring. He sits next to her on the sofa and watches her hurriedly stuff the noodles into her mouth, presumably to keep her mouth busy so it doesn't tell him what's going on. But it's too late for that.

"I called his workplace. We wanted to eat together, I cooked for us." Although she fights it, the words just flow out of her mouth. “And I was already done waiting for him. After an hour he still wasn't there, so I picked up the phone and called. Maybe he had to work overtime at short notice and couldn't call me, you know?" He nods attentively and gestures for her to continue.

“So I asked if he was still there or if he was already on his way home. And his colleague” Unintentionally she laughs hysterically. "His colleague tried to tell me that his fiancée picked him up three hours ago." Still uncomprehending, she shakes her head.

“What do you mean, his fiancee? I thought you were … "

"Yeah, so do I." She looks at him with a grim smile and has to fight back the tears that sting her eyes and blur the view.

He notices how painful it is for her and can't even imagine what it must be like for her. Without further ado, he stretches out his arms and pulls her into a tight embrace.

"Come here." He whispers in her ear and gently rubs her upper arm. "You deserve better than him."

Soon his t-shirt is soaked with her tears as he gently hugs her crouched body. They could have sat there for hours, days, weeks, he wouldn't care as long as he could hold and comfort her.

"I never thought he'd be capable of something like that..." she sobs once the tears dried up. "I mean, yeah, we've had our problems and arguments. But doesn't every couple have them? Is that … Isn't that perfectly normal in a relationship?" She looks at him with red, swollen eyes, "You can talk about anything, right? There's nothing that can't be explained."

"So 'a few problems and arguments' is a bit of an understatement, don't you think?" Looking back, he found there were more than 'a few' problems and far too many arguments between the two.

"What do you mean?" she asks confused and pushes away from him to get a better look at him. Not sure what to say now, without sounding like a stalker or pervert, of course, he is silent for a moment. But it's better to tell her the truth, maybe then she'll understand that this relationship was a bad decision.

"The walls are very thin, you know?" he tries to explain carefully and waits for her reaction for a moment before he continues his statement.

"Do you really think nobody knew what he was like? Do you honestly think nobody knew where you got that black eye from? Or the bruises on your knees?" Eddie really needs to focus not to get too angry or loud. He would love to ask her if she was just too stupid or naive to see what a bad person he is.

"Just the fact of how he reacted when we watched a movie together. Has it never occurred to you that a partner shouldn't react like that? I think he was pretty close to throwing hands the last time he kicked me out. And why? Because you helped me sew a new patch onto my vest?" During its execution, she remains silent. It's true, when you're in love, you see everything through rose-tinted glasses. But Eddie is right, she now has to admit it painfully.

"I don't want to blame you, really. But you should start to see that he's the wrong guy for you." And he's right about that too. It tears her apart inside. Of course she deserves better, someone who appreciates her and is loyal, who loves and honors her. On the other hand, she loves him. At least that's what she thinks. Or does she just love the idea of him as he used to be?

"He really could have picked a better day for it than my birthday." Shit. Is it her birthday? Stunned, he shakes his head. A simple "asshole" is all he can think of.

Tears sting in her eyes again and her throat seems to constrict. Eddie grabs a tissue and tries to wipe away her new tears.

"Shhht, it's going to be okay," he whispers while pulling her into another hug. At the moment he doesn't know how everything is supposed to be okay again, but he's pretty sure that he can at least help her at this moment.

After a while her tears dried up. Both of them are now lying on the couch, she has buried her fingers in his t-shirt, he has wrapped his arms tightly around her. He desperately hopes that she can't hear how fast his heart is beating. Not only because of the anger that had boiled up in him towards her fiancé, but also because his body probably likes it more than it should to be so close to her. Before that, he never realized how much he actually liked her. Why is he only now noticing it? Probably, he thought, because she had really opened up to him now and he really got to know her the way she really is. Suddenly she is not just the neighbor with whom you have a quick chat in the hallway or watch a film, the neighbor who watches documentaries to fall asleep when he comes home at night or who puts a pasta casserole in front of the door for him to eat when he comes home from gigs with his band in the early hours of the morning and is certainly not able to cook.

Suddenly she is such a vulnerable person lying in his arms, who has revealed her pain to him and shares her grief. He doesn't know how long they've been lying there. The news program has since been replaced by a home shopping show, which is now running in the background.

Her eyes are closed and with each breath her chest presses against his for a split second. Never in his life could he have imagined holding her so close. And he never dared to even think about holding her in any way. With his free hand he grabs the blanket and pulls it over her so she doesn't have to freeze. The longer he lies snuggled together on the couch with her, feeling her breath against his skin, the smell of her shampoo in his nose, the more he begins to enjoy it. It feels so natural and by God he can't think of anything better than being able to spend every night like this. How can someone give up something like that so easily? How can someone give up and replace someone like HER so easily? This is completely incomprehensible to him. And then also on her birthday?

She seems to have fallen asleep in his arms by now. Her grip on his shirt went slack and the rest of her body seems to relax in his embrace as well. He can't explain it, and he certainly can't stop it, his body suddenly seems to have taken control. He carefully leans a little towards her until some of her wild hair tickles his nose. His lips gently touch her skin as he plants a kiss on her forehead. It just feels like he has to do this, he has no choice but to tell his body not to do it.

He whispers a soft "Happy Birthday." before he pulls her closer and rests his chin on the top of her head, still thinking she's asleep.

"Eddie?" Her sleepy voice startles him. Eyes wide, he freezes for a moment, heat rising in his cheeks as he feels caught.

"Yeah?" he replies uncertainly, maybe she's just thirsty or he's lying on her hair. Maybe she did not even notice the kiss.

"Can you do that again?" She noticed. She actually did notice. Unimaginable shame floods through him, but he tries to play it down as if nothing happened. Maybe he can make her think she imagined it while she was half asleep?

"Do what again?"

"That little peck, it felt good." It felt good? That little gesture born of a pure, thoughtless gut feeling? Yes, that's exactly what felt good.

She has long forgotten what it's like to feel loved and secure. What it's like to just be held in someone's arms. And she has long forgotten what it's like to be kissed properly. With love, adoration, full of affection. Even if it was just a quick kiss, thoughtlessly. It kindled old, lost feelings in her.

He hesitates for a moment. But the kiss felt so natural and right to him, he doesn't even realize how much he longs to press his lips against her smooth skin again.

Both of them might not want to admit it, but that little innocent touch gets them excited like teenagers before their first kiss. Trembling with tension and keeping his breath normal in high concentration, he now bends down to her again. When his lips brush her hairline again and she feels his warm breath on her skin, a storm of butterflies breaks out in her stomach.

And not only she is overwhelmed by this comfortably warm, safe and yet incredibly exciting feeling.

Her fingers dig into the soft fabric of his shirt again before, without thinking, she lifts her head and presses her lips against his.

It takes him a moment to realize what exactly is happening, but doesn't hesitate for a second when her lips touch his. With his right hand, he presses her body flush against his, his left hand travels up into her hair only to slide down her cheek and cup her face moments later.

Their lips slowly move to a silent rhythm that only the two of them seem to hear. The melody gets faster and faster and their lips adapt to the rhythm, the voices from the TV in the background are now completely silent for the two of them. They only hear their racing heartbeats and the breathing of each other. And despite his very assertive and greedy demeanor, he still seems to be asking with every move if she's okay with it. As he deepens the kiss and runs the tip of his tongue gently over her lip, his hand travels from her face to the back of her neck, his fingers digging into her hair. Both of their heartbeats are so strong, complementing the melody with each pounding like the thumping of a bass guitar. After a few moments, they break the kiss to catch their breath. He rests his forehead against hers and seems to be staring into her soul. Tightly embraced and trembling with excitement, they need a moment to return to reality, to the here and now. Gradually their breathing returns to normal and a wide, overjoyed smile is reflected on their lips.

"Don't you dare think I have a crush on you," she threatens with a crooked grin that she tries to suppress. Her heart is still beating so fast she thinks it's about to burst out of her chest. She can't even remember ever being so fulfilled and happy, let alone having such an incomparably beautiful kiss.

Eddie wears a mischievous grin, small dimples form on his cheeks. Has he always had dimples like that? she wonders. They are so adorable, his grin so mesmerizing.

"Too late," he tells her defiantly. "I think you're pretty much in love with me." She can barely cover her insecure and shy laughter with a roll of her eyes. But he's right, even if it's hard for her to admit it.

"But you're not the only one with a pretty big crush," he adds in a calmer, deeper voice. He puts his hand on her chin again, lifting her head up to place his lips on hers again.

"I don't think I've ever had such a horrible yet beautiful birthday," she whispers against the kiss, now cupping his scratchy face as well.

"And all because you couldn't open your fridge." He can't help but make that stupid comment. And as revenge she punches him gently on the upper arm.

"Asshole." She insults him, laughing.

"As long as you kiss me, you can call me whatever you want."

xxx

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please like and reblog if you liked it. <3

[yellowloid]

my experience at am's show (3arena, dublin, 15/10/2023)

starting to write this post while stuck waiting at the airport, after somehow managing to get rid of my sleep deprivation headache through an overpriced orange juice. (edit: it's been two days and i'm stuck at home with a cold and it's all their fault) (jk) (i mean i guess that's giving me an incentive to finish writing this post so yknow. silver linings)

i'm sorry in advance because i know this is gonna be super long (and probably less cheerful than my other recap posts because i'm opinionated) but i swear i'm gonna try and not be insufferable (said as i obviously lie)

• SO let's start off by saying that we made it right in time for the start of miles' set (we were looking for our seats as he came on stage) and thank god because i was shitting myself and almost throwing up thinking we were gonna be late bc the bus we were supposed to take never showed up and we had to take another one. we literally SPRINTED up the stairs once we were in and heard he was coming up

• seeing miles open for them was moral compensation for his milan concert that i wasn't able to attend despite having tickets in 2022

• he had a very short time slot as usual with opening bands :/ and unfortunately that led to everything feeling a bit rushed :( like i'm not sure how he's been playing songs like cry on my guitar or the wonder at his latest gigs but they were SO DAMN FAST like please slow down i want to let my fav omb song sink in 😭

• still i absolutely LOVED his set, especially colour of the trap (which was AMAZING live), rearrange, come closer and inhaler. his energy was through the roof, he was literally buzzing and if you can already see how much he loves performing via video, it absolutely shines through when you see it live like. bro's literally a ball of light and energy and like. the sun personified l??? he's got so much charisma and a great stage presence. he was all smiles and really really tried to get the crowd hyped. loved him loved his set

• speaking of the crowd. it was absolute bullshit they had ZERO idea how lucky they were to have tickets to one of those four dates and how iconic it was that mk was opening for am after all these years. or maybe they just didn't care idk but i swear to god it wasn't even the usual "crowd who's not interested in the opening act" which. again. do you know how lucky you are you're seeing them both on the same night. don't let yourself be fooled by that cott video with the phonelights on, that was the only thing they did to show miles at least the tiniest bit of support - they were fucking dead otherwise, which is so weird because if you know am at more than a surface level you most likely know who miles is, and you probably know at the very least some of his songs... and yet they were so fucking quiet it was honestly painful to witness. most people there really had no idea how much lore was behind those gigs and it shows

• but again, it wasn't even that they weren't interested in the opening act. because they were fucking dead even during the main set. my section was full of drunk guys who were kinda hyped but very annoying (we'll come back to this later) but even in the pit which is supposed to be the most active area it looked like everyone was asleep and woke up at random times remembering they were at a concert and they were supposed to cheer and sing and just act accordingly ??¿¿??

• not even dancefloor or diwk managed to wake them up......DIWK. that's like. the song that's guaranteed to make the ground shake. i've seen am three times this year and in both paris and rome the crowd was usually only dead during the car songs (and tbhc depending on the song) - but they were INSANELY active during other songs, both oldies and classics. but this crowd was so disappointing literally snork mimimi-ing their way through the show

• anyway. miles should have played wrong side of life just for me and he also had the opportunity to do the funniest shit ever and play killing the joke or see ya when i see ya but alas one cannot have everything

• he did do something very......interesting during cry on my guitar (and i think also during one man band? but i'm not sure). my guy pointed at the mirrorball while singing "late night, all night, miss your kiss" which was kinda insane and i lost my mind a little but anyway

• as we all know there was no tlsp because he removed aviation first and then sntm which particularly hurt because he did it just a couple of hours before the show and when i saw that i just Knew. i knew shit was rapidly going downhill but still i was holding out my hope!!! i thought well there's still 505 or maybe they're saving sntm for later!!! i chose to keep being delusional!!! and boy was i about to get slapped in the face!!!

• now before we talk about am's set allow me to tell you a funny story. as i said my section was full of men who were very hyped (especially for wpsia/fwn/am songs) and the guy right next to me in particular (who was there with some other male friends) was, to put it shortly, a fucking annoyance. i was there with my brother and as we were waiting for the start of am's set he went to get us some water; so i was there alone minding my own business when the guy next to me immediately started hitting on me (he literally waited for my brother to leave bc he probably thought he was my bf lmao real smooth man). he was trying to make conversation asking me where i came from or things about the band, if it was my first time seeing them and what song did i think they were gonna open with and internally i was like BITCH who do you think i am. i literally know their setlist by heart. you and me are not the same

when i told him sculptures was gonna be the opener he was like 'mmmm idk' and i was like shut the fuck up. he was so condescending and patronizing about it and mentally i was like honey trust me we're not the same kind of fans i know much more than you do. anyway spoiler: of course they opened with sculptures

(he was also from england and told me he saw them in london at emirates stadium and when i asked him if he saw them on THE night when miles joined them he was like 'haha no' at which i was mentally like bro you didn't even see them on the right night why are you pestering me with your lame ass attempts at hitting on me. and he was so close too and already tipsy and basically just a stereotypical english dudebro and i swear the whole scene literally looked like this

but anyway then my brother came back and he finally shut up

• the problem is. this guy and his friends then started chugging on their beers and getting really drunk and the whole show this fucking idiot had no idea what personal space was because he kept invading my section and kept moving around drunkenly and i couldn't even fully enjoy the concert because i was so fucking scared i was gonna get elbowed in the face sooner or later, and i even tried to push him off because he kept bumping into me with his clumsy ass drunk moves but he just kept fucking being a nuisance the whole show and i really really wanted him gone from planet earth <3

• this went on to the point that i was dreading the fast and more active songs because this guy would just start being really frantic and overexcited and i literally feared for my life but even during the calmer songs he was fucking annoying like bruh. i appreciate the enthusiasm but i promise you don't have to throw it back to cornerstone like calm the fuck down or at least back off and stay in your fucking lane or i swear i'm gonna bite your head off

• anyway now let's talk about the actual show

• let me start by saying that yes i may have some complaints but regardless of everything it was (as always) a fucking great show. no doubt about that. i very much enjoyed it and i'm also very happy we were the first crowd to experience the strings live. i definitely got some better setlists (rome's lives in my head rent free), but it is what it is. beautiful show but well, it's always a beautiful show with them and we all know that. i may have mixed feelings about some things but these are just my opinions so please don't come at me lmao

• about the setlist: i definitely would've appreciated if we got a bit more tbhc (we only got the title track and that was it... i mean at least i got to hear it live, for the first time if i remember correctly, but still..... i'm mourning the loss of 4/5 and star treatment) (we didn't even get the iwby x star treatment x jet skis mashup which i was really sad about because i LOVE that mashup and i would've loved to hear it again); for the car, i'm so happy i got to hear hello you (we'll talk about this more later) but i also would've loved to hear perfect sense again because </3 sir that's my emotional support favourite the car song </3

• i was also thinking we'd get a bit more wpsia since originally it was the uk&ireland tour and back in june they played some more songs from that album, also because usually the closer they get to home, the more they go back to the origins... i was so hoping for mardy bum, a certain romance or ritz but instead we only got the view from the afternoon (not complaining about that tho) and dancefloor (please for the love of god remove that song from the setlist forever thank you very much)

• also if you want to give us sias (good) then why would you choose to give us don't sit down.........give us hellcat.......give us the title track........anything but That One...................

• however i got my beloved cornerstone (<3), 505 with the new string outro (but at what cost) and also all the car songs with the orchestra so that's a win

• as usual the crowd was kinda dead during the car and tbhc songs but again. they were already dead so they only became more dead during those songs

• they didn't really interact that much with the crowd, nor with each other; alex limited himself to the usual ("good evening dublin", "how you feeling/are you enjoying us dublin", "thank you", a couple of "terrific" here and there but that was it) + he did a shout out to jamie during cornerstone ("it's jamie cook here on his electric guitar!") and i think they scissored at some point during the body paint outro

• the transition from teddy picker into crying lightning was absolute FIRE my ass was shaking

• now for some silly antics

• after the piano interlude before high he said "why'd you only call me when you're high........" in the lowest saddest way ever as he usually does. okay man 😃👍

• he introduced arabella by going "i'll tell you about a girl that i made up......real character......arabella" like bruh we got it we understand you totally made her up and she's 100% not real like i promise we Get It we really do. why do you always feel the need to reinforce that why are you so adamant about it ESPECIALLY when in the presence of a certain someone......you're so sus

• "and it sounds like..........THIS" before the arabella guitar solo. literal chills

• "let's bring this party down to the cornerstone.........woah 😯"

• he always adds this thing during cornerstone i remember he also did it in rome and then i forgot to post the clip but i swear i never understand what he's saying i've seen some people transcribe it as 'ken barlow' but to me it sounds more like 'jenny ballow' or smth like that which doesn't make sense either way but still. does anyone know what i'm talking about and wtf he's on about

• nothing to say about cornerstone. beautiful beautiful beautiful as always <3 he also did the "squeezed me very tightly" bit that he always does and it was the cutest thing

• he sang the last line of the song so cuntily it was like. 'yes 😗 you can call me anything 😏 you want 💅' if it slayed

• after the song ended there was a moment of silence after which he went "......they kept in touch" and i felt the need to put him in a blender and drink him whole

• "from our first LP wpsiatwin, the view from the afternoon......."

• he got on his knees during pretty visitors. where he belongs

• we also got knee socks but there was something wrong because his voice cracked multiple times on the higher notes, he didn't even finish singing some lines - he just stopped, shook his head and then tried the next one... idk what was happening but he really looked like he was struggling during that song :(

• at the end of fluorescent adolescent he sang "remember when you used to be a rascal....... ~do you remember?~" which i saw he also did at last night's show and idk man that was kinda sus

• the strings were absolutely amazing showstopping spectacular and really put a nice ribbon on the songs they were used for (especially 505 and hello you) but that just makes things even more infuriating because why did they only get the whole orchestra there for the last four shows which weren't even originally supposed to happen.......... are you telling me if alex hadn't caught laryngitis we never would've have got them or what. like what's up with that

• anyway up until this point despite the lack of sntm i was still a sweet naive summer child who had some hopes left for 505. but the moment the music started playing without miles having been introduced to join them i knew. i knew we wouldn't get shit

• the 505 outro with strings was amazing tho......so melancholy and beautiful and just sososo pretty i loved it. would've loved it even more if miles and alex smooched right there and then

• as i said the crowd was dead even during diwk which was absolutely embarrassing lmao like wtf. not only was i the only one popping my pussy to the car and tbhc songs i also was the only one doing it to the most basic ahh song (still a banger tho it's always so powerful live 10/10)

• i can't believe the biggest milex interaction we got was alex saying "let's hear it for miles kane" right before body paint... i nearly lose my mind there and he literally just said his name (not a dedication like some people said) but i mean. that was at least acknowledging each other so i'll take that (said as i rip my hair out and bite my tongue and roll on the floor hitting myself)

• i was so delusional at that point when i heard he said his name i thought well maybe they're gonna be random and he's gonna join for body paint!!!!! which in hindsight i'm like. girl do you have any idea how insane you sound rn

• "thank you for having us dublin, it's been lovely" said with the most 'i'd rather be anywhere else than here rn' face and tone ever :/

• btw his little HA! was very <3<3<3 and at some point he was like scratching his head in such a cute way i almost forgot how mad at him i was (emphasis on almost)

• "just a trace....... just a trace....... just a traaaaaaceeeeeee....... just. a. trace. on your legs~ and on your arms~ and on your face........ your faceeeeee"

• when they left the stage before the encore the crowd was shouting "one more song" but all i wanted to hear was "miles, miles, miles fucking kane" because who knows maybe that would've shook them up and they'd spontaneously decide to call him on for the encore (incredibly delusional)

• hello you as the encore opener was fire, i'm so glad i got to hear it live AND with the strings too, it sounded just like the recorded version and you could hear the improvement in the live version so clearly compared to when they first debuted it; the mirrorball still hadn't dropped and since i haven't been watching many videos from the north american tour i was like ??? i thought it was maybe malfunctioning bc only the little one at the back was shining before but them BOOM the main girl dropped during hello you and it was crazy beautiful!!!!!

• "i bet that YOU look good on the dancefloor, dublin"

• at the end of the show he was blowing and catching kisses, they were bowing and waving to the crowd and that's when i realised it was my last time seeing them this tour and you could see the exact moment my heart cracked i was desperately hoping they'd never leave that stage </3

• it was an amazing night but it very much left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth - because, as i've been saying, the vibes felt so off and i don't even know why. i can't exactly point out what was wrong, because really we have no idea what goes on behind the scenes; and i'm not even talking about it through a milex lens or smth like that. i mean, i was absolutely disappointed that nothing happened - no sntm, no 505, nothing -, but when i say the vibes were off i don't mean it in a demon way. i'm talking about the band. they really looked like they didn't want to be there, probably because they're tired and burnt out and can't wait for the tour to be over so that they can have a much-needed break. they must be exhausted and i get that, i really do; but still. it was a bit disappointing and i hate that i can't fully put my finger on why it felt that way, what was wrong, why did everything feel so rushed and why the well-oiled machine feeling translated into 'we're gonna play this show so soullessly it's gonna fly by more quickly' but it really felt that way. also mind you, i'm not even saying this as the 'tumblr fan who follows every show they play and knows all their antics by heart so that's why she notices perfectly normal things no one else notices' (like i remember the discourse back when they played glastonbury, and that really made sense because ofc casual fans are not gonna notice everything we notice) - but no, i'm not doing this that way. because my brother, who's very much a casual fan who knows nothing about the lore or the usual way they play shows (he saw them with me in paris so he had some kind of basic for comparison but that's it) said THE EXACT SAME THING. he agreed that the vibes felt very off, he also had to listen to me angrily ranting about it all the way back to the hotel and once again he agreed that the show felt, to put it very simply, kinda weird.

• now speaking of miles not joining them... the fact that he removed sntm at the very last minute was one of the sussiest thing he's ever done because why would he even add it to the initial setlist only to remove it just before the first show. it literally doesn't make any sense but i'm choosing to believe there were some technical problems out of their control, no time to rehearse or something like that... they're still best friends and if they weren't okay they wouldn't even have asked miles to open for them. i do find it weird and stupid that they'd miss this opportunity and i'm so angry at them for being dumb and not doing anything with it (unless something happens tomorrow), i'm very much heartbroken and my mind was and still is wandering trying to find more or less rational or delusional reasons why they didn't do it. i was drowning in grief after the show and the day after because i simply couldn't wrap my head around it all, but that's on me for having expectations i guess. i know they're still best friends. they're also never beating the divorce allegations. the two things can and should coexist when you're in an obsessive codependent homoerotic friendship and you're constantly having filthy telepathic sex with each other

• someone please get them to therapy or lock them in a room and throw away the key until they talk and sort their shit out and it stinks of sloppy nasty make-up sex in there because at this point it feels like we're fucking intruding on their fucked up psychosexual games and i'm SO TIRED of being a child of divorce. please we know you know everyone knows you're obsessed with each other just stop being insane (barely acknowledging each other) and start being insane (having crazy gay sex again). i promise all your problems would be solved if you just fucked each other into oblivion like the good old days

• ANYWAYS. i'm still kinda sad and angry over the way the show unfolded and it's not really helping that it's dawning on me that there's only one show left and then they're gonna disappear for god knows how long. i still loved the show, don't get me wrong, and i'm very grateful i got to see them again before the end of the tour and also to see miles for the first time during the same night. i do feel very lucky and despite the fact that we got no tlsp reunion or 505, the fact that miles was opening for them after YEARS of this not happening is still very much history in the making. iconic in and of itself. i'm also happy i got to visit and fall in love with a new city, i'm missing dublin so much and i miss THEM so much and i'm feeling so sad and bittersweet and heartbroken and ugh. i swear i can't even explain it to the full and i can't believe the tour is almost over </3 but that's a thought for another post..........

• for now i just want to see what happens at the last show and enjoy it to the full because yes we might have complained about some stuff along the way (i know i just did it myself lmao) but it's been such an amazing and memorable tour i just wish it'd never end </3

[brightside-of-the-upsidedown]

Baby, I Got Sick This Morning

Chapter 10 I wanna lay you down in a bed of roses (For tonight I sleep on a bed of nails)

Rating: Explicit

Ships: Harringroveson, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Word Count: 56,393

Status: On Going

Chapter Summary: Our boys take a break, Steve gets some rest, there is talking and- not talking. Beware Teddy Bears, for they are fierce ❤

Chapter Notes: Yes, sorry for the late update. Health has been dragging me down and I've stayed busy with work on top of it. But I hope this chapter finds you all well!

Thank you to my partner for his support and to my amazing beta, Leti, who could use all the love right now ❤ go read and support her fics on @leticheecopae! Tell her Harle sent you ❤

The next update may take 2 to 4 weeks, hopefully not that long but I like to let people know what to expect as I'm writing as I go.

Thank you all for hanging in there with me ❤ your support means a lot!

Story Summary: Steve is dying, but what hurts the most is watching how it's affecting his family, his friends, everyone around him.

Nothing seems to be helping - not his community rallying around him, not magic itself, and not the devoted attention of Eddie Munson. Eddie is a rock and a hurricane in Steve's life. Steve might also be a little bit in love with him.

Then, one day when all other options run out, Eddie introduces him to one Billy Hargrove, and Steve's already-screwed-up life might be taking a turn. But is it for the better or for the more dangerous?

Notes: not all of Steve's chronic issues will be healed. He will always have some disabilities because I ain't about about that 'cure all' shit. They're just saving his life here.

As for the magical pregnancy: it will be in the sequel, so you'll be able to read this as a stand alone if it's a squick for you. I gotchu buddies ❤

Tags: Terminal Illnesses, Chronic Illness, Fantasy, What If Stranger Things Was More Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer?, Magic Shit, Mentioned Malpractice, Magic Practice, Magical Healing Cock, Future Magical Pregnancy? It's all complicated and Fairy Tale Rumplestiltskin bullshit, Magical Creatures, Demodogs are Hellhounds, Steve is bad sick from an injury, head injuries, Head Injury, Past Torture, Past Relationship(s), past Stancy, Tinnitus, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chrissy lived and is living her best life somewhere, mention of cults, Steve's having a bad time but it improves, Steve Needs a Hug, he's gonna get one and more, Billy Hargrove is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve with long hair, I'm running out of ideas for tags so I'll add more later, please suggest tags if you like, slow updates but please comment it helps so much

[yooniesim]

So, I got this pretty gross anon last night, right. And me being me, on reflex I start answering it, I go through each part, etc. And then all of a sudden I look up and realize, it's late, I'm tired, and I spent almost an hour writing this reply. I said to myself, dude, what in the fuck are you doing? Why are you wasting your time again? Are you really going to post this vitriol, knowing this person likely doesn't give a flying fuck what you have to say anyway, and their bigoted words could hurt your followers that see it? You know better than this. I just reblogged something yesterday about not dignifying bullshit with a response, and there I was doing just that. The anon was already blocked, so I deleted my post I started. And it felt damn good.

Instead, I think I'm gonna say some of the more important things I was thinking about in a more general way. Cos there are a few things I wanna lay down so there's no misunderstanding or any hope that I will do anything different in the future.

First and foremost. From this point on, I won't be accepting or answering any opinions on who or what I am, identity wise. the fact of the matter is, you don't define who or what someone is. you don't tell me what I am, I tell you, and you either accept it as the truth or you leave. your opinion doesn't determine my reality and never will. I'm at the stage of my life where I'm simply not entertaining any bullshit from observers any longer. I will call myself whatever I please and speak on whatever I feel I should as the person I am & the life I've lived, and you will either deal with that or you just won't be around me. period. the block button is my friend now, and I've taken on the mentality that if I block you, you just don't exist to me anymore. you live your life, I live mine, I just never look at your blog or acknowledge you again. any mature person would do the same.

Secondly, I recently mentioned my features (lips, nose, etc) because I wanted to emphasize I am proud of them despite being mocked my whole life for having them. I've even been mocked for them on here in a bigoted manner because like I said before, my pics have been posted plenty. and there was just a debacle recently with a simblr mocking thick lips, because anti-blackness is a constant undercurrent in simblr. that's why I mentioned them. I emphasized that because I want everyone to know that I'm not ashamed of who I am and never will be, despite the fact that some on here fight tooth and nail to try to make me feel I'm somehow less worthy. they will never succeed with me, but I don't want anyone else to feel ashamed of themselves for how they look either. these features are beautiful and worth being proud of and uplifted.

Finally, I'm going to say again: to all my poc followers, mixed or not, you're worthy, and you should be proud of yourselves too. don't let opinions from terminally online people with no actual life experience cause you any shame about who you are. who your parents are, your genetics, your percentages, it don't matter I couldn't give any less of a fuck. you tell me who you are and your struggles and your pain, and I believe and support you. I'm in your corner, and I can only hope I can give back half the love I've been given during this time. You're valid and your voices are important. That's the most important thing I wanted to say, and if this subject comes up again, that's what I will emphasize repeatedly.

[prettyflyshyguy]

Hello, I appreciate you exploring your interests and I'm interested to hear more about the Live Free and Twihard SPN AU

HI. I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS. So does @snackhouse and we've been screaming at each other about this.

She came up with the name "Live Free or Twiharder"

We just really wanted to see the episode go further and double down more mostly.

Anyway gonna dump post some stuff from our conversations under the cut!! We've been bouncing back and forth a lot of ideas, writing snippets, and lamenting on how we wish he had better teeth.

Y'know girl talk things. "I wish this man had really fucked up teeth"

"Yeah"

This is a mix of ideas and comments from the two of us, so full credit goes to Snack for being a local legend and playing handball with me with our shared blorbo. Worse Dean Winchester.

We wanted Sam to have his soul, because the angst potential goes up 200% and we're all here for that. Instead of Sam watching Dean get turned, he gets there too late, and blames himself for what happened.

He's full nihilism mode, genuinely thinks this is the end, Sam tries to explain that there's a cure but Dean's too stubborn and too deep in the downward spiral to really take it in. He has self sacrificial tendencies and just immediately decides to take the fall.

"Dean please just listen to me for once."

"Look at me man, I'm a monster."

Our man is not coping.

So we're both like OK what if it takes longer to heal him. What if he's stuck for a bit longer. Ya gotta hang in a few more days. So then maybe he runs into Lisa, or she reaches out to Sam. She loves this man and after he has the worlds most bizarre and erratic behavior she's going to be really fucking worried, especially since he was aggressive out of seemingly nowhere. She's terrified of him AND for him.

We're cooking so hard the kitchen is on fire.

We are making an environment that is so toxic.

Snack's been cooking hard on how bad can the cure possibly be.

_

Everything was quickly becoming too much. Every sound, smell and sight was bombarding his brain like a 18 wheeler hitting a squirrel.

“My mouth tastes like blood and creepy-dude sweat.” Dean grunted, stepping towards the bathroom.

It was a bullshit excuse and they both knew it, but Dean didn’t think he could make it another minute standing so close to his brother. Stepping into the cramped bathroom he took a second to breathe in a space where he couldn’t hear all of Sam’s veins pulsing with blood, Dean’s gaze drifted towards the mirror.

I wonder if I’ll even recognize myself by the end of this…

He already knew what he was going to find, it’s not like he couldn’t feel them.

Gently peeling back his lips, Dean struggled against the waves of nausea that spilled over him at the sight. Feeling the fangs where there was different from actually seeing them. Now there wasn’t any doubt as what he was now.

Lightly poking the exposed tip of the fang, Dean could feel how sharp it was. Moving his fingertip upward, he slightly pushed the gum above the protrusion, pushing the tip of the fang out like massaging a cat’s foot to see its claws.

The other needle-like teeth seemed to be eager to join their friend, as the rest of the fangs slid from their slits in Dean’s mouth. He wrenched his hand back in horror. He could feel the sharp new additions sliding over his normal teeth. Like the bars of a cage they sealed away any signs of humanity he saw in the mirror. In a matter of seconds he found himself grasping the toilet bowl for purchase has he emptied his stomach.

-

^That's a Snackhouse special right there

-

His shaking hands rattled the keys, clanging in his ears. It made him wince. Pressing his eyes closed he felt for the lock and fumbled for a few agonising seconds in the searing light of the hotel corridor before he heard the familiar clack of the latch sliding open. Stumbling inside, he was relieved to find the interior of their room cold and dark.

“Dean?”

Sam’s familiar voice called out from the table.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Dean groaned as he lurched towards the kitchen, eyes fixed on the floor as it began to shift and spin. Waves of nausea had flowed through him all night, rolling through his body, shifting from his stomach to his chest. He crossed by the beds, leaning on them for support.

“... You ok?”

He stiffened as the feeling rippled through him.

“I’m good, Sammy.”

He heard his brother start to speak again, but stopped. Thank god. He needed a beer or two. Or three. And a nice dark corner, as far away from the table, and the windows, and the noise from the upstairs room, and the opposite corridor room. And the pipes. And the heartbeats.

He could hear two of them as he leaned on the wall, breathing heavily as he recovered from the growing ill sensation in his abdomen. His back was to the table but that didn’t stop him sensing and feeling and hearing. Every. Pump. One heartbeat was significantly faster than the other. Samuel must’ve gotten back early, he noted. He’d had moments of nervous spikes, but generally was taking things well, as expected. Sam on the other hand…

He grunted as he shuffled infront of the fridge and yanked the door open. The hinges whined and creaked, spiking the building throbbing pain in his head. Staring at the contents in dismay, he assessed the rations.

One beer, three cans of soda, two mason jars of cows blood. Both were almost full.

Scrunching his face in disappointment, he reached for the beer. He pressed himself up against the kitchen bench, gently nudging the fridge door closed with his right foot. It glided shut with another sharp and piercing squeal. He growled at it in response as he twisted the bottle cap open.

“I uh… accidentally… ran into Lisa just now and–”

He paused to take a swig of beer. The cold sensation was refreshing, but the taste was stale, and wrong. He gagged on the mouthful before forcing a swallow.

“Augh, what the hell.”

He brought the bottle up to examine the label. He’d had it before and it’d tasted fine then. Frowning, he turned his focus to the table.

“Hey did you–”

Sam was staring at him. He was fiddling with a bottle of the same beer, empty, in front of him. Samuel was not with him. Dean’s heart sank as the sounds of the water pipes, the street, the tv upstairs all began to fade out. She was sitting opposite to Sam, bottle in hand. She looked terrified, worried, confused. She was staring at him the same way she stared into his eyes when he was in her room, though she seemed to recoil in her seat slightly when he returned her gaze.

“Uhm, the uh, the eye thing is to be expected.”

Sam’s voice was a whisper but Dean heard it as if he was standing a foot away. His mind jumped to the nest. In the gloom, when the light caught their eyes, it reflected, like a deer when the car headlights scanned the countryside.

Or like a wolf.

Oh god.

“I gotta go.”

He barely blurted out the words, tossing the bottle of beer into the sink as he beelined for the bathroom door. Past the table. Past the sound. The unbearable, overpowering sound.

“Dean wait!”

Slamming the door behind him, he cursed when he remembered there was no locking latch. Pressing his weight into it, he felt the door handle turn gently. He pushed back against it, digging the heels of his boots into the grooves of the tiled floor as he slowly slid down to sit at its base, panting. The bathroom was his escape, the walls dampened the sound, he could turn the tap on to create white noise. The shower was the only time he felt safe. The drowning sound of the water droplets blocked everything else in the world out.

He could hear the thumping behind the door. Two channels in parallel, overlapping. The beating, beating, beating, beating, beating.

-

Creaking the door open just enough to peer out, he sighed in relief when he saw the hotel room was empty again. Sam was standing near the door, the lamp on the table turned off. He turned around and began to walk back towards the table, hitting the corner of one of the beds in the process. Dean would have laughed, if it had been any other day.

It suddenly occurred to Dean that it was dark. It was late, the blinds were down, and all the lights had been turned off. He could see everything as clearly as if it was a normal, overcast day. Sam was clearly struggling in comparison, as he slowly walked holding his arms out to avoid crashing into another obstacle. Once he had made it to the chair, he sat down and looked in the direction of the bathroom, though Dean could see he wasn’t exactly sure where to look.

“You can come out now, Dean. She’s gone.”

He could have told Sam that.

“The hell’d you let her in here for in the first place Sam!”

He gingerly took a few steps out of the comfort of the bathroom. The low thrum of Sam’s heartbeat was noticeable, but tolerable.

“She was owed an explanation, Dean. She reached out to me, practically demanded and honestly, she deserves to know what's going on.”

Sam was staring at him now, with that stupid puppy dog face he always used to get people to listen to him. Typical emotional bullshit.

“I almost bit her, Sam. I came so close and I–”

“I would have stopped you.”

“Would you have?”

Sam was silent. Grinding his jaw slightly, he breathed out and looked back towards the door.

“Shit, I’m sorry. Look, it's not your fault.”

He once again reached for the fridge door, pulling it open despite the creaks and squeals in protest.

“Augh, god. Fuck.”

“What’s wrong with your arm?” Dean glanced over at Sam, then down to his bandaged forearm. The white gauze was just visible underneath the edge of his rolled up sleeve as he reached into the fridge. The light bathed it in a sickening glow, the spots of red poking through were nearly impossible to hide.

“Nothing.” he responded curtly, slamming the door closed and shutting off the light.

-

^That's a Shy 4AM special for you. You ever open a fridge door and flashbang yourself in the hotel room? (Sorry I only have 5 jokes and they're all in constant rotation with a different skin like a videogame gun)

What you're all here for though, is TEETH TEETH TEETH TEETH

"Stares lomgingly at blood bag" nice

Anyway we started talking about the x files LMFAO but here's the most and best of what we've cooked together so far; we've had a lot of fun.

[chasingfigments]

So here's what I've been up to

Despite the years of relative silence, I actually HAVE been writing, and writing a lot. Most of it just isn't public yet.

September 2021 to January 2023: Planned and outlined a FFXV alternate universe collab with @crazyloststar. (~20,000 words)

January 2023 to present: Started writing the FFXV alternate universe collab. (~76,000 words; 21/36 chapters written; no chapters posted)

January 2023 to August 2023: Took notes for and outlined a FE3H fic about Lysithea returning to Ordelia and dismantling her house, while also being in a long-distance relationship with Claude. (~9,000 words)

September 2023 to present: Started writing the FE3H fic. (~20,000 words; 6/14 chapters written; no chapters posted)

February 2024 to March 2024: Outlined For Some Desperate Glory, a Batman fic where Red Hood kidnaps Bruce Wayne instead of taking over the drug trade. (~7,000 words)

February 2024 to present: Started writing For Some Desperate Glory. (~5,000 words; 1/12 chapters written; 1 chapter posted)

More detail about each of these projects after the cut.

FFXV collab with crazyloststar

If you liked all of our Borders of Divinity bullshit, expect More but also Different. It's another alternate universe/canon divergence, and it's going to be half again as long as BoD.

We're nearly done with Act 2 (chapter 25), which we're scheduled to wrap up next month. We'll be doing a massive continuity edit at that point (it's been well over a year since we wrote chapter one), and once that's finished, we're likely going to start approaching artists for commissions.

According to our writing schedule, we'll be drafting the final chapter sometime in November 2024.

We'll likely start posting before then, but that's going to depend on art and how closely we stick to the writing schedule. We liked being able to post every week with BoD and don't want to risk having to delay a chapter because we're behind.

You'll likely start seeing chapters this year, though it's incredibly likely we'll still be posting in 2025 given its length.

FE3H Lysithea dismantles her house

I'm obsessed with Lysithea's canon ending with Claude, couldn't find anything on AO3 that addressed it, and so here I am, writing it myself.

Also stealing other shit from other endings, but please note--this is essentially the aftermath of a no-recruitment run. It's Golden Deer, with cameos and occasional mentions of other Church-aligned folks.

Claude is off in Almyra for almost the entire fic; here's hoping you're into long-distance relationships when mail delivery takes ages and is not as reliable as the USPS.

I need to get through Act 2 (chapter 9) and do a continuity edit there before I feel comfortable posting.

You'll start seeing chapters this year; maybe late summer-ish. I should be able to get this off my plate this year.

For Some Desperate Glory (Batman fic)

The first chapter is up because I was extra excited and feeling reckless and wanted to get something up the first half of the year when everything else is still months out from being public.

I've gotten my hands on the deluxe version of the UTRH comic; aiming to read it this month. This is likely to cause some additional outline revisions; the chapter count may actually go down--we'll see.

This is the one fic I plan to post chapters as they're finished; the narrative structure is different from the two other projects and won't require continuity checks/overhauls at a specific point.

Hoping to have the entire fic done and up this year. Wish me luck!

[mymistakewriting]

Just a little PSA Reminder

Hi, I've noticed an influx of follwers lately (mostly thanks to my SalTommy dynamic headcanon posts, it seems, hello I hope you enjoy your stay on my blog!), and it's officially been long enough since the end of season that I feel comfortable in letting everyone know my stance on things. AKA things aren't calming down and I'm getting so tired.

As a reminder, I am a multishipper, just before anyone tries to step to me with anything. That's on my pinned post, I have been transparent about that since day one of this blog, long before I made that post.

So what I come to talk about is the... toxicity in some parts of the 911 fandom. It's making this fandom a place that I do not want to interact in, which sucks because I have some really fun things that I've been working hard on for months that I used to be excited to share - and I'm rethinking a good half of them because some fans can't act civilized.

So for anyone from the 911 fandom that is following more or who just so happens to stumble across my content, let me make my views VERY clear: I love Buddie. I love BuckTommy. I am here for the characters, for their development and for all of the stories that it's possible to tell through them. What I don't love is seeing people use Buddie as a jumping ground to threaten people, to harass them, and to spread false information about people who just want to enjoy a fan space and share work that they've put time and energy into.

I've been in a lot of toxic fandoms over the course of my life. And I really never thought 911 would be the most toxic one I'd be in.

I love these characters, I love their stories. And I appreciate the actors for all the love they put in. So I'll issue one warning: directed towards me or not, if I see threats or bullying or harassment? Not only am I good friends with my block button, I also will not hesitate to report your ass.

Most of us come to fandom to relax away from problems we're facing in real life. Making our safe space into a warzone is incredible cruel. And that doesn't even mention how people have been treating the actors and writers for the show itself.

I welcome any constructive conversation, always. And you're allowed to dislike a ship or character - but if you dislike it, block the tags and ignore it like a fucking adult, okay? You're not 4 years old anymore, please act like it. Because it's exhausting to wake up to another round of bullshit everyday.

And to any 911 fans that follow me: if you're part of the group that is acting so poorly? Unfollow me. Because if I look through your blogs later and find that sort of behavior, you've got reports and a block coming your way.

I'm just here to share headcanons and meta and write stupid little fics about characters that mean a lot to me. And I'll be damned if I let some bratty teenager fuck that up for me when I'm already struggling.

Thanks.

[c0ffeeboy]

cw: really really really long piece, cursing, mentions of crime and drugs, violence (?)

[i've been thinking so much about about toxic dark academia yaoi fall lately just- agh! so not normal about this.]

we're both in a prestigious law school. i'm this broke ass scholarship kid and he is from this old money bourgeoisie family who happen to be long time sponsors for the school. we both hate each other's guts and we both battle each other for the top position in class.

we hang out in different social circles too. he thinks my friends are too rebellious and i think his friends are way too out of touch with reality (which they are, actually). most of our interactions consist of sarcastic insults, name calling, and arguments about the course material in class.

i take an internship at this local law firm where my mentor happens to be the defense attorney in a case where his family could lose their wealth & reputation. i hesitate to work on this assignment, but then i realize that i hate him with a burning passion, and i decide to work diligently on it.

i'm sitting in the library one chilly evening, working on the case documents and sipping my masala chai when he suddenly materializes next to me. i quickly shuffle the papers away and pray that he doesn't ask me about them. "remember the group report we got in today's class?" he asks. "yeah, what about it, shitface?" "we're partners, dickhead!" he smiles, sarcastically.

"oh. great." i involuntarily roll my eyes. i totally forgot that we would be paired by the professor. "did you ask to change our grouping?" "yeah, actually! he said no." "well, he can go to hell. and so can you." i tell him, nonchalantly opening my laptop to download the reference papers for the report. "i happily would, but death hates me, so you have to wait."

i scroll over to the contents list. " i do the first half, you do the second half, i send you my document, you print it and turn it in. done deal." "i wish. we have to work together other the bullshit you will produce will not coherently go with the bullshit i produce. and then we will both fail. because this is worth 50% of our final grade." i totally forgot that. oh fuck, this is a total nightmare.

"fine, fuckwit. we start tomorrow. your house, because there's a party in my dorm." i close my laptop, shove my papers into a binder, take my cup and get up, walking away. i don't even realise it, but my heart is hammering like crazy. tomorrow arrives way faster than i thought, and i am sitting in the library of his absurdly huge mansion, enviously staring at the tall shelves of leather bound volumes. i hear his footsteps, and i go back to work.

"oi, here's some coffee." he pushes a cup of steaming black coffee and a sugar packet towards me. "thanks." i mumble, ignoring it and typing away at my laptop at the speed of light. "it's going to get cold." he says. "mhm." i hum, pirating a few reasearch papers that i need to cite. "for fucks sake, could you take a fucking break?" "no." " go fuck yourself." "why don't you fuck me yourself, you coward?" i reply, trying to not laugh too loud.

"oh. my god." he facepalms. "please, just do me a favour and drink the coffee. it's a special arabic blend apparently." "only if you let me borrow those criminology volumes on the top shelf for however long i want." i point towards them, not looking up. "yeah. now can you take a break? you're going way too fast for me to keep up." "you can look over it, if you'd like." i reply, showing my screen to him. i take a sip of the coffee, and it tastes absolutely wonderful, even without sugar.

"here, you can look at my work. edit it in places you think need it." he says, giving me his ipad. i look over it, and i fall in love with his writing style. it is neat and concise and it wonderfully connects concepts i didn't even know were related. it definitely does not need editing. "this is fine." i give it back to him, and he returns my laptop too.

"we'll continue tomorrow?" i ask. "yeah, sure. let me get those volumes for you." he walks over and pulls them out, handing them over to me. "promise me you won't give these to anyone else." "i am way too much of a gatekeeper to do that." i reassure him.

i stay up all night, studying the books with my noise cancelling headphones in, and i make notes in my journal. this continues for 3 weeks, and we both fall into a rhythm that we like. i can sometimes feel admiration for him, but i ignore it. i wonder if he feels the same way about me.

i keep working with my mentor on the case too. there aren't a lot of details, just that a gardener had died, and it was either a manslaughter or a murder rather than an accidental death due to poisoning. one of his parents was responsible, and the distraught widow was suing them in hopes of closure. what hurt most was that he had a child going through chemotherapy, and they were too poor to afford it.

the hearing date arrives. i decided to attend the hearing because i don't want to go to a celebratory brunch or socialize with the other interns. it goes well, and the judge declares that we need another session with forensic experts to determine the proper cause of death. i think it went well, and we have a chance of winning.

he runs up to me after, clearly in distress. "i thought we were friends." he looks at me with puppy eyes and i feel a bit of my anger fade. "we're not. i'm just doing my job." "do you really hate me that much? why are you helping these guys sue my parents? this could ruin everything for me." he says, on the verge of tears. "do you even know what happened?" "what happened?"

i sigh, and tell him every single tiny detail that i remember. "i know you think your life is over, but there's a chance for you after all of this. this kid gets only one strike, and i'm not going to let him down." i tell him, and walk away.

i get an invite to a party in the afternoon. its for the evening, and a lot of people are invited. i choose to go, even though i don't know the host, because i need a break from reality. what i was not counting on was the fact that he would also be there. and the venue was way too small and too crowded for me to pull an irish exit. oh, crap.

i stay in a corner, away from the alcohol and cocaine. he approaches me. "we have to talk." "okay." "outside." "why?" "oh, god fucking dammit." he grabs my arm and pulls me away to the back garden, the trees devoid of leaves and the air a little too cold. "what is it?" i almost yell at him. "why the hell are you always so rude towards me?" "well maybe if you weren't a piece of shit, i would be nice to you." "go to hell." "promise me i won't see you there." "you might." "then i wont go. piss off."

he tries to punch my stomach. i stop his fist and twist it behind his back. he uses his other hand to hit my shoulder, and i punch his ribs. we continue this, and the almost wintry air burns my lungs. my nose is bleeding, and his cheekbones and collarbone have a few bruises. i gasp for air, tired from the unexpected attack, when he crumples next to me.

"i- i can't." he breathes out shakily. "can't what?" i snap, not expecting an answer. "i can't keep lying. to you, to myself, to everyone else." "okay then, stop lying. simple." "do you want me to stop lying?" "please, asshole. you'd be doing the planet a favour." i don't expect him to bury his face in my shirt and start crying. i also don't expect my dignity, hatred and resolve to completely melt at this sight.

"i don't want to fight anymore. i don't want to live with my parents anymore. i don't want to be a part of someone's troubles. i don't want to hang out with these pricks that call themselves my friends." he rambles, and i can't help but bring my hand up and stroke his hair.

"i don't want to pretend that i hate you. because i love you so much." he says, completely breaking down. "hey, hey. ssh. its okay." i softly whisper, hoping that my heart doesn't leap out of my chest. suddenly, everything makes sense. why i stopped burning when i saw him, why i wanted to help him, why i wanted to hang out with him more often.

he looks up at me, his adorable features tinted red from all that crying, and i softly wipe the tears away, careful to not hurt his bruises. "i'm sorry i hit you. please don't hate me." he takes my hand in his. "its okay, i don't hate you." i tell him. he softly rubs his thumb under my nose, trying to clean the blood. i gently plant a kiss to his palm, not knowing how to apologize.

"you're so mean to me" he whines, cupping my face and kissing me. "yeah, duh. you suck." "you suck more. i hate you so much." "i want to kill you." "well, i'm already planning your murder." "you're lucky you're cute otherwise you would be six feet under." "you think i'm cute." we bicker, until i burst out laughing. "yeah, i think you're a cutie. sue me." i chuckle. he kisses me again, and i let it consume me this time. i want to spend the rest of my life with this man. i could burn the world for him. i would crawl through hell and back for him. i love him so much.

"hey, i found something that might be evidence." he tells me, breaking contact. i internally curse him. "you should've told me sooner! what is it?" i ask. " i found an old audio recording in the trash file of my drive. i don't have it on me right now though." holy crap. this could change everything, literally. "what does it say?" "i think its my dad threating to kill that guy with um, detailed descriptions of death. it matches with quite a bit of the autopsy."

"damn, dude. this is big." "yeah, it is. this could like, shut our entire family companies down." "school too?" "nope, there are many other patrons." "what about you?" "oh, please. my parents have a net worth of 700 million USD. i think we can afford to steal about 50 million."

"i'm sorry, we?" i ask. "yeah. we. us. your swedish hacker friend does this for a living and she owes you a favour. yeah, i know about that even though you didn't tell me." he smirks. "you went through my laptop." my jaw drops. of course he did that. the audacity of this bitch. "i'm sorry, i couldn't help it." he pleads, those eyes destroying my resistance piece by piece.

"fuck you." "fuck me yourself, you coward." he responds, using my words against me. "is that a threat?" "i don't know, is it?" oh god. this man. i clear my throat and change the topic. "i have to go to work after class tomorrow. you should bring the recording with you, preferably on a pendrive. we can't directly turn it in as evidence, and i need it to gloat in front of the others. also, we need to finish our report by wednesday." "its saturday right now, isn't it?" "more like sunday." i reply, pulling my phone out to check the time. 1 AM on sunday. i managed to bag evidence and get kissed by a hot guy. best weekend ever.

"mhm, okay. i'll do that." he says nuzzling into my neck and pressing tiny kisses along my jaw. i wrap my arms around him and kiss his forehead, taking advantage of his shorter height. "you want to come over? there's nobody in my dorm because everybody's here." i tell him. "you're rather bold, aren't you?" "yeah, well, i was thinking we could grab something from that korean convenience store and finish our work." i deadpan. "i'm okay with all that except the work part. we could binge something." "sounds good to me, let's go." we tangle our fingers, and walk away. i finally take a deep breath, admiring the chilly autumn moon and this gorgeous guy i totally wanted to marry.

🫀(blackbird)

PS: I'M SO SORRY THIS IS SO LONG!!! PLEASE FORGIVE ANY AND ALL MISTAKES!!! I AM SLEEP DEPRIVED AND THIS TOOK ME 90+ MINUTES TO WRITE!!! PLEASE LEAVE HONEST FEEDBACK AND PLEASE CONVINCE ME TO STOP YAPPING AAA-

i’m…going to think about this for the next few months and only think about this and nothing else

EVERYONE COME THANK BLACKBIRD FOR BRINGING US MORE AND MORE FOOD

dude i’m going to go make four vague posts about this i’m so sorry this is all i’m going to think about

i worship the ground you walk on for even a semblance of the ability you have to writes *insert chanting to the blackbird gods*

[skayafair]

Podcasts against gender stereotypes (yay!)

I made a post about the way gender essentially doesn't exist in Arcane, but I also wanted to say a few words about two podcasts I've been listening to lately.

In The Sheridan Tapes, I was struck by the way Bill Tyler and his partner, Robert Quincy, became the emotional and caring core of the searchers team. Sam Bailey was also allowed to be vulnerable, his "Heart" episode was soul-piercing, and his power relies mostly on intuition, on feelings. He literally needs an emotional connection for it to work in a certain way.

Kate Sheridan and Maria Sol, on the opposite, felt more like the action members of the team for the most of S2, very determined and tough when needed, holding themselves together at all times.

Things shifted to more neutral in S3 and 4, but S2 had me pleasantly surprised, because the traditional gender roles were sort of reversed but not driven to the extremes (like a lot of movies deal with 'tough women' nowadays). I'm agender so I like when gender stereotypes are treated as non-existent and the authors write people, not "men and women".

It's pretty much the same with Syntax Podcast. There's no clear devision gender roles wise, but I liked how Silas - not Lizzy or Alyx or even the most sociable of the group and the team leader Cassius - became 'the caring one' for the team: despite his stuck up attitude at first (or it just sounded that way to me in the beginning, I'm relistening and it feels way less so now), seemingly being more of an introvert and just 'on his own wavelength', it's Silas' trailer where everyone ends up gathering when they need support, Cass goes to him right away from the very beginning when they want to have some advice or just to discuss anything, any time a team member is having a hard time he makes sure to come up to them and give some reassurance or ask if they need help, and it was him who was making rounds to ensure everyone was ok when they were waiting out a siege. All this, considering that they have a leader, a medic and a security head on the team as well. So it wasn't strictly necessary, but he ended up taking this role all the same, just like he used to care about his mother's wellbeing since childhood after his father died.

Greg, being the "papa bear", also never shows any callousness despite serving in the military for the most of his life. In fact, his supernatural experience story is concentrated on moral support of his fallen comerades families. Moreover, although he tries to act tough like his place in the team demands, he's still allowed to show vulnerability and takes the chance. Same with J - military experience and no toxic masculinity whatsoever (I mean yes there were a few jokes but he was lightheartedly picking on Alyx and paid for this right away XD).

The girls are never damsels in distress and do a lot for the team.

(I don't mention enbies since I'm not aware if we even have any stereotypes going on for us, assigned gender at birth aside? Anyway, there's none of that bullshit either.)

Well, I may mention Greg being "papa bear" and June behaving like a mother hen but these traits aren't toxic, at least in their case. They feel very nice, and actually these two (I'm in denial S3 ending-wise, I have a fix it au in my mind OKAY) act pretty similarly in their care for the team, although they do it in different ways. Plus, I don't mind gender existing at all, only the expectations related to it being perceived as mandatory.

Everyone is written just as people, and they don't shy away from things that traditionally may be attributed to the opposite gender. I love to see - well, technically, hear - this. Please, more.

As a side note: I'd love not to pay attention to such things in general because to me people are just people as is, but in the society I live in every day gender stereotypes are still shoved in everyone's faces. In my country visibly not conforming to them is edging on committing a crime now. Plus gender socialization is still a thing, sadly, so toxic masculinity and femininity still exist and show up often enough, so I have to consider this as well. All this makes pieces of media like Arcane, TST or Syntax all the more enjoyable as they show the world the way I see it and would like it to be in reality.

[seven-stars-in-his-palm]

hiiiiii, coming in here asking if you got any tips for possibly writing ford getting drunk and just generally how to write such a thing? I really want to have him do that in my next Forduary fic that I'm writing but I don't know where to start since I've never had a lick of alcohol and idk what my headcanons for him about this will lie, ie. whether he'd be a lightweight, whether he'd have drunk alcohol before this fic or how he acts under the influence (he'd be buzzed to tipsy most of the fic besides the end end, if that helps). for context, I was thinking he was going mad trying not to think of Stan on his 30th birthday and eventually caves in to drink some cheap whiskey from the convenience store while doing errands to forget. if you have tips or fics where that happens I can reference or even just headcanons about Ford and alcohol, I'd gladly take it, but it's alright if you don't. feel free to take this to discord but also answer this ask privately if you would.

man im gonna be honest with u i havent drunk a lick of alcohol either 😔 i just bullshit it most of the time and have gotten oddly good at it lately. i can, however, give you tips n tricks to make it seem like you do. and headcanons too--those go first ;)

(also please take this with a grain of salt as i too haven't drunk alcohol regularlu to know my shit. this all just research and thoughts on this specific situation. thoughts below the cut ! please dont come at me)

first off u gotta figure out the basics: adding the character + alcohol together; what would it do? i see ford as a "drinks to forget the outside world" type of drunkard. he's blissfully ignorant but still has the wired anguish within him, resulting into... a lot of feelings. he tasted it young, but didnt get Into It until the paranoia stint when taste didnt matter anymore and al he wanted was a decent depressant. however he can hold liquor very well, which is a problem considering the purpose, and has to drink a lotttt to achieve what he wants to the point he could get addicted. those are things you can make up yourself and therefore pretty easy: but actual facts? those are harder. here's some i've learned:

- there's a hugeeee difference between hard alcohol and a drink that happens to be laced in alcohol. for one, hard alcohol is served in small glasses/shot glasses while other drinks can be served on pretty much anything (but still small). an easier to understand real world example would be this: someone could, say, have seven shirley temples (an alcoholic beverage) without being incapacitated, but seven shots of vodka will at minimum knock you unconsious. five glasses of wine could do shit to you but five shots of whiskey will GET you. you gotta know what your character's drinking. pick a type you know and research if you must.

- hard alcohol has no taste. again, big diffence between these types. if anything it burns because, well, have you felt alcohol placed on ur skin while getting a shot or placed in a wound? that shit burns and it wont be any different down ur throat. if there js a taste you're barely gonna notice. alcoholics dont drink for taste--they've got more sinister shit goin' on.

- you gotta know what your character has. is it a regular small glass you'd see in a movie or a shot glass he takes from over and over? is he drinking from the bottle directly? how often is he taking a drink? is it bourbon? whiskey? vodka? rum? they alllll do different shit. you gotta KNOW (sorry if im repeating, but this is crucial)

- there are different types of addicts. there are binge drinkers, alcohol abusers, alcohol dependant (theres a difference), and u gotta.research which one u wanna portray. i say ford's an abuser: he has a somewhat consious level of what he drinks, but still doesnt stop because--well, its either being drunk off your rocker or having to succumb to Reality, which in this case, is genuinely dangerous (Bill.)

- there are also a lot of different symptoms, depending on the dosage. here's some ive screenshotted from a post a while ago:

so that's something. also, here's some sites thatcould help:

how to write drunk speech

a page in the CDC about alcohol and beer

a page on the national institution of health about alcohol (really nice, gives you a lotof the basics)

and the australian alcohol and drug association

also i will say that if it werent for bill, ford's relationship with alcohol would likely be very different and probably healthier tbh--again, it differs on why your character drinks, related to trauma or not. sometimes, they just do, and there's nothing you can do about it--but there's usually a reason when it comes 2 fiction. the point: know ur shit even if ur gonna be vague, and if u can help it, name names when it matters. dont say "he drank a shot of alcohol" say he "took a shot of whiskey" and such-like. look up what kind of hard alcohols there are and understand what would be on hand if ford were to get his hands on some of this stuff. i hope this helped, and good luck on forduary! <3