#oh also this is my first time drawing him (or p much any cookie) as an actual cookie KFJSKDJ

[milkbreadtoast]

devsis didnt draw clotted with his tentacle belt things forming a heart for valentine's day so i had to take matters into my own hands😔🫶

[teacubes]

I got into twisted wwonderland a while ago and was happy to see you did requests for it! If it's not too much, could you do some short Octavinelle cuddle hcs please? If you don't do multiple people, then you could just do Jade. Thank you! ^^

GURLL, IM A HARDCORE SIMP FOR TWISTED WONDERLAND LIKE DEADASS I WAS THIS CLOSE 👌 TO CHANGE MY ACCOUNT TO TWISTED WONDERLAND FICS. I MIGHT CHANGE IF I GET MORE SUPPORT ON CHANGING THO 👁️👁️

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓

Pairings: Azul Ashengrotto x reader, Jade Leech x reader, Floyd Leech x reader

T/w: none, only fluff

 ┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

𝕬𝖟𝖚𝖑 𝕬𝖘𝖍𝖊𝖓𝖌𝖗𝖔𝖙𝖙𝖔:

Alright, Azul didn't know he was this touch-starved after he met you

It started when you hugged him after seeing him being tired bc mans a stronk business man

He immediately melted on your arms, getting putty with the warmth that y'all shared

His hands immediately flew to hug you back, like automatically

After realizing what he had done, he gently push you away and got really embarrassed

His cheeks were tinted with blush, a shade that was similar to tomato

Cue Jade and Floyd snickering over Azul's face

Obviously he asked you not to do again, but he was fine if it was private (he is only okay with light PDA like hand-holding, forehead kiss and patting etc)

When y'all go back to his room to chill, he immediately ask for hugs again (btw he was embarrassed when he ask)

It's slowly become a routine that y'all have a cuddling hour

Also!! He likes to play a soft jazz music as you guys cuddle

Y'all would talk about how y'all day went on school

Maybe also talking about opening a shop when y'all graduate

Sometimes you guys would be napping as yall cuddle

Of course he will give you a soft peck on your lips to remind you he love you so much!!

He would tell you some funny stories about Jade and Floyd to make you laugh cause he loves seeing you smile

He felt really safe when y'all are cuddling

Sad boi hour? Cuddle time! Also bring some cookies or warm tea (unless you want chocolate drink)

Hugging Azul will also make you feel safe because the hug was genuine af bro

It was like y'all are eachother safe space

Sometimes you guys would tickle eachother though (Mans was confident he would win in tickle war but y'all got draw ✌️😔✨)

Or even a soft make-out because yes

He loves it when you kiss every part of his face, he felt so loved as his stomach is filled with butterflies

In the end, y'all really so soft on loving eachother

Even sometimes you guys would have an argument, CUDDLE TO MAKE UP

Btw he loves being a small and big spoon so y'all occasionally switch

Sometimes yall cuddle together when one of y'all are reading stuff

Cause y'all are like glue to eachother hehe

OKAY HORROR MOVIES

He will try to act brave in front of you you

Jade obvs be the one who is hosting it

When y'all cuddle as you watch

Expect a sudden jump from him

He won't scream, no no

He would j u m p

So you finna boing with him

SOMETIMES y'all get yeeted along with Floyd so good luck LMFAOSIDIKASJ

Jade would be sitting his ass on sofa and watching y'all on the ground like 👁️👄👁️

Azul def scolded Floyd but you are too busy laughing because deadass you three just got yeeted along the jumpscare

Def would grab you and sit back down and continue cuddle

But among the trio, Azul is the one def got jumpscared a lot (first place to easily get spooked)

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

𝕵𝖆𝖉𝖊 𝕷𝖊𝖊𝖈𝖍:

You were the one who brings up because you wanted some cuddles

Jade, being the gentleman.

Didn't know how to do since he was quite new to the ✨couple things✨

But he was up to try it!!

“Oh my, this is quite nice” That's what he said for the first time after your guiding

His expression doesn't say a word but the moment you snuggle close to him, he immediately went b o o m

Like?? You are so tiny in his arms

(I stfg this man and Floyd is a mf tree 😭)

Seeing you being safe and comfortable his arms, not to mention being cute as hell

He thanked the Great Seven for blessing him with you

He just chuckles and pet your head gently

Of course him being gentle with you made you fall asleep and he loves watching you sleeping

Not in a creepy way though, like he is adoring you and appreciating you

He gave you a light smooch on the forehead before laying down back and gently patting your back like a baby

Cause you are a baby to him, sorry I don't make the rules ✌️😔

Cuddling you brightens his day up, like he is so motivated to make a new dishes related to mushroom or finding someone who is troubled so he can bring the student to meet Azul

Also he is def a beeg spoon because he loves you being in his arm

Sometimes you managed to convince him to be a small spoon

And w o a h, he felt peaceful with you hugging him like it was okay to relax for once

One time he accidentally fell asleep and woke up confused

He just look at you and blinked

But obvs sometimes he will tease you while you are cuddling with him

And what did you do?

Tried to tickle Jade but Jade ain't ticklish

But he is ticklish on his foot tho, good luck reaching there

Bc this man will tickle you first before you can even reach there

And he will just sitting there, giving his usual smile as he tickle you

I STG EVEN YOU TOLD HIM TO STOP, HE WON'T

But moving on, when one of y'all are moody

Y'all literally like ✨emergency meeting✨

Because y'all know that yall will make eachother feel better

But obvs sometimes y'all will have movie night and this man will pick horror movie

Because he thinks it's cute when you guys are cuddling, you would try to smoosh yourself against him because you were scared

To summarize, you: (;ŏ﹏ŏ)

Jade: (人*´V｀)｡*ﾟ+

I swear he won't get jumpscared so he is entertained on watching you getting spooked (last place on getting spooked bc this mf ain't scared)

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

𝕱𝖑𝖔𝖞𝖉 𝕷𝖊𝖊𝖈𝖍:

The moment when y'all started dating

He already started cuddling you

Like hug or cuddles, just expect one of them when he see you

Of course he will refrain cuddling you in class

But in front of Azul and Jade?

“But Shrimpy is so cute—♪ Look how tiny they are—♪”

Of course sometimes he is in bad mood, he wouldn't be hugging or cuddle you

Alright time to be a beeg spoon yall

He is gigantic babey so just place his head on your chest, pat his head then he will feel better

Obvs it will be a solid silent 30 minutes

But he will start talking why he is in stinky mood

It's either someone annoyed him or the teacher is nagging him because of his poopoo result

Of course you are just listening and just give him a smooch then his mood go: 💯

You probably would try to do something to make his mood even better since he is a very active baby

Sometimes he wanna go for a swim but mainly he just want to cuddle

And he would be needy af so expect a make-out and cuddle in the same time

But if y'all gonna nap as y'all cuddle

Mans is speed on sleeping (not fast like Leona but you get it)

He sometimes would squeeze you too hard when yall sleeping and it would woke you up sometime

Because of that, you got a stronk ribs and deadass got used to it

Don't worry, he don't always squeeze you in sleep

It's just happen in few seconds then he is loose on you

Okay s o, sometimes Jade would host a horror movie night

Then he would cuddle you so tight as you guys watch cause he is low-key scared but also not

But there's a moment where the jumpscare is really too frightening (second place on getting spooked bc the majority of the scene was not scary to him but more funny)

Prepare to get yeeted together out of the sofa

He ain't letting you go tho, y'all live together and die together

Then he would be laughing like

“Ahh, it was so scary, right? Lil' Shrimpy—♪”

YOU WOULD BE SITTING BETWEEN HIS ARM CONFUSED LIKE??? YALL WERE AT SOFA FOR A SECOND AGO???

He also give you a surprise cuddle attack at any hour and minute so prepare your heart

[felassan]

Highlights and insights from the MELE launch cast & crew reunion panel

[rewatch link] [highlights & insights from the N7 Day 2020 reunion]

In case a text format is better for anyone (in terms of accessibility for example). Cut for length.

Some paraphrasing.

If anyone’s interested in just the line-reading session, it starts at timestamp ~1:04:45.

In addition to the cast and crew from the N7 Day reunion, at this reunion also in attendance were: 

Mac Walters (Project Director for MELE, Lead Writer of the og MET)

Melanie Faulknor (Lead Producer for MELE)

Crystal McCord (Producer for MELE)

Fred Tatasciore (Saren)

Seth Green (Joker)

Kimberly Brooks (Ash)

Ash Sroka (Tali)

This was the biggest reunion / meetup of the cast so far, and some of the cast and crew were meeting for the first time here.

It’s been so long since the og MET that PW & KW are getting to watch their kids experience playing it for the first time

JHale doesn’t play but since MELE she’s been sneaking around Twitch jumping into peoples’ MELE livestreams to lurk, watch and comment a bit

What drew Seth to the character of Joker? The whole concept of the game. He likes games and MET’s mechanics (different trees of adventure, stacking reputation, choices carrying between games) at the time were the most sophisticated that he’d ever heard pitched. He thought this was new and exciting and wanted to be a part of it. For the character they cast him based on his personality traits (i.e. he sounds quite similar to Joker personality-wise)

Would Seth ever want to play Joker again if the opportunity presented itself? Sure, he loves the character, and if the writers ever had more things to explore/expand with Joker he’d be down for it. 

Seth said that it’s a different kind of fan that approach him about this project. The fans have spent many many hours in an intimate exchange with “him” that he hasn’t been a part of, but they experienced it nonetheless. “I’ve hugged a lot of strangers, you know what I’m saying? It’s great, you get an interaction with fans that you never get as a performer in any other experience”

Seth has been a space guy since he was little, it inspires him

With the state of the world the way it is now [covid, masks etc], does Ash think Tali’s story will be more impactful now than it was before? Ash hopes so, and that anything they do here will have a positive impact on a bigger level. Ultimately that’s why most of them do what they do, they want to reach people in deep ways. She hopes Tali is an inspiration in courage, bravery, standing up for what’s right and thinking about the greater good

The [MELE I think] dev team had a last team meeting with Greg Zeschuk, one of the founders of BioWare, who they had invited to it. He was regaling them with stories of the inception of Mass Effect. “You would imagine this sort of well-laid out, drawing boards everywhere... [but] it was basically just a napkin sketch in a Greek taverna with him and Casey going ‘We wanna do a space opera’, and then it took off”

The process of creating lore through development is very organic. A lot of it comes from character and story development. It builds up over the course of the game’s development. They did the codex entries at the end, the idea being that if they saved them for as late as they could, then they could pull from the story, characters and meaningful moments, and build them from there

PW wrote a bunch of the codex entries, elevator banter & lots of little bits of lore. They describe their time on the og MET as being a “baby writer”. They originally came in after Mac had back surgery and a junior writer was needed to fill in. “It was really fun, it was us sitting in a room together going ‘What do you think a hanar or a krogan thinks about this or that’?” For a first project for them this was an amazing experience - the world building itself creatively with all these awesome people

They tried to add multiplayer in every game but only got it to work in ME3

They had a lot of plots laid out in ME1 that they called “global plots”. These were outside the core critical path and would take players from planet to planet, and were sprawling stories. They pulled out a lot of really interesting concepts and ideas from these that did make it into the game, but all of the global plots ended up getting cut due to time. Mac still has old diagrams and spreadsheets which detailed how all of these would have come together

Q. If you all had to take a long-distance road-trip with two squadmates, who would you take and why? PW: “Jack and Mordin. Mordin because the drive would never lack for things to talk about at length quickly, Jack because you know you wouldn’t pay for the room. You wouldn’t know how you’d get the room, but you wouldn’t be paying for it.” Courtenay: “I’d take Mordin because there’d be singing, and FemShep just to have this thing - happen. In the room that I get for free.” JHale at this point fistpumped while saying “Yeess” [then I think what she said was “steaming hot”]

Seeing as asari are long-lived, how open is Ali to one day reprising her role as Liara? “She’s a character very close to my heart, it was such a great opportunity. In some games that we work on the character has already been created or voiced by someone else, but this was really a group effort. When I first went into the booth, the only thing I’d seen of her was a sort of like, rendering, and we slowly kind of came to her voice and presence. I would love to bring Liara back any time... hey, she can live a really long time guys. :D”

Caroline and people who do what she does (Creative Performance Director) are so critical to the quality of games. Caroline: “This group of people are extraordinary. We were lucky to have such an extraordinary cast. Every [recording] session was new and challenging. It was a labor of love. I’m tearing up right now thinking about it. I’m remembering my last session with Jen, she was the last session, just sobbing and sobbing”. When JHale was trying to say the lines of Shepard’s goodbye with Garrus, a line hit her like a tonne of bricks and she was in tears and was like “Shepard does not cry”. “It took me a second, I got it out and took another run at it, it was in there but stuffed down as it should have been, and I finished the line [and there was silence in the booth when usually Caroline would have been talking to give direction or instruction] Did we lose her? Did Skype crash?” and it transpired that what had happened was that Caroline was in floods of tears

ME was the first time Keythe had ever come across branching dialogue. “Normally when we work on a script and it’s from page 1 to 100. In this it was get to page 5, then go back to page 2 and play it a little differently. The skill and the fun and joy of it was to be able to go back and play a scene in a different way, with different writing, with different outcomes. This was not only a challenge but a real treat. So to all the writers who dreamed up how this build-your-own-adventure plays out, you have my undying respect. It was a real pleasure”

VEDA is a proprietary system that BW use to record the dialogue, which is the closest way of having it feel like having people in the booth together (it’s all digital and VAs get to hear the line someone else has done in that scene). Caroline really pushed for this because of the amount of time etc that was wasted due to lack of this sort of thing on ME1. William: “It was a god send for me, thank you, getting to hear a cue from Jen or Mark.” Ali: “Us being able to bounce off each other helps make it more real. This for me was the most real acting experience on a game I had ever had - the writing being so good, Caroline helping us through, being able to hear each other.” JHale was always early coming in to record relative to the others so only got to use VEDA a few times - a bit of Liara content and the scene with Anderson towards the end. “Those two times, oh my god it was amazing”. VEDA being a thing also helps from a scheduling standpoint

Seth and Tricia Helfer (EDI) only got to be in the booth actually together 1 time, to record/shoot a piece of promotional video. “We actually got to record a scene together and we were like ‘oh my god this is the best thing ever’. It was great, even though I had to stand on a stool. She’s the best”

Seth: “As an actor, the kind of opportunity to do this kind of material in games just didn’t exist.” Fred: “Oh, never! I had never had a villain part that was complicated like that. In a game? Never before, it was really interesting”

Raphael always goes back to the fact that ME brought more women into gaming than any other game before it. “The writing and the complexity of the relationships gave us so much ballast”. “This set this apart from running, shooting, gunning, looting”

JHale: “What I noticed in the times before when I got to be around fans, there was a huge hunger among women in the gaming world for something they could really jump into. They were starving for something which fed them what they deserved and needed”

Mac: “[praising Caroline] Caroline would often come to us as writers and challenge us and say, as an example, ‘Do we really need another male character to do this? Why are we writing another male character for this?’ She pushed that very early and to the betterment of everything we created”

PW: “Karin and Cookie and all of the editors across the trilogy, [were critical in] making sure that Shepard sounded consistent - [especially since] we had a large writing team, writers came and went, Mac is the only one with a significant writing contribution on each of the games”

PW: “[on game dev] It’s a process of getting hundreds of people pointed in the same direction, all believing that this is something worth doing”

Ash: “Having all the different possibilities and avenues, going back to play them all out in the different ways [really helped to round the character of Tali out and make her feel like a natural person]”.

VAs only get paid for the original recording sessions, not again (as in they don’t any royalties or anything from something like the remaster)

In MELE, they left all the original credits at the end of each game in

Fred: “It’s creating in five dimensions [because of all the outcomes and relationships etc]”. Seth: “The cool thing is that the audience feels that. They’re immediately struck by how dense, thought-out, prepared and planned the entire universe is”

How was it for the new MELE devs coming onto this? Crystal: “I knew it [the series and fans’ love for it] was big, but I didn’t know it was BIG! Working on MELE there was this infectious excitement. Being part of it was so exciting.” Melanie: “I came on at ME3, I had a 3 or 4 year honeymoon period with BioWare. Coming onto MELE, I’m getting really emotional. One of my first meetings originally was going into a cinematic review for an epic Tali scene in ME3”. Crystal: “On MELE, we had an hour or 2 every day where the team came together to play the game. In those reviews, a lot of the devs who worked on the original would tell all these stories. It was really fun to hear all the inside stories on ME’s creation and be a part of that”

DC: “Should this unit get vaccinated?” Ash: “Of course”

How do they think ME will be viewed in the next 10-20 years, what do they think its legacy will be? A piece of history, ground-breaking. It broke down some barriers and opened doors for people. It’s a powerful, powerful community. It’ll continue to age quite well and be enjoyed by a new generation, it’s original and evergreen and there’s a lot in it that people go back to. There’s a lot of universal things in it (personal experiences, like there will always be love, people fighting to belong, trying to make sense of their pasts etc)

JHale and Alix did the “I love you Shepard, now go save the world again” Shep-Sam exchange and both got teary. It was then Seth’s turn to line-read: “Jesus Christ, now that I’m good and choked up, fucking mess”. Ali was also actually crying from it

Seth: “It can’t be overstated, this community is so large and global, it is one of the most powerful fandoms that I’ve ever been greeted with. Thank you”. Ash: “It’s the most amazing group of fans ever. We’re all so grateful”

Some funny anecdotes/stories:

PW didn’t realize that Alix could do different accents. They remember a time when they were listening in the booth and an Alliance soldier was complaining about the gear had been given. They said “Wow that’s really good, who is that?” and the VO producer said “That’s Alix, Patrick”, “because she wasn’t doing her [normal British accent but was doing a Californian accent instead]. Alix roasted me later for not recognizing her voice and never let me heard the end of it”

Alix: “[on Sam’s toothbrush] Caroline’s like, ‘So then she pulls her toothbrush’ and I’m like ‘What? Sorry? A toothbrush?’ and obviously it’s funny now as everyone knows that Sam’s thing is her toothbrush. Caroline’s like ‘Yeah, you’ve gotta like, flirt, over the toothbrush’ and I’m like ‘Who wrote this - a frickin toothbrush, are you kidding me? Really guys?’ ANYWAY. I was wrong and it worked. :D”

Fred: “I remember a 12 year old kid coming up to me and being like [flat tone] ‘Oh yeah. I killed you’.”

Keythe: “The other assasin I play is Kellogg in Fallout 4. People come up to me like ‘Omg. I love you so much. And then I fucking KILLED you!’”

Courtenay once went out to dinner in NZ with a few prominent people from the Game of Thrones cast. “Everyone around was making a big deal out of it like ‘Omg, it’s so-and-so from GoT’. I was feeling a bit like ‘Hi, I’m here, just nobody’. And I looked around in the restaurant and there's one guy in the corner and he’s got an N7 shirt on and he’s just looking at me like [knowing look, does a peace sign]. And I’m like ‘I got one! I love you guys!’”

PW: “I have a question for the cast members, because I don’t know if JHale has done this to all of you or if she just does it to the devs. Show of hands if Jen has ever made you do push-ups.” JHale: “It’s just you guys”

Karin: “One of my favorite editing files that I ever had was a ME file. It was before Seth was coming in for a session. I opened it up and it was just 20, 25 lines with the word ‘Shit’, over and over again, and I was like, ‘This file is perfect, I don’t need to do anything to it, have fun!’”

Seth: “Didn’t we do a track that’s like 60 seconds of laughing? Escalating laughing? I don’t know about other actors but for me getting into a laughing fit is kind of like trying to get into a crying fit, it takes the same level of commitment, you start to follow a path until like you’re hysterically uncontrollably laughing. I remember looking through the glass, and I’m deep in it at this point, and I make eye contact, and I can see from the other side of the booth and they’re like [making ‘okay you can stop’ now gestures] - ‘Like that’s plenty, we got it’ and I was like ‘okay, okay [dying]’”

JHale: “The craziest thing Mark and I had to deal with was how many times we had to say ‘I should go’”. Mark: “We also, Caroline and I tended to use that as short hand when I needed to go to the bathroom”

The panel host: “The first time I interviewed Ali was a decade ago. She did the ‘I’ll flay you alive with my mind’ line halfway through, it was my first interview and I literally fell out of my seat [from being star-struck]”

Ash line-read Tali’s drunk omni-tattoo scene and in response DC said “I totally get why people wanna romanticize all these characters :D”. Karin: “We’ve had more than one person come up to us and show us actual tattoos that looked like that”

[source]

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

May I request GHJPU for Sebastian? Sebby needs more love :D (eee sorry if any of this overlapped or its too much, have a cookie for your troubles 🍪)

DID SOMEBODY SAY LOVING SEBASTIAN HOURS!?!?!?!?! FERAL EYE GLEAM

Bless your heart!!! Sebastian has found a new and very dear place in my heart as of late, I would be delighted to offer my thoughts!!!!! :D (your cookie offering has been accepted with the utmost glee 🍪, I hope my humble writing efforts will bring you equal joy, lovely~💖💖💖) 

G = Gifts (How does he feel about gift giving? What are his habits when it comes to this?) 

Awwww haha, baby boy Sebby is honestly a very observant and reliable kind of S/O, I think. He will notice even the tiniest of changes in MC’s expression--the slightest shifts in her temperament. As a result of his attentive nature he has an easy time deducing the things she might like, always makes a mental note of where her eyes linger. Is there a classic she once loved in her time being published for the first time in their era, on display at a bookstore nearby? Noted. Does she hover near shops filled with self-care products--things like scented candles or lotions or bath salts, things she considers indulgent luxuries? Noted. Is there an outfit that caught his eye in a boutique, something he thinks would complement her complexion perfectly? Noted. 

The thing about Sebastian is that his gifts will be heartfelt, timely, and devastatingly thoughtful. Whether something small or something lavish it will always be precisely what she needs/wants, and she can sense the loving care he put into finding the perfect gift.

H = Holding Hands (When/how does he like to hold hands?)

Honestly? Sebastian has spent the better part of his life alone. His circumstances weren’t the worst; for all that he’s lost in his life he never went hungry, lived comfortably. But...that doesn’t change the fact that his life has been fairly devoid of meaningful human contact. Even in college, friends and close colleagues were hard to come by. The few people he did develop budding feelings for he always gave up on long before it could become any kind of substantial relationship. He was always the type to admire from afar, never really felt worthy of the people he liked.

It was MC that was the first to reach out to him, and for the first little while in their relationship she will be the one most naturally inclined to reach for him. He isn’t really used to having someone by his side like this, somebody who would be delighted to hold his hand--who wants to be close to him. It’s always a shock when they go grocery shopping and he just feels her fingers wrap gently around his. She blushes a little and says something about not wanting to get separated, but it’s clear what her real motivation was.

After those first few months, it becomes much more natural for him to reach for her hand when they’re traveling somewhere together or when they’re alone. He likes to intertwine their fingers, loves the way they fit against his perfectly. His shyness wears off after a while, and it’ll be rare to see them together without them holding hands--unless they’re cooking or at work.

J = Jokes (Does he like to joke around with or prank her? How?)

Do you know how cats have their eyes all narrow thin pupil but then they go REALLY REALLY round? That’s Sebastian. I tend to refer to it as “Silly Time Mode Engaged.”

Now then, his kind of joking is very dry and very deadpan. It’s subtle and immediate, so if you’re not attuned to it it can be easy to miss. That, or people just look at him weird because they don’t quite get the connection he’s making and/or the delivery feels off because his facial expression doesn’t change at all, completely flat. That being said, one of his all time favorite things to do is to say something absurd or nigh histrionic (which tends to be uncharacteristic of him) and wait for the confused head turn/startled laughter to hit. He will make puns and play on words all the time--he puts his academic knowledge to good use.

“I swear when I first met you I was convinced you were an AI.” “Alexa taught me everything I know.” He’ll bow. “Oh? Do I have competition, in that case?” “Your speakers are suboptimal (he pokes her freckles), but you possess what Alexa lacks.” “And that would be?” He’ll gather her close, smiling against her lips. “My heart.” :D cutest robot I ever saw uwu

Bonus bc I have a problem: “Is stealing hearts in Alexa’s programming? Just to be safe, of course.” “I think it’s safe to say it isn’t within the parameters of her design--but that doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods just yet.” cue sounds of tickling and laughter

The other way Sebastian messes with MC is that he is an ENORMOUS tease in the bedroom. He’s very much the kind of lover that prefers to tantalize and draw things out; a long, slow seduction that will render MC immobile from the pleasure by the end. The promise of a kiss is almost always only a whisper of the feeling he intends to drown her in. Remember that Sebastian’s stoicism belies a nigh inhuman ardor and self-control. He’s more than willing to leave her wanting in order to fully capitalize on that desire later at night.

P = Pet Names (What does he like to call her?)

Other than her name? HE DOESN’T AHAAHAHAHAHA Just kidding of course, but given where he comes from pet names between couples aren’t...really a thing…(take it up with Japan, I Was Today Years Old, my sappy romantic ass would never survive)

The funny inverse of this though is that he does NOT fuck around with people that try to call MC pet names. When Arthur Tries It™ he canonically goes all steely saccharine, openly telling the others they’re together. So none of that “luv” or “doll” business, he will not have it (he won’t fight the purebloods on it because 1. they’re more like doting grandfathers than anything and 2. Sebastian does not have a death wish). If MC has a nickname of some kind, then I could see him using that or adding his own spin on it with a great deal of affection c:

U = Upset (How does he act when she’s upset?)

Whether he was the cause or not, Sebastian has a single modus operandi when his beloved is upset (and to anyone who’s upset really) and that is to offer gentle reassurance/an apology. He is very, very sensitive to the feelings of others and really takes it to heart when someone isn’t feeling well. That being said, he won’t always be overt about his concern--he’s more the type to do little things that offer constant support/reminders that he’s there for them. 

If it’s something more serious, he will do everything in his power to minimize the harm done and sooth the MC. His attempts to comfort her will be tender, muted, and consistent; prolonged hugs, doubles his offering of sweets, makes her favorite foods, gives her a relaxing bath salt to use--anything that he knows for certain will coax her lips up into a smile. He’s the type to freely offer space for her to figure things out if she needs it, but he will also be watchful; he won’t let things escalate if she needs externalized support to heal (bc lbr some problems we can’t solve alone ;-;).

His other go-to method is to offer distractions in any capacity that he can. Will offer to teach her a new recipe, or find a new type of flower he wants to plant together, or make up some kind of project he needs help with. Sometimes he’ll genuinely need the help, but most of the time he does it for the express purpose of getting her mind away from negative things and focused on him/the present. It’s hard to dwell on upsetting things when you’re body is physically demanding something else from you, even more so if it’s a fairly complex task. She’s known to be very dutiful; she’ll be so focused on doing a good job she’ll forget the sadness/irritation for a bit and the intensity of the emotion might ebb slightly.

If the issue is lighter, he’ll probably just cuddle/tickle her back to fighting spirit, pressing kisses wherever he can reach until she starts giggling. In these instances he prefers to hug her from behind, a reminder that she doesn’t have to face anything unpleasant or unnerving all on her own; he’ll always be there to hold her steady whenever she needs him. 

And rest assured, this man is always gathering data to optimize his comfort capabilities. He is incredibly adaptable, and will always be watching her reactions closely to adjust his strategies.

[butiaintgonnaloveem]

Presents and Prizes and Sweets and Surprises

Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Reader, Jack Kline, Mrs. Butters

Word Count: approx 1600

Warnings: Spoilers for episode “Last Holiday” and language

A/N: This is just my way of venting my frustration with the episode. I was going to do a kind of fix-it fic, but this turned more into a reader insert as concerned spectator kind of thing. No one edited this, so sorry for any errors. This is frustration and crack.

Poking holes, making fun, wishing they were doing better things with the last few episodes - you know, the fangirl business.

“There’s a what living here? And what does it have to do with your underwear?”

Dean rolls his eyes, “A wood nymph. She was folding them for me.”

“Since when do you fold your underwear?”

“Since Mrs. B. started doing it for me,” he shrugs.

Speak of the devil, or nymph - she scurries in from the hall.

Her eyes are wide as she looks you over, a disapproving scowl on her face.

“Dean, we do not bring lady guests into the Men of Letters bunker. Ms. Sands was an exception, but it should not be the rule.”

“Lady guests? I live here,” you glare as you over-enunciate each word.

Clearly caught off-guard, she splutters, unable to reply more than a few cut-off words as she looks helplessly at Dean. “A-a woman? IN the Men of Letters bunker?”

“Times have changed, lady. And I don’t know if you’re aware, but you are also a female.”

“I am a wood nymph,” she says haughtily, “Friend of the goddess Artemis, and not subject to the problems a woman may bring to this bunker.”

You start to move on her, but Dean steps in, gently keeping you back with a hand on your shoulder, “Okay, I think this could be going better. Mrs. B., she does live here. We don’t really subscribe to the whole ‘fairer sex’ thing. I was just getting ready to find you for introductions when you walked in. Now, I think we can all get along, right?”

He looks between you with a shit-eating grin as though he just solved the easiest riddle, even though he didn’t do shit. Mrs. B. stands there wringing her hands and staring at you with trepidation, while you eye her up, looking for any signs of malice.

“I know!” Dean says with all the excitement of a ten year-old, “Mrs. B. how about you bring out some of those butter cookies you whipped up earlier and we kick this off right?”

She turns to fulfill his request just as you answer, “No, thanks. I don’t mind fending for myself. In fact, I prefer it. Dean, can I speak with you? Alone?”

He shakes his head and looks at her apologetically. She just waves him off and leaves.

“What the hell?”

“Yeah!” you throw your hands up, “What the hell?! You need to tell me everything that happened since she showed up.”

Days pass. Once Dean had told you what happened to make Mrs. Doubtfire appear, you went to Sam, hoping for some reason unfortunately, it seemed to be a lost cause. Once she highlighted the monster radar, they were constantly on the run. A quick vampire nest here, a coven there. In between Dean nestled himself in his purple huggy nightgown and drowned himself not in alcohol, but in mashed potatoes and pie. She even had Jack drawn out of his new soul-based depression thanks to her smoothies.

_____

“Won’t you join us, dear?” her sickly sweet voice invites you as the guys line up pumpkins for carving. She wears a forced smile as she clasps her hands in front of her, still uncomfortable with your presence.

“Nope,” you pop with an obnoxious ‘p’ sound, “I’m super right here.” You wave your deli-bought sandwich in the air and look back to your laptop.

“C’mon!” Dean groans. He looks up from the face he’s drawing on the huge, out-of-season monstrosity. “Relax a little, Mrs. B is even gonna roast up some pumpkin seeds - salty and sweet!” He looks at her with an excited and expectant nod.

She looks back like a proud grandmother, “Of course, dear!” As though there were no other option, making your eyes roll into the back of your head.

“Like I said, I’m good. You guys enjoy your...whatever over there.”

They shrug and ignore you, laughing like children and throwing pumpkin goop at each other until she scolds them. Until now, Halloween was despised by Sam, and only an excuse for slutty costumes for Dean. Not that it hadn’t been tried. There were attempts at parties, birthdays, Christmas; Jody invited you all over plenty, especially after the mess with Mary. But no. Suddenly Stepford Granny appears and it’s all hands on deck for celebrations. Something wasn’t right, and for some stupid reason, the guys didn’t notice or care.

_____

Your research on wood nymphs doesn’t offer a whole lot, they are pretty rare. More kindly disposed toward men according to a source, which explains her reaction to you, and summoned to attend the gods on Olympus, which also explains her service kink apparently. Other than that, it was a whole lot of crap.

On occasion you find her in the library, staring wistfully at the photo of the Men of Letters who previously occupied the bunker, but once she notices your presence, she shakes herself from her reverie and starts puttering about, lamenting the state of things around her.

Dean is blissful. Sam had been reluctant, but even he seems to be walking around without his usual dark cloud. You want them to be happy, to have the memories others take for granted, but the way she side-eyes Jack, the way she passive-aggressively speaks about you even when you are in the room, it won’t stop nagging at you.

“What do you miss most about them?” you ask her one day after she sends the boys off with their crustless sandwiches.

“Oh, well, it’s hard to miss them much when they’ve just left,” she laughs, stiff with discomfort.

“Not Sam and Dean, I mean them,” you tip your head in the direction of the photo on the wall.

“Oh.” She takes a half step toward it, but stops. “It’s - they gave me purpose, a home, and a family.”

“What about your real family? The other nymphs?”

She straightens out her stupid, festive apron then, looking at you dead on, “Mr. Sinclair and those gentlemen were no less a real family to me than my natural brethren,” she pauses for a deep breath, then for a moment longer until a tight smile pulls across her lips. “Now, have you eaten? Are you sure I can’t get you...”

“No,” you cut her off for the millionth time she’s asked. 

“Well then, I best get back to work,” she mutters and wanders off.

_____

When you finally get the chance to corner Sam, he’s rushing while getting ready for his date and really only half-listening.

“And I just think that it’s really telling that Cuthbert Sinclair was the one to bring her on, I mean, he wasn’t always on the level with his magic and acquisitions and what the hell are you wearing?”

He turns around, smoothing down the brown sweater vest, “What? Mrs. Butters set it out for me. Said it makes me look dashing.” He smiles and shyly tips his head to the side, the way he does before giving his puppy eyes. All lost on you.

“You look like a sitcom dad. You’re just going out with Eileen, right?”

“Nothing wrong with looking your best.”

“Sure,” you agree with uncertainty, “But Sam, didn’t you look into this?”

“She was right about the first vamp case, she’s powered up the radar, and the bunker is on full blast, what’s wrong with that?”

“Because Sam! Magic also comes with a price, and when has a monster ever really been so thrilled to live in servitude? Or anyone for that matter? You think this is all out of the goodness of her heart?”

He looks at you, confused, “Yes?”

You throw your hands up, just as Sam checks his watch and curses under his breath before hastily leaving the room.

“What the fuck. Fine, you guys don’t care? I don’t care. I am fucking out of here.” No one stops you.

_____

Two days later, you’re called back to the bunker and very apologetic Winchesters, and cake.

“So she was a Nazi murder monster who also liked serving milk and cookies? Cool. Cool, cool. And Jack found this out? Jack?! I mean, no offense buddy, but Sam! You’re the lore genius! You’ve got this place set up with your own fucking Sammy decimal system, and you missed this!”

“I mean, if she was doping up all our food, like she was doing to Jack - “

“And you wondered why I didn’t want to eat her turkish delights! She had you guys running around with sack lunches like fricken four year-olds, all dopey smiles and rice krispy treats. I mean, I can’t believe you even knew how to spell ‘happy birthday’ all on your own and didn’t pull a Hagrid with how high you were flying on her nymph edibles!” You throw your hands up, nearly throwing your slice of birthday cake right off the plate, as Sam laughs.

“And you,” you point to him, “Mjolnir! Where did she pull that from? You weren’t thrown off with that? And don’t think I am letting you live down that sweater vest or birthday tiara. If all it took to make you guys so docile were a few parties and home-cooked meals and giving in to some praise kinks you seem to hae, then someone would have locked you both down already, it’s not like they haven’t tried. I cringed, you guys, cringed. My shoulders are still sore from it.  In fact, I think you guys really owe me for having to put up with watching all that crap go down. For being so right, right from the start.”

They both roll their eyes, Jack for his part just sits and smiles while eating his own birthday cake. Dean flicks his fingers in a ‘bring it on’ motion while pursing his lips in displeasure.

“I want a party. With drinks and store-bought cake with that really good frosting, and a banner that says ‘you were so right and we were so stupid and we’re sorry and we will do better next tim-’”

“Alright, Veruca we get it,” Dean groans.

“Just do better, and don’t forget my golden goose,” you smirk.

[cabin-fever-bang]

Campfire Stories (Vol. 1)

Welcome to the Cabin! We proudly present the first edition of Campfire Stories: your one-stop shop for quality quarantine content. 

We’re going to do these regularly, with in-depth reviews of everything that’s been submitted as a prompt fill and additional recommendations from the masterlists of writers who get involved. 

If you’d like to be one of those writers, just follow us, comb through our prompts, and be sure to tag us when you post! It’s that easy. We welcome all fandoms and pairings. 

This batch of reviews was cooked up by @thoughtslikeaminefield​ (MJ), @there-must-be-a-lock​ (Lou), @itmighthavebeenintentional​ (Val), @fangirlxwritesx67​ (Viv), @cracksinthewalls​ (Bri), and @mskathywriteswords​ (Kathy), but we encourage you to pass along the random acts of writer-love and reblog with your own additions! 

Pull up a seat, toast a marshmallow or two, and settle in for some excellent reading material.

Choices We Make - @becs-bunker​ - GIF prompt submitted by  @dawnie1988​ 

Pairing: Demon Dean x Female Reader

Warnings: angst, brief threat & violence, smut, language, dub con-ish, unprotected sex, orgasm denial

Words: 1374

Everyone loves a Demon!Dean fic, and this is a good one! Lots of action, lots of angst, and some really hot, awful Dean.

Honestly it all felt like some surreal nightmare you couldn’t wake up from. You just wanted Dean back, your Dean.

These lines summarize both the Demon!Dean story arc and the narrator's frame of mind so well, pulling the reader right into the perspective of the story.

“I missed you, y’know?” Dean sighed, and the naive part of you wished he was telling the truth. That somehow, deep down, he still loved you.

This is heartbreaking because it's relatable, because the author does such a good job with the narrator's voice.

Dean licked his lips and there was a familiar hunger in his green eyes that made a whole different sensation rise in your body, and it wasn’t fear.

I'm not going to quote any more lines from the story because the author has written one hell of a twist, but trust me when I said, I gasped out loud reading it. The rest of this story is an absolute roller coaster, well worth the ride.

- Viv

Come For Me - @fangirlxwritesx67​ - image prompts created and submitted by @idabbleincrazy​

Pairing: Sam Winchester x female reader 

Warnings: smut, canon level violence, fingering, first time together

Words: 3100

First, let’s talk about this aesthetic. It’s soft and beautiful, but stark and needy. I love the quotes and photos, the way they flow together. Fantastic visual prompt. "Sam Winchester?” He spoke in a theatrical, mocking tone. “Ooooh, I’m frightened." This line made me chuckle. I love the idea of what’s ahead of us. The bad guy is built up in a hilarious way. Sam is presented through the heart and mind of the narrator, you. But thinking of Sam suffused you with a warm confidence. Not for one moment did you doubt him. This confidence is contagious and warming. Meanwhile, the anxiety over the vampire lurking somewhere else, waiting to taste you… it builds in a beautiful and believable way. There’s a rush of emotions as Sam rescues you, and he’s patient and kind, even while making jokes and being the Sam you know and love. Things progress, and there’s a beautiful and sweet (okay, and hot!) sex scene, with a first time between Sam and you. All in all, a really solid piece, with some story, some tension, some sex, and a whole lot of sweetness.

- Kathy

A New Day - @becs-bunker​ - image prompt created and submitted by @there-must-be-a-lock​

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Reader

Warnings: fluff

I’ve not reviewed an image prompt before, so let’s just jump in. The first word that jumps to my mind is light, but I love how suffused and golden the whole image is. Softer, safer, intimate. There are little pinpoints of light, rays of light, shining light, and the whole thing makes me feel...well...light. Sunrise and candlelight, new day, new beginnings. 

The images chosen for Sam, the angles and features we get, are such close, personal angles and shots, giving us this tender atmosphere and setting the tone for this story: personal. Everything you're about to read is intimate, personal, and private, in such a lovely, delicate way. 

The curtains in that first shot are so filmy and ethereal, and the whole story feels like it’s set in a kind of golden-hazed forest. And, let’s face it, any sort of vacation for a Winchester is a kind of fairy tale. 

I’ve managed to stay pretty much above the brow, so Imma have to dip down for a minute and just drool over Sam’s trapezius muscles. Oh. MY. GAWD.

Golden, glorious, graceful, and just a touch of gooey. Good, good, good.

So, right off the bat, let me tell you that this story is everything I’ve ever wanted for Sam, like everything the show and Chuck and the universe has ever denied him. He’s rested, he’s comforted, he’s bathed in glow (the sun, the reader’s love, all that jazz, you know?).

And then it goes and hits all my camping weaknesses. I was literally just telling someone how I’m missing my camp more than ever now. It’s been eight years since I’ve been, and this story brings back all those feelings of serenity and calm, voluntary isolation with people you more or less chose, because camp was and is my forever real home.

I know that seems a little rambly and off-topic, but the thing is, that’s what this story is for me. They aren’t at the bunker, their “home,” but they’re still home all the same, because (and, yes, you can shoot me for this) home is where your heart is, so this wonderful little cabin in the woods is home, whether they’ve been there together once or a hundred times because Sam.

And then that bit of sugar tossed in at the end...Oh, this story was good for my soul. “Warm mug of coffee on a chill morning, under a blanket” kind of good for my soul. 

It’s one of those where I would love to have so much more of these two, of this warmth between them, but I also am perfectly content to know them just in this one perfect moment forever, before the day starts, when everything is still in the “it’s about to happen and it will be great” stages. The beginning of a great new day.

Thank you. I needed this story, now more than ever.

- Val

Crash  - @myinconnelly1​ - requested by @adoptdontshoppets​ for @idreamofplaid​ aesthetic

Pairing: Dean Winchester x reader

Warnings: smut, fluff

Words: 810

The first thing that draws my eye in the aesthetic is the linked fingers. I love pinky links (I’m sure there’s a less cutesy way to say it, but I like it; sue me). They’re sweet, and really personal. You’ve got super tough Dean Winchester who isn’t embarrassed or afraid of intimate, goofy gestures. In fact, I feel like that would one hundred percent be Dean in a relationship: Dean is a giant ball of goofy, intimate gestures. 

I love the choices of relaxed, bearded Dean/Jensen paired with the casual, cool color palette immediately set me at ease. This isn’t going to be a terrifying, angsty ordeal. This is going to be calm, soothing, sensual. 

And the roses, the sand, the surf, the candlelight, the pokey palm tree fronds...I can hear, smell, feel every bit of these images. The golden-pink wine...ugh. This whole experience is a trip to paradise.

I love how all five senses are emphasized and made equally important. It gives us so much more connection to the moment, makes it that much more intimate. The constant crashing of the waves in the background; the bittersweet chocolate; the cozy, homey image of the baking-wrecked kitchen followed by the much more erotic, candelit bedroom; and then the scent of the oil mixed with the warmth and strength of Dean’s touch.

I also love the level of comfort in the story. We have the cookies, a hard-core comfort staple. We have the warm, lazy beach setting. And the easiness these two have together: that’s the dream, my friend. I love how they have no trouble at all communicating what they want and need, how they are comfortable enough to be messy and cute and flirty and sexy, one right after the other. 

And the description is so thorough, I have no trouble at all imagining myself there, in that wonderful, relaxing moment.

This story is relaxing, decadent, soothing, and fun all at once. I am a huge fan of the ending, as well. I was smiling through the whole story, but at the end, I literally laughed aloud. And now I think I’m going to have to excuse myself to go find some chocolate chip cookies. This story gave me a couple of cravings, and as Dean Winchester is in short supply in the real world, cookies are the one I can satisfy right now.

This story is, dare I say it, such a sweet escape. 

- Val

No Sugar Added - @myinconnelly1​ - requested by @fangirlxwritesx67​ - “I’d like to see Steve Rogers from MARVEL sharing Depression-era coping tips. Maybe he vlogs how to make apple-less apple pie.” 

No pairing

Warnings: Spoilers for Infinity Wars + Endgame, mention of mental health issues

Words: 446

This was my prompt for the Cabin, and I loved what this author did with the story! A little bit of fluffy cheer.

“Hello, I’m Steve Rogers.  As many of you know, I’m also Captain America, and I was alive during another time of hard living conditions.” 

Right now, a lot of things in the world seem scary and unsettling. It's one of those times when we turn for comfort to the lessons of the past, to the wisdom of generations, and to heroes. This author does a great job with Captain America, Steve Rogers. His cooking lesson is exactly the sort of inspiring, instructional video I would love to see.

“What is that smell?”  Natasha asked as she looked behind her to see Steve walking into the office with the plate.

Because it was never about pie, apple or otherwise. It was always about comfort. Our favorite foods help with that, and so does Captain America, especially written this well.

There are some fun tidbits in this story, including a peek of history and an actual recipe!

- Viv

Communion - @thoughtslikeaminefield​ - requested by @mskathywriteswords​​ “Fluffy dean or Jensen smoking weed plz, ty”

Pairing: Dean Winchester x unnamed female character

Warnings: marijuana use, high sex, het sex, fluffy smut

Words: 1002

How do I love this? Let me count the motherfucking ways. 

First of all, the way this sucks you into the characters’ headspace is beautiful and subtle and masterfully done. It’s in the sentence structure and the flow of the words; there’s no need to describe their inner state, because it’s written into the movement of the sentences and the choice of words. She doesn’t have to say that they’re high, because you can fucking feel it in phrases like “It’s sending me off somewhere…” or “I shiver at the thoughts careening through my mind.”

Second, this is molten hot, but (as with the best smut) it’s not just some rote story of “then he was hard and we banged and it was great.” The sexy bits are unique; this isn’t the same smut you’ve read a thousand times before. It’s got its own personality and tone and voice that very much belong to this particular story. 

Also? Filth with feelings! My favorite genre! It’s deeply emotional. I am all for smut that is both dirty and tender. This is like a masterclass on how to walk that line. 

It’s such a simple premise that becomes so much more; this has things to say about Dean, about his personality, about this relationship. This takes a very specific moment and uses it as a framework for something big and meaningful. This, for example: 

When Dean has to be big, he uses his whole self. His body takes up space and his mere presence -- he can make the darkest of demons shudder with his presence alone.

But Dean’s natural state is this -- nesting, nuzzling, curled up and warm.

Yuuuup.

Also: 

His hands -- the same hands I’ve seen thrust a blade into the guts of angels and demons -- are tender, fingertips light but persistent as they slip under my tank top and splay over my belly.

It’s so intimate. This is why we read fanfic, right? To feel like we’re close to these characters that we love so much, to delve into the sides of them that we don’t get to see much in canon… this fic feels like something personal and private that we’ve been lucky enough to be let in on. 

- Lou

Deeper Than Deep Conditioner - @fangirlxwritesx67​ - requested by @awesomesusiebstuff​ “The two Sam’s (our Sam and AU Sam) maintaining their hair care routines while quarantined.”

It’s one of those days when I’m feeling too fragile for this world. What’s the best remedy to knock some sunlight into my dark mood? Today, it’s fic -- and one that makes me giggle is a bonus.

This little gem is filled with funny one-liners and side-eye moments to make you laugh out loud:

Dean dreamed of driving away, of bikini beauties on the beaches of Rio. Sam dreamed of scarves and what it would be like to have no bigger worries in the world than his hair.

The look Dean gave him would’ve curdled milk, if there was any, which there wasn’t, because Dean took his coffee black, like a man.

A touch of realism in this bizarro situation got a chuckle, too:

“Sorry, sweethearts,” alt!Dean said, “Flights are all cancelled. A virus or something.”

When Viv named the alternates Deano and Sami, I gave in and embraced the madness. I was delighted with Deano; that’s my own nickname for Dean in my head. But Sami, a most pretentious twist on Sammy? A master stroke. I was tickled.

I was fully on board with enjoying this romp through the bizarro world, but then I was taken by surprise. This little moment, a hint that Sam has been trying to make the best of their circumstances, touched me: 

“Is this really how you live?” said Sami, with a dismissive glance at his paper napkin.

“Look,” Sam answered. “I’ve done my best. It’s taken a lot to get us this far.”

I was prepared for that to be the exception to the rule -- a moment of sincerity amongst a sea of lighthearted fun. And there was plenty of fun ahead of me. The jokes come at you hard and fast in this story! But I realized the mood was steadily changing, and suddenly, I was immersed in sincerity and maybe a little sadness:

...somewhere out there, was a universe where he pampered himself...

...maybe there was a place where he could enjoy something as simple as a deep condition...

...something Sam had wanted to watch but never had time for...

...for the first time in a long time, he caught himself laughing...

I thought maybe that was it. A few moments of Sam learning to appreciate what Sami (I was still laughing at that) had to offer, instead of simply mocking his manbun and scarf (I don’t think I could ever stop mocking that, but Sam’s a better person than I am).

But no. It didn’t end there, and I still wasn’t ready. Before I knew it, I was steeped in Sam’s melancholy, his yearning for a life kinder and gentler than what he’d been given. I was truly heartbroken for him in that moment.

I won’t spoil the rest, but by the time I got to the ending, I was grateful for the funny beginning that softened the landing. I expected a comedy, but what I got really was deeper than deep conditioner.

- Bri

Dear Mr. Fantasy - @itmighthavebeenintentional​ - image prompt submitted @thoughtslikeaminefield​

Warnings: SEASON 15 SPOILERS, bit of angst. 

Words: 2157

I found the image prompt in my Tumblr feed and immediately started plotting ideas that I cannot write bc I have too many fucking WIPs so imagine my excite when one of my all-time favorite fic writers (and one of my very best friends) filled the prompt as a surprise for me!

Val tells stories with a depth and humor like no one else I’ve ever read. Her natural wit and smarts shine through her fictional words as well, and I love seeing glimpses of her in her work.

In one universe, someone neglected Baby (couldn’t have been Dean, had to’ve been Sam) to the point where she pulls slightly to the left. Dean spends the morning after that dream with a muscle tick in his cheek and a suspicious, side-eyed glare for Sam that he never bothers to explain.

Dear Mr. Fantasy is bittersweet. It is soft and rich and full of color — all the senses are here. It’s a sledgehammer of realism wrapped in velvet. And it’s so very Dean.

At forty-eight years old (none of that years young bullshit, either; he’s old, and he’s goddamn earned it)

In the midst of reading canon Dean dreaming of and admiring and protecting his favorite of his AU-selves and that version’s life, we are treated to what it would be like if he was allowed a normal life. Our devoted, brave, warm, and loving hunter as a common mechanic would be just as brave and loyal, no?

“Pretty sure she’s settled on ya, so just make sure you’re worth it.” 

So that’s what Dean did. 

But our Dean — the Real Dean as Chuck says — can’t quite let his guard down even in his dreams of another world, even if that other world is safe as houses. He’s still aware of just how unreal this reality is.

Splashes of indigo and orange paint the horizon, framing her approach in a wash of colors blending into shadows that hold no danger.

Then, he lets himself mingle with that dream, if only for a few moments and it’s bliss.

Older Dean and worn-out, monster-plagued Dean sigh together, content down to their bones. This life is it for both of them. She is it. One Dean still can’t believe his amazing luck after all these years, and the other aches at the simple, total happiness he feels honored to witness.

I love you, she whispers, and he allows himself to believe for one moment that she’s talking directly to him.

I’m not going to spoil anything for you, but I will say that you need some tissues. I cried through 90% of this story, from joy and from heartache. 

Because that’s what Valerie does, breaks your heart and makes you smile, and it is so fucking good.

- MJ

Synesthesia - @there-must-be-a-lock - request by @wendibird​ “SPN, Sastiel, due to all the Angelic Grace Sam has been exposed to over time, he starts resonating with Castiel’s. Especially if Cas’ emotions are running high.”

Pairing: Sam Winchester x Castiel

Warnings: none!

Words: 750

First, I love the song that enhanced this idea for Lou. It lends a tenderness and whimsy to the plot that isn’t inherent. 

Second, Lou’s words are like poetry and watercolor doing a dance of their own making — GORGEOUS phrasing and rhythm.

Cas whirls around, and Sam is hypnotized by the bright blue in his eyes, wide and concerned in a way that makes Sam feel like he’s being lit up from the inside. There’s a floodlight in his chest. 

And, y’all, I don’t even go here, but I swooned SO HARD.

It’s an effort to focus, but when he meets Cas’s eyes, Cas smiles. Sam sees a shower of sparks like the last fizzle of a firework.  

Sam hears it as a flutter of spring green like a new leaf. 

And Lou’s characterization is always spot on, right? But like Dean isn’t even in the scene, yet here we are.

Don’t let the words fool you; there’s a very angry rainbow happening in his head most of the time.

And did I mention the ARTWORK that is this woman’s WORDS?

There are stars under their feet, entire galaxies spinning out around them, dancing spirals of kaleidoscopic green and gold melting into whorls of brilliant blue.

Anyway, please go read. You’ll be flying high for hours afterward. xox

- MJ

Salvation - @dontshootmespence​ - image created and submitted by @idabbleincrazy​

Pairings: Sam Winchester x reader

Warnings: angst, torture, gore, smut 

Words: 1,401

The aesthetics by this artist inspire stories just because they are so well done. This one was a good balance of handsome Sam and some nice suggestive pics along with the phrases that helped shape the action of the story.

This story feels like an episode of the show from earlier seasons, just the right balance of angst and monster fighting with tantalizing peeks of smut and feels. Excellent job!

There are no words that come close to explaining what she means to him. How she saves what soul he has left.

These flashback scenes are both hot and tender. The voice the author  gives to Sam is spot on, achingly familiar.

"You're Sam Winchester, the boy with the demon blood."

It's easy to forget, sometimes, all the things that Sam has been and done, how fearsome of a hunter he is. This story reminds us with razor sharp precision.

When he meets her gaze, he finds the peace he's craved for so long.

The contrast between the flashbacks and the action is painfully good.

What’s more frightening, a man like Dean, practiced in his violence out of necessity? Or a man like him, on the verge of losing everything and nothing left to lose?

This is a well drawn distinction between the Winchester brothers, and such a good characterization of Sam!

"You're safe with me, Sam. You never have to hide from me." 

Such a beautiful relationship between Sam and this woman! It's no wonder he's fighting so hard to save her.

This story has an imaginative plot, fast paced action, some sweet hotness, and such a good Sam!

- Viv

The Second Hand Unwinds - @mskathywriteswords​ - image prompt created and submitted by @there-must-be-a-lock​ 

Pairing: Dean Winchester x reader

Warnings: hurt, comfort, angst

I had a vibe in mind when I created this aesthetic but this went so far beyond anything I could’ve imagined. It absolutely nailed that nostalgic, wistful, antique-photo-album feel, and then it managed to knife me in the fucking gut in a few ways, none of which I saw coming. 

The JOY in the first part of this is absolutely tangible. It’s so romantic and sweet in a very dreamy way that feels exactly like first love. I love the scattered, disjointed imagery around the flowers in the first part, like flashes of memories coming at you all at once, and then when it settles into the narrative it manages to hold onto that dreamy feeling while still moving neatly through the plot. 

This moment was about us, and I wanted to live in it forever. You never gave me reason to cover my body, not that night or ever.

Goddamn right. Ugh, precious and beautiful. And then this:

After so much undiluted time together, I had no idea how to sleep alone. I felt raw waking up by myself, not being able to feel your stubble tickling my skin. 

There’s something about that last line that just grabbed my heart and tugged it in a wonderful way. It’s ACCURATE, first of all; this is one of those super-specific feelings that is hard to describe concisely. I haven’t really thought about that feeling in a while, but that little sentence just cut through so many years and brought me right back in a deep and visceral way. 

You took pride in doing all the things that were never done for you, you’d told me.

Ouch. It’s little touches like this that make this ring true to character even though it’s a very different Dean than we see in canon.

And then that ENDING. 

How do you contain a bomb once it’s been set on fire with grief?

Fuck, dude. Everything about that ending was so painful. I love that she left it raw and messy and not like a simple “welcome back!” kinda moment. 

This was just gorgeously done. Can not recommend it enough. 

Fort - @there-must-be-a-lock​ - prompt by @mskathywriteswords​​ “Fluffy dean or Jensen smoking weed plz, ty.” 

Pairing: J2 x reader

Warnings: blowjobs and weed. 

Words: ~2150

This piece of deliciousness opens with Jensen walking out of the bathroom with a towel on his hips; do I need to say more? I don’t, but I will. After some beautiful description of the blanket fort, we get treated to Jared in nothing but pajama pants. The descriptions in this piece are vivid and full. the way Jared’s hand looks between Jensen’s muscled shoulderblades, thumb stroking back and forth between patches of gold and red light, makes me want to capture the moment and hold onto it. I can see that image in my mind, picture the two of them together, and that’s what makes excellent writing for me. The warnings attached to this piece are fully applicable; the story is very cute and sweet, there’s weed, and there’s Jared and a wicked oral fixation, which in the case of this one-shot means dear Reader, that’s you, get to witness a searing blowjob from one J to another. The way these three interact makes my heart swell, and there’s something about watching the dynamic change between them that really hammers home just how functional they are together. Dive in to this universe, Everything. There are no regrets to be had, maybe only that you waited so long to get wet.

- Kathy

The Gazelle - @thoughtslikeaminefield​ - requested by Anonymous “I’d really love some more Dean x Benny fanfiction, AU, aligned with canon timeline, whatever. I think they deserved a chance and Benny got killed off before it could even be explored :(”

Pairing: AU Dean Winchester x AU Benny Lafitte x unnamed female character

Warnings: power exchange, mmf threesome implied, Denny apparent, nudity

Words: 1000

Let me start with a caveat: I’m in the bag for pretty much any Dean x Benny fic, pretty much any Dean x Benny x person #3 fic, and absolutely any MJ fic. So you could stop reading this review right now and just go read the fic, if you want; in fact, I sort of recommend it, because it’s better than anything I could have to say about it. But if you want to stick around, I promise to be a little more coherent than ZOMGGGG PERFECT HOT SEXY TIMES DENNY LOVE GORGEOUS MORE PLZ!  

Before we even get to the words, we’ve got a gorgeous graphic. Black and white beautiful boys, staring you down with those “I’m gonna fuck you so good” eyes, paired with a sweetly sexy woman tinted with a soft pink; she looks carefree, open to have some fun, and you can imagine her telling them to bring it on. MJ’s graphics are always great, setting the perfect mood for her fics, and this is no exception.

And right from the jump:

Dean and me — we share a lot of things.

We share good music and good drink. Tonight, we’re sharing a good woman.

Oh, this is in Benny’s voice?! Okay okay okay, cool cool cool, I can handle this…

...Dean purrs like a jungle cat as he hovers behind her, hands in her hair, twisting and twirling the silky tresses…

...Dean sets the pace and is the anchor, always. He keeps everything stable and grounded…

And now I’ve realized that I’m going to be seeing Dean through Benny’s eyes -- and no, not cool, can’t handle this -- but I’m definitely not stopping.

I like to mix things up, though, and he lets me.

MJ is a brilliant writer with many talents, but I think her specialty, regardless of what characters she’s writing with, is brilliantly salacious smut that’s steeped in emotion. She can’t help it. Her fucks come with feels, every single time, and I hope it never changes. 

This piece is certainly no exception. Dean and Benny are circling their prey, this unnamed woman, utilizing their individual strengths -- Dean’s encouraging, I’m demanding -- and the sexual tension is building with soft touches and lingering kisses. As the scene is progressing, Benny’s inner monologue is sprinkled with thoughts about Dean:

Times we don’t have a subject, Dean’s focus is on me. I don’t argue and I do not complain. Dean knows what to do with every inch of that long, lean body of his. He knows how to cage a person in, make them feel safe, wanted, fucking needed.

She’s handily building emotion and a personal backstory without an exposition dump, without taking focus away from the action for too long:

His hands move slowly, seemingly random, but I know how focused he is on her and the moment. Giving and seeking pleasure are vital things to Dean and he takes the acts to heart.

I’m immersed in the now of this scene but I also understand the depth of their feelings for one another, their history and dedication to each other, and how they work together to bring another partner into their orbit. MJ makes it look easy, when it’s anything but. 

And then she gifts us with this perfection and I’ve melted into a puddle of emotionally aroused goo:

“You promise to love, honor, and cherish ‘til the morning light, Dean?”

That is a vow of devotion to a one-night stand. What?! How?! Does her brain come up with this?

From there, the scene continues, the action escalating, supported by a framework of realism and heart. Her Dean feels familiar and in character, even though we’ve never seen him in this particular situation. And Benny, we hardly knew ye, but she brings him to life alongside Dean and I buy their relationship completely. I buy all of this, and now I’m invested.

And then… 

“Do it, then,” she says, challenging. “Wreck me.”

My breath catches, my heart starts to race -- yes, here we go! -- a few more sentences, one last connection between Dean and Benny, and then --

Oh, you are evil, MJ. You are so perfectly evil and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

- Bri

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S4 Ep 24: Someone Actually Called the Cops.

So recently I was like, “I should do something different than my usual” and I decided to open up a little thread for critiquing ppl’s short stories, and I kid you not, the very first story I got was someone’s Seto Kaiba erotica. Which, even in erotica form, did not have very much romance in it. So, now that Yugioh will apparently haunt my every waking move forever until I die, lets get back to S4. Lets desperately get back to canon. I miss canon.

Last we left off, Kaiba lost KaibaCorp...again. Really feels like he loses this company once every couple of years (weeks if we count season 1-3). Except, this time, Dartz didn’t read the fine print in the legal files that says the company must be run by a member of the Kaiba family. While that was a huge plot point with Pegasus, turns out that Seto and Mokuba’s memories have been blended so thoroughly, like a very fine Shadow Realm smoothie, that they just...forgot.

And like I’m positive that Roland remembers, but Roland’s not gonna say something and accidentally reveal he’s the 4th Kaiba brother and have to get abducted all the time and actually work for a living. Anyways, they forgot why Pegasus abducted them in the first place in Season 1, and honestly, so did the writers of this season 4 years later. Not like it mattered, because if Seto and Mokuba did take Dartz to court, the world would end before their case would even start.

Which is how, after one talk with Roland, Seto and Mokuba just sort of laid prone on the metaphorical ground and let it wash over them that yes, KaibaCorp is gone.

I really like this extra-long helicopter, PS.

Both members of Kaiba’s Sunglasses Army decided to align themselves with Kaiba, although honestly, I don’t think anyone else in this company has realized that they’ve been bought. It happened...1 hour ago. Like what do you even do if your company randomly gets bought in the middle of a workday? Like no lead up, no indication, just BAM you’ve been bought?

And if Duke works for Pegasus who got bought out by Dartz and then Dartz bought Kaiba Corp-------What does that make Duke? Is he gonna have to start wearing sunglasses inside?

Anyway, Roland knows better than to tell Seto Kaiba he doesn’t work for him anymore while still in the same helicopter as Seto Kaiba, who already crashed one plane today and will crash yet another plane before this episode is through.

(read more under the cut)

Seto decides to align with Yugi since he needs to confront Dartz eventually. Which is when we find out that Seto always planned to align with Yugi and was just giving him a really hard time.

Because over the last several episodes, Seto has had an entire team at this random museum in Florida in order to take some pictures (that really should have already been on the internet but wtv, it was 2003 so maybe it wasn’t?)

It’s like most of the way through s4 and the biker ninjas still send me. How did he make SO MANY biker ninjas? At what point was Dartz like...and now...all my mooks...will be ninja bikers. Or orcs. Mostly Ninja bikers.

Did Alister or the others ever tell him “hey, Master Dartz, I get that your 10000 years old but like...do you not understand what a biker is?” and was Dartz like

“clearly bikers are the most evil thing in the world, obviously.” completely unaware that most bikers are just 45 year old accountants.

In these scenes we also get a gander at their laptops and, if you ever want to see high level life crippling OCD anxiety in picture form, it’s illustrated very clearly right here:

Not only did they draw this keyboard in 1 pt perspective, they used like a ruler to draw all those letters so they were the same size. Some artist put so much time getting this nice and crisp and smooth...and then this happened.

And I’m pretty sure they died after that. I’m pretty sure this scene killed an artist.

It’s at this point that Yami kinda puts two and two together and was like “WE BOUGHT PLANE TICKET’S, YOU ASSHOLES.”

(It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen Mokuba smile like this, and it’s because he’s been hiding the fact for So Many Episodes that he and his brother prepped like hours ago to get this huge dunk on the rest of the party. He just wants to dunk on them so bad. Look at him. His company was bought today. BUT he gets to spend time with his bro dunking.)

Serious question, will Delta refund your flight if the Great Leviathan appears in the sky and tries to eat your soul to reboot the world from the ground up?

Of course not. They will never refund your flight. Trick question.

We switch back over to Rebecca and Duke, who have been absent from this show for so long, I actually forgot what Duke’s name was and had to think for like...5 entire minutes until I remembered that his nickname sounds like a poop and I was like “oh man, what name of poop would it be???” and then I recalled “Dookie. Yes. His name is literally Dookie. Wow that took way too long!”

Then we start a story arc I’d to call “My Kingdom For a Sharpen Filter” where, much like King Lear, the Yugi crew splays themselves on a battle field just strewn with different ways to sharpen an image, but can’t for the life of them use any other one, but the one deep in the heart of what is now DartzCorp.

And so yes, we are going to fly to San Fransisco, hop into ye Olde KaibaCorp, and log into proto-Noah in order to read a language that Arthur Hawkins can already read.

This is nonsense, but they put it there because it’s something to do. And honestly, it’s not a card game, so I’m down for this change-up. Lets go visit a version of Noah’s brain. At least they won’t drop an orichalcos for the 12th episode in a row.

On the way, Seto decides to try and egg on Yugi.

This backfires as you expect it will because Yami doesn’t freakin care. Like he’s not Yugi, he doesn’t care who the King of Games is, he harnesses freakin Dark Magic. The Wizard never cares if he’s King Arthur or not, and in fact, he probably prefers it....

..................Except in that spinoff where they had Yugi as a reincarnation of King Henry VII.

...................................................never mind.

And then Seto Kaiba says this actual line and I just...

WH.

WHHH

WHAT?

This entire show is just watching Yugi desperately cling to his scary ass hobbies. The tagline of Yugioh is “1001 reasons to go back to school and get a real job.”

What does Kaiba think Yugi does when he’s not around? Does he actually think Yugi attends school or sleeps at night or works an actual job? Like...he thinks Yugi has...NO HOBBIES.

Very interesting insight into what Seto considers a hobby and not hobby.

Especially since this Yami, who spends most of his spare time farting around his scary ass brain castle and getting lost. Occasionally he is forced on a date with Tea and wipes minds. That’s it. That’s all the things Yami does outside of hobbies.

Anyway, what is Dartz doing during all of this?

After this, Dartz pulls back the literal curtains on this room to reveal these candles that each hold the soul of someone he’s murdered.

There are not NEARLY enough candles for this segment.

A very brave man to have candles littered on the floor when his hair is down to his ass and all of his mooks have floorduster coats.

I really want to know what the local arts and crafts store thought when Dartz strode in there and bought every single tiny styrafoam skull during the Halloween sale and was like “can I put souls in these? You sell the kind I can put souls in, right?” and then immediately pulled out like a dozen 50% off coupons like a complete asshole.

Anyway, using this candle hocus pocus, Dartz uses the Orichalcos powers to take advantage of something Yugi did in the first episode. We distantly recall there was a giant eyeball in the sky--turns out if you bust up the eyeball with, lets say, a card that has a dragon on it, the eyeball will explode into many tiny Orichalcos pieces that will fall all over planet Earth.

So apparently Yugi didn’t save anyone at all when he busted that eyeball, because he instead set in motion Dartz’ evil plan to eventually use these many tiny Orichalcos pieces like the one seen here, to kill the hell out of people.

Good job, Yugi. Too bad you missed the Actual Bakura.

In fact, actual Bakura is probably the only one who survived this incident because I guarantee that Ryou Bakura is too busy eating all the contents of his fridge out of stress. He’s probably opened his window at this point, seen the crazy lights in the sky and in the street and was like  “Blooooooody nope nopenopenopenopenope” and just locked the windows and doors, turned up Hercule Poirot to max volume, and stuffed his face with cookies.

(Or biscuits, I guess.)

WELL.

I don’t know how to tally that.

Yugioh not only broke the tally I was using to measure the distance they spent commuting this season, it also broke the tally on the amount of people who have died on this children’s show.

That’s a really big number.

We’ve had real duel monsters for a couple weeks but youknow...this time they’re extra, extra, extra real. More so than the last times. Also they’re all Orichalcos versions of their cards so their extra edge now. They’re the hot topic versions of what were already pretty hot-topic ass cards.

MMM. We come full circle, back at a dock, a warehouse, and some huge ass boat.

Right where we belong. Where all friends meet, where we can all finally be one.

Yugioh found one of the only cities that has a very famous and tourist heavy pier/warehouse district in it just so the Yugi gang could finally feel comfortable in their natural habitat. HOWEVER, there’s just one tiny problem in this scene, and it’s that it’s not overlaid with the actual soundscape of a SF pier, which is that of 100000 screaming seals

I don’t have a seal problem, you have a seal problem.

Anyway, the only healthy adults here attempt to follow the children into danger but someone on the animation team was like “we just lost the keyboard drawing guy to that capslock! We cannot lose any more interns to a crowd scene with 9 people in it and 2 dead bodies!” and they uh...

And we immediately eject Roland and whoever that weird sunglasses guy is out of the script. Mokuba gave them a longing glance as they helicoptered away. Maybe because he missed his Dad stand-ins that he went through such efforts to call in the first place. Or more likely, because Mokuba would have preferred to be on that helicopter and far away from whatever the hell is going to go down on this dock.

Honestly the rest of Joey’s storyline this episode is him going rogue because of Mai rage, and it both comes out of nowhere and also seems very on point for him.

Meanwhile, Rebecca’s unbridled rage towards Yami Muto is still low key hilarious to me.

Witness the only character here who thinks Yami should suffer actual consequences and witness Yami just appear to not give a single damn about it.

Nearly spat out my own drink watching this.

The...

...police...

...exist in this universe?

Anyway, while Tristan and Tea try to locate a payphone to dial 911, Seto and Yugi decide to invade Seto’s own company by going through an elevator that you have to reach through the sewers.

Straight up I don’t think SF even has sewers. At least, not in the sense that you can walk in em like New York or Paris or other cities that have sewers. Our sewer systems are very small cuz we got something called “liquefaction” which means our ground is so soft (and artificial--a lot of the land is fake), that when there is an earthquake, certain parts of the city will...liquefy. It’s Terrifying. We kind of...avoid going and building underground except in certain stable places. (like even BART gives me the heebies.)

I just have a very strong distrust of basements, caves and other underground places in general and it’s not because of spiders, or ghosts or whatever, I’m just afraid of faultlines. It’s like having an active volcano, but you just don’t see it, and we haven’t had a Big One since 1989 so...any day now (I mean, 2020 has been such redic content, that I think we’re finally ready)

Again, Japan has way more intense Earthquakes than we do, and yet they have a billion underground subways and very, very tall buildings, so like, this is mostly a big cultural difference between the two of us. And the bedrock. They probably have better bedrock than we do (honestly, I just have no idea).

MASTER HACKER SKILLS.

Almost as good as that time he hacked into Pegasus’ company by dropping a satellite on it. I’m starting to think Seto actually doesn’t know how to use a computer.

Anyway, Seto is faced with...real cards, real monsters, indisputable evidence, and he decides, it’s time. It’s time to finally face facts.

So, while these two are just flinging cards around willy nilly, Tea and Tristan are ...actually talking to police.

4 seasons. They’re actually doing it.

Although, TBH, they probably should have gone to the Japanese Embassy first? Just throwing that out there.

Ah Yugioh, the only kids show around that tells you point blank not to trust cops. Timeless.

U.S

In some weird underground earthquake hazard, Rebecca proves that she is smarter than Seto Kaiba. She’s maybe even the smartest person on this show. Nice that we gave her nothing to do this season but pine over Yugi who is already taken by Tea who he is also not even dating.

Not that I love Rebecca or anything, I actually have a hard time with her voice, but like...they really dropped the ball on Rebecca.

If she does end up joining Kaiba corp as their back up Felicity Smoak while Seto just runs around aimlessly punching stuff that really is just offbrand Arrow but with cards. And with slightly less resurrections.

So, lets get a gander at that computer.

We didn’t get to see Kaiba pull out 12 other discs to complete the installation process for these all these Hard Discs. Maybe the lure of throwing a very aerodynamic CD across the room like a paper card was so strong that his dev team forced him to switch to these defunct squares?

PS, I am a true millennial, OK? But, I don’t remember Hard Discs.

Hard Discs were SO long go. I stopped using these damn things in Elementary school. The last Hard Disc I ever touched was in college, when I had to put my art portfolio on a disc to submit it to my degree. I don't know even why. Everyone had a mac, so I knew no one’s computer in the department even...HAD a disc drive so it was like...whomst among you has this damn computer from 1997? Whomst among you is still using Windows 95? WHY would I put IMAGES on a floppy when I can just email them to you?

Anyway, I had to get a USB hard disc reader, and to get that reader, I had to call my Dad who had legacy software because he’s a computer engineer, and he had to mail it to me.

In that same portfolio review, PS, I also had to submit my portfolio as slides.

I didn’t even know where to produce slides so I had to ask all these old people and go to the last photo processing store on earth to get digital pictures turned into negatives and then turned into freakin slides.

SLIDES.

I honestly think they just did that to weed people out of the art degree.

Anyway, I tell you this story just to say that there is no way in hell that Kaiba was using a hard disc during the height of the CD era. We were CD or go home since 2000. We had pretty decent jump drives at this point. We had wifi. It was realllly bad wifi, but we had it. Your phone could connect to the internet. It would charge you 50 bucks, but it COULD connect.

Who on the Yugioh team DID this?

Anyway lets see these pictures that for which, we spent thousands of dollars in unused plane tickets, destroyed a Caltrain, killed 2 ancient Atlanteans (and their dog), killed 3 random mid-villains, walked across the entire Peninsula, crashed an international plane, and left both the plane and the train to rot gas fuel into the nearest lake which is right next to a ghost graveyard?

Yeaaaaaaaaaah!

Like he reads it and is all “They’re gonna resurrect Atlantis” and it’s like WE KNOW. Dartz and his hooligans have talked about starting their Utopia to reboot the world since Gurimo. Since Day 1.

Man.

Anyways, there was one plus to the pictures, and it was that Seto Kaiba recognized the Oricalchos logo.

just...

The Oricalchos logo is...

...This logo, Seto?

You...didn’t recognize...seriously? Not until just now? You have been inside of this logo, rearing to lose your soul to Alister 2 times, and he only recognized it...just now.

I mean Seto takes a while y’all. He’s a genius, but his memory is so, so bad, that he will Eventually get smart, but you have to wait until like episode 24. But he’ll get there. Just gotta be patient.

And, when he saw it, he wigged out in a way I wasn’t prepared for.

Y’all I feel like I’ve seen to many weird zooms on Kaiba’s crotch in this show. Or just in life in general, especially after that surprise fic. That’s all.

I don’t know why everything exploded, but maybe the logo is cursed in the same way as God Cards? I dunno.

Anyway, this is when Dartz shows up with his brand new dog.

So they run outside onto the roof.

Now listen, does every Kaiba Corp building need the same weird ass roof? Is it like a McDonalds?

Because I’m just picturing this type of roof in SF and I’m having a time.

Forgive me if I made this lemming joke already. He’s just stood on a cliff’s edge so many times I can’t keep up.

RIP Dragon Jet, who took us from S3-S4, you’ll always live on in our memory, you glorious, wasteful, beautiful death trap.

Seto and Yugi are fine by the way, they just kinda jumped out, as you do when you’re an immortal god possessing a small boy and a...whatever the hell Seto is.

It’s at this point we reintroduce Valon because Joey went rogue and has decided to take on Dartz by himself. This is what happens when Tristan leaves the party. You always need Tristan to hold back Joey by his armpits to keep him from fighting random people.

So I guess Valon’s gonna die next episode. That’ll be nice.

What’s great about this show is each arc is just watching each villain die. You know they’ll die. But...how much?

Anyway, that’s all for today. I’m still drawing a hell ton of stuff so I don’t know when the next update will be...but just now I haven’t dropped off or something. I’ll...eventually get to it.

And if you just got here, this is a link to read all of these in chrono order.

Anyway, I mentioned Hercule Poirot, (because watching a hell ton of BBC was how I spent time with my family when I was a kid, and my very Southern Grandma freakin LOVED Hercule Poirot) So here is the best subplot of that show, which is David Suchet eating stuff.

And which doesn’t want to embed for some reason. Probs can’t embed more than one video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17antzzJrzQ

[yikestripes]

Same old

A/N: Here you go anon!!! I hope you enjoy!!!!

Pairing: Bill x Reader

Request: May I request a fic with Bill Denbrough x reader that has Bill saving the reader from her worst fear that Pennywise is putting her through? (which can be something related to bullying or some sort of phobia). And I do think it’s more fitting as adults considering what happened in the second movie, but it’s also fine if they’re written younger—

(Y/D/J) = Your dream job

You swallowed hard, pulling up outside of the Chinese restaurant Mike had picked. You weren’t particularly prepared for the potential horrors waiting for you inside; you felt anxious as hell, being reunited with the people you’d called friends your entire childhood with barely any recollection of their names or virtually anything about them. As a matter of fact, you hardly remembered anything Mike had brought up during your brief phone call the night before about your childhood. You never had any reason to bring it up in conversation, or think about it for any other reason, so why would you remember? But then again, how could you forget? Isn’t that someone everyone does, forget? Especially when they grow up and move away? Apparently not.

You shook away the negative thoughts that swirled around your aching brain, and got out of your car as another car pulled into the parking lot. You paid no mind to the other car, too distracted by the restaurant looming overhead and what awaited you inside, when someone calling you from behind brought you back.

“(Y/N)?” You turned at the sound of your name being called by a distinctly deep, male voice, and were met with a man around your age squinting at you behind his glasses, seemingly confused. You stared for a second before it clicked; Richie “Trashmouth” Tozier stood before you, hands tucked sheepishly into his leather jacket, with his hair wild from running his fingers through it moments before.

“Oh my GOD! Richie!” You felt yourself running at him and attack him in a hug. He didn’t move at first, still slightly taken aback by having seen someone he hadn’t seen in 27 years look so painfully familiar but like a beautiful stranger. He moved to hug back but you’d already stepped back to get a better look at him.

“You look great, Trashmouth! What the hell!” You laughed and Richie’s awkwardness eased up as he smiled a bit.

“Look at you, you look gorgeous! What the fuck happened to me?” He glanced at his reflection in the glass of the window and shook his head a bit.

“Oh stop. When did you get in?” You asked, stuffing your own hands in your pockets, quickly becoming re-acquainted with the chilly air of Maine.

“Last night. You?”

“Earlier this afternoon. Have… have you seen anyone yet?”

“Nope. You?”

“Not yet. Wanna go in?”

“Not at all.”

“Alright, let’s do this.” You took your hands out of your pocket with a deep breath to calm your racing heart, and ripped the door open as Richie followed behind you.

The restaurant seemed nice and was brightly lit, which helped to relax you a little bit.

That might make it easier to recognize everyone.

The hostess led you and Rich to a private room aside from the main dining room, where 3 grown men near the fish tank, becoming readjusted to each other once again.

“Wow, take a look at these guys!” The shorter man in the red jacket said, attempting to relieve some of the tangible awkwardness.

You pressed your lips together as you made eye contact with the taller man, who seemed to be familiar in a different way than the others. His muscles contracted as he crossed his arms over his chest, his silver watch winking at you in the light. His blue eyes were bright, and full of hazy memory.

“Look at her TREMBLE girls! She’ll be a laughing stock by the end of the day!” Gretta Keene was cackling as you shook like a teapot, your back so far against the lockers that the locks were pressing into your back. You had no idea why Gretta was so terrifying, but she just was. There were no limits with her torment, and that certainly didn’t exclude you. She’d thrown wet trash on you, poured paint in your backpack in art class, and hid your clothes after gym class. She made you miserable at any opportunity, purely because she knew it bothered you; plus you were an easy target, you had no one to protect you. She had all the power. Especially since she found your sketchbook, filled with embarrassing drawings of one Bill Denbrough.

“Oh s-shut up, G-gretta.” The all-too-familiar lanky boy stepped out from behind Gretta, meekly followed by a few other boys you’d recognized from your classes through the years, who were always with Bill. Gretta whipped her ponytail around to look at who’d interrupted her fun, allowing you to sneak a bit closer to the boys.

“Aw would you look who it is, Stuttering Bill Denbrough! Coming to protect your little girlfriend, huh?” Bill’s blue eyes hardened, ignoring Gretta’s comment.

“Just leave her alone, she never did anything to you.” Bill crossed his arms over his chest.

“Oh yeah? Or what?”

“O-or I'll r-r-remind the w-wh-whole school a-about how R-Ri-Richie p-p-pulled up your skirt d-during the cl-class play i-in 4th grade.” Bill smirked as Gretta’s face turned a shade of pink.

Richie snickered as he adjusted his glasses, clearly still amused by the memory. Eddie glared at him and Richie shrugged.

“You win this round, Denbrough,” Gretta glared at him, clearly trying but failing to intimidate him. “Next time, Stuttering Bill won’t be around to save your ass, you little slut.” Gretta lunged at you and you slammed back into the lockers, trying to hide your wince after hitting a lock particularly hard.

She sashayed away as you recovered, rubbing the lower part of your back.

“Thank you.” You whispered to Bill, casting your eyes down. You were extremely shy, especially after Gretta’s torment had begun. You looked back up and Bill smiled kindly at you, extending his hand to help you up.

“I-I’m Bill D-D-Denbrough,” You shook his hand with a shy grin. “I-I know w-we’ve had c-cl-classes together f-for a few y-y-years, b-but I d-don’t thi-think we’ve e-ever spoken.”

“I’m (Y/N).” Bill nodded.

“I’m Richie!”

“Edward Kaspbrak, but you can call me Eddie.” “Call him Eddie Spaghetti, he LOVES that!”

“I told you to stop calling me that!”

“Alright Eds, have it your way.”

“I hate Eds too! It’s Eddie!”

“Calm yourself, Eduardo.”

“RICHIE!” Richie snickered again as Eddie crossed his arms, huffing in frustration.

“I”m Stanley, Stanley Uris.”

“Oh, yes! We have math together.” You smiled at the curly-haired boy. He sat behind you at math, always answering the teacher’s questions.

“Bill?” You whispered, frowning slightly. Bill broke out into a grin and approached you slowly, memories streaming back.

“(Y/N).” He said almost breathlessly, pulling you into a tight hug. Your knees almost buckled beneath you at his familiar scent and feeling of him holding you so close and so tight.

“I can’t believe it’s been so long, I just, I can’t believe it…” You trailed off, an eruption of memories causing your previous headache to return. You grimaced slightly, and shook it away, not allowing something so silly to ruin your evening.

“I know. It’s been what, 18 years? 17? Right after college, I believe, is when we last saw each other.” Bill took a step back, suddenly feeling like he was back in high school with the way his emotions were running so rampant.

“Something like that. How have you been?? What’s been going on? What do you do?” You became readjusted quickly, the other Loser’s looking on with a familiar feeling, as if they’d seen the same sort of interactions between the two of you. As a matter of fact, they had. When you were all much, much younger, and a lot more unable to speak your feelings.

You and Bill caught up very quickly as you awaited the other’s arrivals, one by one. You learned he followed his heart and became a writer, and you’d actually read a few of his books! Contrary to popular belief, you thought his endings were not that bad. He’d been married for a few years, but it never quite worked out, so they ended up divorcing on civil terms. He found out you hadn’t married; never quite finding the right person. Little did you know, the right one had been only a few hours away, subconsciously writing your personality into book characters. You’d become (Y/D/J), traveling the world like you’d always wanted to, and settling down in a place that was the complete opposite of Derry. Not that you’d remembered what it was like in Derry, but once you returned, you shuddered at how much the place had affected you.

You left the Chinese restaurant feeling a heavy weight on your shoulders, weighing down on you like never before. Between finding out about why Stanley hadn’t been at dinner, the fortune cookie massacre, and your feelings for Bill all coming rushing back at once, there was almost nothing keeping you from leaving. Almost.

“I-I’m gonna go w-w-with Mikey to the library, you o-okay to get back by yourself?” Bill asked, mentally cursing for allowing his stutter to rear its head.

“Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’m probably gonna go to bed and mull things over.” You rubbed your hand up and down his arm, watching as he untensed a little bit. Your touch was always enough to relax Bill, especially back in the days after the first battle.

You slept over his house pretty often, sneaking in and out of his window on the days you were afraid his parents would think you were spending too much time there. Half the time when you would wake up in the middle of the night by yourself, usually after a Gretta or Pennywise induced nightmare, and sneak over to Bill’s and climb into bed with him; your safe space. He would crack an eye open, smile, and open his arms to you. You climbed in and wiggled up next to him as he held you close, a smile gracing both of your faces.

“I’ll see you back there, then.” He smiled at you and his hand lingered on your shoulder for just a moment, before joining Mike in his car. You made it back to the motel without incident, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

The following morning, you woke up and found yourself shivering for the first time in years; and you knew it wasn’t because of any sort of draft. Along with the horrid memories that poisoned your childhood, the ones that remained untouched by the horrors you experienced also recurred. It was almost as if you were reverting to the person you were while living in Derry, complete with your need for Bill Denbrough to protect you.

“It’s only going to work if we split up,” Mike said, glancing at each Loser.

“No way, statistically speaking we’re much better off if we remain together as a group!” Eddie said, nervousness lacing his already edgy voice.

“W-we can’t. You w-won’t b-be able to find y-your tokens, it’s a sort o-of… personal journey. E-each of us h-has to par-partake.” Bill said, clapping a hand on Mike’s shoulder.

You shrugged and started climbing the ladder, squinting in the filtered light of the Barrens as you walked forward, feeling propelled by some unknown force. Just as Mike had advised, you all split up. You’d crossed paths with Bill a bit later in the day, who looked extraordinarily pale. Assuming he’d already grabbed his token by the look on his face, you just pulled him into a hug.

You pulled away with a smile, quickly realizing your mistake. A mangled sort of Gretta Bowie stood in front of you, hair matted and her typical blue eyeshadow was replaced by something red and gooey, assumably blood.

“Did you miss me, freak?” A voice that was only partially human seemed to be coming from Gretta, even though her mouth didn’t move.

You stood in frozen horror, mouth agape.

“I missed you, I thought you’d never come back to talk with me.” The creature that resembled your former tormenter remarked. “No one ever wants to talk with me.” The creature flipped its matted hair. “Look at you TREMBLE! The whole school is gonna know about your pathetic little crush on Bill Denbrough, the boy with the stutter. You know he never loved you, right? He thought you were a freak, like the rest of us. Just a quiet, little freak. He only pretended to like you, because he’s such a nice guy. Look at you now! All grown up and the same little crush on Big stuttering Bill Denbrough!” Gretta cackled in the most sickeningly familiar way, and you dropped to your knees in tears.

It’s not real.

It’s not real.

It’s not real.

It’s real.

You felt like you were going to throw up, all the anxiety and shame rushing back at you all at once.

Bill had crossed the street near his old neighborhood, still slightly unnerved by his encounter with Pennywise. Subconsciously, he had been hoping to run into you on the hunt for your token, looking for some sort of excuse to see you. He hated the idea of the whole group splitting up, despite the visions Mike had forced him to see the previous night. He knew it was the only way but the reality of the situation sat heavy like a rock in his stomach; he couldn’t stand the idea of losing another loved one to the goddamn clown that had been terrorizing him since he was just 13 years old.

An ear piercing scream rang out suddenly, breaking Bill from his thoughts. A very familiar scream.

“(Y/N)!” Bill whipped around wildly, looking for some sort of direction to go in. Another scream rang out and he followed the sound to Jackson Street, where he found you on your hands and knees, screaming unintelligible words. It was almost as if you were screaming at someone, not just something.

“(Y/N)!” He yelled again. You hadn’t heard him, and just kept on screaming your head off. Suddenly you stopped, and curled up in a ball, sobbing uncontrollably. You were clutching something to your chest that Bill couldn’t quite see as he tried to ease you into sitting up.

“H-hey, it’s okay. It’s me.” You looked up at him, your face completely tear stained with mascara running down your cheeks. Bill’s heart clenched a little bit.

“What h-h-happened?” You jumped into his arms, and began sobbing all over again. “Shhh, it’s o-over now. T-the clown c-c-can’t hurt you any-anymore.” He whispered into your hair, trying to get you to relax a little bit. Your heavy breathing eased as your breaths became more even, and you sat back on your heels.

“It was Gretta.” You said, your throat feeling raw from screaming. “She was telling me all these horrible things, and I-I just lost it.” You hugged the book tight to your chest.

“Well,” Bill’s eyes darted from the book to you. “At least you got your artifact.” He smiled his same old smile, making you feel a little bit warm inside. That smile could make anything seem a little bit brighter.

[abundantchewtoys]

Hiveswap - Kitchen + Attic Key

We're back in business.

So yeah, it was Grandpa that installed the lasers in the deer, for some reason.

KITCHEN > Hah, insta-strife. Pfff, the monsters doesn't even see us.

"Make some noise or something, or shine a light" > yeah, not a lot of options, just the flashlight, oh yeah and the dance shoes.

Oh yes, the reactions when we use the other items are GOLD. SPICE > "No THYME for this" BATTERIES > "Meta Luck Next Time" (cause the icon for the batteries temporarily changed, hahah)

BALLET SHOES > DANCE LIKE NOBODY'S WATCHING > ... SUCCESS?  Hhahahahahahh, well, yes, that worked. :P

...

Wow, okay, so in the end, it was in fact the SPICE that helped knock out the monster! Guess they navigate by smell, then? ... Terezi'd want one.

...

We find a stale cookie to lure Byers off the fridge, but for once, we can't combine it with just everything in the house. When we try to leave the kitchen, we hear the tiniest "coo" and decide against leaving him. N'awwww.

Okay, so now we have him.

BYERS + POGS > ... N'aww, he wears one like a tiny hat. Cutie.

Okay, so we can actually go to the living room with him, combine Byers with items there... But SURELY we can't venture further out, right? ... Oh my god here we go again.

BYERS + PIANO > ... Oh my god. Byers has his own theme song, and he wrote it himself! That's one cool pigeon.

BYERS + MOVING BOXES (in the attic stairway) > ... Yeah, Byers is going to stay Joey's responsibility for a while, especially since we've sidetracked her. :P I don't really think Byers will join her on Alternia... Right? ... Though he WOULD have some potential use, as a carrier pigeon. But the wild Lusii aren't any less dangerous than the monsters.

BYERS + ANIMAL POSTERS / MEDICAL BAG (in Joey's room) > Right, Joey wanted to be a veterinarian! Jeez, it's really been a long time since we were here. But Joey's bedroom theme song still sounds familiar from back then.

BYERS + CONSOLE > Oh definitely Joey, it's not like there's ever going to be a pigeon dating simulator! :P

BYERS + BOUNTY HUNTER poster > "maybe being raised by animals poses it's own set of difficulties. Pff, yeah right." Hah, yeah, just you wait till Alternia Joey. And, also, way to spoil things for Jade. :P

BYERS + BALLET POSTER > Joey pictured Byers in a little tutu and pretty much invites the fandom to draw art of it. :D

BYERS + PHOTOS / DIARY (on bedside desk) > These combinations do seem to hint as well to the fact that Joey and Byers are going to be spending quite some time together!

BYERS + DEER > YA novels where bunnies are vampires and mice are knights. Is that a Redwall reference? Bunnicula? ... Both?

BYERS + MOUNTAIN CAT HEAD > The white lasers are changed into red and green ones, and they come together on the surface of the globe. So, for the puzzle, Joey will have to do something on the globe in that point. But, for the game, does the point of confluence show where Joey will end up on Alternia? Well, she might still have to turn the globe to align it with the X which is currently on the other side of the globe!

GLOBE > SPIN > Oooh, so the x was a light-triggered switch! There's the key!

SPIRAL KEY + ATTIC KEY > "Two keys, one destiny" sounds like a Tarzan song.

WALKIE > Oooh boy, a massing of serpents? Welp, I thought the attic might be another place to explore, but it appears we're also in for another strife! But we're nearing the end of the Episode now! Unless there's a teaser scene on Alternia - I don't think all the things in the troll metro station will be part of this first Episode, at least.

[euphoriecs]

11/11/11 tag !!!

thank u sm for tagging me @yikescomma​, @buckaroowrites​ nd @yikeskimi​ !!!

rules: answer 11 questions, write your own 11, tag 11 people !

under the cut bc its a Lotta questions KSKSKSHK

yikescomma’s questions!!

1. what’s your favourite place to write?

oh this is ?? kind of a tough one bc i feel like i never Branched out in my spaces when it comes 2 being productive,, like a lot of my work is done in my bedroom just bc my desk is there and it’s the most convenient,,,, honestly im jus gonna say my favorite place to write would be from . my desk . bc it faces the window :-)

2. which character(s) from your wip(s) is your favourite?

since i only have wtsf confidently worked out ,, i’ll use those ocs !! but i think , quite Honestlie ,,, that wendy is my favorite character !! im rly in love with how she progresses as a person nd also she’s jsut . she gets it u know .

3. what are some inspirations for your wip(s)?

I TALKED ABT THIS BEFORE but b/ts’ hyyh series, my neighborhood, spring day by b/ts are a few inspirations for wtsf !!! 

4. how did you start writing?

my dad got me hooked on reading when i was really really young !! and being able to read abt all these huge worlds nd being given an opportunity 2 fall in love w them rly inspired me to want to write worlds of my own . plus , i watch a lot of different shows nd animes that feed into my daydreams nd sometimes im like ‘yo,,, that was a good daydream,,,,, time 2 story it’ .

5. which of your ocs is most difficult to write?

uHGHHGHGS ARTHUR ...... trying to capture this like . enigmatic feeling while keeping close 2 his reasons for acting That way is actually ,, rly hard?? hes a tough cookie 2 crack but i will crack it .

6. what aesthetic do you associate with your wip(s)?

for wtsf ,,, quiet towns , lonely beaches , sunset nd sunrise ,,, running through the streets ?? 

7. do you like planning?

YEA !! i see it more as like . being able to explore ur wip and what directions it can take nd its also jsut rly helpful to have a solid foundation .

8. what is your favourite quote from your wip(s)?

i pulled this from my drabbles but: “Slow down.” Wendy grabbed Arthur’s wrist, pulling him down to sit on the sand. “This world can’t keep up with you.”

9. do you like to listen to music while you write?

yes and no ?? im very particular to the kind of music im listening to nd more often than not, i write in complete silence ,,, but sometimes i’ll find a song that i feel rly fits the vibe of what im writing nd i just put it on repeat HGSHJK

10. what do you like most about your own writing?

i think i like the descriptive aspects of it ?? like how i describe places nd feelings ,,,, :-) !

11. what are/were/would be your ocs favourite subjects in school?

everyone except piper in wtsf is graduated from high school but ,, wendy liked english class the best bc it was fun nd she got good grades !! rafael definitely loved psychology nd took it at an ap level ,, arthur liked math nd chemistry .. chemistry he liked More bc he got 2 blow stuff up SKKSKSEH and piper likes world history!! tho shes not good at it . but she likes it!!

buckaroowrites’ questions!!

what is your favorite subgenre to write? to read?

i lov urban fantasy and low fantasy JGHDSHGJKS like its my favorite to write nd read bc like .. o heck ?? ghosts nd ghouls nd just overall supernatural stuff irl ?? that’s the way 2 go

if you had to be trapped on a desert island with any of your ocs, who would it be and why?

if i had 2 be trapped on a desert island ...... i’d probably choose rafael . honestlie he just seems like he always knows what’s up nd my chances of survival would increase w him JHGJKSJKS

what is your favorite medium to write?

definitely novels !! its a format i’ve pretty much grown up w and im more comfortable w this medium than any others GHSHJKS but i’d love to explore like ,, screenplays nd see where that takes me

who was your first oc?

HYLLY SHITTTT THIS BRINGS ME BACK SJHJHJGJKS i used to draw a lot back when i was younger nd so i had this oc JHJS his name was ian and he was meant for the maximum ride universe but he was a dumb dude who was 2% cat . nd he had an adopted sister ,, i forgot her name but she was part bird .

what was your first wip about?

world end club is supposed 2 be abt a group of teens who work together 2 take down a corporation that wants 2 essentially control the artificial island they live on thru engineered soldiers . ITS A CONCEPT ,, nd it requires a little Too Much for my one brain cell to think abt

thoughts on shakespeare?

uhhh no thots bc i never read his work in high school i jus know macbeth is cursed .... wow i rly dont know anything abt shakespeare huh .

poetry or prose?

o this is TOUGH i rly adore both .......... im gonna . im gonna go w prose . i lvoe poetry so much sometimes there are lines that just rly fucken punch u in the face but im gonna go w prose bc its familiar !!

would you ever co-write a story?

nO ..... i wouldnt b able 2 compromise i’d jus b like oH ACTUALLY SKSKKS MY IDEA’S DUMB LETS JUST DO URS 

write what you want to write or write what you want to read/watch?

oh . fuc .... i feel like its important to have a good balance of both but . honestlie im very partial to what i want to read/watch ..

do you like to write violence?

i dont Like 2 write it but its In My Wips !

what is your favorite trope?

oH ,, probably ‘fire forged friends’ or like . mutual pining ... i have too many favorite tropes nd somehow im gonna incorporate them all .

yikeskimi’s questions!!

Tell us about the main character(s) in your current WIP!

oKAY SO im gonna try to not make this too long SJKHJGS !! wendy is a very like . prickly character . shes like a cactus . nd she’s not too fond of letting ppl get close, but the ppl who do manage to get close to her are happie 2 learn she would actually die for them . loyalty is a Huge Huge part of her character, and she cares very deeply abt the people she calls family . shes also v sarcastic nd like . ‘open ur eyes dummy’ .

arthur is a kind of person who lives heavily on false pretenses . like he projects this image bc its an image that he can control nd he jsut Rolls w it , but hes actually someone who likes 2 tease his friends nd be friendly to them ,, hes got Issuez nd is very much the type of person to be like ‘o lol im ok :-)...’ nd prioritize the needs of others 

rafael is , in all honesty , just babey . he studied a lot during high school nd rly pushed himself beyond his limits bc he wants to be able 2 go 2 a good college on scholarship nd get a job 2 support his family , nd hes just ?? very responsible nd sweet but that can also manifest into him taking on more than he should nd burning out . 

piper is a very ,, honestlie kinda sad character kjHGJSJ she spends a lot of time just trying 2 appeal to other ppl bc she knows her interest in the supernatural make her a ‘weird’ person nd she wants to be able 2 have real friends ,, but when she learns 2 let go of this she’s very silly nd always making jokes During The Right time ..

Do you have an all time favorite OC? Tell us about them!

hMMMM i dont think i do ??? my memory of my ocs is rly bad JHSJ so more often than not i just ,, rip i dont remember them </3

If you could be best friends with one of your OCs, who would it be and why?

ms piper chaiyathan !!!! shes a very open nd kind individual nd i feel like our humor nd joking style would match V v v well !!!

Last line you’ve written in your WIP?

Wendy, unlike her brothers Adam and Nate, had inherited her father’s rough touch, and that made them both unwanted in the high stakes setting of a diner kitchen.

If you have a chosen title for your WIP, were there any titles you considered before it? And if not, what are some titles you’re thinking of?

when the sun falls went through SO many titles nd i actually have them all here: where the sun goes / fever dreams / above the sun / where the sun follows / the drowned sun ... as u can see the sun was smth i Needed .

What is an important element in the world your WIP takes place in?

uHHHH the supernatural element is . Very important but i cant be too specific about it but i will tell u it involves a dead tree on the beach .

Tell us an out of context spoiler.

arthur gets a cool new set of eyes.

Any power couples/ships in your WIP?

wendy nd arthur babey ,,,,,, bat nd molotov cocktail duo ,,,, last name central until the important moment nd THEN they use each other’s first names ..

Any music you like listening to while you write?

uHHHH specifically for wtsf i listen 2 a lot of hozier, lorde, conan gray, khalid nd halsey :-)

What would your main character(s) favorite song be?

oH okay i got this in the BAG ... wendy’s favorite song would Absolutely be work place by hozier or more than sorrow by a-lin ,,, arthur would definitely b listening 2 like . free spirit by khalid .. piper, since she p much spent all of middle school nd 2 years of high school in thailand ,, i think she’

Which character in your WIP could you relate to the most?

honestly? all of them !!! a lot of the characters in wtsf have little bits nd pieces of me bc thats how all my ocs come into existence nd theres no One character thats like “oh,,, das me”

and here are my 11 questions !!

Which one of your OCs do you think could survive a zombie apocalypse? Why?

What’s something you’ve been itching to write about?

Share the last paragraph you wrote!

Do you prefer coming up with plots or characters? Why?

Do you have any abandoned WIPs? Tell us about them!

What are some favorite themes/tropes to write about?

How do you get into the zone for writing?

Tell us a random fact for any of your OCs !!!

Are you someone who needs a visual for your WIPs?

What are some influences to your writing style?

If you had to be a character in one of your WIPs, which WIP would it be and what role would you play?

i’m gonna tag @babyreeds @holotones @alejandroistyping @noloumna @faerisms @omniawrites @aslanwrites @ashesconstellation @thegrievingyoung @glittcrpeach @syposium !!! no pressure to do it if u dont want to tho <3

[grailbot143]

42 Followers Special

As promised, here is something fun we put together to celebrate 42 followers. Originally I planned to make a character sheet, but I also thought I’d know a a bit more about the characters backgrounds by the time I got 42. After all, I only had 27 last week, and the week before… plenty of time, right? So I decided to do this instead. When I watch this and other shows I often imagine them in terms of DnD sessions and I like to imagine how the DM will react to some of the stuff that shows up. I really like the episode CheeseBurger BackPack for this because it seems like a DnD session with an incredibly stupid amount of luck for the characters, but I decided I’d start at the beginning… sort of, I’ll probably go back and do a session 0 when I know a bit more.

So thanks to all my followers. And a special thanks for the shoutout from mindareadsoots

Campaign: Crystal Gems

Session 1: Gem Glow

MotelCalifornia : You guys already have a map of the town. You’re at your house here on the beach. It’s afternoon. It’s sunny outside. What do you want to do?

ShieldsNRoses : I brought snacks. They’re called Cookie Cats. My own special recipe.

AwesomeSaucem : AWESOME! Gimme!

MotelCalifornia : Alright, guys. Thanks Roses. What do you want to do first?

ShieldsNRoses : Ooh, I want to go to ‘The Big Donut’

MotelCalifornia : Ok, Steven goes to 'The Big Donut’. You guys going to stay at home?

AwesomeSaucem : Sure y not

MotelCalifornia : Alright, so Steven goes to the donut shop. The store is mostly glass windows in the front with posters for local events and advertisements taped to it. There is a giant donut on top. He enters and sees the two teenage shopkeepers running the store. Steven knows them as Lars and Sadie. Let’s switch over to the others for a bit. Rolls The house is invaded by giant bugs that look like a cross between centipedes and beetles.

Pearlescence : I want to roll to see what we know about these creatures.

MotelCalifornia : Okay, make an Insight check.

Pearlescence : Rolls low

MotelCalifornia : Alright, you manage to remember that this would probably spit acid, but nothing else for now.

Pearlescence : Alright I tell the others. Be careful! These things spit acid.

ShieldsNRoses : Hey, I wanna buy something.

MotelCalifornia : Uh, sure-

ShieldsNRoses : I wanna buy a Cookie Cat!

MotelCalifornia : I have a list of their inventory, my dude. They don’t have Cookie Cats.

ShieldsNRoses : Nooooooooooo! This can’t be happening! This has to be a dream! Lars! Lars! I grab him around the waist. Please tell me I’m dreaming!

MotelCalifornia : Uh alright Get off me man I’m stocking here!

ShieldsNRoses : Cmon dad! You totally should have put cokie cats here!

MotelCalifornia : Sorry kiddo, I just didn’t put it on the list… Hold on, I think I can do something. Sadie then says sorry steven I guess they stopped making them

ShieldsNRoses : Stopped Making Them!? Why in the world would they stop making Cookie Catss?

ShieldsNRoses : They’re only the most scrumcius and delicius ice cream Sandwich ever made!!! Dont they have laws for thsi!?

AwesomeSaucem : lol

MotelCalifornia : Lars Tough bits man! nobody buys them any more. I guess they couldn’t compete with lion lickers

ShieldsNRoses : Ugh Not lion licers! nobody likes them.. they dont even look liek lions! Kids these days, I tell you what.

MotelCalifornia : Gotta stop letting you watch King of the Hill.

MotelCalifornia : [PM to Pearlescence : I can do something with this. When he gets back to the house, tell him you heard they were dicontinued and bought a bunch.]

MotelCalifornia : Lars Well if you miss your wimpy icecream so much why don’t you make some with your “magic belly button” He walks away laughing

ShieldsNRoses : Thats not how it works Lars! Right?

MotelCalifornia : Yeah, it isn’t but im gonna take that as in character

ShieldsNRoses : ya thats fine. Oh sweet Cookie Cats. I draw a catface on the ccokie cat freezer. With your crunchy cookie outsides and your icy creamy insides. You were to good for this world. I kiss the freezer.

AwesomeSaucem : dude wth we already know ur proud ur snacks but u dont gotta sell em to us

MotelCalifornia : uh… Steven do you want to take the freezer with you???

ShieldsNRoses : nods I go home with the freezer im hummin this song

[ShieldsNRoses sent an audio file]

AwesomeSaucem : is this just you humming???? wut song even is this??

Pearlescence : You have a lovely voice.

STELLA: nice

MotelCalifornia: Just wait until you get to hear the actual song. Back to the others. You guys are fighting the centipeetles.

Pearlescence: How many are there?

MotelCalifornia: You see 12 in the main area of the house. 1 by the fridge, 1 in the living room, 1 near the warp pad, 1 by the front door. Roll for Initiative.

—I’m not going to write out a whole fight scene, that sounds really boring, so I’m going to skip it and put in 3 dashes anywhere fighting would be… —

ShieldsNRoses: can I be home now

MotelCalifornia: Sure. You are at the door.

ShieldsNRoses: Hey, guys! You won’t believe this!

MotelCalifornia: You are attacked the moment you step in the door. Roll for initiative.

—

AwesomeSaucem: 'Sup, Steven?

—

ShieldsNRoses: Awesome! What are these things?

Pearlescence: Ugh! Sorry, Steven. We’ll get these Centipeetles out of your room. We think they were trying to get into the temple.

ShieldsNRoses: Aw. You don’t have to get rid of them. They’re really cool.

MotelCalifornia: The one she’s still holding takes this chance to try to spit acid at Steven and Rolls misses. It splashes to the floor between you two

—

AwesomeSaucem: I wanna do an insight chck on them

MotelCalifornia: sure

AwesomeSaucem: Rolls alright

MotelCalifornia: ok you notice that they don’t have gems

AwesomeSaucem: Um, you guys? These things don’t have gems.

STELLA: That means there must be a mother somewhere nearby.

Pearlescence: We should probably find it before anyone gets hurt.

ShieldsNRoses: Oh! Oh! Can I come?! Can I?! can I?!

Pearlescence : Steven, until you learn to control the powers in your gem, I roll to snap the neck of the one I’m holding we’ll take care of protecting humanity, okay? Rolls well

AwesomeSaucem: heh rad

ShieldsNRoses : Aw, man.

MotelCalifornia: One of the centipeetles decides to start raiding the fridge

ShieldsNRoses: Hey! Get out of there! Go on! Shoo! Shoo! Aw! they got into everything! Not cool!

MotelCalifornia: While shooing it away you notice the freezer is full of cookie cats

ShieldsNRoses: lol No way. It can’t be! where dya get these?! I thought they stopped making them! thx dad

Pearlescence : Well, we heard that, too, and since they’re your favorite…

AwesomeSaucem : We went out and stole a bunch.

Pearlescence : I went back and paid for them.

STELLA: The whole thing was my idea.

AwesomeSaucem : It was everyone’s idea.

STELLA: Not really.

Pearlescence : All that matters is that Steven is happy.

[ShieldsNRoses sends an audio file]

Pearlescence: Is this the song you were humming earlier?

AwesomeSaucem : omg, i <3 this song! u write lyrics 2?

STELLA: nice

ShieldsNRoses: I can’t believe you did this. I’m gonna save these forever! Right after I eat this one. Hello, old friend. Oh, so good! I like to eat the ears first.

MotelCalifornia: Your gem starts glowing a little

AwesomeSaucem: Uh, Steven…

ShieldsNRoses: Wha-? My gem!

AwesomeSaucem: Quick, try and summon your weapon!

MotelCalifornia: It starts fading slowly

ShieldsNRoses: I don’t know how! Ah, its fading! How do I make it come back?!

Pearlescence: Calm down, Steven. Breathe, don’t force it.

AwesomeSaucem: Yeah, and try not to poop yourself either.

STELLA: Please, don’t.

MotelCalifornia: It’s back to normal

ShieldsNRoses: Ah, I was really close that time! Can one of you just explain how to summon a weapon?

Pearlescence: Oh, I’ll go first! I think I remember how it happened. I want to take him to that cherry tree outside the town to show him.

MotelCalifornia: Sure that’s fine. When you get there you find that the petals are falling off the tree all over the place

Pearlescence : Oh! Perfect! Pay attention to these petals_, Steven. The petals’ dance seems improvised, but it is being calculated in real time based on the physical properties of this planet. With hard work and dedication, you can master the magical properties of your gem and perform your own dance!_ I summon my weapon and catch one of the petals in my hand. Like so.

AwesomeSaucem: k my turn I wanna do it at the big donut

MotelCalifornia: ok

ShieldsNRoses: wait I take some petals with me

MotelCalifornia: ok you are at the big donut

AwesomeSaucem: I buy a donut then we go to the dumpster in bak

MotelCalifornia: um, ok

ShieldsNRoses: I throw the petals up and try to make the gem glow Wah!

AwesomeSaucem: Did Pearl tell you the “petal thing”?

ShieldsNRoses: Yeah, I need to practice really hard so I can dance like a tree… I think.

AwesomeSaucem: Listen Steven, all that practice stuff is no fun. Whenever I need to summon my weapon, it just happens. i summon my whip and hit the dumpster See? Didn’t try at all.

MotelCalifornia: Lars comes out the back door and sees you destroyed the dumpster *Lars* Huh?! Again?!

STELLA: my turn

STELLA: outside the lighthouse

MotelCalifornia: ok, you go to the lighthouse

ShieldsNRoses: So I’m supposed to work really hard and not try at all at the same time?

STELLA: Yes.

ShieldsNRoses: rly?

AwesomeSaucem: lol

STELLA: Or… you could link your mind with the energy of all existing matter. Channeling the collective power of the universe through your gem, which results in—At least that’s my way of doin’ it.

Pearlescence: I don’t think that’s how you did it.

STELLA: shrug

ShieldsNRoses: dad did any of that work? Is my gem glowin?

MotelCalifornia: nope

ShieldsNRoses: back to the kitchen then I think my best bet is to recreate what happened the last time my gem glowed. Im gonna just try to make yall be where you were last time exactly So… Garnet and Amethyst were here. Pearl was next to the fridge. Hmm. Amethyst, I think your arms were crossed?

AwesomeSaucem: Okay, your majesty. crosses arms

ShieldsNRoses: And Pearl, your foot was like this. I move pearls foot

Pearlescence: I don’t think it works this way, Steven.

ShieldsNRoses: And Garnet, uh… I grab your face and point it up Yeah

STELLA: sure

ShieldsNRoses: Then I took a bite of this Cookie Cat. Oh, wait! I sang the song first. Uh, he’s a frozen treat, all new taste, interstellar war, now available at Ghurven’s. Aww, it was funnier last time. *sigh* Maybe I’m not a real Crystal Gem.

Pearlescence: Don’t be silly, Steven. Of course you are.

AwesomeSaucem: And you’re fun to have around, even if your gem is useless.

AwesomeSaucem: I… mean, you’re one of us, Steven. We’re not the Crystal Gems without you!

ShieldsNRoses: Yeah, even if I don’t have powers, I’ve still got… Cookie Cat! *takes a bite* Mmm, so good.

MotelCalifornia: Your gem glows brightly and a shield comes out of it. It is a round pink shield with a spiral of thorns from the outer edge to the center where there is a rose

Pearlescence _: Steven, it’s a shield!_

ShieldsNRoses: Whoa, what?! I get a shield?! Oooh… yeah!

ShieldsNRoses: Huh? Cookie Cat! I summon my weapon by eating ice cream!

MotelCalifornia: Roll a d20 Steven

ShieldsNRoses: Rolls

MotelCalifornia: Your excitement causes your shield to shoot across the room and ricochet back and forth, but no one gets hurt but the tv gets destroyed

ShieldsNRoses : NOOOO!!!1!

Pearlescence: What’s in these things? Seriously, I am concerned.

MotelCalifornia: You hear a loud roar from outside. A shadow passes over the window looking like an even bigger centipeetle. Steven, your shield disappears

ShieldsNRoses: What was that?

Amethyst: we go out

STELLA: It’s the Mother!

Pearlescence : I follow Amethyst and Garnet outside, but first I tell Steven to Stay in the house, Steven!

ShieldsNRoses: No way, I’m coming too! I go get the cookie ca fridge and fill it with all the cats in the frzr

— some rolling, some fighting, some hiding —

AwesomeSaucem: We could really use Steven’s shield right about now!

ShieldsNRoses: I go outside wfth the frige and extention cord. I plant it in the sand near the monster Hey! Leave them alone!

Gems _: Steven, no!_

ShieldsNRoses _: Cookie Cat Crystal combo powers, activate!_ I eat a cookie cat

MotelCalifornia: what? Your powers don’t activate

ShieldsNRoses: Uh-oh.

MotelCalifornia: the centipeetle attacks you

ShieldsNRoses: Aaaah!

—

Pearlescence: We need to save Steven!

AwesomeSaucem: Can we save ourselves first?!

—

ShieldsNRoses: Goodbye, my friends. I eat several more

MotelCalifornia: nothing happens

ShieldsNRoses: Why isn’t it working?

—

STELLA: Steven!

MotelCalifornia: rolls Steven, you notice your fridge has been hit by a stray blast of acid

ShieldsNRoses _: No… Oh, no no no!…_I try to pick it up

MotelCalifornia: You get electrocuted rolls

ShieldsNRoses: Cookie Cat, he’s a pet for your tummy. Cookie Cat, he’s super duper yummy! I grab it by the cord and drag it to the centipeetle Cookie Cat, he left his family behind! Cookie Caaat! I throw it at him

MotelCalifornia: really? You throw a fridge at him?

ShieldsNRoses: she made me mad

MotelCalifornia: okay, I guess make a strength check?

ShieldsNRoses: * rolls a natural 20* YESSSSS! Now available… nowhere.

AwesomeSaucem: Yes!

STELLA: Gems, weapons! Let’s do it.

—

MotelCalifornia: You defeat the Centipeetle. Its gem drops on the ground

STELLA: I bubble it

ShieldsNRoses: I want to have a funeral for my cookie cats

MotelCalifornia: Sure

ShieldsNRoses: I dig a hole big nuf for a cookie cat rapper. I place the rapper in the hole I cover it with dirt and I put a leaf in the top Farewell, sweet Cookie Cats. I’ll always remember the time we spent together.

MotelCalifornia: Steven, you hear your stomach growling

ShieldsNRoses: Shh, hush now.

AwesomeSaucem: Are you crying? This is so sad, Alexa play Despacito

ShieldsNRoses: Only a little!

AwesomeSaucem: Well, I guess your powers don’t come from ice cream.

Pearlescence: Of course they don’t come from ice cream. Don’t worry, Steven, I’m sure some day you’ll figure out how to activate your gem.

STELLA: Yes, in your own Steven-y way.

ShieldsNRoses: I’m okay guys. I just- Ugh, I think I ate too many Cookie Cats.

MotelCalifornia: Make a constitution check.

[elizabethrobertajones]

14x09 watching notes

jingle bells, bobo smells,  It is no fun, for us to wait All christmas in hiatus

-

Berens... please...... I beg you........... don't kill the sweet precious moonchild that is Garth. Please. The joke is "how are you still alive!?" and it would be a disrespect to Bobby's memory, and he represents a stable post-hunting endgame that was a beacon in season 9. In this essay I will

-

They used Dean's dead-voice "we're the guys that scare them" speech about hunting monsters in 13x05 to open. I wonder if Yockey wrote that thinking it might be the logical open to 13x23 and instead they used "this is boring, got any music?" also from one of his episodes.

[i guess! meme]

-

The recap left us hanging about if Jack was alive or not for the Kaia recap which turns out to be rude even though I know that he's fine ("fine") now because I am so emotionally affected by this dumb lump of nougat that not seeing an instant "he's okay haha tricked you!" legit raised my stress levels a notch.

-

Maybe because it's 4am and I was demolishing a slab of toast before the December chill in my room got it first, but I don't think there was any particular art or storytelling to the recap worth mentioning or musing on, and this came across almost more like the recap AFTER the break because getting back to plot stuff like seeing Mikey things again... The 13x05 lines make me wary on Dean's emotional behalf but obviously these are for very different reasons so the only real thing that might come up is that Cas is hiding his deal from Dean and Dean sounded so dead in the feels because Cas was dead. Obviously the real stress right now is what's up with Dean re: obvious nerve-wracking things like the djinn bouncing off his head or his swooshy vision, things we've been collecting up to ask more pointed questions about when Michael's in the room.

-

Americans: "that's downtown Vancouver!/an actual American city!/the ACTUAL American city in the caption!" me: "hurrrr skyline"

-

How much budget for Christmas music

I hate this episode already

-

Okay the blood and screaming is improving things.

-

Listen, werewolves always have so much fun these days. We had the knock knock one in 13x09, the Kardashian ones in 13x23, and now we have wereSanta here, who just spotted the mistletoe. D'aaaw.

-

These halo-shaped lights in this apartment Michael picked sure are gonna come in handy if the director knows what they're doing.

-

GARF. Please say you're here undercover.

-

OH SHIT. Michael KNOWS. Being in Dean's head does that to you. All his peeps get embedded in your brain. Please tell me some 2 way vessel/angel nonsense happens and you can't bring yourself to harm him.

-

GARTH HAS A LITTLE GIRL NOOOOOOOOOOOO

She adores Mr Fizzles. Garth spends hours with them hanging out together.

-

I don't believe him though. I mean. He's just telling Michael what he wants to hear, right?

-

Having a little girl is such a way to die, though. I mean. Can we just... not do that?

-

Let Garth Go Home For Christmas

-

Those halos sure aren't landing over Michael's head no matter how many of them there are

-

Jack: eating gross cereal made of cookies at midnight in the dark

Me: I love and support you and have done the same

Cas: *SQUINT*

-

Dadstiel is the best

-

Sam being the "it will rot your teeth" dad is also the best. I love the Dad Heirarchy being established here. Sam is still Dad no.1 and the one who lays down the rules and gets disobeyed about midnight cereal, full on domestic dad-ing. Cas is the dad who hears you munching from across the entire Bunker and sighs and gets out of Dean's bed where they've been watching movies together (I extrapolate from missing data) and comes to investigate but ends up in the Secret Midnight Cookie Cereal Pact instead.

-

If Garth dies he may bequeath Mr Fizzles to Sam to help parent Jack, who is now keeping secrets about midnight cereal consumption and needs an expert lie-detector to help him parent.

-

Okay, so, in season 9 after Dean took the Mark of Cain he was up all night eating cornflakes and not sleeping. The corn was symbolic to Cain. Jack goes through all he did and has cookie cereal which is just his sweet tooth. But he had foreign grace implanted in him, and also is tapping a lil bit of his soul to be alive, meaning he's in a weird power situation and we don't know what's up with him at all. TFW are very much like "upright and not coughing blood is good enough for us", especially when with magic involved it's not like they might have an actual science explanation ever come their way.

Jack sitting in the dark is obviously symbolic of hiding things, his cookie cereal is disapproved of and a guilty secret from Sam in the first place, he's consuming something - willingly - that's bad for him and will rot him right after the sweet sweet probably not Gabriel grace he ingested 2 episodes ago, and added all up makes a secret - and he and Cas of course share Cas's deal secret so it's not like Cas can go stomping around complaining to the other dads what he found Jack doing without Jack being like yeah well guess what CAS did.

It's sure a fun way to parallel the beginning of Dean's dark dark arc and Jack's sugary sweet dark arc.

-

Dean: kid if you are going to sit in the kitchen at weird hours and eat cereal, at least self-flagellate a little *slams the box of cornflakes down in front of him.*

-

Jack also is wearing a lot of red lately.

-

Though his new jacket is santa-coloured not like... Mark of Cain doom blood death coloured like demon!Dean's infamous red shirt.

-

He's currently wearing Cas-coloured shoes and sitting in Dean's spot from 9x13 aka the iconic cornflakes scene in question.

-

"If you can't sleep, that's understandable, given recent events." "You mean dying and coming back to life."

Cas has been around the humans too long. He talks in euphemisms and gets called out by his too-literal son.

The tables turn.

-

Oh Jack... so full of worries about Heaven and if his mom is safe, and making Cas confront that nothing is perfect, even Heaven, and have to say it out loud because he can't lie to Jack and sugarcoat this.

Reminds me of 13x06 where he had to tell Jack that yeah sorry not all angels are perfect either. Sweet lil foetus!Jack sure picked the correct angel to be his guardian.

-

Naomi is "complicated"

Cas. Hon. *hands him a blanket and a bowl of cereal*

-

OH MY GOD Jack calling him out on why can't Sam and Dean know about the deal.

Having Jack around is so much a breath of fresh air that Cas is starting to regret ever kidnapping him in 12x19.

-

"They CAN I just don't WANT them to know" CAS. You've been forced to Verbalise A Thing Using The Correct Language. I am giving you an entire gold star. TWO GOLD STARS. I'm drawing a smilie face on them.

-

Jack is upset that Cas made the deal for him: "they don't need that burden. you don't need that burden" "of course I do. You did that, for ME" - the ole season 2 Dean thing, where it took until 2x08 to know for sure what John did and it basically killed Dean 3 times over and he was a Mess. Not knowing but not having all the answers and being worried/suspicious about what's up with the neat circumstances of being alive again is hooorrible. And this is calling out the whole Winchester cycle of sacrifice (conveniently now with us knowing that John will be dropping by for an episode to really hammer the point home) by addressing how Jack now has to carry the burden of knowing that Cas did that for him.

Cas is like, "Yeah don't worry I haven't been happy in all of Creation." Jack looks earnestly at him. "I'm sorry."

Cas diverts to eating the gross cereal, which he apparently also secretly indulges in, or else, as Mittens pointed out to me, Dean does too and either way Cas is being gross and adorable and hanging out with his kid and this is horrible I hate it oh god it's more sickly sweet than the cereal they're eating.

-

Garth hiding in the kitchen to panic and phone mom to get him from the party.

-

"THIS ISN'T YOUR MOM, GARTH, THIS IS AN ARCHANGEL"

-

And he's just learned to say "balls" appropriately too.

-

Sam immediately gets The Guilts because he's  being leaderly and losing Garth would be his first major blow as a leader oh god oh god no oh Sammy oh GARTH I can't handle this.

Berens sure is invested in the leader!Sam stuff and telling this story long before anyone else was and had his minion Glynn tease us with Maggie earlier in the season D:

-

I'm calling mom to get me from the party

-

"It's Ketch" Sam raises his eyebrows like "I forgot he was in this season"

Does that mean Ketch skyped Cas first

that's hilarious all by itself

-

He has tea because of course he does

-

Oh my god he's skyping with Jack. Are they buds? HAS HE ADOPTED JACK?

Honestly of all the characters in the entire show he's probably resisted longest so far when it comes to adopting Jack if they ever met even briefly in Apocalypse World.

This is how you can tell he's the worst :P Rowena "I will never love again" MacLeod took all of 20 seconds to adopt Jack.

-

He's been in England for like a week and his accent is 100x more hammy. "ExPRopriATE"

He's rolling his Rs. I mean. Is that even in our accent? Not in mine.

-

Jack watching attentively while he tells his story with no judgement forthcoming, just pure interest in what Ketch says... good thing Ketch is too self-centred on his tale of derring-do or he might find Jack's sweet interest flattering and begin wondering if he has it in himself to be fatherly.

-

I'm suddenly legitimately interested in the unstoppable force of Jack's adoptability vs the immovable object of Ketch's ego.

-

He posted it. Around Christmas. Look I'm friends with a postie and she's hucking around a bag as big as herself.

-

Maybe he put a ribbon on it.

-

From BUDAPEST. Paying extra really is gonna speed THAT up

-

"Where is our weapon?" "It's been sitting in Guam for a week. I don't understand. Why is it in Guam?"

-

TFW all react with snark, side-eyes or despair at Ketch, and 2.0 doesn't even get a reaction because I don't think Jack understands how dumbass Ketch is because he's too smol to have fought the mail :P

-

"We appreciate the effort" "DO WE?"

Cas is staring into the void, meanwhile. Internally, "Well at least I can be sure I'm not going to worry about allowing myself to be happy any time THIS month"

-

Oh, sweet! The laptop is set up right next to Britain on the map table :')

-

Hey if they have to brave the post office to get the egg, they can find out Harper is still stalking Jack :D

-

Cas can't even work out which direction to start rolling his eyes, gives up and walks off. Dean gestures the screen, look what you made him do! You asshole!

-

"Only thing that can take him down now is the full Ichabod" "?" *gestures decapitation* "oh."

Poor Garth. Werewolves really are the worst. I can see why you were so upset about being turned.

-

Remember when Sam described him as an "ichabod crane alike" or something, I think in 9x12 when asking at the hospital about him? Maybe? I swear to god that might be a less subtle hint Garth is going to die than Charlie's "merry christmas"

-

Garth honey nooo

-

I'm pretty sure we saw Michael mind-controlling the werewolf in the cold open which means we're in for SOME sort of drama next

-

Oh good Cas is back, I guess he went to scream outside.

"Oh it would have made it if it wasn't closed for the holidays" Sam is being so withering I hope Ketch can feel it from Budapest.

-

Garth you are going to get in so much trouble and I'm so scared for you and your family at Christmas

-

At least in this scene Dean n Cas are playing footsie under the table if nothing else.

-

With Michael holed up in a towerblock for Christmas I am so worried that I should have watched Die Hard before getting here.

-

D'aw Dean teams himself up with Cas without even hesitating.

-

Holy shit they used a season 1 clip of the Impala driving past a field of cows.

"Hi we shot this for 1x06 it's practically an easter egg now"

-

God, it's the promo scene and we're 16 minutes in.

Not over Cas being like "you're happy" because he can't be happy but he's seeing Dean being, you know, cheerful. It's worrying because it's so close to endgame... if they kill Michael, Dean can be happy. And if Dean can be happy...

bye bye Cas

-

It's so easy with Dean looking away for Cas's silence to be "lol never" instead of "I ought to tell you the string that is attached"

-

*quietly climbs into the garbage pile as I think about how neither can be happy while the other is as a literal plot mechanism*

-

Them leaving the door open seems so significant I thought we were going to see Bad!Kaia comically hiding behind it

-

Awwwwww Jack wants to break into his first building with lock picks!!

I can't believe they're doing this in broad daylight.

I can't believe there was a Gish item to go to a post office after hours dressed as Santa's elves and that's what Jack is doing with that coat

-

"Who taught you to pick a lock?" "I did. And the internet"

Sam's "that's my boy" face.

-

"I wanted to stay useful"

that was your cue to tell Jack he's useful regardless

On the other hand he got the door opened and smiled up at Sam so I guess he gets the validation that way instead.

-

"HAPPY Holidays" Jack is SO PLEASED the box is saying something nice.

-

BOOM you have witnessed, once again, Sam being knocked out.

Wow, no. His skull is getting thicker, he manages to cling on long enough to watch his boy being abducted.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, SAM.

-

Awww Michael came to oversee it. HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Michael!

-

Sam is way too concussed to deal with this. Or drive.

-

Michael has a really similar coat to what he had in the AU but for a fancy rich lady instead of a badass hot cowboy which really begs the question of why he dressed SO SO OTT for Dean, even given his fashionista tastes for the other 2 vessels we've seen.

-

I am sad we don't have the other Michael vessel just because he's off making out with Constantine on Legends of Tomorrow (meta textuality of THAT to be unpacked by fandom at length :P), but she's an absolutely uncanny female double for him with the coat and the ominous camera angles and her general scary vibe.

-

"You're going to kill me anyway" *MOOSE CHARGE*

I stan one concussed boy

-

Blorp

No fancy weapons for you guys, use your heads.

Not Sam's head, he's just taken his 3rd hit in a minute.

-

Garth gets caught snitching though I suspect Michael knew he was listening in and sent Dean to get attacked by Bad!Kaia anyways.

There's chess being played here.

-

Er, and you're the pawns.

I think Dean is the other player and everyone ELSE is a pawn in Michael's reckoning.

-

"WHY ARE YOU HERE? WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Kaia, they just shouted like 20 minutes of the plot so far at each other, you know as much as we do at this point.

-

I love Kaia's fighting stance but oh my GOD Dean walking up to the spear and having it put against his heart. He knows it's a power move but it's also a gentle one, and he's waved enough guns in her face and our Kaia's face... This is one of those moves you use both on frightened animals and also to show you are a good unarmed nice guy and it's an attempt to re-negotiate after all he's done to Kaias over time >.>

-

"if you're not going to give it to me, kill me" Dean says, at the end of his big emotional appeal to Family And Saving People as his divine guiding forces in the universe by which he sets his moral compass and acts as the best version of himself in the defence of.

Cas behind him like "I hope this works because I love this dumbass and if you ACTUALLY kill him I'm contractually obligated to murder you so like, pls don't escalate this"

-

"How do I know if you're telling the truth" well he's not so jot that down.

Cas like "can you please stop talking, Dean, I am not agreeing with any of your policies here" because not only did he drag Jack into it, he made a promise that Jack's completely unable to uphold since he, you know, doesn't have the power to get Kaia home any more.

Poor Bad!Kaia though. Spent her life running from monsters too. She and our Kaia have the same trama, but she's so hardened by it :(

-

"If you don't bring this back to me I will find you and kill you"

Yikes, magic weapons are having a bad run in these parts, I think Dean's pretty much a gonner :P

-

I love that the Wayward Sisters music plays around Kaia but it makes me so so so so sad

-

"So, what, is he playing us?" he's playing YOU Dean. Your move!

-

"Don't you go in there alone." "I know, drive fast"

Aka concussed bab is gonna go in there alone if you don't hurry.

-

I have literally no comprehension about the driving times involved in this episode because I don't know US geography like that, but it's Berens not Dabb but he's mentioned specific locations so he better have looked these all up on google maps because this is one heck of a fact checkable episode with 4 distinct known and named locations and you all driving to and fro.

-

I love Michael's new apartment. It has a dark Heaven aesthetic vibe which is perf.

Jack's here and he's immediately deposited under the halo lights.

I can not WAIT for a Jack vs Michael scene.

*chin hands*

-

"Why didn't you kill me?" *eyebrow raise*

Poor nougat is being made to feel useless again :( This is Michael grinding his heel into Jack while he has him on the floor, kneeling in supplication under those halo lights.

-

Michael is into villain monologuing. A terrible, terrible habit.

"Death from above," Michael says, the first time he's had halos over his head.

His concept of soul ownership intrigues me because he would get all the humans who died in an attack on this city in his original world. In this he's turning them into monsters but with his grace, so they belong to him. That means that somehow or other he's probably overriding not just their nature to be controllable by him, which overrides in turn Eve's control over all monsters. She totes isn't dead BTW she's just in Purgatory. I'm like 100% sure of it :P Anyway I do wonder if Michael's control over the monsters extends so far as accidentally granting them passage to Heaven by claiming them and overriding Eve's control. Who knows. The thought wandered by and really tickled me.

Because it's a long game with the real value in people for beings of this level just being in their value as collectibles after death, and season 5 was all about our Michael getting all the souls by killing all the humans and storing them away in Heaven and that was his Paradise he was fighting for. And if he's converting entire cities to monsterhood in order to gain control over the territory in a quiet no mess way, then his control and command of them is passed on through the bite thanks to whatever he did to them. At the very least he's managed to make himself into their new Alpha.

I mean unless this is a phase one and he's sacrificing getting the souls of these lot in exchange for a lot more souls down the line.

-

LOL Michael pulls "I'm your only kin" and Jack's like, uh, REAL Michael is in the cage, POSER.

-

I love how Jack's got the such simplistic child language of "I hate you" which comes out so honestly and fiercely. Jack's 1 layer personality is reaaally deep even if it is mostly 1 layer. A very very thick slab of nougat. Full of goodness. It's EXCELLENT character writing to balance a character like this. He has a good understanding of the world by now, evidenced by very clearly being able to distinguish AU!Michael from his living kin of our Michael in the cage, and yet at the same time his emotional range is still 100% whatever he feels about a thing and so for Michael it's hate. Because when kids get upset they can yell "I hate you I hate you!" in a tantrum, and Jack's personality is that but moderated and adult and reasonable, and that... What a good approach to writing a character. Om nom nom.

-

This vessel is definitely way more expressive than the previous two Michaels, which is something I've noticed in a looot of the vessel gender swaps, which really makes me go sociological on why gesturing and fiddling and so on is so much a part of presence for a female character on screen, while male characters are allowed to stand still and just kind of radiate presence. I mean, she HAS presence, but she's been moving her hands a lot and it's the main detail which makes her not match up as neatly. Jensen threw his whole personality into not moving Michael's arms, to follow on from Christian's portrayal.

I think Raphael's second vessel was menacingly still. That actress did a great job. That slow head turn after they hurl an angel blade at her in 6x22... Nice.

Lisa Berry strikes a nice balance at huge presence and only necessary gestures, and Julian Richings was always fiddling with junk food as Death despite his cosmic presence.

Meg was all in the voice and eyebrows, both actresses.

-

Why am I musing on this? Because it's 7am and I'm having a wave of immense sleepiness and I think I need tea to keep on watching but it's cold so I'd rather stay bundled in blankets >.>

... I have now turned on the heating and got tea and done some stretches to try and ward off the cold-blooded lizard stupor I was sliding into. Brrr. We get Christmas break on episodes because it's so hard to watch in the cold.

-

"Our relation is more a matter of scale, power." Ooohohohooo but you just said you weren't killing Jack because he was powerless.

I mean I'm crowing at Michael for maybe revealing a flaw in his monologue to me but at the same time that's terrifying for what he plans for Jack because that presumably involves powering back up but under HIS control. Nephew theft.

-

I say smugly having posted Jack being kidnapped by Michael in Andrea's Diner for his power/money last week so that I can just ride this one out with a "in before this plotline" raised eyebrow.

I mean I was using a hybrid season 8/14 set up with Naomi still being Michael's flunky but the important thing is that he was trapped in an office in a towerblock which may or may not now be exactly this one since I have eyes on it and Michael was gonna do whatever it took to get Jack's share of the company until Cas marched in and saved the boy.

-

Yeah my diner AU has corporate drama, deal with it.

-

NOW we're getting to the epic speeches. The time that makes mountains. Epic. And Michael is like hey you and me are the only ones left... And as your power returns and grows, we'll only become more alike. Cut to Jack being HORRIFIED by the concept of becoming anything like his AUncle and losing his human compassion and turning into this evil being that cheerfully talks about how not only to level cities but to improve on the concept.

Finally, we hit the epic tragedy level of Jack's story he's been hiding from in other genres from disney to rom coms to cute twee Christmas movies and even a detour into 1800s consumptive child drama to avoid it. But Hamlet's procrastination has to be challenged occasionally, and so they're face to face and Michael is taunting Jack with how he might be cute as a nougaty 2 year old but oh dear the terrible 2s are nothing to the terrible 2 billionties.  

-

I think this room even has Heaven's furniture, as a riff on it. What's one world to another? One Heaven from another, as Michael says. Find a head office, treat it like a place of power and intimidation and it becomes one.

-

All Jack says is "Sam, Dean and Castiel. They'll come for me." Because he doesn't know much but in his 2 years he HAS learned who fights for him and considers him family, and who he will really set his morality by.

-

Of course if Cas ever allows himself to be happy, then ALL of Jack's family has an expiration date and no one can follow him through those eons to stop him straying.

-

Also: now eternity has a sense of horror to it. The reminder that immortality is awful and this is what it does to ancient eldritch beings. And as a result, that finite humanity may be better when it doesn't come at the cost of erosion of self.

To thine own self be true, to quote a terribly mis-used part of Hamlet and yeah yeah I studied it I know Polonius said that and it's meant to be a ridiculed line. But it's still emotionally relevant >.>

Jack's fierce sense of self and family is his only weapon here. Michael can't cast doubt on that. Maybe fear for the future, but in the immediate presence, Jack has a ROCK.

-

That red coat also makes him very distinctively the only real colour in the room.

Michael is wearing dark blue for the red vs blue coding, but it's dark enough to not stand out in the decor.

TFW are all wearing brown and tan.

-

I'm actually quite fond of this stupid jock werewolf.

Awkward silences with jingle bells in the background... why are they making werewolves inherently comical in Dabb era, I don't know. But I LOVE it.

-

RIP the sexy werewolf.

Dumb jock werewolf has already run off, which MAY be a reminder to panic about all the monsters in position, or he might get stopped on the way by TFW in a strategic position...

-

RIP other sexy werewolf.

Both, sadly, as hot as they were, die with amusing riffs of jingle bells to accompany their decapitations. No dignity in death for these fuckers.

-

Sam may or may not be doing a Red Meat by taking them on alone but he sure is in a better position with only a mild concussion leftover from the earlier attack rather than, you know, a barely-treated gut shot.

-

Man I hope Cas healed up the residual damage of that before the end of season 11.

-

Sam is indeed alone as he promised not to be while 100% intending to rush right in, which means that dumb jock werewolf did indeed run off into the city, which means that with 10 minutes left a whoops we let Kansas City turn into monsters cliffhanger might be a lark.

-

Merry Christmas everyone but Kansas City.

-

I mean Sam doesn't need to rush on the Jack rescue, Michael literally has eons of AUncle-nephew bonding planned.

-

The fact Alex has visible chicken pox scars on his forehead amuses me so much. While Jack fast-track grew in 12x23 he randomly inflicted the pox on himself as part of the childhood experience. Like, oh, I better get all my immunity from mom so when my 3 dads collectively fail to get me vaccinated at least I've got that. *boop* chicken pox scars appear.

-

S'gonna be Garth on the other side of that door

-

OH NO IT IS

-

Oh no Sam, it's a trap, he's gonna eat you. Oh no oh no you can't cut Garth's head off. He's a Beloved Sweetie Pie.

-

If this ends with watching Mr Fizzles get a hunter funeral I am sending Bobo a mountain of coal for Christmas.

-

Love that universal trope of the werewolf ducking away for an embarrassing uncontrolled transformation that looks somewhere between puking and period cramps. Moonsickness.

-

Michael is the moon controlling it in this case.

Cosmic bodies.

-

Don't touch him, Jack!!

-

Transformations with glowy eyes suck :<

-

This is just CRUEL to make Garth be like "I'm sorryyyyy" as he charges at Sam.

-

LOL THIS IS A CRYPT SCENE. He's in Garth's head!

"You don't have to do this!" "You can fight this, Garth!"

-

Me, staring at my mess of red string connecting crypt scenes: How did I get to Garth wolfing out while shouting apologies at Sam and Sam begging him to stop when this all started with Dean n Cas fighting over a lump of rock 6 seasons ago

-

Oh thank god they ended it with Sam vulcan neck pinching Garth to sleep after Jack took a rolling tackle at him and Garth ends up still controlled and shoved in the back of the car for later problems.

We'll file this under the failures section between bros and move on though I won't deny Berens had me in a cold sweat that I was going to have to throw years of work out because Sam would grab Mr Fizzles out of Garth's pocket and soothe him back to himself :P

-

Mr Fizzles x Garth as the Destiel parallel of the year

-

"Thanks for waiting for us," Dean says, angrily gesturing the alive and rescued Jack while uselessly holding the spear.

-

It's okay baby there's 7 minutes left and Cas still doesn't have fake blood all over him.

I think Mikey might come back around to gloat. He strikes me as the supervillain type to do that.

-

They figure out the last few chess moves that Michael made while sitting on the trunk that Garth is locked in. Rough.

In the background, Cas strides over to the brooding Jack.

Boop.

-

"I wouldn't bet against us."

In Which Dean Nearly Decapitates His Brother

-

Rousing family speech about no odds or element of surprise or fear from Michael, and they go dramatically walking off towards the elevator with blaring Christmas music.

I hate this

-

Everyone has a weapon except Jack, who just has a series of incomprehensible troubled looks every time anything happens.

The Boy Is Concerned. But is it about what's going on around him, or inner turmoil disrupting his nougaty centre?

He looks placid again during the dramatic walk, while everyone else has their hero faces, he's surrounded by his dads so he can just be like :3 and enjoy the adventure.

-

Michael is bored and pacing because they took too long having broments downstairs and walking slowly towards the elevator and he wants to do this great dramatic turn when they arrive but the elevator is craaaaaaawling up the building.

Fine, what if I'm not by the window but sitting down with my back to them.

Is Michael NERVOUS?

Big talk about being a zillion years old and then getting impatient.

-

What did Michael just see? Because he lit up his eyes and got a lot more confident...

"There... he... is" he smirks.

Me when Cas

-

Cas doesn't usually nearly get a killing blow on me, though. Nice move, bud.

-

HEY, RUDE. DOn'T HURT HIM

-

I know he just tried to stab you but I'm allowed to yell that. Also stabbing archangels doesn't tend to work on them but whatever :P

-

Come on Dean, GET HIM. He hurt the bae! And Sam and Jack now! But nowhere near as dramatically!

-

Ironically if Michael had just had any patience he wouldn't have fallen for being baited into coming to see Cas snooping around his front desk.

-

OH NOICE THIS IS THE SAME FIGHT WITH MICHAEL AND DARK KAIA BUT DEAN AND MICHAEL

-

Ow, Dean not doing so well after all.

-

Is that Sam or Jack inching a hand towards the spear. If Sam stabs Michael then it's a thanks in return for stabbing Lucifer. If Jack does... Badass, kid needs a big kill.

On the other hand, we're so near cliffhanger time territory that.. well.

-

Nope, Sam just did the slide a weapon back to Dean thing and Dean got in a hit on Michael in their duel.

-

Same arm he got stabbed on.

-

"trust me, that's gonna leave a scar"

Jack I hope you are paying attention to Dad no.3's use of one-liners because he is a master.

When he isn't, like, "you're the shortbus, shortbus."

-

UHOH Michael is standing with aaaaaall the haloes reflected behind him in the window and Dean is having Suspicious Killing Hesitation

aaaand there's the whooshy vision wow what a surprise

-

I KNEW IT WAS COMING AS SOON AS MICHAEL'S SHOULDERS WENT ALL CONFIDENT AND HE STARTED STARING AND I'M STILL UPSET.

I mean I knew it was coming as soon as Dean stumbled in like ??? I'm not Michael???

But in the short term, argh.

-

WHAT IS THIS BAR

-

It has a moose head, Jo's shooting game from the Roadhouse, and the old jukebox from 4x01's diner where Sam and Ruby hung out.

-

Aside from anything else this is a horrible ploy by Michael to get the spear.

-

WHEN DID MICHAEL BARTEND.

I am so intrigued.

-

But yeah, checkmate, Dean Winchester. Snapped your magic spear and melted to magic egg. What next?

-

Oh good and now he has the halos behind his head :< :< :< :<

Wanek I am so angry. You get coal too.

-

LOL Michael giving them a lesson on maaaaaaaybe asking important questions about things instead of just leaving them as soon as a character appears to be functioning on the surface, I type with this paused with Jack in the corner of my screen as a fortuitous example

-

Michael gloating about breaking Dean is the worst Christmas cliffhanger.  I hate you Bobo.

-

You aren't seriously going to end the season on a snap and make us make Michael is Thanos jokes all hiatus? I mean he already fucked up one planet, decimating it in the name of a better world. Please. Don't do this, Bobo.

-

He did it.

-

Reminds me of the end of 3x10 as well, with demon!Dean lurking under Dean, waiting until before the credits to snap his fingers from within Dean's subconscious to remind us he was lurking and waiting.

-

Aw man this sucks.

Now Jack has to murder Dean after all.

[occasionalfics]

into you // p. 11

main masterlist | steve masterlist | taglist | ko-fi | playlist | p. 10 | p. 12

Summary: Just as Steve begins to wonder why he’s been sent on a mission well below his pay grade, a mysterious, unscented woman steps in and does his job for him. He’s immediately drawn into her allure, and he needs to know who she is, why she’s on a mission to take out some of the city’s most powerful alphas, and why he can’t get her off his mind.

A/N: Okay. I gotta say. This one is super cute. 

Warnings: Steve is a soft bean. Lots of fluff, mentions of sexual content but like...there’s not much that’s explicit about this part.

Word: 2,144

They figure out on day three that taking baths is the quickest way to deal with most of her symptoms. Especially when she’s sore and raw and tired and hungry, when Steve doesn’t know what else to do but get clean. The water helps with cramps, swelling, bruising, and maybe even a little fatigue (or they just fell asleep with the water just barely meeting their ribs because the bed was too hot, too sticky, and too tempting).

On day four, his rut is all but over. And although he’s willing to get dressed and head out of the room, Steve hesitates. He finally sees why she didn’t want to leave him that first night, not even for a little while. She is desperate for his touch at all times, still completely overtaken by the first heat she’s had in years. Nothing really satisfies her, but she’s able to get to a point every few hours where she can at least control her urges and desires. She depends on him still, so he really can’t do much else but put on athletic shorts and do some laundry, even going so far as to write down instructions on how to care for her clothes that she hasn’t bothered to wear in days.

He’s gotten her to sleep while he cooks dinner, and as he has seasoned chicken frying and some repurposed (a.k.a. Leftover, thrown together for a new flavor palette) potatoes in the oven, he realizes for the first time that he’s content. The light, easy feeling in his chest comforts him, makes him realize how much he likes having (Y/N) in his space. In his bed and bathtub. Even when her nature makes her need him more than she normally would, even when his does the same - he still genuinely enjoys having her here.

Steve’s been thinking about Bucky’s statement a lot since getting back from Wakanda. You met a girl who beats you at taking down bullies. Of course Bucky was right, he just couldn’t possibly have known how right he was.

And what astounds him even more is that she’s both sides of her own coin. She’s the badass Reaper who tears criminal and abusive alphas from this world, and she’s his soft, doting, sexy omega. It’s not that he can’t believe the two can exist in one person; what surprises him is that he’s somehow lucky enough to deserve both by her standards.

He almost burns the chicken as he just stands there, feeling something hot but comfortable race through him. Something he’s genuinely felt very few times throughout his long, exhausting life. Something that draws him to (Y/N) while simultaneously making him terrified that she doesn’t feel it too.

But, he thinks as he turns the chicken over and the heat down on the burner, even if she doesn’t feel it now, maybe she will. Or, and he’s hesitant to let his hopes reach so high, she already does.

He finishes up cooking, lets the food cool without turning cold, then plates everything and breaks out a bottle of vintage wine Sam gave him a few weeks ago with a sly, not subtle at all wink. He makes sure to leave them both glasses of water, too, because he has no idea when her heat will start to subside.

Tony’s already left him seven hundred texts (or what feels like it) asking when he’ll be back to work. Steve knows the world needs him, that he has a mantle he can’t just walk away from because of a stupid mistake he made days ago, but he really doesn’t want to go back yet. Every alpha particle in his body makes him want to stay here, with (Y/N), to help her through everything she told him she wouldn’t bear for him.

Once everything is perfectly placed, he goes into the bedroom, kneels by her side of the bed, wants desperately to kiss a trail up her arm but decides against the temptation. She needs to eat, so he pokes her nose instead, laughing softly when her face scrunches.

“Dinner’s ready, Doll,” he tells her.

She yawns, and Steve ignores her morning breath because he’s sure he doesn’t resemble a fresh load of laundry in any way, either. When she settles again, she nods and says, “Smells good, Baby.”

He doesn’t know how other alphas would react to that name, but on her lips, it’s sweet and intimate and just for him. Steve doesn’t care how other alphas feel - never has, never will, to be honest. He smiles and stands, turning to his dresser to find her a shirt. He ends up pulling out his favorite white v-neck, knowing it’s made out of some kind of cooling fabric.

It’s perfect.

He helps her sit up as she yawns again, then raises her arms and pulls the shirt over her hair and down to her shoulders. “Think you can make it twenty feet to the kitchen?” he asks her.

She smirks, rolls her eyes, and stands without even so much as a crack from her joints. “I’m exhausted, not made of tissue paper,” she quips, already halfway out of the bedroom. Almost as if to make her point, she skips the rest of the way to his island, hops right into one of his high chairs, and brings the glass of wine up for a swig.

Steve joins her, watching closely, just making sure she’s as content as he is. He doesn’t start eating until she has, and after her first bite, she takes three more in quick succession and groans.

“Jesus,” she mumbles, mouth still full. Once she’s chewed and swallowed a mouthful, she shakes her head. “You, Steve Rogers, are too good to be true.”

“I take it you like it,” he says with a small nod.

She nods, too, only hers are more dramatic and require most of her body to bounce. “Either I do, or I’ve just eaten too much of your leftover pizza these last few days.”

They laugh together as he says, “Fair enough,” and then they settle into comfortable quiet. Steve is actually pretty proud of the dinner, especially as she eats the last few potatoes on her plate before it’s completely clear.

“Still hungry?” he asks as she pushes the plate a few inches away.

She shrugs. “Maybe a little. This was really, really good though.” She smiles, sitting back in the seat, stretching her legs out so her feet are flat against the floor. “I just feel like I haven’t eaten in three weeks or something.”

Without finishing his own plate, Steve gets up and goes to his freezer. Normally, he eats pretty healthy - a superhero diet apparently consists of more protein than anything else - but his one vice is his sweet tooth. And he knows he’s not the only one in the tower that’s addicted to Ben & Jerry’s, so he feels absolutely no regret or shame in pulling out two full pints of the stuff in two completely different flavors.

“Got a preference?”

She cocks an eyebrow at him, but nevertheless inspects the pints, reading the descriptions carefully before picking one called Chillin’ the Roast. Steve puts the other pint back in the freezer, grabs two spoons, then sits on his chair again, this time facing her. They dig in at the same time, pulling up scoops of coffee flavored ice cream and cookie-covered truffles. It’s one of the more indulgent flavors he’s picked recently, but it’s so good that he doesn’t even care.

“Holy shit, even your taste in ice cream is impeccable,” she states. “Where the hell did you even find this one?”

Steve chuckles. “I know a guy.”

She pauses. “Is it Ben? Or Jerry?”

Instead of answering, he shoves another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. She gasps, her jaw drops, and she nudges his shoulder playfully.

“Come on! Now you definitely gotta tell me!”

As they fall into another fit of laughter, he can’t help but feel that hot, comfortable, contented feeling he had earlier. It fills him up, probably turns his cheeks a little pink, and makes his palms sweat at the thought of asking if she feels the same. If she even has a name for this feeling.

But he returns to the ice cream conversation, because this other one is not only off topic, but also nerve wracking. “Ben asked me if I wanted to be a flavor a few years ago.”

“And?”

He dips his spoon into the pint and brings a scoop back, smirking as he brings it back to his mouth, but then halts and laughs at the look of betrayal on her face.

“Oh my god, Steven I swear if you don’t tell me whether or not you still have Ben Cohen’s number in your phone, I will tear you apart!” She reaches to grab his spoon, but he pulls it out of her reach too quickly.

“I don’t have Ben Cohen’s phone number in my contacts,” he says, “but I did go out to Vermont to try out a few flavors. Didn’t end up picking one because they’re Ben and Jerry’s - every flavor is amazing!”

She rolls her eyes, though her smile is bigger than Steve thinks he’s ever seen. She is so breathtaking that he can’t remember what they were just talking about, and it doesn’t matter. She dips into the pint and says, “You’re such a dork.” Then she stops like she was going to say more, stares ahead of her with her bottom lip caught beneath her top row of teeth, and loosens her grip on her spoon.

Steve immediately thinks the worst - that she’s hit with another wave of painful cramps, or that her heart sped up too quickly and now it’s just shutting off or something, though he’s not sure that’s really possible. He stands, drops his spoon on the floor, and places his hand on her back.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, urgency on each consonant as it tumbles out.

Slowly, she looks up at him. He has trouble putting a word to the expression she gives him - not quite lost, not pained or in shock per se. He thinks it’s an I have to go look she’s giving him, and his stomach sinks heavily.

But she doesn’t move. She studies him like he has all the answers in the universe to any question she could possibly ask. And quietly she tells him, “I’ve seen this night before.”

She doesn’t look particularly worried. Steve can breathe as long as her brows don’t furrow.

“Everything makes sense now,” she says, her eyes darting quickly between each of his. Her pupils dilate, though she shows no other signs of another round of heat taking over. She’s just looking up at him, a smile slowly taking its place across her face again. “I’ve been feeling deja vu all day and-” She stops again, and her eyes widen.

“You’re kinda worrying me, Doll.”

She breathes a heavy sigh, her whole body relaxing. “Well, fate says it’s supposed to happen…” She slides off the chair and stands toe-to-toe with him, and that hot, comfortable feeling fills him up again. She puts her arms over his shoulders, his white shirt lifting up over her hips. “You’re a dork, Steven Rogers. And I love you.”

She gets up on her tiptoes, kisses him quickly, then sets herself back down. Before he can process anything, she goes about the night as if she’s said the most mundane thing. She picks up their dirty plates, bends to get his spoon off the floor, and takes everything to the sink without another word.

For a little too long, he’s stunned. He watches as she rinses the dishes, pops open the dishwasher and loads it, but he can’t think let alone move.

Because she just told him she loves him - that she’d seen the conversation in a vision before, that she knew she was supposed to tell him, that she felt what he felt when he felt that hot, comfortable surge of energy like he does right now.

That’s what it is?

She had just said that everything makes sense. And the longer he sits and stews, the more he agrees. The more he agrees, the faster his heart beats, the hotter his skin feels - not in the painful, sticky way that precedes another round of sex, but in that flushed, thrilling way he wants to always feel.

He finally makes his feet move, walks over to her and wraps his arms around her middle. She stops washing, settles against him with a sigh, and smells so damn good he can’t not kiss her neck, right where her bonding gland is.

“You are a complete surprise, (Y/N),” he says without removing his lips from her. “And I love you.”

Tags!

Global: @wonderlandfandomkingdom @samanthasmileys @sunigyrl @mysweetcookie99 @punkrockhufflefluff @lady-thor-foster @the-resal10 @rogrsnbarnes @xxashy999xx @badassbaker @frenfics @feelmyroarrrr 

Steve: @girlwhoisfearless @mrsdeanwinchester19 @cherrysfandom @captainradicalpassion @patzammit @coffeebooksandfandom 

Series: @whatdoyxumean @part-time-patronus @theunsweetenedtruth 

[kari-izumi]

Was tagged by @callmehhrainbow a while ago, so I'm doing this:

1.) Ultimate Otps: my multishipping ass ships everyone with everyone usually, but....that can only got to Roy and Riza from Fullmetal Alchemist. I can't see them with anyone else at all. It's also the one ship I'll never write for because their canon story was already so good, what can I add to it? ❤️👌

2.) A ship you’ll always 💜?? Violetshipping--took me a while to warm up to it, but it owns me, because no one ever leaves Yu-Gi-Oh fandom. Not even when Sheith and Plance is all I post now, hahaha

Speaking of which:

3.) Current obsessions?? VLD, with Sheith and Plance grabbing me by the metaphorical balls.

4.) A ship you never thought you’d like?? Like...almost all of them in YGO...? Cuz I shied away from Yaoi stuff the first time I was in fandom but now, there's very little I don't like! I have my muturals to thank for opening my mind to Prideshipping, @drawing-cookie and iced-blood for Rivalshipping and @frigidloki for getting all of us hyped on Shrimpshipping last summer :)

5) A ship you used to like but don't anymore: other than !chiruki that I've talked about before...I outgrew my Tai/Sora feels from Digimon. Fandom didn't ruin it, but I realized I only liked it cuz we all expected it to be a thing and I just came around to other ships for them.

6.) A ship that should be canon??

P L A N C E 💚💙🌱💙💚

Sheith, but I feel pretty confident about at least an open ending for those two

Shiro/ Xanax/some much needed vacation time, cuz he sure needs it❤️👌

Kaiba/Jounouchi

Kaiba/Atem

Bibohbance 😂😀

Roy/Riza ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Rory/Paris from Gilmore Girls ❤️

CHONI 💖💖💖💖💖

Kevin Keller/Not being a gay 90s cliche

Jughead/Eating burgers. ❤️💖👌😂

7.) A canon ship you hate??? Klaine...Dear God in Heaven, for all the crying about "abusive" ships over a two year old age gap, Blaine actually was every bit the manipulative, insecure, self centered asshole people hate. I just finished watching the seasons of Glee that I never watched first-run on against my better judgement. Sober. -5/10, and I added 5 points because Burt Hummel and Coach Beiste were always the best parts of any episode they appeared in.

8.) A ship you shipped for years?? See #10

9.) A ship everyone 😍 but you don’t care for? Probably Thiefshipping. I read exactly one fic I enjoyed which after finding out...certain problematic shit about the author including him running another prominent author out the fandom, I really can't even enjoy that one anymore. :(

10.) Favorite rare pair??? Renji/Karin from Bleach. Still my favorite crack ship! Besides seeing Ichigo get pissed, Renji's brash nature and Karin's bluntness would be awesome to see 😍😍😍

Thanks so much!

Tagging @nenya85 @kingmokuba @imhereformysciencefriends @rowindz @this-is-what-im-going-to-do @uglifish @prismatic-bell @the-cryptographer @pfirsichtoertchen @tacklessfear @honestlyprettychill

[v01d-anc3]

001

Austin leaned forward in his chair, completely intrigued by the show that he was finally able to watch. Hoodie was on a hunt with EJ. Most of the Proxies were out, actually... Austin was yet to get an assignment. He didn't get along well with the other proxies, so that meant he didn't have a partner yet. And it was quite obvious Slenderman didn't trust him as much as he trusted Masky. In fact, Austin felt like sometimes Slender regretted collecting him for a proxy.

Austin narrowed his eyes at the screen. The show was called Over the Garden Wall. It was a short series, but from what he had seen, it was very interesting. He quite liked the robin.

Austin jumped when Toby rolled onto the couch next to him. Toby didn't stay on the couch long before he fell off, but he still somehow ended up in one of those 'draw me like one of your French girls' poses.

"Whatchya w-watchin, Void?" Toby asked, yellow goggles glued to the screen. his voice 'ticked' when he spoke, making it sound like he stammered.

"Nothing..." Austin mumbled. He didn't mind the nickname he had donned since arriving at the mansion, but he did find it kind of annoying when people said that others should a-void him. He didn't object, though.

"N-nothing? Looks more l-like a kids show" Toby sat up and kept watching the screen. "Is this D-Disney?"

"I... I don't think so?" Austin frowned.

"Dang. D-did you know Sl-Slender appeared in o-one of the shows from D-Disney?" Toby looked up at Austin, looking like he was trying to break his neck. Toby tapped his knees continuously.

"No?... Which show?" Austin frowned, curious. Toby had finally pulled Austin's attention away from the screen.

"G-Gravity Falls. Good sh-show, that one. Very w-weird"

"... I see... I'll look into it"

"There's D-Doritos in it" Toby's cloth mask shifted, indicating he was grinning.

"... Don't know why I'd need to know that, but thanks?"

"No pr-problem! Also, c-came over here to t-tell you that we have to g-go shopping later"

"What? Why us?"

"I c-could ask the same th-thing, but it's a tr-trial thing. M-Masky is c-coming, too, to 'k-keep an eye on us'. Don't kn-know what that m-means"

"Oh, no, I have no idea" Austin rolled his eyes, but it didn't look like he did much because his eyes were pitch black now. Austin knew the shenanigans that Toby got up to sometimes. They were almost as bad as when Jeff gets arrested at times.

"I know! I'm a r-responsible person, you're t-too stupid to try and l-leave, and we're both d-dedicated people! Also we get h-hungry, too!"

Austin frowned at that, but didn't say anything. He pretended that Toby's stuttering made him think he said that, but truly he hadn't. He tried not to think too much into it.

"So, d-d-did you finally g-get rid of Jeff?" Toby asked. The show finished. Austin sighed. He had missed the end of it because Toby refused to stop talking.

"I don't know. He wasn't in my room when I woke up. Or... maybe he was under my bed, I dunno" Austin hummed in thought. Jeff was a tactical killer when he wanted to be, and he watches his victims for about a week before he kills them, to look at sleeping patterns. Apparently they fascinated Jeff, so he studied them. Jeff watched Austin sleep on most nights. Well, whenever he did manage to sleep. It was hard to sleep when a man with a grin slit from ear to ear was staring at you with unblinking eyes through the moonlight that squeezed through the gaps in the shutters. Slenderman had tried to stop Jeff from doing it, but eventually gave up when Jeff chewed/stabbed a hole through the wall from EJ's room to Austin's. EJ didn't even wake up from the commotion apparently. He did see Jeff crawl through the hole sometimes, though.

It kinda freaked Austin out.

"Huh. W-weird. Maybe h-he's out or s-something?" Toby frowned.

"Probably out killing unfortunate people" Austin shrugged, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV. "When do we have to go? Do we have a shopping list?"

"L-leaving w-when Masky g-gets back f-from the p-patrol with B-Ben" Toby shrugged, sitting up.

"So... roughly 5?"

"Maybe. M-maybe not. Never know t-till he's at th-the door"

"Which... is always 5 on the dot, whether his partner is with him or not"

"What, really?! I-I never noticed" Toby frowned.

"Well, you do get a tiny bit distracted a lot of the time when he gets back..." Austin reminded Toby.

"Th-that makes sense" Toby nodded. "Here c-can get boring a-a lot"

"Definitely"

"We sh-should go hunting a-again soon!!~" Toby giggled.

Austin sighed. Jeff and Toby were always trying to get Austin to 'hunt'. Hunting as in get out of the mansion and kill people at night. Austin admitted, he did enjoy it at least a little bit, but he felt guilty, which was, of course, normal.

"I... I guess it wouldn't hurt..." Austin mumbled softly.

"You turned s-soft again!!" Toby announced.

Austin was about to assure Toby that he had no way of getting any softer when the door opened. Ben Drowned walked in and to the couch. "Move over"

Austin shuffled over a bit for Ben to sit in his spot - the one closest to the TV - and Ben flopped down.

"UGH I hate going on patrol" Ben groaned.

"We all have to do it eventually" Masky said calmly. He then turned to Austin and Toby. "Ready?"

Austin realized he didn't have his shoes on, and quickly jumped up. "I have to put shoes on, I'll be quick"

Masky nodded once. Toby jumped up, already wearing a pair of Volley's, as Austin ran upstairs to his room. He entered his room. Austin stopped when he saw Jeff climbing through his window.

"How did you...???" Austin frowned, wondering how on Earth did Jeff get to the second story window.

Jeff fell on his face. "Ow"

Austin rolled his eyes and helped Jeff up. Jeff smiled at him, of course, then sauntered out of the room. Austin didn't question it and grabbed his black combat boots. He pulled them on then ran back downstairs. Masky was looking at his watch and Toby was bouncing up and down, seeming unable to get the ants out of his pants. Austin walked outside with the others following. The door closed and the long trek to the town began.

The walk was quiet for Austin. The other two were sending chatter between each other, but Austin was zoned out for most of the way there, except for when Toby accidentally bumped into him. Other than that, Austin remained quiet. Mostly trying to ignore the visions and voices he saw at times. Austin remembered he forgot to take his medication this morning.

When they got to town, it was dark and not many people were out. The walk seemed to have taken longer because Toby got stuck in a tree.

Masky handed Austin something, jarring him out of thought. Austin took whatever it was and looked at it.

It was a human looking mask and a hat.

"Put them on" Masky instructed.

Austin frowned but didn't object, sliding the mask on and donning the hat. The mask almost immediately made Austin sweat and feel stuffy.

"Keep your hands in your pocket and hunch over when a human comes around" Masky said, taking off his mask for the first time in front of Austin. Austin was surprised. "We don't want any attention drawn to us. We are just grown men going shopping. If anyone asks, we're flat mates. Don't look at camera's or they'll notice something off"

Austin nodded. His face felt itchy.

They walked into a small supermarket, and immediately Toby headed to the milk isle. Almost as soon as he left, he darted into the next aisle, holding a milk carton. Toby had grabbed a basket in the progress and was grabbing the usual items, like milk, bread, sugar and whatnot. Masky gestured for Austin to follow him. He did so as they walked to the meat section. Masky read a shopping list, chewing on his lip. Austin couldn't help but stare at Masky. Masky looked human without his mask on. That was a first.

"Camera's, Austin. Don't look suspicious" Masky mumbled softly.

"R-right, sorry" Austin looked away and pretended to look at things.

"Don't talk" Masky instructed.

Austin nodded in response and picked up some tomato sauce, reading the labels.

"We need some of that. Don't put it back" Masky announced.

Austin nodded. He held it quietly, looking for something else to do. Toby ran down the aisle, holding 2 loaves of bread and the basket, already full of stuff that was needed for living, including soaps and and Pop Tarts. Once Masky was done with what he was doing - collecting a small pile of meats for meals - they headed to the biscuit aisle. Toby started picking up more Pop Tarts, but Masky stopped him. He then tried grabbing Oreos, but Masky stopped him yet again, letting out a sigh.

"We don't need every single box, Toby"

"We don't have enough!"

"Yes we do"

"THERE'S NEVER ENOUGH" Toby complained loudly. A woman down the aisle looked over for a moment, before returning to grabbing a box of tea and leaving in a hurry. Masky grabbed a box of Maree's, some ANZAC biscuits and choc chip cookies before leaving the aisle in silence. Toby groaned and followed. Austin also followed.

They headed to the self serve cash register and Toby and Masky each took turns in scanning things in order to make it quicker. Austin shoved the items into bags and took as many as he could carry when they were done. They all left the supermarket and headed outside. It was even darker and colder than before. They headed down the street, back toward the forest, but stopped at the gas station.

"Toby, leave the bags out here. I want to get some smokes, and you can grab a drink" Masky turned to Austin. "You're in charge of the bags. If anyone steals anything, you will be blamed. What drink do you want?"

Austin frowned but then nodded. "A lemonade will do, thank you"

Masky nodded, placing the bags he had beside Austin. Toby dropped his, and they both headed inside.

Austin felt a little sketchy, especially since he was in a dark corner of the place. He couldn't help but feel proud, though. Masky had put Austin in charge of something, so therefore he was at least a little trustworthy. Austin planned to keep it that way. No one would steal tonight, anyway. They didn't have much of worth.

Yet Austin was wrong.

Austin jumped in alarm as someone slammed into him, shoving him against the wall and pinning him under their weight. They covered Austin's masks mouth with a gloved hand and held a gun to the side of his head.

"Keep yer mouth shut, boy, and hand over the cash" the man growled lowly.

Austin didn't have any cash. All he had was his phone, which hung in his pocket heavily. Austin felt a rush of adrenaline in his body, specifically his head. He panicked a bit, mostly because of the fact that the voice in his head was trying to convince him to let them take over.

"Stop stallin and hand it over!!"

Austin heard rustling, and knew the man had a comrade messing with the bags.

Austin had it then. Time to unleash his inner demon.

Austin closed his eyes and relaxed his muscles. As soon as he did, he was tossed back into the void.

And out came the true darker side of himself. Aka The Static.

They opened their eyes and a faint static sound was heard, their eyes now that static look.

"Shoot me" they grinned under the mask.

"What?" the attacker grunted.

"Shoot me. Right in the head. I dare you. I bet you don't have the guts. Is it even loaded, good sir? You haven't even cocked the gun" they chuckle slightly.

"How are you even talking?!" the guy snapped.

"I am inside everyone's head, Johnathan"

The man, Johnathan, gasped. He took a step back in shock. This gave the Static enough time to go completely rouge.

They punched the guy straight in the gut, causing him to double over, then they kneed him in the face. The guy groaned and cocked the gun, then aimed and shot directly between the inhabited eyes of Austin.

The guy going through the bags slumped to the ground. Johnathan backed up, staring at his now dead friend, then at the Static.

"H-how did you..." Johnathan stammered before the Static grabbed a pole lying conveniently on the ground. Johnathan cocked the gun then aimed and shot again, missing the Static's shoulder and somehow getting shot instead. Johnathan screamed in pain and dropped the gun. The Static was on him in a split second and cracked the pole over Johnathan's head. Johnathan slumped to the floor.

The Static then dropped the pole, grabbing the gun. 4 more bullets.

"This seems like a fun one to play with..." he mumbled.

He then turned and aimed the gun right at Masky as he and Toby walked out of the service station.

//Hey guys! Feedback is much appreciated!!

[ficdirectory]

Somewhere Inside (Disuphere series #4) Chapter 69

(To listen, click here) - 20:13

It’s quieter without the rest of the Avoiders here.

It’s Tuesday, the day after everybody went home, and Levi’s mom is serious about “making the lasagna happen.”  That means Levi has spent a good chunk of the last 24 hours freaking out.  Because what if his fear all those months ago - the one that drove him to wind up at Pearl’s door with bags packed - is really a thing?  What if he’s pissed off his own mom enough that she acts like Carla?  

If Pearl’s own mom can do what she did, no one’s mom is immune, right?  

He’s starting to spin, where his mind is telling him he’s got to be perfect.  They’ve got to meet at Mom’s.  Not here.  They’ve got to do what she wants.  And what if he says that, and Pearl can’t join, because of the stress?  Then, he’ll be alone.

This is something Pearl would wanna be here for.  But it’s also something she might contribute to, without meaning it.  And Levi has boundaries and choices and he gets to pick who to call for backup.

He texts Dominique:

Help - Mom freakout.  Need code to deactivate ASAP :( Are all moms like her?  Is my mom gonna do the thing if I don’t do what she wants?

Dominique texts back within five minutes:

At work but Code = Your mom loves you.  Actual for real loves you.  She wants to spend time w/ you and wants you & P to be comfortable.  PS if you need to call my dad, that’s cool.  If you need some dad energy.  His name’s Michael.  Both Mom and Dad say it’s cool if any Avoiders need them <3

Levi wouldn’t usually, but he needs to talk to somebody, and short of his own dad, he’s had no father figures in his life for the last two years.  There’s a number.  So, he calls it.

“Michael Williams,” a voice greets.  Sounds efficient, but light.  Happy.

“Yes, sir.  This is Levi West.  One of Dominique’s friends…” he hedges.

“Hey, Levi.  Call me Michael.  Dominique told us about you and your sis.  Pretty amazing.  How can I help?”

“This...it’s kinda embarrassing but I’m panicking...about something simple.  And I know it doesn’t make sense, but I can’t stop.”

“Ah, anxiety.” Michael breathes.  “We go way back.”

“Yeah?” Levi asks.

“Oh, yeah,” Michael confirms.  “So, we can just slow it down.  Take some deep breaths.”  He waits, but Levi is waiting too.  “See, to take a deep breath, you actually need to take in air.  Breathe, Levi.  You got this.”

It’s Michael’s calm directness that breaks through.  And Levi’s able to take one breath.  Then another.  Then, he listens, as Levi rambles about how worried he is.  He gives the broad strokes:  “You know, like when you been hurt by somebody and then you gotta spend time with somebody else like them.”

“When you say, ‘like them,’ what do you mean?” Michael asks.

“I mean, like, say you got hurt...by a giant cookie…  And now you gotta spend time with another one.”

“I see…” Michael offers in a tone that makes it clear that he doesn’t see at all.  He’s confused, but he is hanging in there, with Levi’s terrible analogy.  Which Levi appreciates.

“Or maybe this one’s a pan of lasagna…” Levi muses.  “You know what, I’m not really sure.  It’s my mom, sir.  I haven’t spent time with her in a while, and I’m nervous she’ll resent that.  And take it out on me.”

“I see,” Michael says, like he does see now.  “And your mother...has she ever hurt you before?”

“No.  Never,” Levi answers, certain.  “But, someone else’s mom…”

“Ah, I see.  So, what’s important to remember?” he says.  “Is that your mother?  Is not this other mother.  What’s she said about seeing you?”

“She’s excited to come see us.  Me and my sister.” Levi reviews.  “But what if she changed her mind and expects us to come to her, and my sister can’t come with me, and I’m alone there?”

“Breathe,” Michael cues and actually waits until Levi’s able to draw a breath.  “If your mother changed her plans, she’d have let you know.  You have the most up to date info right in your head.  She’s excited to come see you and your sister.”  He pauses.  “Your mother,” another pause, “is excited to come see you and your sister.  That’s the truth.  When you feel your mind starting to race?  Repeat what you know.”

“That my mother is excited to come see me and my sister,” Levi says, testing it out.

“You got it.  That’s what you know.  All the rest of it’s noise.  Block that out.  A second at a time.  Those seconds will add up.  Trust,” Michael reassures.

“I’m so sorry for calling you like this,” Levi apologizes.  “Some first impression.”

“You wanna know my first impression of you?” Michael asks.  “Someone who means a great deal to Dominique.  Someone who knows his limits.  Someone who knows he can reach out if he needs help.  To bring in adults when things get too real.  You made a solid first impression.  You really did.”

“Thank you, sir.” Levi clears his throat.  Blinking back tears.  “You, um, you remind me of my dad...who’s...not here anymore.  Who I miss.  Very much.”

“Well, if you ever need some Dadness, you call me.” Michael says, his tone gentling even more.

“You sure Dominique won’t mind?” Levi asks.

“Nah, she knows the truth, too.  There’s always enough of Dad to go around,” Michael reassures.

“Thank you.” Levi repeats.

“Take it easy,” Michael urges, and hangs up.

It’s with Michael’s words in his head that Levi heads upstairs, scoping for Pearl.  He finds her on the couch, knitting.

Levi checks out the pantry.  Then the fridge and freezer.  “Pearl, the only ingredients we have on hand for lasagna are frozen corn and salt,” he points out.

“Corn?” she glances up, confused and then shakes her head.  “I keep forgetting it’s not traditional, with noodles and sauce and tons of cheeses.”

“No, it’s definitely not that,” he wrinkles his nose.  “And I definitely don’t wanna go to SuperOne on my day off.  Or, like, ever.”

“So,” Pearl says, thinking out loud.  “What do you think...about changing it up a bit?  Going to the County Market in town?”

“Farther away,” Levi points out.

“Yeah, but I mean, if it helps put our minds at ease?  Why not try it?” Pearl offers.

“Is your mom a County Market fan?” Levi asks, careful.

“Oh, no, SuperOne all the way,” Pearl reassures.  “She only goes to County Market if she absolutely must.  And then?  She always sent me in for her.”

“So…?”

“So, she wouldn’t step foot in there,” Pearl insists, confident.

“Okay, sounds good,” Levi nods.

They drive separately, because it still makes Pearl feel more in control than driving with Levi in the car, too.  He gets that.  In his own way.  Hadn’t he just avoided talking to Pearl about his Mom-panic because of all the ways she might remind him of Carla?

In the store, Pearl gets a cart and settles Cleo in the front, who smiles.  She loves all of the smells.

Levi lists ingredients from memory and Pearl finds them quickly, more familiar with the store than he is.  They make good time, and check out wherever they want, not worrying about avoiding a certain lane.  Or a certain person.

When they get home later, Levi exhales, and offers to put everything away.

“Thanks,” he says, hefting a couple bags in his arms.  “I think that worked.”

--

Pearl doesn’t want to let Levi down, but she is pretty sure, this hasn’t worked.  For one thing?  She has nothing to wear.  For another, the cabin is cluttered and nothing is right about it and also?  The kitchen?  Is tiny.  Only room for one person.  Two if one is small, like Francesca.

She’s made a third pass over all her kitchen surfaces when Levi comes to the kitchen doorway and just looks.  “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?”  Pearl asks.

“It looks like Cleo’s trying to get your attention,” he gestures.  Levi’s right of course.  Cleo has been trying to get Pearl’s attention for a while.  Front paws on her legs.

Taking the hint, Pearl abandons the cleaning and scoops up the dog, sitting in the middle of the floor.  Levi joins her, sitting so they can see each other eye to eye.

“I’m nervous, too,” he admits, softly.

“I have nothing to wear.  My hair’s not right.  The cabin’s...small.  Okay, it’s small, Levi.  The kitchen will fit one person cooking comfortably at a time, not three of us.  God, what was I thinking?” she vents, Cleo nipping at her shaking hands.

“Um…  Clothes are good,” Levi offers.

“It’s not funny, Levi.  My mother once dragged me into her house and made me change my top before she would agree to drive me to her stylist at her salon.  Who did not know the first thing about my hair, by the way.  It was an awful trip.”

“My mom doesn’t care about clothes.  She cares that they’re clean, and she’d prefer that they don’t have holes, but other than that?  She doesn’t care.  She’s gonna love your hair.  I know, because she was always talking about how with boys’ hair you can’t ‘do it up cute.’”  

“Well, my hair is definitely not cute…” Pearl remarks sardonically.

“And the cabin’s perfect.  Okay?  It’s homey,” Levi counters, predicting Pearl’s next comment.

“Are you sure you didn’t mean homely?” Pearl insists.

“Will you stop, please?” Levi asks.  “I get that you’re wound up, but could you at least try to listen to me before you tell me what I say doesn’t matter to you?” he asks.

That stops Pearl in her tracks.  “I’m sorry.  I’m anxious.  I ramble.  What you say matters.  Maybe…” she breathes, experimentally slowly.  “Maybe we should try to slow down…” she suggests.

Levi nods.  

After Pearl has breathed for a while, he speaks up:  “So, I spoke to Dominique’s dad this morning…”

“Really?” Pearl asks.  “You spoke to Dominique’s dad?” She’s trying this thing where she repeats what Levi’s said, asks questions, instead of countering it out of panic.  “How was that?”

“He had some good advice…” Levi shrugs.  “If you want it.”

“Please,” Pearl says.

“He said to review what we both know about my mom.  So…” Levi takes out his phone, so Pearl can see the screen where Mom’s most recent text is visible:

Excited 2 c u & Pearl with a row of hearts.

“That’s what we know?” Pearl asks.  “She’s excited to see us?”

“That is what we know,” Levi breathes.  “So, Michael, that’s Dominique’s dad, he said whenever we start to spin, to like, repeat what we know about my mom.  About dinner tonight.”

“She’s excited to see us,” Pearl fills in.

“That’s it,” Levi nods.  

He’s getting up from the floor when Pearl reaches out for his hand.  Pearl doesn’t miss the wariness that seeps into his gaze or how he takes a step back almost without realizing.

Pearl drops her hand.  Stays seated.

“I was just...going to say thank you.  I know we both have...things…and I know my trauma and stuff isn’t great to be around.  And it’s not your job?  But thank you, for helping me navigate that.”  Pearl clarifies, soft.

Levi blinks.  “Oh.”  His phone chimes with a message.  “Mom’s on the way, but she wants to know if you have pans or if she should bring them?” he asks, squinting.

“We do have pans in our possession,” Pearl nods.  “I’ve got to get up now.  Hardwood floors are not comfortable when you’re my age,” Pearl groans.

“You keep acting like you’re ancient,” Levi quips laughing gently.  He offers her a hand.  “But in 20 years, I’ll be your age.  It ain’t that old…”

“Oh, get back to me when you’re pushing 38, little bro, and we’ll see how you feel about it then…”  She grunts, having taken Levi’s hand and gotten to her feet.  “I’m gonna go get dressed.”

“She’s excited to see us and she’s not bringing pans.” Levi calls, as Pearl shuts herself in the bathroom.  The door is closed, but she can still make out his words from behind the door.  “And nobody’s gonna make you change.”

“Thank you, Levi.  Love you.  She’s excited to see us, and she’s not bringing pans,” Pearl repeats, loud enough for him to make out her every word.

They keep saying it to each other.

Strangely, it doesn’t get old.

--

Levi’s waiting by the window, watching for his mom’s car to pull in the drive outside.  The minute he sees it, he’s off the couch, calling, “She’s here.  I’m gonna go meet her.”

He doesn’t care how it looks.  Him, taking off out of the cabin at top speed, to help his mom carry in whatever she did bring.  With all his nerves about seeing her (and seeing her without Dad) Levi hadn’t quite expected just how badly he did need to see his mom.

Levi’s at her car before she even turns it off.

“Levi!” she calls.  “How are you, baby?”  she asks, and he very nearly reaches through the window to hug her, but she holds him off long enough to open the door.

Then, he waits for her to stand.  And grabs on.  “I missed you.”

“Oh, you’ve gotten so tall.  And you look happy.  Did you and your friends have a good time?”

“Yeah, we’ll tell you all about it.  Come in,” he invites, offering an arm.  “Oh.  Should I grab anything?” he asks, sending a smirk her way.

“Don’t act like you don’t know I got peach cobbler for dessert.  It’s in the case on the passenger seat.” Mom smiles back at him.

They get inside the house and Levi drops off the peach cobbler at the table.

“Pearl, this is my mother, Nia Major-West.  Mom, this is Pearl.” Levi introduces.  The smile on his face big enough to break it.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. West,” Pearl greets, awkwardly, shuffling Cleo’s leash from hand to hand, and finally managing a handshake.

Mom’s mouth drops open as she takes in Pearl.  “Oh, please.  Call me Nia.  You look just like Paris.  Both you kids do…” Tears spring to her eyes.  “He’d be so happy about this.  You know that, right?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Pearl answers.  “So, I’ve heard, from Levi.”

“So, are you better at the stove, or at assembling, Pearl?” Mom asks.

“Oh, I’m good, wherever you put me,” Pearl agrees.

“She’s really good at organizing,” Levi offers.

“Would you mind helping out with assembly, then?” Mom asks.  “I’m terrible at it.  Not patient.  And if Levi does it, he eats all my cheese before it gets on the lasagna.”

“That was one time,” Levi objects, laughing.  “I was like, 2.  Let it go.”

“What happened?” Pearl asks as Mom gets busy preheating the skillet.

“So, family legend says that once upon a time--” Levi begins.

“--The first time I ever made this lasagna--” Mom interjects.

“Yes, the first time Mom ever made this lasagna.  She was putting it together.  As you do.” Levi nods.

“Right.  As you do,” Pearl confirms.

“And she goes, ‘Here, baby.  Hold this for Mommy.’  And she hands me an open bag of cheese.  So, of course, she’s cooking and I’m thinking I’m the luckiest toddler in the world, probably, just stuffing my face.”

“Paris is taking pictures…” Mom adds, laughing.

Levi joins her, laughing, too.  “And you had no idea--” he gasps.

“None,” Mom’s breathless.  “Just turn  around and I’m like, ‘Baby, where’s Mommy’s cheese at?’  And what’d you say?”

“I mean, I told her the truth.  It was all gone…” Levi manages, still laughing.

“So what did you put on it?” Pearl asks.  “You can’t have your lasagna without the proper cheese…”

“Oh, we had cheese.  We had all kinds of cheese.  So we improvised.  Tasted fine.” Mom says, same as she always does.

“So when Rachael Ray said use whatever you have on hand...she meant that…” Pearl glances at Levi.  “So what did we go to the store for?”

“Because,” he teases gently.  “In order to use what you have on hand, we needed to have stuff on hand.”  

“Ah,” Pearl slaps her forehead.

“Just like your Daddy.  Needing his recipes.  Going to the store to stock up on all y’all’s ingredients.” Mom says, happily.

Though it is kinda tight in the kitchen, Levi kinda loves it.  Being close like this.  It feels like it used to feel.  Not empty.  With an extra person in their space it feels even more full.  Not like anyone’s missing at all.

The lasagna still tastes great, just how Levi remembers.  The peach cobbler’s amazing, and Levi and Pearl share about getting to hang out with Jesus, and Mariana, Dominique and Francesca.

Pearl texts and asks if Jesus would mind if they showed Levi’s mom the picture of all of them together.  Jesus says she can, and thanks her for asking.

Mom puts on her glasses and looks at the picture.  While Levi points out everybody.

“Now, whose baby is this?” she asks, pointing to Francesca.

“That’s Francesca,” Pearl smiles.  “She’s their sister.  Much younger, obviously, like Levi is to me.”

“She’s lovely.  And these two are the twins,” she says, noting Jesus and Mariana.  “And this one here is your friend who you spoke to her dad on the phone this morning,” Mom fills in, pointing out Dominique.

Levi smiles.  “Yeah, you got ‘em all.”

“Speaking of pictures,” Mom digs in her purse, pushing her dessert plate and coffee cup further on the table.  She finally takes out what she’s been looking for and hands them to Pearl.

Levi scoots in closer.  Hears Pearl gasp.  

He can see what she does.   Four pictures:  one of Dad holding newborn baby Pearl, smiling and looking younger than Levi can ever remember him being.  

“That’s the day you were born.  Said he couldn’t stop holding you.  Couldn’t stop staring at his beautiful girl.  His Pearl Evangeline.”

Pearl cringes.  “My middle name’s so awkward.”

“Dad chose it,” Levi fills in.  “He liked Biblical names.  But I guess your mom had already chosen your first name.  So he convinced her to let him give you your middle name.  He told that story all the time.”

Pearl’s mouth drops open.  “I didn’t know.  I feel so terrible for making cracks about it all these years.”

“Now this one,” Mom points to the next photo on what looks like her first birthday.  “Cabbage Patch babies were all the rage, and he searched high and low for one.  For hours, probably.”

“But days or weeks, if you asked Dad--” Levi interjects.  

“Right, so he found you, little Archibald Frances,” she points to the bald baby doll in a hat.

“I still have that doll.  He got it for me?” Pearl asks, incredulous.

“He did, yes,” Mom nods.

“I never knew that,” Pearl manages.

A third picture shows toddler-Pearl, holding The Cat in the Hat right side up.  Dad sitting with her in the rocking chair.

“Now, you were reading to him there.  Not vice versa.” Mom points out.  “Paris wanted me to be sure if I ever got to show you these, to tell you.  Two years old, and reading.  He couldn’t believe it.”

Levi watches as Pearl slowly flips to the last picture.  Pearl with her hair in braids.  Kissing Dad on the cheek.  “You started school early, he said,” Mom explains.  “You just turned four a few months before, but he got you into kindergarten.  He was so proud.  Your first day…”

“That’s it?” Pearl asks.  “I mean...I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful.  These are amazing.  I just...I wish there were more…”

“We all do,” Mom nods.  “But we’ve never been sure how many pictures you had with him, and these were all he had with him, when…”

“I understand,” Pearl nods.  “Thank you so much.”

“Thank you for letting me come out here and see y’all.  I’ve missed my Levi to bits.  So quiet without you and Dad around.”

“I know,” he says, looking down, a little regretful.

“But you’re happy.  I can see that,” Mom says, looking satisfied to know this.  Looking like she’s proud.  “And as long as you two have each other, I know I can worry a little less.”

“You should come again, for dinner,” Levi blurts.

“Yes.  You should.  We could make this a thing.  Family dinner?” Pearl tries.  “I know we’re not exactly family, but…”

“Oh yes, we are.  Levi, tell Pearl.  We are exactly family,” Mom says, putting an arm around them both.

“We’re exactly family,” Levi tells Pearl softly and Pearl laughs a little.

Holding the pictures between them like this, it’s almost like Dad’s in on the hug, too.

In fact, Levi can pretty much guarantee it.