#random but I feel like Sally is the type of person to say she’s a gamer but then reveal that she only plays mobile games on Nicole

[krispiebones]

Wife technology!

Some of the Archie characters were good, too bad they got pendered 🤡

[eldritch-nightmare]

can i request jeff, jane, nina, and liu all having feelings for the same fem!reader? i want to see them all just realize that they like the same person and i need to see the drama unfold and you can choose who the reader ends up with! thanks :))

a/n: of course! hope you enjoy, and thanks for sending in the request <3

jeff, jane, nina and liu falling for the same fem!reader.

warnings: reader is a creepypasta, the mansion is a thing here yes, mentions of stalking, swearing, mentions of blood, this is actually pretty lighthearted so dw there's nothing dark in here, you can tell i tried really hard not to use y/n but alas i had no choice, i giggled a lot writing this tbh.

Well, how the hell did this happen? You might be wondering that. Allow me to tell you.

It all begins with Jeff. He meets you first, and therefore he falls first. It was an accident, really, one that he intended on keeping a secret. And by keeping it a secret, I mean only his two most trusted companions know about it.

Let's just say BEN is never being told anything ever again because the little shit told Sally, and that's how Nina found out about you. Sally just innocently told her that Jeff had feelings for you during a tea party, and now Nina is very curious about you because, well, who is this silly woman who stole Jeff's heart?

Nina obviously does the most logical thing, and she stalks you a bit. She had to learn more about you! She was curious, and she wanted to know what it was about you that caught Jeff's attention the way it did!

Whatever it was, it caught her attention as well because suddenly her heart started racing whenever she saw you and when you spoke to her she could barely keep herself together.

Next to learn about Jeff's feelings for you was Jane. Jane, as we all know, wants to kill Jeff. Seeing that you were suddenly hanging around both Jeff and Nina certainly caught her attention. She needed to know if you were going to get in the way of her plans the way Nina has a habit of doing.

And fuck. At first, she didn't particularly care much about you after deciding you weren't an obstacle. You were just some random chick that caught Jeff and Nina's attention, nothing more and nothing less.

Then, one day, she saw you return to the mansion covered in blood. And holy. Holy shit. Oh my. She suddenly became very aware of your presence whenever you were around, and she found herself falling for you the same way Jeff and Nina have.

The last one to fall for you is definitely Liu. He does keep tabs on everyone who comes into contact with Jeff, but he doesn't particularly learn anything about them unless it helps him to achieve his goal, and he ultimately decides that he doesn't need to learn about you. He's not the type to use Jeff's friendships against him.

No, he met you purely by coincidence. Not even at the mansion, he was just out visiting his parent's (and his) graves, and well, turns out someone you cared about is buried in the same cemetery! The world sure is a small place, isn't it? One thing leads to another and suddenly he's falling for you too.

So, now all four of them have feelings for you and it goes like this: Jeff knows Nina (And Liu, but shh.) has feelings for you, Nina knows Jeff has feelings for you, Jane knows both Nina and Jeff have feelings for you, and Liu knows that Jeff, Nina, and Jane have feelings for you. And you? You're oblivious to all of this. It's a weird, complex mess.

It's even more of a mess when all their feelings for you are thrown out to the ground in front of you. On the off chance that you somehow managed to get the four of them into a room together, it's Liu who admits his feelings first. You were just making a joke about how Liu might be in love with you since he was being such a gentleman helping you with whatever task you had.

And Liu? Well, his response was something along the lines of, "You're only now noticing?"

And that made you pause. And everyone else pause. You're the one to break the silence first, "Did... did you just confess to me? Is this a confession?" But before Liu could even respond, it was Jane who spoke up next.

"Wait! Wait just a moment!" And she'll aggressively point at Liu, basically jabbing her finger into his chest, "You're telling me that you have feelings for her as well?" And she's shocked, truly, because how did she not notice that Enemy Number Two had feelings for you?

And that has Nina jumping in like, "Woah, hold on a sec, you have feelings for Y/n as well? Since when??"

And the three bicker amongst themselves while you turn your gaze to Jeff because, surely, he doesn't have feelings for you as well, right? You would be wrong.

"In my defense, I fell for you first."

Now, none of them would pressure you into deciding who to date but it is clear that they would at least like to know if you have feelings for any of them.

If you have feelings for none of them, then they would respect that. Nina would obviously pout, but she'd cheer up rather quickly and treat you the way she normally does. Jeff would be hurt and would probably distance himself from you a bit, but he still values you as a friend. Similar to Jeff, Jane would probably distance herself from you as well, but she'd miss your company too much so you two would go back to being friends relatively quickly. Liu understands. He honestly wasn't even expecting anything to come out of his feelings for you, he just didn't want to keep them from you because it felt weird hiding them. You're still going to be a good friend to him.

If you have feelings for Jeff, then boy oh boy will that make him happy. He wouldn't shove it into Liu's face because I mean, c'mon, that's his brother, but Nina and Jane? They're probably never going to hear the end of it. She picked me over you, how's that make you feel? Terrible, right? I hope it does.

If you have feelings for Jane, she will probably tense up a bit as she processes this information. She'd get a bit shy as well, awkwardly coughing into her fist and going quiet. She's not the type to rub it into anyone's face that you chose her, but she'll definitely use this to mock Jeff in the future.

If you have feelings for Nina, she will be ecstatic! Overjoyed! Honestly, she'll have to restrain herself from picking you up and spinning you around from how happy she is! She seems like the type of person to hiss at the other three (especially Jane) if they get too close to you, but she wouldn't rub it in their faces. Well... she might. But just a bit.

If you have feelings for Liu, then he would like... actually be caught off guard. He was completely content with staying friends with you, so he honestly didn't know how to process the fact that you returned his feelings. He's happy, nonetheless! Now, he isn't the type to rub his relationship into the faces of people he dislikes, but Sully is, so. But none of that matters to Liu, he's just happy you like him back.

[mooniemilkieway]

Random Creepypasta Headcanons Episode 2: Electric Boogaloo

Jeff the Killer makes fun of Slenderman’s tentacles by referring to them as tentacle hentai monsters. Slender Man got so frustrated that he broke Jeff’s PS4 by throwing it out the window

Nina the Killer uses Splat Hair Dye and would dye her hair in the middle of the night even though the rest of the Creepypasta’s can smell the intoxicated hair bleach

Ticci Toby’s the type of person to say whoopsie daisies when he accidentally causes a fire

Eyeless Jack’s room smells horrendous because of his secret stash of rotten kidneys laying under his bed

Laughing Jack can fly and would glide around because he feels like it but he’ll complain for about an hour about having to walk on his feet against his will

BEN Drowned one time got one of those fake tattoos from Shein and put one on his arm to seem “badass” but one day Jeff sprayed water at him bc Jeff lost a Star in Mario Party during Chance Time and the tattoo came off and BEN had a rash on his arm for about 2 weeks

Candy Pop’s the type of person to get a sugar rush after drinking a soda can

Clockwork sometimes does fashion shows for Ticci Toby and Clockwork definitely has done Toby’s eyeliner and black nails

Sally Williams fell though the ceiling once and gave Jane the Killer a death stare (iyk the tiktok ykwita)

Jane the Killer binge watched Euphoria about 3 times and kins Maddy Perez

Zalgo definitely sings about how “evil and diabolical 👹😈” he is in the shower with the lights on

When Jane the killer told Jeff that she was a lesbian and married to Mary Jeff recalled “I thought you were American?” Then Jane slapped him

Homicidal Liu has read the Chainsaw Man mangas and his favorite character is either Aki or Reze. He thought the anime was a let down though and would argue with people over it on Twitter

Sally would force Laughing Jack to be the jester for her Castle Playtime if Candy Pop wasn’t able to do it. LJ would complain but Sally would offer him either candy or one time $25

Slender Man is trying to rizz up Hachishakusama by sending her pick up lines. One time they were texting and Slender Man was legit kicking his feet lying on his stomach giggling

[strange-doll-child]

*stretches out my hands* headcannons?

Why, of course <3

Just random HM ones, some genderbent, some not, some fankid/oc

Had this idea that both duelists tried to cheat during the duel but they both at 7 somehow(They both laughed because of it while bleeding out)

(in the works but)I kinda wanna make Shadow Pianist(Disneyland) and Shadow Pianist(Disney World) two separate people, because I realized my OC story for Victor's brother, Wolfgang, makes a pretty good Shadow Pianist backstory

Not really a hc but I do sorta ship my fankids sometimes, I ship my OrganHost daughter, Katherine, and my Duelist x Shadow Pianist kid, Cassidy

HC that Ezra, Hattie, and Emily all died in the same month(In that order too)

Maid/Butler oc Clara/Clarence, the religious themes in their art were just a stylistic choice but tbh I might legit give them some Religious Mania, as a treat

My fankid Beverly(Alistair x Henry) is probably the only on of my Alistair fankids that would live to adulthood. She'd still get murdered though

Victor Guest & Lady Blue are married and they play music/sing songs together

on the talk of organist relationships, Victor Geist x Sally Slater for the Ghost Post, but tbh that's just canon

I hc the organist in the SLG comic universe to be named Viktor, I just did that so it's not confusing when I type out their names

Myra hunts rats for sport(And gives them as gifts,)

Alicia actually somewhat was upset about killing her mother a little after doing it, but also she can't really do anything about it soooo

Nicholas Crown is a vampire, idc what the Ghost Gallery says

HC the Ghost Host's mortal name as Elias

Clara/Clarence with a God Complex, just listen-(Not set in stone but hsh)

Myra bullies servants w/ her dad, she's a very fussy child

I gave Nelson joint issues, so he has a reason to use that cane now

Clara/Clarence x Alicia/Alistair, toxic relationship

All of my half-human/half-haunt kids can swap between mortal and ghost form

I've been thinking about Clara/Clarence getting executed for killing Alicia/Alistair so-

If I made anyone responsible for killing any of Alistair's kids, it'd be Clarence

I like making personality differences between the ogs and their genderbends, because my friend pointed out how changing their gender would affect a lot of their experiences and how they handle/react to them so yea

Alicia still freaks out about her period sometimes(I won't let her live past her 30s)

There's just a bunch of HCs so 👍 Feel free to ask questions if any

[thekimspoblog]

TERFs will act like trans women are forcing themselves on lesbians. But when you press the issue just a little further, it becomes clear that actually THEY are the ones who think women shouldn't be allowed in lesbian spaces unless they're sexually available.

Like okay let's think through this for 5 seconds. Jane and Sally are at a lesbian bar. Jane and Sally are quite flirtatious with eachother, but eventually Sally thinks now would be a good time to disclose that she is trans and does not have a vagina.

Should Jane:

A. Suck it up and force herself to do something she's not comfortable with in the name of appearing progressive,

B. Be honest with Sally. For whatever reason, Jane is only interested in intimacy with people who both present as female AND have a vagina. Therefore it's probably in everyone's best interest if they don't try to take this any further,

or

C. Fly into a rage, misgender Sally, and humiliate her in front of the rest of the bar?

B is the correct answer. Literally nobody is advocating for option A, and if you vote C congratulations on doing the same type of behavior that makes women afraid of men in the first place.

Follow up question. Statistically, Sally is most likely going to react by:

A. Assaulting Jane right then and there,

B. Going home and writing a letter to Jane's boss in the hopes of getting Jane fired for transphobia,

or

C. Frowning cus it sucks to get shot down... then just leaving to flirt with Theresa instead.

The answer is C. Me, I'm Theresa. And any sort of logic which dictates that neither I nor Sally belong in a lesbian bar leads you down some really twisted paths of thought. It says that bi women, pan women, really anyone who wants to fuck someone that you don't, is excluded from the label of "lesbian". It's not about creating a safe space for women to be themselves and find eachother anymore, it's about which forms of love you personally approve of.

I get that some TERFs have this paranoid fantasy that their favorite hang-outs are going to be overrun with belligerent, boorish men (or Persians). But I look around me and I just don't fucking see that happening! Lesbian bars and other spaces are under threat of disappearing, but that threat is coming from a bad economy and the wage gap; if anything, turning away women cus they're not your type is helping to sink the industry.

A more reasonable concern for the Janes of the world, is that it won't just be Sally; Jane will flirt with Anne and hit the same stumbling block, then she'll flirt with Hailey and it will be the third time in a row and Jane will just want to shout "DOES ANYONE IN THIS LESBIAN BAR HAVE A VAGINA???!!!" And like... yeah that's frustrating but also tough tomatoes. Your orientation comes with subcategories beyond what most lesbians consider attractive in a woman; it's not our problem that you want to treat your preferences as the default. When you try to find romance at a public venue like a bar, you follow the procedure of striking up a conversation with any random person you're superficially attracted to. Inevitably, at some point in the conversation, you're going to learn something about your date that is a turn-off, and that's the point at which you have to decide: do I like this person enough to work around the fact that they aren't perfect, or is this a deal-breaker for me sleeping with them? You want to catch a fish; you have to cast a wide net. It's not the job of the lesbian community writ-large to throw back all the fishdicks for you.

My deal-breakers are that I'm not interested in sleeping with anyone Catholic, ex-military, or interested in doing anal. But that doesn't mean I get to write a rule that Catholic lesbians aren't lesbians.

Sally and Jane were really hitting it off. And it's normal for Jane to be disappointed, annoyed that she has to start over with courting someone else. I'm sure Sally feels the same way. But if Jane gets angry, it's because Jane - not Sally! - has a patriarchal sense of entitlement to another person's vagina.

[azalea-petal02]

Love how the executive assistant at my office is absolutely obsessed with talking about my food intake and body. You know the type, they are totally ignorant to any sort of ED sensitivity (great in my line of work) or even just the notion that it’s not really acceptable to comment on one another’s bodies - regardless of whether you perceive it as a “compliment” or not. She also has no idea that it isn't appropriate to comment on her own body in ways that are fatphobic (and inaccurate).

Saying she's "obsessed" with my body might sound a bit much but she manages to work it into the most random places. Someone asks if I'm chilly & I say no, there she is commenting on how odd it is someone my size might feel warm. Someone says my dress is pretty, boom, comment on my body as it relates to clothing. There was cake served, time to comment on my portion and how it relates to weight and size. This was all in a 40-minute birthday celebration, with plenty of totally distorted self-judgment about her own body & eating habits sprinkled in.

We had this horribly painful birthday celebration at the office. We have a total of 4 employees. We have nothing in common beyond the job - the other 3 are in very different life stages. We can’t even talk about work much bc my boss is HIPPA anxious. Which is unnecessary anyway considering we all have access to the same client information and are on a consultation team. I’m not suggesting casually reading a client trauma narrative, I mean it’s ok to say "Sally asks about you now that you work from home".

I really resent the forced socialization btw. I am a friendly person, I'm down to chat between clients and collaborate over cases but there aren't even many opportunities for that at my job, and that's ok!

Like an absolute genius, I somehow let it slip I have experience with ED treatment to the assistant. Idk it came up organically and there’s like literally nothing to talk about with these people. Her friends' daughter has been in ED residential so she's just been talking about it to me way too much. And any time I say anything on that topic she says "Ok I'm going to go tell my friend that," and I feel awful that she might actually do it. I was just trying to correct the assistant bc she was saying "I didn't know until now that people with eating disorders can't go to restaurants that have calories on the menu" so I was just trying to explain that there aren't universal rules about that & I went to a PHP where you had to see your weight daily before eating as an exposure bc you can't always control being exposed to triggers. So she wanted to go tell her friend that. They are going through enough & don't need a random friend who's totally uneducated on ED's and uninformed about the daughter's needs telling them what to do using third-hand info. I tried to tell her just to leave it to their treatment professionals but I doubt that will happen. I actually feel really guilty about it.

[salsdemise]

Can I request a Sally face x reader fic? Possibly a confession and first kiss an da party or something like that, thank you!

Hey anon, sorry if this is bad, I'm assuming you meant sal, and if not just lmk and I'll re-write this for another character if you want.

Warnings: Underage drinking, underaged smoking, parties, y/n used in place of your name, really awkward with the confession part? idk how to write those

word count: 1479

other: gender neutral terms used, sal's speech is in blue bc sometimes its unclear whos talking bc i didn't know what to put between the words spoken lol playlist listened to while writing: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5SMv6Go27KIcbfL07wkQ4m

This party wasn’t where you wanted to be right now. Hell, you’d rather be at school, getting pushed around by the kids in the hall right now. Anywhere was better than this loud, flashy,party filled with the smell of cigs, weed, alcohol and sex wafting off of every teen you passed.

Why you had come to this party in the first place had slipped your mind, as now you were more focused on not getting backed into a corner with a potted plant by a group of your peers. Maybe it was because your friend Larry wouldn’t shut up about how fun it was going to be, maybe it was because you would have felt bad saying no, or maybe it was because you certainly weren’t going to pass up on an opportunity to potentially hang out with Sal Fisher, your long time crush and close friend.

Holding your now empty red cup, you navigated your way through the crowd of drunken and dancing teens, most who were nice and giggly as you passed, slurring apologies at you if they bumped you.

While you weren’t all sober yourself, you had enough remaining cognitive ability to form full thoughts, and the only one on your mind was finding one of two people; Sal or Larry. You had no doubt Larry was off smoking with gods know who, so that left one option, and if your brain wasn’t mistaking you, you had seen the electric-bluenette near the door to the backyard in the kitchen not too long ago. So that’s where you set your sights.

When you arrived at the kitchen, you were happy to know that you were indeed correct on where you had last seen Sal, just outside on the patio, sitting hunched over a cup, the bottom straps of his prosthetic undone and dangling. Murmuring a few ‘excuse me’s at the teens you passed on the way, you made your way out to the back, opening and exiting the door and catching the bluenette’s attention. Seating yourself next to him, you said nothing, not sure of what to say.

“Didn’t think you’d actually show. Lar said you were coming, but I thought he was bluffing again,” Sal spoke, sipping on his drink.

You laughed at this, “yea, no, he actually convinced me to come. Not sure how, but he did. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d see you here either. You always talk about how much you hate parties, especially ones that have inebriating drinks,” you set your cup down next to you, and a small breeze knocked it over as soon as your hand left it.

“I don’t, hate em. Managed to get someone to get me something non-alcoholic, though. What have you had to drink?” He motioned to your, now rolling, red cup to emphasize.

“Oh, nothing too strong. They had a punch bowl in there so I took some of that,” thinking back to it as you spoke, it was odd the hosts of this party put a punch bowl out at a party with no need for it. However, you and Sal both seemingly shrugged it off and continued talking.

Conversation between the two of you had always come so naturally, switching between topics and tones, talking about people, your home state, his home state, and the likes.

“Man, I cannot believe he did that! It was like, super awkward between us for a week,“ you laughed, finishing a story about how Larry had tried to ask you out when high. Luckily the guy wasn’t too upset and took no for an answer.

“Hey, y/n, about asking people out...have you ever done it?” Sal questioned, messing with his sweater sleeves now that his drink was gone and his cup had also flown off.

“Oh, uh, not like, here at Nockfell, but in the past I asked a guy in my grade to go to a valentine’s day dance with me. Why?” you responded, tilting your head at him.

“I want to ask this person out, but I’m not sure how.”

“Oh. Well, what do they like? How long have you known them? And how close are you two? You can’t just ask out a random person you barely know, it won’t go well.”

“Well, they like a lot so it’s...kinda hard to put into words. I’ve known them for years now, and I’d like to say we’re pretty close.”

Thinking, you went quiet. As much as it hurt you to know your crush liked someone else, you were going to help him as best you could.

“Well, I’d give them a note, personally. I’d probably piss myself if I tried to tell them upfront. But it depends on how you wanna do it.”

Sal quietly thinks for a few seconds before standing up and fixing his mask, “Thanks for your help dude. We should get going, I’ll go find Larry and we can get out of here.”

You nod, standing and following Sal back into the house, heading for the front door while Sal went off to find Larry. With your mutual friend acquired, you all left for home, depositing Larry at his place and heading to your own beds, tired now that the social buzz had worn off.

Over the next week, you and Sal talked less and less, notes popped up in your locker, and small things like patches, stickers, pins and snacks appeared with them. You were confused to say the least. You loved everything this admirer gave you, and the notes were adorable, even if they were typed and printed rather than hand written, but you wondered why Sal had stopped talking to you as often as he did.

As the weeks progressed, you had started to like the secret admirer that was leaving you small gifts and notes reminding you how much they liked you. But the most recent note, which you had gotten on a sunny and warm Wednesday, really caught your attention. This time, it was handwritten in blue pen ink, the handwriting surprisingly neat, completely eliminating who you thought it was.

The note read: “y/n, meet me in the courtyard during lunch/break time. -<3”, and not wanting to disappoint, you waited with an uneasy shake until lunch came around where you went straight to the courtyard. Seeing no one, you sat on the ground by a tree to wait until your secret admirer got there.

10 minutes later, the heavy doors opened and closed with a thud, catching your attention and causing you to look up where you saw Sal, mask in hands, and looking down.

“Sal? Are you the one that wanted to meet me here?” You were..puzzled to say the least. Sal had hardly talked to you in weeks, and you thought he liked someone else like Ash, but it seems you were mistaken.

“Uh, yea, I am. I know you’re..probably upset at me for not talking to you in the past few weeks, but I didn’t want to say something stupid too soon. I hope you’re not too mad..”

“Sal, I’m not mad. I thought you were busy trying to get your mystery person to like you..and I guess I was right, but I didn’t think it’d be me..”

“Who else would it have been? You and I are as close as Larry and I are, we like the same things and I’ve known you since you got here. Hell, I’ve been pining over you for years now, but last year when Lar told me he was gonna try and shoot his shot, I tried to get myself to like Ash so I wouldn’t feel like shit if you said yes.”

“Oh, Sal. I thought it was Ash, you talk so much about her sometimes, I thought you actually liked her.”

“Oh, no, I don’t. She helped me with this, actually. Which reminds me, if its not obvious already, I really fucking like you. Like, you make me feel happy and just thinking about you makes me feel like I’m on cloud nine.”

Smiling at his words you stood to go over to him, putting your hands on his shoulders so he would look up at you, “I like you too, Sal. Like, a lot. I have for a while, and when you asked how to ask someone out,I..it hurt a little bit.”

Saying nothing at your words, Sal moved forward and wrapped you in a hug, his mask landing in the grass behind you two. Before you could return the hug, Sal backed up and his hands grabbed your face pulling you in for a kiss. Giving you time to react this time, you kissed back, your hands placing themselves over his.

Now, sitting at a college party with your boyfriend, you think to yourself, ‘Maybe parties aren’t so bad after all.’

[thejudgingtrash]

Can you explain to me how Rachel was annoying in the series?

Well, I’ll try to keep myself short for this one (lol no, this took an hour to write). Also, let’s not forget that they’re all kids, but I’m basing this off from when I read the series as a fourteen year old because my opinions haven’t changed much (for better or for worse).

I’m not the biggest fan of Rachel. I have to admit that portrayals of her by Simi, Kit, Logan, Apollo and all the others helped to shape her into something cooler than what she had been in my foggy memories but I actually went back to take a look in the books (well, TTC + BOTL so far) to refreshen my mind about events that have happened.

Also, you should browse through @blackjacktheboss's blog as she’s a) hilarious and b) says whatever I say in like a single sentence lol. But your ask is about me and my opinions so here we go:

What I didn’t like about Rachel was that she’s rude and bold (DON’T GET ME WRONG, I love that in female characters!!!), but she doesn’t have Annabeth’s excuse of survival of the fittest (literally running off as a traumatized seven year old) and introducing us into the world of the Riordanverse.

Percy was on his way, had shit to deal with and Rachel pretty much interrupted him from the get-go and thought getting her answers was more important than letting Percy just rush forward. Yes, this is Rachel’s entrance into the series and the net Riordan threw into the sea, to make us little fish adapt to her. But it still didn’t sit right with me, probably because I would never interact that way.

I get why she did that, but it’s the way how she did it that’s just making me go ???

Even if I was seeing weird things, I wouldn’t set out to distract/interrupt someone who is incredibly busy to get my way. Rachel’s dick move seems like a Karen boomer type of thing to pull off, but guess that’s up to you.

If I were her, I’d either film/try to photograph the monsters via phone (if that’s possible) or internet stalk enough to find the other person (note: despite Riordan’s stupid rule of not being able to use phones, demigods still can use computers/the internet, I guess). Percy was national news like a year or two ago in the timeline, so it shouldn’t be that difficult to find more stuff out about him, even in like 2008 or so. Let him have a spot on Perez Hilton's shitty gossip blog, for the OGs reading this.

Annabeth was used as a tool of exposition to introduce us to CHB, the demigod life and how things roll around there. She barged into Percy’s mission as a nuisance first but a necessity second in TLT.

However, in comparison to Rachel, Annabeth was transformed into a fully-fledged protagonist within a span of a chapter or two. Rachel needed another separate book after her first appearance, so we don’t just know Annabeth better, we know that she’s an important constant throughout the story as of Rachel seems… almost random? Is she truly necessary as a character?

This doesn’t come from a shipper perspective, this is coming from a character design perspective and adds to the feeling that the way she has been introduced to me as a reader just seems off.

Yes, BOTL makes sense with her as a reborn Ariadne, but technically Sally could’ve done the job as she’s a clear-sighted mortal as well lol. Then again, Sally is an adult, went to college, had a job, was unfortunately probably working it up with Paul, did the cha cha slide with him and had overall better shit to do.

Then Rachel as the oracle, which is just super weird in general. Wasn’t Apollo himself responsible for issuing prophecies in the OG myths? Or did he both, have the oracle of Delphi as his spokesperson and issue important stuff to Team Olympus? Am I mixing things up? I’m getting sidetracked, my bad.

Either way, this oracle gig might be the only time I’d say Rachel might be important in the future (badum tzz), but Riordan fumbled the bag in the follow ups series so there’s that. Did she even appear in HOO? Can’t remember and also don’t care.

Rachel is used as one out of three choices in regard to his love life that Percy can make. Calypso literally got introduced into BOTL and was admittedly Percy’s biggest what if… But the general gist doesn’t sit right with me. We have three possible routes with Percy and the others:

Rachel: somewhat normality in the mortal realm

Annabeth: the danger and thrill of the demigod life

Calypso: ambrosia and nectar. a hint of immortality

(On one hand, literally why but on the other hand, mad props for Percy who has literally three romantic leads in the same book.) I’d cancel one of them at least out and since Annabeth isn’t going anywhere, I’m taking Rachel. Sally could literally been Percy’s anchor to a normal mortal life as she had intended until it didn’t work out anymore when he became twelve and his monster alerting scent grew stronger.

Calypso and Annabeth would’ve been the perfect opposites where each of them had a strong case. The demigod life within the realms or mortal or the demigod life ascending to Olympus/immortality. Sounds cooler and is way simpler. Three people is way too much, this truly feels like a shonen anime harem thing and it’s defo not my cup of tea (and while some Annabeth sideships aren’t my thing (Lukabeth go cry in the corner, no one likes you, WTF, Connabeth you fugly), it’s super unfair that Annabeth solely has Percy (fuck off Luke) to rely on in regards of romantic endeavors).

Rachel almost feels redundant? The option to walk away from all of that… which isn’t really true as Rachel really tries to push and insert herself into the story the very first time we meet her? But that’s just me, I’m certain that others are saying they’d kill off Annabeth or kick Calypso (I mean yeah) into the curb.

Big ALSO:

Why does Percy need another white and uber-rich love interest?

I semi-joked on Dez’ post (@sawasawako) with this response about Annabeth needing to keep up with powerful Rachel, but the core still stands.

We already have an affluent Annabeth (granted, we don’t know exactly how the Chase’s riches are divided, whereas it’s clear that Rachel can just make anyone drop dead by saying who she is. Annabeth needed that weird lotus casino credit card to make that happen, so Miss Harvard Legacy doesn’t wield that Dare schmoney. Also don’t think Annabeth can just up papa’s money and go…? Idk).

Why do we need another person needing to upstage this?

Like Rachel has to triumph in regards to standard and prestige as if it were a badly written Jane Austen AU. For what reason…? Why not make Percy friends and acquaintances with someone who comes from a normal household for once, not super rich brats (Piper, Annabeth, Rachel, technically the Graces with their TV starlet mother amongst others).

Moreover…

Important question: why should Percy actually be impressed/attracted to that? He’s dirt poor and has been sent to (boarding) schools filled with stupid rich people since he’s been twelve, probably even younger than that. As if that’s the very first thing Percy would look out for or be wowed or something. He’s used to rich douchebags. I think he’s more surprised that someone used their money for his benefit for once and not to crash daddy’s new Mercedes again.

Like seriously… Rachel did that weird art project thing in BOTL with her covered in gold and posing like it’s a super normal thing to do? Even for rich snobbish kids standards? That sounds weird to me. I don’t know, maybe Riordan’s been streaming the new Gossip Girl reboot on HBO Max on repeat and thought this girl is on fiyah (performed by Alicia Keys).

Rachel trying to separate herself from her money just comes off as super hypocritical when she’s using the very same funds to finance her lifestyle. I get it, trying to make amends and make a difference with the damage you have done but... your father still doesn't give a shit about the environment or YOU, sweetie. Kick him in the balls for once! Then you can go out about your art projects.

The concept of Percy having friends in the mortal realm is cool, but why does Rachel almost have to compete with Annabeth with her wealth and art stuff?

No seriously, the comparisons are constantly there, out and about. Roaming freely on the finest grass, needing to be feed delicious locally sourced carrots and stuff.

Annabeth is Athena’s kid. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, weaving, justice, warfare yada yada and arts and crafts. So definitely something which would affect Rachel, right (someone write that Athena messing with Rachel because she can AU and tag me please!)?

Annabeth wants to become an architect which translates to fancy building designer who is driving engineers like Leonardo Eugenio Valdez Cortes insane irl because the maths and physics don't work like that in the working field trust me I'm an engineer, which could/should be considered an art form.

They even shared some common ground while talking about architecture and design in BOTL!

Furthermore, they both share broken homes with absent parents (granted that all demigods go through that). Wealthy families at that as well. Shitty fathers that don’t care about their daughters well-being. Rachel however, is super powerful and influential in an unseen level in the mortal world. She isn’t like Matt Sloan (?) who truly messes up by destroying shit to get his father's attention, but she’s still in that circle and can easily demonstrate that. Making deals with her father and what not. We rarely see Annabeth doing that. Did y’all forget the fucking helicopter Rachel brought along in TLO?

Pan saying Rachel is just as important as her father has multiple meanings to me…

(Sidenote: I do think it’s hilarious that Annabeth is jealous/annoyed of Rachel that her remarks were she’s cute right and Percy went??? Or when Tyson said Rachel’s pretty? Or that time when Annabeth actually defended Luke and his weird behavior (because Kronos was slowly taking over, don’t forget that kids!), because f that rich artist nepotism kid that Rachel seems to be, right?)

Another note: Percy thinks Rachel is annoying in BOTL for a while and it took a while for him to admit that and he spent way more time being annoyed/jealous (for once, Lordy) at Luke for him to even notice lol.

I guess it’s really hard for me to exactly pinpoint what’s bothering me. I believe Rachel's persona just doesn’t seem to hit right, because it feels like a knock-off Annabeth who just simply isn’t a demigod, yet has two cool powers, but in even richer who still needs to be part of the story for exactly what reason?

The jumping around from the richest in the series to the poorest in the series is kinda bothering me as if the middle class doesn’t exist, like I’ve stated earlier. Why didn’t Riordan mix it up with Rachel, giving her more nuance the minute they met, not towards the end? Have her be Percy’s platonic friend from the get go. No weird oh wait she is kinda cute in the middle bullshit.

This kinda drifted more into a Perachel vs Percabeth essay, which really wasn’t my intention. Don’t worry kids, I’m criticizing Annabeth (and her stans) enough already.

And I do think that others in the fandom have softened my views on Rachel as a person like I’ve stated in the beginning. So friendship!Perachel is popping! But I do think that there are some valid points that I’ve made.

Also not gonna lie, Rachel issuing the new prophecy in TLO kinda dampened the end of PJO series but that’s more Riordan’s fault than hers.

TLDR: I’m just not a huge fan of this overbearing, uber-rich, excessively flaunting being that Rachel sometimes displays. She’s flawed, she’s broken at times, has a semi-interesting background story (although it has been done over and over again throughout the series and should be changed up for once) which is great, but it is still annoying.

We don’t need an anti-Annabeth who feels like a weird caricature of the real Annabeth.

Also if this seems super incoherent, repetitive, or whatever, I'm sorry, massive headaches + mental health going down the goo lagoon does this to ya, I hope I made somewhat sense!

[soshesighs]

Fic: Careful

Fandom: @mindblindbard

Pairing: Gray/Button

Word Count: ~6,200

Summary: Soulmate!AU in which when two fated people first touch, their names appear tattooed on the other person's wrist. In five years, Button and Gray have never come in contact with each other, until one day... they do.

Note: In this story, Nick and Sally are already in a relationship/are soulmates. Also, my (f!)Button goes by Stevie (her full name is Stella Verbena Wiseman, because I had to follow the flower middle name Nick got; she's not crazy about her full name, though, so she uses a portmanteau of her first and middle name together), though Sally has been known to shorten that even further to just V. There's a longer note at the end, explaining why one aspect of this might seem familiar, if you're so inclined to read it!

---

(11:48 am): STAY AWAY FROM 7TH AND ELM.

Stevie blinks down at her phone. It isn’t unusual to get random warning texts from Sally whenever the two are apart - eventually, after being away from the mental shielding that Stevie grants her, Sally’s visions always return with a vengeance - but usually there’s a bit more to go on, some follow up texts that explain a bit more about whatever it is that Sally has seen. But not today, apparently.

Cocking her head to the side, Stevie types her reply.

(11:54 am): I thought your dads said no phones on vacation. Did you get it back?

As she sits there waiting for a reply, Nick plops down on the couch next to her with a groan, dropping his head into her lap and following it up with an (overly-dramatic, if Stevie has any say on it) hacking cough. “Button, I’m dying.”

Stevie almost manages to avoid rolling her eyes. Almost. But she still starts stroking her hand through his hair in what she hopes is a comforting way anyway. Her brother may be an absolute dork, but he’s her dork. “You’re not dying, Saint Nick,” she says fondly. “You have a cold, which I tried to warn you was going to happen after your last mission left you drenched, but did you listen to me? Of course not.”

Her phone buzzes where it sits on her thigh. She swipes to unlock it, glancing down to quickly read Sally’s latest text.

(11:56 am): NO, I STOLE IT BACK. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

Her brow furrows, and she stops petting Nick long enough to grab her phone and reply once more.

(11:58 am): Okay, okay, I’m listening. Any more you can give me to go on?

(12:01 pm): NO DETAILS, JUST STAY OUT OF THE STREETS. BE CAREFUL, V.

(12:01 pm): P.S. IS NICHOLAS OKAY?

Nick’s heard the last bit of their conversation in her mind as she thinks over the texts, and he looks up at her with trademark puppy dog eyes. Tell her to stop worrying, I’m fine. Or, alternatively, let me talk to her and I’ll tell her myself?

She frowns, hating to be the bearer of bad news. She technically can’t have her phone yet, sorry. She snuck it from her dads to give me a head’s up on something.

Nick’s sighing really becomes dramatic then. Apparently a week away from his girlfriend, even with his sister and best friend there to keep him occupied, is too much for him to handle. Stevie decides to answer quickly so that she can go back to giving him her full attention.

(12:05 pm): He’s a bit worse today, but nothing awful. A bit of a temperature and a cough that doesn’t want to go away. Gray and I are keeping an eye on him. And by that I mean that Gray forced him to take some PTO, and I’m keeping him fed and hydrated.

(12:06 pm): He, however, claims he’s dying, so if you have any last words…

Sally’s replies arrive almost instantaneously, and Stevie can’t help but chuckle to herself.

(12:08 pm): TELL HIM TO SHUT UP AND TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF

(12:09 pm): ...ALSO TELL HIM I MISS HIM

Nick cranes his neck over to see what his sister seems to find so funny that it steals her attention from his complaining. “Tell Salome that I-” he begins, only to end up with a face full of throw pillow.

“Tell her yourself later, you nerd. I’m your sister, not your secretary!” Stevie quips, following it up by sticking her tongue out at him. (Nick responds immediately in kind.)

One final text comes in from Sally, letting them know that her dads found her and took her phone back. Stevie hopes she doesn’t end up in too much trouble for texting her; after all, she was only trying to help her and keep her safe.

Before she can decide if she should call Sally’s dads to explain and plead on her behalf, a voice drifts in from the living room doorway, making both her and Nick sit up straighter to turn around and see.

"Is Nick being demanding again?"

Nick flops back into her lap as Gray walks over, putting his hands on the arm of the couch and leaning in as he talks to them. He makes sure to still stay a safe foot or so away from Stevie so as not to invade her personal mental space - so careful, always so careful. (She wishes he weren’t, has tried to tell him so, but he always smiles his careful smile and stays a few steps away.)

His presence interrupts and breaks apart the ridiculous fight between the siblings, and he knows it. He quirks an eyebrow, waiting for a reply. Stevie says, "Always" at the exact same time that Nick chimes in with a faux offended, "Never! And aren't you supposed to be on my side?"

He tries not to smile at their lovable bickering, but Gray’s affection for them both wins out. He shakes his head fondly at their antics, a common expression for him; the movement jostles a strand of his hair free, and he reaches up to attempt to push it into place, off his forehead and behind his ear. (It’s short enough that it won’t really stay, though, almost immediately falling back down. He tries twice more in vain to fix it before eventually accepting his fate. Stevie tries not to notice. Nick’s quiet snickering, complete with projected cartoon eye roll, in her mind tells her she fails.)

"Sorry, not this time, Nick,” he begins. “Stevie's only trying to help you get well, you know. You should be thanking her.”

Nick mumbles out something that sounds very distinctly like ‘Of course you take her side.’

“What was that?” Stevie asks, poking him in the side. Gray, meanwhile, has taken another step backwards, hands off the couch, which makes her prod Nick even harder in frustration.

Don’t say things like that! You make him even more distant.

Her brother looks up at her, genuine apology written clear across his features. Sorry, Button. There’s only so much pining a man can take in silence before getting lost in the woods! If you’d just tell him-

I tried that, remember? He very gracefully turned me down.

Because you were a kid, and he was in his 20s! You’re on an even playing field now! Wait, I lost the forest metaphor somewhere along the way...

With a sigh, Stevie tries to push the memories away before a flush can creep onto her cheeks. And I’ve told you a million times before, it’s not worth messing up what we have now. I’m glad he and I are good friends. Besides, Gray keeps his wrists covered for a reason, Nick. There’s probably already a name there that he’s trying to keep safe.

Nick begins to make a mental noise of protest, but Stevie quickly cuts him off by blasting the first song that comes to mind in her head, effectively screaming ‘We’re not talking about this anymore!’

Gray clears his throat, nervously shifting his weight ever so slightly on his feet as he realizes the siblings had been talking telepathically, and tries to make a graceful exit. “Well, I should start getting ready to go. I have to report in for a meeting at 2.”

“Sorry,” Nick says, between more coughing fits. Stevie hands him her bottle of water from the coffee table, which he drinks from gratefully. “You know how it is; it’s just faster sometimes.”

His partner nods, but still takes another step backwards as he makes to leave, one hand idly twirling the cuff on the opposite arm. Nick’s eyes dart down, clocking the action, and he frowns.

“Grayson,” he starts, his full name use and serious tone somewhat belittled by the fact that he’s still lying down with his head in Stevie’s lap. “I’ve told you a million times that you don’t need to wear those here. Nobody in this house - and nobody who Button and I would let in this house - would betray you.”

Gray sags a bit, exhaling a small frustrated sound. “And I’ve told you a million times that it isn’t either of you or any of our friends that I don’t trust, it’s myself. The second I start taking them off is the second I forget to put them back on.”

Stevie swats at Nick’s chest, scowling at him a bit when he looks up at her in mock anger. “Leave him be, Nick. You of all people should understand why he doesn’t want to risk it, what with both of you having some... slightly overzealous fans.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Nick says with a groan. “But Salome and I have managed fine! Sure, it was breaking news for a while when we decided to stop hiding our marks, but people got over it.” He rubs a hand over his chest, pretending to massage away the ache of his sister’s (very light, she thinks pointedly at him) slap, then grabs her arm and gestures at it. “Look, Stevie doesn’t cover her arms!”

“I’m not in the public eye anywhere near as much as you two are,” she protests, snatching her arm free. “Besides, it’s... different for me. People have other things to try to use against me besides my bare wrists.” Stevie taps the side of her head with a wry, sad smile.

“And you think people wouldn’t focus on other things about Gray? His devilishly good looks? The oh-so-charming accent? The way his-...”

Holding up a hand, Gray cuts off the conversation there. “We’ve talked this over in circles, Nick. I’m afraid you won’t change my mind. Public marks are dangerous in our line of work.”

It feels like a punch to the gut to Stevie, like someone reached their hand straight into her chest and squeezed her heart tight in their first, like someone stole the breath straight from her lungs. So he does have a mark, she thinks, squeezing her eyes shut tight. I should’ve known.

Nick blindly grabs her hand, giving it a squeeze that one might even generously consider a death grip, though his eyes are locked with Gray in a silent (intense, from her observation of their expressions) conversation. She has no idea what they’re discussing, but it clearly doesn’t involve her. She returns Nick’s squeeze, but then carefully begins to pry her hand free and shift out from underneath him, needing to extract herself from the situation. She needs air, fresh air - maybe someplace far away where she can let out the pained scream wanting to burst out of her; she needs out.

Her movement seems to break into their conversation, and Gray shifts his regard to her. “Heading out? I thought one of us was staying with Nick.”

“I don’t need to be babysat,” the aforementioned sick man protests. “I’ll be a good patient, I swear.”

“He’ll be fine,” Stevie says, voice wobbling. She pulls herself up straighter, as if her posture could hold her together entirely. “I’m just going to go for a walk, get some fresh air. We’ve all been cooped up in here for the last few days.”

She can actually see the moment that a lightbulb goes off in Nick’s head, making him sit up quickly from the couch. But the sudden change in equilibrium seems to leave him dizzy; he brings a hand up to his forehead with wide eyes, causing both Stevie and Gray to reach out towards him should he start to fall. Nick shakes his head after a second, though, and rights himself. He tries to reassure them that he’s fine, but his sister and Gray both wear twin expressions of concern. At least now her focus is back on Nick and not on her own crushed heart.

Stevie sets her hand on his shoulder once he seems to finally be steady. “You should lay down. You need to rest, Saint Nick - and really rest, not stay up all day and night playing video games. You’re sick, not on a vacation.” She bites her lip before quietly confessing, “I’m worried about you. Do it for me, okay?”

Nick looks over at her and moans. “You know I can’t resist that face, Button.”

A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth, an uneven, tilted smile. It’s a small thing, her own feelings and worry still winning out, but it’s there. “I know. So what do you say?”

“I say… if you’re already going out, can you guys do me a favor?”

---

Within a few minutes, Stevie and Gray are on their way to go pick up a takeout order for Nick - some soup that, hopefully, will both fill him up and bring him some comfort. But Nick, being as particular as he is about foods and flavors, wants them to pick it up from a specific deli on the other side of town. Stevie hasn’t been there before, but she’s grateful that she at least won’t have to find it alone.

The fresh air does wonders to calm her down as well. She takes in big gulps of it, arms spread wide to feel the sun and wind on her skin, and gives a small twirling hop step as they start heading out. Sure, her heart feels like it’s been shattered into tiny pieces and is rattling around freely in her chest, but at least now she doesn’t feel trapped and contained. Besides, if Stevie Wiseman has gotten good at anything over the years, it’s burying her emotions and putting on a brave face - and she knows if she wants to retain her friendship with Gray, she needs to act like she’s fine around him.

Gray, on the other hand, looks outwardly uncomfortable. He keeps tugging on the brim of his hat, pulling it further and further down over his eyes (which seem to be darting around constantly to keep an eye on their surroundings, if his ever-moving head is any indication). He’s also making sure to stay on the far opposite edge of the sidewalk, giving her most of the pathway to herself. She can’t help but wonder if it’s lingering discomfort from whatever that last conversation with Nick had been.

“You didn’t have to come,” Stevie finally says, breaking their mutual silence. “That is - I mean… not that I don't want you here! I just mean, well... I know you have a meeting soon, so if you don’t have the time, I understand.”

Smooth, Wiseman. Real smooth, she thinks. He’ll never notice a thing.

He freezes mid-step and looks over at her, and she wonders exactly what expression he’s making under that cap and sunglasses, what’s going on in his head - one of the many times she’d kill for Nick’s abilities. “I wanted to,” Gray replies, voice barely audible over the busy sounds of the surrounding Chicago streets.

She turns away before (she hopes) he can see her blush. He doesn’t mean it like that, she tries to remind herself.

“Well, thank you for the company, then,” she settles on saying, trying to remember how to convince her feet to start walking again. Hopefully her voice sounds more calm and collected than she feels. “And thanks for the help keeping Nick contained this week. I know it’s hard for him to step away from work and rest, and I also know enough to recognize that he wouldn’t listen to just me about it.”

"For a man who constantly proclaims you the smartest person he knows, he doesn't listen well, does he?" Gray teases.

Stevie can’t help but groan. “You’re telling me. It’s not like I know him better than anyone else or anything,” she says sarcastically, then immediately shooting a glance at him and wincing a bit. “Sorry, I didn't mean-"

He holds his hands up, shaking his head. “No offense taken. I’m sure you do. I can’t compete with a sibling bond, or certainly not like the one you two have, at least.”

They pause at a light, waiting for the sign to give them the okay to cross. Stevie can feel Gray’s eyes on her back, and it leaves her itching to turn around. If the world were slightly less cruel, if the physical space between them weren’t a constant upkeep and if fate had consented to match them together, she might dig deep within herself and find the bravery to reach out and finally grab his hand, thread their fingers together, tug him out onto the crosswalk with a teasing smile and a playful “Let’s go, cookie monster, we’re running out of time.”

But that’s not them. He has someone, she has to remember that. And the two of them? They’re a constant mindful dance around each other, a deliberate six inches at least (usually a foot, if not more), always careful.

(She hates that word.)

Stevie glances back for a split second. “Fidgeting,” comes the mumble, and she doesn’t even fully realize that she’s spoken aloud.

Gray makes a questioning noise, immediately bringing his gaze to meet hers.

The light changes, so she steps out to continue their journey and tries to keep her voice even. “When you’re nervous, you fidget, especially if you’re all… incognito. When you're uncomfortable, I should say. You tend to readjust your hat, push up your glasses, fix your hair. ” She clears her throat, suddenly nervous. “Rebuckle your cuffs, whether that’s these separate ones or your shirt sleeves. Twist them around, like earlier."

The deli that they’re heading to is at most only a couple of blocks down now; Stevie can see the sign from here, a bright neon thing blinking in perfect rhythm. She times her breathing to it in an attempt to quiet her pounding heart.

He tries to smile, but Stevie knows by now what a real smile from Gray looks like and what his plastered-on media smile does, and this is most definitely the latter. She took it too far, she knew the moment the topic changed to even skirt the edges of his mysterious marks that she’d said too much, but something about being around him makes her lose her filter.

“Well,” he begins, clearing his throat around that fake expression, “You’re quite observant. But unfortunately, not all of us are as brave as you are, Stella.”

Her head whips around then, because Gray never uses her full first name - nobody around her does really, aside from her parents - and she finds herself frozen right in front of the door they should be entering.

“You called me Stella.”

He rebends the brim of his hat. “Apologies, Stevie." Shifts his feet. "I know you don’t prefer it.”

"It's okay," she hears herself saying, so soft even to her own ears that she thinks the words may have been lost to the wind. "From you, I don't mind."

Stevie winces internally; it’s going to take a while to build up a better filter around him. She tries to meet his eyes, but only sees her own (bright red) face in his mirrored lenses; she dimly hopes that he might not notice, or perhaps chalk it up to the day's warmer weather. After a moment, she shakes her head, breaking free of whatever spell hearing Grayson Black quietly say her full first name had put her under. "Anyway, this is the place. Shall we?"

---

Gray follows behind her, having held the door open to let her enter first, and it closes behind them both with a soft tinkling of bells. The first thing Stevie notices is that it isn’t an incredibly busy place; there’s only two tables occupied out of the entire restaurant floor, both up against the windows on the other side of the room and seemingly taken up by one big group. The second thing is that it smells amazing. Her stomach growls in agreement almost immediately, and she throws her hands over it as if that could make it quiet down.

She chuckles, trying to downplay her own embarrassment. “I think I’ll grab something while we’re here to take home for myself as well.” Glancing back at him over her shoulder, she asks, “What about you? Going to grab anything to-go before your meeting, or did you already eat?”

He opens his mouth to reply, but instead seems to quickly glance past her, a frown forming. Stevie’s about to ask what’s got him so upset when someone slams into her with a shoulder check, making her stumble backwards - almost right into Gray, but not quite, as he manages to bounce back a step in time.

“Out of the way, freak,” the person mutters at her, before shoving past her again and immediately out the door.

Gray acts like he’s going to follow, pivoting on the spot, but Stevie tosses a hand out towards him. “Don’t,” she pleads. ���They’re not worth it. It’s fine, Gray. I’m used to it.”

He turns back toward her, and his anger softens in a second, seeming to fade off his features the moment he looks at her. “You shouldn’t have to be.”

Stevie swallows hard, fingering the strap of her crossbody bag, readjusting it very deliberately and meticulously to avoid meeting his eyes again. “I know. But it’s how it’s always been. Can we just… get the food and go?”

It takes him a second to answer, and Stevie knows he’s still considering going out after the guy and - and what? He wouldn’t ever retaliate against him; Gray’s too good a guy for that. Maybe give him a stern talking to? But that would give him away entirely, ruining his already flimsy disguise. He’d be surrounded in minutes; Stevie’s seen it happen enough times to know it’s true. They both know that no good could or would come from it.

“Okay,” he finally agrees. “But I’m walking back with you. I’ll leave for the meeting after.”

She won’t admit it outloud, but the relief that floods through her knowing that she won’t have to make the walk alone is palpable for Stevie. What she said is true: she’s fairly used to people making comments under their breath at her, but it doesn’t often escalate into anything physical. And while Nick, Gray, and all their friends had made sure that she knew how to defend herself if push comes to literal shove, she’d always rather not fight. Admitting that the (fairly innocuous, she realizes) interaction has shaken her up a bit (she blames her already fragile emotional state) isn’t something she’s keen to do. So she just nods in reply, grateful, before turning to walk up to the deli counter.

“Picking up an order for Nicholas, please? I have the order number and confirmation right here on my phone. And I’d like to get a second entrée while I’m here as well.”

---

Stevie leaves the restaurant before Gray. While he’s still waiting for his order, she grabs the bag with her food and Nick’s and says she’s going to wait outside, that she needs the air. She can tell that Gray is uneasy about it, but he relents and nods, saying he should be out in a minute or so. She gives him what she hopes is a reassuring smile, and pushes out the door.

But the moment she steps outside, she knows something is wrong.

A shadow blocks her path, despite it being midday, and a pair of shoes is suddenly right in her line of sight. Recognizable, perfectly shined, name-brand dress shoes.

Shoes she’d just seen as her classmate shoved into her and left the restaurant in a huff. Shoes that had just as often tried to trip her up in the halls of Aeon.

“Going somewhere?”

She snaps her head up, and - in the most deadly calm voice she can manage - says, “Move out of my way, please.”

The guy pretends to think, tapping his fingers on his chin, before a wolfish grin starts to spread on his face. “You know, I don’t think I will.”

“What’s your problem with me?” Stevie snaps, rolling her eyes. “If I bother you that much, then leave.”

“Like your little boyfriend did? Not here now, I see. Who is he?” he asks, taking another step closer to Stevie. She knows she can’t let him box her in, so she fakes to his left before pivoting around his right, trying to get around and away from him. Her momentum, however, is slowed due to the weight of the bags of food in her arms. Before she knows it, he has her backed against a streetlamp. “Obviously no one important, since he didn’t stick around. He sick of your noise already?”

His eyes glance down at her full hands, noting her empty wrists. “Or maybe he got tired of playing pretend? I notice his wrists were covered. He kick you to the curb to go after his real soulmate?”

Stevie grits her teeth, turning her head away; she doesn’t want to rise to this asshole’s provocation, doesn’t want to give away how painfully close to the truth he might be.

“Even fate doesn’t think anyone could put up with you forever, Wiseman.” He reaches out then, making to wrap his hand around her wrist, and on instinct she kicks her knee up - and she knows instantly that she’s accurately found her target as the guy stumbles back and doubles over.

“You’ll pay for that,” he pushes out past a groan.

Four things happen then in quick succession:

The first being that the door to the restaurant pushes open with a light chiming of bells, a sound far too cheery for Stevie’s current situation. She snaps her head up, meeting the fixed, shocked stare of one Grayson Black, just as he tucks his sunglasses onto the neck of his shirt.

The second thing is that the guy - who also glanced behind him quickly to see whether the newcomer to their situation was one of his friends or someone to worry about - mumbles a shocked, “Oh shit,” before turning back around towards Stevie with wide eyes, realizing that Gray is indeed ‘someone to worry about.’

The third is that he shoves at Stevie as hard as he can before making a beeline out of the situation, running off down some side alley and disappearing almost as quickly as he’d slid into Stevie’s line of sight earlier.

And the fourth and final thing is that she goes tumbling back - arms still full and totally unable to stop her fall - causing her heel to slip off the curb and sending Stevie sprawling into the intersection at the corner of 7th and Elm Street.

---

Stevie’s heart drops.

Her arms pinwheel as she tries to regain her balance, the takeout bags flying somewhere off to her sides, and after a second she squeezes her eyes shut tight, resigned to whatever serious injury is about to befall her. Somewhere in the distance, she hears someone laying on their horn, blaring down Elm towards her.

But the impact never comes.

Before she stumbles completely, before she can fall flat onto her back, before the oncoming traffic can slam into her flailing body, Gray crosses the concrete path between them, grabs her arm, and pulls. Her center of gravity flips on a dime, sending her instead tumbling forward to crash hard into his chest; the impact knocks them both backwards, but he immediately wraps his arms around her and spins them around on the spot, baring his back to the busy street to take whatever blow might come in her stead and placing her once again on the relative safety of the sidewalk.

Both their eyes are still clenched tight, breath coming in ragged, choking gasps, as some random pedestrian comes up yelling, asking if they’re okay.

She manages to nod, but she’s not sure it’s very convincing, given that she’s still attempting to stave off the panic threatening to overtake her and sucking in huge gulps of air.

“Careful! Breathe, Stevie,” a calming voice says. She’s fairly certain she recognizes the voice, but right now the only thing she registers is the slamming of her own heartbeat in her own ears. “Try to match me. You’re okay, look at me - look at me, okay? You’re alright. It’s okay.”

Someone lowers her to the ground, the two of them falling into a graceless heap of tangled, trembling limbs. Gentle hands smooth down her hair, pulling it back from her neck and helping her lean forward as she continues to hyperventilate. She vaguely registers someone asking if they should call for paramedics, another quiet voice saying no, disclosing that she doesn’t like doctors.

She covers her eyes with her shaking hands, trying to block out the chaos around her so that she can focus on calming down. Usually by now, Nick would’ve interrupted her panic attack with a series of unimportant, unrelated questions, but he must have finally fallen asleep.

Good, some tiny part of her mind chimes, but her focus can’t remain on her sick brother for long before another tidal wave of adrenaline crashes over her, taking any and all external thoughts with it out to sea.

A hand rubs up and down her spine, silently reassuring her that she’s not alone. Somewhere, a voice - the same person? - is counting softly into her ear. It takes her a moment, but in time she realizes they’re counting breaths.

She struggles to fall in line with their tempo, but little by little she does. The edges of her vision start to clear, the gripping sensation around her chest starts to loosen, and her limbs become stiff and heavy as she slowly, so slowly, stops shaking like a leaf.

“Are you with me?” the kind voice asks, and her mind finally reconnects that it’s Gray - that he’s the one that pulled her back, that he’s sat with her in the middle of a busy sidewalk for the last five minutes as she comes back down, that somehow he’s gotten the tiny crowd they’d gathered to disperse and give her air.

Her forehead comes to rest on her knees, but eventually she nods. She mumbles out a continuous stream of thank yous, seeming to be the only words she can form at first.

At long last, she croaks out, “You saved my life.”

Gray’s hand still massages up and down her back, trying to help her stay grounded. “It is kind of my job,” he jokes, though his voice is strained with the attempt to turn their afternoon into something lighthearted.

Stevie leans back, resting her head against his chest with a soft chuckle. “That it is, superhero.”

It takes a moment for his words to fully sink in. A couple of deep breaths later, though, and she springs back from his hold, eyes wide. “Your job! The meeting, you were supposed to-” she starts.

He holds his hands out towards her, like one might in an attempt to comfort a startled animal, obviously hoping she doesn’t work herself up into a frenzy again. When it appears she’s not going to run at his touch, he sets his hands on her shoulders. “It’s okay, Stevie, don’t worry about it. Unity will have already heard what happened by now. I’d be surprised if someone hasn’t contacted Nick as well.”

She groans at that, dropping her head into her hands again. “Great, now he’ll never let me out of his sight again.”

“That’s what you’re worried about right now?” Gray asks around a deep laugh, sounding utterly disbelieving. “Nevermind that you only narrowly avoided falling victim to a pedestrian accident, of course.”

“You know how overprotective Nick is. Of course that’s what I’m wor- ahh!” she cuts herself off with a hiss of pain, pulling her arms close to her chest with a wince.

Gray’s hands tighten on her shoulders as his eyes dart over her entire form. “What is it?” he asks. “Are you hurt?”

But Stevie doesn’t answer, she just stares down, eyes growing wider by the second. Gray pleads for her to answer him, asking again if she’s okay, but she can’t find her voice to respond. Her breath feels caught in her throat - not dissimilar to how she was previously feeling, but for an entirely different reason.

This can’t be happening, she thinks, mind racing at what feels like a million miles a minute. It’s not possible. There’s no way.

“What’s not possible, Stevie?” he finally asks, voice desperate, neither of them acknowledging that he reads her mind before the question.

Slowly - and looking back, she’d genuinely say it feels like the tiny movement takes her a lifetime, as if the moment stretched itself to encompass its enormity - she lowers her arms from her chest, holding them out in the space between them. His hands wrap around her forearms, desperately trying to find the source of her injury, before he freezes; she feels his heart skip a beat through the tight grip he has on her.

Staring back up at him is his own name, written plainly across both her wrists, raw as a new tattoo.

He blinks. Blinks again. At first, he doesn’t manage to say anything, just rips the cuffs off his own arms, right there in the middle of the sidewalk - and sure enough. Her name is there in the same small writing as his own was, bright red, inflamed skin around it. As if in a trance, he brings his fingertips to the writing, mouth silently forming her name.

“It’s you,” he whispers reverently, looking up to once more meet her gaze. The look on his face is pure adoration and… relief? A shaky hand comes up to rest on her cheek, as if he can’t quite believe she’s really sitting there in front of him still.

Stevie swallows hard, leaning slightly into his touch. “I - I thought… I always assumed you already had a name,” she confesses. “You made it sound like you did. In interviews. At home even.”

“I wanted the questions to stop. To have more of a sense of privacy, to stop answering the same question over and over again,” he says, shaking his head. “I eventually realized that if I was vague enough, people would make their own assumptions and run with them.”

“Well, it worked,” she jokes weakly. “I had no idea.”

The light behind them turns green, and someone honks at another car in annoyance when they don’t start moving fast enough. As if whatever spell they were under breaks at the sound, Gray looks around and seems to finally realize they’re still just… sitting in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the deli. He stands, dusting off his jeans, and offers a hand out to her.

Stevie starts to bring her hand to his, but stops halfway, hand halting in mid-air. “Are you sure?” she asks, hating how small her voice sounds. He’d been casually touching her ever since the almost-accident, yes, but emotions had been running so high that neither of them had really noticed in the moment. Doing it on purpose would be - should be - different. “You’ve always kept your distance, for as long as we’ve known each other. It’ll be… loud.”

He nods - a subtle, gentle thing - but he brings his hand no closer, leaving the ultimate decision up to her. It’s her mental privacy that’s in question, after all.

Who knew your whole world could change in one afternoon, she thinks.

And then, she takes a deep breath and slides her hand into his: a leap of faith.

---

They arrive back at the house right as Nick is flinging the door open, shoving his arms into a jacket, keys dangling from where they’re stuck between his teeth.

“Excuse me, I have to - Button!” The keys clatter to the ground, and he barely manages to stop his down-stair momentum before slamming into her. As it is, Nick’s hands fly up to cup her face, wide worried eyes looking into hers.

It’s okay, Nick, I’m okay. She thinks rather than says the words out loud, not trusting her voice. Tears pool in her eyes, and she gives him a watery smile. I almost wasn’t, but I’m okay.

Nick looks her over, as if he needs to see for himself that she’s in one piece and whole to believe her, but freezes suddenly in his mother-henning when he spots it.

Stevie and Gray’s hands are clasped between them still, Gray standing a step down behind her, no wrist cuffs in sight.

And Nick? Nick just rolls his eyes, falling into an exhausted slump on the stairs.

“Well it’s about damn time!”

---

Later that afternoon, Stevie takes a picture of her hand intertwined with Gray’s, both of their marks fully on display, and sends it off in a text to Sally.

(4:43 pm): Thanks for the warning, but everything turned out better than expected.

(4:47 pm): (p.s. I’m sure it goes without saying, but please don’t tell anyone else yet!)

Two days later, when Sally apparently gets her phone back, Stevie receives six straight texts in a row full of exclamation marks, the messages only seeming to stop when her phone begins to ring.

---

End Author's Note: Fun fact! This was supposed to be around 1,500 words, and that's it. Turns out, Stevie's an anxious worrier like me and had a lot of emotions to work through in a short period of time. Anyway, speaking of being a worrier, part of this might seem vaguely familiar. I fully recognize that Gray's route in the Cupid Calamity side story involves a "moment" between Button and Gray in which one of them keeps the other from being hit by a moving vehicle. (If we're counting a Segway as a vehicle, that is.)

I in no way intended to copy anything from Jo's story or step on any toes or anything. I've had this story in the works for over a month now - in fact, it's just been sitting there untouched for the last week or so because I was considering scrapping the whole thing, because all I could think about was if using a similar plot device was too similar. I hope it isn't and that this was enjoyable all the same. My sincerest apologies if it comes across as anything other than me attempting to express my pure love and adoration for Jo's story and characters!

(Also, apologies for the sheer amount of italics in this fic, haha. Between texts and telepathic communication and emphasis, it feels ridiculous even to me.)

[ninjastormhawkkat]

Becky Boxleitner Au Ideas

This is just some random stuff I want to say about my au before I post my first au rewrite story.

Outline continuation:

Becky does not reveal to her dad her origin story until after he learns her identity. 

“The Ballad of Steve McClean” and “A Better Mousetrap” are extremely humiliating moments for Becky/Wordgirl. (You know how Wordgirl reacted to Dr. Two Brains outfit in the canon episode after his rap. Yeaaaahhh. R.I.P Becky.)

Scoops does interview Becky’s dad about his latest crimes or rays, but he does not publish them out of respect and consideration for his friendship with Becky. Scoops uses his interviews with Dr. Two Brains as practice for his future career as a reporter. 

Violet and Scoops know to never bring cheese to Becky’s house (when her dad is out of jail) or risk loosing it forever. Poor Violet learned the hard way after bringing a sculpture made of Fromage Blanc to Becky as a gift. Violet had no idea that Fromage Blanc was a type of cheese. She thought it was a fancy name for a type of art material. Dr. Two Brains has apologized to Violet. 

Becky and her dad used to live in a apartment in the city before the accident. It took some time for Becky and the Botsfords to clean out her stuff. (It took time for reasonable and emotional reasons.) Two Brains had snuck back there after his first time in jail to get some of his own belongings. (Becky had mixed feelings on whether she should collect her dad’s stuff or not, but decided to leave the stuff (non-essential things) and take only personal and needed items with her.)

Becky has a box filled with old photos of her and her dad before the accident located under her bed. She also has photos of her, her dad, Bob, and the Henchmen in new, decorated scrapbooks placed in the drawers of her nightstand.  

Dr. Two Brains is familiar with Tobey a bit differently than canon. He has heard about Tobey from Becky but he is still not closely acquainted with the kid just like when Two Brains first meets him in canon. (Since Tobey and Becky are not close friends, Two Brains never bothered remembering about him until he read about Tobey’s robots and work in that magazine. Also Tobey’s introductory episode occurs after Two Brains’ origin so Steven had no idea who the kid was before his accident.) “Mousezilla” goes similar as canon, but Two Brains and Tobey did not have great start. Two Brains heard from Becky how Tobey attacked the Botsford house where she was staying which made him naturally upset because his daughter was almost hurt by the kid. Tobey was surprisingly somewhat sympathetic towards Becky at school during the first few days after what happened to her dad. He did offer condolences as he could relate with losing a dad. Tobey kinda projects his own issues with his dad towards Two Brains because he sees how Becky acts when her dad is in jail. Tobey is salty that Two Brains puts Becky through this even though Two Brains has no choice in the matter. Tobey in this au still acts like his canon self, but is a bit sympathetic with Becky’s situation with her dad. He won’t tease her about it. 

After the accident, there were various reactions by students towards Becky. Some were sorry for her, some talked to her and sent their condolences (like Tobey). There were those that were wary of her because her dad was now a villain and they didn’t know if Becky would join her dad because she cares about him. No one bullied her, (mostly because they were afraid of Violet’s protective glare, DO NOT UPSET VIOLET😰.) Quickly they realized that Becky was still Becky and would not be different just because her dad is now. They still treat her the same after incidents such as the mind control bunny buttons and turning the city into cheese. Some who don’t know Becky well did chuckle after seeing Dr. Two Brains rap (someone recorded it for their version of YouTube.) and the events of “A Better Mouse Trap”.

Other citizens that don’t know Becky well don’t bother her. They do NOT want to risk Dr. Two Brains parental wrath. The Villains know better than to threaten Becky. A few break this either on accident or this is their first time as villains and meeting Becky. (They quickly learn why NOT to mess with Becky Boxleitner.)

T.J Botsford treats Becky the same in this au. He did not like Becky at first because her dad became Wordgirl’s villain. He later got over it and just treated her like an annoying sibiling. (as I said, its the same relationship as canon.) The Botsfords and Two Brains are on good, friendly terms despite Two Brains actions. They understand that Two Brains acts as a villain because of the mouse brain, but is ultimately a good dad to Becky. They treat, Becky, Bob, and Two Brains (and henchmen) as family and will often include them in holiday events if they are able or want to. 

In this au, Dr. Two Brains does not threaten harm to Becky’s friends and the Botsfords like in canon. (I don’t think the music ray in “Two Brains Quartet” was life-threatening, just made people sing badly.) He just does something else which keeps his villain status. 

Not always, but Dr. Two Brains will reveal his schemes to Becky, whether purposefully or accidentally, before he commits them. Becky has to come up with excuses as Wordgirl when Two Brains questions how she figures out his schemes so quickly. 

Becky still goes to Woodview Elementary. Dr. Two Brains, as all villain relatives, have to go through a screening process and are not allowed to use their powers or bring weapons on campus. Two Brains, with the help of Sally Botsford, work out legal stuff with the school where Becky still goes by Boxleitner, but her dad is listed as Dr. Two Brains, as well as be ready to go over school stuff with the Botsfords when Two Brains is in jail. Dr. Two Brains has always been civil and polite with the other kids parents. He only made friends with Tubing and Doohickey back when he was Steven. He never really made an effort to be friends with Scoops’s and Violet’s parents before the accident. He was just friendly and polite as he is now. Dr. Two Brains does consider the Botsfords as friends overtime. (He originally was just grateful and acted in debt to the Botsfords for taking Becky in every time he went to jail.) He is somewhat moved by their kindness towards him and Becky despite his villain status. 

Both Two Brains and Granny May gush about grandkids (Granny May)/kid (Two Brains) when they get together at villain meetings. (They both have multiple photos in their wallets.) Since those two are the toughest, the other villains don’t complain. Becky does interact with the villains more often in her regular life since her dad does business with them. Becky has been to a few Villain meetings before the reveal. Two Brains wanted to give his daughter some villain experience. Nothing notable happened as these meetings were mostly informal and villains could invite someone (a potential villain) if they wanted too. 

Dr. Two Brains does not like Pretty Princess or the Squishy Fun Bots. He didn’t like them when he was Steven and he doesn’t like them now. He just watches them with his daughter just for quality time. (Two Brains will take any chance to spend time with his daughter to make up for his time in jail.) Steven originally let Becky watch these shows because they were the only appropriate shows on that would also distract Becky with enjoyment. Steven did play make believe with Becky (when she was younger) based on the shows because it made her happy. In this au, Becky did not want to watch the Squishy Fun Bots because of canon reasons and because it brought back too many memories.

Before the reveal, Becky went along with her dad teaching her how to be a villain to make him happy and to provide cover for her identity. Two Brains does not egg Becky into villainy. He knows she was raised to be good when he was Steven and he will fully support any path she takes. Two Brains just hopes that Becky will go into villainy so he will have a good successor and just for more Father and Daughter time. He does take her training pace by pace and it comes second to her schoolwork and health. 

No matter the ups and downs, Becky and Two Brains are still family and they care for each other as a Father and Daughter would.   

[uozlulu]

Asta and Liebe for the ask game

Asta:

Sexuality Headcanon:  I think Asta has a preference for women but I’m not sure if he’s straight. 

Gender Headcanon: I think he’s a guy who enjoys being a guy and never questions it. That said, I think he would respect the gender preferences of those around him

A ship I have with said character: I have so many ships. Noelle, Mimosa, Leo are all good ships. I am still not sure how I feel about Liebe but I would not sneeze if they are endgame in some way. I also wouldn’t be bothered if he ended up with Rebekah (Rebecca?) but I don’t like read fic about them. 

A BROTP I have with said character: He’s so BROTOPable. Yuno, the Black Bulls, Klaus, the church family back in Hage, Sally, etc...etc...

A NOTP I have with said character: I wouldn’t really want to read a fic where he’s paired up with any of the older captains especially not Yami. I don’t really go in for Yami/Black Bulls ships because it gets into that student/teacher vibe that I don’t like. 

A random headcanon: He wears his mom’s clothes that got donated to the church when she died. His current black outfit is the first time he’s owned non-hand-me-down clothing

General Opinion over said character: I LOVE HIM SO MUCH. i loved him immediately within seconds of the first episode. I love how he has clear political philosophies and goals. I love how we have a sense for what type of Wizard King he might try to be if the manga ends before we get to that stage of the story. I love how he’s good at identifying victims (Patri, Mars, etc...) and encouraging them to reform, but can also identify people who aren’t victims and are extreme threats (the Dark Triad) and not do the typical Jump protagonist route of assuming that someone like Dante can also change or deserves redemption. Asta always puts a smile on my face. He makes me glad I gave the franchise a chance.

Liebe:

Sexuality Headcanon: I think he hasn't really thought about it, but I don't think a partner's gender would matter to him. Much like Licita decided he could be her kid and he rolled with it, I think Liebe's partner would probably be like "You're the one" and if he liked them enough, Liebe would go for it.

Gender Headcanon: As a general, multi-fandom headcanon, I like to think angels and devils don't have genders, though some will prefer whatever pronouns depending, but I think much like Liebe kind of rolled with Licita becoming his mom, anyone call him by whatever pronoun wouldn't really bug him

A ship I have with said character: I don't know if I have a ship for him yet. I'm still waffling around on how I want to take his and Asta's relationship. All I do know is I am excited to find out Noelle's reaction to Liebe because he's her type of intersection between weird and cute like Asta and Nero.

A BROTP I have with said character: Asta and Licita. I also think that he could be bros with all of the Black Bulls, Yuno, Mimosa, and Leo.

A NOTP I have with said character: Not really, but I'm not well-versed in Liebe ships. I would say, however, that much like I'm not into student/teacher type ships, I wouldn't want anything like that for Liebe either

A random headcanon: I bet he (and all the demons really) can speak all languages

General Opinion over said character: I love Liebe. There's a lot of potential with him to explore once we get out of the battle arc. I like how he's an example of the fact devils can choose to be something other than giant assholes if they want. I also like that his personality complements Asta's personality too and that they mesh well together. I'm really hoping that since Asta and Liebe bound each other together as equals that means we'll get to see lots of Liebe outside of Asta's grimoire a bit like how in Pokemon Yellow Pikachu's never in his pokeball.

===

send me a character and I'll answer these questions

[grimoireofwritings]

Ooh ooh! Dungeons and Dragons headcanons for the Eye of the Midnight Sun members please, both elves and humans!

I actually love their little group cuz I think the characters are underrated and have very interesting dynamics!! Big thanks for sending in this request, I wasn't expecting it and was overjoyed to see it. I am gonna do the members of the Third Eye obviously, as well as Licht / Patri & the other three asshole lackies that I found highly amusing. Enjoy~!

Licht / Patri :

- Ngl I don't think he would give a shit

- He really doesn't care to spend any time with the humans around him, we all find out he despised every last one of em excluding William so if he ever played D&D with a group it would probably have happened back when he was living amongst his people and wasn't busy organizing a genocidal mission

- I really think he would go for a sorcerer or rogue, he is more the clever and calculating type

- Takes the game a little too seriously and he's definitely that one guy who gets too invested in his character and feels personally offended when bad things happen to said character. Be prepared for some salty remarks if he rolls a nat one and it messes up his plans..

- Probably just wants to prove he's smart

- He enjoys dungeon crawls and combat heavy sessions, he is the brains of the group and this happens especially if he's with people who are there for the shits n giggles and they keep straying too far into chaos aka pissing off the DM

- He could maybe have potential to be a decent DM but I really don't think he would care enough to put the time and energy into a well built campaign

- Great at solving puzzles

- Personally shits on anyone who plays a human and furthermore he will only play as elves

Fana :

- Elf Fana, the hateful? I feel like she might go for an evil cleric, or perhaps a fighter. Depends on what would balance out the party dynamic more.

- Human Fana? Definitely a good cleric.. or perhaps a sweet druid lady

- Human Fana really likes playing for the social and bonding experience with people she's close to and she also enjoys the freedom and creativity involved with building characters

- She is the person who takes notes and actually pays attention to what's going on. The DM appreciates her efforts to focus on the story and plot..

- She has probably 2-3 sets of really pretty looking polyhedral dice

Rhya :

- This bitch definitely mains a rogue in almost every party

- He may also go for a ranger as a second option

- Basically the roles focusing on not getting hit.. he would rather not be troubled with taking damage so instead he will use the rogue's sneak attack function to stay in stealth mode 24/7 and remain hidden from enemies.. or just stay out of range as a distanced attacker

- He is the dangerous mf who is impulsive mostly because he definitely does not care enough about safety and would much rather be amused by making really reckless random decisions that may or may not compromise his party and their characters too

- He thinks it's hysterical

- An average roller but he makes it work somehow and even though he's not super intent about taking it seriously he's usually down for a campaign every now and again. It's free entertainment, right?

- At the end of the day though he probably enjoys it a lot more than he cares to admit

Vetto :

- Do I even have to say it

- He's going to be the barbarian or the fighter, he loves abusing the "rage" function and it's his favorite thing to do in-game whenever given the mere opportunity

- His characters actually have a surprising amount of depth and he ends up being someone who enjoys frequent sessions. He takes it on as a bit of a hobby

- He likes playing bigger, brawnier races that are either more rare or unappealing to social norms within the game's universe. He's a bit bigger than most elves so he slips that into his characters.

- He probably is the person who dies more than anyone else but it's because he overestimates what he can handle in battle and gets so excited to rage that he forgets his hit points exist

Valtos :

- Sign him tf up

- Owns all the Dungeon Master's guide books and he makes for an impressive DM

- Has a nerdy side and he takes this game so seriously, he's passionate about it and loves the creative aspect of building his own worlds from scratch

- He's good at improv and molding sessions to the players and their decisions, but may become a little annoyed if it strays really far from his planning or makes said plans impossible

- If he's a player he's definitely a wizard

Sally:

- Sorry did you mean bringer of chaos?

- Probably a DMs worst nightmare

- But with the right party that might help steer her back on track and keep a little more order within their adventures, she can be a good asset to the team with those outside-of-the-box ideas of hers

- She is open to ideas with class and race for her characters but would gravitate towards bards

- Definitely a dice hoarding goblin

- Obsessed with the click clacking math rocks

- She's a very lucky roller usually

- Good at puzzles and problem solving. Sometimes she can really surprise the party with what she can do and she has her moments of glory

- Unfortunately she will make sacrifices, such as a teammate taking severe damage, if she believes it will solve an obstacle or in her eyes, be for the sake of good results... Or a fun possible outcome

- Not the best at communicating during combat

Rades Spirito :

- Not very fun to play D&D with honestly

- Refuses to play anything other than a warlock or necromancer

- It's because he is that one dude who projects wayyyy too much of himself into his characters and it's basically a glorified self insert

- He is not a team player and he's got a very narcissistic approach. Gets butthurt way too easily, and just all around he's invested for all the wrong reasons

- The dungeon artificact you all looted that fits with your character way better than his? Too bad. It's his now

- Hoardes anything good he finds and won't share party loot or gold

- His rolls are cursed. Most commonly ends up between 1-10 with his D20 rolls and that's even worse considering how emotionally immature he is in response to crappy situations

- Don't invite him to your campaign lmao

[kayliemusing]

42: top 3s

1: Top 3 ice cream flavors - classic vanilla, birthday cake/birthday batter, bubblegum

2: Top 3 Disney Movies - Mulan, Onward, Soul (but this changes frequently lol)

3: Top 3 vacation destinations - I've never been outside of my home country so I'll say my top 3 DREAM destinations: NYC, Hawaii, a random countryside in either France or the UK

4: Top 3 places to shop - Dynamite, Sephora, Winners/Homesense

5: Top 3 subjects of study/classes to take - English/anything creative writing related, Interior Decorating/Design, Communications?

6: Top 3 make up products - YSL Touche Eclat Foundation, literally any Mac Lipstick but it has to be matte, & Fenty Beauty contour stick

7: Top 3 music artists - Taylor Swift - Of Monsters and Men - The Lumineers

8: Top 3 spices/herbs - Cinnamon - Nutmeg (literally tastes like autumn) - Paprika

9: Top 3 drinks - Diet Coke - Hot Chocolate - Vanilla Bean Frappe

10: Top 3 apps to use - Instagram - Pinterest -iBooks

11: Top 3 months of the year - May, October, December

12: Top 3 clothing items - My black/white turtle neck, high waisted jeans, plaid blazer

13: Top 3 binge perfect tv shows - Bones, Supernatural, Brooklyn Nine Nine

14: Top 3 romantic dates - (I've never been on a date but if I had, it would be this) Evening walk, late night drive, late night coffee date (tbh anything at night feels romantic)

15: Top 3 kinds of flower - Water lilies, cherry blossoms, roses

16: Top 3 christmas movies - A Christmas Carol (2009), Home Alone, The Polar Express

17: Top 3 OTPs - Nesta and Cassian from ACOTAR series by SJM, Manon and Dorian from Throne of Glass series by SJM, Casteel and Poppy from From Blood and Ash series by JLM.

18: Top 3 quotes to describe your life - "I write not to find, but to leave" by Scherezade Siobhan - "I want to be myself again. I want to be six. I want to stop knowing everything I know" by Catherynne M. Valente - "The truth is, I pretend to be a cynic, but I am really a dreamer who is terrified of wanting something she may never get" by Joanna Hoffman.

19: Top 3 characteristics you love about yourself - my kindness bc it's not surface level kindness, but actually something deeply rooted within me - my resilience even tho sometimes it doesn't feel like resilience - my loyalty bc it is a hard as steel kind of loyalty

20: Top 3 kinds of candy - Maltesers, Kit kats, smarties

21: Top 3 ways to exercise/ be active - Walking, dancing, mowing the lawn/shoveling the sidewalk

22: Top 3 spirit animals - wolf, hummingbird, tiger (i googled it bc i didn't know and i was scared it was a joke but)

23: Top 3 petnames - I like 'lovebug', 'love', 'sweetheart'

24: Top 3 books read outside of school - The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J Maas but viewers discretion is advised, Crush by Richard Siken

25: Top 3 most used websites - Youtube, Tumblr, Pinterest

26: Top 3 people you last texted - my mom, my bestie megan, and my sister bc they're the only people i text...

27: Top 3 hashtags you use - the only time i use hashtags is if i'm trying to promote some of my writing so I'll usually use writingcommunity, writersonig, poetryonig lol

28: Top 3 instagram accounts you follow - Trista Mateer, Griefmother, obviously taylor swift

29: Top 3 guilty pleasures - buzzfeed quizzes, early 2000s music, romance novels

30: Top 3 summer activities - Going to the zoo, long evening walks, campfires and s'mores

31: Top 3 things to draw/doodle - hearts, flowers, random swirls bc it's the only thing i can doodle...

32: Top 3 aesthetics - cityscape aesthetic, autumn aesthetic, rustic aesthetic

33: Top 3 things you'd buy if you gained three million dollars - a new car, a condo, another cat

34: Top 3 ways to treat yourself - facial, a large bag of maltesers, buying the makeup i really want but have been putting off

35: Top 3 celebrity crushes - Evan Peters, Matthew Daddario, henry cavill

36: Top 3 books from your childhood - Love You Forever by Robert Munsch, The Big Friendly Giant by Roald Dahl, and Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmens

37: Top 3 accents to hear - Australian, super poshy british accent, new zealand accent

38: Top 3 scents - Fresh rain, vanilla, sweet cinnamon pumpkin from bath and body works

39: Top 3 "Friends" quotes - "WE WERE ON A BREAK" -Ross, "Guess things were just going too well for me" -also ross, and "it's so exhausting waiting for death" - phoebe

40: Top 3 cupcake flavors - tbh I haven't tried that many cupcakes so your typical vanilla, chocolate, and Pink Lady Cupcake from Babycakes Cupcakery

41: Top 3 fruits - Pomegranates, Strawberries, Raspberries

42: Top 3 places you've had amazing pizza from - Pizzahut, Dominos, Pizza73

43: Top 3 sports teams to watch - i don't

44: Top 3 crayola colors - uh, i guess red, purple, and pink??

45: Top 3 things you hope to accomplish in college - Certificates/Degrees in Copyediting and Creative Writing, and I think simply just deeper critical thinking skills when it comes to writing and books

46: Top 3 fanfictions you've read - I read more books than fanfics, I've read a couple on tumblr but don't remember the names sorry :/

47: Top 3 people you miss right now - my dad, my best friend bc she's in vancouver, taylor swift bc she's not on tumblr anymore rip

48: Top 3 fears - Failure, Loss, not achieving anything in life/not reaching my full potential

49: Top 3 favorite literary devices - Foreshadowing is always god tier, cliffhangers although evil i love those too, symbolism

50: Top 3 pet peeves - People dragging their shoes on the floor when they walk, when you tell someone your fav hobby/music artist/interest and they immediately go 'oh I hate X!', and people who go 'you're so quiet!!!' but in a way that draws in more attention and/or makes me feel more uncomfortable like i would literally rather die

51: Top 3 physical things you find attractive - Hands, nice hair, defined jawlines

52: Top 3 bad habits - Nailbiting, picking at my blemishes oops, lip biting

53: Top 3 pets you've had/wish to have - Cats bc they complete me, I've always wanted a Samoyed, and I've always wanted a turtle

54: Top 3 types of foreign food - Chicken Chow Mein, deep fried shrimp, japanese chicken wings

55: Top 3 things you want to say to someone in your lifetime - 'I quit', 'I love you', 'you changed my life'

56: Top 3 dog breeds - Samoyed, german shepherds, collies

57: Top 3 cheesy romance movies - You've Got Mail, How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days, 10 Things I Hate About You

58: Top 3 languages you speak/wish to speak - French, Sign, and maybe Japanese?

59: Top 3 series (book, movie, television) - The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas (but literally only for Cassian and Nesta), From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout

60: Top 3 pizza toppings - Mushrooms, alfredo sauce, pineapple

61: Top 3 youtubers you're subscribed to - Game Grumps, Charlotte Dobre, Megan Batoon

62: Top 3 tattoo / piercing ideas - I want to get a tattoo on my wrist of the last thing my dad ever wrote me, a hummingbird tattoo right next to it, and then a cross on my index finger

63: Top 3 awards you want to win - National Book Awards, Nobel Prize, and maybe even Goodreads Choice Awards lol

64: Top 3 emojis - Laugh/Crying emoji, the please sir emoji that kinda gives off those puss n boots eyes, and the stars emoji

65: Top 3 cars you dream of owning - 1970s Chev Impala, tbh a cute little Hyundai Venue, and maaaaybe the 1964 ferarri 250 gt luso (idk if that name was totally right but i had to do tons of googling to find it. i don't know a lot about cars and i don't really have a top 3 lol)

66: Top 3 authors - Right now I'm really into Sarah J Maas, Sally Thorne, and Holly Black maybe?

67: Top 3 historical figures - Jesus, Anne Frank, Vincent Van Gogh

68: Top 3 baby names - Ryder, Leila, Gracie

69: Top 3 DIYs - Candles, refurnishing old furniture (i.e. my mom and i painted our wooden garbage can), and really just any type of autumn diy

70: Top 3 smoothie combos/flavors - Strawberry/Banana, Mango, Strawberry-Mango

71: Top 3 songs of this month - Happier Than Ever by Billie Eilish, Biblical by Calum Scott, and Visiting Hours by Ed Sheeran

72: Top 3 questions of this post you want to be asked - I did them all bc I made it a survey instead of an ask meme ;)

73: Top 3 villains - Regina/The Evil Queen from Once Upon a Time, Cruella De Vil, and Moriarty from Sherlock

74: Top 3 Cities you want to see - Montreal, NYC, Vancouver (honorable mention: LA)

75: Top 3 recipes you want to try - different kind of salad and/or burger bowls, Stuffed bell peppers, and homemade lemon loaf

76: Top 3 dream jobs - Bestselling author, the person who runs a companies social media accounts, youtuber/blogger

77: Top 3 lucky items - tbh don't have one

78: Top 3 traditions you have - Christmas Eve Service and if I don't go to that at least incorporating reading the christmas story on christmas day or eve, idk if this counts as tradition but going to the corn maze every fall, and whenever it's easter/christmas/thanksgiving we always have a big meal w/ family

79: Top 3 things you miss about being a kid - reckless abandon, dreaming about growing up with hopefulness and no dashed hopes, experiencing holidays like halloween and christmas as a kid

80: Top 3 harry potter characters - I've never read or watched Harry Potter rip (ok well i saw the first and second (and maybe third?) movie in the sixth grade I think) but I think I really liked Hermoine, Harry obviously and Dobby

81: Top 3 lies you were told - i don't have 3, but this one has a story but basically when my sister and i were in elementary school my sister got hit by a car and so the insurance thing was that she would recieve 10k when she was 18 and as a child i thought that was unfair so my dad told me that my sister had to split it with me when we were 18 lmao obviously that didn't happen (i think i realized that wasn't true in middle school)

82: Top 3 pictures in your camera roll right now - Pictures of my cat, one of my sister in a hilarious filter, and a picture of my rocking my TS merch

83: Top 3 turn ons - Kindness, defined jawline, easy going

84: Top 3 turn offs - arrogance, unkempt, super loud and obnoxious

85: Top 3 magazines/news papers/ journals to read - I don't read much of those so I'll tell you some sites I love for writing purpose's: there's Wellstoried, justwriterlythings, springhole.net (which is filled with generators if you're stuck and also tons of infomation and advice)

86: Top 3 things you wish you had known earlier - that toad in Mario Party was wearing a mushroom hat and that it is actually not his head, that immaculate means 'clean' before i misused that word like several times over the years, and that the one turn i always take on my way to work where i thought everyone didn't know how to drive was actually bc i didn't have the right of way rip me

87: Top 3 spongebob episodes - the one episode where spongebob and patrick find a ghost ship, that one episode where they form a bikini bottom band and perform it at a football game in a little fish tank, and the one episode where squidward has his first snowball fight

88: Top 3 places to be in the world - I'd love to be in NYC, Montreal, or Hawaii

89: Top 3 things you'd do differently - I would not have applied for RDC, similarly I should have just paid the 500 dollars to the one certificate program I wanted to do instead of overthinking it, and I wish I wouldn't have ended a friendship the way I did

90: Top 3 TV shows from your childhood - Spongebob Squarepants, That's So Raven, and Hannah Montana

91: Top 3 meals you love - Turkey Burgers, Chilli, and Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

92: Top 3 kinds of tea - i don't drink tea

93: Top 3 embarrassing moments - one time in sixth grade I tripped and fell right on my face in front of my crush, this other time like a couple years ago i opened the door to my car and only realized much too late while i was staring at this random family that it was not my car, and when i went to the gas station to get gas and couldn't get my gas lid on my car opened and this guy had to help me which was already embarrassing enough but then the gas pump wouldn't work so i had to go inside to pay just to realize i forgot my wallet and had to shamefully walk back to my car and then run back inside the convenience store and then pay and then walk back to my car and finally fill my tank.

94: Top 3 holidays to celebrate - Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving

95: Top 3 things to do in the rain - have an existential crisis, pretend you're in a music video, walk through puddles like you're six again

96: Top 3 things to do in the snow - Sledding, Build a snowman, shovel it even tho you don't want to

97: Top 3 items you can't leave the house w/o - phone, keys, wallet

98: Top 3 movies you'd like to see - Jurassic World 3, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania bc i'm a child, and the animation of the addams family

99: Top 3 art mediums - Writing fiction/poetry, painting, music

100: Top 3 museums you've been to - Royal Tyrell Museum, Canadian History one in edmonton lol, and heritage park in calgary

101: Top 3 school memories - Middle school dances when the popular kids would grind to the song "Low" which was always an interesting experience, in the twelfth grade at winter formal when we all shouted "SHUT UP AND DANCE!" at the same time when they played Shut Up and Dance, and the day i left

102: Top 3 things you don't/Won't miss - School, my sisters ex, 2016 bc she was a rough year yikes

103: Top 3 pick up lines - "My name is Will. God's Will.", "I'd like to take you to the movies but they don't like you bring your own snacks", "are you from tennessee bc you're the only 10 i see"

104: Top 3 sports to watch - none of them

105: Top 3 taylor swift songs - all too well - exile - coney island

[nowis-scales]

Pre-Verdant Wind Endgame Update

An Update on the ol’ Three Houses Verdant Wind playthrough, since I’ve been neglecting documenting my journey properly for a bit:

• My current placement is Ch.20, so I’m only a few chapters away from the last one. It’s kind of a weird thought because I feel like I just hit the timeskip, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will feel well-paced out. In terms of writing, I’m known for being a bit of a stickler for good flow. It’s why all of my fanfics take so long to update! I have to make sure my flow is perfect.

• The fact that they have been giving background information on characters has been so amazing. Learning that Raphael’s sister’s name was Maya and getting to hear about her has made me irrationally happy.

• Also, just generally, holy shit people sleep on Raphael and Leonie. Raphael often gets shoved to the side, and Leonie is treated like her only trait is liking Jeralt, and for me it all just culminates in the question of “so did you like... not do their support conversations, or...?” Seriously. I think Leonie might be one of my favourites in the game so far, and I adore Raph. He’s so sweet!

• The Flame Emperor reveal for some reason gave me “and I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids” vibes. I liked the venom Cherami Leigh had there as Rhea, too. I think I read from someone that in Japanese, Rhea’s actually super calm in that scene. I don’t think I have a preference towards the anger or the calmness, honestly. I think I just liked how smoothly the emotion came across. Plus, I’m a little biased, I’m fond of Cherami as an actress. I haven’t found a performance from her I haven’t enjoyed yet.

• I was really confused as to why Seteth showed up in my house after Chapter 12ish I think? I wasn’t expecting him to just be there after the paralogue, but I definitely wasn’t unhappy. I do like him! I just never use him, because I recruited Bernadetta and Sylvain, so I kinda have a full roster going... 

• I was also confused in the Gronder Field fight because I couldn’t see what people meant about Bernie getting set on fire. Then I remembered Bernie wasn’t on the hill because she was with me. I recruited her. Whatever this proves about me, I don’t know.

• I did end up beating Marianne’s paralogue! It actually wasn’t as hard once I levelled her up a bit and classed her to a Holy Knight. The big thing with her in that paralogue seems to be that she needs a decent amount of power and movement to really get by, so that’s what I’d recommend for anyone else playing it. Using rescue will also probably help you out, but I tried to avoid using Flayn there because it’s kinda easy to kill her. 

• Admittedly, I’m not 100% sure how I feel about the support system. In some ways, I think it’s better that not everybody has that forced S-Support. Oftentimes we were either squeezing a love confession out of two characters who were unlikely to have one, or characters with decent potential might get snubbed because their connection was less apparent to the writers (and unfortunately that still does happen in the case of same sex S-supports in 3H). Having the conversations only go to a certain point is helpful, but at the same time, the inherent romantic undertones of several of the A-supports do make things feel strange. If it weren’t for the fact that I know characters can have only one partner as their paired ending, I would think lots of them were in a polycule. Nothing wrong with that as long as everyone’s comfortable, but because I know they can only have one person in their ending, I find it pretty jarring.

• I think it was interesting that they went to do the fights for breaking into Enbarr and then taking down Edelgard back-to-back. I’m glad they did, honestly, because while I don’t usually like to do two fights next to each other unless I’m grinding, it doesn’t mess with the suspension of disbelief. It would be stupid to break into Enbarr and then just run right back to the Monastery.

• I have still not completed the randomized quest from just after the timeskip. You know, the one I was yelling about with the weeds? Still haven’t gotten any weeds. I think I might just have to give up on it. It’s hilarious that my luck is so good that it’s actually bad.

• The fact that Byleth is praised for having more of a personality than Corrin is the biggest slice of bullshit I have heard from this fanbase in a long time. Byleth is literally designed to be a silent protagonist with nothing going on with them – they even came up with a story reason for why Byleth is such a blank sack of meat! In the kindest way possible, I don’t think most people realize that they are implementing whatever personality they want onto Byleth. Personally, I don’t find anything relatable about being stoic, calm, and not inclined to anyone (until plot happens, of course). I’ve always been the overly enthusiastic and caring type, with a tendency towards nervousness. Trying to relate to Byleth was like trying to relate to the experiences of a cactus. While I definitely don’t think Corrin is the strongest of the modern FE avatars – that award goes to Robin – they still had some things I could understand and relate to. If you’re not the type of person who loves the cool, “I fight for my friends” types like Ike, though, you’re likely to have a hard time relating to Byleth. If you can manage that type of character, then you’re more likely to have present them with a personality of their own.

• Actually, while we’re on the topic of Byleth getting praised for things Corrin got dragged for, the fact that Corrin is still cited as the character who receives the most “player pandering” is ridiculous too. Do a lot of characters like Corrin? Yeah! But most of them who do are deeply traumatized in a way that inclines them specifically towards Corrin. The Nohr siblings cling to each other due to their abusive childhood, the Hoshido siblings all in some capacity seem to suffer from abandonment issues (oldest) and/or attachment issues (youngest), and the official foursome of retainers have also had some sort of abandonment struggle in their past (forced separation from parents, murdered loved ones). While the cast of Three Houses needs therapy and is traumatized too, there is no reason why the inclination moves towards Byleth. Bernadetta feels safe around them just because. Edelgard is obsessed with them just because. Marianne learns to feel better about herself just because. Why are there so many exceptions for Byleth, and so many just without explanation? I don’t hate Byleth by any means, but these two things make my opinion of them lower than it would be otherwise. It kinda sucks that my image of Byleth is tainted by the fanbase’s hypocrisy, but I know I can’t have everything.

• The gameplay overall for 3H has been pretty fun! I love the addition of the Demonic Beasts, as annoying as they are to fight. There’s a charm to having some of your stronger units working to take on the soldiers blocking the path, meanwhile your army’s more intermediate strikeforce works to keep them safe by bringing down the beast. Once you get the hang of it, gameplay with the new additions is fun. The only thing I don’t use is Divine Pulse, but that’s because I’m on Casual and usually when I want to rewind, I want to just plain start over. So I use the old “turn off and start again” trick.

• Edelgard’s death scene was actually pretty good. I must confess that I went out of my way to avoid Edelgard in the academy phase, as I knew how hard the game was going to hit me with the “she’s obessed with you” thing and I wanted to see how wonky it would feel if I didn’t speak to her much. I was right that it’s incredibly awkward in terms of writing when you haven’t spent the time with her, but surprisingly, her death scene still holds up. Good voice acting, animation, and music. My only beef with it is something they have done in FE before, and it’s something I wish they’d stop. If a character is dying, you either let them have a few last breaths after their last lines or you kill them mid-sentence. It’s probably just a personal nitpick, but hearing them get their last word out without struggle and then immediately die just makes me aware of how badly the directors wanted the whole line to be in there. I can totally understand it but I find it so troublesome in the grand scheme of things that I just can’t.

• I also like that in the fight against Edelgard, they tried to make it ambiguous who had the key. Immediately as it told me that, I decided it was Petra and ended up being right. I was kind of sad to kill her though, to be honest. I don’t know her well, but she’s probably one of the Eagles I like more.

• The fight against the Death Knight at Fort Merceus ended up being surprisingly pretty easy. In fact, while I paved the way for most of my army, Nader ended up making it to the Death Knight just as Claude did. He did most of the damage – I’m not kidding, the Death Knight was down to 1 HP – and then Claude took care of the rest. It was a weird fight. They said impregnable a lot leading up to it.

• I understand why they kill Dimitri off-screen at the Gronder Field fight, but I was admittedly a bit disappointed. Again, Salli Saffoti does a good job doing Hilda’s voice for it, but I would have liked to see it animated. It was also nice to have that little rapport with Dedue! If only we could have allied with the Lions a bit more. Everyone always says Claude and Edelgard have similar goals; however, it’s their methods that differ. Claude seems to align himself a bit closer to Dimitri, so I’m usually a bit confused by the idea that Edelgard and Claude would work together. I was spoiled on enough to know her background and story, and even so, I think that her methodology is just a bit too violent for his tastes. But that’s just my two cents.

 Alright. I think that’s about all I can drain out of my brain from the top of my head. With that, I am off to kill the slithers! We’ll see how this goes. Wish me luck!

[seeneverything]

today i decided to replay nick’s dlc! not only to catch back up and remain canon, but to look into his journals and the notes / environment around a little deeper to see if i can discover anything more about him, the game’s story, and the timeline of the game.

i have to say it somewhat surprised me that nick has handwriting that’s legible. i figured it would be similar to sally’s -- very here and there with hardly any grammar, punctuation, and horrendous spelling. yet nick’s journals though brief, are quite linguistic. a pleasant surprise.

but without further ado, my metas are under the cut! a very long read so i hope you enjoy it. i tried my best to divide it into some sort of organization as i could. <3

GENERAL LORE :

ever wondered what an original joy bottle looks like? well, nick has one.

it’s tucked in the far back in his kitchen, behind a light on his shelf. initially i thought it was some random drug and it was more proof of the dlc being pre-game. but if you look closer, the words underneath wellington wells’ emblem say  “EVERY DAY, JOIN THE FUN”  which is a clear indication of what it actually was. and beside the emblem, just to the right, if you really squint, it says  “FLAVOR:”  but it’s hidden and you can’t sneak around to the other side. however, considering how old it is, especially from the wear and tear on the sticker, one could probably imagine it being haworth’s own vanilla.

which intrigues me. i wouldn’t doubt that nick was one of the very first people who got the initial batches. virgil dainty found him when he was still a young poet in his teenage years. meaning he probably snatched him when he was around 16. if we play it out like he was 16 when the train came and took all 13 and under, nick would be around 32 during the base game. but i honestly doubt that since the make believes released more singles than albums, and they released the album around the time of strawberry’s release, as inferred by the cover of the album. so for now and to me, nick is somewhere between mid-late 30s.

speaking of joy though, does anyone remember the whole debate about the type of joy nick was taking in the dlc? it wasn’t any type at all. in fact, it was something sally made herself.

“Vibing my guitar always helps me remember things. Like where I put my Sally Specials.”

Those reds and yellows are just another one of the many street drugs that Sally sells to her clients. Probably something like rainbow and the like, but much, much weaker and not as long-lasting. After all, Nick has to take five at one time to black out. Probably at least three of them to feel any sort of a buzz at all.   ( as a side note, it personally makes me wonder if sally had anything to do with the production phlash. i’d love to see if there were any notes of it anywhere. )

I had a headcanon a while back that the woman using the power cell was using a sex toy. After all, she has a suitcase that’s cleverly hidden under her bed. If Nick believes it’s this, it makes sense that he’s aware of the “fun part of town,” unlike Arthur and Ollie once in the Parade. Yes, he goes there for sex and relief, but also because he makes deals with the owners to sell adult-themed merch. Wouldn’t be surprised if there were dildos, lube, even lingerie like Nick’s threads -- very, very plausible if there are full sex dolls.

With the Sally Specials and the Joy Bottle being so old, it could still be proof that it’s pre-game as well. After all, if Nick is still around Sally ONLY to obtain to drugs from her, then it could be easily inferred. After all, Sally remembers her time with Nick in the past together, not in the present. And that is pre-1964.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT NICKY :

it’s absolutely no secret that nick hates himself. from the scratches on the mirror that hide his face and spell  “USELESS,”  to the inferred suicidal attempts from downing entire bottles of joy with alcohol. the puke is always so rancid in the sink. but there’s also this, too.

it’s funny how nick tends to keep scratching at his head and his eyes. the persona is who he’s trying to cover up i imagine, considering that there are multiple voicelines in the game that says he never meant to cause any harm. and he never meant to commit all the unpleasantries that come with being a rockstar. one of them being infidelity and adultery, and another being a general asshole to the public. overtime i believed that nick gained celebrity syndrome. which is essentially just being a karen on steroids. nick believes he doesn’t need to pay for anything, and he also has the innate ability to give orders to people. just because, in his mind, he’s the best in the world. the avalon’s manager wants to get back at him once and for all for his bossy attitude. but he’s not the only one who feels that, either.

petunia does as well.

nick’s love-life is an extremely complicated one. aside from the the various forms of substance abuse and exposure to said substances, nick has always had his rockstardom become the center of his universe. see, this is all headcanon but, i personally believe that nick was coddled as a child by his overbearing mother. mama told him the world would love him. and mama told him that the world would never hurt him, and that it would be perfect and easy to get through. but then he saw just how hurtful people could be, and just how much hate the world had to offer. and to him, at that. it was extremely difficult to find love in anything and anyone. especially himself. so finding petunia was very, very reassuring. after all, she did promise him, as nick said during the boss fight, to be the lighthouse on all his rocky shores. indicating that she would be the one to lead him back home, and make him stable. and i’m sure for a while, it did.

canonically, until nick lightbearer overtook norbert pickles. he found so many more people who loved him that way. and thus, he let the life of his own stardom take over everything else. including his love life. even more so when the birds threatened hatred and slander to his name if they couldn’t shag him. and if they didn’t manipulate him, nick was so afraid of losing another fan that he wouldn’t care. it felt good anyway, why not fuck people? he keeps a fan, doesn’t worry about being hated, and keeps the life of love toward him going.

not even thinking about petunia in the process. and instead of showing him that he didn’t need all the fans, instead of showing him that he needed to remain faithful and loyal, she lashed out and belittled him from every other corner. though he did deserve it for encouraging her into polygamy and bigamy and definitely by his demanding attitude(later in the note it mentions how he was a henpicker), she did not help his mental state in any capacity. petunia, the moment she didn’t help him anymore and show him the love he thought she promised him, became nothing more than someone who belittled him. truthfully nick never meant to hurt her, but it’s seen through his celebrity ideology that he truly believes in quantity over quality. a sad shame. nick’s mental state is so fucked he doesn’t even really know what true love is by this point. meaning he could potentially be easily manipulated without realization.

despite all this though, i found this to be especially intriguing:

a little hard to read, but this is during the scene before he fights the fans at the contest. his journal reads:

“They think I’m an IMPERSONATOR? Have I lost the Lightbearer aura? How much lower can I sink?”

this heavily implies that nick sets his own idolism over his chances of being a murderer. meaning that somewhere, deep in the crevasse of his subconscious, nick is so desperate for some true love and still can’t grasp hatred that he is clinging onto his persona for as much love as he can. even if it’s fake. thrice as intriguing when one learns that, during his breakdowns, he always explains how he wants his fans to know who he really is:

“i wonder if i remember how to sound polite,” “things are sure to look up once i’m not soaked in hemoglobin.”

an intelligent, young man who was so wrongly brought up into the world by an attached mother who never taught him what punishment really was. nick has been using his celebrity name as a clutch for so long that he’s having difficulty remembering who he really was, or if he can ever be norbert pickles again. he cannot handle being a celebrity, and he never could because of what his mother taught him and grew him to be. yet somewhere deep down, he knows his true self is there. but what nick doesn’t know how to do is accept the hatred of the world enough, especially to him, in order to ever take norbert pickles out.

it’s a constant mish-mash. he can hardly handle the hatred from being a celebrity, but what he does handle from stardom is what keeps him going with it. a war between nick lightbearer and norbert pickles. but neither side has proper ammo because the battlefield is strife with a lack of vegetation.

nick lightbearer in himself is an irony. he shines so bright for everyone around him but yet truly, the light is most needed for himself.

[oneblueumbrella]

Thirty minute Thursday

A couple of people have said they might be interested in joining me for this, which excites me no end! The only rules are: write for no more than thirty minutes, do one minimal edit, post on a Thursday! I’d love anyone to join me - any ship, any length!

Use the tag #thirtyminutethursday so we can find each other!

 From a prompt: Greg has insomnia. In a fit of sleep deprivation and poor judgement, he texts Mycroft in the wee hours of the morning. To his surprise, Mycroft texts back.

Response 

As the day drew to a close, Greg knew he should be winding down. Darkness closing in, lights dim in the corner of a room, those deliciously heavy eyes that meant you were almost done for the day. Most people looked forward to those hours between work and bed. Greg hated them.

To him, it was like having a clock ticking over his head. A small voice was almost audible in his ear, reminding him how many hours sleep he’d had the previous night, how many he should have tonight to catch up, exactly how many hours it was from now until bedtime, assuming nobody woke him early. The tension in his chest wound tighter and tighter and no matter what he tried, midnight ticked past without pause, and only when his exhausted brain finally gave up would he drop into a few hours unsettled sleep.

Desperately, Greg hoped tonight would be different. His eyes were sandy as they always were, and the lethargy in his bones had been pulling him down all week. Greg didn’t need anyone pointing out how tired he looked, though several people did. He didn’t want to admit how hard he was finding it to fall asleep. It felt like a weakness.

He was almost dozing at his desk when Sally came in and gave him a list.

“Go home,” she said, “via Tesco, and follow this.”

Greg took it, blinking at the neat words before nodding slowly. She was trying to help, but he knew it wouldn’t work. He also knew arguing with her was futile, and if he could manage to keep himself this drowsy all the way home he had a chance of dropping off at a semi-reasonable hour.

When he arrived home with the camomile tea Sally had made him buy and a ready meal with vegetables (also on Sally’s list), Greg was exhausted. He glanced at the list as he pottered, frowning as he returned the beer to the fridge. Surely a beer would help relax him. He wasn’t going to argue with Sally on this, though. What did he have to lose?

When the night hours ticked over into morning, Greg wanted to cry. He’d done everything Sally had said, even running a bath, which was something he would never normally do. And here he was, still lying awake, phone plugged in by the couch, annoyingly sober and desperately awake.

I need to talk to someone.

Hauling himself out of bed, Greg dragged his pillow and duvet to the couch. With any luck he’d crash out here, and technically he was keeping his phone out of the bedroom. The twang of guilt at his manipulation of Sally’s words was fleeting and by the time he was lying down he’d reconciled himself to another stupidly late night.

Flicking the phone’s screen on, Greg hesitated. His brain might not be ready for sleep, but it was still slow, fuzzy at best and he couldn’t think of a single person to call or text. The bright colours of Candy Crush distracted him and he opened it, playing the same level over and over until he ran out of lives. That killed an hour or so, but it didn’t solve his problem.

Who?

He scrolled slowly through his contact list, wondering who would be up. What would he even say, if someone saw his message? ‘Hi, I can’t sleep?’ It sounded like something a small child told their parent in the middle of the night, not the complaint of a grown up, if lonely, police detective.

For some reason, his thumb hesitated over Holmes, M. Without thinking too hard, Greg pressed ‘send message.’

 Hey Mycroft.

 He sent the message, not sure what kind of response he’d get. It wasn’t a question, or even anything, really. As if Mycroft Holmes would reply to a random message like that.

 Good evening. To what do I owe the honour of this message? –M

 Greg blinked, not entirely uncertain he wasn’t hallucinating. His thumb moved automatically, typing out his reply.

 Hardly an honour. He shrugged, thinking what else he should add. Can’t sleep. Thought you might be awake.

 He sent the message, wondering why Mycroft was still up. Was he one of those people who thrived on three hours a night? Or was he working? Jesus, was he even in London?

He didn’t have to wait long to find out.

 An affliction I often share. A difficult day? –M

 Greg swallowed, somehow quite emotional at the idea of actually telling someone something true about himself. Not about the copper, the boss, the customer or the whatever-he-was-to-Sherlock. About the person who still walked around after all that, taking off and replacing hats depending on who he was talking to.

 Difficult week. Month. A long time.

 Mycroft’s response was swift.

 Is there something I might offer to ease things? –M

 Greg shook his head, wondering if his brain was making this all up.

 Thanks. I don’t think there is anything. He paused again, hovering wondering how brave his fatigue would make him. It’s a bunch of things, I think.

 The little flashy dots came and went, and Greg realised he was quite tense, waiting for the reply.

 I have found talking helps. –M

 Greg typed and sent in one smooth movement.

 Hard to do on your own.

 And if you had someone willing to listen? –M

 Greg swallowed, wondering if he was reading more meaning into the question than the words strictly carried. Were they really only discussing talking?

 I wish I did. He paused. More than listening, if I’m honest.

 And what might that look like, if you don’t feel the question is an imposition? –M

 Greg closed his eyes. He was past the point of hesitance now, and he was pretty sure his reply was full of mistakes as he typed and sent without looking at the screen.

 Someone here to warm the other side of the bed and make me dinner sometimes. Listen to how shit my day was.

 Surely your days are not always so? –M

 They didn’t used to be.

 Greg felt tears well up at the admission, regret rising as he recalled past days that were so far from shit. They seemed a hell of a long way away.

 Nothing is certain except change. –M

 Greg snorted a laugh despite himself.

 You sound like a Hallmark card.

 I’m sure I do. I have little experience comforting people. –M

 The bubbled danced again for a second before another message came through.

 Few people have trusted me enough to admit their troubles. –M

 Greg blinked.

 I appreciate you listening.

 I am currently out of the country, but should you require someone to join you again at this late hour your message would not be unwelcome. –M

 Thanks.

 Greg still wondered if Mycroft was offering only a compassionate ear, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. Don’t want to wreck anything. Before he could reply further another message came through.

 And if I might be so bold – please decline if I have misinterpreted – I would also be available to fulfil the other services you are missing. –M

 Greg wasn’t sure what it was about that message that comforted it him, but he knew something in his chest eased as he studied the words.

 That would be perfect. Call me when you get back.

 Good night, Greg. –M

 Good night.