#to remember that for a moment sally was may

[mediumgayitalian]

i keep seeing sad posts talking about "may castellan making sandwiches every day waiting in hopes that her son will return" and.

guys.

there is no hope for may castellan. she is not waiting at the door with lunch and a tentative smile, waiting for him to come home even though he didn't yesterday, or yesterday, or yesterday, or yesterday. "in hopes" implies that there will come a day when that hope fades. in hopes implies she knows the odds are bad. in hopes implies reality will eventually catch up to her.

there is no hope for may castellan.

she is not waiting in hopes for her son to return. she is preparing, day after day after day (after day after day after day after day after) for the inevitability that luke will return to her. she does not know he is dead. she does not understand he is gone. she does not realize that time has passed; to her luke is nine, still. to her she is still placidly awaiting to return of a fourth grader. luke is not nineteen and betraying his camp. he is not twenty and housing a titan. he is not twenty one and watching his friends get slaughtered in an arena, twenty-two and forcing his sister to hold up the sky, twenty three and realizing, soul shuddering in his chest, that he has made a mistake he can never take back, that he can never undo what he has done.

luke castellan to his mother is a child who has not yet lost all his baby teeth. the cookies she makes for him are soft, because she remembers that. he still leaves the crust behind on his sandwiches. he has scrapes on his elbows and dirt on his nose. he flinches before he hugs her. he spends a lot of time outside, but he comes home before dark.

may castellan's tragedy is not that she is penelope waiting for odysseus to one day return and we know that he will not. may castellan's tragedy is that she does not understand her hero has left at all. may castellan's tragedy is that she will never understand, and she will continue to age, and continue to deteriorate, and one day she will die and she will spend eternity walking the dying poplar fields, whittled down to the memory of something missing from her.

there is no hope for may castellan.

[caelesjjk]

simply meant to be | jjk

☾ Title: Simply Meant to Be ☾ Pairing: pumpkin king!jungkook x fem reader ☾ Genre/AU: nightmare before Christmas au, romance, horror, smut ☾ Rating: m (18+) ☾ WC: 4.6K ☾ Warnings: this is not your average nightmare before christmas, its pretty dark and unhinged. jungkook is jack skellington. reader is somewhat of a sally character. jungkook calls you immortelle (it means everlasting), jungkook has face tattoos (you'll see), monsters, fear, seokjin appearing as Dr. Finkelstein hehe, electrocution therapy, being held against will, jungkook unalives someone, a game of cat and mouse, mentions of blood, smut in the forms of: kissing, grinding, fingering, unprotected sex, knife play, blood play, creampie ☾ Summary: you aren’t sure how any of it can be real. This place…these creatures…this man. You wake up next to a man you’ve never seen before with no memory of who he is or where you are. But everyone in town seems to know you. You belong to the Pumpkin King. Scared and utterly terrified you run into someone who claims they can help you remember. And now you’re starting to wonder if that’s truly what you want. ☾ Authors Note: hello darklings! Please enjoy my trick for the Fantasy and Fangs halloween collab! this fic became so much more unhinged than i originally planned lol. it may not be for everyone! just e sure to check my warnings before you proceed with the fic. this is heavily unedited.

Your body jolts upright, lungs immediately gasping for breath.

Panic surges through every nerve as you frantically look around at your surroundings and grasping at the thin sheet you find bunched around your hips. 

You’re naked. God why are you naked? How did you get here? Where the fuck are you?

Your heart pounds in your chest as you look next to you in bed and see that someone is lying next to you. A broad back and muscular arms covered in tattoos leading up to a head of messy black hair that covers the persons face lies snoring quietly against the sheets.

“Shit.” You mumble, wrapping the thin sheet around your body as you scramble out of the bed. The man lying in the bed stirs slightly and reaches into the space where your body once was. 

You don’t wait to see anything else, dashing for the bedroom door and stumbling into the very dark hallway. The only light comes from the cobweb covered candle sconces that line the black painted walls. 

You adjust the sheet around you the best you can before taking off running down the hallway. There is an immediate feeling that you’re being watched and you make the mistake of turning around to look behind you. 

The dark shadowy silhouette of a man stands where you had just been a moment ago. You beg your feet to move faster.

Before you reach the top of the stairs, you glance back over your shoulder once more to see what you can only describe as a jack o lantern grin light up and stretch across the face of the man taking his time moving towards to you down the hallway.

“Where are you going, immortelle?”

A voice comes into your mind and almost causes you to fall face first down the winding spiral staircase in front of you.

“Please leave me alone.” You beg as you rush down the stairs. You don’t make it far before you suddenly feel hands gripping at your ankles. Hands with claws….some covered with slime…reaching from under the stairs and tearing at the sheet keeping your naked body from being exposed.

You scream until your throat hurts. Kicking at the hands as you continue to fight your way down the stairs.

“You know how much I love chasing you, baby.”

Somehow you manage to make it to the bottom of the stairs, but you almost wish that you hadn’t when you fall against the front door and throw it open.

You must be hallucinating with fear.

Outside the sky is black and grey swirls of clouds in constant motion, you know if you stared too long you’d become dizzy. Instead, your eyes wonder around to the bare trees surrounding the house you just made your way out of. Just a few leaves hang on for dear life as the wind quite literally howls through the air.

Down the crooked stone steps in front of you is a huge iron gate with two giant pumpkin designs bent into the bars. Gargoyles sit atop every stone post surrounding the house. 

Wasting no more time, you descend the stairs until you’ve reached the iron gate, shaking the bars when it doesn’t budge.

“Please open. Please.” You shove with your shoulder as hard as you can and the gate loudly creaks open just enough for you to squeeze out into the open street. 

You turn around and shove the gate back shut, looking up at the top of the stairs where the man who had been chasing you through the house now stands with a smile on his half tattooed face and his arms crossed over his bulky bare chest.

You can see even from here that the tattoos on the left side of his face are skull like features. It’s absolutely terrifying.

He lifts a hand in a wave as he menacingly tilts his head to the side and smiles.

Fuck this.

You wrap the blanket tighter around you and take off down the street without a single clue as to where you are. Anywhere has to be better than where you just were.

You spoke too soon again.

The sight in front of you as you round the corner is just as terrifying as that house and that man.

There are monsters, literal monsters, standing in the streets. Selling items at market booths. Chasing their children on the sidewalks. Laughter…and screams. It’s a terrible mix of sounds.

You freeze as a bouncy ball belonging to what you can only assume is a swamp monster child rolls against your feet.

“Happy first day after Halloween Ms Y/N!” The little creature says, staring at you expectantly.

Your instincts tell you not to scream. If you scream it will only make things worse.

“You know my name?” Your voice shakes and so do your hands as you continue holding the blanket around your body.

“Are you alright, miss?” The child’s mother appears behind him, looking at you with concern.

“I um…I should go.” Your bare feet move to cross the street, making you pause when you step in something wet. You know that it’s blood before you even look down. Vomit threatens to fill your mouth but you continue walking away, dragging the train of the sheet you’re wearing through more of the bloody streets.

More monsters stare at you as you go. Some with long sharp teeth and claws that could easily slice through a normal humans delicate skin. Some walked on two feet and some slithered across the ground like sickly serpents. 

“Are you lost?” A horrifying witch grabbed your arm and tried to pull you back into the street.

“No, no I’m just on my way somewhere.” You lie the best you can, yanking your arm away only to immediately see deeps scratches from her long nails.

“So sorry miss.” She cackles, moving to join two other witches who were waiting for her on the other side of the street. They all continued their uneasy laughing until you turned the corner up ahead.

As you turned the corner you ran hard into something. Or someone it would appear when you looked up.

“What are you doing out here in nothing but a blanket, Y/N?” The man asks, pushing a pair of glasses up onto his nose.

This man had stitches across his forehead and down around his neck. Like some kind of Frankenstein’s monster, he’s been sewn together.

“Do I know you? Why does everyone here know my name?” You step back to put space between you and the monster.

“Ah, I see. Come with me.” He turns and begins walking but stops when you don’t follow. “I can help you. Come.” He holds out a hand, and while you don’t know what the fuck is happening, something tells you it’s okay to trust this stranger. 

You take his hand.

“Who are you?” You finally ask.

“I’m a friend. Dr. Kim Seokjin.” He swings your hands between you in a silly way. “You usually call me Jin. Sometimes Jinnie.”

“Jin.” You repeat, the name feeling familiar on your tongue. “Where are we going?”

“To my lab. I have things that can help you there.” Jin turns another corner and up ahead you can see a tall crooked tower looming in the distance.

“Your lab is in there?” 

“It is. Don’t worry Y/N, I promise you’re safe with me.”

You swallow hard but continue to let Jin lead you inside the tower and up, up, up the long spiraling stairs until you reach a door that he slides open.

Inside is a room filled with equipment and various experiments. Glass beakers filled with colorful liquid bubble and burble over small open flames. Sparks fly from wires that connect to different machines and some that connect to nothing at all. There are also several control panels at the center of the room with gurneys situated next to them.

“What kind of doctor are you, Jin?” Your voice shakes a little.

“The helpful kind.” He answers with a menacing grin on his face and a flicker of something slightly insane in his eyes.

“Wh-what do you have here that can help me?” You look down at the dirty blanket still wrapped around your body.

“First,” he grabs your hand again and leads you to a side room that has a cot with some folded clothes lying on top of it, “you can use those clothes to change into, okay? Whatever you want.” 

“Thank you.” You step into the small room and turn to face him. “Is something really wrong with me? Something that makes me not remember?”

“Everything is fixable. I’ll have you as good as new in no time.” Jin winks and closes the door behind him so that you can change in private.

You dress in a daze, still feeling very off kilter from everything that’s unfolded from the moment you opened your eyes. Flashes of the man you woke up next too and his terrifying tattooed face race across your memory and leave chills over your skin.

“Ready now?” Jin calls from outside the door. You take a deep breath and walk back out into the laboratory. “Why don’t you take a seat on one of those?” He motions to the gurneys at the center of the room.

Reluctantly, you walk over to them and sit on the thin mattress. It crumples under your weight and immediately sends a sense of dread swimming into your veins.

“How can you fix me?” You barely get the sentence out before Jin is next to you, situating your arms at your sides and wrapping leather straps around your wrists. “What are you doing?” Panic thick in your voice.

“This is how we fix you. Bite this.” He puts a leather strap up to your mouth.

“Are you crazy?! I’m not doing this. Let me go!” You pull against the restraints, thrashing your head and body in an attempt to get the fuck away.

“I know it’s a little frightening. You do this every time. One of your only flaws.” Jin shakes his head, sounding disappointing.

“Flaws? What are you talking about!?” 

“You’re my creation. I made you.” He tilts his head and smiles, “and you’re absolutely perfect except for that mind of yours. It resets. Forgets.” He shrugs his shoulders.

“Creation?! I’m a human being! I’m not some experiment! What is wrong with you?” Hot tears starts to leak from the corners of your eyes and blur your vision.

“You’re so adorable sometimes.” Jin yanks on your restraints to tighten them, “sit still, Y/N.” 

“You’re hurting me.” You whimper.

“You think that hurts?” Jin smiles before he begins sticking sticky pads to your head and neck. “Just wait.” He whispers into your ear.

You’re such an idiot to have trusted this monster. You were so sure that he was good. A friend. He felt like a friend when you saw him. Familiar.

“Please…don’t.” You beg just before he forcefully shoves the piece of leather between your teeth.

“You’ll thank me soon.”

Terror freezes your body as you watch him slam down a lever on one of the control tables, green electric waves traveling down the wires and entering your body in trembling shocks.

You don’t know how long you lay there, screaming through the pain before you pass out from how much electricity Jin lets pass into your body. But eventually the room goes black and the last thing you hear is Jin manically laughing from across the room.

“It’s getting worse.”

“I tweaked some things this time. I’m hopeful it lasts longer.”

“It better. I’m tired of losing her.”

You hear quiet voices as you begin to come to. Voices that you recognize almost immediately.

“Jungkook?” Your voice croaks. Almost immediately the door to the small room slides open and the silhouette of the only person you want to see fills the doorway.

“You’re okay, immortelle?” Jungkook rushes into the room and kneels next to the cot you’re laying on.

“What happened to me? Why am I in Jinnie’s lab?” You turn your head to face him when he cups your cheeks in his hands.

“You had another episode, my sweet.” He brings your hand to his lips and kisses your knuckles one by one.

“Episode?” Your brows draw together in confusion.

“You forgot who you were. That you belong to me. You forgot it all.” Jungkook looks sad while he explains and it breaks your heart.

“How could I forget you?” You sit up slowly and he helps you. “How could I forget my love?”

“It’s not your fault, immortelle. Don’t blame yourself.” Jungkook looks over his shoulder at Jin who stands in the doorway. Jin rolls his eyes before walking away.  

“Take me home?” You ask, wrapping your arms around Jungkook’s neck when he picks you up into his arms bridal style.

“Of course.” 

Jungkook carries you down the long winding staircase of the laboratory and outside where it’s pitch black besides the white melting candles inside the lamp posts along the street.

A smile pulls across your face when you see all the monsters that you love busy in the streets. They all smile back at you, tossing greetings and wishes of quick recoveries your way.

“They love you.” Jungkook whispers into your ear.

“No. They love you, you’re their pumpkin king. I’m just lucky enough to be yours.” You touch the skull details tattooed on the side of his face so he looks at you.

“You’ll be their queen soon.” He reminds you. You lean up to kiss his lips.

“Let’s get something to eat before we go home. I’m famished.” Jungkook sits you on your feet but keeps your hand in his.

Jungkook talks with some of the shop owners and you watch as he gathers all of your favorite things into a basket. Wines, cheeses, and some sweet treats leftover from the night before. You love him so.

You make your way over to a stand selling haunted dolls and look around at all the choices. You’re about to go back to find Jungkook when someone grabs your arm and twists you around.

“You’re so pretty.” The drunken vampire says, the smell of blood thick on his breath. He’s had too much.

“I appreciate your compliment, but I need you to let go of my arm.” You pull away but he doesn’t let go.

“Don’t be that way. Come with me.” He stumbles and almost falls on top of you.

“Get off of me!” You say louder but the vampire doesn’t listen, it’s nails scratching through your skin. You’re about to scream for Jungkook when he’s suddenly there, ripping the vampires hand from your arm.

“May I ask what you think you’re doing? Touching what’s mine?” Jungkook says too calmly.

“I…I didn’t recognize Ms. Y/N…I didn’t realize.” The vampire stumbles over his words.

“Is that your excuse?” Jungkook laughs, the terrifying cackling sound sending tingles through your body.

You know what’s going to happen next, and the thrill alone has you aching between your legs.

“I’m sorry, I’ll never make the mistake again.” The vampire takes a few steps back.

“Immortelle?” Jungkook looks over his shoulder to you. He’s asking a silent question that you already know the answer to. You nod yes as a smile spreads across your face.

“Remember in your next life my friend, to keep your filthy hands off my girl.” Before you can blink his hand is shooting out between them and into the vampires chest cavity. He holds it there a moment so that he can watch the life drain slowly drain from the vampire before he yanks his hand back out holding the still thumping heart in his hand.

The vampire falls to the ground in a lifeless heep, his eyes still open and eternally full of the fear he last experienced. The crowd around the market doesn’t take offense, they know if their pumpkin kills someone it was for a damn good reason.

Jungkook turns towards you, handing the heart to one of the children playing with the body on the ground. He pats their head and then slowly brings his hand up to his mouth, licking a thick stripe from the bloody palm of his hand to the tip of his middle finger, all while keeping eye contact with you.

You smile, closing the space between the two of you and claiming his mouth. Your tongue seeks out the blood that’s dropped down his chin and around his lips.

“It never gets old…watching you kill for me.” You breathe into his mouth while his blood hands lace into the strands of your hair.

“We need to get home before I show everyone here how well I fuck you.” His mouth leaves hot kisses against your neck as he leads you backwards down the street until your back hits the iron bars of a familiar gate.

Home.

The gate loudly creaks open as soon as it realizes the two of you have arrived. Jungkook stops kissing you to take your hand and walks with you up the stone stairs to the front door that also opens all on its own, the door knocker welcoming you home.

“Do you want to play?” You whisper, making Jungkook pause at the bottom of the stairs. Those tattooed details raising into a smile.

“Okay, immortelle. Let’s play.” He kisses the top of your hand before taking a step back. He slowly slips of his black and white striped suit jacket and unbuttons his shirt before it joins the jacket on the floor.

You soak in the tattooed planes of his body, the muscles begging to be touched. His dark falling over his forehead as he steps back farther into the shadows until he’s completely disappeared from your sight.

“You know what happens if I catch you, immortelle.” His voice floats into your ear from somewhere unknown. “Don’t let me catch you.” 

A thrill shoots through your body again and you sprint for the stairs, loving the way the monsters and ghouls grab at your ankles and whisper your name. You immediately turn left at the top of the stairs, your mind going a million miles an hour trying to think of where you could hide.

He knows all of the good places for hiding.

In a last ditch idea, you run into your shared bedroom upon hearing Jungkook’s footsteps running up the stairs. He took this game of chase so seriously and never took it slowly.

You slide under the bed, your chest heaving in fear but also excitement. You’re hoping by hiding somewhere obvious that he won’t even think to look here and waste his time checking all of the usual spots you tend to hide.

“Where are you, immortelle?” You hear his menacing voice out in the hallway coming closer. You almost giggle. “You know I’ll find you. I will always find you.”

You hear his footsteps stop outside the bedroom door and then the door slowly opens right after, lightly hitting against the wall behind it. 

Jungkook’s heavy footsteps make the floorboards creak as he walks into the room. You throw a hand over your mouth to keep from making any noises. Jungkook undoes the buckle of his belt and a moment later slips it from his belt loops and lets it clang against the hardwood floor.

“Are you soaked for me right now, my love?” You watch with wide eyes as Jungkook slowly walks around the bed. “I’ll find out soon enough.”

He doesn’t say anything else and when you look around at the floor you notice that he’s no longer next to the bed, his black boots no longer anywhere in sight. You release a long breath of relief.

And then you’re being yanked by the ankle from beneath the bed, a startled scream escaping you as you flip onto your back just in time to see Jungkook trap you with his body against the floor.

“You caught me.” You smile, lifting your hips up to meet his, desperate for friction against your core.

“Don’t I always?” His mouth is on yours, his hands pushing your dress up around your hips.

He was desperate for you too.

“I love you.” You whisper on his lips, the tattooed skeleton grin on his beautiful face turning upwards.

Jungkook sits up on his knees between your legs giving you a full view of his naked torso. Pretty muscles and flawless skin that you ached to leave your mark on. Scratches and bite marks and bruises were the only things that could make him more perfect.

Your chest heaves as you watch him reach behind his back in the band of his black dress pants to retrieve a silver shiny knife. Your pulse quickens immediately.

“Is this what you want, immortelle?” He presses the cold steel flat against the inside of your thigh, keeping the blade from cutting you just yet.

“Will you torture me?” You ask, your hands coming up to cup your breasts with anticipation.

“Absolutely.” Jungkook moves the knife farther up your skin until the point brushes over underwear. You moan pathetically at the feel of it brushing over your center and slowly sliding over onto your other thigh.

“Jungkook…” you sigh.

“Be patient. I’ll give you what you want.” Jungkook uses his other hand to undo the button and zipper of his pants, pushing them down until his perfect cock springs free from the confines.

You bite your lip at the sight in front of you. Jungkook slowly strokes himself to the sight of the knife moving across your skin. He draws the sharp side of the blade oh so gently across your stomach, so sharp you don’t even feel it draw blood. The view of you on display for him makes him groan and move his hand a bit rougher up and down his shaft. 

Your fingers move on their own accord, slipping through the small pool of blood on your stomach and moving them back over your breasts to smear the crimson liquid in a trail.

“Fuck. Fuck you’re so perfect.” Jungkook moves the knife to your throat, gently leaving one long cut from one side to the other. You immediately feel warm blood leave the wound and drip down the sides of your neck.

Jungkook drops the knife to the floor and bends over your body to attach his mouth to your neck. He licks and sucks at your blood, whimpering at the taste of it on his tongue. Your body instinctively arches from the ground, your chest rubbing against his and spreading more of your blood between your bodies. It was the most beautiful visual you could imagine.

You looked down between your bodies to see Jungkook’s hand still stroking his cock as he continues to move his mouth down your body to the cut on your stomach. You can barely stand the burn in the pit of your stomach any longer, your desire for the man on top of you smoldering too hot.

“I need you now. Please.” You lace your hands into Jungkook’s hair and lift his face. The sight of his face covered in your blood, his eyes solid black with lust almost does you in completely.

“Such a good girl, saying please.” He moves back onto his knees, squeezing precum from the head of his cock before he releases it completely and picks the knife back up off the floor. You watch in awe as he brings it to his mouth and licks the blood from the blade.

“I always want to be good for you.” You say sweetly. His cock twitches at the sound of your obedient voice.

Jungkook moves the knife down between your legs and ever so carefully pressed the sharp blade to your underwear and drags it down until the fabric slices apart and reveals your absolutely drenched pussy to him. The knife clangs to the floor again and Jungkook leans back down to claim your mouth, his thumb immediately finding your clit.

Your lips part to moan and his tongue swipes against yours swallowing up all the sounds that escape you. The dripping head of his cock suddenly swipes through your folds and causes a high pitched whine to bubble up your throat.

“Is your pussy desperate to be filled, immortelle?” His hand swipes the blood on your stomach before it’s back on his cock, the blood lubing his shaft to make it easier when he fucks himself into you.

“Yes. It hurts, Jungkook.” You let your hands wander his chest and stomach, watching him watch you.

“I’m not going to last long once I get inside your perfect pussy, my love. But I need you to cum and I need you to scream.” Without warning he roughly spears himself inside you, his hands holding you on his cock as you writhe from the sudden intrusion.

“Oh my fucking god.” Your eyes roll to the back of your head when he starts to move, rough and hard.

“Made for me. I literally had you made just for me and you’re perfect. So fucking perfect and pliant just for me.” Jungkook’s hand comes down to your throat, careful of the cut across your skin, he gently tightens his grip.

You immediately see stars, wrapping both of your hands around his wrist to keep him in place. You gasp and moan at the feeling of him controlling your breathing and ruining your pussy at the same time. 

“I’m going to come. God I’m coming right now.” The words are quiet as he continues to hold your throat but he hears you just fine, moving his hand from your throat to play with your clit.

“Scream. I need you to scream so I can fill you up.” You open your eyes to see Jungkook watching you, his hair sweaty and mouth parted. Just when you’re about to beg for a kiss he punches your clit between his fingers and your orgasm rolls through you like a hurricane.

Black and white sparks explode behind your eyes and though you can’t hear yourself, you know that you scream loud and high pitched. Just what Jungkook needs to find his own end, dropping on top of you as he continues to fill you past the brim and onto your thighs.

Dried blood scratches between your skin and his as he lies on top of you, his head against your chest and your hands roaming the expanse of his broad shoulders. 

“You’re okay, immortelle?” He finally asks through his heavy breathing.

“I am, of course.” You lift his face to place a kiss to his lips.

“We didn’t even make it to the bed this time.” He laughs lightly, groaning as he pulls out and helps you sit up with him.

“I didn’t mind.” You both smile knowing he feels the same.

“I’ll never mind being with you, immortelle. Never.” He touches your cheek and kisses your lips once more.

“Even if…even if I keep forgetting?” 

“Even then. We are simply meant to be, my love.”

[randomness-is-my-order]

the pjo show’s cinematography is so warm and homey and clever and detail-oriented so i wanna compile a few of my favourite still shots because why not??

^this one had me smiling so hard, not because it’s a particularly beautiful shot but the framing of the three is so well done. the focus is on sally who is talking to grover (both prominently in the front of the shot) while percy – who isn’t a part of the conversation but a listener of it – is still properly visible through the glass of the door and like??? i just think it’s a super cool way of having a passive character in the shot that i haven’t ever seen before, in a way that percy is both highlighted and still so clearly in the background that it doesn’t take away from the focus characters. also percy’s sweater matching the colours on the door is the cherry on top!!

^next is this one. it’s so perfectly angsty and though not complete, the symmetry is still eye-catching. it encapsulates the feeling percy must experience in that moment–him, amidst destruction, knowing he’s the cause but not knowing how or why. he looks all of twelve with his haphazard hoodie and almost forlorn look. he is not gloating, he is not cheerful. though he doesn’t know the gravity of his parentage, it’s almost like the show is telling us that his powers–which cause the door to break, too btw–will always be a source of isolation for percy. he is a force of nature, a destructive one most of the time, and the fact that he is just a child who is confused will never matter because this world doesn’t care for childhood but godhood alone.

idk, this shot just evokes a very unsettling kind of sadness for me. i think it’s beautifully framed.

^i absolutely love this one simply for the fact that the sheer struggle of the fight is so prominently visible. and yes, i cheated, this isn’t exactly a still shot but like an action sequence screenshot but whatever, it’s too good to not mention it here. the way percy is, honest to gods, bracing against the spear for his dear life, the evident and overwhelming rage on clarisse’s face, the blocking of the scene – it’s perfect. clarisse is not playing and percy is genuinely in danger and i love how this shot and the whole scene really sold us on that fact.

^ i just think it’s extremely cool that we can see the minotaur howling in pain, percy having his mouth wide open as if he’s letting out a yell as he goes to plunge the horn and that as percy does this act–killing the minotaur–which is surefire source of safeguarding himself and grover, something that will get him to camp, we can see thalia’s tree in the background. there is no reason percy had to make the kill here, with the chaos of the fight, so the fact that this is the spot and this is the shot as he kills the minotaur makes me think it’s deliberate. having thalia in the background is so impactful because again, percy could have met a similar fate in some other alternate universe but here, he wins and he survives.

^ do i even need to explain??? the shot is pretty and beautiful and almost magical. percy, alone with a tin of fire, burning blue food and talking to his mother. maybe one thing i can point out is that the sally-percy bond has been heavily indicated through glowing lights since the start. if you recall, the “you are not broken” speech by sally was given in front of the warm, glowing headlights of the car and percy’s face was illuminated by that warmth just the same way it is illuminated by the tin-fire in the forest.

^ first, this is too fucking gorgeous. second, percy is wearing his red jacket again and this dream happened after he reached camp so in my opinion, this dream was initially a comfortable imagining of percy’s mind and was then hijacked by kronos but i could be wrong since i don’t clearly remember how they manifested in the books originally. nevertheless, it’s a great detail to have him wear the red jacket because even if he may not have it with him anymore, it’s still clearly something he holds dear – and might associate sally’s memories with.

also, the fact that percy seems to have alot of scenes with fire might be because as someone who can control water, fire can never truly be a source of danger for him and therefore, he can find comfort in its warmth unhindered, always?

^ how could i not love this epic moment? the trident is perfect, big and blue and grand and majestic. half the screen is water, obviously. but what makes this good shot a great one is that there is literally no one else directly near percy except annabeth. the campers are all far away and in this shot itself only annabeth remains close to percy, though she is fittingly on the land, observing the scene before her. remember how i said percy’s legacy promises isolation but this shot tells me that despite that, percy will have someone who he can count on to be by his side (also cool that even in the bathroom, annabeth was technically still near him, even if she was, well, stalking him) and maybe this is my delusional ass talking, but annabeth being here is foreshadowing for me. i just think it’s a choice to have this epic revelation where they could easily have had percy standing alone in the middle of the lake but no, annabeth is also there and not only because she’s the one who led to that revelation but because she’s someone who isn’t intimidated by percy’s parentage and still can be beside him.

^ i adore this shot because 1) it shows us just how young and tiny percy is and 2) it tells us that maybe that door is so fucking huge because it’s being inclusive of centaurs and other giants of their world. also, symmetry strikes again!!! the colours are so well balanced, not bright and vibrant but on the pastel side that indicates an aged feel to them.

and lastly,

^ i just find it funny that a private academy like yancy has an official vehicle that looks as beat up and terribly malfunctioning as this. 😭 like this half van was so out of place i literally goggled at the screen when it first appeared.

okay, i’m done for now. i also really liked the faceless sally scene in the start paralleling medusa’s eventual beheading but i already made a post about it. this legitmately only covers about 10% of the shots i wanted to talk about but these might be my favourites. this was long af so if you read the whole thing, mad respect to you.

[lainsshop]

We’re Simply Meant To Be 𝜗𝜚

Pairing: Alastor x Reader

Tags: fluff, human alastor, out of character(?), tnbc, eveloping relationship(?) n probably more..

Song: Sally’s Song & We’re Simply Meant To Be - The Nightmare Before Christmas

A/N: Here we out.. Alastor is so Jack coded in someway like walk with meeee!! Not proud of this one tbh..

“… I sense there's something in the wind, that feels like tragedy's at hand-” The ringing in your ears and the dust around the destroyed hotel feel up your senses as you try to stand up. You were bleeding out after fighting against Adam with Alastor. You regained consciousness after remembering what happened, you coughed and begin to search for him.

“And though I'd like to stand by him,” You knew that he was okay but the changes are never zero, you couldn’t risk it- you couldn’t risk never telling him what you felt all those years being together before and after dead, even if it was a silly joke-

𝜗𝜚

“If we still don’t have partners by the age of 30, we should marry each other, what ya think?” You playfully suggest as you hand him a glass of rye. Soft jazz could be heard in Alastor’s radio as you both sat on his dining table. “Now, we both know that we won’t have a someone by that age, probably never.” He chuckled. “I know, I know- I was just joking.” You were lying.. deep down you wanted that, you wanted to be next to him and love him more than a friend but something was holding you back from confessing.

𝜗𝜚

“Can't shake this feeling that I have, the worst is just around the bend,” You continued to walk around, you couldn’t even see the rest of the crew so you were probably a lot farther from them. “And does he notice my feelings for him..?” Your legs betrayed you as you tumbled down on the ground, you became dizzy and rested against a demolished wall. “And will he see how much he means to me?”

“I think it’s not to be- what will become of me, dear friend?” You began to questioned yourself as you tried to push through the pain. “Where will my actions lead us then?”

Cough.

“Althought I’d like to join the crowd, in their enthusiastic cloud, try as I may, it doesn’t last… and will we ever end up together?” Questions. Questions running through your head.

What would happened? What if you weren’t so fucking pathetic and just told him everythi- “And will we ever end up together? No, I think not, it’s never to be ecome-“ You looked at your bloody hands as drops of tears started to appeared. This is your final moment? “For I am not the one..”

You were about to close your eyes as you heard footsteps, vague footsteps getting louder and louder and a radio static-

You quickly looked were the sound was coming from and you nearly jumped when you saw him so near to you.

“… Al-” “Shush, my dear, you’re severely wounded so I should suggest to not speak at the moment, hm?” A beat of silence.

“May I?” He was asking about your injury so you just simply nodded and let him do whatever. He started to help you with the wound. As he did that, he suddenly spoke- “… my dearest friend, if you don’t mind,” You looked at him wondering what he was gonna say next but he was trying to look for the right words and he looked at you with a soft gaze. “I’d like to join you by your side,” You felt a swirly feeling, you didn’t wanted to assume what he meant but you knew it was a positive gesture especially coming from him. “Where we can gaze into the stars-“

You see, there was rare moments where Alastor used to speak like this with you when y’all were alive, you never knew what he meant but in that moment you knew what he meant now. He was- “And sit together now and forever, for it is plain as anyone can see,” He gently grabbed your hand and gave it a small kiss. You both looked at each other with a soft smile.

“… we’re simply meant to be.” You both serenaded.

© LAINSSHOP 2024

[her-favorite]

this is a re-upload bc for some reason it kept glitching at the end??

OBSESSED

James Patrick March x F!Reader

Summary: James has aways been obsessed with you.. but what happens when you find out?

Warnings: smut!

a/n: scamp is old slang for a worthless fellow; a rascal - i like writing smut too much, not proofread!!!

wc: 2666

-

You sat at the bar of the Hotel Cortez, tapping your nails against the polished wood counter. Liz supplied you with refills every time you drank all of the alcohol. You let out a long breath, resting your hands on your face, elbows holding you up. You blinked back the tears that formed behind your eyelids.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" You head shot up, Liz's question taking you off guard. You exhale again, putting your arms down to lay on the counter. You never made eye contact with her, too shame-filled to make any sort of connection.

"I just.. am I not lovable?" Your answer made Liz shoot up from her slouched position. Her mouthed opened quickly, trying to get something out before you kept talking. But you didn't let her. "I don't remember the last time I got asked out on a date. I mean, I always thought that maybe I isolated myself from others, but something just feels different. Am I that bad?" The tears from earlier reformed, quickly falling down your cheeks. You harshly wiped at them.

"Y/N, you have got to be kidding. You are truly one of the most beautiful women to come up to this bar. What I would do to look like you." She gave you a pointed look, before leaning down and picking up ingredients and picking up your glass again. She started mixing. "And, honestly," She paused for a moment, debating her options. "I may be wrong, but, I'm pretty sure March has been telling the ghosts and the people that walk into this hotel that you're off limits." She whispered, looking from left to right to make sure no one was there or listening.

Sally sat in the far back, her cigarette hanging between her two fingers. Before you could say anything or even have a reaction, you heard her laugh. "Yep! Heard James yapping at some poor kid the other day. 'You stay away from her, you scamp! You have zero cognition, nor are you worthy for a goddess like her!'" She recited, barking out another laugh, before taking a long drag from her stick.

You sat there, frozen. You James March to a certain extent. You were still human, unlike most at the Cortez, but you've stayed so long that you felt one with them. You had several confrontations with the dead owner, but he had never showed any sort of interest in you. At least not in that way.

"Wait.." You sat as still as you could, trying to process all of the information that just unfolded.

"You didn't know that March had taken an interest in you?" Liz asks, cleaning the counter and putting things away. You shook your head slightly, still lost in your thoughts.

You weren't exactly opposed to it. Whether the elegant man was talking to you or one of the ghosts, you never could break the eye contact between you and the way you admired him. You always found it odd when your chest tightened every time you heard or saw James with the Countess, but it now made you realize that it was jealousy that you got struck with.

James was quite literally the most beautiful man you have ever saw. His gelled hair, the sharp jawline, his beautiful nose. And those lips, god. You'd be lying if you said that you never thought about what they felt like.

But how come all of this is just making sense now?

"He's not very secretive about it, honey." Liz continues, resting her arms on the counter as she waits for your reaction. The two women stand there, waiting. Sally gets up from her seat and walks over to you. She sits down next to you at the bar, never letting go of her cigarette.

"Well, I'll tell you this," She takes another drag, inhaling the smoke, waiting for it to fill her lungs. "That man is absolutely obsessed with you. I mean, I think it's kinda creepy, but," She shrugs. "I guess I can't really say anything." She grips a bottle of alcohol, her rings stinging the glass, the loud sound reverberating through the tall, open room.

Your heart races as she talks. Once Liz and Sally start their own conversation, everything sounds muffled. Fog interrupts your mind, making your thoughts scatter. Before you knew any better, you got up from your seat, running towards the elevator.

"Sweetie, where are you going?" You hear Liz yell, once she realizes you're gone.

"I'm going to find answers."

-

You walk down the eery hallway, silence filling the air. Your fast footsteps echoed off the walls, showing your determination. Once you reach the door, you quickly walk in, not caring if he was in there or not.

As soon as you step foot inside, his back immediately turned to you. His white shirt was clean and ironed, his hair was perfectly slicked back, those pants showing off his long legs, and his cane in his right hand.

"Dear! What are you doing here at this time?" He takes a quick look at the grandfather clock on the other side of the room. It read: 11:38 pm.

"What is wrong with you?" You ask, not yelling, but your tone showed your irritation. He looked taken back, but slowly steps forward.

"Pardon?" His voice is laced with genuine confusion, his thin eyebrows furrowed. He's still a couple feet away from you, leaning on his cane.

"Why do you keep telling people that 'I'm off limits?'" You quote, your jaw clenched and your eyes piercing his.

"Oh, dear," He blows out air, his shoulders dropping. He looks off in the distance, trying to collect his words. "Y/N, dearest, you deserve better than those fools that walk into my Hotel." His sharp accent accentuating his point. "You are a goddess, made to have someone worship you from their knees." He sets his cane to rest on a table, walking over towards you in big strides. "Any man or woman that sets their eyes on you deserve to be killed because they don't deserve your attention. Anyone that lays a finger on you will not make it out alive because of me." He explains, looking deep into your eyes.

"But.. why? I don't understand, you barely know me- we barely talk! You can't just.." Your labored breathing takes over, the thought of James killing someone because of you making you feel sick.

"Oh, no, my love.. I do know you." A smile forms on his lips, inches away from you. "You know that I'm always with you. You know that I admire you from afar, watching the way that you laugh with Cleopatra at the bar, or.. when you have drinks with the other ghosts. But as soon as I see you with another human in my building.." He tsks, walking around you. "You know that I can't let them live." He whispers in your ear, resting his hands on your shoulders. His raspy voice sends shivers down your spine, your thighs clenching together. A deep laugh sounds in your ear, heat rushing to your face when you realize that he saw you squirm in his hold.

"You like that don't you, darling? That I would kill for you, that I would do anything for you." You felt his body press against your back, getting as close to you as possible. He never heard any protest, taking it as a green light to keep going.

"You are absolutely tantalizing, my love." He teases, his fingers slowly making their way up and down your arms. He felt the goosebumps raise on your skin, a sly smile overcoming his face. "Are you nervous?" He whispers, his hands drift down to your hips, grabbing it harshly, making you gasp.

"No." You lie, your voice cracking. James lets out another small chuckle, wrapping his right hand around your stomach, pushing you backwards, into his chest.

"Don't lie to me, my dear." He leans down to press his face into your neck, his nose tickling your skin. "I can all but hear your heart race, darling." His voice was slightly muffled by your neck, his moving lips tickling you. He presses little kisses against your soft skin, leading down to your collarbone.

Your body instantly envelops with cold air once you feel his presence leave you. Before you could turn around, James stood in front of you with his hand stretched out for you to grab. You obliged, making him smile. He brought you over to his neatly made bed, the back of your legs pressed against the end of the bed. He took both of your hands in each of his, bringing them up to his lips and kissing them.

"Do you consent to this, dearest?" His voice was calmer than it was before. Your heart melted at his words. nodding. Maybe waiting for him was the right decision.

He smiled wide, right hand reaching out to cup your cheek. He leaned down and set his lips on yours, taking your bottom lip between his. You moaned into the kiss when you felt him bite down on the plush skin. He smirked, your reaction already causing an effect on him.

Your arms wrapped around his shoulders, bringing him closer to you. You press your body against him, both of you groaning at the friction. His hands lay on your waist, tightening when he starts to lean forward and set you down on the bed. He hovers over you, admiring your features.

He traces your face, fingers barely pressing down, just hovering over your skin. "You are absolutely ravishing, my goddess." You almost whimper at the name, your eyes fluttering shut. James leans down again, pressing soft kisses against your skin. He slowly works on your shirt, telling you when to lift your arms so he could lift it off of you.

"The first time I make love to you, will be on this bed, not some unworthy floor." He whispers into your skin, moving away just to throw your shirt somewhere. He looks back down at you, watching over you like a hawk. His hands traced over your body, moving up to traced his thumbs over your clothed nipples. Your back arched, wanting more. He hummed, reaching behind your back (with your help of moving slightly, to give him a better angle) and unclipping your bra.

"You are so gorgeous, my love. Absolutely stunning." He praised, calloused hands reaching out and cupping your breasts. He leans down again, kissing and sucking on your nipple and skin. As he mouthed down your stomach, his hands moving down to undo your pants and pull them down.

"James," You whine, catching his attention. "You're wearing too much." You say as he throws away your pants. He chuckles deep from his throat.

"Of course, my dear." He clicks at his suspenders and unbuttons his white shirt. You reach out for him, raking your fingers over his body. Now it was your turn to undo his pants. He laughed at your eagerness, helping you by kicking his dress pants some place on the floor. "Lay back, my darling. Let me take care of you." He whispers, pressing kisses against your abdomen. His fingers play with the waistband of your panties, silently asking you if he could take them off. You nod against the soft, white pillow.

He slowly slides the fabric down your legs, spreading your legs. He immediately leans forward, licking a line up your slit. He groans, "You taste divine, my darling." He quickly dived back in, making your back arch.

"God.. James!" You moan, your hand gripping his hair tightly. He groans against you, vibrating your skin.

"Yes, dear, I am your God." His voice seemed deeper than usual, deepening your arousal. He sucked at your clit, his hands under your thighs, digging his nails into the plush skin. His tongue prods at your entrance, immediately pushing inside and moving around. You moaned his name over and over, James' boxers getting tighter and tighter by the second.

He pulled you in by the thighs, bringing you impossibly closer to him and his mouth. He was addicted to the taste of you. It was so much better than the alcohol and cigarettes he drinks and smokes; this was genuine lust. James didn't believe in any sort of religion, but you tasted like straight heaven. You were an absolute goddess and James was blessed to be able to walk on the same ground as you.

"Come on, dearest. You can do it, cum for me." One of his fingers comes down and spreads your folds. He pushes a finger inside you, his swollen pink lips latching onto your clit again. He pumps the finger in and out, adding a second one when he feels you clench tightly around it. His groans were muffled by you, making your body rake with pleasure. Your hips jerked up one last time, before coming undone on his fingers. As you moaned, James praised you through it, pulling his fingers out once he feels you calm down.

"You are such a doll, my beloved." He kisses back up your body, until he hovers his face over yours. You both smile, leaning up to press your lips against his. Your hands cup his face, bringing his lips closer to yours. One of your hands slides down his body, gripping the waistband, signaling you needed his help to take them off. One arm rests beside your head, holding him up and the other guides the undergarment down his legs and off on the ground. His forearms came back up to rest beside your head, occasionally slipping down to touch you.

"Are you ready, my darling?" He asked, his tip sliding between your folds. Your breath was caught in your throat, nodding instead of speaking.

He pushed in, both of you groaning in unison. Your nails dug into his back and shoulders, creating deep crescent marks in his pale skin. You avoided the large gash in his throat that signified he was dead, bringing one hand back into the nape of hair on his neck.

He hit a certain spot inside you, making you jolt. He chuckled, thrusting harder. "I think I found your spot, dearest." His voice had gotten raspier, if even possible. It sent a chill down your back, adding to your immense pleasure.

"Oh, James.." You moaned, clinging to his body. He groaned in your ear, never stopping his movements. His right hand drifted down your body, the ring on his pinky finger sending another shiver through you.

"You're so good for me, my dear. Come undone for me, love, please. You can do it, just relax." He coaxed you through it, two fingers reaching down to circle your clit. Your hips stutter and your back arches.

You moan as you reach your climax, euphoria taking over your body. As soon as James feels you clench around him and your release, he lets out a guttural moan, thrusting faster inside you.

"My goddess.. Y/N!" He exclaims, letting go. Once you both relax, James pulls out of you, laying down beside you on the bed. You both were heavy breathing, moving your heads to look at each other. "My darling," He was breathless, but brought his hand up to rest on your cheek and press his lips to yours. "Will you be my queen?"

You didn't hesitate to tell him yes. He smiled, leaning down again to kiss you. "Wait," You pull away. "Did you cum inside me?" Your eyes were wide as you saw him smirk.

"Well, dear, it looks like you're going to be mine forever."

[lilislegacy]

my little headcanons (pjo) - part three

poseidon and athena dance together at percy and annabeth’s wedding

it’s not like they are besties all of a sudden, but they’re on better terms than they used to be. poseidon respectfully asks her for a dance, and while she’s shocked and isn’t excited about it, athena doesn’t turn him down. and it’s not like they are the only ones on the dance floor - percy and annabeth are dancing, sally and paul are dancing, mr. and mrs. chase are dancing, other demigods are dancing. but they’re gods, so they are the eye catching ones. and them dancing together is a big deal. they may still be rivals to some extent, but for the first time in a very long time, they find themselves seeing eye to eye more often. because one thing they have in common: they do both care about their children.

one dance. then they go their separate ways. but all the gods and demigods at the wedding are shook to their core. some people view it as an official end to the rivalry, some people view it as a temporary cease-fire. but no matter how people see it, it’s a moment that will forever be remembered amongst gods and demigods.

[orbmanson7]

This is probably obvious but I just want to point it out because I find it interesting: all these new hidden videos are from Wally's perspective.

(Spoilers under the cut)

Watching the videos in order (1-14) makes this very obvious right away, as the first video literally shows Wally's hands in front of him, holding onto some yarn.

He stands or sits in complete silence in every one of these videos as he hears the others around him have their little encounters, full of drama and jokes. He does not ever speak up, and he rarely moves, as though he's incapable of joining in or in some sort of trance or dissociating from the moment.

And the video always distorts and cuts off the moment Wally's name is mentioned, just after he's finally been acknowledged.

There are some moments where he seems to be aware and capable of movement, like having been the one to move this box (or maybe it's just an advertisement standee) near the end of Howdy and Sally's conversation and it causes Howdy to notice that he's there.

There's also this moment where the dialogue doesn't quite match with where Wally would be looking, as Eddie mentions Wally looking past him silently and that's how Eddie realizes Barnaby is coming up behind them. If what we see is Wally never looking away from what appears to be letters scattered on the ground, perhaps this means these moments are not happening as they play out, but rather the memory of the moment, the part Wally can remember?

(However, it's also possible this was just a limitation of resources as it would be very difficult to play out this particular scene in the exact way it was scripted.)

But given that the last hidden video seems to show that Wally has stopped painting as Barnaby is talking to Home, and he even acknowledges this fact, that Wally seems to be unresponsive when he speaks to him, this leans more into the former theory, that this scene is fully playing out while Wally is silent and unmoving, staring at a single spot, only really able to hear what's happening around him.

I have my own personal ideas about this, mostly circulating around the prospect of a puppet being an inanimate object and a potential vessel for one who's dissociating, that this may be a trauma response, or maybe even that lack of acknowledgement leaves Wally immobile, that if eyes are not on him then he can't participate or just ceases to be himself.

And it's old news to mention this by now but Wally's profile on the website talks a hell of a lot more about Barnaby and Home than it does about Wally himself, meaning these in-universe site curators know very little about this character compared to the others (despite him being in nearly every piece of media they've found). Wally lacks character and individualized personality among the cast of quirky characters surrounding him, as though he's either forcibly kept back from expressing himself or he's not actually meant to be there at all and is simply attempting as best he can to fit in.

He's an enigma of a character at this point from what we do know, but being able to see from his perspective has certainly been...enlightening.

[simplyalicee]

☆ Your Darling ☆

Nutcracker AU by @sketchquill

Idea: Inspired by Sketch's recent art for their Nutcracker AU! You and Wally are out in the spring fields, simply enjoying your time together with one another. As you spend more time with him, you come to the realization that just perhaps, you are catching feelings for him.

Just a lighthearted, happy indulging fanfic <33 Warning for insane amounts of fluff and love!!

I know nothing about the Nutcracker, but enjoy!!

♡------------♡

Somewhere out there laid a beautiful piece of land that had yet to be touched by civilization. There was perfect weather; it's not too hot, not too cold, just right. There was a gentle breeze that would occasionally flow by, but even then, it felt nice and refreshing. No wonder why the spring fairies here adored this part of the world. You could even say it was perfect. No- it was perfect. But what made it even better, however, was having your friend accompany you.

"It's quite beautiful out, isn't it?" Wally spoke to you, smiling as he saw that you were still admiring the view in front of you.

"Oh, absolutely. It's nothing like I've ever seen."

You took a few steps in front of you, glancing around the trees that had colorful green leaves. You had mixed feelings. It was unfortunate that you never got to see nature at its full bloom, and yet, you were thankful that parts of the world like here were left untouched. You tried not to dwell on it and instead admire what was in front of you. You felt Wally take your hand into his. You turn your attention to him, seeing his signature smile that always left you breathless.

"I just remembered, there was something I wanted to show you."

You grew curious at what Wally wanted to show you. Was it a surprise, perhaps?

"Oh? Was is it?" You asked, tilting your head. Wally shook his head.

"It's a surprise! Close your eyes..."

Oh, of course. He wants you to close your eyes. Not that you minded, of course, but it was only driving your curiosity crazy. You closed your eyes, smiling as you grew excited. Although you couldn't help but notice that his grip on your hand grew a little bit tighter. You heard his faint laughter as he took you somewhere. You kept your eyes closed, but you only wondered what could the surprise be. Perhaps it was baked goods? Oh, how delicious that would be. But you don't smell any sweets nearby. Hm.

Wally stopped in his tracks, making you stop as well. He lets go of your hand and takes a step aside.

"Alright, Y/N, you may now open your eyes."

With permission granted, you opened your eyes.

..This was possibly the best surprise you could've asked for.

What stood in front of you was an open area that was surrounded by varies types of flowers. They ranged from sunflowers to daises, all up to roses and marigold. How he knew about your interest in flowers was beyond you. How could you ever repay him for such a generous gift?

"Wally, they're beautiful... did you plant these yourself?" You asked with great curiosity as you turned your head to him. Wally shook his head and chuckled.

"No, but she did." He reached his hand out in front of him. You grew confused for a moment, but you were quick to meet a spring fairy that swooped down from the tree above. She landed on Wally's hand, smiling brightly as she took a bow.

"Why, of course it was me! Who else could plant such beautiful flowers other than I, Sally Starlet?" Sally spoke with pride. You chuckled softly as you approached Sally, being careful to not startle her with your approach. She looked up at you as she stood in Wally's palm, it seemed as if she was examining you.

"Hmm... you look awfully a lot like someone who Wally's been talking about." She blurted, which both surprised you and Wally. Your eyes widened as Wally quickly turned his head away.

"Huh? Wally has been talking about me?" How can you process something like this? Not that you were taking it the wrong way, but it definitely caught you off guard. But for some reason, your heart fluttered from her words.

"Indeed, he has! I must say, fellow stranger, you are one lucky friend." Sally beamed with happiness. She took a step forward towards you with her fluttering wings.

"I'd love to chat more, but I have other plans to attend to. Until then, I hope to see your shining smile!"

Sally flew out of Wally's hand and towards your direction. To your surprise, she flew a few circles around you, heading up as she did so. You laughed happily as some of her pixie dust stuck to your pajamas. You watched as Sally flew away to the right of you, possibly headed to grow more plants.

Once Sally left, you looked over at Wally, seeing that he was still looking away from you. You tilted your head with a bit of confusion, yet you still smiled.

"Are you alright, Wally?" You asked him in curiosity. He looks back at you. He smiled back, but you couldn't help but notice a little bit of color on his cheeks.

"Fine as I'll ever be, Y/N. I was just in deep thought is all."

You both stared at each other for a moment. You wanted to say something, but there was just something about him. You didn't know what it was, but you couldn't look away. You both just gazed at each other, staring into each other's eyes. You felt your heart flutter, the heat forming on your face was quickly becoming noticeable. Wally placed a hand on his cheek as he gazed at you. He let out a content sigh as his smile grew. Your heart couldn't stay still, what was happening? You never felt this way before. It felt strange yet familiar.

Familiar because this wasn't the first time you felt this way for him, but strange because it is something you never felt for anyone else but him.

The longer you stared, the more flustered you became. After a few moments, you turned your head from Wally and chuckled nervously.

"I, uhm..." You tried to speak, but you were left a stuttering mess. You heard Wally laugh a bit, he took your hand into his and held it. Stop it, heart, stay still. But it disobeyed, leaving you with a fluttering heart and a sense of... comfort.

"The flowers weren't your only surprise," Wally told you.

"Wait, what?" Your eyes widened a bit. You felt the grasp he had on your hand tighten a little bit, making your face heat up a bit more.

Wally took a deep breath as he took a small step closer to you.

"I would like to dance with you, Y/N," he spoke with an excited tone.

You didn't know how to quite process it. You wanted to dance with him, you really did. But you were unsure. You have never danced before.

"Wally, wait. I don't know how to dance," You responded with a small frown.

"That's okay, I will teach you!" Wally smiled brightly at you.

You were still unsure, but that smile... You couldn't bring yourself to reject such an offer. With a sigh, you smiled nervously and nodded. Wally giggled happily, he was quite overjoyed to be dancing with you!

"Alright, we'll take it slow. Just follow my lead, Y/N." He spoke softly.

Wally let go of your hand and gently turned you around. After turning you around, he gently took both your hands and raised your arms up. You glanced over at him, locking eye contact with him again. Wally smiled softly at you.

"You're doing wonderful so far," he said happily to you. Oh, how nervous but excited you were. Wally lifted one arm up. You stood on your toes, slowly lifting one of your legs up.

"I think I get it, now," you whispered to yourself. As if on cue, Wally twirled you around slowly. You twirled for a short moment, giggling with joy. You placed your raised leg down and stopped twirling, now being side to side to him with his hand on your upper waist. You extended your right arm out for him, to which he took your hand softly. He extended his arm out, keeping your hand held. You had your other hand on his shoulder. You weren't as nervous as you were before, but now that nervous feeling was replaced with the feeling of butterflies in your stomach. Wally had a huge smile curled up on his face as he lead the slow dance. The both of you slowly spun each other around.

As you both danced, you couldn't help but look into his eyes. Wally laughed softly, being so happy that he was dancing with you.

"Awh, Y/N, you have no idea how much this means to me!" Wally sounded like he was geniunely happy to be given the opportunity to dance with you. Seeing his smile, hearing his joy, it made you feel more butterflies.

You opened your mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Stutters again, when will they ever go away? It was okay, however. Wally understood, he wasn't judging. He was just happy to spend time with you. The way he held onto you, being so caring and gentle. The dance lasted for a few more minutes before you both parted. Despite being unsure earlier, you were glad to be able to have this dance with Wally.

"Thank you for the dance, Wally," You spoke.

"Not a problem, Y/N. I am always happy to teach you!"

You couldn't help but smile, the fuzzy feeling only escalating. Your heart fluttered, your face flushed, you couldn't help but feel like this. You and Wally end up gazing into each other's eyes once more, the obvious tension in the air that you were oblivious to. You watched as his face turned brighter in color, was he blushing? You thought it was adorable to witness.

"Did you, uhm... enjoy the dance, Y/N?" Wally looked away, asking in a nervous tone.

"I did, actually. It was very... very nice." You replied, chuckling softly.

It was at that moment that you realized that maybe, just maybe, you liked Wally more than just as a friend. Had you been that oblivious, or were you just too shy to admit it? Probably both. And unfortunately, it became awkward between the two of you. You weren't sure why, but-

"Y/N, there is something I have been meaning to tell you," Wally spoke quickly, you could hear him taking a deep breath.

"I think I have something to tell you, too, actually," You responded, becoming more flushed. Were you wanting to confess just after a moment of realizing your crush on Wally? Yes, absolutely.

Wally looked back at you, a bit stunned by your response. He smiled softly, evident that he was nervous, but wished to hear you first.

"Go on, Y/N. What is it that you want to tell me?" Wally took a small step forward to you, which made you more flustered.

"O-Oh, uhm... Well, it's kind of hard to find the right words..." You stammered, looking away for a moment. You were so nervous to admit your feelings.

"It's okay, Y/N. Please, take your time," He spoke gently, taking your hand into his to comfort you. You looked back at Wally with a flustered look. He saw your expression, thinking he might've made you uncomfortable. He was about to let go of your hand, but you gently gripped his hand from letting go. Wally looked down at your intertwined hands, a smile curled up on his lips. He let out a gentle sigh, content with the situation.

However, you couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Wally, I really like you,"

"Y/N, I really like you,"

You... both confessed to each other. At the same time? How was that possible? You and Wally both looked at each other, eyes widened with surprise.

"Wally, what did you say...?" You asked softly, taking a step closer to him. Wally tripped over his words for a moment, but he found the courage to speak it up again.

"Y/N, I... I really like you," He spoke quietly. He wanted to look away, but he couldn't bring himself to.

You felt tears in your eyes, and your heart swelled with joy. You wanted to cry just from how happy you were. You couldn't help it, you ran up to Wally and threw your arms around him in a tight embrace. Wally was caught off guard but was quick to embrace you, cradling you in his arms.

"Y/N-"

"I love you, Wally," You whispered, hugging him tighter, but not too tight to avoid accidentally hurting him. Wally stood quiet for a moment, his eyes widened as he tried to process what you just said.

He finally said, "I love you, too, Y/N... so, so much."

You both held onto each other for what felt like hours. You didn't want to let go, but you knew at some point that you had to let go. You both enjoyed each other's embrace before slowly pulling away. You looked at Wally in the eyes, admiring him without the need to hide it. Wally's smile only grew larger. He placed his hand on your cheek, caressing it gently. You leaned into his touch. You felt your heart skip a beat when Wally leaned in to kiss you on the forehead.

And in return, you grinned and leaned in to kiss him on the lips. Wally was caught by surprise, but closed his eyes and happily kissed you back. You both held onto each other, enjoying the moment as you kissed each other dizzy. After a few moments, you both pulled away, as flustered as you've ever been.

Then you heard his laugh. Oh, his laughter... It was like music to your ears. You couldn't help but laugh along with him. You took his hand into yours, holding it. You felt him gently squeeze your hand.

This was your special place, now. And the best part was that you had Wally by your side.

Your loving, adoring Wally Darling.

♡------------♡

HEHEHEHEHEHHE <333 I HOPE you all enjoy this writing I did :> Wally loves you!!

also posting this in school lol hi

[theunderestimator-2]

Sally Norvell singing "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" on her punk stage debut as captured by Will Van Overbook back in 1978 in Austin, Texas, with Cold Sweat, a band that led to the Norvells.

Sally Norvell is an actor, director, writer and producer and most Wim Wenders fans may remember her appearance in "Paris, Texas" (1984) as 'Nurse Bibs' on a rubber horse behind the mirror of the peep show but her curriculum vitae also lists her as a frontwoaman who was central to Austin's punk history right from its inception. Having been one of the early punk rebels that attended the San Antonio show of the Sex Pistols (a game-changing moment for Austin's scene which basically sparked out of conversations between future pioneers in cars heading back to Austin from Randy's Rodeo in the wee hours of Jan. 9, 1978) and also having one of the best female punk voices according to the revered historian of Austin's music scene Margaret Moser, she fronted various bands who all shared members and gigs as an entwined entity, starting with Cold Sweat -who actually opened for The Huns during the notorious Raul's gig that turned into a riot after their singer Phil Tolstead kissed a cop on the lips-as well as The Violators, if I'm not mistaken, and followed by Motor Men, The Gator Family and The Norvells.

An important musical figure in her own right by this point, she spent the '80s leading the revisionist-swing combo Prohibition (also featuring members of Scratch Acid, Poison 13, and Glass Eye) and the '90s in the Congo Norvell, a long-lived partnership with Kid Congo Powers.

(via, via, via, via, via, via, via, via & via)

[forest-falcon]

The Butterfly Effect

Chptr 15

⚠️ Trigger Warning for angst/whump

❤️💚💜🩷 🚒🧑‍🚒

There was something unnerving about seeing the strongest person she knew, crumpled unconscious on the floor.

Tam found him cocooned around his Grandmother - sleeping soundly like a child who had sought out the comfort of a parent during a storm.

It all seemed so peaceful, but for the obvious devastation peppered over, and around them. And, of course, the glaring fact that Virgil was, indeed, unconscious, and not asleep.

Her heart panged hard, as she finally remembered to breathe, her chest shuddering with the deep inhalation.

The family didn't deserve this - well, most people didn't; but, it went double for the Tracys. It wasn't so much that they put their lives on the line on a daily basis; that debt of gratitude went without saying. It was perhaps the fact that she'd had the privilege of spending time with the family during her training; breaking bread with them in the evenings, sharing new stories she hadn't heard at the firehouse a gazillion-plus times. Somewhere during their training, Phoenix had shed their associate titles and had emerged as friends; which made this rescue so much harder than her average John or Jane Doe.

"Mrs. Tracy?"

"Told yer a thousand times kid; Sally suits me just fine. Mrs.Tracy is reserved for our shareholders, and Brains - who I've given up trying to change.

"Sally," she corrected herself, feeling a sudden warmth fill her face.

"How are you holding up?" Tam scrambled to unpack her medkit.

"I'll be a lot better once this brave idiot is off me. Can't breathe."

Tam paused a moment, and frowned. Virgil's weight was only partially resting on Sally; his body angled in such a manner as not to crush her. She wondered briefly if that had been at all planned on Virgil's part.

"Level with me kid, what are you thinking?"

Tam had a lot of time for Sally; she was brave, kind-hearted and wonderfully feisty - especially given her age, which she guessed was a taboo topic, here on Tracy Island. The woman was also far too sharp-witted to have the wool pulled over her eyes.

She sighed, continuing to work, as she analyzed the scene before her.

"I think the initial impact of your fall may be the real reason behind the pain you have breathing. Virgil's been careful to lie in a way that would not crush you."

"Sure sounds like him. So?"

"So...we need to check for injuries."

There was a confidence in her voice that she did not feel - or rather, she was confident about things; procedures, protocol, her job. But, inwardly, having not one, but numerous people she cared about (more than she perhaps should, given the amount of time she'd actually spent in their company) she'd admit it; this rescue had her shook. Tam buried the feeling deep, and ran the scan.

"How're they doing?"

Tam looked up from the scan to see the youngest Tracy approaching.

"Alan?" Sally's voice rasped out.

"Sally, you have three broken ribs; but as far as I can see, they've not caused any significant injuries to the surrounding area,"

She passed the med-scanner to Alan, who concurred.

"Well, Grandma; I'd say that's earned you a VIP stay in Tracy Island's very own infirmary. Don't worry, I've heard the doctors there are very good-looking!"

"I wasn't aware that Kip was a doctor too!"

"What? Eww! No!"

Grandma's chuckle was instantly switched for a grimace of pain.

Alan gently rescued a hand on her shoulder.

"Hel-p Vir-gil," she breathed.

"Tam's doing just that, Grandma. Penny and myself will look after you. It'll give Tam the space she needs to properly help Virg."

A hover stretcher, followed by a well-spoken lady appeared. And, before-long, Sally, Alan, and the woman - Penny vanished. Tam couldn't exactly say when. Her attention now firmly on the one member of International Rescue who had yet to regain consciousness.

[blu3-j]

How about everyone from Welcome Home has a sleepover with the human Reader who just arrived in the neighborhood! What would happen if, while the reader is sleeping, he starts crying or says something like this in his sleep: "Please stop this hurting me" (poor reader is having a nightmare). Of course, his puppet friends are going to wake the reader up, but when the reader wakes up he says "no, look over there in the corner there's a monster and he's going to devour me" and after that the reader faints and goes back to sleep..

How would the puppets react? What would happen?

(( Sorry if it's confusing, it's just that I have Sleep Paralysis sometimes when I'm woken up by having a nightmare I see this scary entity that terrified me in my sleep next to me in bed, it's so scary because it seems so real, sometimes I I simply go back to sleep as if nothing happened and I don't remember that accident. ))

Night Horrors

Reader with Sleep Paralysis x Welcome Home Crew

(Headcannon List!)

Oh, goodness! I’m so sorry to hear that, fellow stranger! Well, know that all of the Welcome Home crew would be deeply concerned for you and check up on you the next morning! They care for you so so much! Know that I care for you so much, too! We may be strangers, but I still care! It must be so scary.

Wally:

This dude would just look in the corner you made comment to and investigate

No fear, whatsoever

I can imagine him laughing when seeing nothing and saying aloud to anyone listening “Silly, silly! There’s nothing here.” And just go back to whatever he was doing before he went to check up on you.

Has had experience investigating scary things in the dark to comfort Barnaby

Barnaby:

His eyes would go wide and he’d freeze instantly.

This guy may be a jokester, but he’s not much of a fan of horror

Watching him would be like watching those online gamers play horror games, honestly

He’d slowly turn around and either jump anyway, or he’d walk the other direction repeatedly saying “nope nope nope nope” the entire time

Wally would have to comfort the poor doggo

Sally:

She’d freeze up for a moment and just stare at you as you fell back asleep

The entire time she would just heavily debate on whether or not to look

“D-don’t worry, Y/N, I’ll be your knight in shining armor!”

She’d attempt to go into an acting bit to convince herself to be brave for you

You could hear her sigh of relief outside of the building when she didn’t see anything

Would no doubt refuse to sleep without you or anyone else in the room, though

Julie:

Girly would go wide-eyed and dart around to look, ready to beat the shit out of whatever you saw

Don’t underestimate her, because of her games with random and possibly made up on the spot rules, she’s a lot stronger than she looks and she knows it

She’s more of a fight person than flight, fawn, or freeze

Upon seeing nothing there, she would turn back around and pat you on the head with a smile on her face

“Oh, Y/N, you silly billy! Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you.”

Once she was sure you weren’t having anymore nightmares, she’d skip off to do what she was doing before

Poppy:

Instant panic

This bird is a scaredy bird

She would instantly curl up under the blanket with you and do her best not to look in the corner

She’s shaking so hard, it’s a wonder you didn’t wake up

If she got brave enough, she would rush over to the phone and call somebody over (most likely Howdy) to check the corner for her

Howdy:

No fear

He wouldn’t walk over, but he would definitely look in the corner to make sure there’s nothing there

He’d chuckle when there really wasn’t anything there and then tuck you back in

Like Wally, he’s had experience checking for scary monsters in the house for Poppy and Sally (Sally rarely ever called him to check on something, but he’s had to in the past)

Additionally, he runs a bodega store. There must of been times that were scary as shit

I mean, think about it! He’s most probably heard some things outside or seen things in his store while closing up or during the night when he’s supposed to be sleeping plenty of times!

He’s got to be brave, at least for investigating

Maybe not as much for confrontation, but I can imagine he may know how to stand his ground (albeit a bit shakily)

Frank:

Like most of the others, he would freeze up a bit

Only for a single moment, though

Then he would turn around

When he saw nothing, he breathed a sigh of relief

Depending on how close the two of you are, he’d either lightly glare at you (I doubt it from thinking he’s a huge softy, just a bit grumpy and intellectual), or “smile” at you

“Smile” as in his eyes would scrunch up the tiniest bit in that special way a person smiles at another and raise his eyebrows a bit

Due to his permanent frown, he can’t really smile at you, but he tries on occasion!

For the rest of the night, though, he’d be a small bit on edge

Eddie:

Poor guy would instantly run and call for Frank

If Frank can’t come, he’d attempt to wake you either to assure him there’s nothing there or to run to another room to sleep for the rest of the night

He’s definitely a flight guy, but that doesn’t mean he won’t still try to protect others!

He’d do anything to keep his friends/significant others safe!

Even if it means facing his worst, scariest fears!

Home:

Yes, I’m putting Home in here since they technically count as a character of Welcome Home

That, and Home needs some love, too!

Home would instantly be able to know there’s nothing there

But don’t be fooled! If they were able to breathe like a human, their breathing would have stopped for a moment

Home would tuck you back in with something they can control

If they can’t tuck you back in, they’d squeak out a loving “goodnight.”

[deadbydangit]

I found you recently 🌸

Can you do Pyramid Head, Ghost Face, and Legion (Frank) with an S/O virgin, no experience at all and quite nervous about it? 🫣

I'll show myself out 🫡😳

No worries at all, I'm going to add another killer to it if that's alright. Let's see what I can do. I really hope this is what you wanted. Please enjoy.

With a virgin reader NSFW

Ghostface, (Legion) Frank, Pyramid Head, Deathslinger

Ghostface

He's ready to get down and dirty.

But you've been so skittish about it the last few times he's stopped.

He thought you were nervous about being fucked by the great Ghostface that you couldn't handle it.

Once he figures out the truth, then he's a lot more understanding of the situation.

Danny might need some advice from some of the more friendly killers.

Sally and Evan might be the ones to offer advice.

He may be kind of an asshole.

But he isn't a monster.

Next time you go to see him, he puts up the most romantic setting he can manage in the realm.

Flowers, candles, the works.

"Don't worry baby. Deep breaths. I promise I'll go easy. Okay?"

He's obviously holding back.

And it's for you.

He's going to verbally walk you through every step.

"You're doing good."

He's going to play it up a bit.

"God, you're amazing. You feel so good."

He wants to boost your confidence in it.

He won't cum inside or on top of you.

He doesn't want to make things too stressful.

He might not be a pro at aftercare.

But for this special moment, he's really going to try.

Water, a warm bath, anything you'd like.

He's so proud of you for overcoming your fears.

He is going to cuddle you all night.

That part isn't an option.

But you can't say no to his cuddles.

Legion (Frank)

Why didn't you say so sooner?

Yeah, he's got a lot of experience.

But he remembers his first time.

He remembers the jitters and anxiety.

But he also remembers how his partner wasn't making it special or easy for him.

He is going to make it special for you.

As much as he'd love to fuck you in the snow or by the fire place or some other crazy location, he won't.

At least, not this time.

He'll take you to the bedroom.

And Frank will take extra measures and make sure the rest of the Legion members know what's going on.

They'll find somewhere else for the night.

They're understanding enough to give you and Frank privacy.

He'll start with some kisses.

Slowly trailing them down your body.

And he'll ask you before he does anything

"I'm going to take your shirt off, okay?"

He really is a gentleman about it.

And he will sing praise to you the whole time.

"God, you're beautiful. I mean just look at you."

He could tell you were finished, so he pulled out early.

He didn't get to finish, but that was okay with him, he can take care of that later.

Right now, it's all about you.

Ask him to get you whatever you want and it's going to be there.

He'll tuck you in and wait there till you fall asleep.

He just can't figure out how he ended up with someone as perfect as you.

Pyramid Head

Oh. Really?

He was so touched to hear of your purity.

His own special angel.

But he really wishes he wasn't your first.

Everyone is small compared to him.

Naturally, he's going to be big.

He also isn't too well versed in human needs.

He won't know what you need if anything should happen.

What if he hurt you?

He'd never forgive himself.

Just the idea of hurting his angel made him weak.

You don't have to do anything you don't want to.

And, if you'd rather try it some other way, he'd be happy to help.

And, maybe that would be a better start.

Let's start with just fingers?

That sounds safer.

At least till you've both gotten a better feel for it.

He'll ease in one finger and start moving.

Nice and easy.

You tell him if you want more or less.

He's here for you.

He is rock hard, but he can take care of that later.

He can tell when you're finished.

He's going to hold you to his chest in the sweetest hug.

He can't believe you'd give him your purity.

He might not have taken your flower, but that's something you both could ease into.

Until then, this was nice.

Deathslinger

Caleb can be a little rough at times.

But with how much his body can ache he's usually pretty soft.

But now he's going to go softer.

After all, you get this only once in your life.

His place isn't the most romantic, so going to at least try and make the room more comfortable.

Cleaner sheets, cover up that big open window with whatever he can find, provide some lighting.

And he's going to find you some flowers before hand.

You deserve it.

"Now Darlin', you tell me if anything hurts. You promise me that."

He's a bit strict about it. But he really just wants to make sure you're enjoying yourself.

And, more importantly, that you're safe.

He'd prefer to be on top, but if that scares you too much, he'll take the bottom.

He's going to guide you through it the best he can.

"You settled in. I'm going to start moving, okay?"

He'll keep praising and kissing you as he goes.

Anything to make you feel better.

He isn't going to drag this out.

He'll make sure you finish before he does.

And, as much as he would love to, he won't cum inside of you.

That might be too much the first time.

He'll sit you down next to him, make sure you're feeling okay.

Need anything? He's got you covered.

"Now lay down Darlin', you did real good."

And he's going to stay awake till you fall asleep.

[munson-blurbs]

Chapter 3: All This Time Goes By, Still No Reason Why

Collaboration with my Eddie Munson sister wife, @corroded-hellfire 💚

Series Summary: Based on the Jonas Brothers song of the same name. You and Eddie share a hospital room in the wake of Hawkins' turmoil, striking up an unlikely friendship that could lead to much more.

Chapter Summary: With the help of Robin and Nancy, you and Eddie realize how much you mean to each other, but a medical emergency may prevent either of you from admitting your true feelings.

Warnings: eventual smut (18+ only, minors DNI!), Eddie survives the Upside Down, hospital, mentions of surgery, description of Eddie's scars, controlled use of pain medication, angst

WC: 5.2k

Divider credit to @firefly-graphics

“It’s time to play the Family Feud!”

Click.

“Today on Sally–”

Click.

“There’s nothing good on,” you bemoan, flicking through the channels absentmindedly. Just as you’re about to give up on finding something to watch, a familiar dramatic voice rings out from the tinny TV speaker.

“It’s twins, and the two of you are the father of one each.”

Your fingers falter on the remote as you hear the events play out. Shelby’s sitting in a hospital bed, not unlike your own, one baby in each arm. The plot is so ridiculous, yet you can’t help but be drawn in. The only thing missing is a bucket of popcorn for you to chow down on.

And Eddie, you think miserably, swallowing the thought like it’s a dry pill. He would sit slack-jawed as the two lovers argued over which baby belonged to which man, making comments like, “did you see that?!” when he knows good and well that you’re sitting two feet from him and did, in fact, see it.

Dr. Drake Ramoray is about to announce the paternity test results when there’s a soft knock on your door.

“Can, um, can we come in?” You turn your head to see Mandy standing in the doorway, pushing a redheaded girl in a wheelchair. “This is Maxine. She’ll be your new roommate,” she explains.

“Yup, finally busted out of intensive care,” the girl deadpans, tilting her head to better hear the TV. “Is that Days of Our Lives?”

You give an embarrassed giggle, muting the show. “Yeah, sorry. Guilty pleasure.”

Maxine shakes her head. “No, put it back on! I love that shit. I didn’t have a TV in ICU, so I had to listen to my boyfriend read to me.” A blush creeps across her cheeks at the mention of her boyfriend, and she leans on Mandy as the nurse helps her into the bed. “He has a nice voice, though. So it wasn’t all bad. Better than listening to him argue with his friends about D&D.” Mandy laughs at that before excusing herself from the room.

The mention of the fantasy game is like a knife slice through your heart, but you shake off the thought. “That’s sweet of him.”

“Yeah,” Maxine nods. “Read all my favorites. Guess that’s how it’ll be for a while, until I learn Braille.” That’s when you notice that her eyes are cloudy, the blue irises not focusing in a particular direction. 

You’re rendered speechless for a moment, unsure how to respond to what she’s said. “I’m sorry,” you finally manage to choke out, wincing at how dumb you sound.

Maxine doesn’t seem to care or pick up on your embarrassment. “It sucks,” she says, “but I’ve got a good support system, y’know? And with the way everything in this town’s gone to shit, being blind doesn’t seem like too big of a deal.”

You assume she’s talking about the earthquake essentially splitting Hawkins into quadrants, destroying homes, businesses, and leaving far too many people injured or dead. You start to nod before remembering that she can’t see you. “I get it, but it doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal to you.”

She pauses before responding, contemplating what you’ve just said. “Guess so,” she mumbles. “I just feel guilty worrying about myself when other people are suffering even worse.”

“I’ll drink to that.” You raise your glass of water to your lips, feeling the lukewarm liquid slip down your throat. “Have they told you how much time you'll be stuck here?” 

She chuckles tersely. “Nope. They all keep saying, ‘a little bit longer, and you’ll be back home.’ But I don’t even know if I’ll have a home to go back to.”

“Where do you–did you live?” You shake your head. “That might be too personal, sorry. I’m just excited to have someone to talk to.” And it’s true. Ever since Eddie left a few days ago, you’d been alone with your thoughts. Never a good thing, especially when you’re feeling this sad and helpless, and the mundaneness of the hospital certainly doesn’t help.

“It’s cool. I lived over on Porter Street for a year or so before my mom and I moved into Forest Hills Trailer Park.” She gnaws on her lower lip as though waiting for your judgment. “But before we came to Hawkins, I lived in California.”

“Oh.” California. Where you and Eddie had made plans to run away to–though the sincerity of those plans were apparently up for debate. You want to ask her about it; if she’s ever been to Los Angeles, if she wants to go back, but the knot in your stomach urges you to shift the topic. “Your trailer–was it destroyed in the earthquake?”

“Not sure,” she answers honestly. “No one’s said anything to me, but that could just be to keep me from getting upset. But my boyfriend’s idiot friend–one of them, anyway–let it slip that my neighbor’s trailer got, like, split in half.”

“Oh, shit,” you breathe out. “Is your neighbor okay?”

“Uh, I think so,” Maxine says. “I haven’t talked to him but my boyfriend said he was released from the hospital.”

“That’s good,” you say. “I mean, not that he was in here, but that he was okay to leave.”

“Eddie—that’s my neighbor—is staying with some friends, I think. Or friends of his uncle or something.”

The way your head snaps so quickly in the redhead’s direction makes such a loud crack that even she hears it, wincing at the pop. “Eddie” is a common enough name, but you can’t think of another Eddie other than your Eddie—or, Eddie Munson, that is—in all of Hawkins.

“Wait. Is your neighbor Eddie Munson?” you ask, voice quivering despite your attempt to sound casual.

Her eyebrows pinch together and her head tilts in your direction. “How do you—oh shit! You’re Sunshine, aren’t you?”

Your face heats up at hearing Eddie’s nickname for you. How did Maxine know about that? She’s already said that she hasn’t talked to him. Which only means she heard it from someone else. But who? Between the days dragging into one another and the cocktail medley of medications you’ve been on, you’re not sure if Eddie called you that in front of his friends or not. But either way, somehow it was going around in his friend group that he’d met you and coined that nickname for you. 

“I, uh, yeah, I guess that’s me,” you say. 

“Dustin was telling me about you,” she answers your unasked question. “He said you’re pretty cool and you and Eddie got along really well.”

“Yeah,” you say, heaving a sigh. “I guess we did.”

“Did?” Maxine asks, picking up on your tone. “Something happen?”

“We had a fight,” you admit. “We both said some pretty nasty shit to one another. Then he left without saying goodbye, and I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Eddie’s never been known for his impulse control,” Max notes wryly, but anything else she’s about to add is cut off by the sound of more voices at the door.

“Max!” It’s Robin, and she has a girl by her side. “Hey, it’s me and Nancy. Sorry we’re late; no one told us that you moved rooms–oh, it’s Sunshine!”

You blush at the second mention of your nickname. “Hi, guys,’ you say, giving a little wave. “How’ve you been?”

“Can’t complain,” Robin puts her hands in her pockets. “But, really, we should be asking how you’re doing.” She glances over to her right side. “Oh, this is our friend, Nancy Wheeler.” Nancy gives you a soft smile, and you try to muster up one back.

“I’m okay.” you shrug. I had my first surgery yesterday, so I’m sore. Kinda nauseous from the pain meds. But other than that, I’m fine.” 

“She and Eddie got into a fight,” Maxine–Max–pipes up from the bed next to you. “He didn’t even say goodbye to her. Just…poof! Vanished.” She makes a little explosion gesture with her hands to emphasize her point.

Nancy presses her lips into a thin line. “Yeah, we heard,” she admits. “Eddie told us the other day. He, uh, he’s not very good at handling conflict.” 

“You can say that again,” you mumble, trying to hide your bitterness.

“He’s been different ever since he came home from the hospital,” Robin says. She pushes the curtain between the two beds as open as it would go and puts two chairs in between you and Max. She takes the chair closer to you and Nancy takes the one closer to Max. 

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“He’s been acting weird,” Robin says.

“How can you tell?” Max asks, a smirk on her lips as she gazes unseeingly at the ceiling. 

“Weird for him. He’s all broody and sulking. I mean, I get that the guy almost died, but he was in a much better mood when he was in here.”

All eyes—even Max’s—turn to you laying in your bed. It’s hard not to shrink under their gaze. You tuck your blanket up higher in an attempt to comfort yourself. 

“Do you want to talk to him?” Nancy asks, leaning forward to see you around Robin. 

“Yes,” you admit. “I thought we could clear the air before he left, but clearly that didn’t happen. Then I was hoping the phone would ring. Or maybe he’d just show up. Every time I was taken out of my room for tests or something, I’d always ask my nurse Mandy to watch in case he stopped by. This whole thing’s honestly just got me going crazy. I just want a chance to apologize and explain.”

“What happened?” Robin asks, but after a stern look from Nancy adds, “If you don’t mind talking about it, that is.”

You take a deep breath and nod your head. The pain meds are still circulating through your system so you find yourself more willing to spill your guts to these girls you hardly knew. 

“You know how he called me Sunshine? Well, that ended up being a shit load of pressure. I mean, he didn’t really put it on me—I-I guess I did. But if I brought happiness to his day then I didn’t want to bring him down by telling him the news on my leg wasn’t good. This can be a pretty shitty place to spend day after day so I didn’t want to make it worse on him. 

But it’s not like he ever gave me a chance to explain any of this. Just assumed I was lying to him for my own sick enjoyment. Kept going on and on about how I was just like everyone else who ever made fun of him. And that really fuckin’ hurt. Then he called me—among other things—a bitch and I was seething. I was seeing red, spitting mad. So, I…well, fuck, I said something I really didn’t mean. It went too far and I regretted it the moment it came out of my mouth. I tried…I tried to tell him that. But he wouldn’t listen. Not that I entirely blame him. So, I told myself, I’d talk to him in the morning before he left. Then everything would be-be good.” 

You didn’t expect to start crying while talking about this—about Eddie, but your cheeks are covered in the wet proof that you did. You’re so flustered that you don’t even register Robin taking your hand in hers. 

“Let it out,” she reassures you. “You never told Eddie about any of this?”

You shake your head. “Everyone kept saying how happy I made him. I didn’t wanna be the reason why he’s sad.”

“I don’t think he would’ve been sad,” Nancy tells you. “Concerned, yes. But, I also understand you wanting to shield him from that.” 

“He misses you. It’s plain as day,” Robin says, and her words make you start crying even harder. She scoots her chair closer to you so that she can rub your shoulder consolingly. “It’s going to be okay. And I’m not the type of person who is just going to say that to make you feel better. Actually, I tend to say the wrong thing when I’m trying to make someone feel better. But I genuinely believe this is just a misunderstanding you guys are gonna get through.”

“Yeah, if he ever talks to me again,” you say with a sniffle. 

“He will,” Nancy says and she sounds resolutely sure in her answer. 

Robin and Nancy stay for a little over an hour, talking about people that you don’t know and places that you haven’t been, but you somehow still feel part of the whole conversation with them. It might be the medicine coursing its way through your body, but you feel a little emotional being in a group of girls like this. You hadn’t made a solid group of girl friends away at college, so you’ve been missing this kind of connection. 

Once Robin and Nancy leave, they’re not out the door for thirty seconds before Max pounces.

“You love him.”

“What?” You’re so taken aback by her statement that you can’t come up with anything else to say. No point in asking who she’s talking about, since the only guy you knew in their whole conversation was Eddie—and Steve and Dustin a little. But you’d never even thought those words to yourself about Eddie before. Obviously, you found him attractive. Very attractive. And he’s so kind and funny. It’s addictive spending time with him; you always want more. Your stomach flip flops as you come to the realization. 

Holy shit. Max is right. 

“I know I’m right,” Max says.

Color draining from your face, you turn in her direction. “What?”

She chuckles and shrugs her shoulders. “Knew you were thinking about how right I am. I’m right about most things. Just ask my boyfriend.” 

A frantic knock on the door has Eddie hoisting himself up from where he’s slumped down on Gareth’s couch, which is now his makeshift bed. Since he’d been discharged from the hospital, he and Wayne have been crashing there. It’s a nice place; much fancier than the trailer, but it’s not his home. The steaming cup of cocoa that Gareth’s mom made for him reminds him of the shelf of mugs in his own home, now utterly destroyed. 

Bet Sunshine could make tonight better, he thinks glumly. She made everything better. The knocking gets louder, snapping him from his pity party. “Coming, coming!” Eddie grumbles, tossing aside the quilt and padding towards the door. 

He’s nearly bowled over by Robin and Nancy, who eagerly push their way into the living room. “Um, come on in, I guess?”

“Cool, thanks,” Robin says, plopping down in an armchair. “We need to talk to you, like, now.”

Nancy rolls her eyes. “Jesus, Robs. You make it sound like an emergency.”

“It is an emergency,” Robin protests. “A love emergency!”

“Lucy, Ethel!” Eddie interrupts. “Can you get to the point, please?”

Nancy grins as she delivers the news. “We saw Sunshine today,” she says, watching as Eddie’s eyes widen in surprise. “Max is her new roommate.”

“She misses you, and she is so, so sorry,” Robin jumps in. “She told us that she was going to talk to you the morning after your argument, but you’d already left.” She frowns. “Did you really leave without saying goodbye?”

Eddie buries his face in his hands. “I fucked up. Bad.” He stands up, pacing the room. “But so did she! She—she threw the murder charges in my face! Like it was nothing.”

“She knows,” Nancy says. “And she feels awful about it.”

“And she lied to me,” Eddie adds. “I mean, Buckley, you were there when Harrington said there was a spark. How could there be a spark if she’d just been lying to me?”

Robin breathes out, sharing a knowing look with Nancy. “Eddie,” she starts, “she felt a lot of pressure to keep up this happy, optimistic façade for you. She thought that if she told you what was going on, you’d worry about her.”

Eddie barks out an incredulous laugh. “Of course I’d worry about her! When the people you lo—care about are going through shit, you worry about them!”

“Well, did you tell her about the Upside Down?” Nancy presses, leaning her chin on her palm. 

“No.”

“And why not?”

“Because it’s crazy, and unbelievable, and pretty fuckin’ scary!”

“Yeah, well, the stuff she’s going through is pretty fuckin’ scary for her, too,” Robin explains. “And just like you wanted to protect her, she wanted to protect you.”

“Jesus.” Eddie breathes out a long sigh. “What can I—how can I fix this?” A misty film coats his eyes. “I never meant to make her feel like she couldn’t talk to me about her problems.”

Nancy puts a polished hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “I think you should be telling her this,” she says kindly. “Maybe bring her some flowers?”

Eddie perks up a bit at the thought. “Yeah! Yeah, I can do that. Maybe I can go next week, when I’m cleared for longer car rides.” The trip home from the hospital was painful enough; each bump in the road sent shockwaves through his scars. 

Robin smiles. “I think she’ll love that.”

“Never thought I’d be taking love life advice from Lady Wheeler and Video Girl,” he muses. 

Robin shrugs, clearly not offended. “Better than from Steve,” she says simply. 

It’s only been about two weeks since Eddie’s been in these halls, but being able to walk them of his own free will and knowing he can turn around and leave at any time he likes certainly makes it better. Making the familiar walk to his old room, Eddie wrinkles his nose at the scent of antiseptic and whatever disinfectant they use to clean the floors. How did he ever sleep in this place? Bells and alarms are going off every other minute. Eddie feels like he’s going crazy and he’s only been in the hospital for three minutes.

Small bouquet of Sunflowers in his hand, Eddie takes the elevator to the correct floor, then turns right down two hallways, and he’s finally at the room. Before raising his fist to knock, Eddie takes a deep breath to compose himself. He wasn’t sure how he’d be feeling seeing his Sunshine again after their fight, but the correct answer to that would be anxious. He gently knocks on the door frame and pokes his head into the room.

“Who is it?” Max asks, talking to you, Eddie presumes. Or maybe to him, wanting him to announce himself. 

“It’s, uh, me,” Eddie says, taking a step into the room. “Um, Eddie.” He glances over at your bed, hoping one quick look would steel his nerves to look at you head on. But he does a double take when you’re not in the bed. 

“Hey, Eddie,” Max says. She breaks him out of his confused haze and he steps around the curtain to see her. Considering all that the girl had gone through, she doesn’t look too bad. Casts are still covering the multiple bones that had been broken, but her unseeing eyes were by far the most unsettling. It caused a pit in Eddie’s stomach to know all that she had endured and all she had tried to shield her friends from had landed her here like this. 

“How’re you feeling, Red?” Eddie takes a seat next to her bed, your flowers still clutched in his grip.

“So bored,” she says with a sigh. “There’s shit to do around here. I have to listen to everything. Can’t watch anything, obviously. Can’t touch anything ‘cause of these damn broken arms. Only other senses I get to use are my sense of smell to inhale the lovely aroma of body odor and hospital chemicals, and my sense of taste when I have to literally be spoon fed because my body doesn’t work.”

“Jesus,” Eddie says. “I’m thinking I’m lucky now that all I have are some chunks of skin missing from my one man show for some fucked up demonic bats.”

“I’m sorry,” Max says with a sigh. “I didn’t mean to unload on you like that. Just been stuck in my head today.” 

“No, no, I get it. But, uh…couldn’t you have talked to… I mean, where is, um,” Eddie stutters out.

“Your Sunshine?” Max asks, a mocking cheesy smile on her face. “Came to see your girl?”

“Yeah,” Eddie says with a sigh. A faint blush comes to his cheeks at Max referring to you in that way. “Where is she?”

“Her second surgery is today,” Max tells him. “They came and took her early this morning and I’m not sure when she’ll be back because they’ll take her to recovery first.” 

Eddie’s grip tightens on the flowers in his hands and he makes a conscious effort to take it easy so the stems aren’t snapped off when you get to see them. There’s a queasiness in his stomach as he thinks about you being in surgery right now. Unconscious, doctors working on you, scalpels cutting open portions of your skin. It gives him a full body chill. 

“Her mom is here somewhere. In the surgery center’s waiting room, I’d guess,” Max tells him.

“Oh,” Eddie says, suddenly becoming fidgety in his seat. He wants to go out there and find your mom, who will hopefully have an update on you. But he doesn’t want to leave Max all alone again. 

“Go,” Max says, as if reading his mind. “Just make sure you switch the television to something else before you leave. If I hear the news cycle one more time I’m going to claw my way out of these casts just so I can turn the channel myself.”

Eddie stands and flips through the channels until he settles on Wheel of Fortune. “How’s that?”

“Kinda hard to play along without seeing the puzzle, but whatever, it’s better than the news. Oh, uh, Eddie? Before you go, can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” he says, slipping his free hand into the pocket of his jeans. 

“No one will give me a straight answer. Maybe they don’t know or just don’t want to tell me, but I know you’ll have seen it. Is my home okay? I know my mom’s still staying there, but I want to know she’s safe.”

Eddie frowns and takes a few steps forward to gently place his hand on your shoulder. “Your trailer looks fine. Or, well, I guess I should say it looks the same. None of the trailers in Forest Hills have ever looked ‘fine.’ But yeah, your mom is safe there. No damage or anything like that.”

“Thank you,” Max says, releasing a sigh that’s probably weighed heavily on her for a while. 

“Sure thing. Hey, I brought some flowers. I’m gonna put them on Sunshine’s bedside table, okay?” He takes one of the sunflowers out of the bunch and snaps off the branch so he can stick it into one of Max’s twin braids. “Now you look like a real flower child.”

“Can’t hold my fingers up in a peace sign, but okay. Yeah, I’ll tell her the flowers are from you if she comes back in here after you’ve left. Glad to know there’s actually flowers in here though, because I smelled them and thought it was some new cleaning product they were trying.” 

“Thanks, Red. I’ll see you soon, yeah?” Eddie asks as he sets your flowers down.

“Wish I could say the same,” Max says and Eddie winces at his phrasing. “I’m messing around. Go find your Sunshine, lover boy.”

“Ugh, don’t call me that,” Eddie whines.

“Fine. Romeo? Lovebug? Casanova?”

“Jesus, just call me Eddie,” he says with an eye roll. He shouts a goodbye over his shoulder as he heads out of the room. 

Eddie makes his way to the waiting room, rubber soles of his worn Keds squeaking on the linoleum floor. He recognizes your mom from their brief encounter the day before he left, and he gives her a tight grin. 

“Um, hi,” he says. She gives him a confused look, and he realizes how different he must look, freshly shaved and in his normal clothes. “I’m Eddie. Sunshine’s old roommate? And, uh, the one who called her Sunshine, I guess.” He ducks his head bashfully. 

Your mom’s expression softens as she recognizes the boy. “Of course! Sorry, it feels like my head is spinning, waiting for the doctor to come out with an update.”

“How long has it been?” Eddie asks, taking a seat next to her. 

“Too damn long,” She chuckles lightly as she glances at her wristwatch, letting out an exasperated sigh. “About four hours now. They said it shouldn’t take too much longer than that…”

As if on cue, Dr. Sanoj hurries into the waiting room, fingers clasped together. A knot forms in Eddie’s stomach; whatever’s going on can’t be good. 

“I have an update on your daughter,” he says to your mom. “We could speak somewhere private, if you’d like.” His gaze briefly shifts to Eddie, who shoves his hands in his pockets shyly. 

But your mom is firm when she shakes her head and says, “no, he can hear this.” 

“Okay,” the doctor begins. “The surgery was successful, and didn’t take too long at all. There are some complications, however; possibly due to having two procedures done so close together.”

“What’s going on?” Eddie interrupts. 

“We’re having some difficulty waking her from the anesthesia, and she’s spiked a small fever,” Dr. Sanoj admits. “There’s no real cause for concern yet. We’re just going to have the nurses continue to take her vitals.”

Eddie feels your mom’s fingernails dig into his wrist, but he doesn’t complain. It feels good, in a way, to know that he can be there for someone in their time of need. “Can we see her?” she asks the doctor. 

He nods. “Yes, of course. You can follow me into the recovery room.” They’re both right on his heels as they make their way down the white corridor. Neither of them say a word, but the fear is palpable. 

“You can go in first,” your mom offers. “I need to make some phone calls to relatives and friends. Just let me know if she wakes up, please.” Her tone is hopeful, but Eddie can still sense the anxiety beneath it. 

Seeing you in such a vulnerable state twists Eddie’s heart. He doesn’t even realize he’s crying until he feels the tears on his cheeks. Pulling up a chair to your bedside, he takes your hand and brings it to his lips, kissing it gently. 

“Sunshine, can you hear me? If you can hear me, please wake up.” He leans over, placing the back of his free hand on your forehead. “Shit, you’re burnin’ up. Small fever, my ass,” he grumbles. He’s always been suspicious of doctors, and he doesn’t trust that this isn’t more serious than the surgeon let on. 

“Listen, Sunshine,” he starts. He’s not sure if you can even hear him, but it’s worth a shot. “I’m really sorry that I made you feel like you had to pretend to be happy all the time. That’s never what I wanted. I guess…I guess I figured you’d tell me if something was wrong. Sounds kinda dumb now that I’m saying it out loud.” He gives a small laugh. “And when I found out that you’d been keeping your surgeries a secret, I thought it was just you pushin’ me away. But now I know it’s because you were just tryin’ to protect me.

“And, look, I get it if you don’t want anything to do with me anymore. I’m loud, and impulsive, and I couldn’t pass geometry if my life depended on it. I have no idea what I’m doing after high school, and I wish I could blame the earthquake for that, but it’s all me. Also, in the spirit of honesty or whatever, remind me to tell you the truth about that earthquake thing,” he adds, bringing his thumbnail to his mouth and chewing on it anxiously. 

“Sunshine, you’re, like, this beautiful ballerina with these big plans and a heart of fuckin’ gold. And if–when–you wake up, if you decide to never speak to me again, I’ll understand. I mean, I’ll be devastated because, y’know, you’re kinda my favorite person in the whole world, but I’ll get out of your way. But, please, please wake up. I can’t have you dying before you even get a chance to live out your dreams.”

Eddie stops, cocking his head slightly to watch your chest move up and down with each shallow breath. You start to sputter, and his heart lurches at the prospect of you hearing his words and waking up to them.

But the sputtering gets more violent, and one of the many machines connected to you starts to beep loudly. A swarm of nurses infiltrates the room, nudging Eddie out of the way.

“We need all visitors to leave,” one of them tells him, even though he’s clearly the only other person there.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Eddie calls out as he’s being guided out of the door. “Is something wrong?” He watches as they pull out a defibrillator, attaching the adhesives to your chest before starting it up. He wants to stay and be there for you, even if you aren’t aware of it, but the door is closed behind him.

“You can pull through, Sunshine,” he whispers. “You’ve gotta pull through.” Not many sounds reach him on the other side of the door, and Eddie isn’t sure how he feels about that as he paces back and forth. He’s hardly keeping together when he hears footsteps coming down the hall. 

“Eddie?”

He lifts his head to see your mom walking towards him, a confused frown pinched on her face as she approaches. It’s the sight of her that has the impending tears welling up in his eyes. 

“Eddie, what’s going on? Why’s the door closed?”

Wringing his hands in front of him, Eddie halts his pacing. His mouth opens but nothing comes out. The longer his silence drags on, the more concerned your mother looks. 

“I’m not sure, really,” Eddie says. “I was in there with her then machines started beeping and they kicked me out. They brought some other machine over to her but then I couldn’t see anymore because they closed the door.”

“W-What?” Your mom looks around, seeing if there are any doctors or nurses around that can explain what’s happening to you. She almost bangs on the door but she doesn’t want to interrupt whatever they’re doing in there to help you. “What’s happening to my baby girl?”

Eddie’s eyes were misting over before, but at the heartbreaking tone of your mom, tears start to trickle down his face. He doesn’t know what to do or say. What would you do in this situation? Taking a wild guess, Eddie opens his arms to your mom, who instantly takes him up on the hug. Her head rests on his shoulder and it’s not long before he can feel her tears soaking into his shirt.  “She’ll be okay,” Eddie says. “She has to be.”

--

taglist: @thebrookemunson, @mystars123, @h-ness1944, @hazydespair, @ajkamins, @aysheashea, @jasminelafleur, @brittney69, @arsonfrogger, @brassreign, @lunarzstarz, @aftermidnightwriting, @justtryingtobecreative, @micheledawn1975, @kailynn-exe @afunkyfreshblog @fangirling-4-ever @crimsonsabbath @babyexpertlampskeleton @whenshelanded @ches-86 @acmbooksfilmtelevisionandreads

[demigods-posts]

Reasons why Son of Poseidon from The Lightning Thief musical is an amazing song:

1.) “What belongs to the sea can always return.” I don’t remember if this was an actual quote from the book, but it is a damn good one. Percy having the seashell from the very beginning and using it to return to the ocean later on is so cool. It’s almost like Poseidon knew they’d have to face Ares. Also, Poseidon giving Percy a seashell in the musical has the same energy as Poseidon giving Percy a sand dollar in the books lol 

2.) “And I know right now things are less than fine, but I think my dad may have thrown me a line.” The water-related puns are very Poseidon-coded, which it makes sense being that Percy is his son.

3.) “And better late than never to finally get a sign!” And then the call back to ‘Their Sign’ from earlier in the musical!

4.) “Who wins if the gods go to war? Ares, the god of war.” I remember being taken aback by this plot twist when I read it for the first time, and it hits just as hard in the musical. I think some people in the fandom forget that Percy Jackson has always been incredibly observant, emotionally intuitive, and intelligent, and moments like this remind us of that.

5.) “Well, he’ll have to get through me! We’ll take him down. We work well in three.” “Plus, a half-goat with a great goatee. Let’s do this!” I love how even when Percy is being a bit reckless and impulsive, his friends still got his back. Also, I’m just now realizing that ‘goatee’ was a pun lol

6.) “You’re the two best friends this screw-up ever had.” And then Percy returning the sentiment by labeling them his best friends is all I really need. I love this trio!

7.) “You may be a god, but you’re going down all the same!” Leave it to Percy to disrespect a god to their face when he knows the god doesn’t deserve it. Sally raised him right.

8.) “Your meat is minced. I’m here to mince it.” And then having Ares sing about an action already taking place before he performs the action just like Clarisse did in ‘Put You in Your Place’ is an interesting way to shine a light on how similar children of Ares can be to their godly parent. 

9.) “You think the god of war is afraid of a little water?!” “How do you feel about a lot of it?” Percy coming up with witty comebacks that will either make the situation worse or turn the tide in his favor is so in alignment with his character, and I love the writers' attention to that detail. 

10.) “I’m the son of Poseidon. I never asked to be, but I’m the son of Poseidon. Now, face the tide inside me!” I feel like this song, particularly, this moment, is a callback to his first line in the musical/books: Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood. Percy has come to terms with what his life is, and is starting to accept it. We love to see character growth. 

If it isn’t abundantly clear already, I love this song. I love that the trio has clearly grown from constantly fighting in ‘Lost’ to having each other's back in this song. I love the Ares-Clarisse similarities. I love Ares’ singing voice. I love the Sally and Hades cameo. I love it all.  

[skywalking-through-life]

Rate Sally/Paul, Sally/Poseidon and/or Sally/Paul/Poseidon from 1-10 and explain why!! Or just choose one if that's preferable. ~Hermes

LOL, yet another fantastic ask, Hermes. 😂

Okay, here goes! I will attempt to work within the parameters you set, so you can have rankable data, but I don't personally tend to think of the ships I like in terms of rankings, and I like all these ships a lot, lol.

Sally/Paul - I briefly touched on this one in my answer to your ask about ships I like that other people don't, so I'll try and expand a little. As a woman in my thirties, I've really, really, really come to appreciate the value of having a romantic partner in your life who is just like...really chill with things, lol. And if I, with my slightly-unusual-in-parts-but-mostly-very-ordinary life, can appreciate that, how much more might Sally? 😂 Poor woman has not had anything easy. If I were in her shoes, I probably would have despaired of ever finding a man who could love me (and my teenage demigod son, lol) in the steady, accepting way Paul seems to. He's just a good guy, and after Gabe (ew) and Poseidon (complicated), she deserves a good guy. 💙 (9/10, this makes me feel so warm and fuzzy)

Sally/Poseidon - There is a fantastic song called 'Dream in Blue,' by The Stray Birds, that literally always makes me think of Posally, because it is sad and beautiful and longing and so tender. I may be the only one who has ever thought of them when listening to that song, lol, but it does a great job of describing how I feel about this ship! There is just so much complexity and depth to their relationship, and it makes me think more than (almost) any other PJO ship. As you know, lol, since you love the fic that I've done so much of that thinking in! What is love, especially when it is real, and mutual, between a God and a mortal? Something both permanent and very hard to pin down, I think, and something heartbreaking. (7/10, only because sometimes the feelings are too heavy for me)

Sally/Paul/Poseidon - Okay, so I know that this started out as a crack ship in MANY people's minds (maybe yours, I can't remember?), but I unironically ADORE it. 😂 Why should Sally have to choose between her uncomplicated, adoring puppy of a mortal husband, and all the depth and power of her adoring (ex?) immortal lover? I live for the image of both of them doting on her, maybe starting out slightly competitively, wondering what Sally sees in the other, before they slowly begin to see each other the way she does. I have an incredible mental image of Percy walking in on Paul and Poseidon making out in the kitchen while his mom sits at the table with a crossword puzzle or something, and him shrieking and about passing out on the linoleum. 😂 I honestly think it is the best combination of adult beings in Percy's life, so the potential for soft parenting moments and hilarious parenting mishaps is HIGH. (10/10, duh)

[temporalarts]

Hello there, I have noticed you’re a well of knowledge when it comes to iDKHOW lore. I’m struggling to find good sources of information and I’d like to learn everything there is to know; do you know how I can do this? Anything I can read/watch? I did a surface-level lore dive a year or two back but I don’t fully remember everything and I’m seeing some stuff around Tumblr I never knew about. Call me Sally Mae because I intend on uncovering everything I can about this band’s lore ;)

hi there! sorry for the late answer, have had tumblr deleted for a while.

important information about idkhow lore first:

it is NOT required to know anything about the lore of idkhow to listen or enjoy idkhow. idkhow's lore is meant to be additional story to the band and is meant for fans to explore only if they are interested. idkhow's songs/lyrics by themselves do not have story meanings. it is hugely important to recognize that idkhow as music and idkhow as a story are separate entities.

idkhow's lore is a metaphorical story for dallon's experience within the music industry and celebrity la/hollywood culture. everything in the lore is symbolic for something in real life (for example, TELLEXX is a metaphor representation of the music industry). i implore anyone getting into the lore of idkhow to treat the lore with gently and respectfully because of that reason.

idkhow's lore has mostly been uncontinued since 2020/2021 since the release of razzmatazz. SRCHPRTY (main character of the lore) has been an abandoned account since june of 2021. this is for a multitude of reasons, including dallon not wanting to have a story line with each album, lack of label support, and lack of time for the lore. because of this, a lot of information about the lore has been lost to time and is no longer available to the public. gloom division (idkhow's most recent album) does have a lore behind it, but has not had a story run like razzmatazz had yet (it could in the future, but gloom division didn't have the time or budget to at this moment). lots of amazing archivists in the community are trying to preserve the lost content over the years (ill link one available one below), but please keep that in mind while looking into the lore.

you may see mentions of ryan seaman (also referred to as subject B) mentioned in the lore and some resources. ryan seaman was the previous drummer of idkhow and is no longer in or involved with idkhow since september 16th, 2023 (due to various reasons i wont go into here, but if you dont know look up the information to why online). idkhow is now and currently a solo project of dallon weekes, but if you see any reference of idkhow being a duo or see him in resources that is why.

that out of the way, here is all the resources I could come up with!

introductory idkhow lore carrd, made by my good friend @fadeyouout! very good start to everything in the lore!

full timeline of all events from current idkhow lore, made by me!

very good place to start with the lore is the srchprty conspiracy video. introductory video to srchprty's research, basic backstory for srchprty, and the main 3 questions in the story.

ALL srchrpty diaries: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6! watch these chronologically as they build off one another.

if you haven't already, look through srchprty's twitter and instagram accounts. look through tweet replies/instagram comments. srchprty regularly interacted with fans while he was active and a lot of story building with TELLEXX comes from those interactions.

physical copy only extras in razzmatazz, lyrics for indoctrination and tomorrow people. razzmatazz physical versions came with two exclusive spoken word tracks, indoctrination and tomorrow people, both directly from TELLEXX.

TELLEXX documents, found in physical copy only extras in razzmatazz lyric book. includes a internal TELLEXX letter and volunteer subject consent forms.

archive of all of idkhow's instagram posts (2017-2022) made by abstracttheart on twitter. most of idkhow posts on instagram has been deleted over the years, so this is a great resource to see those deleted posts. you can most lore related posts from 2020-2021.

the mysterious world of i dont know how but they found me, dork magazine interview with dallon on the razzmatazz lore and its metaphorical meanings to him. VERY important read in my own opinion!

instagram highlights from idkhowindo: part 1, 2, 2.5, 3. their account has since been abandoned, but the archived stories are from the time of srchprty's activity and has a lot of good information in them.

questions i have answered about some idkhow lore topics in detail: what happened to srchprty, what is TELLEXX, and who is subject a. if you have any questions about the lore that you need answers to feel free to shoot me an ask in my inbox! idkhow lore is my special interest and i love answering any questions new fans have.

idkhow.com from 2020-2022 (recommend scrolling through archives of the website from wayback machine from august 2020-december 2020). the idkhow.com website during razzmatazz lore was ran by srchprty and was being recovered during the razzmatazz lore after a previous shutdown by TELLEXX in 1996.

TELLEXX stress evaluation test: may see this referenced around different lore resources, this is the official website for the test. as well as a article from the coder on how the website works to give results which is a very interesting read.

qwerty translator: TELLEXX/srchprty uses a code called QWERTY code throughout the lore, which is a letter substitution code substituting the alphabet for the QWERTY keyboard (ex: A=Q, B=W, etc). very helpful for decoding those codes!

most "niche" idkhow lore information comes from video/text interviews with dallon from 2020/2021! hard to find every single interview he does talk about the lore, but any dive into interviews from 2020 and you can find moments where he talks about razzmatazz lore. some instagram interviews from 2020 have been archived on idkhows youtube for watch.

indie pop, deep lore, and fan theories: how idkhow give there fans more than just music, tone deaf article on lore

i will update whenever i can with whatever i can find, but that is all the available resources for the lore of idkhow currently. if you (or anyone) have any questions about specific things within the lore, feel free to shoot me a question in my inbox and i will try my best to answer! enjoy!