#What the hell happened in a Kmart

[jo-harrington]

Peak Sales Hours (Eddie Munson x Store Manager!Reader)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: After his first Black Friday, Eddie is exhausted and takes comfort in his new relationship with you.

Previous Part: Promotion

Warnings/Themes: Established friendship/new relationship, fluff, hurt/comfort(?), idk it's a lot of comfort, working in retail hell, Eddie works at Tape World and Reader is the Store Manager at Claire's in Starcourt Mall, angry customers, weariness

Note: So...hi guys. Welcome back to the Store Manager Verse. This little installment is sort of skipping a step. I had a whole thing planned and half-written of Eddie and our favorite SM actually confessing their feelings and being fluffy...and it's still gonna happen I'm just...on day whatever of work and have a big deadline and have had sleep for lunch the past I-don't-know how many days.

And it just took me back to the countless Black Friday and Peak Holiday shifts where all I wanted was to get back home. So here we are.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

___

Never, in his entire life, had Eddie Munson felt more akin to the heroes from his favorite fantasy stories.

Long journeys and harrowing battles.

Deep wounds and comrades lost to the beyond.

Hoards of villains and the promise of a better future if only there was hope.

Taran. Aragorn. Luke Skywalker. They had seen it all.

"What's taking so long? I just need a gift receipt!"

But none of them had ever worked Black Friday.

He had experienced Black Friday before, as a shopper.

Thanksgiving hadn't ever been anything magnificent in the Munson household, especially after his mom died. Wayne and Rick had always tried to make it still feel special for Eddie, with hearty midwest comfort foods.

There would always be a full belly and an even fuller heart with his uncle and his almost-step-dad around. Eddie could never complain.

Then after a late afternoon dinner, Wayne would pack up a plate of leftovers to make his shift at the plant that paid time-and-a-half, plus a little something extra from the plant manager, cash in hand. By the time Eddie woke up the next morning, Wayne would pull up with a box of fresh donuts, honk three times, and they would be on their way to the Kmart on Rt 9 and get some steeply discounted goods with Wayne's holiday pay.

It was always a madhouse, but Eddie could swiftly dodge screaming kids, empathize with over-caffeinated employees, and wait in long lines if he and Wayne didn't need to fret about things like work boots and gloves, t-shirts and underwear, and usually one nice little Christmas gift for each of them.

This year, of course, had been a little different. Wayne had been a little disappointed--he would never admit it, but Eddie could tell--that their tradition would be forsaken for Eddie's shift at the mall. But your addition into the Thanksgiving festivities had been a welcome one.

Eddie had extended the invitation weeks ago, when you mentioned you wouldn't be able to make it home to spend the holiday with your family thanks to work.

You, of course, promised to pull your weight--

"It's always really casual," he tried to ease your worries as you began to fret over what kind of dessert Wayne and Rick might like. "You don't even need to dress up. Come in your pajamas. Rick makes a really good pumpkin pie, and I have my mom's old scalloped potato recipe that will literally put you in a food coma."

"What about turkey?" you asked.

"We don't really do turkey." He shrugged. "There's only three of us. So we do different things every year. Rick usually catches some kind of fish if it's warm enough. Wayne has a good recipe for fried chicken. We were thinking of doing meatloaf..."

"I can do the meatloaf!" You perked up immediately.

--only to show up laden with a roasting pan for the meatloaf, a plastic-wrapped gravy boat full of some kind of mushroom gravy, a salad, and a casserole dish overflowing with green beans, cream-of-something soup, and heaps of french fried onions.

Eddie, of course, scolded you as you shuffled through to the kitchen, much like he had the first time you showed up for dinner at his place. But he also placed a soft peck on your lips, which earned him a bashful smile as you shoo'd him away.

That was a new development to your...friendship, if you could even call it that anymore. There really hadn't been time to discuss the logistics between the frenzied makeout session in his van outside of the Hideout this past Tuesday night and Thanksgiving dinner.

Now that he had been trapped at the cash wrap, ringing out ungrateful customers for the past 8 hours, he was almost loathing his past self for wanting to be a little discreet in front of Wayne and Rick. For not...making himself have the "what are we" conversation with you, because your lips had soothed every frazzled nerve he had the other night.

Knowing that at the end of the day that he wasn't going through it alone, that his girlfriend was also in the mall suffering through the mass chaos and that he could go upstairs and steal a kiss whenever he wanted...well it certainly would have done him a world of good to mentally prepare him for this.

For the entirety of his time working at Tape World, he thought he had been doing a pretty good job. Sure there were some hard days, some rude customers. But at the end of the day, an 8-hour shift was an 8-hour shift, and he was only selling tapes. Not...ending world hunger.

"Ah you say that now," Kyle told him on Wednesday as they were putting together cardboard "dump bins" for the discount tapes that would be placed every 10 feet in the store. "But Black Friday is a beast, and Christmas Eve is worse. You're honestly lucky you only work here and not at, like, Radio Shack or something. My buddy Todd has seen some shit.

"Actually, I'm almost regretting scheduling you as a mid but I needed a second key." Kyle rubbed the back of his neck. "Peak Hours. Mid's a rough shift for Black Friday weekend."

"I'll be fine," Eddie scoffed. "I've done mid shifts before. I'm almost excited. How bad could it get?"

Famous. Last. Words.

He had barely been able to squeeze into the store when it was time for his shift, the line for the cash wrap blocked the way to the stockroom door. As soon as people saw his name tag, they started shouting at him to open the other register, how they needed help; he could barely get a word out to explain that he wasn't clocked in yet. They didn't care.

He was no longer Eddie Munson, Tape World Keyholder and your boyfriend, probably, maybe...

He was a body who could unlock the electronics case and ring them out.

He was a husk who said "welcome in" and "thanks have a great day" and smiled until his face started hurting.

And for the first time since he had gotten this job back at the beginning of summer...it really fucked with him.

His legs were cramped from standing at the Cash Wrap for so long, he wasn't sure which of the associates had his keys, his hair was damp with sweat even if he threw it into a some haphazard bun hours ago.

He'd been yelled at by more people than he could count, counted so much change the edges of his fingers were pretty much stained from all the muck and grime on everyone's money, and had made so many returns from people with buyer's remorse that he was sure they had given more money back than they had made in sales today.

Eddie hadn't even gotten a chance to take his lunch out in the mall and pay you a visit like he typically would. He had just collapsed in the little metal folding chair in the break area of the tiny stock room. Kyle had clapped him on the shoulder with a quick "good job kid" as he left for the day and Eddie hadn't even moved.

"Alright Ed," Paulie shuffled over as Eddie wrapped up the last in a long line of transactions and was about to wave the next customer over. "Quitting time."

Eddie sighed and backed against the counter as Paulie counted him down. The adrenaline of the day finally started to wear off as he came to realize that it was all over, and a weariness unlike the one he had been feeling his entire shift settled deep into his bones.

He went through the motions as he went back to the stockroom to grab his jacket and punch out. He wove his way through the still-crowded store and out into the mall, sighing in relief as the cooler mall air hit him.

It was gonna be a mercy once he got out to his van. He'd drive home with the windows down.

His ears rang as he headed towards the employee entrance and he wondered if it would be worth waiting in line at the Orange Julius before he left or if he should just stop through the McDonald's drive thru or something on his way home.

"Eddie."

But then, he didn't really need to stop for anything. There were leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner at home. He could smoke a little bit, make some kind of meatloaf sandwich, and then sink into his bed.

"Eddie."

And sleep until...

Fuck.

He was gonna have to do it all again tomorrow. And the day after that.

He thought back to his favorite fantasy heroes and wondered how they did it. How they put themselves through endless journeys, practically sacrificed themselves time and again.

And he could barely make it through a shift at the Starcourt Mall of all places.

"Eddie!"

He crashed right into your hands as you planted them on his shoulders and prevented him from absolutely barreling into you.

"Jesus are you ok?" you exclaimed and pulled him off to the side of the walkway to get out of the way of foot traffic.

Was he? Probably not.

"Yeah," he shook his head and answered. He finally looked at you, finally actually saw you. Dressed in your Teen Vogue best, as you called it, although a little worse for wear, if the eyeshadow smeared where it definitely shouldn't be and your jewelry all askew was any indicator. "Yeah I'm fine.

"You sure? You looked like you were in a trance," you explained. "I've been calling your name for a little while."

"Oh shit," he sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Yeah, no...it's...It was just a long day."

You didn't hesitate. Your arms immediately wrapped around him and you pulled him in. Pulled him back from whatever precipice he was about to launch himself off of, and straight into the comfort of you.

---

Before long, Eddie found himself in your apartment, fully upside down with his legs propped against the wall as he enjoyed the Blizzard he'd picked up on the way.

"You know just cuz you can hold it upside down, doesn't mean you're supposed to eat it upside down," you laughed as you filled a pot with water and put it on the stove.

"And what are you, the Blizzard expert," Eddie scoffed. "If you'll recall I was the one who took you to Dairy Queen for the first time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." You rolled your eyes and turned to grab some cans from the cupboard.

You had offered to make dinner--again--while he vented about his shift. Nothing as spectacular as what you made for Thanksgiving dinner, but it left the leftover meatloaf for Wayne to take for his lunches.

"You're lucky I like your spaghetti sauce," Eddie grumbled, a little sad that he couldn't have his meatloaf sandwich.

So he talked as you ran to your bedroom to rid yourself of the remnants of who you became when you were at Starcourt, and as you emerged the person that, he liked to believe, was reserved especially for him.

He told you about the back to back returns he had dealt with when he came back from lunch as you dropped dried pasta into the boiling water and grated garlic into sizzling oil.

He complained about the man who demanded help from a manager only even though all he wanted was a special edition cassette deck that had all the bells and whistles and anyone with keys could help him. His voice got louder and meaner as he quoted the jackass verbatim, but the sharp strike of your wooden spoon against the side of the pot brought him back down to earth.

And as he finished up his story about having to count Sam's register three times because he forgot that there were large bills under the cash tray, you joined him on the couch with a bowl of steaming hot pasta for each of you.

He righted himself and discarded the empty blizzard cup on your coffee table.

"First Black Friday in the books," you announced and you passed the bowl to him. "I'm proud of you."

"Proud?" Eddie groaned. "Seriously? It was a disaster."

"They always are," you explained sagely.

"You survived," he pointed out.

"So did you."

"Barely."

"So?" you asked and twirled noodles on your fork expertly. "Doesn't that count? This is, like...my 5th Black Friday? My 6th? I count each one as a victory. And so should you."

You leaned over to kiss his cheek, then clinked plates with his in a salute, and then the two of you fell into contented silence as you ate.

As Eddie worked ravenously through the layers of starchy, cheesy, garlicky goodness, he realized that the weariness that had settled within him after his shift had started to alleviate. How he felt more like himself now that he was sitting next to you, basking in the warm glow of your company.

He briefly considered this ritual the two of you had been engaging in for months. The way you shared stories and foods and got closer to one another. He had always been a little worried that things would change if he ever got his wish, if this friendship with you ever became more.

But it was like nothing had changed at all.

He wanted to ask, was tempted to ask, what this was? If this was a date, like all the dates that weren't dates hadn't been before? If you were his girlfriend now?

But then...he recalled the time that you had a bad day and you immediately found relief in him, how he thought that he didn't need to be your knight as long as he could be your home.

And Eddie realized that whatever the two of you decided it would be, whether you were still just his friend, or if you were his girlfriend, or maybe...maybe something else...

You, too, would always be his home at the end of a long battle.

---

Next Part: Disaster Preparedness

Tag List for Store Manager Verse is still temporarily suspended. Thank you for understanding.

#Eddie munson x reader #Eddie munson fic #Eddie munson stranger things #stranger things fic #Eddie munson #Eddie munson fluff

[posttexasstressdisorder]

They killed our Jesus: A Lament for Generation Jones

Two things happened in 1980 that would ensure the iron grip of the fascist state would (first slowly, then quickly), tighten on the entirety of the nation's populace from that moment forward: Ronald fucking Reagan was installed as president, and a CIA-psyop'd Christian Nationalist shot and killed John Lennon.

Those two things are connected.

First let's look at exactly who "Generation Jones" encompasses, and specific moments in the generational timeline that defined our future. The wiki page is actually quite good. Here's an excerpt that really hits it on the head:

"The name "Generation Jones" has several connotations, including a large anonymous generation, a "keeping up with the Joneses" competitiveness and the slang word "jones" or "jonesing", meaning a yearning or craving.[17][18][19] Pontell suggests that Jonesers inherited an optimistic outlook as children in the 1960s, but were then confronted with a different reality as they entered the workforce during Reaganomics and the shift from a manufacturing to a service economy, which ushered in a long period of mass unemployment. Mortgage interest rates increased to above 12 percent in the mid-eighties,[20] making it virtually impossible to buy a house on a single income. De-industrialization arrived in full force in the mid-late 1970s and 1980s; wages would be stagnant for decades, and 401Ks replaced pensions, leaving them with a certain abiding "jonesing" quality for the more prosperous days of the past.

Generation Jones is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of their older brothers and sisters in the earlier portion of the Baby Boomer population had; thus, many note that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to older Boomers. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness and "jonesing" for the level of doting and affluence granted to older Boomers but denied to them.[21]"

That sets the stage, for the most part. I was four when JFK was shot on TV. I was a wide-eyed, open-eared five year old when The Beatles were on Ed Sullivan and The Supremes were on the radio. I was ten when we landed on the moon, and I wanted to be a hippie at Woodstock at eleven. "Basketball Jones" came out when I was 12...I jonesed for a telescope because SPACE and got one from that great maker of fine telescopes, KMart.

Generationally, we jonesed to be ten years older, so we could have had all the cool shit THEY had. They had The Beatles, and we had the solo Beatles, they had Hendrix, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, and we had the fucking BeeGees and disco. It's like we, as a generation, were fated to live The K-Mart Knockoff of Life, instead of the bright, shiny Brand Name One all our older brothers and sisters got.

MUSIC and SCIENCE were EVERYTHING to us as kids/teens...the Eshittification Of Music truly began in 1973, and proceeded through SynthPop Hell in the '80s. Rock and Roll heroes became hairdos with guitars. The rock heroes of the '60s were getting married and having kids and baking bread. AM Radio ceased to be something you listened to for music...it began to replace music with strident, screaming hate voices that would eventually engulf all of AM Radio 24/7/365.

We were continually thwarted most of the way from our young adulthood on, blatantly from the moments in 1980 that the vile Ronald Reagan and the core operatives of evil for the next 50 years took over, and then the moment of what I call "Our Generational Wounding", the murder of John Lennon.

Back in '66, John had inflamed all the grandpas of todays magats by saying (truthfully) that with teens, The Beatles were more popular than Jesus. Beatle hate became a Very Big Thing in Bumfuck South Texas. Record burnings, merchandise burnings, book burnings, all were commonplace. A very palpable, and very specifically "Anti-Beatle" hate got instilled in a lot of kids/teens at that point, so anything to do with the Beatles was taboo for "good people" (read Southern Baptists) to like.

That, of course, made me love them that much more, and to follow their paths from their breakup forward with 'bated breath, buying every 45 they put out, trying to save pennies up to buy their albums.

John was the radical hippie, the one who wanted peace, the one with the weirdo wife, the one who held a "Bed-In" for peace. In a very fundamental-to-our-generation way, John Lennon was OUR "Jesus".

Richard Nixon (president from '68 to '74) HATED him.

In 1971, there was a true mass consciousness that incorporated us along with our older siblings, a musical mass consciousness. I became aware of many things in 1969, specifically fall of '69, so I was experiencing all this in real-time, as it happened. When the news that The Beatles officially broke up came across the AM radiowaves in May of '70, it was A. Very. Big. Deal. Everyone watched everything they did from that point on with GREAT interest.

George put out "My Sweet Lord" and "What Is Life" (first record I ever bought), John put out "Instant Karma", "Mother", then "Power To The People", then "Imagine". Ringo put out "It Don't Come Easy", and Paul & Linda had "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey". EVERYBODY was a "post-breakup Beatle critic", panning Paul's very first solo 45 "Another Day", "Uncle Albert" was the followup. This band called Badfinger that sounded suspiciously like The Beatles appeared on American radio, and would make 1972 one of the final "Golden Years" of AM Rock Radio.

In 1970 we heard about this Elton John guy, by the end of '72, I was playing as many of his songs on the piano as I could figure out. My favorite album was (still is) "Madman Across The Water". When "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" came out in '73, a very noticeable shift was occuring.

Pop became much less political. It softened. It mellowed. It grew its hair long and lived in the country, learned how to grow potatoes and play the mandolin, making Country Rock the one lasting "legacy" of our sad sub-generation. By the time I graduated HS in May of '77, it was all there was on the radio, besides....disco. Oof.

One of my first TV memories was JFK getting shot. That was the Generational Wounding of our older brothers and sisters. When Mark Chapman (a Christian nationalist who changed the words of "Imagine" to "Imagine there's no John Lennon") shot John in December of 1980, it was the 2 in the 1-2 PUNCH done to our OUR generation. The first, of course, being the installing of Reagan and the evil Evangelical influence beginning in earnest.

It also began the buildup of the "Holy War" radical right, and an utter denial and clampdown of "hippie", of "counterculture" in general began, ensuring that John's vision of world peace would never come true, at least not on their watch. They had, effectively, killed OUR Jesus, along with our chances of the kind of security our older sibs got in spades. It also marked the unholy marriage of the evangelicals and the republican apparatus.

When Reagan got elected by virtue of the vile Newt Gingrich's 'Southern Strategy', a clampdown in earnest on the very SPIRITUAL EXISTENCE of our generation's incredible want and need, our collective JONESING for world peace began. Richard Nixon had planted the seeds. Nixon hated John Lennon with a passion. After Reagan was elected, I firmly believe Chapman was "activated" and they killed John as a Christmas present to Nixon.

It was after that, when the dream of a scientific future began to die, as well. When we were in high school, SCIENCE WAS EVERYTHING, so we wanted to be some kind of scientist "when we grew up".

I dealt with four years of college, majored in Biology, and in early 1981 realized my dream of being a Forest Ranger in Yosemite or some other national park somewhere, living in a cabin, giving talks to visitors about the biology aspects of the park....all that went POOF, almost instantaneously. My degree would get me nowhere, so I left before the end of that year and started working in record stores.

I was effectively the Cusack character in the movie about record stores, but it led to a dead end. Record stores weren't all that glamorous, and yes, the pay was dogshit. I tried working in record stores for the love of the music, while trying to BE a musician in a town FILLED OVER FLOWING with musicians, but that was quickly shat on by the beginning shrieks of late-stage capitalism.

It was like working in the record stores was my trying to keep holding onto the dream, our generation's dream...John's dream of world peace (along with my dream of being a working musician) died a pitiful death by the end of 1986.

What followed was nothing but a series of Jobs I Hated, and the beginnings of the true Jonesing for the life we'd been promised, because we didn't get the raises, the pensions, the house, the car, boat and camper, none of that shit for us. A life of being a low-paid, no-insurance drub, destined to be a life-long renter, unless a financial miracle happens.

So when people ask why we (as a generation) hate Ronald Reagan so much, let's just say I'm with Bugs on this one.

[visionthefox]

Hi love your art!

I agree with you SAMS was a really fun show, the gameplay used to have a little bit of lore or sometimes it was connected to the previous the episode.

But now what do we have? We have a lot of plot holes like for example:

-How did Bloodmoon got out of Sun's mind? Connected to a computer? Did he turn into goo and walked out? (If that's the case wouldn't sun notice it?).

-What happened to Eclipse's feelings? (From the October episode that i don't remember the name but basically he said something along the lines of "why do i care?" Or idk)

-What was Lunar's original plan? (Like we know he was plotting something from when he said something along the lines of "everything is going according to plan").

-What the hell happened in the first episode we saw Moon's mind (i don't remember the name of the episode but it's a recent one, but a lot of Persona references in that episode).

And those are some of them that I can think right now i know there's more out there.

I really was hoping something more interesting with KC, Bloodmoon, and Eclipse i mean i don't know why but i felt like it was going to be an amazing plot, but i think it got scrapped because they had to rush the arrival of the MOST AMAZING SISTER IN THE WHOLE WORLD (notice the sarcasm) Earth. Including the video where the creator basically tells sun about the arrival of this sister felt really really rushed (I'm no video editor/actor so i don't know).

I wish they could've expanded more on what's going on Moon's mind not just the episode where the files got corrupted and we only got to see the Computer's side and the first meeting of them, like more inner thoughts, I mean if they were going off persona 5 with the palaces, you really got to see the person who they were and it physically represent how they view the world and it would've been a great idea to keep KC as a code and have Moon confront himself (a physical manifestation of KC) just like in Persona 4, or have Sun along side Lunar or someone else to battle against Shadow Moon (in this case KC) because maybe after the battle he will have his treasure stolen and wake up feeling better and maybe just maybe apologize to sun. But the way the executed that it wasn't good, i think they just forgot about it and prioritized Sun effing up the runes to bring back the magic and have a touchy moment with the sister.

KC going to Kmart and seeing Glamrock Freddy which was supposed to be his "redemption" felt more like a joke. I thought that KC taking over Moon's body would've triggered something within moon because he doesn't like being trapped inside his head (or so he screamed in the episodes prior of Eclipse and Lunar taking over) also with KC taking over him I thought he was going to be mischievous.

I don't know why but i have a gut feeling that now that Eclipse has the star, he is going to be convinced either by Earth (because power of words and friendship (sarcasm)) or someone else would be like "please we need to get moon back to his original form" and Eclipse will give the star to help the cause.

I don't know, but sorry for this long ask. Yeah sorry.

HI!! thanks you!! and oh boy! a long ask <3 !!!

Blood moon coming back as a ghost was maybe to make the fans shut up over Sun being an "evil asshole like Eclipse" for killing a literal murder animatronic.. since there is no way.. NO WAY he can be a ghost.. its a damn robot!! but I do gotta say.. I do hope he may be fully back, he is wasted potential for a comic villain..

-Eclipse going back to his "wanna rule the world" type of mind its trully annoying.. some ppl managed to guess when that ep was posted that maybe Eclipse pushed Lunar away because he didnt knew how to feel loved, Lunar was so caring so nicer to him! , something too new for Eclipse, who was pushed away, treated like trash and talked down by Moon, (plus, his egocentric, manipulator minset had to come from someone.. dont ya think?) but any change for a developent was trashed when KC showed up again..there was so many ways his character could have develop, but he didnt..

I guess lunar plan was to just free Moon, and then.. leave? as he sounded very suprised Moon allowed him to stay.. him being a more "silly but still mature" was great, he had the early mindset of Sun, but the determination of Moon.. then for some reason he lost his smart and now is "bean baby".. ugh

-Moon mind its just a lot of nonsense..wasted potential again..

KC being another face for Moon could have been soo much better.. since KC its just a code line , who affected him , it could have been a perfect way to show the two sides of Moon ! one that wanted to change and be better and other who wanted to do as told, kill and rule! two desires wearing two faces!

KC being a dad was odd, I thought it would be just a joke.. since Moon was always the more grounded, the more "mature" it made sence KC took a more "im your dad" type of mind set..as a joke..

the chances for a dymanic of good vs evil! in the most dumb , hilarious and silly drama way was there but nooo they had to be soo "edgy" too "dark"..it stupid..

and totally, that video was so many errors.. Sun model doesnt even move!

we know they can not do battles but I SEE your point.. its sound WAAAY better to what we got.. a more serious aproach to Moon mental state.. the brother coming along to help one of them.. a more meanful bonding time..

since its no surprise, Moon is not an angel. he is an asshole, liar who often put his problems first, then looks at the rest.. maybe by accident? but he is somewhat toxic, but that could have been fixed so much better..

I honestly see Eclipe trying to get rid of any other universe, do a thanos snap , but then , by some DUMB ASS reason, be defeated

someone gets the star, save Moon ass, he gets to learn NOTHING, Earth gets to stay , Lunar comes back and Sun gets even more ignored.. and .. honestly.. I dont hate the show.. I just wish they took the drama way and was focused on a actually well written story,, its clearly they make up things as they go.. and .. I dont like it.. at the end of the day, its a silly channel.. I rather see other thing to have fun.. have you hear of murder drones?~

#sams #rant #this got too long im so so sorry #but reallty tho.. so much wasted potential to actually good story #sometimes simple its better #the show was simple silly fun and emotional all well balanced #now its drama drama drama drama.. no fun

[nickgerlich]

Lights Out

Where I grew up in Chicagoland, there were no Walmarts in the 1960s. That was still primarily a regional southern chain, and in the Windy City, we had Kmart. It was the offspring of the S.S. Kresge Company, which had long maintained a chain of so-called dime stores.

The first Kmart had opened in Garden City Michigan in 1962, and was an instant success. The chain peaked at 2486 stores in 1994, but has been dying a slow but steady death ever since. And as my friend Rolando Pujol, The Retrologist, proclaimed in his Substack account this weekend, once the store in Westwood New Jersey closes later this month, only two will remain. The store is busy selling anything and everything, from merchandise to fixtures, in anticipation of the closing.

I have many memories of going to the nearby Kmart with my family. They were the stuff of which middle-class America was made. While my family was in good enough financial position to shop at Sears for most of our clothing, tools, appliances, and so forth, we went to Kmart for everything else.

Kmart’s signature marketing tool was its Blue Light Special, in which some hapless employee would push a little cart around that had a vertical pole, atop which was mounted the revolving blue light.

At the designated spot, he would stop and turn it on. An announcer would make a proclamation over the public address system, and then chaos would ensue as shoppers tried to grab whatever they could.

I still have memories of this, as it made each Kmart visit unique and, for all intents and purposes, competitive sport. Shoppers knew to keep a watchful eye for the cart appearing, wondering where it would stop, or listening for the crackle of the PA.

I'll never forget the vision of my mother clawing with other women over stockings that were on deep discount. I still bear the emotional scarring. My Dad, brother, and I looked on with upper lips curled, wondering what the hell is going on here. Pavlov missed his calling; he should have studied retail, not dogs.

Skip forward to 2005, and a very strange thing happened. Kmart, which by then was starting to swirl down the drain, merged into Sears, another chain whose better days were fading fast into the rear view. I suppose that misery loves company, and rather than each looking for a buyer to save their very lives, they joined forces.

Here we are today, with a pair of Kmarts and 12 Sears still open. It was like the Titanic tethered itself to the Lusitania, the latter torpedoed by change, the former sinking from smug ignorance of the dangers at sea.

Of course, we academics love a sad story as much as a happy one, because there are stories to be told, case studies to be written. And people will be writing about Kmart and Sears for years to come, both of which were firmly mired in their pasts, oblivious to the present, much less the future.

It is comically unimaginable to picture Kmart having the moxie to weather the COVID storm, with curbside, online ordering, and a powerful app. Not in your life. They’re still stuck with the clunky brick phones of the 90s, with flip phones just wishful thinking. Sears, of course, wound up being where old people shopped; they even sold off their best assets, namely private label brands like Craftsmen, Die Hard, and Kenmore, in order to raise cash. But you keep telling yourself that things will get back to the old normal.

Once the Boomers and Gen-Xers are gone, memories of these two chains will start to slip from public consciousness. There will be other companies as well, and my friend will no doubt be documenting them. This is his passion, chasing down the fading nostalgia of the day. It just makes me feel a little nostalgic, though, wanting to see one of those Blue Light Specials one more time. It would be entertaining.

That’s something no Walmart store can claim.

Dr “Just Don’t Trample Me” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #Kmart #Sears #retail

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

146 of 2022

Created by kellyburnsred

Can you change the oil on a car?

I can, but with one good hand, I’d be very messy.

Ever gotten a speeding ticket?

No, because I can’t drive for now.

Ever ran out of gas?

Almost, we were coming back home and the navigation went crazy on the road works and led us to the city centre and there were no petrol stations nearby.

Favorite kind of sandwich?

Cheese, lettuce, things like that.

Best thing to eat for breakfast?

Oatmeal.

What is your usual bedtime?

Around 22:00.

Are you lazy?

No, just tired. Quite typical with epilepsy.

When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween?

Nothing, we never celebrated it.

What is your Chinese astrological sign?

Horse, but I don’t believe in it.

Are you horny?

Not right now. My body reactions are inadequate anyway.

Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

No, I don’t.

Which are better legos or lincoln logs?

What is lincoln logs?

Are you stubborn?

Very much so.

Who is better...Leno or Letterman?

Who opn earth are they??

Ever watch soap operas?

Sometimes for lolz. I don’t follow up anyway.

Are you afraid of heights?

I am indeed.

Do you sing in the car?

I do.

Do you sing in the shower?

I do as well.

Do you dance in the car?

I don’t, but my husband does.

Ever used a gun?

Not a real one.

Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

5 years ago, for my ID card. I really look like a pokemon there.

Do you think musicals are classy?

Rather boring.

Is Christmas stressful?

Both stressful and exciting.

Ever eat a pierogi?

Sure. Polish cuisine is one of my favourites.

Favorite type of fruit pie?

Apple or cherry.

Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

A dentist, then a surgeon, then (in my teens) a neurologist. I still hold a great interest in neurology, it’s wonderful and brains are fascinating.

Do you believe in ghosts?

I don’t care either way.

Ever have a deja-vu feeling?

Many times. It’s a part of epilepsy as well.

Why do you think others get deja-vu?

There are many reasons. It sometimes happens with epilepsy, as I said.

Take a vitamin daily?

No, I don’t take fake supplements. I eat vegetables instead.

Wear slippers?

Nope.

Wear a bath robe?

Not at all.

What do you wear to bed?

Literally nothing.

First concert?

I don’t remember. I don’t go to concerts anyway because flashing lih-ghts, so.

Wal-mart, Target, or Kmart?

We don’t have these in Europe.

Nike or Adidas?

Both are good.

Cheetos or Fritos?

What the hell are Fritos??

Peanuts or sunflower seeds?

Neither, omg. Dreadful.

Ever hear of the group Tres Bien?

Might have so.

Ever take dance lessons?

Not really.

Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

My future spouse?? My current spouse is more than enough.

Can you curl your tongue?

I can’t. This ability is genetic, though.

Ever won a spelling bee?

What is spelling bee? I don’t think we’ve ever played it.

Have you ever cried because you were so happy?

Almost cried. I don’t know how to cry properly.

Own any record albums?

Depends what you mean by this.

Own a record player?

Could be. Does the DVD-ROM in my computer count?

Regularly burn incense?

Nope. This shit gives me really bad migraines.

Ever been in love?

Probably, but not entirely in a romantic sense.

Who would you like to see in concert?

Some of my favourite bands would be cool, but then, I don’t go to the concerts because it’s not worth the seizures.

What was the last concert you saw?

*refers to the answer above*

Hot tea or cold tea?

No tea, thanks. But cold tea is particularly disgusting.

Tea or Coffee?

Coffee.

Sugar or snickerdoodles?

WTF is snickerdoodles?

Can you swim well?

I can’t at all.

Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

Is there anyone who can’t?

Are you patient?

I am the patient, that’s for sure.

DJ or band, at a wedding?

We didn’t even have a party and that was perfect.

Ever won a contest?

Once, for photography.

Ever have plastic surgery?

No, and I’m not planning to.

Which are better black or green olives?

Both are disgusting.

Can you knit or crochet?

No, neither of these.

Best room for a fireplace?

Living room, I guess.

Do you want to get married?

I am already.

If married, how long have you been married?

A few months, but we’ve been together for 4 years already.

Who was your High School crush?

I’ve never had crushes at that time.

Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way?

What? It’s very hysterical lol.

Do you have kids?

No, I don’t.

Do you want kids?

Never in my life.

What's your favorite color?

Black and green.

Do you miss anyone right now?

Yeah, this man I like.

#survey #random survey #q&a survey

[100acre-w00d]

survey 5, 5/9/22

1. Would you have sex with the last person you text messaged? um yessss lmao 

2. You talked to an ex today, correct? incorrect

3. Have you taken someones virginity? yea

4. Is trust a big issue for you? I'm really naive

5. Did you hang out with the person you like recently? no

6. What are you excited for? cruise!!!

7. What happened tonight? nothing

8. Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted? only if I do lol

9. Is confidence cute? it’s attractive to an extent

10. What is the last beverage you had? coke

11. How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust? one 

12. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans? yea 

13. What are you gonna do Saturday night? I don’t know yet

14. What are you going to spend money on next? I have no idea probably food

15. Are you going out with the last person you kissed? absolutely not

16. Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months? I hope I change for the better

17. Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything? Makiah rachel Jordan

18. The last time you felt broken? almost always

19. Have you had sex today? no

20. Are you starting to realize anything? not really

21. Are you in a good mood? I'm okay

22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks? hell no

23. Are your eyes the same color as your dad’s? yea

24. What do you want right this second? to fast forward to Friday

25. What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy? I'm sure they do hell of a lot more lmao

26. Is your current hair color your natural hair color? no it’s blonde

27. Would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh? I don’t know

28. What was the last thing that made you laugh? I have no idea something on my phone I'm sure

29. Do you really, truly miss someone right now? yes

30. Does everyone deserve a second chance? sometimes

31. Honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to? nooo 

32. Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do? yea he be knowing lol 

33. Are you one of those people who never drinks soda? I wish

34. Listening to? law and order svu

35. Do you ever write in pencil anymore? never 

36. Do you know where the last person you kissed is? I'd say he’s at home

37. Do you believe in love at first sight? no

38. Who did you last call? my mom

39. Who was the last person you danced with? myself LOL

40. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed? was kinda forced lmao

41. When was the last time you ate a cupcake? two weeks ago at work

42. Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today? um no

43. Ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush? when I was younger I'm sure

44. Do you tan in the nude? yea

45. If you could, would you take back your last kiss? yes lol

46. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night? kinda

47. Who was the last person to call you? my mom

48. Do you sing in the shower? no

49. Do you dance in the car? sometimes

50. Ever used a bow and arrow? a handful of times

51. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? a couple months ago for my sister’s wedding

52. Do you think musicals are cheesy? yes

53. Is Christmas stressful? yea but it shouldn’t be

54. Ever eat a pierogi? I don't even know what that is

55. Favorite type of fruit pie? I don't like fruit pie

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? I can’t remember

57. Do you believe in ghosts? sometimes

58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? many times

59. Take a vitamin daily? sometimes

60. Wear slippers? no

61. Wear a bath robe? when I get out of the shower

62. What do you wear to bed? a t shirt

63. First concert? Brantley Gilbert

64. Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? target duh

65. Nike or Adidas? either

66. Cheetos Or Fritos? both sound gross right now

67. Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? nuts

68. Favorite Taylor Swift song? come in with the rain

69. Ever take dance lessons? no

70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? not really

71. Can you curl your tongue? no

72. Ever won a spelling bee? when I was little

73. Have you ever cried because you were so happy? yesss when I got my current job

74. What is your favorite book? I don't have a particular one

75. Do you study better with or without music? without for sure

76. Favorite color? I don’t know

77. Ever been in love? unfortunately 

78. Who would you like to see in concert? Polaris and spiritbox and all American rejects 

79. What was the last concert you saw? willie nelson and Chris Stapleton

80. Hot tea or cold tea? neither

81. Tea or coffee? coffee for sure

82. Favorite type of cookie? lemon

83. Can you swim well? no

84. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? yea

85. Are you patient? yea I think so

86. DJ or band, at a wedding? dj

87. Ever won a contest? idk lol

88. Ever have plastic surgery? no

89. Which are better black or green olives? neither

90. Opinions on sex before marriage? idc

91. Best room for a fireplace? any room

92. Do you want to get married? yea

[daydream-believin]

The Never-Ending Roadtrip (St. Louis)

summary: (pt 1) Reader joins Douxie in the quest for Nari’s safety. He’ll need company won’t he? - part 4) Doux and Reader get out of Missouri finally but not before one last stop      (part 5)

warnings: swearing

word count: 6205

a/n: im getting a smidge impatient on my planned mutual pining slow burn as you can see. mmm i want a piece of st louis butter cake. @blixeon​ gets credit for putting the douxie trying to keep y/n away from moppet!douxie idea in my head. its not a big plot point here but idk felt i should still mention it

Douxie stared up at the ceiling with dry, unblinking eyes. There were many interesting cracks in the ceiling, barely illuminated by the light streaming in from the bathroom door. He was wide awake, despite not being able to convince himself to move. He was never a morning person, but once he remembered where he was, it was like someone had poured a bucket of ice water on him. Y/n was no longer clinging to him when he woke up, albeit, she was not even in the bed at all when he woke up. That had gave him a fright before he realized he could hear the shower running. Somehow, this was worse than if she’d still been there when he woke up. This meant she woke, untangled herself from him, and was probably going to pretend like it didn’t happen, since she couldn’t possibly know he stayed awake long enough to know about it. Which, while waking up in her arms would have been a little awkward, at least he would have gotten a conversation out of it. An acknowledgement. Something.

Speaking of the shower, somehow that was doing a number on him too. It was so strange. They’ve lived together for years now; they’ve shared a bathroom for years now. He’s heard her shower so many fucking times. No sweat. These feelings were making him silly. Perhaps it was this fucking room. The domesticity of it all, which was a weird thing to say when you literally lived with said person. Yet, he couldn’t stop imagining that he was waking up in His Home, listening to His Wife get ready for work in the en suite of Their Bedroom. She didn’t want to wake him, how sweet. She was always worried about him getting more sleep. He’d go help her with her hair, braid it for her. His hands would run through her soft hair as he styled it. She’d kiss him on the nose before she left to go make him a cup of coffee while he got ready. She knew just how he liked it. They’d brush their teeth together, every morning, just like they did last night.

Bleeding balroths, last night. What was he going to do about last night. His dumb heart wouldn’t just be able to leave well enough alone, apparently. Does he,,, say something? Perhaps he should wait to see if she says something. That would be,, the safer route. He knew one thing for sure though. He wasn’t going to act like he didn’t love every second of it. He’d made up his mind. His life has been way too long and lonely for him to keep this ‘it’s not like I like you’ act up. And for Merlin’s sake, he had died not even three days ago. He had almost been gone, and would have never known the love of his beloved. And family wasn’t just who you have, it was also who you’re with. And he was with Y/n. She was already his family, so why not be his family? Like he dreamed of? Yes, he was going to come clean. If she said something. Yes.

Suddenly, he was aware of a noise. Someone had just knocked on the front door of the room. Or less of a knocking and more of a rapping. Archie’s ear’s flicked, but he didn’t stir. Douxie held his breath. The rapping stopped, but now whoever it was trying to open the door. Thank Merlin he warded that thing up. It couldn’t open from the outside, he made sure of it. The door handle stopped moving. Doux still made no noise. Hopefully whoever or whatever that was had decided to move on to easier prey.

Y/n combed her fingers through her wet hair. It was the best she could do at the moment. She’d try and braid it back while it was still wet, so it wouldn’t get even worse. Y/n pulled on the same clothes she’d been wearing for a week. Well, actually she had been wearing a medieval dress for most of it, but still. She looked in the mirror. Not bad for someone on the run. But they did need to make a shopping trip. As much as Y/n did not want to waste an entire other day to a store (thanks Kmart), and didn’t want to spend more of their small savings they were living off of, they did need some things. Backpacks to keep their few belongings close, one more set of clothes each so they could have something to be wearing while they wash the other set, maybe some pajama pants would be nice, although nonessential, a couple of toothbrushes that weren’t the motel provided ones, plus a tube of toothpaste, soap, a hairbrush, phone chargers, some emergency food that wouldn’t spoil, some reusable water bottles, a fucking first aid kit even, lots of stuff. It’s not like they were able to pack for this trip. Hell, they should probably get Nari an outfit that would cover up her, eh, forest spirit-ness. Her running around in leaves isn’t exactly helping their conspicuousness. Despite Y/n not wanting to add to that list, she sure was getting cold in her short-sleeved top. She needed a jacket. She’d been borrowing Douxie’s a bit for the last few days, but if she just stole it then he would be cold. She needed one of her own, she supposed.

Y/n walked out of the bathroom. Archie and Nari were still snoozing, but Doux looked like he was awake. He sat up as soon as he realized Y/n had come out. He looked, troubled. And he had every right to be, she thought. He had just suffered the loss of his mentor and died himself. He had been blankly staring at the ceiling when she’d first came into the room. He probably had so much on his mind. Thankfully he had Archie and herself. They’d be there for him, she’d make sure of it. It’d be best to give him some more time to think, though. She didn’t want to push too hard. He’d tell her if he was struggling, she was sure of it. He’d been so open lately. And they’d had plenty of talks in the past about not expressing frustrations in their lives. He hadn’t been too open with her when they first started living together and it had made being roommates stressful at first. It wasn’t a problem anymore though. They’d worked through it, and it had even brought them closer.

She told him it was his turn for the bathroom now. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then quietly nodded as he got out of bed and headed for the shower. Strangely, this inn stay has been the most normal things had been all week. It was almost like they were home. She was back in her routine of waking, getting ready, telling Douxie it was his turn to get ready. He was so sweet, he always let her have the bathroom first. So chivalrous, although, she had a sneaking suspicion it was more of his excuse to sleep in a little longer.

It was nice, living with Douxie. It was the first time she’d been on her own. Or, well, not on her own per se, since Douxie was there, but at least away from her aunt. Her aunt had practically raised her, but that didn’t mean she was too grateful for it. She felt guilty about that last part, but not too guilty. Her aunt was pretty cold. It was clear that Y/n was just a charity case to her, a beggar who wouldn’t be looked at twice if not for blood relation. She hadn’t even bothered telling Y/n about their family’s magic until Y/n had stumbled face first into it herself. And even then, she only taught Y/n a minimal number of spells, just enough to control it, so she could successfully hide it. Didn’t need some troublesome untrained wizard ruining the family name and scaring the party guests. Y/n didn’t even know that wizards were pretty much immortal at a certain point until she noticed it herself. The people she had grown up with were all out there getting their pretty adult faces, and she was stuck with a baby face. Her aunt only told her once she questioned it. She was well past being nineteen now, but was going to be stuck like this forever apparently. What a great way to live.

Of course, she was absolutely thrilled when she found out her new roommate was in the same boat as her in that department. It was serendipity. The whole thing with Douxie was perfect, really. She had heard through her friend who worked at Hextech that someone had put up a roommate ad flyer on the company’s bulletin board and she called right away. She hadn’t been having any luck apartment hunting. She couldn’t afford rent on her own with her bookstore job, and Arcadia Oaks wasn’t exactly a college town teeming with people looking for roommates. A wizard roommate would be perfect, and the price was right. So imagine her surprise when said new roommate also turned out to be her boss. Y/n hadn’t even known he was looking for a roommate, let alone that he was a fellow wizard. His old roommate, Jack, had gotten married and moved out last month, he told her. Y/n was surprised at how very easy it was getting into this agreement too, Doux already knew her so he didn’t even interview her. And she didn’t have to worry about new person awkwardness. It really was serendipity. Of course, it hadn’t been all rosy, as mentioned before, but they were really groovin’ together now.

Y/n stretched out on the bed. She could hear the water running through the wall. It had been so awesome living right above her job. She got to sleep in, and she’d get ready, eat some breakfast, and be able to instantly step into the bookstore. She’d never be late ever again. Or she never was late again. That was a depressing thought. But hey, bright side, now they could have all the fun of starting up a new bookstore. Perhaps she could convince Douxie to add on a tea shop this time too. One that had cute little round tables with pretty gingham table cloths and flower vases, filled with flowers that they grew themselves in the pots on their balcony. They’d make sure the new bookstore had a nice window that was meant for a display but they’d leave as a place for Archie to sleep in and make snarky comments as he watched the people go by. Douxie could paint the letters on the signs and window, he was great at that. It’d be a task, but truly, they had to remake their bookstore. Even if not in Arcadia. A new bookstore they could fill up with love, that’d be an idea Y/n could hold on to.

Stars, she loved their bookstore. She loved the smell. She loved the peaceful homey vibe. She loved the man who owned it. Whoops, forget about that last part. She even loved the quirky characters it drew in. One time, she encountered this really crazy lady, and she wasn’t even sure if this lady was real or if she dreamt her, since she was the only witness. But Mordrax’s miracles, was this lady something. It started normally enough, Y/n picking up the store’s landline.

“GDT Arcane Bookstore! Please state your grievances.” She knew in the back of her mind that she was the only person who found her dumb jokes funny, but she still made them to brighten up her own day. Also to piss off Hisirdoux with her unprofessionalism. He made the same passive-aggressive ‘I’m disappointed in you’ face every time. It was fun.

“Yes, Hello. I would like to know if you carry any children’s books.”

“Yes ma’am, we sure do. A whole section.”

“Great. And are you child friendly?”

“Are we-, child friendly? I-, Yes I suppose we are ma’am.”

“Perfect. And you’re open until eight?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Thank you, young lady.”

The whole phone call was odd. Y/n wasn’t too jazzed about being called ‘young lady’ either. She had mocked the lady as soon as the phone call ended, but she shrugged it off, and had forgotten that the whole thing had even happened as she went about her day. Then, at about seven, this lady rolls up. She was dressed to the nines but like, in an old rich person way. Long fur coat, black dress underneath with pearls around her neck. On one arm, she had a fancy purse covered in the logo of a fashion brand Y/n wasn’t going to admit she recognized. In the other, she carried a large porcelain doll, the size of a five-year-old, which was dressed in a frilly pink dress that remined her of the dresses her aunt used to make her wear. When Y/n greeted her, she recognized the voice as the strange caller from earlier. Y/n got the feeling that some sort of shit was about to go down, and couldn’t wait. If only Archie was here.

Fur coat lady sat her doll down on the old loveseat in the sitting area and asked Y/n to keep an eye on the doll while she went to go pick out some books. Emily could be so mischievous sometimes, she told Y/n. She assured fur coat lady that she’d watch Emily like a hawk. The doll’s painted eyes stared into Y/n’s soul. Fur coat lady came back far longer than Y/n was comfortable with. She asked Y/n if Emily had been a good-mannered girl. Y/n just nodded, not sure if she should be encouraging this, on second thought. Fur coat lady then preceded to read the doll nine children’s books in a row, pausing in between only to ask the doll if she had liked it. Y/n was too baffled to even tell this lady to scram, we aren’t a library, you know. It crept closer to eight, and Y/n was actually dreading what was going to happen when she’d have to kick this lady out, but thank the stars, fur coat lady starts telling her doll about how it was close to its bedtime so they couldn’t read any more stories, aww darn, and they had to go now. She thanked Y/n as she walked out of the door. Y/n flipped that closed sign behind her and quickly retreated upstairs for the night. She’d go make a cup of tea to relax her nerves after that encounter. Y/n had plenty of other wild stories of people who’ve stopped by their bookstore. It was great for conversation at parties.

Y/n loved parties. With Douxie came all his friends, and she didn’t mind that one bit. They were always over whenever Doux had time off. It was so nice; it kept their place lively. Y/n cooked and baked a lot, it was one of those skills her aunt insist she have, and having so many mouths to enjoy her food felt good. And whether it was band practice or game night, she was happy to play hostess. Douxie’s friends were fun to talk to. She suddenly had the freedom to invite her own friends over too. Having so many people around all the time had helped her loneliness big time when she first moved in. Her aunt’s house may have been big, but it was empty. Her aunt threw a fancy party a month, but none of the people there were people worth talking to. It was so cold. Their apartment was warm.

Honestly, as insane as it was to think about, Y/n couldn’t see herself ever leaving Douxie to live on her own anymore. At first, this arrangement was supposed to be a temporary thing until she could find a better job and go off on her own. But somehow along the way, ‘the apartment we share’ became Their Apartment, and the bookstore that she happened to operate with him became Their Bookstore. It was nuts, and also the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to Y/n. It was the home she’d never had. Douxie and Archie were her family. Way more so than her aunt ever was. It was beautiful, magical, marvelous. She no longer worked, she just lived. Hell, she couldn’t even remember the last time Doux had formally assigned her a shift. She was just kind of always there. Which she was glad to do. She loved it. And when it was time to stop working, she’d just head upstairs and get to spend even more time with her favourite person. That is, if he wasn’t on one of his bistro shifts. She felt so safe and cared for. She no longer felt alone.

If Douxie wanted to make that, how you say, a little more official, Y/n wouldn’t be opposed to that. She had a hunch that he had some sort of feelings for her, if his recent actions were anything to go by. Although, just like she didn’t want to push him about the angst feelings, she didn’t want to push him in these feelings either. He’d tell her when he was good and ready. Slow and steady wins the race after all. Besides, if she was wrong and he didn’t have feelings for her, she’d definitely be tossing this good thing they had going out the window directly into the dumpster. She had to admit though, waking up this morning cuddled into him was the loveliest way she’d ever woken up in her life. She could get used to that.

She wondered if Douxie would be a wedding person or an elopement person. Not that she expected him to marry her. But it would be nice. She rolled over and found her phone on the nightstand. There wasn’t any harm in looking at some wedding dresses, right? Just in case. Y/n listened to Nari yawn and shuffle over to the bed. She opened an arm for the forest child who snuggled in, curious at what Y/n was looking at. Y/n tilted the phone for her to see. Nari really liked the poufy dresses. She’d point excitedly to the one’s she thought were pretty while Y/n scrolled. While Y/n wasn’t a fan of big frilly stuff herself, she had to admit, those poufy dresses would make her feel like Cinderella, which was never something she’d have thought appealing, but somehow it was. There were some really gorgeous not poufy ones also, and even a cool black one. Some that Douxie might like too. Y/n leaned more towards those, but wasn’t gonna tell Nari that. The veggie lady sure was having as much fun as her right now, surprisingly. Hopefully she wouldn’t blab any of this to Hisirdoux though.

Speak of the devil, he came out of the bathroom and sat on the end of the bed. Y/n quickly closed the app she was scrolling through. She sat up, taking Nari with her. Archie yawned and stretched, after sensing movement in the room. He moved from the chair into Douxie’s lap. After giving Arch a good scratch behind the ears, Douxie turned to Y/n.

“So, what’s today’s itinerary?”

“I-, wait, why do I have to be the one who decides what we do?”

“Because you’re the one who likes to have a plan when it comes to these things.”

“Fair enough.” Y/n pulled up google maps. If she had known she would have to do this she would have done it while he got dressed instead of fantasizing about their wedding. “Okay, so as much as I hate to say this, but we gotta go back to the store today.”

Douxie groaned as he laid back. His still wet hair was gonna dry funky like this, but he didn’t care. “Fine. We’ll do that in Illinois. We gotta get out of this town before anything else.”

“I agree,” she paused, seeing something that caught her eye. It would be frivolous, but she couldn’t help herself from asking “Ooh! Can we stop in St. Louis?”

“St. Louis?”

“Yeah! It’ll be fun, Douxie. We can go sit in those cafés that people go to in the black and white movies, we can go take a cheesy tourist picture of us by the arch thing, and I’m really craving some St. Louis butter cake now.”

Doux laughed. “Okay, but only for a few hours, Love.” The least he could do was let her have a little down time to relax and have fun after this hell week. Highly populated cities were good for throwing off their scent too.

“Thank you,” she went back to her map, snickering, “And we’ll stop in Effingham to shop.” She snorted.

“Effingham?” Douxie said it correctly, in his proper accent, which was not as amusing.

“Effing. Ham. Baby.” He rolled his eyes.

They booked it out of that motel and out of that town. Douxie all but tossed the room key into the creepy innkeeper’s hands as they rushed out. Back on the boat, safe at last. He ran a mental headcount once they boarded. Y/n always held Nari’s hand when they went places, so they wouldn’t have to worry about her wandering off, but it still made Douxie feel better to go over his tiny mental list and make sure they were both still safe and with him. Archie, he didn’t have to worry about as much. Even if the cat-dragon wandered he’d always come back. He could track Douxie by scent for a hundred miles too. Y/n had a habit of getting lost, though. He had to keep an eye on her. He didn’t need her and Nari off in fairyland where the Order could find and abduct them at any given time.

Douxie’s hair had still been damp when they set off, but the wind took care of that for him. Sure, wind-tousled bangs were in, but not bangs tousled by real wind. He was sure he was rocking it though. He could pass it off as something he did on purpose. People already thought his relatively tame style was outlandish, they’d just think the messy hair was part of the look. His only qualm was Y/n. He didn’t want to embarrass himself to her any further. His Camelot self already inflicted so much damage in that department this week. That moppet with a man bun had messed up spells, quoted sappy poetry to her, bragged about being Merlin’s apprentice, and even tried serenading her with his lute in attempts to impress her. It was mortifying. He had spent the first part of their Camelot adventure distracted by having to keep Y/n away from his younger self. It was not good for the whole ‘save time’ mission. Thankfully, he had Claire there with him, who had agreed to help him once she had buggered the information out of him. Thank Merlin for nosy teen girls. Claire was a godsend.

He had to admit, he was a smidge disappointed that she didn’t bring up the cuddling. Y/n hadn’t even made a joking reference to it in passing. He would have to bring it up then. But when, how? It wasn’t exactly something that would come up in natural conversation.

He watched her, hanging over the ship’s railing again. They passed a field with some cows and she made sure to point at them and say cows. He smiled at that; Y/n always managed to make him smile. He could recall how bad he had felt when Jack left and he thought he was going to have to fire her, his only employee, to keep up with rent. He had asked Zoe if he could put up a flyer in Hextech in a desperate attempt to find someone before that had to happen. And low and behold, among the three answers he got to the ad was miss L/n herself. It was an easy decision really, and it took away the uncertainty since he knew she was someone that he already liked. As a bonus, Y/n didn’t have a familiar of her own that might fight with Archie, because let’s be real, as much as Douxie loved Archie, the dragon-cat wasn’t afraid of stepping on toes. Although, it did feel kind of strange to give Y/n her paycheck and then for her to hand a little more than half of it back to him on rent day. But it just worked.

He remembered the first time he walked by the fridge to see that not only had Y/n added some fridge magnets to the kitchen, but she had taken the time to write a message to him. It, um, was sort of a rude note, meant to tease, an inside joke. Which he thought was funny, he just wished Zoe hadn’t seen it. It was hard to explain, and Zoe never let him hear the end of it. Archie got a kick out of it too. Y/n would switch the message almost daily, and it never failed to make him smile. He still had to deal with his friends seeing them and teasing him about it, but he’d never change her magnet jokes for anything. They would stay there until she replaced them with equally embarrassing messages meant just for him. It felt sweet to know someone was thinking about him enough to come up words meant to make him laugh on a daily basis.

They had just passed by a town called Eureka, which meant they were coming up on St. Louis. Good. Douxie couldn’t wait for lunch. He had the appetite of a winning fat bear these past few days. Probably the stress. That butter cake Y/n had mentioned was sounding so tasty. He could almost smell it. What Douxie hadn’t considered when he agreed to this was that the magic flying ship couldn’t go through metropolitan areas. Well, it could, but it’d be seen. So despite his growling stomach, he wound up taking the ship around the entire concrete jungle of Missouri, staying in the forested areas. He figured he could park the boat over in Illinois, just outside of St. Louis. This added a whole other hour to the trip than he was expecting, but now at least he knew to take large cities into consideration when choosing routes.

After hiding the boat in a heavily wooded area, the four took the bus into downtown. So when Y/n said she wanted to go to an old café from a movie, she had meant a very specific old café from a specific movie. She had told him it wasn’t a big deal and there were plenty of other cafes, but Douxie was gonna get her there by golly. And he did. The happiness written on her face was worth the extra bus miles. And wow, this café had some delicious food. They had salmon, which Archie enjoyed a little more than usual. Said something about paying himself back. As if he paid for anything, being a cat. That St. Louis butter cake did not disappoint. Archie was pretty fond of the cake too. It was too sweet for Nari, though. Y/n savored every bite. Doux watched her, while he ate his own, and it was so cute how smiley this was making her. He’d learn the recipe for this cake so he could make it for her once they got… home.

Douxie was still trying to shake off that depressing thought when Y/n finished up and was already trying to get the move on. Not without getting a picture first, of course. Not satisfied with just the scenery of the café itself, she begged Douxie to pose for her in various spots around it. He obliged, despite his scruffy appearance. She didn’t think he was that scruffy, and what was better than pictures of her favourite person in a cool place she’d always wanted to go. She also snapped one of Archie to post to her cat insta she secretly kept of him. Douxie knew about it, and contributed pictures to it himself, but neither of them were about to tell Archie he was internet famous as archie_the_emo_kitty. These pictures were going to hold good memories in them. All pictures do.

There was one more photo Y/n wanted to get. Silly cliché tourist picture with the gateway arch in the background. She wanted at least one of just her and Douxie, after the group photo. She’d have to somehow get one of Archie too, since she wasn’t about to pass up the chance to make a pun in the caption about Archie being in front of the arch. As she pulled Douxie close to get the picture, she got an idea. She asked him if they could get just one more. He was holding the phone since his arms were longer so he was able to get better angles with them both in it. He agreed, happy to do anything to keep that grin on her face longer. This time, when he leaned down to make their faces closer together, Y/n gave him a kiss on the cheek. The shutter snapped. Look, she wasn’t going to push, but she could nudge. Y/n pulled away and grabbed the phone to look at how it turned out, so cute, and Douxie just stayed there, leaning over, still as a statue, with wide eyes.

“Did you just- k-kiss me?” He didn’t so ecstatic. Maybe she was reading him wrong after all. Okay, time to deny.

“Yeah, it was just a cheek kiss, Doux. It was a cute pose for our picture, see,” She showed him the picture. A perfectly captured moment where they looked so happy. Where her lips would forever be on his still burning face. “Friends do it all the time.”

“Oh. Ah, okay.” That sounded disappointed, and his face wasn’t the picture of joy before, but now he just looked crestfallen. Okay so she wasn’t reading him wrong before. Good to know. She’d,, have to fix this now. She casually grabbed his hand and laced their fingers. That got him looking back up from the ground.

“C’mon, we’ve got about ten minutes to catch the next bus.”

~ ~ ~

Effingham was a quaint place. Y/n had only chosen it for it’s funny name, but it was surprisingly pretty okay. It was home to the world’s largest cross. Which would be cool, for it’s target audience, Y/n supposed. And they had a train depot. Fun. And exactly one singular popular restaurant. Which wasn’t that much more than Arcadia had, Y/n had to give it to them. They were in this tiny little mall, to see about finding some spare clothes. Y/n stopped dead in her tracks to gawk at a store that’s sign identified itself as Rural King. She tugged Douxie’s hand.

“Oh we gotta go in there.”

Douxie took one look at it and shook his head, “Are you really going to drag us into a hunting store just because it has a silly name?”

“No, I guess not,” Y/n took one last look at the place, “Can I at least get a pic of you posing in front of it?”

“Fine.” Douxie suppressed a grin as he complied with her silly request.

Once they got into a real store though, Douxie leaned over to Y/n to tell her something without the clerk hearing. “Oh, I’ve been meaning to tell you, I’ve got an appearance modifier spell I’ve perfected over the years. We’re not actually here to buy anything, just get some inspiration.”

Y/n nodded, fascinated. Well, that’ll take care of the extra spending problems. Now came the fun part, finding a new look for Nari. Speaking of whom, she was over at a rack, trying on those fake fashion glasses without real lenses in them. She looked really cute in every pair she tried on, and they helped obscure her face. Good. She really took a liking to this square tortoiseshell pair. Y/n took a mental note. It was going to be getting cold soon, and plants tend to freeze in the cold, so they took the veggie lady over to go check out the winter coats. Nari picked out a puffer that looked pretty comfy, but she didn’t like that it was red. It reminded her of Bellroc. Douxie assured her that the one he’d make could be any color she liked. Not surprisingly, she wanted it to be green.

Y/n just decided on a simple outfit for herself, consisting of a black and white striped long-sleeved tee, a black short sleeve tee to layer over that, and a classic pair of jeans. It was easy, comfortable, and didn’t draw much attention. A band kid staple too. Nari wanted to be similar to Y/n and also decided on a striped tee and jeans to go under her coat. Now they just needed to find her something to contain that gorgeous head of grass. Y/n glanced over to see Douxie trying on a cap in the hat section. Perfect. They’d make her a hat. It’d be a big hat, but nothing too much.

Douxie actually did buy a couple of backpacks from the shop. Y/n was a bit confused but he told her how for some reason he couldn’t enchant something that was technically an illusion itself so he had to buy physical bags since he wanted to enchant them to be infinite vessels or something. Y/n nodded. This was interesting. She was pretty good at the magic she did know but it was mostly by instinct. No one had really taught her the technical side of it like this. She never really knew how stuff worked, just that it worked. They headed to the dollar store after finishing up with the clothing, which surprisingly, this little mall had in it for some reason. They quickly found all those necessity items they needed and got out of there fast. They were burning daylight after all.

Once back at the boat, greeted by Archie who was glad they came back within a decent time this go around, Douxie got to work. First, he enchanted those backpacks. Y/n watched his every move, fascinated, and taking mental notes. He stuffed the supplies into the bags, making sure each had emergency food and medicine just in case they’d ever get separated. The first aid kits were a great idea, considering he didn’t know much healing magic himself and Y/n could only do a temporary pain relief spell. Having stuff to bandage up wounds in their bags made Douxie feel slightly better.

Y/n filled Douxie in on the specifics of Nari chosen disguise, and he set to work on that. It came out pretty cute. Nari liked her new duds, taking her time to look over herself. Y/n handed the veggie lady her phone with the front facing camera on so Nari could use it as a mirror. She really liked that. Y/n snickered at Nari trying out different angles.

He moved onto Y/n. He didn’t magically fairy godmother her like he did the forest child, he just made her a spare set of clothes to go in that backpack. He made them according to her request, but paused at the tee shirt. “Do you want me to put a logo or something on this?”

Y/n twirled her hair around her finger. “Hmm. I’m thinking, Ash Dispersal Pattern. They’re my favourite band, ever heard of them?”

Douxie laughed as conjured up the tee. He picked one of his favourite designs from past merch. It could be considered vintage now, but it wasn’t that long ago to Doux. He fancied the idea of getting to see her in his merch a lot more now. She did have one of their tee shirts back in the bookstore, but she didn’t wear it often as it was in rotation with other band’s tees. He didn’t have competition anymore, it seems. He grinned as finished up.

“Anything else?”

“Yes, actually. Now that I know you can just magic up clothes for yourself, I would like your hoodie.”

“I can make you a hoodie like thi-“

“No, no, I want the one you’re wearing, thank you. It’s warm and familiar and it smells like you.” She said half-joking, half-serious. “It would make me feel safer.”

Douxie couldn’t believe what he was hearing. In fact some part of him thought he may have just daydreamed that. He wordlessly forked over the hoodie. She took it merrily and put it on, giving it a sniff for good measure. Now he really was daydreaming.

“Thank you, Dewdrop!” Oh, he had a pet name now. He’d hadn’t heard that one yet. Frisky people had called him all sorts of strange and embarrassing things over the centuries. But this one was a first. He guessed it was a play on his name. Dewdrop, ay? That was so soft and sweet. A shiny little dewdrop, the first thing you see in the morning. Ah. It seems that miss L/n was plotting to kill him. She was succeeding.

#douxie x reader #hisirdoux casperan x reader #hisirdoux x reader #douxie casperan x reader #douxie imagine #hisirdoux casperan imagine #hisirdoux imagine #douxie casperan imagine #douxie #hisirdoux casperan #toa douxie #douxie casperan #my writing #nert

[princesskuragina]

Analyzing Hélène's horrible horrible costumes in BBC War and Peace in no order whatsoever

they’re just so bad

Opening scene

Okay. I’m starting off on a good note. I actually like this dress. I think it’s pretty. From a costume design standpoint, she looks elegant, and very much like a grecian statue. Antique beauty was ALL the rage in this period, the fact that she kind of looks like she’s literally wearing a chiton kind of works for her. She is this marble woman, but she’s also very young, and I like that she’s in white (both fashionable and also adds to Pierre’s romanticizing of her). Is this dress historically accurate? No. But I think this is a decent example of historical influence over absolutely strict historical accuracy. Unfortunately it’s all downhill from here.

Vassily Kuragin uses his real life daughter to play The Sims

This is giving me serious reign energy, or at best downton abbey. She wears a square neckline for once, but other than that I have nothing to say. That wimpy little cross necklace is weird, she’s not a 13 year old at horse camp.

Scarlet letter headass

I think I know what they’re going for here. Hélène wears this when she meets Dolokhov, she’s about to cheat on her husband, so she’s in this dark red, low cut gown. Draped details. Very evil. I like the color. Could be worse! However the need to modernize her cleavage is getting on my nerves. Compare to this as a possible alternative:

Jewel tones! V neck! Showing chemise/fabric meant to look like a chemise feels very suggestive and almost like a regency era illusion neckline. I just think Hélène could’ve benefited from a little less ~~modern sensibility~~

Roasting the shit out of Pierre

This costume was clearly designed with “how evil and slutty can we make this woman look” in mind. It looks like bad fashionnova lingerie. We’re veering into personal taste, but I almost think she’d be more impactful if she looked very put together, here. Pierre comes stumbling in and she’s there, all made up and elegant, ready to scold him? That’s so much better. But if u want to keep her in her underwear, you can do better than this.

Anatole enabler

I have no idea what the fuck this is. I can’t even pretend to understand this one. She looks like a loofah.

Seducing Natasha or whatever

This screencap is at 3% health and so am I because fucking hate this outfit. The weird cuffs on the spencer, the vampire collar, the INSISTENCE on a deep v, the fact that it looks like she’s not even wearing a decent modern bra much less a pair of stays but we’re supposed to believe everyone is just madly in love with her tits, the COLOR SCHEME. The one and only thing I can say to the defense of this is that she is actually wearing a “high necked purple velvet gown” in this scene in the book, and maybe that’s what they’re going for?? Basically if I were Natasha I would not be impressed.

I bet you’ll never guess what happens to the sexy woman at the end of this novel written by a dead misogynist!

She dies! Thank god am I right can’t have that evil succubus surviving. Anyways this is not her worst dress. I get why she’s in white and I like it—she looks very young and very helpless, out of her usual dark reds and purples, it’s a purity thing, as she is actively being driven to suicide for being ~impure~. This is also the reason I can maybe excuse a grown woman with her hair down, it makes her look younger. I have no idea why this is hitched up over her tits in this bit but if she pulled it down it might look like a sort of early regency, 1790s vibe. Her body is very much on display and I think that’s a smart choice, like they can all see straight through her and her weird flimsy tissue paper dress (that she’s definitely not wearing any sort of proper petticoat or stays under, but hey, that’s too much to expect). Plus just the visual interest of bright red blood against white. I get it!

The Opera

She looks nice and apparently that’s the most we can hope for.

Whatever the hell this scene is I don’t know I haven’t watched the show in a while

I think the meets boris here? In any case she’s being a Big Society Woman and she’s in this weird chiffon prom dress. Still no stays. Weirdly reminiscent of Natasha’s horrible babydoll ball gown she wears when she dances with Anatole, which I suppose might be on purpose? That’s all I can say in defense of whatever this kmart spring formal nonsense is

#I wanted to do a whole 'analyzing all the horrible costumes in bbc w&p' post #but there are too many for the 10 picture limit #so maybe a part two #side note do y'all. enjoy dress history/costume posts #bc I've had more of that on my blog recently and im having fun with it #period drama #war and peace #costumes #costume design #hélène kuragina #this is about Hélène Kuragina #dress history #historical dress #fashion history #regency #sewing #lucyposting #suicide tw

[tuntematonkorppi]

now all the even ones >:D

EVIL AGAIN: uNCOnSTitu!TIONAL

2. You talked to an ex today, correct?

nope

4. Is trust a big issue for you?

yes

6. What are you excited for?

my sister spending next week at my place, getting a new tattoo on october 2nd, the project i worked on being made public on october1st

8. Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted?

i think it's stupid and that everyone should learn to drink responsibly but i don't find it disgusting

10. What is the last beverage you had?

coffee

12. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans?

four actually

14. What are you going to spend money on next?

right now? food and cat litter. glamorous, i know

16. Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months?

i hope so. i need to.

18. The last time you felt broken?

last night

20. Are you starting to realize anything?

more like a shitton of things, both personal and professional and it's slightly terrifying

22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks?

yes

24. What do you want right this second?

well. i want to finish a fic. i want to be done with this freelance gig. i want to eat chinese food. i want to be in an actual real relationship with a certain someone

26. Is your current hair color your natural hair color?

nope but i'm currently in the process of bleeding the dye out of my hair to get back to natural.

28. What was the last thing that made you laugh?

i had a first responder certification training today and the teacher was fucking hilarious

30. Does everyone deserve a second chance?

no

32. Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do?

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh

34. Listening to?

resolve

36. Do you know where the last person you kissed is?

nope and i don't care

38. Who did you last call?

some admin office

40. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed?

i was trying to end a disastrous date early and he kissed me almost by surprise

42. Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today?

i like 600km away from them and even when i'm in the same room as them i don't do that

44. Do you tan in the nude?

it happened when i was in finland. but not usually no

46. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night?

nope

48. Do you sing in the shower?

nope

50. Ever used a bow and arrow?

yep

52. Do you think musicals are cheesy?

yes and i don't like them

54. Ever eat a pierogi?

yep

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

fashion designer or artist

58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

literally all the time

60. Wear slippers?

nope

62. What do you wear to bed?

oversized tshirt and men's boxers

64. Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart?

i live in france we don't have those

66. Cheetos Or Fritos?

i don't care enough to know the difference

68. Favorite Taylor Swift song?

i hate her music

70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

...for fuck's sake. tattoo artist.

72. Ever won a spelling bee?

we don't have those here

74. What is your favorite book?

after dark by haruki murakami, the likeness by tana french or american gods by neil gaiman

76. Regularly burn incense?

used to, not as much now

78. Who would you like to see in concert?

resolve, comeback kid, rise against, moscow death brigade

90. Opinions on sex before marriage?

do whatever you want but don't force your opinions on anyone else

92. Do you want to get married

i used to say hell no to this. now i don't know. but if i do get married, it won't be a giant ceremony that costs a shitton of money with people i don't care about. it would be something small, with just our friends and the few members of my family i actually like

#replies #intricatecakes

[alexlamia]

1. Would you have sex with the last person you text messaged?

2. You talked to an ex today, correct?

3. Have you taken someones virginity?

4. Is trust a big issue for you?

5. Did you hang out with the person you like recently?

6. What are you excited for?

7. What happened tonight?

8. Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted?

9. Is confidence cute?

10. What is the last beverage you had?

11. How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust?

12. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans?

13. What are you gonna do Saturday night?

14. What are you going to spend money on next?

15. Are you going out with the last person you kissed?

16. Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months?

17. Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?

18. The last time you felt broken?

19. Have you had sex today?

20. Are you starting to realize anything?

21. Are you in a good mood?

22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks?

23. Are your eyes the same color as your dad’s?

24. What do you want right this second?

25. What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy?

26. Is your current hair color your natural hair color?

27. Would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh?

28. What was the last thing that made you laugh?

29. Do you really, truly miss someone right now?

30. Does everyone deserve a second chance?

31. Honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to?

32. Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do?

33. Are you one of those people who never drinks soda?

34. Listening to?

35. Do you ever write in pencil anymore?

36. Do you know where the last person you kissed is?

37. Do you believe in love at first sight?

38. Who did you last call?

39. Who was the last person you danced with?

40. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed?

41. When was the last time you ate a cupcake?

42. Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today?

43. Ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush?

44. Do you tan in the nude?

45. If you could, would you take back your last kiss?

46. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night?

47. Who was the last person to call you?

48. Do you sing in the shower?

49. Do you dance in the car?

50. Ever used a bow and arrow?

51. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

52. Do you think musicals are cheesy?

53. Is Christmas stressful?

54. Ever eat a pierogi?

55. Favorite type of fruit pie?

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?

57. Do you believe in ghosts?

58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

59. Take a vitamin daily?

60. Wear slippers?

61. Wear a bath robe?

62. What do you wear to bed?

63. First concert?

64. Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart?

65. Nike or Adidas?

66. Cheetos Or Fritos?

67. Peanuts or Sunflower seeds?

68. Favorite Taylor Swift song?

69. Ever take dance lessons?

70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

71. Can you curl your tongue?

72. Ever won a spelling bee?

73. Have you ever cried because you were so happy?

74. What is your favorite book?

75. Do you study better with or without music?

76. Regularly burn incense?

77. Ever been in love?

78. Who would you like to see in concert?

79. What was the last concert you saw?

80. Hot tea or cold tea?

81. Tea or coffee?

82. Favorite type of cookie?

83. Can you swim well?

84. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

85. Are you patient?

86. DJ or band, at a wedding?

87. Ever won a contest?

88. Ever have plastic surgery?

89. Which are better black or green olives?

90. Opinions on sex before marriage?

91. Best room for a fireplace?

92. Do you want to get married?

🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈

��� 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️🧛🏻‍♀️ 🧛🏻‍♀️

🐈 🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈🐈

🐈‍⬛ 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

Damn 😳

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. No.

4. Yes.

5. Yes.

6. Fall and Halloween 🎃

7. Nothing, really. Just hanging out with my cat.

8. No.

9. Yes.

10. Sweet tea 🫖

11. Three.

12. No. 👖

13. Probably stay in my room with my cat.

14. Maybe Halloween decor or art supplies 😂

15. Yes.

16. God, I hope so.

17. My partner and my best friend.

18. I feel broken every day 🤷🏻‍♀️

19. No 😒

20. No.

21. Yes.

22. No.

23. Yes. 😂

24. A lot of things.

25. Nothing. 🤷🏻‍♀️

26. Yes. I’ve never dyed my hair.

27. No.

28. A funny video that my brother send me.

29. Yes. 😞

30. Yes.

31. No.

32. Yes ❤️

33. Hell no! I love soda.

34. Not listening to anything right now, but I normally listen to country music. lol 😂

35. No. Just draw outlines in pencil. ✏️

36. Yes.

37. Yes.

38. My Dad.

39. I’ve never danced with anyone.

40. I love them, and I was leaving to go home.

41. My birthday.

42. Yes.

43. Yes.

44. No.

45. No.

46. Yes.

47. My mom.

48. Yes.

49. No.

50. Yes.

51. In high school.

52. No.

53. A little bit.

54. Yes! 😋

55. Is rhubarb a fruit? If not, then Apple.

56. A singer or an archeologist.

57. Yes. 👻

58. Yes.

59. No.

60. Yes. 🥿

61. No.

62. An old t-shirt and shorts.

63. It was either a Faith Hill concert or a George Strait Concerts.

64. Target! 🎯

65. Nike.

66. Tough decision, but Fritos.

67. Sunflower seeds!

68. Anther tough one! Probably “Love Story”.

69. No.

70. No.

71. Yes. 👅

72. No. Came close, though.

73. Yes. 🥲

74. “The Vampire Lestat” by Anne Rice.

75. Yes.

76. Yes.

77. Yes.

78. Depeche Mode. Guns N’ Roses. Slipknot. AC/DC, but I don’t think they’re doing that anymore.

79. Blake Shelton.

80. Cold tea 🫖

81. Coffee ☕️

82. Chocolate chip 🍪

83. No. 😬

84. Yes.

85. Yes.

86. Band.

87. Yes.

88. No.

89. Green. 🫒

90. Yea. Do it.

91. Every room would be cool, but if I can only pick one, it would be the living room.

92. Yes 💖 Although, I doubt anyone would want to marry me.

#asks #anon

[dastardlydandelion]

respice finem

ao3 link

content warnings: referenced violence and abuse

part one link

obligatory irl inspo link

Max keeps pacing up and down the diameter of the room. She stretches her hands over her head and Billy thinks her protective hovering is starting to bug the nurses. They both stayed overnight but Billy’s at least taken a couple breaks. He got himself some Doritos from the vending machine. Borrowed and smoked a cigarette even though he virtually quit a couple years back. Took a short drive to a Kmart up the road and bought Max a change of clothes, supposing he wouldn’t able to get her anything of her own if her home was wrapped in caution tape.

“You wanna go down to the cafeteria, maybe? Get something to eat?”

“Not hungry.”

“Okay…did you know they have a gift shop? Wanna go check it out?”

“No.”

“Do you—“

“I’m not leaving, Billy.” Max’s eyes glitter in a stubborn glower.

“Oh, but maybe you should, sweetheart,” Susan says softly. “You’re getting restless.”

“I’m fine.”

“You should get out of this stuffy room. Go for a stroll, stretch your legs. I would if I could.”

Pure heartbreak flashes across Max’s face and Billy feels his own lurch.

“Oh dear, bad joke.” Susan frowns and flaps her hand, the tube connecting it to the IV pouch swaying gently in the air. “That was in poor taste, I apologize. But I do think you need to get some fresh air, Max. I’ll be fine.”

Max pauses. Her hands come together and she taps her thumbs together as she mulls it over.

“I’d feel better if you stayed here.” Max shifts her gaze to Billy.

“Didn’t plan on going anywhere,” he says honestly. Max is obviously wired and getting more antsy by the minute but Billy is the opposite. He’s wiped out after driving for several hours straight and aching from head to toe after scrapping with his dad.

“…alright,” Max relents after a very long moment. “I’ll be back in fifteen.”

She gently swipes the back of her hand over her mother’s cheek. Susan blinks contentedly and hums in approval as Max trudges off to the door. She leaves. Susan's gaze flickers to Billy and then down. She frowns at the guardrail of the bed and uncertainly pushes at it with her palm.

“What’re you doing, Sue?”

“I don’t need this. I’m not going to roll out of bed.” She continues pushing at the guardrail but her efforts are weak and uncoordinated. Even if she had more power and precision behind her pushes, Billy’s pretty sure these things aren’t designed to be collapsed from the patient’s position.  

“It’s fine, just leave it alone.”

“No,” she refuses, eyes narrowing. “It’s in my way, Billy. It’s separating us.”

Something knocks loose inside his chest. Billy hasn’t seen her in three months. He hadn’t been particularly sure he’d ever see her again.

“Okay, okay, I’ll give it a go. Here.” He sighs out and messes with the thing and after a couple tries and a few silent shrieks from his very sore shoulders, he finally figures out how to get the damn rail lowered, adjusting it accordingly.

“Thank you so much,” Susan breathes. “Now it's easier to do this.”

She stretches out her slender fingers and rests her hand upon his knee. She gives it a couple dulcet pats. Her pinky pokes inside the fraying tear in the denim, soft pad of her fingertip cool against his skin. Billy swallows, wonders how much he is allowed to touch. She wouldn’t be this affectionate with him if she knew.

“It’s my fault Neil found you and Max,” Billy admits, heart pumping guilt like sludge in his veins. “It’s my fault he almost killed you.”

“What?” Susan stares at with owlish eyes.

“I wanted to send Max a gift in the mail,” Billy explains, speaking slowly and plainly. “I hid it under my bed. My dad saw it when he raided my room looking for some shit he thought I stole from him. That’s how he got your address. I tried to stop him, Susan. But I couldn’t…I’m sorry.”

“Oh, Billy.” Susan signs, rubbing her lips together. Her hand travels from his knee to his wrist and she gently pushes up his jacket cuff. Billy doesn’t stop her. He watches her eyes darken at the sight of the bruises.

“I’m sorry,” he repeats.

“You said it was a gift for Max?”

“Yeah…new skateboard.”

“I wish you would’ve just driven over to drop it off. Because if you came over, you would’ve seen how nicely we decorated our little duplex…you could’ve seen my darling little gnomes sipping tea and these delightfully clever novelty magnets Max found for the refrigerator. You could’ve sat on our couch and while it’s a bit worn— we got it secondhand —it’s very comfy. Maybe if you saw how nice everything was and sat in our cushy, comfy couch, you wouldn’t have wanted to leave.”

Billy gapes at her, noncomprehending. He just confessed he’s the reason she almost got killed. That it's his fault his dad literally broke into her home to beat her to death with a wrench. And Susan doesn’t seem angry at all. He knows she's on the good shit, but still. She's not out of it. She heard what he said. Ahd she is frowning but it’s a more fretful expression than anything, dimple between her eyebrows, forehead crinkled in concern.

“I waited for you, Billy.”

Oh.

“We talked about this before you left, Susan,” Billy gently reminds her. “I told you why I chose to stay. Remember?”

“You wanted to protect us,” she murmurs, thumb chary as she rolls it over his bruised wrist. “Me and Max.”

Billy solemnly nods his head.

“Mm…” Susan’s eyes rove the room and then settle back on him as her lips curl into a doleful smile. “How well do you suppose that turned out?”

Billy’s eyes travel along the chest tube to the rectangular drainage unit on the floor, the printed numbers and increments he doesn’t really understand. Glances to her legs elevated on the pillows. The right one was more badly broken. Not badly enough to require surgery, but still too swollen for a hard cast. The swelling in her left went down and Susan got fitted for a cast just a couple hours ago. The dark purple color she picked matches the massive bruise that currently blooms across most of Billy’s back.

“I’m sorry.” He bows again even though it hurts, it hurts, he’s goddamn sore but not as sore as he is sorry. Billy feels the knot tremble in his throat and he is possibly more sorry than he’s ever been anything else in his life. There is a beast in his belly with a thousand guilty eyes and shame in every one of its silent, miserable cries.

“No, no, raise your head. Don’t— it’s not your fault, Billy.” He feels Susan’s hand sweep the fringe from his face in a few quick motions, delicate and deft. “Won’t you look at me?”

Warily, he glances up. Susan’s eyes are misting up as he feels his own stinging again. Shit. Max is going to kill him if he makes her mother cry.

“I am the one who needs to apologize," Susan declares. "For the life of me, I couldn’t convince you to come with us. I failed you.”

“What?” Billy scoffs in disbelief. “No, that’s not on you. I’m stubborn, I’m—“

“I am the adult,” Susan cuts him off, voice sharp even as her hand rests against his cheek lamb gentle. “The real adult, you're barely twenty. You did what you thought was best but I’m older and I knew better, and I couldn’t make you see it. I let you stay, I left you in the lion’s den.”

Billy doesn't really see it that way. He doesn't feel like a child, doesn't want to be treated as one. And he's no longer Neil's legally, albeit he's been nowhere near financially independent. Couldn't work for a long time after that gruesome nightmare turned reality that was the worst fucking Fourth of July ever. Had to fork over all his paychecks to Neil even after he could go back to work— supposedly put toward residual medical bills insurance didn't cover, but hell if Billy truly trusted any excuse Neil could and would hold over his head. In any case, that's not entirely why he stayed with Neil. And staying with Neil wasn't even exactly the same thing as not going with Susan and Max, but abandonment wasn't a factor in the equation at all. He doesn't feel that way, how could Susan think that?

“You left me the address,” Billy pointedly reminds her and he does not let himself crane his face into her touch even though it’s cool and soft and he feels his stomach loosen with this, this featherlight clemency so careful and sweet.

Because of course he knows why he was left the address and it was never so he could mail packages.

“I should’ve grabbed you and dragged you to the car.” Susan doesn’t sound like she’s kidding.

“You could’ve,” Billy breathes and he’s not kidding either. “You’ve seen me get grabbed, Susan. I don’t fight it. Not in the house. Never did…not until he found that address.”

Susan’s thumb brushes away the tear that spills over, unbidden. Billy reaches out and does the same for hers.

“I’m not mad,” he promises in earnest.

“Neither am I. In fact, I’m…” Susan trails off, exhaling heavily as she draws her hand back from his cheek. “I don’t know, Billy. He was going to kill me. Maybe both of us and I could never say that I’m glad that happened because I am not. I am not glad Max had to see and do what she saw and did. I am not glad that at present, I cannot even stand without assistance. But…you’re here. You’re here because of what happened. Because of what happened, Neil…I never have to worry about Neil again. I never, ever have to look over my shoulder worrying about when he will find me because he already did.”

“That’s one way of looking on the bright side, I guess,” Billy mutters, voice hollow.

“Your father has done all the harm he will ever be able to do, to any of us, and now we’re together again. Isn’t there something to be said for that, Billy?”

He swallows thickly, nodding his head as he places his hand on the bed. Susan’s fingers slide over his and that’s how Max finds them when she returns.

“There you are,” Susan welcomes, smiling warmly. “That was a bit longer than fifteen minutes.”

Max freezes. “Did you need me?”

“No, honey, I’m fine. We’re fine. I’m just happy that you took a good break.”

Max visibly relaxes and shuffles over, lightly squeezing her mother’s upper arm. “I saw Neil.”

Billy exchanges a look of shock with Susan.

“Yeah, he had a new guard today and we talked for a couple minutes. Cool lady with a cool name, like some Greek Goddess name. She gave me a dollar for the vending machine and let me in his room.”

“Are you okay?” Susan frowns, worry crossing her features as her lashes flutter.

“Yeah, Mom. Neil doesn’t scare me anymore.” Max leans in and presses another kiss to the crown of her Susan’s head. Billy’s never seen her more affectionate than this, so doting and tender with her injured mother. “It was actually good. To see Neil like that…to know I did that. It confirms it, I guess? I mean not that I didn’t know, because obviously I know I didn't dream or hallucinate what happened, but…”

“Seeing is believing, perhaps?” Susan tilts her head, mussy red tresses shifting over the pillowcase.

“Yeah, like that. Seeing is believing, I guess. I saw the neck brace and the handcuffs and now I’m…well I’m not gonna turn into a badger every time you want me to take a break.” Max’s mouth quirks, expression sobering when she glances to Billy. “Are you gonna see him?”

“I don’t know,” Billy answers. He keeps thinking about it.

Maybe he’d feel better like Max does. Maybe he’d feel worse. He thinks he’d hate himself if he wound up having some scrap of sympathy. He thinks maybe he’d rip the pillow out from under his father’s head and smother the rest of the life out of him. He thinks he would have the opportunity to say everything he’s ever wanted to say but worries that he would not have the words, worries they may dissolve on his tongue with that stern, steely stare that’s shackled him all his life.

“Not yet,” Billy decides at least.

“You look weird,” Max bluntly blurts, scrunching her nose.

“That’s not nice,” Susan protests in mild reproach.

“It’s not mean,” Max counters, shrugs a shoulder as she looks back to Billy. “You okay? Is it hard being in a hospital again?”

Susan too raises a brow.

Billy reflexively lifts a hand to his chest, curls his jacket in his fist until the button presses uncomfortably into his palm. Few things in his life had been more challenging than his hospital stay and it wasn’t even being in pain or sick or weak, then weaker, then stronger and still in pain— it was sterility. It was being cooped up. It was no privacy whatsoever and never the right noises. It was everything being terrible except Max and Susan even if Max and Susan being around constantly was sometimes terrible but never, ever because they were terrible because they genuinely weren’t and— and now they’re all here again with some of the details rearranged.

Billy realizes that’s the hardest part, maybe, that the details are rearranged. Discovers that maybe it is worse to see someone you care about hurt than hurt yourself. He cannot speak but maybe they know, maybe they can read it in his face because then Susan’s reaching up again, brushing gentle fingertips over his scabbed up knuckles until he relaxes the death grip on the jacket balled into his fist.

“If you decide you want to see Neil, I’ll walk you to the door,” Max offers.

“Thanks,” he manages, terse but sincere.

“And if you want to see him, Mom, I’ll—“

“I don’t,” Susan breaks in, vehement and almost nervous, hand retracting from Billy’s and clasping fast to the opposite above her chest, IV tube swinging again. “I don’t, Max, I really, really don’t.”

“Okay,” Max promises her immediately, gingerly draping an arm around her in a reassuring embrace. The closest to a hug she can manage. “You don’t have to. You never, ever have to see him again, Mom. If you don't want to, you don't have to and that's that. I won't let anyone make you.”

Susan’s eyes dart back and forth as she leans into Max as much as she can, releasing a shaky exhale. Billy’s taken his breaks. They finally got Max to take her break. He thinks maybe Susan needs a break too.

“You wanna see what’s on tv, Sue?” he suggests.

‘No news,’ Max mouths at him above her head. Billy blinks knowingly.

“Sure,” Susan agrees, relaxing and shifting a bit as Max lowers her arm. “Um...maybe the animal channel?”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s see what nature is up to.”

#billy hargrove #susan hargrove #max mayfield #neil hargrove #my fic tag

[stefciastark]

Stuck Under A Building ~ Webpril Day 4

A/N: Peter begins to dig his way out with the help of Tony, who hopes like hell F.R.I.D.A.Y hasn't miscalculated anything. Otherwise, both Peter and Ned's lives may be at stake.

~Read on AO3

~Read on FFN

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The dust had already settled by the time Peter returned to consciousness. Not yet ready to open his eyes, he instead took mental inventory of each of his limbs, and he had to swallow back his panic when he couldn’t move his right leg without white hot pain licking its way up to his knee. In that moment, he made the decision to force his eyes open, hoping like hell that he wouldn’t be greeted with some sort of compound fracture or something else disgusting. Peter considered himself anything but squeamish, but he’d seen more than his fair share of gruesome injuries that he could very much do without at that very moment.

He found the offending object quickly; a large boulder the size of a washing machine – yet at least twice as heavy – sandwiched from halfway up his shin to his ankle. Mentally counting to three, he braced himself for the pain as he gave his leg another tug. He groaned through clenched teeth, clenching his eyes shut at the feeling of bone grinding on bone. Yep, definitely broken.

There was also a secondary problem he had just identified – the surrounding rocks had shifted in response to the movement of the one pinning him down. Peter watched with bated breath as a few stones the shape and size of watermelons tumbled down from the top of the pile and narrowly missed Ned, who still lay unconscious and prone on the ground beside him. His backpack lay just behind Ned, situated near what remained of the steel support pillar. If Peter remembered correctly, that meant that they were stuck in the middle-left portion of the cave. If he could get to the suit, he could get to help.

This would be the most high-stakes game of Pick-Up Sticks he’d ever played.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony had received a notification about Peter’s suit, and as much as he’d later hate to admit it, he had passed it off as unimportant as it initially came through his systems. Tony was in the process of finalising the last of the data transfers to his new lab in the Avengers headquarters that had been relocated to upstate New York. Terabytes didn’t even begin to cover the quantity of files he had left to integrate into the new systems, but he had to start somewhere. 

The hard drive had now begun to transfer the new blueprints for the latest Spiderman suit upgrades Tony had started prototyping. Peter was a keen kid; he was passionate and excitable, but frankly the sheer amount of voice messages he left was bordering on a violation of privacy. As Tony scrolled through the massive folder on Peter’s latest web-formulas he’d devised, the regular ‘Peter’ blip that appeared on his radar had suddenly faded into nothing, prompting advisory from F.R.I.D.A.Y. 

According to his A.I, Peter’s whereabouts had last been defined as being circa upstate New Jersey, close to - if not within - the Sterling Hill Mining Museum. F.R.I.D.A.Y further informed Tony that that particular area sat right near the Ramapo fault line, where seismic activity had recently been detected. 

Without hesitation, Tony set each foot in front of him deliberately, finally shrouding himself in his latest nanotech development: The Mark…whatever the hell. It was fast approaching the seventies and Tony had long since lost count. 

The built-in stabilisers in the suit prevented Tony from feeling the G-Force he would otherwise be subject to as he catapulted towards northern New Jersey. He’d asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to inform him if any changes occurred regarding Peter’s whereabouts, however his radar remained silent apart from where the calculations told him Peter’s last known location was. 

Completely removed now from the dense concrete jungle, Tony reached his final destination just outside of the Mining Museum. It may have been a long shot, but there was no way in hell Tony was leaving a single stone unturned.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Peter had nearly managed to sling his pinkie finger around the inside of his mask that was sitting inconveniently just past the middle of his backpack. If Ned’s life hadn’t been at a perpetual state of risk from a catastrophic cave in, Peter would have simply yanked his leg free long ago and dealt with whatever consequence, but when it was a life other than his own, he found himself unable to act irresponsibly, instead finding himself performing ‘babysitter’ duties whilst pinned underneath a rock half the size of his apartment fridge. 

Simultaneously extending his left arm once more as he gently shifted his leg just a fraction from beneath the boulder, he silently cheered as he managed to get a concrete hold on his mask. If anything, if he were lucky, he would be able to contact Mr Stark and work on getting them both out of here. 

Pulling the mask over his face, he heard Karen’s calming voice as whatever systems were available initialised. He assumed he had a concussion at that point, as barely anything she said was properly registering for him, and simply went in one ear and out of the other.

“Communications are now online,” Karen hummed, and Peter sighed with relief. What he didn’t expect, however, was the almost instantaneous interception of Mr Stark’s voice through the comms. 

“I leave you alone for five minutes...what the hell happened, kid?” 

Peter grinned from within the mask. He knew he was safe. Tony Stark had come to get him, and everything would be alright. Ned would be left unscathed and before he knew it, it’d all be a distant memory. “We were on a field trip, and all the rocks were really cool, and then suddenly the ground started shaking, the cave collapsed, and now I’m stuck in here with Ned who’s unconscious, by the way, and - “ 

“Take a breather, kid. Just sit back for a minute, F.R.I.D.A.Y’s pulling up a map of the mine. We’ll get you out of there, try not to move too much, okay?” Tony’s eyes shifted over the heads-up display, taking in the various patterns of disarray with Peter and Ned laying in the epicentre. He narrowed his eyes as progressively more shapes on the close-proximity radar turned a bright shade of red. These boulders couldn’t be moved unless Peter wanted to put the lives of himself and Ned in immediate danger. It was time to change games and play Tetris, but this time lives were at stake. 

“I need you to listen to me, Peter. There’s a rock to your right. Do you see it? I need you to wedge that just under where that boulder on your leg is sitting.” 

Peter wasn’t about to question how Tony had gotten there in such a short amount of time, or how he knew about the offending boulder atop his ankle. Following Tony’s instructions, he shifted the stone next to him, and was able to use it like an ‘a la natural’ forklift to shift the stone from above him. He pulled his leg out as fast as he could in the fear that the rocks above him would crash down upon him - but this time more catastrophically. Ned still hadn’t come to, and Peter was becoming increasingly concerned for his friend’s wellbeing. “Okay Mr Stark, I’m out. But Ned, he’s still not waking up, I don’t know what - “ 

“One thing at a time. Now, I want you to -”

Peter didn’t register what was being said to him, instead taken over by the sheer sense of dread as he fully realised the proximity of the rocks sitting around him, trapping him on all sides. As if that weren’t a big enough concern, one millimetre of uncalculated movement could cause a cataclysmic cave in that - if Peter lived - he didn’t want on his conscience. 

F.R.I.D.A.Y displayed the increased pace of Peter’s heart rate, and the decreased oxygen saturation in his blood. Shit. “Peter, I need you to listen to me. You can panic when this is over, believe me, but right now you need to get out. There’s a small rock to your left that’s shaped like the Kmart version of Cap’s shield. Nudge that out of the way for me.” 

Crushing his fear down as far as he could, Peter rapidly identified the frisbee-shaped stone diagonally to his right. “B-but Mr Stark, that’s right underneath a massive pile of rocks…” 

“Think of this like…” Tony rummaged in his brain for a moment, warring with the part of him that craved a blunt and harsh approach to the situation. He knew that would only cause Peter to stress more than he already was, so he opted for the approach that was as calm and collected as he could muster despite the situation. “What’s that game you showed me last week, kid? The one with the wooden blocks?” 

“Jenga?”

“That’s the one. Sometimes stuff’s gotta fall down before you can stack it up again. Don’t worry, F.R.I.D.A.Y’s got your back.” Tony worried at his bottom lip, hoping like hell F.R.I.D.A.Y hadn’t made some critical mistake in her calculations. He was purely relying on her to get Peter out of there. From where he was standing in the sole connecting tunnel that would lead to freedom, all he could see was rocks, rocks, and more goddamn rocks. As much as he would love to tear them from where they were positioned to get to the kid - his kid - he knew that any rash mistake on his part would end with more than one life haunting him until the day he died. 

And so a game of Jenga they played, Peter pulling stones from one location and sliding them to become the new support structures for other smaller micro-towers. The space around him began to expand, and with it, Peter felt as if there were more breathable oxygen seeping in through the cracks between the stones, and he wasn’t sure if he was imagining a gust of wind blustering in from where he guessed the tunnel’s entrance was. He had no idea how long they’d been reshuffling the contents of the cave, but Peter could almost stand completely upright and walk about twenty feet to his right and left. 

“Alright, now this one’s gonna be a doozy. There’s a small pocket in front of that big boulder over there. Just give it a good kick.” From what Tony could see on his monitors, the moment that large rock moved, he would be free to blast the remaining stones and drag the kids out of there, no matter how many pieces they were in. 

Peter knew this would be painful. It meant one of two things: he’d have to do the kicking with the leg his busted ankle was attached to, or he’d have to put all his weight on that limb while he did the deed with his good leg. Either way, he was prepared for it to suck. Choosing the latter and supporting himself partially on one of the larger boulders to his right, he brought his left knee to a right angle before pushing out with as much force as he could muster.

Tony first heard and then saw the shifting of the obstructions before him, the remaining fragments tumbling from the top until they sat in almost neat little piles below their larger counterparts. 

Finally overwhelmed with exhaustion, pain, and the intensity of the last (at least) hour, Peter lowered himself onto the ground beneath him, only vaguely hearing metal scraping on stone, and the vibrations in the ground as Tony completed the last of the puzzle. 

As he felt himself losing grip on awareness, he only just felt himself being gently lifted. At long last, feeling safe in the arms of the man he considered to be his father, he let himself drift off into the realms of unconsciousness.

A/N: Finally he's out! Peter and Tony will definitely be having a conversation about it on Day 6, so make sure you stick around for the conclusion to this little short story. I hope you've all enjoyed it so far xx

#webpril day 4 #webpril 2021 #irondad fanfiction #marvel #mcu fanfiction #peter parker fanfiction #tony stark fanfiction #whump writing #emotional h/c #h/c fanfiction #angst #fanfiction #writing prompt #writing challenge #my fanfic writing #ao3 #ffnet

[spicychickentendy]

Admit Stuff: 1-92 😎

Shit ok, I was not expecting someone to ask for all of them at once but here we go..

1. Would you have sex with the last person you text messaged?

- Fuck yes I would 🤤

2. You talked to an ex today, correct?

- Nope..they don’t deserve my time

3. Have you taken someone’s virginity?

- Yepperz

4. Is trust a big issue for you?

- I wouldn’t consider it an issue but it’s very important

5. Did you hang out with a person you like recently?

- Yeah I guess you could say that we hung out ☺️

6. What are you excited for?

- I can’t wait to watch the new episode of Dickinson that just came out today!

7. What happened tonight?

- Well last night I had a few drinks and listened to some hella good music 👌🏼

8. Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted?

- No I don’t but remember that the world is shit so have a friend with you

9. Is confidence cute?

- Fuck me, yasss!

10. What is the last beverage you had?

- I’m currently drinking water, remember to stay hydrated!

11. How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust?

- Fully trust? Hmm...probably 1

12. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans?

- Yepperz

13. What are you going to do Saturday night?

- After work I’m getting my haircut and then going on a date ☺️

14. What are you going to spend money on next?

- Gasss...a bitches gaslight just went on this morning 🙄

15. Are you going out with the last person you kissed?

- Well I sure hope so

16. Do you think you’ll change in the next three months?

- Maybe?

17. Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?

- That would have to be my partner in crime

18. The last time you felt broken?

- Yesterday

19. Have you had sex today?

- Not yet but the day is still young 😏

20. Are you starting to realize something?

- I need to keep myself busy with things I enjoy doing

21. Are you in a good mood?

- I’m not in a bad mood 🤷🏼‍♀️

22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks?

- Fuck to the no...well not sober

23. Are your eye’s the same color as your dads?

- Thats a negative ghost rider

24. What do you want right this second?

- To have a glass of whiskey in a nice bath

25. What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another boy/girl?

- Honestly it depends on the situation

26. Is your current hair color your natural hair color?

- Yepperz

27. Would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh?

- Nahh, laughter is hella important

28. What was the last thing that made you laugh?

- The conversation between me and this girl about lube at my job 😂

29. Do you really, truly miss someone right now?

- Yes 🥺

30. Does everyone deserve a second chance?

- Fuck to the no

31. Honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to?

- No I try my best not to hate anyone

32. Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do?

- Totally 😘

33. Are you one of those people who never drinks soda?

- No, I’m not perfect

34. Listening to?

- Lover by G Flip

35. Do you ever write in pencil anymore?

- I’m in school so sometimes

36. Do you know where the last person you kissed is?

- She’s at work😘

37. Do you believe in love at first sight?

- I believe in lust at first sight

38. Who did you last call?

- My love

39. Who was the last person you danced with?

- My wife in our living room

40. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed?

- I always give Heather a goodbye kiss before I leave for work

41. When was the last time you ate a cupcake?

- Honestly I don’t remember

42. Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today?

- It would be very difficult since they live in a different state

43. Ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush?

- Who hasn’t?

44. Do you tan in the nude?

- I am hella fucking white..when I try to tan I just get burned 😂

45. If you could, would you take back your last kiss?

- No

46. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night?

- Unfortunately no

47. Who was the last person to call you?

- My lover

48. Do you sing in the shower?

- Of course

49. Do you dance in the car?

- ALL 👏🏻THE 👏🏻TIME👏🏻

50. Ever used a bow and arrow?

- I have but I was not any good at it

51. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer?

- Um probably on my wedding day

52. Do you think musicals are cheesy?

- Nahh I enjoy them

53. Is Christmas stressful?

- Dealing with my family is stressful

54. Ever eat a pierogi?

- I don’t think I have

55. Favorite type of fruit pie?

- Hmmm...I’ll have to say blueberry

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were kid?

- I wanted to be a firefighter, police officer, or a professional bank robber lol

57. Do you believe in ghosts?

- Hells to the yes

58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling?

- Yep yep yep

59. Taking a vitamin daily?

- I tried but I’m not the greatest at remembering

60. Wear slippers?

- I have some fluffy rainbow slippers 😊

61. Wear a bath robe?

- I don’t wear one but I think I own one

62. What do you wear to bed?

- My birthday suit or a oversized shirt

63. First Concert?

- It was a P!nk concert ☺️

64. Wal-mat, Target or Kmart?

- Wal-mart but with complaining

65. Nike or Adidas?

- Nike

66. Cheetos or Fritos?

- Definitely Cheetos

67. Peanuts or sunflower seeds?

- Umm peanuts

68. Favorite Taylor Swift song?

- Hmm I guess off the top of my head I’ll say the 1

69. Ever take dance lessons?

- Nahh my goofy style just comes natural 😘

70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing?

- I don’t want to limit my partner, I’ll support whatever they decide to do and whatever makes them happy

71. Can you curl your tongue?

- Ohh yes I can do a lot of things with my tongue 😘

72. Ever won a spelling bee?

- Nahh

73. Have you ever cried because you were so happy?

- Oddly I have 👉🏻👈🏻

74. What is your favorite book?

- Oh that is a difficult question. That is like asking which one is your favorite child..

75. Do you study better with or without music?

- For the most part I study better with music

76. Regularly burn incense?

- Nahh I don’t

77. Ever been in love?

- Only once and still going strong🖤

78. Who would you like to see in concert?

- I really want to see Fletcher in person

79. What was the last concert you saw?

- I went to see King Princess and it was fucking amazing!

80. Hot tea or cold tea?

- It depends on my mood but I love a cup of hot tea with some honey

81. Tea or coffee?

- I have been drinking more tea lately

82. Favorite type of cookie?

- All cookies lol

83. Can you swim well?

- I mean I probably won’t drown but I don’t know about well

84. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

- That’s a negative ghost rider

85. Are you patient?

- For the most part

86. DJ or Band, at a wedding?

- Bands are groovy but I’m going to have to go with a DJ

87. Ever won a contest?

- I believe so

88. Ever have plastic surgery?

- Nope, I’m poor

89. Which are better black or green olives?

- Umm black?

90. Opinions on sex before marriage?

- Eh, I sure didn’t fucking wait

91. Best room for fireplace?

- Living room

92. Do you want to get married?

- Well I’m already married sooo

[klarolinedrabbles]

What are some of the tvd to fandoms greatest hits so to speak... I was only in it for a short time and then jumped out because I couldn't stand to

Oh, well allow me to be your guide. This will be under a read more because I already know, I’m gonna write a whole essay. Shout out to my ride or die @hellsbellschime.

I don’t think any overtly crazy happened during the good!TVD years. No wait, I’m lying.

The year the spin-off got announced, I believe it was tvguide, that posted an article with like info tidbits for currently airing shows. And one of them, was that Hayley was pregnant with Klaus’ kid. I remember this shit so clearly, man. Everyone was so confused. And then they were like SURPRISE, APRIL FOOLS. Because it was in fact April 1st. So ha-ha we all had a laugh, great. Fastforward to what, late April? Episode 4x20 airs, and it’s exactly what happened???

That whole day btw, the day the backdoor pilot for TO aired was just insanity. I’ll say that about a lot of days in this answer, but that day was really just something else. Like we were delirious, that’s the only way I can explain what happened on here. It was a nightmare but also one of the funniest night’s I’ve ever spent on here. I gotta go back for old time’s sake and reblog some of the shit from that night because we all snapped. And not in the good way. 

The TVD 100th. Now, we knew Joseph was coming back for that episode so they hype was real. Because up until that point, we’d gotten a huge load of nothing in regards to Klaroline. They released a trailer, a short one, that’s still in my favorites folder on youtube to this day. I rewatch it all the time because it’s iconic. And there was literally .002 seconds of Klaroline. It’s Caroline standing and then Klaus says “hello, caroline” and everyone lost their shit so much when it dropped that ‘hello caroline’ trended ww on twitter. 

THE DAY THE NETWORK THAT AIRED TVD IN AUSTRALIA AIRED A PROMO WITH THE KLAROLINE KISS IN 5X11. ICONIC. I literally woke up, logged on at around 11 AM my time, and my dashboard was on fire. It was the BEST. We didn’t know wtf to do, it was amazing. 

Paleyfest. Ohhhh buddy, lemme tell ya. So TVD/TO got chosen to have the CW panel’s at Paleyfest that year. Everyone was on a bit of edge because TO to that point was what, almost done with S1 and Klaroline had been given the mega cold-shoulder despite being the very thing other than the Mikaelson’s that got used to lure people in? After the pregnancy plot from hell, everyone was ready to peace tf out, but we got halted because it was a ‘ohh of course it’s gonna continue’ then they tried to nip Klaroline in the bud with 5x11 and no one was having it. So Paleyfest was where we were gonna get some ANSWERS, DAMMIT. I live on the east coast and the festival was held in the west coast so I wasn’t awake when it was happening. I remember making a post about how ‘going to sleep, and hoping when I woke up the answers were good.’. So I went to sleep, woke up a few hours later like 2-3 AM my time, and checked my blog and the first message I had was ‘don’t wake up stephanie, everything is a mess, stay asleep where everything’s fine’ I—

The gist of that was, they basically set JoMo up to be the bad-cop in shutting down Klaroline. He gave this long answer that made absolutely zero sense. The girl who asked the question about Klaroline, who was like 13 at the time, got called a bully for even asking a question at an event she paid to be at. A mess. And JP was like NO CROSSOVERS, ORGANIC, BLAH BLAH. And Paul was sitting next to her going “why can’t the show’s just intersect”, he was right and he said it. 

I can’t remember if this was S1 or S2, but somebody tweeted something and Carina replied ‘when you’re found dead in your basement with klaroline written on you this is why’ or something like that, that was a ~fun~ night. And then like half an hour later she was like “I’m sorry, I’ll never tweet about Klaroline again just leave me alone” if you’ve ever seen this fandom refer to ourselves as basement dwellers, this night is why. 

NARDUCCI. Can’t forget him. Talk about a man who just didn’t get it. And I don’t mean Klaroline, he just didn’t get anything, nothing in his head has ever clicked, I’m convinced. He used to pick fights on twitter repeatedly. Admitted once that he missed his flight because he was on twitter…arguing with a fan. AND ONE DAY, he decided to just—snap. Went on this hours long tirade against the Klaroline fandom, essentially calling everyone stupid because no one was appreciating the ‘art’ of the show. So when I say it lasted hours, I mean that. Now, you’d think, that he would be done, right? WELL, apparently that wasn’t enough, so the next day, he continued. I remember because I was in this gc on whatsapp, and I remember Erika sending a message to the gc going “omg, Narducci vs KCers round 2″ when I tell you I screamed. The man went on a two-day rampage against this fandom and it was insane. 

S6/S2 of TVD/TO was not a fun time. I can genuinely say it was borderline a chore to come on here during that time. It wasn’t fun, every day someone was in argument with someone from production on twitter. Truly the worst year of the fandom, imo. So S7/S3 rolls around and that’s where shit went nuclear. 

Hillary and I, are minding our own damn business, when someone come’s to us with information regarding the new seasons. This was post-SDCC, so it’s like the lull of September, waiting for the seasons to start in October. And we get approached with information, talkin bout how Caroline’s gonna be pregnant with Alaric’s twins in S7. When I tell you we didn’t know wtf to do. And we had to like wait on confirmation about it but then we found out it was legit and we were pissed. Literally ask us if we wanted to be in the spoiler game, the answer is no tf we did not. And she and I basically spent two days complaining. LIKE UGHHHH WE DON’T WANNA DO THIS, BUT ALSO THIS IS DISGUSTING, WE CAN’T JUST LET THEM SPRING THIS ON EVERYONE, BUT AGHH WHY US. So we chose collectively, as a duo, because das my other half yo, to blab. 

That went over as best as anyone could hope for it to go. Now, flashforward yet again, this time to around late Novemeber/December. I had been sent word that something was going down. TVD/TO lost their Thursday slots and got bumped to Friday’s, so a plan was going on, and they made one. We’d heard that they were rearranging something mid-season because they were gonna make a crossover work, publicly we found out it would be Paul and JoMo that crossover back-to-back. THEN ONE NIGHT—I call it black friday bc  that day was a fucking mess—, a friend of mine was friends with an SCer, I wanna say, and she was hearing word that the crossover did have Klaus and Caroline interact via phone call, but that it was very definitively an ending. Because they spoke about Camille and Stefan, etc, etc. Like a closing of the book type thing. So okay, we were like devastated, everyone on twitter was losing their shit. Everyone was pissed, and @-ing the writers all these crazy, sad things, we were a wreck. Ask Hillary about this night because she, I remember, describes it as ‘logging on and reading what everyone else had and not understanding why tf everyone was mad about it’. It was the first and last time that our roles were reversed, and bless her for it. 

SO WE’RE SITTING THERE, it’s Saturday, and we kept getting more information and we were like…something isn’t right here. So we did a bit of digging, spoke to a few people and waited it out. LO AND BEHOLD, everything we’d heard about the phone call was false. There was a phone call but the CKers and SCers were so mad about what was actually said in it, that a few of em, ring leaders of the feeble minded, made up a version and passed it around their fandoms as legit till it eventually worked it’s way over to us. So we all jumped the gun on fake information, lmfskdnknsks. Rumor has it, you can still hear Hillary yelling ‘I told you so’ at me through our group chat. 

So all was well, I couldn’t tell everyone why not to panic, just that they didn’t need to. Until, this account popped up called tvdspoiler or something on twitter, also saying false information about the phone call. Sending everyone into a panic yet again. I remember this because I was at  kmart with my mom, and the kmart by my house was in a basement so I had no cell service. I was able to send like a couple of messages, and was basically like ‘tell everyone to chill, I’ll clear it up when I get home’ did that in like a couple of hours cause then I had to leave to the midnight showing of the force awakens with my friends. So that day was chaotic, but fun. It was the first time I reached 99+ messages on my inbox, lmao. 

So that all happened like a good while before we actually saw the episode. But cut to a few weeks later. I woke up at 1 AM my time to drink water, was on tumblr trying to go back to sleep. I checked my inbox and there was this bizarre message talking about ‘got some scoop’ and they were like ‘Finn dies in 3x17, Aurora gets put into some weird sleeping spell in 3x18, Camille and Davina die in 3x19, Lucien dies in 3x20′ and I quite literally laughed??? Literally who wouldn’t. Like who tf would ever believe TO had the balls to do all of that when they never killed anyone off. AND, WHO WOULD BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE WOULD JUST STOP BY, SHARE IT AND LEAVE. So I sent a screenshot to Hillary and was like ‘yo did you get this because wtf’. We often got duplicate messages. And we often got messages of people who were pissed about the two previous times we, from the klaroline fandom of all places, had legit info that wound up being true, that they were just waiting for us to fuck up. So we used to get messages of people pretending they were sharing info, and it was just antis trying to make us look stupid. 

SO, Hillary says ‘just answer it because it’s obviously fake’ top ten moments before disaster. I answer it and am like oh haha, and where did that info come from. And they came back like a minute later, saying ‘I have a source’ THEN THEY ELABORATED. They mentioned that Lucien drags Freya and Vincent to Mystic Falls to do this spell with some bullet and etc. So at that point we were like fUCK because that same day we’d found out was in 3x16, which ended with Lucien and this white-oak bullet, having kidnapped Freya. And that’s when we knew, that someone showed up in the middle of the night, spoiled the whole back-half of TO S3—and then left.

The back-half of S3 was so fun??? Every week the info just kept coming true. On the wikia everyone hated me, probably the most anti messages I ever had was during that time, honestly it was great, 10/10 would recommend. 

THEN, at some point in our blog history, Hillary had been getting quite a few messages about PT. And she had this fucking line in one of the messages about Phoebe’s pronunciation with her accent for the show, or lack thereof. And she said “weeches and woves will always have a place in my heart” SO THEM PHOEBE TWEETED IT. THAT EXACT LINE, and we were like was she...? So we shrugged off okay. A few days later, she tweeted “hellsbellschime enough, there’s plenty of other things to watch on tv, I hear mad men’s great.” And I—

THIS WAS ON SOME RANDOM ASS SUNDAY. Like I was lounging around, waiting for the new episode of game of thrones and then WHAM, chaos. AND AS IF THAT WASNT ENOUGH, Leah joined in too. Putting a target on my friends back...about her blog that no one was making them read. You can’t make that shit up. And Jenn actually replied to Phoebe’s tweet and got a reply back, and she was all “you’re right, I’m sorry” and then deleted the original tweet, which I still have a screenshot of btw. And then Leah showed up in Hillary’s inbox with this ridiculous three part ask about how she shouldn’t criticize women in the acting industry because of how hard it is for women in that industry which is true, but it doesn’t make you exempt from criticism??? So not sure where she meant to go with that one.

SO THERE WE HAVE IT, our fandom’s greatest hits. I’m sure I can elaborate and insert more, but I’ve been typing for a good 40 minutes. 

Told ya, I wrote a whole dissertation, lmaooo.

#Stephanie talks fandom #klaroline #Anonymous

[eldritchsurveys]

1094.

survey by chasingghosts

What is the age gap between you and your parents? >> My father is about 50 years older than me.

How many bathrooms does your house have? Is this enough? >> Two. Yeah, there are two of us, so it’s the perfect amount.

Have you sent a letter to anyone in the past year? >> No.

Have you ever video chatted with someone you met online? >> Maybe a long time ago?

Are you hungry or thirsty right now? >> Nah.

When was the last time you ate something, and what did you eat? >> About two hours ago. I had leftover tortellini and a few of the breadsticks that Sparrow got from Little Caesars.

Have you ever seen the film Boondock Saints? >> Yeah, but it’s been quite a while. I mostly only remember Willem Dafoe, you know, being Willem Dafoe.

Do you own a pair of gumboots? >> No.

What colour is your favourite mug? >> Yellow and white.

How far away from your town/city is your state’s capital city? >> About... hmm. 60 or so miles?

Have you ever worked somewhere where you had to clean the toilets? >> I couldn’t work somewhere where I had to do that.

Do you know anyone named Doug? >> No.

What cut of jeans is your favourite and why? >> ---

Do you rate people’s attractiveness on a scale of 1-10? >> No.

Name a few of your favourite actors. >> Matthew McConaughey, Gillian Anderson, Idris Elba, Clarke Peters, Peter Mensah, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aisha Hinds, Nelsan Ellis (RIP).

Do you collect anything, or have you ever? >> Not really.

So, how has your week been so far? >> It’s been okay. No complaints, really.

Is there anything that you could cry about right now? >> Oh, I’m sure.

How old were you when you learned how to tie your shoelaces? >> I have no idea.

Have you ever slept in a car overnight? Why did you have to? >> Yeah. Because I was in a car overnight. :p

When was the last time you used Facebook? >> It’s been a few days.

Do you have a PO Box or does your mail get sent straight to your house? >> Straight to the apartment complex.

Are you interested in entomology? Do you know what that is? >> Sure. Bugs are neat.

Have you ever had to claim insurance? What for? >> No.

Do you like to listen to albums start-finish without skipping or shuffling? >> I don’t usually listen to whole albums straight through, I just put my playlist on shuffle. But, you know, I do it sometimes.

Do you have any unspoken enemies, or maybe frenemies? >> No.

What was the last thing you broke? >> I don’t know.

Do you have a favourite state/province/territory in your country? >> Nah.

How many vowels are in your street name? Is this question too mundane? >> Four. I have no opinion as to the banality of the question.

What are your three top favourite flavours of ice cream? >> I’d rather have gelato, of which my favourite flavours are vanilla bean and any variety of mint chocolate chip (my fave brand calls it “creme de menthe choc” or something like that instead haha).

How far away is the nearest Target? >> About 2 miles away.

Do you prefer Target, Kmart or Walmart? >> Target all day.

Have you ever farted in class or somewhere else you shouldn’t have? >> ---

What’s your middle name? Would you change it? >> Shadow. I did change it, to that, and I have no desire to change it again.

When was the last time you wore heels? What was the occasion? >> It’s been a very long time since I wore heels.

Do you find yourself lost for words often? >> Not often.

Did you share baths with your siblings/cousins when you were a child? >> ---

Have you ever been a member of an online dating site? How did it go? >> Yeah. It went fine, I guess? I didn’t get murdered.

Do you know what your neighbours even look like? >> A few of them.

How many siblings does your best friend have? >> ---

Do you put ketchup on your fries? >> I don’t put anything on fries, especially if they’re my fave, sweet potato fries. But even regular fries I eat plain (and I hate unseasoned/unsalted fries for this reason, because otherwise it tastes like nothing!).

Have you been lucky enough to make out with anyone in the past week? >> “Lucky enough” is one hell of a phrase for this. Anyway, yes, I’ve done so Inworld.

Have your parents ever worked in the agriculture business etc. on a farm? >> No.

Do you have an ex that makes you angry with literally everything they do? >> I mean, I’m nowhere near (digitally or literally) any of my exes, so... this doesn’t even have a chance to happen.

Are you easily susceptible to brain freeze? >> I wouldn’t say that.

#surveys #survey #random survey #not for reblogging *glare*

[stellarboystyles]

1. Would you have sex with the last person you text messaged? 

yes

2. You talked to an ex today, correct? 

nope

3. Have you taken someone’s virginity? 

lmao no also virginity is a social construct so

4. Is trust a big issue for you? 

YES

5. Did you hang out with the person you like recently? 

no :/ 

6. What are you excited for? 

to live on my own and be myself

7. What happened tonight? 

sleep

8. Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted? 

no do whatever you want!!! just pls be smart and safe!!!

9. Is confidence cute? 

yes (:  v cute (: 

10. What is the last beverage you had? 

ice water

11. How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust? 

literally one person

12. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans? 

unfortunately

13. What are you gonna do Saturday night? 

get drunk

14. What are you going to spend money on next? 

a vibrator

15. Are you going out with the last person you kissed? 

nope

16. Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months? 

i hope so!

17. Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything? 

i have a few people in mind <3

18. The last time you felt broken? 

define broken

19. Have you had sex today? 

legit haven’t had sex since january 

20. Are you starting to realize anything? 

that 

21. Are you in a good mood? 

nope

22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks? 

yes!!!

23. Are your eyes the same color as your dad’s? 

no his are green :((( and as far as biological idk never met him lmaoooo

24. What do you want right this second? 

attention

25. What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy? 

it depends

26. Is your current hair color your natural hair color? 

kinda

27. Would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh? 

hell no

28. What was the last thing that made you laugh? 

tiktok

29. Do you really, truly miss someone right now? 

no

30. Does everyone deserve a second chance? 

no

31. Honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to? 

no

32. Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do? 

i don’t think so

33. Are you one of those people who never drinks soda? 

first of all, it’s pop. second of all, yes

34. Listening to? 

roslyn by bon iver

35. Do you ever write in pencil anymore? 

sometimes

36. Do you know where the last person you kissed is? 

yep

37. Do you believe in love at first sight? 

yes

38. Who did you last call? 

my ex boyfriend

39. Who was the last person you danced with? 

my friend grace!

40. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed? 

i don’t know

41. When was the last time you ate a cupcake? 

can’t remember :/ don’t like cupcakes

42. Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today? 

nope

43. Ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush? 

oh god yes

44. Do you tan in the nude?

depends 

45. If you could, would you take back your last kiss? 

probably not

46. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night? 

no

47. Who was the last person to call you? 

my mom

48. Do you sing in the shower? 

heck yes

49. Do you dance in the car? 

yesssss

50. Ever used a bow and arrow? 

on the wii

51. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? 

last christmas

52. Do you think musicals are cheesy? 

no i LOVE musicals

53. Is Christmas stressful? 

sometimes

54. Ever eat a pierogi? 

yes

55. Favorite type of fruit pie? 

fruit pies are grOSS

56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? 

dancer

57. Do you believe in ghosts? 

yes

58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? 

all the time

59. Take a vitamin daily? 

nope i should tho

60. Wear slippers? 

no but i <3 socks

61. Wear a bath robe? 

no

62. What do you wear to bed? 

nothing

63. First concert? 

hunter hayes

64. Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? 

target baby

65. Nike or Adidas? 

nike

66. Cheetos Or Fritos? 

neither 

67. Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? 

PEPITAS

68. Favorite Taylor Swift song? 

ummm exile

69. Ever take dance lessons? 

yes!!! for 15 years (:

70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? 

why is this a question

71. Can you curl your tongue? 

yep

72. Ever won a spelling bee? 

YES i won in 7th grade and then got 2nd place in my county spelling bee but i was the eleventh one out in regionals and i cried :(

73. Have you ever cried because you were so happy? 

yes

74. What is your favorite book? 

i have a few!

75. Do you study better with or without music? 

depends, but most of the time yessss

76. Regularly burn incense?

no, but i love palo santo!! i don’t use it anymore bc it’s endangered 

77. Ever been in love? 

not sure

78. Who would you like to see in concert? 

taylor swift

79. What was the last concert you saw? 

one direction </3

80. Hot tea or cold tea? 

cold

81. Tea or coffee? 

tea

82. Favorite type of cookie? 

oreos

83. Can you swim well? 

yea

84. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose?

nope

 85. Are you patient? 

depends

86. DJ or band, at a wedding? 

band

87. Ever won a contest? 

spelling bee

88. Ever have plastic surgery? 

no but i want to sooo bad 

89. Which are better black or green olives? 

neither. olives are evil

90. Opinions on sex before marriage?

do whatchu want and be proud of it 

91. Best room for a fireplace? 

living room

92. Do you want to get married 

maybe