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theslowesthnery · 3 years

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alright, let me show you guys some perfectly Normal and Moral people from one (!) of the callout posts about me

may i remind you, this is all over some damn drawings of a baby minotaur drawing with chalk

above, people who are really telling on themselves by seeing something uncomfortable and suspicious in art that is just...not

you know what the “context” of the art is? sometimes i think “hmm, i wonder what my fave character looked like as a child? omg i wanna draw that”. i did it when i was in the naruto fandom, and i did it when i was in the undertale fandom. and especially in the case of asterius whose life was Fucking Garbage and who never had a chance at a good, happy life, i wanted to imagine what his childhood might’ve been like, if maybe he had at least some happy childhood moments, if maybe there was someone who loved him before it all went to shit (and also since he’s so big, i thought the idea of him having been a tiny babbu was fuckin’ adorable). also, kids put stuff in their mouth, animals put stuff in their mouth, so i figured a human/animal hybrid baby would try to taste stuff they’re unfamiliar with even more so. there’s your “gross” and “horrible” context. and you’re seeing sexualization in that. that’s literally all you, all in your own brains. your minds are so hopelessly fucking warped that it would be sad if you weren’t insistent on treating other people like shit because *you* saw something sexual in an entirely sfw, non-sexual, pure and wholesome drawings of a child doing child things

as someone with no interest in children, fictional or real, i find it immensely concerning that your mind jumps into imagining child rape with such ease, requiring literally no prompting. that is creepier and more concerning than anything i could ever draw

the usual from the Normal and Moral crowd

god do you guys have any idea what it’s like for someone with very bad self-esteem problems to see people who hate their guts and want them dead go “noooo why is their art so good”

pictured, me rolling in this validation like

“pedophilic ships”?? mf where? words just don’t mean anything to you guys anymore, do they

also cute hadesgame-related user name! thanatos and zagreus are adopted brothers, achilles and patroclus are cousins, and hades married his cousin’s daughter! you’re supporting a game with incest in it, based on greek myths that have even more incest in them!

here’s your award for the dumbest goddamn take i have legit ever seen 🏆

huh, here i thought it was about protecting minors 🤔🤔🤔 (just kidding, i’ve never seen a single anti say deny that it’s about the harassment)

now why wouldn’t i want people like the previous person or the people a couple of screenshots up who are wishing for my death or the anon telling me that *checks notes* they hope my firstborn is raped and has their genitals sliced off interacting with me 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔 certainly seems sus

there’s a pandemic and some people are disabled, karen

imagine seeing a drawing made by someone who you think is a pedophile and going “i’m gonna trace and repost that :)” head empty, no values or morals, only thirst for clout

i haven’t drawn porn in like. two or three whole years

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND EVERYONE ELSE, IT’S TIME FOR SUS CHALK

hey, a familiar face! thing is, i never said i don’t want to incest shippers to interact me, what i said was that i don’t want my non-incest drawings of siblings be tagged as incest, because A) it makes me super uncomfortable, and B) it leads to people like *gestures to the entire post* to send me death threats for being a disgusting fontcest shipper when all i drew was brotherly pictures of skelebros. idgaf what people ship lmao, i just don’t want my art tagged incorrectly and to be harassed because of it. also i’ve been open and vocal about being proship for literal years

“oh i know them, they shipped [ship i have literally never shipped and which i am uncomfortable enough with to blacklist]” yeah you sure know me lmao

oh no, not an A-A-A-ADULT 😱😱😱 guess who else is an adult? toby fox, and everyone who worked on not only undertale but every single piece of entertainment you’re consuming. this site? made by adults. the internet? made by adults. the person who created that callout post? adult. and so will you be, too, and there’s not a goddamn thing you can do about it

awww hell yeah, i officially have a Proship Artstyle™ that makes antis uncomfortable 🤘

i have no idea what this person is trying to say ngl. is...being thirsty for asterius (have you seen him?) and liking theseus bad and cause of suspicion now? well shit, i have some very bad news for A LOT of people in the hades fandom

do you guys like...not understand the difference between children and adults? just because an adult is romantically or sexually interested in another adult does not mean they would fuck the child version of that person. if a person sees a photo of their crush or significant other as a child and goes “aw, cute”, does that make them a pedophile in your book?

i was here first, bud, you leave if you hate it here so much

i don’t even want to know what’s going on in the reblogs of that post. all this over a drawing of a baby minotaur playing with chalk

remember when being a pedophile required a sexual attraction to children? not anymore, these days pedophile is literally just anything and anyone you don’t like, and you don’t need any evidence to call people that! the more you know!

mmmm look at alllll that delicious ageism. i’ll never stop being amused by kids who think repeating information about myself i’ve freely chosen to display on my very public bio is some kinda “gotcha”. newsflash, buttercups - you too will be 30 and over one day. you’re not immune to aging, but sure, keep shitting in the pool you’ll eventually all be swimming. unless, of course, you’ve already decided to be absolutely miserable and joyless once you hit 30, to which all i can say is “couldn’t be me 💅“

also if you hate people over 30 so much, put your money where your mouths are and stop consuming content made by people over thirty. and i don’t mean just fan content, i mean everything: music, movies, comics, video games, cartoons, everything that was made by those gross 30+ year olds. create your own content, your own sites (ao3 is explicitly anti-censorship and anti-harassment, in other words pro-shipping and pro-fiction, so you guys better not be reading or posting any fics there), your own shows and games, see how that works out

#fandom discourse cw #anti discourse cw #and all the things that come with it #long post #(under readmore tho)

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bioodorange · 4 years

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||Pastas on Halloween||

I'll make a part 2 if y'all wanna see anyone else

X-Virus

Cody would play an actor at one of those haunted houses

Were talking huge, multiple attractions and long ass lines

A personal HC, Cody is bomb at SFX makeup

He'd have a fun time before hand, half dressed up and helping people he worked with get ready

He'd do it with normal people because with the pastas its cheating

He'd do the same one every year and make friends through it

Start planning months ahead with everyone and leaving at random ass times to go set it up

He'd have a souvenir each year

And he'd sell overpriced tickets to those he didn't like

Even if he likes you this shit ain't free

Wouldn't let ANYONE see his makeup or costume outside the other workers for ultimate scare factor

All would be going well until he gets fuckin socked by one of the kids

Their mom would apologise like "omg I'm so sorry I kn-"

And he breaks character gets up with a huge smile on his face and laughs his ass off

"nice one" and offers a high five

Very into Halloween and very hard to upset him during this season

Masky

Claims to not be super into it

Like ew why it's just a holiday??

But spends 3 hours looking for the perfect costume at spirit

Would casually rob a Walmart for all of the candy

And on Halloween just has the stupidest grin on his face

Like his reason for being happy just halloween

That's all he says when someone asks

Takes great pride in the pumpkin he carved

Yes he dragged brian to get it with him

he MIGHT try and bake the pumpkin seeds

He has a mental list of good and bad horror movies

One comment from Brian about how he always changes his opinion and he writes it tf down

The next morning around 8:30 am

SLAM

Brian, confused "Tim what the fuck is that-"

"Everything" "What the hell does that mean?"

"you said I change my opinion a lot so now it's all here!" "What the h-"

"yes it is color coded, thank you for asking"

"how long did this take you?"

"16 hours"

Radiates proudly in dumbass sleep deprived energy

Laughing Jack

So as expected he likes halloween

dUh

Since this dude loves children

He would definitely have fun with this Holiday

He would go to like a preschool before halloween and just fuckin watch those little parades they have kids do

Like where they go around the school In their costumes

He'd roast the shit out of them

And everyone else too

He'd give so much tips like what you could do to make it better

But wouldn't tell you how to do so and continue to put you on blast

He thinks spirit is overrated and insists on making his costume himself

But he'll do it in the like two days leading up to halloween and will get very feral with anyone who interrupts his work

He likes trick or treating but not with people so he'd have like Jason and candy pop go to different rooms in the mansion and give him candy

For like 5 hours straight

He'd stab the candy on his fingers like a shish kabob

He'd also murder anyone who eats a KitKat by biting into it

Even though he's a weirdo who chews ice cream and swallows cookies whole

Homicidal Liu

So Liu feeds like stray cats and other animals in the woods

He feels bad because theres shit like the rake out there

But he would dress every single animal up

And spend like all afternoon taking pictures off them

He isn't one to dress up, it isn't really his thing

He'd wish he could hand out candy because he wants to see like all the kids cool costumes and stuff

Would low-key murder a fuckin spirit of Halloween attendant so he could have their job for a day

He'd go to Costco and get all different kinds of candy and leave out those little "take one :)" bowls like out and about

Now when it's like later at night he'd go around beating people up who like kill black cats because apparently Halloween is oh so horrible

Also in the few days after halloween when people start returning their black cats and stuff he takes all is them home to the mansion

And eventually slender makes him release them or keep them in the basement

Everyone got annoyed of dying cat noises coming from his room at 2 am

I feel like Liu wouldn't be a fan of horror movies

But he'd be totally down to watch the originals like Hocus Pocus, Halloween Town and Monster House

He is a fan of Tim Burton

His favourite movie is the Corpse Bride

Ticci Toby

He fucks pumpkin

But no Toby is a big fan of fall

And halloween!

He really likes M&M's

Chewy candy is hard to eat with the gash in his cheek

He'd suck all the colored covering off of the M&M and spit it out

He'd do this to all of them before eating them

If you watch a horror movie he insists on eating all the half popped popcorn kernels

Toby would be a fun of funny slashers like Child's Play

He'd be the one dude who'd spoil wtf was gonna happen during the movie

And get a shit ton of popcorn thrown at him

He'd get a lot of criticism for how his cosplay was innacurate

"his hoodie has thicker stripes then that like co"

Yeah uh then he'd bite this bitches finger-

Toby unironically barks at people change my mind

For his costume he'd probably go to a smaller local business to support them

He'd get dressed up as Dracula or something a classic but a good one

Jeff or something would make fun of how he could see Toby's fake ass fangs through his mouth gash

Then Jeff would get fuckin socked in the face

Don't mess with this bitch when he's excited about Halloween!

Jeff the Killer

He also fucks pumpkins

His worst nightmare see those Jeff the Killer morph suits at spirit Halloween

He'd get his costume from fuckin hot topic or something

He'd post youtube make up tutorials on how to look like him

Ben would get mad cash from filming Jeff raging when he got demonetized

He'd spend like 20 minutes getting his hair in a wig cap only to realize he didn't need it for his costume

He'd be into really shitty candies like tootsie rolls and black licorice

He'd get curb stomped by LJ for biting right into a fuckin KitKat bar

Very adamant on kidnapping children

That is until he realizes how annoying they are

"what do you mean you have to e a t" "no shut the fuck up and e- NO I DON'T CARE IF IT'S COOKED" "OH MY GOD SHUT UP"

Jeff releases the children and now refuses to hangout with ben

Simply because of how small and feral he is

He'd go around scaring kids for revenge and taking the fuckin candy they drop

#x virus #x virus headcanons #tim wright #tim wright Headcanons #Masky #Masky Headcanons #ticci Toby #ticci Toby Headcanons #homicidal liu #homicidal liu headcanons #jeff the Killer #jeff the killer head canons

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purplerose244 · 3 years

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Belonging

Here again for the @toa-secret-santa of this year! So happy to participate again, I love these events! 😍😍 Hello @spellcasterdouxie, I’m your secret santa! Merry Christmas and festivities, hope you like my present! ❤

Summary: In which being stuck in New York to protect a magical being and save the world in the process is no excuse for not celebrating Christmas with your friends.

Also on AO3

So… Nari was a terrible liar.

Extremely powerful being, the purest pretty soul, but horrible at lying.

Douxie didn’t have the slightest idea of what she was plotting, granted that she used to be part of an evil congregation of wizards that wanted to take over using an ancient artifact – meh, like that was the weirdest coming from his friends –, but he was fairly sure that her claim regarding the leaking sink of the bathroom was some sort of decoy.

Did that convince him to ignore those big adorable puppy eyes?

“It looks good to me, but I’m gonna give it a double check just in case!”

“Thank you Douxie, much appreciated! Please make sure everything is working, do not overlook a single thing!” Absolutely not. He was a master wizard, not a beast.

Their little apartment was neither pretty nor particularly clean. Which considering the little money he accumulated over the years with all of his jobs back in Arcadia and given the fact that they were in New York City, was kind of a given. But it had a perfectly functional bathroom, basically a gift from above, or some kind of karma retribution from putting up with three different apocalypses in the same summer – and he had all suspicions that another one was coming, but possibly another season. That being said, he wasn’t sure why with her plant like appearance, Nari with all people was so interested into their sink. Besides maybe for spraying a bit of water over her head – one very curious and endearing scene really, like a pot plant watering itself.

Then again, he wasn’t completely sure why he was going along with it instead of asking directly what was this all about. Maybe he liked to study whatever thought somehow as peculiar as her could come up with. Maybe there was nothing else of particular interest to do while waiting for his mac and cheese to be ready… maybe that little nightmare of his from last night got him a little too down, and doing anything but think about it was a better solution than most. And it was a pretty annoying maybe, because dreams about his master were as common as breathing lately.

He thought he was over it. It was probably too soon… hopefully he was at least getting closer to the not too soon part of it.

One long silence followed, from which he was fairly sure he had heard a few whispers a little lower than Nari’s light tone. Great, what now? Was she actually plotting something?

“Is everything okay over there? Arch? Nari?”

“Fine, everything is fine! Keep checking please!”

“Are you serious?” Okay now it was ridiculous. “Nope, I’m getting over there, and you two better not be up to no good!” They were a surprisingly compatible pair, especially since his familiar had made it his mission to teach her the marvel of pranks – she wasn’t even malicious about it, that made it all even more devious somehow. Douxie left the wrench on the ground, getting out of the bathroom and towards the living room. “You all keep forgetting that I’m the master wizards here, so technically I’m in charge, so if you’re scheming something- Whoa, Mordrax’s miracles!”

The last thing he had expected, after leaving their lonely living room that was made of four faded walls with a random kitchen connected to it, was to get back to it completely transformed into a messy, happy Christmas themed little chamber.

Filled with very familiar faces.

“Merry Christmas, Teach!” Claire almost knocked him off his feet with that hug. She looked radiant, all wrapped up in one big purple sweater with ‘Feeling Wicked Sassy’ written on it – appropriate. Behind her Steve, Toby and Archie were all smiling.

“Sorry, you would not leave the house,” Nari looked all cozy and a little guilty in that big mint green sweater – with ‘Every Day is Green Day’ written on it, where did she get that? –, waving at him. “And it felt like claiming we were being attacked by Skrael and Bellroc was a bit excessive.” Thank goodness his roommate and protegee had some common sense – considering his latest adventure, more than him for sure.

Claire giggled, shrugging innocently.

“We honestly hoped you were that bad of a plumber and would give us more time…”

Douxie snickered, because this was ridiculously endearing and he loved it all already.

“Too bad I’m not completely hopeless.”

“Could’ve fooled me!” Steve, it was Steve, not even worth turning around to recognize him. But a random fist bump, that much he could concede – especially with that massive blue sweater ‘Silent Knight, Holey Knight’ he had on, like really what was even that. “Ready to have the best time of your life?”

The master wizard arched an eyebrow.

“Said from you? Should we call the firefighter in advance? Or the police?” The blonde pouted very dramatically, Claire snickered. He had really missed these two. “Wow, this place looks amazing! The landlord can’t see this or she will force me to pay more for the rent.” His wallet was already gasping enough for breath and money. “All this stuff, all the decorations… is this beef?” Ah, that was why it all felt like such a sudden change, this paradisiac scent had definitely not been here before. “It smells delicious!”

“Thank you!” Second shock of the day, but Douxie could hardly blame himself considering the most time he had spent around Jim had been during his huge troll moments – he kinda looked like a twig now in comparison. “I’m pretty well known for my festive feasts.”

“Also known as festeasts!” Toby showed one enthusiastic victory sign, pulling off his orange ‘Rockin’ This Christmas’ with plenty of little gems and stones all around – the forever geologist.

Jim rolled his eyes with a grin.

“Tobes we’re not calling them that.” The Warhammer holder frowned, only to beam when he got handed a spoon for a taste. “I made most of this from home so it’s all ready and warm, but I wanted to make something on the place while I was at it. Freshly made food tastes way better on Christmas.” Toby hummed around the spoon, smacking his lips, then he rubbed his fingers together towards the chef, who caught it as to add more salt.

Douxie couldn’t help but scoot closer, peaking inside. That looked like food. That looked like real, delicious, extremely well-made food.

“What in the world, how did you make that?” Jim snorted.

“You moved on without much of a comment from me turning into a half-troll, a full troll and then back to a human, and this surprises you?”

“My friend, there were Thai leftovers, one instant ramen, an onion and an egg left in the fridge so yes, this surprises me!” All speculations died when he was offered a taste too. “… so it turns out I know nothing of magic. I must bow to the real master wizard here.” If happiness had a flavor it had to be this one. The former trollhunter snickered, giving him a little elbow before going back over his creations. And if the most classic ‘kiss the chef’ apron on him wasn’t already extremely fitting, the cyan sweater underneath reciting ‘I’m In The…’ on the back barely left to the imagination what list was written on the front.

A very well-deserved sign, really.

“Buttsnack’s managed to make these too, take a look!” Steve waved at the little counter that was the only thing remotely looking like a table in this place. And smelling just as heavenly as everything else, there they were, mince pies, just like the ones from Camelot. “But I don’t know if they’re as good because someone slaps my hand every time I- OUCH!! I didn’t even try this time!”

Archie’s tail could be surprisingly useful as a whip, in fact.

“You were thinking about it! So don’t, these are for later.” And wow, if his most loyal companion wasn’t absolutely adorable wearing that little red sweater – ‘Santa Paws’, he was going to complain about it all day long. Douxie wished he hadn’t left his phone in the bathroom. “We’re still waiting for the tree, the last decorations and the music. But we’re almost ready.” So apparently his familiar had been behind all of this. That actually made perfect sense.

Of course this little wizard associate had known this was going to do him good. It was the kind of bond that came with being around each other for over 900 years.

Archie smiled at him, and Douxie couldn’t not grin in return.

“Can’t wait for them! Even thought I did have some when we had that travel… well technically ages ago, we were actually in Camelot, but it wasn’t- Ah forget it, time loops are too confusing.” There was a consensual groan including all of them but Toby and Nari, who just looked at each other and shrugged. “Well, this is awesome, how did you even get everything here so fast?” On second thought, that was more than just bizarre. His eyes crossed Claire’s right away. “You get so tired with transportations through the Shadow Realm usually, and you got to bring along all of these people and decorations?” The thing was, this wasn’t supposed to be possible. Another thing was, Lady Claire of house Nunez was so insanely talented it would had not surprised him.

The girl waved her hand in denial.

“I wish I was at that level, but no. Still, we did travel back and forth pretty quickly.”

“Without magic? How?”

“I should take offense from that highly questioning tone.” Third shock, his poor heart – he came back from the grave once, and he really didn’t recommend it. He was fairly sure the apartment he had rented didn’t include interdimensional portals opening in the middle of the living room. “And from the fact that you humans keep forgetting I invented a perfectly functioning wormhole generator. But please, continue with your predicaments, ignore the scientific feat I’ve accomplished!” For an alien that barely understood human sarcasm, Krel Tarron was made a whole half of it.

As he walked in from the portal, holding one edge of a box filled with Christmas balls, on the other side Zoe stepped in carrying along the rest. And between a black ‘I’m Back, Witches’ sweater and a gray ‘DJ Kleb’ one with four sleeves, it was one curious and fantastic view.

“Yeah yeah, you bent the rules of physics, congratulations!” Zoe’s tense tone implied that she must had heard that complain already. “Stop talking and get working, I’m going the extra mile here!”

“This doesn’t sound like a good time to have a walk.”

“For the love of…!” The pink haired girl let out a muffled scream, let go of her edge of the box – lucky for Krel to have four arms to catch it – and jumped over the master wizard to grab his shoulders. “I hate you so much, you left me alone dealing with all of these new knuckleheads! Like the local dummies weren’t enough!” The collective offended ‘Hey!’ coming from both the Akiridion and the village’s idiot – a marvel that Steve actually responded, fully aware of his status as knucklehead – was somehow even more endearing than funny.

Meanwhile Zoe was still wrinkling his favorite jacket, frowning aggressively at him like the fact that he was out there saving the world was unforgivable – you could say anything about this pink head, but not that she didn’t have priorities.

Douxie snickered, easing the hold onto him.

“Sorry for trying to give my friends a place to live in this crazy wild world, then!”

“… apologies accepted.” Zoe narrowed her eyes. “But only if we finally hunt for niffins and get those forsaken burgers after you did the deed. I’m calling dibs on you.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Besides, you owe me. I didn’t snitch and told that Hex Tech got annihilated and we’re in need of new personnel because someone needed to hide from the big bad villains.” Those blue gems were screaming not to mess this offer up, because it was certainly not going to come back.

Even with a pressure like that, in some way inside of him, Douxie felt freed of a little weight. Despite the distance and everything that had happened, some things stayed the same. So he quite happily held up his fist, smirking at the girl.

“Alright, as soon as this is over with. Deal.” Zoe glared at him a few more seconds. Then she nodded, and finally bumped their knuckles together.

With a thud Krel finally put the box down, sighing soundly.

“Thanks Seklos this is done. I believe we are only missing the dead tree that will be then covered in artificial garnishments as a form of apparent belittlement of nature.” He stayed still for a few seconds, mindlessly throwing a little sphere on the ground that divided in four pieces, generating a portal. “… I feel like I’m getting so accustomed with humans’ savageness that I’m even quite looking forwards to it. Especially for that useless invention called ‘tree’.” He snickered, getting inside the wormhole that disappeared as soon as he was in.

Luckily the impossible dimensional gateway appeared of not leaving any trace behind. And luckily the creature – or elf, demigod, Nari was still a bit of a mystery – most connected to the nature that had just been denigrated was way more interested in whatever chef wiz Jim Lake Jr. was preparing.

“You knubhead, I just told you not to!” Archie’s spiteful voice came along, as apparently Steve had managed to take advantage of the situation – a scientific miracle happening in front of them, fair enough – to finally get himself a mince piece. Only to get slapped to the ground. “That’s it, until these cool down you’re getting nowhere near! Douxie, out with me, we need to guard the treasure!” That was some attachment for one tray of soft and delicious little pastries.

Douxie shrugged and complied, picking up the meal under the jock’s renovated pout and heading to the balcony. The chilling air got to his nose right away, but he endured, appreciating just the tiniest breath. There was barely space for once person there.

Well, one person and his familiar. He placed the tray on the railing, making sure it didn’t fall.

“How did Jim even get the recipe?” Archie grinned.

“Well, apparently his troll friends did remember a certain meal very appreciated by humans from back then, but they have their own idea on how to make it. I don’t know the details, but I certainly know it involves socks. Plenty of socks.”

“… you want to see Steve’s reaction to them later.”

“I want to see Steve’s reaction to them later with all the others. Christmas is supposed to be a family festivity, right?” His grin disappeared right after. “So… it didn’t sound like you were sleeping too well last night.” Yep. He knew. Of course he knew. He would had even if he didn’t have to habit of sneaking into his bed to get warm. “Something you’d like to talk about?”

Douxie breathed out, gently buffing his fluffy ear.

“I’m fine Arch, not need to get all sensible on me. It was one of the usuals.” He tried a weak smile, not really feeling like keeping everything in. Not with so many people inside, on this particular day. “… you know, thinking it now, somehow it was easier celebrating Christmas on the streets back in Camelot. Getting something good to eat, have fun, that was enough. Considering how tense was everyone in the Pendragon castle it’s not much of a surprise, but still… I wonder if Merlin ever had a proper Christmas in there.” He sighed. “He certainly didn’t while I was around.” The noisy streets of Camelot overlapped NYC’s busy ones. He swallowed a lump into his throat.

That legendary town was such a faraway place right now, coming back from a single memory was a slap from reality. Douxie shivered, taking in a freezing breath, gasping when Archie jumped over his shoulder and curled all around his neck. His fur was nice and warm.

“We have no way of knowing. But one thing’s for sure, that old man got a surprising, unexpected present in any case.” Archie smiled, eyeing him softly. “One very sneaky, very foolish, very brave apprentice.” They had been there, the both of them. And in any possible way, in the good, the bad, and the best, he had found a life to call that way. The one Merlin had asked him about.

The master wizard smiled, snuggling his cheek against his loyal friend.

It didn’t take long, the winter air acted like a freezer over the little pies. But as they went back in, the place had already changed – and that was besides AAARRRGGHH!!, with one gigantic hat on his head, holding up the tree while Blinky, wearing a scarf, was reading a manual on how to decorate it, where did he even get that? –: there was a table, appeared again out of nowhere, with all the most delicious looking dishes placed all over between branches of holly and little bells. Jim and Nari were putting down the last dishes, Steve was clumsily getting the statue of a reindeer to balance over the tv, Toby was checking the lights to make sure they were functioning.

And Claire was suddenly in front of him, beaming, clearly hiding something from behind her back. It immediately grabbed everybody’s attention, like it was some sort of event.

Was it?

“We’ve organized the present exchange for after lunch, but this one you need to put it on now. So, her it is!” She uncovered the secret and- Oh. It was a sweater. It was a sweater. For him. “There you go, you’re officially part of the wool club, a Christmas-limited association only.”

“Founder of the association Nancy Domzalski, mostly because it was Nana who made them all!” Toby caressed the front of his sweater, smiling softly. “She’s that kind of grandma that thinks that everything that’s made with love can bring warmth, and I’m kind of a believer too.” He shrugged, crossing his fingers behind the back of his head. “I know this isn’t your cool punk rock wizardy style, but Nana had her midlife crisis in her own time and I’m not exactly looking forward to one before my very own eyes!” That was probably not a sight a grandchild wanted of their grandma, that was understandable.

It was. It was, right? It was getting a little hard to focus on something, anything that wasn’t a soft bundle of black and navy blue stripes, welcoming and warm, with ‘Fuzzbuckets’ written on it. It was getting weird. A little unsettling even, because he just got out in the cold but his bones weren’t freezing anymore and he felt all fuzzy inside and now his eyes were warm and-

“… oh, curse me, not the waterfalls…!” Centuries spent transitioning from hopeless bard to punk rock guitarist, only to tear up at a random surprise Christmas party.

From there, he didn’t understand much. Only Claire’s probable ‘Aww Douxie!’, Toby’s sudden ‘There’s no Christmas without the sad moment’, Steve’s surprising ‘I know what to do, come on everybody, let’s all hug it out!’. And all of the sudden he was enveloped with so many arms, so many different people he had gotten to know and had managed to befriend and appreciate. That were part of his world, his life, and what was coming for the future.

So when he managed to open his eyes, there was so much to uncover, between a pink head, a scarred eyebrow, a lock of leaves and a paw still so close to his cheek. And it hit him that perhaps there was a reason why Camelot had always felt so far away lately.

That age was over. But this, it felt like it had only begun. Douxie smiled, closing his eyes again.

Embracing how good it felt to belong again.

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amethyst-fox-jv · 4 years

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Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and interests you and I’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

Oh LAWD

It has been 0 days since we tortured Wingzy

Photoshoot - J/P

The Adventures of Slut Dries: Gym Quarantine

Toby's Reward

Strip Uno

Delegation

A Little Mystery (The Calendar)

In Every Single Way and More Each Passing Day

Jan & Toby's Week of Fun

(Pairing) idek LOL

The Duet

Norwich

Shut up you ginger bitch

I Let It Fall

The Collars

Deledier and the terrible horrible no-good very bad day

JTP

Jinks+Eric Steam Room

Jinks shower smut

Manchester City

Colts and Stallions

The Sunshine Squad

Hugo/Toby and the terrible horrible no-good very bad date

Hugo/Toby Part 2

Hugo/Toby Part ?????

Stormfic #4: Room 117 (Mich & bbys)

...and these are just my WIPs. Ayerlind has more 🙈

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ecoamerica · 2 months

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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endless-vall · 4 years

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Fake Weddings and Prom Dates - Thomas x Isobel fanfic

Summary: Isobel and Zoey come over for Dinner at the Mendez residence. After dinner Isobel and Thomas get to reminisce about old times.

Author’s note: I don’t think I actually mentioned it in the previous part (that you can find here) that Isobel is my second Moty MC (both of which romance Thomas). I created a second one since the old-childhood-best-friends trope didn’t really work with my other MC.

Again, I’ll say that this fanfic is a part of a series. Isobel and Thomas’s story. It’s not exactly a multi-chapter fanfic, each fanfic can be read as a stand alone (atleast for now) but reading all of them will give you a better understanding of the storyline and world building. This is the second part :)

Hope you’ll like it! Enjoy ~

Tagging: @drakewalker04 @ao719 @narrytheworld @beardedoafdonutwagon @drakewalkerfantasy @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @catlady0911 @mcchoices @chetachisblog @god-save-the-keen @furiouscloddonutpeanut @writtenbycandy @asprankle @cora-nova @lilyofchoices @paisleylovergirl @dandeservestheworld @mfackenthal @quacksonlover @blackcatkita @annekebbphotography @badchoicesposts @ab1901 @senseofduties @doroshi-desu @romancehereicome @teraizer Please let me know if you wanna be tagged in future works for Thomas Mendez x MC/Moty/Perma tag! Let me know if you want to be untagged!

About a week after Isobel and Zoey move to Goldcliffe, and settle in, Thomas invites both of them over for dinner.

Isobel has found a job at Carmina, while Zoey and Luz became friendly at school.

“Sure, We’ll be there.” Isobel answers, and they talk a little more before hanging up the phone.

Being able to catch up with Thomas after all this time has been amazing. Being able to chew his ear off about daily struggles has also been pretty fun, and helping him with has grouned her and reminded her that everyone had their own obsticles, and she wasn’t the only one who had it tough at times.

Alma was coming over pretty often, and she had been teasing Isobel about a certain ‘handsome lawyer’ as she called Thomas, but Isobel brushed it over every single time.

Thomas was her friend. And he was definitely not over his late wife. He needed her to be his friend. They were just friends. Right?

“So, where will we be going?” Zoey asked eagerly, raising her head from her homework.

“We’ll be having dinner with Thomas and Luz this saturday. Does that sound good?” Isobel sat next to her.

“Ooooooh, yes!” Zoey answered one last question, and closed her notebook with a thud.

“Guess you don’t really need my help anymore,” Isobel noted as Zoey stuffed her notebook back in her backpack.

“I can do my homework on my own, mommmm” Zoey giggled as she rolled her eyes, and immediately streched over so she could plant a kiss over Isobel’s cheek.

“But thanks anyway.” She noted before taking her backpack back to its place.

Saturday came by soon later, and Isobel found herself holding Zoey’s hand and knocking with her free one over a fancy door of an even fancier house.

“This place is huge!” Zoey noted, whispering to her mother.

“No kidding.” Isobel nodded, her eyes scanning the place. She double-checked the adress a few times just to be sure she’s at the right place.

But then again, Thomas was a lawyer now, so maybe she shouldn’t be so surprised.

The door opened and Thomas stood there, still wearing an apron.

“Oh! -- Are we early?” Isobel checked the time, but they were actually late by fifteen minutes.

“No, no, just a little mishup from my side. Come on in, dinner’s almost ready.” He stepped aside and let the both of them in.

Zoey saw Luz in the living room and rushed to her side, letting go of Isobel’s hand and forgetting her behind.

Thomas closed the door after them. “You can take a seat in the living room too, I’m almost done.” Thomas gestures to the living room, but Isobel follows him instead. “Can I help you in the kitchen?”

“Um, Sure. If it’s not too much trouble.” He answers as Isobel leans against the counter.

“It’s not. Mmmmm... It smells amazing in here.” She closes her eyes and enjoys the smell. It’s a familiar one, too. Mrs. Mendez used to make it all the time.

“Let me guess, beef enchiladas?” Isobel opens her eyes back and beams at Thomas.

“If you can tell that by just the smell maybe it’s not a lost cause after all.” Thomas laughs, as he turns towards the fridge. He takes out some cheese and chives.

“So, we only need to grate some cheese and cut chives. Which one do you want to do?” He asks her.

“I’ll cut the chives. Sounds not as messy.” Isobel turns around and starts working.

“Good call.” Thomas takes out the grater and grate the cheese.

With them working together, the enchiladas are ready in no time, and after a quick change on Thomas’s side, the four of them sit around the table.

“Oooh, it smells so good!” Zoey notes.

“It does smell better than your usual ones, dad!” Luz comments.

Isobel and Thomas share a look before bursting into a good-hearted laugh.

“Well, dig in!” Thomas calls, and they start eating.

After dinner the girls run to Luz’s room, already in the midst of some sort of a game Isobel and Thomas failed to see starting.

“Well, that was fast.” Isobel comments and Thomas nods. “At least they’re getting along fine.”

They do the dishes together, finishing them in record time.

“Yes, I’m so grateful Zoey has a friend at school. It must’ve made her first few days a lot easier. And mine.”

Thomas smiles at her, as they move locations to the sofa on the living room.

“Do you remember when we were their age?” He suddenly asks.

“How can I forget?” Isobel rethorically asks, as she sinks lower in her seat, almost leaning against Thomas’s shoulder but catching herself before she does that.

“Do you remember when we got fake-married under that pine tree we used to hang out around?” Isobel doesn’t know what in the hell made her bring that up, but now that it was out in the open she couldn’t take it back.

To her surprise, Thomas breaks into a smile. “Of course I remember! We even gathered a few witneses!”

“If by witneses you mean Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear, then yes we gathered some witneses.” Isobel comments, and Thomas chuckles.

A few seconds of silence pass, but not the awkward kind of silence. It felt as if both were lost in memories, just enjoying the presence of one another.

“You know, you were actually my first kiss back then.” Thier lips barely touched, since they were both around nine years old, it was just as part of the ceremony.

It’s not like they were in love back then, it was just like that ‘if you’re not married by 40 and i’m not married by 40 then we’ll marry each other’ type of deals, only the opposite way.

“I was your first kiss?” Thomas’s eyes widen, and he looks at Isobel with amusement. Or is it... something else?

“Well, my official first kiss was with Toby Brown, but that one was horrible, so I like to think about our fake wedding kiss as my first one instead.” Isobel explained, shrugging.

“First of all - You keep calling it a fake wedding, but I take it very seriously, you’re hurting me, Isobel!” He jokes, and they both laugh in return.

“Second of all, Toby Brown?! Really? I don’t think I actually knew this. Yikes.” He mocks her and Isobel gasps in response.

“You dare mock me? I might haven’t been around to see that - but I know you went to prom with Suzanne Thomas! Two Thomases. Ha!”

“Not you too...!” She knew that card would make itself useful one day or another, and that day came.

After they finish teasing each other, they settle more comfortably against each other, now leaning against each other for support.

“Real talk though, she ditched me halfway the prom to be with Dave Anderson. It wasn’t even worth all those jokes they made about us.” He shakes his head.

“Didn’t you like her though?” Isobel couldn’t have really known, since she didn’t know Suzanne that well. When she left Goldcliffe, Suzanne was just someone who was in their history class, that’s all. She never really imagined her together with Thomas.

“No, not really. I just didn’t want to go alone to prom, and she happened not to have a date.” Thomas shrugs. “I guess I always thought we’d go together to prom, I never really thought about asking someone else, and when the week of the prom came I realized I never asked someone else, and you were in an entirely different town.” He admits, and Isobel stares at him.

“You always thought we’d go together?” She blinks at him.

“I mean, I knew that you were living somewhere else. We’ve kinda lost touch for two years already. I just never really came up with a backup plan.” He chuckles. “Until Suzanne, I mean, not that it turned out to be a really good backup plan, that is.”

Isobel shakes her head and smiles, resting her head back on Thomas’s shoulder.

“While I had a decent prom date with Danny Robinson, I think I’d actually preffered going with you.” She tells him.

“Yeah?” He turns to look at her, but doesn’t change their positions. Suddenly he feels very close to her face, and Isobel is very aware of that.

“Yeah,” She manages to let out without sounding too flushed.

When two sets of footsteps running down the stairs echo throughout the house, Isobel and Thomas realize how close they were suddenly sitting and sat back up, straightening their backs.

The girls don’t really turn their attention towards them, continuing their tag game.

Isobel smiles as she watches them, but then remembers the time. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we should be going soon.” Isobel lets them know they had only a few more minutes.

“Awwww...” Both Zoey and Luz make puppy-eyes at Isobel, and while it’s extremely hard not to surrender, she stands her ground.

“Oh, before you go!” Thomas rushes towards both Isobel and Zoey, who stand at the door. Luz is right behind him, already have said her goodbyes. “I almost forgot,” Thomas says apologetically, while handing Zoey a little bag.

“A present?” She cocks her head and looks at Isobel, as if asking permission to accept it.

“Thomas, you shouldn’t have,” Isobel suddenly feels embaressed she came empty handed. She thought of bringing something nice for dinner but with everything that has been thrown at her that week it simply skipped her mind.

“No, I wanted to. It’s not really much but I thought Zoey would like it and Luz helped me pick.”

Isobel nods and Zoey peeps into the bag.

“Eeeee!” A happy squeel escapes her lips as she shows Isobel the contents of the bag. There are glow in the dark star stickers just like they had in their old apartment.

“Thank you very much Mr. Mendez!” Zoey beams.

“Yes, thank you.” Isobel joins in too, placing her hand over Thomas’s shoulder, only for a second before removing it.

“You’re welcome,”

“We should really be going now, but thank you for dinner and for everything.” Isobel says goodbye once again to Thomas.

“Good night!” He calls after them as they make the way to their car.

“Good night Thomas.” Isobel smiles to herself, and Zoey smiles with her.

#playchoices #playchoices fanfic #mother of the year #moty #thomas mendez x mc #thomas mendez #thomas x mc #fanfic #fluff #childhood bestfriends trope #my writing

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bittertoastmarket · 5 years

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Okay! I was tagged by the amazing @a-death-like-icarus to throw up some cover art and talk about my fave music. I honestly listen to mostly playlists that I've made so I tried to lay out albums I grew up with or enjoy every song of, but this was way hard lol.

(Forgive the format I am on moble)

You're Awful, I Love You by Ludo: This was the first band I ever saw at Warped Tour which was my first concert! I genuinely love this albumn and love that half the songs are love songs and the rest are huge fuck yous with ukulele solos. My first tattoo were song lyrics from their song Topeka.

Lest We Forget The Best Of by Marilyn Manson: I actually originally got this album in secret as a young teen because my mom was very anti Marilyn Manson. I was so paranoid about her finding it that I recorded it over to A MIX TAPE I SHIT YOU NOT that started with 3 Days Grace so she wouldn't find it. It was so worth it to me at the time.

Discovering The Waterfront by Silverstein: This album single handedly got me out of a really abusive and horrible relationship. Sounds stupid but i was really lovedrunk about the guy but I couldn't figure out why I was so unhappy. The song that holds the album name has a part that goes like this: Pretend it's not forever, I'll pull myself together I'll say that I'll forget her, I'll breathe. And I'll say she never hurt me, And look at it as learning, And laugh about the good and the bad. Because I won't live forever We don't belong together, I know I'll feel better, One day when I can make it through.

It helped me realize that losing love I thought I wanted was okay because he was awful for me and wouldn't change but one day without him I would be fine. Just needed that shove.

A.M. by Arctic Monkeys: this almost didn't make the list because I wanted to put What Seperates Me From You by A Day To Remember, but this album was my driving soundtrack back when I was in a really low place after said bad break up. I would just aimlessly drive around Boise, Meridian and Kuna just trying to run away from how I felt but I would always end up in Swan Falls watching the sun set while listening to this albumn. Very good for my dramatic ass.

This is when shit gets fun!

One Of Us by Mystery Skulls: I actually loved his first albumn a lot but this is the one I got to see him in concert for first. My boyfriend showed me his music, somehow I missed the Ghost music video that everyone loves, and when we saw him live I realized he was traveling with his childhood bff and his girlfriend. Both of whom are also in good bands and you get a really nice comradery vibe from their live shows. I followed them to two concerts this year. It was dope af.

UNDERTALE Soundtrack by Toby Fox: Alright, I know almost everyone loves UNDERTALE, and for good reason, but something about Toby Fox and his amazing music talent really resonated with me. He has become a really big inspiration for me and I ended up loving his characters so much I got a Flowey tattoo. Mostly to remind myself that there are multiple paths in life and sometimes even the most well meaning of characters can become soured by their own greed and misery but everyone deserves another chance and can grow up and see how they have negatively impacted those around them. Plus its a poppin album that makes my anxiety melt away. If DELTA RUNE had been longer I would have chosen that one because it's going to be something fantastic I can feel it lol

Studio Killers: Alright, if you haven't heard Ode to a Bouncer, fuck off right now and go listen. This whole album is amazing and I just recently found out that its four people and an animator who makes all their vlogs and MV and shit. Which is really fucking cool because they produce almost all of their own shit. I like that they're set up like the Gorillaz where the band is actually created personas. And their personas are hilarious.

A Break by Phangs: okay so Phangs is the childhood bff of Mystery Skulls and he as a person is really fucking amazing. I got to meet him at the last concert and his music reminds me of the one scene from George Of The Jungle where George is dancing with his lady and its all romantic and airy feeling. It's pretty chill music, you can tell live that he has a lot of passion for what he does and even tho the album is hella short the two bangers on it are legit. I also got to see him do a cover of Eye to Eye from The Goofy Movie so you know he's a feel good artist.

And lastly Pop Food by Jack Stauber: I like just found his music through my weird ability to make obscure playlists on GooglePlay. Honestly it's just hella chill and Oh Klahoma gets stuck in my head so fucking bad but in a good way. This album led me to a lot of Synthwave I ended up enjoying a lot but as a whole album I had to go with this one.

#me #personal #jack stauber #marilyn manson #ludo #phangs #mystery skulls #Silverstein #UNDERTALE #Toby Fox #Studio Killers #arctic monkeys #my music #music

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raendown · 5 years

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Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 4103 Chapter: 12/? Summary: Not all wars are fought on the battlefield. Some are fought at the conference table, with whispers in the shadows, or even in the bedroom.

In a world where the Senju and Uchiha traditional lands were too far apart to have ever made them enemies, Butsuma and Tajima are the ones who come together and sign a treaty of peace. Madara isn’t happy to have his life signed away for him in a political marriage to strengthen the bond between their clans. He is even less happy to have Tobirama make assumptions of him from their very first night together. What follows from there is a journey of healing, of learning, and finding the places to belong in the places least expected.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Chapter 12

Trudging up and down a sterile hospital corridor was not exactly what Madara had planned on doing with his day off but at the moment there was nowhere else he could possibly conceive of being. Maybe someone else could have forced themselves to go back to work when their husband lay unconscious in a hospital bed but not him. How was he supposed to concentrate knowing that this was his fault? How was he meant to get any of the clamoring thoughts in his head at all straight until he knew whether or not Tobirama would really be okay?

Of course, the doctors had assured him several times that everything would be just fine. They had even told him that with Hashirama’s mokuton healing there would be no scarring left over. Apparently Tobirama’s extensive safety procedures included automatic barriers that were meant to shield him in times of an emergency, which would be why he had chosen to use his last moments before chaos erupted to protect Madara rather than himself. And that was all well and good to know intellectually but it had been nearly eight hours since Madara woke up to find himself in the still unfinished Konoha hospital and been denied access to the husband still being tended to in the critical unit.

Eight hours. Not including however much time he himself had spent unconscious. With all the advancement in medical jutsu he would have thought that a few burns could be fixed in that much time. But then medicine was another area he had less than no knowledge of and it seemed Tobirama, even when unconscious, was doomed to be the one to reveal all of Madara's inadequacies.

He had no idea what hour it was. Something ridiculously early judging by the moonlight filling the rooms he had peeked in to and the extra-long shadows that reached out to grasp at his ankles each time he turned to make another circuit along the hall. If only they would let him see Tobirama then he could rest. Finally the two of them start to build a relationship involving something other than mindless hatred and of course he has to go and blow the other man up. It would not surprise him in the slightest if this little stunt threw them right back to where they had been before but at least this time he would understand why Tobirama despised him.

There wasn’t much room in his own heart for any of the people who had caused him serious injury over the years.

Several eternities and a hundred forevers had already passed by the time Hashirama stumbled through the surgery wing doors and greeted him with a tired wave. Madara was at his friend’s side in an instant, hovering nervously while he slid down in to the closest thing that could be considered a chair and practically melted in to the tacky upholstery. He waited expectantly but Hashirama only closed his eyes with the look of someone preparing to sleep and the thought of going even longer without answers made something inside him snap.

“Well!? No one’s come by in ages! I don’t know what’s going on! Is he-?” He bit his tongue, unable to make himself finish that sentence. There were half a dozen horrible outcomes he wanted to question and he had the heart to bring up none of them.

“Fine, he’s fine.” Hashirama dropped his head back against the wall. “He was out of any major peril hours ago. The last while it’s just been me working to make sure there’s no scarring while the others fed me chakra. Skin is really delicate, you know?” All the air in his lungs left him with a great whoosh and he seemed to collapse in to himself even more. He looked exhausted.

Relief swept through Madara's body like a tsunami but he held himself together long enough to ask, “So he’s…he’s okay? I didn’t do anything…irreparable?”

“No of course not.” Finally Hashirama cracked his eyes back open long enough to take a proper look at him, squinting in the dark hallway. “Hey, don’t look so worried. If I had known you were this hung up about it I would have sent someone out to tell you he was fine hours ago! Madara, I’m serious, I’ve seen Tobirama walk away from worse than this under his own power. If he hadn’t hit his head in the blast then he probably would have walked to the hospital by himself.”

“That does not make me feel better! I still caused this!”

“Madara, it’s okay. He’s okay. No lasting damage. His body is pretty tired from the healing so he’s still not going to wake up until at least noon but then he’s going to get a checkup, we’ll see that everything is as it should be, and he’ll go home.”

“Do you think he’ll be mad?” Madara hated how small his voice sounded.

Genuinely startled, Hashirama made the effort to actually push away from the wall and haul himself back on top his feet so that he could put both hands on to Madara's shoulders with a tired grip. “No, he will not be mad. Well, okay, he won’t be mad that you hurt him. Not if it was an accident. If anything he might be mad that you ruined his lab but I find that if you offer to help him rebuild it then he forgives a lot quicker.”

“Easy for you to say, I can’t just create walls and benches out of my hands. And what of that cousin of yours? I blew up her basement; surely she’s going to be out for my blood!”

“Ah, Touka doesn’t care much for property damage. She causes enough of that herself. What she’ll be worried about is the damage to Tobi so – hm. Yeah. She’s definitely going to be mad at you. Just don’t let her catch you in a room alone until she’s calmed down, okay?” Horrifyingly, even the woman’s own kin looked mildly worried at the thought.

Madara groaned. Running both hands through his hair – then swearing when they became tangled and he had to wrench one of them back out by force – and turned his head to gaze longingly at the doors Hashirama had just come through. All he wanted was to see his husband. Shouldn’t that be his right as a spouse? Maybe he should have someone look in to what protocols had been put in place around this sort of stuff; it had been hard to pay attention to every single detail of setting up a village, lots of things had slipped his notice or been passed over entirely.

“Where is he?”

“He’s been taken to recovery. You can see him, if you like. I know visiting hours don’t open until the morning but I’m sure they’ll make an exception.” Hashirama shrugged. “If not I’ll help you sneak in through the window like I do sometimes.”

��Show me where,” Madara demanded shortly.

He almost felt bad for his demands as he watched Hashirama totter along on obviously tired feet but he consoled himself with the knowledge that they could both rest as soon as he had seen Tobirama with his own eyes. Together they made their way through the twisting hallways he would never have been able to navigate on his own even with the stupid dotted lines on the floor until finally Hashirama nodded to some lady behind a random desk and waved him towards a door that looked identical to all the other doors they had passed.

It was the inside that made this room different because this room contained one Uchiha Tobirama laid out in the moonlight looking much more peaceful than Madara had ever seen him. Or maybe that was just how he always looked when he was sleeping. Madara certainly wouldn’t know any better.

“Well, there he is. He’s just gonna be lying here until tomorrow without doing much more than breathe so if you need me I am going to collapse in to this chair. But if his vitals do anything funny wake me up. And slap me if I panic.” With no further warning Hashirama slumped back down in to one of the visitor chairs tucked up against the wall and fell asleep almost immediately, head lolling down until it was all but pillowed against his own breast. Madara frowned but he supposed after seeing his brother injured as many times as he had given the impression of it was sort of old news to stay awake at his bedside. Not to mention the several hours he’d just spent staring at nothing else but his brother. Exhaustion did strange things to people.

He turned his attention back to the man in the bed, inching closer as quietly as he could. No matter what Hashirama had said about Tobirama sleeping till noon there was no way he was taking any chances with accidentally waking the patient up. When he was close enough to reach out and touch Madara instead let his eyes trace the shapes of his husband’s face, the patterns of moonlight on his already pale skin, and inspected every inch he could see for the slightest trace of lingering injury. It was a relief to see that Hashirama had been right in this respect. Not so much as a hint remained of the burns Tobirama had suffered in the accident, smooth skin as far as the eye could see – where it wasn’t covered by a medical gown, at least.

Checking to make sure that Hashirama was actually asleep and not just spying on him or something, Madara leaned over Tobirama’s form to brush the hair away from his eyes, wondering how it was so clean and who had given him a bath. A flash of something irritated and dark rolled through his belly at the thought that someone might have seen the man exposed. Tobirama was his husband whether they had that sort of relationship or not. It wasn’t for anyone else to see him like that.

Feeling possessive of a man he had only ever kissed at the altar might have been a little strange but Madara figured it was only his right to be protective of what essentially belonged to him.

Seeing the proof of Tobirama’s recovery soothed the heavy ball in his chest that had driven him to pace restlessly for the past several hours and without that frantic worry to keep him going Madara found that he too was suddenly very tired. The minor concussion he had suffered in the blast had already been healed but it was still the wee hours of the morning and his own brief stint of unconsciousness hardly counted for proper sleep. It was with heavy steps that he fumbled his way back to the other side of the room and slumped down in the chair next to Hashirama, telling himself that he would only close his eyes for a little while until he had the gumption to get up again and head for home.

The next time he opened his eyes, however, the room was brilliant with sunlight and the first thing he saw was Hashirama sitting in the open windowsill with takeout in one hand and his head tilted back in laughter. In the moments before his friend spotted him Madara had just enough time to flick his eyes over and take in Tobirama, upright in his bed and looking no worse for the wear as he ate his own takeout.

“Oh! Madara, you’re awake!” Hashirama waved at him and then jabbed his chopsticks towards a paper bag sitting on the nightstand. “I brought some for you too; it might even still be warm.”

Grunting out a short thanks, Madara straightened in his chair and very delicately rolled his neck. However long he’d slept for had been incredibly restful but left a terrible crick in his spine. Once that was straightened he dared to glance up again to meet Tobirama’s cautious gaze.

“Feeling alright?” he asked. At his words tension that he hadn’t even known was there seemed to flow out of the man and Tobirama offered the barest twitch of a smile.

“Yes. I was glad to hear that you weren’t injured as well. I find that I am not in the mood to fight off hordes of Uchiha angry that I blew up their first heir.” The corners of his eyes crinkled with humor that slipped away in to worry when Hashirama nearly overbalanced and fell out the window. The distraction gave Madara just enough time to properly gather himself and stand up with relief flooding through him. His husband was not angry.

“The incident was my fault,” he grumbled. “No one would have been mad at you. Or if they were I would have haunted them from the grave and told them they were being stupid.”

He stepped over to peek inside the paper bag and brightened to find a small container of roasted sweet potato, one of his favorite street foods. While Hashirama righted himself and mumbled about a strong breeze Madara delved inside the bag to snatch up his unexpected treat.

The two brothers picked up their conversation as Madara nibbled away at his brunch and observed Tobirama a little more closely. His movements were easy and his expressions calm, no pinching in the face to betray secret pain, yet he remained here in a hospital bed rather than at home. The next time Hashirama stopped for breath he interjected himself quietly to question why.

“Oh, mostly just to let you sleep.” Tobirama shrugged.

“Me?”

“If I signed myself out of the hospital then we would have to wake you up so they could clean out the room. Hashirama tells me there’s plenty of empty beds around so it wouldn’t hurt anything if we waited for you to wake up before checking out.”

His casual tone almost sounded like he thought he was in a hotel but Madara passed that over and tried not to think about how many times Tobirama had been wounded before, although he did make a mental note to try and ensure that happened less often from here on out. Neither of them had found the time to leave the village on many missions since moving in but he would definitely be paying close attention to the teams Tobirama left with now. He couldn’t leave his husband in untrustworthy hands, after all.

“So…does that mean we’re going home now?” he asked through a mouthful of sweet potato. Tobirama wrinkled his nose at the lack of manners but nodded.

“If you don’t mind eating on the go.”

Shaking his head, Madara snapped his takeout container shut and made sure to swallow before speaking again. “No, that’s fine. I can finish at home. How…do we check out of a hospital? I’ve never been in a proper hospital before, the medics in our clan usually just go where they’re needed.”

“Paperwork,” Tobirama sighed.

As he had predicted, it took several signatures from both the patient and Hashirama, as his doctor on file, to set them free from the chemical scented hallways. Madara took a deep breath of fresh air as soon as they stepped outside and let it back out with a sigh of gratitude. Some buildings like the administration tower he didn’t mind spending lots of time in but places like the hospital, places he hadn’t had a chance to inspect top to bottom for weaknesses or possible trap locations, he would never be able to feel completely comfortable in them for longer than a few minutes at a time.

“You’re sure that you’re okay to be up and walking around so soon?” he asked after they had already made it on to the main street. It should have occurred to him earlier but the thrill of escape had distracted him. Tobirama scoffed at the question and shrugged it off like there was nothing to be concerned about.

“I’m perfectly fine, no need to fret.”

“Well, you should probably take it easy today,” Hashirama chipped in. “I’d come over and make sure you stay put but Mito’s cousin is supposed to be arriving this morning and I should go get ready to meet her at the gates. Unless she’s already here. I’m sure they would both understand but Mito does appreciate it when I try to engage with her family.”

“Go,” Tobirama urged him and with a few more reminders not to get in to any strenuous activity the man went.

Madara stared after him with a pensive feeling growing in his chest. He was sure Hashirama hadn’t meant his words to be profound in any way and yet they struck a chord inside of him that left him thoughtful with several idiots running around in his head. To an Uchiha family was everything. How highly did the Senju value their familiar bonds, he wondered.

One thing was for certain. If he wanted to be in Tobirama good graces then eventually he would need to confront and make peace with their cousin Touka. She was a hard woman and the interactions they had were never very pleasant for him but there had been several hints from many sources that Tobirama was particularly close to her and that made her a very important figure in his life – which meant that she would be an important figure in Madara's life by proxy, even if not always a pleasant one. If he couldn’t like her then he should at least attempt to come to some sort of understanding with her. Perhaps he should ask her to stay back the next time all the security teams met for their weekly debriefing.

And in turn he wondered if there were some way he could bring Izuna in to Tobirama’s life in a more positive role. So far he was fairly sure the most Izuna knew of Tobirama were his own irritated rants whenever they met up at one of their houses; he was definitely going to have to do a little damage control on that front before any attempts for anything further could be made. He should also probably ask a few subtle questions to figure out what Tobirama’s opinion of Izuna was. Did they ever interact at work outside of large scale meetings?

With so many questions bouncing around in his head after Hashirama’s unintended nugget of wisdom Madara didn’t notice the streets passing underneath them until suddenly they were standing in front of their own front door and he realized that neither of them had said a word for the entire journey.

“Oh sweet sage I swear I wasn’t ignoring you,” he blurted. His worries were soothed when Tobirama only chuckled.

“I know. You were quite obviously lost inside your own head and, whatever it was, you seemed to be thinking about it pretty hard. I chose not to disturb you.” A quick press of one hand and a flick of the wrist in just the right spot disabled the wards around their home so Tobirama could pop the door open and the lead the way inside.

“Just…some personal things I need pay a little more attention to, that’s all. Not important right now. Did you have anything you were planning to do with your afternoon?” Madara paused to kick off his sandals and frowned. The house was shamefully barren of Tobirama’s possessions beyond the necessities. “Is there anything I can grab for you? Something from the office or the market?”

Tobirama flashed him a surprised but grateful smile before shaking his head. “I do have some of my books here in what I think was meant to be used as an office. I’m not sure you use it for that but I…well. I’ve been using my work station in the tower mostly. But in answer to your question I had planned to just read.”

“You–” Madara sighed and turned to stomp his way in to the kitchen, running water for a pot of tea, aggressively finishing off the last of his sweet potato treats while he waited.

When he returned to the living room Tobirama had already fetched himself a book and was lowering himself down on the far end of the couch where the sunlight would hit the pages best. Trying not to look as awkward as he felt, Madara cleared his throat.

“I don’t use it very much myself so if you would like to work from home a little more you are welcome to make that space more of your own.” He dared to peek only after he had said his piece. Tobirama was looking back at him with warmth in his pretty red eyes, book lowered to rest in his lap.

“That sounds nice,” he murmured.

Unable to think of anything else to say, embarrassed that Tobirama’s acceptance had pleased him so much, Madara turned away again and went to check on the water that he already knew would be nowhere near ready yet.

While the water slowly heated up he puttered around the kitchen and slipped up in to their bedroom to rummage through his drawers for the one novel he had read a hundred times and would probably read a hundred more. Nothing else relaxed him quite like tucking himself in to somewhere comfortable and revisiting the familiar world of his favorite story. He busied himself with unfolding some of the pages he’d creased over the years to mark his place and when the tea was finally steeped just right he prepared a tray and brought it out with his novel tucked under one arm.

It was a pleasant way to pass the afternoon, sitting quietly on opposite ends of the couch with their minds both a million miles away following the adventures of bold young heroes determined to right wrongs. Or at least that’s what his book was about. He assumed Tobirama’s was probably something a little more mature than an adolescent’s hero tale.

Time passed without his notice again but this time when Madara came back to himself to realize they had whiled away the entire afternoon in silence it was less of a guilty realization and more of a peaceful one, content in the knowledge that they were capable of spending time in each other’s presence with no sparks of bad blood. He was unsurprised to hear Tobirama’s stomach rumbling and even dared a bit of gentle teasing when he stood to fix them both a quick meal.

And then it was evening and Madara was faced with a momentous occasion. For the first time since they were married when he announced his intentions to head on up to bed Tobirama looked over and, with deliberately spoken words, admitted that he was tired as well.

“I think I would like to sleep too,” he said and Madara was fairly sure his stomach did a backflip without his permission.

“You should probably come to bed then.” It took everything in his to keep his voice steady but it was worth it to see Tobirama blink once and then smile, soft and honest.

“Perhaps I should, yes.”

Juggling their nightly routines wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as Madara anticipated it would be. While he brushed his teeth and washed his face Tobirama changed in to comfortable sleepwear in the bedroom. Then they traded places. By the time Tobirama stepped out of their master bathroom Madara was already under the covers and curled in to his habitual ball with one eye cracked open to watch the shadow tiptoeing around to the other side of their bed.

It was strange being awake to feel the futon shift and the covers pull occasionally until Tobirama had settled himself. Neither of them made any move to sleep in anything but their usual spots, though it did occur to Madara that he would need to ask someday if Tobirama truly found it comfortable to sleep so close to the edge. But not right now. After considering the idea for a moment Madara decided that now simply wasn’t the time to rock the boat any farther or risk kicking off a deep conversation between the two of them. Right now Tobirama was tired and only just healed and the best thing for both of them was just to fall asleep together in peace.

Closing his eyes, doing his best not to concentrate too hard on the fact that this was surely a big turning point in their relationship, Madara firmly emptied his mind of anything that wasn’t a hope for pleasant dreams.

#rae writes #madatobi #madara #tobirama #hashirama #fanfiction

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p-artsypants · 5 years

Text

Arcadia or Bust (14)

Guys, this is the chapter I’ve been waiting for. You have no idea how much research I did to get this right. Hope you enjoy!

This one is for @anxious-freak, who’s recovering from heart surgery. He’s a real bro and always encourages me to do my best. I hope this chapter doesn’t give you horrible flashbacks, because I just realized what I did to Jim.

Ao3 | FF.net

—

Things were getting better.

After his date with Claire, Jim had come back home to assure his mother that everything was fine.

Both her and James were in the living room, talking. James had a large ice pack on his head, and looked rather pitiful.

Barbara only smiled at him.

“I uh…” Jim began. “I’m sorry for being so rough, I guess...”

James held up a hand to stop him, “Jim, I don’t hold anything against you. I...haven’t had a fix since I came here, so I find myself extremely angry and irritable all the time...I never should have hit your mother. I’ve apologized to her...and now I’m apologizing to you.”

Jim tugged on his horn. This sounded too familiar, though he didn’t want to admit it. “I understand...” then he pointed a harsh finger at him. “Don’t let it happen again!”

“Oh, I won’t!” James agreed, with a little laugh, since he would be an idiot to even touch Barbara now.

From there, Jim and James reached a little understanding.

Jim was very slowly adapting to trying to live his old life with his new body.

The next day at school, he didn’t wear any sort of disguise, only a hood when he went outside.

Senior Uhl stared at him, blinked, and then continued on like nothing was wrong.

In gym, the students played a game to see how many people could sit on his back before he couldn’t push up on a push-up.

It took six people, including Toby, to keep him down.

“Lake!” Coach Lawrence bellowed across the gym.

“Yeah Coach?”

“You’re joining the football team! No ifs, ands, or buts about it!”

“But—“

“NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTS, LAKE!”

“I don’t know how to play football!”

Steve threw an arm around his shoulders. “Oh don’t worry, Jimmy Boy! We’ll teach you all you have to know!”

“Looking forward to it...” he rolled his eyes.

“This week is an away game, but I expect you to be ready to play next Friday.” Then Coach rested his hands on his shoulders. “Please Lake, we haven’t won a single game the last two years, but we have eight left this season! If we win those eight, we can still go to state.”

“Alright, alright.” He rolled his eyes. “But you better work it out with Miss Janeth. She wants me to be in the drama this year too.”

“Oh we already talked it out. It’s a spring time production.”

“Unbelievable.” Jim muttered under his breath. “It’s like I’m not my own person anymore.”

“Welp, that’s what you get for being the savior of the Earth!” Coach praised, slapping him on the back.

Soon the bell ring, and the rest of the day went by in a flash.

Through no fault of his own, Jim didn’t get the opportunity to learn football until the end of the week. Between the other player’s in practice, and Trollhunter duties, Jim found himself turning to the one person left to teach him.

Though Arrrgh wasn’t exactly a teacher in the first place. “Take ball. Cradle ball. Love ball. Run with ball. Stop at yellow pole. Bury ball in the ground.”

Jim smiled at his friend. “Uh, thanks Arrrgh. That was…that was something.”

—

Friday morning, Jim returned back to his house in the early hours. He showered and dressed for the day, ran a load of laundry, and straightened up the house, as usual.

Why James couldn’t do any of this? No idea. Jim was just glad he never had to see where he had been living up until now.

Though, given that he claimed to be a millionaire at one point, he probably had a maid. But that wasn’t his business, and he didn’t actually care.

Jim made several lunches. Pasta Primavera for Toby, Claire, and Barbara, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for James. He also left five dollars on the counter for Merlin’s McDonald’s craving. That man was going to get fat if he didn’t slow down.

Finally, 8 o’clock rolled around and it was time for school. Toby and Claire waited patiently outside.

“Morning!” Claire chirped.

“Good morning, mi amor.” He swooped down and gave her a smooch on the cheek.

“Gross.”

“Aww, jealous Tobes? Wanna little smooch too?”

“Not from you, Jimbo. I got a gal waitin’ for me.”

“Suit yourself. Here,” he handed over the two bags. “Pasta Primavera, with fresh veggies!”

“Looks awesome Jim!” Claire praised. “But what about you?”

“Oh uh,” he wandered over to the recycling bin. “Let’s take a look.” He grabbed a paper bag and filled it with a variety of trash. A few tin cans, a sock with hole in the toe, and a black, plastic wrapped block that had been sitting on top of the lid. “Ready!”

“Awesome! Dude, I’m so glad you got that truck. Now I don’t have to ride my bike to school every day.”

“Aw cmon Tobes, bike riding is good for you!”

“Yeah, but considering all the running around we do daily, I think I’m pretty set. Did you know I lost 10 pounds over the summer while you guys were gone? I would have lost more, but I was gaining muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Agreed Claire, amicably, “Swinging that hammer had to be a work out. Darci must be loving it.”

“Yeah, I gotta bulk up so I can carry her over the threshold, y’know?”

“Okay, that’s cute.”

They arrived at school, Jim making sure his hood was up before exiting the car. They made their way through the courtyard, several students waving in greeting, while others couldn’t help but stare.

Jim got it. He looked scary and he was different. But god, couldn’t they try to be a little more subtle? Surely everyone had seen him by now, right?

At any rate, Jim yawned as he took out his books for his first few hours, and then stuffed his lunch in his locker.

“You okay, Jimbo?” Toby asked.

“Yeah, just kinda tired. I didn’t sleep last night.”

“Nightmares?”

“No, I literally never slept. Arrrgh and I were…kinda playing football.”

“Oh, so you’re good for next Friday?”

Jim laughed. “Not even remotely! There’s so many rules I don’t know. It was fun to just tackle each other. It was just wrestling, but there was a Football there.”

Toby snorted. “Well, everyone else is going to be tired too. Don’t think you’re the odd one out.”

“Haha, very funny.”

In homeroom, Senior Uhl took attendance, now used to Jim’s appearance. Once everyone had been accounted for, the students were free to roam for the half hour. Steve was immediately next to Jim.

“Okay, so what I’m thinking is that you come to the game tonight at St. Joe and watch. I’m sure coach will let you sit down with the team if you’re learning.”

“St. Joe? Isn’t that like three hours away?”

“Yeah, but it’s not that bad.”

Jim groaned slightly. “I don’t know if I want to drive that far.”

“Well, I’ll see if coach will let you ride on the bus. Especially if he wants you on the team.” He paused a minute and added, “Toby and Claire can come too. If they want.”

“I’ll see if I can swing it. What time should I be here for the bus?”

“I dunno. Ask Coach.” Steve shrugged, wandering off.

Toby turned around in his seat. “Gotta answer every call, huh?”

“Yep. Thankfully the whole Gunnar thing is over now, and I’m not trying to balance my life with the end of the world.” He noticed the student next to him clicking his pen as he worked on his homework, but tried to ignore it. “As long as no major disaster strikes, I’ll be fine.” He knocked on his desk.

The clicking continued.

“It’s just one season. This will give you another chance to test your strength! It’ll be awesomesauce! Just...mowing down the other team left and right!”

“It’ll actually be a better test of self control and—would you knock it off!?” He shouted at the poor boy next to him, a roar coming out.

The kid fell out of his seat in fear. “I’m sorry! I didn’t even know I was—please don’t hurt me!”

“Is there a problem, Mr. Lake?” Senior Uhl asked, arms crossed.

Jim felt awful. “No! Oh no no! I’m sorry!” He reached over and picked the kid up off the floor with ease. “I don’t know what got into me. I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay...” the kid returned, warily. “I’ll just use a pencil instead.”

The rest of homeroom passed in silence for Jim, and in whispers with the rest of the class.

The next hour, Jim and Toby had History with Mr. Strickler. Though he was the principle now, Walt still had an affinity for History and for teaching. That, and it was hard to find a replacement for AP US History. And who better than someone who lived through it?

In class, Jim was doing fine. As long as he had something to focus on, he was able to act like a human being.

Then the clicking came back again.

Jim growled in his throat, catching Toby’s attention.

“Pst, Jimbo, wasn’t wrong buddy?”

“Nothing, it’s fine.” He glanced over to the kid who had been clicking in homeroom. He was using a pencil. But he glanced up and met Jim’s eyes, widening when he heard the clicking too.

“It wasn’t me...” the kid mouthed.

Jim nodded, and glanced around the room. Then he saw it. Shamus, a friend of Steve’s and local bully, was looking right at him, clicking his pen on purpose.

Jim snarled at him in response.

“Is there a problem, Mr. Lake?”

Jim swiveled back around, realizing in annoyance that he had fallen right into Shamus’ plot. “No sir, just...sensitive to that clicking noise.”

“Yes, it is quite unpleasant. Whoever is doing that, would you kindly stop? I’m sure everyone would focus better if you did.”

The clicking ceased, and Jim breathed a sigh in relief.

Until math class, which was shared with Shamus again. This time, Claire sat behind Jim.

About twenty minutes passed before Shamus started in again, the clicking penetrating right into Jim’s skull.

He only put up with it for a minute before he stood out of his chair and cried out, “oh come on!”

“Jim?” Miss Janeth asked, impatient. “Something bothering you about the lesson?”

Defeated, Jim just lied. “I’m sorry, I have a migraine, can I go to the nurse?”

“Sure Jim, take the pass.”

He took the placard and hurried out of the room.

Perhaps it was cowardly, but it was safer to just run.

Jim stayed away for the rest of the class period.

At lunch, Toby and Claire met up with him in the cafeteria, as he sat with his shoulders hunched.

“How’s your head?” Claire asked, delicately scratching his scalp.

“It’s fine. I was just getting annoyed by Shamus’ clicking his pen. I decided to leave instead of getting angry...or worse.”

“It wouldn’t take much from you to get him to lay off.” Suggested Toby. “Just stand over him and dare him to pick a fight with you.”

“I’m not threatening anyone. At least, not any humans.”

“It’s always better to take the high road with bullies.” Claire stated. “He’ll move on to someone else tomorrow.”

Jim groaned at that. “That’s what I’m afraid of. What’s a clicking pen compared to being shoved in a locker?”

“No offense Jim, but I’d pick the locker. That’s only hurting one person. You getting angry? HULK SMASH.”

Jim exhaled, his lips flapping like a horse. “Yeah yeah, I know.”

“You’re getting better at it.” Claire insisted. “Getting annoyed by a clicking pen is totally normal. Heck, I wanted to punch him too.”

He laughed at that. “Alright, I guess I’ll believe you.” Finally, he opened his lunch, as did the other two, and meal time commenced.

It was while he was in the middle of one of the tin cans that Steve made his presence known. “I heard Shamus was being a real butt snack today. You want me to put him in the ground?”

“Nah,” he crunched in the can. “I’ll take care of it if I need to. It’s really not that big of a deal.” He took out the black, plastic wrapped block next.

“You just say the word, and I’ll knock his block off!...what is that?”

Jim took a bite, revealing a white, powdery center. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know...and you’re eating it?”

“Yep. It tastes pretty good, whatever it is.” He finished it in another bite, and then moved on to the sock for desert. “Oh wait...ah! Muh mouf wen numb!”

“Your mouth’s numb?” Asked Claire.

He wiped his tongue with a napkin, trying to get rid of the sensation. “Yeah! It ‘eels like noeecaine.”

“Novocaine? It’s that bad?”

Eli, Who was sitting behind Jim, spoke up. “Hey, my mom packed some Cucumber Melon La Croix, if you want a sip.”

Jim snatched the can and downed the whole thing.

“Good thinking Eli!” Said Toby, “gross soda will probably taste good to Jim!”

Eli sighed, “that’s my favorite...”

Jim smacked his tongue, the sensation fading. “Man, that was weird. I still don’t know what that was. But I’m never eating it again!”

Soon, the bell rang and it was time for gym.

Dodgeball.

Every highschooler’s nightmare. Over inflated red rubber balls that left bruises for days, and that smacking sound with a metallic ‘ping!’ that haunted you for a lifetime.

And everyone wanted to be on Jim’s team. For obvious reasons.

“Lake!” Coach shouted, once warm-ups were over.

“Yeah, Coach?”

“On your knees,” he pointed to the ground.

Jim, throughly confused, did as he was asked, and knelt on the ground.

Coach Lawrence dug around in his pocket and then put something on Jim’s horns.

A questioning touch revealed them to be corks.

“I don’t want you popping any balls.” Coach offered as an explanation, with a firm slap to the butt. “Also, use your non-dominant hand, and don’t throw too hard.”

“Sure. Don’t have to tell me twice.”

“Alright, Steve and Shamus, you’re Captains. Flip a coin to see who picks first.”

Steve won, and picked Jim first.

Suddenly, Shamus was feeling sort of sheepish for the pen clicking.

The teams were divided up equally, and Coach blew the whistle to start the game.

That’s when the shit hit the fan.

Jim’s heart started to race, more than what was normal after exercise, though he hadn’t run much yet, and he hadn’t even broken a sweat during warm-ups. It built, faster and faster, until he wondered if it was going to jump right out of his chest.

Am I having a heart attack? He thought.

It was like his consciousness was pulled back inside his head, like someone else was piloting his body. And yet he was acutely aware of everything. The world felt slow, and he felt fast. His face and chest felt warm, his hands cold and clammy. Light, fast, and ready to do anything. His limbs tingled, as he just itched to move.

Move. Move.

The ball was in his hand one moment, and gone the next.

—

To the outside world, it happened way too fast. The whistle blew, and Jim stood frozen in place. The game had begun, and everyone was dancing around, trying to dodge. But not Jim, he just stood there, his face full of confusion.

“Lake! Get your head in the game!” Called Steve.

Shamus took the opportunity to throw the ball, and it hit Jim squarely in the chest, hard enough to wind a normal kid, but it didn’t even phase Jim.

“Lake, you’re out!”

And just like that, he charged at the ball, grabbed it, and chucked it as hard as possible. It whistled through the air, and nailed Shamus in the face, a loud crack echoing across the gym, as he fell with a thud.

“Lake! What did I just say about throwing?!”

Jim whipped his head around, his eyes dilated to almost completely black. He snarled at the coach.

Some of the kids on the other team called back from where Shamus was on the floor. “He’s out cold, Coach! I think his nose is broken.”

Toby jogged over, not noticing his state, “Jim, you said the pen thing wasn’t a big deal…”

Jim snapped his eyes over Toby, his jaw tightening, and his muscles coiling like a snake ready to strike.

“Jim? What’s wrong?” Asked Claire, genuinely upset. “Yeah, c’mon man! What’s your deal?” Steve got up into his face, “this isn’t cool.”

Like that was going to snap him out of it. Fuming, Jim easily lifted Steve off the ground and threw him across the gym, where he luckily landed on a mat from the ropes.

Coach was not letting anyone else be injured though, as he cried out, “Run! Go!”

His shout prompted Jim to roar loudly, and tear through the gym, over to the doors outside, and rip them off their hinges.

“Jim…” Claire watched him go.

“You follow him, I’ll tell Mr. Strickler!” Suggested Toby, running towards the locker room.

—

Jim didn’t know why everyone started shouting at him. He could barely understand what they were saying, they were all so slow. His eyes darted around the room. Everything seeming more…colorful, loud, and overwhelming. The shouting was irritating, and he wanted them to stop. His jaw felt tight, though he wanted to say so much.

Steve got in his face, saying something. This furthered his irritation, and he flung him away, like he weighed nothing. More shouting, more noise, and he just got angrier and angrier, until he roared and ran from the room.

Everything around him was so light. The door ripped off its hinges like cardboard. He ran outside, his skin sizzling in the sun, but it didn’t really hurt.

It just made his angrier.

He ran out into the street, racing passed cars that seemed to stand still.

What’s going on? He thought. Why is everything so slow? Is this a troll problem? What do I do? Why am I so angry? Why is everyone looking at me?

He ran into a car on accident, and in his anger, turned it on its side. It took no effort, and he did it again to another, then another. A running car had exhaust spilling out, and the smell was delicious. Without another thought, he bent down and huffed it.

What am I doing? This isn’t me. Am I dying? Everything hurts…

It was then that he realized there was nothing wrong with the world, but there might have been something wrong with him.

But he couldn’t stop it, and he didn’t want to either.

People were running in slow motion. Screaming and pointing at him. Their words were slow and unintelligible, but he had a guess what was being said.

They hate me. They’re scared of me. They think I’m a monster. Stop looking at me! Stop judging me!

He saw detective Scott on his radio, and knew it was about him.

I’m not a monster. I’m just me. What is going on? Is this a nightmare?

He looked down at his arms, seeing them dusty and sizzling. This should be a lot more painful. I must have passed out. This is a dream. I can do whatever I want!

What a dangerous thought for him to have.

—

Toby burst into the Principal’s office. “Mr. Strickler! Mr. Strickler!”

Startled, Walt nearly threw a handful of papers in the air. “Can I help you, Toby?” He asked, with a tinge of irritation.

“It’s Jim! He’s gone totally bonkers! He knocked Shamus unconscious with a dodgeball and threw Steve across the room!”

“What! Why?”

“I don’t know! It’s like he just snapped! We were playing dodgeball and he just…snapped!” There really was no other way to say it.

“Where is he now?”

“He ripped the door off and ran outside!”

“In the sun!?”

“Yes!”

“Call Blinky and Arrrgh, we’ve got to track him down!” He directed, grabbing his keys and pulling out his phone. He tapped away and then put it to his ear. “Barbara, it’s Jim. Toby said he’s out of control. He’s run out in sunlight, so we might need you…yes, of course. I’ll bring him to the hospital then. Okay, I’ll text you.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Toby cried, feeling sick.

“I don’t know…it…it almost sounds like Grave Sand. But, I don’t know where he would have gotten any. Did he look any different?”

“His pupils were huge! His eyes were almost black!”

“I don’t know what that could be. We need to catch him, and then I’ll find out. Let’s move!”

—

Claire was running as fast as she could, though it was getting harder and harder to keep the pace. It felt like an hour she had been tracking him down, but gauging the sun in the sky, it had been a bit longer than that. School was probably over by now, but she had yet to actually find him. She followed a trail of destruction. Upturned cars, ruptured roads, and fallen street lights. There was no one on the street, and with good reason. She could hear police sirens all over the city.

“Jim?!” She cried out for the nth time. “Jim! Where are you!?”

A roar echoed from up above, and she saw he was on the roof of a building, looking down at her with his darkened eyes. He looked awful. His clothes were in shreds, his hair a mess and slick with sweat, and his skin more gray than blue and cracking badly.

“Jim…” She reached out to him. “Come on down, please. Let’s talk.”

Oh, he was coming down alright, but not to talk. He leapt from the building and crashed into the road, cracking it on impact, then he snapped his eyes up meet hers and vaulted over to her, grabbing her around the waist. He swept her off her feet and she fell against him harshly.

“Ow! Jim! What’s wrong with you? Why won’t you say anything!?”

He just ran with her, still draped over his shoulder, towards the canal.

She clung to him so she wouldn’t flail all over the place with how fast he was running. But she did weasel her phone from her pocket. She dialed Toby.

He picked up immediately. “Claire! Where are you?! Did you find him?!”

“He found me! I think he’s taking me to Trollmarket.”

“He still raging?”

“Totally unresponsive. The town is a mess!”

“Yeah, I know! We’re on our way!”

With that, Jim jerked, and her phone fell out of her grasp. She had it with him, and startled thrashing, kicking and hitting his back. “Put me down right now! Jim!!”

He shook her, forcing her to calm down, as he leapt over the side of the bridge and down to the ravine. He came to a stop by the wall. He didn’t have a horngazel, and therefore, no way into to Trollmarket.

That didn’t stop him from trying to punch his way in.

Claire wriggled again, trying to get free, but he just held her tighter, crushing her waist. “Stop it! You’re hurting me!” She turned and looked at him from her awkward vantage point over his shoulder, and could see that his arm was red with blood.

His punches got slower and slower, and his grip on her began to relax. Finally, he let her go.

She landed on her feet, ready to interrogate him, but saw they weren’t out of the woods yet. His eyes were still dilated, but drooped heavily, like he was going to drop any second. He staggered around, reaching out for her, but not with any real direction. One hand came up and grasped at his chest, right over his heart. His breathing was harsh and grating.

“Take a breath breath.” She demanded, “calm down.”

He heaved, throwing up on the cement. There was some remnants of the white powder that had been in his lunch.

She couldn’t even catch him as he collapsed onto the cement.

“Jim…” She knelt at his side. She turned him onto his back, and examined him. His whole body was cold, and his pulse was erratic, faster than she’d ever felt a heartbeat.

“Claire! Claire are you there?!” Walt shouted from the edge of the canal.

“Yes, I’m here! Jim is too! He’s out cold!”

Walt and Toby ran to her, thankful to see that Jim had finally exhausted himself.

“We need to get him to the hospital. Barbara will know how to help him. Or she’ll be able to keep him sedated until we can find out what’s wrong.”

Together, they loaded him in his car and off they went.

Barbara was in the ER when they arrived, ready with a stretcher to take care of him. “Jim! My baby! What happened to him!?”

“We don’t have any clue,” Walter admitted shamefully. “I’m going to try to find out though. And perhaps Blinky will know.”

She felt his pulse as he was talking. “Oh my god, he’s having a heart attack! I need some electrodes on him, stat. Let’s move people!” She called to a nurse.

He was taken back to the ICU, and monitored. Barbara didn’t try to force anyone from the room, since she was worried enough herself. “He’s in ventricular tachycardia. 240 bpm. I need the defibrillator, we need to reset his heart back to a normal rhythm. 200 joules.”

Claire and Toby stood in the corner, holding each other, as the paddles were placed on his chest, and he jolted from the electric shock.

“Again,” Barbara commanded, after listening.

A total of ten shocks, and finally, it seemed that his heart rate had come down to a somewhat normal state.

“Intubate him and get him on 200 mg of labetalol.”

“Are you sure? That’s a lot…” Asked the nurse.

“Jim ate a blender once, he’s going to need a much higher dose.”

“200 mg of labetalol, coming up.”

As the nurse rushed out, Barbara cleaned his bloody hands. With scrutiny, she felt his fingers. “Doesn’t seem like he broke anything, but we’ll get an X-ray once he’s stable.” She spoke calmly, but there was a tremble in her voice.

“Is he going to be okay?”

Barbara jumped for a second. “Oh Claire, I forgot you guys were here. Um, yes, I think so. His heart rate is lowered and he’s breathing a little bit better now.”

“Do you think this is a troll thing? Or is this a human thing?” Asked Toby.

Barbara grimaced. “Well, I don’t want to say anything for sure…but it looks an awful lot like—“

She didn’t finish her thought however, as her phone started going off.

“Oh for the love of mud!” She exasperated, pulling the phone out and answering. “James! What is so important that you have to call every fifteen minutes!? Your son is in the ICU and I have more important things to do than feed you!” She paused, listening to his demands. “No, I don’t know anything a plastic wrapped block on the garbage can. Trash doesn’t go out on Fridays.”

Toby ran at Barbara, grabbed her phone and put it on speaker. “WHAT ABOUT THE BLACK PLASTIC BLOCK!?” He shouted.

“Ow! Jesus! None of your business kid! Why the hell are you asking?”

“Please sir, Jim’s my best friend and something’s really wrong with him! He ate that block for lunch and now—“

“Whoa whoa whoa what?! He ate it?”

“Yes! He thought it was trash!”

“Jesus Christ on a motorbike. You’re telling me…that Jim swallowed…a brick?”

“It wasn’t a brick. It was a white powdery stuff.”

“Not a building brick. A brick! 50,000 dollars worth of blow!?”

“He did what?!” Barbara shrieked.

“That’s what it was! 1 kilo of pure, clean cut cocaine! And our 16 year old monster ate it!”

“Is…is that really bad?” Toby asked sheepishly.

“Uh yeah! A guy like me can sit down a do 4-5 lines in two hours, maybe 2-4 grams, depending on the line. A kilo? A thousand? That’s enough to kill an elephant!”

“You’re dead meat, Lake,” Barbara grit out. “I’m calling the police as soon as Jim is stable. So you’ve got a few hours to vanish. I loved you once, so think of this as an act of mercy.”

“Sorry Babs. Since all of my supply is gone now, thanks to Jim, there would be no evidence. I gotta hide out here for a little while longer. Jim will probably be fine, freak that he is. If not, good riddance.”

Barbara angrily hung up the phone.

Nurses had come in early in the conversation and got to work getting Jim hooked up. Now he was settled, intubated, and breathing normally. His EKG showed an only slightly elevated heart rate.

“If that man doesn’t get out of my house, I’m going to be the one needing labetalol.” She sighed.

“I mean,” One of the nurses spoke up. “We just heard him confess to having a kilogram of cocaine and leaving it somewhere a minor could ingest it. So we could testify.”

Barbara took a deep breath. “Thank you. I am seeing a lawyer to get this all sorted out. But for right now, I’m just worried about my son. With that new information, I think we’ll have to have his stomach pumped.”

“Barbara? He did throw up before he passed out. I think I saw a lot of the cocaine in the vomit.”

“Good, then he didn’t digest all of it. But just to be sure, order a stomach pump, x ray, and 50 mg of prophylaxis for his burns. The worst looks like the back of his neck and his arms.” She touched the scarred tissues, which was rock hard. “I’m not actually sure how to treat these kinds of burns. Blinky might be able to help with that.” She walked up to him, pushing his bangs away from his forehead, and kissed him gently. “My poor little boy. You just can’t catch a break, can you?”

#arcadia or bust #trollhunters #troll!jim #jim lake jr #claire #jim x claire #toby domzalski #fanfiction #trollhunters tales of arcadia

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praesidiumsystem-blog · 5 years

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10 sept. 2019

🧃 toby again!!! i promise i stopped fronting eventually ^^’

i didnt sleep overnight because i was too anxious and i slept too late into the afternoon on the 9th i didnt get sleepy until right when it was time to leave. i bugged mason into us leaving really early because i was paranoid about missing the train and my bugging ended up really paying off because after everything we only got there 10 minutes before boarding time...

i realized on the second (out of 3) bus on the way to the train station that i didnt pack and single stim toy and it was hard not to freak out, especially since i was already overstimulated and didnt have a way to get the anxious energy out, but i toughed it and we made it.

the train was really cool, we’ve never been on the train before and it was neat and i enjoyed it a lot. we spent like $20 in snacks because we didnt have time to get breakfast before we got on the train so i felt like harry saying “we’ll take the lot”. i got coffee and sprite and banana bread and hummus with crisps, the crisps were HORRIBLE they were like some stale tasting break and chia seeds and they sucked slkdfj but the coffee was surprisingly good! i was able to nap a little bit on and off on the way there but as anyone who has taken public transit on long journeys knows, you cannot get comfortable enough to sleep on a train

i snapped these nice photos of the sunrise over lake ontario as we were going by, the sunrise was really nice but i had to close the curtain so i could try to rest sdfgsd

when we got there i was definitely overstimulated to death and then we had to walk Half An Hour to get to a shoppers to buy bus passes for the duration of the trip (that we legitimately did not even use one time), then we went to.. billy.. k’s? i think its called? and had hotdogs and fries and they were really good except they unloaded like 4 gallons of mustard onto each dog and we like mustard but not that much ^^’ we had to wipe it off with a paper towel which is like, gosh dang...

then we discover there are 0 bus stops between where we were and the hotel because mason did not check whatsoever so we had to walk another half hour to the hotel. it was honestly like one of the most miserable experiences for me because our backpack was extremely heavy and we’re not used to walking long distances yet so our legs were burning so bad by the time we got there and we were already exhausted from not sleeping and it was starting to rain just as we came in. luckily the breeze was okay but it was SO far from where we got off the train it was miserable. we stopped inside a value village on the way to the hotel so i could try to find a stim toy to cope with and i found a wonderful son

he was very soft and nice to hold and he really helped make the trip more bearable for us because we really had an awful time skdfj

we waited for mason’s family to arrive and as aus sister and mother were congregating outside our hotel door i heard aus sister loudly say “i am NOT going to call them “it”!” ok jen.....

so we all got introduced and mason’s mom was trying to catch au up on the family situation and aus sister is extremely argumentative and annoying and constantly had SOMETHING to say every time aus mother would say literally anything, she constantly had to disagree and correct her and it was the most annoying experience we were splitting so bad immediately orz we were mostly too out of it to get extremely mad though because we hadnt slept in an eternity so at least we were mostly numb at that point

we all went to dinner at boston pizza that night and we had a super fancy pasta and i got an apple dessert because autumn is coming and that means more apple stuff!! the food was really really delicious

taisaki told me that the teacher tried to give them a bad grade on their stitching book and we were really sad because we loved it and thought it was awesome ;;;--;;;; mean teachers...

we went to sleep at a human hour and honestly it just felt amazing to be in a real bed that was off of the floor for once.. T_T.. then the next day!

#[toby]#[journal]#[food with mason]#[safesmall]

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im-the-king-of-the-ocean · 5 years

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Forget-Me-Not

Femslash Week Day 1: Flowers or Chocolate

Ship: Nana/OC, with an appearance of Barbara/Nomura

@talesofarcadiafemslashweek

There were certain things Nancy loved about being an old woman, and others she didn’t. She liked how life was slower, calmer. Less to worry about. But, she didn’t like her forgetfulness or bad eyesight. She liked sitting around and talking with other ‘geezers’ about whatever caught their fancy. She didn’t like how it seemed their time together was too short. Not enough. Never enough.

Every time she went to the park, to the little pavilion where they played chess, chatted, and munched cookies, it seemed like someone else was gone. Someone new always arrived, of course. Each new friend she’d made was wonderful, but still.

Nancy kept lots of photos of everyone in a scrapbook. To have a way to not forget when her memory failed her.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about the certainty that, one day, it would be her time to go too. All in all, she’d lived a long, fairly good, if a bit too peaceful for her liking (she’d often joked in her youth about all the grand adventures she’d surely go on…that never truly happened) life. She didn’t regret anything. Not even the hard things. Marriage had been bliss. Her husband always knew how to make her laugh. Being a mother, to the best little boy with shining curiosity in his eyes no less, well, that experience had been wondrous, even if it had been cut far too short.

Nancy promised herself, on the day she’d learned of the horrible, horrible news, that she would not depart this world until little Tobias was grown and going off to college. Her grandson had just lost the two most important people in his life. He would not lose her too. Not yet.

When it did come time for Toby to go on the next leg of his life, when she’d gotten home after the long drive back from his college, when she’d entered her empty (lonely) house, she’d felt a little lost.

She’d strong-armed and bickered with Death to stay just a little longer time and time again. Or, at least, that’s how she thought of it. She couldn’t actually communicate with the entity, of course. But, she did enjoy the occasional, mental conversation with a concept she’d imagined up.

Now, her main reason for staying was off on his own, and he was more than ready to learn independence. He loved her and she loved him in return, but it was time for Toby to forge his own path.

Nancy was proud of her grandson, of the man he’d grown up into.

Without him, though, in the quiet solitude of her house, she wondered what exactly she was supposed to do next. She was still here. Still wanted to be. But, it was just, her old bones were too old for a new adventure.

Weren’t they?

She should think so. One didn’t read adventure novels about old folks, after all. Too many joint problems and medications for traveling across the world to save it from evil or some such. Though, when she considered Arcadia in recent years, Nancy supposed she wouldn’t have to travel very far.

It irked her. She had life left. Gumption. She didn’t just want to sit around and wait for time to pass all day.

But, what could she do?

The answer came one sunny day in the form of a twig of forget-me-not, one of Nancy’s favorite flowers. She loved its little blooms, its soft shade of blue, everything about it really.

“I thought you’d like it,” the person giving it to her, a newcomer to Arcadia (who’d come to settle down and enjoy her later years peacefully running a flower shop - there’d been much gossip about her and if she knew how peculiar Arcadia could get when it saw fit), told Nancy. “I have a knack for picking the exact right flower for a person.” She waited only a moment before asking, “So, how I’d do?”

“I love it, dearie,” Nancy replied. And she did. It made her smile, which made the day a little nicer.

“I’m so glad!” The woman clapped her hands together. “I find it just a tad harder here in Arcadia to match people and flowers than anyplace else I’ve been to.” She admitted with a pout. “I’ve traveled all over the world, yet, I believe this town is the most eccentric I’ve ever lived in.”

Nancy smiled a knowing smile. “I suppose that it is. What is your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Sophie. Sophie Jones. I run the new flower shop up by the museum.” Sophie held out her hand. “And yours?”

“Nancy Domzalski.” Nancy took the offered hand. “I bake cookies.”

Sophie giggled. Something fluttered in Nancy’s heart that she hadn’t felt for a very long time. With her graying, chestnut brown hair barely contained by a large-brimmed hat, friendly smile, and twinkling hazel eyes, Sophie was rather cute.

“Well, Nancy, you should pay a visit to my shop sometime soon. I would love a chance to talk more.”

“So would I.” The words were out of Nancy’s mouth before she could stop them. She tried not to blush. She wasn’t a young school girl. Far from it!

Back, once upon a time, Nancy had explored romance to the fullest. Early in her dating career, she’d figured out she was attracted to anyone regardless of gender (it had taken decades and a grandson before the term ‘pansexual’ made its way to her, however). So, having a little crush on Sophie came as no surprise to her.

Nancy never thought to act on it. She doubted Sophie felt attraction similarly to how she did. It was best to just remain friends. The time for flirtation and romance in life had passed. It would be best to just enjoy the time they had together.

Oh, and that time, it was wonderful. So wonderful.

There was an ease with talking to Sophie that Nancy had with no one else. A way they could make each other laugh like no one else could. Nancy found herself spending hours in Sophie’s flower shop, chatting with her when things were slow, and helping out when they weren’t.

It was a slow day when Barbara Lake, and her girlfriend, Ms. Zelda Nomura, walked into the flower shop.

Nancy glanced quickly to Sophie. They hadn’t gotten a chance to discuss those things yet. Such matters had never come up on their own, and Nancy wasn’t certain how to bring them up. She bit her lip, worried about how Sophie would react to the queer couple.

“Hello.” Barbara led. Her girlfriend followed at a slow pace, tense and watchful as she generally was. “Nana—Nancy’s told me a lot about this place. I finally convinced Zelda to come.” She wrapped an arm around Nomura’s shoulders. “She loves flowers, but she’s really picky.”

“I am not.”

“Shush. Yes, yes you are.”

Sophie smiled at them. “Come, come.” She gestured the couple forward. “I’m sure I have something that will suit you perfectly.”

Nancy couldn’t help but smile as she watched Sophie work. She loved listening to her talk about flowers. The exuberance that came into her voice. The determination when she realized she had a challenge on her hands, and Barbara and Nomura certainly were a challenge.

Barbara may be a woman content with receiving just about any flower, but Nomura was not. Of all Arcadia’s citizens, the museum curator was one of the most reserved and private. Not an easy person to pick out a gift for, to say the least. Perhaps that’s why Barbara had brought her along to the flower shop. That, or they were enjoying a day out together.

Eventually, Sophie sent the couple on their way with a small bouquet of moonflowers.

“They’re a lovely couple,” Nancy said, as Sophie approached her. “It took them quite a while to figure out they liked each other like, though. I wish you could have been here while they were. It was quite the sight to see.”

“Hmm. That reminds me of another couple I know.”

“Oh? Who?”

Sophie leaned in close to Nancy. “Us,” she whispered before lightly kissing Nancy.

Nancy’s heart hammered. First with joy. Then with fear. Her thoughts raced. She wanted this. Oh, how she wanted this. But, but all the possibilities for the future swarmed into her head. She felt her breath catch in her throat. She could see Sophie smiling at her, and then that smile faltering with uncertainty. She wanted—she could—she shouldn’t—she—

Nancy fled.

The time for romance in her life had passed. Nancy had accepted that. She was okay with that. Did they really have the time to figure out the complexities of a relationship anyway? Could they even try? Sophie wanted to. Well, she did. She probably didn’t want to anymore. Not after how Nancy reacted to her kiss. Apparently, Nancy wasn’t too old to do something she’d regret.

Maybe it was better this way. They were just going to hurt each other at some point. It was inevitable. Such was life. People eventually left each other. It was the way of things. No one was immortal.

But, then, Nancy believed that was why one should appreciate the time they did get with their loved ones. She appreciated every single day she’d gotten with her husband, her son, her grandson. Cherished her time with to the fullest. She may not get as many days with Sophie, but those that she would get, weren’t they worth the endeavor?

It was okay to be afraid. Fear is a natural emotional response. It wasn’t so good to let fear rule oneself.

The little bell of the flower shop chimed as Nancy walked in through the door.

Sophie looked up at her entrance. “How may I…oh, hello, Nancy.”

“I—I came to apologize for the other day.” Nancy approached the counter. “I…you surprised me. I, um, I got scared and I reacted poorly.” She made eye contact with Sophie. “I’m very sorry.” She put a heart-shaped box of chocolates down on the counter between them. “These aren’t very good for either of us, but I remembered how you told me you love boxes of chocolate, because you like being surprised by what you get. I was hoping, maybe, we could share it? That is, if you want to. If you don’t, that’s alright too. I’ll just leave it and go.”

Sophie cupped Nancy’s cheek in her hand. “I would love to share it, Nance. I’ll admit, I was hurt when you ran off the other day.” She took Nancy’s hands in her own. “But life’s too short and it’s never too late for a new adventure.”

#trollhunters #tales of arcadia #toafemweek #nana domzalski #my OC #nana/oc character #barbmura #whirls writing

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terramythos · 5 years

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Now that I am finally through the 12 book odyssey that was catching up/rereading the October Daye series here's a post of my general thoughts. (ADVANCED spoilers. Like I don’t hold anything back, lol).

A. Just for fun, my favorite books tended to be the ones where shit (especially Lore Shit) went down in a Really Big Way. My top 5 for that...

1. The Winter Long (#8). I don’t think you can beat this one in sheer fuckery. Two MAJOR twists that basically change everything up to this point in the series, and they’re both dropped pretty casually. One, Simon Torquill is maybe not as evil as previously thought? and is also Toby’s step-dad? Whoops? And number two-- fucking EVENING, the fucking throwaway character killed in book one-- isn’t even dead AND she’s a fucking Firstborn and also a total piece of shit. God. It was a ride re-reading book one because there are so many hints (my favorite line: “no one knew her true face” YEAH OCTOBER, YOU SURE AREN’T WRONG). I pointed it out but even the Shakespeare quotes of books 1 and 8 foreshadow this shit. That in particular was 999-level fuckery.

2. The Brightest Fell (#11). I was not expecting this book to gut punch me so hard. Like, everything goes to shit, obviously, and the consequences of that stretch well into the next book. But then to give Simon a genuine redemption arc, to invest in that so emotionally, and somehow find a way to end it in a WORSE way than him just dying? That stuck with me. I was so fucking upset I just couldn’t do anything of value for like a day. So that’s how you know it’s good I guess! :D

3. An Artificial Night (#3). God what do you even say about this one. It’s where shit really starts getting real for the whole series. It’s creepy and more fantastical than the first few books and you learn more about The Firstborn and what they’re capable of. There’s a lot that’s just viscerally traumatic too. Literal children being twisted into horrific monsters. And if I’m right, I think the whole series is going to loop back to this one in a big way. There are so many... mentions and (dare I say) hints dropping even now about Blind Michael.

4. One Salt Sea (#5). I mean, a lot of stuff happens in this one that ultimately ties into book 12, but a really major character gets killed off, Rayseline is taken out of commission, the Undersea gets introduced, and you learn what the hell is up with the Selkies. I really truly believe the epilogue chapter of this one is some of the best writing in the series, it’s so well put together and has such great beats. Idk like it was a tossup between this one and Ashes of Honor (#7), but while the latter had some of my favorite bits I think this one had a lot more.

5. Night and Silence (#12). Maybe it’s cause it’s the most recent one and the most fresh in my mind, but DAMN. Kinda like The Winter Long this one had two big twists, and while they weren’t as major they really defined the book. The whole Janet thing I really and truly did not see coming and has some BIG implications for everything we know. Amandine’s a changeling! What the fuck! Gillian being very decisively rewritten into the series (and turned into a Selkie) was ALSO not something I saw coming in any way, shape, or form. This one really fired me up wondering where things are going next.

B. I mentioned it but GOD the Simon thing made me so viscerally upset! I don’t think I’ve run into a series that approached a redemption arc that way. You take a character who’s pretty much evil, then start making it way more gray. Was he a bad guy? Yeah... but he had a reasonable motive. Is he still a bad guy? Yeah kinda, but he seems to genuinely want to change, and actually assists the heroes without ulterior motive. OK, so then he comes back a few books later as the deuteragonist and gets a whole lot of character development, and he starts to improve. You even get a concrete indicator that the horrible shit that corrupted him is going away. And then, when he ultimately reaches his goals? He’s forced to give it all away, to turn back into the monster he’d been, in order to do the right thing. Fucking unreal. I’m fully aware this is to make the whole “finding Oberon” stakes more personal but it hurt, man!

C. My vampire crack theory is pretty much dead, so rest in peace, that.

D. OK so what is with the month names? Seriously. You can explain it away a little bit with the whole “fae like to honor people but don’t like to reuse names” shit but there’s absolutely no way it’s that simple. They’re all female characters who are related, however slightly, to the Torquills. I made that observation pre-book 8, but dismissed it because Toby wasn’t technically related to them. ONLY AS OF BOOK 8 SHE IS, SO CHECKMATE. THERE’S SOMETHING HAPPENING, DAMN IT. Anyway I like making lists, so...

1. January -- January O’Leary, She’s September’s daughter, and she gets killed off in book 2. This might be enough for me to dismiss the month name thing except the epilogue of 11 brings her Back to Fucking Life, so honestly all bets are off imo, she was absolutely brought back for a reason.

2. February -- no one.. yet.

3. March -- no one.. yet.

4. April -- April O’Leary, January’s adopted daughter. She’s a cyber-Dryad and we see her perspective briefly when January gets resurrected. I’m not sure what else to say about her in relation to this?

5. May -- May Daye, October’s blood clone (basically). I mean, her whole existence is pretty weird. You could make the argument her name is just a coincidence (she was once a night haunt named Mai), but there’s absolutely no way I’m buying that.

6. June -- no one.. yet.

7. July -- Gillian Marks-Daye. October’s daughter. I mean. I was going to say “no one”, but she just got decisively re-written into the series. “Gillian” is the feminine form of “Julius”. I’m pretty sure she’s supposed to be the dark-horse contender for this slot. No way that’s a coincidence.

8. August -- August...Torquill? She’s Simon’s biological daughter and Toby’s half-sister, so.... She was ALSO introduced pretty late, unlike most of these entries, so I am still convinced this is A Thing.

9. September -- September Torquill. She’s Simon and Sylvester’s sister. Also like, decisively dead I think. She hasn’t shown up in the main series (only mentioned), but I think she shows up more in the short stories? I don’t know enough about her to say much.

10. October -- October “Toby” Daye. Like. That’s the name of the series. She’s the main protagonist, dawg. She’s Simon’s step-daughter. What more do you want from me.

11. November -- no one.. yet.

12. December -- no one.. yet.

E. So where is the series going? Obviously next book is about The Luidaeg finally calling in the Selkies’ blood debt or whatever, which we knew was coming for a long time. But #12 just made that way more personal with the whole Gillian thing. I have no idea what’s going to happen with that. Beyond that? There are some loose ends here and there, but the big thing is Oberon coming back. That’s pretty much a given. If I’m right, I think the consequences of Book 3 are going to start showing soon, but idk if it will be in relation to that or not. I’m sure she can come up with way more to put into the series (maybe a book around Toby and Tybalt getting married? SOMETHING THAT EXPLAINS THE MONTH NAMES???), but that’s all that’s really evident to me.

F. So, the characters. They’re probably my favorite bit of the series. The Luidaeg and Tybalt are undoubtedly my faves, but I’ve really enjoyed seeing how Toby, Quentin, and May have grown over the course of the series. I know I mentioned this previously, but I really like how the series’ initial allies end up... not being allies, so much-- whether by getting killed off or severely disappointing Toby. Sylvester, Evening, Luna, Lily, and Connor all pretty much disappear or greatly alter their role in the story.

Yet the main cast, the “found family” the series focuses on? Pretty much none of them started out even liking each other that much. Quentin is a snotty noble kid, Tybalt is straight up an antagonist who HATES Toby, The Luidaeg is just plain terrifying, and May is some bizarre doppleganger that (seems to) randomly show up. Yet over time they’ve forged into such a strong and really likeable crew. Idk, it really gives me the feeling that it’s not just FOUND family, but EARNED family, and I really like that.

G. While we’re discussing characters, I want to talk about The Luidaeg in particular.

I think she’s probably one of my favorite characters of all time. That’s a high bar but she is just so damn INTERESTING. Morally gray for sure, but not in a traditional way.

Like, she clearly has her own agenda. She’s probably the oldest character in the series, and she’s fucking terrifying. People use her name to warn their kids at night. We see samples of her powers and the things she knows, and she’s basically a walking eldritch horror. A great deal of the series is her calling in and collecting debts from the main characters so she can use them for one purpose or another. She’s the fucking sea witch. Right?

Except... the series humanizes her so much. She is clearly kind and compassionate and does her best to hide it. While she initially intimidates the main characters, Toby gradually realizes she’s lonely and seems to enjoy their company. Every single bit of her backstory you get adds more context to her behavior. She’s protective of children because hers were slaughtered like animals. She speaks in riddles because there are so many things she’s forbidden to say. She asks for terrible prices because she HAS to help anyone who will ask her to, and there are certain things she doesn’t want to do (and often, it’s because said things would harm others). This is also why she’s so standoffish and avoidant of others-- because they take advantage of her. Despite all the horrible shit that’s happened to her, she still does her best to be kind and do the right thing. And her ultimate goal, I feel, must be a good one. That’s the only thing that makes sense to me.

There’s more. A lot of what she does is clearly calculated to achieve a particular result. She mostly shows kindness to certain members of the main cast (Toby and Quentin in particular) and very few others. It’s always interesting to see how she interacts with other characters, because it closely mirrors her initial behavior. Yet even then you see little things, like how she took in Poppy as an apprentice. One of the few times you get her perspective, it’s when she realizes Amandine is abusing and literally killing child!October, and you see how horrified she is, enough that she steps in and puts a stop to it. Does she have a use for Toby down the line? Yeah, obviously, but it doesn’t mean she didn’t do the right thing for the right reasons. I suppose it’s possible she’s just manipulating everyone, but the stories like that and her blood memories make me feel otherwise. Also, the amount of human profanity she uses is pretty funny, since so few characters use it.

Honestly this may seem like an odd comparison but she reminds me of Akane from Zero Escape. She’s playing the long con, and a lot of what she does seems strange and mysterious until you get more context. And she clearly has some ultimate goal she’s working toward (probably something to do with finding Oberon), but we won’t really know what that means until it happens. It’s probably going to be an emotional rollercoaster.

There’s more to her than that, but I find it hard to articulate. I just really like her! Pretty much every scene she shows up in is interesting, because she has intriguing lore, dialogue, or insights. She’s almost certainly a big focus in the next book and I don’t know if that means I’ll love her or hate her at the end, lol.

H. Much shorter note, but Toby/Tybalt? How DARE you make me care about a M/F ship THIS MUCH. They’re just so good. The ultimate slow burn Enemies to Grudging Allies to Friends to Lovers. It’s such a ride and a treat to read. Their early interactions are fucking hilarious on a reread. And I find myself caring so much about what happens to them.

I. I think this is my last point, but I REALLY appreciated the LGBT rep in the series. There’s obvious stuff like “all the fae are bi unless stated otherwise”, but there’s a really good amount of overt rep. May’s a lesbian, Madden’s gay, Quentin’s bi, and no one bats an eye. It’s AWESOME. Also, making Walther (a certified badass and cool character) a trans man was just wonderful. The fact that he goes on right after the reveal to do one of the biggest Lore things (curing motherfucking elf-shot) is the best. I really like Walther and we need more characters like him.

I’m probably missing SOMETHING, but idk. These were my main thoughts on the series as a whole. I’m interested to see where things go.

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captainfawful · 5 years

Text

With the year coming to a close, that means it’s time for me to do my “Nobody Cares Awards” thing I like to do! Check under the cut for some hot takes I may or may not have!

Hello, hello! It’s me again! Third year in a row I decided to jot my thoughts down on the years various game. I decided to change things up more from last year, kind of eliminating most of the categories in favor of writing more about the games I enjoyed. I tried to write at least something about every game in the Top 10 this time, even if it’s the bare minimum. Let’s see how it goes!

BEST MUSIC

This entire thing was first created because I wanted to write about how good Death Road To Canada’s soundtrack was. So no matter what changes with my format on this, there will always be a Best Music category. I’ll be honest though, there weren’t a whole lot of games this year with amazing soundtracks. The only real contender for most of the year was Celeste, which OST is very good, and fits perfectly with the games tone and style, but it’s not... The Best music. They aren’t songs I’ll put on loop and listen to multiple times throughout the day. They’re not the hard hitting tracks I would typically put at the top of this category, despite how great the music is. That’s how I felt until about August, when The Messenger came out. Messenger is not a game that will be in my Top 10 by any means, but it’s a pretty good game nonetheless with a couple of really weird twists. But the OST is phenomenal. Easily my number 1 favorite of this year. Just about every track in the game is a total banger. But don’t take it from me, take a listen yourself! A little later in the year I played through Just Shapes & Beats. I have a personal stigma against saying a thing with licensed music should qualify for Best Music, which is why JS&B did not make it into my top 3, but rest assured that it is sitting comfortably in the 4th place spot. Almost immediately after I played JS&B, Deltarune suddenly came out. I don’t think I have to tell you why that’s on here, right? Toby Fox cannot make bad music.

SPECIAL MENTIONS

THE MISSING:J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories

It’s hard for me to talk about what makes The Missing so special without diving deep into spoilers. There’s a reason it’s in the special mentions, and not the Top 10: And that reason is because the gameplay isn’t great. The Missing is a side-scrolling puzzle game, in the same vein as Limbo or Inside. Unlike those two, however, the puzzles you have to solve are not that hard, and most of the difficulty around it revolves around how slowly and janky the movement is. However, the overall story and twist is what makes this game great. There’s not a whole lot for me to say about the themes this game presents, so if you want to play The Missing, play it. If you don’t want to play it, then maybe take a look at some writings from actual queer women who could talk about its subject matter in a way I never possibly could.

The Quiet Man

The Quiet Man is a terrible game. When I first saw the trailer during Suare Enix's E3 presentation, I was super interested. I've always wanted a game that transitions from FMV to gameplay with as few seams as possible, and The Quiet Man promised that. Not only that, it promised a compelling story told from the perspective of its' deaf protagonist. The way I saw it, this game would either accomplish what it set out to do, or fail miserably. Either way, it was a win/win scenario for me! Little did I know just HOW miserably it would fail.... Oooooh, how miserably it failed... The gameplay is absolute trash, the graphics leave much to be desired which makes the "seamless" transitions from FMV look unconvincing and bad, the story is needlessly complicated despite how generic it is, the acting ranges from decent to awful, and it requires you to play it twice in order to actually understand what's happening. And all of those problems are the LEAST offensive parts of the game. It's racist, misogynistic, somehow ableist against more than just deaf people, semi-incestual, and also kind of pro-abuse??? I mean, it doesn't take a stance to be anti-abuse, and certainly doesn't condemn abuse, so does that make it pro? Maybe? Probably? I have a headache. I've watched this entire 2-4 hour game be played 10 or 11 times, and I still don't understand how this exists. Square-Enix published this. They dropped Hitman and IO Interactive not even one year ago, yet threw money at this horrible abomination of a video game! Oh by the way, you might be wondering why I said you have to play it twice to understand, and that's because the first playthrough doesn't give you any sound. Yup, aside from the intro cutscene and the credits song, the entire games' audio is just muffled ambiance. This includes all of it's cutscenes, of which there are MANY, and they are LONG. Entire MINUTES of dialogue happening at a time that the game just doesn't want you to hear or have subtitles for. The only way to get audio is to beat the game once and replay it. Not only that, but the New Game + with sound and subtitles didn't even get patched in until a week after it's release!!! Who does that!!!!! And the version with audio has some ATROCIOUS writing. Just about every scene has at least one line of dialogue that makes no sense, almost as if the writers were only told about how humans speak, but never actually heard one themselves. I’ve heard a lot of people saying it’s The Room of video games, and I sort of agree. Much like The Room, it’s not the absolute worst of it’s form of media, the game is playable start-to-finish, extremely straight forward so you can’t get lost, no bizarre puzzles to figure out, the FMV cutscenes are at decently produced. Hell, I wouldn’t even say The Quiet Man is the worst game to come out THIS YEAR. Crying Is Not Enough released in June, and boy oh boy is that game a trash fire. But it’s just BAFFLING that this game exists. That’s the perfect word to summarize my feelings on The Quiet Man. Every single thing about it is just, baffling. I need to stop writing about this game. This whole paragraph is probably going to be longer than anything from my Top 10, which feature a few games I ADORE, but no. All my writing energy is going to how terrible this fucking video game is. Don't play The Quiet Man. Or do, fuck if I care. Maybe watch someone else play it, I don't know. I don't know anything anymore.

Ori and the Blind Forest

Back on the topic of good games, I finally got around to playing Ori and the Blind Forest! I played it for a little while after it originally came out around 2015, but it just didn’t stick with me at the time. There wasn’t any real reason why it didn’t stick, I just got bored and stopped playing, which isn’t that uncommon for me to do. But for whatever reason I decided to go back to it super late last year. It may have been the excitement for all the cool looking Metroidvanias slated to release throughout the year, I don’t know. But I played through it, and it’s fantastic! Most Metroidvanias tend to go with around a 60-40 split between platforming and combat. Different games have different splits, sure, but most of them tend to keep those somewhat even. Ori is like an 85-15, greatly favoring tight platforming over fighting enemies. Your main attack automatically locks on to nearest enemies, and boss fights are replaced with autoscrolling or stealth segments. The traversal is also super smooth and fun, making that 85-15 split much more favorable than others in its’ genre. Great controls combined with some amazing visuals and music, Ori is definitely a game I regret not playing earlier.

2019′S COMING IN HOT

Spelunky 2, Wargroove, Indivisible, Hypnospace Outlaw, Ooblets, UFO 50, Kingdom Hearts 3, Overland, Sea of Solitude, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Get in the Car, Loser!. These are all great looking games that are supposed to be coming out in 2019. I remember last December when I last did this, I couldn't think of THAT many games I was really excited for, and despite that I ended up with a pretty damn good list of games for 2018. So who knows what next year will be like?!

And now... The Top 10!

#10: Spider-Man

It’s been a great year for Spider-Man. His best buddy Venom had a pretty good movie, his new video game is good, and he has a new movie that’s fantastic! Yep, it’s been such a good year for Spider-Man in which nothing bad has happened to him or the people who created him.

#9: Megaman 11

2 > 4 > 3 > 8 > 11 > 7 > 5 > 6 > 9 > 10 > 1. Don’t @ me.

#8: Iconoclasts

Iconoclasts has been in development for a very long time. Officially, development for it began in around 2010, but there is a seemingly earlier game by Konjak that shares many similarities. Basically, Iconoclasts began development at least 8 years ago, and it shows, for better or worse. On one hand, the game is gorgeous. Grade A sprite work all around. The characters are interesting and well written with their own morales and arcs, and the story is surprisingly deep and compelling considering the type of game it is. On the other hand, the gameplay feels very outdated now. The combat is super simplistic, the puzzles aren't terribly challenging or rewarding, and the weapon/ability upgrades are very limited. The traversal can be sluggish and boring, which is a red flag for a game where you have to backtrack a decent amount. If Iconoclasts came out 4 or 5 years ago, I feel like it would've been at least a cult classic. But in 2018, it's a decent Metroidvania in a year of great Metroidvanias. Overall, I'm glad Iconoclasts finally came out. I just wish it either came out sooner, or got more updated for modern game design.

#7: Slay the Spire

For all intents and purposes, I shouldn't like Slay the Spire. I always hated card-based RPGs, and always hated RPGs with only one party member. And for the most part, the issues I have with both of those are still very much present in Spire. So why have I sunk 50 hours into it so far? Beats me! If I had to guess, I’d say it’s the similarities it shares to Darkest Dungeon, one of my favorite games, that ultimately drives me to it. Now, you might be asking why Slay the Spire, a game that came out in 2017, and won’t be in 1.0 until probably 2019, is in my top 10 for this year, but Ori & the Blind Forest isn’t? Well, I started Ori last year, and didn’t start Spire until the middle of this year! Also, they’re my awards, and I can do whatever I want!

#6: Just Shapes & Beats

Just Shapes & Beats’ concept is simple: A rhythm bullet hell. Certainly not the first of it’s kind, and not even the first one to use simplistic shapes as the obstacles/characters. But there’s a bit more to it than that. JS&B has some good personality to go with it. It has some fun characters, all of the levels are demonstrative of the areas you’re in on the world map, it even has a couple lightly emotional moments! It’s much more than you’d expect from a game about Just Shapes & Beats. When I was younger and had vague dreams to make games, I always imagined making one that was basically “What if a Windows Visualizer was trying to kill you?” and also be themed around a world and a story, and JS&B is basically that.

#5: Pipe Push Paradise

What happens when you take Pipe Dream, an iconic puzzler which has given inspiration to countless others, and mix it with Stephen's Sausage Roll, arguably one of the greatest puzzle games of all time? You get Pipe Push Paradise, of course! That’s all I really have to say, and all I NEED to say.

#4: Dead Cells

Go play Dead Cells. Really, it’s the closest thing to a perfect Rogue-like (that isn’t Spelunky) out there right now. It’s a game so good, Filip Miucin couldn’t look away from it long enough to write his own review!

#3: Subnautica

If I had the opportunity to become a Fishman and live underwater, I’d probably take it. As long as you take out the jellyfish that can kill you .0001 seconds after stinging you, I have no qualms with open water. In fact, the isolated feeling from it is really relaxing to me. That’s what initially drew me to Subnautica. Survival games are usually hit or miss for me, but the ones I like I really dive deep into (Heh heh), and Subnautica is one of those. Also, I was rewatching the Super Mario Bros. Super Show on Netflix as I played this, so now I’ll have those two permanently linked in my mind from now on.

#2: Into The Breach

I love tactics games, especially Advance Wars. While I do still love others in the genre like Fire Emblem or X-COM, there are some intricacies of the AW series that most of the others don't have. When I first heard about Into The Breach, I thought it would be exactly what I wanted, a true successor to the series I'd been waiting for. And it was not! But it's still pretty damn good. It's not so much a tactics game as it is a puzzle game, described by Waypoint's own Austin Walker as a "tactical dance". You know at the start of each turn where each enemy is going to attack, and it's your job to navigate and attack with your 3 mech units in the exact right way to minimize or even straight up prevent any damage that would befall you or the cities you're protecting. You aren't trying to advance a map during combat, or conquer any enemy bases. You are merely trying to avoid damage for a certain amount of turns and move on to the next level. And it's all super fun! I've let the game sit for 10, 20 minutes while I try and figure out every possible option I have after being backed into a corner, and coming up with the absolute perfect solution and getting through to the other side is super satisfying. The biggest gripe I have with Into The Breach is the same one I had for FTL, the developer's last game, which is I don't think the unlockable mechs/mech teams are as fun as the default ones. I played most of them once or twice and went "Yeah, that's a thing" and migrate back to the first mech team. All in all, Into The Breach is a fantastic game, it just doesn't scratch that Advance Wars itch I've been feeling. Oh well, at least there's still Wargroove!

#1: Celeste

Celeste is a game I got 100% completion in. For those of you who might not know me well enough to know how I play games, that’s something that never happens. I think the last time I purposely got 100% on a game was in Uncharted 2, and even that was only to get a skin for multiplayer. Despite that, it’s been really difficult for me to write up a whole thing about why I love Celeste so much. It’s just a compilation of everything. I love the look of it, both the sprite work and the character portraits. The music, as mentioned before, is fantastic and perfectly fitting for all of the levels themes which deal in different forms of anxiety or self-doubt. The levels are hard, but not too hard. The secrets hidden throughout the game are so satisfying to figure out and find, very reminiscent of Braid. I feel confident in saying that Celeste has cemented itself as one of my favorite games of all time.

Well, that’s all I can handle writing for this year. Thanks to the few of you who skimmed through all this, and extra thanks to the fewer of you who read all of it! I’m not 100% sure if I’ll do this whole shpeel next year or not; maybe if 2019 turns out to be an incredible year for games, and definitely not if I have to move to Twitter in the off-chance Tumblr dies out completely. Hope you all had a fun holiday season, and have a great 2019!

#dont reblog pls #long post #very rare personal post???

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lunaraen · 6 years

Note

“I can handle this just fine on my own. Who needs others?” with Durango, right before he ends up getting stuck or seriously injuring himself and has to rely on the others?

Kate’s a rotten, lying, backstabbing good for nothing.

So it goes without saying that Durango hates her, the person whowon’t stop toying with them and twisting their emotions at every possible turn,to the point of playing along and making them think they were free beforeripping their chance at freedom out from right under their feet, more thananything.

But this forest is getting to be an awful close second.

It’s suffocating, trees close enough together that it’s just athick sea of twisting branches and trunks that seem to stretch up into forever,far higher than any trees have any right to and enough that even the brightblue of the sky is distant and hidden above winding webs of dense leaves andtoo many trees.

At this point, he thinks it’s night, but there are too manyplants everywhere, especially up, and not enough light ever seems to passthrough the layers of leaves.

When monsters start to spawn seems like the reasonable answer,but even that seems random. The only guarantee is that every nasty critterpopping up and skittering under these trees has eight legs and fangs more thanbig and sharp enough to tear flesh from bone (and that they can blend in wheneverthey feel like it because of coursethey can.).

Durango hates spiders.

He really hates camouflaging spiders that are too smart fortheir own good, blending into their murky surroundings and adding to hisparanoia (the snakes he swears he can hear, hissing as they slither through thetall grasses and tangled brambles, but can’t see, save for hints of shinytails that might be shifting spiders or tricks of the light, also don’t help).

He hates every single thing about these woods.

In past challenges, for better or worse, Kate was happy draggingthem from island to island with just enough time to get cozy but not too muchbefore she ripped them away and blew up their shelter. It meant he didn’t haveto worry about the biome driving him crazy, though. Before Kate kidnapped themall, he’d never really been anywhere that wasn’t mesa, which was plenty variedbut also predictable to some point.

During the challenges, the snow and ice of the tundra was apain, but not for long, and at least the forests they went to before were moreopen and varied.

But they’ve been here, on this island, or demented twisted littleheart of an island, for days.

She’s seen that they aren’t willing to compete, that they wantto work as a team, and she’s twisting that too so now the four of them all haveto work together through unfair challenges.

And it’s starting to get to him.

Maybe that’s this island’s ‘special thing’, but Kate’s beendirectly vague and weird about what’s so spooky about this island and thatdoesn’t help either.

Splitting up isn’t a good idea.

It’s bad enough when they’re forced to separate, split up intopointless teams. Actively trying to stay away from the others is even worse.

But it’s what Durango’s doing.

They were trying to set up camp earlier when they got ambushedby less than friendly and more than bite-y wildlife. They chased them off wellenough, but not before one of them bit up River’s arms something nasty,covering her in webbing to keep her from being able to fight back.

She’s fine, he knows, and Quinn and Toby are probably stilloccupied making sure she’s okay after wrapping her up.

He just happened to sneak off as soon as they were sure Riverwas gonna be alright.

See, before they decided to set up camp for the night (day?),they came across a pretty obvious obstacle course that had either been set upby or at least meddled with by Kate.

Durango can still see the key shining from here, light from theline of redstone torches illuminating the whole mess glinting off of it. It’son top of a tall rock, surrounded by thorns and sludge that looks toxic andsmells it too.

The tree branches above this area are even thicker and morecrowded, inexplicable but very sharp thorns lining them, making climbing a treeand just jumping to the rock out of the question.

The only visible way to get there is a shoddy line of planksstrung up above the pit of thorns and goo by weak vines.

Kate was at least nice enough to explain, through a suspiciousnote this time, that the platforms would get lower and lower the longersomebody stood on them, and that at least three of the platforms would have tobe lowered for the rock pillar at the end to sink enough for them to just jumpon it and get the key.

(The key itself is to a suspicious looking temple that mighthave supplies they need and be their only way out of here, and it’s all morethan enough to make Durango feel off.)

Problem?

River’s out of commission until she heals, which she might notfully do even with the food they have. But if he could somehow get the key,they could definitely have enough food, maybe even some bandages or potions,and they’d be on their way out without having to wait for the spiders to comeand pick them off or try to zero in on River, with her being an injured target.

(She’s smarter than all get out, but she’s not exactly thestrongest even when she’s able to use both arms.)

The question becomes how in the world Durango’s going to do apuzzle meant for three people on his own. Kate never mentioned how low was lowenough, though, so if he just stays on the planks long enough for them to lowerbefore jumping to the next one… well, he doubts she’d leave a loophole likethat in, but worst case, he can just jump across them all and try to climb therock at the end. He’s sure it’s not as smooth as it looks. Even if it is…

“I can handle this just fine on my own. Who needsothers?” He brushes off the front of his shirt, adjusts his hat so thebrim is just above his eyes without affecting what he can see, and runs beforehe jumps.

It’s more of a stumble than a landing, but he grabs on tightenough to one of the vines and his feet more or less land on the wood and notin the poison, so that’s good enough for him.

Some people would say it’s a death wish, just like all the othertimes he’s ever tried to do something solo in these challenges.

He’s determined.

(Other words for that are stubborn and stupid, but he’s heardthem plenty and he doesn’t need his own mind echoing them back. Besides, he canthink of that easy enough just by looking at the bubbling ooze and jaggedthorns and spikes.)

Durango waits, ignoring the feeling of eyes burning holes in theback of his neck and how he gets closer to the ground with every moment, andjumps. It’s a similarly rough landing, but one he makes.

Besides, once he gets through this? He gets them the key theyneed, they can actually get out of here, and they won’t have to wait around forKate to make up more pointless garbage to try and slow them down. Not here,anyway.

He waits, jumps again.

And stumbles without landing.

He does land, of course. It’s just not where he wanted to, oreven where he realized he would land until it’s far too late.

The first thing he becomes aware of is that it suddenly reallyhurts to stand, the next being that hunger’s already started clawing at himfrom the inside as his body desperately tries to heal from what he already knowsisn’t a good outcome.

The third?

The horrible bloodcurdling scream he heard came from him and hehas to actively bite back any more screams, another one desperately clawing itsway up his throat, as he falls to the ground, instead cursing up a storm as hetries to get the world to stop spinning and his leg to stop searing, ignoringthe various cuts from the thorns and the way the poison is clinging to andeating at his skin.

Even trying to get to his feet just has him collapse and landright back on points and sludge as his stomach growls, body desperate to healwith no resources to do it.

For a terrified moment, he’s not sure if anyone heard him atall, because noise travels weird here just like everything else and it wouldfigure, or if only the spiders did, and past the pain pounding in his ears hecan hear the bushes rustle.

Then the bushes stop moving as Quinn bursts through them, movingfaster than he’s seen her in a while since things became strategic, and shelooks mad enough to kill with a look and she’s coming right for him andsuddenly Durango finds himself almost wishing the fall had killed him.

Now, he knows Quinn hates Kate. He knows Quinn cares about allof them.

Still, Durango thinks it’s only because of these two things thatshe hasn’t just thrown him to the wolves (not that that’s an option, but heappreciates not being hurled at the spiders and maybe-snakes). Or Kate.

“What were you thinking?”

Toby and River, in fairness, are doing their best to stay ontheir side of the makeshift cobble and dirt shelter and kindly pretend theycan’t hear what’s going on just a few feet away, and Durango finds himselfgrateful for that as he tries not to shrink under Quinn’s gaze.

“…I was trying to get us out.”

He couldn’t even get out of the tar pit without Quinn tossinghim a vine and hauling him out.

“On your own. By sneaking away from us while we were busyhelping River.” Durango doesn’t look her in the eye, trying to hide behindthe brim of his hat and focus on the way the light of the fire dances dimlyagainst the walls and floor, but he doesn’t need to with how he can practicallyhear her eyes twitching. “I thought you said even you neededfriends.”

“Sometimes.” Durango swallows, wondering if how dryhis mouth feels is because of shame or because of the poison still wearing off.His clothes, at least, aren’t covered in it anymore, soaked though he might beafter having a couple of buckets dumped on him to get it off. “I thought Icould handle it.”

His shirt’s still by the fire, drying off, but he’s havingenough trouble trying to defend what he did to Quinn without having more reasonto be embarrassed.

He’ll take the damp and uncomfortable pants.

“How’d that work out for you?” Quinn sighs after amoment, trying to straighten out her frazzled ponytail as she sits down on thefloor across from him, voice turning softer but not gentler as her stressbleeds into it. “Durango, if we hadn’t heard you, a spider could’ve easilygotten to you and there’d be no way for you to fight back.”

He crosses his arms over his chest, frowning in a way that’smore of a pout than intended.

“I didn’t break my arms.”

River winces at the comment and Durango really wishes he couldthink before speaking, only just stopping himself from glancing at her bandagedarms, and he goes back to glaring at the ground.

Just a leg. Like that’s any better.

“You were going to just punch giant flesh-eating spiders todeath? A whole pack of them could’ve decided you were an easy meal.” Quinngives a tiny, tired laugh that’s more scary than reassuring as she runs herfingers through her ponytail again. “You scared all of us, Durango. We hadjust enough food to help River heal up, and she’s still dizzy.”

River speaks up this time and Durango’s heart sinks low enoughto settle right beside his stomach.

“A-ah, really, it’s not that bad.” But it’s bad, it’sbad and she could use food, food that’s now going to go to him once they findit and he screwed up he screwed up big time.

Weak link.

He’s the weak link and this isn’t at all how he wanted it toturn out.

If the others get hurt, they aren’t weak links, because Toby,Quinn, and River are all smart and clever, even if Quinn’s also strong, andhe’d never expect them to just carry the team.

But if he wants to be a team player, he has to do better thanthis. He’s no good to anybody dead, respawn or no respawn, and while he’s goodat throwing a punch, he’s got to be able to do more than just hobble aroundwith a busted leg to do it.

“…’m sorry.”

He wants to get them home.

But right now he’s not sure if he wanted to be a team player orjust a hero more, and he knows which one sounds more selfish. He was probablyjust playing the hero and screwing it up, and now they’ll have to help him evenmore.

“I believe you.” Quinn gives a delayed smile beforepushing herself to her feet. “The best thing you can do, for us and foryou, is get some rest until we can find some food.”

“…right.” Durango tips his hat forward even more,hoping they’ll think he’s asleep before they think he’s dying of shame.

#My Stuff #fanfiction #cotsi #challenge of the spooky isles #post season one #anon

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carryonourwaywardoneshots-blog · 7 years

Text

Stalk (Part Four)

Title: Stalk (Part Four)

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Unofficial Chapter

Part Four (Final)

Ship: Dean x Reader

Warnings: none that I can think of

Word Count: 2,986

Masterlist

The entire day following the discovery of what Toby was – or what he was doing – was spent preparing for the kill. But, in (Y/N)’s case, it was spent dreading even coming to Sioux Falls. She should have never told the boys about Toby. She could have handled it herself and prevented his unnecessary death. As terrifying as her experiences had been, a spirit can’t kill you… can it? He did leave pretty mean marks all over her wrists and neck. If it can hurt her, bruise her, can it kill her? The questions were cemented in her mind the entire day, repeating themselves over and over. The boys used her bedroom to come up with a plan, so the only safe place for her to be away from their gory words was the study, where she sat all day.

While completely consumed in her thoughts, (Y/N) didn’t hear the knock at the study door. “(Y/N)?” It was her father’s voice that finally snapped her out of her trance. “Huh? Yeah, come in.” She permitted him and the door opened, the old man stepping inside. “Are you okay, sweetie?” he asked, his face full of concern. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” She leaned forward in her seat, faking a smile. “You’re sure?” He sat across from her, studying her. She nodded quickly, though her blood shot eyes revealed themselves to Bobby. “The boys just informed me that they’re skipping town tonight to do a hunt near where you live. Do you know anything about that?”

‘Shit, he knows.’ (Y/N) thought to herself, letting out a little sigh that signaled her giving up the act. “How much did they tell you?” She put her head in her arms on the desk, ready to hear the whole story all over again through her father’s words. “Why didn’t you tell me, (Y/N)? As much as I love the boys, I’d rather hear it from my own daughter, for Christ’s sake.” The girl brought up her head so she could make eye contact with him, spotting the pain in his eyes. The man started again, “Well, I mean, I was kind of suspicious because you don’t usually ‘just swing by’. You haven’t been home for over two years. Not even a call.”

“I’m sorry, Dad.” (Y/N) mustered out, tears threatening to rise, “I don’t want to be part of this life anymore. Hunting is disgusting. The creatures are disgusting. I thought that if I just left, it would all just go away. But for some reason, everything likes to find its way to me. I can never get away.”

“Do me a favor?” He sat up in his chair and pointed towards a file cabinet, “Bottom drawer, grab me that whiskey bottle.” (Y/N) cocked an eyebrow but turned around and grabbed it and its corresponding glasses. “Now, I don’t think I’ve ever told you about your mom, have I?” He said as she placed the bottle and the two glasses in front of them. Bobby poured them both up halfway. (Y/N) nodded, eager to finally hear what he had to say about her. Her mother died a little bit after she was born. Of course, Bobby never told her the whole story of what happened to her. She grew up hearing little stories and memories that her father had of his wife, but that was about it.

“Your mother was a wonderful woman and I loved her very, very much. I just want you to know that before I continue, (Y/N).”

“I know, Dad. You said it every day when I was growing up.” She smiled at the mention of her mother. “You know how possession work, right? You were in the room for a couple exorcisms after you turned thirteen, I made sure of it so you would know what to do.” He answered his own question. “Your mother… your mother was possessed by a demon and she started to attack me out of nowhere. In self-defense, I stabbed her… many times. But, it didn’t really do anything, as you know how a demon keeps the vessels alive even after horrible injuries. Rufus came and performed an exorcism on her and that killed Karen.” Tears welled up in her father’s eyes, the memory too much to bare, “That was before I knew anything about the supernatural world.”

“Dad… I’m so sorry.” (Y/N) reached her hand across the desk and held his as he took a sip of the whiskey, the liquid burning down his throat. “It’s fine, (Y/N), really. The point I’m trying to make is you don’t know what you’re going up against. Don’t charge in blindly because you don’t know if your tactics are going to work. The dimwit brothers downstairs don’t understand that a person’s astral projection can’t even come close to hurting another person. This is not the kid that’s doing this. It must be something way different. You have a vengeful spirit in your home.”

Just as Bobby finished his sentence, which paused (Y/N)’s thoughts, the hum of the Impala could be heard outside. “Shit, are they leaving?” the girl shot out of her seat and raced to the window to see Sam and Dean in the Impala, getting ready to leave. “Dad, thank you so much for telling me this. You just saved someone’s life.” She hugged her father quickly before sprinting out of the room, running down the stairs, and out the door. (Y/) made it outside right before Dean put the Impala in drive. “Dean! Wait! Stop!” She yelled, panting as she ran up to Dean’s driver-side window. “Dean-“ she panted, attempting to catch her breath so she could speak.

“(Y/N)? What’s wrong?” He rolled down his window so he could hear the girl. “It’s not Toby. It’s-“ she took a long gasp, “God, I’m so out of fucking shape.”

“What? What is it then?” Dean furrowed his eyebrows, unlocking the Impala so (Y/N) could get in the backseat. She climbed in, finally catching her breath. “Dad said that someone’s astral projection can’t hurt anyone. This has to be an actual spirit.” The brothers exchange a look, confirming a change of plans. “The best bet is to just go to my house and do some research on it and try and figure out who this ghost is.” Her hunter mode finally kicked in. Dean raised his eyebrows, a smirk crawling across his lips. Something about (Y/N) showing her true hunter self made something inside him all happy and giddy.

The ride to (Y/N)’s house was filled with all kinds of conversations, catching up on all the happenings since they were kids. Dean was glad to discover that (Y/N) was still single as ever, never even had a boyfriend in the years of not seeing each other.

Once they got there, everyone loaded out of the Impala and stretched their legs. “(Y/N), you have wifi at your place, right?” Sam turned to her and she nodded, walking up her driveway and to her front door. “Guys, please don’t mind the mess.”

“Please, it can’t be as bad as your father’s house.” Dean laughed as they stepped inside her home, looking around in awe. Paintings littered the walls of all types and genres, book cases were everywhere. It was like Sam’s Heaven. “A mess?” Sam scoffed, trailing further inside the home, his eyes glued to the collections of books along the walls. “Enough about my home, boys. Let’s get to work.” (Y/N) raised her eyebrows and led them to her study.

Dinner time rolled around faster than they had thought, their stomachs grumbling could be heard throughout the silent study. Only Dean thought to speak up about it, “God, I’m hungry.” He rolled the chair away from (Y/N)’s computer. “I know, I know.” (Y/N) groaned, turning off her tablet and setting it on the end table next to her lounge chair. “Take out?” Dean suggested, but (Y/N) only shook her head. “Nothing good delivers out this way.”

Dean smiled, “We can go pick it up if you put the order in. I don’t mind driving, I’m too hungry.” He chuckled, standing up and offering his hand to the girl. The pair looked at Sam, raising their eyebrows as if silently asking him if he wants to join. Sam shakes his head, “No, I’m fine. I’m going to stay behind and do some more research. I think I’m close to findings some info.”

“The usual chick salad I’m guessing?” Dean confirmed with Sam before following (Y/N) into the kitchen and leaning against the counter as she hopped up onto a stool. She grabbed her phone and dialed a number she had burned into her mind from calling when she was in college. Before pressing send, she turned to the oldest Winchester, who was standing a little too close than what she’s used to. It wasn’t like (Y/N) didn’t like it - she definitely did - this was just something that Dean treaded far from. “So, a salad for Jolly Green, and what do you want? It’s on me, so don’t worry about cost.”

“C’mon, (Y/N), you have to let me pay.” He insisted, leaning towards her a little more to grab his wallet, showing off all the stolen credit cards he collected over the years. “And let you commit a felony? No. Besides, you’re a guest in my home.”

“Why? You’re a poor college student, just let…” He looked at a random name on a credit card, “Matthew Reid pay for it. I’m sure he’s more than willing to.” He gave her a cheeky smile, a contagious one at that. “Fine…” she sighed, dramatically, “But only if you use your own money, Dean. I don’t want to be a part of credit card theft.”

“Good, I won. If they have any bacon cheese burgers, make sure that it has extra bacon on it. Get whatever you want.” (Y/N) rolled her eyes before pressing send and putting in their orders to the local pub. When she hung up, she turned her seat to him. “It’s former poor college student, by the way.” She smiled at the thought of her achievement. It took her six years to get where she was today, going beyond the normal four years. “Oh, I forgot. I don’t think I even congratulated you on that.”

“No, you didn’t, Dean. But don’t worry. I really don’t mind.”

“Yes, but I’m sure you worked hard for that degree and you deserve a congratulation. So…” He extended his arms and wrapped them around her. “Congratulations, (Y/N), I’m proud of you.” His warm arms enveloped her, making her feel safer than she has ever before in this house. His musky scent and body spray was only a plus side to it. As much as she didn’t want to let go of him, she had to to spare the awkwardness that could follow if they held each other a little longer than normal.

They let go of each other, Dean scratching the back of his head in nervousness. “Should we head out and grab the food?” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder towards the door. (Y/N) nodded, grabbing her wallet and heading out the door with Dean after saying her goodbyes and good lucks to Sam.

Once in the car, the tension from the hug died down a little. “You’re going to have to give me directions. I have no idea where I’m going.” Dean chuckled, buckling his seat belt and starting ‘Baby’. “Yeah, yeah, I know. This town is actually pretty easy to navigate, so you’re in luck, Mr. Winchester.” She laughed as they took off down the street. They were silent for a couple minutes, only directions leaving her mouth as they drove.

Dean cleared his throat before speaking, alerting (Y/N) to listen. “You know, you haven’t changed a bit for it being six years.” (Y/N)’s eyes widened at his sudden statement. “I haven’t? Are you sure? I thought I did quite a bit, but I guess I didn’t.” She laughed, looking at the man who had his eyes on the road. “It’s good, though, brings back memories. Being with you.” After realizing what he was saying, he quickly corrected himself, “Well, seeing you again…”

“You haven’t changed, yourself. You’re still the stubborn little boy that I grew up with. A dick at times, too.”

“How am I a dick?” He glanced at her, surprised to see her looking at him. “You’re argumentative, everything has to go your way, you treat everyone younger than you like children-“

“Okay, okay! I get it! I’m a dick, but you’re not perfect either.”

“How?! At least I’m not a dick, Dean.” She laughed and rolled her eyes, turning her attention to the road in front of them. “You act like a kid. I guess you’re a little bit like me because everything has to go your way, too.”

“How could I not be like you, I grew up with you for Christ’s sake.” She smiled, “Remember that time you climbed up the tallest pile of cars even though my dad told you not to and you fell when you were climbing down and you broke your foot?” Dean scoffed, “How could I not? It hurt like a bitch. It was also the day I let Bobby hear me curse for the first time and, boy, did he get an ear full. Remember that time me, you, and Sam were walking on the frozen creek behind Bobby’s house and you fell through the ice and I had to jump in and save you?”

“Are we just listing of times we had traumatic injuries?” She laughed, looking at the scar on her hand from cutting it on the ice. “You got hurt falling through the ice?” Dean turned to her for a second, furrowing his eyebrows. “Yeah, I cut my hand. How could you not remember that? You got my blood all over your clothes because you insisted on carrying me back to the house. Dad asked if you killed something and grabbed his shot gun!”

“Oh yeah! I think I was going through my superman phase then.” As he spoke, a particular memory crossed his mind, something that’s been rooted in since she left, not saying a word to anybody. It was one of his favorite memories with her and one of the only ones where they didn’t fight. “Remember…” He paused for a second, trying to decide if he should bring it up or not. “Remember the night before you moved? When me and my dad were visiting Bobby for something. When we got in the house, you and Bobby were fighting or something and you stormed out.”

“I do…” She sighed, remembering when she broke the news to her father about her leaving to go to college. At first, he wasn’t okay with it, but after a while, he finally understood that she wanted to do something different with her life. “You just barged out of the house and went to the yard…I was worried about you, you know.” She looked up at the man beside her, “I know, Dean. I know you did.”

Before they knew it, they were parked outside of the pub and exiting the Impala. They exchanged a few glances as they walked inside. “(Y/N)!” A familiar voice called out to her. (Y/N) completely forgot that (Y/B/F/N) was taking up shifts at the pub to get extra cash. (Y/B/F/N) turned to Dean, examining the man up and down. “Who’s this, (Y/N)? He’s a cute one.” She smirked, making (Y/N) feel a little awkward. ‘Oh she probably thinks I’m dating him.’ She thought to herself and quickly corrected her friend. “(Y/B/F/N), you remember me telling you about the boys I grew up with, right? Well, this is Dean.” She smiled, showing off her arm candy to (Y/B/F/N).

“Oh my gosh, really?! I’ve heard so much about you, Dean! It is so nice to finally meet you. I’m (Y/B/F/N).” She held out her hand to shake his. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” The three gave each other awkward smiles before (Y/B/F/N) pointed behind her, “Well, I better get back to work. Behave you two!” She turned around and went immediately to a table to take their orders. “She’s nice.” Dean turned to (Y/N), earning an eyeroll from her. “Yeah, she just acts like that when she meets guys. Around girls, she can be a damn lion.”

“I don’t want to think about the reason for that.” They continued to the counter and Dean paid for the order, receiving it in a big plastic bag and leaving the pub. The ride home was quiet only because Dean couldn’t help but eat his entire burger.

“Finally, you’re back. I found an old news article that you might want to read, (Y/N).” Sam looked up from his laptop and grabbed the styrofoam box that held his salad inside. “Hit me with it.” (Y/N) sat in her usual chair, waiting to listen to whatever Sam had to say.

“Okay, so during the nineties, a couple that used to go to the college lived here… until there was a murder- suicide. The man, Peter Allen, killed his girlfriend, Ginnette Collins, May 27, 1998. After he strangled her in their bed, he hung himself in the closet.”

“That’s… that’s fucking creepy. Why don’t realtors tell you this shit before you move in?!” (Y/N) folded her arms, letting her food rest on her thighs. “But can spirits take form as people who are alive?” She looked to the boys who exchanged glances. “Yeah… I think they can, at least. Maybe really powerful spirits?” Dean sighed.

“I guess burn the bones?” (Y/N) suggested the obvious, both the brothers nodding. “I’ll do it.” Sam suggested, “Dean, you stay here with (Y/N), in case it shows up.” He stood up as Dean tossed him the keys to the Impala. “Be careful, you two.”

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