#where are people supposed to live in this town when everyone out of state keeps hoarding every house in this small area

[blacknpurplewarpster]

Today is an utter shit show and he wants it to be over with.

#// the whole apartment mudslide shit show is tiring #I’m tired of people blaming the conplex for the slide it’s not. It started way above on private property #where are people supposed to live in this town when everyone out of state keeps hoarding every house in this small area #reprod the damn mountain is the first thing #several buildings including mine are being looked at because they all likely moved #we have to be out of our places and our cars can’t be there while they’re working #and people keep coming up to our complex for photos like it’s some giant disaster #please leave us residents alone as we go through this #it’s a mudslide it’s not a huge disaster but some are def going to be displaced for a while #I’m very exhausted dealing with this #but there’s more flash storms on the way so 🤦‍♀️ #Some locals in the area need to fuck off with their words it’s not easy to get a home or rent one in this town #there’s only two complexes for apartments in the area so where else are we supposed to live? An hour away? Tahoe? Reno? The damn deserted #desert in the sand? Fuck y’all seriously #it’s the areas fault for 1. Not reprodding the hills and mountains 2. Selling property to people who build all the way up the mountain #who don’t take care of their land at all #3. Follow the rules set in place for not going to critical areas after bad winters and storms and stir up the loose dirt #I’m not sorry for the rant but this is ongoing since Saturdays event and will continue all week #Now I’m dealing with the after effects of this at work like give me a break these people need to stfu

[mikavlcs]

Heaven in Hiding

Pairing: Wednesday Addams x fem!werewolf!reader

Summary: There’s a savage, uncontrollable beast inside of you. Just when you lose hope of ever taming it, someone unexpectedly offers to help you.

Warnings: violence, referenced suicidal thoughts/ideation, suicide attempt, this is just kinda heavy in general

Word count: 2.9k

Notes: this was a long, rather detailed request from an anon. i debated whether or not to write this but i decided i wanted to take a stab at something darker than usual. i hope i was able to do it at least some justice...

Masterlist

You were not normal.

And no, not just because you were a werewolf. Even by outcast standards, you weren’t normal.

No one knew it at first, not even you. The first fourteen years of your life were bliss. You lived with your pack, in a small rural town. Those days were idyllic—when you could only daydream about shifting.

You had first heard how it was supposed to be from your parents. Then, you heard countless other werewolves tell you how freeing it was to finally transform, how their wolf was an extension of themselves, how incredible it was for you to just be at one with yourself in that state.

It made you so excited to transform and experience the tales firsthand. You wanted nothing more than for your wolf to awaken and take control.

And eventually, it did. Your first shift happened during the first snowfall of the year.

But it was nothing like the stories.

Instead of being free, you were shoved into a cage in the far recesses of your mind and when you finally escaped, you were surrounded by the ravaged remains of your pack. It took a few minutes of staring at the crimson-stained snow for the horrifying realization to dawn on you.

Everyone that you knew and loved was dead. Because of you.

That was when you found out about the darkness within you. That night you found out that your lycanthropy was not a gift, but a curse.

The blood that stained your hands that night never washed off.

Regardless, you moved forward and eventually found your way to Nevermore.

Nevermore was a godsend. A place where there were other outcasts, proudly displaying their differences. It was a paradise in your eyes. However, you knew you could never truly be one of them. You would never be proud of the animal inside of you.

You dreaded full moons.

Thankfully, Principal Weems took your condition seriously and was committed to keeping both you and the rest of Nevermore safe. She had a special silver cage made for you, kept beneath the school so you were nowhere near any other living things when you transformed.

But even during the day, you could feel it within you. You could feel it crawling just beneath the skin, lingering, festering. Awaiting the next time that it would be set free.

You hoped that you would be able to keep your secret hidden, that just maybe you’d be able to find a home here. But you’d never been particularly lucky.

Soon enough, everyone knew that there was something wrong with you. You weren’t sure how; you knew that Principal Weems would never divulge your private information. 

Maybe it was because you never shifted with the other werewolves during full moons or there were students with telepathic powers you weren’t privy to—you didn’t know, but the whole school knew something was off.

Whispers followed you wherever you went, people moved away from you in the halls, no one dared come near your table in class or at lunch.

You were a freak amongst freaks, an outcast among outcasts. It was almost funny.

That wasn’t to say that everyone was cruel. One of your fellow werewolves, Enid, was always kind to you. The two of you had something in common—being outliers among your own people. She couldn’t shift and you couldn’t control your shifts. It wasn’t the same, but you were both pariahs and you both simply took comfort in the fact that neither of you was alone.

But then Crackstone happened, and Enid transformed for the first time. You were absolutely ecstatic for her, but things definitely changed after that.

Enid never stopped being sweet to you, she never stopped being your best friend. But you saw the way the other werewolves now treated her as one of their own, caught the looks they gave her when they saw her hanging around you.

She never paid them any mind. In fact, there were times you heard her actively telling them off for the way they treated you, which warmed you but did little to ease the melancholy you felt most days. Because it didn’t really change anything.

Nothing would change the fact that she was now accepted by the pack, and you still weren’t.

You didn’t let Enid know about your feelings. You still frequently hung out with her, talked with her, assured her you were fine—but you weren’t. Because for the first time since your enrollment, you were alone in a place that was supposed to be a refuge for people like you.

It was isolating.

Even then, you kept moving forward, finding a modicum of solace in the most unlikely of places, or more accurately, people—Wednesday Addams.

Before you recognized her as a hero, you just vaguely knew her as Enid’s aloof roommate. Enid would tell you about all the weird things she did in their dorm between classes. Sometimes, you would even see her walking around campus from your dorm window late at night. And that was it.

You don’t exactly know what happened, it just seemed like she suddenly noticed your presence at the school. She began sitting next to you in class and joining your lunch table. She rarely ever spoke to you—most days all you’d get was a few glances and a nod—but you appreciated it immensely either way.

She was a great contrast to Enid’s louder, more hyper disposition and her cold presence became a crutch of sorts on bad days.

For a time, that was enough. But then the nightmares started.

Nightmares were nothing new to you. After your pack was massacred, you were plagued by them nearly every night. Never about the massacre itself since you could never remember it, but you’ve relived the moments when you woke up more than you ever wished to.

They slowly died down over the years. But now, they were back with a vengeance.

Except this time, it wasn’t just that night when you woke to the corpses of your loved ones, now you were seeing the bloodbath firsthand, through your own eyes as if it was your own clawed hands that tore through their flesh.

(Though, it was your hands, wasn’t it?)

Then, over time, your pack was replaced by Nevermore students. People you passed in the halls every day lay bloody and mutilated, their blood staining the snow every night in your dreams. Soon enough, Enid and Wednesday were there too, the anguish and betrayal on their faces leaving you shaken when you gasped awake every morning.

It had to be your wolf that was doing this. You weren’t sure how, but you knew the beast was responsible. It was showing you what would happen when you finally broke and your wolf took full control. Against your will, a permanent pit of dread formed in your stomach.

How could you fight back against a creature that was tormenting you from the dark recesses of your own mind?

You tried your best to continue weathering the storm, but your best was no longer enough.

The dreams got so bad that you could no longer sleep, afraid to see what your beast had in store for you if you took the risk of closing your eyes. Eating was also becoming more difficult. Every time you ate meat of any kind, images of your mangled classmates flashed, and suddenly all of the food you managed to eat was forcing itself back up.

Enid began to notice that something was going on. You just told her you were sick, that you would be better in a few days.

But you weren’t getting better. If anything, you were getting worse. Not being able to sleep or eat was beginning to take its toll on your physical and mental health. And it felt like the weaker you got, the stronger your wolf became. It was becoming apparent enough that Enid was constantly asking you if you were ok and trying to feed you her food at mealtimes.

Even Wednesday, in her own way, was checking in on you frequently. You noticed that she became the tiniest bit more talkative at lunch and felt the way her eyes would linger on you throughout the day.

You wanted nothing more than to ease their minds, but how could you when you were just as worried as they were? You had tried everything, exhausted every option available to you over the years and nothing helped. Now, it seemed as if your wolf was finally going to defeat you.

It had bided its time, gathered its strength and now it was trying to make its escape. You couldn’t let that happen. But really, how could you stop it?

Part of you wanted to go to Principal Weems to seek her guidance on the situation, but you didn’t. Because deep down you knew the true answer, the real solution to your problem. Admittedly, you had thought about it before, but now it was the only foreseeable option.

The only way to keep everyone at Nevermore safe was to remove yourself from the equation. Definitively.

And you knew exactly where you wanted it to be.

There was a clearing deep in the woods, the trees gave way to a steep cliff with a beautiful view of the rivers and mountains surrounding Jericho. You passed it when first making your way to Nevermore and you always returned when you needed to clear your mind. It became your escape.

And now it would be your grave.

-

The air surrounding you was peaceful.

The forest was quiet today, even the usual sounds of chirping birds and scampering squirrels were absent, leaving a serene, almost eerie silence to encompass the vast space. The sun shone down on you gently, combatting the light breeze that chilled your skin.

You made sure to pick a day with good weather. You wanted your last memory to be the beauty of your final resting place.

And beautiful, it certainly was. Lush green trees surrounding tall mountains that jutted out in the distance created a sight that never grew old to you. The thin layer of snow on the mountain tops you’d seen on your last visit had melted, you noted.

For a moment, you took it all in, committed it to memory. Then you closed your eyes. You thought of your family, your pack, Enid, Wednesday—everyone you cared about. You picked out the happiest memories with each of them and brought them to the surface, wanting one last moment with each of them before you went. Even if it was only in your head.

Carefully, you took one small step forward, letting your foot dangle over the edge. The weightlessness felt freeing. You were about to take another when a sound reached your ears. You froze, ears perking up to identify the noise. Recognition sparked.

Footsteps. So faint that they were nearly undetectable, even with your heightened senses. You brought your foot back to solid ground. You didn’t have to turn to know who it was.

“Did you follow me here, Wednesday?”

The girl in question seemed unfazed by your straightforwardness. Responding instantly, apathetic as ever.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You come out here a lot. It seems you’ve been planning this for a while,” she said, ignoring your question completely. You cracked an eye open. The knowledge that she had been following you without you knowing was slightly concerning but you didn’t particularly care right now. Again, you cut straight to the point.

“Did you come out here to watch me die?”

Wednesday said nothing for a moment.

“As much as witnessing a gruesome death would brighten my day, I would prefer it not be yours.”

That caught you by surprise. The two of you certainly weren’t strangers at this point, but you weren’t exactly friends either. This was probably the longest conversation you’d ever had with her. You turned slightly, your gaze finally meeting hers.

“Why not?”

“Enid would be upset,” she deadpanned, expression blank but there was something foreign swimming in her eyes.

“Well, I would rather her be upset than dead by my hand,” you ground out, voice shaking near the end. Your wolf liked to taunt you with visions of Enid’s death specifically. It was always torturously brutal.

Wednesday’s face scrunched ever so slightly, confusion creeping into her voice. “Enid is your best friend. Why would you hurt her?”

You took a deep breath, not quite ready to divulge your worst secret. But this was most likely going to be your final conversation anyway, so why not just let it all out?

“There is a bloodthirsty monster inside of me that comes out and devours everything in its path every full moon.”

She responded immediately.

“I fail to see why that’s a bad thing.”

You chuckled, soft and mirthless. “Wednesday, when you found out that you may be responsible for the destruction of our school last semester, you did everything in your power to stop it from happening. Your act doesn’t fool me. As much as you like to pretend otherwise if you were in my position, you’d likely be doing the same thing.”

Wednesday stayed silent, jaw tensing ever so slightly as her eyes bored into you. Finally, she released a small sigh and briefly glanced away.

“I suppose you’re right. I would do whatever it took to prevent harm from coming to the few people I…care about, and I can respect you for trying to do the same,” her eyes darted back to yours, a little softer than before. “But I still think it’s a waste for you to simply end it here, especially since you haven’t even explored all of your options.”

Your brows furrowed. “And what options have I not considered?”

“Me.”

A laugh escaped you before you could stop it.

“You?”

You really didn’t mean to sound as mean as you did, but you just couldn’t even picture it. Her going up against your wolf? And winning? You knew Wednesday was more than capable of handling herself—last semester being a perfect demonstration of that—but this was too much.

Wednesday, thankfully, took no outward offense to your incredulity. She remained impassive as she took a small step forward.

“Yes. Me.”

When you saw that she was being completely serious, you shook your head. “No.”

“No?” she repeated, brows lowering. You took a step away from her and you didn’t miss the way her eyes dropped to your feet.

“Wednesday, no offense, but this isn’t like Crackstone or even Tyler. When I transform, there is nothing left of me in there. My consciousness is trapped, I have absolutely no control. If it tries to hurt you, I cannot stop it.”

“I’m aware.”

Her emotionlessness was endearing most of the time, but it was grating on you now. You needed her to understand—to really get it.

“Wednesday, I’m being serious-“

“As am I,” she stepped forward, eyes ablaze with something you’d never seen before, “I fully grasp the gravity of the situation. I know what you’re saying is true, you wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t. And you are correct, this is different from Crackstone and Tyler—it will likely be more difficult than both of them. I’m aware of all of this.”

“Then why…?” You trailed off but you didn’t need to finish. You knew she understood the unspoken part of your question.

Then why are you here?

Wednesday shifted in her spot, swallowing softly as her eyes fluttered. The sight was an odd one. Especially to you, who only knew the competent and composed version of the smaller girl. You wanted to ask if she was all right, but she spoke up before you could.

“Because Enid would be upset, and so would…others if you were to die,” she stated, her cadence slower than usual. “I would rather not have to deal with the grief that would come from this decision of yours, so I’ve decided to assist you.”

She went quiet again, refusing to meet your eyes for a moment. Then, she straightened, her stoic demeanor returning just a bit.

“Now, I have some ideas I would like to discuss with you. Away from here,” her eyes briefly swept over the cliff face before returning to you. She outstretched a hand to you slowly, expectantly. “Are you coming?”

You said nothing. If you were being honest, you weren’t sure what to say. Instead, you observed her. You examined her behavior—the way her eyes flitted back and forth between yours, the way she subtly fidgeted as moments passed, the nearly imperceptible shaking of her hand.

Suddenly, you had a suspicion that those “others” she mentioned were really just one person.

You didn’t know if there was any way to truly fix you, but you couldn’t deny that the idea of more time with Enid and the chance to really get to know the girl in front of you was incredibly tempting.

A moment passed. Then another. Wednesday shifted again. You made your decision.

You took her hand.

Her shoulders relaxed slightly when your hand found hers and she wasted no time tugging you off into the forest.

You noted the way she didn’t drop your hand even after you were a long way away from the cliff. But you didn’t dare point it out. You were more than content to just let her lead you along. 

Her hand was warmer than you thought it would be.

Time blurred, and you weren’t sure how long you let her guide you. You couldn’t say that you cared very much either. You were focused mostly on the feeling of her hand in yours. But eventually, the trees began to thin, and you saw a familiar town across the way. She had led you into Jericho, you realized.

When the Weathervane came into view, she finally broke the previously undisturbed silence, voice firm and resolute.

“I will find a way to tame your beast, no matter what it takes.”

Her hand squeezed yours gently, and even if you weren’t sure it was possible, you couldn’t help but believe her.

#idk about this one #wednesday addams #wednesday addams x reader #wednesday addams x female reader #wednesday addams x you #wednesday addams imagine #jenna ortega #wednesday

[ecoamerica]

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[therealcocoshady]

Recovery - Chapter 8

Eminem x FemReader (Y/N) fanfiction

Summary : Y/N reconnects with an old friend and her sobriety is seriously challenged.

Tags : Angst, Comfort, Fluff

CW : Bullying, Alcohol, Drugs, Mentions of nudity

TWO WEEKS LATER

To say you had a bad week would be an understatement. It was a terrible one : everything that could go wrong basically did, except for the moments you spent at the studio. 

As it often happened, you missed Simon terribly. You were feeling touch-starved, and you just missed being in a relationship. Granted, you had amazing friends, but it just wasn’t the same. Work wasn’t a piece of cake either. You’d had to attend several faculty events and, as was often the case in academia, almost everyone over-indulged on alcohol. You found yourself missing the days where you could party and dance the night away. You had never been much of a party-girl, but now that you were sober, you missed it sorely. You were supposed to work on your doctoral dissertation but found no motivation to work at all. 

Only three things were able to get you out of your bad mood : the few hours a week you spent at the studio, dinner time every evening with Talia and Jamal, as well as the perspective of seeing an old friend who was coming back to Detroit. 

Two weeks prior, after Marshall brought you back from the studio, you had received a text from an old friend named Cassie. She was the first person you befriended at Michigan State University, four years ago, when you were an exchange student. Your friendship was the living embodiment of “opposites attract”, as she was everything you weren’t : funny, easy-going, sociable, the life of the party. It was also a good partnership : you helped her study and she helped you socialise. She was the one who took you to some parties and showed you cool places in the city. In a way, she was a good influence : she pushed you out of your comfort zone. Whenever you were with her, you found yourself to be more bold. Unfortunately, you hadn’t seen her in a while, as she moved to another state to follow her then-fiancé, now ex-husband. Cassie had texted you to tell you she was coming back to town and that she’d love to see you. Generous as ever, she offered for you to spend a couple of days in her suite at a fancy hotel, promising you a good time and some spa. You were extremely happy to see her again. When she left, you had tried to keep in touch, but she seemed extremely busy. Now though, she was considering coming back to Michigan after a divorce and was actually in town for a job interview. 

Her offer for you to spend a couple of days with her was also a nice way to give Talia and Jamal some space. They would never admit it, but you figured they would appreciate spending some time at the house, just the two of them. There was only one drawback : Talia seemed a bit wary of Cassie. You knew she never liked her, but being the classy lady she was, she refused to drag you into their drama. She simply told you to enjoy yourself. 

On Friday night, you joined Cassie at her hotel, after she was done with her job interview. She seemed ecstatic to see you. 

Ma chériiiiiie, she shrieked as she took you in her arms. It has been so long ! 

I’m so happy to see you, you said sincerely. 

I have planned the most amazing weekend for the two of us, she said giddily. 

Really ? What do you have in mind ? 

First, we’re going to have a nice five stars dinner brought up to our room, and tomorrow, I’m taking you to the Spa, shopping and then, I was thinking we could go to a party together, she explained. 

That is a lot, Cassie…, you said. 

My treat, she assured you. Let my divorce settlement money be useful ! 

I can’t accept that. 

Of course you can ! You’ve done so much for me, baby, it’s time I paid you back a little ! Some people I know are throwing a party and you’re going to love it. 

You hummed. Cassie was a ball of energy, as always. You half expected her to be depressed because of her short marriage that just ended, but she was beaming with happiness. At dinner, she explained that she caught her husband cheating with a colleague. She got a lot of money from the divorce and was ready to move on. She had always been like this : always seeing the positive side of things. During the conversation, the talk shifted to your breakup with Simon, although you didn’t go into much detail as to why the relationship ended. Cassie was your friend but you didn’t want to either bore or worry her by talking about your struggle with pills. If you were being honest, you also didn’t want her to think poorly of you. As amazing as she was, you knew she could be a little judgy, at times. 

It’s a shame that you guys broke up, but maybe it’s better this way, she said. You can do better anyway. 

Do you really think so ? you asked as you bit your lip. 

Of course. I mean, he was great and everything, but I don’t know… You could probably do with someone a little more fun. He was always so serious, she said. 

I don’t know… I liked that about him, you said with a sigh. 

Of course you did, she continued. But I’m sure we can find you someone better. The party I’m taking you to tomorrow will be the perfect place for you to find a man. 

I don’t need to find a man, you scoffed. 

Of course you do, she giggled. It’s been months since the breakup. And knowing the good girl you are, you probably haven’t got any action since. You don’t want spider webs to grow in your vagina, now, do you ? 

You almost choked on your water. God, she could be so straightforward when it came to sex. Or any other topic, for that matter. Once again, she was the complete opposite of you. Anyway, you didn’t bother responding to her comment about the good girl you were. And you were absolutely not going to mention your movie night with Marshall. Thankfully, the conversation shifted once again to another topic. After all, the two of you had a lot of catching up to do. 

You barely got any sleep that night. Not that you weren’t tired from your week - you were actually exhausted - but you spent the whole time talking to Cassie and catching up on her life. This girl had a talent for making life seem exciting and glamorous. She always had things going on, always being the one with the most amazing stories to tell. You felt a little dull, next to her. 

The next day, you started by having a fancy breakfast in bed before she dragged you to do some shopping. The department store is where you noticed she was seriously intent on spending money. She kept on grabbing items, not even bothering to look at the price. Meanwhile, you failed to find anything. You either didn’t like it or it was out of your price range. Eventually, she decided to take matters into her own hands and initiated a makeover session with the pretext that you needed to look fancy for whatever party she wanted to take you to. Of course, it was Cassie, so you weren’t exactly surprised when she told you it would be extra. She insisted that you try on a Sandro black dress, even though you weren’t convinced. It was on the shorter side, with sequins and definitely showed a lot of skin. Not to mention that it was extremely expensive. You liked shopping and dressing up as much as the next girly girl, but you didn’t come from money, so spending $300 on a dress wasn’t something you considered. However, to her, it seemed like it was no big deal. She didn’t even blink when the sales assistant told her about the price. “We’ll take it”, she simply said, before asking for bags and shoes to match the dress. Once again, she spared no expenses. The shoes she selected for you to wear were from Jimmy Choo, costing almost $800, with a matching clutch that was just as expensive. She even went the extra mile and selected a pair of gorgeous diamond earrings to complete the outfit. She was extremely happy with the outfit. So much so that you didn’t really dare tell her that you felt ridiculous in these clothes. It was the least “you” outfit ever. “If Talia could see me, she would laugh in my face”, you thought. But at the same time, Cassie was so generous and confident that you wanted to give it a try. After all, maybe you needed to get out of your comfort zone. After the shopping spree, you went to get pampered at the hotel spa. You both got your hair done, as well as beauty treatments for the face and body. You had to admit it felt good. Plus, she seemed to enjoy giving you the princess treatment. To be fair, you also enjoyed getting it. It wasn’t every day that you could get a massage, a facial and a new hairdo. 

The both of you went back to the room to get ready for the party. You didn’t know much about it, other than the fact that Cassie was extremely excited to go. It was supposed to be held in an exclusive location, with “only the best people, food, music and drinks”. When you stepped out of the bathroom, she clapped and shrieked in excitement. 

You have never looked so sexy, Y/N !!! If I had your ass and your breast, I’d dress like that everyday ! 

You were glad she liked it, although you thought you resembled a Bratz Doll. You hardly ever wore makeup anymore, but there you were, with eyelash extensions, foundation, bold lipstick and, hell, even highlighter on your cheeks. Not to mention the outfit. “The dress is too tight, too short, and the heels are definitely too high”, you thought. 

Are we sure about the heels, Cass ? You asked nervously. I might break an ankle, here… 

You’ll be fine, she said. Plus, God knows I’m not one to criticize, but… You’re way too short to wear anything lower anyway. 

And there was the thing you liked the least about Cass : the way she would sometimes ignore your insecurities and dismiss them. Back when you were in school together, you couldn’t count the times when she would comment on your acne scars, your hair or even your weight. But she was your friend and you knew she meant well. It was her own way to care for you. She had your best interests at heart and she wanted you to be nothing but the best version of yourself. Besides, you knew that she was just as hard on herself. She was constantly under her own pressure to look good, do good and be with good people. But that was what made her thrive, so you figured that, maybe she was right. 

You look stunning and those basketball and NFL players are going to get in line to get your number, she said as she placed a strand of hair behind your ear. 

You look amazing too, you said with a shy smile. 

I know, she giggled. 

But wait… You mentioned… sports players ? Who exactly is going to be there ? Do you know them ? 

You’re getting in your head, baby, she chuckled. I know a few people. As for the others, it’s just a few friends we haven’t made yet. Anyway, I have something for you. 

She grabbed her handbag and took out a vial. 

I know how nervous you can get in social settings. This will help you relax. We are going to have the best night ever, she said with a wink. All you have to do is inhale this. 

She placed the vial in your hand and you looked at her, intrigued. 

What’s that ? You asked. Essential oils ? 

Almost, she hummed. Just trust me, ok ? 

Do you promise it’s nothing weird ? You asked as you bit your lip. 

I would never give you anything dangerous, she said as she rubbed your shoulder. You trust me, right ? 

You nodded with a smile. Of course you trusted her. 

Now, let’s have a glass of champagne, just the two of us before leaving, ok ? We didn't even toast to our reunion last night !!! 

I shouldn’t drink, you said as you avoided her gaze. I’ll have water but go ahead. 

Don’t be a boring, Y/N, she giggled. God, you can be such a dud sometimes. One glass, it won’t kill you. I’m going out of my way for you to have a great time, here. 

You felt your heart strain. You didn’t want to be ungrateful. After all, she was more than generous to you and she did go out of her way for you to have a memorable weekend. You didn’t want her to think you were a dud. Besides… One glass of champagne was ok, right ? It wasn’t as if she was handing you some pills or offering for you to snort cocaine in her hotel room. Plus, it was Cassie, of all people. You took a deep breath and sighed. 

Right. I’m sorry. Champagne sounds lovely, you said. 

She smiled and ordered champagne from room service. When it came, it wasn’t just two glasses : it was a whole bottle. Cassie laughed it off. You had your first sip of alcohol in months. You were never a huge drinker, but you had to admit you sort of missed it. You made small talk as you sipped on your glass and she told you that one of her motives to go to the party was to see a guy she had a small crush on. Some Pistons player, apparently. This made you smile. Cassie had always been quite the seductress, even though she got engaged and married quite young. She was the flirty type, even with you. This was part of her persona, and people were here for it. She was the very definition of irresistible. The girl you befriended, that you knew you could never be. You knew there was nothing wrong with you and, most of the time, you were ok with who you were. As years went by, you had come to appreciate being the rather shy, sometimes dorky girl next door who could be seen as quite cute when she made an effort. You would never be an ethereal beauty like Cassie and you were fine with it. Before you knew it, you were on your third glass of champagne. 

We’d better go, you said with a giggle. I’m on my third glass already. 

You’re right, we’ll have plenty of bubbles to drink when we get to the party anyway, she said. 

Not quite what I meant, Cass… 

Just enjoy the evening, baby ! Now, time for you to use that vial. Just put it close to your nostril and sniff, ok ? she directed. 

You nodded and did as she said. After you were done, she did the same. Less than a minute later, you were filled with a sensation of euphoria and relaxation. 

I don’t know what it is, but this is the shit ! You giggled. 

I know right ? If you feel anxious, just do that again. I promise, you will have a great time ! 

A car took you to the party. It was definitely a fancy event. You didn’t know anyone, but Cassie did, and she introduced you to some people. You ended up discreetly sniffing the magic vial a couple of times, taking some time to relax. Before you knew it, you were standing alone as your friend was in deep conversation with a handsome gentleman who, you guessed, was her crush. 

I can’t believe such a beautiful woman is standing here without a drink, a man said as he placed a glass of champagne in your hand. 

Thank you, you giggled. 

The stranger was quite handsome. He was tall, blonde, with gorgeous hazel eyes. He was dressed in a tux and arbored a charming smile. At that point, you were just a little tipsy and definitely relaxed. You greeted him with a smile and thanked him for the drink. 

May I say you look absolutely stunning, he complimented you. That’s quite an outfit.

Thank you, you said with a smile. You don’t look too bad either. 

I don’t believe we’ve been introduced, yet. I am Jared. 

Nice to meet you, Jared. I’m Y/N, you said as you extended your hand. 

You expected him to shake it but he took you by surprise by kissing it, which made you all giddy. You made small talk and he told you he actually played for the Detroit Lions, taking no offense when you confessed that you had no idea who he was, and that you didn’t watch a lot of football. 

So, what brings you to this fundraiser for the Detroit Sports Teams ? he asked. 

Oh, is that what the event is ? you chuckled. I had no idea. Actually, my friend Cassie brought me here. I was promised champagne and a great time. 

I’ll be honest with you, this fundraiser is mostly an excuse for people to drink and dance, he said as he winked. 

You chortled and kept on talking to him. He was easy-going and very sociable. You could tell he was flirting with you and you liked it. It was very flattering to have such a handsome man take an interest in you. You also began to feel more confident in the outfit Cassie had chosen for you. Some people joined the conversation. Apparently, they also played for the football team. All of these men were good-looking and you found yourself considering getting a season ticket for the games. You would have been more interested in sports if you’d known how great the players looked. Eventually, the conversation turned to sports and you took it as your cue to leave, figuring that if Jared wanted to talk some more, he’d find you in the crowd. You sniffed the vial again and found Cassie. People were starting to dance and she dragged you to the dance floor. Had you been completely sober, she wouldn’t have had a chance, but you were far from it now. Whatever potion she had you inhaling was working its wonders when it came to deprive you of your inhibitions. You were more confident in your moves than ever and you danced with her. The both of you were soon swarmed by an army of suitors and you gladly obliged them when they offered to dance. You were having a great time and it was the magic of Cassie : she managed to turn you into a lovable, sociable creature. Hell, you even gave your number to Jared who had found you on the dancefloor and begged for a dance. He promised to call but, unfortunately, he had to leave. You were having yet another drink and talked to Cassie when her face suddenly changed. 

Holy shit. How do I look ?! she asked. 

You look gorgeous, as always, you giggled. Why ? Is your crush here ? 

Better, she grinned. Look, it’s Eminem !!! 

You turned your head in a dramatic move and saw Marshall talking to a couple of people. He was wearing black jeans, sneakers, a black tee-shirt and the Saint Laurent jacket you liked so much. Far from the tuxedos some men were wearing, but definitely an improvement compared to some of his daily outfits and usual sweatpants. As always, you thought he looked amazing. You were shocked, though. He was the last person you expected to see here. 

He is even hotter in person, she squealed. I have to introduce myself. Come with me, she said as she dragged you across the room. 

Your heart was pounding but you didn’t have time to protest. He saw you arrive, hand in hand with Cassie and his eyes seemed to widen, not that you could be so sure because, at this point, you were drunk. But thankfully, you were also too relaxed to care, thanks to the stuff you had kept on inhaling. 

Hey, Y/N, he said as he gave you a quick hug, looking suspicious. 

Hey handsome, Cassie said seductively. I didn’t realize you knew our beautiful friend here. I’m Cassie. 

Hi Cassie, he said as he politely shook the hand she extended. Yeah, I know Y/N. 

“Or at least, I think I do.”, he added in a lower voice, still staring at you. You smiled at him but his comment left you puzzled. Of course he knew you. You were friends. Why would he say that ? You looked at him as Cassie talked to him, complimenting his music and telling him how insanely talented she thought he was, though you couldn’t remember her listening to hip-hop. Ever. 

Now that I know that you know Y/N, we simply have to hang out. Don’t we, ma chérie ? she said. 

Of course, you said shyly - somewhat uncomfortable that your friend was flirting with your Marshall.

Sure, he said with a blank face. 

I have to go to the bathroom, she said. Y/N, hold my glass, will you ? 

She quickly disappeared and you were left alone with him. You smiled shyly. 

I didn’t know you’d be here, you said in an attempt to make small talk. 

I didn’t know you would be here, he replied. What are you doing here ? 

Same as you, I guess, you giggled. 

I’m here for work, he clarified. 

Oh well, I’m not, you shrugged with a smile. Cassie took me here. By the way… She thinks you’re hot. 

You weren't too sure why you were telling him that. Probably because you did not have much inhibitions anymore. You couldn’t help but chortle at the absurdity of the situation. 

Good for her. Now… Care to explain why you’re clearly drunk and dressed like a ho !? He groaned. 

You opened your mouth to reply but found yourself unable to say anything. Did he just insult you ?! You were about to retort something when Cassie returned from the bathroom. 

Now, Marshall, she said as she took her glass from your hand without even glancing at you, I happen to be free for a dance. 

Yeah, he said. I…

He was cut by someone who came to him before he could even continue. You were still a bit stunned. Cassie, however, shrugged off and took you to the dance floor. 

You’ll have to get him to call me, she giggled as she resumed dancing. 

Y-Yeah, you said, still a bit stunned. 

Dance with me, baby, she said as she took your glass and placed it on a table. 

She took your hand and you soon forgot about Marshall’s insult. You were rolling your hips to the beat of the music. A man placed a hand on your waist and danced with you. It was very sensual and you found yourself a bit giddy and turned on, not too sure why. Cassie was doing the same with another man. At that moment, your soul had left your body. Or maybe you just experienced being raw and free for the first time in forever ? It felt like you were on fire. Cassie gestured for you to come closer. 

You’re having a great time, she laughed. Look at you, all sexy ! 

I feel great, you giggled. I’m super horny, too. 

That’s the poppers, she chuckled. Wanna drive them crazy ? 

Poppers ? Is that what she gave you ? Before you knew it, she was kissing you. You were a bit taken aback but returned the kiss anyway. You liked women as much as men, for sure, but you had never thought of your friend like that. Yet, you found yourself kissing back, because you just felt like it. You were turned on, having a great time, and she was gorgeous, so why not make out with her ? You were laughing as you broke the kiss. Before you knew it, the guy you were dancing with was kissing you. You giggled as you danced with him some more. You had never felt more beautiful and desirable. Your thoughts were interrupted when someone in the crowd grabbed your wrist. Marshall. He didn’t look too happy. 

Come with me, he said firmly. 

Not a chance, you giggled. I’m dancing here. 

No shit, he groaned. Just come, Y/N. 

So that you can insult me again ? I hardly think so, Em, you said as you rolled your eyes. 

That’s not a fucking question, he groaned on your ear as he pulled you closer to him. 

Before you could protest, he was holding your hand, walking you out. Cassie followed you. 

Where are the two of you going ? She asked. 

I’m taking her home, Marshall said curtly. 

Oh… then why don’t you take us both home ? She offered with her seductive signature smile. 

You were stunned and you looked at the two of them. Was she offering… a threesome ?! Your eyes were wide open wide and you felt like a deer in headlights. 

She needs to sleep, Marshall said. 

I’m fine, you groaned as he shot you a death glare. 

Whatever, Cassie said. We can figure out who does what when we get to your place, she added with a wink. 

Oh, I have it all figured out, he assured her. I’m taking Y/N home. You can catch a ride to… wherever it is that you’re going. 

You were about to say something but the room was starting to spin and you almost lost your balance. The heels were definitely too high. 

Careful there, Marshall said as he placed a hand on your waist to secure you. Come on, I’ll take you home. 

Whatever, Cassie sighed. Call me tomorrow, chérie ? 

You nodded and walked out as Marshall was holding you firmly by the hand. The cold, fresh air made you shiver and he sighed before placing his jacket over your shoulders. 

I think someone’s following us, you slurred. 

Yeah, that’s my security, he groaned. Look down, now. 

What ? You asked, a bit lost. 

Fuck. Just look down, he repeated in an annoyed tone. 

You did, as you thought that maybe he was going to show you something, but you saw a flash from afar. Someone was snapping pictures as you got out of the event. Your head was still ducked as Marshall led you to a van that was waiting. He helped you get in before entering the car as well, followed by the two security guards. You felt insanely small, as they were huge and took a lot of space in the car. He told the driver to go to his place. 

You’re not taking me home ? You asked. 

I’m taking you where I can keep an eye on you, he grunted. 

That’s totally unnecessary, you said blurringly as you rolled your eyes. 

That wasn’t a question. 

You sighed and looked outside the window. You threw a glance at Marshall, who was fuming, his fist clenched into a ball. Your head was still turning and you didn’t feel too good. 

I need to get out of here, you mumbled. Can you stop the car ?! 

Will you just shut up for one fucking second ?! He snapped. 

I’m gonna puke. 

Shit. Stop the car now, Marshall said to the driver. 

Immediately, the vehicle piled and you hit your head on the window. One of the bodyguards opened the door and you ran outside before puking on the side of the road. Marshall followed you and stood next to you. You were doubled up as he held your hair. When you finally stopped puking, you looked at him with teary eyes. 

I’m sorry, you mumbled. 

He rolled his eyes and shook his head before leading you back to the car. 

Do you hate me ? You whispered. 

No, he groaned. We’ll talk about it when we get home, alright ? 

God, my head hurts, you croaked. 

He sighed and gently pulled you so that your head rested on his shoulder. 

There.

Thank you, you whispered. 

The rest of the drive was silent and you were almost asleep by the time the car dropped you at Marshall’s place. 

Can you walk ? He asked. 

You nodded and took a few steps but almost collapsed. These damn heels had you feeling like a baby giraffe taking its first steps. 

Come here, he sighed before carrying you bridal-style. 

As you walked through the door, he carried you upstairs to a bathroom. 

You need to shower, ok ? There’s a bit of barf on your dress… 

Ok, you muttered. Marshall, I-I’m sorry. 

You were on the verge of tears and your bottom lip was quivering. His look softened a bit. 

You can barely stand so I’ll help you with the shower and the undressing, is that alright with you ? 

You nodded. He made you sit on the floor before helping you undress. You grunted as he freed your feet from the shoes. He fumbled with the zipper of your dress, which was apparently stuck. 

Fuckin’ zipper, he muttered. I should cut this thing. 

Don’t, you whined. It’s new. 

He groaned as he finally managed to unzip you. You were finally naked on the cold floor of the bathroom. The dress didn’t allow you to wear any underwear. You noticed his surprise, but he didn’t comment. In any other circumstance, you would have felt embarrassed, but you were too drunk to care. You were actually thankful he was able to help you get out of these clothes, as you wouldn’t be able to undress on your own.

Alright, now let’s get you to the shower, he said softly. 

You nodded and tried to stand. Although it was easier without the heels, you weren’t too secure. He helped you stand and led you to the shower. 

I’m going to take my clothes off. It’ll be easier. Are you ok with that ? 

You nodded silently, not really daring to look at him. As minutes went by, you were feeling more and more ashamed of yourself. 

Hold still. Don’t fall, he directed before taking his clothes off, staying in his boxers. 

He went back to you and held you firmly so that you wouldn’t fall before turning on the shower. The water was flowing on your bodies. You tried your best not to fall but Marshall had to hold you with one hand while helping you wash with the other. 

Fuck it, he grunted as he turned off the water. I’ll just draw a bath, ok ? 

He drew a bath and helped you settle in the huge bathtub. 

Are you alright ? He asked gently, concern all over his face. 

You hummed and he started to wash your back. 

You’re not getting in ? You asked. 

Don’t worry about me, he said. Try not to drown, alright ?

I’m just saying, you might as well get in. You’re all wet already. 

He shrugged and finally joined you in the bathtub, settling right behind you so that you rested between his legs, while holding you tight so you wouldn't slip.

You know you could have taken your boxers off, right ? 

We’re not doing that, he sighed. 

Just saying… I know what your dick looks like, anyway. 

He scoffed softly and resumed helping you wash. It was actually easier now that you were in the bathtub. 

Marshall ? 

Mmmh ? 

Do you hate me ? You asked under your breath. 

Yes. I loathe you. That’s why I’m taking care of you right now, isn’t that obvious ? He asked sarcastically. Of course I don’t hate you, Y/N. Why do you even ask that ? 

You said I was a whore. 

I didn’t say that. I said you were dressed like a ho, he corrected. 

You turned your head to look at him. 

What ? You’re going to deny it ? He asked with an eyeroll. You weren’t even wearing a fucking thong. 

That’s mean, you said. You can’t wear underwear with that kind of dress. Otherwise, it shows. 

Oh so that’s what makes it not a ho-dress ? He mused as he lathered your arm with soap. My bad, sorry. You definitely looked like a nun, then. 

You rolled your eyes. 

Why were you even wearing this thing ? He asked. 

Cassie said it looked good, you shrugged. I mean, obviously, you disagree, but… 

Never said so, he said. 

You said I looked like a ho !  

Once again… no one said hoes can’t look good, he chuckled. I mean… you sort of have to, if you’re a ho, I guess ? Otherwise you’re not a very good one. 

You let out a drunken giggle. 

So you think I looked good ? You asked. 

Yeah, the prettiest ho I’ve ever seen, he grinned. It’s just… it doesn’t look like you, you know ? 

Maybe it should look like me, you shrugged. 

What the hell do you mean ? 

I look better like this, you said. 

Nope, he replied as he shook his head. You don’t. 

You don’t think so ? 

I think you’re beautiful as is, and that you don’t need to look like a whore, a ho or whatever. Or to act like one, for that matter, he said. 

Hey ! 

He shrugged as he stared at you. 

Was I acting like a ho ? You asked sheepishly, suddenly unsure about the whole evening. 

I don’t know. I guess, sort of, he said. Seriously, though…What was with all the kissing and grinding like you were in heat ? 

I don’t know, you admitted. Cassie gave me that vial to sniff. It made me all light and happy and…horny. 

Seriously ? Poppers ?! He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

You swallowed dryly. 

She told me it wasn’t a big deal, you said. 

Let me guess, this genius is also the one who convinced you to have a drink ? 

… yes, you admitted. 

He groaned and shook his head. You looked down in embarrassment. 

I just wanted to have a good time, you said sheepishly. 

Yeah, because breaking your sobriety and making out with people is the only way to do that, right…? 

The comment about how you had failed to stay sober caused you to break into tears. 

I’m sorry, you murmured as you sobbed. I… I thought it wouldn’t count ? 

What ? He asked, confused. 

I mean, I figured that, it’s not pills, you explained as you kept sobbing. 

That’s not how sobriety works, Y/N, he said as he shook his head. You know better than that.

Tears kept on flowing. It felt like you would never stop crying. 

I fucked up. Everything. I’m a failure. I’m so sorry, you cried. 

Come here, he said as he pulled you in his arms. 

He held you and you rested your head in the crook of his neck, as you kept on crying. After a few minutes, you managed to calm down. 

Better now ? He asked. 

Yes. I’m sorry, you muttered. 

It’s ok to cry, he said as he stroked your hair. Now let’s get you dressed, ok ? I don’t want you to be cold. 

He got out of the bathtub first and helped you up. You were a bit more level-headed and managed to stand up. He wrapped you in a towel and told you not to move before disappearing for a minute, coming back wearing sweatpants. 

Put these on, he said as he gave you some clothes of his to wear. Let’s get ready for bed, ok ? 

You’re not taking me home ? You asked as you yawned. 

It’s late and Talia and Jamal are either asleep or having sex, he shrugged. So I don’t think we should disturb. Plus, you’re still shit-faced so I should keep an eye on you. 

You nodded and got dressed. His clothes were comfy. You also enjoyed the smell of his detergent - it was a smell you associated with him. You looked at yourself in the mirror. 

I look like a house elf in your tee-shirt, you pointed out. 

Come on Dobby, he chuckled as he shook his head. To bed, now. 

I can’t sleep in my makeup, you said. Do you have anything I could use to remove it ? 

He opened the cabinet door and managed to find some makeup removing wipes. You were wearing so much makeup that it took a while for you to take it off. 

You don’t need to use that much makeup, he pointed out. You look better without it anyway. 

I hate wearing it, you confessed. 

So… why the fuck do you look like a stolen car that’s been painted over ? 

I don’t know. I wanted to look pretty. Cassie convinced me.  I mean, I know I’ll never look as good as her, but… 

That’s true, he said. 

He looked at you and inspected your face, his fingers tracing your cheeks. 

You look better than her, he added. 

You felt yourself blush. You could tell he was being honest. It was the first time anyone ever mentioned that you looked better than Cassie. 

You don’t think she’s pretty ? You asked. 

Nah, she looks good, for sure, he said. But she looks too… whatever. Doesn’t matter anyway. 

It kind of does, though, you replied. 

Why is that ? 

She likes you. 

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

No she doesn’t, he said matter-of-factly. 

She thinks you’re hot and she wants you to call her, you replied. 

She likes Eminem, he explained. She has no idea who I am. I know she’s your friend and shit, but she basically threw herself at me, just because I’m famous. If I’d been a random guy, I’m not even sure she would have given me the time of day. 

You’d still be hot, you pointed out. 

He shook his head with a smile. 

Doesn’t matter, he said softly. I’m used to it, you know ? I can tell this type of thing from a mile away. Not to mention she was ready to drag her drunk friend into a threesome… 

It’s probably a misunderstanding, you said to defend her. I mean, she’s my friend, she wouldn’t… 

I know it sucks to hear it, Y/N, but you became an afterthought for this girl as soon as she saw a possibility to suck my dick. That’s not what friends do. 

He sighed and rubbed your shoulder. 

Also, friends don’t give their sober friends poppers and champagne, he pointed out. 

To be fair she didn’t know I was sober, you said. I didn’t have the heart to explain that to her… I guess it’s my fault. 

He hummed and shrugged. 

We’ll talk about that tomorrow. I’m tired, you’re exhausted, and it’s time for bed, he said. 

You almost giggled when you heard the unintentional rhyme. He led you to the adjacent guest bedroom. You felt a bit sobered-up but he was right, you were exhausted. You settled under the covers as he sat next to you. 

Thank you Marshall, you said as you stared into his blue eyes. 

Oh so you’re calling me Marshall now ? He said with a grin. 

Well, that’s your name, you said confused. 

You called me Em, at the party, he said. 

Well people also call you that, you pointed out. 

You don’t. 

You shrugged. 

Yeah, so ? 

I don’t like it, he said. Not in your mouth. It doesn’t feel right. I don’t mind about the others, but… For you, it’s Marshall. 

Ok, you chuckled. I won’t call you Em if you don’t call me a hoe or piss me off, then. 

Deal, he said with a smile. 

Marshall ? You asked. 

Yes ? 

Can I have a hug ? 

He simply nodded and took you in his arms. 

What am I supposed to do now ? You asked. About this whole sober thing ? 

For now, just sleep, Y/N. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. When you’re completely sobered-up and well-rested, ok ? 

You nodded, thanked him and closed your eyes. You felt his fingers in your hair, gently stroking your scalp. It was all you needed to fall asleep.

#eminem #marshall mathers #slim shady #eminem fanfiction #eminem x reader #eminem fluff #eminem imagine #marshall mathers x reader #marshall mathers imagine #marshall mathers headcanons #recovery fanfiction

[decks-writing-blog]

Whatever the Fuck Benrey Is: Chapter One: Never Stayed Dead

Summary: Following the events at Black Mesa, Gordon ends up learning more about Benrey. He might even end up liking him eventually.

[A/N] This was supposed to be a one shot about Gordon and Benrey starting to get along; the start of a slow burn that still feels complete as a stand alone. And then I was gonna do more one shots along their relationship journey, each feeling complete on its own. I've done this with ships before to great success but uh... that didn't happen here. It just kept going until I had to start splitting it into chapters at which point I was invested in it. I have nothing planned so it might end up meandering at some point but that's okay, I'm working on chapter 7 now and still going strong and still enjoying writing it so the journey will take us wherever it ends up taking us.

Also, I know that Benrey seems to most often be portrayed as basically not taking damage from things but like, in the series because of how G-mod works, blood still sprays from him sometimes so I have chosen to interpret that as he takes the damage but then heals from it really quick. Which lead to other ideas that end up being rather important to how I write Benrey.

~

Upon getting hired at Black Mesa, Gordon hadn’t thought too much about the housing provided to the employees. It was a top secret research facility out in the middle of the New Mexico dessert, mostly buried under it, and a long multi-hour drive from the next nearest bit of civilization. Said bit of civilization being nothing but a small town that didn’t even have an airport. So of course the job had come with a place to live, anything else would’ve caused getting to and from work to take longer than actual work or require him and everyone else to camp out in the dessert above the facility. Now though, upon fast walking away from the Chuck E. Cheese – with Tommy’s birthday party over, capping the nightmare at last, he was finally free – he really wished he had a place to stay in Tuefort too.

Whether the living area in Black Mesa was still intact or not was hard to say for sure. But even if it was, based off the state the rest of the facility he’d seen had been in, likely it had been overrun with aliens and military goons, leaving it a horrid mess. One he wouldn’t want to clean up or just live next to even if the option had been available to him. Which it wasn’t thanks to how long the drive down there was when he didn’t even have a car currently.

Did he even have a job at Black Mesa anymore? If so did he want to keep it after all that? Even if the answer to either of those was ‘yes’ he didn’t want go back right now for sure. Not until someone else cleaned up the mess. Which should take a while, meaning he had plenty of time to think about it for now.

Instead he kept walking, trying not to think about anything other than finding Tuefort’s one hotel, if he could just remember where it was. He should still have his wallet on him under the HEV suit and thus some money, hopefully enough to rent a room long enough to figure things out.

Dressed in a blood splattered suit of what was essentially orange armor and with a hand that was hopefully not too obviously a gun at first glance, he got curious looks from passersby as he made his way down the sidewalk. There were quite a few people about too; the town was abuzz. Likely that had something to do with the military flying over to get to Black Mesa. Luckily, despite their intrigue, no one stopped him to ask questions about who he was or what he thought about the military. Tuefort’s one claim to fame was being a weird place filled with weird people so he could hopefully continue to pass as a normal type of weird person that had nothing to do with anything important. So he avoided eye contact as much as possible and held his gun hand close to try to disguise it as such.

He’d have to do something about it eventually though. Walking around with a gun for an hand might not be illegal – this was America after all, gun laws were way more lax than was probably wise – but it sure was weird. People would ask about it for sure and he didn’t want to talk about it. Could anything be done about it though? Was taking it off and replacing it with proper prosthetic an option? … If not then he would have to…

“Hey.”

He jumped, snapping to face the ally he was passing by, pointing said gun arm at the figure leaning against the wall within. Quickly, he lowered it; he couldn’t just go around pointing his gun at anyone who startled him even if the voice had sounded uncomfortably familiar. Except well, it wasn’t just the voice that was familiar.

“Benrey!” Gordon snapped the gun back up. “Why aren’t you dead? You’re supposed to be dead.” It was a struggle to keep his voice down but he didn’t want to call undue attention.

“What? Who told you I was dead?” It sounded like a genuine question but with Benrey who could possibly tell if he was genuine about anything?

“No one. We killed you or… or I thought we did.” He should’ve known better though, huh? Benrey never stayed dead.

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re a cheater but I’m better now. So where you headed? Off to steal something?”

If Gordon shot him, how much trouble would he get in? … Probably more than was worth it considering Benrey couldn’t die, not permanently anyway. “No. I’m looking for a hotel ‘cause I need a place to sleep for a while before I try to find out if any part of Black Mesa’s still operational and if I also still have a job there if so. I don’t have time for you so I’m just gonna leave now.”

Maybe it was a mistake to turn his back on whatever the fuck Benrey was but Gordon didn’t really care anymore and did it anyway, resuming heading down the sidewalk. If Benrey wanted to kill him, he would do it and Gordon couldn’t do a single thing to stop him apparently. So he was just going to do his best to not let Benrey bother him and hope that would convince him to finally leave.

“You’re headed the wrong direction.”

Gordon skid to a halt, turning to look back at Benrey as he stepped out of the ally. “What?”

“Hotel’s down that way, on the other side of town.” Benrey pointed in the opposite direction Gordon had been heading.

“Are you sending me in that direction so I’ll walk all the way to that side of town, find no hotel, forcing me to walk all the way back to this side of town again before I finally find it?”

“No. Why would I do that?”

“Because you want to make my life a living hell.”

Benrey stared at him in silence for a several seconds. Had his eyes always been that yellow and Gordon was just now noticing or was it a new thing? “Whatever, I don’t care if you believe me or not. I’m just trying to help an old pal out. Which I didn’t have to do after you cheated to beat me up. Uncool, man, uncool.” Well at least he wasn’t unphased by his defeat. Not that him being bitter about it really helped Gordon much. If anything that was bad as it gave Benrey all the more reason to target him.

“You know what? Fine. If you know where the hotel is, take me there, lead the way.” Gordon flourished his good arm in the direction Benrey had said the hotel lay in.

“Why? You planning to steal something once you’re there?”

Far too tired to play this game, Gordon didn’t take the bait. In hindsight, he should’ve never responded to such nonsense, it’s clearly what Benrey wanted. Well, with defeating Benrey for good off the table, Gordon was done playing his games. He wasn’t going to be a fun target anymore. “If you don’t know the way, that’s fine. I’m fully capable of finding it on my own.” Though he would really rather just have someone bring him there, even if it was Benrey, so he could finally get a shower and a full night’s sleep that much sooner.

More of that silent thoughtful stare, his pupils narrowing to slits. How Gordon had ever missed the fact that Benrey wasn’t human was a mystery. What was he though? Gordon would love to know but at the same time it was Benrey. No doubt he’d make any attempt to study or experiment on him a massive pain in the ass.

“I’m waiting. You gonna lead the way or no.”

“Well uh… I don’t know where it is exactly,only that it’s on the side of town closest to Black Mesa, which is over that way.” He pointed again and it was indeed the direction Black Mesa lay in.

“Great, awesome, thanks for the help.” Gordon started in that direction. If it was a trick, he’d already been walking so long already it hardly mattered. And if not, it’d get him to a place he could rest that much sooner. So it was probably worth the risk.

“You’re welcome,” Benrey said as he fell in step with Gordon, sounding as if he hadn’t picked up on the frustration and sarcasm at all.

Gordon turned his head to look at him, intending to tell him to leave but bit back on it. It wouldn’t make him leave and might give him opening to be more annoying. So instead he clamped his mouth shut, turned to look solely where he was going and kept walking. His only hope of escaping Benrey was no longer being a fun thing to play with and that meant he had to do his best to ignore Benrey and all his attempts to be a nuisance.

The silence between them held for maybe a grand total of two whole minutes before Benrey broke it. “So when’s your hand gonna grow back?”

Gordon took a breath to respond but again bit back on it. He wasn’t raising to the bait. Benrey was trying to make him angry by bringing up his missing hand again.

“I mean I know humans heal slower and stuff, it’s why everyone’s always taking my juice, ‘cause they’re impatient and don’t wanna wait, but it’s been days now so it should be starting to come back, right? Unless it can’t ‘cause the gun’s there now. I could cut that off for you if you want. Unless you wanna keep the gun, it is pretty cool. You have to promise not to steal anything with it though.”

Gordon should stay quiet, really he should, Benrey was talking nonsense, again. But even with how exhausted he was by the events of the last week, or however long that nightmare had lasted, he couldn’t just not be curious. “What do you mean ‘everyone’s always taking your… juice’?”

“I mean they’re always taking my juice. What else could that sentence mean?”

“What are they taking your juice for?” And what did he even mean by ‘juice’? But one question at a time.

“To put in health packs and stuff so they can heal up real fast when they get a boo-boo. You should really pay better attention when people are talking.”

Gordon skidded to a halt, too shocked to be annoyed by the implication he hadn’t been paying attention. “You mean the healing stuff in the health stations and health packs that Black Mesa makes are filled with your… juice?”

Benrey continued on for a couple more steps before realizing Gordon had stopped. He turned back to face him. Before he could get a word out though, Gordon interrupted.

“And before you accuse me of not paying attention again, I am paying complete and total attention. I just want clarification because I was told it was just a compound one of the teams in Black Mesa invented in a lab. There was never any mention of any juice from any… whatever the fuck you are.”

Benrey frowned, smacking his lips a couple times in seeming thought. “I told them to tell people. But yeah, they take my juice, mix it from something to make it go further and last longer, then put it in the medkits and stuff.”

He could still be lying, trying to mess with Gordon through making him believe he’d injected himself with Benrey’s ‘juice’ a fuckton of times over the years and especially in the last week. But on the other hand, he did undoubtedly have some crazy regenerative properties, healing from gunshot wounds like it was no problem, so of course someone in Black Mesa would try to harness and use that if they could. And from what he knew, a not insubstantial amount of Black Mesa’s funding had come from selling those medkits, often through shady channels if the rumors were to believed.

The realization that Benrey had been at Black Mesa as far more than a security guard wasn’t surprising as he was the exact kind of thing many of the scientists there liked to poke, study, and use. What was surprising though was that they’d managed to contain him. Congrats to them, if only they’d managed to keep him locked up.

Shaking off the shock, Gordon resumed walking. Though he moved slower than before; he was tired and not done with this conversation. So this time, Benrey falling in step next to him was exactly what he wanted. “Okay, knowing I’ve been injected with your… juice is kinda gross. I guess how gross depends on what exactly you mean by ‘juice’. Is it your blood or… or… where do they draw it from?”

Benrey shrugged. “Why do you wanna know? Gonna try to steal some to grow your hand back faster?”

Would straight from the source be enough for such a thing? The medkits and health stations could do a lot, up to and including healing bullets wounds as he’d learned the hard way, but they couldn’t grow back lost limbs. That had been stressed pretty hard in training to prevent people from getting too reckless. But even straight from the source could… “No. I may not like you but stealing your blood or… whatever you mean by ‘juice’ wouldn’t be something I want to stoop to.” Even if he did have some right to because it was Benrey who had caused his arm to get chopped off in the first place. “Gotta try to return to having some sense of morality now that I’m outta that nightmare. Besides, I doubt it would work. Unlike whatever you are, human limbs don’t grow back once they’re cut off. If you’re quick and the cut is clean enough it can sometimes be reattached but that’s the most anyone’s ever been able to do even with the medkit goo.”

“Wait, what do you mean? Of course it’s gonna grow back, it just takes longer ‘cause all your healing stuff takes longer for some reason.” Did he really not know or was he messing with Gordon, trying to get an angry raise out of him? Either way the only thing making it easy to resist the temptation to shoot him in the face was the fact so many other people were around and would see.

“No. It’s never growing back. It physically can’t grow back. My hand’s gone for good and there’s nothing I do can do to change that.” It was old news by now but saying it out loud made it more real somehow. A tinge of panic threatened to crawl up his throat and take his breath and thought away. A part of his body was gone, chopped off and replaced with a gun of all things. A tool good only for hurting and killing.

He had to stop walking and step to the side to lean against a nearby building so he could focus on just breathing. In and out… in and out… he wasn’t having a panic attack today. He was far too exhausted to put up with that. He’d freak out about it again later! Right now he just needed a place to rest and relax and that was the only thing he was going to be thinking about until he got there. Nothing else in the world existed but that goal.

It took a couple minutes but he eventually steadied himself. Full blown panic attacked averted – for the moment at least – he took one last deep breath before looking up again. Benrey stood before him, his expression unreadable as the watched Gordon. “You for real? It ain’t gonna grow back?”

Gordon was tempted to resume walking and hopefully leave him behind but… “You seriously thought it would?”

“Yep. But… I guess that explains why it’s been taking so long, huh? Humans are even weaker than I thought. Oops.” There was an emotion in his voice that his natural monotone made hard to place. “Guess you’re just gonna have to be Gordon Gunhandman now, huh?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Don’t think about it too much! Gordon pushed off the building and resumed walking towards hopefully the hotel. He could be angry at Benrey for thinking the whole thing was just a prank, causing nothing but mild inconvenience, later when he had more energy. The sun was starting to dip towards the horizon, the sky darkening. In another couple hours it would set and the cold would creep in. Hopefully he’d be clean and in a real bed by then. While they were still walking though and to change the subject… “Do you give them your… juice,” gosh, he couldn’t believe they were still calling it that, “willingly? Like do they pay you?”

Benrey was quiet for a few seconds before replying. “They let me go wherever I want in the facility ‘long as as I cooperate.” Implying they’d otherwise force him to and then keep him locked up in whatever kind of cage they’d invented that could hold him. So no, he didn’t do it willingly, he just didn’t want to say that right now. And honestly, Gordon couldn’t blame him. Who would want to admit that kind of thing to their enemy?

Silence settled between them after that. Gordon still had questions but was too tired to try to find a way to ask them that might actually get him some sort of answer from Benrey. And perhaps, maybe, just maybe, Benrey was finally feeling guilty enough about the hand thing to make him uncomfortable enough to want to stop talking for once. That sure would be nice. Either way they didn’t exchange another word until Benrey pointed out the hotel up ahead. Thank all that was still good in the world, he hadn’t been lying about the direction.

It was old and visibly rundown on the outside. The inside though looked more modern and even if the carpeted floor looked like it could do with a deep clean, it wasn’t bad. In all it was all exactly what one should expect from cheap hotel in a small town in the middle of nowhere. To Gordon though, it might as well be the gates of heaven.

He beelined for the receptionist’s desk, before he got there though…

“Hello Gordon!”

He stopped, turning to see Dr. Coomer, Bubby, and Tommy, seemingly waiting for him as they stood from the plush chairs set off to the side.

“What took you so long?” Bubby said before turning his glare onto Benrey. “And aren’t supposed to be dead.”

“He doesn’t stay dead, remember?” Gordon interrupted before Benrey could reply and probably start something. “It’s annoying but there’s nothing we can do about it so try not let it bother you and maybe eventually he’ll get bored and go away. But why are you guys here?”

It was Tommy who answered. “Because Mr. Freeman, Black Mesa, isn’t exactly a cozy place to live anymore right now so um… we came here, looking for rooms. We wanted to invite you too but um… you ran off so fast we didn’t even know which direction you went in. But uh… it makes sense you’d come here, right? ‘Cause it’s uh… the only hotel in town. So we were waiting for you.”

“We weren’t sure if you had money to pay for your own room,” Dr. Coomer added. “So we discussed it and decided we would wait for you here to ask if you need the financial assistance. So Gordon, do you have need for us to pay for a room for you? We haven’t paid for our own rooms yet because we thought you might want to be our neighbor after all we’ve been through together.”

Gordon wouldn’t have thought they’d take the time to think he might need help affording a place to sleep for the night. They’d even sat here and waited for him after he’d rushed off and left them behind at Chuck E. Cheese. People going so far out of their way for him wasn’t something he’d ever experienced before. It was almost enough to bring tears to his eyes.

“They waited,” Bubby cut in before Gordon could do more than take a deep breath to hold back the tears, “I wanted to hurry up and get a move on.”

“He was about to get up and go looking for you,” Tommy said in an almost whisper that Bubby had to have heard though he seemed to be set on pretending he hadn’t.

“Thanks. I…I appreciate it a lot, like… yeah. But um… I should still have my wallet on me and its got my debit card in it so I should be fine. It’s uh… under the suit though. Which, I’m probably gonna need help taking off since there’s not a thingy to take it off anywhere here for obvious reasons. So uh, actually…”

“I’ll pay for your room tonight,” Tommy cut in as he trailed off.

“Thanks, I owe you one.” A big one because gosh, Gordon would just about kill for a real bed right now.

“What ‘bout me?” Benrey of course hadn’t left. “Do I get a room too?”

“Of course, I’ll pay for a room for you too.” Tommy didn’t sound at all bothered by Benrey’s presence. Not too surprising, they’d seemed to have been friends before the resonance cascade. Apparently things hadn’t changed too much.

“Well, let’s hop to it.” Dr. Coomer didn’t seem bothered either as he started for the receptionist’s desk. “Daylight’s wasting, as they say.”

Welp, seems Gordon’s time with the Science Team wasn’t done yet. He… didn’t mind though. Despite everything, he had grown fond of them and they’d been through a lot together. And they were willing to wait for him and help him out and willing to talk to the receptionist to sort out the room situation, meaning he didn’t have to. What more could he possibly ask for in friends?

“We’re currently in the middle of a big renovation project,” the receptionist was saying as Gordon, trailing along at the back of the group, caught up. “Between that and everyone here to attend the Cacti Enthusiasts Conference, there are currently only three rooms available. So, um, some of you are going to have share for at least tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” Dr. Coomer was apparently in charge of the transaction. Maybe not the wisest but it was probably fine. He turned to look at Gordon. “Hello Gordon! It turns out, some of us are going to have to share a room.”

“That’s fine. I don’t care.” They’d all been sleeping in the same room since they’d met anyway. Sharing space for a little while longer wasn’t going to hurt any of them. Just as long as Gordon didn’t end up rooming with Benrey anyway.

“Dibs on bunking with Feetman.” It was almost as if Benrey had just read that thought and decided to ruin the mostly good vibes Gordon had just been feeling because of it. “Gotta make sure he don’t steal nothing.”

Gordon lifted his gun arm, pointing it at Benrey’s face. He held it there for a grand total of two seconds before lowering it though. “Fine. I don’t care.” Getting upset was what Benrey wanted from him and he wasn’t giving him that. Never again. … And besides, revealing he had a gun for an arm and Benrey was some kind of something that wasn’t human would call attention to them from the authorities. Bad in general but after how many US soldiers they’d killed, lying super low for probably the rest of their lives was wise. So he wasn’t going to cause a scene. Even if that meant putting up with god damn Benrey. If Benrey killed him in his sleep then so be it, he barely cared anymore as long as he got to sleep properly in a real bed for several hours beforehand.

~

After some discussion it was decided Dr. Coomer and Bubby would share a room too and Tommy would get one to himself because he was paying for two of them and, “Sunkist will want to share with me when she catches up.” They weren’t neighbors but they did luck into all being in the same hallway even if one of them was way at the end of it while the others two were closer to the opposite side.

They all gathered in the far room first, ostensibly to help Gordon take the HEV suit off. The only one really helping though was Tommy, though Bubby did talk through what he knew of the suit’s built in fail-safes should it need to be taken off manually which helped a lot. Dr. Coomer offered to take it off for three Play Coinstm but not wanting to go into debt in a currency he had no idea the rules of, Gordon had declined.

Partway through the process he regretted declining that offer. The suit was designed to be taken off by a machine, the means to take it off manually had been an afterthought. A just in case the world ended and thus said machine had no power and/or had been destroyed. Not exactly something anyone thought was likely to happen given Black Mesa largely being underground, making it suitable as an impromptu bomb shelter, complete with a host of backup generators not connected to the main power grid. His strong hand being replaced with a gun made it even more difficult, resulting in Tommy doing most of the work of taking it off. Making it a mortifying ordeal; he needed help getting undressed like some kind of giant toddler.

But finally after way too long, the suit was off and in a pile on the floor next to him. He suddenly felt much lighter and less sturdy, like a slight breeze could blow him over. His clothes were a rumbled, horrid, sweat stained mess but he was free at long, long last. “Thanks Tommy, I owe you big time.”

“Don’t… don’t worry about it Mr. Freeman. But, um, maybe you should take a shower before going to bed. Not that um… just, you know… a thought.”

“You stink,” Bubby said.

“I’m afraid he’s right, Gordon,” Coomer said, putting a hand on Gordon’s shoulder, “you smell like you’ve bathed in the concentrated stench of all the locker rooms in the world combined.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Gordon could tell them that they all stank too because they did but sans the suit, he did smell substantially worse. Other than the part at the waist that could be moved aside to allow the wearer to use the toilet, his body had been encased in metal for days with no break. During which he’d been running around and getting his literal hand cut off and having the single most stressful experience of his life, resulting in quite a lot of sweat that had had nowhere to go. So he did indeed reek to high heaven and as hard the bed had called to him earlier, it was now nothing compared to his need for a shower.

“I’ll uh, go do that now. Thanks again Tommy for paying for the room tonight and uh, helping get the armor off. We’ll talk more tomorrow morning, I guess. Goodnight.” With a chorus of good night from the three of them, Gordon stepped into the bathroom.

Hot showers were always nice but this one was downright magical. Even the hotel’s cheap soap and shampoo felt luxurious and smelled divine. It was awkward using his left hand but he was getting used it to and thus fairly quickly got some sort of a hang on it. He could adapt, he could make it through this. The nightmare was over, he’d survived it, everything was going to be okay now.

He washed himself multiple times, trying to get rid of every bit of dirt and grim that had stuck to his skin. Rinsing and repeating until he felt rubbed raw, then he just stood there under the hot water. It would’ve been easy to stay like that for hours and hours if not for the way the hot water easing his sore muscles also reminded him of his exhaustion. If it were the kind of shower that doubled as a tub, he’d likely have just lain down in it and gone to sleep. So it was probably for the best that it was just a stand up shower as that would’ve been dangerous and awful once the water ran cold.

Instead, with a longing sigh, he turned the water off and stepped out. The provided towels were scratchy but clean so he barely cared. Once he was about as dry as he cared to bother making himself, he took one look at his discarded clothing before putting on one of the hotel’s bathrobes instead. It was also stiff and scratchy but it was be better than going nude because he’d rather burn his old clothes than put them back on. Tomorrow he’d coordinate with the others to get them all clean clothing.

Upon stepping out of the bathroom after brushing his teeth with just his finger – the hotel had toothpaste but no toothbrushes so that was another thing he needed – he took two steps towards the bed before stopping. Somehow he’d forgotten Benrey had called dibs on bunking with him.

“You steal that?” He asked as he looked up from where he sat on one of the room’s two chair’s next to the room’s one bed. It was a big bed but still… oh no. Maybe, hopefully, he didn’t need to sleep though.

“No, it comes with the room. You can and should go take a shower now too.” Gordon gestured towards it.

Benrey lowered the remote he’d been presumably flipping through channels with based off the fact that the TV was and playing what looked to be a infomercial. “Huh? Why?”

To get him out of Gordon’s hair long enough for him to fall asleep but also…“’Cause you’re nasty.” Even if whatever he was didn’t sweat and thus body order wouldn’t be as much of an issue, he’d been through some pretty disgusting places in Black Mesa and thus needed cleansing regardless. “And don’t put those clothes back on either also because they’re nasty. There’s another couple bathrobes in there instead. We’ll get clean ones tomorrow sometime. And when you’re done, if you’re gonna kill me in my sleep, please do me a favor and at least wait until I’ve slept for like… five hours before you do it, okay?”

Benrey opened his mouth to respond but before he could get a single word out, Gordon snatched the remote from him, earning a, “Hey, rude,” instead of whatever he’d been going to say. He then turned off TV before flipping off the light and crawling into bed, keeping the remote with him to make it harder for Benrey to steal it back. Benrey said something else, his voice a protest, but as soon as Gordon’s head hit the pillow he was already starting to drift off, making his exact words indecipherable. He’d deal with Benrey tomorrow, right now he really, truly didn’t care anymore.

Chapter 2: But You Owe Me

#hlvrai #frenrey #benrey #gordon freeman hlvrai #half life vr but the ai is self aware

[avirxy]

Hi! What do you think of an au where Claire never came back home after the events of First Frost, so everyone thinks she was kidnapped or ran away, maybe Blinky and AAARRRGGHH found her, so she ends up doing her Trollhunter duties alone, basically living in Trollmarket, but the other kids still get involved in some way?

Oh Anon we are so on the same wavelength, because First Frost was originally supposed to be a lot shorter, with this premise, when I started out.

So I’d say she officially ‘disappears’ in eighth grade, giving the kids time to bond and form a kind of coherent group, so when she does actually disappear it leaves a bigger impact than just right off the bat after Jim and Toby met her.

By the beginning of Sophomore year she’s still missing, and it’s assumed she’s either a runway or kidnapped but there’s not much evidence to back that, her parents are left in a state of disarray, Enrique is still born but he’s yet to meet his older sister.

Around Halloween Mary throws out the idea of heading to a party, it doesn’t end the way they hope.

They’re targeted by Bular, who believes the amulet has chosen a human due to the human stature this new Trollhunter has, he’s wrong of course but by the time the kids are cornered the real Trollhunter shows up, it’s impossible to tell who it actually is due to their helmet, which covers their face, but the five escape Bular’s ire.

Then Blinky and Aaarrrgghh show up after the attack, the Trollhunter tries to brush off the idea but the kids are taken down to Trollmarket for their protection until sunrise and basically given a rundown of why they were targeted.

Claire hasn’t actually told Blinky and Aaarrrgghh the full truth about her situation, as in she didn’t explicitly admit she ran away from home. Still she’s been living with them in Trollmarket.

The more Jim and co learn about what’s been going on under the surface of their town the more they begin to think that maybe Claire was attacked by Bular, or taken by the Janus Order. Blinky tries to dissuade them of the fact, because one, he knows where their friend is, and two, he doesn’t want them recklessly endangering themselves and gaining Bular’s ire again.

Claire won’t actually interact with her friends, due to the immense guilt she feels, and she’d left to keep the people she cared about out of Trollhunting specifically, now she’s still managed to involve them.

They’re rarely allowed into Trollmarket though, as Vendel disapproves immensely of their presence, it takes time but he eventually warms up and allows sparing visits so they can get more information from Blinky and Aaarrrgghh. Claire purposefully avoids the library at those times.

Barbara is the first parent to find out, after the four are given a Gaggletack for the surface, tipped with the threat of Changelings.

Strickler has an awkward dinner interruption after Jim manages to hit his shoulder to say the least and ends up fleeing, unable to face Jim and Barbara, the bridge is still being constructed in the museum.

Soon after Mary’s moms, Darci’s dad and Nana are brought into the situation, they hesitate the tell Nuñezs their daughter may have been an unfortunate victim to the creatures underneath their town. They’ve already been grieving their daughter for almost three years..is false hope really necessary?

By the Battle of the bridge the kids aren’t present for the fight, only Draal, Blinky, Aaarrrgghh and Claire are there, she frimly denies involving her friends in the fight.

Bular is killed by her alone, his mangled stone corpse left in the canal as a warning for any of the Janus Order.

Bular is dead, the threat is gone, she should go home-she can return to the surface.

But she doesn’t. She can’t.

The kids learn about the caves where Bular had kept the people he’d bitten and cursed. Barbara and Jim look into ways of contacting Strickler ,who disappeared after the Battle, surely he’d know if Bular had specifically targeted people.

Around this time Darci comes into an unfortunate accident with a gang of goblins, the Trollhunter intervenes thankfully but doesn’t get away unscathed.

Darci tries to help them but they pull away, grumbling they don’t need help.

It becomes an unfortunate occurrence, seeing the Trollhunter take hit after hit in battle, the kids try to assist but they’re quickly rebuffed. Each and every time, they’re also brushed with a weird sense of Deja vu.

The way the Trollhunter moves, talks, it’s so achingly familiar.

It goes on like that for weeks.

Until they find them curled in an alleyway at night. Their armor is off, and their side bleeds a sickly dark purple.

Darci is taken aback by how young they look. Trolls age differently of course but the ‘mighty’ Trollhunter can’t be anything more than a teenager in troll standards.

Their offer to help is finally accepted just this once, if only to keep her from bleeding out. But the pattern repeats itself and they find the Trollhunter willingly coming to them for help when they can’t take care of their injuries alone.

Claire knows she shouldn’t keep doing this, being in the armor is what keeps her a troll during the warm months, if she’s out of it too long she could start to change back, but she desperately wants to see her friends, see how much they’ve changed, and their kindness is something she’s absolutely taking for granted.

Angor Rot’s appearance makes things turn for the worse, he’s relentless, desperate for his promised soul in return for taking out the Trollhunter, Nomura isn’t senseless, she’ll do just that once he’s brought her proof. What better proof than the Trollhunters stone corpse?

The begrudging relationship the kids have built with the Trollhunter, who still hesitates to let them enter the fray, comes to a head when Angor’s latest attempt nearly succeeds.

Dawn is minutes away and Angor sends Claire rolling toward the edge of the incline, cutting her off, unable to reach any sort shadow or protection from the rising sun.

Angor knows, he has too, that’s why he’s watching smugly from the shade as her friends scream at her to move.

They can’t reach her fast enough, and in a desperate move the Trollhunter tears off their amulet, instead of a troll as the armor dissipates it’s a human, a girl, with long overgrown brown hair, edges faintly tinged blue, most of the dye faded out.

Then she looks up..

Jim isn’t sure he’s breathing, heart thudding in his chest, Mary and Darci have frozen beside him.

“Claire?”

#I may still turn it into a fic! #just a big consequences of our actions type beat #six chapters at the max lol #way back when I started first frost it would have taken more of this direction #but Claire wasn’t actually going to be the Trollhunter #then I realized I wanted to make it a bit longer and go through a lot of canon #trollhunters #tales of arcadia #toa #jim lake jr #claire nuñez #toby domzalski #darci scott #Mary wang #angor rot #asks #au #first frost

[waddlewaddlewaddlewaddle]

Over my head (Miguel ‘o’ Hara x Reader)

Chapter 3

Pairing: Miguel x reader

Summary: y/n is a kind hearted nurse who’s life gets turned upside down as she get fired from one the most prestigious hospitals in NYC , desperate , she start filing job applications wherever. Coincidentally a stressed Miguel is looking for a nurse due to a big amount of spider people getting injured due to the surprisingly large amount of anomalies happening in the spider verse. What could go wrong is these two meet?

Themes:

•Medium slow burn

•Mutual pining

✎office romance (¿)

•Hidden romance

✎Smut available as story progresses.

•Dom Miguel x sub/bratty reader

✎Stubborn, Ill tempered Miguel.

✎ Angelic reader .

•It girl reader.

✎I try to be as accurate as possible.

•English is not my first language so bare with me.

✎badass stoic x sweet empath.

Og spanish speaker so be prepared for steamy dialogue :3

Here’s the master list for previous or future chapters.

🕸 ⋆｡°✩ ⋆｡°✩🕸

-“Excuse me?!”-You yell at the undeniably attractive man in front of you.

-“Excuse you, you were the one pointing at me with a knife.”- Nagged the oak tree of a man while putting his hands on his waist.

Now understanding the gravity of what you just did; your expressions and body language soften.

- “My bad , excuse my behavior. I’m just kinda nervous; I’ve never been to this part of town and you know you can never be too safe”- You babbled while searching in your purse the direction that Jessica gave you.-“Could you be a dear and point me to this direction and I’ll be on my way.”

The bronze man looked you up and down and lifted the right corner of his mouth.

-“Well Miss you’re indeed right you can never be too safe, I tell that a lot to my employees but they never listen. And in regards to the direction;you’re right where your supposed to be, you must be our new nurse. Come in , we don’t want to waste any more time.”- He concluded as he opened the door for you to step in.

“Employees?!?!?!” You couldn’t believe you just pulled a knife out at your future boss , you tried to relax yourself trying to think maybe he’s a low ranking manager or supervisor using his casual outfit as proof of your theory. As you walked by his side you couldn’t help but notice the height difference between you too, your forehead stood right against his chest leaving your eyesight infront of his ribs.

When entering the company the place seemed quite alright , it started to fit in more with your idea of a office. As you stood still waiting for this mysterious man to guide you where your infirmary was all you could gaze was at the almost infinite looking hallway ahead.

-“Shit Um, I don’t know how to proceed with this, should’ve called Jessica over”- He mumbled as he looked at you with a blank state while scratching his head.-“Do you know about the multiverse theory?Do you believe in it?”.

-“I do , why do you ask?”-You gawked at him like he was crazy for asking such questions.

-“Well do you know Spider-Man?”

-“Yeah why do you ask? Excuse me sir is this a cult?

-“No , why would you ask that.”- He hissed looking at you already annoyed. - “You know what lyla cue the sequence.”

-“Don’t worry about that , he’s like this with everyone”- said a random female hologram with pink glasses and a fur coat appearing by your side

Before you knew you line of vision was covered y a blue screen hologram, the mysterious man leaned his back against the wall while crossing his arms waiting for the screen to load.

Soon you started to hear a narration about the spider verse that in your opinion made a lot of sense , the Ai started to narrate about the origins of the spider society ,their duties and rights , its purpose in the multiverse and the importance of it. It also talked about the great deal of work and sacrifice each spider person does to keep the organization running to their best efforts. It all concluded that the multiverse needed the spider society to keep trillions of people living safe on their respective earth.Lucky for you you were glad to join and help out the spider society even if you lacked arachnid powers yourself , their morals aligned with yours that’s all you needed to know you were eager to help people who spend all their days saving lives

The bronze man glanced at you with uncertainty not sure if you believed the sequence that was just played out for you. You kept your mouth shut waiting for more of a explanation from his part, soon he started to walk towards you with impeccable posture trying to find a glimpse of dishonesty in your reaction.

-“My names Miguel ‘o’ Hara. I’m the current Spider-Man of this earth. I’m the leader of operations of this HQ, I unlike you don’t take pride in what I have to do sometimes, but I have the spine to know that it needs to be done.Plenty of spider people and myself have sacrificed everything to keep the multiverse stable, the job that you are applying for is no game and must be taken as serious as the will of my people. I understand if you’re scared and would like to back out. you should be grateful that you have a choice to decide if you want to be part of this or not. So please think things through, if you return to this HQ at 8:00 am tomorrow I’ll assume you accept the responsibility that comes with your job.”-While telling you all this he seemed to move his hands a lot and also walked back and forth but strangely no emotion was shown on his face.

You crossed your arms while looking up and down at him , you knew Spider-Man existed in your earth but you’ve never seen him ; in person nor in pictures. Spider-Man from this earth was known for being very diligent and private. No pictures existed of him and he never make public appearances. So if the man in front of you could prove he was Spider-Man that’s all the proof you needed to finish believing the whole spider society thing.

-“Prove it to me.”

-“Why should i, If you don’t want the job you should just leave.”- He argued raising an eyebrow while starting to huff up his shoulders in annoyance.

-“I know that if you give me a chance I’ll show you I’m all that you’re looking for.”- You looked up at him with fire and determination beaming from your eyes.-All I ask if for a vote of trust on your behalf.

Miguel squinted at your small figure , even though you were diminute to him; he saw in your wide gaze a passion for helping humanity that he had lost long ago. With so much misery surrounding his past ;it cost him to admit that the work he’s doing now is based more on moral obligation than hope for a better future. But after all he decided to trust you and your good vibes, he started walking in your direction towering over you like a scary beast that was going yo bite you any second.

With a flick of the wrist a blue cloth with nano pixels incorporated into it started spreading all over his body , quickly revealing a red skull like design that decorated his chest while some red stripes engulfed his broad shoulders; the suit started to reach his wrist while painting his palms red. You startled yourself when you noticed Miguel’s face was long covered by a mask that only seemed to detail only the surroundings on his eye.

You took in the view of Miguel’s now more defined body ,taking notice of the sharp blades on the side of his forearms, that’s when you finally realized that man was as serious as a heart attack.

-“Not a fucking Disney princess dress is it.”-He murmured while standing so close to you that he practically forced your back to hit the wall in fear of being cornered by him, as soon as he got the reaction he wanted he turned around and walked away.

Now standing perplexed a familiar face finally approaches you, Jessica greets you hello and finally turns off the infinite hallway illusion revealing the true spider society head quarters which showed walls up to 50 meters high , trippy drug high structures like stair cases on the ceiling or randomly located poles. As you started walking in,you saw hundreds of spider people all with different variations of the spider shoe ,some were sitting criss cross on the ceiling, some were black and white, some were 2D but most importantly there were Some truly bizarre spider things …? Like a Spider car , Spider plushie and even a Spider Lego that you almost crushed cause you were so distracted watching the Salvador Dali esque architecture.

You thought to yourself how lucky you were that you landed a job like this , where you could put in a grain of salt to help the multiverse and meet an incredibly diverse group of people but sadly you also came to realize that this job is full of responsibility and danger. God forbid a villain escaped and took you hostage an in a split second your throat is slashed open. You shake your head trying to get rid of the negative thoughts and enjoy the tour.

You and Jessica pass by the cafeteria where unoccupied spider people waved hello to you and watched as you passed by.

Finally the two of you arrived to the huge infirmary,it was almost as big as a whole hospital floor, there was a big nurses office that fit almost 12 hospital beds for any current patients you may have. Outside of the office there were another 10 small rooms, you made a mental note to separate two of those rooms for private consultations and to leave the rest as resting stations. At the end of the hallway you found a big sturdy metal door where all the delicate medicine , blood bags, oxygen tanks ,vaccine fridges and other materials would be kept.

-Jessica this is awesome! I’ve never had this much resources before. I promise you I’ll be the best nurse you’ll ever see, also if you feel ditzy or Ill come visit me right away.- your figure is seen testing the hardness of the bed while touching the soft linens that cover the mattresses that’ll hopefully stay blood free.

You proceed to check out some of the rooms built in the back of your infirmary, as you opened the door you found sterilization equipment ,surgical tools, wound care products and wearable supplies. In the other rooms there were stretchers, Wheelchairs and Surgical tables.

-“I like your enthusiasm y/n. I wonder if you’ll be able to keep that smile on your face while treating 10 patients at a time.”-Like clockwork your face dropped after hearing that , you were only used to taking care of 4 patients at a time, how were you supposed to take care of 10.-“But don’t worry, some friends of mine prepared a gift for you, there’s a box on top of your desk open it up.”

Your hands flew to open the cardboard box , inside contained 2 sphere like bots with 4 arms. Jessica quickly explained to you that these would be your new assistants, these bots had CT, MRI and x-Rays incorporated. Your arms wrapped around Jessica , you felt your abdomen press around her belly , she returned your hug and smiled.-“Welcome to the team y/n.”

🕸 ⋆｡°✩ ⋆｡°✩🕸

The next morning you took a quick shower and put on Some jeans and a cardigan to wear under your white coat. After commuting to the spider Society headquarters you arrived at 8:00 am sharp ,you also noticed some trucks unloading the materiales you asked for in your visit yesterday.

After waving hi to some spider people ,you organized everything in the infirmary unbeknownst that you’ll soon receive your first patients.

Some villain called electro did some minor electric shock on some spider people, they presented irregular hearts beats and muscle spasms. You sent them to rest with some iv fluids while sending your new robo assistants nino and kiko to monitor them and to check for interior burns.

A few moments later pavitr arrived with a busted eyebrow that you quickly disinfected and stitched up.

The rest of the day you took care of minor accidents, the majority of patients were really weak from stress , dehydration and lack of sleep. The majority of the spider society was really grateful for your help , your presence truly made a difference in the HQ; as a result the unoccupied spider people decide to host you a welcoming party in the cafeteria, as you cut some cake that was brought to you by one of your earlier patients when suddenly the corner of your vision caught a shadow moving by the hallway.

You quickly excused yourself and decided to take a closer inspection, then you walked down the hallway suspecting this is were the shadow went. The moment you reached the corner of the hallway that lead to 2 pathways you hid and looked at both sides.

Then you spotted a familiar back that you knew too well, you recognized those broad ,huffed up shoulders that were decorated in burgundy stripes; with navy blue surroundings. You watched in aw as Miguel’s back heaved up and down as if it were struggling to breathe ,soon your gaze dropped to the floor only to be met with a drawn out trace of blood.

#miguel o'hara #miguel x reader #spider man 2099 #spiderverse x reader #across the spiderverse #slow burn #hurt Miguel #office romance #mean Miguel #smut available as story progresses #mutual pining #comments are appreciated #lol #mi gente latino #like or reblog #if you like #idk how to tag this #just read

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24HighSchoolStudents #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental education #environmental justice #environmental protection #environmental health #high school students #high school #youth #youth of america #school

[found-in-therubble]

Entry One

Sebastian Hulls’ interview with The Eyewitness Report about his recent hires, published June 28th XXXX

Also mentioned: Jonathan Clarke

Demystifying Shaniko’s Most Reclusive Resident

Q&A With Sebastian Hulls

By Avery Perez

Sebastian Hulls, 62, is locally known as a man of mystery. After moving to Shaniko three years ago he’s been extending a lifeline to those less fortunate in the community. For a man so dedicated to helping the community you’d think he volunteers or donates to shelters, but that isn’t the case. Hulls will only hire those in desperate need of assistance to be his own assistants. Mr Hulls has a habit of always needing more staff to keep his isolated mansion up and running; for three years advertisements to be a part of his staff have overrun nearly every paper in town! The ads themselves add a whole new layer of intrigue, as no qualifications are ever stated; just that Sebastian Hulls of 13 Lookout Lane is looking to hire. Finally, after many inquiries, The Eyewitness Report was able to get the man of mystery himself on a phone call to ask him some questions. Even better, Sebastian Hulls offered to give us a tour of his impressive -and remote- manor, so be sure to pick up our next publication to see this story develop.

Mr Hulls, let’s start easy: what brought you to live in Shaniko? It’s such a quaint little town, how could I resist? I know my manor can be quite grandiose compared to the neighborhood houses but I’ve always enjoyed small communities. Everyone knows everyone, that sort of thing. It feels more connected, and it’s easier to navigate than a big city. 

More connected… I don’t mean to be rude, sir, but for someone who values connectivity you’re quite reclusive aren’t you? Ah, I’ve been caught red handed, I see. I admit I’m much more comfortable inside my home than in town, but I hardly think that’s a crime. Besides, it’s not as though I’m a hermit. I regularly explore town. That’s one of the ways I’ve found employees.

Oh? I know our paper, The Eyewitness Report, has run advertisements for you. Do you also scout potential employees in town? I wouldn’t call it “scouting” per se.. But I do admit that I’ve come across a few people on the street that are now a part of my staff. 

Would you be able to share a story about who you’ve hired after seeing them in town? Recently, the Shaniko Public Library was closed down. I’m not sure if there was a lack of public interest or simply a lack of funding, but it’s quite a tragedy. It must’ve been after midnight, but I was on a walk and passed it. I saw a man sitting on a bench hunched over in front of the building. And while I’m no expert in human emotion, I can tell when someone is sad. He seemed extremely sad, so I went to talk to him. He told me he used to work at the library before it closed down, and now he’s out of a job. Well as it happens, I have a very large collection of books; nearly enough to fill an entire library of my own. I extended a job offer to him there on the spot, I asked him to make sure none of my precious collection gathers dust. I even let him live on site, I have more than enough rooms for him to move in.

Oh. You have a personal library, sir? I do, quite a large one. Family and friends tend to give me books as gifts, I haven’t the heart to throw them away. Over time… I suppose the collection has grown larger than I anticipated.

I see. If I may, where is the library? The third floor, of course. The ceiling is made partially of glass. It's quite spectacular to relax inside during a rainstorm. Why do you ask?

It’s just that, during our research, we called the construction company that built your house. The forest around it has gotten much too thick to get aerial shots of it these days. They gave us some old photographs to print alongside this interview. Has another company been hired to do construction past the initial building in the past three years? Speak plainly. What are you asking, Ms Perez?

Sir, the photos only showed two floors, and no other construction company would be willing to make the commute to your home. I’m confident you haven’t had construction done in the past three years. Where did this extra floor come from? I see you’ve certainly done your homework. I’m not sure exactly what you want me to say, as my manor certainly does have three floors. It always has. Perhaps the blueprints you found were outdated. I’ll be more than happy to show you when you come to visit. 

#writing #original story #chapter 1 #writers on tumblr #the magnus archives #inspired by TMA #this is a fanfic that spiraled into my own thing #found-in-therubble #entry 1

[every-aj-needs-an-angel]

slight au where team russia worked a little faster and eddie and max make it out scathed but alive, unlike vecna who finally got his comeuppance

eddie and steve have an unnamed thing in the months after eddie gets out of the hospital but without an earthquake wrecking hawkins, eyes are everywhere and rumours are hard to kill in a small town and eddie's sick of the way they're all being treated. he thinks it's all because of him, thinks it'll fix everything if he's not around, thinks steve deserves to find his wife and have his nuggets.

so eddie runs away in the middle of the night, just leaves a note for wayne with a promise to call and hitchhikes to cali with his guitar and not much more than the clothes on his back. he works hard and makes it big with his band, they win awards, sell out arenas, front magazine covers but eddie just takes it day by day. time passes without him really recognising its passing, just going from one gig to the next. another town, another state, another country. they've travelled the whole world by now and although his bandmates make a big deal out of birthday's, another trip around the sun eddie! whenever he thinks of home, everything and everyone are just as he left them.

it's the late nineties, eddie and wayne sitting on opposite ends of a phone line having their monthly catch-up when wayne casually mentions that he's going to a divorce party on the weekend. eddie laughs cos parties aren't exactly wayne's scene to start with, but eddie misses small town drama so he asks who at the plant got divorced? and wtf is a divorce party anyway?

and wayne knows he's fumbled the ball in a big way but all he can do at this point is just explain and eddie's sorry but... what?!

steve's getting a divorce! eddie's steve? eddie didn't even know he'd got married! he knows The Party are still close and that when eddie had been dragged into their weird little group, wayne had too. he knows that they keep a good eye on wayne, that he's still one of them.

and wayne was true to his word with not updating eddie on their lives because he knows if he'd heard any of it he'd've come running home immediately but wayne's getting on in years and this little bit of info just sort've slipped out.

so now, guess what? eddie's booking himself a flight because how can he miss this now that he knows it's happening?

so steve's getting drunk surrounded by all the people who love him. he and tina ended things amicably enough, she fell in love with robin and what was steve supposed to do? he could hardly blame her! tina and robin despised each other, had from the moment steve introduced them but robin was going through some work stuff and she'd needed a break. so steve had twisted her arm and she'd come to stay for a month and well, shit happens! they hadn't crossed any boundaries, robin wouldn't ever do that to him but the mother of your kids being in love with your best friend kinda puts the kibosh on your marriage.

it was dustin's idea, the party, he thinks steve needs cheering up, which he probably does because he'd had everything he'd always dreamed of and now his life's in a shambles for the second time even though he's only in his early thirties. except eddie, blast from the past, love of steve's life, took steve two solid years to get over him, steve's eddie, showing up unannounced (because gatecrashing is just eddie's way of not having to deal with all the nerves he's been feeling since he stepped into lax) kills the party.

everyone's furious! steve's drunk, thinks eddie's an hallucination but dustin takes a swing at eddie, which is sobering to say the least. hop's yelling, wants to drag eddie outside "i just wanna talk, i swear!" luckily for eddie, joyce and murray know him better than that. max is ripping him to shreds, erica's hyping her up and no-one is brave or stupid enough to get in their way.

and eddie's only just now registering that it might've been a terrible idea to just drop in on people you trauma bonded with and then abandoned over a decade ago and wayne's trying to gauge whether he needs to get his nephew the hell outta there or whether it's best to just let it play out and steve might be hammered and in a state of shock and eddie might deserve everything max is saying but he just can't stand there and let it happen.

so steve grabs eddie by the wrist and drags him outside and no-one follows because they all think it's fair that steve gets first crack at him. except steve isn't all that angry, he might be tomorrow, but right now he just tugs eddie into his chest and wraps himself tightly around him.

there's a thousand questions they both want to ask, things they definitely should be talking about but eddie just melts in the circle of steve's arms. he's forgotten why he ever left this space, where he can feel steve's heartbeat and smell the cologne that he still wears and that underlying something that's just steve. then steve squeezes him tighter and sighs so heavily it seems the whole world is on his shoulders and all eddie wants to do is drop everything and help him carry it.

"wayne let slip, huh?" steve says instead of something normal like hello.

"he didn't mean to," eddie defends even though he knows he doesn't need to. he'd seen the hug they’d shared before he'd waltzed in, even though they're all older than eddie thought possible, nothing about The Party has changed.

"sorry about your party," eddie mutters. he does feel bad for ruining their good time, he doesn't know now why he thought he could just pick up where he left off. steve just shrugs, huffs a laugh into eddie's hair

"you're a much better surprise than the strippers they’d booked for me anyway," steve admits. and eddie can't help himself he starts to laugh, it starts off with jiggling shoulders and escalates until there's tears running freely down his face. it wasn't even that funny, the absurdity of this situation isn't even that funny, it's all just... it's a lot.

"jesus h christ! i've missed you," eddie says when he's calmed down enough to speak.

"i missed you, too," steve confesses with such a raw honesty it gives eddie pause, makes him pull his head away from steve just enough to see his face.

"really?" eddie's a little awestruck but he tries to keep his voice level, he fails miserably.

"yes, really! what you thought you'd disappear and we'd all just, what? forget about you?" steve scoffs, looks into eddie's eyes, really looks and then rolls his own "oh my god! you did, didn't you? you're unbelievable, eddie munson! why'd you think the kids are so mad with you?" steve asks remarkably calm. must be a dad thing, eddie thinks because the lump in his throat prevents him from speaking, he can only shrug, "because they love you, you idiot! and you abandoned them but they still love you. dustin waited for two hours outside your indy concert before realising he was waiting outside the wrong door and that you'd already gone. poor kid was a mess for a week!" steve sighs heavily, cups eddie's face, wipes away the fresh tears falling down eddie's cheeks with his thumbs.

"you're not mad," eddie croaks almost accusatory, misery filling him because the one person he wants to love him, the one person he's never stopped loving, is holding him, yes, but thinking about it eddie would've been happier with the fury dustin had shown him because dustin's mad because he loves eddie but steve isn't mad at all.

steve smiles, tired and a little soppy, kisses eddie on the forehead and pulls him back against his chest.

"not yet, but i've no doubt in the morning i'm gonna be livid. you better still be here to see it!" and it's the first time there's been anything warning in steve's tone, it makes eddie hold him tighter.

"i'll be here," he promises. eddie's tucked so closely into steve's chest he doesn't hear his uncle approach, doesn't see the smile he and steve share over eddie's head. wayne knew eddie was safe out here with steve but The Party's getting antsy.

"time to face the music, boy," wayne can't fight his grin when eddie turns in steve's hold, like he used to when they were young and eager to head to bed and wayne would say "those dishes won't wash themselves" and eddie would huff and fuss from the confines of steve's embrace, being dramatic for the sake of it. other than a change in hairstyle and a few new lines on their faces, wayne doesn't see any difference.

eddie grins when he realises that steve is equally reluctant to let go, propping his head on eddie's shoulder and holding him close, they both make puppy dog eyes at wayne, except wayne isn't about to cave like he would with the dishes. his friends are furious but they love him and they're worried that steve's murdered eddie already.

except wayne knows there's no safer place for his boy to be. steve's spent many a night in wayne's trailer, reading through articles, watching award ceremonies, listening to the albums eddie sent to wayne. sleeping in eddie's old bed, both when eddie first left and even more so recently, not that either of them have mentioned that to the others. it's a secret exclusively for the two people in the world who love eddie munson the most.

wayne gives eddie a pointed look and eddie sighs, nods to himself, he can do this. these people love him deep down, even if they don't like him very much right now.

"ready, big boy," eddie teases waggling his eyebrows at steve, who laughs and calls him an idiot affectionately. eddie classes it as a win. steve gives him one last squeeze, reluctantly letting go as the three of them head back inside but steve's hand never quite leaving the small of eddie's back (even when dustin tearfully tackles eddie into a bearhug) might be the best thing he ever could've hoped for.

and eddie thinks that maybe, just this once, his inability to fight his impulse control might've finally worked in his favour.

#i don't know what this is #adele was on starstruck last night #someone like you inspired #this was supposed to be a funny little something something and just kinda morphed into this #i think it wrote itself #steve's divorce party #eddie's in a band #idk if it's corroded coffin #i'll leave that up to you #dustin and max are mad as hell on their big brother's behalf #dustin's also hurt that eddie left without saying goodbye doesn’t mean he doesn't love eddie to death #wayne and steve are eddie's biggest fans #steddie #steddie fic #steve x eddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #wayne munson #the party #st au s4 fixit ig #aj writes

[wisdomssdaughterr]

ELECTRA HEART (PLATINUM BLONDE EDITION) by MARINA - STRANGER THINGS

nancy wheeler - bubble gum bitch: Oh, dear diary, I met a boy / He made my doll heart light up with joy / Oh, dear diary, we fell apart / Welcome to the life of Electra Heart

will byers - state of dreaming: All I really want is to be wonderful / People in this town they, they can be so cruel / I live my life inside a dream, only waking when I sleep / If I could sell my sorry soul, I would have it all

max mayfield - teen idle: Yeah, I wish I'd been a / Wish I'd been a teen, teen idle / Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title / Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible / Feeling super, super (Super!) suicidal / The wasted years, the wasted youth / The pretty lies, the ugly truth / And the day has come where I have died / Only to find I've come alive / Come alive, I've come alive

el hopper - valley of the dolls: Born with a void / Hard to destroy with love or hope / Built with a heart, broken from the start / And now I die slow / In the valley of the dolls, we sleep / Got a hole inside of me / Living with identities / That do not belong to me / In my life, I got this far / Now I’m ready for the last hoorah / Dying like a shooting star

max mayfield - hypocrates: You’re my last bone of contention / That could break at any mention / You’re the last wall that will stand tall / Till the end of the world / I know you only want to own me / And that’s the kind of love you show me / You tell me one thing and do another / Keep all your secrets undercover / Who are you to tell me, tell me / Who to, to be, to be? / Yeah you played the martyr for so long / That you can’t do anything wrong

el hopper - fear and loathing: Now I see, I see it for the first time / There is no crime in being kind / Not everyone is out to screw you over / Maybe, yeah just maybe, they just want to get to know you

nancy wheeler - sex yeah: If history could set you free / (From who you were supposed to be) / If sex in our society / (Didn't tell a girl who she would be) / ‘Cause all my life I've tried to fight what history has given me, me

el hopper - buy the stars: Oh, we don't own our heavens now / We only own our hell / And if you don't know that by now / Then you don't know me that well / All my life I've been so lonely / All in the name of being holy / And still, you'd like to think you know me / You keep buyin' stars / And you could buy up all of the stars / But it wouldn't change who you are / You're still living life in the dark / It's just who you are

robin & steve - lonely hearts club: I feel like if I’m too kind / Then you will only change your mind / Take advantage of my heart / And I’ll go back into the dark / Love will never be forever / Feelings are just like the weather / January to December / Do you wanna be a member? / Lonely hearts club / Do you want to be with somebody like me?

#stranger things #stranger things moodboard #steve harrington #max mayfield #el hopper #will byers #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #marina #electra heart #platonic stobin #izzy's collections #st moodboard collection

[dance-to-mythoughts-blog]

Chapter 1: The villain from hell

Series Masterlist

Warnings: 18+, Dick in pussy, quirk play from both parties, hurt/comfort, mentions of substance abuse, mentions of death and near-death experiences, creampie, facials, nasty talk, pet names, extreme trauma, OC is bilingual so she will be speaking Spanish, English, and some Japanese.

“Fuck this club up, Fuck this, fuck this club up (Fuck up), Fuck this club up, Fuck this, fuck this club up (Fuck up), Fuck this club up, Fuck this, fuck this club up (Fuck up), (ATL Jacob, he a fuckin' millionaire) Yeah” the alarm blasted loud by Nicki Minaj. Iman turned over to turn off her alarm.

“Fuck I don’t want to go to work,” Iman said as she rolled out of bed and turned off her alarm. Iman was a sidekick for Pro-Hero Endeavor. She graduated from UA and works as a sidekick at the Endeavor agency for about 2 years. It was a typical day. Iman had the day shift. Her shift was a long 6:30 AM to 4:00 PM. That’s a fucking long time if you ask me. Iman did her hygiene routine. That consisted of a long shower, skincare, and doing her hair. Iman was a black woman who was Afro-Latina. She had thick 4B curly hair with a sprinkle of grey hair, an hourglass shape, a face created by the heavens above, and the might of a samurai. She also had the mouth to back it up. Iman was the finest thing that God created, and she knew it but she was humbled. Iman grabbed her car keys and headed straight for the door.

In the car, she blasted Wu-Tang Clan C.R.E.A.M to help get her mind right for the day ahead. Who the fuck drives their car listening to Wu Tang Clan at 6:30 in the morning? Iman does that’s who. Pulling into the parking lot, she got out of the car, scanned her badge to enter the building, and then proceeded to go to her desk to do paperwork until it was time for her to do her patrol. At her desk, she responded to inquiries, made outbound calls to other heroes and sidekicks, and helped with training the recruits. As the late morning approached, Iman went to go and change into her hero costume and meet the recruits for training. Her hero costume was a sapphire-colored leotard, leg holsters for her fans with a knife (like Kitana from Mortal Kombat), a foldable sword that she keeps in one of her leg holsters, sapphire-colored combat boots, hair in a high messy curly bun, with her sapphire-colored mask that covers the lower half of her face. Hero name: Sapphire.

“Alright motherfuckers. Welcome to the hero biz. This is your training. Keep in mind that where we are about to enter is the training ground, which is not the gym. Everyone, please look over to the left.” Everyone looked to the left. “This is recovery girl. You might hear some people address her as Ms. Emma. If there are any serious injuries, please see her when training is finished. DO NOT USE YOUR QUIRKS TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL. Do we understand the rules?”

A collective “yes Ma’am” was heard.

“Alright everyone, please follow me.” As Iman led them into the training facility.

“What area is this?” a recruit named Hellfire questioned.

“This is a training facility.”

Hellfire rolled his eyes. “If we are supposed to be training with no quirks, how come we are in an area of a replicated town that has been burned and destroyed?” he asked with a slight attitude. Iman replied.

“Because in hero biz, you will end up having to save people from ALL WALKS OF LIFE WHO DEPEND ON YOU TO SAVE THEM. Most of all, TEAMWORK dude. There will be times when you are called to help other Pro-heroes in different areas who have different quirks to save lives. HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT IS NECESSARY. Sometimes the villains that you fight are in different areas and DO NOT have quirks and you need to face them.” Iman stated. Hellfire and the other recruits just looked at you shook because they had just graduated from hero school and had probably never trained in hand-to-hand combat. “Any more questions?” Everyone was looking around. The silence was loud as fuck. People don’t always understand what they’re getting into with hero biz. It has its perks, and it also has its downside, but it is rewarding, nonetheless.

“Alright motherfuckers! Hellfire and Phantom please step forward.” They stepped forward. “Alright. I want a clean fight. Dig it? No funny shit. OK.”

“OK,” they said in unison.

“Alright. Fight!”

The match started and it instantly became bloody. Hellfire’s quirk is like Endeavor’s, but his flames are hotter. " Phantom’s quirk allows her to float in the air. The Phantom threw a blue ring of air out her fist at him and he dodged it. As he dodged, he activated his flames and threw a fireball at her, which hit her shoulder and ripped her costume. Iman interjected "HEY NO FUCKING QUIRKS" As she got up to block his net attack, he knocked her in her stomach with a fire fist, causing her to break down to her knees. Iman and the other sidekicks were looking at them crazy because this match was supposed to be hand to hand combat not quirk training. As she was kneeling in pain, he went to attack, and she disappeared. Everyone was shocked because they didn’t know what had just happened. She hit him with her special move, which allowed her to briefly go invisible. She kicked him in his back, and he went flying into the debris. She picked him up by the neck and threw him to the other side and debris flew everywhere. She stopped, kneeled to his level, and thumped him on his forehead.

“Cocksucker,” she said and walked off.

“And the winner is Phantom. I thought I said no quirks?”

Hellfire and Phantom looked at you. And turned their heads in shame.

"If you cannot listen, then yawl will have a horrible fucking time as sidekicks attempting to become heroes. These are people who are going to need us in a time of distress, and we have to listen to them. You cannot do a rescue mission and not listen to what the victim is telling you hurts. They could be telling you that the villain is still there but they're using you to draw em out. Fuckin pay attention. Got me?"

They looked at each other and uttered a collective " Yes Ma'am"

""Next two fighters. Step in the ring please. This time. Don't use any quirks. ok?"

The next contestants stepped forward. Soon as they were about to take their fighting stances the alarm rang. The alarm that went off is to let the agency know that there is a villain attack.

"Sapphire and Recovery Girl immediately report to Shibuya. Demon level threat"

Iman and Ms. Emma immediately sprang into action. Sapphire was already in her hero suit. On the way out the agency, she ran into her friend, Karly, who has a teleportation quirk.

"Hey Karly, can you teleport us to Shibuya?"

"Sure thing" And she teleported us to Shibuya. Soon as we got there it was a fucking train wreck. Debris everywhere, crumbling building, hurt civilians. A fucking mess. Sapphire ran straight to Endeavor when she saw him. He wasted no time in telling her what the Villain's quirk was. His quirk was mud making. Anything he touched would turn to mud. Heroes and police were struggling to get him to because everything he made turned to mud and they sank in the mud. Sapphire immediate activated her telekinesis and her foldable sword. She used her Telekinesis to throw her sword towards the villain and he threw mud and knocked her sword into a wall and caused it to dent. She wondered if she could get close enough for him to stop wreaking havoc. She used her fan to propel her towards the villain and again, he threw mud at her, and she flew. She flew so hard that it knocked her into the same building that her sword flew into and knocked the building down. Thankfully, there were no civilians inside because police and heroes had evacuated. Sapphire was having a hard time trying to bring this villain to justice when all of a sudden there was a loud explosion.

AN: Hey Lovelies. Finally got the first chapter out of this series. Don't know how long this series will last. Hope you enjoy.

Series Masterlist

#katsuki bakugo mha #mha x black female reader #bakugo x black reader #bakugo x oc #bakugo x reader #bakugou katsuki #katsuki bakugo x reader #mha x black reader #mha x reader #mha x y/n #bakugo x female reader #bakugo x y/n #bakugo x you #bakugo x black fem reader #shoto x black fem reader #shoto x reader #shoto todoroki #katsuki bakugou #midoriya izuku #izuku midoriya #kirishima ejirou

[arionawrites]

— hot chocolate

a work in progress

GENRE: fiction, modern day, college era coming of age, queer romance

SETTING: a town called baneberry grove, where community means nothing and everything and everyone knows each others names.

TROPES: found family, slow burn, strangers to friends to lover

— the characters

mallory james

eighteen and freshly graduated from high school, mallory's entire life has turned upside down. every plan she's ever made is pointless. the future she was looking forward to is out of the question. nothing is how it was and it never will be again.

mallory isn't new to baneberry grove, but moving in with her older brother is different from visiting for a week or two. this is permanent. this is overwhelming and mind numbing. she has no choice but to live with it.

edmund "eddie" james

the best day of eddie's life was the day his baby sister was born. twelve years older than her, he feels responsible to keep her safe, and after already failing more than once, he's determined to make things right. his guest room becomes mallory's. his house becomes hers.

he doesn't know what he's doing. thirty years old, he has a lot of life figured out, surprisingly, but nothing can prepare him for what's to come. he might think he's ready to take care of mallory, but he's in way over his head, and it won't take him long to realize.

ellon "ellie" pohlman

ellie doesn't have a plan, and she never has. each day is a new adventure, a new challenge, a new obstacle to overcome. she's never let herself think too far ahead out of fear of failure, of letting herself down - if there aren't any plans to achieve, there's no way to fuck them up, is there?

baneberry grove community college is her only hope at finding her footing and making sense of life now that she's an adult.

beatrice “bee” gidley

a nonbinary badass, ellie’s best friend, and allergic to bullshit. math skills and eidetic memory aside, they’re a total nerd, a complete sweetheart, and they’re able to make friends with pretty much anyone.

planning to major in something math related, they’ve decided to join ellie and ash in attending baneberry grove community college, knowing that it’ll be cheaper in the long run to do their first two years of college there. although they have no expectations, they can’t wait to see what bgcc brings.

ashton “ash” blake

total fucking himbo who wants to be a dad by the time he’s 22. he works in child care and is going to bgcc for an associates degree in early childhood education. he might want to be a teacher. he isn’t really sure.

totally unrelated—is it possible to like more than one person at a time? he’s just asking. for a friend.

no other reason.

and more!

— the story

it's july when mallory james moves in with her big brother.

her high school graduation already feels like a distant memory rather than something that happened only a month ago. california is nothing but a state in the rearview mirror, and everything ahead of her appears dull, an empty replacement for the life she was supposed to live.

eddie is a familiar presence in an unfamiliar situation, and mallory loves him, but there isn't much her brother can do for her other than provide a roof over her head and a chance to heal.

she doesn't want to heal. she doesn't want to acknowledge the fact that there's anything to heal from.

it's this stubbornness that leads her to baneberry grove community college - refusing to accept that she probably isn't ready to move on, she signs up for classes, gets her financial aid, and insists to herself that she isn't there to make friends, no matter how many times people try to approach her. she may not know why she's there, but she knows it isn't companionship she wants.

enter ellie pohlman and it becomes clear that, despite what she wants, mallory has to accept that companionship might be exactly what she needs.

status

as of march 20, i am 5k words into the first draft!

as of march 22, i am 10k words into the first draft!

as of april 5, i am 30k words into the first draft!

taglist

@wildswrites @briannaswords @sarah-sandwich

#wip: hot chocolate #ariwrites #writeblr #writblr

[lovesongbracket]

Reminder: Vote based on the song, not the artist or specific recording! The tracks referenced are the original artist, aside from a few rare cases where a cover is the most widely known.

Lyrics, videos, info, and notable covers under the cut. (Spotify playlist available in pinned post)

No Children

Written By: John Darnielle

Artist: The Mountain Goats

Released: 2002

It should be noted that this song, and entire album, was written through the point of view of an imagined couple–known as the Alpha couple. In John’s own words, “The Alpha couple are these people who get together in California, and they fall in love, but they’re really broken people, and they’re very bad for each other – they’re both big liquor enthusiasts. They move to Las Vegas and live in a motel for a year, out of a sort of romanticized vision of how they’re supposed to live, and things just keep getting worse, so they just flee across the country in the hopes of starting a new life, but they haven’t really thought it through at all. So they get to Tallahassee, and that’s where I always envisioned them falling apart, in some tiny little house”. “No Children” is a staple of band’s live shows and certainly among their most well-known. The song further expands upon the notion that this couple cannot ever be content, and know only how to live in chaos and misery. The Alpha couple were put to rest by Darnielle after the release of Tallahassee in 2002–though John has said he could one day bring them back. Darnielle stated, “This is a song that I want you to know when it comes time for your divorce. You could be in a lawyer’s office somewhere off 15-501 in one of those little business parks you don’t normally go to saying, ‘Well, I must’ve driven past this place a thousand times. Now I’m going to get my divorce.’ Like some people wait for Christmas; it’s a different sort of Christmas. And as you prepare to sign the papers, you say, ‘I’m glad I’ve got that one tune.’ ”

[Verse 1] I hope that our few remaining friends Give up on trying to save us I hope we come up with a fail-safe plot To piss off the dumb few that forgave us I hope the fences we mended Fall down beneath their own weight And I hope we hang on past the last exit I hope it's already too late [Pre-Chorus 1] And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here Someday burns down And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away And I never come back to this town again [Chorus 1] In my life I hope I lie, and tell everyone you were a good wife And I hope you die I hope we both die [Verse 2] I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow I hope it bleeds all day long Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises We're pretty sure they're all wrong I hope it stays dark forever I hope the worst isn't over And I hope you blink before I do And I hope I never get sober [Pre-Chorus 2] And I hope when you think of me years down the line You can't find one good thing to say And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out You'd stay the hell out of my way [Chorus 2] I am drowning There is no sign of land You are coming down with me Hand in unlovable hand And I hope you die I hope we both die

I Was Born to Love You

Written By: Freddie Mercury

Artist: Freddie Mercury

Released: 1985

Cover included: Queen, 1995

“I Was Born to Love You” is a 1985 song by Freddie Mercury, and was released as a single and on the Mr. Bad Guy album. After Mercury’s death, Queen re-worked this song for their album Made in Heaven in 1995, by having the other members play their instrumental parts over the original track transforming the song from a disco song to a rock song. The Queen version from the Made in Heaven album also includes samples of Mercury’s ad-lib vocals taken from “A Kind of Magic” and from “Living On My Own”.

[Chorus Intro] An amazing feeling coming through I was born to love you With every single beat of my heart Yes, I was born to take care of you Every single day of my life [Verse 1] You are the one for me, I am the man for you You were made for me, you're my ecstasy If I was given every opportunity I'd kill for your love, hey So take a chance with me, let me romance with you I'm caught in a dream, and my dream's come true (It's) so hard to believe this is happening to me An amazing feeling coming through [Chorus] I was born to love you With every single beat of my heart, yeah I was born to take care of you, huh Every single day of my life [Verse 2] I wanna love you, I love every little thing about you I wanna love you, love you, love you (Born) to love you, (born) to love you, yes (born) I was born to love you (Born) to love you, (born) to love you every single day of my life I was born to take care of you every single day of my life [Instrumental Break] [Bridge] My life! Hey hey! Every single day of my life [Chorus] I was born to love you With every single beat of my heart Yeah, I was born to take care of you, honey Every single day of my life

#the mountain goats #tmg #mountain goats #no children #john darnielle #queen #freddie mercury #i was born to love you #polls #poll tournament #poll bracket #tournament #bracket #lovesongbracket #round1

[blocksruinedme]

Team Rancher Fic Preview!

I've said "I want to get this fic out tonight" every day since the fricking episode aired. It was supposed to be a quick cute thing before I went back to my stated writing priority, the MY EX STOLE MY SOULMATE Cave Ranchers Sequel. Well, it's heading towards 15k and I'm not trying to get this one out tonight. I was really close, and then I realized something I really want to give the boys, so we're giving it breathing room and going back. To keep myself from feeling too down about taking a little break (and going back to Cave Ranchers), here's the first little bit. The Scarian is background but not that background. Enjoy! (Sub to my ao3 to get the notif, slam that bell, i don't know how to promote without being annoying, etc.) Cover art credit to @toasted-cricket & my anon spouse.

Some Tags: Angst with a tentatively happy ending, Jimmy's Abandonment Issues, Tango's Avoidance Issues, Grian & Jimmy (brotherly), Jimmy's still thinking about fWhip a lot, Jimmy &almost Everyone, just a lot of emotional conversations, they just kept talking

Tango moved in right away, the day after Jimmy built the new ranch for him. Jimmy didn’t know how talking to fWhip went, and he didn’t want to know. Tango thankfully seemed to have picked up on Jimmy’s absolute lack of desire to talk about fWhip. To speed up the moving process, Jimmy emptied all of his shulker boxes into the most monstrous, disorganized chests he’d ever had. He waited for Tango just outside the bounds of Gobland, shulkers at the ready in case he needed extra inventory space. Luckily, Tango fit everything into the shulkers Jimmy gave him, so they quickly flew back together. Was fWhip watching from his entrance? Did he see Tango flying away with Jimmy, to where he belonged, flying home? Did fWhip feel defeat, or resentment, at his failure to steal Jimmy’s soulmate? Jimmy didn’t know, and he put those thoughts aside. Tango was coming home with Jimmy, to their home, and nothing else mattered. Certainly not fWhip.

It didn’t take long to get Tango settled. It wasn’t like there was much to do. Jimmy couldn’t stop smiling—he’d made a bedroom for Tango, all on his own, and here Tango was, living in it. The fact that Tango was going to work in... that place. It was just work. This bedroom, the one he made with his own hands, was where Tango would rest his head, hang his (honestly fantastic) hat—his homestead. His home. Their home.

As soon as he was settled, Tango immediately started on plans to expand the ranch. He never, not once, spoke disparagingly of Jimmy’s build. (He had said it was the happiest day of his life when he saw the ranch. He’d been more enthusiastic than Jimmy could have hoped for.) Jimmy loved all his ideas, but Tango still always wanted his feedback, wanted him to pick from options, even when Jimmy promised he loved all of them. Tango declared Jimmy was just like Bdubs, always loving every build. Jimmy didn’t know about other Hermits’ builds, but Bdubs was right about Tango’s—of course they must all be amazing.

No one had ever really cared about Jimmy’s opinion on builds before now. Everyone liked compliments, but when it came to actually making something new? Never. And collaboration? No one wanted to collaborate with Jimmy, not unless they really needed to. Jimmy was stupidly excited to get to work with Tango in the future. He loved Tumble Town, of course, but now? Now it was going to be something beautiful, something made by him and Tango, and Scar too. His friends. Maybe someday people wouldn’t say Joel’s walls were the best thing about his home.

Tango and Jimmy both wanted to celebrate Moving Day, and the saloon had never gotten enough use, at least not any that was actually fun. Pixl, Shubble and Impulse came by for a while, but Scar and Grian stayed the longest. Scar obviously lived there, and Grian spent plenty of time hanging around Tumble Town. (How much was to see Scar, and how much was to harass Jimmy, there was no way to know.)

Jimmy couldn’t quite remember who started the drinking game, but he was having a great time. The thing about Jimmy and Grian’s relationship was that the amount of teasing lessened the longer they were together. If Grian was just popping by for a couple minutes, it was nonstop. If they’d been drinking for two hours, he would have gotten most (but certainly not all) of it out. As much as he shouted about Grian harassing him, he knew Grian didn’t mean anything by it. There was always a smile, and a warmth to his words. He liked being around Grian, even when he was being absolutely annoying.

#me #my fic #team rancher #team rancher fic #empires shipping #traffic shipping #hermitshipping #empiresblr #empires smp #empires s2 #hermitcraft x empires #mcyt crossover #mcyt multiverse #shipping #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #tango tek #empires season 2 #rancher duo #rancher duo fic #solidarity gaming

[bloodgulchblog]

Over in rper town people were passing around some character questions that you're supposed to ask each other to answer. So I decided to do all of them about the Chief.

How aware is your character of their thought processes? Do they think about why they do what they do (however accurately)? Do they care about self-analysis?

John fucking hates self reflection. He has a list of John-acceptable reasons why he THINKS he does most things and he Absolutely Refuses to analyze whether it's actually true or not.

Is your character more likely to think they can overcome something even when they can't or to feel helpless even when they aren't?

John thinks it's his job to push himself through fucking everything. If he runs up against his limits because a human being can only endure so much, well, that means he is bad and should feel bad. Obviously.

3. What's one thing they're overconfident about? What's one thing they're under-confident about?

Over-confident: enduring terrible things, and also being responsible for all the bad consequences when he can't solve everything by just being tough enough.

Under-confident: John really does not see how much his humanity toward other people matters when he shows it, and that he's better at being kind than he realizes.

4. How aware of and in control of their physical presence are they? Could they ever be caught with their clothes inside-out or spinach in their teeth? Do they ever stop paying attention to where they're walking or hit things when gesturing?

John is very alert re: the state of his body and also his body language. He is troublingly accurate at assessing where he's hurt and how badly without a medical scan because... he has so much experience.

When it comes to body language, he's very careful about what he's expressing and (I've said this elsewhere) I think John is pretty conscious of the effect his body language has on other people. He knows he's big and intimidating. Most of the time he prefers to regulate that a little and keep the intensity low by keeping back from people and not making sudden moves, but if John is either in a bad enough spot that he's not, or if he wants to turn on the intimidation, he is suddenly Very Present And Standing Very Tall.

5. How good are they at accurately assigning blame? Do they think everything is their fault? That nothing is?

As stated above, everything is always John's fault? Forever? He is responsible for everything?????

6. Name something from your character's past that affects their behavior now in a way they don't realize and something that affects them in a way they do realize.

Spartan Training Absolutely Did Not Fuck Him Up In An Inexcusable Way What Are You Talking About It's FINE?????

John does understand how bad what happened with Cortana hurt him and has made him worse at the things he wants to do/be, even though he hasn't figured out how obvious it is to everyone who knows him.

7. Does your character overcompensate for anything?

You can probably count "I'm bad at socialization and lying so what if I just minimize how much I talk to people entirely?"

8. Does your character believe they're chronically lucky/unlucky? Why?

John has a reputation for luck that other characters acknowledge. He supposes he might as well lean in.

9. Does your character have an inner monologue? Are their thoughts about themselves more frequently positive or critical?

John is one of those people who doesn't have an inner monologue, but he absolutely does think himself in worry circles all the time about things he can't change. He likes himself and what he can do. His self-image problems are mostly in that he measures his own worth by how much he's doing for others, and if he is in a situation where he can't help or his attempts to do good work have failed, he feels pretty useless and bad.

10. Are there any values or beliefs your character espouses but doesn't live up to?

John's values for himself are pretty toxic. He has not shaken the idea he's internalized that the best thing he can be is a more perfect machine that does not hesitate because of feelings or pain.

It's good for him that he can't actually achieve it, though the trying still hurts him all the time.

11. How good at reading people is your character, usually? Do they think they're better or worse at it than they are?

John's ability to figure out when something's up with someone is better than he thinks, but the problem is he's usually not around anyone long enough to get a good baseline sense of a person for him to compare with. He will absolutely notice when someone he knows is breaking from their usual patterns, though.

That said, I think mostly he is not good at reading people. He's a Spartan-II, he's not very socialized, and he's usually more busy covering his own end of the interaction than he is paying detailed attention to the other half.

12. What sorts of things does your character use to evaluate someone they've just met—clothes, looks, attitude? Is there anything (besides bad behavior) that will give them a kneejerk dislike of a stranger? A kneejerk affection?

The first thing John assesses about a stranger is branch and rank, if signs are visible to him. (Because 99% of people John meets are UNSC) He's instantly on the alert with anyone that shows hallmarks of being ONI because you never know what ONI wants or what it's doing.

He is most comfortable with people who are calm and know what they're doing. He's a no-nonsense professional without being super uptight, and appreciates the same.

13. Would you say your character is too trusting, not trusting enough, or juuuust right?

Despite being a Spartan and raised in ONI secrecy, John is... honestly kind of too trusting. Just look at Guilty Spark.

It's in John's nature to believe people. Unless they're throwing big red flags, he usually will.

14. How susceptible is your character to perceiving or treating others like surrogate parents or children (or some other specific familial role)? Why?

Not really. John doesn't have a strong "family" mental framework to begin with, much less to slot people into. I call the Spartans his siblings because it's the most useful shorthand, but it's not a word he would use for that relationship.

I joke about how he's a dad now in Halo Infinite, but he's also really not.

15. Can they easily tell when someone is hitting on them?

He does get hit on sometimes and can usually tell he's being flirted with if someone's being straightforward or using common lines, but if they're trying to be clever or subtle about it he will absolutely not notice.

16. How sensitive are they to passive aggression or backhanded compliments? Do they ever read too much into things?

John notices these things and calmly controls the spike of indignation he feels. He's not one to overanalyze surface comments that seem neutral enough, and he will make an effort not to react to actual digs at him because it's not like his feelings are supposed to matter, right??? Being a professional means being a brick wall.

17. Does your character project anything in particular onto other people—thinking everyone is scheming because they're always scheming themselves, for example?

Part of the reason why John tends to default to trusting people is because John is always doing his best and trying as hard as he can, so he wants to naturally assume that is what's going on inside other people too.

18. Are the standards your character holds other people to higher, lower, or equal to the standards they hold themselves to? Do they notice that?

John holds himself to a higher standard than other people because he has swallowed the idea that being a Spartan-II means he has exceptional ability and thus he must live up to exceptional expectations.

Otherwise he is being bad.

19. How noticeable is your character? Do they stand out or fade into the background? Is that intentional or innate?

Our boy is seven feet tall and usually wearing a shit ton of armor. He's hard to miss.

That said, like I was saying when talking about his body language: I think he has a good ability to downplay his body language's energy and stay back. You won't miss him in a room, but he's not inherently looming and threatening in the way he carries himself.

20. What's the first thing they want other people to notice about them? Is that what most people actually usually notice?

John wants other people to recognize that he is a Spartan, and by golly they sure do.

21. Besides just being more formal in formal settings, do they ever change how they behave around specific people? Is it on purpose? What happens if they're in the room with two of those people at the same time?

John doesn't really have many friends, but he is a little more warm and playful with them. You see this with Cortana most. He used to be like this with the Spartans more, but time and authority wore him down.

Presence of strangers/superiors will mute this behavior again unless he can do it, say, privately over a comm channel.

22. Does your character wish people perceived them differently than they do? Do they have any qualities they wish got more recognition? Is there anything about your character's background or personality that they try to hide but can't?

Every now and then, he does scare somebody without meaning to. And that always feels like shit.

He also wishes he could pass a little more easily for "normal," but it's purely for the ease that would offer him. He likes who/what he is.

23. Does your character come across the way they intend to come across—cool when they're trying to be cool, intimidating when they're trying to be intimidating—or is there a mismatch?

Most of the time. Unless he's pretty bad off, or trying to tell people not to worry about him re: things that are unhinged to not worry about him for.

24. If someone hated your character for no apparent reason, how would they take it? Would they try to change their minds? Could they live without knowing why?

He absolutely could live without knowing why. John does care about what the people close to him think, and he wants to be useful and helpful and good, but if some rando is super antagonistic to him for no apparent reason and won't back down about it he's just ???? Okay????

He will figure out how to avoid it if he can and work around it if he can't.

25. What if someone openly adored your character for no apparent reason? Flattering or uncomfortable?

It's nice when people say nice things, sure, but oh man do not get clingy or weird or over-invested with him. He will be so uncomfortable. This is not an energy he can match and he wants out of this conversation, please let him go.

[ellen729]

So, I was reading something where someone was saying David was SO MEAN to Hook in their earlier episodes even though he had NO REASON (what with not knowing Hook had sadistically murdered his dad).

Uhh. . . .

Some of the little, itty-bitty things David might hold against Hook at this point.

For starters, it seems safe to assume David had heard what Hook had been doing in the Enchanted Forest.

1. After earning their trust and living among them for two months, Hook helped murder a village full of innocent people.

2. One of those people was a friend of David’s, Lancelot.

3. Hook had been Cora’s willing minion for close to 30 years (whether that involved massacres and murders is unclear).

4. When given a chance to stop working with Cora after at least one massacre, Hook quickly signed on again.

5. Hook tore out Aurora’s heart and forced her to betray her friends (there is speculation that he sexually assaulted Aurora after taking her heart as well).

6. Left four women to die of hunger and thirst in a small, dark cave.

7. Made crude statements to David’s daughter.

8. Behaved like a sexist abuser. Hook makes it quite clear that he considered Emma finding a way to leave him behind without having to kill him to protect herself and her family and friends was a personal betrayal. Apparently, he felt she was supposed to have fallen for his charms, making her his, making her leaving him behind an unforgivable dumping by a woman he already treated as his property.

9. Made rape jokes while trying to kill David’s daughter.

Then, we get into things Hook did once he was in Storybrooke:

1. Murdered people.

2. Kidnapped and tortured a friend of David’s.

3. Having kidnapped and imprisoned the giant who spared his life, Hook convinced him David was really his brother James and set things up so a giant was going on a rampage in a small town with many noncombatants, including children.

4. Used crude language to sexually harass women, including David’s wife (which he did in front of David).

5. Shot a woman in the back and erased all her memories after she’d saved his life. Stated that he did this to get back at the man who loved her (because he sees women as things whose value exists only in terms of the men the “belong” to).

6.  Tried to murder Gold.

7. Helped get the failsafe that could kill everyone in Storybrooke and then gave it to people trying to kill everyone in Storybrooke.

8. Helped destroy nearly all the magic beans.

9. Worked with Regina when she was trying to kill everyone.

10. Worked with Greg and Tamara when they were trying to kill everyone.

11. Handed Regina over to Greg and Tamara and stood around watching while Regina was being tortured.

12. Helped Greg and Tamara kidnap Henry.

13. Stole the last magic bean and ran off with it, leaving everyone to die.

14. Apparently sat safely outside the town limits and only came back after the failsafe had been disarmed and everyone wasn’t going to die.

15. Assaulted David, knocking him out when making a jailbreak.

16. Made it clear that, despite David’s daughter showing no interest in him, he intended to get David’s daughter.

17. Considered letting David die as part of his plan to get David’s daughter.

18. Found out Hook had gotten large numbers of the men who worked for him killed in Neverland. It’s unclear if David knew that Hook made some kind of deal with Pan that let him leave and return, during which he apparently hired new crew, many of whom also got killed in Neverland.

19. Learned Hook had killed children in Neverland (given conditions in Neverland, some of that may have been self-defence. Again, it’s unclear if David knew Hook frequently left and returned, implying he didn’t have to keep going back to participate in Pan’s games and kill kids).

20. Trafficked children. It’s known that Hook sold Baelfire to Pan, though it’s unclear if anyone ever learns this. It’s also unclear if Hook, doing whatever he did for Pan, didn’t pick up new children for him as well as crew for himself.

And, yet, David was a bit chilly towards him. How unforgivable.

#ouat #Anti-h00k

[trashyinfernomusic]

The Big Texas Post

Y’know what’s funny? Explaining Texas culture to non-Texans.

People from Dallas: Dallasites. People from Houston: Houstonians. People from Austin: Weird.

Texas has two pro baseball teams, three pro basketball teams, two pro football teams, two pro soccer teams, and one pro hockey team (and tried to get a second in the Houston Aeros but that didn’t work out).

Most sports orgs are based in either Dallas or Houston, and the two cities have a rivalry that when left unchecked causes brawls in restaurants and bars (among other chaotic things). The general rule is that Houstonians hate Dallas, Dallasites hate Houston, everyone hates Austin, and San Antonio and El Paso are just the two kids in the corner trying to stay out of the fighting. However, if you’re from out-of-state and you hate on any of them, you’ll be the one on the receiving end of a beat-down because “no one messes with my little brother but me, damnit!”

Meanwhile, you have all the people who self-identify as being from one of the big cities even though they’re really from a suburb that’s about an hour away. Live in Spring, TX? “Oh, I’m from Houston.” Live in Arlington (which is where the Texas Rangers - largely considered a Dallas sports team - are located)? You’re considered from Dallas or the DFW area. We Texans don’t really care about the accuracy. We care more about whether or not you’re from the coast (Houston), the middle (Dallas/San Antonio), the weird (Keep Austin Weird was supposed to be a slogan that would promote mom-and-pop small businesses in the city. The rest of Texas leapt on the opportunity to make fun of it. Sorry, Austin), the border (El Paso, Texarkana), or somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. The state’s too big to get into the nitty gritty.

And don’t even get me started on college rivalries. You’ve got U of H, UT, A&M, SFA, and even more acronyms and mascots and history and - well, let’s just say it can all get out of hand. Actually, A&M and UT refuse to play each other anymore out of stubbornness - they hate each other that much. (Personally, I land on the Aggie side of things. Anyone who goes so far as to genetically engineer maroon bluebonnets to prank another school has earned my affection. Though UT can give as good as they get.)

Some other weird/fun things about Texas include: - Drive through margarita places - Kolaches (which are a Czech sweet pastry that we bastardized into a savory breakfast option) - The Battle for the Boot (I kid you not, two baseball teams compete against each other for a silver cowboy boot every once in a while. It’s the silliest and yet most Texan thing ever.) - Buck-ees - The second largest port in the US (the amount of people who don’t understand that yes, Houston is on the water, and yes, it has a booming transport industry is alarming) - Really good barbecue (ours is tomato based, which makes the sauce thick and sweet) - Strange laws including one where you’re not allowed to have pliers in the back pocket of your jeans (it’s a holdover from when cattle rustlers would use them to cut barbed-wire fences) - There’s a law where in the US, no state capital is allowed to be taller than the US capital. Texas built theirs on a hill - it’s not taller, it just happens to be... higher. - People argue over this one, but Texas DOES have the right to secede from the union. - Six Flags the theme park was named such because it stands for Six Flags Over Texas. Why? Texas has had six different flags flying over it: France, Spain, Republic of Texas, United States, Confederacy, and Mexico. Yes, you read that right: France. No, we were not acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. - Dry counties are a thing. No alcohol is allowed to be consumed or sold! That being said, a trailer park of 200 came together to create the town Mobile, TX so that they could sell and consume liquor in the 90s - In 1963, Janice Joplin was voted “Ugliest Man on Campus” at the University of Texas - The Houston Grand Opera is considered one of the best opera companies in the world!

#texas #ferno rambles #someone asked me texas questions in a comment on AO3 and I decided why not #texas culture #stupid texas things #fanfic #i only tag that because this spawned from a fic