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#had me googling what skeleton feet looked like
sea-jello · 1 year
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!!tw vague description of a body burning!!
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what if morro could feel his body burning a second time?
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How would ur skeles react to their s/o is sleeping. Its cute. Then, n their sleep they let out a explosive crazy fart. I mean, this fart can be heard n every corner of the home. Loudly and Clearly. They dont even wake up, only difference is theyre now snoring
??!!
That took me so offguard at 4 in the morning I had to answer it immediately. That's genius lol. I'll go with it's the middle of the night and skeleton is sleeping with them.
Undertale Sans - He jerks away in fear, looking everywhere around him when his eyes fall on you. Oh. Oh damn. This was something. Welp. That's why he marry you after all. He just kisses you on the cheek and goes back to sleep. What? It's all you wonder? Well not exactly as he will call you nothing but "Fartmaster" affectionately for two whole months and do the reverence every time he sees you. He's so in love. You hate him so much.
Undertale Papyrus - He sits in bed, quite in shock. Did you just do what he thinks you did? Oh my god. That's it. He's never cooking beans ever again for you. This is too much. He wakes up and starts his day early. God, he has to open the window too. When you wake up, he gives you a dark stare and pouts like a child, refusing to talk to you.
Underswap Sans - He chuckles, then can't hold it and howls with laughter. You wake up, annoyed, and half-sleep asks him why he's laughing. Blue just wheezes. He can't breath. And not just because he is laughing. God you smell. He needed that to calm down after his stressing day at work.
Underswap Papyrus - He screams, surprised in his sleep. Then he realises you did that. Oh, it's fine. Wait no, it's not fine! He throws himself out of the bed, screaming. He needs to evacuate! You don't question why he's suddenly running out of the room, opening every window on his way.
Underfell Sans - How could you not wake up to this??? That startles him. You sounded like a damn cave in. What is wrong with you? What the hell did you eat tonight? That's not a human sound! That's a damn earthquake! Oh my god. He's going to sleep in the couch. He can't close his eyes again. When he closes his eyes, all he can hear is your abomination of a fart.
Underfell Papyrus - He jumps on his feet, a bone in hand. Wh-what??? He looks at you, then becomes very pale when he realises what just happened. Even Doomfanger is agitated. He's going to be sick. He's going to take a shower to forget. As soon as he's gone, Doomfanger attacks you for being a weirdo.
Horrortale Sans - You managed to wake him up. That's quite a miracle as Oak is one of the heavy sleeper one. He looks around for threats, half asleep, but sees nothing and he is too tired so he brings you against him and nuzzles in your back. Then he sniffs. He slowly push you back to your side of the bed, and turns his back from you. Damn. You feel offended your pillow just pushed you away.
Horrortale Papyrus - He coughs, choking. He throws himself on the floor and crawls out of here. That's it. He's going to sleep with the chicken. At least they don't try to kill him in his sleep! What the hell??? He finds his brother in the corridor, looking at the ceiling with worry like it's going to fall on his head. "THIS IS FINE. S/O JUST TRIED TO KILL US."
Swapfell Sans - He wakes up, pissed off, and breaks his brother door with a powerful kick. "Rus! I fucking told you to stop playing with your stupid whoopee cushions at 3 am!" Rus opens a confused eye at him, deep asleep. "wha-?" "YOUR WHOOPEE CUSHIONS!" "my wha?" "Your... Wait you were asleep?" "yea. can i go back to sleep now?" Nox closes the door, confused. And goes back to the room. He takes out his phone and asks Google "if the whoopee cushion don't fart, what did?". He then reads the results, slowly turns to you with a dramatic expression and lets go a high pitch scream.
Swapfell Papyrus - He was recording you two to prove you that you're snoring. He is so glad he caught this on the mic. In the morning, you wakes up with a demonic echoed fat as an alarm. Rus replaced every sound he could with this. The microwave ding? A fart. The door ring? A fart. The sound the TV makes when it switchs on? A fart. Your life is now a nightmare.
Fellswap Gold Sans - He gives you an offended stare, makes your soul blue and yeets you out of the room. You crash in the stairs in a scream. Wine closes and locks the door to the room. You have no idea what just happened.
Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He instinctively hugs you to hide from whatever is making his sound. He then shakes you awake, begging you to wake up. You look at him. He whispers "i think there's a monster in the bed..." You stare at him. "... Well yeah." Coffee looks even more scared and starts to cry, crushing you in a hug. "I"m talking about you stupid. You're the monster in the bed." "... oh." "Yeah." "yea..." He calms down a bit after that, but he is still wary. This was not normal.
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luxshine · 4 months
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Lemme tell you a bit of the best buy I made for my art last year.
First, this is NOT a sponsored post. This is honestly from the bottom of my heart, because I didn't think this would help me at first, and a month later? I have 100% changed my mind.
See, you probably have seen the ads on face or other social media about the Body-kun and Body-chan figures for artists. They are fully articulated manequins you can pose however you want, and have a variety of hands and accessories that come with them. In the box, they look like this:
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(This one in specific is the Sport Deluxe Set. I am not sure you can still get the original normal version, as Tamashii nation makes them in limited quantities and I haven't seen anywhere that sells the original ORIGINAL one anymore)
Now, this is VERY important, I said the ORIGINAL one because there are a TON of bootlegs going around. And I mean a TON. It's so bad that the first site you get when you google Body-kun and Body-chan (the female) is one for Bootlegs (usually announcing a 50% sale, where each figure is about $30 dlls or so.
Now, at first glance, the bootleg and the original look very similar. In fact, years ago, I had bought a bootleg thinking it was an original and boy, I was disappointed!
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First, Bootleg-kun is far less flexible than Original-kun as you can see in the pic (I have no idea where his base dissappeared to, but he came with one). But also, the plastic it is made of is SO CHEAP that the hands became... impossible to remove an put again (as you're supposed to be able to) and in fact, Bootleg-chan just, lost her left hand articulation one day. I have a one-hand girl.
For more comparisons: These are my two first Originals (the girl is the "Birdie-wing" golfer edition... more on that later)
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While these are the two bootlegs (Chan is holding her arm like that because, it also went off)
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And again, you can see here how much more natural the Original can move:
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Sports Edition even comes with balls and bats and a baseball glove!
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While golfer chan Has two extra legs so you can make her kneel even more.
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You can use them digitally, taking pictures and then tracing your skeleton over them Or traditionally, using them as models, which is what I do.
And I loved them SO MUCH, that I had to get other two (mostly because although bootleg kun helped for couple poses, his limited flexibility didn't allow for much variation.
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Only that this time, I got the "normal" Sport edition girl, whom I call the gymnast. (the boy version is the same as before)
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And once again, you can see the difference! The gymnast is more buff, and has more articulations, which makes her more flexible (Although for some reason? Not as flexible as the boys)
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But the best part? The gymnast comes with extra FEET. More specifically, ICE SKATE wearing feet!
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anyway, the point of all this is that thanks to being able to both visualize AND touch how the body parts move, I can now be a lot more confident on my poses and so this:
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Becomes this:
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Too long didn't read version: Do get a Body kun and a body chan (Or two body kuns or two body chans if you do Slash or femslash) But if you do? AVOID the bootlegs! The extra money is worth it so you can do EVERYTHING you want with your figures. Check on the site that they are TAMASHII NATIONS brand! (and if you want, I can show more WIPS from the pose of the dolls to the final product here!)
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So theres kind of plush dolls that have grown to be REALLY popular especially among the Genshin Impact fandom so I took a little peep at one site that sells them to see what other characters they do and LO AND BEHOLD! there's a possibility of Hetalia characters!
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For what the dolls look like since they haven't made these guys yet, they're incredibly cute plush dolls! Here's an example of one they got a lot of interest for, Yuji from Jujutsu Kaisen! Their hands and feet have embroidered pawbs on them just like my big Kumajiro!
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Here's another example someone did get, it's literally Soap from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and you can see the toe beans!
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Did I also mention that you can dress them up too? Now imagine Italy with a Capybara onesie!
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There's also bigger dolls too, such as certified Tumblr Sexyman Emet-Selch doll (Yes many of them come NAKEY! For the purpose of dressing them up of course)
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I do believe most of these dolls are poseable because they have a skeleton inside of them, so you can have your funny country guys do funny things for pics :o)
Also from the screenshot I provided, if you do give your $1 deposit to Ruadoll, they will give you $5 credit towards your purchase of your funny country people, IF they do get them made! (if they don't, they'll just refund you back)
However
I do not know if any other doll enjoyers have bought from this site before, and I don't want to have a lot of disappointed people be scammed because as a lolita myself, it seems like they're affiliated with Devil Inspired, which is basically a reseller of jfashion (mostly Lolita and recently, Jirai Kei) from Taobao, notorious for hiking up prices and having shit service unless you basically say "a lolita fashion youtuber i enjoy sent me here" and then give you good service?? what
I have had experiences with Taobao shopping services because Taobao (which is basically like Amazon but only for China, hence using a shopping service) has some gems I have bought for lolita because there are so many amazing lolita brands on Taobao but I am not well-versed in dolls, especially plush dolls! (rest in peace, C.C. Cat) Also I cannot speak any Chinese dialect at all (ie, Mandarin, Cantonese) so I gotta use Google Translate oops
So the question would be...
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ceilingfan5 · 2 years
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Could you do 5 from the prompt list (the doing crimes one) please? It made me smile.
“So Taako,” Kravitz stage-whispers, holding tightly to Taako’s legs to keep him on his shoulders. “I looked it up, and vandalism can be pursued as a felony charge. That’s-” He looks up to see how Taako’s doing and ducks his head so spray paint doesn’t get in his eyes. The sunglasses he brought only help a little, except for the part where it made Taako laugh but also slap his ass, so that’s half of a win. “That’s multiple years in jail.”
“Shouldn’ta googled it, Krav, it’s like looking up your symptoms or whatever.” Taako says, and Kravitz knows just from his tone he’s shaking his head wistfully. He knows Taako like the back of his hand, like Hamlet’s To Be or Not To Be speech, like the smell in the air when you know it’s going to rain without a shadow of a doubt. They’ve been friends for most of their lives. Kravitz has been pining after his stupid ass for what feels like nearly as long. He’s a fucking sucker, is what he is, and he knows it. “You know, you’re like, huh, why are my hands shaky, and the internet is fuckin’ like, CANCER TWO, THE SEQUEL TO CANCER! It was invented just so we could all watch you die miserable and alone, because the other reason you’re shaky is halitosis and also dick rot! Bleagh!!!” 
Kravitz tries not to laugh, and fails. 
“Not the dick rot,” he deadpans, “anything but dickrot. But no seriously, you’ve got to stop asking me to do crimes with you.”
“You’ve got to stop saying yes, coward. Okay, I’m done, lookie here.” Taako clicks his tongue, like he’s addressing a horse. Kravitz has half a mind to buck him off. Yeehaw. He looks up though, and has to laugh again, his composure not even recovered from the last go. 
“Is that skeleton-”
“Obviously. Okay, let me down, let’s dip.” 
Kravitz is about to comply right after Taako puts the spray cans back in his backpack, but a light snaps on, and Kravitz’s heart starts thumping like a rabbit at its first punk rock concert, and it doesn’t take Taako hissing go go go go for him to hold tight to Taako’s legs and bolt. It’s awkward and unwieldy, but they know this area, and it’s easy for them to disappear into the weeds and trees and junk left behind, along with Kravitz's sunglasses. Taako whoops and cackles and Kravitz holds onto him for dear life, but the chase thrums in his veins like caffeine and adrenaline had an affair and produced a spectrum of unlikely offspring even Gregor Mendel couldn’t grasp. 
They skid to a stop in a familiar clearing and Kravitz finally drops Taako to the ground, and they freeze, channeling all the deer energy they can muster, not even inches away from one another. There’s nothing, no sound behind them, no lights, no consequences, and when the breath they were holding together runs out, Taako laughs and hugs Kravitz and kicks his feet up in delight, and Kravitz laughs and spins him around and kisses him firmly on the lips like he’s wanted to for eight years, six months, and thirteen days. 
The ground catches them and they drop like dizzy bricks and lay there for a moment together before it all sort of clicks, and then they’re holding their breath again, not daring to look at each other, to say a single word. 
This gets old pretty quickly. If Kravitz could count on anything–the sun to rise, Burger Hut’s bathroom to scare his soul out of the holes in his shoes, fire to hurt when you touch it–he can count on Taako’s attention span. 
“You kissed me,” he accuses. 
“You kissed back,” Kravitz breathes, which is hardly a defense. 
“I’ve been waiting for you to do that for so fucking long I swear to god Kravitz I’m going to tear you apart,” he straddles Kravitz and kisses him again, “Do you understand me, I’m going to shake you to pieces,” he kisses him again, taking his hands and pinning them above his head, and Kravitz has to laugh, and Taako does too, and never before has a moment felt so alive. He’s humming like a neon sign and Taako can read it plain as day and things from this moment on are going to be so, so different and strange, and so familiar and safe, but for this delicate little island in the ocean of their lives, the world is hungry and quiet, and their hearts beat in unison, and they don’t have to draw any conclusions from the facts laid bare as their pulse just barely visible in the moonlight. 
“We- we can’t keep doing this,” Kravitz manages. “It’s- it’s too fun, I’m going to do something I shouldn’t-”
“Maybe you should,” Taako says. “A lot. So many times, consecutively, with me and nobody else, forever and ever until you die, how about that?” 
“Shit, I didn’t think of that.” 
They toss aside the paint filled backpack and take full advantage of the cover of darkness to express their feelings, finally, finally revealed. And it’s good. 
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70
If willingly and knowingly acquiring a sunburn is self harm, then put me on 24 hour supervision. M and I sit outside the gallery, partially hollowed out now everybody is in Basel. Maybe I should’ve gone to Basel, but then if I had I wouldn’t be able to tan my feet on gravel and freely discuss antisemitism, at least not without the general threat of Swiss commerce over my shoulder Also I wouldn’t have been able to recover a baby pigeon living in my studio chimney. I hear manic cheeping as I brew coffee and open an iron hatch held in place by what I soon realise is sellotape, courtesy of my pathologically cheap landlord. Inside is the biggest nest I’ve ever seen, the size of a disabled bathroom stall. The baby pigeon is standing and quaking, surrounded by both the egg it hatched from and the corpses of its family. One corpse looks partially eaten, another rotten, and then there’s a clean skeleton. I feel as though I’m looking at an ornithological diorama, one which details “what can go wrong” Because clearly the baby has survived this long on the flesh of its relatives, and it almost looks guilty. A small bald patch on its head evokes my maternal uncle. Some new feathers have grown against the odds, and have an algae-green hue. T and her boyfriend are at the gallery on a Sunday because I, shamefully, managed to lock myself out of both my home and my studio, was Uber’d keys to the gallery to retrieve my spares, and got the gallery key stuck in the lock. The new alarm went off briefly yet piercingly, but the gospel church continued undeterred (they love Jesus). Between the baby bird and the keys, the day feels off. T’s boyfriend brings the bird into the yard and arguably to experience sunlight for the first time. I offer it some water, then some matzo, then matzo soaked in water, and it scuttles for shelter under an abandoned Range Rover with a smashed wing mirror. T - a “doer” - Googles what the RSPCA can do, which is fuck all. They’d do something for doves, she says, arguing with her phone. “That’s racism”, her boyfriend adds, still wearing his bird-getting gloves We watch the bird panic in the shade for a time and resign ourselves to it being eaten by a fox at dusk. I leave a cup with the matzo in near the Range Rover, wondering whether it’s okay that this is one of the cups we use for important visitors. One could argue here that this bird has spent more time in my studio than any curator. T suggests it thinks I’m its mother and I grow sad. Later I will wonder why I’m crying uncontrollably during meditation at the thought of the dog I gave back. I still feel ashamed. It repeats on me like acid reflux or backsplash. The baby pigeon stirred the dog thing up. I accept the idea that both the baby pigeon and the dog were versions of myself I couldn’t (can’t) properly handle or address - one camped out in a cold studio to the point of panicked baldness, the other crying at night for love and touch I work a little, then go to oversee my car’s tyre replacement. I had booked this on Friday, but a man turned up with a tyre meant for a small tractor, told me in front of passing neighbours “you ordered the wrong one”. Did you get to keep the big tyre? M asks
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squidthechaotickid · 2 years
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Here is the fic!!
Word count: 4,827
Summary: Star makes a choice. His choice, of course, has consequences, both for him and his parents
Warnings: Nothing major but there's a lot of angst in here so be ready for that
(I'm copy/pasting from a Google doc so if anything seems off let me know ajdjdjfjejf)
Star laid on his bed, listening to the consistent ticking of his clock. It was a nice clock, with a picture of the moon and white numbers surrounding it. His dad had bought it for him when he was younger, about 5, as a Christmas gift.
His dad.
Was Dream really as good as he had thought? If what Nightmare said was true, it had been Dream's fault the apple incident occurred. Dream always said he'd tried to help Nightmare, but… what if he hadn't? What if it was a lie made up to make himself feel better, like Nightmare said? Or, even worse, a lie he'd told to keep everyone on his side?
Then, of course, there were the other things his uncle had said. About his mom. About Ink. About the Star Sanses as a whole, about Core and the creators and their true intentions.
He had met his uncle a week ago, though it felt like a million years had gone by. And all he'd done since then was think. Think about his parents. Think about his uncle, and the choice he was forced to make.
"Star!" Came his father's shout, coupled with knocking. He jumped, looking to the door.
"Yeah Dad?"
"Your sister isn't feeling well, we're keeping her home today. It's about time for you to lea- Pastel!" With that, his sister burst into the room, running forward and tackling Star with a hug.
"Bye Star! I'll see you later!" Star giggled, making a fake angry face. "Hey, knock first!" Pastel stuck out her tongue in response. Rolling his eyelights, Star stood, grabbing his backpack. "I have to go if I wanna get to the pickup spot on time, I'll see you later. Love you Pastel, you better be better by the time I get back. That's a threat." She grinned. "I'll try!"
If I even come back. He shook the thought out of his mind. "Bye, Dad." He gave him a quick hug before rushing out of the door.
He began walking down the street. Usually he'd turn left, then enter an alley where a portal would be opened to the AU where his school was. It was an AU specifically for outcodes and multiverse-aware students to go, made by Core after an influx of kids in the Omega Timeline. Today, though, he turned right, crossing the road.
He didn't think as his feet led him away from where he should have been going. It was better not to, after all. Too much thinking and he might just change his mind.
Instead, he made his way to another alley. It was decided, then. He was joining Nightmare. His stomach twisted as he opened a portal. He took one last deep breath before walking in.
"Nightmare?" He looked around. "I- I wanna join you." No one was around. Perhaps he hadn't arrived yet. Maybe he should just leave, go home and tell Blue he didn't feel well. Nightmare would never know, would he? Yeah, going home seemed like a nice ide-
"Hello, nephew." Star tensed as a tentacle curled around his arm. His voice was sickly sweet, causing a chill to go down the smaller skeleton's spine. Star slowly turned, eyes meeting the single eyelight belonging to his uncle.
Star gulped, meeting the other's gaze. "...Hello." Nightmare chuckled, holding out a hand. "So you've decided to join, eh? Good, good. Take my hand, and I'll take you to the castle." He tilted his head, a grin plastering itself onto his face. "Unless, of course, you've changed your mind?"
Star stared at his outstretched hand. This was his last chance. Did he really wanna give up his life with his family for Nightmare's Gang? Was he right in switching sides? Should he-
No, he already made his choice. He wasn't second guessing himself again. Slowly, the child took his hand.
The cold of Nightmare's goop made him shiver, though not as much as the grin on his face. "Good. Now, come on. It's time for you to meet the rest of the gang." Star slowly followed, wondering what he'd just gotten himself into.
Dream anxiously tapped his foot. "What do you mean he didn't go to school? I saw him go out the door!" He listened intently as Core's voice came from the phone's speaker.
"I'm sorry, Dream. He just- he didn't come to school. Maybe he skipped?" Dream shook his head.
"No, Star wouldn't do that. Besides, he'd be smart enough to at least come back by the time school ended." Dream took a shaky breath, hoping to calm his worry. It did little to help.
Dream blinked as he realized he'd toned out whatever Frisk had just said. "What was that?"
"I asked, do you need me to come over? I can help you look for him."
"No, no, it's good. I'll- I'll call Blue. We'll find him ourselves. I'll call back when we do." After a quick goodbye, Dream hung up, and began dialing his partner.
"Oh, Starry, what did you do?"
Star stood in front of the gang, Nightmare beside him. A hand placed itself on his shoulder. "Boys, this is Star, the nephew I've been telling you about. Star, this is the gang." He began gesturing to the individual skeletons.
"That one is Dust" The skeleton was leaning against a wall, twirling a playing card between his fingers. He glanced up and gave a half nod, but otherwise didn't acknowledge the introduction.
"That is Horror," Horror stared at the child. He felt like the skeleton's single red eyelight was tearing through his skull. Star quickly looked away.
"That's Killer," Killer scowled, but gave a begrudging nod when he was glared at by Nightmare.
"And that is Cross." Cross smiled, giving a wave. At least one of the gang members seemed somewhat friendly.
"Now that you've all been introduced, let's show you around, shall we?" Nightmare looked to the gang. "Which of you boys want to show our new member around?" There was silence for a moment as the skeletons glaced around, until Cross begrudgingly raised a hand. "Excellent! Cross will show you around, Star. After that, we'll have dinner.
Cross walked over, awkwardly holding out a hand. "Hey, uh, Star, right? I'm Cross. Night just told you that though, heh." Star took the hand. It wasn't freezing like Nightmare's was, instead being slightly warm.
"I'm- I'm Star! It's, uh, nice to meet you!" Cross smiled. "Alright, come on then. We'll go to the library first." He began leading the child out of the room.
Nightmare watched, waiting until the large ebony doors swung shut to turn to the remaining gang members.
"Remind me why we're taking in that kid again?" Killer said, a mix of boredom and annoyance in his voice.
"Because," Nightmare began, beginning to move towards his office. "He has plenty of information in him. Besides, can you imagine the look on Dream's face when he finds out his own son chose to betray him?" With that, he left the room.
"I still think this is a stupid idea," Killer muttered to nobody in particular. "I mean, what if the kid betrays us and tells Dream everything!"
Dust stopped messing with the card, glancing over. "If he tries to leave, we kill 'em. Or throw him in the dungeon, whatever works."
Killer grumbled something, but it was too quiet to make out. "I think… it'll be fine… He's just a kid, shouldn't be much trouble…" Horror added on.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Killer turned towards the door leading to the bedroom. "I'm gonna go terrorize some AU, I don't feel like being a babysitter."
Dust shoved himself off from his spot on the wall. "I'm coming with. Horror, you wanna join?" The skeleton shook his head. "Gotta cook." Dust nodded, giving a wave before following Killer through a portal.
"...And this is your room!" Cross opened the door, gesturing inside. Star looked in. The walls were a dull, rather dreary blue shade. The floor was made of a gray wood, which creaked when Star stepped on it. There was a dark blue rug next to the wooden bed, which contained only a mattress with white sheets. It was otherwise empty.
"We can get you some more stuff in here later. We, uh, weren't sure what you liked." Star looked back to the monochrome skeleton standing in the doorway.
"It's… it's fine. Can I have a blanket to put on here? And some pillows, if you don't mind. I… I'd like to lay down for a while." There was a lot to take in, so much that it was making him feel sick. He needed some time to process everything.
"Sure! I'll be right back, okay?" Cross didn't wait for an answer before running off. Star let out a breath, collapsing onto his bed. Was he doing the right thing? Was this all right? Was…
"No, I promised myself I wouldn't second guess. It's… fine. Everything is fine."
"You don't sound too sure."
Star jumped, letting out a yelp before falling off of the bed. He rubbed his head as he looked up.
Nightmare was snickering. "A bit jumpy, aren't we?" Star stood, brushing himself off. "Oh, it's okay. I get it. I used to be rather jumpy too." He sat on the bed, patting the spot on the side of him. Star sat where he gestured, looking to the floor.
"I…" Star closed his mouth, unsure of what to say. Should he ask about his uncle? Talk a bit about himself? Tell him about Dream? He didn't know.
"Nervous?" Star could only nod. Nightmare chuckled. "Understandable. This is a rather… new experience for you. How about an icebreaker? Tell me about yourself, nephew. I don't know much, other than your name."
Star wondered how much to say. Nightmare sounded rather genuine, but…
He was about to begin speaking, when Cross ran into the room, a bundle of blankets and pillows in his arms. "Hey Star, I got you some- oh, hey Boss!" He glanced between the two skeletons. "Uh- I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
A tentacle glided over, lifting the bundle away from the skeleton. "It's fine, Cross. We were just… getting to know each other, that's all." He sat the pile to the side.
"Oh! Well, I'll leave you two to it!" He nervously laughed before leaving, closing the door behind him.
"Now then," Nightmare resumed the conversation. "How about we start with something simple. How old are you, nephew?"
"Oh, I'm- I'm 13. And you?" Star tried returning the question, hoping it would spark some interesting discussion.
"Oh, a little over 500? Around 520, 530. You lose track after a while." Nightmare said it rather nonchalantly, as if being over 500 years old was normal. "You're rather young. Younger than I thought you would be. How about siblings? Any of those?"
Star hesitated. Would telling him about his sister put her in danger? He wasn't sure. Even if he wanted to trust Nightmare, he knew he couldn't just give him all the information. Not until he was sure he wouldn't be endangering anyone he cared about.
"...Pastel. She's- She's my sister. 8 years old. She's really into frogs." He frowned. "You… You won't hurt her, right?"
Nightmare threw on an assuring smile. "Of course not, Star. The only people I'm gonna harm are those who've harmed me." He placed a hand on the child's cheek. "Your sister is perfectly safe, okay?"
Star nodded. It was a bit reassuring, but… Both of his parents met the criteria Nightmare had listed. He knew they weren't really good, not if what Nightmare said was true, but… He still cared about them.
Nightmare, sensing the child's conflicted feelings, quickly changed the subject.
"Any interests, hobbies? Reading, perhaps? Maybe you like watching one of those animes the boys are into?"
"Oh, yeah, I watched a ton of anime with Undyne in my timeline. I'm more into space, though. And plants!" He brightened slightly. "I have a lot of plants in my room- My old one, anyways. I had a rose, a few succulents, and a couple others. My favorite was an echo flower Mom got me from his old Waterfall. Sometimes I'd use it to mess with Pastel, like that one time I had it repeat her name over and over. I hid it in her closet and-"
He paused. "I'm sorry, do you mind me rambling? I know you probably have important stuff to do."
Nightmare shrugged. "Keep on going if you wish. I'd like to get to know you, and what better way to do that than by letting you talk?"
Star smiled slightly. "Okay… Well, I put it in her closet and…"
"No sign of him." Blue collapsed onto the couch. "Nothing? Not even a scrap of clothing, a dropped pencil, nothing?" Dream sat beside him, already knowing the answer to the question.
"The whole Royal Guard was searching, Dreamy. Nothing." He grabbed his partner's hand, gently squeezing it in a comforting way. "How's Ellie doing?"
"She's still sick, hasn't got much better. I… I just told her. I think she's still processing everything." Dream winced slightly at the memory of his daughter's reaction. She had begun crying, as expected. However, all the crying, coupled with being sick, had led to… Well, let's just say Dream had spent the past 15 minutes cleaning her lunch out of the floor.
"Yeah…" Blue trailed off, looking at his feet. "I… I think I'm going to call Ink. If he isn't in the city, he's probably in another AU. He can start looking through the code for any portals that might've been opened." Dream nodded. The two went silent.
"Hey, sunshine?" Blue took the skeleton's hand. "It's gonna be okay, alright? We'll find him." He attempted a comforting smile, but there was a bit of uncertainty in it. Dream appreciated the gesture nonetheless, leaning onto Blue's chest.
"I sure hope so," he muttered, squeezing his partner's hand.
Star gasped, ducking down. He barely avoided a bone attack. He quickly retaliated with an attack of his own, though it was easily dodged.
"Come on, Starry!" Cross easily dodged another arrow. "You gotta be more aggressive!"
Said skeleton didn't respond, instead twisting to the side. As he did, though, Cross teleported behind him, not giving the kid a chance to react before grabbing him from behind and placing a knife against their throat.
"Ack- ugh, you win, again…" Cross released them. "That's what, 9 times now?" The victor asked. Star grumbled something under his breath, gripping his bow tighter. "Can we do one more? I think I can do it this time."
Cross shook his head, unsummoning his knife. "That's what you said the last 8 times. Come on, let's get you a snack." Star begrudgingly agreed, letting his bow fizzle out of existence as Cross grabbed his hand and began leading him into the kitchen.
As they walked, Star reviewed the events of the past two weeks in his mind. It had mostly been training, though he had spoken with his uncle a few times. It was mostly questions about himself and small talk, though every once in a while a question about Dream would come up. It was mostly harmless stuff, questions like "How has he been doing?" or "Did he ever sit still long enough to learn reading?"
Occasionally, though, there would be a question such as "How often did he train?" And "What AUs does Dream usually go to?" Questions that, had Star not already been on edge, he would have passed on as normal. However, knowing what he did, he had to wonder…
What did Nightmare want with his father?
They were pulled out of their thoughts as the duo made it to the kitchen. Horror was there, cooking. He was one of the friendlier gang members, despite his fearsome appearance. He'd brought Star some snacks his first day. Star had sparked a conversation with the skeleton, and had gotten a little closer. Not as close as he was with Cross, of course, but rather close.
"Hey, Horror, did we restock on those good chocolate bars last raid?" Cross was already opening the cabinets, looking for said treat.
"Mhm… Next cabinet over," the larger skeleton said, only glancing at Cross before returning to whatever was on the stove.
"Sick, thanks!" Cross scooped two of the bars out of the stash, tossing one to Star before sitting at a barstool at the kitchen island. Star slowly joined him, still catching their breath as he tore the wrapper open.
"How's he been… doin'?" Horror asked, referring to Star's training.
"Better. He's lasting longer than 30 seconds now," the skeleton teased. "He made it to 6 minutes the past two times. Quick learner," Cross responded, taking a bite of chocolate after.
"That's good."
The other two skeletons finished their snack in silence, only speaking after they finished.
"How 'bout we take a break from training for the rest of the day? I think you've earned it."
Star nodded. They were tired. Maybe they could take a nap. That would be pretty refreshin-
"Shoot, just got a text from the boss. He wants you in his office."
Star groaned. "Alright, bye Cross." Cross waved as Star turned to head towards his uncle.
The castle was huge, so it was a rather long walk. Star was, unfortunately, unable to teleport. His magic wasn't quite developed enough. There was no guarantee he wouldn't end up in a wall, or halfway across the castle, or outside of it completely.
After almost 20 minutes of nothing but the tap of his boots on the ground, Star made it to the office. He knocked, knowing Nightmare hated people barging in.
"Come in, nephew," his uncle's voice called. "I need you for something…"
Dream was this close to a breakdown.
His baby was gone.
Ink and Core had been scanning over the code, but they found nothing. Ink assured Dream that it would take a while to scan all the code for signs of a portal, that they could still figure out what AU Star disappeared to, but that didn't stop the fear.
Star had been gone for two weeks. Two weeks was more than enough time for a monster with little magic to defend himself with to get seriously hurt, or even enough time for him to-
Dream shook his head. He didn't want to imagine the pile of dust that could be his son.
The skeleton perked up from his spot on the couch as the door opened. He had been scanning the AU for any trace of Star, any calling of his soul.
There had been nothing, of course.
Ink met the hopeful look in Dream's eyelights, only to crush it as he shook his head. "Haven't found a thing, Dream. Core said something about a possible lead, but that was hours ago and I haven't heard anything else."
Dream deflated. "...Do you know where Blue is?" His voice was hoarse from crying. He'd kept it to his room, not wanting Pastel to see, but he was certain she already knew.
"Looking over the city again. I told him there's not much of a point, but he didn't listen."
Ink made his way in, closing the front door and heading to the spot next to Dream. He paused before slowly sitting, wrapping an arm around the guardian in an attempt to comfort.
"Where's Pastel?" The artist asked, hoping to get his mind off things for a moment.
"Star's room, listening to the echo flower. She won't let anyone in."
"Oh."
The two fell silent. Ink… didn't know what to do. He'd searched the code. He was still searching, there was still a chance he was looking over it, but…
Without knowing exactly where the portal had opened, it could take months to figure out where Star was. They had already taken much too much time.
The artist was about to suggest Dream and him check on Pastel, make sure she was okay, when a portal opened and Core ran through.
"Frisk? What's-"
"Star!"
Dream launched himself off the couch, eyes widening. "Star? Where- When- Is he okay?!"
The monochrome child held up a paper, which Dream quickly snatched.
"There was an anomaly in a Swapfell timeline. I went to check it out and found that. I think- You need to read it."
Dream looked down at the paper. His marrow went cold as he recognized the handwriting.
To my dearest brother Dream, the note began, the letters written in that familiar curly font that he knew belonged to Nightmare.
It seems we have a lot to catch up on, brother. You never told me I had a nephew! He's fine, the gang has been taking very good care of him. However, I do believe you'd like to see him. Meet me in Underswap 432's Snowdin, if you'd like to see him as anything other than a pile of dust.
Love,
Nightmare ~
Dream read the letter. Then reread it as Ink leaned over his shoulder to look at it, before slamming the letter down onto the coffee table. He wasted no time as he pulled his phone out and dialed his lover's number.
"Dream?" Blue's voice came on over the speaker. What-"
"I know where Star is, and we're about to beat my brother's coccyx."
Dream, Blue, and Ink stood in the AU that Nightmare had specified. This timeline had made it to the surface, similarly to Blue's. That meant there was no noise, no other monsters around. Just the three of them, tensely waiting for the arrival of Nightmare.
Dream held his bow, sitting on a rock as he waited for his brother to show. Blue stood at the ready with a bone attack in hand, while Ink leaned against a nearby tree, fiddling with a paintbrush.
"Do you think he's gonna show?" Ink asked, after almost 2 hours of waiting. "I mean, he never specified a time. Maybe we missed the meeting?"
Dream shook his head. "He knows we're here, I'm sure. He can sense emotions, remember?"
"He's sure taking his sweet time," Blue grumbled.
Dream was about to respond, when the sound of footsteps cut him off. His eyelights shot up as he turned, meeting a single cyan eye.
"Hello, brother," Nightmare purred, taking another step forward. "I see you got the message."
Dream summoned an arrow, readying his bow as he stood. In his peripheral vision, he saw Ink and Blue readying themselves too. "Where is Star?" he growled, glaring. He didn't care that this was his brother, not right now. He wanted his son back.
Nightmare only smiled.
"Why, brother, he's right here!"
Star stepped out from behind his uncle, his own bow in hand. "Hi Dad," he muttered. "Hi Mom, Uncle Ink."
Dream almost ran straight to his child, ready to cry out in joy, but restrained himself. Something felt… wrong.
Blue must have felt it too, because he took a tentative step forward before pausing. "Star?" He began, looking inquisitively between his and Nightmare. "What's going on?"
"What's going on?" Nightmare repeated, a grin forming on his face. "What's going on, Blue, is that your son has switched sides." He grinned as the terror settled on the trio's face. "He's mine, now."
"You're lying!" Dream shouted, pulling his bow's string back and aiming at Nightmare. "Give me my son!"
"I assure you, I am not lying, Dreamy. Show them, Star. Show them where your loyalty lies."
All eyes snapped to the child. He took a shaky breath as he wearily looked up at his family.
"I almost want to say I'm sorry," he laughed, before grabbing at his scarf and ripping off the sun shaped patch.
Star had been slightly worried about going through with his Uncle's plan. He was assured it would be okay, though.
He knew it would break his parents to see their own son betray them. He knew it would hurt Ink, too.
And yet, somehow, he was okay with that.
Maybe he was starting to believe the things Nightmare told him. Maybe the gang's violent ways were rubbing off on him a bit. Either way, he agreed to go through with Nightmare's plan.
He was slow to step through the portal as it opened, slow to summon his bow, but as soon as he did, he felt his confidence rise. He was doing the right thing. Nightmare was telling the truth.
After all, if he wasn't, then it would mean he'd caused all this pain for nothing.
Star stepped out from behind his uncle. He saw the flash of hope in his parents' eyes before it was replaced with unease.
"Star?" Blue had asked. He didn't move. He didn't dare, because if he did, he might've ran straight to Blue, crying and apologizing for how stupid he'd been to leave, begging for them to forgive him. So, he didn't move.
He'd already betrayed enough people.
"You're lying!" Dream shouted, Star realizing he'd tuned out part of their conversation. "Give me my son!"
"I assure you, I am not lying, Dreamy. Show them, Star. Show them where your loyalty lies."
Star glanced around. He didn't need his empathic abilities to tell how scared the Star Sanses were. Dream looked as if he'd seen a ghost, Blue seemed on the verge of tears, and Ink was just… staring, almost as if he'd been off his paints.
Star decided on what he was going to do. He chuckled weakly.
"I almost want to say I'm sorry."
He ripped the sun off his scarf, tossing it to the ground.
Dream gasped, taking a step back. The child screwed his eyes shut, his grip on his bow tightening. He vaguely heard Nightmare say something along the lines of, "I told you, brother. He joined me, all on his own accord." but he couldn't focus on it.
His head began to feel hazy as his body burned with pain. Suddenly, his magic wasn't so bright.
He remembered, a long time ago, he had gotten sick. It wasn't incredibly bad, looking back, but it was one of the worst pains he'd ever had in his 4 year-old mind. Sci had told his parents that his soul was unstable, unable to fully control his guardian magic.
"It'll get better as he grows," Sci had told them. "But I'd still be careful. It wouldn't be hard for his magic to shift to something more… negative, I guess. It would be like Nightmare and the Apple Incident, except it could be caused by a change much less drastic than that."
He knew that was what was happening. His magic was changing, adapting to the new darkness within him.
CRACK!
His eyes flashed open, and without thinking, he aimed his bow. It's string was purple now, instead of its old shade of turquoise. The arrow was similarly colored.
"Your eyelight!" Ink gasped, and Star was sure his father's yellow had been replaced by lavender too.
He let go of the string, allowing the arrow to fly forward, burying itself in Dream's shoulder. He had been too busy staring at Star to register the projectile before, but he screamed in pain as it landed.
Blue rushed to his husband's side, looking at his son in horror. Star ignored him.
He also ignored the unshed tears that burned the back of his throat.
"Don't we need to leave now?" He asked Nightmare. "We did what we came to do."
Nightmare stared at the child in surprise. Star was certain it was because of what had just happened to his magic. He didn't say anything about it, though, instead chuckling as the shock wore off.
"So we have, nephew. Come on, now, I do think you deserve a treat for this amazing show you've put on." The guardian sent one last chilling grin to his twin before taking his nephew's hand and teleporting the two away.
The last thing Star heard was Dream desperately shouting his name.
Dream stumbled through the portal, his shoulder burning as Blue tried to lead him to the couch. He heard Pastel shout something, sounding almost hopeful before her voice quickly switched to panic. Dream didn't hear anything she said, though.
Star was gone.
Not permanently, of course, but still. He was gone. He'd joined his brother.
He knew the second he saw the child's crown crack that Nightmare wasn't lying.
It was laced with Dream's positive aura - It cracking could only mean the magic had been tainted.
Dream didn't make it to the couch. He fell to his knees before he got there.
"Ink, can you get Pastel?" He distantly heard his partner ask. It hardly registered, though.
His child was gone. Taken from him by his own brother.
Dream sobbed, ugly tears shamelessly making their way down his face as he cried out for his little baby boy.
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90spumkin · 3 years
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Have Yourself a Spooky Little Christmas
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Summary: What the holidays are like with Spencer and your 5 year old son.
A/N: Well here it is. My first Christmas fic! I enjoyed writing this it made me all warm and happy. I don’t know who to give creds to for the pictures because I got it from google. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this, and message me if you would like to be added to my taglist or the taglist for a certain series just specify which one. Also this is kind of how i pictured Ronan while writing this. Let me know if any of the links throughout the fic are not working and I will fix them.
Pairing: dad!Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader
Warnings: lying to a child about Santa, the rest is just fluff 
Word Count:1942
It had been a long day at the office. Pile upon piles of paperwork were coming in trying to get everything settled before the holidays. I had just curled up on the couch with my son Ronan to watch a Christmas movie, when the door of the apartment flies open and in comes my husband weighed down by shopping bags.
I instantly untangle myself from my blanket to go help him. As I make my way to him as I quickly as I can my dorky husband starts on one of his rants before I can even get a hello out.
“Y/n you are not gonna believe all the Christmas stuff I just found at that little Christmas store down the street. I was gonna surprise you guys with getting home early. Well as you can see, I got distracted.” Spencer giggled at himself and I stood staring at my husband still trying to process that my Halloween obsessed husband was actually excited about Christmas.
Don’t get me wrong we have always celebrated Christmas the 8 years we’ve been together, but we have never really gotten into the festivities of the holidays. Spencer was bent over rummaging through the bags he had dropped on the floor. He stood up with what looked like sweaters clutched in each hand a goofy grin on his face, “Where’s Ronan? I got us all matching Christmas sweaters!”
“Asleep on the couch. Spencer honey why on earth-?” I was cut off by Spencer walking away and gently shaking our son awake. There was a loud screech and yelling of “Daddy! Daddy you’re home!”
Ronan attacked his father, wrapping his arms around his neck. Spencer picked him up and walked back over towards me. He showed Ronan the sweaters and our son just thought that they were the best thing ever by the look on his face.
I looked down at the bags at my feet which contained way more Christmas decorations we had room for. Spencer noticed me looking and said, “I thought we could visit my mom this weekend and decorate her room with what we don’t use here.”
I thought my heart was gonna explode. This man is so caring and loving and I swear looking at him holding our son and love evident on his face I knew I would continue to love this man for the rest of my life. I nodded and smiled, “Oh course honey, of course.”
Spencer’s grin only grew. He started to bounce Ronan who giggled in return, “Who’s ready to decorate?” Ronan squealed in his arms and shouted, “MEEEEE!”
Spencer put him down and they grabbed the bags Spencer had dropped on the floor and raced to the living room where they dumped the bags contents on the couch.
I walk in a little less as excited knowing we still haven’t put the Halloween decorations away, “Spencer honey are you forgetting something?” He looks at me questioningly and I only point at the skeleton standing in the corner and the fake pumpkins lining the fireplace mantle. He smiles and gives me a wink, “Oh those are staying.” This of course draws out even more excitement from the little boy at his side. They are so much alike with their mop of brown curls, love of learning, and love of all things spooky. I just take it all in at stride and decide to set the mood with some Christmas music.
30 minutes pass and we have our tree up and tinsel lining the kitchen island. I begin to hum with the song playing as I place ornaments on the tree. Spencer and Ronan are in the process of placing lights and a Santa hat on our lovely skeleton friend. Ronan begins to sing while he works and decides to change the lyrics, “Have yourself a spooky little Christmas.” This makes his father so happy and from then on out we no longer say Merry Christmas.
------
A week or so passed since we decorated the house. We have not had time to do any other holiday festivities. Of course, Ronan wasn’t missing out due to all the Christmas things he gets to do in school.
It was the first day of the two weeks we get off for the holidays and I made the decision to celebrate and spend time with my little family as much as I possibly could. About the time I had made this said decision, the apartment door flew open and was followed by the pitter patter of little feet and the laugh of my husband.
They came into the kitchen where I had been since they left to get breakfast. Ronan had a serious look on his face as he said, “Mommy, we need to leave right now!”
I was a little concerned, but one look at Spencer’s face told me all I needed to know. They had concocted a plan and it all started with this conversation with my favorite little boy.
“Oh, we do? And why is that honey?” I asked while trying not to let a smile slip and break my serious composer.
“If we don’t leave right now then we’ll miss Santa at the Christmas festival!”, he leans in and whispers the best he can, “If we miss Sant then Daddy will be grumpy and we don’t like him when he’s grumpy.”
Spencer of course still hears him, and snorts and I can’t hold back my smile any longer, “Oh we definitely don’t want that. Let me grab my coat.”
This brought a loud squeal from Ronan who launched himself into his father’s arm who also started to squeal in excitement.
Once we arrived at the festival my attention was locked on all the beautiful Christmas lights and decorations. There was breathy ‘wow’ to my right, and I looked to see the two most important people in my life staring at the lights and decorations with their eyes wide and mouths agape. They were both so mesmerized that I was able to catch the child like wonder on both their faces in a picture that I would cherish forever.
I had just enough time to put my phone away before Ronan snapped out of it and said, “Okay Mommy, Daddy. This is our game plan. First, we find hot chocolate. Second, find Santa.” He put his little hand in the air between us and we laid ours on top of his and as soon as he said “Break!” Spencer scooped him up and our little Christmas mission was ago.
We had managed to drink two cups of hot chocolate each by the time it was our turn with Santa. Ronan was so excited he could hardly stay still. When they told him, it was his turn he all but ran to sit in Santa’s lap. When Santa asked what he wanted for Christmas, Ronan thought for a moment and then leaned and whispered in his ear. Whatever he told Santa made him let out a gleeful ‘HO HO HO’.
Once we were a little ways away with Ronan holding mine and Spencer’s hands as we walked, he asked, “Would you guys like to know what I asked for?”
Spencer smiled down at him, “Only if you want to tell us buddy.”
“I asked for a little brother or little sister. I think I would be a good big brother.” He said with a huge smile. I looked at Spencer who was already looking at me. We smiled and said in unison, “You sure would.”.
We found a little café to have lunch and as we ate, I watched as Spencer and Ronan discussed where we would go next. I couldn’t help but to feel overwhelmed with love knowing my husband goes above and beyond for our son because he loves him so much, he wants him to have everything he didn’t as a child. And in return Ronan all but worshipped his father.
----
It’s Christmas Eve and our apartment is full of laughter and flying flour. Spencer and Ronan’s chestnut curls look as if they have frosted tips. I let out a laugh at how cute they are, “You guys are a mess!”
“Mommy your hair is white too!” Ronan and Spencer snorted at my shocked reaction. I hadn’t realized how much I had been hit in the crossfire.
“Okay that’s it I am never letting you two back in the kitchen.” I said with a pointed look. This just caused a whine from both the boys. I of course responded with throwing more flour at them both.
Cookies were finally in the oven and I was able to talk the boys into helping me clean up the kitchen. Ronan was bringing me the dishes to put in the dishwasher and he seemed to be deep in thought. Spencer noticed this also and paused in wiping off the counter to ask, “Hey bud, what’s on your mind?”
Ronan handed me the bowl he was holding and turned towards his dad, “How does Santa visit us? We don’t have a chin tea.”
Spencer’s face twisted in confusion and then his genius brain caught up, “Oh chimney. Well me and Santa go way back. We grew up together, and so I gave him a key so he could make sure you got all your presents.”
Ronan smiled really big and made the ‘come here’ motion with his finger. Spencer squatted down in front of him and Ronan place his hand on Spencer’s cheek and said, “You are a very good Daddy.”
Tear swelled in Spencer’s eyes and he wrapped our little boy in a hug. All I could do was clutch my heart and smile with tears in my eyes. They stayed like that a few minutes until the oven timer went of and Ronan detached himself from Spencer and yelled, “COOKIES!”
-----
Waking up slowly, stretching with the sun shining through the window onto your face. That’s the ideal way to wake up. But that is not how Spencer and I woke up on Christmas Day.
I was brought out of my blissful sleep by a tiny foot in my rib cage which was connected to a little boy screaming, “SANT CAME! SANTA CAME!”
Spencer and I both groaned, but Spencer was awake a lot faster than I was. He scooped Ronan up and started running to the living room screaming a long with the boy in his arms. I followed close behind wondering how they have so much energy so early in the morning.
Once we were all in the living room Spencer started giving Ronan his gifts one at a time. After opening every gift Ronan would say, “This is the best present ever!”. This of course made us giggle.
Seeing the joy all over Ronan’s face and all over Spencer’s as he watched our son was the best gift I could have ever asked for.
After a long day of opening and playing with gifts we all curled up on the couch to watch Ronan’s favorite Christmas movie, A Nightmare Before Christmas. Ronan was curled up in my lap with his head on Spencer’s lap. Spencer looked at me then at the boy in our laps. I looked over at him as he was running a hand through Ronan’s curls in a calming manner. He looked at me and said with a smile, “I would never want to spend a spooky little Christmas with anyone else.” He kissed my head and I curled up into his side pulling our son closer to us. I never wanted Christmas to be over.
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Taglist: @criminalmindzjunkie​ @brooklynxnicole​ @hendersonsshadow​ @homoose​
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sansmania · 3 years
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I cant stop thinking about it please take the first part of this drabble before I go insane while writing part two
Title: Your Man
Ship: Boss [ @bonelyheartsclub ]/GN Reader
Descrip: I literally cannot stop thinking about this edgy fucker dressed like a COWBOY
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Once you helped the skeleton family across the street settle into their new home- it was quite humorous how little they knew about suburban life- your life had seemed to be thrown into an unexpected whirlwind. They managed to keep you on your toes constantly; if it wasn't Nox and Blue's neverending bets and- albeit hilarious- dares, it was several of them literally appearing out if nowhere while you were home.
It was chaotic at the begining, but you eventually settled alongside the wild family, and crazy as they were- you wouldn't have it any other way at this point.
You'd adjusted to them barging into your home just as they had become accustomed to your presence in their own.
Well, that was a lie.
When the front door unceremoniously slammed open, followed by thundering footsteps and their owner's booming voice.
You might not ever get used to that.
"Human! Your assistance is required!" Your flinch wore off when you pinpointed which neighbor had nearly broken the front door. With a roll of your eyes and shoulders, you stood from your computer desk with a stretch.
"Alright, Boss. I'll be down in a second." You heard his impatient grumble as you tossed on a hoodie, slowly trudging downstairs. With a quirked brow, you caught his red eyelights, chuckling at his impatient foot tapping.
Which also caught your eye.
Boss was one of the 'cousins' that took great pride in his appearance- it seemed like his entire wardrobe could have been the same price as your home- so when you spotted his typically pristine boots in his hands and a pair of sneakers on his feet instead- the obnoxiously familiar orange painted them as Stretch's- you were shocked to say the least.
"Okay, what's up, Bossman?" He snorted indignantly, as if to say 'isnt it obvious' and let out an annoyed sigh, shoulders falling as he held the treasured boots out to show the chew marks that lined the soles and heels.
"Blue's little rat dog managed to get into my room and ahold of my favorite boots. And I trust your opinion, so I would like assistance in finding someone who can fix them." Clearing the space between you both, you reached out to assess the damage. The dark leather had pinprick teeth holes throughout, leaving stringy leather poking inward and outward. A few belts had been shredded and the clasps barely held on for dear life. It was a sad sight indeed.
You were a little surprised you didn't hear the innitial explosion from across the street.
"I really don't know of any cobblers around here, Boss." His eyes narrowed and you quickly held your hands up in defense. "B-but, hey, that's what google is for!" Pulling out your phone, you assured him there had to be somewhere local that could help.
And after a quick google search, you had come up with one location where Boss could get his precious boots repaired. But, the uneasy look on your face caught his attention.
"That expression is not reassuring at all." His voice was low, sounding ever so disappointed.
"N-no, it's not bad. There's a store in town that can fix them up- since they're kind of a specialty thing, it's a specialty shop."
"But, you seem unsure....?" You let out a nasally sigh.
"Boss, it's a cowboy shop. The Southern Cowboy. It specializes in real leather and cowboy apparel." His stare made you question why the thought bothered you more than him in that moment. "I just figured it wouldn't be your 'style' to be seen somewhere like that."
"Are there any other options?" Sadly, you shook your head. "Then I have no other choice. You see, these were a gift from an old friend, and I would really appreciate them not being a shredded mess for much longer." You understood the meaning- they held a sentimental value to Boss more than an aesthetic value- which was kind of a shock. You never took the standoff-ish, edgy, and downright scary skeleton as the sentimental type- especially not over a pair of shoes.
The thought warmed your heart and your face ever so slightly. That there could be a real tender soul underneath all the knives and fangs. You hadn't noticed the soft smile spreading across your cheeks until Boss made a more in character noise of impatience.
"Alright, alright. Let me throw on some real clothes and we can go, Boss." He seemed a bit happier with your willingness to help and waited in the living room while you got ready.
"And please, feel free to leave Stretch's disgusting hoodie behind. I would rather not have to deal with any more of his clothes for the day than what I already am." Boss shouted behind you as you reached the top of the stairs, causing your face to alight with embarrassed fury.
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Meet the new baby, Froggy! 🐸🥺🐀
Froggy is a bit different, she carries a spontaneous mutation which has terminated her spine right at the base of the tail: in other words, she's a Manx!
She was born in Queensland and came to the rescue with full documentation of her lines, so while Manx doesn't exist in the Australian fancy rat community currently, there are no concerns that she or her relatives come from outside the country.
She's a genetic 'pop-up', and she wasn't the first in her (now terminated) line, which means that her mutation is heritable, she could be bred to make more Manx.
Unfortunately, Manx animals come with a slew of health concerns. As usual, there isn't financial incentive for strong studies into the welfare of Manx mice and rats as pets, but googling "Manx cat" quickly turns up a list that matches what we've seen in mice: spina bifida, hind leg paralysis, bowel issues, spinal deformities, twisted pelvis... If the termination is too low, Manx mice are typically culled for their undesirable "piggy tails" while if they're too high, the babies die in utero and are reabsorbed, or die at birth.
I've been speaking with a lot of Manx mouse breeders over the past year after many Manx mice came into our care whilst supporting the RSPCA with a case. Many of them confirmed our worries about the health issues associated with the gene - a few said their Manx are "fine" but no-one had ever taken a Manx mouse to the vet for assessment.
To learn more, with the assistance of a former Manx mouse breeder who has since stopped breeding them because of what was found, we have cleaned the skeletons of several Manx mice from different sources, and the findings were horrific. Even many of those who looked structurally fine had spinal deformities, some mild and some extreme, you just can't see it from the outside.
Who knew a gene that messes with the spine could be a bad idea? 🙄
Do we want all of this added to the list of common causes for vet trips in our Australian rats? Hell no.
That cute little hamster bum might be sweet enough to make a breeder rich, but it's not worth the decrease in health and quality of life for the animals. No amount of profit or aesthetic is worth making an animal suffer, in our opinion. We'll never understand those who aim away from (or ignore) health and temperament - seeing how the #Pidgelets have suffered for those motives is enough for me.
Manx has popped up in Australian rats before, and it will again, that's just the nature of genetics.
Breeders in the past have found that breeding Manx together causes horrible deformities, and decided they shouldn't be bred or distributed, a decision I enormously respect. But eventually something will get into the hands of someone whose priorities stray far from health and temperament, and it will be the entropion patchworks all over again.
When that day comes we want to be as well informed and experienced as possible so we aren't playing catch-up on community education, so Froggy here is going to be an advocate for "just because we can, doesn't mean we should", and we'll work with our vet to get some imaging done and get a clearer picture of how her particular mutation has expressed AND how it affects her. Hopefully she's won the Manx roulette and is one of the good ones!
What is really exciting is that Froggy's previous owner decided to prioritise her health and happiness by ensuring that she wasn't made available to anyone who would see to breed her, for financial gain. Thats the "voting for animal welfare with your feet/dollars" that we advocate so hard for. Froggy could have been sold to someone whose priorities are to make money or brag. She could have been set up for a life of back to back litters in potential poor conditions with no opportunity for appropriate vet care or enrichment.
And I don't know about you...but I don't want the extra vet bills when the Manx hits the pet market. Respiratory conditions and tumours are expensive enough do deal with.
Instead Froggy was entrusted to our care, to live, eat, nap and enjoy her Ratirement as a community educator and valued resident. She is going to thrive in a life worth living!
On the topic of Froggy herself, she is an absolute darling and we are so in love with her. Because her balance isn't great, she doesn't want me to "fall out of the cage" and drags my hands into the cage like she's carrying a kitten, making sure I'm safely away from the edge when I say hello. She does it to the other rats too, but #Snack is quickly training her out of it.
She didn't know about pats or treats at first and didn't want to interact, but a couple of weeks in and she's running out to greet us and licking! She even slept on Chris for over an hour yesterday while the two napped on the couch together.
She's young, inquisitive, and gets along with the others, especially #Pibbles and #Delilah, who is living with my crew during her rehabilitation after that enormous tumour removal. This morning she tried chimken, she had no idea what it was, but after a tentative lick her whole face lit up like "oh hell yeah!"
We are so in love with her.
We wanted to give you all some context for why she is the way she is, and why she's nothing to be sought after, but also not something we should hide, because with education we can be one step ahead when this pops up again.
Look forward to more little Froggy bum! - Rachie
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yuckydraws · 3 years
Note
A writing prompt, hmm? Why don't you try writing some fluff with horror sans? (he's one of your favorites right?) Maybe going on a picnic?
He very much is one of my faves<3 thanks for the prompt bro!!
Okay so this is mostly fluff but I threw the tiniest bit of angst in there, but it’s very mild (tbh I’m not sure I could even call it angst). Just to give it some plot;)
Also sorry for the awkward spacing I pasted this from Google docs and tumblr is being difficult >:(
(HT!Sans/reader)
•••••••
“Hey, how willing would you be to put on this blindfold and come with me?” You ask your skeleton boyfriend as you lounge on the couch, blindfold in hand.
“.... huh?” Sans blinks at you in confusion. He was on his way to sit on the couch when you spring the question on him. It stops him in his tracks, leaving him to stand awkwardly in the middle of the living room.
“I said, how willing are you to put on this blindfold and come with me?” You repeat yourself, holding up the blindfold excitedly. Yeah that might not be the best way to phrase it, but hey, you’ve made it this far - might as well commit. He stares at the offending object, squinting a bit with his one eyelight.
“... no.”
“C'mon, please?”
“no.”
“Please?”
“no.”
“Why not?” You pout and he gets a twinge of maroon on his cheekbones.
“... why do i need… to wear a blindfold?” He asks while averting his gaze from your pout. You take it in stride and instead shift your position on the couch to meet his gaze again, smiling up at him.
“Because it’s a surprise!”
“don’t like surprises…” Despite his words, it’s obvious you’re wearing him down.
“It’s a good surprise!”
Sans doesn’t look entirely convinced. You stand up and grab one of his large hands in both of your small ones (at least small compared to his), and give him a reassuring squeeze.
“I promise.” You both don’t use this word lightly.
Sans stares down at you.
You stare back.
“... ok.” He caves.
“Yay! Now lean down big guy, I need to be able to tie this.” He complies, staring at you until his sockets are eventually covered. You’re careful of the gaping hole in his skull and make sure not to tie it too tight - to avoid potentially irritating his dead socket. When you finish you take advantage of his close face and kiss him on the cheek, causing him to purr and lean into the kiss.
“Pfft- you dork! C’mon, you’re gonna love it!” You say as you pull away and grab his hand to start leading him out of the front door. He was wearing his slippers, so thankfully you didn’t have to awkwardly attempt to put shoes on him. You hold back a snort at the mental image of yourself sliding shoes onto his gargantuan feet like a princess. Though you are quickly sobered when you almost trip on a porch step, leaving you to focus on helping Sans down the porch steps and leading him to your shared vehicle.
You help him get situated in the seat. In hindsight, perhaps the blindfold could’ve waited until your huge skeleton boyfriend was already in the car? Ah well, guess you both could be scatterbrained sometimes.
You smile, amused, as you remember how you both had to buy this huge van just so Sans could sit comfortably.
It’s a struggle but he’s eventually in his seat, buckled and relaxed, while you start the van and back out of the driveway. As your drive begins you turn the radio on low - hoping to ease any nerves he may still have by giving him something to focus on, while not being loud enough to give him a headache. You glance at him, feeling a bit nervous.
You guys have been dating for about four years now, and you couldn’t be happier! After three years of dating (and Papyrus going off to medical school) you both bought a small little house in the outskirts of Ebott city, and the past year had been domestic bliss for the two of you. Of course, you’ve had your ups and downs, but overall Sans has been the sweetest boyfriend you’ve ever had. He may not be much of a conversationalist, but he makes up for that with his actions. That one game you had mentioned you wanted to play once? It was on your shared nightstand a few days later. That snack he knows you like? The house is always stocked with them. Having a bad day? He will not hesitate to draw you a nice bath, pamper you, and/or initiate cuddles and kisses.
No matter what, he always finds a way to express his love for you, and lately you’ve been feeling undeserving of this almost? No that’s not the right word. You just felt like you could be doing more. Because you, on the other hand, are amazing with your words. You enjoy watching his face turn that beautiful deep maroon and hearing his purrs stutter the more he’s flustered by your words. You love to see him relax in your arms as you give him words of affirmation and assurance on bad days. You remind him of your love for him everyday and you give him all the sweet nothings he could ever want, but acts of service has always been a struggle for you. Of course, Sans never seems bothered and he’s never given you the impression that he wants more from you, but you want to try because he absolutely deserves it.
You also may have found his little pocketbook full of notes he takes throughout the day full of notes about you, your jokes, your stories, and little things you had mentioned. Due to his unfortunate head injury, he wasn’t always the best at remembering certain little things. You knew he was working on getting better, but you never pressured him to tell you how - it seemed like he didn’t want to share. You honestly felt bad you had found the book and snooped, but seeing just how much he writes about you in the notes more than anything else was just too sweet. It almost made you cry. Almost.
Ah who are you kidding? You definitely teared up.
So, you planned a little surprise date, full of his favorite things combined. The outdoors, food, and you - a picnic by the lake a little bit away from your home. After the hell monsters went through underground, most of them have a deep appreciation for the sky and full bellies (or what would be akin to a belly for them). Sans is no different, so you were hoping he’d take a liking to it.
“... how long... will the surprise take?” The question surprised you a bit, not only because it pulled you out of your musings, but because he’s usually very patient. That is, until you take in his stiff posture and realize the issue. Dinnertime is soon and he doesn’t quite know when you both will be eating.
“Don’t worry hon, we’ll have food soon,” You feel okay letting that bit of the surprise known. Despite being on the surface for almost seven years, Sans tends to get very nervous when you guys don’t stick to a schedule with meals. No need to keep him anxious. Especially considering you were pulling into the clearing of the lakeside. “In fact, we’re here!”
You put the van in park and tell Sans to wait for a second. Hopping out, you walk to the back of the van and open the back doors to grab the picnic basket you had packed. Once you make your way closer to the lakeside you quickly lay out the picnic blanket as well as place a folded blanket nearby in case it got a bit chilly. You then set up the food for a cute presentation, leaving the last part of the surprise you had for Sans in the basket. Jogging back to the van, you open Sans’ door to see he had already unbuckled himself. Guess he’s a bit more excited for the surprise than he let on earlier.
“Come on big guy, you’ve waited long enough” You grab his hand, help him out of the van and start leading him to the blacket set up.
“Can you lean down again?” You ask when you get to it. He does so and you gently take off his blindfold, making sure the fabric doesn’t catch on his skull injury or the rough bone near his dead socket. Once it’s off you gesture dramatically to the blanket. “Ta da!”
Sans stands straight up again and blinks a bit, overlooking the blanket at first, expecting something more near his sightline. Following where you're gesturing however, his eyelight eventually lands on the picnic blanket below. He still looks a bit confused. You were prepared for this type of reaction, many human activities such as picnics can be completely foreign to monsters - same for some monster activities being completely foreign to humans. You guys have had your fair share of these moments where you both have had to do a bit of explaining.
“what…?” He looks at you for an answer.
“It’s called a picnic. You pack food, take it to a scenic area, lay down a blanket, sit down, and eat. It’s sort of considered a cheesy romantic date idea, but I like them and I thought you would too... in fact I should’ve thought to take you on one of these sooner in our relationship! I actually had this idea last month, but it was too cold… also, most of the time picnics are a lunchtime date, but I like them during the sunset. It’s been awhile since our last date, huh?” You look up at him after your question to see him looking at the blanket with his face slightly red.
“... yeah i guess it has.” He has a small smile on his face and he stares down at the food.
You remember him getting very flustered when you would give him or buy him food at the beginning of your relationship. Since it was a scarcity down below, being willing to share food had a deeper intimate meaning for monsters. It meant that you loved them enough to offer a lifeline - food - that they so desperately clung to in its rarity. He still gets a little flustered now, but he’s been exposed to food sharing and he’s even come to enjoy it as a normal gesture. Though he seems a bit flustered now? Maybe because of the romantic undertone? Hmmmm, or maybe it’s because-
Your stomach decided to make itself known, growling loudly. You laugh, but Sans gives you an anxious look of concern, leading you to say:
“Well come on! Let’s eat!”
You don’t have to tell him twice, you’re both quickly seated and indulging on the yummy food you had made earlier today.
Sans makes sure you eat a good few bites before he digs in. There was a lot of it because, unsurprisingly, your mate has quite the appetite. But he still likes to wait for you to eat first no matter how much food there is. You didn’t even notice when he did that at the beginning of your relationship and when you finally did question him, he just said it was polite to wait for your mate to eat first. He didn’t elaborate more than that. When you researched into the topic you found that when there was a significant appetite difference and on the off chance there was access to food, it was polite for those with the bigger appetites to wait for the ones with smaller appetites to eat a bit first. Then it went into monster rankings, common folk monsters, boss monsters, different magic levels, etc. to which you got confused and pretty much gave up on the issue with a simple “fine, keep your secrets then” to your computer screen. You figured if Sans thought it was important for you to know he would have told you.
You both quickly fall into your normal dinner routine of you talking Sans’ nonexistent ears off about anything and everything and him listening closely, chuckling at your jokes and stories. You ended up telling him a story from highschool about your babysitting experiences.
“- and I mean she was freaking out. I was too. We were both responsible for this kid we were babysitting and we lost him. It was also super stressful because we had taken the kid all over town doing fun stuff like going to the zoo, the park, getting lunch - this kid could be anywhere! So we both decided after searching all over the house that we would drive and retrace our steps, starting at the last place we were.” You were telling your story with animated hand gestures, and Sans follows the movements with his eyelight. The sun was setting at this point, all the food was eaten, and you both were just enjoying each other's company.
“So, we get in the car - still freaking out mind you - and I asked my friend ‘should we just call his mom?’ and before my friend could answer I heard a little voice say, ‘why would you call my mom?’ I whipped my head around to see the kid just chilling in his carseat. Turns out we just forgot to unbuckle him and he had fallen asleep during the car ride! We were flipping the house upside down trying to find him and we hadn’t even taken him inside!” Sans broke out laughing at your dumb story, leaving you to grin.
“Oh sure it’s funny in hindsight, but I about peed my pants when we thought we lost him! I was so scared, what was I gonna tell his mom? ‘Hey Lisa, um it’s going great! Uh just thought you should know, we can’t find your kid and we may have lost him?’” Sans couldn’t stop laughing. You egged him on.
“Oh yeah, and wanna know the worst part? The little shit was old enough and clever enough to figure out what happened and we had to bribe him with ice cream to keep him quiet.” Sans let out boisterous laughter and fell back so that he was laying on the ground. You couldn’t help but join in at that point. You didn’t particularly think the story was all that funny but when Sans laughs like this, it’s infectious.
After you both calm down a bit, you look at Sans to see him gazing at you lovingly. You love this content expression he makes, when his eyelight gets all fuzzy and dilated, it makes you feel so special and loved. It’s his expression reserved only for you (and maybe that stew you made last week, he seemed to be pretty taken with that as well).
“... thank you, for tonight.”
“Dawww you big softie! Of course! It was the least I could do for you, you always make sure I’m happy and content. I wanted to give you something like that.” He blushes, but he also furrows his brows a bit.
“you don’t need to feel… like you owe me more, i do it because… i love you.” Of course, you knew this, but hearing him say it? It had you tearing up a bit. He reaches for you and you lean into his embrace, leaving you both cuddling on the ground. You sniff a bit, trying to stop the crying before it really starts.
“I know, I’ve been trying to drill that into my head, but you deserved tonight and I’m glad I went through with this. It was fun! I might plan more dates in the future. In fact I think I’m pretty good at it!” You jokingly say with all the unearned confidence in the world. Sans chuckles and pulls you closer and despite your efforts, a few happy tears do fall, leaving him to make a concerned noise.
“you okay?” He asks, and you wave away his concern.
“I’m fine, I just love you too.”
“heh… now who’s the softie?” He gently teases, pointedly ignoring the fact that he’s blushing again.
“Pfft- I guess you’re right. Literally too, I’m the one with the flesh and skin!” He erupts into laughter again.
“Easy crowd tonight.” You joke, causing him to laugh harder and you chuckle with him.
Once he calms down, you both lay in comfortable silence, before you remember your last surprise. You shoot up into a sitting position, making Sans - who was resting his eyes comfortably - let out a surprised growl. You laugh at his reaction, reassuring him that everything is fine.
“I just have one more surprise that I thought would be fun.” You dig into the picnic basket, pulling out the surprise and grabbing that extra blanket. You lay back down with Sans and pull the blanket over you guys.
“I think it should be dark enough for this,” You hand him the surprise - a handheld telescope. “It’s not as nice as the big one you have at home, but it’s a lot easier and lighter to carry around, plue we don’t have to stand.”
Sans smiles at you.
“... do you want to learn some more… constellations?”
“Absolutely I do!”
He begins to show you the visible constellations, and you proceed to make him laugh with the made up stories for them that you swear are the true origin stories. Just relaxing and goofing off, it’s moments like these where you remember just how lucky you were to be with your gentle giant, Sans.
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lianabrooks · 3 years
Text
If You Give A Skeleton A 3D Printer
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IF YOU GIVE A SKELETON A 3D PRINTER is officially out and in stores near you! You can order the print copy from your local mom n' pop store, request it at the library, or get the ebook. Any way you do it, go grab this silly book about a skeleton who has gone a little bit bananas.
CONTAINS: 💀 Seriously Silly Short Stories 💀 Nonbinary Skeletal Hijinks 💀 Geek Life 4Eva    💀 Reddit Advice 💀 Pudding
Print Ebook Free Review Copy Goodreads
WHAT THE SKELETON DID IN THE DARK (Story #1)
Internet, so helpful!
It took three tries but I broke into the library at night and I’ve been spending all my midnights researching 3D printing material that feels like skin. It’s not great, but I think I can get the squish right.
Let’s see... does Thingiverse have muscles? No? Why not??
Oh, right, I’m the only immortal skeleton wandering around St Louis, probably anywhere. How would I even know? How do you even start that conversation? “Hi, so... are you just an undying skeleton in a suit too?”
I don’t see that going well. Okay... 3D scans of muscles... oddly enough, Google is less helpful here. I’m probably on a watch list now.
3D scans of famous statues... ooo! Do I want to be David or Venus de Milo? Hmmm. What was I when I was alive? I was... alive. Yup, remember that. I think I broke my leg once, pretty sure, there’s a line there that I have to glue up sometimes. I had an actual brain once too, but I guess some things soak into the bones and something don’t.
Maybe I’ll print one of each?
Did you know the David statue was 17 feet tall? I did not.
Venus is 6′8″. Eat your heart out Gwendoline Christie*!
Okay... now... order the stretchable printing filament, I figure I can use the MacGregor’s shed, it has electricity and Mr. MacGregor hasn’t used the workshop since he broke his hip two years ago. Can I use wood glue on my new muscles or do I need to buy a special glue.
Is there bone glue?
Would I be able to get bone glue at the vet’s office?
I hate going to the hospital, it’s always so awkward. I sat down once and wound up hanging in an office for a week before they wheeled me into a place where I could grab something and escape. I still have the eye-loop screw thingy in my head.
Speaking of which, a wig. I need a wig. And makeup. Apparently I’m a girl now.
Right. Do I need boobs?
No, the internet says my secondary sexual characteristics do not determine my gender. Good to know.
Wait, I have boobs. Do I need a bra? ... I’m thinking NO. Bras are expensive.
Okay... muscles, super glue, 3D printer, wig, makeup... clothes? Um... yes. I probably need those. They probably won’t let a naked person into the planning office even if she looks like Venus de Milo (or Gwendoline Christie). Fine. Clothes.
What size am I? Size zero!
Ahahaha! I crack myself up.
I better buy more glue.
There we go. In three weeks I will have a new fleshy mass over my bony self and I can march into the planning office and demand my pond be left alone. My pond will be saved and I can go back to reading whatever falls to the bottom of the pond and sneaking out on Halloween.
They’re putting some new houses up across the road, I should go lay in the dirt with an arrowhead and see if I can get this area declared a piece of historic importance. I wonder if they could do a DNA test to see what I was when I still had skin. That’d be a hoot.
Ah, humans. such fun. But, you know what they say, Si non unum, terrent eos***!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Gwen, if you read this, don’t be mad. I love you. I watched you in Game Of Thrones through someone’s window**. Let’s be shopping buddies!
** I’m not a creeper, it’s just hard to get people to invite you inside when you’re a skeleton that smells like decayed leaves at the bottom of the lake.
*** If you can’t be one of them, terrify them.
---------------------------- Want more from me? Website Patreon Twitter Facebook Instagram Goodreads Pinterest Buy All My Books Here Buy Me A Ko-Fi Here
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femenaces · 3 years
Note
In both a scientific and personal mindset, I have a lot of questions, so I might return here and there because I’d like to understand how your brain process works. I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a few genuine, not intended to be pointed, questions:
• Are you aware of the current anti-trans bills in the US, and other countries, that would put trans people at risk? Do you or do you not support them?
• Do you approve of and support formal conversion therapy for trans individuals, and, on that note, do you support parents (particularly of AFAB trans people) who’s reactions to coming out may be physically violent and/or cause emotional damage (such as turning emotionally abusive, believing them to be traitors, forcing them to become overly feminine, cutting out any support systems that accept the social change, and so on)
• Other than your own personal experiences, and other radfem blogs, do you have any scientific or historical articles/journals to back your claims, both against trans people, and against the idea of things such as, say, women wearing heels which you seem avidly against (or, more specifically for the heels, women feeling empowered by wearing heels).
• Lastly; do you have any anthropological knowledge/ideas on gender. By this I’m not necessarily talking about trans individuals, or third genders seen in different cultures, but also women, what is means to be a women, and so on within other cultures.
Thank you.
I am typing this on my phone in bed so I’m sorry if the formatting is fucked up
1) I am not aware of every single bill, no, but I have a general idea. I don’t support anything that would endanger transgender individuals. However I don’t think the following things (main topics of “anti-trans” bills) constitute endangering trans individuals:
-separating sports by biological sex. I feel for transgender people who want to compete athletically, because there is no easy solution to this. On one hand, male and female skeletons and muscle building capabilities are markedly different. I have had courses on biological and forensic anthropology and this is fact. This effects individuals’ sports performance. You can see this if you google sports records for men vs. women and observe the difference. As such, it would not be fair to put a transgender woman into a women’s competition. However, conversely, HRT does affect things like muscle building, so it wouldn’t be fair to have a trans woman on HRT compete with males that are not on HRT, or have a trans man compete with females not on HRT, etc. I’m not sure there’s an easy solution to this issue and the only option I can see is creating separate categories for trans athletes, even though that is obviously not ideal. Anyway, bills barring biological male trans women from competing in women’s sports and vice versa do not endanger the individuals in any tangible way.
-preventing children under 18 from starting hormone therapy or undergoing surgery. The aim of this is actually to protect the health of these individuals due to the fact that puberty blockers and HRT have adverse medical effects that are not yet fully understood. After a person turns 18, though, they should be free make any decision they feel is right for them.
Those are the main issues I’m aware of right now after scanning this page: https://freedomforallamericans.org/legislative-tracker/anti-transgender-legislation/ . If you have a specific bill you’d like me to look at, send me a link.
2) This is where the difference in our definitions of conversion therapy gets tricky. I would support therapy for dysphoric individuals that aims to work on non-medical ways to deal with dysphoria, & I think this option should always be explored first due to the health effects of HRT and risks of surgery. Do you consider this conversion therapy?
If we’re talking therapy that aims to make GNC people conform to traditional notions of gender based on their biological sex (eg. you’re a girl, you have to learn to wear dresses. You’re a boy, you can’t play with dolls) or tries to force someone to use pronouns they aren’t comfortable with, then I think that is conversion therapy and I absolutely do not support it. Along the same line, I obviously don’t support parents who mistreat their children for being GNC or identifying as trans because that’s abuse.
3) I don’t know what you mean when you say claims against trans people. Dysphoria clearly exists and for some people medical transition is the best option. For my claim that male and female are real things, I honestly don’t think I need a study or research paper to support that claim. Intersex individuals exist but do not prove that sex isn’t real. With just the skull and pelvis, you can identify the sex of an individual with somewhere around 95-99% accuracy from what I remember off the class notes I took a few weeks ago in my forensic anthropology class. I’m typing this from my phone in bed rn bc it’s 3am but I’m sure you can google this if you doubt me, here’s one paper to start you off: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0379073816300202
As for the claim against wearing heels, again it seems fairly self explanatory that walking around in strangely shaped objects will not do good things to your feet and muscles and skeleton, but if you really want a study then here’s a couple I found with a quick google search: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169814101000385
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C34&q=effects+of+wearing+high+heels&oq=effects+of+wearing#d=gs_qabs&u=%23p%3DermElc9Li4gJ
Why do I not think it’s empowering for women to wear shoes that give them health issues and are hard to move in? I don’t know how to explain that to you. A concrete example of how it actively DISEMPOWERS women is my experience having to walk home from work at the end of the day in an area where men follow and harass me. I quickly realized that wearing heels would not allow me to run if I needed to.
4) this is an especially funny question because I am one class away from graduating with a degree in anthropology. I have studied so many cultures from around the world and that is actually part of what made me a radical feminist. Cross culturally, it is astonishing to see how almost every culture displays prominent oppression of women, and, you guessed it, this oppression is sex based and starts the moment a female infant is born and recognized as female.
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1-800-roflmao · 3 years
Text
Wash Day Delight Pt. 7
Rating:  General Audiences
WARNINGS:  None
Fandom:  Undertale (Video Game)
Relationships:  Papyri Harem.  
Characters:  Papyrus (UT!Pap), Reader, Blue (US!Sans), Willow (HT!Pap), Mutt (FSR!Pap), Red (UF!Sans), Coffee (FSG!Pap), Oak (HT!Sans), and Mentions of Other AU Skeletons
If you prefer reading on AO3
*Willow is here to save the Reader’s toes after that trip through the void.  She finally gets to have her shower and ponder.  Meanwhile, the guys discuss downstairs and Coffee reminds them Google is a thing.
*Bonus: Fluffy Willow moments.
PREVIOUS || FIRST || NEXT
Papyrus was never a fan of shortcuts and not just because his brother borderline abused them.  No, he didn’t enjoy the pervasive feel of the void around him.  The cold of Snowedin never bothered him, but the void’s cold always managed to sink and settle into his bones no matter how short their time was spent in the odd space.  By the way he could feel the human in his arms shivering lightly let him know she was feeling it as well.  Finally, the inky blackness of the void seemed to pull before snapping and his well lit home falling into place around him was almost blinding.  
“ALRIGHT, YOU CAN OPEN YOUR EYES,” Blue had yet to release his grip on Papyrus’s arm as he used it for leverage to check on their friend.  She was slowly unfurling from the fetal position she had curled into during their trip.  Had she been that cold?  His sockets took in her attire and he mentally kicked himself for not realizing how light her clothing was.  And humans were more sensitive to temperature to boot.
“APOLOGIES!  I SHOULD HAVE GRABBED A BLANKET FOR YOU.” Papyrus wanted to help rub some warmth into the bared skin of her arms and legs, but he doubted his frozen bones would do much good right now.  Even Blue was resisting touching her right now.  
She had unfurled as much as she dared and patted his chest before trying to speak.  Her teeth chattered shortly into her effort and she quickly closed her mouth with a little embarrassed huff.  He managed to stifle a giggle at the cute display as she took a moment to rub her hands together and blow hot air into her palms before pressing the warmed skin into her cheeks and rubbing more.  Blue didn’t bother hiding his chuckles and she sent him a pouty glare, “N-not f...f-f… fun-ny!” she pushed out.
Blue just grinned as he lifted a hand and made a show of removing his glove, “NOT FUNNY SHE SAYS!” he cackled as her glare quickly melted into horror and panic as the energetic skeleton hovered his hand over her bare leg.  
“D-don’t you d-are!”  she chattered, legs jerking slightly as she seemed to be holding back from moving too much.  Papyrus could feel her jump as Blue dropped his hand lower playfully.  
“OKAY, THAT’S EN-EH!!!” his statement was cut off as a new pair of skeletal hands came into view and plucked the shivering human from his arms swiftly.  It took a moment for his mind to catch up with what just happened as he snapped his head up to see who had stolen his friend.
“WILLOW!” It had been Blue calling his doppelganger’s nickname as they both watched the towering skeleton adjust his hold on her so she was pretty much sitting in the crook of his arm, tucked against his side, with his palm cupping her feet as his fingers gently rubbed at her toes.  She seemed to be shivering less and less, relaxing into Willow’s hold even as said skeleton fussed over and at her.  Papyrus and Blue weren’t exempt from a scolding though as Willow turned his attention to them and wasted no time falling into a lecture.
“I UNDERSTAND YOU TWO WERE EXCITED TO HAVE OUR FRIEND OVER TODAY, BUT THAT IS NO EXCUSE TO RUSH AND FORGET NECESSITIES LIKE SOCKS AND SHOES!  HUMANS LOSE MOST OF THEIR BODY HEAT THROUGH THEIR FEET!” Papyrus and Blue just resigned to their fate and bowed their heads guiltily. Thankfully, Willow’s scolding was halted by the human in his arms patting his chest.  
“That’s enough, Willow,” she hushed, for some reason looking guilty herself.  “Blue and Pap took real good care of me before the shortcut, so go easy on them, please?” The two she praised perked up.  “Plus, they weren’t the only ones excited to come over today,” she finished her plea and Willow took a moment to consider it before letting his shoulders and features relax.  
“FINE,” he gave in and sighs of relief resounded before a confused squeak escaped their guest as Willow turned around with her still cradled against his side and started making his way up the stairs.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
“Um… Willow?” she called, trying not to look down or around.  Willow was already tall… no, tall wasn’t enough to cover just how much airspace this particular skeleton cousin took up.  Now, they were on stairs… ascending said stairs steadily and just out of her view she knew the ground floor was getting further away and the ceiling was getting closer.  She knew he wouldn’t drop her, but lord, a fall from this height would do some damage and be extra painful today especially.  
He answered with an inquiring hum, not even glancing down at the human he had pretty much kidnapped.  “Where are you taking me?” she questioned, eyes focused on his face and nothing else.  Even the sound of rushed footfalls on the stairs behind them didn’t pull her attention.  It was most likely Papyrus or Blue trying to catch up.
“TO YOUR BATH, OF COURSE,” he answered like it was the most obvious answer.  A little “oh” fell from her lips before pouting a bit as she squinted up at him.  
“I could always walk?” she put out there.  They were literally going to have her spoiled if they kept carrying her this much.  Plus, she still had that nagging feeling that as an adult she shouldn’t have things this easy.  
Willow only hummed again, but made no move to put her down even as they reached the landing and took a left to go down the long hallway.  So, no walking for her.  Knowing Blue, he probably told the whole household Papyrus’s plan to pamper her today.  
“WILLOW!” Speak of the devil and he shall appear.  No longer on the stairs, she looked just in front of them to where Blue was pretty much jogging backwards in order to stay ahead of Willow’s long gate. And Willow wasn’t letting up, but did tip his skull down to acknowledge the small skeleton.  “YOU CAN’T JUST STEAL Y/N!” he scolded, “PLUS, ALL HER STUFF IS WITH ME.”  He gestured to the pack on his back.
“AND YOU’RE HERE WITH IT, I DON’T SEE THE PROBLEM,” was Willow’s sassy reply.  Blue opened his mouth to respond, but his teeth clacked shut as words failed him.  She giggled as Blue huffed and he sent a little glare her way.  He had to scramble out the way as they had finally reached the “master bath” and Willow wasn’t wasting any time as he pushed the door open with his free hand and stepped inside.  
This was only her second time in here and it still amazed her how extravagant and expensive a bathroom of all things could feel.  If she remembered correctly, it was Black’s insistence they have at least one bath like this.  She could see his tastes echoed in the dark marble countertops and black paneling along the walls.  Wine must have had a say as well from the cozy touches like the cypress wood flooring and cabinets, decorative towels and art pieces--she’d have to ask if Coffee made some of these.  She hadn’t asked last time whose decision it was to have not only a skylight, but a floor to ceiling glass panel next to the modern soaking tub.  Thankfully, their house was outside city limits and up in the hilly area, nestled on a cliff side.  They probably have a fantastic view of the stars come night time through that window.  Right now though, all she could see was blue skies with lazy, wispy clouds.  
“Oh, that’s new,” she commented, noticing all the new plants and even what looked like a moss mat placed before the tub.  
“HM, WHAT IS?” Willow questioned as he carried her closer to the shower.   Now able to see the just as extravagant shower, she could see another of the mats in front of it as well.   Now, that she looked more closely, the little organic mats made a cute stepping stone-like trail over to the tub.  
“That,” she pointed out, fingertip following the trail before twirling to indicate all the plants in general.
Willow’s sockets widened a fraction as he realized what she was talking about before smiling, no beaming proudly.  He straightened up as much as he could while carrying her, impressive considering his back wasn’t the best.  “THAT WOULD BE MY BROTHER’S DOING!” he proclaimed, practically glowing with pride, “HE’S RECENTLY GOTTEN INTO GARDENING AND BOTANY.  OH, YOU SHOULD SEE HIS GARDEN! I MEAN… IT’S NOT IN BLOOM RIGHT NOW, BUT IT’S STILL IMPRESSIVE AND HE’S THINKING ABOUT A GREENHOUSE ONE DAY SO HE CAN GROW FRUITS AND VEGETABLES ALL YEAR ROUND FOR US TO EAT.”  He was rambling, but that was fine.  It was touching seeing his enthusiasm for his brother’s new hobby… would it be considered a hobby?  She felt better thinking of it as a passion.  “OH! I’M SORRY, I GOT OFF TRACK,” he apologized but she just shrugged.
“I don’t mind, I actually like it,” she assured.  She adjusted her grip on him as she felt him starting to crouch down.  
“GREAT! BECAUSE I HAVE MORE TO SAY!” he chirped, sockets curving just a bit as she giggled in response.  Bent at the knees, he eased her onto her own feet which left her standing between his spread femurs with her hands on his shoulders for balance as she stretched and flexed her legs to wake them up.  He continued to chat with her throughout.  “BUT MY BROTHER’S FAVORITE IS TAKING IN RESCUES,” he started and gestured to the plants in the bathroom, “THESE ARE SOME HE’S REHABILITATED.”  He had dove into telling how Oak explained that these plants in particular thrived in more humid environments, plus how he had convinced the more bourgie of their housemates to allow the plants to be kept in this bathroom.  Apparently, it had been Wine who gave in first, but it took near half the household to convince Black.  What won him over was the moss being useful for soaking up water and the plants for their air purifying qualities.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o
By the time he finished retelling the saga, she had taken a seat on one of the mats as she laughed along with him as he whispered how Black had been caught talking to one of the plants.  “HIS DEFENSE WAS THAT HE HEARD OAK TALKING TO THEM SEVERAL TIMES,” he completed his tale, his small sockets softening as he took in how even her eyes seemed to be shining with her mirth.  
“Well, I read somewhere that talking to plants actually can help them,” her words were still interrupted by cute little giggles.  Finally, she took a deep breath and held it before releasing slowly.  She had lifted a hand to fan herself and he could understand why considering the flush he could see on her cheeks and ears.  “I’m happy for Oak, it seems like he really found something he loves--aside from you, of course,” she remarked thoughtfully, “And I can hear how proud you are as well.”  
“I AM.” He had been ecstatic when his brother finally found something to focus on other than food and his condition.  All thanks to a sad little plant he had found left out to die and be thrown away with the trash one day.  It had been nothing more than a single stem with one big leaf that had shriveled and was turning brown at the edges.  
It had been confusing at first when his brother came home with it carefully cupped in his palm with soil he had dug up to cover its roots.  Oak had mumbled that he couldn’t find a pot or anything for it and he had forgotten his money at home, but it needed help, so he did what he could.  He hadn’t questioned it.  Now, that sad little plant was taller than him and outgrowing its current pot quickly, but they were waiting for the warmer months to plant it in the ground finally.  
“THE ROUTINE OF TAKING CARE OF THE PLANTS HELPS HIM TREMENDOUSLY. PLUS, TALKING TO THE PLANTS HELPS HIM AS WELL! IT STRENGTHENS HIS MEMORY,” he added, teeth quirked into a gentle smile.  She just hummed in response and he flushed a bit as he saw she was now gazing up at him with her chin resting on her braided fingers.    He wished she wouldn’t look at him like that.  So gentle, so warm, and so understanding.  It gave him hope when he knew damn well her feelings were just platonic.  Besides, he knew he didn’t stand a chance against his prime version.
Sighing, he stood up and rolled his shoulders and neck to ease the stiffness that had set in.  “WELL, I SHOULD LEAVE YOU TO IT,” he dismissed as he offered her a helping hand and pulled her to her feet; bare toes wiggling and pressing into the moss mat curiously.  He still couldn’t--no, he could believe it-- he simply couldn’t wrap his mind around how they had forgotten even shoes or socks for her.  
“Oh, I get to bathe myself?” she joked as she peeked around Willow to find Blue, but all she saw was her bag abandoned on the counter.  He must have run off while they were talking.  
Willow immediately lifted a hand to cover his now glowing cheekbones and nose ridge, “I BELIEVE THE AGREEMENT WAS THAT YOU BATHE YOURSELF.”  He heard her snort and looked down at the human as she now rummaged through her bag, pulling out a few containers, a bright colored netting of some sort, a change of clothes, and even a bath bomb.  “UNLESS YOU’VE CHANGED YOUR MIND OF COURSE,” he watched her freeze like a dear from the corner of his vision as he looked off to the side in feigned innocence, “IT IS DIFFICULT FOR YOU HUMANS TO REACH CERTAIN PLACES ON YOUR OWN, CORRECT?”  Oh, she was blushing something fierce right now.
“WILLOW!” she whined, now imitating an ostrich as she pressed her face into her bag to hide.  
“WOWIE, MY NAME SURE IS POPULAR TODAY!” he replied playfully as a muffled little scream came from the bag she was hunched over.  He chuckled and gently pushed the edge of the bag’s opening down enough so he could see her eyes peeking at him.  Well, glaring right now.  “WHY ARE YOU SO EMBARRASSED, HUMAN?  I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT HELPING YOU WASH YOUR BACK IF YOU WANTED,” a crooked grin pulled at his teeth as her eyes narrowed further.
“Uh. Huh,” was her answer and somehow that sound carried so much attitude and meaning.  Yeah, she definitely didn’t buy it, but at least she was finally emerging from the bag and finishing unpacking what she needed.  He smiled as he saw her pull out a pair of cute fuzzy socks.  Those would have helped earlier, but at least he wouldn’t have to hunt down a pair… most of theirs wouldn’t fit anyway.  “So, how do y’ll want ta do this?” she asked him suddenly as she started zipping up the bag  again.
“DO WHAT EXACTLY?”
She was staring for a moment, looking for any indication that he was playing dumb before finally answering, “My hair?  I told Papi I’d let him help with it, but he’s off somewhere, so I can’t ask him.”  Oh?  She’s letting Papyrus touch her hair?  He really had no chance, huh?  “But I don’t mind if more of you want to help out, too.”
“YES,” the word had jumped from his teeth as soon as she finished speaking.  Taking a deep breath and recomposing himself as her now wide eyes just blinked up at him in shock.  “I MEAN I’D LOVE TO HELP OUT… WITH YOU HAIR I MEAN,” he tried again, volume and tone hopefully more casual.  He had his hands behind his back to hide his fidgeting fingers.  
One more blink before her expression, only for a second, twisted into suspicion and curiosity.  The look was gone and replaced with something neutral, but welcoming.  Just what had gone through her mind, he wondered.  “Okay…” she dragged out the vowel a bit, “So, once again, how are we going about this?  Do y’ll want me to wash my hair and you just get to do the styling, detangling, blah blah blah… oooor-”
She quieted as Willow held up his palms to her, “WE WANT TO DO EVERYTHING.”  
“Everything?” He nodded with an eager smile, fingers curling into happy fists that were shaking from tension as he withheld pumping them excitedly.  He watched her look up to the ceiling in thought before shrugging, “Alright, so I’ll just wash up for now and save my long soak for later.”  She was thinking aloud as she picked up her bag and held it out to him, “While I’m washing, why don’t y’ll pick out some products we’ll use?  Mainly focus on the scent for now.”  
He took the bag with a nod and a surprised little rep as he felt how hefty the bag still felt.  “Yeah, we probably went overboard, but Blue figured it’s better to be over prepared than under,” she explained and he could only nod in stunned silence as he turned and started to finally leave.  
“Oh!” He paused in the doorway and looked back at her.  She had only managed to turn on the shower to start warming it up and though she wasn’t looking at him kept speaking, “You guys also need to figure out how and where we’re going to wash my hair.”    
Willow’s skull tilted and he lifted a brow bone in question, “ARE WE NOT DOING IT IN HERE?” He thought the bathroom was where humans took care of all their hygiene needs.  And shouldn’t she know how to wash her hair?  She’s supposed to show them after all.  
She just hummed and took a long look around.  “I guess we could, but…” she trailed off.  
“BUT?” he pushed, genuinely curious.
“The tub is a bit tall for me to be leaning over for a long time and I know your back wouldn’t appreciate it either, plus it would require a cup or something to dump water over my head.”  She wasn’t wrong about his back.  So, that was out.  Plus, it didn’t sound pleasant to have water dumped over one’s head over and over.  “The sink in here is higher, but that would be difficult for me.  Plus, it’s a bit shallow and once again, we’d need a cup.”  Sink was out, too, then.  
“And last, the shower.  That’s usually where I wash my hair, but it’s a bit difficult with multiple people.. At least it is if you’re not comfortable being naked or in swimsuits together,” she laughed and he blushed a bit at the intimate, domestic scene it summoned in his mind.  “Other than that, the only ways I think we could make it work up here is if I leaned over into the shower or knelt down and we used the removable shower head,” she put out the idea, but he immediately knew it wouldn’t work out.
“THE WATER PRESSURE WOULD RESULT IN A VERY MESSY… WET EXPERIENCE,” he lamented and she just nodded sagely with a little shrug.  How would they get this done?  Was it even possible?
“If it helps,” she piped up, holding a hand under the spray and feeling the temperature of the water, “We usually use the kitchen sink or a utility sink.  Ylls is still tall, but I think if I stand on a chair, it might work.”  She sent him a confident smile as he perked up at the idea, “Y’ll have time to think it over.  Plus, I want to show you all something before that anyway.”  After that, she had shooed him out and he left with a promise to talk it over with the others.  He couldn’t help wondering what she wanted to show them. 
o0o0o0o0o0o0o 
Once the door closed behind Willow, she couldn’t get out her clothes fast enough.  This bath has been due for a bit and my god it already felt heavenly on just her palm from touching the water.  Leaving her clothes on the floor right where she shed them, she went to dive into the shower before remembering she needed her soap and other supplies to actually get clean.  One naked dash to the counter to scoop up what she needed and back again,plus she tossed a shower cap on at the last minute; finally, she was able to enjoy her shower.
She debated rushing as to not keep the boys waiting, but she rarely gets to experience a rain shower like this.  It was dampened-heh-by the plastic shower cap, but overall was pleasant.  She took a moment to just bask and relax, but her mind began to wander and shower thoughts filtered in.  
Namely how all the skeletons she had interacted with today had been surprised that she was letting them do anything with her hair.  Well, they hadn’t expressed their surprise with words, but their body language and facial expressions spoke volumes.   That had been genuine surprise and shock she had seen.  Add in their eagerness to help her with her hair--adorable--and it’s obvious they’ve wanted to possibly touch her hair or ask about it for a while.  
Had she done something to make it seem like she didn’t want anyone touching her hair?  At all?  She mulled over all the time she had known the skeletons and the only things she could think of is maybe they witnessed someone touching her hair without permission and she snapped on said person.  It happens less now, but it has happened.  Even that would only make sense if they didn’t hear everything she says to the person.  She always mentions consent when she gets on people with wandering, overcurious hands and fingers.  So, they would know they just need to ask? Right?
Brow scrunching, she sighed and stepped from under the rainfall to finally start actually cleaning up.  Going through the familiar motions, she continued to turn over and pick at the mystery.  It wasn’t until near the end of her shower when she was rinsing off the suds, something clicked… “Cash.”
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
“we were startin’ ta wonder if doll changed her mind, will o’ the wisp,” a skeleton dressed in mostly black with a fur lined hood and a single gold fang jeered from his seat on the living room sofa just as Willow reached the bottom of the staircase.  A disappointed grunt followed as the taller skeleton purposely ignored his comment.
“RED, I THOUGHT YOU HAD TO WORK TODAY?” Willow inquired as he stepped into the living room, only after hearing Blue and Papyrus’s voices reprimand the gold fanged sans.  Standing in the doorway, he could now see that the two were sitting on cushions on the floor before the tv.  From the characters running and bouncing around the screen, it looked like they were playing Smash.  Leaning over the arm of the couch opposite the one Red was sitting on was Coffee.  He spared a little wave to Willow, but went back to watching the other two play.  He was probably waiting to jump in and play whoever wins. Stretched across that same couch with his fur lined hood up and obscuring his face was Mutt.  His long legs hung over the remaining arm of the couch and his arms were crossed over his chest.  He truly slept like the dead as he didn’t budge or even twitch.  His chest didn’t fall and rise in simulated breath either.   The last skeleton in the room was Willow’s brother, Oak, and he was currently snoozing as well, leaned back against the couch with his skull lolling to the side.  
“wha’, i’m not invited ta y’lls lil’ wash day thing,” Red growled, but his crimson eyelights avoiding Willow’s gaze hinted he was simply dodging the question and not offended.
Before Willow could call him out on this, Mutt surprisingly beat him to it, “him n’ sansy had a lil’ lover’s spat.”  Ah, so he wasn’t sleeping.
“would ya’ quit callin’ it that!” Red barked, scowling as chuckles only rumbled from Mutt.      
Coffee’s soft voice just barely spoke above the noise of the other two, “Red wanted to test the machine…”
Willow just arched a brow bone as he set down his hefty load on the coffee table, “AND SANS, I’M GUESSING, DID NOT?”  He looked to Red for confirmation and said skeleton huffed, crossing his arms with a frustrated scowl marring his features.
“dun know how he expects us ta know if the damn t’ing works w’itout testing it!” he mumbled, “coward doesn’t even like ta turn it on most times…”  
“WELL, IN HIS DEFENSE, THAT MACHINE IS THE REASON ALL OF US ARE HERE RIGHT NOW,” Willow’s attempt to play mediator only resulted in Red grunting and sinking more into the cushions.
Blue had handed off his controller to Coffee who eagerly vacated his spot on the couch and took Blue’s place on the floor.  “HE’S GOING TO POUT (“m’not poutin’!”) FOR A WHILE,” he stated as he moved to kneel by the coffee table.  His eye lights were glued to the bag he remembered bringing upstairs not that long ago, “WHY DO YOU HAVE HER BAG?”  He hoped she had everything she needed upstairs.
His question had Papyrus perking up behind them, but the prime doppel refused to take his sockets off the tv, “I’D LIKE TO KNOW AS WELL!” He wished he could turn and investigate, but Coffee took his games seriously and he had yet to beat the younger skeleton at any.  Maybe today would be the day.
Willow sat in Coffee’s empty spot on the couch to ease his back so he wouldn’t be bent over as much.  His weight displaced the cushions more than Coffee had and resulted in Mutt slipping down a bit further, closer to his hip and pulling at his hood.  Said skeleton didn’t complain and just let it happen, opening his unscarred socket so a rusty blood orange eyelight swiveled to look at the bag in question.  “lil’ missy plannin’ ta stay fer while?” he inquired as he took in how full it seemed.
Blue laughed, “NEVER KNOW! WE JUST WANTED TO BE PREPARED!” he chirped.
“BETTER TO BE OVER PREPARED THAN UNDER!” Papyrus joined in before squawking in surprise and muttering a little curse.  Coffee could be heard giggling softly and whispering how Papyrus had to put money in the swear jar now, on top of his impending loss.
Mutt just nodded and Willow hummed as he unzipped the bag, “SHE WANTS US TO PICK OUT WHAT PRODUCTS TO USE.”  He plucked a jar from the bag to examine.
“why’?” Red had sat up and scooted to the edge of his seat so he could see the bag’s contents better.   “shouldn’t she be tellin’ us what ta use?” he mumbled as his eyelights expanded at the amount and variety of products in the bag, “she bought da’ whole store?!”  
Blue just snickered and those snickers were growing into laughter as Mutt finally gave in to his own curiosity and sat up.  Both sockets now open and eyelights mirroring Red’s own in shock, “never thought i’d be so thankful ta not have hair.”  He rubbed a hand over his skull, “exhausted just lookin’ at all this.  No wonder they got a whole day just for washin’ hair.”  
Willow shook his head at the two with a withered sigh as he could hear Papyrus joining Blue in poorly hidden laughter.  “THEY DON’T USE ALL OF IT,” he resisted burying his face in his hands in exasperation, “HENCE WHY SHE WANTS US TO HELP CHOOSE WHICH ONES TO USE TODAY.”  He lifted the product he had already taken from the bag and wiggled it for emphasis, “WE’LL JUST PICK OUT BASICS… SHAMPOO, CONDITIONER…”  he trailed off.  It hit him that he didn’t know what exactly could be considered basics beyond that.
“We could look up the rest…” Coffee spoke up, tilting his head towards the conversation, “...there should be something about this on the internet right?”  A harsh click of a button and snap of the joystick could be heard before an anguished cry belted from Papyrus as his character went flying to the edge of the edge of the screen.   A flash of light then the announcer chiming in loudly: GAME!  He had lost once again.  “Good game, Pap…” Coffee patted the defeated monster’s back as he dramatically sobbed into his hands.
“I DON’T WANT TO HEAR THAT FROM YOU!” Papyrus whined and they could practically hear him pouting as Coffee just giggled.  
“GREAT IDEA, COFFEE!” Blue wasted no time whipping out his phone and holding it up proudly as his eyelights formed to stars, “MWEHEHEH!  WITH THIS WE WILL PICK OUT THE PERFECT ASSORTMENT AND HELP HER HAVE THE BEST WASH DAY EVER!”  
Papyrus bounced back from his crestfallen state as heard Blue’s declaration.  He joined them at the coffee table and clapped for Blue who just beamed more.  Coffee offered his own shy clap of support as he wandered over as well and settled into an empty spot on the other side of Blue.
Red’s eyelights couldn’t roll any harder at their antics. A frown still pulled at his teeth as something wasn’t sitting right with him about this situation, “thought doll didn’t like anyone messin’ wit’ her hair?” Why the sudden change of heart? The others went quiet at his question and Mutt just hummed along, the sound giving way his curiosity about this as well.
Papyrus fiddled with his hands, braiding and unbraiding his fingers, before breaking the silence that had fallen on the room, “WELL, AS YOU KNOW--from the group text--WE CONVINCED HER TO LET ME-US TAKE CARE OF HER.”  He inhaled and looked up, looking at each skeleton in the room, “I ASKED IF WE COULD HELP WITH HER HAIR…”  A soft smile lifted the corners of his teeth, “AND SHE SAID YES.”  
Nothing was said for a bit as Papyrus’s words sank in before Mutt hummed once again, “well… let’s get ta pickin’ then.”  Nods were shared in agreement.  It didn’t answer why, but it would do for now.  
Willow started them off with the product he had already.  He read the label aloud, “HAIR HONEY?”  before unscrewing the lid.  He didn’t need to lean in to get a whiff of its scent.  Not only because his naturally more sensitive sense of smell, but it was potent and the others around perked in curiosity as well.  It was sweet and warm, but not floral.  Maybe a bit fruity?  It reminded him of a tropical drink… the color of it certainly looked like honey though.  Before he could even question what it was for, he could hear Blue’s distals tapping at his screen to look it up.
“HAIR HONEY IS A BALM FOR STYLING, MOISTURIZING, AND ADDING SHINE TO HAIR,” he read, along with a few details about ingredients.  Surprisingly, the product had very little to no actual honey in it.  
“WHY CALL IT HONEY IF IT HAS NO HONEY?” Papyrus voiced the question they were all thinking as Willow replaced the lid on the jar and set it aside.
“‘n they say monsters are bad at namin’,” Red grumbled before jumping as the cushions beside him shifted and sank.  He could hear a long, loud sniff and scowled at Oak as the larger skeleton was literally following his nasal cavity to the now closed jar. “Fuckin’ ell when did you wake up!” he griped.
Oak ignored him for picking up the jar and opening it again to take a deep sniff.  A moment later they could hear purring.  
“Missy might not be gettin’ that one back,” Mutt chuckled as he took his turn digging in the bag for a product.  They continued like this.  Taking turns picking a product, reading and looking it up, sniffing, and eventually sorting them into piles at Papyrus’s insistence.  They had started with two: YES and NO.  But the YES pile was now organized by scent.  The “tastier”--as Oak put it--scented products had been more or less hoarded by said skeleton.  It was obvious what his vote was for.
“is it really smart ta have her smellin’ all yummy and shit,” Red had scooted to the far side of the couch away from Oak.  It was too much being next to the giant while he was purring with the volume of a freight train. He swears the cushions were vibrating.  Willow’s sockets narrowed on the smaller skeleton, “I HOPE YOU ARE NOT INSINUATING WHAT I THINK YOU ARE.”  His still crooked teeth pulled into a frown.  His braces were slow to fix them.  
“THAT WAS VERY UNCOUTH, RED,” Papyrus agreed and Willow sent his duplicate an appreciative smile.  
Mutt shrugged as he watched Blue repacking the NO pile, “‘m fine wit her smellin’ like a snack~”  His gold fangs glinted as he smiled, a teasing lilt to his voice.  “‘sides it’s hard not to considerin’ half this stuff has some sort of ‘butter’ in it...” he muttered.  He had no clue what exactly cocoa or shea butter was or what it did, but it smelled amazing.  
Red agreed with the butter comment.  Hell, he was still trying to figure out how they got butter from something like olives, hempseed… MANGOES?  A god damned fruit… how?  Not too mention the different oils… it was like they were trying to purposely seasoning themselves.
Blue choked on a cut off laugh and Red had cracked a smile, snickering.  Willow had tilted his skull back with a far away, tired look to the ceiling, but couldn’t hide a light flush to his cheekbones.  Papyrus had slapped a hand to his forehead with an exasperated sigh.  
Coffee giggled quietly, “...I have a bit of a sweet tooth as well…”  That was an understatement.  He had the biggest sweet tooth out of all of them. A golden blush flushed his cheekbones as all attention had turned to him in mild shock that he had said something even slightly close to a double entendre.    
A barked laugh burst from Red and Mutt.  The taller of the two recovered first with a satisfied sigh, “well, now we really gotta go with Oak’s choice.”  
Red wiped a tear from his socket as he conceded with a shrug and amused huff, “fine, fine…”  Blue and Papyrus agreed since they were outvoted either way, but Willow had yet to speak.  He was staring down Red, frown still in place.  The skeleton currently under his harsh gaze began to sweat, eyelights wobbling and shrinking as he refused to make eye contact.  The trio on the floor shifted awkwardly and after a subtle glance between the two, they busied themselves with packing up the products they wouldn’t be using.  “what?!” he finally snapped, turning sharply and glaring up at the towering monster.
“ya still owe us an apology…” Oak rumbled, his bloated red eyelight focused on Red.  His brother crossed his arms over his chest and hummed in agreement.  
“seriously?” Red looked between the two in disbelief.  Neither held an expression that they were joking and Mutt was offering no support for him.  The trench coat clad skeleton instead was looking at the ceiling with the utmost concentration.  Traitor… Red tried holding out stubbornly and debated simply shortcutting away, but even he knew he had overstepped.  Maybe that therapist was worth the money.  “m’sorry…” he grumbled, scrunching up in an effort to hide further in the fluff of his hoodie.  
Oak looked to his brother to see if he approved of the apology.  It was a piss poor one even by his standards, but he knew they probably wouldn’t get much more than that right now.  Willow’s expression definitely said the apology wasn’t up to standard, but let his shoulders fall and his arms uncross.  It was enough of an acceptance for Red as the smaller skeleton sighed in relief at the tension easing in the room.  
Papyrus, Coffee, and Blue had finished packing by now and Papyrus clapped his hands, a bright smile lighting up his face.  “WITH THAT AND OUR CHOICE OF HAIR CARE PRODUCTS COMPLETED, I’D SAY WE’VE DONE GOOD!” he boasted and Blue nodded along.  Oak just hummed and purred happily; he turned his attention back to the products on his lap.  
“BUT WE’RE NOT DONE YET,” Willow interjected and confused, curious eyelights and sockets were aimed his way.  He was grateful the more prim and proper and strict of their household were not in for this particular conversation.  “YOU SEE, WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE’RE GOING TO WASH HER HAIR…. OR RATHER, WHERE?” he continued on to explain that they had already scratched off the upstairs bathroom she was using, plus pretty much any other bathroom at that.  “ACCORDING TO HER, THE KITCHEN OR UTILITY SINK IS BEST FOR WHEN SOMEONE HAS TO ASSIST,” he finished.
Pensive, thoughtful looks adorned most of the occupants, except for Oak and Mutt.  Oak was distracted by his hoard and Mutt was still staring at the ceiling.
“USING THE UTILITY SINK WOULD APPEASE CERTAIN SOMEONES,” Blue noted, but he didn’t sound certain.
“it would, but knowin’ how many of you are gonna wanna hang around, it’ll get crowded real quick in that little room,” Red inputted and shot down the utility sink idea.  While his brother or Black might get huffy about the kitchen sink, it wouldn’t be anything worse than some harsh words.  Black was soft on the woman and his brother held a torch for her.  They’d be fine.  
Tipping could be heard and they half expected it to be Blue typing on his phone again, but instead it was Coffee.  A few more clicks and they could see the light of the screen shining off his pearly face and gold braces.  Blue leaned to peek over his shoulder and Papyrus followed suit.  The two sharing looks of awe and understanding.  
“ey!” Red snapped and two of the trio jerked their attention from the screen, “don’t just keep it ta yaself.  show us what ya found!”
Coffee was the only one still looking at his screen and he swiped his finger across the glass surface before turning his phone around for them to see.  On the screen was a video of a woman that had curly hair and skin like their friend.  She was leaning over a sink with a woman standing just beside her.  The other woman had short, dark coils and her skin was a deep, cool brown.  She was currently using the pull down sprayer to wet the other’s hair  and working the water into her curls with her other hand.  
“OH, WE HAVE A SPRAYER LIKE THAT!” Willow nodded, “IT WILL MAKE THIS SO MUCH EASIER THAN USING A CUP OR BOWL TO DUMP WATER OVER HER HEAD.”
“you were plannin’ ta waterboard doll?” Red joked as he continued to watch the video.  “only problem ya have left is that our kitchen sink is built fer the taller than average…” he pointed out.  It sparked new ideas to be put forth.  Suggestions that they could use a chair or stool for her to stand on.  This was shot down as Coffee reminded them that she was physically exhausted and her neck and back wouldn’t appreciate being bent over for so long after the workout Edge and Papyrus had put her through.
Papyrus sighed, “IT SEEMS MY ENTHUSIASM YESTERDAY HAS PRODUCED YET ANOTHER PROBLEM…”  
Blue patted his shoulder comfortingly,  “WE HAD NO CLUE ANY OF THIS WOULD HAPPEN.  PLUS, THINK HOW PROUD SHE’LL BE WHEN YOU SHOW HER THE CHARTS OF HER PROGRESS YOU MADE!”  It helped cheer up the positive skeleton and he nodded, mumbling a thank you to his ever supportive friend.
A deep rumble pervaded the living room and gradually morphed into amused, pleased chuckles.  All attention moved to Mutt, the source, with inquiring gazes.  Pushing his hood down and leaning forward, resting his elbow on his knee and his cheek against his knuckles, he grinned at his companions, “...think I have a solution fer that~”
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sarunohadaki · 3 years
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How Do I Type So Fast?
I’ve been told before that my writing speed is… pretty fast!
When I’m sprinting, it’s not uncommon for my resulting word count to be 1,000 words more than it was 20 minutes ago. My WPM is usually around 50, with Google saying 40 is average.
But when you’re writing dialog and trying to figure out characterization, plot, etc., it’s easy for that number to drop. (For me especially, that moment comes when a scene has just finished and I have to figure out what to write next.)
So, how do I do it? Just to be clear, this isn’t to brag or talk down to others, but to maybe help those who want to write faster and to answer that question I sometimes get handed and never know what to do with.
1. Be prepared to “kill your darlings” later.
If you edit as you write, you might want to get the word choice right the first time. But being nitpicky with your language slows you down! Have an idea of what you want to say and write down whatever fits or is semi-sensical knowing it will need a thorough cleanup later.
However, writing faster in this fashion means you also need to be okay with a longer editing process later. I would much prefer more editing because, as Jodi Picoult once said, “You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page.”
2. Know your keyboard and good posture.
Being able to type without looking at your keyboard is useful. I also often type sitting at a desk with my laptop, since holding my phone isn’t as comfortable and I’m more likely to type autocorrected mistakes.
I’ll be the first to ask, who nowadays has good posture? But try not to hunch over. I like to have my feet resting on an ottoman of sorts or, if I’m laying down, stretched out in front of me with the laptop on my lap. The essential thing is that the lip of the laptop doesn’t cut into my wrists or make typing uncomfortable. Your hands have to be comfortable to reach maximum typing capacity. (P.s., Don’t forget wrist stretches!)
The more optimal your typing ability, the more accurate it will be, the fewer mistakes you’ll make, and thus fewer visits to the backspace key.
3. Begone, distractions. I have a 20-minute date with a timer.
It’s just me and my beloved writingstreak.io, usually paired with Discord’s Sprinto. I set the timer for 20 minutes, keep my timer and text box in view, and go ham. I might listen to music, I might have discord open, but I’m not breaking eye contact with my document if I can help it.
If you really want to write faster, then you’re going to have to cut out distractions and be focused on your writing, hence why sprints are so crucial. They might also help you focus on your story more.
People have asked me, “How do you think that fast?” And honestly, it’s probably because I’m not thinking about anything else. When you’re laser-focused on your characters and what’s happening in their world, it’s easier to piece together their series of events and ignore what’s happening around you.
I understand if that’s not completely possible, but whatever little bit helps, from finding a room alone or being around other people, whatever works best for you to get into The Zone.
P.s. If you want a more intense version of writingstreak or Sprinto, Write or Die and The Most Dangerous Writing App also exist. And honorable mention to Written Kitten, which I always use to strip my text from Word when pasting into Discord.
4. Know what you’re going to write.
This overlaps with No. 1, but really. If you're puzzling over how a scene is going to play out, then time is ticking away without you. But if you’re motivated and the scene is a vivid painting in your mind, then you’ll have an easier time translating that image to paper. Again, it doesn’t have to be 1:1 the first time, just has to exist.
I usually have one scene in mind but so many ideas have been swimming in my mind lately that in the chance that I finish my one scene, I move onto another or start outlining what happens next.
5. Rely on what works for you.
For me, this means sprints, outlines, and crutch phrases. It means throwing in a few, “I’LL FIX THIS LATER!”s when necessary. I’m not above skipping over whole scenes that I know I want to edit as I write later, but I have also written some really ugly things just to have the thought out there. There are things that have had to be rewritten or scenes that I wrote twice then cobbled together because it’s helped my brain determine the best way to write it.
So yeah, I usually keep an outline written down for a multi-chaptered work so I know where I’m headed, then I follow my brain for the rest of it or start with some of the skeleton in front of me so I can build off it.
As for crutch phrases… admit it, you probably have one or two. Sometimes you put it down when you don’t know what else to say. Don’t deny your brain those words! Let it go with the flow and see where it takes you. Then, later, you can Command (or Ctrl) + F to find all those suckers and take them out.
- - -
I hope some of that was useful. There’s probably more that I forgot to mention here but that is everything I could remember. The longer you write, the more you’ll find what works best for you. If you want to get faster though, dedication is key. Try applying strategies to get there and find opportunities to practice. (NaNoWriMo is coming up in November, after all.)
Fast typing isn’t for everybody and if you write slower, you should still be proud! You’re still producing work that other people will love and the road to getting there looks different for everyone — there’s no right or wrong way to write fic, just what suits your needs best.
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tackytigerfic · 3 years
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Hello 👋 For the writer asks... 14, 21, and 24 please? 💚
14) do you make playlists for your current wips?
I don’t! I get easily distracted when listening to music and wouldn’t notice it if I listened to it while writing, so there wouldn’t be any point. I did make a playlist for Modern Love though, as music is so important in that fic, and I was so immersed in the writing process that I used to listen to the songs in the car sometimes, just to get me in the mood for writing! But as a general rule, no. I can see why people do, though. Music is so evocative and can really set the mood of a piece.
21) what do you think when you read over your older work?
I want to be very careful answering this, as I don’t want to seem as though I’m denigrating my past work, or putting myself down. I think it’s a great thing to be able to look back happily on past endeavours, and see the value of them rather than focus on the things I’d change.
However I will say that I don’t ever reread my fics from before about January 2020. I spent all of 2019 learning how to write as I never had tried it before. So those fics were really about finding my feet and working on things like style and approach to themes and so on. I would probably write them differently now, and yet I was happy with most of them at the time of writing, and still get nice comments on them today, so I want to keep the good memories of them instead of looking to see what I’d change! And also I think it’s so nice to have an archive of my work - it’s why I add most of my drabbles and ficlets too, as someday I will probably enjoy looking back and seeing my evolution from totally inexperienced new writer to... well less inexperienced writer, I suppose 😂
But yeah that is a tricky one 😅, I am so rigorous with myself about certain things and I definitely have become more exacting with myself the more writing I do. I am also still happy with (most of) my fics from 2020 still, so I do think that being a bit harder on myself probably does help me to improve. I know that doesn’t work for everyone though.
24) have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about, in order to better a scene or a story?
😂 you’re really coming for me with these today! I... like to make things feel right? So for instance I just wrote a little Veela!Draco ficlet  and I spent a good half an hour of the two hour writing time just reading about birds and their wing make-up and googling bird skeletons and so on. And for another new fic, The Opposite of Hate You, I did a little virtual walkthrough of St Pancras to remind myself of the feel of the place (I’ve been there SO many times but it was just to get the mood of it all over again? for a two-line mention in the fic, btw). In Between the Power Lines I mapped out their whole road trip, including the Target they buy their underwear and snacks in, and all the motels and sights they see along the way. I just like getting the little mundane details to feel right. But no, there’s never been anything useful or instructive - it’s all just like extensive google searches like “what is the palest wood” and “do they sell toffypops in sainsbury’s” and so on.
That was fun, thank you again!
Writers asks here!
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