#slappy gave me nightmares | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

c0smiccom3t · 3 years

Text

Ladies and gentlemen, it is by craft-tastic pleasure that i am gonna present to you all................ my Sackboy AU..........

SACKBOY & SACKGIRL: Adventures in Craftworld!

Now, before we get started, allow me to tell all of you something... which is...

THE STORY

The story takes place after the events of LBP and SABA, Where after getting the title as the protector of Craftworld and a knitted knight, Sackboy must face the challenges of being a knitted knight, with the help of his sister, Sackgirl! But the story... also foretells, The return of Vex. (That's right he's back and with a lair of his own and a crazy lovesick assistant, but also with the help of a familiar villain from LBP3...) It's up to the siblings to make sure they help everybody in need and stop Vex from taking over Craftworld and make it into a land of uproar!

THE CHARACTERS

Now that we know the story, it's time to meet the characters! The heroes AND the villains!

Everybody in Craftworld have got goals, some are craft-tastic and harmless, while other goals (The bad ones)... well, they can be VERY malicious and villainous. and our heroes' goal is to overcome the obstacles of knitted knights. While the villains try to make craftworld a land of uproar AND/OR absorve it's creativity and keep it for themself. Now, let's go meet our heroes, shall we?

SACKBOY

Sackboy is the protector of Craftworld and a Knitted Knight. This little autistic fellow is always up for adventure. But sometimes he can really use some help. He does not speak, however, he can speak sign language. When someone is in danger, you can count on him and his sister Sackgirl to save the day!

SACKGIRL

Sackgirl is Sackboy's sister and Knitted Knight sidekick. She's pretty smart and challenging. Always up for a challenge to foil Vex's plans and to drink some smoothies. She, with Sackboy, always try to find a way out of trouble and to solve problems all around Craftworld. She also tries to keep everybody (especially her brother) safe from evil. Even though she's just a knitted knight beginner, she has the dreams to become one just like her brother.

Headcanon Voice: Polly from Powerbirds (Voiced by Tara Strong)

Scarlet

Sackboy and Sackgirl's mentor. The last remaining knitted knight who is also a maternal figure to our heroes. she sometimes gets excited of telling stories, but she's also a very wise, confident and brave woman who always teaches the siblings on being a knitted knight. She plans to go on adventures on her own, but also going on expeditions with Sackboy and Sackgirl.

Voiced by: Dawn French (who also voices her in the original SABA game)

Now that we met the heroes, i think it's time we meet their adversaries... the VILLAINS! Starting from....

VEX

Oh, dont tell me you don't recognize him! You know, god of nightmares, master of the uproar, bringer of chaos, LIFE OF THE PARTY! the two heroes' arch-nemesis. This near-mythical being born of chaos and fear once turned Craftworld into a land of uproar but then Sackboy stopped him and turned everything back to normal. But now, he's BACK and even more evil than ever. This selfish, greedy, mean, narcissistic, regal and dastardly royal git plans to transform craftworld into a world of uproar. with new various inventions and a crazy assistant (and a scientific henchman), he is always up to destroy sackboy and take over as craftworld's new lord. Of course, he can be silly and a bit clumsy sometimes but he still has hopes to defeat his enemy and rule over craftworld.

Voiced by: Richard E. Grant (who also voices him in the original SABA game)

STITCHER

Stitcher is Vex's assistant of chaos. Was once a sackling living in the village of Loom. But once Vex showed up, he joined his side after he was defeated by Sackboy and changed into this crazy, diabolical, lovesick bad guy who loves Chaos, Destruction, and most importantly... VEX! (yes, he's got a huge crush on him.) he always helps Vex to destroy sackboy and sackgirl and turn craftworld into a land of uproar. He's always a fan of what Vex does and he sincerely admires him very much. He can build machines and uses his hammer "Slappy" as a weapon to use his attacks (especially bomb related ones). He can be very sassy, energetic, crazy and most importantly, mischevious. he can be nice sometimes but he refuses to give up his role in villainy. He has a big sister but he prefers not to talk about her much often. But either way, yes, he's crazy about Vex (and Vex has a secret huge crush on him too...) keep scrolling.

Headcanon voice: Junkrat from Overwatch (Voiced by Chris Parson)

NEWTON

Newton is Vex's new Scientist Henchman who works aside Stitcher as his P.I.U (Partner In Uproar). He was forced by Vex to join by his side to destroy sackboy. Despite many attempts of refusing. He gave up and got Vexed as he joined the villain team. He can be foolish and not very smart but is highly intelligent. Despite this, he tends to accept unearned credit and even comes off as a bit narcissistic. Especially when he's a bit jealous of Vex. But he's also a huge papa's boy and a crybaby who tried to impress his father by releasing the titans back then. But, he failed and in the end got... you know, some ouchies in his bum-bum. He sometimes hates Stitcher's guts when he is making fun of him and calling him: "Nerd-ton" and "Papa's boy". Despite working for Vex, his goal is to absorb all of Craftworld's creativity and become the imagisphere greatest creator. But that doesn't happen because how bratty Vex can be when it comes to conquer Craftworld. sometimes he can throw a few fits. But not as much as Vex does. But yeah, get ready imagisphere. NEWTON'S BACK AND lamer MORE BRILLIANT THAN EVER!

Voiced by: Hugh Laurie (who voices him in the original LBP 3 game)

Now that we have met the heroes and the villains, i think it's time we go for...

THE AU'S INSPIRATIONS

Remember one time i said that the au was gonna be like a preschool/saturday morning kids cartoon? Well, it's true! It is! So, here's some inspirations behind it. You might have watched or heard of these, if you havent watched them, please do.

Due to it's charming character designs and stories, Powerbirds is the AU's biggest inspiration. If you havent watched this already, please do, it's really good!

4 words. Brilliant action & comedy. plus, the fourth wall breaks in the show are absolutely amazing. To be honest im planning to watch this again in the future, but most of all, the villain scenes in this show are amazing and funny as well! (im looking at you, Dr. Eggman.)

sadly i cant add anymore images so allow me to put in a list.

-Starbeam

-LazyTown

-Onegai My Melody

-H.R PufnStuf

-Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures

and most importantly...

-OK KO LETS BE HEROES!

So yes. this is it for this master post. So, get ready for adventures full of suspense, surprises, uproar but most importantly, DREAMS!

BONUS: Theme songs

Sleepyhead - Passion Pit (from the LBP 2 soundtrack)

Living Island - Pogo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HWG3h-IARU

92 notes · View notes

mechanicalfantasies · 5 years

Text

𝔻𝕒𝕪 𝟛 - 𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕪 | ℕ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕃𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕄𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕪 | 𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕓𝕦𝕞𝕡𝕤

𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒆𝒌

"𝙰𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚜, 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎... 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍? 𝙶𝙾𝙾𝚂𝙴𝙱𝚄𝙼𝙿𝚂."

The fact that I never painted or edited my hair to be brown really gives this whole look Joker/Slappy crossover vibes. Woops.😅 I guess I'm taking a page out of Sarah McGonagall's book and using my hair color anyways.

I read SO MUCH R. L. Stine as a kid - way beyond Goosebumps. I remember Fear Street pretty decently as well, and a couple of his short story collections. I think all the books I read both gave me a lot of my fears and also helped me overcome them. It's like that Homer Simpson quote - Goosebumps! "the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

But even still, I never really got over my fear of the dark, clowns, or any doll-like creature until at least halfway into my twenties. So thanks for that, R.L. Stine. 😂

(also, fun fact, but much like that story he wrote in the Nightmare Hour, I too went from being utterly terrified of clowns to becoming one - though not the kind that hurts anyone)

ig: @mechanicalfantasies

Photography: Bonnie Merrick Photography

Makeup: Me

#goosebumps #r l stine #night of the living dummy #cosplay makeup #bodypainting

12 notes · View notes

helenarlett-rex · 4 years

Text

Goosebumps Review #11

So I started this little project to read all the Goosebumps books I wanted to read as a kid but never got the chance to. Which makes this next one a little out of place because it’s from the Goosebumps Most Wanted series, which was published in 2013, long after my childhood had ended. But when I saw it, it looked kind of interesting and I thought, well... I already reviewed Creature Teacher: Final Exam, which was from the same series... I reviewed that one because it was the only sequel to the first Creature Teacher, which I recently reviewed and loved. So I figured I’ve already broken my childhood cut-off date... why not check out a few more of the new ones?

(Spoilers ahead)

How I Met My Monster

Goosebumps Most Wanted #3

So right from the start I was a little confused by this book. It’s a part of the Most Wanted series and I was under the impression this series was meant to be a who’s who of the most famous Goosebumps monsters. I mean, other books in the series have brought back The Haunted Mask, Mrs. Maaargh, Slappy, The Lawn Gnomes... But I couldn’t figure out who this book was supposed to be about. The monster on the cover wasn’t instantly recognizable and nothing about the title gave it away. I guess it kind of looks like a werewolf, and it does have that t-shirt that says I Love Wolves... Was this about one of the werewolves in the Goosebumps mythos? But I’m pretty sure I’ve read every werewolf book in Goosebumps at this point and none of the character names given in the blurb are ringing any bells... Is this a new character? How can it be one of the Goosebumps universe’s most wanted monsters if this is its first outing?

I really wanted to know because if this was a monster from an older book I really wanted to read the first book before I read this one. But I couldn’t figure it out. Not even the Goosebumps wiki was giving me any answers. So I finally just said screw it and started reading. And then I saw that one of the characters was named Monroe Morton, and our protagonist, Noah Bienstock, believes he might be a monster. And suddenly I was like, Morton...? Like, Mr. Mortman? I know you are spelling it differently, but it still sounds the same and this is almost the same plot... Is this just a retelling of The Girl Who Cried Monster? Okay... Calling it. The twist ending is that our protagonist was secretly a monster himself all along...

So the story turns out to be about Noah Bienstock, who everyone just calls Bien. He lives in an apartment building in the city, which is a bit different from the new house in a sleepy rural town where most Goosebumps protagonists live. The apartment building is called Sternom House. That’s mildly important... His best friend, Lissa Gardener, also lives in Sternom House. That’s also mildly important... They’re about the same age, they go to the same school, and they are both bullied by a big fat kid named Harlan.

I hate to use the word fat, but the book pretty much calls them all out on it. It’s a book about... kids with greater weight than their peers. The only person in this book who isn’t... a larger kid... is Lissa. Everyone else is... rather corpulent... Bien’s mom, who isn’t winning any mother of the year awards, flat out calls him fat to his face in the beginning of the book. Or excuse me... She tells him he’s “a chub”. And I’m just like, Jesus... and I thought my parents were bad...

But Harlan is the... largest of the large kids, so he bullies everyone else. In the beginning of the book we see him stealing Bien and Lissa‘s lunch money and using it to buy extra pizza at the cafeteria. When the characters stop bringing lunch money and start packing a lunch, he just flat out steals their lunches. Harlan’s only real character traits are that he enjoys shoving people around with his belly, and stealing lunches. I don’t think any of our protagonists ever get to eat lunch once in this book. Which as a hypoglycemic, that kind of pisses me off. Some people literally can’t afford to miss lunch, you know? Harlan‘s the kind of kid I would have beaten the shit out of if he messed with me. In fact... I did have a bully exactly like this when I was a kid. I beat the shit out of him... Funny enough, he stopped messing with me after that.

Bien doesn’t beat the shit out of Harlan though. Bien is a paranoid mess because he keeps having nightmares about being attacked by monsters. And that’s our plot for this book. Bien is so paranoid from his monster nightmares that he sees monsters around every corner. So naturally he won’t stand up to Harlan. And when a new kid by the name of Monroe Morton (he’s also a fat kid) starts school, Bien becomes friends with him at first, but it doesn’t take long before he starts to believe Monroe is also a monster. And what do you know... Monroe has also moved into Sternom House. It seems like the only person in this book who doesn’t live in Sternom House is Harlan.

The book, sadly, is pretty slow. I’ve read Goosebumps that were slow burns before, and it didn’t bother me. The Werewolf of Fever Swamp took its time, but it managed to stay interesting. This one, not so much... The book was just a constant rinse, wash, and repeat of Harlan acts like a total shit, Bien sees a hairy monster, Bien tries to tell someone, and everyone laughs it off and tells him to deal with it. The characters all take Bien’s worries about monsters as if it’s a joke, and I know we are supposed to believe it’s because he keeps having nightmares and complaining about monsters, like a boy who cried wolf scenario (or a Girl Who Cried Monster scenario maybe?) but the whole time I’m just sitting there saying, they are laughing at him because they are monsters! Everyone in this book is a monster! You already showed your hand, Stine! Just get to the point already!

There are a few interesting parts in the book, (and only a few) like when Bien and Lissa are both trying out for the school swim team and then Bien starts looking around and realizes he doesn’t see Lissa anymore, just before he is attacked by some kind of aquatic tentacle monster in the pool. And I’m thinking, oh cool~ Is Lissa a tentacle monster? Of course nothing comes of this and it was just a segue into a scene where Harlan strips Bien naked in front of everyone at the pool. (Yeah that happens, and I find myself wondering if I even want to know what kind of shit Stine is working through in this book...)

There’s also this weird subplot about the school Pet Fair... Where all the kids are supposed to bring in their pets and whoever has the most interesting and unusual pet will win $300... Is this a thing schools do? I’m pretty sure its not... I mean, I know R.L. Stine used to be a teacher, but he has some really weird ideas about how schools work. He also has some weird ideas about what is considered an unusual pet... Bien takes two betta fish and they way Stine writes it, it’s like he actually believes that is the most unusual pet a kid can have... I mean, there’s a kid who brings a fucking monkey to the pet fair. Who has a pet monkey?! But no, the betta fish... Those are sure to win. He actually chooses that over a myna bird. I didn’t even know what a myna bird was until I read it in the book and had to look it up. I’m starting to think R.L. Stine’s never been in a pet store before...

Also I want to point out that Bien takes two bettas to the pet fair and puts them both in a tank together so they can fight. Oh my god! Do not do that! That’s probably the scariest thing I’ve read in this book...

Eventually the plot does finally start moving along... more than half way through the book... Lissa sees the monster and finally starts to believe Bien. Lissa tells Bien he needs to spy on Monroe and get proof it’s actually him. The monster starts attacking Bien directly (but doesn’t do more than threaten him). Bien’s parents go on vacation and tell Bien he’s going to be staying with Monroe‘s family for the week. Bien wakes up one night and finds Monroe missing and the window open and sneaks out to try and get pictures of him. The monster corners Bien in an alley and reveals its human from to him. And... it’s Lissa...

Damn... I was hoping she would turn out to be that tentacle monster in the pool. Considering she’s such a good swimmer and all the set up with the pool scene... But no, we are just forgetting that whole tentacle monster attack ever happened. Lissa is that big harry monster on the cover. And she was attacking and scaring Bien to try and get him over his fear of monsters... I don’t think this girl knows how getting over a fear works...

Oh but hey, the book still isn’t over yet. We still need a handful of pointless chapters where out of nowhere Lissa starts acting like a total dick towards Bien so she can... scare him into keeping her secret? And I’m talking like, totally wrecking the school pet fair, eating Bien‘s fish, blaming him for it, and getting him suspended from school. Her character does a total 180 for no reason at all. Until she finally chases Bien down, he tries to hide at Monroe‘s house, but oh no! Monroe is also one of those monsters on the cover! Everyone is because I fucking called it in the first chapter! Remember how I said Sternom House was mildly important? Well Nilbog spelled backwards is goblin! Err... I mean... If you rearrange the letters in Sternom it spells Monster. Although honestly, I may as well be watching Trolls 2 at this point...

Yes, everyone in Sternom House is a monster. Even Bien. Although Bien didn’t know it because, “it’s against the rules.” Everyone has to find the monster inside of them on their own. And because the rules say everyone has to find the monster inside of them on their own and can’t be told about it, that’s why Lissa and Monroe told him about it and then forced him to drink some stuff that would force him to turn into a monster... I’m seeing a contradiction here... I’m just going to guess they were tired of Bien‘s shit and decided to break the rules so they could get on with their lives... The book doesn’t say that’s what happened, but if I was in their situation I’d do the same thing.

And so the book ends. We never find out what was the deal with that tentacle monster. The pet fair subplot was totally pointless. Bien, Lissa and Monroe are all monster buddies now. And they decide to go eat Harlan, or something... I mean the book’s not specific on that point, but it sure sounds like they are going to go eat him.

I had mixed feelings about The Girl Who Cried Monster back when I first read it. There were some problems with it. But overall I didn’t think it was a bad book. This one... is kind of the same on the mixed feelings front. I liked the characters but the story was just... borderline painful. And I’m not sure what was Stine’s deal with calling the characters out on their weight. Does Stine have a problem with kids who are larger than the cultural norm? I feel like you just don’t call people “fat” or “a chub”. That’s something you just don’t do.

I don’t know... This marks the second Most Wanted book I’ve read and so far I haven’t been impressed with either of them.

4 notes · View notes

rhysie-cakes314 · 6 years

Text

Day 12- Childhood Fear

Summary:

Sometimes, Tony just got these ideas. "We’ll each tell you a story about our childhood fears. That way,” he glanced around the room, and his eyes told them there was no getting out of this, “Peter doesn’t grow up thinking he shouldn’t talk about his feelings like some of us did.”

That's how a perfectly normal Goosebumps marathon became a night of stories and revelations that the eight year old Peter would cherish forever.

“Viewers beware, you’re in for a scare,” the voice played over the opening before Steve turned the TV off without warning.

“Alright, I think that’s enough Goosebumps for one day,” he told the room. Steve and Peter had been watching the show all day. Each of the others had come into the room at different points, and having been sucked in by one episode or another, settled in to join the marathon. Even Tony had eventually made his way sleepily from the lab. He was currently drooling on Steve’s left shoulder, fast asleep with his plate of pizza still sitting in his lab. Between his husband and his eight year old nestled into his lap, Steve was beginning to sweat.

“But we were just about to reach season four!” Clint whined from his spot on the floor. He was leaning against Phil’s legs against the armchair, and the SHIELD agent was mindlessly playing with his hair, eyes closed.

Tony startled awake at Clint’s outburst, and Steve could punch the archer, Tony needed to sleep. The genius reached down and took another bite of pizza as though he hadn’t just been asleep. “Wait, we stopped the show?” he asked, confused. Steve stifled a laugh.

“Peter here has bed soon,” Steve explained to everyone’s groans. “We wouldn’t want him to have nightmares, would we?” He looked down at the child pointedly, ruffling his hair.

Peter pushed his hand off as he sat up, looking like Steve had insulted his honour. “I wasn’t scared! Goosebumps are only scary to babies.” Natasha thought the pout and crossed arms made the kid look just like a mini Tony. It was adorable.

“I disagree, young Peter,” Thor spoke very seriously. “I thought Slappy was quite frightening.”

“But dummy’s can’t actually talk, it was clearly just a bot.” Peter explained.

Tony pointed at the child proudly, “That’s right, squirt. You want to make a Slappy bot?” Peter giggled as he nodded in excitement.

Thor poured the rest of the popcorn into his mouth. “The dummy was possessed by a malicious spirit,” he spoke while chewing, sending flecks flying. Tony wiped a fleck of popcorn off his face.

“I guess that’s kind of scary,” Peter admitted. Thor nodded. “I thought the cursed camera was scarier, so don’t feel bad about being scared.” The Avengers shared a look as they all stifled a laugh. Peter attempting to comfort the god of thunder because he thought Thor needed it was one of the cutest things in the world. Steve looked down when he felt his shirt being tugged. “Pops, what were all of you scared of when you were kids?”

Steve opened his mouth to respond that maybe they could talk about it tomorrow, Tony sabotaged him without thinking. “That’s a great idea! We’ll each tell you a story about our childhood fears. That way,” he glanced around the room, and his eyes told them there was no getting out of this, “Peter doesn’t grow up thinking he shouldn’t talk about his feelings like some of us did.”

While Steve agreed that they should always do what they could to make sure Peter didn’t succumb to toxic masculinity, it didn’t have to be right now. “It’s getting late,” he started, but Peter placed a finger to his lips and made a shushing noise.

“Pleeeaaseee!” Peter begged. “I promise I’ll go right to sleep after.”

“And I’ll make my special hot cocoa!” Natasha sing-songed.

The night was already out of his control. Steve shot Tony a glare. They would talk about this later. Just because Tony had no semblance of a sleep schedule did not mean that Peter should inherit the bad habit. “Alright,” Steve acquiesced. Natasha had already left the room to make cocoa. The woman refused to let any of them know what made hers taste so special, claiming it was a Russian family secret. Only Bruce was ever allowed in the room and that was only to help her top them with whipped cream.

Once everyone had cocoa in their hands and was settled into the couches, Clint jumped up. “Me first!” No one fought him on it. “When I was little, there was local legend about an evil witch named Natasha-”

“No lying Uncle Clint!” Peter cried out. Clint lunged forward to tickle Peter. His squeals filled the room. Steve snatched the mug of cocoa before it spilled, shooting a glare at Clint. Clint winked at him before stepping back towards the TV again.

“You’re too smart for your own good, kid. Fine, I’ll tell a real story, though the witch Natasha scares me as an adult.” He ducked the pillow thrown at him before continuing. His face grew more serious as he decided what he should talk about that wouldn’t be too dark for an eight year old. Not that they ever shielded Peter from much, but the kid could stand to mature a little before hearing some of their tragic backstories.

“For part of my childhood, I lived with a traveling circus/carnival. They called us carnies,” he explained. “My brother, Barney, and I worked as roustabouts at first. Since we were the only kids, a lot of the adults liked to tell us stories. I was more gullible than Barney. There was this story that everyone worked together to come up with, and they each told it to me in snippets like it was some sort of historical event no one quite remembered.

“Supposedly, there was a set of conjoined twins who used to be part of the crew. Their names were Riley and Kylie. The two women were polar opposites in personality, and their constant bickering became the source of their act. The problem was, Kylie didn’t want to be in a carnival. She wanted to get surgery to separate them, but Riley loved their lifestyle travelling around the country with nothing to tie them down. The doctors wouldn’t attempt anything without permission from both twins; it was a dangerous surgery that was rarely done anyway.

“Their bickering slowly became screaming matches that kept everyone awake at night. Kylie begged her sister to let her live her own life. Riley could come up with her own act, she didn’t need Kylie or to be a freak. She could be a trapeze artist or something, Kylie argued. Riley would scream that Kylie would never escape her, that they were born together and would stay together until the day they died.

“And it might have turned out that way if Kylie hadn’t fallen in love with the knife thrower. They sent each other love notes, Kylie only writing and reading while Riley slept. The affair was rife with tension because the man wanted sex, but there was an obvious obstacle.”

Peter snorted at the picture in his head. Sex still seemed gross to him, but it would be extra weird if your sister was attached to you.

Clint waggled his eyebrows at Peter, happy to know the boy was enjoying the story. “Together, the star-crossed lovers hatched a plan. Kylie started hinting to Riley that they should try mixing their act with some of the others, that maybe if Riley found a new partnership she’d like, they could finally agree on the surgery. Riley bought into it, happy enough to humour her sister if it meant they’d stop screaming at each other every night.

“The twins tried out a few things, including letting the knife-thrower use them as a target. The rehearsals went fine, the man never missed, and he always successfully surrounded them with knives without hitting them once. After weeks of this, the ringmaster okayed the act for the show. Kylie was thrilled, their plan would commence that night.

“In front of a live audience, Riley was murdered by knife after knife to her chest. Her screams became the talk of the town for years.” Clint heard Peter gasp softly. “With Riley dead, the doctors had no choice but to separate her from Kylie. The lovers did not get to celebrate their success for long, because the angry ghost of Riley showed up the very next night. The poor roustabout who found their bodies could barely tell who they were, they had been stabbed so many times.

“But that wasn’t the worst part! No, the rumour started that the vengeful spirit of the murdered twin still haunted the troupe and killed anybody who lied to their sibling.” Clint shuddered. “Barney held that over me for years. I couldn’t lie to him at all because I was terrified of being stabbed by a ghost!” Clint bowed theatrically.

Peter clapped until everyone gave polite applause. “That is scary, Uncle Clint! But you shouldn’t lie to people anyway,” he lectured sternly. Clint couldn’t possibly be expected not to laugh at that!

The eight year old only frowned deeper until Clint held his hands up in surrender. “You’re so very right, Peter, I’m sorry. My brother and I weren’t good kids.”

Mollified, Peter stood on Tony’s legs to announce who would be up next. “Aunt Tasha, you’re up!”

The assassin took Clint’s place in front of her family. She looked nervous for a moment, something none of them had ever seen on her. “So,” she started, voice sharp. She cleared her throat, softening her tone. “This is complicated, my kroshka,” she met Peter’s gaze seriously. He nodded for her to go on. Peter was a smart kid, raised by a genius, but he was only eight. Natasha barely understood her own childhood. “I’m not sure which of my childhood memories are real and which are false,” she explained gently.

Peter scooted his butt off the couch, surprising the the woman with a hug. “That’s okay Tasha,” he assured her. Natasha wasn’t sure when she had become so entangled in this family; she never imagined she’d love a child like she loved Peter Stark-Rogers. Having children had never been in her own plans, but she would give anything for this kid’s happiness. “Fears are real even if their source isn’t anyway.” He looked up at her. It was such a wise thing for a child to say, all of the Avengers looked a little taken aback. “But you don’t have to tell one if you don’t want to.”

The redhead leaned down, placing a kiss on Peter’s forehead. “Thank you,” she whispered. “For you, my kroshka, I will.” Peter’s face brightened and he ran back to Tony’s lap, ignoring the squawk from his father.

“In that case, I’ll tell you one of the things I do remember.” Natasha tucked her hair behind her ears while she collected her thoughts. “Now, this isn’t real, but I remember it as though it were. The scientists that raised me made me believe that I spent years of my life training at a ballet studio.

“At this studio, I had an imaginary teacher, he name was Ms. Nida. Ms. Nida was very strict, and she scared me.” The corner of her lips twitched into a near smile, the false memories bittersweet. She sometimes wish they were real, because they were much nicer than her reality. “I know it may seem silly that I was afraid of a ballet instructor, but you know that look Steve gets when he’s angry at Tony?” She asked Peter.

Peter nodded enthusiastically. “Pops has a scary angry face!”

Tony burst out laughing when Steve blushed, looking at his son, horrified. “Do I scare you?” he asked.

Peter shook his head. “No, I know you only get mad ‘cause you care. But if I didn’t know you, it’d be very scary!” Tony continued to laugh through the entire affair. Steve thought he enjoyed it a little too much.

Natasha waited for their attention to return before she went on. “Well Ms. Nida had a similar face when she got mad. And she could yell like an angry Tony.” It was Steve’s turn to chuckle when Peter shuddered. “So when we were learning our parts for Swan Lake, and I was having trouble remembering it, I tried to hide and skip lessons. I didn’t want her to yell at me. Ms. Nida knew all of the studio’s nooks and crannies, though. There was no way I was going to avoid her.

“She called out for me in each room as she searched. Her voice grew angrier with every yell. When she did find me, she slapped me over and over, and made me explain to the whole ballet troupe why they were going to be punished the next day; that it was all my fault. The embarrassment is what really frightened me in the end. I thought all of the other dancers would hate me. So my fear was of being hated.” Natasha finished, waiting patiently for Peter’s reaction.

For his part, the boy looked thoughtful for a moment. “But you’re not afraid of being hated now?”

She shook her head, smiling down at him. “I don’t like to be hated, but I don’t fear it. Some people won’t like you, kroshka, plain and simple. There’s nothing you’ll be able to do to avoid it so there’s no sense fearing it. All you can do is be yourself.”

“I know, there’s already kids at school who hate me,” he answered sadly.

“What!? Who are they? I will march down to that school-”

Steve cut him off. “Tony, you will do no such thing. People are allowed to not like Peter.”

Tony huffed. “Well they’re stupid, then. He’s perfect and brilliant and nice…” he tickled the kid in his lap, relishing in the giggles.

Steve watched them fondly. “Who’s next Peter?”

“Hmmm… You!” He pointed at Steve.

Steve smiled. “Well that’s easy. I was afraid-”

“No! You have to stand in front and tell it like a story!” Peter demanded, Tony nodding in agreement behind him. Steve sighed, moving to face the audience.

“Well, everyone knows that I wasn’t a healthy kid. I was constantly ill, too skinny, and had pretty bad asthma. It was just my mom and I, and we never had enough money, mostly because my medicine and doctor’s appointments cost so much. The obvious answer to your question, Peter, would be to say that I was afraid of dying, but it wasn’t that simple.

“I’ve never been afraid of dying. For one, my mother always taught me to believe in God, and I’ve never had trouble knowing that I’ll be in heaven after I die. Nothing could be scary about that. There were many winters when I would go to bed very aware that I may not wake up ever again.”

A harsh burst of air punched out of Tony at the same time that Peter let out a soft “oh.” Neither of them seemed to be aware of it as they watched Steve with rapt attention, waiting for more. It was easy to forget that Steve used to be so fragile. He just seemed invincible most of the time.

Steve gave them a sad smile. “That’s just how it was when a skinny poor kid got the flu back then. The flu vaccine didn’t even exist yet. I think I got my first one in the middle of the war,” he added as an afterthought. “Sometimes, being that sick and miserable, death sounded kind of nice. My body would finally stop suffering.” Steve met Peter’s tearful gaze and locked onto them. Peter had never been kept away from the reality of death and suffering. It was something Steve and Tony had agreed on before adopting the boy. He couldn’t have superheroes as parents and not be as prepared for the worst as one can be.

“What I was afraid of, was leaving my mother alone. She was so sad sometimes, lonely after my father died, and I had made it my mission in life to make her as happy as I could. She tried her best to put on a brave face whenever I got really sick, but she couldn’t hide the terror in her eyes. My mother couldn’t lose me, not if I could help it. That fear is probably the only thing that kept me alive through the worst of it. I would feel myself make the decision sometimes, the choice to not die. Because leaving her alone and sad was scarier than the pain of living.” His husband and son were both crying now, and Thor sniffed loudly.

Peter stood and faced his pops. Steve was prepared for a hug, but Peter didn’t hug him. Instead he grew very serious. “Thank you for staying alive. It was very brave.” He gave a firm nod, then sat back down. When had the night become this serious? Peter’s words surprised a small gasp from Steve. He had to clear his throat, decidedly not contributing more to tonight’s tears.

“You’re welcome. I love you.” They snuggled into the couch again, Peter forcing his dads to lean on each other to hold his tiny hands in the middle. He balanced himself on one leg from each of them. Without speaking, he pointed at Thor.

Thor beamed. “I would be honoured to tell a story, tiny Peter!” He stood so heroically, it was easy to forget he was in a t-shirt and sweats instead of his armour and cape. “It has been thousands of years since I was a child. Growing up as the son of the All-Father, I was raised as a warrior from birth. I was too strong to fear anything in Asgard or any of the nine-realms for that matter. No, I was too confident for my own good. What I did fear, was that I would not live up to my responsibilities.

“I knew from the beginning that someday, I must take over as king of Asgard. Frigga and Odin raised me well, and I knew that in theory I would be ready. But in practice, it was far too easy to fail. Technically, past the time when my body resembled a Midgardian child, I was certainly still a child in maturity and age, given Asgardian lifespans. In the 9th century AD, I was given my first task that resembled a practice run for being a king. I traveled to Midgard, and went by the name Donner. The All-Father had tasked me to promote the worship of Asgardians amongst the Norse-men. It seemed to be going splendidly, and my fear of leading and failing was fading.

“The fear was brought forth anew when I found out how the vikings used my name after I left. They slaughtered thousands of Christians in the name of the thunder god. I had never intended my followers to become so cruel. I must not have been clear enough in my leadership. It was an important wake-up call for me. The smallest mistake in handling a people could lead to disaster. That was probably what I would consider the end of my adolescence.”

The room was silent. No one was sure right away if Thor was finished. Peter finally broke the silence, “You don’t sound like you were ever a child.” His brow was furrowed in confusion. “I love you, Uncle Thor, but you’re weird.” It was definitely along the lines of what they were all thinking, but Peter had the bluntness of a child on his side.

Thor let out a boisterous guffaw. “You are not wrong, little one. The fears of an Asgardian prince are perhaps not like the fears of a Midgardian child. You may one day understand that they’re not too different either.” Steve noticed that Thor did that sometimes. He would say two conflicting things, but it sounded entirely true nonetheless. Steve supposed it came from the wisdom of his years. “With great power comes great responsibility,” the god summarized.

Peter looked filled with awe at the statement. He was so lucky to have so many cool aunts and uncles. Who else at school could say they had a god as an uncle? “Uncle Bruce, would you go next, please?”

Bruce stood in front of them all, fidgeting a little. Bruce didn’t talk about his childhood. Ever. They all had vague ideas about his history, but even Natasha hadn’t read about it in his SHIELD file. She normally valued knowing people over their privacy, but Bruce was so private and meek, it just felt wrong to pry. The scientist pulled his glasses off, wiped them with his shirt, put them back on. He glanced between Steve and Tony a few times before locking eyes with Tony. “Are you okay with me talking about my childhood with him?” he asked quietly.

Tony was the only one that knew. Bruce didn’t open up much, and had only shared small snippets with Tony in the strange twilight hours of long nights together in the lab. They came when the two were heavily sleep deprived, and usually after Tony had revealed something painful about his own childhood. Tony was deeply honoured to be in Bruce’s trust, but he still didn’t feel like he knew as much about Bruce as Bruce did about him.

The rest of the room watched them with baited breath. Even Peter seemed to pick up on the privacy of the moment and held his tongue. Tony held his best friend’s gaze. He had no issue with Peter hearing these things, his son had unfortunately heard worse. Wade Wilson’s past was pretty terrible, and the two of them seemed to attract all the children from broken homes at school. Tony liked to assume it was Peter’s amazing kindness that brought the saddest children to his side, seeking comfort. The kid’s heart was so pure and giving. Tony was only worried about Bruce. “Only if you’re okay to talk about it,” he answered eventually.

Another tense moment past before Bruce made up his mind. He sat down on the floor, smiling at Peter. “Is it alright if I sit while I tell my story, honey?” In response, Peter extricated himself from his parents’ laps and sat next to Bruce, locking their hands together. Peter gave him an encouraging smile. Bruce kept the tiny hand in his and his eyes on Peter’s through the whole story. It was so intimate, and Steve’s heart swelled. His family was so perfect.

“Well, I’m not sure how to start,” Bruce admitted quietly. “I guess I should start by tell you that not everyone should have children.” Peter nodded gravely. “My father was not a good man. At least, not while I knew him. My mother was far too good for him, and he knew it.” Bruce took a steadying breath. Peter’s hand in his gave him the strength to go on. He could do this.

“My mother, Rebecca, loved me very much. I was the center of her universe, and sometimes it made it easy to forget that my father was there on the sidelines. If we focused enough on each other, it was like we could enter our own little pretend world, where he didn’t harm us. We both feared him. If he came home smelling of booze, she would try to hide me away fast enough that only she would get a taste of his wrath, but it rarely worked.

“You see, Brian, that was his name, Brian thought he loved my mother. I’m not so sure he knew what love was. In truth, Brian loved to own her. She was his wife and that meant she was supposed to adore him. So when my mother loved me, showed me that love, he was furious. The jealousy consumed him more than his alcoholism. Brian hated me because in his eyes, I stole his wife’s attention from him. I don’t think Brian ever showed me a single ounce of kindness, only hate. He beat me bloody and told me how much he wished I had never been born, how much I didn’t deserve his Rebecca.”

“He was wrong,” Peter whispered without thinking.

Bruce smiled sadly. “Yes, he was. I luckily had my mother’s love and her cousin’s love to counter that hate. They made sure I knew that his hatred had never been my fault.” He sighed, and Steve thought he had never looked so old and worn. “Nevertheless, I feared him. One night, my mother and I packed up some bags, and were going to escape. Brian, in a drunken rage, he killed my mother.” Peter gasped. “I watched him beat her to death in the driveway, too afraid to do anything. He ended up in a mental facility and the last I ever saw him was when I testified against him in court. Brian was my only childhood fear, but I also never faced it. Peter, I,” he cut himself off. The room was deafeningly silent. “I don’t tell you this easily, and it’s not just to show how scared I was as a child.

“I was about your age when it happened. It’s okay to be afraid, but I never stopped, and that’s where I want you to be different. My unfaced fears became anxiety and fear of a lot of things around me. The only way I found comfort was not in my mother’s cousin who raised me after the murder, but in my imaginary friend ‘Hulk.’ Hulk was fearless and angry like I wished I was, and he could handle all of my fears for me. I depended on this figment of my imagination all the way into adulthood. So when the accident happened, and I got the Other Guy, it shouldn’t have surprised me. I made him.”

Peter wrapped his arms around Bruce’s neck. They hugged, tight. No one had anything they could say to a revelation like that. Tony had no regrets in letting Bruce tell the tale, and Steve was glad for it. Peter had recently been more curious about the Other Guy and how that could be his Uncle Bruce at the same time. Neither of them felt capable of explaining the ideas of repressed anger that Bruce encompassed, but Bruce had explained it beautifully and in a way an eight year old could still understand. “I love you and the Other Guy, Uncle Bruce,” Peter spoke fiercely. He pulled back from the scientist’s arms, smiling at him brightly. “You are him and he is you. I love all of you.”

Everyone was sniffling at this point. How could they not? Peter stood there, clueless to how much they were all admiring him. “Uncle Phil!” he singsonged. It was so at odds with the mood of the room, that it broke the tension. Steve could feel them all shift, changing focus and allowing the stifling emotions to dissipate. “Your turn!”

Coulson spoke the same way he gave mission reports and debriefings. Clint was grinning at the man the entire time, snickering occasionally, and Phil was expertly ignoring the man. “I’m not nearly as interesting,” he started, all dry humour and sarcasm. “I was afraid of Bloody Mary as a kid. I’m sure you’ve heard of her.” Peter nodded in agreement. He and Wade had already tried to summon her several times before JARVIS explained that it was only an urban legend. “My older sister had me convinced that her friend at school had been killed by her. She even made a fake newspaper article and obituary. My whole family got in on it. I was terrified. I didn’t successfully make it through her name three times until I was sixteen. They haven’t let me live it down to this day.”

Peter clapped and laughed before a yawn overtook him. “Thank you guys, I loved it!” He looked at Steve. “I promised I’d go to bed, so, I gotta go.” The rascal even made it as far as the hallway before Steve caught up to him, scooping up the squealing bundle.

“I think you’re forgetting one of the people in the room.” He began walking back to the group, meeting Tony’s amused expression equally.

Peter shook his head. “Nope! Daddy’s not afraid of anything.”

Tony stretched with an exaggerated yawn. “You heard the kid, I have no fears!” His shit-eating grin was begging for a smack. Peter giggled gleefully, enjoying their little collaboration.

“Oh really?” Steve cocked a brow at Tony, smirking. “Fearless Tony Stark-Rogers never needs my comfort again, huh?”

Tony stuck his tongue out. “Yeah!”

“I don’t think so, mister,” Steve made sure to put on his stern Papa voice. “This was your idea, you can finish it up.”

Tony scrunched up his nose, never able to deny that voice. Steve knew it, too, and really, Tony should be glad that the man didn’t abuse the power. “Fine, fine. I’ll go.” He stood to face the crew. If only Peter weren’t here, he’d make something meaningless up. But everyone had been so honest, and his son deserved the truth from him. “I never had to worry about money, or being sickly, or believing in superstitions, or leading worlds for that matter.” Tony allowed time for the chuckles. He was nothing if not a showman. “Being born a Stark prodigy, normal childhood fears and wants were just not a consideration. I can relate to the abusive father bit, though I didn’t fear Howard. If anything, I pitied him.

At first, I thought I was afraid of alcohol. I thought maybe it was the reason my father could be so cruel. But even then, I wasn’t afraid of it. I merely hated my father for succumbing to it. If I could drink it as a four year old and not be so mean, then clearly my dad must just be weak.” He glanced over at the minibar against his will. “No, I didn’t fear alcohol either.”

Tony began pacing. “What kept me up at night and fed my nightmares, well it was far spookier.” He quirked a lopsided smile at his son. Peter was watching him carefully. He was enjoying the show, but he knew his dad well enough to know that Tony was only pretending to be blasé. His dad was going to tell him something important, and Peter would hang on every word like usual.

“I was afraid of myself.” Clint snorted, and Natasha smacked him. “Yeah, I know how it sounds, but I was. No matter how many times I went over the data, the only conclusion I could come to that could explain why I had no friends and not even my parents loved me was that I was wrong. Something was wrong with me. I shouldn’t exist, I must be an abomination. And it frightened me.

I was afraid that I could never be good either. If I was so utterly unloveable and wrong to begin with, how could I get better? I tried lots of ways to be different, to just be someone else other than the loathsome Anthony Edward Stark, but I always came back terrifyingly me.” He frowned, trying to think of the words to make this make more sense. “The way I saw it, I suppose, was that there was two of me. There was the one doing the thinking and the feeling, and there was the scary other that somehow always ruined it for me. And I didn’t know how to get rid of him.” He shrugged. “Whelp, time for bed!”

“What!?” Peter and Clint yelled in unison. “You can’t leave it there,” Clint continued. “There’s no resolution! What kind of story telling is that!?”

“Yeah!” Peter agreed enthusiastically.

Tony threw his hands up. “Well I don’t know! I don’t have a resolution. That was my childhood fear, I answered the question!”

Peter shook his head. “Fine, I’ll finish for you!” Peter stood in front of Tony, mimicking the man’s body language. He cleared his throat. Tony was thrilled to see where this was going. “So I kept trying to run away,” Peter tried to make his voice deep. Tony’s grin was so wide it hurt. They were all laughing silently, watching the scene unfold. Peter was so cute it was hard to remember the subject matter. “I got in trouble,” Peter gave up on doing the voice. “I made friends while pretending to be not Tony. All me new friends thought I was fun and all party, but I knew the real me. The scary other.” Tony suddenly felt kind of cold. Was he so transparent that an eight year old could read him like this? He had never wanted Peter to be the one teaching everyone else how to be. It was his job to teach Peter, but he often found himself learning more than teaching.

“It was only when I finally let some people meet the real me, and found that they didn’t run away screaming, that I began to face my fear. If Uncle Rhodey, I mean Rhodey, wasn’t scared of me, then why should I be scared of me. So then I realized I was actually awesome and cool, and I met Steve who was also awesome, and we fell in love and lived happily ever after!” Peter finished big, raising his fists in a victorious stance. Tony stood in shock behind him while the rest of his family erupted into applause.

“Bravo!” Thor shouted.

“Now that’s resolution!” Clint agreed.

Peter turned to grin up at his dad. He snatched the man’s hand, and began dragging him towards his room. “Now come tuck me in, Daddy.” Tony let himself be led away, looking back at Steve with his face frozen in shock. Steve only smiled at them.

When Tony finally joined Steve in bed, he shuddered, letting the tears fall. Steve sat up, glad when JARVIS turned up the lights without being asked. “Peter hit a little too close to home?” Steve asked, pulling Tony into his arms. Tony didn’t respond, but nodded into his husband’s chest. Steve let him cry for a little longer. “He was right, y’know.”

Tony pulled away and eyed the blond with disbelief. Steve wasn’t having it, though. “No really, Tony, he was. Look at all the awesome people who love you. If you were so abhorrent, then either we’ve all lost it, or kid you got it wrong. Now which do you think is more likely?”

Tony made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “I’m still not convinced you haven’t all lost it.”

Steve chuckled a little as well, pulling Tony down with him to lie down. “Maybe it’s a little of both,” he admitted happily. JARVIS lowered the lights again, and the two men held each other until they fell asleep.

#thearkoctoberchallenge2018 #stony #tony stark #steve rogers #marvel #fanfic #superfamily #superhusbands #peter parker

34 notes · View notes

xyukiskellingtonx · 6 years

Photo

SLAPPY the Living Dummy This guy gave me so many nightmares when I was a kid my sister had the books I never seen the one in the middle and my FAVE is the 2015 Slappy What Slappy sacred you and what Slappy is your fave?

1 note · View note

ninjastormhawkkat · 3 years

Text

Scariest Halloween specials

Here are some TV shows with Halloween-themed episodes that scared me when I was younger and still to this day kinda freaked me out. I will included my commentary for each episode instead of summary. You can go check out these episodes if you dare.

1. Camp Lazlo - “Meatman” -This is the second part of the Camp Lazlo Halloween special after “Hallobeanies”. I do not care if people disregard this episode as more of a scary/dark episode for the series rather than a halloween special, the plot and ending to me are scary as heck!!!

2. Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja - “Let the Wonk One In” and “The Curse of Mudfart” - These two episodes are the Halloween specials for season 2. Just watch the ending and you’ll see why these two episodes are a lot scarier than the previous Halloween specials.

3. 6Teen - “Dude of The Living Dead” - This Halloween special is the first, hour long, episode for the series. I tried watching it when it first aired. It took a few years until I had the courage to watch it again.

4. Even Steven - “A Very Scary Story” - I know the writers were trying to make this scary and comedic as possible, but this episode actually gave me chills and nightmares. I don’t have nightmares any more but I still have the chills when I watch segments on YouTube.

5. Phil of The Future - “Halloween” - The plot, content, surprises, and ending all still creep me out to this day. This was a kid’s show.

6. The Suite Life of Zack & Cody - “The Ghost of Suite 613” - Just watch the ending! It is never explaIned!

7. Wander Over Yonder - “The Heebie Jeebies” - (ahem) WHAT KIND OF TWISTED MIND TAKES AN ANIMATED, WHIMSICAL, TELEVISION SHOW AND TWISTS IT INTO A NIGHTMARE-INDUCING, STEPHEN KING STYLE, PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER!!! (My immediate thought after watching the episode.)

8. Goosebumps - “The Haunted Mask I and 2” - This episode is why, to this day, I will not where any mask with facial features that cover up my entire head. It took me two weeks to recover emotionally and mentally after watching this episode. Even after that I still fear Slappy the Dummy over that mask.

9. Naturally, Sadie - “Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun” - Seriously! What is with these twist endings that I always remember so clearly and always give me the creeps?

10. Avatar: The Last Airbender - “The Puppetmaster” - If that crazy old lady escaped again, I actually pity every member of the Fire Nation. Another reason why I don’t like human-styled puppets and got rid of all my dolls.

#halloween episodes #terror tales: horrors of october

1 note · View note

black-wolf066 · 6 years

Text

Never a Dull Moment [3/?]

Words: 3469

Rating: pg-13 to be on the safe side

Summary: In which the land of untold stories should have been a warning that it wasn’t just fairytales that were real. (Killian whump and BAMF Henry)

[Part 1] [part 2] [3] [Part 4] and [FF.Net link]

(((((A/n: Humor me because I’m curious. How many of you guessed right about the group of people from the last chapter?

Tagging @killianmesmalls, @killian-whump, @mcbrideannemgt, and @theonceoverthinker (if any of you want me to stop let me know, I won’t be offended).

Anyway, enjoy Chapter 3 guys!))))))

Chapter 3: The Grand Underground City

When it rained, it poured apparently because that’s just the type of luck his family seemed to have in these situations.

At least it’s not the Lost Boys. Henry’s subconscious unhelpfully supplied.

Yes, on the one hand, they weren’t the Lost Boys; but on the other, they could be just as wicked and ruthless (or cannibals ready to sacrifice them to whatever deity they believed in). Though something about their white hair did strike Henry as familiar; even if he couldn’t quite place why.

His eyes bounced back and forth from them to their sharp weapons; his heart beating a frantic staccato against his ribcage as they inched their way into the water. His hold on Killian tightened, his body tensing and straining to compensate the sagging weight as he tried desperately to look for a way out of the situation (and half hoping, despite knowing better, that this was all some nightmare and he’d wake up from it soon).

They continued to shout at him in their language, gesturing for them to move and jabbing their spears at the air in irritation the longer he didn’t.

“Please,” He finally spoke, doubting it would do any good, but he hoped the soft tenor of his voice would allow them to know they weren’t a threat. “We mean you no harm. I’m weaponless and this,” He gestured to Killian’s hook and the arm it was attached too. “Is just a replacement for his hand. Please, we need help; he needs help.”

One of the older men shifted in his stance, his eyes going from Killian’s hook to another younger tribalmen standing by him. He gestured wildly at it, his harsh language and movements spurring the others to murmur amongst themselves too.

If they hadn’t still been watching him, Henry would have taken the opportunity to shuffle away (even if he knew the task would have been near to impossible to do so quickly enough to matter). The adrenaline racing through his veins was beginning to make his chest ache with the pressure as the men argued presumably over their fate. Then, all at once, the conversation cut off after a bark from the younger man, and the older turned back to face him with narrowed eyes.

“How is it possible that Hook is still alive?” he interrogated harshly.

Henry faltered at the sudden crisp English and the use of Killian’s moniker; dread of a different kind beginning to mingle with the rest of his anxious emotions. Much like his other mother, Killian had made many an enemy in his late quest for vengeance; the only difference was Killian had lived centuries longer to make even more of them than Regina ever had.

He did not like their odds.

The younger man next to the first—maybe a little older than Henry himself—moved forward in spite of the grunts of protest from the others. He was adorned in rich cerulean and golden trimmed cotton pants, his upper half left exposed to show off his fit physique, the neon tribal markings tattooed against his caramel skin, and a necklace with a light blue crystal that seemed to glow under the sun. The color of his clothing and the golden jewelry he wore set him apart from the rest who adorned themselves in simple earth tones and silver armlets. He regarded Henry with demanding ice blue eyes as he opened his mouth to speak.

“Is this Captain Hook?” he commanded.

“Yes,” Henry figured either way they both would be damned if he didn’t answer honestly, and he watched in awed confusion as the guarded expressions on all their faces dropped. “Who are you? And how do you know the Captain?”

He spoke again; his hand going up for the others to lower their weapons. “I am prince Hakan, and I believe it is I who should ask you these questions.”

“My name is Henry,” deciding that they weren’t in any immediate danger anymore; he paused just long enough to debate how to proceed with his next sentence. But time was of the essence. He couldn’t afford to waste any more of it by explaining; not with Killian leaning more and more heavily against him the longer they stood there. “I’m his son.” His response relaxed the rest of the tribalmen and Hakan measured him as if trying to spy a lie (which he knew the prince would find none, only a half-truth that Henry believed whole-heartedly). “Please, we were attacked and separated from our family, he needs help.”

Hakan barked something in the throaty language and two of the burly looking tribalmen began to wade forward. As they drew near, moving to take Killian from him, Henry hesitated and shifted away on instinct; not quite trusting what was ordered when he couldn’t understand what was said.

“Fear not Henry, son of Hook,” Hakan spoke gently in English. “We offer you our help. Ahanu and Chaska will not harm him; you have my word as prince.”

He finally relented at the sincerity with which the other spoke; his body involuntarily sagging in relief the moment the added weight was lifted. “Thank you, your highness.” He replied gratefully with a small bow of his head; cringing slightly in sympathy as Killian hissed out in pain as the men moved to better accommodate him.

“Please,” The prince started with a slight shake of his head and a raise of his hand as they all moved for dry land. “No need for such formalities from the son of our ally.” He turned to one of the lanky tribalmen and ordered. “Tapu, run ahead and warn the healers that their assistance is needed, then let my mother and father know that the patrol is being cut short and we’ll be arriving with honored guests.”

As Tapu raced back into the forest to heed the order, Henry bent to retrieve his sword and inquired. “Ally? How is it you know my father?”

“Hakan was young, he does not remember much.” The older man who had spoken first—the one that Henry now assumed was the prince’s right-hand man or guard—answered. “But the Captain saved our prince from his own imprudence.”

Whatever story was to be told there, Henry wasn’t going to get it from anyone here, for the man simply left it at that; barking orders to the others in their guttural language as they began to march forward. Henry quickly jogged ahead to fall into step with the prince; his eyes never leaving Killian who was being carried on the back of Chaska. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but his concern curbed his curiosity; his anxiety returning as he realized the pirate had fallen unconscious once again.

Two questions; however, begged to be answered. “Where are we heading? And how do you know English?”

“You’ll see,” Hakan vaguely replied, turning with a slight twinkle of mischief gleaming at Henry as he finished. “And we know many languages, Henry. French, Spanish, and Latin just to name off a few.”

“Really?”

“Oui,” Hakan answered cheekily in French.

“Incredible,” he breathed out even as Hakan shrugged his shoulders. The cocky grin however, never left the prince’s face as they continued to venture through the undergrowth.

(***)

Conversation between him and the prince had lulled off not long after.

And for a long while, Henry remained silent; lost in thought as the murmured conversation filtered around him while they picked their way through the forest. They were safe, but the worry over Killian’s condition and the unknown fate of the rest of his family petrified him. Did anyone else get transported to a different realm? Did they manage to defeat Slappy and the Plant Monster? Would they find a way home only to discover no one left to go home too? Would Killian survive to even make the trip back with him?

The uncertainty of it all made his stomach roil.

“We’re here.”

Hakan’s announcement snapped Henry out of it, and he gave his surroundings a good once over, seeing nothing but trees fanning three sides while in front of them was the start of a steep rocky mountainside that stretched as far as his eye could see. There were no huts, as he had expected to be led to. No openings in the rock face to lead to any civilization either. It was a dead end, and Henry briefly wondered if it was a trap before the prince was turning to face him.

“These crystals,” he gestured to the necklace he and the others wore. “Allow us passage through the gate.” with a gentle smile, he lifted his hand up for Henry to take and explained. “Seeing as neither of you possess one, you’ll need to be connected to a bearer if you wish to pass through safely.”

Henry watched in awe as one by one the men passed through the rocks like ghosts. It wasn’t until Chaska and Killian disappeared in the rock that Henry realized he was gawking. He turned back to Hakan, who was grinning amusedly at him with his arm still patiently extended for him to take.

“You ready, Henry?”

Moving to take the offered hand, he took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

He braced himself as they moved forward, half expecting himself to smack into the stone while the other half expected to feel it pass through his body. He squeezed his eyes shut the moment they reached the apparent gate, feeling a faint electric current run through his nerves and causing his toes to curl at the tingling sensation.

As quick as the feeling came, it left and Henry opened his eyes to see a dark wide open cavern lit by the blue glow of the crystals around the tribalmens necks. He turned to face the way they came, seeing solid wall and two tall stone statues standing guard at the hidden gate; their eyes and the hieroglyphics craved into them glowing a similar blue.

“Wow.” Was all he could manage to utter out.

Hakan’s barking laugh startled him, and he turned back to see the others were already making their way down a narrow pathway toward a large cave opening.

The prince moved to clap him on the shoulder with a grin and said. “If you’re amazed by this, then I can’t wait to see your reaction to my home. Come, we’re almost there.”

(***)

After what felt like a half an hour more of walking, a bright light up ahead penetrated the dull blue glow. His curiosity grew as he heard an echoing hum of something akin to a motor and the rushing of water; the excitement dulling his apprehension slightly at the prospect of seeing what was creating the noises, and to see the civilization that built those statues. He picked his pace up as they trekked up the steep incline and the moment they exited the cave, the men stepped to the side to clear a path and waited (save for Chaska, who continued onward along a bridge to take Killian to the awaiting healers).

The moment his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight filtering in from above, the air left his lungs in one fell swoop at the wondrous vision before him.

Metallic contraptions flew and whizzed by all around, but the metropolis itself was truly and utterly breathtaking. Henry found he had no words, for anything he could say wouldn’t even scratch the surface of what he felt as he gazed, slack jawed, around the massive cavern and the glistening city of hewn stone. It sat upon a circular platform and was surrounded entirely by water that fell into the abyss below. Giant stone or metal statues stood guard on the outer edge and the natural light from above gave the water and the billowing mist clouds from the falls a crystalline sheen.

That bizarre deja-vu feeling nagged at him again, the memory or the knowledge hovering just out of reach.

“Welcome to our home, Henry.” Hakan broke him out of his stupor as he moved to stand beside him. “To the city of Atlantis.”

(***)

The city (of all the places to wind up, it was Atlantis. The lost freaking empire Atlantis from the freaking movie he hadn’t seen since he was five) was even more amazing up close.

People bustled around everywhere he was led, while the hover vehicles continued to buzz past high above their heads. Most of the men had dispersed the moment they entered the metropolis, save for Peyak—Hakan’s personal guard (that Henry had guessed correctly)—and the prince himself.

“Are you sure you do not wish to be checked by one of our healers?” Hakan urged for the third time as they led him into the heart of the city where the palace resided.

“I’m sure, it doesn’t really hurt anymore.” Henry answered distractedly, his eyes bouncing from one thing to another and absorbing as much detail as he possibly could.

“If you’re sure…” Hakan sighed out, and Henry saw him sharing a brief glance with Peyak from the corner of his eye.

Their journey came to a halt outside two towering doors, and Henry’s eyes traveled from the beautifully etched markings to the woman standing tall and regal before them. She looked no older than his own mothers; wearing robes in a similar cerulean and gold color as the prince and a tribal tattoo marked under her left eye (her eyes also a similar color to the prince and making it obvious that this was either his sister or mother). A golden headdress framed her face like a crown and her long, loose white hair fanned down across her shoulders and back. She offered a warm, welcoming smile to him even as Hakan stepped forward to greet her with a kiss on the cheek.

“Mama, where is Papa and Catori?”

“Your father and sister have long since gone down to teach the daily lesson.” She answered in a rich, soothing tenor, her eyes flitting to her son for a single moment before they were back on him.

“Henry,” Hakan began. “Allow me to introduce you to my mother; Queen Kida.” pivoting back to his mother, he supplied. “Mama, this is Hook’s son.”

A dark eyebrow rose as she strode to stand before him. “You are Hook’s son?” he noted she threw the question more to herself than to him; her hand moving to tilt his head this way and that as she examined his face. Whatever she saw, it must have been what she was looking for as she met his eyes and grinned. “I can see it, though I believe you take after your mother more, yes?”

“More or less.” He answered ambiguously with a smile in return.

“Come, Henry, I’m sure you have much you would like answered.”

“I do, but…”

“Your father is in good hands, Henry.” Hakan reassured him as he and Peyak moved to leave; throwing over his shoulder as he went. “Stay and ask your questions. It will help distract you for a while.”

“My son is right; there is nothing more you can do for him at this point. Now come,” she gestured for him to follow as the guards moved to open the doors for them. “Let us talk.”

(***)

“Thank you,” he said kindly; throwing the older woman serving them an appreciative smile as he accepted the tea. Staring into the steaming liquid, he pushed forward with his conversation with the Queen. “I just… I don’t understand how we got here.”

“Portals work in mysterious ways, young one.” Kida answered as she accepted her own cup. “But from what I was led to understand, most portals will take you wherever or to whomever you’re envisioning as you pass through.”

“But that’s the thing; I wasn’t thinking of this place—or any place for that matter—other than home.” he sighed out tiredly. “I had hoped the portal would have just dropped us off at the house or something.”

“You may have been thinking of home, but you also did not go through the portal alone. Who’s to say Hook was not thinking of this place when you passed through?”

“But dad was unconscious at the time…”

“I’ve found, over my long years, that sometimes an unconscious thought can prove to be stronger than a conscious one.”

“I guess so…” he murmured with a furrowed brow and took a tentative sip of the hot liquid in the clay mug.

It was the only explanation that was making any sort of sense at the moment, so what else could he really say? If it were true, than he was incredibly relieved that they stumbled here, and not back in Neverland. That dreadful island and the Lost Boys were something he hoped he’d never have to experience ever again.

A comfortable silence lulled between them, Henry lost in his thoughts and Kida silently observing him as she sipped at her own tea.

“Your Majesty?”

“Please Henry, no need for formalities here,” she smiled. “Call me Kida.”

“Kida,” he nodded and continued. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you come to know my father? He’s told us plenty of stories of different realms he’s traveled too, but I don’t remember him ever talking about Atlantis.”

“He was sworn not to.” she answered simply. “Not many people of this realm, or any other, know of our existence. Greed and War forced us here once, young one, and I lost my mother for it.” a troubled expression crossed her face than, and Henry wondered just how far off the myths and movie had been; wondered what really happened in Kida’s past before Milo stumbled upon them. “We take precautions wherever we can.”

“Then how did my father come to know of you and this place?”

“It was quite by accident really. From what I remember him telling me, he was on a mission of sorts to retrieve an artifact for someone–come to think of it, he never did answer my question of who he was retrieving it for.” she muttered mostly to herself before shaking her head and continuing. “He hadn’t been the only one looking for it, unfortunately. There had been another crew from this world that sought after it and the power it contained; our people didn’t even know of its existence or how close to our kingdom it was…” a shadow crossed over her face again. “My son—Hakan—was very young and extremely foolish at the time. He had gone against our orders by venturing up to the surface, where he stumbled upon the artifact.” she sighed out and visibly deflated with it, and Henry got the impression that the young prince had been more than just a handful to his parents and people. “Hakan was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But Hook… he saved him from that other crew. He didn’t have too, he could have made off with the relic and left my son to die, but he didn’t and for that my husband and I will always be indebted to your father. He—and anyone he calls friend or family—is more than welcome in our city.”

“Thank you,” he answered gratefully, the smile he gave her not quite reaching his eyes as his thoughts once again shifted to worry.

“He’ll be alright, young one.” She answered knowingly, soothingly. “He’s with the best healers our kingdom has to offer. But I’m afraid you’ll have to be patient while they work; these things take time if you want it to be done right.”

“Am I allowed to go see him?”

“When the healers are done, I’ll bring you too him myself.” she assured. “But until then, I believe it is time for you to go see a healer yourself.” She stated as she gestured to the visible wounds on his hands and arms.

“I’m fine.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to distract anyone from treating him right now.”

“Non-sense, I believe your father would be very displeased if you were to ignore it any longer for his sake.” The look she sent him—the look of an unyielding mother (the same look he’s seen frequently on both Regina and Emma over the years)—cut him off before he could think to argue farther. “You will not win this argument young one; do not even try. I don’t ask this as a queen, I ask this as a mother who would want the same thing done for my own kin.” She called to one of the guards in Atlantian, gesturing with her free hand and Henry didn’t need to understand the language to know what she was ordering.

There was just no arguing with a mother.

#captain cobra #killian jones #henry mills #killian whump #BAMF henry #once upon a time #once upon a time fanfiction #ouat ff

13 notes · View notes

demeterrist · 6 years

Photo

After watching old goosebumps clips I tried to draw Slappy, the bastard who gave me about 5 years of nightmares. He’s laughing at some kids attempt to do something heroic, not sure what though!

#slappy the dummy #goosebumps #Slappy

26 notes · View notes

madeinheavxn · 4 years

Text

The Thing That Connects Us (Part 5)

Word count: 1379

Warnings: Cussing, thats all lol

a/n: this is one of the longer chapters but there are some longer ones. sorry these are so bad i’ve kinda lost my mojo with everything thats happened around me and i’m trying to get back on top. part 6 is almost done and should be up soon afer this

“Improvise, darling,” Freddie said into the mic. “It’s called Tie Your Mother Down for a reason. Give it some spice.” Parker nodded and put on the headphones. Giving a thumbs-up as a sign of ready, Roger pressed a button, letting the playback ring through the headphones. Plucking a staccato line next to the upbeat guitar, you nodded while moving your fingers to the beat, adding a few other notes to give it a new spin.

After the four-minute song was done, Parker looked up from her trance. “How was it?” She asked, taking off the headphones.

“That was great, love the beat,” Brian said into the mic after pressing the button. “We might need to re-record though because I can tell you aren’t used to the Rickenbacker.”

“It’s okay, I’ll get used to it. I need to get out of using my Schecter Stiletto Stealth anyway. She’s getting old.” Parker looked back down and stroked the body of John’s bass.

“You named your bass?” John asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just have a habit of personifying instruments.” She stood up and placed the bass on the stand. “Am I done?”

Freddie nodded and she walked out of the booth into the control room. “You all want to get lunch? It’s almost one.” Roger asked.

Freddie nodded and stood up. “There’s a shawarma place down the street, we can go there.” Suggesting somewhere fast and easy. “Parker, do you want to come?”

She shook her head. “No thanks. I’ll stay behind. I wanna listen to the song and see what I can do to improve.” SItting at the spinny chair in front of the control panel, she pressed a few buttons to isolate the bass.

“I’ll stay with Parker then.” John offered, “You three can just bring something back for us.”

“No, you can go, John.” Parker sighed. “I don’t want to keep you behind.” She pressed another button to have the drums play alongside the bass.

She heard the door close. “It’s okay Parker.” She looked up to see that Freddie, Brian, and Roger had already left and John was the only one in the room with her. “I don’t want you to be alone.” He sat down in the second spinny chair next to her. “Your bassline sounded great, maybe if we did something like this.” He adjusted a lever, making the bass slightly louder and pitched lower. Pressing buttons to bring back all the instruments, they listened to the newly pitched bassline.

“If I may,” Parker adjusted the volume of the guitar down and drums to be softer. “Roger is a bit too loud sometimes and Brian’s ego is too big.” She pushed a switch up, making Freddie’s voice louder. “That way, they both can learn to manage their levels.”

“Well in that case.” John pushed the bass volume a bit louder. “How does that sound?”

“Perfect.”

About an hour later, John and Parker were still at the control panel, adjusting volumes and pitch on Tie Your Mother Down. Roger, Brian, and Freddie had come back to see John with his head in his hand, pushing the volume level for the drums down while Parker was inside the recording booth, adding dubs to the bassline. “Fuck.” They all heard from the booth.

John stopped the recording. “You good, Parker? It sounded fine.”

“No, it didn’t sound right. Something is off about it. Can you erase that recording, John?”

“Yeah sure. How about you get out of there. You’ve been trying to record for the last 15 minutes and the others are back with our shawarma.” He looked around seeing Freddie standing next to him. Roger had already sat down on the couch and Brian took the second spinny chair.

Parker sighed and took off the headphones. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong that’s all.” She set down the Rickenbacker and came out of the booth. Freddie handed her foil-wrapped chicken shawarma as she passed by him.

Quickly mumbling “Thanks, Freddie,” she flopped down onto an open spot on the couch and opened the warm tortilla wrapped food. Biting into it, she closed her eyes and groans, clearly hungry. “John, could you play that dub, isolated, real quick. I want to hear it.” When the bass overdub filled the room she listened carefully, trying to find the mistake.

She winced when the sound of her voice abruptly saying ‘fuck’ came through the speakers. Brian laughed, “Well that isn’t appropriate to leave on the album.”

“I liked it, Parker,” Roger said from beside her. “Maybe try making it a bit more, whats the word, slappy maybe?”

“No that’s not it.” She took another bite and with her mouth full of chicken, she stood up and put down the food. Walking over to the panel and leaning over Brian’s shoulder, she pressed a few buttons, erasing the dirty word from the recording and pitched it down. Swallowing the food, she said with a dry throat, “Your bass doesn’t sound right John. It’s not tuned correctly. Freddie, can you get water? When was the last time you tuned it?”

He tuned it last night, a few minutes before we called it a night, and of course.” Freddie answered

“Thank you, Freddie.” She replied as he walked out the door. “It can’t be because it sounded right when I used it to record the main bassline.”

“It probably got loosened while we were changing the volumes of Freddie’s singing earlier. I can go in and tune it now.” John stood up and went into the booth.

Parker pressed the button to let John hear her. “Bring it out here, I want to do it myself.” He nodded and brought the black and white instrument into the control room. When he handed her the bass, she held it carefully before sitting down again. Grabbing the cloth from her purse that sat on the ground, she wiped the fingerprints off the body and the fretboard. She plucked the G string and grimaced, “Sharp.” Swiftly, she started turning all the pegs, playing each string letting it ring out, making sure everything sounded right.

John watched her, amazed by how fast she could tune each string and mesmerized by how much care she put into cleaning the expensive instrument. Playing each sting one more time and wiping down the body again, she gave a satisfied smile. Freddie returned with the water and handed it to Parker. Nodding at the table where her shawarma as a sign saying to leave it there, she started playing the overdub riff. After going through the whole thing she let out a content sigh. “That’s better.” She whispered. John, who had been watching her the whole time, smiled. She handed him the bass again. “I know that it’s yours and you don’t really clean it much, but you should start cleaning it because dust buildup can affect the sound.”

He nodded. “Should we worry about the ones at home?” He asked.

“No, we play those ones enough where we don’t have to worry as much but we still need to clean them every once in a while.”

“Parker, you know your way with a six-string right?” Brian asked. When she nodded, his eyes lit up. “Can you please go get my Martin D-18 and clean and tune it?”

“Sure but it’s not going to be as tight as a bass would because it’s not my specialty.” She stood up and took a sip of the water Freddie had brought in. Smiling at Freddie she walked to the corner of the room to retrieve Brian’s acoustic wonder.

“Hey, Park?” Roger asked. “What about my drums?”

She smiled at the nickname. “You are in charge of those because for the life of me I could not and will never be able to figure out how to play them correctly.”

“How about some lessons?” Roger kicked at her leg when she sat down.

“No, I’ll stick to strings.” She laughed.

“What happened to my drum lessons, Roger?” Freddie pouted.

“No one wants to hear you play drums Freddie, that’s a fucking nightmare,” Brian commented, watching as Parker slid the cloth up and down the body of his guitar to rid of the dust that had gathered on its due to little use.

#john deacon #john deacon x oc #john deacon x original character #fluff #long fic #longfic #queen #au #TTTCU #The Thing That Connects Us

0 notes