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#sorry for the term 'butt stuff'
uhbasicallyjustmilex · 4 months
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current editing moodboard, please send help
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lovelybrooke · 11 months
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Yandere Spiderman Across the Spiderverse x reader Concept
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I really, really loved this movie and I'm super excited to write for it. I'm kinda sad this was only part 1, but it was great either way. On another note, I've seen the requests for this movie, and I will be writing those, so be patient with me. Please like, comment, and reblog if you enjoy, and please request if you want to see more. (This is also not going to be 100% canon, sorry).
Life is super boring, at least that's how you viewed it. Everything was pretty monotonous, you wake up, go to school, go to work, go home, do homework, eat, sleep, and repeat. It's not even like it was bad, it's just, tiring.
This was until you meant Peter Parker. At the time, you thought there was nobody else like him, how stupid were you, right? You met when you two were paired up for a project at school, and eventually, after a little encouragement and time, you two became best friends.
Of course, at the time, you knew about Spiderman, New York's friendly neighborhood hero, but you never thought it was Peter. When he told you, you honestly thought he was joking, laughing at him as he tried to be open with you. After a long, long talk, you eventually came to terms with your friend's responsibility.
Everything was pretty good for a while, and you eventually even started helping Peter out on his little hero escapades. You weren't as courageous as him, so you ended up becoming his "guy in the chair", you didn't come up with the name. Your knowledge in technology allowed you to stay back and help him on missions from the safety of your home. You'd notify him whenever there was a villain in the area, hack into surveillance cameras to make sure he wasn't being seen by the police, and even made some upgrades to him suit to make him even stronger.
Everything was great, until the death of Peter's Uncle Ben. He meant everything to Peter, so when he died, Peter just, stopped talking to you for a while, it's like he just completely shut down. You tried to get a hold of him, but it was basically impossible. His aunt May never knew where he was, and you couldn't track his suit, so for a while, he was just a ghost.
When he did finally show up again, he was different. He used to be extroverted, happy and bubbly. But when he returned after months of silence, he was cold and distant. You could tell something was off with him, and the fact that you couldn't track his suit put you off. You knew he was okay with the tracker so you could contact him in case of emergencies, so then why was it suddenly not working?
For the short time Peter was back, he barely talked to you, and when he did, he was muttering something about someone trying to get him, which you assumed was because he was so out of it after coming back. When you tried to ask about it, he rambled something about the multiverse, before quickly shutting up. You never got the chance to ask him about it, because the next day he was gone, again. And you haven't seen him since.
And that's how you're back to your supper boring life. It was sad that your best and only friend was gone, Aunt May was devastated. Most of your time was spent trying to find him, using all the knowledge you had to find any trace of him. You assumed that his disappearance had something to do with the metaverse nonsense he was muttering about, but everything you found led to a dead end.
You were about to give up when a strange portal appeared into your room. It started out small, before quickly overtaking most your room, sucking you and some of your stuff in with it. It was a terrifying few seconds before you stopped moving, your butt hitting the floor. When you opened your eyes, you quickly figured out you were in some strange new place. Even though the room you were in was dark, you could tell it was super high tech, computers and wires everywhere.
It took you a while to stand up, disoriented as you were. As you stood up, a few lights turned up. Not enough lights to make you feel less nervous, but enough to see who was in the room with you. The man was tall, towering over you on his hovering platform, his back towards you. You didn't want to say anything, afraid of the man in front of you.
"You're digging to deep, (Y/N)." He said, his head tilting toward you, only a part of his face visible.
"Who are you?" You murmur, "why am I here?" you question.
"Don't worry, I'm doing this for your own good." What does that mean? His platform eventually reaches the ground, allowing him to walk close to you. Despite his intimidating demeanor, you felt a sense of comfort around him, which almost caused you to let your guard down. Slowly, the man brought his hand close to your head, brushing a small strand of hair out of your face. "I'm Miguel O'Hara, Earth-928's Spiderman."
You started to panic at that, this must be the Multiverse Peter was talking about. You took a step back from Miguel, the room around you becoming tense once again. You shake your head, giving Miguel a confused look, "So, the Multiverse is real? There's more than one Spiderman?" Miguel takes a slow step forward, eying you carefully.
"Yes." That doesn't really answer your question, but he continues, "and it's my job to make sure the multiverse stays stable." You look at the ground, suppressing tears, is that why Peter is gone? You stay quiet, prompting Miguel to continue, "that's why I need your help." Shocked, you looked at him, Miguel getting closer and closer to you. "With your skills, you can help a lot of people." You didn't know how to respond, simply looking at him with tear feared eyes. When Miguel wrapped you up in a tight hug, your fears for Peter were confirmed, he was gone.
---
Ever since, you've been working for Spider society. You mostly stayed with Miguel, seeing him a sort of father figure, even though you would never tell him that. Miguel gave you a room close to his, a room you barely even left, why would you when all your computers and tech is in there.
Miguel was protective of you the moment he met you, met being a strong word since you didn't know about him. You were just so kind and happy; he was almost jealous of your earths Spiderman. He never planned on killing him, especially since he knew what it would do to your dimension, but you were safer with him anyway.
He hated when you started becoming friends with the other Spider people, mainly the ones closer to you in age. He knew you were shy, but that also meant people would take advantage of you. It's why he didn't mind you staying in your room, he could keep watch of you there better anyway.
Gwen was fine, since for the most part she wasn't a troublemaker. She was the one to make sure you were eating, which Miguel was appreciative of. She would also bring in movies from her dimension for you to watch. Pavitr wasn't that bad, though he did like to push you out of your comfort zone a lot, but always knew when you were uncomfortable. Hobie was a different story, he was like a big brother to you, and would do your makeup and teach you how to play different instruments. Though, he always managed to get you caught up in all his little scheming, which does not make Miguel happy. When Miles eventually starts showing up, he also becomes one of your close friends, often hanging out with you and Gwen.
Most of the Spiders were pretty aware of their obsession with you, some of them more conscious of their behavior than others, but they see it as their job to protect you. You're one of the few non spiders welcomed into Spider society, of course your important to them. They've all lost so much; they couldn't lose you too. None of them are afraid of using their trauma against you to make you forget about your dimension and your Peter.
For most of them, you're the only peace they have. When they come back from a long mission, they just want to be with you, because you're the only constant in their lives. You're probably the only thing keeping Miguel from losing his mind, he just wants to keep you safe. They all just want to keep you safe.
It's why Miguel doesn't let you leave HQ; it's why he encourages you to call him dad. It's why Gwen will subtly remind you about the death of her best friend and how she couldn't handle losing you as well. It's why Hobie and Pavitr get upset when you mention anything from your dimension. Its why Miles can't stand being away from you for more than a week. You understand, don't you?
---
A/n: I don't know how to feel about this but I'm happy it's out. I know I didn't get into Jessica or Peter B Parker, but I hope you guys like this. I have a lot of ideas for this, and I will not be shutting up about Spiderman anytime soon. Please, please, please request. Thank you!!!
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Hope Morphin Q&A
About a few months ago, I got a message from a surprising source: @hmrphin/Hope Morphin.
In case you don't know, Hope Morphin is a model and makeup artist who the character of Marc was based on. I also made a post about how their friendship with Astruc had ended thanks to the Rising Sun Flag controversy, which they had actually read one day. We talked a little, and they told me to message them on their Instagram to confirm that this is the real Hope.
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They said they'd be down to answer some questions, I came up with a few, and I got their permission to post this on my account. So, without further ado, as Sid the Science Kid once said, let's go get some answers.
Question: When did you and Thomas first get to know each other, and how?
Answer: It was years ago, when the series premiered on TFOU. There were a lot of people complaining on twitter that the characters of the show were in 3D instead of in 2D, and I answered one of Thomas' tweets saying that characters' butts looked better in 3D rather than in 2D (yeah, I had a terrible sense of humor back then, glad I don't do that anymore) and he answered "yeah we could say that lol". Then, it became a running gag between us on the web, and we met for the first time at a french convention called Japan Tours, the 2015 one. So yeah, I think it was when I was... 20/21 years old, something like that.
Question: It's okay. We've all been cringe at some point in their lives. Did you two meet up again after the convention?
Answer: Yup. In fact, after the convention, he sent me a friend request on Facebook. Then, we chatted for a bit and he asked me if I wanted to be a model for him, and I met him for the second time during that model session.
Question: How did Thomas approach you about creating a character in his show based on you?
Answer: So, it was after I modeled for him. It happened after S1 has ended, so when we were chatting, he asked me which one was my favorite character. I answered Nathaniel, because at this time I felt quite close to this one (we love the angsty artist boy lmao). He told me that he didn't understand people liking Nath because he found it was a very empty character aha, but then he told me that they were searching for inspiration to create a boyfriend for him. He told me he wanted the persons to be happy that he got a boyfriend and that they would “stop bothering him with Nathaniel”, and as he wanted to take inspiration on someone looking androgynous he thought I was a good inspiration, so I accepted.
Question: Interesting story. Didn't know Nathaniel was so popular before Season 2. Did you have any input in the creation of Marc in terms of stuff like his design or personality?
Answer: Yeah he rather was, I remember a lot of people wanted to see more of him ehe. Not at all, I even though that he was joking on the moment, then one day he sent me Marc's characters sheet. I had the same haircut back in the day. Also, I was always wearing armor rings and I was wearing those kind of rings when I had this conversation with him, and he told me that Marc was going to have one of those as his miraculous. I was also still writing a lot back in the days, so I guess he still did took some stuff there and there in my personality to create him.
Question: You mean this design?
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Answer: Yup! I was wearing only black sooo yeah the red and rainbow wasn't in my wardrobe aha.
Question: Do you know why they made the design rainbow themed?
Answer: Nah, he didn't told me :/ My guess is to make him more LGBT+ themed...
Question: Okay, sorry. Next question: What are your thoughts on Marc as a character? What do you think of his relationship with Nathaniel and his respective villain and hero forms, Reverser and Rooster Bold?
Answer: To be honest, when he first appeared, I really liked him. I thought he had a lot of potential as a character, his villain form was really cool and I really liked the ideas behind him, and I liked the relationship that he got with Nathaniel, from enemies to associates ehe. But after that... meh. There wasn't nothing much on the LGBT+ relationship with Nathaniel (we had to wait until the end of season 5 to see them hold hands... wow), and I didn't really find myself anymore in his character. I liked the design of his hero form and I liked the concept of his power, but like the other heroes that appeared during this episode, we didn't see Rooster Bold that much and I think that doesn't really make him feel appealing. I have the feeling that Marc and many other side characters could be way more develop in very cool subthemes but this is never really done in the series. Instead, now, they are just the characters getting out a whiteboard and giving terrible ideas to Marinette for her to date Adrien =="
Question: Just for fun, do you have any personal headcanons for Marc?
Answer: Well of course ehe, I have ton of those :D
Mmmh... For example, I think he is a dog person, that he's also fond of fashion such as Marinette but that he just don't have the patience to learn how to draw and how to design clothes... Also have the headcanon that him and Nath often meet at one of their places to do some little workshops together to work on their series and on tons of other projects :D
Got also tons of headcanon for future!Marc, such as him being a model for lgbt+ brands and Nath designing his clothes, I would love to see this shy patootie being at the front of the spotlight ehe, full of confidence and all :D There's tons of ideas to have with this character, I remember when I saw lots of artists drawing him with alternate clothes back in the day, such as shishitsunari or hazy (will try to find them back but it's been a while lol). I wish those clothing styles would be canon, with Marc rocking those kind of genderless clothes.
Links to fanart of Marc with different outfits: (https://www.deviantart.com/hazydayclouds/art/72918-756895643) and (https://ladyofacat.tumblr.com/post/176231424098/rises-from-the-underworld-marc-is-perfect-i-want)
Question: This one's a little tough, so if you don't want to answer, that's perfectly fine. What exactly went down before Thomas blocked you? Did you have any conversation online or in real life regarding the use of the Rising Sun Flag in "Ephemeral", or did Thomas just block you with no warning?
Answer: Honestly ? Blocked me without any warning. We were talking less and less, and, since I have affective dependancy, I had the feeling that I said / done something wrong. He was often answering only when I was defending him on social medias during these times. But we didn't have any harsh conversation from what I recall. So, I did the tweet about ephemeral, pointing out the use of the rising sun flag, and, well, maybe he had a plugin on twitter that blocked everyone using the term "flag", and maybe it blocked me automatically. The thing is : he has my number, he has my address (well, my old address now, lol). He had many ways to tell me this was a misunderstanding and that he didn't want to block me. He didn't call me, didn't send me any text after that to talk about it, so he clearly didn't want to make anything to sort out the problem. To this day, he still hasn't send me any message to talk about it. He commented on some of my facebook posts I did last year (I posted some makeups I did for my school) just saying it was cool, so... Yeah, not the type of friend I want to keep. I still have him as a friend on FB if I ever get the guts to try to send him a message to tell him everything that was wrong towards me and towards other people, but I clearly have other things to deal with lately.
Question: So he blocked you and didn't say anything else?
Answer: Yup, exactly, blocked me and didn't say anything else :/ After years of supporting him lmao.
Question: I'm really sorry to hear that. And you still haven't heard from him after all this time?
Answer: Well, apart from some comments he made on my facebook posts (I posted my makeup from my makeup school and he commented "very nice!") nothing at all. But honestly I'm not too bothered by that. I heard new stuff that he did prior and I really don't think it's a good idea that I interact with him again. I keep him in my facebook friends because maybe one day I'll send him a message to try to confront him, telling him that he had a very terrible behavior towards me and other people... But not today, I have other stuff to deal with.
Question: Despite everything that's happened between you and Thomas, do you still keep up with Miraculous Ladybug? If so, what do you think of it?
Answer:
Well, I've kept up with it because I still have lots of friends who are watching it (for example Octolady, Kogenta and Candy...), and they help me keep a little hype.
So I watched the episodes... There are some stuff that I like. There's good LGBT+ representation, and I like seeing an international known cartoon doing that (especially a french one since we have lots of far-right rising lately).
But honestly, I don't have the same hype as before. At the beginning, I was hyped because S1 looked awesome and had lots of cool fights, lots of wholesome characters and all, but the animation problems and differences are really making me bothered. Also, I have the feeling there's a lot of characters who could be more elaborated and who aren't, and... That's kinda sad, because there's a lot of topics that could be explored thanks to them and not just brushed off in one episode.
Plus, to be honest, I didn't really like the ending of S5. And I don't like the idea of it going on for seasons and seasons and seasons, milked until there's nothing more for it. The fewer the better in my mind...
I also seen the movie and didn't really liked it. Too much fanservice and didn't really made sense. The animation was nice, though.
Honestly, I love the writing team, they are wholesome people and they are doing their best for this show, but people like Thomas and Zag are the kind of people I don't want to support anymore. So yeah... To sum it up : still watching it from afar to see if nice stuff is happening, been pleased with some little stuff, displeased with a lot more, but I don't think I'll keep watching it both because I'm not that hyped up anymore and because I don't want to support anymore these 2 people. I supported Thomas too much before, was too attached to him and was a terrible person towards fans who didn't deserved it because I was too blind, so yeah, won't happen anymore.
Still, I'm glad there's still some people who are fans of Marc and who felt helped thanks to this character. I really hope he will have a better representation in the future (clear relationship with Nath, maybe even some trans / non-binary representation ?) in order to inspire young people.
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I'd like to personally thank Hope for being willing to answer my questions, and I highly reccommend giving their Instagram a follow.
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gayvampyr · 2 years
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im sorry but this shit pisses me off. i don’t care if it’s a joke. where’s the punchline. even in 2022 gays still do not have equal rep in shows. the fact that only in the last couple years have we gotten actually semi-decent queer rep shows how much queer media is still needed. a lot of people still don’t even know what the word “bisexual” means, much less terms like “asexual” or “aromantic” or “nonbinary”. whether you’d like to admit it or not, it matters that a show actually has a bi character and explicitly says the word bisexual— a popular show at that. ik some of you guys have forgotten that the rest of the world isnt as acquainted with queerness as your online lgbt friend group, but a show on a major streaming platform saying “bisexual people exist” is important. it needs to be said, and it needs to keep being said until people stop forgetting and erasing bi people.
and yeah, the line “masculine guys can be gay” might seem like a stupid obvious thing, but a lot of people don’t consider masc guys to be gay at all, just like they don’t expect lesbians to be fem. i’ve been told several times that i don’t “look gay” and that i must be confused because i should like “boy stuff” and dress masculine if i really liked girls. people need to be reminded that anyone can be gay, as ridiculous as it sounds. we need to be seen as more than a stereotype and im sick of you “edgy” gays shitting on every piece of queer media like it’s twilight.
the show that these tags are in response to isn’t even adult media. honestly it’s hardly even YA. this show is for kids and teens who are discovering who they are. growing up, i never had ANY sort of representation. i didn’t grow up thinking it was okay to like girls, or that i could be interested in people other than boys, or that i even had the option to not like boys at all. queer representation is not only important, but it’s crucial. straight people get to see themselves everywhere, and never as comedic relief or the butt of a joke. queer kids grow up thinking that what they are is humiliating, that they should be ashamed of being those people who get laughed and made fun of on tv (and irl). in 99% of media, gay and trans people have been a laughing stock. the most representation a queer could get a decade ago was a white cis fem (but not TOO fem) gay man who was only a side character, was never shown with a partner, and served primarily as a clown, like queerness is a circus and cishets are the audience.
so i don’t CARE if young queer media is cringe. i don’t CARE if you don’t like it or if you think it’s forced or stupid or pointless or even if it’s just for a corporation to profit off our existence. the point isn’t why it was made or how bad you think the writing is, the point is that it exists and that there are now young queer people who can finally see themselves, not as a joke but as real people, on screen and go, “that. that’s what i am.” and im elated for this younger generation to be able to say that when i couldn’t. so i don’t care if you’d rather just be called a faggot again like in the good ol days when we were dropping like flies and everyone hated us. if cringey tv shows and bad writing is the price for queer kids to understand themselves better and for cishet people to get a better understanding of queer people, then it’s a small price to pay. shut the fuck up and let queer media exist
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tinkerbelle05 · 6 months
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~Pretty in Pink~
Characters:Jaime Reyes x Fem!reader
Genre: Fluffy
Summary: (Requested) Thanks for the request, and I am so, so sorry this is late! 🎀
Request: Can you write a Jaime Reyes fic where he has a bimbo gf. Like she's just so bubbly, pink, soft, ykyk but she has like no filter and is a little on the slow side. I just wonder what their relationship would be like. She'd totally leave her hyperfeminine stuff at his place and his sister would just tease the living hell outta him! That would literally be so cute! Thnx pookie!
Warnings: Slight suggestive things but nothin too crazy
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Jaime’s Bimbo GF
You two met while he was on campus. He saw you at some event, welcoming the freshman or something like that. He couldn’t remember, but he remembered you. Decked out in everything pink, you were beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. He wanted to talk to you. To introduce himself to you. To get to know you.
He was positive there was a beautiful soul underneath that beautiful face.
And he was right.
You were kind, funny, smart. And so much more. Though, you had a nasty habit of saying things that first came to your mind.
You’d have Jaime laughing with the observations (at times verging on insults) you’d give to people.
“Why his butt out like that? Dude can afford Jordan’s but not a belt?”
And…
“I don’t get people that go bare face but have a 10 inch lashes on? If your gonna do all of that, then at least but some blush on. Some lipgloss at least, jeez.”
At times, you don’t understand that you are being rude or mean. To you, you were just pointing out the obvious.
Speaking of makeup though…
You wore it. Lots of it. Of course you’d be wearing pink but you would switch it up. Though the color would always be bright and colorful. You weren’t a pastel type of gal.
You would force Jaime to be your personal bag carrier when you go on shopping sprees to the mall. His limit was 5 bags per hand, even when you begged. He cheered you up with some boba and ice cream though.
Eventually, most of your stuff was in his room. Your scattered clothes in his dorm room and your make up items all over his dresser and bathroom counter.
And obviously this habit of yours carried over to when you and Jaime went home for spring break. It was a pleasant surprise that the both of you lived in the same state, nevermind the same city.
Which leads to…
“Jaime Reyes, get here right now!” Jaime heard his mother, Bianca yell at him.
Jaime ran over to his mother fast, the urgency in her voice had him thinking the worst; maybe there was a spider or a robber
Or…
A pair of lacy pink panties she held in the air. At the sight of the panties, Jaime froze in his place.
His speechlessness didn’t faze his mother at all as she gazed sternly at him, “Explain. Now.”
After an hour of interrogation, Bianca demands to meet you. Your charming personality and softness was welcomed, especially since she was fearing the worst when she saw the lacy underwear.
His family loves you, and you were a permanent figure in their household l. Spending holidays with them and hanging out in general.
But back to you and Jaime tho…
He’ll let you put make up on him. Just ONCE. And there could be no photos or anything. These were the terms you two agreed upon after you begged and nagged him for months about it.
Somehow though, Milagro managed to somehow take a picture (Jaime thinks it’s her evil sister powers) and now she will never let him forget it.
Even when he thinks that she had forgotten all about it, she’ll stare at him and say, “You looked so cute with that blush. What was its name again?”
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Tags: @alienstardust, @scryarchives, @asvterias, @marmar-c, @wintersdeadd, @fhhahaha12, @allthingsvicf, @niluuuuu, @starii-light, @louiesdaydream, @666kpopfan, @sodacatz, @bluecray0nn, @strawberrycreamb, @conicoroahre, @losingmywayyyy, @nightwingandhissquad, @shslsimpette, @dilflover-3, @dcnerd98, @renamiel, @tid4lwave, @17ppm3, @fullsiiner, @zerosinterweb, @devilslittlehelper
Taglist, & Masterlist, & Reqs Info
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the-s1lly-corner · 7 months
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Could you do the TADC cast x reader with a really heavy southern accent?
TADC cast x reader w/ a heavy southern accent!
hello i am back from my silly little lunch break i made a sandwich it was very yummy i need to find a new set of music to listen to while typing, as much as i love jack stauber i think im going to go insane if i hear baby hotline one more time... oddly enough not the first time that specific song has driven me nuts from being overplayed anyways idk side note idk what to do with gifs because i keep running out of TADC gifs and i got a reblog months back on a crp post that implies that gif makers get notified when you use their gifs?? is that true?? if so i am so so so sorry to the tadc gif makers TToTT also still gif related but i keep getting. jumpscared by butts n boobs anytime i open the gif thing i cannot keep doing this!!!!
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CAINE:
i think he would find it pretty, like, i dont know how to explain it! i think he would possibly mimic some of your speech mannerisms. probably gives you a cowboy hat. i dont know what it is but i think southern accents, at least from what ive seen, is one of the most romanticized of american accents... maybe its the whole rugged cowboy thing thats commonly associated with it. what im trying to say that i think caine would romanticize it the same way, thanks to him not really having the experience of going out and interacting with people from the south
he finds the accent pretty
POMNI:
i dont think she would really notice it unless she is really trying to pay attention to what you say. but maybe thats just self projection because i myself dont really notice other peoples accents unless its very prominent, or they say something that sounds so different to how im used to hearing things. i feel it would be the same with pomni, but i dont think she would treat you any differently! wish i had more ideas but pomni and gangle are particularly hard for me to write for some reason
RAGATHA:
honestly i like to hc that she grew up in a southern small town before getting stuck in the digital world, but of course she wouldnt remember it... perhaps she would feel some sense of familiarity around you anyways, even if she cant pin down why.. i think that would be nice... she likes listening to you talk
JAX:
writing these out of order, but i think jax would be similar to caine in the regard that he would tease some of your speaking mannerisms. "yaint! yall'd've!" stuff like that... which... i can be mad about because im from the south and the two examples are in my vocabulary... hes not really saying anything thats incorrect, at least in my case
probably asks why your digital form isnt a cowboy, shit eating grin on his face
KINGER:
thinks it sounds nice! for once i dont have any ideas for kinger, which sucks because i love kinger TToTT
your words probably rub off on him, i can see him probably picking up on some of your terms n slang
kinger saying yall isnt real he cant hurt you
kinger saying yall:
ZOOBLE:
similar to pomni they dont notice until theyre forced to notice.. no but imagine your accent becomes more pronounced when you get mad, you start saying more stereotypically southern stuff that people associate. probably does a double take if you say a rather insane variant of 'yall' but otherwise doesnt see much point in pointing it out
GANGLE:
absolutely loves hearing you talk, similar to ragatha! while ragatha clings onto your words thanks to unknown familiarity, gangle just thinks your voice sounds like and soothing, comforting! i dont know what it is but hearing someone trying to comfort you with a heavy southern accent as well as using casual terms of endearment (whether you see this as romantic or platonic is up to you!) in this soft tender voice just always hits different for me. maybe i am guilty of also romanticizing southern accents
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danurso · 1 year
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Sweet retribution
Yang: *kicks door open* Guys! I cracked the code!
Blake: *Reading on her bed* Oh, did you finally learn how to make good jokes?
R___/_NPR: *snort*
Yang: Ha ha, very funny, but you can't improve what's already perfect, can you?
Blake: *rolls eyes*
Ruby: Is that Weiss' cheesecake?
Yang: *with a little bit of cake on hand* . . . . . . .*shoves everything in her mouth* Doesn't matter! I need sugar to think! Now please focus on the matter here!
Ruby: Okay. . . . .what are you talking about then?
Yang: I'm talking about why Weiss is always getting late for stuff and disappearing for no reason!
Pyrrha: But we already know why, she's been overlooking the new SDC filial here in vale, she even registered us so we always get a big discount on anything there.
Yang: Well, that's actually just a front! It's what she wants us to believe she does!
Ruby: And why would she need to do that?
Yang: It's because she's hiding a huuuuuge secret!
Blake: Which is?
Yang: She's dating Jaune!!!
R___/_NPR: . . . . . .pfffhahahahaha
Nora: HAH! Blake, you're such a liar! Her jokes are great!
Yang: Why are you guys laughing!? I'm serious!
Ren: Well, forgive us if we were rude but. . . . .do you really believe that?
Yang: I saw them kissing at the docks yesterday!
Ruby: You mean after you came back pretty late from Junior's?
Yang: Yeah.
Blake: So let me get this straight. You, after a good few hours of drinking, came back when it was quite dark and saw a couple kissing in the distance, and you assumed it to be Jaune and Weiss?
Yang: It was them! It had to be them! I……i was a bit far but i'm sure it was them.
Nora: It would need to be a cooooold day in hell for Ice queen to even think about doing something like that.
Ruby: Yang, you know how much Weiss dislikes Jaune, i really thought they were going to get closer but there's no fixing how much she dislikes him.
Ren: Last time they were on amicable terms was during the previous vale carnival we all went together. . . .that was a year ago.
Blake: The closest I've seen those two lately is when She orders him to carry her things.
Pyrrha: *brows furrowed* He dropped one of her bags a few days ago and she kicked him in the butt. I'm sorry Yang, but I find it quite impossible that they are in such a relationship.
Yang: Well. . . .when you put it like that. . . .*sigh* Maybe I ended up getting one too many.
Weiss: *walks in* Oh good, you're all gathered here, saves me the trouble.
Nora: What's up Ice queen?
Weiss: Professor Goodwitch asked me to warn everyone that the cantina is having a special sweet day. They're serving Cakes, Parfaits, Pies, Pancakes, Cookies-
Ruby/Nora: *Zoom out the door*
Weiss: Aaaaand *looks at the clock* Seven seconds, honestly I thought they would be out by the time I said cake.
Pyrrha: Is this really today? We didn't receive any notification about it.
Weiss: It was supposed to be a surprise for the holidays, but the intern that was supposed to notify everyone messed up and busted the system trying to fix it, so professor Goodwitch has been asking students to notify their teams and colleagues about it.
Pyrrha: I see. Well, I could use some cake right now.
Blake: Been awhile since i got a parfait.
Ren: We better hurry before Ruby and Nora eat everything.
Pyrrha/Ren/Blake: *hurry out*
Yang: You don't look too excited
Weiss: I don't really have that much of a sweet tooth, most of the time i like to enjoy a bit of cheesecake which they unfortunately aren't serving today. I haven't had some in awhile, given how every time I buy some, it ends up disappearing.
Yang: *sweating* R-really? what a bummer.
Weiss: It's not a big deal. Now, what were you all talking about? I believe I heard my name being mentioned before I entered the room.
Yang: Oh, that, well. . . . .i thought I saw You and Jaune kissing yesterday, I was sure it was you two but I guess I drank a bit more than I should. You would never kiss Jaune of all pe-
Weiss: Oh, it was us.
Yang: . . . . . .wait, what?
Weiss: You didn't see anything wrong, he asked for a last kiss before going back to his room and I complied.
Yang: A "last"!?!? You two are dating!?!?
Weiss: Yes. It's going to be a year next month I believe. *Pulls out scroll, showing her a picture* This is during our first date, a week after the carnival where Jaune asked me out after winning me a polar bear plushie, he was so nervous that he only stopped stuttering halfway through it. *Swipes* This is the day i got covered with flour trying to make him a special meal, him being the sweetheart that he is, helped me clean everything up and guided me through the cooking. *Swipes* This is on a ferris wheel near his home after we had dinner with his family.
Yang: You met his family!?!?
Weiss: Of course, quite delightful people they are. I was not exactly pleased by how his parents thought i was a paid actress because their son quote "Could never get someone this beautiful to fall for him", but once that passed, it was great, his sisters were lovely and shared many interesting stories with me. *Swipes* This one was on the day we supposedly missed out the last flight back to beacon. We spent a day in the park, took several pictures in one of those booths that he quite likes, and as the sun started to set, we went to a nearby motel where we. . . . .i believe the slang you would use to describe it is "Swapped V-cards"
Yang: *chokes* You wha-!?!?
Weiss: It's been somewhat of a bumpy road so far, it took him awhile not to get nervous when I'm around, and also for me to learn how to do traditional "girlfriend" stuff for him, but I'm quite happy, this relationship honestly couldn't be better.
Yang: So you two really are dating. . . .HA! I KNEW IT!!! I WOULD NEVER DRINK TO THE POINT OF SEEING THINGS LIKE THAT!!! I KNEW IT!!!
Weiss: *smiling* Yes, you figured it out.
Yang: THEY SAID I WAS SEEING THINGS BUT I KNEW THAT. . . .that. . . . .wait a minute, why are you telling me all of this? With this much detail even?
Weiss: Because I know for a fact, my dear friend, that no matter how many times you repeat, or how many times you swear, scream, shout and yell the truth towards the others. *sinister look* No one will believe a word you say~
Yang: . . . . . . .*jaw drops*
Weiss: Now, if you excuse me, I'll take this little break from our friends and spend some quality time with my boyfriend. See you later Yang~
Yang: YOU EVIL MONSTE-!!!!
*Slam*
Weiss: . . . . . .*chuckles, holding the door closed*
Jaune: You really did it, didn't you?
Weiss: Of course I did. No one steals my cheesecake and gets away with it.
Jaune: *chuckles* If that's what you do with someone that steals something small like a cheesecake, I don't even want to know what you'd do if it was something more important. That's going to make her crawl up the walls.
Weiss: We're going clean on our anniversary in a few weeks anyways, let her deal with that for a bit.
Jaune: Alright. You're going to the cantina?
Weiss: Depends. Are you going?
Jaune: Don't think so. I quite literally got my ass kicked to help on a certain Ice queen's revenge plan so I was thinking that sitting on my soft bed would be nicer. I did just make a fresh cheesecake so I can enjoy it in peace, it's just sad that it's too big just for me to eat.
Weiss: Well, i suppose i could help you with that, if you allow me to accompany you?
Jaune: Are you going to kick me again?
Weiss: *chuckles* I just might if you keep talking, silly.
Jaune: *holds her close* Well, i think i found a way to shut it, just gotta be sure it works. *Leans down, capturing her lips in a warm kiss*
Weiss: *kisses him back for a few moments before pulling away* Huh, it works afterall.
Jaune: I'm not sure yet, can i try again?
Weiss: Cheesecake first, depending on how good it tastes I might give you a sizable reward.
Jaune: Then be my guest snow angel. *Takes her hand, guiding her to his room.* And Weiss?
Weiss: Yes?
Jaune: Yang is going to be fine, right?
Weiss: Relax, I'm sure she will be alright.
*A few hours later*
Ruby: . . . . .Yang.
Blake: What in the world is going on?
Yang: Look! I know this is gonna sound really crazy! But just hear me out here!
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*me convincing you, like how a jester would entertain a king, into writing more boypussy insert fics about any hot dilf in your roster* “how is thou feeling now sire?!”
im feeling like i wanna get fucked in the ass so you’re getting joel and butt stuff have fun
warnings: anal, rimming, dp, ass to pussy (do not try this at home), toys, ass to mouth, poppers, daddy kink
anatomical terms: cunt/pussy
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joel miller is an absolute buttslut
HOWEVER
only as a top. he will take any chance he gets to take his partners ass: with his tongue as it’s slipping and sliding all up and down your dripping slit, with his thumb as he takes your cunt doggystyle, or even with his own cock busting you open for him
but he will never let you reciprocate. you can beg all you like,
“man, it’s not fair, this is bullshit. how come you can play with my ass but i can’t play with yours?”
“because i’m a top and you’re a needy little cocksocket.”
welp. can’t argue with that. the more you tease him about it, though, the more time he thinks it over. he doesn’t like rewarding brats, but eventually he gives.
“y’know what? fine. you got five minutes. make ‘em count, cause y’aint touchin’ my ass again.”
that turns out to be a lie bc uh oh surprise surprise it feels good
and from then on he loves it and will take the initiative.
you’ll be on your knees getting throatfucked by him and then he rips you off, spins around, and shoves your face in his ass with no warning. you try to push back bc you’re caught off guard, and he says,
“what? ain’t this whatcha wanted, boy? you’d been begging me all this time to lick my ass. well, now i’m givin’ it to ya. c’mon, whore. do your job. stick your tongue up my ass.”
you start licking, lapping at his rim like a dog, and he lets out a rich gravelly, rumbly moan from deep in his chest
“yeeaaahhh, that’s it… good boy… oh, you dirty fuckin’ bitch…”
pegging him is still a bridge too far for him. BUT i think he’ll let you try out beads/plugs on him. also fingering him during a blowjob will have him going crazy.
i know in my heart that this man is PACKING meat. DISRESPECTFULLY hung. which means getting him in your ass can be a bit of an ordeal. but, being the caring, attentive guy he is, he’ll take his sweet time prepping you. he works you open with his fingers (or maybe a plug) and lots of lube. you’re Very slippery once it’s go time. still, though, it’s gonna be tough to get him in.
he hands you a bottle of poppers and tells you,
“take as much as you need, pumpkin. it’ll help open you up for me.”
once you huff enough, he’ll ask, “ready?”. you nod, and he starts pushing in. you wince, naturally, but he’s there to talk you through it.
“i know. i know, baby. it’s okay. you can take it. you can take it… let daddy in, yeah, there you go… look at you, you’re takin’ it so good. daddy’s so proud of you, little guy.”
he’ll start slowly, letting you adjust to the feeling of him in your ass, and once you relax enough, maybe after a few more popper hits, he’ll really get going. he’ll spank you, shove a few fingers in your pussy for some dp action, the works.
sometimes just for shits and giggles, he’ll pull out, spin you around, slap your face with his cock, and say,
“clean your ass off my cock, slut.”
because he has to use a lot of lube on you, you’re VERY slippery. it’s entirely possible that he’ll slip into your pussy on accident. you yelp, and he stops immediately.
“shit. sorry, darlin’. should i-?”
you know it’s bad. you know better. but, fuck, your cunt is clinging to him, crying for some of the attention that your ass has been getting… fuck it.
“i-it’s fine! it’s fine, just-… just keep going, please!”
having been given the greenlight, he’ll just switch back and forth. one thrust in your pussy, then your ass, then your pussy, so on and so forth. it’s wrong. it’s nasty. you know you shouldn’t be doing it, but fuck, your head is swimming in pleasure, both holes a sloppy mess as you cum all over yourself over and over. whatever. you’ll just take some cranberry pills and hope tomorrow doesn’t bite you in the ass.
joel WILL finish in your ass. that’s non-negotiable. if you let him in your ass he’s GOING to breed it. he may also plug his load in you and have you sleep with it in. or go about the rest of your day depending on what time it is.
once he’s done though, he’s hugging you tight and stroking your hair. aftercare god.
“good boy… did so good for daddy… ‘m so proud, baby…”
eventually you have to nudge him off so you can go pee (it’s called harm reduction 😌) but when you’re done you settle back into his arms and it’s like you never left 🖤
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Thinking about what you said, I think it's highly probable Madelyn Stillwell raped Homelander when he was 14 or 15.
That's around the age he got stuck at, right?
I think fandom is probably right about her doing it as more of a means to control him than anything, but I think you're probably right about this making it worse and meaning she did much more than has been shown to us on screen.
Regardless, I think this would have to be the case and I would say is even implied, but you are absolutely right that it shouldn't matter why someone decides to be a child molester.
They're still a child molester and whatever reasoning they have, the act is still vile and inexcusable. There even being debate on that in fandom just seems like grooming apologism and abuse dismissal because of favoritism towards Madelyn.
But the results and actions are ultimately the same in the end. It's also implementing a clause to make it mutually exclusionary when it could very well be both.
In the final scene, she swears to him that she loves him but is afraid of him and Homelander thanks her for finally being honest with him before killing her.
What if she was being honest or at least believed her own words when she said she loved him?
And the other scenes between them never struck me as a one time deal or the first time something like them happened. He does look off put in some ways and not quite uncomfortable, but almost like he's regressing when he's with her. Like she maybe used to do that sort of stuff more frequently and hasn't lately.
The scene where they're finally together struck me as more regression too. He immediately apologized to her and she consoled him like it was something that has happened before and she was used to it from him. Even the words she used and the way she said it and the way things were.
"My special sweet boy." "You did good." "That was so lovely."
Do people really believe this or similar can't have happened before with the things she says? To me, they indicate the exact opposite of that thought.
The scene looked almost like it was his first time, and obviously not hers. But the only way that really makes sense is if he is experiencing a moment of regression, possibly to his actual first time with her.
The scene feels like mother and son incest after years of abuse where she's deliberately causing his regression and enjoying the power it gives her over him.
She's a predator and this to me is made pretty clear if not explicit.
OOOH~<3! my darling anon, i wish i could fucking kiss you<3!
you just put into a word exactly why i could never get behind the homewell ship or the homewell type elements being used in other ships in fics that were supposedly trying to *heal* him. easy way to get me to check out for a fic because you *CANNOT* use elements from someone's trauma and abuse, legit full on *exploit* them, and *then* dare to call it or frame it as *healing* and expect it all to be hunky dory, that is just not how that shit works. (at least speaking in terms of medical accuracy/no wonder this shit is so triggery for me, this ain't supposed to be fuckin' disney--)
obliviously or dismissively predatory, so not even in the fun way...
and i want to be clear here, because this isn't me trying to tell people to not like the ship or elements or stop making content for them or whatever the fuck else. i don't care if people have or indulge in toxic guilty pleasure ships or stories here and there (literally have my own), but i always think we should be self aware of our own shit (plus ranting is sometimes good for the soul~<3) and it really *really* shows some people just are not in this case.
i *also* know people don't always mean to set up that way, part of it is a major problem with society (i will get to that~) and the only way for people to be aware is to be *made* aware, butt~
"--you think love is to prey, but i'm sorry i don't pray that way!"
"once i ran to you, now i run from you, this tainted love you've given--"
1000% correct. madelyn, regardless of what happened *off screen* between her and homelander, what we *did* see of her is enough to confirm her as a *predator*, and this was *before* diabolical added to the story behind them. she is extremely predatory as a character, set behind a narcissistic 'mother knows best' filter and a lot of it has nothing to do with homelander.
look no further than starlight~<3
this woman attempted to get a victim of rape to have 'discretion' about what happened to her, TO HER FACE. and every step of the way, tried to bully starlight into 'line' for the company. literally using narcissistic abuse--guilt tripping and shame, questioning her core values, fucking gaslighting (all things we see homelander copy oh deary me what an *odd* cowinkidink!! I WONDER WHERE HE LEARNED IT FROM.)--among others with a 'motherly' frame and 'it's just constructive criticism' (BITCH NO IT AIN'T!!) to manipulate her into doing what vought wanted/what was best for the *company*, NOT for annie.
hell, i'd wager she fucking hired starlight *specifically* because they thought she'd be an *easy* target.
she was *vulnerable*, nearly alone in that big city. her only relative/support system was an extremely religious mother who was *pushing her* to push through any pain or abuse and still wear a smile *for vought* and *for her* because of *fame* and *fortune*, framed as *for annie* when no it def wasn't. (i do like that starlight's mum actually becomes self aware of this and tries to amend the trust she broke, but i digress)
her tapes and everything they showed us about starlight showed us a wide eyed, bright eyed girl who was *hopeful*--but also naive... and as much as it pains me, that would have made her more susceptible to vought's machinations.
and i think the main reason annie didn't completely fall down the vought victims rabbit hole is in part due her truly good nature<3, but also because she met *hughie* (side note, notice how every time hughie and starlight have a falling out or separate from each other, they both start to get *worse*. butcher also tends to swoop in--)
it doesn't get talked about enough, but butcher pulls the same kind of bullshit with hughie (honestly probably why i could never quite feel right about butchie, do still like it but i do prefer it if butcher catches some guilty complexes causa hughie lmao), another good kid who's just had something monumentally traumatic happen to him and is in a super fucking vulnerable place where he'd be easy to manipulate for whatever it is butcher has planned.
he scoped him out and *saw* that, something to *use* to his advantage. and recruited him as such. like a gotdamn predator.
the wrench in his plans (as well as madelyn's) came in *hughie meeting annie* because they *gave* each other a solid support system because they were both good people, dealing with trauma, who found each other~<3 (always a hardcore hughielight shipper)
and butcher even *knows* this, he *knows* annie actually *honestly* and actually HELPS hughie and ruins his plots for him, so of course that mofo is gonna keep trying to ruin everything and break them up. if madelyn had ever discovered hughie, she probably would have done the same shit if in her own faux 'concerned mother' way.
BUTT... you are absolutely right in saying that fandom is highly dismissive or even apologist of what madelyn did to homelander (like they are with fuckin' everything that happened to him honestly) and it doesn't matter what reason she had to abuse him, what should be looked at is the fact of the matter.
did she abuse him? yes or no
the answer is yes, period. asking if she was actually attracted to him or just wanted control becomes a moot point after that, she *still* fucking groomed him. people can go ahead and debate the other factors, but the least they could do is acknowledge the first bit and not use the others to try and deny or 'lessen' the gravity of what she did.
i blame part of this on ableism and victim blaming, but also with how dismissive people *still* are when it comes to male victims of just about anything. christ, we still have people in fandom who have watched the show and *refuse*, not hyperbole, they downright *REFUSE* to acknowledge that homelander could have *any* semblance of victimhood whatsoever. despite the fact that he was literally tortured as a child and fucking groomed and we are given glimpses of these facts on screen, they'll deny any form of nuance and paint it as completely black or white, because he became... pretty much the only thing that fate allowed him to become.
that's not limited to this site even, it's prevalent pretty much in any part of the boys fandom across the web. (which is ironic given the series exists to challenge this sort of thinking)
but how often do we still see cases of a male *child* being sexually assaulted by an adult woman and the fucking judge going, "wElL sHe'S cAnDy So He PrObAbLy LiKeD iT"?
thankfully, not as often anymore. but if i'm honest? TOO FUCKING MANY (once is fucking too many) and the thought is still INSANELY pervasive. and again, it leads back to the question.
did she abuse him? yes or no
it doesn't fucking matter if the kid 'liked it' or not, MA'AM, THIS IS A FUCKING CHILD--
*children can NOT consent*
or in homelander's case, an emotionally stunted extremely mentally ill person. and ALSO a child at one point.
*likewise, mentally ill/special needs/disabled people and informed consent is an issue all its own. all of these are among the most vulnerable to abuse and the least likely to get justice for it*
if madelyn had been a man, nobody would question this. (who am i kidding, i'd like to think that but i am well aware there are apologists of all kinds that would not give a shit and be equally gross about it.)
and you are def right, it *feels* 1000% like *regression* in the scenes he's with her. and now that you mention it, the scene where they're together?? oh, fuck me. anon... that is *dark* and it fucking hurts but you may be right.
it *was* absolutely the first time *we* as an audience saw them together, and i think that may skew the perception about. there *was* absolutely an effort to regain control over him in that instance. but the things she said and the way it plays out... no
plainly, just no... it *does not* feel like the very first time that has happened... it feels like something that is *rare* between them. but definitely something that's happened *before*, and perhaps something she maintains as *rare* specifically to keep a hold on him. (could this be one reason for the diabolical episode?? to further implicate this?)
and even his use of doppelganger hinted at this cause think of it.
a 'madelyn' that is *just* for him, *only* the parts of her that... gave him attention, the bits he *liked*. what she more than likely fed to him as *scraps* to keep him crawling back for more. but because it was never genuine, the confusion from the ratio with abuse was thrown off, and the entire illusion that it ever meant anything was shattered prior (along with stormfront manipulating him), well...
"i give you all a boy could give you, take my tears and that's not nearly--"
down to his hatred and jealousy of teddy. we have to imagine what things were like before she had him but i get the feeling homelander got a lot more attention before then. it was well over 20 years and people honestly think in all that time *nothing* else happened??? things were 'normal' and then boom, *random* mommy kink??? hell, even the kid was maybe just as much a means to 'reset' the balance and help her maintain control as he was for future profit for vought.
OW.
yes. madelyn is a predator. homelander is her groomed victim. and i don't think it gets mentioned enough in this discourse, but one of the biggest reasons predators prey on the vulnerable or even want to make a fucking victim of someone is *because* of the power trip it gives them over that person. (hell, homelander fucking does this *specifically* because it has been done to him his entire life!)
and *even former abuse victims* may not realize it when they pull this sort of shit. i'm not gonna dive into that because it is a fucking *depressing* can of tapeworms, but let's just say i've been there, i know people who've been there, and i know people who know people who've been there. so this shit is a big fucking problem for people when we don't notice it and massively persistent circle jerk of perpetuation.
but it's still fucking predation, it doesn't make a difference if it's done by someone with power/control kink, narcissistic disorder or 'mommy/daddy dearest' vibes, pedophilic disorder, etc. it still fucking harmful and victimizes someone (especially when they are unaware/cannot consent to the powerplay OH FUCK--)
goddammit... i just realized the problem lmao... PISS. POOR. BDSM ETIQUETTE. GOTDAMN.
and trauma management i guess.
basically, people tag dom/sub or top/bottom when they should be tagging a 'control' or 'abuse kink'. dom/sub play relies on the informed consent of both parties while 'control' relies on the lack there of (informed consent) from the 'sub'. and in homelander's case, this shit is particularly bad. (readers need to be given informed consent too!! always tag yo shit y'all!!)
which to be fair, ain't exactly the fault of the ship itself, but more so the lack of awareness/common dismissal on it. it's really hella normalized/often advertised as 'just a quirky lil guy with a mommy kink' when that's not even remotely the only thing at play here and it goes way deeper and darker than that. you toss in homelander's other traumas and it's just... it's a goddamn mess.
and now i understand why i am so incredibly grossed out by fics that push homelander through more of this nonsense (or worse) with a new person (any person) and never bother addressing the trauma he has *directly* related to this shit. (because my traumas directly deal in the control shit yayyyyyyyyyyyyy~... UGH--)
well.
call me a pussy if you must (i am a pussy and a cunt and a dick and an asshole, i wear it shamelessly~<3) but i just ain't all that interested in fics that only exchange *handlers* for homelander instead of actually help him (when that's what they'll claim to want to do). seriously, lining him up with another 'madelyn' of all things just leaves me wishing he could *get away* from his shiny new abuser (because that is what she was, and would ideally be the inevitable outcome anyhow!)
homelander needs at least *one* honest *friend* who genuinely doesn't want anything from him to help him unblur the lines of informed consent that madelyn intentionally muddled *before* he can even make informed consent when it comes to this shit, especially if we wanna *actually* heal that boi (all he's had is more people capitalizing on it over and over if not just people with no clue of the minefield they were navigating)
he'd need to be able to experience true *independence* and *agency* before he decided they were things he actually wanted to put in someone else's hands or 'give up', so to speak, both of which would come *after* healing.
and if i'm indulging in toxicity with him, i'ma make him *get back at his abusers*~<3, give him a chance at some revenge porn for once and make it so much worse for *them*, not the guy who literally never had a chance or got to breathe his own breath (and def tagged properly of course).
but of all the whack ass takes i could see in the sea of fandoms, ANYONE in that position over this boi (or any character in similar situation) as he is *unhealed* is *NOT* his ally and doesn't give an honest shit about him, it's 100% all about *control* over him (which i know is a huge kink for tons of people and hypernormalized in society, especially heteronormativity, but again, trauma central for me so it'd be really fuckin' nice if people learned the difference and also started tagging this shit~<3)
fun for some, but not for me.
i've always generally preferred push/pull powerplay that purposely leaves the question of 'control' open/eventually balances it and helps empower and individualize both characters to be the best versions of themselves, i want them to learn and grow together. positive masculinity/femininity and emotional maturity are way more of a turn on for me and i want these bois and gurls and inbetweens to graduate to *men* and *women* and fairly *reasonable adults* when i write them, while preserving their core personalities and the things that make them *them*.
i also don't view 'bottomhood' as 'punishment'/something to use to deliberately rob a person of control/self determination (as much as we may joke about it, and also that is just rape with a pretty veil that at least deserves to be properly tagged) and i normally focus on empowering them just as much if not more than my tops so it's just damn weird to me to see that kind of mentality get popularized on any character and leik.
gotdamn, first off, what the shit, and second, i realize getting to the places i wanna go reasonably and responsibly takes hard work and pretty intricate writing but please lawd satan tell me i ain't the only one to feel this way, PLEASE!?
but very good point about it possibly being both/more than one element here. control is more likely to be *one* reason, but not *the* only reason and it could very well be a factor of both attraction and need to/getting off on the idea of controlling him (which still stems back to attraction, honestly, even if she didn't feel it towards him the sense of him being a child, it would still mean she feels it towards him in the sense of him being vulnerable which is just as awful, honestly.)
and i do think his stunted emotional maturity is 100% indicative that something *very* specific happened to him around that age (*maybe* she waited till after the debut??), but among all the other trauma, that is actually a question worth asking. why *then* and not any of the other times? he's got no shortage of trauma for his brain to pick from, so what the hell happened then?
as far as it feeling like incest? lil bit, yeah (if pseudo, which obviously we know it's not but i do think the vibe there is actually intended), suffice to say that madelyn is to homelander what billy's father was to him...
and y'know... i gotta admit, knowing this i am surprised we don't see all that much of butcher being shipped with his father because that and homewell are pretty much the same thing on opposite spectrums.
UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH--
have fun y'all, as always butt leik... have fun responsibly--gawddammit i never thought i'd be *that* old fart but i guess i am... well i can still be fun about it... tipsy bartender is fun lmao<3<3<3 (altho these subjects are decidedly less fun... *sigh of the long suffering*...)
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boss-poss · 20 days
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My take on the whole HD2 psn account scandal is that it sucks and it should have been expected but I really want to highlight just how far under the bus sony is throwing the devs with this:
-Announcement came out yesterday, meaning that the brunt of the (assuredly) expected blowback occurs over a weekend when most of the players don't have anything better to do and the news has reached most of them. Arrowhead takes the heat and eventually anger simmers down when monday rolls around and people get back to work and such. No skin off sony's back.
-Arrowhead community managers are already known to be blunt and dismissive compared to other games making them, and arrowhead by extension, seem the easy target as they deal with complaints. AH says they're already chasing sony about related issues but the chance of the big S giving anything more than an empty promise (if even that) is remote.
-HD2 has a large community, and as with any game playerbase, it's filled with reactionary idiots and trolls. The principle of the thing (giving sony your leash), not to mention the hassle or regional issues that could come with creating a psn account, is enough to whip people into a frenzy. There was no way this was expected to go over well.
-The requirement for a psn account was always noted but was waived for a couple of months, more than enough time for people to get invested and buy premium currency, not to mention the game becoming a landmark title among a sea of trash. That's more than enough time to forget a stipulation like that. Can't have people refunding to show their displeasure!
-A warbond was announced right before the psn mandate so whether that was to try and cushion the blow or just unfortunate timing or a mandate from higher up it makes AH look like they prioritize selling you stuff over player enjoyment, adding fuel to the fire.
-A lack of polish in certain areas of the game and rampant balance issues that cause players and the devs to butt heads have been ongoing issues since launch. Clearly, AH is having a time keeping their vision and player enjoyment balanced which has already created a fairly deep divide. The psn requirement is pretty much taking a hammer to a widening crack and will (whether intentionally or not) bring more heat towards the developers.
-PSN is famously bad at security and ultimately pointless off of their consoles, with numerous huge data breaches and accounts offering little more to players than a way for you to give your information so sony can sell it. That seems to me to be the main motive here, alongside cementing the notion of HD2 as a playstation exclusive (sorry xbox players but I don't think you'll be getting this game anytime soon). A live service game that isn't squeezing every last penny out of its players at every opportunity is ultimately financially inefficient and I'm sure some sony people are kept up at night by that fact.
-The biggest fuck you I've seen though is that the game is sold on steam in countries sony doesn't support, meaning that you could have bought and played the game already and then now be barred from playing it a few months later (can't have those pesky, preemptive refunds). Also, VPNs are against sony terms of service, so yeah... any burner accounts could get you banned and be a huge hassle.
I can't conclusively say that sony set up arrowhead as the patsy while they try to collect all that sweet, succulent, valuable, personal data but I don't believe this was an accident either. Corporations are far from stupid and fortunately for them and unfortunately for consumers, a significant portion of us are pretty easy to lead by the nose to certain conclusions. They know this and many facets of business work along those lines. Outrage is profitable and brings attention, if you're not the one in the direct line of fire.
I feel bad for the devs and I doubt much will come of this besides a temporary drop in players and maybe some sort of optional linking concession if things get dire enough, but I doubt the game will fail. Arrowhead aren't the devil but they did sign on his dotted line and sometimes the cost of success is getting told you'll bending over and taking it for someone else. Seems to be the case here to me at least.
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malusienki · 9 months
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why does listening to classical music automatically make you “an old soul” “nerdy” “weird” “boring”
more under the cut (it’s long, sorry)
like? is it just me having a different standpoint or do i not get it? why is it that classical music is considered boring? what caused that? what???? im convinced the people saying these things have listened to like. vivaldi’s four seasons. boccherini’s minuet. offenbach’s can-can. and called it a day. these people probably don’t even know that it’s called “minuet” and only refer to the toreador march as the “fnaf song” <- (i don’t have anything against this per se, fnaf is a really cool thing i just never got into it fully and it only irks me just a little but that’s a whole other topic) without knowing what it’s from. now that goes to say i don’t expect everyone who criticizes and doesn’t like it to immediately go listen to the entire library of classical music and be enlightened but it’s a little offputting when you go out of your way to continuously remind someone that they’re weird for listening to and enjoying operas and/or classical music.
that last little bit was taken from what my friend— or i guess ex-friend now but the term still seems unfamiliar— would kind of do to me but to a lower degree i think. they said they found my interest in opera cool and would .. kind of listen to my rants and stuff and i appreciate it but then they’d go and make offhand comments about how weird i was and would use my interest in opera to sort of like.. “you can’t be talking you like OPERA” in a jokey manner i guess? that sort of thing. i thought that was normal and even though it hurt my feelings, it was all jokes, yeah? [i recognize now that thats not how that works and even though occasional jokes are okay your interests should never be the butt of the “joke” if it’s constantly repeated and hurts your feelings] and i think people don’t realize how much of a foundation classical music in itself is. i cannot tell you how many times i’ve recognized a piece to be a fragment from an opera or a mozart composition or like.. jeez i don’t fucking know, beethoven. out in the wild. in pop music, in movies, in shows, etc. even instagram reels/tiktok. if you frequent those you’ll come to find that there are a lot of trending “audios” using like.. lacrimosa or vivaldi’s four seasons or fuckin like prokofiev’s dance of the knights or act II of swan lake. i remember my mom was watching a netflix movie, a fucking cheesy ass romance or something, and there was a moment where the flower duet from lakmé played. the goddamn mario movie has a clip of carmen’s “l’amour est un oiseau rebelle”/the habanera within the first like, what. ten? fifteen minutes? i might be getting needlessly annoyed but it’s really fucking aggravating getting told i’m weird for liking something supposedly no one else under the age of 50 does. thanks guys. i really appreciate your supportiveness— but that’s besides the point.
my main reason that i’m even writing this is because my assumption (of course, this is most likely an incorrect assumption because i’m only 15 and only have so much life experience) is that the same people who often go around saying that classical music is boring and dull are the ones who are constantly wanting to push the arts to be funded. if you’re gonna fund the arts, fund ALL of them. not just “‘“‘“modern”””” stuff. not just musical theatre or plays. i think people forget that? maybe they ignore it. maybe they just don’t know. that’s why education is so important.
now that being said, i know seeing an opera or going to a concert can be expensive— and i wish that wasn’t the case. there’s always free livestreams, there’s always concerts, there’s albums, youtube videos, i know when i was in chicago i listened to the classical radio, etc. nothing beats seeing these things live in the theatre but it’s better than nothing i think?
also, i don’t mean to say classical is better than anything i mentioned above. no. i’m just sick and fucking tired of being told this and that about my interest when all i want to do is to be happy and consume something in peace without being hardcore judged for it and i really appreciate the small little operablr community.
there’s definitely more that i missed to this so if i think of anything more i’ll add on to it but i’m just… hrrrrgggg anger rage frustration. head in hands. so tired.
thank you for your time
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prismaticpichu · 11 months
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Zack & Sephiroth Floofcanon #…! I have no idea I lost track when the Trojan war began.
(This is still Weenie Hut Jrs I didn’t forget!)
~~
Due to his english skills capping at the 7th grade, as he skedaddled off to join SOLDIER, Zack’s mission reports weren’t allllwaayys in squeaky-clean condition. Yessir, he could absolutely recap the events of the missions—almost telling stories of how he obliterated that horde of Ahriman or how he caught that Wutai spy masquerading as a crossing guard. But when it comes to the nitty-gritty stuff… yeahhh those things were littered with typos, grammatical errors, and very colloquial yee-haw language (like me! *clears throat* sorry). Not exactly what Lazard was hoping for, in terms of his elite SOLDIERs.
Luckily, Zack’s got someone who had his back.
Sephiroth was pretty appalled upon first reading Zack’s reports, in the early stages of their friendship. “Gonna?” He was seriously using “gonna”?? Angeal should have taught him better…! But it wasn’t long until he came to realize that only Firsts were required to write up reports, and Zack was only promoted once Angeal was gone. Couple that with his severed education and it really wasn’t the pupper’s fault. And how would it look if one of the men under his command was sending lousy reports…? He needed to help in some way. And so he did!
Over time, as their bond budded and blossomed, the two developed a system: Zack would go on missions, writing up his reports in vivid detail in his little tent. And then, instead of sending them to Lazard, bleeding with all sorts of red underlines, he sent them off to Sephiroth; there the man would grammarly-scan the pages and manually fix any errors himself. Hallelujah!! Some might say it’s mundane, or tedious, or just adding to the already mountainous pile of work he already had… but in actuality. It’s one of Sephiroth’s favorite things to do: he loved reading Zack’s colorful descriptions, seeing the world through his kaleidoscope of a lens; he loved being able to experience that childlike, wondrous perspective and have it be shared with him. To experience it himself. A million missions he went on over the years, and sometimes the most exciting ones are right from his desk <33
(Ofc, it’s more than jusssst the free editing service.)
As their buddiness became even stronger, more additions were sprinkled into the system. Most notably, now that the reports were being sent to Sephiroth first, Zack began tagging on little messages at the end for Seph and only Seph to see. Tiny little notes and reminders like the thingies someone might write on their kid’s napkin for lunch. They’re one of the only things that brings a smile to his face when the pupper is gone.
Hey pal! :D I miss you so much! Don’t forget to eat again!
Hey Seph! I know I’m not there right now, but I’m thinking of you!
I really wish you were here, Seph :))) Missions are never the same without ya. And guess what???? I completely took down Ifrit this time! You didn’t need to save my butt! :DD (though I slipped on a rock and fell on it afterwards).
And when the pupper eventually came home, after a day or week or two, Sephiroth was there waiting for him. Nothing could beat hugging seeing his best friend in person, spewing his wonderful colloquial slang and all <333
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bottombisexual · 2 years
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hi sweethearts 🖤 i'm bea (she/her), a 29 year old bisexual cis woman from the USA. DMs and asks are accepted -- creeps and unsolicited pics are not.
fansly
wishlist
reddit
thisvid
if you're not interested in supporting me in those ways, you can tip me through cashapp!
i also offer customs, please DM me if you're interested. i reserve the right to deny any request.
DNI if you are any of the following: minors (please put your age in your blog, otherwise you will be blocked), TERFs, SWERFs, racists, homophobes, transphobes, xenophobes -- basically any kind of bigot or Republican
now that all that is out of the way, here's a bit more about me!
disabled with chronic illness & chronic pain. cat & plant mom. writer. music lover. vinyl collector. mid-century modern decor enthusiast.
various kinks include but are not limited to:
bellies, daddy kink, belly inflation, fisting, breeding kink, pregnancy, light bdsm, edging, bondage, pumping, praise kink, squirting, somnophilia, dirty talk, knotting, terms of endearment/petnames (sweetheart, baby, baby girl, love, etc.), cockwarming, free use
no-gos for me include:
scat, cnc, humiliation/degradation, impact play (this includes spanking, slapping, etc.), dr*g use, spit/saliva, age play, dd/lg, heavy/intense bdsm, any kind of painplay, butt stuff, and don't call me a MILF
**i am not a feeder/feedee/gainer, i just really like bellies, i'm sorry lol**
important tags:
#my txt, #my pics, #my vids, #my audio
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priceof-freedom · 2 years
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So I just watched Top Gun: Maverick and it kicked my butt back into writing. So this is me putting out a blurb of my current WIP into the world so I can be forced encouraged into finishing it soon.
Our boy Bob needs so much more love! Presenting my humble contribution:
In your haste to leave the gym, you hadn’t been paying enough attention to where you were headed so you roughly collided with someone as you turned the corner. You were at the disadvantage in terms of height, which sent you tumbling to the floor.
“Oh jeez, I’m so sorry!” came a frantic, yet soft voice. Looking up, you were greeted with a wide-eyed bespectacled face that was laced with concern.
“I, uh—” you started, but suddenly found yourself at a loss for words. You couldn’t help but be distracted by the man before you.
“Gosh, I’m sorry,” he apologized again. Some of your stuff had fallen to the floor, and he was scrambling to pick them up. “I di-didn’t see you coming— that’s my bad though… sh-should’ve watched where I was g-going.”
Hoping I’ll get this out ASAP! 
READ THE FIC HERE!
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homomenhommes · 2 months
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STORY: Kink Aid
Part 2
Content Warning: Transhumanism! Homeroticism! Latex! Mind control! Butt stuff!
It was in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday at the leathershop, and as ever, there was always that one guy. It was all Artur could do to repress a sigh that would have been audible across the whole store: "So, can I help you?"
Luke had been skulking behind the rack loaded with leather vests like a golden retriever that had just killed a squirrel. "No, I'm fine," he said. His voice broke, revealing the lie.
Artur sighed. "Okay, so you've been here thirty minutes. You've circled through the entire store at least twice. You know we're not flipping burgers in the back, right?"
All Luke could do was look at the floor. "I'm sorry--"
"Don't be sorry, man. This is not the place for you to be sorry. Just, I can't help you find you whatever it is you're looking for, at least in terms of the leather and rubber gear we are selling in this store right now, unless you actually tell me.
And I'll tell you right now, there is nothing you can say that will surprise me, nor anything you can say that involves play between, or among, consenting adults, that will make me judge you. So, out with it."
All Luke did was look at his feet.
“And just so you know, this isn’t some bad porn movie come-on nonsense. This isn’t that video everyone goes on about where the young guy tries on the straitjacket in the shop and finds himself, oh no! a slave. I’m not even particularly kinky, this is my job, the owner is a friend, I look good in a harness, and I’m good at being nonjudgmental with people, even when they happen to be extremely judgmental with themselves. So, out with it.”
"It's just--" Luke started, then couldn't continue.
Artur tried now a disarming grin. "So you're new to all this, huh?"
"Is that what I look like?"
"You look like you own the complete works of Jordan Peterson, is what you look like."
Luke was shocked: "I do not, and what's wrong with Jordan Peterson, anyway?"
"As it turns out I was wrong about there being nothing you could say that would make me judge you."
Wanting badly to recover, all Luke could do was stutter.
"So, are you one of those AI guys? We're getting them in all the time now. You downloaded a wild artificial intelligence illustration program, you start entering prompts, and then in front of you are your wildest, most deeply repressed, fantasies. You know, there's a lot of internet rumor and urban legend popping up about those things."
The suddenly urgent look in Luke's eyes let Artur know the answer to his question. "Like what?"
"Now supposedly these new art AI's are just individuated to your preferences based on the information you feed it to develop an idea of your tastes, preferences, and aesthetic judgments."
"Wow, you work in a fetish shop and drop the word 'aesthetic' in conversation."
"And with that you're back to being a dick. Do you want me to send you home so you can read your Jordan Peterson and jerk off to that?"
Luke emitted a grim chuckle. "I meant it as a compliment."
"Try harder. In any case, some tech people are saying, and this seems likely to me, that these AI's go through your computer hard drives and develop their model of your likes and dislikes not just based on everything you feed it, but everything on your hard drive. Others are saying that the minute you click buy and download the AI onto your computer, the companies that make them do an immediate search of your total internet presence and create the model based on that, apart from anything you do when you download it onto your computer."
"Which do you think it is?"
"Me? I just work in a fetish shop, my dude." Artur now looked down at the empty glass case he was standing behind. "All I know is that two weeks ago we had an excellent selection of dildoes and plugs. In fact, and you can imagine how these things are, some of the larger and more exotic items had been here for years, unsold. And now they are all gone, on account of guys just like you. New, nervous, a bit unsteady, but intensely turned on, and without the slightest clue what to do about it. The guy who bought about half of what was formerly in this case had a cell phone call while he was in here, from his wife about his kid's clairinette recital. Now mind you, just about anything sexually can fit some way or other, so to speak, into the date nights of your typical heterosexual marriage. But that's not what this was, pretty sure of it. This guy had the look of someone who, a few days before, had never even considered buying what he was here for--"
"Like me."
Artur nodded. "Like you. So just tell me, man. Just get it all out, and feel better. No shame, no second-guessing, no worries about what I will think. Pretend like you're buying shoes in an old-timey department store."
"Okay, here goes: I see that you have a latex hood attached to a pair of latex shorts at the crotch. Do you have any with the hood attached at the rear?"
Immediately Artur was behind a laptop resting on the glass case. "Not in stock, your AI-addicted bros have really cleaned us out. You know, so to speak." And with that, Artur paused to enjoy his own joke. "But I can order a pair for you. You may have to wait. But I'll check with our suppliers, I'll just need one party's hat size and one party's waist, hip and thigh measurements. No assumptions at all about which end of the latex tube you might prefer to be on."
"Okay," Luke exhaled, palpably relieved.
"See, feels better now to get it out, doesn't it? If you don't mind my saying, you might want to think about going to a support group--"
At that moment the bell at the front door of the shop clinked, and in walked another customer. A man, somewhat taller than Luke, and substantially more heavyset. "Hi!" he greeted the clerk.
"Let me just finish with this other customer and I'll be glad to help you," Artur beamed, friendly and affable.
But suddenly Luke was self-conscious again. "It's alright, you can help him first. No telling how long we might be." In reality, he really did not want to go into the specifics of his purchase with this whole other stranger present.
For the first time, Luke noticed Artur start to become self-conscious himself.
"Okay." Then he turned to the man-mountain that had just walked in the door. "So, I guess you're here about--"
"About the headsets, yes!" The man was courteous, but overjoyed. "I was wanting to see if the back had finished the sample I had requested."
"Sure thing, I'll be right back." Artur laughed nervously, then disappeared behind the curtain into the workshop area in the back where Luke assumed they did alterations on the various gear sold in the shop.
Luke noticed the new customer sizing him up out of the corner of his eye. It made him uneasy. "So what's your name?" Luke asked flatly, immediately feeling like a dork.
"Oh, a name is just written signs on laminated paper or plastic, and I'm feeling like I need one of those less and less each day. And you have the look of someone who knows just what I mean."
Before an astonished Luke could figure out what to say, Artur had bounded back through the other side of the curtain, a set of what looked at first like normal headphones in his hands.
"Okay, so what we have here is first, the basic set of noise canceling headphones you provided. First," and here he handed them to the new customer, "you will notice the dial in the back that adjusts the tightness on the head. That has a lock. So you can put these on the sub’s head, tighten it like a vise, and that’s it.” Artur tapped the dial for emphasis.
“That's the simple part. Substantially more complicated is the locking mechanism at the ears. Thin hard plastic guards fit into place firmly at the base between the outer ear and the scalp with the help of a small spring, which you can see, there. Once in place, the spring is released and the muffs lock in place. Only the key, inserted in the hole in the back of the cup that fits over each ear, will allow it to release. Essentially, once these things are on, someone would have to basically tear off their own ear to remove these by themselves, without a key." Then, for once defensive, Artur raced to add, "Which it what you said you wanted."
The customer started fumbling with them in his hands, admiringly. “And of course we’re only doing work on the bondage components of these. The actual electrical components, what you play, how it sounds, all of that, that’s simply not our job. I’m sure you understand.”
The big man smiled. “That’s precisely my understanding.”
Holding the headset in his hand, the customer beamed with pure joy. "This is amazing." Then he glanced over at Luke, holding the headset up. "Would you mind? Just let me know how comfortable they are."
"I--" Luke was struggling to find a polite way to say no, but the customer was already standing behind him sliding the phones on over his ears. He was chattering away, but once the phones slid on over his ears, Luke heard nothing.
First the ring connecting the muffs tightened, and then each lock in the individual earphone was cupped around his outer ear. It took no time at all, and suddenly Luke realized he could not get out.
But it was comfortable. The cups on his ears were soft. The hard plastic shells fitting the cups tight to his hears was rounded and did not cut into his skin. Even the metal band connecting the cups did not feel awkward at all.
Suddenly a chiming noise came on, oddly monotonous but weirdly calming. Luke felt his eyes involuntarily roll back and the tip of his tongue protrude from between his lips. He felt like he might fall out, or have a seizure. He didn’t understand what was happening.
But by the time he was starting to panic, the strange customer was already removing the headphones. "Well they seemed to have the desired effect!" the big man chimed, looking down for a reason Luke at first did not understand.
Then Luke looked down too, and saw his erection.
First, the customer turned to Artur: "I'm thinking I'm going to need ten of these to start."
"Ten?" Artur's eyes turned to plates. "You know this isn't mass production, right? And these don't come cheap I think they discussed the pricing with you before." The customer's joy was undimmed. "Have your boss call me and we'll work out the money, it's not going to matter for too terribly much longer anyway."
Luke was suddenly terrified by everything here. He wanted to sprint out of the fetish store and never come back. But now the customer turned to him, with an appraising eye. "You're not one for talking, are you? But you do strike me as one for not talking. Would you like to not talk some time? I can help, with the not talking, I mean. I can make you not talk, really well."
"I--" Luke felt like he was going to hyperventilate, right there.
"Here." And with that the big man dropped into Luke's hand a tiny mp3 player, connected by a thin white cord to a pair of plain earbuds. "It plays a very nice binaural. Just something to listen to, when you're in a not-talking mood. Play it when your new AI friend is telling you about yourself, see how much more you will see when you are listening to these binaurals."
"Um, thanks?" Luke was terrified. He wanted to throw the buds away as soon as he could. He was certain he would do so immediately.
"And don't worry about any business of names or telephone numbers, I'm sure our paths will cross again." And with that, he turned to walk back out the store.
"Artur, have your manager call me. I would really like to have those ten headsets by the end of the month. Sooner, even, if possible."
And with that, the odd man had left the store, as suddenly as he had arrived.
Artur looked at Luke, suddenly concerned. “Um, are you okay? Do you need to sit down?”
Suddenly an image flashed through Luke’s head of what he needed, what he in fact needed very badly. He could imagine the writhing, the swallowing. But then he stuffed the thought back down into the depths and looked up at Artur.
“Yeah, maybe a chair would be nice. Thanks.”
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crystalninjaphoenix · 5 months
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Hold My Hand Tight
Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Nineteen
A JSE Fanfic
Forgive me if the title seems unfitting, I almost forgot to queue this so it's super late as I'm titling it and writing this author's note. I'll get straight to the summary. Chase realizes that he made a mistake earlier, and so tries to make up for it by hanging out with Marvin, just the two of them. There's also a brief discussion about what to do about the thing in the school basement, and a scene where JJ gets an unexpected visitor. Enjoy reading :)
More of this AU
++++++++++++++++++++
The school week passed uneventfully, but still, Chase couldn’t help but feel like something was off. And it wasn’t because of the “paperpillar” in the basement. He hadn’t heard anything about that. No strange sounds or sights, and no rumors about a paper monster in the school. No, this was something else.
It took him until Thursday afternoon to realize what it was. He was watching TV in the living room. Schneep was there, too, but he was curled up reading instead of paying attention to the show (he wasn’t into this show.) The commercials had just started, allowing Chase’s mind to wander—and then it hit him. “Oh my god, I’m an idiot,” he whispered.
Schneep looked over at him. “What? Why?”
“I called Marvin ‘weird’ again.” Chase hit his forehead. “Dumb! Dumb dumb dumb! I didn’t mean it like that! I should’ve used a different word!”
“Chase.” Schneep lowered his book and stared at him.
“Don’t sound so disappointed! You didn’t say anything when it happened!”
“I was busy thinking about how Marvin suddenly had powers. And... a-and I should not have to say something every time you make a mistake.”
Chase slumped back against the sofa. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he repeated, mumbling.
“What did you mean it like, then?” Schneep asked.
“I dunno. Uh... strange, but cool. Because it is cool.” Chase shook his head. “I just... I use that word all the time. Everyone does. Even Marvin does, I’ve heard him say it. But I should’ve thought about what happened. And the, uh... the... surroundings. Of the word. There’s a word for that, um... the context. I should’ve thought about the context.”
“And you should have realized what you did before now,” Schneep muttered.
“I know! But we’ve been kinda busy!” Schoolwork was really starting to get intense, which wasn’t fair, because the end-of-term exams were still at least a month away. And besides that, there was, you know, a giant paper caterpillar in the basement of the school. And that weird Circle group, which everyone was convinced was watching them. And that guy who looked like Anti—Jackie had called him Jack McLoughlin. Chase had tried asking around about him, but he was too old for any of the kids in his year to have known. “And I’ll say again, you didn’t say anything, either. And neither did Stacy!”
“Well maybe she thought you would’ve realized on your own much faster,” Schneep pointed out.
Chase sighed, slumping further. “I should’ve.” He paused. “Uh... what do I do now? I should say sorry, right? Or has it been too long?”
“You should say sorry.”
“Yeah.” Another pause. Chase stared blankly at the commercials on TV. Some toy ad was playing. He didn’t really care about it. “But like... I wanna do more than that, too. Cause like... I don’t want Marvin to hate me. Or think I hate him. I want to do something to make up for... um... being a butt.”
Schneep laughed a little. “Maybe you two can do something together. Ah, ‘hang out’ somewhere.”
“You don’t think that’s too much?”
“You just said you wanted to do more than just say sorry. I think hanging out together could be that.” Schneep shrugged. “Marvin might not want to, of course. In which case, you still say sorry. There is nothing to lose in asking. You should not be so, ah, unsure about yourself.”
“...yeah, I guess you’re right.” Chase nodded. “I don’t know what he’d want to do, though. I guess he could choose. That’d be easier, and show that I, uh... wanna hear about stuff he likes to do.”
Schneep grinned. “That seems good to me. We will see everyone tomorrow after school to talk about everything, ja? You can talk to him after all that about this.”
“That’s a good plan. Thanks, Schneep.”
“You are welcome.”
At that moment, Mom walked into the room. She glanced over at the sofa on her way to the kitchen. “Chase, do you want to break your spine? Stop sitting like that.”
Chase groaned. “It’s fine, Mom!” he said, but sat up straight anyway.
Schneep laughed.
++++++++++++++++++++
The whole group had agreed to meet up at Zelly’s on Friday. Mom dropped Chase and Schneep off, promising to pick them up when they texted her. Everyone else was already there. Jackie, Stacy, and of course, the Jacksons. Chase stared at Marvin for a little longer than he probably should have. But Marvin didn’t notice. He was too busy methodically shredding a napkin.
“Hey guys!” Jackie grinned as Chase and Schneep sat down. “We’re probably not gonna have a lot of time. I have to work in like, half an hour. But I think that’ll be long enough.”
“I didn’t know these guys sold hot chocolate,” Stacy said as she read a menu.
“Yeah, they sell it in winter,” Chase said. “Did they put it on the menu already? It’s not that cold.”
I’m going to disagree, JJ said. He was wearing a blue jacket over his normal shirt.
“Well, let us decide what to get and then talk about the past week,” Schneep said.
They decided on their drinks—Jackie, Stacy, and JJ would get hot chocolate while Chase, Schneep, and Marvin stuck with soda. A server came over and they ordered, adding on a couple baskets of fries for the table. As soon as the server was out of sight, Stacy leaned forward. “So, like, how does this work? Do we just start talking about how to deal with the paper thing in the basement right away?”
“The paperpillar,” Marvin said, his eyes brightening a little. “It’s a paperpillar. Paperpillar!” Clearly, he really liked the word and/or the concept of a paperpillar.
“Yeah, that,” Stacy said. “What’re we gonna do about it?”
“Do we need to do anything about it?” Schneep asked. “It has not come up into the school since we saw it. And I have not heard about any trouble.”
“But like... it tried to eat Jackie, sooo...” Chase pointed out.
“It wasn’t eating me, it was just like... wrapping around me,” Jackie said. “It didn’t hurt or anything. And I don’t think something made of paper can ‘eat’ things in the first place.”
Chase has a good point, though, JJ said. It ran at us the moment it saw us. It will probably do the same thing to anyone who goes into the basement.
“Hmm. Yes, you are right.” Schneep nodded. “Even if most people do not go down there, it looked like there was a lot of, ah, maintenance things there. Someone will go in the basement one day to mess with those things. That is how maintenance works.”
“Alright, so we agree we gotta stop it, then,” Jackie said. “How?”
“Uh... we can, like, burn it or something,” Stacy suggested.
“Whoa!” Chase laughed. “I-I didn’t think you’d say that.”
“What? Cause I’m a girl? Girls can burn things down if they wanna.” Stacy pushed her glasses into place. “And if it’s made of paper, fire is probably the best thing to use. Have you ever seen paper burn? It goes up immediately.”
JJ nodded. We can find lighters easily enough. Maybe we could throw one at it. Maybe a couple, just to be sure it will catch—
“Maybe let’s not set a fire in the school?” Jackie said delicately. “If it spreads to the rest of the building, uh... there’ll be a lot of people in there. So... that’s bad.”
“Oh.” Stacy blinked. “Right.”
Will it spread so easily? JJ wondered.
“Yes,” Jackie emphasized. “If the thing on fire is a big paperpillar that can run really fast, then yes.”
JJ frowned. Probably a bad idea, then.
“There could also be gas things in the basement,” Schneep added.
“Okay, so no fire,” Chase said. “But what do we do, then? We can’t banish it like the ghost, we can’t pop it like the bubble monster, we can’t cut it up like the mushrooms, we can’t... uh... what did we do with the monster dog?”
Marvin, previously rather quiet, straightened. “I was thinking about that, actually. Uh, so, you know, we managed to like, pull all the greenlight out of the monster dog and turn it back to normal, right? Using a bunch of crystals. But, like, uh... I have this now.” He held out his hands, palms up. A tiny ball of green light appeared hovering over each of them. He quickly closed his hands into fists, making the lights disappear, and continued. “Maybe I can just pull the greenlight out of the paperpillar by myself. I mean, if that’s a good idea. Do you guys think it is?”
Chase squirmed in his seat a little, but no one was looking at him to notice.
“Do you think you can do that?” Stacy asked. “I mean, in movies and stuff people always have to learn magic and get better and stuff through practice. Pulling out the greenlight seems hard.”
“I, uh, I have been practicing,” Marvin admitted, sounding a bit embarrassed.
JJ nodded excitedly. He can make shapes!
“Make shapes?” Schneep repeated. He leaned closer, intrigued. “How? Can we see?”
“Oh, uh... s-sure.” Looking uncharacteristically nervous, Marvin cupped his hands together, holding them over the table palms-down. A translucent green golf ball appeared on the table under his hands. Then it shifted to a cube. Then a pyramid. Then a squiggly sort of cylinder. Then Marvin lowered his cupped hands over the shape and it disappeared.
“Cool,” Chase breathed.
Very cool! JJ signed. He can also make glowing stars, like the kind that goes on ceilings, they look so nice at night. And he can make tiny hands and ropes to move and grab stuff.
Marvin laughed. “Y-yeah.”
“Wow.” Jackie grinned. “So, you’re kinda like Green Lantern, then.”
“Who?” Marvin asked.
“He’s a superhero.”
“Oh. Well, I’m a witch.”
“We are getting off topic,” Schneep said, shaking his head. “The point is, do you think you can do that? Pull the greenlight out?”
“Uh... I mean, I don’t think I can really practice that,” Marvin said slowly. “Not without something that has greenlight in it. And the only thing we know about like that right now is the paperpillar. So... we kinda just have to try.”
“If crystals can make greenlight more powerful, maybe we can bring some to try and help you out?” Stacy suggested.
“That’s a great idea!” Jackie said, grinning. “Okay, I think we have a plan. We meet after school one day—oh.” They paused for a moment as the server returned with their fries and drinks. “Thanks.” After everyone had their order, small talk with the server was done, and the server had walked out of earshot, Jackie continued. “We’ll meet after school one day. Go into the basement to find the paperpillar. Most of us will try to distract it as Marvin tries draining the greenlight. If he can’t do it, we’ll run and try again some other day.”
“We’ll need somewhere we can defend, then,” Chase said. “A fort of some kind.”
If we’re doing it after school, maybe we can lure it out of the basement and into one of the classrooms? JJ said. There are sets up in one of the Theatre rooms we can hide behind.
“That sounds perfect,” Stacy said.
“Okay, but before we start talking about more details and stuff, can I ask something?” Chase said. “Has anyone found out anything new about the Circle? Or that Jack guy who looks like Anti?”
A chorus of various ‘no’s rang out around the table. “The same teachers are being weird, but nothing actually happened all week,” Marvin said.
“Maybe they’re not going to do anything,” Stacy said optimistically. “Maybe they’re just going to keep an eye on us to make sure we don’t say anything.”
Schneep frowned. “I do not trust grown-ups like that to not do anything. Just because nothing has happened yet does not mean nothing will happen ever. They are probably just waiting for a good time to... to...” He looked down into his soda glass and went quiet. Chase leaned a bit closer, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. Schneep squeezed back.
“We still have to be careful,” Jackie said. “Try not to go anywhere in school alone. And definitely don’t trust strangers.” He paused. “You also asked about Jack, right, Chase?”
“Mm-hmm.” Chase nodded. “Did you find anything? I didn’t.”
Jackie shrugged. “Got confirmation from some Band kids that Jack moved back to Ireland right after the school year ended. But they didn’t know anything else about where he’d go. One of them knew his parents’ names, I guess... guess I’ll try looking online or in phone books for their names? Gonna be hard covering all of Ireland, though. So it’ll take a while. And for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Anti would look like that guy.”
“Maybe it’s random,” Stacy guessed. “Maybe Anti just started looking like the first person he saw when he came out of the dark place.”
JJ frowned. Maybe. But I think there’s a connection. It’s just not clear why.
“Yeah.” Chase paused. “Well... back to the paperpillar, then.”
The group talked some more, hashing out the specifics, and agreed to try fighting the paperpillar after school that Monday. After that, they talked some more about school. Mostly complaining about tests and homework. JJ and Schneep insisted it wasn’t that bad, while everyone else universally agreed it sucked. Even Stacy, which surprised Chase, since she seemed like the smart type. Jackie did point out that school was important, but he was probably only doing that because he felt like he had to, as the oldest one in the group. After the school discussion, they talked about games and movies and books for a while before it was time for them to all go. Mostly because Jackie’s shift was about to start and it would’ve been awkward for the kids to stay there while he was working.
But, as Schneep suggested, Chase hung back, waiting. When everyone was gone but him and the twins (Schneep agreed to wait outside) he tapped Marvin on the shoulder and said, “Hey. Can I, uh... talk to you?”
Marvin looked at him. Then he looked at JJ. Then back at him. “Yeah. Do you mean alone? Should JJ leave?”
“Uh... I guess not,” Chase said. “I was just wondering if you wanna... hang out? Sometime this weekend? Not like, the whole group, I mean. Just you and me?”
“Um...” Marvin looked confused. “Sure, but why?”
“I wanna hang out with you,” Chase said. “I don’t think I’ve done stuff with just you before. Or, uh, just you,” he added, looking at JJ. “If you and me wanna do something after this, we can.”
JJ smiled a bit. That’d be great, but I don’t think I’d have the time. I have a lot of classwork to do. But you and Marvin can do stuff together. I don’t mind.
“You sure?” Marvin asked.
I’m sure.
“Alright, then.” Marvin looked back at Chase. “What were you thinking?”
Chase shrugged, trying to look casual. “Whatever you want to do.”
Marvin stared at him. “...shit. What do I like to do?”
JJ laughed, seeing the blank look on his twin’s face.
“Oh shut up.” Marvin shoved him. JJ shoved back. The two of them were distracted by a shoving contest for a couple seconds before Marvin suddenly went “Oh!” and looked back at Chase. “I got it. Do you wanna go watch a movie?”
“A movie?” Chase repeated. “Uh, yeah. Sounds fun. The theater’s closed on Sundays so we’ll have to go tomorrow—”
“Oh, not at the big cinema,” Mavin interrupted. “Have you seen the small one on Everson Street? It’s just called ‘Hollewych Motion Picture Cinema.’ It’s kinda old.”
“Uhhh... I think I’ve seen that?” Chase hadn’t really thought much about it, though. It was just part of the background of that street. “You want to go there?”
“Yeah, we go there all the time during school holidays,” Marvin said, gesturing to him and JJ, who nodded. “They don’t usually show new movies that just came out, instead they screen a lot of ones that are already out. Some of them are kinda old, too, but they can do anything that’s on DVD. We can go tomorrow or Sunday, they’re open all the time. And nobody usually goes there so it’s not as crowded. Which is great.”
“Okay. Sure.” Chase nodded slowly. “I don’t know if Mom will let me go see a movie by myself.”
“Why not? Doesn’t she let you go to the library and park and stuff alone?”
“Yeah, but I dunno. Something about a movie seems different. But, uh, maybe if I say Jackie is going too, that’ll work out. He can... watch a different movie. While we watch ours. If he’s cool with that.” Chase glanced towards the kitchen doors. Jackie had disappeared through them a couple minutes ago. “I’ll ask him. Does that work?”
“Yeah, fucking perfect.” Marvin smiled a little. “So... talk to your mom and Jackie about times and stuff. Then call JJ.” JJ waved. “And I’ll pick up.”
“Got it.” Chase nodded. “I’ll see you later, then.”
“See you later.”
And with that, Chase turned and left the restaurant.
++++++++++++++++++++
Chase was correct; Mom would not let him go to the movies without someone else. When he asked why, she said it would be dark so anything could happen. But she agreed to it when he said Jackei would come. And thankfully, Jackie agreed, too. He picked up Chase Sunday morning, and together the two of them picked up Marvin and drove down to Emerson Street.
This was in the center of the city, where a lot of the older buildings were. Hollewych Motion Picture Cinema sat right on the street. That was a bit weird, since the other theater in town, the Cineworld, was a bit off the street, surrounded by parking lots. Posters were plastered on the sides of its concrete building. There were no posters outside HMPC, only a couple of those signs with the removable letters hanging on the side of the brick building. Marvin, Chase, and Jackie walked up to these signs. They listed the prices for tickets and the movies that were currently playing, times included.
“I brought extra money if you guys need help covering your tickets,” Jackie said.
“No, I got it,” Marvin said. “JJ and I know how much it costs. We use his allowance money for it. I got just enough right here.” He put a hand in his pocket. “But all of this looks boring.”
“Uhhh I wouldn’t mind watching a couple of these,” Chase said. “But, um, yeah. You can choose. I dunno what you’ll want to see if it’s all boring to you, though.”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan.”
There was a ticket booth next to the theater’s entrance. Marvin walked right up to it, leaving Chase and Jackie to follow. A man sat behind the glass in the booth—a boy, really, not that much older than Jackie. He wore a nametag pinned to his shirt that read ‘Nick.’ He wasn’t really paying attention to them, instead reading a thick-looking textbook propped up on the counter. “Hey,” Marvin said.
The guy—Nick quickly closed the textbook. “Hi, what can I do for you toda—Oh hey, Marvin.” He looked at Chase. “Did Jameson get shorter?” Then at Jackie. “Or... taller?”
Marvin grinned. “No, this is my friend Chase, and the beanie boy is my friend Jackie.”
“Oh, nice to meet you two.” He stared at Jackie for a minute. “Aren’t you that kid with the name change?”
Jackie looked a bit nervous, but smiled. “Uh, yeah, that’s me.”
“Alright.” Nick looked back at Marvin. “What can I get for you today?”
“Do you have an empty theater?” Marvin asked. “Your listings are boring.”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, one’s empty right now. What d’you want to play?”
“Can we watch, uh... that bridge movie? The sad one?”
Nick’s eyes widened slightly. “That’s, uh... probably a bit too sad for your friends’ first visit here. Don’t want to make a bad impression.” He laughed again, just to clear the tension. “How about The Princess Bride? Or maybe Narnia? We’ll be getting the sequel to that soon, y’know.”
“Narnia is good,” Marvin said, looking a bit disappointed but getting over it quickly. “Two for that.”
“Um, what’s playing in the theaters next to the empty one?” Jackie asked.
“We have The Godfather and Spider-Man 2.”
“Oh hell yeah. I’ll have a ticket for Spider-Man 2. Can I just walk in?”
“Yep, go ahead. I think it just barely started.” Nick bent over, fiddling with something under the counter, and reappeared with three yellow tickets. Marvin and Jackie paid for their respective tickets and Nick passed them over, along with some change. “Alright, you two head to Theater 2, it’ll be a moment to get it started. Jackie, right? Yours is Theater 3, it’s to the right of 2. Enjoy your movies.”
The three of them said their thanks and headed inside, Marvin in front. The interior of the small theater was done in shades of warm yellows and oranges against contrasting black. There wasn’t much in the main entrance, just a small counter for concessions manned by a woman with curly blond hair. She was also familiar with Marvin, handing him two small bags of buttered popcorn. Chase watched this and wondered how often the twins came here if the staff knew them on sight. Or maybe not many people worked here. Maybe both.
They walked down the one hallway, with Marvin talking as they went. “This style of, uh, interior design is called ‘art deco,’ JJ really likes it, and I can get where he’s coming from but I think I like ‘art nouveau' more, it’s much more swirly while this one is all angles. And here we are!” He stopped in front of a pair of theater doors. 
“You guys have fun,” Jackie said, continuing down the hall. “Text me if anything happens. I’m not gonna silence my phone.” He laughed. “Don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t!” Chase said. “You have fun too!” And he followed Marvin into the room.
There were only five rows of seats in here, and the screen, while much bigger than any TV Chase had ever seen, was way smaller than regular movie screens. The chairs in here looked a bit old, their red fabric cushions faded, but there was something nice about it. “You gotta sit in the middle,” Marvin said, inching his way into the third row. “That way you’re not too close or too far away. But if there’s a lot of people they always go for the middle, too, so if it’s full, I prefer the back. But it’s not full now.” He sat down in the exact middle of the row. Chase sat next to him, and Marvin passed him one of the popcorn bags. “Cool, huh?”
“Yeah.” Chase nodded. “Um... so... I wanna watch the movie, but I... also want to... talk to you about something.”
Marvin stared at him. He nodded slowly. “Okay. Let’s wait for a bit. Watch the start of the movie.”
“Okay.” Chase nodded back. “Um... I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this one. What’s it about?”
“Oh, you haven’t?! Okay, so...”
Marvin had just enough time to explain the basic plot before the lights dimmed and the film started. Chase tried to relax, but he couldn’t. He was busy mentally preparing what to say. And then... well, he was a bit confused. “I thought you said this was a fantasy movie,” he whispered to Marvin.
“I said that they went into the fantasy world,” Marvin replied in a normal volume. “They have to start in the real world first. You’ll see. The beginning is, like, ‘oh my god,’ but then they go out to the country and find stuff there.” He paused. “Also you don’t have to whisper. It’s just us in here.”
“Riiiight.” Chase nodded, going quiet for a moment and trying to pay attention for a bit. Marvin didn’t have any problem with that. He was immediately sucked into the movie, eyes glued to the screen even as he ate popcorn. Chase almost hated to interrupt him. But he had to. So, when the movie seemed to be slowing down, he spoke up again. “Um... can we talk now?”
Marvin glanced at him. “They’re not even in Narnia yet.”
“Yeah, but... but I-I wanna talk before we get too into it.”
Marvin sighed. “I guess that makes sense.” He put the popcorn bag on the seat next to him and looked at Chase. “What is it?”
“I, uh...” Chase’s mind went blank. He fidgeted with his own popcorn bag for a moment before putting it aside and blurting out, “I’m an idiot.”
“Okay.”
“Wha—You’re not gonna, like, say that I’m not?”
“A lot of people are idiots,” Marvin said. “I’m an idiot. But we’re smart in other ways. I thought you were establishing a rapport.”
“A what?” Chase repeated, confused. “What the heck is that?”
“It’s uh... You know, I don’t actually know how to explain it.”
Chase shook his head. “Well, I wasn’t doing that. I was, um, opening up to something. I’m an idiot because... because I didn’t realize I’d made you upset again. When we figured out you had greenlight powers, I said they were weird. I, uh... i-it took me a while to realize you, uh... got... your feelings hurt.”
“...oh.” Marvin stared at him, then looked back at the movie. “That’s fine.”
“No it’s not!” Chase protested. “I didn’t want to upset you! I... I’m sorry I did. I wasn’t really thinking. I was just... using the same word I always would’ve and didn’t think about the context. I’m really sorry. You’re not weird.”
“Yeah, I am.” Marvin didn’t look back at Chase. “I’m an idiot, but I’m not fucking stupid. I like wearing capes and others don’t. I talk a lot and others don’t. I get upset when the lights in the school are too loud and others don’t. I’m a fucking weirdo, Chase. And you don’t have to pretend I’m not. I know. People think I don’t know, but I do. I mean, I didn’t used to know, like when I was really little, but by now, I’ve figured it out. I’m not normal. I’m weird. Fucking... deal with it.”
“...oh.” Chase wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “I, um... It’s not a bad thing. To, uh... not be normal.”
“People always say that,” Marvin sighed. “But like... even though I don’t get made fun of or anything, the difference feels bad sometimes. Like—like—” He gestured vaguely. “Like, everyone is painting a picture, but my paints are different colors. And I can mix colors and stuff to get something that’s sort of close to what everyone else is using, but it’s not right, and everyone can tell. So, like, fuck it, right? Might as well use my own colors. At least then everyone’s looking at my painting. Even though they like everyone else’s better.”
Chase nodded slowly. “Um... I like your painting, though.”
“Uh... I don’t actually have a painting. It’s a metaphor.”
“No, I know. I know what a metaphor is, I’m okay at English class. And I’m keeping going with this one. I like your painting. I like how you use different colors.”
Marvin finally turned to look at him, surprised. “But... you...” He paused, struggling for words. “You keep... It’s... I’m a magic weirdo, though.” He raised one hand, a little baseball-sized sphere of greenlight forming in his palm.
“I like that you’re a magic weirdo,” Chase explained, grinning. “Look at that! That’s so cool. You can just, like, make stuff. Freaking amazing, bro.”
“And... the cape and stuff?”
“I’m not gonna lie, it was, uh, strange at first, but now I know you and it’s also cool.”
Marvin blinked. “I’m... confused.”
“Uh... how do I say this...” Chase looked up at the ceiling, thinking. “If we talk about it like paintings again, I think... I think a lot of people want their paintings to look just like what everyone else wants to see. Maybe they’re drawing a bowl full of apples, but they wanna draw a bowl full of oranges, but people like apples more than oranges so they don't. For me... I’m looking at what everyone else is painting. A-and I’m trying to do the same thing.”
“Why do you want to make the same thing everyone else is making?” Marvin asked quietly.
Chase shrugged. “I think everyone does. But that’s impossible. Everyone paints differently. Why don’t you want to make the same thing?”
Marvin paused. He shrugged. “It’s hard. And it’s not fun. And it’s not... it’s not me.”
“Yeah.” Chase smiled at him. “And I like that. I like that you’re... that you’re so you all the time. I-I wish I could be as much me as I wanna be. But... when my painting starts looking a bit different than everyone else’s, I get nervous. I-I don’t want people to look at it and think ‘I don’t like that because it’s not like mine.’ So, even if it’s hard and not fun and not me, I try to change it. But you don’t. And I think you’re really... I think you’re really brave and cool for that.”
Marvin blinked. His eyes were looking watery. “I... I-I get nervous, too, you know.”
“Yeah, but you do it anyway, and I don’t. In fact, I...” Chase lowered his head, ashamed. “I get so nervous that I don’t even want my painting to be near different ones sometimes. B-but I shouldn’t want that! It’s not fair and it’s mean and it’s not what I really want. I want to hang our paintings together.” He raised his head again. “I want to keep being friends. Screw what other people think. But I-I might make mistakes sometimes. Because I’m not used to it. So... I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
A moment passed. Marvin looked away. It took Chase a moment to realize he was wiping his face on his cape. When Marvin looked back again, his eyes were red, but clear. “It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I... I want to keep being friends, too. I’m not... good at making them. So, a couple mistakes aren’t gonna make me hate you or anything.” He smiled a bit. “But I think you should’ve said this earlier.”
Chase slumped with relief and smiled back. “Yeah. I know now. But I’m an idiot when it comes to other people’s feelings and stuff. Don’t know how to deal with it.”
“Fuck, I don’t know, either. Let’s just agree to talk about stuff right away in the future. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Marvin smiled wider. He leaned over and bumped his shoulder against Chase’s.
Chase laughed. “Oh, man. I have not been watching the movie at all. What’s even going on?”
“Oh shit, I think we missed the first moment! Alright, it’s okay, I remember what happened. So basically...”
As they grabbed their popcorn again and settled down to finish the movie, Chase felt like a weight was lifted from his chest. Huh. He didn’t even realize that was there.
++++++++++++++++++++
JJ closed the textbook, relieved to finally be done with his history notes. Carefully, he slid the sheets of lined paper into his binder, preparing them to be turned in on Monday. God, he hated taking notes. He was already good at remembering stuff. He didn’t need notes. Especially Cornell notes, ugh. They didn’t help at all! Why was his World History teacher so obsessed with them? Why did he need to prove that he’d done them?
He’d do it anyway, of course. They got graded on their notes. It’d look bad if he skipped them and got a bad grade as a result.
Well... now what?
He sighed, leaning back in the kitchen chair. He wished there was room for a desk in his and Marvin’s bedroom. It’d be nice. Doing his homework in the kitchen wasn’t too annoying, but it did mean Mam and Dad sometimes poked their heads in to ask if he was working. Which... obviously he was. And... obviously they were interrupting him. Obviously.
JJ stood up and put his binder back in his bag. Then he headed out. He could hear the TV playing from the living room. Sounded like one of Granmam’s shows. Maybe after he put his bag back in his room, he’d come back down and sit with her. She didn’t mind it when he was there. 
Sometimes he and Marvin wished that their grandmother could stay with them all year. Everything seemed... somehow better when she was there. But they knew they couldn’t ask her to do that. They were lucky that she stayed with them through Christmas every year. Grandparents didn’t usually do that.
He headed up the stairs. There was more TV noise coming from Mam and Dad’s room (totally wasn’t fair that they got a second, personal TV and he and Marvin didn’t even have a desk) but he ignored that and headed straight to his room. He walked in, turned on the lights, put his bag in its usual place in the corner by the door—
“Hey.”
—and then spun around when hearing the sudden voice.
Anti was sitting on the windowsill. It was narrow, probably a tough place to sit, but Anti could float so it didn’t really matter to him. He grinned when he saw JJ and gave a little wave.
JJ grabbed the nearest thing he could find—one of Marvin’s shoes—and threw it at Anti. It passed right through him and thudded against the window’s glass.
Anti’s grin disappeared. “You really like throwing things, huh? Rude. You’re so... so fucking rude.” Then he giggled, as if amused by his own swearing.
What are you doing here? JJ demanded.
“I still don’t know what you’re saying, but you pointed at me, so you’re probably asking why I’m here.” Anti tilted his head. “Your twin is off doing something right now. With someone else. Did you know about that?”
Confused, JJ nodded. He glanced around the room, wondering if there was something he could use to get Anti out of here. Maybe if he threw enough stuff at him he’d go away. He took a couple steps forward, aiming to get to the dresser.
“You did? And you’re okay with that?”
JJ nodded again. Why wouldn’t he be okay with that?
“What if Marvin stops doing anything with you?” Anti pressed. “Would you be okay with that? Are you scared of him doing stuff by himself?”
JJ frowned. He shook his head.
“You’re not scared of that?” Anti blinked. The ceiling light flickered. “What if he’s scared of that? What if he doesn’t want you to do things without him?”
Marvin wouldn’t be like that, though. The two of them had always been together, and always will be. They’d gone through a lot, told each other things that they’d never told anyone else. JJ isn’t so... insecure... to think that Marvin doing something with Chase means he’ll stop hanging out with JJ. And the same could be said for Marvin, too. Besides, they lived together. They couldn’t ignore each other forever. JJ took a couple steps towards the dresser and shook his head again.
Anti stared at him. His eyes narrowed. He seemed somehow unhappy with JJ’s answers. “What are you scared of?” he whispered. “You don’t ever look scared. You don’t ever look upset at all. But you have to be scared of something. Don’t you?”
JJ raised his shoulders. Something about this conversation was disturbing him. Quickly, he grabbed the nearest item from the dresser and threw it.
The object hit Anti in the chest, right under his neck. “Ow!” Anti gasped, catching the object as it fell. One of Marvin’s crystals. Anti stared at it. He seemed more surprised than hurt. And soon, both those feelings were overtaken by anger. He looked up at JJ, the green in his eyes flaring brighter as the ceiling light flickered wildly. JJ started backing up. “You’re terrible, Jameson Jackson,” Anti growled. “I gave Marvin a nice birthday present. Maybe you’ll get a Christmas present that’s just... as... ni͢c͏e̡.̛”
The light went out for a few seconds. JJ looked up at it. Then he looked back at the window. Though he should have been able to see Anti’s silhouette even in the sudden darkness of the room, he only saw the dark blue square of the window. And then the light turned on again. And his suspicion was confirmed; Anti had disappeared. Marvin’s crystal was on the ledge right where he’d been sitting.
JJ shivered. He walked over and quickly grabbed the crystal—and the shoe he’d thrown first. Then he put them back where he’d found them. And he thought about what Anti meant. If he’d pushed Marvin down the stairs as a ‘present,’ what did he want to do to him? The twin he didn’t like?
...It would be fine, wouldn’t it? JJ would just have to be careful to not go near anything dangerous by himself. He could do that. No need to tell Marvin or any of the others about that. Well, he should probably tell them he saw Anti. But not about the... threat. He didn’t want to worry them. He needed to not worry them. Or anyone. Ever.
JJ headed back downstairs—gripping the bannister tightly—and walked into the living room. As he suspected, Granmam was on the sofa watching one of her ‘shows,’ as she called him. She looked back as he came in. “Hey, lad,” she said, smiling. “Everyt’ing alrigh’? You look a mite pale.”
I’m alright, JJ said.
“Hmm.” Granmam pursed her lips. “Hey, c’mere t’me. Ye want to sit with you granmam for a bit?”
JJ nodded and hurried over. He slid onto the sofa and scooted up next to her. She always smelled a bit like vanilla. It was nice.
“Your brother’s still out?”
He nodded.
“T’ink he’ll want to join in when he gets back?”
Maybe.
Granmam smiled down at him. “Well, I know your parents are up for the night, so we have some time.” She leaned a bit closer and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I love ‘em, but they can be a pair of dryshites sometimes.”
JJ burst into laughter.
Granmam grinned right back. “Not Marvin, o’course, he’s grand. He can come right in if he wants to. For now, let’s have a moment, yea?”
JJ nodded. He leaned his head on her shoulder and stared at the TV. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but that wasn’t really the point of watching shows with Granmam.
Nothing to worry about. No need to worry anyone about anything.
Neither he nor his grandmother saw the shadow walk down the stairs, stare down the hall at them, and then disappear into thin air.
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