#thank you for that gem jeremy

[scarletfish]

"make sure the screws are tight before getting on the ride," cat warns, directly before jeremy goes on to introduce us to Barkbark von Barkenstein

my brother in christ this entire household has a few screws loose

#the sunshine court #for legal purposes this is a joke i love mister b #jean might have debilitating ptsd but jeremy is petting a cardboard dog so hard it almost falls over #anyway barkbark took me out at the kneecaps i have never believed more this is a household of college kids #thank you for this gem nora #tsc #tsc spoilers #jeremy knox #jean moreau #catalina alvarez

[whereonhermitcraftisjoel]

gem talks about irl joel around 2:40:00 in her hermitcraft vod today feb 19!

ty for your contributions to document the magic beans man

jeremy

Gem is Joel's friend, they've hung out in person, I do not know Joel, but I must posit - perhaps it is not a front, perhaps minecraft makes him insane?

(Well maybe games in general, have you seen him on Jimmy's game nights.)

Thanks 'jeremy', if that's your real name ;-)

#hermitcraft #smallishbeans #joel smallishbeans #hermitcraft season 10 #hermit joel #hermitcraft s10 #hermitblr #hermitcraft clips #hermitcraft streams #geminitay #joel off screen

[luveline]

Hi Jade! First of all thank you for bringing back the zombie au, it is my absolute fave! Second, if you are taking requests for it currently, maybe r (with Robin maybe?) goes and finds a gift for Steve just to make him smile (which may or may not make him break into tears with how vulnerable and emotional he's been with all the stuff he's been through?) Thank you for all your lovely writing!

thank you anon! fem!reader, 8k —You, Steve and Robin make a risky trip for non-essentials to improve your quality of life at the camp. Steve's feeling stressed, you try to make it better, and Robin finds a cat in the display section of the mattress store. 

tw for zombie apocalypse typical implied violence and gore, food insecurity, injury

"We'll call it something really cool," Robin says, "like Y/N and Robin's ultimate quest for cleanliness." 

Robin is a little dirty today. She's scraped her hair back into a tiny ponytail, and it flicks out at the back of her head like a feather duster. You think it's adorable, and you lean around her shoulders to try and touch it. Steve pulls you back bodily. 

"Stop touching her," he says. 

"Just her hair," you say. 

"No, because you know how ansty she is, it's like poking a sleeping dragon." 

"Shut up! Shut up, loser, I haven't been antsy at all, I'm planning a girl's trip as we speak." 

You laugh and fall back into Steve's arms, the kind of laugh that makes your chest feel tight and your eyes scrunch closed. A girl's trip is definitely one way to put it. 

"I'm just saying," Steve says, not just saying at all, "that you're dangerous right now. Next time I'll let her touch your hair and you can bite her hand off." 

"She can touch my hair. I don't know if you've noticed, Harrington, but that right there is my very best friend."

And okay, it's not true, Steve and Robin have the strongest friendship you've ever seen, but there is a truth behind it —you and Robin get along well. It would be difficult not to love her, she's a gem, and she cares about the person you care about most in the world at the same level (though in a different calibre). 

You worm out of Steve's arms to give her a quick hug. Steve steals you away again and you laugh as you go, flopping your weight onto him and almost knocking him flat onto his back. 

You, Robin and Steve are sitting around the campfire in the centre of camp. It's rather big and blissfully hot, the sky a velvet black that hides the smoke. Children sit with droopy eyes to the left, some with parents and most without, though the community is full of good people with great hearts who've swooped in to help look after them. Already, an older woman named Matildhe seems to have gathered a brood of six children, all young, and all wanting cuddles. To the right, Jeremy Livingstone and Joyce Byers plan the unplannable, a map of Michigan at their feet held down by stones. Jonathan sits by his mother's legs with a baby in his lap, her sleeping face pressed to his chest. He taps her back absent-mindedly. "What about here?" he asks, drawing a circle with his finger. Will, his younger brother, moves the flashlight beam to follow his direction. 

Despite the fire, the wind bites at your backs, a nippy chill. Steve has solved this by becoming your windbreaker, or so he claims. 

"She loves me," you murmur. 

"I love her," Robin agrees. 

"That's why you can't come on our girl's trip," you say. 

"Girls," Steve says, measured, "I'm unsure, but I'm starting to think that you think you're going somewhere without me." 

"No, we know you'll crash the party. But we're going to pretend you aren't there," Robin says. 

Her chipper attitude makes you laugh for the millionth time tonight. Steve laughs in tandem behind you, his breath fanning warmly over the shell of your ear. 

It smells like woodsmoke and pine needles meshed together here, two smells that alone are nice but together give you a headache. You wrinkle your nose and sit up properly, worried about squashing Steve or hurting his bad knee. "The smell is so strong out here," you say. 

"Shit, this guy bothering you?" Steve asks, pointing his thumb at the fire. 

"Kick his ass, Steve," Robin says. 

"Are you losers drunk?" Dustin asks. 

You twist on your butt to face him, Steve's favourite sixteen year old standing in the dark wearing two coats and three scarfs. 

"Are you cold?" Steve asks. "Come and sit with us." 

"We aren't drunk, just happy," you say, gesturing for him to do as Steve said. 

Dustin sits by the fire with you, groaning. "What is there to be happy about?" 

You bite your top lip. Dustin is so young, and he's lost a lot. More than he ever should've had to lose, twice, his sense of normalcy destroyed. You don't blame him for being depressed over what is possibly the most traumatic thing he will ever have to experience. You don't want to offer him empty platitudes or tell him how to feel, and Steve doesn't want to either, but he can't watch him mope. He loves him too much. 

"Dusty," he teases, "don't be so down. Haven't you seen this glorious and ridiculously enormous bonfire we have going on?" 

"I see it," Dustin says from behind gritted teeth. 

"Hey, do you want to sleep in our tent tonight?" Steve asks, a tad more seriously. "It's warmer with more people, and it's not as crowded as you think it'll be." 

"No, thanks." 

"You could drag your tent closer," you say, quieter, trying not to smother him or embarrass him with parenting he never asked for. 

"I don't like being near the boundary. You guys might be okay with ending up as geek chow but the rest of us have common sense." 

"Well, we didn't really have a choice there," Robin says. 

Which is true. The kids all get to sleep in tents close to the fire, and the adults are a row behind. You guys aged out of the kids category a long time ago, so you're the ones who'll be eaten first, but you're also the ones who'll hear the can alarms when they ring on the tripwires first. 

Steve sleeps with his baseball bat anyhow. 

You disentangle yourself from Steve's grips and meet his eyes. He doesn't need you to tell him, but you give him a look that hopefully says, Maybe you should talk to him. Eyebrows raised gently, lips pursed. 

Steve sighs like he's preparing himself and shuffles around you. He doesn't begrudge Dustin needing cheering up, you know that. He probably just wishes he could offer Dustin more than, "We have food and water and a place to pee." 

Robin crawls right to your side and sets back on her haunches. "Here's what I think we should do." 

"Wait, you don't wanna wait for Steve to explain?" 

"Nope, he'll say no. Me and you have to find the best way to sell it so we can actually go."

"You aren't kidding about the girl's trip?" 

"Nope. Look, the situation is dire. We know where the mall is, we've been there tons of times. The whole group can't go and we don't trust most people to keep us alive anyways, so me, you and Steve will go. We'll sleep there or something too, so there's no pressure on us to rush back and stress out Steve." 

"Wouldn't it be safer to hurry back?" you ask. 

Robin hums. "Maybe. Uh, if we travel at night like I've been thinking about doing I don't think we could hurry back." 

"At night?" 

"We're basically nocturnal at this point." You dip your head toward her mildly. She drops the slight facade she'd had, "I would feel better. If we went at night." 

The College, the community you and your group had inhabited until recently, was attacked and destroyed by raiders. They were likely drawn by the black smoke of the small bonfire in the quad of the campus, lit to celebrate a quasi-thanksgiving. It wasn't supposed to end up the way it had. 

Robin got attacked. Steve was there to help her get away uninjured, earning himself a black eye. She can't sleep if she's by herself anymore. You hate yourself for not being there to protect them. 

She's afraid of being attacked by people rather than geeks now. Travelling at night increases the likelihood of dying via geek (you can't see them, they can smell you), but it vastly decreases the chance of meeting other people. It makes sense that a night time excursion is her preference. 

You just don't know how you feel about it, and you have no clue how you might convince Steve to go along with it.  

"So you want us to hike to the mall at night. Is it on the map? Where even is it?" 

"I don't remember the name, Steve'll know it 'cos we've been there, but what matters is that I know for a fact there's a fancy soap store. I need soap, Y/N. I can't take this anymore. And if I don't brush my teeth soon I'm going to scream, my finger can only do so much." 

Occasionally three of you take a pea sized dollop of paste and rub it over your teeth in an effort to feel less disgusting, the same way that you wash with a rag and cold water behind the treeline, and dunk your clothes in the river without detergent. Water is a good cleaner, but eventually there's a funk in the clothes that can't be washed out without soap, or Robin's current issue: oily hair.

Without soap and toothbrushes, you feel about as disgusting as a person can feel. If you don't make this trip soon, you'll be in the exact same boat as Robin, one bad stain away from screaming. 

"And the fancy soap shop definitely has soap?" 

"Definitely. And there's a department store with blankets, too. We could really improve the quality of our miserable lives." 

"You don't have to convince me," you say, though it might not hurt in actuality. You're hesitant to leave the camp, but if Robin's leaving she can't go without Steve (who would never let her go alone), or you, because you refuse to be separated from Steve (or her, honestly). "It's Grim Fandango who needs greasing." Grim being Steve. 

Steve has managed to wrap an arm around Dustin. You're half-expecting Dustin to be wriggling under his touch, desperate for an escape, a teenage boy allergic to both sincerity and affection, but Dustin's dissolved like jello powder in boiling water, totally slouched into Steve's side. Steve's hand runs the younger boy's upper arm briskly.

"It'll be okay, dude, I promise. We've come this far," Steve says. 

"I'm just tired," Dustin says quietly. 

"Maybe we should sell it, as uh, an enrichment trip," you suggest to Robin. "We can get stuff for the kids, some board games or something." They need an escape. 

"I miss my books," Robin says. 

"Holy shit, me too. Steve says you can tell the plot of every Agatha Christie novel from memory, is that true?" you ask. 

"Only the good ones. Can I lie down on you?" 

You let Robin lie down with her head on your thigh. It can't be comfortable but maybe it's better than the floor, or maybe it's just nice to be close to someone. You like having Robin with you. You'd been so apprehensive of her when you met, not because she was Steve's best friend —though that did worry you to some extent— but because you had trust issues to the neck and she was the first person beside Steve to be nice to you without motivation. In this world, that doesn't check out. 

"What ones do you know?" 

"Murder on the Orient Express?" she offers. 

"Okay. Set the scene, Buckley." 

Steve returns just after the detective finds out that Ratchet has been murdered. "I love this part," he says. 

"Then let me tell it." 

Robin spins for a while, but you peel away from the fire before you're too tired to stand and retreat to your makeshift tent. It's a tarp held up by two sticks and a blanket on the floor, but it works to keep away the rain and most bugs. There's not quite enough room for you three, but there's also literally no other option, and none of you mind. You squeeze in like tinned sardines, sleeping in your coats and shoes. 

In the morning, you and Robin attempt to sell your idea to Steve over lukewarm oxtail soup. You and Steve share. Robin had to tip half into a bowl for someone else. The rationing is going okay. 

You could've ended up with a can of garden peas, or chopped tomatoes.

"It's actually better if it's only us, you see, because we can sneak around and it'll be much quieter. And they don't need us here right now, everything's settled. And me and Y/N want to so we should." 

Steve wraps your hand around the can of soup so you don't touch the hot bottom. He doesn't look like he's even remotely listening to Robin, his eyes on your face and his hands not far behind. He neatens you up, so to speak, scratching a little dirt speck from your cheek and folding the rolled collar of your shirt. "This," he says finally, his hand curling behind your neck, "sounds like a very bad idea." 

You shudder happily as he starts to scratch your neck down to your shoulders. "Steve, what's bad about it? We'll be like the Three Musketeers, travelling in darkness, a mission for the people." 

"Did you ever read that book?" Steve asks, his hand dropping to your shoulder, where it stays for a reverent second. You look gross and he still wants to squeeze you. 

"No," you admit, lips on the sharp edge of your soup. You take a careful sip. 

"We get there quickly, spend a night on the mattresses at the department store, and… Hey, why don't we go live in the mall?" Robin asks. 

The idea of a real mattress is seductive, but not that much. 

"Because we don't want to paint a huge target on our backs?" you ask. 

"I'm kidding." Robin peers down at her soup unhappily. "I really hate oxtail." 

Steve noticeably flickers. He meets your eyes, and you think he's speaking to you in his head. Fucking hell, I can't believe what I'm about to agree to. 

"If you can convince Mrs. Byers to delegate us an actual weapon, then okay, fine, we can go to the mall." He stretches out his mostly healed knee and rubs it with both hands. "Fuck. A knife. Actually, I want each of us to have a weapon. So if you can somehow magic that into being, we can go." 

"I don't see why we even had to ask permission," Robin jokes, "like it's the sixties or something." She springs up to her feet, forces her oxtail soup into the hands of one of the preteens by the fire, and beelines for the small crowd of kids surrounding one much taller Joyce. 

"You'd still come with us even if you didn't want to," you say. 

"Yeah, obviously. Robin's right, this isn't the sixties. That being said, if it was a worse plan, I'd tie you to a tree." 

"I could be into that," you tease, pleased when he scoffs through a laugh. His elbow drives into your side. "Stop, fiend." 

"No, fiend. Take the force of my elbow." He nudges you. 

You elbow back. He elbows harder. You potentially give him a bruise and feel extremely bad when he "Oofs," aloud. 

"Sorry," you say, climbing up on your knees to put your arms on his shoulders. "Sorry, sorry, sorry." 

He shoves you away from him and you're evil, you're selfish, you want him to dote. You fall flat on your back in the dirt and grass, covering your smile with the crook of your elbow so he doesn't immediately know you're fine. 

"Shit," he cusses, kneeling between your legs, moving to hover over you. "I didn't mean to knock you down…" He sees your smile. "You lying conniving trickster." 

You smile harder, lips pressed together and your chest light as a feather for the first time in days, until suddenly he's squished on top of you and pressing down. "Ow," you fake, wriggling away from him. "I think there's a twig in my brain." 

He wriggles with you. "You suck, you made me think I hurt you." 

"Don't be a wuss, I get hurt all the time, how do you even know I'm not hurt?" 

He sighs all quiet and lifts your head off of the grass. "I can't see through your hair," he says, "did it actually hurt?" 

You take his face into your hands. Your fingers are very cold, but he doesn't flinch. 

"I'm messing with you, H." 

"When did that nickname catch on?" 

You rub his cheeks with your thumbs. Fingers behind his ears, you smooth over his short scratchy stubble affectionately. Quick, you lift your chin and touch your lips to his. It's hardly a kiss. 

He leans down slowly and makes it a better one. 

"Stop," Robin says, kicking you in the ribs. She isn't cruel about it, more of a toe touch. 

"Oh, hi, that was a quick rejection," you say, frowning. 

Robin beams. "Actually, we've been approved. One knife apiece and a request for children's clothes. Get packing!" 

She whizzes off in another direction, seemingly to pack and gather the allocated weaponry. 

Steve drops his chin back down to you. 

"Does she have secret things we don't know about?" he asks. 

You scratch his scalp, "Mm… I'm not supposed to tell you." 

He sits up. You frown.

"She really has a secret stash?"

"No, Steve," you laugh. "No, of course she doesn't. Where would she hide them?" 

Steve yanks you up by the arm playfully. You pretend to fight him, but it's no use. You'll do anything he wants you to. 

—

Steve didn't necessarily think that a hike through the outskirts of an infested city would be easy, but he also hadn't realised it would be this boring. Especially a trip he's already made in the past. Boring and kind of hard. 

It's not because you aren't capable —you might've taken a hit when The College collapsed, but you've mostly recovered, and your endurance is good. You have the best survival skills you've ever had, and Robin is similarly ready for whatever it is that might get thrown at you. Too bad preparation doesn't make you a ninja. 

He isn't at his peak and he was no man of steel beforehand, and although he was good enough to keep you both alive, he's not sure if it's still true. Plus, he wasn't expecting to feel so moody. 

You're marching on like a true warrior next to him, your hand around his wrist and swinging gently, your eyes on the ground. Steve's flashlight carves a weak path through the dusk. Soon, it'll be completely dark, and that's when he imagines his worrying will reach a fever pitch. 

For now, he tries to be chill. 

"Is my hand not good enough for you?" he asks. 

"I figure you can pull away from me quicker if you need to if we're not, like, sewed together." 

"You have weird hands," Robin interjects. "They're big. I wouldn’t hold them either.” 

"That's why they're nice hands, Robin," you say. "Well, maybe they're just nice because I love him."

"I love him. Mostly. He still has weird hands," she says. 

"You don't get it," you say. 

You wrap your arms around his bicep and hug it quickly before backing away again. He thinks you kiss his coat, but he really can't tell. 

"I don't think I want to get it," Robin says.

You're quieter when you ask, "Is that really true? You don't want to be in love?" 

In the dark, and at night, it's quiet. It's nearly always quiet everywhere you go nowadays, but it feels immense this far from the camp. Steve is on edge. Too distracted for heart to hearts. But he wants to know the answer too, so he stays nice and quiet. 

"I love that you're in love," Robin says lightly. "And I love you both. But I've seen you guys when you think you're going to lose each other, and surviving is hard enough without… that." 

You let your hand slide down to his hand, your palm flat to the top, not holding it but holding him. 

Steve clears his throat. "It's worth losing my mind every time she decides to wander off because of the peace she gives me when we're together." 

"The peace?" Robin asks. She sounds like she wants to be incredulous but his sincerity has tripped her up. 

"I'm with her and…" He can see the side of your face in the flashlight. You're smiling shyly, your gaze on the grass beneath your shoes. Footsteps rustle in the gap of his words. "I don't want to be anywhere else as long as she's there." 

"It sounds like a toothache," Robin says. 

"You know, I used to get bad toothaches all the time before we found you, and Steve made me a teeth guard out of a leather armchair with a pen knife and a needle and thread." 

"Did you just make that up? Trying to convince me about the magic of love?" Robin asks. 

"No, he really made it for me, I used to keep it in my nightstand," you say. He can hear your smile.

He made it because watching you cry from toothache left him feeling powerless. A guy who'd never even held a needle and thread before bent over his lap with a flashlight in the hours while you slept until his eyes burned because watching you sniffle made him feel sick. He can't describe the ache of it, loving you but not having kissed you, or even really told you, his girl so stressed at night your jaw had locked tight and you were reduced to whimpers each morning. Having to watch you pretend it wasn't happening until you couldn't, until you broke down crying with your hand wrapped around his wrist like it is now. Sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Steve, I just– I want– I don't know– I can't– 

He was useless. He was stupid. He could barely bring himself to rub your back because he thought another touch might knock you over. 

Calm down, honey, he'd murmured. Just calm down.

He never could've imagined seeing you cry like that before he did. You couldn't move. You explained it like a headache when words became feasible again, which, Steve's had headaches; concussive migraines that were white hot and everywhere. So he could imagine it even if he'd never felt it, and there wasn't a single thing he could do about it. Willing to try anything, he'd even wondered if he could pull your tooth out himself. Mouth surgery is prone to infection, and he couldn't face levelling that amount of pain onto you personally. So rather than fix the tooth, he'd have to fix the stress. He couldn't fix the stress, so he looked for anything at all to ease the pain. Ibuprofen, codeine, even a course of antibiotics. And then, finally, the leather mouth guard. Leather stacked and sewed with sanitised, loving hands. 

"It's weird what that kind of love can bring out of you," Steve says quietly, matching the surroundings. "I did a great job. I'm a seamstress." 

Robin pretends to throw up generously and noisily. Steve shushes her. You, in a very good mood with no signs of calming down, laugh behind your hand. 

"I can make you another one," he offers. He hadn't thought about it yet, but of course you don't have it anymore. Anything in your nightstand is lost forever. 

"You might need to. I'll be a stressed mess all over again if we don't find some socks, I can feel my ankle bone piercing the back of my shoes," you say. No socks either. 

Robin's flashlight turns quickly to the right. You and Steve flinch at the same time to guard the other, peering in the exposed direction. There aren't many trees around here, so all to be seen is yellow-green grass and empty air. 

"Sorry, I got the heebies," Robin says. "Maybe it was your disgusting declarations of love." 

"Hardy-har. Where the fuck do you think we are right now?" Steve asks. 

"Wait, you don't know?" you ask. 

"You have the map," he says back. 

"Oh, right. But how do we navigate in the dark? We don't have a compass." 

"I have the compass!" Robin announces. 

"From where?" you ask. 

"How did you think we'd get there in the dark, angel?" Steve asks you genuinely. 

He doesn't have time to wonder if it's okay to call you angel. He's never done it before, but it felt right in the moment. You're kind of like an angel, protective and sweet and a symbol for goodness. 

"I thought because you guys already knew where it was– we– we set off while it was still light! I assumed we'd just walk straight." 

Steve and Robin laugh at you, but not without love. 

You pretend to sulk for a while, though you shine your flashlight at the map when he asks, your arm threaded through his and face leaning on his shoulder. "I'm so confused," you mumble. 

"Don't worry. I know where we are now," he says.

"No, I know where we are too, but I'm confused as to why I thought this was a good idea." 

"This is a good idea because I've had greasy hair for two weeks and I feel like a worm," Robin says. "And we need blankets, and moisturiser, and to feel like real people."

Steve has a better list than that. He needs moisturisers for your cracked hands, antiseptic for the healing cut on your thigh. He needs shaving foam or at the least a goddamn razor, a new shirt, you both need underwear and you're in dire need of shoes that fit. He wouldn't mind a compression support for his knee, a pair of scissors, and most of all a box of cigarettes —a quick trip to the pharmacy would fix a lot of problems. 

"I feel pretty real." 

"You're real pretty," Steve says quickly. 

"Yes! Oh, yes! Kiss?" you cheer, delighted at his swift wit. 

Steve knows —he knows— you're putting on a brave face for him. He cried on your shoulder and you haven't cried since. You're being the strong one. You're trying to make it work. 

You've always been the strong one. Steve has taken care of you so many times; held your hand in torrential rain when you were too tired to go on; scrambled through rotten floorboards to find you on your back and unconscious, fed you water in your sleep half-worried you were dying and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He's fought for you, the dead and the living —he would do worse for you. But you've done the impossible, surviving every ache and pain, coming back from things he didn't think you would. You crawled through glass for him. You stumbled in the dark bleeding and exhausted to do as he asked, to meet him at the end of an endless day. 

He gives you the kiss you asked for. There's only one clue that you aren't as happy as you seem. Your breath catches as he leans down, like you thought he might not give you one after all. 

It takes you hours to get there and way longer than you thought. You don't realise you're upon it until the grass turns to roads under your feet, and the road turns to parking lot. There's a shattering of glass spread over the floor like a spilled bag of salt that crunches under your shoes. Steve grips your elbow and the three of you creep inside past the doors. They're open, which is bad and good. Bad because someone's been here since the last time, and might still be inside. Good, because Steve's not sure any of you have the energy to open them. 

"I don't think I have to say this, but please, let's whisper from here," Steve suggests. 

"Damn, do we have to?" Robin whispers. "I was just about to start my rendition of Singing in the Rain." 

You laugh through your nose. 

"We'll go up to the bedding store, okay? And we'll grab some blankets, and then we'll find a storage room and barricade ourselves in."

"Steve, I wanna sleep on a mattress," Robin whines. 

"But we don't know who's here," he says. "Buckley, I swear, I'll carry a mattress back to camp for you if that's what you want, but we have to live to see the morning first." 

"It's not like we haven't done it before," you say, nudging her gently. "Can we go back to whispering? I'm really nervous. I don't want to attract anything." 

"Sorry," Robin whispers. 

Being outside in the dark had felt horrifying but mostly manageable. Being inside is terrifying too, and though your flashlights make it easy to navigate now that there's walls for the light to reflect off of, it's scarier knowing this is an enclosed space. You can only run so far in either direction. 

Your fingers twist in the corner of his hoodie. He doesn't say anything. For a split second, he remembers you doing it in the past, before he'd even thought about kissing you, when you were scared and he was more angry than anything else (though not usually at you). He'd pretend he didn't feel it. He was a bitch but he was never cruel, and if you needed to scrunch the hem of his jacket in your hand to feel better then that was alright. 

"You okay?" he murmurs. 

"I'm okay. I think my cut is weeping." 

"What?" he asks, head clicking as he turns to you. "Since when?"

"Not sure, it just feels weird, like it's wet." 

"This is the kind of thing I'd love to know." Steve sighs. "The bedding place is up here somewhere. You can let me take a look at it." 

You, Steve and Robin walk up the frozen escalators, your footsteps making banging metal sounds that echo through what feels like the entire mall. Hackles raised, Steve ushers you both into the bedding store, pulling Robin by the sleeve before she can stop to deliberate over blankets to the very back of the store where a door demarcates the Staff Only room. 

"Listen," he whispers, "we are going to go in there back to back, just like we always do. Robs, I promise, as soon as I've checked her leg, I'll help you do whatever you want. Cool?" 

"My leg is fine." 

"If it gets infected, I know for a fact there aren't any antibiotics here," he says. They've looked. "We have to stay in front of it. Are you ready?" 

"Steve, we're not amateurs," Robin says. She hums. "Okay, I might be, but you owe Y/N some respect." 

"No, I'm an amateur." 

"You're not an amateur," Steve says. "Girls, please." 

"Can we veto 'girls'? I want to be dudes," Robin says. 

"Robin–" 

"Okay, okay! Let's do it." 

—

You wake up with the driest mouth in the world, your head bumping from hunger and bad sleep —the floor still feels like the floor, no matter how many pillows you have— to sounds just outside of the door. 

You hike up on elbows and feel your heart climb into your mouth. Steve's hand is on your neck, and Robin's foot is over your calf, and this is a very bad time to be locked in, especially weighed down as you are by fleece blankets. 

"Steve," you whisper, blindly reaching out with your own hand. You accidentally smack him in the face with the base of your thumb. "Oh, shit, sorry. Steve, there's something outside." 

He's impressively alert when he opens his eyes. He couldn't have been sleeping deeply. "What kind of something?" he whispers back, sitting up. 

He pushes the blankets away and climbs onto his knees. The noise happens again, quickly followed by a smash and a third sound like a thump. 

Robin flinches awake next to you. You put your hand on her shoulder, hoping it says, Hey, it's fine, you're fine.

"Where's your bag?" Steve asks you, standing up tall.

It's disgusting, but you're holed up in the employee bathroom. As far from the toilet and sinks as physically possible but with a buffer from the door. Staying in a storage closet hadn't been possible, the staff room door hanging off the hinges enough to not close, and the storage room a medium space crammed to bursting with mattresses and shelves of sheets that wobbled threateningly when touched. 

Your bag is somewhere under the blankets. You scramble onto your knees and search for it. You'd put your things away for the sake of neatness. Silly move.  

"Here," you say, pulling out a flashlight for Steve. He takes it into one hand, pen knife in the other unsheathed. "It's probably a geek." 

"Yeah. Can you put your shoes on?" he asks, not unkindly. 

You shake yourself and do as he asks you to. Robin helps you up. Steve creeps to the door, waiting for you both before he opens it into the main floor. 

"I don't think we need the torch," Robin says. 

Daylight illuminates the room through the windows set in the west wall. You all squint and step out, arms in defensive positions, treading softly so as not to be heard. 

Another thump. You can't hear footsteps, exactly, just the occasional, irregular thump. Geeks are usually noisier. Dragging steps. They'll walk into walls if they're following a specific scent. 

Steve turns to you both and raises his eyebrows. Brace yourselves. 

He hits the butt of the knife into the wall three times. 

Nothing shows itself. You stand frozen for a few minutes anyways, even when Steve and Robin decide they want to venture further into the room and scope out the place. You watch their backs, heart still pounding and with no signs of stopping. 

“Oh, fuck,” Steve curses. 

“What?” you and Robin hiss at the same time. 

“Come here. Y/N, come over here,” he says, like you aren’t already half-way across the floor to meet them. 

Steve gestures at a showcase bed with velvet purple sheets. They’re not even dusty, no signs of time or wear, nothing to speak of a different age. Nothing, that is, beside the dead bird on the pillowcases, and the carpeting of fur surrounding it. It's odd for Steve to point you towards any gore, and you're a tad shocked, until he takes your forearm in his hand and pulls you in front of him. "See?" he murmurs. 

He points to the pillow. You follow his finger. 

Robin speaks first. Correction, Robin squeaks first. 

"Is that a cat?" she asks, all the excitement of her discovery squashed tightly into a frankly impressive whisper-shout. 

Robin refuses to move after that. She begs Steve for some of the dried jerky (of unknown origin and animal) from the rucksack and lays down on her stomach when the tugged tabby you've found flees beneath the bed frame. "Here, kitty," she murmurs, her gentlest tones. "Come on, killer, I need your help." 

Steve nudges you.

"Oh, you're talking to me?" you ask Robin.

"I need your help," Robin insists, looking at you from over her shoulder. Her hair is limp around her face, her cheeks flushed red with excitement. "She has to know we're all friends."

"Watch my back?" you ask Steve. 

He sits on the end of the bed, "Don't have to ask." 

You set down carefully next to Robin and peer under the bed for the tabby. Your arrival has scared her half to death. 

"Maybe she's only used to seeing geeks," you say. 

"Maybe she thinks we're geeks," Robin says agreeably. 

"Me and Steve found a dog once, but he wouldn't let us touch. He begged for food and then he ran away," you say. 

"The dog wouldn't let you touch him, or Steve wouldn't let you touch the dog?" Robin asks, waving the jerky around.

"A bit of both." 

"Kitty," Robin sings. 

"Oh, god, this is comfy as fuck," Steve mumbles, laying down in bed. "Robin, you have to get up and watch your six, babe." 

You and Robin laugh in sync and aloud at his 'babe'. It's you who stands and continues taking mild guard. You're not worried about intruders anymore, thinking that any company would have presented itself already, but you like keeping them safe. You take check of every corner of the room, spinning in the world's slowest circle. Robin baby talks to the cat under the bed while offering scraps of jerky. Steve, having curled away from the bird, lets his fingertips brush your thigh each time you turn. 

"Getting dizzy?" he asks. 

"Yes. And hungry, too, which is a weird feeling together. Can I have some of the jerky?" 

Steve offers the bag. "If you're hungry, eat what you want, but if you can keep it to a little portion just in case we can't find anything else, honey…" 

You stop spinning so much to eat jerky. You eat more than you should, you hunger a cruel, sharpened thing that jabs from your stomach and up into your diaphragm. You hand Steve back the bag before you can eat someone else's share and decide to focus on the other negatives in your life, like your shoes. 

"Can we look for shoes soon?" you ask. 

"Yeah, honey," Steve says. Honey, honey. His voice is soft with an ever-present fatigue. 

"I don't think this cat likes me very much," Robin says, still singing. 

"She's just scared. Maybe if we leave and come back again she'll realise we're friendly," Steve says. 

"Yes sir." Robin stands, brushing herself down. "Oh, ew, Steven, how can you lie there? You know the cat's probably spayed all over that bed, right?" 

Steve springs up. "Okay, ew." 

“It’s okay,” she says. “Let’s go get some new clothes.”

It’s harder than it should be. The three of you move from store to store on high alert for what has to be an hour, searching for practical, fitting clothes. The time for modesty is over, and you take turns changing in front of one another while the others make sure you aren’t about to become naked geek feed. You’re so unclean that putting clean clothes on feels wrong, but you do it anyhow. You double back to the store with suitcases and bags and fill a suitcase to bursting point with the clothes that Joyce requested for the children. You sit yourselves down at some point, always exhausted, to try on sneakers. The relief of finding and changing into a pair that fits cannot be understated. When you’re sure there’s at least pants and a sweater for every child, you pack up and head for the fancy soap shop. 

Robin is ecstatic. Ideally, you can all carry one bag on your shoulders and pull one suitcase, so you each fill a bag with soaps and brushes and powders, figuring that if you find food or medication worth carrying you can empty one of the bags rather than double back. 

“I’m sorry we didn’t actually sleep on a mattress,” Steve says. 

Robin shrugs nonchalantly, kicking aside an empty helium tank with her foot as you pass by a card and gift store. She’s grown less happy as time goes on, unsatisfied with the day's events. Finding nice soap hadn’t felt important with no water around to use it. The cat was rabid, you’re all living off of jerky and river water, and now you have to hike home again in the dark, hours of fear and tenseness. 

“I miss your car,” Robin says. 

You hadn’t ever been in Steve’s car, but you say, “Me too.”

“Maybe we should find a real tent,” Steve says, apparently not listening. 

“Isn’t that kind of mean?” Robin asks. 

“I mean, if the others wanted a tent, they could’ve come.”

“I don’t think it's mean,” you say. “But I don’t see how we can carry it.”

“I can carry it,” Steve says. “Just a small one. Big enough for us.”

“Does us include me?” Robin asks. 

Steve laughs. “Duh, it includes you. It’s Y/N that’s gonna have to sleep outside.”

“Or me and her can have the tent and you can be our watchdog.”

“We can’t, um, stay outside forever, right?” you ask quietly. 

Steve puts his arm over your shoulder for a quick squeeze. “No, we can’t. We’ll find somewhere permanent soon. There’s barely any geeks the more we get into Michigan, who knows. Maybe there's none at all up top. But…" He lets you go. "I'll find somewhere." 

"Steve, you sound ridiculous," Robin says. "'I'll find somewhere,'" she quotes, voice deepened. 

Robin might joke, but you feel reassured by Steve's promise. You keep your head up for the rest of the day. 

— 

Later, much later, when you've travelled back to the camp with aching everythings and taken the world's coldest bath in the river nearby, you, Robin and Steve pitch your brand new tent and near collapse. It was night when you finally reached the camp that day, and so it was morning by the time you laid down. Steve has to admit that bathing and building a tent in the dark had been fun, annoying and indicative of the situation but a pleasure anyhow, to hear his favourite people in the whole world trying not to shriek at the cold water, overjoyed and laughing as you finally washed your face with real soap, and terrified that the river would knock you down. 

You're shaking with the cold now in his arms, practically sitting on his thigh as you brush his still damp hair back from his eyes. 

"I can't believe you're still cold," he says, kissing the line of your jaw affectionately. 

Robin, despite hours without sleep, had volunteered to help Sarah corral the younger kids for some early breakfast. Steve thinks it's because she likes Sarah. Your theory was that she's generous enough to give you a half hour of privacy. She's good like that. 

Whatever it is, you're alone for the first time in days. It's no different than when you're with friends, only you're touchier and Steve's an honest fool. 

You wrap one of your new blankets tighter around your shoulders and shift. "Am I hurting you?" 

"Nope." He squeezes you tightly to his front. "You're shivering. Put your hands under my shirt." 

You do it quickly, smiling like he's given you the world. "'Member when you'd let me do this? Even when we weren't really dating?" 

"We were dating," he says. 

"What, before or after the taco truck incident?" 

"Before," he says sharply. He pauses. "Alright, maybe not then. But we were definitely dating when you'd put your hands in my shirt. You don't do that for just anyone, I'm not a run around." 

"Steve, you used to let me sleep in your lap. Like, a month after we met." 

"'Cos you get so damn cold," he says. You're still shivering. He rests his cheek against your neck. "If I didn't let you, you'd spend the whole night shivering and making these really sad sounds." 

He's not even teasing. Just being honest. 

"I'm sensitive," you say. 

"You're used to sleeping indoors like a normal person." 

You ease off of his lap. He doesn't want you to; he'd keep you close forever. Plus, he feels guilty cuddling you in front of Robin because he knows public displays are uncomfortable, so he wants to really take you in while he can. 

"I have something to tell you," you say. 

"Oh?" 

"Or, something to give you. But I can tell you something if that matters." 

"Tell me anything." Everything. He wants to know everything you have to say. 

"Well… well, before this happened…" You rummage through the bag you'd brought home with you, the tip of your tongue peaking out. "You know, before the world half ended, I wasn't– I don't know if I can say it." 

"Please?" he asks. 

You pull something into your hand. "Alright. I didn't think I'd ever fall in love. And then the world ended, and I really didn't think I would, but you found me and I love you, so it wasn't true." 

He thinks about it. You, years ago, when he'd see you in the halls at school or walking home. He doesn't have much recollection of you beyond that, but it aches in a weird way to think you'd been walking around feeling like you wouldn't be loved. 

Steve licks his lips. "I get it, because I kind of worried the same thing. Like I'd keep loving people more than they loved me." 

"And then you met Robin?" 

"Exactly. She taught me more about love as my best friend than any of the girlfriends I had." 

"Well, I didn't get a Robin back then, but I have you now, and I guess I want you to know it's important to me," you say. "I know things are so hard right now, I know," —you clear your throat as emotion creeps in to your tone— "you put on a brave face for me. I know you're tired. But I keep going for you, and you keep going for me, and I want you to have something so you remember that even if I'm… not around." 

Steve sits up straight. "Hey, you're not going anywhere." 

You blink rapidly.

"Where is it that you think you're going without me?" he asks, softer. 

"Nowhere. But I just need you to know how much I loved you." 

"Love," he corrects. 

"How much I love you," you agree, sniffling. You look around at the tent floor, your shoulders raised just so. "Sorry, I'm not gonna cry or anything, I just hate thinking about it." 

You hand him something wrapped in a new sock. He bites his lip to stop from laughing at the wrapping and unpeels his gift. 

It's a watch. Silver, heavy, glass unscathed and hands tick tick ticking. Steve doesn't know if the time is accurate. His old watch broke a long time ago, but this one looks vaguely similar. 

"You gave me a necklace, once, with a little diamond. I know I don't have it anymore, I shouldn't have taken it off. But you gave it to me when I was miserable, and I know you're not miserable, but–" 

"I am," he says, rubbing his thumb over the watch. There's a tiny diamond set at the bottom of the clock face. He has no idea why, but the idea that you saw it and remembered his gift that long ago, that you wanted him to know you love him, that pays for some truth. "I'm miserable. I'm so scared for us." He breathes out hard. "Sorry." 

Steve's eyes tear up. He tries not to let it show, but he's looking down at the watch and his vision is blurring, and he's thinking Fuck, fuck, I'm crying in front of her again. 

You shuffle across the plastic floor toward him and clutch his hand. He's shaking minutely. You must feel it.

"It's okay, baby," you murmur. 

He ducks his head. 

"It's okay. I know," you say. 

"I know that you know," he says. 

"But it's hard," you prompt. 

"Yeah." 

You needle your arm behind his neck and him close. He can't hold back anymore, throwing his arms around your waist because why would you say that stuff to him? You're so evil, you're horrible, you're the very best thing that's ever happened to him and he loves you and what if you do die? Nobody will ever, ever be like you. There's no one out there with your smile, nobody who turns at the sound of his voice as you do, happy before you've set eyes on him and ecstatic when you have. 

And if you live (please, God, if you live), Steve wants to give you a better life than this. He's constantly panicking because he doesn't know how. 

But you don't mind. You don't love him less for the situation. 

"I don't even know what to tell you," you say, stroking the hair at the back of his neck tenderly, "cos I tell you I love you so much it doesn't feel like what I mean. I love you. I love you, Steve." 

He hugs you until he's not crying, wishing his cheeks would dry themselves when he finally raises his head and kisses your cheek. "Thank you," he says roughly. 

Steve sits back and wipes his nose. You offer the sock. He laughs and bats it away. 

"I love you, too," he says. He thrusts his wrist at you. "Strap me in?" 

You fasten Steve's watch and, in what's becoming a theme, you kiss his pulse. 

"Sorry things have been so hard," you say, adjusting the watch until it's sat comfortably.

"You make it easier." 

"Guys!" Robin says, forcing her way into the tent with an exuberant smile on her face. There's something in her arms, a wriggling mass of matted fur. "Look! The cat followed us home! I'm gonna name him Stinkyboy! Or Shark. Get up, I need help catching a fish!" She waves the cat's paw at you both. "I knew he liked me!" 

—-

the Steve zombie au

#steve zombie!au #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington #steve harrington fic #steve harrington blurb #steve harrington drabble #stranger things x reader #stranger things fic #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington fanfiction #stranger things #stranger things 4

[electromignion]

I FINALLY FINISHED MY BRIDGEWATER FANART‼️‼️

This is the biggest fanart I have ever done in my life so far and I put SO MANY details in it 🤧 (good luck finding them all!)

I hope you will appreciate my Jeremy Bradshaw art 🫶

Thank you so much once again @thelaurenshippen for the gem that is Bridgewater 🫶 (I promise I’ll stop @ you after that but I wanted to thank you for the support you gave me on my last drawing it meant the world to me 🥹🫶)

#Bridgewater fanart #jeremy bradshaw fanart #bridgewater #Bridgewater podcast #jeremy bradshaw #fanart #art #Misha Collins fanart #Misha Collins #Misha #i put way too much thought into this #i put way too much effort into this #Jeremy Bradshaw is my comfort character #the cat on the lockscreen is my own cat say hello to my son Patrick #x files reference #supernatural reference #Misha Collins reference #bridgewater reference

[frankieking]

Oscar's Chatter

A/N: Frankie dishes some Oscars opinions and talks about two small blind items.

"Hello, hello. It's the Monday after the Oscar's so we all know what that means? It's time for some chatter!" Frankie chuckled as the sound byte went off.

A couple of people in the studio howled and whistled and Frankie bowed. "Thank you, thank you." "You look amazing last night!" One of the producers shouted and Frankie grinned.

"Thank you! Those pearls were everywhere by the end of the night." They chuckled and gestured towards the green screen. "Oppenheimer swept the floor, Emma Stone gave us an adorable, teary speech, Robert Downey Junior won as well and Billie Eilish made us all cry. Did ya'll see John Cena half naked?? Frankie chuckled and then added. "Well, fully naked, actually. It was a drama-free night with lots of laughs, Ryan Gosling being a gem, and can we talk about the host and his fits? My God!" Frankie fanned themselves and then winked at the camera. "Babe, if you're watching this I know you agree Xavier looked fine." Frankie gestured toward the camera to follow them to their desk and they sat down, twirling in their seat. "We had some amazing red carpet looks. Florence Pugh looked amazing as always, America Ferrara shined in pink and Ryan Gosling's look was gorgeous. What was that?" Frankie asked their production team who kept tossing them commentary. "Who's dating who? What do I look like here? Gossip royalty?"

"Look, Vanessa Hudgens announcing her pregnancy at the Oscar's was a chef's kiss. I have been under a rock but I had no idea Emma had a toddler and now that I know this information she is definitely a favorite of mine. C'mon! She's adorable. I honestly didn't see anything surprising. What's that?" Frankie smirked. "I'm not pregnant. I just had a sprite and I bloat like a blimpie." They patted their tummy and laughed.

"Overall, I was glad to see everyone happy and content, people got to go home early which meant earlier after party celebrations and everyone looked pretty good."

Another sound byte came on and Frankie shook their head. "Not this." They chuckled and took the paper from their producer, waving it for the audience to see. "It's time for a blind item."

"BLIND ITEM." The sound byte played in slow motion which made Frankie laugh. "We received a blind item that Jeremy Faulkes of Ship-wrecked fame has asked for a truce with Oscar's host Xavier Mitchell. The annoucement as made after receving a congratulations from the Mitchell team. He states he's dying to work together with Xavier again and put their bad blood behind them." The audience boo'd and Frankie joined. "Not buying it, Jeremy. I hope you're ready to grovel but I'd love to have you on the Real Sheet. I have some unresolved matters to discuss." They grinned and wiggled their brows before moving on to the next blind item.

"Ah I love my production team. It's obvious we're team Xavier here or as Lisa calls him, Fancy Pants Hottie. We received a blind item of Xavier leaving the Vanity Fair after-party holding hands with a handsome man whom I have never seen in my entire life." They winked at the camera. "There isn't much information on that front. When questioned who he was with, Xavier responded with a sheepish, boyish smile and said "someone important. AWW!" Frankie slammed the paper on their desk. "As you all know, I met Xavier on Ship-Wrecked and he is the nicest peson. I suggest you leave him and this delivlish specimen he's canoodling with alone. We gave him enough strife last year and he deserves some peace and quiet and most of all, he deserves his privacy. Let's do better, people!" Frankie ripped up the paper on their desk and looked into the camera. "And Jeremy Faulkes, if you do not leave my friend alone, I will give you a bad review on the Bachelor." Their team laughed in the background and Frankie shrugged. "It's time for a commercial break. When we come back, I have Timothee Chalamet in the hot seat and we're going to see how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop!"

"ANNNNDD cut!" Lisa ran up to Frankie with their makeup team and Frankie sighed. "I don't like surprises. I won't rat out my friends."

"You handled it well. I'll see how that even got on your desk." Lisa smiled at Frankie. "So do you know the guy or not?"

"I have never seen this tall person in my life." Frankie pouted their lips for gloss and then grinned.

"So sad Fancy Pants Hottie is off the market." Lisa pouted.

"Lisa, gurrll you are married!"

"It's okay. My husband knows." Lisa chortled and Frankie joined.

"You're all troublemakers." Frankie looked over their material for the next segment and their smiled widened when their special guest walked in. "Welcome. Hope you're ready for some tough questions!"

Timothee kissed both of their cheeks and sat down. "Bring it, King."

"We're coming back to the air in 5,4,3,2..." Lisa pointed at them and Frankie batted their lashes.

"Welcome to the Real Sheet where we pretend we know what we're talking about and google to make sure we're not wrong during commercials breaks..."

#( paras. ) #oscars chatter para

[meandmyechoes]

Kingohger ep11

welp the world of kingohger is ending again

oh the mysterious debut bgm (same as Rita ep4)

QUEEN bee themed bug???!?

oh they are FEEDING the kagu racles girlies this week

robot Gira with a V hand is so cute

jokes aside Himeno's plan sounds most likely to work? Shugoddom people sure loves a god to worship. And it goes so well with Gira's love for theatrics lol

Himeno inviting Rita to speak every time is SO CUTE RITA HIME IS REALLLL

i thought they would force Rita in by saying they gave false witness hoho tho i guess the exact quote is that "Racles won the duel" but they had not stated how

HA didn't thought of Moffun to Issho would be an Ishabana production but of course it is in hindsight lol

"sh…shiranai" they hesitated!! RITA YOU LIED

the nods and blinks are so damn cute

THANK YOU THE RETURN OF RITA SCREAM

Rita being the voice of nerds again with "no spoilers" (whisper)

"stories are lies but beautiful stories can bring happiness" …foreshadow?

ahh the relaxed melody ver. of inferno is so good here

at this point it's almost like Kingohger does the usual sentai shenenigans i'm having a dissonace of how Oudou and glamorously fairy tale last week was

So the boss wanted the heroes' best all in one place togethrer to defeat them!!

only all three COMBINED is that secret treasure??!?

okay that key for THAT lock and it became WHAT is SO COOL

Jeremy's makeup looks like a court jester!

THE BUGSPRAY. TURNED THEM BACK INTO STONES. (i think?)

Still not sure about how soul gem works?? oooh so is that how the three legend gods turned into stones 2000 years ago??

is it that if you're locked in stone form you can't turn back to mech form unless released? how did racles turn the Kabutan gem purple so that he could control it? Soul gems and Mech should be separate things because we see the other 4 kings has one in the cockpit... What does the soul gem has to do with the bug god's consciousness???!?!??

Ou ni naru otoko?!!!!!?

not sure i heard this part correctly... Jeremy strikes me as a time-traveller at first impression but i don't know how they can handle that plot on top of whatever Kingohger has already going on against its 'once upon a time' fairy tale vibe (so I don't want them to go in that direction).

However, Jeremy could still be a really old almost-immortal? maybe he's from 2000 years ago as well? (Jeremy-Noel theory intensifies where he's just another species)

speaking of which Jeremy/Gira/Masahi/Taisei do have a lot in common, they share hobbies and even look alike, can see how they both got into final rounds of audition.

#kingohger #kingohger spoilers #kolb #kolbb

[herstoriies]

for the end of year ask: 4&5!

End of year asks: RPC Edition! [accepting!]

4) Have you learned any new skills through your rp blog this year?

Does learning about how to AI art count? Had some fun with that - made some Priscilla 'dageurotypes' here and this Boldini-esque portrait of her in The Baroness story!

I have some more I haven't posted yet - mostly from v: the baroness, I'll get around to it soon XD

5) Have you read/watched/played anything new thanks to the rpc this year?

As a matter of fact yes! Shoutout to @reverdies - little did anyone know I wasn't familiar with the Jeremy Brett version of Sherlock Holmes! (shocking, I know) A while back I read some of the abridged books, saw the RDJ films, a little bit of the Cumberbatch tv series, the great mouse detective, and the film Without A Clue (hilarious & a great cast imho)... but Jeremy Brett is a gem of a Sherlock portrayal I only recently discovered all thanks to looking up their face-claim!

There's also a video game called The Pale Beyond saw it on the tumblr dash (tho not from the rpc). It's right up my alley with lost polar nautical expeditions adventures lol, look forward to playing the demo.

#+ meme ans #thanks for sending these! #delanuit

[sevensistersofsussex]

hey do you have any BAMF elena fanfic recommendations? i feel like the line between elena’s compassion and her willingness to do anything to keep her loved ones safe and to win, the tenacity of all that is such a fine line. i often find elijah/elena fics where elena is just a bleeding heart and she’s obviously very compassionate and has value for life but there’s so much more to her than that. power playing with the originals, hurting herself to achieve her goals, doing anything necessary to keep jeremy safe- even if it means having him compelled- i was hoping for some fanfiction which recognises that. i’ve read quite a few of yours and i enjoy a lot of them immensely so even if you have any recommendations along those lines, i would be grateful. xx

This ask lead me to just looking through which new stories had Elena in them and so many include the "Elena Bashing" tag, which...thanks for warning me I guess?

Anyway, since I started writing, it has become increasingly more difficult to read new fics and I'm absolutely certain I'm missing some gems out there. So feel free, anyone, to add onto this list with their own 5 (Even if it's your own!)

Tenacity is such a great word for Elena. It's what her marrow is made of.

Anyway, here's a list of five.

The Stars Were Shining Brightly by adlyb (@livlepretre)

This is a really fun fic. The outwitting that Elena displays here to find herself on solid ground with Klaus. Leveraging her wits and cunning against his implicit power. It's very good. I'd also recommend diving into Fairytale Ending afterwards or any number of her other fics. The rest can be thematically a bit darker, but honestly - it tracks with a girl willing to stab herself over and over again to achieve her goals.

All Your Closets are Backlogged Dreams by IJustWoundYou (not on tumblr, but I would lose my mind if they were)

I found this one through a rec and just consumed it. Now I eagerly await new chapters. Multiple Elenas from multiple dimensions and time periods all conspiring together to save this universe's Elena from their fates. It's wonderful. It has a Klaus/Elena tag, but the relationship I'm enjoying so far the most is the friendship with Tyler. This writer only has this fic online, but like a good musical artist, the moment they drop a new single, I'll be there.

plastic crown by noimkillingboys (@jennifersminds)

This writer is imbued with some kind of imagery poetic goddess and you can't convince me otherwise. A lot of focus on Elena rejecting things society wants for her in favor of what she wants for herself and Elijah is there. No-humanity era given space to grieve and heal and taking no prisoners. The epitome of "covered in blood just girly things". This writer has other Elena-centric fics that I'd also recommend.

Riverborn by ferallahey (@feralcherry)

This is only two chapters in but the premise is amazing already. A heavy focus on the friendship between Bonnie, Caroline and Elena and the girls rejecting the toxins in their lives in favor for each other. I am so excited for any new chapters to come out and see how they all manage to navigate expelling the Salvatores from their lives.

I'll also add that this writer does a lot with OCs who are intriguing, fleshed out and unique. They have one fic that got me hooked, Lover's Prelude. It takes Elena a minute to come into her own, but when she does, it makes an impact.

Irresistible by Natasha09 (@katherineholmes)

Another Klaus/Elena fic rec, but honestly I think it's because you have to write Elena in a certain way if she's to get together with Klaus. She can't be a shrinking flower and that is absolutely the case with this fic. There's a scene, which I won't spoil, where Elena is cleaning up a mess that mirrors a lot of the vibes of the show that I adore. Elena, alone at night, dealing with something she absolutely shouldn't be but is. Definitely check out this writer's other stuff too. Make It Holy (a Klena time jump fic), Difference (a Kolena morally grey fic) and Cosmic Love (an Elejah, breaking him free fic).

#pro elena gilbert fic recs #elena is many things #and her compassion is cut by the cruel lengths she's willing to go #tenacious elena g

[bluecoffeebeanz]

cathartic media & a thank you!

I have been having some of the worst few months of my life (e.g. feeling like Roy Kent in a bin - see image below) and, yet again, this space has been so comforting to return to - thank you for your love and support for my art during a time when I've been at my lowest :')

I am trying to draw from the heart and make things that feel good - I hope it translates 💕

As a bonus, here are two shows that have been inspiring my art and truly helping me cope with my depression lately. If you're looking for something with substance and comedic relief, I'd recommend these:

🐻 🍝 The Bear (chaos, growth, and reflection - every second counts! some parts can be really intense but I've found them cathartic [also good food and jeremy allen white - need I say more])

⚽️ 🫂 Ted Lasso (a feel-good, silly but surprisingly deep little gem [healthy relationships ftw])

<3

#emotions! #tv therapy (not a supplement for real therapy but still)! #i'm not gonna lie these 2 shows have saved my ass #cathartic media #the bear fx #ted lasso #blue rambles #depression tw

[aniketsanimationblog]

Full Rant for Those who hated those Animated Series which were supposed to be the Gems, over the Years!!

Now, if you are thinking, why am I showing you this Screenshot, if you ask?? Then well, here you go!! Again!!

This is why, Real Good Animated Series don't exist or if it really exist, then all of them would be cancelled afterwards!!

Above screenshot is why Star Trek: Prodigy was cancelled and people are blaming Paramount and Nickelodeon for this!! This is why!! And this is not only the case for Star Trek: Prodigy, but for every single show, which should've deserved the love and Attention, but never got any!!

People will only love what other people watches, no matter how bad they are, and I am so afraid that this should be the new norm!!

When everyone are saying, that It's not Star Trek, it's Star Wars, you're just triggering people not to watch Star Trek: Prodigy at all!! And that's why impacted a lot for Nickelodeon and Paramount to Cancel this series we all loved!! And hence yet you're just diverting the audience to watch Miraculous Ladybug and PAW Patrol, and I'm getting back to those!!

I swear to god, whoever this person watched this series, that person is not only wanted This not to move forward, but hated this series outright from the very beginning!! Will you be happy, if you see any person or some person outright negatively reviewed your show, so that the production company behind closed doors, can cancel it?? And this argument of "Not Star Trek, it's Star Wars" just repeated so many times on the reviewing platforms, that Nickelodeon and Paramount forced to cancel this series, despite of renewing it to season 2!!

I'm sorry!! This just solidified that you just want people to watch Miraculous Ladybug and PAW Patrol and other Cash-grabbing Shows!!

And if you think this is the case for Star Trek: Prodigy alone, then you're wrong!!

This has happened same to Peter Rabbit!! Despite it was successful on Nick Jr in the US and CBeebies in the UK in first place, the cancellation fate of this series is no different to Star Trek: Prodigy, even way back in 2016!!

And now, we're on a state, where Star Trek: Prodigy fandom has to trend the #SaveStarTrekProdigy hashtag, just like The Owl House fandom were doing the same last year with #SaveTheOwlHouse, when The Owl House got Cancelled by Disney!!

Something we need to learn from the Cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy!! First, Thomas Astruc and Jeremy Zag from Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, and Second, Jennifer Dodge and Ronnen Harary from PAW Patrol!! All of you, calm down!! You're not the Gods of Animation!! This is the Reality!! Maybe Your shows are Worldwide Phenomenons, and Make Billions and Gazillions of Dollars worth of Money by Merchandise Sales from your Fandom, but if you think you all would get away with this by overshadowing other shows greater than yours to get cancelled, just know that, we, the audience, have the power to bring you all down from your uprisings!! We all love Animation, but you should stop destroying the Animation by not having a competition!! Bullshit this is!!

I may sound like a Toxic one, but I know my Instincts and my Instincts never go wrong!!

Either we should stop Watching those shows, whose behind the scenes Showrunners disrespect the audience in order to make Money or we should stop supporting Animation until things get any better!! Because this is serious, it's going out of our hands in order to save Animation!!

Thank you so much for reading this far, and Please, Be Responsible for Your Actions!!

#star trek prodigy #star trek #animation #nickelodeon #animation fandom #animation fans #animated kids show #television #save star trek prodigy #peter rabbit tv series #the owl house #boycott Miraculous Ladybug and PAW Patrol #thomas astruc and Jeremy Zag and others are destroying animation and you're not realising it #imdb.com #no regrets #i have no regrets #you cannot stop us from spilling the truth

[sunless-garden]

Hi! Hope you have a great day/night!

Just wanted to say, I'm obsessed with BTP. Your fic is so well written and amazing. I love your Elena and the way you've written Bonnie and Elijah. I'm freaked out by Klaus and I'm glad because I hate it when some writers write him as a victim who has a kind heart blah blah blah. I guess that's why I love Klena, because in KE fics Klaus always has a terrifying personality and I love it.

I have a question though, what made you ship them, and do you have any idea if you'll continue writing for them after this series is over?

Thank you so much!!! I'm so flattered that you're enjoying Beneath The Pine - you've really made my day!

I'm so glad you like my Elena! She is my favorite character on TVD, and I think she is a fascinating character - particularly because she is absolutely ruthless when it comes to protecting those that she loves. I also find it really interesting that, although she is a supernatural being, she doesn't have any supernatural abilities that she herself can exercise. It means that Elena has to be clever to survive and to protect her loved ones, and she also has a strong need for alliances (e.g., Elijah in season 2).

I find Klaus tricky to write, because I agree he should be terrifying, but I also think he's more than that. I absolutely do not think he has a naturally kind heart, but he is capable of kindness towards certain people, if he feels like he's in control and he's in the proper mood. Also, it is true that Klaus was a victim of abuse: Mikael abused him both physically and emotionally, and Esther didn't protect him from that abuse - and in fact, made it worse by intentionally weakening him and then later binding his werewolf aspect. But although that trauma influences his character, it doesn't excuse all the ways that Klaus has victimized others. Ultimately, I think Klaus's love is a very dangerous thing - look at how he treats his siblings, and Rebekah in particular.

All that said, what made me ship Elena and Klaus?

Well, I will ship Elena with just about anyone. But I find the complexity of Klena just striking. Both Elena and Klaus can love too much, which of course influences how they treat their loved ones. Compare Elena having Jeremy compelled and sending him away for his own safety, to Klaus daggering Rebekah to prevent her from leaving him. Also, I think that Elena can be her most ruthless, dark self with Klaus, and he won't turn away from her. In return, Elena has a seemingly limitless capacity for forgiveness, which Klaus unfortunately needs, given his tendency to get in his own way.

Although the fandom for Klena is small, there are some real gems: I highly recommend fics such as certain dark things by twocankeepasecret, (The Stars Were Brightly Shining) and Fairytale Ending by adlyb (@livlepretre), and Queen of the Highway by sevensistersofsussex (@sevensistersofsussex). There are tons of other great Klena fics, but those in particular really drew me in.

Regarding your second question, will I continuing writing for Klena after my The Trees Are Bare series is complete?

I think so - but we still have quite a while before my TTAB series will be complete. BTP is outlined in detail and will probably take at least another 50k words to finish. I then have the start of an outline for a sequel to BTP, which will probably end up similar in length to TTAB. I also have some ideas for a few one shots in the TTAB verse, including side stories from POVs other than Elena's. All of that will probably take me through the end of the year to complete.

Also, as I noted above, I will ship Elena will just about anyone, and I'd also like to explore some other pairings.

I might make I Ain't Letting Up Until The Day I Die into an Elejah series - one that deals with the implications and consequences of Elena's sire bond with Damon.

I would also like to transform my series of Kolena ficlets in A Million Might Have Beens into one coherent multi-chaptered fic. (Currently I think of this as my Kolena Flower Language verse.)

I also have some other fic ideas brewing, but the above are my most immediate priorities.

Thanks again for this ask!

#fic: the trees are bare #fic: beneath the pine #elena gilbert #pro elena gilbert #elena x klaus #klena #klaulena #vampire diaries #vampire diaries fanfiction

[tedlyanderson]

Say Ted, I was wondering about something. You remember in Friends Forever #29 where Maud and Rarity meet at a gem convention? Any idea if that was meant to be taking place in a specific city? And while I'm at it, was Cantertine-featured in the same issue-supposed to be the same place as Canterine, mentioned in Friendship is Magic #37? I know it's been a while since both issues were published, but I'd appreciate any clarification.

Hey! Thank you so much for asking!

I actually didn't remember much about the writing of this issue, so I went back to the source: I checked the script I'd written for FF#29. The city where the convention takes place isn't mentioned, and I don't believe I had a particular location in mind. But! In the script, I specifically mention that Cantertine is a reference to FiM#37! I believe I liked the joke that Jeremy Whitley had made in that issue and wanted to give it a nod.

(Whitley and I became pals on the pony beat: he brought back one of my characters from the movie prequel series in one of the later FiM issues, and he gave a lovely blurb on my book Side Effects! Friendship really is magic.)

Thank you for the question!

#friendship is magic #mlp comics #mlp annotations #writing

[wolfclaire]

If one of the villagers could hurt spider gem and get away with it would they do it? Because the fact that they seemed upset that the other sisters found spider gem is really sad

WE NEED JUSTICE FOR SPIDER GEM

Hi, thank you for your ask!

Physically, no. They cannot hurt Spider as much as they would want to, because that would be found out (they do remember what happened to Fisherman Jeremy).

On the other hand, when none of the other siblings are present (or is just Moth), they don't mind to call Spider some...not so great names or they use their own ways to show how they do not like her (for example extremely expensive trades)

Villagers are finnicky beings, easily manipulatible and controlable, but they are afraid of everyhing hostile (which is actual true and not something that Moth uses as a reason). They were distraught and afraid of Illager Gem, they even send an Iron Golem on them. They do nto have problems with them now, because they saw how they sacrificed themselves to save one of them own - Villager Gem.

They aren't afraid nor distraught of Zombie Gem tho, they knew them as a Villager and all of them remember what she did for them. She stood up agaisnt that monster and lost her life in order to protect them.

Spider Gem didn't do anything like that. She puts her webs up, she gets in the way, and what are rumours to believe, she is actually dangerous.

#alone together #alone together ask #anon ask #geminitay #spider gem #zombie gem #robot gem #moth gem

[chillwithnea]

Eating Disorder Recovery: The REAL Work

*In this article, I refer to restrictive eating disorders and share about my experience. I do not mention or write about binge eating disorder. 

Years ago, when I was in the depths of anorexia, I thought if I just could eat freely and no longer had urges to exercise ‘till exhaustion my problems would be solved. I didn’t know at that time that this was just scratching the surface and that the true work will begin when the body and the eating habits are stabilized and normalized (i.e. no longer restricting or controlling intake or trying to manipulate the body).

I was wearing the same rose-colored glasses prior to developing the ED in the first place: thinking losing weight and changing my body would solve everything. Which then switched to: thinking restoring my health and normalizing my eating and exercise patterns would solve everything.

ꜰʀᴇᴇ workbook to help you to get out of the manifestation trap, to tap into your desires and embody them ʜᴇʀᴇ

My true journey started after that. The eating disorder opened the doorways to myself. To finally look deep inside, what’s truly going on inside the mystery of my being. To confront myself with my trauma, unprocessed pain, and emotions — all those things that kept the self-destructive behaviors in place.

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

After the first year in recovery (around the end of 2014), I discovered Yoga. I already practiced meditation, and Yoga showed me a different approach to movement. Of moving with my body instead of against it. I prefer using the word movement over exercise, the energy behind it is so different. Similiar to saying energy instead of calories.

After dipping my toes into my inner world, I realized that I was terrified of facing myself, that everything that I’m afraid of, that the conflicts I thought I had in the external world, the fears, the chaos, all of that was actually happening in my body. And guess what, in order to process and work through this, I had no other choice but to develop a deep relationship with my body and thus with my intuition. 

You cannot live a heart-centered life without getting out of your head and facing your demons.

I had to learn (and still do) to observe my thoughts and emotions instead of identifying and believing in them. They come up to be released. The biggest challenge was to let the eating disorder identity die — what I was so afraid of. I built such a intimate relationship with my demon — the ED that I was scared as shit about losing. 

“Who am I without the ED?” It gave me a false sense of safety and comfort, the place I could always return to. The perfect distraction from my “real” issues. 

Anyway, over the years I discovered spirituality, tools like shadow integration, nervous system regulation and plant medicine. 

Mother Ayahuasca taught me that only thanks to my body I’m able to live this human experience. Iboga showed me next-level grounding and how it truly feels like to be in my body.

Fast forward, no matter where you are in your life, you have to face and embrace yourself, especially these parts you tend to disown and feel ashamed of. There is no escape. And no matter how uncomfortable and chaotic it might be, it will become easier with time, and you will discover gems, hidden treasures inside of yourself, and most of all, you’ll find the greatest treasure — your true Self. Your true nature. 

For me, life is no longer about striving to look a certain way or to measure my worth based on accomplishments and productivity (which is tbh still a practice and like a workout in the cosmic gym — to train my mental and spiritual muscles). It is about returning back to nature, to live and flow like it which is lifelong practice, a way of living. Because the most of us grew up relying purely on our logical minds, disconnecting from Mother Earth, and thus didn’t learn to listen to our intuition and to work with our bodies. 

Our bodies hold so much wisdom and are, at least in my opinion here to navigate us through life and our minds are powerful tools for our imagination. 

As human beings, we are part of nature and meant to function like it as well which means non-linear is the new linear, and slow is the new fast. Living from the inside out instead of living from the outside in.

#ig: @gardenofnea / @gimmeabreak.podcast #ed recovery #ed warrior #eating disorders #body image healing #body shame #food freedom #anti diet #diet culture dropout #radical self love #mental health #mental health blog #self harm #loa #spiritual awakening #mindfulness #yoga #plant medicine #ayahuasca #iboga #psilocybin #shrooms #essstörung #selbstliebestärken #自己愛 #자기애

[docrotten]

THE INCUBUS (1981) – Episode 236 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“Thank you. I have work to do. And you have your work to do. I don’t like to be berated by Hank! Or anyone.”  It seems that Hank’s at it again. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Crystal Cleveland, and Jeff Mohr – as they get down and dirty with The Incubus (1981).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 236 – The Incubus (1981)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror 1980s is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL Which now includes video episodes of DoH 1980s! Available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, Online Website. Across All OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop. https://wickedhorrortv.com/

A small town’s doctor takes matters into his own hands after a series of gruesome and bizarre rape crimes perplex the clueless authorities.

  Director: John Hough

Writers: Ray Russell (novel by), George Franklin (screenplay)

Cinematography by: Albert J. Dunk (director of photography)

Selected Cast:

John Cassavetes as Sam Cordell

John Ireland as Hank Walden

Kerrie Keane as Laura Kincaid

Helen Hughes as Agatha Galen

Erin Noble as Jenny Cordell (as Erin Flannery)

Duncan McIntosh as Tim Galen

Harvey Atkin as Joe Prescott

Harry Ditson as Lt. Drivas

Mitch Martin as Mandy Pullman

Matt Birman as Roy Seeley

Beverly Cooper as Pru Keaton (as Beverley Cooper)

Brian Young as Charlie Prescott

Barbara Franklin as Mrs. Pullman

Wes Lee as Mr. Pullman

Neil Dainard as Ernie Barnes

Jennifer Leak as Deena Ferrin

Denise Fergusson as Carolyn Davies

Jack Van Evera as Matt Davies

Helene Udy as Sally Harper (as Helen Udy)

Lisa Bunting as Anita Barnes

Michelle Davros as Jane Barnes (as Michele Davros)

Jefferson Mappin as Clem

James Bearden as Lacey

Alan Bridle as Interrogator

Jude Beny as Witch

Jeremy Hole as Torturer #1

Brian Montague as Swimmer

Dirk McLean as The Incubus

For this episode, the Grue-Crew follows actor John Cassavetes to Wisconsin to battle the shapeshifting slasher in the Canadian gem, The Incubus. The film is directed by John Hough, the director behind the Hammer film Twins of Evil (1971), the horror classic The Legend of Hell House (1973), a pair of Disney “Witch Mountain” films, and the car chase cult favorite Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974). Part Supernatural, part slasher, part Satanism, part mystery, this adaptation of Ray Russell’s 1976 novel of the same name provides plenty for the Grue-Crew to sink their teeth into. 

At the time of this writing, The Incubus is available to stream with ads from Tubi and Pluto TV, as well as from multiple PPV sources. The film is available on physical media as a Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome. 

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Jeff, will be Poison for the Fairies (1986), directed by Carlos Enrique Toboada and winner of four Silver Ariel Awards as well as the Golden Ariel for Best Picture and five other nominations.

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at [email protected].

Check out this episode!

[darwindawkins]

Ill pass on #Kroger. Yet another GREAT experience at our local grocery store thanks to Jeremy G and all the staff at #GemCityMarket. Store was fantastic. Wide variety and selection. Organic and non always available. Quality ready made meals or anything you need for something at home. Great 🍷#Wine 🍷 selection, and very convenient to Downtown #Dayton! Well done and keep up the great work. #MontgomeryCounty #Ohio #StayLocal #KeepItLocal #community #GemCity #GemCityMarket #MarketFresh #Kettering #Vandalia #Springboro #HuberHeights #Fairborn #Market #WestSide #Hometown #DYT #YMCA #DaytonStrong #oregondistrictdayton #oregondistrict #Grocery #groceryshopping (at Gem City Market) https://www.instagram.com/p/ChTG10aOcpw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#kroger #gemcitymarket #wine #dayton #montgomerycounty #ohio #staylocal #keepitlocal #community #gemcity #marketfresh #kettering #vandalia #springboro #huberheights #fairborn #market #westside #hometown #dyt #ymca #daytonstrong #oregondistrictdayton #oregondistrict #grocery #groceryshopping