#why do almost all babies look like smaller old people

[fluffbeast7]

My shot at what your lil creature might heve looked like

AW FRESH BABY

from his adult size, ''fresh baby'' is actually a bit bigger than what some people expected him to be aksjd

little.. nakey monster.. hmm :)

#AASDJH TY SO MUCH THO #and this looks so cool #and accurate!! #LIL SNOOT SUN OOOHHHH #AAWWW MY HEART #THE FEETSIES #AIJHSDI #why do almost all babies look like smaller old people #ASJDAH #they look so somft #snake sun #owl moon #sun and moon monster au

[lolita-lollipop]

A green dress

MILES QUARITCH X READER

(Implied age gap, quaritch just being whipped, his team laughing at him for it)

The first time quaritch saw you, was at a banquet, held for hugh ranking military officials in their honor.

You were younger than most of the honored officials here, wearing a short little green dress, one that hugged your waist snugly, and little heels that did absolutely nothing other than exxentuate how much smaller you were than all the giant military men and women here. Not covered in tattoos, not almost 7 feet tall, not muscular like you worked out every day. It intrugued him, usually only the same type of people showed up to these events, people that were either required to go, or people that wanted to come to talk about themselves. You certainly werent at all like him.

You didnt seem like either of those people, you didnt necessarily look unhappy to be here, unlike those who were glued to their phones with a scowl, you were sitting with a pleasent smile, tucked in a corner of the room. But you also werent exactly social, it was obvious you knew nobody here, unlike those who were flaunting their medals and drinking like there was no tommorow, you just sat there in your little green dress and tiny heels, staring at the people around. On the occassion a man or a woman would try to get you to dance with them, but you would politely decline.

It confused him honestly, a pretty girl like you coming to an event like this, and not wanting to go home with someone. Even though quaritch was engaged in a conversation with his team, he couldnt peel his eyes off of you, couldnt stop trying to figure you out, figure out why you were. Figure out why he felt like he had to figure you out. It was so strange, he would try to come up and talk to you, puffing his chest out and standing up as tall as he could, but the second he would come even close, those eyes of yours, that dress, made him feel like a silly llittle schoolboy, and he would turn around.

How silly was that? Colonol miles quaritch, a man who had come back to earth for a few weeks for a series of parties in his honor , the guy who traveled space and invaded planets with a cold heart, the strongest fifty-something here was too shy to talk to a girl.

By the time he had finally mustered up the courage to go up to your table, your bag wasnt on the seat anymore, your chair was pushed in nice and neat, you had left before he even got the chance to say a word to you. The teasing from his team was endless. Lynel went as far as to call quaritch a little baby boy,

Lynel also happened to get punched in the face that night, by some coincidence.

----

The next time he saw you, you were wearing the same exact little green dress, and the same exact little black heels, this time you had your hair tied back though, but you were just as beautiful as last time. You still acted the same, sitting alone fiddling with the napkin at your table, watching and listening to the people around, refusing the occasional request to dance. Still catching the complete attention of the one and only Miles Quaritch.

Except this time, he wasnt going to chicken out. The second he saw you, he completely walked away from lynel and his squad, they all wolf whistled and hooted as he made his way along. Doing the same thing as last time, puffing out his chest and flexing, appearing as strong as he could. Miles quaritch was an attractive man, and he no doubt knew it, but still, the thought of you looking at him and seeing a weak old man, that made him feel sick. He wouldnt let you think that. You couldn’t.

He pulled out the chair next to you, settling himself down, leaning back and spreading his legs, towering over you even as he sat down. You payed no acknowledgement, seemingly lost in your own train of thought, your hands fiddled with the napkin, folding and pulling at the threads. Your eyes were fixed on one of the walls in the bright room, wide, staring. It was honestly adorable, you were completely zoned out, completely oblivious.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing at an event like this?” he spoke, placing his elbows on the table and setting a hand on top of the napkin, his words snapped you out of your trance. And you locked eyes with his, the colonels squad was hooting and screaming like madmen in the corner, he paid absolutely no attention to them. You stared at him for a moment, or more so stared up at him, pulling your hands away from the napkin, and unintentionally making his hand fall in your lap. Your dress was velvet, he hadnt realized.

“Hm?” you let out, staring at him with those eyes of yours. God you were so gorgeous, up close it was even better. And you looked even cuter with that confused look on your face, your voice was high pitched, laced with a little bit of that far away look you had just moments ago.

“I mean i would hate to assume, but you don't look like the type of crowd i would see here. Not many of us look like… you. “ he drawled in his southern accent, you tensed when he didnt make any move to take his hand out of your lap. Quaritch had to hold back the string of complements he wanted to give to you, not wanting to freak you out more, as you already looked like a deer in headlights.

“Oh- i-im not in the military. Im an intern- uh- in science. I’m just trying to get my masters right now- um. My boss wanted me to come in case he needed a ride home.” you spluttered, now understanding his question. Yes, quaritch scared you, being tall, wise, big, strong, heartless in a way that no man here was, obviously he was intimidating, especially since youd known how he felt about science. Safe to say colonel miles quaritch was not someone who went by the books. You, on the other hand, were the exact opposite. It wasnt your fault you could barely string out a sentence to the man, he was scary, even to some of the highest military officials. Let alone a little intern to a little company.

“A scientist huh? Whaddya study?” he finally retracted his hand, and you relaxed, only for him to give you a stare that pierced into the center of your heart, a gaze that confused you, made you feel strange. He let a smirk splay across his face, understanding what he was doing to you, all of his confidence came back to him when he saw the way you couldnt meet his gaze, instead looking down at your hands, and fiddling your thumbs.

“Oh- I work in software engineering- I help design technology that you guys use up there- like those masks.” You replied in a hushed tone, still staring down into your lap. He perked an eyebrow at you, still letting that smirk of his burn itself in your brain. The room around seemed to paying much more attention to the two of you than their own conversations, the only little scientist in the room having a conversation with miles quaritch.

“Well isnt that adorable? You must like it-” he continued in that teasing tone that very clearly made your cheeks heat up. You really couldnt tell if you wanted him to keep talking or if you wanted him to go away. It was decided for you though, when your boss, wearing a fitted black suit covered in medals and awards he won, placed his hand on your shoulder and squeezed a little too hard for quaritches liking, you let out a squeak in suprise.

“Time to leave, im getting tired. Get up and take me home.” The short little man kept his hand on your shoulder, and stared at quaritch, who was scowling at him for interrupting him. Nobody did that, he was especially annoyed that it was when he was talking to you, in fact if it werent for you here he wouldve punched the guy in the face. The man paid no respect to you, ordering you around like a little servant, and you just let him, bless your heart, it made quaritch want to stab him more than hes ever wanted to stab anybody.

“Yes sir. Uhm- bye.” you finally met the giant mans eyes for a split second, a vulnerable, almost scared look laced throughout, it was obvious, the man with his hand on your shoulder scared you, and you couldnt do anything about it.

“Bye sweetheart, see ya next time” And with a threatening stare sent to your boss from quaritch, you picked up your little green handbag, and pushed in your chair, walking away at your bosses tail. Your little heels clicked against the floor, and quaritch watched as your green dress disappeared in the crowd of people.

Fuck.

---

The last time quaritch saw you on earth, you were still wearing that same little green dress he had grown to look out for, yet again at another party, the final one he would be attending before returning to pandora. Except this time, he showed up early, and he wasnt letting you slip away, not like the other times.

Immediately upon seeing you, fiddling with the napkin again, a habit that he’d figured you’d picked up out of boredom, he took no time in walking away from lyle, cutting their conversation short, and pulling up a chair again, like last time. But he had a plan now, and he knew it wouldnt fail, it couldn’t.

“Theres my favorite software engineer. I don't think I introduced myself last time, it's Quaritch, Colonel Miles Quaritch.”

“Oh. Yeah, I know.” you softly spoke, placing the napkin down this time and actually meeting his gaze, you were short, and curt. You werent like this last time he spoke to you, you didnt give him a pleasant smile, You werent open and sweet like last time. You looked more like a scared child than a scientist with a phd. You had this look in your eyes, basically telling him to go away, like you would get in trouble if he didnt.

“Oh? I must be pretty popular for a girl like you to know about me. Got a reputation right?” he teased, letting that predator-like smile of his spread across his face, the man stared down at you waiting for you to reply. You just sat there, curling in upon yourself, trying to sink into the seat and disappear. He didnt know what was wrong, but you clearly were almost scared of speaking to him, and he didnt like it, not one bit.

“Uhm- sir. I’m not supposed to talk to you, please go away.” you looked back into your hands, further bending your posture, which only made you look smaller than you were, at least compared to how he saw you. THe more he looked at you, the more he noticed, That little green dress of yours was starting to wear down, the emerald green fading to grey, the shoulders stretching out slightly. Your words brought a frown across his already- naturally angry face.

“And why not?” Those words alone had your breath hitching, a sense of mild stress humming at the back of your brain, you could feel your bossses eyes on you.

“I-i don't know. My boss just told me not to.” You sent a glance to the fat man standing in a tight fitting black suit, the man was standing there, staring right back, a threatening glare set in his features. So thats what it was. Quaritch was already a violent man, being the one leading expiditions against the natives of pandora. And he certainly didnt think he could further his violence, but oh boy did he want to now.

“Well then, i’ll make this quick. I want you to work for me, cupcake.” He spoke, louder than the rest of the room, intentionally of course, he wasnt intending on making a scene at first. But now he wanted your boss to hear, he wanted your boss to know that he was the man you were leaving him for.

“Uh- what?” you barely spluttered out, eyes locked on your boss, or soon to be old boss. The thought alone of working for such a man scared you, sure, you didnt like your boss, not one bit, but he wasnt all bad, he sometimes let you go home for lunch, or if he didnt want his moring coffee he would let you have it. You didnt know colonel miles quaritch, yes, you knew of him, and what you knew of him wasnt good, he was cruel, killed so many, broken so much equipment. Payed no reguard for the world around him.

But.. he also seemed so nice. He asked you about your work, complimented you and what you did, called you pretty. So much nicer than your own boss had ever been. Would it really be all that bad? You already worked in a government job, but you were more of an assistant than a scientist, if you actually went to pandora you would be able to see so much more, do so much more. You could gain a title, an actual place.

“You wouldnt be an assistant anymore- and we sure got more science up there than youll ever see down here. Ill treat ya real nice, don't worry. So whaddya say?” he spoke, the country drawl behind his voice coming out, one that made you nervous. He placed a hand on your shoulder, forcing you to look up at him, you stayed silent, doing nothing but staring at him with those wide eyes of yours.

“Cmon, Ill pay you triple whatever he is, and all travel and housing is free. Ill even buy you a new little dress. “ His hand squeezed gently, and you couldnt help but think that the rumors about this man werent all true, he seemed so soft, so gentle. Not yelling at you, paying respect to your work, treating you like a person, not an object. Although the things he made you feel were strange, and confusing, what could be the worst that could happen.

Well, for starters, this could be a trick and you could die up there, or be abused, or working as a scientist for the military on another planet wouldnt turn out exactly how you wanted it to. You knew you should say no, say that you wanted to stay down here on earth, where it's safe, where it's quiet, where youre just an assistant, you knew you shouldnt, you knew you should say no, you knew that this was a bad idea. You HAD to say no, you have to.

“O-okay, Ill have to turn in my two weeks though- so i cant go very soon- and I have a cat so that might-”

“Don't worry darlin, ill get it all sorted out for you, just oack up all your pretty little things and ill do the rest.”

---

Quaritches sqad had known what quaritch felt about you, since the first time hed seen you and his eyes didnt leave the little woman in the little green dress and little black heels, none of them wouldve ever assumed a soft girl like you, a scientist no less, to be his type. But still, there you were, shyly staring at the man. None of them had ever seen quaritch look like he did right now, look like he actually wanted something, like he had to work for it.

Oh my god he looked like a lost puppy.

They all cackled at the man, giggling like toddlers when he came back all red like a little schoolboy. The same man that yelled at them day and night folding for some little intern? Unheard of. They were beyond shocked when they saw you again, and yet again, their boss approached you, shock turned to laughter and more drinks soon, and by the end of the night, so many theories had been made on you.

Maybe you were the daughter of someone important

Maybe you were rich

Maybe quaritch liked younger women

Maybe you were just sweet

You certainly looked the type

No matter how hard they tried to find the exact reason quaritch liked a soft little thing like you, they couldn’t place it. It suprised them to no end when he told them how he was taking you out on a date the last day he was staying on earth. Him? Taking a girl out? Unheard of. What’s next, a pretty little picnic with butterflies and rainbows?

Nope.

Something even more shocking.

“Team, meet our newest addition, y/n. We’re gonna treat her real nice right? “ the man had a hand placed on your shoulder in a protective stance, daring any single one of them to say anything that would make you uncomfortable. The team connected eyes, holding back small snickers at how possessive the colonel was acting. He didn’t even seem to realize it either.

“Ehm- yes. Hi, I’m y/n” oh god- everything about you was just the exact opposite of quaritch, soft, timid, almost spacy. Lynel locked eyes with his boss for a few seconds, a mischievous smirk splayed across his face.

“Of course we will, after all that trouble little miles over here had to go through to get you- wouldn’t want to-“ he begun teasing, but was promptly met with a boot to the face. The team giggled at Lynel gargling under quaritch foot, but he payed no mind. Placing a hand around your waist and sending a glare back to the group, all who were smirking and smiling like he’d said something stupid, quaritch begun walking, you in tow.

“Now, let me show you your new room,

Cupcake”

———————————————————————

Please leave any comment at all on what you think, just seeing those comments makes me happy, and don’t think I don’t read each one individually.

The way I know quaritch is literally a mass murderer but I don’t even care- like I didn’t know I had these issues until I started having these issues.

Not requested, just noticed a lack of quaritch content that appealed to me ( aka not smut) and wanted to make it a reality. Stilll, thank you so much for reading!

Anyway, have a great day! Bye!

#avatar x you #avatar #avatar the way of water x reader #avatar x reader #avatar x y/n #avatar imagine #avatar the way of water #avatar quaritch #miles quaritch #quaritch fanfic #quaritch imagine #quaritch x you #miles quaritch x reader #quaritch x reader #quaritch x y/n #x reader #soft yandere #quaritch #fem reader #young reader #short reader #recom quaritch #sfw

[inkdrinkerworld]

Hi! Love your blog. Its totally fine if you haven't/say no but have you ever thought about softdom! Spencer Reid having a lactation kink too? Like maybe he really enjoys it ever since you had the baby but also does it to help you out when youve already breastfed baby according to schedule, and they're too full and uncomfortable.

omg yes!! this is such a smart thought! cw: lactation!kink, mom!reader, dad!spence

spencer was nervous to bring it up first, especially when you had started overproducing.

you’d feed your baby, pump and bag milk and still be full.

it was more milk than either of you knew what to do with and spencer had read that breast milk is good for people of any ages.

“bug, can i try something?” he asks as he tucks your daughter into her cot beside your bed.

“try what spence?” you’re still full of milk and your breasts are a little hard as you press on them.

“i read that you can consume breast milk no matter how old you are and seeing that you’re overproducing i thought,” he runs a hand through his hair as his cheeks heat.

“i thought i could help.” he shrugs as he sits on the bed beside your thighs.

“if you think it’d help and if you’re not grossed out by it.” spencer’s eyes go wide.

“grossed out? i’m not grossed out by you. plus breast milk contains lots of lymphocytes that help with fighting infections.”

you chuckle and nod, “if you’re sure,” spencer is a thousand percent sure.

he lays in your lap, and tugs the straps of your nursing bra down. “you can’t have them both down,” you say sternly but spencer is already latching onto your exposed nipple. “spence,” you gasp, hand combing back his hair as he pulls milk. “feels good.”

he smiles around your nipple and his hand goes to your other exposed nipple and thumbs at it.

spencer times himself, ten minutes on one side and then he moves away. “did that help, darling?” milk is pooled at the corners of his mouth and his eyes have gone a little droopy.

your hand touches the top of your boob and you sigh as it feels soft and looks smaller than the other.

“yeah spence, thanks.” you say, already reaching for your pump to do the other side when spencer bats your hand.

“i wanna do the other side too.” he attaches to your other nipple before you can say anything else.

spencer spends a little longer on the other side, it takes more time to get the milk flowing. he understands why your daughter favours your other nipple.

“you’re an amazing husband, you know that?” you say as he pulls off and fixes the strap of your nursing bra.

spencer’s eyes are almost completely closed as he blushes. “you’re an amazing wife.” his words are slurred as he rolls over to his side of the bed. “they didn’t say that breast milk makes you lethargic in all those books.”

that makes you giggle softly as you slide down the bed and lay so your foreheads are touching. “i think that’s more to do with the suckling motion.”

your fingers brush his forehead and his hairline, watching his eyes flutter shut. “are you tired?” spencer asks and you smile.

this is your husband, the man who, even on the verge of sleep he wants to know if you are too. you’re positive if you tell him you’re wide awake he’d hold his eyes open till you were.

“yeah, if you give me a kiss first.” spencer puckers his lips and presses his lips to your jaw then your lips.

“i love you,” he slurs and you hum, tucking your face under his jaw.

“i love you too, spencer. get some sleep my love.”

#spencerreid #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid one shot #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid drabble #spencer reid fic #dr spencer reid #spencer reid x black!reader #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x yn #dr ​spencer reid #cw:lactation kink #cw: lactation kink

[mono-dot-jpeg]

a child and their 9ft pet - astral express crew

summary; the adventures of a 7 year old and their large mythical beast called ossy.

genre/extra tags; bullet fic/headcanons, anxious! reader, reader is connected to most animals (but mostly their companion), reader is from the luofu, i made reader a bit know it all sassy but it's okay it's only for a little bit, reader is a smart baby

[platonic] [7 year old! reader] [gender neutral! reader]

[buy me a kofi to support!]

a/n; this is the most steven universe shit i've seen /j /nm, that's what popped into my mind upon reading this ask. nothing wrong with it. just pointing it out KSDJKSJ also this is based off lion dog from chinese mythology which is what i assume you were describing from the shih tzu and also im rather familiar with the lion dog myself as someone who used to visit temples with my family (love those statues). anyways, hope you enjoy, you didn't really specify what type of work you wanted, so i did bullet fic/hcs

the crew met you when you were trying to avoid them

you're not really normal in the luofu, you were not really an anomaly but you weren't a normal kid either.

the general knew of you due to your larger than life pet.

well... it was more of a beast of mythic lore turned real but who's arguing about definitions here?

even if your pet was in a smaller form, they were still pretty big. about 4ft. maybe twice your height almost

but jingyuan let you have your pet as long as you weren't making trouble

anyways, back to the actual subject at hand.

the astral crew needed to find you since you were supposedly the young scholar of the luofu who seemed to know everything and loved learning about everything

you were almost a historian some would even say

but you didn't really like the idea of being a historian

you just like learning about everything

but you weren't the best around people

so when you met the crew .. .

you jumped right into your pet's fur, disappearing without a trace

"HUH?!"

"how did they disappear like that?"

"did they just jump into that animal's fur?"

march tries to reach out, but the dog barks angrily and backs up

"okay okay! sorry.. puppy?"

"they're not a puppy!" your voice erupts from the soft fur of the dog (?) your head pops up startling the express crew, "they're a lion! get it right!" you scolded them.

"but they don't look like a lion."

"and you don't look like a local, so what's it to you!?" you huffed. "you don't know everything about the luofu!"

"that's why we're here. we need to know more about the history of your home." the eldest man, welt yang, spoke gently. "general jingyuan sent us."

you sigh as you cuddle into your pet's fur, still leaving the crew to wondering how you're being contained in it. "okay. what do you want to know?" and you begrudgingly answer their questions. you eventually leave your pet's fur and they keep your feeling less anxious about the strangers who imposed on your reading time.

and that's it for now.

the crew is mildly concerned and curious about you\

they spot you around different parts of the luofu as they continue their adventure.

let's say that they even had more time to get to know you better. how you're kind of a wild card for the luofu cloud knights and how you'd rather do a plain hobby than fight.

but you're perfectly capable of doing so

well, mostly your pet.

boy were they shocked when they saw your already large ish lion change and grow into a true creature of mythology, and fought the marastruck with ease.

"no chewing! marastruck isn't good for your diet!" you had scolded after the fight was over. "put them down ossy!" despite their cowering size, they almost shrink at your words and remind the crew of a sad puppy or cat. but ossy listens to you and spits out the marastruck, letting it disintegrate into the air.

yeah.. the crew was even more curious after that.

trailblazer was the only brave enough to speak what they were all thinking. what is your pet and how did you get them?

and you told them the simple story that you gained them as a family heirloom and bonded a contract with them. you even formed other contracts with other animals but not as strong as ossy's contract.

ossy was sort of a present from your family as you came from a line of mythic beast tamers and now you're here with them

and after that, you visit the express once in a while with ossy by your side to get a break from the streets of luofu

you take up your other hobbies when you're in the express, often knitting or drawing and you make drawings and little bracelets from the crew. while your drawings and knitting works arent as amazing as your knowledge, you don't mind because it just means more to learn and improve on.

you love being with the crew now and you love ossy more than ever of course!

#honkai star rail x reader #honkai star rail welt #honkai x reader #honkai star rail dan heng #hsr march 7th #honkai star rail march 7th #caelus honkai star rail #stelle honkai star rail #caelus x reader #stelle x reader #march 7th x reader #welt yang x reader #dan heng x reader

[propertyofrjl]

As someone who is currently rewatching all of Aphmau's series and has major brain rot over the Aphverse, i am desperate to find a fic where some of the mystreet people get somehow transported to the MCD universe. BECAUSE IMAGINE THE ANGST POTENTIAL IF MYSTREET!ZANE WAS IN THIS GROUP OMG.

MCD!Garroth having to see what he could have had with his own brother if things were different is breaking my heart.

OH OH OH BUT ALSO

Right imagine this little mystreet group is also when they're teenagers, smol little Zane being transported to a world where pretty much everyone despises him because MCD!Zane is the embodiment of evil.

Like, maybe little Aphmau and Zane get separated from the others and end up in Phoenix drop, they manage to make it to the town square where Molly is coming back from praying to Irene, and she sees Zane, the man who hurt her precious baby and used dark magic on their town. Molly then runs to alert whichever guard she can find (it just so happens that Laurence, Garroth and Dante are all leaving the guard tower for their respective patrols at that moment)

These men run to the town square, fearing the place they are sworn to protect is under attack by one of the most dangerous tyrants of their time, and they come to find not only Zane (who's looking around with a sour look on his face, and albeit a little smaller than Garroth remembers) but also the woman they spend their lives protecting (and two of said party are definitely, totally, not in love with her...)

And when i say they're teenagers, i mean the first season of PDH vibes, so Zane and Aphmau with these squeaky voices and no social skills, and Aphmau has spent most of her time looking around in awe up until that point because OH MY IRENE ZANE IT'S JUST LIKE MY GAME!!!

Laurence moves first, rushing over he knocks Zane to the ground harshly before yanking Aphmau away, to which she screams because this tall, scar covered, very scary looking version of her friend (or maybe crush depending on when in PHD this happens) has picked her up far too easily for her liking and she's worried about Zane.

Then Garroth and Dante move in, and suddenly Zane is being looked down upon by his big brother with such a look of disgust and hatred that has never happened before. Garroth loves Zane. Sure they disagree and fight every now and then, they're brothers, but Zane knows Garroth loves him and would keep him safe, and even though he wouldn't admit it, Zane loves his brother too. But the scary and hate filled man standing above him does not make Zane feel safe, and a flush of fear runs through him, followed by watery eyes and embarrassment because why is he feeling so weak and despised by one of the only men in his life who's provided a steady stream of love (unlike his dad)

And when Zane pulls his shaking hands up in surrender, with this wounded animal look upon his face, MCD!Garroth almost has to double take, because not even as children has he ever seen Zane look at him with such fear, the only man who'd ever brought fear upon Zane's face was their father, and maybe that gives Garroth his own little internal crisis because he's tried so hard to be nothing like dear old dad.

BUT ALSO, LETS PICTURE THIS

The rest of the group (let's say...Laurence, KC and Garroth) show up, and they try to find a way home without the help of the villagers of Phoenix drop, only to be attacked and have Zane kidnapped by people MCD!Zane has royally pissed off. The little group run back to Phoenix drop for help, and all the MCD lot just can't seem to understand why these little versions of themselves/their friends want to help Zane of all people so badly. It takes the Garroths having a full on row over it and Mystreet!Aph breaking down in tears to get people to help (because how can Laurence and Garroth watch a small version of the woman they love sob and not do something to try and help?) and obvi Lord Aphmau was on board the moment they asked and was going to do it alone before her Guards through out their protests and Little Garroth decided to cuss out MCD!Garroth for "abandoning his baby brother" (which is where the fight started)

...

Maybe I should write this myself...

Anyway, that's where my brain has gotten me today.

#aphmau #aphmau minecraft diaries #aphmau mcd #aphmau fandom #aphmau mystreet #garroth ro'meave #laurance zvahl #zane ro'meave #ro'meave brothers angst #mcd x mystreet #i cant with this brainrot

[balkanradfem]

So, I've decided to start learning biology.

My education left me with only primary school biology knowledge, because I had zero biology lessons in high school, and now I find myself sorely lacking in knowledge. Which is inconvenient, now that I'm sick and have no idea what to do. I didn't know where to start, but my roommate is in high school right now, and I borrowed her biology textbook to get myself started.

The biology textbook was so misinformed and outdated it made me worry for the education system. Not only they didn't update any info from the last 40 years, some of the info was completely wrong. For instance, it claims there's 6 billion people on the planet (there's 8), and that there's 6 empires of all living things (there's 8, and some of the old ones have been renamed and disputed). I learned quickly to fact-check every bit of information on wikipedia, and this is where I found some truly astounding info that I had no idea about.

If you all have learned this in highschool and it's common knowledge, please excuse me, but I am shocked.

One of the first topics the book covers is evolutionary history of the planet, and it explains how blue-green algae were the first historic plants to produce a lot of oxygen, which sounds like a positive development for us, because most of the living things right now thrive on oxygen. But, looking it up wikipedia uncovered that it was in fact, an extinction event. Most of life on earth was at that point, thriving in non-oxygen environment, and the introduction of oxygen killed 85% of all living species on earth. It was a huge disaster that happened! It's called 'Great Oxidation Event', or the 'Oxygen Catastrophe'.

But that's not all, I found out that it was not only that which destroyed almost all life on earth, but there's been 5 different events in the history that destroyed close to 80% of all species on the planet, and for some of them we don't even know why. We only found proof that lots of species disappeared at all times and the dominant species on the planet rapidly changed, but no idea why, for some of them it's assumed it has to do with volcanoes or ice, and of them that is well known is the meteor, that ended the big dinosaurs.

I never realized how much of evolution was destruction and then starting over, this was shocking to me. It was also fascinating, I found myself following links and learning more about extinction events, also that we're currently in the extinction event caused by humans who are driving lots of species into extinction by taking over their habitats, which made me sad.

At this point I started reading other, biology-related materials, for example, I read a book named 'What an Owl Knows', which is written by Jennifer Ackerman, an owl scientist who studied owls her entire life; now I know more about owls. I also started listening to an audio book about the ocean, and this one proved to be very difficult to follow, but I'll tell you what I learned from both.

The owl book was charming, I found out that owls are the most quiet, soundless birds when they fly, because their wings and feathers are the biggest part of their bodies. This is how they manage to swoop up prey without anyone hearing a single flap. They're also very silent and subtle. Unless you're studying owls, you won't be able to tell if the owl is startled, or scared, because she will sit very still and not give you any clues. Smaller owls can go into their 'freeze' response easily if they're being hunted, because their instinct is to be still and not move when in danger! It can make you feel like the owl is not scared, since she's not moving, but she is most likely not comfortable if anyone is approaching her.

Owls have similar faces to our faces, and they're very charismatic to us; this is why baby owls, and injured owls in human care, can sometimes imprint on humans. This is bad news for the owls, because once it happens, they can never again be released into the wild, they'll either never learn to hunt, or they'll act towards humans, like they do to other owls - brawling, attacking, aggressive, territorial. Even if they really like us, they will keep acting like we're other owl, not a different species. They see us similarly to how we see them.

One of the best information I've learned, is that in Serbia, there's the biggest gathering of owls of all species, there can be more than 300 owls in one place at the time. The reason for this is common use of old-fashined methods of harvesting grains, which leaves a lot of leftover corn and wheat on the ground, attracting mice, rats, and other small rodents, which creates a great food source for owls. Serbian farmers don't use rodenticide, so owls don't get poisoned. Owls so beloved and appreciated there, that they have an owl festival every year, and the whole month of november is called 'Sovember', because owl in serbian is 'sova'. I never knew about this, even though it's my neighbour country! I looked this up, and I found a website for the international owl festival, but I couldn't find any more info. I would appreciate it so much if any serbian followers could write me about this and tell me their experiences with it, I've never wanted to visit Serbia more!

The book contains information about owls used in Harry Potter movies, including the names of the owls, as well as discussing how the books made owls popular, and how it made people want them as pets. Owls do not make good pets, because they're predators and will destroy things and be very difficult to care for, but the book encourages readers to find the local owls and keep them safe, to leave old trees with holes in them standing, so the owls could nest in them, or to hang up baskets that can also be used as nests. It was a lovely, charming book and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about owls.

The ocean book is named 'How the Ocean Works', by Helen Czerski, and I haven't finished yet, but it opened up a lot of questions for me. The funniest part of it was the breakup of what people used to think about the ocean; apparently before research, people assumed that the sea is salty because it's been left in the sun for too long, and that's just what you get from sun exposure, they believed that deep down it was not salty anymore. They also believed that the sea water cannot go putrid if left standing. It took a scientist checking this to confirm it was not true; sea water did go putrid left in a bucket in the sun, and non-salty water did not turn salty when left in the sun for months. It was interesting to know that for the longest time, people didn't realize it was the salt in the sea that made it salty, I then wondered how they got salt, and it turns out they just got it from the salt mines, which are leftover from the long-dried up seas.

Now new information that I didn't know, was that the salinity is different between the oceans, the Atlantic is saltier than the rest. The book also explained about how the salt is connected to the currents, and to the movements of the sea, and also changes the density of the water. One thing that had me taken aback was that the ocean waves are not only caused by the wind, but the water is reacting to earth's rotation, and this rotation is constantly moving the water. It feels like the ocean is being pulled both by the earth and the moon, constantly being driven by planetary forces, which is interesting, because it's difficult to tell that just by looking.

The book calls ocean the 'blue machine', because it's always moving, and filled with energy. Sun is always warming up the surface, making it a great reservoir of solar energy, and the book goes on about how it's possible to harvest this energy, using hot water, and cold water, apparently there's already buildings being cooled down by the ocean power, but I never managed to figure out how! I tried looking it up, and also found nothing. I wish the book explained the physics of it, so that I could try it out, it's a great thing to be able to get power jut by using hot and cold water, and the water is already heated by the sun, while you can get cold water from the bottom of the sea.

I think I might understand this book better if I read it, rather than listening to the audiobook, which as you can see, just has me puzzled because I do not catch details. Still I wanted to share my new learnings, and ask if anyone can tell me more, or if this is all knowledge that people who had biology in high school already have. I'm having a great time learning, especially because I can just divert in any direction that has my interest, and I can seek out information that gives me useful, practical knowledge. Wish all learning processes could be free and inspired like this!

#biology #owls #ocean #evolution #extinction #learning biology #making up for lack of high school knowledge #information #resources #natural power #harvesting power from nature #ecology #international owl festival #serbia

[torakan]

part one

i decided to write it down because why not

also, english isn’t my native language, so if there’re some mistakes, please tell me in the comments

the art

Okay, so you probably wonder why I even started talking, right? Why begin telling my story? Well, simply because I find it quite interesting and very unusual for our kind. So, if you’d like, I’ll probably start…

So, when I was about 18 years old, I’ve been already living all by myself since I was accidentally taken away from my family when humans with whom we were living moved away. I had to adapt a lot since I didn’t really want to die haha… but I survived and now I’m all healthy and wealthy so there’s no need to worry.

After a year they changed home again because they were having a baby or something. I didn’t care all that much to remember. However, this time I remained at that building since nobody had seen me yet and I had already had kind of a home in the walls. It would’ve been such a pain in the ass to adapt again, you know?

Living in an apartment was nice and it was a lot easier to walk around than in countryside houses for an obvious reason - distance. When I had been living in a huge residence, borrowing a bit of food could’ve taken ages to accomplish, but in smaller one it took just a few hours while the human was outside or asleep.

The bean I lived with was a guy around my age, maybe a little older since, as I heard, it’s a common practise for humans to separate themselves from their parents at the age of 21. I didn’t know his name, but from the glimpses I caught of him, he was quite a pretty one, though a bit dark, he has always been wearing black clothes. I mean, me too, but mine were just old and dirty, I didn’t really have a choice. He was quiet, didn’t invite too many people and stuck to his schedule most of the time, so I was lucky to be there. Until that day came…

That day the last bits of food I had were over, so I had to find something to not die of starvation. I was stupid enough to go borrowing during the day, but before you say something, I need you to give me some credit! I knew for sure that he would’ve not been at home till late hours, so I had plenty of time to do that and I was hungry, so it wasn’t completely my fault, right?

My way to the kitchen counter, where the most accessible food was kept, lay through the bookshelf where some books, plants and other strange stuff stood. I liked it there, it was the darkest spot in the room, a nice place for hiding and the guy has never looked there. So, I took my standard borrowing gear – the rope with a hook in it, old ass boots with double-sided tape on them and a bag to put food in there – and was already all set to go, when I heard a click. That could’ve meant only one thing – the human was back. Why did that even happen in the first place, I didn’t know, but it remained a solid fact and I had to run away and hide despite everything. I hid in that dark spot just in time when that guy entered the kitchen. My heart was jumping in my chest as fast as a captured bird, it was so scary, you guys can’t even imagine… I was carefully watching a human moving around – he was preparing food and some tea as quickly as possible while talking on the phone with someone. But because my heart was thumping so loudly in my chest, all his words sounded muffled as if I was under water and I didn’t catch what he was saying. What I knew for sure - he must’ve been in a huge hurry.

And suddenly, I stopped breathing – the bean disappeared from my view, and I didn’t know whether he left the room or just sat down or wasn’t in the house anymore in general. All I could do was pray for my own safety, but apparently, I was too small for whoever rules this world to hear my prayers. I swear to god, I almost lost my shit there when a huge eye appeared in my sight covering everything I could see before. I was spotted by a human and not only that, but I was also alone and with no place to run away to. All I could do, apart from jut die then and there, was to hide behind a book and silently cry from hopelessness of this situation.

“Oh!” I heard human saying. No wonder he was surprised, I would’ve been too if I saw something I only heard about from tales, like a fairy or something.

But that voice was finally a trigger for me to start moving at least, because before all I could do was to stare back and hope him to think I was a doll or at least a figment of his imagination. I picked all my things and ran away with a speed of a fucking sound, or at least I tried my best to.

“No, wait!” the guy spoke again. “Please, don’t be scared… I mean no harm…”

Yeah, sure, and I’m a princess Cinderella.

When I finally had a chance to go out of that spot, it was already nighttime, and the human was asleep. My body was weak from all those hours it trembled in fear and didn’t have any food or water. It was also kind of a good thing since I wouldn’t have had access to the toilet, you know what I mean?

By the time I got to the place where I live, I was no better than a walking zombie, so all I did was plop down on the bed and pray it was just a nightmare.

next

#g/t #g/t community #borrowers #gt community #gt writing #giant tiny #giant/tiny #tiny #light angst #angst with a happy ending #ocs #oc

[pixelchills]

My Celestial mutants got isekai'd last night.

You know how my dreams tend to be so vivid and have actual clear storylines that inspire me with a lot of my stories sometimes. Last night I had one of those dreams. I kinda blame the concept for binging Lookism the other day, but somehow my brain generated a whole new story loosely based on that, my Animutant AU, and the celestial characters in it. 

So, in this universe, Animutants were not lab-created creatures, but born to human families yet treated like a “curse”. Animutants were not ageing slower than humans, nor were they bigger than them like in my original AU. They were immune to most human illnesses, but somehow the people seemed to think they were just abominations; most of them were hunted, killed, and banned from cities or public places. No rights for almost anything. 

I think this could’ve been because they were alien offspring or something.

If an Animutant baby was born to a family, the government would pay the parents for killing it. The reason why they were so hated was never fully mentioned, but I might need to work on the details if I ever wish to expand this story. 

Animutant kids were not allowed to attend schools, and adult Animutants couldn’t really get almost any type of job. Most bigger cities and towns had them banned from entering completely, leaving most of them to live in smaller villages, the mountains and the woods or small abandoned islands. 

Sunrise was a human, 20 years old when the dream started. He was a high school dropout, living with his abusive alcoholic father after his mother had left them when he was in middle school. Sun worked as a cashier in a convenience store, and did a lot of babysitting on the side. 

He was nervous, clumsy and wimpy, liked superhero comics and art. He was trying to save the money he got from his jobs to move out from his dad’s place, but his dad kept stealing his paychecks as “rent” for letting Sun live with him. 

Not was he only abused by his father, but the reason why Sunrise had dropped out of high school had been bullying, and his old bullies seemed to somehow torment him once in a while even when he was just working his jobs. His life was really just miserable. 

Then one night he has a really weird dream, and in the morning, when he wakes up, he realises he is no longer a human.

Panicked about his sudden change in appearance, he calls work sick, and hides in his room trying to do research. He realises he has been turned into an Animutant. He reads about all the horrible stuff that happens to Animutants in places where they’re not allowed to be, like his city. 

Sun runs away from home.

After days of dodging cities he’s not allowed to enter, he finally arrives at a small village which claims itself to be Animutant friendly. He tries to book a room from the motel in the village, but his ID doesn’t match his face, and he’s denied the stay. 

Before he continues looking for a place to stay he is stopped by a woman, who asks if he's a friend of the (Surname missing) family, because his facial features remind her of their son, who was born as an Animutant. 

“That poor family,” she said. 

Sun gets the address of the house and rings their doorbell. If they had decided to keep their son, maybe they wouldn’t mind him staying over for a night or two if he pays them. 

Moondrop opens the door, and Sun is immediately taken back by his pretty pretty eyes. A bit of an awkward first meeting, just like in the original story, and Moon’s mother invites Sunrise to come in. 

Moon’s parents let Sun stay over, and he tells them about his issue of suddenly turning into an Animutant despite being born human. Moon’s parents don’t think he is lying, but tell him about this Animutant traveller who stopped in their village about 10 years ago, who was also born human but turned into an Animutant overnight. They said the traveller had been rumoured to settle somewhere in the mountains, but no one knew exactly where. 

Moon was going to be sent to the mountains to work for this “mage” after his 21st birthday. Because getting money as an Animutant was a difficult thing, most parents who kept their children would usually send them to work to another family and get the money from it, and Moon, who clearly loved his parents, wanted to support them financially. 

Sun learns that Moon was homeschooled by his mother, because Animutants were not allowed to attend schools. I think Moon also had an older sibling, and their family had a lot of cats. Sun is so taken by the difference between his own father, and Moon’s parents, who were supportive and not even a little bit abusive to their son, who wasn’t even human. 

Sun gets to stay with them until September, when Moon turns 21 and leaves to the mountains. Moon becomes Sun’s first and most important friend during the summer they spend together. Moon’s parents wrote a letter to the mage for the boys to take with them, asking him to let Sun stay with the mage until he figures out how to turn back to human. 

The mage approves it, but only if Sun will work for him too, yet refuses to pay Moon’s parents more than originally planned. So Sun works for the shelter and meals. 

Their job is basically to just take care of the house; do firewood, cook, clean, take care of the garden etc. 

In their freetime they explore the mountains, looking for the traveller for answers. Eventually they meet him (it’s Solar!) and get some answers about a some sort of spell casted upon Solar and Sunrise by a goddess of unfortunate souls. Solar said he has given up looking for the goddess to revert the spell, and doesn’t mind his life as it is; a bit lonely at times, yes, but at least no one bothers him. 

Eventually Sun and Moon finally get a hold of this goddess (the details how exactly they did that are missing). When she asks Sun if he truly wishes to return to his life as a human and get back to the city, Sun becomes hesitant. As much as he has tried to pursue his goal to return to being human, he has also been given a life he would’ve never been able to have as a human. And he has fallen in love. 

He needs to choose between his own humanity, or staying with Moon. 

He chooses the latter. 

At the end of the dream, they got married! What a wonderful ending! :D

If I ever decide to write an original book, this is the story I’m going for. 

#pixel dreams #sunrise #moondrop #solar #animutants

[darkicedragon]

How did you feel about the ending and what was your original expectations of how you thought it was going to finish?

Your reactions were greaaaaat ahee-hee

***

Since Nimona's lived for a thousand years and not aged then that means that they're still around for each generation of Bal's kids, grandkids etc etc growing up? (if he has kids that is)

Such cat behaviour UwU - being inherited in the family for generations

Nimona encouraging the younger babies to BREAK EVERYTHING.

Nimona starts to slowly learn things from Bal as he’s teaching the babies how to grow

The babies are so used to them shifting that they just assume everyone's sibling can do this right! OwOd

Bal knowing his family are in safe hands with Nimona if he gets too old at least

Nimona starting to settle into family life… but the itch XD

Taking the babies and fam on adventures 😎 maybe exploring outside the gate and making new memories

Sigh~ I really wish we’d seen more of Nimona and Ambrosius’s relationship honestly - I get they have to focus on the mains but it still would have been nice to have at least had a scene of proper interaction qsq

Sequel? Ow|

How did you feel about the ending and what was your original expectations of how you thought it was going to finish?

I thiiink I was hoping for more, with a more overt change to the knight system, but also a lot HAD happened? The queen is gone, the director is assumedly gone, Todd is accepting of Bal, and Bal and Ambrosius may not be knights anymore? Or just on their day off. And it was too soon to see if more of the general populace had started trickling into the knight program.

(Side thought of Bal seeing a few more commoner squires in the ranks after a couple of years and he's so PROUD to see them. And also he's probably shoved towards mentoring them, since 'you have so much in common with each other'.)

Your reactions were greaaaaat ahee-hee

Glad you liked them! It's fun going through it, even it does take me. A little tiny bit longer than most people would. 🤣

Bal's kids, grandkids etc etc growing up? (if he has kids that is)

They could have all the adopted babies. >8000 Either Ambrosius' got a huge mansion or they really build up the tower. Maybe they set up an in between knight training camp thing, before the commoner kids go into the knight programme, because there's a whole bunch of jargon translation that they need and Bal's already went through that. He knows it sucks. 'No, really, the knight families care what kind of spoon you use with your dinner - don't look at my like that, Ambrosius, I spent years memorising what you're brought up with.'

And even after the kids make it into the programme, they keep coming back.

Nimona encouraging the younger babies to BREAK EVERYTHING.

OH GOD, AHAHAH. 'Oh, you want the plate? Sure.'

*smash*

'Nimona!'

'Whaaaat? She wanted it! And she should break stuff if she wants!'

The babies are so used to them shifting that they just assume everyone's sibling can do this right! OwOd

But what if the kids think they'll eventually be able to just shapeshift, and kids are just like O~O 'How old will I be when I can start shapeshifting?'

Or wondering why their dads don't shapeshift.

Nimona would keep the babies so entertained just by shifting from one form to another. :D They probably get their tail or wings pulled a lot at the start, but also the kids faceplant into their side and just 😴 Which is really cute! And Nimona's so touched that the kids want to do that and the kids feel safe but theygottashiftreallyquick. Probably shift into something bigger and furrier because uh. The first time they changed into something smaller almost (almost!!) ended in a skull thwacking off the floor.

Bal does have heart attacks when Nimona takes the kids flying even though he knows it's safe and how much weight Nimona can carry. ('I carried you in full armour!' 'I know, but...less of the dropping and potential whipslash, please?' 'Fiiiine, I'll catch them better.')

Bal knowing his family are in safe hands with Nimona if he gets too old at least

q.q Bal getting pain in his joints and he's not quite as fast as he used to be and his kids are all grown up now.

And Nimona still looks exactly like they did when they first met.

I really wish we’d seen more of Nimona and Ambrosius’s relationship honestly

SAAAAAME. 😭Ambrosius feels like a side character and he sees Nimona with his own eyes like, twice. Yeah, the film's about Nimona and Bal but. Would have liked to see more interactions with him and Nimona and Ambrosius and Bal. It's what fic is for but I would have liked more to build off of, haha.

#nimona #nimona spoilers #ballister boldheart #anonymous

[spontaneouskoopalingblog]

"I'll just stick around here and wait for you, K?"

"Nobody talks to me except for my siblings. ..and you, of course."

...!

"Roy is kind of mean. Also, even though he is with Stewart a lot, he doesn't usually talk to me. I still don't know that much about him. But... if Stewart likes him, then he can't be that bad, right? Then there's Wendy. I have only seen here once, but she's still a lot nicer than Roy! She let me make food for her, and I think she liked it! I like making stuff for people. ..Maybe one day we could be friends? I would like that."

"Heeeheehee, our little pit of death is almost complete! Just needs a feeeew more sharp things. Hmm, actually, who are we planning on using this on? I haven't heard anyone other than you're family and my family.... ... WAIT. We should make Stewart fall in this! It's going to be sooo funny! I can just imagine it now... Hahaha!"

"That happens all the time. Also, why would you think the size of the meat would bother me? I have eaten creatures much smaller than these... Well, seems to me like you just don't want me to know you have a soft spot for these little guys. Hmhmhmm.. I do not care about that, however, it is quite...interesting. Why is it that these Koopas are safe from your bloodlust, while other Koopas are not? Curious.

This cocoa is delicious, by the way. Send my thanks to the one who made it."

Topper: "Okay!! Be right back!!"

???: "Pssst!"

Topper: ? *Looks around*

???: "Topper!!"

Topper: ! *Gasp*

???: "It's me!! J-"

Topper: *Screams*

???: !! "Um-"

Topper: *Absolutely freaking out*

???: "..." *Runs away*

Topper: .{ *Quickly changes clothes and rushes back to Stewart*

Rango: "If ya wanna be friends with someone, ya gotta hang out with 'em a lot!!! Or... Well, I think that's how it works... Maybe she wants to be your friend, too!!"

"If we ever meet again... Tell me how it goes, okay?"

Hariet: "Then all us Hariets could rule over them!!! And... Well... Hm... Where do the Rangos and Toppers fit into all this?"

Spewart: "... Snow koopas are just, really cute in my opinion... Maybe you'll get it later? Other territories' species tend to be much larger and tougher and not nearly as nice...! These ones... Well, they're just a bunch of cutie-patootie little babies, that's what they are!!" *Pets the koopa in his arms*

Cocoa Koopa: *Is like fifty-seven years old, which is about eleven in snow years* :3

Spewart: "You tried to KILL this child, and she's not upset at all! And... Some of them are napping right now...! They are just... BABIES! I think that Rango's no-killing-kids policy is stupid, but... These guys are my exception. Plus, we weren't even hired to kill any of them...!"

#sudden motley appearance

[therealrosebuddies]

Good Red, Bad Red

Part three of What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Steve Harrington x Babysitter!Reader (maybe soon to be FinalGirl!Reader)

Desc:  Well, Steve and babysitter!reader have finally made it to Starcourt. All they need is a dress and between the two of them, that shouldn't be that hard. That is, as long as they don't bump into any one they hate. That would be terrible.

Notes: (sorry haha) Hi, thanks again for the support on this fic, I really, really appreciate it. Also, in the flashback, the POV gets a little wonky, and I wanted to apologize for that. I'll probably fix it later, but I'm tired and I wanted to get this chapter out! It really helps to connect these upcoming parts, so I'm excited to keep laying the ground work. Also, I may start releasing separate smaller one shots for this version of Stranger things, ones connected to this story. idk though haha

warnings: violence, character jumpscare

(set between season 2 and 3!)

Part 1 Part 2

read on ao3

Breathing in the smell of soft pretzels and a clean waxed floor, Steve decided that he liked this new mall. Of course, it wasn’t just because of the smell- that would’ve been weird. No. it was the throngs of people that littered the three huge floors, the bright shapes and colors that battled for his attention. It was a far shot from what Hawkins usually was and he liked it.

He glanced back to look for you, realizing that his thoughts were directly contrasting yours.

Pressing closer than you usually cared to, you almost clung to the back of Steve’s jacket, head on a swivel. While he was excited by the mass hysteria that was Starcourt- you eyed the crowd warily, as if any one of them was going to jump you. You were acting like a skittish, traumatized baby deer, and he was the park ranger ushering you to safety.

It was quite the change of pace from how your dynamic usually went.

(Most times, he was still attempting to be a park ranger and you acted like his smarter, more competent boss.)

“How’re you doing back there Chief?” He asked, making his way toward the escalator.

You repressed a sigh, elbowing past a group of teenagers with a wrinkled nose and brow. “There’s a lot of people here.”

“That’s a bad thing?” Steve stepped onto the revolving steps, turning to watch your feet as they followed.

“No.” Answering distantly, you place a hand on the railing, head tipping up to take in the bright signs and gaping skylight. “I just like being able to get places without…” you trailed off, jaw clenched. “…without much in the way.”

Steve’s eyes widened as he fully faced you, both hands on the railing. “Do you really think of people as things in your way?” He asked, flabbergasted.

“No!” You insisted, voice high and head-shaking rapidly as you tried to dissuade him. “No- I just… I’m used to having a plan for everything I do. And my stupid little unconscious ideas don’t usually include dodging and weaving! I just don’t like the extra-”

“Oh my god. You’re like my old next door neighbor.” He breathed, twisting his body so he was looking half at you and half at the approaching end of the escalator. “He throws things at kids as they run over his lawn.”

You gaped at him as he jumped off the escalator. “I am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.” You hissed, pushing forward in an attempt to get away from him. He watched you walk past, glancing fervently around the second floor. He smirked, waiting patiently for you to turn around. He knew you were more stubborn than you liked to admit, but also knew that you hated providing evidence for that stubbornness. Which is why he stood there with a smirk, watching as you slowly turned to face him.

“Which way is it?”

Steve shrugged, rubbing his face like it was the greatest mystery in the world. You rolled your eyes at him, brows low. He just walked over to you, gesturing ahead with his hands. This way, he could still lead the way and force you to tag along right next to him. And despite your little made-up plans, you followed after, complying with his actions.

Only a few minutes pass as the two of you walk together, Steve’s head snapping back and forth to make sure he was actually leading you in the right direction. Heaven forbid if he wasn’t. Then, as he was passing a flashy athletic shoe store, you got a little distracted.

He feels more than sees you leave his side. Steve turns, neck twisting this way and that. Despite your hesitation in this place, you sure didn’t seem too nervous enough to drift into the crowd. Luckily, he caught sight of you before the annoyance took root. You had slowed to a stop next to one of the displays, transfixed by the scene inside.

A girl was standing on a pedestal, dressed in a bright white gown. She twirled hesitantly in the dress, looking at herself in the multifaceted, full-length mirror. You stood with an unreadable expression, fingertips ghosting across the glass. Your eyes, normally fire bright and present, were distant and soft, lids low. There was a soft smile tugging at the corners of your mouth. You had left him by accident, and were now a million miles away, somewhere deep in that head of yours. Steve looked quickly between you and the crème-colored shop, connecting the dots.

“You know, I didn’t take you for the wedding type of girl.” He tells you, unaware of the way it sounded. The expression that crossed over your face dunked Steve’s nerves in ice.

“What is that supposed to mean?” You inquired as you snapped out of your quiet reverie, eyes narrowing sharply. “You don’t think I’m good enough to marry?”

“No!” He refuted immediately, “No, of course not- you… you’re great! Any guy would be lucky to land you!”

Your narrowed eyes softened slightly and pulled away from him, back into the store. But that distant look was gone- overtaken by your usual blazing alertness.

“I just…” Steve continued cautiously, hoping not to stick his foot right back into his mouth. “You don’t seem like the type of girl who would stop and stare into a boutique window.”

“I have my layers.” Your eyes drift slowly from the store as you take a step back. He follows, eyes trained on the way your head bobbed as you spoke. “I can manufacture a mean flamethrower and plan a wedding- they’re not mutually exclusive.”

“Okay, well for now, we aren’t here to plan for your future wedding. We’re here for Prom.” He reminded you, feeling like he needed to really stress the importance of this dance. If you could be that transfixed by a wedding dress- how hard would it be to get you excited about these ones? And, the more excited you were, the more painless it would be for the both of you.

And he needed that night to be as painless as possible.

He suddenly felt your gaze on him, burning mischievously behind innocent lashes.

“You know, with the way you talk about it, I think you’d be someone who’s planning their wedding right now.” You prodded, voice bouncy as you bumped his arm with yours. The sly little smirk that stretched your mouth was covering something- some kind of hidden motive. The thought of you trying to dig for something- some other hidden reason of his- inflated his ego. Instead of ignoring or tolerating him- you were actively trying to pull him apart like a Rubix cube. And if he was being honest- it was fun.

Playing along, Steve looked at you and shrugged, cocking his head left then right, making a show of contemplation, his eyes squinted. Your mouth popped open, brows shooting up.

“Wait- have you?”

“No! I mean, I’ve definitely thought about it.” He admitted, saying much more than he let on. If he was telling the whole truth, he'd done a lot more than thinking about it. Honestly, it was a dream of his- a life goal. He wanted the wedding, the house, the kids, and the steady job. Everything that came with it. The wedding was just part of it. Well...That, and a wedding included being legally bound to someone who really, really loved you. He wanted that kind of life- badly. He wasn’t going to tell you all that of course, not if he didn’t want to look insane. “But not to the extent of you know, what type of flowers would be on the tables or who would actually be invited.”

“Oh my god.” You breathe and Steve turns at your much less giggly voice. You’re looking up at him with a slack jaw, fingers pressing against your cheek and grazing your lips “You’re a total sap.” You laugh, the sound jumping out of your throat as you drop the hand.

“Hey! Don’t laugh.” He hisses, face burning as he's sure it starts to turn pink. Why’d he even admit that anyway? Was it just because he wanted to relate to you? Was it because he wanted you to feel comfortable? Or was it just because of the soft, easy way his words seemed to tumble out of his mouth when you were around? Either way, he was starting to regret it. He shook his hand and pointed it at you, vying for reclamation of his dignity. “You’re gonna want to cut that shit out if I’m going to be paying for both the tickets-”

“Steve- it’s not a date. I already told you that I can-” You stop in your tracks, mouth snapping shut. For a moment, Steve wonders if it’s another bridal boutique.

And then he sees what you do.

And his nose aches to think about the last time he had been this close to Billy Hargrove.

 *****************************************

 It was a few days after Halloween, only thirty minutes after the rest of the team had left to take care of their separate missions- and Steve’s group was left at the house.

That lucky group included you.

And you weren’t happy about it.

You had been literally benched by Hopper, grounded after you had voluntarily driven his adopted daughter off of his secret property. From what he could gather, you wouldn’t have changed a single thing you had done. But that didn’t mean you weren’t pissed about being left at the Byer’s house.

And now, there was this.

Between the two of you, Steve had assumed you were the smart one.

But oh my god, he had been so wrong.

Instead of dissuading the kids from their stupid, reckless plans to distract those weird dog things, you were agreeing with them. It was driving him crazy, watching you scramble around the house with them, trying to decipher away to fight an all-powerful interdimensional being. What were you guys even going to do? Hit it with Lucas' dinky little slingshot?

But honestly, he should've been prepared for your strange behavior. He should’ve known you'd be on board the second you showed up that night, freshly decked out in your all-black outfit, a shadowy specter cloaked in leather and Demodog blood. Oh- and Eleven, who most everyone thought had died about a year ago.

The biggest red flag should’ve been your makeshift flamethrower, a dangerous combination of hairspray and a tiny pink lighter. It was terrifying to see the distance between your fingers and the roaring flames.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t considered any of that.

You were standing next to the kids, staring over Dustin’s shoulder at the weird, pasted map. A flicker of excitement was blazing in your kohl-lined eyes, as if an unseen plan connected in your brain. “We can take my car. I still have an extra lighter left over-”

“Hey. Hey! Hey!” Steve exclaimed, clapping loud enough that he finally tore your attention away from the quickly spiraling plan. The blaze faltered, your head snapping towards him questioningly “This is not happening.”

“But-”

“No buts. I promised I’d keep you shitheads safe- we promised-'' Steve looked pointedly at you, swathed in your unfamiliar cloud of coal, really trying to convince Dracula rather than the kids. If there were two ‘babysitters’ saying no, there was a much higher chance of nobody dying. You just stared at him blankly as he continued. “-and that’s exactly what I plan on doing. We’re staying here. On the bench. And we’re waiting for the starting team to do their job. Does everybody understand?”

You shook your head slightly, mouth pressed into a thin line. “Steve, if we can help at all-”

“I said, does everybody understand that?” Steve repeated loudly, no longer asking. You stared up at him as something changed in your pointed, blown wide pupils, your stained lips forming a silent ‘o’. Your gaze flickered across his figure before you looked at the kids- and they looked at you. Once again, they were referring to your reaction, your judgment of the scenario.

He would’ve been mad about it if he hadn’t been wanting to do the exact same thing.

“I’m going alone then.” You decided, arms folding defiantly as Steve pinned you with an unbelieving look. All he was asking for was one thing. One.

You were being difficult on purpose- he was sure of it.

Yelps of resistance rose up from everyone else in the room as you placed your hands on your hips, mirroring Steve in his posture. Eyes narrowing up at him, you stood as an unwavering point of night in the yellow seeped house. You were intimidating for someone your size- but Steve didn’t care. He wasn’t letting anyone be stupid on his watch- and that included you.

“Like hell you’re-”

That’s when the loud roar of a car rips through the night, stopping all of the commotion to a dead halt. Max rushes to the window and her round pink face grows pale, blue eyes clouding over. “That’s my brother. He can’t know I’m here. He’ll kill me. He’ll kill us.”

For a tense moment, no one moves, the sound of tearing gasoline flooding the air with anxiety. Steve looks at you, trying to gauge your thoughts. He wanted to make sure you weren’t going to run out the back door and head off on your own. But you’re just staring out the window, attention firmly set on the dark Camaro. It didn’t look like you would be moving any time soon- not with Billy Hargrove posted up in the driveway.

Steve looked at the rag-tag group, a lump hardening in his throat. He knew you were a capable person- he did. You and El had literally just taken on a pack of Demodogs- so he couldn’t rationalize that you weren’t able to take care of yourself- or the kids.

But this was a fragile situation. He wasn’t sure what Hargrove was capable of- but he didn’t want to find out.

“Everyone stay here.” Steve ordered.

You moved to follow him, pent-up emotion roaring beneath your gaze.

“Hey. No- stay with the kids.”

“Steve.”

“I’ve got this,” he assured you, pointing back at the kids on the couch. “If a Demogorgon comes in, use that can of hairspray you love so much.” Plastering a smirk across his face in an attempt to loosen your tight fists, he turned toward the door and let the cold November air swallow him up.

He could handle this. The fewer people he had to worry about, the better. As long as everyone was inside, he just needed to scare Hargrove off.

Piece of cake.

He stood expectantly at the foot of the porch, dread grinding his stomach as the reckless driver kicked open his door. Steve could smell his cigarette from there, the smoke announcing his presence.

“Am I dreaming, or is that you Harrington?”

“Yeah it’s me, don’t cream your pants.” Steve said, trying to move the whole thing along. He didn’t have time to put up any resistance to his shitty attitude.

And for a minute or two, Steve thought it was going well. Maybe he had it handled enough that your little group would leave this night without a scratch.

And then Billy saw the kids- and you- in the window.

Steve should’ve known it was going to come to blows. Or at least, he should’ve been ready for it, or thrown the first punch. If he had, the guy wouldn’t have been able to stomp up to the door and smash it open, coming face to face with you.

Steve groaned on the ground as Billy stomped past him, beating you to the door before you could lock it. The door slammed, sounding far away as Steve tried not to throw up across the grass.

While he did so, you had other problems.

Billy had taken one step inside the house and was looking at your little group like it was something to eat. His eyes eventually landed on you, planted firmly between him and the kids. He let out a short laugh, teeth sharp.

“Hey Gatekeeper, you in on this with Harrington?”

You kept your jaw clenched, unfazed by his jab at your Halloween costume. The Halloween costume that you had worn for the very kids behind you. The kids that were relying on you to keep them safe, some even gripping the edges of your jacket on reflex.

The act made your heart heavy, fists clenching as you stared down the teen goliath before you. If he thought he was going to get a chance to even yell at one of them, he was dead wrong.

You decide not to indulge him, face stony.

A stitch of silence passes and Billy shifts his eyes off of you- and onto Lucas.

“Sinclair.” You stretch your hand out a little farther, hovering close to Hargrove’s next target.

He makes a purposeful lunge in Lucas’s direction and you seem to make up your mind, launching forward without fear. The contact is fast- and the sound is immediate. It was like watching a forest fire colliding with a mountain. Your hand snaps out at a speed and ferocity that only the last year and a half would have given you, striking across his face like lightning across the sky. The rings that you had acquired from your recent makeover shine black on your retreating hand, explaining the fresh split in Billy’s lips. He stares at you in momentary surprise, eyes flaming as he realized what you had done.

“Okay.” He muttered, wiping the bright, sluggish blood from his growing smirk. “You first then.”

He’s on you before you can stop him, rough hands digging into your collar. You’re drug backward by pure force, sneakers dragging against the floor. You hear the kids screaming. The struggle you put up barely has any effect as Billy slams you up into a cabinet.

You honestly should’ve thought this one through a little more. He was bigger than you- and he wasn’t some kind of Demogorgon that you could light on fire. He was a human. A giant, hulking, insane human- but a guy nonetheless. If you really wanted to take him on, you needed something that was going to really hurt him- even kill him.

And you don’t think you were ready for that- physically or mentally.

The world is spinning and your head rings, reeling from the impact. Your hands fumble for purchase as he pushes into you, burning hot knuckles bruising your collarbone. He’s looking at you like you were the one who was doing this- like you were the one who deserved to get thrown into the looney bin.

“You do that again and I’m going to make sure the next place you end up is a hospital.”

You ignore his threat as you glare up at him, contempt rolling behind closed lips. He was stronger than you- there was no arguing that point. But you’d be damned before you let this guy get anywhere near those kids. As soon as he felt finished with you, he’d go straight for Lucas.

That wasn’t going to happen.

You push out your neck and sink your teeth into one of his thumbs.

Billy drops you with a scream. Falling to your knees, you scramble away, head reeling and lips smeared with blood. You hadn’t hit bone- but you know you had made a dent. The taste fills your mouth, warm and metallic. You didn’t like it. And if you didn’t get away from Billy now, you’d be tasting more of it pretty soon. That thought was enough to push you toward the table, head ringing. But before you can lift back up, one of your ankles is yanked backward, slamming you back to the ground.

There isn’t time to brace for the impact. Your jaw connects hard with the wood and stars explode across your vision. A noise squeezes through your clenched teeth. You hear a strangled laugh pierce through the blended shouts for your safety as you’re drug back across the floor. You move to fight back, but a hand fists itself in your hair, slamming your face straight into the hardwood.

Pain explodes through your nose, eyes pricking with tears. Before you can even react, you’re being raised to your knees, yanked up by the hold on your hair.

“You know what? I take it back. We aren’t going to need a hospital tonight.” Billy threatens, pointing at you with the hand you had tried to take a bite of. If you hadn’t been so out of it, you probably would’ve laughed at his bloody finger. His grip on your hair grows tighter. “You’re dead.”

And honestly, you might have been. You might have gone out against a sociopathic musclehead, splattered against the Byer’s kitchen floor.

But then you catch sight of a familiar mop of brown hair over Billy's shoulder, and your heart performs a weak jumping jack. You struggled against your aggressor's grip, keeping his eyes on you.

Steve had managed to make his way back into the house. He had stopped momentarily at the sight in the kitchen, panic shooting through his veins the way he imagined heroin would. Your limp figure was just barely visible behind Billy’s and he couldn’t see what was happening. He couldn’t see you.

Steve blinked out of his momentary hesitation and rushed forward, pushing Billy hard in the back. You dropped out of his grip, hands barely planting before you hit the ground.

Hargrove turned with wide eyes, coming face to face with Steve, a savior in blue denim.

“No. You are.”

For the second time that night, Billy was struck across the face, Steve’s fist just barely missing the spot where you had slapped him. He watched, stone-faced as Billy stumbled away, a bone-chilling cackle rising up from his throat. Steve stole a glance at you, pushing away slowly from off the floor, nose dripping with darkened blood. Dustin and Max were pulling you away from the scene, coaxing you back from the danger.

For now, you were out of harm's way.

If he had gotten there sooner, you wouldn’t have had to be in it in the first place. Your blood wouldn’t have been smeared across the hardwood floor, dark against the dinky yellow lights of the house.

Billy pointed at Steve, pulling his attention back to him. “Look’s like you got some fire in you after all, huh?” He taunted, smile full of teeth and half insane. He stepped forward as he pushed his hair out of his face, eye to eye with Steve. "I’ve been waiting to meet this King Steve everybody’s been telling me so much about.”

Despite how much he wanted to kick his ass, Steve knew they had bigger problems to deal with. The sooner they got rid of Billy, the better. He was wasting their time, and he wanted him gone. “Get out,” Steve ordered simply, contempt straining against his steady words. He didn’t want to waste more breath on this guy than he had to.

And apparently, Billy felt the same way. At this point, words were useless.

Which is probably why he swung at him.

And for a while, Steve was doing pretty good. He landed a few punches and kept his head down and for a few moments, it seemed like the two guys were on common ground.

That was, until Billy smashed him overhead with a plate.

That was when everything went downhill.

Steve had ended up with his back against the floor, mirroring your situation a few minutes earlier- except he was getting punched over, and over, and over. The contact rained down repeatedly, his face beginning to feel like a tenderized piece of meat. He probably would’ve been a goner if you hadn’t keyed Max onto the syringe next to you. She had plunged it into his neck without so much a flinch, injecting him with the strange tranquilizer.

Everything sounded underwater as Steve lay on the floor, lights dancing across his eyes. He only really registered what was happening when you appeared over his head a few minutes later, head haloed by the yellow light.

“Hey.” You slapped his face lightly, Steve barely feeling it. “Hey, Steve, you need to stay awake. I think you’re going to have a concussion.” You informed him, hands now planting firmly on his shoulders and shaking. But his head felt like cement. Even if he had understood a single word you had said, nothing but a groan would have passed his swollen, bloodied lips. “Come on. You did pretty good. If he hadn’t had the plate, my money would’ve been on you.”

You were lying, but he appreciated it anyway, even through the fog.

Steve spit up a weak chuckle and you flinched, dodging the spray of blood. “Sorry.” he mumbled between split, swelling lips, trailing your movements as you pushed up his coated, sticky bangs. Your hand was warm.

He wondered if you were always this warm.

In the back of his punch-drunk brain, he registered the jangling of keys and pieces of the conversation between you and the kids. He’d feel you shake him every few moments, right as his vision would start to fuzz, growing black at the edges. Eventually, you were pulling at his shoulders, trying to get him out of his steadily growing puddle, hands and face streaked in red.

“Steve…” you sounded far away. “We need to go. And we can’t leave you here… not with all this blood…” He watched your lips move but didn’t really understand what you were saying. Go where? And why did the blood factor into his need to tag along?

When he didn’t respond, you just sighed, a strange sort of pity hanging across your face. He blinked lazily, watching as you turned away from him, obviously talking to the kids. He would’ve liked to hear what you were saying, but it was too late for him then.

He had already begun drifting off.

 ********

 “Huh. I see you took my advice.” Billy called out, stopping the both of you in your tracks. He was standing a few feet away from you, accompanied by some of his block-head cronies and rim-lit by the turquoise lights of a nearby store. Pushing away from the pillar he leaned against, he began walking towards you, smile dangerous.

Usually, Billy stayed out of Steve’s way. After last October, he had seemed to give everyone Max was friends with a wide berth, holding fast to his promise. Steve didn’t think he would be the type of guy to honor a sister’s wish, but so far it had looked that way. Until now, it seemed.

He hopped down the two small stairs, hands dug deep in his pockets as he came to stand right in the way. Steve would’ve groaned if he hadn’t known better. Billy’s razor-sharp gaze flickered your way as Steve felt the weight of you at his side. He almost sneered, a hand twitching reflexively, as if cowering before your bared teeth. “And look at that- it’s Max’s new mommy.” he looked at Steve. “That must make you Dad huh?”

“We’re friends.” You answer, harsh and hatefully hot. Steve realizes then that as much as you like to argue with him, he was nowhere close to the level of dislike you had for Billy. You looked at the leather-bound prick in front of you like he was a Demogorgon. Not a human- a monster that you needed to get rid of. In your hate, you beat Steve to the punch, poison dripping from your tongue. “But you wouldn’t understand that, would you?”

Billy tilted his head at you, pink lips curling over blinding fangs.

“I forgot you were the ones with the balls in this relationship.” His gaze tracked you up and down, a little huff leaving his mouth. “Did you have fun cleaning up after me and your little boyfriend?

This time, you didn’t flinch.

“Not as much as kicking in your nose.”

Oh. Yeah, Steve had forgotten about that.

Before you had left the house that night, and even before you had gotten him in the car, you had recruited Max and Lucas to help drag Billy out to the garbage. The literal garbage. The three of you had left him propped up against one of the cans, keys dropped into his lap. As little as you had wanted to help him out, you had wanted him gone as soon as you could.

Then, after Max had gone back inside, you kicked him square in the nose.

You had thought it poetic- and payback for you and Steve’s matching injuries.

Billy let out a terse little chuckle, strain rolling in his darkening eyes. Steve had been ready to jump in, to say anything. But you had beat him to it- reminding Billy exactly why he had been staying away for the last few months. When it came back down to it, you were all friends- and shared a deep dislike for Billy, one that went deep enough to cause violence. So if he ever tried something, he knew there were plenty of people waiting to get back at him in return.

Steve was one of those people. If it ever came to a head like that again, he wouldn’t be going down this time. Especially not when there were no plates around.

Air tense, Steve tore his gaze from your rocksteady stance, ready to back you up. If trading insults was the agenda today, he could do that with you.

But that’s when he saw it.

While you absolutely loathed Billy- he found you entertaining.

It was the searing heat in his eyes as he had looked up and down, smirking close-mouthed and taunting. He had been much too pleased by you jumping into the conversation, forcing yourself between himself and Steve. He had seen this look before. It was the one guys would throw at each other after passing a girl on the street- or talking about someone in the locker room.

The flash of panic hit Steve in the chest, throat closing up like a crushed coke can.

He didn’t deserve to look at you like that- he didn’t deserve to look at you in any way besides apologetically. From like- the bottom of a six-foot grave that the two of you had dug.

Or something like that.

Either way, he wasn’t going to get to be around you anymore. From what Steve was gathering, Billy wanted you to take a bite out of him.

But you didn’t seem to realize this- probably focused on every way you’d like to hurt the mulleted barf bag in front of you.

Steve took a chance and caught your shoulder. “Okay, back up.” He advised, coaxing you back as Billy leared closer. Luckily for him, you didn’t fight back, letting him step in front of you. If he hadn’t, you probably would’ve lasted a few more moments before trying to tear into him. Billy scoffed, reluctantly drawing his eyes away from you before stabbing them into Steve.

“Yeah. Put that new bitch of yours on a leash.”

The rush of anger that punched through his throat came so fast and so hard that it almost knocked him off his feet.

Okay.

Maybe you couldn’t do anything violent.

But Steve hadn’t made any promises about himself.

He pushed forward, intent on getting Billy to apologize. Whether it was through words or fists, he wasn’t really sure. But before he could even open his mouth, a toddler burst between the two men, laughing maniacally. Following quickly after was his mother, offering quick apologies after she raced past.

Steve looked at the gap caused by the interruption, blood quieting in his ears. Whatever tension was there before had snapped, dissolving into the commercialized air. Billy seemed to figure that out too. He looked up at Steve, blue eyes narrow before relaxing into a cocky nonchalance. The guy threw his arms out wide, shrugging at himself- as if daring Steve to resume what he started. He was trying to make it look like he was inviting a fight- like he wasn’t concerned about the aftermath it would bring.

Luckily, Steve knew better.

And, he had an errand to run.

He let out a dry chuckle, nudging the back of your jacket. “Let’s get out of here. We’re wasting our time.”

You nodded, never keeping your eyes off of Billy. Steve held his tongue, knowing he couldn’t tell you to stop glaring. That would just open up a whole can of worms.

Hargrove watched as the two of you passed, smirk unflinching even as Steve turned his back. He could feel the burning sensation as you walked away, drilling into his back. And then it was gone, replaced by the carefully controlled air conditioning of the mall.

“God, that guy is a dick.” You groaned, knocking Steve out of his paranoid thoughts.

“I dunno, I think he was pretty pleasant,” He tried joking, the words feeling forced on his tongue. He grimaced at that, annoyed that he still felt Billy’s presence. He swallowed, trying to banish the dry scratchiness in his throat. ”But in all seriousness, I was worried he was going to swing at you.”

“Aw, you were worried about me?” You asked, the pitch of your voice rising in mock flattery.

Steve just blanched at your funny, but clueless reaction. “Yeah. I was a little bit worried about you. I mean, you were the one who almost bit his finger off.” He answered, completely honest. “I thought I was going to have get another concussion.”

“Defending my honor?”

“Saving your scrappy ass.” Steve corrected, smothering the brief moment of vulnerability a few seconds earlier, hoping his humor did the job. You hadn’t seemed to notice his admission, but he just wanted to make sure.

He didn’t need you getting any ideas.

You laughed, and the tension left in his shoulders evaporated. Whatever had just occurred minutes earlier- or even months ago- was now completely out of your head, replaced by his own clever jokes. He would’ve patted himself on the back if it hadn’t made him look stupid.

The remaining walk to the store was short, filled with relative silence or little comments on items that stuck out in the windows. By the time you made it, Steve had five more solid reasons why he liked the mall.

Stepping into the department store, Steve was immediately hit by the flowery perfume, face scrunching.

“Dress first?” You asked, biting back a laugh as you drifted over to one of the display racks, fingers ghosting over the fabric. Steve shook his head, mostly to get rid of his reaction to the perfume and partly to answer.

“No. I already have a suit.” He answered easily, still focused on taking in the advertisements and strange decorations.

You spun on him, dress quickly forgotten. “ You already have a suit? Then what are we matching with?”

“The tie and the corsage.” Steve answered easily, passing you and heading over to what he thought was formal wear. You stared at him, for a moment refusing to move. He looked over his shoulder at you, miming confusion. “You coming or not?”

“I can’t believe-” You stared, but quickly cut yourself off, eyes closed as you took a deep breath through your nose. “You know what? It doesn’t matter,” you decided, eyes flashing open to stare at him. “If we aren’t looking for a suit, you’re going to be at my every beck and call.”

Steve had just laughed at that, unaware of how serious you had been.

You made good on your promise, quickly getting the gist of the department store before he did. You swept through the isles quickly, grabbing dress after dress. He followed your lead, throwing in a few of the dresses you had passed by. If he was going to be here, he might as well join in on the fun. He preferred the ones with lots and lots of sequins. You hated them. Around thirty minutes later, the cart Steve pushed was piled high, threatening to topple over.

Conceding the need to empty the cart, the two of you found the dressing rooms, connected to a wide, mirror-lined hallway. Steve stopped the cart in one of the first open rooms, watching as you disappeared behind a curtain.

The first dress you tried on was a disaster. It had been one of the ones Steve had pulled- the one with huge, arcing frills that seemed to make up the straps. He had seen plenty in the store like that- so he had just assumed it was what girls were wearing to prom. He didn’t claim to know much, but he could see all of the mannequins and the other girls in the store carrying dresses around that were just like it.

But when he threw it over the dressing room door, all he heard was a groan.

“No way.”

“What?!” Steve asked, genuinely confused. It was pink- you liked pink. Hell, your nails were painted pink. “What’s wrong with that one?”

“I just- I don’t like it. Give me a new one.”

“But you were the one who set it in the cart.” He reminded you, eyes wide and pointed at the wall. There was a door between the two of you, but he still saw the perfect picture of your reaction in his head. You had most likely rolled your eyes, all haughty and annoyed, arms folding as you crinkled the dress in hand.

“I was distracted!”

“Listen, if you try it on and don’t like it, you don’t have to try on any of the other dresses I picked out.” Steve promised, a smirk on his face. Of course, he meant it if you didn’t like it. But you were going to love it. He knew that. As a guy who really didn’t care that much about fashion, he still had excellent taste- so the promise wasn’t going to matter.

At least, that’s what he thought until you actually pulled back the curtain.

“I look like a half-eaten cotton candy stick.” You bit out, bare feet smacking against the linoleum as you spread your arms out wide. The bright pink material was poofy and wide, the curved sleeves sticking out and digging into your jaw, while the shorter skirt rode up your thighs with every small step you were taking. It was... it was a terribly awful dress.

But the thing that broke him was the fact that you were in it, all edges and blazing personality, stuffed into a pink, oversized, paper mache finger trap.

“No! No, you look…” Steve tried his best to keep it together- to keep that stiff smile firm upon his lips. But one look at your smoldering expression broke him. He ducked his head down toward his feet as the laugh burst from his nose. “Yeah, yeah the cotton candy thing is really accurate. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He apologized, watching with a rising, weakly sympathetic grin as you snatched the next dress from the cart- one he hadn’t picked out.

Fair was fair he guessed.

But, there wasn’t much luck on the next one either. It was a color you had liked- shimmery, iridescent turquoise. Steve had insisted was going to make you look like the little mermaid, but you didn’t care.

You had shuffled out, holding the skirt high along with your hopes. Those quickly came crashing down as you had to admit to him that he was right. The dress did look a little like Ariel’s seashell bra.

So, that dress hadn’t worked.

No biggie.

You had a huge pile of them in the cart next to Steve, so you weren’t running out of them anytime soon.

Unfortunately, he was wrong.

Morbidly wrong.

You tried on dress after dress, but none of them really worked. Sometimes it was the fit, the color, the way it made you look like a cartoon character- nothing was working out. Steve had handed you each dress, knowing that this would be the one.

It never was.

You kept throwing them back at him after changing out of them, your frustration quickly beginning to be taken out on him. At one point, Steve felt like he was drowning in fabric, choked by colorful skirts and sleeves. He had let you do it though, knowing a sarcastic comment offered by him would’ve been met by more crankiness.

And honestly, he was starting to worry that you were going to give up. The huge pile the two of you created was down to its last few dresses. And the odds of any of them working out? Dismal.

Steve’s feet ached, having tried a million ways to stay on his feet. But after as long as you had been inside that partition, he couldn’t take it anymore. He slid down to the floor, finding heaven on the cold, squeaky floor.

“Steve.”

He grunted in response.

“Throw me one.”

Without much of a complaint, Steve got up onto his knees and slid one of the dresses from the cart, balling it up and throwing it over the top of the curtain. If he hadn’t been so tired, he would’ve pumped it fist as an excellent show of marksmanship. He slumps back against the wall, resigning himself to sit and agree with whatever you veto next. After a minute or two, the curtain rod shrills at the drag of metal. Steve drops his head to look at you and…

Huh.

You looked really good.

Steve cocked his head to the side, eyes wide as his gaze traveled from the very edge of the skirt, up to the off-the-shoulder neckline. You had shoulders- and a collar bone. He had never seen those from you. He swallowed slightly, stomach burning with something like indigestion.

The red of the dress stood out like a firecracker against the unoffending beige of the hallway, punching through the unerring boredom. It followed your curves like a car on a track. Your hands follow those curves, a scarlet vision straight out of fiction. He straightened up slightly, eyes blown wide.

“Hey- that looks-”

“It’s too much.” You muttered, a hand smoothing up and down your bare arm as you looked at yourself in the mirror. “It’s tacky. None of the other colors are half as loud as this one.”

Steve faltered, eyes landing on the curve of your butt. He cursed silently, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

This was you.

You were his friend- a surprising gorgeous one- so the fact that he had looked was an accident. One he definitely would not be thinking about later.

He cleared his throat, re-engaging you as he moved to stand. “Even the cotton candy dress?”

You didn’t answer him, lost in your own head as you turned this way and that, nose wrinkling and brows forming their familiar concerned curves.

On one hand. You were right. Most of the dresses in the store- or just in general- were pastel-colored, light and unoffending, or just slightly off-color. He couldn’t even remember a time a girl had worn a dress that bright and distracting- he would’ve remembered it.

“It fits you,” is what he finally manages to offer. He had moved closer behind you, now visible in the changing room mirror. The fluorescents overhead burn his eyes and are giving him a headache, but he sucks it up anyway. The picture of you in the mirror makes eye contact with him, frown jagged. Steve returns that expression. “You don’t like it?”

How didn’t you like it?

You held your tongue for a few moments, your fingers swinging slightly in the loose fabric.

“I like how it looks on me. I’m just worried people will think I look stupid,” you admitted. “Is that a totally ridiculous thing to worry about?”

You.

You of all people were worried about looking stupid.

Through his exhausted haze, Steve felt the deep sickness of confusion. He watched as the person who had stolen a police chief’s gun worried about what would happen when you settled on the wrong dress. He didn’t think you felt fear. You had never shown it before. Maybe the closest he had seen was annoyance or uncomfortability- but even in the face of monsters and sociopaths, you kept up a defiant image.

Maybe that was one of the reasons he had asked you.

Deep down, Steve had been too scared to show up to a stupid high school dance alone. And you? He thought you wouldn’t have broken a sweat.

But here you were, greying and panicked over your slim dress options.

For every time you had saved his ass, he owed you this one at least.

The thick confusion starts to dissipate as he makes up his mind and he’s back to quickly answering your concerning, but albeit endearing question. “(F/n). Look at who you’re asking,” He joked, warmth curling in his chest as you heave out a barely audible laugh. You turn over your shoulder to look at him and he continues. “Honestly, I think that’s the first dress that’s worked for you- and I’m exhausted. We’ve been here for two and a half hours.” Steve whined slightly, making a show of his sagging and weary bones. You narrowed your eyes at his act, lips pursing to keep back what he knew was a smile. Encouraged, Steve shot out one of his arms, ready to wrap it up. “And, just for a little more incentive, I’ve already got a tie that matches the dress.”

Your eyes widened, mouth breaking open with curved corners that you didn’t care to hide. “You just want to spend less money!”

Steve just shrugged, prideful in the way you had seemed to blaze back to life. “Finally figured that out huh?”

Gracing him with a biting, forced laugh, you ruffle up your hair and turn back to the mirror, hands atop your hips. Steve was starting to get used to how you looked, chest loosening. You were still your over-critical, annoying self. It put him at ease to see those familiar expressions crossing your face, returning you to normal. Everything about you was the same- you were just wearing a dress.

The soft worry that had filled your face was gone, replaced by serrated caution of the red garment. You were weighing your options. Lip pouted slightly, you took another spin, head on a swivel as you made sure to capture every angle of the dress.

Steve would’ve teased you for being so meticulous, but he knew how long it took him to do his hair. Instead, he just offered a soft roll of his eyes, folding his arms.

“Shut up.” You muttered, grabbing two fistfuls of the dress and lifting. Walking in place, your focus was solely on the wily fabric.

Thinking he was going to be stuck in this department store for decades, Steve let out a played-up groan, gaze finding the ceiling.

“Do you really think this works?” You ask finally, now facing him instead of the mirror.

That momentary shock of emotion flooded his system, limbs tensing. Steve loosened his jaw- repeating the same phrase over and over: she’s annoying, she’s annoying, she’s annoying. Steve nodded reassuringly, the confusion gone. “You look great.”

“Are you sure?

He took a deep breath, knowing that he could handle it. He could just tell you the truth. No big deal. “(F/n), if I didn’t already know how much of a nightmare you are, and I saw you in that dress, I’d be asking you out.” As it rolled off his tongue, cheeks slightly pink, the pressure he’d felt on his chest lifted.

“A nightmare?” You gasped, eyes wide as you spun to face him.

“Hey- that was a great compliment. I was basically calling you hot.” He pointed, correcting you for your own benefit. Then he winced, tilting his head. “Platonically.”

“Good.” You nodded matter of factly, turning to look at yourself in the mirror, smile growing as blinding as your eyes. “Platonic is the only option.”

With that out of the way, you hopped back into the dressing room. After a few minutes, the dress was off and situated, and the two of you dumped the discarded dresses back into the cart. It was a high stack- the ladies at the desk hadn’t been exactly happy when you brought it back.

But that didn’t matter.

Because you bought the dress.

After those long few hours, you were done. And Steve couldn’t be happier. Until you forced him to carry the long plastic bag that is, almost skipping along as the two of you left the heavily flowered store. He couldn’t complain though. Well, he could, and he did- but there was no real emotion behind it. He liked spending time with a friend- and right now, you were one of the few he had. Even if it was holding your bags or almost falling asleep on a department store floor.

On the way out of the mall, the two of you stopped and grabbed Chinese food- because by the time you had finally finished, it was time for dinner. Steve had wanted a burger- and you had wanted tacos.

You had met somewhere in the middle- somehow.

Eventually, dinner was eaten in the parking lot, sitting atop the hood of Steve’s car, sharing the chow mein and two sides meal.

You pushed away from him as he grabbed at your box.

“Hey!” You yelped, watching helplessly as Steve was able to snag a wonton from your grasp.

He shrugged, making a sort of ‘duh’ face at your expense.“We’re supposed to be sharing.”

“You said you didn’t like wontons.” You reminded him, repeatedly stabbing your chopsticks into the box, glare weak.

“Well, I didn’t love how they looked.” Steve explained, shoving his stolen food into his mouth and pushing it aside. “But now I know they taste great.”

He watched as you shook your head at him, tugging your bent legs closer into your body. Your silhouetted hair shook as you did so, drawing his eyes to the mellowing red sun.

“You’re like a little boy,” you grouch, shoulders hunched as you eat your own wonton.

Glee rising in his throat and stopping from swallowing his food, Steve coughs slightly, barely avoiding choking.

Beside him, you smile, red light reflecting in your eyes. “Gag.”

Steve snapped back to look at you, eyes blown wide. “What?!” He asks, trying to sound shocked and hurt- but can’t help the delight driving up the pitch of his words. “Did you just tell me to gag- so I would drop dead?”

You looked at him over your cup, mixing your chow mein slowly. “Yeah.”

“That’s it,” Steve began, slapping his own box down next to him and turning towards you. “I’m taking all of the wontons.”

“No-” You cut yourself off as you let out a scream, pushing out with one arm and extending the other, far away from him as he reached over. You caught him sharply in the chest and he barely grunts, reaching in a display of desperation. He can feel your breath bursting against his collar as you wind up for another yell. “You don’t even like them!”

“Stop complaining- just hand them over-”

“(F/n)?”

Steve freezes, ice-cold fear running through his bloodstream. Throat drying, his gaze dropped from yours, panic overtaking his motor functions. You take his momentary stillness to jab him with your elbow, pushing him off your shoulder and turning toward the voice.

He knew who it was before having to turn around.

He heard that voice... saw her face whenever he closed his eyes. She was the one person he wanted to see the most, and the one person he couldn’t talk to. And- she was the only reason you were going to the prom with him. If had had the choice, he would be with her in a heartbeat. He loved her- and it was sucking the life out of him.

The relaxed air he had felt sitting beside you caught in his chest, easily swept away by the girl approaching.

“Nancy?” You ask, grin growing wide as you recognized your friend. But as you actually took a second to look at her, a good forty feet away, you were able to get a look at her face. She was walking toward the two of you at a brisk pace, expression unreadable. Typically, you would’ve received a swift smile back.

That couldn’t be good.

Usually, she would offer him an awkward smile- even a wave if they somehow crossed paths. But the two of you got neither.

“Steve.” You turn to look at him, brows low and expression confused. “You told Nancy about us going to Prom- right?”

Oh.

Oh shit.

Now he knew why she was walking so fast, an uptight vision of pale purple hurtling straight for the car. The realization grabbed him by the throat and squeezed, threatening to stop the flow of oxygen to his brain. He’d really screwed up and his own body knew it before he did.

But what could he do?

He just inhaled through his teeth, shoulder’s raising apologetically.

“Damn it, Steve.” You groaned and turned back to Nancy’s ever-approaching figure, ready for the worst.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x reader #x reader #reader insert #stranger things #stranger things x you #stranger things x y/n #stranger things fic #stranger things x reader #y/n #fanfiction #billy hargove x reader #billy hargrove #x you

[linkedkeysau-official]

"What's My Age Again?" - A LK/HW oneshot

AO3 link

It was late, and Link was still awake, going over battle plans and strategies once more. Things had been calm these past few days, but he, Zelda, and Impa all agreed they should be ready at any moment should things turn sour. He’d thought Mask was asleep. He’d hoped so at least. Still it hardly came as a surprise to hear the little one quietly attempt to get his attention.

“Captain…?” Link turned around. He knew immediately the kid’s question wasn’t going to be as simple as why he was still up this late or something small like that. Clearly written on the smaller hero’s face was a look of worry. Something was really bothering him.

“What’s up, Sprite?” Link pulled himself away from his work to come sit beside the boy at the edge of his cot. 

“H-How old am I? Like… How old do you think I am?” He asked awkwardly. This was not the first time Link had seen the kid struggle with this. In truth, nobody knew the kid’s true age. He had the body of a 10-year-old, sure, but his mind was clearly far more mature than that. And yet, neither adults nor kids seemed to understand him. 

“I don’t… I don’t really know how to answer that.” Link admitted.

“Just… If you had to guess.” Mask pressed.

“Well, you look about 9 or 10. But I’ve seen you act like you’re 17 or 18. So… Somewhere in the middle? 14 or 15 perhaps? Does that feel right?” Link asked. Mask paused, but shook his head.

“No. It feels just as wrong as every other guess.” he said sadly.

“Well, how old do you feel?” Link asked him.

“I’m… Not sure. That’s why I asked. No number feels right. Sometimes I feel older than I should be. Sometimes I feel younger.” He explained, “Everything made sense before the Master Sword… After that it was like I was a child in the body of an adult. But when I got sent back, it was like being an adult in the body of a child! But do I even know what it feels like to be an adult either? I’ve never really been one, no matter the lie my body told. But… Can I really call myself a kid anymore? So much has happened since I left the forest, and I don’t think I could ever go back to the way things were. I’m not a kid, I’m not an adult, and nothing in between feels right either. So… Just how old am I?!” he wailed. Link wasn’t sure how to respond at first. He had no idea the effect that messing with time so much had on this kid… this person… Well, he did, but not anywhere near the full magnitude of it. The poor guy was having a full-on internal crisis, and Link had no idea how to help. Or did he…?

“Okay. Disregarding how you feel, how do you want people to see you? How do you want to act? Basically, how old do you want to be?” Link asked. Mask hesitated. Link could almost see the thoughts running through his mind. He felt too old, and he certainly didn’t like when people treated him like a helpless, fragile, or immature baby… But did he really want to be considered a grownup? He could handle responsibility, sure. But did he want to constantly carry those burdens the way the Captain did? Or did he want to let go, to let himself mature more before worrying about that again? Did he want to embrace his self-sufficiency and be left to take care of himself all on his own again? Or… Would it be too bad to let someone else help him for once? Mask believed he knew his answer now.

“...10. I want to be 10 again.” He said quietly, “I’m not ready to grow up yet. I want… I want to be a kid again.” The Captain gave him a small smile.

“Alright. 10 years old it is.” His smile turned into a smirk, and Mask got the feeling he wasn’t going to like what happened next, “Buuuut, if that’s the case, then I think it’s past your bedtime.” Before Mask could react, the Captain had scooped him up and wrapped him in his soft blue scarf so the kid couldn’t escape.

“WAIT NO I TAKE IT BACK!!! PUT ME DOWN!!!” He shrieked. Link laughed,

“Nope, too late. Besides, your little body needs the sleep regardless of what age you are mentally.” He set the kid down on his cot. Mask stopped trying to fight back and resigned himself to letting the Captain tuck him in.

Tuck him in… A soft goodnight from a caretaker; Mask never had that before. It was strange, but… comforting. It was nice. Something he wanted to get used to. He knew he shouldn’t. But… would it be that bad to embrace the babying just a little bit? 

“Goodnight, Sprite. Sweet dreams.” Link said, gently ruffling the kid’s hair with a smile. 

“‘Night, Captain…” 

#linked keys #hyrule warriors #lk #loz au #not lu #lk mask #lk warriors #why Mask is portrayed as an actual child in the story! #because he chose to #mod kj

[greenthey]

Dream journal & life rambling 🌪️

A circle of women were trying to rebuild their lives during a hurricane. I was like "why are you setting up IKEA shelves in a hurricane?"

Am I the one trying to rebuild my life during an emotional hurricane? 😤 Ughhhhj I'm so sick of my own bullshit.

Tried to meditate with my laboradite, might have felt a joyful presence at my back. I was trying to blast away the anxiety chains in my sternum and the cobwebs of past words that keep me trapped.

Fell into a stress dream where I lived with a ton of extended family members including my future-ex-wife's family. There was a ton of Chinese food leftovers going bad in the fridge and I was like "why is no one eating all this vegetable fried rice??"

I was tasked with watching a baby, I think it was my niece. My ex's niece, whom I've known since she was 4. I learned on FB yesterday that she just turned 13. Idk if I'll ever see her again 😭 She's a cool kid.

The grief from the death of my relationship comes in waves. I don't know how to justify to our families and friends what I'm doing. Leaving something that looked stable just because we weren't compatible and I didn't feel loved. Those should be good enough reasons. And yet the old me would've tried.

The old me DID try, but by embodying the "perfect" partner and hoping my effort would be reciprocated. So passive, like a child. Tho I think my wife cast me as her mom & dad. The parent-object who is loved and hated, but not for who they are, more for what they provide or fail to provide. I'm not a fuxking Ikea shelf.

I know I objectified myself, by trying to be perfect instead of me. But if I had been fully empowered and self-possessed, I don't think we would've made it past the dating stage. I would've known I wanted more novelty & adventure out of life than she does. I would've noticed she doesn't know how to regulate her own emotions and that was unsafe for me. If we had somehow made it to moving in together, I would've realized her (literal) OCD symptoms and the disrespect she treated me with when they were triggered was unacceptable.

But I was partitioned into a smaller self, who thought love was all that mattered and that I had to change for it.

I still think love is all that matters tbh 😂 but now I am the one who is unsafe because I don't know how to regulate my emotions. I repressed them for almost my entire life, to try to be this false perfect self. Now I have a hard time keeping them in but have no idea how to express them without flooding people.

I guess I have to accept that the immature parts of me are still growing up. Because I don't want to act like a parent or a child in a dysfunctional relationship. I want us to both be adults.

#dream journal #divorce chronicles #op

[talesfromthebacklog]

Tales From The Backlog: Dredge

8/10

Dredge is a rare breed. It is a subtle Lovecraftian open world horror that one could almost dare say is a cozy game. I love it when genres come together and make beautiful weird things.

🎣 Horror fishing. What a weird mix! But at the same time, it’s not. There’s been stories throughout all of human history of mysterious watery horrors and fisherman. It’s one of the oldest kinds of story we have. And yet it’s pretty rare in gaming to see.

The only other game like it that I can even think of is Fishing Vacation. (Also on my backlog…)

I have a complicated relationship with horror games. I love horror movies but at the same time video games become too personal. I’ve gotten better as I got older but like… some titles are still too intense for me. I get too real life stressed out.

I normally play horror like PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo or Until Dawn. As they provide less intense experiences. I feel like characters are being attacked. Not me.

With all that being said I had reservations on picking up this horror title. Starting a new horror franchise is like doing a trust fall. As I fall I have to hope the experience isn’t too spicy for me. And ocean horror in particular can be the most TERRIFYING of the lot. There’s no ground or sky in the water. An enemy can occupy any portion of the space at any moment. The rules of movement are different on the ocean, especially when you don’t belong there.

I can’t play Subnautica with creature aggression on. I can’t.

Thankfully Dredge has a very subdued horror experience. It’s spooky not necessarily scary. Which is perfect.

Dredge has so many elements that make for a good spooky fishing story.

Mysterious ocean? ✅

Mutant fish? ✅

Old people who’ve seen everything? ✅

BIG FISH WITH BIG TEETH? ✅

People randomly going insane? ✅

It’s all here baby. And I love it.

You start the game having lost your old boat and washed up in the town of Greater Marrow. The mayor is kind enough to supply you with a new boat and you venture out onto the sea and encounter increasingly worse Lovecraftian horrors.

The fishing is simple, but really fun. Mutant fish are probably the most satisfying to catch. They sell for more money and have a low drop rate in comparison to their normal counterparts. Getting one is like getting an onion ring in your fries. 🍟 So good!

They’re designed well too. I love how some of them are cute and some are GROSS:

Like look at this precious boy. I actually think that’s very cute. The face and the hooked nose are adorable. It looks like a lock pick. Love it. (Too bad takings these out of the water instantly kills them!)

And then there’s this guy:

Now that’s just an old fashioned nasty boy! Love it.

Dredge as a whole is a really pretty game with a lot of diverse locations to visit. My favorite visual in the game is that no matter where you’re at on the open ocean you can always see the lighthouse in the middle of the map. Even at night. It’s eerie and comforting.

Dialogue can be hit or miss with these smaller titles, but in Dredge you are invested in the world and the people you talk to. The game is just plain interesting, people speak cryptically but are honest generally. You get the sense that things weren’t always like the way it is now. Weird or bad things happen to people and you’re not quite sure why. And you want to know! On top of the solid fishing that’s what keeps you going in Dredge.

Dredge is technically an open world experience. There are quests, people to visit, and straight out the gate you could go explore the high seas!

But it really is better to stay home and fish for a few days. The game is… decent at explaining itself. Most things were covered with exception for how sanity works. A little bit more flavor text would’ve been nice. I had to google sanity and what triggers it (other than just being out at night).

Though I suppose horror is also about learning these things on the fly. If it prepped you for the scares that’d be missing the point, huh?

There are… enemies. But running into one is more like, “God DAMNIT my boat! 😡 ” And less “HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THAT? 😱”

Not a complaint. Even the enemies ruining your boat isn’t that annoying. Most of the time, your boat being damaged is your fault for not being careful or managing your sanity. So when you lose fish from being damaged you go “Why did I do that?”. I like it when the game is built well enough for mistakes to be obviously the player’s fault. The boat controls well and it upgrades over time so you know when you’re venturing out a little too far from town to be safe.

Though the enemies can be dastardly. My favorite one I’m not going to tell you about. Because if you play Dredge I want it to catch you off guard like it did for me.

Also you get powers as you find relics for a collector. So that’s rad.

The one thing I don’t like, but I get it, is the paranoia rocks that show up when your sanity lowers. Especially when an enemy is going after you. That’s messed up man. But also hilarious.

But it’s only hilarious when it happens to you. Not me. 😂

The only spoiler I want to give away, because I was lucky enough to be told this early myself: Don’t talk to the hooded cultists until you are ready. They uh… die if you don’t do the missions on time and apparently have the best stat books in the game. The stat books are awesome in general. And it gives you an excuse to talk to everyone multiple times.

You can also find research parts to unlock new equipment for your boat. And of course the boat is upgradable with old shipwreck parts you can find around the area. The game is called Dredge after all, not Fishing. You are given a Dredge machine to fish up relics, treasures, and boat parts. Upgrading and getting new equipment is well spaced out and satisfying. Money is easy to obtain as long as you have the right equipment and know the right spots. But I don’t feel like I have money in too much excess either which is awesome. The upgrades requiring parts you have to dredge up really help pace the game.

Other than that, Dredge is a simple short experience. The story is mysterious, sad, and often bittersweet. Dredge is largely a story about overcoming tragedy and pushing forward to do the healthy thing for yourself (and others). To not allow the continued suffering.

I have a soft spot for titles like this. Dredge really is wildly unique in the sea of gaming. That’s not a knock against other games, but when I see something this different it makes me want to support it! You know?

#Dredge #Nintendo #Nintendo Switch #tales from the backlog #tftb #gaming #video games #indie game #Horror game #cozy game #cozy games #Steam #Black Salt Games #Team 17 #PlayStation #Xbox #Xbox One #Playstation 4 #Playstation 5 #lovecraft #cthulhu #lovecraftian #cthulu #horror #fishing game #fishing horror

[heliianth]

hi Helii i dunno if you already made a post about this, but I'm curious if u thought of a different plot and ending for httyd 3 cause recently i've been thinking about that a lot and i like to hear people's opinions about the movie!

hi nonnie !! ive made 2 posts abt my opinion of httyd3 (ein) (zwei) but since then ive read things like directors commentaries and excerpts from the art book so theyre not Very complete (but still representative—i just give some of the people who worked on it too much leeway LMAO)

honestly i havent thought of a different plot or ending that much, mainly because there are a Lot of things that bug me about the movie and changing all of them would kinda make the fixed version™ almost unrecognizable, but i can give u some quickfire easy decisions i think wouldve made the movie better

replace the Light Fury with a pack of Night Furies that escaped to THW. i dont understand the fascination with making Toothless the last NF because the "propogation of the species" genetically cant happen if he is, despite what Dreamworks REALLY wants u to believe by having Nightlights be a thing 1300 years later. every single NL u see after the 3rd movie is horrifically inbred !!

scrap New Berk. the "Old Berk" location was so important to its people that they defended it from dragons for 400 years, they wouldn't just pick up and move. also, the overcrowding problem is a non-issue because there's so much room on that island to expand onto and Hiccup is not that much of a dumbass*

show Toothless struggling with leaving Hiccup to chase the LF (or NFs)—maybe he tries to drag him along and theres something that forces them to separate for Hiccup's safety

in that vein ^ there are like 3 total scenes where Hiccup and Toothless are together and that really cheapens the emotional followthrough so... have them be friends again. the 2nd movie, the first time we see them goofing off and chatting alone with each other, showing the audience how strong their bond is and what their dynamic is like. i dont remember if the 3rd movie has Anything like that

speaking of which LOSE THE "dragons are wild animals" POINT. this is a major inspiration for the movie so its one of the things that would change the Whole Story but Dean needs to make up his fucking mind over whether the dragons are gentle, intelligent, sapient creatures who know how to perfectly understand human speech and body language or wild, dangerous animals who need to be "free" from humans (the former is how dragons have been treated by every piece of httyd media until the third movie and the latter contradicts everything, is less interesting, and destroys the previous themes entirely so guess which i prefer)

adding on, stop treating Hiccup like garbage. he didn't find Toothless when he was a baby dragon and nursed him back to health before keeping him and thats all Toothless has ever known. Toothless had spent 15 years prior to befriending Hiccup being a dangerous. wild dragon and blowing up Berk. He's been "free" almost twice as long as he's been friends with Hiccup. LAY OFF, his concerns about Toothless are valid.

i've talked about this before but Hiccup is a terrible chief in this movie and the role shouldve gone to someone better qualified, like Astrid. unlike what some of the directors would have u believe, it IS mature to recognize ur bad at something and hand it off to someone who is more competent (especially if its a job like leadership) bc usually sticking to it gets u Fired. *he makes dumbass decisions so the villain can look smart and this is literally the only reason why he makes them i promise u

same point: Toothless is also a bad alpha in this movie. the premise of a single dragon ruling over all other dragons in the world is Really Bad in of itself, but we don't see Toothless do anything like what Valka's Bewilderbeast did in httyd2—sure he's smaller, but give us a few scenes of him being kind and patient with his people. don't have him order everyone into cages because his girlfriend might get hurt

REDEEM THE DEATHGRIPPERS none of them did anything wrong

treat the side characters with some modicum of respect. this movie does absolutely jackshit with Valka other than make Snotlout have a creepy crush on her and everyone has caught brainworms to make Hiccup and Astrid look competent in comparison.

do not. focus on Hiccup and Astrid's relationship as much as u did. u already failed to deliver a "call to the wild" story in Toothless and the LF, the audience does not need more ammo to get "romance is more important than friendship" out of your movie. having Astrid's role completely reduced to "supportive girlfriend" and "Hiccup's True support", along with how Valka was treated (god that goodbye scene with her and Cloudjumper makes me so sad and angry and NOT for the reasons the writers want) and the LF's design being Like That on PURPOSE (also every single model being airbrushed for Prettyness reasons) kind of shows what Some People making the movie think of women

even discounting ALL of these ^ gripes, of which i have More, trust me (i didnt even get into my problems with Grimmel because honestly i do not remember enough of that twat to properly articulate my issues w him), i would be happy if the end went 1 of 2 ways:

Berk moves inside or near THW in order to keep being the defenders of the dragons, and the LF growing closer to Hiccup is representative of the hidden world dragons growing closer to Berk, illustrating that yes, coexistence is possible and good and benefits them both

the dragons gradually leave on a case-by-case basis, but Toothless never leaves Hiccup, and Hiccup grows old always waiting for him to visit. Hiccup writes a memoir of his experiences with dragons to hopefully educate the younger generation when they decide to come back. this mirrors the books' ending far better and gives the dragons the agency they deserve

i do not think there is a world where every dragon on earth leaves to THW and is simultaneously a good ending which portrays the right themes. Dean's fascination with "there were dragons when i was a boy" kneecapped the entire plot. you do not write stories starting from how you want them to end, especially if they're stories based off a beloved franchise with already established dynamics and themes. the Reason why so many plot elements are so contrived, why so much character development is lost, why httyd's theme of tolerance, cooperation, and the power of love is hamstrung, is because they Really Wanted an end where there are no dragons and they were Completely willing to do anything to get there (also Dreamworks is shit to its artists but whats new)

anyway. NONNIE. if u ever end up thinking More about an alternative version of httyd3 tell me!!!! i'd love to hear YOUR ideas and if u cannot tell talking abt this is so fun and engaging for me so i will listen !!!!! i love u for talking to me have a good day <3 <3 <3 <3

#i just woke up AHJgdg hi!!!!! #long post #i really only have so many issues with thw bc the other 2 movies are so good. i REALLY love all of the httyd media preceding thw #like they set such high standards #so in comparison thw is such a . let down. like the animation is pretty good and the lighting is gorgeous but its got no substance #nothing to indicate they put as much time and care into it as the other movies or even tv shows #thus. my now 3 essays talking abt why i dont like it #LMFAO #httyd

[angelsanarchy]

Alone Together - Eddie/OC One-Shot Series PRT 14 Prt 1 - Prt 2 - Prt 3 - Prt 4 - Prt 5 - Prt 6 - Prt 7 - Prt 8 - Prt 9 - Prt 10 - Prt 11 - Prt 12 - Prt 13

taglist:

@thetenthdoctorscompanion @siriuslymooned @samwilsonns

"Okay so this one is actually pretty sick. I want to paint that on my van." Eddie was currently hovering over my notepad as I drew a puppet master tattoo for Eddie. Once his uncle had seen the huge piece I drew on his chest, he freaked out. He applauded my work but asked that I please draw him something a little smaller and not so colorful.

"I'm trying to decide if he needs some red hues, really give him that hellish pop." Eddie's ringed finger ran over edges of the drawing to show where he thought it would be best to put the red and I started off slow.

"Oh that's the one baby! That's perfect." He clapped his hands together shifting his chair closer to mind. The chairs at the table started filling around us and I tried not to let Eddie keep me too lost in this sketch because I didn't want to be rude to everyone else but it was Dustin and Mike who plopped down heavily shaking the table.

"Whoa! Relax! We're working on something here!" Eddie threw his arms out and Dustin offered a silent apology.

"What are you drawing?" Dustin asked squinting at the sketchpad. I turned it around for him to see and he nodded.

"Wow that's badass." Mike looked impressed.

"I'm going to get it tattooed on Thursday. It's going right here." Eddie tapped the back of his arm.

"You let Dani draw you a tattoo...for your body?" Mike seemed shocked.

"Are you questioning my artistic abilities?" I challenged playfully.

"Not at all but that's like...a very permanent thing." Mike pointed out making Eddie snort a laugh.

"Yeah Wheeler that's kind of the point of a tattoo." Eddie shifted in his chair and had his arm around the back of mine, almost protective, I gave his knee a small squeeze reminding him to be nice.

"I mean it just seems pretty intimate." Dustin slapped the back of his hand on Mike's chest. Eddie and I looked at each other.

"What? You know I think you're awesome! It just seems like such an intense thing to get. It's like a soul binding-" Mike was cut off by Dustin.

"If there are two people who are practically attached at the hip, it would be Dani and Eddie." Dustin added quickly making me chuckle.

"You know people can have tattoos removed right? Covered even." Gareth pointed out from next to me. I sat back in my chair taking in this new topic of conversation.

"No way man. I hear having them removed is like burning the skin off your body." Carl scrunched his nose and Mike got a chill.

"I think its an awesome idea. I mean Dani's practically designed our entire party. Why wouldn't he want one of her pieces on him?" Jeff spoke up and Mike held up his hands.

"I mean they're definitely a step up from some of the others he's gotten." Jeff added making Gareth almost spit across the table.

"You guys are assholes. Why do I even subject myself to this kind of abuse?" Eddie shook his head.

"Don't be so dramatic, Munson. Now the tattoo on your chest, that's what I'd call abuse." Dustin's mouth dropped open and Eddie smirked at me for ribbing him.

"She makes a point." Carl added causing the rest of the table to laugh.

"Screw you guys. I'm getting another drink." Eddie stood up and put a hand on my back making me look up at him. He was silently asking if I wanted anything and I shook my head, watching him head towards the soda machines.

"My girlfriend has a tattoo. It's small but I always wonder if maybe she'll cover it when we get old enough." Mike pushed the food around on his plate.

"I didn't know you had a girlfriend. What's her name?" I smiled making him look up.

"Oh um her name is El. She moved last year but we're making it work long distance. We used to talk on the phone all the time but now we write each other letters." He explained with a weak smile.

"Same here. Me and my Suzie are going strong for almost a year now. Long distance is tough but we stay in constant contact. Doesn't help that her dad hates me." Dustin said looking annoyed.

"Why does her dad hate you?" I chuckled feeling bad for him.

"Her dad doesn't hate you. He just doesn't like that you're Agnostic which is pretty stupid." Mike reminded Dustin who shrugged.

"That's really cool that you've both found two people that you love enough to make it work from a distance. That's real love right there." Mike blushed but Dustin smiled proudly.

"Okay what did I miss? Why is Wheeler's face a stop sign and Henderson smiling like an idiot?" Eddie plopped down heavily in the chair next to me sliding a bag of skittles towards me and opening his mountain dew.

"Dani was commending the Freshman's about finding love that knows no distance or bounds." Gareth tipped his drink at Mike and Dustin who laughed.

"...with each other or-" Eddie questioned as both boys exclaimed a loud no.

"Dustin has a girlfriend named Suzie who sounds lovely but has to deal with being star-crossed as her father does not approve of his religious beliefs, which I agree with Mike. That shit is stupid." Dani explained, catching Eddie up.

"And Mike's girlfriend just moved but they write letters to one another, which is super romantic by the way. There's something really sweet about sitting down and handwriting a letter to someone imagining them sitting somewhere and reading it with a smile on their face, thinking of you." Mike finally let himself smile without blushing.

"Handwritten letters do it for ya? No bed of roses or candle lit dinners on a boat?" Eddie teased as I sat back in my chair, his body facing towards me.

"I'm fairly simple. I don't particularly like roses and I can't swim so anything on the water isn't ideal. Showing that your happiness can come from making me happy is what I like. I want effort, I want romance that shows actual character and forethought. Doing a bunch of cheesy things you copped from a John Hughes movie isn't romantic. It's predictable." I sat back and noticed how intently he was listening to me rant.

"So romance is a case to case basis is what I'm hearing." Mike chimed in.

"Exactly. Something sweet El likes might not be anywhere close to what Suzie would like. Every girl is different and if you truly care about a person, you take the time to get to know what makes them happy so you can make sure their life is full of it." I popped a skittle in my mouth watching Dustin and Mike share a look of acknowledgement.

"Shouldn't you be taking notes Eddie?" Carl spoke up making the entire table bust out in a fit of laughter. Eddie shook his head and got up to round the table sending them all into silence. I watched Eddie closely in case he had taken the playful jest as something to be fired up about.

"Boys, this is a lunch break and while I'm sure all of this has been very informative for you, I want you to take a good hard look at these other tables. They're a good mix of Hawkins good little guys and gals right?" The boys nodded carefully.

"Now take a look at the woman in front of you." Eddie put his arms around Dustin and Mike. I shook my head at him confused as to where this was going.

"She's beauty and grace at its purest form and it's a mystery even to myself why she actually wants to hang out with any of us. So if you could stop shaking her down for information about the inner workings of the female mind, that would be great." Eddie pushed Mike and Dustin's heads together and they rubbed the sides of their heads making the others laugh again. Eddie stood up straight and winked at me. I rolled my eyes taking a sip of his drink before he plopped down next to me once more and held my pen out to me to resume working on his tattoo.

I didn't mind talking about the boys personal lives but something in the way Eddie winked at me made me think he didn't want me to reveal all the secrets to them. Love certainly has a learning curve.

#Eddie Munson #Alone Together #Dani Murillo #Eddie x OC #Eddie x Dani #Stranger Things Fic #This only took forever because I have started plotting the actual story #I was worried I would mess up the timeline