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fictionalgap · 5 months

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Steal your heart

(chapter 1)

Pairing: Kit Thantalos x Thief! Reader

Summary: You met princess on the way.

Warnings: +18 themes, swearing, Kit Thantalos uses the 'F' word.

Chapters: Chapter 2, Chapter 3,Chapter 4

Notes: Kit Thantalos is 20 years old in this fic. You are either younger than her or the same age with her.

Song Recommendation: Royals - Lorde

You never knew your real parents. Your step parents were thieves and you became one too. They were cool as long as you did what was expected of you. Your step dad died when you were fifteen and your mother wanted you to do some theft because it was usually them doing the theft and now your dad gone she had no motivation to do and you needed money.

You had friends who were thieves like you but your mom told you not to trust them.

"Never trust a thief."

She was right.

They left you on a job when it was hard to save you and now you were in an old horse wagon going to jail.

Thanks to your love of knives, you had multiple hidden in your pants. Two guards were looking and smirking in a mocking way into your direction.

"If we weren't taking thieves to the court I'd take you to my court, darling. " one filthy guard winked at your direction. You rolled your eyes and watched the roads you knew like the back of your hand. Your hand was trying to reach the small knife located inside of your waistband. Your hands were tied from front. It was really hard to do this while two mormons were watching you.

You had an idea.

"Well, maybe we can have some fun while on the road can't we? " You flashed a flirty smile and winked.

Two guards started to grin maliciously as they looked at each other.

"Come here. " You moved to the man's lap quickly. You were sitting on his lap and you saw his eyes moved to your breasts. You slideded your two finger in your waistband and grabbed the small knife then you put your arms around his neck, your hands tied. You waited him to touch you so you could gasp and open the knife without it making a sound. It was a closed knife. There was a small button on the knife. When he touched you you gasped loudly and you clicked it at the same time. It freed you from the ropes. Unfortunately the other guard saw the ropes falling.

"Stop the wagon. " you said in a heavy voice.

"No!" One guard shouted.

You hit the men who tried to grab you by face with your elbow and cut others chin while tried to grab you as well.

You jumped out of the wagon and rolled on the dirt for a while. Then you quickly landed on your feet and ran far away.

You ran for half an hour and now we're pretty tired. You realized you dropped your water bottle and groaned to yourself. You needed water immediately. You kept looking for a water source but everywhere around you was grass.

All of a sudden you heard someone shouting.

"Fuck!"

It was a girl's voice. You moved to see a 20 year oldish brunette who dressed like a knight in practice. You realized she was pretty too when you got close. You watched her behind the tree. You saw a middle length snake moving fast in a direction away from both of you. She was bit. You knew that snake it was lethal. From what you could remember, she had a couple of minutes left. You had to leave since guards were probably after you.

You couldn't.

You ran to the girl and when she saw you she clumsily drew her sword as she winced in pain.

"You don't have much time. Let me help."

She eyed you from head to toe and made some judgement inside her head then nodded fiercely.

"Fine." She dropped her sword and let herself relax on the grass.

The bite on her leg looked bad. You did what you have saw from your father when you were bitten.

"Okay. Do you know any healers around here? "

She was sweating and it made you worried.

"Yeah yeah. " She tried to nod.

"Good." You told her and you picked her up in bridal style. She wasn't light but she wasn't heavy either.

"Tell me where we are going. "

She started to get heavier as your dehydration got worse. It has been two days since you drank or eat anything.

You started to hear a ringing sound.

"Do you hear that? "

"Hear what? " she asked you. Her face was getting more pale.

"How do you feel? " You asked her as you hurried over the direction she showed you.

"Like I've been bit by a huge damn snake."

You rolled your eyes.

"Since you still keep your humor, I guess you're fine. " You said as you kept running with her in your arms.

~~~

You didn't think what it meant for you until the healers in the castle took her to save her life. Your back hurt like bitch and you felt like you were going to pass out in any moment.

You learned she was the princess when one healer shouted "Princess!"

You started to feel dizzy from dehydration and from the fact that you could be caught too easily now that you were in the castle. One of the healers came to your side. She was saying something to you but you didn't hear anything. Your ears filled with a ringing sound before you passed out.

For: @valenftcrush

#kit thantalos x reader #kit thantalos #KitThantalossaysfuck #willow the series #save willow #willow series #willow 2022 #willow fanfic #sapphic fanfic #wlw fanfic #lgbt fanfic #lgbtq fanfiction #sapphic #wlw #lgbtq #hazel callahan x reader

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rosamariawrites · 8 months

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Fireworks (Johnny Slaughter x f!reader fic P1)

Notes: I labeled this as mature for a reason so although this part may not be super violent and/or "smutty", the next parts to follow WILL BE. (this may contain some suggestive words/themes)

story context: (reader is 20, johnny is 25) Takes place in Newt, Texas. summer setting (4th of july) readers dad hosts a cookout for the whole town every year on the 4th at their house, johnny swings by readers house every once and a while to help maintain her car. (reader and johnny have grown to be amazing friends, and he's missing her since she's at college.) reader came back home for her summer break from college in New England, a long way away from her family. (johnny doesn't know she's home yet)

i used y/n for this!

story begins under the cut

Music blared the radio of my dads old, brown, beaten pickup truck as I head down the road to my house. I glance at the passengers seat, littered with bags of ribs, pork, corn, a whole lot of beer, and 4 bags of ice, already beginning to melt, the outside of the bags becoming slippery with the condensation.

"Awh shit, I'd better get this back quickly." I huff. The 4th of july cookout starts at 2:00, dad's not gonna be happy with me if I let all this go to waste.

After what felt like forever, I pulled into my family's driveway, parking my dad's car on the grass, littered with summertime flowers. "Dad!" I shout, opening my car door and walking around to the passengers side.

I open the passengers side then glance up to the porch at my father, entering the texas heat from the cooling comfort of our home. "Ah thank you sweetie, sorry I couldn't run out myself. Your ma wanted me to help her clean." My dad says, beads of sweat running down his forehead.

"Course daddy, here." I hand him the ice, and bag by bag he brings it inside. I follow after him, shutting the car door and hastily bringing inside the beer, along with various meats he asked for.

I step inside and don't even bother removing my sandels, I'm going right back outside anyways. I set the food and drinks on the kitchen island, then my attention is grabbed by none other than my ma. "Y/n! I don't care how hot it is, you shouldn't dress like that, there's people coming over!" My ma tells me, clearly taken aback by my bikini top and jean shorts.

"Ma, I'm an adult, and it's sweltering! What if I wanted you to wear somethin' more decent than that sundress you got on?" I say with a small laugh. "Here's all that food you asked for." I point to the island.

"Well.. thank you, but I still ain't happy bout' that outfit! You wanna wear a bikini so bad then you go hop in the pool." She tells me as I walk up the stairs to my room, answering with nothing more than, "Uh huh" before I decide to just leave her be.

I reach my room, creaking my door open and laying on my bed. I goan into my pillow. "I hate these silly cookouts! They don't even let me help cook." I complain, but it's muffled by my pillows.

I turn over, facing the window in front of my bed and looking out at the blaring sun, glancing at my dad on the back porch, cleaning out the grill and laying out all kinds of meat.

I let my back sink deeper into the bed, "It's all just middle aged women and old men, nobody's even my age." I'm pretty much just looking for ways to complain when I hear a knock at my door.

"Hey babylove, I'm fryin' some of the burgers and hot dogs.. if you'd like to join me. People are arriving in 'round 20 minutes." My dad informs me, and my mood immediately flips.

I make my way off my bed and follow my dad downstairs and outside to the grill. I make note of how I can see his sweat all through his white tank top, but his jeans hide it well enough.

He opens the grill and loads of steam come out, "Okay, I know you understand how to do this so I'll leave you to it." He says with a smile before joining my mom who's sitting down on one of the patio chairs with a beer in hand.

I turn my focus back to the grill.

--- (2:30)

I finished grilling his hot dogs and hamburgers just as people started to arrive, I said my hellos and walked off before they had the chance to talk my ear off.

I walk upstairs and back into my room, waiting for it to be dark enough for fireworks.

-- (6:00 pm)

I hear a knock on the front door, I don't do anything for a good 30 seconds until they knock again. That's when I realised everyone is already here, and they're all outside. So.. "Who can be at the door?" I question, brows furrowed, I get up out of my chair and go downstairs speed walking to the front door.

I reach it and gently swing the door open to see someone who had started to walk away, at least that's what it seems to look like. I guess me opening the door made them turn around and I'm met with, "Johnny?!" I say, stepping onto my front porch, right in front of him.

We stay looking at each other for a bit, he just stares gently. I look down at his hand to see some ground beef tacos in a glass container. "Y/n.. you're home?" I nod my head, "Well it's lovely to see you again." He says, smiling and placing his tacos on the railing while pulling me in for a hug.

He brought his rough hands to my hips, hesitantly, I place mine around his neck, a hug wasn't something Johnny did. Like, ever. But I didn't complain.

I removed myself from the hug and he did the same.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get to the door sooner, I was in my room and everyone else is outside." I explain, unable to contain the smile on my face.

"Don't even worry about it okay? But uh, if ya' don't mind me askin', why were you in your room durin' a 4th of july cookout, Bunny?" Bunny. I love it when he calls me that.

It's just a nickname that randomly came up.

He was fixing my car last summer, I was sitting outside with him when I saw a bunny just by one of the tires on my car. I naturally started trying to call it over, and it actually came to me. Let me pet it, then it left. "What are you, some kinda' Bunny?" Johnny asked while laughing at me. And the name stuck.

I think it's supposed to be playful, but it's hot when he says it.

"I- uh.. nobody's my age, and I don't want to be out there 'til the fireworks start." I tell Johnny.

"Well, I'm here now, come on." He says, picking up his tacos again and starts heading for the door that leads to our backyard porch.

He opens up the sliding door and steps out onto the patio, placing the tacos on one of our many tables, while looking out among the probably 60-75 people in our yard.

"Those are from mama, she's sorry she can't make it." He tells me, referring to the tacos. "Would you grab your dad for me, Bunny?" he asks.

I nod and start towards where my dad was, stationed at his grill even though the suns started setting.

"Dad! Johnny Sawyer's here, he's asking for ya." I whisper yell among many women who I'm sure would talk his ear off as soon as they got the chance, and boy oh boy does that Johnny have a short fuse. I glance back at Johnny still alone on the patio, waiting for me to return.

"Oh he showed? I'm goin don't worry." My dad says, getting up from his seat and following me back to the patio.

"Hey son, how are ya!" My dad asks. "I'm good sir, these are for you." Johnny hands my dad his tacos and my dad happily accepts them.

"From my mama, said she's real sorry she can't make it." He tells him.

My dad nods, placing the tacos by the grill.

"I'll tell my wife you said hi!" My dad tells him, "Y/n, honey why don't you and Johnny go on inside, I know he doesn't want these ladies buggin' him all night." My dad says, walking away from us.

I shrug it off and lead Johnny back inside with me, and take him to the only place I can, my room.

#tcm game #texas #texas chainsaw game #texas chainsaw massacre #johnny sawyer #johnny slaughter #johnny tcm #tcm 1974

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teenwolfmarvel-obsessor · 2 years

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A Trek Through The Woods

Teen Wolf Masterlist | Full Masterlist

Summary: You have known Stiles and Scott since you were in preschool. When on the night before sophomore year, the boys roll up to your house in order to find another half of a body. Like always, Stiles doesn't always think his plans through. Of course the three of you - well more like two - are caught by Stiles' father

A/N: Enjoy this sneak peak of my Teen Wolf Fanfic! I hope to finish this story soon, so you all can read it! I will be publishing it on Wattpad btw :)

Notes:

This takes place on the first episode of season one

(Your Outfit)

Warnings: none

Stiles Stilinski and Scott McCall x-reader

(Your Outfit)

It was a cool Sunday night in contrast to today's weather being a bit warm. 11:30 am read the clock that sat beside my bed. I hummed to the music from my computer's speaker. Before heading to bed, I read the book that we needed to read for our English class.

Of course, the boys hadn't even started to read The Giver, blaming it on how distracted they were with preparing for Lacrosse tryouts. Earlier today I had been with Scott and Stiles to help them with said tryouts. My mom - a nurse at Beacon Hills Hospital - was fast asleep in her room across from mine.

She worked tirelessly at the hospital all day. She was lucky to have a night to herself, which wasn't something that she got often. Melissa McCall and my mother have known one other since they were in middle school, leading to me Scott becoming friends at the age of two.

My nightly reading and listening to music were cut short by the ringing from my phone. None other than Stiles Stilinski's cross-eyed expression appeared on my phone screen. I paused my music and closed the book. "What's up?" I answered. From the other side of the line, Scott could be heard muttering something in which Stiles told him to shut up. "What're you doing right now?" Stiles questioned. I set my laptop on the end of my bed.

"Just hanging out. Mind telling me why you're calling me at 11:30 on a Sunday night?" I replied, yawning. Stiles stated that the two of them were outside my house. Like he had spoken, they were leaning against Roscoe - Stiles' blue Jeep - with their eyes staring at my bedroom window.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I knelt in front of my window. "My dad left 20 minutes ago from a dispatch call. Two joggers found a dead body in the woods. They're bringing in every officer from the Beacon Department, even State Police," a small smirk appeared on Stiles' freckled face.

Scott reached over and snatched the phone from Stiles to say something. "Yeah, and he thought it would be a great idea if the three of us went to look for the body," he commented. I rolled my eyes with the phone still beside my face. With further convincing from the boys, I rubbed my cat's head before putting on my favorite green jacket and pair of boots (Outfit One).

I already knew that it was going to be chilly tonight. The door downstairs was loud as hell, so I resorted to the window. My cat watched me as I slipped through the opening. My feet landed softly on the grass, barely making a sound. Stiles pulled out of the driveway to head towards wherever the hell we were going.

"Just out of curiosity, you two do realize that it is the first day of school tomorrow, and both of you have lacrosse practice?" I poked my head between them. "First thing I told him," Scott pointed to Stiles. There were barely any streetlights, just one at the beginning of the road and one in front of a turn to a trailer park. "Wait, didn't coach say you could join the team?" Stiles asked. He stole a glance at me before looking at the road.

"Awe, yes, because being on a team with ten horny high school boys is something that I want to be a part of for the year," I remarked, leaning back in the seat. They decided to not respond to my retort, knowing I'd lead the conversation any further. "I'm going to need a little more information about what we're doing?" I buttoned my jacket as I spoke.

Stiles explained how the police weren't sure if the individual was murdered, but they did know that she was a female and in her mid- twenties. "Hold on, if they found the body, then what are we looking for?" I inquired. "That's the catch, they only found half," Scott turned to me. The mischievous smirk that sat on Stiles' face gave me an unwelcoming feeling.

"And we're going," he added.

________

(Later - Same Outfit)

Stiles parked the Jeep right in front of the gate. A wooden sign hung from the middle of a chain: Beacon Hills Preserve - No entry after dark. Scott and I exchanged a glance before looking at Stiles who stood in front of the silver chain. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jacket. "Are we really doing this?" Scott's voice remained low.

"C'mon, you're always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town," Stiles pat him on the shoulder. I brought a leg over and the two followed shortly after. Scott muttered how things happen in this town. "That doesn't count Ms. Prescott thinking someone was breaking into her house, but it was just some rogue racoon," I noted.

We set forth in search for the other half of the women's body. Personally, I had no interest in finding this body but somebody needed to supervise these two teenage toddlers. "I was trying to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow," Scott claimed.

I walked in the middle with my eyes keeping a look out for anything suspicious. "Right, cause sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort," Stiles remarked. Our friend grumbled and insisted that he would be making first line this year.

Their flashlights waved around the dark forest. The light illuminated certain features of the Beacon Hills preserve, introducing new pairs of glowing eyes from - what I hoped - a bunny or fox. "Hey, that's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream even if it's pathetically unrealistic," Stiles went on.

The night's cool breeze brushed against the back of my neck, goosebumps rose. Scott occasionally shined his flashlight onto the ground so I wouldn't trip and fall. "Which half of the body are we looking for exactly?" he questioned. "I didn't even think about that," Stiles replied.

"Okay, here's another zinger, what if whoever killed the body is still here?" I shared a look with Scott. Despite neither one of us being able to makeout the emotion we were displaying, I could tell he worried.

"Also something I didn't think about," Stiles responded.

We approached a hill that kept us from peering ahead. Both boys got up first. Scott brought an arm out to help me up, such a gentlemen. I set my hand into his so I could easily get up. "Stiles, it's super comforting that you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail," I wiped the dirt that landed on my palms. Scott took a much needed puff of his inhaler.

I directed him towards the tree beside us so he could rest. He pressed his back against the trunk, chest rising up and down; his hands shook as he zipped up his bright red jacket. I began to feel uneasy by his state.

"Stiles, I'm thinking this wasn't such a-" I cut myself short when 'the spas' began bolting down the other direction. He dropped behind a fallen tree. We landed on the other side of him (GIF Above). From the corner of my eye I could see a wide grin creep onto Stiles' face.

The three of us heard voices in the distance, but none of which that we were able to depict who they belonged to. Stiles leapt to follow the source of the sound. I called after him with Scott trailing behind. A bright line shined in Stiles' face which resulted in him falling on top of me.

Our asthmatic friend must've hid before we were caught. Deputies surrounded us with flashlights directly on us, the light reflecting off of their badges. "This little delinquent belongs to me," Sheriff Stilinski disclosed. He saw that I was stuck underneath his son. I shoved Stiles off of me so I could get up from the ground.

Stiles popped up, wiping the dirt off of himself. "Do you listen in on all of my phone calls?" Sheriff Stilinski questioned with brows raised. "No, not the boring ones," Stiles' chest rose up and down as he wittily responded to his father's question.

Stiles spotted a few leaves stuck in my messy hair. He went to reach over to pick them out, but I slapped his hand. He was persistent until his father grabbed him by the ear. Mr. Stilinski led us over to the lit up sheriff's car so he could drive me home. I just hoped my mom didn't wake up during my escape.

#teen wolf #teen wolf fanfic #teen wolf imagines #teen wolf x-readers #dylan o'brien #tyler posey #stiles stilinski #scott mccall #stiles stilinski x-reader #stiles stilinski imagines #stiles stilinski fluff #scott mccall imagines #scott mccall x-reader #scott mccall fluff

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agender-witchery · 10 months

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I wanna just. Ramble about things. Gender, and sexuality, and romantic orientations, and all the other ways we describe our marginalized ways of interacting with others. This turned out to be long as shit, so uh, under the break it goes.

I'm big on pushing against the "born this way" narrative. It served a purpose, once. It was used to gain legal rights. It was used to gain access to medical care. But I think, at this point in history, "born this way" doesn't really achieve those things. What more, I don't think it was ever true, it was just useful.

My gender, if I am giving someone a completely accurate full history for whatever reason that may be, is that I was born and assigned male at birth. My earliest memories of gender, and coincidentally my earliest memories period, are of me resisting this. This is like, 4 years old I'm talking. In fact, when it comes to my childhood, all of my clearest memories are about gender. Or Pokemon. One of the two.

At 4, pink was declared "a girl's color". But I loved pink. I didn't wanna let go of pink. But it was a girl's color, and everyone said I was a boy, so I guess red was okay. Then red became a girl's color, and I realize now in my late 20's that this is what the youth call "bullying". But I'd always been a stubborn kid, so I just went back to professing my love of pink. Even if I didn't know it was bullying, I did catch on immediately that the winning play for me was to simply not play at all.

Another "taboo of boyhood" at this age for me was being friends with girls. Which is what I did. All of my best friends at age 4 were girls. I was made fun of over that for a while, but you know, when you're a rad as fuck 4 year old who hangs out with the girls, eventually they stop bullying you and start protecting you. So that was cool.

Let's push forward a year or two. Ages like, 5-7. I had friends, and most of them were boys. But like... most of them also had sisters. It was still kinda taboo for a boy to be friends with a girl at this point, but I figured if I went to a friend's house who had a sister, I got to play with the girl toys. Sometimes I would have to put on this facade, acting like I wasn't interested in dolls and framing my actions as bullying. That was acceptable. But secretly, I just wanted to play dress up with the barbies.

One friend though? This friend was neurodivergent as hell. Lived right across the street from me too. I would go to his house to play, but he was so engrossed in video games that he would often completely ignore me. He had some cool games and a Dreamcast, and Chocobo Racing was fun, but watching him play Sonic could hold me for like 5 minutes. He had a sister though, so eventually I hatched the diabolical plan where I would go to his house and then immediately go play in the garden with his little sister.

I had another friend (who I was actually friends with) who was a middle child. He had two sisters, and I would play with his younger sister pretty often as well. The older sister was like 4 years older which is basically an adult at that age so I didn't talk to her much. Anyway, his little sister had an Easy-Bake Oven. I nearly fucking cracked. There was nothing I wanted more than an Easy-Bake Oven. I couldn't ask for one though, the man who called himself my father was a tyrant and would probably berate me for asking for girl toys. It would've been so cool though! I almost asked for one after my mom got her divorce, but I was 13 by then. I am absolutely pushing for my brother to get one for his kids though just so I can use it.

Anyway the point here is that, despite being AMAB and passively accepting the label of boy, I never identified heavily with that label. I didn't have the words for it for over a decade, but it's plainly apparent that the label I identified with was girl. And I stand by that, when I was born, I was a girl right from the start. Except I'm not a girl. Not anymore.

In high school, I started feeling a lot more genderfluid. Sometimes I felt boy, sometimes I felt girl. That was natural to me. I never told anyone. Didn't have a word for it. Some time in 11th grade, I started identifying as a trans girl. I don't know if having the word genderfluid would have changed that. I do have fond memories of getting home, playing MapleStory, logging in on my female character, and just... losing the feeling of being a boy.

So, to recap, up to this point, I went from feeling girl, to feeling genderfluid, to feeling girl again. Following? Good.

Anyway, ALSO in high school I had this thing called puberty happen, so I guess I also developed a sexual identity. Now, a big reason I didn't identify any particular way for most of my life with regards to gender is because gender wasn't part of mainstream discourse yet. But because people actually talked about gay people when I was in high school, I was able to develop a sexual identity. That identity was "straight" but I was mistaken in that identity. I have never been straight, I was merely misled to believe I was a boy. It was something of a rock though, so I clung to that identity for life.

However, while a rock may ground you, it also prevents you from moving. Early on in my transition, during the stage where I had to come out to myself before I could even formulate thoughts on the matter and come out to others, I actually never experienced distress at the thought that I might be a girl. There were movies that were weird about trans women, but I didn't watch movies that much and also a running trend through my childhood that you may have noticed is that I do not care particularly how I am perceived if I get to have fun.

Being GAY though? Heavens no. Being gay was BAD and SOMETHING TO MAKE FUN OF. I couldn't possibly be gay. So that means, if I was a woman, I would have to like men! But I didn't like men, at least not at that point. This was literally months of struggle for me. Once I just accepted that being gay is fine, actually, and my life would not be ruined, I merely cried myself to sleep over the fact that I had a boy body. That was an every night thing for like, a year. Maybe two. I wouldn't come out until I was in college. I had to do it twice, because when I told my mom "Hey, I'm a girl actually" she would always giggle when correcting herself after deadnaming or misgendering me and I straight up said "If you're not going to take this seriously, then don't bother with it at all". She apparently did not parse the anger there, so I ended up having to come out again like a few months later. I also told her not to tell anyone else and that I would come out on my own timeline. She told all her sisters, who I believe count as other people, but I may be wrong about this. I was not happy.

So now, at this point, I am a trans woman, I am a lesbian, this is my identity, and I assert to this day that I was correct in that identity at that time in my life. I also started hormones around this time, which is when I learned the magic of holding your boob for comfort.

I go through college. It's not working. My mom doesn't want me to get surgery until I'm finished with college. My father (my real father who cares about me, not the shit stain that lived in the same house as me for 13 years) convinced her that, hey, if my grades are suffering, maybe surgery will help me out actually?

So I got facial feminization surgery. This did not help my grades and I eventually dropped out, but overall this was a win because I had like half a diploma but I also had a very networked family so I could get a job just by having someone call in a favor. I'm now disabled and forever unemployed, but an attempt was made I guess.

Back to the surgery though. The immediate results are... well, they're puffy. I'd just had my face literally rearranged, so there was a bit of swelling. However, even once all the swelling had gone down... I didn't see a woman in the mirror. That was a big thing I struggled with, looking in the mirror and seeing a body that didn't reflect how I felt. And I thought FFS would fix that, that it would let me look in the mirror and see a woman. I have never seen a woman when looking in the mirror, not even in VRChat where I have a very unambiguously feminine body.

And that felt... normal? Correct, even. Because while I didn't see a woman, I also didn't see a man. I saw... nothing. I didn't see a gender at all. I started identifying more and more toward agender. I changed my pronouns from she/her to she/they. Eventually I dropped all pretense of a feminine identity and moved to they/them exclusively. This has been the way I've identified since, although nowadays I'm trying out it/its alongside they/them just to get a feel for it. Agender isn't even really an adequate descriptor for me, since I still view agender as a specific gender within common discourse. More accurately, I would describe myself as having no gender. It's an inapplicable concept to me and has no meaning to my life. That might change, but that's where I'm at right now.

So what we have, is an AMAB kid, who is a girl, who later goes on to have genderfluid feelings and incorrectly identifies as straight, who then later goes on to correctly identifying as a trans lesbian, and who past that correctly identifies as having no gender with a sexuality of girl-and-girl-adjacent-liker. This is not the end of the story.

Anyway, even while identifying as a trans lesbian, there was always the occasional dude-oriented person who I would look at and say "would fuck". To be clear, if I looked at someone who I thought was a girl, went "damn she's hot" and then he introduces himself as a trans man, I was immediately turned off. My lesbian exceptions were VERY specific and someone who'd been bathing in estrogen for most of their life to the point that they had to tell me they were a guy for me to know they were a guy was not reaching the physique I found hot in men.

This changed entirely when I started playing VRChat. I flipped the pansexual switch on so quickly, you have no idea. I still have stricter standards for men I find attractive vs women I find attractive, and the nature of VRChat means that there's a LOT of disconnect between whether I'm attracted to the person or the model. Ultimately there are a lot of weird new variables when you bring VR into the mix, but I maintain that I am solidly pansexual regardless.

But, hey, wait, I've actually skipped over something. I did that for a reason, don't worry, it's my romantic orientation. I'm quoiromantic, I think, I've only actively identified with it for about a year and I'm still figuring myself out. I'm certain I'm somewhere on the aromantic spectrum, and quoiromantic seems like an adequate word for what I experience, and truth be told, I'm not a massive pedant when it comes to the specific words used to describe me as long as the correct idea is conveyed, so I don't care too much about inquiring within myself as to whether quoiromantic is the best word for me.

But wait, if I've only been identifying as quoiromantic for a year, why is it something I've skipped over? Well, that's because 7 years ago, I read a webcomic. Goodbye to Halos. And this panel in particular resonated with me in a very particular way. I read the comments. A lot of people said "quoiromantic". I looked it up. It felt right. And then I buried it in the back of my head for 6 years because it didn't feel particularly important for me to identify on the aromantic spectrum at the time.

So, in total, I'm some person who was assigned male at birth, whose first conception of gender as it relates to themselves was "girl", who would later go on to feel a bit genderfluid and think they were straight, who would then go on to identify as a trans lesbian with some exceptions, and then I would move on to no gender with an ambiguous sexuality that can be described accurately as "hot boys only", and I would then identify as pansexual, and now I am exploring my quoiromantic identity.

The ONLY point in that entire sentence where I would say I was "wrong" is the part where I identified as straight. I passively accepted labels that others put on me, but that was them being wrong, not me. And so my gender has changed quite a few times over the course of my life. And my sexuality has changed a few times as well. And I fully expect my romantic orientation to go through a few changes before I find something comfy. Perhaps I'll find a new gender identity that feels comfy, or a new sexuality that feels comfy.

The point is that the person I am today is completely incompatible with the "born this way" narrative. And I shouldn't need "proof of girl" to get a vagina installation. I shouldn't have had to lie to get bottom surgery, because the truth is, I just didn't like the way my dick looked on my body. I don't believe I was lying when I first got hormones, but also, why the fuck did I need a medical diagnosis of "Gender Identity Disorder" to be taken seriously by doctors? Is my word of "Hey I feel like a girl, please give me the girl pills" not enough?

Also, if you've made it all this way to the end, please don't use ace tags for this post. I love y'all but I am very not ace and I am very talking about myself here.

#my nonsense #transgender #agender #trans feminine #pansexual #aromantic #aroallo #arospec #quoiromantic #queer #longpost

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justaboot · 11 months

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2, 6, &12 for the book ask?

2- Top 5 books of all time

Lord of the Rings. Hands down. Next.

Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom. Big tears, kickstarted my awareness of my own mortality at age 19. Made me need to call my mom and tell her I love her.

Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes. I read this way too young, like, elementary school, and it messed me up beyond belief. I've only ever read it the once in elementary, and then again in middle school, but it's peak.

Cast in Shadow, Michelle Sagara. I'd doxx myself if I said why I initially picked it up, but if you like fantasy, I HIGHLY recommend. Messy, loud female ace protagonist in a high fantasy urban book series. Magic and daggers and cool fun characters and lots of drama.

I Love You Forever, Robert Munsch. My mom gave it to me on my first birthday, and I've never once read it and not wept. Never once.

6- What books have you read in the last month?

I'm currently reading Throne of Glass for a friend (it's her favorite in the world), and to be quite honest, I'm having the worst time with it.

12- Did you enjoy any compulsory HS readings?

I LOVED Of Mice and Men. (Spoilers I guess) I was so excited to read it, knew absolutely nothing about it, and was like, jumping in my seat when we got it from the library. I sat my freshman ass down as the rest of the class was coming back, opened to the title page, and someone had written in pen on the title page, "George kills Lennie." I was SO MAD, and I couldn't tell ANYONE. My english teacher took one look and laughed his ass off for the rest of the day.

#Book ask #not dt

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rphelperblog · 2 years

Text

Mean Girls Quote Rp Meme

inspired by the wonderful and talented @worldburnt

“On wednesday, we wear pink.”

"Whatever, I'm getting cheese fries."

"Get in loser, we're going shopping!"

"You wanna do something fun? Wanna go to Taco Bell?"

“The limit does not exist.”

“You can’t sit with us.”

"You could try Sears."

“She doesn’t even go here.”

“I'm not like a regular mom, I'm a cool mom!"

"I'm sorry that people are so jealous of me. But I can't help it that I'm popular."

"One time, she punched me in the face. It was awesome."

"It’s like I have ESPN or something!"

"I can't go out tonight. I'm sick."

"Your face smells like peppermint!"

"You smell like a baby prostitute."

“There’s a 30% chance that it’s already raining…

"Damn Africa, what happened?"

“Can I get you guys anything? Some snacks? A condom? Let me know! Oh, God love ya.”

"Grool. I meant to say great but then I started to say cool."

"It's not my fault you're, like, in love with me or something!"

"Is butter a carb?"

“Oh, I love seeing teachers outside of school. It’s like seeing a dog walk on its hind legs.”

I don’t hate you cuz yo’ fat… yo’ fat cuz I hate you!”

“Did you have an awesome time? Did you drink awesome shooters, listen to awesome music, and then just sit around and soak up each other’s awesomeness?”

"Would you like us to assign someone to butter your muffin?"

"So, you've actually never been to a real school before? Shut up! Shut up!"

“You can only wear your hair in a ponytail once a week. So I guess you chose today.”

"Ex-boyfriends are off-limits to friends. That's just, like, the rules of feminism."

"I want my pink shirt back!"

"There are two kinds of evil people in this world. Those who do evil stuff and those who see evil stuff being done and don't try to stop it."

"Oh my God, Danny DeVito, I love your work!"

"But you're, like, really pretty… So you agree? You think you're really pretty?"

I love her; she’s like a martian!”

“I will keep you here all night.”

"That's why her hair is so big. It's full of secrets."

“Make sure you check out her mom’s boob job. They’re hard as rocks!”

“I can’t go to Taco Bell. I’m on an all-carb diet. “

“I don’t know why. It’s probably because I have a big, fat LESBIAN crush on you. Suck on that! Aye aye aye!”

"Made out with a hot dog? Oh my god that was one time!"

"In the real world, Halloween is when kids dress up and beg for candy. But in girl world, Halloween is the one time of year a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girl can say anything about it."

"Don't have sex. Because you will get pregnant, and die. Don't have sex in the missionary position, don't have sex standing up, just...don't do it. Promise?"

“Somebody wrote in that book that I’m lying about being a virgin, ’cause I use super-jumbo tampons, but I can’t help it if I’ve got a heavy flow and a wide-set vagina!”

"Did you see a nipple? It only counts if you saw a nipple."

"I don't know, I mean, she's so weird, she just, you know, came up to me and started talking to me about crack."

"That is the ugliest effing skirt I've ever seen."

"I know I may seem like I was being a bitch, but that's only because I was acting like a bitch."

"Boo, you whore."

“I have really bad breath in the morning.”

"Damn. I'd rather see you out there shakin' that thang."

"I wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school. I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy."

“I used to think there was just fat and skinny. But apparently there’s lots of things that can be wrong on your body.”

“I hear she does car commercials…in Japan.”

“I know she’s kind of socially retarded and weird, but she’s my friend… so, just promise me you won’t make fun of her!”

“At your age, you’re going to have a lot of urges. You’re going to want to take off your clothes and touch each other. But if you do touch each other, you will get chlamydia… and die.”

“So that’s against the rules, and you can’t sit with us.”

“I’m sorry I called you a gap-toothed bitch. It’s not your fault you’re so gap-toothed.”

Because that vest was disgusting!”

Then it’s settled, so you can go shave your back now.”

“And on the third day, God created the Remington bolt-action rifle, so that Man could fight the dinosaurs. And the homosexuals.”

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alullinchaos · 10 months

Text

collection of fun stories about my legal name because that poll reminded me i have a few i changed my name legally a few years ago and the hilarious thing is that i'd never met anyone with that name until after i decided to change it to that. like immediately, start school and a kid in one of my classes has that name. and it's a guy* (kinda happened again with the same subject two years later and that was ALSO a guy*) and it was fine and all but then. then last year at work i'm doing my thing as a cashier yknow and this guy comes through my line and naturally i have a nametag so he's like "omg your name is [X]? my wife's name is [X] and i've never met a female [x] before" as a brief aside to this, a while after i'd already changed my name my mom pulled me aside and was like "you know that [x] is a masculine name right?" and i'd had a feeling* even tho i thought it was unisex but i'm like. ykw. that's fine. im trans of gender it doesnt matter so this adult man doing this to me was weird enough, like, he didn't know that he was misgendering me to my face but then he CALLS HIS WIFE in front of me to tell her about it. he's so excited. so then i have to listen someone also use incorrect pronouns while emphasizing that i'm a female [name] when i'm in fact not a female name ( i don't think anyone is surprised by the revalation that i was afab but also this man was middle-aged and i live in a conservative area so there was no chance in hell he was going to stop and even consider the possibility that he was misgendering me ) and that's a funny haha story to be like. "customer service so fun so cool" but then it gets weirder because my dad got kinda promoted at his job? and then they hired someone to replace him obviously right her name is [my legal first name] and her middle name is what my birth name was originally meant to be. like. my parents were going to name me y, didn't, named me z instead, and now i'm x. so her name is x y. and i fucking lost my shit laughing when my dad told me and then. and then. one day im talking to him about like. basically the closest thing this man has to a best friend. who has a son that my older brother was friends with, so i've heard about him for yearsssss and suddenly my dad mentions that this guy actually has TWO sons and i'm like. i had no fucking idea. what's his name and my dad goes "his name is X... that's probably why i never mention him" so the son of my dad's BEST FRIEND has the SAME NAME as me and i've known about the best friend for like... over 10 years and never heard about that other son until NOW? after accidentally making that happen???

#alic lore #trying not to be too specific with anything #because i specifically do not want my irls or online friends #to be able to identify this account #but... yeah.#also the best friend thing is funny because his kids names dont only match each other #but also match his name #WHICH IS A THING MY FAMILY DID #so its like haha dad now i LITERALLY match this other man's family instead of u #get fucked

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holocene-sims · 1 year

Text

next // previous

july 4, 2021 7:30 p.m. adam's house

[wyatt] maybe you’re bored of it and that’s fine! but dad says you were really, really good, like you have trophies and all kinds of stuff like that, and you got on the local news one time because you won the state championship, and, uhhh, you have a friend that plays in the NHL and he was really nice to me that one time...

[grant] hey, buddy, the answer is yes, i promise.

[grant] seriously, it’s not a problem. i'd also be happy to teach you or practice with you. i may not play anymore but that doesn't mean i wouldn't change that for you. i love you guys. you're family. i would literally do anything for you.

[wyatt] dad doesn’t know how to skate at all, so he can't help. and if i go without help, i'm gonna suck. i mean, i can skate and shoot and everything, but i'm not good.

[grant] look, you won’t be bad at it! it’s just a learning curve, but you’re young. kids are like sponges. you absorb skills so much easier at your age. and by the way, listen to me, when you play in games, call me and i'll come to them, too! i'll be so annoying in the stands with your parents. you’re going to wish we weren’t there, that’s how annoying we’ll be.

[wyatt] yeah. i just think it’d be so cool to play in the NHL. i wanna be like, uhhh, gordie howe or steve yzerman! or like your friend!

[grant] i think you should go for it, then! anything is possible if you set your mind to it. and i'd be thrilled to help you get there. just remember us little folks when you hit the big stage.

[wyatt] but mom says education is important and i should do college hockey first.

[grant] i agree with her. i mean, college isn’t everything, and it’s not a requirement, but if you become a pro athlete, you usually, like, are skipping out so much on middle school and high school to get there. that’s what really hurts you. college helps you avoid going out into the world clueless in that case.

[grant] but not to get on my soapbox there.

[wyatt] did you like it at michigan?

[grant] uhh...

[ezra] he didn't!

[grant] why you all want to know so much about me? i'm a just a boring old man who apparently played video games in black and white. surely there’s way more interesting kid-friendly stuff to chat about. like the actual hockey season that just wrapped up a couple months ago? we’re sick of tampa bay winning, right? like i couldn’t stand to watch the finals with them in it.

[wyatt] you hated it.

[grant] you really want to know? why so curious?

[ezra] i'm making the catboy! i'm naming him, uhhhhhh, spongebob. can i name him? pleaseeeeee.

[wyatt] make it spongebob catpants!

[ezra] okay! uhhh, s, um, p...where’s the o…oh, right there.

[ezra] he’s gonna be a magician guy, too. no weapons. only magic. i wanna melt people with lightning.

[grant] oh man, uhhh, mage kinda sucks in skyrim, plus we’re playing khajeet...you know what, we can work with that. excellent choices. i love it. i gotta get you on oblivion, though, if you like magic.

[wyatt] soooo, can i be nosy? mom says i'm nosy. especially when i'm not on my ADHD meds.

[grant] i don’t think you plan to stop asking, do you?

[wyatt] no.

#ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 #sims 4 story #ts4 screenshots #hlcn: everything the stars promised #it took me a bazillion posts to realize i accidentally forgot to change their outfits between this and their first appearance #OOPS #blooper reel with anna #also sorry there's so much dialogue but this is actually a really important set of scenes djfdjgkdfjgdf #plus it's just cute #grant is one of those people who's just good with kids and who kids naturally like so again it's cute #holocene.docx #holocene.png #hlcn: grant #hlcn: wyatt #hlcn: ezra

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hangon-silvergirl · 1 year

Note

For the AU ask game...Fake Dating

Oh darlin. I actually have the bones of a WIP for this! I was originally planning to post it for Hellcheer week, but I'd already burdened myself beyond what was reasonable. I think I will get to it though, once I've resolved what I've already got on the go. ANYWAY.

It would/will be loosely based on Drive Me Crazy, which is one of my favorite movies from when I was a teen.

They would be the same age as opposed to Eddie being older, for the sake of the narrative.

I would set this in the modern day, or maybe in the nineties (the movie is set in 1999), so as to traumatize myself and you all with what being a teen then was like, haha.

Chrissy and Eddie grew up next door to one another; Chrissy's parents are divorced and she lives with her dad, no brother; Eddie, of course, lives with Wayne. A big part of this narratively would be so that Chrissy has more confidence in her popularity.

Chrissy and Eddie were best friends as kids, and thick as thieves up until middle school; they drifted apart in their freshman year after Chrissy joined cheer and Eddie's mom died/dad left.

Cause for the fake dating would be Chrissy and Eddie both getting dumped by their SOs, Jason and [insert "cool" ST teenage female here]; they'll connect at a party over making longing looks at their exes, then come up with a plan to fake date, and makeover Eddie as Mr. Prep & Popular, to make said exes jealous.

They would fall in love over the course of shenanigans, of course; both of them would come to realize it once the fake dating is over and they've 'broken up' and won their exes back; they'll profess their love at, naturally, prom.

Thanks for the ask @khaleesa!

Happy to answer more from this post: Send Me an AU & I'll Give You 5+ Headcanons About It.

#dash games #ask alie #hellcheer #hellcheer fanfic #hellcheer au #khaleesa #alie's hellcheer headcanons

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mickgaydolenz · 1 year

Note

okay so I know I said I wasn't gonna be on here for a while but i PHYSICALLY CANT keep this dream away from you for much longer. so here :)

I was invited to go to this snooty ass jerk faces house,,,and some random dudes were coming too but it was. it was underwater??? and not just was it under water. WE HAD TO CRAWL THROUGH A HOLE IN THE OCEAN so immediately I back off I tell them no but the snooty kid goes "you have to or else the eels will get in" and in just that moment EELS began swarming us and biting us-but then we made it to his house where the mom forced us to wear sweaters but,. they were sweaters for dogs.

anywho then I tried to leave and accidentally dug up into the ocean and drowned that hole family

THEN I was back at home and I was given a big box of candy cigarettes and I was told to use them when I wanted to look cool by the box but every time I put it in my mouth I'd just. eat it. scrumdilly-yum-yum baybeeeeeeeeee

and then I was alone at the grocery store, I think it was costco, and just shopping. doing it all alone like I had moved out? and then I see my friend getting verbally attacked by this middle aged lady??? so I walk over and on my way there I see Paul McCartney but. but it wasn't,,,it was like he was my mother. my mother was Paul McCartney and he just made a shruggy face as he went out some door and I was just thinking "yup. that's my mom. always worrying about one thing or another" but I get to the lady and start getting real aggressive. like. I was asking her what her problem was why she was yelling at her and to knock it off??? then Paul McCartney aka my MOM came back (and btw this was YOUNG Paul McCartney. like. 1964.) and was all "oh (insert younger sister's name) I heard you were being picked on!" THE TEENAGE GIRL WAS (insert younger sister's name) SO I MUST'VE BEEN AN ADULT THEN BUT MY MOM WAS PAUL MCCARTNEY. and the two of them walked me back to my cart and Paul MomcCartney kept complaining that nobody is gonna know I'm an adult they're just gonna think that he's with his kids so he made me go over to my cart and go away :(

then we were all at the movies and (insert younger sister's name) was little again but. the movie theater was...weird. you didn't sit you stood and it was a part of a building complex for like. offices?? and Paul MomcCartney was like "okay kids I'm at work it is the one with flowers on it if you need me"

and inside it wasn't even closed off it was a balcony with stairs you climbed?? and you'd look at the wall across from you and that's where the movie played, but in the meantime whenever somebody stood in front of it it would project a cartoon image of you and I messed around with that for a while until (insert younger sister's name) started getting nervous and wanted Paul MomcCartney so I was like "yeah sure I'll take you to Paul who is our mom" and so I wandered around looking for him an then I found his office and I came in and went to some guy and said "excuse me? I cant remember jf he's a doctor but, does a Dr. Paul McCartney work here?" and the guy just went "mmmm no" but then Paul was like "(insert younger sister's name)! Raya!" and picked up (insert younger sister's name) and told me to go back to the movie or I'd miss it and on my way back I got lost???? I tried to follow this girl whose name was...was Kayleigh or something but she wasn't going to the same one as me so I just got even more lost,, but then I had a sense of Main Character In A Comedy, otherwise known as Monkee Syndrome and I did something stupid. I went wandering in the direction I knew was wrong and came across this rollercoaster that went through a house and I was like "oh goody entertainment :D" and it was one of those single sitter ones that kinda made you lay down too, and then the girl from all those fever dream videos walked by and I went "hey! I follow you! I didn't know you were from (my state)" and then just emotionlessly she said "I'm not from here" and wandered off but anyways the rollercoaster went through this tiny house and it was surrounded in other tiny houses and I just thought those were different rides but when I clicked go it went FASTER THAN LIGHT

and there were so many twists and turns??? it hurt my back uncontrollably!!1!!1!!! and I yeah was kinda screaming. loud surprised grunts is what I'd call it. BUT THEN THE ROLLERCOASTER WENT THROUGH EVERY SINGLE HOUSE AND ONE OF THE HOUSES HAD A TWISTED SHAPED TRACK TOO IT MADE MY BACK DO THE SNAKE THING WHICH HURT LIKE HELL

and then I was spit out a different house??? and I was like "oh man now I'm REALLY Lost" and looked around trying to stay calm because I HATE being lost and when I turned around A CLOWN WAS STANDING THERE

and I will tell you this. I thought this was all real. because when I screamed it felt like I real scream and not like it was just a croak,,,and he kinda just stared at me and I thought "treat him like this is a dream,,, scare HIM" so I went over to him yelling at him screaming that he was an asshole and everything then he started running away from me and figured he knew the way out so I 'chased him' but only just followed him really, then I accidentally kicked him in the back of his knee and he fell down and SLAMMED HIS FACE INTO A CURB, ngl I felt really bad because he started whining but I didn't help him but I sorta found my way out and kept looking for my theater because I didn't wanna miss my movie and whenever I'd walk by someone my walking would get really slow and I hardly moved and my knee started to hurt? so not only did I have a walking pace I was limping??? I looked like a damn zombie. which was weird. eventually I was just home??? but I realized I have no way of telling anyone that because I lost my phone on the rollercoaster,,,so I kinda just go BACK even though I literally hitch hiked on a freeway to get back??? and then I woke up

FUCKING RAYAAAAA!!!!!! DUDE ONE I LOVE THAT YOU COME BACK FROM THE FOGGY MIST OF REAL LIFE TO DELIVER THIS BANGER TO ME, AND TWO UM HI I MISS YOU I HOPE YOU ARE DOING WELL!!!! momcartney is everything to me btw, fucking god damn dude i missed hearing your dreams 😭💖

#THANK YOU FOR THIS GIFT DUDE #raya’s dreams :)#rhubarb asks

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iamnotawomanimagod · 2 years

Text

I finally have a chance to sit down and reflect on the Halsey show.

In one word - incredible.

Big spoilers for the Love and Power tour below - I'm going to go over as many songs and moments as I can!

It started with The Tradition, which was especially interesting at Red Rocks because it's an amphitheater (naturally formed by red rock, hence the name), so she when she opened the show on the catwalk rig, it really took a moment to see where she was, and it let the visuals really shine

Speaking of which - fucking AMAZING visuals, all of the graphics for each song fit so well and the lighting was so perfect. Plus there was pyrotechnics and fireworks...it was crazy. I've been to two other Red Rocks shows and this was by far the biggest and most impressive production I've seen there.

The video packages in between songs and sections were so well thought out and really underlined the horror element. I think what I loved the most was how grotesque it got - the visuals were truly disturbing, including stuff like eye gore/horror, one scene where she bangs her head against a sink until her teeth fall out, one of her all wrapped up post-surgery... it was very effective and creepy imagery and it definitely added a whole other level of flavor to the songs

There was even this moment in the middle where they were like "this next part is really sugary sweet and pop-y" and they played songs like Be Kind, Colors, So Good, etc - and the visuals morphed a little more to reflect that, becoming a little sweeter, which was especially cool because that was the "Release" and "Reflect" chapters of the setlist

Plus they had these really beautiful spoken word interludes... I hope someone has transcribed them or recorded them, I really want to see them again. I only recorded a few things because I was so caught up in the show that I completely forgot to take my phone out, haha.

I was so so happy with what they played, I ended up being really excited about a lot of the changes, since I've been following the setlist so closely all tour, lmao. So when she said "tonight's show is gonna be a little different than the rest of the tour" I lost my mind. I mentioned it before but they played "Hold Me Down" and "Heaven in Hiding" and "You asked for this" which were all songs I didn't think I'd hear at all. And I prefer all of those over their alternate songs from other parts of the tour.

They said that Red Rocks is like their living room because they've played it so much, and that it's special to them because it's where they had their first real conversation with Alev. But they also said it was the site of (what they consider) one of their worst-ever shows, during the HFK tour. Someone nearby yelled "It was really good!!" which was cute.

I ended up in a great part of the crowd. One of the weird things about Red Rocks - and I bet this is true for a lot of venues, but especially for Red Rocks - it's such a special and beautiful place to see live music (Halsey literally called it "the most beautiful venue in the world" which like, BRAG) that a lot of times you'll get people there who don't know the artist at all and are just there to see a show at Red Rocks. There was such an interesting blend of ages because of that - everyone from tweens/teens to college kids to people in their 30s and 40s, and even like, a handful of much older people. So it definitely wasn't just an arena full of Halsey stans, haha.

I was a little disappointed, but H put on an incredible show, so I can't imagine anyone leaving not at least a little bit impressed by them. There were a lot of parents with their kids, which was cute - we actually ended up next to a family, a mom and a dad and their kid, and it was the kid's first concert. And the mom and dad were dancing and singing along, and being so supportive, it was sooo sweet. And the mom confided in my best friend that she was worried that her kid wasn't having a good time, so we tried to dance with them - but honestly I think they were a bit overwhelmed, I definitely would've been too at that age.

And on my other side was this gorgeous gorgeous person, I'm not sure if they were gay or nonbinary or just queer, but they were wearing a flawless face of makeup and working this mustache along with it. (Honestly? Incredible place for outfits and looks, people really went all out and it was all really edgy, fun, Halsey-inspired looks. I even saw a girl in Halsey's outfit from "You should be sad") But the person next to me and I vibed so much, we kept screaming the lyrics together and making jokes and stuff - and making a concert friend is one of the best things that can happen at a concert, such a lovely and intimate and honest encounter, even better because it was so fleeting!

I couldn't see the stage suuuuper well, I was definitely in the middle of the amphitheater and someone kinda tall was in front of me, lol. So I ended up watching the screens a lot. But when I did manage to catch her on the stage, I was blown away by how short she is, pahaha. They have such huge stage presence, it's easy to forget. And they really had to work to make the show engaging, because they were the main focus for the entire two hours. They never flagged or complained or dropped their energy.

but I might be getting too old for concerts, lol. My feet literally went numb, and I definitely had to sit down a few times. I'm ngl, there were a couple of lulls and some songs I don't think <.< needed to be on the setlist. Like "The Lighthouse" is an amazing song, but I don't think it's very good live. It felt like it really killed the energy, tbh. >.> That was probably the one song I really wish they had skipped. That and maybe "So Good." But it gave me a chance to sit down, pahaha, so it worked out. For the record, I know not every song should be high-energy, that would make for a boring and overstimulating show - but like, "Darling" and "100 Letters" were slower songs that were still super captivating in a way that "The Lighthouse" just.......wasn't.

But oh my god......y'all, I cried during "Darling" and then on into "100 Letters." I mean they literally started "Darling" by saying "A lot of people think I wrote this song for my son, but I actually wrong it for my first babies. I wrote it for you guys." and of course I was like "awwww" but then when everyone pulled out a light and Halsey sang it I just got so emotional. Like something about the line "until it's time to see the light, I'll make my own with you each night" hits so so SO different when you're literally standing in a sea of lights among other people who love Halsey as much as you do. And then they went into "100 Letters" and it was the stripped version, and that's one of my all-time favorite songs by them, and then line "but I don't let him touch me anymore" just means so much to me, and so when she sang that the floodgates just opened. (My friend who was with me had a very similar experience with "Graveyard" - Halsey's music just Does That.)

"Whispers" is incredible live. They looked so intense, and the difference between the whispers being, well, whispered, versus screamed by a crowd, just adds this whole other incredible element to it. I love songs where something painful and personal becomes something that brings people together, that lets people connect and feel less alone.

And during "Nightmare" everyone was singing and screaming so loud, and jumping up and down, and when the abortion stats were on screen everyone just started screaming even louder. And afterwards, Halsey talked about their thoughts on Roe v Wade, and talked about how if she hadn't had an abortion she wouldn't be here, her son wouldn't be here. And some people walked out (or chose a super bad time to go to the bathroom) but she just went right on talking about why it was so important. And then they led the "my body, my choice" chant and it was just. so cathartic, and healing. and empowering.

And all of the classics - Gasoline and Castle and Hold Me Down and Bad at Love and Colors and Hurricane - were as amazing to see as I knew they would be.

I can't believe the setlist was 26 songs, it went by so fast, it didn't feel like two hours at all. If it weren't for how sore I was (and lowkey sick, my stomach didn't like all the jumping around and I had to puke in the parking lot,) I would've stood there all night listening to them sing and talk.

They sound so so so amazing live. Like I think some of the power of their voice is lost on recordings. Red Rocks also has some of the best acoustics for concerts in the world, so that just made everything she sang sound even better. But I was constantly impressed by how beautiful and rich and powerful their voice was. Halsey's vocals have never been the most important thing about her to me - I'm definitely a bigger fan of their lyrics and their concepts and their visual art style. But that concert gave me a whole new appreciation for how talented they are as a vocalist.

It was like. Truly one of the most incredible nights of my life. I'll post some videos if you guys promise not to make fun of my voice lmao. I was definitely not concerned with how I sounded, I was just taking the recordings for me, so there is talking/my own singing over it. Fair warning, haha.

But yeah. I'm so grateful that I got to go. I'll never forget it. I didn't think it was possible for me to love and respect Halsey more as an artist, performer, and singer, but I walked away from that show with even more appreciation for her.

just.... wow.

#stephspeaks #rambling about my life #love and power tour #halsey

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bearimba · 2 months

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Lyra (HGSS) Character Headcanons

HGSS character headcanons that no one asked for? Hell yeah let's go!

Starting off strong with Lyra:

Lyra is the "main" protag mostly because she's who I played as a kid. She's the one who collects the badges, fights with Silver, becomes Champion, confronts the legendaries, etc etc.

She ends up choosing Totodile at the beginning of the game (my beloved). Her final team ends up as Feraligatr, Togekiss, Ampharos, Umbreon, and Skarmory (who's her sixth pokemon? no idea :] but I'm open to suggestions)

She and Ethan are childhood friends, and Kris is kind of like a cool older friend/sibling figure to them both (I aged her up a little just to account for the fact she's not in HGSS but don't worry, she goes on her own cool journey too ;) I'd hate to leave her out) (Lyra actually started wearing her hair in pigtails because Kris did and she thought it was just. the coolest.)

Meanwhile her thoughts on Silver are basically "oh I lowkey hate you" → "you're not that bad actually just a little messed up in the head" → "if you die I'm going down with you whether you like it or not"

I like to think she's around 15-16 years old by the time she goes on her journey?? old enough to be a mostly independent person but young enough to find herself in wacky scenarios and get away with it. It is a bit older than the average age kids will start their journey though.

After her dad left (because all of the pokemon protags have daddy issues for some reason), her mom had no idea what to do with her. She ended up keeping Lyra isolated in the house for the longest time, but she eventually realized it was easier to let her kid wander around wherever instead of actually keeping track of her. Lyra hates having to stay cooped up inside for too long as a result. Also abandonment issues 10/10

She's not exactly the most outgoing person (at least not at the beginning of the game), but she is very friendly and a little overeager sometimes---she tends to leave a very strong impression on the people she meets. She can also be very talkative/loud, especially when she gets excited. She tries to keep it to a minimum but sometimes she can't help herself (infodumping king, we love her for it).

Her optimism is absolutely relentless. No matter how many times she's knocked down, she'll get up again and wipe the blood from her face with a smile even if she's lowkey dying inside.

On a similar note, she's extremely stubborn as well. Once she has her mind set on something, she'll keep throwing herself at it until she succeeds or dies from blunt force trauma.

She's the kind of person who considers it a personal failure if she can't bring all the groceries from the car inside in one go (or she would if. if she had a car.))

She can be a bit of a pushover, but in the sense that she'll put up with way more bull than she really needs to. Not because she's too afraid to stand up for herself or anything, she just has a hard time recognizing when enough is enough sometimes.

She absolutely adores pokemon, and she probably would've become a researcher under Elm if she hadn't gone on her pokemon journey. She trailed around after him a lot as a kid, so he'd usually give her some kind of busywork to keep her occupied while he did actually important stuff. Eventually he'd let her run errands for him and even ask for her assistance in small projects (he probably would've let her help out more if she weren't a very rowdy/clumsy kid in the middle of a lab filled with sensitive equipment).

Combine her love of pokemon with an impulsive nature, general lack of fear, and absolutely no self-preservation, and you get someone who has casually approached actively dangerous pokemon just to check them out and say hi on multiple occasions (this is exactly what happened at the Lake of Rage. She just happened to see the red Gyrados and sprinted at it full speed, meanwhile Lance is there in the background like "oh hey there's a child wait what is the child doing---" before chasing after her).

Growing up in a small rural town away from any gyms, she didn't get to meet many trainers until she started her journey. As a result, she doesn't understand the concept of actually training her team until she befriends Silver. She's just like "training? oh you mean when I run around and play with my pokemon and give them treats?" and Silver responds with "how the hell have you made it this far."

That's not to say she's bad at battling! Quite far from it actually, considering the fact she literally beats the E4/Lance, some of the strongest trainers in Johto and Kanto. It helps that she takes the time to really talk to and understand her team, so their communication skills (both spoken and nonverbal) in battle are almost unmatched. Paired with quick reactions and adaptability, she's a trainer who can still give more experienced opponents a challenge.

Once she becomes Champion she spreads herself all over the place. She can't stand to stay still for too long, so once she's done with one project she'll leap right into the next one. This would be fine if she could actually tell when she's starting to overwork herself, so her friends often have to drag her away from her work if she's burning out too bad.

One of her many projects includes the restoration of the Brass Tower. The idea had originally been an offhand comment from Morty, but she ended up hopping fully on board and it became a joint effort. Once reconstruction is complete, she opens the first floors of both towers to the public---it took a lot to convince the sages of the Tin Tower to allow people in but Morty has a lot of influence as both a gym leader and avid preserver of local culture---and it serves as a way for Johtonians to learn about and connect to their history.

As Champion, her reputation is basically "will crush your entire pokemon team with a smile on her face." She's nowhere near cruel or harsh---if anything, she's actively supportive of her challengers---but she also refuses to go easy on anyone.

She'll keep her team in their balls while traveling or in busy areas, but she loves to let them out at every possible opportunity.

She grew up in a lake town (I imagine the river on Route 45 opens up into a small lake east of New Bark Town before continuing down Route 27 to the ocean), so she knows how to swim and loves the water.

On the other hand, she despises flying. She can fly on her pokemon in an emergency, she'll just have her eyes squeezed shut and hold on for dear life the entire time. It's one of the very few things she's genuinely afraid of even if she'd never admit it.

She also hates cold weather, being naturally cold-blooded herself. It wasn't too bad in New Bark Town since the weather there is fairly pleasant, but once she travelled north it became more of a problem. She very rarely complains out loud, but when she does, it's usually about the cold.

She loves warm savory foods, especially anything with rice. Curry is one of her favorites (if she ever visits Galar she'd have the time of her life).

Lowkey she's obsessed with anything soft. Hand her a fluffy blanket and she'll just. melt into it. It's part of the reason she loves playing with her friends' hair (also because it gives her hands something to do when she's trying to sit still/pay attention).

I think I'm probably going to just edit this post any time I come up with new headcanons for Lyra (it'll be the same for Ethan, Kris, and any other characters I cover) so any time there's a substantial update I'll just repost this. I'd love to elaborate on some of this stuff in a later post though, so let me know if there's anything you guys are especially interested in!

She's a chronic sleeptalker. Most of what she says doesn't make any logical sense, though very rarely it can have something to do with her dreams. Ethan has a whole list of weird stuff she's said dating all the way back to when they were kids to use as "blackmail" (he would never actually, but he loves to tease her about it anyways).

There's also a lot more I want to explore in the future such as the trio's backstories together, getting into Silver's whole deal, talking about the general culture of the region, etc etc etc :) so keep an eye out for that! And don't forget you can send in requests if there's something else you want to see.

#pokemon #pkmn hgss #pokemon hgss #hgss #trainer lyra #lyra #trainer kotone #kotone #headcanon #pokemon headcanons #do i think this will get any traction?#probably not #but i wanna post it anyways bc it makes my brain go brrr #and i lowkey hope i can infect someone else with the brainrot too >:)

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loyalestmunch · 5 months

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11.19.23

actually the loneliest ive ever felt. i dont have a best friend. the two friends that i do have both have boyfriends n are preoccupied with them. im always in my room. im always in my four walls. i dont have a life outside of here. and i hate it so much.

i dont have someone i can spontaneously visit whenever i want anymore. i dont have a safe person that will always make time for me. if im sad, i dont have someone to go to. and it fuckiing sucks.

what sucks even more is when i sleep until 5 pm and check my phone to zero notifications. ts makes me go right the fuck back to sleep

i made an editing acc on tt. its cool its got like 70 smth followers so far. i really fucking hope i can make friends on there. but like. everyone in the editing community is like. 15 or 16. it just sux i used to edit at those ages too but now here i am at 18 (almost 19!) crawling back to the editing community to maybe find even a small glimpse of the happiness it gave me when i was younger. but nothing beat the feeling of dreaming of an edit in ur head all day.... waiting till school got out... running (literally) home to whip ts up on video star before i forgot it and then uploaded it and shared it amongst my little editing friends. and then i'd stay up late until 2 am or so watching and saving other edits i thought were cool. even in quarantine, i found joy in editing. november 2020 was actually the worst year of my life but also the best i miss it so much i miss the plethora of friends i used to have fuck. i miss playing identity v otp all night long with ray, i miss playing genshin in vc and doing stupid shit and farming for artifacts for hours on end with jazzy and tason and ray and gabby. my poor ipad wld overheat and my fingerprints would burn from dragging them across the hot screen but i didnt care . it was fun.

edit im not done i have more things i want to reminisce about .

ive been rewatching rick and morty and keeping up with the new seasons in the same sense that i watched it in middle school and now im crawling back to see if it brings me the same joy. and it does !. for the most part. but since justin got fired rip there's new voice actors. and it's fine honestly i dont care that much im still gna watch it but i hate how everythings changing. 13 year old me cldnt begin to fathom rick and morty losing (one of its) most renowned creator(s). like fuck. he voiced RICK AND MORTY. BOTH. like holy fuck. but its fine i guess the writings still kinda the same and the show is funny and makes me happy. i wish i had someone i cld take with me everywhere like my own little morty . i need friends.

i also miss the essence of boxed fettuchine(???) alfredo while watching r/m or camp camp at gammys house. ts was fire

i miss the roblox theme park tycoon and the chocolate cake we made that day and ate. it was so good.

i miss the lego game my cousin and i wld play. we didnt even do anything my mind just couldnt believe an open map game i haad so much fun just walking around and looking and doing absolutely nothing. and eating reheated pizzahut. and mcdonalds cookies. and funfetti boxed cake.

i miss when i had my phone taken when mom and i stayed at gammys when parents almst got divorced and i used her old iphone 5 she forgot she gave me and i had my little fandom acc on insta with my little mooties and friends and the warmth of gammys house in november fuck i miss it all i miss growing up so much i hate being an adult. i cant fucking have fun sober i dont have friends im alone nearly every single day i dont have friends in college i dont ta\lk to anyone i fucking just show up and leave without removing my earbuds.

and i know its my fsult. i know im the reason why i dont have friends. im the only reason why im like this. i only do it to myself.

im so alone and i just keep fucking regressing to find happiness because there's none here in present day thats for sure !

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smallerplaces · 10 months

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Bye bye, Barn Buddies Eva!

When I dealt with my mother's collection of roughly 1000 dolls, I did a final weed-down of dolls I was keeping (some from my own much smaller collection). The "final" result was 19 fashion dolls of characters with canonical ages from late childhood to adulthood, plus a few 4" small girls. And the deal was that while 20 was not a firm limit, it's a good estimate on how many dolls I'm able to manage happily, so anyone coming in means evaluating whether someone should go out.

Well. I bought two fashion dolls at Family Dollar last week, both of them massively on-target for my interests. (These will be unboxed in a later post.) These are the first dolls I've bought since late 2019, so it's not like I'm bingeing, but it meant someone marginal needs to go.

When I'd done the final cut, I'd thought "wow, a 1:9 articulated doll, I remember when ToyBoxPhilosopher featured a couple and they seemed so cool." My mother was obsessed by TBP and kind of hated her by the time TBP took her break from blogging, so of course when TBP talked about this size, Mom had to buy one (probably around 2017).

Having a ton of points of articulation in a 1:9 doll is genuinely cool. In the late 2010s, there was a period after the first enthusiasm for Barbie Fashionista and before the introduction of Made to Move Barbie when getting articulation in a fashion doll meant you were either (a) collecting Monster High [which was at its peak of cleverness and popularity] or (b) going on a treasure hunt for wild and varied alternatives.

This doll has extraordinary amounts of articulation, especially for her size. She's got wrists and ankles! She's got thigh rotation!

As a result, she can not only sort of touch her head, as the top pic shows: she can sit and kneel with stability.

At this point, I was still assuming she was a Breyer riding doll, because I remembered TBP reviewing the "Let's Go Riding Western" set in 2014. But no! There was, around the same time, a review of Paradise Horse's "Barn Buddies," and that's what Mom bought.

That makes a substantial difference in resale value, as there's a secondary market for Breyer riding dolls in good condition, but sales of Paradise riding dolls on eBay are sparse.

I even waffled a little, as 1:9 dollhouse furniture finds often entice me, but those can be used as standalone display pieces for Skipper and Stacie, or as Barbie furniture if we're not too picky. But... I don't want a second one of these, and in posing her for pics, I realized I just wasn't that into her.

She's an awkward size for making friends. Although she's only a little taller than Stacie, she's clearly meant to be more mature. (Yes, Skipper is going through an awkward period. I need to sew her some outfits.)

Eva is way too big to party with the taller dollhouse dolls, Britney and Unidentified Tenant of Britney. (Yes, that's a Britney Spears 7" doll, another of Mom's finds. I do love this one. She lives in a mansard mansion with a rental unit on the top floor. More on that later.)

I was going to list Eva for $5.99 on eBay and see what happened, but while taking her tasteful nude shots, I discovered that her arm joints are so loose that she can't hold a pose. On a super-rare antique doll, you can risk selling that way with a lot of disclaimers, but on a low-cost play doll, that is standing in the middle of the highway and asking to get negged. So into the donation bag she goes, since the condition is acceptable for a $2 play doll.

Goodbye Eva. Trust your rebel heart, take the road less traveled.

#articulated doll #dollblogging #barn buddies #horse rider doll #leaving collection #1:9 doll

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lovetheworld-harrypottergirl · 2 years

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Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Theif

Chapter 1 - I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORIZE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.

If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now.

Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.

But if you recognize yourself in these pages — if you feel something stirring inside — stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they'll come for you.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

My name is Percy Jackson.

I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.

Am I a troubled kid?

Yeah. You could say that.

I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan — twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.

I know — it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.

But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip, so I had hopes.

Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he'd be cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. He also had this awesome collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.

I hoped the trip would be okay. At least, I hoped that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.

Boy, was I wrong.

See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming for the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that . . . Well, you get the idea.

This trip, I was determined to be good.

All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.

Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin. On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.

Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.

"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.

Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."

He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.

"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.

"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens."

Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.

Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.

He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.

It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.

He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye.

Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had ome to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.

From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after- school detention for a month.

One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."

Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.

Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"

It came out louder than I meant it to.

The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.

"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"

My face was totally red. I said, "No, sir."

Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."

"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and — "

"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.

"Titan," I corrected myself. "And... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad Kronos into barfing up his brothers and sisters — "

"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.

" — and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."

Some snickers from the group.

Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted," Grover muttered.

"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.

At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.

I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know, sir."

"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.

Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."

I knew that was coming.

I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"

Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go — intense brown eyes that could 've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.

"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.

"About the Titans?"

"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."

"Oh."

"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."

I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard.

I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and Roman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.

But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everybody else, despite the fact that I have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No — he didn't expect me to be as good; he expected me to be better. And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.

I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.

He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.

The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.

Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers.

Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.

Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from that school — the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.

"Detention?" Grover asked.

"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean — I'm not a genius."

Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give me some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"

I didn't have much of an appetite, so I let him take it.

I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand that sad look she'd give me.

Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A red umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table.

I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends — I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists — and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.

"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if somebody had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.

I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper." But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.

I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"

Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.

Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see — "

"—the water—"

" — like it grabbed her — "

I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey — "

"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."

That wasn't the right thing to say.

"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.

"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. I pushed her."

I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.

She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.

"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.

"But—"

"You— will— stay— here."

Grover looked at me desperately.

"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."

"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. "Now. "

Nancy Bobofit smirked. I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare. Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently at me to come on.

How'd she get there so fast?

I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, and the next thing I know I've missed something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank place behind it. The school counselor told me this was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.

I wasn't so sure.

I went after Mrs. Dodds.

Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.

I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again. She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.

Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.

But apparently that wasn't the plan.

I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.

Except for us, the gallery was empty.

Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.

Even without the noise, I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...

"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.

I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."

She tugged on the cuffs of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"

The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.

She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.

I said, "I'll— I'll try harder, ma'am."

Thunder shook the building.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain."

I didn't know what she was talking about.

All I could think of was that the teachers must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm room. Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on Tom Sawyer from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Ma'am, I don't..."

"Your time is up," she hissed.

Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.

Then things got even stranger.

Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.

"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.

Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.

With a yelp, I dodged and felt talons slash the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword— Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.

Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.

My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sword.

She snarled, "Die, honey!"

And she flew straight at me.

Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.

The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water.

Hisss!

Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.

I was alone.

There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.

Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.

My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Had I imagined the whole thing?

I went back outside.

It had started to rain.

Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."

I said, "Who?"

"Our teacher. Duh!"

I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.

She just rolled her eyes and turned away.

I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.

He said, "Who?"

But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.

"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."

Thunder boomed overhead.

I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.

I went over to him.

He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."

I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.

"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"

He stared at me blankly. "Who?"

"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."

He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip.

As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"

#percy jacksonxreader #percy jackson #grover underwood #mr. brunner #percyjacksonandtheolympians #chapter 1

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