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moon7jay · 3 months

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Enhypen with a s/o who suffers from an ED (hyung line)

Warnings : ed behaviours, body dysmorphia, low self esteem, self depreciation, suggestive in jay's, fluff, comfort, triggering content ahead, please proceed with caution<3

Requested by .・゜゜・ @onlyni-kis (I tried my best to make it realistic, I hope it helps you somehow)

Heeseung

He'd be so attentive and accomodating to your needs. As someone with an Ed, you're often not taken seriously. Your mental problems are not considered valid. And so you usually avoid social settings where people can pass up unnecessary comments on your body or eating choices and heeseung never pressures you to get out if you don't want to. Because you lack confidence and even slight comments trigger you, heeseung makes sure that no one can do so while he's around. If he's around, you can freely go anywhere and do anything. He would have a reputation of a 0 tolerance boyfriend who did not like people perceiving you in anyway. So whenever he is around, people usually know to keep their words in check. He's your safe blanket. The only person you can be yourself with.

You were hanging out with heeseung's cousins in a family get together, sitting on heeseung's lap and indulging in oily food for once, trying to let go of the food guilt.

"y/n that's a lot of food for one sitting" one of them commented and even though the comment was harmless with no real intent to hurt you, it did hurt. Your appetite dying instantly as you gave them a sheepish smile ,standing up from heeseung's lap and excusing yourself from the setting, not wanting your useless tears to fall and ruin everyone's mood. Heeseung let you walk away to collect your emotions but the instant icy glare he shot towards his cousin was something his family would never forget.

"I thought I made it clear that when y/n comes over you better watch your fucking mouths" he gritted through clenched teeth, the nerve on his forehead throbbing with how much effort it was taking him to stop himself from punching his cousin's stupid face. He found you standing in the kitchen, the food that was previously on your plate was now in the trash can and you just stood there staring at it, your small sniffles reaching his ears. You jumped upon feeling two strong arms wrap around your waist but melted into heeseung's touch in an instant.

"Baby, it's okay, have you seen the amount of food that i eat? On the daily basis?" His words made you snort, how ladylike. It was true, heeseung always made sure to load his plate full, piling stuff to the top just so he could make you laugh and forget about your own portion size. It always worked.

"Let's get out of here and I'll take you to this new ice cream parlor I've been meaning to try, would you like that baby? Just me and you?" He peppered small kisses along the length of your neck tenderly, making you close your eyes and just bask in his love. "Yeah I'd love that" you whispered. He was enough for you. You could deal with anything as long as you were in his arms.

Jay

Watching yourself in the mirror was always daunting for you, having no idea of what you really looked like, just constant voices in your head chanting "ugly" were all you could focus on. The dress that you were trying on was tight, it was suffocating. Not thin enough, not pretty enough, starve, starve-

A choked sob escaped your lips and you covered your mouth instantly, realizing that you were in a public space and your boyfriend was right outside. Jay's thought made you cry more, all of your self doubts creeping in and you turned away from the mirror, unable to look at your distorted reflection any longer. You often questioned why he was with you, you were nothing but a mess of a person, not pretty, not normal... just a gaping wound was what you were. Always bleeding. A sudden knock at the changing room's door jolted you out of your thoughts and you quickly wiped your tears, breathing in through your nose to make your voice less wobbly "yes?" you asked, hoping it was just a staff.

"baby let me in please" came jay's sweet voice and you closed your eyes, a defeated sigh leaving your lips. He knew you were having a breakdown, of course he knew, he always knew. You trudged towards the door and yanked it open, presenting your tear stained face to your worried boyfriend. Jay took you in his arms in an instant, cooing and shushing you when you started sobbing in earnest. "talk to me love, I'm right here" he whispered, running his palms all over your body, caressing you with so much tenderness it made you tighten your hold around his neck.

"I just-i don't like this dress" you choked out in the crook of his neck and he hummed in understanding "but I think it looks stunning on you baby" He whispered. His words made you pull back, still sniffing but staring into his eyes to detect a lie being told to placate you.

"You do?" you asked softly, not trusting your voice just yet. He nodded and turned you around, a gasp leaving your lips while your back rested against his chest. Your eyes met his in the mirror and you shied away from the intensity of his gaze. You watched as he ran his hands all over your body, your breath hitching when he cupped your chest, travelling down to your waist, then to your hips "so perfect" he whispered in your ear, making a shiver run down your spine. "look at the way it hugs your curves sweetheart, and the vibrant blue which brings out the color of your eyes", your eyes widened upon realizing that he was right, the dress did do wonders in highlighting your eyes. " look at the way it hugs your hips baby, driving me crazy" and it did, it hugged your hips so snugly, the fit so perfect now that you were seeing yourself in new light. His fingers dug into your waist, his lips touching your earlobe while he told you how beautiful you were. "let me take you home and show you how much I like this dress" He groaned and you bit your lower lip at his suggestion, suddenly feeling so sexy and so desired. He was so good at making you feel like this gorgeous person that you never thought you were. But he was here. And he wanted you. He thought you were pretty and that's all that mattered to you. It didn't heal you but it did make things easier.

Jake

He would be the type of boyfriend who keeps you stacked with your diet soda and 0 calorie foods. After he started dating you he had quickly grasped the severity of your condition, and even though it was out of his hand to actually help you, he did try his best to just be there for you.

"Jake I didn't order these" you asked your boyfriend in confusion, pointing towards the two full boxes of konjac noodles sitting on the kitchen counter. He walked towards you with a smile and pulled you into him. "I did, aren't they your favorite noodles? I was just trying to be a good boyfriend".

Favorite noodles. No they weren't. And you knew that jake knew that, but he didn't like to make you feel like there was something wrong with you, and you appreciated that so much. Your lower lip wobbled upon seeing the new cans of coke zero stacked on the side counter as well. Never had anyone cared so much about your needs and it was making you choke on your emotions. You had been running out of your ed foods and were trying to push back buying them because of the increasing prices, not wanting to waste money on your own hunger because according to you, you didn't deserve to eat anyway.

"How'd you know?" you whispered through a sniffle, already feeling the onslaught of tears. "because I know you, and I love you" He whispered back, wiping your tears and capturing your lips in his own, kissing you through your breakdown.

Sunghoon

You didn't want to overthink it. You really didn't, but your boyfriend was gorgeous and so it was inevitable that he got female attention wherever he went. And most girls ignored your presence beside him, fawning over him as if he didn't have his fingers intertwined with yours. She was beautiful, the girl your boyfriend had been laughing with when you stepped into his office unannounced. That was your biggest mistake because now you couldn't help but compare. Compare the thighs, the arms, the waist... you were nothing like her. Were these the women sunghoon spent his entire day with? and he still chose to come back to your plain self? What were you even doing with yourself? You should be starving harder, you decided. Just a few inches more and your waist might start looking like her, and maybe a few more inches on your thighs would make everything better and the- you were spiralling again. Unable to stop it even though you knew the consequences.

"This is the 3rd order this week baby" sunghoon's voice made you turn towards your bedroom door, mentally cursing upon finding the packaged waist trainer in his hands. You panicked and snatched it from his hands, mumbling a quick thank you and not meeting his eyes. You could feel his probing gaze on you. "You haven't stepped outside of this house in weeks, care to tell me what's going on?"

You hadn't lost weight, you weren't pretty enough yet, didn't he understand?? You couldn't just go outside looking like this, was he out of his mind?. Warm hands cupping your cheeks pulled you out of your inner monologue and you looked up at his intense eyes staring down at you. He rubbed his thumbs onto your cheeks and rested his forehead against yours

"Do you remember the first day of high school? When you had the biggest zit on your nose?" He asked and you looked up at him confused, not knowing where this conversation was headed but nodded regardless. "I loved you then" he whispered and your throat tightened, remembering how he was probably the only one in your entire grade who didn't make a comment on your acne. "And the time when you fell face first into the muddy water before class cuz you were an idiot who never looked at the ground while walking" The memory made you giggle but sunghoon only smiled fondly , kissing your nose "you were drenched from head to toe but i loved you then. I loved you so much y/n". You could feel the moisture gathering in your eyes at his confession, knowing that you spent your entire teen years hating yourself so much to the point that you failed to see the love that was around you. Remembering how you would shy away from your own reflection in the class windows because you despised yourself to the core. "And I loved you when you slapped me, loved you so much that it hurt". Tears were falling freely now, the painful memory of you slapping sunghoon after he confessed his feelings for you because you thought he was trying to make fun of you, coming back to you. cuz in your head there was no way that a guy like him could ever want something to do with you, so you automatically concluded that it was a prank, a distasteful one. "and I love you right now y/n, I love you because you're you. I can't live without you because your soft snores are the only thing helping me fall asleep most days. Because your stupid jokes are the only ones I'd ever fake my laugh for- you gasped through your tears and slapped his chest lightly, making him chuckle. "I love you because I can't help it. It's that easy to love you. " he continued , wiping your tears, "don't you understand baby? You never had to try to make me love you, so why now?". You buried your face into his chest and sobbed, feeling like a huge rock had been lifted off of your chest. His assurance was what you craved the most. The reminder that you were enough for someone. For him.

"I want you just like you are sweetheart, flaws and scars intact. Raw and unfiltered. Now that I have you in my arms, please don't take that away from me" He whispered, wrapping his hands tightly around your heaving body.

"If it's hard for you to love yourself,please let me do it for you" and just like that, he was again fixing the parts of you that he didn't break.

#enha #enhypen #lee heeseung #jay #jake sim #park sunghoon #sunghoon imagines #enhypen scenarios #enhypen imagines #enhypen fluff #heeseung x reader #jay x reader #jake x reader #sunghoon x you #park jongseong

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orikiys · 10 months

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✿ ✿ 〞older brother skz finding you with a guy

✰ pairings : older brother ot8!skz x sibling! fem reader

✰ warnings : mentions of sex ed ( pretty short although), indirect mentions of violence, implied angst as well, cursing, reader's bf is an asshole, mentions of break up, mentions of cheating as well

✰ synopsis : your older brother finds you with a guy and well there could be various outcomes

✰ word count : 1.4k+ words

౨₊ৎ chan

i feel like chan would be the chill bro

like he loves you, he does but he doesn't want to seem as those cliché annoying brothers so he'll act normal

BUT if the guy ever makes you cry, chan's on his way to the guy's house along with his members

chan would absolutely hate it when you cry because of a guy

he'll not give you space thinking you need a shoulder to cry on and would lay beside you and distract you by playing video games or simply talking to each other

he would find himself getting a bit sad when you're on the phone texting someone but would try to brush it off

everytime a guy even looks at you in a weird way he would glare at them

he even created a whole powerpoint with points and body language of guys. basically mentioning each and every single detail to keep you away from those toxic guys

being the eldest kid, he felt like he has responsibility to look after the younger ones

and he does that everytime. without failure.

౨₊ৎ minho

the moment he sees you with a guy outside the convenient store he would literally have to double take a look

his sister, HIS younger sister with a GUY ???

oh he is so going to tease the hell out of you

he would click a good amount of pictures and smirk like a devil

later on he would confront you about it and blackmail you saying he'll tell it to mom

would make you do every single work assigned to him

and the moment you hesitate he is almost about to fake call mom

would make kissing noises and hand gestures each time you're about to go on a date or facetiming the guy

but when he sees that you unhappy, he's going to have a little chat with the guy

let's say that it did not end well at all

would realize his mistake and mumble sorry everytime he sees you

would do anything to make you forgive him

though his ways were a bit more violent, he knew that the guy anyway didn't deserve you

and that minho is always right with his instincts

౨₊ৎ changbin

the type of brother to literally interrogate the guy

would ask the guy if he works out and if he says no, changbin would throw you a disappointed look telling you could do better

would scold you both and explain about sex education, embarassing the hell out of you

he loves it sm although !

but at the same time he can't help but think of how fast you grew up

would also help you with your outfits

he has the guy warned to drop you home safely and before 9 !!

if the guy ever hurts you, don't worry. changbin has your back

he's also the brother who would feel a bit awkward on how to approach you so he would just quietly sit by your side, watching your favorite movies with you

i swear the moment he sees you laugh it's like he can breathe normally now

he promised himself to never let you cry over a guy again !! must protect

౨₊ৎ hyunjin

the type of brother who would judge the guy and his choice of fashion

would fake gag loudly whenever he sees you blushing and would roll his eyes the moment he sees the guy's face

"please don’t tell me that frog is my future brother in-law"

would constantly spy on you both to figure out what you were both upto

the moment you two break up he would hit you with that "i told you" but when he realizes you don't even react, he would literally let you cry in his arms

would send you a sad playlist to help you let it all out

would sneakily take your phone, get the guy's number and would block him on all socials before sending an annonymous text to the guy

would make goofy faces while dancing just to make you laugh

would let you do his skincare for a month if it means he gets to see you move on from that asshole

౨₊ৎ han

the brother who's jealous that he's still single

would glare whenever you both show pda in front of him

so damn annoyed (x 100)

but at the same time he'll keep an eye on the two of you, especially the guy

the moment you two break up he's gonna be so relieved but ! the realization would hit him and he would walk up to your room and talk to you for hours, helping you get it all out

out of rage he would even write a few diss tracks for the guy and make you listen to it

the moment you start vibing or screaming out the lyrics he would feel like he won in life

the other members know about and would let him pull a taylor swift knowing very well that the guy deserves it

han would probably even post the song online and would anonymously troll the guy

what's a revenge without some fun?

౨₊ৎ felix

brother? no! he's your 4lifer

knows every single gossip of your college and your friends

so it's no surprise that he was the first person that go to know you were dating someone

will most likely start thirdwheeling on your dates

he would even invite the guy over to watch a match

and the moment you break out the news that you both broke up he's literally gonna be even sadder than you

would sigh out loud on purpose and hug you tightly mumbling that he was good company

but the moment you tell him it was the guy's fault, felix would switch up real quick

would throw insults and say speeches on how the guy was a dumbhead and all

jokes apart, he would actually feel guilty for mentioning the guy in front of you and would apologize to you and swears that he'll be careful from now

who needs guys when you have brothers like him?

౨₊ৎ seungmin

he IS the bully

would laugh mockingly at you both and make memes saying how he finds couples cringey

would literally yell out embarrassing things about you to the guy

would even show your baby pictures and snicker

there is no way in hell that he could get a better opportunity of revenge !!

but honestly he's gonna share the gossip that you're dating with the other members just so they can't keep flirting with you

he has grown kinda annoyed

he still can't digest the fact that people find his sister pretty

although, he thinks you are but he loves irritating the hell out of you

being seungmin's sister, he shouldn't expect any less from you

you would fake cry making him panic because if mom finds out it's over !!

and when you cry for a guy, that guy is over

seungmin is very protective when you get sad because of someone else

he would frown and his arms would find your sides, bringing you in his embrace since he knows how much you love his hugs

you're like his little star and he would absolutely feel his heart shatter seeing you sad

౨₊ৎ jeongin

the type of brother who would hate it when you started dating his best friend

would roll his eyes when you take his best friend/ your boyfriend away from him

it was irritating the heck out of him

how dare YOU date HIS friend?

but later on he kind of got used to it

and when the two of you break up it's like time stops for jeongin

not only did you lose your boyfriend, but jeongin lost his best friend in a way too

hurting jeongin's sister was a bad bad move

and poor jeongin felt helpless seeing you looks so miserable for a cheater like that guy

he would take you out to arcades or take you boxing because it's his way of taking his anger out and maybe it might help you as well?

little tmi, it actually did

you could feel yourself healing and getting over that guy and jeongin could feel his sister's crazy antics returnings

so suddenly he felt like he regretted it when you barge in his room wiggle your eyebrows for no reason

he's no less either. he would run behind you like a monkey and tackle you to the ground before tickling you hard

it's weird, how in many ways the annoying part of jeongin shows just how caring he is

hey anon hope you liked this >< i changed the ending to angst although because i love angst (guilty) 🙏🙏

#ॱଳ͘#stray kids x reader #skz fluff #scenarios #skz scenarios #skz x reader #bang chan #minho #han #jeongin #hyunjin #changbin #seungmin #felix

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unhinged-comics-scree · 1 month

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⁺˚⋆｡°✩₊ Weekly Bravern Madness Post ₊✩°｡⋆˚⁺

Episode 11 Spoilers ahead, naturally

I'm actually on my second watch since we found out our water heater is leaking so that was a whole thing so not quite first impressions but that's literally me screencapping every scene and screaming so probably better this way

Okay important things about me to consider for my lens as I go through this

I think Isami is so so so cute. I'll probably make a cute Isami screencaps post as a separate thing. His gap moe is so cute. I love his stern face. I think Smith is great too but I love the focus reshifting to Isami. Anyway. He's so cute

In terms of Smith as Bravern I guess I view it as the reverse too? I don't really know how to explain it but I guess in Japanese there's tags for Smith + Isami (Sumiisa) and Bravern + Isami (Braisa?) and in my head it's all Sumiisa. Like he may look like a giant robot but he's still Smith, if that makes sense.

Second watch bonuses: realizing why she reacts this way at his mention ;-;

Right away, I guess I got my beach episode! I love that Isami and Lulu have Bravern brand summer clothes. I hope they come out as merch. It comes up rarely eg. the boxing shoes from ep 5 have the (Burn?) Bravern specific emblem on them and I just think it's so cute. Like yeah Bravern probably printed them just for these instances and I wish we got enough show to see it in action.

I actually got so emotional at the end of episode 9 when the OP starts playing without the lyrics and this showing up with the ED music is phenomenal. Extra delicious that it starts with part of the full version of the ED that's not in the normal ending.

I also love this because the other two emotional moments where it's like, starting something but not completing it are the after boxing scene and when Isami is crying into Lewis' shirt (okay this can easily be assumed to fill out as "I wanted the two of us to save the world together" but what else did you want to do with hiiiiim). The shipper mind wants to fill it in with some love confession and then!!!

After the like, back and forth name stuff (which parallels the Lulu + Superbia fusion) I was like, pre-emptively bracing for some kind of goofy baiting/played for laughs thing but no he goes for it!!

I actually have a collection of any instance of Isami with any amount of coloring on his cheeks and I've been lamenting that the only full blush moments are when he gets the asian flush drinking but aaaaah so cute. Also he looks so young here! He's 24 he should be falling in love!

Also I'm like, actually really impressed about this scene technically because It's just a really good looking turnaround animation. With Bravern he's 3D so whatever but isami looks good from every angle!

The artist who adds the extra effects like bloom and color tweaks on scenes occasionally tweets out their before and afters and I really hope we get this scene where they point out they added plush, kissable lips onto Bravern.

I reblogged a post about it but I do really love that Isami isn't like, disgusted or pushing him away or anything. Not even grateful Lulu interrupted it. Maybe he's actually disappointed she interrupted.

I know it sets ups the symbolic washing away of it but in case there was any ambiguity to the nature of this love:

There's some discussion across japanese twitter about how you're not supposed to do some line in the middle but based on some cursory stuff I'm not sure how common that thought process is. Also Bravern isn't that much of a pro in Japanese culture (even a lot of JP twitter was confused at his proud "This is OMIAI!").

If you aren't involved in Twitter, a comment people like to point out is that they specifically hired a Food Coordinator for this episode lol. I took a bunch of caps of it but between this and Isami's "we need to eat to be strong enough to save everyone" talk I need to do my Dunmeshi + Bravern food as strength and love post.

Anyway I'm obsessed with the fact that Bravern doesn't need to eat but actually has a mouth which reminds me of this tweet my sister brought to me

Naturally, his mouth is for kissing, Among other things.

Okay honestly the food bit is so weird I was kind of worried the entire first half of the episode turns out to be a dream sequence.

I need to set this as my desktop background or something. I think it's really cute that they added/implied that Isami and Bravern are now a cutesy couple rather than Isami being all weird about the love confession.

THIS! Is the point in the post I realize that watching while typing these up leads to me just doing a play by play which isn't really much of anything. I promise the rest of the post isn't just as long even though we're only halfway through the episode.

(Hey, timeskip OP here. This might be a lie)

Lulu + Superbia symbol! It's cute and has a really nice mix of being similar but opposite in it's own way.

I am obsessed with Segnitas being too lazy to fight and honestly I think he's so cute. The interrupting the fusion is kinda expected for a a show with every bit being in universe but it's still a good gag. I'm glad he is around to make commentary until his true death.

I kind of expected the Bravern + Superbia fight to be an episode 2 thing but I guess we won't have the time for that given the end of this episode. Triple shoutout to my Wednesday post by having the "You can get fulfillment from living!", seeing a callback to Lulu's kick and basically having an awesome fight.

Okay ending time. I have a lot of thoughts but one of the ones as I was watching was just.. He can't eat but he can bleed (and cry)? Actually considering that he explodes it's probably oil or something. Like obvs he isn't going to explode into purple triangles like everyone else but oofda. I am all sorts of sad about this but one thing that gets me is that Bravern doesn't even die fighting! It was a stealth attack!

There's some theories that Isami has a change of heart too fast and this might be another time loop, which I think would be on brand but man his reaction to Bravern dying is too much there's at least no way it's because of a Bravern dying bad end. Actually, I wonder if the damage to Bravern's core is worse than we can tell? Lulu bad end looks way worse though. Or maybe hypothetical Isami time travel route is -> they don't fight Superbia -> defeat one more death drive -> Superbia realizes he doesn't get his warrior death -> he takes on the last Deathdrive 1v1, dies -> remaining DD dies somehow but Superbia is still gone -> Isami goes back to save him for Lulu (they can't risk double time looping her?) -> doesn't ever experience Bravern dying so this is new and terrible.

In this case, Ira is acting unpredictably specifically because they do the no-kill route with Superbia. He's evidently super disgusted and I wonder if it's because its the peaceful resolution between the two? Otherwise I'm curious why else. Actually in general I'm curious why everyone is so personal with Bravern but I think we've all been asking that.

I think some people mentioned it on Twitter but Lulu very casually mentions her time travel lived experiences so it would be weird if they didn't know Bravern himself enabled it. Like I mentioned in my other post. He literally can't take on two giant mechs without Bravern and he knows for sure Superbia can't take on someone.

It's interesting that Bravern has different final words in this timeline than Lulu bad end but he also probably never had that stargazing scene in that route. Actually, you know what, I think Lulu bad end he does know it's Lulu because I don't think Isami was there for the specific curry scene we saw. He's still crying, naked in Bravern during that. Unless he just talks about Japanese curry all the time where we don't see.

Smith's last words are specifically "Brave Bang" (yuuki bakuhatsu) vs Bravern's "Brave Burn" and I'm basically Pepe Silvia-ing it up trying to figure out what it means. It's not really a direct confession about being Smith (because he's still a coward in that regard) but maybe it's a secret move/activation considering the moves are in English?

I think any kind of extra finale speculation requires its own post but that's my thoughts!

hm. Sorry. Maybe I should get into writing fanfic so you at least get something out of this

#bravern spoilers #can I use the no beta we die like fools tag on a poorly done essay #I didn't even really analyze the episode tbh #11/10 it's good thats all you need to know #the first best time to watch bravern is as its airing for the theorizing #the second best time is now

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hawkinshighdropout · 2 years

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My Boy.

Pairing: Eddie Munson x (female) Reader

Summary: Eddie is desperate for you to attend his band practise, but unfortunately you have a shift at your job, he begs repeatedly but you have to decline. A few pouts and a lot of sweet treats later, will you be able to make it up to him?

Warnings: No warnings, this is kinda pouty but fluff content. Unless you count a couple of curse words as needing a warning? Idk, I haven’t written fanfics in like 8 years so I’m a little rusty…

Note/Request: Requested by anonymous. “can you write something about the reader showing up at a corroded coffin rehearsal (after denying eddie's requests) and suprising him?”

Word Count: 2.4k

Send me prompts to write about!

“We’re rehearsing after school today at Garret’s house, you’re gonna be there, right?” Eddie asks, face full of pretzel pieces whilst the lunchroom was booming from the population of students in their lunch hour.

Eddie was one of your closest friends, you got along with his entire Hellfire squad, and they made you feel at home in no time at all. Eddie leaned on you more as you were a couple years older than Dustin and Mike, so the pair of you could hangout more places after school or do more adult things like smoke together.

Plus, you were outside of the band, and he could trust you to have an unbiased opinion on things as you weren’t at risk of being kicked out or fired if you were to speak your mind like Garrett and Jeff might have been.

Looking up at you through his messy bangs, eyes pleading, and a small puppy dog expression being pulled to intentionally tug on your heart strings. You almost always went to their rehearsals, so you didn’t need the dramatics and efforts to convince you, but Eddie loved to go the whole nine yards anyway.

“I can’t, Eddie. I’m sorry..” you sigh, resting your cheek in your hand with your elbow propped up on the table, pushing around what’s left of your lunch with your fork.

“Pleeeeeease?” he begs, adding the accompanying whimper sounds that sad puppies would normally make, “pretty please? You’re always there, you’re our good luck charm, please?”

“I have to work, honey. I’m sorry.” It was his turn to sigh this time, throwing down his pretzel piece back into his Ziplock bag before letting out a grumbled huff.

“Fine. You’re missing out though.” He shrugged.

He didn’t have much time to pout and continue his tantrum as the bell sounded ahead to signal that lunch was over and that everyone should start heading to their next classes. You were wracked with guilt as you hated to disappoint anyone in your life, especially Eddie.

You were one of the few people he relied on, and you hated having to ever say no to him. Packing up your trash and throwing it into the bin nearby, you and your group of friend’s part ways and wander in the different directions towards your next class.

The hour passes by agonisingly slowly and it feels like forever before you are dismissed, scooping up your bag and heading in the direction of your locker to get your things for the final period. A hand clasps your shoulder and you temporarily jump out of your skin, whipping your head around with a relieved smile at the sight of your favourite boy towering over you.

“Hey, Munson” you offer, pout still on his face.

“Is there really no way you can come tonight?” his voice soft, sad.

“I’m sorry, I really can’t…” you regretted to inform him.

“I can call your work up and fake a family emergency? I can do a couple more deals to make up the amount you’d miss for calling in sick for your shift? I can—” you interrupted him by placing your index finger against his lips.

“Ed…” you sigh, “I can’t, I’m really sorry…”

He looks defeated when your hand slips away from him, folding his arms across his chest in what seemed to be a soothing manner. Moving your hand, you cup his cheek in your palm and tilt his head up a little to look at you, your expression matching his as you were both unhappy with the outcome.

“Hey… Next time, yeah?” you offer, to which he shrugs.

Tiptoeing up, you press a delicate kiss against his cheek as a consolation prize for his suffering. Your hand squeezing his bicep fondly before you apologise for what felt like the hundredth time, passing him to head to your final class, only just catching the sad noise that escapes him once he believes you are out of earshot. Your heart pangs in your chest, doubling down on the guilt that riddled you earlier on.

The end of the day eventually rolls around, and you rush out of class immediately as you had a slim window of time between class ending and your bus for work leaving you behind. A little warm in the face and panting as you climb up into the bus, showing your pass and taking a seat as you travelled downtown to work.

Usually you adored your job, you worked at a small bakery that usually was filled with sweet old ladies who just loved to compliment you. You had a wonderful boss who would make sure your paycheck was always correct and on time, she was swell, your colleagues were all much older than you but treated you with the same level as respect as they would do anyone their age, you felt comfortable around them.

Rushing into the shop from your bus stop, punching in your card and sneaking into the backroom so that you could trade out your casual school clothes for their uniform. White dress, yellow apron, hair net and gloves, notebook and pen tucked neatly into your front pocket with your name written in curly writing on your chest.

“Darling, you made it, how was school?” one of the bakers asked with a genuine smile upon her face.

“It was okay, thank you! I’m a little bummed that I’m missing my friend’s band practise, but I was scheduled to work today, and I didn’t want to try and cause a fuss last minute.” you rush, setting out some of the baked goods on the display shelf and making sure it looked presentable.

“That Edward boy, I presume?” she asked, knowing grin on her face.

“Of course! But there will be other practises, he respects that I need to work, and I promised to make it up to him next time,” you smile politely, excusing yourself for a moment to serve a customer.

The next hour or so flies by, you serve customers, restock the shelves, make the place look beautiful as it deserves to. Freshening up the handwritten display cards so they represent the specials of the day, lost in your own little world as you hear a throat clearing behind you.

“Yes, ma’am?” you ask, polite smile making a second appearance on your face.

“How long does Edward usually practise for these days?” she asks, leaning against the counter to comfortably look at you whilst you close the display case.

“Um,” you pause, glancing at your watch, “usually a couple of hours? Maybe two or three depending on how well it’s going?” scrunching your face up a little as you didn’t understand why she was asking you this.

“Well.. If you leave now, you should have time to get there and catch the last of his practice, sweetheart.” She offers, fond smile showing through.

“What do you mean? I work until seven…” voice dripping with confusion.

“Angel, this place will still be up and running regardless of if you’re here or not, and I mean that in no disrespect, you’re wonderful. Your job will be here for you tomorrow, and the next day, that poor boy? Don’t break his heart. If he needs you there as much as you say then by all means, go. Don’t let a few muffins stand between young love…” she giggled.

You were red in the face and a little taken aback, unsure on if your boss was messing with you or genuinely giving you the green light to leave early, and she could sense your hesitation. Before you even had the chance to argue, she was packaging up a small selection of cake slices and putting them in a travel container for you, sliding them across the counter towards you with a proud look on her face.

“Oh, and bring these… A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

You shook your head in shock, unable to believe that you were truly able to get off of work early and surprise Eddie at the one place he begged you to come to, and you got to bring him treats?! Rushing the small distance between you both, your arms wrap tightly around the older woman as you mutter repeated “thank you”s, accepting the kiss to the top of your head that she willingly gave you.

Wasting no time at all, you rush to the back room again, fumbling out of your uniform and into your outfit from earlier in the day, grabbing your bag and scooping up the treats in your free hand.

“Thank you so much, I owe you big time!” you call out whilst scurrying out of the bakery, your co workers watching the scene play out and each one of them had the most pure and hopeful expressions on their faces.

Checking your watch for the time, you rush to the bus stop and wait the short amount of time it takes for the next bus to pull up. Climbing on, struggling to show your pass without dropping everything you’re holding, blushing red as you apologise to the driver for the hassle as he lets you on without much questioning. Bouncing with nervous anticipation the whole ride between the bakery and Garret’s street, watching the road signs like a hawk so you’d know when to hop off.

“Thank you, sir!” you call out to the driver whilst hopping off the bus, rushing as carefully but as quickly as you can down the street in the direction of where the loud rock music was already blaring from, a warm and bubbly feeling filled your stomach as the blurry figures faded into outlines the closer you got to the house.

“Hey! Munson! Heeeeey!” you call out in the lull between their last song ending and them gearing up to start the next one, head snapping up in the direction of his name being called.

His confused expression quickly progresses into a shit eating grin as he was absolutely over the moon to see that you were hurrying towards him right now, he sets down his guitar on the stand before shaking his head in disbelief.

“You’re here?! You’re here! Hi, babe.” He’s beaming with pride, quickly taking the treats off of you and placing them on the amp before his arms wrap tightly around you to squeeze you close.

You squeal at how tight you were being held, reciprocating the hug with a happy little giggle, looking over his shoulder at his confused bandmates who seem to just be staring at the both of you. You gesture to the box of treats and call out “they’re for you guys, my boss let me bring them!” which resulted in three very happy musicians as they thanked you and each took a treat to enjoy whilst Eddie was occupied with you.

“How? I mean—I thought you had work?!” he mutters, voice in disbelief still.

“The ladies at my work have a soft spot for you, they wanted me to be here rather than slaving away in the store, they pretty much shoved me out the door!” giggling as you speak, Eddie squeezing you tighter before kissing your forehead.

“I’m so fucking glad you’re here… Pull up a seat, would ya?” he smirks, tugging out one of the old fold out beach chairs and setting it front and centre for you to sit on to enjoy the show. Giving your ass a fond slap as he walked past you, causing you to let out a yelp and giggle as you sunk into the chair.

Once the guys had finished their snack, they each seemed to dust their fingers off on their pants before returning to their instruments, taking their designated places as Eddie winks in your direction. Their first song (that you had been around to hear) starts off as you slump back in the chair, throwing your hands up in the air and cheering them on as they practised.

You spent the next hour or so in that same position, being their own personal cheerleader whilst they went over their next potential setlist, you made it known which were your favourites and of course Eddie made sure they were included with no arguments allowed.

It’s only when Garret’s mother entered the garage from inside the house and declared that he needed to come inside to eat dinner that things ended. The group gave one another a fist bump as a send off before you rose to your feet and tucked the chair back into the garage, picking up your backpack with a shy smile as Eddie packed away his guitar.

Jeff walked to the other side of the street to his place, to which you waved him goodbye and told him he did great. Eddie’s other bandmate hopped on his bike and pedalled away back to his house, you weren’t sure where he lived but you made sure he also knew how good he did. Garret went back inside with his family so Eddie locked up the garage behind him, guitar case on his back whilst he turned to smile down at you.

“Lemme drive you home?” it was more of a statement as opposed to question, like you would ever turn him down for anything. Wandering out to his car, you threw your bag in the back as he delicately placed his guitar in the trunk, watching fondly as he came around to your side of the car instead.

You had climbed in the passenger seat, but the seatbelt wasn’t in place yet, Eddie ducked down a little, leaning one arm on the top of the car as he poked his head in to smile at your eye level.

“So… We have a gig Tuesday at eight, The Hideout? Think you can swing by after work and come see us? I could really use my good luck charm.” His voice sounding smoother than ever, biting down shyly on his lower lip whilst he looked at you.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” you sigh in content, loving the way that his smile would take over his entire face at your confirmation, willingly accepting the kiss he would place to your cheek.

“Let’s get you home then, sweetheart.” He announced, slamming your door shut and heading around to hop up into the drivers’ side, engine revving as you both fumbled with your seatbelts.

Checking out the rear-view mirror that it was safe before pulling out of the drive and happily speeding in the direction of your home with his favourite tunes blasting from the speaker system.

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emilymaxximoff · 1 year

Text

The World; Carl Grimes X Fem!Reader

CW: Fluff, Two violence, Swearing, Mention of drinking, Mention of ED when talking about Heathers

Prompt: "We're just friends." "You're joking they look at you like you're their whole world."

A/N: I kinda hate this but I invested way to much time into this to not to post it. I once again did not proof read (oops but honestly I probably never will lol) I really hope y'all like it. This is like so much fluff I swear I had a direction I was going in. Maybe I'll try to write a spicy something next lol. Reminder everyone is like at least 18 or 19. Anyway love y'all.

"Fuck!" you yelled as you used your knife to make a hole in a walkers brain. A horde had attacked your group out on a run. Everyone was fighting for their lives but all you could think about was Carl. What would happen to him if you didn't come back? Would it matter? Would he care? You two had been best friends forever and had never gone on a run without each other before. You had feelings for him and if you died now all of that was over. He would never know. You still wondered why all you could think about was him as you dug your blade into another walkers head, fighting for your and the rest of your groups lives.

Suddenly someone grabbed your arm and screamed your name. "Y/N come on we have to get to the car!" Enid was dragging you to the van you all had ridden in while Daryl and Carol covered you as you made a mad dash for the van. You violently opened the door and pushed Enid through before hoisting yourself through the door of the van, climbing into the back grabbing Daryl's gun from him as he hopped into the drivers seat and started the van to speed out of there. In hindsight it was a terrible idea to only bring your knives and handgun to this run but god you loved that shotgun and now you had an excuse to use it. You had tried to steal it from Daryl before but he had always managed to steal it back. We opened the windows and shot at as many walkers as we could as Daryl sped through the horde. When we finally got out of the horde and on a clear path back to Alexandria I sighed.

"Fuck dude, I thought I was gonna die back there. Yo, Daryl you sure I can't steal this?" you joked, holding up his shotgun.

Daryl jokingly rolled his eyes. "Keep dreaming, Y/N."

The group got out of the van hauling the small amount of supplies you all had secured out in your backpacks and walked in the gates of Alexandria. Rick greeted us with confused look as the group were covered in more blood and guts than normal.

"What happened guys? Why are you all so dirty?" Rick inquired.

"Got inta a bit of a scruff with a horde of walkers. Sorry we didn' get much this time but at least we made it back." Daryl replied.

"That's alright. Is everyone clean?" He looked us up and down as we all nodded. "Ok then, what have ya guys got for us at least?"

Daryl continued on a conversation with Rick and Carol as they emptied their bags while you and Enid crouched nearby emptying your bags as well. You gently nudged Enid with a wide grin on your face and giggled. "How much do you wanna bet Daryl is gonna call Rick sweetheart one of these days."

"Oh I would bet my life on it." she laughed back.

As you both giggled you turned your head and saw Carl coming up the road to greet you both. Your smile widened even more. You had made it back to him but the words to tell him how you felt would evaded you once again. You saw Enid straighten her clothes and adjust her hair in preparation for his hello.

"Hey Carl!" Enid said as she attempted to give him a flirtatious smile.

"Hey Enid." Carl replied giving her a quick hug before turning to you and smiling wide before saying loudly saying, "Y/N! You made it back alive." He gave you a long hug picking you up off the ground and laughing as he swayed with you in his arms. "God damn you are just covered in guts. What the fuck did you do this time."

"Jesus" you giggled. "Why do I always get blamed for this shit? What about Enid she was there too asshole?"

"Yeah but you're the fuck up"

"Fuck you." you said as you punched his arm. God he was infuriating but you loved it. He was your best friend in the whole world and everything he did and said gave you butterflies. You would die for this one eyed boy.

Enid suddenly spoke up forcing a small smile. "Hey guys how bout Y/N and I go clean up then we meet up before the town get together tonight."

"Sounds good to me." Carl replied. "See you guys in like an hour or two?"

"Yeah, sounds great see ya"

"Bye Carl." you said as you turned back to Enid. "Hey can I just come back to your place to take a shower? I was gonna ask if you wanted to watch a movie till then. I think we deserve it."

Enid grins. "Yeah I think we do. Come on let's go."

----------

You sat on the couch next to Enid watching Heathers. Your wet hair lay on your t-shirt you had stolen from Enid. She had let you borrow her clothes so you didn't have to go back to your room across town in the Grimes house where you lived but at this point you owned more of her clothes than your own.

"It just baffles me how people would throw up their perfectly good food." Enid commented.

"Yeah it's weird but I get it. Beauty was a big thing back then they cared if they looked like a model and not whether they could kill a bitch." You replied trying to make a joke at the same time.

"Isn't this movie about killing bitches though? Like that's the whole plot." Enid giggled. You had both watched this movie 100 times but somehow it always ended in this conversation but you weren't one to complain. Movies were scarce in the apocalypse and you were happy to even have a few, or electricity for that matter.

"Enid..." you laughed as you heard a knock at the door.

"I got it." Enid said as she jumped out of her seat and made a dash for the door. You knew it had to be Carl and the way Enid always acted around him you knew something had to be going on. Maybe that's another reason you kept all of your feelings to yourself. You didn't want to hurt Enid and you thought she had a better chance than you ever could.

"Hey guys, are we ready to go?" Carl asked standing in the door way peering into the living room.

"As long as Enid is ready so am I." you replied looking towards Enid for conformation and she nodded. You hit the power button on the remote and got up from the couch to make your way over to the door Enid and Carl were standing at.

The three of you walked down the street towards the town center. The sun shone off the water in the quarry as you walked toward it. You all laughed as you joked and got to be young adults for once. There was almost no times like these. Times where you could just live and enjoy life. Times where you weren't fighting for your life. As you walked down the street Carl continuously bumped into you lightly grazing your hand gently each time as you all hysterically laughed.

----------

You sat next to Enid on the couch with a beer in your hand. Your social battery was almost gone and it was late. You knew you would be going home soon. Carl was over talking to his dad and you finally had a second to breathe and take in how he made you feel. You spent the whole party making sure to not let him know how you felt. Your thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Enid sighing loudly.

"Why do you have to be so fucking charismatic and prefect?" she said as she leaded back into the couch.

"What?" you asked confused.

"Just you being you and Carl is literally in love with you and I'm just so fucking jealous all the time."

You looked at Enid with wide eyes. You couldn't believe your ears. Your mouth hung open and you let out a small scoff in amusement. "What are you talking about? I am not perfect. And Carl? We are just friends. He probably has a thing for you. I promise he does not.... love me."

"Oh please." she said as she lazily rolled her eyes at you. "You have to be joking. He looks at you like you're his whole world. I keep throwing myself at him and all he can look at his your perfect ass."

"I-" you stuttered. You never wanted to hurt Enid.

"Save it. I'm not mad at you. I'm jealous sure. Maybe mad that I can't be you but I could never be mad at you for that." She looked at you gently smiling but you could see the pain in her eyes. "Listen, I can be a real bitch some-, most of the time but I like and care about you. You have been the best friend I have ever had and if giving up my pride so my best friend and the guy I like can be happy together, then so be it. And before you start denying it I can tell you like him too so just get with him and get it over with. I hate watching you guys dance around it."

"Enid, I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this to you." you stared at your lap. "I'd never purposely hurt you, ever."

You fumbled with your hands, a habit you had picked up after the apocalypse. You looked up over towards Carl. You really did love this boy. You could feel tears welling in your eyes. You didn't want to hurt Enid but you wanted to be with Carl. You wanted to feel his hands on your waist as he kissed you. You ached to kiss his soft lips and look into his eye. You wanted to tell him you loved him and to hear that he loved you back. You wanted to hold his hand and never let go. You suddenly realized you were staring when Carl looked back at you with a wide grin on his face. He started to walk over and you realized finally what was happening. You looked over to Enid, slightly panicking.

She smiled back at you then leaned in and whispered, "You got this. You should tell him tonight."

"Hey guys what are you talking about?" Carl said as he stood in front of the couch.

"Nothing important just how we should find somewhere to get new summer clothes most of my clothes are in Y/N's closet." Enid replied lying through her teeth. You smiled at her thankfully.

Carl looked back at you with a concerned look. "Hey Y/N are you ok? You look like you're about to cry."

You were about to cry, but you couldn't let Carl know that. He would ask why and you were not looking to lose your shit in front of this room full of people. "Yeah I'm just really tired." you managed to mumble.

"Oh ok. How 'bout we walk back together? I wanted to go back to the house anyway."

"It's ok I don't want to take you away from the party if you're having fun so I'll-"

"No I want to." he interrupted you. "Please let me."

You looked up at him and nodded. You really did want to leave. You looked over at Enid for approval. You didn't want to leave her in the dust. "Are you gonna be ok if we go?"

"Yeah go ahead. I think I'm gonna get fucked up and make some poor decisions like a bitch." she said giving you a smile and a sarcastic wink.

You rolled your eyes at her with a smile on your face as you let out a snort through your nose. You slowly got up from the couch to stand by Carl and turned around to face Enid. "Ok just don't make too bad of decisions. I'll see you tomorrow. And thank you, for ya know everything."

She scrunched her nose and smiled. You turned around and started to walk out of the house next to Carl. As you walked out the door Carl looked back at you to make sure you were following him. You walked silently next to Carl towards the Grimes house looking down at your feet and wondering if Enid was right about the way Carl looked at you. You looked over at Carl and all you could think about is how much you wanted to hold his hand and feel his soft lips on yours. As you and Carl walked up to the house, Carl turned to you and smiled. "You're still wearing Enid's clothes. I guess she was right about you stealing all her clothes." he smirked at you. "It's ok. You look better in them anyway."

"Thanks." you laughed. "Don't let her hear you say that though. She'll beat your ass."

You made your way up the stairs and towards your room but before you could get there a voice calls your name from behind you.

"Y/N. Hey wait. Can we talk?" Carl asked

You turned around with your hand still on the door knob. Your heart was beating out of your chest. Had he heard your conversation with Enid from across the room? Did he not feel the same? Was he in love with Enid? "Yeah what's up?" you asked trying to sound as cool and collected as possible but your voice still broke imagining the worst.

"I know you aren't just tired. I can tell something else is going on. I see it in your eyes. You know you can tell me anything. I would never judge you." He cupped your face in his hands wiping a tear off your face. "Did Enid say something to you? Was she being a bitch?"

"No no nothing like. Quite the opposite really." you quickly reassured him.

"You seemed fine before you talked to her so if it's not that, what is it?"

You tightly closed your eyes and bit your lip to try to suppress your tears but it wasn't working. "Can we maybe talk in my room? I feel like I need to sit down."

"Yeah of course. Anything." he said as he moved his hand from your arm to your hand and squeezed it tightly. He took his other hand and cupped your face wiping tears away once again. You lead him over to your bed and sit down. He can feel your hands shaking in his hand and he holds them tighter. "It's ok I promise you can tell me anything."

You inhaled deeply and closed your eyes gaining the courage to tell him how much you loved him. Enid's words replayed in your head 'you should tell him tonight' and you finally took your last deep inhale and ignored the pit in your stomach to finally tell him how you felt. "I am mildly, well very upset because of something Enid said but it's not because it was mean. It was weirdly nice and selfless of her to put aside how she felt for my feelings. She told me she was jealous of me and the way you looked at me. She said you looked at me like I was your whole world. I've never noticed it before and part of me thinks she's wrong because I just don't see how you could ever like me. I thought you might have feelings for her because well, she's Enid but there is another part of me praying and hoping that she is right because I ya know like you..." you paused quickly readjusting your words. "You know what no. Fuck it. I'm already this deep in, I love you and thinking for even a split second that there was even the slightest chance that you might feel the same, that you might, love me too made me so happy. I have loved you ever since I moved into your house. I have thought about what it would be like for you to kiss me, and look me in my eyes and tell me that you fucking love me too. You don't have to feel the same way and I am so sorry if I ruined our friendship but when you asked I had to tell you and Enid said to do it tonight so I guess fuck me I did it." you said sobbing.

"Y/N please don't cry." Carl said lifting your chin and staring in your eyes before pulling you in and kissing your lips. His lips were soft and warm. He started gently but deepened the kiss by the second making you feel safe and secure. You had never been happier. He pulled away and placed his forehead on yours with his right hand holding your face and his left still holding your hand. You positioned yourself the same holding him close. "I look at you that way because you are my whole world. I love you more than anything. I have loved you ever since you became part of our group but I never said anything because I thought you wouldn't like me back either. I love you so much Y/N. Please don't ever leave me."

You smile, happy tears streaming down your face, taking all your stress away as they fell off your skin. "Never Carl. I will never leave. I mean it."

Carl kisses you again and finally you are happy. In his arms you feel no harm can come to you. You pull away and look at Carl barely able to contain the cheesy grin you are trying to suppress. There is nothing that could ruin this.

"Hey, can I maybe stay in here and cuddle with you tonight?" Carl asked nervously but he was almost sure of the answer.

You couldn't hold back your grin anymore and you laughed quietly. "I guess so but on one condition."

"What's that."

"You make this a regular thing. You don't get to sleep here only once."

He laughed and replied "I think I can work with that beautiful. You have got yourself a deal my love."

As you drifted off to sleep wrapped in Carl's arm you realized you have never been this happy in your life, not even before the outbreak. Enid had done the most selfless thing she could and now you were laying with the man you loved, warm and cozy.

#carl grimes x y/n #carl grimes #carl grimes x reader #twd #the walking dead #carl grimes fluff #carl grimes twd

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gentlebeardsbarngrill · 2 months

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hi. sorry to bug you, but i just learned about the props auction, and i'm a little sad. i know there were people trying to be uplifting about it, but i just can't shake seeing things from the revenge get auctioned off. idk. if it was something that appeared once or twice, then sure ok. but the wall sconces? from outside the captain quarters' main door? :(

it's just not sitting right with me at all. so i was just wondering if you had any advice or had a way to positively swing it. sorry again :(

Hey Anon! I'm so sorry that the props auction is causing you stress. I know it sounds bad-- but the scuttlebutt I'm hearing is that this is fairly normal, as long as they aren't "dismantling the set" we're probably still in a pretty good place. It sounds like depending on the size/cost of the props it can get pretty expensive to house them (like that canon) and I know WB is trying to recover some of their losses right now.

From what I've read... some places will even sell things off even if there is a renewal because for example the prop may cost $10 to make, but a fan / company will pay $100 for it, so why pay to have it sit around when you can profit the difference? I wish I remembered where I read that so I could send you a source. Something else to think about is-- we have no idea what's in store for s3. It could be possible that we don't even see the Revenge for most of the time. Maybe it's focused on Ed and Stede a lot, or maybe Frenchie really fucking hates those wall sconces, or there's some epic battle that damages the ship and they have to rebuild all sorts of stuff.

I don't know if that helps, but I personally am not as much worried about the props than if they very specifically said "The Revenge is being dismantled" because that was such a huge effort and took huge amounts of money to build, and that wouldn't be easily replicable (Ra Vincent went crazy with that set and all the hidden crap).

I hope that helps a bit *hug* I know it's probably just the inner clown, but I am with a lot of other people where I think David Jenkins has been (albeit sneaky about it) pretty open about "who we should go after" and if he didn't think there was any chance, I doubt he'd continue to support us and not just say flat out "It's over yall". We haven't heard much from him lately, but I think that's a good sign, that means he's probably spending his time negotiating, and who knows, maybe he's out there bidding on the props, lol.

Anyway, sending love and hugs, I know it's hard, and it's totally fair to feel concerned. But try not to give up hope! There's so many things pointing towards "positive" still that I think we still have a shot.

Take care anon <3

#anon #asks anon #props #ofmd props auction

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degenrcy · 10 months

Text

only i can hurt you (chapter 2)

same warnings as last one but with more highlight on the ed part of the relationship!

you two were out grocery shopping for the league with a whopping budget of barely 120 dollars. it was getting hot out, summer not just rolling but suddenly jumping you from around the corner with multiple day long heat waves predicted for the next 2 weeks. this meant no one wants to smoke drugs in a non-air-conditioned in an already heated car. this meant dabi and shigaraki weren't making much on their deals. this meant 120 dollars for groceries. for a house full of adults.

minus you two of course. "it's perfect tomu, we don't have enough for all of us so me and you can just... not eat for a little. nothing we can't handle, right tomu?" you clung to his skeletal form, instinctually running your hands up and down the length and wrapping your fingers around different parts of his arm. it was self-soothing yet a burdening reminder you two were only centimeters apart when it came to gaps and circumfrences of limbs and calories and weight and food and disgust and fat and-

"don't call me that in public. good idea i guess," he sighed, then motioned to the shelves of the current aisle you were in. "but look. we buy two packs for 12 dollars and we can get another THREE for free. i can be set for like, 2 weeks more if we invest in this."

you scowled, tugging him away into a different aisle. shigaraki was addicted to every diet soda out there, making it his mission to try every flavor before he dies as if he has 3 months left to live. full sugar soda was his vice when you two first met, cliche mountain dew drinking gamer with fast food bags inside more fast food bags inside grocery store plastic bags- he was disgusting. his teeth were nothing short of rotting and yellowed. but he was skinny. unintentionally omad-ing a burger and fries with a bunch of soda to wash it down after going days with either snacks and energy drinks or nothing at all when he was grinding out gameplays. you had grown up trying every sort of diet and eating all types of food but god has cursed women for eternity and blessed shigaraki tomura and every other male you've known with statistic-breaking metabolisms and simple cravings.

the only thing that ever worked for you was him. someone else's force. him forcing you to not eat by keeping you in his room for days. forcing you to purge those fries you got because can you imagine how much fat is actually in there? they don't weigh your food out, and look, all the fries are different sizes. the calories aren't gonna be accurate, you know that. it was fun to eat, but now all that salt is gonna make you look fat. actually, be fat. you're fat. go to the fucking bathroom and get that disgusting shit out of your stomach before you get fatter. by making you feel so horrible about yourself, you couldn't even stomach the thought of eating anything with sustenance.

you tossed a couple boxes of gauze and this really good disinfectant cream you two use, a lot, in the cart. sometimes he cuts you- one for every extra piece of food over your limit, every pound gained or not lost within acceptance, for even suggesting eating. how else would you have learned without him? without shigaraki's love and dedication to you, you'd be lost. and fat.

you tossed in some of toga's requested items- this new organic ramen cup rip off that was 2 dollars more expensive than being normal. a new pack of razors- but in an artistic way. toga likes to make art pieces with razors. and blood. who's blood? no one asked. everyone knew. some fruit went in the cart that everyone could enjoy. a lot of sale-priced store brand microwavable foods followed. cucumbers and pickles were the only vegetables you and shigaraki could handle. salad was to expensive. the biggest budget-denter was all of jin's mass amounts of protein. chicken, turkey, protein bars, protein powder, protein drinks, shit you guys didn't have money for anyways. you could only buy a nice pack of chicken for him. some tofu for dinner and broth.

"he can buy the rest with his gym-guy money. we don't owe him." you tugged on shigaraki's hoodie again, and he jerked his shoulder away from you. you gripped his forearm, and he frowned. haha, shigaraki, you can't hurt women in public.

by the time you guys got home, everyone was there.

"when the fuck did we all get days off, huh?" shigaraki yelled as he entered the house with two packs of strawberry flavored diet coke. he won that argument, judging by the three shakily stacked up in your arms. dabi got up from his permanent spot on the couch and the smoke around him twisted and curled until it reached the open door. they dapped eachother up, as boys do, dabi handing off the blunt without missing a beat to your boyfriend and showing him something on that god-forsaken beat up iphone 7. you couldn't really tell what was going on, didn't care much, just focused on bringing in the last few bags. you heard some expressions of disbelief, some anger, some laughing.

"i gotta kill her." dabi was saying as you put the final bag down, taking a few moments to catch your breath. you felt like you were gonna pass out.

"shit, i'd kill mine too if she did that." they were both leaning against the wall now, you could tell they were trying to inconspicuously get to the couch to knock out.

"shiiiiit," dabi ashed the blunt on the floor, then pointed to shigaraki with it. "you'd kill yours for breathing too fat."

there was an awkward moment of silence for you, followed by the two guys laughing their asses off and shigaraki not disagreeing.

"hey," you panted. "can you help clean out the cabinents?"

they looked at your hunched over form, hands on your knees, panting like a dog. and laughed at you. dabi slapping his thighs while he died of laughter and shigaraki stomping his boots against the floor, also laughing, also driving the ash further into the grains of the wood.

"gotta kill you now, y/n. out of breath over one set of stairs." he shook his head, giving one last hit to the blunt before letting dabi finish it. "fat bitch. clean this place up yourself." he spat, pulling off his hoodie after carefully peeling it away from his arms. your eyes started to well with tears, stinging. you pulled off your own hoodie, setting it on the couch and getting to work. you had thirty minutes left till your fast was over, it was enough time to clean out the old food from the kitchen and organize all the new stuff. enough time to get some wet paper and clean the floors. (what's a swiffer?) enough time to think about how hungry you were while staring in the fridge absentmindedly. fat bitch. enough time to chug a glass of tap water and physically shake your head free of food thoughts. dog.

you held the warm mug of soup in your hands, always cold and shaking. now recently added, veins sticking out more. it made you want to slice up your hands and fingers. you sighed, swirling the soup around with your spoon. you wish you could put bread in the soup, or maybe have a bowls worth and not just a cup. it wasn't on the plan shig had you on though, and it probably would never be. you gave up bread months ago, along with things like cereal and any soda at all. however sugar was always the hardest part, going strong for a month or two then ultimately binging on a whole candy bar one of the roommates gave you.

shigaraki comforted you that day, holding you in his arms. "i know it sucks you ate all that candy. you've been doing good so far, and i'm disappointed, but it could be worse. just make sure you're back on track tomorrow like you have been." he kissed the top of your head. "they never offer me candy or their food, you know."

"...what?" you lifted your head to look at him, clutching onto him tighter.

"yeah," he nodded. you felt like a little kid listening to his story. "i think it's because you're almost bmi 19, finally, but don't look any different from when you first were starting to lose weight. i mean, look at me babe. would you ever offer someone like me something so depraving as chocolate?"

your lip trembled.

"they know what i am. they can already tell i don't need it, that i won't take it from them. you know why?"

"cuz' your so skinny." you sniffled, trying to hide in his sleeve. he nodded again.

"and they all know you're the fat girl that they can buy a hershey bar for. that they can share their food with and you'll finish it for them. is that what you want?"

"...nooo!" you cried out, tears dripping down your cheeks. he kissed them, pink and hot from the shame of being his fat girlfriend.

"good... fix it then."

you were now barely bmi 17, and your boyfriend was nearing 15. you cried every time you thought about it, which was everyday. every gash on your arm for all the binges and regret and disgust and hatred and anger and all those gross feelings you got about being alive were imprinted on you forever now. you wanted thin forever, you wanted to be beautiful for your boyfriend forever, even if it wasn't gonna be shigaraki. you saw how amazing jin treats his women before his next episode, toga's insanely strong adoration for the same person she's been on about for years- yet her ability to do it for her current partner anyways. how dabi sleazes up girls at parties to be his customers and in his bed by the morning. even some of shigaraki's cut-off family seems nicer than what he's ever told you. they speak fancy and dress nice, they're rich. they pay the rent here for shigaraki and his 'friends', he was a rich boy living the poor life.

"you have money shigaraki, we could buy a new car or fix the fucking washer if you just called your stupid fucking uncle!" you were arguing again, not really remembering what really started it. the missed car payment might've been it, but no one really cared about paying off a car you guys bought for like 5k- oh, then wanting a new one, you were caught up now. "we could maybe have a kitchen, with, you know, real food!"

he scoffed.

"what?!"

"always thinking about food," he rolled his eyes. "even if i did get more money from them, i'm sure you'd waste all my gas money on driving to food spots. spend all the water in the washer washing away the grease and food stains from your clothes. your clothes, which go up in size," he got closer to you, back against the wall. "if i called my stupid-" his fist collided with the wall, actually breaking through it. it crumbled and fell in small pieces on your shoulder and to the floor, you flinched but didn't dare to scream. "-fucking uncle. for more money. you'd just spend it on filling up the kitchen, with real food. is that what you're telling me?"

he was in your face, seething. eyebrows pinched tightly, looking into your sunken eyes. you shrugged. he smacked you.

"you don't eat shit unless i tell you to." he grabbed your jaw, forcing you straight, then smacked you again. with similar force that he gave the wall apparently, knocking you to his feet and oh shit you were actually seeing stars. his boot pressed between your shoulders, holding you on the floor. "lay here while i make jin his retarded fucking pre-workout. if you get up, i'll kill you."

you sobbed as quietly as you could into your arms, phone buzzing in your pocket. the fast was over. you had 2 hours to eat. start with something light, maybe a cup of soup. some fruit for fiber, or something. uh, maybe tomu will make you some of his good tofu... takes too long though, it'll be 7 by then, and you don't eat past 7. you lay there. even after tomu walked by you, even after he came back to tell you to get up, even when he kicked you.

you felt small as he picked you up, grumbling and cursing, setting you down into his bed. he rubbed your head, down your spine, over your hip bones. he pushed you flat on the bed, running his fingers up over your flattened stomach and feeling up your ribs. he kissed your collarbones, each side, then your forehead. "just a few more." he whispered to you as you whined. few more pounds, okay. few more hours, okay. whatever tomura wanted, you would gladly do. you love hurting yourself, but he does all the work for you. you loved losing the weight, loved the perfect scars, loved the feelings that weren't complete distain so it surely meant they were good-feelings.

you loved tomura.

#shigaraki tomura/reader #shigaraki/reader #shigaraki tomura dark fic #tw.ed #tw.abuse #tw.misogyny #tw.enabling #tw.self harm

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wittywallflower · 2 years

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Steddyhand modern AU where they oops themselves into a throuple.

Ed and Izzy are roommates who run a business together. They are kind of an on-again-off-again, open-ish polyam sorta-couple that has never once had even a second of healthy communication about their relationship in the twenty years they’ve known each other.

Izzy meets Stede first because he actually attends the meetings for the local business owners association or whatever. Technically Stede should be competition but Izzy quickly decides he is an idiot and will probably go under soon. He’s weird as hell though, Ed would love that.

Ed does love that. He is delighted by the crazy shit he hears about the new guy and wants to meet him. The two hit it off because of course they do. That wouldn’t even bother Izzy all that much except between their flirting and their dumb dates, Ed and Stede want to talk about cooperative business ventures. And the business, that’s Ed and Izzy’s thing. They’ve worked hard to build it, together, and Izzy works hard still to protect it. he doesnt want to risk it on some crazy scheme these two come up with just because Ed is bored. So yeah he hates Bonnet, but its not romantic jealousy (or is it?)

The tension between Stede and Izzy comes to a head one evening when they are both drunk and still seething over an argument they had earlier in the day. Drinking turns to shouting. Shouting turns to shoving. Only a couple punches are thrown but there;s a lot of undignified scuffling around on the floor.

Izzy isn’t really sure later when wanting to rip Stede’s head off had turned into yanking that golden hair to pull him closer. Or who hungrily took whose lips first. He remembers a soft handkerchief cleaning his bloody nose on the short trip to the bedroom, remembers checking Stede’s split lip to assess if it could withstand further kissing. He doesnt remember how Edward inserted himself into the situation, but he does recall the man giggling as they tried to arrange the three of them on the bed and he nearly fell off the mattress.

He remembers everything after that too. Every touch, every kiss, every gasp and moan and sigh. The shock of twenty fingertips softly exploring him was a sensation burned into his brain forever now. He remembered it all. And he didn’t regret a second of it, even if it would be easier to.

No one says anything about it because thats just how Ed and Izzy are (emotionally incompetent) and Stede like just came out two months ago. He hasn’t dated since university and he’s certainly never had a threesome. He is completely unequipped to handle all this. So he just follows their lead.

So things mostly go on as normal with Stede and Ed spending time together and Izzy’s often around when they do. But Stede is a sweetheart, and a gentleman, and he also cannot stop thinking about how enjoyable that night was. It seems rude to not express that, but one doesn’t just say “thanks for that phenomenal sex”, do they? How does one, err, request a repeat?

Stede spots a gift he thinks Izzy might like and gives it to him. A short while later he notices the bag Izzy carries is nearly falling apart and replaces it with a nice satchel. Black leather, very cool, very much Izzy’s aesthetic, very much designer label and expensive as hell.

Stede has to cancel a date with Ed one night, but orders an absolutely ludicrous amount of takeout delivered to their place anyway. A lot of it is Izzy’s favorites.

Then there’s the concert tickets. He and Ed had given up hope of affording even nosebleed seats as soon as the tour had been announced, but Stede gets VIP, backstage passes, the works for all of them. Stede doesnt even like the band!

Izzy can’t take it anymore and has to ask Stede what the fuck. Why the gifts and the gestures and all this stuff? Is it just to butter Izzy up so he’ll agree to whatever dumb business idea the other two have?

“I didn’t think I needed a reason to do nice things for my boyfriend!”

“...boyfriend?” Izzy asks, just utterly shocked. He’s echoed by Ed, who sounds less surprised and more… considering.

“Um. Yes?” Stede, to his credit, does immediately read the room and start to realize he may have misstepped.

Izzy can’t even speak.

“Are you.. is it wrong to call you that? I just thought.. i mean, after that night..” Stede blushes fiercely. “I call Ed my boyfriend, after all, and i care about you just as much as I do him…

Stede trails off with both men staring at him.

Finally Ed chuckles. Izzy turns to scowl at him.

“What? Don’t look at me, mate. I thought you two already had a totally different arrangement sorted out. I didn’t say anything about it because I figured you’d be embarrassed about having a sugar daddy.”

#steddyhands #this was literally just supposed to be Ed's sugar dadd tease and it turned into a fucking novel #omfd modern au #idk why but i rly want Izzy as a sugar baby and so damn mad about it because Stede didnt work for his money or struggle like izzy did #he wants to hate the nice things stede gives him but he also wants to own them to prove he is just as good as the rich fucks #just as deserving.#but he wouldnt seek them for himself because being happy feels like hedonism to izzy hands #and he knows he doesnt need Stede to survive. stede doesnt pay his bills or settle his debts. so he's conflicted about accepting it on a lot #of levels. but... he LIKES it.#Meanwhile Stede Bonnet who has never looked at a price tag in his life because the cost has never been beyond his means #is barely even aware of the term 'sugar daddy' and walking around thinking #'my smol angry boyfriend is such a cutie'

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randomvarious · 6 months

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Today's compilation:

Now That's What I Call Music! 9 2002 Pop / Hip Hop / R&B / Teen Pop / Alternative Rock / Latin Pop / Southern Rap

Alright, folks, it's time for another fun trip down memory lane, and today we're going back to 2001 and 2002, with the help of the 9th volume from the most pervasive contemporary pop compilation series that's ever existed in US history: the one and only Now That's What I Call Music!

But first, before we..."Dig In"...let's get a dose of some of that good nostalgia with the ad for this release, shall we? Did you know that if you ordered it over the phone by credit or check/debit, you'd also get a free multi-purpose picture frame-mousepad too?! Wow, so cool! 😎

youtube

Anyway, being that these sets more or less serve as documentations of what the pop music landscape was like during a pretty specific time period, what this CD seems to demonstrate, in retrospect, is that the teen pop that had really dominated the late 90s was on a bit of a downturn in '01 and '02, and its status as the most prominent type of pop music was being usurped by hip hop and R&B.

But that's also not to say that all of the teen pop on here is of a low quality either, because *NSYNC's "Gone," which was the first track of theirs to ever be fully led from start to finish by Justin Timberlake, is really one of the greatest boy band tunes that's ever been made. Minimal, but emotional, and its bridge, specifically, is spectacular 😍.

Outside of that bit of brilliance, though, the R&B and hip hop tunes are just a lot better. And to me, the song that really stands out among the rest within this whole collection is Ginuwine's "Differences," a terrific slow jam that featured some incredibly shimmering and ringing keys. Normally, I don't go for slow R&B ballads, but this one in particular was really something special.

And there's also some bangers on here that you might've just flat out forgot ever existed too. Like, remember that New Jersey co-ed R&B/hip group, City High, that gave us "What Would You Do?" back in 2001? Well, do you remember their follow-up hit that featured Eve on it, "Caramel"? Its remix, by prolific New York duo Trackmasters, seems to be on that vague South Asian fad that so much mainstream hip hop and R&B was on at around that time, and it received a considerable amount of radio play. But looking back on it, I think it's actually been pretty memory-holed!

Also, we gotta give it up for Petey Pablo's ode to his home state of North Carolina too, with "Raise Up," because the Egyptian-sampled beat on that thing was absolutely bananas. And I can't say that I'm all that fond of much southern rap, in general, but Petey's debut hit was an absolute monster. Rather than him having to sacrifice any of his rawness in order to reach a pop audience, he was able to bring his rawness to a pop audience instead. And clearly, it resonated with a whole lot of folks.

And lastly, I think we all know that Ja Rule wasn't the greatest rapper out there, but his contributions to the turn-of-the-millennium pop landscape were pretty important. He got clowned on harshly by the likes of 50 Cent and Eminem, et al, and, as a result, his career was pretty much eviscerated, but songs like his Stevie Wonder-sampled "Livin' It Up" were straight-up party jams that really deserve more love and respect.

So, another highly enjoyable rush of radio and music television memories here. A bunch of commercial classics and a smattering of jams that are a bit more forgotten too. It's pretty much all you can ever ask for out of one of these Now CDs 😊.

P.S.: I'll provide a link to it, but for the love of god, under no circumstances should you ever subject yourself to the first track on this album, which is a remix of P!nk's "Get the Party Started" that features Redman and tries to mesh itself with "Sweet Dreams," by The Eurythmics. Apparently P!nk thought that her hair gave her enough power to also possess the essence of Annie Lennox or something, but good lord, was that calculus completely wrong 🥴. Such an excruciatingly bad song! Don't click on it!

Highlights:

Mary J. Blige - "Family Affair" Jennifer Lopez - "Ain't It Funny" Ja Rule feat. Case - "Livin' It Up" Ludacris - "Rollout (My Business)" Mr. Cheeks - "Lights, Camera, Action" Petey Pablo - "Raise Up (All Cities Remix)" City High - "Caramel (Trackmasters Remix)" Nelly Furtado - "Turn off the Light" *NSYNC - "Gone" Ginuwine - "Differences" Lenny Kravitz - "Dig In" Incubus - "Wish You Were Here"

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butterfliesornauseous · 2 years

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Thinking about differences you can imply between “I want to throw up.” And “I need to throw up.”

(Warning for emeto, talking about a character seeing something gross, over eating, trying to induce vomiting (not related to Ed purposes), public emeto)

Want

1. Sickie that has been hovering over a toilet for hours. They started feeling nauseous extremely late into the night and feel asleep while waiting to throw up, and now it’s early morning and their stomach is still churning but not enough to push their body to vomit yet. Though their tummy keeps growling, and they gag and dry heave every now and then, it’s still not enough to actually get sick and get the cycle over with. Caretaker eventually finds them crying with their head laid onto the toilet seat, mumbling, “I want to throw up.

2. Sickie sees something extremely gross, not you cringe and that’s it, but stomach turning gross, think about it while you eat for the next couple of weeks gross. It’s something that leaves them in pure shock at what they saw, and they don’t move until caretaker finds them and shakes their shoulder, waking them from their haze. Maybe what ever it was that they saw caretaker also see’s though they aren’t as affected by things like this but knows that it’s something that would definitely affect sickie. They ask sickie if they are okay who has placed their hand over their mouth from said shock and through their muffled hand they say “No I really want to throw up.” Suddenly starting to feel their stomach slightly turn, thinking the only way to feel cleaner is to hurl their insides up.

3. Sickie that’s meeting their partner’s family for the first time and their partner warns them that their family tends to love cooking for new people and tends to cook a lot and that sickie’s stomach does not have the capacity to eat the amount their family will serve them. Sickie still wants to meet their parents and thinks they will be fine but during the dinner they are already given a huge serving that definitely is larger than they would normally get through and that’s not counting the family members that keep offering pieces of their own dishes, but sickie tries their best to eat everything even though they already feel their stomach start to hurt after the first plate. Caretaker tells them they don’t have to eat anymore and points out they can actually hear sickie’s stomach start to unhappily growl, but sickie can see a couple of the family members giving them a weird look, so they continue to push their limits. Finally once they get to leave, poor sickie curls into a ball in the passenger seat of the car cradling their poor overfilled gurgling tummy. Now that they have managed to somewhat impress caretaker’s family there’s no need for the food to be them anymore, and they don’t want to spend the night curled up with their tummy gurgling every couple minutes and punishing them with nausea till they finally throw up (because there is no way their stomach will even try digest all that food.) when caretaker asks how they feel about meeting their family all sickie has to say/groan is “I want to vomit,” while rubbing their tummy And caretaker is pretty sure with the route they have to take home sickie will be getting that wish sooner than later.

4. Similar to number 1 but this time sickie is so desperate to get the nausea to go away they start forcefully pushing on their stomach to make themselves puke. Which caretaker disagrees with and keeps trying to pull Sickie’s arms away from themselves or putting their hands one sickies stomach to act as a shield and telling sickie that “they are hurting themselves more,” and “if their body isn’t ready to vomit, yet it’s not ready to vomit and to stop forcing it.” Which sickie still tries to vomit anyway while crying “I just want to puke.”

5. Pain that makes you wanna throw up? yeah.

Need

1. Sickie has never been good eating a certain ingredient, sometimes one bite it enough for their stomach to go ‘this is not it,’ and send it up immediately. Sickie is offered a bite of a dish one of their friends/coworkers/etc are eating, unknown to them that dish features said ingredient and the person offering knows this, they just think that sickie needs to get over themselves, and it’s just something they don’t like. Sickie happily takes a spoonful of the food and immediately tastes the ingredient that spells trouble for their poor tummy but knew it would be way too rude to spit out, maybe they will be lucky, and their stomach will accept the small amount but a couple seconds later they can already feel their stomach getting upset. They know when it comes to this it’s not a drawn out nausea that gives them enough time to flee the scene, rather maybe a minute or so. Right then, caretaker walks in seeing the pale sickie with wide eyes asking them what’s wrong and sickie mutters “I need to throw up.” Not loud enough the other person hears because they can’t deal with that embarrassment but still pushes caretaker out of the way and a hurry to get to a bathroom.

2. They’re in a public place. Its sudden nausea that comes out of nowhere, but it’s definitely not going to last longer than a couple of minutes before sickie hurls their insides out. The problem is that despite being in public there seems to be no bins nearby nor bathrooms and sickie is starting to feel that if they take any more steps they will just throw up everywhere. Caretaker finally notices that sickie has stopped walking and turns to find them bending over with a hand clamped around their mouth and tummy. Caretaker asks if they can move to find someone with fewer people to puke and sickie forces out a “No, I need to throw up now.” Before burping wetly into their hand.

3. Sickie getting carsick and not realising it till the last minute. They think maybe the last thing they ate wasn’t settling so well and if they sleep for a little bit the small nausea they have will go away (which of course actually makes it worse.) though sickie isn’t exactly the best person when it comes to telling how they truly feel. After caretaker notices that sickie was sleeping for a bit and is not completely zoned out and gone quiet, they ask if everything is all good and if they should pull over for a bit but sickie brushes it off thinking they will be able to get the queasy feeling in their stomach in control, and it’s just a little indigestion plus they don’t want to waste time which of course ends with sickie getting sicker as they drive on, but they manage to keep themselves from throwing up until the worst possible minute (on the free way or sm) and they have to tug on caretakers sleeve telling them they ‘need to throw up,’ feeling guilty and beating themselves over the fact this wouldn’t have happened if they took car takers offer earlier.

4. Good old sickie gets given some awful news that’s enough to make them not just want to vomit, but actually need to empty their stomach. After going completely blank and pale from receiving the news, caretaker asks if they need a minute, maybe already hearing sickies stomach start to churn and not wanting them to have to be sick in front of who ever delivered the news. Sickie turns to them with the blankest look and with no emotion, tells caretaker, “I need to be sick.” Before finally snapping and doubling over and clutching their stomach with tears in their eyes.

5. Those characters that were fear is enough to make their stomach churn. During a time when sickie is already a little on edge and someone decides to scare them and it completely backfires because after they scare sickie they completely drop to their knees holding their stomach and the person who scared them thinks it’s just the fear doing that, and they ask sickie how good did they get them who instead replies they suddenly feel like they need to throw up much to the person who scared them’s own horror.

I meant to go a completely different direction with this lol but oh well.

#emeto #Emeto #EMETO #emeto promts #upset tummy #This is a rare time when I talk about overeating so please don’t expect it again :))

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theoddcatlady · 5 months

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Unnatural Combinations

I think most people are surprised when they learn one of my hobbies is taxidermy.

I know what you probably expect when you hear that- some shady looking Ed Gein kinda guy. I’m gonna clear this up off the bat. Not everyone that practices taxidermy looks like a serial killer, all empty eyes and unsettling grins. I’d like to say I’m pretty normal, as far as your average human being goes. I’m close to my parents, I have a good job, I even have a dog named Hamlet. But I also really do enjoy taxidermy.

I picked up the hobby almost… god, has to be like ten to twelve years now. At the time, I thought the same as probably most of you, that taxidermy was for people like Norman Bates or Leatherface. That changed during a highschool project where I had to shadow someone at their workplace. Since I was sick the day all the popular choices were taken, I got stuck working at McConnell Taxidermy with the stern looking Walter McConnell. Although I originally expected to be either bored or grossed out, it was actually a lot of fun. For the most part Walter and I just kicked back and watched TV and enjoyed his husband Bernard’s home cooking.

For the actual taxidermy though, I actually found it fascinating. It’s not all blood and guts, some of it is real artistry. I had a lot of fun learning about it, seeing what incredible focus Walter had while sewing together a squirrel, and I was surprised to learn which of the fish on the wall were real and which were incredibly accurate recreations. Walter loved animals, he had at least three rescued dogs and I lost count of the amount of cats that weaved between my ankles as we drunk root beers and sat on his front porch.

Anyway, after that week shadowing him, I ended up going back again and again. I admitted I didn’t really have the patience for hunting, which is where most of Walter’s business comes from, but he let me know that if I found a mostly whole, fresh piece of roadkill, he could see what we could do. After a month of searching, I came across a raccoon that was just what Walter said would work. With him teaching me, I mounted my first animal. I still have it, even though I can point out like a half a dozen flaws.

All I’m trying to say it that no, I’m not the next freak that’ll make headlines for skinning the neighbor’s cat… and the neighbor with it. I can, however, say that some of those said freaks do have that wrong idea about us. And one of them was Clarence Warner.

I first met Clarence when he quite literally ran into me I’d gotten some new taxidermy books and I planned on kicking back at the shop while I read them. I was reaching for the door when it suddenly burst open, smacking the books out of my hand and sending them crashing to the ground.

“Oh! Oh, oh no, I’m s-so sorry!”

The man hurriedly exiting the shop was a scrawny looking fellow, below average in height with extra large glasses that magnified his watery eyes with the bags underneath so dark it looked like he hadn’t slept in a month. The rumpled state of his sweater and slacks didn’t help the impression.

Before I could even tell him it was fine the man was on the ground, carefully smoothing the cover of each of my books, even the hardcover ones. “N-none look to be damaged!” With a nervous smile, like he expected me to suddenly clock him in the face, he carefully handed the books back to me. “I’m so s-sorry, do they look okay? Nothing r-ripped or damaged, I hope?”

I gave the books a once over. “You’re fine, they can take a fall. You in a hurry?”

“Yeah, uh, yup,” The man nervously bobbed his head up and down, “The shop owner, he uh…” he chuckled nervously, “he’s a bit frightening. I decided to m-make myself scarce. I’m Clarence. Clarence Warner.” He stuck out a hand that had nails bitten down so far his fingertips were all red and sore. I sort of just looked at my books before Clarence slowly lowered his hand, his ears turning pink along with his cheeks. “Right. It’s a b-bit hard to shake hands when they’re full.”

“Yeah…” I glanced in the shop, “Everything’s cool man, have a good day.” I side stepped around the clearly socially awkward Clarence and managed to get the door open with my foot, eager to end this bizarre confrontation.

“Wait!”

Clarence’s piercing yelp nearly caused me to drop my books again. I turned my head back around and Clarence looked rightfully embarrassed.

“What’s your name?” He asked while staring at his feet, sounding like more like a shy first grader than a grown man.

“… Everyone calls me Bobby,” I bowed my head, “Have a good day, man.”

“Good day for you too!”

Clarence skittered off down the street, beelining for the nearest bus stop. I just shook my head, got the door the rest of the way open, and made my way into the shop. The classic rock station was playing, the room smelled of sandalwood incense thanks to Bernard, and other than me and Walter the place was empty. It seemed normal, but Walter’s usually unbothered, apathetic expression was replaced with an unnatural hostility that I’d rarely seen from him before.

“You okay, Walter?” I asked, setting my books on the counter before taking a seat on the bench.

Walter was quiet for a moment, watching the door like a hawk. “You spoke with the man leaving the shop?” He asked, his gruff voice quieter than usual.

“Just for a second, he accidentally knocked the books out of my hands,” I nodded to them, “Seemed a bit weird but that was it. What did he do?”

Walter’s mouth pressed into a firm line as he glowered in the direction Clarence had walked off in. “Asked questions I don’t like answering. Keep your distance. Want tea or beer?” Before I responded the man had ambled off to the back, coming back with two beers and setting one in front of me. I accepted, because I’m not the kind of person to turn down free beer, and I didn’t press the matter further. I figured I wouldn’t see Clarence any time soon anyway.

I actually ran into him again that night, while Hamlet and I were on a run. We were on the loop back home when I heard someone shouting my name. I skidded to a stop and pulled one of my headphones out, craning my neck around and seeing a shorter guy dashing on up to me.

When he was close enough, I finally realized that this was Clarence, and he was not looking so good. When he skidded to a stop his knees buckled, the poor guy nearly falling to the ground as he gasped for air. Not exactly a man in the best of shape.

I waited until he’d started to catch his breath before speaking. “Yeah? You want something?”

Clarence swallowed and stood back up straight, wiping the sweat off his pallid forehead. “So so sorry… to b-bother you,” he wheezed and for a second I thought he might pass out, “But you live around here too?”

At first I was tempted not to give him any information about where I lived. I mean, he weirded out Walter, and it’s hard getting under that guy’s skin. But I lowered my guard as I saw him struggling to get his breathing under control. “On this street, yeah. You going to be okay?”

Clarence bobbed his head up and down. “I have… Mild asthma. You’re… really fast,” He swallowed again and finally seemed to get his breathing under control. “I was just thinking about this being a s-strange coincidence, but we’re actually neighbors!” He pointed to the house on the corner. I did remember that the for sale sign had vanished, but I figured whoever bought it was going to plow it over, that place was not in the greatest of shape. “I was sitting on my front porch and saw you run by, I had to be s-sure it was you, Bobby.”

“Yeah,” I tightened my grip on Hamlet’s leash. I did not want my German mix accidentally knocking him over. “Why though?”

Clarence smiled. “Well, you were very nice to me today! I figured you’d be a good person to get to know if you lived around here.”

“What’d you say to Walter earlier?” I asked. “He seemed pretty upset when I entered the shop.”

“Walter- oh! The scary, elderly gentleman that runs the taxidermy place, right,” Clarence looked a bit sheepish, “I’m afraid I’m a bit poor at phrasing my questions. All I wanted to know was more of the process of taxidermy. It’s a s-science I’d like to know more about. That’s all.”

That actually relieved me. I’d been afraid that Walter was on the receiving end of some homophobic bullshit, but that didn’t seem to be the case. I lowered my guard and stopped gripping the leash so tight. “Yeah, no offense, you don’t seem to be the most… eloquent,” I said, deciding that maybe being subtle with this guy wasn’t going to work.

Thankfully Clarence didn’t take offense. “Everyone says that, I’m not really good with people,” He chuckled, jamming his hands into his pockets, “But I hope I can get along well enough in this place. Is everyone nice around here?”

We chatted for a few minutes. I learned he’d been recently divorced from his wife and lost his job, so this was going to be a fresh start. Any of my earlier apprehension quickly dissolved, this was just a lonely guy who just wanted to make a friend. Hamlet didn’t seem to mind him either, although he strangely enough didn’t jump up and try to lick his face- Hamlet thinks face kisses are the best to give to strangers.

When we parted, Clarence looked to be on cloud nine. “Thank you for n-not being upset with me,” He bowed his head in my direction, “I hope we see each other again soon!” With that, my bizarre new neighbor trotted down the street.

I glanced down at Hamlet. “Guess we should be nice to him,” I decided, giving my dog a pat on the head. Hamlet wuffed quietly before he started pulling on his leash to head back to the house. I didn’t double check to see if Clarence saw me head into my home, but I guess he had to have- the next morning there was a package of home made cookies on my doorstep, along with a note with yet another apology about the books.

Damn good cookies, even if they were oatmeal raisin.

Hindsight being 20/20, I really did drop my guard around Clarence too quickly. But it was hard to be freaked out by a guy who got winded running half a block and apologized for breathing the same air as you. I dunno, I just didn’t think he was very threatening. Even when things started to get strange. And by strange, I mean actually fucking horrifying.

We have a lot of pets in our neighborhood, and warning, this is gonna get gruesome, so turn away if you’re sensitive to this kind of thing. It was a week to the day that I first met Clarence that the eldest Waid boy, Brian, came to my front door.

I opened up to see the twelve year old staring at his untied shoes, nervously chewing on his thumbnail. When he first spoke it was so quiet I had to ask him to repeat himself.

“… Have you seen Cooper?”

Cooper was the Waid’s obese chocolate Labrador retriever. Good dog though, even if he was always begging at the summer barbecues and drooling like a monster. I shook my head, not even recalling the last time I saw the dog. “What’s up buddy, is he missing?” I asked.

Brian nodded, chomping down on another finger nail.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t seen Cooper. Tell you what, I’m about to take Hamlet for a run. I’ll keep an eye open for Cooper while I’m out, okay?”

That seemed to relieve the kid at least, I got a half smile out of him before he bolted from my porch and headed to the next house. I felt for the kid, I wasn’t particularly closed to the Waids but I knew Brian had some social issues. It had to be hard for him to go door to door like that. I went looking for Hamlet’s leash, figuring there was no way Cooper could get far. I’d seen him dozing on his owner’s front lawn without any supervision nearly every warm day in the summer. It would’ve taken a lot to get him to leave his comfort spot.

I figured it would be easy anyway, if the dog had just wandered off. But I combed through the neighborhood, even bringing Hamlet’s gourmet treat bag to try and lure out the greedy pup. I headed out again at lunchtime, and I even told Walter not to expect me at the shop that afternoon because I was looking for a lost dog.

It didn’t cross my mind until it was dark out that perhaps Cooper had not just ‘wandered off’. I mean, he was a good dog. I checked in with the Waids at dinner, all of the poor kids a wreck and the parents having not a clue where Cooper could’ve gone off to.

“After all, we just let him out a few minutes before we looked out the window and saw he was gone. I don’t understand how he could’ve gotten out of the yard and out of sight so fast,” Mrs. Waid said, although the way she fidgeted clued me in that she didn’t believe Cooper ran away. Of course she couldn’t say that around the forlorn Brian, telling the boy someone stole his dog would’ve probably broken him, but I could read between the lines. And it was the only possible scenario that made sense, although why someone would steal Cooper was beyond me.

The next morning when I was going to take Hamlet for his morning walk, I saw the Romero kids stuffing my mailbox with something. At first I was worried it was one of their pranks, but I opened up the mailbox to see a flier.

It wasn’t just Cooper that had gone missing the day before. Rocky, the Romero’s rottweiler, had also went missing around the same time.

Two dogs, one day. It was too spine chilling to be a simple coincidence.

I mean, the cops didn’t take it seriously. Two dogs missing but no one seen ushering either away or lurking around the properties, so clearly both just ran away. Just bad timing. Yeah right. No one in the neighborhood bought that, and by that night everyone was keeping a tight grip on their pet’s leashes.

That grip grew even tighter when their bodies turned up.

I just left the house with Hamlet for his morning walk when my dog suddenly barked and pulled his leash free from my hand, dashing down the street. He bolted right towards a dark shape next to the Waid’s dumpsters that I initially thought was a trash bag. It wasn’t until I got closer that I saw the pool of stagnant blood and realized the ‘trash bag’ was the lower half of a brown dog’s body. Someone had cut it in half, right about where the ribs ended.

I skidded to a stop. I stared for an agonizing amount of time, watching Hamlet growl while buzzing flies crawled between the viscera spilling out of the mutilated corpse.

Then I ran for the Waid’s front door and pounded on it. It was only about six AM, but no way… no way I was going to let Brian leave the house and see that.

This time when the police were called, it was taken far more seriously. It’s one thing to have a missing dog. It’s another thing entirely for the missing dog’s corpse, or well, half the dog’s corpse to be dumped practically on the doorstep. And although the perpetrator may have wanted it to seem like it was a hit and run, there was just no sign of the dog’s other half. Even if by some weird circumstance Cooper was torn in half after being hit by oncoming traffic, which is highly unlikely, we’d have to find some sign of the head and shoulders.

Brian was understandably a wreck, but his mom pulled me aside to thank me. It had been Brian’s morning to take in the garbage. If he’d seen that… god, I don’t even want to think about it. They didn’t give him all the details, but when the remains of Rocky were found later that day, dumped in a similar manner, I imagine he did get an inkling about the condition of his beloved family pet.

I knew one of the cops personally, he’s another of my neighbors, Tim Grove. We met when he moved here a few years back with his heavily pregnant wife Florence. She couldn’t really help with furniture, so I tagged in. Although my first impression of Tim was to be a bit intimidated by the big guy, we’ve ended up becoming pretty good friends. I’m actually go to babysitter for their son Harry. That night after the initial panic had died down, Tim came over to chill at my front porch.

“You know what dead animals mean?” Tim asked me as we watched the sun set in this previously simple neighborhood.

I just raised an eyebrow and waited for Tim to remember my hobby. “Not like what you do,” He rolled his eyes and punched me in the shoulder. “Like what happened today.”

I unfortunately had to nod. “Fucked up person. Really fucked up person,” I said.

Tim nodded, dragging his hands down his face. “Damn it. I don’t ever want to see another dead dog in my entire life,” He groaned.

I got the man a beer, not at all envious of the task that was in front of him. By the time I returned, I internally groaned when I saw Clarence with yet another gift for me, a wrapped up fruitcake. He looked about ready to wet his pants at the sight of Tim.

Clarence sighed with relief when he saw me. “I just came by with this!” He handed me his newest baked offering. “Um, I’m s-sorry, I didn’t know you had someone over already, I didn’t want to be a hassle, I just made too much m-m-mixture and-”

“Clarence, you’re fine,” I interrupted. “This is Tim, he’s my neighbor to the right. His bark is worse than his bite.”

Tim quietly laughed. “Hope you end up liking it around here, Clarence. Moved here little over three years ago myself, and well, other than what happened today, it’s usually pretty quiet.”

Clarence cocked his head to the side. “What happened today?” he asked. Tim grimaced and looked to me to handle this.

“Someone killed a dog. Two dogs, actually. Pretty messed up,” I said.

Clarence looked sympathetic. “Which families? Would they appreciate some baked goods?” He asked.

“Maybe give them a few days. But that’s a nice thought,” I said.

Clarence nodded and nudged his glasses up with a finger. “Goodbye then, I’ll speak with you tomorrow if we run into each other!” With that, he skittered off back to his house on the corner.

Tim waited until he was out of earshot before he turned to me. “That’s the guy that just moved in?” He asked, sounding carefully nonchalant.

“Yeah. He’s all right.” I unwrapped the fruit cake and sat down. “Bit bad at making friends, but he’s all right.”

Tim didn’t say anything, only twisting his mouth before eyeing that cake. “Sooo, is he a good baker?” He asked.

“He’s good at baking cookies at least. I’ll cut us some slices and you’ll find out if he’s good at cake too.”

Answer: yes, he was good at cake too. We quickly changed the subject away from Clarence, really we stopped talking about the events of the day entirely, we needed to decompress.

I imagine some of you are wondering why Clarence wasn’t top of the suspect list, since the mangled dogs showed up right after he arrived in town. And I think it’s because not many people even realized Clarence was there. He was just that invisible of a person. Hell, I wouldn’t have noticed if Clarence hadn’t made it a point to keep showing the fuck up wherever I was. Even then, I didn’t chalk that up to stalking or anything creepy. That’s how nonthreatening he came off as, even if he was bizarre.

Some people are just good at that I guess.

People of course took precautions. Never leave your dog alone in the yard, don’t let them out late, just keep an eye out for anyone who looked off.

It didn’t stop though. That’s the whole chilling part about it, the fact the pet killer saw people had their guards up and it didn’t stop him. More pets vanished, both cats and dogs of all breeds and sizes. In and out the thief would slip into yards, take their beloved pets, and within the week their butchered remains would show up near their home. Only parts and never the whole. I never let Hamlet off his leash when we were outside, which made him miserable, but the very idea of losing my best four legged friend was enough to break me. I’m sure any and all pet owners can empathize with that.

I never considered Clarence a danger until an afternoon I was watching Harry for Tim, a ‘work emergency’ that he didn’t want to go into too much detail about but odds are was another dead pet. That day I’d taken Harry to the park because he ‘wants swings time!’ I couldn’t say no to that lil face, it’s too cute. Besides, I’m not his dad. I don’t have to say no.

Harry was begging me to swing him higher when I heard someone softly clear their throat behind me. I turned my head around and saw a surprised looking Clarence.

“I d-didn’t know you had a son,” Clarence said, nudging his glasses up as he stared at Harry.

“He’s not mine, he’s the Grove’s,” I scooped Harry off the swing, the kid squealing as I set him on the ground, “This is Harry. I’m just watching him for now.”

Harry grinned and did that cheeky wave of his that made him seem shy, but it was all an act. Kid can and would make friends with anyone that gave him even a little attention.

I didn’t expect Clarence’s response, which was to immediately turn his head away and shudder. It was such a visceral reaction that I was, for the first time, truly put off from Clarence.

“Are you okay?” I asked, picking Harry up and letting him cling to my side like a little monkey.

Clarence kept facing away, but I saw his face going red and his eyes looking a bit wet. “It’s nothing,” He squeaked out, his voice barely above a whisper. He finally turned to face me, plucking his glasses off to clean them on his shirt and smiling at the little guy. “H-Hello, Harry. You remind me of my Trudy, you know?”

Harry beamed and waved again. “Hello! Hello!” He chanted, reaching to try and take Clarence’s glasses. Clarence chuckled and mock put the glasses on his face, but he couldn’t hide the genuine pain on his face when he took them back.

“Hello, and… a-another time, then,” With that, Clarence sped out of the park, not even stopping to give a more official goodbye. Harry didn’t pick up on anything being strange, but toddlers usually don’t pick up on social strangeness, he just wanted more time on the swings.

I did though. And I brought it up that night when I was chilling with Tim, both of us cracking open a few beers.

Tim was clearly exhausted, the last few weeks of animal thefts and deaths were wearing him down. He needed the guy’s time on the porch. It was after Harry was put down for sleep when I brought up Clarence’s bizarre behavior at the park.

“Why was he even there?” was Tim’s first question.

“Guy sticks to me like a burr to a sock,” I responded, throwing my emptied beer can into the trash, “I think he’s just… clingy. You know anything about him?”

Tim shrugged. “I ran a background check on him after he gave us fruitcake. Just to see if anything popped up, relax. Guy doesn’t even have a parking ticket, he’s clean as they come.”

“What about Trudy? Did he have a child?”

Tim sighed and reached for another beer. “Did. He did have a child,” He said. “That’s the one thing that really popped out at me, I kinda feel bad for the guy.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“She died. About a year ago.” Tim shook his head. “Clarence was driving home from work, got t-boned in the center of the intersection. He lost his left leg from the knee down and his daughter Gertrude didn’t make it. She was four. Life seemed to just fall apart for him after that. Divorced his wife right after he got out of the hospital, lost his job shortly after that. I didn’t want to give him a hard time, so I left him alone after I ran the check. Just had to make sure he wasn’t some kind of wanted serial killer. They tend to do that, you know- start with animals, work their way up to more… human prey.”

I sat there, completely stunned. No wonder he’d reacted like that around Harry, if he was still grieving the loss of his own kid that was around that age. As I headed back home, I resolved to try to reach out to Clarence more often, starting the next day.

I never did. That night me and the rest of the neighbors woke up to Florence’s bloodcurdling screams.

I ran over without even putting my shoes on. I didn’t even try to make sure Hamlet stayed indoors, so he ended up running outside with me. I just about ran into their door when Tim whipped it open, his face white as a sheet.

He only got out the word ‘Harry’ before he collapsed in my arms, nearly sending us both toppling over- Tim’s a big fucking dude. I helped him to the bench in the front porch before I burst into the house, unsure of what I would find.

I found Florence, still screaming in her child’s bedroom. The window was open, letting in a cool breeze, and Harry’s bed was empty.

I couldn’t get a lick of sense out of the hysterical Florence, so I stumbled back out to Tim, who was still white and was now trembling. I quietly sat down next to him and asked, “What happened?”

“… We put him down around seven. Florence only wanted to take a quick look at him when she was up and he was… gone. He’s not in the house. Where’s my boy?”

I didn’t even consciously think about it. I just remembered Clarence’s face in the park earlier that day, the look of tragic loss, and how it was now plastered across the face of my friend.

I still didn’t stop to get my shoes on. I bolted across lawns and down the street, Hamlet galloping after me as I ran to that quiet house on the corner. Clarence’s house. It looked somehow even more uninhabited than ever, the lights all dark and the lawn unkempt. Sometime since he’d arrived the front window had been broken and all he’d done was tape some cardboard over it.

Tragedy can make a man do some really messed up things, and I found that out the moment I entered the house.

Hamlet started snarling the moment I forced open the door. Hamlet rarely growls, he’s a pretty laid back dog. But he could pick up the wrong before I did. I heard the jangling of a dog’s tags down the hall and I turned on my phone’s light as I stepped further into the house. The place was still filled with unpacked boxes, nothing in any sort of order.

I almost reached the kitchen when out poked the head of a chocolate lab. A chocolate lab I only knew too well.

I froze. Cooper stopped only for a second, his head lolling to one side before he looked up at me. I panned my light over the rest of him, my hands shaking as I saw he was cleanly split down the middle, the back end of him taller than his front end and with short black fur contrasting with Cooper’s soft brown coat.

I dropped my phone, I heard the screen smash on the way down but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Hamlet barked, the hair on the back of his neck standing straight as his hackles raised. Cooper didn’t really respond, just meandered his way back into the kitchen and plopping down by the sink, next to a cat… a Frankenstein’s monster of a cat. I picked up my phone and panned the light over to see there was no less than four different cats sewn together to be one single feline, its glazed blue eye looking at me while its just as milky amber twin was permanently tilted towards the ceiling. Cooper, well, half Cooper and half Rocky just huffed while the Frankenstein’s cat groomed his ears.

I was shaking so bad as I made my way back to the living room. I collapsed on the couch, Hamlet whining and pressing his nose into my hand as I continued to tremble. It looked so wrong in a way I can’t even put my finger on, but I guess the closest feeling would be to compare it to uncanny valley- it was still a cat and still a dog, but at the same time it wasn’t.

Another cold nose, this one dry, rubbed against my ankle and I hauled my foot up to see another cat… well, half a cat.

I didn’t know whether to laugh hysterically or scream and cry at the sight of the two headed animal at my feet. One head was of an orange tabby with ripped up ears and the other head was a bichon frise that I recognized from a missing poster that was plastered on the corkboard at the grocery across town. The heads and shoulders were sewn together clumsily to the body of another animal that wasn’t dog or cat- the best I could guess from the bushy orange tail it was a fox.

That disturbing chimera stared at me with all four eyes before he clumsily clambered back into an empty box.

I forced myself to get up, fearing even more for Harry. I was leaving the living room with full intent to go get Tim and the rest of the goddamn police force… but that’s when I quite literally bumped into Clarence leaving his basement.

I just froze, staring back at the nonplussed Clarence. My new neighbor eyed the growling Hamlet, then looked back at me. Nudging up his glasses, he smiled. “I didn’t know you wanted to come over, Bobby. But I thought I heard you up here. Are you here for Harry?” He asked.

I nodded.

“Come, follow me. He’s downstairs.”

I don’t know why I followed Clarence when I should’ve bashed his head in against the wall and made a run for it, but I did. I told Hamlet to sit and stay, and for once the dog listened to me as I followed Clarence into the basement. The basement reeked, smelling so metallic I could almost taste it, and Clarence turned on the light to a horror show.

Blood and gore caked the area around a worktable in the center of the room, bloody needles and thread stacked up next to it along with a bin full of innards and bits of hide. Beside it, the front half of a raccoon attached to the back end of a dachshund was leisurely chewing on a piece of intestine. A murky tank of water was up against the far wall, its surface occasionally disturbed by whatever was inside. I nearly collapsed with relief when I saw Harry, unharmed, sitting on a couch and clutching a stuffed rabbit I knew wasn’t his.

“Rogue taxidermy. Have you heard of it?”

I nodded while Clarence took a seat next to Harry, patting the boy’s hair while Harry’s bottom lip quivered. “Like jackalopes. Not really my thing. Clarence, why is Harry here?”

“First things first.” Clarence nodded to the murky tank. “Take a look at my newest creation. Not every one worked out, but I feel this one looks the best.”

Deciding that just going along with what the potentially crazy and murderous guy wanted was the best course of action, I headed over to the tank. I nearly set my fingers on the side when Clarence cleared his throat. “Uh, maybe don’t… do that. Just wait a moment.”

So I did. In a moment, the water stirred and out popped the head of a goat. I jumped backwards with probably quite the yell, much to Clarence’s amusement as I heard him quietly chuckle.

The goat glowered at me before it flicked its tail above the water… its fish tail. As it swum circles around the tank, its lips twitched to show its flat molars had been replaced with what I could only assume were the teeth of various dogs, all janky and twisted.

“I spent a long time getting all the fish I needed for its tail. I needed them fresh, you see, so I couldn’t just go to any fish market and expect the freshness required.”

I turned back around, hiding my shaking hands behind my back. “What the actual fuck, Clarence?” I said, my jaw clenched so tight it was borderline painful.

Clarence tutted his tongue and covered Harry’s ears. “Small ears listen, Bobby,” He gently scolded.

“Not apologizing. What is that?!” I asked, gesturing to the goat monstrosity swimming in its tank. “What is… what is all of this?!”

Clarence got to his feet, putting himself between me and Harry, who was still cuddling the rabbit and clearly struggling not to cry. “You get a lot from a family, you know. Inherit so many things.” In this basement that stunk of death, Clarence had gone from the shaky nerdy fellow to a man confident and dare I say it, proud of his work. “I’ve inherited my talents, and of course the instructions, to fake life.” He nodded towards the dog-raccoon combo. “It’s not really alive, or it doesn’t have its soul from before. It’s running off muscle memory, which probably is why that goat is so poorly behaved.”

Before I could get it out, Clarence answered it for me. “And as for why, well, my ancestors have been playing with the dead for almost seven generations.” He nodded towards the work bench. “Go on, take a look.”

It took me a second to realize he was gesturing to a book, thicker than most dictionaries and bound with old, cracked leather. Still trying to keep Clarence at the corner of my vision, I picked up the book and flipped it open. The writing near the beginning was faded and written in such old English I could barely understand it, but as I flipped through the pages the words became darker and the language began to modernize. At the end of each section was a signature.

“My mother was the most recent author. I was her only child. Luckily for me, I lived long enough to inherit the book.” Clarence’s jaw clenched so tight it looked painful. “But I’ve not been so lucky.

“Trudy?” I asked.

Clarence took a deep shuddering breath before he nodded. “It was all my fault, you know,” A tear slipped out of the corner of his eye, “I’d been working far too hard. My wife, bless her, told me I needed to take it easy, but I wanted to- I guess I just wanted to make a mark somewhere other than the book, which would only be seen by family. I fell asleep at the wheel of my car when Tr… Trudy was sleeping in the backseat. We were heading home from a father daughter date, because I f-finally promised to take the time to spend time with her. I thought I’d have a hundred more nights like that, never even thought for a moment how it’d be the final time.”

He looked at Harry, eyes filled with grief. “No, he doesn’t look like Trudy. Not a bit. Trudy… my Trudy looked like her mother. Ginger hair and hazel eyes, had a beautiful smile. But this boy, it’s his soul that reminds me of Trudy. Good. Just… just so good. I promise, no animal in here suffered. I managed to procure some pentobarbital to help them go easy and quietly. Except for the goat, unfortunately that one had to be fought with a bit more. Quite an ornery creature, but I wanted to see if I could pull off making a seagoat. And I did, didn’t I? No one else in that book has succeeded in making separate parts work as a whole. It’s been tried of course, Mary Shelley was quite an inspiring woman, but I was the one to figure it out. I have to pass it on to someone, don’t I?”

The conviction he spoke with during his speech, I almost understood him. Almost.

I set the book back down and carefully approached Clarence. “But you can’t pass it onto Harry. You know he’s not your son. We can make this better, Clarence. You don’t want to hurt Harry, right?” I said, trying to speak in a calm voice and not with the fury I felt for the sake of this little guy.

Clarence’s face contorted in horror. “Of course I wouldn’t!” He said.

“Can’t you see how scared he is then?” I gestured to the little boy. “Was that Trudy’s bunny? He seems to like it.”

Clarence swallowed audibly. “She named it Rosie,” He said.

“You don’t want to hurt Harry, but his dad? He’s in agony right now. Just like you were when you lost Trudy.” I took another careful step towards Harry, trying to gesture for the little boy to come to me but he seemed about glued to his seat. “You don’t want to hurt someone like you were hurt. You didn’t even want to hurt these animals, you just wanted to create something new, and you did. It’s… it’s beautiful, Clarence. You’ve really done something incredible.” My stomach turned at the lie, but I was just trying to calm this guy down as I inched closer to Harry. “Let’s go to Tim and return Harry. We can get you some help. I’ll be with you every step of the way. It’s not too late to make things right.” I was now right up next to Clarence, who was staring at his hands. “We can make this right?” I asked. He didn’t respond, just staying still. I took that as a sign of acceptance, so I reached for Harry.

My first mistake was assuming Clarence’s stillness was a sign of surrender. My second mistake was assuming that Clarence wasn’t as wimpy as he looked.

He moved like lightning, one second I was reaching for Harry and the next I was flat on my ass with stars exploding in front of my eyes and my head screaming in pain.

Clarence stood, his face a careful mask as he patted Harry’s head. “I’m sorry, Bobby. But I know there’s no returning from what I’ve done.” He leaned down to look at me, smiling that friendly smile that now made my skin crawl. “I won’t kill you. You can tell Tim and Florence I’ll take great care of Harry. He won’t even miss them, with all the things he’ll be able to learn from me.”

With not many options, I did probably one of the lowest things I could’ve done.

I smacked Clarence’s left leg out from under him. It hurt like hell to whack his prosthetic, but it had the desired effect. Clarence immediately lost his balance and he tumbled to the ground. My head still swimming with pain, I scrambled to get up and scooped Harry up, who finally began to wail as I held him in my arms. I tried to head for the stairs, but by then Clarence had gotten back up and limped his way in front of me, cutting off my mistake. He was still so calm, not at all mad about my retaliatory attack.

“You’re not leaving with Harry,” Clarence said. “I won’t kill you, I promised and I don’t break promises, but I will hurt you if it means I’ll have him.”

I backed away, now not at all sure of what Clarence was capable of now. Sure, he said he wouldn’t kill me, but would him killing me count if he could just bring me back right after?

I kept stepping backwards until I nearly bumped into the tank. I heard the gnashing of the seagoat’s teeth behind me and it occurred to me that not all of Clarence’s creations were happy to just chill and eat their own guts.

I bolted behind the tank and with one strong kick, I knocked that tank over.

The tank’s water spilled across the floor and the seagoat flopped about, trying to find balance with only two legs and a fish tail. Its strange yellow eyes rolled back towards me for a second and I briefly panicked, thinking it might be come for me, but it thankfully its murderous gaze focused back on Clarence.

With a watery bleat, the seagoat lunged at Clarence, who screamed as he was tackled to the floor. While Clarence tried to hold that thing back and prevent it from biting his nose off, I bolted for those stairs.

Hamlet was still waiting upstairs, thank god, and we ran out of that house while Harry bawled and held onto my neck so tightly I couldn’t breathe. I ran back down the street where the cop cars had now surrounded Tim’s place.

Even if my head was absolutely killing me and the horrors of that house were still making my stomach churn, it was all worth it when I burst into the house with Harry in my arms and seeing both Tim and Florence’s expressions of despair turn to pure joy.

People are still calling me a hero, which I will admit feels pretty nice. Walter says I get free use of his taxidermy space for the rest of his life, which would sound pretty neat but he never charged me before, so it’s mostly a joke. I don’t think Tim has let a day go by without thanking me, and Harry is still my little buddy. He’s bounced back pretty well, a doctor’s visit confirmed he was perfectly unharmed and he was always a pretty happy go lucky tyke.

Of course, people called for Clarence to be drawn and quartered, but the bastard got the last laugh. It wasn’t even an hour until the cops were breaking down his door, and although they did find a few sewn together animal corpses, Clarence was nowhere to be found… and neither was his book or the damn seagoat.

#my stories

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