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phantom-ellie · 1 year

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The Art of (Smashing) Crockery Chapter 9: Spooky Scary Skeletons

Summary: Stede takes Ed to BG&E's "swanky" Halloween party and encounters strange new possible friends and old enemies.

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Stede pulls into the parking garage at PG&E with Ed in the passenger seat of his car. It had been a quiet drive. There had initially been a brief exchange as they met up (“So what are you supposed to be, then?” “I’m a Greybeard, you know, from Skyrim.” “Is that a TV show, or…?”) but Stede had been too distracted for a real conversation.

This is the last time he has to do this. It has to be. He hopes he’ll be able to hold on and deal with whatever they have in store for him tonight.

Ed doesn’t seem worried. “You gotta relax, man. Who cares what a bunch of assholes have to say? Free food, free champagne, it’s gonna be great!”

Stede nods. Free food and champagne isn’t exactly a draw for him, he can have that on his own, any time he wants. What he can’t have is a genuine connection with another person. Ed is the closest he’s ever come. And Ed wants to have fun, so Stede’s going to make sure he does.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s usually a pretty great party. Lots of food, live music, everyone goes all-out. It’s Geraldo’s first year putting it together, I hope he did his homework.”

“Who the fuck is Geraldo?”

“He’s in marketing.”

“Man, fuck marketing.” Stede laughs at that.

He doesn’t mention that Geraldo is his former assistant. Geraldo had been the type to do whatever it took to make it to the top, and wasn’t the best listener. He had delighted in spreading all kinds of gossip to the higher-ups about Stede, not all of it true (not that they cared whether or not it was). It had earned him a promotion, and Stede hasn’t been in a hurry to find a replacement and start the process over again. Stede doesn’t think that Geraldo has what it takes to do his new marketing job, but he is a useful toady to sociopaths, and that will always be a greater asset to people like the Badmintons (and his father) than talent or experience.

They enter the building and make their way to one of the conference halls. Stede stops Ed just inside the door so he can take in the surroundings. And Stede is blown away by what he sees. Unfortunately, not in a good way.

The decor is… well, something out of The Office rather than a fancy masquerade like they’ve had in previous years. There are cartoony jack-o-lantern and bat decals all over the walls, paper cut outs of cats and spiders hanging from the ceiling. The dining tables to his left have their required place settings and name cards, but on each one has an ugly pile of fake cobwebs unceremoniously plopped dead center. It looks like an accident.

Then there’s the live band. It appears to be lead by its guitarist, a man dressed as the Witch from the Wizard of Oz (down to the green skin paint and pointy hat). The long black sleeves of his dress appear to be getting in the way of his guitar playing and he keeps readjusting while he plays, occasionally interrupting the song (Spooky Scary Skeletons) to shout something about a raffle and a free trip to Barbados. The band’s bassist is a giant of a man dressed with-to-toe in an executioner’s outfit… and for some reason, he has a pair of cat ears on over the hood. Stede isn’t sure if the man can see out of the hood at all. The drummer is a balding man with stringy blond hair falling down the sides and back of his head. He appears to be wearing a mermaid costume, complete with tail, which poses a problem with playing the drums as he has to use both feet at once to hit the bass. Finally, on keyboard is a blond man dressed in a blinding-white angel costume. His voice is surprisingly angelic, but Stede isn’t sure that that’s what the song calls for.

Across the hall are large buffet tables covered in hors d’oeuvres, pastries, punch, and spirits. The food doesn’t look bad from where Stede is standing, but there isn’t a lot of variety and nothing in the way of a main course. It’s all piled on various cake stands haphazardly. Stede knows that there has to be a catering company in the mix somewhere, but it’s hard to separate caterers from guests. He spots two men dressed as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy (from Spongebob, and Stede regrets the amount of it he’s had to watch with the kids to where he can recognize them by name) who are sort of standing next to each other behind the table whispering and not doing much else. The rest of the staff is nowhere to be found.

Dad will hate that, Stede thinks, and actually he will hate all of it. Stede hates all of it too, but he isn’t about to let it show that he shares something with his father, so he smiles instead.

Speaking of…

“Hey, is your dad here? Tell me who I gotta look out for.” Ed darts his eyes back and forth suspiciously.

Stede glances around and sighs. “He’s the only one not wearing a costume. The Yale Blue suit, three o’clock.”

“Oooh, Yale Blue, he really knows how to live.”

Edward Bonnet would never, ever wear a costume. Stede is surprised he goes to these things. But, he assumes, it’s just another way of maintaining control. Father can check up on his worker bees and make internal notes about the various ways they are disappointing him at any moment. Everything is a disappointment to Stede’s father. Stede suspects he was born with a scowl on his face.

The scowl gets even deeper as the emcee of the band starts shouting with his mouth too close to the microphone.

“That’s right, we areFrancis and the Business Professionals, that’s us, here to play you music and win you a trip to beautifulBarbados!” The guitarist elevates that last word in a way that suggests he’s expecting everyone to cheer about it. Nobody does.

“Hey Stede, we can win a trip to Barbados!” Ed looks genuinely excited by the raffle, and not depressed about it like everyone else.

“Ed, it’s a raffle. There’s nothing worse than a raffle at an office party. Nobody is going to want to do it.”

“That just means we have a better chance of winning!”

Stede laughs. If he wanted to go to Barbados, he could do it tomorrow. But if Ed wants a raffle, Ed gets a damn raffle.

“Let’s go then, try not to attract too much attention from people yet.”

“Stede, you’re the one wearing that.”

“I’m a pirate, this is a costume a pirate would wear.”

“No mate, no pirate in history ever wore anything like that.”

They approach the creaky metal raffle wheel, conveniently located next to the drummer for the Business Professionals, who has to stop drumming every time someone attempts to talk to him about the raffle.

“Yer no a ghost, are ye?” He practically yells Stede with wild eyes.

“No! I’m a pirate!” Stede huffs, turning to show his outfit.

“Oh.” The drummer just stares at him.

“How much are the tickets, then?” Stede wonders how soon tomorrow Geraldo will be pulled into a meeting after hiring this lot.

“Three thousand dubloons.”

“Dollars. He means dollars.” The bassist says, rolling his eyes.

“Three thousand… You could just go to Barbados on your own with that kind of money!”

The drummer looks at Stede like he’s stupid. “Aye, that’s the point.”

“It’s for charity,” adds the bassist again.

“Which charity?”

“You know, poor kids. Like with cancer and stuff.” This is so dodgy that Stede can’t understand how the band was even allowed in the building… but it isn’t his clusterfuck to solve.

Stede looks at Ed. “Interested?”

“Uh, I’ll have to think about it.” Ed indicates that he doesn’t want to go to Barbados that badly. “Maybe we can see how much the food costs first.”

“Right. Good luck, gentleman!” Stede smiles and waves at the man at the keyboard as he plays the introduction to Spooky Scary Skeletons for the third time since they’ve arrived. Stede is beginning to be genuinely concerned for Geraldo’s safety.

They wander over to the buffet, grabbing plates and filling them with pastries. A caterer (dressed Commander La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation) is replacing the chosen pastries with new ones using a pair of tongs.

“Would you two stop making out and help with this? I can’t do it on my own!” He snaps at Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, who are practically crawling inside each other at this point.

“Frances and the Business Professionals thank you for contributing to tonight’s raffle for a trip to Barbados! Only three-thousand dollars, proceeds go to poor children with cancer!”

The two men back away from each other and Mermaid Man (thank god he has a shirt under his tit-clams) rolls his eyes.

“Everyone here is too drunk, stupid, or rich to give a shit, Wande! And I’m not getting paid enough to” He grabs his partner’s ass, eliciting a squeal, before noticing Stede. “Um, no offense?”

Stede laughs. He doesn’t want these guys touching his food after that display. “I’m only rich and stupid right now, pour me some champagne and make it three for three and I’ll look the other way.”

Ed makes a serious face at the caterers. “Hey mate, this is a fancy party, show some fucking decorum, all right?”

“Ed!” Stede smacks him on the shoulder and turns back to Mermaid Man. “Seriously, though, you won’t want anyone else here to hear that kind of talk if you want poor Geraldo to still have a career by the end of the night.”

“Who the fuck is Geraldo?” asks Barnacle Boy.

“He’s in marketing,” Ed replies.

“Well, fuck him then!” Mermaid Man answers viciously. Stede gives him a friendly wink and goes to find their table.

“Nice tit-clams, by the way!” Ed calls back at them after snatching up a glass of champagne before following behind Stede.

“Thanks, babe!” comes the reply.

Stede places his food and champagne in front of his name card and heaves a sigh when he sees the other three meant for his wife and children.

“I told him they weren’t coming this year,” Stede mutters.

“It’s no problem, I’ll just be one of your family tonight. Do I look like a Mary to you?”

Stede smiles. “No, but if you sit there and leave the Alma and Louis cards on either side of us there will be a nice buffer against a bad conversation.”

“Might be quicker to just kill ‘em if they’re talking too much.”

Stede chuckles as he takes a sip of champagne and pulls out his chair to sit down.

“Baby Bonnet!” The smile is wiped off of Stede’s face and he freezes. Ed looks behind them and makes a startled choking sound.

“Here we go, Ed,” Stede whispers before turning around and making a similar sound in his throat.

Nigel and Chauncey Badminton. Are wearing. They’re wearing… They’re dressed as breasts, a giant pair of breasts (nipples tastefully concealed under an equally giant bikini half each). Nigel is the lefty, Chauncey the righty. They look absolutely stupid, completly ridicous, and utterly pleased with themselves for their genius.

Stede flashes a gracious smile and beckons them over. “Ah! Ed, these are two of my coworkers I’ve been excited for you to meet.” He gives Ed a (hopefully) imperceptible nudge with his foot.

“Uh, hi, I’m Ed,” he says, shaking his hands. “And you are…?”

“Two halves of the hottest broad in here,” Chauncey jokes, and Nigel bursts out with his horrifying giggle-laugh that has always haunted Stede’s dreams.

Stede maintains a straight face and indicates towards them. “Ah, I see, you appear to be a pair of breasts.”

“I’m surprised you even recognize them, Baby Bonnet,” Nigel giggles again. Stede allows his eyes to go dead and his mouth to assume a neutral position as he quickly puts up his trusty emotional shield.

“Ed, this is Nigel, and that is Chauncey. Badminton. We hold them in high esteem at this company.” He hears Ed breathe out quickly through his nose in what Stede hopes is suppressed laughter.

Chauncey does a weird little side-to-side wiggle that gives the impression that one of the breast implants has acquired the gift of flight.

“Where’s the wife, Baby Bonnet? Finally walked out on you? She is the smart one in the family, after all.”

The twins laugh, and Ed mutters, “Shit, they don’t even try to be nice here.”

Stede shakes his head, maintaining eye contact with the brothers. “Yes, well, we decided it was more important for the kids to go trick-or-treating this year than… you know,” He waves his hand in the vague direction of the breasts and the band (‘Win a free trip to Barbados! Only three-thousand dollars per ticket!’). “I should stop by and thank Geraldo for all his hard work, of course. He’s done quite a… job.” He sips his champagne with wide eyes.

The band has finally ended their run of Spooky Scary Skeletons and launched into the Monster Mash. The bassist has opted to replace the spoken parts of the song with metal growling. And actually, Stede doesn’t hate it, it’s kind of fun, but he knows that everyone else is probably having a terrible time.

Nigel elbows his brother in the boob. “Any day now she’ll realize what he is and head for the hills.” He sneers at Ed. “Do you think you’re his boyfriend? He hasn’t lied about his family, has he?”

Stede and Ed look at each other. Stede’s facial expression is completely neutral, a wall put down behind his eyes. Ed should do the same, but he probably doesn’t know how. Instead, he looks completely taken aback. Stede flashes a quick smile and him and turns back to the twins.

“Ed is a friend of mine, and he knows that I am has happily married as you both.” This is a lie. Despite the problem in Stede’s marriage, he’s pretty sure the Badmintons’ relationship with their wives is even worse than his own. “Where are the lovely ladies, by the way?”

Chauncey waves it away with a hand. Stede knows they have their target now, and Operation: Ruin Stede’s Friendship has begun. Stede turns to sit down and motions for Ed to join him.

“Seriously, mate, do they do this all the time?” Ed takes the chance to whisper.

“Yes. It isn’t so bad yet. When you want an out, bring up oranges and we’ll go.” Stede takes a knife and fork and slices off the edge of a croissant. He notices Ed glancing at him and then eyeing the silverware in confusion.

“Which fork is the croissant fork?”

Stede laughs. “Don’t worry about it, the party is a dump this year, eat however you want. Nobody worth knowing will care.” He glances up as the Badmintons sit down across from them.

“I’m very flattered that of everything in this party, you find my attention the most gratifying,” Stede said to the twins, “but aren’t you going to get something to eat? Or are you just here to watch us?”

Nigel looks around. “Don’t flatter yourself, Stede, everything here is so terrible it makes you look better by comparison.”

“Does he even talk?” Chauncey asks, pointing a fork at Ed.

“Yeah-”

“Table manners, Chauncey, Christ.” Ed and Stede reply at the same time, look at each other, and then burst out laughing.

“It is pretty rude to point a fork at me, isn’t it?” Ed asks. He picks up a butter knife and waves it around like a magic wand.

“Your friend is incredibly childish,” grumbles Nigel. Stede rolls his eyes and switches Ed’s “Mary” nameplate with “Louis” and changes his own for “Alma.”

“There, now we both have an excuse. Now, as you recall, my friend here has a name, the name is Ed, and as he is a human being and not a dog, you should ask him your questions instead of going through me.”

“Nah, Stede, I don’t blame ‘em, I’m pretty intimidating.” Ed shoves half of a croissant in his mouth. Reasons unknown to himself, Stede desperately wants to watch him shove down the rest, too.

“Intimidating?” The twins chuckle, and Stede isn’t watching to see which one is talking. “What are you supposed to be, anyway? Some sort of hobo magician?”

“I’m a Greybeard. From Skyrim. They literally kill people by shouting at them.”

“It’s from a video game, right?” Stede is tired of talking to these assholes. He wants to talk to Ed. The Badmintons laugh even louder.

“A video game?! How old are you?”

“I’m not the one who came dressed as a literal tit, man, how did you even find that costume? Googling ‘boobies’?” Ed eats the other half of the croissant.

Nigel sneers again. “Oh, he’s really funny. Where did you pick this one up again, Stede? A gay bar? Under an overpass? Prison?”

“Take your pick, any would bless me with better company than you right now.” Stede tries to sound snarky, but it comes out in a mumble.

“Think they have any oranges up there, mate?” Ed asks, looking behind Stede at the food table.

Stede drains his glass of champagne. “I don’t know, Ed, let’s go look. Have fun, you two.” He gets up out of his chair nervously, and motions for Ed to follow. He’s grateful for the suggestion, because his ability to banter is dying quickly. He’s found it easier than normal to engage with the Badmintons, probably because he’s defending a friend rather than himself, but it is taxing and he feels deeply ashamed for subjecting Ed to it.

“Stede, you weren’t lying, they are huge dicks.”

Stede swallows and nods, fighting the urge to withdraw within himself. The ability to fight disappears entirely as Chauncey calls out behind him.

“Make sure to show Ed the bathroom in case you want to suck him off!”

Stede stops and closes his eyes, and realizes that Ed has stopped at the same time. He feels a hand on his upper arm and knows the evening has gone too far.

“Maybe we should-”

“Keep walking mate, don’t give them the satisfaction,” and Ed escorts Stede back to the buffet. He grabs another glass of champagne and puts it away as well.

It’s too fucking much. It’s sexual harassment. Anywhere else, at any other company, they would have been gone years ago. Their careers would have been over. If Stede described the reality of his situation on a forum somewhere they would laugh him out as making it up. But the Badmintons can do it, have done it, and will continue to do it, because they have support and backing from none other than Edward Bonnet himself.

Stede wishes he had grabbed that stupid fork from Chauncey and shoved it in his eye.

“I actually do have to use the bathroom, mate. Could you sh… point me the way?” Stede swallows and does, watching Ed stalk off.

He knows Ed won’t be coming back. It’s been another Badminton success. Another Bonnet personal failing.

He stands with his hands pressed down on the buffet table, taking a few breaths. At least with Ed gone, he can get the worst bit over with. The man in the Yale Blue suit hasn’t taken his eyes off of Stede since he arrived. It’s time to talk.

Stede grabs two flutes of champagne and walks towards his father. It’s any wonder where the champagne will actually end up after this conversation, but either way Stede knows at this point that he won’t be able to drive himself home.

Chapter 10

#ofmd modern au #modern alternate universe #ellie modern au #cross posted on ao3 #ofmd fanfic #our flag means death fanfic #ellie aosc #homophobia cw

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shotorozu · 3 years

Text

encountering a ‘pick me’ girl

character(s) : kirishima eijirou, todoroki shouto, bakugou katsuki (bnha)

warning : PICK ME GIRL, misogyny (?) pick me girl makes an off handed comment about your body but it’s not detailed at all

PART TWO — PART THREE

legend : [Y/N = your name] afab! reader, but they/them pronouns used, quirk not mentioned

headcanon type : fluff, angst if you squint

note(s) : i made 2 versions of this post so,, if you’re reading this— then i probably decided that i liked this one more than the other one i made,, anyways, i used real life examples 💀

»»————-　♡　————-««

kirishima eijirou

i’d imagine that eijirou would have an idea of what a pick me girl is— i mean, there were probably 2 of those girls in middle school

but has he experienced it first hand? nahh.

though, eijirou didn’t think he’d encounter one when he was already in a healthy and committed relationship!

eijirou is practically friends with everyone— and yeah, even the most unexpected. so, he’s bound to accidentally befriend a pick me girl

him, being the nicest one out of all of the characters in this list, will still be nice to said pick me girl, despite wanting to snob them to the core

because really— you can’t really fight fire with fire in some cases

but, he can be everything but lenient when the pick me girl starts insulting you for doing certain things, and for absurd reasons too

like,, how you laugh, and how you take care of yourself (for example— if you wear makeup, or how you style your hair)

which is odd! everything about you is everything but the things the pick me girl has stated so.. he cannot stand by.

SCENARIO

the girl giggles to herself after that snide comment leaves her lip gloss coated lips. eijirou shifts uncomfortably— honestly taken aback by the anything but subtle insult that was thrown at you

“like.. seriously! it’s honestly quite superficial if you look at it like that. who the hell would put that much effort infront of your boyfriend? i’d assume they’d see everything AND everything but.. i guess not.”

you blink. superficial? now that’s a new one. the girl infront of you has been babbling insults sugarcoated in boasts the entire time, and you’re just wondering if it’s about time you guys leave but—

“well that’s unfair,” your boyfriend laughs, “i put the same amount of effort as this cutie right here,” eijirou pokes at your cheek, earning a quick laugh from you— which he can only thank the heavens for that

“but that’s different. it actually looks put together when you’re doing it, eiji.” the certain glint in her smile makes you want to wipe it right off with a dirty mop, “it’s impossible to look put together with expensive clothes, but being built like a—”

the sound of the sliding of a chair is quicker than your actions, and it easily cuts her off.

“i’m sorry, but we gotta go, it’s totally not cool of you to say those things about Y/N!”

“what? but i mean.. it’s true, right? i’m looking out for them! they’re literally out here l—”

“bye!” eijirou waves her goodbye with your hand, dismissing the sour expression on her face— as he dashes off with you

you’d question how he’s just so nice to people like that, but when he turns around, you could see the distaste in his eyes

“so that’s what a pick me girl’s like,” shaking his head, his expression lights up with such a quick manner “i’ll never make friends that are like that again!”

safe to say, eijirou’s friend list has been a a person shorter ever since that incident

bakugou katsuki

oh, so that girl’s bold bold.

if she thinks she could get away with being a not so subtle pick me girl infront of bakugou katsuki, then she couldn’t be more wrong.

it’s absolutely revolting— i mean, he hasn’t displayed any romantic feelings towards ANYONE that isn’t you.

also, they’re quite gutsy if you ask me. so congrats for having guts??

i don’t think he’d be friends with a pick me girl. he’s very selective of who he’s befriending, so it’s probably your friend that’s the pick me girl in this case

he wouldn’t know what a pick me girl would be, but he’d probably know the description of one.

over some time, he’d grow some resistance to insults directed at him, but when someone insults his s/o

oh boy. that’s not good. remember when i said that katsuki was almost like your scary and intimidating dog

this is what i mean

knows he can’t make a scene, so his first option is to be dismissive asf— but if said pick me girl literally can’t get it, he won’t be afraid of shoving some explosions into her face

because his hands are rated e for everyone

SCENARIO

“so you wanna be picked or something, is that it?” he hates how you literally have the resistance of a rock— which is something he always liked, but in this case hated. if it weren’t for you— he would’ve blasted explosions into her sorry excuse of a face until it’s beyond recognition (that wouldn’t be hero like, is what you’ve said in the past, but he disagrees.)

but seriously? ugh. he just wants to leave this horrid place, and make some dinner with you in the comfort of his home. why are you even friends with her anyway? she’s not even trying to be slick at this point.

“p-picked? i’m not understanding, katsu.”

“it’s bakugou.”

“right,” her laughter is like nails on chalkboard, “i’m just watching out for Y/N, y’know? there’s no point in wearing all of that.. on their face.” and she’s obviously referring to your obviously very well done makeup

“it’ll make your skin terrible in the long run! and really— i couldn’t really understand on why someone would wear that much, when you could survive with i dunno.. lip gloss at most?”

you would’ve actually said something as a rebuttal, but your boyfriend is quicker, and a lot more direct than anyone else in the area.

“just say you can’t do makeup and fucking scram,” katsuki’s ice cold glare finally breaks out of the act he’s been trying to hold together for you

“their makeup is fucking bomb as hell, compared to your ridiculous spider lashes, lady. come back when you’ve watched james charles’ entire fucking channel.” he harshly states in similar bakugou fashion, despite the lack of screaming.

and if you squinted hard enough, you could see tears welling up in her eyes. but katsuki tugs your hand before anything else could be said

“let’s fucking go, you need better friends.”

he makes you cut ties with all of them, and he practically scolds your terrible choice of friends— but he goes quiet when you tell him that you’ve been friends with her since middle school

“good fucking riddance. next time, i’ll punch them as soon as they say something outta line, got that?” and next time (hopefully, there won’t be a next time) you’ll actually lash out— or maybe,, you’ll let him loose for once.

todoroki shouto

now shouto might be,, socially unaware sometimes. but he can tell whenever someone’s trying to insult his s/o

like,, right away.

now— you both run into this person after a pleasant date, and she eagerly presented herself as your friend

so, her attitude catches him off guard because who’d have anything rude to say about you and towards shouto’s face? especially when it’s about something normal.

like,, wasn’t she your friend?? why is she even like this?

his hostility is very well known, so they should be scared.

he gets detached from the conversation, and he’ll immediately go cold— and shouto would probably go as far as walking away with your hand in his

doesn’t matter if he properly says goodbye or not— if a girl’s being rude to his s/o, they obviously don’t deserve his usually polite attitude. nope, that’s a luxury.

oh— and what more when they’re seeking for his validation. newsflash! said pick me girl won’t be get any from him.

SCENARIO

shouto couldn’t stop the bitterness bleeding into his mouth, when the girl in front of him continued to babble and take up the valuable time he had left with his s/o

initially, she presented herself as your friend from middle school— but as of now? she seems to be more interested in him more than you, despite knowing you first.

she’d ask him a string of obvious questions with very obvious answers, like ‘is she treating you well?’ ‘is she acting correctly?’ and questions of the sort

“oh, sorry! i’d hate to cut this conversation short, but—” you finally decide that it was about time to leave, while shouto looks pretty,, deadpanned right now, you could tell that he was gradually starting to get irritated by your friend’s words.

“wait. thats.. kind of controlling, don’t you think? do you ever let shou make decisions?”

“uh.. controlling? since when??” you question at the accusation. this girl knows nothing about your relationship dynamic, and she’s already jumping the gun and making conclusions.

your gaze snaps back to shouto, who looks just as surprised as he could possibly be.

“yeah! it clearly looks like he still wants to talk” which is an obvious lie, shouto just wants it out of here “i wonder how you managed to snag such a guy like him,” she comments with a smile that looked anything above suspicion (yet, it makes your stomach churn)

you could see the way her hand gets gradually closer to him— and frankly, you’re not sure about what she was planning to do next, “you wouldn’t need to dress all expensive and fancy, if you’re with a girl with an already classy appear—”

“i think this conversation is over,” shouto grip is firm on the wrist that was attempting to grab his shoulder, shouto makes no attempt to even look at the girl infront of him “i don’t know what you’re trying to do, but it’s not humorous. at all.”

“what?” she stammers, drawing her hand back “i-it’s obvious they don’t know how to take a joke! this is why there are barely any good w—”

shouto’s next actions knocks her speechless, his hand rests at the small of your back, before gently guiding you forward— “love, what movie are we watching later?” he says, making an effort to press a quick, yet intense kiss on your lips

“oh,” you breathe out, surprised by this action. “don’t be so tense, love.” shouto comments on how tense your shoulders have looked, ever since she started running her mouth, “now.. what movie do you want to watch tonight? comedy? thriller?”

“you pick,” you laugh at the quick shift of topic. and when you look behind you, you could see shame and defeat welling up on her face. shouto finally feels like he could smile again, the bitterness dissipating from his mouth

after shouto questions you if that was what a pick me girl was, he makes sure that you guys won’t ever encounter such thing again

“you.. don’t have more friends like that, right? if you do— we could always do another friend list cleansing.” this statement makes you laugh but shouto is anything but joking

but being reminded of his reaction to that ‘pick me’ girl does puts a smile on your face.

»»————-　♡　————-««

likes and reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading!

i do not own bnha/mha and it’s characters. boku no hero academia/my hero academia belongs to horikoshi kohei, i only own the writing and i do not profit off of my hobby

do not plagiarize, reupload, translate, or use my works for audio readings without permission

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millie1536 · 4 years

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For the prompts either "Who hurt you?" Or "Don't cry" for Autistic Bessie AU Make it as angsty as you please

Joan had always been a light sleeper. Growing up in a foster home with four other kids she found it was both a blessing a curse. The older kids quickly learnt that there was no way of pranking her in her sleep as she would wake up the moment the door creaked open, however this meant she was often kept awake by other small noises.

As an adult she could never seem to get enough sleep, with every car that drove past waking her up. She had never expected to be grateful for her inability to sleep through anything.

It had been a little more than a week since Joan adopted Bessie and the girl was settling in better than expected. The two of them had spent a long time getting Bessie’s room together and it had paid off. Joan had found a small loft bed with a tent of sorts enclosing the space beneath it. Bessie’s eyes had grown wide with excitement when Joan took her to go see it and the next day it was up against the wall in Bessie’s room. Bessie was quick to position her rapidly growing collection of soft toys on the bed, she also began constructing a nest of blankets and pillows in the tent beneath it. Joan didn’t say anything about it when Bessie decided to sleep under the bed instead of on top of it.

“As long as you’re safe and happy that’s all that matters.” She had told the girl when Bessie asked if Joan was angry that she wasn’t sleeping in the bed.

It wasn’t uncommon for Joan to be woken up during the night by sounds coming from Bessie’s room. The first time this happened Joan had leapt out of bed and ran into the bedroom expecting to find Bessie hurt or unconscious. However, she simply found Bessie sitting on the floor drawing pictures of snakes, spiders and birds.

“Bessie? Are you alright?” Joan asked, kneeling beside the girl.

“Yeah.” Bessie nodded, not looking up from the bird she was drawing.

“It’s pretty late y’know.” Joan said casually.

“I know.” Bessie looked up for a moment, smiling.

“Are you tired?” Joan tried again.

“No.” Bessie shook her head, “I’m drawing.”

“What are you drawing?” Joan stifled a yawn. One of her first decisions when deciding how she was going to parent was that she would always support her child no matter what, and if that meant talking about drawings in the middle of the night then that’s what she would do.

“This is a Peregrine Falcon,” Bessie handed Joan the page she was working on, “I’m not done yet because I still need to shade it and stuff. This,” Bessie handed Joan another sheet of paper, “Is a Black Mamba which is really venomous and native to the sub-Saharan deserts and usually get to about 9 feet 10 inches but some have gotten to 14 feet 9 inches.” Joan looked back at the drawing she was holding. The snake sketched onto the page seemed threatening enough, she couldn’t imagine how scary the real thing would be. Joan had never been one for snakes and spiders but there was something about the excitement in Bessie’s eyes that stopped Joan from cutting her off. The two of them sat on the floor for an hour or so as Bessie talked about snakes and other deadly animals. Joan could feel her eyelids growing heavier with each passing minute and she was afraid she would fall asleep right then and there.

“Bessie,” Joan said when Bessie took a moment to catch her breath, “It’s getting late, so how about you go back to bed and we can do some more research tomorrow?”

“Can I use your laptop?” Bessie asked excitedly.

“Of course. Tomorrow after breakfast we can get the laptop out and do as much research as you like.” Joan promised. Bessie grinned before scampering into her cave and curling up in her nest.

“Good night.” Bessie yawned.

“Good night.” Joan smiled back as she turn off the lights.

After the first two nights Joan woke up to find Bessie playing quietly in her room she decided that she would simply check in with the girl before going back to bed. Bessie seemed to appreciate the new routine because she would always smile widely when Joan poked her head through the door.

“You alright in here?” Joan asked.

“Yeah,” Bessie grinned from where she was sitting, “I just needed to do something.”

“Alright,” Joan smiled back at the girl, “Don’t be afraid to come and get me if you need anything.”

That exchange took place most nights and so when Joan woke up to the sound of small footsteps she didn’t think much of it. However, upon leaving her room she saw that Bessie’s door was open. Looking around Joan discovered the bedroom was empty. Panic began to set in as she hurried downstairs.

“Bessie?” Joan’s voice echoed through the dark house, “Bessie? Where are you? Are you okay?” Joan searched the house until she noticed the faint light coming from beneath the door bathroom. “Bessie?” Joan knocked, “Are you in there?” For a moment the house stood still, then Joan heard the door unlock and watched as it opened a crack.

“I wanted to have a shower.” Bessie said shyly. Joan couldn’t help but smile at the small girl.

“It’s the middle of the night, Bessie.” Joan reminded her.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…” Bessie trailed off. She gave a small shrug.

“What’s the matter?” Joan crouched down so that she was eye level with Bessie.

“Nothing.” Bessie’s voice was quiet, almost scared.

“Bessie, it’s alright, I’m not upset. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” Joan assured her. A heavy silence fell between them as Bessie thought of what to say.

“It’s just that they were itchy and burning so I wanted to have a cold shower to stop them hurting.” Bessie explained, though her explanation just brought questions.

“What hurts?” Joan asked, Bessie shook her head.

“No.” Her voice trembled a little as she said the word.

“Bessie, what hurts?” Joan asked again, a little firmer this time.

“I can’t tell you.” Bessie whimpered.

“Bessie, listen to me. You can tell me anything, alright? You’re not in any trouble.” Bessie mumbled something but Joan didn’t catch it. She sighed before trying a different approach, “Does it still hurt?” she asked.

“It burns,” Bessie said, looking up at Joan as she spoke, “It really h-hurts.” Bessie choked on the last word as tears began rolling down her cheeks.

“Shh, it’s alright. Do you know why it hurts?” Bessie’s bottom lip quivered slightly, she nodded.

“Mama and me,” Bessie said quietly, “We were watching a movie and-“ Bessie’s words dissolved into sobs and she collapsed into Joan’s arms. Despite the circumstances Joan almost smiled. Bessie had never shown any interest in being held and Joan had never tried to hug her, choosing to instead allow Bessie to initiate any physical contact. However, Joan was quickly pulled back to the task at hand when she felt Bessie’s arms tighten around her.

“Did someone hurt you?” Bessie whimpered and buried her head into Joan’s neck, “Bessie, sweetheart, who hurt you?”

“Sh-she t-tried t-to st-stop h-him-“ Bessie forced out as she began to hyperventilate.

“It’s alright, I’ve got you,” she shushed the girl, “You’re safe with me.”

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veryoriginalnameokaychill · 3 years

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DREAM TALK (literal sleep dreams)

So I had a dream with spiders. I think... fourth dream of spiders this year.

Dream 1: a bunch of baby spiders overwhelming me.

dream 2: dude with a spider pet. The spider was chilling on his sleeve. Just clinging there. I screamed at him, “GET AWAY FROM ME WITH THAT SPIDER, BOI”

He, of course, did not listen. He gave me an exact replica of his spider. Now, let me describe this spider. This spider was big, fluffy, and generally harmless. Think Lukas the Spider (from youtube) but CHONK. Okay, so this spider, given to me by this boiii, clung to my wrist, and let me say, let me say this honestly:

I freaked out. I screamed. I cried. “GET IT OFF ME, TAKE IT BACK.” I yelled. But this hooded sneaky child just looked at me with amusement as I struggled. Honestly, I swear, I tried to emulate chill as he did, “make peace with my spider” as it would, but yeah nah mate that wasn’t happening and I just continued to freak out. I would YEET my spider, and it would keep coming back to my wrist, and the cycle continued until I woke up.

I think that’s pretty telling of my mental state, and the way I deal with problems lmao (especially my anxiety and panic) YEET

Now, I said I had four dreams but I don’t remember the third. If there was a third??? I’m pretty sure there was one more dream🤔🤔 Discuss, was there another dream or am I just putting this in my thoughts for filler? (yikes, that’s kind of scary) ANYWHO MOVING ON

Dream 4: So like, this happened recently. A couple days ago. 3 spiders. In my room. The first two were small, almost insignificant. The third one tho...

It was slender. White legs and... a black body? A redness too. Kind of like your average iconic spider. Australian spider lol. I remember it’s beady black eyes. It stood pretty tall. Makes me shudder thinking of it.

Now, I remember these dreams because there’s a vividness to them, that makes me k n o w there’s a deeper meaning behind them and all damnit my skin is crawling tHAT SPIder’S gOIng’S TO GET me.

But no, what made it so intriguing was that?? the spider? wasn’t doing anything? It was just??? existing??? Giving me the heebie jeebies anyways.

Honestly, rereading the description makes me want to cry ngl

I still don’t know what to make of the dream, but it was significant. It was sort of... blocking the way to my bed. I heard my dad talking in the hallway, but I was sort of laying/sitting on the floor, fascinated with the spider. Idk how many ways I can find the way to say “the spider looked cool”. perhaps like, morbid curiosity.

Reflecting on it, the spider was sharp, elegant. There was no fuzz on it at all, like a sea spider. Really, I don’t think there’s any real life replica of this spider, what I would base it on. JUST A COOL SPIDER BRO, CHILLING

Anywho, that’s it, folks. I think... the more ways you can describe your dreams, the better? I mean, obviously. I think. idk. Okay, so interesting to note on these dreams, there wasn’t any webs involved. Looking on dream interpretation sights online (my favourite is auntyflo, idk why, she just vibes, I like her website layout), anyway it points out webs are pretty telling symbolism. So it must say something that my spider dreams don’t include webs, just the spider. Interesting, it must mean... not that I’m trapped, just coexisting with a spider.

I think it’s important I figure out what the spider itself means. Online, patience is one of the keywords. I don’t think it applies here. I mean, somewhat. I just, I get Other Mother/Beldam vibes from it. Holy, that actually sounds pretty accurate? holy (bel)damn (haha cheap jokes) I think I cRaCkEd ThE cOdE

Well, just for dream 4 anyways. Huh, I don’t know what to do with the information. WOW IF THAT SPIDER IS THE BELDAM THAT’S PRETTY HECKING COOL THE INITIAL IMPRESSIONS I GET FROM BOTH OF THEM ADD UP. The morbid curiosity? The coolness I inherently find from both of them?

Well, anywho, I missed the point in this post. idk. Idk guys, I feel like I accomplished something today lmao

LIKE C’MON BEADY BLACK EYES? TALL? SLENDER? I CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP. WHAT THE HELL IS MY MIND

I think the Beldam represents corruption of the soul. Deeper, darker regions of the mind/soul. Like a black hole of desire. Never... sated. To me anyways.

AHHH GOD BLESS CORALINE IT’S STILL IN MY LIFE EVEN TODAY AHHH I LOVE IT.

Shit, I consider this #dream interpretation a success. I have to sit on my description for a bit now, “chew on it”

HONESTLY I’M STILL SHOOK THAT I WAS ABLE TO CONNECT THE TWO TOGETHER A HHHH HHHHH HHHH HHH

(I made this in google drawings to help with visualization)

#dreams #dream interpretation #spiders #tw: spider #somehow became a #coraline #coraline reference #there should be a coraline game #that'd be super cool #but like #add some new content to the game #i would so love to explore the game as coraline #blue hair yellow rain jacket child

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nightmareonfilmstreet · 6 years

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ARACHNOPHOBIA Maintains Its Deadly Bite After 28 Years

Has there ever been a creature feature that has better preyed upon our phobias? Arachnophobia has persevered in maintaining the terror even after 28 years since its initial release in 1990.

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Starring Jeff Daniels (Looper), John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane), Julian Sands (Warlock) and Harley Jane Kozak (The House on Sorority Row), Arachnophobia is a spider-invasion horror film that enjoyed a major release due to its high production value. Thanks to Steven Spielberg’s involvement as executive producer; the film would collect a hefty gross of over $50 million against a modest budget.

On this day, July 18th in 1990, Arachnophobia was released in the United States which garnered not only financial success, but critical praise as well; Roger Ebert applauded the director’s use of the spiders by stating, “the spiders in “Arachnophobia” are wonderfully photogenic, partly because the director, Frank Marshall, is good at placing them in the foreground, shooting them in closeup and allowing their shadows to cast alarming images when the characters aren’t looking.”

The film’s director, Frank Marshall (Congo), is co-founder of production company Amblin Entertainment (most notable for its logo featuring a silhouette of E.T. and Elliot on a bicycle) alongside his wife Kathleen Kennedy (current Lucas Films President) and longtime associate, Steven Spielberg. In conjunction with Amblin Entertainment, the film was also produced by Hollywood Pictures which is a division of the Walt Disney Company. Arachnophobia being his directorial debut, Marshall held a sizable weight on his shoulders in making a horror feature film that would appeal to a massive audience. In an interview with EW published in 1990 by Charles Fleming, Marshall states, “We wanted it to be scary, but not too terrifying.” He continues,

We didn’t want it to be a typical horror movie — The Spider That Ate Cleveland — so we used a lot of comedy. We tried to make it like a roller-coaster ride for the audience. It’s frightening, but in a fun way.

The film begins in the South American jungle where a new breed of spider is discovered. A highly venomous creature with the ability to kill in mere seconds, the spider hitches a ride in its first victim’s coffin on its way to Canaima, California (the victim’s hometown). The venomous spider takes up residence in a farmhouse owned by Dr. Ross Jennings (played by Jeff Daniels) and his family, who themselves have recently moved to the small community as well.

Ironically, the film’s protagonist, Dr. Jennings, has a paralyzing fear of spiders. When his son runs to him for safety from a harmless domestic spider, Dr. Jennings replies, “Come on, let’s go find that spider. Let’s find your mom to take care of that spider.” He proceeds to call out to his wife, “Honey, we’re in the living room. We need you to kill a spider.” The harmless spider is placed in the family barn where it encounters its venomous romantic counterpart. Once breeding a limitless amount of killer spiders, the small town of Canaima becomes a killing ground.

Marshall’s attempt in keeping the film’s horror/creepy elements from encroaching the overall plot was successfully executed by Arachnophobia’s talented cast and dialogue. The film’s offbeat dialogue was a means of breaking the tension every so often, allowing the audience to shake off the nervous tingles. For example, in an attempt to find the spider responsible for the deaths of the small town’s residents, Dr. Jennings passingly tells Sheriff Lloyd Parsons (played by Stuart Pankin), “Perk up Lloyd. If we find the spider that did this, you can arrest him.”

Using his extensive film experience in balancing between the horror and comedic elements, Marshall understood the types of scenes he needed to deliver that would affect the audience in a specific way. In a short featurette for Arachnophobia, Marshall explains, “One of the things I learned in my second unit directing days was, the only way this was gonna be scary is to include the spiders in the same shot as the actors.” He continues, “And so, we’ve been designing the shots, so when you start on a person, you pan over, there’s a spider there, and the audience will know that these spiders are very, very close to all the actors.”

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Arachnophobia is not Frank Marshall’s first attempt in dealing with creepy crawlers of the hair-raising sort. Serving as executive producer for the original Indiana Jones trilogy throughout the 1908’s, the film’s feature scenes with hordes of rats and snakes. Yet Marshall explains to EW that spiders are an entirely different challenge, “What can you do? You can’t yell at spiders. You can’t fire them. All you can do is pray that they do what you want them to do.” He elaborates later in the interview, stating “A rodent you can train, but spiders just do what they want to do. It takes a lot of patience. You just have to keep shooting over and over again until they accidentally give you what you want.”

Aside from using real spiders for the film, it’s the special effects that also played an important role in delivering this spine-tingling feature. The film’s special effects team featured Michael Wick as ‘creature fabricator’, whose extensive resume includes The Mummy (1999) and David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch (1991). Arachnophobia’s special effects team also featured Jamie Hyneman, mostly notable for co-hosting the successful Discovery Channel program titled MythBusters, who served as a ‘special effects technician’. Hyneman’s contribution to special effects in film also include Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) and The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions (2003).

As mentioned earlier, Arachnophobia garnered financial and critical success with the help of successful marketing. Rather than presenting a terrifying horror film about spiders, the film was advertised as a “thrill-omedy” in order to appeal to the masses. This gave the film an opportunity to showcase its strengths to a wider audience. Thanks to the talents of the actors and their likeable characters, the ability to deliver the perfect balance of horror and comedy was at most times, near flawless. Arachnophobia’s terrifying storyline was able to disarm audiences by drawing the fear from Dr Ross Jennings’ own paralyzing phobia of spiders and relating it to our own fears. As the death scenes were setup with spiders hiding in shoes, around lamp switches and even in cereal boxes, these relatable situations become palpable with the realization that these common areas could harbor a deadly beast waiting to strike us.

Celebrate this memorable film with friends for a movie night. Arachnophobia’s ability to maintain its legacy and continue scaring audiences today its nothing short of incredible, even after 28 years. What is your favorite scene in Arachnophobia? Who is your favorite character? Let us know how you’ll be celebrating Arachnophobia’s 28th birthday!

Don’t forget to follow Nightmare on Film Street on Facebook and Twitter. For an insightful horror commentary, you can also subscribe to the NOFS Podcast. Stay ghoulish, friends!

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