#should have gotten a new timer though
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The Almost Breakup
note: short but i'm happy with it
also gonna get back into this story soon also if you have thoughts on this au (or any of my aus) please share i love hearing them <3
y/nupdates
liked by CorrodedCoffinStan, lilian_19, and others
y/nupdates: Y/n and Isla (Y/n's boyfriend's daughter) out together going out to dinner and seeming very close, and no Eddie in sight
y/nupdates: Y/n and Isla (Y/n's boyfriend's daughter) out together going out to dinner and seeming very close, and no Eddie in sight
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emails.tour.11: her and isla bonding is so cute
icarly_: Isla is so pretty
Metalhead_: she's such a slut
13taytay: JOJO!! HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING?!?!
im.a.mirrorball: in her step-mom era
y/nismyqueen: where are y/n's shoes from?? very very important!
for_our_moony: prada i think, but steve madden makes a more affordable
CorrodedCoffinStan: he is to old for her, and now making her act like a mom to his daughter. disgusting.
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y/nupdates
liked by tswiftfan13, gilmore_girl, and others
y/nupdates: Y/n was out with her new boyfriend, Eddie Munson's son. They went out to lunch together, and this is the first time we've seen them together.
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dog.loverrr: only 5 years between her and her boyfriends son..
princess.y/n: love seeing her with Leo not just isla
anna.frozen_: my worlds colliding
munson_86: fr been an Eddie fan for years and a Y/n fan since girl meets world
y/nswifey: forever in love with Leo Munson
philly_eagles.fan: i think they should date instead of her and his dad, the age gap is gross
-
Eddie and Y/n have been together for 6 months now, about the time Eddie’s relationships would end, without the women ever meeting his kids and never any ‘I love you’s. But everything was going well, and though Y/n had met Isla when she met Eddie they had gotten really close, and she had now met Leo and despite all expectations that went well. Y/n and Leo had become friends of sorts. But no matter how happy he was, how happy she made him, Eddie started pulling away. He couldn’t help it. He loved her, yes. Not that he’d told her yet. He loved his kids first, and he has to put them first, always will.
Y/n was now on the international leg of her tour, and they haven’t talked in a while, always seeming to miss each other. This was giving Eddie the space he needs to think about their relationship. Not without zero help from his kids.
“Is Y/n going to come here after her shows in Europe are over?” Isla asked, pushing her vegetables across her plate with her fork, then picking up her knife to saw the broccoli in two.
“Um- I’m not sure, kid.” The man mumbles, hoping Isla will move on after not getting an answer.
“Why not?”
“Isla-”
“Can you ask-”
“Isla! Finish your dinner, or if you're done take your plate to the kitchen.” Sighing, Isla got up grabbing her plate to the kitchen and stomping upstairs to her room. After hearing the slamming the teens door, Eddie gets up to start loading the dishwasher. Leo, who was over for dinner, like he often did, walked over to his dad, placing his plate next to the sink. Then rounding the island, to sit at a bar stool.
“So.. What’s with your attitude?” This causes Eddie to look up from his task, giving his son a look that could kill.
“Leo, we're not talking about this.”
“No. We have to. I don’t know what’s wrong with you. You get so sensitive everytime we mention Y/n lately. Are you not talking? Please don’t break up with this one, I actually like her.”
“Leo. I ca-”
“No. You love her! And I guess that scares you, because every relationship you’ve had since mom has had this 6 month timer and that timer has gone off, and you're not ready. Or it scares you that she’s so close to us. And that if you ever break up Isla would be heartbroken.”
Eddie takes a moment, thinking over what Leo has said, and scarily accurate it is, and since when was Leo that smart?
“Leo?... Could you stay here with Isla for a few days?”
“Yeah.” Leo says, a wide grin spreading across his face.
-
Here Y/n was sitting in her hotel in Paris, staring at her phone, looking at a voicemail Eddie had left. It’s time. He’s going to break up with her; she just knows it. Her and Leo went out a couple weeks ago and he had let slip of Eddie’s 6 month timer on relationships, of course that was followed with Leo’s reassurance that he could feel she was different. But that didn’t cure her anxiety.
Because since she left for tour, they haven’t talked, like Eddie has been avoiding her. She had written a break-up song about him for fucks sake, they’re not even broken up yet. But now he was going to break up with her, over a voicemail at that.
Ripping the band-aid off, Y/n finally presses play on the voicemail.
“Hey, Y/n-” God her first name, it’s really happening “-um, I have a lot of this to say, but I can’t say it over the phone. So I’ll talk to you later. I care about you. I know it hasn’t felt like it, and that’s part of what I need to talk about. I just need you to remember that. I care about you. Okay. Bye.”
At least he was planning on letting her down easy. Guess that’s a plus. Pouring herself a glass of wine from the overpriced display hotels have, Y/n sits down at the dining table, staring at the abstract painting across from her. After what felt like an hour of staring, which in actuality it was 10 minutes, the young woman hears the click of the hotel door. It startles her back into a conscious state, wondering why her assistant Andrea, the only other person with a key card, was entering her room at this hour.
“Andrea?” Turning the corner, Y/n comes face to face with the older, taller man. “Eds… Wha- what are you doing here?”
“Did you not get my voicemail?” He asks, as if that voicemail held any answers.
“Yeah, but.. It was pretty vague.” Her reply caused Eddie to smile.
“Yeah, sorry about that, I was in a rush. Packing, getting the jet ready.” Silence came over the two. Awkward silence. The couple had never been in awkward silence for the entirety of their relationship, always talking, never a pause in their banter. They had comfortable silence at night, staring into each other's eyes. But never was it awkward between them.
“You’ve been avoiding my calls.”
“I’ve been avoiding your calls.” The two spoke at the same time, before Eddie continues, “I’m sorry. It’s just- Ever since my relationship with my ex-wife, my relationships have had this 6 month lifespan. And when they get close to 6 months I get ready to end things.” Here it comes the ‘it’s not you, it’s me and my commitment issues’ “But that didn’t happen with you.” Oh. “With you, you met Isla and Leo no woman I’ve been with has gotten there, and they like you! And that’s fucking scarry. So the thought of us ever breaking up and what that would do to Isla.. It killed me, so I wanted to get ahead of it, y’know break up with you before she got even more attached, but I couldn’t so I just avoided you. Which was the wrong choice because that just caused you and me more pain. So.. I came here to tell you that.. I love you. And you don’t have to say it back, but I need you to know that I’m in, and this relationship it’s not just you and me anymore, my kids are in this. And I have to think about them and I need to know that you will also think about them.”
Throughout that long winded explanation, all Y/n could think about is that Eddie is not breaking up with her, and that he loves her. He, Eddie Munson, playboy, rock legend loved her.
“Eds, I love you too.” After she said the three little magic words, Eddie leaps towards her, his lips smashing against hers. Their lips moving in sync, Eddie’s tongue tempting her lips to widen, to allow his tongue and hers to fight for dominance. Y/n’s lips grant Eddie’s tongue entrance while Eddie has her distracted by his tongue, his hands slip downwards to her thighs gripping them for support to lift the woman onto the dining table, leaning her back and lifting his lips from hers to be able to talk once again. The disconnection of their lips leave the couple breathless, panting, and staring into eachothers eyes.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
-
The couple wake up the next morning, sunlight seeping through the sheer curtains, legs tangled together, Y/n moving to put her cold feet on Eddie’s legs to warm them.
“Ah! Get your feet off me. They’re cold.” Eddie mumbles into his hair, before turning his body to face Y/n, he was the little spoon last night.
“I know! That’s why I want you to warm them.” The short woman says in a ‘duh’ tone. Wiggling her feet between his calves, Eddie grabs her ankles, moving onto his back and pulling her to straddle him. Her bare core, resting on his v-line, as the two were still naked from last night's activities.
“Hi.”
“Hi, darling.”
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.” The older man brings his hand to his girl's jaw, his thumb rubbing back and forth on her cheek.
“I love you.” This causes Eddie to let out a deep chuckle, as the two have said this about 30 times since he first did last night.
“I love you too.”
“So.. Now that we’re in love or whatever.” “‘Whatever’” “I want you to meet my parents… In a couple months when I get a break from tour. What do you think about that?” Y/n was worried about asking Eddie this, it felt so juvenile, but Eddie has never once made her feel bad about their age gap, one of the many things she loved about him.
“I would love to. And in the summer, I would really love you coming with me and the kids to Hawkins, meet my uncle and my hometown friends?”
“I would love to meet the man that raised my amazing man. I’ll have to thank him y’know. A lot.”
“Of course, he did a great job.”
“Oh shut up. I also really want to meet your friends. What are they like?”
“Well theirs the Hellfire boys, Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Will. They’re a couple years younger than me, all married, all have kids. Mike and Will are married, they adopted a few. Then there’s Steve. He has a kid Leo’s age.. Then Robin, she got married to this girl from high school, Vicky, me and Steve totally got them together but she won’t admit it. They’re all great, and I can’t wait for you to meet them.”
-
“I want to go to.. Italy. Have you been?”
“Yeah, it’s beautiful.”
“I’ve always wanted to go.”
“I’ll take you.”
The two have been laying on their backs staring at the ceiling, talking all about the places they’ve been and want to go. The couple haven't left the bed all day, just to go to the bathroom, and Eddie once to grab them food, all while still naked, just how they liked it.
“I wrote a breakup song about you.. Before everything, when I thought we were going to break up.” She added the last part quickly after her pause.
“Anything bad about me?” Eddie asks, clearly making a joke out of it, something Y/n was thankful for, he could always tell when she needed him to be serious and when she needed him to be jokey, another thing she loved about him.
“No, of course not. Just about how it would be super hard for me if we did break up.”
“Then good thing we didn’t.” He says, pressing his lips gently against hers.
~taglist~
@whoscamila @mystargirl-interlude @creoleguurl @witchwolflea @kissmejoey @taylorswiftsloverfr @random000000sblog
#eddie munson x fem reader#eddie munson blurb#eddie munson fanfic#eddie munson fluff#eddie munson x reader#older!rockstar!eddie x reader#older!rockstar!eddie#older!eddie munson x reader#older!eddie#older eddie munson#older!dilf!eddie munson#older!rockstar!eddie x popstar!reader#girl dad!eddie munson#eddie munson x girlfriend!reader#eddie munson x girly!reader#older!eddie x popstar!reader#older!eddie fluff#older!eddie munson#older!eddie munson x y/n#older!eddie x reader#older!eddiemunson
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Moose's Guide to Quick and Easy Gold
So I get the vibes in the community here that a bunch of people don't really know all the tips and tricks to making easy money, so I thought I'd do a writeup on some of the small ways I make gold in Guild wars 2
Trick 1: You have wealth you don't know about
An inportant thing about Gw2 is that a lot of the wealth it gives out isn't in actual gold but in materials that you can then sell for gold. For a lot of people I think its easy to just click 'deposit all materials' and then forget about it. For me personally I have only 100 gold in my wallet but If I were to empty out my material storage I'd gain an additional 300 or so gold. The site GW2 efficiency is really helpful for telling you what high value items you might be holding on to, though It takes a bit of setting up.
Trick 2: Sell Orders!
Admittedly this is something I'm bad about, but if you can delay your gratification, but when you sell something don't fulfill someone elses buy order and instead, set up a sell order. I'll give you up to 10% more gold out of everything you sell
Ok now onto the acutal wealth generation methods
Trick 3: Send your least favorite character to the New Kaineng Jumping Puzzle
Jumping Puzzles in EoD reward jade runestones from their final chest, which go for 80 silver on the trading post.
Find the wiki page to get you through the jumping puzzle here, though there are often commanders on the New Kaineng lfg offering teleport to friend transport to the end of the puzzle. Basically you get a character to the end chest and every reset log in on that character and get your free! runestone, almost a gold for ~30 seconds of work
(as a note you only get the runestone once per day per account so don't send multiple characters there)
Trick 4: Leivas Hands out Gold, make sure to collect it
Ok not actually but he may as well. So this guy who hangs out in Arborstone, once you've gotten the Globalization mastery, will sell you 5 antique summoning stones every week for a grand total of 10 green prophet shards, 10 unusual coins, 100 imperial favours, 7000 karma and 1 gold. The summoning stones can then be sold on for ~3 gold each, netting you a profit of 14 gold for going up to an npc and pressing 'f' (or whatever your interact key is)
Trick 5: fast and profitable metas you should be doing daily
Let me introduce you to my favorite wiki page:
the event timers list
This lists out every meta event and world boss that'll be happening soon and all of them will give you at least something, and the meta's from HoT onwards awards you a hero's choice chest that'll contain at least one of these valuable materials to choose from: amalgamated gemstone (60 silver), jade runestone (80 silver), ancient ambergris (1 gold 70 silver) or an antique summoning stone (3 gold). It should be noted the last 3 only appear in the EoD meta's, for all other times choose the amalgamated gemstone.
With that aside there are 3 events in particular that you should try to get done that'll take 10 minutes or less
first up is the Legendary Ley-Line Anomaly, the naked man. The timer's page tells you which zone it'll spawn in and when it does you have to seek it out and murder it. Mounts are very recommended because this thing dies fast. Anyway when you kill it, it drops 2 things: a mystic coin (1 gold 20 silver) and some vendor trash worth 50 silver, pretty gold for 5 minutes of work
next is Dragonstorm. It happens once every 2 hours starting from the eye of the north and affords you the opportunity to beat up Ryland. If you join the public option you join a crowd of up to 50 other people and its easy enough that you could even afk if you wanted (though that would be very rude). Anyway once you murder the champions and blast the dragons you get to watch them share a passionate kiss as the die and you then get 2 gold straight up, 6 memories of aurene (worth 1.5 gold in total) as well as a chance to win the lottery and get ascended weapons or, even rarer, the very expensive eye infusions
Finally is Tequatl the Sunless, a world boss in Sparkfly Fen that awards you 1 gold straight up as well as a chance at an ascended weapon as well as a bunch of materials and unidentified gear
speaking of which all the other events give unidentified gear too and they aren't actually terrible rewards, you can get a pretty penny from selling them.
Trick 6: Daily Rewards
Firstly, just logging in every day gives you a sadly decent amount of income, mostly in laurels and mystic coins. Coins can just be sold if you're after cold, laurels can be spent on a variety of stuff. And if you're looking to turn a profit, HERE are the best ways to do so.
Also, do your daily achievements people, sometimes they're a pain but the daily completionist gives 2 gold as well as 15 achievement points, more than most other achievements in the game. Also they drive you towards content you wouldn't do otherwise (the daily achievements are the reason why I've done most of the jumping puzzles). Also If you're bad at any of the dailies on offer, usually a bunch of other people are also trying to do dailies and they're often willing to help. I see mesmers porting people through the daily JPs all the time.
Trick 7: Spirit shards can be converted to Gold???
I admit, this isn't something I do myself but if you're accumulating spirit shards like I am there are methods to turn them into gold
They're listed HERE
(again, this isn't something I've tried myself, I can't vouch for how well it works and all the methods require a starting amount of gold. But if you're desperate it might be something to consider
But I want more Gold, how do I get it?
If your looking for serious gold farming there are probably better guides than this but here are a few pointers to start raking in the money
1: As far as I understand, Drizzlewood Coast is the most profitable activity in the game, gold per hour wise. Runs take a while and you kind of have to pay attention to maximise gains but, if gold's what you want this is a good option.
2: Look for meta trains, I notice them happening a lot around reset, basically its a group that goes from meta to meta doing them in sequence. There are a few guilds that do them every day so if you see a train, chances are its on at the same time every day. I find them to be pretty chill, offer some nice variety in content and offer good rewards as well.
3: Fractals. Yeah I know this is getting into endgame content but doing T4 fractal dailies every day gives you around 20 gold straight up, a bunch of materials worth even more gold and a decent chance at ascended armor and weapons (and so many ascended trinkets, seriously at this point they get auto-salvaged if they drop)
Apart from that, pretty much everything in this game gives you some amount of rewards, even if they aren't entirely obvious, so don't stress too much, provided you aren't roleplaying in the serrated blade or whatever (Though good on you for having fun!) you're likely earning some amount of income. Even if it's only in materials
#gw2#guild wars 2#gw2 gold farming#There are better guides scattered throughout the internet#searching up 'Gw2 best ways to make gold' will probably yield results#though make sure to choose recent results to avoid outdated guides#but dammit I wanted to write something down myself#so I did. Enjoy#If you have any other tricks feel free to let me know
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Every episode is over too quickly, even though they're mostly getting longer ;__; anyway, back again with my rambling nonsensical notes!!!
- Aww! Baby!Dee!
- Gah, they're so sweet (visiting the little boy)
- "At least it reminded me I hadn't been forgotten" Ouch!! Guessing Dee's parents were quite absent when he was a kid? (Though I guess we don't know yet when they died)
- holy crap, these two gazing at each other when they're taking a photo with the little boy lmao at least Yak was paying attention
- How can Yak still be Dee's patient when everyone knows they're dating?
- "One month, five days, etc." DUDE!!!! Are you— I just can't...
- lol @ Dee not remembering Yak's birthday! But I did! XD (really should have posted that screenshot of his file that I've had saved in my drafts since ep 1... Sigh)
- "Find joy in becoming someone else in your own way"
- I love Kao <333
- Yak sulking and taking Dee's drink was so cute :3
- bloody hell, Yei just pulling Cher onto his lap like that O_O
- "You wear size 56?" I LOVE YOU, GRANDMA!
- Ahhhhh! Yak's face when grandma says he must be the reason Dee's watching boxing now!!! He's so pleased!!!
- lmaoooooo the giant dick plushie!!! (That bloody thing haunts me on aliexpress btw!!!! I can't search for anything without it popping up, as it were)
- look, I know I always gush over how soft Yak is but seeing him cuddling Ice Bear was almost too much for me
- "I've gotten used to having you in my arms" WHO SAYS THAT, YAK?? WHO???? Not fake boyfriends that's who!
- And now he's pouting because he wants to cuddle!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh
- And then he brings up Taem. Well done! lol
- (Okay, it's clear—or, well, likely—he's just clinging to his crush on Taem any time his feelings for Wandee rear their pretty head(s), but... Jeez, dude!)
- And Dee's face? His response??? He's not talking about Taem
- "Let's find something fun to do!" I love you, Grandma!
- Yak taking a video of her ;__;
- Okay, her all black outfit is super cool! And she's wearing creepers!! I think...
- Yak referring to himself as Dee's boyfriend at the cemetery... *pinches bridge of nose* I can't handle much more of this. And Dee's deflection! Ahhh. The way they're both dealing with their developing feelings is so interesting and delicious to watch
- oh that outfit does not suit Yak…
- I wonder if Yei is doing underground fights for $$$ to help the gym??? And that’s why he didn’t get physical with Cher. Idk
- Yak offering to help Dee again <33333
- There really is purple and yellow everywhere! (The cardboard Taem was carrying)
- I need a comparison between Taem's reaction when Yak grabbed her hand (not really comfortable) vs when he grabs Dee's hand!!!
- And Yak could be spending more time with Taem but he already had plans with Dee! Gosh, he's just... Oh, that boy!
- Ahhh! They're baking! They're having a flour fight! They're flirting over food again!!
- (Is this the first time we've seen Dee in the elephant pants too?)
- Holy shit, the audacity of Ter taking Kwan to the same restaurant and are they sitting at the same table???????
- so many short shorts and cut off tees and I'm not complaining
- awww! The tiny drink buddy dude has a name!
- The TENSION when they're listening to Fluke's song though??? JFC. You need a ginsu to cut through that
- YOU HAVE SWEET EYES??!!! No comment. I just can't lol
- smooch blocked by the oven timer! lol they really were going to kiss that time, though
- Ahhhhh, Dee looks so happy!!!!
- Yak taking and posting a photo of Gooddy on his glass was adorable :3
- (ngl, with them standing so close to the edge of the balcony, I was envisioning Gooddy going over the side lol)
- love them plugging the new line stickers in the toothbrush bit
- YoryakWandee vs WandeeYoryak is giving me duck season vs rabbit season lol
- Ahhhh! Next week's preview!!! How am I meant to wait???
#wandee goodday#long post#wandee goodday spoilers#lazzarella watches tv#idk if I’m going to keep doing these XD
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By Storm, By Claw, By Sanguine Moon
Chapter 2
For Ectoberhaunt day 19 - Claw (originally for Phantasy Phest)
Words: 6729
Characters: Maddie Fenton, Jack Fenton
Warnings: Body horror (of the skin breaking, bone cracking variety)
Once again, this fic is a collaboration between multiple authors! The others are: @akela-nakamura, @datawyrms, @seaglass-skies, and @five-rivers.
Read it on AO3 or below the readmore:
The rain didn’t let up.
All through the night it poured, and Maddie wondered if she should revise her estimate of the weather controller’s power or intelligence downward. Or both.
On the other hand, maybe this was a concerted effort to wear them out before the eclipse even happened.
The power at Fentonworks was still out, despite their best efforts and their nearest neighbors (who were admittedly further away than average - some people just couldn’t stand the slight inconveniences that came with advancing science) being just fine. The sunrise had also found Maddie with a rash at her joints. Some damp must have gotten past the waterproofing. Or maybe the sweat-wicking layer wasn’t up to snuff anymore. Once the power was back on, she’d have to wash the whole thing and check. As for Jack, he’d been complaining of a sore back off and on all morning.
“Try it now!” called Jack from where he’d wedged the upper half of his body into the electrical maintenance box that the city had installed between them and the power grid when– Well, it had hardly been their fault, but the city didn’t see it that way.
Maddie flipped the main power switch in the circuit box back and forth. “Nothing!” she called.
“Hey, Mom?” called Danny from near the door. “We’re going to Tucker’s, since they have power, okay?”
“Okay,” said Maddie, distracted, waving over her shoulder even though she knew he wouldn’t see her. “Have fun!”
“Okay, this time, I’ve got it!” said Jack. “Go ahead!”
Jack had not got it, and now Maddie could hear him grumbling. “Maybe we ought to switch,” she suggested.
“I’m going to the library!” yelled Jazz, not waiting for an answer before slamming the front door behind her.
Really. What were she and Jack supposed to do about that? Well. They’d have to talk eventually. During dinner, maybe?
“One more time, Maddie, one more time!”
Maddie flipped the switch again. This time, the power turned on, and she smiled with relief. At least something was going right this time.
“Great job, Jack! Now we can check the Fenton Devilry Detector readouts!”
They went down into the lab, where the machinery was still gradually humming to life. Monsters frequently had many natural defenses against observation, going far beyond mere camouflage, so Jack and Maddie had to be as clever about finding them as they were about catching them. Some monsters could only be detected by the oldest technology, others by the newest. Some required brand new inventions.
Jack and Maddie could hardly spend all their time monitoring all that equipment all around town, though, so they’d automated their detectors, and made machines to monitor their machines, and programs to collate the data. It was all very complicated, and sent their electricity bill through the roof. It was worth it, though, to know that even creatures that could only be photographed on archaic silver plate couldn’t evade notice because of it. Especially because the monsters like that had to be full of hubris that they’d never be caught. But they would, one day.
Because the Fentons were prepared.
However, it turned out that such a system didn’t hold up well against ordinary human vandalism, storms, or even time. For example, a machine that operated a polaroid on a timer, then took a picture of the resultant polaroid to send back to the Fentonwork’s servers had many points of failure. As such, Maddie wasn’t surprised to see that the main screen was covered in red OFFLINE notifications.
But visual monitoring wasn’t the only kind. They had others, as well. Things akin to seismometers but for certain kinds of magic. They had microphones and EMF readers but these were not what Maddie was looking for. Maddie was looking for something specific.
Through hard-fought trial and error, she and Jack had discovered something critical: Magic didn’t behave like light. It didn’t, precisely, behave as a gas either. But that analogy was closer.
Magic left traces. Magic built up, and magic lingered. They might not be able to watch everything across the city, but when they needed to look for evidence of foul play, they could compare readings in the local ambient magic.
It was this system, that Jack had named the Fenton Devilry Detector, in honor of his ancestor, whose writings had given them the foundation for its construction, that Maddie and Jack rebooted now.
There were no overnight readings logged, an unfortunate consequence of their lab being offline. But the system had been functional right up until the power outage, and what the graphs showed was unmistakable.
“It’s centered right on the house,” said Maddie, tracing the massive spike in detected magic with one finger. Although, calling it a spike might have been inaccurate. Magic levels around Fentonworks in particular, and even Amity Park in general, had always been high, and had been building gradually for months - no doubt due to the monsters that used it finally recognizing Jack and Maddie as a threat. This, though… This was far in excess of even that. This was a sudden, severe change that, if Maddie was reading this right, had pulsed in time with the storm overhead.
It could only be an attack.
An attack, not only on Jack and Maddie, but their family.
Maddie picked at her lower lip, already trying to determine the best way to safeguard her children. Keeping them both home until they figured everything out would be… Well, it would be ideal, but the government wouldn’t see it that way, and from historical evidence, neither would Jazz and Danny. (Especially, Jazz, right now. After last night’s fight, Maddie had no idea where she stood with her daughter.) And whoever had attacked had clearly known about Fentonworks, and had known how to get around at least some of their protections. Talismans might work, if they could get the kids to wear them… Capturing the monsters would be better, but despite Jack’s confidence, they couldn’t count on that yet.
She itched at her elbow.
At least the kids would be safe during the day.
Jack groaned loudly, and started vigorously scratching his stomach. “I don’t know about you, Maddie, but I think some water got into my suit. It’s definitely not sensitive skin safe anymore, oh boy!”
“I have noticed some itching this morning,” Maddie frowned. “I was hoping it was only my suit that had failed. If yours has too, it might be a materials issue. Why don’t we set these aside for testing?”
“Don’t have to ask me twice!” Jack said, cheerful despite still itching at his stomach. Maddie pulled out two new jumpsuits for them, checking to see when they’d last been inspected and had their various protections redone.
Jack pulled out several pieces of testing equipment. He had to pause a couple times to rub his back against the corner of the wall like a bear scratching on a tree. Maddie frowned and hurried to get Jack a new suit. She could feel the itch spreading as well, and had to stop herself from starting to scratch at her neck.
She passed Jack his new jumpsuit, and went to go change in the small decontamination chamber’s locker room. She took a bag in with her, and placed her defective suit inside. Whatever was wrong with it, they didn’t want it to get even more contaminated before they had a chance to analyze it, and they didn’t want whatever had caused it to break down to spread.
Also, they’d been up all night, and they needed to sleep. Leaving the damaged jumpsuits and trusting they’d just remember which ones they were was just tempting trouble.
Maddie inspected her skin. There was a slight rash, but nothing terribly alarming. Still, better to be safe than sorry. She picked up the Fenton Decontamination and Exfoliation Wash, a body wash she and Jack had developed that was designed to purge negative magical influences. It itself contained ‘magical’ substances, but, well, decontamination procedures were never perfect.
For more severe cases of contamination, for example, being struck directly by an effect, or ensnarement by one of the more infectious monsters they knew to exist, there were other measures. Some simple, if tedious, like smudging or ritual purification, others… more dangerous, if not less necessary.
It was important to plan for such things, in as dangerous a line of work as they had chosen.
She lathered it over the first the rash, and then the rest of her body. Something had gotten through the protections of the suit enough to irritate her skin at the joints. It was likely trace amounts had found their way elsewhere, and she just hadn’t reacted yet.
It was best to be thorough, with these things.
The wash stung as she rubbed it into the irritated skin, like aloe vera on sunburn.
She stepped out of the shower, patting her hair dry. Jack was still in, and she decided to wait for him. As tired as she was, she didn’t want to touch any of their more involved projects. This wasn’t the first time she’d pulled an all-nighter, but she and Jack hadn’t slept much lately. Preparations for the eclipse were taking longer than they’d expected. Tools disappeared or were misplaced. Plans were miscommunicated or derailed by distractions. Rather, that’s what seemed to be happening on the surface.
Not for the first time, she wondered if someone was interfering deliberately. Or rather, how many were, and who.
Some of the monsters they’d gotten ahold of had told them things in an effort to weasel out of what was coming. Nothing that could be trusted implicitly, of course. Every monster was a practiced liar, even the ones that couldn’t. Especially the ones that couldn’t.
(There were ways to lie, she knew, while technically telling the truth.)
But enough to wonder, especially about certain more active members of the infestation creeping in this town.
Like Phantom.
Her eyes wandered up to a poster she and Jack had pinned to the wall a few weeks ago. It had been part of a presentation they’d made hoping they could convince the children that monsters, especially fairies, especially that one that loitered around the school, no doubt hoping to find easy kidnapping victims, weren’t to be trusted.
The poster featured a mock up of what their research suggested fairies of that type really looked like under the glamours. The small monsters appeared pretty and harmless, but that appearance was much like the lure of an anglerfish, designed only to draw in victims.
Fairies were small, ugly, insectoid things. Their bodies were segmented, covered in hair-like filaments and exoskeletal plates. Their mouths were grotesqueries that fused canine-like teeth with oversized mandibles. Their wings, instead of being brightly patterned, were likely drab, tattered things, possibly even covered with oily, beetle-like wing cases. Instead of hands, they had long, scythe-like claws that lacked an opposable digit entirely. Even their large eyes, so good at conveying innocence, were in truth more like the bulging, compound eyes of a fly.
Without magic and humans to deceive with it, fairies would be no better than cockroaches. Small, useless things, scuttling in the dark.
But they did have magic, and they did use it to trick humans. Especially human children, which even so-called fairy tales agreed were their favorite prey.
The fairy in the poster was a fairy like that, drawn in detail by Jack and labeled lovingly by Maddie. Jazz and Danny had barely looked at it before dismissing it.
(Her kids had been so dismissive of their work, lately. Everything she and Jack did was met with disbelief. They were nearly scornful of it.)
Maddie sighed and turned away– Then froze. She’d thought– But, no, it had just been a warped reflection in the glass of one of the older computer monitors. They really needed to find a better place for that.
Before she could start to compile a list of better places, Jack came out of the shower, towel wrapped around his head. She smiled. She remembered when Vlad taught them how to do that, back in college.
“Man,” said Jack. “I’m beat. Makes you wish monsters knew what bedtime was, huh?”
“Now, now, Jack,” said Maddie playfully, “if they knew what bedtime was, they wouldn’t stay out where we could catch them half as often.” She patted his shoulder and hid a wince as her suit dragged painfully against the rash at her shoulder. “Let’s get to bed. We’ll be ready to take on all the monsters in the world when we get up.”
.
Maddie was not ready to take on all the monsters in the world when she woke up. She must have strained herself much more than she’d thought before bed. She hadn’t even run for all that long. But clearly, her muscles disagreed. They protested as she reached for her alarm clock, and she contemplated simply returning to sleep.
But that had never helped with muscle soreness in her experience, and she wanted to catch at least some of the remaining afternoon light, sodden as it was. The work was worth it, of course. But Maddie had never taken well to nocturnal hours on the occasions they’d been required. She’d always been more of an early bird than Jack, and daylight had always made her feel more balanced. She left both her earplugs and her sleeping husband in the bedroom and padded downstairs.
The bottom floor was deserted. The house was quiet with the door to their bedroom shut, and light filtered through the windows in the living room. The couch with its soft cushions was inviting, but Maddie went up the stairs to the roof. There, she settled on the damp edge of the cornice and took a sip, waiting for it to return life to her body.
The kids were probably still out. Maddie could see that Jazz’s car was gone, and Danny loved spending time with his friends.
Despite the stresses of the last day, Maddie smiled. That boy and his friends. They really were as thick as thieves, always out doing something or other. Or in. She couldn’t quite understand the appeal of shooting demons in a video game when you could be going out and doing it in the real world, but she more than approved of the sentiment.
She itched at the crook of her elbow, then pulled a face. Rubbing already irritated skin would only make it worse, even with the soft lining of her jumpsuit.
She finished her coffee, then did some stretches to help with the soreness before returning downstairs. She was hungry, and Jack would be too when he woke. Maybe she could order out Chinese?
She certainly didn't feel like cooking—she could admit, to herself, that she wasn't great at it. She idly opened the drawer with all the local menus, and started digging for the Chinese menu. Her fingers, she noted, ached slightly with the movement.
In fact, she was still pretty sore all over, the stretching having only helped for a short while.
Ah, well. It would fade. It always did. She shook some stiffness out of her joints and dialed the place.
A few minutes later, she went back upstairs to nudge Jack awake. It always took him a little bit to drag himself out of bed, and if he started now he might be downstairs by the time the food arrived.
Maddie didn’t bother saying his name as she pushed open the door; she’d never seen Jack wake to a sound for as long as they’d been married. Instead, she opened the blinds, pulled the blankets down, peeled his sleeping mask off, and–
…frowned.
There was a rash around his eyes. More, it didn’t look like any rash she’d ever seen.
She shook him.
“Bwuh,” Jack said, face screwed up as he grappled with wakefulness.
“Jack,” she said. “There’s something on your face.”
“Sleeping mask,” he said, and tried rolling over.
She didn’t let him. “Jack,” she repeated. “I think the rash is getting worse.”
"Feels worse," he said. "Think'm dying."
"Jack Fenton, you are not dying."
"How do you know," said Jack. "I hurt all over."
"So do I. We're sick, Jack. Not dying." She hoped.
"Brave woman. Steel will. S'no wonder I married you. Be a fool not to."
Maddie sighed in exasperation and fondness. That was Jack for you, still complimenting her while claiming to be on his deathbed.
"Flattery will get you nowhere," she said.
"It got me you."
"Jaaack," Maddie said. "Fine, you flatterer. What do you want?"
"Five more minutes?" he asked hopefully.
"I'm setting a timer." Maddie got up to leave, and paused in the doorway. "If you're not up by the time dinner gets here, I'm eating your orange chicken."
.
A few minutes later, Maddie heard the stairs creak under Jack's feet. A few moments later he appeared in the kitchen doorway, slumped dramatically against the frame.
"Maddie," he said. "I think we've been cursed."
Maddie put another glass away. "Why?" she asked.
"No illness could lay Jack Fenton low like this," he said, too strained to say it with his usual excitement.
"Except for the flu eight years ago," Maddie gently reminded him.
"That was pixies."
"Mmmm," said Maddie, unwilling to start that argument again while nursing a full body ache. She’d checked. Multiple times. It had been the flu, and not anything supernatural.
"And this feels too sudden. And so soon after the attack on our generator..."
"Mmmm," Maddie said again, but with a much different tone.
Jack had a point. On the other hand, running around in the rain at all hours was a much more mundane explanation. They weren’t as young as they used to be. And while their suits should have protected them from the cold and damp, they already knew the material had failed to protect them in at least one way.
"Maybe," she said at last. "Why don't we run those tests once the food gets here? The kids aren't home, so we could eat in the lab."
Jack laughed, but there was a pained edge to it. “Yeah, no Jazz to scold us, huh? Ah. Hah.”
Maddie pressed her lips into a thin line. “Hopefully, they’ll be back soon,” she said, rather than addressing what Jack was clearly thinking. With how upset Jazz was, it was more likely that she’d give them the cold shoulder than scold them.
Or maybe not. It was becoming apparent that she didn’t know her daughter as well as she’d thought. Either of her children, really, she reflected, thinking back on some of Danny’s… odder behavior, recently. She didn’t understand it at all.
They really needed to have that talk.
“Right!” said Jack, finally managing an exclamation point. “To the lab to figure out what felonious fairy is behind our feeble feelings!”
Oh, Jack. He always knew how to cheer Maddie up.
Down to the lab they went.
Usually, the lab felt welcoming. It was as familiar and lived-in to Maddie as the living room upstairs. Usually, the clean lighting, clutter, occult diagrams, and metal tables were just as much a comfort as the dozens of experiments plugging, percolating, or maturing away on the tables. It always felt like protection. It always felt like progress. Progress of knowledge, of their bulwark against the things that stalked the night.
But tonight Maddie felt all of the weight of dirt, concrete, and metal overhead, pressing down, as if to bury them alive.
Ominous and suffocating.
Like a coffin.
Maddie took a deep breath. She hated being sick.
“Ooh,” said Jack. “This is a bad curse. We’ve got to figure it out right away!”
"What makes you say that?" Maddie asked.
"Queasy," said Jack. "And I think my claustrophobia is kicking in. I forgot I had that, after that one time we had that abandoned mine dropped on us."
"I'm feeling that, too." Maddie frowned. But what would trigger those memories? Why would a curse give them a rash and a mild case of claustrophobia? Maybe the creature that cursed them just hadn’t been very strong. Or maybe the curse had been stronger, but their protections had deflected most of it.
Or it wasn't a curse. They hadn't confirmed it yet, after all. And there was more than one way for monsters to hurt humans.
They pulled the suits out of storage. Preparations were interrupted by the arrival of food, but shortly they had takeout boxes at one table, and their compromised suits on another.
(As Jack said, if those monsters thought they’d be stopped by this, they had another thing coming.)
Jack, eagerly following his theory, was assembling their collection of more occult and mystical devices. Most of them would have limited utility in examining the suits, but… Maddie sighed, fondly. Jack would get everything sorted out. From outside, his process might seem chaotic, but he always got fascinating results.
Maddie, for her part, had on her set of magnifying goggles and was going over the inside of her suit inch by inch, starting with the edges and seams. With gloves, of course. While she was assuming the cause of the rash was irritation due to water getting inside the suit lining, assumptions didn’t rule out other causes, like unexpected chemical reactions, or even the curse Jack was so sure of.
So far she hadn’t found any tears. If there weren’t any, she’d take samples of the inner lining to test for common skin irritants. That would be truly tedious work. There were enough chemical irritants in the world that it was quite possible that she’d never figure it out, and have to leave it as a mystery… Unless it also happened to another suit. That would be an unacceptable mystery, and a real danger to herself and Jack.
“Maddie!”
“Hm?” said Maddie, looking up. She experienced a moment of vertigo, and raised her hand to remove her magnifying goggles. “What is it?”
“Look!” He pointed, and Maddie traced his finger to the Fenton branded All-Things-Thaumaturgy Amplified Quantifier.
Maddie inhaled sharply. “Is that…?”
“That’s the reading for the suit,” said Jack, gesturing with the modified microphone attached to the Quantifier. He pointed it at himself, and the line on its graph leapt into the stratosphere. “And that’s me.”
Maddie cursed softly under her breath. “Let me take a look at my readings,” she said, rolling her chair over.
They were the same.
“You know what this means, don’t you?” asked Jack. “This isn’t an instant curse. This is something that’s stuck, and stuck hard.”
Maddie leaned back in her chair, musing over the readings. There was an urgency building in her, but she had to think. Curses were dangerous, wild things, governed by the will and wording of the one who cast it. Curses that didn’t show up immediately, that stuck and built, were especially dangerous—and unpredictable. They weren’t easy to get rid of, nor were they easy to understand.
They had to be methodical about this. They had to find out the nature of the curse, and who cast it. She steeled herself, and looked back at her husband.
”Alright,” said Maddie, “we can narrow down the kind of curse… or at least diagnose the symptoms. From there, we can cross-reference cures, loopholes, and probable perpetrators with our library.”
“Well, feeling awful is one,” said Jack. “Plus the claustrophobia.”
“Maybe a cave or tunnel based creature, then? Like with the mine?” Maddie shook her head. “That doesn’t line up with the storm. And I don’t know why something like that would give us rashes of all things.” She set her elbow on the work bench and leaned forward. “Speaking of which, I really don’t like the look of the rash around your eyes. If we can’t figure out the cause, soon, we might have to focus on stopping the spread.”
“Rash around my eyes?” repeated Jack. He walked over to one of the sinks, and peered into the mirror. “What rash around my eyes?”
He jolted a bit, when he looked into the mirror. The rash had spread, past the rounds of his goggles. It drifted down his cheekbones, climbed his forehead, and was thicker around his eyes themselves. Concern shot down Maddie’s spine—she hadn’t realized how bad it’d gotten. It still didn’t look like any rash she’d seen before. It wasn’t red or inflamed, but it was undeniably a rash. The fact that it had gotten worse, despite showers and new suits, was alarming.
“Oh,” Jack said, blinking in the mirror. He snapped on a new glove, and gently touched the rash. “This is not a good look! Is this a reaction from the curse’s magic with our suits?”
Maddie hummed, even as she grabbed a sterile swab, and a new set of gloves for herself. She stepped over to Jack, running the swab over the rash before putting it into the sterile test tube.
“Maybe,” she said finally. “Take a sample from your goggles, and let’s see if there’s an environmental factor—this rain has been relentless.”
Jack did so, with much less of his usual gusto. Maddie couldn’t blame him—she felt tired and weighed down. Despite having slept for so long, and barely doing anything in the lab, she felt she could easily take another nap.
She couldn’t. They couldn’t. With the eclipse coming, and a curse to solve, they didn’t have time for more sleep. If they couldn’t fix the curse by the time the eclipse arrived, everything they’d worked for would be lost. This was literally a once in a lifetime opportunity!
They had to keep moving, to figure this out.
“Some dastardly monster thinks they can stop us,” Jack muttered, not able to get his usual volume. “A curse has never stopped a Fenton, and it won’t now.”
Maddie smiled to herself, even as she ran tests on the sample she’d taken from Jack’s rash. They wouldn’t be stopped.
Whatever evil being had cursed them, they’d soon regret it!
.
The curse was harder to pin down than expected. Usually it was a place that was afflicted with these sorts of monsters- cursing actual people took much more power and nefarious intent.
Even so, curses generally exerted their power through something. Effigies. Inscriptions. Sound. Blood. Sometimes more than one. If they could find that part of the curse, destroy that part of the curse, then the curse would start to unravel.
But they hadn’t found anything. Not yet.
At least they had been able to rule out the whole family being a target. Much as Jazz and Danny did their best to duck lifesaving checks, they got enough readings to feel a weight lift from their hearts. It was bad enough that some foul beast was after them without it threatening their children.
Danny’s readings were still uncomfortably high, but not in a new way. Jazz almost seemed like she might also be a target, but her contamination levels plummeted while theirs crept higher. Neither child was struggling with itches or food going foul in their mouths, a huge relief. They could put their whole attention on solving the curse much faster when not at risk of endangering the kids further.
.
A few days later, Maddie sighed as she took the final step down into the lab, and immediately headed into the corner to peel her wet jumpsuit off.
The rain was heavy today, coming down in fat, icy droplets that sank into the jumpsuit's cloth and stayed there, chilling the skin. By the time she'd finished setting up the battery of traps in the park woodlands, she'd felt icy herself and had been hard pressed to keep her hands steady against the cold.
The curse had made them allergic to the Fenton patented anti-moisture, sweat-wicking formula for sensitive skin, which wouldn't be a huge problem–except it was how they'd waterproofed all their jumpsuits. They'd had to switch to unfinished jumpsuits without the coating–and therefore, without the wet weather protection.
Needless to say, Maddie was looking forward to warming up.
A hot decontamination shower and a toweling later, she reached for a fresh jumpsuit–and froze.
The skin of her arm hadn't changed much from that morning. It was still the same scaly, angry red that covered most of her extremities. But there was something off about the movement of her forearm.
Slowly this time, Maddie repeated the action, making sure to watch her forearm as she did.
There.
It was smooth.
Not the skin. The skin was still rough from the rash. But beneath it–beneath it. Her forearm was smooth.
Maddie was a woman of science, but she was also a woman of action. She trained regularly, she kept herself fit enough to keep up with the human wrecking ball that was Jack. She fought using any number of weapons but liked staves especially, which gave her exceptional muscle development in her forearms.
She fluttered her fingers, and the back of her forearm remained motionless.
Maddie was a woman of action, and her forearm should have had enough muscle definition to see the individual muscles controlling the extension of each finger.
Should have. Usually, did have.
It did not.
.
Eyes could be fooled, especially while cursed. Instead of making assumptions, she let science find the truth.
The scanner showed dense plates of tissue forming beneath their skin.
.
They made a grocery run before the curse worsened. They didn't know how bad it would get, after all, and this way they wouldn't need to worry about food for a little while.
Jack was silent in the checkout line. Maddie felt stares prickle at her skin and pretended not to notice the way the cashier's eyes darted to the rash crawling up Maddie's cheek.
When they left, the rain was still coming down in a quiet rush. The sensation of droplets trailing down her face flared into burning when they made contact with the rash. With Jack unable to be as boisterous as he normally was, it felt like they’d lost the sun twice over. The burning pain was an unwelcome substitute in the gloom.
.
There was something watching them from reflections. It skittered in the corners of their vision, always careful, never quite slow enough to properly see. Or to shoot at.
Maddie saw the nebulous shadow of it in her peripheral vision as she soldered some final details on another set of traps, and pretended she had not.
Belatedly, she felt the hairs of her neck prickle.
She set the piece she was working on to the side, and reached for another, concentrating on the corners of her vision hard enough to make her eyes ache. After a moment, she eased her thumb off the on switch. She didn't need to stab herself with a fully heated soldering iron while trying to finally get a good look at the thing cursing them.
Quietly, she mimed continuing with her work, setting aside a few more pieces as she waited. It shouldn't have been convincing, but the shadow lingered. Apparently, it could be fooled. Good to know. She could make out more details, now. Too many appendages, too long. Huge, larger than she was.
A smear of red where the eyes would be. Similar, then, to Phantom's true form.
Maddie thought of her gun, holstered at her side.
Maddie thought of empathetic magic, and their research on how it might work. On how they thought that something projecting an image elsewhere might still be vulnerable to harm done to the reflection.
Finally, Maddie thought about the curse.
In one smooth blur she dropped the soldering iron, grabbed the gun, took aim, and fired at the thing cursing them–
And was left lightheaded from the sudden rush of adrenaline, arm out and gun pointed at–
At the charred divot in the sheet metal armoring the walls of the lab, directly in the center of her own head's reflection.
Nothing.
It was nothing.
.
But–if Phantom or something like it was channeling this magic through reflections, through their reflections, maybe that was something.
Maybe it could be disrupted.
They covered mirrors, painted the stainless steel of the laboratory walls, even hid glass.
It didn't work.
.
The first time it happened, they thought it was a fluke. A result of improper weapons safety due to their single minded focus on the curse. Jack had placed one of their newer weapons on the table, a thing of gleaming metal, automatic aim, salt and iron ammunition, and an alert function. It was as yet unnamed, but compact and efficient. It was a favorite of Maddie’s.
But Jack had placed it down, and Maddie had found herself catching a glimpse of a red laser, hearing the humming whine of the auto aim—and she ducked, just in time for the weapon to lose its target. Just in time for it not to fire.
Jack had been horrified. He’d checked the weapon over a dozen times, and nothing had seemed amiss.
They concluded it was either an accidental slip that had primed the weapon, and something possibly needing adjustment in its targeting code.
They moved on with their research on the curse.
.
The hair on Maddie’s head came off in chunks.
At least, the hair that didn't thicken and stiffen until she had a twin set of antennae emerging from her forehead.
.
They kept the blinds closed. When a package delivery came, Maddie signed for it with her hood up.
.
The second time it happened, it was something simple. She’d needed a break from their research, from the headache she genuinely couldn’t tell if it was from the curse or from the stress of it. She couldn’t think straight, and as much as it rankled, she knew she’d be useless in doing more research.
She’d pulled out some simple protections and a couple of small net projects. They needed nets of various sizes for the upcoming eclipse, and while Jack liked to show off with the large ones, Maddie did enjoy weaving together the smaller ones.
The net itself was itchy against her skin, but it was made of a new weave of fibers, embedded with near gossamer iron and silver. There was also a new mix of herbs she’d had some luck with, but she needed to mix up more to soak the net in.
With the net on her lap, and the various herbs around her, she’d begun to mix.
And had managed to spill some of the garlic, sage, St. John’s Wort, and yarrow mixture on her hands and down her arms.
It had taken her several moments of frustrated clean up for her to realize what was happening—and for the pain to kick in.
The mixture was burning her, and where she’d touched the net felt raw and prickly.
Her stomach sank as she moved robotically over to the sink.
Just how deep did this curse run?
.
Breaking mirrors was bad luck. Fortunately, it was unnecessary when you had a sandblaster. It even worked on steel.
.
The third time, Maddie clutched the toilet, thinking, thinking, trying to think of what she might have eaten, what she might have done to feel like this. They’d barely been out of the house. It had to be the curse again. Was this it? Had it been taking her through this horrible transformation only to kill her like a stomach bug? She hadn’t eaten anything she didn’t eat all the time.
The ingredients. Pasta, tomatoes, onions, garlic–
Garlic.
Like in the mixture that had burned her so badly only a few days ago.
.
Jack's hair was wiry, and too stiff. Too thick.
.
They had only two leads. What was happening to their reflections and what was happening to themselves. They didn’t want to let the curse run its course, didn’t want to see the form it ultimately took, so, when covering or defacing the mirrors didn’t work, they studied them.
When viewed straight on, their reflections seemed… not normal, not with what was happening to them, but not otherwise supernaturally altered. But from the corners of their eyes, they were more. More changed. More alien. More monstrous.
Maddie and Jack designed new machines, new tools for measurement, new methods. They compared the readings of mirrors that were reflecting them to mirrors that were not. They set cameras to record their reflections. They argued and built and tested and…
And all they knew for sure was that mirrors were involved somehow.
.
Entering the kitchen was like walking headfirst into a wall of acidic fumes. They had to throw out some of the herbs with tongs, and their eyes and noses burned for hours after.
.
Among all their tests, all their increasingly frantic research, the house became a minefield. Weapons began to track them with increasing frequency, alarms went off when they entered the house or the grounds. It felt like every fifteen minutes they got a new alert on their phones, on their equipment about monsters in their house.
No matter how many times they searched, or how well, they never found a thing.
No one but themselves.
Jazz was out of the house for hours at a time. Danny had become a shadow, fluttering in and out at odd times.
Maddie tried, several times, to talk to her daughter but it seemed something got in the way every time. A new alarm would go off, or a weapon would malfunction and start to aim, or Maddie would forget and reach for something and feel the burn of herbs or certain metals.
As the days went on and the curse worsened, so too did things around the house. Every protection they had built into the very walls of their home was now a weapon against them.
Maddie feared they were running out of time.
.
Maddie scratched absently at the rash covering most of their bodies, and felt skin slide.
Her hair didn't.
Her hair didn't, and through it she could feel the texture of the flesh sloughing off, suddenly too loud, too wet, too much too much too much.
.
When she emerged from the shower, her arms and hands were segmented. Behind her, the shower looked like a crime scene.
.
(After that, they had to shut down the internal alarms—they were nothing but a never ending shriek, and neither she nor Jack could figure out how to make it stop targeting them but still protect their home.)
.
They did research. Not the scientific kind of research that they liked best, but delving through old and unreliable secondary and tertiary sources, trying to pick out strands of truth from among the razor-wires of misunderstandings and outright fabrication. Some books, Maddie hadn’t picked up since Danny was born.
One had ‘good’ fairies. That other had humans inadvertently casting curses on their family members. The one she’d just discarded had talked about monsters that had once been human, when Maddie knew that was impossible. None of their data supported such a transformation.
But it didn’t matter what their data supported when this was happening to them. When their appearances were so warped that they’d resorted to communicating to their children solely through notes and text messages. When so many of the protective wards they’d built up around their more sensitive or more dangerous equipment made them shy away.
They were desperate. It showed.
They tried dozens of cutesy neopagan countercharms. They worked through purification rituals with limited or even singular attestation. They pulled out screwdrivers and hammers and systematically removed and broke every mirror in the house and the MAV, despite the years of bad luck common wisdom claimed they should get with each one.
It didn’t work. None of it worked.
.
When Jack's eyes began to bulge from his sockets, growing until they were the size of tennis balls, it was no longer a surprise but a horrible confirmation: Phantom had cursed them to become like him.
It was a foul, monstrous trick befitting a wolf in child’s clothing like Phantom. They knew they weren’t monsters, not ‘fae’, but whatever magic it had woven was enough to convince their own eyes and tools. In a home primed and ready to fight off all foul creatures of the shadows, that was no small danger. There were safeguards they could no longer safely disable.
At this rate, they’d be unable to even stay in their own home.
#danny phantom#maddie fenton dp#jack fenton dp#ectoberhaunt23#day 19#claws#cw body horror#jackdraw-spwrite#jackdaw-spwrite
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Resident Evil 4 vs 8, and Ludonarrative Resonance
Having fallen so very hard for RE8 late last year, I’m incapable of talking about the new RE4 remake without comparing the two – especially when RE8 now occupies the bizarre position of being simultaneously the remake’s immediate predecessor, canonical-later-sequel, and also other pseudo-remake of RE4.
And it’s hard to appreciate just how much RE8 draws from RE4 until you’ve played them both – in broad concept (sinister bioweapon cult in isolated European village, lengthy castle section, awkward shift towards military-shooter-itis at the end – heck, did you know RE8 was even supposed to have Ada Wong showing up with a sniper rifle to rescue Ethan from cutscenes in early drafts? Because that was definitely going too far) and its initial chapter especially. I’d osmosed the broad strokes, but not, for example, the degree to which the first lycan attack in 8 is basically just the first village assault from RE4: mobbed by an endless stream of regular enemies and the one big guy (who you can defeat, but should probably just try to avoid) in an open environment until an invisible timer runs out and everyone goes home.
It’s not a one-way street: it’s only fair to say that by the time of RE4make, Capcom was re-integrating a lot of what worked in 8 back into the new RE4. But as many elements represent a conscious step back from the reinventions of RE7 in favour of recreating gameplay elements of the original: 3rd person view, visible health bar, etc. The same basic arsenal of pistol-shotgun-sniper-rile becomes available to you in that order, but trying to play Leon as you would Ethan is not going to come off seamlessly.
Leon he can’t block, for one. He can parry, but that’s not the same thing. His knife works very differently, many of its uses contextual. You have to aim before firing now – hitting fire without aiming first makes Leon slash with his knife instead (very annoying when I have the sniper rifle equipped, the enemy is too close for the scope to be useful, and failing to get a round off in a hurry is about to make my life a lot more uncomfortable) – and if you’re aiming, you can’t parry. The gameplay in the RE4 remake is honestly my favourite thing about it (the story is... more of a mixed bag, but we'll get to that), but coming to it directly off RE8 is just a little frustrating until you get your head around it. GDI, Leon, Ethan can make a decent mine that doesn’t go off on its own if it’s not tripped in 30 seconds, why can’t you?
Questionable nitpicks aside though, having gotten the hang of RE4’s combat, the more I think about it, the more the differences between how Ethan and Leon handle do actually work for me, and even make sense from a character-centric POV. Intentionally or not, there’s a kind of ludonarrative resonance to it all.
If you’ve read any video game critique in the last decade or so, you’ve likely run into the term ludonarrative dissonance: coined to highlight all those times when the story a game tells via dialogue and cutscenes clashes with the ‘ludonarrative’, or story created by the gameplay. The classic example is something like the Tomb Raider reboot, where cutscenes linger on the trauma of Lara's first human kill, but gameplay will still see her easily mowing down enemies mooks by the dozen barely five minutes later. See also: any time a character is a total badass in gameplay, but can be easily overpowered by a single opponent when necessary for a cutscene. This kind of narrative inconsistency is to some degree the nature of the medium – it’s a rare game that can avoid it altogether, but it can still throw you out of the experience.
For a more Resident Evil specific example, consider that minor plot point from RE6 which reveals that Sherry (one of the many playable characters) has an Ethan-like healing ability as a result of her exposure to the G-virus back in RE2. This has no effect on gameplay, before or after the reveal: Sherry’s health bar works the same as any other character’s. Even the RE4 remake hits this problem: letting Ashley be carried too far away by an enemy mook is an instant game-over in gameplay, but you’d better be prepared to see the exact same thing happen in multiple cutscenes at specified plot points, with no way to avoid it (c’mon, game, I know they’re just gonna stick her in a room with no guards somewhere, lemme go find her!)
You could arguably find a similar problem to Sherry’s in RE8, where Ethan very-canonically comes back from the dead after having his heart ripped out in a cutscene, even though he can absolutely be killed in regular gameplay. And yet, here, I’m inclined to cut the game some slack – because there is arguably an explanation provided, and it’s suitably horrific.
Ethan may be able to reattach severed limbs and walk off falls from great heights, but having his heart ripped out puts him down long enough to convince Chris he’s really dead – definitely down for the count. And if you pay attention to the (many) death-scenes that play after Ethan is killed by a lycan or moroi, you may notice that most monsters immediately start eating him as they light fades away. Ethan may come back after having his heart ripped out, but being digested may be a step too far.
And Ethan can get eaten a lot in this game. Moreau can eat you. The mould-foetus-monster can eat you. Dimitrescu makes pretty-fucking-clear her own desire to eat you too. Sturm doesn’t, but is certainly equipped to reduce Ethan to a fine, pink mist. Whether those final-moments were included specifically to fill that plot hole or whether they were just thrown in for ‘ordinary’ horror value I can only speculate, but it’s always nice when all those little, gory details tie together, isn’t it?
If we’re going to take games to task for all those probably-accidental moments where the gameplay and the story clash, it’s only fair to note a few of the ones where they do the opposite (likewise-accidental though they may be). Ludonarrative resonance, if you will.
On a basic level, pointing out that gameplay differences between RE4 and 8 make sense for Ethan’s vs Leon’s respective strengths and weaknesses may be a little too obvious. Leon can stagger an enemy with a bullet and then rush in to finish him off a roundhouse kick or a supplex because Leon is a certified badass with way more training than Ethan (who makes one vague mention of having had military training, presumably as an excuse for why he aims so much faster in RE8 than 7).
But it goes so far beyond that.
There’s the issue of blocking, for one. Ethan can block – roughly holding his hands up in front of himself to reduce incoming damage – but Leon can’t. This was initially annoying, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it as a logical change. Sure, Leon can’t block, but Leon doesn’t secretly have mould-powered super-healing, and trying to tank axe-blows to reattachable parts of his body probably isn’t a viable strategy. What he can do is parry with his knife: a more skill-dependent strategy for a more-skilled guy. Timing is much trickier, but only his knife takes damage – Leon doesn’t, so when it works, it’s much better than blocking. And given Leon has this whole backstory-thing about being trained by a knife-obsessed nutjob, that all adds up too.
Then there’s the thing with ladders. Ethan can fall any distance without taking damage, but convincing him to take a gravity-shortcut doesn’t always work: if there’s a ladder nearby, he’ll take it. Leon, by contrast, clearly sees ladders as a waste of time. Ashley will use them to get down from high places, if there’s one available, but Leon, to my joy, prefers to jump. And again, there’s an arguable logic there that appeals to me: Ethan may be immune to falling damage, but he’s badly in denial about it, and would much prefer to take the stairs. Leon isn’t superhuman, but he knows parkour, and he’s damn well going to use it.
Health arguably follows similar logic. Ethan doesn’t get a proper health bar (maybe you need training to accurately judge how dead you are? IDK), just various colours to tell you roughly how bad this is going, and Ethan will be reduced to stumbling through a distorted red haze if you let him go too far into the red zone. Stumble around long enough without dying though, and Ethan will eventually walk it off, automatically returning to about half-health. Notably, Leon doesn’t get this same power (unless you’re playing on the very easiest difficulty – Ethan remains auto-healing right up to Village of Shadows level). But for a dude who canonically has healing powers, you can’t argue that makes a lot of sense.
The same rules apply to Mia too, when you’re playing her in RE7 – but given she’s been infected with the mould too, that tracks (and even if you did choose her for the cure, who’s to say how well such a haphazard cure even worked?)
This logic does break down a bit in RE8 when you play as Chris, and blocking and walking-it-off remain core mechanics. And if you wanted to get really nitpicky, you might even point out the same mechanics are available to Ethan in his very first fight with Mia in RE7, where he’s (presumably?) not infected yet. But there comes a point where you have to admit that expecting the devs to change gameplay so much for one brief section of a much longer game isn’t really realistic (and would be that much more annoying to get used to for this one tiny section anyway).
Amusingly though, in the Mercenaries DLC, Chris has been reworked somewhat, and now can’t block anymore: hitting the ‘block’ button throws a left hook instead. Which is only too appropriate for Chris Boulder-Punching Redfield – but it’s interesting to note that Lady Dimitrescu (another new playable character) can’t block either.
The only other character in Mercenaries mode who can block is Heisenberg, and he does so by raising a literal wall of sheet metal. Intentionally or otherwise, Mercenaries does kinda seem to cast Ethan’s ability to substantially reduce damage just by holding up his arms as pretty unique.
Speaking of health, Leon and Ethan can both increase their maximum HP – Leon by using yellow herbs, Ethan by eating food cooked for him by the Duke. Ethan, however, can also decrease the damage he takes while blocking and increase his running speed this way. This is the sort of game mechanic it’s probably not worth thinking too hard about, but even so, the idea that mould-man Ethan can enhance his own powers by eating food from around the village where the mould originates (and specially prepared by the nigh-omniscient Duke himself) is something I raised already over in my post on Mia and Miranda – and it fits here too. Leon, meanwhile, can only increase his own durability by buying body armour, then paying even more to keep it repaired (there is a case charm that increases his speed a little too, but it’s bloody hard to get).
There are other little details that follow the same pattern too – whereas in RE8, I found myself mostly using the pistol to finish off any enemies who didn’t quite go down in one shotgun blast, in RE4, I found myself relying on my basic pistol a lot more, even when not going for kung-fu finishers. Mostly, that’s down to enemy speed and ammo availability, but you can’t argue it makes sense that the better-trained Leon would be better-equipped to get the job done with lower-calibre weaponry.
Now, to be clear, I doubt most of these little differences are down to the devs going “okay, this new game is about a mould-superman, how do we work that into gameplay?” when RE7 came out – and I’m pretty sure a lot of how the new RE4 plays is down to an earnest attempt to include as much of the old RE4 as still makes sense. Leon has a visible health bar and can supplex enemies into the dirt because people loved the original, and we’re not here to completely reinvent the best features of the wheel. Half the stuff that screams ludonarrative resonance to me is probably more happy accident as design.
But when, for example, you’re being irritated by the discovery that the only mines available to Leon will just go off on their own after 30 seconds if not triggered by an enemy, it’s nice to be able to tell yourself “bloody hell, guess you need a real engineer like Ethan to make a half-decent mine!” and treat that like an excuse. It doesn’t fundamentally change the way either game plays, but it feels like there’s some rhyme and reason to it, and that’s just a little bit more fun. And they’re both great combat systems in their own fun way.
YMMV, of course.
#Resident Evil Village#Resident Evil 4#Resident Evil#Ethan Winters#Leon Kennedy#meta#obsessive nerd over-analysis of gameplay differences and how they make Total Sense Actually#and the fine significance of who does or doesn't get to block
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We’re Gonna Have A Mini Frost Baby- Loki Laufeyson pregnant!xreader fan fic
Summary: Y/N is pregnant and Loki comes home from Asgard after a few weeks and Y/N surprises Loki with the happy news
Warnings: angsty, fluffy adorableness, soft Loki, mentions of being pregnant, mentions of being nervous and scared, mentions of a bit of anxiety, let me know if I miss anything
~Y/N’s POV~
*flashback* I remember that look in Loki’s eyes that night as he was sitting across from mw at the bar as we were having a drink to celebrate being together for three years before he had to leave for Asgard. I knew what Loki wanted that night and so did I, it was very passionate and we both never wanted the moment to end. That morning after I woke up with the biggest smile on my face though I was sad when loki left a short time later to help Thor for a few weeks. *end of flashback
-current day a week or 2 later-
I woke up one morning feeling really nauseous out of nowhere and had to rush to the bathroom but got sick a few times and the other weird thing is I was craving certain foods I never usually would want and I said to myself “ok.. there’s gotta be an easy explanation for this.” Though I had doubts about that. I knew Loki was coming home in a day or two and I wanted to make sure everything was ok so I ran out to the store to get some food and a pregnancy test just in case. Later on I had gotten home and put the groceries away and something told me to go take that pregnancy test so I went to the bathroom and did the test and set a timer on my phone when I could check it.
I texted my best friend Wanda about how anxious I was and she called me a few minutes later and said “hey Y/N how are you feeling honey?” I said “still have some morning sickness but just nervous that I may actually be pregnant.. what will I tell Loki oh god!..” Wanda said “hey it’ll be ok girl try and breathe ok? He will be so happy I know it, he loves you Y/N.” I nodded my head and said “yea, you’re right Wanda, hey thank you you’re the best Wanda. Love you!” She said “I love you too, let me know what the test says ok??” I said “I promise Wanda you’ll be the first to know.” My timer beeped a bit after she hung up and I picked up the stick and I was right. “I’m pregnant!.. wow, this is amazing.” All of a sudden I hear a familiar voice say “wait darling, you’re pregnant?!” I look up and Loki is standing in the doorway and I sit there frozen that he cane home early. Loki came to sit by me once he saw I was scared to answer him and said “Y/N, dove please don’t be scared I’m not mad, I’m just surprised, is it true?” I nodded and picked up the test to show him hoping he wouldn’t be upset. Loki smiled and cupped my face in his hands looking into my eyes and said “Y/N my love this is wonderful, I’m gonna be a father and you’ll be a wonderful mother.” I felt relieved that he was happy about this. I swallowed and said “I was so nervous to tell you and I didn’t know you were gonna be home yet, I was just about to call you to talk to you about it.” Loki hugged me and then wiped the remaining tears off my face carefully and said “my love this is wonderful news, we’re gonna have a child. I will love you both so much and take care of you both.” I smiled and said “I love you Loki, you’re the most wonderful man. I always picture you reading a child to sleep and you spoiling them.” Something hit me worrying wether it might be a frost child with Loki’s magic and I said “wait!.. do you think our child will be ok?!..” loki saw I was worried and he nodded and said “of course love why? What is it??” I took a deep breath and said “what if our child will be a frost baby or has your magic? Should we have that checked? I’m worried.” Loki rubbed my arms and said “sweetheart I promise we will have everything looked at and have you looked at but I promise you, the baby will be just fine Y/N please do not worry alright?” I leaned in for a hug and Loki wrapped his arms around me while he played with my hair which he knew I loved when he did that. After a few minutes of silence I said “hey Loki can I ask you something?” He kissed the top of my head and said “of course my love, anything.” I thought for a minute how to ask him this and said “would you want a boy or a girl? I ask because I wondered if you were gonna want an heir for Asgard.” Loki took my hands in his and looked at me and said “ok, Y/N please listen to me ok?” I nodded nervously wondering what he was gonna tell me. Loki said “that isn’t important to me, what matters to me is my family darling, I love you and our child. I’d leave Asgard and the throne for the both of you because I love you and I don’t care about that anymore I swear I’ve changed.”
I leaned in to kiss Loki and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder to pull me closer and in that moment I knew Loki meant it all. I looked at Loki and said “I love you so much Loki, you’re gonna be a great father.” He blushed and said “may I?” He wanted to touch my stomach and I nodded and put his hand gently on my stomach and he leaned in to kiss my stomach and said “hello baby, I’m so excited to meet you.” I started crying and he looked up and said “my love, what is it??” I shook my head and said “nothing’s wrong Loki, what you said just made me so happy, we’re gonna have a mini frost child I’m so happy.” Loki kissed me and said “so am I Y/N, you’ve made me the happiest. Thank you darling.” I smiled and said “you’re welcome Loki, welcome home by the way, I missed you.” Loki kissed me and pulled me into his chest said “I missed you more darling, I promise I will never leave you or our child Y/N.” I felt so happy being back in Loki’s arms I never wanted him to let go.
Hey lovelies 💚💚🙂 ok so I thought this fic would be really cute 🥹 and it’s probably not my best one 🥺 but I hope you will all enjoy xx
Taglist:
@lokiandbuckysdoll
@jessybarnes
@nana1000night
@precious1610
@chrisevansdaughter
@anotherfuckingmarvelfanaccount
@writersblog20
@delicatecoffeepeanut
@sunshine-on-my-mind
#loki x reader fluff#loki layfeson#loki friggason#loki x female reader#loki x f!reader#loki god of mischief#loki oneshot#loki edit#tom hiddelston loki#marvel loki#mcu loki#loki mcu#loki xreader fluff#loki x reader angst#loki x y/n#loki fluff fan fiction#loki angst#loki fanfiction#loki#lokitvsource#loki xreader#loki drabble#loki fic#loki laufesyon x reader#loki tom hiddleston#in defense of loki#loki laufeyson#loki x reader#wanda maximoff#loki xreader fluff fan fiction
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Happy Birthday Ashley
TUMBLR IS FINALLY WORKING FOR ME!!!
Took updating the damn thing but it's finally letting me access stuff...
Anywho, Happy Birthday to the best sister this world could have ever given me, I know I've said it already but I'm so sorry this is so late sis but so much love and care went into making sure you had a birthday worthy of the sweet and kind hearted person I have had the pleasure of knowing all these years even if it feels like yesterday we met
I love you so much @fyreball66 and hope you had the most incredible birthday this world can offer
💜❤💜🎂🎁💜❤💜
💘 **Click to enjoy** 🥰
His morning had started before it had really ended
Even though he had gone to bed on time with his wife after getting their children down for bed and her helping him decompress his built up stress when he rolled over to make love to her needing that simple yet passionate contact until they passed out together he had been up half the night watching over their sick family member who had woken up half of the house with her usual fashion of nightmares only to not remember where she was or who was with her
Him and Ashley had rushed to her room finding Raphael sitting with her in his arms realizing she wasn’t with them in that moment and after his wife got her to breathe he had sent her to go get more rest promising he’d come get her if they needed her
His brother’s had came to check on her seeing her breaking down begging for somebody not there to help her but had to return to their rooms just after he had gotten her calmed down before Master Splinter had come in to take over just as she had fell back to sleep sending him back to bed knowing tomorrow was important
There had been hesitation but the pull to have his wife in his arms was stronger once he knew the family was going to come get him if it got worse
After last year he wasn’t taking any chances no matter how crazy their lives had gotten since running from New York a few years back he wasn’t going to forget this year
He had no excuse last year no matter how everything had piled up on them and his wife had said so he should have never forgotten Ashley’s special day but he had worked like hell to try and make it up to her with an unforgettable date and every day he could after to show how sorry he was
This year he had several alarms, a calendar with a count down written on it, and his work board with several sticky notes
Between the several attacks on their home from the people hunting Angel resulting in a shit show of events; like a few of his brother’s and family members memories being wiped, to where in the last when they lost the child his little sister had been carrying when she saved his daughter Lily from one of heaven’s executioners, the heartbreaking moments of not only betraying Red’s trust in hiding the files that held the fate of his first mate and what had really happened to her from Baxter’s computer but also having the consequences of his actions slam him into a wall in a rage of pure anger before his brother had disappeared completely into the lake
He had still not forgiven himself for that after the couple of months of trying not to think his newest brother was dead or when he had returned alive but hurt badly
Topping all that off with the moment he realized the health of their angelic family member was only worsening by the day he had also installed a count down timer to his computer that alerted him five times every day so he could continue his research into stopping the cancer taking over her body but also keep her from succumbing to the disease
Was it necessary? Probably not, given Angel was staying on his ass to just focus on the more important people in his life even through her own decline with her worsening illness made it harder to do so when her mind seemed to be going she had really pushed for him to just focus on his wife and kids instead of stopping what she knew he couldn’t
Was it worth it? Abso-fucking-lutly if it meant he didn’t have to see his wife that upset ever again over thinking he didn’t value her as his world or that her birthday wasn’t important enough to be celebrated
So that morning he had gotten up extra early and made sure his wife’s clothes were laid out on the end of the bed, gone to the bathroom and set up everything she would need for her morning shower or bath along with her special towels so she was comfortable if she chose to just lay back in bed for a while, then made him a pot of coffee just taking the full thing with him instead of getting a mug and got started on his finishing touches to her surprise
He wouldn’t be shocked if she slept in today knowing Red’s twin boys were taking it out of her in this trimester he was going to let her sleep in as long as they would let her and there was no doubt his brother would wind up in his bed to cuddle with the redhead so he could love on the woman who was giving him his dream
He had already gotten Raven and Faith on baby duty to be sure his girl rested and they had already offered to help him with dinner that night, Leo and Raph were to keep his sister in law down to rest so she had enough energy to be with them during her party even if they all knew she was going to get up anyways and sneak past them then be staying on the couch for a good portion of it if today was a bad day
With Ashley’s birthday surprise finished, in perfect condition, and wrapped up he started up the stairs with something a bit more fun in mind
Going to check on her just to be sure she was resting he chuckled under his breath when he realized she had rolled into his spot and like he had predicted the massive form of his brother Red was nestled up with her under the blankets growling lowly in his warning that she was his for now before he was cuddled up to the pregnant beauty as Donnie just grabbed his boots and waved to him
Knowing he wasn’t getting close to her yet he headed back down the hall peeking in to see the kids were not awake yet and the babies were sleeping soundly meaning he still had time before the house got crazy
Taking the chance he got on his shoes and headed up to Angel’s old cottage he had renovated into the honeymoon cabin having decided they could take a day or two away from the madness to let her relax
Given they all frequently used the smaller place for time to themselves with their mates he was pretty sure Leo and the twins had gone up to get in some much needed couple time where the girl’s had no doubt worshipped the leader into relaxing, then Mikey had gone with Jo trying to romance her on a date but for the youngest turtle having used it he was shocked it was clean and nothing was broke so the sweet girl he had brought there had to of cleaned up before they left
Doing his checks and getting a list of supplies that would have to be brought up to restock the food he started to wonder if maybe he should talk to Angel about expanding on her old place to give them more room but could hold off until she felt like going up there with him to see what he wanted to do since the bathroom and kitchen had been added in three years back before he had known it was hers
After he was finished he locked up and headed back through the forest chuckling as Teddy had bolted out of the brush to sneak attack him with the other wolf puppies halfway back to the main cabin petting his wife’s familiar when he would jump up on him
Gathering up a handful of wildflowers his queen loved in one of the open valleys on his way back for her favorite vase just figuring it would be a nice touch to his already planned out morning he made sure they looked perfect before starting on making her breakfast
Knowing her dietary restrictions and that her two little ones had a picky eating habit the first thing he made sure they had was plenty of meats for her to pick from not sure if they would want sausage or ham he had made both after making the bacon which was a necessity to her morning cravings
He decided last minute to just make enough everyone could eat given he already knew Red was going to be stealing off her plate if he didn’t and once the kids were up they would likely do the same, noticing the back door was unlocked meant Leo and Raph must have gone for their morning run meaning Angel would be up and moving if she woke up before they returned if they hadn’t just got Mikey to take over their spots
He had just finished up the eggs and got the tray with her breakfast on it finished when he heard movement from outside before the two alpha’s came in lightly bickering
“I smoked you all the way here”
“Ah bullshit! I had yer ass on dat last turn an ya know it Fearless”
Donatello sighed rolling his eyes as they argued over who had actually won getting back first, he tossed them each a water to silence them before they woke anyone up but he could tell the house was already getting lively
He could hear Faith’s clutch getting cranky wanting fed which was bound to start a chain reaction that would likely wake up Angel’s infants, then was going to rouse Raven’s two and his youngest daughter
That would lead to the older kids being woken up and then they were going to go find their parents to get their siblings
Knowing the babies were waking up had him already pulling out their prepared bottles from the pot he had sat them in to warm so the clutch not able to nurse could be fed until everyone was up and Daisy could be held over until Ashley was on her feet
Leo’s laugh as heavy steps landed on the stairs had him smirking knowing his brother was finally out of his bed before he had even lumbered into the room growling at his twin who immediately started messing with him for sleeping in while he was looking for the coffee pot grumbling making the genius chuckle as he just leaned on the counter trying to wake up
“Where’s the coffee pot Nerd…?”
Not wanting today to start up with a fight he bit down his snide comments and hurried down to the lab finishing off the cold coffee before placing it next to the male not even giving Leo the chance to get onto him for already having over his limit of coffee consumption in one sitting before he was grabbing the tray had heading up to his room
Coming through the door the heavenly scent of his wife’s body wash filled his senses chuckling seeing her laying out on the bed in a towel telling him she had gotten up before he had got back but had went right back to sleep setting her food on the side table before climbing in beside her “Good Morning beautiful” nuzzling at the redhead lightly until she rolled over grumbling not ready to move again had him kissing her softly just glad he could have her alone “Happy Birthday my love”
Her trying to nestle back into his chest for a few more minutes rest had him laughing before just catching her voice as she whispered he had remembered making him shower her in more kisses until she giggled pushing him away before her lips met his in her thanks
“Did you truly think I would forget again my queen… I’m hurt” he frayed injury making her shove him still tired but her lips on his cheek had him laughing with her
Her stomach moving under the hand resting over her belly told him all he needed to know and had him bringing her breakfast to her once she was sitting up knowing there was a time limit – the infants she was carrying were awake and demanding food and if he didn’t want them kicking her too hard so early he needed to get her fed
Once she was eating and he had loved on her a bit more he went to get the kids hearing Lily and Rose calling for Ashley meaning his sister had to be stretched to her limit on getting to all of them since Faith was probably dealing with her clutch of needy babies in the attic, and he was right; she had Shadow and Fayre ready handing them off to Leo struggling to get Kilian out of bed with Zara and Yoshi in her arms as Evangeline and Lea followed the leader down stairs
Taking the two babies from her he handed them to Raph who must have heard the younger woman trying to multitask as Red stood there in the doorway smiling with Sawyer and Junior holding onto his legs wanting a ride instead of walking
His brother’s mumbling the village was getting out of hand had the female giggling but everyone knew they loved having the big family none of them ever expected to actually exist
Seeing his brother’s were there to help with the kids and Mikey immediately scooping up his daughter Belle he turned getting his twin daughter’s out of bed and letting them get dressed on their own trying to stir his son who like him was never a morning person leaving the twin’s to dress him as he got Daisy who was holding the rail bouncing and giggling already wanting him to get her
Always the daddy’s girl she barely let him put her down to change and dress before she was clinging to him again nuzzling into his chest before seeing somebody she wanted a bit more
He turned grinning as Ashley came in the room cooing at her baby who immediately went to her chirping happily as she nuzzled into Mommy
Knowing the day was now started he hooked an arm around his wife kissing her softly before leading her down the stairs so she wouldn’t fall seeing the pride that matched his at how big she had gotten knowing she still had two months to go with the twins but they were making sure everyone knew they were there
Her gushing over the flowers made him smirk before they got the kids to eating him pulling his wife away to start her show wanting some quiet time while the others ate kissing her head as he watched TV with her as she gave Daisy her bottle letting the baby play on the floor in front of them both laughing as slowly the rest of the kids filtered into the room
They stayed on the couch until the kids started getting fussy wanting to watch their movies sighing but pulling his mate up deciding this was a good time to bring up that the girl’s didn’t need to make lunch but didn’t say a word more as he headed to the hall pulling out bags he had packed and ready looking over with a smile as everyone recognized their swim stuff
The kids getting so excited they immediately ran to get their swimsuits without him having to tell them
He figured a day on the lake after everything was just what they needed and since most of them hadn’t been there since the incident with them being attacked by what ever it had been in the water and it was once again safe this was the perfect day for a trip out
He had an alternative motive but it went hand in hand in their family fun to celebrate the redhead turning a year older
Derrick and Jo were coming up to celebrate with them as well and they had been invited to join the picnic he had planned to pack before the man would be bringing Momma up for the party later when he went to pick up the cake so they might as well get started
He sent his wife to check their stuff before getting right to making sandwiches and packing snacks already having the drinks in the ice chest cold looking over just as Raph carried down the sick woman who had likely been trying to come down on her own
Hating he hadn’t gone to check on her earlier the genius was shifting gears to go check on her after getting everything in the second ice chest as she slowly convinced her massive mate to let her down while coming to the kitchen
Begrudgingly Raph finally gave but stayed close to her
Angel wasn’t looking any better from the night before; but she offered the same soft smile acting like nothing was wrong as he led her to sit at the counter getting her a plate and her medicinal tea for the pain before Donnie would be pushing her to take her medicine
He was still prepping their lunch for the day with Raven and Faith’s help even though he had told them he had it to note them watching their older sister
He had been hopeful with the smaller portions but like lately he noticed she pushed it away without trying for a bite leaving his work to make her a shake in hope he could get her to try for some kind of nutrients before the others noticed adding in an extra scoop of the protein powder he had ordered online to try to keep her from deteriorating further
She at least could sip at those for a while when nobody could convince her to eat
Once that was done he was loading up everything getting it by the door grinning as his wife finally reappeared in the living room already dressed in an oversized shirt and her leggings over her swimsuit seeing he wasn’t the only one who had noticed
Slowly everyone filtered back into the living room ready to go sending the two biggest of his brother’s on ahead with the ice chests while his other two got the kids in the wagon being followed by their mates Leo carrying Angel even as she grumbled she could walk on her own
The walk down just proved how peaceful today was going to be; it was the perfect in every way from the temperature to the overall feel of the lake side
The kids were anxious to get in the water matching Mikey’s own excitement and he was the first to get in the water plunging in before Raven and Faith ran in behind him squealing happily
Before long almost all of them were in the water, Red deciding it best to just stay on shore for a bit with the sick woman who was relaxing in the shade near the babies that were too young to get in the shallows near shore with their older siblings who were excitedly playing on Leatherhead as he basked in the sunlight
He still didn’t want to try to go in after the last two incidents he had been near the water
Knowing Raph was staying closer to his mate and twin brother Donatello pulled Ashley out away from the others grinning as he kept her body close to they could just enjoy the water together not feeling secure in going out to the deeper water just yet they drifted where they were
Once the kids were hungry it gave them a chance to spread out Leo taking the twins to swim out further while him and the redhead went to get lunch with the rest of their family chuckling as the kids tried to hurry to eat what was laid out for their picnic
The children being out of the water to eat finally gave Red the chance to take Angel out to be in the water all of them watching her closely as she got a bit of sun him careful in his movements until they were waist deep her holding him being protective while he let the water wash over her so she could also enjoy the water even if she didn’t have the strength to swim
Donnie had still been sitting on the blankets they had brought down enjoying the homemade pop-tarts his wife made him when she got the chance when almost all of their family returned to swimming
Looking over at the woman at his side as she cradled their little Daisy who had passed out in her arms just smiling as he took her in; the sun filtering through the trees danced over her soft skin making her hair shimmer when it would catch the light, her sitting in that swimsuit that showed off her round belly had him reminiscing over the time they had known each other
He was still smiling like a love sick school boy when she looked over feeling his gaze asking what he was smiling about before he leaned in kissing her softly caressing her cheek so lovingly
“Would you like to go on a little walk with me my queen?” all it took was her little nod before he was placing the sleeping infant in the basket next to Faith before pulling her up with him holding her close as they headed off on one of the trails and for him memory lane
It had been six wonderful years since she had come into his life but for him it felt like it was yesterday when they had first met face to face
What had started out as him trying to comfort the redhead over her worries for somebody she hadn’t heard from in a while had quickly turned into him gaining the best friend he never knew he needed in a matter of hours; somebody who loved to just be around him
The morning she had stayed with him at the lair for the first time after they lost track of time and passed out while hanging out in his room ended in them holding onto one another all night long trying to sneak her out at dawn had was when his brother’s first met her
That should have been all he would ever need to see how their lives were going to change
All the days she had just come to the lair to sit in his lab listening to him ramble over one of his new experiments, his rants of who broke what that day and him having to repair it, or something he had found interesting turned into him just having to be around her whenever she was there pulling him from his work almost too easily
That had transformed into something even more after only knowing her for a month when he experienced the magic she held in that first shy kiss that turned into more in passing’s when nobody was looking
Their relationship started fast and got serious quicker then anticipated but as he had discovered she didn’t seem to mind all that much and he looking back now he wouldn’t change it for the world
They had discovered she was expecting only six months into their relationship and although there had been some hesitation and worry they had been overjoyed to realize they were having a baby… that was amplified when the realization of them having twins was revealed
He couldn’t think of anything that would have made him happier but there was one thing he knew for sure, he didn’t want to live the rest of his life without her always at his side
After managing to get through his anxiety of thinking she hadn’t wanted all of this in her life and making a ring worthy of the woman that held his heart he had proposed on their trip to the cabin on one of the perfect fall evenings under the stars, a ball of nerves when he hit his knee but that smile had just made it all worth it
To his joy she had said yes without any hesitation
Through her pregnancy he was attentive to all her needs and cravings, watching her progress happy to see the two infants thriving better then expected and watch as her belly grew, he could always be found laying near her loving on it when he wasn’t busy, always there whenever she would call even getting overly possessive and protective as she neared the end
The two welcomed their daughters months later far too early when the Purple Dragon’s had attacked in an attempt to capture Angel off the streets one night not realizing until they had trapped them down in the sewers that the woman with her was another of the mutant turtles girls until they saw how protective the other woman was in keeping Ashley from being taken with her and that she was pregnant, the stress alone sent his mate into labor
As they walked down a path just taking in the beauty not only at his side but around him it reminded him their time together hadn’t always been easy bringing more danger then he ever wanted to put her in to their doorstep and it was something he couldn’t control
A month later the clones crashed into their lives turning everything they knew upside down in what became one of the many stressful days they would come to know; all of them narrowly escaping with their lives but the threat just out in the tunnels surrounding their home was always a constant in their minds and for that they monitored everything and followed the females everywhere to be sure they were safe
She had stayed with him through it all
In those weeks she had quit her job and moved in with them fully to protect themselves and he had been so happy when she did but knew she had given up more then he would have ever asked
A while later they had met one of the clones but this one hadn’t been a part of the original plan; she was cloned in the thought to trick them but in the attacks had saved a few of them from the others. A prisoner herself in those labs they had took her in after she escaped to protect her clutch from the Foots plots to build their mutant army thanks to his wife’s heart of gold and slowly she became family to them
He squeezed her hand that took his as if she could sense where is mind was unwillingly going
The clones had crossed their paths many times after that and still she had stayed with him even when he became hard to deal with between his sudden outburst of anger or pulling away and getting lost in his work to keep the family safe she pulled him back each time to keep him grounded
She could have almost made him forget the danger that waited for them every time they left the lair
His clone Dominic’s attack when Donnie lost track of time and hadn’t gone to meet Ashley after work months later to surprise her with a date night at her place with the exciting news of what he had found out of her test results from her being sick for over a month had almost took everything he had away on the night she had been stabbed he thought she would die of her wounds but to his relief she was as strong as he had ever known since meeting the redhead she had pulled through and that morning he had told her why he hadn’t been there
They were expecting another little miracle; a son this time and for a while everything had almost seemed to calm down
Almost
During her pregnancy with their son Shredder’s copies of them continued to grow closer, two of them had somehow managed to get into the lair the day Dom captured Ashley while she was looking for clues on Faith and how she had came to be in those tunnels so close to their home without his security system spotting her getting introduced to their nightmares come true in a clone of her best friend
Seraphine, who took torture to a whole new level for all of them
After killing the woman who had been left to protect their children awakened something even she hadn’t know of giving way to something they had thought could turn the battle in their favor against their enemies
Then unexpectantly came the attack that changed their lives and made them decide to run from the city when he and Raven were returning from Leatherhead’s place
They had ambushed him and to protect his sister and Leo’s unborn baby he had made her run while he held them off before they overtook him in those tunnels nearly killing him in the process but it had been the key turning point that made them flee in order to keep the family safe and let all of them heal before they would have to return and confront their demons
A smile slowly formed on his lips as his mind drifted to a more pleasant and beautiful memory of his wife
They had been there for a while dealing with the mental scars left from their run in with their doppelgangers before he had finally made the move to keep his promise they had put off and on the morning of January 12 four years ago he had set up the whole thing and finally met her at the alter surrounded by their family and friends to say their vows
She had looked so breathtaking in her dress still able to see her coming down the aisle with that bright smile like it just happened
That was when life just seemed to finally find a peaceful middle ground for a while until a threat of the clones finding them had caused Leo to call for them to return to the city sending Ashley into labor in her fears of them not coming back home alive, welcoming their third child that night and causing the leader to start planning out a more productive way to deal with the problems at hand
What should have been the happiest time of their lives never seemed to last
He could still recall her face the day Dom made contact having tracked them down after they thought they were untraceable and off the grid never realizing Seraphine’s invasion of the lair had alternative motives until it was too late
He regretted all of that day
Everything from them leaving not realizing it had been a trick to get them out of the way had almost cost all of them what was important
The girl’s being kidnapped and tormented, them hearing it all happen over the radio as they raced the three hours back to save their family left Raven delivering Leonardo’s son in a cave under their imprisonment before they could manage to escape, Raph still hadn’t recovered from seeing a knife through Angel’s chest once they were home, the trauma it would leave on all of them in the end after the battle had been won and they had ended the clones for good, finally breathing a breath of relief when it settled in they were finally free
The end of that chapter welcomed not only Raven’s new son but the reality of him welcoming another less then expected but much wanted child despite their fears but like always they faced it together
Since then new issues arose in the form of new enemies between hunters and heaven’s army looking to terminate their happy life in order to end the Fallen they called family, a terrifying attack that had taken Angel’s sight and sent her health spiraling in a downward path, Red returning suddenly somehow being brought back from the dead looking as he had that faithful day only to watch him become a brother they cared for as if he had always been there, the death and revival of three family members in three separate ambushes by those who sought to end the angel who put everything on the line, and watching almost all his brother’s forgetting a important part of their lives, his denial to face his true feelings over what Dom left behind, later their struggles to hang on to what they protected while accepting what they couldn’t change
At that point he had expected Ashley to leave him; but like always she stood by him
As they neared a tree across the trail they had yet to move in the last few months he lifted her into his arms leaping over grinning as she giggled snuggling in his arms when he refused to sit her down for a while
Her sweet plea finally got him to do so chuckling as she nuzzled into his side holding her as they got where he was taking her presenting the blanket set up under a tree that looked over the water able to see their family from the hill pulling her into his arms just swaying with her
Her smile as they danced in the peaceful quiet melted his heart humming their song knowing she loved to hear it until he could see she was getting tired bringing her to sit in his lap once he was seated so they could be alone but was still lost in his mind realizing just how much they had been through
The transitioning period of getting used to the new turtle that stumbled into their lives by accident quickly becoming a favorite between the women willing to give him the chance to prove he had changed, watching the kids become attached, all the way to them welcoming their new brother into the clan and all the fun nights and days they had as a family while recovering and renewing bonds to one another seemed to just melt into one single moment
Donnie himself learning the hard way not to piss off his sister in law when he finally cracked under the weight and voiced his feeling’s over everything that had happened after he had started taking too many pain meds to numb his knee almost causing his wife to leave him
The birth of Mikey’s nephilim daughter Belle three month’s too early
The sudden t-boning of Lucifer just popping into their lives to be reunited with his long lost sister bringing dire news of the new threat centered on her new daughter that Angel started a war over to protect her baby
Two months later his daughter Daisy came into the world who he instantly love the second he saw her
Michael and Gabriel’s joint efforts in trapping Angel when she had gone to stop him from taking Ashley to the in between ending her up in purgatory for three days only to discover for her it had been years of fighting to survive until somebody could help her
Gabriel coming back with his need for revenge had nearly cost them Raph who perished in Angel’s arms but had been saved at the last second – and in the same night watching Raven and Leo lose their unborn daughter Harmony who was born too early when the young woman had taken a blow to her middle while protecting his little Lily
Gaining new friends in Derrick, the town’s vet, and his sweet sister Joanna who had fallen hard for his youngest brother almost the second their eyes met loving he had gotten most of Mikey’s nervous fumbles in gaining her attention on video but loved his baby brother found somebody like he had in Ashley
Meeting Batya, Angel’s first daughter from her first life who had been hiding in their home under their noses so Lucifer had eyes on the blind woman who was starting to worsen even though she had survived the darts meant to kill her
Few months of talking about it and coming up with plans Ashley had lovingly convinced him (without having to really) to help her give Red a family of his own only to discover his brother had accomplished that on his own and would be welcoming twins with his wonderful wife who was willing to give more then she ever asked for
His discovery of Angel hiding just how bad her illness was when her body quit on her putting their family member in a coma they were sure she wouldn’t come back from
Red learning the truth of what had really happened in those labs losing his temper, attacking Donnie in a fit of rage and bolting in fear he would harm his family… the two months of thinking he had tragically drown and was lost to them ripped a hole right in the family but barely having time to mourn with dealing the best they could when whatever had taken him started hunting them…
The joyous day Red limped back into the yard hurt worse then when they found him in the woods the first time but he was alive and he couldn’t recall how long he had hugged him just knowing he was back and okay
Her hand on his cheek snapped him out of his thoughts seeing her concern behind that bright smile had him chuckling nuzzling into her palm taking her hand under his as he leaned his shell on the tree once she shifted to straddle his legs brushing back a stray curl
His honey brown eyes looking over her beautiful face as she silently tried to get him to talk to her about what had him so unfocused “Sorry my love… I was just – thinking about everything” he kissed her hand meeting her eyes easily taken by just how amazing she looked after everything still seeing the same woman he had fell for but he could see the subtle changes and he could only fall further
She had laughed at his love struck expression going to say something before he lifted her chin silencing her too easily; leaning down and kissing her gently as she rested on his chest
It didn’t take her long to pull him in deeper once her arms went around his neck nipping at her as it started to become needy his arms slipping around her waist before his affections were trailing down her neck nuzzling into her gaining the beautiful laughter that to him would always rival the sweetest melody this universe could produce
Her petting of his cheek had his head resting on her shoulder listening to everything around him as she talked about what she wanted to do when they got back to the others already knowing he had planned the day trying to get him to tell her something about to night but he smiled shaking his head
It was all going to be a surprise and even with her begging to just get a clue he pecked her lips shaking his head not going to give away anything so he could see that shock in her eyes when she got to see it
They just sat there holding each other sharing kisses and loving affections until she wanted to go back to the kids grumbling lightly wanting his wife to get some time to just enjoy the quiet but knew the guys were bound to come up to jump off into the water below sooner or later
Finally with a few more kisses he gave taking her back to the family loving the walk back more as she moved to get a few flowers to make a flower crown for their daughters picking a purple wild flower to put in her hair before coming to the waters edge
April and Casey had looked to have made it finally before noticing Derrick must have arrived shortly after him and his wife had wondered off having a splash battle with the twin women
Having kicked off his boots on shore his jeans were soaked and Jo was out in the water with Mikey holding onto his shell as he swam to attack the leader who was floating on his back looking to have dosed off chuckling as their children came running to get their mother having escape their Aunt
He all out laughed harder then he had in weeks at the sight of Angel wearing Raphael’s sunglasses to cover her blind eyes laying out on the blanket by the infants she was watching her wings stretched wide with each baby cuddled into her soft feathers not seeming to be sleeping but was still probably keeping track of everyone there in her minds eye
Momma had made it to spend the day with her favorite adopted daughter, her sitting off to the side grinning as the two women attacked Derrick tackling him into the shallow water when he dropped his guard them giggling wildly as he sputtered but sighed ripping off the shirt he was wearing going to just swim even if he hadn’t planned to actually get in
Raph looked to have finally convinced Red to try to get in the water keeping a good eye on him to be sure he didn’t accidently go under waving to them when he realized they were back
Leatherhead per usual had the older kids and was letting them ride on his back Killian holding onto Rose so she didn’t fall in since she wasn’t the strongest swimmer just yet but once they were closer to shore they took turns jumping in and swimming around until he stopped to let them get back up
Seeing as everyone was having a blast he grabbed up Ashley taking her in for a bit more fun hearing her squeal at the cool water he dunked her in until she was holding onto him as he swam her out to his massive brothers
Red was grinning when he saw the redhead and Donnie happily let her go to him for a bit as he went to help Mikey prank his older brother who was ignoring him completely both jumping the older turtle dunking in fully under the surface
Leo had been fully asleep and given his trauma from the whole lake attack a week after Red had gone missing he panicked thrashing around and yelling once he was back up, it would have seemed he hadn’t appreciated the sudden wake up call but got the expected outcome of him chasing them diving under to escape the leader before he pounced on Mikey
He waited a few minutes before resurfacing a good ways away from his brothers seeing Raph had joined in on the fun once he was out of the way and Ashley was keeping an eye on their brother going out a bit further to explore but staying where his feet could touch the bottom
Another hour in and he sighed in relief seeing Angel finally getting up to get in the water once each of the babies had been moved and the older woman was watching over them with his father slowly swimming out to be with Raph who hadn’t seen her coming until she was on his arm nuzzling at him
He had really thought she would stay on the shore all day but was glad to see she felt good enough to actually swim out even if she had no energy after it still gave him hope she was going to get better
Eventually the kids joined them where they were out in the deeper water wanting to swim with their parents not only cause it looked like fun, of course they all knew the massive croc needed to do yet another quick sweep of the area to be sure it was safe given he kept doing it every thirty minutes but also to get a break as well so seeing the kids had the males chuckling
Each slid off as the crocodile passed them getting to their daddy’s
None of them let the kids go no matter how great their swimming skills could be each of their fathers kept a hand on them, Raph having the hardest time given his three spent more time in the water with their mother then all the other children they had wonderful experience and loved going under to look for treasures but it didn’t make it any less scary
His daughters being out in the deep water made him move closer to the others so he could stand to watch them holding Rose’s hand the whole time she was there chuckling as she floated on her shell just like her aunt had taught her smiling happily at him as he pulled her around
Once Leo had his daughter with Angel he was racing Mikey to the drop off cliff knowing the two would likely get all of them up there by the end of the day hearing the cheers minutes later as Leo bolted over the side of the forty foot drop off having to tell his wife no when she gave him that look wanting to go like he had let her the last two years
After a while Killian somehow slipped away from his dad to get Rose so they could play, it was noticeable the smile on both his and Raphael’s faces as the boy took extra care to hold onto the smaller girl so she could swim the short distance to his father who laughed seeing how calm the girl was when his boy was there
Donnie glancing over to see the warm smile on Ashley’s face that had to match his told him both knew she was in good hands letting Lily swim beside him even if his eyes didn’t leave her for too long – that was until Leo grabbed him to get his revenge for pranking him turning it into an all out water wrestling with all their brother’s as their mates laughed clearing the children from the area knowing it would get out of hand
Seeing the bigger males acting like they did had the kids giggling and cheering on their dad’s to win
He at one point got the best of Leo but Raph jumping in right after had been his undoing cause the second the massive turtle had him caught the other’s ganged up on him
It started out as just sparring but quickly became all of them trying to dunk the others under the water
The birthday girl stepping in was the only reason Mikey hadn’t gotten the chance to drown him but it didn’t stop Raph from throwing the genius once the redhead’s back was turned
They stayed out there until the sun was just above the horizon before calling for everyone to get out to dry off glad their friends had brought down more towels for the others given somehow a few had been turned into floaties by the children who had thought it was hilarious when they actually wouldn’t float
Most of them drip dried while the girls dried off the children sending a look to his friend when he silently asked if the stuff for tonight was there before his eyes caught the women all ogling the man Angel smiling even if she couldn’t see it was clear Ashley was telling her everything in great detail
Of course his queen would be enjoying this shooting her a playful glare as she stuck her tongue out at him but what did he expect the wife stealer was her boss at the vet clinic and as he had accepted a while back – her work husband
She did it on purpose to make him jealous
His brother’s growling when they noticed had everyone laughing knowing the girls were just trying to get some affection and what worked better then making them more then just a little green
Red with the help of Leo loaded the kids in the wagon after all their stuff was in the other while Raph took Master Splinter and Mary back to the cabin Angel and the twins following them with the older children who were making sure the angel didn’t trip by tapping a stick so she knew it was clear
Mikey being overly affectionate with Jo as they all headed home had him tapping his baby brother to focus given if they needed help getting ‘anyone’ back to the cabin he had to carry her but they had agreed to let her go as far as she could before they had to step in
And after seeing she was okay he was right back to flirting with his mate as if she wasn’t already his
Shockingly Angel got a good ways before having to rest Raph stopping worried she had over done it making Ashley go to her side offering to help but when she tried to say she was fine he rolled his eyes handing off his son to Joanna and scooping up the woman even with her arguing for a good minute and a half on how she didn’t need carried around
He tuned it out letting her get it out until she soon fell silent making him realize she had passed out too easily against him cooing snidely in a teasing tone
“Awww… look at the sweet baby- threw her little tantrum now she’s sleeping like a good girl”
His brother’s laughing when they saw it too had him grinning but before he could even say another word Ashley gave him that look knowing she was overly protective of her sister meant he had to behave unless he wanted her to get him
He would bide his time well, the redhead was in the best mood today so he just had to wait to get in those little jabs later but given his friend was the oldest out of all of them and acted like a child while sick making his job of caring for her harder he had been treating her like a child lately
For Ashley’s birthday he had tried to hold off but this was set up so beautifully an just seemed too easy
Walking into the house they all left their stuff on the porch to dry while he headed for the stairs cradling the sleeping woman figuring a nap couldn’t hurt her while they got the night going before Ashley’s birthday dinner when they would get her up again seeing his wife drop on the couch happily curling up on the cushions as the kids started their favorite movie to watch with her
They had about an hour and he still had to go get the wood for tonight from the side of the house knowing the massive brother’s were going to start moving the tables and chairs to their favorite spot just outback so they weren’t too far from the kids after they had to go to bed
He thought he was a safe distance looking around the room when Raphael hadn’t came to take her from him knowing for that moment he was safe
Leo seeing his playful gleam started shaking his head silently mouthing in order to tell him no and motioning for him not to do it given this was going to go two ways one not ideal the other - worth it
Rule number one when it came to a pregnant Ash… don’t push your luck
Rule number two … make her laugh and rule one was out the window faster then Mikey when he heard the word ‘cleaning’
Oh, he loved to push cause she was feisty and it was cute when she got her revenge and meant later when they were alone she would make him pay dearly
That bedroom was going to be locked once the night ended and he knew one of them wouldn’t be walking tomorrow
He hoped it was him cause Leo had already been talking about his new training regiment for the team earlier and he was trying to skip that at all cost to reduce his risk of dying on another too freaking far run before they even got started
“My love, why don’t you rest then go change into something more comfortable while I put the baby to bed… she’s so cute when she-” he ducked as she said his name in shock trying not to laugh throwing one of the smaller pillows at him trying to get onto him as Mikey and Red lost it only finding it funnier that the movement only made the woman hold onto his tighter but she didn’t even flinch baby talking his friend who was knocked out cold “But she looks like an angel when she’s sleeping like this… just look at her, so innocent and sweet - even though she’s a nightmare the devil is scared shitless of”
Raph and Leo’s laughter followed him up those steps as his wife started to her feet already laughing harder then he had thought she would saying his full name making him go faster snorting out his laughter as he retreated
Getting her in the bed had been too easy once he got her to release him; he covered her up with the blanket Raph had knitted her making a pillow bumper to surround the curled up body and giving her a stuffed toy placing one of the kids bottles and pacifier close by taking a picture that was now going to forever be his caller ID photo for the woman sending a group message to his family
Hey look, Angel does have a baby picture
Seconds later hearing the several chimes and Mikey’s cell playing some stupid meme he had programmed to tell him when he got a notification going off had him closing the door before the other’s were howling and cussing between their laughter
He came down those stairs beaming proudly seeing his wife leaning on the back of the couch unable to tell him what an ass he was and two of his brother’s on the floor, Leo unable to breathe had several very confused children just staring at their parents not understanding what was so funny giving him time to hide in the kitchen to start his wife’s favorite dinner
Ten minutes later the other’s could finally breathe and Ashley appeared at his side popping him on the arm with the wooden spoon telling him he better delete that photo but he had neither agreed or disagreed while also planning to make sure it ended up in the slide show for her wedding that was quickly coming up
“It’s a great picture of her to commemorate just how adorable she is when not awake … maybe I should print it off and make a collage with all the pictures I have of all you girls sleeping like babies at the most random times… it would look amazing on your desk at work” another disciplinary pop met his arm gaining his laugh before he was nuzzling up to her in an attempt to butter her up saying he was sorry
He wasn’t in the least given he had his wife smiling so much
With the promise he would delete it later he sent her to rest making sure she was out of earshot then sending the others to get the rest of the stuff for tonight handing off her gifts he had snuck up from the lab to be hidden in the back of his friend’s truck
Raven and Faith still red from laughing had come to help him get dinner done one getting the salad and veggies done while the other was in charge of making the sides getting it done in no time and having everyone not currently watching the children or growing a child set the table placing the flowers in the center
Dinner for the most part was peaceful him keeping the straightest face as Angel made it down stairs just after they had called them to come eat her glare obvious as she stepped into the room asking who had baby proofed her bed which set off a whole new fit of laughter from the family
So far the day was going to plan but he never held his hopes it would stay that way anymore given something was bound to happen he stayed blissfully optimistic but as dinner ended and the other’s started to get antsy to head outside without his wife noticing he realized for once today was going to go off without a cinch
He kept Ashley distracted by pulling her down into the lab to help him with something when his phone alarmed acting like his system was getting an update as Derrick and Red carried out the cake shooing the family behind her back just as he made it to the door down to the basement to hurry
He waited until everything upstairs had fallen quiet before nonchalantly suggesting they go out to enjoy the beautiful night together chuckling when she looked around not seeing anyone after making it upstairs him keeping a straight face looking around as if he was confused but took her hand mumbling they must have gone to get the kids cleaned up for bed
Her look told him she was onto him but she followed him out the door anyways smiling when they saw the area alit with the outdoor fairy lights and a fire going making her smile
He definitely wouldn’t be able to keep surprising her like this given she would start to figuring him out but for now he could hope she didn’t so he could keep seeing that smile just the same as her first birthday they spent together
Mikey and Red were already indulging in s’mores with the kids keeping them from getting too close to the flames when Ashley made it to their side taking her seat on the bench he had made just after they had come here seeing her having fun with his family as he stood back
They did presents once everyone was seated around the fire with the kids playing on the ground with their toys after the women had put the babies down for the night just grinning as everyone watched her open each with a smile
Derrick thankfully hadn’t brought any new pets like he did a bit too often from his office but had gotten her a new tote bag purse to carry her stuff in to work
The kids had all made her handmade items for her to decorate her area at the office so she could always see them while she was at work
Momma was beaming when the woman opened the envelope she had handed her with a certificate to her friend’s solon so she could get her hair and nails done again whenever she wanted to
Her showing off the new clothes and shoes the twins got her from their favorite store in town made the genius whistle unable to wait until he could see her wear them in person
Leo having got her some new books she had been looking forward to reading was talking about them possibly going to the bookstore in the coming weeks to see if there was anything new coming out they could enjoy together
Raph had carved her a wooden turtle and knitted her a new blanket given her daughters had stolen hers once they got their new room to keep mommy close
Angel, to her own credit given she was completely blind, had made Ashley a leather bound book for her to write in with a sigil in gold paint where it had been burned into the cover to honor her as a gifted so she could keep up with her training
Mikey being himself had made the redhead a necklace that was in the same bag as a beautiful wind chime his girlfriend had hand made with crystals secured around the top
Red having found his favorite new hobby of baking with the girls had managed to convince their human friends to take him to town getting her what she had been looking at for a while; a new set of baking dishes to replace the ones they had used for years these having purple accents and flowers around the outside and already the woman was planning so many things she could make using the thoughtful gift
His gift had been left for last seeing her eyeing him as she ripped into the paper opening the box wondering what he had done for her this year
His smile was unmistakable at hearing her gasp when she found a new laptop he had made with his wife in mind; hers had been on its last leg for a while with her refusing to let him fix it because ‘it was still running and did what she needed’ even though it was nearly ancient in his opinion but unfortunately had bit the dust a month ago when the girls had accidentally somehow gotten their hands on it and dropped it down the stairs – twice after trying to go hide in back in her bag the first time
This one was a bit more durable with lots of storage space, after working tirelessly he had finally managed to get all her stuff off the last one including all her pictures she had been so upset about thinking she had lost them saving them to a flash drive he had put up to make sure she had a copy just in case anything happened to it
She had been in shock for the longest time before he was getting practically jumped and kissed laughing as she gushed he had done too much but for him it was far from it
He could work too much and everyone knew he had a bad tendency to get lost in projects which often left his wife on her own but she wasn’t one to hold that against him
If she needed him, just wanted his time or some affection she always was able to pull him from his work almost too easily and if he was too deep in his stuff she sent the kids to get him cause they had their ways as well
Once all the gifts had been given and she was done adoring every single one the family gathered to spend time together Leatherhead bringing the cake over as they all sang to her and let her blow out her candles sheering as she made her wish
The kids were all too eager for their cake Killian finishing his slice before sneaking over and getting it down rest while the grown ups were talking, the kids giggling as they got caught eating it with their hands making a few of them gather up the young ones to get them cleaned up and ready for bed
A much easier task then expected given the long day meant the kids were exhausted no matter how much sugar they had just had, Donnie tucked in both his girls kissing them good night as they curled up with no resistance before he made sure their nightlight was on
He stepped out the door first to find Ashley was sitting on a bench where she had been watching the fire and in his spot her sister leaned on her shoulder just listening as the others talked and chatting softly over their plans for when Raph and the woman finally decided to tie the knot for real
Even though they were seen as husband and wife they had been putting the wedding off for so long for more important matters in their lives neither wanted to push the matter, they had even talked about having the wedding a few weeks after his but like always something had come up and it was hard not to feel as if time was running out for them
But despite it all he had a feeling it wouldn’t be long now given the way Raph had been talking and planning
As they sat there not seeing he was back he smiled just happy his wife had found a sisterly bond that was so strong even their enemies wouldn’t be able to break it; they were the others rock and listening ear when dealing with their own issues they turned to one another before any one else
Sometimes she went to her sister before even coming to him and that was perfectly fine, he knew when it was time she would come to him eventually and could even laugh now at the memories of how much trouble they got into in the past while silently dealing with something him and his brother’s could have helped with
The incident where Ashley had been captured – yeah, it spoke volumes and proved how deep their bond could be
Sure, Ash had a wonderful relationship with both Raven and Faith but her bond with Angel was so different, the two were so close anyone who met them would have never believed for a second they weren’t really related hoping she got to have that bond for years to come despite everything that was going on
He didn’t want to ever see their friendship end
He moved closer patting Angel’s back as she shifted to get up after feeling him coming close rather then anyone announcing he was back, silently telling her to stay before he took his place on the other chair beside the redhead holding her hand in his not having the heart to make the angel move seeing her curl back up against her sister
Mikey at some point had brought out the radio once the kids were asleep and instantly the adult part of her party began
Master Splinter seeing they were about to get rowdy offered Derrick’s mom to accompany him inside for tea before they turned in for the evening
They kept that fire going through the night having a blast playing games, jamming out to songs they liked, and listening to the remember when stories they told that for some of them were completely embarrassing to hear but it got a good laugh
Raph and Casey finally getting Derrick to drink with them turned into them doing shots of whatever their human friend had brought with him to see who would be standing at the end of the night and like always to no surprise Casey caved first passing out in a chair and becoming the victim to Mikey and a permanent marker none of them would admit Angel had tossed to him
Each of them took turns drawing on the man’s face and although the redhead had gotten onto them while laughing at the massive dick Raph had put on his friends forehead Donnie grinned with pride when she added her own drawing on his cheek and Angel drew on a curled mustache with a monocle with help of course
The twins after getting Leo to relax took turns loving on him even teasing until the leader had no choice but to get his hands on both
Raph being in a good mood and obviously carrying a good buzz after drinking with his buddies had pulled Angel to her feet holding her against him as a song came on the radio that had her smiling; holding her in his arms just lost in the moment
Knowing his brother didn’t do it often for his bride to be even when she asked for it only meant she was getting one of those oh so rare memories she was going to treasure forever
Ashley given him that look had him following suit chucking as he spun and dipped her gently hearing the catcalls but he loved dancing with his wife so he could see her beaming brightly just like at their wedding
As they shared an intimate moment April and the other women packed up the food and took what the kids hadn’t eaten of the cake inside getting Mikey and Red to take down the tables so they didn’t get up tomorrow to find the wild canines had found a new perch
It was close to four in the morning when he noticed the energy of the party had depleted and they were out of firewood, Mikey had stolen Joanna away to go back to his room when she started yawning and at some point Leo and the twin women had slipped away to who knew where but it was no doubt they were having their own bit of fun
Seeing his wife starting to nod off against her sleeping sister he grinned watching Raph pick up his mate taking her inside to get her ready for bed as he got to his feet stretching out his limbs and putting out the fire, he had turned to tell his wife they needed to go inside but just melted at the sight before him
Ashley pouted and held out her arms wanting carried and how could he say no when she looked so cute
With no effort on his part he lifted her into his arms cradling her body as both arms surrounded his neck kissing her head then headed inside and up to their room helping her get comfortable and under the covers starting to go finish cleaning up but she caught his wrist
“My love, I need to go make sure everything is cleaned up and the food isn’t on the counters… probably check on the kids-”
He had seen that sleepy half gaze pleading him with just her beautiful eyes more then once in their relationship and knew he wasn’t leaving unless he wanted her getting up and following him
“Or – I could just message one of the others … tell them that somebody is holding me hostage in our room” he joked pulling out his phone to message Leo who he knew was still up while kicking off his shoes and getting into his sleep pants, grumbling playfully at her victorious smirk before he was in bed pulling the covers over the both of them with her nestling up into his arms hearing the notification probably answering his request
She lifted her head only enough to kiss him before her head was tucked into his neck sighing happily as he played with her hair absentmindedly to help her relax
“Did my queen have a good birthday?” she hummed softly in response but not a second later her deep breathing caught his hearing chuckling as he nuzzled her head petting her hair down “I will take that as a conformation… Happy Birthday baby and sweet dreams” he whispered softly closing his eyes starting to drift off not getting up until he had too knowing come morning life would continue and be as hectic as always; he might have to work on something in the lab to stay caught up or fix whatever Mikey had broke at some point today
That meant pulling his wife into spending some time alone down in his area before taking her up to the cabin for the next few days to relax… and he was really looking forward to that
But then again – that’s what he loved about this life knowing he'd get to do it with his Ashy
#Happy Birthday#tmnt 2014/2016#Donatello x Ashley#tmnt bayverse#teenage mutant ninja turtles#tmnt donatello
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no apple but a heart liner notes
fic here if you haven't read it!
i had the idea of vitalasubz funerary cannibalism pretty immediately after seeing "cannibalism" on the prompt list. it's a good concept. but i wasn't sure if i could get it to the minimum word count (it ended up juuuuust scraping by) so i decided to write the time loop fic first and then do the cannibalism as a bonus if i felt up for it
and then one of my friends (unrelatedly! without knowing about this!) started talking about eclipse fed cannibalism on discord, and i was like Man....i should write eclipse federation cannibalism....unfortunately i only really have enough ideas for One Scene of it.....and they were like write one scene then! and i went You Know What. youre right. and wrote this in one sitting
for research for this fic i read all of @erstwhilesparrow's mcyt cannibalism fics in a row. check those out if you haven't already: double life desertduo(&/)boat boys, limlife mean gills, 3rd life desertduo, new life owen(&/)scott
i knew basically as soon as i had the idea that i wanted to do stuff with the despawn timer. how much can you eat in 5 minutes, when you're grieving and dissociating and in shock, your action spurred on only by the knowledge that whatever you don't eat will disappear forever? that this is the only way to preserve anything at all of the one you love?
in contrast i did not know until literally the day of writing it that i was gonna do something with hearts-as-hearts. it was a good idea, though.
did you know that after subz dies, vitalasy stands without moving or speaking for 50 seconds, turns slightly, and then continues standing there without doing anything or speaking for another 13 seconds. yeah. fun little canon moment. it's also 63 seconds off the 5-minute despawn timer!
the title is from quattrocento by margaret atwood, which is a great poem. idk how well it actually works for this piece thematically, it works okay i think but i'm not doing a ton with serpent imagery here (even though i could! subz and eclipse are in fact totally doing various mythological snake imageries!) or with garden-of-eden stuff? but the imagery always stuck with me when writing cannibalism stuff and i hadn't gotten to use it for a title yet and figured this was my chance
cannibalism as devotion.... cannibalism as memorial...... mm. good stuff. i should have made a way to make this Eucharistic somehow, cannibalism-as-worship doesn't show up here as much but it would've slapped.
something that didn't make it into the fic but that i did have some thoughts about is vitalasy's feelings wrt zam + subz after this. i think he's glad, on some level, that he got to eat subz and zam didn't, but also he feels kind of guilty for feeling glad, but also he's arguing to himself that he shouldn't have to feel guilty, it's not like he stopped zam from being there, zam wasn't there bc zam isn't/wasn't on their team.
other stuff that is even less fic-relevant but that i've been thinking about is that you could do a lot with "if you kill someone you get their heart" + the various meanings cannibalism can have. cannibalism as domination of an opponent. cannibalism as possession. cannibalism as respecting someone's sacrifice. killing someone and then handing them their own heart to eat, when you kill someone and give them back the heart. yeah. fun possibilities!
shoutout to ihob. nothing much to say here other than i'm glad i somehow included ihob in the vitalasubz cannibalism fic. i love ihob. i love that bacon only eats pork chops even though they're worse than golden carrots! he's on three hearts anyway, what's the added saturation gonna do! i love the dumb fucking three-way contract for its ownership. i love. ihob.
fun fact: the only other fic on ao3 tagged with subz's suicide stream is ALSO a vitalasubz funerary cannibalism fic. i genuinely did not know this until after posting. what can i say, it's a good concept.
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Dead Plate (Part 2)
OK so its been a month since the last time ive played Dead Plate and uhh oops!! my bad !!
in my defense life has gotten very busy for me especially since its the holidays but now i finally have the time to finish this game and get at least one ending!! (hopefully)
spoilers under the cut
back to day 5 where i struggled so incredibly hard
the amount of times ive played through day 4's nightmare sequence is killing me
bro. how do i pass this level without losing a customer
NOOO I WAS SO CLOSE WHYYY. PLEASE. literally i was doing so well but i took too long for the 4 table orders ugh <//3
i wish you could see like, a patience meter for the customers or something
maybe i should try using the item that slows down how impatient they get
YESSS FINALLY!!! I DID IT I FINALLY DID IT!!
what is that weird squelching sound.
still here even though the shift is over and the sounds i am hearing are concerning to say the least
what if... i just leave
ok i cant leave
boss's office? also i just noticed the timer ticking down uhh
can i just leave please why is the timer ticking down wtf do i do???
also lots of interesting things in that office
was the review on the waiter about Rody? if so ouch man thats harsh
NOOOOO OH MY GOD...... I ACCIDENTALLY QUIT I HAVE TO DO DAY 5 ALL OVER AGAIN ARE YOU KIDDING ME
ok well. at least now i know my key to success is the cologne
ok so Rody had an interesting reaction to the crumpled up picture of Vince and a woman so maybe he knows who she is? is this the 'her' that you can sorta not really call on the telephone??? or is he just surprised to find love letters in the trash
anyways its telling me the sounds are coming from the freezer but idk where to go from here
LMAO the sound signalling the end of the day jumpscared me askhjdakj
at least the food looks tasty
what was that whole thing about tho? what was going on in the freezer??
back home, looked out the window and i noticed you can see someone's silhouette in the background windows
i dont know if that was always there and i just missed it but very interesting
FINALLY a new nightmare
bro he was in an oven?? why ?? damn Rody's nightmares are like really creepy akladjalks
another day another dollar
damn. im gonna struggle once again because there is a LOT of customers and like i am just sooo. ksfdjslkdj whatevr kakayanin !! lets go guys
my hands are so sweaty akladh
another successful day and another tasty dish
....my fingers hurt LMAO
looked out the window and yep alright the person's silhouette isnt always there
huh. interesting nightmare
it was Vince eating him and like damn that actually scared me lskjd
shorter than previous nightmares
well onto day 7 another day another dollar
lets go!! i am winning!!! only had to retry once this day!!
BROSKI JUST QUIT?!?!?
ohhh so the woman is named Manon
aww i feel so bad for this guy :(( the girl isnt picking up
i wonder why tho? like does she just not like him anymore and he just needs to give up on her or is it cuz of smth w Vince (shes probably the girl from the crumpled photo in the trash right?)
damn the phone just ringing while the credits are playing
ouch :((
alright then time to get the other endings!! to do this i will be following the ending guide bc my brain is not big enough to figure it out by myself lmao
ive opened up the official ending guide and oho? you can actually get a phone call from Manon? cool i will try that out first
restarting all the way to day 1 bc i miss how easy it was
yk an interesting thing that was introduced in the tutorial that i havent experienced yet is the customers asking questions
oh hey!! i kept the stuff that i purchased in my previous run?? really?? awesomeee
ooh hey!! i kept the dishes from previous runs too!! cool
ok its day 3 now and i have to take out the trash to activate the cutscene
ok went through that whole baffling ordeal of getting slapped
also!! i chatted with Vince on day 3 and like. idk their chats are just funny to me
also like there might be something wrong with me but i am lowkey shipping Rody and Vincent together kadjlksd
this is something that happened in Elevator Hitch where i started lowkey shipping the two main characters oopsies
anyways!! moving swiftly onwards!!
um. my guy disappeared after i checked the fridge
oh shit new cutscene
BRO ??? UM ?????
well that was scary uhh. damn
oh the boss isnt in the kitchen anymore
wait i didnt get to do all the dialogue options that are needed!! no!! does this mean i need to redo this whole day in order to get the phone call event???
better safe than sorry i guess
ok so interestingly when Rody asked Vince if he liked his job, he didnt answer the question he just changed the subject and made fun of Rody LOL
the 'can you give me a raise' question gives some more details on Manon and what Rody thinks of her (he is a grade A simp bro)
the 'are you single' question is interesting to me just bc Rody the simp has issues w Vince being like 'meh' on romance and tbh im with Vince on romance not being the end-all-be-all
THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT A STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE
IS IT CUZ I FED THE RAT CHEESE INSTEAD OF SCARING IT AWAY OR SMTH???
EW ITS IN THE FRIDGE AND THE REAL ONE I HAD BEFORE IS GONE NOOOOOOO
Vince: I haven't got any sense of taste.
Rody: Yeah I could see the decorations out there-
LMFAOOO RODYYY
bro now i am sad that i missed out on these gold interactions between them on my first run this is so funny
also they both didnt really have any proper answers for what their favorite food is
Vince was like 'eh i dont have any since i cant taste stuff idk lemons or smth' while Rody was like 'i just like whatever my girlfriend likes'
very interesting how Rody is like obsessed(?) with Manon
then when asking Vince what he's reading, he just straight-up lies about what the reviews are saying about Rody lmfaoooo
anyways now for the creepy night restaurant segment and going back in Vince's office to check out the possible Manon love letters in the trash
i just realized the croque madames are like. rotten cuz they have flies flying around it which ew! yuck! why is it like that
well. nothing i can do about it so next day i guess!!
oh hey wait i can now afford the matches which i will be needing for ending 3! nice
OK NOW I HAVE REACHED THE PHONE CALL
damn ok so its not Manon but its Vince inviting Rody to a dinner party!! nice !!
LMFAOOOO HE INVITED RODY TO MAKE HIM WORK VINCE I CANT BELIEVE YOU!!
Rody you are so embarrassing but its ok bc ur really funny
anyways!! getting interesting lore on Vince and Rody!!
one of Rody's old classmates was there, and then another guest said that either Vince must really like Rody to have him there at the party or is incredibly desperate akldskl (since she said that Rody's outfit sucks LOL)
ooh ok so. Rody is desperate and a bit delusional my bro u gotta let go of that girl bc apparently she dumped you already so like. stop bro
dkjhskas nooo ive served all the guests and theres nothing left to do except snoop around in Vincent's bedroom agh!! agh!!!!!
bro when i go in the room the music just disappears wtf
UM? HELLO??? BRO THAT SCARED ME DSKJKSDJ
i knew this was going to happenn aughjahkj
BRO THE MUSIC IS JUST GONE AJKSDFK
not Rody asking what happened like he didnt just steal smth from Vince and pretty much get caught in the act 😭😭😭
well ok then so that happened
actually you know, now that im thinking about it, its kinda weird that Vince threw Manon's letters in the trash
does that mean she is pursuing him romantically but he like just doesnt care or what??
i am inside and i am afraid cuz the game asked 'are you sure?' when i clicked 'go inside' broooo
oh hey its Manon and Rody
WAIT WHY IS THIS LOCKET IN HERE ?? DID VINCE KILL HER ??
ASKHDKAS OH FUCKK OH NO
bro thats so like. sadistic
leaving him tied up and telling him he can live if he runs away but like he can only crawl across the floor
i see why the matches are needed for this part
gee wow thanks game
ok now this time im bringing the matches with me
ok so ive burned away the ropes but im still trapped inside cuz he locked the freezer aghhh
what the heck do i do??
oh nvm i found bags of flour, i can use these to reach the cooler
so i have to stop the fans of the cooler, probably by putting something in it
can i take the saw out?? oh wait theres a switch LOL
ok so ive use the saw to cut the meat off and now ive got animal bones
ive jammed the bones in the fans and now i can break open the window wow
SHIT GOT CAUGHT BY VINCE
DID HE JUST BITE A PIECE OF MY FLESH?!??!
oh my god. he killed and cooked her to feed to Rody i. wHY???
oh so he ate Rody's ear i am shook wtf
bro Rody just severely pissed this guy off by telling him he never ate his food i feel it in my bones
also makes sense why its just sitting in his fridge
Rody really hitting this guy where it hurts damn
i mean its deserved cuz of like the whole thing
i accidentally got ending 4 since i messed up a QTE but damn. damn that was wild and also this is gross
something i didnt mention earlier but i noticed that there was a grilled hanger steak on the table, which is the dish when you get ending 1
would the other dishes i got in past endings show up when i got them? but i got ending 2 and the dish from that didnt show up so maybe its just a little detail for ending 1
wait was the steak made out of Manon. oh boy that makes that ending a lil more fucked up
ok going back to the chase sequence
BRO RODY JUST KILLED HIM
so i went into Vince's office, surprisingly did not get chased inside and then i picked up the broken bottle and now Rody's just killed the guy
got the restaurant key
bestie like. theyre gonna arrest u if u just leave and never say anything please explain the situation to the police or smth
why is the game not letting me leave. what do you mean revenge is best served cold. does the game want me to put Vince in the freezer!??!?!
yep the steak is def Manon
why r u not letting me leave wtf do i do
trying to read the comments on the game's page on itch.io and the amount of people going 'when will they kiss' 'kiss ending when' im laughing
like even tho all this horrible shit just happened i still lowkey ship Vince and Rody oopsies. toxic yaoi LOLOLOL
i have no idea what to do now so i am just gonna look up a guide rq
ok i need to get the cooking oil
he's burning this place to the ground
wait was Vince still alive after getting stabbed repeatedly???? his eye moved when Rody was pouring oil on him and i mean the game did say that his eyes are still following you
oh bro after-credits cutscene with Manon???
aww ok my opinion of Manon has greatly improved cuz she broke up w Rody cuz he was destroying himself for her
she realized that she wasnt good for him and like, for the greater good of his mental health they cant be together
its burnt and also its lemon, which is what Vince said was his favorite food
OH HEY IT CHANGED
actually i did notice that after ending 3 it was snowy
damn
well, thats the end of my playthrough on Dead Plate
honestly, it was a very fun and enjoyable game! i liked the serving aspect even tho i kinda sucked at it and like i also really liked Rody and Vince despite all that just happened
those two are seriously fucked up and i love them LOLOL
the music was really good and made up for having to redo day 5 over and over again alskdjh i was jamming most of the time to the music
the art was also really good! i liked how cute the pixel sprites were, and then like the art for the portraits and CGs and everything was also really good! i really enjoyed the art style and music
the story was interesting, and i liked it too
the twist was wild and blew my mind but i am still a massive fan of Vincent x Rody JKDAHSDKJ
i like how there was a cannibalism twist but Vincent wasnt actually like, an actual cannibal he was just insane and planning on making Rody an unknowing cannibal
i know he ate Rody's ear but like. he said that he doesnt eat people on the regular so yk he's just fucked up
also its really funny reading all the comments and seeing a lot of Vincent x Rody stuff LMFAOOO so true of everybody honestly
HELP I FOUND A COMMENT THAT SAID THEY NOTICED EVERY PIC WITH VINCE IN IT (on the store page) HAS HIM LOOKING AT RODY LDSJHSFLSDKN THE SHIP IS SO REAL!!!
ok sorry enough of that
overall, 10/10 would play again solely for the server gameplay (would be cool to have a kind of endless mode where you just serve customers until one leaves or something) and also because i love these characters
thats all for today and probably for this month LOL byebye!!
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this is part two of unlearning the bad things i unconsciously learnt from last year.
part one was the negative default pessimism i fall in to, which i keep calling it me being emo which means i dwell in my “misery” for far too long, instead of trying to think of something positive to get myself moving out of the bad zone i am in. as we are often told, sadness and negativity gets comforting, it feels like you are protecting yourself. but one cannot see beauty in life and find joy for oneself if one does not make oneself vulnerable.
and so making myself vulnerable is what ive been doing. trying to romanticise this state that im in, a liminal space, at crossroads. its not the most ideal, too many things are unknown and for the first time in my life im dealing with having barely any structure to my days, with nothing to do yet so much i should do.
it took me quite a while to stop lamenting this unknown and start returning to the foundations i built this blog and my entire philosophy off, the whole concept of “lest we die unbloomed” of making sure i dont realise one day ive wasted my time. and in small parts i like to think ive made progress on that
the focus now is the second part. i lost a lot of my attention span and impulse control, and today i reached a horrible point where i am sitting on the kitchen floor at 9 with no dinner, having ruined my microwave dinner out of a lack of common sense. i am not sure if all this recent muddling is because of covid brain fog or the horrifying amount of screen time i have had recently, but i was so sick of it. i have done a lot of things on impulse recently, and though today i had a really fulfilling day spending time with people i havent in a long time, when i got home and im back to reality of the things i havent done and been procrastinating for too long on, i felt horrible. this need to change, i realised.
so this is part two. it calls back to one of the values i set as something important to myself, being honest with myself. i know what im doing now is not working. i know that even though i use my planner im not sticking to it. i know my todo lists are not helping me. then why do i stubbornly stick to methods i know dont work? i told myself a year ago i would not change my system if it doesnt need to be changed. i have forgotten that i need to change it when it does. how silly! so im changing.
so in the last 2 hours in order to get myself up ive written todo lists on paper instead of in my journal. used a timer for every single step from shower to sweeping the floor to brushing my teeth. enough lazing around and letting simple things occupy too much time. its a parkinsons law thing.
enough doomscrolling and opening instagram when i have nothing to do. im setting a limit for a block of time in the day where i am not allowed to use social media, pwrhaps not any internet at all. i need to make drastic change, even if it seems inconsequential. it might not be academic but its personal. and my personal life and what i want to do with my time is worth taking big measures for, because it should be more important than all that revision for exams i used to do.
so the point f this ramble is to clear things out with myself. make some sense of whats goijg on. have a direction. tomorrow i have an interview. ill come home and do the chores i have to. prepare for my afternoon activity. go for lunch and my afternoon appointment. go for a run. buy dinner. write my applications. research on uni stuff. read a book. and all the other tint things i need to give more importance to even though they seem inconsequential. it sa new mantra ive gotten into ever since part one of this. that “this is the way” this is the new way. enough lazing. its time to go hard and be rurhless. take things up a notch because when else can i do it? go big from experiences to measures i have to take to discipline myself. this is the way.
04.04.2023
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FebruarOC Day 11: Kestrel
(Just so y'all know what you're getting into with this one, it's mildly spicy (but not explicit) and there's a lot of talking about death. Hence why the mature label, and a lil sample before the read-more)
100%
When you’re twenty-seven, you find out what dying is like.
It’s not quick, fast and painless. It’s long and drawn out, slowly watching your timer tick down, gradually losing oxygen with no way to fight back.
It also tastes like bitter almonds.
99%
Of course, other people have prettier words for it. Magic, they call it. Nova, is what people like you are called.
You don’t care what it’s called. Dying is dying, no matter how it’s dressed up.
97%
The first time you meet him, he teaches you how to shoot a gun. He’s cold, emotionless, detached.
Somehow, that doesn’t discourage you from wanting to know what’s behind those distant walls of his.
94%
The first time you see him smile is when you pick out a new name. Kestrel, to match his Falcon.
“Are you sure you want to join the ranks of the birds of prey?” he asks. You’ve gotten better at reading him, can hear the challenge in his tone.
“I’m sure.”
He grins then, sharp and deadly like his namesake. “Welcome to the club.”
91%
You end up in his bed.
“Just this once,” he murmurs, before stealing your reply from your lips.
87%
He asks you, once, what it feels like, being a Nova.
“It’s like drowning,” you tell him. “Where every second you know you’re running out of air, but no matter how hard you fight, you know you can’t save yourself.”
86%
“And,” you add, “the air tastes like bad almonds for some fucking reason.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You know what that taste is?”
“Nova magic, apparently.”
“Fair. But also,” he wraps an arm around your waist and leans in to murmur the last word in your ear, “cyanide.”
“How the fuck do you know that?”
His only response is to grin, sharp and humorless, and when the light flickers it looks like his teeth are stained red.
83%
You end up in his bed again.
79%
And a third time.
77%
You stop keeping count.
74%
He never acknowledges how often he ends up in your bed, or vice versa.
68%
But you ask him why, once, in the dead of night when the darkness covers you and you both can pretend that nothing else exists.
“Because if I don’t say anything, then it doesn’t exist,” he answers. “And if it’s not real, then it won’t hurt.” He caresses your throat, nails dragging against your skin, then he leans in and steals your breath.
And he’s right, in a way. When all you can taste is coffee and whiskey, breathing in the scent of gunpowder, it’s easy to forget about drowning and cyanide.
61%
So you pretend you don’t hear the silent words, for his sake.
57%
That doesn’t stop you from being selfish, though. After all, if there’s any benefit to this timer on your life, it’s that you won’t be the one hurting when it finally runs out.
So you whisper those words in the dead of night, when his breathing is slow and he can’t hear you, because they can hurt him but they won’t hurt you, and you’re selfish enough to say them but not enough to make sure he hears them.
49%
You never expected him to die first.
42%
Maybe you should have known. Should have expected. Should have done better, been better, helped him, saved him—
37%
All you taste is bitter almonds
35%
cyanide
33%
and his blood on your lips.
24%
You wish it had been you instead, and it’s selfish and awful but at least he had been prepared for it happening, because you’re not and it hurts and you just
13%
can’t.
5%
You’ve spent the last few years resisting your timer, fighting for air so you could have another year, another month, another day, another hour, another minute, another second with him.
2%
You’re done fighting now.
0%
Your timer runs out.
.
.
.
%ERROR%
But you don’t die.
%ERROR%
You come out breathing on the other side, and the air tastes like petrichor.
%ERROR%
It’s is a gift you never expected to have.
%ERROR%
Without him, it feels like a curse.
#writing#in which i write#nova#februaroc#februaroc 2024#i'm very excited for the emotional damage imma inflict on my friends with this :D
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Hopefully one more?? She’s Jon’s half sister and while wheeler is sleeping at his house , she shows up when Jon least expect it. Renee ends up match making the two of them but would Jon get mad at their sudden friendship ?
Wheeler Yuta x f/Reader
Main Masterlist ♡ AEW Masterlist ♡ Wheeler Yuta Masterlist
Warnings: Some swearing.
Just like all my other stories, this has not been proofread, but please enjoy.
Gifs and photos do not belong to me.I hope you like it. I am sorry it took so long to get out.
Felt like my writing wasn't good at times, but I wanted this to be good for you.
Paul - Wheeler Yuta
Summary: f/Reader is Jon's half-sister. She has never met Wheeler Yuta but has heard plenty about him from her brother & sister-in-law. She finally gets to meet him & it is love at first sight for both.
YN's POV:
The storm felt like it has come out of nowhere. The roads have gotten so bad I am contemplating trying to find a hotel to spend the night in.
But then I remembered that my brother just moved here not that long ago and I wasn't far from his new place.
I pulled over to the side of the road to call Renee to see if it was okay. I am like my brother in a lot of ways. I just didn't want to show up unexpectedly.
"Of course you can. I'll unlock the door and wait for you to get here." Was what I was told. I was on the road once again, heading to safety as I have a feeling this storm is not going to let up any time soon.
I quickly ran to the front door and just like Renee said, it was unlocked. I opened the door and waited for Renee to appear with a towel as this isn't the first time I have came over looking like a drowned rat.
"Go and take a nice hot bath, I will take your clothes and wash and try them for you. Good thing we still have some of your pajamas with us."
"Thanks Renee, you are a lifesaver. Now which bathroom do you want me to use?" I asked her as I basically stripped at the door. I had the towel wrapped securely around me.
"Second floor. Second door on your left." She said to me, completely focused on getting my clothes cleaned for me.
I finally got to the bathroom, locked the door behind me and I noticed it was a jacuzzi tub. I got the tub filled and got in it, moaning lowly at the feel of the hot water on my cold body.
I turned on the jets and started to relax. I got completely lost in my own world that I didn't hear a door open.
"Oh! I am so sorry!" A male voice said. I screamed out in shock and I clutched my hand to my chest, trying to catch my breath.
"How the hell did you even get in here?" I demanded. I am sure I locked the door behind me.
The man pointed to the door behind him and it was connected to a bedroom. "Sorry, I thought that was a closet." I told him.
"It's okay." I finally got a good look at the man and he was very handsome. My eyes were drawn to his eyes. I could feel like I could lose myself in them.
"I'm Paul by the way. Friend of Jon and Renee" Why does that name sound so familiar?
"YN. Jon is my brother." The timer for the jets went off and the jets stopped. I realised I am naked and alone with a man I have do not know.
"I should go. Sorry for barging in like that." Paul quickly turned around and went back into the same room he came from.
~
I stayed in the tube a bit longer and once the water started to turn cold, I got out. I dried off my body and hair as best as I could and got into the pajamas.
I walked downstairs hoping to find Renee and ask her about this Paul guy.
"Hey, I heard a scream. Everything okay?" She asked me as I sat down next to her on the couch.
"And you didn't come running?"
"I knew you could take care of yourself." I playfully glared at her when she said that.
"Yes I am fine. Just had some company whole I was taken the bath."
A confused look came across her face and then it finally dawned on her.
"Shit YN. I completely forgot Paul is in the bedroom connected to the bathroom. He works with Jon and is staying here instead of staying in a hotel."
"Is he a wrestler?" Even though my brother is one, I really never got into it. I tried but it never held my interest.
"Yeah, he goes by Wheeler Yuta." The new guy to join my brothers team or whatever it is called.
"Oh, he seems..um nice." Was all I could say. I know Renee. She will try to set us up even though we just met. She loves love and thinks everyone should deserve it.
"Where is Jon by the way?" Usually my brother would be all over me the moment I stepped through that door.
"Is flight was delayed due to the storm. So if it clears up, he will be home either tomorrow or the next day."
~
I woke up the next morning to some wet sloppy kisses. I opened one eye and saw my niece very close to my face and Renee standing next to the bed.
"It's time to wakeup sunshine. Someone told Nora that her favourite Auntie is here." I love my niece but I need at least five minutes of quiet time to fully wake up.
"I'll take her downstairs. She can bother Paul while you get ready. Breakfast is on the table." Renee said as grabbed a now fussy Nora who didn't want to leave my side.
I laid in bed for another minute and slowly woke up. I quickly got ready for the day and joined the others downstairs.
I found Nora, Renee and Paul sitting at the table for breakfast. "There she is." Renee called out.
I waved her off and grabbed myself some food. The only seat that is available is next to Paul. He smiled at me and I gave him a small smile back.
The three of us enjoyed some small talk as we ate. Renee said that Jon's flight got delayed once more as the weather has not let up.
"That means you are also not going anywhere missy. You are staying here until the roads are safe enough to drive on." Renee said to me as she pointed her spoon at me.
"Yes Mom." She just scoffed at me and went back to Nora, who is now just covered in her food.
"Looks like someone needs a bath. Entertain yourselves. I'll be right back once this one isn't so sticky." I looked at Nora and I could see the maple Syrup that she has in her hair and all over her face and hands. Renee is going to be awhile.
Wheeler Yuta's POV:
When I went to grab a drink last night I was not expecting to see a woman in the tub. I was so stunned I didn't even move or say anything at first until I introduced myself.
She was kind to me and with one look into her eyes, I was gone. I quickly left the bathroom and went down the stairs to the kitchen, where Renee was.
"I heard a scream." I told her what happened and she just laughed at me. "You're lucky she didn't hit you. She is Jon's sister. He taught her how to fight."
Now I am even more intrigued by her. I wanted to ask Renee more questions about her sister-in-law but I didn't want to show that I liked her.
For one thing, I just met the woman less than five minutes ago and she us Jon's sister. He is very protective of her and I do not need him breathing down my neck about dating his sister.
But I should of know that Renee knew I liked her and was already forming a plan in that head of hers to get YN and I together.
~
For the rest of the day, Renee found more and more way for YN and I to be alone. From taking Nora to give her a bath, or for her to spend some time doing laundry or just stay in her room.
YN and I spent the morning talking and getting to know one another in the livingroom. I found out her favourite foods, colours and season just to name a few.
She told me about her job and how her an Jon were only half-siblings. "My Mom cheated on her ex-husband with mine and Jon's Dad."
I didn't have anything like that to tell her but I did tell her about my life growing up. When I asked about hers, she was hesitant at first and I didn't push or pry.
"Growing up on the streets of Cincinnati was hard. It was tough for Jon and I. Didn't have much money so we stole, but whenever we got caught he always took the blame. Idiot." She shook her head at the memory.
The topic quickly changed and we decided to watch a movie. It took us a bit to agree on one but we finally picked Alien.
YN fell asleep against my side about half way through the movie and I didn't move. I couldn't move, so I just wrapped a blanket around the two of us and I fell asleep a short time after that. Never once hearing the conversation that is going on upstairs.
Jon Moxley's POV:
I knew it is almost Nora's nap time so I quiet as I entered my home. I heard some noise from the livingroom and headed in that direction.
To my suprise, there was Paul and YN, cuddling together on the couch watching Alien.
I was about to demand what the hell is going on when I felt a small hand cover my mouth. I looked to my right and I could see my wide staring at me, shaking her head no at me.
I closed my mouth when she dropped her hand and grabbed mine to follow her upstairs to our bedroom.
Once we were alone, I asked her what the hell is going on.
"Well you know Paul was here."
"Yeah, that doesn't explain why my sister is cuddling up to him."
"She called and asked to hunker down here as the storm was bad and she was driving and was close by. The met and well they have really hit it off." Renee was starting to get excited at the thought of them getting together.
"Now Renee don't you go poking your nose in where it doesn't belong." I crossed my arms across my chest.
"And a girl can't help her favourite sister-in-law find love?" Renee asked as she mimicked my stance.
"Just because two people get along doesn't mean they belong together."
"Mark my words Mr Good, they like each other and will probably go on a date."
~
Paul and YN woke up and I couldn't help but smile at my sister as we hugged. It has been a bit since I've seen her.
Paul shook my hand and I am man enough to admit that I squeezed it a bit hard but Paul didn't show any pain or sign that I did that.
The four of spent the rest of the day together. Well more me not wanting to leave them alone and Renee was there to keep an eye on me.
But as the day went on I noticed that YN and Paul were always near one another. You would never know that they literally just met and it did not sit right with me but I didn't dare say anything.
Tag List: if you would like to be added, please let me know. @lghockey @wwenhlimagines @damnnhausen @anaeve @crowleysqueenofhell @thenerdybaker523 @legit9thlunaticwarrior @cashwheelersgirl89 @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @kawaiikels @auburnwrites @undisputedfandoms
"Looks like the weather is finally good. Anyone want to go out to eat? My treat." YN asked. I was about to say yes but Paul spoke before I could.
"Yeah I would like that."
"Jon and I will stay here. I planned his favourite meal for when he came home." Renee said before I could speak. I was about to call her out on her lie when Paul and YN stood up.
"Okay, thank you once again you two for everything." YN said as her and Paul were heading out the door.
"What the hell was that?" I asked my wife when I heard the door close.
"Let them go out together." Was all she said.
I waited up for Paul all night long, like a Parent but he never came back here.
Renee found me standing at the window that looked out into our front yard.
"Jon, she is old enough to make her own decisions." Renee softly said to me as she rubbed my back.
"But why with my friend?" I asked her while continuing to look outside.
"And who better than Paul?"
I didn't have an answer. Paul was a good guy and I knew that but didn't mean I had to like them together.
"Come to bed. You can interrogate him when he comes back. Remember all his stuff is here."
When Paul finally came back and told me that he asked YN out, I had to stop myself from throttling the guy.
"Well, we are happy for you two, right Jon?"
"Thrilled." I forcefully said.
But the moment Renee looked away, I mouthed "run" to Paul.
Renee had no idea what the hell was happening as Paul and I ran out the door. Me on his tail to rough him up a bit as that my brotherly duty.
#aew#all elite wrestling#reader imagine#female reader#reader insert#wheeler yuta#wheeler yuta imagine#wheeler yuta x reader#wheeler yuta fanfiction#wheeler yuta fic#wheeler yuta x y/n#wheeler yuta x female reader#wheeler yuta x you
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☉
what do you do when you get stuck writing? (from this ask game)
Rubber Ducky
Sometimes I just complain and talk about whatever the issue is and it works itself out while I'm talking. I think that's the rubber ducky method, which is why I've got a bazillion little plushies around so I can snag one and talk to it when I don't want to bother people.
Switch WIP's.
Once upon a time I tried to complete fanfics before starting a new one, but that was fine back when I wrote one fic for a fandom and then peaced out. Now I write a lot and want to write more so I juggle them around when i get stuck or realize I need to do a lot more research (cough the Johnny/Tommy fic cough) Sometimes by the time I recrack open the fic it's a lot easier. But it helps if I left myself notes.
Skipping around using brackets
So there's this idea that you should use the things you put off using, eat the things you want to eat and stop saving things for special moments. Which I suck at. I say this with a bright pink jackolantern on my desk full of treats I've squirreled away that I'm saving for a moment to try them or as a notebook hoarder.
But I've gotten better about this with writing. If there's a scene I really want to write I'll put brackets for whatever I need to come back and do so that I don't forget it, though sometimes I do this when I'm super tired and don't want to forget my ideas [Johnny and Daniel drive to Jersey and Johnny learns what a pain in the ass driving in winter is and Daniel is full of himself about it but also forgets he's not used to driving in a city/let alone on ice anymore and they safely crash into a snow drift] I dunno, something like that and then skip to whatever happened next that I wanted to write. It kind of helps and it seems like it wouldn't be easier to go back and fill in those gaps, but sometimes it is. And sometimes when I think there aren't any it's a pain because I thought it was done and it wasn't 😂
Do something else [shower] 🚿
Sometimes you gotta do something else physically and let your brain wander. I cross-stitch and embroider sometimes and I'll do this repetitive thing that requires me to physically be doing something and sometimes it'll jog something in the fic I got stuck with. Another good one is generally taking a walk but I'm like so bad at that, I'm not good with just wandering around without purpose 😅 I want to go somewhere and look at something or have someone to talk to so it doesn't quite work for me, but doing the dishes or cleaning or cooking or my tried and true method, taking a shower generally does it. I shower probably way too much that it's now like part of my daily routine like having a cup of coffee in the morning, taking a shower before bed lets me relax and also figure out whatever was stuck.
Go go go pomodoro! 🍅
Sometimes people work really well under pressure and I...oh sometimes I work really well under pressure. 😂💀 So a pomodoro is a little tomato kitchen timer, and essentially you time yourself. You can pick the length and you just focus completely on that one task until your time is up. Like here: https://pomofocus.io/ is a timer that focus's on this task.
It generally works better if you have someone else doing it with you. So a writer whose interview I watched last year said that every morning she and her friend set their computers down on their kitchen tables, call one another and sync their timers and write. And I find when I do this, the sort of stressors of that timer makes me skip all the stuff I generally worry about. Spelling, grammar, things I'd normally puzzle over that slow down my writing and I just go go go.
It also stops me from like diving down rabbit holes for research which I do...frequently. 😂
Sometimes it's also called sprinting.
Thank you for the ask! 💖
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31 Days of Productivity Reading: Day twenty seven
Before: I don't plan on going anywhere today, so I think I'm going to try to get in a bit more reading today than I have been. I will read an entire volume of manga today, because I know I can. I feel like when you open the fridge because you're hungry but you just don't know what to eat... Do I want to start something new or continue on with a series I've already started? Since I'm reading 憎らしい彼, which is a BL, I'm thinking that I should pick up a GL manga...
After: I was torn between continuing on with きのう何食べた？ and starting ロンリーガールに逆らえない but ended up deciding on the latter. Picking it up was a bit of vindication, but also things started to make sense. I couldn't quite figure out why my manga reading times were so much higher than I was used to, then I opened this volume. Everything is just so big compared to something like ベルサイユのばら or even ３月のライオン. Of course there are less words per page, but there are also less panels per page. I'm definitely seeing now what I was talking about a few updates ago with how manga has just gotten bigger in general with more people reading on their phones as opposed to physical magazines.
It finally happened.... I went to stop my timer only to realize that I never started it in the first place. It was stopped at 47 minutes, though, so I'm guesstimating that I read for about an hour. I think I'll just restart the timer for any more reading I do today. But I finished the volume! This volume had 165 pages, so with an extremely rough approximation, my reading pace was around 2.75 pages per minute. If I were to amend that, I would say that my actual reading pace might have been a bit slower.
I don't really have any strong feelings for the series after the first volume, but it did keep me interested enough to make me want to continue on with the series. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that it felt so short, so I just mainly want some time to get to know the characters better and see their relationship develop. We started to scratch a bit of that surface in this volume, but it needs to steep, like a fine tea.
I was planning on reading a bit more before bed, but I think I'd rather go to bed a bit early and stick with the reading I've already done for the day. Tomorrow, I'll continue on with 憎らしい彼 for sure and possibly pick up another volume of ロンリーガールに逆らえない.
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You Should Read Shirley Estar Goes to Heaven!
Friends, tumblrs, countrymates, it is my rare pleasure to make a book recommendation that I've been looking forward all year to making. Winston Rowntree, of Subnormality fame, has just published his first novel—or, rather, his first conventional, text-only novel: Shirley Estar Goes to Heaven.
That link will take you to the landing page where you can learn about the book, watch the trailer, and purchase the paper and/or e-book editions. I recommend it very highly!
I realize that my excitement is not something that will automatically carry over to you, and that I have to sell it a little bit. So, in a SPOILER-FREE way, here is why I am recommending this book:
To get the selfish part out of the way first: Last winter I was fortunate enough to be a very early reader for this work, months before the main beta reading phase. A genuine delight, to put it simply. I haven't gotten my physical copy of the book yet (it just published, after all, and is in transit), so I don't know yet what changes may have resulted from my feedback; but, regardless, it's not every day that I get to have involvement with another artist's work before its publication—so I am very excited on those grounds.
More importantly, however, this book is painfully personal for me. It is a book about a person who can't. You would think they can. They are able-bodied, intelligent, and self-aware. But they can't. In cold clinical terms it is a mental impairment. Qualitatively, it is as though a watery pane of glass separates you from the rest of the world. You can see everything beyond it, but you can't go there. I have struggled with this since I was a small child, much more severely than I have ever fully explained, and I will never not struggle with it. It is the central dominating force in my life. This book is a book about that, except with dramatic elongations of the terrible shadows it casts. Anyone who has struggled with this illness or perhaps let us call it a fault is likely to be able to relate to this story in some way, and it is also a recommended read for those who don't suffer from this condition themselves but want to learn more about it. I particularly like one of the other early readers' pithy assessments: "Characters that you'll love but one of them will always do the thing you don't want her to."
Shirley Estar Goes to Heaven is a reimagining of Winston Rowntree's graphic novel from about fifteen years ago called Captain Estar Goes to Heaven, which old-timers may recall was (and is) also very dear to me. But this novel is a completely different work. It's uncanny, actually, because the characters and the flow of events are very similar, yet the story and the mood and the tonality are all different. Even the core themes have shifted somewhat. The artist has had fifteen years to grow in power and change in perspective, and the new novel makes full use of that transformation. It is a mature and intellectually challenging read. Not so much as in "the sentences are really difficult"; it's actually quite easy to read in that sense. But more like "you don't know where it's going but you're bleeding and you desperately need a band-aid so you hope really hard that there'll be a drugstore somewhere along the route." So, if you like that kind of thing, I can definitely recommend this book.
It's a sci-fi story, so if you like sci-fi then you have another reason to read it. And this book lives up to the name of "science fiction"; it's not just contemporary drama in spaaaaace! It makes creative use of the sci-fi canvas. There are some wonderful settings, futuristic conventions, and technological conceits. The sci-fi on display here is in many ways similar to and in many ways different from my own work. When I read it I saw that there are definitely similarities between Shirley Estar and my own Cherry from Galaxy Federal. But I think the most important comparison to make is that Winston Rowntree has his own pair of eyes and his own point of view, and approaches these issues in different ways and from different directions than I do. Shirley Estar Goes to Heaven says some things that I've been trying to say in my own work for ages, but it does so in ways that I never would or could.
Lastly, this book is also quite creative with its use of the medium, with decisions about the book's narrative structure and even its physical formatting serving to facilitate uncertainty and questions.
Anyway! I think I've said enough. Less is more, here. I don't want to tell you what to think about this story or even what to expect from it. But I do want to tell you what to do: Go read it!
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Dusty's Low-Effort Shiny Hunting Guide for Pokemon: Legends Arceus
Hello! I got PLA for Christmas and have already filled an entire box up with shinies, so I figured, I'm pretty much an expert at this point, so why not share some tips? (That's a joke. I'm not a professional shiny hunter, I just love this game a lot.)
Disclaimer: If you are looking to hunt a specific Pokemon, this method is not for you. This is for people who don't have the patience for normal shiny hunting methods but still like shinies. Or just people who want a lot of shinies and don't care which ones.
Without further ado, let's go!
Step 1: Complete your Pokedex and unlock Massive Mass Outbreaks. You could probably use this method without completing the Pokedex, but I cannot guarantee the results would be as good without the boost. You don't need the Shiny Charm (I don't have it (probably)) and you don't need Perfect entries, but getting to research level 10 on every Pokemon seems to boost your odds enormously on its own.
Step 2: Ready your party. I have a strong core of three level 100s (Samurott, Gastrodon, and Infernape), but I don't think that's necessary. What you need is coverage, strength, and PP. Preferably, you should be able to one-shot most Pokemon you encounter, tank a lot of hits, and have enough PP on your moves that you only rarely have to heal mid-excursion (though it isn't too terrible if you have to heal every once in a while).
Step 3: Start going to Massive Mass Outbreaks. Hop on Braviary and hit up every outbreak in the region, keeping your eyes peeled. There will be four spawns in each outbreak; if there's a shiny, catch it and then check if the new spawn is shiny. If there's no shiny, move on. The goal is to briefly look at every outbreak in the area before the rainstorm/blizzard ends to see if any of the initial spawns are shiny.
If there's a Pokemon you really like, or you want to check the secondary horde, you can clear out the whole outbreak, which is where your team comes in. Frankly, I don't know if the timer keeps going while you're in battle, but still, I recommend fighting and knocking out the Pokemon as fast as you can, or just scaring them off if they're timid. Then you can check the new horde, check for shinies and leave, or clear it out, too.
Fast travel when possible. Go to one place, check the outbreaks in the area, then don't waste time flying halfway across the map to the next outbreak if there's a spot you can instantly travel to near it. You'll learn the best routes for each region the more you do this; some sections are best taken on Wyrdeer or Sneasler, so don't be afraid to switch your ride when you need to.
Step 4: After you've checked every outbreak and cleared out any you're particularly interested in or the rainstorm/blizzard has ended, head back to Jubilife.
Step 5: Rinse and repeat! That's it, that's the strategy, just do this over and over again. Sometimes, you won't get any shinies. Sometimes, you'll get multiple from the same MMO, or even the same mass outbreak. I listen to YouTube videos while doing this so I don't get bored, which means I have to keep my eyes especially peeled for the visual shiny cue, but I haven't had a problem. Having Smoke Balls on-hand is useful for shinies that might flee if they see you, and always save as soon as you see a shiny, before doing anything else! If you fail one, you can just reset and they'll still be there.
I've gotten a ton of shinies this way, and I hope it works for you, too! :D
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