#six records of a floating life | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wlwcatalogue · 3 months

Text

Queer Women in Qing China: Chen Yun & Han Yuan in Six Records of a Floating Life

(Pak Suet Sin as Chen Yun (left) and Yam Kim Fai as Shen Fu (right) in Madam Yun, dir. Chu Kea, 1960)

Despite being written by a relatively unremarkable man, Shen Fu's (沈復) Qing-era autobiography Six Records of a Floating Life (浮生六記) captured the public imagination for its depiction of an unusually loving married couple - namely the author and his wife Yun - and for being very sad, because the wife died young after a protracted battle with illness and poverty. Their tragic tale has inspired films, TV series, stage plays, Chinese operas, and musicals.

But for some reason (spoiler alert: it's homophobia), as far as I can tell (see note 2 below the cut), the derivative media all fail to mention that while Yun certainly loved Shen Fu, there was also someone else she loved-- a female courtesan named Han Yuan, whom she convinced her husband to take on as concubine. Although there are only a few references to Han Yuan throughout the book, her impact is outsize, making her absence from the various adaptations all the more glaring.

So let's try to rectify things, shall we? Extracted here are all the references to the relationship between Yun and Han Yuan contained in Six Records of a Floating Life - although I haven't included all the other nods to Yun's fruitiness, so do check out the book in full - click below!

Overview

The happily married Chen Yun falls for the female courtesan Han Yuan and the two soon become sworn sisters (see note 1 below). Then, to ensure they can remain together, she manages to persuade her husband to take the latter as his concubine despite his protestations that they cannot afford another mouth to feed. This turns out to have unfortunate consequences: Yun's in-laws, who she was already on thin ice with, are highly critical of the two women's relationship, and have the married couple expelled from the familial home. Further, while Yun and her husband are living elsewhere, a wealthy man pressures Han Yuan into leaving and becoming his wife instead. Yun falls into despair and the heartbreak causes her already-delicate condition to deteriorate, leading to her eventual demise.

Note 1: Sworn kinship is the most widely-available Chinese custom allowing for the formalisation of a relationship between individuals of the same gender, other than those specifically hierarchical in nature (e.g. adoption, godparents, mentorship, etc.). While not primarily romantic in association, there is certainly precedent for it: arguably the most famous Chinese love story, The Butterfly Lovers, focuses on the romance between a man and a cross-dressing woman who swore an oath of brotherhood. Even after the latter reveals that she is female, there are repeated references to their oath, and the man continues to refer to her using familial terms (賢弟/"worthy younger brother" is simply switched to 賢妹/"worthy younger sister"). Note 2: As far as I can tell, Han Yuan really does never come up in the various derivative works. However, there is some (mostly very mild) hinting regarding the in-laws' disapproval stemming in part from Yun's failure to conform to cishet norms; at least three of the adaptations from Hong Kong take as the flashpoint an incident where Yun dresses as a man in order to enjoy the Mid-Autumn festivities with her husband (see the GIF in the header) and is discovered, despite it not having had any negative consequences in the book. (There is such a cross-dressing scene in the 2021 Kunqu opera adaptation, but for some reason, in that version, Yun seems to have been on great terms with her in-laws and there was no disownment at all.) AFAIK the only adaptation that explicitly deals with Yun's queerness is the 1987 dance production from Hong Kong, wherein the disownment happens after a scene which I'll just describe as "the Mid-Autumn Festival incident, but as a boat ride which Yun turns into a threesome between herself, the boat-girl, and her husband". This actually pulls from the source material, as there is a somewhat suggestive episode involving a boatsman's daughter (this is a few pages before Han Yuan is introduced - I did say Yun was fruity)... but it's interesting that the creators decided to depict her queerness through a drunken one-night stand where she's dressed in male clothing (which was not the case in the original, though the boat-girl does still know she's a woman in this version), instead of committing to her much deeper relationship with Han Yuan.

A (probably-incomplete) list of adaptations

Fei Mu/费穆’s 1943 stage play Six Records of a Floating Life/浮生六记 (PRC)

1947 film Six Records of a Floating Life/浮生六记 (PRC) – dir. Pei Chong/裴冲, starring Su Shi/舒适 and Sha Li/沙莉

1954 film Madam Yun/芸娘 (Hong Kong) – dir. Ng Wui/吳回, starring Cheung Wood-Yau/張活游 and Pak Yin/白燕 – full movie

1960 Cantonese opera film Madam Yun/芸娘 (Hong Kong) – dir. Chu Kea/珠璣, starring Yam Kim Fai/任劍輝 and Pak Suet Sin/白雪仙 – full movie; also see my posts on it here and here

1987 dance performance Six Records of a Floating Life/浮生六記 (Hong Kong) – dir. Chan Kai-Tak – full performance

Cantonese opera Shen San Bai and Madam Yun/沈三白與芸娘 (Hong Kong) – multiple productions from different theatre companies across the years – clip

1974 TV drama Madam Yun/芸娘 (Hong Kong)

Zhou Mian/周眠's 2018 Kunqu opera Six Records of a Floating Life/浮生六记 (PRC) – multiple productions – clip 1 | clip 2

Luo Zhou/罗周's 2021 Kunqu opera Six Records of a Floating Life/浮生六记 (PRC) – multiple productions – full performance (w/ English subtitles)

Tian Chenming/田辰明’s 2021 musical Six Records of a Floating Life/浮生六记 (PRC) – multiple productions – clip

2023 Peking opera Six Records of a Floating Life/浮生六记 (PRC) – assorted clips

Extracts from Six Records of a Floating Life, trans. Leonard Pratt and Chiang Su-Hui, 1983, Penguin Books

Part I – The Joys of the Wedding Chamber

(p.48)

In the seventh month of the Chiayen year of the reign of the Emperior Chien Lung I returned from Yuehtung with my friend Hsu Hsiu-feng, who was my cousin’s husband. He brought a new concubine back with him, raving about her beauty to everyone, and one day he invited Yun to go and see her. Afterwards Yun said to Hsiu-feng, “She certainly is beautiful, but she is not the least bit charming.”

“If your husband were to take a concubine,” Hsiu-feng asked, “would she have to be charming as well as beautiful?”

“Naturally,” said Yun.

“From then on, Yun was obsessed with the idea of finding me a concubine, even though we had nowhere near enough money for such an ambition.

(p.49)

[The courtesan Leng-hsiang] had a daughter named Han-yuan, who, though not yet fully mature, was as beautiful as a piece of jade. Her eyes were as lovely as the surface of an autumn pond, and while they entertained us it became obvious that her literary knowledge was extensive. She had a younger sister named Wen-yuan who was still quite small.

At first I had no wild ideas and wanted only to have a cup of wine and chat with them. I well knew that a poor scholar like myself could not afford this sort of thing, and once inside I began to feel quite nervous. While I did not show my unease in my conversation, I did quietly say to Hsien-han “I’m only a poor fellow. How can you invite these girls to entertain me?”

Hsien-han laughed. “It’s not that way at all. A friend of mine had invited me to come and be entertained by Han-yuan today, but then he was called away by an important visitor. He asked me to be the host and invite someone else. Don’t worry about it.”

At that, I began to relax. Later, when our boat reached Pantang, I told Han-yuan to go aboard my mother’s boat and pay her respects. That was when Yun met Han-yuan and, as happy as old friends at a reunion, they soon set off hand in hand to climb the hill in search of all the scenic spots it offered. Yun especially liked the height and vista of Thousand Clouds, and they sat there enjoying the view for some time. When we returned to Yehfangpin, we moored the boats side by side and drank long and happily.

(p.50)

As the boats were being unmoored, Yun asked me if Han-yuan could return aboard hers, while I went back with Hsien-yan. To this, I agreed. When we returned to the Tuting Bridge we went back aboard our own boats and took leave of one another. By the time we arrived home it was already the third night watch.

“Today I have met someone who is both beautiful and charming,” said Yun. “I have just invited Han-yuan to come and see me tomorrow, so I can try to arrange things for you.”

“But we’re not a rich family,” I said, worried. “We cannot afford to keep someone like that. How could people as poor as ourselves dare think of such a thing? And we are so happily married, why should we look for someone else?”

“But I love her too,” Yun said, laughing. “You just let me take care of everything.”

The next day at noon, Han-yuan actually came. Yun entertained her warmly, and during the meal we played a game – the winner would read a poem, while the loser had to drink a cup of wine. By the end of the meal still not a word had been said about our obtaining Han-yuan.

As soon as she left, Yun said to me, “I have just made a secret agreement with her. She will come here on the 18th, and we will pledge ourselves as sisters. You will have to prepare animals for the sacrifice.”

Then, laughing and pointing to the jade bracelet on her arm, she said, “If you see this bracelet on Han-yuan’s arm then, it will mean she has agreed to our proposal. I have just told her my idea, but I am still not very sure what she thinks about it all.”

I only listened to what she said, making no reply.

It rained very hard on the 18th, but Han-yuan came all the same. She and Yun went into another room and were alone there for some time. They were holding hands when they emerged, and Han-yuan looked at me shyly. She was wearing the jade bracelet!

We had intended, after the incense was burned and they had become sisters, that we should carry on drinking. As it turned out, however, Han-yuan had promised to go on a trip to Stone Lake, so she left as soon as the ceremony was over.

“She has agreed,” Yun told me happily. “Now, how will you reward your go-between?” I asked her the details of the arrangement.

(p.51)

“Just now I spoke to her privately because I was afraid she might have another attachment. When she said she did not, I asked her, “Do you know why we have invited you here today, little sister?”

““The respect of an honourable lady like yourself makes me feel like a small weed leaning up a great tree,” she replied, “but my mother has high hopes for me, and I’m afraid I cannot agree without consulting her. I do hope, though, that you and I can think of a way to work things out.””

“When I took off the bracelet and put it on her arm I said to her, “The jade of this bracelet is hard and represents the constancy of our pledge; and like our pledge, the circle of the bracelet has not end. Wear it as the first token of our understanding.” To which she replied, “The power to unite us rests entirely with you.” So it seems as if we have already won over Han-yuan. The difficult part will be convincing her mother, but I will think of a plan for that.”

I laughed, and asked her, “Are you trying to imitate Li-weng’s Pitying the Fragrant Companion?”

“Yes,” she replied.

(Footnote 44 of Part 1, p.153) The Lien Hsiang Pan, a play by Li Yu (1611-?1680). Li-weng was his literary name. Yun’s confirmation that she had this play in mind gives us our principal clue about just what her real relationship with Han-yuan may have been: the play tells the story of a young married woman who falls in love with a girl, and then obtains her as a concubine for her husband so the two women can be together. As van Gulik has pointed out, Imperial China regarded liaisons between women – as opposed to those between men – quite tolerantly. They did not by any means necessarily imply a lack of affection between such women and their husbands (R.H. van Gulik, Sexual Life in Ancient China, Humanities Press, 1974: he discusses female homosexuality on p.163, and the play itself on p.302, where he translates its title as Loving the Fragrant Companion.)

From that time on there was not a day that Yun did not talk about Han-yuan. But later Han-yuan was taken off by a powerful man, and all the plans came to nothing. In fact, it was because of this that Yun died.

Part III – The Sorrows of Misfortune

(p.76)

Yun had had the blood sickness ever since her younger brother Ko-chang had run away from home and her mother had missed him so much that she died of grief. Yun was so distraught she had fallen ill herself. From the time she met Han-yuan, she passed no blood for over a year, and I was delighted that Yun had found such a good cure in her friend, when Han-yuan was snatched away by an influential man who paid a thousand golds for her and also promised to take care of her mother. “The beauty belongs to Sha-shih-li!” I had learned of all this but had not dared to say anything to Yun, so she did not find out about it until one day when she went to see Han-yuan. She returned weeping, and said, “I had not thought Han’s feelings could be so shallow!”

“Your own feelings are too deep,” I said. “How can that sort of person be said to have feelings? Someone who is used to beautiful clothes and delicate foods could never grow accustomed to thorn hairpins and plain cloth dresses. It’s better that we should be unsuccessful now than to have her regret things later.”

I comforted her repeatedly, but having been so wounded Yun still suffered great discharges of blood. She was bedridden and did not respond to any treatment. She suffered relapses, and became so thin you could see her bones. After a few years the money we owed increased daily, and so did the gossip about us. And because she had pledged sisterhood with a sing-song girl, my parents’ scorn for Yun deepened daily.

(p.78)

[…] a messenger arrived. He had been sent by a woman who had been a sworn sister of Yun’s as a child, who had married a man named Hua from Hsishan, and who had heard of her illness and wanted to inquire after her.

My father, however, mistakenly thought he was a messenger from Han-yuan and so became even angrier, saying, “Your wife does not behave as a woman should, swearing sisterhood with a sing-song girl. Nor do you think to learn from your elders, running around with riff-raff. […]”

(p.79-80)

These were Yun’s parting instructions to our daughter: “Your mother has had a bitter fate and emotions that run too deep; therefore we have had many problems. Fortunately your father has been kind to me, and there is nothing to worry about in our leaving. […]”

(p.86)

I returned to find Yun moaning and weeping, looking as if something awful had happened. As soon as she saw me she burst out, “Did you know that yesterday noon [our servant] Ah Shuang stole all our things and ran away? I have asked people to search everywhere, but they still have not found him. […]”

(p.87)

[…] from then on she began frequently to talk in her sleep, calling out, “Ah Shuang has run away!” or “How could Han-yuan turn her back on me?” Her illness worsened daily.

Finally I was about to call a doctor to treat her, but she stopped me. “My illness began because of my terribly deep grief over my brother’s running away and my mother’s death,” said Yun. “It continued because of my affections, and now it has returned because of my indignation. I have always worried too much about things, and while I have tried my best to be a good daughter-in-law, I have failed.

These are the reasons why I have come down with dizziness and palpitations of the heart. The disease has already entered my vitals, and there is nothing a doctor can do about it. Please do not spend money on something that cannot help. […]”

[…]

(p.88)

Suddenly she fell silent and began to pant, her eyes staring into the distance. I called her name a thousand times, but she could not speak. Two streams of agonised tears flowed from her eyes in torrents, until finally her panting grew shallow and her tears dried up. Her spirit vanished in the mist and she began her long journey.

[…] Alas! Yun came to this world a woman, but she had the feelings and abilities of a man. After she entered the gate of my home in marriage, I had to rush about daily to earn our clothing and food, there was never enough, but she never once complained. When I was living at home, all we had for entertainment was talk about literature. What a pity that she should have died in poverty and after long illness. And whose fault was it that she did? It was my fault, what else can I say? I would advise all the husbands and wives in the world not to hate one another, certainly, but also not to love too deeply. As it is said, “An affectionate couple cannot grow old together”. My example should serve as a warning to others.

#sapphic #wlw #wlw recommendations #asian lgbtq #lgbt history #lgbtq history #lgbt literature #lgbtq literature #literature #chinese literature #six records of a floating life #浮生六記 #madam yun #芸娘 #celebrating chinese new year with queers in chinese literature #as one should

7 notes · View notes

lovebugism · 1 year

Note

hi! not sure if you’re still taking requests but if u are may i request the prompt “it’s okay to cry in front of me, you know. you don’t have to carry this alone.” with reader comforting steve? tysm <3

bug's blurb sleepover (⁎˃ᴗ˂⁎)!

Steve tends to feel things really, really deeply.

When Nancy called him bullshit at a Halloween party and ran off with the weird kid from chemistry class a day later, he felt like it was the end of the world. His world, at least.

He thought it was going to stick with him for the rest of his life — that she was right, that he really was bullshit, and that that truth would haunt him forever. It did. It does. It lurks over his shoulder sometimes, like a shadow or a sleeping dragon.

And when Robin’s mad at him, like mad mad, it makes him feel like dying.

One time he overestimated how tired he was after a shift and forgot to pick Robin up after band practice. He was startled awake from his nap out of nowhere, like his brain knew he’d done something wrong, and realized he was supposed to drive her home over an hour ago.

He found her standing with her trumpet case under the awning in a futile attempt to hide from the pouring rain. She didn’t talk to him for days — not during the drive, not at work the next day, not until he was milliseconds from groveling at her feet for her forgiveness.

But it’s different when he’s happy. He’s got you and he’s got Dustin, and he loves the two of you so much it feels like he might burst sometimes. Adoration spills from his pores like so many little rays of sunshine, leaves him a grinning and gushing thing in the place of a teenage boy.

It’s so much worse with you, though. Because sometimes he feels like his heart beats only for you — that it follows the rhythm of your pulse, that it will stop when yours does.

He can taste every word that spills from your mouth, the one’s coated in venom and honey alike. He can hear every sound of your soul, too. It’s the crackles of an old record player when you’re content, autumn leaves crunching when you’re angry, and the sounds of a deep, deep ocean when you’re sad.

You’re embedded into every fiber of his being. You’ve entwined yourself with him without even realizing it, tucked yourself into the outer regions of his bleeding heart with a fuzzy blanket and a good book — no sign of leaving any time soon.

He loves you hard, too hard. So hard there’s no breath without you.

So when Vecna almost kills you, it feels a little like his life is ending.

He watches you float in midair, his feet still stuck on the ground, totally helpless.

Tears spill from your glazed-over eyes and glitter beneath streams of moonlight. Your body is slack, but your fingers tremble and your brows twitch and your chin quivers. You’re not all there, but you can feel every ounce of fear like an ice-cold bath, painful and numbing all at once. Because you know that you’re going to die. And that there’s nothing anyone else can do to stop it.

Dustin shouts for help into his supercomm, begs for Max to bring her walkman or steal the nearest boombox they see and bring it with them to Lover’s Lake. They’re too far away, though, on the other side of town in Nancy’s too slow Station Wagon picking up more hunting supplies to kill the son of a bitch trying to kill you. He knows they won’t make it in time.

Steve shakes your shoulders and shouts in your face, but you still don’t wake. He keeps a hold of you until you’re out of his reach entirely — rising and rising and rising until you’re six feet off the ground. Then he’s just begging, shouting pleas up at you, at god, at Vecna — the shriveled skin creep doing this to you.

“Please,” he shouts to everyone and no one all at once. “Please, just— you gotta wake up, okay? I’ll be better, I’ll be so much better, I promise. I’ll listen to all the music you like, watch all the movies you want — even the ones that suck — I’ll be a better boyfriend, okay? You just— You need to wake up!”

You don’t.

You just keep on crying, like you can hear him in whatever world Vecna’s sucked you into. Eyes fluttering, neck jerking, lips trembling. You succumb completely to the monster’s curse.

It’s Eddie that saves you.

He rushes to the stolen R.V. for his guitar, the one Steve said made him look like he was overcompensating for something, the one that’s about to save your life. “What’s her favorite song?” the boy urges as he slips the strap over his head with pale and trembling fingers.

Steve looks over at his shoulder at him. It’s hard to see through the stinging tears. “Wh— What—” He can’t form words. Or thoughts, really. The only thing going through his head is that you’re about to die, that he’s about to lose you forever. It clouds his mind like thick black smoke.

“Her favorite song?” Eddie snaps. “What is it?”

He scrambles to answer. “Uh, it’s uh— it’s Take— Take On Me… Do you know that one?”

“No,” the boy answers honestly. “But I can try.”

That’s all they can do for now. Try. Hope.

He puts his fingers to the strings, trying to find the right placements, but it’s hard when you don’t know how to play the song and you’re shaking that you’re fucking freezing. Eddie’s forced to play it by ear and tells Steve that it won’t sound exactly right and that it won’t be loud without his amp.

It takes him a moment to find the melody, but Steve hears it the second it comes — the synth-y da-da-da-dum, da-da-dah, da-da-da-da-dum’s that were practically engrained in his psyche after he heard it on the radio the millionth time.

You weren’t as afflicted by the earworm as he was. You loved it.

The song came out the year the two of you started dating, so all he heard for months was that catchy beat and even catchier falsetto. You played it on the jukebox when you went to the diner, popped the tape into your radio whenever he was over at your place, requested for it to be played virtually wherever you went.

You hear the song from where you’re stuck in your own head. The strums of the guitar are quiet and a little out of tune, but the uncanny notes make sense when you’re trapped in a world that isn’t really your world. Suddenly you don’t see Vecna or his claw in your face — just Steve, Steve, Steve.

He’s with you at the diner with whipped cream on his chin, making fun of you for singing to the song so off-key. He’s with you in your childhood bedroom, spinning you around and singing all the high notes with you. He’s with you at Enzo’s, the fanciest place in Hawkins for your anniversary, and slips the mini-orchestra a hundred-dollar bill to play the song for you.

Suddenly, you’re on the ground again — back in Hawkins — and gasping for breath in his arms. You can’t see him from where he’s got his face tucked into your neck, but you can feel the scarily rapid beat of his heart and the way it matches your own.

Steve sobs into you, uncaring about how loud he is or how his snot and tears stain your t-shirt. Because he almost fucking lost you. And, for a split second, he tried to think of what a life without you would look like. He quickly came up short. There was nothing — no light, no sound, no music — just darkness. A void.

Sometimes, he thinks he would’ve died with you that night.

Vecna is dead within the next twenty-four hours after the fact. You and Nancy take turns shooting bullets in the pale patchy skin of his chest where his heart’s supposed to be while Steve and Robin throw hand-made bombs in his direction. He trips and stumbles out the window while the rotting basement erupts into flames. There’s nothing left but ashes.

Steve doesn’t feel a thing for a little while after that, just the acute urge to protect the group of you even though the boogeyman is long gone.

He doesn’t let go of you for days, always holding onto some part of you, because he’s terrified of you slipping away again.

He lets Dustin sleep at his place when the boy asks, but it’s for his own peace of mind more than anything else. He doesn’t let the boy out of his sight until his mom gets concerned about him.

He drives forty-five minutes to the hospital every day for two weeks with you so you can visit Max and Lucas, always with two peanut butter jelly sandwiches for them — just in case.

He’s on auto-pilot for a while. He just keeps on taking care of everyone else because it distracts him from himself — from his own inner turmoil, from the horrors he saw that night, from the boogeyman still in his closet.

It takes you a month for you to tell him what you saw. You were a lot like him in that way, still trying to hide from it all. You would’ve been more than happy if you could squish your great big problem into a tiny little ball that you could stomp underneath your feet and forget about completely.

But that’s not how life works.

The thing just swells and swells and swells until it takes everything in you to stay sane.

You sit Steve down on his bed and curl into his lap — knees to your chest, head tucked beneath his chin. And you tell him about it. Everything.

You tell him that Vecna showed you Brad, the boyfriend you had before Steve. It was a replay of the last night you saw him parked at Lover’s Lake, the very same place you had been when Vecna almost took you. You’re sitting in his passenger seat and he’s trying to feel you up. “Billy’s girlfriend lets him fuck her all the time,” he gripes when you swat his hand from your thigh.

“Then maybe go fuck Billy’s girlfriend,” you shoot back.

It’s the last thing you’d ever said to him before storming off and catching the late bus back home. He went missing the next day; his car still there, but no sign of the boy himself.

Vecna shows you everything you’d been making yourself sick over for years, tells you exactly what happened to him that night.

A demogorgon appears in thin air and snatches the boy, takes him to the Upside Down like he’s some kind of light night snack. The thing doesn’t eat him, though, just plays with its food for a while until it gets bored and lets him rot. Brad was down there, for days, beggingfor someone to save him. Help never came, though. Just the slow, slow hand of death.

“You never even looked for him…” you recite the words Vecna said to you, voice much softer than his cruel baritone one. “You let him rot down there while you threw yourself at a boy that didn’t even want you…”

Steve eyes squeeze shut then, like he’s trying to hide from your words. It’s about as effective as those idiots in horror movies who try to hide under their bedsheets from demons.

You sought refuge in Steve that night and many others, when Brad was acting especially douchebag-y. It was innocent at first. He was your friend. But somewhere down the line, you realized that you had bigger feelings for him than you ever did for your boyfriend. Steve, meanwhile, was still caught in the web of his complicated feelings for Nancy.

It wasn’t until you got kidnapped by Russian soldiers that he realized how much he loved you.

There’s just something about the end of the world that makes a person see clearly again.

Everything seems to hit him exactly a week later.

He’d done a pretty good job at hiding it all — the nightmares, the panic attacks, the sleepless nights. He hid that all from you because you were recovering too. He didn’t think it was fair to dump all his hurt on you while you were still trying to get back to normal.

You noticed it very quickly, though, that Steve didn’t seem to be very affected by any of it.

He was so nonchalant about everything, the kind of casual only a person who was aching could pull off.

And he’d get real reserved at times, uncharacteristically quiet, and you’d ask him if he was okay. He’d scoffed and say he was fine —of course I’m okay, what do you mean? — while his cheek speckled with red and he blinked back glassy tears.

You’d try to hug him and he’d let you, but kept shrugging off your concern — I’m fine, babe. I promise. I’m not the one who almost died.

Steve did that a lot. Made it seem like his problems didn’t mean as much because they weren’t as big as yours or Max’s or Eddie’s. He convinced himself that they didn’t. Why should he be upset when he didn’t have to meet the monster face to face or live through something traumatic all over again? What does he have to cry about?

But when he sleeps all he sees in you — in that spot at Lover’s Lake, succumbing to Vecna’s curse, while the rest of them try like hell to bring you back. In his nightmares, they never do. He watches your bones break one by one, piercing cracks in the quiet night that he can feel in his chest, before you fall limply to the ground again.

He wakes with a gasping breath, the same way you had all the time ago. You’re sleeping peacefully beside him, hair wild and face smushed into your pillow, but he can’t seem to get the vision out of his head — of your mangled body and sucked-out sockets. He stumbles off to the bathroom on tired and trembling legs.

You wake to the door slamming shut and stir at the sound of the faucet turning on.

Light spills from the crack underneath the door, bright in the darkness of your bedroom. You watch Steve’s shadow with bleary eyes, how it stands in one place for a moment and then paces back and forth.

Wiping sleep from your eyes, you tiptoe to the door, but don’t do anything when you reach it. You just wait, listen.

Steve mumbles something to himself that you can’t quite make out — you’re okay, stop being such a baby, jesus… is all you can hear. He sniffles as his feet pad the length of the tiled bathroom floor. It doesn’t take a genius to know that he’s crying.

Your knock upon the door is a soft one. You don’t want to startle him. The second he realizes you’re outside the door, he freezes.

“Stevie…” you call gently out for him. “Are you okay?”

He clears his throat. “Yeah—” Then again. “Yeah, I’m fine… Go back to bed.”

“Are you sure?” you press. “Do you want me to get anything for you?”

The boy has to take a deep breath in to stop himself from snapping at you. He’s angry at himself more than anything — for hiding, for failing at hiding. He runs two anxious hands through his hair and plants himself along the ceramic edge of the bathtub.

“I’m sure. Just… Just go back to bed, okay?”

You don’t listen. You just slide along the door frame until you’re sat on the carpeted floor of your bedroom. Steve can hear your shuffling outside.

“It’s okay if you’re not okay. You know that, right?” you ask him through the door.

Steve puts his face in his hands before he can catch his scrunching face in the mirror. Just when he thought he wasn’t going to cry, here you come, pulling this shit.

“I know,” he answers tightly, muffled through his palms. He rubs them up and down his face once, twice, and then a third time before throwing his hands into his lap. “But I’m fine, okay? Seriously.”

“You can cry in front of me, Steve. It’s okay. You don’t have to— You don’t have to go through this shit alone, you know? I’m here. I’m right here, okay? Let me help you.”

It’s that reminder that does him in; the assurance that you’re here and not a disfigured mess in the tall grass of Lover’s Lake. A sob spills from his mouth too abruptly for him to stop it.

“Steve…” you call for him again, heartbreaking on the other side of the door.

“I’m almost lost you,” he cries, more than himself than to you, then sniffles. “I’m almost fucking lost you.”

“But you didn’t. I’m still here. And I’m not going anywhere, Steve Harrington. The universe is gonna have to try a whole lot harder to keep me away from you.”

He manages a laugh through his tears. “It’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking,” you quip. “If Vecna couldn’t stop me from being with you, nothing will.”

The thought of that warms him. He realizes it’s not the universe keeping the two of you together, not fate or some higher power in the clouds. It’s love. It’s all the love the two of you have got for each other, stronger than any demogorgon or Russian soldier or dark wizard. And it’s love that’s gonna hold the two of you together for the next several decades, until you’re old and wrinkly and ugly.

But Steve won’t think you’re ugly. He’ll think you’re as beautiful as the first moment he saw you — throwing up in the bushes outside Tina’s house after your first high school party.

You rise quickly when the door opens. Steve stands in front of you, eyes puffy and face red and smiling gently down at you anyway. “I love the shit outta you, you know that?” is all he can think to say. Because that’s all that he feels in that moment.

“Of course, I know that,” you grin up at him. Your hands rise to cup his jaw, thumbs swiping at his tear-stained cheeks. Your browns pinch in concern. “You okay?”

For the first time, he’s honest.

“No…” he murmurs with the soft shake of his head. His eyes dart away from yours and to the floor where his and your twenty toes stand, still on the ground, not floating in thin air.

“No— I… I don’t think I am,” he confesses softly. His tired, sad, and heavy honey eyes flit back up to yours again. “But I will be.”

You nod until your words catch up to you. “Yeah. Yeah, you will.”

“If only out of pure spite of all the monsters to all the monsters trying to destroy our lives.”

“They’re gone now,” you promise, like a parent who’s checked under their child’s bed for shadows and ghosts. It works well enough. Here, with his face in your hands and standing in your shared bedroom, he’s never felt safer.

“Can you… Can you hold me?” he wonders, a little meekly because he feels like an idiot saying them. Then he feels even more like an idiot for feeling like an idiot. You’re his girlfriend, after all, cuddles sort of came with the package.

“Of course,” you answer without thinking twice. You grab his hand and tug him back to the bed almost immediately. “I’ll hold you for the rest of our fucking lives, Harrington, you know that.”

The two of you settle into the mattress. Steve uses you like a pillow, wraps all of his limbs around you and tucks his face into your neck. Your scent is a familiar one, warm and comforting, like home. “I like the sound of that,” he mumbles into your shoulder after a moment of quiet.

“Well, buckle in, baby. ‘Cause I got you for the next, like, six decades.”

You feel his smile form against your skin as Steve tucks himself inside your soul.

#bug's blurb sleepover #steve harrington x reader #stranger things x reader #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington smut #steve harrington fic #stranger things imagine #published by bug #stevie drabble #st drabbles

2K notes · View notes

ghosts-and-glory · 14 days

Text

Little guy I did for RayneKloud’s six hour character design contest for the prompt food. I actually whipped this bad boy out in just under five hour.

Text on the page is pasted under the cut for easy reading.

Contrary to their name the Cherry Fish is a semi aquatic arthropod found living in small bodies of freshwater. They are named after cherry fruits due to their strong resemblance and, most notably, how they are always found in pairs.

The two individuals are connected by a strong membrane protruding from the backs of their heads. Labs have found that the individuals share dna make up yet have individual brains. When studied, it is reported the two act as individuals, even demonstrating different personalities. Fossil records indicate they have been born in pairs exclusively as far back as 200 million years ago yet there is no evidence to why they evolved this way. If the membrane is severed both will die and if one dies the other will as well.

Cherry fish live in large numbers of about 20 to as large as 50 pairs. They are highly social, often seeming to pick favorite individuals and behaving as if distressed in groups smaller than 10 pairs. They are a monogamous species which mate for life. On average they lay 1-4 eggs and will mate only once or twice throughout their lifespan. Once hatched the parents and entire group of cherry fish will care for the babies. As children they have a green colour and will age into a more “ripe” red.

They are quick insectivores who feed in the early morning and evening. Through the day they float on the surface of the water with their gills submerged soaking up the sun and at night dive underwater and bury in mud to sleep. Fish and other predators know to not try and eat them as they are poisonous.

#my art #my post #digital art #art #illistration #character design #character design challenge #creature design #concept art

143 notes · View notes

incorrectbatfam · 6 months

Note

Batfam as made-up facts

Dick: The biggest biohazard in public swimming pools isn't the kid that peed in it, but rather the body oil from all the swimmers accumulating over time. Not only is oil not neutralized by pool chemicals such as chlorine, but it also floats to the surface and is the first thing you make contact with when you jump in the water. This is why a lot of public pools ask people to shower beforehand.

Jason: Making new memories is simply the process of our brains creating and reinforcing new neural connections. Traumatic or impactful events see denser myelination in the hippocampus (brain's memory center) and it's theorized that when we die and our "life flashes before our eyes," there's more activity in those denser regions leading to more vivid images of those moments.

Tim: Klondike's Equation is one of the lesser-known unsolved mysteries in math. It's a branch of calculus that takes Olivar's Laws of four-dimensional derivatives and creates a paradoxal equation by which the right half of it cannot be fully written if the left half is unsolved, but the left half needs values from the right in order to be computed.

Damian: The oldest interactive/roleplaying game dates back to the ancient Sumerians, according to records. It consisted of a theater of clay puppets that the audience would chime in with how they should act. It was often performed at bars or taverns during holidays with stories themed around mythical deities or fables.

Duke: In 1982, Bill Watterson brought to Archie Comics a standalone concept of a child hero and a sentient animal companion. However, he was rejected in favor of the up-and-coming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles story. After shopping around at companies and getting lots of rejections, Watterson finally found his big break with Andrews McMeel Publishing, cementing his place in comic history with the cult classic Calvin and Hobbes.

Cullen: The smallest readable book ever made is 12 nanometers long by 8 nanometers wide. It was engineered by four particle physics grad students at the University of Vienna and contains the first passage of the Bible across six microscopic pages.

Stephanie: Most aerosol cans use both oxygen and carbon dioxide as the aerosolizing agent, which is why you're told never to spray them near an open flame. However, for food (like whipped cream or spray cheese), nitrogen is used instead. This is to prevent perishable food from oxidizing and for preservation as nitrogen helps maintain a cooler inner temperature.

Cassandra: The most plausible explanation for the legendary chupacabra was proposed by a team of anthropologists in Oaxaca. Essentially, it combines the theories of mass hysteria with the existence of a similar creature that went extinct in early Mesoamerican history. As accounts of this now-extinct creature was passed down, the image of it was slowly distorted. The modern chupacabra legend likely arose in a period of mass hysteria during political and economical insecurity.

Barbara: Traditional computer programs can be broken down into a series of if-then commands by which a condition is given and the program must respond according to the parameters. However, machine learning algorithms use an expanded version of this, known colloquially as if-then-but-because-however. The "if-then" stipulates the parameters, the "but" is for modifiers, the "because" is for generating explanations (usually pulled from a database of other works unfortunately), and the "however" is for exceptions that may rise over the course of running the program.

Harper: Ambidextrous people actually struggle the most when it comes to the drums. Most drum setups and tabs (sheet music) are designed with right-handedness as a default. Left-handed people can simply flip it around it for themselves. However, ambidextrous players have been found to struggle with the asymmetry of the instrument. That's why, among professional rock drummers, only 6% are ambidextrous compared to the 18% of lefties and 76% of righties.

Carrie: Although it feels like our lungs are burning after holding our breath for a while, the sensation actually originates from our inflated diaphragm pressing against our lungs. Since there are more nerve endings around our lungs than our diaphragm, we interpret the feeling higher than where it actually occurs.

Kate: During the war of 1812, a group of nine Canadian men known as the False Damsels donned women's attire to act as spies against the Americans. Of the nine, four of them reportedly continued crossdressing after the war and one of them started going by Margaret a few months later and remained unmarried for 20 years until they moved to Portugal with an unknown courter.

Alfred: In 1757, the British government attempted to train livestock, such as cows and chickens, to spy on domestic threats (such as anti-monarchists). However, this project never took off due to a regional outbreak of avian flu combined with the takeoff of the Industrial Revolution and new inventions that rendered animal labor obsolete.

Selina: Coffees and wines contain a bitter compound called tannins, and the ability to taste them is genetically determined. Capsaicin can be seen analogously. Some people inherit a gene that allows them to detect capsaicin fully, so when they eat a pepper, all they get is the heat and little to no flavor. Conversely, others have a gene where the heat is "muted" and they can better distinguish the flavors between two spicy foods.

Bruce: There is a correlation between one's taste in food and expectation of others. According to a 2019 Harvard study, people who reported preferring more simultaneous flavors in their food were 26% harsher in an activity where they had to grade students' mock essays.

382 notes · View notes

wandering-winchesters · 1 year

Text

Tragedy

Pairing: Dean x Reader Word Count: 3,626 Summary: The reader is used to hunting solo, yet this solo hunt does not turn out quite like she had hoped. She is required to call on Dean and Sam after she is injured. Trigger Warnings: injury, firearms, blood, death. SPN level violence Requested: No A/N: I hope you enjoy this, I had fun writing it. Please let me know what you think. :)

Masterlist

I let out a sigh, tossing my laptop onto the motel bed, frustrated didn’t even begin to cover it. I had spent the last several hours searching through local records, looking for any deaths that fit the profile of the ghosty murderer floating around town, but nothing lined up. I wished Sam was here, he would’ve been incredibly helpful searching for an answer. But I had split off from them a couple weeks ago, returning to solo hunts, like the old days. They had both argued with me, tried to convince me to stay with them., but I had insisted on going off on my own again. I had to prove to myself that I still could, I felt as if I was slipping into a pit of dependance and a lack of self sufficiency.

I had spent the last six months hunting with the two Winchester boys, helping them tackle numerous cases, which was nice. However, it terrified me how comfortable I was around them, I had told myself that I wouldn’t ever get too close to someone ever again. But with them, it was too easy to fall into comfortable dependency. Especially Dean. God, Dean Winchester. His eyes could pierce my soul if I let them, they appeal to me like a siren appeals to helpless sailors. I couldn’t resist him when I was around him, causing me to make stupid choices, I went with his gut over my own and it left me feeling helpless. It wasn’t his fault, he wasn’t doing anything intentionally, I just couldn’t help but fall further in love with the green eyed hunter every moment I spent with him. Which is exactly why I left, love had never come easy for me. I had lost my parents as a teenager and branched off on my own, evading the torment that would have greeted me had I gone to live with my Uncle. I never went to college, I hunted. Yet while on one of those hunts, I met Ian. Ian had been the love of my life, before he met an unfortunate end in a terrible car accident, eerily similar to the way my parents died. Death, followed me and those that I let in and loved.

So I had sworn off love, friendship and anything else that let people into my life. That was until the two Winchesters had busted down the door to the old house, guns drawn, expecting to find me in the captivity of a werewolf den. Instead, they found me. My own weapon drawn, the body of a dead werewolf at my feet. I wish I had been recording that moment, the looks on their faces were utterly priceless. I had agreed to help them on one more hunt, that turned into three, which turned into six months worth. I was getting too comfortable and I just had to get out. That’s how I wound up alone in this motel, attempting to crack the case in this podunk town. I laid down on the musty motel bed, pushing my laptop onto the far side and leaving enough room for me to lay down. I stare at the cracks in the ceiling, following the trail they make and trying to distinguish where one starts and another one ends. Then it hits me, I have been looking in the wrong place this whole time. All of the deaths had occurred at the local bar and I had assumed it was a vengeful spirit, but what if it wasn’t? What if it was a, shit- what are they called? I grab my laptop hurriedly pulling up the lore I had been reading earlier, my eyes scanning the words quickly, skimming until I land on what I was looking for. A wraith. They had all died under mysterious circumstances, but they all had the same wound on their forehead. A small, circular incision. It had to be a wraith, but who was it? There was one bartender, he was my number one suspect. I glance at the clock, it’s not too late to go now. I ensure it is loaded with silver bullets before I tuck my gun into the holster, placing it at the small of my back and covering it with my leather jacket. I glance around my room once more making sure that I am not leaving anything behind. I send Sam a quick text, updating him as to my suspicions, he had texted me earlier in the day just checking in with me, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to keep him updated.

The drive to the small little dive bar was short and uneventful. I checked to make sure my gun was still in place as I opened the door to the interior, the hinges in need of help judging by the loud shriek of protest they gave off as I opened it. I take in my surroundings, making note of the few people inside the bar. There were five, the bartender and four other customers not including myself. The bartender glances my way, gesturing that I can sit anywhere, he’s an unassuming man. His hair neat and well groomed, yet everything else about him is a mystery, we’ll call him blondie. I take a seat at the corner of the bar, my back to a wall and my field of view encompassing the majority of the room.

“What can I get you?” He asks, setting a coaster down in front of me. I consider him carefully, trying to determine if he was a threat. I order a beer and a water, fully prepared to sit back and wait everyone else out. The television is the loudest sound in the bar, conversations around me hushed and sparse. Most people too focused on their drinks or the television to be deep in conversation. That’s how the next hour goes, I sip my beer and observe the people around me, watching and waiting. I pull out my phone and see a text and a missed call.

-Missed call, 9:53 P.M. Sam Winchester

-10:13 P.M., From Dean Winchester- Sammy said you found a wraith? Want some backup? They can be tricky bastards.

An unconscious smile pricks my lips, the concern in his text obvious. I respond with a brief thanks, but no thanks and send Sammy another text asking if everything is okay.

A few of the other people in the room had left by this point, leaving just myself, the blonde man behind the bar and one other guy, who appeared to be in his mid thirties. I drained the last sip of my beer, setting the bottle down on the surface of the bar. I rolled my shoulders back, my upper back starting to ache from the lack of support provided by the stool that I had been sitting on for the last while. I am taken aback by another beer being set down in front of me, I hadn’t ordered it. The confusion must be clear on my face, because the bar tender gestures to the man a few seats away from me. “It’s from him.” Blondie says, a small smile pulling at his features, which confuses me further. I glance once more to the one other customer in the bar and I find his eyes are already fixed on me, dark and focused.

“Thanks.” I mutter, raising my beer towards him, suspicion heavy in my voice. For whatever reason, this rubs me the wrong way. The environment in the room had changed and every bone in my body was screaming danger. My gut said this was about to get bad.

“I figured you deserved another beer before you meet your accidental death. We knew you were a hunter from the second you pulled into town. It’s a pity, you’re too pretty to die this young. Too bad.” His words hit me like a brick to the face, my eyes close and I take a deep breath. This was it, it wasn’t one wraith it was two. In that moment, I regretted leaving the safety of numbers. Had Sam and Dean been here, it would’ve been three to two. Not two to one, with me on the losing team. I blink once more, taking one more deep breath, the kind that makes your lungs scream from too much oxygen and I hurl my beer bottle at the bartenders head. This action buying me a few seconds, enough to get off the stool and anchor my feet on the old wooden floor. Nevertheless, it wasn’t enough. Blondie had stumbled back from the impact of my beer smacking off the side of his head, however that had given the other wraith the opportunity to close the distance between us. His fist collided with the corner of my jaw he then proceeded to throw me into the hard surface of the bar. I grunt, the sheer force that he had thrown me with enough to knock the air out of my lungs. This hunt was about to go down terribly, I could handle one wraith on my own, but two? I don’t know if I could manage to take out both of them. I can already feel the throbbing in my jaw from his blow and I am dreading how I will feel in the morning, if I make it to the morning. I rest my elbows on the bar top, using my momentum to kick my feet into his chest and send him flying backwards. I use the gap I have created to pull my gun from the waistband of my pants, aim and fire a silver bullet right between his eyes. He drops, dead weight.

“NO! You’re going to pay for that, you bitch!” Blondie yells, his eyes trained on his friend who had just fallen, dead, to the floor of the bar. I turn to face him, my gun pointed directly at him. He snarls, his attention turned towards me. For whatever reason, I hesitate, my finger doesn’t pull the trigger and I don’t end him. A complete mistake, he closes the distance between us faster than I can comprehend and sends my gun clattering to the floor. His hands shoving me backwards, causing me to stumble and fall to the floor. It happens in a matter of seconds, seconds I cannot even process. My gun is no longer in my hands, but it is clutched in his grip. He points it towards me and fires, it hits me directly in the side. A scream leaves my lips, but I don’t have time to process what just happened because his body is now on top of mine, his anger clear and pulsating through him. My hands come up to defend my face, pushing him away with all of my strength, but he is stronger. I wrap my fingers around his wrist, knowing what is to follow. The spike in his wrist is already extended and it is clear that he intends to send it straight through my skull.

“Any last words?” He asks, his mouth set into a sneer, his fingers just brushing my forehead preparing to send the spike through my forehead.

I grit my teeth, every nerve in my body screaming, adrenaline pumping and thoughts rushing through me. I laugh, bitter and cold and It catches him off guard. That slight hesitation is all I need to get the upper hand, I slide my hand up from where I was gripping his arm. I grab onto the spike extended from his wrist and wrench it backwards with all of my strength, effectively breaking it in two. His scream sends shivers down my spine, the spike still clutched tightly in my fist. I pull the knife from where I keep it hidden around my neck and drive it through his skull, much like he had intended to do to me. His full weight falls onto me and I cry out in pain, his body crushing the oxygen out of my lungs and the bullet wound in my side is throbbing like no other. I manage to slide out from underneath of him, slowly and agonizingly. I scoot myself backwards towards the wall, finally reaching it and I slump back against it. I look down at the hand I had pressed to the gun shot wound on my side and wince, it’s not a pretty sight. Crimson has soaked through the white t-shirt I was wearing, a lot of blood by the looks of it. My head is spinning, either from blood loss or the blow to the head, I wasn’t sure which one. I cover my mouth as a coughing fit wracks my body and when I pull my hand away there are traces of blood there too. Fuck. This really wasn’t good. Before I could even register what I was doing, I had pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Dean. He picks up on the second ring.

“How’s it going sweetheart? Did you change your mind about wanting help with the wraiths?” He asks, his tone cheery, I can hear the roar of the Impala in the background and it brings a slight smile to my face. I must have remained silent for longer than I thought because Dean speaks again, his voice serious and concern flecked throughout. “Y/N, are you okay?”

“Mmm, I took out the wraiths, but they got me good too. Any chance you’re nearby?” I groan, trying to reposition myself in such a way that I can apply better pressure to the wound in my side. I can hear the Impala accelerating, as Dean responds. “Shit. We are twenty minutes out from town, figured we’d surprise you. Where’s the bar?” I manage to give him brief directions, doing my best to recall where exactly I was.

“I’m so tired Dean.” I whisper, the phone beginning to slip from my hand and away from my ear.

“Hey, no, don’t do that. You don’t get to do that, you hear me? You stay with me, talk to me. I am almost there sweetheart.” He responds and I can hear the panic rising in his voice but its too late. Every breath is a battle, holding my phone to my ear is impossible. The amount of strength it requires is simply too much. I watch as it clatters to the floor, my eyes slowly blinking shut. I slump forward, the world around me fading into black.

—

I vaguely notice voices, irritating voices drawing me back towards consciousness. I try my damndest to ignore them, the more I focus on them the greater the pain is flowing through my body. I hear my name being yelled, my shoulders behind jostled and my body being laid flat on a hard wooden surface. My head is placed onto something soft and I take that as permission to sleep. Yet I don’t get to do that, hands grab my face pulling me back into consciousness.

“Y/N, hey, oh thank God, look at me Y/N.” Dean is leaning over me grim faced, his hand pressed tightly against my rips holding something against it. I wince, trying to pull his hand away but he stops me. Sam’s face swims into view as well, his hand cradling the back of my head.

“Dean.” I sigh, my voice weak and seemingly coming from someone other than myself. “Doesn’t seem too bad, does it?” I ask, laughing slightly before grimacing from the pain that causes. His face is pale, eyes searching for the answer to my question, he doesn’t have to answer, I know it doesn’t look good.

“Im going to get you out of here, I promise. You’re gonna be okay.” He says, lifting my shirt so he can tie the bandage around me as tight as he can. He picks me up, a yell leaving my lips in the process. I can hear him whispering reassurances and apologies as he carries me out to the Impala. It all feels like a dream, as if I am watching from above as all of this happens. I drift in and out of the darkness the entire car ride, the whole way into the motel room. Until eventually, it all fades to black once again.

—

“I don’t know what else to do Sammy, the bullet went all of the way through. We stopped the bleeding and stitched her up. But that was hours ago! She still hasn’t woken back up.” Deans voice sounds nearby, anxious and completely grating on my nerves at the moment.

“Would you shut up! ‘M trying to sleep here.” I groan, the throbbing of my nerves returning like a wave of pain rushing over me. I hear a flurry of movement, before the bed sinks down next to me and I can feel a hand rest against the side of my face. I open my eyes, blinking rapidly, trying to adjust my eyes to the harsh lighting a stark comparison to the darkness of sleep I was used to. When my eyes his, he falls apart. Tears spring to his eyes and he breaks down before my very eyes. His mouth opens and closes multiple times, searching for something, anything to say.

“Dean, Im okay.” I whisper, my voice raspy and aching in my throat. He shakes his head, his eyes still trained on my own.

“You weren’t, we almost lost you so many times Y/N.” His words sink in slowly, understanding for his reaction lands on me in droves.

“I’m sorry I worried you. Thank you for getting to me in time.” I reach my hand up and touch the side of his face, surprised when he leans into my touch.

“He made the twenty minute drive into an eight minute one.” Sam says, and for the first time I realize that he’s sitting in the chair a couple of feet from the bed. I chuckle lightly, unsurprised, Dean was always able to drive way too fast when he needed to, a talent almost.

We spend the next few hours talking, questions being thrown at me from every angle. I do my best to answer them, but exhaustion quickly settles in. Sam notices and mentions to Dean that they should let me get some sleep, there’s a slight argument over who will stay with me. Much to my surprise, Dean is insistent upon staying himself. Sam gives me a quick hug and excuses himself from the room, which leaves Dean and I alone. Oh so alone. It wasn’t the first time we had shared a room, but it felt completely different this time. An uncomfortable silence hangs between us, neither one of us wanting to be the one that breaks it. I shift my body, trying to prop myself up further in bed. A decision I regret as soon as I flex the wrong muscle and am greeted by a screaming pain in my side. I throw my head back, my mouth opening in a silent yell. Deans hands are on me in an instant, helping me settle into a more comfortable position. I give him a grateful smile and expect the silence to continue, but it doesn’t.

“You’re never doing this again, you hear me? You’re only ever hunting with us from now on. I could’t bear it when I found you like that and I definitely couldn’t bear it if it ever happened again.” Dean says quietly, his eyes trained on the floor. I’m quiet for a minute, considering my response carefully, unsure where his words were coming from. Dean wasn’t controlling, so it wasn’t that. Concern was evident, but I didn’t think that was enough to spur him to make that declaration.

“Dean, I am really okay. It was a bad turn of events, but I have been hunting for years on my own and I made it this far. You don’t need to worry about me, ill be-“ He cuts me off, his voice raised and his hands running through his already disheveled hair.

“You don’t get it, do you? Ever since that night, six months ago, I have worried about you. I care about you, Y/N, so worrying comes with the territory. For a time, I thought you cared about me in that way. But then you left. You just left and I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I followed after you, not wanting something to happen to you and thank god I did.” His words leave me speechless, did he mean what I think he means? Before I can protest or respond in anyway, he’s walking over to me. He sits on the edge of the bed, leaning towards me. His hand comes to rest on the back of my neck, pulling me towards him ever so slightly. He leans in, his face nearing my own and my eyes flutter shut. His nose brushes my own, his breath causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.

“ I love you, Y/N and nearly losing you, made me realize that I couldn’t keep that to myself any longer. Fear in the face of tragedy and all of that.” He mumbles, his lips nearly brushing against my own as he speaks. I don’t think, I just act. I close the distance and press my lips against his own, dissolving into the kiss and I can tell he does too. His warmth envelopes me entirely, his lips, his touch, everything. When I finally pull away, my head is spinning. His words rushing through my mind, over and over again. “I love you too, Dean.” I whisper, smiling gently and I press another kiss to his lips. “Fear in the face of tragedy, how poetic.”

441 notes · View notes

eddiemunsons80sbaby · 3 months

Text

Everybody Hurts

Chapter 24

Pairing: EddieMunsonxReader

Summary: You needed to escape, escape from your life, your messy divorce, and all the pitying looks. Looks you couldn't ignore when everyone in town had known you and Cam, had known your shame and failure. So, you took the first job you could get, teaching third grade in a town called Hawkins. Little did you know, you were walking right into another messy situation, a messy situation with big brown eyes and long dark waves. But he's resistant, at times unbearable and you start getting curious about the town's past, his past, especially when things don't start adding up.

18+ Only for eventual smut

Word Count: 4.4K

Masterlist

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Five Months Later

The air was cool and crisp, the sun shining down brightly as people moved in and out of the house, hauling boxes. The trees blazed a multitude of shades of orange, red, and yellow, crunching underfoot and rustling as they fell off the trees, floating to the ground like a colorful snowstorm with each gust of wind. It was that kind of fall day that you wished you could bottle so you could experience it again and again.

The neighborhood was an autumn wonderland. The yards were lined with pumpkins, scarecrows, and skeletons. Jack o’ Lanterns grinned widely from porches. Everything was spooky and festive as if Halloween had taken over the entire world. The energy was full of mischief, children running and biking down the streets, their laughter and chatter filling the air, anticipating the holiday that was now only a couple weeks away.

The season brought with it a feel of transition and change, a moment to step back and reflect on everything that had led to this moment. A sense of peace settled over you as you watched your friends: Eddie yelling at Steve for slinging his guitar over his shoulder, Dustin and Robin bickering about who had to carry the box of records, Nancy taking charge and directing everyone, Max snapping at Lucas for drinking the rest of her water.

They were all here, this group of people that had somehow become family to you over the course of a few short months. Hopper had even pitched in, offering the use of his Chevy Blazer. Him and Joyce were currently somewhere inside the house. Uncle Wayne was just pulling in with the last load, Mike and El crammed into the front with him. Jonathan and Will walked over to meet them, all five of them grabbing boxes to carry inside.

The idea to move in together had been fairly sudden. What had been even more sudden and shocking was that it had been Eddie’s idea. You couldn’t believe he was ready to take such a big step after only six months of dating. But it hadn’t taken much thought on your part. You smiled at the memory.

The wedding was a grand affair, full of pomp and circumstance. Of course it was. Cam wouldn’t have allowed it to be anything less, never passing up an opportunity to show off for the masses. Eddie and you had sat toward the back of the church. You'd picked out a new dress for the occasion, teal with gold, brown, and red details, a plunging neckline and a high slit up the thigh.

You weren't trying to get Cam back but that didn’t mean you couldn’t try to make him regret what he lost. Besides, the look on Eddie’s face when you'd opened the front door had been worth every single penny it had cost. His fingers kept grazing the ample amount of skin on your leg that the dress exposed, a promise of what was coming once the two of you got out of there. Every brush of his hand, his lips caressing over your jaw, dirty words detailing what he wanted to do to you whispered against your ear, sent shivers of desire straight down your spine.

The doors opened, Cassie appearing in mountains of tulle, looking stunning. Not that it was a surprise. Your friend might be a snake but she was a beautiful one. Cam smiled at the sight of her but then the smile faltered, his eyes widening, when he noticed you sitting there. Eddie gave him a little wave and a wink, wiggling his fingers and winding his arm around you, pulling you in close to his side.

You sat through the service, Eddie whispering in your ear the entire time, making you giggle. He asked you which bridesmaid Cam would have in his bed before the honeymoon was over. He whispered how Cam looked like he needed to take a giant shit as he was struggling through his vows, his eyes darting over to the two of you laughing. When Cassie began rocking back and forth on her heels nervously, he quoted Spaceballs.

“Going right past the altar, heading down the ramp, and out the door. Run Cassie. Run before it’s too late.”

You had to clamp your hand over your mouth to stifle the laugh that was threatening to burst from you. But Eddie was accomplishing exactly what his goal had been. He was keeping you from sinking into your feelings, keeping you from bursting into tears or raging in anger, sitting and watching the two people who betrayed you promising to love each other forever.

The happy couple hurried down the aisle, avoiding eye contact with you like you were the sun that would burn them to ash where they stood. You told him you could skip the reception as you walked out to his van. The two of you had done what you'd set out to do. They’d both seen you and knew they couldn’t chase you away, knew you'd moved on and found happiness. They had not broken you.

“Are you kidding? Pass up free booze, a party, and the chance to make them even more uncomfortable? No fucking way, princess.” He grinned, hand wrapping around your hip, pulling you into him. “Besides, you look way too damn hot in that dress not to show you off.”

The reception was even more opulence, a banquet befitting royalty. The cake was a goddamn work of art, multiple tiers with buttercream roses. It was all grandness and luxury. Cream tablecloths, white roses, twinkle lights draped from the ceiling, a fairytale come to life. It made your own wedding pale in comparison. You hadn’t had near the money that Cam had now and he was spending every damn cent of it to be certain everyone there knew how far he’d come.

Eddie’s hand stayed on the small of your back, letting you know he had you as you made your way through the hall. Your former mother-in-law stopped in her tracks, her face a mask of stunned mortification when she almost ran into you, heading up to check that everything was okay, of course. The woman was a micromanager and she would not allow anything to ruin her golden boy’s day.

You had always hated that about her. She always had an opinion about everything from the colors you picked for your walls to the way you had gotten your hair cut. Cam would call his mommy to whine every single time you were upset with him and here Cheryl would come, armed and ready to battle for her son, reminding you how good you had it. That you were lucky Cam had chosen you because you both knew he could have done far better, how you were riding his coattails, and if you didn’t want to lose the comfortable life you'd grown accustomed to then you better forgive him. How many times had you done just that? Ignoring all the red flags until they were so glaring you couldn’t anymore.

“I…well, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“I would think not Cheryl but I was invited so I felt it would be rude not to at least make an appearance. You know, wish the happy couple the best on their special day.”

“Oh, how very…kind of you,” she ground out through gritted teeth. “Honestly, it took a lot of courage to show your face here. I would have thought you’d be too embarrassed to be seen after everything that happened.”

“Wait. By everything that happened you mean your son banging her friend behind her back? Not sure why she should be embarrassed that your kid couldn’t keep it in his pants and realize what a good thing he had when he had it.” Eddie stepped around you with a grin. “Eddie, by the way.” His arm wound around your waist, pulling you into his side. “I’m the guy who’s pretty damn thankful he didn’t because I know what a good thing I’ve got.”

“How…” Her eyes tracked him from his head to his toe, no doubt thinking he was far beneath her son with his long hair and tattoos. “Lovely for you both. If you’ll excuse me, I have far more important things to attend to.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t want to keep you from making sure the second wedding goes smoothly. Might want to cut back on the third one, though. With your son’s track record, this kind of party could get very costly for you.”

Cheryl’s nostrils flared, her face as red as a tomato. You could see she wanted to spit something vile at Eddie but her concern over how others perceived her won out. She could never let anyone think she was anything less than the perfect hostess. With a snort, she stomped off, her heels clacking loudly through the hall.

“Jesus Christ,” you laughed, burying your face against the sleeve of his jacket. “You definitely made her shit list.”

Eddie’s lips came together, an annoyed puff of air blowing out, “Well, she can get in line. It’s not the first nor the last list my name is on. It pisses me off that she acted like you should be embarrassed about a damn thing when her son is the one who should be hiding under a rock after the shitty stuff he did. That woman can kiss my ass.”

“Hey?”

A rippled of anger traced its way along your spine at the sound of that voice. How could she have the audacity to even speak to you after everything she’d done? You had been counting on the fact that the two of them would avoid you like the plague once they saw you at the wedding. You'd never expected either of them to actually approach you.

“Cassie,” you stated, the word harsh, two syllables that scratched your throat like knives coming up, as you turned to look at your former friend.

The beautiful bride smiled, uncertain and nervous, “We didn’t really think you’d come. I mean, we sent the invite hoping…but we didn’t think you’d be ready to forgive and move on. But we’re both so glad you’re here, that you’ve realized that we never meant to hurt you.”

“Realized? Forgive?” you seethed. “I’ve realized nothing. I don’t forgive a goddamn thing. You two willingly hurt me. The two people who were supposed to love me, to be the ones I could count on. You hurt me and you did it purposefully and don’t feed me any bullshit about having no control over your feelings. You knew exactly what you were doing and what it would do to me. You just didn’t care. You’re both selfish and pitiful excuses for human beings. And you know what? I’m glad you have each other because you deserve each other.”

“Please. I don’t want to lose you…”

“You already have. You lost me the minute you decided to jump in bed with my husband. You’re both nothing to me now. Enjoy your miserable existence and when Cam inevitably decides to cheat on you, don’t come crying to me. I’ve moved on. I’ve found people who actually care, who actually have my back, and who actually love me.” You smiled up at Eddie. “Enjoy my leftovers, Cassie. I’ve moved on to a gourmet meal.”

Taking Eddie’s hand, you pulled him behind you. He grinned, sticking his tongue out at Cassie as he followed behind you. Cam glanced over at you both and you gave him the middle finger.

“Son of a bitch!” Eddie whooped. “You were brutal.” His hands gripped the sides of your waist, pressing you against the cool brick of the building. “That was so fucking hot.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Hell yeah.” His nose traced over your face as his hand glided up your leg, taking full advantage of the massive slit in the side to slip around and grip your ass. A whimper escaped your lips as the evidence of his arousal pressed against you. “Fuck, sweetheart, this dress has been killing me all damn night. I don’t know if I can make it all the way home.”

“Your van has plenty of room,” you whispered.

“Son of a bitch. That’s why I love you. So resourceful,” he groaned, grabbing onto your hand, dragging you across the parking lot, your steps hurrying to keep up with him.

Eddie threw open the back doors of the van and you crawled inside, him right behind you. The doors slammed loudly and then you were flat on your back, Eddie’s lips devouring yours, tongue not even waiting for invitation before it was exploring your throat.

Your hands grabbed at the front of his pants, quickly undoing his belt, unbuttoning, sliding his zipper down. You pushed his dress pants and his boxers down over his hips. Reaching down, you wrapped your hand around his cock, firm as you moved it steadily along his length.

Eddie groaned, his forehead pressing against yours, “Jesus H. Christ, baby. You’ve got me so fucking wound up. I can’t wait. I need that pretty little pussy.”

His hands skimmed up your thighs, pushing the dress up to your waist, his lips moving along your neck, his hard length pressing against you. You wound your legs around his hips, needing that beautiful cock so badly right now. Eddie’s hand grabbed your wrists, holding them together above your head as his other hand guided himself to your entrance. He pressed into you slowly, his eyes focused on yours the entire time.

“Oh shit…” you gasped as he buried himself to the hilt within you, pausing and relishing the feel of your bodies coming together in sweet perfection. “Eddie…”

“I know. Jesus, you feel so fucking good, princess,” he groaned as he began to move his hips, his cock stretching you completely.

Your hands came up to rest on his back, your fingers digging into the skin along his shoulder blades. He was moving agonizingly slow, drawing out the experience. It felt incredible but you were aching for him to move faster, harder, to completely take you, own you, make you his.

“Eddie, please,” you pleaded, rocking your hips in an effort to show him what you needed.

“Words, sweetheart,” he urged, that little smirk playing at his lips, causing that dimple you wanted to dive into to appear on his cheek once again.

“Eddie, faster…harder…please…fuck me,” you managed.

“Your wish is my command, baby,” growled Eddie as he thrust into you with force. The van began to rock and you cried out in relief. “Tell me, baby. How does it feel?”

“It’s fucking amazing,” you panted, your nails raking along the skin of his back, causing him to hiss.

Eddie gripped your calf, lifting your leg up by your ear and you gasped in pleasure as this new angle created brand new sensations, pleasure rocketing straight through your core. His other hand released your wrists, gripping the headrest of the driver’s seat as he drove into you again and again, your bodies colliding over and over in a frenzied blur of want and lust.

“Shit, princess, I’m close,” he rumbled. “Come for me, baby. Touch yourself. Need you to come.”

You obeyed, your hand snaking between your bodies, your finger finding your clit and working over it. It didn’t take much. Eddie had you so wound up, your body was just aching to let go. Your entire body tensed, back arching, as your orgasm rolled through you.

“That’s a good girl. My good girl,” praised Eddie, thrusting once, twice, and then his body stilled, pressing into you, his grip on your leg tightening and you felt as his release filled you, a strangled roar rising from within his chest.

His body shuddered over you and his head dipped down, pressing a soft, sweet kiss to your lips. He collapsed down next to you with a grunt, his arm resting over his head, releasing a long, slow breath of satisfaction.

“Fuck. That was…fuck…” he muttered softly.

You blew out a long breath, “Yeah…”

“We should move in together.”

“What?”

You rolled onto your side, looking at him, wondering if you'd heard what you thought you'd just heard. He rolled to face you, a soft smile on his lips, his fingers trailing up and down your arm.

“We should move in together. Is that crazy? I mean, I know we’ve only been dating for four months but I know you’re what I want. And we’re thirty. We’re not young, dumb kids. Well, not young anyway.” His body shook gently with laughter. “I love you. You love me. We spend almost every night together anyway. So, why not?”

Were you really hearing this? Was Eddie, the guy who’d kept you at arm’s length, the guy who’d tried to run from you twice, was asking you to move in with him? The guy who was locked up tighter than Fort Knox? The guy who used the mask of being a jerk to hide in plain sight? You couldn’t believe it. You'd thought it would be at least two years before this topic was brought up, if at all.

“You don’t want to?” he asked, head tilting forward to catch your eyes, those brown orbs absolutely melting you. “That’s okay. It’s probably crazy anyway, right? I mean, what was I thinking? You just got out of this ridiculously long relationship and you’re finally living on your own. You probably don’t want me moving in, invading your space, making messes and being loud and annoying…”

“Eddie,” you said, cutting him off. You pushed yourself up, moving to straddle his stomach. Your hands cupped his face, smiling down at him. “I would love nothing more than for you to invade my space. Hell, invade my entire life.”

“Yeah?” he asked, teeth flashing as he grinned.

“Yes, but are you sure you want to move into my place? You’re good with leaving your house?”

Eddie shrugged, fingers dancing up and down your thighs, “It’s just a house. I don’t care. I know your house means something to you. And now, we can fix it up together. Make it ours. I mean, if you’re cool with that.”

“Of course. If you’re living there, it’s your house too. I just…I’m surprised you’re ready for that.”

“What is there to be ready for? Sleeping next to you every night? Waking up next to you every morning? Coming home to you after work? Baby, I’ve been ready for that. We’ve been sharing our space but Prom Queen, I want to share our lives. I’ve never…I mean, you know, I’ve never had anyone that I was willing to share everything with. But you, I want to. I want to tell you everything. I want everything that’s mine to be yours because I’m yours, sweetheart.”

Tears stung your eyes as you leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, “I’m yours Eddie, completely and forever.”

You inhaled slowly, taking a deep breath of the crisp, fall air, a smile curving your mouth at the memory. That moment you had felt a happiness you'd never known and today, watching as your friends…no, your family, because that’s what this group had become, helped Eddie move in, you were feeling it again.

“What are you all smiley about?” teased Nancy, bumping her hip into yours.

“She’s feeling all grossly giddy because she’s in love and her boyfriend’s moving in,” Robin teased, leaning her head on top of your shoulder.

Steve snorted, “These two have been inducing nausea for the past four months. I’m happy for you both but you could tone it down just a bit for those of us who are hopelessly single.”

“Speak for yourself, loser,” Robin huffed. “I happen to have a date tomorrow night.”

You spun so fast, you almost sent you and Robin tumbling to the ground, “Seriously? Oh my god. Tell me everything!”

Your friend beamed, pink highlighting her cheeks, “Her name is Claire and she brings her Corgi in to get groomed once a month. She’s so damn pretty. Long black hair and these eyes that look like the ocean at night. I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to ask her out for months. At first, you know, I wasn’t sure if she was interested in people like me.”

“You mean girls?” laughed Nancy.

“Yeah. Look, it’s not as easy for me as it is for you,” Robin stated. “You approach the wrong girl and she could get very pissy very fast. But then she was talking about her ex last month and she said that she didn’t like dogs. So, I had my answer. I knew I had to ask her. It was like fate had just dropped her down in front of me or something, you know? So, I finally did and she said yes! We’re going to dinner and then to a haunted house tomorrow.”

“Oh my god. Tell me you’re not going to…” you began.

“The one Eddie works at? Obviously. How many haunted houses do you think Hawkins has?” Robin snorted, blue eyes rolling skyward.

Eddie was a scare actor every Saturday night while the local haunted house was open. He’d convinced you to come check it out last week and may have convinced you to do other things behind the scenes. He was rocking a Ghostface mask and as much as you thought it would be weird, it had been oddly hot.

“Robin, when he finds out you’re bringing your date there…”

“Who’s bringing a date where?” asked Eddie as he strolled up with Dustin, beads of sweat sparkling on their foreheads. Poor Dustin’s curls were smushed underneath his cap.

“Robin has a date and she’s bringing her to the haunted house tomorrow,” Steve answered. “Make sure you give them the special treatment.”

“Sorry, Harrington. I’m a taken man,” Eddie replied, snaking his arm around your waist. “And I already gave my girl the special treatment last week.”

“What do you…oh my God!” Dustin yelled. “You did it in the haunted house?”

Eddie shrugged, “I mean, it was fun.”

“What if someone saw you?” asked Nancy.

“That just makes it more exciting, dollface,” he grinned, tongue slipping between his teeth.

“Okay…gross,” gagged Steve. “Not the special treatment I was talking about. I meant to scare the living shit out of them.”

“Oh, well, now that I can do.”

Robin shoved him in the stomach, “Don’t you dare. I swear, Munson, if you ruin this for me after I’ve been waiting six months just to ask her to go out with me, I will kill you.”

“Calm down, Buckley,” he groaned, rubbing his stomach with a wince. “I’m not gonna mess up your romantic little evening. Besides, isn’t that why you go to a haunted house? To have the shit scared out of you?”

“It’s a first date. I would rather shit not come into play at all.”

“That’s fair,” Dustin nodded. “One time I was having some serious gastrointestinal issues and Suzie…”

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! No thank you!” Steve protested, waving his hands in front of him.

The sound of two short honks had all of you turning to see a small blue Nissan pulling up in front of the house. The driver’s door opened and Millie stepped out, waving to you all in greeting before opening the back, retrieving a box wrapped in white paper with a gold ribbon.

“Millie!” you exclaimed, walking over to the woman who had quickly become one of your favorite humans on the planet. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, you told me this was moving day, right?” she asked. “I brought you all a housewarming gift.”

You chuckled, “But I already lived here.”

“Yes, but you didn’t live here with someone you loved. Now you do. That’s something to celebrate.”

Eddie approached, taking the package out of Millie’s hands and you went in for a hug. You inhaled the scent of her, cinnamon and vanilla, just like the coffee shop.

“Millie, you didn’t have to do this,” Eddie told her as he leaned in for a one armed hug.

“Of course I didn’t have to but I wanted to. It’s just a little something to mark the occasion. Now go on. Open it.”

Eddie handed the gift to you and you carefully untied the ribbon, handing it to him. You opened the box, pulling out a round white wooden sign. Black letters spelled out the words, ‘Home is not where you’re from, it’s where you belong.’ You blinked against the tears formed in your eyes, so touched by this thoughtful gift from this lady who had been so kind to you since day one.

“Millie, thank you. I love this.”

The older lady placed a comforting hand on your arm, “I know you came here because you were running from something but maybe there was a reason.”

Your eyes immediately met Eddie’s, the two of you sharing a smile, “I know there was.”

“There sure was. This is your home now, honey. You belong in Hawkins with all of us.”

Eddie stepped into you, pulling you into his side, his lips pressing against the top of your head, “She really does.”

You looked around at all your friends who were now sitting all over the porch and the stairs, taking a well deserved break. You looked up at Eddie, that face you wanted to see every single day for the rest of your life. This was your life. Maybe it wasn’t the way you'd pictured it. Maybe some of the chapters had gotten rough and bumpy. Maybe there were moments when you wished you could hit the rewind button and change things.

But now, you just wanted to hit pause, to live in this moment, with these people, forever. You'd not just found a home but friends and family. You'd found your person. You were actually grateful to Cam and Cassie because if they hadn’t have done what they did, you would never have found Eddie and you knew, with every fiber of your being, that he was the missing piece you'd always been looking for.

“You ready for this?” you asked, tilting your face up to look at him.

“Baby, I was born ready,” he grinned, his lips finding yours.

And we have arrived at the end of Sam and Eddie's story. Thank you so much to all who had read, commented, and supported this little story of mine. Every single one of you is a bright life in my life even if I don't know you personally. Your comments and reblogs always make me smile. I will be taking a bit of a break before starting another long Eddie fic. February is going to be busy for me and I will be going on vacation for a week with my family. But no worries. I already have some ideas brewing. The Eddie hyperfixation is still strong. I will keep updating the Steve one as I finish chapters for those who are reading that one as well. So much love and hugs to all of you!

Taglist

@tlclick73@bebe07011@eddiesguitarskills@witchwolflea@nailbatanddungeon@emilyslutface@fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes@corrodedcoffincumslut@mmunson86@josephquinnsfreckles@katethetank @cannibalsforbreakfast @cheesewritings @bellalillyrose @seatbacksandtraytables

81 notes · View notes

bestfictionalplant · 1 month

Text

Round 2 Group 6

Propaganda and spoilers under cut

Jumpkin:

It's a little guy :D More seriously, it's a monster. All monsters in Cassette Beasts can be "recorded" so you can turn into them! "A Jumpkin is a special monster created by smearing the goo from another monster, Jellyton, on a normal pumpkin. It's pretty much the only monster with this kind of capture method. Jumpkins are just funny little guys that, as their name implies, jump around! They have such zest for life. A jumpkin tape can be ""remastered"" into two other monsters, Beanstalker and Draculeaf."

Karzahni:

in the time before time, when the evil mayor impersonator makuta was planning his plan to get the little robot meat guys in their little memory-erasing containers and before he'd impersonated the mayor (i think; don't quote me; i am Not Good at the timeline) he was like "hey i should make a plant that will force these four-foot fuckers towards the big sports and politics stadium under threat of murder so i can easily get my bastard robot cops to force them into the amnesia balls" and then he made karzahni. who was too smart and cool and powerful. so he did not get deployed. he is named after the legendary Lego Hell and Lego Satan where Bad And Naughty Disabled Robots Go For "Repairs" And Never Return. it's expensive to copyright names. they had to double up on occasion. or triple up. or quadruple up. anyway so evil mayor impersonator who is also ANOTHER Lego Satan but that's besides the point, creates this plant. but the plant is too smart. so he puts it somewhere and forgets about it and makes the morbuzakh NEW PARAGRAPH anyway so basically most creatures in this universe are immortal bar murder and fucked-up circumstances. no old age, basically. but this plant has one, because Bionicle Satan (Not Karzahni) makes his shit with limited lifespans so they can't wait for ten thousand years gathering their power and then kill-murder him to death. six big robot meat superheroes fight a fucking big monster in a tunnel. the cool smart one who used to be a teacher gets poisoned. but because karzahni (plant) is so fucking cool it can make an antidote. and it holds the antidote hostage in exchange for Cool Oil, which is oil from the apocalypse planet where the robot meat guys' creators are from, but they fracked too hard and split the planet into three pieces so that's a bit fucked-up and yet besides the point. anyway they get the magic juice and give it to karzahni (plant). previously in the story (but later in the timeline; this is a TWO-YEAR FLASHBACK EPISODE BABY) some other robot meat superheroes took a dunk in this cool fucking water and got mega-boosted powers. super-superheroes. but that's because god exists and has predetermined what can happen in each individual's life. those guys got Good Results From Applied Goo. karzahni (plant) does not. it just fucking. dies. it is then chopped up to make some lorries float so they can take the amnesiac sphere guys up to a cool new island they found, because their old island got FUCKING WRECKED NEW PARAGRAPH anyway a cutting of karzahni survived (known as karzahni ii) with all the memories and shit of the real one and just sort of goes. FINE. i will join you, Lego Satan (not karzahni but the evil mayor impersonator) in gaslighting this mentally ill man into thinking he's short and his life is a lie in order to get the time travel device he made out of some magic fucking frisbees. karzahni took on the role of the morbuzakh. then the guy's like "this is bullshit" and gets thrown off a cliff but Karzahni II catches him and goes "hey. everything's alright. i tortured and killed a guy and he said you're doing good and everything is gonna be okay" and then the evil mayor impersonator (who by this point has not been impersonating the mayor for like. at least a week?) kills it. again. for real this time

#round 2 #cassette beasts #bionicle #gif

45 notes · View notes

pazzesco · 5 months

Text

🎨 Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo - My Grandparents, My Parents and Me, 1936

Wedding portrait of Matilde Calderón and Guillermo Kahlo, February 21, 1898

On July 6, 1907, Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderón, the third daughter of the Kahlo Calderón family, is born in Coyoacán.

(left) Frida Kahlo at the age of four, 1911 (right) Frida at the age of five, 1912

At the age of six, Frida contracts polio. As a result, her right leg will be short and thin. Nevertheless, Frida is a restless, active child. Her father encourages her to do sports to strengthen her right leg.

1922 - Frida wants to study Medicine, so she enrolls in the National Preparatory School. She is one of thirty-five girls in a student body of 2,000 boys. At that time, to help her family, Frida works at a lumberyard, recording entries and exits. In her father’s photographic studio, she also learns how to color photos by hand with a brush.

1924 - The political climate becomes complicated with an uprising against president Álvaro Obregón. Frida’s mother, concerned about the lack of security, prohibits her from going to school.

Frida cannot see her boyfriend, Alejandro Gómez Arias, and cannot attend classes.

Frida Kahlo - Portrait of her boyfriend, Alejandro Gómez Arias, 1928

1925 - On September 17, Frida is seriously injured in a traffic accident. The bus she was riding with Alejandro was unable to slow down and was struck by a streetcar. Frida spends a month in the Red Cross hospital, where her older sister, Matilde, visits her.

Matilde Kahlo Calderón, 1917

Matilde, Frida’s older sister. Matilde will take care of Frida when she is sick and will oversee the correspondence with various physicians.

1926- Frida paints her first self-portrait.

1927 - Frida recovers enough to resume her social life. She continues to paint, now to earn money to help her parents pay her medical bills.

Frida Kahlo - Portrait of Miguel N. Lira, 1927

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera on their wedding day, August 21, 1929

Frida weds Diego in the town council of Coyoacán. She is 22 and the muralist is slightly more than twenty years older. Frida’s mother is of the idea that the marriage is the union of “an elephant and a dove.”

The Bus, 1929

Frida alludes to her accident in the painting The Bus, where she also depicts social classes in Mexico in the early twentieth century.

Diego pays off the mortgage that Guillermo Kahlo had taken out on the family home, and he puts the residence in Frida’s name. Her parents continue to live there.

1931 - Frida paints Frieda and Diego Rivera, which represents their wedding.

1932 - In Self-Portrait (on the Border between Mexico and the United States), Frida positions herself on an imaginary borderline, split between two realities: that of her country, where nature and traditions thrive, but that is also critical, and the visión of the neighboring country, dominated by machines and industrialization.

1933 - Frida paints My Dress Hangs Here during her stay in New York, while Diego tries to complete the controversial Rockefeller Center mural. In this canvas, Frida uses paint and newspaper and magazine clippings to form an avant-garde collage critical of reality.

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in the home of Luther Burbank, California, 1931

Portrait of Luther Burbank, 1931

Between 1937 and 1938 Frida does 20 paintings—more than she had ever painted in a single year—many of which she exhibits in New York. Ixcuhintli [sic] Dog with Me is one of those works. Noteworthy is the dark-colored dress in the portrait and the cigarette in her hand, still considered a male privilege at that time.

1939 - In her canvas What the Water Has Given Me, Frida fills a bathtub with symbols to show her life experiences. Roots, a dress, a volcano, birds, insects, a building, her parents, a corpse float in an aquatic world, full of intellectual riddles/puzzles. Her ailment is portrayed in the wound in her right foot.

1942 - President Manuel Ávila Camacho commissions Frida to paint a still life for the dining room of the official residence. However, the first lady, Ana Soledad Orozco, finds the canvas overly suggestive and returns it to the artist.

Frida Kahlo seated at/on the Casa Azul pyramid with her Self-Portrait as Tehuana or Diego on My Mind, 1943

Frida again exhibits her work in the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, in the heart of Manhattan, and one of the foremost museums in the United States.

1943 - Roots

1945 - Frida paints the canvas Moses or The Birth of the Hero, after having read the book by the renowned psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud: Moses and Monotheism. Engineer José Domingo Lavín Revilla, Frida’s friend and patron, had lent her the volumen and asked her to paint her own interpretation. In this work, despite its small format, Kahlo imitates the layout of the mural painting. The canvas will be displayed in 1946 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, in Mexico City, with the title Nuclear Sun.

1946 - Tree of Hope, Remain Strong

1949 - In My Family (unfinished), Frida draws the genealogical tree of her maternal ancestors, of Mexican origin, and her paternal family, of Hungarian-German ancestry. By this time, the painter’s parents had already died and in the canvas they join the grandparents in a cloud in the sky. Kahlo also portrays her sisters and includes the enigmatic presence of a baby, perhaps Frida’s brother who died before she was born.

‘Frida Kahlo’s desk’, Mexico City, Gisele Freund, 1950

Frida paints Portrait of My Father, Guillermo Kahlo, using a photo of her father in his youth as a reference point.

On July 13, 1954, at the age of 47, Frida dies.

Days before her death, in her canvas with watermelons, she writes the phrase “Viva la Vida” (Long Live Life), thus naming the work and leaving a final testimony to her resilience and hope.

#frida #frida kahlo #diego rivera #Guillermo Kahlo #Matilde kahlo #cliff clavin #Viva la Vida #portraits #Moses #rockefeller center #california #mexico #mexican #luther burbank

109 notes · View notes

brf-rumortrackinganon · 15 days

Note

Do you remember all those rumors after the docuseries came out and spare?? It was like summer 2023 and chatter started to heavily pick up that basically Netflix was declining every idea they brought forth because they either wanted season 2 of their life or a bigger chunk of the BRF. And Meghan and Harry knew that the BRF was a non starter, by then they were kicked out of frogmore so they couldn’t even really pretend to film there. I think this is the closest compromise Harry could give, the documentary about polo? I do think they’ll use the BTS footage they shot in spring of 2023 when the rumors first came out. Meghan floating in with a cooking show to see if it will drive more eyeballs to ARO because the launch hasn’t been as successful.

It’s clear they want to part on decent terms with (‘success) instead of repeating what happened at Spotify. That was a shot through the heart for them.

No, I didn't see those Netflix rumors last year.

The thing about Netflix (and all media/entertainment companies) is that they bet only on sure things. They take a gamble once and if that turns into a success, that's all they'll spend money on.

It's why we have more film franchies than independent one-and-done stories. It's why every film studio wants a "cinematic universe" and six-year plan. It's why we have the same shows on every network. It's why every reality competition show is modeled after Survivor. It's why every reality cooking show is modeled after Top Chef. It's why all the books in the women's commercial fiction genre have identical covers (moody background, mysterious cover, title/author lettering in big font with bright colors).

Netflix knew pretty quickly that they weren't going to get a whole lot from the Sussexes. It took them two years to produce six hours. That is a terrible track record and is exactly on par with their Spotify "two years and a 45-minute Christmas special" plan. So once Netflix got the docuseries and it did okay enough in the ratings to make Netflix execs comfortable that they didn't just throw away all this money, that type of content was the only thing they'd greenlight.

So really Meghan and Harry shot themselves in the foot here. Netflix was pretty much banking on the Sussexes being their version of the Kardashians and possibly that's what Meghan and Harry sold them on, but then tried to back out of it when the ratings weren't Kardashian-level.

Meaning that for Meghan and Harry to get more options from Netflix than a Season 2 whinefest, that means they pulled in some help. Real help, actual help, from legitimate industry insiders. That kind of assistance is pretty much the only thing that would've made Netflix comfortable to give them another chance.

(Not that I think it will do them any good. The cooking show genre is overly saturated and, as everyone has pointed out, polo isn't a thing here. Both films/docuseries/whatever they are probably aren't going to do well.)

Finally, the understanding is that the Sussexes and Netflix have a four-year deal. That deal expires this year. The cooking show and the polo thing are just last-ditch efforts to squeeze more money from Netflix.

#ask #sussexes #netflix

32 notes · View notes

valcubust-writes · 1 year

Text

Read the Demo here! / art account is @valcubust / Da Spotify

...

2027, A voice transcript found on a recording device:

"...can be killed with fire, testing done in..." A french accent. "September of 2025. If I am counting correct."

. . .

"Now, with more testing I can hopefully learn more about them. Learn advantages. Sending someone out to rile them up. Will check in later."

...End transcript.

You're alive.

One survivor amongst thousands of dead. The actual death toll (if there was ever a record of it) is unavailable now. The world ended in 2026.

Now, four-hundred and twenty-three days later, you're here. In the outskirts of Scarswater, Ohio; you live in what used to be a small farming community. Once full of life and a bustling economy, but even before The End, the area had been steadily gentrified. Dead fields, closed businesses, and now, a beautiful wasteland of parking lots and unused plazas.

Whatever caused it is unknown. Of course, you could ask everyone you know and they would all have their own ideas about what happened.

All that you know for certain is that in January of 2026, everything stopped working. Cellphones, computers, televisions... all electronics went on the fritz before shutting down entirely. After that, people started disappearing. Animals, too. And then went the crops, mass death of acres and acres of valuable foods and materials. All gone within six months. Mass hysteria ensued, people got scared, started hoarding goods. Everyone and their mother had a gun pointed right at the road, just in case anyone got any funny ideas.

And all of that was before the bizarre sightings.

The... things. Gooey, tar-like. They absorb, and absorb, and absorb.

You wondered, for a bit, how they could eat so much. But that thought has long passed. They have no limits, no voices, no care in the world except consume. How long until they finally consume you, too?

FEATURES

Play as a nonbinary, male, or female character; straight, bisexual, or gay.

Custom Pronouns (I'm considering adding duo pronouns as well. like, she/they etc.).

Choice for a ‘common’ name or something bizarre. In which characters will definitely recognize that you have named yourself something batshit.

Asexual routes (this is very important to me)!

A mildly customizable backstory

Several love interests

LOVE INTERESTS

Miles/Mindy (He/they, She/they): A surprisingly bashful stranger with a farmer's tan, M has the means to keep to themself alive and safe, so why are they bothering to make sure you make it, too? Circumstances have thrown the two of you together, whether or not they stick around is up to you.

Audria (They/them): Goofy and a little out of touch, Audria is a certified genius, not that it matters anymore. The key to your protection — and your group's — is them. They often head out of the camp to scavenge, and know how to keep a car running. Audria is one of the few people still around who knows anything about electronics. They often seem preoccupied with something important, but Audria always makes time for you.

Calvin/Carissa (He/him, She/her): The unofficial leader of your group — not that they'd want to claim the title — C is in charge of food collection, distribution, and growing. They have a chill attitude about life, and a whole mess of conspiracies. Still, you wonder what's hidden behind all of the easy smiles.

Lola (She/her): Lola is an unfriendly, hot mess. You've never met someone so flighty in your life. She is distrustful and stubborn, and you suspect even the name she told you might be fake. It might be hard to get to know her.

Sandy (She/her, He/him, They/them (genderfluid)): Sandy is a transfer from the West Coast. during a yearly visit to family, they got caught up in an unfamiliar setting. Sandy floats about life, taking very little seriously. They remain fickle in just about every category in their life; they have an easygoing attitude and a tendency to make everything into a joke.

OTHER CHARACTERS

Bea, Preston, Courtney

Bea (She/her): Bea is soft and caring. Not just to you, but the other people in your group as well. Being the only person around with any knowledge about healthcare, she is charge of medical.

Preston (He/him): Preston is a proper hill-billy, not the most likeable of people, but you can't deny he's a good shot. Preston keeps watch and hunts for the group.

Courtney (She/her): The younger sister to C, Courtney juggles many tasks, usually helping out with what others are doing. She always wants to go with you when you leave.

The rest will join later!:)

WARNINGS

Definitely some bad language, and slang that might not immediately understood by everyone. I’ll most likely include a glossary if it is too ‘Ohio’ of me.

A warning that there is definitely going to be reference to death and hardship (often), as well as active death among background/side characters.

I’m still waffling over a couple of the names I’ve chosen, but for now I think I’m satisfied with them. We shall see!

General warning for horror elements, there’s for sure going to be body horror in the future, and as well as I can write grotesque imagery.

Mentions/explicit depictions of drugs/alcohol/addictions/guns

content/trigger warnings for gender and body dysphoria, plus mild transphobia ( NOT EXPLICIT, it is implied, referencing a point in time in the past )

This setting is (obviously) very specific to me, as I’ve always wanted to tell a story about the type of scenery I see often. I’ve gotten to see a fun mix of rural yet urban in the area I live in that I haven’t seen someone really tackle before.

I’m also super busy, so writing will come pretty slow for me.

Important note: This story may be enjoyed by people who have the same tastes as me, but it’s mostly being written for myself! I love my characters dearly and it absolutely tickles me to see them finally coming to life in text. But it’s very sculpted to my preferences. This story is for me, and it is about my experiences and those I know closely. Give or take a few monsters.

#split if #valcubust #choice of games #interactive books #interactive fiction #split intro sheet #no one has ever been this nervous #as i am right now

297 notes · View notes

ratsoh-writes · 4 months

Text

Say hello to hadaltale y’all!!

To explain the name: the hadal zone is areas of the ocean in deep trenches that lie between 6,000 to 11,000 meters.

The hadal monsters as you can expect, are all completely aquatic! After the barrier spell by the mages who tried to trap monsters during the Great War went wrong, the whole planet was flooded. The hadal monsters have only stone tablets as records of this, and they’re very vague. They believe at one point that their people may have been surface dwellers, but those days have long passed

Over time the monsters who survived on ships slowly evolved to better handle an ocean life, becoming stronger swimmers, being able to breathe water, and eventually abandoning ships all together to live in the ocean forever. Hadal monsters became master stone masons, carving into the rock of the ocean floor to make their homes, and taking advantage of deep trenches and cavern systems. To handle the harsh water pressure, these monsters became larger and stronger overtime at the expense of their magical output. Hadal monsters have incredible physical strength and durability, but lower magical output than the majority of surface monsters.

After the crash, the hadal monsters were first discovered by the sea AUs, then the sea monsters bridged the gap between the hadal and surface AUs. Hadal monsters cannot breathe air. But the royals were determined to unite all monsters and the hadal royals agreed easily with this goal. It took five years after the crash, but finally a spell was found that would allow a hadal monster to safely breathe and travel on land for up to three hours at a time. Work is still being done to increase this.

In turn, the second biggest city of ebott, jokingly named Atlantis by Asgore who has no imagination, lies slightly west of seashore. Atlantis is mostly underwater of course. But parts of it are on the surface and the surf on float in buildings. The city is built into the rocky cliffs of ebott, and the hadal monsters have drilled further into the ground for their own living spaces. There’s even a tunnel to waterfall that they created

And now, to introduce the siblings!

Pearl (hadaltale sans)

Technically she was never named “sans”. Pearl was always named Pearl. She’s small for a hadal monster, only six feet long, and her lower half resembles that of an octopus. She’s a skeletal hadal monster aged 50 with a blue magic. She has the third eye characteristic of the royal family. She’s considered absolutely gorgeous by hadal standards because of her smooth tentacles and soft looking face and body.

Pearl is a gentle and affectionate soul. Pearl was raised as royalty and has a strong sense of duty from her upbringing. She has lovely manners. She’s a bit skittish at times though, and has a lot of anxiety over trying new things. She tends to cling to those she deems safe. She has very little experience with the surface

As one of the princes lined up to potentially take their place, pearls duties lie in management. She organizes events for Atlantis, manages finances, and spends a lot of time in the records hall. She has a reputation among the hadal princes for hosting the best meetings due to her budgeting skills

Hadal monsters didn’t summon weapons normally until it became part of ebotts curriculum. Pearl missed this part of her education and never learned to make one, nor does she care to

Pearls special ability is cloaking! She can change the color of her bones and tail to match the colors of whatever behind her. Unfortunately her eyes do not change with the rest of her

Things she loves: seashell accessories! Head wrappings, any sort of hat really, she has a collection. Fine jewelry, swing music, black and white movies, fancy chocolates, chicken nuggets, watching races and jousts, stargazing, floral and coral arrangements, interior design, the color coral pink, lily pad flowers

Silex (hadaltale papyrus)

Technically not a papyrus, as his name was always silex. Silex is a hadal monster aged 44 and 7’3 feet long. His lower half resembles a spiny eel with lovely sea green ecto to match his eyes. He has the third eye characteristic of the royal family.

Silex is a confident monster. He’s quite outgoing and friendly, making him a natural leader in any friend group. He has an eye for the shy weak ones in the group and tends to focus on them. He has a strong sense of duty being raised in the royal family. He can be overconfident at times though, believing he can achieve unrealistic goals, and his family often has to being him back down to earth.

As one of the princes lined up to potentially take his parents place, silex’s duties lie mostly in management. He has a good eye for people and is often in charge of hiring and managing the employees of Atlantis’ court as well as managing their work. He is also often taken to business deals.

Despite being aged out by the time magic weapons were made a requirement for graduates, silex still learned to make one. His weapon is a long rapier. It’s a sleek and simple weapon. He wants to add more to it someday though

Silex’s special ability is electricity! When grabbed, he can produce electric currents around his body injuring and scaring off would be foes! Thankfully the electricity doesn’t seem to travel far, shocking every one else around him. He has very good control of his magic

Things he loves: the color silver, interesting metal weapons, racing and jousts, surfing, exploring the surface, sushi, HARD LIQUOR, watching spars on TV, jasmines, not wearing clothes, electro swing

Side characters

Titanic: hadal Asgore, titanic is the father of Pearl and silex and the main royal of the hadal. Titanic was the driving force between uniting his monsters and the surface and encourages his people all the time to reach out and explore. He’s a very curious and passionate monster with a love for all things new

Olympia: hadal toriel, the mother of Pearl and silex and the monster who fathered them. Olympia is the second royal of the hadal monsters and is an affectionate but proud character. She agrees with titanics desire to combine their people with the surface dwellers but is more cautious than him. She will integrate as long as she’s convinced her people benefit from each deal.

Voyager: hadal gaster, the second father of Pearl and silex, voyager is the mate of titanic and Olympia, and first in line to replace one as a royal if anything had ever happens. Voyager was the parent to carry Pearl and silex of course, and has a very close relationship with the two as well as his other kids. Voyager is a reserved but highly intelligent monster, and was the one who discovered a way to safely bring power to the areas of Atlantis beneath the surface. He always jokingly laments that none of his kids enjoy science the way he does

And the siblings in order from oldest to youngest

Angler (goat): aged 140, angler is the oldest prince and the first child of the royal trio. She was carried by voyager and fathered by Olympia. Angler is a strong aggressive but loyal monster with a tail resembling that of an angler fish.

Pacific (skeleton): aged 122, pacific is the second child of the trio, carried by Olympia and fathered by voyager. Pacific is an elegant monster with a taste for drama. He’s clever and known for catching people in lies. His tail resembles that of an orca

Bermuda (goat) aged 80, Bermuda is the third child of the trio, carried by titanic and fathered by Olympia. Bermuda is… eccentric. He’s a wild card who can’t be predicted, but he loves his family so no one worries too hard. He works closely with the navy. His lower half resembles a blue finned shark

Pearl, fathered by Olympia, carried by voyager

Silax, fathered by Olympia, carried by voyager

Atlantis (goat), aged 2 and named after the city in ebott, Atlantis is the newest member of the royal family. She was fathered by titanic and carried by Olympia. She’s a bouncy and giggly toddler with a big fascination for hot wheels. Her tail resembles a spiny pufferfish

#undertale imagines #undertale headcanons #ratsohart #hadaltale #worldbuilding

44 notes · View notes

akookminsupporter · 6 months

Note

why is nobody talking about the spoiler jungkook gave about him shooting smth with jimin????? also yoongi's "there's just something about jimin that pulls your heart strings" likee hsksgkshsksjd omfgggggg i'm gasping for air to breathe over here!!!! a travel show or smth? jikook? just jungkook and jimin together? alone? please i've been risking my life for this sgsksgkshd my stars and planets have aligned for this day, i suddenly see a lot of oxygen tanks for me to breathe, i'm floating in the air, my jkk ass is jiggling with excitement and happiness, I'm literally on cloud nine rn aaajajajajakakaj also jk's album is lit! simply awesome! no words needed to describe perfection itself. come at me idc because i am floating and feeling all the feels and living my cool army life rn. my idols literally never shut up about how they miss me (us) and that they wanna get back together for me (us), their constant support for each other and the undying love is enough to keep me warm even in the january nights. there's so much content because unlike other fans i don't have to wait for my superstar, rockstar, babystar candy to upload smth, when i legit have four (right now. otherwise seven) superstars, rockstars and our personal babystar candy to keep showering me (us) with good music, enchanting moments, funny moments, sad moments and what not. my babystar candy fell asleep to six million ppl on air. doing chores, watching yt videos, working out, sleeping, cooking, eating, cleaning having deep convos, having funny convos, he has given me all of it. at this point the only thing left is us taking the trash out together or bathing his dog. yk sometimes i'm watching other fandoms wait, and it's hard for me to not laugh. i'm such a bitch i like to rub on their face that us armys are so spolied and well fed by our boys. it's almost a big family, the boys are comfortable with us and we are comfortable with them. and jimin's special talk stage just proved it. "ah when will armys grow up" —jm. "your pants are undone" —army. "lower your phone. you recorded me mentioning soju, didn't you? ah oppa said juice. oppa drank juice." —jm. and a lot more lmaooooo. i love us!

This is army and jikookers in a nutshell. ajajaajajjajj

#MOOD.

#anon #ask #jkkrs opinion #bts fan opinions #bts

37 notes · View notes

hypahfixations · 2 years

Text

~ Hello One and All! ~

And Welcome to a Thrilling Breakdown of Dimension 20!

You’ve met our humble dungeon master Brennan Lee Mulligan, and now you’re curious on what other stories he and his crew have told. Whether you have encountered Brennan as a player from his various one-shots across different Actual Play TTRPG brands or have fallen from the heights of Avalir itself during Exandria Unlimited: The Calamity, it can be a little daunting figuring out where to start.

Allow this Intrepid Hero to be your guide, Gang!

~ Who is the Core Cast? ~

The core cast for Dimension 20 are a group of seven improv comedians, but don't let that fool you into thinking that they are not masterful storytellers.

From Left to Right: Brian Murphy, Lou Wilson, Emily Axford, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Siobhan Thompson, Zac Oyama, and Ally Beardsley.

~ Where to Watch ~

The first episode of every campaign can be watched for free from Dimension 20’s YouTube channel, with some of the older seasons being fully available for free. To gain access to all Dimension 20’s content, along with everything else on Drop Out (including Game Changers and Um, Actually?), you can either become a member on College Humor’s YouTube channel or sign up for DropOutTV. The subscription price is the same for both, just $6 a month, but the DropOut app allows you to download as many episodes as you’d like to watch in offline mode, as well as offer podcast versions.

~ List of Campaigns ~

Dimension 20 has 17 seasons, nearly half of which are played by the core cast while the others are a rotation of guest players and GMs. Rather than listing the campaigns in just release date order, I opted to list by congruency as well for those of us who like to experience one story fully.

~~~

In the World of Spyre

Genre: Fantasy John Hughes movie

System: DnD 5e

Fantasy High

Core Cast

Meet our Intrepid Heroes in their first recorded DnD campaign as teenagers attending Aguefort’s Adventuring Academy! Watch as they overcome the trials and tribulations of high school life…oh, and saving the world.

Full Season Available Here

Pirates of Leviathan

Players: Aabria Iyengar, B. Dave Walters, Carlos Luna, Krystina Arielle, Marisha Ray, and Matthew Mercer

Aboard the floating city of Leviathan, our players discover an incredibly powerful artifact and an incredibly devious scheme. Will they be able to contain it or will they sink the city into the briny depths.

**Note: This was recorded at the start of the 2020 pandemic partially through the recording of Sophomore Year.

Fantasy High: Sophomore Year

Core Cast

It’s sophomore year, baby, and you know what that means! That’s right, time for young love, tragic backstories, and hiring your parents as your employee while on a quest that 70% of your final grade!

First Six Episodes Available Here

** Note: This season is a bit heavier and has aspects of psychological horror.

The Seven

Players: Aabria Iyengar, Becca Scott, Erika Ishii, Isabella Roland, Persephone Valentine, and Rekha Shankar

Playing as the Seven Maidens set a year and a half after the finale of Fantasy High, the girls have to come to terms that their party will be broken up at the end of the year due to being in different graduation classes…or do they?

~~~

Escape From the Bloodkeep

Players: Amy Vorpal, Erika Ishii, Ify Nwadiwe, Matthew Mercer, Mike Trapp, and Rekha Shanker

Genre: Lord of the Rings Parody

System: DnD 5e

Fighting for the side of Darkness and Evil, the players are the elite advisors of the Lord of Shadows. Except the Dark Lord just suddenly died and now they have to figure out how to thwart Good once and for all!

Full Season Available Here

~~~

In the World of Actual New York City

Genre: Urban Fantasy / Superhero Adjacent

System: DnD 5e

The Unsleeping City

Core Cast

Inspired by concepts from Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, natives of the Big Apple discover the city has so much more than meets the eye. They must come together and discover their power to defeat corruption before it destroys everything.

Full Season Available Here

The Unsleeping City: Chapter Two

Core Cast

Taking place three years after the finale of the first chapter, the players must reunite to confront the evilest enemy of them all: Capitalism Part Duex Electric Boogaloo!

~~~

Tiny Heist

Players: Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Jessica Ross, Justin McElroy, Lily Du, and Travis McElroy

Genre: Ocean’s 11 meets Toy Story

System: DnD 5e

Our players embody the whimsical personas of bugs, toys, and Bitty folk to take down an overreaching mafia boss. After all, there is only one thing more motivating that the love of a child, and that’s a roll of quarters.

~~~

A Crown of Candy

Core Cast

Genre: High Fantasy / Medieval Political Intrigue

System: DnD 5e

The epic story exploring the world of Calorum, where each kingdom is comprised of different food groups that their citizens are made of. Our players are members of the House of Rocks, rulers of Candia, on their way to the naming of the next Emperor of Calorum during a time of great strife.

** Note: This campaign is perhaps the most serious out of anything else in their compendium. They explore themes of war, death, and betrayal with the gravity those topics deserve.

~~~

Mice & Murder

Players: Ally Beardsley, Grant O’Brien, Katie Marovitch, Raphael Chestang, Rekha Shankar, and Sam Reich

Genre: Whodunit / Murder Mystery

System: DnD 5e

In a world where the denizens are anthropomorphic woodland critters, the players have been invited to a fancy birthday party…where a tragedy most foul occurs.

~~~

Misfits And Magic

Guest GM: Aabria Iyengar

Players: Brennan Lee Mulligan, Danielle Radford, Erika Ishii, and Lou Wilson

Genre: Harry Potter Parody

System: Kids on Brooms

Set in the modern day, our players are invited to a prestigious wizarding school to participate in the foreign exchange pilot program, where they discover magic, themselves, and just how impractical this school can be.

** Note: There’s a Holiday Special too!

~~~

Shriek Week

Guest GM: Gabe Hicks

Players: Ally Beardsley, Dani Fernandez, Lily Du, and Ify Nwadiwe

Genre: Monster College

System: The Mythic System

Follow our players in their final semester of university as they try to find a Roëmænce Partnær before the end of year rager, as well as fend off some unwelcome visitors to their campus.

~~~

A Starstruck Odyssey

Core Cast

Genre: Sci-fi / Space Opera

System: Star Wars 5e

The players are a rag-tag group of down-on-their luck spacers just trying to survive the rough and tough galaxy of Starstruck, a technicolor multiverse based on the series of comic books created by Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta.

~~~

Coffin Run

Guest GM: Jasmine Bhullar

Players: Carlos Luna, Erika Ishii, Isabella Roland, and Zac Oyama

Genre: Gothic Horror

System: DnD 5e

The followers of Count Dracula eagerly await his return home only to find their dark lord has been ambushed. The players are tasked with desperately trying to get his coffin back to the safety of the Castle.

~~~

A Court of Fey & Flowers

Guest GM: Aabria Iyengar

Players: Brennan Lee Mulligan, Emily Axford, Lou Wilson, Omar Najam, Oscar Montoya, and Surena Marie

Genre: Whimsical High Regency

System: Homebrew blend of Good Society & DnD 5e

Fey from all corners of the Faerie gather for The Bloom - a celebration of society, propriety, and abundance of arcane power. Sipping and serving piping hot tea, all eyes and ears are upon the players as they navigate rumors, scandals, and mysteries.

~~~

Neverafter

Core Cast

Genre: Twisted Fairytales

System: DnD 5e

Once upon a time has been cast into happily neverafter; a drought of shadow and misery plaguing the land and players of timeless storybook fame. When awareness of the wrongness is gleamed, and stories intersect in ways they should not, a glimpse between the lines and into the maw of cosmic horror spur our heroes to define destiny.

~~~

TBD

Guest GM: Matthew Mercer

Players: TBD

Genre: TBD

System: TBD

Release Date: May 2023

~ That's a lot. Recommendations? ~

Honestly, I would start with Fantasy High! It's a really good introduction to both the core cast and the way Dimension 20 sets itself apart from other Actual Play shows. From there, you can either go in order (release or series), or simply dabble with whichever genre or campaign trailer catches your eyes most.

As for my personal favorites:

Core Cast would be between A Crown of Candy and A Starstruck Odyssey. A Crown of Candy has some of the most incredible storytelling I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing - Game of Thrones wishes it could be as good! Meanwhile A Starstruck Odyssey is perhaps the funniest games I have ever watched.

Guest Cast is A Court of Fey and Flowers with a very close second being The Seven. I had never understood the appeal of regency before A Court of Fey and Flowers absolutely rocked me with the slightest brush of an ungloved hand. And no media has truly captured what it's like to be in that weird, volatile transition of teenager to young adult quiet like the Seven in the most unhinged way possible.

Wanna do a deeper dive? Visit the Dimension 20 Fan Wiki!

251 notes · View notes

takemebackto-eden · 7 months

Text

Hey Stranger • An Eddie Munson fanfiction

Part One blurb •

Nina: “Why do you love me, Eddie?”

Eddie: “You were like coming up for fresh air.” [fiddling with his rings nervously] “Life kinda blurred into one long day. And then I met you.” [looking at her lovingly] “And you brought me back to life. I feel like the old me again.”

Nina: [looking at him sadly] “Do you think we’ll get through this?”

Eddie: “We have to.” [smiling at her] “I haven’t finished loving you yet.”

Eddie’s life didn’t change much after he returned from the upside down. People still hated him, blamed him, and he retreated to a shell of his former self. Life passed him by, blurring into the same everyday routine. Until Nina, Robin’s ‘sort-of’ cousin, arrives in Hawkins.

Fleeing from her past in California, Nina’s world is turned upside down (no pun intended) as she falls head over heels for the freak of Hawkins.

Can these two lost souls find peace with each other or will the demons of their past come back for them?

Chapter One - Black Magic Woman - A new person in town arrives at Hawkins Record Store.

Chapter Two - Freak - Eddie and Nina meet again at Steve’s house.

Chapter Three - Late Night Talking * - A much anticipated study group.

Chapter Four - Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - Nina helps Eddie with his English assignment

Chapter Five - Everywhere - Crushes deepen at Steve’s BBQ.

Chapter Six - Happier than Ever - Nina runs for the hills, but the view is clearer at the top.

Chapter Seven - How Do I Get You Alone? - Eddie is Nina’s knight in a leather jacket at the Corroded Coffin gig at the Hideout.

Chapter Eight - I Think We're Alone Now * - Eddie confesses some truths and Nina helps Eddie.

Chapter Nine - Suitcase - Lovers Lake, it’s their spot.

Chapter Ten - Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby *- Nina confesses some truths and Eddie helps Nina.

Chapter Eleven - Go Your Own Way - The love bubble is burst by California calling.

Chapter Twelve - The Way You Make Me Feel - Robin and Nina have a girls night out on the town.

Chapter Thirteen - Cinnamon Girl - Nina’s insecurities get the better of her.

Chapter Fourteen - I Was Made For Loving You * - End of the school year brings a fun outing and two newcomers.

Chapter Fifteen - The Night Does Not Belong To God * - Nina and Eddie celebrate Eddie graduating in a unique way.

Chapter Sixteen - California Dreaming - Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Chapter Seventeen - Matilda - The ugly truth and bitter reality.

Chapter Eighteen - When I Was Young - Time heals wounds.

Chapter Nineteen - Mine * - The Beginning of the End, but in a good way.

Part Two blurb •

Eddie: “Nina, can you hear me?” [Nina strums the guitar again] “Nina! I’m right here baby, I’m here.” [Eddie reaches out to touch her, his fingers floating through the apparition of her. Yet somehow, she turns around, looking straight at him, more like through him.] “Baby…” [Eddie’s voice cracks] “I’m right here.”

Nina: “Eddie? Are you here?” [Eddie can see Nina speaking but no words can be heard] “I’m right here honey, I’m here!”

She lies down on the bed, clutching Eddie’s pillow tightly, calming down her shaking breaths. Eddie smiles as she lies down, strumming the guitar as she nuzzles into the pillow.

Eddie: “I’m here baby, I’m right here. It’s going to be okay.” [the song ends and Eddie puts away his guitar, lying down next to the apparition of Nina] “I’m coming for you baby, just hold on.”

They both lie facing each other; Nina in the Upside Down and Eddie in regular Hawkins, both so close but so far apart.

Chapter Twenty - Don't Fear the Reaper * - Halloween approaches Hawkins.

Chapter Twenty One - Season of the Witch - Something ominous is coming.

Chapter Twenty Two - Dark Signs - Eddie finally tells Nina the truth and an unexpected visitor arrives in Hawkins.

Chapter Twenty Three - Love You to Death * - Halloween night is here.

Chapter Twenty Four - Nothing Else Matters * - The penny drops / 6 days left

Chapter Twenty Five - Just Pretend - The party search for answers / 5 days left

Chapter Twenty Six - Euclid - Nina ascends / 4 days left

Chapter Twenty Seven - Follow You - The gang comes up with a plan / 4 days left

Chapter Twenty Eight - A Hundred Kisses *- The gang break the law / 4 days left

Chapter Twenty Nine - Beautiful Dawn - Nina and the gang work through the bucket list / 3 days left

Chapter Thirty - The Summoning * - Nina and the gang go to the Hideout for one last hurrah / 2 days left

Chapter Thirty One - Living On a Prayer

Chapter Thirty Two - The Apparition

Chapter Thirty Three - Delusions of Saviour

Chapter Thirty Four - All I Wanted Was You

Chapter Thirty Five - Lonely Day

Chapter Thirty Six - The End of Heartbreak

Chapter Thirty Seven - You and I

Chapter Thirty Eight - Eternally Yours

Hey Stranger One Shots • A collection of little bits I’ve written which didn’t have a place in the fic but I thought were cute, so I’m posting them here - COMING SOON

18+ PLEASE, MINORS DNI

content themes: whirlwind / fast romance, soul mates, swearing, smut, angst, fluff, alcohol use, drug use, mental health warnings, depression, abusive household, alcoholism, parental abuse / problems, violence, HURT/COMFORT, (all chapters with this content will have warnings above) Eddie survived the upside down, mentions of upside down, eventual return to upside down.

SMUT LABELED WITH *

28 notes · View notes

sionisjaune · 2 years

Text

journalist lewis au (seb/lewis)

There's a new journalist in the press room. He raises his pen elegantly and waits for Tom Clarkson to call on him, and when it's his turn to speak, he announces his name but not who he's working for.

"For Sebastian," he says. "Are you aware that a one hour trip in a private jet accounts for two tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions? That's anywhere from five to fourteen times more pollution per passenger than flying commercial."

Seb is comfortable behind the drivers' podium, half-drunk on champagne and victory. He leans into the microphone.

"Ah, but you haven't seen my jet," he says. "There is free alcohol and if you ask nicely a very comfortable bed in the back."

"What's free if the cost is the air our children breathe?" the journalist says.

Seb fiddles with the damp collar of his racesuit. His skin is sticky underneath. He says, "I don't have children. Still in free practice." Everyone laughs.

"Who was that guy?" Seb jokes with Britta over dinner, a platter of pasta between them and the remains of a charcuterie board strewn to the side. He had a funny look--a torn-up denim jacket and a thick diamond stud in each ear, shoes that belong on a basketball court rather than the bland carpet in the press room.

Later, nearly passed out in his hotel room, Seb receives a link to a Wikipedia article from Britta.

Lewis Hamilton, twenty-six and hailing from Stevenage, a town Seb has never heard of, is a Pulitzer winning journalist.

Seb almost laughs, between the white walls of his hotel room. Journalism must really be dead if Hamilton is slumming it trackside. You can sell silly season rumours for petty cash, but there's nothing to bust wide open. If Hamilton is chasing a prize-winning story, he won't find it at a Grand Prix.

The next race, Hamilton is absent. Seb inquires about it later, and nobody knows because nobody cares. He takes the question to Britta, and she uses her superior intellect to furnish Seb with an answer. Lewis Hamilton has been banned from all Formula 1 media activities because he asks impertinent questions.

Hey. I got your number from a source I'd rather not reveal, but I was hoping you could help me get into the press conference Thursday.

A text from an unknown number floats to the top of Seb's notifications.

It's Lewis Hamilton by the way.

Seb texts back. Britta's going to have his balls.

I'll see what I can do.

It's years later. Domenicali hates Lewis, but Seb sneaks him into the paddock every weekend. Lewis wanders between the garages taking down names and politely requesting interviews.

Lewis is a deceptively vicious reporter. There's no off the record with him—his mind is a tape recorder, and he never forgets an incriminating detail.

Seb knows he’s working on something big. It’s terrifying.

They're in Seb's room, a glittery suite that overlooks the Marina Bay Ferris wheel, and Seb has to ask. He has to, because Lewis won't say anything, but he's been intimating that he has the kind of story that could raze the earth and topple grand, old institutions.

"If you love racing," Seb says, "then why do you attack it?" He doesn't say: I would give this rotten sport anything, no matter how morally compromising. He doesn't say: This is my life.

"Look at me," Lewis says. Seb does. Lewis is sitting on the edge of Seb's bed, and gentle, spidery crow's feet sprout from the corners of his eyes. "Do you think I ever had a shot to make it here? Did you know I was the fastest kid by a tenth at any track, and there wasn't a single manager who ever spoke to me and my dad?"

"It's hard," Seb says. "For myself, it was hard. If Michael hadn't championed me--"

"No," Lewis says, firmly. "I need you to understand that there wasn't a chance. Not for me, and not for the other kids like me, watching Senna race on TV and desperately wanting to be him. I'm doing this for those kids, Seb. You ever wonder why half the guys on the grid are so fucking accident-prone? It's because talent is only half of it. It's money and politics and brand recognition." Lewis is breathing hard. Seb drinks in the fervour bubbling out of Lewis like he's starving for it. "I'm going to tear this whole thing down and plaster the truth on every cover in New York."

Seb can't take it anymore. His body falls towards Lewis, and the kiss is messy, unplanned and unanticipated. Lewis pulls back wetly.

"That was inappropriate," Lewis says. He slides off the bed and collects his coat from the back of the chair. The braids that Lewis habitually tucks behind his ears have fallen forwards over his cheeks. He tucks them neatly again, and his hand hovers over the door handle.

"I thought you respected me more than that," Lewis says, all clipped English syllables. "Call my assistant if you have something I can use."

#sewis #i wrote this #straight outta the notes app😎😎

219 notes · View notes

cupioromantic-simp · 5 months

Text

Jon x corruption avatar

Jon clicks the button on the tape recorder and the sound resides through out the room

“Statement of”

You state your full name and occupation

“-About entity driven events during my life time”

“Recorded direct from subject by Jonathan sims…” he looks disappointed in you maby that you didn’t tell him or maybe because you are telling him

You take a deep breath and sigh

“First things first I’m sorry for not making a statement after the Jane prentis attack I was worried you’d turn on me I’m sure you’ll see why…

My first experience with a deep internal fear was when I was six me and my mother where on a vacation at a motel near our house not really a vacation per say but it had a pool and and arcade so that’s really all that mattered to me

We had go to this one specific location multiple times but this time it was different it was about twenty years before they closed it up and they whet going through repairs changing out some stuff and adding things to make it more hip for the non-locals

We- me and my mother-where in the pool.. well I was my mother never really liked getting her hair wet and I decided to just float on my back in the pool because I was a shy kid I didn’t know how to interact with people even at six and as I was floating I looked up at the ceiling and.. one of the panels where gone and you could see pipes and wires and… so so much dust I was going to call out to my mom and tell her how dangerous I found it

B-but when I opened my mouth a string of dust fell from the open panel and.. and in to my mouth

I-I can still remember it I gagged so hard I threw up in the pool it was as thick as dryer lint and I- I think I passed out because I don’t remember most of what happened there I just remember that the blankets in our room where the deducting green-brown and that I had an allergic reaction to it ether that or a rash

The next I remember is more clusters of things like wanting to vomit every time I saw bare feet on tile, or that if you pop a pimple wrong it can get in to your blood and cause sepsis, or the fact there where always fruit flies in our house because my mom didn’t have time to clean and I was so forgetful that I whole only remember to bring my mugs down because there was a thick layer of twisting curling mold of top of whatever I was drinking ten days ago

I remember learning that penicillin was just apple mold so I left a slice out for a little over a year just to see what happened

Mold happened obviously

All things rot and decompose I’ve-

I’ve come to peace with that

Sounds like a weird thing to have to come to peace with

I’ve also come to peace with the fact that everything is dirty

Nothing is clean it’s just how it is

Everything touched by human hands is dirty and humans have the need to touch everything

Whether there supposed to or not

I think that’s why it got me the thing that’s corroding the iron in my blood, flaking my skin and molding my meat

And I mean it not in the meat in my fridge though it is in the food but the meat in my body if you can call it that

I am meat and my meat is moldy and crawling with rot and decay

That’s why I didn’t quite care about the worms I think…

Or that they didn’t care about me in the way they cared about Jane

You read her statement you know

‘I am a home for that which loves me’

No it’s not like that

‘I am consumed by that which wants and crawls in the dirt and the air and the ground and the halls and the food and the water it sinks in to my skin and in to my stomach and up my throat and in to the pool and in to the filters and in to the skin of the others who return it to me because I am it’s master and it owns me and I am so full and connected and so so scared’”

You and Jon stare at each other for al least thirty seconds

“S-… um.. s-statement ends…”

He moves his hand to the tape recorder but his hand trembles before he can touch anything

You can feel that he can feel it all around the dust, dead skin, the paper mold I mean who knows where that tape recorder has bean, how long, what kind of plastic mold crawls and hides and feasts you’ve really been touching that thing Jon? Who knows what bacteria you’ve spread with that thi-

“STOP!” Jon if visibly shaking “how-..what… why did you do that?!”

“Hmm? I’m not sure, I don’t know if it was even a conches decision, is it weird being on the receiving end of an avatar spell thing? Because i know it’s weird when you do your little statement suction thing”

“I um-“

“Oh you didn’t understand how horrific things like that are, you up set your self with the thought that you’ve been doing a similar thing to people”

You move you hand wanting to comfort him some how but quickly realize that holding his hand with your corrupted fungi filled strangely soft hands it would probably send him in to another fear fuelled panic so you just move your hand back in to your lap

“I’m.. sorry Jon, I… I think I’ll be going now, for awhile, you should um clean the apartment I think… I- I’m not sure what to say… goodbye Jon”

You click off the tape recorder for him before leaving

32 notes · View notes