Ratscrew (in high school; I remember when our bus broke down on a speech trip and we all ended up hunched around something that might have been a bucket, playing ratscrew. And playing games with complete strangers in the hall waiting your turn to perform at events).

Euchre & Spades (in college; 'milk the cow' he'd crowed and it was so stupid but even so; disagreeing over which cards to use for score-keeping)

Nutsy (as an adult, with family, sorting cards back out after a game, exchanging decks for ones clearer to parse at a quick glance)

Accordion (as an adult, teaching my nephew, him calling me proudly when he finally won)

it’s not weird to love it and comment and leave kudos because the author will probably still see it someday and it will make them happy.

it’s not weird to like said author’s work so much that you want to go look for other fics from them.

it’s not weird to go through the authors profile and look for other fics from the ships you like (or maybe some that you’ll give a chance because you liked the author) and maybe bookmark them for later.

it’s not weird to read these other fics and like them too and comment on them because you actually like them and you want to let the author know.

it’s not weird to read fanfiction from 5, or 8, or 10 years ago and actually enjoy and engage with it because it’s perfectly normal to relate to something that’s less than a decade old!

let’s stop treating fanfiction like they’re instagram posts that stop being interesting in 24 hours! fanfiction is NOT social media, fanfiction is art!!! and art doesn’t get old in one day, one year, or even a decade!

Barb is a witness to the fight, to the aftermath, to Steve sitting in the passenger seat of the Chief's truck and lying about his injuries.

She is the sole witness to his first seizure.

He is being weird.

He's been listless and short-tempered all day. He's been clumsy and forgetful, and he is staring.

She had watched him stop and stare. She has seen him pause and stare. She's seen him rub his eyes, shake his head, frown. And stare.

He's been staring at the same spot for five minutes.

She looks behind her to see what has him transfixed and finds nothing. She snaps, "What are you looking at?!"

"Barbara?"

Now she stops. She stares. She matches his frown and asks, "You can see me?"

And then he seizes.

When it stops and he comes to, he cannot see her. He cannot hear her.

She is also the sole witness to his second seizure.

He says awed, "Barb?"

She says, "You're about to have a seizure."

Created in 2000 by R. Hunter Gough and Savant Garde (website is dead, unsurprisingly), this game is for 3 - 5 players age 15+, subtitled "The Most Pretentious Card Game Ever Made" and the back of the box reads:

"Gother Than Thou is a new card game of backstabbing and betrayal set within the gothic community.

Cloves, Absinthe, Eyeliner, Boots. Everything you need to make it big on the scene is here, but so are Dire Fashion Blunders, Infections, Debt, and the dreaded Visit From Mom.

Will you be the first to achieve 20 Goth Points and declare yourself Gother Than Thou? Or will you fall into sickness and debt, wallowing in your own misery?"

Ancient Egyptian DooDad, Wardrobe Sale, card backs, Absinthe Minded. . ., Disturbing Southern Accent, Pet Named Hecate, Blue Black #124

I have never had enough IRL goth friends to play this and have it be fun/ny, though I think we must have played it at a Convergence in that era (C7? C9?--those were ones I attended in the 'Aughties).

This must have sprung from the Usenet groups alt.gothic and/or alt.gothic.fashion, given the date of creation and many of the references. Minus a billion Goth Points to me for not remembering where this came from or where I bought it/how I got it.

Deep Newsgroup Posts, Up Before Noon, That Wasted Look, Fun With Eyeliner, Boots!!, Genital Piercings, Steady Clove Supply, Dire Fashion Blunder, Face Like Murphy, Visit from Mom (you gain money but lose Goth Points for that last card LOL)

for @corrodedcoffinfest

Prompt Day 17: Answering Machine | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: G | CW: None | POV: omniscent | Pairing(s): implied steddie | Tags: told entirely through answering machine messages, corroded coffin love to gossip, steve and eddie meet at the fateful halloween party au

November 1st, 1984 – 09:48 

“Um. Shit. Wasn’t expecting the machine. Hey Harrington. It’s Ed–Munson. Um. Hopefully your parents don’t listen to this, but I think you said they were away right? Um, anyway, I just wanted to, I dunno, make sure you’re okay? Break-ups suck. If you ever need someone to hang out with again–nevermind, of course you don’t need any loser friends. Anyway, yeah, hope you’re okay, don’t, uh, don’t feel like you have to call me back or anything. See ya.” 

Wanting something requires dopamine signaling, but liking something doesn’t.

If you have a mental illness/disorder that affects dopamine, you might feel that you don’t want to do the things that you like. You do still like them. You will appreciate having done them.

Let your likes guide you.

(If you want to read more, here’s one experimental paper about it. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5171207/ This theory called the incentive-sensitization theory was originally created to explain behaviors in addiction but can be applied elsewhere as well)

So, Westley has been through a LOT of unpleasant shit to get back and has just found out that his true love has moved on to become engaged to their local prince. He's confused. He's really pissed off. He misses whatever opportunity allowed him to follow Buttercup on her daily ride (didn't see her ride out, didn't hear about it, whatever), because he's following another opportunity into the castle to investigate Humperdinck. Or else he sees Humperdinck and Rugen riding off towards the Pit of Despair together and decides to follow them instead. Either way, Westley overhears the two men very casually discussing Humperdinck's beautiful but forcibly gained fiancée and the kidnapping plot currently underway, and Westley realizes that Buttercup is about to DIE and he's very likely not going to be able to reach his true love in time. He still runs off, desperate and ready to die trying to save her.

And Westley is really much to late to cross the water and climb the Cliffs of Insanity and all that, because Buttercup and her kidnappers are already at the border with Guilder. It's fine though, because when Fezzik and Inigo are confronted with the murder part of the job, they object, and Fezzik ultimately decides that he's really not cool with it. Fezzik thumps Vizzini over the head while Vizzini is berating Inigo. Fezzik apologizes to Buttercup. Inigo looks at the unconscious (possibly dead, heavily concussed at least) Vizzini, shrugs, and then helps Fezzik untie Buttercup and apologizes as well.

It's more than a little awkward, because none of them really know what to do besides wander vaguely back towards Florin. Buttercup admits that she doesn't really want to marry the prince, and he'll find her if she goes back to the farm, which leads into her telling the story of her dead true love, which Inigo and Fezzik find very romantic. Which leads into Fezzik and Inigo both sharing their own tragic backstories in turn. Buttercup is personally very intrigued by Inigo's mention of being in the revenge business.

And then Buttercup goes, "Wait a moment, I know a nobleman like that. Count Rugen is Prince Humperdinck's closest friend and confidant, and he has six fingers on his right hand. I once had to sit next to them at a dinner table while they spent over an hour discussing all the troubles of finding a good glovemaker and skincare for their hands." (Rugen and his wife also once visited Buttercup and Westley's farm when they were younger, but Buttercup would more recently know Rugen from just... around the castle. Rugen is presumably going to be Humperdinck's best man.)

So, Westley is like, "Where the HELL is the love of my life???" presumably harrassing Vizzini about it if Vizzini is still alive. And Humperdinck has his theatric rescue party together to find Buttercup's body on the border, unknowingly following behind a rushing and frantic Westley, trying to keep his lies straight while he's internally like, "What the HELL happened to my kidnapping and murder plot to incite a war??? Rugen, I thought you hired the best??? It's so hard to find good help these days!"

Meanwhile, Buttercup, Fezzik, and Inigo are on a new friendship quest back to Count Rugen's house. Buttercup is the future princess, and so is presumably already acquainted with Rugen's young and beautiful wife, who has to let her in and be a good hostess. The Countess is warily like, "Buttercup... Who are these unkempt and intimidating men...?"

“When he died the ravens sat in the trees outside for a week, watching. Taking turns. A horde of raccoons tried to break into the house every night, tearing at the siding. Eventually they gave up, but it was unsettling.”