#gotta lock in and finish this sequel

[chaotic-adhd-gremlin]

Rob can absolutely understand what the badniks are saying and he swears he did NOT program them to call Stone that. Despite his best efforts his babies won't stop and he refuses to translate for Stone when he asks why they keep beeping at him like that.

I don't know I really love the idea of the badniks being affectionate with Stone I think it's really cute. ♥️

Dialogue transcript under the cut because my handwriting is... Anyway, transcript:

Stone: Wow, you're all extra chatty today!

Badniks: *a cacophony of beeps* ♥️

Robotnik: Stop distracting them!

Stone: Yes, doctor!

Badniks: *a chorus of "Mama Stone! Mama Stone!" and "Papa Ivo!" ♥️

[dina-winchester]

What Comes After

A sequel to the “What We Were” series—set years in the future

Pairing: Dean x You // Established relationship

Summary: You found the kind of love that doesn’t just survive—it stays. This is what comes after. This is home.

Warnings: None! Pure fluff because it’s the only way to write a sequel. 🥰

Five Years Later – The Bunker, 3:07 A.M.

The bunker is quiet. All those echoing hallways, those heavy stone walls—normally they feel cavernous at night. But lately, with your body warm and heavy from carrying new life, even the silence feels gentle. Familiar. Like home.

Your feet pad across the cool kitchen floor, one hand bracing the curve of your lower back while the other rummages through the fridge. You’re muttering under your breath, half-cursing the peanut butter jar that’s migrated behind the pickle jar again, when a deep voice cuts through the stillness.

“There she is.”

You jolt—just slightly—but then your shoulders relax. You know that voice in every lifetime. You straighten, turning toward the sound with a sleepy smile.

Dean leans in the doorway, sweatpants low on his hips, t-shirt wrinkled from sleep. His hair’s a mess. So is his heart, judging by the look on his face when his eyes drop to your belly.

“Sorry,” you say, breathless from the effort. “I was trying not to wake you.”

“‘S fine,” he murmurs, already walking toward you. “Kinda figured you’d be up. Kid was kicking like a damn ninja earlier.”

You chuckle and place a hand protectively over the bump. “She gets it from you.”

Dean slides his hands over your hips from behind, one thumb brushing under your belly as he kisses the side of your neck, slow and sweet. “She gets the attitude from you.”

You lean into his chest, letting your body rest against his warmth, your eyes fluttering closed for a moment. You feel him breathe you in—arms locked around you like he can hold the whole world together that way.

“Whatcha after?” he mumbles against your shoulder. “Pickles? Ice cream? Some unholy combination of both?”

“Peanut butter toast,” you murmur. “With banana. And maybe some honey if I can reach it without pulling a muscle.”

Dean grins, already reaching past you. “You just stand there lookin’ gorgeous and pregnant. I got this.”

You roll your eyes but let him. He grabs the bread, the peanut butter, the banana. Even the honey. Sets it all up on the counter like it’s sacred.

When he spreads the peanut butter with more care than any man ever has, you blink back a tear you weren’t expecting. Because five years ago, he was all sharp edges and scars, and now he’s soft hands and sleepy smiles at 3 a.m. And because this isn’t just love—it’s peace.

“I still can’t believe you gave up hunting,” you say softly, watching him from your spot against the counter.

He shrugs, but his jaw clenches just slightly. “Didn’t give it up. Just… changed my priorities. Sammy calls, I help. But I gotta be smart now. I come back in one piece. Every time.”

You nod. “Because of her?”

Dean glances at your belly, then meets your eyes. “Because of you. And yeah—her too.”

Your throat gets tight again, emotions bubbling too close to the surface. “I didn’t think we’d ever get here.”

He leans in, brushing a kiss over your lips—slow and lingering. “Me either. But damn, I’m glad we did.”

When he pulls back, he cups your bump with both hands and murmurs, “You hear that, sweetheart? We made it. Your mama’s a badass, and I’m the luckiest son of a bitch alive.”

You laugh through a tear. “You’re such a sap now.”

Dean smirks. “Only for you.”

Dean slides the finished toast onto a plate, sets it down like it’s a five-star meal, and hands it over with a proud little flourish. You kiss his cheek in thanks and take a bite, humming through a mouthful of peanut butter and banana.

He leans back against the counter, arms crossed, eyes fixed on you with that quiet, reverent look he only ever gets when it’s just the two of you and the world slows down. His gaze drops to your belly again, and after a moment, he steps behind you—no words, just a gentle nudge of presence.

You feel his hands come around your sides first, then one slowly slides under your belly. He lifts—just a little, just enough to take the pressure off your spine. The relief is instant and overwhelming. You exhale hard, shoulders dropping as your whole body melts into him.

“Oh my God,” you whisper, eyes fluttering shut.

Your head falls back onto his shoulder without thinking, cheek pressing against his neck.

“That good, huh?” he murmurs, the warmth of his voice rumbling through your skin.

You nod slowly, your breath finally evening out. “You have no idea.”

Dean holds you there, one strong arm anchored under your belly, the other sliding up to stroke your side. “Should’ve done this sooner,” he mutters, nuzzling behind your ear. “Coulda saved us both a lotta sleepless nights.”

“Still time,” you breathe.

“Damn right there is.”

You stay like that for a while, swaying gently, full plate forgotten on the counter, hearts beating in sync.

A few minutes later, footsteps echo down the hallway—slower, more cautious than usual. Sam appears in the doorway, hair wild, hoodie thrown over a t-shirt, rubbing his eyes.

“I knew I heard voices,” he mutters. Then he stops, blinking at the sight of the two of you—Dean wrapped around your back like a second spine, your belly cradled, head tucked against his jaw.

A slow smile spreads across Sam’s face. “You two gonna make me cry before sunrise or what?”

You laugh, untangling just enough to glance over your shoulder. “Sorry for waking you.”

“Worth it,” Sam says. He pads into the room, reaching for a coffee mug. “You look good. Both of you.”

Dean shrugs, but he’s glowing with quiet pride. “She’s the one doing all the hard work.”

“Yeah, well,” Sam pours his coffee and takes a sip. “You’re glowing like a damn housewife in a Hallmark movie, so…”

Dean flips him off, which just makes you laugh harder.

Sam grins at you. “Have you decided on a name yet?”

You and Dean glance at each other. No words, just that warm spark of a shared secret still under wraps.

“Maybe,” you say, teasing.

Sam rolls his eyes but lets it go, settling into a chair as the three of you ease into the kind of morning that doesn’t need to rush.

Just peace. Family. And the quiet promise that somehow, against every odd, this is the life you built—and no one’s taking it away.

It’s hard to believe two years have gone by.

You still remember the moment she arrived—screaming her little lungs out, squirming and red-faced, already strong. The pain of labor had been unlike anything you’d ever imagined, brutal and consuming, but Dean had been there through every second. He held your hand through every contraction, whispered steady words through every tear and cry, and kissed your temple when you told him you couldn’t do it—only to remind you gently, “You already are, sweetheart.”

And when it was over—when she was finally here—he cried with you.

You’d do it all over again, without hesitation. Every wave of pain, every exhausted breath… just to see her face for the first time again. Just to hear Dean choke out the words, “She’s perfect… she’s so perfect.”

Her name came easy.

Reina Charlie Winchester.

Your little queen. A name full of strength, love, and the memory of someone who still watches over you.

Now, two years later, that fierce little baby is a babbling, bold-hearted whirlwind who laughs with her whole body and somehow rules the bunker without even realizing it.

Today the bunker is quiet, warm, and full of the kind of stillness that only comes from a good day. You’re sitting on the floor of the war room with a blanket spread out beneath you, Reina in the center surrounded by a few favorite toys. Sam’s nearby, legs crossed, half-watching her while reading through a case file, and Dean leans in the doorway with a mug of coffee, eyes on the two of you like he still can’t believe this is his life now.

Reina babbles something unintelligible as she reaches for a stuffed moose, her chubby fingers wrapping around its ear. You smile, brushing a soft curl out of her face. “That one’s your favorite, huh?” you murmur.

Dean chuckles. “Of course she picks the moose. Kid knows family.”

Sam looks up at that, raising a brow with a crooked smile. “Or she just thinks I’m cuddlier than you.”

Dean scoffs. “Please. I’m a damn teddy bear.”

Sam smirks. “A teddy bear with a shotgun.”

You laugh under your breath, watching them with your heart full, Reina babbling away between them like she knows exactly what they’re saying.

You lean back on your hands—until Reina suddenly shifts, pushing herself upright with surprising determination. She stares ahead like she’s thinking hard, then plants her feet.

“Whoa—” you gasp, hands flying out in case she tips, but she steadies herself.

Dean straightens immediately. “Hey, hey…”

Reina takes one step. Then another.

“Oh my God,” you breathe. “Dean—!”

Sam’s eyes go wide. He’s already setting the file aside. “Is she—?”

Another step. She wobbles, arms out for balance, mouth open in concentration.

“Sweetheart, look at her!” Dean’s voice is thick with awe as he crouches low, arms out. “Come on, baby girl. Come to Daddy.”

“Reina, you’re doing it!” you say, heart thudding wildly.

And then—another step. Then a final one—right into Dean’s waiting arms. He scoops her up instantly, laughing like he can’t breathe.

“You did it! Oh my God, you walked!” he grins, spinning her around as she giggles and clutches his shirt. “You walked to me, baby girl!”

You press your hand to your heart, eyes stinging with tears. Sam’s next to you, blinking hard, shaking his head with a soft laugh.

“She’s really growing up,” he murmurs.

“She’s not even two,” you whisper back.

Sam grins, nudging your shoulder. “Still. She just took her first steps. That’s huge.”

Dean walks over, Reina still held snugly against his chest. She’s giggling, proud of herself, cheeks flushed with victory.

“She wanted to show off,” Dean says, beaming as he kisses her temple. “Knew her Uncle Sammy was here. Had to make it count.”

“She’s dramatic like her dad,” you tease gently.

Dean just winks. “And beautiful like her mama.”

Sam chuckles as you stand and wrap your arms around both of them—your whole little world in a single, glowing moment.

Reina gurgles, then babbles something that sounds suspiciously like “Dada,” and Dean nearly melts on the spot.

Sam throws a hand up. “Okay, that’s it. I’m calling dibs on her first full sentence.”

Dean smirks. “She already said her first words, Sammy. And they were perfect.”

You smile, warm and full, watching as your little girl snuggles close to her dad, her first steps already becoming the first story you’ll tell over and over again. The first of many.

And she walked right into his arms.

As the laughter settles into something softer, Reina crawls back into your lap with her moose clutched proudly in one hand. Her little fingers curl around yours, anchoring herself like you’re her whole world.

Dean slides in beside you on the couch, one arm wrapping around your waist, the other settling gently on Reina’s back. His palm spans across her tiny frame like it was made to be there, protective and tender all at once.

He leans in and kisses your temple, the scruff of his jaw brushing your skin. “We did good, sweetheart,” he murmurs, voice thick with emotion.

You glance at Sam, still sitting cross-legged on the floor, grinning like he’s witnessing a miracle. You smile back, then tilt your head toward Dean, your eyes shining.

“We really did.”

Dean’s hand finds your cheek, fingers warm and sure. You meet him halfway when he leans in—no hesitation, no nerves. Just the kind of kiss that says I’m home. I’m yours. Always.

Slow and deep, full of everything that’s been built and rebuilt between you.

When you part, your foreheads rest together for a beat, your smile pressed right into his.

And just like that, with your daughter safe in your arms and Dean’s love wrapped around you like a promise—everything is exactly as it should be.

Forever starts here.

A/N: Thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this series and the sequel. Please let me know your thoughts and suggestions, I’m always open to improvement. 🫶

Tags: @candy-coated-misery0731 @pillowjj @piertomaximoffsgirl @chaoticbasicallyuselessbisexual @mrswinchester3 @robynn9436-blog @cherryresidence @shanimallina87 @amourcri3s @mandee7 @samlou @almostshamelesstale @alexfms97 @bigmoodyjoody @mikesdndcharecter2 @iamaslytherin0

[delusionsofgrandeur13]

stay cool it’s just a kiss—

oh, why you gotta be so talkative?

college trackstar!wally west x reader

a sequel to this fic

18+ content, MDNI.

readers can expect: hijinks in both the shower and locker room, an undefined relationship. wally being a lovable ass.

your heart pounds as you wait for the shot to go off, your mantra banging out a steady beat in your thoughts in comparison.

runfastrunfastrunfastrunfastrunfastthey’reallwatchingrunfastfasterthanthemrunfastfasterthanthepeoplebehindyourunfastrunfastrunfastrunfastrunfastrunfast—

it plays out the same way it always does, your body in high alert while your brain defaults itself down to its most basic level of function: move.

it’s just practice, but races are always the same in your mind, no matter the time or place. it’s probably bad to always put the pressure on yourself like you do, but, who cares if it helps you run the way you do?

wally whoops, yelling the name of a different girl in position next to you at the blocks. he cheers her on before the race has even begun, clapping loudly.

suddenly the stream of your thoughts breaks like they’re hit by a bomb, fractured, exploding and ping-ponging to every different part of your brain.

there’s no way.

a burning feeling makes its way into your chest, burrowing in under your ribcage to settle next to your heart.

what the fuck is he doing?

the shot goes off, and you burst into a sprint, the wind whistling in your ears as you pass the girls you’re racing, feet flying beneath you.

you hear some of the other guys cheering, coach exclaiming with his hand on his head in disbelief.

you run past the finish, slowing and stumbling into a jog, a walk. you turn in surprise, the rest of the girls still sprinting towards you.

wally laughs, and it’s all you can hear: a smug cackle that seeps into your skin and pisses you off.

“10.58,” coach yells out, and the team erupts into shocked sounds and chatter. another girl pats you on the back, smiling warmly at you.

it takes a second to remember you’re at practice.

you do the cool down stretches with the team, refusing to look towards wally or the storage shed.

coach dismisses everyone, but you linger, watching everyone walk out. you still feel weird. not right. that nasty little burning feeling is still sitting pretty in your chest, and you intend to sweat it out.

your shoes hit the ground, the rough pounding unbelievably therapeutic.

you run sixteen laps around the track, or four miles if you’re counting, the spring sun harsh when you’re under it that long.

you wipe sweat from your forehead, stalking towards your bag. you sling it over your shoulder, trudging to the locker room on tingly legs.

you walk in, a little surprised it’s still open. coach is pretty quick to leave after thursday afternoon practices, citing poker night. usually he has someone lock up for him, but the locker rooms and surrounding hallways are like a ghost town.

you look sweaty, properly worked out, your face flushed and the muscles in your legs in high definition from such an intensive workout.

your shorts have ridden up, and when you close the locker room door behind you, locking it, the glimpse he gets of your ass sends all his blood straight to his cock.

he steps out from where he’d been standing, bracing for when you turn back around.

“shit, wally!” you nearly jump out of your skin, dropping your bag in surprise.

“sorry, sorry,” he smiles, not looking the least bit apologetic. he stoops down, folding his long frame to pick up your bag for you. you snatch it from him, sliding it back over your shoulder.

“what are you doing in here, anyways?”

“waiting for you.” he replies, simply. he leans against a bank of lockers, crossing his arms as he watches you.

“creep.” you say, spitting the word at him. he shrugs, his eyes twinkling.

“some would say, yeah.”

you roll your eyes, scoffing.

“that's not a good thing, west.”

“never said so, babe.”

you sigh, about to walk past him. you must be too tired to wipe your expression, because he stops you.

“what, gorgeous? what’sa matter?”

you stop in front of him, looking up into his ridiculously blue eyes.

you couldn’t bear to let him know that around lap 9 you realized what you were so upset over. it’d be too embarrassing.

“c’mon, please? talk to me.” he says, tentatively placing a hand on your waist. his thumb rubs reassuring circles on your still burning hot skin, and it feels like all the tension in your body is slowly sapped by his touch.

you sigh, resigning yourself to it. he’s not gonna let up unless you say something.

“why were you cheering for her?” you ask, cringing at yourself. you feel like a turtle on its belly, weaknesses out for the world to see. for one particular redheaded boy to see.

“‘cause i knew you’d respond well to a little motivation, quicksilver,” he says, smirking.

you blink at him.

“and you did.”

you stand rooted to the spot, mouth agape.

“you’re the worst, wally. i can’t believe you!” you snap, shoving his hand off as you walk towards your locker. you throw your track bag in, about to grab the stuff for your shower when you feel him behind you. you whirl around, fire in your eyes.

“you are so annoying!” you say, poking him in the chest for emphasis.

wally’s matching your look, but his has a different undertone.

“do something about it then, babe.” he says, his voice going deeper as he runs his eyes up and down your body. you’re hit with the realization that your underwear is soaked, and you roll your eyes, stepping closer.

“just shut the fuck up, west.”

he nods, happily, meeting you halfway when you rush in to press your lips on his.

you’re nothing but fire, heat barely contained under the surface of your skin as you mash your mouth to his. your tongues intertwine, dancing in a fight for dominance. you bite his lip, and he smacks your ass with a firm hand. you feel his smile as he kisses you, his body melding into yours as you press into him.

his aggressively hard cock presses into your hip, the length of it positively mouthwatering.

you tug at his hair, running your hands past the shorn sides to grip into the mane pluming across the top of his head down to his neck.

he moans into your mouth, and you pull away, yanking his shorts down.

you drop to sit on the low bench running against the lockers, pulling him so he stands between your open legs.

he brushes your sweaty hair out of your face as you tug his boxers down, his at-attention cock springing free.

it bobs, twitching as he watches you bite your lips. the hair it’s rooted in is a little darker than the hair on his head, freckles sprinkled across it, the tip a mesmerizing shade of pink.

a bead of pre glistens in the harsh fluorescent light and you swear your mouth waters.

you pump your hands over the length of it, moaning around it as you pull him further into your mouth.

“unbelievable,” he says, his eyelids fluttering. you brace your hands on his hips, his tip touching the back of your throat, but he pats your hand, shaking his head.

“gonna make me finish, pretty girl.”

you pull him out of your mouth, pumping the wet mixture of your spit and his pre over his tip, the shaft.

“and?”

you blink, and he’s maneuvered the two of you, spinning so that you’re in front of him, facing away. he pulls your shirt until your tits are exposed, bouncing as they snap out of the constraints of your bra. his hands are pulled to them like magnets, kneading and teasing your nipples as he suckles on your neck, grinding his cock into your ass.

“and maybe i’m not done with you yet,” wally says, gritting the words out. he pulls your bottoms down, and they fall around your ankles, your underwear stuck midthigh.

he presses a hand onto your back, and you bend down, touching your toes.

wally swallows hard at the view, your heart-shaped ass facing up at him. he slots himself at your entrance, and you wiggle your hips to pull it in further, earning a groan from wally.

“oh, just like that, pretty girl, that’s right,” wally says, mumbling and hissing as you sink down onto his cock. his eyes are closed, the look on his face worshipful.

he lets you take your pleasure, his hands steady on your hips as you rock back and forth. his eyes are glued to the connection between you two, the way his cock looks as it’s disappearing deep into you.

“use me, babe,” wally grits out, and you take him on his word, pulling forward to slam him back into the lockers. the stinging of his back just adds to the building pleasure, and you hook your hands onto the back of his thighs to better brace yourself.

you’re relentless, your feet planted as you slam your ass onto his cock again and again, wally’s groans just fueling the fire you feel threatening you burn you up as pleasure ignites all over your body.

you’ve been eerily quiet, like you’re depriving him of his favorite sounds on purpose, but now you’re panting, moaning and gasping as you clench around him.

“walls, i’m—”

your eyes roll back, and you lose the end of that sentence into pleasure as you shake against him, his arms swooping in to pull you upright. wally supports you, your back to his front, his hand snaking around your side to rub your clit.

your body racks with tremors as he pulses his fingers against the little bud at the crest of your pussy, your breathing labored as you lean against him.

“good job, baby,” he says, voice soft in your ear. “took me so well, i knew you could.”

the praise makes you shiver, his hands running up and down your torso as he tries to memorize the way you feel pressed into him like this.

you’re in a daze, exhausted and overwrought, pleasure still pulsing through your nervous system. you’re vaguely aware of wally pulling your shirt and bra over your head, slipping your shoes off, your shorts and underwear after. he piles them on the bench together, setting his clothes next to yours.

wally picks you up like you’re as light as a feather, slinging you over one shoulder like nothing.

you gasp, surprised, and pound a fist into his shoulder.

“what are you doing??” you ask, and he replies with quick slap on your ass, not bothering to respond.

he walks you to the shower, carefully setting you back onto your feet and standing in front of you. he turns on the water, blocking you from the cold spray as it warms up, kissing your neck.

he squirts a huge pile of body wash into his hand, lathering it with the water until it’s a soapy mess.

he runs his hands over your arms, your neck, your armpits, your chest, dutifully washing away the sweat, the tension from your body, even crouching to get your legs as he leaves no square inch of you unwashed.

he quickly washes himself, and once he’s rinsed, he turns back to you, pull you in for a kiss.

it’s not long before he’s hard again, and you wrap your hand around his length as you suck on his bottom lip, pumping hard. you twist your wrist as you pull up, and he’s moaning into your mouth, kissing you harder.

his hips buck him further into your hand, and he grabs your wrist, making you let go.

“not yet,” wally murmurs into your mouth, and you nod, cupping his face with your hands while you kiss him.

“not still mad, are you?” he asks, and you break the kiss, sighing as you settle into his embrace, leaning your head onto his chest.

“no, wally.”

“good.” he replies, his tone positively gleeful. it causes a giggle to rise in your throat, and you smile up at him. his cheeks turn red, and you blink, butterflies swirling in your stomach.

“‘cause you’re my little quicksilver, huh? so fast, aren’t you?” he says, recovering.

you nod, and he kisses you sloppily, water mingling with spit as you breathe each other in, slick skin pressed together. he nudges a knee between your thighs, and you rock your hips, grinding your pussy on his freckled skin.

“faster than you,” you moan out, and the incredulous look on his face makes you cackle.

“never,” wally says, walking you backwards. he picks you up again, pressing you against the wall.

you smile at him lazily, hooking your ankles around his back.

“need more already?” you ask, your fingers lacing through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“with you, it seems like i can’t get enough,” he replies, hoping you’ll be just sleepy enough that you won’t put too much stock into his words. he needs to bide his time. get his act together.

wally slots himself at your entrance, the wet warmth that hits his tip already threatening him to go overboard. he holds his breath, seating himself to the hilt, watching you close your eyes.

he keeps the pace light, but he feels his speed starting to course through his muscles as he calls to it, using it to snap his hips into yours.

your mouth falls open, your eyebrows furrowing, and he knows he’s got you again, sliding his hand up your thigh until his thumb hits your clit, vibrating against it. your eyes are squeezed shut, but his body is a blur, his whole being moving to give you pleasure as quickly as (in)humanly possible.

you sob as he pulls you to the edge again, your whole body shaking as he holds you against the shower tile.

“west,” you moan out, barely able to form words still. “so good, please—,” you cry, pleading like wally wouldn’t give you everything and more without you having to ask.

and he does, coming inside of you as you come apart around his cock, the physical evidence of your combined pleasure obvious in the white ring of fluid on his shaft.

you fall into him, and he slips himself out before setting your feet back onto the ground, stretching his arm out. his elbow had begun to ache from the awkward position, muscle mass and endurance no match for an old break.

you pass him your towel to use after you finish drying off, a content smile washing your features in a glow. he has to fight the urge to ask to keep it, using it to dry himself off instead.

he watches you get dressed, apply deodorant, a spritz of perfume.

wally can’t look away, admiring your still-drying hair, the way your sweats and tank top hug your figure, feet in a pair of comfy post-practice slides.

luckily, wally had a new change of clothes in his own locker, a fresh team t-shirt that shows off his muscular torso, fighting to stay together over his shoulders and biceps.

you make sure everything’s to rights: bag in locker, wally in clothes, shower off, soap in locker.

you turn to him and nod, and have to swallow down your surprise at the look in his eyes.

his pupils are huge, his gaze full of warmth. but oddly enough, he says nothing, just smiles at you.

wally holds out an arm to you, and you loop your hand up to hold onto his bicep. you’d seen the way he was nursing his elbow earlier, and you weren’t about to put more stress on it.

he glances to the locker bank you’d fucked him against as he walks you out, his head whipping around for a double take. the locker he’d been leaning against had a dent the size of his back in the door.

he blinks, his eyebrow cocking. how the fuck had you done that?

did you..

no. wally smiles to himself, shaking his head.

there was no way you had super strength.

post divider courtesy of: @enchanthings-a !!!

･:*+..:+

this fic is dedicated to mimi’s old track elbow and vee’s dented lockers.

to my girls @yeet-ya-chickenstrips and @cottage-worm you were the lifeblood of this fic and i can’t wait to see what kind of idea y’all help me come up with next. thank you so so much.

･:*+..:+

also a/n..

disclaimer: the comic panels used above are for the fact that he has a mullet. wally is 15 in those comics but he is college aged and in his 20s in this fic. i in no way endorse writing or reading explicit sexual content about minors and again, absolutely promise i used those pics solely for the fact that he has a specific hair cut. if anyone wants to find me other comic panels where he’s mulleted and over eighteen, be my guest 🤍

･:*+..:+

[have-you-seen-my-sanity]

I am better

Poe Dameron x fem!Reader

A/N: I kinda roasted Rey at the end. I can't help it, I hate her. The only reason I tortured myself with the sequels was literally only because Oscar Isaac as Poe lol.

Quick summary: At a conversation between you, Finn and Poe about the old Clone Wars, you spoke faster than thinking, saying Anakin Skywalker is the best pilot in the Galaxy. Poe did not like that.

Tags: nsfw, PinV, dom Poe, punishment, cockwarming, kind of dark Poe, jealous Poe.

A/N 2: Just realized the pic looks perfect. Finn is like: "Girl, you better run..." and Poe looks like: "Excuse me? What did you just say?!"

Sometimes it's better to think before speaking. It all started harmless, Finn, Poe and you were talking about the Clone Wars. Poe was worshipping the Clones, wishing they would be still around, Finn was drooling over Ahsoka Tano...and you? You were all over Anakin Skywalker, admiring everything about him.

"Anakin Skywalker? Come on, that's overkill!" Finn snorted, looking down at the Dejarik round they were playing.

"Why? Just because you're worshipping Ahsoka?" You chuckled, watching Finns dejarik player getting slamdunked.

"Ugh, you and your crushes..." Poe scoffed and leaned forward, preparing his round.

"Atleast we have one individual we love and not millions." you backfired at him, grinning cheekily.

"I think Poe chooses the Clones because all the other ladies are ugly and Ahsoka is the only sexy looking one." Finn nudged Poe, making him give a confused expression.

"Poe, how about Obi Wan?" you asked.

"Nah. He's way too noble, way too jedi-like..." he retorted with an disgusted expression.

"Wait! What about Bo Katan? Isn't she someone you'd be into, mate?" Finn suggested.

"I would even arrange the date between you two." You chuckled.

Poe just looked at you two, surprised but uncaring "You two are absolutely unfair, you know that?"

You three kept playing dejarik for a bit before Finn spoke up again.

"Hey, but what about you? Why Anakin Skywalker? Is it because he turned bad and you're kinda into bad boys?" Finn grinned at you.

"No!" you smiled, turning your head to hide the slight red on your cheeks.

"Don't be shy! Come on, spill it." Poe teased, giving you a cocky grin.

"Alright, alright, you won. I like him because he was the best in everything. Best at fighting, strong in the force." you leaned back in your seat.

"Wait, nothing else? Really?" Poe asked curiously.

"He invented the spinning." Finn joked.

You laughed hard. "And he's the best pilot in the Galaxy." you retorted but gulped as realization hit you.

You looked back up at Finn and Poe, Finn had his hand on his chin, trying to suppress the laughter threatening to come out of him. At this point you were glad at sitting opposite from them as you saw Poe's jaw tensing.

"Pheww, okay guys, I gotta go to Chewie and talk with him about something." Finn broke the silence, preparing to stand up.

"Wait, Finn! We didn't even finish our dejarik round!" You gave him an almost pleading look.

"I- uhh, I'm sure you and Poe can finish it just fine, right mate?" Finn chuckled nervously, giving Poe a pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, we will get this over with and see who's the better one." Poe gave you a scowl.

"See? That's why I chose Ahsoka!" Finn grinned, finding the situation amusing.

"Anaking was Ahsoka's master!" you retorted, seeing Poe giving you a warning glance.

"See you guys later!" Finn waved and stood up, walking off, leaving only Poe and you alone.

"Poe...listen, I didn't mean to--" You got cut off by Poe, who stood up and made his way to you.

"I'll teach you better." he grabbed your arm and lead you out of the Millennium Falcon, leading you towards a small freighter nearby. Once inside and ensurring they were alone, he lead you to the cargohold and locked the entrance of the ship.

-----

Now you were on Poe's lap, his cock buried deep inside you, he held you firmly in place, not moving a little bit.

"Repeat what you said." Poe demanded lowly.

You squirmed, desperately trying to get atleast some friction "I-I'm sorry..."

"No, no, no, tell me. I wanna hear it coming out of your mouth again."

"Anakin-... is the b-best pilot in the Galaxy-..." you tried to move again but Poe had an iron grip that made it impossible.

"But is he really? Or is there someone better, hm?" Poe asked, holding you in place.

"Yes, you." you replied, making Poe's hips move a little bit before stopping once more. The little friction he gave felt so good, causing you to whimper after he stopped.

"So you admit I am the best and Skywalker is nothing compared to me?" he asked again.

"Poeee, please move. It's killing me..." you begged, feeling how slippy everything down there is.

"Answer." he tutted.

"Anakin is nothing compared to you. You're the best, Poe. Only you." you whimpered needily.

Poe chuckled, "See? It wasn't that hard now, was it?" he started moving slowly, only enough to make you crave for more.

Your eyes lulled back, you wanted Poe to move faster "Please faster."

"Is there something else you might tell me about Skywalker?" Poe asked, his pace increased slightly.

You knew exactly why he asked you that, he knew your mind was clouded with pleasure and thinking wasn't your speciality rightnow.

"He's handsome.." you slipped out.

"Handsome, huh?" Poe repeated, his hips stopped again.

"No- I mean- you-you're handsome. Anakin's not." You stuttered, trying to correct yourself.

"Damn right I am." he started moving again.

"If you ever say someone is better than me again, I will make sure to fuck you so hard you will forget all their names and only remember mine. Now enjoy the ride, honey."

Poe's thrusts increased even more, moving you up and down simutaniously.

Your orgasm approached so fast, it was only mere minutes before it ripped through your body. Poe's orgasm came right after yours. He grabbed a rag and cleaned both of you up while you put your clothes back on.

Poe and you left the freighter, walking back to the Millennium Falcon as Finn approached

"Heyy, did you two finally got an agreement?" Finn asked, looking at you two.

"Yep. We uh- we came to an agreement that Anakin is better at..." you trailed off, looking at Poe who was looking back at you expectantly.

"He is better with his lightsaber than Rey. I mean- come on, Anakin got training and Rey didn't, right? Having powers without getting trained is no right to call themselves a Jedi, right?" You chuckled nervously, your eyes flicking towards Poe for a split second.

"Damn, girl, you're really into the mood to fight anyone today, eh?" Finn laughed.

You glanced back to Poe, seeing him inhale heavily and closing his eyes briefly.

Noticing this, you quickly nudged Finn's shoulder, "Hey Finn, wanna finish our Dejarik round? I beat Poe, but the others are still in it." you urged him.

"Alright. Let's do this." Finn agreed casually and started walking.

You walked closely beside him, looking over your shoulder to see Poe shooting you another warning and his expression turning dark.

Oh no...

[myveryownfanfiction]

18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

tags: @illiana-mystery, @iobsessoverfictionalmen

could be a sequel to this or stand alone

warnings: smut, swearing, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it kids), soft!dom/sub relationship

Ray looked back at me with a smile as I sat on the table in front of the Ecto. I smiled back and he ducked back into the engine. Music was playing softly in the background.

"Dammit." Ray muttered as he slid off the shop towel. My eyes were pulled from his ass as he stood up. "I gotta go grab something from Egon. Be right back." Ray kissed me softly before heading up the stairs. I watched him until I couldn't see him anymore.

"And pull this. Move that. And he should be set for another half hour." I muttered as I leaned into the engine. I was back in my seat before Ray returned, kissing my head before climbing back onto the Ecto. "So what are you doing?" I asked, standing up and moving to stand next to the car. Ray didn't look up as I stood behind him, eyes trained on his ass.

"I'm trying to get her running again. I think the fan belt might be on its way out but it looks like something came unplugged." Ray said. He started to ramble on about the car, making me cross my legs and bite my lip. I always pretended I didn't know what Ray was talking about but that was only because I loved to hear him talk about something he loved and explain everything in great detail. If he knew I understood what he was talking about he wouldn't explain it anymore and he wouldn't get to enjoy talking about it as much. At least that's what I thought. Ray trailed off as he put the plug back in. "And I just need to grab the fan belt from downstairs. Then she should be up and running again." I nodded as he got up. Ray smiled at me before heading to the basement. I raised an eyebrow when I heard his footsteps stop. Turning back to the engine, I scrunched up my nose before leaning over.

"This should do it." I muttered before running my finger over some wiring before finding where it was plugged in. I was about to pull it when I heard Ray laugh. Freezing, I turned back around with wide eyes.

"So you do understand what I am talking about." He said, shaking his head. Ray put the fan belt down on the table and came to stand in front of me. "You're the one pulling plugs when I'm gone." I felt my cheeks heat up and I smiled nervously at him. "I could have sworn it was Peter."

"Ray..." I started. He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes?" He asked. I gulped as he took a step towards me.

"I...I'm sorry." I stuttered.

"Oh are you now?" He asked. I nodded. "And why would you lie to me like that?"

"I thought..." Ray tilted his head and licked his lips, causing me to lose focus for a second. "I thought if you knew I knew about all this you would stop explaining everything and talking about it the way you do. That you would feel like you didn't need to tell me all about it because I already knew about it anyway." I rushed out. Ray furrowed his eyebrows.

"Now why would I do that?" He asked. "If you want me to talk to you about it and explain everything all you had to do was ask. You know that." I nodded again.

"I do. I just...I don't know...I like your rambling. And I didn't want to lose it." I said, hanging my head. Ray sighed and cupped my cheeks, tilting my head back up.

“you won’t lose it baby.” He breathed out. “If you want me to ramble I’ll ramble. But for now…” ray kissed me and backed me against my seat at the table. “You’re going to sit here and watch me fix everything you did. And then we’re going to go upstairs, lock the your door and I’m going to punish you. Understood?” Ray backed away slowly.

“understood sir.” I said softly. Ray nodded before heading back to the ecto. He went back to work, slowly fixing everything I had undone. Ray didn’t talk, just quietly did his work while I sat there waiting for him to finish. This was as much punishment as whatever he had in store for me after. I shifted in my seat, glancing at the clock before ray stood up with a groan.

“and that should do it.” He muttered before going to the drivers seat and turning the car on. As it rumbled to life, ray smiled and shut it off. “Alright. Come on.” He said, walking over and offering me his hand. I stared up at him before nervously taking his hand. Ray bent over and threw me over his shoulder. I gasped as his back filled my view. I could feel his hand on my ass, softly kneeding it as he walked up the stairs.

“ray, im going to need…” egon started before finally looking up. “I’ll talk to you about it later.” He shook his head before shedding his lab coat and leaving the room. Ray chuckled before turning towards my room.

“Now it’s just us.” Ray said, tossing me on the bed before locking my door.

“better hope there isn’t a call.” I breathed out as I watched ray start to strip down to his briefs. He chuckled lowly.

"Yeah. We better hope there isn't a call." Ray stalked towards the bed and leaned over me. "Rather, you better hope there isn't a call." My eyes went wide and I gulped. With a dark laugh, Ray started to undress me. I knew better than to help him when he got this way. He wanted to take his time, get me ready for whatever punishment he had in mind. He kissed me deeply before laying me back on the bed. "If I have to go, you're going to be left here...all by yourself...with no way to get off." Ray said between kissed. When he finally pulled back, I trailed after him.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry sir." I whispered as he smirked at me. Sitting on the bed, Ray patted his thigh. I slowly climbed over his lap and laid down, biting my lip when I felt his hand on the back of my thigh. He gently stroked my leg and hummed. Ray shifted under me and I let out a harsh breath through my nose.

"How many plugs did you pull when I wasn’t looking?” Ray asked, leaning forward to look at my face. I could feel the blood drain from my face as my eyes went wide. I stared at ray and my breathing picked up, heart beating anxiously. “Hmm? How many?”

“I…I…” I stuttered. Ray raised his eyebrows at me. “I’m not sure. I…it might have been about twenty.” Ray hummed and nodded, bottom lip sticking out slightly as he looked at me impressed.

“about twenty. Damn (Y/N).” Ray said. “Impressive.” I bit my lip as he looked me over. “Then let’s say twenty five. Seems like a good round number.” I nodded slowly and took a deep breath.

“if that’s what you decide sir.” I whispered, voice shaking. Ray kneaded my ass as I shifted in his lap. I squeaked as his hand came down on my cheek. My hands scrambled for purchase on the blanket, needing to hold onto something as ray held me tight against him so I wouldn’t fall. Another squeak left me as he smacked me again. Ray chuckled as I squirmed, another blow landing. I squeezed my eyes tight as he hit me again. He would pause for a few seconds, letting me catch my breath before picking back up. After about ten hits, I started squirming. Rays grip on me tightened as I felt him grow hard against my stomach. I bit my lip to stop my moan as his hips subtly jerked against me.

“halfway there.” Ray said as he landed three hits in quick succession. My head fell against his thigh as he hit me again. “Fuck.” Ray groaned, shifting his hips again as he gently kneaded the abused skin. “Eleven more to go.” I nodded, tightening my grip on the blanket. Ray went as fast as he dared, leaned over my back to kiss my neck. “Did so good for me. My perfect partner. So good.” I sighed as my body finally relaxed.

“Yes sir. Thank you sir.” I breathed out. Ray hummed as he wrapped his arms around me. He gently rubbed my arms, gently prying my hands off the blanket.

“you did so well sweetheart.” He whispered. “So good for me.” His lips brushed against my back. I sighed as he leaned back to grab something off the nightstand. I jumped slightly as he started to rub some ointment into my reddened skin. “You were perfect. So perfect.” Ray helped me sit up and kissed me deeply. “Are you ready for your reward?” I wrapped my arms around his neck and nuzzled into the side of his face.

“yes sir.” I whispered, kissing his cheek. Ray sighed softly as he turned his head to kiss me again. "I have to ask though," I said as Ray rubbed his nose against mine. He hummed to show he was listening, even though it seemed like he was in his own little world. "Are you sure you can last long enough?" Ray pinched my ass before growling playfully at me.

"Do I need to punish you for that smart ass mouth too?" He teased, laying me back on the bed and crawling over me. I shook my head with a laugh.

"It's just you've been hard since around the tenth smack sir." I pointed out. Ray nodded.

"You kept squirming. You know what that does to me." Ray said, nuzzling into my neck. "It isn't fair." I giggled as Ray sucked on the skin under my jaw. "But we can fix that now can't we?"

"Yes sir." I moaned as Ray thrust into me, slowly going balls deep. My hands scrambled to grab at him, anywhere and everywhere. Ray grabbed my hands and settled them at his waist, digging my fingers into his love handles. My head fell back as he ground against me. Ray chuckled as he continued littering my neck with hickies and bite marks. "Oh fuck. Sir." I moaned.

"That good huh?" Ray chuckled. I closed my eyes and instantly felt Ray's hand at my throat. "Ah ah ah. Eyes on me darling." He taunted. My eyes snapped open and I stared at him, a small gasp leaving me as he tightened his grip before pulling out. With a snap of his hips, ray was as deep as he could go. I moaned as he leaned down to kiss me. As ray kept thrusting into me, I canted my hips up to meet his. His free hand trailed down to my side and firmly pressed my lower body against the bed. I whined as he held me down. Ray smirked down at me. “Isn’t it whatever I say darling?” He teased.

“sir please.” I whined, fluttering my eyes the way I knew ray liked. Ray squeezed my throat, easing up as a gasp left me.

"I asked you a question." He mused. I nodded as he ground against me again.

"Yes sir. Whatever you say sir." I breathed out. "Please sir. Please." Ray's hand left my throat only to be replaced with his mouth.

"Let go for me sweetheart." He breathed out before biting my shoulder. I came with a scream as Ray licked the indents he left behind. "Oh fuck. Yes. Fuck yes." Ray moaned as he spilled in me. He collapsed on top of me, taking my hands and moving them down to his ass. I laughed as he pressed a kiss to my neck. I teasingly squeezed his cheeks and Ray smiled against my skin. "Love you." He whispered. I sighed and turned into his neck.

"Love you too." Ray kissed my neck again before moving. He slowly pulled out and I hissed at the sensitivity. With a knowing look, Ray squeezed my leg before ducking into the bathroom. He came back with a wet rag and started to gently clean me up.

"You did so good for me." He said softly, making sure he didn't hurt me as he went. "So good. Took me so well." I hummed happily as he tossed the rag into my hamper and crawled back into bed with me. He held me close and rubbed my back as he quietly hummed some song he had heard on the radio earlier. I sighed as I curled into his chest. "You know we have to have a real discussion about you pulling those plugs right?" Ray finally said. I nodded and curled my fingers through his chest hair.

"I really am sorry Ray." I breathed out, looking up at him. Ray sighed and kissed my forehead.

"I know baby." He whispered. "I know. But you can't just do that. I know you know what you're doing but if I don't notice it and we're on a bust..." Ray trailed off, letting me finish his thought. I shuddered and curled further into him. "I'll keep rambling if you want but just ask next time. I'm happy to ramble on if you enjoy it so much. Believe me. It makes me very happy that you listen when I ramble. And you know it can only get worse now that I know you know what I'm talking about. There's so much more I can get into now." I laughed and reached up to cup Ray's cheek.

"I think you mean better." I said, kissing him softly. Ray smiled at me, eyes twinkling.

"You say better. I say worse." He shrugged. "Either way, there's going to be more of it now." I smiled at him and let him pull me closer.

"I can't wait." I breathed out as he kissed my head.

[idkmanwtfishumanityanymore]

just rewatched the two goosebumps movies (the ones with jack black) and I gotta say- SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE MOVIES!!

I HAVE NEVER FELT SO BAD FOR SLAPPY.

Hear me out.

First off, he was created, OUT OF MALICE. By an isolated little boy(R.L. Stein), and he’s just expected to NOT be malicious???

second, due to being the malicious bastard he is, Stein locked him up in the books with the rest of the monsters, which seems to have affected him in some way considering how bitter he was about it-

(The rest is from the sequel now)

Third, In the sequel “Haunted Halloween”, he is quite literally just trying to build up a family for himself-

if those kids in the beginning hadn’t abruptly decided he’s evil and bad just because he made a cheating bastard fall and break a bone or two (getting revenge for his “sister”), and because he made Sonny’s Tesla project too powerful (probably not on purpose!), then all of “Haunted Halloween” (the first book Stein ever tried writing in-universe but never finished, where Slappy goes on a rampage making a family of monsters), NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.

IF THEY HAD JUST SET SOME RULES Y’KNOW LIKE “Okay don’t actually hurt anyone or kill them or cause irreparable damage, got it?” THEN THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED. HE SEEMS LIKE A VERY REASONABLE PUPPET.

This movie has somehow taught me that Slappy (movie only) has daddy issues, possibly abandonment issues, had no mother and wants a mother of his own, doesn’t turn too evil unless provoked in some way(Ex; Insulting him, upsetting someone he claims as family), and just wants a family.

Also “Dummy” is like a personal slur to him apparently like- he gets so pissed- “Puppet” seemed to be acceptable though. Just not “Dummy”.

((Also please forgive me Idk how to spell the author’s name and I’m too lazy to google it rn please Lemme know what the proper spelling is if I fucked up-))

[be-my-ally]

Stay Another Night

it’s been a busy week so just a fluffy mini fill for a lil prompt:

“Isn’t that mine?”

sequel to ‘do you mind?’ and 'the morning after’

warnings: none except the fact there is no smut, no kissing, no ... anything really, just fluffy set-up for another night together.

wc: 1.6k

as always!! thanks for the support + encouragement @whositmcwhatsit @thatbanditqueen @ellie-24 @vintageshanny @missmaywemeetagain @from-memphis-with-love

“I gotta go,” You stretch on the bed as you say it, and Elvis pauses where he’s getting dressed, 

“Okay, honey,” He continues getting his clothes on, humming to himself. 

“I really gotta go in a minute,” His fingers stop where they’re buttoning his shirt, and he glances over at you, as if your repetition has made him focus.

“Oh, uh, are you sure?” Your lips purse in a happy half-smile, one where you’re not willing to let your face show its true emotions. 

“Pretty sure. It’s almost midday - ‘ve got things to do today.” He smiles at you, almost bashfully, as if he can hear your reluctance, or at your determination being undermined by your lack of movement. 

“Of course, honey, whatever you say,” You drag yourself to sit upright, 

“I mean it! It was really nice of you to let me stay last night, and for uh, this morning, but I am gonna have to leave soon.” 

“Sure,” He shrugs, “- or you could hang with us today? I’ve got an interview but then ‘m just waitin’ around ‘til our flight tomorrow.” He offers the information as if it’s nothing, so nonchalant about it all, but you can feel your eyes widen, 

“No - no, honestly, you’ve done too much already; practically rescuing me last night and all.” He smiles but turns back to the dressing table mirror, combing his hair - again. 

“It was my pleasure sweetheart,” You lock eyes in the mirror, “pretty thing like you shouldn’t have been left all on her lonesome anyway.” You squirm at the compliment, unable to deny the effect that him speaking to you like that physically had. He comes around the side of the bed, fully dressed now, leaning over you. 

“Hey,” He presses a kiss to your cheek, “Please, sweet thing, I want you to stay - just for the day.” You can feel your reservations crumbling. 

“Well… ok then, but I’ll need to run out while you’re doing whatever it is you have to do for an interview,” He frowns, 

“Oh c’mon doll, it’ll only take half hour. Don’t want you to spend a moment longer away from me.” His finger moves in little circles on your chest, just above the embroidered patch on the pocket, his eyes pleading with you. How anyone has ever managed to refuse him is beyond you. All you can do is nod and agree. He kisses both your cheeks and then your forehead as a reward, and somehow, even though he didn’t even make contact with your lips you’re left in a daze again. 

Thus you find yourself here, hours later, still in his room but now curled up on the spare armchair, flicking through a magazine, quietly waiting for him to be finished. He’d tried to get you to listen in but you knew you’d only be a distraction and if you were telling the truth, panicked you’d embarrass yourself with your level of awe. So instead you’d waved him away into the adjoining room and taken to waiting here. He had been wrong earlier, it did not take ‘only half hour’, it had now been almost two hours. Your stomach, as if hearing the complaints in your head, chooses that moment to let itself be known, and it spurs you into action - you’re starving and quite simply you’ve had enough of being cooped up waiting for him. By the time you get back with some food he should be done and you can get back to having fun. 

So, you start to gather the things you’d need, considering throwing on his jacket - it was just laying there, for some extra warmth, but quickly decide that’s a little too intimate and after holding it for a moment, you throw it back over a chair and head on out the door. You’ve barely stepped out of the hallway before you’re bumping into someone, 

“Oh, uh, sorry, I just need to get past -” There’s three men out in the hallway, casually chatting as if they have nowhere else to be, 

“No, no, it’s my fault, I didn’t notice the door - are you two about ready for some food now?” You’re taken aback, not a hundred percent certain what’s going on. 

“Oh - are you, you guys are with Elvis?” They all look at each other and laugh, like you’ve told the funniest joke ever and you shift from foot to foot waiting for them to stop. 

“Yeah honey, we are -“ You nod, it would make sense for him to have people around all the time, especially seemingly guarding his hotel room doors. 

“Oh right, well I was just going to head to the café outside, I won’t be too long.” They look friendly so you don’t feel too awkward about adding on, “And I’m not sure how much longer he’ll be.” 

“Uh,” They look at each other, one of them seems to draw the silent short straw and steps forward to speak up, placing a hand on your shoulder and turning you back to the door. “It’s probably for the best if you just head on inside and stay there today, just in case he comes out.” 

“Oh, well, sure, but food?” The man nods at you,

“Don’t worry, I’ll send someone out to get it, you just get back in there before he notices.” You’re propelled forward but it’s said with a smile so you go willingly. 

“Uh, ok.” 

“I’ll get something delivered in the next twenty minutes.” You nod back, 

“Right, well, thank you.” The guy nods, shutting the door behind him. You wonder if that’s all they do all day - was three of them necessary? Were they exaggerating, or would Elvis really have been annoyed if you’d left? In some ways the interaction had reminded you of life outside your little bubble of the past day and night. Suddenly you feel your whole body heat up and cringe as you realise they were almost certainly aware that you’d stayed the night. However, the coolness of the room soon gets to you again and before long you're shrugging on the jacket you had dismissed earlier.

Thankfully pretty soon after there’s a knock at the door, and when you open it there’s one of the men from before; you really should ask for their name, clutching three bags of take-out burgers and fries. He sets them down on the table, glancing over at the closed door Elvis was still behind, 

“Alright then, we’ll leave you to it.” You thank him profusely, although he simply waves the gratitude away, and no sooner are you closing the door behind him than Elvis appears through the door on the other side. He looks good - smart and professional still - Hollywood slick. 

“I ordered us food!” Well, you might not have done the actual ordering, but the sentiment had been there and you weren’t gonna let the boys in the hallway take all the credit, “The uh, guys outside recommended what to get.” You gesture to the table laden with foil wrapped burgers and fries and you watch his face turn pleased at the thought. 

“Oh great! Darling, that’s great - I won’t be a moment.” He heads into the bathroom. You know it’s not polite, and your mother would be appalled but you’re so hungry that you can’t bear waiting another second. So by the time he comes back out again you’re gripping a half-eaten burger, he stops in his tracks, as if a little surprised that you seem to be enjoying it so much, or perhaps in shock that you hadn’t waited - who knows, all you know is that he stopped, but his eyes lit up. 

“Hey! Isn’t that one for me?” You grin at him around a mouthful of burger, gesturing to the table when you swallow, 

“Aren’t all of these yours?” He playfully growls in your ear as he bends to press playful bites up your arm before stealing a bite out of the one in your hand. He chews fast, before leaning back in for another bite, nipping your fingers and, this time, leaving a little trail of sauce along your hand from where he’d pressed a kiss. Once that burger is gone he reaches for another, eating it far more single-mindedly, like he’s starving before he takes a moment to properly look you over.

“Isn’t that mine?” He flicks the jacket, playfully pulling you to him with it. 

“You don’t mind do you?” You go to shrug it off, but he holds it onto you, 

“God, no. You can,” He swallows, “You can keep it. It - I love it on you.” You shift in your seat at his tone, growing rough again, in the same way it had sounded this morning. He looks down at you, straight into your eyes, tone lowering even further.

“Stay again. Just one more night. I go home tomorrow.” You hum, looking over at the clock; it wasn't in any way late enough for that to make the decision for you and there were still logistics to think about.

“I’ve got work in the morning though - I’ll need to go home first for some clothes.” You pout a little, not really wanting a different solution so much as just a little sympathy for having to work and therefore having to go home. But he shakes his head, easily dismissing your concerns -

“Don’t go worrying ‘bout that, stay with me and I’ll send someone out. Pick you out something new.” Part of you wants to protest, reassure Elvis you can pay for yourself but the other, winning, part was saying how nice it was he seemed to care. Cared enough that he’d offer that just to convince you to stay for what was left of the night. And really, he was right - he was leaving in the morning too, when would this opportunity ever come about again?

“Well…okay then…if you insist.” He grins at you, clearly thrilled at your decision and you return it back to him, practically vibrating with excitement at the prospect of another night with him. 

[valorianknights]

My TBHK W.I.P. AUs

* I have decided to not make these into fics due to me not having the motivation, instead I will make them into lil' Comics.

Delayed Summon AU

Title: TBHK: A Delayed Summon

(I'm currently restructuring some stuff in the outline and deciding to end it at the alteration arc, so I gotta wait for the manga to finish it)

Summary: A world where Yashiro doesn't follow through with summoning Hanako-san to aid her in her terrible love life. This world explores and adds depth to Yashiro and Aoi's friendship, forges a new trio in Yashiro, Aoi and Kou and Hanako is eventually summoned to hopefully fix Yashiro's lifespan.

Displaced AU

Title: A Crisis On Two Worlds

(Currently sitting on the back burner, but slowly being outlined and is canon divergent after the Tea Party Arc)

Summary: A version of Yashiro from another world winds up trapped in the main timeline in the aftermath of the Tea Party Arc. A revelation is made during the 3 Clock Keepers Arc and she may hold the key to fixing their Yashiro's lifespan...along with a different problem...

Alien Stage AU

Title: Nothing Really Matters...

(I don't know why I enjoy hurting myself like this, but here I am)

Summary: I think this speaks for itself.

Welcome to Spain, without the 'S'

Womp womp.

Next Gen / Resonance AU

Title: Lighting In A Bottle

(This is born out of my Kounene Cope Era due to the current arc in the manga, the recent Alien Stage content and I was in dire need of fluff)

Summary: A sequel series of TBHK set 25 years after the events of the series.

This series follows a trio of exorcist siblings who deal with both supernatural misadventures and their chaotic school lives.

Starcrossed AU

Title: If You Love Me, Then Keep Me Free...

Summary: The five times that Amane refused to let Nene go and the one time he did...

(Inspired by the story of the Yellow Robed Demon and the Jade Maiden, with elements of the Hades and Persephone myth)

Remnant AU

Title: All That Remains Are Fragments

Summary:

The supernatural misadventures of a team of variants from dead timelines that are brought together by Izanagi, the God of creation, in order to prevent an apocalypse that would destroy all worlds.

The team's main goal is to find and destroy various fragments of Izanagi's corrupted wife, Izanami, that are scattered across different worlds. She has became the premordial void known as Khaos that seems to consume and corrupt everything it touches until all that's left is the void. She is also the cause of their worlds destruction and they won't let other worlds suffer the same fate. They all only agree to aid Izanagi in his mission of saving his wife and the worlds they had created together, if he promises to restore their worlds.

Meet the team:

Kou Minamoto, who is the only survivor of a zombie apocalypse caused by the Mokke and made worse by the Khaos entity that was sealed in the red house. Nene Yashiro, who was punished by the clock Keepers for trying to change her timeline. While the human Yashiro fell victim to the hourglass and joined the sand that fuels it, this clockwork doppleganger is given life by a piece of the original's soul that Kako then locked inside the doll and trapped in the boundary as punishment for her human counterparts crime. This timeline was eventually devoured by the Khaos entity. Akane Aoi, who was the only survivor of the original timeline who escaped the red house entity during the alteration arc. Aoi Akane, who is a magical girl whose world was consumed by the Khaos entity from the red house. At some point they're joined by Tsukasa Yugi, the young 4 year old boy that sacrificed himself for his brother to live. The team infiltrated the red house of some world and ended up rescuing him from there before destroying the house.

(Inspired by Marvel Comics "The Exiles" and DC's Legends of Tomorrow)

[roxannarambles]

Title: Wings of a Butterfly, Eye of the Tiger (Part 4)

Ship: Nemona x Juliana (Julinemo/Terajules)

Summary: Nemona and Juliana just can’t resist returning to Area Zero once more. They find new places to explore, new pokemon to discover, and a new things to learn … about pokemon battling, but also about each other. (Sequel to Picnic in Paradise)

Chapters: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Tags: Slowburn, Romance, Friendship, Crushes, Action/Adventure, Pokemon Battles, Fakemon

“What the heck kind of Tera type is that?!” Nemona yelled, eyes wide. 

“Umm, I have no idea!”

“So we’re seeing a brand-new type?! Holy crap! Jules, this– this is incredible!”

Nemona’s eyes were gleaming nearly as bright as the Terastallized pokemon. 

“Y-yeah, but–”

The dragon opened its mouth and expelled a cloud of flames. You yelped and backed away, grabbing Nemona’s hand and dragging her with you. You were able to escape the reach of the flames, although you could feel the wall of heat they put out. Hellcat snarled, agitated by the attack. Nemona said,

“Aw geez. I’m sorry Hellcat, this has been a real trial by fire for you, hasn’t it?”

Hellcat clearly wanted to fight back, but the Roaring Moon was still out of reach, floating above the pit of blackness.

“Jules, what secondary type did this thing have?”

“Dark! I think.”

“Ok. Hmm, if it’s gonna keep us at arm’s length like this, we’re gonna have to send something out to meet it!”

You looked at your assortment of pokeballs, exclaiming,

“But what? We have no idea what Tera type it is!”

“That’s true, but it’s okay, we’re just gonna have to improvise!” She selected one of her pokeballs and looked to you, asking,

“You ready?”

“I-I, um . . .” You struggled to make your selection, flustered over having to deal with so many unknowns.

From the sky, Roaring Moon began to fly in several looping circles, its body glowing in a purple light. Nemona’s confident expression slipped.

“Crap, it’s Dragon Dancing! Juliana, we gotta hurry!”

“Right, right, sorry, ready!”

You both tossed a ball, Nemona releasing her Flutter Mane, you sending out the new Screech Tails. 

“Moonblast!”

“Dazzling Gleam!”

The pair of fairies floated out to meet the dragon, one on either side of it. Roaring Moon shrieked, lunging forward and swinging one of its mighty forearms, its glittering talons shredding into Flutter Mane like it was tissue paper. It fainted instantly. 

“Dangit!”

Nemona’s pokemon may have been cut short before it could get an attack off, but your Screech Tails took advantage of the momentary distraction, firing off a Dazzling Gleam before Roaring Moon could do anything more. 

You could hear a loud crash like shattering glass, and the air was filled with shards of crystal spraying in all directions. You and Nemona watched in shock as Roaring Moon returned to its usual form, looking momentarily stunned as it drifted there in the air. You said,

“Already? Whoa, that didn’t last long.”

“Guess Roaring Moon doesn’t have much stamina. Try to lure it over here with the next attack so we can catch it!”

You nodded.

“Okay. Uh, I don’t think it can take another Dazzling Gleam, though, and Psychic won’t work. Uhmm . . . Screech Tails! This way, come back over here!”

You waved a berry at it, trying to draw it over. You’d literally just captured this pokemon, after all, and hadn’t had much time to train it yet. Fortunately, Screech Tails slowly drifted back towards you, drooling.

Unfortunately, Roaring Moon had finished shaking itself from its daze. Its yellow eyes narrowed, locked onto the puffy pink fairy.

“Uh-oh. Screech Tails, use . . . umm, something else!” 

You hadn’t actually had the chance to see its full moveset yet. Screech Tails’ eyes began to glow pink, its tails drifting upwards.

“No, no, not Psychic–”

The ferocious dragon swooped at your pokemon, roaring as it closed in, but its body phased clean through Screech Tails as if it wasn’t even there. The dragon slammed into the cave wall, the ground trembling with the force, causing you and Nemona to jump. Screech Tails unleashed its energy at its foe, but it was a futile effort.

“Try again Screech Tails, use something else, quick!”

Roaring Moon righted itself and turned about, apparently too bent on revenge to bother with anyone else for the moment. It slashed its long claws into Screech Tails, doing some heavy damage. In return, Screech Tails fearlessly bit down on the dragon’s arm, latching on with its fangs. This only seemed to tick the dragon off, though, and it bit and slashed at Screech Tails with its other arm, wrestling in the air above you and Nemona. Your friend called,

“Now’s probably our best chance, start throwing balls!”

Your Screech Tails fainted soon after she’d shouted it anyway; she chucked a pokeball and it drew the dragon inside. It released immediately and you started throwing balls as well. Eventually, one of your Dusk Balls captured it successfully. You picked up the ball, then turned to Nemona. With a little smile, you said,

“Well . . . looks like you got your Roaring Moon.”

Nemona grabbed you and answered gleefully,

“Not just a Roaring Moon, but a new Tera type too?! Let it out, we gotta see it in action!!”

You laughed,

“Okay, okay. I guess since we can’t explore further anyway, we might as well . . . um . . . uh . . . N-nemona?”

“What?”

You pointed wordlessly behind her. She turned to face the tunnel that had been previously blocked by the large, dense cluster of crystals. 

There was now no trace of the crystals.

“What??” She turned to you. “How–”

“I don’t know.”

She went to stand in the tunnel, looking around. 

“We’re not crazy, right? They were just here!”

You went to stand beside her.

“Yeah, they were. I dunno what to say.” 

It wasn’t like they had broken up during the course of the battle, either; there would have been shards all over if they had. It was like they’d just . . . vanished. You both scratched your heads a bit puzzling over it. Nemona guessed,

“Maybe it had to do with the Roaring Moon we fought? That’s the only thing I can think of. It did have that weird Tera type, so maybe it’s connected somehow?”

You shrugged.

“Honestly, in the absence of any other information, that seems as good an explanation as any. It’s the only thing that really changed since I last saw the crystals . . .”

Nemona hummed, nodding. Then she turned to you and said brightly,

“Well, let’s not look a gift Mudsdale in the mouth, we can keep going now!”

“You sure? I thought you wanted to check out our Roaring Moon.”

“I do! I’m so excited I could puke, but I also wanna keep exploring just as much. I mean, we don’t have endless time down here and we’re already this far in, right? It might be now or never.”

She had a good point; you weren’t even sure if you two could return again after today, if your transgressions were discovered somehow. 

You nodded.

“Ok. No getting side-tracked, let’s keep going until we no longer can.”

“All right! Let’s go, Hellcat.”

The tunnel took you down to another room that was more confined, with a much lower ceiling. The good news was there were several directions with additional tunnels in here. The bad news was they all seemed to be blocked by the same dense crystal formations. You and Nemona looked around for a while, frustrated to be met with more roadblocks so soon. There weren’t any wild pokemon lurking about, but you did eventually notice a small gap much higher up, towards the ceiling. 

“Hey what about up there?” you asked. Nemona looked to the corner you were pointing towards.

“Oh, hey, nice eye! Maybe there’s a way through.”

It took some climbing to scramble up there, but it was only the work of a few minutes. Well, for you and Nemona, anyway. Hellcat bounded up there in just a few clean leaps, taking mere seconds. You were jealous.

“Man, you ever wish you were a pokemon?” you asked, watching Hellcat venturing ahead of you. 

“Oh my god yes, like all the time!” Nemona answered immediately,

“Can you imagine battling as a pokemon?! That would be SO much fun.”

You chuckled. Of course that was the first thing she’d think of. The pair of you followed after Hellcat into the small gap, going deeper into the cave.

“What pokemon would you be if you could choose?” you asked her.

“I dunno, there’s too many to pick from! That’s like trying to decide my favorite type, I’ve never really been able to. Mmm, it’d be so cool to be a giant dragon with all that raw power, but what about something small and super agile that can shoot lightning? Or something that breathes fire? Or can punch a hole through a mountain! And that’s not even touching on all the cool abilities . . .”

“I think I’d wanna be something that can fly.”

“Flying, yeah!! Oh man, there’s just too many choices.”

The small tunnel you were following kept narrowing and snaking around. 

“Well maybe they’ll make a machine one day that lets us be a pokemon for a while.”

“Haha, if they do, I’ll be the first in line, I can promise you that!”

The tunnel finally fed into a room: as you entered, you found it was a cramped space with a low ceiling coated in a ton of tera crystal. The crystals occurred in big lumpy sections, covering the floors, walls and ceiling in seemingly random places. 

The most eye-catching thing about the room, however, was that the ground was absolutely covered in tera shards. 

Normally, whenever a Terastallized pokemon battles and their tera form is broken, it sheds a bunch of tiny pieces in the process. Usually those pieces are tiny and brittle, though, and people call those tera fragments. Tera shards, however, were the much rarer, higher-quality pieces that sometimes were dropped by pokemon. These pieces were of such high quality that if you collected enough of them, a Pokemon’s Tera typing could be changed with their power. That made them incredibly valuable. Finding them was very uncommon, though– normally it takes a lot of battling, although if you were lucky you’d occasionally just find them laying around.

This was most assuredly not a normal number of tera shards to just happen across, though. There had to be hundreds of pieces packed into the small space you were now standing in. What’s more, they were shards of almost every type; dragon, fire, psychic, bug, rock, poison, ice . . . the floor covered in an assortment of colors, shimmering like stardust.

“Uhhmmm . . .” you said, staring in disbelief at the cache. Hellcat was sniffing around curiously at the ground. Nemona’s eyes were as wide as saucers.

“Is this for real? Juliana, there’s . . . this . . . there’s hundreds of them . . .”

You reached down and picked up a handful of the precious gems as easy as grabbing a handful of sand. Something suddenly sprung into your memory from your classes from months back, when you’d first arrived. “Remember the rumors that there was treasure hidden in Area Zero?”

Nemona laughed. She still sounded in shock.

“I never imagined they were true. We could change the Tera type of any of our pokemon with all this! Multiple times over!”

That sounded pretty good to you; there were a few ideas you wanted to experiment with in terms of the tera typings on your team. You pulled the bag off your back and zipped it open.

“Guess we better start collecting, then!”

You both started to stuff tera shards into your backpacks like hungry Sableye grabbing fistfuls of treasure. Before long your bags were laden heavy with them.

“I’m actually starting to feel kinda bad about this. I don’t think we should take them all . . .” Nemona said, looking down into her backpack. Your backpack was much larger than hers, but even yours would soon reach its limit.

“I don’t think we can take it all, anyway. But I don’t see a reason to feel bad, I mean, it’ll just sit down here in the dark if we don’t take them, right? Might as well put them to use.”

“I guess . . .”

You headed over to another part of the small room that had an especially large pile of Steel shards and began to shovel them into your bag.

“I can’t help wondering if there’s a reason they’re here, though. It’s almost like they were put here on purpose? There’s so many of them,” Nemona said, still sounding reluctant. You answered,

“Maybe. But if somebody put them down here, it was probably a really long time ago. Area Zero’s been off-limits to most people for ages now.”

You were digging deep into the pile of steel shards, and were uncovering what looked like some shimmery rainbow shards beneath it. Ooh, you’d never seen shards like that before? From behind you, Nemona said,

“Yeah . . . but it’s also possible whoever put these here weren’t human . . .”

When you tried to grab the rainbow tera shards, you realized the shape didn’t feel right– and then they moved in a sudden jerk, and there were a pair of eyes staring back at you. You yelped, falling backwards as a brilliant flash filled the room. Nemona commanded,

“Hellcat, in front, quick!”

The large tiger leapt in front of you, snarling as the bright rays of light struck it in the chest, the air sparkling with tera energy from the attack. Nemona was at your side a second later, helping to pull you to your feet.

“Jules, are you okay?!”

You nodded quickly, looking back at what attacked you.

“What was that?”

Beneath the pile of tera shards, the glittering figure of a Terastallized pokemon appeared, pieces of shards falling aside as it stood on all fours and shook itself off. Its body was small and slender and very catlike: it seemed to be short-haired, but it had jagged, star-shaped tufts of fur on the tips of its large ears, by each of its paws, the tip of its tail, on its cheeks and at a small ruff of fur around its neck. Its almond-shaped eyes were bright like polished opal, and it had a small spiral horn at the center of its forehead. It was crowned with the same Tera Jewel as the Roaring Moon had been, decorated in a rainbow of colors.

Hellcat looked eager to attack, growling at the pokemon and bearing its long fangs, but Nemona held up a hand, saying,

“Just a second, Hellcat, let’s take a look at it first. Whoa . . .”

The wild pokemon blinked its eyes, a soft, ethereal light glowing gently around it. You didn’t recognize the move, but at least it seemed to be fairly passive. 

“Nemona, am I crazy or does this pokemon look like–”

“--an Eeveelution?” “Y-yeah!”

“Yeah, no, you’re not crazy, it looks exactly like one.”

“Oh my god.”

She nodded, grinning.

“My thoughts exactly. Okay, Hellcat–”

You touched her wrist, saying,

“Wait!”

“Hm? What?”

You looked back at the pokemon, which was simply standing there, its piercing gaze watching the three of you closely as its tail swished back and forth. 

“It seems pretty peaceful. I think I just startled it, when I thought its ear was a tera shard and I tried to grab it.”

Nemona turned to you and answered,

“Well yeah but you still wanna catch it, don’t you??”

You nodded,

“Yeah, of course, I just. I dunno, for some reason I feel kinda bad. We came into its home and robbed it, woke it up and now we’re gonna battle it?”

Nemona blinked at you for a few moments and you felt silly for even saying it until she answered,

“Well when you put it like that, I feel a little bad too . . .”

You looked at your backpack, slumped on the ground and spilling out treasure.

“I guess we could try to leave it be . . . give it back its tera shards?”

The thought clearly seemed to pain Nemona– mostly the idea of not catching the new pokemon, you imagined– but after a few moments she smiled a little and nodded.

“Okay.”

She turned and called out to the pokemon.

“Sorry for disturbing you. We, um, we didn’t know this was your home. We’ll go if you want us to . . .”

The pokemon stared at her, motionless. You went to cautiously pick up your bag, backing away.

“Yeah, and we’ll give you the shards back if you–”

The pokemon jerked, turning to you and giving a cry. It sounded very high-pitched and rhythmic, like glass wind-chimes, but it didn’t sound happy. You looked down at the bag in your hands and stammered,

“N-no, wait, I’m going to give them back, I was just–”

“Jules, look out!”

Colored little balls of light began to fill the air above the wild pokemon. They looked quite beautiful, actually, but you knew better than to be fooled. You scrambled to get out of the way as fast as possible. Nemona yelled,

“Hellcat, quick, Dire Claw!”

Hellcat sprung forward, raking its claws across the mysterious Eeveelution. The colored balls of light started to rain down on Hellcat in quick streaks, like shooting stars, each strike sparkling with tera energy as it landed. The accumulated damage was incredible, the tiger swaying weakly on its paws by the end of the onslaught. 

“Holy crap. This thing’s no joke!” Nemona said, eyes wide. 

The Eeveelution cried out again, a vengeful little melody. It looked at you and Nemona, its eyes shining like diamonds, power gathering around its body from all around in a big, glittering swirl. 

It looked like it was preparing to Tera Blast.

“Oh my god. Hellcat, I need you to Thorn Fang! Now!”

Hellcat was weary but still obeyed immediately, leaping forward and biting down. The wild pokemon screamed and staggered back and there was a loud crash, fragments of tera crystal exploding in the little room as its Terastallization was broken. It seemed the wild pokemon had been stunned, interrupting its attack. You breathed,

“Geez, that was close.”

“Great job, Hellcat!” Nemona quickly turned to you, asking,

“You still want to leave it be, or should we go ahead and catch it?”

You looked back to the pokemon briefly.  It looked very weak and vulnerable, and you could see poison seeping out from the wounds marring its shimmering rainbow fur. It was clear that at this point, it was much better to take it with you than to leave. 

“Catch it,” you answered. You didn’t need to tell Nemona twice; she whipped out her pokeballs and immediately started throwing. After around six attempts, the ball clicked shut, and the little room you were in fell eerily silent.

You both stared for a few beats. Then Nemona went and retrieved the ball before turning to you. She held a hand over her mouth and made a muffled, excited little squeal.

“Did that really just happen? This is getting so unreal, I swear.”

“Penny’s gonna be so jealous.”

“I know! Man, I’m glad we interrupted that Tera Blast though, that probably would have been very bad in this confined space.”

You choked on a laugh.

“Yeah, we might not have been around to enjoy this.”

Nemona carried on blithely,

“And that move it used, with the colorful lights! I had no idea what it was, but wow it packed a punch. Whatever pokemon this is, it’s tough.”

You looked down at the pokeball in her hands.

“What do you think it is? An ancient version of Espeon, maybe? Or maybe Sylveon . . .”

Nemona shook her head.

“I really don’t know, it’s hard to say since it was Terastallized into that mysterious type! And it’s not like the moves it used can help us to figure it out. I saw it use Swift, Cosmic Power, and that unknown move of course. And then Tera Blast! Which . . . honestly, I thought no wild pokemon could know. I thought Sada developed the move herself.”

You gave a thoughtful hum.

“That’s a good point . . . that is weird. But I guess maybe tera energy came from a long time ago, and so these ancient pokemon know how to wield its power? She might have developed the move from them.”

“True, that would make sense! Although it doesn’t help us narrow down what this Eeveelution is.”

“Mmm, yeah. Well, I guess it doesn’t have to be an ancient version of something we already know. It could be a brand-new evolution, too. Like a Rock-type Eeveelution, maybe!”

Nemona’s eyes widened as idea struck her and she said,

“Or, or! What if it’s an evolution of whatever this new mysterious type is?? So its actual type matches its tera typing. This new tera type is all rainbow colored and stuff, right? That matches this pokemon pretty well . . .”

Your eyes widened too.

“Oh my god, yeah, that might actually be it, Nemona!”

“Heheh, right? Wouldn’t that be cool?”

You gestured at the space around you, saying,

“Well let it back out, maybe we can figure out more–”

She held up a hand, interrupting.

“Ah-ah, Juliana! Remember what we said earlier?”

You blinked, thrown off for a moment before recalling.

“. . . oh, yeah. Um, no more getting side-tracked?”

“Yeah, c’mon Jules, you know you’re like 85% of my impulse control, you can’t tempt me like that–”

You laughed,

“Okay, okay. You’re right, we shouldn’t get distracted now or we’ll never get any further.”

Nemona nodded.

“Right, and things just keep getting cooler and cooler. I wanna see how deep this rabbit hole goes.”

You grinned.

“Let’s back out of this part of the cave, then. If our theories are right about those weird crystal roadblocks, maybe a new way’s opened up out there.”

“Okay! Hellcat–”

She turned and saw Hellcat was laying on the floor, looking completely exhausted. The tiger gave a pitiful little chirp when Nemona said its name. Nemona’s eyes widened and she held a hand to her mouth.

“Ohmygosh, I’m so sorry Hellcat! I completely forgot– ugh, here, let’s get you fixed up!”

She pulled a potion from her bag and went to tend to the tiger’s wounds. Hellcat clearly wasn’t a fan of being potioned since it apparently stung.

“Come on, now, I know it’s smarts, but if you hold still it won’t take me very long . . .”

She sprayed again and the tiger snarled, bearing its huge fangs at her in a threat.

“Don’t you take that tone with me, buster! Sit down. Now.”

Hellcat backed away and sat, making a miserable grumble. She continued to gently spritz potion on the pokemon.

“Easy now, okay. We’re almost done, I promise.”

When Nemona finished, she gave Hellcat plenty of berries and praised it.

“There you go, that’s such a good kitty! These are your favorite kind, right? You like the bitter ones. You did such a good job, thank you for all your help.”

After the treats and the praise– and the potion working its magic– Hellcat seemed much happier, perking right up. 

“Oh here, let’s get you a couple Leppa berries too, okay? Guess if we keep coming down here to battle and we’re keeping you a secret, we’ll be needing a lot more Leppa berries, hah. Here you go.”

Hellcat snapped the berries out of midair when Nemona tossed them. 

“Sorry again for forgetting you for a minute there. I, um, I kinda get distracted sometimes.”

You spoke up,

“To be fair, so did I. I think most people would be, this is some pretty exciting stuff.”

She glanced to you. 

“Mmm, still. . .”

Hellcat bumped its head against Nemona’s leg and rubbed against it, making a small rumble, before walking off and wandering back out into the connecting tunnel. Nemona stared wide-eyed after the tiger. 

“Did they just . . .”

You giggled.

“I think they forgive you.”

Nemona bounded up to you and cheered,

“They like me!! They actually like me!!”

 “Of course they like you, you’re amazing.”

She laughed, looking a bit shy at how readily you praised her. She glanced away and said,

“Um, let’s finish getting these tera shards, we might as well since we have the pokemon now!”

So the two of you finished filling your bags with tera shards, to the point where you had plenty but weren’t weighed down an excessive amount. Then you headed out of the secret little treasure cache room. Once you’d climbed back down to the main portion of cave where Hellcat awaited, you found that one of the paths was indeed now unblocked. 

“We were right! Yessss, let’s go!”

Nemona grabbed your hand and rushed ahead with you. You laughed, Hellcat chasing after you both. When you entered the new tunnel, you found it sloped gently downwards as you traveled. There was the sound of rushing water from somewhere, and the air felt noticeably damper.

Your voice echoing in the damp, cold space, you said,

“Oh, hey, I can hear water?”

You both slowed your steps so you wouldn’t trip on the slightly wet ground.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time since we have. Guess all that water’s gotta go somewhere though, right?”

You nodded. After walking for a while, you commented,

“We really just keep going deeper, don’t we? All these tunnels have been going steadily downward.”

“Mmhmm. They keep getting more and more crystally, too, I noticed.”

You glanced around, noting just how much of the walls and ceiling were coated in tera crystal now. 

“Yeah, you’re right. Plus, I dunno if this is just my imagination, but I feel like even the air is . . . more shimmery down here?”

It was the same sort of gleam that the air on the surface of Area Zero had, but it seemed thicker here, like a dense cloud of dust motes suspended in a sunbeam. Nemona agreed,

“Yeah . . . I wonder where all this stuff comes from, anyway.”

You both fell quiet for a bit, pondering the mysterious origins of the tera crystals and energy. But before your idle thoughts could formulate into anything particularly solid, the tunnel had led you to a space that opened up again to a huge ceiling and a large drop. The path led into a continuous curve heading downwards, like a massive spiral staircase. From somewhere above you, water leaked out from the ceiling, forming a waterfall that dropped down the center of the room.

“Whoa,” you said, peeking over the edge of the path. You could see the waterfall crashing into a pool of water far below. The glow of all the tera crystals reflected in the water, bouncing and shimmering, casting all kinds of mesmerizing little rainbow flecks on the cave walls.

“Forget the Ten Sights of Paldea, they don’t even come close to this,” Nemona mused. 

You both began to descend the spiral path, but the floor was uneven and slippery from the damp air and so you had to be very careful. There was a portion where the stone had fallen away entirely, but a big chunk of tera crystal had fallen across the gap, acting as a precarious bridge. This was by far the most unnerving section, especially since it was too narrow to comfortably walk side-by-side holding hands. There was a pool of water below you, of course, but you couldn’t actually tell how deep it was, so there was no way knowing if it was safe to fall into. Hellcat took the bridge first, and then Nemona, and finally you, each step careful and measured on the slippery crystal. After that point, the path was comparatively easy, and you worked your way down until finally reaching the bottom.

From down here, you could see the waterfall was crashing into an elevated portion of ground, and the water was relatively shallow and rocky. In fact, you could walk along some parts of the ground until you were practically right beneath the waterfall. The elevated ground continued on for some ways like this, but you could see the water was running off into a deeper pool a bit further ahead. You both worked your way over to stand as close to the waterfall as possible, looking upwards into the room you just descended from. 

“Too bad we can’t dive from the top up there,” Nemona joked. You snorted.

“I’m okay with not jumping that.”

Nemona reached her hand out and through the waterfall.

“This is incredible, though, Jules, it’s like some kind of fairy tale down here or something.”

“I know. I wonder if Sada’s ever been down this far. Or anyone, for that matter.”

Hellcat was not as impressed with the splendor laid out before you. The tiger was sitting on the highest portion of the damp rocks, looking displeased with all of the water and licking its paw. It made a little ‘hrrumph’ sound.

Nemona shook her head.

“You’re gonna have to face your fears sooner or later, Hellcat.”

The tiger glanced at her briefly, then returned to licking its paw, ignoring her. Nemona shrugged.

“Have it your way. You can hang out here while Jules and I check ahead.”

The pair of you walked as far as you could on the raised ground, sometimes hopping over rocks as stepping stones where the water was deeper, until you came across another tunnel. It led into a portion of cave with a very low ceiling and tera crystal formations that were growing wildly out of control, incredibly thick layers built up on the walls and ceiling– way more than you’d seen anywhere else. At its center seemed to be another tunnel entrance, but it was blocked by another one of the crystal roadblocks.

“Wow. The crystals are getting a little intense here, aren’t they?” Nemona said, touching the walls covered in the dense layers of pearlescent sheen.

“I’ll say. I wish it wasn’t blocked off, though. I feel like it must look really cool in there.”

“Well, maybe we can find another one of those weird Terastallized pokemon! I bet there’s one around here somewhere.”

You chuckled,

“Your hunches have all turned out correct so far, so I have no reason to doubt it. Let’s keep looking.”

Nemona seemed to love the prospect of finding yet another new pokemon.

“All right, sounds like a plan! Ooh, plus we can learn more about this mysterious new type at the same time. Hm, we need to give it a name, we can’t just keep calling it ‘the weird type,’ huh?”

You suggested,

“Maybe ‘Rainbow Type?’”

She beamed,

“Oh yeah, I love that! Or maybe ‘Light’? Since rainbows are made of light. I mean, we have Dark types, it would be so cool if there were Light types too, maybe Light would be supereffective on Dark? Oh, but that reminds me–”

She stopped walking and turned to you, excited by her new train of thought.

“The Terastallized pokemon have been confusing me. That Roaring Moon used a move that used tera energy– you can always tell when a move does ‘cause you can see the air swirling with the tera energy, you know?–  I wasn’t sure what move it was though, so I thought it must be this new type, Light or Rainbow or whatever, right?”

You nodded. Nemona continued,

“But I swear when it used the move a second time, it wasn’t powered up anymore. And then that Eeveelution used Swift and it looked like the move used tera energy, too, which is like, what the heck?! Then it used that mysterious move of course, which also used tera energy. So now I don’t get it! Does it get something similar to Pixilate? Or maybe I was just seeing things, I dunno. Did it look to you like that Swift was powered up with tera energy?”

You scratched your neck and answered sheepishly.

“Well, uhm, I was kinda busy panicking at the time, so I’m not sure . . .”

“Oh, right. Pshh, sorry, of course you wouldn’t have noticed. Well it’s fine, I’m sure we’ll find out more soon. Honestly I’m so excited to face an unknown type, part of me doesn’t wanna figure it out too fast.” She laughed and added, “Is that weird?”

You thought about it and shook your head.

“Not at all. When I was exploring Paldea, every time I came across a new pokemon I loved trying to figure out what it was all about.”

You’d been ambling along the tunnel at a leisurely pace while chatting, not really in any hurry. Nemona clasped your shoulder and grinned, saying,

“Exactly, it’s like that! You don’t really want it to end, do you? I was thinking, before we battle later with our new pokemon, we should make sure to train far away from each other. That way we’ll know as little as possible about each other’s teams and there’s more surprises.”

“Sure. I like surprises.”

Her shoes splashing through the shallow water, Nemona enthused at you,

“Yeah, me too! I can’t wait to–”

A sudden, sharp cry caused the both of you to stop in your tracks and look up. Just ahead of you was a Terastallized pokemon, its colors and jewel immediately demarking it as the new Rainbow type. It stood on two legs and appeared to be some sort of raptorial dinosaur, although its slender body was covered in feathers, which included a feathery crest on its head, furls of feathers on its arms, and a long train of feathers on its tail. The pokemon stood quite tall, looking down at you and Nemona over a narrow snout with its pinched eyes and an expression that left you feeling as though it was regarding you with disdain.

You and Nemona exchanged a brief look.

“Speaking of surprises,” you said quietly. Nemona turned back to the pokemon and gushed,

“This is so cool, we’ve had the best luck with finding awesome stuff down here!”

The pokemon lowered its head a little, lips curling back to reveal sharp, needle-like teeth. A cry vibrated in its throat, rhythmic and strange-sounding, almost like a sound an exotic bird might make. Nemona was standing a little closer to the pokemon than you were, and you didn’t like the way it was looking at her at all. You muttered,

“Nemona, careful.”

“Of course. Hmm, what should I use . . . oh, I know–”

She reached to her belt to select a pokeball, but the raptor’s eyes followed the sudden movement and it reacted instantly by unfurling its massive tail.

The sight was breathtaking, dozens and dozens of long, elegant feathers creating a collective shape like a huge blooming flower or a setting sun, each feather tipped in round spots that shimmered with a brilliant, ever-shifting light; the effect was only heightened by its rainbow Terastallization. The pokemon’s tail shivered, causing the feathers to sway and bob in a very hypnotic way. In fact, the more you stared, the stranger you felt; your head grew heavy and you started to feel a sense of vertigo creeping in. 

Uh-oh.

“Nemona!”

Nemona was staring at the pokemon’s tail as well, transfixed, her hand still frozen in place from when she’d been reaching for her pokeballs. 

“Nemona, don’t look at it, I think it’s–”

“–too late, I, nghhh– I can’t– move,” she said through grit teeth, her body quivering with the effort, her fingers unable to even curl around her pokeball. You also tried to move and gasped, your limbs suddenly feeling as though they were as heavy as lead. 

“No, no! Fight it, Nemona, one of us has to send a pokemon out!”

She grunted,

“I’m trying!”

You were trying too, but the mere act of lifting your arm was overwhelmingly difficult. You could flex your fingers but that just wasn’t enough, because you had your pokeballs all in your pockets. You slid your hands up a few inches and couldn’t get any further– it was like your body just refused to listen. It was terrifying, and you wondered if this was how pokemon felt whenever they got paralyzed.

The raptor pokemon took a few slow steps forward, its tail swaying as it moved, its eyes locked on Nemona. Power began to gather around the pokemon’s body, its tail glowing with a warm pink light. From the color you guessed it was charging a Psychic move. 

“Stay away from her!” you screamed, your voice high-pitched in your panic. The pokemon didn’t listen, its tail glowing brighter and brighter, its power rapidly reaching its peak. Nemona was staring at the oncoming move with the expression of someone who realized they’d really screwed up.

You battled hopelessly against your numbed body, your head spinning as you cried,

“Nemona!”

Just as the air began to ripple with the strange energy of a psychic move, there was a shrill, furious scream and the advancing pokemon crumpled under the weight of the tiger from hell leaping onto its back. The pair crashed to the ground, Hellcat clinging to the raptor with its claws and trying to bite it, but ended up getting a mouthful of tail feathers instead. The two grappled desperately for a few moments and somehow the lithe dinosaur was able to slip away from Hellcat’s grasp, although bunches of feathers were left behind in the tiger’s claws. The raptor righted itself and turned to face its foe, flashing its mesmerizing tail feathers in Hellcat’s face.

Nemona shouted,

“Hellcat, be careful, don’t look!”

Hellcat was crouched, ready to leap and pounce, but its pupils widened and it snarled, struggling to move. 

“Damnit,” Nemona cursed quietly. The raptor opened its slender mouth and let loose an enormous blast of water right into Hellcat, the force of the hit pushing the tiger back and crashing it into the wall. The air whirled with mist and glittering tera energy in the wake of the move. Nemona yelled,

“Hellcat! What the heck, now Hydro Pump gets powered up too?! This makes no sense!”

In your efforts to better see the pair of battling pokemon, you realized you were starting to get movement back in your limbs– they prickled with a painful pins-and-needles sensation but you could actually drag them along slowly.

“Nemo, I think I can move again, sort of!”

Nemona answered quickly.

“Perfect! See if you can get into my bag, the side-pouch on the left side.”

You were confused why that was a priority but you trusted her, so you inched along the ground until you reached Nemona’s back. 

“Left side?”

“Yeah, there should be a yellow bottle!”

You lifted your arms slowly. A bit further ahead in the tunnel, you could see the raptor was skulking its way back up to Hellcat. Hellcat hissed. You grasped the zip of Nemona’s pack and dragged it open, fumbling about for a bit before pulling the bottle from her bag.

“That’s it, that’s it! It’s a Paralyze Heal, squirt it on yourself! Then you’ll be able to use some on me.”

“Right, okay!”

You pointed the nozzle at yourself and struggled with squeezing the handle, which they made way more difficult to use than they needed to. You could hear another blast of highly pressurized water and glanced up, seeing Hellcat snarling in pain.

“Hurry, Jules!” Finally, the dumb bottle released its contents, dribbling the medicine on your hands, which immediately made it easier to use. You were able to douse yourself quickly after that, and it felt like magic, the numbness and pins-and-needles melting away, your muscles loosening up again. 

“I got it, I’ll do you now!”

You came around and used the rest of the bottle to spray Nemona all over.

“Great, perfect! More on my legs, they’re still rubbery!” You heard a vicious cry and briefly turned to see Hellcat lashing out, raking the raptor across the face with its toxic claws– then you turned back to finish dousing Nemona with the potion.

“Okay, great job Jules! Let’s go help Hellcat!”

You both approached the pair of pokemon further down the tunnel. The raptor had recovered from Hellcat’s attack and was glowing hot-pink again, preparing another move. Nemona fished around in her bag and pulled out another Paralyze Heal.

“Crap, we’re kind of on the wrong side of the battlefield here,” she realized. The raptor’s back was turned to you both, Hellcat on the other side.

You reached for your pokeballs.

“We can double team this jerk,” you suggested. The raptor finally released a ball of energy, but instead of hitting Hellcat, the energy drifted upwards into the air before simply vanishing away. It was very odd, but you didn’t have time to ponder it, because the next thing you knew, Hellcat sprang forward, sinking its fangs into the dinosaur’s neck.

The Terastallization shattered, coating the ground in little rainbow fragments. The wild pokemon staggered backwards, groaning. 

“Or, um, nevermind, looks like Hellcat has it covered,” you laughed. 

“Great work, Hellcat! We’ll take it from here,” Nemona shouted, chucking a pokeball at the raptor. The ball missed, bouncing off a rock instead. Nemona’s eyes widened and she looked embarrassed.

“Uh, hm, whoops– I haven’t bungled a throw like that for a while . . .”

You looked at how she was holding her braced arm and said,

“I don’t think I potioned you enough, it might be the lingering effects of paralysis. Don’t worry, I’ll get this one.”

She nodded,

“Right, thanks Jules!”

A few Dusk Balls later, and the raptor was safely contained in your pocket. Nemona quickly went to Hellcat once the coast was clear. The tiger was limping from the paralysis and drenched from the Hydro Pumps, looking quite pathetic, but it still allowed Nemona to crouch down and douse it with a Paralyze Heal.

“There you go, this should help. You did so good, Hellcat! You really saved my skin, thank you so much!”

When she’d finished with the potion, Hellcat could move freely again. It shook water from its body vigorously, then butted its head affectionately against Nemona’s. The tiger wasn’t quite aware of its own strength and had bonked Nemona hard enough for her to land on her butt with an “oof,” but she didn’t seem to mind in the least; in fact, she seemed over the moon.

“You’re such a good kitty, you faced all that water and battled through the paralysis just for us,” she said, petting the oversized cat behind the ears. You could hear a deep rumble and at first you worried Hellcat was growling, but then you realized it was purring. 

“Jules, do you hear that?” Nemona whispered, eyes wide with wonder and joy. You nodded.

“I guess it took almost dying for them to realize they like you,” you teased. 

“Oh pssh, we didn’t almost die, it was just–”

She paused when there was a strange crackling noise. You both looked up to see a sphere of pink energy materializing out of nowhere in the air above your heads. Nemona’s eyes widened.

“Crap– Hellcat, MOVE!”

You didn’t know what was going on, but Nemona was sitting on the ground and there was clearly very little time, so you lurched forward and helped yank her to her feet and scramble out of the path of the oncoming orb of energy. Hellcat leapt aside as well, and the orb smashed into the ground, a wave of pink tera energy swirling and sizzling before dissipating, leaving behind a sizable impact crater.

You just stared at the crater for a few seconds, blinking. Nemona let out a sigh. At your confused look, she said,

“Future Sight. Forgot about that, haha . . .”

“Oh,” you said, once it had sunk in,

“Isn’t that a base 120 power move?”

Nemona nodded. You added,

“And uhm, it seemed powered up with tera energy . . .”

She laughed weakly.

“Apparently.”

You looked at Nemona again, your expression one of great dismay.

“Nemona, I think that maybe counts as almost dying!”

“Well it does now. Maybe she should, um, take a quick breather.”

You nodded.

“Yeah, good idea.”

The pair of you walked back to the chamber with the really intense crystal growth to check and see if the way was now clear for travel. However, oddly enough, the crystal roadblock had not budged. It didn’t make much sense, since you’d captured the Rainbow Tera pokemon in the area. You both took the opportunity to rest for a bit, though, sitting on a crystal and snacking on trail mix. You helped apply more Paralyze Heal to Nemona and Hellcat groomed itself so that its fur was all fixed up from its last encounter.

After your rest, you walked back to the section of cave with the big waterfall, searching for any more pokemon along the way. There were a few Carbink and Glimmora drifting around, but no other Rainbow Teras in sight. 

“I’m not sure where else to look. It’s so weird that the one we captured didn’t do it,” you mused, sitting by the waterfall and watching the Carbink floating around. Nemona peered further into the cave and suggested,

“Well, how about we explore this river? It looks like it goes for quite a ways back there, we might find something.”

You stood and came beside her, looking into the water.

“Worth a try. Looks like it goes pretty deep, I’ll get us some help.”

You pulled a pokeball from your pocket, sending Koraidon out. The big lizard looked excited to be let loose again, trilling happily and stomping through puddles, sniffing around. 

“Okay, Scarlet, you ready to go for a swim?”

He immediately turned and ran up to you, eager. You patted him and then hopped aboard, followed by Nemona, who settled onto Koraidon’s flat back right behind you. 

“I doubt Hellcat’s as excited for a swim as Scarlet is, so I think it’s time they rested in their ball for a bit,” Nemona said, pulling out a pokeball and recalling the tiger.

“Probably a good idea. You all set, then?” you asked.

“Yup!”

“Okay then, let’s go, Scarlet!”

Koraidon waded out into the still waters. The water got deeper very quickly, so the pokemon switched to a dog paddle. It was impossible to tell exactly how far the underground river continued on; when you gazed ahead through the narrow channel, the view was eventually obscured in the dimness of the cavern. You felt a little thrill over venturing into the unknown, despite the fact you’d been doing it for a while now; maybe it was the sort of thing that just never got old. As Scarlet carried you both onward through the waterlogged tunnel, the ceiling grew lower and lower, until it was barely higher than your heads. The number of crystals in the cave walls and ceiling also decreased, so there were far fewer gems to throw out their light– as a result, it became much darker. Most of the light came from the tera crystals growing under water, casting a soft, ethereal glow to the cave around you that was more diffused and mysterious than the usual glow from the rest of the cave. You told Koraidon to slow down, moving through the narrow, dark tunnel at a leisurely pace. For a while, there was only the sound of water dripping from the ceiling and the gentle, soothing paddle of Koraidon’s feet through the water. 

“It’s so pretty here,” you said softly, gazing around at how the water cast rippling shades of green and blue onto the walls. It reminded you a little of photographs you’d seen of the aurora borealis. Nemona agreed,

“I know. It feels so magical and secluded through this part, doesn’t it?”

“Mm-hmm, exactly.” 

You breathed the damp air deeply, just enjoying how peaceful it felt to drift through the tunnel. The slowly shifting colors of the water were almost hypnotic to watch. You relaxed in your seat, letting yourself lean back a little against Nemona. She didn’t seem to mind at all, wrapping her arms around you in response, in a way she sometimes did when you were both racing on Koriadon’s back together. You secretly reveled in the feeling whenever she did it, probably far more than she realized.

Nemona giggled,

“I just thought of what this reminds me of, it’s kinda like one of those Tunnel of Love rides, right? Like the ones at the fairs.”

You froze perfectly still, the heat rising to your cheeks. Why’d she say that at this exact moment?

“U-uh . . . y-yeah,” you said, trying to fake a laugh, but it came out sounding more like a squawk. Nemona seemed to sense your unease.

“Oh, sorry if that was weird, it just popped into my head . . .”

You forced your voice to sound more normal and quickly answered,

“N-no, it’s not weird, I-I mean you’re right, they are kinda similar!”

It came out a little more forcefully than normal. Damnit, over-compensated. Lucky for you, Nemona didn’t pick up on it. Instead she just said,

“Yeah! Although I’d say this place is way prettier. Feels more special, too.”

You cleared your throat and agreed,

“Definitely.”

Koraidon slowly followed the bend in the tunnel, curving around a large crystal growing out of the water that had managed to reach the surface and grow beyond it. There was something brighter you could see up ahead, and you both subconsciously leaned forward, curious. Koraidon carried you until the narrow tunnel fed you into a room that opened up wide, your view suddenly expanding to a dazzling underground lake filled with long, sloping tera crystals framing the cave walls. At the center of the lake was a small island, dominated by a single, lonely oak tree. 

The tree was completely encased in tera crystal, everything from its trunk to its branches to every one of its leaves– all of it translucent-blue, a rainbow of colors reflecting along all of its smooth surfaces. It looked frozen in time, a silent witness to bygone eras. 

“Oh my gosh,” Nemona murmured from behind you. Koraidon paddled slowly out to the center of the lake, affording you a great view of the entire area. It was almost impossible to tell which crystals were growing beneath the perfectly clear, still waters and which were reflected from the ones growing on the ceiling above. It was an incredible feeling, just being in this place and taking it all in, perhaps the first living creatures to be here in eons. Your skin prickled in goosebumps at the thought.

You felt Nemona’s arms squeeze gently around you, and her voice came in a gentle hush in your ears.

“I’m so glad we slowed down to enjoy this, tesoro.”

Your goosebumps spread further, but now for different reasons.

“Me too,” you answered her softly. Nemona’s chin came to rest against the top of your head, her body pressed entirely against your back, and as you floated together in that sparkling cavern, you thought perhaps this was the best moment you’ve had in life for a while now.

Neither of you saw the triangular dorsal fin sticking up out of the surface of the water, silently slicing through the smooth, still waters. Even Koraidon didn’t notice, not until it was too late.When the calm waters were torn asunder with an ear-splitting roar, you and Nemona tossed violently from Koraidon’s back, the only thing you could think was Are you kidding me, NOT AGAIN–!

[lilareviewsbooks]

March Reading Wrap Up!

Hi guys! Long time no see on the monthly review side... But since I'm reading less (school, boooo), I think I have time to do some of these more often!

Also, as an aside: audiobooks rock. Thank you audiobooks. Without you, I wouldn't have finished a single one of these books!! God bless!!

The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addision -- 5 stars!

So, this was a reread for me... And yes, it is the third time I read it... But listen... Sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Honestly, I don't think any other story in the world does what The Goblin Emperor does to me! This hopeful, heartwarming book about the neglected half-goblin son of an elvish royal family who unexpectedly becomes emperor is a real treat. The writing is flowy and emotional, having a little bit of an old-timey feel, but without over-dramatizing anything. The characters are excellent and they flow off the page! I think everyone here is fleshed out enough for a whole 6-book spin off series (cough cough Csevet!!).

This is a beloved standalone for a reason, and I'm more excited than ever for the release of the third book in its sister series, The Cemeteries of Amalo. I think I could reread this a thousand times and I would still want to read it again. In fact, my school library recently got a copy (yes, because of me), and lowkey... Would it be so bad if...

You can check out my in-depth review of my first read through of this book here.

[ARC] Murder By Memory, by Olivia Waite -- 3.25 stars

OUT NOW!

Super thankful for Tor for this eArc! I had read Olivia Waite for my Queer Bridgerton post last Summer, and her work was my favorite part of that project, for sure! I was happy to return to her flowy, cozy writing style, this time with a new twist.

This is a sci-fi set in a far-future spaceship where humans have achieved a strange type of immortality, by backing up their memories and uploading them into new bodies. This novella follows Dorothy, the ship's equivalent of a detective, when she's unexpectedly brought back to life, in a body she doesn't recognize, and smack in the middle of a murder case!

This was fun! It is definitely what it's pitched as -- a cozy mystery with a Becky Chambers twist. The writing style and the characters are very enjoyable, and I love the worldbuilding. But, as I often feel with mystery novellas, I think I needed some more time with this case. It goes by quickly and the resolution comes in too abruptly. But the ending seems to point to a sequel, which I would not be opposed to!

Also props to Olivia Waite for inserting some fiber arts in here. I see you doing it in all your books and I respect the hustle.

[ARC] Volatile Memory, by Seth Haddon -- 4 stars

Out on July 22nd!

Thank you once more to Tor for this eArc! Volatile Memory is a debut novella with an incredible premise and worldbuilding that delivers on it. In a sci-fi, spaceship-ridden world of scavengers with animal-like masks, Wylla is a trans woman surviving in a transphobic world. But when she ends up finding an unprecedented sentient mask, her life is turned upside down.

This is a super tense, yet hearfelt weird novella -- which I think you all know is my favorite genre! For fans of odd speculative fiction, with a cool narrative framework and mind-stretching world building, this is perfect. And if you like slightly toxic but mostly sweet, they're-in-a-weird-situation, alla Locked Tomb, Baru Cormorant, sapphic couples... Man, are you in for a treat!

My only issue was again: the ending. I just thought it was a tad too rushed, but I do think I'm quite picky on beginnings and endings, especially in novellas. But the narration, worldbuilding and premise here are so good, that it more than makes up for it. Overall, a fantastic debut at Tor, and I can't wait to see what Haddon does next!

The Witchwood Knot, by Olivia Atwater -- 5 stars!

Oh, Olivia Atwater... My old friend... I also read her work for the Queer Bridgerton Project, but ended up just reading her straight stuff lmao I actually ended up on The Witchwood Knot because I was reading her sapphic book, Longshadow, but I put it on pause... It just wasn't doing it for me. But I wanted to continue listening to her writing, so I ended up with The Witchwood Knot.

This is the first of Atwater's new series of interconnected standalones. Although they take place in the same universe as the Regency Faerie Tales interconnected standalones, it's totally possible to read it by itself. This one is about Winnie, who comes to a gothic manor in order to become the governess for an annoying lordling. But soon, she begins to notice a malevolent fae presence in the household...

I loved this! The narration is great, and it tackles themes of bodily autonomy, sexual assault, childhood trauma and poverty fairly well. I can defintely see an evolution from Atwater's earlier works, but she has maintained her charm and her spirited characters! I think it all works so well in this new, Victorian period, and I love that she has almost stepped back from the romance a little bit. In a weird way, it leaves more space for that relationship to shine, as we see a lot more from our two main characters than just their love for each other. I can't wait for the next books in the series, and I definitely recommend this one!

The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, by Malka Older -- 4 stars

I finally picked up this one -- this is the second book in Older's Holmesian sapphic sci-fi novellas! I enjoyed the first book a lot, especially the worldbuilding -- it takes place in a far-future human colony on Jupiter, where scholar Pleiti and detective Mossa are striking up their second-chance romance and solving crimes!

This went perfectly with Murder By Memory, as it's also a "cozy" mystery (though like, how cozy can murder/disappearances be?) set in space! But my favorite part by far was, as I mentioned, the worldbuilding and the development of Pleiti and Mossa's relationship! I think I wasn't as connected to them when I listened to the first audiobook, but I found myself giggling at their antics and rooting for them, this time! I love Pleiti in this installment, too -- she's getting so much more involved in the investigations, and I kinda love it for her.

I would recommend this if you want something episodic, but with a throughline of romance, and an unique setting! And if you like Murder By Memory then I would recommend trying this series out, as well (or vice-versa!).

The Legacy Of Yangchen, by F.C. Yee -- 3.5 stars

Also one I finally picked up -- the second book in the Avatar novels on Yangchen! I had to reread the first book, because I forget things sooo fast, and it was so worth it! I'm happy to have had the time to soak in all the information in the first installment, because this one is an emotional heavy-hitter and is the culminations of all the political tensions from book one.

I have to say, I love Yangchen and her co-POV, Kavik, though I've heard some complaints about them and their relationship. It worked really well for me, though! I think all the characters were pretty great, and I love the dialogue, -- this was the case in the Kyoshi books, as well!! -- it flows super well and works seamlessly on audio.

I love these books because of the way they expand the ATLA universe. This duology, specifically, was interesting, because it took us to a place of political intrigue that I don't think we'd ever been in before, in this universe. It was pretty cool in its own right! But as a die-hard ATLA fan, it's hard for me not to get super excited to see this world through new and interesting lights!! I'm pumped to get my hands on the new Roku book that came out recently!! Recommend, for sure :)

That's all for my month guys!! As always, thanks for your time, and see you!!

[satancopilotsmytardis]

I absolutely need to hear about this Dog Teeth sequel abt Hawks, I just gotta

Oh boy, I'm going to start this off with a trigger warning and the plot for the Dog Teeth sequel that never was will be under the cut! **Part 1, this got very long so the second half will be in a reblog under a new cut. 

TW: Non-consensual body modification, non-consensual drug use, torture, manipulation, imprisonment, self-mutilation, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat

So I had a vague idea of having Hawks trying find and save Dabi all on his own, knowing that the HPSC would only torture him more if they ever brought him in. After the call in Reflections, he also knew that he would have to capture Dabi and get him as far away from Shigaraki as possible immediately, or risk him getting even more hurt. 

Hawks keeps an eye and feather out and during one of the PLF attacks, he manages to get suppression cuffs on Dabi and snatches him off the battlefield. Which means he now has a very upset A-ranked villain with an insane amount of trauma that he has to deal with and cannot let anyone know he has. Accidentally making him the second person to imprison Dabi. 

He keeps the suppression cuffs on and tries his best to deprogram Dabi over the course of several months. He points out that Shigaraki clearly doesn't love him because he hasn't been seen in all that time, he hasn't shown up, no one seems to be looking for Dabi. This only makes Dabi worse as he starts to pick at his stables and scratch at his seams on his thighs to try and get his leg fucked up to punish himself for even being near Hawks the way Shigaraki told him he would. 

Things are very bad, Hawks' hero work is suffering, the few friends and connections he had before are being fully stripped away because he just can't maintain those relationships when he's dealing with Dabi, and he's falling even more into isolation. 

But Dabi starts to improve. It's slow going and strained, but it gets better. Hawks starts to fall in love. He knows that is absolutely insane and that is not what Dabi needs right now. So he tries to lock it up. But Dabi keeps reaching out to him, keeps seeming receptive. Knows that when Dabi kisses him he needs to tell him to stop, but Dabi has a whole breakdown where it seems like he finally understands what happened to him and Hawks thinks for one second that things are going to be better. 

He wakes up the following morning and finds blood in the bathroom sink, and no Dabi. He rushes out into his apartment and Dabi is in the kitchen, cooking. He looks happier than he's seen him and Hawks goes over to him, he even feels like he's got warmth and life under his skin again. Dabi says the blood was from a pulled staple, and gets Hawks to settle and eat. About two bites in, Dabi starts to pull away from him and recoil from any contact. Hawks is confused and tries to figure out what's wrong only to be suddenly dizzy and nauseous as hell. Sees Dabi slipping his cuffs, but he can't get his limbs or feather coordinated enough to do anything. Dabi sees he's still awake and goes over and pulls a flat, bloody vial that's about an inch long, from one of the drawers near the stove and forces the rest of the contents down Hawks' throat. 

The next time he wakes up he is in a room, strapped to an operating table. Dabi is waiting for him to wake up and as soon as he does he leaves the room without speaking. Comes back a moment later with Shigaraki, who is happy to explain that he wanted to make sure that the hero wouldn't cause problems for them any more. But he also knew, thanks to their own spies, the HPSC was keeping a close eye on him. Having Dabi go and isolate him for months means that Shigaraki now has time to work without anyone knowing he's gone. He tells Hawks that by the time he's finished, he'll be just as loyal as Dabi is. After all, he was the one who sought out the League, surely this is him getting exactly what he wants, as he takes hold of Hawks' wings and turns them into dust. 

[idontknowreallywhy]

🍄🤡💾

🍄 Describe your wip/one of your wips in the format of ____ + _____ = _______

“Small Enthusiastic Tracy + Uncle Virgil Getting Carried Away = Glitterpocalypse”  

💾 What is your document of your wip/ a wip called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

Hahaha “Final straight” - hilariously I titled it that when I thought the thing would be at least ten chapters less than it has turned out to be so I’ve been on that “Final Straight” since… um… May…

🤡 How many Wips are you actively working on?

Uhhhh *rubs back of neck* soooo it depends how you define “actively” but assuming we say it means I have at least half a plan for it and a decent chunk written (albeit not chronologically, let’s not kid ourselves here) … hmm lemme figure this out…

(Under the cut for rambling and links)

The big boys (2)

Resurface My Earth & Sky magnum opus (so so close to finishing this beastie now and I am so very proud of it)

Estera - my co-written mad sprawling razorfluff Scott-finds-a-friend-and-they-help-each-other-to-live universe… with parts for possibly two sequel fics which I may never use but I keep adding to them so… active… I’ll call it one WIP tho (at risk of @sofasurf locking me up because I keep trying to leap down plot rabbit holes). This one takes up a significant proportion of my brain in daily life, her back story, how that interweaves with Scott’s and their future story is vastly detailed now but will probably mostly not see the light of day. OC fics are never the best at getting engagement with people so I guess time would be better spent on others, maybe, but I’m inherently hopeless at writing the stuff I think I should be and so… yeah, I just love this story and how the two of them interact and the rest of the Tracys’ eyeview on it all (inc EOS, especially EOS) and I actually reread it a fair amount… your primary target audience is yourself, right?

Currently small but could easily get big:

Unnamed Wingman Ash story - so many notes and bits of prose and IDEAS. Constantly at the top of my “last updated” note files but other than posting some random snippets I haven’t actually worked out how to Start that one yet…

Octopus House - teeny adhd Scott at school

Red - the Alan & Havoc one

Shorter ones that should be easily finished off AND YET…

Play it Out - 3/4 just lacking that final chapter to fix what I broke

Sparkly cockroaches - a one-shot gift fic that I’ve been poking at for over a year 😏 whatever state it is in when I finally post it, it will not have been worth the wait but would be good to finish this at some point. Maybe before the second anniversary of the gift date 🙄

Fathers Day - 3/4 chapters done, 4th on its way slowly. Dad!Scott and the Tinies.

An Eyebrow-razing incident - 3/4 done, just gotta do the deed and raze those brows. Because I am a terrible, terrible human.

FishTanked-Up - 2/? I’ve got a morning-after chunk in draft but I have my doubts about them getting to the gallery. Also they might have accidentally adopted Juan… which could complicate things.

Music is Everything 4/? - my first ever TAG fic and although I haven’t made any progress on the finale in a while, I absolutely intend to finish it because it was my first. I might just have to rewrite half of it before that…

Misc insanity

A Very Silly Christmas Fic - the fic that confirmed I have no control over where a supposedly one-shot goes 🙄 Also ACTUAL ICELANDIC volcano erupted and made my crack Hrómundartinhurmindur fic a bit weird. Maybe I’ll finish it in time for this Christmas…

So… if we just count those and ignore the snippety / bullet points / too many exclamation marks plot bunnies then… twelve? That’s actually not as bad as I thought…

[averageartistamber]

My Thoughts on the FNAF Movie (Will Contain Spoilers)

Managed to watch the movie last night, and I gotta say, despite being someone who's not a fan of horror movies, I really enjoyed it. Though a massive part of that enjoyment is of course being a huge FNAF fan and that I have a huge soft spot for practical effects.

Okay, so the first thing I wanna say is that I appreciate how the movies seems to be it's own separate continuity from the games and books (although it does heavily reference both), and if we get the sequels, it'll probably be the most coherent version of the story.

Honestly, I think the movie's probably a decent place for a newcomer to start (albeit if they are made aware of there being differences between it and the games). I do feel like modern FNAF is starting to get a bit overwhelming for non-fans, since there seems to be this expectation withing the fandom that everyone is up-to-date with the "lore" as it drops in real time. This is already a lot for someone coming in, and with the ever-growing reliance on the spin off books to give contextual information, things feel like they're complicated...kinda for the sake of being complicated?

So, yeah, I really appreciate that they made the movie's plot followable, while still throwing in a lot of background details for long time fans and lore nuts.

Now, I could make a whole comment on the people saying it's not "scary enough", but honestly, I think they pretty much got the right level of "scary", considering the source material. Like, people are talking about the scare factor and lack of gore as if their aren't several pretty violent deaths that are at least partially onscreen (and in my opinion, the "censorship" makes some of them more effective. The dude who gets locked in the room with Bonnie comes to mind).

I think the "scare/gore dissonance" is coming from a lot of the fan-made content that's been hanging around the internet, and people wanting the canon material to be "like that", then being disappointed when they're reminded that it isn't.

The third thing I really appreciate is how the animatronics are portrayed. Despite common criticism, I think that seeing them alternate between violent and childlike actually makes them more unnerving. Like, in all the scenes where they hang out with Abby, first, it reminds you that they're children, and probably just wanna do, like, kid stuff, and the Fort scene was great for that.

At the same time, I was kinda waiting the whole time for them to turn malicious again any second. This very much applies in hindsight when Mike realises that the kids want to kill Abby so she'll stay with them forever, which casts a lot of their "nice" scenes in a much darker light (though still a very tragic one).

Wonder what'll happen to them now they're (probably) free from Williams control. (Unless Goldie Kid usurps the leader position. Unlike the others, I feel like he's more genuinely malevolent).

Also, Vanessa was done so dirty in the games, so I'm really happy that she has a major role in the story, and I think making her subservient to William via "mundane" means rather then supernatural brainwashing is a better take on both Vanessa and Williams characterisations. Makes him way scarier in my opinion.

Also having Mr. Cupcake be an absolute menace AND the one that finishes off Willy is freaking hilarious (ironically so if you follow the theory from the games that Chica was one of his earlier victims.)

Uh, yeah, I've said quite a lot. I might come back with maybe a theory or two on what the sequels could entail. So, I'll see you all again soon, thanks for reading. :)

[another-clive-blog]

If I may recommend a story somewhat with the concept of Clive terminally ill, it’s this story called Deteriorate. It’s archive-locked, but very good; 3,000 words of pain from Clive’s unreliable point of view. It also has a sequel that will probably never be finished :,)

Gotta love the Clive angst niche and the ~4 people writing for it (counting you and me)

oooh I'm taking notes, thank you !! My A03 account should be up tomorrow so that's good timing hehe

Also don't be pessimistic ! =) We're at least 7 lol

[darthmaclunkey]

woe, the second half of my 2024 reading be upon ye:

islands of abandonment (cal flyn) - interesting locations, but I found it a bit of a slog to read, which is wild given how unsafe some of the places the author travelled to are

the eye of darkness (george mann) (audiobook) - this was...not good. but what do I expect from star wars books

beautiful star (yukio mishima) - there were some especially lengthy monologues at the end that I think I started astral projecting during, but I overall enjoyed it

penance (eliza clark) - what!! impossible to put down. and also horribly relatable for those of us who grew up on this hellsite

boy parts (eliza clark) - didn't love this one as much. the ending kind of felt like a cop out

our wives under the sea (julia armfield) - enjoyed this, felt like the pages were soaked in grief

temptation of the force (tessa gratton) (audiobook) - feels like most of this was just avar....elzar....avar.....elzar!! but overall it was a fun read. the narrator for the mainline high republic audiobooks does a great job

julia (sandra newman) - didn't expect much but this was actually great. love how it flips so much of 1984 on its head. it was the only book I had left with me on a long travelling day with only 5% remaining phone battery so I was meant to save it for my train, but I was too hooked to put it down and had to spend the journey staring out the window instead

the song of achilles (madeline miller) - sorry but I don't get the hype. it just felt like being told how great and wonderful achilles was over and over again with no actual depth to the achilles/patroclus relationship.

path of deceit (tessa gratton, justina ireland) (audiobook) - really liked this one. I stan marda ro and women's wrongs in general

the hurricane wars (thea guanzon) - romantasy isn't my genre at all, so I didn't go in expecting to like this but oh boy I DID. it was so very very compelling and I finished it extraordinarily upset that I'd have to wait for the sequel

wool (hugh howey) - another one where I don't get the hype. I found the writing style completely charmless. too many sections starting with flashforwards of characters in peril before going back to the mundane thing they did beforehand. that's not what in media res means

deathless (catherynne m. valente) - if I'd read this in 2011 I would have been really annoying about it on tumblr. in a good way. I liked it!

the drowned world (jg ballard) - I've read a few ballards recently and you really do gotta wade through all the mid-20thC misogyny and racism to find a nugget of utterly mind-blowing concept and technical craft. this one took me about a month to finish

star wars: the rise and fall of the galactic empire (chris kempshall) - this is a historical text set in star wars canon, and it's actually excellent. like all good sci fi, there's some great commentary on our contemporary world if you read between the lines. according to goodreads this was the least popular book I read this year, with only around 1300 other people shelving it

the men who stare at goats (jon ronson) - there's some very disturbing and interesting shit in here. unfortunately the "isn't this so RANDOM?" shtick began to grate on me as I read

witch king (martha wells) - hmm, this one confused me. it felt like starting an estalished fantasy series on book 2 or 3. the worldbuilding/exposition possibly needed more time to cook

a fire on the moon (norman mailer) - another one where the period-accurate misogyny nearly turned me off, but apollo 11 is one of my Special Interests so I persevered. got good around part 2, where norman mailer shut up about himself and actually started talking about the moon landing

nona the ninth (tamsyn muir) - possibly my favourite of the locked tomb series so far, nona is such a good POV character. can't wait for alecto

path of vengeance (cavan scott) (audiobook) - I continue to stan marda ro and women's wrongs

provenance (ann leckie) - BANGER. ann leckie is one of the best sci fi authors around. nobody does it like her

translation slate (ann leckie) - see above

emperor of rome (mary beard) - a classic waterstone's buy one get one half price sticker purchase. interesting and fun. watched her BBC documentary too. those wacky romans, huh?

paladin's grace (t. kingfisher) - having read what moves the dead, I expected darkness, didn't realise this was more fluffy and romantic. not 100% my thing but I was compelled to continue, as you will see below

severance (ling ma) - what do you MEAN this was written pre-Covid-19!!! what do you MEAN!!!! absolutely excellent book, and terrifyingly prescient

venemous lumpsucker (ned beauman) - creative and a very enjoyable read, but sometimes it got a bit lol xd random and I wanted to be like cool your jets ned, maybe this satire on environmentalism needs less otter costumes and more reflections on major character death

chain gang all-stars (nana kwame adjei-brenyah) - the concept was great but unfortunately I felt like this was pretty badly written and it changed POV far too often. kind of felt like the idea was just SO good it got rushed out without much editing

paladin's strength (t. kingfisher) (audiobook) - for me, this series works so much better on audiobook. I found this book's couple more compelling than the first

paladin's hope (t. kingfisher) (audiobook) - enjoyable, but for some reason the narrator made the character piper sound just like niles from frasier, so I couldn't help but picture niles ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

README.txt (chelsea manning) - one of my top 5 books of the year. incredible. chelsea i love you

use of weapons (iain m. banks) - MY #1 BOOK OF 2024. talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it

paladin's faith (t. kingfisher) (audiobook) - wasn't as into the main couple of this one. if the next book isn't about paladin judith then we RIOT

a monsoon rising (thea guanzon) - thank you ms guanzon, this was worth the wait

leviathan wakes (james s. a. corey) (audiobook) - I watched the first two seasons of the expanse before giving up. I think this one works amazingly as an audiobook, I enjoyed it a lot more than the show

total: stories (rebecca miller) - my only DNF of the year. got 3 stories in and was like wow, none of these are well-written at all. so I simply put it in my local free book exchange and forgot about it

caliban's war (james s. a. corey) - good fun. respectfully, I could not give less of a shit about james holden as a protragonist, but I would also respectfully take a bullet for bobbie draper and chrisjen avasarala

and that's a wrap on a great year for reading!!!

since I did it with films, woe: all the books I've read so far in 2024 and my brief thoughts on them be upon ye:

some desperate glory (emily tesh) - very underrated (so far), great debut sci-fi with a very well crafted MC. highly recommend if you're into space opera

hurdy gurdy (christopher wilson) - looked funny, was kinda funny, but contemporary references were a bit unsubtle. immediately gave to my dad after reading. it's a liberal dad kinda book

the doloriad (missouri williams) - I got #influenced by an instagram book account to read this because they said it was too gross for them. it was interesting and very poetic, but by talos did it need a paragraph break or two

tender is the flesh (agustina bazterrica) - subtle as a brick. didn't really like the way it was written but I'm never really sure if that's a valid criticism when something is translated

eileen (otessa moshfegh) - actually loved this. more gross woman protags pls

the mother tongue (bill bryson) - I had the original edition (library book) so some of it was a bit out of date but still interesting and fun to read

the terraformers (analee newitz) - worldbuilding was decent but man was this badly written. I ended up speedreading just to move onto another book and immediately donated it to the local free library shelf

hell bent (leigh bardugo) - very enjoyable, but I think it should have been hornier, actually, considering how much word count was spent on darlington's glowstick dick

on writing (stephen king) - genuinely great advice. my copy has about 1000 sticky tabs and notes in it now

system collapse (martha wells) - i ♥ murderbot forever and always

in ascension (martin macinnes) - this was so boring. rip to all the ppl who loved it but what was it saying, really, that couldn't have been said in a sub-5,000 word short

cursed bread (sophie mackintosh) - enjoyed, but I don't really remember much about it. probably because I read it in a crowded airport while waiting for a heavily delayed ryanair flight

camp zero (michelle min sterling) - didn't feel like it fully explored all the routes it should have, but the chapters written from the collective perspective of the researchers were interesting

klara and the sun (kazuo ishiguro) - oof ouch owie my feelings

the beauty (aliya whiteley) - technically a short story but I read it in book format. it was fun

shadow and bone (leigh bardugo) - if I'd read this when I was 12, you best believe I'd have spent my teenage years writing fanfiction about the darkling. as a 29 year old, wasn't really for me tho

the player of games (iain m banks) - talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it. RIP iain banks, you are sorely missed

lord jim at home (dinah brooke) - visceral read. probably best read in one sitting if poss, the pacing is breakneck

the word for world is forest (ursula k le guin) - to paraphrase a shelf label under her books in my local indie bookshop: "JUST READ HER!! READ ANYTHING BY HER!!!!"

children of time (aidrian tchaikovsky) - really good. I will never look at spiders the same way

giovanni's room (james baldwin) - astonishing. one of those classics where you're like 'I'm sure this will be good' but then you read it and you're like 'nobody quite conveyed just HOW good tho'

red rising (pierce brown) - hated this tbh. the hunger games for redditors. darrow is a textbook mary-sue but ppl in the goodreads reviews don't seem ready to have that conversation

for thy great pain have mercy on my little pain (victoria mackenzie) - interesting speculative history, very beautifully conveyed

brutes (dizz tate) - do I know what was going on? no, but I really liked it, so well observed

the discomfort of evening (lucas rijneveld) - another one where I was #influenced because an instagram book person said it was too gross for them. I think it was actually a bit too gross for me too, but I can appreciate that it was well written

pride and prejudice (jane austen) - only read it because I'm going to a p&p themed party but my god, they're not lying, it really is THAT good

currently reading: islands of abandonment (cal flyn)

I am on storygraph if you find my taste in books compelling; I'm always looking for book recs: storygraph

[gogobootz1]

Paperback Writer

Bradley Bradshaw x Reader

Summary: When Bradley finds a stray journal at the Hard Deck, he makes it his personal mission to return it to its owner. But not before reading what's inside.

Word Count: 2.4k

Top Gun Masterlist

You've spent the last four hours at this bar and still haven't come up with a thing. The newest page in your notebook stares back at you, entirely blank. Well, blank, save for the water ring your mojito has left on it. Only the ice cubes have been left for a while now, and you sip sadly at them as you stare off at the water. Maybe a beach day will inspire you.

Sighing, you close your notebook and push it toward the wall. You don't want to think about the deadline that is slowly closing in on you. A new book, and only about two months left to complete it. It had been three, but you've spent the last month at a complete loss.

This whole night, going to dinner, going to a bar, has been with the intention of finding inspiration. You still haven't found it, so now it's time to find your way home. Pushing yourself away from the table, you peel yourself from your chair and settle up with the nice lady at the bar.

You look out at the ocean again on your walk home. It's extremely nice of your agent to let you stay at her and her wife's beach home. Pam had granted you this accommodation in the hopes it would kickstart your writing. To the extent of her knowledge, it has. She's been worried about you after you argued with the publishing company over a sequel. You fought tooth and nail for the opportunity to work on something totally new. After the commercial success of your debut novel, however, they were reluctant to pass up their chance at a sequel.

Your publishing company clearly hadn't been expecting such an exorbitant amount of copies to sell. Frankly, neither had you. By some stroke of luck or divine intervention, Taylor Swift picked up your book, read it, and posted it on her Instagram story. Stores could hardly keep it on shelves after that.

Now your publishers are simply hoping to milk the cash cow. You can't really blame them, but soon, when you don't have a second novel to give them, they're going to blame you.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Thanks for cleaning up, you two," Penny calls from behind the bar. Maverick had practically begged Bradley to stay and help so that he and Penny could start their date early. After some negotiating, he happily acquiesced.

"No problem, Penny," Rooster calls back, sending a smug look at Pete, who narrows his eyes at him. They're just about finished wiping tables, and he can tell Mav is more than ready to leave.

Bradley turns to wipe the last table but stops when he sees a leather-bound journal sitting near the window. He picks it up, turning it over in his hands.

"Done. Let's go, Pen," Mav says, rushing his girlfriend. Penny finally drops the rag she'd been wiping the bar with.

"I've still gotta lock up," she says, lightly mocking.

"I can do it, Penny," Rooster says, not taking his eyes off the journal.

"Thanks, kid," Mav smiles, whisking his girlfriend away. "Keys are on the bar. I owe you one!"

Bradley just barely hears Penny's protests as Pete rushes her out. He figures he'd better get home, himself. Giving the table a cursory wipe, he heads toward the bar to grab the keys.

Suddenly his eyes land on the lost and found bucket. Most of the Hard Deck's patrons are locals and regulars. The bin is almost always empty, and when it isn't, people always come back for whatever's inside.

Bradley looks at the journal again. Surely no one would be coming back for this tonight, though. And would they really notice if it had been flicked through? Letting his curiosity get the best of him, Bradley takes a stool at the bar and starts reading.

After a few pages, he starts to realize just what the journal is. It's no diary, none of the juicy details of someone's personal life that he had nosily been hoping for. No. It's a book, or some sort of story, at least. It's a good one, too. Bradley takes a sidelong glance at the clock and finds he's stayed for an hour longer than he intended.

He grabs the keys and locks everything up for Penny, not bothering to put his find in the lost and found.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bradley can’t remember when he’d fallen asleep, but he's certain that it wasn’t before he’d read the vast majority of the journal. His neck is stiff from crashing on his couch, but he has a new interest in finding whoever wrote this. 

He hasn't been that interested in a book in a while, and he'd be remiss if the author doesn't get their work back. Especially when the work is so incredible. Bradley's never considered himself the most avid reader. He only reads when he's got the time and wouldn't rather be watching the game. This book, however, has him hooked. He thinks it should be on shelves, selling out all over the world. He only needs to find this person to tell them that.

Where do people write their names in their journals?

He makes a face, confronted by his own stupidity, and flips to the front page. Sure enough, on the back of the cover is a woman's name and address. Bradley's not quite sure if people knock on each other's doors nowadays, or if that's entirely creepy, but he's willing to find out.

Once his fist is inches away from her door, Bradley hesitates before knocking. Is it creepy that he's here? Is it creepy that he read the journal? He's willing to admit that one. Should he tell the author he read it at all? Maybe he should pretend he didn't. Can he fake being a Good Samaritan when he really wants to ask this woman about her writing? He doesn't have time to answer these questions for himself before the door swings open on its own.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You recoil when you realize someone's standing on the front porch. "Hello?" You're certain you don't know this man. He's too pretty for you to know him, and you'd at least remember him if you did.

"Hi," he responds stiltedly.

You look at him questioningly, "can I help you?"

"Yes! Actually," he holds up your journal, "is this yours?"

"Oh my god," you snatch your notebook out of his hands, "Where'd you find it?"

"You must've left it at the bar last night," he shrugged.

"Well, thanks," you smile, putting it in your tote bag.

"No problem, yeah. Wouldn't want to lose all that work," he nods. You look up suddenly.

"You read it?"

The man grimaces when he realizes he's outed himself. "Sorry," he cringes, "I'm too nosy for my own good. But can I just say that this is incredible? Really! This could be a book!"

Your face falls, and you look at him blankly, "it is." 

"No!" He shakes his head. "I mean- well, yes, it is. And that's a great attitude to have, but what I'm trying to say is that you need to find a publisher. This is-"

You roll your eyes, shaking your head. Reaching into your giant beach bag, you grab your sunglasses and shove them onto your face. Stepping out onto the porch, you grab a real copy of your book from your bag and plop it in his hands. "That’s really not my problem right now, hot stuff. Have a good one,” you lock up your house and start walking towards the beach.

He doesn't follow you until a few seconds later.

"You mean you're already a published author?" You hear from behind you. You roll your eyes and keep walking, but he easily catches up. "What I read was just-"

"The prototype to what seven million American women have already consumed? Yeah," you nod.

"Holy shit!" He says, and you just hum in agreement. "So wait, what is your problem then?" You stop in the middle of the path. You haven't even said it out loud yet.

"They want another one," you admit quietly.

"That's great!" He says excitedly. You slowly turn and remove your sunglasses to level him with a glare, "...or not?"

"No, stranger, it's not great."

"I'm Bradley," he interrupts.

You barrel on, "You know when they want the sequel by?" Bradley shakes his head. "The end of next month!" You practically shout, and he cringes.

"And how much do you have done?"

Your face falls. "One," you say reluctantly, holding up a solitary finger.

"Chapter?" He asks hopefully.

"Word!"

Bradley grimaces, "What's the word?" You huff.

"'The' and the thing is, I don't even like it. I'm gonna go back and delete it." You give an exaggerated shrug, seemingly distraught.

"That's probably a bad idea," he says gently.

"Oh? And what do you know about writing novels?" Your tone is biting.

"Not a damn thing, but I know a thing or two about speed. At a certain point, you just have to keep going," he offers.

"Thank you for that wisdom, speed racer," you snap, sauntering away.

He stands there stunned. 

“Wait!" Bradley jogs to catch up to where you're still marching onto the beach.

As soon as he's next to you, you barrel on. “How am I supposed to give them a sequel to a story I thought was over?” 

“Huh?” He feels like he's still playing catch-up as he matches your pace.

“And I told them - I swore to God that if they made me write a sequel, I'd probably end up accidentally plagiarizing any given Remington Steele episode. But, nooooooo they insisted,” you vent.

“Remington Steele?” Bradley raises a brow.

“Okay, you don’t get to judge my 80s preferences when you look like that!” You gesture to his general appearance, Hawaiian shirt, porn stache, and all. Not that it's not working for you.

He holds his hands up in surrender.

"I've done everything. Really. Everything to try and inspire some writing. I go outside," you gesture to the outdoors around you. "I've switched the font on my computer to comic sans," Bradley visibly grimaces in response to this, and you nod at him. "Hell, yesterday I went on a run."

"I don't feel like that's all that abnormal," he ventures.

You look at him, stricken, "I've never been on a run."

"Never?"

"Not in my life," you confirm. "It didn't even help, and now my legs hurt."

"It does kind of seem like you're hobbling," he nods.

Your eyes widen, "Gee, thanks," you bite out.

"You can probably chalk it up to poor form," Bradley tries to console you. "You're supposed to land on the front of your foot when you're running."

You shake your head. "They always want to teach you something," you mumble.

"What was that?" He looks over innocently. The two of you stand at the entryway to the beach. You decide it's time to make your goodbyes to the near stranger you've confessed half your current life problems to.

"Look, that's very nice of you," your words lack some sincerity. "You seem like a nice guy, and you're very attractive, but I don't really want to get better at running. What I want is to get better at writing, which is my job, and usually, I can do it. But right now, I'm broken, so what I will do is lay in the sun and crisp like a piece of fried chicken. Bye, now!" You say cheerily, placing your sunglasses over your eyes and bounding away towards an appealing-looking plot of sand.

All Bradley can do is watch as his new favorite author walks off. He drives home and finishes the official, hand-gifted copy of your book in one sitting.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A week later, Bradley is once again at the Hard Deck. This time it's Mav's birthday, and the whole squad is celebrating before they all go their separate ways. The Navy gave everyone a month off after the Uranium mission, so this is simultaneously a celebration and a goodbye.

He steps out onto the deck to enjoy the ocean view. Bradley is pleased to find a familiar figure that lies a few meters away from the bar.

"Let me guess, you're crisping like a piece of chicken again?" You hear a voice call from above you. Suspicious of the intrusion on your private beach sulking session, you look up to find the handsome man who'd tried to return your journal the other day.

"Actually, I'm boiling like a lobster," you correct.

"Ah, my mistake," Bradley nods sagely. "Mind if I sit?"

"Okay..." you agree, silently questioning his motives.

"I had an idea," he starts. "The main character in the first book," you nod, encouraging him to continue. "You mentioned her younger sister."

"I did," you agree, not understanding where he's going with this.

"Write the new book about her," Bradley says simply, shrugging.

You stare at him for a moment, processing this thought. After a bit, your jaw drops. How did you not think of this yourself? A slew of ideas pop into your brain, and you lunge for your bag, hoping to grab your journal and write them all down.

"Are you okay?" He asks. You hold up a finger, silently asking for him to give you a second. In a hurry, you scribble down a giant bulleted list. You can't help but wish your hand moved as fast as your brain. Bradley gives a weak call of your name, concerned by the new burst of hyperactivity. It pulls your attention away from the final bullet point you've just made.

"I think you're a genius," you breathe out, looking at him in awe.

He seems shocked, "it was just an idea."

"No, no," you remain firm, "you're brilliant, and you've just saved my life." A grin pulls across his face at your words. "Pam is gonna be so stoked," you say, standing and starting to pack your things. You pause all of a sudden and reach for your notebook again. You scribble something else and tear out a sliver of paper.

You hand it over to him, and his gaze flicks over a series of hastily written numbers. Your phone number. Bradley slowly stands up.

"Breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee, dessert, movie, ice cream, drinks- whatever you want, on me," you say in a rush. You take about two steps toward your car, hoping to call Pam and confirm that you can go in this creative direction before his voice stops you.

"How about a date?" He asks, looking after you.

You turn over your shoulder and smirk, "That was the idea."

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I hope everyone is having another very Top Gun summer <3