#plot teaser

[hellcat1980]

My first time doing a @gallacrafts for my first @gallavichsummercamp with an amazing group of people!!! I have had a blast and built some amazing friendships with @gallabratt @rayrayor and @filorux...together we are the Gallasinners.

For this we each picked a part of the story we were proud of creating and present to to you...

The Tease of Damn Decisions coming to AO3 and Tumblr near you soon!!

[kingzombear]

Princess "Steal Ur Bitch" Loolilalu CUCKS local jester [NOT CLICKBAIT]

another screenshot redraw lol

[lululawrence]

You Should Be Here With Me

A 2024 Advent Fic by lululawrence

Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson | 34k | 26 Chapters

The festive period is a traditionally hectic one in the world of Premier League football, and this year is no different. A lot is riding on how Manchester United is able to come through the fixtures in the coming weeks.

Louis and his teammates know all too well the pressure that is on their shoulders. They need to prove, not just to fans of the club but the entire league, that they still have what it takes to be a team worthy of fighting for the top of the table.

Throw in the fact that Louis is all too aware that he's not getting any younger in a profession that demands your peak physical fitness year round and the incredibly fit Harry Styles, who is part of the club's social media team, and this year's festive period might just be the most important one yet.

🎄1 🎄 2 🎄 3 🎄 4 🎄 5 🎄 6 🎄 7 🎄 8 🎄 9 🎄 10 🎄 11 🎄 12 🎄 13 🎄 14 🎄 15 🎄 16 🎄 17 🎄 18 🎄 19 🎄 20 🎄 21 🎄 22 🎄 23 🎄 24 🎄 25 🎄 26 🎄

NOW COMPLETE!

[nettlesketches]

*wipes the dust off of this AU* soooo… I should probably continue this AU before it becomes even less canonically plausible by the day 🫡

His Pokémon are trying their best, but… the unfamiliar surroundings are just as perturbing to them as they are to Emmet.

[yuons]

𝑓 : get him back!

nini 𝓼peaks ˊᗜˋ hi! just a small silly little fic idea ive had for a while now !! smau anyone?

jaeyun x f!r ╱ in which, you’re still undoubtedly hung up on your ex so you try to find someone else — and perhaps make him jealous too — but when the plan goes astray you find yourself stuck in a mess that can’t undo itself. ( ex!heeseung x reader side plot )

[arttsuka]

Yeah me neither

[wackywatchdotcom]

before i go do smth else like smth i think abt often but was thinking abt a few hrs ago in particular is how the circus easily tricks the audience into thinking the circus would be Better Than Real Life. when i think from literally almost any angle you examine it its just as bad (if not worse, depending on your own problems)

i think theres like so many problems its hard to even list them all. some of it is personal taste things. cus i think a lot of people think itd be fun because they enjoy specific aesthetic choices in the circus, or bc of other interest related things. but like. what about people who HATE bright colors. what about people who dont like the idea of not being human. what about people who dont enjoy things like roleplaying. some aspects of the circus are only even appealing to specific tastes in things, making one of the few 'draws' of it not really even being a universal thing

and thats the superficial stuff. because more importantly, if you dont like the real world (for whatever reason), the circus may provide a temporary solution to that, because its so far removed from reality. but i think the circus is way smaller than people realize. theres definitely always going to be things to see since caine can always make things, but its just as limited if not more than the real world, because while the world grows and changes, genuinely new things are created and discovered and stuff. caine will never really get to see that, let alone recreate it for the players- and even then, it still isnt actually that thing. that doesnt even factor in that caine is already operating on limited knowledge of the real world. its not clear how detailed he can get on things, since the accuracy can vary (spudsys being so accurate to the real world, vs the dinner in ep 1 being so flat and lacking almost any detail), but theres a good chance that anything he makes is going to be limited to, at the most, a CONCEPT from the real world, if theres nothing in the real world you like, thats still all youll get, just in a different way.and if you DO like things from the real world, youll never get to truly reexperience it (even if caine remakes it, youll know its not the real thing, and it wont be 100% how you remember it, either)

then theres the safety/pain/horror aspect to what caine makes. i think because there hasnt been gore or anything its easy to assume the circus is still tame, and that anything bad that happens cant be TOO bad. but this is NOT true at all. the teaser of the show establishes that even when caine is not going for horror, he still hurts the players. theres things thatd be physically horrifying to a person like getting possessed, theres physical pain (i see it debated but i think its clear that even if they were to experience less pain, they still DO experience pain, but thats a different topic) or extreme discomfort, theres psychological torment (the exit doors are genuinely very cruel even if that wasnt caines goal, what ep 4 did to jax and gangle. kinger getting taunted in ep 3, etc). its all survivable but even if you like them caine isnt trustworthy enough in this way to never do smth horrific to a person, or cause it through his actions

then theres the complete lack of autonomy, which imo is one of the most frightening things about the circus. bc unless your tastes are always aligning with the exciting, completely family friendly existence of the circus, and you never deviate even a little, you are going to be barred from any semblance of it. its best illustrated in how pomni HATES being touched but caines always prodding her and moving her places and stuff, and in how zooble is denied the option to opt out of adventures even when they state they want to directly by episode 4 implying the choice to even have time to yourself is deeply conditional (plus, the whole lack of an exit entirely meaning that even if you liked the circus, the lack of option to leave would still affect a person. youre getting locked in a big room for the rest of time and youll never get to leave). and also this post

and THEN you factor in the social aspect. because regardless of how you prefer socializing if at all, the circus is a nightmare. if you dont like people, thats great! you dont NEED to be anyones friend! except that you are going to be forced to interact with them eventually, and when you do its going to be repeated. its not gonna be once. and once caine notices hes going to bother you about it. forever

alternatively, if you DO like social interactions in any way, no matter what, if its not you, youre going to see others abstract. you are going to inevitably watch those you care abt struggle and eventually get stuck in a state that Seems Extremely Horrifying To Experience forever. its long and drawn out and itd suck and it wouldnt happen once

then is the easy to forget fact that if you have psychological problems they can and WILL follow you to the circus. gangle and zooble are the biggest examples of this. the circus didnt get rid of their problems, they just gave it a new, horrifying inevitable consequence. i sometimes fall victim to looking at the circus and assuming that ohhh i wouldnt have this problem! because i wont have to deal w it getting set off! but like... yeah i would. i wouldnt stop having this or that in the circus id just have to deal w it while ALSO going on adventures

theres many things. you cant truly eat you cant die you dont get to decide anything when you do die it seems terrifying to experience and youll be stuck in some level of that forever and anything you enjoy is not with you and anything you dont enjoy will follow you too to some degree and the list goes on and on

all this said i dont think any of this is an indicator that the characters lives are meaningless or smth just because it sucks. theres a reason gooseworx has said that the takeaway from the show should be that theres meaning to be found in a stagnant life. theres still meaning in their existence and i dont think its as hopeless as it may seem- but i think its still BAD. and tbh the idea that its worse only HELPS that theme of the show!!! i dont think itd hit as hard as a theme if the circus DIDNT suck

[marybatson]

BILLY, MARY, AND FREDDY IN SHAZAM (1973) #17 art by Kurt Schaffenberger

[amarimeta]

if i'm being honest i actually don't believe the georgebertha divorce will happen because i don't think julian fellowes has the guts to go through with it.

[rhiangalaxy]

Hi, me again. Thought this should be a separate ask.

Thank you for being so good to us, as usual. The SY Plant Baby AU part 1 finale hurt my heart, but I loved it. Because of Gongyi Xiao also being in the Abyss and getting bonding time with Binghe, are you setting it up to be a Luo Binghe x Shen Yuan x Gongyi Xiao situation?

aaa tysm!! Glad you are enjoying my AU (even if it hurts your heart >:3c) Originally, the plan was for the AU to be purely Bingyuan, with LBH and GYX forming a budding friendship. However, as with most aus of mine, the characters kind of decided to do their own thing as I was working on it. So there's definitely potential for it to be a LBH x SY x GYX thing in the future. (especially with how much GYX parallels SXY).

So it's mostly a wait and see sort of thing, but pretty likely to happen lmao. Especially based off my current ideas of how I want Jinlan City to go. Just note that the focus will be on Bingyuan at first, but GYX might be able to slot himself in there lol.

[chaotic-snowflake]

pt. 3/4

let me know in the comments if you want to be added to the taglist :)

Taglist: @buffyaliceamalthea @life-is-w3ird

[wantonlywindswept]

Definitely True Facts About Commander Vertex #4

He's lost everything.

[forgotten Fox AU tag]

Bucket, for the crimes of having an excellent sabacc face and a hip that seized up when moving any faster than a light jog, was often stuck manning the Guard HQ front desk.

They didn't get too many natborns coming through these days, at least, now that the CSF were forced to do their own jobs and had taken over guarding the prison. The Guard was finally back to being a protective, high-level military force instead of doing all the domestic policing and drudgework they'd been relegated to. They were still beholden to the Senate, but things had gotten better since Palpatine died and Organa took office, even if some of the Dome's denizens still saw them as little better than droids.

So Bucket didn't have to deal with that--he could, he got his name from being able to fit his demeanor to whatever the situation needed it, swapping faces like you could swap a helmet--but he did still have to deal with the regular comers and goers. Thankfully, that was mostly clones, plus the new addition of the pack of Jedi healers that descended on medbay once a week.

Interesting bunch, the Jedi. A lot more personable than Bucket had thought they would be. Surprisingly calm up until you admitted to using a soldering torch to close an acute laceration. 

(It wasn't even a recent injury--it happened so long ago that it was already healed. But now Master Nema gave Bucket the stink eye whenever she saw him, like she was trying to determine how medically stupid he'd been in her absence.)

"--figure what they were going on about?"

Bucket snapped to attention as the exterior doors slid open, a placid expression settling across his features. He turned toward the voice--only to relax when he caught sight of the visitors.

"Just something about another shift in the Force," Marshal Commander Cody said, offering Captain Rex a shrug. "It's not as bad as when Palpatine died; nobody passed out this time, at least."

"Small mercies," Commander Gree observed, bringing up the rear behind them. He had four takeout containers cradled in one arm, and by the smell they were from the offensively good noodle cart that parked near the base of the Rotunda. Bucket took a deep, envious breath and decided he was definitely going there for latemeal.

This particular group of GAR troopers--along with Commanders Bly and Wolffe--were a familiar enough sight at Guard HQ. They didn't visit often, almost eternally deployed to the front lines, but whenever their leaves lined up they usually made an appearance. Bucket had never seen all five together at once, but maybe that would change now that the war was officially over and battalions were being called back to Coruscant.

"Commanders, Captain," he greeted, standing up behind the counter to salute. His second for the day, Kelari, hastily copied the action. 

Cody waved the formality away with the hand sign for 'at ease', nodding at the two of them in turn.

"Sergeant Bucket," he greeted. "And I don't think I know..?"

"Private Kelari, sir!" Kelari chirped. She was still painfully shiny, wide-eyed and awestruck as she stared up at the Marshal Commander, and Bucket allowed the gaping with fond indulgence. 

Kelari was one of their most recent acquisitions, part of a squadron that arrived after the death of the Chancellor. The group didn't have any direct experience with the war or the suffering that came with it, and the entire Guard were doing their damndest to make sure they never would.

"Private Kelari," Cody acknowledged, one side of his mouth ticking up. "Good to meet you."

Kelari beamed; Bucket shooed her away so he could get back in front of the security screens. 

"The Jedi up to shenanigans again?" he asked as he pulled up the admittance forms. 

Rex sighed, heavily, and Cody shot him an amused look.

"Let's just say," Gree said, "That it will be nice to avoid more half-coherent explanations on how the Force works now that the war's over."

Bucket snorted, starting to fill out the usual info. The Guard never got a Jedi--and with the reveal of Palpatine being a Sith, they now knew why--but he had to admit he was glad they never needed to deal with the often-inexplicable Jedi tendency to rely so much on some invisible cosmic power.

"Captain CT-7567," he recited idly as his fingers flicked across the keys, "Commander CC-2224, and Commander CC-1004, here to see --"

Bucket blinked at the 'reason for visit' box. 

This batch of clones had been visiting the entire war, either by themselves or together, whenever their rare leave allowed. They came often enough that if Bucket wasn't the one that would suffer the datawork hassle later, he would have just waved them on through. 

He was familiar enough with them to know that Cody's infamous scar came from a sparring accident, that Gree had three half-finished xenobiology research papers that he hoped to someday publish, and that Rex had been forcibly adopted by the CC clones without being allowed any input in the matter. He knew that Wolffe had three implanted teeth from multiple attempts at biting trainers through their armor as a cadet, and that Bly sometimes mixed up his letters and numbers and had almost been decommissioned as a result.

And Bucket had no idea what to put in the box.

"Sergeant?" Kelari asked quietly, stepping close to Bucket's side, "They're Commander Vertex's batchmates, right?"

The gentle nudge would have been helpful--Kelari was new, but she'd already learned what to do when another Guard faltered--except the intel she was working with was faulty. 

It was a reasonable assumption: Thire wouldn't shut up about his batchmates, so they were all known. Ponds had already stopped by to see Stone, the rest of their batch lost to the war, while Thorn's quietly deranged batch somehow managed to stay known but off the radar. Vertex was the only Commander whose batchmates were unaccounted for.

Except Vertex didn't have any batchmates.

Cresh Squad had taken heavy losses a couple weeks ago, and Bucket had been doing his own rehab with Patches in the medbay while they were still recovering. Commander Vertex had been there speaking quietly with the survivors, going between the beds with soft words and reassuring touches. It was clear that he'd done that kind of thing before, and when he'd finally taken a moment to sit down with Defib, Bucket had overheard their conversation.

'Good going with Whiskey,' Defib said gruffly. 'He would have camped outside the medbay doors if you hadn't talked him down. Tango's stable, but it's never easy to see a batcher get hurt.'

'No,' Vertex said, sounding tired. 'It really isn't.'

'Sounds like you have experience.'

Vertex was silent for a long while.

'My batchmates,' he said eventually, 'And my command. I lost them. They're...they're all gone, now.'

'Not gone,' Defib corrected gently, 'But marching far away.'

'Not gone,' Vertex had agreed, almost too soft to hear. 'Just marching far away from me.'

Patches was a medic and Bucket knew when to keep his mouth shut, and neither of them had mentioned anything of the conversation to others. Bucket was pretty sure the other commanders knew, too, but it wasn't like they'd go around airing someone's trauma like that.

Far too much trauma to go around for all of them.

Kelari nudged him again, and Bucket blinked rapidly, hauling himself out of the memory. He lifted his gaze from the half-finished form to meet Cody's eyes.

The Marshal Commander frowned.

"We're here to see--to see..."

Missing memories weren't that uncommon, in the Guard, but as Bucket watched confusion steal across Cody's face--as that confusion shifted into unease and then panicked alarm--he didn't think that it was just a Guard problem, anymore.

[turnyourankle]

Hard at work on my exes-to-lovers fake relationship fic, so why not post a teaser to perhaps entice a beta and/or Brit pick 👀

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Louis could feel his teeth; actually feel them, his mouth dry and chest tight.

He kept his expression as neutral as possible, even as he tried to keep the panic at bay. He looked at his phone again, the offending email not having left the screen since he opened it seconds ago.

The first shock came when he saw it was from Harry. A forward, no less, and he initially assumed it was an error, a hack, a virus. Something other than what it actually was.

But no, the email was intended for him. Harry hadn't added anything, letting the original email speak for itself. It was a courtesy notice that an old photoshoot of theirs was being released.

There were only so many unreleased photos out there, and since no one else had been notified, he knew exactly which photos this was about.

He swallowed, pressing his tongue into the roof of his mouth. He looked out the car window, the overcast winter sky that previously felt cozy now seeming oppressive. Oli was driving him home after a productive studio session, so at least he wouldn't have anything important to do for the rest of the day that required his focus.

Then again, he wouldn't have anything to distract him from spiralling.

"Maccy's or curry?" Oli's voice pulled him back to reality.

On autopilot, Louis said, "Sounds good." He picked his phone back up and hit forward on the email, quickly typed up a five-word message can we talk to azoff?  and sent it to Matt.

"Dealer's choice it is," Oli continued.

Louis made some sort of sound of agreement, even as he tried to remember his upcoming schedule. If Matt got a hold of Jeff, how soon could they meet? Tomorrow?

He opened Twitter; closed it, opened his texts, closed them. He had more business emails to read and process but— he couldn't stomach it right now. At some point, his leg started to bounce, and just trying to stay still took some effort.

"Y'alright?" Oli asked, glancing in Louis' direction.

Louis' phone lit up with a call from Matt before he had a chance to answer. He held a finger up to Oli before answering. "What do you think?"

"We can have a conference call in two weeks."

"Two weeks?!" Louis laughed out of frustration. "That's bullshit."

"Yeah. I agree. But we don't have much leverage."

Louis pinched the bridge of his nose. Why was this happening? Because they'd been foolish and naive enough not to take precautions before agreeing to a cover shoot to tell the world. Stupid. He'd been stupid. Of course, it would come and bite him in the ass.

Louis sighed. He could sense the weight of Oli's eyes on him. He closed off the call with Matt saying, "Send me the invite," before hanging up.

There was a beat of silence before Oli spoke. "So."

"Can we park somewhere?" Louis pressed his fist against his chin.

"Sure thing, boss."

Louis watched the road as Oli steered their way to a nearby car park. It was empty enough that their presence shouldn't be odd to anyone.

"What's up," Oli said once they were parked. Louis brought his fist to his face, pressing his knuckles against his brow before rubbing his temples.

Oli was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel. Mouth tight, even as it pulled to the side. He wasn't going to pry, Louis knew.

"The spread is being released."

Oli remained silent as he mouthed the words himself. Then, out loud, The spread." The surprise was evident. He knew exactly what Louis was talking about. He turned away, looking out into the distance while letting out a low, “What the fuck.”

“Yeah. that’s, uh--” Louis barked out a laugh, a laugh that hurt coming out. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

"Okay, what now?"

A calendar invite popped up on his phone from Matt. Conference call with Full Stop, two weeks out. With his free hand, he pressed the heel of his palm against his eye. Two bloody weeks.

“Tommo?”

Louis rubbed his face. “Two weeks. They're making me wait to weeks to talk."

“They're making you wait," Oli repeated. It was a habit of his to process information. Normally, Louis might roast him for it, but today he got it. Sometimes you just needed to say things out loud to make sense of it.

"Does the 'they' include Harry?"

Louis shook his head. "He's the one who told me." Oli looked surprised at that, eyebrows knitting, prompting Louis to, "I mean, he forwarded the email about it. We didn't talk."

"Maybe you should." Oli said it so casually that Louis almost thought he'd misheard.

"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to repeat that, because that goes against everything the Oli I know would say."

Oli mock-rolled his eyes, bracing himself, "It's a special case, innit?"

"Just a little," Louis conceded.

"So call him. We can do it right now. I can go get the food if you want privacy."

Louis shook his head, he appreciated the support, but—"This isn't a phone conversation. It shouldn't be. And I don't think I could help myself if I got him on the phone. We need to share space or something.

"Right." Oli nodded, fingers tapping against the steering wheel. After a pause, "Okay. We can go to him."

"If he's even in the country."

"Right. Right. Okay, I got it— let me follow up with Jefe, play a bit of hardball."

Louis tipped his head, eyes narrowed. "Go on."

"I can narrow down his coordinates, or whatever, and we go from there." Oli plucked his phone out of his pocket, "Hopefully we don't have to jet a plane to where he is, or whatever."

"Hopefully," Louis repeated.

"Okay," Oli said, mouth tugging to the side. He didn't give Louis any more time to protest, saying, "Stay tuned," before he opened the car door and stepped outside to handle the call.

The cold air was a welcome reminder of the world outside. He took a deep breath and let it go with intent. There was a plan, kind of.

Louis watched Oli pace in the car park, gesturing wildly, as he was wont to do on the phone. A way to keep his tone even, regulating it with every wave of his arms.

When Oli got back into the car, it was with a curse and a shudder. "Christ." Dropping his phone in his pocket, he went on to rub his palms against his thighs. "Okay, so. He's on location in Hampshire. Leaving tomorrow, so not available for in person meetings. As if we can't make it to Hampshire."

"Right."

"He also said," Oli started with a broad smile, "that he'd have called if he wanted to talk."

Louis laughed. "He did email."

"I think he's just bitter he didn't get to drop the news on you."

Louis laughed harder. "I think you're right."

"What next?"

Louis bit his thumbnail, thinking about action giving him breathing room. "He won't go home before the flight."

There were few options for where Harry might be staying. He had his preferences, and he could never turn down some nice hotel amenities. He might not be alone, though. Louis wasn't sure what was going on on that front, had intentionally stayed out of the loop. That band-aid would have to be ripped off soon, anyway, might as well get it out of the way.

[jesncin]

Watching the new Superman trailer… and I felt absolutely 0 emotions.

Same. My 3 feelings are: ambivalent, indifferent, and whelmed. I don't doubt James Gunn will do a solid job but there's nothing in the teaser that excited me- and I've been excited over a teaser plenty before. It's transparent nostalgia bait with comic references that made the whole thing feel disjointed for me.

[lis5664]

Fic Teaser: Chapter 3 of "Last Call"

(Chapters 1 & 2 on Ao3 here.)

It wasn’t as though she’d never thought about the idea of asking Sergei to defect before.

It had been a small, secret dream, one she’d only rarely let herself indulge in. Him agreeing to come to NASA. Them working side by side, every day, to send humanity further out into the solar system, to Mars and beyond. Them being able to build a real life together. To be together.

But Margo had allowed herself to imagine this only rarely because she had always known it was impossible.

Almost the first thing Sergei said to her, in the first real conversation they’d ever had, was that he would never defect. Until now, she’d never seen enough reason to believe that may have changed. Leaving his home, his country, his entire life behind, for her – it was far too much to ever actually ask of him.

But, he’d said at the same time, he was given a long leash because of his superiors’ knowledge that he would never defect. The leash had been severely tightened, now, if what Sergei had told her tonight could be believed. So, would his openness to the idea of defecting also have changed?

Margo still wasn’t sure how much of what he’d told her tonight could be believed. She’d learned that he had been betraying her trust for years. And yet she found herself still wanting to trust him, now.

Could Sergei still just be lying to her even now, about all of it? Just using her for his government’s ends? If that was the case, then maybe getting her to believe he was in danger, so she would keep him close to her, bring him back to the United States with her, was exactly what they wanted.

Rationally, Margo knew she had to consider this a possibility, but in her heart, she rejected it. The guilt and shame, the pain and fear that she had seen and heard from him tonight — it all felt too real. Though, of course, everything about their connection had always felt real, for the past nine years.

She simply wasn’t going to be able to be sure about all of it. Not tonight, at least. She didn’t have enough time. She had to make a choice anyway. And if she chose to let him go, the risk was too great to bear. Rational or not, Margo knew that she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if Sergei’s life was in danger and she failed to save him.

Keeping him close to her, in the way she used to want, would now have to be out of the question, of course. If he defected and came to NASA, she would have to set strict professional terms for their new working relationship. He was a brilliant engineer who’d be very valuable to NASA; that much couldn’t be faked, and that was how she would have to learn to see him now. Any personal feelings and former hopes would need to be put aside, left behind, buried in the rubble of everything that had fallen apart in this one horrible night. Margo didn’t want to think about how difficult a task that still seemed to be. She would do it, because it would be necessary.

She’d stayed silent for too long, by then. Sergei spoke again, softly.

“Margo. I know I have no right to ask you to do anything, or even to suggest. But, what do you think of what I said before? Will you go home to Houston as soon as you can tomorrow? Get away from the KGB here and, and try to keep yourself safe?”

She looked up at him. “No.”

Sergei frowned at her, but she cut him off before he could reply.

“Sergei, I mean what I said about getting us out of this. It’s obviously not safe for you to go home. So, I’m wondering if …” She took a deep breath. This was the only option. Out with it.

“Would you consider defecting to the United States? If you came to work for NASA, you’d be an incredible asset, and I know I’m not the only one who’d see it that way. There are people I could talk to, and, I know it could all be arranged.”

To her surprise, he smiled a little.

“I have dreamed that you might ask me this one day, Margo.”

He had?

His smile faded. “But, no. No, it can’t be. If I defect, the KGB would retaliate against my family, I am sure. I won’t leave them.”