#I don't even *read* fan-fiction 😅

[freepassbound]

📷 What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen?

✏️ Have you ever written fanfiction?

🐰 What do you think says the most about a person?

📷 What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen?

It's just the default - I've never changed it. 🤷‍♂️

✏️ Have you ever written fanfiction?

I have not, actually.

🐰 What do you think says the most about a person?

These days, in most countries, probably their politics. There are some pretty obvious dividing lines where who a person supports speaks clearly to what they think of large numbers of their fellow humans.

[t0ta11y-n0t-cup1d]

Hello~ ʕっ˘ڡ˘ςʔ

I have a request for one-shot with Rise Leo x a crush fem reader were the reader is an actor for a movie as the maniac villan but she is very shy irl (maybe Leo finds a fan fiction about reader, would he read it? XD) Is ok if you don't want to do this 😅

(Not at All) Evil

꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡ ;; leo's meeting his celebrity crush, turns out she's not as villainous as portrayed

taglist ;; @apostlephobe

req ;; yes/no

fem reader - she/her prns

warnings ;; swearing

"Leo! Get a hurry on, we'll be late for the convention!" Raph groaned, Donnie tapping his foot impatiently alongside him as Mikey bounced about, chittering on about how excited he was.

Leonardo, on the other hand, was very, very nervous. He's been a long-time fan of Y/n ever since they starred in a movie as a villain. As soon as he heard the evil laughter spilling from her lips in one particular scene, he was smitten. And of course, his brothers being the good family they were, found and purchased tickets for a convention where Y/n would have a scheduled meet-and-greet.

The day before, he very carefully curated his outfit, picked out funny jokes and even made a script for anything that Y/n might say during the meet-and-greet. He had everything down to a T, to ensure he made a good impression on the idol he oh-so adored.

"Leo, if you don't get your fanboy butt out here, we're leavin' without ya!" Raph yells.

"... Fanboy ass." Mikey corrected quietly with a snicker.

The alligator snapping turtle turned on his heel towards Michelangelo with a scowl. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?"

"N-Nothin'!" Mikey squeaked, hiding behind Donnie.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Leo yelled back, giving one last glance in the mirror before grabbing a backpack to carry with him. Once everyone was all gathered up together, they made the long journey towards the convention center. The brothers promised to meet up together after, each going their separate ways. If he could remember correctly, Leonardo watched as Donnie headed towards a streamer’s (who was famous for building very questionable and dangerous things) meet-and-greet, Raph was off to see the booths and the cute things being sold, and Mikey was going to the food stalls, where there would be some prestigious chefs and food critics.

Simply vibrating in both anxiety and joy, Leo couldn’t stop the small chirrups that escaped him as he made his way upstairs, taking several rides up elevators to see his idol. The posters hung around, some boasting her presence, servined only to fuel the fire of his excitement.

Leonardo finally arrived at the designated area for Y/n’s meet-and-greet, velvet ropes set up to help designate where the fans should line up and patiently wait for their turn to have their photos taken and to chat with the actress. Only… It was strangely empty?

The red-eared slider looked around, confused. It was only 3pm, surely the meet-and-greet would be starting in some thirty minutes? He came early, but not that early. He opened up his phone to look at the tickets and then to look at the flyer for Y/n’s booth, only to crumble to the ground and hit the wall in agony.

‘Come and see the fabulous Y/n IRL! Booths and meet-and-greet open from 3:30-5pm!’

What he hadn’t read were the dates that she would be present. Alas, he had come a day too late.

Sulking and moping with his head hung low, Leonardo sought out Raph and clung to him sadly, weeping overdramatically as he perched atop his older brother’s shell. He whined and moaned about ‘injustice’ and the ‘absolute ruin’ his day had become as Raphael purchased new stuffed animals and even a small treat to cheer Leo up. Leo sobbed as he munched on a cupcake.

Eventually the whole group had gotten back together, the sun starting to set as they made their way towards a restaurant to order some food.

“I just don’t get it,” Leonardo wailed, leaning on Donnie (much to his twin’s disapproval). “I thought the meet-up was today… I was so, so excited, you guys can’t even IMAGINE the amount of, of- Donnie, what’s a big, genius word for feeling sad?”

“Bereaved? Sorrowful? Despondent? Woeful? Disconsolate? P-”

Leo made a loud shushing sound at the softshell as Raph ordered for the brothers. “Yes, yes, yes, I get it! I have such sadness in me, none of you could possibly understand!” (They all, in fact, understood, because Leonardo would simply not stop moaning and groaning over it since they all had regrouped.)

They all sat down in a booth, each having a burger, some fries and a soda. “But I’m just saying, I can’t believe I misread the flyer.” Leo sighed sadly, taking a sorrowful munch of his burger. “I was so looking forward to meeting her. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

“Um, excuse me?” A small, feminine voice spoke up.

Leonardo turned towards her, a gloomy look on his face. The first thing that his eyes had landed on was his phone (a distinct, blue-decorated phone case, as well as a photocard of Y/n’s role as the villain behind the clear phone case, credits to Mikey) in her hand, offering it to the brothers.

“Is this one of yours?”

Then, Leo took the phone and opened his mouth to thank the kind young woman, only to gape his mouth at her in surprise. To his absolute, inexplicable glee, the girl who had given Leo his phone was none other than his idol. There stood Y/n, in all of her glory!

“Ah- uhm, you, uh, when- You, you, uhm-” Leonardo babbled, cheeks flushed in embarrassment as his tail thumped against the plasticy-fabric of the booth and his fingers tapped in a fast, rhythmic pattern on the table.

His brothers laughed, Donnie leaning over with a shit-eating grin. “Sorry about my brother, he’s very socially inept and stupid. He means to say thank you and that he’s a very big fan of your films and the roles that you play.”

“Oh! And he was real sad earlier ‘cause he missed your meet-and-greet today ‘cause he misread the flyer for it!” Mikey added, a bright smile on his face.

Y/n nodded softly, a gentle smile on her lips as she looked towards Leonardo. “Is that so? I’m very sorry. I’ll talk to my managers later about making sure the dates and times are clearer.” She responded in a sheepish, genuine tone. “Would you like a photo, then? I apologize that you had wasted your money in such a way.”

“I-you, uhhh, um, y-”

“Yes, he would!” Raph smiled, picking up Leo so that he stood beside you. Donnie took Leo’s phone, tapping away and inserting the password.

“Next time, don’t leave your phone on with fanfiction up, Leo. This writing is abysmal!” Don teased, giving a knowing nod towards Y/n as he pulled up the camera. “Alright! Leo, smile!”

Click!

As the brothers returned to their seats, Y/n stuck by for a few minutes to laugh and chat for a bit, writing her autograph onto a napkin, placing it in front of Leo before leaving.

It wasn’t until they were at home that Leonardo finally came to. “Oh my god. Oh. Oh my GOD!” He shrieked in the turtle tank as he swiped through his phone and clutched the napkin. “OHMYGO- Owwww!” He rubbed the back of his head, tossing a glare at Donnie, who had hit the back of his head.

He huffed and ran over to his room, taking some tape from Mikey’s and taping the autograph onto his wall. Leo chirped happily, clapping his hands in glee. “This! This is the best day ever!” He shouted in joy.

A/N ;; girl im so fuckin EEPY I SWEAR IVE NEVER BEEN SO EEPY IN MY LIFE </3 anyway TY FOR THE REQUEST GRACIAS!!!! mewmewmew THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN might make crumbs for it???? bc i scrapped. a LOT of scenes. anyway first week of school over and i already want to kword myself <33333

LUV FROM ;; CUPEZ

[skzoologist]

ʜᴇʟʟᴏ(●’◡’●)ﾉ I have a request kinda, Okay hear me out I just my signed album the other day and I got chans signature 🤯 ( I'm still in disbelief... Like is this real life 🥲) anyway its got me thinking how the boys would act. With how much they like bae how would they act to receive his autograph. I feel like since their all in the same group no one would really think about it until their signing autographs for the albums, and person A says that some Stays are gonna be lucky to receive bae's autograph and then person B is like actually I have it and starts to brag about it. Then the chaos would ensues 😈 and or something completely different 😅 but after they have it how would they act??

word count: ~1.3

warnings: none

genre: crack

a/n: Hey-ho dear, good to see you again! I was worried something happened with how you disappeared. But oh my god, congratulations on your album! I'm astounded, just, wow. 🤯 Can't imagine ever holding one in my hands, you're so lucky! I would probably freak out like a certain weasel in this request, haha. Either way, I hope you'll enjoy reading it! 😊

Please let me know if I left a warning or anything out, I will add it in! Reblogs, likes and feedback are greatly appreciated!

!I don't condone anyone stealing my work and posting it anywhere without my permission, or feeding it to AI!

!This is just fiction, my interpretation of Stray Kids. By no means is this how they are and how they behave in real life!

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

With every release of a new album came the time for the idols to sign some of them, letting a few lucky fans get their hands on one. It had always been a fun activity for the band, having some leisure time that they could calmly spend in each others’ presence and simply chat or joke around. They would usually film it as well, or at least a part of it, eager to provide even more content to their beloved fans, showing them every single side of themselves, not just the one they showed up on the brightly lit stages.

Bae liked whenever it came to signing the albums, because with how focused most of the members became, the air around them quieted, letting the male soak in their silent presence. Don’t get him wrong, he loved them in all their loud glory, but sometimes his ears and mind needed a bit of an escape, if he wanted to retain the remains of his sanity at the very least.

The cover of one of their NOEASY albums greeted him, the black paper smooth under his slender fingers. With practised ease and carefulness, he lifted the first few pages, finding the perfect place for his signature. The black marker in his right hand rose, its mission now crystal clear. The lines formed on the hot pressed paper, touching each other at the correct places and curving into that familiar symbol he always placed into his signatures. He started implementing the little crystal star into it years ago, the fans absolutely loving it along with the other members.

Speaking of which, they had all been relatively silent as they sat in their seats, as expected. Only light chatter left their lips, a few of the answers even taking up to a minute or two to arrive. Bae merely hummed when he was dragged into the conversations, not wishing to disturb this rare moment. He even sneaked in a few glances at the others while taking a quick break, warmth dancing in his eyes as he watched them, adoration filling his entire being.

Felix once caught his gaze, breaking out in a wide smile in response and lighting up the whole room with his bright presence alone. Bae swore the room actually became brighter and it wasn’t just his eyes playing tricks on him. The quiet idol watched his little sunshine finish signing the album he’d started on and close it, the marker now left alone on the table as the male walked towards him. Not knowing what the boy’s plan was, Bae silently observed, only a small head tilt indicating his slight confusion.

It didn’t surprise him when Felix stopped behind him, tiny fingers carding through long, black strands that were dusted with a tinge of strawberry blonde at their ends. The digits were careful in their fluid movements, twisting the locks in different directions, never tangling them up or ripping even one out accidentally. The notion was so soothing that Bae couldn’t help but let out a silent sigh, eyes closed in temporary bliss.

“Aw man, the fans who get your signed albums are gonna be so lucky.” - Jisung whined out, successfully breaking Bae out of his cosy headspace and stealing his attention. “Don’t even say it, I’m jealous just by the thought itself.” - Hyunjin replied, huffing in annoyance as he glimpsed at their pouting quokka. “Yah, don’t say that, STAY will think you don’t like them!” - Chan laughed out, amused eyes now watching the scene unfold after a quick glance at the still recording camera. “We DO, but still, it’s unfair they can have Bae’s signed albums and not us!” - even Changbin hopped into this circus, making everyone roll their eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.

Felix’s giggles broke everyone’s bickering and sulking voices, garnering everyone’s attention as he just calmly continued now braiding Bae’s long hair, the strands weaving into each other and creating beautiful waves of midnight and sunset.

“You can just ask him to sign yours later, chill.” - he said, the atmosphere turning silent, as if a pane of ice had been dropped onto the ground, shattering, leaving everyone speechless in its place.

It took them a solid minute to boot back up, their system having done a quick reset. Seungmin and Jeongin just snorted meanwhile, amused by the stupidity of their hyungs. Minho wasn’t far behind, opting to silently watch it with a knowing grin.

“What do you mean?” - Jisung asked, disbelief heavily dripping from each syllable. “I mean exactly what I said? What, none of you asked Bae hyung for his signature before…?” - Felix replied, confusion clearly displayed as he tilted his head, hands stilling in the otter’s hair. “You mean, we could have asked him for it? Just like that?” - it was Changbin this time, hands firmly planted on the table, already halfway to fully standing up from his poor, knocked back chair. “...Yes? What? Don’t tell me you guys haven’t been asking him to sign all his photocards and albums?” “Felix, I am so honest when I say I love you, but I’m stealing all of them.” “What, Bin hyung NO-” “I agree. I’ll help steal them and we split them evenly.” “Sungie, you too?!?”

Bae watched the two chase Felix around, all the while Hyunjin was left freaking out in his chair, acting as if his entire soul had just left his body. Chan was shaking his head tiredly, but you could see he enjoyed it as well from the light smile dancing on his lips and the slight crease in his eyes. Minho grabbed a snack and happily munched on it, loving the show maybe a bit too much. Bae swore the man thrived on chaos, something that was both impressive and fear-inducing. The two youngest reveled in the situation the most maybe, openly laughing as Felix had been caught and held down, the quokka and dwaekki not granting him any mercy.

Not wanting to suddenly become a group of 8, the tallest member stood up with a silent sigh and a fond smile, ruffling a still dramatically unmoving weasel’s hair on his way as he walked towards the roughhousing trio.

“I’ll sign your guys’ stuff too, just let Lix go.”

The speed at which Jisung and Changbin turned towards his direction was worrying, a miracle none of them got whiplash in the first place. There was a dangerous glint in their eyes, telling of a hunger and determination that had Bae take a step back, right into someone’s chest.

“You’ll sign all my stuff first, right?” - Hyunjin’s voice brushed against his ear, toned arms circling around his waist and cutting off his only escape route.

“Hey, no fair, I want him to sign my stuff first!” “NO, MINE, I’M OLDER SO I SHOULD COME FIRST!” “DUDE, who cares, I love him more, so I come first!”

The bickering and shouting merely strengthened with each passing second, the trio at the centre of it all. Somehow amongst it all Felix and Chan joined in as well, the remaining three just watching in amusement and making sure the camera recorded every single moment from the best angle.

Amidst all that was Bae, caged in Hyunjin’s arms, forced to hear everything and be passed around like a child’s toy, everyone arguing about who loved him more. His arms hurt as they were grabbed and dragged into opposite directions, his skin flushed in embarrassment, the hue only darkening with each shouted declaration of love.

Maybe signing albums wasn’t as peaceful as he had thought before.

[emeryhiro]

My thoughts on TBOC 206 script & Caryl canon.

Before I get into my thought I want to clarify a few things, and this may come across as blunt, however, I feel that bluntness is nessary in this instance.

Firstly, I wasn't planning on adressing the leaked script pages, however, after reading some of the positive and negative posts about it, I feel like I should also share my thoughts and clarify some things that may be misunderstood about me as well.

Secondly, (and this may not sound relevant right now but bear with me for a second) I'm an engineer who works in the construction industry, I'm also a post grad architecture student, both of which are roles that require at the very least a competent level of critical thinking as a baseline skill. Why I'm sharing this information is becasue those skills are what I use to develop the thoughts and opinions that I share. I also want to say that I'm in no way familiar with the way things are run in the entertainment industry, whether that's production companies, directors, producers, or actors, I'm just a fan of the arts who loves delving deep into lore-rich stories and sharing my thoughts with others who also love the same things.

So now that you have my cridentials😅 you can come to your own decisions on how you approach and what you take away from the thoughts I share.

Where I stand on Carol and Daryl's relationship.

Over the past few months, I've had several messages saying that my opinion may be biased or that I'm just being overly optimistic because I'm a Caryl fan. So the first thing that i want to say is that this fandom is very dear to me. And even though I have only in the past year begun to be more vocal on these tags, I have been on this platform and a part of the fandom for a very long time.

As someone who had the opportunity to see episode one early, I feel that I have a responsibility to be honest with everyone who's relying on my opinion. I would never want to give false hope to those who (similar to me) love Caryl and are excited about canon, only for them to be even more disappointed in the end.

I respect and understand that everyone has their own reasons for watching/not watching and loving/hating a show. However, I myself will 100% still be watching season 2 and all the seasons to come, even if we never get canon. I love Carol and Daryl as individual characters, and I watched twd because I loved the show and it's premise. Daryl and Carol are a massive part of why I loved the show, they also happen to be my favourite characters in fiction, and Caryl canon is what I've always wanted for them, BUT I'm not, never have, and never will be watching for Caryl canon alone. Will I be disappointed if it never happens? Yes, definitely! But I'll still be watching because of everything else that I love about the show and the characters.

Even if the show was just about Daryl, or just about Carol I'd still be watching every single episode and loving it. So to summarise what I'm trying to say, the thoughts and opinions that I share publicly are not biased (at least not consciously) by my love for the idea of Caryl unless I specifically say that I'm "fangirling" which you may have notice me clarifiying in some of my posts.

SPOILER WARNING - Thoughts on the leaked ep 206 script below the line.

TBOC 206 Script

Implications on Caryl canon:

I don't see anything in these pages that implies whether or not canon has or hasn't happened, the whole scene that it describes can't be more than 5-10 minutes long, which is why there is no point assuming either way.

If canon has happened, I don't expect them to be mentioning it in a scene where they're seperated for the most of it, with one of them getting almost beat/shot to death, the other fighting several walkers and collapsing, and both of them most probably inhaling poisonous gas. Not exactly the type of scene where you can create the perfect romantic Caryl moments. And not so different from the TOWL finale scene between Rick and Michonne as they escape the walkers/gas.

~~~

The Parallel:

One thing I haven't seen anyone talk about is the parrallel of the scene between Daryl and his hallucination of Isabelle, and the scene between Carol and her hallucination of Alpha from S10 EP14.

Firstly, I don't think Isabelle is meant to represent an angel to Daryl in this moment, just like how Alpha didn't represent a demon to Carol. Neither actually represents the characters themselves, and both are just personification of the conflicts that's going on in each of their minds, and perhaps another similarity is that they're both personifications of people who they believe got them to the situation they're in.

Secondly, In both scenes Daryl and Carol seem completely overwhlmed by guilt and ready to let go and give up. The scene from S10EP14 didn't mean that Carol didn't love Daryl, on the contrary a reminder of him was what snapped her out of the physical and mental trap she was in and gave her the motivation and drive to fight again.

I think the same can be said about Daryl in the TBOC EP06 scene, he's "ready to let go" and this isn't becasue he doesn't love Carol but it's becasue he feels as though he's constantly failing everyone who relies on him, including Merle, Beth, Glenn, Isabelle and in his mind Carol could be next. But what gets him to fight again? Isabelle saying:

"Not like him."

refering to his grandfather. In season 1 we learnt exactly what Daryl didn't want to do and in what way's he didn't want to be like his grandfather. The main one being that his granfather left his family behind, which resulted in generational trauma that he couldn't protect his family from, only becasue he went to fight someone else's war.

What I've taken away from this is that in that moment he believes it's too late, he failed the ones he was supposed to protect from the Nest, and now by losing and dying the fight in that moment it would mean that he also failed his real family and won't be able to protect them. Like everything he did was in vain.

This is exactly what "Isabelle" reminds him of, that yes maybe he did fail to protect her and the people from his past, but unlike his grandfather who died "bloody and bullet riddled" Daryl is still breathing and as long as he's alive there's still the possibility and "hope" of protecting his family. He becomes determined and starts to fight back becasue he's reminded to "Bet on hope".

~~~

The fight scenes:

It appears that Carol and Daryl are in a tunnel with Cordon, and two new characters named Angus and Fiona. I want to point out that it looks like the fight between Codron and Daryl is once again becasue Codron blames Daryl for killing his brother, however, I find it hard to believe that we're in episode 206 and that issue hasn't been resolved yet, which leads me to believe that perhaps there's something paticular about the gas in the tunnel that's causing helusination and all at the same time making:

Codron see his dead brother and run after him like he's hipnotised

Carol seeing, speaking and interacting with Sofia

Daryl seeing and speaking with Isabelle

The pages also show that the fight between Angus, Fiona, and Daryl was about gas masks. It sounds to me like Angus and Fiona perhaps used Daryl to help them get the masks and when finding that there's only two masks, they try to knock him out and have to kill him so that they can take the masks for themselves, gas masks that Carol and him need to get through the tunnel to get home.

I can't wait to see how that fight scene plays on screen! I have a weakness for the way Daryl and Carol become so brutal when fighting to protect each other. Because Angus and Fiona don't sound like antagonists when they're speaking with Daryl, and saying:

"Sorry, friend, ain't enough masks for the lot of us." "Got people waiting back home."

They just sounds like two people who, like Carol and Daryl, are trying to get back to the people waiting for them.

This is more of a personal guess than a proper thought: after the fight as Daryl hands one of the masks to Carol he says "It was us or them." and what I think he really meant was "it was you or them" because he was ready to die moments earlier until he was reminded of her, emphasising my earlier points on how they fight for eachother and live for each other.

~~~

The Tunnel:

Lastly, and probably most importantly, these script pages don't tell us how Daryl and Carol ended up in that situation or which part of the episode this is in, without that context there's no way to know what anything really means.

Some of the questions that I think are important and thoughts that I have:

What events lead up to the fight?

We know that Carol is outside the "camp" as described in the script, and that Carol faught at least 3 walkers and collapsed on the ground, but did Daryl know where she was or if she was okay before he saw her after his fight?

Why would his first thought/guess be of Carol when he saw a "blurry figure approaching."

Would they really end the episode like this, leaving Codrons fate as a huge questions mark? (I don't think they would, seems harsh and like they're throwing away such an interesting character)

As seen in the trailer, the tunnel that they're in is the Channel Tunnel which connects France and England, BUT, we also know as it has been offically announced that season 3 is set in Spain not England, so logcially Carol and Daryl aren't gonna be going all the way through the tunnel only to turn all the way back, which leads me to believe that either they don't end up going through, the season ends as they're walking further into the tunnel, and season 3 will explain how/when they turned around, OR, this isn't actually the final scene 🤷‍♀️

LITTLE (hopefully interesting) HINT ABOUT THE OPENING CREDITS: There's a scene that's described in one of these script pages that's also included in the opening credits.

~~~

Some additional thoughts:

The fireflies that appear as Isabelle walks away. I have a few different ideas on what this could mean but it's impossible to tell without the visual context. Also Dary's "wtf?" reaction to the fireflies had me laughing out loud! That right there reads like some good comedic timing.

We're getting another "You okay?" moment!! Those moments are some of my favourite and most tender/affectionate moments between Carol and Daryl. I can't wait to see how they play this one 😭💖

Sorry but I can sense more tension between Codron and Daryl in their fight scene than all the Isabelle and Daryl scenes combined... 🤣

~~~

To Summarise:

These scripts don't cover enough for any level of resonable doubt or concern. How something reads on a script can turn out sooo different on screen, and what I know from all the other season of twd, is that Norman and Melissa can turn something that may come across as basic, misleading or confusing on script into something incredibly magical on screen which also often turns into some of our favourite scenes between the two of them.

I completely trust Norman and Melissa with the story, and if the story never goes to canon and we end up getting something different I know that it's still gonna be an incredible story.

Although, I do still stand by my thoughts that we're heading towards canon. If Carol and Daryl need season 2 to finally heal and then approach canon on more solid ground in season 3 than so be it, because that would make sense and it would be a fair way to begin a canon relationship between the two. However I can also see the beginnings of a conversation about canon, or even actual canon happening in season 2.

It all seems possible to me and it's now all up to how Norman and Melissa want to tell the story, which I'll be anxiously waiting for and respect no matter what.

~~~

Thank you @celtic-crossbow for giving me the push I needed to share my thoughts on these matters🩵🩵

And thank you to all of you who read through this extensive post. I appreciate all of you who read my thoughts, engage with it, share your thoughts in return, ask me questions. I'm sorry for my bluntness in some areas within this post, I think it was important for me to address and clarify some things in order to avoid further confusion.

I'm so excited that we are now only 8 weeks away from the offical premiere of season 2!!! After a long wait we're finally gonna have our favourite characters sharing a frame on our screen again, and if that in itself isn't a reason to celebrate than I don't know what is.

[popcat69]

Shy and out-going

Rise Leo x fem! Reader

Request:

Hi :) I have a request for one-shot with Rise Leo x a crush fem reader were the reader is an actor for a movie as the maniac villan but she is very shy irl (maybe Leo finds a fan fiction about reader, would he read it? XD) Is ok if you don't want to do this 😅

Leo’s has always supported you in any way. When he found out you do acting as a career he was ecstatic

“YOUR AN ACTOR?!” He looks at you stunned, his eyes wide and his mouth open.

“Y..yes?” You say quietly, your cheeks a rosey pigment as you sheepishly laugh. Leo grabs both your shoulders and pull you towards him his tall figure towering over you as you look away trying to hide your face because it probably looks like a tomato’s. His face close to yours as he start to question you again “why didn’t you ever tell me!?” He whines looking at you holding one hand over his plastron over where his heart is pretending to be offended. You shrug and try to find the words “I…you never asked?” You say tilting your head to the side squinting your eyes slightly and smiling. “Uh!..ah…Still! That’s something you should mention!” The turtle in blue explains.

“I’m sorry..” You apologise your lips curving up into a soft smile as You ask Leo what You can do to make it up to him. The turtles eyes light up with stars “wellll….”

And that is how we are here now. It’s late in the evening at your place, popcorn of all different types in one big bowl in the middle of the couch placed between you and Leo. Soda cans are scattered along your floor and the only thing lightning up the room right now is the tv on nice volume. Not too loud but not too quiet either. Leo explained that the only way he could forgive you was if you binged watched all of your movies with him. As time passes by your finally on the last movie. It was where you had to play a villain. It wasn’t like you at all your voice sounded more demanding and your eyes like a sirens. Leo was dressed up in his blue comfy hoodie. His legs up on the couch as he leans back into the soft cushions. His face stuffed with popcorn as he looks at the screen not taking his eyes off it. Every time you’d come on screen it was as if he was hypnotised. You noticed this, your face pink as you peeked from the screen to look at his expressions. Your heart fluttered at this, your lips lifted up into a smile. 

You feel a bit tired…your eyes feel heavier. A soft yawn escapes your lips and you lean back into the couch, with out realising your head slid down onto Leo’s shoulder. Leo stiffness up for a second then immediately relaxes, he looks down at you with a smile as reaches for a blanket next to him as he drapes it over the two of you. His hand comes up to play with your hair as your soft snores started. “Goodnight mi amor….”

Bonus!:

“leoooo???” You call for his name as You see him come back from the living room. “Yes?” He asks his head tilting a bit. “Can I borrow your phone quickly? I wanna search something up” you say smiling happily. “Knock yourself out” he says passing you his phone. You open his browser wanting to search up some Chinese take out places but instead your meet with something more exciting. “Leo…what’s this?” You ask biting your lip to hold back a giggle. You hold up his phone as he looks at you confused before his face erupts into embarrassed mess.

[writingquestionsanswered]

hii ! even though i write fanfics and don't plan to stop, i would like to write a book one day. now i know the writing style differs from professional published books, but i don't really read much or know how to tell what makes a book good, so i was wondering if you could recommend books to read with prose, pacing, etc that as a writer you find would help "defanficise" me? maybe any book would work and this is a stupid question but i thought i'd ask😅

Fan-Fiction Writer Transitioning to Original Fiction

So, some quick things to start off...

Merriam-Webster defines novels--what you're referring to as "professional published books"--as "invented prose narrative that is usually long and complex and deals especially with human experience through a usually connected sequence of events."

The only real difference between fan-fiction and novels is that the subject matter is borrowed partly or fully from existing narrative material (aka "canon"), but when you write fan-fiction, you're still using prose narrative that (typically) deals with human experience through a connected sequence of events.

My point is, if you write fan-fiction, you already have most of the skills you'll need to write original fiction, including novels. It just takes some time and practice to learn how to invent your own characters, worlds, and plots.

As far as what books to read, every reader has their own preferences for the kinds of stories that interest them. It's very difficult to recommend books to a total stranger because just because I like a book doesn't mean you will. But what I can tell you is all novels contain "prose, pacing, etc." so you can go to the library and choose literally any novel that sounds appealing to you, and you're off to a good start.

In other words, read the books that sound interesting to you. Try books in a variety of genres by a variety of authors. See what genres you're drawn to the most... that may be a genre you'll end up writing in. If you have a genre interest now because of the fan-fiction you enjoy writing, try Googling "best [genre] books" only where it says "genre" put in the genre in question. Like "best sci-fi novels" or "best fantasy novels." That will help you find lists of book titles and summaries to read through so you can start to put together a "to be read" list.

Have fun with your reading and writing adventure!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[highladyjane]

Fave fan fiction atm? ✍️

Gawsh, at the moment?!

When it comes to fan-fics, I'm a multi-chapter, canon-universe kinda gal, and I usually don't start reading until the fic's got a couple of chapters going and updating regularly since I like reading stuff in one go (because so many I'd started on ended up unfinished and that kinda hurt since I get invested 😩), but I'm following quite a bunch at the moment 😅

My favourite fan-fiction to read will always be Elriel (they've kept me thirsty so they're actually the ones that got me started on fanfics), but I also read some Dramione, Elorcan, & random LOTR every now and then.

I'm sure you're already following/read the most easy to find, frequently mentioned, and already established ones, so I'll skip mentioning those.

If I'm going to recommend any of those I'm reading "at the moment" it would be the following that deserve so many more kudos and comments and hits and over-all LOVE and appreciation, imo:

@merakimoonglade's Chiaroscuro series! (Elriel)

I read it all in one go some weekends ago and fell in love with the author's unique, emotive, and beautifully descriptive style of writing. It's also filled with crumbs that are a delight to find here and there throughout. My heart hurt after finishing it, so I'll warn you for that, but that's because there were such lovely and light, but also angst-filled moments. She also has a multi-chapter fic on the works called Shadowlight which is a bit of a continuation to the series, and that's why it's a must include in this "at the moment" list. 😊

@violetasteracademic's Golden Doe in a Valley of Shadows (Elriel)

As I've mentioned, I don't usually start "In Progress" fics until they're well a couple of chapters in, but violetasteracademic is so intelligent and lovely - just like her writing! My favourite kind of people are those who reply to all the comments/messages even though they don't have to, so I automatically loved her! Therefore, my curiosity got the better of me, so I read 1 chapter, obviously got hooked immediately, and she's kept us fed and spoiled with nearly daily updates since then like the absolute ✨Mother✨ she is... So this is already a must-read!

@tealeaves-and-rosepetals's Resilience and Roses (Elriel)

Probably one of my all-time favourite fics because it's probably one of the most believably canon-like, beautifully well-written (I wish SJM wrote like this tbh), mind-blowing and heart-wrenching fics I've ever read, so it's got to be included - and I just cannot fathom why it doesn't have more LOVE. I'm including this in this "at the moment" list because I recently re-read it, and because she does have an on-going multi-chapter fic "Shining Through That Moonless Night", which is a continuation of Resilience; and which I'm honestly still holding out on for the same reasons I mentioned above. But I've read 1 chapter and already know I'm going to love it and probably bawl my eyes out for loving it, so I'm trying to wait patiently (while mentally preparing myself) for a couple of chapters more before I devour it...

As for one-shots, the most recent one I read (last night) was @viridianevergarden's The Comforts of the Night (Elriel)

I think they mentioned it's their first writing in a while, but I thought it was beautifully written and felt very Sleeping Beauty-ish and Az-angsty, so I'm hoping there's a continuation or that we get to see more of their writing in the future!

Now, I don't want any pressure at all to the above-mentioned on their writing journeys, but I really hope for more people to find them and GO and send them some very well-deserved love, so we see more of their writing and thank them for blessing us with their beautiful talent(s), humility, and overall loveliness! ✨️

Thank you for the Ask, btw. I tried not to go overboard with my answer, but here we are 😅😆

[bloody-wonder]

mid-year book tag

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2024? i have read so many good ones this year but no particular one stands out to me as The Best so i'll name top 5 instead (in the order i read them in): a thousand stitches, doctrine of labyrinths, in other lands, big swiss, my brilliant friend - so, quite a range of genres and tones, as usual :)

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2024? the virtu is definitely my favorite part of doctrine of labyrinths and the tropic of serpents, the second book in the memoirs of lady trent, was just a perfect historical fantasy adventure novel - it's like if jane austen wrote indiana jones except it's also a nature documentary about dragons. last but not least, empire of the damned which came out in march solidified jay kristoff's empire of the vampire as my favorite vampire book series. you might have heard me screaming about it from the rooftops. all three of these sequels, i find, are even better than the previous book in their respective series.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? i'm saving kj charles' death in the spires for the fall since it's a spooky campus murder mystery (i think?) and i also want to read apostles of mercy and so finish lindsay ellis' sci fi series (which i have lost interest in somewhat tbh but i'm nothing if not a completionist lol). i was curious about the familiar but the reviews i've seen don't look too promising so i'm probably not going to prioritize it.

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2024? i'm looking forward to kj charles' new romance book, the duke at hazard, as well as the new evander mills mystery, rough pages, but the piece of fiction i'm anticipating the most is actually the radioapple southern gothic au by my favorite fanfic author reminiscentbells. she's going to write the whole thing this summer and start posting in september - i'm so excitedddd😱

5. Biggest Disappointment? emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries is the book equivalent of a ghoul wearing the skin of your beloved. i wasn't a fan of a deadly education either😒 was very excited to read gaywyck but the expectations of "jane eyre but gay" which the cover of that book gave me were unfortunately not met🤷‍♀️

6. Biggest Surprise? i didn't think i might be into extreme horror and neither did i fancy myself a sally rooney girlie so i was quite surprised that i liked her conversations with friends as well as the sluts by dennis cooper. will definitely read more from both authors next year. an even bigger surprise however was solitaire which i picked up on a whim after tori came out as ace in the last heartstopper volume. i have a complicated relationship with alice oseman's books mostly due to the fact that i'm years past the target demographic age but still feel compelled to read them bc it seems they're the only mainstream books with prominent aro/ace rep out there. so i didn't expect much and was astonished to discover that tori spring is like looking at a mirror reflection of my 18yo self - uncanny in a fun way. ig i shouldn't be so surprised this turned out to be my favorite oseman book since it's the one with the most mixed reviews lol people like to hate a depressed teenage girl😬

7. Favorite New Author? i have devoured doctrine of labyrinths and the cemeteries of amalo in february so now i can safely say sarah monette aka katherine addison is one of my favorite authors. each of her series has a different tone but there are consistent themes of real or magical disability and non amatonormative relationships which are explored in creative ways throughout her stories. i also like her worldbuilding quite a bit, especially the naming systems and fantasy terminology. i read more books by celeste ng as well as by vale aida - both are likely to become favorite authors too. in the latter's case - provided she writes a sequel to hostis. if not, i shall never forgive her😅

8. Newest Favorite Character? okay this is just impossible to narrow down! first of all, liathe from empire of the damned bc i want her Gender: wearing a porcelain mask and a splendid crimson coat, formally bowing to her adversaries before she beats the shit out of them with her blood sword, referring to herself by the royal we and hissing every time she speaks - character of all time material right there. behold my beautiful girl who has done nothing wrong!🥰

(official illustrations by bon orthwick)

secondly, elliot schafer bc he's the most obnoxious prickly boy in other lands and yet everyone wants him carnally lol. i adore his internal monologue - probably the best i've read in ya. his dialogue too tbh - his cutting repartee game is off the charts. honestly, he's just my favorite type of character: a mean bisexual gremlin who scolds people so creatively that they fall in love with him on the spot. what more can you ask.

finally, i have to mention that to my great surprise i liked mildmay more than felix harrowgate🤯 idk felix is this cunty traumatized savant which is a character archetype i'm used to liking so it was a safe bet. the opposites attract sidekick or love interest of such a character is usually not my cup of tea but mildmay is the exception that proves the rule ig. mostly it's bc of his unusual manner of speaking with those funny slang turns of phrase and just generally the contrast between his expressive internal monologue and his reserved demeanor. as a result, he easily rivals felix as the most interesting guy in the book. such excellent character work! taking my hat off to monette🎩

9. Newest Fictional Crush? i reserve this question for that special kind of obsession only a very particular character can inspire and this year it's alastor from hazbin hotel. which, i know, is not a book but i have read so much alastor fanfic in the last few months that he's basically like a book character to me at this point lol

💕Best Ship💕 elliot schafer and luke sunborn are very cute. i don't usually go for cute but here we are. especially after reading that short story from luke's pov i realized i just need more of these two together😌 felix and mildmay with their unholy magic bdsm union - need i say more? forbidden ship that watered my crops. last but not least, i'm currently trudging through the realm of the elderings bc of fitz and the fool and as of assassin's quest it finally started paying off: i'm being queerbaited and asking for more🥲

10. Book That Made You Cry? a thousand stitches is such a wholesome cozy book and it made me cry multiple times the way that a nostalgic movie from childhood can make you cry sometimes. especially the pug scene😭 the scenes of thara celehar walking the corn maze in the cemeteries of amalo made me cry a lot too. the symbolic depths addison is able to achieve with the labyrinth motif, the exploration of grief and forgiveness and letting go - unparalleled🤌

11. Book That Made You Happy? a thousand stitches made me happy! especially the pug scene!!😅 honestly it was like watching a disney movie back when they were good except also more relatable bc atwater's characters read neurodivergent and aspec-coded to me. love how she maintains that the kiss of true love that breaks the faerie curse doesn't have to be romantic. re-reading the three musketeers made me very happy too - it's one of my top 10 favorite books of all time and i was kinda nervous i might not like it as much as an adult. well the joke's on me bc now i can confirm it's one of the best books ever written😊 reading in other lands and big swiss cheered me up a lot too bc they're just so damn funney😄

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? haven't seen a lot of adaptations so ig dune part two wins by default. twas a fine movie. the wheel of time is also a nice show in my opinion but i didn't read the source material so idk how good it is adaptation-wise🤷‍♀️

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? my favorite ones are probably the ones i wrote about the three musketeers and in other lands but i think i also wrote some good critical/negative reviews of the mask of mirrors and of the vorkosigan books i read this year (1 2 3)

14. Most Beautiful Cover? behold the cover of the voyage of the basilisk!🤩 i want to frame it and hang it on my wall so that i can gaze at it adoringly and connect with my inner ishmael

(art by todd lockwood)

i also like this vintage romance cover of gaywyck and the uk covers of the farseer trilogy. it's a shame that the books are not as good as the covers led me to believe. especially in the case of gaywyck - this cover is Such A Vibe! but alas

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? in terms of series i want to finish the memoirs of lady trent, read one more witcher book, at least a couple vampire chronicles and then reread swordspoint and hopefully complete that series too. other fantasy i want to get to at last is fire & blood and the hands of the emperor - both are big and intimidating tho. for my classics challenge i need to finish a couple of tomes i'm reading slowly throughout the year and then also read the name of the rose. american psycho and mona awad's bunny have been on my tbr for ages - maybe i'll finally read them this fall. and i also want to finish reading kj charles' backlist bc the completionism drive is stronger than the fear of having no kj charles to read lol

i never do things a normal amount - every time i take up new media i go all in. so i had a musicals phase, a movies phase, a tv show phase - each lasting a few years and then i barely watched any of these once the phase ended. which is why i've been wondering if my current Book Phase is about to wrap up soon but, given how many books i managed to read since january, it sure doesn't seem that way. instead, it feels like the more i read the better i am at finding books that i'm likely to enjoy - which leads to more reading. and i cannot complain about that tbh😁📚

tagging @magpiefngrl @doh-rae-me @oliviermiraarmstrongs @fugitoidkry @pinkasrenzo @counterwiddershins @figuringthengsout @sugarbabywenkexing @fandomreferencepending @venndaai @weirdsociology @sixappleseeds @theodoradove

please tell me what you've been reading this year (if you want)! one can't have too many book recs👀

goodreads │ old mid year tags 2020 2021 2022 2023

[justsomemusingsandthoughts]

Now about season 3 of Bridgerton....some thought from a Greys Anatomy fan of the first hour cause I need to get it off my chest :)

I was really excited to see Polins story unfold even though I didn't watch Bridgerton before or read the books but I was swept up by the excitement on tiktok and got invested in their story.

But as soon as I heard Shona was involved I was like okayyyyyy, I gotta keep my expectations in check cause the women is not one to write healthy and lasting relationships and reasonable men who communicate well😬

Looking at how the season played out, I completely understand why so many people are disappointed cause there was so much potential wasted, so many scenes that could have made clear to the viewer what was going on in Colins head. I think I filled in the gaps in my mind but there are still some moments, some things he said and did that were almost character destroying, specially the comment about the entrapment, cause dude, she didn't even know what sex was🙄 Also, not even trying to have a converation with her about why LW started and has such significance to her was not sth Colin would do.

And that's the crux of why I think for many die hard fans, the season was a let down. They didn't show any true discussions or enough moments of passion alongside the argument cause in truth, there was no time with all the unnecessary side plots and so few episodes. If you saw the season you know, I won't list them all but I will say they better put a proper Polin side story and spicy scene in Ben's season cause the amount of pointless threesomes I had to skip through is almost offensive, especially cause it should be clear people want intimate scenes of the main couple😮‍💨

But looking at all of it considering this show is part of Shondaland, I am not the least bit surprised. The number of downright character assasinations I watched on Grey's (and other shows of hers) after over a decade watching the development of some of them is kinda ridiculous. The number of ruined relationships and the horrible ways most of them were ruined (I almost cannot believe I'm saying this now but thank god they killed off Derek before completely undoing who he actually was and what Meredith meant to him😭).

Untimately, Shonda loves the drama and the angst and very clearly doesn't think there is much entertainment value in showing happy couples resolving their issues in a healthy way. If you watch a project she's involved in, you gotta be prepared for the couple to not make it and in that way, Bridgerton fans are rather lucky considering no matter how the seasons play out, it's gonna end with a happy couple that's not gonna split up again.

She also was never gonna just take books and keep to the narrative cause I don't believe that would be any fun to her. Especially this season, since she has said that Pen is her favorite character. I was immediately thinking Colin will be taking a back seat and have moments viewers will hate him for to have Pen in the forefront individually.

I guess I'm gonna take away and rewatch the beautiful moments, even some of the angsty ones and wait for what little side plots Polin will have in future seasons. I don't believe I will watch the entirety of future seasons cause I'm not interested to be disappointed by Shonda Rhimes' story telling anymore. Been there done that😂

But my little obsession with Polin was still worth it cause they're just an amazing fictional couple and I might just read their book now☺️

And I have definitely found a new actress to follow along for her future roles cause Nicola is just amazing as an actress and as a person🥰

(Also find it deeply offensive to make an audience wait for 2 years (!!!) for 8 episodes but that's for another day😅)

[pebblysand]

hello! you may find the entire playlist on spotify here. below is some more information on my song choices.

Castle by Eminem: if you have finished the fic, you will understand. if you haven't, i don't want to spoil you :).

Things We Lost In The Fire by Bastille: it's funny, i'm a massive bastille fan but it didn't really hit me how castles that song is until i went to see them live last summer. i remember being in the crowd and thinking to myself: god this is so on point. i think the lyric that gets me most is: the future's in our hands and we will never be the same again. there's such a dichotomy to that and it's so representative of what is happening in this chapter, which is harry and the trio sort of reconning with the concept of time and the post-war state of things and: now what? the excitement of: we survived and the future's in our hands, but also we'll never be the same again because we lost all these things (people) in the fire (war). i just find it very apt.

O Children by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: firstly, i love that song, i thing it's beautiful and it just nails that post-war tone of the early chapters. the cleaners are coming one by one, they measure the room, they know the score, etc. secondly, this is obviously the harry& hermione song, which is a massive vibe and plot point of this chapter. i will defend the dance to my dying day, i think it's one of the most beautiful scenes in the whole film and those who don't like it because of the harmony vibes are wrong. that's it 😅.

UNHEALTHY by Anne-Marie: this is a more recent addition, but doesn't this song kind of have early harry/ginny vibes? i'll let you listen and be the judge.

Wonderwall by Oasis: harry mentions oasis in this chapter, so of course i had to add this. i have listened to this song so much in the past 20 years, i can't even tell if i like it or not. anyway, here's wonderwall 😅.

Pompeii by Bastille: ah. the infamous break down of everything. as i've already said, absolutely love bastille, and this one is a classic.

Shadow Preachers by Zella Day: i added this one more recently but i feel like it also had very strong early harry/ginny vibes. i also like that it sounds a bit similar-ish to pompeii in that sort of break down of everything vibe. there's a sort of desperation to that song that i feel really fits well.

Place de la République by Coeur de Pirate: firstly, if you think of coeur de pirate as comme des enfants and don't know anything else from her, i am begging you to open to your heart to her other songs/albums, she's incredible. secondly, i've always loved this song. it so well captures this sort of regretful break up situation where she is breaking up with someone because of distance and giving them one last chance to show up and they don't. i feel like it's very much a ginny song in chapter 3, this way she doesn't really want to break up with harry but has to. it's just 😫.

Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi: i've gone back and forth a lot on this song, whether to include it or not. it's almost Too Much. but, also, harry is a bit Too Much in this, so it just fits.

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths: this is... very literal, i don't think i need to explain. i will say, for a very long time, i didn't know where the french bits were from. it sounded like some sort of documentary about suicide, which i thought was odd, but it's actually a reading of the myth of sisyphus by albert camus. i've never read it because i've only ever read camus's fiction, but he is one of my favourite french authors, so i was happy to find that out. it works with the song incredibly well, obviously.

Hell or Highwater by Passenger: we're back with the break up songs. i love this one because it very much is about the confusion and the not knowing what caused the break up, which i think is very fitting for harry, here. i also just love the writing in this song, the way he uses the "hell or highwater" saying in a different way - it's a song i very much love, even outside of castles.

Six Degrees of Separation by The Script: idk, this song has such strong 2000s vibes, and it's so break-up-y dramatic - it just fits, you know? 😅.

Giants by Dermot Kennedy: this playlist supports irish artists! ✊🏻 jokes aside, i kind of see this song as having a bit of a double-meaning here. like, of course, it's hinny break up song and plays - again - to that lack of understanding (we used to be giants, when did we stop?) but i also see it as reflective of harry's broader state of mind. it's this post-war confusion of: we used to do these great, important things, and what is our purpose, now? obviously, this first arc is very much about finding a reason to live after the war, so i feel like this song works for both plotlines.

As It Was by Harry Styles: i'm not a massive harry styles fan so the first time i ever heard this song was when he was on tour and the 'LEAVE AMERICA' trend was all over tiktok. and, i don't know, the moment i heard the song as a whole i was like, 'fuck, this is such a castles song!' especially of that early, post-war, confused era of: 'harry what are you doing sitting at home on the floor, what kind of pills are you on?' it just had to be in this playlist.

Fear of Fear by Passenger: this song is just a mood. i feel like it could play over a montage of the weeks passing in chapter four, and harry just going to work, trying to sleep, and going running in the night.

Le vent nous portera by Noir Désir: there's two reasons why this song is here. firstly, i feel like it signifies healing and the passage of time, which works very well with this chapter. it's a gorgeous song and has this idea of the wind just blowing the hardships away, an "it'll be alright" motto that i love. but also, what my international audience might not know is that this song is highly controversial - bertrand cantat, the lead singer of the band, beat his girlfriend - french actress marie trintignant - to death in 2003. he was arrested, went to jail - if you are french, just know that i'm not going to get into the Debate of whether he should still played/be listened to, etc. we all have our opinions and whichever way you're leaning i'm not going to change yours but i just wanted to note that i wouldn't have put this song in the playlist for any other chapter. but with the added theme of DV in the case giulia and harry work on here, i felt it was fitting.

Brave by Sara Bareilles: this is obviously giulia's pep-talk song haha! harry, get out of your rut, and be brave. i love it.

You're Not Special, Babe by Orla Gartland: i love this song. and, again, it's very giulia. i feel like both of these last songs for this chapter have this vibe of her telling harry to just get off his arse and do something, which is what he needed at that point. quit moping around, quit blaming yourself, you're not that special. it's really the kick off, onto chapter five.

Insomnia by Ren: ah, ren. if you've been following the playlist for a while, you will have noticed that i had a major ren moment between the end of 2023 and the start of 2024 and added, like, fifteen millions of his songs to the playlist. i feel like castles generally has such a ren "vibe" to it, which is wild because i didn't find him until well into writing the story. this song has this incredible line: i used to use drinking as a way to stop thinking and my problems with drinking made me feel like i was sinking, so i dried up my drinking and then i couldn't sleep a wink, and now i'm thinking, now i'm thinking, now i'm thinking, now i'm thinking about nothing. fucking nothing. and everything and nothing - i hate not sleeping. this is so on point for this chapter, which has harry's insomnia stalking those post-war months, and i absolutely love it.

The Last Unicorn by Passenger: ah, the first mia song 😫. my child. this is so scarily on point.

J'écoute du Miles Davis by Navii: this is really one of the core, OG castles songs as far as i'm concerned. i remember listening to it on loop very early on, writing the early chapters. i love the chorus of 'Et le temps passe' (and time passes) - it's this factual statement that i feel is very castles. "Time just - passes."

The Way I Am by Eminem: i was so mad to find out i couldn't use this song in text because it came out in 2001. obviously, very related to the press, fame, etc. which are topical for this chapter.

Dominoes by Ren: i added this one fairly recently. it's one of those songs that isn't precisely topical to the chapter itself, but i really liked the riff of "we fall like dominoes, dominoes, falling". it echoes that thing harry says about how he's afraid to fold because if the "leader" falls, then everyone comes cascading down. i felt like there's an interconnection in that song that resonates, here. and also, i think the thing about public perception and body shaming is also somewhat related to the treatment of girls in harry's life in the press.

Read All About It, Part III by Emili Sandé: i thought most people would already know this song because it was featured so prominently in the 2012 London Olympics, but i suppose it still didn't make it to america, 'cause i've had quite a few comments from people saying the playlist was the first time they'd heard it. anyway, it's obviously about harry using his voice and finally talking to the press, and it's amazing :).

Babylon by Barns Courtney: the vibes of this song feel like the fall of a civilisation and "the walls are caving in, you're paying for your sins" and... yeah. idk, i see this as the theme song to the whole battle scene at the lace mill.

What He Wrote by Laura Marling: this was always Giulia's "song" in my head, i'm not even sure why. it's got nothing to do with her but just based on vibes. i listened to this on loop writing her death. and, also, the connection with Peaky Blinders, which heavily inspired the first act of castles.

Fourth of July by Sufjan Stevens: this is just... a beautiful song about death lol. how cheerful 😅.

All My Tears by Ane Brun: and... another one, lol. also, another connection to PB.

Jimmy by Moriarty: i only have two songs for this chapter, probably because it used to be paired with chapter six so i initially didn't think of it as an independent item. anyway, this is one of my favourite songs in the world, and it's recently come to my attention that it fit quite well in here, with this idea of "coming home" (to the burrow, in harry's case. i feel like it works well with the general mood of the chapter.

CORALINE by Måneskin: ah. coraline, coraline, di me la tua verita... this is the beginning of harry, and ginny, and the letters, really.

Zombie by The Cranberries: canonically, Mia is a fan and while two cranberries songs are mentioned in this chapter, i always felt like this one fit better. first, because it's about a civil war that, in many ways, resembled the wizarding war. second, because i've always sort of thought as amycus as a bit of a zombie. like, he's dead but he still plagues ginny (and later harry) with the things he's done and their ramifications.

Rather Die by Barns Courtney: obviously, i'm a massive fan of barns courtney and i've always felt this song is very ginny during the war. basically, 'i'd rather die than give in.'

Repeat After Me by KONGOS: this song is obviously about the absolutist christian faith and someone trying to escape it, but i think there's something so rhythmic about it. in my head, i could see it playing over a montage of the DA pulling off stunts, getting attacked, getting back up again, fighting again, losing again, etc. there's also the 'repeat after me' of indoctrination that could very much apply to the ministry's propaganda. i remember listening to this song so much as i was writing this chapter, just to remind myself of the relentless sort of pacing i wanted to achieve.

Dopamine by Barns Courtney: okay so. this is the song of this chapter. i know it feels like it's not really about this chapter (it's clearly about drug addiction) but you cannot possibly imagine the number of times i listened to it as i was writing. i don't know. i love everything about it. the loud rock and instrumentals, the production, the lyrics. if we end it all, at least you're by my side. we could never die. and this: it's always the same. see the drink couldn't wash out the taste of your name. i literally think it's one of my favourite songs ever, and one of my favourite sentences ever written. i think in my head it's a bit about ginny sinking, about amycus, about harry. about everything. i would say dopamine is probably one of the most important songs in this playlist. i am so attached to it.

Thirteen Thirtyfive by Dillon: and... the last song. i will say this: i have since learnt that this song is about a woman who has lost a child (either through miscarriage, abortion or death after birth, it's not clear) and is reminiscing about what her life could have been. that is... not how i initially interpreted it. you may listen and come to your own conclusions. if you interpret it like the above, maybe it fits with pansy's story. if you don't... well. you'd be thirteen, i'd be thirty-five, gone to find a place for us to hide. be together but alone, as the need for it has grown. make of that what you will.

Formidable by La Bronze (Stromae cover): god, do i love this song. and god do i love this cover almost more than the original. i love how she made it less sad and more angry with the more rock-like music, as well as the sound of arabic. it works So Fucking Well. the chorus of this song sort of says it: we were incredible.

The Kid I Used to Know by Arrested Youth: just one of those songs i used to listen to on loop while writing/planning that arc of castles. i do think of this time in this fic as the formal end of harry's childhood, when he finds out about ginny and realises that all their innocence has gone. so long to the kid i used to know.

Hold On by Ren: i feel like there's such a restlessness in this chapter that you also find in this song. this sort of endless torrent of stuff coming harry's way, and him trying to... get through it and hold on.

Blind Leading The Blind by Mumford & Sons: i had originally put this one in for chapter nine, but i actually think it's more of a chapter ten song. welcome to the trials, aka the epitome of the blind leading the blind.

Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? by Arctic Monkeys: ah. were you also a teen in the early 2010s? welcome to the song. obviously - very harry & ginny in this chapter.

Falling Is Like This by Ani DiFranco: i've always adored this song ever since i discovered it referenced in another fic. it's where i got the idea of the car running off a cliff in last chapter - it's also very heavily referenced in this chapter. think of it like a transition song lol. just such a Mia mood. falling is like this.

Je suis un homme by Zazie: i was looking for a song this morning to operate the transition between falling is like this and the kids are all rebels, and i settled on this one. judge me all you want but i love zazie, and i think this works quite well with the beginning section of this chapter that is a little bit like the song: humans and their institutions going round in circles.

The Kids Are All Rebels by Lenii: i loooove lenii. she's irish (🇮🇪🥳) and this song is such a DA song. there's this dimension of youthful idealism hitting the brick wall of adulthood, and the things they see the government do which they're not happy with. the song itself was written about trump's covid policies, but it fits so well here too!

Anthem by YOKANA & Barns Courtney: i think this is self-explanatory. harry is starting to doubt his "no comment" strategy...

Statues by Alexandre Desplat: we're... starting a new war in courtrooms, aren't we? jokes aside, it's probably my favourite music from the films, very war-coded, it makes me want to rise up to battle, so.

Remember the Name by Fort Minor & Styles of Beyond: there's something about the relentless rhythm of this song that i just love for the end of this chapter. like: LET'S GOOO!

Legendary by Welshly Arms: i see this as the DA's song, too, you know? not just harry. they're all doing something legendary.

Till I Collapse by Eminem: this is one of my favourite eminem songs, and i think it fits really well with the beginning of this chapter. the onslaught of press coverage regarding harry's and the DA's actions, and their common desire to push through no matter what.

Instant Crush (feat. Julian Casablancas) by Daft Punk: i actually wanted to put da funk in this playlist (which is the song mentioned in the fic) but i chose not to subject you all to five minutes of lyric-less late-naughties techno music 🤣. i also feel like putting this right after Till I Collapse is a bit of an insult to eminem ("you don't know me, you're too old, let go - it's over, nobody listens to techno" 😅), which is a bit funny lol.

Teenage Culture by SKYLAR: it's funny, i listened to this song on loop the summer of 2023 but didn't really find an excuse to add the song to the castles playlist until it finally hit me now that it was per-fect for this chapter. i love skylar and i love this song, it's so tongue-in-cheek and yet lyrically incredibly clever. i think this is such a teenage anthem and fits so well for this chapter, both in the "partying" side of it, but also in a the-kids-are-all-rebels sort of way. i just absolutely love it.

Everyone's at It by Lily Allen: i've just realised this is the first lily allen song in this entire playlist which, if you know me and how much of a lily allen stan i am, is wild. i stole some of the lyrics of this song for the chapter; it's about the double-standards that exist in dealing with drug addiction, which ginny talks about a bit. it's a song that was very important in opening my young eyes on this topic, when i was a teenager. i feel like it also goes so well with the SKYLAR song, it's like the millenial-advocate-y song to SKYLAR's gen z, more apathetic/don't-care take.

all the good girls go to hell by Billie Eilish: i have a very strange relationship with Billie Eilish's music where i listen to her only for very specific occasions and moods, but i do love that song. and, idk, i kind of see it as a symptom of ginny's slight "descent" in this chapter, where under the surface, partying and sleeping around begins to be less "fun" than it used to be. there's something weirdly haunting about Billie Eilish's music (esp the first album, that i feel fits here).

Any Other World by Mika: i added this song to the playlist rather recently but if you are a the good wife fan, it will of course sound familiar. i think i was looking for a song to finish off this chapter and recently was lucky enough to see Mika play live in dublin, and thought it just fit. it's neither really a love song nor a political song, it's a third thing, and i think it's really symbolic of the conclusion you reach at the end of this chapter of "say goodbye to the world you live in". i think this chapter is really the point of no return, this sort of deep realisation that nothing will be the same anymore. it's also the halfway point of the fic (in terms of chapters), so i reckon it works.

Un peu d'espoir by Joyce Jonathan: i relistened to this song recently and i think it really suits the beginning of the chapter. there's a growing up vibe to it and, nostalgia, sadness and hope at the same time. i really see it playing in that time where harry reflects on the upcoming anniversary of the war and where he and ginny talk about the aftermath.

Dance Monkey by Tones and I (Stripped Back): okay. i know this is a bold choice but let me explain. basically: i was working on completing the playlist and was looking for a song for the end of the trials, draco's hearing and all the politics in this chapter. i looked up my top songs of 2022 (which is when this chapter was written) and found out i actually listened to this song quite a lot that year (the original version of it). and yes, this is a dance song, but when you look at the lyrics, there's a vibe of, like, the establishment and the wider world forcing you to do something you don't really want to do? like, sure, here, this is a woman who's being told, basically "why don't you dance/smile more" but i think this is also applicable to harry and his relationship with the press and the wizarding world in general. there is a dimension in it of "dance monkey! dance!" where he's just like - not feeling it. this is the chapter where he rebels, too, and actually doesn't stick to the script, and pushes the wizarding world to change, and we love that for him. i chose the stripped back version for the playlist, because i feel it just fits the mood more than the dance version of this song.

bad guy by Billie Eilish: ugh. do i need to explain? i mean, harry, come on. stop toying with two girls at the same time.

Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran: a bit the same as the above. my bad habits lead to you - you can't quite let ginny go, can't you?

Arcade by Duncan Laurence: if you were on tiktok in the golden age of dracotok, this song will need no introduction. i don't even think the lyrics fit but i now have such a strong association between draco malfoy and this song, it needed to be there in this chapter.

This Is What Makes Us Girls by Lana Del Rey: i feel like this is a lesser-known Lana song, but it's haunted me for years. i think there's a vibe of "for us girls, it's just the way wars are fought" in that song. and, with this chapter being the one where we find out about pansy, i couldn't not include it.

Broken Crown by Mumford & Sons: i've always felt like this was such a castles song overall, but struggled to find a good spot for it in the playlist. and then, i don't know. i feel like this moment after malfoy tells harry the truth and when he's having his tirade about systems just... works. this is a song that to me, represent the both of them, actually. i'll never wear your broken crown, i'll never be your chosen one. for malfoy, it's realising just that - he's not the chosen one. for harry, it foreshadows what's to come with alecto.

Mr. Sandman by SYML: okay, i cannot possibly explain this but i very strongly associate this song with the vibe of draco in prison, and that last scene. it's bizarrely haunting, and i think fits the mood perfectly.

Wrecked by Imagine Dragons: this song is one of those songs about grief that are maybe a bit one the nose but idk, i like it. i listened to it loads the summer it came out, and it inspired me to bring giulia back in this chapter. so there you go haha.

In Your Heart by The Franklin Electric: this is a song i love and i've listened a lot, but again, one that i couldn't really find a good place for in the playlist. but i was looking for a song to cover sort of the alecto/kingsley era of this chapter and i think it's perfect. it's vague enough that it could be about anything, and generally it's very much about guilt and substance abuse, and feeling lost, and very "in your head" which fits the bill. the beginning in particular really speaks to me: it's your fault, when your pride grows thicker than your skin, it's burning up like oxygen. and also this: the teachers never told you about reasonable doubt. i think it very much resonates with harry making that awful decision in that moment, and the guilt/unease that flows from it.

Foundations by Kate Nash: ah, do i even need to explain this one? this article was making the rounds a while back and it's So On Point. this song is an anthem to the breakdown of that first adult relationship you have with a boy that's a dickhead and this is mia's anthem. she deserves it. my fingertips are holding onto the cracks in our foundations and i know that i should let go, but i can't. i feel like this is so representative of that moment where everything points towards mia leaving him, but instead she asks him to come with her. darling, you deserve so much better!

People Help The People by Birdy: i was looking for a song to cover the memorial and i think this one (this version in particular) is just so beautiful. there's something very breathy and airy and the lyrics really resonate. the ups and downs of the verses v. the chorus of people helping people. give me your hand and i'll hold it is also building towards the hinny moment later. i really love this here.

Tobacco In My Sheets by Lauren Aquilina: god, i've loved and listened to this song so much. to me, it's the ginny&molly song. i've also hesitated on placement, it could have been earlier when molly and ginny were fighting, or later in 22, but ultimately, that scene with the hug is what i'm choosing. this song breaks my heart into a million pieces every time i hear it.

Higher by Lily Allen: ugh. this is probably one of my old time favourite lily songs. it took me a long time to understand it, listen to an interview when she was explaining this was written from the POV of her ex-husband. there's something so tragic about it, but i also really like the conflictual-ness of it, the one-upping each other which is a little bit what harry and ginny are doing for part of their conversation. there's also harry's unrelenting, unyielding attitude towards ginny's fuck ups, both tolerating them, but also making it clear that it needs to stop. it's your life, i said i'd never let you waste my time, i said you'd never hear me say that twice. you crossed that line. i just fucking adore this song.

Delilah by Florence + The Machine: there's a complexity in that song of i'm gonna be free, i'm gonna be fine, but also holding on for your call, i can never let go that i feel is very much the dichotomy of ginny in this chapter. the certainty and confidence but also the vulnerability of her conversation with harry at times.

Supernatural by Barns Courtney: i kind of see this song also as a transition into next chapter. one last time, let you back into my head - to me, it's harry and ginny sort of dancing around each other like they do in the of that conversation. want-me-want-me-not. they both do it at times, and especially harry in the next chapter, and i think it's a good song to launch the next part.

I'm Not A Saint by Billy Raffoul: this song has strong castles!harry vibes - at least for that era of his life lol. i kind of both see it as the opening song for the whole alecto mess, but also as an anthem for the whole chapter. i've one too many cigarettes, burning off my tongue, and the chorus of i'm not a saint but i could be if i tried is very harry/mia.

Lap Dance by Ycare: i fucking love this song. literally, i see it as the harry&hermione dancing scene song. more figuratively, it's harry dancing around with mia and ginny hot-and-cold-ing harry.

Trigger Bang (feat. Giggs) by Lily Allen: another of my favourite lily songs ever - i remember it came out as one of the early releases on no shame and i fucking gasped when i first heard it, i think it's my favourite song on the album. i actually listened to that album a lot while writing act 2 of castles; it's an album that deals a lot with addiction and messing up, which obviously is very much ginny's arc at that point. particularly, this song inspired the party thing where ginny says she'll avoid the party because (in other words), it's triggering to her. i was trying to find an excuse for the "one time they didn't meet" to fit with the theme of the chapter, and that song is what inspired me to write the whole party subplot, actually. that's why i can't hang with the cool gang, everyone's a trigger bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

The List by Maisie Peters: i love the successions of these two songs because they kind of build off on each other. it's new resolutions and turning a page, which is very much what ginny does here.

July by Noah Cyrus: ugh. self-explanatory. this is the most mia song ever. leave him. just leave him (spoiler alert, she can't).

Double Denim - the one to cry to at 3am by SKYLAR: another massive ugh. mia, stop falling for the bad boys. and harry, you are this song in this chapter. this song also have some of my favourite lyrics by SKYLAR ever, which apply so well in this context: mister, mister, if she's like a sister, why did you kiss her? what? to be polite? but aphrodite don't go kiss athena so why d'you kiss her? just, out of spite?

Back To Black by Amy Winehouse: ah, amy, my love. another victim of the tabloid press. i've always seen this song as mia's break-up song, and the title of the paris fic is taken from back to black. he left no time to regret, kept his dick wet, with his same old safe bet. baby, mia, my dear, i'm so sorry.

BLIZZARD by Fauve: there's this meme on french tiktok right now that's like: "the kids who used to passionately listen to Fauve in the summer on 2015, how are you all doing??" 😅 not well is the answer to that question lmao. jokes aside, for anyone not familiar, Fauve were a bit of a musical concept back in the day, and they have a lot of slam/rap songs about love and mental health and stuff that were very #deep but sure look, i still fucking love them. and, this song is so castles!hinny, it's very much about taking a leap and believing in the future, which is the sort of trajectory they're choosing for each other at the end of this chapter. tu nous entends l'amour, tu nous entends? Si tu nous entends, il faut qu'tu reviennes parce qu'on est prêts maintenant, ca y est. on a déconné c'est vrai mais depuis on a compris, et là, on a les paumes ouvertes avec notre coeur dedans, il faut qu'tu l'prennes et qu'tu l'emmènes 🥹

Que tout s'danse by Noé Preszow: this song is another of those songs that are incredibly important to castles and have really shaped the narrative of the fic. it basically says "you tell me anyone can dance through everything". it's a song about love and resilience and fucking up, and really was essential to the whole hinny arc in part 2. it has these lyrics about "i know it doesn't seem like it but i need to be laughed at, i need anonymous letters accusing me of all crimes" - to me it speaks to the very thesis of why harry chooses ginny: because she challenges him and makes him a better person. but, in my head, this song is also a war song, and a castles song. it's very linked to the trials arc of part 2, which also concludes in this chapter. in the song, the lyrics state: tu me dis que tout s'danse, même la gêne, même la haine, même l'errance. Que tout s'danse, la solitude, l'état de siège, l'état d'urgence. that last part, basically translating to "you can dance through anything, a siege or a state of emergency" is a direct reference to the state of emergency that was declared after the bataclan attacks in paris in 2016. as i've said before, i drew a lot of inspiration from the bataclan trials for castles, which were ongoing as i was writing, and from the bataclan attacks in general, which had a massive impact on my life and in part, motivated me to write castles. it's a gorgeous song, and one that has been in the playlist from the very start of this journey.

Friends (The Way I Wrote It) by Ian McConnell: i don't think i need to explain this one. it's the very last of the harry/mia song. it's cute and sad and weirdly perfect.

Paris by The Chainsmokers: i listened to this song a lot whilst writing chapter 15/16 and i couldn't help but feel like i had to include it somewhere. at first i was like "this has got to be mia related because it's paris," but ultimately, i think it's a very hinny-in-chapter-16 song. you'll see anyway that this whole chapter is pretty much one travel-related song after the other (lol), so here's the first one of many haha. i love the "let's show them we are better" and "if we go down, let's go down together" - it's very them and is also a good transition between 15 and 16.

Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls: i really struggled with this chapter regarding whether or not to include the muggle songs that are referenced in the text into the playlist. in the end, i decided not to, apart from this one and the Manu Chao one (see below). i don't think stuff like the real slim shady or wannabe or Dido are particularly relevant to this story, but this one is just so perfectly cliché and great for Ron & Hermione - i just had to include it.

Caravane by Raphaël: i know, i know. if you're french, you can't stand this song anymore cause it's been so overplayed, think: james blunt's you're beautiful. BUT it is a beautiful song. and, it's: harry and ginny leaving. being free. just the two of them. 🥹

Young as the Morning Old as the Sea by Passenger: i just love this song, it's gorge. but yeah, just another travel song in fairness ^^.

Fast Car by Tracy Chapman: so, funnily enough, this song was supposed to be a song harry and ginny danced to at the wedding. i took it out because all things considered, it's not a super hopeful song. but just now, i was looking for song to cover their first fight in misty village and like, idk. i love the metaphor in this, the way the first few pages of the trip (and the first few songs) are very happy-go-lucky and "yaay! we're going on an adventure" but then this one is like: is the adventure really a happy ending? it follows the hopeful beginning of this song and the more tragic end, almost. also this one and the previous one are very guitar-based, so they go well together.

Renegades by X Ambassadors: aaaaaand, they're back on the road lol.

The Seer's Tower by Jamie Cullum: this is a cover of a Sufjan Stevens song but Jamie Cullum's version fucking haunts me. i think it fits so well the low-key tension that exists between harry and ginny in that part of the chapter, around chicago and the midwest, where they're actually talking and making progress but also, everything's a bit complicated. i just adore this. and, obviously, the title of the song is a reference to Sear's Tower in chicago, which harry and ginny visit.

Bongo Bong by Manu Chao: aaaaaand, we're back on the road lol. with this quintessential european 90s song lol.

Sword from the Stone by Passenger: this is probably one of my top three passenger songs and the only "covid" song i can tolerate lol. i was sort of looking for a place for it in castles and then it hit me while making the playlist for this chapter. it's got that sort of desperation to it and that "i can't do it alone" and the ups and downs that are. very symptomatic of harry and ginny in this chapter. to me, this is really representative of the lead up to their final fight and of the fight itself.

It's Called: Freefall by Paris Paloma: this is a cover version which you probably already heard if you're on tiktok - it really inspired this chapter, and particularly the grand canyon moment.

What Is Love? by The Red Pill & Alan Watts: a bit the same as the above, i just love the text and it really symbolises that idea of taking a leap and believing in love for the two of them.

LETTRE A ZOÉ by Fauve: this is probably my favourite Fauve song and to me it so symbolises the vibe of the grand canyon aftermath, the very early, exciting stages of a reconciliation. it's such a beautiful song and i think it transitions wonderfully into the new "stage" of castles.

Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa by FINNEAS: this is the era/chapter of love songs, lol. i love this one, it's so happy and symbolic of the first half of this chapter - harry and ginny enjoying the honeymoon phase haha.

Room Service by Holly Humberstone: i can't recall how i first heard this song but i always thought it had such hinny undertones of that era in castles, covering both this chapter but also the one before - this quietness of a refuge found in bedrooms and hotel rooms just the two of them. the love that transpires. i am burying the things that hurt you. i'm digging holes in the garden, babe, i made a tomb to put them in - everything. i also love the part that goes 'cause you've lost too much sleep for one lifetime - that really speaks to the two of them and their nightmares.

Rosie by Passenger: another cosy song for this cosy chapter. funny story but passenger said he wrote that song as a lullaby for his cat who was scared of the storm. it's a beautiful ballad about not worrying and being protected. i adore this song, it always gives me hope and feels whenever i hear it.

Party Tattoos by dodie: continuing with the cosy feeling, but this song is also about social anxiety and taking leaps of faith to actually do things, which i think speaks to harry and ginny finally enjoying themselves in this chapter. that being said, i mostly picked this song for this iconic line: they're not bruises, they're just party tattoos. that really spoke to me in this chapter, not in the context of the song specifically, but more in the context of the "bruises" and "wounds" that harry and ginny are working to heal together, and this concept that they're not bruises, they're just party (or maybe life) tattoos. i love that idea and the metaphor, which is why i included the song here.

Petite Marie by Francis Cabrel: and, again, we finish with a love song. probably one of the most beautiful of all. sorry for those who don't speak french, you're missing something. je viens du ciel et les étoiles entre elles ne parlent que de toi. (i come from the sky and amongst themselves, the stars only speak of you.)

[albert-tsum]

I just decided to ramble a bit about my sexuality hcs, ships etc about Wesker.

(I never thought I'd make so many text posts)

These are not going to be extremely precise analyses and will be influenced by my personal wishes and hopes. If I've written something that goes absolutely against the canon feel free to inform me.

It may become a bit uncomfortable since I wanna address some serious topics.

And it'll be too long again.

-------------------------------------------

1. General headcanons

Personally I see him on the aroace spectrum and/or as pansexual. He's not easily romantically or sexually interested in someone. I'd even say it happens almost never. He may be able to sleep with people he isn't into (maybe to manipulate them) but rarely does so (I also don't think he slept with Excella like some do, she clearly wanted it but he was able to manipulate her without sex). To be into someone this person needs something that intrigues or excites Wesker e.g. their intelligence, willpower, physical combat skills etc. But I don't think he would care much about the gender of his partner. He probably has more experience with women (e.g. he says in the OG RE1 that "he's not used to escort men") but is also open for men. As far I am aware his VAs Richard Waugh (a) and DC Douglas (b) said that he's not gender specific (a) and probably wouldn't limit himself (b) to one gender.

Either way I see him as queer.

2. My ships

As you see in my reblogs I ship him and William Birkin. He was Weskers only real friend whom he admired and trusted. That's a really big thing for Wesker so I like the hc that there was more than friendship between them and I would love to see them interacting more and learn more about their shared past.

The only other ship I like with Wesker is himxChris Redfield even tho it's kinda problematic. I like the STARS version of them where Chris looked up to Wesker who was fond and proud of him (but probably doesn't want to have feelings like this since he knows he will betray them at one point). I also kinda like the hc that Wesker maybe wanted Chris (and perhaps Jill) to join him if they hadn't make fun of his tyrant. Since I kinda like enemies to lovers and complex relationships like that I also enjoy post RE1 Chrisker. I'd love if it's not sheer hate between them but more like a mix of disappointed expectations, obsession and that they need eachother and the secret wish to have eachother on their side.

I am not the biggest fan of huge age gaps so Chris and Wesker having a difference of 15 years is something I am not too happy about. So early 20s is the lowest age I'd accept (like Jake's mother was).

3. My hopes and wishes

As I said I don't like huge age gaps so I dislike the ships WeskerxRebecca and WeskerxClaire. Rebecca was 18 und Claire 19 when they met Wesker and they are way too young for him. Because of that I really hope that Wesker isn't attracted to Rebecca. That would be a no-go even tho it's fictional and it'd destroy Wesker as a character for me. So I really hope Capcom won't make him someone who absolutely does not care about age to the extent where it's becoming creepy.

(that isn't meant to offend those who like these ships, it's just my personal opinion)

CW: r@pe

I also came across people claiming that he may be a r@pist (for e.g. controlling Jill in RE5). That's another case of yeah he is absolutely evil but that does not mean that he has every evil trait or crime committed. I am pretty sure he didn't do anything sexual to Jill (who had the control device on their chest not because Wesker is a pervert but because the devs wanted more fanservice). I don't think Capcom would make a important character like Wesker (who you can also play as) a r@pist (unlike Irons who was a really hateable side character who was hated even by Wesker)

Thx for reading 😅

[neerons]

I hope you don't mind me answering you in the Ask section 😅 I find it easier this way, and I think our discussion can be interesting for other fans of MK!

I could be wrong, but from what I remember, Kazuomi already checked his birth certificate and it was written that his "mother" was his birth mother. However, like he said, his father might have falsified the document. So in the end he couldn't know the truth.

Kazuomi never trusted his father, and I kinda understand, because from what we saw, his father was a shady man, a red flag and a bad husband. Also, can we really call him a father when he didn't fulfill his role as one? No wonder Kazuomi didn't like him 😅

Besides, we know that Kazuomi said he doubted that his "mother" was his real mother because he didn't look like her at all. He is a copy of his father, and thanks god it's only the looks, not the personality 🙏

By the way, my first reaction to this information was : "Kazuomi... You know, in fiction it's quite common to see a son who is the spitting image of his dad. So your mother might really be your mom. You don't have to look like your mom for her to be your birth mother. You want an example? Eisuke's genes are so dominant that his 3 sons look exactly like him lol. I know that your father had many mistresses, so I understand your concern, but still..." In the future, if Kazuomi and the MC have a son who look exactly like him, I hope he won't doubt that the MC is the mother of his child 😂

More seriously, yes, it seems Kazuomi also felt betrayed by his mother because she was showing him affection, but only because he's the spitting image of his father. In the VIP room, his younger version says that the love he received might have been false love... It's just his assumption, but we can't deny what he was feeling (he was lonely and wasn't feeling loved). Also, I think the possibility that his mother might not be his "real" mother (birth mother) broke his heart even more. It also broke my heart because he deserves love 🥲 Unfortunately, we don't choose our parents, and not everyone is fit to be parents...

Okay now I'm curious, what is your recurrent thought about his past? It doesn't matter if it turns out to not be accurate. We're here to theorise haha.

As always, thank you for your reply ❤️

(I'll send you a DM for Ikemen Prince! I'll write in French because it'll be easier haha)

Hi again, and no worries 🤗

Indeed, he checked his birth certificate and he saw on it that his mother was stated to be his actual birth mother, but knowing his father, Kazuomi expected that he falsified the document so that Kazuomi wouldn't learn the truth.

Yeah, his father was barely there for him, as he mostly cared for his business... And I agree that the genetics in otome games are usually quite strong 🤣 Eisuke's sons, except for maybe Kaito who looks a bit like MC, all look like him. I find it so funny to have a mini army of the LI as if we didn't see his face enough 😂 But it's cute in the end.

Also, I do often see this line in Kazuomi's VIP room yes! I feel really bad for him. I can't imagine how much he suffered from not feeling loved by his own family.

Thank god he had Zack later. He's probably the father he wished he had in the first place, and Zack made Kazuomi grow so much ❤ He is the Kazuomi Shido he is now thanks to him. I can't wait to see how everything will play out next

My theory about Kazuomi's past

[TW: mentions of potential SA]

Okay so this is meant to be taken with a grain of salt because I might be overthinking this. This is also going to mention triggering topics similar to Kei's story so avoid reading this if you're not comfortable.

This is only a possibility among many other possibilities, so in a way I hope I'm wrong and I most probably am.

I'm going to assume in this theory that Kazuomi's mother is not his actual birth mother to make it a bit less horrible. There were many ingredients of the story that made me reach a recipe darker than I would have liked, to be perfectly honest 😅

So, we have a woman who is probably not even Kazuomi's mother, completely head over heels with her husband, Kazuomi's father.

Sadly, her husband has many mistresses and doesn't "giver her the time of day". He's often out, and when he does come home on rare occasions, he spends time with shady men and still doesn't care about her.

On the other hand, there's Kazuomi, the child her husband (possibly) had with another woman, who looks exactly like her husband. He's young, naive, yearns for attention and consolation, and vulnerable.

Her husband is often away and she has many opportunities to spend time with Kazuomi.

My brain made me reach a potential conclusion that, and I hope it's not true, it's not impossible that this woman used Kazuomi to satisfy her desires since she was longing for her husband.

But then again, my brain sometimes reaches very dark theories so, again, I'm hoping for something different so my heart could be spared. And if I'm honest there are so many other things we could imagine other than this. I feel kind of bad for putting this thought out there 😢

Even if she didn't use him sexually, at least we know she used him as an emotional replacement, so this theory isn't so far from the truth technically speaking.

Anyway, thank you for the ask again!

[tamelee]

Hi

It's me again 😅

How are you today? Hope you have a great day /night ✨

I have multiple questions 😅

I love reading naruto manga but it's there a part that I don't understand

Why did sasuke try to kill naruto here? I just don't understand it😅😅

And if Sai didn't stop him from killing naruto, sasuke would kill him?

Also in this chapter, sakura said for naruto, sasuke is like brother to him

I just wonder why didn't she recognize naruto's feelings towards sasuke?

Or could it be naruto himself didn't recognize his feelings for sasuke yet? That his feelings is romantic? I just don't understand this chapter 😂

A little question :

When do you think naruto actually understand / recognize his romantic feelings towards sasuke?

Also your arts are beautiful as always ❤️❤️

Hi nancy-8140 ! 💕 Hope you're well!

"Why did sasuke try to kill naruto here? I just don't understand it😅😅

And if Sai didn't stop him from killing naruto, sasuke would kill him?"

So, prior to this, Sasuke already has made it known that he felt like he needed to (not wanted to) cut his bond with Naruto. As long as Naruto is alive, that love (take it how you will) would get in the way of his goals. It makes him vulnerable because as he tried to explain to Genin Naruto who at the time didn't understand yet: "it hurts to lose someone you love." (In Sasuke's case.. many someones..) That's why only Naruto was the one he felt like he needed to kill, only Naruto was left and was "in the way".

Sasuke couldn't kill Naruto and didn't take the shortcut for power even though he could've. He looks broken, miserable and devastated.

Does this look like a boy who wants to kill Naruto to you?

Instead he chooses to literally walk into the "darkness" (hey, I know some Sasuke fans hate this, but this is the visual the Manga gives us and well it's true in a way.. so just using it for that purpose) to train with a creepy Snake man he hates for years instead. Because doing so is another chance of gaining power but keeping Naruto alive. Indeed, that is Sasuke's way. Because Sasuke loves Naruto. And so what do you think will happen when he sees Naruto again after almost 3 years? When Sasuke learns that Naruto has been actively searching for him despite having his own dream. That Naruto has never given up on him?

Naruto knows Sasuke couldn't do it and provokes him. Look at Sasuke's face. The Manga literally brings you back to that moment in VotE1 and Sasuke's memories. The true reason why Sasuke needed to kill Naruto, his closest friend, but can't. Because Sasuke loves Naruto.

Kishimoto makes him glide down to hug Naruto close and even while holding him, pressed against his body (this sounds like fan fiction but it really isn't) they're being flirty in an odd way.

If Sasuke had wanted to kill Naruto for real he would've and Naruto didn't seem to stop him at the time either. Naruto's body apparently moved on its own to stop Sai from stabbing Sasuke instead.

"Also in this chapter, sakura said for naruto, sasuke is like brother to him"

"I just wonder why didn't she recognize naruto's feelings towards sasuke?"

Oh I would love to one day write an essay about Kishimoto writing Sakura/Sai observing Naruto/Sasuke. Because there is something really interesting happening in this Chapter and then again after the Pain Arc when Sai is telling her that Naruto loves her so much even though he doesn't and she gets turned down by both Naruto and Sasuke. Then Sai is like a vessel from a readers perspective getting fed spoons of information and I've always wondered if he was a character inspired by a person Kishimoto knew irl. It seems to me Kishimoto really likes Sai (I do too) and he comes to understand their bond more and more but it's a bit frustrating that the earlier ignorance is what anti's grab and use as evidence yet ignore later development. Sakura and Sai love to bullshit each other yet Sai does it unknowingly. Sakura is manipulative, purposefully being ignorant if it means she can stay in Sasuke-kun la-la-land. Kishimoto is a genius writer. I'll fight anyone. I'm sorry if I sound vague, this just takes a bit longer. I've already made a post about her "knowing about SNS" but somehow my blog won't load? Idk maybe it's just my Tumblr. I'll edit this post if it works again I'm sorry ;-; Anyway, Sai confronted Naruto with this information and this was his answer:

Sai confronted Sasuke with this information and this was his answer:

And that is Kishimoto saying: Naruto and Sasuke are not brothers thank you very much.

"When do you think naruto actually understand / recognize his romantic feelings towards sasuke?"

I've always felt that their journeys until the end of the story are about exploration, development, figuring things out. I don't think there really, truly is a moment when there is an "okay now it is romantic"-epiphany. Because what would that mean? Kishimoto can't show us an "Oh shit I think I'm actually really in love with him" panel/scene like that shitshow Hinata-fans got and I'm happy we didn't lmao. Instead we get an entire love-story tbh and I'm okay with that. Maybe if I were to guess (and it would fit the story nicely) is when he turned down Sakura, called her out on her bullshit after he tossed and turned for a whole night thinking about Sasuke, found out the truth about the UCM, had a panic attack, begged for Sasuke's forgiveness and sobbed with his head buried in the snow in front of the Raikage, then set his resolve and felt so confident and resolute that he left his Hitai-ate, went to his own little space with Sasuke to confess how he felt about him and in the end told him he would bear his burdens and die with him. All the while looking content and peaceful regardless of what happened before that. ;-; Because Naruto loves Sasuke.

"Also your arts are beautiful as always ❤️❤️"

Thankyou so much!! I'm happy you like them 🧡🧡

[micia-posts-stuff]

The absolute double standard of saying Damian is more mature and doesn’t need to be change aged up when we have writers have him still treating Anya like if he was an 6 year old with a crush, lashing out at her and sometimes insulting her and treating her even worse, and it is worse because he should know better by then. Not to mention have him be openly ashamed of his feelings for her and have Anya still fall for a immature manchild like this, because it’s okay is not what he really thinks anyway :/

Alright, since I'm receiving a lot of asks on this subject, I want to preface this by saying that I haven't read a lot of Damianya fan fiction. The reason why in my previous asks I always go back to the manga is because I don't have that much experience in Damianya fan fictions and I don't want to seem like I have more knowledge on the subject than I actually do 😅

Also also for how many pet peeves you, me or anyone else might have it's important to remember that authors and artists do this for free and under no obligation, so I try to keep a "if you don't like it, don't read it" kinda vibe, or read it anyway if you want to explore a different interpretation, but keep in mind that it's ok if it doesn't align with what you have in mind. This is to say that I'm trying to answer these by just speculating my personal interpretation of Damian and Anya and their future, not to police anybody.

With that being said, from what I've seen a lot of aged up Damian and Anya are still teens, so I think it's ok if he's still embarrassed of his crush, because teens are awkward, so Damian has the right to be an awkward teen. Even if they're already adults a bit of "I can't believe I fell in love with you" can be funny, it's the classic "you're an idiot" "Yes but I'm YOUR idiot" situation. The same way I said I think Anya would still have a bit of childhood wonder I also think Damian might keep some tsundere-tendencies. I do agree that I'd like to see Damian stop lashing out to Anya and definitely not treating her worse, especially because I think he's already making progress in the manga, apologizing and dropping the act when other people aren't around, he still has work to do, but he's getting better. Tho I also think a bit of playful bickering is funny. It's even a recurring gag in the manga that their bickering is seen as normal, with the other kids, including Becky, Ewen and Emile, leaving them to go to class. Also when Damian thinks he has crossed the line in any way (even when he didn't mean it and it genuinely wasn't his fault, like when Anya told him she got a dog) he immediately apologies and tries to cheer her up. Like the way this kid cannot stand Anya being upset and crying is honestly so cute and funny, one of my favorite things about their dynamic. So in conclusion I think they would still bicker a bit, but never to be hurtful, because Damian can't really stand making her actually upset. But also, if a fic or a comic wants to explore a moment when one of them said something wrong that's also fine, because sometimes people say stuff they don't mean and writing about fictional characters doing the same is ok.

If you think my take is pretty lukewarm is because it is, I really don't want people to feel like they HAVE to write characters a certain way.

[goldenivy0]

There's never a dull moment in the ACOTAR fandom fr 💀. I've been in the fandom for like.. a measly 4 months (4 MONTHS!!) and the only thing I can do whenever new drama comes to light is laugh, I swear lmao 😂.

The most recent drama, Elain week. Oof...

Let's assume that Elain week would result in 300 fan works, whether they were fanarts or fanfics. I bet that not even 2% of those works (≈ 6 works) would be about Tamlin/Elain. The probability of 0 (zero) of them being about Beron/Elain would be 99.99999%. But look at what resulted from this "rule" that people wanted to implement in the name of "anti-abuse". The attention that you didn't wish to be given to Tamlin or Beron, ended up being given IN TRIPLE, will (most likely) be given during the week in question IN TRIPLE and it also generated the creation of new crackships such as Elain/Koschei. KOSCHEI!! Literally a death god and the biggest villain of the series at the moment.

This whole situation is crazy, I just have to laugh at it 😅. How do we want this fanbase to have less toxicity if we're always coming up with new reasons to generate anger and discord among us? Hell, let people draw what they want to draw, let people write what they want to write. You don't agree with what you might see or read during certain character's appreciation week? Go ahead and skip that content. Maybe don't host that event. But let's not pretend that you are creating a safe and inclusive space for ALL Elain lovers with Elain week when the rules of that same event automatically EXCLUDE certain people from it (Elain lovers included).

The time for censorship regarding freedom of expression/speech (because art is a form of expression) has long passed. You are not God to judge what is right and what is wrong. This is fiction! This need to be different and the desire to be morally superior to others does not always go well and I think that has been proven. Let's just try to control the damage now.

[ravens-kiss]

Finally finished one. This is on AO3 as well, the link to which is posted on my main blog, @ravenh37 .

Not much but I hope you enjoy...

Also on Wattpad ...

An imaginary account of Gene's accidental experience with pot brownies in 1974 from the POV of his date (y\n).

This is my first time posting fanfiction. I've read a lot of great fanfics about KISS by other fans and thought it was time I put in my two cents worth 😅. I hope whoever reads it enjoys it.

Here's a little something I came up with awhile back after reading about the one and only time Gene Simmons got high. I'd read about it in Peter Criss's book, Gene Simmons' biography , and articles where his actual date that night, rock journalist, Jaan Uhelski, told her account of it.

Some of the details were as fuzzy as I'm sure Gene's brain was that night. Was it a diner or store they stopped at? Was it '74 or '76? Was it Peter Criss's birthday or the rock promoter's birthday? Did he have three brownies or six? The world may never know, but who cares. This is a fictional story so I took a lot of liberties filling in the blanks. This is from the POV of his date, Y\N…

Detroit loved KISS and they showed them how much one evening in '74. After their show they were presented with a special award and a party was thrown in their honor. It was also the promoter's birthday so there were goodies of all kinds.

I was Gene's guest that night. We'd been hanging out together and getting kinda close lately so it was only natural that he asked me to be his date. I didn't know if tonight would be the night that something happened between us but we seemed to be headed in that direction. There was a lot of flirtation and sexual tension between us. It was well known that Gene liked his girls, and I was a girl who liked to be liked. Especially by brown eyed, hairy chested hunks. It was the perfect storm.

It was ironic really that as much as the two of us looked like hippies we were the only ones there not partaking in drugs or alcohol. His band mates were half lit along with everyone else but that stuff never appealed to Gene. His only weakness (besides girls) was sweets.

After the cake had been cut and the presents unwrapped I excused myself for a moment to go to the ladies room and fix my makeup. When I got back to the party there were waitresses making rounds with trays piled high with brownies.

Now I had heard the guys talking earlier and I knew that they had been made with hash. So my stomach dropped when I got back to the table and saw Gene stuffing one the size of a phone book in his mouth.

"Gene! What are you doing?"

“Having a brownie. Want me to get you one?" He said around a mouthful.

“Gene, don't you know those are pot brownies?"

He just looked at me with his mouth full and blinked a few times. After a second he swallowed and said, "What? Nah... I'm having another one," and stuffed the rest of the one he was holding in his mouth.

"I'm not kidding. I heard someone talking about it. They're made with hash. Nobody told you?"

He was starting to look a little worried. "Come on, Y/n, who would defile perfectly good chocolate with drugs? "

" Oh, I don't know. Maybe them. " I pointed to Peter and Ace who kept looking over at us and snickering. When he turned around and saw how the guys were acting he knew for sure then that he'd been had.

"Okay, please tell me you only had the one brownie." I knew that wasn't likely. Like I said before Gene has a major sweet tooth.

"Not exactly..." He looked sheepish like a kid who just got caught in the cookie jar. It would have been funny under other circumstances.

"How many?"

"Three... or four... maybe six…"

I sighed and put a hand over my eyes. "Oh, man, you're gonna be fucked up for a month."

His eyes started to widen. I knew that he didn't do drugs but I'd forgotten how naive he was about them. I'd heard about him once putting cocaine in his coffee at the recording studio thinking it was sweetener.

"No, no. Not really. Don't panic. But you are gonna feel really weird the rest of the night."

" Well, I feel fine so far. Maybe it won't do anything. " He said. His expression was so hopeful. Poor Gene.

Sure enough in no time he was flying, looking around fascinated by every little thing he saw. It was like he'd just landed on Ace's imaginary planet, Jendell. Everyone else thought it was hilarious but I knew how upset he would be after he came back down. Drugs went against his whole constitution. I stuck close to him keeping an eye out to make sure he didn't get into too much trouble. He started talking really loud and patting the sides of his head like he was checking the size of it, or maybe to make sure it was still attached.

After a bit he came up to me and said, "Y\N, I THINK I NEED TO LEAVE! EVERYONE'S LAUGHING AT ME!" I covered my ears because he was still yelling. "Hey, inside voice, Gene. I can hear you just fine."

So we left. I helped him to the car because his depth perception seemed a little off. He was walking like the ground wasn't quite solid under his feet. I was practically holding him up, thanking God that we had a driver and that Gene didn't drive himself.

I wanted to strangle Peter and Ace, maybe Paul, too (not sure if he was in on it or not,) and I was kicking myself for not tipping Gene off to what I'd heard about the brownies. But I assumed he already knew and I'd figured that they wouldn't bring them out until after we left since Gene and I were anti drug. And I was kinda counting on leaving early with him, if you know what I mean.

Heading to the hotel Gene suddenly realized he was thirsty. Thirstier than he'd ever been before in his life, apparently. And only milk would suffice. He tapped the driver on the shoulder, still speaking loudly. "Hey! Pull over to that place there!"

The place was a seedy little all night convenience store in a rough looking part of the city. I clung tightly to his arm as we walked inside. It was dimly lit. Only a couple of people were there not counting the guy behind the counter.

Everyone looked up at us as Gene said in a loud clear voice, "Can I get a glass of milk, please!" I wanted to disappear at that point.

"We don't sell glasses of milk here, son," said the guy at the counter, giving us a look that was part disgust and part weariness. You could tell he probably saw a lot of people in Gene's current condition on a nightly basis.

A look came over Gene's face that would've looked right at home on the face of a five year old that just found out that Christmas has been cancelled.

"Thanks anyway, sir. Sorry we bothered you," I said as I lead Gene out the door. "Come on. We'll find a diner and have a bite to eat. They should have milk." This perked him up a little.

The driver took us to an all night diner where we had burgers and fries. I sipped on a diet Coke while Gene chugged down two glasses of milk. When our food was brought over he dug in with gusto. The munchies stage had hit him. It didn't take us long to finish our meal before we headed back to the hotel.

When we got back to the hotel I followed Gene back to his room. I had a room of my own but I didn't think it was wise to leave him alone. He was still pretty freaked. When he got out the room key he just stared at it for a moment.

"Y\n, I don't think it's gonna fit. Look at it! It's the size of a sledge hammer."

" Don't worry, it'll fit. See?" And I took the key and let us into the room. Gene went to use the bathroom and after a second he called through the door, "Whoa, y\n, you ought to see this! Is this a side effect, or what?"

"Oh God," I said as I covered my eyes. Not that I hadn't planned on checking it out, of course. But I didn't think that was going to be on the agenda for tonight now. Again I felt like killing the guys for their little stunt.

I helped Gene get undressed and get into bed. Even in his current state he still couldn't help being his usual amorous self but I told him he needed to rest and let the drugs wear off. I think we both agreed this was a wise decision when the hallucinations really kicked in. At one point he looked at me, screamed like I'd just sprouted horns and started backing away from me. I went to get a cold wash cloth for his head not knowing what else to do to calm him down. When I came back to the bed he was on the phone with Peter and I heard him tell him that my face was melting and asking him if he was going to OD.

Gene really didn't seem that reassured when he got off the phone. I was a little freaked out, myself, seeing him in this state. It was so unlike his usual cool, collected self. I was beginning to worry if there was something besides just weed in those brownies. His reaction seemed a little extreme.

He flinched away when I put the wash cloth to his head. I settled down beside him on the bed and took his hand. “Look, my face is not melting. It's just the drugs making you see things. See?" And I put his hand on my cheek. This seemed to soothe him.

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Oh, man. My mother would be so disappointed if she knew about this.” He sounded so miserable it broke my heart a little.

“Hey, you didn't take that crap on purpose. She never has to know, alright?"

“Alright. Will you stay here tonight? I'm seriously afraid I'll OD." I looked at him, trying to decide if this was part of his schtick or if he was really afraid to be left alone. Seeing the beads of sweat on his forehead and the wild look in his eyes made me decide that maybe he was really nervous about it. And I didn't want him to hurt himself if he started hallucinating again.

"I'll stay. But if it makes you feel any better I've never heard of anyone OD’ing on pot brownies.”

Not long after he nodded off. As I watched him sleep I couldn't help but think he looked kinda sweet unconscious. He looked so peaceful and innocent, that devilish glint gone for once. It made me regret shutting him down earlier. God, I wanted him, I thought. But not tonight. It wouldn't have been right in his condition. When it finally happens I want him good and lucid, totally in his right mind. I want him to remember it.

As I was thinking these thoughts I began to get sleepy and soon after nodded off, myself.

The next morning everyone was in the hotel lobby getting ready to leave. Gene was mostly back to normal, just a little quieter than usual and still a bit shaken. As the others were talking he took me aside. “Uh, I hope I didn't do anything to upset you last night. It's all still a little fuzzy. Did we…”

" No. Maybe next time, huh?" I gave him a wink as I started to walk away. He gave me a little smack on the ass that me jump and start laughing. Yep, all was back to normal. But I think it was a long time before Gene touched another brownie.

The End.