#News Wave AI Features

[marketingprofitmedia]

News Wave AI Review – Create Stunning ChatGPT4 News Sites In Any Niche!

Welcome to my News Wave AI Review Post, Where I will discuss the features, upgrades, demo, price, and bonuses, how News Wave AI can benefit you. This is a brand new harness Use ChatGPT4’s power to create automated viral news sites using a single keyword in less than one minute!

Do you know? What news websites are the most visited, shared, and talked about on the web? Not just that, they are also super profitable! Imagine if you could create and sell self-updating ChatGPT4-powered news sites in minutes without any technical skills or experience. We have developed it on the latest ChatGPT4 technology, which automatically scrapes and updates your site with the latest scoops on politics, entertainment, sports, and more from top-notch sources like CNN, BBC, Fox News, and more. If you are serious about making money online, this is something you don’t want to miss out on.

News Wave AI Review: What Is News Wave AI?

News Wave AI is a software program designed to automate various aspects of news website creation and management. It utilizes AI technology to generate news content, curate articles, manage traffic, and even create AI-powered news anchors for video content.

This AI technology like ChatGPT4 to generate news articles based on your input. It can also curate trending stories and articles from various sources, keeping your website constantly updated with fresh content. But News Wave AI goes beyond just content. It boasts features to automate traffic generation and even create AI-powered news anchors to deliver the news in video format. This all-in-one approach aims to simplify news website management, allowing you to focus on strategy and audience engagement.

News Wave AI Review: Overview

Creator: Obed S.A & Mustapha Hassan

Product: News Wave AI

Date Of Launch: 2024-Apr-25

Time Of Launch: 10:00 EDT

Front-End Price: $17 (One-time payment)

Official Website: Click Here To Access

Product Type: Software (Online), Website/Membership

Support: Effective Response

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News Wave AI Review: About Authors

News Wave AI was created by Obed S.A. and Mustapha Hassan, a powerful pair of authors. They started a goal to change how websites are made and how they make money by combining their knowledge of AI with their drive to be entrepreneurs.

This partnership has created a groundbreaking platform that lets users easily create popular news websites that update themselves and make as much money as possible from them. All of News Wave AI shows their dedication to quality and new ideas.

In addition to News Wave AI, Obed S.A, and Mustapha Hassan have also developed other valuable products like AcquireWeb AI, Orion, and ProfitRocket, and many others.

News Wave AI Review: Features

Create Self-Updating Viral News Websites In Any Niche.

Launch Your Very First News Website With Our DFY Stunning Templates.

Sell These Spectacular News Sites On Flippa, eBay & Facebook For Maximum Profit.

Instantly Scrape The Top-Notch News Websites For Trending News & Content In Real-Time.

These AI-Powered News Websites Drive Limitless Traffic & Sales Like Never Before.

Get Separate Admin Logins For Each News Site To Sell Each Site Easily Without Complication.

Generate High-Quality Leads With Our Proven Opt-In Forms.

Newbie-Friendly, Drag & Drop News Website Editor.

Start Your Very Own News Website Making Agency & Charge Your Customers Anything You Want.

Promote Offers From WarriorPlus, JvZoo & Clickbank Just By Embedding Your Affiliate Links.

It Comes With a Lifetime Account For All Your News Websites.

100% SEO Optimized & Fully Mobile Responsive.

No Hidden Fee Or Any Extra Expenses.

Nothing To Download, Install Or Customize — Get Started In Seconds.

Limited Time Commercial License.

Iron-Clad 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee.

News Wave AI Review: How Does It Work?

You’re Just 3 Clicks Away. From Creating & Selling AI Powered Self-Updating News Websites That Drives Automated Leads, Sales, And Traffic Like Never Before.

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News Wave AI Review: Can Do For You

Create Unlimited Viral News Websites In Any Niche Imaginable.

Automatically Sell These High-In-Demand Viral News Sites On Flippa, eBay & Facebook For $500–1000.

Choose From Our 1000+ Done-For-You Different News Website Templates.

Auto-Updation: News Sites Get Automatically Updated Every Hour With The Latest & Freshest News In Real Time.

Pull The Juiciest Scoops On Politics, Entertainment, Sports & Beyond From Top-Notch Sources Like CNN, BBC, and Fox News In Real Time.

Automatically Updated Every Hour With The Latest & Freshest News In Real Time.

Earn Easy Affiliate Commissions By Embedding Your Affiliate Links To Every News Or Content And Profit Heavily.

Generate High-Quality Leads In Any Niche With Our Built-In Proven Opt-In Form.

Monetize Your Site With Banner Ads, Google Adsense And So Much More.

ChatGPT Powered Viral News Sites Are Fully SEO Optimized For Better Ranking On Google.

Instantly Translate News Websites In Over 150+ Different Languages.

Advanced Site Analytics Gives You Detailed Information About Real-Time Traffic And User Info.

Sell Your Product and Grow Your Branding With Our Built-In ChatGPT-Powered Autoresponder.

Grab Our Limited-Time Commercial License & Sell News Wave AI To Your Clients.

Lifetime FREE Domain & Website Hosting With Unlimited Bandwidth.

100% SEO Optimized, Fully Mobile Responsive, And User Friendly.

News Wave AI Review: Verify User Feedback

News Wave AI Review: Who Should Use It?

Affiliate Marketers

CPA Marketers

Artists

Content Creators

eCom Store Owners

Blog Owners

CPA Marketers

Video Marketers

Product Creators

Personal Brands

Freelancers

And Many Others

News Wave AI Review: OTO’s And Pricing

Front End Price: News Wave AI ($17)

OTO 1: News Wave AI- Unlimited Edition ($47)

OTO 2: News Wave AI- Automation ($67)

OTO 3: News Wave AI- DFY ($129)

OTO 4: News Wave AI- Profit Sites ($57)

OTO 5: News Wave AI- Agency ($57)

OTO 6: News Wave AI- ChatGPT4 ($37)

OTO 7: News Wave AI- Reseller ($97)

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News Wave AI Review: My Unique Bonus Bundle

My Unique Bonus Bundle will be visible on your access page as an Affiliate Bonus Button on WarriorPlus immediately after purchase.

And before ending my honest News Wave AI Review, I told you that I would give you my very own unique PFTSES formula for Free.

News Wave AI Review: Free Bonuses

Bonus #1: 20,000 Professional Logos For News Website (Value = $197)

Bonus #2: 15,000 Social Media Templates To Increase Traffic (Value = $197)

Bonus #3: 50,000+ Premium Fonts For Your Website (Value = $297)

Bonus #4: 666,317 YouTube Views Cast Study (Value = $97)

Bonus #5: 17000+ News Motion Graphics Templates (Value = $397)

Bonus #6: 3000+ Animated Graphics For News Website (Value = $397)

Bonus #7: Guaranteed Approval On 20+ Offers (Value = $597)

Bonus #8: DFY Swipes To Automated Income (Value = $597)

Bonus #9: Premium Link Tracker To Track Affiliate Sales (Value = $297)

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News Wave AI Review: Demo Video

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News Wave AI Review: Money Back Guarantee

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The deal is that if you buy News Wave AI and don’t believe you’re getting at least five times what you paid for it, we don’t want your money. We are on a mission to provide a quality product with ZERO unhappy customers. And if we fall short in any way, then we do not deserve your money. If we don’t meet your expectations, please let us know within 30 days for a full refund. Heck, as a kind gesture, we’ll even send you some extra software to help you grow your business and sales like never before. So either way, you win.

News Wave AI Review: Pros and Cons

Pros:

Saves time and resources through content automation.

Increases content output for a steady news flow.

Offers 24/7 content creation for constant updates.

Potential for wider audience reach with traffic automation (if effective).

Unique AI-powered news anchors for video content.

Cons:

You cannot use this product without an active internet connection.

In fact, I haven’t yet discovered any other problems with News Wave AI.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Q. What Exactly Is News Wave AI AI?

It’s A Brand New System That Creates And Sells Self-Updating Viral News Websites On Flippa, eBay, and Facebook On Complete Autopilot.

Q. Do I Need Some Prior Skills Or Experience To Get Started?

News Wave AI Is 100% Newbie Friendly With Easy-To-Use Dashboard.

Q. What Happens If I Don’t See Results?

We’ve Got You Covered… If You Don’t See Your Desired Results With News Wave AI Just Let Us Know Within The Next 30 Days And We’ll Refund You Every Penny.

Q. What If I Get Confused Along The Way?

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Q. Is This Compatible On Both PC, Mac, Android, And IOS?

It Works On Any Device.

Q. How Do I Lock-In My Discount?

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News Wave AI Review: My Recommendation

News Wave AI presents an intriguing concept for automating news website tasks. However, its limitations in content quality and unproven traffic automation features necessitate a cautious approach. Carefully consider your budget, technical expertise, and content quality standards. Explore alternative solutions like content writing services and SEO optimization tools. Remember, high-quality content and a well-rounded strategy remain key to a successful news website. While AI might offer some automation benefits, human oversight and expertise are irreplaceable. Utilize News Wave AI cautiously, prioritize human editing, and focus on delivering valuable content to your audience for long-term success.

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Check Out My Previous Reviews: Animake Review, A.I Profit Pages Review, GALAXY 10K Review, KidTales PLR Review, Site Builder AI Review, ChatGPT Prompts Bundle Review, DEVIO Review.

Thank for reading my News Wave AI Review till the end. Hope it will help you to make purchase decision perfectly.

Disclaimer: This News Wave AI review is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Before making a purchase decision, we recommend conducting your own research and exploring the software.

Note: Yes, this is a paid software, however the one-time fee is $17 for lifetime

[heartlyvampzz]

❝𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐘 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄.❞ —- ft. phainon

– cws: none wc: 562 , romantic/fluff , gn!reader , modern!au + mention of uni!au(? ig) , the Yearning is real

Pushing the door open to feel the wind blowing by your face, picking up your hair along with it, you see Phainon waiting by the school entrance. You smile as you walk up to him.

“Phai! I thought you left already?” You ask as you come up to his side. He perks up at your presence, that oh so charming smile of his making an appearance.

“I thought that I'd wait for you today. That's alright, isn't it?” He asks, turning his body to face you as he tilts his head slightly to the side.

“Of course it's fine! I've got nothing better to do. You're not busy either, are you?” You say, looking up into his blue and gold eyes. “We could stop by the park on our way home.”

Phainon seemed to lighten up at the idea before nodding. “Sure, we could watch the sunset too?” He adds as he starts to walk.

Following him, running a bit to catch up to him, your cheeks flush slightly. You hoped the sun hid your tinted cheeks with its own orange hue that it casted down.

“Mhm, I'm up for it. As long as you walk me home,” you playfully elbow him as you both laugh, Phainon just shaking his head.

As you two walk, a comfortable silence envelops the both of you. With only your shared footsteps and the birds singing their final songs for the day, you can't help but let your smile stay on your lips, all the more oblivious to how Phainon's attention is purely on you.

He sees how the sun illuminates your features, casting its golden glow on you and shining in your eyes. Your smile—gods—he loved your smile. The way it crinkled at your eyes, along with everything, it's all just so you, and he can't help but swoon.

As you two see the park come into view, you run ahead as Phainon laughs, following you and spotting a bench you've decided to sit down on. You wave him over just as the sunset begins to really show its colors.

You both stare at it, watching as the oranges, reds and yellows mix together with the bright sun in the middle of it all.

“You remind me of the sun, Phainon,” you say suddenly, making Phainon turn his head to look at you, his eyes meeting yours. He gave you a confused look, urging you to continue your thoughts.

“Well, you're bright like the sun—the light in someone's life, my life—and you're just as constant as the sun too. Always leaving with the promise of return, and you always fulfill that promise. I always find you again, the brightest star in the sky.”

His cheeks flush at your words, blending in with the dying light of the sunset. Silence follows, only until Phainon speaks.

“I.. I'm not sure what to say. I've never had anyone describe me as such a thing,” he laughs a bit at the end of his sentence, not quite knowing what else to add. You just smile, turning back to the fading sun.

“Just thought I'd speak my mind. We should probably be heading back now, though, it's getting dark.”

He only nods. Phainon can only help but wish he said something to you then too, to share his own feelings. Maybe one day, he'll get the courage to do so.

♱ —- 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: so what if. what if I disappear after this. PLS IDK WHY I'M SO SCARED TO POST SMTH NEW THAT I WROTE. It's been too long guys 💔💔🥀 I rlly need to get back to writing again bc GOD. anyways. I hope this is good 🙃🙃

★ — © heartlyvampzz || I appreciate any reblogs made, and pls don't repost, translate or feed my works into ai, thanks — ✦

[captainsophiestark]

A Very Dagger Christmas

Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: Top Gun

Summary: Jake's down bad for his SO in a way his friends have never seen before, and they want to make sure his SO knows it.

Word Count: 2,015

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"You cheated! I saw you bump the ball, don't try to deny it!"

"I did not cheat! You just suck at pool!"

"Pilots! I will ban pool for the rest of the night if I have to. Don't test me."

"Sorry, Penny..."

I watched the unfolding drama around the pool table of the Hard Deck with a smile as I sipped the last of my hot chocolate. Penny had closed the whole place for a little early Christmas celebration between her, Amelia, Mav, and the Daggers, and as the partner of Jake Seresin, I'd been invited along this year. The atmosphere, food and drink, and free entertainment all combined to make this my favorite Christmas party attended so far.

"Hey."

I looked up to see my boyfriend, Jake, crossing the room towards me with a big smile and two mugs in his hands. I shifted over a little on the cushy loveseat Penny had moved in for the evening's party, giving Jake room to settle in next to me.

"I brought you another cup of hot chocolate," he said, leaning in to kiss my forehead as I took the mug from him. "Not spiked, although I still don't know how you're putting up with all these idiots sober."

I laughed. "I love your friends, Jake. And I want to remember all the embarassing shit they pull clear as day, so I can use it against them later."

"And that's why you're the best. Amazing." Jake leaned in to punctuate his statement with a kiss, this time on the lips. I smiled into the kiss, then snuggled into Jake's chest once we broke apart. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, holding me closely, and the moment was one of absolutely perfect peace and comfort despite the chaos continuing around us.

"Thanks for inviting me along to this, by the way," I said, my voice low as I curled into Jake, more relaxed than I'd been all week in the leadup to this party. Jake hummed, and I could feel the vibrations all through his chest.

"Thanks for agreeing to come. I've been to a few of these now, and this one's already a lot better with you here. A lot." I leaned even further into Jake, squeezing his thigh gently with my free hand. After a moment, Jake continued. "Although, honestly, you might want to wait to thank me until after we play Dirty Santa."

I let out a long, heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Babe. I hate it when you call it that. You live in California now, it's White Elephant! Dirty Santa sounds like something much different and much worse than a fun gift exchange."

"Worse?" asked Jake, a familiar grin and note of mischief in his tone as he leaned down to whisper in my ear, his arm wandering from my shoulders to my waist. When he spoke again, it was nothing more than a low growl in my ear. "Or better?"

I considered for a moment, then shook my head and leaned back as much as I could in the small loveseat.

"No. The delivery and everything normally would've worked, but not for the phrase 'Dirty Santa', and not at the non-blood-relative family Christmas party. Nice try, through."

Jake just smiled and shook his head. He leaned in again, pulling me towards him like he was about to double down, but before he got the chance, we were interrupted by a few of his friends shouting from the pool table.

"Hangman! Get over here, we need some fresh blood at this pool table!"

Jake just rolled his eyes and waved the guys off, but they refused to take no for an answer. After a moment, I leaned up and kissed Jake on the cheek and gave him a little smile, then moved his arm from around my shoulders myself.

"Go," I said. "You've got honor to defend in pool, and you should probably get a game or two in now before Penny inevitably has to ban it."

Jake grinned, but he didn't move from the seat next to me.

"...Are you sure? I don't want to abandon you."

I just waved him off. "I'm fine, I like all your friends, and I already know most of them pretty well. No risk of abandonment here, I promise."

"Great." Jake leaned in to give me a quick kiss, then pulled back with a grin that spelled trouble. "Then I have some people who need to get their asses kicked in pool."

With that, he hopped up and took off to join the group at the pool table. I watched him with a fond smile, a warm glow sitting in my chest. He was absolutley ridiculous, but he was also absolutely wonderful.

While I was busy watching Jake, Natasha wandered over and took a seat in the chair next to me. I gave her a little smile, then turned back to watching Jake. After a moment, I heard her huff a little laugh, and I turned my attention back to her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just... I've never seen him like this."

I frowned, trying to figure out what she was talking about.

"Nat-?"

"Hangman. It's been... nice, but really weird to see him like this."

"Nat, like what?"

She shook her head, her attention drifting to where my boyfriend was in the middle of trash talking at the pool table. She huffed another laugh, then turned back to me.

"He's wearing an ugly Christmas sweater. That matches with yours. Do you know what happened the last time someone tried to get Hangman to do that?"

"...No..."

"He dumped the one Coyote tried to force him into in a pool of oil from the planes."

I snorted, my hand flying to my mouth to cover a disbelieving laugh. I kept waiting for Natasha to smile or something to let me know she was joking, but her expression stayed dead serious.

"...Really?"

"Yes, really! And you're the first partner he's ever brought to more than one of our events, the first one he hasn't given a bunch of shit to for not drinking with him, the first one in years any of us have bothered to learn the name of. He's in a good mood, he's clearly just as happy to sit with you over here as he is to be in the middle of the pool game over there. Even right after he and Rooster get into it, he smiles at you two seconds later and it's like nothing even happened. Do you know how long those stupid moods of his usually last?"

I huffed a laugh and shook my head. Everything Natasha was saying had my heart racing, but I didn't want to let my imagination run away from me. Surely I didn't have that big of an impact on Jake, no matter what Natasha seemed to think.

"Hey guys," said Mickey, coming over to join the two of us with a smile. "I needed to get the hell out of that pool game while I still could. It's about to be a knock down dragout between Mav, Rooster, and Hangman. We're taking bets on how long it'll be before Penny bans pool and who's going to be the final straw to cause it if you guys want in."

"...What are the current odds?" asked Natasha, leaning forward. Mickey quickly walked her through the bet layout as it stood, then continued with a grin before she could stake anything.

"There's one other rule you should be aware of: no one's allowed to send our newest extended family member into the fray to influence the odds."

He nodded towards me when he said it, and I raised an eyebrow, but Nat almost shot out of her chair in indignation.

"What? Come on, where's the fun in that?"

"The fun is that we can actually take bets without a win card in everybody's pocket that can keep the game going all night."

Nat threw her hands up and flopped back in her chair, which was my cue to lean forward.

"Mickey... what are you talking about?"

"Hangman's one of the three live wires over there that's going to get way too competitive and ruin the game. If you go over there, you're gonna calm him down and totally ruin the fairness of our bet."

I laughed and shook my head, copying Nat and flopping back in my chair.

"I think you guys are seriously overestimating my influence on Jake's fundamental personality. We've been together long enough now that I think I would've noticed if he was a completely different person around me."

"Okay, first of all, no you wouldn't have," started Mickey. "If he were a different person around you, you'd only ever see the person he is around you, because you're necessarily around him when you're seeing him. And second, we're not saying he's a totally different person."

Nat hummed like she might disagree, and Mickey gave her a little nod.

"Okay, at least I'm not. What we're really trying to say is... he's obviously pretty committed, and very happily tied down. It's made him more grounded in a way that I honestly never thought I'd see. But it's nice, and it's definitely because of you."

I just hummed, processing Mickey's words. Jake and I had been dating for a few months, and although we hadn't really sat down to talk about it, we were clearly getting pretty serious. At least, I was. And it was nice to know that Jake's friends seemed to notice the same thing coming from Jake.

I stayed in my seat chatting with Natasha and Mickey for a while longer, until pool was eventually called off with Amelia having won the bet, to no one's surprise. Everyone wandered over to join Nat, Mickey, and I to begin White Elephant, and Jake settled into the loveseat next to me again.

"How was pool?" I asked as he handed me another mug of hot chocolate, further defending his position as my dream man.

"Fine, until Rooster started cheating. And then he has the nerve to call me on it when I started doing it to, to level the playing field!"

I just laughed and curled further into Jake's chest as he shot Rooster an aggressive stink eye. Luckily for all of us, Rooster didn't catch it.

The rest of the night passed much more peacefully sans pool table, even though White Elephant was as explosive as Jake had been expecting. Still, once it was over and we'd all settled in to relax together by the fire, any of the negatively chaotic moments of the night were long forgotten.

I laid my head on Jake's chest, listening to the soothing rythm of his heartbeat as Jake ran his hand gently up and down my arm. I was honestly on the edge of drifting off to sleep when Jake's voice drew me back. He was speaking quietly, right next to my ear, so softly that I wasn't sure he even meant for me to hear him.

"I love you. So fucking much."

I shifted just enough to meet Jake's eyes. He seemed surprised to find me awake, but a determination I usually only saw when I got to visit him on base was shining in his eyes.

"I love you," he repeated, louder this time. "And it's okay if you aren't ready to say it back or don't want to or whatever. But... I need you to know. I love you more than I've ever loved somebody before."

I smiled, my heart melting as I leaned up to kiss Jake. I ran my hands through the hair on the back of his neck, then pulled back just enough to meet his eyes again and whispered against his lips.

"I love you too, Jake. More than anyone or anything. So, so much."

His face lit up like the sun. His arm wrapped tight around my waist, and he pulled me closer to him than was probably appropriate for our current setting. He kissed me, hard, and I kissed him right back. I'd been in love with Jake Seresin for a while now, but it was nice to finally say it out loud. And even nicer to hear it back.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen @misshale21

Top Gun Taglist: @elenavampire21

[totheblood]

cutty love.

pairing: ellie williams x reader

summary: ellie becomes your best friend and you stumble upon her journal

warnings: this is purely fluff, cursing, suggestive themes maybe once? idk very soft

a/n: this is because i want bff ellie and also domestic ellie and also wanted to put eleven labs to the test with their new features so please... enjoy! AI AUDIOS SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE FIC also reblogs, asks, and replies are so appreciated and encouraged! thank u kisses

wc: 2.2k

"all my dreams my dear they are of you."

spring came fast to jackson.

dew painted the grass on early mornings and little patches of snow began to melt into the soil. winter was finally over and you were finally back on farming duty. however, you weren’t as excited as you thought you would be.

patrol was something you would have dreaded a year ago, the idea of entering the outside world terrifying you completely. but as winter came around, and farming became obsolete, maria had warned you you needed to sign up for a new task. your dumbass, however, signed up too late and both stable and kitchen work were all filled up. patrol became your only option. 

on your first day of patrol, you were assigned with dina. she basically held your hand through it: walking into buildings first, showing you how to aim and shoot your gun, and teaching you all the best places to hide. it was an easy day with one encounter with an infected (who dina shot on sight).

your second day you were paired with jesse, who was, to your surprise, gentler. he made jokes when he could tell you were getting scared, always walked with his hand outstretched in front of you when walking into new territory, and taught you how to make a molotov cocktail.  you felt safe with them.

on your third day, you were paired with ellie who was less than kind at first. upon seeing you she rolled her eyes and scoffed, mumbling something like, “why do i always have to be paired with the newbies?” 

to avoid confrontation you simply kept your mouth shut. you were supposed to be partners and you were going to do your best to keep yourself alive. like the others, ellie walked into spaces first and after clearing the area for any infected, started a small fire in the lookout to keep the two of you warm.

you stood at a distance from her where she was placing her palms just above the fire and then rubbing them together for warmth. you watched on with a shiver, shaking as you looked out the window.

“you’re not going to get warm from all the way over there,” ellie spoke up, causing you to snap your head in her direction.

“what?”

“the fire is over here. you have to stand close to get at least a little warm,” she commented, beckoning you over with the wave of her hand, “here, come get warm.”

“oh,” you stepped closer to the fire, sitting down across from her, bathing in the warmth the fire offered.

“you’re not really talkative, huh?” ellie chuckled, taking picking at her nails as she spoke.

“uh, no, i usually am,” you laughed nervously, looking to the raised skin around her nailbeds.

“oh, so you just don’t like me?” her tone was joking, but there seemed to be an ounce of vulnerability to it. her eyes looked up to yours, scanning your face for a reaction.

“no, i just,” you took a deep breath and shrugged, “earlier you said you didn’t want to be stuck with the newbie so i didn’t want to be a bother or anything.”

“shit,” she breathed, pinching the bridge of her nose. all of the skin around her nails were raw and red, “i’m such an asshole. i didn’t mean it like that. i’ve just had a shitty week.”

“no, it’s fine,” you forced a smile, “i understand. i’m just nervous and this is all new to me.”

she paused for a moment, looking you over and taking another deep sigh. 

“i’m not usually an asshole.”

“sure.”

“no, seriously, i’m usually nice.”

“i believe you.”

“ok, i’m kind of nice, but i’m doing my best.”

“it’s fine, i’m also an asshole,” you spit out and she laughed. a full chested laugh that went on for what felt like a minute. it was the kind of laugh were all of her teeth showed and wrinkles formed by her eyes. it made your chest feel warm. 

from that moment on you and ellie became close friends. if you knew you were patrolling with her you would bring her a corn muffin wrapped in fabric. she’d say something about how good of a cook you were or mumble a ‘fuck yeah’ before stuffing half the muffin in her mouth. if she killed any infected later she would say something like, “that was only for the muffin. you’re gonna need to bring me another before i do any more of your dirty work.”

occasionally, she would bring her guitar and show you some of the music she was writing in any downtime you had. she was always so excited too, saying something along the lines of: “let’s try to clear this area as fast as we can so i can show you my new stuff.”

when you sat in front of her, legs crossed in front of you, you watched as a bright blush spread across her face before she sang. 

“this is new, so take it easy on me, okay?”

at some point towards the end of december she came to your house with something wrapped in fabric. her whole face was red, but you couldn’t tell if it was from the snow or her nervousness as she shoved the present into your hand.

“what’s this?” you asked, eyes wide ushering her in from the snow and shutting the door behind you.

“it’s a christmas gift,” she smiled, “i don’t know if you know what christmas is but people used to celebrate it back in the old days. joel told me about it and now we celebrate it every year. it’s basically just a holiday where you give your loved ones… or friends a present. they used to pretend this big fat guy with a beard came down people's chimneys and gave presents to kids who were good but i guess they gave up that idea. santa probably got infected or some shit. anyways, this is for you.”

when you peeled back the fabric, a picture of you sketched out on charcoal was on a piece of thick paper. you looked beautiful. it almost looked as if ellie had spent hours looking at your face and studying all the tiny details of it. not to your knowledge, but she had. 

a gasp fell from your lips as tears welled up in your eyes. you didn’t even have time to thank ellie before you were squeezing her tightly in your arms, causing her to cough. you were literally hugging her so tight she couldn’t breathe, but she didn’t mind it. she took a deep breath and hugged you back, smelling the pine on your hair and skin. 

“i love it, ellie,” you whispered, “thank you.”

when january came around, ellie decided you didn’t know how to hold a gun. most of your shots were misses and the drawback made you stumble back. you were becoming a liability, but mostly ellie feared for your safety. all it took was one fall and you would never be the same again.

so here ellie stood giving verbal directions on how to hold a gun. you, however, were a mess who didn’t know your left from your right.

“your left foot! i said your left foot!”

“this is my left foot!”

“babe, that’s your right.”

“oh,” you switched legs but it wasn’t good enough. ellie came up behind you, placing her hands on your shoulder and fixing your posture. the heat from where her hands were on you radatied throughout your body and went straight down your legs. she stepped closer, placing a hand on your stomach and pressing it lightly. your breath hitched. 

“okay, now move your hand like this,” her free hand moved from the base of your arm to your fingertips. she adjusted your stance slowly. slow enough for it to feel like foreplay, “just like that. yeah, good girl.”

you could feel her breath on your neck where your scarf didn’t cover. it was all too sensual and then SNAP. a sound in the distance made her jump back and step in front of you, her own gun drawn in a matter of seconds.

your gun stance was never revisited after that. 

but now it was spring, and you would no longer be on patrol. as much as you liked spending time with ellie, it was still too much of a risk for you to take when you enjoyed farming so much. when you told ellie a big pout broke out on her face as she dramatically reached for you. 

“what am i going to do without you on patrol?” she whined, squeezing you so hard it made you laugh.

“we can still hang out,” you reminded her, pushing her off you, “plus maybe i’ll be back on patrol next winter.”

“yeah, but i liked having 8 hours of us time. now we will get like 4 hours a day max,” ellie leaned her head back on her couch, the dramatic pout still there. 

“how about we meet here every day after our shifts and have dinner together?” you offered, making her face light up, “i can cook and everything.”

“okay, but you have to sleep over at least once a week,” she demanded

“deal,” you smiled, teeth showing.

“if i’m not here though you can just let yourself in,” she casually commented, “i’ll give you a spare key.”

it went on like that for weeks, you coming over after your shift and making dinner and laughing with ellie about something joel or dina said until you eventually fell asleep on her couch. some nights you would watch a movie together, others you would bake something together (even though ellie usually tapped out when it came to cracking an egg). if ellie was running late or something you would make up time by cleaning up your mess from the kitchen or tidying up the living room, but by that time she would be stumbling through the door and apologizing for being late. 

this night, however, ellie was running extremely late. you had already cleaned both the kitchen and living room and there was still no sight of her. to avoid anxiously pacing around the room and waiting for her, you decided to clean her room. you swept the floors, wiped down her bedside table, and began making her bed before you noticed a notebook tucked in between her bed and it’s frame. 

you pulled it out of its place and examined it. it looked like it was frequently used, the edges of it torn and dirty. the yellow pages of the notebook were slightly hanging out and it looked like pages had been ripped out and stuffed back in. you shouldn’t read this, your mind rang clear. you wanted to respect ellie’s privacy, but curiosity got the best of you. 

you flipped to a middle page, skimming over some entry about how much joel was being an asshole before stopping at your name. your name in her notebook with hearts drawn around it. your name written in pink over and over again. below the different variations of your name was a paragraph, presumably about you. you read it in ellie’s voice.

“another successful patrol. and by successful i mean i tricked her into holding my hand. i probably sound like such a creep but all i want is to be close to her. i want to hold her hand as we walk down the streets of jackson and kiss her in a booth at the diner. when she got scared she would squeeze my hand a little. it made me dizzy. this crush feels like it’s going to ruin me. i think she may ruin me but i don’t even care. all i want is her.”

you smiled, flipping a page, heat rushing to your cheeks as you read another passage about you:

“i sang a song for her today that i wrote about her. she told me my voice was beautiful and asked who it was about. i panicked and told her it was about cat. fucking cat!!! i haven’t thought about cat in fucking forever. i just want to tell her already because this is so fucking embarrassing. she probably thinks i don’t like her but i do. what if she never knows? i’ll tell her eventually… i will.”

you sit down on her still unmade bed, reading the next page.

“i wanted to kiss her so bad today. ugh. her lips were all red and pouty from the cranberry juice and when she smiled her teeth were all red. she asked why i was smiling at her and i told her that her teeth were all red. she looked so embarrassed and got up to clean them. i felt like an asshole but that’s better than being rejected by her right?”

another one.

“we watched curtis and viper today after patrol. she cooked us chicken and then cried because it was her favorite chicken. this girl has the biggest heart in the world. when the movie was done we just talked about what life would be like if the apocalypse didn’t happen. she said she would have been a teacher or some kind of helping profession. she’s fucking sweet. i told her i’d probably be a dentist or a lawyer. something fun. i left out the part where i’d want to come home to her every night. i’m such a loser. i think i love her.”

the last part made you gasp, except the gasp wasn’t coming from your mouth, it came from the person standing in front of you. ellie.

“what are you doing with that?”

[airosuiren]

𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱’𝔰 𝔏𝔢𝔣𝔱 𝔚𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔗𝔥𝔢𝔶 𝔖𝔢𝔢 𝔜𝔬𝔲

A/N: This part right here? This is where the story shifts from pain to power. Where [Y/N] stops chasing apologies—and starts building empires. This isn’t about them "realizing your worth." It’s about you realizing you never needed their permission in the first place. The applause is hollow. The recognition comes too late. And our girl? She doesn’t reach back. She rises. Get ready to watch them mourn the ghost they made—and realize too late that survival looks a lot like greatness.

Thank You @arislia for this Idea!

@bunniotomia, I AM SORRY FOR NOT TAGGING YOU, ILY.

𝔓𝔞𝔯𝔱 1, 𝔓𝔞𝔯𝔱 2

The moment the League put their survival in your hands, something shifted. Not in them. In you.

You felt it when Bruce didn’t interrupt you. When Diana called your analysis “brutal and brilliant.” When Clark told you he trusted your judgment more than the AI system they'd built.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to listen. Wanted your insight, your damage control, your vision.

Funny how people only see you when you become useful.

The plan worked. Your strategy went live—waves of disinformation, fake leaks, public interviews. You weaponized truth like a scalpel. You peeled back the hysteria and made it bleed your version of the story.

And it worked.

Gotham didn’t burn. The League wasn’t outed. The world stayed intact.

But nothing in you celebrated.

Because the price wasn’t paid by the League. It was paid by the kid who sat at the edge of the Batcave years ago, hoping for a word. A nod. A chance.

They gave you credit now. Applause. Praise.

Too late. It was always too late.

Tim said he was sorry. Dick offered to reconnect. Damian looked like he wanted to ask how you’d done it all—but couldn’t bring himself to.

And Bruce?

He said, “You did good.”

You wanted to laugh.

You did great. You saved their world. And it still felt hollow.

Because part of you was still in that Manor, starving for warmth. Part of you still remembered the cold shoulder, the locked door, the day Alfred stopped checking if you came down for breakfast.

The world could sing your name. The League could hand you titles, roles, endless offers.

It didn’t matter.

Because you weren’t theirs anymore.

You walked away.

From Gotham. From the Manor. From the past.

You accepted the Kents’ invitation. Helped expand the Queens’ foundation. Took over policy initiatives that reshaped cities.

People called you a visionary.

But you were still just a kid who survived being forgotten.

And that pain? It never leaves. It just sharpens you. Refines you. Burns everything soft out of you until all that’s left is brilliance and bite.

You didn’t need them to love you.

You learned how to do that yourself.

And that?

That was the scariest thing they ever saw.

EPILOGUE (DARKER VERSION): The Ghost They Built

Years passed.

You didn’t return for funerals. Or birthdays. Or anniversaries. You sent flowers once—anonymous. Bruce knew it was you. So did Alfred.

You never answered their calls.

They watched your life unfold through screens. News cycles. Feature articles. TED Talks and awards and photos of you shaking hands with world leaders.

You were a household name. A force. Gotham’s own myth—not for crime, not for tragedy. For power.

Sometimes, Bruce would sit alone in the cave and reread your strategy dossier. The one that saved them all. The one they never framed or displayed.

Sometimes, Damian would stare too long at a photo of you and quickly look away.

And sometimes, Alfred would make tea for two. Out of habit.

But you? You stopped looking back.

Because ghosts don’t haunt the places they escaped.

They haunt the people who let them die there.

𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔲𝔰 (𝓦𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝔂𝓮𝓭)

(Based on this prompt link)

You stayed.

You stayed in the Manor even when it rotted you from the inside out. You stayed on patrol even when they benched you emotionally. You trained harder. Longer. Not because you were loved. Because you were angry.

Angry that no one cared. Angry that you had to prove you were worth breathing their air.

You became a ghost in your own home. A silent weapon in the background. They forgot you were there—until they needed a soldier.

And when the new threat surfaced—a dark coalition of villains—Justice League level—you fought beside them. Bleeding for them. Dying for them in slow, unnoticed ways.

And they didn’t even notice when you were missing.

It wasn’t even a complicated plan.

A misstep. A call that went unanswered. An empty alley. A chloroform cloth and no backup.

The "League of Villains" (or whatever flashy name they called themselves) didn't want you because you were powerful.

They wanted you because you were forgotten.

Because what better bait than the child no one even remembered was missing?

It played on every Justice League screen.

Static. Then—clarity.

You tied to a chair. Wrists shredded against restraints. Bombs wired around you like a grotesque necklace. Mouth taped. Muzzle strapped tight.

Blood dried at your temple. Your body slumped but alive. Barely.

The Joker stood behind you—grinning like a nightmare.

He pointed the camera down, zooming in on your eyes.

Eyes that looked too much like Martha Wayne’s.

"Look familiar, Batsy?" he crooned, fingers digging into your cheeks like a puppeteer. "Missed one of your little ducklings. Tsk, tsk. Family man, my ass."

He laughed.

Then leaned in closer to your face.

"They don't even remember you're missing, do they?"

You blinked. Once. Twice.

And in that moment? Everyone watching saw it.

The brokenness. The hollow, aching scream you couldn't make.

They tried.

Diana. Clark. Barry. Bruce.

Every satellite. Every lead.

Too late.

Always too late.

The last thing you saw was the red digital countdown reflected in Joker’s laughing eyes.

The last thing they saw was you— looking directly into the camera.

Unblinking. Silent. Waiting.

Boom.

The screen went dark.

There was no body to bury. No last words. No goodbyes.

Just ashes. And guilt that swallowed them whole.

They forgot you when you were alive.

They remembered you only when you were dust.

You didn’t haunt Gotham’s alleys.

You haunted them.

You became the silence between their victories. The guilt behind their smiles. The graveyard stitched into every mission they survived.

You were their second Jason.

But this time?

There would be no resurrection.

𝓒𝓵𝓪𝓻𝓴'𝓼 𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷

The conference room smelled like panic and sweat.

The Justice League stared at the blackened monitor—the final static-flicker of the explosion still burned into the air like a brand.

The chair she had been strapped to was gone. She was gone.

And Clark Kent—the beacon of hope, the man who once believed in second chances, in forgiveness, in the good in everyone— stood like a storm barely contained.

His fists clenched. The windows trembled. The concrete under his boots spiderwebbed with cracks.

And no one spoke.

Because they knew. They knew he had warned them.

Two weeks ago.

"Where’s [Y/N]?" Clark’s voice had been calm then. Mild concern.

Bruce hadn’t even looked up from his work.

"Fine. Busy," he muttered.

Clark pressed. "I haven’t heard her on comms. Haven’t seen her in patrol rotations."

"Training elsewhere," Bruce clipped back. "Focus on the real threat."

Clark’s jaw tightened. He looked to Diana. To Oliver. To anyone.

But no one moved.

And Clark? He let it go. Because he thought—surely—they would notice if something was wrong.

Surely they loved her enough.

Now.

Clark turned, slow and deliberate, facing the Bat.

"You left her," he said, voice low and dangerous.

Bruce stood silent, fists tight at his sides.

"You forgot her," Clark growled. "You forgot your daughter."

His hands slammed the table. The entire room shook.

"Superman—" Diana started.

"No." His eyes burned. Blue ice. Wild rage. "Don’t ‘Superman’ me."

He pointed at Bruce.

"You left Jason to die. And now you've done it again."

Bruce's mouth tightened. He said nothing.

"And you," Clark spun to the others, his voice cracking with fury. "All of you—you let it happen."

No one spoke. No one could.

Because there wasn’t a single excuse in the world that could erase the truth.

Later, Clark would stand alone at the remnants of the transmission room.

The place smelled like burnt ozone. It smelled like regret.

He knelt—slowly, reverently—at the last place she had been seen alive.

And in the quiet, he whispered the only words he had left:

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have fought harder."

But the dead don't hear apologies.

And Superman— Superman would never forgive himself.

Not for this. Not for her.

Not ever.

A/N: This was never about being chosen. This was never about being welcomed back. This was about surviving what they did. About becoming something so sharp, so brilliant, so unstoppable — they could only watch from the outside. They didn’t lose you when you walked away. They lost you the day they made you feel like you had to earn your place at all. You didn’t become a ghost because you wanted to be feared. You became a ghost because they left you no other way to live. And now? Now you are the silence after the storm. The blade they forgot they forged. You are what they buried — And what will outlast them all.

—Your still-proud, still-scorched, always-rising author 🖤🔥

Taglist: @feral-childs-word, @trashlanternfish360, @astro-girly1, @suneaterscape, @thatcatladywrites, @arislia, @kittzu, @ottjhe, @tinybrie, @wpdarlingpan, @ryuushou, @simpingpandas, @lettucel0ver, @moonxmio, @kneelforloki, @sirenetheblogger, @xzmickeyzx, @ironsaladwitch, @lithiumval, @starsdotalk, @fortunatelydifferentqueen, @ocean-mochi

Let me know if I missed someone!

[queenendless]

TWISTED DEVIL 😈

A/n: Prologue to a potential AU series, mini or otherwise.

May edit this into a masterlist if I write enough fics about this. So sorry about this short piece. Future oneshot parts may be just as short. Wanna write twst x reader fics based off the dorm songs being released lately.

I honestly am having Solo Leveing writers block/burnout. So I need to write other stuff. Sorry about those that are waiting for those Jinwoo fics but I need a break.

CW: GN!human demon hybrid Reader. Yandere esque vibes. One-shot esque AU series. MAJOR SPOILERS INVOLVED!

NO REPOSTING, PLAGIARIZING, TRANSLATING, AI USAGE OR BOT/AGELESS BLOGS ALLOWED. Reblogs, likes and follows are appreciated.

You are the sole child of Chernabog; the King of Bald Mountain, Controller of Demons.

Your birth alone brought about waves of fears

upon the world. The religious naysayers that already feared him hunted you down.

So you and your mother went into hiding, away from the loonies of that variety as well as those that desired to use you for their self-serving machinations.

Because you're half demon, you age much more slowly than mortals. Which was why when your mother was on her death bed that night, you were physically a teenager but your biological age was nearly a century old. The moment she passed away, you already felt your father reaching out through your infernal bond.

Your dormant monster side is only brought forth amidst emergencies or such intense emotions. And thus, your true nature was suppressed from the unaware public masses. Hiding away in seclusion, just you and her, until it was only you in that now lonely cottage.

Yet as you pictured his imposing presence in the far off distance on that eerie foggy night, the double horse black carriage carrying the coffin came out of left field and struck you head on.

The moment you awaken from the coffin at your orientation ceremony at Night Raven College results in your fellow freshmen and senpai tensing up at your already strong magical presence.

Despite your soft features and demure presence, the aura of corruption hung over you. Your eyes glinted with the promise of mystery.

They're all, initially, intimidated by you. Although these prideful mages in training wouldn't let their true faces nor feelings show that much. Some more so than others …

Despite that, your soul didn't align with the other dorms, despite your magical potential. Much like the prefect — prefects actually. There's a few of them.

And so, you were placed in Ramshackle Dorm with them and their dire beast companion Grim.

The ghostly residents flocked to you immediately, retaining your father's ability of attracting the spiritual variety.

Preferring this over being on your own for the first time in your existence or even staying with the literal embodiment of evil himself, you chose to give this arcane boarding school a chance.

And so, you, Y/n L/n, became a freshman at NRC.

Expanding your mind and knowledge about this new world that you were brought into on your first year here.

Becoming close with your fellow schoolmates, mending the scar left upon your beastly heart, leaving your own mark on them, bringing forth their deepest darkest desires.

You had yet to show any of them your suppressed nature, your true form, horrified at the potential cataclysmic chain reaction that would be set off should the time ever come. Until then, you would appreciate your chaotically enjoyable school life for as long as it lasts.

Ah yes, indeed, you fell in love with the world of Twisted Wonderland. For your precious mages existed in it, side by side with you.

[keozrb]

Beach Gods - EXTRA Simon’s Sex God

Some Extra AI Image from Beach Gods Simon’s story that i didn't end up using and Here’s a detailed description of Simon’s transformation after he slips into the oversized purple Speedo briefs in the costume shop dressing room:

As Simon stood in the dimly lit dressing room, the shimmering purple Speedo sagging around his lanky, unimpressive frame, a sharp, electric jolt sparked at his core. It wasn’t the fiery surge of Milo’s transformation or the fluid wash of Harold’s—this was a pulsing, sensual energy that tingled through his nerves like a lover’s touch. His breath caught, his hands trembling as the sensation spread, and his reflection in the cracked mirror began to warp as the transformation took hold.

It began with his face, the feature he’d always hidden behind books and hunched shoulders. His crooked nose twitched, then straightened, smoothing into a refined, elegant curve that balanced his features perfectly. His jawline, once soft and undefined, tightened and sharpened, chiseling into a strong, square frame that exuded a rugged charm. His thinning, mousy brown hair thickened, strands multiplying and darkening into a rich chestnut hue, cascading in soft, tousled waves that fell just above his shoulders, framing his face like a natural crown. His dull hazel eyes flared, shifting to a vivid, piercing green that seemed to glow with an inner fire, while his thin lips plumped into a fuller, sensual curve, settling into a subtle, confident smirk. His skin smoothed, blemishes fading as it took on a warm, golden tan, giving him a radiant, sun-kissed glow.

The transformation flowed downward, reshaping his body with a sleek, deliberate grace. His narrow shoulders broadened just enough, rolling back to erase his habitual slouch, while his flat chest filled out into a smooth, toned expanse—not bulky, but firm and defined, with pectorals that hinted at strength without excess. His arms, once spindly, gained a wiry, lean musculature, veins faintly tracing beneath the skin as his biceps and forearms took on a subtle, sculpted look. His torso tapered into a trim waist, abs tightening into a faint outline—not a chiseled six-pack, but a lean, functional core that complemented his newfound allure.

Then came the dramatic shift. A rush of heat surged into his groin, and his manhood responded with an exaggerated, almost theatrical growth. His dick lengthened and thickened, pulsing as it swelled beyond any natural proportion, while his balls grew to match, heavy and prominent. The purple Speedo stretched taut over the massive bulge, the fabric straining to contain the over-the-top size, creating a bold, unmissable outline that dominated his lower half. The growth was so pronounced it shifted his stance slightly, hips adjusting to balance the weight, turning his once-modest presence into something undeniably striking.

Simultaneously, his backside began to change. His flat, bony glutes tightened, then ballooned outward with a rapid, sensual swell. The muscle fibers beneath hardened, but the growth didn’t stop there—his ass expanded into huge, round cheeks, firm yet plush, each one sculpted to perfection. The Speedo’s rear stretched to its limit, the fabric riding up between the massive globes, transforming the briefs into a thong-like fit that hugged the curves tightly, accentuating every inch of his new, eye-catching posterior. His hips widened slightly to support the exaggerated proportions, giving him a statuesque, almost hourglass silhouette.

His height crept upward, bones stretching with a soft crackle until he stood at a confident 6’1”. His legs lengthened and toned, thighs and calves gaining just enough lean muscle to match his refined physique, while his feet grew slightly broader to anchor his new stance. His posture shifted, shoulders squaring, chest lifting, as the shy slouch he’d carried for years melted away, replaced by a natural, commanding presence.

When the transformation ceased, Simon exhaled shakily, his hands roaming his new form in disbelief. He traced his chiseled jaw, ran fingers through his thick hair, then down to his toned chest, pausing at the absurdly exaggerated bulge and massive, rounded ass. The mirror reflected a man he didn’t recognize—handsome, magnetic, and dripping with allure. The purple Speedo, once loose and laughable, now clung to him like a second skin, highlighting every curve and contour of his transformed body. His green eyes locked onto his reflection, and for the first time, he didn’t look away—he stared, captivated by the Sex God he’d become, born from a single, daring choice in a dusty shop.

[heartofbusan]

Keep Going.

Let's have a group therapy session for a second here because is it just me.... or

Is this whole concept giving our Sun and Moon couple?

Furst of all, there are two opposite ends marking 12, Seokjin said in the Bangtan Special report that the theme of this year's Festa would be 00:00. A kind of reset.

Turn this all around

When everything resets at zero o'clock

The reset signals the beginning of new opportunities. After all we've been through, we can come back together and reset our timeline. Be happy again 🥲

The colours they used are orange and blue. Gold and indigo. It's a stretch, but how about yellow and purple ??? Orange and blue are contrasting colors often used together. There's also night and day. After the long night, the lonely time, a new dawn approaches. These are all heavily used themes in BTS's lore.

The most obvious references to jikook are the Sun and the Moon. BTS using the sun and moon motif for mingukki was their black swan pas de deux for MMA 2020 that began with an eclipse: the temporary melding between the sun and moon. So, this is established storytelling. And it happened more than once, even during BTS RUN.

The sun and moon are depicted on a timepiece, something resembling a nautical clock. So the sun and moon are, very generally said, the orgin of the push and pull of the tides. The ocean. The purple ocean perhaps? Hobi did reference 'purple waves' approaching.

But, doesn't a timepiece in conjunction with nautical theme make you think of a mindboggling jikook moment?

Look at these potato quality photos of watch gate 2023 while I breathe into a paper bag.

The theories regarding Jimin’s Patek Phillipe Aquanaut timepiece and the time it showed (which was NOT the actual KST time when he was streaming) have been heavily covered by blogs far more eloquent than mine. Please do look it up if you have no idea what I'm talking about. For the rest of us *screaming into a pillow*

The name aquanaut refers to an underwater swimmer. The Nautilus the watch has been shaped after comes from the name of Jules Verne's submarine in Twenty thousand leagues under the sea, a wonderful adventure book.

Jimin wore this, and his other PP watch named Complications, during AYS?!. That watch features a pretty moonphase window with stars. Jimin just loves the constellations, he even had a constellation lamp in his house.

I'm getting off track here because how come we're not talking about watch gate anymore. That sh*t was WILD.

So, we know, just last week, Jikook went to Japan for around three days. We can assume they met up there. Their diversion tactics aren't very stealthy. So...

What if... and this is a big what if, what if they filmed something there for Festa? What if it's their song for Festa as a subunit. Or a performance of some kind?! 🤡 Keep Going?!

Both Jimin and Jungkook have written/performed several ARMY fans songs. Some they've attributed to ARMY as their inspiration and some where I go, huh... for 'ARMY'...suuuuure baby.. whatever you say beautiful. *plays Letter*

Jimin told us they've been practicing while enlisted, singing together, far removed from other's so they wouldn't be overheard. What if it was for this song???

Devil's advocate here: If this turns out to be true, be prepared for haters to claim this song, aka fanservice, was the reason they enlisted together. End of rant.

We don't know why they went to Japan, and as much as I hope they went to enjoy themselves, however that looked like, their work is such an important part of what bonds them. Their work ethic, their drive and dedication. Their mile high ambitions, for themselves and for BTS. So, work is never separate from Jikook, but Jikook do separate themselves within their work.

And a subunit song from them is something we've all been eagerly waiting for. It's been years. I don't care if they use AYS as a jumping off point or if Japan is the setting.

Hell, if it's another GCFT featuring their homoerotic song called 'Keep Going', featuring lyrics like

I'll keep it going, just for you baby

I'll keep up the pace and

Never falter

The push, the pull, the wonderful song you sing

The endless breathless beauty of the night

In your arms, baby

Keep going, keep going until..

We crest

A breath

A call

And we're safe together again

The mv is them, swimming in a water tank, simulating the ocean, and they have to claw their way from the depths, where the seaweed tangles in their legs, to the surface, where the light breaks through the surface. They come up for air, look at each orther, cling to each other, and they say: 'For ARMY'

I'LL BE SO PLEASED..SKKSKSK I DON'T CARE.

We all know Jikook live in their work, and their work lives in them.

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday. We're almost at single digits for jikook too. Keep Going. We're almost there!!! 💜💛

[raccoonscupoftea]

🎮A Gamers profession

Timeskip!Kenma Kozume X F!Y/n

Summary: Y/n and Kenma are a couple, also living together. While Kenma is streaming and struggling with a game, he soon admitted to need help from you, a professional game breaker.

Warnings: Nerd talk, SFW, possible grammar mistakes, cause english is not my native language.

| MASTERLIST | REQUESTS |

//----//----//----//

You love your job. It's fun, well paying and not so stressful. Kenma, your boyfriend, also likes your job, but sometimes he just wants you to stuff your face with a pillow when he's playing, especially when he's livestreaming.

You often get to know the next top game before everyone else. You get information on a game while it's still in the making and you have to play the game for endless hours before it's officiall release.

You're not designing the game or anything. No, you're here to break the game into pieces, testing limits, testing the code, testing AI. If it breaks, then the developers have more work to do. Or they simply just decide it is going to be a 'feature'. It's their choice. You just deliver the bugs to them.

So, then why does kenma want to shut you up sometimes?

Because of your job, you have developed a very good sense for game mechanics, attack patterns and the more advanced stuff on how a game is build. When Kenma encounteres a boss, he just knows you could beat it in a few minutes. He knows you could rush to an over the top overpowered boss and never get hit once, thou it would take longer to beat it.

It's when Kenma's visibly is frustrated, staring at his screen with an unhealthy posture, you then sometimes get up from your couch and take a look at what he's struggling with. As soon as you got into frame the viewers will start to spam the chat with messages about you.

Mostly just spamming your name but others will write absurd things like "mama's here to help" or "the professional is watching"

You just have to stand behind the chair and kenma starts to tell you to not say anything.

"Don't you dare tell me, I want to find it out myself" he complains and you just put up your hands "I didn't do anything, I'm just watching, but tell me if you need help"

So far he never needed help from you. He of course is an intelligent and very good gamer himself. Never have you doubted him.

___

You're currently on your own pc in a separate Office in your and Kenma's home. With a switch controller in your hands and feet up on a footrest, you happily enjoy playing some animal crossing on the bigger screen of your gaming setup.

Today's quiet cold so you're wearing a wearable blanked with a hoodie combined. It looks like a cat. On your table is a steaming hot tea, waiting to be cooled down a little. You were fishing all around the island in game to get the last fish of the museum collection, but the sporadic waves of tiredness are definitely not doing you a favour when it comes to pressing the right button at the right time. The game definitely knows how to get you so relaxed you could fall asleep right then and there in your gaming chair.

Another wave made you a little more tired than the usual waves. This time you had doze off for a few seconds before jolting back awake and continued your fishing spree. Work definitely was a bit to much with the winter holidays coming up and a lot of new games wanting to be released in early spring. Is also added up to your tiredness.

You glanced over to the time on your Pc and realised it's only 4pm, definitely to early to sleep now. You also know that Kenma was streaming for an hour now, since he always starts at 3pm.

Thou you don't learn from your mistake to play animal crossing while nearly dozing off and just continued, but rather than fishing you instead decided to continue to decorate the island.

It went well for the first hour. You made a plan and checked on the internet if there's the suitable furniture for it. The first decorations had been placed on their right spot, paths has been made but just a few minutes after the first hour, the tiredness has claimed you back.

While you were in the office relaxing every bone to a complete flat line, the person in the other office was nearly about to destroy a keyboard. The boss he was fighting was beating kenma every time to 0 HP. Kenma had stopped yesterday's stream in a near rage quit but today he had to beat it to get further in the game. He hasn't got past the boss and was getting more and more frustrated as well as confused. Sometimes he swears the boss just doesn't take damage and gets a massive attack bonus. Chat is convinced the boss wasn't beatable and was begging to kenma to bring out the game breaker, aka you.

Of course, he denied it at first but after an hour of trying and dying he finally gave up. Without a word he placed down his headphones, pushed his microphone back a little bit and walked out of the frame. His viewers were ecstatic and surprised that he'll need help from you.

As kenma was busting open the door to your office, the loud noise of the door made you jolt up from your chair. Your hair went places and the hoodie blanket went all the way up to your chin, telling kenma without a word that you were sleeping in your chair just now.

"I was definitely not sleeping" You stated in your defense with a sleep drunk voice, but Kenma did not believe you and smiled at how cuddly you looked. With a quick glance at the time you asked the streamer "Quit already? You're usually up till late at night"

Kenma placed his hands in the pocket of the black hoodie he's wearing and sighed, remembering why he's here in the first place "I think the game's bugged. I can't defeat the boss. I tried so many times" He slightly looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed about asking you.

At the word 'bugged' you stood up, placed the switch controller on the desk and walked over to him. You slipped your hands into his hoodie and took his hands in your own. "let's see what I can do"

The two of you went to his streaming room, but before you entered, the hood from your blanket hoodie went over your head to hide this atrocious mess of hair on your head. You quickly checked your appearance in the hallway mirror. As soon as the viewers got a glance at you and what you're wearing, they all typed in chat 'You're looking so cozy rn' 'where did you buy it?' 'looks so fluffy' 'I want to cuddle with you'

You waved at the camera to greed the viewers and kenma gestured you to sit down in his chair. You smiled at your boyfriend and placed your feet also on the chair, making you a cozy fluffy blanket ball.

He then quickly explained to you what he was doing and what was happening. Kenma then also pulled over another chair to sit down and watch you. You first tried your best max out attack and defence with his current equipment, but there wasn't even a slightest chance. You voiced out a small "Huh?" Before trying again.

The viewers could see on your face that something was up. You aren't a streamer and wasn't talking while playing the game and kenma knew to not disturb your concentration, but the viewers still seemed to enjoy watching you trying the best you could. It was the first time you were seriously playing a game with the intention to win and they were all very ecstatic as you tried to not get hit. One could tell how everyone was excited at this moment, the chat also was getting slower.

After half an hour, you had placed down the controller. The boss could hit the hero, because they weren't dodging anymore and the player dies in an instant. The question marks around your head were very visible. Something definitely is not right here. As soon as the game went to its pause menu, the viewers knew something serious it about to happen.

You grabbed the laptop from Kenma, booted it up, put in his password without a fail and went to the internet. The website from your work company appeared after a few clicks and at this moment Kenma realised what was happening.

He looked over to his camera and explained laughing "Guys, I apparently found a bug. Stuffs about to get serious now" The chat was then filled with suprised emojis. It didn't took 5 minutes and a donation came in.

Kenma glanced over to the donation site and read out loud "Thank you catlover51 for the..." He stopped a second as he saw the amount that was donated and was clearly surprised "Thank you for the 100$ and you had written down 'For Y/n, a little compensation gor having to work now' again thank you very much. You really didn't neet to donate so much"

As Kenma read the donation out loud you had began to smile behind the laptop sceen. Others then jumped onto the train as well and donated money from a single dollar to a little lager than 50$. Kenma was slightly overwhelmed my the sheer amount of donations that came in and couldn't stop thanking everyone, nearly shutting down the donation site so no one could waste more money on them. It was then you who calmed them down after finishing your research. You looked back to the camera and placed the laptop to the side "You don't need to pay me for this. It's my job and I love doing it. Also I get paid whenever I work, so I'm currently earning my money. But thank you for your concern" you smiled brightly at them before continuing to try out stuff in the game.

After some time nothing came out of the testing and you sighed. You glance over to your boyfriend, looking like a vet having to tell the owner some bad news. "You can't progress at this point, I'm sorry" His eyes widend "That's a joke right?" You just shook your head "Unfortunately not. You have found a very devastating bug, which stops you from killing the boss. As soon as an attack misses, the supposed damage gets stored and well... When the boss does hit you, then all of that stored damage gets released. That explains the bug with the one shot kill. This bug alone is manageable and already a known issue, but combined with the boss not taking any damage" you smiled at him with a sad face. "I'm sorry"

Kenma sighed and ruffled his hair "It's not your fault" he smiled and ruffled your hair as well. "Guess my save is busted then"

You took his hand in yours and looked him in the eyes. He squeezed your hand a little and looked back at you. There's a little spark in your eyes, telling him that there's something you could do "What are you up to?" He asked directly. Your eyes shift away, making you look innocent, scratching your cheek a little "I could force you out of the situation, by glitching you through a wall"

Usually kenma is against using glitches and exploits in his runs, but this is maybe the first occasion he'll consider it. He first looks at you with squinted eyes but then stood up "I'm going to the bathroom. Whatever you'll do, I'll don't know about it"

You're smile got bigger as he finished talking and went outside. He closed the door and after a little happy dance, you pressed onto respawn and forced the player to another part of the map. The viewers were watching your every step and were happy about you breaking a game infront of them.

As you were finished, you quickly saved the game and stood up, ready to leave.

"In my defence" you started talking into the camera a little bowed down to fit into the frame "I did not test this part of the game. Not my fault" You grabbed the open laptop and blew the viewers a goodbye kiss before you exited the streaming room.

On the way back to your own office, Kenma has finished his bathroom break. He grabbed your wrist before you could vanish into your room. He also grabbed the laptop and placed it on a sideboard. One hand of his wandered over to your waist, so he could pull you a little closer to him. "Thank you" he whisperd and gave you a little kiss on your cheek. "I'll make sure to finish today's stream a little earlier. Can't wait to cuddle you with this fluffy hoodie" he then again kissed your other cheek and headed back over to his room to see an alive character on a giant grassy field.

You on the other hand smiled and had to control your inner fangirl to not just scream and jump around. The viewers for sure could hear you if you were to loud.

You quickly grabbed Kenma's laptop and hid in your room, filling out a formula to get the new bug over to the Developers.

[grappel-writes]

Climatización Read on Ao3

Ch: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14

wc: 2,883

cw: stalking, obsessive behavior, voyeurism, hector generally being a freak Reed's life is charmed by the wonders of modern technology. Automated smart functions seem to learn their every move, schedule, and desire. It’s almost as if a guardian angel is looking out for them. A superstitious, but not unwelcome, thought. 

The only complaint they have are the security cameras, and the countless clips of themself they don't remember saving...

Reed regards the rainbow welcome mat under their feet impassively. Welcome! It screams in a riot of cheerful, optimistic color. It could stay, they suppose. It was a little friendlier than they really felt, though. They wave the key fob over the apartment door and it unlocks with a commercialized jingle, a sound designed to be pleasant but which will surely become grating within a week. The apartment itself is exactly what they were imagining. Lovely, at first glance, but painfully artificial under any real scrutiny. The air smells like new carpet, a faint, lemony cleaning solution, and new paint. The universal scent of uninhabited. 

A large, brandless tv sits in the middle of the living room, a pristine popcorn bowl for decoration only on the coffee table. A sanitized staging of the concept of living. The mattress is thin, the plates and bowls are all an atrocious lime green that pops in the cabinet the way an interior designer would love, but will make any real food look anemic. Generic, abstract wall art keeps the place from feeling like a prison, at least. A large floor-length mirrored closet door in the bedroom feels a little suggestive for a clean, corporate unit, but there it is, reflecting the empty room back at them.  

The closet has a couple generic white button ups hanging on two of the five total provided hangers. The bathroom mirror is defaced with a small decal in the corner “Hello, gorgeous!”. Reed snorts, their reflection unimpressed. The couch is stiff and angled down, as if it can't wait for you to go. 

And then there’s the smart features. Reed was given the spiel about Validivia’s top-of-the-line housing: premier security features and an expansive internet of things. Sensors, monitors, and bluetooth connections on anything and everything you could think of. Even the tub could be turned on and the water temperature maintained from halfway around the globe. There was a camera in every room except the bathrooms, including one built into the fridge itself that looked in on its contents. Sensors on every window and door notified them if they were open or not and motion sensors and timers in every room controlled the lights. Even just walking around and taking in the surroundings, their tv automatically switched on, showing a muted, high-saturation slide show of the property.  

It certainly felt expensive, but there were spots that rubbed like a pair of designer shoes. Fine to show off, but could they bear to be here for long? They didn’t have much of a choice, and it beat having to search for an apartment and living on an air mattress until they could afford anything else. Reed has a bad habit of making impulsive cross country moves when things get boring, but after the third time they hopped into their mid-size SUV and took to the road with nothing but their bags, it lost its appeal. This last trip stopped feeling spontaneous and free spirited about halfway through. No, this most recent move felt freeing only on the late night drives. Once the sun had come back up and they were here, well, it turned out to still be the same life in a different apartment. 

For practicality’s sake though, Reed is grateful, really. And so is their bank account. Which is also why they still have to clock in for the better part of their move-in day. Their suitcase is deposited in the bedroom and their laptop perched in its spot of honor on their desk. A small framed photo of a pug that looks suspiciously AI generated is promptly shoved into a drawer. 

Reed is greeted by a flood of messages from the new guy. He had been hired at nearly the same time, but where Reed could easily figure out the honestly simple functions of a middle management position, their subordinate, Martin, always seems to be lost and in distress. Sometimes he sends streams of barely comprehensible IM’s. This time, as Reed sinks back into their flimsy office chair, it seems that he has ranted himself all the way to a solution all on his own. They huff a life and a smile, 

Great job! It looks like you’ve really got a handle on it.

Office speak. It’s easy. Boring. Safe. About as interesting as the AI pug hidden in their desk. Reed is very good at it. It makes the person that drove overnight to get here with the windows down and the air whipping their hair around cringe, but hey, that’s life. 

After a few hours of following up, circling back, and scheduling a power hour for next week, the clock rolled over to 4:30 pm and they pushed back from the desk with a groan. The chair was hell. Reed twists themselves left and right and stretches when they stand, their spine popping in protest. It would just have to be an adjustment because they can’t afford to upgrade it anytime soon. 

It only takes a few weeks for Reed’s furnished life to work itself into a comfortable, numbing groove. They even begin to find things about the apartment that they enjoy. The AC is incredibly consistent, for one. They knew that there are thermostats out there now that could change on a clock or learn your schedule, but this one has picked up on their habits scarily fast. It also seems to automatically adjust to the odd scorcher of a day without them even having to lift a finger. Their window sensors also learned that they like to open them in the afternoon, just to keep the place from getting too stuffy, and if they don’t get to it in time the home app rings its little bell at them. 

The list of niceties goes on. When they run low on coffee creamer, the screen on the fridge populates a virtual sticky note with the warning. Holidays would approach and the sticky notes’ little AI personality would recommend turkey, calling their mother, and taking time to rest. It feels strangely personal for corporate attempts at familiarity, but the reminders are helpful. Maintenance always seems to show up just on time to change air filters, check the fire extinguishers, and clean the windows. The automatic vacuum robot has stopped running first thing in the morning, when Reed is hosting their team meetings, after just one cancelled run. After that, it started to wake itself up at noon, when they take their lunch break, instead. For someone who works at home, these little tasks being automated and lifted from their mental load is, as dramatic as it sounds, freeing. It’s almost as if a guardian angel is looking out for them. A superstitious, but not unwelcome, thought. 

The only complaint they have are the security cameras. Every now and then they’d send phantom notifications. Their app will light up, but when they open it, it’s gone. The streams are always low quality to the point of pixelation, if they don’t just freeze and jump completely. Tapping into the settings reveals the likely culprit. The cloud storage seems to have countless clips. None more than 15 minutes or so, and none that are too embarrassing, thank goodness. Just scrolling through the thumbnails reveals that they go back to when Reed first moved in and were likely an auto clipping feature that bugged. A couple catches their eye, and after patiently sitting through the lag, they’re able to watch a few. 

3 minutes long, in the evening: Reed is dusting the apartment with music blasting over the sound system. They’re singing along where they know the words, making up the lyrics where they didn’t, and sounding awful the entire time. 

5 minutes, morning. Reed doesn’t see anything at all. When they turn their volume up, they realize they must be in the bathroom and getting ready for the day. A place none of the cameras can see. They hear their own voice echoing down the hall. “No, mom - I know. I know. I don’t know what I’m waiting on either. If you’re so worried about it, why don’t you just pick someone out for me, hm? I’m sure they’ll be perfect. No, really. Go ahead.” 

They cringe at this memory, snapping at their mom for asking why they were still single. It wasn’t fair to ask, but it wasn’t fair for them to talk to her like this, either. They move, unable to bear the rest of that conversation, but wonder they wonder why this one was clipped. The rest look like they may have been triggered by motion, but this one only features a perfectly still room. Perhaps the windows were being blown around? 

15 minutes, also in the evening, just the day after: They’re making pancakes for dinner, leaning close to the edge of the pan to pick the edge of the pancake up just enough to check if it was done on the underside before flipping it. They’re mumbling to themselves. 

“Just one date, ya know? You could do it. It’s been ages, but you’re not old tech. Dating is dating. They didn’t come up with new rules while you’ve been out, and if they did, you’ll just have to find somebody that’s outdated, too…” 

Also Embarrassing, but could be worse. Odd that it happens to be the perfect continuation from the last clip, too.  

The rest seem to be other innocuous moments in their life. Crying during a movie. Reading a book with the windows open, leaning their head back when the clouds parted and the sun landed on them. That night they started and abandoned learning origami. They’re… sweet. Oddly. Like the most mundane and boring scrapbook. Each video seems so intentional. The more they look at the ends and beginnings of each they feel a flicker of something uncomfortable, a sense of being perceived pricks at them. They glance up to their living room camera, feeling another chill before dismissing the feeling. 

They chastise themselves for being paranoid and tell themselves to be thankful for this. It would be a shame to delete them all. They compromise on finding a way to offload them onto another hard drive or something. Not like they need to watch the cameras when they are home all the time, anyway. 

Another surprise of their new life: in all of its supercorp moral complexity, a gift from Valdivia. They had never worked for a company that even pretended to be concerned about their employees before. After a visit to the office, Reed complains off-handedly about how awful their desk chair is at home, adding, “and the damn cameras. They’re basically useless.” Their team sympathizes with the chair, saying many of the ones in the office itself are similar. While they discuss the adrenaline pumping hoys of corporate furniture, their manager, Celia, passes them a sticky note with a phone number that just says “Security”. 

“It’s been on my desk since I started oh, I don’t know, five years ago or so?” she explains with a shrug. “I don’t even know if that number goes anywhere anymore, but it’s worth checking. Maybe they can help you out with your cameras. I’ve never had an issue with mine, but you know, those have been in that building for god knows how long. Oh, and about that chair. You know how Validivia is, sometimes things just... show up. Good luck with it.” She gives a warm, if quick, smile and wishes the team a good evening.

True enough, within the next couple of weeks Reed’s doorbell chimes and their phone lights up with the stream from the front door’s camera. The view was completely obscured by a box with a scuffed black and white photo of a high backed office chair printed on the exterior. It was heavy, and takes some time to put together, but is worth every stripped screw and pinched finger. The high back and leather held them as if apologizing for how that other, awful, low down mesh chair had treated them. Maintenance even comes by the very next morning to pick up the old one. 

And things are, more or less, fine. A year went by. Two. The rainbow welcome mat out front had faded to a grungy sort of pastel with time and dust. They stop texting the friends from the last town they had lived in. They barely start texting new ones in this town. Their ex finally stops calling them, and their mom has given up on her matchmaking efforts. They consider getting a cat, but feel that staying cramped in this apartment all day for the rest of its life would be cruel. No, better they get adopted by a family with a yard, or a fancy catio. Reed worries for nothing, but they don’t get excited for anything, either. Work never has any complications outside of the minorly irritating, and even those always seem to simply fix themselves without much added effort. 

And that’s exactly what grates them. This quiet, lonely little routine they felt married to. It was always hard to make friends in a new town, but Reed struggles to even want to try. A couple outings with coworkers, sure. They’re always so controlled and stiff. Tongue in cheek jokes about getting soooo out of control off of the standard 1.5 drinks. Hobby groups could be a solution, but that’s not really who they are, is it? Someone who plays boardgames willingly or wakes up at 6:00 am on the weekday to fit int he perfect hike. No, none of that tempts them at all.

That itch is coming back. It tells them to send out resumes, to throw caution to the wind, to pick up and just… leave. They could take to the road again and… then what? Fourth time’s the charm? They make good money here, their apartment is affordable for what it is and has amazing features, and no matter where they go, there they would be. Bored and alone. Again. Weekends come and go and they realize they never once left their apartment. They only have themselves to blame when they are eating dinner alone, again. 

It doesn’t seem right to muss the table settings just for themselves. They stand at the kitchen counter, only the quiet clink of their fork on the plate and the hum of the AC making noise. They scroll through their phone, mindlessly clearing out old photos. For the past two years they had been painfully practical. Log in, photos of their license and insurance cards. Their license plate. A screenshot of a plate set that wasn’t lime green that they considered buying, and then forgot to. They came by one of a sticky note. “Security.” And a phone number. Oh yeah. Two years ago? No telling how bad that cloud storage is now. Oh well. No better time than the present. They bite their fork between their teeth to free their other hand and plug the number into their phone and type. 

Hey, you got a minute? 

They switch apps, finish their dinner, and while drying the same plate they use everyday hear their phone vibrate. 

How did you get this number? 

From my sup, Celia. She said I should reach out about issues with my security cameras? 

Do you have any idea what you're doing? 

The words feel sharp and accusatory. Reed’s stomach tightened, but they know how to be professional. 

My apologies! Is this the emergency line? If you give me your main office number and hours I’ll follow up with them tomorrow. 

The typing bubble appears, disappears, then appears again. It moves for a long, long time. Reed puts their phone down, annoyed and ready to forget the whole thing. Just as they turn to walk away, it vibrates again. 

Wait. 

Okay, fine. Reed stops, sends another brief message, and waits. 

Standing by.

Another long pause. 

You can message this number. But not tonight. Not like this. We will talk tomorrow, I’ll be ready then.  

Reed reads the last text, then reads it again. Not like this? Must be an after hours thing. Would the same person still be working tomorrow morning? That’s a hell of a shift. Then again, maybe it was just some weirdo and the number had been changed long ago. 

By the time Reed makes it to bed, they notice the lights in the bathroom and kitchen are still on. Weird, they normally turn themselves off by now. Right as they were planning to ask about their cameras, too. Reed gets back up and walks barefoot across the apartment to shut them off themselves, trying to not feel terribly spoiled by the inconvenience. 

When they finally laid down again, they reread the strange message one last time, the words glowing pallid and blue in the dark. A feeling they didn’t want to name, not fear really, but a deep and unsettling curiosity settles over them. Before they can follow this, the first interesting thing to happen in their life in two years, a chill overtakes them as the temperature begins to drop. They set their phone on its wireless charger and pull their blankets higher up to their chin, putting it out of their mind for the evening.  

[streamafterlaughter]

Soundtrack to Disaster

Chapter X: The Destruction of Your Innocence

masterlist | playlist | pinboard | prev | diaries coming VERY soon

songs for this chapter: an ode by mat kerekes, the price of growing up by watsky

summary: an evening of fun with the party, and for once nothing feels too heavy... until it does.

chapter tags: none! Just a good wholesome dose of friendship on all counts… the calm before the storm, if you will.  | fic tags: angst, hurt/(eventual) comfort, (eventual) smut, slow burn, enemies to friends to lovers, Eddie Munson x Fem!OC!Reader, Modern AU | This fic is rated 18+ MDNI each chapter will have its own content/trigger warnings

a/n: I would consider this the end of Act I.... meaning.... well. I'm sure you can figure that out. Happy new year everyone! 🎉

DISCLAIMER: I do not consent to having my work fed to AI engines, or reposted in any way, shape, or form on other websites. Unless otherwise stated, this is the only account that features and contains this work, and any replication was done without my consent. Please let me know if you see my work elsewhere. Reblog to support the author!

taglist @children-of-the-grave @five-bi-five @kellsck @faggotinie @xplrnowornever @taccobelle @micheledawn1975 @mewchiili @dreamerjj @losingmygrasponreality @munsonburn3r | comment/message me to be added!

--

“Good morning!” Robin answers the door to her apartment with far too much pep for eight am. Your ears are still ringing from last night, and you wince at her volume. “Oh, sorry. Forgot you’re so not a morning person. Come in!” She whispers the last part, and you chuckle lightly as you cross the threshold, only for your smile to fall from your lips. Eddie is splayed on the couch, a black coffee in his hand as Steve talks at him about how important reading the instructions is. 

“Hi, Bee!” Steve greets you from the kitchen, and Eddie offers a brief wave.

“Mornin’. Sorry, I didn't know it was a party, I would’ve dressed nicer.” You’re suddenly embarrassed by your choice of outfit: A pair of bike shorts and a massive t-shirt draped over your body like a nightgown.

“Oh, shush, you look great. Especially for what we’re doing today.” Robin, clad in overalls, walks by you and into the living room, where differently sized planks of wood are spread out on the carpet, a pile of screws in a bag next to them, and the instructions booklet flattened to the first page. 

“What exactly are we doing?” Eddie asks, sitting up. “I was just told I was needed, I was never told why.” He looks at you, as if asking for help. You shrug.

“We’re putting this thing together,” Robin toes the mess of boards. “Need all hands on deck, this ain’t no IKEA furniture.” 

“Good thing, IKEA’s shit would fall apart in a week.” You kneel in front of the pieces, examining them closely. “Shouldn’t be too difficult, looks like everything we need came with it.”

“Okay, great! Steve, put on some jams. Bee, come with me for a second.” Robin offers her hand, and you stand up to follow her into her bedroom.

“What’s up?”

“Are you, like, good?”

“What?” The question confuses you.

“Like, with Eddie here. I know we didn’t tell you, it wasn’t really planned, Steve just texted him for extra help and I didn’t wanna argue because I don’t wanna be the one to have to help him move the thing when we inevitably have to.”

“Rob, it’s cool. I’m over the initial shock of Eddie being here every time I see you guys. I  know it’s been awhile, but this was a normal occurrence once.”

“Yeah, I know, it just hasn’t been for a really long time. Wanna make sure you’re okay, that’s all.”

You kiss her cheek, smiling warmly. “It’s okay, Bob. Thank you.”

With that, she leads you back into the room, where Steve and Eddie stop speaking abruptly, as if they’d been conspiring something you aren’t allowed to know.

“Okay!” Steve claps his hands together, breaking the tension. “Let’s do it, we’re losing daylight.”

–

“Okay, this goes here–” “No, Rob, that goes there, this goes here–” “Bee, hand me the screwdriver–” “Would you move, Ed, you’re in my light–” The four of you talk over each other for hours, screwing and hammering pieces into place, groaning when you realize something is upside down. 

“Wait, wait, shut up!” Robin eventually exclaims before standing up to admire the fruit of your labor. “We fuckin’ did it!” In front of you sits a complete, sturdy entertainment center, every piece where it belongs. You feel a burst of pride as you stand up next to your friends, resting your hands on your hips to take in the sight before you. 

“Look at us! And in a miraculous turn of events, Bee and Eddie didn’t maim each other to death!” Steve adds, elbowing Eddie in the ribs and earning himself a shove. “You know, this might be cause for a gathering.” Eddie announces, earning groans from you, Steve, and Robin. To Eddie, a gathering didn’t mean the usual party with beer and weed, loud music and the likelihood of drama. For that, you were grateful. However, it did mean a very loud, passionate game of Dungeons & Dragons with four teenage boys. The cleanup is comparable, and you don’t count on Eddie helping out. 

“Please, Rob? I promise, we’ll be out by ten. There’s just barely any room at my place, and you guys always have the good snacks.” You cock an eyebrow at Eddie, but he’s too busy pouting at Robin to notice. 

“Ugh, fine! Out by ten, no exceptions.” He opens his mouth to thank her, but Robin quickly adds, “And only if Bee will come.” She crosses her arms over her chest triumphantly, like she’s found the secret way out of the deal.  

“What? Why is this suddenly on me?” You look from her to Eddie, whose eyes are wide with his friend’s betrayal. 

“Because I know you hated those things.” She grins. You remember, consistently left out of the games in high school because you were friends with a couple cheerleaders. Instead, being forced to watch from the corner, mumbling under your breath every time one of them did something stupid, and throwing popcorn into Eddie’s hair. “Y’know what, I might actually join you. If they let me play.” You glare up at Eddie, like you’ve passed the grenade. To make you show up, he has to let you play. If he doesn’t let you play, the gathering is off. The snake eats its own tail. 

But he shrugs. “Okay, yeah.” 

You and Robin share a look of exaggerated surprise, gasping in unison like he’d dropped to one knee. “What happened to the golden rule? No Darksiders!”

Eddie throws his head back with laughter, chest heaving as he tries to compose himself. “Guys, I’ve matured a little in the past few years, would you give me some credit?”

It shifts something in your chest, hearing him say it. You forget sometimes that Steve and Robin had also been together without Eddie for a while. When he’d finally graduated, Eddie skipped town without a word to any of his friends. You’d even gotten an influx of calls and texts, friends of Eddie’s you’d only met in passing asking you if he was out in New York with you, having no idea you already hadn’t spoken in two years. 

“Okay,” You resign, remembering your brother’s plea from last night for you to be nicer to him. “Then a gathering we shall have.”

—

The apartment quickly becomes a playground, a mass of what you can’t exactly call children flooding through the front door, immediately taking up any available surface. The boys: Lucas, Will, Mike, and Dustin, are loud and excited, spreading out their game pieces on the kitchen table with intention. The girls, El and Max, make their way to the pantry for snacks and soda, opening every cabinet until they find what they’re looking for. You brace the tornado, still as possible until everyone is settled. 

“So,” Max sits on the empty cushion beside you, crossing her legs to rest a bowl of popcorn in her lap. “Long time, no see!” You’d always been closest to Max, even closer than you’d gotten to Dustin just by being friends with Steve and, at the time, Eddie. Max, though, seemed drawn to you specifically. Your senior year, when she was in seventh grade, she’d started wearing her hair like yours, asking you where you bought your clothes, what kind of music you liked. It was cute, really. You’d always wanted a little sister, and Max was probably the coolest thing you could have imagined.

“Hey, Maxy.” You nudge her with your shoulder. “Look at you, all grown up.” She’s flourished since the last time you saw her, which would have to have been right before you’d left for New York. “Sorry I didn’t come visit more.” 

She shrugs. “No biggie, I get it. Although, it is weird to see you two in the same room again.” You know she’s referring to Eddie, but she sends a less than subtle glance in his direction, and you follow it to find him conducting yet another Hellfire pre-campaign meeting. You indulge in watching the show for a minute, the way Eddie leans forward in his chair at the head of the table, face expressive as he alludes to the battles he’s written for his little goblins and you should probably be paying attention to what he’s saying. You hear Max giggling beside you. 

“What’s so funny?” 

“Well, despite all this time, you haven’t changed at all.”

“What are you talking about?” You raise an eyebrow at her.

“You still look at Eddie like a lovesick dog.” She rolls her eyes, and you dart yours to the floor. “Hey, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I kind of always knew you two wouldn’t be apart forever.” 

“Okay, missy, you’re gettin’ a little too big for your britches. Eddie and I are barely friends. Acquaintances by circumstance.” Even to yourself, you sound unconvincing. 

“Mhm, sure.” She teases as you turn back to watch the theatrics of the Dungeon Master, despite yourself. 

“Take a pic, Bee, it’ll last longer!” You feel your cheeks burning as Dustin cackles, followed by the groans of the gaggle of boys surrounding him. You stare straight ahead, doing your best to avoid the way Eddie’s eyes are penetrating the side of your face. 

“Dustin, shut the hell up. Upsetting Bee is almost worse than upsetting Eddie.” Mike elbows his friend in the ribs.

“It’s true, dude, you’re playing with fire.” Lucas adds, tone heeding a warning. You hear a thump under the table, followed quickly by Dustin’s cry of “Ow, you bitch!” Followed by a 20 sided die flying at Eddie’s head. Luckily, his fluffy curls soften the blow, Eddie barely even flinching. 

“Oh, you’re in for it now, Henderson.” Eddie practically growls at the boy, eyes darkening with the mischief the rest of them have grown familiar with.

–

“Well, well, well.” Eddie leans back in his chair, folding his hands across his chest with an aura of smugness. “Looks like you’re all out of options.” Your character is mostly unscathed, but you can’t say the same for your campaign party. All of the kids’ characters are on their last legs, Dustin’s even literally, having lost his left lower limb to a corrupted mage about twenty minutes into the game. “Any last words?”

You can tell Dustin regrets his joke from earlier, face trembling with anxiety so palpable you’d think he’d seen this type of horror in real life. “I choose to surrender.” The party only mumble in agreement 

“Roll to see if your surrender is accepted.” Eddie leans in, the grin on his face widening.

Dustin rolls a three. “Shit.”

Eddie throws his head back, a devilish cackle releasing into the air of the apartment. “Oh you poor, poor thing. Looks like your begs for mercy go unheard.” Eddie rolls the die himself, landing on eight. “Hm, seems like you’re getting off a little easy. You may leave unscathed.” Dustin squints his eyes at the older man, waiting for the catch. “All you must do is leave your strongest soldier as collateral.” He leans his elbow on the table, and Dustin follows his gaze to where you sit across from him, too distracted by the look on Eddie’s face to pay attention to what he’s saying. What the fuck is wrong with you?

“Bee?” Will’s voice snaps you back to reality. “What do you think?”

“What? Oh,” You look from Eddie, with that stupid smirk on his face, back to your teammates. “You want to sacrifice me?”

“Well, we don’t want to. Clearly you’re the reason we’re still alive here.” Dustin grumbles, fiddling with a handful of dice. “The second we give her to you, Ed, you’re gonna destroy us!”

Eddie only shrugs, giving none of his diabolical plan away to his opponents. “Only one way to find out.”

Dustin looks at you, eyebrow raised. “What do you think, Bee?”

You try to focus on the game. If you surrender, you become what Eddie likes to describe as a henchman. Your moves from here on in are only to benefit him. You’d be turning on your team, but they’d be free to walk away. If you don’t surrender, who knows what the sick and twisted Dungeon Master has up his sleeve for them?

“I guess… I will bravely sacrifice myself for your freedom.” You decide, gracefully gesturing to the younger boys. “I would be honored to die for the good of the campaign.” 

The boys look at each other, ultimately deciding to accept your sacrifice. Eddie, though, throws his head back with his in character evil laughter, swiping your game piece from the board. “And so it shall be! The mage has been sacrificed, and captured by the darkness to distract from the escape of the rest of the party.” He looks from the boys back to you, the smile on his face a little softer. “An honorable risk, indeed.”

–

As promised, the younglings are kicked out promptly at ten, and Eddie is nice enough to bring them all home.

“Bye, guys!” Steve gives a wave before closing and locking the door. “I am fucking exhausted.”

“Yeah, it’s really tiring work sitting on your ass eating pizza.” You snort, clearing the paper plates from the table.

“Hey, you’re one to talk. You got to play a game all night while Eddie made googly eyes at you.” 

His comment stops you in your tracks. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh, please, like you have no idea!” He looks at you, face contorting from amused to bewildered. “Oh, you really have no idea.”

Robin snorts behind him. “Neither of them have a clue, Stevie.”

“Can someone please explain to me what the hell you’re talking about?” You’re exhausted, and you can’t keep up with your friends’ cryptic bullshit. 

“C’mere.” Robin walks around to sit on the couch, patting the cushion next to her.

“Rob, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Relax, Steve. Bee’s gone through enough, the least we can do is tell her what we know.” You plop down beside your friend, and Steve joins you on the other side. “Bee, what do you know about Eddie coming back to Hawkins?”

You squint at Robin. “As much as you do, I thought! He came back when Chris got released. I still don’t even know where he went after he graduated. Before then, it had been years since we’d spent any time together.” 

Robin nods thoughtfully, like she’s considering your words. “Well, think about it. Why would he choose now to come back? Why would he put the effort in to hang out with us, with you?”

You shake your head, growing more frustrated by the second. “You know I don’t have the answers to any of that. All I know is that Chris told Eddie to rat on him, to save his own ass from being tormented by Hawkins PD. And I only learned that, like, yesterday.” 

Steve chimes in. “Well, at least he finally told you some of the truth.” 

“What?” You turn to face him, your voice straining. “What more is there?”

“Bee,” Robin rests a hand on your shoulder. “He broke up with Macy, he’s hanging out with us every damn day. Don’t pretend you haven’t figured out Eddie’s obsessed with you.”

This shit again. You groan, throwing your head back into the couch cushions. “This is bullshit. You’re making shit up.”

“Okay, if that’s your theory, why the hell would we do that?” Steve seems offended by the accusation.

“How should I know? You guys love to meddle, why would I be exempt from your torment?” 

“It’s hopeless, Rob. We’re gonna have to show her.” 

She shrugs. “Guess so.” She plucks her phone from the coffee table and begins scrolling. “Ah! Here it is.” She turns her phone to face you. Displayed is a picture from the Chappell show, the four of you posing in front of the stage with big, excited smiles on your faces. Well, you, Steve, and Robin are smiling. Eddie isn’t even looking at the camera, but at you. His arm is wrapped tightly around your shoulder, and he’s smiling, eyes focused on the side of your face. Robin hadn’t posted this picture, and you can now understand why. The best way to describe the look on Eddie’s face is lovesick. You feel a lurch in your throat, still examining the photo, the way you hadn’t even noticed him. 

“What am I supposed to take from this?” You try to play it off, despite the impossibility of denying what you’re looking at. “This doesn’t change anything.”

“Please, Bee. Don’t tell me you can’t feel it. You know there’s something there.” Robin is practically pleading with you. “I know he has a lot of making it up to you to do, but, what if you gave him the chance? I’m not saying you have to fall in love with him or anything,”

“Though, that would be kind of awesome!” Steve interjects.

“But, I dunno, maybe you guys could be friends again. Maybe things could start healing themselves.”

“Would it get you two off my back?” You half joke, feeling your palms sweating under the pressure. They nod eagerly. “Okay, fine. I’ll try my best to give him a chance. That doesn’t mean I believe a word of what you’re telling me, though.”

Robin and Steve high five over your head. “We’ll take it!” Robin exclaims, jumping from her seat. “And, if he ends up being a total douche bag, you have all the right to say you told us so.” She holds out her pinky to you, and you grab it with your own, sealing the deal.

[cursed-spectre]

Jyx appears in the cube, with a giant black bear right next to him.

“I thought I’d introduce you three to my new friend! Say hi!”

He appears in Ai's bedroom, where said drone is currently using her new digital makeup tablet on Cassidy.

Cassidy blinks, one eyelight featuring a very simple wing. "Um... hello." She gives a small wave with one of her hands.

Ai waves enthusiastically. "Hi, Jyx. Hi, new friend. It's nice to see you again."

[captainsophiestark]

Naval Wedding

Natasha "Phoenix" Trace x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: Top Gun

Summary: Phoenix needs a fake date to a Naval wedding to avoid sailors hitting on her all night, so who better to ask than her best friend?

Word Count: 2,925

Category: Fluff, Humor

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"I have a favor to ask you."

I sighed dramatically, making a show of pulling my attention from my laptop to my best friend, Natasha "Phoenix" Trace, who sat across the table from me. She held her coffee mug with both hands and stared intently at me. Clearly, whatever she was about to say next had been on her mind for a bit now.

"It's something I need you to help me out with, if you don't mind. And if you're not busy."

I raised an eyebrow, closing my laptop and leaning across the table to match Natasha's posture.

"Okay, spit it out, Nat. You've never danced around something the way you're doing right now the entire time I've known you. What's wrong?"

Nat took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, then met my eyes with a new determination.

"I need you to be my fake date for a Navy wedding next weekend."

Honestly, I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting her to say, but it definitely wasn't that. The corner of my mouth quirked up in a smile, and I had to work to hold back a laugh.

"Nat... first of all, I'm in." Her shoulders immediately relaxed, the dire look on her face morphing into one of relief as she eaased back in her chair. I shook my head, still smiling. "Second, you seriously need to work on your delivery. I thougth you were about to ask me to help you hide a body."

Her eyebrow shot up.

"You thought I prefaced asking you to hide a body with 'if you don't mind' and 'if you're free'?"

I just shrugged and waved her off. "You were crazy grim and looked more stressed than I've ever seen you. I didn't think the favor was gonig to involve a party. Which brings me to third: why? I'm happy to go with you, but I'm a little surprised you're asking."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "You know I work with a lot of men. Most of them are fine. Some of them are great. Some of them I want to punch in the nose sometimes. But at big Navy weddings, there's always tons of pilots I'm not familiar with, and at least a few of them always try to hit on me. This time, I don't want to deal with it. So... fake date."

I grinned. "Natasha Trace. Are you telling me that I get to scare off Naval Aviators all night if they try to hit on my girlfriend?"

Natasha grinned and shook her head with a laugh. I waited until she faced me again, then raised an eyebrow since she still hadn't answered my question.

"Alright, sure. You get to scare off anybody who flirts with me, any way you want to."

"Amazing."

****************

The next weekend, I stood in front of the mirror adjusting my outfit nervously while I waited for Natasha to arrive. We were meeting at my house, then driving over together.

When I'd told her I'd be happy to go as her fake date to this wedding, it had been a partial lie. I'd been wrestling with some feelings for my best friend since a few months ago, and I wasn't completely thrilled about the "fake" part of "fake date". When my doorbell finally rang and I opened the door to find Natasha looking like an absolute knockout, my heart did a few backflips before breaking in half as I remembered that she wasn't actually here for a real date.

"Wow," she said, sounding a little breathier than normal as she looked me up and down. "You look great."

"Me? Nat, you look stunning. Like, wow."

Nat looked up and met my eyes with a smile.

"Well, then I guess we make a good pair."

My heart did another flip, so I took a deep breath and stepped through the door to join Nat on the porch before she could give me a heart attack.

"Those Navy boys won't know what hit 'em," I declared, holding my arm out for Nat. She took it with a grin, and we headed for the car arm in arm. My heart skipped a couple beats at the proximity, and I did my best to tell it to shut up.

It mostly listened throughout the wedding ceremony. When we got to the venue, we got some looks and some raised eyebrows, especially from Natasha's closest Navy friends, who she apparently hadn't told about her plan. I got to ditch Hangman to cross the room and chase off a more tangentally-invited pilot who'd been hitting on Nat, which had been a highlight of the night so far, especially as she leaned into my side and I wrapped an arm around her. Unfortunately, we didn't get to linger, since we had to take our seats for the wedding itself.

It was beautiful, and thankfully, didn't stretch on too long. Before I knew it, we were heading to the reception, throwing a few of Nat's aviator friends in the back of the car to get to the venue hosting the reception. We blasted music, laughed, and I even got up the courage to reach out and take Nat's hand while she drove. She turned to me with a grin and squeezed my hand back, and I tried not to let my imagination run away from me about whether that might mean something.

We pulled into the venue, and Natasha immediately took my hand in hers. I bumped my shoulder into hers, and we shared a grin as we flowed through the doors with the rest of the wedding guests. The music was already blasting, and people were floating around and snacking while we waited for the bride and groom to arrive with the rest of the wedding party. Nat's friends went ahead of us as she stopped, turning to me with a smile.

"Alright, what's first? Food or drinks?"

"Hmm... I know the guests of honor aren't here yet, but what about dance floor?"

She laughed. "Okay, drinks it is. If you actually want to pull me out there, I'm going to need more than just water in my veins."

"I don't think the alcohol actually goes into your veins-"

"You know what I mean! Come on, I'll get you your favorite. On me."

"Isn't it an open bar?"

"And isn't it the thought that counts?"

I laughed, letting Natasha pull me along and through the crowd, trailing after her with a happy smile. When she came to a stop at the bar, tugging me up to stand next to her, I had to fight very hard against the urge to lean in and kiss her, then and there. I swallowed, but managed to get a hold of myself and respond to her instead.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's the thought that counts."

Nat and I ate the snacks and chatted with her close friends while we waited for the couple to arrive, and then for the party to really start. Dinner was delicious, the toasts were sweet, and not long after the last one finished, the dance floor officially opened for business.

I turned to Nat, intending to make good on my answer of what I first wanted to do when we got here, but I found her facing in the other direction as some guy in a suit smiled down at her, one of his hands resting on the back of her chair. I narrowed my eyes.

He didn't notice me, he was too focused on Nat. I knew she was more than capable of telling him to get lost on her own, but I also knew that the main reason she'd asked me to be her date at all tonight was to avoid dealing with clowns like these. I stood and walked around to stand next to him, pushing my way into the spot between him and the table and holding a hand out to Nat.

"Hey, babe," I said, smiling at Nat without sparing a glance for the guy. "You ready to hit the dancefloor?"

She grinned back at me in sync with the guy beside me saying "Babe?" as a clear question directed at me. I turned to face him like I had all the time in the world, keeping a straight face as I met his eyes.

"Yeah. That's generally what I call my girlfriend. You got a comment about that?"

The guy blanched, taking a half step back and removing his arm from the back of Natasha's chair.

"Uh... no. Sorry."

"Don't apologize to me, she's the one who had to put up with some random guy trying to put moves on her."

The guy scowled, but he muttered a quick apology to Natasha all the same before heading off into the crowd again. I watched him go, then turned to Nat with the massive grin I'd been holding back the whole time.

She shook her head, mirroring my grin all the same.

"You have way too much fun doing that."

I shrugged. "Maybe. But you don't have any fun doing it for yourself, so this seems like by far the best option."

"I guess I can't argue with you there."

"You're right, you can't. Now come on, I want to dance with my girlfriend. Let's get out there."

My heart hammered in my chest at my own words, worried that I'd overstepped, even in the context of a group in public for our fake-date situation. But Natasha just smiled at me again, softer this time, and took my hand.

"Fine. I guess I'm tipsy enough for this. Barely."

I laughed, pulling her out onto the dancefloor behind me. Tipsy or not, I usually enjoyed making a fool of myself on the dancefloor, and it turned out to be even better with Nat's hand in mine, the two of us spinning in and out of each other's arms.

The rest of the wedding party disappeared as we lost ourselves in the music, just the two of us, breathing hard between laughs and holding each other tightly. Eventually, the music wound down from the high-energy stuff we'd been listening to, shifting to something made for slow dancing. We stuttered to a stop on the floor as couples flocked in all around us, and I looked at Nat.

She shrugged, stepping closer to me and putting her hands on my waist.

"We're supposed to be a couple too, right?"

I grinned back at her. "Damn right."

I laid my arms across Nat's shoulders and the two of us swayed back and forth on the dancefloor, the low lights sweeping over us as we moved. I couldn't take my eyes off of her, and the corner of her mouth lifted up like she'd noticed. Slowly, she leaned in, and my heart just about stopped in my chest. She rested her forehead against mine, and I sighed, half content to stay here like this with her as long as she wanted, half disappointed she hadn't been going in for a kiss.

When the music of the slow dance faded, we just stayed where we were for a long moment before finally pulling away from each other. I opened my mouth to say something, although I wasn't totally sure what yet, but before either of us got the chance to speak the music picked up again, and her closer aviator friends swarmed us on the dancefloor.

"I can't believe you got Phoenix out to dance!" called Fanboy, grinning as he threw one arm over her shoulder, jumping up and down to the beat. Natasha tried to duck his arm, presumably to ditch the dancefloor, but Fanboy knew her well enough that he managed to stop her. I gave them a half-hearted smile, then took the opportunity myself to slip away from the crowd.

I knew Nat probably would've wanted me making up a girlfriend excuse to get her out of there. Normally I would've helped her, but that moment on the dancefloor before her friends showed up had felt so real, and I needed to take a moment to remind myself that it wasn't.

I ducked and weaved through the crowd with relative ease, since only Nat's close friends would've recognized me and they were all out on the dancefloor. I made my way to the bar, not even ordering, just leaning against it for a second. Enough other people hovered around that it'd be hard to spot me amongst the crowd, but I could still see Nat out on the dancefloor, laughing and smiling even as she shook her head and tried to tell her friends to get lost.

I was in love with her. Her attitude, confidence, strength, wit. The way she smiled at me when I said something funny or called Hangman "Bagman" even though I barely knew him and had no reason (other than loyalty to Nat) to use the nickname. I was in love with her, and I had been for a long time, but after tonight, I wasn't going to be able to ignore it anymore. This night had been a mistake.

"Hey! You want a drink?"

I reluctantly turned to face the person shouting in my ear only to find Rooster, one of Natasha's best friends, leaning over to talk to me, his shirt unbuttoned and his tie around his head.

"Uh... that's okay," I said. "I think I'm good."

"You sure? You made me a lot of money tonight!"

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him, but he was drunk enough that he didn't get the hint. He turned and quickly snagged two bottles of beer from the bartender, who had to explain to Rooster that it was an open bar and he didn't need to pay, before Rooster finally turned back to me with a grin.

"Want one of these?"

"No," I said, gently pushing aside the bottle he offered me as I took a step forward. "Rooster, what do you mean I made you a lot of money tonight?"

"Technically you and Phoenix! Everybody kept betting that you guys weren't going to figure out your shit for another month at least, but I had faith-"

"Bradley, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You guys!" he said, motioning emphatically with the beers in his hands between me and the dancefloor, where Nat had been cajoled into enjoying at least one song. "Finally getting together! After hearing her wax poetic about how great you are since the day you guys met, we started taking bets on when she'd finally do something about it. And I won! So, thanks!"

"Hold on..." I reached out, taking Rooster's arm to steady myself. The room had started spinning around me, and it had nothing to do with alcohol. "Roos, what are you saying? What do you mean, Nat's been talking about me since the day we met?"

"Ah, I probably shouldn't have told you," he said, shaking his head and at last lowering his voice to normal volume, although it was still far from a whisper. "But it's probably fine now, since you're dating. God, she used to drive us all crazy talking about how great you were and how much of a thing she had for you. It's probably gonna get worse now though, since you guys finally admitted you were pining after each other- Hey, where are you going?"

I ignored Rooster as I headed back to the dance floor, a buzzing in my brain as his words echoed. He was clearly drunk, but if anything, that made me more confident that what he'd told me was the truth. The whole time I'd been driving myself crazy trying not to admit feelings for one of my best friends, she'd been doing the same thing.

Before I knew it, I stood in front of Natasha again. The music still thumped, people laughing and jumping and twirling all around us, but I barely noticed. Nat stood to one side of Fanboy, with Bob on his other side, the two of them holding him up as he attempted to drag them both into a dance, so it took Nat a minute to notice me. But once she did, she straightened up.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I nodded, taking a step closer to her.

"Rooster spilled his guts. You like me. For real."

Shock registered on her face, then straight rage as she whipped her head around to look for Rooster. I just grinned, pushing Fanboy's arm off her as I closed the rest of the distance between us.

"Nat. I like you, too. For real."

She whipped her head back around so quickly that she almost broke my nose. Her wide eyes searched mine, one eyebrow raised.

"Are you kidding?"

"Hell no I'm not kidding. Nat... can I kiss you?"

She grinned, any trace of trepidation or irritation melting away all at once.

"Hell yeah you can."

I grinned back, letting my hand come up to the back of her neck as I leaned in and finally, finally kissed Natasha. She wrapped an arm tightly around my waist, pulling me closer to her as we deepened the kiss. Some cheers and whoops from her friends snapped us both out of it enough to finally pull away, both of us smiling delirious-looking smiles.

"I'm so glad you asked me to be your date to this, Nat," I breathed, letting my arms fall to rest on her shoulders. Her hands came onto my waist, her smile turning into more of a grin.

"Me too. Although, I am looking forward to an opportunity for a real date, without my idiot friends in range or any other people trying to hit on me."

"Sounds great. How about... tomorrow night?"

Nat threw her head back and laughed, but when she met my eyes again and saw me looking as serious as ever, she grinned again.

"Alright. Tomorrow night it is."

"I can't wait."

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989 @space-helen

Top Gun Taglist: @elenavampire21

[mariacallous]

Somewhere in an animated New York, a minion slips and tumbles down a sewer. As a wave of radioactive green slime envelops him, his body begins to transform—limbs mutating, rows of bloody fangs emerging—his globular, wormlike form, slithering menacingly across the screen.

“Beware the minion in the night, a shadow soul no end in sight,” an AI-sounding narrator sings, as the monstrous creature, now lurking in a swimming pool, sneaks up behind a screaming child before crunching them, mercilessly, between its teeth.

Upon clicking through to the video’s owner, though, it’s a different story. “Welcome to Go Cat—a fun and exciting YouTube channel for kids!” the channel’s description announces to 24,500 subscribers and more than 7 million viewers. “Every episode is filled with imagination, colorful animation, and a surprising story of transformation waiting to unfold. Whether it’s a funny accident or a spooky glitch, each video brings a fresh new story of transformation for kids to enjoy!”

Go Cat’s purportedly child-friendly content is visceral, surreal—almost verging on body horror. Its themes feel eerily reminiscent of what, in 2017, became known as Elsagate, where hundreds of thousands of videos emerged on YouTube depicting children’s characters like Elsa from Frozen, Spider-Man, and Peppa Pig involved in perilous, sexual, and abusive situations. By manipulating the platform’s algorithms, these videos were able to appear on YouTube’s dedicated Kids’ app—preying on children’s curiosities to farm thousands of clicks for cash. In its attempts to eradicate the problem, YouTube removed ads on over 2 million videos, deleted more than 150,000, and terminated 270 accounts. Though subsequent investigations by WIRED revealed that similar channels—some containing sexual and scatological depictions of Minecraft avatars—continued to appear on YouTube’s Topic page, Elsagate’s reach had been noticeably quelled.

Then came AI. The ability to enter (and circumvent) generative AI prompts, paired with an influx of tutorials on how to monetize children’s content, means that creating these bizarre and macabre videos has become not just easy but lucrative. Go Cat is just one of many that appeared when WIRED searched for terms as innocuous as “minions,” “Thomas the Tank Engine,” and “cute cats.” Many involve Elsagate staples like pregnant, lingerie-clad versions of Elsa and Anna, but minions are another big hitter, as are animated cats and kittens.

In response to WIRED’s request for comment, YouTube says it “terminated two flagged channels for violating our Terms of Service” and is suspending the monetization of three other channels.

“A number of videos have also been removed for violating our Child Safety policy,” a YouTube spokesperson says. “As always, all content uploaded to YouTube is subject to our Community Guidelines and quality principles for kids—regardless of how it’s generated.”

When asked what policies are in place to prevent banned users from simply opening up a new channel, YouTube stated that doing so would be against its Terms of Service and that these policies were rigorously enforced “using a combination of both people and technology.”

WIRED can confirm that some of the flagged channels were indeed removed last week, including two cat-centric channels featuring themes of abuse. But other linked channels with reposts of the same videos remain on the platform. Go Cat, too, is still active, and its channel description remains unchanged.

WIRED could not find an email associated with Go Cat but reached out to other channels for comment. We did not receive a response.

The explosion of AI-animated cat videos is a defining feature of Elsagate’s second wave, surpassing those of any other type both in scope and extremity of their content. With titles like “Kitten abused by its own mother”—these videos often take the form of fables, where kittens are starved, forced to do unpleasant chores, and audibly beaten by their parents with baseball bats or frying pans. They are then taken to the hospital and revived—before the parent arrives, apologetic for their actions, as melancholic music or a meowing cover of Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For” plays in the background. With near-identical channel names like “Cute cat AI” and “Cute cat of Ni,” experts say, they are a clear attempt to mislead young audiences—and an obvious move to lazily and sloppily monetize cheap content in ways unfathomable before the arrival of generative AI.

“We are deeply concerned about the proliferation of AI-generated content that appears to target kids and contains deeply inappropriate material,” Robbie Torney, senior director of AI programs at Common Sense Media, tells WIRED. The nonprofit, which rates and reviews media to provide accurate recommendations for families, was shown several such channels discovered during this investigation. The organization identified common themes across videos of “characters in extreme distress or peril,” “mutilation, medical procedures, and cruel experiments,” and “depictions of child abuse and torture.”

Although YouTube’s later changes, including implementing new rules in 2019 to adhere to the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, mean these channels now typically appear on YouTube’s main app rather than YouTube Kids—their intentions are only thinly veiled. Sounds of babies’ laughter and babbling are blended in with music and set to backdrops of bright, Cocomelon-esque landscapes. (In fact, the popular kids’ cartoon even appears in the background of some of these videos.) Although Go Cat directly advertises its content to children, others claim to be “not for kids” in the description or avoid mentioning their audience entirely. The metadata for several channels revealed some videos have been tagged with keywords such as #funnycat, #familyfun, and #disneyanimatedmovies. Others featuring polar bears and reindeer infected with parasites are tagged with terms like #animalrescue, suggesting an attempt to appear alongside more educational content.

While in 2017, Elsagate content usually featured traditional animation or even actors dressed in costume (both of which are still a part of this new wave), the arrival of generative AI means that disturbing, brain-rot-style videos can now be produced much more rapidly and by anyone, regardless of skill.

“This trend is particularly concerning because of the scale and speed at which AI can generate this content,” Torney says. “Unlike traditional content creation, AI-generated videos can be produced in large volumes with minimal oversight. Without human review in the creation pipeline, inappropriate and potentially harmful material can easily reach kids.” The comparative speed of AI also means that when one channel is flagged and removed by YouTube—another with identical reposts springs up days later.

WIRED has seen images sent by content creator BitterSnake, who was part of a wave of YouTubers shedding light on these cat-themed channels back in January of this year. Originally posted on a community tab of two now-suspended channels, they appear to show an office environment in what looks to be Asia, with young workers sitting at computer desks, making hearts with their fingers in typical workplace camaraderie. A second image shows a worker at his desk, headphones on, phone beside him, a tissue lying crumpled in the background. The scene would be utterly typical of a young student or intern immersed in his first job—if not for a computer screen featuring an adult cat, lying deceased in a pool of shimmering red blood, as its young kitten looks on, traumatized.

Tracy Pizzo Frey, senior AI adviser for Common Sense Media, recently testified at a California State Assembly hearing in support of a bill that aims to safeguard children from the risks of AI. It will require systems to be classified on a scale from “Prohibited Risk” to “Low Risk” and ban the use of controversial AI companions such as Replika by children, alongside other measures. The scale of this problem is growing—and is likely to balloon further as AI-generated kids' content continues to dwarf its traditionally animated counterparts.

WIRED has shared with YouTube more than 70 similar content-farm channels found during the course of this investigation. Most of these involve AI-generated images of cats alongside themes of gore, sex, and child abuse—and their subscriber count ranges from thousands to millions. Whether these views are coming primarily from humans, though, or are simply confirmation of the realization of the dead internet theory, is debatable—although hundreds of automated comments across these videos suggest it could be the latter.

On reviewing the channels, YouTube explained that it required all creators to label AI-generated material as such, including content aimed at kids and families, and that it had introduced a set of guidelines around what it called quality content.

“We want younger viewers to not just have a safer experience but also an enriching one,” a YouTube spokesperson says. “To support this, we partnered with experts to create a set of quality principles for kids and family content meant to help guide creators in creating quality content for kids and reduce the amount of content that is low quality, regardless of how it was created.” YouTube claims that since introducing these principles—which guide which content is monetized, shown in recommendations, and appears on YouTube Kids—viewership of “high quality” content has increased by 45 percent on the YouTube Kids app.

Still, regardless of their audience, and as YouTube’s moderators scramble to remove them, Elsagate’s successors remain on YouTube’s main platform—continuing to generate new ways to bend the rules at every turn. Nor is the problem unique to them—with similar videos having appeared on TikTok in recent months, where Runway AI generator was overlaid onto real footage from suicide and mass shootings to create “minion gore” videos, 404 Media reported. TikTok told 404 Media, "Hateful content as well as gory, gruesome, disturbing, or extremely violent content” is prohibited and said it is taking action to remove harmful AI-generated content that violates its policies.

“We recognize that short-form video platforms are working to address content moderation challenges, but the nature of AI-generated videos presents unique difficulties that may require new solutions,” Torney tells WIRED.

“The rapid evolution of AI technology demands that all stakeholders—platforms, content creators, parents, and organizations like ours—work together to ensure kids’ exposure to online video content is safe and positive.”

[darkmaga-returns]

Comcast’s Xfinity—the largest cable provider in the U.S.—has rolled out “WiFi Motion,” a real-time in-home motion tracking system, just as its broader data infrastructure now connects to CIA-linked surveillance firm Palantir through a new integration with Databricks, a leading enterprise AI and data platform provider.

Comcast is owned by World Economic Forum (WEF)-tied BlackRock, Vanguard, and StateStreet.

The news comes as DARPA launches a new military AI program—MAGICS—designed to predict and forecast human behavior at scale, raising fresh concerns that tools like Xfinity’s in-home motion tracking could feed future “pre-crime” surveillance systems powered by CIA contractors like Palantir.

The news also comes as the Trump administration expands Palantir’s role as the backbone of a sweeping federal effort to consolidate Americans’ personal data—raising alarm that CIA-linked surveillance tools may soon fuse government databases with private-sector sources like Comcast’s in-home motion tracking.

Without any additional cameras or sensors, the Xfinity WiFi motion system uses signal disruptions between devices to track physical movement inside your home.

Room to room, across floors, and even down to small gestures like a hand wave.

Xfinity offers motion tracking at “no extra cost,” raising red flags, because when surveillance features are free, your data and privacy are usually the real price.

[calmwaterstarot]

What can we expect from 2024 dear!?? 😌

2024 has a lot going on; there are so many astrological transits happening that have a huge impact on all of us.

January 1, 2024: Mercury went direct after being in retrograde for several weeks. This means communication gets better, legal documents can be signed without issues, and anything related to speech is cleared up.

January 20 - September 1, 2024: Pluto enters Aquarius. This is going to be a wild ride. The last time Pluto was in Aquarius was around the late 1700's, and during that time, the world underwent MASSIVE change. Both the American and French Revolutions occurred, coups happened with governments, royalty was dethroned, battles and wars were fought, the first wave of feminism began, etc. There's so much more than this. You should see the list. I'll include it here--start around 1777 and go through 1798. Pluto represents death, rebirth, and transformation, while Aquarius represents humanity and technology. When you pair these two, you're looking at major transformation socially, politically, economically, and technologically. There's a brief retrograde into Capricorn for one last time during our lifetime, and then Pluto will return to Aquarius for another 20 years. It's interesting to note that the rise and fall of empires throughout history is around 250 years. The cycle for Pluto is 245 years. Coincidence? I think not.

February 16, 2024: A stellium in Aquarius. A stellium occurs when three or more planets are in the same house/sign in an astrological chart. This Aquarius stellium will feature Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto. The last time this occurred was in February, 1962, and was commonly referred to as the "Age of Aquarius." This time period brought about major changes in the fields of technology, science, and aerospace. I'm afraid that during this time, though, there will be a strong focus on AI and its advancement. Pay attention to headlines regarding an upgrade in technology.

March 25, 2024: Lunar eclipse in Libra. Major historical events typically coincide with lunar eclipses, and since this one will be in Libra, I foresee society wishing for balance, harmony, peace, and justice. I believe this will be a time that humanity will call for us to take a deeper look at how we can end strife and get along with each other. Be ready for major calls for wars and upheaval to end (even though it's happening now, this will be on a much larger scale with this eclipse).

April 8, 2024: Solar eclipse in Aries. On the flip side of the lunar eclipse, we have the solar eclipse in Aries. This will be a time where we start anew and are ready to charge down a new path. Mars' energy represents war, destruction, violence, revenge, but also strength. This particular eclipse is warning us about war and destruction on a collective level because it'll be conjunct the North Node (the direction we're all going). I believe we're headed into a total collapse and rebirth when we add in the Pluto in Aquarius energy, but it's something that needs to happen for us to evolve as a civilization.

May 25, 2024: Jupiter in Gemini, which is actually in detriment. This means the energy is weaker in this sign for the planet. Expect changes in telecommunications (voice, data, and video) and social media, since Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication.

June 2, 2024: Neptune is anaretic. Anaretic means that a planet has entered the 29th degree, which holds a sense of finality because this planet has transited all 30 degrees (starting at 0). It's ready to move on and cut ties. What does this mean for Neptune? Well, the planet of illusions will lift its veil and a lot of what we've held onto in our beliefs will die out. Some people will still try to hold on (sunk-cost fallacy) because they're stubborn, but the majority of people will release, mourn, and deal with the fallout that's going to be super messy. Imagine the feeling of being betrayed by someone you love. That's what Neptune lifting it's veil is going to feel like for most. Again, collectively, we NEED this energy for healing and spiritual growth.

July 21, 2024: Full Moon in Capricorn. Most of the time, nothing major happens on full moons, but this one is interesting because it falls on an anaretic degree, just like Neptune. Capricorn represents structure, discipline, rigidity, and order (its ruler is Saturn), so we're going to see some upheaval in regards to these issues. The old way of doing things will no longer serve the same purpose. This is the equivalent of saying, "Out with the old, in with the new."

August 5, 2024 – August 28, 2024: Mercury Retrograde in Virgo and Leo. With Mercury rx in Virgo, this might be a time where you lose or misplace documents, feel irritated, have constant miscommunication, or face scrutiny from the general public. Remember to write down important deadlines and keep everything organized so you don't lose anything. With Mercury rx in Leo, I'm fully expecting some celebrity scandals during this time. Otherwise, it'll be a time of thinking about trying something new or wanting to get out and do something fun.

September 17, 2024: Lunar Eclipse in Pisces. This will happen in the 25th degree (an Aries degree), so anyone with heavy Pisces placements will have creative breakthroughs during this time. We'll see a rise in great music, art, poetry and literature, as well as film and visual arts. This time period might feel very dreamy and whimsical on the art scene.

October 2, 2024: Solar Eclipse in Libra. We had the lunar eclipse in Libra in March, so now, the solar eclipse will bring justice and balance. Anyone with Libra placements in early degrees will feel the need to purge what's not working. Even though most Librans are peaceful, this will be a time of upheaval. Expect people to help the oppressed even more (seeking justice) in a world that needs to be more fair and balanced (Libra energy).

November 19, 2024: Pluto goes direct in Aquarius for twenty years, until March 8, 2043. Buckle up! It's going to be a bumpy-but-necessary ride.

November 25, 2024 – December 15, 2024: Mercury Retrograde in Sagittarius. We all know what happens during Mercury rx, but what happens when it's in Sagittarius? Sagittarius represents higher education and learning, all things foreign and travel-related, religion, and spirituality. Expect religious or spiritual leaders, as well as educational leaders at universities, to have private documents leaked, misinformation stemming from foreign countries and media, as well as travel issues (delays, being rerouted, lots of crowds, etc.). This will not be a good time to travel.

December 6, 2024 – February 24, 2025: Mars Retrograde in Cancer and Leo. This is going to be...interesting. Mars hates being in Cancer; it's in detriment. Why? Cancer represents empathy and compassion, while Mars represents a more masculine energy that strives towards war, violence, and destruction. Cancer wants to provide a resolution to all of the conflict occurring, while Mars isn't having it. Expect masculine energies, especially men, to be more irritated and aggressive during this time. This duo can bring about discussion regarding balancing masculine and feminine energy, which we all have. Because Cancer is represented by the Moon, or the "mother" in astrology, expect some discussions about fertility and reproduction, birth rates (especially the low birth rates of some countries), marriage (or lack thereof), and any social dynamics with males and females. These discussions will carry over into 2025.

2024 is going to be a year that'll go down in history, that's for sure. One silver lining in all of this is that Venus does NOT retrograde this year, so we might see or hear about fewer breakups, and we might see or hear about more people entering into relationships and staying together.