#RIAN GOODBYE )

[scorpiotrait]

one of Valeria's chess club friends asked her out on a date in a foreign country, at a bar (they're underage), and just wanted to play chess, then leave? girl okay

[abnerkrill]

POKER FACE SEASON 2 RENEWAL JUST HALFWAY THROUGH THE SEASON SO TRUE

[wearejericho]

mvnces asked:

“ why are you talking like we’ll never see each other again? ”

    ❝ i can’t tell you. ❞ he could, in all honesty — but he knew the other would try to stop him, and NOT GOING wasn’t an option. for once, he wasn’t given orders. the decision to infiltrate the cyberlife tower had been his own. ❝ i hope to be back soon. but there’s... a high probability that i will not. ❞

[httpisaoki]

AOKI'S DRAFTS ! (finally revealed)

aoki's note: okay i know ITS BEEN AWHILE but here's the things i've cooked up (multiple things that maybe I'll start working on..) also 'gusto with ya' is in fact the taglish au i've spoiled with last goodbye so sorry for the delay huhu and enjoyy!

CRUSH SESSIONS

yn ln, a well-known tutor in her university, is secretly a hopeless romantic. what happens when her crush asks for tutoring? (uni au) (sakura fic)

2. OPPOSITE DUOS (possible taglish au)

people say opposites attract but does that really work for kim minjeong and mo daein? two of Yonsei's badminton aces, who are complete opposites. (badminton au, uni au) (aespa au, kim minjeong au)

3. LDR (taglish au)

long-distance relationships can be hard, some say. But it wasn’t a problem for [aespa member] and yn ln, two inseparable best friends until one of the two realizes they like the other a little more than a friend. (aespa au, non-idol au)

4. GUSTO WITH YA (taglish au)

athena briar (k), the campus crush who is known for being a heartbreaker, who easily losing interest in everyone she dates, meets rian valdez, a newly transferred scholar whom she finds interesting. (taglish au, uni au) (aespa au, yu jimin au)

5. FAVORABLE (taglish au)

7. A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (goddess au)

falling in love with a mortal was a death wish. but the daughter of hades couldn’t care less. until meeting one fallen angel changed everything for both of their worlds.

8. ACE OF CARDS (boarding school au)

a new section arrives at Devon Academy for the new school year, but the thing is, no one knows who they are or where they're from, until one transfer student plays an impossible game of cards and wins, causing multiple events to occur in the academy.

[27-royal-teas]

god, i listen to lullabies and it fucks me up every time. make it a sweet goodbye. the sweet, soft tune on the intro. the way the first verse hits you like a spike to the throat. scream to be heard, like you needed any more attention. the vocal lift on the word scream. it’s pain, it’s musical pain, and it’s so clear how sharp and raw and fucking RECENT it is to alex-- not the one that exists now, but the one who existed then, in 2006-- a boy so open to vulnerability and loss, a brother-shaped hole in his chest. sing me to sleep, a reassurance from a boy who wanted to die. I’ll see you in my dreams. he’s sorry. he keeps saying he’s sorry. what is he sorry for? please don’t cry, it wasn’t your fault. I need to tell you it wasn’t your fault. 

and what about the chorus? boy, give us another chorus. write me another line. the almost waltz-like guitar in the background during the second verse, a dance with death. alex is teetering on the tightrope between life and a deep pit of despair, and it’s so clear in this song. there is a choir, in the back of the bridge, with the gentle guitar, and it is getting quieter, there is the buzzing like the back of your head when you’re falling asleep, it feels like the brink of giving up, because things have gotten too sharp, and we’re fading, and then rian kicks in with the drums again, and suddenly he’s alive- we’re alive! 

being sorry wont fix anything, is the thing. when someone dies, you just want to die too. you hover on that brink for what feels like years. maybe it is. 

but when someone dies, you can still live. 

[florisbaratheons]

It could be! and I would really appreciate it if we didn't have Helaemond. But what worries me is that Rian said that Helaemond fans will be happy. Although it doesn't make sense for this couple to happen. Helaena must feel contempt and anger towards her brother, not attraction or love. I was very happy that Aemond will be going to Harrenhal. Amen! Goodbye Aemond 👋

I did just remember that when they got Ewan to stop talking about Vhagar on the press tour, he did mention Helaena's visions a few times. So now, I'm kind of cringing.

Do I think Maelor will be his? Fuck no. But now I'm a bit concerned.

Absolutely wild to me that Ryan called Jace going to Winterfell "fanservice" but he's gonna pander to this nonexistent ship. Wow.

And true, goodbye Aemond. He'll be marching off to his death, and at least thru most of season 4 we won't have to deal with him. Never thought I'd root for Daemon, dear God. Traitorous characters infuriate me.

[cinderpaw11]

Pelipper mail! Ferro's orb on a necklace.

"Hey there Rian. You get it for the weekend. Have fun with it! Remember, up to 6 hours in one go, then in needs to charge for a while.

-@steeltraptrainer"

[A video is attached, taken by one of their pokemon.]

"Okay okay okay. Okay. I can be normal about this. I will be so normal about this," they announce to themself, holding the orb in one hand as they wave goodbye to the pelipper with the other. They are still in their pajamas, seeing as it's early morning, but they are in their chair and very awake.

"Oh, you're recording?" They ask as they notice their phone being used. A squeak of affirmation comes from behind the camera. "Okay, I guess I should-- Hi everyone, good morning? So uh. Orb!"

They lift the necklace for the camera.

"Orb. From Ferro. Thank you, Ferro! And uh. I guess. I'm going to become a pokemon now?"

They shrug, but they're very clearly excited. They struggle a bit with putting on the necklace before asking Finny for help. Once their hands are safely free, they start flapping them.

"So I barely slept last night. And I can't just go back to sleep now that the orb is here. So we're doing this now! How do I..."

They touch it lightly--

"Oop--"

--and within seconds, a chatot has appeared in their place. It's very loud and active, flapping it's wings and squwaking. If one understands pokespeech, they would hear, "HOLY FUCK IT WORKED, IT WORKED OH MY GODS!"

[the video ends.]

[wordsnpoetry]

our minds could not forsee how short our time would be but perhaps our souls knew the moment they met. maybe that is why we loved each other like we did. our souls knew we'd say goodbye too soon and there was no time to waste.

sara rian

[gretchensinister]

Dark Crystal Vampire AU Part 4: I GUESS THIS THING NEEDS A PLOT, HUH?

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Onto the Age of Resistance and the original movie:

The inciting incident is still AU Mira getting drained with a witness. AU Rian unfortunately is up against the general perception that vampires aren’t real. I’d set this part in the 1930s because if I go with the 966 eclipse for the split date, that means that the 1000 year anniversary is fast approaching. So let’s say Rian was able to take pictures but one of the issues is finding a place to have them developed that he’s sure won’t get back to the skeksis. The location of the AU skeksis castle I’m thinking of as Venice, I’m pretty sure they have a reasonable number of old palaces there that could accommodate a gaggle of rich old vampires.

On the subject of the 1000 year anniversary—Skeksis like SkekZok, and SkekTek separately, have concluded that the original ceremony didn’t grant them permanent immortality, and something needs to happen at the 1000 year mark to make them live forever. They don’t know what it is but they know they can’t do it if they’re arrested for murder.

Well. There is one big thing that could happen. SkekGra told them. But they DON’T need to reunify, they’re the superior parts of the URSKEKs, that’s horseshit, goodbye!

SkekGra and UrGoh are doing fine, by the way. They moved to Tangier, Morocco, at some point, and during this first phase of the AU story, that’s the International Zone or Interzone and being eccentric weirdos there is really working for them. They are having lots of kinky threesomes for blood and they’ve discovered that it really decreases the pain/thirst to live with and get along with your other half! Also pairs drinking each other’s blood drastically lowers the amount of external blood needed.

(SkekMal and UrVa know this last thing too, because UrVa at one point decided to harry SkekMal forever across the Earth, never letting him settle, and after one too many disrupted hunts SkekMal was like “then I’ll just drink from YOU” and it ended up being a very interesting night.)

SkekSa and UrSan are...somewhere...in the Mediterranean Sea.

UrLii ended up living in the Paris catacombs. It happens. Eventually SkekLi ended up there too.

I think Aughra has to be a book in this AU. Maybe another esoteric acronym, AUGHRA.

I haven’t thought out much plot mapping for the show as AU. Maybe the gelfling characters are the remnant/descendants of the original URSKEK cult members? And it’s kind of an underground/esoteric religion? Would help explain the emotional sway of the skeksis/not just calling the cops. The URSKEK underground religion is what the skeksis wipe out before “movie” events. I think the urRu still raise Jen. He’s still got to help with reunification, and so does Kira, but it’s something that takes more time and is more like real detective work/solving a mystery in this AU.

As for the ending...there is reunification but I’m not sure if would let them all just leave. They certainly don’t become the original URSKEK humans again. Something different has to happen. It’s 1966! Try something new!

And that’s the vampire AU!

[marriiemeii]

Circles Chapter 2

jeonghan x oc x seungcheol

status: ongoing genre: drama fluff, angst, professor au, romance, comedy warnings: death of a loved one

synopsis: Faye has always been more focused on her career than her social life. When she meets two new customers at her cafe, her once solitary life begins to change.

chapter list

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Faye went home after bidding goodbye to Seungcheol and Jeonghan but before that, the two had been insisting on walking her home or calling her a taxi to make sure she arrives home safe, which she exasperatedly mentioned to them that she had walked home alone plenty of times before she knew them.

Seungcheol responded to her comment by saying that was in the past. Now that they do know her, they were worried about their new friend and wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be in danger. She gave in to their request by allowing them to call her a taxi, because two strangers, in her eyes, walking her home just didn’t sound too good. Even if they were really handsome, Faye had at least some self-restraint.

When she arrived home, the moment she was through the front door and closed it she let out a massive sigh of relief. Ever since she sat with them she’s been feeling a bit uneasy. However, now that she’s in the comfort of her safe space, she feels like her social battery is being recharged already.

Faye walked through the hall in front of her front door that led to the center of the living room with the kitchen and guest bathroom to the left and her bedroom and laundry room to the left. Faye turned to the right and headed straight to the kitchen. She grabbed a food prep container from the fridge and took off the cover before putting it in the microwave. While waiting for her food to finish warming up, she grabbed her laptop on the counter and video-called her best friend, Rian.

Rian’s face showed on the screen with her daughter, Aleah, on her lap as she sat at the dining table of her house. When she noticed she was connected, she waved at the screen excitedly before telling her daughter to look at the screen. Aleah looks up at the computer screen before wiggling around in excitement.

“Auntie Faye! Auntie Faye!” Aleah starts trying to get up and get closer to the screen. I laugh as Rian struggles to hold on to her daughter so she doesn’t fall down.

“Hi Leah~ how are you? Your mom said you were sick?” I asked the excited 4 year-old. She starts pouting as she starts telling that she was ok but she got her mom sick after. I listened to her enjoying her exaggerated storytelling.  As she finished telling me all about her getting sick, her mom suggested that she should go to her dad and ask if he needs helps with cooking. Aleah agrees before waddling off in pursuit of her dad. Rian watches her as she goes to make sure she’s ok before turning back to the screen.

“Soo, how are you?” Rian inquires, leaning on the dining table excited just like her daughter to hear from me. I chuckle and shake my head as I see where Aleah gets a lot of her personality from.

“Even though I know you gave birth to Aleah, it’s crazy how much personality she takes after you,” I noted. When the microwave beeps, I get up to grab my food and I hear Rian calling after me to get back here and to explain myself. She’s always so excited whenever we have our little update sessions. I tell her to calm down and that I’m just grabbing my food.

“Work is pretty normal y’know?” I try to dismiss the topic. Immediately after I hear noises of disagreement coming from her so I look at the computer screen and see she’s frowning at the camera, showing her discontent and skepticism with my answer.

“You talked with my mom didn’t you,” I stated. She starts nodding her head rapidly and a wide grin appears on her face. I sigh to myself before sitting at the counter again and prepare myself for all her questions.

“She said there were two handsome male customers~” She beams at me. I could hear a faint voice calling after Rian asking who’s handsome. I smile a bit knowing that it was just her husband teasing her. Rian splutters and starts explaining it was my mom’s words not her.

“Anyways, so did they come back to the cafe? Are you finally going to date?” Her questions come at me rapidly one after another about me and my love life. I bring my hands in front of me as I start shaking my head at her.

“No, no, no, no. I barely know them and it’s kind of weird that they talked to me in the first place,” I asserted. She lets out an exasperated sigh and her head drops on to her arms. 

“But Faaaye~ you could at least make friends with them,” She pouts.

“If it makes you feel better I told them I would talk with them tomorrow after work.”

She perks up in her seat. “You should have said so in the first place!”

“You ShOulD HavE SaID sO in ThE FiRSt plAcE,” I mocked her. Her mouth drops open in shock.

“HEY! Don’t mock me!” She protested. I laugh at her expression.

“I’m kidding~” I joke with her as she crosses her arm with a pout on her face. She grumbled a little bit but the microphone wasn’t able to pick up what she was saying. She stops frowning before looking a bit more serious.

“Y’know, I’m proud of you right?” She trailed off. My eyebrows furrow a little, kind of confused with where she was going with this.

“You opened the cafe that the both of you wanted for so long already. You’ve accomplished a lot on your own… Not only am I proud, but she would be too, y’know?” She started. “You can slow down now and start thinking about yourself and your life. AND I don’t mean your career because you have that down already.”

I look down at my food and start pushing it around rather than eating it, thinking about what she was saying. It was true that I didn’t really think about my life except my career. Drowning myself into work so I wouldn’t have to think about the past or more specifically, Flora. Doing the things we planned together so that it seemed like it was ok that I was here and she wasn’t.

“I know that you feel like you have to do the things that you guys wanted to do together but you should also live for yourself, and I haven’t seen you do that since before the accident,” Rian hesitated. “So, you telling me that you’ll talk to them tomorrow, it really does make me happy.”

I stop playing with my food and look up at the screen to see her facial expression. She was leaning her head on one arm with a soft smile on her face. It was times like these that I realized how much she has changed from when I first met her in high school. She was no longer the wild party girl that sat next to me in my class and instead this loving and caring mother to all. I softly sigh and smile a bit at her.

“Aww~ there’s my pretty best friend,” She teases. I scrunch my face at her and stick my tongue out at her. She giggles a bit at my reaction. “But seriously, I think you should make friends with them at the VERY least, if you don’t wanna date them. Broaden your friendships and social circles.”

I nod my head at her before agreeing that I would try when I talk and hangout with them tomorrow. Rian then teases me by saying, “If all else fails, I could try setting you up with Mingyu again. We all know how much Rhea loves you~”

We burst out into laughter thinking about Mingyu’s daughter, Rhea, and how she would call me Mama when she first started talking. I was always helping out with taking care of Aleah and Rhea when they were growing up and their parents were always busy. She must’ve learned the word from Aleah. When Mingyu found out about her calling me Mama, he bursted out in apologies and told me that he’ll get her to stop.

“I’m so sorry, Faye! I don’t know how long she’s been calling you that but I promise I’ll get her to stop.” Mingyu apologized with his head lowered like a puppy. He really is a giant puppy with those puppy eyes he’s directing at me.

I shake my head as I chuckle at him, patting his shoulder. “It’s fine, I’m in her life a lot so it’s no wonder why she thinks I might be her mom. When she’s old enough to understand, we’ll explain that even if she views me as a mom, we’re not together.”

He nods kind of sadly. I feel a bit bad because I know Rian had wanted to try setting us up together, but I just wasn’t ready to be in a relationship. I felt like it wouldn’t be fair to Mingyu to try dating him when I wouldn’t be able to put the time and effort into the relationship, because I was focused on starting my cafe.

“I hope this doesn’t make things awkward for us?” He hesitates. I smiled at him, happy that he was hoping the same as me. He was a really great friend that I hoped I wouldn’t lose.

“Of course not! And of course, I’ll still help with taking care of Rhea, she’s such a sweetheart.”

“How are they doing by the way?” I asked her, knowing that Mingyu and her husband talked everyday. 

“They’re doing great, Rhea got student of the month actually. I met her kindergarten teacher because that’s where Aleah will be attending next year. And she’s so nice and surprisingly really young. All the students love her,” Rian rambles on about all the things she heard about Mingyu and Rhea. “Actually Mingyu wanted to have a get together soon, when me and Aleah aren’t contagious anymore. He wanted me to tell you to come and he made me do it because he knows I’ll be forcing you to come and socialize with us.”

Of course they all knew me so well that I’d find a reason to wiggle out of the event. Since it seemed that I wouldn’t be getting out of it I agreed to going. It’d be nice to see how much Rhea has grown and see how Mingyu’s been doing. I asked Rian to send me all the details for the event.

“Rian, dinners ready,” I heard a voice call out from the kitchen. I see a tall figure approaching from behind Rian and she looks back and waves him over.

“Wonwoo! Say hi to Faye!” She calls out to him. The figure gets closer and I see Wonwoo with a black apron on with two plates in his hand. He bends down and I see his face appear on the screen.

“Hey Faye, hope you’re doing well. You better come to the get together,” He says, with his slightly monotone and low voice. Rian starts laughing at the way he greeted me.

“I already told Rian I would,” I huffed at the two. They both start smiling at my reaction to their teasing.

“Good, I’m excited to hear about if you’ll finally start dating. Bring them with you so I can pick which one you’ll date,” He states. My mouth drops in shock that he wasn’t even asking and rather stated that I’m bringing them AND he gets to choose who I date. 

“HEY, why do you get to choose who she dates? She’s MY best friend,” Rian complains at Wonwoo, hitting his back slightly. Wonwoo puts down one plate in front of her and then uses his free arm to push her head out of the frame and sits on her.

“So, bring your boyfriends and me AND Mingyu will choose who’s the better choice,” Wonwoo talks over Rian as she starts complaining and tries pushing the taller and heavier man off of her. “AND if none of them are good enough for you, you’re going on a date with Mingyu again.”

“I AGREE but I should be the one to say it, not you!” I hear Rian shout from behind him. Wonwoo continues to ignore her, just sitting on her, until the both of them hear a tiny voice.

“Daddy, why you sit on Mommy?” Aleah’s voice carries through the mic. Wonwoo reaches down and grabs her, setting her on his lap.

“See Leah, now we’re all on Mommy’s lap. Isn’t it so fun?” Wonwoo asks her. Aleah giggles and nods her head, exclaiming that she’s having fun.

“Alright, fun times over. It’s time to eat dinner now,” Rian states. It was fun watching the family of three interact. I watched as Aleah complained and whined that she wasn’t hungry and wanted to keep playing. Wonwoo finally got off of Rian with Aleah in his arms as he went off to set her on her booster seat.

“It was nice catching up with you,” Rian started. “Next time we catch up hopefully it’ll be in person and none of us are sick this time.”

I agreed with her and we said our goodbyes. Once the call ended, it was silent in the apartment, except for the faint noise of the A/C running. I got up from the counter to go put my dishes away in the sink and wash them. I thought back to our conversation on the computer. Would Flora be proud of all that I’ve done since she’s been gone? I haven’t done much except focusing on getting the cafe of our dreams to become true. Would she have been upset that I didn’t put much effort into gaining friends or a relationship?

As I finished washing and cleaning up, I headed over to my room and into my closet to grab a box on the top shelf. The box was full of high school and college memories. Pictures and small trinkets filled the box to the brim. I dug into the box to find a specific picture from college. When I finally found it I held it up to the light.

It was a picture of me, Flora, Wonwoo, Rian when she was pregnant, Mingyu and Rhea when she was still a baby less than a year old. You could see that Rian had a tiny baby bump since she was still in her second trimester. Rian was in the center with me on her left side and Flora on her right side. Rhea was in my arms and the guys were behind us. We all had big smiles on our faces. It was one of the happiest times in our lives.

We were all so excited when Rian was pregnant even though it was an accident. Wonwoo and Rian were so worried about being parents while still in college but with the help of Mingyu, Flora, and I, we managed to calm their worries and help them get through with it. Especially since Mingyu was already a single parent in college. He managed to help them the most.

The longer I stared at the photo the more I thought of how Flora would be if she were here now. Would she already be a parent? Would she still have been in a relationship with Joshua? I was slowly spiraling into all the “what ifs.” I shook my head and tried not to think of all the possibilities because it would do nothing except make me feel guilty for being here instead of her. I huff to myself and think that my therapist would be proud that I was able to stop my overthinking. I start putting everything in the box except for the photo and dig around for a spare photo frame to put the photo in it.

I get up out of the closet and set the photo on my nightstand, hoping that this will be the start of my actual healing. I hope I’m ready to open myself up to new people again and maybe Flora will be watching over me proudly.

****

The next day at work seemed to drag on as I started to feel anxious about hanging out with basically strangers. I tried keeping my focus on my work whether it was making sure that inventory was correct, deliveries were being scheduled on time, or even helping out the baristas and bakers, but somehow the two handsome men wouldn’t leave my mind. So many possible scenarios came to mind but I would never really know what to prepare for. So the moment it was time for me to leave work, I was a shaking mess.

Even one of the employees, Mira, had noticed and asked if I was alright. To which, I responded that I was alright, just a little off today. She wished me the best of luck as I was heading out. I stepped out of the back and headed to the front of the cafe. I noticed that Seungcheol and Jeonghan weren’t inside the cafe, so I headed to the outside tables.

I looked around for the two but only saw one of them, Seungcheol. He was sitting at one of the outside tables and was looking down at his phone. I walked over to him and as he heard my footsteps, he looked up.

He was wearing a black leather bomber jacket with a black shirt underneath and black pants. It actually made me wonder if he would be alright in the sun because he was wearing an awful lot of black. He stood up and went over to the seat I was heading to before grabbing it and pulling it back for me to sit on it. I sat down and he scooted my chair in towards the table, before going back to his seat.

“So, Jeonghan isn’t going to be coming today. He said he forgot that he has something to do,” Seungcheol explains, once he settled down. I nod my head at him. “Did you still want to just hangout? We could reschedule if you want to?”

I thought about it, maybe we could reschedule but then all that worrying and anxiety would be for nothing and that would suck. So instead of agreeing to reschedule, I shook my head, which seemed to surprise him slightly. “I’m fine with just hanging out with you.”

After I said that, his eyes lowered a bit and he ended up scratching the back of his neck a little embarrassed. I wondered why he seemed a little bashful after saying that until I realized that what I said could be taken in a different way. I honestly would like to bash my head in with a brick after realizing.

“If you’re ok with it just being us then I am too,” He smiles at me slightly, showing a little bit of his dimples. I had the urge to just poke them but I brushed away my intrusive thoughts. “Do you have anything in mind or anything you wanna do?”

I hummed to myself as I thought about what we could do, but nothing was really coming to mind. I shrugged my shoulders at him. He frowns slightly and tries thinking of something that they could do together.

“How about we go to the outlet and just walk around?” He suggests. I nod my head and agree with him that we could do that.

“Would we just catch the next bus to get there?” I wondered. The next bus would be here in about 20 minutes, so it wouldn’t be that long of a wait.

He shakes his head before taking something out of his pocket. He brings out car keys and shakes it in front a bit. “We can just take my car.”

I stare at his keys and feel my heart skip a beat a bit. I do my best to keep my breath even once it starts feeling like it’s getting harder to breathe. It’s just a short 10 minute drive. It’ll be fine, I’LL be fine. It’s been years already and I’ve been on buses plenty of times. Nothing has ever happened all these years.

I nod my head and try my best to smile at him, hoping that he falls for the fake smile. He looks at me and doesn’t seem to notice it much or he just didn’t want to say anything. Either way he started getting ready to get up and I did the same. He walked in front first to lead me to where he had parked which was closer to the university. 

Since it was a weekday, there were plenty of students wandering around, unluckily for me. I could tell that some of the students were looking at us as we walked together quietly. It was a little unnerving having this attention and Seungcheol ended up noticing.

“Just ignore them. It’s what Jeonghan and I do all the time,” Seungcheol whispered softly. I almost didn’t catch what he said, had I not been standing next to him. I looked up at him and saw he was still looking forward until he felt my eyes on him. He turned his head to look at me before giving a small reassuring smile. I return his smile and face forward again, feeling slightly better with the reassurance.

We eventually reached his car which was parked by one of the restaurants right by the university. He unlocked the car with the button on his keys before walking over to the passenger side and opening the door for me.

“You don’t have to do that, y’know?” I tell him, as I enter the car and look up at him. He watches to make sure I’m in the car completely.

“Yeah, but I was taught to help others,” He shrugs it off. It was interesting to see someone who has very polite manners, holding the door open, pushing the chair in, and other small things I noticed that he does.

He closes the door before jogging over to the driver’s side of the car and getting in. We both put our seat belts on and he checks to make sure I’m good before turning on the car and starting to head over to the outlets.

The car ride was silent except for the sounds of the radio playing music quietly. I didn’t want to try speaking in fear that he’d notice that I was slightly shaking. I was doing my best to control my breathing so he wouldn’t hear me. Luckily, the car ride was short and sweet as we arrived just a few minutes later at the outlets. We both got out and started to walk around seeing all the different shops.

“If you see any shops that you want to go in, just let me know, alright?” He mentions to me as we walk together. I nod my head and tell him the same, not wanting this day to just revolve around what I want.

We found a couple of shops that we mutually wanted to go into, such as electronic stores and snack stores. We bonded a bit over time as we walked together.

I learned that Seungcheol and Jeonghan have been friends ever since they were kids and their families were close with each other. Their families aren't really close anymore but the guys were best friends and knew everything about each other. They basically thought of each other as brothers at this point.

It was surprisingly a very laid back hangout, and the slight awkwardness went away by the end of the day. Eventually, he was already driving me back home as our hangout came to an end. The ride was still nerve wracking for me but it seemed easier to hid it from him.

He walked over to open my door when we reached my home. As I walked to my door, I looked back and saw that he was standing there waiting for me to go inside. He brings one hand up and makes a shooing motion, telling me to go inside. I smile and wave before unlocking the door and going inside. It wasn't too bad of a day. Maybe next time, Jeonghan can join us.

****

a/n: sorry this took so long T_T i was actually stuck at how to write this chapter. hopefully this chapter is ok.

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[murderoushagthesequel]

Opening Night

for @jegulus-microfic's prompt, off-script (165 words)

i both hate this and love it lol. just. let jeggy be happy high schoolers without a care in the world (and i will not be taking criticism on flitwick being the drama teacher that man taught FROG CHOIR). oh and thank you @canyouhearmyfear for the names rian and yavier

“I love you, I really do, Rian, but I must leave you now. Goodbye.”

[YAVIER exits stage right, leaving RIAN dropping to his knees and beginning to cry quietly].

That was how the scene was supposed to go. Fairly simple. Mr. Flitwick sighs as he watches the way the scene *actually* unfolds.

“I love you. I wish I could explain to you all the reasons why, but I simply can’t. There aren’t enough words in the English language to express my love for you. I wish we could be together, Re- *ahem* Rian.”

“Yavier-”

[RIAN rushes forward, grabbing YAVIER’s face and kissing him. YAVIER looks surprised for a second before kissing back and smiling].

Mr. Flitwick should’ve known better casting Regulus Black and James Potter as leads in a romance, even if it should’ve been a tragedy. He can’t find it in himself to be upset for long though. What can he say? He’s a hopeless romantic, and these two were meant for each other.

[eagle-warri]

MAG XXX: Labyrinthine

(inspired by both @cherrifire’s Distortion!BigB and @mothofprophecy’s Distortion!Grian. And also the fact that Secret Life is basically a Spiral domain at this point)

tw: derealization, descriptions of glitching

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[click]

[ARCHIVIST] Statement of G. Rian regarding a maze of doors. Statement given October 29, 20…that can’t be right. The statement says it was given 2023, that day hasn’t happened yet. It must’ve been a mistake, I’ll have to refile it. Statement begins.

[ARCHIVIST (statement)] Alright, first thing you need to know is that I am not the best guy sometimes, but I try! If I sometimes trap my friends in death games for fun, well, no one’s perfect. I see how you’re looking at me, they’re fine. Mostly. Don’t ask about Jimmy.

Anyways. I was running another game, but something was wrong. I wasn’t completely in control anymore, something…else had gotten in there. And not of my own design. Something not of blood and life and death, like the games always were, not of the binding strings and rot of Double or the ticking time of Lim or the hopping bloodlust of Last, but of color and twisting and lies. We had…they were called Secrets. Things we had to do or we suffered the consequences. And there was one player…

It was BigB. Don’t ask about a real name, only about half the players went by one, and he wasn’t one of them. But from the start his secrets were weird. First one I’m almost sure was hole-related, but he would not tell me, which I’m kind of annoyed about. But the second one…

I don’t even know what his secret was for, but he had some sort of labyrinth built, and he invited me in. I took it, obviously. But as I passed him, something was a bit off. Nothing was wrong looking right at him, but out of the corner of my eye I could have sworn that he was glitching. Like, he had this weird, colorful outline, and his fingers were too long. I didn’t think much of it. Probably should have, otherwise I wouldn’t be in here.

Anyways, I headed in, and figured that it was a maze thing, that I’d have to find my way out. Especially when I glanced back and realized the door wasn’t there anymore. I kept going, but it seemed like I was going in circles. The doors on the walls kept changing, colors and styles glitching. Eventually I tried just walking in one direction. Until I realized that I should have been past the world border. There should’ve…well what should’ve happened is that there was a wall, a border somewhere that you couldn’t go through. A pocket domain’s only so large, ya know? Suppose you do, given this place.

I kept going. Eventually I started running, checking every door I could. It only seemed to glitch more the more I was in there. It was as if whatever had trapped me in that place didn’t like me. And every so often, when I glanced back, I saw BigB. He seemed at home in the glitches, but so wrong at the same time. His limbs didn’t look right, his sweater glitching from blue to pink to purple. The curls in his hair only spiraled in and in and in and in, never seeming to stop.

I found the one door that wasn’t glitching. It seemed normal, your typical birch door that seemed stark against the dissolving hallway around me. I grabbed for it and went through it and…

I woke up on the ground, looking up at BigB. He looked…normal. It was a stark contrast from the glitching mess that had been in the maze. He helped me up, saying I’d passed out in there, that he’d dragged me out. He shrugged before waving a goodbye as I walked up the stairs that spiraled up to ground level. 

As I left, I thought to check my secret. It said to move some doors around people’s bases, and I did! Twice as many as I needed to, actually. And I built this confusing base thing, basically all stairs.

I never realized how much fun it was to confuse people like that.

[ARCHIVIST] Statement ends. There’s…a lot to unpack here. That Jimmy he mentioned…I’m pretty sure we have an End statement by a Jimmy that refers to a “G” a couple of times. But the other things. Mr. Rian seems like a dangerous Avatar. It seems less like he belongs to someone specific, and more to a fear, something game and death and blood and control. Adding being Spiral-touched to that can’t be good for anyone. Hell, it seems like he’s halfway to being an Archivist himself, if he wasn’t so tied to Web.

That BigB he mentioned confuses me too. He doesn’t match the description of Michael or Helen, but he’s obviously a Distortion. The doors make that obvious enough. Maybe this thing really is from that date. Or maybe it’s not, and the Spiral is just messing with me.

Not really that much to follow up on here, unless I want someone to end up in his…what did he call it? “Pocket Domain?”

Whatever that is, it sounds worrying. For now, I’ll only hope that none of us cross G’s path.

[click]

[ischaron]

❝ @hstoryhuh / CONT. FROM [X]

RIAN BARELY HAS TIME TO LOOK at him, most days. too caught up in spending TIME, memorizing the features of his face. everything is rushed, with the prince and the cowboy. desperate seconds and minutes spent in each other's embrace before one or the both were CALLED somewhere else — and now ? it feels almost selfish. for once, he's going to let himself be.

henry reaches out for him, and his feet carry his body before his brain has TIME to catch up. this is where he should say goodbye, place the mask back on his face and head through the door — and yet the view outside the window is forgotten for warm sheets, and an even warmer body that the cowboy curls around. ❝ jus' for a little while. ❞ but they both know that's a lie. a hand cards through blond locks, messing them from their already tousled state.

❝ did i wake yuh? ❞ barely above a murmur, he presses a kiss to the tip of the other's nose. ❝ was tryin' t'be quiet. ❞

[ghostinthelibrarywrites]

I'd love to hear about An Inconvenient Union and the Geraskier werewolf AU!!

An Inconvenient Union is the original novel I've been working on since October. It's a m/m fantasy romance about a monk who has to impersonate his prince half-brother when his brother disappears right before important treaty talks with an enemy kingdom, only to end up betrothed in his brother's stead to the commander of said enemy nation's army.

Here's a snippet:

To Niko’s surprise, Commander Calaxis tipped back his head and let out a bark of laughter. “Where did you hear that?”

Niko blinked. “Rian.”

“And what did he tell you it meant?”

“Good day, my friend.”

Commander Calaxis shook his head. “You should never repeat anything you hear any of the guards saying to each other, especially not Rian. It’s most likely obscene and it’s definitely rude.”

“Ah,” Niko said. “So…”

“You just told me to go fuck a goat backwards.”

“Wonderful.” Diplomatic relations were off to a delightful start. Niko opened his mouth, desperate to find an excuse to return to camp and drink however much fresseberry mead was necessary to forget this conversation.

“Evos,” Commander Calaxis said.

“Pardon me?”

“Evos,” the commander said again. “It’s the word you’re looking for. It means ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in Fae. If you’re greeting a person with a position of authority—a commanding officer, the Liege, a parent—you want ‘savut.’”

“Thank you,” Niko said, starting to turn away, face flaming. “I’ll keep that mind.”

“And if you’re greeting or parting from someone dear to you, you say ‘te ne vriss.’”

Niko paused, because the timber of Commander Calaxis’ voice had changed. “What does that mean?”

Commander Calaxis tilted his head to the side, considering. “The exact translation in Dulish would be ‘I’m with you.’ It’s not just a salutation, but a way to say that you missed them or will miss them.”

Niko wondered who the commander said ‘te ne vriss’ to, and then reminded himself that it didn’t matter. “Alright,” he said with a laugh. “No more vocabulary lessons from the guards.”

“That’s probably for the best,” Commander Calaxis said dryly. “Or next, you’ll be telling the Liege that they look like a sow’s inbred bastard and then we really might have a war.”

A snippet of Geraskier werewolf AU under the cut to spare my followers' scrolling fingers:

Geraskier werewolf AU is the fic I've been working on since the fall where Jaskier and Geralt get married as part as treaty negotiations between rival werewolf packs, but Jaskier isn't actually a werewolf, unbeknownst to his new husband. Am I a sucker for the arranged marriage and identity porn tropes? Who can say?

Ciri is asking him something. He forces himself to pay attention. “What was that, my dear?”

She gives him a deeply skeptical look and he reminds himself to dispense with pet names until she knows him better. “Are you any good?”

Jaskier shrugs in a show of modesty. “I haven’t had any complaints. Except for my next-door neighbor, but I think he’s unfairly biased against midnight concerts, personally.”

“Well, luckily for you, Geralt loves midnight concerts,” Lambert says, grinning the grin of a little brother fucking with an older sibling.

The dark look Geralt shoots at Lambert confirms Jaskier’s suspicion. “Hm.”

“Do any of you play?” Jaskier asks hopefully. He’s found that music is one of the easiest things to bond with another person about. Everyone has at least one popular artist they despise or one song that they drop everything to dance along to every time it comes on the radio.

“Lambert sings beautifully in the shower.” Aiden nudges his husband with a lopsided grin.

Coën’s lips twitch. “Uses his shampoo bottle as a microphone and everything.”

Lambert scowls at his husbands. “You like it.”

“I don’t,” Renfri says. “I can hear it from the other side of the fucking mountain.”

“And what about you?” Jaskier asks Geralt as the four of them begin a raucous debate about Lambert’s musical capabilities.

Geralt shrugs. “Not one for music.”

Of course he’s not. Jaskier smiles wider, hoping to hide his internal grimace. “So, you won’t be joining me for my midnight concerts, I take it?”

“No.”

“Don’t take it personally.” Lambert turns away from bickering with Renfri to clap Geralt on the shoulder. “Geralt’s too busy with Roach to develop a taste in music.”

Ask about my WIPs!

[httpisaoki]

⋆ LAST GOODBYE ! (teaser)

-> fluffff, it's supposed to be a sneak peek of my to-be-released series so it might not make senseIFJHDJ, low cap is intended -> warnings : mentions of arguments and self-harm, possible angst, slight swearing, that's it? -> i wrote this while listening to last goodbye by sunkis :> it's such a good song broo

ur sunshine:< (@valdezbns) : thena? u there?  its already past nine thenaa  bob misses u sm :((

ur sunshine:< (@valdezbns) : dev said u skipped the bus athena im worried, reply please. please be safe? :((

ur sunshine:< (@valdezbns) : athena respond, I know u can see this please :(

rian frowned at the messages, athena’s safety was the only thing she could think of right now. The girl’s lack of response to anyone was what made her anxious. 

I mean athena wouldn’t do anything to harm herself not after what we went through together, right?

fuck, the girl cursed under her breath. devon had already told her that thena didn’t take the bus. who knows where the girl went. 

until an idea popped into rian’s mind, she could be on the rooftop. she nodded, determined to find the girl. sending the message before leaving her apartment.

ur sunshine:< (@valdezbns) : are u at the rooftop? im omw.

as rian was driving to athena’s usual hideout, a ringing came from her phone. the girl's eyes widen at the caller’s ID before quickly pressing the answer button. “hey” rian breathed out, “I’m almost there thena, stay where you are–” athena cuts her off, her voice shaking. “r-ria my head hurts. and fuck, i don’t know what to do. my parents–”

“I’ll be right there baby, just keep calm. deep breathes alright?” athena nods, muttering a small ‘okay’ before breathing in and out, to which rian smiles at. “almost there thena, just hold on.” 

10 minutes later, rian rushed towards the stairway to the rooftop— her and athena’s hideout. the place where they met. as soon as she opens the door, the sight of athena crying fills her vision. “shh, shh, it’s okay thena. I’m right here.” she soothes the girl, “tell me what happened thena” rian whispers as she holds the girl in her arms. 

“mom argued with stephen again, all the same shit. but one thing caught my attention, she mentioned something about moving overseas with me. And I– I just panicked. I didn’t want to move away. I can’t leave you. I didn’t know what to do so i just ran to the most comfortable place. And I’m sorry if I ran away so suddenly and I didn’t tell you sooner–” 

rian cuts her off by pulling the girl into a hug, “I’m thankful you called me, but please say something before suddenly ghosting everyone. But I do understand you. So why don’t we go to my apartment and watch movies and cuddle and all that stuff?” rian playfully suggests making athena slap her shoulder and laugh at her the love of her life.

as comfortable silence takes over, both of the girls could just stay in each other’s arms forever. 

‘whatever happens, even if I do have to leave you, I’ll do everything I can to make sure I can say my last goodbye.’

-> a/n : hii its been a while, so this is kinda like a spoiler for a new au i've been writing about. the prompt was just too cute that I wanted to write about it TT ... and this IS a spoiler for a taglish au! so aoki comeback..? :>

[nothingunrealistic]

“Billions” ends not with one man reigning supreme, but two titans shaking hands. Chuck (Paul Giamatti) and Axe (Damian Lewis) joined forces early in Season 7 and — despite a history filled with trickery and betrayal — remain loyal to the very end. Along with their devout team of stock traders and political savants, the duo takes down Mike Prince (Corey Stoll) and his bid for the presidency, before parting ways as friends. Chuck will continue working for the state of New York, while Axe is back behind the soon-to-be sleek desk of his hedge fund. For a series that began with promises by both men to utterly destroy the other, some fans may be miffed that neither star is crowned as champion. But for showrunners Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the “Billions” series finale isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s an embodiment of what the series has been all along: a massively entertaining reflection of the way the world works. For every cheery, satisfied smile, there’s deeper meaning tucked within the folds. So IndieWire dialed up the co-creators to break down the ending, the final season’s big swings, and how they managed to fill “Billions” with so much beautiful music.

IndieWire: For the final season, when and why did you decide it would be best for Chuck and Axe to team up, rather than go after each other? David Levien: We felt like the real mano-a-mano thing between Chuck and Axe reached its fullness during the end of Season 5, where neither guy lost completely, but neither guy won completely. It was like pure victories and standoffs and grudging respect for the opponent who played you to your very end. Then over the course of the sixth season, as Mike Prince started to reveal the darker hues of his character and how he could be a danger, we realized we had a formidable enough foe that these others could team up against him. In a certain way, that’s the most fun because the barbing is still there, but they have a common cause. What did you hope fans would be left thinking about? Brian Koppelman: Probably in that Wendy [Maggie Siff] and Taylor [Asia Kate Dillon] leave, and Rian [Eva Victor] leaves. It seems to me we feel pretty good about the fact that they leave, and that Sacker [Dola Rashad] understands where Sacker needs to be. Scooter is a very important character to us. Daniel Breaker’s a genius, and Scooter says what he says to Prince [quitting to consider when and how their moral compass went awry], and he is going to do what he’s going to do. To us, we tried to get each of them a moment where the audience can think about what it means for their trajectory from this moment forward.

From the jump, the last episode leaves little doubt that Chuck and Axe are going to win. How did you decide on that approach, that tone, for the finale, rather than teeing up a big reversal or twist as in past seasons? Levien: If it were a season finale and we were doing this, then we could have dedicated half of the real estate toward the Prince side of the reversals, but we had to devote the other half of the real estate to the valedictories and the goodbyes. So we made the conscious decision for them to have this attitude, right from the beginning, that the outcome’s not in doubt. Basically, once they securely got Prince into Camp David without his phone, with no contact to the outside world, they knew how the rest of the dance steps were going to unfold. We didn’t want to drag that out and then have all these characters that we’d been with for seven seasons not get to have resolution on a character level. Koppelman: Two things: 1. If you’re watching the show, you know Prince ain’t winning. So to [make it appear otherwise] felt disingenuous to the audience. Between the penultimate and ultimate episodes each season, we could fuck with it, but this is the end, so they’re going to win. 2. I would say this, Ben: On a plot level, 100 percent, you’re right. We made the decision to let you know who the winners and losers are going to be. But there’s something else that’s been going on the whole time. The show has a lot of morality questions underpinning it, and so their souls are in peril for a lot of this episode. This is one of the tricks about the show, right? From Season 1, people viscerally bonded with this guy, Axe, because of his backstory and because of the corrupt forces that were after him. So viscerally, they hung with him, even though he let Donnie die and all this stuff. What we hope happens is that one asks oneself, “Why do I feel this way about this guy? What does that say about the world we’re living in? And about the value system we speak versus the value system that we actually feel and live? So Bobby Axelrod, for all this talk about freedom, where’s he end up and what does he say as his final line? [Axe ends up running Axe Capital again, and his final line is to his employees: “Let’s make some fucking money.”] So it’s working on this level, but it’s also working on that level. We have this thing about our work: People often misread it early on, but we’ve had a long enough run that eventually it lands. So, some people had to review “Super Pumped” on only five episodes, but if they watched the last two episodes, they would know that it was about something else. We accept all that. What we write is entertaining and some people want to indict us for it being entertaining, but we are interested in these moral questions. It’s in our work. It’s in everything from “Rounders” to “Knockaround Guys” to “Solitary Man” to “Billions,” even to “Tilt.” It’s just in there. Ultimately, we think people will figure it out, but we want to entertain, too. It’s important to us that it’s entertaining and that it’s not work.

These days, there’s so much to watch and so much emphasis on trying to get through everything. You kind of have to hope everybody processes not just what happens, but what it could mean, before auto-play pulls up the next show in their queue. We all need time to let stuff settle in, and the “too much TV” era doesn’t always encourage that kind of contemplation. Koppelman: It takes time. In doing this, you have a choice between spoon-feeding [points] to the audience and just choosing to trust they’ll appreciate them over time. The immediate moment we live in makes it hard. It makes it really hard. But I go back and watch shows all the time, and so does he, and so do our friends, and so do you. We all do it. Then, five years later, you notice something new and go, “Oh fuck.” That’s a great thing, and we’re comfortable [with it.] We made indie movies for a lot of our careers, so to us, the fact that we’ve developed an audience that’ll watch this shit is amazing and thrilling. Yeah, the plot is one thing, but the other stuff at stake matters as much to us, and we hope eventually it does to everyone else, too. Levien: There’s also just the mechanics thing of the audience learning how it happened. It should be very satisfying for them, even if they have a lean on which way it may work out. That’s something that we came to understand heavily when we were writing “Oceans 13” and working on it with [Steven] Soderbergh. Because that’s not a movie where you’re wondering if George [Clooney], Brad [Pitt], and Matt [Damon] are going to win or lose. They’re probably going to pull it off. But it’s like, “How are you going to get there? How are you going to turn the cards over to delight the audience?” Koppelman: That scene in “Oceans 13” when the guys are by the Bellagio Fountains — early in it, not the end — I remember George really talking about finding these little moments where you understood why it mattered to these guys. It was great. Hearing George talk out the way he thought about character has stayed with us for a long time. Within these entertaining things, you can find ways to land something significant — you hope.

Given the significance of music in “Billions,” how long have you known your final song was going to be “Take the Money and Run”? Koppelman: Did it work for you? It did. I thought it matched the vibe of the episode and leaves the audience on the upswing. Koppelman: That’s what we think, too. We think a lot about the music, and we wrote the song into the script. The two of us are sending songs and playlists back and forth all the time, and we’ve been like brothers since we were 15, so the resonance the songs have are similar for the two of us. It’s not that we thought of it so long ago, but when we thought of this song, the moment one of us said it to the other, it was like, 100 percent. There was no doubt. Levien: We can’t say we thought of it when we were making the pilot. It’d be very cool if we had, but we weren’t driving toward this the entire time. Koppelman: But it is always satisfying when you write them into the script and then it works as well as you hoped. It goes to the heart of this final season. We really were thinking about “Billions” obsessive fans this season. We decided that that’s who we are, and we wanted to make the show for folks who cared a lot about the characters, the world of the show, the language of the show. The show exists in a slightly canted world — even though we never cant the camera — and that song exists in that kind of space, too. So it all kind of felt like it worked together.

This may be a question just for me, but how often were you able to write songs into the script and actually get the music? Because the licensing, the budgets, all of that can be such a pain in the ass. Levien: We didn’t run into that problem. Maybe it was just an instinct thing, but we would write some big ticket songs into the scripts and then sometimes they’d be very obscure songs, so it tended to balance out. Koppelman: But also I would say right from the very beginning, we went to Showtime and said, “Look, we’re going to use music in a certain way. Let’s know going in how important the music’s going to be. Let’s have a music budget that allows us to take those shots during the year. We’ll manage it. If we’re going to hit the hard ceiling, we’ll call you way in advance.” And then they did a really cool thing. Not every network does this, but Showtime came to us and they said, “Any product placements you do on the show, we, Showtime, won’t take that money. You can use that money for songs.” Oh, wow. Levien: They said, “You can apply it to your show budget.” Koppelman: So if you saw a car on the show and were like, “That seems like a product placement.” Well, that’s the money that got “In the Evening” by Led Zeppelin in the show. So our post-supervisor would tally [the budget] and go, “Here’s where we are. Here’s what the product placements are covering. OK, it’s going to be really easy to use that U2 song.” Dave and I picked every song, so [our music supervisor] Jim Black didn’t have to worry about that, but what he was amazing at was the clearances. He built relationships over a long career and he expressed to people what music lovers we were. Then Jim would say to us, “Hey, to get this Neil Young song, if you really want ‘Old Man,’ you should write Neil Young a letter and I’ll get it to him. So we would write letters and they were earnest because we meant it. Levien: We were putting [these songs] in because they mattered to us, so it was easy to express that to the artist. Koppelman: We could describe to Neil Young, “Here’s what’s playing, here’s what’s at stake in this scene, here’s why we’re using the song. We think [our scene is] in the spirit of the song.” I remember doing that, and the next day they cleared the song for a very reasonable price. Then the music business noticed that when we would feature a song in a certain way, that song did well that week. Then some artists became fans, or their managers did. “Atlantic City” was the first Bruce Springsteen song we [asked for], and we heard that he was reading the script on vacation. He went outside his place, and he was reading it. Obviously, that’s nerve wracking, but then we got word back [that we could use it], and when I met him a couple years later, he told us that he and Patti watched the show on Sunday nights.

Among the big swings in the final season, the restaurant montage at the start of Episode 9 stands out. What were the origins of that? Koppelman: We had a suspicion that people might be moved by it, but it was beyond what I thought. That [montage] was written into the script. That song [“I’ve Loved These Days” by Billy Joel] was written into the script. Look, let me start from the fact that we’re two Long Island kids growing up, so that creates a certain association with Billy Joel and the way Billy Joel saw New York. We’d had that song saved for a while, for the last season, and Patsy’s is an incredibly important restaurant to us, so it’s got to start there. My dad started taking me to Patsy’s. My dad, who we dedicated the first episode of the season to, he passed away between Seasons 6 and 7. So Patsy’s matters a lot to us and what it means in New York. There are amazing stories about Sinatra and Patsy’s that are just mind-blowing. Levien: So we were intending to use it in a meaningful way, and we were saving it. Koppelman: It led us to think, “OK, this is a moment to just give a hug to everybody, to say goodbye to the show together.” That’s what it felt like, and that’s what that restaurant kind of feels like. While writing that episode, one of my son’s friends, his dad had just passed away very close in time to mine, and I went to this kid’s dad’s funeral. Then on the way home I was alone, and I went to Patsy’s and I just sat at one of these tables by myself and texted Dave from there. If you write something like [“Billions,”] it’s a part of you for so long. When he was writing this first novel years ago, before I was a writer, David said to me, “When you’re in a really good one, where it really feels like you’re connected to it, everything that happens in your life finds its way into the work in some way.”