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ramblingsmlb · 1 year

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The Awe-Inspiring Potential of the Baltimore Orioles (And how the front office can mess it up)

As the 2022 season winded down to a close, the annual clinching of postseason berth time began. The Dodgers, who went to win 111 games, the most since the Mariners won a record 116 games in 2001, clinched on September 12th. Next, the Houston Astros clinched on September 16th, and the New York Mets clinched the postseason on September 20th. These, of course, were not shocking. The Dodgers, Astros, and Mets ranked 2nd, 9th, and 1st in overall payroll.

And on September 30th, with the Mariners clinching postseason berth and ending a 21 year playoff drought, the Baltimore Orioles were eliminated. No one expected the Orioles to get this far, the Orioles, whose payroll ranked 28th out of 30 MLB teams, a third of which was going to Chris Davis, who was being paid to not play as a result of one of the worst contracts in the modern era, in what was the best division in baseball.

No one expected this Orioles team to be competitive, but now they've forced the front office's hand in the matter. This team's young talent that comes up in the next two years is unparalleled, after picking 11th, 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 1st again in the Draft the last five years, the Orioles have the ability to build a true juggernaut in the next couple of years.

However, as much as I'd like to have the Orioles succeed, I do have concerns, concerns that link up to the very top of the organization.

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MLB LEVEL

On the major league roster, the Orioles have managed to unlock some key players that they project to keep for a while. Austin Hays, Ryan Mountcastle, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Ramon Urias, and impressive developments in the bullpen all give me hope for the team's development at the major league level.

None of the pieces mentioned are excellent players. The best is probably Cedric Mullins, and none of these players are stars, but they're all average to above-average players that came into the season with little to no real expectations, and showed that they can be serious contributors to this team.

In the outfield, it seems to be held up by Anthony Santander, Cedric Mullins, and Austin Hays. Santander has had a couple good offensive years now, hitting 33 HRs in 2022 with a 120 wRC+. Santander has an average hit tool, and isn't a great athlete or defender, but his bat gives him enough power to be a significant contributor, and he doesn't strike out much.

Austin Hays is boring, but good. Hays is about average with everything, hit tool, power, arm, speed, and field, but he's a solid contributor in the league's weakest position of left field.

I don't know what Cedric Mullins is. I think it's pretty clear he's a very good player. Plus speed, plus glove give him a very high floor, and he's proven that he can buoy that with at least average offensive prowess, but is there more there? Mullins was a 136 wRC+ and 6 fWAR player in 2021, with plus power and a plus hit tool. In 2022, the power and the hit tool regressed back to a 106 wRC+, though he still posted a 3.4 fWAR. In all likelihood, Mullins will never have a season like 2021 again. That being said, can he be a consistent 4 WAR player and his offense becomes more 110-120 wRC+ rather than 95-105 wRC+? We'll see. I don't have a confident opinion in favor of one side or another.

In the infield, the starters project to be Ryan Mountcastle at first base, Adam Frazier at second base, Jorge Mateo at shortstop, Gunnar Henderson at third base, and Adley Rutschman at catcher.

I really like Ryan Mountcastle. Another player who seemingly came out of nowhere, Mountcastle was a pretty good offensive player who was negatively impacted by the wall getting moved back in left field. Mountcastle projects to be an average to above average offensive performer, and about an average first baseman.

Adam Frazier is a decent player, a slap hitter with average defense, average run tool, and no power. Frazier hit .309 with a 113 wRC+ on 2021 split between the Pirates and the Padres, but struggled with a 81 wRC+ in 2022 with the Mariners. I do expect Frazier to bounce back from his dismal 2022 season, I don't expect much offensively, maybe 95-105 wRC+, but not amazing potential or upside. He's solid, that's it.

Jorge Mateo is a weird shortstop. Defensively, he's nasty, and his speed and base running is top notch, but he doesn't have a bat. Mateo's career high in wRC+ is 83, he strikes out 26-30% of the time, and doesn't walk. He'll have bursts of power, but he strikes out and struggles to make contact too much to the point when he's unable to maintain hot streaks. Mateo is a stopgap until the Orioles find someone better at the very least. I would personally be shocked if he started 2023 with the Orioles, and I would be pleased if he wasn't starting after the Trade Deadline because they traded for a better shortstop.

I'll save Gunnar Henderson for the farm system overview, so I'll move on to Adley Rutschman. The common pattern with the Orioles is that there's a lot of average players, offensively and pitching-wise, but that ends with Adley Rutschman, who is a top three catcher as of this moment. Personally, I do think that Adley Rutschman was a better prospect than Julio Rodriguez coming into 2022, and he lived up to expectations for me. Gold Glove caliber defense behind the dish with a plus arm, his defensive value is immense. Offensively, the ceiling is MVP-level. A certified 60-65 hit tool, plus power, and incredibly impressive plate discipline for a rookie, with a 13.8% walk rate that ranked 11th of all major leaguers, an 18.3% strikeout rate that's 4% below league average, his wRC+ finishing at 133. Adley Rutschman is a top thirty player in the league, and if he taps into his plus power more, that's a certified 6+ WAR player and a perennial MVP candidate. This is the guy. This is the kind of guy you build around. This is a star.

Offense (20-80 Scale): 53

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On the pitching side, there is genuine concern. Kyle Gibson, a 35 year old pitcher coming off a bad year, is their ace. I do think Gibson isn't bad, but he's a #4. Beyond that, it's Kyle Bradish, who's a #5, Dean Kramer, who's a #5, Tyler Wells shouldn't be in the rotation, and then there's two wild cards in DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez, who I strongly believe they should both start 2023 in the rotation. Grayson Rodriguez does not need conditioning in Triple A. He has nothing to prove in Triple A. DL Hall has nothing to prove in Triple A. Both are Top 100 Prospects who you need to build the weakest part of your team around.

Rotation (20-80 Scale): 44

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The bullpen is actually surprisingly good. I like Felix Bautista, I like Dillon Tate, I like Cionel Perez, I like Bryan Baker. We'll see with Mychel Givens. I'm more middle of the pack with the other guys who start in the bullpen, but they developed those four in 2023 and made them the focal point of the bullpen, which is typically a very healthy sign for an organization. If you can find and develop bullpen players one year, you can typically do it again.

Bullpen (20-80 Scale): 54

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THE FARM SYSTEM:

As of right now, the Orioles have a consensus top three farm system in the game, with, at least I believe, eight top 100 prospects: Gunnar Henderson, Grayson Rodriguez, Jackson Holliday, Colten Cowser, Jordan Westburg, DL Hall, Coby Mayo, and Heston Kjerstead.

Gunnar Henderson is the one player I didn't mention on the 2023 opening day roster, their projected third baseman. Gunnar Henderson, in my opinion, is my #1 prospect in MLB. A certified plus hit tool, plus power, plus speed, plus arm, and plus defense, I view Gunnar Henderson about as good of a prospect as Bobby Witt Jr. was entering 2022, maybe a touch worse, who I saw as the #3 prospect in 2022. Henderson flashes incredible athleticism and shocking speed for a guy who's getting 45-50 grades from public platforms. Henderson also flashed a top notch arm and raw defensive potential at three positions. While he's a plus third baseman, could he be an adequate shortstop, or an adequate second baseman? We'll see about that, but he has a decent chance of either of those working out. The ceiling with him is a bona fide star, and maybe there's a five tool player. Again, with Rutschman and Rodriguez, these are all star-level players you build around.

Grayson Rodriguez would have an excellent argument for #1 prospect in baseball if he hadn't gotten an oblique injury that wiped out three months from his 2022. Grayson Rodriguez has gotten legitimate comps to the likes of Gerrit Cole, with four pitches at least plus. His fastball projects as plus to double plus, his slider plus to double plus, his changeup plus to double plus, his curveball as plus, with premium command you simply don't find with this kind of stuff. To put it simply, Grayson Rodriguez is a raw, generational pitching talent, who's proved it at every level. There's zero reason to keep him in Triple A to begin the year with the Orioles' mediocre rotation pieces. Grayson Rodriguez has the ability to establish himself as a top pitcher in the league if given the choice by his team.

Jackson Holliday was the most recent #1 pick in the draft, a high school shortstop with incredible helium and upside, with strong bloodline connections to All-Star and borderline Hall of Famer Matt Holliday. Holliday's tools are hard to quantify at this point, but there's massive upside that comes with the fact that he likely won't make an impact at the major league level for at least three years.

Colton Cowser is a former top college performer, a real offensive force who's rocketed through the minors since his Drafting in 2021, reaching Triple A in 2022. Cowser was initially a hit-over-power outfielder with good tools across the board who turned into more of a power-over-hit guy in 2022, striking out 25% of the time, but hitting 19 HRs in 138 games. Overall, a very good prospect who probably moves to left or right field, where he projects to be average to above average defensively.

Jordan Westburg is a strong offensive performer with a low-ceiling, high floor projection. I view Westburg as a budget Gunnar Henderson, a certified infielder who splits time evenly between second base, third base, and shortstop. Westburg projects to be a solid offensive contributors, but doesn't scream "impact." Westburg flashed plus power and spent significant time at Triple A, which he succeeded in, though his hit tool may be squarely average.

DL Hall is an intriguing prospect, a small lefty arm with big stuff, whose ceiling projects as a strong #3, while his floor is a high-leverage reliever. DL Hall is a fairly divisive prospect who some label as a potential middle of the rotation starter, while others say that he's a multi inning or high-leverage reliever. I don't lean either way, but he pitched 13.2 innings in 2022, with a big fastball, big curveball, and intriguing changeup. His 5.93 ERA is contested by a 1.65 FIP, a 2.57 xERA, a 2.84 xFIP, a 29.7% K rate, and a 46.2% GB rate, though those numbers are from a small sample size where he pitched out of the bullpen most of the time. There is command concerns (5.1 BB/9 in the minors, 9.7% BB rate at majors), and injury concern, given how he's never pitched over 100 innings in a major league season, but if he's healthy, there's no reason not to start DL Hall in the rotation to the begin the year.

Coby Mayo is a high upside, low floor third base prospect who got people excited when he mashed in 2021 after getting drafted. While Mayo has big power and a big arm, the athleticism is below average, which may force him to first base in the future if it continues to trend downhill. Coby Mayo has maxed out at Double A, meaning I would personally be surprised if he made significant impact to the Orioles in 2022, also given that the Orioles have quite a lot of third base depth with Ramon Urias, Gunnar Henderson, and Jordan Westburg all in front of Mayo on the depth chart.

Heston Kjerstead is an intriguing outfield prospect. Selected #2 underslot in the 2020 draft, Kjerstead was projected to be a big power, high upside outfielder that would rush to the majors. However, Heston Kjerstead didn't play in 2020 due to the shortened COVID season, and suffering from myocarditis, a heart inflammation issue, he didn't begin playing until June 2022, and the Orioles want to take it slow with him, ease him back into earning back valuable development time. Kjerstead mashed in Single A, but struggled in a 43 game stint in High A, all of which shouldn't be taken too seriously. Kjerstead is at least a year and a half from the majors on the low end, and all now is being used for is regaining the time he lost.

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FARM SUMMARY:

To be frank, I believe this is the best farm system in the league, with an incredible mix of high-end talent, upper minors talent, outfielder, infielder, lefties, righties, and pitching talent.

When it comes to development, I'll admit it, I'm truly impressed. The Orioles' strategy of going under slot in the draft has certainly paid off. While the Orioles have had their success with their first round talents, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, and Coby Mayo are all prime examples of talent they've properly developed outside of the first round. The Orioles have the best position player prospect, and the best pitching prospect in the league, which, to be honest, is all they really need if the front office is open to augmenting the roster with major free agency upgrades, but the depth just provides more floor and more ceiling at the same time.

However, management of this depth and their prospects is where I could possibly see a disconnect between me and the front office. I project that Gunnar Henderson, DL Hall, Grayson Rodriguez, Colton Cowser, and Jordan Westburg will make impact at the major league level, unless any of them deal with significant injury. As of right now, though, I would start Henderson at third base, and start both DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez in the rotation, while giving Cowser and Westburg just a touch more developmental time in Triple A before getting called up in May or June. That being said, I'm not sure either DL Hall or Grayson Rodriguez start on the roster to being 2022, which would make me furious.

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HOW THEY CAN FAIL:

This is as good of a foundation as you can draw up, to put it simply. It's a better foundation than the Mariners had after 2021. The Orioles have a star at the major league level right now in Rutschman. The Orioles have literally no payroll on the books. The Orioles have waves set up to impact the majors right now. Now is the time to be aggressive, to start your guys, Hall and Rodriguez, in the rotation. Why not? This is your window! You have four pieces I consider significant enough to keep at their respective positions, Rutchsman (Catcher), Mullins (Center Field), Santander (Right Field), and Henderson (Third Base), with Cowser ready to supplant Hays in left field if necessary, and Westburg ready to man any of second base, third base, or shortstop.

These are your guys. This is your basis. This is what you rely on. This a perfect storm that can begin the creation of a true powerhouse. You have every tool at your disposal.

However, I'm deeply disturbed by a couple aspects of this plan. First, why haven't you tried to signed Rutschman to an extension? Now is the perfect time to do it. There's not concern about whether he'll succeed or not. He will. Where's the downside with a Rutschman extension?

Secondly, why are you playing passive in free agency? You have the second lowest payroll in baseball, only ahead of the pit of depression and endless famine that is the Oakland Athletics, and you've spent $140M+ in payroll in the past, which means that you're more than capable of spending $170M+ in payroll now. I don't want $170M in payroll in 2023. That would be rash. That being said, just raise it past $100M. Why weren't you aggressive with Carlos Rodon? Why weren't you aggressive with Chris Bassitt? Jose Quintana? Taijuan Walker? Jameson Taillon? Crying cheap isn't getting you any sympathy here.

Am I supposed to believe that you're satisfied with your rotation being a #4, three #5s, and a guy who shouldn't be pitching in a major league rotation in Tyler Wells? What are you really doing with an Adam Frazier signing? Why are you radio silent in the trade market? There's plenty of second base options on the trade market. Kolten Wong was available. Jorge Polanco is likely available. Both are better than Frazier, who got the same deal as Rich Hill, which would've been a significantly better signing than Frazier.

Why weren't you invested in the shortstop market more? Am I really supposed to believe that you were priced out of Dansby Swanson, a 2-3 WAR better option than Jorge Mateo? Hell, why not Jacob deGrom or Justin Verlander? It's aggressive, but you have more than enough payroll space where that doesn't hurt you. Am I supposed to believe that your spending ability has DECREASED since 2018?

To put it bluntly, I love this Orioles team's future. I like the players who're at the major league level. I like their general development, from fringe starters to top prospects to relievers. That being said, I hate how this team is crying cheap, and how they're playing this incredibly passive. In my opinion, this shows that this front office isn't committed to winning in 2023. They're trying to see if this team's good before spending on it. That's the wrong way to go about it. You have your team. You have your system. You know your strengths, you know your weaknesses, and your weakness is clearly lying in offensive impact and the starting rotation. You do not need another average player in Adam Frazier. You need a guy who'll give you a 120 wRC+, or a #3's production in the rotation.

That being said, is the offseason over? No. Can they do more? Of course. Do I expect them to? "I'm not sure" is the unfortunate answer. I think this team has a wonderful foundation, but we'll see whether the front office wants that to blossom in 2023 or not.

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swanofsnow · 2 years

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The evening talk, and turned into morning. Lena had dozens of questions for her mother, but was shocked, and filled with shame learning of her mother secret, and lie.

“ I had to depart from Doar, and say goodbye to my friends. I said farewell to the guards, one particular was your aunt Deirdre. She and I, we’re close and I told her if she was ever to need anything to look me up. A few days later a carriage was sent for me, and I returned to Snow Mystic. I’m not sure if it was the stress or the heart ache, but my brother Andrew was sick and in deep pain. His wife, had died, and their son was still away at school. The day I arrived I was introduced to a man named John Arkov, he was the commander of the fleet. He was also, going to be my new husband. He was selected for me, and he was much older than I was. He twenty three.. and was not keen to marry a teenage princess. But he knew this was a command, and that same night we were married and performed a bedding ceremony.”

Lena moved to pour her mother tea “ What’s a bedding ceremony..” she questioned “ and he so was much older than you were, you must have been terrified.” Nichola reached for the cup, holding onto it.

“ He was very handsome, and tall. I was more scared of the ceremony than my new husband. This ceremony involved having several men watch me perform an act with my new husband. So there would be no denial, that Johann was the father of my baby. Atleast that’s what we had hoped for, but your uncle swore he would recover and have his vengeance. He informed the court, I was taken advantage of, and summoned William Duncan to court, and when he arrived William.”

She took a slow breathe “ he didn’t deny it.” She bite her lower lip, watching as Lena paced the room. “ MOTHER! He didn’t deny it? He actually let that reputation and shame happen to his own family, and you let that happen!!”

A single nod was given at first “ He came with a condition, he would be given the chance to help raise the baby. I agreed, and right before Christmas I gave birth to a boy, a beautiful and healthy boy I named Ryan. I was also crowned that same year. Many came to visit the new baby, even one odd fellow. He was a strange man, but he vowed that my son would live a long time on the throne, and he would be handsome and have many suitors. I think now how silly it was, but I was worried how things would turn out for him.”

She sipped her tea “ Some years passed and William like clockwork would arrive on Tuesday, and leave on Thursday to see your brother Ryan. I got pregnant again, I was excited and eager for a new baby. During this time, a young girl would visit the castle, and she reminded me of how I used to travel when I was a young girl, her name was Autumn. I want you to remember that name in my story”

Lena nodded nervously, and asked her to continue. “ I was six or seven weeks.. when I caught John with another woman, it was Ryan 3rd birthday, and the entire court caught him with me. I was in a rush, running away from him, when I fell down the stairs, and I lost my child. After that, things were dark between John and me. I was not legally allowed to divorce him, so we had to remain under the same roof and live two different lives. Sometimes he would get so drunk, he would rage into my room and hurt me. Sometimes I would get drunk and hurt him. I had a personal guard assigned to sleep in my room, who trained me to protect myself. I eventually submitted request for further men and woman to come to the castle to help ease my pain, I asked for pirates, sorcerers, guards, many people to keep me distracted. “ Lena would move to raise her hand “ why did you need all of these random people, was it for anything in particular?”

Nichola would nod “ It was for power, and to keep me and my country in it, and to be advanced. But alsoJohn would leave the court, when his mistress gave him a daughter, he would retire to the hills. I became so obsessed with his infidelity, I drank more. my council was concerned about my drinking and asked for me to find a retreat to help recover. I was recommended to travel, and to leave my son behind in the care of his grandfather. they were very excited a boy had been born and they wanted to protect him. While I was gone, I went to different places, places called Paraíso, and Hillside, I even went to a place called Sundara. I.. returned confident and strong. “ she half way smiled “ or atleast I thought I was.. when I returned.. my beautiful little girl Autumn was grown, your aunt Deirdre arrived from Doar and a foreign prince, a very handsome prince looked at me, like I was the most beautiful woman in the world, his name was Uriel.”

Lena watched her mother tell her stories, there was life again in her cheeks, and she hoped she wasn’t using her last energy on this, she hoped by telling these stories she would find the strength to live.

“ Tell me about aunt Dee.. and this handsome prince Uriel.”

#the story continues

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avaliveradio · 2 years

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10 New Indie Songs that will Change your Mood

Music changes your mood just by turning it on.

Whether you're an artist or not, music has a powerful effect on your mood. When you listen to a song, it can conjure up specific memories and emotions that make you feel energized or relaxed. In essence: Music helps shape your creative mindset by influencing how you feel.

It's no surprise that some of the most popular songs are uplifting—and that's because they work! The right tempo and tone can boost creativity by putting us in a positive mood where we're more likely to think outside the box. So if there's something weighing on your mind when trying to get creative, try listening to some upbeat tunes first before diving into any serious thinking.

The right music can also help you focus, which is especially useful when trying to tackle a complex problem. Studies have shown that listening to fast-paced music can improve your mental processing speed, while slower tempos tend to make us think more deeply about the task at hand—which can help us come up with novel solutions.

Music is a powerful tool that can help you achieve your goals. It can make you feel happier, more focused, and more creative. So next time you're trying to get something done, try listening to some tunes first.

Music can fuel creativity, so play the right tunes when working on your next project!

You’ll always be inspired if you follow our “ Music that inspires you playlist” Spotify

10 Songs that stand out

Dylan Owen - The Best Ships

Release date: Nov 11, 2022

Released by: Nowhere Kids

Genre: Pop PunkRapAlternative Hip-Hop

Similar artists: Abhi the Nomad, Kota the Friend, Sonreal, Sol, Ryan Caraveo, Watsky, Sage Francis

"An upbeat, fun song from the heart building on the phrase "the best ships are friendships." The final single from my upcoming EP." The Best Ships is the final lead single from my upcoming EP 'Take Care Of Yourself' releasing December 1st. It is inspired by a midnight drive through my town with my crew. I took the saying "the best ships are friendships," imagined my old beat up sedan car as a pirate ship, and made this fun, upbeat anthem. Without my friends the past few years I might have walked the plank. They picked me up, called me long distance, and told me to record some songs. They even invited me out to Los Angeles to make my dream version of this EP a reality. Those are the songs you're hearing now.

Azul Kechi - Highs & Lows

Release date: Nov 20, 2022

Genre: Retro SoulFunkAdult Contemporary

Moods: Happy, Energetic, Sexy

Similar artists: Lauryn Hill, Pharrell, Janelle Monae, LION BABE, Erykah Badu, Ari Lennox, Angie Stone

"This is my second song, 'Highs & Lows' a funky neo-soul/rnb influenced pop jam that's sassy and will get you in your feels! A celestial rnb/soul/pop singer from outer space. Check out my debut single 'Azul' on all streaming platforms This is a funky, upbeat song with sassy, strong lyrics. It's the follow up from my debut single 'Azul', giving a dancier flavour of soul pop, pop funk & RnB.

The Song Tailors- Best in Me

Music Genre: Pop, Love Ballad, Duet

Vibe: Chill, romantic dance, soft ballad

Located in: Melbourne, Australia (songwriter - Ruth Picker), Toronto, Canada (singer - Liam Isaac), Dublin, Ireland (singer - Muireann McDonnell), recorded at Abbey Road studios London, UK.

Sounds like: Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Pink, Charlie Puth

This is our first duet and the first single released from our Abbey Road Studios recordings. Ruth Picker - the songwriter - recorded Liam Isaac (from Toronto in Canada) and Muireann McDonnell (from Dublin in Ireland) at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London. It was a dream come true for everyone who travelled there for this recording and the first time we all met each other in person, having worked remotely over the course of the pandemic. It was a fantastic opportunity to record both Liam and Muireann in the same room at those iconic studios. Ruth wrote the song specifically for the two singers, knowing everyone would finally get together in person at Abbey Road. The song is about how we can bring out the best in each other, raise each other up and inspire positive relationships. Key lyrics from the chorus include "You lifted my arms when I couldn't reach, you raised my voice when I couldn't speak, you showed me what my eyes couldn't see... you bring out the best in me". Imagine a romantic dance to this soft love ballad or just listening to the chill vibe that will make you feel relaxed, inspired and positive about humanity. The Song Tailors is a creative project created by Ruth Picker - who writes both the music and lyrics. She works with singers & musicians from all over the world. This is her 39th release under The Song Tailors brand.

Link to your streaming page: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7x4gmOD0VWejHT5lBQGOlV

ICON ENERGY by Midnight Pool Party

ICON ENERGY by Midnight Pool Party is a fun industrial disco inspired track that never sits still. You will be up on your seat doing the dance while you get a nice 4 minute workout. I love that this song inspires you to get moving. Creatively the music never stops changing while the drop flow seamlessly. I’ve added this to my playlist.

Gone In Circles by Dream Operator

Music Genre: Indie Vibe: Energetic, upbeat, pensive but expansive Located in: Oakland, CA Sounds like: Our music has been described as the Talking Heads wrestling with New Order. Grizzly Bear. The National. Public Image Ltd. Yann Tiersen in a Magnetic Fields cover band. Dream Operator - Gone In Circles has an interesting eclectic mix of sounds that layer in support of a lighthearted vocal about getting lost while you search for yourself. The song is charming and filled with an artistic quality that well suited for romantic comedy movie soundtracks. The song is about how easy it is to get lost while you're finding yourself, wrapped up in a bedroom chamber pop package. It's the most pensive of our releases so far. Dream Operator uses electronic instruments, real instruments, and found sound to create catchy, compelling and unexpected songs - in the genres of chamber pop, synth pop and beyond. Based in Oakland, CA, Dream Operator is a collective led by David Marc Siegel

Art Sound Thought Productions - Trap This (Dark Melodic Beat)

Music Genre: Trap / Hip-hop/ Rap Vibe: Dark Moody Located in: Gardnerville, NV 89460 Sounds like: A mellow inspirational influence into a melodic melting beat.

This beat came up during a time when I was thinking about political division. We are trapped in the Matrix lol. I truly felt like I was about to watch a movie. This was the coolest track filled with layers and industrial elements. It’s unique and filled with interesting turns.

Kari Lyn - Daylight

Music Genre: Folk/Rock Vibe: Chill Moody Located in: Toronto, Ontario Sounds like: Hoizer, Jewel, Marren Morris, Elle King

Daylight by Kari Lyn has a dark moody feel. The artist sings beyond her years with commitment and expression. I like how she messages her words and wraps them around chords to create a unique chorus. The song is interesting to listen to and has a special vibe that can be powerful. Kari Lyn has spent her whole life surrounded by music and storytelling with her PEI famous grandfather. Tommy Gallant and her deep Acadian roots. At 19 years old, she left home for a trip to Thailand, resulting in almost five years of travel, going out of her comfort zone.

Starrtrynea Reeves - Completely Complete

Music Genre: Classical Pop Vibe: Smooth Located in: Saint Louis Mo.

Completely Complete by Starrtrynea Reeves is an inspiring single with a songwriter quality that borders on 80’s classic pop. There’s a unique vocal effect that sets the scene on this nostalgic production filled with strings and grand piano elements. The song is enjoyable to music fans who love that grand ballad style. I was inspired to write song “Completely Complete” after a twenty year battle of alcoholism. I had to overcome many obstacles prior to God bringing me into a point of total completion.

kill k3nny - ctrl alt delete

Release date: Nov 18, 2022

Genre: Pop Rock, Indie Pop

It seems like everyone is walking on eggshells, afraid to offend or be accused etc. As long as we come from a place of goodness, I think we should all strive to say what we mean and mean what we say regardless of how it will be received. CTRL ALT DELETE is my commentary .. This is my tongue and cheek commentary on cancel culture. if we come from a place of goodness, we should all speak our minds and be our most authentic selves regardless of what others think xoxo.

'Step Off The World' Featuring Irish Singer Muireann McDonnell

Genre: Indie pop

Located in: : Australia (songwriter - Ruth Picker) and Ireland (singer - Muireann McDonnell)

Australian Songwriter Ruth Picker's Latest Release Under The Song Tailors Brand.

The song is full of meaning, inviting listeners to explore and interpret the lyrics. Inspired by the Nordic Northern lights, the song takes the listener on a journey with lyrical and sonic imagery. "I wrote this after watching nature's majesty and beauty - the spectacular colors in the sky, reflected in the sea. The song invites you to step off the world 'with me', imagining how that would feel. I'm excited to welcome Muireann to The Song Tailors family. We've wanted to collaborate for some time. We overcame many challenges to record her remotely. She has an impressive musical background, including Ireland's junior Eurovision representative in 2017. She's well known on the Irish music scene, and we're delighted to introduce her to our global audience. I hope you enjoy her warm, velvety voice as you step off the world with her" says Ruth.

https://www.avaliveradio.info/featured/the-song-tailors-step-off-the-world

#Singer-Songwriter

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themarquesman · 2 years

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Reflecting on reflecting. The journey to the start line.

The concept of becoming a self-reflective practitioner feels somewhat daunting.

Rather than just getting on with the creative task at hand, the discipline of reflection seems to continually prompt the question “why?”. It also seems to call for an internal running commentary to accompany any progress being made.

However, it immediately seemed less daunting to me when I realized that internal commentary has been happening all along. I’m sometimes tuned out to it, or I have the volume turned down on that inner voice in my head. Or I simply take it for granted. But it’s always been there. Always asking “why?” and pushing, navigating towards a solution.

Through my career in advertising, I’ve held roles in Design, Art Direction and Copywriting. In each of those disciplines, and at all levels of responsibility, I’ve always been fascinated by two things. The first being the extraordinary power of creativity to move and mobilize people – to join something, quit something, sign something, oppose something or get behind something. The second thing that has never ceased to intrigue me is how “off-pattern” or counter-culture work always seems to get disproportionate share of attention in the market.

Like this masterstroke from Balenciaga that captured the imagination of the world. The clothes cross over beautifully into the animated world. The vibrant colors of the collection and the colorful Simpsons characters' personalities made for an attention-grabbing collaboration that was impossible to ignore.

youtube

BalenciagaSA (2021) The Simpsons | Balenciaga, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZHESOq-Gkw (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

Or how Reddit won the advertising Super Bowl with their 5 second Big Game ad. It looked like a glitch in the broadcast. This message popped up for a second before disappearing, forcing the viewer to rewind and pause to read the ad to see what it was. Touchdown.

Reddit super bowl commercial (2021) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtR1kB9RXVo (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

Or how Ryan Reynolds pokes fun at established norms in all brands and campaigns that he’s involved with. Always with creative class. Note the perfectly orchestrated color palettes.

youtube

AviationGin (2021) Ryan Reynolds' vasectomy, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtRl9HZGZEE (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

As ad agency, BBH puts it “when the world zigs, zag.”

For me, that’s what effective work is all about. If there isn’t a tension of some kind in the work, there’s bound to be no attention of any kind paid to it.

There’s a great book by Sam Conniff titled “Be More Pirate” that really gets under the skin of approaching today’s creative and business challenges in an off-pattern, counter-culture way. Conniff provides an inspiring and insightful look into the Golden Age of Piracy. Conniff spells out how the odds were hugely stacked against the pirates in every way, and how the order of the day favored the upper-class minority. Rather than try and win by playing by the rules, the pirates not only broke the rules, they completely rewrote them. They created their own code built on the meaningful principles of accountability, equality and freedom.

Be More Pirate. Available at: https://www.bemorepirate.com/buy (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

The pirates were immensely effective, not because they had scale, but because they could collaborate efficiently. They were feared and revered far and wide. Their stories were told and retold the world over – because they didn’t conform. They went against the grain. They not only challenged the status quo, they dismantled it, and installed their own ‘new normal’.

Here’s to being deliberate in thinking different, and crossing new horizons!

Sources:

AviationGin (2021) Ryan Reynolds' vasectomy, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtRl9HZGZEE (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

BalenciagaSA (2021) The Simpsons | Balenciaga, YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZHESOq-Gkw (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

Buy now (no date) Be More Pirate. Available at: https://www.bemorepirate.com/buy (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

Catmul, E. (2014) Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration. New York: Random House.

Reddit super bowl commercial (2021) YouTube. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtR1kB9RXVo (Accessed: October 26, 2022).

#Youtube

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stubobnumbers · 2 years

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It Came From VHS - August 5th, 2022

I present the return of "It Came From VHS: Strikes Back Edition".

I converted two more VHS tapes today, and my VCR ate a third one.

Tape The First: This tape contained a movie I’ve never heard of starring Cher, Dennis Quaid, and Liam Neeson. "Suspect" (1987) – When a homeless man is accused of murdering a Justice Department file clerk, a public defender is tasked with mounting his legal defense. (Bonus. Liam Neeson is the homeless man who is a Vietnam veteran who became a deaf mute.) (This film didn’t do much for me.)

Movie Trailers: "Pirates Of The Caribbean" (the first one) and an ABC Family original romantic comedy titled "Lucky Seven" with the DUMBEST PREMISE I’VE EVER HEARD FOR A ROMANTIC COMEDY! The premise? This woman decided as a kid that she’ll marry the 7th guy she has a serious relationship with. No, not the first six even if they are amazing.

TV Trailers: "Dance Fever" (Step Up, the reality show) and "Perfect Match: New York" (Friends and parents decide which complete stranger they’re kid will live with for a month).

Bonus: Felicia Day in an anti-drug ad.

Tape The Second: This tape was a travesty! It was labeled "Ninja Turtles", "Real Ghostbusters", AND "Bugs Bunny". Hell yes! Cartoon nostalgia baby! That is NOT what was on the tape.

What was on the tape? "Patriot Games" (1992) – When CIA analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets him and his family for revenge. (I really like "Hunt For Red October", but the other two Clancy adaptations I’ve seen are just meh imo.)

"Blade Runner" (1982) – It’s 'Blade Runner'. I like the movie. I’ve seen it multiple times before. Sean Young looks flecking gorgeous in it.

Movie Trailers: "Signs", "Austin Powers in Goldmember", "Eight Legged Freaks", "K-19: The Widowmaker", "Halloween: Resurrection", and a DVD ad for "Hart’s War".

Bonus: A Burker King/Men In Black II tie-in.

#movies

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somerabbitholes · 3 years

Text

Essays

Here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of essays I like/find interesting/are food for thought; I’ve tried to sort them as much as possible. The starred (*) ones are those I especially love

also quick note: some of these links, especially the ones that are from books/anthologies redirect you to libgen or scihub, and if that doesn’t work for you, do message me; I’d be happy to send them across!

Literature + Writing

Godot Comes to Sarajevo - Susan Sontag

The Strangeness of Grief - V. S. Naipaul*

Memories of V. S. Naipaul - Paul Theroux*

A Rainy Day with Ruskin Bond - Mayank Austen Soofi

How Albert Camus Faced History - Adam Gopnik

Listen, Bro - Jo Livingstone

Rachel Cusk Gut-Renovates the Novel - Judith Thurman

Lost in Translation: What the First Line of “The Stranger” Should Be - Ryan Bloom

The Duke in His Domain - Truman Capote*

The Cult of Donna Tartt: Themes and Strategies in The Secret History - Ana Rita Catalão Guedes

Never Do That to a Book - Anne Fadiman*

Affecting Anger: Ideologies of Community Mobilisation in Early Hindi Novel - Rohan Chauhan*

Why I Write - George Orwell*

Rimbaud and Patti Smith: Style as Social Deviance - Carrie Jaurès Noland*

Art + Photography (+ Aesthetics)

Looking at War - Susan Sontag*

Love, sex, art, and death - Nan Goldin, David Wojnarowicz

Lyons, Szarkowski, and the Perception of Photography - Anne Wilkes Tucker

The Feminist Critique of Art History - Thalia Gouma-Peterson, Patricia Mathews

In Plato's Cave - Susan Sontag*

On reproduction of art (Chapter 1, Ways of Seeing) - John Berger*

On nudity and women in art (Chapter 3, Ways of Seeing) - John Berger*

Kalighat Paintings - Sharmishtha Chaudhuri

Daydreams and Fragments: On How We Retrieve Images From the Past - Maël Renouard

Arthur Rimbaud: the Aesthetics of Intoxication - Enid Rhodes Peschel

Cities

Tragic Fable of Mumbai Mills - Gyan Prakash

Whose Bandra is it? - Dustin Silgardo*

Timur's Registan: noblest public square in the world? - Srinath Perur

The first Starbucks coffee shop, Seattle - Colin Marshall*

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai's iconic railway station - Srinath Perur

From London to Mumbai and Back Again: Gentrification and Public Policy in Comparative Perspective - Andrew Harris

The Limits of "White Town" in Colonial Calcutta - Swati Chattopadhyay

The Metropolis and Mental Life - Georg Simmel

Colonial Policy and the Culture of Immigration: Citing the Social History of Varanasi - Vinod Kumar, Shiv Narayan

A Caribbean Creole Capital: Kingston, Jamaica - Coln G. Clarke (from Colonial Cities by Robert Ross, Gerard J. Telkamp

The Colonial City and the Post-Colonial World - G. A. de Bruijne

The Nowhere City - Amos Elon*

The Vertical Flâneur: Narratorial Tradecraft in the Colonial Metropolis - Paul K. Saint-Amour

Philosophy

The trolley problem problem - James Wilson

A Brief History of Death - Nir Baram

Justice as Fairness: Political not Metaphysical - John Rawls*

Should Marxists be Interested in Exploitation? - John E. Roemer

The Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief - Scott Berinato*

The Pandemic and the Crisis of Faith - Makarand Paranjape

If God Is Dead, Your Time is Everything - James Wood

Giving Up on God - Ronald Inglehart

The Limits of Consensual Decision - Douglas Rae*

The Science of "Muddling Through" - Charles Lindblom*

History

The Gruesome History of Eating Corpses as Medicine - Maria Dolan

The History of Loneliness - Jill Lepore*

From Tuskegee to Togo: the Problem of Freedom in the Empire of Cotton - Sven Beckert*

Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism - E. P. Thompson*

All By Myself - Martha Bailey*

The Geographical Pivot of History - H. J. Mackinder

The sea/ocean

Rim of Life - Manu Pillai

Exploring the Indian Ocean as a rich archive of history – above and below the water line - Isabel Hofmeyr, Charne Lavery

‘Piracy’, connectivity and seaborne power in the Middle Ages - Nikolas Jaspert (from The Sea in History)*

The Vikings and their age - Nils Blomkvist (from The Sea in History)*

Mercantile Networks, Port Cities, and “Pirate” States - Roxani Eleni Margariti

Phantom Peril in the Arctic - Robert David English, Morgan Grant Gardner*

Assorted ones on India

A departure from history: Kashmiri Pandits, 1990-2001 - Alexander Evans *

Writing Post-Orientalist Histories of the Third World - Gyan Prakash

Empire: How Colonial India Made Modern Britain - Aditya Mukherjee

Feminism and Nationalism in India, 1917-1947 - Aparna Basu

The Epic Riddle of Dating Ramayana, Mahabharata - Sunaina Kumar*

Caste and Politics: Identity Over System - Dipankar Gupta

Our worldview is Delhi based*

Sports (you’ll have to excuse the fact that it’s only cricket but what can i say, i’m indian)

'Massa Day Done:' Cricket as a Catalyst for West Indian Independence: 1950-1962 - John Newman*

Playing for power? rugby, Afrikaner nationalism and masculinity in South Africa, c.1900–70 - Albert Grundlingh

When Cricket Was a Symbol, Not Just a Sport - Baz Dreisinger

Cricket, caste, community, colonialism: the politics of a great game - Ramachandra Guha*

Cricket and Politics in Colonial India - Ramchandra Guha

MS Dhoni: A quiet radical who did it his way*

Music

Brega: Music and Conflict in Urban Brazil - Samuel M. Araújo

Color, Music and Conflict: A Study of Aggression in Trinidad with Reference to the Role of Traditional Music - J. D. Elder

The 1975 - ‘Notes On a Conditional Form’ review - Dan Stubbs*

Life Without Live - Rob Sheffield*

How Britney Spears Changed Pop - Rob Sheffield

Concert for Bangladesh

From “Help!” to “Helping out a Friend”: Imagining South Asia through the Beatles and the Concert for Bangladesh - Samantha Christiansen

Gender

Clothing Behaviour as Non-verbal Resistance - Diana Crane

The Normalisation of Queer Theory - David M. Halperin

Menstruation and the Holocaust - Jo-Ann Owusu*

Women’s Suffrage the Democratic Peace - Allan Dafoe

Pink and Blue: Coloring Inside the Lines of Gender - Catherine Zuckerman*

Women’s health concerns are dismissed more, studied less - Zoanne Clack

Food

How Food-Obsessed Millennials Shape the Future of Food - Rachel A. Becker (as a non-food obsessed somewhat-millennial, this was interesting)

Colonialism's effect on how and what we eat - Coral Lee

Tracing Europe's influence on India's culinary heritage - Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

Chicken Kiev: the world’s most contested ready-meal*

From Russia with mayo: the story of a Soviet super-salad*

The Politics of Pancakes - Taylor Aucoin*

How Doughnuts Fuelled the American Dream*

Pav from the Nau

A Short History of the Vada Pav - Saira Menezes

Fantasy (mostly just harry potter and lord of the rings)

Purebloods and Mudbloods: Race, Species, and Power (from The Politics of Harry Potter)

Azkaban: Discipline, Punishment, and Human Rights (from The Politics of Harry Potter)*

Good and Evil in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lengendarium - Jyrki Korpua

The Fairy Story: J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis - Colin Duriez (from Tree of Tales)*

Tolkien’s Augustinian Understanding of Good and Evil: Why The Lord of the Rings Is Not Manichean - Ralph Wood (from Tree of Tales)*

Travel

The Hidden Cost of Wildlife Tourism

Chronicles of a Writer’s 1950s Road Trip Across France - Kathleen Phelan

On the Early Women Pioneers of Trail Hiking - Gwenyth Loose

On the Mythologies of the Himalaya Mountains - Ed Douglas*

More random assorted ones

The cosmos from the wheelchair (The Economist obituaries)*

In El Salvador - Joan Didion

Scientists are unravelling the mystery of pain - Yudhijit Banerjee

Notes on Nationalism - George Orwell

Politics and the English Language - George Orwell*

What Do the Humanities Do in a Crisis? - Agnes Callard*

The Politics of Joker - Kyle Smith

Sushant Singh Rajput: The outsider - Uday Bhatia*

Credibility and Mystery - John Berger

happy reading :)

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t-lane-writes · 2 years

Text

T. Lane

This is my Intro Post

(updated August 2023)

Hello Writeblr!

I guess it’s about time I made one of those. I’m T. You may call me Tes. I am a writer, and I have more WIPs than is healthy (though probably not more than some of you ;) Here they are:

Works In Progress

#1 Crystal Spring Valley

Genre: Fantasy, but without magic, dragons and the such. Has three races of humans, though. May be interesting. Tag line: A Princess tires to escape the Rebels, but realizes they aren’t wrong, so she joins them and becomes their leader. Stage: Draft No. 3. Still undergoing a lot of changes, ha... But also smoothing out the kinks, so I can say it’s advanced. Blorbos: Priya Samir of clan Karga and Tenney of clan Cheriga, also Fior, Ryan, Shawn, Luka, Tilga, Julia and some others Planned word-count: Probably about 120 k. Maybe more.

#2 The Specters

Genre: A cross between science-fiction and fantasy. Sci-fi in that I have a scientific in-world explanation for fantasy elements, such as magical creatures (personification of earth elements and the such) and powers. Tag line: Three Friends meet a Stranger whose demands send them on an expedition that changes their understanding of the world. Stage: First draft completed. Blorbos: Noel Anaher, Emma Lee, Neve Kailash and Nersan Ziya. Also Agatha Itra. Planned word-count: About 80 k? But knowing me, it will turn out longer.

#3 Sentira

Genre: science-fiction, of the space opera kind. Tag line: A newly developed spaceship is kidnapped on its virgin mission and ends up where no one expected it to go. Stage: Plotted. And, hmmm... sort of left on a backburner too long, maybe? Kind of cold. Blorbos: uh. Agnes and Sigmund? Planned word-count: It doesn’t have a potential to be an over 100 k book. 70 k, probably. WIP INTRO: untitled Sentira project

#4 Ananke

Genre: Science-fiction. Like, hard science-fiction. Perhaps I didn’t get an astrophysics degree to write it, but I try to sound like I did. Tag line: When two rivals are faced with an inevitable disaster, they overcome their animosities to prove human minds can beat destiny. Stage: Querying. Number of rejections: 3 Blorbos: Morgan Alexander, Conor Jasper, also Stella Zahira, Echanon, Amos, Ijana and some others Planned word-count: 40 k, This one is short-ish. WIP INTRO: Ananke

#5 Black Wings

Genre: science-fiction. Sociopolitical. Tag line: Humans’ efforts to terraform a planet are thwarted when some decide to save intelligent indigenous life. Stage: First draft in-progress Blorbos: (aaaa, my Blorbos!!!) (if you can’t tell it means I’m tres excited about them) Kenaed, Zoe Irene, Zeesell Keeva, Mattan Nuada, Angeline, Chey Ari, Eka Isa Karim, and so, so many others. Miranda? Planned word-count: This one might turn out longer than 100 k.

#6 Duke and the B Brothers

Genre: science-fiction. Also sociopolitical. Tag line: Space Pirates join the race to find a treasure. They end up flipping the world order on its head. Stage: In development. Worldbuilding is cool, characters are beginning to intrigue me. I have a synopsis of the plot. Blorbos: Dominic, Folami, Enitan, Kayode, Dayo and Miss Lebeau Planned word-count: between 60 k and 100 k. WIP INTRO: Duke and the B Brothers [on wordpress]

#7 The Ribbon

Genre: science-fiction. Thriller / adventure Tag line: Three dedicated Wardens set out on a journey through the dark ice desert, and find the ancient device that may save the world. Stage: In development. Started character sheets, detailed plotline and plot spreadsheet. Blorbos: Gabriel, Odila, Filip and Quillac Planned word-count: 40k. It may be a companion piece to Ananke if some agent / publisher thinks Ananke is too short to stand alone. WIP INTRO: The Ribbon

#8 Choices and Chances

Genre: Historical (American War of Independence) Stage: Some parts are polished, some aren’t even written, only planned. It’s an old story (started in 2007), but I can’t quite let it go. I love the main characters too much. Blorbos: Ethan Cunningham, the Third Duke of Mildenhald, and Cornelius Heirs. Planned word-count: Wellll, I have 130 k written so far, so... Pffff. I don’t even want to think, lol. WIP INTRO: Choices and Chances

#9 The Mars Idea

Genre: Close range science-fiction Tagline: A girl with a dark past joins the revolution and inadvertently becomes the most powerful entity in the universe. Stage: Like it says in the title – idea Blorbos: Damis Graham, Charlie Graham, Tamsen Tegan Planned word-count: unspecified at the moment

There are some other random ideas, but they aren’t specific enough to advertise them at the moment. Feel free to talk to me if you want! :)

#writeblr #writeblr intro #writeblr introduction #my writing #original writing #my stories #pinned post #crystal spring valley #ananke #the specters #black wings #duke and the b brothers #the ribbon #choices and chances #tes talks about writing

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altr5312916195 · 3 years

Text

The Ghoul Boys' Pizza Party

“I can’t believe I let you dupe me into coming to a children's pizza place, Ryan. You really got me on this one.”

Shane told his partner as they stood outside of the abandoned building.

“Okay, yes it’s an odd place to be, but you know there’s been some stories since the opening of Freddy’s.”

“Oh, do tell.”

Shane said, feigning interest as they approached the doors.

“There’s legends of child murders, shady business and family affairs. A few of the restaurants went up in flames.”

Ryan explained. The pair walked up to the doors with the owner, and their crew behind them. The man unlocked the doors.

“Not this one though?”

“Not this one.”

Ryan confirmed as the man pushed the doors open.

“Have fun dudes, I’ll see you at six.” He chuckled.

He handed them pale blue button ups, a golden security badge sitting on top of the folded shirt.

“Great!

Let’s try not to die in a fire.”

Shane said, as he pulled on his shirt, fastening the badge to it.

“No promises.”

Ryan told him, being the first to step inside, buttoning his shirt.

“Oh look at the confidence!

The swagger ole’ Bergara has tonight.”

Shane chuckled as he walked behind.

The door clicked behind the crew as the owner locked them in for the night.

“I got a good feeling about this one.”

Ryan looked back at Shane with a smile.

“As in we’ll find some ghosts, or we’ll be ghoul free and you’ll go home and sleep well?”

“I’m not so sure yet.”

He noted, while dragging his hand across the damp wall. He found some light switches along the way and flicked them on. The overheads failed to power up, but the stage lights flickered on.

“Oh I truly hate that.”

Shane noted as the stage lit up, getting a good look at some tattered animatronics.

“Yeah that’s.. Not what you want to see.”

The Boys stepped to the edge of the stage, while the big three loomed over them.

“So tell me about the lore here. What are we looking at, I seem to recall child murder.”

Shane broke the silence.

“Yes! Lore..”

Ryan broke out of his trance and looked to Shane.

“Fredbear’s Family Diner opened in the early 70’s.”

“Oh they beat Chuck E?”

“Sure did.”

“The old cheese miser, they beat em to it.”

‘No one said they did a good job though.”

“Oh of course not..

Child murder isn’t good for the business,

Ryan c’mon! You should know that.”

“Hey, don’t jump ahead now hold on. So the little restaurant does well on it’s own for a time. It’s owned by one guy, guy decides it’s time to branch out.”

*chuckles* “Does guy have a name?”

“He does.”

*Gasp* “He does!”

“It’s Henry.”

“Henry, no last name?”

*laughs*

That is correct.”

“Oh that’s- *laughs* Wonderful.”

“Right so he teams up with this man.”

“Oh a partnership!

Does he have a name?”

“William Afton.”

“A last name too! What a lucky guy!”

*chuckles* “His full name is in the police report”

“But not Henry’s? He builds this business

From ground up and they don’t even give him

A proper name. What horse shit.”

“The disrespect is real.”

“It is!”

“It gets more real when you find out Afton’s

Pinned for henry’s daughter’s murder.”

*Laughs* “What? No you’re

Fucking with me.”

“Shane, I'm so serious.”

“Stop.”

“Honest to god.”

“That douche, that british douche!”

“Wha- *wheeze*

Why’s he a brit?”

“I just get the vibes.”

Ryan laughed it off, but continued on as they walked the table filled room.

“Freddy Fazbear’s opens about late 70’s right?”

“Things are going steady? No dead kids?”

“No dead kids, then!”

*chuckles* “Oh no..”

“See this is when Henry’s daughter goes missing.

Charlie.”

“That’s her name?”

“Charlette, yeah.”

“Oh okay, that douche Afton kills her.”

“Exactly, and hides her body

In one of the suits.”

“No!”

*nods* “Henry builds these things

And ole Afton thinks it’s a burial ground.”

“What a dick. That’s a new level

Of disrespect Ryan.”

“But wait! *laugs*

He kills five more kids.”

*laughs* “Ryan, that's not funny.”

“Shane, you're laughing too.”

“Well of course! Your delivery

Was so nonchalant.”

*laughs* “So five more kids.”

“Into the suits?”

“Yep.”

“Unrelated to Charlie?”

“Exactly.”

“But why?”

“He never told.”

“So he was taken in for this?”

“Then released because

They never found the bodies.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No, and then after Henry..

Well he kills himself.”

“Henry did? Oh god..”

“Right, Afton takes the rights.

Opens a new Freddy’s.”

“That douche bag..

He’s evil Ryan.”

“Truly, it’s scary.

But he opens this place,

Circus Baby’s.

His own daughter dies by

His animatronic, Baby.”

“That’s Karma.”

“You’d think.

You know his son dies too.”

“Who let this man have kids?”

“His dead wife..”

“OH MY GOD” *laugs*

“How’d she die?”

*laugh* “I’ll give you two guesses.”

“Sweet Satan.

Man’s got the worst luck.”

“Well, yknow

Maybe don’t murder children for funsies.”

“Fair point.”

There was a metallic creek behind them as they walked the restaurant.

*soft chuckle*

“Oh no..”

“I-

I’m not turning around.”

*laughs* “Please do,

We’ll turn around together.”

*Deep breath*

“Okay.”

“One.”

“Two..”

“Three.” The boys turned to face the stage once again.

“Ryan the bear moved.”

“Freddy.”

“Oh, Mr Fazbear himself.”

“The big man..”

Freddy’s eyes glinted as they shifted to gaze at Shane and Ryan.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Shane.. There’s a child in there.”

“A real one?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Can’t be.”

“What?”

“I said what I said.”

“I- wha-

Alright, okay.”

“Can we sit, and finish the story?”

“You’re not scared?”

“No.”

Shane simply told him, and pulled out a dusty chair. Ryan sat next to him, and sighed. Though his eyes often darted between Shane, and Freddy.

“Fine..

So Afton has a few restaurants running.”

“Despite Henry killing himself.

Got it. Douche.”

“Well the first Freddy’s shuts down.

Not because of missing kids, but faulty walk around suits.”

“Faulty walk around suits,

What did a worker almost die

While handing out cake?”

Ryan starred at his partner silently. Shane laughed.

“They did?”

“That’s when they finally bring Afton in.”

“And then let him go?

Five kids, dead.

Business partner, dead

Worker, dead.

They let him go.”

“It’s insane, but yes.

So they shut the first Freddy’s down.”

“This one, right?

They rebuilt it in the 90s right?”

“Yeah, some things happened in between.

Five kids, spring lock accident, bite of 87’.”

“A kid bit someone?”

“An animatronic bit a security guard.”

“Oh.. Oh well that’s us tonight.”

Shane gestured to the pale blue shirt, gold badge shining in the dim light of their flashlights.

“That’s.. Foreboding.”

“Unfortunately, yeah.

You know they’ve gone through

Team of animatronics

After team of animatronics.

They finally decide to put it all to rest.”

“Everything closes down?”

“All of it.

Years later, Afton’s off the grid.”

“He’s dead?”

“That’s a theory.”

“A game theory, got it.

Now we’re here.”

“Right.”

“Let’s get hunting then.”

Shane stands up, and Ryan follows. He looks down at his watch.

“One thirty A.M.”

“Five more hours.”

Ryan sighs nervously. They move from the main dining hall into a hallway. The dim lights of the stage stay behind them. They turn into a new room, a small stage in the middle.

“Who’s that?”

Shane pointed to the red fur, and yellow eye that peaked at them behind a purple curtain.

“That would be Foxy.”

“The pirate.

Chica, Bonnie.”

“And a puppet.”

“Where is that one?”

“Storage.

Lot of people think Charlie is in that one.”

“Oh fun, gotta love living in a box forever.”

Shane walked to the tiny stage and reached out for the curtain.

“Dude! Stop what’s wrong with you?”

*chuckles* “C’mon it’s fine.”

He pulled back the curtain. A sharp creak rang out as the silver hook fell on Shane’s arm. He hissed in pain and pulled back.

“I fucking told you!”

“So the gears are loose, Ryan.

Shut up, I’m not dead.

Just give me a bandaid and an alcohol wipe.”

“We’re gonna need shots after this..”

“Oh please.”

Shane scoffed as one of the crew walked over and wiped at the cut with a small wipe, and slapped a bandaid over it.

“Good as new!”

Shane smiled, and thanked the crew member.

“Now, how bout a good ole spirit box?”

Ryan sighed, and pulled out the spirit box, setting it on one of the tables next to them.

“Alright Foxy, it’s gonna get a little loud in here.

Bet you’re used to it from all the screaming kids though.”

“Well he hasn’t been around em in a while.”

“It has been a bit.”

Ryan clicked the spirit box on. The loud shuffle of noise began as everyone listened in anticipation. Seconds passed and Ryan sighed again, disappointed.

“Nothing! C’mon Foxy boy, you got nothing to say?”

The room was quiet save for the radio channels shuffling.

Then something broke through.

“Save them.”

Ryan’s eyes widened as goosebumps hit his arms.

“No.”

*chuckles* “That.. that was the clearest thing

We’ve heard..”

Ryan looked at the tattered red fox and stepped back.

“Shane what the hell was that?”

The words “Save them” struck the cold air again.

Shane laughed, albeit nervously.

“The kids need help Ryan.”

“Shane stop.”

“Ryan they need you.”

“Shane it’s not funny.”

“It’s a little funny.”

Ryan picked up the spirit box, and turned it off. He quickly ducked back into the hallway.

“Oh come- Ryan come on.”

Shane followed him out. They continued down the corridor.

“Shane it’s not funny,

There’s kids in there.”

“You can’t believe that.”

“You don’t?”

Shane hesitated.

“No, I don’t.”

A dim light at the end of the hall led them to an office.

Computer screens lined the wall.

“I’m sorry I can’t find it

Easy to joke about these kids.”

“Ryan stop.. It’s fine. It’s what we do.”

They looked to the screens as they argued and Ryan stopped mid sentence.

“Chica’s gone.”

“What? No she’s no-”

On the main screen, the stage, there was only two animals up there. Freddy, and Bonnie.

A crash came from the kitchen.

“Is the whole team in the office?”

Ryan asked, and counted the members in the room. They were all there.

“Shut the doors.”

Shane fumbled for a door, there was none. Just a hole in the wall. He muttered in confusion as he hit the red button labeled door. A metal door came slamming shut.

“I don’t think that’s very safe.”

“But the animatronics outside are?”

“Pick your poison Ryan.”

“We are going to die here..”

“Oh stop! *laughs* We’re fine.”

“Shane I don’t think you understand!

So many people died here.

Kids, nightguards, shift managers. Families, Shane.”

“Ryan, it’s not true.”

Ryan shook his head, and turned to look back at the screens on the wall. Shane put a hand on Ryan’s shoulder.

“Come on, Ryan..”

He laughed awkwardly, while Ryan shrugged his hand away.

One of the monitors glitched, coming back to show Foxy in a new position.

“It moved.”

“I see that..”

“What do we do?”

“Nothing, we watch them.

What time is it?”

“Three.”

Ryan sighed, and sunk into one of the roller chairs by the desk.

“Ryan what are we doing?”

“I don’t know! Okay?

We’re stuck here until dawn. Let’s just ride it out.”

Shane sat down next to him, and watched the computer screens. The main screen glitched as Bonnie moved off stage, leaving Freddy alone.

“Shane, why do you think they’re moving?”

“They’re programmed that way aren’t they?”

“You think they do that at Chuck E Cheese?”

“Well, yknow..

I don’t know. I’ve never been in this position.”

Ryan shuffled around again for the spirit box and clicked it on.

Shane groaned and flinched as the sound screeched through the small room.

“Oh you love to hate it..”

Shane joked as Ryan shushed him. Shane pouted and sighed, leaning back in the chair. More banging came from the kitchen.

“Let’s eat.”

“Ryan.. *laughs*

Ryan the chicken is gonna eat us.”

“Shane..”

“I’m sorry I can’t help it.”

Footsteps echoed down the hall, and Ryan turned off the box to hear them better. Things went quiet until something slammed against the door. Ryan jumped back with a shout, and Shane pointed his flashlight towards the window.

In the window a purple shadow stood smiling.

“It’s Bonnie.”

“I see him, Shane.”

“What do we do?”

“Everyone stay still, maybe it’ll go away.”

They both spoke barely above a whisper. Minutes passed as the bunny stood unmoving. Humming echoed through the halls.

“Ryan..”

“I know.. I-i know.

What time-”

“Four.”

“This is our purgatory, Shane.

We’re done for.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic.”

After what felt like hours the hulking form finally turned to leave.

Ryan sighed in relief.

“See?”

“Don’t jinx it Shane.”

“I’m sorry.”

He went quiet, eyes falling back on the screens as they watched Bonnie roam the halls. Chica had found her way back to the stage, Foxy was unmoving.

“Why are they moving? What do they want with us?”

“Stop asking questions I don’t have answers to!”

Ryan huffed out. He looked down at his feet, the golden badge glinting in his eyes as a thought hit him.

“William always came in dressed as a guard.

That was his MO.”

“And we’re the guards. What if they’re

scared of us?”

Ryan looked at Shane, dumbfounded.

“What if they are scared of us?”

“One hour left.” Someone from the crew informed.

“We have to get back to the front doors.”

A soft beeping began to ring out. Shane looked around for the source. In the corner of on of the screens a small red battery flashed in time with the beeping.

“We’re losing power.”

“To what?”

Shane shrugged.

“We’re not going to make it.”

“We’re going to make it.”

Something slammed against the door, a dent being pressed into it.

“We don’t get paid enough for this!”

“It’s Foxy, that bitch!

“Shane, you'll make him angier!”

“Yeah? Well he can suck it!

That’s right!”

“They’re kids!”

“Oh please..”

Another slam rang out, as the beeping grew louder, more urgent.

“Five thirty.”

“Shane what do we do?”

“We’re going to get to that door.

He’ll go away soon.”

The banging grew louder, and Ryan moved to cover his ears. He shrank back in his chair, eyes shut.

Despite all this he heard something in the back of his mind as images flash in his head.

It’s me

“Shane!”

Shane stood up, standing between Ryan and the door. The banging stopped. The fox walked away. Ryan relaxed a bit. Until the power went out, and the door opened again.

“We’re going to run for it.”

“We cannot do that!”

“We can.”

Shane grabbed Ryan’s arm and booked it down the halls, dragging Ryan behind him. Foxy wasn’t far off on their steps in the hall.

“Ryan run faster!”

“I ca- I can’t!”

He choked out. His eyes were on the small crew behind them, worried of who may be left behind. Chica met them at the end of the hall as she stepped out from the kitchen. Shane narrowly avoided hitting her dead on and led them into the main room.

“Look there’s the door!”

Ryan laughed in pitiful fear, and small relief. Until Bonnie stopped them in their tracks.

“Oh god, oh fuck.”

Chica, and Foxy had the crew trapped, the doors barely out of reach. All of the voices grew louder around them. Ryan clutched his hands over his ears, his eyes shut tight. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest, and Shane’s tight grip on him released.

“Shane?”

Ryan asked, refusing to open his eyes.

Shane looked at the animatronics as they circled the team. They were so close he couldn’t let it end like this. But he also couldn’t reveal himself. He panicked, his eyes began to turn a deep red as he looked around for another way out. But those kids, they wouldn’t get out of his head. They were so loud.

“OH JUST STOP IT”

He screamed, and they listened. The voices were silent, and Ryan opened his eyes. Shane grabbed his arm again and yanked him to the doors.

The owner opened them up just as Ryan and Shane made it back outside. Though Shane was prepared to barrel through the glass if necessary.

Ryan fell to his knees as they finally made it to the end, and laughed in morbid relief.

“Hey! You guys made it! Did ya have fun?” The owner smiled at them.

Shane helped Ryan up, and glared at the owner. He ripped the badge off his shirt, and slammed it against the man’s chest.

“We’re suing.”

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flyingblakeryan · 3 years

Text

Follows x - Shuttle Crew Docking with the Berlin

“Wait up.” Ryan half-jogged to catch up to Kate before she hit the elevator to the lower decks. He threw an arm around her, pulling her into a side hug as they crossed the threshold and the doors slid shut.

“You know you cannae lose me, yea?” He pointed to his chest. The spot was clothed but she’d memorized it perfectly – the goofy sketch of a metal arm, a pair of faded cowboy boots, and a fixed wing biplane. “Part of me now.” He laced their fingers and they leaned against each other as the elevator slid smoothly to the lowest part of the massive ship.

Ryan spotted Thurman, only a few feet in front of them, already watching the elevator when the door slid open. The hurt on his face danced with confusion as he watched the once-lovers untangle their hands for the last time. The pilot blew the cowboy one more kiss before he made his way to the XO’s side, if only because that’s where Isaac would go first.

And Luca, like a good boy, would follow his Captain.

“You shoulda taken me up on that offer, Commander. Coulda been space pirates. You’d look real good in a hat and I’ve always thought an eyepatch might suit me nicely.” He gestured lightly to the containment doors that hid the shuttle’s approach but made a shudder ripple through the floor at their feet when Kodi landed. “Ah. Too late now.”

Marie’s chuckle was genuine but flat. Her foot tapped against the floor and Ryan was glad to know he was not the only one who couldn’t stand the separation a moment more. Only, the one she was waiting for, was waiting for her too, some part of him remembered.

Ethan and Mason were first through the containment doors. Ryan admired the way their bodies seemed to mirror each other, down to their smallest movements. They weren’t the first couple to get married on a ship he happened to be piloting on the edge of known space, but they were definitely the ones he had the most hope for. Shit, he thought to himself as they made small conversation in a huddle with Kate, Archer, and Ben, they moved like they’d been married for years.

“Is it serious?” Marie called to the captain as he approached with Eva right beside him. They were not touching but were damn near it the whole time. Ryan already knew he was about to disappear for days, unreachable except by electronic communication and only ever during posted hours. And strangely, some part of him was envious.

Isaac waved a hand as they approached, gesturing to the Phoenix troop huddled around Ben. “Did you know they have healing powers? Fucking nanites? In their blood?” Isaac swiped a hand through his helmet hair. “I feel like I should have known this? Does the Alliance know this? I should have known this.”

“That’s disgusting.” Thurman called from somewhere in the commotion, making Ryan chuckle.

“He’s gonna be okay,” Eva teased, patting Isaac’s armored shoulder and winking at the pilot and the commander as they passed.

“I’m sure you’ll take real good care of him,” Ryan joked back, laughing at Isaac’s glare.

“Luca.” Marie breathed his name, forcing the smile to fall from the pilot’s face as his blue eyes searched the doorway with an ache in his chest. How many nights had he remembered the way Luca looked at him with those soft brown eyes. The way his eyelashes fluttered when Ryan pressed into him. The feel of his soft body and the sounds that fell from his mouth. The pilot shifted, already half hard at the memories.

The blonde phoenix said something to the Major and swatted Ben’s butt with a brilliant smile before beelining to Marie who was heading for everyone’s favorite engineer and the dark stranger behind him.

Ryan forced his patience, refusing to elbow his way through the small crowd. He didn’t want to be overbearing. He didn’t want to be possessive. He didn’t want to be creepy. But gods. He just had to see him. Just had to know he was whole. And maybe smell his hair.

A smile bloomed across Luca’s face when their eyes locked. Ryan could feel his own features soften. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears as his eyes took in Luca again. They moved toward each other until the pilot could hear the engineer’s proud shouting. “See?” He gestured to the large shuttle behind him. “I got her back in one piece.”

“Aye.” The tiniest smile curled Ryan’s lips. “Never doubted you would.” He stopped in front of Luca but let his eyes drift the clean lines of Kodi, admiring the new paint job as much as the mind behind it. “You did real good, kid.”

“The upgrades you helped me with to secure the transmiss-”

Ryan’s palms had been itching since they’d first hit the cluster but with Luca so close, so perfect and so close, he moved to do the only thing he could think of to stop it. He let his fingers dip into the engineer’s thick curls and pulled him closer, swallowing his surprised, rambling sentence as he bent to press a warm kiss to the boy’s soft lips.

He lingered, too afraid to open his eyes, too in love with the smell of Luca’s breath and the soft slip of his lips, before he pulled away just enough to nuzzle his face into the engineer’s curly temple with a chuckle. “I dunnae give a damn about the shuttle, my boy. But I’m real glad you’re okay.”

#blake ryan #kate lyons #marie miller #luca moreno #op: kio

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ashintheairlikesnow · 4 years

Note

Yknow, the importance of consistency over realism in worldbuilding sounds interesting. Would you mind explaining that?(If not, that's perfectly fine)

Of course!

So, there’s a tumblr post going around that hits on this, too, and they start with I think the easiest way to explain this in one sentence: When people complain about something being “unrealistic”, what they usually mean is “I couldn’t believe it in the context of the story”.

In sci-fi or fantasy, you can do nearly anything, provided that you are consistent with it. You can have your world-building make as little sense as you want, really, as long as your characters and settings all consistently reflect that world-building.

For instance, if your characters are human and you break their bones, imprison them for months, or whip them - all of these things have known, consistent ways of changing and affecting the human psyche and body. If you are not consistent with that, it will break immersion.

However, if your character is alien and they don’t have calcium-based bone structure, you could change what broken bones look like to those bodies! But then make that change consistent and constant for that alien race!

Let’s see...

Um, another example:

If you set up a magic system, it needs to affect everyone in the same way or you’ll break suspension of disbelief - not because of the magic, but because the rules aren’t applying to everyone the same.

One issue I brought up with Shades of Magic that really wrecked my immersion is that Delilah Bard, one of the main characters, uses magic for the first time on a ship in the middle of the sea. The author has noted, more than once by this point, that no one can manipulate the ocean because the amount of magic needed to do so is so vast. No one.

Not the other powerful magicians called Antari in the story, NO ONE can do this. Not our main character, a magician who has spent most of his life immersed in study. Not the pirate captain whose ship Lila is on, who can wield nearly every kind of magic AND has a secret side power besides.

Not the pirates who USE water magic, who have spent their lives on the ship.

Nobody. Can. Use. Magic. To. Control. The. Ocean.

But of course Delilah Bard can, once without even trying.

(Arguably, the not-even-trying scene is actually pretty funny, but it still breaks the concept of how magic works in the book)

This is meant to be a “look at how wonderful and powerful and super cool this character is” moment, but instead it made me put the book down. I picked it up again because I loved the story (and was sort of hoping literally any female character but Lila would survive to the end and also get characterization), but it really struck me as deeply inconsistent and broke my suspension of disbelief.

Because the author broke their own rules for how magic works multiple times to make Lila Bard cool.

(For the record, Shades of Magic is a rollicking good story and if you don’t want to read the series, PLEASE at least read the first book, it’s so fucking good. I go hard at issues with the series because I WAS so enamored of it, I read the whole series in like two weeks, was sometimes up until 2 AM trying to finish the last pages)

So, that’s a good example of world-building that, even if ‘unrealistic’, works just fine in the context of the story until it’s violated on a whim.

There is no reason whatsoever for the rule violation to happen when it does. It doesn’t really serve in any significant way. It’s just “Lila Bard is better than everyone at everything, even stuff she doesn’t know”. That will hurt reader immersion!

If you find that happening but you need that violation to serve your story - in Shades of Magic, Lila becoming a powerful magician is an important point, and the amount of time that passes is incredibly short and compressed so either way it all had to happen very very quickly - then you need to seed some explanation or hint or showcase of that exception to the rule elsewhere in the story.

“She’s just better” is not an explanation. You need to have something that weaves into your world-building.

If you find yourself falling into an inconsistency like that, you need to pull it out - OR you make it consistent with everything else. If that inconsistency is necessary, or it electrifies you, then you don’t have to take it out! But you do need to have it fit in with the world-building rules you’ve already established, or you’ll break the immersion of the reader.

The world itself is inconsistent in a lot of ways. People are inconsistent, fickle and uncertain. We change. Worlds change. But if you’ve set up a very specific rule about how your world works, ONLY break that rule if you’ve set the story up to support it.

Also, this is tumblr and you’re writing for free on the internet, so don’t drive yourself to stress over it! There are some inconsistencies with Bram and Ryan through Danny’s story and how the magic works there, because I published the pieces as I went. If I collected them together, condensed and published a book... I would do a LOT of reworking of those early chapters to give you hints and a better understanding of what I planned. I would build the inconsistencies into the creation of the story so that they were consistent with my world-building.

I am trying to do a little better with the mer story - this is my first attempt at writing a largely linear narrative - but there may be some inconsistencies there, too, for the same reason.

(I’ve had three people note the inconsistency in my mammalian mer having scales on his tail, but that’s actually consistent with my world-building for this story... I just haven’t given away why yet. If I went back to do the beginning again, I might add in more clues than I already have)

Don’t stress yourself over it, but generally keep in mind that nothing has to be all that realistic, it just has to be consistent within the context of the story.

#writing advice #writing

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tabloidtoc · 3 years

Text

National Enquirer, March 15

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Tiger Woods' car crash

Page 2: Bruce Springsteen has beaten the DUI charges leveled against him after federal prosecutors couldn't find a drop of evidence he had been drinking over the legal limit -- with an acceptable blood alcohol level of 0.02 well below the 0.08 threshold at the time of his arrest in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, prosecutors backed off two of their charges for drunken and reckless driving -- the rocker did plead guilty to a third charge, admitting he had two small shots of tequila on federal parkland and for that, he was fines $500 plus $40 in court costs

Page 3: Patrick Dempsey's dreamy return to Grey's Anatomy was a big hit with fans but his well-received cameo left series star Ellen Pompeo seething with jealousy -- Ellen may have permitted Patrick to revisit his old stomping grounds in Meredith Grey's fever dreams in season 17 but she doesn't want him coming back permanently and swiping her hard-earned glory and she considers herself the anchor of the show and thought she was rid of this guy after making the show her own, but now fans are begging for him to be brought back and Ellen is furious -- it's no secret Ellen hated the first 10 years of the show when Patrick was the star and she feels the series got better after he left and she became a big-shot producer, something she'd been demanding for years -- she likes being in control and calling the shots and clearly thinks she got this deal on her merit alone but it's also because she's the star who's lasted the longest; most of the original cast had already left and bosses had to cave in to keep her -- unfortunately being in charge hasn't amounted to better ratings and show has been slipping consistently in recent years and the main reason they brought Patrick back on was to spike the ratings, which it did and now producers are considering offering Patrick a full-time gig but Ellen will do everything in her power to prevent Patrick from stealing her thunder again

Page 4: Home reno gurus Chip and Joanna Gaines are clashing over his wild spending, and she's desperate to rein him in before they land in the poorhouse -- Chip and Jo are rich on paper and worth $20 million in property and assets but they were hit hard by the pandemic like everyone else and recovery has been sluggish to say the least -- they're just getting back on their feet and under a ton of pressure to get their Magnolia network off to a running start but Chip, as usual, is casual when it comes to money and it frustrates Jo to see him buying things they don't need, like new tools and equipment when the old ones work just fine and overpaying on lumber and masonry -- Chip is always shopping and not always for the house; he's got a boot fetish and has dozens of pairs, plus he treats the crew to free cappuccino and treats from their coffeehouse several time a day and Chip wants the best of everything for himself and everyone else

* Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are ready to welcome baby number four through adoption -- the couple who are parents of daughters James and Inez and Betty hope to find their next child in South America and they've invested time and money sponsoring immigrant children and they're warming up to the idea of providing an orphaned baby or toddler with a forever home -- a 16-year-old girl they sponsored through the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights was deported back to Honduras and they were heartbroken, and Blake and Ryan are now determined to provide a child with a happy home and opportunities he or she wouldn't have in their native country

Page 5: Newlyweds Pamela Anderson and Dan Hayhurst are itching to start a family and are already trying for a baby of their own -- 53-year-old Pam tied the knot with the 40-year-old handyman on Christmas Eve at her Vancouver Island home and she's been telling pals they hope to have happy news soon -- Pam wants to build a whole new clan with Dan and he's on board even though they each have kids with their exes and Dan's two kids from a previous relationship are living with the couple at Pam's pad -- the couple love the idea of adopting or going the surrogate route and it's not something they want to waste any time over

Page 6: Weary Kelly Clarkson is juggling her skyrocketing career and brutal divorce battle with estranged husband Brandon Blackstock on less than six hours sleep a night and Kelly has also been pushing to sell her homes in Nashville and Encino, while running her L.A.-based talk show and recording new music -- she's been running herself ragged for months and she's feeling the burn in a big way but despite her exhaustion, she can't sleep and nothing she tries works and the most shut-eye she catches is two, three hours at a time; she lays awake in bed at night worrying and crying

* Suddenly remorseful Kanye West has spiraled into depression and despair since soon-to-be ex-wife Kim Kardashian filed for divorce -- for all their problems, Kanye realizes she was the one person who was there for him whenever he went off the deep end and now he knows he's alone and seriously doubts he can hold his life together -- without Kim and her family to keep his wild impulses in check, he may succumb to the poor judgment and wild mood swings that have marked his chronic bipolar disorder as they were the ones who reminded him to take his meds and steer clear of recreational drugs and now all he has is a circle of yes-men he doesn't listen to anyway -- since the split, Kanye has shuttled between his ranch in Cody, Wyoming and a hotel in L.A. near the sprawling mansion he once shared with Kim and he's been blowing up her phone to beg forgiveness, but she won't take his calls and it's driving him off the deep end again

Page 7: Kourtney Kardashian is fed up with Shanna Moakler's online barbs and is plotting her revenge against the ex-wife of her new squeeze -- since Kourtney and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker went public with their romance last month, former pageant queen Shanna has been throwing social media shade and Kourtney's tired of taking Shanna's crap and she's going to fire back soon and Kourtney's using her wide network of contacts in Hollywood to bad-mouth Shanna and she's placing calls to casting directors and perspective suitors to put as many potholes in her love rival's path as possible and she plans to make Shanna regret messing with her

Page 8: Nearly two years after Johnny Depp was forced to exit Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise following ex-wife Amber Heard's allegations of abuse, the company has kicked him while he's down by considering her for a plum part -- Johnny is fuming over news that Amber is reportedly in contention to play fairy-tale heroine Rapunzel in the studio's upcoming live-action remake of Tangled -- for Amber to be in the running for a Disney pic is the ultimate insult to him especially because he believes the company made millions of dollars off his name

Page 9: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle had a whopping $500 million motive to betray Queen Elizabeth -- outraged at being cut loose by the British royals, the couple retaliated by secretly negotiating backroom Hollywood megadeals and going public on TV -- Harry and Meghan see themselves as victims of an out-of-touch monarchy and want revenge and selling out Harry's family is the way to get it and cash in big-time; Meghan's convinced they'll have deals totaling $500 million by the end of the year but they better act fast because Hollywood is a fickle town where even royalty can be chewed up and spat out

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Amelia Hamlin stuck to the shore while pink-haired beau Scott Disick made waves in Miami, Steve Martin nibbled on a pretzel while filming Only Murders in the Building in NYC, Floyd Mayweather turned 44 and celebrated with a birthday bash in Miami, Bachelorette reject Tyler Cameron showed off his toned tummy in Florida

Page 11: Drew Barrymore feels deeply for dad-controlled Britney Spears because she's been there: she said her mom locked her away in a loony bin for over a year when she was just 13 -- Drew said it's hard to grow up in front of people and she empathizes with Britney and Paris Hilton and any star who can't escape the glare of celebrity -- Drew's mom put her in a place that was a full psychiatric ward and says she used to laugh at those Malibu 30-day places because she was in a place for a year and a half called Van Nuys Psychiatric and you couldn't mess around there and if you did, you would either get thrown in the padded room or put in stretcher restraints and tied up

* Eddie Murphy famously bragged he has never changed a diaper in his life despite having so many kids and now he's set on having another baby with fiancee Paige Butcher and this will make baby No. 11 for Eddie -- he says his genes are incredible as ever, so why stop; he's super fit and Paige is in amazing shape at age 41 and wants at least one more baby so they're going to go for it and are already trying

Page 12: Straight Shuter gossip column -- CNN could blitz news veteran Wolf Blitzer as the network revamps its lineup and TV is a young person's game and no one knows that better than Wolf and after 31 years at CNN, he sees new faces getting promoted and knows his days are numbered and Jim Acosta and Poppy Harlow are the future of CNN, not Wolf -- although Wolf's airtime has been cut as Jake Tapper's role expands, he isn't bitter or angry but instead he's grateful for an amazing run

* Love It or List It star Hilary Farr is moving on to her own show and leaving partner David Visentin in the dust -- Hilary's new show is basically the same one she and David have been doing for years, with him edited out and David was blindsided by the news and he knows HGTV has sent out a casting notice for the new show and he's hurt and angry especially because Love It or List It hasn't been renewed yet

* Sacked Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron has reached out to Chris Harrison after he stepped away from The Bachelor amid a racist scandal -- Tom wasn't fired over a scandal, but he knows exactly what Chris is going through because both of them thought they had a job for life, but nothing lasts forever -- Tom is a good guy and wants Chris to know he's around if Chris needs anything

* Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, spruced up for the camera (picture)

Page 13: Brooke Shields isn't letting a busted leg keep her down but she's taking her recovery one step at a time -- she shared an Instagram video showing her cautiously hobbling on crutches and explained she broker her femur and she was beginning to mend -- she didn't reveal what caused the unlucky break

* Outspoken actress Rose McGowan is living a charmed life in Mexico and the Harvey Weinstein accuser has headed south of the border and vows never to return to the United States -- she got her permanent residency card from Mexico and is grateful to have it and says it's a really healing land and it is truly magical -- she moved at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic because she knew it was going to get really bad in America and she had a moment to figure out where she wanted to be

* Picky perfectionist Blake Shelton listens to around 300 songs to choose what to record for each of his albums, according to his longtime producer -- music pro Scott Hendricks said he wades through nearly 3000 tracks by professional songwriters to select tunes for Blake to consider and then Blake methodically whittles down the nominees until he's certain which songs he wants to record but Scott admitted that process is more difficult for him culling the 300 from the 3000 -- Scott, who has worked with Blake for most of his career, said of their close professional relationship that the chemistry works and they have recorded several hundred or more songs together and they are getting ready to go do some more

Page 14: Crime

Page 15: Killer kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's busted beauty queen bride will be marked for death behind bars -- if Emma Coronel Aispuro snitches to the feds about the bloodthirsty Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel long run by her caged husband, she'll put a big fat bulls-eye on her back -- according to a federal complaint, Coronel was intimately involved in her husband's multibillion-dollar drug-running racket and acted as his criminal agent while he was on the lam and the mother of El Chapo's two young daughters helped mastermind her spouse's daring 2015 tunnel escape from a Mexican prison and also paid him $100,000 for another failed bust-out a year later -- they are going to put the heat on her to spill more details on other top operatives in the cartel and take them down, too, but if she spills, it will be open season on her on the inside

Page 16: Dr. Dre appears to rap about estranged wife Nicole Young in a song filled with angry, explicit lyrics calling someone in his life a greedy bitch -- DJ Silk previewed part of a new track from Dre full of digs presumably at Nicole, with whom he has been locked in a nasty divorce -- his lyrics include: Trying to kill me with them lies and that perjury/ I see you trying to f--k me while I'm in surgery / In ICU death bed on some money s--t / Greedy bitch take a pic / Girl you know how money get

* Hollywood Hookups -- Lorenzo Lamas is set to wed for the sixth time to model Kenna Scott, Justin Hartley and Chrishell Stause are officially divorced, Adam Rippon is engaged to Jussi-Pekka Kajaala

Page 17: Former Home Improvement kid Zachery Ty Bryan has pleaded guilty to two felony counts of domestic violence -- Zachery, now 39, has been sentenced to three years of probation and will also have to take part in a batterer intervention program

* John Mayer has dated a succession of famous singers including Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Halsey and he hopes they write chart-topping songs about him and admitted he'd be jazzed if his exes enshrined him in song, saying sometimes a song is so good he hopes it's about him and he even scours their lyrics for clues -- Taylor already has several tracks that have been linked to John including Dear John

* Ruthless chef Gordon Ramsay said he's cooked up his own plan to keep his kids humble -- he has five kids with wife Tana: Megan, twins Holly and Jack, Tilly and Oscar but said he plans to leave most of his reported $200 million fortune to charity -- Gordon explained his kids must tidy up after dinners, can only fly coach and are expected to learn how to cook for themselves and he's forbidden them from taking costly taxis and the foulmouthed foodie insisted they don't swear

Page 18: American Life

Page 19: Roseanne Barr was blindsided by a humiliating new scandal after risque photos from the early '90s recently emerged which appear to show her teenage daughters licking her boobs -- Roseanne posed for the shots with her two youngest girls at a Glamour Shots studio in Iowa more than 25 years ago and the photographer who claimed he snapped the fake lesbian lovefest but did not want to be named dished Roseanne and daughters Jessica and Jennifer who are now in their mid-40s happily hammed it up for the camera but decades later Roseanne and her daughters are all mortified and embarrassed by these pics; they were horsing around years ago and never thought they'd see the light of day

Page 20: Cover Story -- Still recovering from agonizing back surgery, Tiger Woods was pushing himself to the limit when he flew off a California cliff into a career-crushing car accident -- lawmen said the golf legend was lucky to be alive after the horrific wreck that shattered his right leg -- the accident only added to Tiger's physical problems; his movement has been restricted since a fifth back operation in December and he was unable to play golf despite an appearance at a local tournament the weekend before the bloody wreck -- at a press conference days before cheating death, Tiger admitted he was worried about his physical condition and his ability to play again, saying a lot of it is based on his surgeons and doctors and therapist and making sure he does it correctly and he doesn't have a lot of wiggle room left -- Tiger could barely move, and it seemed to get him down and his back rehab has been brutal and he was hobbling around and distraught but he refused to give into his condition and his tough-as-nails mindset could have contributed to the crash: when a person is overwhelmed by physical pain, that dominates everything they do and if you're behind the wheel of a car and in physical pain, it can distract you and likely lead to this kind of disaster -- Tiger was eager to get to a TV taping on the morning disaster struck and he seemed impatient when he left the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, an L.A. suburb, just after 7 a.m. and although traffic cameras show he was driving within the speed limit, his Genesis GV80 SUV crossed the center median onto the opposite side of the road and flipped -- authorities said Tiger appeared lucid to first responders and there were no signs the recovering addict was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and they did not request a blood test when Tiger was rushed to the hospital from the crash site and the incident was an accident -- Tiger was taken to nearby Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where doctors said his broken bones protruded through his right leg and they put a rod in his leg and used screws and pins to stabilize the break and his ankle -- it will take three to four months to heal and then eight months of physical therapy and it is unlikely he will ever run again and he may have a limp and in terms of golf, just walking for extended periods of time will be a big deal and recovery will be agonizing; it's a very real possibility that Tiger's taken his final swing

Page 21: Addiction experts warned Tiger Woods' recovery will test his sobriety after his stint in rehab for prescription painkiller use and it is very, very common for a patient in recovery to relapse after a trauma like the one suffered by Tiger and exposure to painkillers administered directly or prescribed after a physical trauma is highly likely to trigger a relapse -- Tiger will probably need painkillers to get through this, but he'll also need to be connected with like-minded people to keep him away from his old thinking that pills are the solution to his problems

Page 22: Desperate Ghislaine Maxwell has offered to renounce her British and French citizenships in a new bid to get out of jail -- the disgraced socialite's last two stabs at freedom including one package offering $22.5 million as bond money were rejected by a judge who deemed her a flight risk -- now according to her lawyers, Ghislaine will formally commence the procedure to renounce her foreign citizenship to satisfy any concerns the court may have that she may try to seek a safe haven in France or the U.K. -- Justice Department officials were concerned Ghislaine would flee to France, where she was born, since the country has no extradition treaty with the U.S.

* Woody Allen claimed his own words are being used to attack him in the bombshell Allen v. Farrow documentary -- Woody has repeatedly denied adopted daughter Dylan Farrow's claims he sexually abused her when she was seven at her mom Mia Farrow's home -- Woody blasted the documentary which rehashes the claims as a shoddy hit piece and a hatched job riddled with falsehoods adding the filmmakers stole from his autobiography

Page 26: Twice-divorced Ricki Lake's engagement to California attorney Ross Burningham has insiders fearing she may suffer yet another heartbreak -- she announced her happy news on Instagram but Ricki has seen far more than her share of bad luck in the romance department and everyone is praying this final shot at love doesn't end in despair and it's never Ricki's fault, but she's never found a man who could keep her happy

Page 28: A lurid landscape of drug-fueled orgies, suicidal thoughts and fake sexual enthusiasm will play out in a new television series based on model and reality star Holly Madison's X-rated confessions from her shocking 2015 biography Down the Bunny Hole -- Madison first exposed the sleazy details of how she and other young women were plied with drugs and coerced to participate in sex parties with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in exchange for acting as his girlfriends and getting to live inside the iconic L.A. mansion along with a weekly $1000 stipend -- the limited series will star actress Samara Weaving as Holly, who was a member of Hef's harem between 2001 and 2008 -- Holly, Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt became the notorious stars of the reality show The Girls Next Door which debuted in 2005 and focused on their seemingly glamorous life with Hef but glossed over the dark secrets behind the scenes -- in her bombshell confessions, Holly revealed the 22-bedroom manor was actually a foul pigsty filled with stained mattresses where Hef's live-in ladies were forced to perform weird bedroom rituals and look excited by it

Page 29: Jack Osbourne has listed his sprawling California home for rent at $16,500 a month -- the 35-year-old son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne is offering the five-bedroom, 5600-square-foot home in Studio City unfurnished -- Sharon was recently seen outside the home with moving vans helping Jack prep the property -- Jack, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, bought the home in 2014 when he was married to Lisa Stelly; the couple divorced in 2018 and share three children: Andy, Pearl and Minnie

* Heidi Klum has snipped all threads tying her to dad Gunther Klum after the cosmetics and modeling honcho skipped her wedding -- Heidi dumped her manager dad after he snubbed her August 2019 ceremony in Capri with guitarist Tom Kaulitz of the band Tokio Hotel and she has also ended her German enterprise Heidi Klum GmbH, originally overseen by Gunther -- Heidi and her dad had a falling out over Tom and Gunther never really approved of him and was dead set against the marriage and it drove a wedge in their relationship

Page 32: Health Watch

* Ask the Vet -- an African Gray Parrot with a feather-picking problem

Page 34: Barack Obama broke a buddy's nose over a racist remark -- he revealed the two classmates were playing basketball when his friend hurled a racial slur and he popped him in the face and broke his nose, Obama told Bruce Springsteen on their podcast Renegades: Born in the USA -- Obama said he doesn't think his pal even knew what the word meant, just that it was meant to be hurtful

* Country singer Keith Urban has shrunk to 140 pounds as the former addict is hooked on a bizarre diet of nuts and berries and even worse, the five-foot-ten crooner appears to be growing thinner and friends are worried the stress of his demanding career and his desperate desire to be a good husband to Nicole Kidman may push him over the edge -- no one sees him eating much more than handfuls of raw almonds or sunflower seeds and berries washed down with gallons of water -- though he's been sober since 2006, pals fear the struggle to avoid giving in to temptation as well as hearing Nicole purportedly mended fences with ex-hubby Tom Cruise may be weighing on the star -- despite his bony appearance, Keith thinks he looks great

Page 40: Evil ISIS terrorists are using the COVID-19 pandemic as cover while they rebuild their network and mastermind new attacks and both Iraq and the U.S. are in their crosshairs -- because the West has been focused on dealing with the pandemic, ISIS and new groups sprung from their shattered forces have been reloading and plotting revenge, according to Ryan Mauro of the terrorist-monitoring Clarion Intelligence Network -- the pandemic has brought decreased confidence in Western governments, which has emboldened the terrorists to launch sleeper cell attacks on foreign soil

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Anya Taylor-Joy

15 notes · View notes

ficswithluv · 4 years

Text

Tatsu’s Choices: 2019 Awards

Ficswithluv launched in September of 2019, and we could not have possibly imagined that we would grow as quickly and wonderfully as we have!! You all send us such phenomenal recs every week, you've helped to spread love, positivity, and feedback to so many authors on this site, and we cannot wait to see how that continues in 2020!!!

Because you've all been so absolutely wonderful about sending in your favourite fics and telling us a bit about why you liked them, we thought we would continue the trend! Additionally, in order to celebrate our lovely affiliated authors, we’ve also decided to pick one fic from each of them to showcase their talents too!

And so we present ‘The Best of FWL’, where Tatsumaki* selects a handful of fics from each masterlist we've had so far, as well as from masterlists from every author associated with ficswithluv, and we highlight them in one large masterpost!

*Tatsumaki is the Discord Bot that the Admins use to choose bookclub fics. She randomly generates the fics using numbers. Hence: Tatsu’s Choices!

💌 ⇥ Affiliated Author

Best Seokjin Fics

⟶ all i want for christmas ➵ @sunkoos 💌

↳ Slice of Life AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Seokjin, your ever eccentric love of your life, proposes an unconventional idea you cannot deny taking him up on. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ blood and mercy ➵ @sugasgrowl

↳ Mafia AU ღ sfw series

« There is a rat in Bangtan, but you’re going to fight for mercy. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ bobsy die ➵ @jincherie

↳ Werewolf AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Fed up after a week of being ignored by your friend and crush, you march on over there to rip him a new one with hell on your heels and find yourself in a situation with more than you bargained for. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ date night ➵ @bang-tan-fan 💌

↳ Idol AU ღ sfw oneshot

« you and your husband relax with a date night. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ erasers ➵ @bloodpotato 💌

↳ Soulmate AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You never thought to contact your soulmate through the erasers you always lose until you lose something extremely important and irreplaceable. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ ghost night out ➵ @spookitokki 💌

↳ Supernatural AU ღ sfw oneshot

« After bearing the sting of a rough rejection, you call Jin to come to the usual hangout in the middle of the night in hopes that he can cheer you up. It seems to work until you both are met with a dark presence and an unusual chill. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ i thought i was alone ➵ @aroseforyoongi

↳ Roommate AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« On the day your boyfriend cheats on you, Seokjin is there to provide comfort and some greatly needed affection. He is the perfect roommate and friend. Always patient and willing to lend an ear. It is then, when you’re with him, that you realize that maybe you want more. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ just say goodnight and go ➵ @vanaera

↳ Roommate AU ღ sfw oneshot

« The spirit of Christmas is yet to be felt as a blackout on a chilly December night becomes the icing on the cake of your horribly shitty day. You just really want to sleep tonight but your neighbor seems to have lost his mind again when he comes knocking on your door to demand for an uncalled sleepover. Said neighbor is Kim Seokjin, the famed crush of the university, and no, he’s not your friend. He’s most definitely not your crush and he’s absolutely not the reason why warmth fills your entire being when it’s not even summer. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ not enough ➵ @jingabitch 💌

↳ Idol AU ღ nsfw series

« When Jin cheats on his girlfriend while on tour, it’s the last straw for their already strained relationship. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ off script ➵ @baojinnie

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You’re my best friend, please don’t forget about me.The script says, you hug him, and promise him never, and assure him that he will always be part of your life, will he be a groomsman, or something?But then before you can do that, he stops laughing. He looks you in the eyes, closes the distance between you, and you have never seen him look so serious. Warms arms tighten around your waist and his lips brush the tears off your face before you realize they ever even fell. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ olive me (loves olive you) ➵ @joopiterjoon 💌

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw series

« A series of drabbles about you and your boyfriend, Kim Seokjin »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ peach parfait ➵ @jamaisjoons

↳ Enemies to Lovers AU ღ nsfw twoshot

« you and seokjin have always been at odds as the top two chefs at big hit academy of culinary arts. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ pink panther ➵ @gimmesumsuga

↳ Hybrid AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« The one where your boss, Kim Seokjin, tries to show you how beautiful you are. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ sempiternal ➵ @softlyjiminie 💌

↳ Hogwarts AU ღ sfw oneshot

« seokjin helps you get over your ex.»

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ strawberry roses ➵ @peekaboongi 💌

↳ Cupid AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« When a chaotic man who claims to be a Cupid appears, your dull life is suddenly filled with laughter and strawberry roses. You’re just forgetting one important thing—magic never lasts past midnight. ; or, chaotic but domestic Jin trying to teach you how to make strawberries resemble roses »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ strings ➵ @holyfluffly 💌

↳ Idol AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You audition to be a BigHit backup dancer. .»

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the bough that broke ➵ @readbeneaththelines 💌

↳ Idol AU ღ nsfw series

« Jin is injured from an avoidable accident, leaving him partially paralyzed from the waist down. Reader is the nurse that is hired to take care of him once he gets back to the dorms and begins the physically and emotionally painful road to recovery. Will she have what it takes to spark determination in him to get back on the stage? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ waterboy ➵ @dimpled-gukkie 💌

↳ Roommates AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Craigslist is very hit or miss for you, so maybe you shouldn’t have chosen to find a roommate that way. At least he’s cute though. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Yoongi Fics

⟶ all the room in the world ➵ @inkofyoongi 💌

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ sfw twoshot

« After four years, you go back to Daegu for Taehyung’s wedding. However, things aren’t as you left them… and Min Yoongi either. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ baby’s first christmas ➵ @hobisgorgeousass 💌

↳ Parents AU ღ sfw oneshot

« 3 months after you give birth to your first child, you and your husband start putting together the perfect first Christmas for your new family of three. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ black magic ➵ @preternatural-fools

↳ Witch AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Yoongi is a witch who always has the sniffles because he’s allergic to the herbs/plants he’s surrounded by. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ boseong breakfast ➵ @honeymoonjin 💌

↳ Strangers to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« it may be misfortune that brings you to min yoongi’s door looking for a place to stay, but luckily holly lodge has a vacancy. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ catharsis ➵ @dovechim

↳ Roommate AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Where do you draw the line between fantasy and reality? Yoongi knows he has a kink that isn’t socially acceptable as kinks go. He’s already had several failed relationships in the past tucked under his belt as a result, so when you offer him a chance to live out his fantasy in a guiltless, no strings attached kinda way, what could go wrong? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ fear and dumplings ➵ @softyoongiionly 💌

↳ College AU ღ nsfw series

« You’re in your final semester at University when your Abnormal Psychology professor assigns you a partnered project surrounding your greatest fears.Lucky for you, your partner just so happens to be a cute boy named Min Yoongi. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ friend request ➵ @spoopysoph 💌

↳ College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You get a friend request from someone you don’t know. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ iron world ➵ @gimmeyoon 💌

↳ Cyberpunk AU ღ nsfw series

« Welcome to Iron World, the latest virtual reality online game. Choose your class, join a guild, and explore the depths of this planet. As one of the first 20,000 people to explore this brave frontier, how you enjoy this immersive experience is up to you. There is so much to do and see, you’ll never want to leave. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ maybe i’m a little dangerous ➵ @hollyhomburg

↳ Mafia/Soulmate AU ღ sfw series

« Rare soulmate marks don’t guarantee that you find your soulmate easily, and when your soulmate is the head of a mafia, being together will never be easy either… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ pure instinct ➵ @maptoyoongi 💌

↳ Hybrid AU ღ sfw series

« The instinct to protect someone we love is a powerful force. When Yoongi is given the chance to protect you, how far will he go? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ silly kitty ➵ @badbhye 💌

↳ Hybrid AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You and Yoongi visit your grandmother, and you have a realization. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ sugar, yes please ➵ @btsfiles

↳ Sugar Daddy AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You’re a college student with an aspiration for journalism, but the traumatic experience of being broke and lonely gives you an opportunity to try out something new: become a Sugar Baby. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ support ➵ @saikokirakira

↳ Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the touch of silk ➵ @floralseokjin

↳ Supernatural AU ღ nsfw series

« In a world where vampires coexist with the living, there are many humans looking for a cheap thrill…you’re ashamed to admit you’re curious too, putting to good use a dating app you find…but Min Yoongi is nothing like you imagined a vampire to be… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the way to your heart ➵ @joonary 💌

↳ Office AU ღ sfw oneshot

« when your office christmas party’s secret santa gives you absolutely no context on what kind of gift he wants, you have no choice but to get to know him better. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ true disaster ➵ @rmddaeng 💌

↳ Supernatural AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You’re a simple angel, the lowest of the Three Seraphic Spheres. On a hot, muggy day when you’ve nothing to do, a demon stumbles upon you. But who is he? And perhaps more importantly, what does he want? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ wrapped ➵ @btsunniemoonie 💌

↳ Boyfriend AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« In which your world crushes because you didn’t pay too much attention in biology class »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Yoonji

⟶ calming seas ➵ @barbyisafangirl 💌

↳ Pirate AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« the sea is rough and wild most of the time but eventually, it has to calm down. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Hoseok Fics

⟶ babysitters ➵ @httphopewrld 💌

↳ Boyfriend AU ღ sfw oneshot

« It’s your first time babysitting your sister’s son, Ryan. Not only are you nervous because you’ve never done it before, but because of your boyfriend decides to tag along. Surprisingly, your nephew and boyfriend get along well. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ bloom ➵ @guksheart 💌

↳ Soulmate AU ღ sfw oneshot

« your soulmate’s first words to you will be burned into the skin of your wrist upon first meeting them. no one anticipated that yours would turn out to be a world famous rapper by the name of jung hoseok. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ blue ➵ @littlemeowmeowschimmy 💌

↳ Husband AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You're pregnant…and the only thing that your boyfriend cares about is his job. His job…it frightens you everyday. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ by its cover ➵ @crystaljins

↳ E2L/Supernatural AU ღ sfw series

« Your annoying little brother Jimin accepts a dare and summons a demon into your living room. There are multiple problems with this. 1) Demons are the most hated species on earth.2) That demon happens to be Jung Hoseok, the most popular guy on campus 3) The fact that Jung Hoseok is a demon is his biggest secret and 4) Jung Hoseok hates your guts. You’re in for a wild ride. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ get wet ➵ @prolixitae 💌

↳ Dancer AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« sitting in on your boyfriend’s dance practice is probably your biggest kink. it’s also the reason you asked to be so shamelessly fucked in the locker rooms of his dance studio, in spite of the pending consequences. note: this is not an idol-verse fic »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ letters to you ➵ @jiminsmagicshop 💌

↳ Soulmate AU ღ sfw series

« When you read the first Email you felt intrigued and without any hesitation you send one back, not knowing that those emails would lead you to a new life or a soulmate. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ of hentai and gay panic ➵ @enchantedyoon

↳ College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« The story of how Namjoon and Hoseok meet and fall in love over hentai. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ peppermint ➵ @readyplayerhobi

↳ Office AU ღ sfw series

« Achieving your dream job is something that very people manage to do, which is why you’re all the more happier when you land a job on the film team at Poppin’ Culture; the biggest pop culture website, blog and YouTube channel around. What you don’t expect however, is to fall for the exceptionally shy and awkward colleague who is not even remotely your type. Or is he? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ perfidy ➵ @yminie

↳ Halloween AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Why do so many people in scary movies die? They trust the wrong people. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ ramen & company ➵ @sweetheartjeongguk 💌

↳ Ponyo AU ღ sfw oneshot

« in which hoseok has a plan of revenge, but it doesn’t work out in the way he hoped it would. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ say no to this ➵ @hobibliophile

↳ Best Friend AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« It’s been a while since you and Hoseok have spent time with each other, but he hasn’t forgotten how hard it is to say no to you. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ sweetest crush ➵ @minjoonalist 💌

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« What would you do if your friend’s younger sibling suddenly asks you for sex? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ synchronized ➵ @bangtans-salty-sac-snacc 💌

↳ Soulmate AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Everyone is born with a timer on their wrist, counting down to the moment they learn who their soulmate is. Your timer is a few seconds behind Hoseok’s, the love of your life. And it’s those few seconds that keep you from ever being with him. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the keeper of the light and keeper of the night ➵ @spicykoreantatertots 💌

↳ Fantasy AU ღ sfw drabble

« yoongi is the keeper of the night. hoseok is the keeper of the light. sometimes they meet. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the most wonderful time of the year ➵ @lamourche

↳ E2L/Office AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ you’re my light ➵ @bts-poetry 💌

↳ Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« A call from your best friend inviting you to the yearly Diwali celebration has you and your boyfriend really excited but what would happen when you stumble across your troublesome ex on such a good day? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Namjoon Fics

⟶ baby, please! ➵ @jungkook-me-down 💌

↳ Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You can’t seem to help yourself these days. Lately you’ve been getting more and more into children. When your cousin asks you to babysit her daughter Hae, you never imagined the situation you’d be thrown into and the outcome of her visit. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ be my palentine ➵ @bangtanstanst 💌

↳ College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Being single on Valentine’s Day isn’t so bad, as long as you have an equally single friend to spend your night with. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ details in the fabric ➵ @jinitude 💌

↳ Widow AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Missing someone means noticing the little things, and those little things tend to hurt the worst »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ foreign heart ➵ @dejun-ge

↳ Idol AU ღ sfw series

« Namjoon was an ordinary person - as ordinary as you could get for an idol. But there was silly foreign girl who made him feel normal, like he wasn’t stuck behind a wall. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ home ➵ @hobidreams 💌

↳ Married AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Turns out, Namjoon can’t keep his hands off his wife after all. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ late nights ➵ @taeintedlove 💌

↳ Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ love bytes ➵ @stutterfly 💌

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw series

« It’s been a year since you first met Kim Namjoon, the passionate, talented English professor at the local campus. He’s always been clumsy and aloof, but he’s on a whole new level in terms of “technologically incapable.” One call to IT was all it took to pull you into his life, and with it a whole string of friendships full of flirtatious banter and undying support.

Your dating situation has been drier than the Sahara for years now, and you’ve wasted too many lonely nights drinking alone, so you try your hand at Tinder. But you’re not getting any bites. When the group finds out, they are more than willing to help–even Namjoon, though he finds it increasingly difficult to deny that he’s hopelessly smitten. You consider their opinions on potential Tinder dates while fighting off feelings you never knew were brewing for the caring soul who becomes the home you never had. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ more than words ➵ @ironicarmy 💌

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You and Namjoon have been painfully -and blindingly- pining for each other since your teenage years, much to your friends’ chagrin. So, unbeknownst to both of you, Seokjin and the rest plan to finally make you confess during a ski trip. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ obligated ➵ @underthejoon

↳ Arranged Marriage AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Married by obligation, weighed down by circumstance. Except for those nights when you’re both drunk, falling into bed with one another and realizing you’re human. Occasionally this happens, occasionally you fuck. Until your life changes and you realize Namjoon, the very man you’re obligated to, might just be the very man that you crave. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ oh, death ➵ @loveejoon 💌

↳ Death AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« There’s no leniency with Death. you die when your time comes, without remorse. But why does Death look at you, and suddenly things change? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the rich man’s crochet club ➵ @kpopfanfictrash

↳ College AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« When they were freshmen in college, Namjoon began a club with his six closest friends. The one thing they all had in common? V i r g i n s as fuck. Obviously, they couldn’t call the club the Virgins Club though and so, the Rich Man’s Crochet Club was born. Until time passes and Namjoon is the only one left. Now, the Club has one, final mission: to get Namjoon laid. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the transfiguration tutor ➵ @purpletigertaetae 💌

↳ Hogwarts AU ღ sfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ time management ➵ @feralbangtan 💌

↳ Married AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« “No, no, no. I know where this is gonna lead. We do not have the time for sex. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ try me ➵ @jjkfire

↳ College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You wanted nothing more than to leave behind your old self when you graduated from high school and moved on to college to play rugby but when you see your high school classmate, resident fuckboy and captain, Kim Namjoon, at the rugby department orientation, you feel like everything might fall apart. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Jimin Fics

⟶ busan mental asylum ➵ @lovehrs 💌

↳ Doctor AU ღ sfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ but this isn’t love ➵ @daze-six 💌

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ sfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ don’t move ➵ @jeonsweetpea 💌

↳ Idol/Stylist AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« You had a solo debut coming up and it was nerve wracking. What’s even worse is that the stylist in charge of your photoshoot was none other than Park Jimin. What’s wrong with Jimin? Oh. Nothing. He just hates you. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ fairytail ➵ @gukyi

↳ Fantasy AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You have a particular disdain for the beach. Jimin is here to change that. Oh! And he’s also a merman. So there’s that, too. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ fan-cam ➵ @cottonhxney 💌

↳ Idol AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Y/N watches how Jimin reacts, as recorded by fans, and can’t figure out how to feel about it. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ mon cœur t’appartient ➵ @jiminspjm 💌

↳ Werewolf AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Just let me love, you »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ peaches and piercings ➵ @matchakoo 💌

↳ E2L/College AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jimin, dipped in hair-dye and pierced in so many places that you just couldn’t keep track, doesn’t think you’re his “type”. You call bullshit. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ ring lover ➵ @flowerwrites06 💌

↳ Boxer/Ballerina AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jimin could fight every battle in his life until he started courting a delicate ballerina who can’t stand violence. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ spellbound ➵ @minflix

↳ E2L/Witch AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« The only reason you agreed to do this magical ritual with Park Jimin’s Circle was for the sake of your own Circle - to strengthen your individual magic. Yes, that means you’ll have to fuck him, but no, you weren’t happy about it because you hate Park Jimin. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ syndicate ➵ @jungkookiebus 💌

↳ Mafia AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the other half ➵ @silverlightqueen 💌

↳ Badboy AU ღ nsfw series

« In Winchester, y/n has it all. Gorgeous and glamorous. A friendship group just as gorgeous and glamorous. Fantastic grades. A handsome boyfriend with a family just as successful as hers. A doting dad and a brother just as beautiful as she is. An amazing school, and an even more amazing house. As many cars and clothes and bags and shoes, and as much makeup and money she could ever ask for. But when Winchester Academy puts on an exchange programme with Burnley Tech School, a high school in an underprivileged area, two completely different worlds collide, and y/n has her hands full, practically overflowing, dealing with her exchange partner, bad boy Jimin with a whole lot of baggage… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ the rules of heaven ➵ @seokoloqy 💌

↳ Angel AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Jimin is in love and Heaven doesn’t allow for it. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ what do you desire? ➵ @prisczero 💌

↳ Devil/CEO AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ what you deserve ➵ @jiminniethemarshmallow

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Taehyung Fics

⟶ across cyber space ➵ @goldenjulychild 💌

↳ Camgirl AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« It’s normal to have lots of admirers in your line of work, but the user strawberrylover312 is not simply one of them. As your relationship builds so does your doubt about him being too perfect to be true. After all, it’s impossible to find true love across cyber space, right? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ black irises in the sunshine ➵ @ddaenggtan 💌

↳ Greek God AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« anger is everything. other gods tease you for the short fuse, but it comes with the territory. people have called you stupid, have called you dumb, oafish, useless, incompetent, insolent, rude, arrogant. all of it. insults and mockery flung at you, but even your skin isn’t thick enough to deal with constant abuse. it’s the exact reason you keep going to the underground, knuckles bloody and bruised, fighting anyone that dared enter the cage. it’s the reason you go to the clubs, surround yourself with mortals and their writhing bodies. it’s there that you see him the first time, voice husky as it rolls through the room. it’s there you find someone who treats you differently than the rest. you just never expected him to be one of the muses. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ carnal cupidity ➵ @kittae

↳ Werewolf AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Things are a little tense in your relationship with your boyfriend, an alpha wolf and leader of his own pack. After another fight, you’ve had just about enough and decide to take matters into your own hands when his heat approaches. Your methods, however, prove to be more effective than intended… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ catching a case of the doctor blues ➵ @justimajin

↳ Enemies to Lovers AU ღ sfw series

« When asked about Dr. Kim, a string of beautifully aligned words are ready spew from your lips. You could possibly go on and on about how his wonderful stubbornness wasn’t similar to talking to a brick wall, or how his observation skills were especially great in preparing your blood vessels for a drastic rupture or even how one gracious stare of his nearly had you on the verge of ripping your essential documents in half. But it seems that, perhaps, there was a lot more to Dr. Kim then what meets the eye… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ cheap skate ➵ @taehyungforreal 💌

↳ Domestic AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Granny Park’s Gossip: Who doesn’t know Taehyung and his lady? Cutest couple in town, I’d say, and have been since they started dating in their college days. Oh, that was a while ago, though. And still, they’re happy as can be in that place they have together. Almost hate seeing one without the other, y’know, it’s like seeing just one testi- oh, right, I’m not supposed to talk like that. Anyhoo, I only say that because I saw Taehyung at a jewelry store the other day while I was buying my sweet Jiminie his presents. Maybe that boy’s finally gonna pop the question, but I do hope he’s got a good plan for it. Something sweet and romantic. Maybe I’ll find out after Jiminie gets back from that cabin he’s visiting. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ christmas cookies ➵ @mistysuga 💌

↳ Established Relationship AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You are in charge of making the cookies for your family’s Christmas party, so you and Taehyung have a blast while doing so. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ don’t blame me ➵ @diortae 💌

↳ Cheating AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Kim Taehyung has always been there to soothe the sting of your failing relationship. But matters of the heart are never that simple. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ every word ➵ @jessikahathaway 💌

↳ Friends to Lovers AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ fever ➵ @yoonia

↳ Werewolf AU ღ nsfw series

« I wish I could hate you. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ frisky ➵ @uwugalore 💌

↳ Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Sometimes, your fiancé was just… frisky. And boy did you enjoy it to the fullest. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ get you the moon ➵ @bymoonchild 💌

↳ E2L/College AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Life has its ways of fucking with you, but you know you’ve hit 50 feet below rock bottom after being tasked to do a profile feature on Kim Taehyung, the varsity football captain, for your school newspaper. Pure torment awaits you, but this is alongside glassy eyes, pink cheeks and conflicted feelings that you’ve never dared to imagine with the likes of the devil incarnate. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ glacier’s view ➵ @rosaetae 💌

↳ E2L/Dystopia AU ღ sfw oneshot

« Everyone knows when they were born— the date of when they enter the world. Everyone in this world not only knows their birth date, but also when they die, when they kick the bucket— the date of when they leave the world. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ not your typical flower shop story ➵ @jungtaeyoongles 💌

↳ Flower Shop/College AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You always goes to the cute boy next door’s flower shop across the street because hi yes he’s the cutest damn person you’ve ever seen, until one day a guy with tattoos and a severe obsession with the color black shows up in the shop asking for the ‘usual’ and you find out that your cute innocent little flower boy has a dirty little secret. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ sorrow ➵ @jiminsfault 💌

↳ Pianist AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« The man had you tight in his grip without knowing it, knowing you. For him, you were just a mere pair of eyes watching him, paying to listen to his work. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ suite 114 ➵ @haylokitteh 💌

↳ Idol AU ღ nsfw series

« An innocent staring contest leads to a not so innocent relationship. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Jungkook Fics

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ blue raspberry ➵ @strawbxxymilk 💌

↳ College AU ღ sfw drabble

« Jungkook asks you to live life on the wild side »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ date in a box ➵ @jimlingss

↳ Dating Service AU ღ sfw oneshot

« If you’re in a hurry then we’re here to help you! Everything you need in a box. Delivery less than five minutes. Upgrade and we can personalize your date even more! Guaranteed 100%! Don’t fret, we’re here. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ dive ➵ @guktwt 💌

↳ Swimmer/Photographer AU ღ nsfw series

« This is a bad idea, you think, but there’s something so satisfying about seeing Jungkook so pliant and desperate under your touch. You’ve seen him in all his glory, a boy who’s made for the water and loved by all, but you think he looks prettiest like this; up close, pressed against your body, and under the warm summer light. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ drug wars ➵ @plumblackjeon

↳ Mafia AU ღ nsfw series

« She’s a babygirl Yoongi, and I think I’m in love with her. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ duvet days and vanilla ice cream ➵ @jhspetitegf 💌

↳ Sperm Donor AU ღ nsfw series

« Sick of waiting to fulfill your dream of becoming a mother, you stumble across an interesting site called bundlesofjoy. Here, you find not only the key to your future happiness, but further down the line, it turns out that site could have brought you more than you’d bargained for. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ enraptured and enthralled ➵ @smartkookiee 💌

↳ College AU ღ nsfw smau

« It’s your third year of college and you are finally into the spring and summer trimester. You never imagined you would be where you are now. Living the dream as a poor theater student. You get to be the big roles on stage and have hundreds maybe even thousands cheering for you. Finally being the one people looked up to in awe and want to see more of, to see succeed. It’s the dream… isn’t it? Though you adored it… something was missing from it… of course you weren’t going to quit but your passion and drive seemed to be fading. Do you really want to be an actor? Would you let your best friends down? Do you leave? These question swirled as you began to wonder if this is the right path anymore. Fortunately, who would have thought that a night of cabaret and the biggest competition of your life could change all of that? Or could… someone? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ heavy machinery ➵ @solarjeon 💌

↳ Construction Worker AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jungkook works across the street, doing construction on a new apartment complex being put in your area. You’d rather not wake up to the beeping of heavy machinery every morning, so you decide to go over and give that brawny construction worker a piece of your mind. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ love letters ➵ @jjkwithluv 💌

↳ Poet AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You get a crush on a certain poet named Jungkook, while secret messages start appearing in your locker… you’d think that poetry and romance and mystery would go well together, think again… »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ mutual ➵ @seokjxnnie 💌

↳ Office AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Your boss was always talking about how her son would be perfect for you, promising that he was going to the staff holiday party. He turned out to be the hook up that happened a couple months ago, who you kept around for some good dick. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ picture perfect ➵ @moononthejoon 💌

↳ Historical AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« The king is dead. New portraits need to be done. But what happens when the painter is not who you expected? »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ pretty birthday boy ➵ @yoonminos 💌

↳ Established Relationship AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« It’s Jungkook’s birthday and you throw him a surprise party with the help of your friends. The thing that surprised you, though, was Jungkook buying himself a gift and asking you to use it on him. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ rebound ➵ @ropeseok

↳ Enemies to Lovers ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jungkook relieves you from an awkward time at a party - in more ways than one. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ waves of fate ➵ @ttaekimm

↳ Mamma Mia AU ღ nsfw oneshot

« Jungkook is a lifeguard who unfortunately loses his memory and got drifted by the sea ,but the waves brought him to the door of an exquisite hotel where he stays there and work with the manager until his memory come back. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ what are friends for? ➵ @dusktilldawnstuff 💌

↳ Friends AU ღ sfw oneshot

« You (kinda) explore an abandoned building with you best friend Jungkook. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

Best Poly & MxM Fics

⟶ breathless ➵ @personawife 💌

↳ Hanahaki AU ღ sfw oneshot • namkook • mxm

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ bts and their creampie kinks ➵ @jiminsoxyjeon 💌

↳ PWP ღ nsfw headcanons

« n/a. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ euphoria ➵ @kimlinebiased 💌

↳ First Time AU ღ nsfw oneshot • namkook • mxm

« Jungkook has had a crush on the leader of BTS since forever. Now that Namjoon is helping write his solo for the upcoming album, this could be his perfect chance. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ from summer to winter i’ll be yours ➵ @hungline

↳ Supernatural AU ღ sfw oneshot • jinkook • mxm

« Seokjin had learned long ago that he and Jeongguk could never really be together, but his time as summer is almost over and he’ll wait as long as he has to before winter comes to pass. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ hypnagogia ➵ @joonsrack 💌

↳ College AU ღ sfw oneshot • taekook • mxm

« ‘‘So you’re telling me a creep has been following you around the University, waiting until you fall asleep and then jumping on you to kiss you in your sleep?’’

“Well, if you put it that way…’’

‘‘Are you joking right now? Is this a joke? Why aren’t you telling this to the goddam campus security? Better yet, does Kookie know? I bet with those muscles he works so hard for he could reduce whoever it is to pulps.’’ »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ in the dark ➵ @matchakoo

↳ Halloween AU ღ nsfw oneshot • jikook • poly

« Jungkook and Jimin have a very short attention span, and when you three are lost in the middle of nowhere with a truck that won’t drive, they busy themselves with you. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ miss managed ➵ @misscheesecakeee 💌

↳ Idol AU ღ sfw series • namgi/ot7 • poly

« In a desperate attempt to debut BTS on time, BigHit hires you as their manager. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ samhain’s blessing ➵ @softjeon 💌

↳ Vampire/Witch AU ღ nsfw oneshot • taegi • mxm

« How little vampire Tae found his way to Yoongi. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

⟶ what i never knew i always wanted ➵ @rms-tulip 💌

↳ Hybrid AU ღ nsfw series • namseok • poly

« Who knew that one of the most magical yet devastating nights of your life brought someone into your life that just ended up completing the missing puzzle piece in your heart you hadn’t thought was missing until he showed you that it was. »

• ────── ღ ────── •

687 notes · View notes

ahrorha · 3 years

Text

Flame of Winter

This is the final chapter, and it feels unreal to have come so far. The story is far longer than I ever could imagine. And I want to thank everyone who joined me on this journey.

Your kind words were a joy to have received. Thank you so much for everything.

I love you guys <3

Chapter 35

Upstairs in the Hanged Man in Kirkwall, Varric sat in his armchair. His room in the most famous tavern of Kirkwall had become his second office since he became the Viscount. Here he could hide for a while from the complaining nobles and stuffy politicians he was surrounded by in Hightown. He could clear his head here and listen to the common people living in Kirkwall, who faced, in his opinion, the real problems in life. Not that he could escape his 'assistant' (pain in the but) Senechal Bran here. Bran had just delivered another stack of letters that required his 'immediate' attention. Varric sighed. He would become bald, grey and worn out like the previous Viscount if he wasn't careful.

“I see you are still insisting on staying in this lovely part of town.”

Startled, Varric looked up and saw Dorian walking into his room, looking critical at his choice of furniture.

“Sparkler! You've already arrived. Take a seat.”

“Yes. My voyage was very boring and uneventful. No burly Qunari pirates visited to make it less tedious.”

Varric stood up to send for refreshments, and soon afterwards, he took a deep drink from a mug of ale while

Dorian was sniffing his wine before taking a careful sip. He raised his eyebrows in surprise at the excellent taste.

Varric laughed. “I got you something good. My knowledge of wine has improved after spending time with you and Broody.”

They both were silent for a while.

Swirling his mug of ale, Varric asked. “Have you gotten one too?”

“Yes. Though mine was a little different.” Dorian answered.

“How so? Didn't you get a letter? Mine just showed on my nightstand when I woke up.”

Dorian gave him a surprised look. “A little unnerving. Do you know who brought it?”

Varric shook his head. “No, and to be honest. After Hawke, the Inquisition and my trip through eluvian capital, there is little that still can surprise me.”

“Well, this might just do. I have talked to our little Snowflake.”

“What?!”

“I didn't get a letter. I got a sending crystal.”

“What is that?”

“A small magical marvel. It is a magical gemstone that can be used for communication. They come in pairs, and you can talk with the person that has the other one. With the crystal came a small note with a date and time.”

“She has the other one?”

“Yes, though she hasn't answered any of my calls to this date, but I talked to her just before I left Minrathous. She is doing well, though she feels guilty about how she left. We talked a long time about me and how I was after Iron Bull's betrayal. I have to confess I wasn't entirely sober after that.”

“So, it is true she is back with Chuckles?”

“Yes, they are back together, and she seems happy.”

Varric sighed. “Well, at least one good thing has come out of this mess.”

“She also told me that things are far more complicated than she ever thought, and she was unsure what the future would bring.”

“You don't say. I know a lot of people don't believe what Chuckles is claiming and are more worried about the Qunari. But after what I saw in the Crossroads and seeing so many elves disappear, I know something is going to happen.”

“True, though our dear Inquisitor hasn't told everything that happened.”

Varric looked curiously at him.

Dorian chuckled. “Do you know what the first thing she did was, when she saw Solas?”

“No.”

“She slapped him with all her might.”

Varric sputtered. “She did what?”

“I think it may be not as bad with her at his side.”

“Maybe? I got an extra note with my letter, from the Dread Wolf himself.”

“Really?”

“Yep. He confessed that he had spent the last two years looking over his shoulder, fearing for a shot from my Bianca. He also thanked me for looking out for her.”

They both huffed a laugh and nursed their drinks again.

“Do you blame her?” Varric asked.

“After everything that happened to her and with the Circle looming over her head? No. Though I fear what the future is going to bring.

“If I have learned one thing over the years is that nothing is simple.” Varric lifted his mug. “Let's drink. And I think we will come face to face with her or Solas sooner than we might expect.”

Skyhold was once again surrounded by a thick layer of snow. Cullen shivered as the cold wind tugged at his cloak. Winter had the Frostback Mountains full in its grasp. He looked up at the sky where slowly clouds were gathering. There would fall even more snow today. It would delay his departure even further back.

Feeling a little melancholy, he gazed over the walls. It had been almost eight months since the events at the Exalted Council, and soon he and the remaining troops would leave Skyhold for good. The fortress would become a mere outpost now the Inquisition had transferred into the personal honour guard of Divine Victoria.

Currently, the main body and command centre of the Inquisition was stationed in Val Royeaux. Most of the Inquisition's operations had already been transferred; what remained at Skyhold was the clean-up crew.

Cullen looked at how little was left of the once vast field of tents and huts in the valley. So much had already been deconstructed. A caravan of wagons was being loaded to bring the last of the supplies down the mountain. It was strange, they had arrived here with so little, and now they needed weeks to clear out the fortress.

It wasn't really necessary for him to be here, but it felt right to accompany the last of his men personally when they would leave. A final goodbye to another place he had called home.

Three years they had stayed at Skyhold, and somehow it felt like he hadn't achieved anything. True, many things happened here; they had defeated Corypheus and saved Thedas, but if what Ryan had told them about Solas was correct, then Corypheus had only been the beginning. He had a hard time grasping what Solas claimed to be. To

Cullen Fen'Harel was a character from elven folklore. In the past, he had never paid much attention to the Dalish tales about their gods. As an Andrastian, he had always believed that their talks about elven gods were no more than silly fairytales. Even now that he had spent time studying those stories, he wasn't any wiser as to how to prepare for an opponent that claims to have made the very Veil itself. But one thing was for sure, Solas had outsmarted them all, even Leliana.

It had been very sobering to see how many elves had disappeared after Ryan's confrontation with Solas. Over a period of weeks, servants, craftsmen, cooks and cleaners had left. They all disappeared overnight, not leaving any trace behind. And it wasn't only the Inquisition or Orlais that reported the disappearance of elves; it was the same in Fereldan, Nevarra and the Free Marches. Tevinter was keeping quiet, but they gathered enough information to know that they also struggled with people becoming missing. Whole families had left, leaving some alienages almost empty and the servant quarters abandoned. There were even reports of entire Dalish clans that hadn't been seen on their migration paths. It showed just how vastly Solas' network was and how his people had access to every organisation in Thedas.

Maybe the most dangerous thing was that no one could estimate how big Solas' forces really were. It showed just how no one took the elves seriously and how they could have operated without being noticed. Cullen had a hard time convincing others of the dangers those elves could represent. To most, the disappearance was a mere nuisance; they complained because their servants they relied on had left. And for once, they had a hard time finding a replacement.

What they didn't see was the threat those elves could represent. Cullen knew from his own experience how dangerous things could become once Solas would train these elves. The Inquisition itself had started this way; the first soldiers under his command were recruits from Haven, men and women who barely knew how to hold a sword. The same recruits turned out to be brave soldiers that won many battles and helped to defeat Corypheus.

Solas had achieved what hadn't happened in seven hundred years; he was uniting the elves of Thedas. Though Cullen couldn't guess what Solas' plan was. He had said to the Inquisitor that he would destroy the world, but Cullen doubted that Solas would destroy it in such a way that his allies wouldn't survive. But he wondered what Solas' plans meant for the humans. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be peaceful. With how things were now, no human nation would support any claim of the elves for land or power.

He shook his head. No, whatever was going to happen would end in more bloodshed.

His thoughts went to Eirlana. Was she back beside the man she loved? Or had Solas cast her aside just like after the defeat of Corypheus. He felt a pang in his heart thinking of her. He missed her more than he wanted to admit, and although she had rejected him, he hoped that wherever she was, she was happy.

Cullen entered his quarters, a familiar headache pulsing in his head. Without Eirlana's healing, his headaches had returned, as well as his cravings for lyrium. He sat down at his desk, feeling drained. With a sigh, he rubbed his tired eyes, knowing there wasn't any escape from his withdrawal. But there was no time to rest; even in an almost abandoned fortress, paperwork was waiting for him. Letting out another sigh, he grabbed a report to be read when his sight fell on a small raven scroll lying in front of him. With a frown, he took it, wondering where the scout had gone to who had delivered this. A message from a raven typically meant they needed a reply immediately. With ease, he broke the seal and unrolled it. A small pressed elfroot leaf fell out of it, and Cullen's heart skipped a beat when he recognised the familiar handwriting.

____________________

Cullen

I don't know if you want to hear from me, but I have a request.

Meet me alone at the grove tonight. I will be waiting for you.

Eirlana

____________________

Cullen sat there stunned, re-reading the short message. Why would she contact him? Grabbing a drink from his secret stash, he stared out of the window, not knowing what he should do.

The eluvian sprang to life in the small elven ruin. The eluvian was half-buried in the rubble, and Himel had to bow down to step through it. Immediately he checked the surroundings. Soon he was followed by other elven soldiers that spread out and did the same. The eluvian's surface rippled again a short while later, and Solas and Eirlana stepped through it.

Himel returned to them and kneeled down. “There are no signs of any activity in the vicinity, my Lord.”

Solas fussed at the fur collar of Eirlana's cloak, pulling it tighter around her neck. “Wait here for our return.”

“Yes, my Lord.” answered Himel. “Stay safe.” He then directed his men to their stations and guard this place.

“Are you ready?” Solas asked Eirlana, stroking her cheek with his gloved thumb.

Eirlana nodded. “Just a little nervous.”

“We will be alright.” Solas stepped out of the ruins in the open and transformed himself into a huge black wolf. Crouching down, he waited until Eirlana had climbed on his back. Once she had securely grabbed his fur, he rose and took off. The sun was setting, turning the snowy peaks into orange and pink hues wherever the twilight managed to peak through the heavy snow clouds. When they arrived at the mountain ridge surrounding Skyhold, night had fallen, and Solas slowed down. Casting a spell to hide himself and Eirlana, he carefully made his way over the mountaintop and down the valley. As of yet, he couldn't find anything unusual other than that the walls had far fewer guards and that the fires in the settlement surrounding the lake had dwindled in number. Skyhold was almost abandoned. Confident that there was no trap waiting for them, he fade-stepped the last distance into the grove.

Solas waited again, listening, smelling for any sign of trouble before lowering himself so Eirlana could slip off his back. He transformed back and walked with Eirlana to the oak growing at the far end of the grove. Silently Eirlana lay a couple of white flowers on the grave of their unborn daughter. She shivered when Solas took her in his arms, it still hurt that she had lost her, but the pain didn't sting as much as it used to. She could feel how Solas also mourned the loss. It was strange to be with him here together after the years she had mourned alone. But she was grateful they finally could share their loss without the burden of their secrets between them.

She leant against Solas, and he pressed a kiss on her head. “She will always be a part of us.” he said softly. “And who knows, maybe she has decided to come back.” His hand stroked her tummy tenderly. Under his fingers, he could feel the spark of a new life. “You have given life to something precious again.”

She shivered again under his loving stare, which turned concerned immediately.

“Are you alright? Do you feel cold? Do you need something?”

Grabbing his hand, she smiled. “No, I am fine. We both are. Though it's strange to be suddenly in the snow again.” She squeezed his hand to reassure him. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

Solas' ears twitched as he heard footsteps in the distance.

“Stay back.” he whispered and turned back into a wolf. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the glow of a lamp. Silently he moved forward, curious if Cullen had heeded Eirlana's request.”

Cullen stepped into the grove alone. It had just begun to snow, and he peered through snowflakes, wondering if Eirlana would really be here or if he was about to step into a trap. Maybe Leliana was trying to test his loyalty in a twisted way. She had become highly suspicious and vigilant after what happened at the Exalted Council. Seeing no one, he walked further when suddenly a giant black wolf appeared from the dark. It was double the size of a big war-horse, and its six yellow eyes were glaring at him.

Startled, Cullen dropped the lamp and reached for his sword, cursing he hadn't brought his shield.

“Cullen?” Eirlana's voice called for him.

He hesitated to draw his weapon further when he saw her approaching from behind the wolf.

“I come as your friend. Are you alone?” she asked.

“I am alone.” he answered, not taking his eyes of the wolf. It had to be Solas, he thought. Slowly he sheeted his sword and spread his hands. “I am not here to hurt you.”

Eirlana smiled, seeing Cullen's gesture. “Solas, please.” she turned to Solas.

Solas took another deep sniff before he was satisfied that Cullen was telling the truth; with a whoosh, he turned back. He gave him another silent stare before he spoke. “You have nothing to fear from me, Commander. I am merely here to escort her.” He kissed Eirlana on her forehead before he stepped back and leaned his back against a tree, not letting his guard down.

Cullen felt a chill running through him; Solas wore a full golden and black elven armor under a black-furred coat. He looked nothing like the humble apostate Cullen knew. Though he had the same face, his body language and expression had changed dramatically. It now screamed confidence and self-esteem, and even without having consumed lyrium for years, Cullen knew he had never faced a more powerful mage.

It was a stark contrast with how Eirlana looked as she approached him. Her armor consisted of a silverite breastplate and arm guards, both of elven design and richly engraved. Under them, she wore finely tailored blue robes that were silver embroidered. Her cloak was lined with white furs. She looked radiant, like a noble elf from one of the old elven legends he recently read. Her hair had been intricately braided and decorated with a silver circlet. He also noticed silver jewellery encasing her left ear. It curled along her whole ear and had a couple of silver chains dangling down. Both jewels were adorned with small blue gems that glittered in the light of the lamp.

Cullen was stunned, not knowing if what he saw was real. Before him stood the two most wanted elves in all of Thedas. And they had just shown up, taking the risk of him betraying her request. Although now Eirlana was coming closer, he also could feel her magic radiating from her. It was stronger than ever before.

“Cullen?”

He realised he had been staring at her. “I...”

Not only Solas demeanour had changed, but she had also changed. She seemed stronger and more at ease. There was an air of self-confidence around her she usually only displayed when she worked as a healer. Her eyes had lost the sadness that he had seen in the past two years. She looked more content, happy. It gave Cullen both a feeling of relief and sadness.

“I am sorry about the way we parted ways.” Eirlana smiled at him.

Cullen looked back at Solas for a second. He was still leaning against the tree, he looked relaxed, but Cullen could tell he was listening and watching for any sign of danger.

He focussed back on her; he needed to know. “I understand, but I have to ask. Did you know about Solas?”

“Did I know he is Fen'Harel?”

He nodded.

“Yes, I knew. Did I know about his plans or his involvement against the Qunari at the Exalted Council? No. Though I always intended to leave the Inquisition and look for Solas after the Council.”

It shocked him that she knew about Solas' identity, but it wasn't surprising she had planned to leave the Inquisition. He couldn't see her go into a Circle.

Eirlana huffed a laugh. “This is more difficult than I thought. I want to tell you so much, though I find it difficult to find the right words.”

Cullen rubbed his neck, feeling awkward. This is ridiculous; they used to talk all the time. Why did he freeze now? “How... how are you?” he asked; it was the first thing that popped into his mind.

She looked at her feet, gathering her thoughts. “Good.” she looked at him. “I want to say wonderful, but it is more complicated than that. There is much I need to consider.”

He shook his head lightly and smiled. Her answer reminded him of Solas and how he used to give answers that only resulted in more questions. “I see you have spent much time with Solas.”

A beautiful smile of love and affection spread on her lips, giving Cullen a slight sting of jealousy, but he was also relieved to see her so happy.

“I did.” she answered. “Though many matters demand our attention.” She stared at the mountains in the distance. “Everything is much more complicated than I ever could imagine. Good and evil, right and wrong, they are not so easy to define anymore.” Sighing, she looked back at Cullen. “But I didn't come here to discuss such matters. I came to help you. Your symptoms must have returned for a while now.”

He nodded slowly, perplexed that she put herself in danger for him. They must be aware that both the Inquisition and the Chantry were looking for them. Not that their searches had any results, but they both had to know the danger they put themselves in by coming here. And yet, here she was, taking the risk of being captured just to help him.

“Come. Let's sit down.”

She walked towards the frozen water of the grove's spring and sat down on its stone edge. Cullen glanced at Solas, who watched them without saying a word before he followed her. She had removed her gloves and

raised her hands towards his face, activating her magic. He closed his eyes as her familiar magic engulfed him. As always, a sense of relief and peacefulness washed over him, chasing away his headache and discomforts of his lyrium withdrawal. Then something changed; he could feel her magic going deeper. The residual lyrium within him reacted immediately; he could feel it hum and answering the call of her magic. It felt both peaceful and overwhelming at the same time.

Cullen wondered, what more had she learned over these past months?

He took a sharp breath when he could feel the lyrium leave his body, burning away like small timber. It gave him chills throughout his body. He inhaled deeply when the magic finally ebbed away, and he felt cleansed and whole again. A little disorientated, he opened his eyes. Solas had moved next to them and offered his hand to help Eirlana up. He hadn't even heard him approach.

Looking at him, she smiled. “Thank you for coming and honouring our friendship. I won't ask secrecy from you. You may tell everyone what has occurred here.”

She pulled out a satchel from a small bag she carried. “Here this is for the others. It is not as effective as my abilities, but it will help them. I am sorry, but I can't risk it to meet them.”

Still, a little dazed, Cullen took it. “I will see to it that they get it.”

“ I have included the recipe to make more. Adan or any other skilled alchemist should be able to make them.”

Solas suddenly whipped his head around and stared up the walls of Skyhold. They could faintly hear some guards talking. He turned back and pulled Eirlana's hood up. “I am sorry, my love. It is time to leave.”

She nodded and gave Cullen a smile. “Farewell.”

Then she turned around and walked back to one of the bigger oak trees.

Cullen watched her before focussing again on Solas.

Solas studied him before he spoke. “I have to thank you for protecting her when I couldn't. I will never forget what you have done for her. I hope that our paths won't cross when you are operating in the name of the Chantry or the Inquisition. Live well, while time remains.”

He inclined his head and then joined Eirlana. Cullen noticed when he turned he had the same elvish ear ornament that she wore. Only his was crafted from dark metal.

Solas transformed into a giant wolf again and crouched down so Eirlana could climb on his back. Watching them, Cullen stood up and immediately could feel a difference in his body. Gone was the stiffness and the pain he was used to. He huffed, not even remembering a time when he wasn't in discomfort. His head was clear, and the constant calling for lyrium had disappeared.

“Goodbye, Cullen.” Eirlana said to him.

“Goodbye.” he answered. “Eirlana. I... please stay safe.” he then raised his voice a little. “And you! Don't you dare to leave her again, or a swear by the Maker I will...”

The wolf turned his head and closed slowly his to many eyes, as if he was acknowledging him. Eirlana smiled at Cullen and ruffled Solas fur. Cullen watched as they both turned invisible and a trail of paw-prints and disturbed snow let into the darkness. By now, it was snowing heavily, and Cullen knew that their tracks would be gone by the morning. Wondering what the future would bring, he walked back to Skyhold. At that moment, he shared Solas' sentiment and hoped he would never be forced to face Eirlana as an enemy.

Solas ran over the mountain passes. His heart tugged as he felt Eirlana's sorrow as they left Skyhold behind. He could understand her pain. She had given up so much to be at his side and would face even more heartbreaking decisions in the future. It was a fate he couldn't spare her from.

Suddenly her hand stroked the fur by his ear. Now they were truly bonded; she could feel his sorrow as he could feel hers. There was a spike of gratitude towards each other as they knew they were not alone.

Travelling through the snow, they went to face an uncertain future. But they knew one thing for sure. Being bonded, they would face it together.

This is the end so far. I can't wait for DA 4 to blow our minds again with long lost secrets and hidden lore. And our next heartbreak that will come (thnx Bioware ;p)

We already know that the next wizard in our party will have some hidden agenda. And I hope we will finally be able to romance a dwarf.

Until we meet again, for I am not finished writing fanfiction in the epic world of Dragon Age

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #dragon age solas #fanfic #Solas #solas romance #solas x oc #eirlana #flame of winter

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river--glass · 4 years

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Reylo Fic Recommendations: Monster Edition

In honor of Spooky Season, I wanted to make a list of fics in which one or both of them are more than human. Cryptids and creatures and monsters galore. (This one is for you, monsterfuckers.)

Demons

Count the Rings by Lachesisgrimm (olga_theodora). (E, Modern, 63K) When camping with her friends, Rey jokingly decides to marry a tree thats rumored to hold the spirit of a trapped man. Spoiler alert, the legends were true. Featuring accidental marriage, demon deals, and soft soft demon Ben. Sure there’s some angst and danger but this is mostly sweet and wonderful and Rey having dreams come true.

The Hand That Feeds by persimmone. (E, Victorian, 46K) Rey has managed to avoid unwanted male attention for thirty years, until the opening of a mysterious artifact burdens her with an accidental husband. Luckily, her new consort is not the average man. Or better, he's not... human. Featuring eldritch abomination Kylo who is so sweetly in awe and reverent of human Rey despite being powerful and older than the universe. And who also has... a tentacle form.

All The Ashes by neonheartbeat. (E, Modern, 37K) Rey, living in a terrible Brooklyn apartment and desperate to escape, posts a Craiglist ad as a half-joke seeking a marriage of convenience to just get the hell out of the country. It's unexpectedly answered by a mysterious Romanian count. Featuring soft monster Kylo, good friend Hux, and beauty and the beast elements. I loved this soft Kylo and thirsty Rey.

I Will Always Find You by kuresoto. (E, Modern, 24K) Featuring Lilith!Rey and Lucifer!Kylo. I love this. They fuck like monsters (and as monsters!) and Rey is the queen of hell and they're so viciously in love. Read It!!

Deliciously by @secretreylotrash. (E, Colonial, 18K) Puritan/Salem Witch Trials/The VVitch Inspired. Witches, demon Kylo, orgies, death... This was WILD.

The Devil’s Lucky Number by Avdal. (E, Modern, 10K) Pure smut. Demon Kylo shows up out of the blue for the sole purpose of making rey orgasm. It’s what she deserves.

The Devil You Know by KyloTrashForever. (E, Modern, 10K) In which Ben finds out the hard way that he shouldn’t play with old magic. AKA, lucky bastard dumb college student Ben accidentally summons himself a succubus girlfriend.

The Demon Within Me by Avdal. (E, Modern, 8K) Shameless demon Kylo smut.

Come To Me In The Clearing And There We Shall Dance by QueenOfCarrotFlowers @leofgyth . (E, 1600′s, 5K) She had been hoping he would find her - her only friend. Kylo. She supposes he’s a demon, or a devil, or one of the heathen gods, but she's never worked up the nerve to ask him and he has not volunteered that information.

Proposal by AKyloDarkly. (E, 4K) Lilith!Rey and Lucifer!Kylo.

Mercy by bunilicious. (E, Victorian, 3K) A Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde/Demon AU. AKA, Rey is thirsty for her demon husband and refuses to wait any longer.

Mothman/Mothlo

For Love of a Flame by thewayofthetrashcompactor. (E, Fantasy, 8K) The shadowy Order has advanced across the forest, bringing darkness in their wake. Rey is hungry and desperate, willing to face the Order themselves to steal back what they've taken from the land. What she finds there is not what she expects. Fairies/mothpeople! Weird! I’m into it!

Drawn to the Light of Your Burning Sorrows by Kyriadamorte. (M, Modern, 7K) Mothman Ben! Curious outcast Rey! This was the first mothlo fic I ever saw. Me when I saw this fic: Mothlo? Mothman Reylo?? God and Ryan Johnson have truly abandoned this fandom. Me after this fic: Mothman Kylo is the best boy and bring on the cryptids.

Macrolepidoptera by ceciliasheplin. (E, Modern, 3K) Rey runs after her Mothman to show him how much she loves him. Nothing like a 3K word fic that hits you in the feels at the same time that it’s giving you mothman smut filth. This fandom is magical.

Nature Spirits

Oh Autumn, Oh Teakettle, Oh Grace by diasterisms. (E, Modern, 31K) Ben Solo didn’t believe in dryads, until one snagged his coats and freed herself. She’s pure bliss and magic and he is captivated. If she has to go 2000 miles back to her tree, he might as well drive her there. Dryad Rey/smitten human Ben road trip! What a lovely fic!

Looking For a Breath of Life by Fighter_for_Solo. (T, Fantasy, 18K) Featuring Elf Prince Ben and human hunter Rey! A really delightful story.

I met you once — ( In a dream ) by persopilliankore. (E, Fantasy, 10K). Where Ben and Rey are soulmates and Ben is more than meets the eye.

Fearless by KyloTrashForever. (E, Fantasy, 6K) Featuring tree Ent Kylo and the softest tentacle porn you’ll ever read.

Sea Creatures. Mermaids, Selkies, OctaKylo, oh my!

Beyond the Veil by dachenbritta. (M, Modern, 40K). Deep within the waters of the Oregon coast, a lone mermaid longs for the man she's watched for years. Her wish of joining him comes true but comes at a cost. This was hilarious and emotional and such a great read.

Sirens by SageMcMage. (E, Fantasy, 21K) In which Merman Ben tries to woo Mermaid Rey by little gifts on her doorstep. Adorable!

Yn Beisht Kione by Melusine11 @hellomelusine . (E, Modern, 5K) They say a beast roams the sea. Protecting a treasure long hidden in the Headland's caves. Some say it is the soul of a man killed by pirates to protect that treasure. Sailors have been known to throw casks of rum at the beast in the hopes of placating it, so they don't get eaten and can pass in peace. Most people though, don't believe he exists, and Rey is about to find out how wrong they all are.

I Found You by Kyoloren. (T, Fantasy, 5K) In which scavenger mermaid Rey finds a strange black T-shaped object in her waters on Kef Bir and is determined to return it to its owner. Mermaid Rey!Cute little fish people soulmates!

Octopussy by KyloTrashForever. (E, Modern, 5K) Three brothers at the beach plus one horny sea monster equals a lot of holes being filled. Smutty monster filth, no need to look for a deeper meaning than that. You like tentacle porn? Here ya go.

Live by the Sea, Love by the Tide by Twin_Kitten. (E, Fantasy, 4K) Rey and a few other mermaids escape the clutches of Unkar, and stumble into the territory of another pod of mermaids. Ben's pod. Soft caretaking mermaid Ben!

Where the Blue of the Sea Meets the Sky by HarpiaHarpyja @thisgarbagepicker . (T-E, Fantasy) A Short delightful little series featuring Selkie Ben and explorer Rey! I seriously cannot say enough good things about this author, do yourself a favor and go read EVERYTHING she’s ever written.

Tentacle Dick (that’s it that’s the plot)

Damnably Unbecoming by cuddlesome. (E, Canon-verse crack, 5K)

Froot (i've been saving all my summers for you) by kuresoto. (E, Canon-verse crack, 4K)

Vampires

In The Dark by KyloTrashForever. (E, Modern, 44K) A Dark Shadows AU!! It’s not “finished”, but it ends well where it is! Featuring vampire Ben who is very sorry about drinking blood and human Rey who is even thirstier than he is.

A Little Death (Goes a Long Way) by crossingwinter. (E, Modern, 23K) A Vampire & A/B/O AU. Weird and dark but I am here for it.

The Lioness by Lilia_ula. (E, Fantasy, 13K) Rey goes bravely to her death after being chosen as the village sacrifice, but upon meeting the beast things don’t go as planned. I love to see Reylo fics where they both revel in who they are and what they are together. Fascinating.

Beneath the Pale Moonlight by bunilicious. (E, Historical Recency, 15K) A fluffy fic about vampire Ben falling hard for Rey!

The Curious Case of the Aquarist and the Vanishing Walrus by radioactivesaltghoul. (T, Modern, 6K) Rey loves spending time in the walrus enclosure at the aquarium she works at.Ben is a vampire with an unusual ability. This is bizarre and wonderful and just such a fun read. I think about this fic daily.

Werewolves

we decided not to kill the wolves (we wanted to be wolves) by crossingwinter. (E, Fantasy, 32K) A pack of wolves lives in the woods to the north of Raddus and as winter looms, they have their eyes set on Leia Organa’s stronghold. Rey may be new to Raddus, but she’s not about to do nothing while it may be in danger. And besides, Poe must be exaggerating about wolves the size of bears. She’s not afraid of monsters.

Howl by monsterleadmehome. (E, modern, 2K) When Ben Solo is trying to earn Eagle Scout status, he spends a night alone in the woods. A chance encounter with a werewolf girl named Rey leaves an impression. Ten years later, he runs into her again and this time, they're all grown up.

#reylo #reylo fic rec #reylo fic recs #monster fucker #not even sorry #i use the term monsterfucker with nothing but love #we don't kink shame here #you want tentacles? I got tentacles #reylo monster fics

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