#and it still gets new content updates too on top of all that!! they actually just added a whole new age to explore about a month ago :o

[aajjks]

FUCK! (III)

synopsis. You hated your roommate but he had the biggest crush on you, fuck.

pairing: fboy!jk x fem!reader

genre: f2l, e2l, roommates au, fboy au (wow so many cliches), comedy au, mature themes, bad language, sex jokes.

warnings. mâtürè thèmês, jèälöüs koo, dïrty thöughts, ëxplïcït jökès, yn ïs ä säd gïrlïe, sünshïnê koo, #nô fïltèr kôôk, hörny kóó, hè ïs öbsëssèd wïth yöur tïts.

disclaimer. this is purely fictional and this doesn’t represent bts’ jungkook irl. mature themes 18+ content ahead. mdni. ps. this jungkook thinks w his dick 👍

series masterlist.

note. hi, share feedback plz, send asks because they keep me really motivated <333 ENJOY! And I’m so sorry that I’m so late with the update. I hope you haven’t forgotten about the story and if you have, please reread because I know you’re going to enjoy this. Thank you so much.

Honestly, you’re really strong.

You’ve been having a lot of bad dates and stupid, awkward encounters with your ex, Kyungsoo.

But thankfully, who is there for you? Your dear Jungkook. Your roommate who has been with you for quite some time now and it’s safe to say that you’ve gotten a lot of used to his presence, and his stupid jokes.

It’s a new day and you feel a little less depressed as compared to the last week, the sun is out and you feel really hot— literally because the weather is getting warmer and warmer.

Jungkook is sitting on the couch watching football, he’s kind of obsessed with it and he’s always screaming at the screen like a maniac, “WHAT THE FUCK?!!?! YN DID YOU SEE THIS?”

Your ears hurt.

He’s probably talking about some goal that you’re not interested in, How can you be when you’re actually really concerned about your love life these days, you and kyungsoo broke up up quite some time ago and you’ve been struggling with dating.

You’re definitely over him, so what is the problem? You don’t know when that’s frustrating you.

“shut up- you’re too loud.” You snap, closing your eyes and frustration because it’s way too early in the morning, you are definitely a night owl, and he’s quite literally sunshine.

Jungkook eyes are focused on you now, “Woah you need to get laid- I’m volunteering if you care.” His stupid remark has you glaring at him and he just laughs it off, he winks at you in return. And just after that he has started to shamelessly stare at your chest.

He’s not wrong- you do need to get laid.

And Yeah, you’re wearing a top so what? It’s really hot.

“you’re so hot.” Jungkook breathes out. You can see his eyes, and his pupils are quite bright. He’s got pretty eyes. He’s really pretty. Not that you would say that to his face because he will eat your brain that you complimented him and that you want to fuck him.

You don’t.

Well, you’re not sure.

“I know tell me something I don’t know, and stop staring at my tits- they don’t talk.” You scold him, but his gaze just doesn’t budge, you’re so used to him that it doesn’t make you uncomfortable.

You just roll your eyes at him. “Bet I can make them..” Your gaze hardens and you pick up a pillow from your couch and hit him with it.

He’s so shameless.

Jungkook pretends to be hurt, whining that you hit him hard. What a manchild, “quit it Jeon.” You warn him and he smirks. “And if I don’t? You’re going to punish me?! Please do.” He begs.

You scoff in disgust, but just then you get an idea- you’re going to mess with him. It’s your turn to smirk as you look at him in the eyes once again. “you’re walking on thin ice and you say that you want me to give you a chance, but… not sure if I should because you are a creep.” You shrug and it’s so satisfying the way his expressions change from smug to anxious.

You got him.

VICTORY.

“what are you talking about? I’m not a creep. And I…I please give me one chance all right I’ll stop my remarks.” he is struggling like an idiot. It’s is really nice to be in control.

“respectfully you just have nice breasts.” he shrugs, but you can tell he’s still panicking about what you just said. He ain’t wrong though you got nice breasts but it’s not nice to stare at them.

“Shut up- THIN ICE.”

You warn him, and he puts a finger on his mouth- his doe eyes are literally so panicky, “ugh I have work..” you whine- and Jungkook has started to focus on the game once again, “hey?! You have work too!!!? get up!”

“Yeah no. I won’t get scolded if I’m a little late because my boss kind of likes me.” He laughs.

What a fuckboy.

“you fuck your boss?!!” You know that’s not what he said or implied but you’re so curious, “uh no? Yn you’re mean!” he looks back at you acting so offended.

“whatever— before I go and change? I think you can take me out on a date I’m giving you a chance.”

You get up before he can even give you a reaction because you know he’s gonna freak out and your prediction is confirmed when you can hear him screaming like an idiot.

You smile as you go back to your room to get ready for work, it wouldn’t be a mistake to give him a chance because he obviously likes you and— he’s been asking you out forever, so why not?

But you’re not sure if you are gonna work out as a couple because he’s too much sometimes, But you’re still going to give him one chance to prove himself.

“YN I LOVE YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH. OH MY GOD YOU’RE NOT GONNA BE DISAPPOINTED. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. I WILL TEXT YOU ALL THE DETAILS.”

You giggle as you shut the door behind you.

Sure.

He’s still having those wet dreams about you, it’s a struggle for him and he’s concerned because he’s never felt this way for anyone, and it’s just not the wet dreams.

His feelings for you are the main problem.

He annoys the fuck out of you and your both sitting in the couch, he’s pretending to watch football, but it’s hard for him to focus when you’re right next to him smelling like a goddess, and that top of yours?

It’s torture.

Jungkook gets distracted for a minute when his favorite team scores a goal and he screams, he knows that you get annoyed with him and he does that but it’s so fun to get these reactions out of you.

He loves it when you tell him to shut up. And yeah it’s not your fault that you’re so hot because it’s really warm, you just have to make everything look so good.

He looks at you for a minute, and then his gaze just automatically goes to your chest.

You are quite magnificent.

“You’re so hot.” he can’t help but compliment you when you just shrugged and say that you know.

Your confidence is so hot, Jungkook tries his best to be subtle with his lust and attraction towards you, but sometimes it’s just impossible for his tongue to not slip.

He says some things that get you angry.

You hit him with a couch pillow, and he Reacts dramatically, he was just kidding about that one joke. “Ugh.” He whines.

And just like that you guys banter for a while, that isn’t until he fucks it up a little bit more, and you warn him

No, he cannot lose his chance with you.

“I…I please give me one chance. All right, I’ll stop with my remarks.” He is so stupid. Why can’t he keep his hormones and tongue in check?

He doesn’t want you to think that it’s only because he’s physically attracted to you, it’s more than that, yeah, he dreams about fucking you but he also dreams about being with you forever.

That’s how much he likes you.

So please just give him one chance— he thinks to himself when you bring up work and he knows that yeah he has to go to work, but his boss is quite lenient and the pay is really good.

He is watching the game once again when you accuse him of fucking his boss, he does not do that— Jungkook feels a little bad, because that’s all you think of him?

“uh no I don’t- Yn you’re mean!” he looks at you and this time your breasts don’t distract him, he wants you to think of him as a man that is of commitment, but he has a lot to prove.

He has really fucked up his chances—? He feels his heart break as negative thoughts consume him, and he cannot even log into your eyes anymore.

You get up, probably get ready for work because you take everything in your life or seriously and you’re Punctual.

You’re so perfect for him

But maybe it looks like he’s not perfect for you. And that sucks, Should he just give up on you? He’s not sure.

“whatever— before I go and change? I think you can take me out on a date I’m giving you a chance.”

Did he just hear you right? Did you really just say you don’t give him a chance? And then he can take you out on a date

He tilts his head so fast, absolutely freaked out, his eyes are white, and his mouth is agape,

He’s not being delusional right now, is he?

“Y-Yn what did you just say?

He stutters out because he really cannot believe what you just said right now, have you hit your head or something because he’s asked you the same question for the past year but you have denied him, so why the sudden change?

He feels so happy right now- jungkook gets up from the couch and goes after you, but before he can catch you, so we can confirm what he just heard you giggle.

“YN I LOVE YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH. OH MY GOD YOU’RE NOT GONNA BE DISAPPOINTED. OH MY GOD OH MY GOD. I WILL TEXT YOU ALL THE DETAILS.” Before you can actually shut the door he says it out loud.

and you shut the door behind you.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

All In 8

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon/dubcon, age gap, power imbalance, low self esteem, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: you meet a mysterious man on a night out with your sister. (petite!reader)

based on the winning option for this poll

Characters: casino owner!Bucky Barnes

Note: Hellllllooooo 😁

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me.

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!) Please do not just put ‘more’. I will block you.

I love you all immensely. Take care. 💖

The next morning comes too soon and with too little sleep. Despite your efforts, you couldn’t lay still long enough to get much rest. Every time you sunk into the shallows of sleep, you were just as quickly awoken by visions of the unknown. You don’t know anything beyond the time at which you’ll set off to your fate; nine o’clock. 

You don’t need an alarm. You're already awake and alert. You sit up and rub your temples until the thumping dulls. You can’t entirely shake the pulsing thrum.  

You drag yourself to your feet and cross to your dresser. You open each drawer, sifting through the contents with disappointment. You don’t have anything that nice. You pick out your nicest jeans and a halter top Roxie gave you. You’ll be sweating your bum off in the denim but you don’t have many skirts or even shorts. 

You can hear your mother getting ready for her own day of work. Of actual work. You wait until she’s done to claim the bathroom. She’s off only a couple minutes after, calling out a goodbye and I love you that you return in a higher pitch than you mean to. 

You dress and tidy yourself up as best you can. Your bedtime shower did little to help you sleep but at least it saves you a step. You spritz yourself with strawberry body spray and try to smile at your reflection as you put your toothbrush back.

Sigh. Did Bucky really call you sexy? 

It’s not even eight. Lots of time to wallow in anxiety and self-doubt. You pace around the front room, ready to go, but not really. You have your purse with the fringe and your least-worn flats. They pinch around your toes but they’re cute; pink loafers with a little leather rose on each. 

You cradle your phone then squeeze it hard enough to make it light up. Only a few minutes. Or not. You hear a car outside and peer through the curtain. You recognise the vehicle. Shoot, time to go. Oh, god, what are you doing? 

You lock the door behind you and turn to face the gallows. Each step is filled with sand, your legs are heavy and your feet clunky. As you near, Merv appears to open the door for you. You’re surprised but not to find Bucky waiting within. 

As you slide onto the seat, he watches you and rumbles out a silty, ‘morning, doll.’ You aren’t ready. You don’t know why but you thought the drive would give you time to toss away the last of your caution but you’re clinging to it like a raft. You feel entirely powerless. More than you ever have. 

What he promises, money; you always assumed it would give you more control, that it would solve all your problems, but it’s really just a new set of problems. You settle onto the seat as the door closes and buckle your seat belt, focusing on the simple task. He stretches his arm over the back of the seat as you lean against it and his heat seethes into you. 

“Good morning,” you force out at last. 

“That’s a cute shirt,” he purrs as his hand wanders down to tickle your bare shoulder, your nude bra strap showing garishly. “Would look better without this.” He touches the strap and you make a noise. “But I can wait for that, doll.” 

You stare forward. The divider between you and the front seat is up. You are completely alone. You feel your heart about to swell and split. 

“I’ll admit, I was up late last night,” his arms shifts slightly as he leans forward. You only notice then the scent of coffee and two cups in the holders behind the console. “Got a pick-me-up to start the day. Gotta be awake for you, doll.” 

He takes one of the cups and you realise, he means to offer it to you. You feel too bad to tell him you’re not much for coffee. “It’s called a blue dream tea latte? I think it’s blueberry or something. I saw it in some ad online. Sounded like something you’d like.” 

“Oh, thanks, er, it does?” You murmur. You’d seen the same promotion on Pinterest. It’s a rather strange coincidence that he’d think of you. “I... I’ve never tried a tea latte.” 

“Doll, I’m gonna give you lots of things you never had, take you places you never been,” he flutters his fingers across your neck as he retracts his arm. He grabs the other cup and groans as he sits back, blowing over the plastic lid. “So tell me,” his arms presses against yours. He seems so big sitting so close, “where’ somewhere you always wanted to go?” 

“Er, I don’t...” your eyes drift over as Merv drives lazily through your neighbourhood, “know. I never... thought about it.” 

“Anything you always wanted to do? Skydiving? Wait, yeah, you don’t like being high up. Makes sense, being so close to the ground, huh?” He chuckles and leans into you playfully, “you an outdoorsy type? You like hiking?” 

“Um, I don’t know, I think... I like walking in the park sometimes,” you hold the cup with both hands, letting the warmth flow into your cold veins. You can smell the blueberry and you instinctively take wife through the slot of the lid. 

“Mm, don’t worry, we’ll figure it out, doll,” he assures you and sips again, swallowing thickly before he lets out a thigh. “I think you’ll like what I got planned, even if you don’t know what you want. I’ve always been good at figuring that out, you know?” 

“Oh?” 

He laughs again, “you’re so cute, doll.” He looks over at you, “how’s the latte? Did I do good?” 

Your eyes nearly cross as you stare at the cup. You bring it up carefully and take a dainty sip. You almost moan at the creamy but sweet taste. You pull the lid away and dab your lips with the back of your hand, turning to give him a wide-eyed look. 

“It’s delicious,” you smile. 

He grins and tilts his head, “see, doll, you don’t even gotta say it. I know exactly what you need.” 

You’re breathless. Something about his tone, his words, mingles and coils around your throat. It’s like one of those old Wattpad fantasies you devoured in your teen years, those escapist dreams of having everything taken care of and not having to think, and yet, it’s too real. You take another drink to keep busy. 

“After our first stop, we’ll eat,” he says, “that okay? You’re not ravenous?” 

His words make you flinch. You blink and shake your head, “I’m okay.” 

“Sounds good, doll,” he relaxes and once more extends his arms over your shoulders, this time hugging you closer.  

He turns his head and nuzzles you, making you squirm. You’re rigid, paralysed by the proximity. You’ve never been this close with anyone. He still feels like a stranger. 

“Mmm, strawberries,” he growls, “I like that.” 

You giggle and barely keep a hold of your cup. You really can’t understand it. You never had interest from anyone. You didn’t even really have friends in school. Sometimes, you even think Roxie hates you, and your mom, well, she loves you because you have to. You just can’t comprehend what he sees. 

“Thanks...” you wisp. 

“No, thank you, doll,” he drawls, “for making my morning brighter.” 

🃏

You doubt Bucky does anything in half-measures. Merv pulls up to another upscale building and you can’t help but gape out at the white brick facade. Everything is so big and fancy and better than you. You’re so out of place in his world that you can’t but wait for the moment he decides to kick you out of it. 

The white-haired driver gets out to open the door. As you step out, your loafer slips off your heel and your foot slides down the curb. You trip outward, bracing yourself for impact, but don’t hit the ground. A hand wraps around your arm and pulls you back onto the seat. You cringe, happy at least that Bucky can’t see your face as he clings to you. 

“You okay, doll?” He asks, “you hurt yourself?” 

“No, no,” you wriggle in his grasp, “I’m fine. It was just... stupid.” 

“Not stupid, good thing I was here to catch you, huh?” He reluctantly releases you, a caress along the back of your arm, “now you be careful. You need me to get out and carry you--” 

“No, no!” You grab the car and push yourself out, fixing your shoe as you get your bearings. “Really, I’m okay.” 

He chuckles and follows. It he laughing at you? You turn to face him as he steps up on the curb. It’s easy when he’s sitting to forget how small you really are. 

“All good, doll, I just can’t have you getting banged up,” he says as he gestures you across the wide sidewalk. 

You peer back as Merv shuts the door and Bucky brings his hand to your lower back, just like that woman at the casino. His gentle touch sends a chill up your back despite the beaming heat from above. 

“Promise, you’re gonna love this.”  

He urges you on to the front doors. They are made of iron, twisted in the middle, and two long handles curlicue in the middle. He stops and presses the little silver button along the side, a buzz muffled within. You wait, fidgeting, and presses his palm firmly to your back. You still yourself and clutch your bag tighter. 

The interior doors, dark walnut, open inward and a woman appears within with a particularly snobbish look. She’s tall with straight shoulders and a Chanel style suit. She unlocks the iron doors and opens the right one. She eyes Bucky past her hooked nose as she lifts it higher. 

“Mr. Barnes,” she greets. 

“Meredith,” he returns, “thanks for having me.” 

“Only for you,” she assures as her eyes fall upon you, “you’ve brought...” 

“Someone very special. A connoisseur like yourself,” he insists, curtailing whatever she thought to remark. 

“Yes, certainly she would be,” the woman accepts with a sniff and steps back, “please, come in. Should I have Charlene make tea?” 

“I don’t think we will require it. Doll?” He pauses as he confirms with you. 

You shake your head, “no thank you.” 

“Very well, follow me, then,” she spins and struts away.  

Bucky nudges you inside first, following through the narrow door. As he comes up parallel to you, a shadow appears to close the doors behind him. The whole experience is eerie. What is going on? 

You follow the woman, Meredith, up the wooden stairs with a rose-printed runner along the center of the steps. At the top, you smell the definitive scent of books. She directs you into a room, opening the door but standing back to let you through. Bucky nods and thanks her one last time. 

“You know the rules, Barnes,” she warns. 

“Been a while...” he mutters. 

“You remember,” she rebukes. 

He laughs and pulls the door shut as she retreats, her heels clicking through the wall until they taper off to nothing. A record player drones from the corner and the window lets in the yellow sunshine, adding to the illumination of glass-shaded lamps. You peer around, as curious as you are confused. 

Bucky brushes by you, knuckles rubbing against your waist, and he approaches the antique table at the center. Several stacks of books sit neatly piled atop it. You approach sheepishly and read the spines. You recognise the titles though you’ve never read any of them. As you think, you realise that these are the same books you have on your reading app. How could he know? 

Your mouth falls open as you keep your hands folded together. You don’t dare to touch anything. It all seems so nice and likely expensive. And with how Meredith spoke, you’re certain she wouldn’t appreciate you putting anything out of place. 

“She’s a book collector. I came here a few years back to buy some first editions for my sister,” he picks up a book. 

“How...” you bend to read further down a stack. 

“A lot you can learn about a person online,” he flutters through the pages, “isn’t there?” 

You look at him and blanch. 

“I know you Googled me. Everyone does,” he snickers, “it’s fine. Comes with the territory. But you...” he snaps the book shut and comes around the table, holding it out to you, “all I found were some books and a few pictures of a cat.” 

You take the book and stare at the cover. Those pictures were old. Kai died at the end of high school. You run your hand over the embossed title; Middlemarch. You remember adding it after binging and old British series. 

“My cat. She’s gone now,” you shrug. 

“Sorry to hear that, doll,” he says. “I might know someone who can cheer you up, though.” 

“It’s... fine. She was a good cat,” you shrug. 

“Hm, yeah, but a friend, all the same,” he says, “so, you want it?” 

“What?” You peek at the book again. 

“All of them? I can have them packed and sent to your house.” 

“Huh?” Your eyes nearly bulge out of your skull, “my mom...” 

“Ah, it’s fine, we can sneak em in,” he assures. 

“No, no, I couldn’t... it’s too much. Very nice but... must be... a lot.” 

“It is, doll. Meredith gave me a damn headache tryna get in here on short notice but I did it,” he leans a hand on the table and hooks one foot over the other. “You gotta at least pick one thing to walk out of here with.” 

“Oh, I... I wasn’t meaning... I didn’t mean to be ungrateful,” you rub your thumbs along the edges of the book, “sorry.” 

“It’s fine. I know you’re not, doll. You’re... adjusting. I’m doing my best not to scare ya away but you gotta bite the carrot a little here,” he says, “so grab a few and we’ll go have some breakfast.” 

“I...” you look between him and the table. You have no doubt that he went to a lot of effort for this. For you. You can’t just throw it back in his face. “Thank you, it’s...” you turn to face the table and lean in to see more of the books. You let yourself smile, “it’s wonderful. No one’s ever... except mom...” 

“Get used to it, doll,” he steps closer, his hand once more on your back, “with a smile like that, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing it.” 

[dear-ao3]

another f1 question from me bc i'm new, why do we not like the mclaren team

aright well without getting too into it because im going to get into it on the update post:

mclaren have 2 drivers: oscar and lando

lando has been with mclaren since 2019, has been signed with them the whole time hes been in f1. oscar has been with mclaren since 2023, has also been with mclaren the whole time hes been in f1

theyre both very strong drivers. mclaren is a top 4 team (theres 10 teams). they have the fastest car this season. they have been very consistent the whole season. oscar is the only driver to have finished every single race this season, lando has had only one dnf in a full length race. theres been 16 races this year, of those 16 races at least one mclaren driver has been on the podium for 13 of them. (most of any team)

anyway

red bull have been dominating the last few years. last year red bull won all but one race and max verstappen won all but three races. max won the drivers championship by like 250 points or something and red bull won the constructors championship by something insane like 400 points (not exact but u get the idea)

this season red bull is still on top but only by a little bit.

in the constructors (team) championship, red bull currently has 446 points. mclaren currently have 438. they are rapidly closing the gap to red bull (despite only winning three races this season) because both of their drivers are very consistent and they have a good car.

however. the drivers championship.

max currently is leading with 303 points. lando is in second with 241. charles (of ferrari) is in third with 217 and oscar is in 4th with 197.

there are still 8 races to go.

now it would be Hard for lando to win the drivers championship at this point, but it is not impossible. he is also definitely closer than oscar is. normally what happens is that a team picks one driver to prioritize because theyre more consistent/experienced/have more points/have a better chance at winning etc etc. lando has been doing better than oscar has in that regard (hes won 2 races, oscar has won one, lando has 4 pole positions this year, oscar has none, etc whatever)

despite this, mclaren are not prioritizing either of their drivers. the owner of the team, zak brown, has said now multiple times that they have "two number 1 drivers" which is weird. because lando is actually close to catching max in the championship. and this is not a chance btw that comes around all the time. f1 is a lot of luck, a lot of chance and then also skill. you can be the most skilled driver, but if your car sucks youre not going to win. mclaren have the fastest car, two very strong drivers and a solid chance to win the drivers championship with lando and the constructors championship as a team, but despite that, they are not prioritizing lando.

meaning that there are no team orders to have lando be running in front of oscar if the two cars are right next to eachother in position, theres no rules to not pass eachother, theres no rules for oscar to protect lando if he is leading. the only real rule seems to be to not hit eachother but they can race eachother (meaning the team wont say that one car needs to finish above the other car) which again, when you have a driver that is in contention to win a world championship, that is kind of insane.

so first there was a race a few races ago where lando was in first and got team orders to let oscar who was in second get past him so that he could win because oscar had been leading the whole race up until possibly the weirdest pit stop call mclaren could have made that essentially put lando in front of oscar. lando gave them a hard time about it but ultimately let oscar win because they told him that if he wanted to win a world championship that he was going to need oscars help (like as a number 2 driver)

so now this past weekend oscar passed lando on the first lap and took the lead (lando starts first and oscar started i think it was second) because there were no team orders for him to not do that. then towards the end oscar was in second and lando was in third (charles was in first which was something that mclaren let happen but thats not important right now) and the cars were close enough that they could have swapped positions. mclaren would have gotten the same number of points but lando would have gotten more points than oscar which would have helped him individually in the drivers championship because max was finishing behind him and this was a race where he was closing the point gap to max. but, mclaren didnt make that team orders call. so oscar finished second and lando finished third.

so essentially landos shot at a world championship title is getting bongled because of mclaren's inability to make the decision as to which driver is their number 1 driver.

so much so that nico rosberg (who was a part of one of the most infamous teammate rivalries where both him and lewis hamilton were at eahcothers necks for a championship title) has told mclaren now not once but twice that they need to make a call as to which driver is their number 1 driver because its going to hurt their drivers and also the team in the long run.

now none of this is oscar or landos fault. there could be contract stipulations that are preventing mclaren from picking a number 1 driver (oscars manager, mark webber, was an infamous number 2 driver to sebastian vettel during the time seb won his 4 consecutive championships so its possible that he might have something in oscars contract to prevent the same thing from happening to him or whatever) or it could be something else. reguardless, its clearly a team problem and not a driver problem. the drivers are there to race and if the team tells the two of them to race eachother they are going to race eachother. both of them are strong drivers and they want to win. but because the team is letting the two of them waste time racing eachother it opens the door for other people to win or for them to lose points or for lando to not end up winning the drivers championship.

its kind of confusing. but tldr: mclaren refuse to prioritize one driver over the other and theyre throwing away their chances at winning the championship because of it

will buxton (who infamously has some bad opinions but didnt on this one) summed it up really really well in the post race show this past weekend

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

SCREECHiNG

WAKE UP HON WE GOT NEW OFFICIAL ROLLO CONTENT (thanks to curekibouka for the translation!) 😭 (Bless him, he came home so quickly at only 40 rolls…)

***Rollo profile, Groovy, vignettes, and chibi spoilers below the cut!!***

As you can see in the card art shown above, it looks like his official English name will be "Rollo Flamme", not some other variation.

His coffin icon has a bell on it! Very fitting.

Yes, he’s triple fire magic and has a Duo with Grim.

… LMAO his Buddies are Malleus, Idia, and Azul 🤡

He's a third-year student at Noble Bell College, Student Council President, (but we already knew this) and 18 years old

His birthday is Feb 2nd! (There was a mistake in the initial launch of the Rollo card and profile in which his birthday was incorrectly stated as Feb 4th, which is Cater's birthday. Man was so mad when he realized he shared a birthday with a NRC boy so he redid his birth certificate/j)

(Here are screenshots of before and after the change; I happened to take a picture before the update:)

178 cm tall (LMAO I guess he doesn't meet a certain Ghost Bride’s standards)

Right-handed

Comes from the Shaftlands (again, we already knew this)

HE'S IN THE HAND BELL CLUB????? TF... HE JUST STANDS THERE AND RINGS HIS LITTLE HAND BELL????? ? ???? ?? ???

Best subject is Potionology

His hobby is cleaning malewife trait

He obviously hates magic 😂

Favorite food is not, in fact, croissants; it's actually grapes

Least favorite food is savarin, which is a ring-shaped cake soaked in flavored syrup and then garnished with cream and fruit

HIS SPECIAL SKILL IS GARDENING WHICH MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD... considering what he used that skill for... 🤡

His official description in the profile states that Rollo is admired by his classmates for his seriousness and no-nonsense attitude, but he also has a tendency to be… neurotic 💀 gee, ya think

His vignettes are set at NBC, not Night Raven College. They seem to be set prior to the events of Glorious Masquerade.

It's said that the reason he is at NRC now is because he is there temporarily to study.

We see Rollo going about his daily routine. He tends to the Bell of Salvation and the gargoyles early in the morning when the sky is still dark which probably explains the dark eyebags. He’s able to witness the sun rising as he does his cleaning. Rollo finds the dawn peaceful! and loves listening to the bell ring.

OMG the gargoyles are so excited when he pays attention to them 😭 They hop around like excited little puppies… NOT ROLLO WANTING TO GET RID OF THEM

Rollo also has his duties as a regular student. I believe he discusses grades with his vice president. He thinks his classmates are stupid 😂 and finds it ironic that these people look up to him and see him as a top student and a great magician…

Rollo eats his lunches alone because he finds people noisy. Bruh, he has 2 croissants, 16 grapes and 1 cup of cafe au lait (coffee with milk) for lunch every day of the year…

He shops in the City of Flowers and has a routine of buying a plain letter set, only all white paper and envelopes—even if there is a better deal on other sets. If Rollo is one thing (besides angry), he’s consistent and likes to stick to a routine and to things that are certain!

LMAO Rollo hates the City of Flowers because it’s flowers blossom because of magic ✨

Rollo runs into some trouble when a community goat wants to chomp on rhe letter set he bought in town 😂 He’s calm at first but then gets mad because he considers the goat unsanitary and it’s trying to eat his robes…

I want to stress that this boy is suppressing his rage and disgust the entire time 🤡 He’s trying so hard to pass as well-adjusted… Man’s literally going to send this goat flying but stops because he realizes there are too many witnesses…

At the end, Rollo writes a letter to his parents to let them know he is doing fine. Apparently, they’ve been worrying about him ever since “that” incident 😔 The letter reads as very formal and stiff, as though he’s writing to strangers. Maybe he has emotionally distanced himself from his parents (perhaps as a result of “that” incident), although he isn’t outright rude about it.

HIS LITTLE EVIL SMIRK... IT'S EVEN MORE FUNNY WHEN PAIRED WITH HIS VOICE BECAUSE IT'S SO SOFT AND CALM, THE KIND OF VOICE YOU'D NORMALLY HEAR IN LIKE AN ASMR VIDEO 😭

The fact that he writes with a feather quill instead of a magical pen………… ….. ….. … … . .. . … … . . . . .. . … .. . . .

Also the fact that he's by default in his big, bulky uniform with tons of extra material that would make it TERRIBLE for P.E. 💀 and has nothing else to change into... The last screenshot of the group above also looks like Sebek has leaned over to Rollo's ear to spread the GOOD WORD of WAKASAMA and Rollo is trying to do his very best to ignore him...

P.S. I want everyone to know that he does THIS whenever he has a Perfect in Magic History... ROLLO'S LITERALLY A CARTOON VILLAIN PLOTTING REVENGE AGAINST HIS CLASSMATES.... .. . .......... . .. . . . . . . . . . yes, I stuck him in a class with Malleus, Idia, and Azul :))

AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HIS GROOVY...

WHY DOES iT MAKE ME WANT TO BULLY HIM INTO THE DIRT 😭 jUST Lo0OKK AT HIM, HE'S tryING sO HaRD THAT I T HAS THE OPPOSITE INTEndeD EFFECT AND HE COMES oFF AS A MOREN SKRUNGLY L0SEr INSTEAqd 2reqrbhyygo13ogyt68p9egflbagj;jlg.DIHOBbyOFSYSvtdDOVFEILBcsnkmg2myoeqofadnm,vd..go0i424ph13nifIUSFVsofsgotfFIUOFOVUEWVOQEGYVbiypfpb OTL

I'M SO NOT GOING TO BE NORMAL ABOUT THIS, I'M SO NOT GOING TO BE NORMAL

I aM SO ASPoRRY fOR THE PERsON I Am AbOUT To BecOME 🤡

[autistichalsin]

Oh are the entitled little babies doing their "the game would have been literally perfect if Halsin hadn't been given the ~4 hours more of voice lines extra than he would have had if he was just a camp follower" tantrum again?

Must be Tuesday.

For the record, Halsin being given four hours extra of voice lines did not cause:

Wyll to have less content; if you think Wyll deserved more, you should be mad at Lae'zel, not him, as they're the ones who shared a writer (and it's clear his writer favors Lae'zel)

Minthara to have less content; if you think she deserved more, you should be mad at Karlach, not her, as they're the ones who shared a writer (In fact, quite the opposite of "stealing content" from poor baby Minthara, Halsin being added is part of the reason Minthara was added at all, because they would never have added a romanceable companion of one gender without also adding one of the other gender; if it wasn't for fan demand for Halsin, Minthara too would have stayed in act 1. Further, Minthara actually has three minutes more of voice lines than him)

Astarion to have nearly twice as many voice lines as Wyll

Wyll facing numerous bugs, including to his romantic greetings

Some characters, especially Karlach and Wyll, having unsatisfying story arcs

And before you say "but if they hadn't been busy adding Halsin's kisses they could have been free to fix Wyll's glitches sooner!" Those are different teams. Programmers are not artists are not writers. Once the kisses were drawn, it would have taken minutes to program them into the game, compared to the weeks-long endeavor identifying and fixing bugs is.

"But why couldn't Halsin's writer have written for Wyll and Minthara instead?! Halsin still ruined the game!" I hear you crying. One, that's not how the process for Larian to allocate writers for each character works, but even if it was, why are you complaining that Halsin was given a writer to share with another character and not that Astarion was given MULTIPLE writers? Astarion is literally the only character who actually could be accused of being shown favoritism by Larian.

Halsin's spellcasting lines were literally broken for over a year, and his point-and-click lines were broken for half a year, and there was a bug for nearly that long where traveling from act 2 to act 1 would cause him to die, and you still think that Halsin getting a handful of kiss animations, and those animations being used to tease patch 6 (with Halstarion and Shadowzel kisses both being used) is a sign of "favoritism"? Why then do you not say this about every character who was given new kiss animations?

And by the way, you really give the game away when you say "Larian should just go in the code and remove Halsin entirely". Because that would take months of story, animation, AND programming work- it would be an all-hands-on-deck effort. Even if we ignored that Larian is discontinuing story updates after patch 7, this would literally guarantee no companion ever gets another update again. Even if you amend it to "Halsin shouldn't be able to leave act 2" we are still talking about the same thing. If you say this, you make it blatantly obvious that you literally don't think too much work was put into Halsin, you just plain don't like his character and are using him as a scapegoat over things that actually did go wrong at Larian. You're cutting off your nose to spite your face, and your goal of your precious baby getting more content is secondary at best to hating Halsin.

And for the record, Minthara has three MORE minutes of voice lines than Halsin, so you can't even say she was in any way mistreated compared to Halsin. Further, if you look at who has received how many new lines in post-launch patches, Halsin is near the bottom and Minthara is near the top. There's more of a case for Larian showing favoritism to Minthara than there is for them showing favoritism to Halsin, seeing as Larian keeps adding dialogue for her good path recruitment, and backed out of adding the ultimatum to the game because Minthara fans whined that it was too mean to her. But I don't go around crying that Minthara being added to the game literally is the reason I can't kiss Halsin in act 2, because that would be insane.

The ONLY companion who has a case for being mistreated compared to others is Wyll compared to the OTHER ORIGINS, not to Halsin.

[firstfirerebel]

𝕽𝖎𝖉𝖉𝖑𝖊

Sumary: Part 2 of 𝕳𝖎𝖘

Pairing: yandere! adult! Tom Riddle/Voldemort x fem! reader

Warnings: dark content, yandere/toxic behavior, death eaters, kidnapped reader, hints to torture,

Same timeline as in Part 1

A week has passed since you got kidnapped by the dark lord himself, and it hasn't been an easy or calm week. Luckily, he wasn't around you often because he had so many meetings with different death eaters to give them new missions and updates on his plans. Much to his dismay. Every time he had to leave your side, he wasn't in a good mood, and everybody knew that.

Unfortunately, he intended to actually have a romantic relationship with you. Until now, he hasn't forced you to anything, but you knew it was only a matter of time or your behavior.

Even though he wanted to give you some time to get used to everything, he still insisted on sleeping in the same bed as you. It wasn't as bad as you imagined it at first, but it was still uncomfortable. Mostly, he suddenly hugged you from behind, hid his nose in your hair or your neck, and dozed off. Getting free was impossible. He almost clinched to you, and when you tried to escape his arms, he just tightened his grip.

Escaping would be a real problem. You didn't even know where this mansion was. Were you in England? Or was this in Scotland or completely somewhere else?

Was only the mansion surrounded by Death Eaters or the scenery around it, too?! Did Tom think you would try to escape or not?

Lost in your thoughts, you didn't hear the knock on the door. When the person entered, you were relieved that it wasn't Riddle. It was Narcissa.

"I knocked, but you didn't awnser. The Dark Lord wishes to meet you,"

As on your first day, you followed her. She was pretty fast so keeping her pace was a bit difficult. Once you reached his so called 'office', Narcissa immediately walked away and left you alone with him.

When Tom saw you, he basically ran to you and pulled you into his arms. His breath was so loud for you, and you hated his touch to be honest, but at least it wasn't something worse.

"I missed you", he whispered into your ear.

Suddenly you realised that you two weren't alone, the curly head of Bellatrix was behind Tom. He seemed to notice your discomfort.

"Bellatrix, leave. I want to be alone with her", she was obliviously mad at that but still left the room without a word.

He turned his head back to you.

"Better?"

You didn't do anything. Fearing that a wrong awnser would make him mad, you just hugged him again and hid your face in his chest. Hugging him wasn't something you enjoyed, but if you closed your eyes and just felt his warmth, it was a little comfort in this so cold building and every time you hugged him, it made him happy, and a happy Tom was better than an upset one.

His clothes smelled like a library, or just good old books, which calmed you a little. In libraries, you have always felt safe. With no bullies around or other loud students, it felt like heaven.

And a safe place was now all you needed. Since he even talked about having kids, you knew some bad things would come, though it was questionable if he intended to do it with you 'wanting' this or if he didn't care.

"Tom?" You had to ask him, even if it would make him mad...

Instead of saying something, he kissed the top of your head to show you he was paying attention.

"What if I'm not ready for kids? I mean, I would love to start a family with you, but I'm scared", Liar liar pants on fire, was all your brain screamed.

Instead of freaking out, Tom was really calm. He put his hands on your shoulders and looked straight into your eyes.

"It's okay, my love. Y'know I was scared too, I was scared that something would hurt you without me being able to protect you, but after I killed this mudblood. I realised that nothing could take you away from me",

So badly you wanted to scream 'I didn't and still don't want this! Get yourself to therapy, you creep!' But you didn't dare it and your question still had no awnser. Would he dare to harm you for his 'lust' or should you consider it a wish? Again he pulled you close and hid his nose in your hair.

You somehow found comfort in his touch and immediately you knew that you had to run away as soon as you had the chance. Otherwise you might not be able to keep your sanity.

This man kidnapped you! Killed people! Hurts and tortures others every day! He is mad! You mustn't feel this way when he hugs you! Especially if you didn't even want this touch!

But still, you were scared to end this hug. Somehow, Tom couldn't get enough of physical contact with you, and if you pulled away, he might freak out like on your first day.

Flashbacks of how he threw the whole table through the room made you shiver, and you knew if he wanted to harm you, he could easily do it. Obviously, he didn't even fear the ministry. What could you do against him?

Even your wand was taken away from you. You were literally helpless in this situation. Tom wouldn't just hand it over once you asked nicely... most likely giving you your wand back would be the proof of trust towards you.

But every day you had to stay here, increased the possibility of getting mad.

Maybe even the food or the drinks that were served to you had a little bit of love potion in it. Not enough for you to fall for Tom immediately, but enough so you would fall for him over some time.

This couldn't and mustn't happen!

Even one more day here could become dangerous. You had to flee! But you also had to be clever. If you would start to act weird, he might realize that you were up to something. Though some 'making him happy' wouldn't hurt as well...

"Tom, do you have one more meeting with your death eaters today? I don't want to be alone all this time..."Your voice really sounded sad, and you even let out a sigh at the end. Luckily, you have always been a good actress.

"Yes, one late at night. You'll be asleep when I return. And I also don't like being parted from you, but we'll find a solution, okay?" You nodded for a yes and even could fake a small smile towards him.

OK, fleeing when it was night was scary, but also easier. In the dark, you could easily hide from preying eyes and maybe even get a safe distance to this place. It had to be tonight. Another day here would be too risky.

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

Once you were back in your room and Tom was about 10 minutes gone, you changed from your nightgown to a comfortable jeans and a warm hoodie, beneath you also wore a T-shirt just in case and of course a warm jacket.

Silently, you opened the door towards your room. Without a wand, your survival skills wouldn't be the best, so you had to find a wand first. It didn't matter if it was your or not. As long as you could make simple spells like 'Incendio', it was enough.

Luck was once on your side. In the office of Tom, you found your own wand in the first drawer. Back on the corridor, you conjured the disillusionment charm on yourself. It wasn't the safest option but better than nothing.

You kept running the stairs down until you were at the ground floor of this mansion. Out of the front door, you sticked to the walls just in case someone wanted to look outside the window.

Surprisingly this was much easier than you thought...

It was pitch black, which was a blessing and a curse at the same time. You could barely see your own hand, but this also meant that no other person could see you from afar and chase after you the moment they saw you.

Around the mansion was a huge fence, so you had to open the old gate that was rusty and squeaky ! Not good...

When you opened it, it didn't make as much noise as you feared. But still, you had to run now, which was very hard in the dark, but you didn't dare to make any light with 'Lumos'. In the worst case, they already knew that you were gone and made up teams or something to find you. Well, 'they' were 'him' in this case.

You ran until you saw trees around you. You weren't exactly the sportiness in person, but all the fear that built up over the days you were captured started to overcome you and gave you so much adrenalin that you managed to keep running. Fear also from the fear of him finding you again and doing worse things to you than he already did.

You felt your head becoming hot and your legs getting tired. Your vision was almost blurry, so you had to stop. Though you didn't see much, you saw three trees around you, and the floor was covered in dark leaves. You tried to calm your breath so you didn't make too much noise. You also tried to hear as much as possible.

But you didn't hear any steps or any running, nor any speaking. The only thing that was heard was the wind, the chill wind that felt like heaven. Not only because you just ran away as fast as possible, but also because you never heard the wind in the mansion. Neither did you feel it against your cheeks in the past week.

The air also felt much better. It wasn't thick and warm. It was fresh and cold, and you even smelled the forest you were in. The trees had their own smell, just like anything else did.

And finally, you felt happiness again.

You wanted to scream it out, but couldn't. So, instead, you threw yourself into this feeling and started to twirl yourself around in the forest.

Now you knew how hamsters or other small animals felt. In the past week, you were in a different kind of cage, but still a cage. You weren't able to do your own hobbies that became a need to you. No going out to hear the birds or just smell the grass. Cause he didn't want it. Somehow, you felt like a little pet to him. He could do to you whether you liked it or not. You were at his mercy. He could have just let you starve when he thought you didn't act like he wanted you to. Or maybe just lock you in a room cause he thought you were annoying. But also do anything else to of with you.

The thought made you sick to the stomach. No one should live a life like that. Silently, your eyes began to burn, and then the hot tears rolled your face down.

If he would manage to bring you back, you knew you would go crazy. You weren't some kind of thing that he could possess. You were your own person with needs and wishes, but if he would ever realize that was the question.

In fact, now you saw that Tom didn't really love you. In his twisted mind, he did, but he saw himself more as your 'owner'. He 'loved' the idea of you with him but not you as the person you were. In his mind, you weren't even allowed to have any friends that he saw as bad influence, neither would he tolerate you doing something that could hurt you.

He just wanted a real-life doll of you that did whatever he wanted, but still loved and adored him. But conflicts belonged into a relationship. Two people can't always share the same opinion.

In the end, this realization was what got you captured again.

You were so deep into your thoughts that you didn't hear the mad laughter you hated. The craziness in a voice. Bellatrix. Once she saw your silhouette, she started to laugh again. Actually, she didn't want you to return at all. But maybe she could add some bloody scratches before she returned to the dark lord. If she was the one who brought you back, he would definitely praise her! That was something no one would take away from her. And again, a 'stupor' met you, and everything went pitch black. Again...

[genericpuff]

How long do you plan making rekindled? I loved Lo at some point, But now I cant get enough of your version!! And I wanted to know how did you come up with the darker back stories for Rekindled?

I have a semi-detailed skeleton of the plot with basically every story beat planned out, but I can't definitively say how long it will be as I haven't actually scripted every single episode out yet.

Not to mention a lot of the time my scripts will change from their original versions, by the time I get to an episode I've planned ahead for I've either thought of new ways to do it or don't like how it's paced so I change it. Case in point, there was a specific scene I had planned for the next episode and then wound up not liking the pacing because it was too fast so I moved it to several episodes away and restructured everything on the fly, took a whole new text document and scrapping sketches to figure shit out LOL I actually do have up until Episode 70ish scripted out in my documents with like, actual notes and dialogue for each episode, but I already have sooo many of those crossed out now because of how much I've had to tweak and change as time has gone on. This is why I plan ahead well in advance though, so that if I do need to make those changes, I can make them long before the episodes are even due to be drawn (and believe me, they get changed during the sketching phases too LOL).

What I can confirm for certain is that the current 'arc' we're in right now is definitely the bulk of the story. And that's not to say there isn't any content afterwards, more like the pacing just gets completely turned on its head in the last 30-40% of it where shit gets N U T S and just can't go back to the same energy that it was in the beginning. Without spoiling, there's a certain 'turning point' in the plot and everything after it isn't quite as long as the stint of story we're in now. This is mostly because the arc we're currently in is still establishing a bunch of stuff like the Underworld Corp, Persephone's schooling, etc. and once that turning point hits, it's basically all character development and focusing on the consequences of everything setup in the first arc.

I guess if I had to illustrate it, the story progression in the end will look something like this?

It's basically just this slow and chill climb that, once it hits that sharp peak, doesn't ever return to normal levels LMAO So I guess enjoy this part of the story while you can because it's the chillest it'll ever be w(°ｏ°)w And boy, I am EXCITED for that peak, but we have a long way to go before we get there. As for how long, well, I'm hoping I'll be able to have Rekindled's story wrapped up in the next 2 years, tops. Just depends on how the update schedule goes, and assuming the plans I have put down for the plotting don't change in any major way. I don't have as much of the latter half of the story actually scripted out yet so for all I know it could wind up being way longer than anticipated, but right now I have a pretty good sense of how the story beats will play out in relation to each other.

So it's kind of a wait and see thing, at least until I have every episode scripted out, and even then I won't be 100% sure because things are always being tweaked and fixed and changed on the fly! I'm guessing it won't go much longer than 170 episodes, give or take, but that's a very very VERY rough estimate.

Regardless, Rekindled still has a lot more story to tell, and I'm hoping y'all enjoy the ride with me <3

As for the darker backstories, y'all don't even know yet. Like... I've got stuff planned. Stuff that even Banshriek (my BG assistant) doesn't know about. Stuff that I keep buried very deep in Rekindled's episode documents that won't see the light of day until they have to be ripped out of the deep dark trenches of the characters' own buried secrets, and by that point, the toothpaste will be out of the tube, there will be no going back. So, again... enjoy it while it lasts. Because I don't pull my punches. And maybe even you won't be able to look at me the same way again once the final blow has been dealt.

Sleep well.

:)

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

03/06/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast & Crew Sightings; David Jenkins; Kristian Nairn; Ruibo Qian; Fuckeries; Watch Party Polls; Watch Party Reminders; Fan Spotlight; Cast Cards; Pink News; Q+ Magazine; Stats; #ReleaseTheJenkinsCut; Love Notes/Morale; Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika

= Cast & Crew Sightings =

== David Jenkins ==

David popped his head out today with all the Jenkins Cut talk going around. @bbviago thank you for bringing Dad out of hiding!

Our friends at @adoptourcrew captured the fandom reaction pretty well me thinks:

Also too, @skrifores had a really excellent point about how different the interpretations of this were. Which way were you all thinking? Any thoughts?

== Kristian Nairn ==

Remember the book Kristian kept hinting about? It's up for preorder! It comes out Sept 24! Wanna pre-order it? Visit Kristian's Linktr.ee

Src: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

== Ruibo Qian ==

Our pirate queen singing and playing the guitar for us. In addition... there's some clown/honking going on because of the note she added to her Instagram. *Resurrection* with 3 tiny stars, anyone? 👀

Ruibo Qian's Instagram

== Fuckeries ==

Save OFMD Crew is calling out for some help! Please reach uot to businesses, streamers, personalities, etc today to bring in more engagement if you have a few spare minutes!

== More Watch Party Voting! ==

We need you!

Our crew-mate @iamadequate1 implores you to come vote for the final version of the watch party hashtags! They're neck and neck!

Final Short Poppies Watch Party Hashtag Poll

Flight of the Conchords Watch Party Hashtag Poll

== Watch Party Reminders ==

= A League Of Their Own =

Tomorrow the 7th is ALOTO Episodes 6-7, and then OFMD 6-7 Time: 1-4PM EST/6-9PM GMT Where: You can watch ALOTO on Amazon Prime

Watch Party Hashtags:

OurFlagMeansBaseball

ALeagueOfTheirOwn

SaveOFMD 

= Mar 4 - Mar 8: Wrecked Season 1 =

Don't have access? DM @iamadequate1 on Twitter or Tumblr

Season 1 watch from March 4th to March 8th. 

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST.

Saturday there will be a re-watch for those who need to catch up (time TBD) .

Hashtags: 

#WreckedPirates

#SaveOFMD

#RhysDarbyFaction

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards! =

Thank you thank you @melvisik for recognising our dear Gabriel, Nick Kroll! So glad to see some of the actors from just one episode getting some love! Another card to add to the collection!

= Pink News =

I realise that Pink News is an actual news site, but they are joining under the fan spotlight tonight for their continued dedication to #OFMD and quality content/memes.

= Q+ Magazine =

Our friend @spanishjenkies caught Q+ sending some incentive over to Chaos Dad 😉. Just more reasons to love Q+ for their continued support!

== STATS STATS STATS ==

Great News Everyone Looks like Season 1 and 2 are ranking in the top 20 Comedy shows in Germany! WAY TO GO DEUTSCH CREW! Thank you @quirkysubject for the update!!

= @AdoptOurCrew Data Updates! =

== #ReleaseTheJenkinsCut ==

Thank you to @sweet-little-goldfish-stede (@Rowan_ofmd on twitter) for bringing this new hashtag to our attention! #ReleaseTheJenkinsCut is being used not only for fun, but to encourage streamers to #AdoptOurCrew! Please feel free to use it liberally, especially with your favorite BTS scenes! Also, kind thanks are in order for catching Jenkins trending!

== Love Notes / Morale ==

Hey there lovelies! Today had some pretty great excitement going on! Chaos Dad popped his head out, Kristian's book got announced, our Ruibo put out a lovely song for us. All good news! Even though a lot of folks had peaks today, I know some of our crew is still having some troughs, so I wanted to send out a little reminder that it's okay to have bad days. It's okay to not be as excited as everyone else. It's also okay to be excited when others are feeling down. We are all individuals and we all have our unique experiences and struggles we deal with every day.

You don't need to compare your experience to others-- you're allowed to be exactly how you are right now. If you feel down, give yourself a hug, you don't have to come out of it right now if you're not ready, but if you are, there are plenty of things happening to give you some joy.

I was going to save this song for when I wanted to talk a bit about mistakes and dealing with them, but I think it's pretty applicable to any situation where we're feeling down. It helps keep me grounded sometimes when I'm not feeling up for things. Here's just a couple lyrics from: "It's Alright - by Mother Mother"

"It's alright, It's okay, it's alright, it's okay You're not a demon, there's a reason You behaved in that way It's alright, it's okay, it's alright, it's okay And I believe, yes I believe that you will see a better day It's alright"

Another lovely note from @spanishjenkies I thought was really important to include tonight-- Jen is right, David didn't say stop :) Remember that whenever you're feeling like the gravy basket is feeling too deep. Chaos Dad is still fighting the good fight in the background and he hasn't told us to throw in the towel.

Goodnight/G'day Lovelies, hope you all get some rest and have a wonderful day tomorrow!

==Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika==

You can blame thank @celluloidbroomcloset for the inability to think after that Darby gif. @ofmd-ann thank you for the reaction gif for all of our brain cells in the form of Taika.

[ohtobeleah]

I was having such a relaxing evening and now I’m stressed. 🥲

Thought I’d used this ^^ as our update post because it was too good not to hahah. As always, here’s the Terms of Endermeant Masterlist if you need to catch up. (Fun fact, this is the 20th chapter of ToE wtf…..

Warnings: Mentions of domestic abuse & violence. Gun related themes. Bradley Bradshaw x F!reader.

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~*

“Hangman’s Direct Hits?” You chuckled softly at the name of the playlist Bradley showed you on his phone. The one he was listening to out loud, the one that filled the void. The one Jake had made in his spare time. “Is he actually that sure of himself?” He couldn't be helped, at this point Jake Seresin was a lost cause. 

“Man has two air to air kills, he’s gotta be.” Bradley mumbled back as he watched your eyelids fight to stay open. “None of us are gonna boost that ego of his any higher than it already is.” It was late, your hospital room was dark, and you’d been given some pretty stellar painkillers for your shoulder. “You know, you should get some rest bubs.” 

Bradley liked to use his time in the hospital working on his laptop. He had a grand plan. He’d managed to swindle the blueprints and schematics of his home from the realestate the Navy went through. He was, as he sat with his feet kicked up at the bottom of your bed with his hood pulled over his head, rendering a 3D digital composite of Odette's new room. The one he’d promised her. The one he was going to make perfect for a perfect little girl who held his entire heart captive. 

She wanted yellow polkadots. Or lellow as she specifically said as they looked at paint samples in home depot the other day. Bradley wasn’t all too keen on the lellow polkadots, but he’d meet the three year old half way and do her up a feature wall that could easily be repainted if need be. So long as he could do a composite imagine to see exactly what these lellow polkadots looked like amongst the digital curtains and bed frame. 

After all, he wasn't just a pretty face. 

“Come lay with me?” 

“I’m content here, I’m just working on some things while I have the time.” Bradley replied through a yawn of his own. He didn’t sleep much when he was in the hospital with you. He chose to stay by your bedside the nights he stayed. He got maybe one or two broken hours here and there but other than that he was running on pure steam. “Get some rest gorgeous.” 

“I think you need some rest too.” You mumbled back as your head lulled to the side. “There's room? If you wanna lay down for a little while?” It wasn't much of a statement, but a plea laced in temptation. Bradley raised a single eyebrow as he peered over the top of his laptop screen. “Plenty of room for you Roos.” The way you said his name made Bradleys core temperature rise. His cheeks flushed a crimson rose’ at the fleeting thought of you. But he shook his head and sent you a soft bashful smile that could have swooned the entirety of the moulin rouge.

“Such a little minx aren't you.” Bradley adjusted himself quickly in his sweats as he shook his head at the sight of your tight lipped smile. You still had bands in your mouth, keeping your jaw shut and in place. Your shoulder was still immobilised for another ten weeks before an incredible amount of physiotherapy would begin to get you back on track. 

“Just miss you is all.” Bradley never thought his heart could break anymore than it already had over the last few weeks, but hearing you say you missed him when he was sitting right in front of you made his heart explode inside his chest–it sent shrapnel into his organs and from the shock of your admission he forgot how to breathe. “So much.” 

Bradley didn't say anything in response, he let his actions speak louder than any words he could say. He pressed his lips together and sighed through his nose, he shut his laptop and carefully placed it on the table before he turned back to you, gesturing for you to shove over. 

Which you happily did. 

Bradley laid in the bed that wasn't big enough for the both of you as you curled into his side the best you could. He let you rest your head on his chest and intertwin your legs with his as he wrapped an arm around you. Drawing you as close as he possibly could. 

“For what it's worth, I can't wait until you’re outta this hospital.” For the second time in the space of three minutes you broke Bradley Bradshaw's heart just by proxy as you played with the string of his hood and closed your eyes to hopefully coax yourself into a dreamscape filled with better tomorrows. 

“For what it's worth, I can't wait until I can have my life back.” 

***~***~***~***~***~***

“Amilia! Slow down!” Reuben shouted as he ran after his sister in law down the pathway of their quiet suburban parkway. “Slow down!” 

“Run fucking faster!” Amilia shouted as she ran till her lungs felt like they were on fire and her legs felt heavy and the bottoms of her feet hurt from pounding against the bitumen. But she wouldn’t slow down, not until she got to Jake. “Hurry up! Payback he’s hurt! Dots in trouble!” 

Reuben had been out on the back porch with his wife enjoying a glass of red under the festoon lights he’d just installed. Everyone knew why work had been called off until further notice, it left a sour taste in the mouths of everyone that knew you. But that didn’t mean the Daggers couldn’t enjoy just a little bit of happiness where they could. 

At least Reuben got a good ten minutes of peaceful enjoyment out of his newest home improvement job before Amilia came barreling out in a fit of panic, screaming about how someone was in Jake's home down the street. 

Amilia was a personal trainer by trade, sure she could pour a beer and make up a fancy cocktail if need be but what she did best was putting her body to the test day in day out in more ways than one. So even though her feet hurt from running barefoot and her lung’s caught on fire from her unregulated breathing pattern—she willed herself to give just a little more. 

“Four percent more—just four percent more.” She kept running, so fast and so panicked that by the time she finally reached Jake's front lawn she swore she had no oxygen left in her lungs to shout his name into the darkness that had consumed his humble abode. Reuben was hot on her tail, still confused as to why they were both running down the block in the middle of the night in their pyjamas. “JAKE!” 

“Amilia, what the hell is going on?” Reuben asked as he watched his sister in law frantically pull at the front door handle. It was locked. “It’s locked—“ 

“Won’t be for long.” If Jake had a dollar for every time the window panel beside his front door had been busted this month he'd have two whole dollars. Which wasn’t exactly a whole lot of money but when you stopped to think about why a glass panel would be broken in that small of a timeframe, it was a little odd. “Watch out.” With all her might and a groan that came from somewhere deep inside her soul—Amilia Fisher smashed her elbow into the glass panelling beside Jake Seresins front door. It cut her up pretty good but she didn’t care. All that mattered was getting inside and as she reached her arm through and over to the handle like a pro—Reuben wondered for a minute if his sister and law had done this before. 

The answer was yes. Yes she had. In a past life. 

“Jake!” Amilia shouted through the dark home. “Reu he went to the garage to check the breaker box, where’s the door to the garage?” 

“Over to the left past the kitchen—I’ll check on Odette.” The pair wasted no time in going their respective ways through the darkness of Jake Seresins home. Payback was still afraid of the dark—he knew it was an irrational fear but that’s what irrational fears were. Fucking Irrational. But he fought off his own demons as they swarmed his mind. He raced up the stairs with a pounding heart and a heavy set of lungs, he turned down the hall to where he knew his friend's bedroom was. Hoping the little girl who’d stolen the hearts of an entire squadron of Naval Aviators was still sound asleep in the safety that was her uncle Jake's bed. 

“Amilia said Jake was hurt?” Chelsea tried to comprehend what she’d managed to figure out in the flurry that had been her panicked sister's rampage through the house. “She took off Bob, ran out the door like some mad woman screaming bloody murder.” 

“We’re on our way.” Bob hated the fact he was riding shotgun in his own car, but it wouldn’t come close to how much Rhett hated driving Bob's Suzuki Jimny. “Less than five minutes.” Bob and Rhett were only around the corner when Amilia found Jake. 

“Oh my god—“ She froze at the sight she saw in the corner of the garage as she flashed the flashlight on her phone and caught a glimpse of Jake on the ground in a puddle of blood. “Oh god, Jake!” She was by his side in seconds. “Oh no oh fuck oh Christ I’ll need to see a fucking chiropractor after this!” She huffed as she lifted the full limp weight of Jake from his stomach and flipped his unconscious self onto his back. His head lulled to the side. His eyes were closed and non responsive. He was out like a light. “Hey—hey!” Amilia tapped Jake's cheek softly at first but that impatience and worry grew into a harsher slap that left a sting in its wake. “Jake for the love of god please wake the fuck up.” 

This wasn’t what Amilia thought she would be doing during her time in the good old U S of A. 

“Mmm—“ Jake's eyelids fluttered as he let out a soft groan. “Mmm—“ 

“Hey it’s me, it’s Amil—“ Before Amilia could get her name out of her mouth Jake's eyes shot out of his head in shock as adrenaline rushed through his veins, with a loud gasp Jake did the unthinkable. His arm shot up and soon enough his hand had wrapped itself around Amilias throat. Tight.

“Ja—!” She clawed at his fist as he restricted her airways, but it didn’t take long for the fog to fade from his mind. “Stop! It’s—it’s me!” Jake immediately pulled his hand away as he snapped out of his trance like state and sat up to hold Amilia to his chest as she coughed and splattered in his embrace. His hand trailed into her hair as he held her close in shock horror at what he’d done. 

He could never take that back. Jake had two confirmed air to air kills—but choking Amilia Fisher was officially the worst thing he’d ever done. 

“I’m so sorry—“ Jake couldn’t believe what he’d just done. “I’m so fucking sorry.” Why he did that he’d never know, but he couldn’t ever take it back. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Wh—“ As Jake pulled away to take Amilia in, he saw the blood dripping down her forearm from her elbow. “You’re bleeding?” 

“So are you!” Amilia snapped as she tried not to think about the fact she’d just been choked by a guy she really liked after she’d just run out of her brother-in laws house in the middle of the night. “Your head, you’ve got a nasty gash Jake you probably have a concussion.” Then it dawned on him, where was Odette in all of this? “We should get you to the hospital—“

“Where’s Odette?” Jake grumbled as he tried to sit up, his vision blurred and his head spun as he did so. Amilia was quick to help him up with a hand pressed into his back and the other wrapped in his hand. “Where is she? Where’s Dot?” 

“Reubens here, he’s gone to see if she’s alright—“ 

“What happened?” Jake was barely able to keep his head straight on his shoulders, it wasn’t good—there was far too much blood for Amilia to be comfortable with as she looked at the back of Jake's head as he slouched into her. “My head—“ He pouted, Jake's bottom lip poked out and quivered as he tried to regulate his breathing. “Hurts.” 

“It’ll buff out.” Amilia shrugged her shoulders as she tried to lighten the mood. She assessed the damage, he was definitely not in a good way. Jake just frowns at her, he was so in love but did she really just say that? What the fuck did that even mean? “Here, can you stand?” 

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” Jake wasn’t good, he wasn’t alright and he certainly couldn’t stand on his own. He clung to Amilia for dear life as she called his bluff and pulled him up off the ground of his garage. “Woah—“ Jake clung to Amilia tight as she wrapped his arm around her shoulders and placed a gentle hand to his chest. 

“Okay big guy, where’s your keys?” Amilia asked as she walked with Jake back into his house slowly but surely. Darkness still consumed the humble abode, but through the darkness came a shining light from a phone that was heading back down stairs. “She alright? Have you got her?” 

“Shhhh—“ Reuben replied as he made his way down stairs with a sleeping Odette in his arms. Her face was pressed against his collar as he carried her. “She’s still asleep, she’s fine, she’s alright.” 

“What the fuck happened?” Jake was still bleeding, his blood was all over Amilias hands. She had a pretty nasty gash herself from the glass she’d busted and now that Jake knew his niece was safe? He really felt the pain settling in. 

“You’re real pretty you know that right?” Amilia could feel the heat rising in her cheeks as she looked to her brother in law who stood there with a shit eating grin smeared across his face. “So pretty Oz.” Jake cooed as he leaned on Amilia for support. The nickname made her heart skip a beat inside her chest as she felt her core temperature rise to new heights yet to be reached. “Hey, we were meant to go on that date tomorrow–” Payback raised an eyebrow at Jake's omission, Amilia hadnt mentioned that to anyone. 

“A date huh Oz?” Yep, that was gonna stick like super glue. 

“Let’s get you up to the hospital.” Amilia tried to steer the conversation back on track as she held Jake up. She sent Reuben a look to shut the fuck up as she did so. This was not the time nor the place to be talking about her love life. 

“Hangman!?” Bob came bounding through the front door like he was expecting a murder scene to be unfolding before him. “You okay? What happened?” Amilia was already sick of that question, she didn't even know herself what really happened. All she knew for sure was that someone intentionally meant to hurt her Flyboy. “Oh my god you’re bleeding.” 

“The girl alright?” Rhett asked a little more nonchalantly, Reuben nodded in response before Rhett vanished into the garage, looking for the power box. He flipped the power back on and suddenly it became blindingly apparent how much blood Jake Seresin had lost and just how much intent behind the force he’d been struck with was there. 

“Son of a bitch is lucky he’s still standing.” Rhett mumbled out as he made his way back into the house. “There’s an awful lot of blood on the ground.” 

“We’re heading to the hospital right now.” Amilia replied, she was still carrying most of Jake's weight as his head lulled towards her. 

“Your hair smells like Strawberries–” Jake mumbled as he found himself consumed by the scent of Amilias hair. Rhett frowned and tried to stifle a laugh. “And cream, strawberries and cream.” Everyone did their best to ignore the clearly delirious aviator who hung from Amilia like she was his life support. 

“Who’s gonna take Dot?” Payback asked. The gears turned and the cogs moved inside Rhett Abbotts mind as he stood there with arms crossed and dark eyes. His rugged, rather unhinged persona did a world of good when it came to protecting the people he loved. But it served as a mask of his own sometimes too. No one expected Rhett to advocate for you, hell they all thought the last place he wanted to be was here caught up in all this mess. 

But when the question of who would look after Dot lingered in the air, Rhett was the first to give a legitimate and wholehearted response. 

“She should come to the hospital, Fe’s been driving me crazy about seeing her.” Bob could read between the lines, he knew Rhett cared. He knew Rhett was just thinking of you and your best interest. He’d been the one who sat with you day in and day out for a week straight while Jake and Bradley rotated in and out. “I can take her.” 

“Someone should call Rooster, let him know what’s happened.” Payback added as he handed Dot over gently. Rhett took her on his hip and within a second she was sinking against him like she was in the safest arms in the world. He smiled genuinely as her squished cheek against his shoulder and Bob knew in that moment his brother would do just about anything to keep Odette safe. 

They all would. 

“I'll call–” Amilia was the first to put her hand up. “I’ll call him from Jake’s phone on our way over.” 

“I’ll take Dot straight up the Fe’s room.” Rhett followed the pair out of the house. Amilia just nodded as she guided Jake towards his truck. “He got a booster?” Rhett opened the back of the truck and confirmed what he’d just asked before Amilia even had a chance to ponder the question. “Alright, do you want me to drive or are you good?” 

Amilia couldn’t even reach the clutch, suddenly the old statesman Reuben let her drive around with the mismatched pins in the roofing wasn’t that big of a car. 

“Uh—no, maybe you should drive.”

***~***~***~***~***~***~***

There wasn’t a lot in this world Jaidyn Dolan cared about. He cared about his reputation as a fine Naval Aviator, he cared about his car, his collection of watches that cost a pretty penny. He cared about what products he used and if they were organic and ethically sourced. But the thing he cared about the most in this world was his pride, his ego—and most importantly he cared about making sure you knew that crossing boundaries and understanding that you couldn’t just walk away from him like he didn’t waist the best years of his life trying to turn you into the household slave he desired. 

“Hollow point—“ The man who sat in the car mumbled as he handed Jaidyn the box of bullets he’d asked for from a friend of a friend of a friend. “You planning on doing some damage brother?” Jaidyn didn't respond as he pocketed the box—he was on a warpath. He’d never been more ready to seek revenge for everything you’d done to him, everything you put him through. From having that fucking kid he told you to abort, to leaving him in that air bnb he had brought his buddies back to, for fucking around with Jake Seresin behind his back. For making him feel like less than a man should. 

He knew you’d fuck him, there was no way you hadn’t. A guy like Hangman didn’t hang around for less than getting his dick wet. Jaidyn knew the guy long enough and well enough to understand that Jake chased pussy like he was playing in peak hour traffic. 

“Nah—damage was done ages ago.” Jaidyn finally replied as he looked out across the street to where Bradley Bradshaw's empty house stood shrouded in darkness. “I’m just cleaning up loose ends.” 

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~

“Hey man s’going on? Dot alright?” Bradley’s ringtone was what drew him out of his light sleep he’d fallen victim to as you laid your head on his chest. How you were able to sleep he never knew, but with enough pain killers to put an elephant into a state of euphoria—he was able to understand. 

“It’s uh, it’s Amilia—“ She could help the panic in her voice but she knew it was unmistakably noticeable as she sat in the back seat of Jake’s truck with Dot in her booster seat. 

“What happened?” Rooster didn’t need to say anything more before Amilia was filling him in. She was giving him every detail about the events that transpired that she could recall with quick haste. “Slow down, Ams—slow down yeah? Where are you now? Who’s with Odette?” Bradley could barely keep up as his feet padded along the laminate flooring of your hospital room. 

“We’re on our way to the emergency department. Rhett said he’s gonna bring Odette up, it’s the safest place for her to be I guess.” Bradley couldn’t help but to smile as he turned back to where you laid still sleeping soundly in the hospital bed. 

Rhett cared—they all knew it even if the guy was too stubborn to admit it. 

“Okay, yeah—” Bradley knew it would be a good thing, you had been apart from your little girl for far too long now. Longer than anyone really thought you'd be. He watched the rise and fall of your chest as you slept soundly, knowing that when you woke up and saw your little girl was here–all would be right with the world again. “Yeah, bring her up.”

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~

In the middle of the night while all was quiet and all those who cared enough to worry about the safety and security of Jake fucking Seresin we’re pre-occupied, Jaidyn Dolan took no safety precautions as he broke his way into the back kitchen window of Bradley’s home. 

He was a man who had nothing but everything to lose. Not an ounce of sanity or stability remained in his mind as Jaidyn stood in the kitchen, looking around to see the dirty dishes still in the sink. Sippy cups and rubber suction plates told him that little Odette had been here and would be back. If there was a sure fire way to break whatever hope, whatever strength, whatever chance of a life you had after Jaidyn that you so desperately wanted, he knew to go through that little pest you called a daughter and take Bradshaw out in the process. 

“What’s Rooster Boy got prepared for me this evening?” Jaidyn mumbled to himself as he placed the handgun he’d managed to get his hands on ontop of the kitchen bench. The same kitchen bench that Bradley sat Dot at for breakfast while he’d cook her pancakes.

Jaidyn opened the fridge like he was right at home and peered in to find exactly what he was looking for. “Ah, good to see you’re good for something Bradshaw—“ He snickered to himself as he reached in to grab the neck of the beer bottle sitting on the shelf of the door. “Don’t mind if I do.” 

He was in no hurry, Jaidyn knew from his research, his reconnaissance—that nobody would be home for hours. He had time. Time to dick around, time to go through Bradley Bradshaw's entire life. Time to sit and stew. Time to enjoy a beer and eat the leftover pasta bake that Bradley had half hazardly covered in his haste to get out the damn door. He had time to look through the boxes of unpacked things he carried over from Jake’s place, going through the things you’d started to rebuild your life from the ground up with. Work clothes, Dots toys, sentimental possessions you'd begun to replace. 

“Huh—“ Jaidyn took a sip of the beer he’d stolen from Bradley’s fridge as he stopped by the mantelpiece above the fireplace. Photo frames sat collecting a light covering of dust, from old family photos to new photographs that captured the love and warmth that was you and Bradley. Little Odette between the two of you in some, one of her sitting on her Toosters shoulders told Jaidyn all he needed to know. 

He was irrelevant. 

“Fucking pathetic—“ Jaidyn growled as he snatched the picture frames off the mantelpiece and smashed the frame on the corner. The old worn photo slipped out from the glass with ease. Jaidyn took the pack of smokes he carried from his back pocket and lit the cigarette he held between his lips. As he took a long draw of the nicotine and settled into his surroundings. Without a second of regret or remorse, Jaidyn took the lighter to the edge of the photo and watched it burn. 

Jaidyn watched as Nick and Carole Bradshaw burned up into nothing but ash with a wicked smile the devil himself would have been scared of. 

“Fucking pathetic—“ 

***~***~***~***~***~***~***

“Rhett!” Amilia groaned as she stumbled her way across the car park into the emergency department with Jake slung over her shoulder. “Would you give me a hand here? for crying out loud!” 

Rhett slowed his strides down to a halt as he waited for Amilia to catch up. He thought she’d been right, but assuming made an arse out of him. 

“Ere—you take Odette, give me Seresin.” Rhett gestured and Amilia was happy to oblige. “Thought you were right, my bad.” Amilia shook her head as if to say it wasn’t a huge deal. “You want me to take him in or do you wanna take Odette up to her ma?” Amilia settled the little girl on her hip as she mulled over the option she had as she walked with Rhett—who was now carrying the deadweight of Jake. “Fuck he’s a heavy bastard isn’t he.” 

“I heard that—“ Jake grumbled under his breath as he tried his best to step in toe with Rhett. 

Amilia didn’t want to leave Jake's side, she was beginning to develop real feelings for this guy. Fast and all consuming too. She’d never felt like this before, so sure of someone. So trusting. She didn’t want Jake to feel like he couldn’t trust her to stay by his side when he so clearly needed someone. 

“I’m pretty cut up, should probably get cleaned up too—might be best if you take Dot and I stay with Jake but I’ll head up after.” Rhett chuckled to himself, he knew that was going to be the answer. He knew a lost cause when he saw one because it was like he was looking in the fucking mirror. 

“Sure Oz.” Rhett nodded as he placed Jake down on one of the empty hospital chairs with a groan. “I won’t tell your boyfriend here that you didn’t wanna leave his side, wouldn’t wanna inflate his ego and make him all the more harder to lug around.” Amilias jaw nearly hit the ground in shock. 

“He isn’t my boyfriend rodeo clown.” She snapped. “He’s just a mate—“ 

“Right right, my bad then.” Rhett gestured for Amilia to hand him over Dot. “Guess your mate here’s pretty lucky to have a friend in you isn't he.” Amilia truly did believe Jake was lucky in a sense—if he hadn't kept her on the phone, who knows how long he would’ve been left to bleed all over his garage floor. She didn’t respond until she was sitting beside Jake in an empty chair, watching one of the emergency triage nurses come over as she popped on some latex gloves. 

“Luckiest bastard alive if you ask me.” Amilia cooed as she pushed some of Jake's bloody blonde locks behind his ear, admiring his profile as Rhett took in the sight. Damn—if that was just friendship he’d been doing it wrong his entire life. “Luckiest bastard alive.” 

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~

“Aw hell kid.” It didn’t take long for Rhett to make it to your room. Dot was, as she had been all night through all the chaos and all the drama, groggy and sleepy. She clung to Rhett’s jacket like he was her very lifeline, a protector she felt safe in the arms of. “You’re kinda cute aren’t ya.” 

“That she is.” Bradley chuckled as he met Rhett in the hall just outside your door. Dot heard her Toosters voice and was quick to rub her eyes to see if she was really seeing him standing with open arms ready to take her in or if she was still dreaming. 

He was there. He was always there. 

“Tooster—“ Dot mumbled through a pouted bottom lip. 

“Hi baby, I’ve got you.” He groaned as he took her from Rhett, the little tot had been passed around more tonight than she had been her entire life. “Gonna see mama, you ready?” Dot nodded silently with tired eyes. 

“That Fisher bird was pretty switched on tonight.” Rhett made sure to mentioned as he trailed behind Rooster. “He’s pretty banged up, if she wasn’t there when she was I can't imagine the state he’d be in.” 

“We know for sure it was Dolan?” Bradley asked as he placed Dot down onto the bed and watched with tears in his eyes as Dot immediately curled up and snuggled into your chest. You were still under some pretty intense pain medication. All you did in reaction was pull your little girl closer, as close as you could possibly bring her. Even asleep you were her most fearsome protector. “Like this wasn’t just a random break and enter?” 

“Would that be any better?” Rhett asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and stood at the base on your hospital bed. 

“I’d rather it be random than intentional Abbott.” Bradley sighed as he leaned in to kiss your forehead gently. “My girls huh, what would I ever do without the two of you.” He felt like his little family was finally on the mend. “How’s Amilia holding up? After—“

“Oh yeah, nah home among the gumtrees down there is fine, got a few cuts on her forearm but nothing an amputation and a couple for beers won’t fix.” Bradley couldn’t help but to chuckle as he sat back in his chair. Rhett laughed along at his own tease before the two men settled into the slice once more and listened to the steady beating of your monitors. “She should be able to go home soon, you know.” Rhett hinted. “You got everything sorted?” 

“Not even close.” Bradley groaned as he reached out for his laptop. “I’m stuck on the yellow polkadots.” Rhett wasn’t proud of all the punches he’d thrown in the name of someone he no longer knew, but watching as you and your daughter slept soundly like two peas in a perfect pod, he knew he’d die for you both before he ever let anyone ever hurt the two of you again. 

“You sure do make domestic bliss seem riveting.” Bradley smiled in response, it was all he ever really wanted and whoever was playing the game that was life up stairs was truly making him work for it. “If you guys are good here I might head home.”

“Tell Bob there’s a beer in the fridge for him if he gets a chance to swing by my place in the morning.” Rhett turned on his heels soon after he’d acknowledged Bradley’s comment. 

Bob didn’t drink, but it was always offered nevertheless. 

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***

“Okay Jake, this might sting a little but you’re gonna be fine.” Doctor Taylor explained as he injected numbing fluid into the back of Jake's skull. Amilia sat close by, having her own war wounds attached to. 

“How’d you get these bruises?” One of the triage nurses asked Amilia as they cleaned up her forearms and picked out the small fragments of glass still embedded in her arm.

“I’m not here about the bruises, I know enough about your healthcare system to know I don’t need anymore than the bare minimum care thanks.” 

“Your travel insurance should cover most of the expenses.” It was clear Amilia had struck a nerve with the nurse who’d been tending to her not so emergent aid as she packed up her things and left. 

“Lucky me.” Amilia rolled her eyes as she jumped off the exam bed she’d been perched on and made her way over to where Jake was sitting. “How’s he holding up doc? Got all his brain cells?” 

“Ha ha—“ Jake smiled a tight lip grin through the sharp sting of the needle being poked into his skull. His eyes trailed down to the bruises coming up nicely on Amilias neck. Jake's heart sank into his stomach. “I’m really—“ Amilia stopped Jake from talking as she placed a gentle hand to his knee and stood before him. 

“Got nothing to apologise for.”

“Can you do me a favour?” Jake asked as he drank in the sight of Amilia as he tried not to think about the stitches being sewn into his skull. “Can you go see how Dot is? Just need to know she’s okay.” Jake knew Odette was safe, he was concussed but he wasn’t stupid. 

“Sure Flyboy, I’m on it.” Amilia nodded silently with a small smile before she left the room. Jake waited a few seconds after she’d vanished from his sight before he cleared his throat. 

Hey Doc?” Jake slurred. He just didn’t want Amilia to see what happened next. “I don’t feel so good.” Doctor Taylor raised an eyebrow as Jake fell forward from where he’d been sitting. He crashed to the floor in a heap unconscious—

Turns out that fear of needles he had as a child was still prominent. But that pride of his was far too important to have him fainting in front of the girl he just wanted a fucking date with already. 

***~***~***~***~***~***~***

“Y/n, Y/n—listen to me.” Jake cooed as he held your face in his hands as you sat crying on the couch. Jake had been kneeling in front of you from the moment he found you in the state of distress you were in. You remembered this moment so vividly, so clearly in your mind that it had become a core memory. You’d just admitted that you were falling head over heels in love with Bradley Bradshaw and couldn’t understand why you’d let yourself do that after everything that had happened. 

“I’m fucked Jake! I’m royally fucked!” The snot that came out your nose as you ugly cried made Jake laugh. He loved you oh so much but if he knew anything it was that you were about to become someone to Bradley Bradshaw and he, you. 

“You deserve someone who can’t wait to talk to you every day you delirious delinquent!” Jake shook you softly. “Someone who can’t wait to spend time with you, get to know you, fall in love with you yeah?” He tried to remind you as his voice echoed inside your head. “Please stop settling for half hearted, lukewarm, hesitant and indecisiveness.” 

The vision of Jake your memory had painted had slowly begun to fade as your eyes fluttered open. But not before the final sentence that stuck to you like super glue echoed through your mind. “It’s always gonna be better to be alone than to be with someone who makes you feel unworthy of love—but if you really like Rooster, take the leap Fe, you won’t regret it.” 

The steady beeping of all your monitors was the first thing you focused on when you woke up. The second and most important thing you managed to focus on as you came out of your grogginess, was the little ball of warmth that curled up against you. 

“Oh—“ Bradley heard the whimper like noise escape you as he looked up from his laptop, he’d moved past the yellow polkadot and onto possibly erecting a treehouse in the backyard like his dad had made him when he was just a kid. He was sure there was a photo on his mantlepiece of the man, the myth, the legend that was Nick Bradshaw standing with Bradley on his shoulder right in front of the newly built treehouse. “Oh my baby, my sweet baby girl.” You cuddled your daughter as tightly as he could with your arm still in a sling. Immobilised. With your jaw still locked. Banded. With your heart pounding inside your chest with a love so unconditional it would never fade. 

“Hi mamma.” Dot cooed as she stirred in your arms and first the jumper of Bradley’s you wore. “I missed you.” Rooster just sat back and watched the moment he wished had come under better circumstances. He knew he’d have to tell you about Jake, about Jaidyn. But he’d do that in the morning. 

“Oh darling you have no idea how much I missed you.”

***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~***~*

Tags: @a-serene-place-to-be @lilyevanswhore @thescarletknight2014 @blindedbythelightt @averyhotchner @emma8895eb @blairfox04 @caitsymichelle13 @oxxolovemelikeyoudooxxo @teacupsandtopgun @aemondssiut @feltonswifesworld87 @akalei349 @notjustsomeblonde @americaarse @avaleineandafryingpan @phoenix1388 @xoxabs88xox @je-suis-prest-rachel @pono-pura-vida @rosiahills22 @starset21 @anarchyrising @caidi-paris @starkleila @criticalroleobssedperson @enchantingdreamergothprune @flrboyd @emma8895eb @endofdays56 @seresinsaint @topguncortez @mandylove1000

[danandphilplay]

im going to put my answers below bc i know some of these vids are likely not returning to dnp and i do agree with that i just wanted to do a fun poll abt if you could have another of these vids then which would you choose. ofc like ive said before we have no control over dnp uploads and i fully know some of these won’t come back lol

ok first of all i don’t think pinof is coming back and i think that’s been clear for ages anyways like ten is a nice number to leave it. HOWEVER i do think an april fools dapc pinof would be hilarious. answering crafties questions and whatever they send to craft universe dnp.

same with amazingdan BUT maybe there’s a slight chance of reacting to amazingdan. maybe not since so much time has already passed since pinof reactions (four months …..) honestly out of the options i’m not that bothered about pinof or amazingdan i feel like they’re classic dnp content that’s fine left as it is

ok for the pizza mukbang thing i don’t care for it to be a mukbang video lol like the actual thing was the nice sit down talk vibes pyjama pizza w friends maybe this is exactly what dan means abt being parasocial 😭 but that video is nice so i don’t think the actual mukbang part of it is that important it’s more the sit down talk style vid

i think i would do anything for another day in the life but i feel like it is prob peak parasocial content. would it count as phouse tour probably. do i think there will be a phouse tour no bc it sounds like it is still having a lot of work done 😭 and i honestly don’t really care abt it… i think the sims renovation was fun and an insight into their interior design opinions lol and that is enough for me

i put it takes two bc a lot of people want to see the next bit i like the game but not rly enough. idk it’s been awhile since that first vid and in terms of other games and things from dnp i don’t rly mind about it takes two being ignored 😭

i know baking is not a discontinued thing anymore bc HALLOWEEN but BUT i really believed easter baking would be a thing 💔 dapc had so much put into it that i kind of forgot about wanting a baking vid but 💔 i can’t lie i think i got set on the expectation for it. like the baking vids have always been absolute classic staple dnp content but definitely the cinnamon roll one was like the baking vids to the extreme… the full potential AND THE BAKE WAS GOOD TOO. the vid was also pretty popular. so my expectations for easter were a bit high. ok so if this poll is like magically summon a dnp vid 🪄 maybe id consider baking because i just love it so much like irl as a hobby but also then dnp doing one of my fav things too and it being so fun idk it’s some of the best dnp content imo. i would love them to try a series of making food from videogames but no offence to them i don’t get the vibe that they cook a lot…… so i think it might not happen. but dil is turning TEN in september so maybe dnp special dil birthday cake baking vid 💔 pleaese pleasemaybe

i think tumblr tag is totally plausible although ik the april fools tumblr tag thing 💔 bc the twitter vid happened i think they’ll do a tumblr one at some point. there’s so much amazing art on here not just fanart but written stuff video and photo edits so i’d want them to see all of that as well as the funny stuff. this isn’t like top of my list of things i’d want to see but it’s definitely one of the more plausible things

dapc behind the scenes content its either happening or it will never be spoken of

honestly idk if they would do reactions to the super amazing project. bc like what vids would they choose. maybe i can see them referencing it or discussing it if someone asked or in a live but idk about reaction vids.

ok draw my life would be fun and i’d watch them. i’d watch an updated dil draw my life too. they put so much effort into that dil draw my life. maybe an updated one for dil’s 10th birthday will happen? that would be pretty fun.

i think if i had to choose it would be a ditl vid. top 3 would be ditl, mukbang or literally just any sit down talk vid, and another baking video. ditl may literally just be bc of nostalgia i don’t really see it happening again but who knows. again just a poll about which vid you’d want to see if you could magic up a dnp vid i definitely know some of these aren’t coming back or very unlikely to

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Whisked Away 2

No tag lists. Do not send asks or DMs about updates. Review my pinned post for guidelines, masterlist, etc.

Part of the Sweet and Spicy AU

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as dubcon/noncon, and other possible triggers. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You get a job at a bakery but your new boss only adds to your work

Character: chubby!baker!Thor

Please comment and reblog if it’s not too much. I always love getting to chat about these stories and hearing all your ideas! You all are wonderful and loved.

Delaney wishes you good luck as you go. Your heart is fluttery with nerves. It’s been a while since you actually had an interview. These days, most send you a link where you record yourself answering generalised questions. You never do well at those. In fact, you’d only ever had one job.  

You worked at a cafe in high school and after you went and got your culinary schooling done, you were promoted. It held you through the first few years of your twenties until Delaney got sick and you had to move to the city for her treatment. Your squirreled away savings got you the apartment and her stipend helped, but you’re running dry on credit. 

You need this. Desperately. But you can’t show that if you want it. You have to play it cool. Be a professional. 

You catch a streetcar down to the main row and check your phone. You’re well ahead of time. Good. You’ve never been to this particular place. You don’t go out much if it isn’t to the grocery store or the pharmacy. Delaney stopped wanting to go outside a while back. You try to encourage her but you can tell it only makes her feel worse. 

You follow the map directions on the app and stop before the cafe windows. They’re slightly tinted with curling golden calligraphy painted across them; Golden Crust. The facade is brown and yellow brick and there are flower boxes just below the windows. Behind the glass, loaves of bread lines a shelf, on display to tempt passerbys. 

The door is wide and thick and painted red. You push inside and pause to look around. The long counter is made of dark wood with clear glass cases on top containing dozens of colourful and sugary desserts. Behind the counter, the walls are lined with shelves; some ingredients, some with unfolded boxes, and more bread and packaged biscuits to go. It’s all finely organized. 

Lights hang above with brass shades, lending a low hue to the shop. Several customers wait in queue as two employees work tills at opposite ends of the counter. You don’t know whether you should join the wait or go ahead and let them know that you’re there to see Thor for an interview. That was his name, right? 

You look at your phone again. You have time. You wouldn’t want to be rude. You adjust your bag and stand at the end of the line. The women ahead of you marvel at the pristine mini white chocolate cakes with dark candied cherries on top as another whispers about cheesecake being devilish. Your own eyes wander gluttonously to the assortment. 

You peel away your gaze and look down at yourself. You put together the best you could; a striped blouse, navy blue on white, and a pair of straight-legged pants. They’re a bit outdated but professional at a glance. You hope no one notices the scuff on your right toe. 

You get to the front of the line and step up. The young girl behind the till asks what you’d like. You give an apologetic smile, “um, actually, I’ve got an interview.” 

“Ah, yes, another one for Thor,” she chimes, “well, you just come with me.” 

She’s young. Still a teenager. Her and the other cashier look to be barely graduated if that. 

She walks toward the end of the counter and she beckons you over, “I’m Thrud,” she pulls back the short little door for you to step through, “that’s Nari,” she gestures to the dark-haired worker at the other till. He’s too busy taking orders to notice. 

You introduce yourself as she takes you around to a doorway, “I think he’s just doing these in the kitchen. Last one ended early so...” she talks brightly as she bounds ahead of you like a happy puppy, “dad?” She calls as she enters the large kitchen. “Dad? I’ve got the next appointment.” 

Your anxiety spikes. You’re not the first or the last. The competition deflates your hopes even further. 

“Eh?” A deep grunt comes as head pops up from the other side of the large marble island. The man is so large his head hits one of the pans dangling from the ceiling rack. He rubs his brow and hisses, “sorry, I was just looking for my pen.” 

Thrud laughs as she crosses her arms. You notice the golden pen tucked behind his ear. She raises a hand, keeping her other arm folded, as she taps her temple. His brows arch and he feels around his wave locks and fishes out the pen. 

“Right,” he gives a sheepish look and wiggles it in triumph. 

“Anyhoo,” Thrud trills, “this is her.” 

“Thank you, Thrud,” he drones back. 

“Mhmm,” she turns and smiles at you again before she goes. 

“Uh,” you hesitate, unsure how to begin, “er,” you introduce yourself, once more “I have a resume on hand--” 

“No need,” he waves you off, “come, I try to keep these things straight to the point.” 

You near him and rest your hand on your bag, chewing your lip. 

“Wash your hands,” he directs you towards the sink, “you may put your things there.” He points to the empty counter on the other side of the deep metal sink. You put your bag there and scour your hands deliberately, taking your time as you scrub nails, knuckles, palms, every bit. You dry off on the towel he offers as you face him. 

“Here,” he gives you and apron, “would want you to make a mess. 

You tie on the apron as he turns and grabs a tray. There are half a dozen cookies on the sheet, some empty piping bags, nozzles, a bowl of icing and small tubes of food dye. You look between him and the cookies. 

“You may choose the design. You will decorate and I will ask questions, does that work for you?” 

“Um, sure,” you answer. It’s unexpected. “All six?” 

“All six,” he confirms and crosses his arms, making himself even broader. He is not only tall, but wide, and his apron does little to conceal his indulgence in sweets that gathers around his middle. 

“Okay,” you accept the challenge meekly. 

You step up to the marble island and take a moment. You twiddle your fingers nervously as you think. You don’t know what to do. You don’t want to go to simple. 

“Take your time, I’ll ask some questions and you can begin whenever you’re ready,” he assures, “so, you’re availability, it is flexibly? Our open ours are eight to six, but you are available on weekends?” 

“Yes,” you say as you set an idea in your head and read for the icing. You stir it with the wooden spoon, testing its consistency. “I have open availability most days.” 

“Most days?” He echoes. 

“Um, yes, I may have an appointment now and again.” 

“Oh, appointment?” 

“For my sister,” you explain, “but it wouldn’t get in the way, I'm sure.” 

You cringe. You’re already making yourself feel bad. 

“And so, you’ve had one previous role, what was included in that?” he asks. 

Only one... that can’t be good on paper. 

“I worked at a cafe. I was a barista for the first two years, then I was promoted to baker, and ended as assistant manager at the branch,” you explain as you fill one of the piping pages and fit the appropriate tip, “but I completed by culinary diploma while I was there.” 

“And after? What did you do? I see you’ve been out of work.” 

You’re quite as you lean over the cookies and start on the first one. Your idea is simple in premise but not in execution. Delaney loves to do cross-stitches, so that’s what you’ll do. First, the white grid and the lacing along the edges, then you’ll fill in the squares with all different colours to make the illusion of stitches. 

“I’ve been a caretaker to my sister,” you say quietly, “we only just moved here last year so I haven’t found much.” 

“And you would be able to work fulltime?” He asks. 

“Yes, she’s... she’s doing better now. I can do it,” you assure him as you keep your eyes on your precise lines. 

He’s quiet. You’re sweating. You just concentrate on the work. Maybe your answers aren’t the best but you hope your work is. You finish the crosshatching and look up. You find him watching your hands intently. As you pause, his blue eyes meet yours. He gives a smile. 

“Ha,” he scoffs, “my hands are too big.” He shows his thick fingers, “I can’t quiet get my lines that tight.” 

You nod and bow your head again. You’re not even done the first cookie. You have six to prove yourself. Six cookies to seal your fate. 

[homestuckreplay]

Webcomic 'Homestuck' Canceled For Promoting Bad Password Security

(page 456-459)

8/10/2009 Wheel Spin: Parent Bad :( Verdict: INCORRECT

8/11/2009 Wheel Spin: being silly :3c Verdict: CORRECT, but behind at least 10 layers of irony

In the far future, somebody might call this update a time capsule of the 2000s. If computers change significantly, or something. page 456 comments on Dave's bro's computer being password protected, suggesting that this isn't a cultural norm - the newly-released Windows 7 still doesn't require user accounts to have a password. In Homestuck, the password is used to protect 'incredible top secret shit,' so password protecting a personal home computer might be associated with shadier online behavior.

Bro's password is six characters, and is 'the most awesome thing it can be' according to Dave and his bro, so it's probably lilcal. (It could also be puppet, but personally my passwords are always specific characters, song titles etc, not general concepts. I don't know if other people are different. for what it's worth lilcal is also a slightly more secure password than puppet which is A SINGULAR DICTIONARY WORD). Bro also trusts Dave with his password - either because he doesn't think Dave will do anything to mess up his computer, or because he's daring Dave to use it, similar to leaving the Xbox switched on mid-game.

On page 457 we see Bro's desktop, which we can compare to Dave's desktop on page 323. They both have wallpapers from And It Don't Stop, showing us a chain of game recommendations from Bro -> Dave -> John. Dave, like Rose and John, has some character in the names of his desktop folders, while his bro has seven identically named New Folders scattered around the screen. This adds to the sense that Bro is paranoid about people looking at his computer - he's purposefully making it impossible to navigate. The hidden-identity hat and dark glasses iconography on the password entry screen has the same effect.

Bro also has a program called Delirious Biznasty, which has a rad skater dude for its icon. This could be a web browser, but I think it's more likely some kind of torrenting application, I think that'd fit his vibe. The web browsers we know are Typheus, Cetus and Hephaestus, which are all Greek mythological references with cartoon-styled icons, and Delirious Biznasty doesn't fit the pattern. Based on Dave's relationship to his bro, Bro probably uses Hephaestus too and just doesn't have a desktop shortcut.

Dave and his bro both use the Complete Bullshit content aggregator, which we are forced to witness on pages 458 and 459. Content aggregators are pretty common customizable feeds that people use to keep up with a lot of websites at once, when checking 20+ separate sites a day gets too time consuming. RSS readers are a common form of this that can host a lot of different types of content, but there are also aggregators specifically for webcomics. These are controversial - they're generally well intentioned projects made for free by webcomic fans who want to check for updates easily and keep up with a lot of stories, and want to help other fans do the same. However, they can redirect traffic away from actual sites that host webcomics, meaning that independent webcomic artists might miss out on ad revenue or merch sales, or are less likely to sell ads because their sites don't look as well-trafficked as they are. I don't know if Andrew Hussie has a strong opinion on comics aggregators, but it's possible this terrible to use, unstable and unreadable version is a criticism of the concept.

Complete Bullshit also feels like Dave's bro's equivalent of Serious Business, as they're both digital programs with adjective-noun titles. I wonder if Rose's mom will get her own software.

It's sweet that Bro keeps up with Dave's projects, including Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff and his GameBro review blog. It shows that their relationship isn't 100% one sided, Bro cares for Dave and/or thinks he's cool at least a little bit. It's also fun that Dave is checking to see if his own webcomic has updated, which could be bad memory due to having a lot of projects on the go, or could be Dave checking to make sure his update has gone through and posted successfully. Very reasonable, as it must be a challenge to upload such high quality images.

I will probably make a post digging into Sweet Bro & Hella Jeff at some point, but I'm still peeling the onion of its irony right now so I'll just say: when exactly did Dave find the time to make these comics?

[bratbby333]

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [ blog update ! ] ࿐ྂ

+ some housekeeping and info on new writing

hello my loves !! i wanted to give y'all some insight on what's been going on in my mind palace lately. there's a lot...so...cmon, take a walk w me...and maybe bring some snacks.

ੈ♡˳ first and foremost ! my work has received a lot more attention recently and i am so excited. with actual tears in my eyes, im happy to report that i surpassed 1,000 followers the other day. i am at a loss for words...just...stuck in a perma-state of disbelief.

im sending out the biggest thank you to everyone who has supported me, who's interacted with my work, to the lovely friends ive made though this account and to the heartbreakingly beautiful anime that brought me here in the first place. i am genuinely in awe...overwhelmed, even...i didn't expect any of this to happen when i started this blog and i am forever indebted to all of you for getting me here. im actively fighting off the inevitable surge of imposter syndrome as i type this out...i just love y'all so fucking much. this community means the world to me and i wanna scream at the top of my lungs in order to demonstrate my deepest appreciation for each and every one of y'all.

ੈ♡˳ secondly ! a message for my little angel babies, my day one followers; thank you for taking a chance on me. for watching me grow. for sticking around as i worked to get better at writing. im sure a lot of you started following me for my gamer!bf sukuna series...trust me, i love him and i know y'all do too. but i feel like my writing is heading in a different direction...and with a heavy heart, i'm absolutely gutted when i say that i am taking a pause on that series. i am forever grateful for the support and may return to him soon, though i cannot promise that. i owe so much of what my account is now to that series and i will never forget that.

for everyone who joined me as i delved into dark/dead dove content, thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me a safe space to explore different forms of story-telling. my choso fic was the first stepping stone and then i skipped every other stone on the path and jumped head first into the deep end with my dead dove gojo fic...i deeply appreciate all the positive feedback i received on both of those. after posting them, i realized that i am very into writing dark content. i know that taboo themes/dark content/dead dove subject matter isn't for everyone and i understand people's apprehension in regards to it. but with that being said, i will be moving forward with publishing darker content.

ੈ♡˳ so here's the writing update !

i did a poll asking y'all what kind of content you enjoy. a good chunk of people said long form fics (which is great, cause i do too !! mommy needs plot). so, i am migrating away from one shot writing. both because i've been thinking about it for awhile and because y'all are into longer stories, as well. but fear not, i will still write shorter stuff along with headcannons, drabbles, etc...it just won't be the main focus of my blog anymore.

ੈ♡˳ now, time for the big reveal ! perhaps it's a bit anticlimactic, but bear with me...

im so excited to announce that i have two new series coming ! it will be a dark, modern!au featuring choso (with a few other special guests) and a dead dove sukuna series.

i'm almost finished with the outlines, and have fully completed the theme layout + mood boards for both works. i hope to get the first few chapters wrapped up in the next couple weeks. if you want to be tagged in either of these (or both), just leave a comment or send me a message !

(also !! i may or may not be cooking up a dark medieval au series in collaboration with another writer on here...so be on the lookout for that hehe)

while i take breaks from writing my two series, i'll be working through my requests ! so if you've sent one in, i promise i will get to it, unless i literally cannot think of a good way to write it (im only human, im so sorry). also, im sure we already knew this, but im a slowww writer. i wish i could churn content out quick as fuck but i am too hypercritical of myself…it's both a blessing and a curse, honestly.

if you made it all the way to the end of this nightmare of a brain dump, i love you. if you've been with me for a while, i love you. if you're just now joining me, i love you. everyone who’s supported me in any way, shape, or form, i love you.

i present you with the sloppiest kiss with tongue (only if you want it, of course. i can also give you the tightest hug, the gentlest head pat, or my social security number...access to all my bank accounts? a mansion in the hills? my passport? hand in marriage? my first born child? literally whatever you want, babe).

okay !! i think that's all for the updates. feeling: very ambitious and motivated but also overwhelmed and mildly stressed but overall super excited for what's to come. im looking forward to this new adventure and i hope y'all come along with me ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

thank you again…for literally everything. yall hold a special place in my heart and always will. so, here we go !

see you on the other side, my loves.

— jade 𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

[thefirstknife]

I know it may not be the most popular of opinions, but for me the "hard reset" and lack of content would actually be the *appeal* of a Destiny 3. Give us a brand new major story arc, give us new characters (the old could feature but focus attention on new ones), have us create an entirely new Guardian--total reset. (They could have new races, too--playable Hive Guardians! Okay yes I just wanna have a playable Eliksni Guardian that would be so fun). Current D2 content is... Honestly kind of overwhelming. Sometimes. Fresh slate with less content that the build back up would appeal to me a lot. I know they're not interested in doing so at this time, and I respect their preference to keep supporting D2 instead (especially given how many players WOULD throw a fit over the hard reset and lack of content), but I've definitely put in a lot of thought to what a D3 would mean and the big "negatives" are huge draws for me. (Especially if they kept the D1 and D2 servers online so people would have all that content at the ready to go back and play)

I totally understand that! The concept of there being D3 is really interesting and I think it's really neat to talk about possibilities!

There's definitely some appeal in this for me as well, but I think that unfortunately most of the other issues would vastly overshadow this feeling of getting to start fresh. I'm not too bothered with a lack of content overall but I don't think a lot of people truly understand how much of a lack it would be. We're so used to so much stuff to the point of it being overwhelming, but a full restart would be quite the shock.

I think some middle ground would be nice, but even when they did that (in BL, after initial vaulting), people were.... very mad. A lot of people were fine as well, and it's hard to judge because of the very vocal fans and content creators, but to this day people are still seething about how "bad" BL was because of all the stuff that was removed, despite the fact that a lot of stuff was also added.

If you've not been there during release of D1 and D2, it's hard to really imagine what the game looked like and played like, but these are completely unimaginable differences. I can't speak for D1, but vanilla D2 in comparison with even just a year after is an entirely different game. Basically, it would be a gigantic risk to do this, on top of splitting the community, and hope that maybe this time around people will accept a lack of content with the promise that in a few years there will be more. On paper it sounds reasonable, because it is, but unfortunately gamers aren't reasonable. We're currently witnessing this as well with people absolutely losing their minds about the possibility that for the next year or two or whatever we'll have smaller updates. This is very strange coming from these people because if we truly want D3 and for it to launch better than vanilla D1 and vanilla D2, then we'd have to let the devs work on that for years and not be occupied making constant huge updates for D2. More under:

Also! I know we would all love other playable races and that's definitely a big dream, but it will never happen as long as there's pvp in the game. Because of the hitboxes in pvp. As in, if they made playable Eliksni and Hive, they would be bigger than normal Guardians and it would not be possible to integrate them into pvp because of the natural disadvantage of having a bigger hitbox. Maybe if they did it in a way that genuinely just did not allow them into pvp modes, but that would be strange. The hitbox issue would also be a problem elsewhere too, even in pve. This is the most basic problem with this idea and a very difficult one to solve when the game is a first person shooter at its core. Other playable characters would be such a cool thing in Destiny though.

In a way, a lot of what we want can be done in the current game if the devs had time to work on a lot of fundamental changes and updates to the base game. It's just really difficult to do. They would probably need a dedicated year or more to do this, during which we wouldn't be able to get many updates. And this is less requirements than making a new game from scratch and risk a lot in the process.

I'm also wondering if both D1 and D2 could be kept around if they added a D3 as well. I feel like one of the old games would probably be shut down. This is definitely not possible with the reduced workforce, so unless they expand the studio again in the future, I don't think, realistically, we could get any of the positives with D3.

It's a discussion worth having for sure. Unfortunately it's dominated by the weird gamer bros and I genuinely don't think they understand anything about video games. There's this idea that "D3 would fix everything" and I simply don't understand what they're talking about because the same people are also the ones crying about content droughts, sunsetting, hit-and-miss features and activities and so on. And launching a brand new game would contain absolutely everything these people complain about every day. I've seen them also saying stuff like "I'd be okay with D3 if they don't make us repeat collecting everything again." And like. That's exactly what will happen. Do they think items will just be in their vault? No, we'll have missions again to re-earn the same exotics for the 5th time, just spaced out by years and then they'll be mad about how nothing new is being made and they're just reusing assets or whatever.

They could always just do a complete and total fresh start: nothing old is ever returned. No armour, no weapons, nothing. But people underestimate how much they'd miss their old builds and old options, and how new ones might end up not clicking with them all that much, but this time they wouldn't have anything old to fall back to. You know when a new weapon or exotic armour releases and they're brand new concepts? And they end up not really being something you connect to? You try it out, go "eh" and return to your old stuff? Imagine that but without the ability to go back to the old stuff. The idea of it is is exciting, but in execution it doesn't really work most of the time.

There's a lot of interesting angles when considering a potential new game, but I feel like at the end of the day, it's too big of an endeavour with a lot of very real risks that makes the whole thing not worth the effort. If anything, to make D3 into this perfect dream game right from the start, they would 100% need to just work on that for the next 5 years and we'd have to accept even fewer updates (if any) to D2 in the meantime. Otherwise we'll be in the same situation as with D2 launch and I know a lot of people don't remember or weren't there, but vanilla D2 was actually for real a time when Destiny almost died.

It's definitely something cool to speculate about, I just wish the weird gamers out there weren't completely hijacking this option while also doing everything in their power to tell devs that they have zero patience to wait for a good product, and that they can't survive 3 days without new content. Because that's just reinforcing the inherent risks with making a new game, on top of all the other risks involved and the potential that people will just not be willing to move away from what they've been collecting for years.

[crescencestudio]

Devlog #35 | 09.26.23

Hi everyone!

Hope the beginning of Fall has been kind to you all <3 To be Frank, it has not been Kind to me LMFAO. But I'll get into that, so let's dive in yippee!

Before I do, someone liked this post recently, which was such a throwback. It was before the full demo was out and everything!! I was so young and full of life. I'm going to sprinkle some comparison shots of the new assets with the old ones to break up the text and also walk down memory lane with me! (Full GUI not shown as I'm still waiting on the assets)

Chapter Cards (Left: After | Right: Before)

The "Progress"

I'm going to structure this devlog a little differently from the usual template. The main reason being, for those of you who didn't see, I have not been feeling Myself recently.

This month I found myself all out of sorts. While I felt like I was making progress and doing so much everyday read: fighting for my life, when I looked back on things at the end of this month, I didn't feel like I really did much.

On a higher level, I finished fulfilling Kickstarter physical rewards, opened a Kofi shop of the remaining merch, edited Druk's route and continued writing Etza's route, updated assets and code for the updated demo, and then general commission stuff (BGs from Vui, soundtracks from Peter, etc.).

But overall, Alaris felt largely like it was kinda sitting at around the same spot as it did when I entered this month. Which made me a little sad! I had wanted to make So Much Progress on Alaris because next month I won't be able to work on it really. Then, I realized I haven't taken a break from game development since I started it two years ago HA!!!

The Real Progress

Development for me has been back-to-back. Chapter releases every 1-2 months during my first half year of development, Full Demo release shortly after, Kickstarter shortly after, Full Game Development shortly after. When I was feeling burnt out from Alaris, I made intertwine. Then I was Heavily Involved in the development of two games shortly after.

All of this on top of my IRL responsibilities, which include a job, PhD school, and well, functioning as a normal human occasionally.

And then here we are at the end of September 2023, and I'm wondering why even though I creatively want to work on Alaris, I find my brain literally just getting too tired to think.

Etza CG (Left: After | Right: Before)

I think ever since the Kickstarter, I've put a lot of pressure on myself to consistently put out LOTS of updates for each monthly devlog. I don't want people to think I'm not working on things or I'm not committed to delivering after giving me their hard earned money. But now, with two years under my belt, I'm realizing that is... HMM maybe too high of a standard to put on myself for my first game ever. There are many much more seasoned developers than me who don't put that pressure on themselves (which is Good and Healthy).

So this month, I debated scrounging around and gathering all my crumbs to give you all a devlog that you'll be satisfied with. But I decided ultimately that wouldn't be good for me and would honestly not be the most transparent way to present the current process of things.

And so. Here I am. Head in my Hands. Letting you all know that while I'm not "burnt out," I am.... only human LOL (one human at that). And so some months, like this one, will just not have much progress to report. Not because I'm not working on it or any other deeper reason. But because it's physically impossible and unreasonable for me to be continuously pushing out a steady stream of content.

In-Game Sprites & BGs (Left: After | Right: Before)

Next month, I'lll be taking a vacation. It's actually my first Big, Official one in a Long Time! I'm very excited for it. And while I did initially think about working on Alaris while I was traveling on trains or things like that, I decided to respect my own need to be a Human and just take a break for once in my life. I don't even want to say I Might work on things, because that sentiment alone will pressure me to make some progress. So yes. Next month, there will be no devlog or updates. But please rest assured, I am "working on Alaris" by letting myself just Exist and Rest Up!

Not an Alaris screenshot but it is market research that deserves to be included because I played House in Fata Morgana recently and it was Phenomenal!

Thank you all for understanding and your continued support. I'm extremely appreciative to have such a kind and patient community. Hope you all have a wonderful October filled with Fall Treats, and I'll see you in November! <3

[darklydeliciousdesires]

Sky Full of Stars - Chapter Sixteen.

They're back, besties! I know people still have to catch up, but I can't hold it back any longer as it isn't fair to those who are up to date and waiting for new updates. I hope those who need to get caught up are able to do so soon and continue enjoying the story :)

Previous chapters - One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Eleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen

Tag list - In the comments

Words - 3,542

Warnings - 18+ content throughout. Minors DNI!

It had taken a little jostling, but prior to their arrival in Vienna, Jade had also managed to secure two other guests for their tour of the Spanish Riding School, Jess and Sunni accompanying them, too. Jess had only discovered a love of horses in recent years, Jade’s estate manager Bob giving her lessons whenever she visited, as well as taking them back home whenever her schedule allowed. Sunni could appreciate beautiful horses as much as the next person, but exquisite architecture was where it lay for him, delaying his flight back to London in order to spend a little more time in Europe.  

To say the surroundings were exquisite was putting it mildly, though. The school itself looked more like a palace, the four of them marvelling at the stunning elegance of the building as their guide, a man named Georg, greeted them outside, shaking everyone’s hand and welcoming them to the school. 

The inside was mind blowing, from the beautiful arena the horses were exercised in right down to the immaculate stable blocks the magical looking, pure white steeds were cared for within, Georg proudly explaining the history as they walked from place to place.  

“I would like you to meet Mia, Mrs. Brody. This is who you shall be riding today. She was recently brought up from our stud in the village of Piber, where all our horses come from,” he explained, smiling as Jade reached to stroke her muzzle. 

“Please do call me Jade, Georg,” she began, the man nodding. “Oh, she’s absolutely beautiful. How old is she? And why is she used in the school when historically, you guys only use stallions?” 

“She has just turned six and is showing great promise. She is here on a special exception. I will have her prepared for you, if you would like to wait at the top of the block, then Wolfgang will show you to the entrance of the school where you may join in on the exercise.” 

At knowing she would be coming there prior to the tour’s commence, she’d brought with her jodhpurs, her riding hat and boots, waiting for Mia to be brought up with her while her husband and friends were shown to the seating area at the top of the arena. She was a little nervous, riding such a young horse and knowing of the complications that came with that, also feeling a little inferior to the other riders there. 

“Do not worry, miss. She is like a lamb,” Wolfgang told her, giving her a leg up into the saddle, Jade adjusting her stirrups and tightening the girth buckles beneath the saddle flap before moving her forward, the kindly stable groom holding the entrance doors open. There she was, the girl from Tottenham, riding a purebred Lipizzaner mare into the most famous riding school in the world. 

How was this her life? 

“Guten tag, Frau Brody.” A few of the other riders greeted her with as they trotted past, all nodding politely as their steeds looked like they were floating on air. Letting Mia walk a little while, she then gathered her reins, nudging her heels into her sides, the horse moving on into a gentle trot. She soon realised she needn’t have worried, and that Wolfgang had been entirely correct; Mia was an absolute lamb, so flawlessly well mannered, doing everything Jade gave her the instruction to do immediately.  

A photographer from the school followed her progress around the arena, taking pictures, a few of the other riders pausing to watch. They hadn’t actually expected the famous musician and actress visiting them to know what she was doing. While she wasn’t a patch on their status, she managed to work Mia through collected and extended trot and canter, passage, lateral movements in both trot and canter, and much to Jade’s delight, a few flying changes. This was the movement where the horse was asked to change its leading leg in the pace of canter, making them look to almost be skipping.  

“I’ve never done these successfully before!” she squeaked while passing her little group, all of them clapping, Adrien in particular beaming with pride as he watched his wife enjoying herself. She spent a further twenty minutes having the time of her life, the instructor giving her some guidance and pointers before she rode over to the corner, beaming brightly. 

“So, you like her, then?” Adrien asked, shaking a little look with Georg. 

“Like her? Honey, I am in bloody love with her! She’s like riding a cloud! She’s such a good girl, too, she just wants to please and work with her rider, never against. Wow. Really, she’s amazing,” she spoke, in part to Georg too, who nodded graciously.  

“Well, that’s good,” her husband chirped, “because she’s yours.”  

Her mouth fell open, a hand rapidly clasped over it, eyes almost falling out into the soft sand beneath Mia’s hooves. “You did not.” Further stunned silence. “You did not buy her!”   

He couldn’t have felt more entertained by her reaction if he’d tried. “I did. Told you you’d have to wait a while longer for your birthday present.”  

“Stop it!” 

He laughed, reaching to stroke Mia’s face, receiving a friendly shove from the horse. “Nope. I have to arrange everything, but tentatively we’re looking at her landing at JFK on July 18th, once we’re back from work.” 

“Are you actually serious?”  

She was so cute when she was dumbfounded. “I am. She’s all yours, baby love.”  

Predictably, Jade burst into tears at hearing that, unable to believe her husband had planned all of this without her knowing. “Stop it!” 

Everyone was in mild fits at her shock, Adrien reaching for her hand. “Go on, you go show off on your new horse a little longer, since you have to wait a while for her to come home.” 

“I love you so much! I just... and I can’t... I wondered why she was being used in the school! She isn’t, is she?”  

Not much got past Jade, Georg filling her in. “No, I had to tell a little lie. She has been backed at the stud and trained, but never used in the school. She was only brought up here for you, because your husband pulled a hell of a lot of strings so you would be able to say you had once ridden your own horse here.” 

Her lip wobbled, looking to Adrien again, in utter disbelief that had Jess and Sunni in soft hysterics at her cuteness. “I love you so much!”  

“Love you too, Moo. Go on, get outta here.” She was still wide eyed as she gathered the reins, drying her eyes as she rode off, Adrien chuckling as he leaned to Sunni. “Am I out of my damned mind for dropping fourteen and a half grand on a horse?”  

“Insane, mate,” he confirmed, nodding in the direction Jade had ridden off in, “but look how bloody happy she looks, eh?” 

“This is the most relaxed I’ve seen her look in months,” he replied, looking to his side to where Jess was dabbing her eyes with a tissue, thrilled for her friend. 

“Why can’t you have a fucking brother, damnit? Mr freakin’ perfect over here!”  

He threw his head back, laughing softly, wrapping an arm around her. “I’m far from it. I just pay attention when she tells me things, and I always remembered her telling me that it was her dream to ride here. Thought I’d buy her the horse while we were here, too.” 

In truth, it hadn’t been him alone. He’d employed the services of Bob, flying him out to Austria a few weeks prior to he could take a look at Mia himself and ride her, make sure she was a suitable purchase for Jade before he spent that many thousands on the mare. Bob had confirmed she was perfect, telling him there was no way Jade wouldn’t love her. 

After her ride, Jade took her back to the stable block, spending time making a huge fuss of her in her stable, stroking the grey dapples upon her coat. She also snapped plenty of pictures on her phone, hardly able to believe she actually owned a horse so beautiful and well mannered.  

“How come she’s part grey, when all the others are white?” Adrien asked, Mia softly mouthing the palm of his hand as he stroked her muzzle.  

“They’re born dark and become whiter the older they get. She’ll probably lose her grey entirely in about three years,” she confirmed, patting her thick neck. “I can’t wait to have you home, sweetheart. Just you wait and see how much grazing land you’ll have, yes! I’ll have to sort out paddocks for you, buy you a friend, too. And organise having stables built, yes I will, baby girl.” 

“No, you don’t,” he spoke, winking. “Already arranged. They’re being built currently, and the paddocks have been marked out. Bob emailed me a list of everything I needed to get done, so there’s a three stable block going in with a feed store and tack room, a small washroom, and three paddocks so you can rotate them to rest the pasture, I think he said. I dunno. It all goes right over my head.”  

Jade could barely believe what he’d gifted her, giving Mia a big hug around her neck and kissing her soft face a few times before she exited the stable, lavishing affection on her husband. “You’re entirely too good to me, Bug. What did I ever do to deserve all this?” 

He looked thoughtful for a second. “Well, you do give real good blowjobs.” Her eye roll had him in soft fits, Adrien kissing her head before they walked back down the to meet the others at the entrance. “Making me happier than I’ve ever been before is what you did, baby love.”  

By the time they arrived home, the contractors working on the small stable block had it all finished, its location off to the side of the garden, so the horses could be seen from the house. The paddocks were in the process of being sectioned off, all white railed fencing. Whistling for their dogs, she headed back down and into the kitchen, putting on a pot of very strong coffee, determined to fight the jetlag and get back on US time. 

“Fucking hell, how much mail?” she cried, seeing Adrien upend a cardboard box full of it onto the island, one he’d driven back up the long drive to collect once he’d seen just how stuffed the front gate mailbox was. 

“About three trees’ worth.” he snorted, taking a seat and beginning to sort through. Some were event invitation cards, some were for Jade, some circulars, but the rest were all handwritten envelopes, the same writing appearing upon each. He knew before he even opened the first one who they were from.  

It had always been common knowledge that he resided at Stone Barn Castle, the address easily found on Google. He’d had a few fans write to him from time to time, but this was next level. This? It was harassment via mail. It made him feel uncomfortable, to have some small part of Serena right there in his kitchen, in the home that was a private sanctuary away from everything for him and his wife. 

They sat and opened up every letter, eighty-three of them in total, sent from various places across Europe and some from within New York, too.  

“Here, put them all back in here. I’ll call my lawyer in the morning, see if this as well as her following us for the last three months is enough to constitute harassment. I remember reading something once about stalking, there being some law decreeing that you could only obtain a restraining order if the stalker in question had damaged any of your property, or made direct threats of harm,” he sighed, combing his fingers through his hair as his shoulders sagged, his mouth tightening. “Fucking deranged bitch. I know she can’t help it, but still.”  

“Well, we only have a few days and we’re out of here again, to a place we know she isn’t going to follow us.” Neither could wait for the break, Jade tired from tour, looking forward to two weeks in the sun with her husband and friends. The following day, they found out that the set of friends joining them had suffered a last-minute alteration, though, Katie calling her to say that she and Charlotte lamentably had to pull out last on account of the fact Charlotte’s father had been hospitalised following a massive heart attack.  

It was shocking news, Jade knowing how dedicated to his fitness Mike was, asking to send her love to the family, her heart going out to Charlotte as well as her mum, Paula. Instead, the two last minute guests taking their place would be Jess and Jen. Adrien reacted exactly how he thought she would.  

“I cannot get away from that woman’s loudness ever, can I? I might as well be married to her as well,” he complained in joke, pinching her arm playfully. “No, you know I love Jen to death.” And he did.  

“Then if that’s the case, why do you still look pensive?” she asked, Adrien busying himself with his continued grooming of Atlas, who was the only dog out of the four who actually sat still for the procedure.  

He took a breath, eyebrows drawing up. “Because while you were on the phone with Katie, I called my lawyer for some advice. I was right, there isn’t anything they can do unless Serena poses a risk to harm or has damaged property. Until then, she’s simply classed as a nuisance.” 

“That’s so fucking messed up!” she cried, groaning low in her throat as her lips tightened. “For fucks sake, it shouldn’t even come to that!” 

“Honey, I know. You’ve no need to yell at me,” he told her, Jade quick to soften. 

“No, no I’m not yelling at you, baby. I’m just angry at the situation. I mean, we can at least put somewhat of a buffer between us. Our property is remote and secure as hell, we can employ bodyguards, but what about when this happens to people who don’t have our financial means to do this? Aside from that, can’t they see how stressful it is to deal with?” Pacing, she began to chew her thumb, her mind turning. “I think Jen might’ve been onto something, you know, when she suggested emailing her father.”  

Finishing his grooming endeavours, he rewarded Atlas with a treat, stroking the floppy ears of the huge dog. “I think in lieu of not being able to do anything official, that’s actually a pretty good idea. Do you wanna do it? You’re better with words than I am.”  

“I was going to call his offices, see if I can speak to him personally rather than email. How lucky I’ll be in getting hold him, I don’t know. These financiers are busy people.”  

Indeed, he was, too. Jade called the offices of Reid and Vogel, asking to speak with Jonathan Reid personally, his secretary politely advising he was in meetings until the late afternoon and asking the nature of the call. She wanted to remain discreet for his sake, giving no further details than it being a family matter, leaving her name and number. 

“Oh, my goodness!” the secretary exclaimed, “I loved you in The Conversation!”  

Jade thanked her, the secretary going on to say that it might be the following morning when he managed to return her call, on account of how rammed his day was with appointments. It was while she was packing at just coming up to five that her phone began to ring, Jade moving a snoozing Groucho from where he lay on the bed, retrieving her iPhone from beneath the swathe of Red Setter fur concealing it.  

“Mrs. Brody? Jonathan Reid, returning your call. I appreciate you being discreet when leaving your message, by the way, although I am more than aware of the reason you called.” 

“Well, that clears up a long explanation. Please, call me Jade, too,” she insisted. 

“Yes, and in turn you call me Jonathan. Listen, I completely sympathise with you, over what my daughter is doing. My wife and I, we’ve been trying for weeks to get her to return to the US, but she’s evading us. Serena, she has a history of this, these little obsessions that go a bit too far, but never has she taken this kind of harmful interest in someone before where she’s invested quite so much gusto in unrequited pursuit. Let me make that clear.  

“We know that she needs help, though, and we are endeavouring to get it for her. Currently, we do not know where she is. I have had people check her apartment, I’ve gone there myself, too. She isn’t home, nor is she answering our calls. I am trying not to involve the police, you must understand as her father I want to protect her, Jade. I do very much see what she is doing to you and your husband is unacceptable, though. I think one thing that will help is putting a cap on her spending, limiting her access to the kind of cash it takes to be able to follow you,” he explained at length, Jade sitting down at the side of her suitcase, scratching Groucho’s ears as she listened. 

She hadn’t actually thought for one second that her parents were trying to intervene, feeling a little guilty for assuming the worst about them after hearing his explanation. “I appreciate your efforts so far, Jonathan, I truly do.” 

“I will stay in touch with you, please do keep notes of any other attempts of her interference in your life for me. I want a clear record of it for when we finally manage to locate her and send her back into treatment for this. We are going to have to be much tougher, have somebody watch over her once she has spent some time in a facility, make sure she is attending her therapy and taking her meds. I very much doubt either are happening for her to have slipped to this degree. I apologise profusely to you and your husband, I really do.”  

Ending the call, she went downstairs and relayed it to Adrien, both feeling a little weight lifted from them thanks to Jonathan’s understanding and no-nonsense co-operation.  

“Let’s just hope that by the time we’re home again, she’s been found. At least her family have actually been trying, which is better than her being in the wind with nobody attempting to get her behaviour under control.” 

With that, they had little left in the way of worry, casting the whole debacle to the back of their mind, arriving in Turks and Caicos that coming Sunday morning, Jade freshly freaked out after the flight on the tiny plane to reach the islands. They were greeted at the private villa they’d booked for the two weeks by a member of staff, deciding to push the boat out and have housekeeping and a chef, Jade taking one of the cocktails held out towards her and glugging it back, calming her nerves.  

“I don’t like the little plane!” she spoke in way of explanation for chugging half of it down. “God, that’s got a lot of rum in it.” 

“Many people do not like it; it is not a pleasant flight no matter how short. I am Jackson, by the way. It is lovely to meet you. If you need anything, please, you have only to ask.”  

Being the first ones there, but unfussy where it came to dwellings, they chose the room that had a bathtub in it since Jade enjoyed a long soak, their luggage brought up. Being the first to arrive also had other advantages, too, Jade shutting the door before dropping her dress and sauntering over to Adrien. 

“Sit on the bed,” she instructed, watching his eyebrow arch. 

“Oh, so it’s that kinda mood you’re in, hmm?” 

Her fingers moved to the buttons of his shirt, undoing each, pushing it from him as she walked him backwards in the direction of the bed. “Yes, it is. And you’ll do as you’re told.”  

Those words acted so potently that by the time she reached to squeeze his cock, it was rapidly beginning to harden, her teeth prickling in a bite upon his nipple only adding to it. Pushing him down to sit on the end of the bed, she climbed astride him, enjoying the feel of his mouth gliding all over her chest, leaving a trail of hungry kisses, his hands stroking up and down her back.  

“Mmm, I love that so much, the feeling of your hands all over me,” she purred, her own gliding down the lean muscles of his upper arms. “I’d better enjoy it while I can, before I cuff you and then ride you so fucking well, you won’t be able to calm down.” 

His brain went to static in an instant. A state he felt it’d likely remain, too.