creatrix-codex

[rey-129-fan]

Well, it's been a while since I've posted any fanfic... Let's change that.

Good news! I'm not dead! My brain did try to get me to do things that could unalive myself for a bit, and then I lost nearly an entire side of my family over the span of 3 years, but I'm still here and still kicking! And I have two new puppies who are adorable and so loving.

Now for this story, this is inspired by a few posts I saw on @theglamorousferal, mostly the one about Amity Parkers going to college in Gotham and buying a hotel (I'm making it a co-op student house, but I've never lived in one, so if something's unacceptably wrong, tell me, if not, artistic license), but also the one where our main Trio buy a building to set up shop there, and wind up adopted my Jason (I swear, I saw that post after I wrote the first chapter, but it just fit so well).

***

Honestly, Amity Park was weird long before the Fentons moved there- the original settlers named the nearby lake Eerie, and it wasn’t after the Great Lake.  It’s just that before the Fentons’ machine punched a hole through reality and created a permanent doorway to the land of spirits and ghosts, the weirdness was not as blatant.

Prior to that, Amity Parkers were some of the few that could move to Gotham without suffering a breakdown that was common for new arrivals.  Now there was a slight dip in newcomers for about a decade or two after the Bat made his debut and then the crazies that followed him, but then Amity Parkers got used to the spirits of the dead wandering around following the aforementioned punching through reality.

All this to say that Gotham Universities were a rather common destination for young Amity Park adults seeking higher education.

Now because of this, there were always apartments advertising themselves for people from the small town.  They, after all, tended to not have a breakdown after their fifth rogue attack and just pack up and leave halfway through their lease.  But it got very annoying having to sift through all the advertisements when looking for a place to stay- something Danny Fenton saw his older sister go through when she got in to Gotham City University.  The boy then shared what he was witnessing with his two best friends- Tucker Foley and Sam Manson.  Tucker offered to help filter out the spam, which Danny’s sister Jazz thanked him for but turned down.  Sam… Sam instead got thinking.

Sam had been to Gotham a few times in her life.  She had an idea of the areas closest to the schools and how much those should cost.  And looking at the letters Jazz was getting, the offers were a little too high for a regular college student to afford.  Sam was also familiar with how many hotels were not being used in Gotham- people building them in hopes tourists would come to stay while visiting the East Coast, tourists that could not be convinced to visit due to the high crime rate and the lack of activities or places of interest in the city itself.

She quickly went to work, looking in to these empty hotels.  She was rather upset by their numbers and put together a spreadsheet of them, with details like number of rooms, any amenities they may have, and nearby landmarks.  She then grabbed her two dorks and marched to Casper High’s Community Outreach director.

Now Sam’s presentation raised a few eyebrows, mostly because it was in a completely different state, but Sam shot back that because of the efforts to incorporate the town’s new ghostly residents and provide them with helpful ways to feed their obsessions- efforts led by the Fenton family- Amity Park had very few homeless, and those that were had a huge community safety net to help them get back on their feet.  Additionally, with how many people moved between the city and the town, helping the city could be argued to also be helping the town.

The Outreach Director just sighed and gave Same the green light to at least draft and send out a proposal to the powers that be in Gotham, saying that there wasn’t much that could be done before they got backing and approval.  Sam thanked them before leaving, Danny and Tucker trailing behind.

She was back the next day with a draft of her proposal and a list of who to send it to.

***

Since returning from the dead in the eyes of the public, Jason Todd was often contacted by groups trying to use the Wayne fortune to fund their own personal projects.  They thought Jason would be the easiest to con- sorry, persuade- since he was a former street kid unlike the rest of his family.  Thus surely he would know just how much this new building with low income housing would help the people of Gotham- it even came with a pool and gym!

Yeah, he did know how much the people of Gotham needed housing, but $2K a month was not affordable when you’re barely making $30K a year!  Oh and the pool and gym were only available for those who could shell out an additional $2K a month.  Jason knows, he read the whole document carefully.

God, sometimes it was hard to tell who was worse, the psychos in Blackgate or real estate investors.  And sadly, he couldn’t just pop a bullet in their heads and be done with it because 1) it would raise too many questions and 2) it would make Bruce get all sad and mopey- again.  Jason just did not have the mental energy to put up with that on top of the rest of his life as a crimelord/vigilante/long-lost adoptive second son of a billionaire.

All this to say, he was not impressed when he first glanced over a proposal to convert the unused hotels around the city into housing units- especially since it was from someone that did not live in Gotham.

Manson?  Wasn’t there a family with that name that would attend some of Brucie’s galas?  Oh yeah, their family made its fortune off patenting the machine that wrapped toothpicks in plastic, as well as a couple others.  And they had a daughter around Repla- Tim’s age.  Hopefully this wasn’t her trying to be a kiss-ass like her parents.

Jason finished reading and sat back.  The proposal wasn’t too bad.  Converting hotels into apartment buildings would be easier than office buildings, and the suggestion to use ex-convicts that wanted to turn over a new leaf as building managers certainly wasn’t the worst.  Also creating a fund for those that couldn’t afford rent, as well as community kitchens and gardens were certain plusses, though would need to have the right people in charge to make sure they actually worked as planned, and to keep the Court of Owls from messing with it.

Overall, it was something Jason would consider, after some research and maybe talking with the rest of the Bats and Birds.  And if this was from the Manson kid, maybe get Dickie or one of the others to talk to her next time there was a gala in town.  Or talk to her himself, if the Pit wasn’t too loud.

…Dick was probably the better option to talk with her if it came down to it.

***

There's the first chapter. I'm going to go write the next one. When I have a good log of them, I'll then go and edit them and put them on AO3.

This has no title yet because I suck at naming. Feel free to comment with suggestions for a name, both for the fic/au and for the eventual hotel/co op. As well as any shinanegans and majors/colleges/universities for our liminal young adults.

Part 1/? Next >

[rogueddie]

Different Time AU, Steddie Fics

Important: READ THE TAGS! Also, leave a comment and kudos! These fics are amazing and I love them and I hope y'all do too 🕓

I'm a Fool to Want You

senoritablack

Steve Harrington is a regular at Valentine’s, a word-of-mouth, traveling party for queers. As a hard-knocked detective in a town meant to kill you slowly, he’s not meaning to be anything but drunk at tonight’s shindig. Somehow, with the help of a gorgeous pianist, he finds himself in love.

Words : 7,755 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

( Set in the 1940s )

Don't threaten me with a good time

QueenOfSwords1312

No sooner is Eddie through the door, bottle in hand, than he’s being swept up in someone’s arms and pressed back against a wall. He blinks a few times to steady his vision after the near-whiplash move and comes face-to-face with Coriolanus himself, Steve Harrington. He’s got one hand on Eddie’s waist and the other has smoothly made its way into Eddie’s hair at the back of his head. And Eddie’s still clutching the damn wine bottle neck so he only has one free hand to grasp at Steve’s sweater.

The last time Eddie had seen the beautiful man, he’d been on stage, covered in fake blood and waxing poetic about all the bad decisions he made in his life to land him where he was. Which was hot , if a bit sad, but definitely fucking hot.

“You’re—” Eddie starts, but Steve cuts him off.

“Gonna kiss you now, if that’s alright,” Steve says, already staring at Eddie’s mouth.

Words : 7,496 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

( Modern au )

What Do You Want?

Sharpbutsoft (BuckysButt)

He hears the clink of glass pearls first, then feels a bare arm pressed alongside his own, warm through his thin cotton shirt.

“You here alone, handsome?” asks a low, husky voice, right into his ear. Steve turns to see the most beautiful person on whom he’s ever laid eyes.

Tall, with long, dark hair and darker eyes. A gash of red lipstick on her full lips, a stylish fringed dress and a strings of pearls hanging off her boyish frame.

Words : 1,543 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

( The whole series is great, and it is also written / co-written by dodger_chan. Set in the 1920s. )

May I Have This Dance?

sky_neverending

Steve attends a masquerade with Robin, and ends up meeting a handsome stranger who awakens a new feeling.

Words : 3,162 Chapters : 2/2 Rating : Teen And Up Audiences

AO3 : x

( Set in the 1800s )

Moments can be Monuments to You, if Your Life is Interesting and True

DiscoSuperFly

Working 911 dispatch in a small town is equal parts stressful and rewarding. Steve likes to think he's making a difference.

Eddie quietly returns to Hawkins and is surprised by everyone who chose to stay.

Why would a golden boy like Steve Harrington stick around in this dead end town?

Words : 58,749 Chapters : 7/7 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

( Set in the 90s )

Betting On Your Name

FIick

“But I don’t want her Eddie!” The prince throws his hands up. “Why can’t my father see there are other candidates who are closer to me, right here at home!”

“Who do you want then?” Eddie asks his breath catching in his throat, his hands itching to reach out and reassure. This is a dangerous game. Far more so than a silly childhood bet. It’s a very easy thing to say he’ll give Prince Steve the air from his lungs, and another entirely to do so.

Words : 4,533 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : General Audiences

AO3 : x

( Medieval au )

the devil’s camaro (please don’t remember me, it’s only 1993)

roosterroo

It’s 1993. Eddie works at his local garage after serving time for a drug charge in high school. There he meets Steve, a typical well to do suburban dad type, who turns everything Eddie believes on his head. And he’s married- but also flirting with him?

Words : 32,798 Chapters : 6/6 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

Here is the Repeated Image of the Lover Destroyed

stevefuckingharrington

He could feel the warm, wet red of his blood slipping down over his fingers and dripping onto the forest floor. He had been stabbed before of course - it came as part of the job - but never quite like this. He could feel himself dying, his life slipping through his own weak grasp.

It was no longer a case of ‘if’, but ‘when’.

Words : 1,744 Chapters : 1/1 Rating : Mature

AO3 : x

( Medieval au )

Blood 🩸 & Caffeine ☕

Witch_Weakly

Eddie's got a little vampire...problem. You see, he normally feeds once a month from the blood bank at the hospital where he works. And that's normally fine. The blood provides him with life for a few days - breathing, hunger for real food, a healthy sex drive. And then that fades away, replaced by a mild bloodlust that gets stronger until he finally needs to feed again. This cycle is fine as long as he doesn't go too long. As long as he feeds before he gets so numb and so hungry that he loses himself. Except one day, that's exactly what happens. And it's only been a few weeks since his last feeding. Way too soon. In a panic, he feeds early and now needs silly human things like sleep during his scheduled night shift. Guess it's time for a trip down to the coffee shop. But on top of meeting a hot barista, Eddie finds that his little problem is only getting worse.

Words : 17,756 Chapters : 9/9 Rating : Explicit

AO3 : x

( Modern AU )

[sleepymccoy]

Fuck it, Ive found myself googling topics to start a fight again cos I'm trying to write spones, so I'm creating a list for myself here. If you have suggestions please feel free to add them. You are also welcome to use this as a prompt, although I don't know if it'll really help

These are mostly nicked from other lists, so hey may need tweaking to be more star trek sci fi in vibe. But I think they suit the sort of fights they have. Entertainingly, many of the questions on these lists have already been addressed my star trek. Like, I'm not going to go into eugenics here. They have a whole arc in tos where everyone expresses their opinions on eugenics (against) (the Khan stuff). So like, those aren't included! Or questions about ubi, trek world is a successful communist, they're all pro ubi.

Anyway. I've tried to hash it down to topics where I can easily see either how they disagree, or I can see how they agree but for different reasons. And, as this is for me, I might even include some of those details too!

Is technology making us more or less connected?

Could argue either way. McCoy's only contact with his kid is via tech, so he could be in favour. Same with Spock, but I think vulcans have a lot of physical cultural stuff that form part of gathering that (American) humans don't as much. Like, incense and how the planet is a different temp to the ship. So, maybe Spock is really feeling how tech is a shadow of the real thing more.

OR

McCoy hates and is unimpresssed by tech, and just wants to be home. Spock is perfectly happy with the perfunctory contact w his parents.

Is censorship ever acceptable in art and media?

This one is fun cos you can world build a bit with the premise. What's the art and media? I think McCoy has one of those inspected opinions, he's against censorship until you start listing terrible things then he gets annoyed cos he kind of agrees with a little bit of censorship. He doesn't think dead bodies should be shown on billboards across from schools. But he says, when asked, that he's against any censorship.

I think Vulcan has censored pre reform stuff from society quite a lot. And Spock's opinion on this is a real character choice you can make, does he agree people should only find out about history in university when you're spoon fed it kindly enough? Or does he think everyone should know?

Should we prioritize space exploration or focus on fixing problems on Earth?

This one is hilarious to me, cos they both work exploring space. But I think McCoy could get worked up over the focus and energy being on new space stuff if they're leaving hungry children behind, you know. I think Spock leans bigger picture

Is traditional marriage still relevant in modern society?

Ha! Have a great time! They'll be so off topic within a minute and just discussing their personal life that their opinion doesn't bloody matter

Is privacy more important than national security?

I think Spock is more into privacy then McCoy. Can't put my finger on why, I might come back to this

How can a good diet be used to control certain diseases?

I think the groundwork of this argument is that McCoy is having a go at Spock being vegetarian. So they're discussing broadly, but McCoy keeps slipping in how great meat is lol

Is it better to live in a big city or a small town?

Spock likes cities! McCoy likes small towns! This can devolve into a squabble about feudalism if you want to go crazy

Animal zoos: are they morally acceptable?

This is good worldbuilding too, zoos would be more rehab centres now. But Spock likes to have a go at old earth practices too just to see McCoy go red

Is online learning as effective as traditional in-person learning?

I reckon Spock likes online learning. The little freak

Is online dating more effective than traditional dating?

Heheheheheheh make them fight about dating. Make them list their favourite types of dates in an aggressive way. Heheheh

[tjalexandernyc]

My third novel, SECOND CHANCES IN NEW PORT STEPHEN, is out Dec 5! Thought I'd tell you about it now.

If you're already familiar with My Brand (trans and nonbinary contemporary romance) you'll dig this one! It's not in the same series as Chef's Kiss and Chef's Choice, so no need to read my previous stuff if you haven't gotten around to it, but in my head all these stories exist in the same universe.

I'm really, really fond of this book. I'm fond of all my book children, but this is the first book I've written where I felt like I was working WITH these characters instead of controlling them. Nick (the hot single dad) and Eli (the failed comedian who returns home) are my co-workers, not my kids, if that makes any sense. I used to think every story ever told could be put into one of two categories: 1) a stranger comes to town or 2) our hero journeys to an unknown land. This book is neither and I think I've grown as a writer because of it. It's also my first book that switches POV (third person) because, for this story, it was important to me to give both these guys equal weight in telling their side. There's a lot happening here: home, family, getting older, reckoning with your past. But at its core it's about two very silly dudes who still love each other after all this time.

Anyway, here's what the back of the books says!

Synopsis:

Eli Ward hasn’t been back to his suffocating hometown of New Port Stephen, Florida, in ages. Post-transition and sober, he’s a completely different person from the one who left years ago. But when a scandal threatens his career as a TV writer and comedian, he has no choice but to return home for the holidays. He can only hope he’ll survive his boisterous, loving, but often misguided family and hide the fact that his dream of comedy success has become a nightmare.

Just when he thinks this trip couldn’t get any worse, Eli bumps into his high school ex, Nick Wu, who’s somehow hotter than ever. Divorced and in his forties, Nick’s world revolves around his father, his daughter, and his job. But even a busy life can’t keep him from being intrigued by the reappearance of Eli.

Against the backdrop of one weird Floridian Christmas, the two must decide whether to leave the past in the past…or move on together.

You can preorder here. I hope you will! Thanks, and I love you.

[inferrnos]

i'm just working on drafts but would love to get some threads going with the muses under the cut (30+ muses) so like if you want a starter? probably based on a song !

son younghee / lee chung ah fc - contract divorcee. married a man when she was twenty one for a family deal without knowing she had been promised to the other family for fifteen years. had to stay married for that amount of time and bear an heir for the family, then was free to go back to her family with a hefty settlement. took the money and fled her hometown to start again on her own with the inheritence from her contract.  ( she / her, bisexual. )

orla moore / nicola coughlan fc. sweetest nursery teacher you could ever meet. always wanted kids but never met that person to grown a family with, so turned to her love as a career. the most loved nursery teacher at the school she works for and has been there for years with no real plans of moving on or leaving any time soon.   ( she / her, bisexual. ) 

jemma chisaka / rina sawayama fc. home & lifestyle blogger. got an itch to become a blogger at the height of beauty influencers on youtube, but wanted to do something a little bit different. after buying her first apartment, she documented the transformation into her dream place and it went viral somehow. known for her kitschy style, she’s now documenting her noew home that she bought recently. ( she / her, bisexual. ) 

archer cunningham - luke newton fc. happy-go-lucky breakfast tv host with a few scandals pooling around in his private life. on camera he’s a very bubbly and ‘innocent’ looking man whereas his personal life is far different. has to play the part to keep his role on the breakfast show he co-hosts but likes getting up to mischief when the cameras are not on.   ( he / him, heterosexual. ) 

kieran myung / wi hajoon fc. late night radio presenter. monday - friday midnight advice is the show that he has been doing for the last three years. felt like he was really making a difference for his small town somehow despite the advice he gives could be for per-petulant teenagers that couldn’t ask their parents.   ( he / him, heterosexual. ) 

marcus eze / damon idris fc. headstrong club owner. father has been in the business for a good twenty years and gifted marcus his first club to run the moment he turned twenty one. marcus himself as turned it into an empire, clubs opening up in every town near his original one. wasn’t sure how he grew his business but it helped that he learned everything from his father.   ( he / him, heterosexual. ) 

dakota oh / d.o fc, scam artist. in and out of crappy jobs all his teenage years just to scrape by and keep himself afloat. upon someone trying to scam him for money, elijah realised how easy it could be and how much better he could do it. turning to a fake psychic scam, elijah now is known as one of the ‘top’ in the game and has a team to help him pull it off from research to special effects while customers are in the room.   ( he / him, heterosexual. )

sebastian greenwood / jonathan bailey fc, family antique store owner. lost his father recently which meant he took over the family business and is just trying to figure his life out, despite being 30+. always made excuses for himself and why he never had a plan, but now has no choice but to be a business owner and figure out how to keep the family business a float.   ( he / him, heterosexual. ) 

leon diep / keshi fc, tattoo artist. the most requested artist in the shop he works in purely because he is so chatty and friendly. most people don’t think so when they first meet him, but completely opens up. life of the party and class clown.   ( he / him, heterosexual. ) 

colton im / byun baekhyun fc, club owner. im family were big in the club and bar scene, colton’s father getting him ready for the majority of his life to hand him a club to run in the family name. he was only twenty one when he was given the club, his father guiding him through everything to make sure it was successful. colton’s father always kept a watchful eye over him, despite him trusting him. he just wanted to make sure colton knew what he was doing but he knew he was always lingering.   ( he / him, heterosexual. ) 

[maladaptive-jcb]

Chapter 9: Don't Bid Me Farewell

Jamie x female!reader

(fluff, safe for under 18)

Click here for chapter 8 if you missed it

Summary: Reader is an independent artist who lives on her own in a small town and meets Jamie, a musician, in an art studio where their budding relationship formed through shared interests of different forms of art.

Warning: There will be talks about trauma and PTSD from sexual assault, domestic abuse and dissociative episodes throughout the story.

"Do you really have to go?" Jamie's cupping my hand and can't seem to stop himself from kissing it. We're parked in front of my apartment now and my heart feels so heavy to leave him once again. It doesn't matter if I'll see him again soon. I just know the second he's out of my eyesight, I'll be missing him again.

"Adrian's gonna kill me if no one is helping him today."

"Well, I very much would like to see you alive so I'll let you go... for now," Jamie gives a playful pout.

I reach out my hand towards his face, he gently leans towards it.

"Don't be so dramatic, Jamie."

A laugh escapes from his mouth. As he settles down, he reaches out to my face and leans in to kiss me again. Our lips meet, pressing onto each other with each sensation from Jamie stimulating the passion between us, lingering even longer.

"I'm gonna do that a lot more from now on, you know?" He whispers through his breath.

"I know you will," our foreheads closer now. With a heavy heart, I grab my bag and step out of the car.

"I'll call you tonight," he says.

"I'll wait."

I wave as he drives away.

There he goes.

_____

"Oh, Y/n come on!! How many years have we known each other? Just tell me. I saw how you two looked at each other. Tell me everything! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me-"

"Alright, Adrian god. Sit down," I shake my head and chuckle at Adrian's attempt to persuade me to spill everything about Jamie.

Like a little puppy wanting to get a treat, he immediately does as he told. He rubs his hands together and takes a chair.

I finally told Adrian everything. From the cafe meet up, the restaurant dinner and all the way about Jamie and I kissing for the first time. Adrian listens with a careful attention, his eyes widening in excitement and interest as I recount every detail of my connection with Jamie. He hangs onto every word, his expressive face reflecting a mixture of curiosity, surprise, and genuine happiness for me.

"No way," he exclaims, his voice a mixture of disbelief and amazement. "So, you two actually kissed?"

I excitedly nod, a grin forms on my lips. "Yes, oh my god. It was unexpected but wow... We really did."

Adrian releases a high-pitched sound of excitement. "I knew it! I knew something was going on. Look at you finally getting back out there!"

I chuckle at his reaction, "Alright, calm down it was just kisses. We're taking it slow."

"That's what people say right before they get swept off their feet!" Adrian interjects, his eyes with playful mischief.

"I think you've been spending way too much time at the romance section," raising my eyebrows at him.

He laughs, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, I concede. But seriously, Y/n, I'm genuinely happy for you. You deserve all the happiness and love in the world."

"Thank you, Adrian," I reply sincerely, touched by his words. "I appreciate your support."

Adrian's eyes twinkle mischievously. "So, what's next? Have you planned your next date already?"

"I think right now we should focus back to our work," I giggle, leaving Adrian sighing and slumping back in his chair.

I proceed back to work, lifting books that no longer feels heavy and sweeping dust that no longer bothers me. Everything seems to look brighter when I feel like I've just won the lottery as my mind occasionally drifting towards Jamie throughout the day.

_____

As I'm leaving, Lydia, my other co-worker walks in after her school hours getting ready to take over my shift. Her dark painted nails glimmer under the sunlight as she waves at me. I respond back with a warm smile.

A smile that I force an effort to show, knowing the unease settling in my mind.

I feel so used to Jamie texting and calling me throughout the day. Sometimes even having him visit me for lunch during my work hours. He's almost like part of my daily routines now yet, I haven't heard back from him since he dropped me off.

I instinctly check my phone again, hoping to see something. Anything.

No texts.

No missed calls.

Fear and doubt starts to linger in my mind. Did something happen? Did I do something wrong? Panic starts to settle in as I step down the sidewalk but I quickly shake my negative thoughts away. There could be a million reasons why he hasn't reached out today. And most of all, I was the one who wanted to take it slow.

I exhale.

____

The elevator's doors open just as I'm fumbling through my bag for my keys. Feeling a mix of exasperation and eagerness to reach my apartment, I rush towards the door.

Catching me off guard, what do I find on the hallway?

Jamie.

He's seated on the floor, back leaning against my door. It looks like he's dozing off in the most adorable manner. I can't help but smile at the sight. I'm now finally starting to feel relieved and glad to see him again. "Jamie," I say softly, kneeling down and gently touching his shoulder, which is covered by his familiar leather jacket.

His eyes flutter open and meet mine, his expression transitioning from sleepy confusion to a look of sudden realization. "Y/n! Oh, god, this is not how I thought it was supposed to go."

I chuckle, feeling amused. "That's okay. How long have you been here?"

He checks on the time on his phone, "Apparently for 45 minutes now."

"That long? Come on let's get you up," I reach for his hand. "Why don't you come in?"

Although I rarely ask guys to come into my apartment, his tiredness is evident that I can't help but feel bad for him. Since there's already a familiarity between us and me spending the previous night at his apartment, I make an exception.

"Don't mind if I do!" he gleams, momentarily forgetting his exhaustion. "Oh here, I brought you flowers and.... I smushed it. Sorry."

He extends his hand, holding out the bouquet that has seen better days.

"Peonies?" I notice as I unlock the door.

"They look like roses, but no thorns this time, I promise!"

I chuckle, touched by the thoughtfulness behind it. "They're beautiful, thank you Jamie."

He makes himself comfortable on my couch, which is not as luxurious as the one at his place but still manages to give a satisfied groan as he lays back. I can't help but watch him curiously, wondering what has brought him to this level of exhaustion.

"Are you okay? Why are you so tired?" I ask, fetching a glass of water for him.

"Well... I didn't get much sleep last night," Jamie admits, his voice low and weary.

"Yeah? What was on your mind?" I ask while pouring out the glass of water for him.

"You... I guess," he responds.

I place the glass of water on the coffee table and turn to fully face him. There's a longing in his eyes that I can't ignore, a silent call for me to move closer.

"Come here," Jamie says, holding out his hand. I reach for his hand, and he pulls me gently until I'm sitting next to him on the couch.

"You were worried about me?" I ask softly.

"Pretty much. I mean, I was still dozing on and off, but I still checked on you from time to time," he confesses, his gaze steady and earnest.

I smile, touched by his consideration. "Thank you, again. That really means a lot to me."

For a moment he stays silent, letting his fingers carefully trace the line of my jaw, just staring the details of my face. Then, he leans in to kiss me. His lips are soft against mine, his touch tender and sweet. The moment our lips touch again, the world quickly fades around me and it stays that way until our lips part from each other.

"Wow, I could really get used to this." I chuckle.

"I missed you so much today," he smiles, the weariness in his eyes replaced by a soft glow.

"I mean, you could've texted me... or call me," raising my eyebrows at him playfully.

"I know and I'm sorry I didn't," he says apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "That's why I'm actually here by the way. I have something to tell you."

"Really? What is it," I perk up, curiosity overtakes me.

His eyes light up as he speaks, a mixture of excitement and nerves in his voice. "I've been in a meeting all day with a producer. This has been in the work for a while and... I'm finally going to release my music!"

I let out a high pitched scream of excitement. Without hesitation, I wrap my arms around him, heart swelling with pride and joy "Jamie, that's amazing! Congratulations! I'm so so happy for you!"

Everything feels perfect as he embraces me back but the change in his demeanor catches my attention. He doesn't say anything, and an uneasy feeling settles in my stomach.

I pull away from the hug, my eyes searching his face for any signs of what might be wrong. His expression has changed, a shadow falling over his features.

"Jamie?"

"I... I wanted to share this news with you in person. But there's something else I need to tell you, and I'm not sure how you'll react," he responds.

My heart starts to race, my chest suddenly feels tight. "You can tell me anything, Jamie. What is it?"

His eyes meet my gaze, glistening with emotions. "Y/n, I... I have to leave to London for a while. They need me to do some final recordings before the release. It's a big opportunity for me but that means-"

"That means we won't be together for a while," I interject, feeling a heavy sense of reality settling in.

"I'm so sorry, this is a big decision I know but I just think it's important to be honest with you," his voice breaking.

I gaze at him, taking in the concern in his eyes alongside the glimmer of excitement that peeks through. This is his dream, a chance that could change his life profoundly.

"This means a lot to you, doesn't it?" I hold both his hands in mine.

He nods silently. I wrap my arms around him once again. His head rests on my shoulder, and I hold him close.

"This is such good news for you, Jamie and I believe in you. You're gonna be amazing," I whisper in his ear.

His grip on me tightens, his voice is soft as he responds. "Thank you. So much."

"But this is gonna be hard for me," I admit, now hearing my own voice breaking.

"I know. I'm sorry."

I pull back slightly, meeting his gaze, "How long until you have to leave?"

"About a week," he answers.

"Okay, then we will spend the whole week together," a tear falls on my cheek as I reach my hand to his face.

"We will, y/n. I promise."

_____

"GOODNESS, FUCK-" Jamie's body jerks back as I let out a scream from his shock. He sits up looking around and realizes the blanket that is falling off of his shoulder. His face flushes red, and he starts laughing at himself, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry I was just trying to make you comfortable! I didn't mean to wake you up," I explain, my hand still pressed against my chest as my heart races.

"Alright... and you have to do that with your face inches from mine, why?"

I shrug, a teasing smile playing on my lips. "Well, I'm sorry for finding you adorable while you sleep. Are you gonna be mad at me for that?" I furrow my eyebrows playfully.

A grin tugs at his lips, his eyes still heavy with sleep. "To you? Never." He yawns and stretches his arms, then glances out the window. "Wow, I must have dozed off for quite a while. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. You clearly needed it and hey, now we're even."

"Even?" he looks at me, confused.

"Now we've both crashed at each other's places," I let out a small chuckle.

Jamie grins at the thought, "I guess you're right. Does that mean we're getting closer?"

"You tell me," I kiss him on the cheek. "You might as well just stay here for the night anyways, it's getting dark out."

I squeeze in next to him on the couch to cuddle with him. Having him here with me feels so natural and I truly enjoy the feeling of closeness I've had with him lately.

"Sounds perfect to me," he wraps his arm around me and closes his eyes again.

"NO!" he suddenly jolts back up. "I can't-"

"What, why??"

"I have to send my demos to my manager by midnight. I completely forgot," he says, a mixture of frustration and urgency in his voice.

My heart sinks, disappointment tugging at me. I understand the importance of his work, but I can't help feeling a pang of sadness at the thought of him leaving.

"Oh, sweetie I'm so sorry. I'll see you tomorrow, I promise."

I manage a small smile, masking my own feelings. "I understand. You gotta do what you gotta do."

He rushes to gather his things, heading for the door. As he steps out in a rush and closes the door after him, I slump back against the couch in silence, feeling a sense of void already settling in.

Suddenly, the door bursts open again, and Jamie reappears. "I'm sorry, I think I left one more thing."

I stand up, scanning the room for any other things he might left behind. Keys? Phone? However, he walks directly towards me, and before I can react, his lips are on mine in a long, intense kiss. My cheeks burn with a mixture of surprise and embarrassment as he pulls back, a mischievous giggle escaping him.

"You're crazy, you know that?" I laugh.

He grins, a playful glint in his eyes. "Oh sweetie, you have no idea." He lets me go, his touch lingering for a moment longer. "Don't you be sad tonight. I'll be back before you know it."

With one last wave, he disappears out the door, leaving me with a big grin on my face. I didn't think it would be this possible to feel so attached to someone, especially in just a few weeks. Yet, Jamie and I shared such a close bond that everything just feels right.

I decided to turn in for the night, getting into bed with the memory of his lips in my mind.

Chapter 10

_______

Why do I keep traumatizing y/n like this? Don't hate me tho lol

[guyfmpyear2]

More research

Suck Up! is a a described as a game of 'pranks and passion', where you (a vampire) inhabit a town, and have to prank people to charm them so you can suck their blood, the main selling point though, is that all the npcs are powered by AI, making conversations with them infinitely branching. This seems like an awesome concept, though I don't know how easy it would be for me to add actual AI into my game.

Dead meat:

A newly immersive visual novel, where the npc is a highly advanced AI that in-depth, understands and responds to your actual questions in real time. This is similar to Suck Up!, but instead you are asking this woman about the murder of her husband as she is a key suspect.

Mass effect:

Mass effect and fallout were the key influences when i was thinking about branching dialogue systems, especially including their use of skills in dialogue. this is probably the route I'm going to take on a branching dialogue system, as it is much easier to pull off in our given time frame but still leaves room for innovation like attributes or skill checks.

Also a key part is the logic behind how they structure and layout their wheels. getting the player to subconsciously associate options with general feelings. would it make sense to have our options follow similar general emotions

Telltale games:

Another staple of the narrative genre. they are known for their host of IP's and emergent narrative structure, that gives players an 'in' on the typically rigid and set in stone storytelling of most story games.

this is again done through decisions that you make throughout the game, although the decisions are timed which is something I think I should do in order to add a sense of urgency.

Until Dawn:

another game similar to heavy rain in visual style and gameplay choices, with the storytelling revolving around choices that are sometimes made at a moments notice. the game has the butterfly effect gimmick, where the player is told when you made a decision that will drastically change the outcome of the game. something that our game should have, different endings depending on choices.

as well as having the QTE's.

interestingly it uses the gyro capabilities of the ps4 controller to make the player stay still in tense moments, that way you are truly immersed and your real life actions have consequences in the game

Heavy Rain:

Its not a typical visual novel, but the storytelling is still impeccable

First thing that caught my eye is the Quick Time Events (QTE’s), i dont know how i would actually integrate 3D motion based quick time events into the quite flat and stationary ideas i gave of a visual novel. immediately though i think of adding stakes and a timer

Danganronpa : Trigger Happy Havoc :

You are a student selected to attend a seemingly prestigious high school, until on the first day. the place locks down. not letting anyone leave, and setting the simple task: get away with murdering another student and you earn your freedom.

The gameplay revolves around investigating, and then ‘mock trials’ where the class has to debate on who committed murders. with the player having to play word games to prove their innocence and break apart other students arguments.

[cagenewman]

TASK #11 WRITE A LETTER

triggering / sensitive content warnings: death, parental death, illness, chronic / terminal illness.

Hey mom.

Today, I made an offer on a house. It's a big house, out in the countryside, and it needs a lot of work. But there's room to grow -- room for things to be different, because I've been trying to be more open to that in my life: change. Colton will have his own space, won't feel like we're living on top of each other, and Cordelia and I can work on our relationship, co-existing in one home rather than trying to live separate lives. Rosalyn can have a bedroom and leaving toys out in the living room won't be so obvious to guests, when they have multiple rooms to hang out in. Things will just be better.

Which doesn't mean that I'm not nervous. I bought the house at the back of the farm not long after dad died because I knew the best thing for me was to get out, to start fresh, but it was still something 'in the family,' still an easy purchase. And we worked on it, sure, but it wasn't something that we had to restore, so much as just update to actually have working water and electricity. But I think the fact that it's going to be a project that Cordelia and I can work on together is what's going to make it really feel like home, you know? It's amazing how much potential you can see in a space when you walk through it holding the hand of the person that you love the most in the whole world, imagining family dinners in the dining room, movie nights, curling up by the fire. I can even picture our Christmas tree.

Christmas is sort of the goal -- not to be one hundred percent moved in, but to show the kids, to have enough progress on 'happy ever after' that when Colton and Rosalyn walk in the front door, they feel like they've walked into their home, too. It's sort of poetic, in that way. Last year, I asked Cordelia to make things official while we decorated the Christmas tree at my place, and this year we'll be spending Christmas at hers, and showing the kids the home we're making for them. I feel like you'd appreciate the symmetry.

I really miss you, mom.

There's a lot of guilt that I hold on to, because I was eight when you died, still a kid, and I struggle with remembering a lot of things. I spent so much time with dad, living at home for so long, that when I think about loss and I think about grief, my mind goes there, to those moments when he first opened up about his health issues, doctors appointments and family meetings, figuring out what we were going to do with the farm when things got worse. Someone says 'loss' or 'grief' or 'an overwhelming pit of sadness and despair' and I think about dad, and I feel guilty because of that. But it doesn't mean that losing you didn't hit us all like a ton of bricks. I'm sure the younger kids don't remember as much, and the older kids probably remember much more, I just know that dad shined my shoes and smoothed back my hair the morning of your funeral and laughed because he 'would have to figure out how to do all of our hair' now.

I think for the most part, we've done alright for ourselves. Kellan's doing such a great job with the farm, and we all help out any way that we can, but I think you and dad would be really proud of him. He's still living in the house, finally on his own. Clem and Deacon are living their own lives, Emeline's living by the coast, she works as a tattoo artist and makes jewelry, which I've been gently nudging her towards doing more of. Marlow's out on her own, working in journalism, and her pieces are amazing, this town's lucky to have her. Kellan pretty much runs the farm now that his soccer career is done, but I think we keep him busy enough. And I run my own home restoration, construction and carpentry business. I even went back to school, got my apprenticeship in carpentry to be a real professional. That, I know you would be proud of me for.

Not that it was necessarily a smooth sailing, easy road to get here. I left after high school, worked construction on the road, got into trouble a handful of times. I got a girl pregnant in Connecticut and she came to find me in Maine. We have a son, although she's not in his life anymore. It's a long story, but it started with her not wanting to be a mother, and it ended with me finding out she's married with kids of her own now. Colton's better off not being around that. He is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me. The circumstances surrounding how he was brought into the world might not have been the best, but he has been my biggest life lesson and my greatest accomplishment. He's playing football this year, following in my footsteps. He has a girlfriend -- sort of, they're just friends, but we know how that goes -- and has a lot of friends, is happy and well-adjusted. I was married for a little while; I really wanted to settle down, mostly to prove that I could. It didn't work out, which was probably a given, and I never really found it in me to settle down again until Cordelia.

I'm going to marry her, mom. I don't know when, or where or how, but I know that I'm going to have a ring made and propose to her and she's going to be a Newman. Remember when you told me as a kid that someday, I wasn't going to mind when she followed me around on the playground? I don't mind anymore. She can follow me around the halls of our house now. I wish you were here to help me decide on linens and flowers and to name the pony I know I'm going to end up buying for Rosalyn, but I also just hope you're proud of me. I think you would be. And I know you're watching all of us.

Tell dad I said I love him, and miss him. I love you, too, mom.

xx Cagey

[siyabongazulukamaisela]

It's been a while since I was last captivated by a book as much as this one has me. Almost missed my stop on the bus the other day. The book is so relatable, even though it's nothing familiar to me. But it somehow feels relatable. And it has me bad.

I've not been able to put it down since I got it and dove into it. Herman (friend&co-worker), took me to this pawn shop in town. I'd actually been there before but didn't realise, when he initially told. We found some really cool things amongst type writers, which I'd been thinking of getting for my writing and also frames for pictures and books.

Went to check out the books, there's was a lot of Afrikaans. But I ended up finding English ones and upon further investigation. Law and behold, The reincarnation of Peter Proud" by one Max Ehrlich.

I also found a book I had up until recently when I lost a number of books during my relocation from Joburg back to KZN. But that's behind us now. But. I asked myself this question. Knowing I've had it before. Why am I buying it again. The reason I came up with was this, "when I read it back in England, early 2007, Alice had given it to me (considering she is an ethiest) to read.) But the concept for me at that age, maybe 17. We're just too much and flew over my head. I know at this time I was into Dan Brown. I'd already read all his top selling books: (Davinci Code. Angles and Demons) and the rest. The book I'm talking about here is, Richard Dawkins: The God Delusion).

During my chat with Raphala about the God Delusion. After he saw me posting it on WhatsApp status, said, he'd like for us to chat about it once I was done. I then narrated the above story of my first attempt at reading it. He then expressed the same. He expressed the same sentiment about concepts within the book going over his head. But. We concluded on one crucial point: the fact that we are living in times when we can openly share such thoughts and question them without being stoned to death or becoming an outcast. I remember is school (high school). I used to question everything and as a matter of fact, I still very much do. My English teacher, ended up placing a sign in the classroom which said "If you dont belong in God. You better hope you are right", I found this strange. In a multiracial school, one of the vest in the province, qiestionning, being different radical if you may, was not encouraged. Instead it was frowned up. So, by default I became the black sheep. I revelled in it. Cause deep down I loved the fact that i knew where I stand with each person I had to deal with on a regular.

Max's, the reincarnation of Peter Proud, comes n my life where I am fed up with reading self help book, which have featured heavily in my life over the past 7 years or so. And I just needed a break. The main character has a somewhat of an identity crises. He remembers his last previous life, when he lived before his current life. Through vivid dreams, nightmares you can say. A sensory overload during his dream. Speaking out in a different voice entirely. Doctors can't help him. No one can.

He has to remember who he is again. All by himself. Piece together the dreams and make them make sense. Until he maps out how to get to that previous life and accomplish what he didn't do.

I feel this mirrors my life currently. I used to be a beast. Actually, I am a best. But I've forgotten who I was before the world told me who I should be. I think it was Charles Bukowksi who said these words. And to me too it applies. I need to fetch my life. Regain the glory. Get up,dust myself up. Get back all that was taken from me. And some.

If you've read this far. Thank you. Please kindly leave a comment or suggestion. Or a message via WhatsApp (South Africa: 068 406 8212). Thank you.

[ilottcallum]

i'm once again being emotional about my friends at almost 3am help

[mmmleckerlecker]

I was reading the questions you've answered, and I'm curious now: you said that the co-existence between preds and prey is very recently. So I was thinking the HP world from years ago, when pred could snatch up whoever prey they wanted... How was the society in that time? How did they live? (Headcanon: prey lived underground?) Did the preds have no qualms in consuming whoever they could find? (prey children/teens or the elderly, for example?)... The harmony was founded by a prey or pred? (1/2)

What was the reason for the preds to make the jump from consuming indiscriminately to the public/private contracted prey? (another headcanon: preykind severely disminishing in numbers?) I find your worldbuilding so enchanting, I'm sorry for the avalanche of questions. You're awesome! (2/2)

AHHHH YES!!! THE QUESTION I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR!!! No need to apologize!!! I have considered making a post about stuff like this for awhile now but I’m always like “do people REALLY wanna hear all that?” But now i have the perfect excuse. Thank you, anon! You’re awesome too!! (WARNING this kinda turned into a chapter length read. So I hope y’all like to read history about fictional worlds.)

Okay so. This is all stuff I’ve sorta kept in my head and have built upon when I’ve had ideas, so sorry if there are some gaps currently haha.

So I imagine preds and prey started trying to “make peace” about five centuries ago but didn’t start living in true “harmony” until about two hundred years ago. And I use the term “harmony” loosely because clearly there’s still a lot of infighting happening. Before that, the preds and prey lived in two entirely separate cultures. The prey lived in larger, more stationary groups while the preds lived in much smaller, more nomadic groups. They also DEFINITELY didn’t speak the same language.

So for preds, the groups they would live in were more like traveling pods that consisted of maybe 1-3 families living/working together. Having groups of preds getting too large was… not sustainable. It would create too much competition for food. So each group would usually give other groups of preds a wide berth. Granted there were definitely still spats for territory, especially if said territory had a good supply of prey available.

Prey, much like in modern times, were never really the preds’ main food source, however. Preds would still hunt and gather like normal. It would usually take some organizing to get a raid together on a prey village (or a pred could just get lucky and stumble across one that wandered off alone). Consuming prey all the time was just too much effort. They weren’t a practical food source nor a completely sustainable one if they were over-predated. Also! Keep in mind, the more a pred consumes, the more their body acclimates to handling such a large meal. It would be better for the preds to consume every once in awhile and have their prey take longer to digest (hence, keeping them fueled longer) than to consume ALL THE TIME and risk addiction. I think consuming would probably become more regular in the cold months too, when it was harder for preds to find other food sources.

As for WHO the preds would consume? Definitely adults would make for the best meals. Children? Well, I imagine prey would be very protective of their children, first of all, making them difficult to obtain. But also they would just make… not as filling meals? Also prey children are mostly the same size as pred children so there might be that little hesitation there on the pred’s end as they’re reminded of their own kind. I guess if the pred is desperate? There’s always gonna be a time and place for special circumstances. As for the elderly… I imagine they also live in places that are harder for preds to get to. I also think if a prey managed to live that long, they would have a trick or two up their sleeve. But like I said, there’s always a possibility for things to happen.

Now for how prey live…. Like I said, they live in larger groups. There is safety in numbers, after all. These groups were basically villages, sometimes even cities where prey could really know their territory and set up defenses against any invading preds. (An underground dwelling is really cool idea tho! I also believe that prey evolved to be able to fold themselves up and be comfortable/feel safe in tight spaces that preds could never reach them in, so prey living in like a cave system might actually work really well!) Like it’s been stated in the story, prey tend to have a lot more children than preds for “just in case.” This could cause their towns to become rather large and populous sometimes.

Prey, also unlike preds, usually tried to keep in contact with neighboring towns/villages/cities. This was one of the key factors for what made it possible for the shift to both sides living in harmony to happen. Since the prey lived in settlements and kept in contact with other prey settlements, it allowed for a certain development of culture as well as the sharing and recording of knowledge that preds… just didn’t have. Prey were able to develop things like farming and running water. They could study math and science and share their knowledge in libraries and schools. They were really on their way to becoming an advanced society, they just had one big (both figurative and literal) problem holding them back. They constantly had preds attacking and killing off their people.

Despite their efforts to fight them off, the prey just weren’t winning. So they decided, if a war against preds wasn’t going to get them anywhere, then why not make peace? The first step for this was the prey learning the preds’ language. This was… dangerous, of course. But it was done enough that the prey were able to open conversation with preds. Just this move alone caused a huge shift between both sides. What are you supposed to do when your food, which for centuries has only babbled nonsense at you before you swallowed it down, suddenly starts speaking to you like an equal? It certainly gave preds pause, but not enough to stop consuming. Not that the prey didn’t expect this. They approached the preds with more than just a common language. Their first big move was offering them food. And not just any food, but GOOD FOOD. Cooked food, decadent food, spiced foods, foods that preds didn’t have the resources (nor the patience) to prepare.

Sharing food took… probably a little more effort than one might expect. Prey and preds view food fundamentally different. To prey, it’s sustenance but also something to enjoy and connect with. To preds, it’s simply something to stop hunger. There was a sort of learning curve for preds to actually learn to ENJOY food for its flavor, but once they got it… OH BOY!!! A door was opened! Because despite LIKING prey food, the preds weren’t always so good at preparing it, so it gave the prey something they could exchange for safety. (This is also something that persists into modern times. Preds are still often stereotyped as not having very refined palates and not being very good at preparing food. This is referenced a little in Heart Pangs itself as well as the one-shot I posted last week!) Once the food trade became established, it opened up relations enough to exchange other things!

The prey shared would they could with the preds in exchange for their own survival. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes it SEEMED to work but then the preds turned on them and things went downhill very quickly. But the prey had the advantage of sheer numbers and determination on their side (that and if they didn’t keep pushing they would literally be eaten alive). It took generations of negotiations, but the preds and prey eventually came to a sort of truce, though consuming never stopped entirely.

The preds weren’t stupid, they saw the prey had a lot of good stuff to offer them. At first they took what they needed and went their separate ways, but as they gained more trust from the prey, the preds encroached more and more into their territories until both sides were more or less neighbors. There were some advantages to this. If both sides cooperated enough, they were able to make further advances as civilized societies. But there were also disadvantages… like the fact that the preds were always bigger and the prey were always making sure not to anger them so it became very easy for the preds to take whatever they wanted and leave the prey with less than they deserved.

The prey even began to lose their own language as most of the preds couldn’t be bothered to learn the prey’s language (although a lot of prey terms for food and science stuck around). The preds stopped being the enemy who lived outside the prey’s walls and suddenly became the bully who lived next door. Yes, technically the prey were a little safer than before, but the advantages they once held over the preds were slipping away as the preds claimed more and more of what the prey had until the preds were able to start developing their OWN advantages.

For a long time, the preds and prey operated as two different societies that lived in one space, meaning each group had their own leaders and their own laws. But as things began getting more and more strained between each side (as they tend to do when two natural enemies live side-by-side), the prey (once more) tried to make peace. They made the bold move of reaching out to the pred leaders in an attempt to work together and function as a singular society (although both sides more or less continued to live as two societies, just under the rule of one government). The preds were surprisingly open to this change, which was a relief to the prey… at first. But then it became clear that this was mostly just a power grab for the preds to acquire more status and wealth and power amongst the prey.

Besides the fact that a lot of prey were falling into poverty because of this, the most glaring issue was that the “unification” had made it even easier for a lot of preds to break the peace and consume prey with barely any consequences. This caused a lot of prey to flee and seek out safer, more remote places to live. Eventually it got to the point where the prey leaders threatened to break away from pred society completely. The preds didn’t like this, though, as they’d gotten very used to having prey within easy reach. They also knew that losing half the people in their society would cause a lot of problems in terms of keeping everything running smoothly. However, the preds very much did not want to give up consuming entirely. It was in their nature after all, they argued.

So after A LOT of negotiations, both sides came to a compromise. The preds would actually start enforcing consuming as something illegal UNLESS the prey being consumed had agreed to it beforehand. Obviously the prey leaders couldn’t see any prey ever AGREEING to being consumed, so they settled on the compromise thinking that was the end of it. This was the true beginning of the “harmony” between preds and prey, but of course, the preds always have something up their sleeves.

Rich preds began offering up money and food and shelter to all those desperate prey in poverty. Those prey could get everything they could ever want for, the only payment was their lives ending in said pred’s gut (after a specified amount of time). These ventures started slow, but once they started to catch on, BOY DID THEY CATCH ON. The desperate prey began hearing about certain preds who were practically giving away wealth, all it took was a signature written in (figurative) blood. Meanwhile preds began hearing about other preds who had found a loophole in the consuming law and wanted in on the action. Like any good entrepreneur, the preds turned their contracts into a business and started selling them to other preds.

The prey leaders, of course, despised this, but what could they do? It all aligned with the compromise they had made. The only thing they could do was stand by and help come up with regulations for this new practice. So they did. Over the decades, the contracting businesses grew to what they are today (large corporate monsters… although the smaller, more private contracts still exist) as well as became the core to keeping the peace. Even the government itself offers contracting services now.

Society has shifted considerably in the years since harmony was reached. The two sides have mostly learned to live with each other. Prey have fought viciously to be treated as equals while a lot of preds go their whole lives without consuming (particularly fatally) even once. And, as you know, the development of neutralizers allowed preds to experience consuming without having to hurt anyone. A lot of progress has been made, but a lot of progress still needs to happen.

And I think that pretty much catches us up to the setting of Heart Pangs (whew)! I keep thinking it would be really cool to write a story that takes places in an earlier time period to further explore how different the relations between preds and prey would be, but I have yet to come up with a plot haha. Maybe someday. I’m sure an idea will come to me at a proper time. Anydays, thank you for your interest! It was really nice to be able to (finally) type all this up somewhere!!

[bisexualnathanyoung]

Community Blowback

Fandom: Misfits, Nathan Young x Original Character

Summary: When Mel Albright, a low-life stoner with a heart of gold, ends up on community service, she assumes it’s just another thing in a line of mishaps that is her life. Will the aftermath of a freak storm and the help of a green eyed idiot show her that maybe things being fucked up aren’t always that bad after all?

Masterlist | Previous Chapter

Chapter Seven: The Calm Before the Storm 

Word Count: 3.9k 

Warnings: offensive humor, smut, slut shaming, drugs, alcohol, and some piss mentions i guess 

A/N: I decided to split episode 6 into two chapters. I think this one is really funny, and the next one is really sad

"What the hell is going on over there?" I asked as I sat down in Nathan's lap and opened my bag of haribo. There was a group of people gathering in rather drab, conservative clothes. They were sharing how they'd reformed and were clapping for each other. I fed Nathan gummi bears between his puffs of a joint as we watched the absolute display of bullshit. 

"I called my mum… a fat bitch," the girl talking said, "but I'm not like that anymore. I'm a good person." They clapped for her. I rolled my eyes. Like you can't be a good person and drink and do drugs and have sex. Bullshit. 

"That… that ain't normal," Nathan said. I shook my head and took the joint from him and smoked it. 

"She went to my school," Alisha said and explained how this girl had fucked a gearshift. 

"Try that in your driving test and you're definitely getting a fail," Nathan said, "or a pass and some kind of internal injury." I giggled. 

"It's the same with the girls at my estate," Kelly added, "no one's even gettin' pregnant anymore." I had noticed the shift around town as well. 

"It's weird. My co-workers have actually been competent lately. I'm not complainin', it's just different. It's like we're not even going to get the shittiest chip shop in London award this year." I said. 

"What about your friends?" Kelly asked Simon. 

"I believe that's generally refered to as a pedophile ring," Nathan said and went to grab more gummies. I snatched the bag away.

"I'm not a pedophile," Simon said. 

"What have I told you about saying shit like that?" I said to Nathan. 

"That you think I'm the most hilarious and handsome man you've ever met?" he asked with a smile. 

"No, that saying shit like that makes you sound like an arsehole," I said. He went to grab some of my haribo again. 

I snatched it away, "Arseholes don't get my sweets." 

"Then you can't have any of my skunk," he took the joint from me. 

"Like you didn't take that from my bedside table," I responded. 

He shrugged and finished it before putting it out. Before dropping it in my jumpsuit and into my cleavage. I narrowed my eyes at him and he grinned. 

"You wanker, that could've burned me," I said and started to unbutton my jumpsuit slightly. 

"Let me get that for ye," he said and reached into my bra, pinching my nipple and causing me to make a sudden noise. He grabbed the joint and threw it on the ground. 

"That hurt, ya lil bastard," I said and ruffled his hair. 

"Not what you said last night," he said. I rolled my eyes. Of course he couldn't leave it at that. What was even worse was how good he was getting at imitating my accent over the last few months, "Oh, Nathan, yeah do it harder, oh yes!" He exclaimed while doing his impression, "I love it when you add teeth! Fuck fuck I'm gonna cum!" Everyone else groaned and looked disgusted. 

"What's even worse is the fucking boner that's poking my arse right now," I said. 

Nathan let out a little laugh and thrusted his hips up. 

"Stop it! I mean it!" 

"Why? Ye gettin' turned on?" He said in my ear. 

"No, I'm getting angry with you," I said to him. 

"Don't think so. Bet if I reached into your knickers that they'd be soaked," he whispered. I felt some goosebumps rise as he said that. 

Curtis let out a disgusted noise, "you know we can hear you." Nathan shrugged. 

"Their thoughts are even worse," Kelly added. 

A couple of the Virtue weirdos walked by. 

"Hey!" I yelled. I usually would have never attracted too much attention to myself, but something about living and being with Nathan made me so much more confident. It was like he was rubbing off on me… we did do a lot of rubbing after all. 

"Can I help you?" One of them asked. 

"Er, yeah, I'd like to know what the fuck all this is then?" I responded. 

"There's a meeting at the community centre tonight," he said, "you should come along and find out. All of you. And you really shouldn't use that language."  

I suppressed a laugh; "yeah, alright," I said sarcastically. 

"See ye there, buddy," Nathan added. And the pair walked off. 

"You really shouldn't use that language," I mocked, and Nathan snickered. 

"He used to be a right headcase!" Curtis said, "...this is weird." 

"They need our help," the girl who I assumed was their leader said, "Things have to change." Whatever. 

"You're not really mad at me, are you?" Nathan asked while giving me puppy dog eyes. 

"Nah," I said and hopped up, "you want me to show you how not mad I am at you?" I bent over and kissed him. 

"Mhmm." 

_____ 

Nathan smacked my ass as we left the storeroom. "Good show, dahling, good show," he said in a posh accent, getting a giggle out of me. Nathan walked into the main room. I noticed the girl from before, and she scowled at me. I lifted an eyebrow and decided to let it go and join the others.

"Why'd you and Nathan switch shirts?" Kelly asked. Nathan and I usually wore the same size men’s t-shirts, so nothing looked or felt out of place when shit like this happened. 

I looked down and back up at her, "oh… fuck. That wasn't supposed to happen." Nathan let out a little "hah hah" from behind me. 

"Enough about that… where's the fucking probation worker?" I asked. 

"Yeah, she's never late," Kelly added. 

"I think she's gone on holiday," Simon said. He usually seemed to be in his own head, but today was even more off. I wondered if he was depressed. I knew what that was like. I related to Simon in a lot of ways, and that's why I never really thought Nathan's teasing toward him was very funny. 

I didn't think insulting humor wasn't funny. When Nathan made fun of people on the telly or even me, I always laughed because I knew when he joked around with me, it wasn't from a place of genuinely wanting to make me upset. I think he did the same thing with Simon. But then again, sometimes Nathan was just a dick. 

"Did she tell you that?" Curtis asked. 

"She said she was going to Greece," Simon responded, just as somber as before. 

"No, they would've sent someone to cover for her," Curtis said. I picked at my fingernail polish. I honestly didn't care where she was that much. 

"We should phone probation headquarters, and get someone down here to supervise us nooow," Nathan joked and started messing with a football. I laid back on one of the indoor benches. Alisha and Curtis went to walk out soon after. 

"I left a condom in there for ye in you need it!" Nathan called after them and then giggled, "oh wait." 

"Prick!" Curtis yelled back from the hallway. Nathan started messing with the ball again, and before I knew it he'd kicked it right at Simon. 

"Nathan!" I scolded. He turned around to shrug at me, and Simon had thrown a box of ribbons at him. Simon looked pissed off. 

Nathan held his hands up, "well, this is intense." Simon stormed off. 

Nathan went to grab the ball again. 

"Don't Nathan," Kelly said. 

"Fucking Christ," I said as he threw the ball at the door as Simon was leaving. He snickered to himself as he sat down next to me. 

"Guess who gets to clean all this up now?" I asked him in a high pitched voice that was usually used with children. 

"I dunno, you two probably, you are the women around here," he tried to joke but Kelly stood up and shoved him into me, almost painfully. 

"Don't know why you deal with this bastard," she said as she walked out as well. 

"Now you're really not gonna get any help," I said. 

He sighed. 

"Alright, get a move on. We ain't got all day," I clapped my hand onto his shoulder. He begrudgingly got a broom. 

He sat back down after he'd finished cleaning, "Now that I've finished my community service, that probably won't even count because the probation worker isn't here… what the hell are we still doing here?" 

I shrugged, "you wanna get some food and then head home for round two? … or three if you count this mornin' before we left." 

He kissed me, "you beautiful bitch, you read my fucking mind." 

I let out a laugh, "alright, but don't call me a bitch." 

He shrugged, "Well you are one sometimes." 

"Yeah, and you're an insufferable wanker sometimes." 

He threw his arm around me, "that's why we make such a good pair!" 

I pounced on him as soon as I got the door closed. 

He brought his hands under my-his- shirt that I was still wearing, "you look so fuckin' sexy in my clothes. Reminding me how I fucked you." 

We snogged a bit before I pulled back to respond to him, "I feel the same way. You look so good in black. Wish you wore it more often." 

I pushed him back onto what used to be his bed. We still hadn't turned it back into a sofa. It was too convenient like this. I crawled on top of him and started dryhumping him. He pulled me closer to him and kissed me again. 

Soon our tongues were colliding while I grinded on him, and everything felt so damn good. He grabbed me and quickly switched positions as he got on top of me. We pulled at each other's clothes until we were down to underwear. He quickly removed my bra and kissed at my breasts, paying special attention to them as he thrusted up against me. He threw his underwear into the floor and started teasing me. He rubbed his now bare cock onto my clothed twat. 

"It's like your knickers got caught in a rainstorm, and I haven't even touched you," he said. 

"Yeah, well," I let out a moan as I felt the head of his cock run over near enough to my clit to feel amazing. I continued talking, "I think all this stimulation might count as touching." 

"Oh, so it'd be fine if I just," he removed his cock, "stopped." 

"No," I whined. 

"Thought not," he smiled and kissed me on the forehead, "you want me to finger you or you wanna get on with the party?" 

I wrapped my arms around his neck, "I want you to fuck me with your cock." 

"So eager," he said, bringing his cock over my knickers one last time before pulling them off. 

"Condom," I reminded.

"Ah, yeah," he said and went to go look through my bag, "Jaysus it's like fuckin' Mary Poppins in here." As he rummaged through it, I started to touch myself. I was careful not to make any noise as I wanted to surprise him as he turned around. 

"Ah ha! Got i- fuck," he said as he saw me with my fingers in my pussy. 

"You were taking too long," I whined. 

"Not gonna take long now," he said as he slipped on the condom. He quickly pushed into me and started to fuck me slowly. 

He usually started slow unless we didn't have time. I liked it rough and fast, but when we started with that, he usually came first and then felt bad about it. I didn't mind it. The beginning was always my time to admire his body, his eyes, just to admire him before I got lost in the sex. To gaze into his eyes while he was inside of me. It was extremely special to me. I think it was special to him too or we wouldn't do it as much as we did. 

Once I was lost into the sex however, I was moaning loudly for more. 

"Harder, oh fuck," I moaned, "yeah more, deeper, oh, more." 

He slowed a little bit, "baby, I don't know how to tell ye this, but I'm runnin' out of cock." I started laughing. He continued to fuck me as he talked, "I'm serious," he let out a moan and then continued, "what do want me to do to give you more? Make it deeper? Stuff my balls in there?" 

I shook my head, "Jesus, no thanks." 

"You sure? We saw it in that porn-"

"I'm very sure. I haven't been doing this for very long, but I already know how you make it deeper," I said as I removed my legs from his back and put them on his shoulders, "now fuck me again." 

He thrusted into me, "oh, fuck, yeah." He continued to fuck me deep and hard just how I liked it. The bed creaks got louder and louder as we went on, but we'd never gotten a noise complaint, so I didn't worry about it too much. Until… the back legs of the bed gave out and left the sofa bed at an incline. 

"Well, that wasn't supposed to happen," I laughed. We giggled together for a while. 

"Hey, I've always wanted a sex ramp," Nathan said. 

I shook my head, "I'd rather finish in the bedroom." 

"As you wish," he said. Is that a Princess Bride reference? Nah, can't be. He lifted me up and brought me into the bedroom. I thought it was miraculous how he stayed hard the whole time, but that was Nathan for ya. He held me against the wall and fucked me some more before laying me out on the bed. 

"Time for the piss de… piss de resist… the finale!" 

I shook my head, "okay but if you piss on me, we're not gonna be havin' sex for a while after that." 

"Like you never pissed on me before," he said as he climbed on top of me. 

"That was an accident! I couldn't tell the difference between that and the other, and I didn't know I had to go, and- and this talk ain't sexy, I'd like to get on with things!" He quickly pushed his cock into me and started rubbing my clit. It wasn't long before I came, and he came soon after. I'd gotten much better at controlling my power if I balled my fists up as I let the pleasure roll through me. I didn't feel like blowing out the power or starting anymore electrical fires… 

He kissed me softly as he rolled off of me, "woo, I can't believe we broke your sofa." 

"That was fucking funny," I said, "I can't believe you stayed hard the whole time." 

"One of my many talents," he said as he reached in the drawer and started rolling a joint. I quickly got up to fetch some water and beers from the kitchen. 

"Hate to see her go, but love to watch her leave," he said as I left the room. 

We were on our second joint in a row and on our second or third beer. We were high and tipsy, but not to the point of calling your ex or making a fool of yourself. 

He knew what he was saying when he said, "you know you're the best thing that's ever happened to me… I know you don't mean it when you insult me, and I know you do mean it when you tell me I'm not a burden on you. Nobody else is like that to me." 

I held his hand and cuddled him closer, "I don't think that's true. Lots of people think you're funny and stuff." 

"Yeah, and that's all I ever have going for me. The stupid lightin' didn't even think I was worthy of a superpower. I'd be great at being a superhero. I'd be like Batman, have tons of money and be super awesome." 

I smiled at him, "Batman hasn't got a superpower either. His superpower is being super rich." 

"Oh," he grinned, "that's right! I forgot about that! Alright, you can have your inconvenient power that's going to burn our building down one day from all our fuckin', and I'll be fuckin' Batman!" 

"Sounds grand," I said and laughed. It was moments like these where I thought I fucking love you, dumbass, but I didn't say it. I didn't want to scare him off. We hadn't been together that long, but I knew I loved him. I fell easy and I fell hard, and I'd fallen harder for him than anyone else. 

Nathan yawned, "I'm knackered." 

I looked over at the clock, "it's the middle of the afternoon." 

"Keepin' up with your libido is hard work, princess," he said. 

"You know I fucking hate it when you call me that," I responded. 

He made a noise and turned over to spoon me, "good night." 

"Good night," I said and snuggled into him. 

_____ 

The next morning, Sally the probation worker was nowhere to be seen again. Nathan had found that stupid fucking ball again, and I went through the books on the shelf and settled on some stupid magazine. 

"WOAH THERE'S TIDDIES IN HERE," I yelled across the room as I saw an ad for a sex hotline. 

Nathan practically tripped over this own feet to get over to where I was, "What the fuck, I wanna see!" 

I showed it to him and he grabbed it and inspected it, "hm… not as good as yours." 

I scoffed, "you're joking, those aren't some mediocre tits." 

"Obviously not. They're fucking amazing, but yours are better. You could do this shit if you wanted to. Be a model and that," he said.

I was honestly flattered, "don't think so. Not that I'd wanna be a booby model anyway." 

"Ah, well, I like bein' the only one that gets to see 'em." 

"So…" I said, "are we gonna call it?" 

"Of course we are!" he said, and we ran off to the office. 

"So, this photo in the magazine, is that actually you?" He asked. 

"What's she sayin'?" I whispered. 

"Ch ch ch, shh, I'm listenin'" 

"So do you get any trainin'? You know my girlfriend works in a chip shop, and that sure isn't bringin' in the big bucks, and she's got like really good tits," he said. 

"Oh my fucking god," I responded. 

"Anyway, here she is," he handed me the phone. 

"What I don't," I stumbled over my words for a second and then held the phone up to my ear, "so uh, yeah hey, do you do girls too?" 

"Can I watch?!" Nathan yelled into the phone. A man walked into the office, and I quickly hung up the phone. 

"I'm lookin' for Sally," he said. 

"Who?" Nathan asked. 

"She's a probation worker," he said. 

"Oh, haven't seen her, man" he said. 

He made eye contact with me, and I just shook my head. 

"Can I take a message?" Nathan asked. 

"No, you're alright," he said and walked off. 

Shortly after, Alisha walked by looking very drab. It was her, but it wasn't her. 

"Did you see that?!" I asked Nathan. 

"What?" He said and then noticed her, "oh my god, how do you go from a slut to a virgin in one day?!" 

There were several comments I could have made in response, but I went with, "Alisha's not a slut." 

"Yeah, maybe not anymore, but she didn't get that power from being celibate." 

I shook my head, "nobody knows why we got our powers. Stop being an ass." 

"Fine, but that shit's weird." 

A little later in the day we'd met up with the others minus Alisha in the toilets. Kelly turned around while Nathan took a piss, but I didn't feel the need to. Obviously. 

"Are you checkin' out my cock while I'm tryna take a piss?! Don't do that shit; do you know hard it is to piss with a boner?!" he accused. 

"Can't say I do… besides, I'm just standin' here." 

Curtis shook his head and ignored us, "she's sayin' all this weird shit about sex and that. She said she's savin' herself until she's ready to make a proper commitment!" 

"I don't get it. I mean I stopped doin' some shit a while back, but givin' up everythin'? Like, I don't let lads snort coke off my tits anymore, but if I go more than a few days without an orgasm, I think I'd lose it." 

"What was that about snortin' coke off your tits?! Can I do that?! That sounds fun!" Nathan practically ran up to me, "I won't get addicted I swear!" 

I smirked, "maybe I could go back to it for a night or two… just for you." 

"Yes!" He exclaimed. 

"But anyway… if you aren't seein' other people, is that not a commitment?" I asked. 

"I don't know!" He responded. 

"It's a sad day for all of us when a bird like that pulls up her knickers," Nathan said. 

"You realize that's my girlfriend you're talkin' about?" Curtis responded. 

"Women aren't birds; they're people," I added. 

Nathan waved his hand at me, "yeah, yeah, yeah." 

"Have you finished?!" Kelly asked. 

"The beast is back in his cage. He's sleeping," Nathan said, "shh." 

"Hopefully not for long," I mumbled. 

"C'mon, Mel, don't remind Curtis that our sex life was way better than his before it became non-existent… well it was non-existent before that too," Nathan let out a little laugh at himself. 

"Shut up! We need to figure out what's goin' on with her!" Kelly said. 

"It's that lot yesterday. They did somethin' to her," Curtis said. 

"While you guys sort that out, I've got to head. Work soon," I said. 

"Hey, what about my beast wakin' up?!" Nathan exclaimed. 

I gave him a kiss, "don't worry. I'll sort ya when I get home. Might send you somethin' nice from the toilets at work." 

"Ooh, I can live with that." 

_____ 

During my short break, I kept to my promises and headed to the toilet to send Nathan a shitty mobile phone picture of my tits with a "can't wait to get home x." And then I went out for a smoke. The same bitch from earlier was outside. 

"You!" she said. 

"Me," I responded deadpan. 

"You know smoking causes cancer and that the same chemicals that are in cigarettes are in rat poison?" She asked. 

"Everybody fucking knows that smoking causes cancer. Just because I don't have a massive stick up my arse doesn't mean I'm an idiot," I responded. I really wasn't in the mood. 

She gasped, "and you were with that awful boy! Did you know I caught him smoking marijuana this morning?!" 

"Thanks for the heads-up. It was probably mine," I laughed. 

"I bet you were having sex with him in that store room. Everyone on this estate is such an awful slut!" 

I furrowed my brow. This bitch was about to get a slap, "I'll have you know, I'm in a committed relationship with someone I love, and I can fuck him whenever I want, you fucking stupid-" I lifted my hand to hit her. 

"You don't have to behave like this. You could be so much better!" She said quickly before I could hit her. 

The next thing I remembered was nearly two days later: the cold rain pelting my skin...

-----

Next Chapter

[oasisspringstownie]

FAME: A Legacy Challenge

Sul sul simmers!

Like many of you, one of my favorite things to do in The Sims is play Legacy Challenges. They lead you to explore new aspects of gameplay, give you new imaginative ideas, and facilitate storytelling. So, a couple of nights ago I got the idea to create a new kind of legacy challenge revolving around different aspects of fame.

The goal isn’t exactly to become the most famous using said career/ skill, but to play around with different elements of the fame system in the game. You by no means need all the packs to play through this legacy. While the experience would be more complete and you will be missing careers and skills and stuff you can obviously adapt it to your need. Also, you are more than welcomed to use mods to enrich your gameplay. I myself can’t play without mods and look forward to see what kind of chaos mods can add to this challenge.

So without further a do below are the 10 generations I concocted like a fever dream at 2 am on a Saturday evening:

Gen 1: A Shaky Foundation

Traits: Cheerful, Ambitious, Self-Absorbed

Career: Acting, Style Influencer (Trendsetter Branch)

You move to a new city full of hopes and dreams. You initially pursue your dream of becoming an actor. However, your career is cut short by the unexpected arrival of your first child. You retreat from the spotlight in order to raise your baby and put all of your energy into making sure they have the best future possible. The rest of the time you spend either working or trying to unwind from your demanding life. What will fate bring you and your descendants?

Goals:

Move into an empty lot with 1600 simoleons for the bare minimum.

Start in the Acting Career, but abandon it for the Style Influencer career once your first child is born. Remain in the Style Influencer Career and eventually choose the Trendsetter Branch.

Max out the Style Influencer Career.

Reach level 10 of the Parenting and Wellness Skills.

Be close friends with all of your children and make sure they each age up with at least 2 positive character attributes.

Gen 2: Get Your Head in the Game

Traits: Active, Music Lover, Outgoing

Career: Athlete, Entertainment (Musician Branch)

Your parent might have seemed very overbearing at the time, but they instilled a work ethic in you like no other. Your entire life you were split between your two passions: basketball and singing. Okay, fine, you're Troy Bolton. After succeeding in the sports world you still find yourself feeling somewhat unfulfilled. You enter the entertainment career later on in life to live out your dreams. Will this be the start of something new?

Goals:

Max out the Athlete Career and then switch to the Entertainment Career (Musician Branch).

Max out the Fitness and Singing Skills.

Be in the drama club in high school.

Gen 3: Going for the Stars

Traits: Clumsy, Loner, Genius

Career: Astronaut

Your parent always told you to shoot for the stars, you just took it a bit too seriously. This world was always a bit too pedestrian for you and you yearn to finally lay your eyes on the astronomical craters of Sixam. There's just one problem: you're terrible at it. It's not your fault, you're just a bit clumsy; but will your two left feet keep you from reaching your dreams?

Goals:

Work in the Astronaut Career your entire life. Get demoted and fired at least once in your lifetime.

Destroy and repair a rocket 3 times.

Live in a tiny home for your young adulthood and adulthood.

Have at least one set of twins. *You can cheat for this!*

Gen 4: The Finer Things in Life

Traits: Materialistic, Hates Children, Lazy

Career: None

You've seen all the generations before you work their little pixelated butts off for every simoleon, but you're not about that life. You were destined for the finer things in life.

Goals

Reach level 10 of the Charisma and Mixology Skills.

Marry and survive 5 spouses. Take that wording however you want. Divorce is not allowed. You must be the last once standing. After all, spouses are like infinity stones. Meaningless.

Never have a job. Only make money from spouses, family, or children. If you get desperate enough you can ask a friend for a loan or steal, but no working of any kind.

Each child you decide to have with one of your rich spouses comes with a 20k trust fund. If they get taken away or die before coming of age, all the money has to be returned to the evil capitalist overlords. You can't get rid of them that easily.

Own at least 1 restaurant/ retail/ business with one of your spouses. Decorate it, assign the uniform, and hire everyone, but you never run it. Why would you go through the trouble?

Gen 5: My Precious

Traits: Art Lover, Kleptomaniac, Self-Assured

Career: Criminal

Your childhood was pretty hectic and you felt like you barely knew your parents. Who needs them? You've never needed anyone else anyway. On your 18th birthday, you receive your inheritance and use it to buy yourself an unfurnished apartment in the nicest building you can find and that's when your money runs out... literally. However, will a new job as a tough guy be the first of many great ideas or will it only be the beginning of the end for this famed family?

Goals

Once you become a young adult give yourself enough money to buy one of the apartments in the Uptown Neighborhood in San Myshuno. It must be unfurnished. After moving in set your money to 0 simoleons.

Complete the Criminal Career.

Reach level 10 of the Mischief and Dancing Skills.

Gain an atrocious reputation and spend the rest of your life trying to cover it up.

Steal 10 paintings from a museum and exhibit them proudly in your home. You are never allowed to sell them. As an adult, hide them in a secret attic nobody else has access to or knows about. They are your precious.

Gen 6: The Muses

Traits: Creative, Family Oriented, Insider

Career: Painter

You could have anything you wanted in the world thanks to your family's empire so you pursued your passion: painting. While you were never close to your other family members you were always very close to your art teacher. This led you to have very close ties to your friends, co-workers, and eventual children. Will your legacy remain for longer in the memory of strangers or your loved ones?

Goals

Complete the Painter Career

Reach level 10 of the Painting, Cooking and Baking Skills

Have a better relationship with your art teacher than anyone else in your family until you're a teen.

Move to a new world once you become a young adult and cut ties with your family.

Be the leader of one club for all your young adulthood and adulthood.

Be close friends with 3 co-workers and all of your children.

Prepare a meal at least once a week with the help of your children. *I know we don't have this in the game yet technically, but I'm hoping to have Cottage Living by the time I play with this generation*

Hang 5 paintings in a museum.

Retire from Painting Career to help care for your grandchildren.

Gen 7: Mole

Traits: Good, Perfectionist, Paranoid

Career: None

You always had a good relationship with your parents. You told each other everything... well, almost everything. You never understood why but one of your parents never talked about the rest of your family members. They explained that they simply never had a good relationship and would rather not talk about it. You respect this until their death when you return to their seemingly abandoned childhood home. While exploring the house you find a not-so-subtle bookcase door and a long forgotten attic filled with paintings. You take them in hopes of returning them but unbeknownst to you, you are being watched.

After an unfortunately unavailable nail-biting car chase, you shake off your attackers. You can't just lead them home to the rest of your family and what would the police do? They don't even arrest Vlad when he's trying to bite all of your sims!

Sorry, different rant.

So you do the only logical thing: you sell the paintings you just stole for some cash to buy an empty lot and skip town. A new life awaits you... just a bit underground.

Goals

Reach level 10 of the Writing, Logic, and Handiness Skills.

Complete the Best Selling Author Aspiration.

After your parent dies, you visit Gen 5's main home and retrieve the paintings hidden in the attic generations ago. Sell them and use the money to buy an empty lot in a completely different world.

Use your remaining money to build a small underground bunker. You can now never leave your bunker or risk immediate death.

You make your income by writing books under your new name. Oh, didn't I mention that? You changed your name to avoid detection. Your children may carry this new fake last name or your partner's.

Gen 8: Part of Your World

Traits: Loves Outdoors, Outgoing, Geek

Career: Social Media

All you knew was the bunker and it's not that you hated it, you just wanted a bit more. You're basically the little mermaid, except you don't get to be a mermaid. You just get a bunker you can never leave and a desperate yearning to explore the outside world.

Your outlet is the internet. From a young age you loved using it to play video games and make friends. As a teen you began to make videos and fostered a community online. Will you finally take your place in the world or remain hidden underground?

Goals

Reach level 10 of the Media Production and Video Gaming Skills

Complete the Social Media Career.

You're never allowed to leave the underground bunker until you're a teen.

You aren't allowed to go to school. Instead you play video games and use your computer for outside interaction.

As a teen you start developing your online presence by posting on social media and making videos on the video station.

You are only allowed to move out of the household once your parent dies and you have enough money in reserves to buy a furnished home.

Gen 9: Natural Born Performer

Traits: Gloomy, Unflirty, Adventurous

Career: Entertainment (Comedy Branch)

Due to your parent's fame, it was always expected you would follow in their footsteps. While a bit more gloomy than most, you are happiest when you make others laugh. So you join the Entertainer Career where you flourish as a comedian. You're also a bit unlucky in love. Will the family name's fame and your own notoriety keep you from finding true love or are you destined to a lifetime of gold diggers and one night stands?

Goals

Complete the Entertainer Career (Comedy Branch).

Reach level 10 of the Comedy and Rock Climbing skills.

Complete Serial Romantic Aspiration

Have four children.

Die suddenly and *mysteriously* in your adulthood.

Gen 10: A Grand Finale

Traits: Kleptomaniac, Ambitious, Perfectionist

Career: Actor

After losing your parents at a very young age, you and your siblings were sent to live with some distant relatives you didn't even know about. While you and your siblings are all very different and you bicker plenty, you always stick together.

After learning you are a descendant of some of the most famous and infamous sims in history, you are determined to meet and surpass their achievements. Will you come out on top or have you flown too close to the sun?

Goals

Complete the Actor Career

Achieve level 10 of 10 skills of your choosing.

Become a Global Superstar.

Get a star on Starlight Boulevard.

Throughout your lifetime you must go on vacation to every house you lived in throughout all previous 9 generations. Oh, and your three other siblings need to come along too. Think of it as Narnia meets It. Also make sure to steal something from each of the houses as a souvenir and display it proudly in your own home.

After you've completed all the things above, get turned into a vampire and choose to end your mortal legacy here... or start a whole new type all together.

Thank you so much for indulging me in this insanity. While I haven't played through any of these generations myself as of yet, I look forward to see the chaos and cuteness possible in The Sims.

Happy simming!

V

[miasma-of-fear]

Verse List

Jonathan Wayne

It wasn't long after 15 year old Jonathan attempted to enroll himself in high school that it was discovered he was living on his own with no legal guardian. He was of course turned over to the state- then, fortunately, adopted by the Wayne family soon after. Unfortunately, Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed just a year later, leaving both Jonathan and recently 12 year old Bruce orphans. The two boys grew up somewhat distant from each other, much to Jonathan's quiet dismay, Bruce harboring a subconscious and senseless blame for his adoptive brother being the cause of his biological parents' death. Alfred attempted time and time again to convince Bruce to accept Jonathan, but seemingly to no avail. Nevertheless, the two grew up into (more or less) beloved eccentric socialites, with Jonathan more quiet as opposed to Bruce's playboy nature. Jonathan also continued his academic efforts, becoming the Psychology professor at Gotham University (and maintaining his job without incident), ultimately getting a research grant for his pet project of reworking Gerald Crane's formula.

However, Jonathan suffered a mental breakdown at 29 as a result from the distance and vague hostility Bruce maintained between them, constantly being under the media's scrutiny, the treatment of his University professor co-workers, and other factors. Bruce immediately sent him to the "purely" psychiatric wing of Arkham in a genuine attempt to help him, though this was before Alfred even had the chance to get a word in on the matter. Ten months later, however, once both were made aware of the horrors Jonathan was facing in the facility, both Bruce and Alfred agreed to pull him back out- with some rule bending- and set him up with outpatient therapy. At this point, Bruce had already begun his double life as Batman, and the timeline diverges on whether Jonathan becomes a rogue or joins Bruce as a vigilante.

[ Based on an old idea by @/ritzy-biscuit, with more details to fit my timeline. For the sake of threads, Bruce's age difference can be changed though Jon's remains static. I'm 100% open to doing threads at any point in this history, and with Jon either working with or against Bruce. ]

The Gotham Rider

Sleepy Hollow has the Headless Horseman, Gotham City has the Death Rider, a creature hell bent on punishing the abusive. Legend has it he was once a traveler beaten by a group of regular tormentors, who then chased him to the train tracks where his head was severed from his body. Now, he carries his severed head- as well as sickles made from his ribs and a whip made from his spine- as he prowls the night streets, searching for anyone requiring punishment.

Anti-Hero

Exactly what it says on the tin. Jonathan's morals are stronger, and he operates under the same name only as yet another vigilante. He still detests Batman and his associates, not above fighting with them as well as the criminals he aims to punish and eradicate.

Dark Folk

Jon Crane is an enigmatic singer-songwriter with something of a cult following, regularly disappearing from the public's eye until he crops up again at some music festival or charity event, or releases a new album. Notoriously difficult to work with and solitary in his art, not to mention reclusive, it's rare that Crane may collaborate with another artist or mingle with fans. Though there have been some exceptions...

Steer Skulls Scream

A roving outlaw, Jonny "the Scream" Crane is something of a living folk tale; "don't stay out after dark, kids, or the Scream will snatch you up and take you to Hell." "Don't steal, or Jonny Scream will tie you up and drag you through the desert on horseback." "You'd better not drink, lest old Jon Crane show up for a match." So on, and so forth. In reality, he's simply a man outcasted by "polite" society for daring to stand up against his hometown's corrupted sherriff, forced to roam from town to town with only his guns, his sickle, and his horse Bethlehem for company. Though he has assisted many a poor farmer, widow, and lost child, something of a wild west Robin Hood at times, he's bound to be vilified for the rest of his sorry days.

The Young Professor

Less so a verse and more so a period of time, back when Jonathan was the overly timid Psychology professor at Gotham University.

Doctor Fear

Another trip back in time, to when he was working at Arkham rather than incarcerated there.

Devil Boy

One more rewind, to Jon's childhood and teenage years. (Obviously triggering things abound in this one.)

Papa Crow

A single father of 5 children of varying ages- all with strong personalities- Jonathan has his work cut out for him. To make matters worse, he's allowed himself to grow attached to- and subsequently care for- two troubled teenagers. With essentially 7 kids, two jobs, a constantly fluctuating number of side jobs, a dickhead of a landlord, and his own personal problems, is it any surprise that he's utterly exhausted most days?

[ Can be altered to Jon being a criminal instead of having to keep "legitimate" side jobs, granted he'll be significantly lower profile than main verse and unconnected to his crimes. ]

[adamarinayu]

Can you tell us more about your author au, back in action au, and Notre duck au? Sorry if I'm asking for a lot but I just saw them on your AU list and they caught my interest 😅

Haha sure! I haven’t worked on any of them in a while but here we go! It’s a bit long, especially the Back in Action section....

In the Author AU, Donald is an author who works under a pseudonym, so that he and the triplets can have some normalcy in life while also being able to support them comfortably. He’s the author of a best selling series, which is the Paperinik series (maybe in this AU it’ll be called Duck Avenger, idk). 

He began writing the PK stories during highschool, and they were published as shorts regularly in a small magazine. Of course, being a teenager, it began as a fantasy- it was how he vented his frustrations. Gladstone, of course, figured it out, as did Della, but Scrooge had no interest so no one else outside of Donald’s closest circle (that is to say, Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Goofy) knew. It soon grew to be a hero story, rather than a story about vengeance. At this point there are no nephews in the story.

After highschool, his story got picked up by a publishing company and Uno was his agent. He ended up including the character ONE based off of Uno, which Uno is equal parts amused and exasperated by (”Honestly, I thought you said you wanted to be anonymous.”). The two don’t officially become friends, however, until a couple of years later, when Della went missing. Donald had taken a surprisingly dark turn in the story which would have resulted in killing off the main characters, at which point Uno decided to intervene and talk to him. With Uno’s support and growing friendship Donald rewrote the story, keeping the darker tone but ending it on a higher note with all the characters alive and happy.

Donald also gave PK a family of his own, having him be a single father to three children (hinted heavily at them being adopted, after PK saved them as eggs), a decision which forever changed the direction of the books from being about a duck who fights because it’s all he’s good for, to being about a duck who fights because he has something worth fighting for. He and Uno obviously become very close over this time.

Gladstone reads every book that comes out. He always wins a free edition but insists on buying it, as his way of helping Donald out. He uses the tone of each book and the events that happen in them to determine whether or not he needs to come and kick a little sense into Donald.

Donald ultimately concludes the book series after Della comes back, with the story having a happy ending all around. Which definitely includes ONE getting a physical body and joining the family. Unsurprisingly he and Uno get married. Scrooge and the kids find out he’s the author of PK after Scrooge announces his studio bought the movie rights to the film lol. Della and Gladstone are just like “wow seriously, you guys didn’t see the writing clear on the wall?”

--

The Back in Action AU is basically, PK was a TV show and Donald was the titular character, PK. His co-star was Uno, who lent his voice and face to the character ONE (the names of all the characters in PK are changed, ofc, their real names are the actors’ names now, except for Uno and Xadhoom). The entire cast (yes, including Angus Fangus) were a pretty tight-knit family, of a sort. So while Della and Scrooge were adventuring (as he had left the adventure life behind, feeling as if he wasn’t contributing or seen as an equal among the group) he became part of a family of his own. Daisy also played PK’s love interest, though the two of them are actually more like Best Pals. They went to highschool together so. Daisy wasn’t in the main cast and was just a recurring character, as she had a main role in another series.

The triplets in PK were just babies, but PK wasn’t their primary caretaker. They were more like background characters, but occasionally PK would get roped into babysitting them and having to balance watching the children and saving the world because “oh god even if I stop the Evronian invasion if any of their feathers get singed my sister will kill me!” (Note, PK’s sister was only seen in photos and was a blonde, like in the original comics. You can hear her voice now and then though)

Donald was close with everyone (oh the bloopers he and Angus had.... and of course the Evronians, something ALWAYS went wrong with their costumes!) but Uno became his best friend (and his almost-more). The series was the most popular thing on TV for a while, and Gladstone and Fethry were so proud of their brother cousin and so sad that Scrooge and Della were missing the best moments of his life. Gladstone and Fethry are much more involved in Donald’s life than Della and Scrooge are in this AU. That isn’t to say they don’t all love each other very much, it’s just Della and Scrooge’s interests laid elsewhere.

Anyway, every series hits its end, and more often than not it comes much faster than planned. PK ended a whole season sooner than expected, due to the sudden buyout of their studio and the new owners choosing to shut PK down in favour of one of their own shows (couldn’t afford both at the same time, and their own show had a smaller budget). So the series ended on the cliffhanger of PK losing ONE and (Lyla’s character), the Evronians being defeated and PK choosing to hang up his cape because of just how much that final battle cost him. It was an ending that angered many people, extremely upsetting especially knowing that it hadn’t been the planned ending of the series.

The entire cast and crew split up, most still staying in acting but a few leaving. Donald went back to adventuring with Scrooge and Della while Uno went back to Italy with his brothers (Due and Tre, the former of which played a major part in 2-3 episodes) to work in their father’s lab. They ended up falling out of contact (not by their own choice, just due to the nature of their jobs). Then a few years later Della went missing and Donald was left caring for her three children- it was a bit ironic, perhaps.

In the 10-12 years Donald was taking care of them, a “sequel” movie and a spinoff came to be with different actors and stories, but neither were well received because they lacked the “spirit” and charm of the original series. Especially the spinoff, which was animated in a very Saturday-morning style.

The triplets don’t really know about the OG PK, only knowing it by the spinoff, or that their uncle used to be a big name actor. However, 10 or so years later it’s announced that PK is coming back.... with the original writers and actors (except for the kids). Including Donald Fauntleroy Duck, the actor who played the titular PK. They are shook.

The original children who played PK’s nephews were unavailable (”We were like 2 during all that, we really don’t care”) and, besides that, had already aged out of the roles (the comeback was a Ten Years Later kind of deal, and it had been more like 14 or 15 since the end of the show, so the original kids were already mid-late teens. Therefore, when the director discovered Donald was now caring for his three nephews (convenient that there were three) he suggested they play the role of the triplets. Donald left it up to the triplets, under the stipulation that they would have minor roles (as the triplets always did) and this wouldn’t interfere with school.

They actually made a whole new role for Webby in the show! Because the triplets agreed on the condition that Webby gets to join them. And that’s how Webby began to play the triplets’ younger sister. The director decided to take a page out of Donald’s real life and wrote PK’s sister out (this was also partially because the actress had died) so PK was now being a full-time father to his kids who had no idea who he really was.

But then Donald finds out that not only is Lyla there, not only is Angus there... so is Uno. Uno and both of his brothers. It’s quite a reunion. And of course everyone expects Donald’s most emotional reunion to be with Daisy, but no. It’s Uno. And Uno is the one he ends up on the front of a magazine with lol.

Also yeah they get married :3

Man I think I may have overspoke about this one XD But I really enjoy this one what can I say jkkghfdsjlk

--

Notre Duck!! That’s another one I enjoy though it isn’t as in-depth as the last. So basically Everett came to Earth, and it’s kinda like.... a Duck version of medieval times. He came here for inspiration, then ended up building Uno, who became like a son to him. However, when other flesh-and-blood ducks realized he was an android, they became fearful and called him a monster, and tried to attack and run him out of town.

After that, Everett hid him away in a tower attached to a church, where no one but the church staff would go. He didn’t want to lose his android son. But Uno watches the world below his tower change, dreaming of a day when he could go out there too.

One day he meets Donald, who is a street performer with an association to Scrooge McDuck, a king in a neighboring kingdom. Donald finds out very quickly that he is an android and doesn’t judge him for it, instead encouraging him to leave the tower because “life is about the adventure.” This, of course, does not sit well with Everett, who forbids Uno from leaving the tower or seeing Donald.

Donald is wanted by the lord of the city, who wants to use him against Scrooge (and earn favour with his own king). There’s no creepy old men lusting after young women and no slurs being used casually so.

Also anyway this actually spawned from me imagining Uno to the song Out There so yeah.

[punkscowardschampions]

Amelia & Jac

Amelia: [okay so I'll put here what we said, for Jac's 18th Savannah sent her some flowers and Amelia binned them, obviously a big fight ensued and they haven't interacted from then in September to now which is nearly Christmas until Amelia sends her a christmas gift of the gay book with a portrait of Jac inside that'll just fall out when she picks it up and a chanel lipstick of some cute shade or other] Jac: [my vibe was if it was left on the step, leaving the book out there and taking the lipstick to send a message 'cos assumedly we'll walk past at some point as we live central] Amelia: [love that] Jac: If you were gonna take it upon yourself to decide I didn't want Savannah's gift, you should have also realised the same rule would apply to yourself Amelia: maybe Jac: No, you should have Jac: you wasted your money and time Amelia: I've got nothing else to do with either, so it hardly matters Jac: I'm not your distraction Jac: leave me alone Amelia: no, you're way more than that Amelia: but okay Jac: I don't have the energy for this Amelia: I didn't do this to force a conversation with you Jac: right Amelia: you're right, I shouldn't have got you anything Jac: you really shouldn't Jac: I don't want anything from you Amelia: alright, message received Jac: for fuck's sake Amelia: What do you want me to say? Amelia: it's been months, I miss you, I hate this Jac: You're about a lifetime too late for any of this Jac: things change Amelia: just go then Jac: Don't tell me what to do Jac: you haven't even apologized Amelia: because you're the only one who can tell me what I should or shouldn't do, okay then Jac: I declined your gift because I don't fucking want it Jac: that's my decision Jac: you can't force it on me Amelia: like it was my decision to get you one, even if you don't fucking want it Amelia: like it's my decision not to apologise when I'm not sorry Jac: it wasn't your decision to make Amelia: I know that Jac: She reached out to me Jac: and you ruined it Amelia: she didn't reach out, it was a cop out Jac: she remembered Jac: she didn't have to do anything Amelia: she didn't do anything Amelia: not even sign her name Amelia: fuck's sake,  and you're mad at ME for my lack of apology Jac: Yes she did, she sent my favourite flowers Jac: and yes I'm fucking mad at you, you don't even know what you started Amelia: at least hold her to the same standard Jac: No, because you aren't the same Jac: and this gift meant something to me, the gesture did Jac: and you couldn't stand that so you took it away Amelia: the false hope meant something to you Amelia: of course I can't stand that Jac: there's nothing false about it Jac: she was never here for my birthday before, not as my friend, she had no reason to remember, I'm blocked on anything that would tell her Amelia: because it's so hard to get around being blocked Jac: so, that would just prove she cared enough to look Jac: either way, that meant something Amelia: it doesn't mean she's coming back Amelia: or dumping her boyfriend Jac: it still means more to me than anything you could ever give or do Jac: so you deal with that Amelia: I can't Jac: You'll find my sympathy running a bit low Amelia: that's how I always find it Jac: I don't have the space in my head or my life to care about you Jac: alright, and I've never said different Amelia: yeah you have Jac: when? Jac: a million years ago when we were kids Jac: life's moved on from then Amelia: this year, things have happened that mean something, you've made space for me and cared about me Amelia: I don't need words, you lie whenever you speak anyway Amelia: and yeah, that's how long it's been, that's she's been gone and I've been here for you Amelia: you can't deal with that any better than you're telling me I have to Jac: I've only cared about myself Jac: that's facts Jac: you've been of some use and that's about as deep as it gets Jac: ask anyone, Amelia Amelia: No Jac: Yes Amelia: you love to make me look and feel crazy but I'm actually not Jac: because normal people throw other people's presents away Amelia: you know why I did Jac: and normal people let themselves be treated like this Jac: yeah, you're so right Amelia: there's a massive gap between normal and the levels of delusional you're trying to make me out to be right now Jac: I'm not trying to make you out to be anything Jac: I'm trying to get you to leave me alone, at best Amelia: and I've said I will Jac: then go Amelia: [does] Amelia: [gonna take this moment to tell you what the book is, We Are Okay by Nina LaCour it's obvs gay and YA again but we've lost the optimism of the previous Christmas because this one is about grief and loss and loneliness, basically this girl leaves her life behind without saying a word (again to go to college lol) after her grandad dies but then her friend who she's in love with and who I think is straight comes to visit her there so she gotta start dealing with all her shit, very apt Amelia well done. I think it does have a happy ending for said main character based on the title but not a fluffy one and she isn't getting with that friend I'm p sure] Amelia: [In clearer terms, this is a book about Marin, a girl who has lost her grandfather, and in doing so, pushed away her former best friend, Mabel. So when Mabel comes to town, Marin does not know what to do with the memories. Marin at once does not want Mabel here, regrets her being here, but also desperately wants Mabel to love her. She has walls up and she wants them down, but she is too terrified for them to ever come down. Marin has lost everything, including Mabel, her best friend and her maybe-something-more.  But it’s not a romance between Marin and Mabel. That is what is perhaps the saddest part. I once saw Nina LaCour talk live about this book, and she said something that perfectly sums up what is so arresting about this book: being queer and in love with your best friend is different than being straight and in love with your best friend. One is an experience in first love, and one is also that, but with an added experience of fear – not of rejection but of disgust. We do not want to hurt our best friends by loving them. We have learned to be ashamed of love and we carry that with us, through thick and through thin. BYE] Jac: [well, v on the nose, soz we won't be reading that hun and we didn't read the last one, so rude] Amelia: [maybe years from now bitch you will and you'll see what we were trying to give you] Jac: [perhaps but clearly not this one as it has essentially washed away lmao] Amelia: [something v poetic about a book about grief and loss and loneliness getting left on the step to disintegrate, when this is a film or netflix show I'll be v smug] Jac: [truly, the drama of it all] Jac: [setting it on fire is so last year, anyway, my thought is Amelia sees Jac and Jesse out somewhere but not out out like somewhere boring and every day which is confusing as it was to the fam 'cos she knows she's not talking or hanging out with them so she's like hmm] Amelia: [good idea but I don't know how I'm gonna be like oi what are you doing when it's none of your business hen LOL] Jac: [Jesse could talk to her 'cos we've established doesn't take a hint and it's like the most awkward] Amelia: [yeah because they are gonna be lowkey friends off and on even though she said they weren't after the vday thing last year so and maybe she asks about his gig he's meant to be doing or whatever cos he would've had to announce he ain't doing it on socials and everything like] Jac: [Jac just casually snapping at her like mind yo business Amelia] Amelia: [I'll pick the convo up after that fun little interaction then] Jac: [when you shoulda said nothing but it came out henny] Amelia: Don't talk to me like that Jac: Don't talk to my brother how's that Amelia: redundant Amelia: because I'll talk to him whenever I like as long as he's not the one upset about it Jac: Yeah, you've established you're a liar before now Amelia: No, we've established I have nothing to gain by keeping any promises to you Jac: and I give a fuck about what you wanna take from me Jac: you need to disappear, I don't want you in my life now, not even peripherally Amelia: I don't wanna take anything from you and I'm not Amelia: but disappearing isn't an option for a bit Jac: Contradict yourself immediately, it's really not a waste of my time Amelia: You're wasting your own time by continuing to have a go at me Amelia: when school's over we'll both be leaving, until then we're both stuck Jac: It wouldn't be a waste of time if you actually listened Amelia: likewise Jac: to what? Amelia: me obviously Jac: you have nothing I've ever wanted to hear Jac: and you're continuing to talk more bullshit now Jac: literally, mind your own business, it should not be hard Amelia: neither should getting your head around the concept that me talking to Jess isn't about you Jac: he isn't your friend Jac: he's my brother, I trump any kind of connection you had or wanna have for whatever sad reason Jac: so yeah, fuck off Amelia: if you want to make him choose, give him your bullshit ultimatum, I won't be Jac: No, you leave us alone Jac: it's like having a fucking stalker Jac: I am sick of the sight of you Amelia: I have left you alone like you asked Amelia: he's asked me to do no such thing Jac: You're pathetic Jac: get some friends of your own and you wouldn't have to cling on to someone being civil towards you Amelia: I've heard it all before Jac: then take the hint Jac: I'm so fed up of you and your moping Amelia: then take the 'advice' you're trying to give me and fuck off Jac: you see me coming, you should turn the other way Jac: I did not need to see you today, fuck's sake Amelia: yeah, I'll turn my desk around too, get back into detention, it has been a while Amelia: I wasn't looking for you, I don't want to see you either Jac: then it's in your best interest to run when you see Jesse coming then Jac: so glad you reached the logical conclusion, try to do it at the time next time, tah Amelia: bye then Jac: you're unbelievable Jac: you don't even feel remotely bad for what you've done Amelia: of course I fucking do Jac: bullshit Amelia: No it's not Amelia: but I'm not going to sit here and type out how and why I feel like shit when it means nothing Jac: you aren't sorry, you said, and you've not made any kind of attempt to actually make amends, not that you can now, it's too late Jac: it's all about how you feel and that you miss me and whatever else Jac: you don't care what I've been through Amelia: I'm not sorry for 🗑💐 but I'm sorry for hurting you Amelia: and that this means I'm not there now for whatever is happening Amelia: like you said, it's too late now Amelia: and like you also said, even if I was there, it's not good enough anyway so Jac: because this isn't some soppy book you read Jac: you aren't gonna save me and it'll all be happily ever afters Jac: this is real life and it's so much bigger than all this Jac: shit that you care about Amelia: yeah, it's my real life too Jac: none of this is real Jac: you're putting off getting one by kidding yourself that this will ever happen Amelia: it is to me Jac: just wait Jac: you'll find out soon enough Jac: this is nothing, all of it Amelia: maybe to you Jac: no fucking maybe Jac: you're a child, your problems are childish Jac: that's factual and I can't pretend to entertain it now Amelia: then don't Amelia: my problems aren't the same as yours because I'm not you any more than I could be Savannah fucking Moore, but guess what, it's not a competition Jac: they're non-existent Amelia: No, they exist, same as I do Amelia: but you don't have to bother about them or me Jac: Get over yourself, Amelia Jac: people have real shit going on, real stuff to deal with Jac: and you want anyone to care about your self-inflicted, whiney, entitled bullshit Jac: for what? 'cos you're an AMAZING friend, yeah, you don't use everything to your advantage or make it all about you Amelia: not really, I want you get away from me like you keep saying you want Jac: I didn't send you a present, loser Amelia: I didn't start a conversation about it Amelia: or keep this one going Jac: because you should feel fucking bad about what you did and you don't Jac: not even an eighth of what I do Amelia: I do feel bad, what do you want me to do to prove it, kill myself? For fuck's sake Jac: yeah good idea Amelia: nothing is good enough for you Amelia: you'd even twist that into something it isn't Jac: fucking try it Jac: I don't want you around Amelia: okay Jac: my life is ruined Jac: you don't get to be okay, you don't get to care about your pathetic crush Amelia: you don't get to tell me what to do or how to feel because your life is ruined Jac: Yes I do Amelia: No you don't Jac: really 'cos you've been pretty easy to manipulate this far Jac: don't act as if you've had say in anything Jac: that's about the only use you have had Amelia: well it's over, all of it Jac: call it like it hasn't been for months on my say so Jac: what is the point of you being alive, actually Amelia: I don't know Amelia: my parents, I guess Jac: good luck with getting that to last then Amelia: 🤞🍀🌠 Jac: give you 'til your late 20s before that stops being enough Amelia: it already isn't Jac: like I said, find some real trauma like the rest of us Jac: gives you something to cling to Amelia: or more to collapse under the weight of Jac: you don't even want to survive Amelia: and what? Jac: and that's the fundamental reason Savannah is better than you Jac: and I am too Jac: all I have is the shit behind me to drive me forwards Jac: and your ideal is to wallow in it Amelia: you've got a million reasons why, I don't care how they're numbered, to be honest Jac: you deserve the nothing you're left with and the nothingness that's coming Amelia: that's worked out perfectly then Jac: I swear to God you're lucky he was there Jac: any other day Amelia: yeah Amelia: you know what lessons to find me in Jac: I'm taking time off Jac: so you can have them Amelia: I really am lucky Amelia: maybe it'll make me care about 20 years in the future, like you do, or 5 or 1 Amelia: drive me forwards too Jac: unlikely Amelia: right now it is Amelia: I'm just trying to get through this conversation Jac: Jesus Amelia: my 🤔💭 exactly Jac: you clueless bitch Amelia: what am I supposed to be clued into? Amelia: we haven't spoken for ages Jac: and that's hardly a mystery Amelia: slag me off as much as you like, I don't know what's going on Jac: didn't inherit that off your mum then Amelia: clearly not Jac: yeah well when she finds out somehow you can hear all about it Amelia: finds out what? Jac: now you're gonna ask how I am Amelia: if you were in the hospital again or something that's more important than any of this bullshit Amelia: please just tell me Jac: no, because you did a grand gesture I didn't ask for so now I'm really all good Amelia: a Christmas present isn't a grand gesture Amelia: or what matters Jac: yeah, no shit it isn't Amelia: can you just Jac: what, tell you what's wrong with me? Jac: will that make you feel better Amelia: No Jac: yeah, that makes it almost seem worth it Amelia: forget it Amelia: I'll find out when everyone else does or I won't Jac: yeah Jac: your fake concern for 2 seconds was really comforting Amelia: nothing about this is fake for me Amelia: I don't know how many more times or ways I can make that fucking obvious Jac: you're all talk Jac: I expect nothing more or less from you at this point Amelia: because talking is all I can do Amelia: you won't take a 🎁 I'm not risking an actual gesture Jac: yeah, I heard Jac: nothing in it for you Amelia: okay, tell me I'm wrong Amelia: tell me there is Jac: no Amelia: say something Amelia: give me literally anything Jac: how many times can you be told it's not about you before you get it Jac: it's not about caring because I throw you false hope Jac: we were friends, once Amelia: which is exactly why I want you to tell me what it's really about Amelia: I care about you, I fucking love you Amelia: and something bad has happened Jac: depends on your point of view Amelia: put all of this bullshit between us aside and talk to me Amelia: you said it, we were friends Jac: I don't know if I actually want to hurt you this bad Jac: call me stupid Amelia: it's not about me, remember? Jac: still Jac: it's Amelia: you aren't going to talk to anyone else Jac: Jesse knows Jac: and my parents Amelia: that doesn't mean they know how you feel, just what's happened Jac: you won't be able to know either Jac: it isn't gay Amelia: this can still be one of those times where you say things to me that you don't to anyone else, if you want Amelia: if it'll help you Jac: Nothing will help me Jac: but I don't care Jac: I've got a baby Amelia: what? Jac: a dead one now Amelia: oh Jac: yep Amelia: when? Jac: it's why Jesse cancelled his gig Amelia: of course Amelia: that makes sense Jac: so now you know Amelia: yeah Jac: so yeah, there's nothing to be said or done and that's seriously it Amelia: okay, well I'm here if that ever changes Amelia: my mum's never gotten over it but I know talking helped her Jac: talking isn't going to assuage the guilt of creating and destroying life Jac: maybe I'll go pray but I doubt that does either Amelia: I don't know Amelia: there must be a reason therapy is so popular, you're the wannabe psychologist Jac: hope Jac: I'm not interested Amelia: alright, no talking Amelia: do you want to go out? Jac: and bleed over the four pairs of tights I'd have to wear to stop it running straight down my legs? Amelia: a no would be a perfectly acceptable answer Jac: yeah, it's perfectly acceptable to bother a therapist about it so you never mention it to anyone else Amelia: you're not going to mention it anyway, you've said as much Jac: that has nothing to do with your sensibilities Jac: if I wanted to, I could go into horrific detail Amelia: yeah, you could Amelia: you could also bleed all over my car if you wanted to Jac: Yeah right Jac: your entire street is curtain twitchers Amelia: we won't be hanging out on my street Jac: there's nowhere I could go that'll make me forget either Amelia: you've been stuck inside for days with your family, it's hardly a grand gesture to suggest taking you literally anywhere else Amelia: but okay Jac: Jess won't let me go anyway Jac: last time I said I'd hang out with you and he believed it I fucked your girlfriend so Amelia: you kissed her Jac: oh yeah Jac: same difference Amelia: no Amelia: there's quite a big difference Jac: maybe I told him I did then Jac: I don't remember Amelia: probably Jac: the outcome was the same is the point Amelia: the point is, Jess won't let you go Amelia: I got that Jac: I had to have someone come with Amelia: yeah Jac: not about to ask the poor sod who did it Amelia: have you told him though? Jac: yeah Jac: fucking embarrassing Amelia: I assume you're less likely to accidentally run into him than you are me Jac: I think I got points for dealing with it and being cool anyway Jac: go me Amelia: great Jac: it don't matter Jac: only would have if he'd kicked up a fuss Jac: but he didn't seem the sort and that's one less thing for me to feel guilty about so fuck it Amelia: does Darla know? Jac: I told her false alarm Jac: had to ask her about him so Amelia: then why do you think everyone's going to find out? Jac: people somehow always do Jac: I don't care anymore, not now Amelia: if my mum hasn't heard, it's unlikely Amelia: she knew about your alcohol poisoning immediately Jac: beneath her to have connections with an abortion clinic Amelia: she's not god squad Jac: close enough Amelia: my aunt had one after having Olivia, there was something wrong with the baby apparently Amelia: my mum wasn't protesting outside Jac: that's different then Jac: you have a reason, people can repeat that to themselves until they forget about it Amelia: you had a reason too Amelia: everyone does Jac: no, I had an excuse Amelia: you had a reason Jac: no, I didn't Amelia: yeah, you did Amelia: and if anyone else did it for the same reason you wouldn't call it an excuse Jac: Yes I would Amelia: you hate yourself, before this, after this and because of this Amelia: stop Jac: I didn't need to get pregnant, I did and then I killed it Jac: anyone who did that, I'd think exactly the same Amelia: you didn't mean to Amelia: and if you're going to punish yourself this hard for every mistake you ever make then you're going to last even less time than you think I will Jac: You don't act like that not not mean to Jac: all I need to do is live this year then I'll be doing what I actually want Amelia: and that's enough of a reason, don't you get that Jac: enough of a reason for what Amelia: you can't just have a baby you don't want Amelia: it's not like fucking lads you don't care about Jac: no one made me do any of it Jac: so it's not a reason Jac: it's stepping away from any responsibility Amelia: you made you Amelia: and you'd be a shit mum Jac: no, that's bullshit Jac: you tell yourself what you like about it but I know what I did Amelia: tell me you enjoyed it, any of the times Jac: it's sex Jac: that's one of but not the only point Amelia: say it then Amelia: what your point is Jac: Why am I repeating myself? Jac: I know what I did Jac: you aren't going to convince me otherwise Amelia: Why are you doing it? Jac: Well I can't anymore, actually Jac: 2 weeks minimum Amelia: but why have you ever? Jac: because I want to Amelia: you want Savannah Amelia: it hasn't helped you forget that, it won't Jac: neither do you but you didn't tell me not to do that Jac: I can still want to fuck guys Jac: end of Amelia: fine, I'll say it now Jac: yeah Amelia: I can't do this any more Jac: we aren't Amelia: we've said that before, it has to be different this time Jac: whatever Jac: you expect me to make promises to you? Jac: I don't fucking care, Amelia Jac: you deal with it, it's not my problem Amelia: okay Jac: Christ sake Amelia: What? Jac: Never mind, right, off you go Amelia: I'm not going Jac: 🙄 Amelia: you don't care, I heard you before Jac: you want it to be different this time Jac: do something about it Amelia: I'm not having sex with you, that's what I'm doing differently Jac: what's the point in that Jac: doing all the other shit, there's barely any difference Amelia: because I shouldn't have ever but I can't take any of it back Jac: we don't need to be friends either Amelia: we're not Jac: then leave Jac: why half-arse it, that's my point Amelia: I can't leave Jac: just the situation Jac: you don't actually need to kill yourself Amelia: no, I can't leave you Jac: don't be daft Amelia: I'm not repeating myself either Jac: please yourself Amelia: fuck you Jac: you'll be a long time waiting for a thank you Jac: I didn't ask for this Amelia: neither did I Jac: you have a choice Amelia: yeah, and I've made it Jac: and what? Jac: what would you like me to say? Amelia: don't say anything Amelia: I'd honestly love that Jac: yeah, I bet Amelia: the back and forth between utter lies and bullshit and brutal fucking honesty is worse than just the gaslighting Jac: then go away Jac: you're doing this to you Jac: I don't want you here Amelia: you're doing it to me Jac: no, I'm not Amelia: you are Jac: I'm literally telling you to go Amelia: you're always telling me to go Amelia: it's been over a year Jac: your lack of resolve is not my fault Amelia: if you really don't want me here, do something about it Jac: No, because I'm not crying about it Jac: if you feel so gaslit, fuck off Jac: don't reply, don't engage Jac: I don't owe you anything Amelia: you're literally complaining about it Jac: because you're crying wolf Jac: I can and will do what I want, that's how it's always been Amelia: It's no different for me, I've always done what I want too Jac: no, you're being horribly manipulated and used Jac: poor little Amelia Amelia: you fucking said it as a brag earlier Amelia: how easy it is Jac: so why are you repeating it back to me, like I don't know? Jac: you're waiting for me to deny it, or apologize and say it's not true and I care SO much Jac: get real Amelia: I'm waiting for you to stop Amelia: actually do anything you say you're going to Jac: why? Jac: why are you expecting me to act like I'm fine when I'm not Jac: keep making the same wrong call and act surprised when I do what feels right Jac: for fuck's sake, Amelia Amelia: I don't know Amelia: maybe because I'm not fine either but I don't treat you like this Jac: maybe 'cos you've got no willpower Jac: maybe 'cos struggling is a competition and I'm winning Amelia: maybe Jac: 🤔💭 on that Amelia: obviously Jac: fun never stops Jac: enjoy, like Amelia: 🎢 🎠🎪 Jac: 'tis the season Amelia: Merry Christmas 🎄🎅⛄ Jac: great Amelia: yeah Jac: make you feel better that? Amelia: 1. you literally don't care 2. neither do I Jac: I'm literally still bleeding from having my baby chemically expelled and you don't get any joy out of wishing me a Merry Christmas? Jac: what is the fucking point, if you're gonna be a cunt, commit to it Amelia: there's no point to any of this, we both get that Jac: nah, it actually makes me feel better to make you feel worse Jac: that's the point Jac: I have loads of them Jac: it's you who has zero idea what the fuck she's doing Jac: as per Amelia: oh well in that case, carry on Jac: if you hadn't worked that out by now, there is no hope for you Amelia: there's no hope for me anyway, as you've said repeatedly Jac: you seem pretty resigned to this whole victim thing you've got going on Jac: it's a fair observation Amelia: I'm sure it is Jac: yep, that's right, curl up into a ball 'til it's over Jac: fuck this Amelia: until what's over? Jac: the attack, whatever you wanna call it Amelia: I don't want to call it anything, I don't want to do this Amelia: you're the one who's getting something out of it, unless that's another lie Jac: then don't Jac: why the fuck are you still here? Amelia: because I can't fucking leave when you're in the middle of an abortion Amelia: for fuck's sake Jac: the good friend points are not being counted any more Amelia: I don't care Amelia: if this is all I can do, over nothing, then so be it Jac: you're gonna let yourself be a punching bag Jac: seriously Amelia: why not? Amelia: it's not like it's the first time, or that I haven't for things that matter less Amelia: and it's too late to change any of that Jac: because I want you to stop Jac: to fight back Jac: to not do this shit anymore Amelia: I'm not fighting you right now, even if I had the strength to ever Jac: it's like Jac: you don't understand how dangerous it is Jac: what if this was someone else Jac: do you wanna end up like that, getting knocked about and taken advantage of Amelia: I don't give a fuck about the future, remember? Jac: well stop it Amelia: no Jac: stop Amelia: no Jac: fine Jac: I'll go Amelia: okay, go