#but yeah this whole experience has been awesome for me and i'm really thankful for you all because you're the ones who've providedme with it

[freezethebeez]

yo ive spent the past few days binging everything in your ao3 and bro. bro oh my god. youre insanely good at what you do, i love your writing so much. like i read all of catalyst yesterday and it was so good omg. that fic did things to me. also its so very funny at parts its so well written and you super nail the dynamic of both of them thinking theyre in the wrong, its one of the best fanfics ive read ever i think

[insert aimsey spinning gif here] THIS IS THE NICEST THING I'VE EVER READ AAAAAAAAA

i've spent the past 24 hours trying to figure out how to type out a response that'll show my gratitude, but after said 24 hours i've decided to go 'fuck it we ball' THIS IS SO SWEET I'M GONNA EXPLODE

getting to hear about how everyone's perceived catalyst and how it's inflicted so many strong emotions has been such an interesting and wonderful experience to me. i'm glad i've managed to take some of my brainrot about these silly little guys and pass it along to you :]

and yes, catalyst is meant to be the best of all worlds– fluff, angst, and comedy. gotta ease the agony somehow :,D

the entirety of The Catalyst Experience has been just as wild to me as it has to all of you, trust me. i'm glad we get to share this experience together :)

[queen-freya0]

So, now that I finished totk, I'd like to share my insight of the game overall with y'all. Fight me or agree with me, I'd like to know other people's opinions

PROS

The soundtrack is amazing. Zelda has always been about awesome music and this is not the exception. The soundtrack plays exactly what the environment was to convey. You're exploring the sky islands? The music is then calm. You're in the depths? the music will help you shit yourself. Going even more down, looking for Ganondorf? coolest music ever, full of mystery.

World exploring. I feel like this time totk forces you to explore the world, in botw you could directly go to Ganon and beat the shit out of him with a stick, but definitely not here at all. You find yourself needing bombs so you'll have to look for caves, then you need Sundelion, so you have to go to the sky. In a certain way, I hated that for the first days because I was trying to finish the game as soon as I could, but now I appreciate it.

We have our first disabled Link! At least until the end. It was nice to see him different for once. It'd be cool if he had stayed that way.

World development. In botw, you have this whole piece of land that's mostly monsters and ruins, but in totk things have changed after the calamity disappeared. We have more people around who're in contact with each other. The places don't seem as lonely as before and even people help Link. And, did you notice there's less trees? It's a nice detail, since there's new buildings made of wood everywhere.

Fusing mechanic. Tbh, I didn't love Fuse at first, but then realized how useful it can be.

Link's clothing. There's more clothes available bc they used the botw DLC clothing, which is cool! And the new designs are... slutty.

Zelink. No one can tell me otherwise. All the signs are there, bitches!!!!

CONS

Overall, it doesn't feel like a sequel. And I hated that. Nintendo keeps giving preference towards new players and in this case, it's not worth it. I dare to declare that at least 80% of people who purchased totk played botw and knew exactly what they were getting. This especially has to do with the point below.

There's no mention of the Champions at all, the Sheikah technology is missing, and where tf are the Divine Beasts?? I get that, yeah, maybe the Champions shouldn't be thaaaaaat important anymore, yet what about everything else? Where's my Sheika Slate????????

We were promised a dark game and this isn't it, not at all. Maybe I'm tripping? But I remember clearly on the first years of development people mentioning this game would be dark like Majora's, and going back to the first two trailers I could actually see it was kinda the case. However, with the last trailer, I made a bet that they probs rejected the idea and I was right. I'd like to have something like Majora someday again.

The introduction of a new race out of nowhere. The zonai.... they weren't my piece of cake at first. It seems cheap for me, I'm not sure. I don't know if they intended to introduce something, anything, from them since botw but ended up scraping the idea, but overall the whole experience I have of them from both games is that they took the zonai out of their asses and were like "yup, we got this!"

The end was TOO happy. Like I mentioned before, I'd rather Link have his arm cut. Purah can make another one if Rauru really wanted his arm so bad. Zelda transforming back was okay, but what I didn't really get was why did Sonia and Rauru didn't turn her back before????? They instead waited until Link fought his ass hard, lol.

I hated that Zelda was thanking ME at the end instead of Link. Don't look at me, bitch, look at your boyfriend! This has to do with this other post of mine about how Nintendo can't let go of Link being an avatar despite they themselves providing depth to his character.

I may edit this longer but rn I'm out of ideas and I'm at work, lol.

[eisforeidolon]

Question: So I just rewatched the whole series again with my husband, who's over there. And it's so beloved for us - just like everybody here. And so I was wondering, do you guys have any shows or movies you rewatch or books you reread that are really cherished, and that - why do they mean something to you?

Jared: Awesome. Thank you. And where's your husband?

Question: He's over there.

Jared: [to husband] Hey, hey, thank you, buddy. Yeah, so twice? Y'all have seen it twice? Amazing.

Question: More than that, more than that.

Jared: I wasn't judging!

Jensen: I am.

Jared: Uh, yeah, I have some, like, feel good shows. I try not to reread books, believe it or not? I just feel like there are so many that I would love to read but I try to reread. I have reread Into Thin Air, John Krakauer. Awesome book. Yeah. And then when I find myself rewatching shows, it's from my childhood. I haven't forgotten Garfield, or Simpsons. Don't judge.

Audience member: Turtles!

Jared: Ninja turtles, for sure. That was a a special time -

Jensen: Which one?

Jared: Which turtle am I?

Jensen: Mmm-hmm.

Jared: Who's my favorite? Probably Michelangelo, but my favorite was Donatello. Yeah, and I always regret - I think it was because I could always find a stick and hit people with it? It's hard to find num-chuks, or a scythe, or swords - my parents wouldn't let me have those. I'd find a stick, though. I'd find a stick and pretend I was Donatello. And he was in the purple outfit, which was pretty good - [to someone in audience] No, I - Leonardo was pretty cool.

Jensen: Donatello was blue.

Jared: No, Leonardo was blue! How dare you.

Jensen: Raphael was red.

Jared: Raphael was red, Michelangelo was orange -

Jensen: Why are we talking about this? [to questioner] Thanks a lot, thanks a lot. And I see you, yeah, your wife's still pregnant, you might want to take care of that. She's been pregnant for ten years.

Jared: So when I do rewatch things, it's from my childhood. What about you?

Jensen: I have - this was unintentional, the show is just always on. But my daughter, my ten year old daughter, has found Friends. And I had forgotten how entertaining that show really, really is. So it's been fun to, y'know - and it's just 'cause it's literally, I don't know what station, TBS or whatever - it's just always open. Any time we're in the kitchen, she'll come in and she'll throw it on and sit down and we'll be just doing stuff, but it's on and I'll just hear PIVOT! and I'll just start laughing.

Audience member: We were on a break!

Jensen: Yeah, we were on a break. And that's another thing, I forget how many iconic sayings came from that show. I mean, what a powerhouse of a show that is. But, um, as far as like a genre-type show, I don't know. I'm kinda like Jared, like once I watch it, I've - going back and rewatching it, I feel like I'm missing out on the opportunity of seeing something new? There is - I do have films that I keep on my iPad and whenever I'm travelling or something they're downloaded. And there's one particular movie that - I don't watch it, from beginning to end? I usually will just fast-forward and watch scenes? Of No Country for Old Men. 'Cause I just think it's a master class in filmmaking.

Jared: I'm like that with Inglorious Bastards.

Jensen: Yeah. Oh, anything Tarantino. Like, I got Hateful Eight, I've been rewatching -

Jared: Oh really?

Jensen: rewatching scenes in Hateful Eight. Which, I mean, that could be a stage play. I think it was originally - he wrote it for almost being able to do that, but. Um, it's uh - yeah. So I get the wanting to go back and kinda revisit those things, 'cause it does give you those nostalgic emotions, but also, you know, new experiences, like I'm sharing this with my daughter, so that's kind of a fun new experience.

Jared: Yeah. It's also - So I guess I question my earlier statement about how I want to read new things? 'Cause it's very interesting if you watch the same show or movie or read the same book at different points in your life where you pick up. So maybe I'll just start binging [pause] Supernatural. See where it ends up. I do, I will say, I will say, not a word of a lie, I've probably watched fifteen or twenty reaction videos to the finale. Cry every time. I'm like - I start out like, they don't know what's about to happen, neener neener. And then once Dean meets the post and they go [huge gasp] I'm like, same, same! So I have watched, I think, every single one. But yeah, yeah, that'll be interesting to go back and revisit that show that we worked on that one time.

Jensen: You just talked about a scene from it! [dramatically hangs head, big sigh] We're gonna get cancelled by our own union. Shh.

Jared: I said that show. Super-normal show.

Jensen: No, it's not Supernormal, it's Anything But Normal. It's Unnatural. It's Abby Normal.

[doomsday-dj]

Hello! So as you (hopefully) know I am a huge fan of your work & I have been working my way through all your fics on ao3 - which has just been an absolute delight. This is gonna be a bit tangential, because I am a very long-winded human, but I've been meaning to ask (if you don't mind sharing) what led you to the decision to leave academia?

I intended to take a Gap Year which has now led to a 4-year break, and I'm really hesitant to return to that world. My undergrad had an Honors Program that allowed me to work throughout my 4 years to complete a thesis project, and while that was an awesome experience, hindsight has led me to a lot of conclusions about elitism and the looking-down upon/ gatekeeping that is so present in those circles. It's really just turned me off to the idea of trying to re-integrate myself into that world, which is something I've been weighing as of late.

So, in your experience, did you find that academia just stopped filling your cup, or did you have a particular experience that led you to take a step away?

I just adore your writing style, and may leave you a comment one day just going off about how much I adore your prose and sentence structure, but I really feel that tug to fan fiction where it's almost a compulsion instead of a decision that you described with Rizzles. So, yeah lol- I hope the question isn't too rambley? Just very curious to know your thoughts.

I definitely know you're a fan but if I say it's unclear will you tell me more flattering things? Just kidding... Unless? No, but really, thank you. It's really just super fucking special to hear it every time. Thank you for loving my prose and sentence structure. :)

As to your question, I was reading it like, "you seek to know…...about ME?" I think this is my first non-fan fiction ask. So I have a BAH and an MA in a humanities discipline that shall remain nameless. I spent four years seriously pursuing a PhD and an additional year just going through the motions and bleeding the remainder of my funding dry. I wrote a draft of a dissertation that my very accomplished advisor was mostly disappointed with. The reasons why I left academia are actually many. Buckle up. It's important to mention that I was in academia not just to get a PhD but with the intention of then teaching in my discipline, so a huge reason was the lack of jobs, particularly if I wasn't willing to relocate to any dumb town in North America that might offer me a tenure track job. My wife's career is such that there's only a few cities she can work in, so one of us was going to have to make a change. She already had a career so it made sense for me to be the one to reroute. Importantly, I also had virtually no desire to live in the USA, and that's likely where I would have ended up. Another reason is that I am a terrible procrastinator and living my life with something ALWAYS looming over my head was slowly killing me. There was always something that I should have been working on. My whole life was being lulled into a tenuous relaxation and being jolted out of it by all the things that I had to do. I now work in a job where, for the most part, I leave it all there when I go home and am able to actually relax. Here's a big one: I didn't really love it. Not the supposed "real" work, anyway: writing papers to submit to journals and writing books that you will then force your students to buy which will represent the entirety of your profit from writing the book. I did genuinely, truly love teaching. I don't know if you can tell from the way I'll talk for fucking ever (LIKE RIGHT NOW), but I love being the smartest person in a room and I loved explaining concepts to students and watching them clue in. I loved luring them into my word traps like fucking Socrates and then blowing their minds. I really really really did love that part, and I was very good at that part. But you know what? In my discipline, people mostly think that part is incidental. The glory comes from getting into journals and writing books and giving keynote speeches at conferences and writing snarky objections to other people's work. Teaching is the thing you do in between that to pass the time. I hated that. This speaks to your concern about the elitism and it's a very real thing.

Also, because I liked teaching and because I cared about my students, I started to feel like I was part of a multi-level marketing scheme: in order for me to have a job I needed students to keep paying out their fucking asses to go to university and get saddled with debt for a degree that wouldn't really help them much. I struggled a lot with students who would come to my office hours, unable to get the material because they really shouldn't have been in university but felt pressured to be, or overworked because they had a full-time job on the side, or devastated because the university was throwing all kinds of arbitrary and stupid road blocks up for no other reason than to make this a Thing That Is Hard To Do, and it was really weighing on me, morally.

Finally, writing a dissertation is just really fucking hard, and I had the kind of project where I was dealing with a moving target. I had really keyed into the zeitgeist of my tiny corner of the discipline and I was working on an idea that was really exciting and a lot of people were all suddenly working on the same idea which meant that every fucking month it felt like a book or an article was coming out that scooped my whole damn project. I kept having to change what I was ultimately trying to accomplish because someone would go ahead and publish something where they did what I had initially set out to prove. And because I didn't love it enough, it grew too exhausting, and so I dropped out. Honestly, there's so much more that I could say. But I think those are the pillars of the decision to drop out. If you ever want to talk more about your own decision, feel free to message me. I'm always happy to talk to someone who is trying to figure out if the academic life is for them. Just edited to quickly add something crucial: I loved doing my MA. It was a fantastic experience, I had a truly great time doing it. I also loved all my PhD coursework. I loved going to class. It was once all that was over that I fell out with academia.

[dingochef]

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x You (OFC)

Warnings: Swearing, Smut (MDNI 18+ Only), Stalking, P in V, oral (female and male receiving), Semi-public sex, light spanking, light bondage, blindfolds, shitty parents

Summary: Your family comes to town for Christmas. Your sister is awesome, your dad is pretty good, but your mom is a whole nother level. Thank God Jake's by your side through it all.

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Chapter 13

Word Count: 3.4k

Chapter 14: On the Level

December after the ball rolls by quickly and it seems like you've blinked and it's December 23, the day your parents and sister are due into San Diego for Christmas.

Jake has picked up on your increasing anxiety as their arrival date got closer. He, as usual, has been supportive and understanding,

"Babe, we'll get through this, together."

You're holding his hand as you wait for them at the restaurant you agreed to meet for dinner at. As you wait for them to appear, you're recalling the phone call when you let your parents know that Jake and you were living together.

You called your mom's cell,

"Hello, Elsa, what's up?"

"Hey Mom, just calling to catch up. How are things in Michigan?"

"It goes, we're almost done cleaning out the house to put it on the market, did you get all those trophies and stuff?"

"Yeah, they made it to the house. So, I've got some good news."

"Oh really, did you get a promotion at work?"

"Nothing on the work front, Jake and I have moved in together, in my house, so more accurately, Jake has moved in."

You were nervous and babbling for some reason.

"Jake….oh, yeah, your boyfriend. I'm sorry I forgot his name. The Navy pilot guy, right?"

You rolled your eyes at your mom's lack of caring to remember the details of the only relationship you've told your parents about in the last five years.

"Yes, Jake, my serious boyfriend of seven months," you answered.

"Don't you think that's moving a little too fast? Plus, who's going to buy the cow if they're getting the milk for free?"

"No, Mom, I don't think it's moving too fast and do we really have to use that tired old cliche?"

"We'll, I'm just worried about you making the right choices for your life."

"Yup, the right choices. Mom, Jake loves me and I love him. He is a very good man who makes me happy. It's so obvious it's the right choice to move our relationship to the next level."

"Okay, honey, if that's how you feel about it. You thought you were making the right choice with Liam and all."

The residual anger that always underlines any interaction with your parents, specifically your mom, rose up. You took a deep breath and pushed it aside.

"Ouch, yeah I might have thought that, but I've got the experience and wisdom from a bad relationship to recognize a good one. I was just hoping that you'd be happy for me and not be all judgy about it."

"Fine, if you want me to be happy for whatever life choices you make, then I can be happy for you."

The way she said 'whatever' made you grit your teeth, like building a solid relationship with another human was a spur of the moment whim.

"Alright, Mom. I've got to go. Tell Dad I said hi. Love you."

"Love you, Elsa."

Your knee is bouncing up and down and you're fiddling with the menu trying not to down the fancy gin cocktail you ordered to calm your nerves. Jake speaks without looking over,

"You know, if at any point you want to bail on this, say the word and we're gone. Just because it's family doesn't mean you have to be miserable. You feel like you're going to explode."

"I don't know, I'm just nervous. For some reason I desperately want them to like you, not that most rational parents wouldn't, but these are my parents."

He looks at you,

"And, what if they don't like me? Think I'm the worst thing ever?"

You don't hesitate for a second,

"Then fuck 'em. If they can't see what an amazing person you are and how good we are together then that's their problem, not ours."

"See, you already have plans in case this goes sideways. El, at the end of the day, we still love each other and we are building a life together. None of that needs a parental stamp of approval."

"I know, but your parents love me. I get texts from your mom any time she sees something Michigan related. I just wanted to reciprocate that back to you."

"It's okay, El. This isn't a balance and ledger sheet making sure everything is equal all the time. If you're worried about it, you can just give me extra blowjobs to make up for your crappy parents."

His last sentence breaks you and you're laughing so hard that you tear up. You wipe your eyes and lean over and kiss Jake,

"Thank you for being the person who gets me. I think that might have earned you a few extra blowjobs."

Your moment is disrupted by the familiar sound of your sister's voice,

"Eww, Mom, Elsa's kissing her boyfriend,"

Lanie says in a mocking kid voice. You jump up and run to the other side of the table to give Lanie a hug.

"It's so good to see you, I missed you," you say as you give her a good squeeze. She looks past your shoulder and sees Jake.

"Introduce me, sis. I want to meet the guy I've heard so much about."

"Lanie, this is Lieutenant Jake Seresin, my awesome boyfriend. And Jake, this is my adorable little sister, Melanie, who prefers to go by Lanie, because she thinks it makes her sound cooler."

Jake reaches out a hand for a handshake, but Lanie just laughs.

"I know way too much about you for just a handshake,"

she says, pulling him into a hug. He shrugs and rolls with it.

Your parents have arrived at the table and you walk over to hug them.

"Hey, Mom and Dad, good to see you."

Jake moves around the table to meet them.

"Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend Lieutenant Jake Seresin. Jake, my parents Don and Betty Matthews."

Jake gives each of them a handshake and says,

"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Matthews."

Your dad luckily is feeling social today,

"You can call me Don and she probably won't say it, but you can call her Betty."

Your mom gives your dad a little bit of side-eye for his comment.

You all sit down at the table. The cocktail menu is passed over to the newcomers and the server appears to take their orders.

You start the conversation by asking Lanie how her tattoo business is going. She used the inheritance from your aunt to start her studio in Chicago.

"It's going really well, we're actually expanding into space next to because we have so much demand and have a list of artists that want to be a part of our collective. You can see it when you come to Chicago for your next tattoo."

"I haven't settled on what my next one will be yet, I'll let you know when I do."

Your mom scoffs across the table,

"I'll never get the appeal of permanently scarring your body in the name of art."

The eye roll that Lanie and you return is perfectly synced.

"Mom, we've been through this before. If it's not your cup of tea then it's not," Lanie replies back before you can.

Your mom continues,

"Jake, what do you think of tattoos? Surely as a sailor you must have some."

Jake rolls with the question and you recognize that smooth confidence that can come across as the cocky Hangman sometimes.

"Aviator, I'm technically a Naval Aviator, not a sailor. And no, I don't have any tattoos. Yet. I appreciate the artistry and skill that goes into them. I think the ones Elsa has are very beautiful and have a lot of meaning to her."

You look over and smile at him for his answer. He reaches over to grab your hand under the table. The conversation lulls and you start it back up again,

"How's the condo search going?"

Your dad perks up and goes through the various locations that they've looked at and the problems with each which is enough conversation to get through ordering and a few minutes after.

Your mom enters the conversation with questions pointed at Jake, which puts you on high alert.

"Where did you grow up Jake?" she asks.

"Austin, Texas."

"Family?"

"The usual, two parents and one older brother."

"Where did you go to college?"

"The Naval Academy in Annapolis."

"I didn't think that was a real school, what did you study besides flying?"

"My bachelor's degree is in Mathematics with a focus on data analysis and statistics. I went through flight school and the aviation training program after graduation."

You joke,

"I think Jake might be one of the few people on earth that has taken more math than me."

Your mom drives through the small moment of humor like a bus,

"So, what does one do as a Naval Aviator?"

She pronounces every letter in naval and aviator.

"At the moment, I'm teaching at the Fighter Weapons School on North Island. I stepped back from active duty to be in one place with Elsa. Prior to teaching I was on various deployments around the world, providing air support for Navy operations."

"So, you gave up something as exciting as saving the world to settle down, interesting."

Your hand grips Jake's at her condescending tone. He rubs his thumb in soothing circles on the back of your hand in response. Before the comment can escalate the food arrives, you've never been happier for a mushroom risotto in your life.

Lanie jumps in after the group starts eating to deflect your mom's inquisition.

"So, Jake, what embarrassing stories do you want to hear about Elsa from childhood?" she asks, her face full of mischief.

Jake laughs,

"Any that you want to tell me."

Lanie proceeds to tell everyone about the time you made her a lightning proof suit out of aluminum foil, gave her a metal rod to hold, and sent her to stand at the top of the swing set during a thunderstorm to test it out. Luckily your mother had seen her before she became a human lightning rod.

"In my defense, it was a very rudimentary Faraday cage, which in principle could work to protect you from lightning,"

You offer trying to defend your childhood self.

Jake is laughing,

"You even tortured your sister like a little engineer, no wedgies for you. That was too pedestrian."

Dinner has finally wound down without any more interrogation from your mom. The plan is for your parents to go to the rental house and Lanie is going to go out with you and Jake for a drink and spend the night at your house. Everyone says their goodbyes and you get in your car with Jake driving and Lanie in the back.

The doors are barely shut when Lanie exclaims and pats Jake on the back,

"Congrats, you survived a round of dinner with our dysfunctional parents."

You look at Jake and he is looking at you with a concerned look,

"You okay, El?"

"I'm good, are you okay after that grilling in there?"

"You forget that I'm specifically trained in resisting torture techniques, which I've never had to use before tonight. Man, your mom is intense."

Lanie just snorts in agreement from the back seat.

"Let's go, I could use a margarita the size of my head and the Hard Deck isn't getting any closer, chop, chop, Jeeves."

"Yes, Madam," Jake replies in a cheesy French accent.

Soon you are parking at your house for the short walk to the Hard Deck. Jake and Lanie have been talking the whole time and are engaged in a lively discussion about naval tattoo history. You're a few steps behind them and it makes your heart full to see how well they get along.

Jake stops and waves his hand for you to catch up when he realizes you've fallen behind. You run up and take his hand and Lanie's hand and you practically skip the rest of the way to the Hard Deck.

The rest of the evening is fun, in the simple way a night out of drinking just the right amount is. Lanie and you tell stories from your childhood that leave Jake laughing so hard he is out of breath. You all end the night pretty early as you are due at the house your parents are renting for brunch and general hanging out for Christmas Eve the next day.

Lanie crashes on the futon in the extra room that you had already made up for her when you get home. Jake and you are in bed not long after.

December 24, Christmas Eve

The three of you wake up at about the same time and quickly suck down a pot of coffee. No one is hungover per se, but everyone is a bit sluggish. The coffee helps everyone get in gear. We all pile in your CR-V and drive over towards the rental house. You're about halfway there when Lanie gets a text.

"Mom says to get more champagne and orange juice if we want mimosas," she reports.

"I don't know about you, Lanie, but I think I'm going to need a gallon of mimosas to deal with our parents all day," you respond.

"10-4 on that idea."

There is a Ralph's grocery store conveniently placed so you pull into the parking lot. Jake hops out and runs in for the items. While you're waiting for Jake, Lanie speaks,

"Elsa, I just wanted to tell you that I think Jake is perfect for you and my god, you two are disgustingly in love. I'm happy you found someone who makes you happy."

You're sure you have a lovesick look on your face,

"Thanks, it means a lot to me that you guys get along."

Jake appears at the tailgate with shopping bags and loads up the car. You make the rest of the quick drive to the rental house.

You find your parents on the deck overlooking the bay reading.

"The intrepid trio has arrived,"

your dad stands up and announces. He takes the grocery bags and you all walk into the kitchen and dining area. Your mom has laid out a little breakfast buffet with various pastries, fresh fruit, and some yogurt and granola. We all take a small plate and get our fill. Your dad occupies himself with making up mimosas for the whole group. Everyone heads back out to the deck to sit and eat.

Your dad is feeling peppier today and starts the conversation out,

"So how's flying with the Navy these days, Jake? I imagine it's changed a lot since my day."

"Yeah, it sure has. El and I went to a historic fly-in over in Chula Vista and they had a few of the Phantom IIs from Vietnam on display. There's a lot of the same instruments, but man, has the technology changed. What was your call sign, Don?"

Your dad laughs and smiles as he thinks back to days long ago,

"Mitten, my squad made fun of me for doing the Michigan hand thing every time someone asked where I was from, and Michigan is the Mitten state, so that stuck as my call sign. Elsa said yours is Hangman, how'd you get that Jake?"

It's Jake's turn to laugh,

"The catapult broke on my first attempt to launch off a carrier so I ended up tangled in the line and hanging off the side of the carrier for an hour while they figured out how to get the plane back up and me out safely."

Your dad laughs,

"So that part hasn't changed, stuff breaking all the time."

Jake and your dad continue talking about their respective experiences in the Navy. After about an hour you propose a walk on the beach and Lanie and Jake are the only ones to agree to the offer. You make your way off the deck and down to the sand and take your shoes off. The sand is cool as it is December, but it's still pleasant.

You wander back in to see your parents reading on the couch inside, although your dad looks like he was napping more than reading. You sit down and your dad is quick to grab drinks for everyone. You settle in on an overstuffed loveseat next to Jake and contently sip on your gin and tonic while Jake drinks a beer. Your mother is having her standard cranberry and vodka, Lanie has gone with a beer, and your dad is also enjoying a gin and tonic.

The room is peaceful until your mom throws out a mortar shell of a question,

"Have you been in touch with Liam lately?"

You nearly choke on your drink,

"Liam, as in Liam fucking McAllister, ex fiance and general piece of human dog shit?"

Jake is snickering quietly next to you.

"Elsa, language, yes that one. He friended me on Facebook the other day and we exchanged a few messages. He's in the Dallas area and still single."

"That's a little weird to be Facebook friends with your daughter's ex, don't you think?"

"He was a nice young man, seemed good for you and on your level."

You look over at Jake and his eyebrows are about to take off from his forehead, he's raised them so high.

Lanie dives in before you can formulate a response,

"Mom, do we have to refresh your memory on what a terrible human being he is?"

"Fine, fine. I won't bring it up again," she finally relents.

The atmosphere of the room has shifted and for once your dad reads it correctly and launches everyone in a conversation about your cousins in Michigan and extended family in general. Jake and you talk about your trip to Texas and meeting his giant Italian family. Your dad laughs at your description of all the food and the heavy duty circuit breaker required for all the crock pots.

It's starting to get close to dinner time and you suggest takeout.

"People good with Chinese?" you ask and get enough nods that you pull up a menu on your phone and get the order put together and call it in.

You all hang out in the kitchen as you wait for the food to be delivered. Jake and your dad have dutifully kept your drink filled all day so you are feeling the right side of tipsy. Your dad asks,

"How is work going for you, Elsa?"

"Really good, just got notice that another patent was approved and even better the life support systems I've developed are going to be licensed to other manufacturers. So, I get to go to a conference and present on them in New Orleans in February," You look over to Jake,

"You should come with me, I'll give you the dates later."

"That's really awesome, kiddo. How many patents are you up to now?"

"23."

"That sure beats my four. You deserve it, Elsa, you've worked so hard to get where you are and I'm so proud of you."

You're a little shocked to hear the words out your dad's mouth.

Lanie laughs next to you,

"I'm loving this nerd competition."

The doorbell rings indicating your food is here. Jake and you go to the door to grab the bags. You lay it out on the kitchen counter and people serve themselves.

Lanie asks Jake,

"So, what places around the world have you been deployed to?"

"I was in Afghanistan,spent some time in the Philippines, Italy, and various states in the US including Hawaii."

"That's a difference, Italy versus Afghanistan," Lanie replies.

"A whole lot of different work too Italy was mostly NATO patrols and other routine stuff. Afghanistan was a lot more intense, providing air support to ground troops and actually engaging with the enemy."

He doesn't elaborate more, and you recall the story that Wolfie told you about getting shot down. You squeeze Jake's leg under the table to let him know you're there.

Dinner winds down and Jake and you say your goodbyes for the night and head back to your house. The moment you're in your house you flop on your couch on your stomach and let out a long sigh.

"Well, that wasn't as awkward and awful as I thought it was going to be, although my mom did throw a sneaky play in there mentioning she has friended Liam on Facebook. Also, what was that comment about him being on my level?"

You let out your frustration in one long verbal outburst.

Jake just pats you on the back as he heads to the kitchen.

"Your dad is pretty cool, your mom I can't get a read on,"

Jake replies. When you finally sit up he hands you a glass of water.

"My dad has always been a little more easy going, plus you two were bound to hit it off being Navy pilots. And by the way, I still can't get a read on my mom and it's been 30-something years, so don't worry about it."

He laughs,

"So, how about a cheesy Christmas movie? Like Die Hard, because you insist it's a Christmas movie."

"It is, it takes place during a Christmas party," you argue glad that Jake has distracted you with something less heavy than your mom.

"Fine, we can watch it because it is a classic piece of 80s cinema."

Jake pulls up the movie from one of the billion streaming services you have and soon you are cuddled up watching Hans Gruber fall off the Nakatomi Plaza.

Chapter 15

@kmc1989

@starswholistenanddreamsanswered

@mayhemmanaged

@callmemana

@dempy

@hangmanscoming

@lanie-k

@callsign-viper

@senjoritanana

@djs8891

@atarmychick007

@memoriesat30

@midnightmagpiemama

@mygyn

[dreamylyfe-x]

This is random but my weird hot take that's not really a hot take is that when Ian was at the Milkovich residence in 1x08, I don't think Ian and Mickey fucked. I think Ian gave him a blow job. It doesn't really matter but ya know.

::: rubs eyes :::

Oh my God, an ASK! Like, a meta-ask. Bless you. I haven't seen one of you in a minute!

And hey, yeah, me either. I mean, let me explain myself: I absolutely think the show's position is that they had sex. If you asked if it was canon they'd say "of course. Did you not hear the sound effects? They had sex." By which they would mean they fucked.

This does not reeeeeeally wash with me and it used to bother me, honestly. And caveat before I really get into it -- I'm aware that this is a straight lift from the UK show and that, in the UK show, the dad walks in and thinks they're undressed because they've been doing coke. I have NO EARTHLY IDEA what Terry Milkovich thinks is the reason for his son being in bed, naked, with Ian Gallagher. None. It doesn't seem to bother him, though. And for the record, I think that's weird.

Maybe he thinks it's a dream.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I think there's a tendency of people who do not experience penetration as a part of the sex act to not really understand that it's a whole THING. I read something recently where a person was talking about how they hadn't gotten it, either, until they had switched from being a person exclusively taking to someone who was giving and finding out "hey, this is way less draining that what I was doing before." I don't think Shameless really seeks to reflect that reality in how they write Gallavich. I don't think there was a ton of effort to make their sex life terribly realistic over the course of the entire show. I experience honest relief when Mickey mentioned lube for the very first time in SEASON 7. And in writing this scene, I can totally see them being like "and then they have penetrative anal sex in their first mutual encounter as teenagers while the house has a bunch of people right outside," without any sense of... proportion.

I'm more team frottage, or some variation there of, personally (sound effects, the fact that Mickey's dad and various family members are RIGHT THERE) when I try to fold it into my concept of Ian and Mickey. But. If we are wrong... about this fictional off-camera event... I would like to say that there's definitely some stuff to be said about the fact that Ian was 15 and in a relationship with an adult that could be read into his assumptions of what sex is when he was really still a kid. Not to bring down the room. But I think both of them have some trauma around around their sexuality, how they were introduced to sex and what was "expected" of them that can definitely play into how that first encounter unfolded.

Oof. I have bummed myself out. But honestly, thank you for this. It was really awesome to see it.

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

Just got back! OMG I love these movies, Gunn you're awesome!!

Non-spoiler review: I loved it. Go see it. Bring tissues because you're gonna cry! There are 2 post-credit scenes.

Spoiler review ahead.

This is one of those movies that I enjoy because I hate spoilers. I spent the entire thing feeling anxious every time a battle erupted as I was sure some of them would die, so the fact that none of them did and they all survived in the end was an unexpected surprise (but a welcome one!). If I had known it wouldn't have been the same experience at all, but that's just me.

I love, adore and worship the ground Nebula walks on. I always loved her but in this movie she's absolutely perfect in every scene she's in. When she cries after hearing Rocket? Hell yeah, I cried with her. And that scene where they're seeing what they did to Rocket and she's looking straight at it... damn, that was tough. "What they did to him was worse than what Thanos did to me". Holy crap.

Nebula telling Drax that he wasn't born to be a Destroyer but a Dad... damn, that one hit hard, especially when it's Nebula the one telling him. Now I want him to act protective towards her. And my girl is ruling the city too! Val rules the Asgardians, Nebula rules those people... I have a (female) type, folks!

Also I love that Gunn keeps on throwing jabs at Thanos and how awful he was. Love him for that.

I really liked that Gamora is different and they let her stay that way. I was kinda worried they were gonna change her in the span of one movie back to who she used to be pre-EG so I'm glad they didn't. Oh and that chat she has with Peter about her being someone else and him having to move on... is it just me or there was a parallel there between Steve and Agent Brexit? Maybe it's just me but I will live my days happily enjoying my headcanon that that particular scene is a jab at EG's stupid ending.

Every flashback to Rocket's past was so damn painful to watch, good thing I brought tissues with me. Knowing they killed his friends right in front of him makes IW even worse, the guilt he must have felt... my poor little raccoon. Oh, and he said it himself! "Name's Rocket Raccoon". Hell yeah! And Lylla's quote "This whole story was yours and you didn't even know it" that's James Gunn stating the trilogy was Rocket's all along, loved that.

I also really liked that they showed Quill being an alcoholic and struggling to get it together... but the very second his team is in danger he's back just like that, in a split second he's trying to heal Rocket and flying the ship. I gotta say I really liked him, this is what character development looks like. You see how he was in GoTG and you see him now... he's so much better. Which is why I'm kinda worried that the credits say he's returning? Unless it's under Gunn's hand, I do not want him back.

Mantis was great, more outspoken this time than we've ever seen her before. I love that she keeps making men fall in love with Drax...

And the hallway fight? That was amazing! Oh, and the High Evolutionary? MILES better than HWR. That's how you introduce a new villain, develop him then kill him off at the end.

Adam was okay. So much for a warlock but the dude was pretty damn scary at the beginning of the movie. He then turned into comedic relief but still... he was okay.

If I have something negative to say though... the farewell came out of nowhere. I get they needed to disband because this is the last movie but I think it could have been written a bit better.

The ending... F+TM is my favourite band so to have the "Dog Days Are Over" song playing when all the team is dancing and having a great time was AMAZING.

I think I'm forgetting some things but that's it from the top of my head. I really liked the movie and I'm so watching it again soon.

Gunn, THANK YOU!

[irisbleufic]

Hello! Just wanted to thank you for writing such amazing bttf fic - I loved your "Anthology" verse and decided to try out some of your other stuff. Age gap is not my thing, usually (just not my jam), but I figured I'd give it a shot nonetheless (backspace button exists for a reason, right?) and... uhh I kinda read EVERY SINGLE ONE of your bttf fics in a span of three days. Whoops. I'm currently on my second reread, and... yeah. Thanks! They're awesome, I wish I could give you like a million kudos more :D Have an awesome day!

Whoa, it’s wild to me that you read my Pacific Rim “Anthology” universe and decided to hop from there to my Back to the Future fic! Although, now that I think about it, mad/weird science is not such a leap between those two fandoms. I mean, they really do have that in common. Time travel and fighting giant, alien sea monsters are about the same level of over-the-top!

Age gap isn’t usually my thing, either, so imagine my surprise when a friend reminded me, ca. 2014, that we had once found extremely well written Doc/Marty fic on LJ back in the day (shout-out to Kleenexwoman). And I was like, huh, you know, that’s one of the only places in fandom where a significant age gap never bothered me due to the solid friendship and trust? My friend was like, well, I’m getting back into those movies, could I request a fic from you? And I was like…huh. I still love those movies, and I think I could actually manage their voices…and you know what, I heard there’s a video game now where one of the possible age gaps has them at, well, no gap. So I initially looked at it as a massive experiment in how different it would (or would not) be writing stories about them at all the possible time travel points/age gaps. At the time, my own feeling of powerlessness in an abusive relationship (that had a mere one-year age gap) was the other reason I engaged in those writing projects. It felt safer for me to be writing about a couple with rock-solid trust across a handful of possible age gaps than thinking about my own situation. It was also a compelling experiment that kept me writing for a few years while all that bad shit went down. Like, haters and antis can come at me all they like about this; any given person’s reasons for writing, well, anything is often more complex than it looks from the outside.

This ask was at the bottom of my inbox, and I realize it’s likely been there for a month. I can be pretty failtastic when it comes to scrolling the whole way down, so forgive me on that score, anon! I’m so glad you loved the stories. I don’t easily see myself going back to that fandom, but I also wouldn’t 100% rule out a revisit if the right friend asked me again. It’s incredible the handful of things I’ve written over time that I might never have written otherwise because a dear friend asked me to fill a gap they couldn’t fill by looking elsewhere. I’m a stronger writer for all of those experiences.

[rollercoasterwords]

i just want to say thank you so much for your post about even loving parents (and people) being homophobic bc this fandom lately is so so reductive towards those kinds of realistic portrayals, acting as if their creators are “wrong” when in actuality a majority of us live through these experiences and can find comfort in fiction that works thru them! as someone who grew up religious i ADORED your atyd sirius pov for exploring internalized homophobia so honestly. it made me feel seen and struck such a chord of truth. like yeah they’re wizards but also voldemort’s whole thing is hating people for things they have no control over so acting like inequality that doesn’t exist in the wizard world either is not the end-all solution some people think it is. anyway love you. ❤️

anon!!! thank u so much 💓

i think that parents post struck more of a chord than i was expecting it 2 strike lol like. i will say i think the majority of people in the fandom are like. normal abt letting fic writers write what they want etc but! it does suck that there is like. this small and annoyingly vocal portion of people who are just....really weird about homophobia in fanfiction lol.

like my post was specifically abt portrayals of parents but there does seem to be a vocal minority (although mostly not on tumblr thank god) who act as if choosing to write about homophobia when u could choose instead to write a fantasy world where it doesn't exist is like...morally depraved bc it's "unnecessary"

and i definitely got like. a lot of that sentiment when i was writing atydsp!! which is obviously just my personal interpretation of the character and not meant to be taken as anything more than that, but like--i'd always read sirius as a deeply closeted gay man with intense internalized homophobia in atyd, and that's part of why i wanted to write abt his character in the first place. for me it was incredibly meaningful to explore the story of a character raised in a homophobic environment by homophobic family, who struggles with internalized homophobia in ways that are messy and sometimes even hurt the people close to him. and it was honestly really disheartening to get so many comments along the lines of "ugh sirius is being so stupid and annoying" bc i was just like....this is all very real to me. and largely based on personal experience. and it sucks seeing people brush it off and go "but they're wizards why can't u just make him accept that he's gay!!!"

and it's also like. i understand why someone might not want to read about homophobia, and that's totally fine! u can seek out fics where queerness is totally accepted and filter out homophobia and do what's best for ur own mental health, y'know? but for me, personally, i actually tend to avoid stories where homophobia is just magically erased. and again, that's down to personal preference (i am by no means saying one type of story is better than the other; i think they are both equally valid + i'm glad both types exist in all their variety on ao3) but even if i'm reading about magical made-up universes, i think that like.....for me, so much of my experience as a queer person has been shaped by the homophobia of the world around me. and i'm not saying i think that's all that being queer is (of course it's not!!) and i'm not saying every queer person will feel the same (and like....if ur a queer person who's never really experienced homophobia in ur personal life then that's awesome!! happy 4 u!!), but that struggle has been such a fundamental part of my queer experience that i really have a hard time relating to characters who don't share it. reading about characters who never experience internalized homophobia and whose family + friends are totally accepting honestly just makes me feel worse bc it's so far removed from my own experience, whereas reading about characters who do have homophobic family/friends/environments/etc is actually something i'm able to find comfort in.

anyway this turned into a whole essay but!! i'm happy 2 hear that my post (+ my portrayal of sirius) resonated w u 💕 and i do think the majority of the fandom understands + is supportive of people exploring homophobia however they want in their fics; sometimes we just need 2 bitch a little bit on tumblr abt the annoying people who aren't lol

[anathemafiction]

heyyy you awesome writer!!! Golden Rose has been one of the coolest IF ive read so far, thank you for blessing us ❤️❤️❤️

My question is more of an ask for an advice ^^ As a non native English speaker my only writing experience comes fron writing essays in school and some non fictional articles that ive wrote for work. Ive tried writing few short stories to improve my fictional writing skills but as you can guess im having incredible hard time trying to describe a scene, which made me quit few times. Was wondering how did you move pass this stage where it literally huuurtss to write even a small paragraph. I know i gotta be patient but learning curve sometimes feels incredibly slow. Any advice and tips would be highly appreciated!

Hello, anon. I don't know how fit I am to offer any advice, but I can share what helped me and, hopefully, that can be a starting point for you.

Honestly — and I'm aware of how cliche this sounds — there's no better way to learn how to write than by reading. Read in English as much as you can.

I remember the first English book I bought was a (really massive) compilation of all Sherlock Holme's books. Yes, terrible idea to buy them all together, but hey, it was on sale! Anyway, I read it with an equally massive Oxford dictionary by my side, and it was so challenging, at first, to constantly interrupt the book to search for a word I didn't know. Or worst, whole sentences where I knew the words individually, but I couldn't understand their meaning together, or an expression or… you get it.

It was very frustrating, but slowly, I got better. Slowly, I used the dictionary less and less, and then I found myself actually appreciating the story and the intrigues and the way the author used language and turns of phrases. How he described something, and how he used the environment — sounds, light, scents, colors — to convey a mood. Then I read other authors and other genres, and now I don't use that enormous Oxford dictionary (I use my phone on the rare occasions I don't know a word or a reference) and English is almost as natural as Portuguese.

So, yeah. Read in English, and do it a lot. With time, it'll begin to translate to your writing too.

[mortgageinc]

Mortgage inc.

Mortgage Inc.

          The root of the recession 

             (based on a true story)

By - Andrew Seidel

Act 1

Setting- Towson, Maryland ( A Suburb of Baltimore)

Spring 2005

This novel opens with a busy sales floor. Everyone is on headsets trying to sell the client. The scene is bustling. 

There's a person on a bit of an elevated podium, in the front of every desk clump. These are the sales managers. Each has a team of 8-10 loan officers right beneath them, that is their team that they are responsible for. Apparently there on a small platform to see their whole team easier; in my opinion it was to help fuel their egos.

You also see a bunch of closed offices in the sides of the sales floor. Those are for management, directly C suits and underwriters.

Then to the left of the room there is a desk clump of about 10 people. At first you are told, don't ever bother these people. Basically saying if you do, your probably getting fired. These are the processors. The ones responsible for putting everything together to make sure it passes through underwriting.

Same rule applied to the underwriting staff. Never bother them.

Chapter 1-

The interview

Billy Goldstein gets out of his Toyota 

4runner. He walks through a packed parking lot. He looks up and sees the sign on the building. It says American Home Loans. He begins to walk into the office building. He sees a stairway and an elevator. To the right of the elevator it says American Home Loans- Suit 203

He gets in the elevator and begins to think to himself-  I'm going to crush this shit. I know they've never met someone like me. This should be awesome. 

As he walks out of the elevator he thinks- It begins

Billy opens the door to American Home loans, it's not as nice as he thought it would be. Still decent , but he thinks to himself, "it's B-grade office space, but still should work just fine"

He sees a chick sitting behind the front desk. Somewhat hot brunette chick. Great body, somewhere around an 8 he thinks to himself.

Billy says "Hi, I'm Billy Goldstein. I have a 1PM appointment with Josh Ryan."

The woman gives him a huge smile and says, "nice to meet you. I'm Kelly. I'l let Josh know your here. Have a seat and he'll be right with you. 

She then says, can I get you anything? "

Billy responds back- " no, thank you Kelly. I'm all good."

Billy then sits on the small couch. He grabs his phone from his pocket. A Verizon voyager. One of the first Verizon touch screen phones. He goes to check his email, as it's loading a guy around his age (23) walks out and says, "hi I'm Josh, great to see you again. Glad you made it in today." 

"Follow me to the conference room". He opens the door to the left of the reception desk and sees a gigantic room with over a 100 people in it , and small cubicles everywhere. Billy hears 100 different conversations going on at once. Everyone on their headsets, It was explosive. 

Josh says- "we're right over here", and opens up the door to the conference room.

. He sits down at the head of a beautiful mahogany table. He then says, did you bring your resume?

Billy says in response "of course". And hands Josh a perfectly written resume. 

Josh asks him- refresh me on your experience.

Billy responds - " I may only be 19, but I've got a ton of marketing experience at my Dad's law firm; and also some marketing and promotional experience for small record companies and night clubs. 

It's what Im Good at good at Josh.

Josh replies-" o.k. I see that here( while looking at his resume ) but what makes you different from everyone else that has applied.?

Billy reponds- " Well sir, they tell me I can sell ice to an escamo"

Josh says- "really? Prove it. 

Pretend I'm an escamo."

Billy smiles at him and says- "so I hear you have been using the same ice, day in , day out. The same satisfactory ice. Ever day. Is that true?

Josh respond- "yeah, I guess so."

Billy replies- what if I was to tell you I've got something better. Something greater. Ice that you will love. Is that something you might be interested in?

Josh smiles and says - "Indeed I would be interested in that. Sold."

Josh then says- "you just sold ice to an escamo my friend. "

"Your hired. You start Monday . Welcome to American Home Loans!

Chapter 2- 

The house

Billy rolls up to his house. He's currently staying in the inlaw suite in the basement of his mom's house.

He goes through the back gate, walks all the way to the separate entrance to the apartment in his mom's house. 

As he's walking through the door, he thinks to himself - "mom's going to be so happy I got the job. Who know's, I may be able to afford my own place soon ".

He puts down his Kenneth Cole briefcase on his couch .

He goes into his room and grabs a bag of weed from the top left of his closet. It was in-between some folded clothing.

He then goes to his kitchen, and reaches under the sink for his pipe. This particular pipe is called a bubbler; sometimes called a Sherlock. He named his piece- Holms. He puts some fresh water into the bottom of the pipe.

He then sits the pipe on the coffee table, and sits down on the couch. He grabs a nug from the bag and smells it. It smells amazing. He then smiles. And then he breaks a small piece from the nugget, and crumbles the piece of  into very small bits and packs it into his pipe. He then smokes for a few minutes. 

While smoking Billy starts thinking how much money he can potentially make, as a Mortgage Banker (or as a loan officer as it's often called). 

He starts to imagine buying a beautiful mansion on the beach somewhere in L.A.

This was his dream for many years. And he starts to think that he may get a little closer to it with this Job.

He then thinks about the upcoming weekend. It's Friday afternoon. So Friday night is club one, in downtown Baltimore. Then tomorrow night is Saturday night at Club Trust, downtown Baltimore as well. He thinks to himself-

I've got promotional business to handle at both locations this weekend. Really looking forward to tomorrow night at Trust. That place is always badass.

Billy then thinks, "oh shit, I forgot to tell my mom I got the job. She's going to be thrilled.

Billy then puts the pipe back under the sink. Grabs the bag of weed from the table and puts it back in the top of the closet.

He then goes to the inside door that leads to his mom's part of the house. The lock is on his side of the apartment. So no one can get in unless Billy lets them in. A key can open the other side though, in case of emergencies 

He walks through the door, and hangs a left to go up the stairs.

The stairs lead to the right of the den. Billy's mom comes from 6 generations of successful Jews. And all were very involved in the Baltimore community.

So she has allot of antiques all throughout the house. All from her family, collected over 150-200 years. 

As he's walking through the house towards the kitchen he says in a loud voice- "hi Mom." He then hears his mom reply- "Hi sweetie, how are you". 

She's sitting in the living room watching something on t.v.

He gives her a kiss and says, "I'm doing well, thanks."

Billy's mother is named Ruth .

Ruth then says- " how'd it go earlier. Did you get the job?

Billy responds - "yes I did. I crushed it. I start on Monday"

Ruth says- "That's Amazing. I'm so proud of you."

She then asks- "how much does it pay?"

He responds- "that's the only drawback. Its commission only. Which means if I sell, I can make a fortune. The commission structure is insane. But if I don't , then I make nothing.

Ruth responds- "Well, I guess your going to have to sell then, aren't you."

Billy replies back - "No doubt"

"Anyway, I got to run. Talk to you later mom."

Ruth replies - "O.k. , I know your a busy guy.  Talk soon"

Billy says- "Bye. Love you mom."

He then walks back down stairs and into his apartment.

He sees his laptop on his coffee table and thinks to himself - I should probably do some quick research on the mortgage company before I start on Monday.

He brings up Google on his laptop. (He has a dell Inspiron). He then types in American Home loans into the search bar .

It brings back first their webpage. He checks it out. He thinks, not too bad. Great design, info is good. He sees bios on the management team. He scrolls to see Josh Ryan's bio (the guy that recruited him); it looks very impressive. 23 year old VP and director of operations. Heavy sales experience. Looks good. 

Ok. Time time to kick it before I start making some calls, and seeing who's rolling with to the club tonight.

Andrew grabs an Aerosmith CD and pops it into the DVD player.

He goes to get his bubbler again, grabs the herb, and chills for a few. 

Then a few minutes later his phone rings. Its Bryan Goldberg. One of Billy's close friends.

Billy answers the phone and says whatup homie. Bryan says- "nothing bro, just chilling. You? 

Billy says- "same shit"

Bryan says- "where you at?"

Billy responds - At my place.

Bryan says-"is it cool if I swing by?"

Billy says- "yea sure" 

Bryan says- "cool. I'll be there in 20".

Billy says- "word. See ya in a bit"

Bryan says- "peace" then hangs up

After the phone call from Bryan, Billy opens up his laptop and the Operating system loads. He then clicks on the iTunes icon. He scrolls through the list of artists. He clicks on a Green Day track. He starts to build a playlist named chill tracks. He adds a couple Red hot chilli peppers songs as well, and then presses play 

About 30 seconds later he hears a funky knock on his door. He goes to open it. It's his friend Bryan. 

Bryan says- "What up homie" . and gives him 5 as he walks through the door.

They both walk over to Billy's living room. And sit down. 

Bryan says- so what are you up to?

Billy responds- "Just playing some tracks on iTunes "

Bryan says- "nice. So what's the deal for tonight?*

Billy says- "it's Friday night, so we're going to hit up Club One."

Bryan says-  "nice. Last time we went I swear one of those chicks we were talking with was into me"

A little FYI- Bryan is not the ladies man.  He does try though. Sometimes chicks find his humor a bit off-putting . Over all though, he's good people; and those people that know him know he's good people.

Billy responds"awesome. That's what's up. Who knows, maybe she'll be there tonight"

Bryan says- "yeah maybe"

Bryan then throws a Philly cigar on the table and says "boom" let's light it up playa".

Billy then says - "got herb?"

Bryan says- "dude I thought you had some dank. What the fuck."

Billy says- "I'm just fucking with you. Of course I got the badankadank".

Bryan says- nice.

Billy then goes and grabs the herb. He sits down, cracks the blunt and begins to start rolling one. 

Billy starts to talk to Bryan while he's rolling the blunt. He says- So hears the deal with promo for Club one. Right now I'm getting 2$ per person that I bring in. And every now and then a bar tab up to 50$/night 

I'm going to try to talk them into upping the tab to 60$/night and 3$ per person that I bring in.

Bryan says- "nah man. Just keep what you got going on already. You don't want to rock the boat.

Billy responds - "Dude, negotiation is an Integral part of Business. Any business man basically expects it, at the very least still respects it."

So they start smoking. And Billy says "so I got the gig with the mortgage company."

Bryan says- "that's what's up, congrats" "what are you going to be doing there?"

Billy says- "I'm going to be their newest Mortgage Banker. The position also is called a Loan officer".

Bryan then respond- "I ask again, what are you going to be doing there?"

Billy smiles, and responds "basically selling loans to people". Mainly refinances I think. "

"The position has some serious potential to make Bank. I mean real money homie."

Bryan responds- "Nice, man. So are we going to be grabbing some food before the club?"

Billy says-" yeah, I was thinking Berthas in Fells point. Get some muscles".

Bryan says-  "no doubt. I love Bertha's muscles. Am I paying again, or do you have loot today?"

Billy Says - Dude, I start working on Monday, so when I get my first paycheck I got you. You choose the place. I'll spare no expense.

"But I do need you to spot me tonight. Although I got you at the club "

Bryan says- "it's all good. You know I don't mind. Just don't order too much".

Here's a little back story on Bryan Goldberg. His family owns a very successful Janitorial Business. Basically selling Janitorial supplies ( cleaners, cleaning chemicals. Etc. ) One of their biggest sellers is toilet paper. They sell it by the truckload to Large businesses and such.

Bryan has worked for his family's company since he was young. His Dad has already started grooming him to take over when he retires. So Bryan is doing very well paycheck wise. 

Thus why Billy doesn't mind having Bryan pick up the check sometimes . Although Everytime he does, it still is a hit to his ego.

Nonetheless, Billy says to Bryan . "You ready to roll?"

Bryan says- "yeah, let's go"

Billy then says "give me a minute, I've got to change my shirt. Club attire has to be on point".

Bryan says- "no doubt " I'll roll one up for the ride

Billy says- "sounds good. I'll be right back"

Billy then goes into his room. Changes his shirt to a black button up. But keeps on his jeans.

He then goes back out to the living room and say- "let's dip".

As they're walking out the door Bryan says- "do you want me to drive, or do you want to?"

Bryan says- "actually"I'll drive, I know downtown better". 

Billy responds back- "cool"

Chapter 3-  

Night at the club

They dip in Bryan's Acura SUV , on to the highway. Listening to 92 Q (FM) in the background.

Billy says "Should be spark it up?"

Bryan says- "nah man. Let's wait til after dinner,  before we hit the club 

Billy responds- "I've got a counter proposal for you. How about we smoke now, and before we roll up to the club. Is that something you might be interested in?"

Bryan Says- Sold.

Both guys laugh, and they spark up the blunt in the car.

As they're smoking Bryan says- "Dude, I've got a serious question for you. Have you thought about going back to Villa Julli? Finishing your undergrad? Could be a good move. Then get your MBA like you originally planned.

Billy gives him a bit of a dirty look. And then says "bro, one thing I learned in college is that I don't need college. I don't need to spend years just to get a piece of paper to validate me. 

I found my niche. Something I'm good at. Something I love doing. I sell. It's what I do, whether it's a nightclub exec or soon to be borrower looking for a feasible loan.

Feel me?"

Bryan responds back- I feel ya homie. It was just something to think about.

Look man, your a salesman. That's your gift. So use it, and make that paper homie 

Billy says- "Word."

Suddenly Billy gets a call.

He answers his phone- "Hello this is Billy" . The guy says Hi Billy; it's Shawn the owner of Trust. How are you?

Billy responds- Doing well my friend, how are you?"

Shawn replies - "All good here man, just getting ready for the night". The main reason I'm calling is that I know you wanted to meet to discuss some club business. Sorry it took so long to get back to you. Can you swing by tonight? 

Billy replies-" well I was planning on handling some things at Club one tonight; but if you have time to chat tonight then I'll be there  

Shawn says - " Sounds good I'll be available from 7 PM til around 10:30. Just tell the staff your meeting with me and they'll find me. Oh, and just in case you get there later in the night- your name is on the list as always; plus 4.

Billy replies - "Sounds good Shawn. See you soon".

After Billy hangs up. Bryan says- "So no dinner? It's already 7:20. If we get food now you may miss Shawn. Billy says- "true". Although remember they have the sushi bar open on the main floor. So we can just eat there 

Bryan says- "no doubt". I was looking forward to club one. But Trust should be dope.

What's you commission structure there? 

Billy replies - " Club Trust or Club One? 

Bryan replies - "At Trust"

Billy replies - "Same as club One."

2/per person that I bring in, and 50$ bar tab.

One of the reasons I'm meeting with Sean is because I want to raise my pay structure to 3$/ person, and a 60$ bar tab.

I think it's a feasible ask.

Bryan says- "Agreed. Remember these guys make insane money on when people drink.".

Billy says- "Correct. I think most of their profits are in how many drinks they serve".

Bryan says- "true shit".

Bryan says - "So it looks like we're going to tear up the Sushi bar before things get popping at the club".

Billy says- "no doubt"

Bryan says- "Don't worry about the tab on the Sushi, I got you."

Billy says - "thanks bro"

Billy and Bryan roll up to redwood Street in downtown Baltimore. That's where the club Trust; also called Redwood Trust is located.

Bryan says- "look for the closest garage. I know valet is free, but I'd rather park in a garage.

Billy laughs a bit and say "Dude, I think theirs a garage on Calvert street. About a block up.

Bryan says- "cool. That works"

They rolling the garage. And get out of the car. Bryan says if either of us get lucky one one of us has to take a cab home. 

Billy smiles and says - "Don't worry , it'll work out just fine".

The walk a block up to the corner of Redwood and Calvert street. That's where you see a huge building. A few stories tall. It looks like a Bank from the 19 twenties on the outside. (funny enough it actually was a Bank once upon a time and then bought and renovated into a form of a gorgeous Mega-Club).

It's only 7:43 PM

So a couple of bouncers are outside and they've got the velvet rope up as well; but no one's there yet. Most people don't get to the club before 9:30- 10 pm 

Billy walks up to one bouncer that he's met a few times. I think his name is Thomas. For some reason Billy is usually pretty cool with the bouncers and bartenders as well. Not just management.

Billy says- "what up Thomas, how've you been man?"

Thomas says - "Oh shit, Billy's in the house". Wuddup playboy" Things good?

Billy says - "No doubt playa"

Thomas says-"Well come on in gentlemen"

Yo Billy who's your friend?

This is my boy Bryan. Yo Bryan this is Thomas 

Bryan says- nice to meet you bro.

Thomas says likewise.

Billy says- "yo Thomas, when any hotties roll in send them to Bryan. Tell them he owns all the air rights in chekeslavakia. And only the low, he's the great grandson of the last Russian tzar, Tzar Nicolas.

Theyll love that shit 

Thomas laughs and says, "no doubt. I got you". Roll in guys, I think Shawn is waiting for you.

Billy says - "cool cool. See ya Thomas". Billy and Bryan give Thomas high 5 and walk into the club.

As they walk into the club they see everyone setting up for the night.

The DJ is getting set up on the mini stage. All the bar tenders and cocktail waitresses are all running around getting things ready for the night. Brian lioks over to the left side of the club and spots the Sushi bar. 

Brian says to Billy- Yo Billy, i’m going to be at the sushi bar. Do your thing, and then meet me over there when your done.

He notices it’s a hot chick making the sushi instead of the stereotypical asian sushi chef. He go over to her and says- Hey hun, i’m Brian, what’s your name?

She says- I’m Brook, I have a boyfriend and i’m a lesbian. what can I get for you?

Brian says- Umm, ok. I’ll have a Heineken and 3 shrimp tempura rolls.

Brook replies- No problem. I’ll put that in right now.

Brian says - Thanks. So i’m a friend of Billy’s. Do I get any type of discount?

Brook Replies- Billy, the promoter Billy?

Brian says- yeah, one in the same.

Brook says- No doubt. I can give you guys the employee discount. 50% off everything but alcohol. And 10% off all liquor. 

How’s that sound?

Bryan says- Sounds good hun, thanks.

After Billy walks away from Bryan to find and talk with the owner of Trust; first he stops by the main bar on the 1st floor.

He sees this girl he’s been into for a few months, behind the Bar.

He goes up to the Bar to talk to her. He says, “hey Sam”. She replies “who are you again? He replies back Really? Cmon.”

She starts to laugh and says- oh yeah, your the guy who was supposed to call me last weekend”.

Billy says- “my bad. Things got crazy last week. But i’ll make it up to you.

Samantha replies back- I hope so. Give me a shout later.

Billy says- Definitely. And on a different note, where’s Shawn? I’m supposed to meet with him.

She replies- He’s in his office as usual.

Billy says- which office? upstairs or down stairs?

Sam replies back- Downstairs.

Billy says- Cool. i’ve got to go. Talk soon?

She gives him a smile and says- definitely

The club is a huge building. It’s got 2 levels upstairs and 1 level downstairs. It’s kind of cool what they do regarding music on the weekends. They usually have 2 different DJs playing 2 different kinds of music. One on the main level usually playing Dance music; and another down stairs that usually is playing a form of techno music, called house music.

Billy leaves the main bar in search for Shawn. He hangs a left, goes down the stairwell and heads over to the office downstairs where Sam said he could find Shawn.

He walks to the office in the back corner down stairs. The office door is closed. Billy knocks twice. He hears Shawn’s voice say “Enter”

As he walks into the office he always notices the random tanning bed in there. He asked Shawn about it one time and he said he spends so much time in the office, it just made sense.

After Billy walked in the door he says “Wuddup Pimpin” to Shawn as he half shake/high fives him.. Shawn says “not much playa”

A little backstory about Shawn. He’s around 30 some years old, and has become one of the most powerful and successful club owners in Baltimore; possibly the northeast. He owns the club outright and has a serous vested interest in the realestate it sits in as well.

Word on the street about Shawn, he went to law school, dropped out to start his first marketing company . Became uber successful, and started buying up businesses and some properties around Baltimore as well. And then had the opportunity to buy the club (Redwood trust), did that, and now spends most of his time (60 some hour weeks) doing what he loves- running Trust.

Shawn then says to Billy “So what’s up? What do I owe the honor of this visit to?” He’s saying this while he’s multitasking . Signing papers on his desk, while talking to Billy.

Billy responds - Well, I wanted to chat with you about hyper inflation”

Shawn laughs a bit and says “go on”

Billy says- as you know in our country inflation is very real. Interest rates are rising, and things are getting more expensive.”

Shawn says- o.k. Do continue.

Billy says- “With all that being said, we need to renegotiate my deal with Trust”.

Shawn says- I’m not against that. You are one of my top promoters, and I rely on you.

What did you have in mind?

Billy says- Currently i’m getting 2$/person that I bring in, with a 50$ bar tab as well.

Just know, i’ve been very thankful of this. But I think it’s time to step it up.

Shawn says- What’d you have in mind?

Billy says- i’m not asking for anything crazy like profit sharing on alcohol sales. Just a bit of a bump.

How does 3$/person brought in . Plus a 60$ bar tab sound?

Shawn smiles and then says- I think that’s fair. Your one of my top earners, so keep earning and i’ll keep honoring this deal. But if you start to slack off, then we’re going to have a another renegotiation.

Billy says - Sounds good sir. Thank you.

I got to get back to things. So thanks again, and we’ll talk again soon.

Shawn says- No doubt. And btw, as always you’ll still keep your VIP privileges as well. You and all your people are always welcome in the VIP area.

Shawn grins and says-

Try quantifying that .

Billy says as he’s walking out- It definitely helps offset inflation.

And smiles.

He gives Shawn a high 5 handshake and says later brotha.

Shawn says- oh btw, we’ve got to hit the driving range again soon.

Billy Says- No doubt . See ya soon bro.

Shawn says- Peace.

Billy walks out of the office and thinks to himself- That went well.

He walks back upstairs. And it’s not as empty as it was when they walked in. It’s starting to fill up a bit.

He thinks to himself- Nice. And the night begins.

[tenebraevesper]

Five Nights at Freddy's: Nothing Remains, Night 26: Synthetic Agony

''Synthetic agony; It's all that's left of me. Out there, they call my name, but I will never feel the same. I wonder what they blew on those plastic children's toys. They think it's fun to protect all the girls and boys. But come the darker hours, it seems we share a goal. For them, a glitch, for us, our very heart and soul. Doesn't change the fact that my whole purpose has been whacked. This doesn't change a my views of who I am and who are you.''

 – Synthetic Agony by Muse of Discord (Five Nights at Freddy's 2)

xXxXxXx

''Sam?''

Springtrap crossed his arms, tilting his head as he stared at Sam, who was standing at the entrance to the back room, looking for something, or rather, someone, at the main area. She turned towards him, giving him a curious look.

''Are you okay?'' Springtrap asked her.

''Yeah, I am,'' Sam replied as she entered the room, closing the door behind her. ''I was just keeping an eye on things outside. Apparently, Tessa, Violet and the rest of their group had abandoned their table rather quickly.'' She smiled. ''Thanks for helping me out.''

''You're welcome,'' Springtrap replied. ''I have enough experience with customers to know which ones are the vultures and I had figured that you wouldn't mind if I scared your bullies into leaving you alone. I mean, it worked last time.''

''Even if Violet and her group are going to leave me alone, I wouldn't be so sure about Tessa, since she can be really persistent,'' Sam replied, sighing. ''Also, speaking of scaring them, I think you did a lot more than just talk to them.''

''What do you mean?'' Springtrap gave her a questioning look.

''So, you haven't noticed?'' Sam tilted her head.

''What was I supposed to notice?'' Springtrap asked.

''I see,'' Sam muttered thoughtfully, crossing her arms. ''Well, something strange had happened while you were intimidating them.''

''What exactly did I do?'' Springtrap was curious, albeit still confused about the situation.

''To put it simply, I suddenly had this strange feeling of dread and fear, even though I knew your threats were never directed towards me,'' Sam explained. ''I have no idea what exactly it was, but that wasn't normal.''

''You want to say that I somehow managed to cause everyone to be afraid of me?'' Springtrap asked, with Sam nodding. ''But, how is that possible?''

Sam rose an eyebrow. ''Will, you're a spirit and you saw what other spirits can do, especially that kid. Don't you think that you'd be able to do something like that as well?''

Springtrap snorted, shaking his head. ''I actually had the same assumption a while ago, but according to Henry, I'm restricted due to having my soul trapped inside this suit. Although, considering what had happened, I guess that I just need to figure out how to control it.''

''Honestly, I'm not sure whether it would be a good idea for you to learn how to control the ability to suddenly induce fear into anyone you meet,'' Sam replied. Springtrap smirked.

''Why not? It's quite useful to keep annoying people away,'' Springtrap told her. Sam narrowed her eyes.

''Will, I know you and I sincerely doubt that you would use that kind of ability to just keep away those who annoy you,'' Sam told him. ''Even though I do agree that it would be useful in certain situations.'' She smirked. ''Rest assured, it was awesome to see them being freaked out like this.''

''Frankly, I think that you handled yourself quite well,'' Springtrap told her. ''They really deserved a punch in the face.''

''Honestly, I wish I was able to do that, but- Huh?'' Sam said, when her smartphone suddenly started ringing. She took it out of her pocket. ''Dad's calling.''

Springtrap gave her a curious look, with Sam had answering the call.

''Hi, Dad? Yeah, I'm at work, but no, I'm not busy now.'' She fell silent for a moment and then smiled. ''Sure, why not? I'll send you a message when I get home. Bye!''

''What did Aaron tell you?'' Springtrap asked Sam as she put her smartphone back in her pocket.

''He asked me whether I was up for a gaming night,'' Sam replied, shrugging. ''Considering how I didn't really have any other plans for tonight, especially since I wanted to stay at home today, I agreed.''

''I see,'' Springtrap said, crossing his arms on his back, with a rather grim look on his expression. ''I guess I should've told you about this earlier then.''

''What do you mean?'' Sam rose an eyebrow.

''Do you remember Kathy and Kyle, those twins whom I had met at Ricky's?'' Springtrap, with Sam nodding. ''It appears that the boy who died at Ricky's was their cousin and they had witnessed Quentin bashing his head against a table.''

''That's horrible,'' Sam was shocked, feeling bad for the twins.

''It is, but what's worse is that they had told their parents and the police what had happened, only for everyone to dismiss it as an accident. I assume that they probably thought that the two were either making it up or believed that they were too traumatized to talk about what had 'actually' happened,'' Springtrap replied. ''At least we were right about why they had removed Quentin from the band. While the police and management may not believe that the animatronics were indeed behind the murder, they are suspicious.''

''Still, it doesn't matter if they just place the animatronics in the back room, since Connor is going to find another way to use them in order to murder more people,'' Sam pointed out.

''That's true,'' Springtrap muttered. ''I do wonder what his endgame is, though. The way things are now, he is going to ruin Ricky's Wonder Shack. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't care anymore about that place. As long as he gets what he wants from that place, it doesn't matter what happens to it.''

Sam fell silent for a moment, with Springtrap giving her a look of concern. She then took a deep breath, shaking her head.

''We need to find Connor, that's certain,'' she said. ''However, I don't think that we will ever go to Ricky's again, especially since it's under investigation. The way things are, it will fall apart and nothing can be done about it. If we want to find Connor, we will have to get into contact with the Drawkills, even more now that they know where we live.''

''Honestly, I don't feel so sure about asking for their help,'' Springtrap replied.

''Me neither, but that's all we have,'' Sam told him grimly.

xXx

''Matt, when are we finally going to go to Ricky's Wonder Shack?''

A tall, dark-haired teenager looked up from the book he was reading, noticing his younger brother, who was holding a basketball, giving him an impatient look. His brother's friend was fidgeting, obviously just as impatient as the former. The teenager, Matthew Dearth, sighed.

''Devon, I already told you that we will eventually go there, but I'm currently not in the mood to-'' he said, only for his younger brother to cut him off.

''But, Mum said that you would take us there!'' Devon protested, with his friend nodding. Matt shook his head.

''She never told me when I am supposed to take you there,'' Matt replied. ''That is still my call.'' His eyes narrowed as he saw the look Devon was giving him. ''Also, you can snitch on me all you want, but I'm not going to budge. Only because I'm babysitting you doesn't mean that we are going to do everything you want.''

''You really are a jerk, Matt,'' Devon replied, but he already knew that he was fighting a losing battle. He turned to his friend. ''Do you want to try a few trick shots?''

''Sure,'' his friend said, catching the basketball Devon threw at him and following him to the basketball court. Matt went back to his book, feeling irritated about the interruption, as all he wanted was to read his book in peace. However, he couldn't really focus anymore on it, as he thought about Devon's request.

Ever since his 10-year-old brother saw the restaurant when they passed by it on their trip home, he wanted to see what it was about, having heard from his new friend, neighbor and soon-to-be classmate, Corey, about the animatronics, food and games that were there. He was quite intrigued, but since his parents didn't have the time to bring him there, that task was given to Matt, who was not happy about that decision. He noted that Devon could easily go on his own there, but his parents refused, acting as if Devon was a toddler who needed someone to hold his hand. While not being happy that his parents would baby him, Devon would often take advantage of the situation to get what he wanted.

While Matt hated being a babysitter, he didn't really resent his little brother for acting like that, since Devon had been spoiled silly by their parents. Instead, Matt preferred to interact with is younger brother as little as possible. To him, Devon just kind of… existed. It wasn't just the seven-year gap in their ages, but it was also the memories they had.

Unlike Devon, Matt had been living in Hurricane until he was seven, when a tragedy struck his family, causing his parents to decide to move from Hurricane to New Harmony. Matt wasn't really sure whether grieving had an expiration date or why his parents made this decision, but 10 years later, he had found himself in his new house back in Hurricane. It certainly looked nothing like his childhood home and Matt even went to see what had happened to his old house, but he wasn't happy with the result.

Whoever the new owner was, they had cut down the tree that was in the garden, paved the front entrance and removed the rose bushes Matt's mother used to care for. To a stranger, the differences weren't that bad and they'd probably even call it an improvement, but Matt hated what the new owners had done to it. He knew that nothing stayed the same, but he hoped that he could at least recall the memories of him playing in the garden or swinging on the tire swing his father had put on the tree. Now, he felt nothing.

Nevertheless, the idea of being in a place filled with memories of old times, of how things used to be, was intriguing to him. He probably would've brought his brother to Ricky's Wonder Shack if it had been an older place or an older franchise, but it seemed to come into existance only a year or two ago; not something Matt was hoping for.

Still, there was another place that caught his interest – Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. It certainly had a long and intriguing history and Matt wanted to be a part of it, especially after he played the games that had come out a few months ago, only to be taken down afterwards due to some kind of lawsuit. He didn't understand the entirety of the lore, but he was interested in it and he desired to know more.

He tried to convince his brother to visit Freddy's, obviously, but the latter wanted to go to Ricky's thanks to his friend's insistence. Matt felt that the two were ignoring the fact that those two places were pretty much the same, as they both had food, games and animatronics. The only difference was that Freddy's had opened more recently, so Corey was more used to Ricky's.

However, there had been strange reports in the past few weeks, all about people going missing and turning up dead at Ricky's. There had been a rumor about a man having abducted a small kid, even though the kid had turned up fine, and that this man was responsible for the other murders, with Matt feeling that it was something worth exploring. He put down his book, Tananarive Due's The Good House, and thought about it.

Perhaps, even though the place is still new, memories of those tragedies have already formed there. I guess I should investigate the place, simply to see whether there is anything. Who knows, I might find something interesting there.

xXx

It had been late in the evening, with Springtrap sitting on Sam's bed, reading Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows and occasionally looking up at Sam who, on the other hand, payed no attention to him. She was playing Dead by Daylight and talking to her father via an online voice chat, and the reason Springtrap couldn't hear Aaron was because she was wearing a headset with a microphone attached to it. Nevertheless, most of the talk was game-related, so Springtrap didn't feel the need to pay that much attention to it. He did note that Sam was really enjoying herself and that she was currently playing as a killer known as the Huntress against her father, as well as three of her father's friends, who decided to join along so they'd have a full lobby.

''Gotcha!'' Sam exclaimed as she threw a hatchet at the survivor her father was playing as, causing him to fall over, and quickly walked over to him in order to put him on a hook.

''Aw, com'n! I dodged that one!'' Aaron said, observing as the survivor struggled on the hook.

''You obviously didn't, Dad,'' Sam replied, with the Huntress doing a little ''dance'' in front of the survivor. ''Good luck trying to get off that hook.''

''Are you trying to camp me?'' Aaron asked when Sam didn't move.

''…Nope,'' Sam replied sheepishly, walking over to the nearest locker and took an hatchet out. Just then, she saw that the last generator had been finished, spotting the remaining survivor fleeing across the field and going towards one of the doors. ''Hold up!''

''Wait, is she going to abandon me?'' Aaron asked, with Sam chuckling.

''I'm sure that she's thinking 'Screw this, I'm outta here!','' she said as she chucked a hatchet at the survivor, who dodged it, running away from the door. However, the next hatchet hit the girl, causing her to fall over. She smirked as she walked over to the survivor and directly killed her with her axe. ''That's what you get for abandoning your teammates.''

''Wait, what happened? Do you have a Mori?''

''Yeah, I do,'' Sam replied, walking back to the hook. ''Didn't I tell you that I would go all out in this round?''

''Okay, but why didn't you just kill me if you had the Mori?''

''I had figured that I could use you as a bait,'' Sam said sheepishly. ''No offense, Dad.''

''None taken,'' Aaron replied nonchalantly, letting himself being taken by the Entity and ending the round. ''I remember playing one round where a guy could've saved the other two teammates, but just waited for them to die and go for the hatch. Karma got him, though, since the person who played as the Nurse caught him just as he was about to jump into the hatch.''

''Let me guess, you were the first to die,'' Sam said, leaning back on her chair.

''Yes, but only because the guy led the Nurse to me,'' Aaron replied, causing Sam to chuckle. ''That group was cursed.'' He was silent for a moment. ''It seems like we'll have to end the game here. I just got a message that everyone's planning on leaving.''

''Aw, I hoped for another round,'' Sam said, a bit disappointed.

''Well, it is late...'' Aaron paused, with Sam assuming that he checked the time. ''Besides, we can always go for the playing-with-random-people option.''

Sam thought about it for a bit, but then shook her head. ''I think we should quit as well. It was great to play against you again, Dad.''

''Hey, I promised you a gaming night, didn't I?'' Aaron said, as Sam exited the game, but kept the online voice chat up. ''Besides, Emma had told me that you had a rough day and that I should check on you.''

''So, that's why you decided to call me,'' Sam said. She glanced at Springtrap, who looked up from the book he was reading, now being curious, even though he couldn't hear what Aaron was saying. ''You can tell Mum that I'm fine.''

''No problem,'' Aaron replied, then added in a curious tone. ''So, how is your friend?''

''You mean, Springtrap?'' Sam rose an eyebrow, glancing briefly at Springtrap, who was confused after hearing Sam mentioning his name.

''Well, obviously,'' Aaron replied. ''It is interesting that you are friends with a sentient animatronic, especially one from a place like Freddy's.''

''I guess I kind of got lucky,'' Sam replied.

''I was wondering whether you had asked him anything about the lore,'' Aaron added.

Sam bit her lip, not feeling comfortable about telling her father what she knew, despite the fact that they both used to discuss the Five Nights at Freddy's lore before. Rest assured, Aaron probably knew just as much as she did, but Sam didn't want to get her father involved into this as well. She knew that there was no way to keep this a secret from her mother, but she hoped that her father would stay out of this mess.

''Um, I did ask him, but there wasn't really much to talk about,'' Sam said, noticing Springtrap giving her a weird look.

''Really?'' Aaron snorted. ''I wouldn't be so sure about it.''

''What do you mean, Dad?'' Sam asked, a little worried.

''I am just saying that I understand if there's something you want to keep a secret for me,'' Aaron said in a comforting tone. ''Nevertheless, if you get yourself into trouble, don't hesitate to ask me for help. I won't judge.''

''Thanks, Dad, but I'm handling things here quite well,'' Sam told him.

''That's great to hear,'' Aaron replied in a cheerful tone. ''Also, tell Afton that I said 'Hi'.''

Sam froze, not sure what to make out of it. ''Um, Dad, you know that his name is Springtrap.''

''I don't think it matters whether you call him Springtrap or Afton, as it's the same person, isn't it?'' Aaron replied.

''Uh, Dad, I don't think that you-''

''Sweetie, listen, I trust you,'' Aaron interrupted her, still sounding surprisingly carefree, despite what his speech implied. ''Not that I'm not curious about what actually happened, but I'm sure that you'll eventually tell me everything.''

''Okay,'' Sam muttered. ''Bye, Dad.''

''Bye, Sam. I love you,'' Aaron replied.

''I love you too, Dad,'' Sam said, disconnecting the call. She took the headset off, leaning back against the chair, noticing a concerned Springtrap.

''What were you two talking about?'' he asked.

''I think you were right when you stated that Dad knows who you are,'' Sam said. ''Either that, or he's messing with me again, which I wouldn't be surprised about, since he tends to be a troll. Nevertheless, I did discuss the lore with Dad, back when I still thought that it was just part of a video game. Then, there is the fact that he's obviously working on another Five Nights at Freddy's video game.''

''Honestly, I'm not sure who is scarier, Emma or Aaron,'' Springtrap said. ''One will confront you head-on, while the other stays as vague as possible, acting as if he has no idea what is going on, leaving you guessing just how much he knows.'' He frowned. ''I vote for Emma.''

Sam chuckled. ''To be honest, him acting as if he has no idea what's going on was something which really got on Mum's nerves. Also, Mum's parents never liked Dad for some reason.''

''I'm surprised that the two even got along, considering how different they are. I assume that this is a case of 'opposites attract','' Springtrap said.

''You'll have to ask Mum or Dad about it,'' Sam replied, shrugging. ''As for the divorce, Mum and Dad basically friendzoned each other.''

''What?'' Springtrap was confused.

''Well, that's how I would describe it,'' Sam said. ''I'm just glad that they decided to remain on friendly terms. I love both of them and to me, they're the best parents in the world, even if they are separated.''

''That's good to hear,'' Springtrap said, with Sam noticing that he looked a little downcast. She smiled.

''Don't worry, Will,'' she said. ''You too are important to me.''

''That's not what's bothering me,'' Springtrap replied, shaking his head. ''I was just thinking about what happened previous night, when Michael, Sammy and Elizabeth had payed me a visit.''

''What did you talk about?'' Sam asked.

''I just kept apologizing to them, even though I knew that it would never be enough,'' Springtrap explained, lowering his head as he clenched his fist. ''I told them that I had learned from my mistakes, and that they wouldn't have to worry about me anymore. I'm not going to get dragged down by my own fears anymore.''

xXx

Raven leaned against the wall of a building after having made sure he won't be seen by anyone. So far, he wasn't completely sure where he was supposed to go, but one thing was sure – he certainly wasn't going back to get tormented by Connor.

I hope that those guys got themselves covered. He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to calm down. Connor is going to blow up on them for helping me. He pressed his hand against his chest, his fingers passing through the tattered costume, and touched the endoskeleton. I'm glad that I had managed to get out in one piece. I wouldn't be surprised if Connor decided to turn me into scrap metal once he got bored of me.

He then opened his eyes, looking around and trying to figure out where exactly he was. He knew that his main objective was to find Afton and Sam and he had figured that the best way to do that was to find Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, as he hoped that they would be there. It was the only connection to them he had and he needed to use it. However, he still didn't know his way around the town, due to having been mostly contained either at the Machinations Factory or at the hidden room in Ricky's Wonder Shack. He was aware that it would probably take him a while to figure out where Freddy Fazbear's Pizza was, but he would find it nevertheless. He wasn't going to give up so easily.

He peeked into the street, noticing that it was empty, and quickly crossed it, trying to remember whether he was at this part of the town before. It was somewhat familiar and as he crossed into another alleyway, he realized that he had accidentally found his way to Ricky's Wonder Shack. He remained hidden in the alleyway, trying to figure out which path to take, when he suddenly saw another person walking down the street across him.

Luckily, the person didn't see him, but Raven had to wonder why they were walking around so late in the night. He observed as the person walked up to Ricky's, peeking through the windows, most of which had their shutters down, and then walked around it. Raven just shook his head, figuring it was some weirdo who got interested in Ricky's and ignored them.

He had more important things on mind.

xXx

Drawkill Freddy stood still in front of the door that led to Connor's room, noticing that things have gotten weirdly quiet. He had a really bad feeling, wondering what was going on inside. Eventually, he heard steps again, but this time heavier. He took a few steps back from the door, knowing that whatever was coming out of that room wouldn't be pleasant. A few moments later, Connor had opened the door, looking surprised to see Drawkill Freddy waiting in front of the door. He smirked.

''Go and get the rest,'' he ordered, only to tilt his head. ''On second thought… I'll just send him over.''

Drawkill Freddy's eyes flared up, but he didn't say anything. He then turned around, leaving. He knew that, whatever Connor had done to Bonnie, their companion was long gone. He walked over to the room in which Drawkill Foxy and Drawkill Chica were, both feeling anxious about the whole situation. They looked up when Drawkill Freddy entered the room, but kept quiet. They already had an idea of what was going on and decided not to ask him anything. They weren't surprised either when Connor had suddenly shown up, looking quite self-satisfied.

''I'm glad that you decided not to act the same way as your companion did. It was a smart decision,'' Connor said, with a smug look on his expression. ''Meet the new and improved Drawkill Bonnie.''

He then stepped away, with Drawkill Bonnie entering the room. Drawkill Freddy, Drawkill Foxy and Drawkill Chica stared at him for a moment, searching for any signs of change, anything that would show that Connor turned him into some kind of abomination, but he looked virtually the same as before. However, a moment later, they realized that there was something different about him, that the spark in his eyes was gone. Drawkill Bonnie just stared ahead, not even acknowledging any of them. He then stepped towards the middle of the room and turned around, still showing no sign of recognizing any of his friends. The rest of the Drawkills exchanged questioning looks and stared at Connor. He smirked.

''It is remarkable what you can do with current technology, especially with the mechanics of an animatronic,'' Connor replied. ''All I had to do was to severe the CPU and connect a few devices that would let me control him.''

Drawkill Freddy frowned. ''In short, you had stripped him of his sentience so he would act like your puppet.''

''You could describe it like that,'' Connor said, a little too carefree for Drawkill Freddy's comfort. ''You know, if you had stopped him, this probably wouldn't have happened. Consider it a lesson.''

He then left, leaving the Drawkills with an empty shell that used to be Drawkill Bonnie. Drawkill Foxy walked over to Drawkill Bonnie, giving him a curious look and waving his hand in front of his face to get some kind of reaction. Nothing had happened, with Drawkill Bonnie just standing there like a statue.

''He's gone,'' Drawkill Foxy muttered, backing away. He felt rage growing inside him, almost snapping when Drawkill Freddy put his hand on his shoulder.

''We can't do anything about this,'' Drawkill Freddy said, with Drawkill Foxy looking away.

''I hate this,'' Drawkill Chica said as she joined them, glancing at Drawkill Bonnie, who gave her an empty look. ''Isn't there really anything we can do about this?''

''No, we can't…'' Drawkill Freddy replied, looking back at Drawkill Bonnie.

He was aware that he would, from now on, act the same way the animatronics at Ricky's Wonder Shack did. This would mean that Connor would always keep an eye on them through Drawkill Bonnie, observing their movement. They had to watch out what they were talking about, as they had no idea whether he was listening in, nor could they go back to the house Afton and Sam were residing at to ask them for help. He sighed, feeling desperate.

Our only chance of getting out of this situation is now gone. What should we do?

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#Five Nights at Freddy's: The Untold Story (Masterlist)

[kiss-this]

I've been listening to Rush! on repeat for the last two days (via youtube because Amazon chose this particular deliver to suck) and it all still feels new, so I may change my mind on a bunch of things. Anyway, so far, this is what I think.

This album actually better than what I thought, not because my expectations where low for some reason but simply because a) this is the first true test in front of an international audience for the band, and I bet they've been under a lot of pressure thanks to all those booooring "true rock fans" just waiting for them to make a mistake, plus all those booooring they've_gone_to_america_they've_lost_themselves_fans just waiting to be proven right (yeah, you wish). Not to mention all the professional music critics waiting to decide if they're trash or pass. Also, I don't think it's easy writing new music while travelling all around the world, but maybe it's just me having the ability to focus of a slug. The moment they have time to dedicate only to the creative process they'll do even better. This is to say their true masterpiece has yet to come. Good for us :)

About the new music now.

First of all I need to say I really appreciate the little Bowie, Beatles, Smith, Michael Jackson references scattered here and there, it was fun coming across them.

Also, they talk a lot about the downside of being famous. I noticed this came as a (possibly bad) surprise for some fans. Why? Måneskin write about their life and experiences since the beginning. In the last two years they literally had no other experience than becoming famous and learning to deal with it. So of course this is a huge part of what Damiano writes about right now, especially since he's been affected by fame not always in a good way.

With that said, it truly starts with a bang. Own My Mind looked like the kind of song I enjoy listening for three or four times and then become forgettable. I was so wrong! It's one of my favorite and I'm as far from being tired of it as I could be. Similar to Don't Wanna Sleep in this regard. Both of them are going to bring whole stadiums down during live gigs and I'm desperately looking forward to it.

Now beware, very unpopular opinion ahead. The song I like less so far is If Not For You. Don't beat me too hard ^^', please? It's just that I find it too sappy, a little boring and there's also that little backing vocals giving romantic Italian comedy of the 70's vibe which I find funny. Sort of anticlimatic, giving the purpose of the song.

Timezone, on the other hand, gives RHCP/Aerosmith vibes and I could listen to it endlessly and still wanting more.

The most surprising of surprises? Bla Bla Bla. I didn't like it at first but now... It's fun, it's silly and puts me in good mood. More importantly, it's punkish and I love it. Same goes for Kool Kids, but this one we knew already and I liked it since before.

Feel and Read your Diary bring the horny back (when did it even leave?) and I am not complaining. At all. Also, the bass?? The guitar?? They bring quality even in the songs meant to be undemanding.

On the italian trio now. I loved La Fine since it first came out and I still do but among those three is the one I like less. Mark Chapman and Il Dono della Vita are both candidate to become my favourite of the whole album. The first is dark, and I understand that for a short time Damiano had a stalker too, right? This makes it even more of a punch in the gut. Also, I don't want to start anything but to all the people who doubted it could be a song the glorifies a criminal... come. on. which band have you been a fan of for the last few years??

Il Dono della Vita has some awesome lyrics, I know I'll love it even more, the more I listen to it. It's a masterpiece and I also loved the little Icarus reference at the beginning. And if they play it live at Sanremo? With the orchestra?? Omg I may not survive. Yes, it's true, Damiano writes better in italian, he already explained why, and why he's writing more in english. It's his choice, he's a big boy, so I wont go there again.

[johannestevans]

CW: Mentioned history of childhood sexual assault, major body dysmorphia, and possible body dysphoria.

———

Hi! 

I just wanted to say a HUGE thank-you for writing your piece “Ringing The Devil’s Doorbell: A Light-Hearted, Practical Guide”. 

I’m a transmasc/genderqueer/still-kinda-questioning AFAB SA survivor, and I’ve been hugely uncomfortable with my body, genitalia, gender identity, and sexuality since I was 8 (10 whole years!). I’m in therapy for it, but obviously a lot of the work on my self-image etc. needs to be done internally, and not one of the thousands of articles online (few of which acknowledge trauma, and *all* of which are aimed at cishet women) explaining how to get comfortable with your body and how to masturbate has ever helped me, until now. 

“Ringing The Devil’s Doorbell” (man, I can’t tell you how much I love that phrase! 😄) is so friendly, fun, accessible, informative, judgement-free, well-written, and deeply sensitive, and actually *explains* in detail how vulval and vaginal anatomy and pleasure works without any of the squeamishness, overly gendered language, or cis-heteronormative assumptions that made me feel so uncomfortable and alienated trying to read other articles on the topic. Reading your article I actually felt *positivity* about my genitals for the first time since I can remember; like “I’m okay having this as a part of my body, if I can think about it like this. I can actually be *okay* with living in a body that looks and feels like this if I can identify myself as something other than ‘girl/woman’. I can actually imagine reclaiming my genitalia as a part of myself after reading this.”

I’d pretty much given up on anything apart from celibacy and constant disassociation from my body for the rest of my life owing to my experiences, and I honestly feel like you have helped give my body back to me. I look forward to a time in the future when I’ll be able to embrace my genitalia as *mine*, and not see that part of myself as something shameful or dirty or dangerous, and I also look forward to putting the practical aspects of your guide into use and getting to genuinely know and appreciate my body and sexuality for the first time in my adult life. 

It’s also so immensely freeing to be able to question my gender identity and find people and spaces which are accepting and supportive of that, and which demonstrate it’s possible to be trans or just GNC in any way and also be *happy*! I’ve spent far too much of my life living around people who terrorised me for deviating even slightly from what they wanted/expected me to be, so seeing folk like yourself being true to themselves and living a life they actually want is inspiring. I might be a good 10 years late in realising and exploring all of this, but better late than never!

So, yeah, just, an absolutely enormous thank you for everything you do. You’re awesome! :)

Ringing the Devil's Doorbell: A Light-Hearted, Practical Guide

Ohhhh, Anon, this makes me so so happy to read, and I'm immensely glad that the piece was so helpful to you! I wish you luck and good health on your journey of self-exploration going forward, thank you for sending me such lovely words. <3

This sort of thing is really what I write for, it's so rewarding to know that my work is so helpful to people!

[mandalhoerian]

Hey, I don't know if anyone's mentioned this to you before, but I just wanted to say making Vera's color scheme pink (with black) totally makes her super recognizable and iconic, you know? It's a genius character design choice to me because in all of Resident Evil, there's no other character that's "pink," so she really stands out in a fresh way. It's like you filled a gap we didn't even realize was there. Plus, she's got that whole tech vibe going on, which is so cool because she stands out from all the scientists and badass fighters dealing with bioterrorism. I just think she's awesome and the thought put into her design is top-notch! I miss her sm I hope you update soon <3

RAHHHHH ANON KICKING MY FEET GIGGLING THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS ?????? I FEEL SO VALIDATED AHAHAHAH LIKE YES MY EFFORT HAS BEEN NOTICED BAAHAHAH

You didn't ask for this at all but I'm going to ramble ANYWAY. SO

I was extremely particular about making her "recognizable" as you say, like memorable. Because good god RE has so many good female characters who are so unique, and color-coded somehow, honest to god I was like "WHAT IS LEFT IN THIS UNIVERSE I DONT KNOW HOW TO MAKE A DISTINCTIVE OC WHAT AM I GONNA DO"

----- like, I had a friend who knows extremely early drafts of her, and embarrassingly she was a corrupt, snobby, scope-hungry journalist redhead who wore red and dressed like veronica lodge from riverdale 🙃🤐

and then she was korean for a while (this fell after i discovered ashiemochi's so-ah). and then turkish. and then the turkish journalist thing fell AS WELL because i discovered other journalist ocs on tumblr paired with leon and a turkish journalist on wattpad and i was like "oh my god fuck i am scrapping everything" (this idea later got recycled in moth to a flame)

first drafts are absolute hell, as you can see.

i actually dont remember how i got the pink idea. im also like. obsessed with color? i guess. i like to categorize so it's always fascinating when a character/thing is associated with a color/symbol/animal/ and owns it -- like, the girlies in RE -- they made Ashley orange-yellow, sheva purple (kinda? its not as prominent as the others), rebecca pistachio green, alex wesker white, ada cherry red, claire apple red and it just HITS, it could just be a me-thing though. It falls apart at one pointt I know, because how many characters can you color code hahahah (and they didnt even try with the men. they're shades of blue, all of them. or black. bo-ring. they went with the hair and body type for them while the girls got the colors kinda DDJSKDS) -- so take it with a grain of salt, it's just that I love color as a starting and developing point and I cant overgrow it 😭

but like. interestingly there was no pink pink character like you said — apart from moira burton that is who has it in like the hood of her jacket and bracelet and nowhere else, though she is a minor character? i guess in a zombie game franchise marketed to boys majorly in earlier years, they wouldn't really prefer pink LMAO so it was easier to bubblegum chainsaw an OC in since that was a deliberately left alone concept. I was like "mine now" and put a spin to it!!!!! I love that she's just black-pink. It's her whole thing. Such a satisfying thing to me to work with

I'm glad you think highly of this, the opportunity was ripe for the taking and I just went for it! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with me!1!!!💕💕💕

EDIT: I FORGOT THE TECH THING YOU SAID IM SORRY. Yeah that was on purpose to further establish her to be her own thing as well. Too much "she's not like the other girls" vibes here AND ITS WORRYING but no she is just like the other girls and is proud of it. I just wanted to explore other occupations DJSDHSJSJKD Legit it started out as wanting to branch out and experimenting how I could incorporate it to RE's story!!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN I WANT TO KISS YOU CONSENSUALLY ON THE FOREHEAD THIS ASK MADE MY DAY IM WORKING ON THE NEW CHAPTER CURRENTLY!! Hopefully it will be out this month, you know how long the chapters can get 😭

[ariadnaltos]

Hi 2023!!

my 2022 review, some thoughts and a wish

That above was my first drawing of the year. I did it yesterday on my sketchbook while I was having dessert with my family. 🍰 I was thinking about doing one of those end of the year posts. And now I know what I want to say. So here we go!

I've been on Tumblr for a short time (less than a month!), but I'm really happy to have signed up because it's a cool website. A social media platform where I can express myself freely?? AWESOME.

I started 2022 in a really good position. I was working on a little animation studio where I was learning a lot of stuff. I was payed to do what I love!! It was great, but it didn't last much longer. I couldn't get my contract renewed, so it came the time to say goodbye in the end of April. I'm really grateful because I ended up working there for a whole year. And I even started that job before ending college. So yeah, it was cool. Thanks to that job I also worked on some animation projects, both on 2D and 3D, and I have credits in a few animation shortfilms. <3

But as my job ended it came that common moment that any college student has to live through once they end their degree (but in my case was delayed by a year): searching for a job. Luckily, I was able to do some gigs here and there, but nothing that would last long. And I also developed some projects with my friends. One of them, a fashion film, ended up being nominated for some film festivals!

a photo with the team in one film festival, Facom Fest!

When I started searching for a new job I needed to learn a lot of new stuff. Stuff that you don't learn in college. It was hard, but I'm kind of grateful to have lived thru that?? I think that I growed a lot thanks to that. The bad side was that I couldn't get any position. I learned to do my cv, to edit show reels, to write cover letters and still...

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After some meditation I finally decided to search for a master's degree, so I may be able to learn more and to turn myself into a better professional. If I'm honest, although I have the experience and a college degree, my field wasn't animation until I landed in my first job lol So I need to learn more if I want to get a job in the animation industry.

I thought of searching for a master's degree once I ended that first job, but I wasn't really sure what to study. But right now I know that I want to study 3D animation. I've done 3D animation before and I know that I really like it. So right now I'm matriculated in an online master's degree in 3D animation that will begin in March. I really want it to start!! And to share the stuff that I'll do. I'm really happy with this decision.

This year I also drawed a lot. Because of some bad experiences in my childhood, I've never really drawn that much when I was a teenager. T-T In college I started drawing a little bit, but not that much because I didn't feel good enough. And yeah, maybe I wasn't good, but there is none enough to just start drawing. Thanks to that one year job in the animation studio I started drawing as a habit. One of my co-workers and very good friend of mine cheered me up to start drawing more. And 2022 was the year for that. These last months I've been drawing almost everyday. I also read a book about figure drawing. And thanks to all that practice I'm pretty concious of how I'm improving. This makes me happy too.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a comic artist. Nobody has (still) payed me for making comics, but I'm making them!! And some people like them!!! So I'm making one of my dreams come true. I did like 14 during Inktober, but I only shared one of them on Tumblr. I promise that I'll translate more of them.

This last year I didn't travel much but I was able to attend some great events: Mundos Digitales in A Coruña, Celsius 232 in Avilés, Xornadas de Literatura e Videoxogos in Vigo, Hispacón in Ferrol and Facom Fest in Santiago de Compostela. In these events I met new people while also spending time with my friends. <3

Some of these events where more work oriented, but others were just a fun time. I love spending time in my hobbies and fandoms, although I've been talking a lot about studying and working in this post LOL Did you know that in 2022 I started reading The Locked Tomb and they're great books???

This year I spend a lot of time with my family and my friends. I'm really grateful to be able to do that. I think that I'm also starting to spend more quality time with my best friends. I've been meditating a lot about friendship lately.

And in 2022 I also got my driver's license and ate a lot of sushi.

In 2023 I hope to learn a lot about 3D animation and drawing. I want to continue making comics and spending time with my friends. And I wish to tell more stories, because it's what I like the most. <3

And be sure...