#everyone wants mass produced looking books

[pekoehoneyncream]

Lieutenant Simon Ghost Riley Headcanons

Part One!

Words: 650~

TW: None (sfw)

Ghosts Headcanons are the least numerous, but they are the wordiest, so there's that.

Enjoy!

Ghost has like a six step morning skin routine and a fourteen step nightly skin routine. When he first started wearing the mask he wasn't in the right headspace to be taking care of himself. He didn't wash it or himself nearly as much as he should have and his skin SUFFERED for it. He hadn't had that many skin issues when he was in puberty. | The skin routines started with just an acne cleanser he remembered an old ex-girlfriend used to swear by, then a moisturizer because he has naturally dry skin and it was starting to get irritated rubbing against his mask all day, then he sorta just fell down the rabbit-hole when he tried to research good products to use and wound up with his long-ass skin routine.  | He honestly likes getting to have time to wake up in the mornings and wind-down in the evenings as he does his routine. If his thoughts aren't being friendly he'll pop on some music, or an audiobook.

Ghost is one of those freaks that will be working his way through up to five books at a time. This is because he uses books locationally. He has his audiobook, and the book next to his bed, and the book in the breakroom, and the book he keeps in his duffle, and the book he brings on transports, the book he keeps in Price's office, and etc. He just picks up the book that's in the same location he is, flips back a few pages to remember what's going on, then just keeps on reading. He's been asked how he keeps all the plots straight and he vagues his way through answering, but the truth is he doesn't. | How this happened is that he kept getting caught in situations where he'd have a few spare moments and he'd want to read, but he didn't have a book. He tried bringing a book with him, but he was constantly putting it down and forgetting where he'd left it. Wearing a bookbag isn't tactical. So having locational books is his solution. 

Price gets him those cheap mass produced paperbacks that are about the third of the size of a normal book and Ghost loves them. They fit into his pockets or into pouches on his plate carrier, and he can bring them around with him no problem. 

His nose was broken and wasn't set, later it was rebroken to heal properly, but the damage was done. He now snores and sputters in his sleep like an old hand-crank car. Unless he sleeps in the perfect position or he uses nasal strips.  | If he has to sleep on a mission he uses nasal strips. It's a bit embarrassing, but he's reassured by the fact his mask covers it, so no-one can actually see how dumb it looks. Snoring so loud you alert the enemy isn't keeping it tactical. 

He is the friend that carries extra snacks and water-bottles with him because he knows somebody is gonna forget theirs. He’s also memorized everyone’s schedules and how they all overlap. He uses this knowledge for both good and evil.

He insists that everyone messages when they're leaving and when they're headed back and when they're home safe.  | Price is the worst at remembering to message, the Captain has awoken many times to a disapproving Ghost standing over his bed, “You didn't text”. Gaz almost lost his life when Ghost found out that he just guesses how long it'll take and schedules his messages to auto-send. Soap always remembers. He's texting Ghost in his every free moment anyway, so it'd be harder for him to forget than to not to.

Thank You For Reading!

If you have any ideas or prompts that you want to see me write please let me know!

PekoeHoneynCream's Masterlist

[jewishbarbies]

lit agents telling authors how to write for publication:

[astrstqr]

☆˙˖ DESIRED REALITY !

things i script for my modern dr. lmk if you want more

⬭ racism, homophobia, ableism, transphobia, islamophobia, anti semitism, misogyny, global warming, climate change, overconsumption, overpopulation, deforestation, habitat destruction etc., used to exist, however they currently do not and will never suffer from them again.

⬭ everyone is treated equal

⬭ no “pro-life”

⬭ people are allowed to have abortions no matter what age they are

⬭ women products are free such as pads/tampons and birth control

⬭ everyone is educated on problems happening around the world

⬭ health care is free

⬭ natives are seen as the founders of America

⬭ south, west, southeast, & central Asians are seen too + people know Asia is not just the east

⬭ having guns are illegal unless your job requires you to have one and there is no other way to get a gun

⬭ periods last a day and are very light

⬭ covid-19 doesn’t exist

⬭ plastic surgery is normalized , isnt look down on but people rarely gets it unless necessary

⬭ children of any age are not sexualized in any form or shape

⬭ in public bathrooms the toilet is always clean, people don't knock on the stall you are in, there is always toilet paper, always soap and a hand dryer

⬭ the Chinese government isn't so harsh & gives the citizens freedom

⬭ people of color’s cultures are RESPECTED, & not appropriated

⬭ foster care takes treats kids nicely

⬭ nobody harms animals and kill shelters are not a thing

⬭ all country leaders are good and honest people

⬭ human trafficking does not exist

⬭ the government never watches you through your phone

⬭ trump never ran for president

⬭ no world hungers

⬭ no one is homeless, and everyone has a home

⬭ world peace

⬭ women and men are equal

⬭ it’s easy for people to make money

⬭ all sickness has a cure

⬭ bullying does not exist

⬭ black history and pride month still exist

⬭ the government isn't greedy and take care of their people

⬭ every country has money, food, isnt poor, etc. etc.

⬭ no toxic parenting

⬭ the Sewol ferry never had an accident

⬭ school shooting doesn’t exist

⬭ minimum wage is $15-$20 an hour

⬭ crimes are punished with justice in mind

⬭ history is recorded correctly

⬭ people can start driving at 15

⬭ Korea is not conservative

⬭ Korea doesn’t have an unrealistic beauty standard

⬭ Korea never divided, it is united and free. But south of korea is like the city part and the north is like rural part

⬭ pollution does not exist

⬭ earth air is clean and easy to breathe no matter where you are

⬭ no acid rain, urban sprawl, ozone layer depletion

⬭ allergies do not exist

⬭ the world is more colorful and not dull looking

⬭ coral reef still has it color

⬭ no water in unwanted places

⬭ grass is always green

⬭ if the population increases the planet gets bigger to produce resources to accommodate the growing population. it doesnt effect the mass of the earth or the gravitational pull

⬭ global warming doesn't exist

⬭ humidity doesn't ruin hair

⬭ the library of alexandria was never destroyed

⬭ apple pencils work on iPhone

⬭ everything is wireless, and nothing needs a cord

⬭ line is always short in stores and restaurants

⬭ buildings and renovating don’t take longer than a wee

⬭ you can book a hotel with being 18 or older

⬭ traffic is always fine

⬭ netflix have more of a large selection of things and dont remove shows/add shows no one wants

⬭ spotify is free

⬭ the switch have a web browser

⬭ tv companies still make tv shows similar to the 2000s and early 2010s , just updated to keep up with the times

⬭ the sims franchise lore is linear throughout the series

the open world features from sims 3 is still present in sims 4

sims 4 is like an updated and better version of sims 3 keeping all the features from the sims 3 (still including everything that is already in sims 4)

non of the games have bugs

every expansion pack etc is just added to the game as an update and no one has to pay for it

⬭ cheap jewelry doesnt tarnish

⬭ washer/dryer cycles are 15 mins

⬭ in the show dancing dolls everyone was treated equally and was never fake to each other.

⬭ people actually do the theme for the met gala and it’s always unique

୨୧⠀˙⠀⠀˖⠀ world aesthetic & vibe

[callsign-rogueone]

field work

Sawyer Henrick x reader part three of Sawyer and Peach’s story words: 2.5k 🏷️: no book spoilers. more mentions of James being a mysoginist creep but it’s not actually shown (yet), these two are still in denial, and they will be for quite a while. hey, that rhymed. anyway here is your crumb of gf content for the week! sweetheart or love next, probably.

“And here I thought all Lucerans knowing each other was a stereotype,” Rhiannon muses over her drink.

“Oh, it’s not that we all know each other,” you say with a grin, “it’s that we can always find each other in a crowd.“

“And you always get along like wildfire?” Ridoc asks. 

You blink for a moment, silent, but Sawyer answers for you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and squeezing gently. “That might just be a ‘her thing’. She’s never met a human, or a horse, that she couldn’t befriend.”

“Infantry not included,” you snort, recovering from your momentary blip.

“Okay, I have to know — why’d you turn him down the first time?” Rhiannon asks. “Like, before he started being a creep, I mean. I’m with you 100%, whatever it is, I’m just curious.”

“He’s rude to everyone but me, even his friends. They only hang out with him because he's the top dog over there, even though it’s clear his daddy bought him his leadership position — his boots are too clean.”

She tilts her head to the side, not quite following. Ridoc pulls his leg up, inspecting his left shoe.

“It’s a figure of speech,” you laugh, waving a hand at him. “Means he’s not a worker. He’s one of those rich-boy types, always prattling on about honor, and serving his country, following in daddy’s footsteps, which he’s decided includes making me his sweet little housewife who will follow all his orders and produce him a litter of sons that will all grow up to look and act exactly like him.”

Everyone’s jaws drop.

“He said that to you?”

“Not those words exactly, but yes. He thinks all Luceran women are sweet and submissive and only ever aspire to be mothers and housewives. As if I’m not here to study for a career that’s going to keep me on the front for the next ten years. I’ve told him that, but he seems to think that I’m playing hard to get or something, and I’ll change my mind if he keeps asking.”

Sawyer’s fork bends in his grip, but he quickly rights it again before anyone other than Violet can notice. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I know the value of housework and homesteading. I’ve helped my mother do those things for years. It’s hard work, and it’s important. And I do want a few children eventually, but not half a dozen, and certainly not with him — with someone that respects me, and who will raise them with me as a partner.”

“I’m glad you know what you want,” Rhiannon says, looking directly at Sawyer.

“At least I won’t have to see him this week. It’s my turn for the foraging assignment, so I’ll be spending my workday in the woods.”

“Doing what, exactly?” Sawyer asks.

“Collecting ten kinds of herbs that have medicinal properties, and preparing them into various salves and things for one third of my final grade.”

“Fun,” Ridoc says dryly.

You shrug. “I don’t mind it. Being out there reminds me of home. And it’s nice to not be cooped up in the infirmary all the time.”

—————————————

You nearly trip over your own feet as you see the giant red mass in front of you. You’ve seen hundreds of dragons flying overhead or across the bridge in the rider’s quadrant, but you’ve never been this close to one before — not a friendly one, at least.

You back up two steps, giving it more space, and it follows you, stepping forward. Every expletive you know flows through your mind in a continuous stream. 

How Sawyer befriended one of these things is beyond you. At least you won’t have to worry about failing this assignment if it roasts you alive.

Just don’t look it in the eye, don’t talk to it…

Your back collides with something solid — a tree trunk. You’re cornered. All you can do is shut your eyes as tightly as possible and make one last prayer to Amari, hoping you’ve done enough good deeds in your twenty-three years to have earned a decent afterlife.

Ten seconds tick by, but nothing happens. 

You crack an eye to see its head directly in front of you. It’s just… sniffing you? You must pass inspection, because it takes a step back, not making any move to harm you. 

You force yourself to relax, deepening your breaths and waiting for it to go away, but it stays in place, still examining you. You suppose you’ll have to be the one to leave — you’re probably in its territory. You take a step to your left, touching your hand to the tree trunk to make sure you’ve cleared it before you start to walk backward.

It chuffs like an irritated horse, stepping closer again — clearly not done with you.

Oh, come on.

You can’t help it. “I know I’m not supposed to talk to you, and I know you can’t talk to me, but I don’t understand what you want,” you blurt. 

It cocks its head at you, and you know you’re doomed. These things can probably smell fear, and you’re absolutely terrified.

Shit, shit, shit.

You backpedal quickly, making an attempt to smooth things over. “Okay, I think we got off to a bad start here. I’m sorry for trespassing. I won’t do it again. It would be really great if we could just…”

You fall silent, hearing a group of people headed toward you, their voices carrying through the trees easily. One of them has a fresh wave of nausea and anxiety flowing through you — James.

Forget the fire-breathing beast standing in front of you; the three human men approaching are infinitely more terrifying, capable of much more intricate and abject cruelty than any being on this planet.

You slip your hand into the pocket of your jacket, feeling for the handle of the knife Sawyer had given you and settling your fingers into the grooves. It’s been a comfort to you thus far, but you’ve never had to use it before. And what good will it be against three fully armed infantry, when you’re alone in the middle of the forest?

But you aren’t completely alone. 

The dragon has turned its head toward the voice, hackles raised; clearly agitated. Maybe you’ll have time to run if they distract it — but you couldn’t bring yourself to abandon the boys to die, even if they’ve been bothering you for nearly two months now.

It unfurls a massive wing, placing it in front of you, and bares its teeth in a snarl. You can't see the looks on their faces, but you can hear them shriek like little children, bolting in the opposite direction.

You hold your breath until you can no longer hear them running. “Thank you,” you whisper, even though the boys are far gone by now.

It… nods? 

You take a moment to collect yourself, your heart still racing as you process the events of the last five minutes. A red dragon showing up at the exact right time to protect you from James, taking its time sniffing you and letting you be this close, letting you talk to it… This cannot be a coincidence. No way.

“Sawyer sent you, didn’t he?” 

Another nod.

You sigh in a mix of relief and exasperation. “I love that boy dearly, but he just does not think things through sometimes. I was fully convinced that you were going to kill me. You’re terrifying — no offense. Or maybe that’s a compliment to you guys. I don’t know.”

A chuff that almost sounds like a laugh. 

“Either way, thank you again for scaring that guy off. I can’t stand him, or his friends. They give me the creeps. The idea of being out here alone with them…” you shudder just thinking about it, but shake it off quickly, managing a smile.

You slip Sawyer’s knife back into your pocket, digging out your crumpled list of herbs to find. “I don’t think they’ll be headed this way for the rest of the afternoon,” you say, too polite to tell him he can leave. He makes no move to, anyway.

Alright, then. You wouldn’t mind having him watch over you while you finish up, just for peace of mind. And he probably knows the area better than you do, having lived here for years. You honestly aren’t sure how to get back to the school from here. You can see the bell tower, but it’s distant enough to make you nervous.

He stays a few giant steps behind you as you work, keeping an eye on you when you go somewhere he’s too big to follow. 

Chamomile, echinacea, calendula, feverfew, valerian, mint, lemon balm, sage, thistle, centella…

“That’s everything,” you sigh in relief, wiping your hands on the soft cloth you’d taken out with you. The school looks considerably closer now, the path you’d started off on back under your feet. “Thank you again. I felt a lot safer with you around. After I realized you weren’t going to torch me, that is.”

He puffs out another almost-laugh. 

You’re quiet for a moment. “You chose well. Sawyer’s a great guy. I’m proud to call him a friend, and I’m glad he has someone like you by his side. Take care of him for me, please?”

He closes his eyes, giving you a slow, almost solemn nod before he takes a few steps away and launches himself into the air, ruffling your hair and robes with the gust of wind it produces. 

You can hear the bells chime — ten. You’d spent nearly an hour with him, and another before that on your own, getting yourself lost. You have plenty of time to work before you need to get to your evening class, and Sawyer should have a break in an hour or so. Maybe he’ll come see you, and you can lovingly tell him off for having his dragon scare the pants off of you, and then thank him for it. 

————————————

There’s a soft knock on the doorframe. You can’t stop the smile from crossing your face as you look up to see Sawyer, still in his usual all black. 

“How did it go?”

“Just fine,” you answer. “I got everything I needed. And I met a friend of yours.”

“Oh?” he asks, wondering who it could be; you’ve already met his squadmates, and he doesn’t really count anyone else as a friend besides them. And aren’t you supposed to keep your patients’ names secret?

You hum in reply, still plucking the leaves from the stems. “Big tall guy, red skin, lots of teeth…”

His eyes widen as he realizes that Sliseag hadn’t stayed as far away from you as he’d instructed. 

“You told me to protect her, not to watch idle.”

Sawyer ignores him. “I’m so sorry, Peach, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s okay. He ended up scaring off James and his twin idiots, and we had a lovely, if rather one-sided conversation.”

His heart might give out. “You talked to him? He let you?”

“The first time was an accident!” you defend. “He cornered me, and wouldn’t let me leave, and I couldn’t figure out what he wanted, so I asked. And then I realized he was yours, and we chatted while I picked all of this. Yes or no questions only, of course, since he couldn’t respond to me with words.”

He laughs, shaking his head. “You’ve always been good with animals,” he concedes. “I guess that includes dragons, too.”

“I’m offended to be put in that category.”

Sawyer ignores him again. “Wait, why were dumb, dumber, and dumbest there?”

You can’t help but laugh at the nicknames he’s assigned them, even if they’re a little mean. “Infantry are always in the woods playing soldier. That’s all they ever do. Nolon warned us about it earlier in the year.”

“Do you have to go back out there again?”

“Only if I fail this assignment,” you say quietly, looking down at everything you’ve gathered.

“I’m sure you’re going to do great. I’m absolutely positive. When will you know?”

“Tomorrow morning I’ll see if I get a passing score. Some of the preparations have to sit overnight, or dry out for a few days, so the rest of the points will be calculated then.”

He can tell you’re anxious about this, from the way your voice has quieted. “Hey. You’re going to do amazing, because you are amazing,” he says, giving you a gentle squeeze. 

You lean into him, resting your head on his shoulder. “Thank you.”

He’s glad that you can’t see how red his cheeks are in this position. “Alright. I shouldn’t keep you from your work, future Head Healer. The world hangs in the balance here.”

You laugh. “When did you decide that I’m going to be a Head Healer?”

“Just now. I can’t think of anyone better for the job, when the time comes.”

“You don’t know any other healers.”

“I know Sarah,” he defends. “And she’s still threatening me every time I come in. I don’t think her bedside manner is the best.”

“You say that like you’re scared of her, mister dragon rider.”

“She can be quite descriptive with her threats.”

You sigh softly, still leaning into him. “I missed you, you know.”

“You saw me yesterday.”

You elbow him gently, knowing he’s purposely acting obtuse. “I meant before that. Before our paths crossed again. I really missed spending time with you like this. I hope we can keep in touch next year.”

He rests his chin on top of your head, squeezing you gently. “I hope so too. Who knows, maybe we’ll even be stationed together.”

“Maybe. I hear wingleaders and their executive officers get to choose.” It’s your turn to warm with embarrassment at the implication — that he would choose whatever base you’re at, just because you’re there.

“They do. Rhi is definitely going to be the wingleader next year. Maybe I’ll still be her XO. But even if I’m not, I’d do whatever I could to stay with all of you.”

Your heart sinks a bit at the last few words. All of you. You like his squadmates, and they’ve always been kind to you. You’re glad they have his back in the air. You aren’t a jealous person, either. So why does it sting that he holds you equal with the rest of his friends?

“You alright?” He asks softly.

You hum. “Yeah. Just tired. After I finish this, I have a two hour class, and then I’m going straight to bed.”

“You should eat first.”

“I should do a lot of things,” you sigh.

He pulls back to look at you. “I mean it, P. You, of all people, should know how important nutrition is.”

You crack a smile. “I do know. I just like seeing you get worked up about it. It’s cute.”

He sighs. “What am I going to do with you?”

What indeed, you think. What do you want him to do? Better not go down that path.

“Alright. Finish up and get some rest. And food.”

“And food,” you agree. “Promise.”

“Good girl. See you tomorrow?”

You just nod, unable to form a coherent response — and muffle a tiny scream into your hand as soon as he’s out of sight. What the hell just happened?

[lunawagner]

Couples of Linkon High School

Freshmen: Rafayel x MC

MC is the class president, with Rafayel as her deputy. He calls out, "Miss Class President!" throughout the day.

MC has good grades, —not the top student, but definitely in the top ten.

Of course, Rafayel draws and doodles during classes. But his grades are not bad either thanks to his drive to outperform his possible rivals in love.

His notebooks are filled with sketches of MC.

MC teaches math to Rafayel and Rafayel teaches English to MC.

They are both bad at physics and spend class time drawing short comics together. However, if nobody listens and the teacher seems down, they would listen and nod along even though they don't understand a word.

The chemistry teacher is unsure if they like or fear Rafayel.

Overall, teachers love them 'cause they treat their teachers as real people and genuinely care about them.

Sometimes they lock their pinky fingers under the desk and keep them that way until the class is over, even though they both get a bit embarrassed.

Rafayel is determined not to kiss her on the lips until both become adults.

Their music teacher is Rafayel's aunt. MC loves her classes and is learning to play piano. Rafayel always complains but still can play at least one decent piece on every instrument you have in the music room.

The art teacher is Thomas. He and Rafayel always argue as Rafayel doesn’t want his art to be just another mass product produced for exhibitions and competitions

MC grew up in a government institution. Although she doesn't remember, she met Rafayel when he was placed there after losing his parents. His relatives quickly took him in, but MC looked out for him, saving him from the bigger kids who tried to bully him. Eventually, they became friends.

MC is tomboy-ish and can't process her emotions properly.

MC's fashion sense is minimal, so Rafayel goes to shopping with her on weekends. Thanks to that they have some matching couple clothes.

Sophomores: Xavier x MC

They have average grades but excel in sports, making them the school's hidden assets in tournaments.

The school coach would love to have them join every team if he could.

Xavier is popular among other boys and has a considerable number of fans.

They nap together during lunch breaks.

They are members of the literature club and student librarians. So they regularly visit the library to read books or organize shelves and help others.

Literature teacher loves them.

Xavier tends to sleep through STEM classes, so MC shares her notes with him later in exchange for snacks or chocolate milk.

When Xavier gets bored during lectures or breaks, he secretly plays with MC's hair.

Despite skipping classes for extracurricular activities, they absorb information quickly, allowing them to pull all-nighters before exams and still perform well.

Some boys claim they got beaten up in the dark when they went down to the basement. Everyone's suspicious of Sylus, but it’s actually Xavier who’s taking care of anyone who messes with MC.

They hang out with a large friend group that includes Tara, Jenna, Jeremiah, and Bella.

Tara enjoys styling MC’s and Bella’s hair with cute hairpins to see how Xavier and Jeremiah will react.

Xavier wears one of MC's hair ties as a bracelet, believing it brings him luck.

They use all of their stationery together, so their pencils and erasers frequently end up in each other’s pencil cases.

MC's dad is a police officer and her mom is a nurse. Xavier's parents are both politicians.

Xavier doesn't get along with his own father but they are on good terms with MC's dad. They play board games, go fishing, or jog on weekends. MC doesn't have the foggiest idea of how it happened.

Juniors: Zayne x MC

Zayne is the top student and MC is right behind him in second place.

People often think MC is just an airhead who gets good grades just because she’s dating Zayne.

But while she is cheerful and active, she’s also super diligent. She pays attention in class, reviews her notes, and makes new ones before exams to make sure she’s on top of things.

She doesn't want to fall behind Zayne and secretly worries about how he would react in case she fails and gets bad grades.

All the teachers are fond of them with some even treating them like their own kids.

MC’s family trusts Zayne more than they trust her, so they’re quicker to say yes to events if they know Zayne will be there with her.

MC has a cute habit of drawing little hearts on the random pages of Zayne's textbooks. Once Zayne noticed it, he started drawing jasmine flowers on hers.

They tend to avoid skinship at school, except for the times MC is sick. During those times, Zayne stays close to her all day, ensuring she is hydrated and consuming warm drinks. He hugs MC and lets her rest on his chest, and he holds her hand during classes.

Seniors: Sylus x MC

One word: Trouble

But no they're not your typical troublemaker brats. They are also top-notch in nearly every class, so teachers don't know what to do with them.

At first, they were pretty low-key about their relationship, keeping it a secret. But once they went public, they became all about PDA with Sylus' hand always around MC's waist whenever they managed to take a break from holding hands.

Science teachers would love to exempt Sylus from taking their classes so that he can never ever set foot in their labs.

Chemistry, physics, and biology teachers change their way when they see Sylus in corridors, lest he ask them about things that would lead to a global catastrophe.

The music teacher gets goosebumps whenever they see Sylus.

Most of the girls don't like MC and there is always gossip and slander surrounding her. But for some, she is like a protective big sis.

MC and Sylus's families have been business partners since the time of MC's grandma.

Sylus' family makes huge donations to the school, so the administration is unusually lenient with him.

They play truant regularly. For what? Nobody knows.

It’s hard for others to actually mess with MC. But, when they do, Luke and Kieran are quick to pull pranks on them even before MC or Sylus can react.

Luke and Kieran look so similar that teachers often can’t figure out who’s at fault. Their innocent expressions after causing trouble don’t make things any easier.

Sylus and MC are chosen school representatives. They are intimidating and cunning so it is easier for them to negotiate with and win over teachers and the local student union.

People come to them with problems to be solved. MC is willing to help them without any immediate material return but Sylus always turns it into a business deal with specific terms.

MC doesn't have many close friends, but she occasionally lunches with the MCs of Xavier, Zayne, and Rafayel.

[geoffrard]

Now that @mcrswarmzine is out, I can finally share my contribution!

Gerard and Geoff give us a history lesson

Gerard Way and Geoff Rickly first met—where else—outside a record store in Kearny, New Jersey, weeks or months before MTV started regularly playing Geoff’s band Thursday, months or years before Geoff produced My Chemical Romance’s first record. Gerard was leaving the record store, and there was Geoff, leaning back against the wall, cool and collected, too thin, too young, unsure of himself.

“I remember it super vividly,” Gerard said in an interview once, when asked to recount their first meeting. “Do you remember?”

Back then, Gerard lived in Belleville in a basement apartment. Through the muggy darkness of his bedroom, his hand reached out towards the few strands of light that made it underground, wishing for better ways of making art. Geoff lived underground too, back then, coming alive when Thursday filled the unfinished basements of New Brunswick with people and sound.

Gerard and Geoff first met—where else—at the Eyeball House, where Eyeball Records conducted business. Gerard was an artist, reserved, looking to give back to the scene Geoff’s band had helped create. Eyeball’s owner helped connect them. The shirt Gerard designed for Geoff’s band featured a dove on each side, the front dove captured at the moment of shattering, the back a mechanical bird captured at the moment of dissection. A lever in the bird’s heart read revenge mechanism.

Gerard and Geoff first met—where else—at the Eyeball House, where Eyeball Records hosted infamous parties. The intern’s brother pulled Geoff aside, picked up a broken guitar, and painfully plucked out the opening chords to a song—Vampires Will Never Hurt You. Geoff was not impressed. He’d never tell Gerard that, though; the scene was for everyone who made music their home.

Gerard and Geoff first met—how else—because Mikey Way introduced them. Geoff heard of Mikey’s comic artist brother and begged for an introduction. Geoff wanted to write a comic book together. Gerard wanted to write a record. They made the record.

Gerard and Geoff first met—where else—in the crowd in a random basement in North Jersey, but neither remembered the encounter with enough clarity to recall it.

Gerard and Geoff met—where else—on the streets of New York, strangers brushing shoulders, exchanging glances, one rushing to a show he was too young to attend, the other dreaming of comic book worlds devised with his younger brother in his family’s dark basement apartment.

Perhaps Geoff Rickly and Gerard Way met—where else—in Jersey, on September 20, 2023, when each joined the other’s set for a song. That night was their first time sharing a stage as Geoff from Thursday and Gerard from My Chemical Romance, representing the bands who made them and created our corner of the music world, in almost twenty years.

How much of the crowd discovered their shared history that night? Can a single history exist, on stage in front of an arena of people with their own histories with those two bands, some dating back to first shows or records, some starting that night? Do artists exist off stage? If a band plays to an empty basement, is it a band?

Maybe, for me, Gerard and Geoff’s history began on Geoff’s birthday a few years ago, the day I met my best friend Nic. We met because we both loved My Chemical Romance but grew close because we loved Thursday. Our history is as intertwined with Geoff and Gerard and Geoff and Gerard’s histories are with each other’s. Music does that. Makes itself your home.

Only a few days before she returned home to Australia, Nic was there in Jersey, trying to stay on her feet in the churning mass of people in the crowd. I was at home, sick in bed, watching someone’s shaky livestream, squinting through the fever to see if I could spot her. I’d caught Covid the weekend before at a festival we attended together. The official story was that the My Chemical Romance crowd got me sick, but Nic had only just recovered herself after catching it in the crowd at a Thursday show. So I wondered if I’d caught it from her anyways. There are a few stories.

[coolgirlmedia]

Is it just me or do some of those middle aged white women on booktok need help

I say this with love, but dear god please stop writing. It's not for everyone and it's clearly not for you. I say this solely because I cannot scroll through TikTok/Instagram reels without seeing some woman talking about a "book" she wrote where a girl gets impregnated by the abominable snowman or some shit like that and everyone in the comments is eating it up like "omg where can I read this". Well, the stories are either women getting with some monster or something or women getting with some mafia boss stalker serial killer who is so obsessed with her he kills anyone who looks at her. Part of me wants to say these are the one direction wattpad girlies all grown up but no I think the wattpad girlies grew up to be AO3 girlies. These women just need to stop writing I'm so serious. Sometimes (most of the time) the things they describe are literally just crimes that deserve capital punishment, but they'll justify it by saying it's a "dark romance" and "you just don't get it". I don't mean to be a literary snob, but I do think the quality of literature has deteriorated over the years. I saw a video of someone talking about books becoming mass produced like "fast fashion" and I think they're right in the sense that so many terrible written and badly edited books are being published without second thought. I would love to hear your guys' thought because I'm currently at my breaking point.

[monsterfuckerconfessions]

Thank you for letting me try again on this, I did, in fact, not save any of what I wrote.

TW: Mentions of religion, specifically christianity.

Everyone likes the Seraphim, but what about the Cherubim? Those guys can get 15 feet or taller! And if I calculated right, their cocks could be around 4 feet long if they have one. I imagine they don't have a gender or sex but can make whatever genitals appear on their body whenever they want. Cherubims are God's right hand entities. They sing for him at his throne and worship him constantly. They have many wings and many hands.

So imagine this. (Excuse any spelling errors)

You're in the woods just chilling and reading a book. You enjoy being away from people and just soaking in the calm cool of the forest.

Meanwhile, a Cherubim I'm deciding to call “The Entity” had been watching you for a while. It decided that you were its favourite human and it started to develop a crush on you. It would spend its very little free time watching you, admiring how adorable you are. But today was a day it decided it really wanted to go down and meet you. The Entity looked around, mass is in a few hours, surely it could make time for you.

You placed your book down, about to go find something else to entertain yourself when with a flash of light, The Entity appeared. But you weren't scared, something told you not to be. You looked up at it in awe, admiring its otherworldly large body and the plethora of wings and arms that cover the horrors known as its face.

With the simple movement of one of its arms, it scoops you up into its hand easily. You your body adapt the the lack of warmth its body produces.

“Hello…” You say nervously. It does a small wave in return with one of its different hands. The Entity wants to talk to you but its voice might corrupt your mind and make you go brain dead. With two of its other hands, it begins picking at your clothes, trying to remove them. It wants to see you in your full vulnerability since you've already seen it. You blush heavily but let it do whatever it wishes.

Unfortunately, it can't make it past your shirt. The Entity points at your body, attempting to ask you to remove your clothes and you strangely understand what it asks. You begin undressing, holding onto the hand that's holding you for support. It strokes your head gently with an index finger as you remove each article of clothing.

When you finally finish stripping down for it, it leans back against a large and sturdy tree and places you on its lap. You watch as four giant hands began moving you around and inspecting you. The fingers are very gentle and curious, they touch you gingerly, being sure not to force entry into any of your orifices. Your breathing quickens and your heart flutters. All you know is that you don’t really mind what will happen next.

New Earthly emotions ignited within The Entity. It’s a strange, sinful emotion that claws into its soul. An emotion that makes it want to take you to its own personal pocket dimension and please you for all of eternity. But instead it slips a pinky finger down in between your legs and begins stimulating you.

You let out a soft moan as the pleasure, feeling the giant finger stimulate your genitals. The pleasure builds up more and more, your lust just pouring out. Something about the experience was far from anything you’d feel when fucking someone or masturbating. It was like with each strike of pleasure your mind would corrupt a little bit more. The world started making less sense and every human concept was starting to become minuscule. You buck up your hips and began thrusting them in an attempt to intensify the grinding but it doesn’t work very well.

After a while you eventually cum, letting out a loud moan. The Entity loves your sounds and wants to hear them for the rest of eternity. It pulls away its hand and happily absorbs your fluids. It peers down at your lewd expression, your human pleasures slowly corrupting its mind. Its attention then moves towards the space between its legs. The Entity doesn’t have a sex but can morph whatever genitalia it wants anywhere it wants. After thinking through the almost infinite options of reproductive organs The Entity could choose, it decided on a penis. It’s something your feeble human mind can comprehend.

It’s dick emerged from between its legs. And oh wow is it a sight to behold. It’s about as long as you are tall, assuming you’re 5’5. It gently picks you once more, flipping you onto your stomach. The Entity them begins thoroughly inspecting your ass. It wanted to try and penetrate your with its dick but decided not to since it doesn’t want to break your fragile body.

“Y-You’re not to put that in m-me, are you?” You ask, still shaking from the mind scattering orgasm you just experienced. It doesn’t speak but you get the vibe that it’s not going to try to penetrate you so you just give a nod. After a few more moments of The Entity letting you recover it lifts you up with one hand and splits your legs open wide with the another. It admires you for a moment before putting you down on its dick.

It’s not trying to push into you somehow but rather just grinding your genitals together. You moan out loudly at the feeling of the giant dick grinding against all of your sensitive parts. You figured it would hurt at least a little bit but there’s no pain and the pleasure is slowly fading away. Everything just feels white, so raw and eternal that you just can’t process it. Have you been here for only a few minutes or years? You can’t remember.

It felt itself becoming more sinfully corrupt with lust and want every time it grinded your body against its dick. At this point The Entity was just using your body as a toy to stimulate it.

You don’t mind. The angelic skin rubbing against yours, it has no texture or shape to you anymore, you have no idea where you even are. Eventually after enough stimulation, The Entity releases. It’s cum is nothing like you’ve ever seen before and the affect on you is like drugs. The shimmery fluid hitting your skin and drenching your body is intoxicating. Its feathers ruffle at the feeling of climax but settles soon enough.

You smile up at your newfound lover, you’ve never understood something so well before. Everything you ever knew before just doesn’t make sense but the angelic being cradling you with two of its many hands is now connected to you. You’ve forgotten your name, all you know is that it loves you, and you love it back. You understand everything about it now, and it understands you.

Words from a language you don’t understand spill from your mouth. “Show me your face.”

It denies, it doesn’t want you to go blind, insane, or both. You nod and cuddle into its hands.

After an unrecognisable amount of time goes by, it sits you up and caresses your face very gently. It’s time to go, but you’ll definitely be seeing each other again. It lays you down on a soft patch of grass. You curl up on yourself as you watch it leave to a place you don’t understand yet.

Bonus: You gasp awake, was it all a dream? Suddenly the real world is starting to make sense again and everything you just experienced is becoming impossible to piece together. You try to grip onto it but it’s gone, but nothing feels right anymore…

Your mind has changed.

You get up, wobbly but able to walk. Eventually people find you. They say things that seem unreasonable.

“Are you okay?”

“Where are your clothes?”

“I’m calling the police.”

“Is that the person on those missing persons flyers?”

“Excuse me? Are you Y/N?”

After the police evaluate you and the hospital gets you cleaned and dressed, you’re interrogated.

“Y/N,” a police officer says. “You’ve been missing for three months…”

That night when you sleep, you thought you’d have a nightmare but instead, a familiar hand gingerly scooped you up.

.

[sigmaleph]

The hero burst through the wall of the library in my secret liar. Fortunately not one of the walls that had bookshelves on it.

"This ends now, Doctor Calamity! You are going to prison for the rest of your life!"

I sighed, closed my book, and looked up at Admiral Nova. "Can it wait? Kind of on vacation right now."

"Your only vacation is going to be-", he started, and stopped when a forcefield popped up around him, at which point he just started uselessly blasting it with his lasers.

"No, seriously, it's not a good time. I was really getting into this new book series? Well, new to me, it's been going on for a couple decades now, I'm really surprised it... you're not paying attention at all, are you. Full body restraints, please."

At my command, bands of energy wrapped themselves around Nova's every limb, immobilising him. Smaller versions of the forcefield appear around his hands, in case he was going to be rude enough to fire an unaimed blast in my library. He struggled, but there was much less noise going on.

"Right. I really don't have anything scheduled for you for this week, so I don't know why you decided to show up, but can we just agree to ignore this and I'll have some diabolical scheme for you to thwart by next Monday?"

"I don't know what game you think you're playing, but I will escape-", he started, but I cut him off

"You don't need to, I can just send you home right now, assuming you agree to let me have my vacation"

"You're pretending you're not gonna try to kill me, is that it?"

"Why on Earth would I want to kill you?"

"...because I'm always thwarting your evil plans to take over the world? And you keep putting me in death contraptions like this one?"

"Oh my god you're serious aren't you. I thought you just had a thing against dropping character, which, whatever, your business, but you really are serious about this."

"Of course I'm serious about saving the world from you! You're a supervillain!"

"Dude. How have you not figured it out yet. If I wanted you dead, you would be. If I wanted my 'diabolical plans' to succeed, they would have."

"Did you get hit on the head or something?" he sneered. "Is 'Oh I never wanted to take over the world' your feeble attempt at psychological warfare"

"I took over the world decades ago, genius. There's no trying involved. I just-" I took a deep breath, and continued.

"You've seen what I can do! I have an unlimited power source! I can mass-produce sentient robots! I can build mind control beams! I have a time machine that lets me alter the past and see the future!

"And you think some asshole with lasers can pose a meaningful obstacle???"

He did not respond.

"Nova. You've been doing this for six years. Six. Fucking. Years. How on Earth have you never gotten suspicious about how you keep escaping my 'death traps' at the last second, and random clues to figure out my 'evil scheme' show up out of nowhere whenever you need one, and I never just send a fucking robot army to your house, which you know I know the address of, and kill you in your sleep?"

"Why? Why the hell do you do any of it then?"

"For fun, obviously? And I figured you hero types could use the enrichment, too, if you don't have a supervillain to fight you lot just get restless and decide you need to go beat up purse snatchers or whatever.

"So yes, after I finished replacing every world leader with robot doppelgangers loyal to me and getting a supercomputer to spy on everyone on the planet to detect plans that could potentially overthrow me and setting up a handful other layers of redundancy like that, and after I got bored of micromanaging shit and figured out that I had the system running basically as I liked it, I got a hobby. And I thought you were having fun too, but seriously? You thought it was all real?"

I waved my hand, and Nova teleported out.

"Computer!" I yelled out. I needn't have; it would have shown up anyway. Omniscient smartass.

Immediately, of course, a holographic eye appeared.

"What the hell" I asked.

"You specifically instructed me on the spoiler policy, boss. We can step through the rules if you like, but this definitely falls under 'Don't tell me if it'd spoil my fun', and under none of the stated exceptions."

"We're fucking recalibrating that, then. Jesus."

[15-lizards]

Okay, odd ask on the fashion thing, but how do you think that Westerosi fashion would develop given a XVII/XVIII century advancement? I've been looking over some stuff and Jacobean and Baroque fashions seem so right in place. Feel free to go crazy with whatever prospective historical developments could happen in that time frame - I really enjoy your headcanons and was curious if you had any ideas on how Westerosi fashion traditions could progress past the Tudor/XVI century trappings of the modern timeline!

Okay I’ve always been too scared to do anything past the 1600s bc that gets into like Industrial Revolution territory but I’ve always kinda wanted to just for shits and gigs…

If we want to get really crazy we can start talking ab pannier skirts, the peak of ridiculous indulgent fashion. This would probably be way past the current events of the book like a good 30-40 years. After somebody takes the throne or abolishes the monarchy or smthn. Very ornate style that probably originates in the westerlands and becomes popular in the reach and vale, popular among ladies from newly risen families who want to show off their new wealth. Also kind of obsessed with this as a “Targaryen in decline but still trying to hang on to their status” type of look so we see the vision

For a slightly more subdued look, the skirts would be far flatter in the hips, though there’s still some volume. A natural-ish waist, square neck, and elbow length sleeves are seen as both practicable but also can been fashionable, and easily decorated in a manner of ways. Lace and frills and embroidery being the most popular. Easily and more widely produced in a more advanced era (Industrial Revolution in Westeros incoming) so everyone from middle class women to queens can wear this look, though it’s probably most popular in the crownlands/lower riverlands/anywhere where the climate is average

For the common folk and lower classes, clothing becomes more accessible as well. So most tavern owners and farmers aren’t wearing clothes that are literally disintegrating off their body anymore, with wider production of fabrics they can afford to have neater and cleaner clothes, and even brighter colors too. The start of mass production means a lot can be made for cheap, allowing lower class women to buy and make the clothes that imitate women of higher standing (this is just turning into a Westerosi Industrial rev headcanon sorry). Skirts are still shorter, shoes are sturdy and better made, aprons are common, and fitted jackets with shawls/fichus are worn for practicality during work

Hair is a very diverse affair. There’s a thousand different styles depending on class and location, but what’s the same is that there’s always a lot of volume. Even with the common women that wear caps and bonnets, hair is combed back and ruffed up so that it’s given a more voluminous outline. Some wealthy daring women like to wear theirs big or have their curls down or sometimes both, this is very popular in the reach to look wild-chic. Some just like to roll it and pin it for a sleeker look, and some like to let perfect curls hang down their necks with more curls pinned to their heads with ribbons and bows and frills

[2manythoughtz]

Barbie has been deeply misunderstood?

The movie Barbie is still topic of many discussions among viewers and their different points of view. The Golden Globes have proved just why this movie was needed in the first place.

Recently some comments have been made during The Golden Globes that have left people thinking. For those who don’t know, The Golden Globes is an annual ceremony that takes place in the US and awards movies, TV series, actors and so on based on their categories and the votes are made by approximately 300 entertainment journalists from various parts of the world. As with all ceremonies, they must have a host who most of the time is someone famous in the entertainment industry and who is meant to make the night funny and unforgettable, sadly this year was not the case.

Jo Koy, who is a famous stand-up comedian and actor, was the host of this year’s edition and some of his jokes left people speechless. While most VIPs in the audience looked somehow confused and uncomfortable as he tried to get a few laughs from everyone. Of course, hosting is not an easy task, there’s a lot of pressure on the person and I’m sure they need a lot of time to prepare their jokes. That doesn’t excuse what has been said and, while no one in the audience said anything about it, the fans at home were not so silent on the matter.

While many lines were not appreciated, such as Jo Koy’s comment about Taylor Swift that left her fans bitter about it, one in particular really struck a nerve and everyone started talking about it on social media. “Oppenheimer is based on a 721-page Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Manhattan Project, and Barbie is on a plastic doll with big boobies.” And if that wasn’t bad enough, he then added. “I don’t want you guys to think that I’m a creep. It was kind of weird being attracted to a plastic doll, just something about your eyes, Ryan…it’s not all about you Margot.” And finally. "The key moment in Barbie is when she goes from perfect beauty to bad breath, cellulite, and flat feet. Or what casting directors call character actor!"

As you can imagine, the Barbie cast was not too enthusiastic about these comments as they looked embarrassed rather than amused. People all over social media are criticizing Jo Koy for proving the movie’s point, just because the movie is about a “doll with big boobies” doesn’t mean that it’s something he can comment about so lightly. This misogynistic behavior is exactly why Barbie was made in the first place, to show people that in a world dominated by men, women will always be looked down upon, whether they’re real or just dolls.

But what is the Barbie movie about? Whether you love it or hate it, I think everyone agrees on the fact that the Barbie movie is a way to show people, mostly young women, that it’s hard to fit in today’s society. Women have been fighting for their rights for years, trying to become men’s equals while also feeling the pressure that has been put on them to be perfect no matter what. Barbie is about a doll, yes, but the story revolves around something deeper. The way Barbie slowly realizes that being imperfect is not a bad thing, it’s just a human thing, and the way she manages to understand her feelings as she evolves from feeling perfect to slowly wondering if there’s more to life is just eye-opening.

The movie discusses many topics and, while some of them may be a bit controversial, the main topic is womanhood. What is it to be a woman, what if feels to be a woman and how women are portrayed. So joking about Barbie’s body in a sexual way and the struggles she encounters is not only sickening but also embarrassing.

Greta Gerwig, the movie’s director, remained professional on her end and when asked to comment on Jo Koy’s words, she simply said. “Well, he’s not wrong,” she continued. “She’s the first doll that was mass-produced with breasts, so he was right on. And you know, I think that so much of the project of the movie was unlikely because it is about a plastic doll. Barbie by her very construction has no character, no story, she’s there to be projected upon.”

Even so, the Barbie movie won an award for best Cinematic and Box Office Achievement.

Speaking of awards, there’s something else we must address. Another misconception that shows just how everyone has misunderstood how deep the movie’s message is. In fact, most of the movie’s soundtracks were nominated as Best Song at the Critics Choice Awards and, as everyone expected What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish to be the winner, I’m Just Ken ended up winning that title. Yet again, it’s almost laughable as this song is basically a joke about the Kens feeling misunderstood and ignored by Barbie, while What Was I Made For is a song about womanhood and the hard feelings and fears that women live with. The award went to the only song made by a man that was up against the other 2 songs made by women for the same movie.

Ryan Gosling’s reaction has become viral online as you can see him confused and unamused by this unexpected victory. Yes, I’m Just Ken maybe became more popular because of the memes but to put it above a meaningful song such as What Was I Made For felt unreal. I’m not sure which was worse, Jo Koy’s jokes or this award.

What are you thoughts? Let me know!

[docpiplup]

Period dramas- El Mestre Que Va Prometre El Mar (The teacher who promised the sea) (2023)

7,7/10 ⭐ on IMDB

The film focuses on the life of Antoni Benaiges , a teacher from Mont-roig del Camp, in the Baix Camp, in Tarragona, Catalunya, who in 1935 was sent to the public school in Bañuelos de Bureba, a small town in the province of Burgos, Castilla la Vieja (Castilla y León). Little by little, and thanks to a pioneering and revolutionary teaching methodology for the time, he will begin to transform the lives of his students, but also that of the town, which is not always to everyone's taste.

It's based on the book of the same name by Francesc Escribano and has been adapted for the big screen by Albert Val, and its director is Patrícia Font.

To tell the story of Antoni Benaiges (Enric Auquer), the film interweaves past and present and the master's story will be known through the eyes of Ariadna (Laia Costa), a woman looking for her great-grandfather who disappeared during the Civil War.

The producers of the film wanted to emphasize the essence of this exciting story: " 'El mestre que va prometre el mar'  is a great story that has been unfairly forgotten for many years. With this film we are repairing an oblivion and at the same time valuing the work of the republican teachers and recognizing the struggle of so many people who still continue to search for their relatives buried anonymously in mass graves. An exciting and fully valid story.

Part of the technical team is made up of David Valldepérez, director of photography; Josep Rosell, art director; Dani Arregui, editor, and Natasha Arizu, composer, among other professionals.  

The film is shot for six weeks in various locations in the demarcation of Barcelona, in Mura, and in Briviesca (Burgos). It is a production of Minoria Absoluta, Lastor Media, Filmax and Mestres Films AIE. 

RTVE and TV3 participate and it has the support of the ICAA and the ICEC . Filmax is in charge of distribution to cinemas.

Length: 1 h 45 min

Premiere: November 10th 2023

Cast

Enric Auquer: Antoni Benaiges

Laia Costa: Ariadna

Luisa Gavasa: Charo

Ramón Agirre: Adult Ramón

Gael Aparicio: Carlos

Alba Hermoso: Josefina

Nicolás Calvo: Emilio

Antonio Mora: Mayor

Milo Taboada: Priest Primitivo

Jorge Da Rocha: Camilo

Eduardo Ferrés: Rodríguez

Alba Guilera: Laura

Laura Conejero: Rosa

Xavi Francés: Education inspector

David Climent: Falangist Chief

Felipe García Vélez: Adult Carlos

Elisa Crehuet: Adult Josefina

Padi Padilla: Encarna

Alicia Reyero: Ángeles

Gema Sala: Jacinta

Alía Torres: Ariadna's daughter

Carlos Troya: Bernardo Ramírez

Arnau Casanovas: Portraitist

Laura Gaja: Elvira

María Escoda: Juana

Chus Gutiérrez: Archivist

Joan Scufesis: Sergio

Cristina Murillo: Residency nurse

Sara Madrid: Hiker

Pep Linares: Falangist waiter

Albert Malla: Radio announcer

Izan Barragán: Leandro (School boy)

Didac Cano: Casimiro (School boy)

Hernán Gracia: Eulogio (School boy)

Noa Guillén: Asunción (School girl)

Ona Macía: Saturnina (School girl)

Elena Moreno: Dionisia (School girl)

Gal-La Petit: Hilaria (School girl)

Genís Lama: Falangist

[xddaengx]

quarantine : the series ⎜intro

✧ Pairings: fwb!yoongi x reader ⎜ eventually ot7 x reader

✧ Genre:  isolation au ⎜ non idol bts ⎜ forced proximity ⎜ apocolypse au ⎜zombie au ⎜poly bts au ⎜

✧ Warnings: mention of character death ⎜mentions of suicide ⎜ friends to lovers? ⎜ friends with benefits ⎜ friends grown apart ⎜ mentions of a virus ⎜

✧ Word Count: 3.1k

✧ Summary: it was supposed to be a trip to remember your past, to commemorate the person you loved. but you never expected it to be the end of the world.

✧ Author’s Note: this was something I wrote a while ago that has been sitting in my drafts, I have been really struggling with writing lately and thought that going through some old works would help, if people seem to like this maybe I'll continue it.

+

+

“So, you sent one to everyone?” The voice whispers from besides you, as you sit on the bed looking at the mass email that was just confirmed to be sent from your phone. 

“Yes. It’s important that everyone is there, he would be pissed if I missed out on a single person just because we weren’t getting along well.” You huff back throwing the phone onto the pillow besides your head before flopping onto your back, the male besides you letting out a gruff chuckle. 

“You’re doing the right thing…” He says quietly placing a soft kiss to your shoulder, “He would be proud of you for bringing everyone back together like this. God knows I haven’t seem some of the others as often as I should be.” He finishes, trailing a few more kisses up your shoulder until he places to final one on the underside of your chin. 

“I should really be getting ready for work.” He says quietly, his mouth not leaving the spot on your cheek where he places another kiss. 

“Yes, you should be. Joon’s going to be pissed if you’re late to work again. And you’ve been here past the time limit anyway.” You respond, finally forcing yourself to roll out of your warm bed, pulling the first T-shirt out of your chest of draws, throwing it on. “Besides I have to present my new script today before we go away and I don’t want to be a mess because I’m already late, so get your toosh out of my bed and get going.” You add, trying not to stare as your partner rolls out of bed, moving over to you, placing one more chaste kiss on your lips before patting your bum and walking out of the room. 

“You are so not fair sometimes, yoongi.” You huff, pushing your matted hair out of your face. 

+

+

“Good morning Mr Kim, your coffee as always. Everyone is seated in meeting room 3 ready to discuss the new drafts.” You say quickly with a strained smile, as you follow the broad shouldered man down the hall to the meeting room, his hand gently taking the coffee from you with a smile. 

“Thank you, I expect your own draft has been prepared as well.” You nod quickly patting the pile of papers in your hand with a grin. 

“Locked and loaded.” You respond, a small grin growing on your bosses face. 

“Good, after the meeting, I would like you to postpone all other meetings, I got this strange email today and need to plan my next vacation.” Mr Kim says with a sad smile, you nod quickly adding it into your calendar. 

“I’m sure the sender of the email will be happy to tell you that the location has already been booked and is just waiting for confirmation from all parties involved on how many people to be expecting.” You say quietly as you stop a few steps behind him. 

“Well, that is good to hear. I hope the sender knows that I will be attending no matter what. Please send her a reply with my dietary requirements.” He says with a light chuckle before throwing open the meeting room door, his boss persona back in place. 

“Thank you, Jin.” You mumble, wiping the last of any invisible dust and crinkles in your clothes before following him into the meeting room. 

+

+

“You’re script in there was pretty great. I’ve already got some ideas for the shows soundtrack, once I get some drafts going I can send them to you.” You turn away from the coffee machine, the light haired music producer standing behind you with a copy of your pilot script in hand. 

“That would be very much appreciated, Hoseok. Thank you.” You give him a quick smile, turning back to take your mug out of the automatic coffee dispenser. 

“Do you know who else is coming? Is the whole crew going to be back together?” The words stop you in your tracks, you turn back to the producer slowly, shrugging your shoulders.

“I sent the invited to everyone, it’s debatable on who will actually show up. Taehyung is just so busy these days I doubt he could make it, but as long as most of us are there it should be fine.” You respond in a hushed tone, watching Hoseok’s face drop. “But who knows, he might surprise us all, I’m assuming you’ll be coming?” You add, the hope in your statement putting a bit more light in the producers eyes. 

“Definitely, I wouldn’t miss this for anything in the world, I hope the rest of us are thinking the same.” 

“So do I.”

+

+

Throughout the day your phone pings seven times, with seven replies to your email. 

Seven confirmations that they would be there.

Seven confirmations that settle the feeling in your chest slowly, your fingers sending back a quick thanks to them all, with the details of your booking and what time to show up. 

“Kitten? Are you home yet? Or should I just surprise you by waiting naked on your bed again?” Yoongi’s voice rings out through the apartment. You roll your eyes, giving a short grunt in response, pushing yourself out of your study and down the hall to where Yoongi waits on your couch. 

“You know you have you’re own apartment you can go to? Why do you always come back to mine?” You hiss, at the male who sits on your couch his arms open and lap waiting. As much as you feel like continuing your normal bickering, you can’t help the small smile etching onto your face, falling into his waiting arms with a sigh. 

“So Jin and Hobi said yes?” The question is simple enough but brings another sigh out of your lips, you nod, your hands moving to Yoongi’s forehead pushing the sweaty hair out of his eyes. “Joon said he would have to shuffle a few things around but will be able to come, might not be able to stay the whole two weeks though, having a business to run and all.” Yoongi adds, his eyes closing lightly as you continue to comb the hair away from his face. 

“That would be fine, frankly I wouldn’t mind if you all only came for the ceremony and then left me alone with the beautiful cabin and forest.” You says, a teasing tone in your voice as Yoongi pouts his eyes finally opening. 

“You wouldn’t want me to stay with you? Think of how much fun we would have?” You can tell by the grin growing on his face, that he is dropping hints, not very subtle. 

“Oh yes, at my brothers memorial we will be having lot of fun.” You coo, your hands resuming their ministrations in Yoongi’s hair. A small huff leaves his lips and your instantly know what it’s supposed to mean.  ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’  You smile at him again so he can tell you were joking, leaning down slowly, you hands steadying his face as you brush you lips paper light against his. 

“I know what you meant, and I appreciate it.” You respond, placing another light kiss over his lips, a quiet groan escaping him as you don’t give him the pleasure of a proper kiss. “You should really shower, you smell like smoke and cheeseburgers.” You lie, he smells great, as always, like rain and vanilla and a little bit of burgers but you aren’t picky. 

Yoongi rubs his hands up and down your waist before nodding, lightly pushing you on the cushion besides him so he can slip down your hallway to the bathroom. The two of you had met in a bar a few years ago, and hit it off straight away. Though neither of you would admit it was nothing more than a friends with benefits arrangement, it was safe to say that it was getting more serious by the day. He had officially placed a toothbrush in your bathroom and stocked a whole draw in your apartment with clothes. 

It wasn’t until halfway through your arrangement that you realised Yoongi was a mutual friend, your brother bringing drunk Yoongi to your apartment one night, when your house was closest to the club they were at. Yoongi in his drunked-ness hadn’t been able to hide much, almost jumping you as soon as he walked through the door, though you managed to dodge him until he fell asleep it was easy for Yoongi’s best friend to notice what was going on. 

“You know him don’t you?” You brother asked you, his grin tight on his face as he watched you place a cold face washer on Yoongi’s face. You nod, deciding words were not going to work in your favour at the moment. 

“When did you two meet?” 

“My 20th birthday. The guy I went home with, was Yoongi. Namjoon was there too, he knows everything.” You finally spit out, knowing trying to break it easily would hurt your brothers feeling more. 

“Joon knew.” He says quietly.

“Look, why don’t you head home, I can take care of him and send him your way in the morning for a proper scolding.” You say, guiding your brother to the door, trying not to make eye contact with him. 

“Just don’t let him hurt you, I’d hate to have to beat up one of my friends.” Your brother says with a more genuine smile, kissing your forehead lightly before stumbling his way down the stairs of your apartment climbing into the back of a taxi to find his way home. 

“I think it’s time for some pizza and a good movie.” You say to yourself as you try to shake away the memories. What would your brother be thinking now about you and Yoongi?  

Would he even be surprised? 

+

+

 “God it’s feel like ages since I’ve been here.” Yoongi exclaims letting out a little whistle at the sight of the cabin in front of the two of you. You sigh quickly holding the small box tighter against your chest as you pull your backpack out of the front seat of the car. 

Yoongi grins at you over the roof of the car before rushing to the back seat to grab out the two suitcases sitting there. Carrying all the luggage to the house, you unlock the front door, letting out another sigh at the sight of the cabin. 

“It’s exactly how I remember it.” You say quietly, placing the small box on the entrance table, helping Yoongi lug the two suitcases down the hall to the bedrooms. “We should probably plan to sleep separately, for the sake of appearances.” You say quietly to him, he nods, almost as if he had been thinking the same thing, already turning towards the room at the end of the hall, the master suite with your suitcase in hand. 

“I’m figuring since you’ll be the only girl that you’ll want the master, with the ensuite.” He says lifting your suitcase onto the large queen bed, giving your forehead a quick kiss before carrying his own suitcase to one of the earlier rooms with two double beds pushed against the walls. “I wonder who will bunk with me.” He says with a grin. 

“I feel like it’s only fair if I take the other bed in here. I don’t really speak to the others very much anymore and I’d much prefer to sleep with someone I know won’t snore.” Namjoon’s voice is clear but soft from the entry hallway, tugging his own oversized suitcase behind him. He stops in front of where you stand, still glancing around the cabin. 

“It’s good to see you again. I hope work’s been treating you well.” He says, stopping in front of you. He looks at you for a few more moments, before opening his arms wide and motioning for you to come forwards with his hands. 

“It’s good to see you too, Joon.” Your voice comes out thin and whisper quiet, as his arms engulf you, his hands rubbing softly at your back. “He would be really happy to know that you came.” Namjoon rubs your back a few more times before taking a step back and pulling his suitcase into the room with Yoongi. 

“I’m assuming by the taxi driving down the road, that Namjoon beat us to it.” A voice calls out from the door way, the heavy thumping of a suitcase being pulled up the stairs following. “Three hours of carpooling with Jin is a bad idea, I should’ve brought my own car.” You hear Hoseok grumble as he finally makes it to the top of the stairs. Hoseok’s gives you a small wave before shuffling into the room besides yours taking the larger bed in the corner, Jin following soon after, stopping in front of you, his eyebrows pulled together tightly. 

“Is something wrong?” You question, noting the way he fiddles with his fingers a few times. 

“I just… Is it appropriate to hug you or is it going to be weird? I mean I know I’m your boss but I knew your brother pretty well, and it just feels weird to not greet you like a fri… oh, well I guess that solves it.” You manage to stop Jin rumbling by stepping into his arms wrapping your own tightly around his torso, giving him a quick squeeze before letting go. 

“We aren’t at work, we can be casual here.” You say with a firm nod, Jin copying your motions before shuffling into the room with Hoseok.   You hear Yoongi walk up behind you before your notice the two figures lingering in the door way. 

“Well look who we have here… the dancer and the model.” Yoongi grins at the two younger boys. They both look around the cabin in surprise. Their eyes eventually falling to where you stand. You lift your hand and give them a shy wave motioning to the room across the hall from Yoongi’s. 

“This room is still free, there should be three beds in there, so you’ll have to room with Jungkook.” You mumble, Yoongi’s hands coming coming to rub the sides of your shoulder, both Jimin’s and Taehyung eyes following the motions, before they shuffle into the room, whispering to themselves. 

“Speaking of the little devil, where is he?” Yoongi asks into your ear, his lips just grazing the skin, you shudder quickly, smiling as he places a wet smooch on your cheek. 

“He said he had some things to finish up before coming, so he won’t be here until after the ceremony. He said he was happy for us to just do it without him.” You answer, moving towards the small box sitting on the entry bench. You pick up the box before giving Yoongi a quick nod, moving towards the front door. 

“Let’s go ladies, we got some things to do.” 

+

+

“How much further?” 

“It’s really not far, Yoongi. Just at the top of this hill. The fireplace should still be there.” The seven of you had been climbing the side of the mountain for almost an hour now, trying to get the the place your brother had requested his ashes be spread. 

‘The small bonfire spot at the top of the hill behind the cabin’

That’s what he had written in his final note, the letter telling you all the instructions on how to help him pass to the afterlife. You reach the shallow hole in the dirt first, shrugging your backpack off and onto the ground besides the fire pit, pulling out the small speaker placing it on a log besides the fire. 

Everyone slowly makes their way to where they had sat the last time you had all gathered at the cabin, a few years ago. Two empty spaces left open for your missing members. 

“I guess, I’ll start everything off… He would have been so happy to see us all gathered here like this today. He had been trying to get us out here every autumn for an annual camping trip and usually we let our everyday lives interrupt, or at least I know I did.” You pause for a second, pulling the small cardboard box out of your bag holding it tightly to your chest. 

“It said in his note, that once we were all together he wanted us to spread his ashes with the wind, to let his essence spread throughout the mountain side. Jungkook couldn’t make it out till tomorrow but thankfully with the power of technology will still be able to witness the spreading.” You continue motioning over to where Hoseok holds his phone towards the group, Jungkook giving everyone a quick wave over FaceTime. 

“So I suppose if no one has anything left to say, we should just do it right?” You ask the group getting a few nods in agreement, other people just watching you closely. You take a deep breath, opening the top of the box, a small plastic sachet sitting inside, your bothers body, a pile of ash inside.  

“God, this is so fucked up. I can’t believe this is actually happening.” Jimin says quietly from where he stands by the empty bonfire. Everyone seems to grow tense at his words, not knowing what else to say. 

“Well, it is happening, it’s not like we can do anything but let it happen at this stage.” You huff, moving further up the hill so the ashes go downhill with the wind, away from your group. Jimin cringes a bit as you move away from the group, getting a small slap to the shoulder from the taller boy besides him. 

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that.” He apologises quickly, you just shrug finally turning the bag to face towards the ground, letting the ashes fall out getting carried by the wind. As the seven of you watch the ashes continue down the hill, a swear word rings out from the phone in Hoseok’s hand, as well as a loud alarm from the other phones in the vicinity. 

“Attention to all citizens, we are currently experiencing an extreme outbreak of a air Bourne virus. It is advised that all citizens remain inside and do not move around for the next 72 hours, please follow instructions on the offical government website, and remain update on the situation, as we prepare for the virus to spread rapidly.” Yoongi reads out from the phone in front of him, he sighs and tucks it back into his pocket. 

“I guess we’re going to have to quarantine while we’re out here.” Jimin adds, everyone letting out a loud sigh, knowing how well the last lock down went. 

“Wait…” You huff, locking eyes with the boy on Hoseok’s screen, “What about Jungkook?” 

[lovelyyandereaddictionpoint]

Sheep mc is my new main, and all I see is Asmodeus putting her in a sexy sheep maid clothes or a cute angle one because he looked like the one who read erotic books and one where a demon ravish an angle n sutch

Sheep mc is like: * haha I'm in danger *

OMG yes

 its insane how fast he jumps on that

He’s putting his clothes on you and styling it before forcing you to pose

And your sheepish :) nature is all the more adorable now 

How could he not

Who better to guide you in how to be the absolute cutest than the most beautiful demon himself

Since your transformation it's all the more likely that the other brothers are finding you in precarious outfits...and situations

“(Y/n) are you in here? I wanted to eat with–”

“H-help me Beel!” 

“You’re all tied up…where are your clothes?”

“He took them from me! Now hurry up and untie me!” 

Or purposely forcing you to do photoshoots for his personal collection

“That's it, (Y/n)! Just perk that cute fluffy bush of yours up! Yes! That's it!”

All his fantasies are coming true with all the possibilities

He’s not the only one who’s really benefitting either

Like fully expect there to be a calendar of you in minimal clothing or compromising poses

It isn’t even limited to the brothers either

Simeon and Solomon will have the portable one 

Even Diavolo and Barbatos have one they carry around as the former does his tasks

Should Mephisto even catch wind of this he’s probably mass-producing a censored version

..yeah only those who genuinely deserve it should have the unedited originals aka him

Everyone’s living out their deepest desires

Because you're just so freaking cute

Now should anyone so much as cross any of your admirers as being more than interested in a surface level none of them have an issue making someone disappear

[superheroauthor]

So, I Am A Vampire (Part Two)

   ��My friend, I fear your fellow guard is about to kill me.” My voice was little more than a whisper and I let emotion into the sibilant sound, as if I was greatly afeared.

Quick as a flash the tall guard pulled out a semi-automatic pistol and shot the other twice. The stocky guard in the t-shirt fell dead, two shots to the chest.

   “Oh no!” I cried out in pretended alarm. “Everyone will have heard the shots. Come with me and I will sort it all out for you. Maybe you can show me this other place. An introduction from you would greatly help me.”

   “Of course, anything you say.” He told me, a strange smile flickering across his lips.

   We left the building and went to his car.

   As he drove, I took a little case out. I took his gun and, even while being driven, I disassembled his pistol. Then with the little tools in my case I thoroughly cleaned the weapon.

   Everyone thinks that, once a gun has been fired, all the bullets fired after will have the same ballistics. Actually, a thorough cleaning of the barrel changes the rifling and ballistics of a weapon.

   “Stop for a moment.” I said and he obeyed.

   I lowered my window and fired two shots. He looked at me quizzically. I stared into his eyes.

   “Now you can say a man shot your compatriot and you chased the killer, rightfully so. You shot at the man four times but he was very jammy and every shot missed him.”

   “A man attacked Freddo. Shot him twice and killed him. I chased the man, shooting at him, trying to down him but he got lucky and was not hit.” He was emitting an odd mutter. It was almost as if the man was implanting into his brain what happened. Even though it had not occurred that way.

   He drove us down to Featherstone Street and it seemed that he could almost predict what I wanted as he pressed the doorbell to the very swish semi-detached house.

   The door was opened by a man who looked as if he was too big to fit through the doorframe.

   “He is safe. A new customer.” My new friend told him. “He is a friend, safe as houses this one.”

   The huge man said nothing, just stepped aside. My new friend ushered me upstairs and into a bedroom.

   Only it was not done out as a bedroom. It had an office desk, one of those metal ones. Also, filing cabinets and a swivel chair on his side of the desk in white leather. A couple of bookshelves with what looked like red leather-bound accounts books. A functional chair on our side for whoever was visiting or being interviewed.

   This was obviously the boss’s office.

   “Who is this, Seth?” Asked the man behind the desk. A small man with receding hair and a face like a mouse. Nice suit though, must have cost him hundreds. He was not old, maybe approaching thirty but that receding hairline somehow gave him a touch of class. That and the impressive clothes he was wearing.

   A tall thin man was standing, or more like slouching, in the corner. He was obviously the bodyguard. He was taller than me by four inches. Somehow my six foot in height seemed like nothing to him but he was much less of mass for I was well built, solid. Still he seemed formidable, to other humans at least.

   “He wants coke. The good stuff.” My new friend, who I now knew to be called Seth, told the mouse-faced man.

   “He cannot afford the good stuff. That is for the celebrities and the wealthy businessmen.” Was the reply from the mouse-faced man. He did not look annoyed, more amused.

   Amused was good. He was looking at me as a man, not down on me as a man of colour. He was not rude food. That was good, he might even live until the morning, it was possible.

   Seth and his dead friend would come into contact with people of all colours and races as bodyguards to dealers of crack and heroin, they would accept all. This was a man of more refinement with a classier clientele. It was good that race meant nothing to him. Good for him.

   I produced a wad of notes. A thick wad of twenty-pound notes secured by an elastic band.

   “Even so, this is not the sort of coke you get from normal dealers. Not the sixty quid type that people pay for good coke.” The man behind the desk said in answer to my action. “This is a hundred quid a gram and the best cocaine you will ever get.”

   He paused and the thin man came to stand beside him.

   “Plus, I don’t sell to any Tom, Dick or Harry who walks in off the street. In fact, as I don’t know you, I do not think I will be doing any business with you at all."

   I did nothing, just stood there.

   “He has my bond!” Seth said forcefully. “He is my friend. He is to be trusted.”

   The mouse-like man was still looking at me with doubt in his eyes.

   His bodyguard seemed to understand his mood. He went to stand between Seth and his boss.

   “There is a thousand pounds there.” I smiled as I rifled through the twenty-pound notes. All new notes crisp out of the bank machine.

   This was a high-level dealer. He would not want grubby notes. Them I had in another pocket.

   “You are only just out of the clinic.” My new friend Seth told me as if to a naughty child. “You buy ten grams and you just won’t be able to stop putting it up your nose. You will overdose. It will kill you.”

   At the word ‘clinic’ the mouse like man’s face seemed to soften.

   Maybe he thought this had been a police sting.

   “Take him to the study. Tell Vickie to only sell him a gram.” Was mouse’s response.

   Seth looked happy. I took it to be that, only in the study, could you buy the good stuff.

   We went downstairs and into a room to find a beautiful study. Oak panelled walls, shelves of leather covered books, a desk that looked like it was Victorian mahogany. True the laptop looked strange on that desk but otherwise the study looked every bit the room of a Victorian gentleman.

   The lady of the room just fit, if you know what I mean. Her dress was truly elegant, cut on simple lines but every inch a lady. She looked as if she were a lady of the aristocracy.

   A tiny flicker of her eyes questioned Seth if he was in the right place.

   “Mr Z approved but only a gram. He is fresh out of the clinic and clucking.”

   The elegant lady seemed to find this amusing. Obviously, the addiction clinic had not worked for me.

   I could see her point. Celebrities and youngsters after . . . treatment . . . hardly ever listened. They went back to their alcohol and drug addictions the minute they left the clinic.

   She slid her hand up her dress, mostly concealed by the big dark wooden desk and came out with a tiny dose of white powder in a miniscule clear plastic bag.

   “Take it slow young man.” Now she was serious, talking to me like a doctor. “Just half a line to take the edge off. This is strong stuff, so maybe even less. You make that last until tomorrow night and I will sell you some more. Two nights and I will trust you with two grams.”

   This seemed a very unusual way for a drug dealer to sell her product. Maybe she was just careful with her clients, even gentle.

   Maybe it was just she did not want me overdosing and grassing her up from a hospital bed.

   Few did grass, even less with dealers of very good quality product. Why cut off a good contract and go back to street level coke?

   I slid a hundred out of the wad of notes. She did not seem impressed by the wad of cash, just put the notes on her desk.

   “When I try it, I just take a small amount.” I reassured her. “Just a tiny line. Less than a quarter of what I would normally take.”

   She nodded approvingly and we left.

   Seth drove me back to where he worked. As he drove, I pulled out a wide metal comb and primped up my afro hair. I spoke to him before he entered the old building.

   “A small fat man tried to force his way in. He shot Freddo but you protected the building. You ran him off, shooting at him, trying to bring him down. You kept on looking for him and when you were sure he was away from the area you came back.” I stared at his face and watched it go impassive.

   He muttered to himself and then looked at the door. By the time he looked back I was gone.

   He would be disciplined by his bosses of course. He had left his post in suspicious circumstances. His partner was dead, shot no less. Oh yes, there would be a lot of awkward questions for Seth. Maybe a little physical persuasion, maybe even death.

   Yes, he could be killed by his employers if they were not satisfied with his answers.

   That however was nothing to do with me. Seth had served his purpose.

   He was not a friend. Vampires did not make friends among mortals. Humans were their food, not people to pass the years with.

   It did not matter. I would return tonight for them. I would kill them all.

   Seth? Would I kill him? He who had been so useful to me?

   A strange emotion tugged at my heartstrings.

   It would have all been so much more difficult if Seth had not helped me. Maybe I would let him live.

   That night was all too simple. They were on guard for humans, robbers who would take them down and steal their money. Their big guards were nothing. Mere necks to be snapped.

   Their guns? Oh yes, they fired at me.

   When feeding a vampire is immune to bullets. It all started out as being invulnerable to attack by any means, even missile weapons. We soon learnt in this modern age this meant bullets too.

   When we are attacked during feeding our bodies seem to shine and glow when struck. This is called The Glimmer. An older vampire like me can use The Glimmer any time. It has its limits though. Even as old as I am, over 500 years in age, I could only Glimmer for up to sixty seconds at a time.

   For brief periods of seconds though, when you saw a gun aimed at you it was long enough and more. You then used your speed and ripped the throat out of the offending human.

   That night many humans would have been amazed their bullets had no effect on me, if they had lived that is.

   The old man that was running this show, the selling of crack and heroin, died slowly, begging for his life. I let him beg, I let him tell me all his secrets in the hope I would let him live. He was the last man standing. Even Seth was unconscious due to a blow to the head.

   This man, the boss, had seen others die. Had watched as they shot me and I carried on attacking them. Had seen me rip bodies in half, their blood splattering the walls and the floor, some even arcing up to the ceiling. I was covered in blood.

   I pretended I was going to feed on him and he saw my fangs. Oh yes, he told me of all his dark and nasty little secrets. He had done much evil to become a boss here. To survive to old age in a place where only younger dealers survived with their viciousness to protect them.

   The police did not mind the dealers fighting each other, torturing each other, killing each other. They only got involved when an innocent was involved, a member of the public, an upright person, a worker.

   It was then the police came in hard and heavy. So even the dealers had a code. Do not attack or harm civilians in any way. Kill your fellow dealer, yes, but do no harm to Joe Public.

   I had not drunk of any of these criminals. I could smell the drugs on some of them. Their bodies reeked of drugs. Cocaine, cannabis mostly but some were chasing the dragon. Some were dabbling in crack.

   It was not the drugs that put me off of feeding on them. It was what they were. Criminals of the lowest type. They were not worth drinking of.

   As I stroked the head of the desperate criminal boss, I realised I would need new clothes. Mine were drenched in blood. A good wash too. My face and hair must be similarly affected.

   “I understand.” I said to the boss. “You do not think your life should be over yet. Yes, I know you are willing to give me vast amounts of money to let you live. Yes, there is the key to the safe. I have no interest in killing you . . .”

   The relief in the man's face was evident.

   I snapped his neck.

[koraesrambles]

Thoughts on the conclusion of Gotham War

Alright, so I've made it absolutely no secret that I've been enjoying the crap out of Gotham War. Is it structurally sound with good pacing and clear stakes? HELL no. It's not an air tight story, there are so many holes in all of the characters logic, but it is also an extremely good time.

I don't mind loose storylines in comics like this. Mostly because the premise "full grown man dresses up as a bat and cannot stop himself from mass adopting every orphan that looks like him" is already so ridiculous that anything they posit as a solution in their "war on crime" I think, "Yeah, I can see that." None of the rules of this world make sense.

But I don't really read most things for their air tight plot. Slight detour (There's a point, I swear!), but some perfect examples of this are Puss in Boots and the Last Wish and The Super Mario Bro movie. The last wish is PHENOMENAL. A literal work of art. I've seen it so many times and just basked in it's beauty. Love everything about it, absolutely stellar. But do you know what movie made me look up fan content, read fics, and forced me to buy the digital copy of the movie before the DVD came out? Yep. Mario Bros.

Why? Because I like stories about brothers who love each other and the mario movie gave me exactly that. It's not an air tight, phenomonal story with gorgeous real world applications, but it gave me a fun time where two characters worried about each other incessantly and honestly? that is what I'm here for.

So back to Gotham War. If I'm not actually looking for a ground breaking story (which honestly, I know those happen in these big super hero comic books but I feel like they're usually the *exception* rather than the rule) and just want good character interactions, then Gotham War delivered phenomenally. Especially since my favorite character was the one constantly being wrung through the wringer.

It was a great time. I enjoyed reading it, the art is better than anything I could ever produce even when the characters made weird faces. It was great. But did they stick the ending?

Eh, endings are hard. I would love to see more consequences for Bruce. Him just going off at the end and getting away with the horrible things he did to Jason is annoying. I almost wanted Jason to actually die at the end there, just so that Bruce would feel stupid and sad. If Bruce never acknowledges what he did to Jason (which . . . he probably won't, given the track record) then I'll be pretty disappointed. That's some juicy angst right there that should absolutely be addressed.

And I appreciated that literally every character that interacted with Bruce that knew about what he'd done yelled at him for it. Even Dick's seeming about-face at the end with "I'm sure you had your reasons" came after two weeks of getting used to the idea AND him trying to actually get Bruce to make good choices for once. I mean, Bruce doesn't, but A for effort, Dick. Thanks for punching him in the face last time, that was cathartic.

I surprisingly really like the fact that it wasn't Zur who did this to Jason. It was Bruce. Horrible, wacked-out, messed up Bruce Wayne who is so desperate to control everything around him and so terrified of losing the people he loves that he constantly overrides them like they're his freaking pets. Bruce is in a BAD place, and I sure hope that there will be tons of fics exploring that even if canon never acknowledges it.

But that's how I deal with comic universes like this. Everyone jokes that "Canon? what canon!" and we all laugh but honestly . . .yeah. Like, seriously. Canon is whatever works for the writer's plot in the moment. They make stuff up and contradict themselves all the time. They're constantly retconning stuff. It doesn't take away from any of the stories I like, I can still read them. And at this point, legitimately, I approach every single comic I come up on as though it's an AU. There is no canon timeline for me, because it's too messy. DC is literally just an AO3 platform that's allowed to make money.

Because the people who originally created these characters are long gone. These guys (gender neutral) writing and drawing the comics now are just fans like we all are. It's all fake. None of it is real. So let's all just have a good time.

I was talking to some friends about this and they pointed out, "It's difficult because people feel like when they're constantly screwing around with things like that why should they even care about the characters?" And they were absolutely right, that's extremely frustrating to deal with. I put a lot of emotional investment into characters, but every writer is going to approach the characters differently and with a universe like DC has, you just have to roll with it. There are no stakes. We all complain about it, but nothing is done to change it because we love these characters and we'll keep coming back for more, and so they keep having to make more content and that means messing with stuff they already have. It's a never ending cycle. These are living legends, mythology that's being written out in real time. Nothing about them are ever going to be cohesive.

Wow this is getting long, sorry about that. Things I loved about the Gotham War conclusion: Jason almost sacrificing himself and being a hero even though he was terrified. A+ content. Gorgeous, you go my boy! Tim telling everyone how to beat up all the rouges (Good job sweetheart, way to be a morally ambiguous little shit like you always are). Even if he claimed to be the second best robin at the end, those are fighting words my man. I also liked Jason's "Go 'save' another one of your sons." jab. That was great. I liked that everyone told Bruce he was wrong, even if it could have been stronger. The rest of the issue was plot stuff that I didn't really care too much about. I really like Bat/Cat, so I didn't mind those scenes too much even though Bruce is still the worst (affectionate AND derogatory).

I didn't really expect anything spectacular from the conclusion, and it really did end kind of like what I expected (nothing's changed except now Jason gets to deal with the Joker when he's sick with Super Anxiety -- which I actually am really excited for). But it wasn't as much fun as some of the previous issues.

That said, I would not mind owning an omnibus of all the gotham war issues, if just to re-read all of my favorite scenes. There were some truly unhinged crap in there, and that's just my cup of tea.

Story telling quality? eh, 6/10

enjoyment had? 9/10