#help i need to know what happens in that anthology chapter

[originalaccountname]

Gin was there both times too

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[football-and-fanfics]

The Medic #6 - Trent Alexander-Arnold

About the series: The Medic will be an anthology-like series about the reader working for the medical team of the club. Each chapter will feature a different setting/scenario and a different player.

Who: Trent Alexander-Arnold Prompt: panic attack Requested by: as voted for by you. Warnings: contains descriptions of panic/anxiety attack.

"We need help, urgently!"

From the way Andy stormed into the small room you had set up as your workspace during this away match, you immediately knew something was very wrong. From his wide eyes to his apparent concern, it left little to the imagination.

"Whoa, calm down." You rose from your seat and hurried over to Andy. "What's going on? What happened?" "It's Trent, he..." Andy stammered frantically. "Something's happening to him, and... I don't know what to do." "It's alright, calm down." You tried to keep your voice as level as possible, even though this sounded like a potentially serious situation. "Can you take me to him, please?" Andy nodded curtly, before turning on his heel and leading the way.

You followed Andy at a trot back to the team's dressing room. As soon as you stepped inside, you didn't need long to see things were indeed serious.

Trent sat huddled away into a far corner of the dressing room, hugging his knees and face averted from the room. A few others of the team stood around him, yet keeping their distance. No one seemed to know what to do or how to handle this situation. You, on the other hand, saw this immediately for what it was: a panic attack.

"Please, everyone, take a few steps back. Give him some more space." You kept your voice calm, yet with enough authority that everyone instantly backed away a few meters. You sat down on the floor opposite Trent, making sure there was enough space between the two of you not to frighten him any further.

From the rigidness of all his muscles, to his strained, hitched breaths, it wasn't hard to see he was still in the middle of his panic attack. He looked almost catatonic, with his arms clamped around his knees like bear traps, and his haunted gaze focused on the floor.

For a short while you just sat with him, uttering soft words of comfort and reassurance, and trying to ease his heaving breaths. "You're going to be alright," you soothed, "just focus on my voice for now. Try to breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. Rest your head between your knees." Trent tried to speak, but the only sound he could get himself to produce was a panicked whimper. "Don't talk," you said gently, "just try to focus on me. You're having a panic attack. I know it feels really scary right now, but you're going to be alright." Trent whimpered once again as his entire body trembled. "It's alright, I'm here with you," you spoke calmly, "we're getting through this, I promise."

It took well over fifteen minutes before you saw any change, but finally Trent seemed at least a little calmer.

You hovered a hand over Trent's forearm. "May I?" The minute nod of Trent's head was the signal you waited for. You gently placed your hand on his arm, feeling him still trembling. Trent slowly lifted his face off his knees and rested his head back against the wall. His breaths had calmed down for the most part, but there still was a wild, haunted look in his eyes.

"Are you ready to talk?" You asked without putting any kind of pressure on him. Trent nodded silently in reply. "Do you need the others to leave?" You had seen Trent's scared glance dart to the rest of the team standing at a little distance. "Yes, please." Trent's words were almost inaudible.

Andy, who was the only one standing close to Trent with you, started ushering the rest of the team out of the dressing room. "Not him..." Trent mumbled when he saw that Andy, too, was about to walk out the door. "Robbo," you called back to him to stop him from leaving, and motioned with you head for him to come back. "Do you want me to stay?" Andy asked. "Yeah," Trent answered softly before you could. Andy made his way back over and sat down on the floor next to you.

"Whenever you're ready." You gently prompted Trent to speak. Trent took a shuddering breath. "It's this place." "What about it?" You frowned. "It's..." Trent plucked at a loose thread of his socks as he searched for the words. "I made my first team debut here. A debut given to me by the gaffer, and I... suddenly realized this is the last time we'll be playing here with him as our coach."

You clicked on immediately. Everyone had taken the announcement of Klopp's departure at the end of the season very hard, but you hadn't actively realized that some players, like Trent, had never played for another coach since they had come into the first team. The shudder Andy gave beside you, told you that he hadn't actively realized this either.

"Trent..." You recollected yourself. "It's alright to feel this way. It's a big change we're facing, with a lot of things still uncertain, but this team can handle it. You can handle it." You felt him tremble underneath your hand still resting on his arm. "I'm just..." Trent mumbled, "... not good around new people." You knew Trent wasn't all that comfortable around people he didn't know, and could turn quite introverted. A challenge he had clearly already realized for himself for when Klopp's successor would take over.

"Hey." Andy now spoke up, gently patting Trent's knee. "Every new start is hard, but we're all in this together." Trent nodded through a sob. "Yeah..." he mumbled brokenly, "I just... guess I wasn't expecting it to be now already." "None of us did," you agreed. Trent scoffed. "Sure, but I don't see any of you having a panic attack over it." "Trust me," Andy chuckled wryly, "when the gaffer broke the news, I sure felt like it."

Trent blew out a deep breath, wiping a few stray tears from his cheeks. They had fallen without him even consciously knowing it. He looked thoroughly shaken up still, but at least somewhat calmer. The fact that this had caused him to have a panic attack startled him, but at the same time it made him realize what this club, this team, meant to him.

You gently pressed two fingers against the pulse point of Trent's wrist. His heartrate felt almost back to normal, and you no longer felt him tremble. "Are you doing better?" You asked. "I think I am," Trent confirmed, "although I don't think I can play a match right now." You nodded. "Maybe it's indeed best you didn't. I'll go tell the boss." "No." Trent stopped you. "I want to tell him myself."

Trent slowly scrambled to his feet. He looked a little unsteady with the aftermath of his panic attack, but otherwise he seemed fine. You kept a sharp eye on him, but didn't see anything that might suggest he was spiraling out of control again.

Andy slung an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Would you like me to come with you?" "If you would, please." Trent nodded meekly. Before the both of them could leave, you turned to Trent. "Take it easy, okay?" You urged him. "If you feel like panicking again, or even if you just want to have a good cry, you come straight to me." Trent smiled shortly. "I will, thank you."

Tags: @stonesyyyy, @footballffbarbiex, @football1921, @laurasstufff1, @nightlockcornucopia, @hbstre

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[prince-kallisto]

I told myself that I’d take it easy on the theories today, but I finally finished Book 5 in my own game and was starting Book 6 when a line caught my attention 😭

I remember a few weeks ago there was discussions of who brought Yuu back to Ramshackle after Grim attacked us. Malleus, Crowley, or even Ambrose. But as I started there first chapter of Book 6, this was the opening line:

“Am I in the clouds?” Yuu then has their vision about Hercules, which coincidentally takes place in the clouds. But Yuu spoke about the clouds before they had their vision…and I think the clouds may hint a lot at how brought us back to Ramshackle (spoiler I think it’s Crowley BC OF COURSE ANDBHD)

But anyway, if we go back to the last chapter of Book 5, it ends with Grim going missing, and when we run all the way to coliseum to find him, he’s digging up the literal stage to find the Blot Crystal. He attacks us, leaving up with a scratch on our hand. But what’s interesting to me is that how we blacked out in that moment.

I completely understand the possibility of Malleus taking us back. After all, he’s been around Yuu more often as the game progresses. However, I’d have to wonder several things, like why would he be at the coliseum this late, instead of his usual place like Ramshackle? Or, why not stop Grim before Grim ran away? Malleus does boast of being faster than any human or animal after all. Or why leave Yuu by themselves when injured? Of course, there could definitely be answers to these questions- he’s definitely a likely candidate! \(//∇//)\ But I think above all- why would he not mention this again to Yuu, or anyone else of what happened?

However, when we go back one more chapter, right before Grim eats the Blot Crystal, Crowley and Ambrose have a discussion inside the coliseum. Ambrose points out the abnormally high levels of magic in a place that should be just for student activities. What’s interesting is how Crowley so easily brushes him off- a little too easily. Crowley makes it sound natural, of course, but I’m sure he’s very well aware of what occurred inside the coliseum, especially since it was Vil’s Overblot.

Crowley then leaves, but this is the last we see of him in Book 5- being in the coliseum. Crowley has been known to stay out of the vital events in the main story, which may be on purpose. Compared to say, Malleus or Ambrose, I don’t think he would’ve tried to stop Grim from escaping, or even eating the Blot Crystals. (And interestingly enough, Crowley does not explain the Blot Crystals until Book 6, where it’s too late to reverse the damage done on Grim. However, Crowley explicitly knew about the blot crystals ever since Book 2)

In the main story, it’s literally been a “running gag” that Crowley shows up at the precise moments when students are in need of his advice or help. Again, he stays out of the major plot points, but he’s always served as a very subtle guide throughout the story, nudging the students in a certain direction (e.g the battle for housewarden in Book 1, dropping in to explain the SDC in Book 5). And at the start of Book 6, Yuu wakes up back in their room, injury still unattended to, as if they never left their room, with no hint or even questioning of who brought them back to their dorm.

And coming back to the line of “Am I in the clouds?,” it’s been very consistently shown that Crowley flys around campus A LOT. In the Special Lessons he drops from in mid-flight, and the 4koma anthology also has shown it in a more humorous way. Malleus and Lilia know how to fly with magic as well, but then the previous questions I mentioned with Malleus still apply here 🤔 And if we look at the map of the school, there is certainly a distance between Ramshackle and the Coliseum- a distance worthy of flight.

So…putting this together, I feel positive that Crowley knew about the events occurring in the coliseum. Perhaps he dropped in to investigate on his own after everyone left the SDC, or he intervened to specifically help Yuu because we somehow blacked out. We don’t know how Crowley appears randomly in the main story at the exact moment when his advice is needed, but he does nonetheless. And it may have been the same situation here. And knowing from how he stays out of the main story, he wouldn’t have stopped Grim from running off, or even explain to Yuu what happened once they’re brought back to the dorm. Remember, he acted like absolutely nothing of note happened when Ambrose questioned him- and so naturally too. Since the distance between the coliseum and Ramshackle was significant (it may have risked Yuu waking up), he brought us back by flying through the distance, leaving us in bed as if nothing happened at all.

…This whole theory is just to say I want Crowley to carry me in his arms AUGH 😭😭😭😭😭💖💖💖 please twst I want that so badly andjsjdjshd him carrying us through the air as he flies would be like a dream 🐦‍⬛

[opposums-love-arson]

Scream Queen Book 1: Conventional Final Girl

Chapter 8

Chapter 7 / Epilogue

Hey y'all! I'm sorry I took a long unprompted hiatus from the story, I need to catch up on course work and didn't focus on updating. Again, I'm so sorry but I'm back now! This is the second to last update, though I'm thinking of turning this into an anthology series with different slashers. Let me know if that sounds fun to y'all!

P.S. let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!

  I heard shouting and yelling upstairs, getting worried I ran up hoping that Billy and Sid weren’t fighting. When I got there I flung the door open, “Sid! Sid everything ok-” I paused as I saw what was layed out before me… literally. Both Sid and Billy’s lifeless bodies toppled over on the large mattress. “Oh my god…” I said as I held the door open, only then did I notice the person dressed in all black holding a bloodied hunting knife. That was when he noticed me as well. “Oh shit, this is not happening!” I shouted as I ran out of the room. Locking the door I ran down the balcony hallway and into another room then out into the other end of the hallway. I was going to go down the stairs but the killer was already there. Panicking, I turned to go back the way I came. On instinct I slammed the door right in the killer’s face. He fell down in pain as I made my way to yet another room. There wasn’t another way out in this one… so much for quick thinking. 

  With the killer banging on the door I realized the only way out was through one of the windows. Unfortunately they were both shut. It was no use calling for help, no one would hear me. Or maybe there’s another window? To my luck there was, I crawled out and finally shouted, “Help!” before the killer came in and pried my hand off of the window sill. This is it, this is where I die, isn’t it? Nope, save by a tarp! Jumping down I’m ready to run when I see it, another person close to me has met their untimely demise… “Tatum?” I asked, as if she could answer, hot tears were running down my face before I could even understand. I ran away as fast as I could, not even checking to see if the Ghostface was following me. 

  “Help! Please help!” I shouted out as I ran through Stu’s yard and up to the fence. Breaking down a few of the flimsy wood planks I ran up to the news van. “C’mon please let me in!” I screamed out, jolting Gale’s camera guy to life. “He’s gonna kill me, he killed Tatum!” I wailed as I leaped into the van. The camera guy pointed to a screen showing Randy and the killer creeping behind him. He hopped out of the Van but both of us noticed the open front door. That’s when the camera guy was stabbed by the Ghostface. I closed the door, the masked murderer cutting my arm in the process. If dealing with mental suffering wasn’t enough then physical suffering will be. I crawled out a small hole in the back of the van. 

  I don’t even look behind me, I just start running and leaping over another fence back into the yard. Oh god where is everyone can’t there just be someone here? I continue running, Shit the road, there has to be someone coming down the street? I see the news van driving so I hop in the way and try to wave it down. “Stop! Stop!” I shouted. Things go exactly the way I didn’t want them to go and the van swerves off the street and down a hill. Thinking nothing can be done about that, I run to the house again in search of Tatum’s brother. “Dewey! I need help, Dewey!” I called out but only got echos in response. The front door opens and out walks Dewey. 

“Oh god, Dewey!” I called out in relief. 

“(y/n)?” He asked, he was about to walk down to me until he toppled over on the stairs thanks to a knife in his back. 

“Dewey! Oh no! No no no!” I shouted as my hand covered my mouth, both most likely smeared in blood now. 

That’s when Ghostface popped out from the doorframe, yanking the knife out of Dewey’s back and cleaning it off. I ran away horrified by everything that just took place and beeline for the patrol car. Seeing the killer go for the passenger door I hurriedly push down on the lock button. He quickly went for my side but I rolled the window up and pushed down the button just in time. I go to turn the key only to notice they’re not there. “Shit shit shit shit!” I cried down slamming my hands on the wheel. The killer knocks on the window to get my attention then dangles the keys right in my face. Before I have time to react he ducks below my view. Frantically I look around to see where he went. The passenger door unlocks so I hop over to lock it. The car radio starts sounding off so I grab the walkie-talkie-thingy and speak into it giving the address of where I am and that I need help. As I was talking the killer comes up from behind and strangles me! Yeah as if I’m going to let some sick fuck kill me in a car! I punch him where I think his cheek was and he lets go of me. I take the chance to make a run out of the car and to the porch. 

“(y/n)!” Someone called out my name. 

Crouching down as I go to get the gun of what I thought to be Dewey’s corpse I look up to see who it is. 

“(y/n), we gotta get the fuck out of here!” Randy shouted as he limped over to me.

“Stop right there Randy,” I said trying to sound as calm as I could while pointing the gun at him.

While hopping on his leg Randy said, “Don’t shoot it’s me! I found Tatum, she’s dead! I think Stu di-”

Stu came running up to the house saying, “Don’t listen to him, (y/n)!” he shouted, cutting Randy off. 

“Both of you. Just. Stay. Back,” I said sternly as they rambled words to everyone in a mile radius. 

Stu threw Randy down as they both hurriedly walked towards me. 

Stu cried, “(y/n), give me that gun, please just give me the gun!” As he kept looking back. 

I couldn’t trust either of them if I was being realistic but given the past few days… Stu might be the better option. The two boys were now having a pointing match as they kept looking at me and shouting. 

“Fuck you both!” I shouted and ran inside ignoring their protests as I locked the door. “Go away, please just go! Find help!” 

A grunt was heard from the stairs, whipping around. I saw Billy. 

“Billy…” I said, shocked and relieved at the same time. 

“(y/n),” he said as he fell down the stairs in his weak state. 

“No! Billy!” I said as I rushed to his side. 

Cradling him in my arms I said, “I thought you were dead, does that mean Sid is-” 

“No, the knife just… ” Billy said as he held my face, looking away from me.  

“C’mon let’s get you up,” I said with a small smile, “Carefully.” 

“We gotta get help,” Billy said with a few grunts as he made it to the door. 

“No, Billy, he’s out there. The killer is out there!” I raised my voice blocking the door.

“No, give me the gun. It’s okay,” He said as he took the gun out of my hands. 

Moving away from the door I said, “I trust you.” 

Randy barges in saying, “Please help me!” 

“Get in, get in!” Billy said as he ushered Randy in the house.

“Stu’s flipped out! He’s gone mad!” 

“We all go a little mad sometimes,” Billy softly says with a smile as he points the gun at Randy. 

“What the fuck Norman Ba- No Billy! What are you doing?” I ask, trying to get the gun away from him but his arm is longer than mine.

“Fuck,” Randy says before he’s shot in the chest falling back and taking the table with him. 

Running to his side I can hear Billy say, “Anthony Perkins, Psycho.” 

“It’s not even in the same context Billy what the fuck?” I shouted as I crouched down beside Randy. 

“Mmm, corn syrup,” Billy said as he sucked his finger clean. 

“Same stuff they used in Carrie, right?” I asked, my voice shaking as I backed up right into another person. 

Turning around I realized it was Stu, “Stu, help please? It’s Billy!” I said through sobs. 

Taking something out of his pocket he held it to his mouth and said, “Surprise, (y/n)!” 

I know that voice… it’s both of them…

Looking between the two I said, “Shit,” and shoved Stu out of my way and into the kitchen. 

I made it to the other side but not before Billy caught up to me pointing the gun in my face. 

“Woah now,” He said before catching the voice distorter Stu tossed. 

“What’s the matter (y/n)? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He spoke into it.

Walking to the kitchen counter, seeing that there's no place to go I ask them, “So why exactly are you doing this?” 

“It’s all part of the game, (y/n).” Stu said as they walked closer to me. 

“It’s called-” Billy raised the distorter to his mouth, “-GUESS HOW I’M GOING TO DIE!” as he raised the gun to me

Flinching back at his words I said, “God, fuck you both,” while trying not to cry. 

“No no no, you had your chance at that game, you passed it up,” Billy said as he switched out the gun for the knife that Stu held up. 

“It’s all fun and games, (y/n). See we ask a question and if you get it wrong- BUGAH!” Stu shouted thrusting the gun in my face, “Ya die.”

“And if you get it right…” Billy trailed off, his eyes trailing me up and down. 

“Ya know you’re crazy right? The both of you,” I said as I leaned as far away as I could from them. 

“We prefer the term psychotic,” Stu said with a grin as he came up behind Billy, perching his head on his shoulder. 

Shaking my head and laughing a little I said, “You’re never getting away with this.” 

“I don’t know, tell that to Cotton Weary… You wouldn’t believe how easy he was to frame,” Billy said, twirling the knife around my hair. 

“Wait Sidney’s mom’s…” I trailed, it was all starting to make sense now. 

“Watch a few movies, take a few notes, it was fun!” Stu said, his head still perched on Billy’s shoulder.

“That’s what you meant Stu?” I asked them, this time they were the ones a little confused. 

“When Billy arrived, after he and Sid went upstairs you said Billy was using me…” I looked up my anger clear as day, “It wasn’t to get back together, it was to string her along, why?” 

“Why… WHY? Hear that Stu, I think she wants a motive,” Billy said, looking back at Stu. 

“Well I don’t really believe in motive, (y/n). Did Norman Bates have a motive?” Billy asked, looking back at me. 

“Nope,” Stu said, pointing his index finger up. 

“Did they ever decide why Hannibal Lecter liked to eat people? Don’t think so!” Billy said aggressively as he shoved his face in mine. 

“You’re wrong,” I quietly said

“What was that?” Billy asked as he pointed the knife to my chest. Stu came running up, cupping his ear with his hand. 

“I said you’re wrong.” 

“Care to elaborate for the class?” Billy asked, more so commanded. 

“Bates was motivated to kill Crane out of self induced fear from the past trauma of his now dead mother that never left. And similarly Hannibal ate people because of how strong the fears from his trauma were, killing and eating people were the only ways to silence it…” I said, getting more frightened with each word that came out of my mouth. 

“Oh is that so?” Billy asked, looking at Stu who held the gun up. 

“So tell me Billy, was it possibly because your father was hooking up with Sid's mom causing your mother to leave giving you a strong sense of abandonment that could only be silenced by killing the cause?” I asked, closing my eyes ready for my death. 

I could tell Stu was shocked too, he didn’t even know… did he?

Billy backed away, pacing around. He pointed the knife up saying, “Ya know (y/n), you should really take up psychology, right Stu?” 

“Right Billy,” Stu said with a laugh, earring him a glare from Billy. 

“So what are you going to do to me?” I asked

Billy took my hand and twirled me into his arms. Placing one around my torso and the other behind my head, “Darling, I’m not gonna hurt you… I’m just gonna bash your brains in!” 

“Jack Torrance, The Shining,” I said before biting my lip trying not to cry again. Force of habit? 

“It’s just a little fun! Lighten up!” Stu shouted and laughed, still having the gun at eye level. 

“Just pretend it’s all a scary movie, (y/n). How do you think it’s going to end?” Billy asked, moving his hand from the back of my head to my hair. 

Before I could say anything Stu exclaimed, “Oh-oh this is the greatest part! You’re gonna love this! We got a surprise for ya, (y/n)! Yeah you’re gonna love this one! It’s a scream baby!” Before leaving the kitchen. 

“You two really had me fooled, ya know?” I said, leaning my head to the side. 

“What do you mean?” Billy asked, running the knife along my body. 

“I mean I actually thought you two liked me...from the moment you confessed to when Stu kissed me at the party,” I said, laughing as a tear ran down my cheek. 

“We do (y/n), we honestly do like you but this is necessary for the plot,” Billy said, stroking my hair. 

“What plot Billy? This isn’t a scary movie… The credits aren’t going to roll after I’m dead, it won’t be a jump shot twenty years later when you two have happy little suburban families…” I said as I started crying harder. 

“Oh what do we have behind door number three (y/n)?!” Stu exclaimed as he came back into the kitchen dragging someone in

“Neil!” I shouted trying to rush to him only to be yanked back by Billy. 

“Woah hold it, that’s enough,” Billy says as he secures me to his chest. 

Picking the distorter off the counter Stu said, “Guess we won’t be needing this anymore, huh?” before shoving it in Neil’s pocket.

 “And oh look at this, ring ring? Won’t need this,” Stu said again, this time shoving a compact black cellphone into the pocket

“Got the ending figured out yet (y/n)?!” Billy shouted as he jostled my body around. 

“C’mon (y/n), ya think about it! Your stepdaddy is the chief suspect! We cloned his cellular, the evidence is all there!” Stu shouted as he pointed at Neil then shoved him to the ground. 

“Neil snapped, his wife’s murder anniversary made him snap, sending him on a murder spree killing everyone-'' Billy was cut off. 

“Except for Billy and me, we were left for dead,” Stu said with a wild expression as he rotated his fingers between him and Billy. 

“Then he kills you,” Billy started again, “Then he shoots himself in the head. Perfect ending.” 

“I thought of that,” Stu said with a big smile as Billy tossed me to the side. 

“I can’t fucking believe you!” I shouted, making the two boys pause. 

“What?” They both said. 

“Seriously Stu? You’re the one who wanted to kill me after you tried to get with me like a week ago, then kissed me four hours ago? And yet you’re the one that wanted me dead, now that, that there is just fucking perfect!” I shouted pacing around and running my hands through my hair and down my shoulders. 

“Seriously? You’re getting upset about that right now?” Billy asked

“Yeah no shit I am! I’ve processed every other fucking thing in the world but this is the shit that still baffles me the most!” I shouted again, hot tears streaming down my face. 

“Just get on with it already man!” Stu exclaimed, ignoring everything I just said. 

As Billy was about to stab his friend ‘for the sake of the plot’, I said, “Back the fuck up Norman Bates,” Shoving Billy back and taking the knife before he could say anything. 

“What are you-” Stu stopped and cried in pain as I stabbed him, staying to the side and not going too deep, “What the fuck, (y/n)?” 

Judging by the way Billy was looking at him the entire time, I won’t be the one to kill him. 

“How’s that for the fucking plot! Asshole!” I screamed in his face as I grabbed the collar of his shirt. 

Grabbing Stu’s hand I shoved the knife handle into his palm and said, “I just wanted to help,” in a sneering tone. 

I know what you’re thinking, stupid right? I know what I’m doing. 

Billy being as delusional as he was right now ignored my behavior and told Stu to just carry on, so he did. 

“Ah fuck! Jesus Christ!” Billy cried out as he slammed himself against the kitchen’s island, “Fuck, goddamit Stu!” 

“I’m sorry Billy, I guess I got a little too zealous, huh?” Stu said as he looked right at me. 

“Give me the knife,” Billy commanded. 

“No,” Stu said, like a child that didn’t want to share his toy.

“Give me the knife! NOW!” Billy commanded louder, like the mother ready to punish their child.

“See (y/n), everybody dies but us. Everybody dies but us! We can carry on and plan the sequel! Let’s face it baby, these days- you gotta have a sequel!” Stu shouted, spitting up saliva like a rabid animal. 

Flinching at the sound of Stu getting stabbed again I said, “You sick fucks, you’ve seen one too many movies. And that’s a lot coming from me.” 

“Now (y/n), don’t blame the movies! Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative!” Billy yells as he gashes Stu again. 

“Billy you’re going to fucking kill him!” I shout, even though I should be relieved that it’s going to be one down one to go I just… I can’t 

“Yeah stop it Billy, I can’t take anymore… I’m feeling woozy here!” Stu shouts out, leaning over. 

“Alright, ya know what you get the gun and I’ll untie pops, okay?” Billy commands as he holds the knife to Stu’s chin, “NOW!” 

Stu gives a hushed, “Alright” as he walks over Neil and to the desk where the gun should be. 

“Um, uhm, Heuston we have a problem here,” Stu says as he turns around. 

Now pointing the knife at me Billy asks, “What?” 

“The gun, man! The gun I put it right there and it's not there,” Stu panics in a laugh. 

Walking over to Stu Billy shouts, “Where the fuck is it?!” 

“Right here asshole,” Said none other than Gale Weathers from the kitchen door frame, pointing the gun at Billy. 

Never in my life have I ever thought I’d be happy to see her. 

“I thought she was dead,” Billy said, looking over at Stu and gesturing to Gale with his knife. 

“She looked dead, man,” Stu said in shock before changing to a funny tone and saying, “She still does.”

“I’ve got an ending for you, the reporter left for dead in the news van? Comes to,” She said as she wielded the gun with a shaky hand. 

She kept going but I really wasn’t listening, I was more so worried about my life, Neil’s life, partially her life, and sadly even the boys’ lives. 

Standing up straight I said, “I like that ending,” Getting the attention of Stu who looked a little hurt by my words. 

And just like that my savior becomes my doom when Billy yanks the gun from her hand and kicks her right out the door. Fuck. 

I take this chance to run from the boys, I drag Neil away as well. Taking the phone and voice distorter from his pocket before shoving him and myself in the closet. 

Once in a secure spot I dialed the house number, Billy answered with a “Hello?” 

Holding the voice distorter to my mouth I speak into the phone, “Are you alone in the house?” 

“Bitch, you bitch! Where the fuck are you?!” Billy shouts getting more frustrated by the second. 

“Not so fast, we’re going to play a little game. It’s called-” I removed the distorter, “guess who just called the police and reported your sorry motherfucking ass?!” 

“Find her you dipshit! GET UP!” Billy shouted into the phone again but this time directed at Stu. 

I couldn’t hear much of what Stu said but I definitely did hear, “I think I’m dyin here man,” 

My breath hitched. 

“Hello?” Stu said into the phone 

“Awe Stu, Stu, Stu baby what’s your motive? Billy’s got one, the police are on their way, what are you going to tell them?” I asked, trying not to focus on the feeling of my heartbreaking. 

“Peer pressure, I’m far too sensitive-” Stu was cut off by Billy. 

“I’m gonna rip you up bitch, just like your sister and her whore mother!” Billy shouted into the phone. 

“Better find me first, delusional, traumatized, mama’s boy! At least, before the cops find you,” I’m sure they could both hear me smirking through the phone.

I could hear the boys shouting and crashing things around the house as I just stood here with my heart racing. 

“Hey babe… did you really call the police?” Stu asked into the phone. 

“Oh baby, Stu, you bet your sorry little oblivious lap dog ass I did,” I said trying to stifle a laugh but not let tears fall down my cheeks at the same time. 

It hurt so much, all of it. Knowing they wanted to kill me but in a way still harbored these twisted feelings. 

“My mom and dad are gonna be so mad as me,” Stu whined like a little kid. Okay that’s it I’m just trying not to laugh at this point. 

Billy was frantically searching when he opened the door to my hiding stop. Before he could spot me he was caught off guard by Laurie screaming as Michael slashed down the panels of the closet in Halloween. I took this as my opportunity to strike, literally. I took an umbrella and rammed both it and him into the wall, puncturing his skin. Just one more time, for good measure. He toppled down and I kicked the gun far away feeling triumphant. 

  That was before Stu came barrelling into the room trying to shove me to the ground. This just backfired and I landed on top of him, straddling him down. “Ya know babe, if you weren’t trying to kill me, this would be pretty hot,” I whispered into his ear before punching one of his stab wounds. 

  I shot up and made a break for it before Stu flipped us both over the couch. We landed on the ground, the coffee table sliding after we hit it, pillow feathers everywhere. “I really did have a thing for you, (y/n), I really did!” He shouted in my face as he pinned me down. “After this? Yeah I call-” pausing as I kicked him off of me, “bullshit,” getting up and seeing Stu on the floor. I kicked him one last time in the face knocking his head into the coffee table leaving a big bloody gash in the back of his head. Yeah, no way he’s coming back from that one, I thought. 

  Walking back into the entry room where most of the bodies were I knelt down by Billy noticing the Ghostface mask on the floor. It must’ve fallen out of the closet when I came at Billy. I practically jumped out of my skin when a hand grasped my arm! 

“Sorry, sorry,” Randy said as he rocked back and forth. 

“Oh my god Randy, I thought you were dead!” I shouted out in relief. 

“I probably should be, I never thought I’d be so happy to be a virgin,” Randy exclaimed. 

 I would’ve laughed had he not been punched in the face a second later. 

“You fucker!” Billy shouted as he pulled me up by my shirt collar and slammed me to the ground. 

I wrestled with Billy for a second before he started choking me and said, “Say hello to Sid and her mother!” 

No way I’m going out like this so I stuck my finger deep into the spot where I punctured him with the umbrella. 

Just as Billy lifted his arm in the air to retaliate by stabbing me, someone shot him in the chest! 

Frantically gasping for air I turn over and get up seeing that it was Gale Weathers who shot him. Guess she was my savior afterall. 

“C’mon, get up,” I said as I hoisted Randy up, walking him over to Gale as I took the gun from her. 

“Guess who remembered the safety that time? You bastard,” Gale said referring to what Billy said earlier. 

I kicked Billy under the leg to make sure he was actually dead. 

“Careful, this is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life, for one last scare” Randy warned me as if I didn’t know. 

Billy jolts back up like lightning!

Just like it was second nature I pulled the trigger landing a shot right to his head!

“Not in this movie he doesn’t,” I said as I started walking away. 

Just then a loud crash was heard from the closet and we all screamed! 

“Oh shit, Neil!” I exclaimed as I ran up to him getting randy to help me free him. 

  The after shock of everything that took place happened so fast. The police came and rushed everyone out of the house. Dewey had lived but he might have some serious injuries. Gale, Randy, Neil, and I were all checked out by paramedics. And of course Gale being Gale went on air to talk about what happened. It all felt great, relieved, almost surrealistically amazing to have escaped it all. At least it had until an officer came out of the house to tell me, “We couldn’t find the bodies of the two you reported as the killers…” “What?” Was all I could say as I stared over at my loved ones… trying to comprehend it all once again. Fear and dread washed over me but deep down a small drop of solace started to bloom.

This wasn’t the end of Ghostface. 

Taglist: @katie-tibo @thatoneuchiha @honeybee54321 @lolwey @livingordeadwhoknows @theomegaofvodka

[darkestprompts]

If the heroes found themselves in a library that wasn’t on fire what books would they be reading?

Plague Doctor: Predictably goes for medical textbooks and treatises of natural science, but also picks up manuals from other areas to expand her scientific repertoire. She favors mechanics, after all, what is the body but a complex machine?

Abomination: Avoids anything related to alchemy. Finds a few religious autobiographies and contemplative books, think Teresa D'Ávila's Inner Castle and Augustine's Confessions.

Occultist: Surprisingly doesn't go straight for the sections dealing with magic and occultism (most of the content is superstitious bunk anyway) but meanders through books of astronomy and philosophy. Checks for an assortment of really obscure books in different sections, claiming they will be very useful for... reasons.

Antiquarian: Will sweep the library for rare books. If nothing catches her eye, she will look through catalogues, reference books, geographical accounts and the odd atlas to plan future endeavors.

Highwayman: Searches for poems and discovers there are way more styles of poetry than he expected. Spends some time figuring out what he likes, then sticks to a single author for the most part.

Arbalest: Reads accounts of far off lands with equal measures of wonder and skepticism (she has been misled by them before). Likes making fun of illustrations of animals clearly unknown to the artist ("Hey, Tardif, this one's you after a bender!" "...").

Man-at-Arms: Looks for combat manuals and provides loud, extensive commentary about anything he disagrees with until Paracelsus threatens to poison his dinner if he doesn't shut his piehole.

Crusader: Makes distinctly masochistic choices. First seeks out military history and treatises, as if he could confirm his wartime decisions were normal and necessary, but ends up just giving himself a flashback. Then he finds a book that makes him feel nostalgic or homesick and obsesses over it for the rest of their stay.

Leper: Although he loves his poetry, he has to make concessions on book subject and pick anything with a large enough font for him to read. Or, if someone is so kind as to read to him, he will take that person's taste into account.

Vestal: I know you are expecting me to say "hard porn", but, while she takes a peek at that too, she pretends to consider some religious material, then sneaks around to check every entry on the Index of forbidden books. She was always curious what those were about. Her reactions vary greatly depending on the book.

Musketeer: Finds an illustrated volume about firearms and the development of gunpowder to study possible improvements and adaptations for her musket. Is surprised by the chapter about fireworks. May be tempted to check occult books to see if she can find the Thing she saw.

Jester: Picks up the Book of Bawdy Tales to make people uncomfortable, peruses a few dozen topics at random then settles for scathing political satire.

Hellion: Gets excited and overwhelmed by the amount and variety of books available. Gets help from her companions and ends up looking at a few anthologies of short fantastical tales. Sure, she would enjoy epics and chronicles too, but that's heavy reading and she needs to pick up her pace first.

Bounty Hunter: Beastiaries, goetias, any description of monsters or strange beings. While many are fantastical or inaccurate, he knows the tiniest detail can give you an edge. They can be beaten, he will find out how.

Houndmaster: Doesn't take any chances and goes straight for his favorite plays (they are overdue for a re-read!). Another one that doesn't like to stray far from his favorite authors and genres.

Flagellant: Claims he needs nothing but his Verses. Ends up distracted by the medical diagrams on Para's books.

Grave Robber: Pilfers a book of poisons, then takes her time with the novels. Pilfers her favorite and shares saucy secrets she happens to know about the author.

Shieldbreaker: The very opposite of Reynauld, looks for something light-hearted to ease her mind. Folk stories, happy tales, comedies, farces. If she looks for anything that reminds her of her homeland, it will be something with a positive association.

Runaway: Is intimidated by literature, even more so in a place like this, full of huge books about complex subjects. She wasn't the best reader at St Martha's and her adopted parents were humble folk. She'll do much better by getting a buddy to read together and help her get into it. Good choices are Boudica (also a beginner, enthusiastic and non-judgemental), William (friendly, the plays he favors are a good place to start since they are basically dialogue-only) or Baldwin (has a large repertoire but is more patient than Alhazred or Paracelsus, could use someone to read for him). Or they could all form a book club!

[melishade]

Attack on Prime: Autobot Anthology 'Titans and energon'

Main Story

Ice Skating

Comfort

Matrix of Leadership

This is just Hanji catching Arcee and Wheeljack on the power of the titans. This conversation happens a lot earlier when the two arrive. At least before the Survey Corps go to Hizuru, so around chapter 60ish.

"Okay, the original layout of attacking pure titans used to just be striking the nape of the neck," Hanji explained, drawing a diagram of a titan getting its nape cut on chalkboard they wheeled out in front of Wheeljack and Arcee, "And energon used to be effective in taking out a pure titan and even a titan shifter without touching the nape of the neck."

"What do you mean by used to?" Arcee asked while Wheeljack was taking notes using the data pad.

"Optimus used his blaster against the Female Titan: Annie Leonhart during the battle of Stohess." Hanji crossed their arms, "What we didn't know at the time was that using energon to attack the titan form of a titan shifter would do actual damage to the titan shifter's real body. After that, the former king of the walls had kidnapped Annie, experimenting on her body and finding a way to create an energon serum. Annie escaped our custody, but had energon infused into her body. Now Marley has it, and is using it to enhance their army to counteract Optimus and Megatron."

"So his armor got cut off-!"

"By a human yes." Hanji nodded.

Wheeljack couldn't help but snicker at that before he started cackling. "I love this place!"

"So what's the new power scale now?" Arcee asked.

"Power scale. I like it," Hanji smiled as they turned back to the chalkboard and erased the initial diagram. They started writing another diagram on the chalkboard, the dust of the chalk hitting the grass, "The energon serum enhanced both titan shifters and pure titans. But there are certain methods that can and cannot be effective."

Hanji finished writing the power scale list before pointing to the bottom of the chalkboard. "If the titan or titan shifter has no energon in their system, normal weapons can be used to cut the nape of the neck. And energon can be used to kill the titan entirely."

Hanji pointed above that. "If a pure titan has energon, it has faster regeneration time and manic movements. Normal weapons are useless. Energon allows for instant regeneration. If you can use a normal weapon to cut through the nape of the neck, it might work, but the manic movements of the titan would make it extremely difficult to land a critical hit. At least for humans."

Hanji pointed to the last item. "However, energon can provide the advantage. Energon may not cause decay to titans with energon, but it can help slow down regeneration to the original regeneration speed before energon was introduced."

Hanji set the chalk down. "I wish I could give you more information on the effects of energon on titan shifters, but we only have Eren and Ymir to go off of. Even so, based on reports, each titan shifter is affected differently. But energon in titan shifters does allow for damage to Cybertronian metal if utilized properly."

Hanji walked over to the table full of equipment and picked up an energon spear. "That's why I brought you two here. Energon is not doubt going to continue to stay, and I've been trying to create new energon based weapons to prepare. This is what I have been working on: an energon spear. The weapon itself is extremely powerful; however, there still needs to be a lot of testing. Not to mention the weapon is by default short range. The weapon needs to be launched at a certain range before the hook at the end unclips, releasing the explosive."

Hanji set the spear over their shoulder. "However, due to the manic pure titans, I was hoping to incorporate energon into the 3D gear instead of the iceburst stone. Energon is much more powerful and I think it would be more useful."

Wheeljack handed Arcee the datapad before walking towards the table and leaning down. He placed his servo under his chin to examine the 3D gear.

"Seems doable," Wheeljack proclaimed as he straightened himself out, "We can definitely start some experiments right now."

"So soon?" Arcee couldn't help but ask.

"If the pure titans are super fast and they use the current model they have now, there won't be a Survey Corps," Wheeljack retorted before turning to Hanji, "You have your notes?!"

"Yes!" Hanji shrieked with delight, scrambling to get their notebook from the table. "Let's get started!"

"I'll take that." Arcee was surprised when Wheeljack took the datapad from her.

"I'm...going to leave and avoid the chaos," Arcee decided before walking away, "Don't kill the commander!"

"I'll be fine!" Hanji waved off.

(Next part is going to be Hanji and Wheeljack doing experiments)

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update 8.29.23

I did more than nothing this week, which was something. I guess.

I really do want to get back to work on Ductwork, but it's Renji's birthday this week and I wanted to have something postable. Obviously, it would be fun and cool if I could finish that porno I started, but I was struggling with that, and I wanted to divert my brain a little. I do not remember exactly why or how, but I got it in my head that I wanted to write some Renji & Momo Academy horsing around and I came up with something good for that, and I started it. Sounds great, right? It grew in my head a little, but it still seemed pretty do-able, and in a wild thing that never happens, I had both a good ending in mind and a title, and I was feeling good. I even got a whopping 700 words of it written.

Then I got hit with an incredibly stupid and possibly unpublishable, like, future chapter of this thing, on the presumption that it turned into some sort of long anthology of Renji-Momo-Kira-and-sometimes-Rukia stories, who does want that? Everyone wants that. Everyone except me who has to write it. Well, I do want to write it, but I also want to write the story that I am way way super behind on and planned to spend my fall on. Anyway, having no willpower whatsoever (my general writing rule is that when I want to write something, I let myself write it, because the feeling is fleeting and unobtainable under artificial conditions) and write 2100 words that I honestly do not know what I am supposed to do with, aside from let them sit in my drafts for four years until I dredge them out again. o____o

Also, the porno is up to 2871, an increase of 458 words, wrung out of me one by painful one.

Also, I re-read the one Big Scene I really like in Ductwork and it's so irritating to having something this good and to still need, like 50,000 words to go around it.

In other news, I drew a thing. It's...Renji adjacent, so I'm gonna post it on the 31st, since I probably won't have anything else. It's fine, it can be Renji's birthday until I say it's not. (Oh shit I just remembered I have 80% of a Renji - Orihime fic that I found in my drafts that I was hoping to dust off and finish for the Renji - Orihime Birthday Interregnum. Maybe that's still do-able)

I have definitely gotten into a place with my drawing (and my writing is started to go there too, I am afraid) where trying to do anything seems too big and too hard and not worth starting, but I'm really trying hard to fight back against that. I want to figure out something to do, like redrawing screenshots or something, which will take a lot of the hard "picking a pose" up-front friction out of the activity, because I was really close to not-sucking for a while there, and then I lost all my enthusiasm for it. :(

Anyway, the kids went back to school, so the house is a lot quieter this week. They're really good kids, I don't want anyone to ever think I don't like my kids or something, but I get really exhausted being around other people, and it's like every muscle in my body relaxes if I get the house to myself even for a bit. (Mr. P is still here, but it's better than everyone). It also helps my motivation, because I say to myself, "I've got until 3 to get my own stuff done" and then it's Mom-on-call time again and that's honestly really helpful to my executive function.

Grand total: 3319 words and one drawing, distinctly not bad

PS: Despite it resulting in some productivity, I do not at all like the feeling of being scatterbrained like this, it makes me very overwhelmed and short-tempered. I've also been getting a lot of asks lately and it was making those feelings even worse, so I've closed my ask box until I feel like I've got my brain under control again.

[rallamajoop]

Hi !! I've followed your fics across multiple fandoms, and I've always been really impressed by how quickly and consistently you're able to put out works. How are you able to write seemingly so quickly?! Do you use betas? Do you spend a lot of time planning, or are you more of a chapter by chapter writer? I'm always really fascinated by people's process. Thank you if you answer this, and have a good day!! :D

Well, thank you first of all ‒ it's always such an ego-boost to know anyone's following me across fandoms! But as for 'how I write so fast', I think 'seemingly' may be most of your answer. I do like to have some fic to post every week or so, but my consistency on that comes and goes. I've done okay so far this year, but only if you ignore the part where I posted nothing during the whole month of February, or in the entire last quarter of 2023 ‒ and there was a solid 6 month gap where I posted nothing back in 2022 as well.

Back before I hit my current stride in Witcher fandom a few years back, months or longer between fics was even more the norm for me. Productivity on the fic-writing front comes and goes in bursts for me for all sorts of reasons. But it's not unusual for several bits and pieces I've had not-quite-finished for months to end up getting posted close together though, even after I've been quiet for a while, which might help with the illusion I'm better at keeping up that schedule than is really accurate.

Even when I am actually managing to keep that weekly schedule, a lot of what I post is short (2K or less), and gets lumped together into anthology-fics like Spare Parts, Viscera or The Beast of Castle Heisenberg (and other stories) (which also saves on the minor hassle of thinking up proper titles for them all). Coming up with short concepts like that is something I've always enjoyed doing (going all the way back to my time in xxxHolic fandom over a decade ago). Occasionally, I'll come back later and expand them into something longer (another habit that started way back in Holic fandom, actually), but posting them as shorts means that at least I've posted something, even if the longer version never happens. Whenever a fic works as shorter chapters, I'll post it that way ‒ it's just easier to edit in smaller chunks (and I can't really overstate how big of a motivator positive feedback is for me, if it does go down well with people).

Obviously, not everything I post lends itself to being broken down ‒ smut particularly tends to require much longer scenes, but stories like that have often been in progress for months before they actually get posted. At 15K in a single chapter, Quarantine stands out as the longest thing I've posted in years that I couldn't find any way to break down into shorter pieces ‒ and I'd been working on that one on-and-off since around, oh, August last year? Having multiple different things in progress at once works for me, because if I'm not in the mood to work on one, maybe I'm more in the mood to work on another. I'll often bash out rough drafts of various parts of a few different ideas in one spell if I'm in a good mood to just sit down and write, then come back to finish and polish them later. A lot of my ideas build themselves around dialogue ‒ having a good sense of the characters' voices is really central to how I think about writing for them ‒ so a lot of scenes might start as just dialogue, and then I'll come back and flesh out the rest later.

Planning… really depends on the length of the fic? Sometimes you need to know exactly where a story is going just to figure out how to start it, other times you don't realise half of what's really going on in a scene until you're in the middle of actually writing it down. For example, I currently have about three more (very rough) chapters of Follow Me Home sitting in a word document, which is as much of that story as I had planned out in real detail ‒ the rest consists of scattered scenes I know I'm aiming for later on. But in the process of writing them, I realised more or less exactly what needs to happen in chapter 4, so that's encouraging ‒ we'll see where it goes from there.

For years now, I've done most of my writing on laptops ‒ before that, first drafts were mostly scribbled down by hand in notebooks. I own a desktop computer too, but that gets used for so much else (work, gaming, watching videos, etc etc) that I find it's useful to have a separate platform that's 'for' writing, that's portable, something I can curl up with in a beanbag with, and (crucially) presents less distractions. A notebook or a low-spec laptop (my current one is a tiny tablet computer) is also something I can get out on the bus on the way to work or in a cafe while waiting for a meal. I wouldn't say I do most of my writing out of the home like that, but it's definitely a long-established habit.

It does help that I've been writing long enough to be reasonably confident with the general process of sitting down to make a story happen. I'm reasonably lucky just having the time and energy to dedicate to all this fannish nonsense, and to have an enthusiastic beta-reader/BFF who's always encouraging about my work ‒ she's seriously a huge help (and probably too kind with her critiques, if anything). It has taken many years of doing this to get to the point where I can do something like (for a recent example) realise there's a week or two left before the a challenge deadline and go, "oh, sure, I can bash out a few thousand words worth of smut in that time to fill a treat for that prompt I liked." But as a rule, a posting rate of maybe a couple thousand words a week, not every week, isn't that much of an output (it's probably a lot more if you count all the fannish meta I churn out too, but I mostly don't think about that too much). But writing means a lot to me, even if it's mostly fannish nonsense that makes no money, so it's something I'll make time for.

If I've got any advice that might be useful to someone else, it's to suggest that getting yourself to write something is usually better than sitting on something you're blocked on, even if that does mean perpetually getting distracted by the shiny new idea instead of staying bogged down on the huge WIP you promised yourself you'd finish (and maybe you will come back to that WIP later, fresher for having given your brain a change of scene ‒ or maybe not, that's not the end of the world either). Short fic is fine, more words do not automatically make a story better, and unfinished WIPs are just a fact of fandom (or even original writing). Part of the joy of fanfic is that you can jump straight to the novel bits, trusting your readers already know who these people are and how the base story goes (seriously, the number of fics out there that spend chapter after chapter just retelling canon in prose form boggles my brain).

But like all writing advice, if that doesn't sound like it'd be useful advice to you, it probably isn't ‒ what works for people can be terribly individual. No-one's obligated to aim for a couple of thousand words per week (let alone per day, to hit NaNoWriMo or Stephen King levels of productivity) if they're just writing as a hobby.

And I hope you're having a good day too. *g*

[mischief-and-tea-by-the-sea]

Rating: Mature Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: M/M Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers Relationship: Loki/Tony Stark Characters: Loki (Marvel), Tony Stark, NPCs, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Established Loki/Tony Stark, Post-Break Up, Road Trips, farmers market, Antiquing, Snarking at each other, Mission Fic, Communication, Communication Failure, Flirting, terms of endearment, Loki Needs a Hug (Marvel), Tony Stark is a good boyfriend, Anal Fingering, Kissing, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor Language: English Series: Part 3 of Frost & Forge-Fire: A Year of OTP 2023 Frostiron 12 Month Anthology of a Relationship: March Collections: 2023-Year of the OTP Stats: Published: 2023-05-13 Words: 14,082 Chapters: 1/1 Summary: Stuck on a fact-finding mission for Steve, Tony and Loki take a road trip to Connecticut to pretend to be a couple there for an antique fair and the farmers market. Pretending to be a couple because of a recent falling out that has landed them "on a break," things feel awkward and wistful between them, especially since neither one really wants to be broken up or on a break. Add in car trouble on the way, this means they'll have to stay over night. In the same room. In the same bed. Will this help or hinder their getting back together? And just what IS the mission Steve sent them on anyway? For the Year of the OTP.

March: Fresh Starts, Getting back together, road trip, "make me."

Okay. Yes, I'm behind by a couple of months, but we all know how life happens. Thank you for being patient while I finished March, and now I have April to tackle before I get to may. With other projects and life and still trying to find a place to move to out of state, I might be behind for a bit, so again, I love you all and thank you for sticking with me and this story and these lovely but pain in the ass divas. The things we do for the characters we love!

Also, random, but I'm not sure why I chose to go with poetry at the start of each chapter, but I did.

[dandywonderous]

I’m sick and I’m having a hard time getting myself motivated to do much so while I’m not really being all that productive I wanted to write about an idea for an Azul wump fic (with a side of AzuJami because I’m me) that I don’t think I will actually write out because it feels like it’s... too much? even for me? lol idk how to explain it. But it’s been in my head for like a month and I want to get it out so here it is.

CW for bullying, panic attacks, vomiting

Basically the idea centers around all those photos Azul was trying to get rid of.

They say Azul managed to get rid of all the pictures of himself other than the one hanging in the museum but that seems pretty impossible, given that he lives when the internet and smartphones are a thing (I am assuming the have them underwater somehow, it’s a place where magic is real they’d figure it out). Not only that but I think some of the pictures were probably not destroyed but there was a contract holding whoever had them back from publishing them in any way, and now all Azul’s contracts are gone. 

SO.

I imagine that while Azul recognizes and appreciates the power of social media he also isn’t the kind of person who obsessively checks it; he goes through all his morning classes without really looking at his phone beyond his calendar and a few texts. He has no idea the storm that is coming for him.

Plenty of people see the photo first but it’s Cater who finally approaches him about it at lunch, because Cater and Azul do kind of know each other since he hangs out in the lounge (especially going off his anthology chapters with the octatrio) and I think Cater would want to say something if he saw it. And so Cater comes up to Azul while he’s eating, or maybe working on something, sitting by himself because the twins haven’t made it to the cafeteria for whatever reason.

He asks Azul if he’s looked at magicam this morning at all. Azul says he checked the activity on the Mostro Lounge account early but not since then. Cater is like GREAT GUESS I’M BEARING THE BAD NEWS... 

So he shows Azul his phone, and the photo that is going around on Magicam of him... a picture of Azul’s back from when he was in his last year of elementary school, big and broad, with UGLY written across his shoulder blades in ink.

Azul hears ringing in his ears. He’s breathing too hard. He thought he got rid of that picture. He thought he got rid of it.

Azul tries to get up and ends up falling back onto the ground. Cater is like OH SHIT... he really didn’t expect for this to happen but now Azul is having a full blown panic attack in front of him and he doesn’t know how to handle that.

So he flags down Trey and Riddle, who are nearby. Trey’s in full big brother mode instantly, trying to calm Azul’s breathing and also making plans to get him out of the cafeteria because people are starting to stare and that’s not going to help. Once Azul isn’t hyperventilating anymore and is just dazed and confused he gets Cater to help him support Azul and get him out into the hallway; Riddle is meanwhile directing traffic and getting everyone to go about their business, nothing to see here.

Once they’re in the hallway and Azul is slumped in the floor against the wall Riddle is like CATER WHAT HAPPENED and Cater is like I JUST SHOWED HIM THIS... Trey is like YOU SHOWED HIM THAT WITHOUT WARNING? WELL HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW HE WOULD DO THAT and so on.

Meanwhile Azul is gaining some coherency again, a little confused why he’s in the hallway now and why the Heartslabyul guys are here and also feeling like he really needs to just get somewhere hidden and quiet because his octopus instincts are kicking in. He tries to get up and Trey is back in big bro mode again telling him to stay down because he’s shaking like a leaf.

Azul does not want to be here so he’s like I’m fine, I’m totally fine, I can get back to my dorm on my own. Riddle advises him strongly against that and tells Trey they should take him to the infirmary. Azul insists he’s fine again and gets to his feet, then promptly vomits and blacks out for a second, then Trey is supporting him and saying no you’re definitely going to the infirmary.

Cater is going “I’m so sorry Azul I didn’t know you’d have a panic attack!” Azul insists he didn’t because he doesn’t have panic attacks but they’re dragging him to the infirmary anyway. They get him there and explain what happened and once the nurses have him Trey texts Jade what’s going on.

Jade is off with Floyd, who knows what they were doing but he takes out his phone when he gets a text. Trey sent along an explanation of what happened to Azul as well as a screenshot of the magicam post, and Jade is pissed, because listen he always thought Azul’s attempts to get rid of every old picture of himself were kind of stupid but not when it came to pictures like this, and damn it didn’t he and Floyd threaten the guy who had this one themselves anyway?

He shows it to Floyd. Floyd is like hmm, guess we have someone to murder now. But that will have to wait because they need to figure out what to do about Azul.

So after a moment’s deliberation Jade decides to text Jamil about the situation too. I imagine at this point Azul and Jamil have been dating for awhile but not being very public about it, because Jamil is private and I think Azul would not want too many people to know he has a big hot weakness now. But of course the twins (and Kalim) know; they watched Azul pine after the guy since their freshmen year and it was obvious when the pining became mutual.

So Jade texts Jamil, knowing Azul will probably be mad at him for it later, but if anyone can calm Azul down it’s Jamil.

Jamil is at lunch with Kalim, they’re eating somewhere more quiet so he can spend part of lunch helping him do some final cramming for a test later. Jamil almost doesn’t bother looking at the text when he sees it’s from Jade, until he sees the picture Jade sent him.

Jamil by this point has only learned bits and pieces about why Azul overblotted. He knew about the contracts, of course, and that Leona destroying them is what kicked it off. He also knows that Azul used the contracts to “fix things about himself he wasn’t happy with,” though Azul never elaborated much beyond that. Azul didn’t really Jamil to know about the bullying or that he used to be overweight so he kept that under wraps.

So when Jamil sees the picture he’s a bit stunned, because he pieced together that Azul wasn’t treated very kindly as a kid but he hadn’t been expecting something like this. 

He tells Kalim he has to go, tells him Azul is sick as a cover. He’s not sure what he plans to do exactly, maybe kill the guy who posted this if that’s what Azul wants, but he knows he needs to do something to fix it because he didn’t want to but he cares about Azul now and seeing something like this pisses him off on his behalf. And hearing that Azul is having panic attacks over it has him worried.

MEANWHILE Azul is in the infirmary and really really really does not want to be here. He doesn’t want anyone looking at him or talking about him, he just wants to get somewhere quiet and dark so he can hide until he figures out how he’s going to handle this situation. He would say it’s because it’s affecting his concentration but really his anxiety is just through the roof at this point.

So he comes up with some excuse, saying he really has to go to the restroom or something like that, so he can slip away when the nurse isn’t looking. Then he gets the hell out of there.

Soon after, Jade and Floyd arrive, only to learn that Azul has slipped away and no one knows where he went. He isn’t answering his phone or texts so that’s worthless. Jade calls Jamil to keep him abreast of the situation, and Jamil, who isn’t quite there yet, changes course because he thinks he knows where Azul went.

He books it to Octavinelle, not to Azul’s room or to his office, but to this giant decorative pot that is part of the decorations around Mostro Lounge. He remembers mentioning to Azul once that he used to hide in pots like that to escape his parents and Azul telling him that he used to do the same when he was having a bad day.

Jamil thinks he knows now what Azul really meant by that.

So he comes to the pot and he looks inside and there’s Azul, curled up with his arms over his knees. He’s crying. And when he realizes he’s being watched he flies into a rage, screaming at Jamil to leave him alone and go away.

But Jamil does not do that; instead he climbs up and over the edge and falls into the pot with Azul (the pot is really not big enough for two teenagers but he’s going to make it work damn it!)

So he squishes into the pot with Azul who is still pissed and still crying and he’s yelling about how Jamil must think he’s so ugly and stupid now and Jamil knows words aren’t going to get through to Azul right now but he needs to calm him down. So he catches one of Azul’s flailing hands and just holds onto it.

And it takes a few seconds but that gets Azul’s attention and he stops yelling and stares at their hands for a minute before asking, “Why are you here?”

And Jamil says, “You’re hurting, and I want to help you. Why else would I be here?”

And Azul just. collapses against Jamil and cries his little octobaby heart out, and tells him about what happened in the picture. About how he could feel them writing that word on him in class but if he alerted the teacher it would just get worse. About scrubbing it off afterward before he went home, so his mom wouldn’t see and get upset about it. About how he thought he’d gotten rid of the only copy so seeing it again and knowing others could see it had broken his confidence and sent him right back to that day again.

And in the end when he doesn’t have any more tears and he’s feeling pretty embarrassed about the whole thing Jamil says, “Soooo... want me to find the guy that posted it and kill him?”

And that gets him to laugh, and feel a little better, and he says he can surely find some other way of ruining his life that won’t end in Jamil going to jail, but that can be their plan b. And Jamil is happy that he got Azul to look less miserable, even if he knows he isn’t going to be back to normal Azul for a little while longer.

He also says they need to get out of the pot because his legs are going to sleep, and Azul says, “Yes, this is considerably less comfortable as a human than as an octopus.” and so they get out of the pot and go back to Azul’s room so they can get more comfy on the bed and Azul can just rest because he’s still exhausted from his panic attack earlier as well as all the crying. Jamil holds him and keeps up some light, meaningless conversation until he goes to sleep, so Azul knows he’s still there and he hasn’t chased him away. (Azul saw him at his worst and wasn’t chased away, after all.) And when Azul isn’t quite asleep but is still drowsy enough that Jamil will have plausible deniability, he tells Azul he’s beautiful, no matter what anyone says.

And Jamil knows that he’s still going to be competing against those voices for awhile, the ones that told Azul he was ugly and stupid and broke down his confidence. But he’ll take that as a challenge, and keep being with Azul, until he becomes the number one voice in his head, and the only one Azul needs.

[fortheloveofdeaddove]

TMC rambles

If you're reading TMC and are interested in insights and potential spoilers from the author, I've decided to start doing some character and story analysis on this blog. I'm a pantser who only sparingly uses outlines, so I may talk about something in a post that doesn't actually turn out that way later in the fic. Likewise, I might straight up spoil the fic in these write ups, so proceed with caution.

I received the most amazing feedback on The Magnificent Centuries yesterday, and I will probably be on cloud 9 just from that for the next several years. I can only wish that every fanfic author can experience that. Seriously I squee'd and squealed and laughed and teared up a bit. It helped me move past the little block I had going about TMC too. I'm so grateful <3

I am anxious over some things I forgot to ask the artist to include in the commission. I might end up with a beardless Dis, and Bilbo won't be wearing the ring I wanted him to. But that's entirely my fault, and the fault of my anxiety for not wanting to follow up and inconvenience the artist. Since I didn't point it out in the draft phase, I don't feel right pointing it out afterwards. But I'm so excited nonetheless, and I know in the future I can commission them to update the art if I want to.

I'm introducing Dale and the Bowman family in this next chapter, as well as Thranduil and Gandalf proper. This is honestly where I begin to feel a little squeamish - not about the content itself, but how it will be received. The Hobbit fandom is INCREDIBLY vanilla right now, and there's still a strong undercurrent of purity culture going on.

If you think a smut fic that includes perfect BDSM etiquette isn't purity culture, allow me to disavow you of that notion. It isn't JUST purity wank, btw. It's someone's earnest artistic expression and I don't begrudge it on that point. What it shouldn't be is, like, a boundary. A standard. A 'this-is-the-line-don't-cross-it' kinda thing. This fic doesn't just cross that line, it spits on it, stomps on it, and a few other unspeakable things.

If you thought what happened with Belladonna was the WORST that was going to happen, well.... sorry. Tilda, who is approx 14, will enter an arranged marriage with Fili. In my original imaginings, it's actually not that bad between them. Fili is decent. They develop a respectful friendship where Tilda is allowed to really come into her own as a force in the kingdom. Who is NOT decent by that point in the story is Thorin, and I was directly inspired by Book_of_Kells' work on Ao3 I can't seem to find anymore. It was an anthology, pretty sure, and it was a Dark Fuck King primae noctis situation where by law, Thorin was required to take the virginity of the crown prince's wife. It was dub-con/non-con and sexy as hell. Wish I could directly link it or find it.

That's pretty intense. Then there's the story line I've concocted about Bard and Sigrid, because why wouldn't Bard arrange a marriage for his older daughter? Well, I did say this fic had more incest than anyone asked for. >_>

Let's just say Bain is the only normal one in the family.

I'm kinda struggling with parsing out character traits from the show this is inspired by. I need an Ibrahim-figure, but my personal line in the sand is making anyone from the company evil. That, sir, is offensive. So that means I need an OC (I need a lot of OC's who the fuck am I kidding) and that sure as heck is a daunting thing to consider. In my fanfiction career spanning 20 some years, I don't think I've ever written a solid OC. Maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't feel very confident about that. That's not gonna stop me by any means and anyone reading will have to suffer my mediocre OC's. And that's okay.

I strongly desire to put together a smut fic rec list from The Old Days. I just need the time to dig all these fics up. I am so sad I can't find Books_of_Kells fic. That's okay - it's receiving a little tribute from me regardless!

[readythefanons]

desk dispatch (early May 2023)

writing desk updates from your pal reddy

desk status: under control (patches of the desk's surface are visible, and the stacks do not exceed 3 inches in height = manageable but in the middle of some things)

General notes from April:

I used April's camp NaNo (NaNoWriMo=national novel writing month, which is in November. Camp NaNo is for self-set goals and is held in April and July) to work on an outline! I outlined the Petra/Sylvain fic, and I wrote about 10k >_> the outline is mostly there, but there are a few sections in the middle that could use some more attention

I finally succeeded in winning the "write every day" achievement for (camp) NaNo!!!!!

I posted "Place" in April which is an Adopted!Hilda AU. If you're reading this post, you probably saw at least one of the eleventybillion promos I scheduled for the fic. (five. It was five.) I started that fic in 2020, so it feels great to post it

What's in the can: NOTHING. I have nothing lined up to post. But...

The Leonie fan anthology (AKA Sunflower: A Leonie Fanzine) is shipping/has shipped! I have a fic in that one, and I hope that soonish I'll be able to post that fic to AO3 :) That piece is titled "not a circle, but a spiral"

I am poking the Leonie/Lorenz SciFi AU again. In a fit of productivity, I re-outlined the thing and I hope to poke the draft itself soon.

I wrote and edited 3k of thoughts on pronouns and personhood in the book Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. When I finally hit post on that, you'll see it on my book blog @reddy-reads but I might also bump it over here because why not. embarrassment is for other people. (disclaimer: not every blog on tumblr with "reddy" in the name is connected to me, i promise)

Miscellaneous thoughts: outlining

I might... love... outlining? To be determined. But it felt so good to work on the Petra/Sylvain outline, and it felt good to work on the SciFi AU outline. So IF these fics actually get written, then I might never go back to my no-outline ways.

What I liked about it: it was so satisfying to think about all the parts of the story and how they were supposed to fit together. It was useful to be able to plan out which characters would show up when and where. It was useful (but often felt bad) to realize that certain scene ideas I had weren't working (usually because there wasn't enough concept there). It was SO much easier to go "wait this isn't working" after only writing a few sentences instead of pages and pages. It was much easier to go "oh I need to introduce X earlier" in an outline than after writing (and posting!!!) whole chapters. It feels good to have a plan about where the story goes and how it reaches the ending.

Outlining (it's new to me): My other multichapter fics ("all things considered could be worse" in Netflix!Daredevil fandom, and of course the "Pull It Together" duology) were written without an outline! I knew generally what I wanted to happen and how the ending should feel, but I didn't know how I was going to get from A to Z.

(Actually... those fics BOTH started as oneshot responses to prompts on kinkmemes... and... the Petra/Sylvain fic was inspired by a post on a kinkmeme, and it was originally conceived as a oneshot. So, uh, credit for finally recognizing a pattern!)

Why I'm finally trying outlining: I've become increasingly aware that I have limited time and energy. I wish I didn't. I wish I felt limitless, but the last few year-or-so has just taught me that I only have so much bandwidth. (Which is a good lesson, even/especially if it's not really welcome.) So since I'm admitting that I have limited time and energy, why shouldn't I help myself spend more time doing what I enjoy (writing!) and less time doing what I dislike (not writing because I'm stuck). So that's part of why I have this fresh interest in outlining.

The other thing about outlining is that--well Leonie and Lorenz's stories were fundamentally pretty simple. The Matt & Foggy (Daredevil again) story was even simpler because it was a slice of life. It was hard to get truly lost there. The Petra/Sylvain story needs to fit together a little more precisely, and that means prewriting. AKA writing the whole thing, then editing and posting. I'm not looking forward to giving up my post-as-you-go ways, but maybe I'll end up loving it.

The last part of the "why suddenly outline and prewrite" puzzle is a little... uh... it's a little sensitive. I have ideas about Petra and Brigid that I want to express, but the themes involved (colonialism/imperialism) are delicate. I want to give myself the option of really thinking it through & maybe even getting an extra set of eyes on it before putting it out on the whole internet to see.

So that's why I haven't been posting as much. I'm cooking up something big, I hope people will like it.

Final goodies

Fic rec: Ruu has written a Leonie/Lorenz fic called "Of Conduct, Of Manners." The Jane Austen influence wafts off the page. It updates regularly, and the whole thing is already written :D :D :D

Writing podcasts: I like the writing podcast "Writing Excuses" and "Fiction Writing Made Easy with Savannah Gilbo."

Media podcasts: I still adore "Be the Serpent." It's on hiatus but they have an extensive back catalogue. I got so many great media recommendations from them.

Writing essays: I enjoyed Diane Duane's blog post about her outlining style and approach. I used her "grocery shopping list" and it really helped me build my outline's backbone.

Writing essay 2: A discord pal shared this post with me, which helped me get past an outlining block. The bit about "stop writing scenes you don't want to write" was the magic ingredient for me.

Meal Idea: Vegetarian sushi bowl. Make some rice, season it into sushi rice. Add all the yummy veggies you want. Eat and enjoy. (I made the sushi rice, but then I mixed some riced cauliflower into it for extra bonus veggies. For topping I did avocado w a sprinkle of soy sauce, finely cut carrot, Japanese pickles [cucumber and ginger], and edamame. I also had nori to wrap it as I ate because I loooove seaweed.)

[kelmcdonald]

Getting Shit Done!

Hey hey folks!

November was mostly work focused and December will be too. This month in my discord we’re gonna watch an indie werewolf movie called Wolf of Snow Hollow. I was told it had a dry sense of humor but I haven’t seen it yet. If it interests you, pop into my discord on December 7th at 5pm PST.

Last month I finished Murky Water. It’s all done! I’m getting the whole thing proofread now. Then I’ll repost all the old pages with the typos fixed. There is still a paper shortage so I don’t know if I’m gonna print it right away. Like it would be nice to have a new book for conventions but Cautionary Fables South America will be out next year. So it might be better to hold off with it’s crowdfund until next year.

Another thing I finished is my Failure to Launch comic. Patreon backers have been seeing the pencils posted on Fridays, but I finished coloring and lettering it last weekend. It’s written by Ryan North and will appear in the anthology Failure to Launch: a Tour of Ill-Fated Futures. I’m the editor on the book and it’s gonna be a great book. It’s a light-hearted education collection of inventions and world plans that didn’t get to become reality. Some are because they were based on bad science (like my story is about a man who didn’t account for friction or physics in general) but others fell apart because of corporate greed or government interference. I especially like a story written by Harry “Hbomberguy” Brewis about the first attempt at making a union. That’s gonna crowdfund in February. I’ll make sure to let you all know when it’s up.

While doing all this work I watched a lot of TV. So much it’s a little hard to remember it all. The big stand out is probably Interview with the Vampire. While different from the books, the changes the show made really improved the source material. I especially think the show aging Claudia up a little was a good decision. Her being turned so young in the book and movie does some interesting stuff, it doesn’t quite fit with the series as a whole. Her being older lets her run off of a bit on her own and grow into someone away from Louis and Lestate in a way that she couldn’t in the source material. It makes her interesting and nuanced as a character for the show.

And the actress playing her knocks it out of the park. All the actors in the show do. I also like the reporter being older while interviewing Louis and pushing back on him in the interview more. The whole show is just really well put together. I highly recommend it. 

Since I wrapped up a lot last month, this month I’m jumping back into You are the Chosen One. So that will be back as my patreon exclusive comic next month. I’ll post pfds of the previous chapters before I start things up again. I’m sure some folks have forgotten what’s happened since the couple of month break. 

I’m also getting ready to jump into the next The City Between story. It’s titled Shards of Reflection. I’m gonna try to experiment a little with the storytelling because the main character is an unreliable narrator. It will be interesting to see how things go and I hope I can pull it off. 

And I’m really living up to the cartoon of me spinning plates on the Iron Circus Geekshow. Because this month I also need to try and finish up the graphic novel I’ve been writing, Blue Moon. That’s the werewolf YA book I’m doing with Meredith McClaren. The script is due at the end of December. Or at least the first draft is. But it’s kinda fallen to the side while working on everything else.

I’ll be doing my usual streaming this month on Twitch. With so much going on, sometimes it’s hard to focus. So those two hour streams Tues, Wed, and Thurs really help me get at least my drawing done. One streaming thing that Spike and I are planning is on Christmas day we are gonna stream rimworld. During it we’ll be raising money for charity (but haven’t picked one yet). But it will be on both the Iron Circus Youtube as well as my twitch. We are gonna start at Noon Central and 10am PST. So join us if you don’t have Christmas plans.  Also, since twitter is exploding I figured I should list all my social medias. You can follow me at these places.

https://twitter.com/kellhound

https://facebook.com/kelmcdonaldart

https://instagram.com/keldrawscomicsoninsta…

https://cohost.org/Kelmcdonald

https://pillowfort.social/kelmcdonald

https://mastodon.social/@kelmcdonald

https://kelmcdonald.tumblr.com

https://twitch.tv/kelmcdonald

Have a good one! Thanks for your support!

[daisysprimordialplayground]

I heard yall may want more. I think I can provide them since I was able to with the first and some parts I've been DYING to explain in coming chapters about how they are relevant.

From here on out there are no complete scenes/I started noticing certain problems with certain areas and cool concepts I inlaid that could cause plot holes in the future and in general had a feeling the writing wasn't right in many places. Classic case of the N showing and needing more S development (aka more technical knowledge aka trying to find books to study from that would help).

I am currently reading Joe Abercombie's Shattered Sea series and am definitely going to study it. There are a few others---one being a book and short anthology by Peter S. Beagle, Patrick Rothfuss, Scott Lynch, Mercedes Lackey, and Drew Hayes (all for different reasons). Likely more but I don't want to look any up right now. It may not be noticed by some, but I struggle with a lot of things. I just am willing to do what I need to to improve. I am best with prose, but have learned that it can hamper the overall writing process. If I were going to publish this, it would be much cleaner but since it is Fanfiction I decided it didn't need to be perfect prose and that what I have is already leagues better than most anyway. I am also good at a lot of other things that is harder to pinpoint as a single thing, as it connects to a lot. One is just plain old having a good imagination, I was told in my first version of this story (my first written story that is still up on fanfiction . net ((and I mean first first version that I got to near the end of the 2nd and had the rest of it fully plotted out before realizing i didn't masterfully craft an event and decided to not waste time continuing and to do more to add more to the story. It started with simple things like just increasing the bulk of what happened to that point, but then turned into this mostrosity)) that I didn't write like it was my first time and especially was good with character and dialogue as well. I just have high standards, and do a lot of study and osmosis. There's also the philosophical approaches and psychological insights (but those often need to be reigned in even more than what I did in these chapters). One thing I really struggled with is reconnecting with Krosa. Brynjolf's parts were so easy, but Krosa's has another layer of difficulty on top of her mind working almost opposite of how mind works.

As I'm rereading, I'm getting glimpses to what I thought where. The writing was also too weak in certain areas. I had the overall plan, but not excatly how those places would be reached (I'm a panster and a plotter) and then around the Windhelm ones, I realized I needed to plot that more. I was also doing my best to keep to a schedule so that hampered things as well. I though I could, but it turns out I didn't know as much as I needed to.

[itsatoyboat]

i finished true colors and i’m having a lot of thoughts that i NEED to talk about.

(if this is gonna be long idk, i apologize for your eyeballs)

1. i honestly didn’t like alex at all when i saw the trailer, i was thinking “hmm idk about this one” but as soon as i started to play the game i fell so in love with her, she is so freaking smart and funny, she genuinely cares about the people around her and her story it’s very different from the other characters from LIS anthology. i truly enjoyed seeing alex’s development throughout the game especially her realizing that her powers can actually help the people around her and not harm anyone, the way she controls it after her conversation with gabe was such an awesome upgrade from the alex who was so ashamed of her power to alex superwoman. i liked how the game explored her emotions and her mind about the past, the mine part where alex was struggling to feel everything she felt in those days and then embracing everything was one of my favorite parts. it shows a lot of growth.

2. this game has AMAZING CHARACTERS, every single one of the characters was well written, they had life, they had problems, they had their own emotions with private stuff that was going on in their lives and you could actually talk to them and meet their “layers”. mac for an example was an asshole but i couldn’t pretend i didn’t felt his concern and fear around typhon, the way he was terrified about everyone hating him, he was scared for his life and being very paranoid, i was concerned about him and the game giving you the choice to speak to him or leaving him was a tricking decision cause you could leave him alone suffering or try to help him out, maybe saving his life and this is a lot but he’s alive. the game makes him real and that’s what makes me INSANE about the characters. i know, i’m talking about a game where you’re supposed to feel the characters’ feelings but that could possibly go wrong as well if the characters were shallow and poorly explored and that’s not the case with true colors. they had purpose.

3. alex’s power it’s probably my favorite power. the choices in this game was way harder than the first two games, the craziest thing is you can choose if you want to take someone else’s feeling so they can stop feeling that way, saving them from themselves making alex suffer instead and that's selfish. don’t get me wrong, i’m not calling alex a selfish person but taking someone else’s feeling doesn’t make anything better, you’re taking their right to heal, to be alive and that is so fucking awesome. you have this power to help someone, to “take their pain away” and you will learn that people need to feel what they are supposed to feel so they can move forward cause if we don’t, we are never going to learn. we see that charlotte is pretty angry about gabe’s death, she blames everyone but mostly ethan, she is miserable. alex can choose between taking charlotte’s anger or leave her. if alex takes charlotte’s anger, charlotte is left completely empty, she doesn’t feel anything and when i say anything it’s anything. she is left emotionless and bitter, she doesn’t pass through her way of mourning for gabe and she doesn’t have alex’s back when alex confronts jed. if alex leave charlotte to her anger we have a nice moment between them on the festival, talking about what happened and charlotte gets alex’s back on the black lantern and that’s what i mean from being selfish, if we take someone else’s feelings we are being unfair to them, we are choosing for them and people are supposed to feel, heal in their own time or overcome. by taking charlotte’s anger we deprived her from healing, we are not helping her, we are just making an natural process even more difficult and slower. alex being able to hear what someone is thinking and enter that person’s world from what they are feeling at that moment it’s the best detail for me, everything changes, we get to see the world through that person’s eyes, we can understand them but we decide what to do with that, we can be selfish or actually help. of course, we can take pike’s situation for an example also, if we take his fear we can help him overcome typhon and we get to expose jed but pike’s fear was necessary to take and charlotte was not necessary, pike at least had the pendrive with the recorded calls on it so we had a chance for things to get better.

4. chapter 5 was an amazing ending. finding out the truth about typhon, jed was never a hero, alex confronting her past, the confrontation and seeing who was going to be on your side, alex’s final conversation with gabe and the end, it was better than i thought it could be. i truly loved seeing alex’s past, even with everything that went down she turned to be a good person who wanted to be loved (her passion for music being the thing that helped her connected to me in a lot of levels, that creep cover though i screamed so hard when she started to sing). the mine part was absolutely insane not just alex surviving that fall discovering that gabe was looking for his dad for so long, jed knowing it and all of this time his dad actually died because of jed, alex finding the truth by taking her mom’s necklace back from what was left of that accident it’s so heartbreaking, the confrontation was crazy, i thought no one was going to believe alex because jed was so loved by everyone there it would be so easy to doubt alex and just be on jed’s side which was what ryan did but it’s understandable, jed was his dad, his hero. alex’s speech on jed exposing him after everything was one of the best monologues on that game and man this game had AMAZING dialogues and monologues, everything felt so real and beautiful, the best part of it it’s to forgive jed that’s where alex break him, he regrets everything even more cause when we find out the truth. we find out why jed never enjoyed talking about being the hero of haven springs. at the end jed wasn’t entirely a bad person cause when we forgive him he gives back alex her dad’s jacket talking about how he wanted to give it to gabe but couldn’t, that’s something that made me love even more the characters even jed that was the “villain”, which i don’t think he is. what he did was terrible and he knew that, he tried to pretend nothing happened when alex started to talk but at the end he broke, that always haunted him and that’s the difference between him and jefferson who was actually the villain in life is strange he wasn’t forced to do those things, he killed rachel, he killed chloe, he manipulated nathan, he was going to kill max and if max didn't stopped him on the arcadia bay ending he would kill even more students at blackwell.

5. alex and steph relationship was the purest thing on this game, it was smooth, it was organic, it wasn’t something out of the blue, steph liked alex since the beginning. the plan to pick someone to flirt with diane and get her pendrive i chose ryan and afterwards steph started to feel something, she was so upset that alex used to think ryan was “hotter than her” (i only chose ryan cause i didn’t want to see steph flirting with diane but i saw the scene where we pick steph and omg i should’ve chosen steph cause that scene it’s hilarious), steph was happier around alex, every time she had an opportunity to flirt with alex she took it. seeing their love grow through the chapters was beautiful, i know we can choose ryan over steph but i don’t believe ryan liked alex the way steph did, you can literally see that no matter what alex did steph was going to support her and look at her with so much love and respect and that’s why i think alex and steph’s relationship it’s so pure and right. also they looked so good playing together it’s so cute that they have the same passion for music and THAT LARP SCENE FOR GOD’S SAKE MY HEART MELTED!

6. this part is exclusively to talk about LARP and the fight scenes, it reminded me so much of final fantasy it was so COOL, well thought and so fun. it was awesome to see everyone taking care of ethan and doing their best to make him happy.

7. talking about ethan, this game opened a conversation in my head about charlotte and ethan, i started to think a lot about what charlotte said about ethan how she felt happier when gabe was around and now she was stuck with only ethan again, it made me think that maybe charlotte didn’t want to have a child or if she didn’t had ethan she could have gabe again. that could open a conversation about women who didn’t want to become a mom but it doesn’t mean that charlotte would hurt ethan which makes total sense to decide to leave her alone and not take her anger, she would never hurt ethan. it was again another tricking decision cause we get concerned about ethan when charlotte starts to talk but we know deep down she cares so much about her son, she does everything for him.

life is strange true colors became my favorite life is strange, the story it’s different and great, it’s literally finding the truth about everything, when we understand people’s feelings we discover the truth about them and situations, we understand everything. this game actually made me cry harder and think so much even more than the first one and boy i love the first one so badly. it talks a lot about empathy and how we react to people’s emotions, your choices in this game are way harder than messing with time or moving things with your mind, it’s choices about things that could happen in real life eventually and that is what makes this game so important to me, it’s real.

and also it's the first life is strange to have happy endings like.. ok big steps for my non depression finally

[melishade]

Attack on Prime Halloween Anthology: The Krasue

Main story

El Silbón

“I understand you all are quite intrigued with the stories I am telling you,” Optimus addressed the group around the bonfire, “But your outburst has caused noise complaints from both Marleyans and Islanders.”

“Fears and questions need to be addressed,” Hanji retorted.

“And it’s not our fault all these stories are scary,” Sasha mumbled.

“You are more than welcome to leave,” Optimus reminded in irritation, “I have given that option, multiple times. If this behavior continues to persist, I am ending this. Do you understand?”

The Scouts quietly mumbled ‘yes’ in response to the Prime, uncomfortable with the fact that Optimus was not happy with them. Optimus quietly huffed in response. It was like addressing a bunch of newsparks. Optimus then straightened his back once more and stared at the fire. “A long time ago, two countries were are was with each other. In order to end this war, the princess called ‘Tarawatee’ was to be wed to a powerful nobleman from the opposing country. However, the princess was in love with someone else. The nobleman had caught the princess with her lover, and ordered the princess to be executed by burning.

The princess had sought the guidance of a sorceress in order to protect herself from the flames. The sorceress had given her a potion to drink, to protect her body from the damage, and had told her to drink it before that time came. The princess drank the potion before being tied to the stake. She did not struggle, confident that the potion would work. However, the potion needed more time to take full effect. As a result, her body did burn, and her head and intestines were the only organs left intact. Because of this, she was forever cursed to be The Krasue. 

Created to have an insatiable hunger, she flies around at night, searching for raw flesh such as cattle and chicken. However, her favorite meal is the placenta. She searches for homes with pregnant women in labor, and use her long tongue to feast on the life in the womb. You can protect your homes with spiked fences and thorn branches, as the Krasue is afraid she might get stuck. But she has been known to find other means of entering. So beware the hunger of the Krasue.”

Jean tried to stop his gag reflex, but quickly covered his mouth to prevent himself from vomiting. 

“That’s so fucking disgusting,” Connie moaned.

“Why is it the women that are targeted in these stories?” Mikasa asked Optimus.

“That’s your biggest take away?!” Eren demanded.

“The stories that Optimus has told us so far involve women in some form of romantic relationship,” Mikasa explained.

“That’s a fair point,” Hanji agreed, “What’s with the bias against women? Hm? Are we just doomed to fail and not get anything in life?”

“The stories I have told you all are just the more popular ones,” Optimus explained, “There are more stories for me to tell.”

“This is getting quite graphic for you Prime,” Levi remarked, “I’m surprised that you’d be willing to know shit like this. Let alone tell it.”

“I am mostly able to detach myself from these stories because they don’t hold much merit in reality,” Optimus explained, “I have faced far more real and dangerous threats in my life.”

The air around them all got a little tense. Not because of the story that was told, but because of the implication to Optimus’ words. Optimus doesn’t talk much about what happened during the war, but they couldn’t help but wonder: what happened?

(Actually writing these Halloween stories is giving me the energy and motivation to write ‘Moving Forward’. Although that chapter is no doubt going to be long as shit.)