#hes just too fucking fascinating to me…..

[vegaseatsass]

Revenged Love Episode 6

Truly obsessed with how when Chi Cheng and Guo Chengyu notice they're being scammed or manipulated it just makes them want Wu Suowei and Jiang Xiaoshuai more.

Like Chi Cheng is starting to hit his horny limit, and it's very funny that he antagonizes Wu Suowei and then pikachu surprise faces every time Suowei consequently distrusts him way too much to surrender. They really have the weirdest battle of the wills going where because Chi Cheng cannot let himself fully give in to how much he craves Suowei, his deliberately fuckboyish behavior is making it impossible for Suowei to let down his guard for him either. NONETHELESS, at the base of things is still Chi Cheng's appreciation for Suowei as the best scammer he's ever met who mutters in his sleep about how he's getting too good at pretending. It's this unhinged thing where Chi Cheng can't let down his guard because of his own Wang Shuo baggage, not because of Suowei's obvious agenda - in fact, Suowei having an obvious agenda is both part of the attraction for Mr. Snake Appreciator, and a justification for Chi Cheng to continue treating him in his usual dehumanizing entitled sex pest way, "your ass is practically in the air for me", instead of really letting himself be vulnerable. Meanwhile, the glimpses of vulnerability, tenderness, real care he shows are both what Suowei is looking to "exploit" for his revenge, but paradoxically they're also the main things actually hooking him and making him want Chi Cheng in earnest, despite his own plans. Anytime Chi Cheng decides to try to force a reaction out of Suowei, whether that's by oversharing about all the girlfriend sex he's swears he's totally having, or by shoving him up against various surfaces, Chi Cheng absolutely gets the instant gratification legible reaction he wants, but he also shuts down the burgeoning genuine interest Suowei starts feeling for him when he behaves like a human being. But! That interest is notttt something Suowei is remotely comfortable with either, so it also makes him pull away if he notices it in himself, which means Chi Cheng can't just act like a gentleman or patiently wait for Suowei if he wants him to thaw, he can only get unmistakable confirmation that Suowei feels ANYTHING for him by forcing situations where Suowei has to give him a momentarily honest reaction. That lose/lose nature of the approach only deepens his simultaneous frustration AND interest in Suowei as an inscrutable snakey puzzle... and keeps him from the character growth Suowei would need to want to not keep exploiting him back... Just such a crazyyyyyy dynamic I swear.

AND THEN Guo Chengyu, the reason I actually made this post!!!, getting more excited and into the game in episode 6 when he confirms that yes, the only reason he is making any progress with Jiang Xiaoshuai is because Xiaoshuai wants information on Chi Cheng for his emotional support revenge scheme. That's terrific, so hot and sexy of Xiaoshuai, and so totally in Guo Chengyu's wheelhouse as something he can use. He's 100% acclimated from his break with Chi Cheng in the past to approaching human relationships as a four dimensional chess game that he can never win, but the playing of it is itself the most emotionally fulfilling thing he can get out of life. Following Chi Cheng around all these years has just honed him into someone who can not just stick with Jiang Xiaoshuai's rejections but enjoy every minute of them, want him more every time he puts another obstacle up or lets Guo Chengyu in for duplicitous rather than sincere reasons. It's fascinating to me that Chengyu chose to fuck Chi Cheng's boyfriend (I would speculate for Chi Cheng-obsessed reasons), and instead of accepting that things would never be okay between them again, simply completely remade himself in Grimdark Chi Cheng's image, following him around embracing their new dynamic wholeheartedly. They're both so warped by this choice Chengyu made, and Chi Cheng is very obviously fucked up by it, but Chengyu is in perpetual "this is fine" mode over it despite definitely having become just as much of a completely different person than he was before to match his worstie.

Anyway I meant to make this a short little post but I got carried away, but the main point I wanted to articulate is that all four characters don't believe that people can be good or that relationships can be sincere or easy, and all four of them are approaching each other within that paradigm. But the difference between the two friend/frenemy duos, and the thing I am obsessed with, is how much Chengyu and Chi Cheng have turned themselves into people who enjoy the insincerity and fuckery. Suowei and Xiaoshuai actively pursue ingenuine relationships, they make their own beds and lie in it, to protect their own hearts, but they also pretty clearly just want someone to treat them right beneath it all. Chengyu and Chi Cheng probably want that deep deep deep deep DEEP down, but it is buried beneath so many layers of turning mind games and manipulation and exploitation and lies into a kink. Tl;dr we just have all the ingredients for the world's largest and most perfect four-way trainwreck <3

[steamtrain52]

No Ordinary Boy - Chapter Twenty

Hey guys!

This next chapter will take place in between Seasons Two and Three, as it always really irked me that they jumped a solid five months ahead. At least, I think it was five months. I'm not quite sure.

Anyway, read on, and welcome back!

  As Jessica began to drive away from the school, she decided to call Taissa Turner. The would-be Senator would most likely want to know about the progress she had made.

  “Yes?” Taissa’s voice sounded over the phone.

  “I’ve interviewed all the people you asked me too. They don’t seem like blackmailers to me.”

  She waited, but there was no reply.

  “Should I… try interviewing the other survivors?”

  “Fuck.” Taissa’s voice was quiet. “Okay, fine, do it. Offer money, book deals… whatever you think is best.”

  “Alright. How many of you are left?”

  “I’m not sure. I haven’t talked to some of them in so long… maybe try Misty first? I think she’s closest to you.”

  “Okay”, Jessica said. She should leave it there, she knew that. But something about the way Principal Vance had acted… she couldn’t help it; he’d piqued her curiosity.

  “What about Tommy Scott?”

  There was a pause, and what sounded like a glass breaking.

  “FUCK!” Taissa sounded out. She didn’t sound so quiet now.

  When she spoke, there was an underlying tone in her voice that took Jessica by surprise.

  “Do not contact Tommy. I don’t care what else you do, but you do not go anywhere near Tommy Scott. It might end up being the last thing you ever do.”

  Jessica blinked. “Jesus. Okay, fine, but… why? Is… is he dangerous?”

  “Just. Don’t. Contact. Him. And for that matter, don’t contact Natalie either.”

  Now Jessica’s curiosity was boiling over into full-blown fascination. Who the hell was this guy?

  When she arrived at the place she was staying at, she reviewed the information she already had.

  On just about every testimony, every interview, at least one of the Yellowjackets was crediting Scott with their survival, stating that they would not have made it through their time in the Canadian wilderness without him.

  Especially Natalie Scatorccio… she seemed entirely besotted with Scott. Jessica remembered Vance’s words about how they had been dating at the time. Had they remained together, afterwards?

  Rather than heading over to Misty Quigley’s place, Jessica decided she would spend the rest of the afternoon trying to find everything she could on Scott.

  Heading over to LinkedIn, she searched the name ‘Thomas Scott’ into the database. To her frustration, there were quite a few Thomas Scotts in there, but eventually she came across a profile where the man depicted matched the photos of the Thomas Scott she was searching for.

  Doesn’t look very threatening, Jessica thought to herself.

  Then she looked at his profile, at what he had done since the rescue, and felt her eyes widen as she gaped in shock.

  No WONDER they don’t want me talking to him. 

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy stretched and yawned as Natalie stirred in his arms.

  Ow, he thought as he cracked his neck. Sleeping in the sitting position was never a comfortable experience.

  “Hey”, he whispered to her.

  “Hey yourself”, Natalie mumbled.

  Slowly, the two of them rose up and started to move out of the plane, when Tommy saw something on one of the seats.

  Oh, my God. 

  Jackie’s winter coat was still bound up with rope, but Tommy still felt sick at what he knew lay beneath the wrappings.

  Quickly, he leaned down and picked up the heartbreakingly small package, storing it into one of the overhead compartments.

  “I honestly completely forgot we put her here”, Natalie said quietly.

  “Yeah, me too”, he replied.

  Stepping outside, they gazed out around them. The day was bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky. It was hard to believe it had only been a single night since Tommy had seen the Yellowjackets chasing Natalie across the ice, before he…

  He couldn’t even finish his thoughts, but he knew what had to happen next, as he heard a pair of boots crunch in the snow behind him.

�� “Tommy? What do we do now?”

  Turning around, Tommy gazed at Javi.

  “We have to get back to the cabin, see what we can salvage. The fire should have died down by now.”

  000000000000000000000000

  As the cabin came into view, Natalie struggled to keep her emotions in check.

  There were a few smouldering flames, but overall, the fire seemed to have burned itself out.

  That was the only good news. The cabin was utterly destroyed. The roof was gone, the walls were wrecked… there was no chance of this place being a shelter for them again.

  What on earth could they do? Despite Lottie’s words, Natalie knew there was no telling when winter would end for them.

  What if another snowstorm sprang up? They would all freeze to death. Maybe they could seek shelter where Coach Scott had gone?

  Coach Scott just tried to burn us all alive. I somehow doubt he would be quite so accommodating.

  After dousing the few remaining flames with snow, their group slowly moved through the cabin, picking through anything they could use.

  The ammunition left behind had all exploded in the fire, it seemed. There was nothing but shell casings left. Luckily, not all of the pots and bowls were damaged. Nor the cutlery. Natalie was looking through one of the lanterns to see if it could still work when she heard someone speak.

  “Hey, guys? Come check this out.”

  Natalie turned to see Misty… pulling up a floorboard?

  “What are you doing?”

  “This floorboard is loose. So are the two on either side of it. But the rest are nailed together. Either it’s a design flaw, or…”

  Or there’s something underneath. 

  They pulled up the floorboards, only to see nothing but dirt beneath. Immediately, they started to dig, until Natalie felt her fingers scraping something solid.

  It took a few minutes, but eventually they pulled what looked like an old, large suitcase from the ground. There was no name on it, no identifying marks, but Natalie knew it had to have belonged to the cabin’s previous owner.

  “The guy who lived here must had stored this for emergencies”, Van said.

  As they opened up the suitcase, Natalie looked inside… and was disappointed by what she saw. A flashlight that turned out to not work anymore. Cash, which was utterly useless out here. Several sets of underwear, which Natalie could only hope had been clean when it was stored.

  Gross. 

  Then as they pulled more similarly useless items from the suitcase, Natalie saw something else. A book.

  Then Natalie read the title, and saw the pictures of man-made tents on the cover.

  Art and Architecture of the Ancient World.

  “Holy shit”, she whispered, as she showed the book to Tommy, smiling at she saw the incredulous look on his face.

  000000000000000000000000

  This is it. This is how we survive.

  Tommy opened the book up. It was even better than he could have hoped for. There were actual, honest-to-God instructions on how to build long-term shelters from forest materials.

  “I think our luck has just turned around”, he grinned, showing the book to the group.

  The mood for the rest of the day was definitely a good one, as they began gathering branches from nearby trees using the hatchets that had been salvaged.

  Though he didn’t want to give himself false hope, Tommy was sensing the tension of the previous twenty-four hours beginning to melt away.

  If only the snow would melt with it, he thought.

  Fortunately, the meat shed had been untouched by the fire, and after a short discussion amongst themselves, they brought out what remained of Mari and cooked it, eating the last of the meat from her bones then and there.

  Looking around, Tommy could see the expressions on everyone’s faces. Their act of cannibalism was certainly not one to celebrate, but everyone certainly seemed more… relaxed? Was that the right word? Tommy wasn’t sure.

  Regardless, they had what they needed to build new shelters. The trick would be finding the right place for it.

  The map they had taken so long to properly put together was little more than a pile of ash, but there were a few pieces of paper that had survived the blaze. As Tommy shifted them over in his hands, he heard Natalie draw up beside him.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to see where we can set up the shelters. We’ll need a spot that’s wide open, but close to water. Any ideas?”

  Natalie bit her lip. “You remember the space that’s close to the crash site? I think the stream’s not far away from it either.”

  “Sounds good. Let’s check it out.”

  000000000000000000000000

  The moment they drew up to the clearing, Natalie knew it would be perfect. There was enough space for all of them, and the stream was barely ten minutes’ walk away.

  The main problem, of course, was the fact that none of them had any idea when winter would end.

  Using the instructions from the book, they slowly began to construct the first shelter. It took hours, but eventually, as night fell and they travelled back to the plane for some sleep, Natalie felt as though, just this once, things were starting to go their way.

  The next day, she and Tommy set out early on a hunt, while the others travelled back to the clearing. Tommy had carefully counted the remaining rounds yesterday.

  “Only three hundred and thirty-seven left”, he said to Natalie as they walked through the woods. “If you get an animal in your sights… make sure there’s no chance of you missing.”

  “Got it”, she whispered.

  Neither of them expected to catch anything, after the dry streak they had had recently, so it was to their immense surprise when a full-grown doe crossed their path. After shooting it, the two of them sat down to wait the customary half-hour, before checking the deer was dead.

  Something had been bugging Natalie for the last two days, and now that they were alone, she finally had a chance to address it.

  “Was it really true, what you said the other night? Was… was something really telling you to get back to the cabin?”

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy hesitated. “Something just felt… wrong. I can’t really explain it. It’s… hard to put into words, but… yeah. I felt like something was telling me to head back, so I started running towards the cabin, away from Ben.”

  He cleared his throat. “To be clear, I still don’t believe in Lottie’s bullshit, but… yeah. It was definitely… yeah. There was something there.”

  “Dang”, Natalie said, and to Tommy’s surprise, he saw she was grinning.

  “Were you really running? It must have felt serious.”

  “Okay, yeah, very funny”, Tommy snipped, but Natalie’s giggle was already making him smile.

  “It’s good to hear you laugh again”, he said to her. “I… I missed you, you know? I know that doesn’t make any sense, we’ve been together every day here, but-”

  “No. No, I get it.”

  Natalie scooted closer to him. “I missed you too. I miss… I miss how things were before all this. I wish… I wish…”

  I wish we could go home.

  “I understand”, Tommy murmured, drawing Natalie into his arms. She stank a little bit, and felt hot and cold at the same time, somehow, but he tightened his grip on the girl he loved, burying his face in her neck.

  “I love you”, he murmured.

  “I love you too”, Natalie whispered back, as she craned her neck to place her soft, warm lips on his.

  000000000000000000000000

  Though Natalie had hoped beyond hope that winter would end soon, it still came as a shock when, almost two weeks after the cabin burned down, she and Tommy set out on another hunt, only to see grass poking through the snow.

  “This doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet”, Tommy warned. “We’re in the ‘false spring’ stage of the seasons now. A snowstorm could still happen any day.”

  Natalie nodded, but couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. As they continued to travel through the woods, she was delighted to see some edible plants beginning to rebloom, and they quickly dug them up to bring them back to the clearing.

  Thanks to the book, the shelters were beginning to take on a more proper shape now. They had decided to construct eight overall, pairing everyone off amongst the sixteen of them. Natalie had paired off with Tommy, of course, and was becoming more and more proud of their work each day. It felt like they were building their own little house. One where they could shut themselves off from everyone else and enjoy their time together in peace.

  Everyone was still sleeping in the plane, as it was too cold to stay in the incomplete shelters just yet, but Natalie knew, with the worst of winter behind them, it would only be a matter of time.

  Tommy was still worried about snowstorms, of course, and Natalie knew he was right to feel that way, but as the days slowly passed them by, and turned into weeks… no storm sprang up to freeze them to death.

  The area around them was growing more and more green with every passing day, and the game was starting to return. The birds, the rodents… and of course, the deer. It seemed that almost every day now, Tommy and Natalie were bringing back food for the group, and everyone went to sleep with full bellies for multiple consecutive days.

  Tommy warned them to not take their good fortune for granted, and Natalie tried valiantly to bury the growing hope within herself, but she could see it. They all could see it.

  Winter was behind them. They had made it through.

  Finally, the day came where it was determined to be warm enough for everyone to officially move into their completed shelters.

  After they finished their celebratory dinner (comprised of deer, beaver, muskrat, and a healthy number of cattails) Natalie shut the shelter’s door behind her and Tommy, and turned around to face him.

  Barely a minute later, the two of them were naked, rolling around on the bed of furs they had constructed together. As Natalie viciously bounced up and down on top of Tommy, trying and failing to keep her moans under control, she leaned down to kiss his stubbled face, pouring all her love and passion into the boy she loved.

  As they finished, Natalie collapsed on top of Tommy, kissing him all the while as he kissed her back.

  “We made it, my darling”, she said to him. “We made it through winter together, like you said we would.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without you”, Tommy replied. “None of us could have done it without you.”

  Natalie felt the tears come to her eyes as she kissed him again.

  She didn’t want anyone else. She refused to even consider falling in love with anyone but Tommy. When she looked at him, she saw everything she never thought she could have, lying within her grasp.

  Even if they never made it home… at least she would know what love, true love, felt like.

  000000000000000000000000

  As time passed, Tommy found himself wondering what had become of Ben. Was his brother even still alive?

  Ben knew everything Tommy knew about survival, but out there on his own, and with only one leg… Tommy tried not to let it show, but every time he and Natalie set out, he was secretly terrified of coming across his brother’s emaciated corpse.

  Of course, Tommy knew where Ben was staying. But Natalie was the only one who knew that he knew, and she hadn’t asked him where the location of the cave was. Tommy appreciated her for that, but the others had been a little harder to convince.

  The first day after the clearing had been discovered, Taissa had approached Tommy when he and Natalie dragged the dead doe back towards the group.

  “Look, I know… I know the last few days have been… crazy, but… do you know where Coa- where your brother might have gone?”

  “No”, Tommy lied. “We still hadn’t found where Javi was staying when I left him to… head back.”

  Taissa shifted uncomfortably, and Tommy made sure to keep his gaze on her.

  “I know what you’re thinking”, he said. “But I do not believe Ben burned the cabin down-”

  “The doors were jammed”, Taissa said, and Tommy got the feeling that, despite her speaking calmly, Taissa Turner was one wrong word away from exploding. “Can you explain that?”

  “No, I can’t, and I don’t care to try. But why on earth would he burn down the cabin with me inside? Would you burn your own brother alive?”

  “I’m an only child.”

  “Then I would not expect you to understand”, Tommy said shortly, dragging the deer past Taissa. “Ben didn’t burn down the cabin. End of discussion.”

  “But- no, wait-”

  “He said that’s the end of, it, Tai”, Natalie snapped. “Leave it alone.”

  Taissa did not push the matter with Tommy, but he saw her talking to Javi later that day. Fortunately, Javi did not answer any of Taissa’s questions about where he had stayed, and as Tommy saw Taissa stomp off in frustration, Javi gave him a nod.

  Tommy was surprised, but nodded back. He had not expected to find an ally in Javi, but the young boy at least seemed to understand the bond between brothers.

  With that in mind, Tommy did his best to try and help Travis through his grief as time passed, but the older Martinez brother seemed to have entered the same catatonic state as when he believed Javi to be dead.

  Of course, there was no mistaking the fact that this time, the person Travis grieved was well and truly gone, and despite the circumstances that had led to it, Tommy felt an immeasurable wave of guilt whenever he saw Travis shuffling around the camp.

  He himself had changed as well, of course. He couldn’t gut an animal without being reminded of sliding the knife between Jackie’s ribs, nor pull the trigger on the rifle without being reminded of the moment Mari had crumpled and fallen forward on to the ice, like a puppet with its strings cut.

  It didn’t take long for the nightmares to come, in the aftermath of that terrible day. Not long at all.

  000000000000000000000000

  As time passed, Natalie became more and more worried about Tommy. While some of their nights together would pass by peacefully, every so often, Natalie would be woken by Tommy thrashing around in his sleep, covered in sweat and shaking like a leaf, as she struggled to comfort him.

  One night was particularly bad, as Natalie woke to hear him scream right in her ear.

  “Tommy! Tommy, it’s okay, you’re okay-”

  “I missed”, Tommy said, tears running down his cheeks. “I saw them chasing you, and I kept firing, and I k-kept missing, and they caught up to you, and-”

  He dissolved into sobs, as Natalie rained kisses down on him, struggling to keep her own tears back.

  “It’s okay,” she soothed him. “I’m okay. I’m okay because you saved my life. You’ve saved it every day we’ve been together. Every single one.”

  Tommy’s breathing started to grow more even, as Natalie held him close to her.

  “Go back to sleep”, she whispered. “I’ll be here when you wake up. I will always be here when you wake up.”

  She saw Tommy hesitate.

  “Sleep, my love”, Natalie whispered, and waited until she heard Tommy’s breathing even out completely, and she knew he had drifted off.

  She didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t a psychiatrist. She didn’t know the proper techniques for guiding someone through a traumatic event. How could she help him get past this?

  In the end, a potential solution would come from the last person Natalie expected, as she was surprised to be approached by Lottie, of all people.

  “I know we’ve had our differences”, Lottie said to her. “But… I want to help. Tommy needs to lead us. He can’t do that if he can’t sleep. I can… I can teach him to meditate, if you think it would help him.”

  Natalie hesitated. She didn’t trust Lottie. Despite her apparent surrender, Natalie still felt her skin crawl whenever Lottie was in her sight. But she wanted Tommy to get better, and Natalie decided to roll the dice.

  “Alright,” she said. “But I’m doing it with him.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Naturally, Tommy was sceptical at best when Natalie proposed meditating with Lottie, but he figured he had nothing to lose.

  At least Natalie would be doing it with him. Tommy desperately wanted their nights together to be a time of peace once again, not a time of him flailing around and accidentally hitting Natalie. That hadn’t actually happened yet, but Tommy figured it was only a matter of time, and if he did hit her… he knew he would never forgive himself.

  They were now approaching two months since the cabin had burned down, and as two became three, Tommy was surprised to find the sessions were actually working, as slowly but surely, he and Natalie began to enjoy sleeping together in peace again.

  Tommy had never meditated before, but he was surprised to realise how much he enjoyed it. It was just so… calming, and it showed in his demeanour.

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie was thrilled at the changes she saw in Tommy. As they passed through the third month since the cabin burned, the nightmares Tommy suffered through appeared to dissipate, to her relief.

  Of course, Natalie had suffered through more than a few nightmares herself in the aftermath of her own teammates chasing her, but once she woke, all she had to do was burrow herself back in Tommy’s arms, and she would always sink back into slumber soon enough.

  In the back of her mind, Natalie was very much aware of how dependent they were becoming on each other, but she was just so relieved at Tommy trying to move on from the death of Mari, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

  She never thought she would have Lottie Matthews to thank for bringing her boyfriend back to her, but life was full of surprises out in the wilderness, Natalie had learned.

  As the temperature warmed, the water in the stream nearby warmed with it, leaving the two of them to bathe together. It became quite common between them for Natalie to lie in Tommy’s arms in one of the deeper parts of the river, moaning and grunting softly as he ran his hands through her hair, when he wasn’t carefully cleaning every inch of her naked body with the utmost precision, which would in turn lead to some extremely passionate lovemaking, either in the water or on the shore.

  In regard to food, things had never been better. Besides the generous amounts of game she and Tommy were bringing back every other day, they had started to grow a vegetable garden, and Akilah was beginning to raise a number of rabbits and ducks in the new animal pen they had constructed, using the invaluable book they had found as a guide.

  Overall, it seemed as though things were starting to settle down for them… though there was one problem yet to be solved, in the form of the new addition to their group.

  It had started small. One night, during their first week sleeping in their new shelters, Jeremy had been unable to stop crying, keeping Shauna up until morning.

  Tommy had entered Shauna’s tent in the morning to find Shauna passed out from exhaustion, with Jeremy wailing in her arms. Being the insightful person he was, Tommy had gently taken Jeremy from Shauna to look after, just until she woke. Jeremy had seemed happy enough with Tommy, so nobody paid it any mind.

  Nobody except Shauna, that is, who came bounding out of her shelter like an enraged mother bear and snatched Jeremy out of Tommy’s arms. Jeremy had instantly begun shrieking again, much to the frustration of everyone else, and Shauna had stomped back into her shelter, ignoring them all.

  Another time, they had all been sitting around a fire, eating their dinner, when Jeremy had begun to fuss. Shauna had opened her shirt to nurse him, but it wasn’t long before Jeremy started crying again, wriggling in her arms.

  Then the infant caught sight of Tommy… and to the incredulous surprise of everyone there, held out his tiny arms towards Natalie’s boyfriend. Shauna had looked horror-stricken, but Jeremy would not stop whining and fussing until Shauna reluctantly handed him over to Tommy.

  Once he was in Tommy’s arms, Jeremy had acted calmly for the rest of the night, before snuggling himself into Tommy’s shoulder and falling asleep. It was, without a doubt, the most adorable thing Natalie had ever seen, and she couldn’t help cooing at the sight of them together. Akilah had a theory that Tommy had imprinted on Jeremy somehow during the birth, like birds and dogs did with their young.

  “He probably thinks Tommy is his dad”, Akilah said to Shauna. Natalie was sure she meant it kindly, but Shauna looked wounded all the same.

  They decided to test it out the next day. Jeremy would whine and cry whenever one of the girls or the Martinez boys held him, but when Tommy picked him up, Jeremy gurgled happily, reaching up to grab Tommy’s nose.

  “PARP!” Tommy said, imitating a buzzer.

  Jeremy looked shocked for a moment, before starting to laugh, his giggles filling the air.

  “He’s gonna make a really good dad, one day”, Natalie heard Robin say next to her, as Jeremy reached for Tommy’s nose again.

  Yes, he is, Natalie thought, smiling as Tommy said “PARP!” again.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Tommy looked over to see Natalie smiling at him, he felt his own smile reach his face. She would make a good mother one day; he was sure of it.

  In that moment, Tommy knew, without a doubt, that Natalie was the only person in the world he wanted to be the mother of any future children of his. But would they end up with children one day, way out here?

  As he had done before, Tommy concluded that having a child with Natalie made for a nice idea in theory, but the reality of their situation placed them far away from civilisation, with nothing even close to medical treatment if something went wrong during the pregnancy. There was no guarantee that either Natalie or any child of theirs would survive, whether in pregnancy, in childbirth or the aftermath of both.

  Tommy remembered learning in school about the high infant mortality rates during olden times, before the invention of modern medicine. Out here, they might as well be stuck right back in those times again.

  Tommy brushed his thoughts aside, as he cradled Jeremy. One baby was enough to deal with, at least for now.

  He went to hand Shauna’s son back to her, but as soon as she took him, Jeremy began to wail.

  Shauna’s face darkened.

  “I’m sorry”, Tommy said to her. “I don’t know why he-”

  “If he wants to be with you so bad”, Shauna snarled, “you can have him. I’m sick of this. You feed him. You bathe him.”

  She paused, then wrinkled her nose. “And you change him as well. God knows I’ve done it enough times.”

  Change him? Tommy wondered.

  Then the smell coming from Jeremy hit his nostrils, and he struggled not to gag.

  000000000000000000000000

  “It’s okay, we’ll get you nice and clean, yeah?” Tommy said, moving Jeremy away from the group.

  Natalie decided to check on Shauna, who had already gone back into her shelter.

  “What do you want?” Shauna snapped at Natalie.

  “Just… checking up on you. Are you alright?”

  “Oh, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? We’re miles from civilisation, my best friend is dead, and my baby prefers the guy who killed her to his own mother. Who wouldn’t be fine with that?”

  “Uh…” Natalie had no idea what to say in response, and the burning look in Shauna’s eyes convinced her it would be a good idea to leave.

  Things unfortunately did not improve as time went on, and they began their fourth month in the clearing. Jeremy would of course stay with Shauna overnight, or when it was feeding time, but otherwise he would always cry whenever Tommy wasn’t within his sight.

  Natalie knew having a child out here was a bad idea. She knew there was a very real chance that if she fell pregnant, neither she nor her baby might survive.

  But seeing Tommy carrying Jeremy around, swaddling him, or changing the various animal-skin loincloths they had made the young infant in place of diapers, or cleaning up any spit or puke that came out of Jeremy’s mouth, stirred something within Natalie that she had never felt before, as she considered the reality of their situation.

  She was aware that she probably wasn't thinking straight. She was also aware that Tommy might be unintentionally clouding her judgement. But all of a sudden, the idea of letting time slip through her fingers while they were out here felt absolutely ludicrous.

  Things might be good now amongst the group. But they all knew it was only a matter of time before winter came back.

  Who was to say any of them would survive it? Who was to say they wouldn’t begin to starve again, and resume their acts of cannibalism?

  Fuck it. If it isn’t now… it might be never. 

  And Natalie Scatorccio did not want to know what it would be like to die without ever knowing what it was like to be joined to another person, in a bond that had been considered blessed and holy long before civilisation had been created.

  000000000000000000000000

  As Tommy carried a sleeping Jeremy around the camp, rocking him gently, he saw Natalie come up to him.

  “You’re so good with him”, she said, whispering softly. The look in her eyes was so tender and caring, Tommy felt himself smile at her.

  “I honestly have no idea what I’m doing half the time”, he confessed. “I wish… I wish I had instructions on how to do this properly.”

  “Pretty sure kids don’t come with a manual”, Natalie grinned.

  Tommy saw her jerk her head away from him. “Do you wanna… go on hunt? Stores are getting a bit low.”

  “Sure”, Tommy shrugged. Carefully walking back to Shauna’s hut, he placed Jeremy in his crib. Shauna, who was scribbling away in her journal, didn’t so much as turn her head in acknowledgement, and Tommy quietly left her alone. He didn’t want to make things even worse between them.

  As he set out with Natalie, his girlfriend started to ask about who they might train to be the next hunter of their group.

  “Taissa, maybe, or Van? I think with some practice they might get better at it-”

  “I’m not sure it’s such a great idea to train a new hunter.”

  “What? Why not?”

  Natalie looked confused, so Tommy explained the thoughts that had been swirling around in his head, whenever he had remembered the day of the hunt that had led to Mari’s death.

  “We both know it’s only a matter of time before winter comes back. Our food supplies will start to dwindle again, and everyone will get hungrier… and angrier, too. For all we know, someone might end up suggesting another card draw.”

  Lottie had grabbed the pack of cards when she was escaping the burning cabin, and Tommy got the feeling it wasn’t so she could play with them.

  “The group knows neither of us will tolerate the murder of the other. I know they can be… crazy… but they’re smart enough to understand that killing the two best hunters of the group may… put a dampener, so to speak, on their food intake.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense, I guess. What… what about Travis and Javi?”

  Tommy hesitated, before speaking again. “Neither of them have hunted with us since the cabin burned down. They’re probably hopelessly out of practice by now. The group most likely knows they would make poor substitutes for us.”

  Especially Travis, Tommy thought. Their old hunting partner had not emerged from his catatonic state yet… though deep down, the idea of handing Travis a loaded weapon gave Tommy pause for thought, considering what he had done to the other boys’ girlfriend.

  They travelled on in silence for a while, before eventually coming across a deer. As they sat down to wait after Tommy shot it, Natalie started to speak again.

  Tommy never could have imagined, in his wildest dreams, what their next discussion would be about.

  000000000000000000000000

  “Um…” Natalie said, twisting her fingers. She couldn’t say it. Why couldn’t she?

  You know why.

  “What is it?” Tommy asked. His eyes were gentle, and his tone was soft, and it gave Natalie the courage to say what she needed.

  “I know… I know this might sound crazy. But…”

  She swallowed nervously, and took a breath. “None of us know how long we have left. Not out here. None of us might make it through the next winter, and I… um, I…”

  She felt her face growing hot. “I don’t wanna die without knowing what it’s like for you to be mine. Truly, completely mine.”

  She saw Tommy’s eyes widen. Did he realise what she was about to say? She hoped so.

  “Thomas Matthew Scott… will you… will you marry me? Please?”

  She gazed into his eyes, holding her breath as she waited for his answer.

  000000000000000000000000

  Tommy gazed at Natalie in shock. He’d always imagined, if they ever did get married, he would be the one to propose, following tradition.

  But Natalie had never been what one would call a traditional girl. It was one of the things he loved about her.

  And as he gazed into her beautiful blue-green eyes, he reached out a hand to run through her steadily darkening hair, while his other hand lightly stroked her cheek.

  There was only one answer he could give. Only one answer he would ever give.

  “Natalie Elizabeth Scatorccio… I will marry you. Of course I will marry you.”

  “Really?!” Natalie exclaimed, tears beginning to run down her face.

  “Yes. Yes, of course”, Tommy said, feeling his own tears come as he pressed his lips to Natalie’s, feeling her reciprocate with enthusiasm.

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie started bawling with happiness as she pressed her lips even harder against Tommy’s, and it wasn’t long before she felt his hands begin to lift up her shirt.

  “And one more thing, just… wait…”

  “Yes?”

  “I want a baby, Tommy. I don’t… I don’t wanna die, not knowing what it was like to have one with you.”

  She gazed at him lovingly. “I know it stupid, I know we’re too young, but… I’ve seen how you are with Jeremy. You’re gonna make the best dad, I know it.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Despite the hopeful look on Natalie’s face, Tommy felt himself pause for thought.

  It was stupid. It was reckless. It was risky. And of course… they were far, far too young.

  But as he gazed into Natalie’s eyes, Tommy couldn’t bring himself to say no. Natalie had been through far too much, both in Wiskayok and out here, for him to refuse her.

  “Okay. Let’s do it.”

  Natalie’s eyes widened. “Really?” She whispered softly.

  “Yes. Really.”

  000000000000000000000000

  Natalie pressed her lips to Tommy’s again, and it wasn’t long before they were naked and writhing against each other on the grass.

  As she clung desperately to Tommy while he fucked her, Natalie wondered what it would be like to do this at home.

  We will get there, one day. Eventually.

  Natalie brushed her thoughts inside, and focused on making love to her fiancé.

  Oh, my God. Tommy was her fiancé. She could call him her fiancé now, not her boyfriend.

  The realisation brought a fresh wave of overjoyed tears to Natalie’s eyes, and as Tommy finished inside her, she gasped in ecstasy as she came in his arms in response, transported to a world where nothing existed but the two of them.

  Hopefully soon to be the three of us, Natalie thought, as Tommy’s lips descended upon hers.

  000000000000000000000000

  Lottie watched silently as she saw Shauna feeding Jeremy. He was getting bigger, that was for certain, but he still seemed so small to her.

  When it had been her turn to hold Shauna’s son, Jeremy had almost immediately begun screaming, and Lottie had quickly handed him off to the next person. The experience had not helped her confidence in regards to bearing her own child.

  But as she gazed at Travis, Lottie knew it was time. The wilderness had waited long enough.

  As she began to walk over to the older Martinez boy, Lottie checked once more for the psychedelic mushrooms in her pocket.

  What was about to happen wouldn’t be pretty… but it would, in the end, prove necessary for them.

So, what did you think?

Will Natalie and Tommy's happiness last? Will Lottie get her way with Travis? And what in the holy hell is going to happen with Shauna?

Next chapter coming soon! Can't wait for you to read it! 😊 ❤️

[tubborucho]

***

The wind chime soft sound picks up Lukey's attention from a scientific paper he was reading behind the counter.

It's another Monday, he opened the shop barely twenty minutes ago and did not expect a customer for at least an hour. Mondays are always slow.

However, there is someone here, and it takes Lukey only a few seconds to recognise the guy from a week before – thanks to his honestly ridiculous orange hair. But this time the guy seems much more chill, carefully walking into the shop and meeting Lukey's gaze – he can see his bright blue eyes this time around – with a shy smile.

Lukey finds himself smiling back. Not in a 'customer service' way.

"Need another 'fuck you' bouquet, mate? Because I do have a couple more ideas", he jokes, straightening up and putting away the paler to pay attention to the customer.

The guy chuckles, his face flushing just slightly, and he walks up to the counter, not even looking at the flowers around.

"No... no more rude bouquets", he shakes his head. "Don't think I thanked you the last time, by the way, so thank you for the help..." the guy looks down at Lukey's chest in search for the name tag.

"Lucas. Or Lukey, either works", Lukey introduces himself.

"Pangi", the guy stretches his hand out and Lukey shakes it, snickering quietly. This is so awkward but also kind of fun.

The handshake is firm, and Pangi's hands are surprisingly warm compared to Lukey's.

"Well, you are welcome, Pangi. Glad I could be of help", he releases the other's hand, that Pangi immediately hides in his pockets. "Speaking of, what can I help you with today? Anything special?"

"Oh", Pangi shakes his head lightly, like he just realised he completely forgot about something. "Oh, yeah, actually. I need a normal small bouquet. For my godson's 9th birthday".

Lukey coos quietly. Wow, this is a sharp contrast to the first request, that's for sure.

"No problem. Any thoughts on which flowers he would like?"

Pangi shrugs.

"I was... I was kind of hoping you would do the flower language thingy again? I think he would enjoy it".

Lukey bites his lip, thinking it over. Now, he's sold quite a few birthday bouquets to know which flowers are good wishes, but those were always for moms and wives and other adult female relatives, so they might be just a bit too much for a young boy.

"Let me think", he tells Pangi and goes around the counter to the main display, looking over their stock with a criticism of an artist.

On the back of his mind he notices that Pangi follows him step by step, trying to be as quiet as he can. He still can feel his warm presence next to him though. Lukey doesn't think on that further.

"Okay, how about we make those mini yellow roses a centrepiece for joy and 'good luck' wishes, and fill it up with daisies for youth and innocence and feverfews for protection. And finish it with lemon leaves. Not really because of a meaning, I just think they would look good here", Lukey quickly collects everything he said to show Pangi how it would look together, and finds the other looking at him with fascination.

"Yeah, this is unironically a cool bouquet", he answers. "I am sure Dapper will love it. So uh... how much?"

Lukey, pleased with getting it right, goes back to the counter to check Pangi out. When it's all well and done, Lukey hands him a bouquet – decorated with black paper, which is surely a choice for someone's birthday, but honestly, it looks sleek that way.

"Pass a 'happy birthday' from me to your godson, okay?" he tells Pangi with a smile, getting a bright smile back, which makes the other's objectively handsome face even nicer. Wait, what?

"I will", he promises. "Thank you again, Lukey".

"You are welcome, Pangi".

Pangi leaves, and Lukey doesn't remember what the scientific paper he was reading is about.

It's a normal day at the 'Poppy of the valley' flower shop.

Well, normal by Mondays standards, because it's the only day Lukey works a shift here to give Newt – the owner and his very best friend/roommate – a day off (that he would otherwise refuse to take).

He accepts the supply of chrysanthemums, asters and anemones, wraps a couple of random bouquets for the showcase and sells two kids a rose for their mom's birthday. Overall, Lukey is dying of boredom, because practically nobody needs flowers on Monday at 11am at the start of April.

That until a guy slams the door open, finds Lukey behind the counter and crosses the shop in two seconds to forcefully place a twenty euros banknote in front of him.

"How do I say 'Fuck you, I hope you die' with flowers?"

or, I decided to try to write a Pangkey Flowershop AU as a reblog thread fic

[cephydeluxe]

TW: eye strain, blood, no visible gore but eye injury implied (also rambling in the tags)

Early work in progress painting of v,,,, the final piece won’t look anything like this (…..maybe) but I was messing with layer settings and hard mix is serving ,,,,,

tbh I’m starting 2 understand V h8ters now,,, mf needs 2 get the FUCK outta my head before I do something crazy 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣 (((draw him more****

[psilliguykai]

God somebody kill this bitch /aff (sorta…)

Trackerposting…. #trackerposting….

Nefarious guy created by epic guy @hhoneycloves yayy!!💥💥

[daincrediblegg]

I really love Catherine Standish on a conceptual character level so fucking much. Yes. She is the overworked secretary who everyone thinks is one dimensional and has nothing but a boring life to hang onto. But she has been that for god knows how many years to people at the very top of the charts at MI-5 from the bureaucrats to the field agents. Was she ever trained? No. But from her peripheral knowledge alone somehow she is easily then probably (with the exception of lamb ofc) the top agent working at slough house. She may have lost years to alcoholism but I’ll be damned if that meant shit for how much she clearly absorbed from the people she’s worked for.

[saedyne]

this may be a hot take, but - for me, adaptations extricating kon's creation from its original circumstances (i.e. superman was dead!!) bothers me almost as much as the lex retcon

[pseudophan]

extremely important question do any buffy fans here actually like angel (the series not the character) because i swear all i see lately is people saying it sucks and they couldn't get through it and it's like you can't ALL be that wrong

[luck-of-the-drawings]

"I think this is the most inhuman; and human, that I've ever felt.." MUCH CAN HAPPEN IN A YEAR. IN FIVE YEARS. A DECADE. imagine how much can happen in a century. just ONE (1). How will you grow? what phases do you find? even in 5 years, you will find patterns.

[leaveharmony]

[dykedvonte]

Jimmy killing himself because he knows he is incapable of living an life without Curly and knows that in the miracle chance they were found and saved they would not let him have contact with Curly and he hates the idea he'd actually have to take responsibility.

Even if he lied, its only a matter of time before Curly is capable of showing or telling what a monster he really is, no matter what delusions tell Jimmy Curly would never do that to him.

He understands that he was the monster in everyone's worse moments but refused to accept that at the end. So he made sure that he died without the possibility of it being actualized as he's the only one that saw death as an escape rather than a release. Jimmy truly didn't believe Curly had anything to escape from even after everything and let him have what he perceived as glory as the sole survivor and thus Captain of the Tulpar.

[sukugo]

Do you think gojo makes those freaky ass feral expressions while getting dicked down?

YES YES YESSSSSSSSSSS RAAAAAAAAAHHHH THIS IS SOMETHIGN IM PASSIONATE ABOUT OKAY!!!!!!! YES HE DOES

like, pleasure looks such a specific way on satoru. we can see it in the tojigo fight, the hanami/jogo fight and the sukugo fight. they're the only moments where we truly get to see raw pleasure on him and it's that. eyes popping out and manic grin and laughter bubbling in his torso and body charged, and mannerisms especially crude.

there's something so animalistic about it, his "human" mask slipping from him and showing him in all his monstrous glory, unfiltered and raw and like the freak of nature he truly is

and it's exactly the same thing when it comes to sex. it's all pleasure after all.

[odo-apologist]

Okay so Rimmer's middle name being Judas *does* make sense in the context of traditional Christian beliefs because he is hated by his parents, his father, from the start. What better middle name to call the child your wife had through the betrayal of adultery than that of a man infamous for betraying a person considered a savior in your religion? Arnold is marked from the beginning, Judas is destined to be damned, etc. etc.

But then we get the episode "Lemons" and we learn that Rimmer's middle name actually has a positive connotation in his mother's religion, which is why she named him that. And that's odd, right? Rimmer's mother, who seems to have as much contempt for him as his father does, who makes it clear she prefers her other sons more, who openly tells him she wants to "sue the sperm that made" him, apparently didn't name him after a reviled figure in her faith, but a revered one.

I'm not too inclined to believe that she harbored any sort of secret affection for him- though, if she ever did, she might have been forced to hide it in the face of her husband's dislike for this child that isn't his; I doubt he was much better as a husband than he was as a father. Was it a positive name given to Arnold to keep up appearances? Perhaps his brothers didn't get the name first because their father decided on their names (which seems likely to me, given how controlling his nature seems) but he cared so little for Arnold that he left his naming to his wife? Maybe the name was an act of aggression/defiance, a dig at him from his wife? She probably had to give up or tone down her faith to take on his; the name might possibly serve as a reminder of the difference/division between them- the kind that could drive her to have her affairs.

I don't know, I just find thinking about this interesting

[telesodalite]

Been thinking about idw1's outliers lately, and how sort of wild the whole concept is from a worldbuilding standpoint, and it struck me that most confirmed outlier abilities tend to be really useful, or flashy, or powerfully dangerous, and few to none tend to be like, really boring, or totally impractical, or even entirely useless? Which, doesn't really make sense when considering the fact that outlier abilities are seemingly random.

Surely not everyone who's born an outlier gets something useful?

And I don't mean like, "good" useful, but any sort of useful, even if that means you can kill people with your voice, or give a power boost by exploding yourself, those are still "useful".

But surely there had to be some with abilities that were totally impractical, or nonbeneficial, or at the very least just insignificant or purely aesthetic and pointless?

[dootznbootz]

I think some folks MAY have gotten the wrong idea about how I feel about Circe with some of my posts. So, to clear the air...

Homies, I love that fucked up sorceress.

I love how we're never given a reason why she turns people into animals. That's so funny and so awful. And another potion-making magic gal?!?! I love that she's just basically vibing on an island doing whatever she wants. I even love the fact that she scares Odysseus shitless! She's morally gray and that's why she's FUN.

I just sincerely hate when people try to girlboss her or have her be a victim of SA when she never was Looking at you, Miller. Especially when she was actually the one who coerced Odysseus in exchange for his men being transformed back into humans. And even then, while he was clearly afraid of her, (it's in the language of the Odyssey) she likely meant him no harm after a certain point. He just didn't know that.

Why does she need a reason to do awful things? Why can't she just be a goddess who does whatever she wants? That's the reason why I love her!!! She's fucked up!!! :D

I hate what the Telegony did to her as well! >:( You're telling me, this sorceress goddess, who makes potions (!!!) wouldn't have magic contraceptives??? Would WANT CHILDREN?!?! WITH THE PATHETIC WIFEMAN?! No. Fuck no. Eugammon of Cyrene, I have beef with you 🤬

Anyways!!! Understand all the "#anti circe" I have is simply Anti "Girlboss Circe" or the book. I genuinely think she's neat af as her morally gray, fucked up sorceress self and just get frustrated with...everything :'D

[xxplastic-cubexx]

what is your favorite thing about charles and your favorite thing about erik? separately, as in what you like most about their characters :]

a devious question this one is, my friend!!! it's hard enough for me to explain my thoughts cohesively, but having to pick ONE thing i particularly love is difficult. with characters like charles and erik, theres been so much done with their characters over the decades and so they have so many components to them that make them so interesting and fun to observe. BUT I TRY FOR YOU TODAY. under the cut i kinda ramble and the size of this text box makin me anxious

i think if i were to be simple and broad, what i enjoy most about charles is his determination to help others, even if he isn't really thanked and/or if people don't even like him. ofc, this isn't to say he hasn't done wrong- to be honest, the fact he does wrong/questionable things at times is another aspect of him i really enjoy, maybe because- broadly speaking- he's meant to be altruistic (intent vs outcome and all that). i don't know if that's super exciting to most people, but it is for me

as for erik, my reason for liking him is easier to explain tbh. To Be Simple And Broad, his progression from villain to antihero over the decades has been fun to observe (as much as i have so far anyhow) and analyze. i think to be a bit more specific, him using his rage and pain as justifications for his villainous actions is definitely what compels me the most: hurt people hurt and the sort, an idea i've always found interesting (something something vicious cycles and the like). yet now, he recognizes this wasn't really. A Just Thing To Do and is beginning to change that, which i enjoy