#i like to bold the snippets that are the most valid

[exghul]

what kind of herb are you?

GARLIC: you leave an impression wherever you go. your heart is so strong, so determined, so willing to go after whatever hole you see in the world, whatever wound you need to fix next. you're there. you're justice, hot red and pure gold, fairness incarnate, a paladin in shining armor come to protect and cleanse and heal and yet sometimes you wonder if you're the most corrupt, dirty being in the world, a fraud, a monster in hero's clothing. the world is so intense and you are so small, so fragile, and no matter how hard you try you're never good enough. you want to be good. you want to be good enough. you try so hard and yet the world is so dark and angry and cruel. perfection is always just out of reach and you want things to be okay so bad you bleed with it. you just want things to be right, to be good, to be fair, but you don't know if they ever can be. if you can ever be.

tagged by: @ehldrich​ ♥ tagging: @hebled , @antisupe , @catlucked , @wizardslays , & if you want it take it ;3

[nightswithkookmin]

I'm not a jikooker because I prefer jimin with another member I ship him with..jimin is someone so affectionate and caring towards the people around him. With this jm is close to each member but somehow for some reason its always jikook who are spotted hanging out together off schedule. so many sightings from army spotting them in a restaurant and restaurants confirming this.the DVD memory 90% is jikook ofc the company favors them more that's why they film only their moments. because honestly as I ship jm with another pason I tend to always spot jikook together that it pisses me off so much.have had enaf of them together.no hate to jk but he should leave jm alone sometimes not hovering around him all the time duh!my question the latest run bts suga said "that's smth a couple would do" I mean why do they feel the need to highlight that all the time? Thats weird 😭if jikook are real and closeted isn't this exposing them?outing them just for a content lol it doesn't work that way.this is putting them at risk given they are in a homophobic country? or maybe the company wants to push this narrative of jikook as a couple?.also have mentioned about them spotted many times hanging out but we never see any other member hanging out off schedule just recently I saw jihope watching soccer. And its very rare.feel the company is pushing this fanservice even in their private lives.they want people to believe jikook are a thing.

Excuse me, you prefer Jimin with who??? 👀

If it's V or Suga or Namjoon I understand but anyone else and I'll snort😆

And I agree. Jimin is ship compatible with every one including himself. Yes. If he were a twin I'd ship him with his twin too and I'm not ashamed of that.

If you can't picture them making out I can and it's hot

Honestly I don't know if I should be flattered or mad or both or neither at this Ask so I'm just gonna be as respectful as I can be.

I haven't watched the run episode. I've only seen snippets but I will watch it this weekend. I have a ton of analysis to do and I hate commenting on stuff I haven't consumed.

This is not the first time Suga has said something of that nature. He's been alleged to have said "You weren't even a couple then" during Festa when Jikook shared the rain story.

Jin has made similar statements as have Namjoon and the others. When it comes to Jikook that is. He'll jikook have called themselves a couple too.

Since I don't speak their language and can't understand the nuances of it myself, I refrain from depending on any linguistic analysis for validation. I just take notice of it and carry on with my life.

Karmy can be a bit prudish and wow at everything because it's bold and daring and so out of the norm and gosh did you hear that? that's so gay, and sensationalise almost everything because they are so shocked easily by the prospect of two men "acting gay" when gay is so such taboo in their culture.

They are like me when I stare at a vagina that isn't my own.

I've said this over and over, but perhaps the company gravitate towards Jikook not only because what they have is authentic but because it's the best content they have💀

Best in terms of content production, engagement with fans, conversion of that engagement into monetary value, their chemistry is great, they self produce or come up with independently thought of and creative spontaneous moments that the best of hybe CCs couldn't conceive if they tried.

Which is strange because Vmin have awesome chemistry too and frankly I'm trynna see it. Jimin is a whole other mellow character around Taehyung sometimes. He steps back and let Tae take it away. Whereas around Jungkook most times, he gets so animated and hyper you'd think he swallowed a dynamite.

Not sure how much of his hyper activity is triggered by a subconscious awareness of Jungkook's proclivity towards introversion on screen. Whereas with V I feel he's more trusting of his co-workers ability to engage the audience on his own and come up with exciting and unique ideas for them to engage in without him necessarily worrying about censorship and worrying Tae's nerves will cause him to slip or make mistakes.

With Jungkook he gets lost trying to loosen him up and get him to relax on screen and not be soo aware of the cameras, or not read too much into anything he does while also trying to rile him up to get a reaction out of him because he's often fascinated by Jk's visceral response and reaction to him. He acts like there's no camera around, JK it's into it but soon forgets that millions of people are watching and so Jimin has to be on high alert around him. They give me headaches but I'm toxic so I love it. Bring it on Jikook.

Anywho, that was old Vmin. And old Jikook. These days Jungkook is the one that tries to loosen JM up.

And these days VMin can't play or keep it going for more than 5minutes without boring us to death with whatever weird vibes and inside jokes they have going on between them.

Case in point

Exhibit B

Don't get me wrong, they have impeccable chemistry and are also very good friends but let them be alone for an hour and you start blinking blankly at the screen- like you know there's something they not telling us and they matured and they all acting like grown ups with so much self respect and admiration for eachother.

Like when Tae confessed he liked Jimin alot I didn't expect Jimin's reaction at all, certainly not Suga cringing cos if those two are besties and face time eachother everyday I love you should be something they both should be used to hearing from eachother by now and their friends should be used to their shenanigans too by now.

Besides Taehyung confesses his love for Jimin more than he breathes oxygen in the air and this is Bangtan raised to the power Kpop- gay isn't exactly new to them if you know what I mean.

Yet no one said well that's so something a couple will do for that VMin moment. They cringed harder than a ma cracks his knuckles. Like friends would if another friend started acting homo around the bro table. There's a scene from Boys over flowers where Lee Minho goes to kiss another one of their friends- note to self, gurl, you have to rewatch those dramas you loved it. We loved it. Cool? Cool.

That moment with vmin and Suga reminds me each time of that scene from the drama.

Where's if actual couples did it, the reaction would be one of just pure awkwardness because no one knows how to react around couples. You can't stare at them on the bus when they kiss cos you feel you are the creep creeping up on private moments. It's just awkward and you don't know what to do with yourself.

Then if they are your friends you try to play it up by teasing them, mimicking them, hooting at them

Or you just exchange awkward glances and smirk

And to put things into perspective, Namjin cringing and bursting out a romantic soundtrack over Jikook's rain fight narration was warranted.

It was the first time they were hearing this from them and their reaction was as anyone would- yet Suga didn't find that cringing AT ALL like he had found VMins moment to be- just a smirk like it's just ridiculous with those two. See how similar Jin had reacted to their hickey story too?

Hobi forgets to react at all sometimes💀

He just smiles warmly and stares or laugh his brains out. Except for that one time Jungkook let it slip he wanted to be handcuffed by Jimin🥺

And why was it necessary for Tae to say that? Why was it necessary for Tae to make that confession? And why did the members intuitively assume JM was going to choose Jungkook for that? Namjoon went with V but only because he voided his gut instincts and used his head. We've all been there.

Jimin have said Tae has matured so much and we only see glimpses of Old Tae but he's different. Of course that's gonna impact the way they interact on screen.

They keep saying that's something a couple will do because THAT'S SOMETHING A COUPLE WILL REALLY DO.

There's no beating around the bush about it.

The ironical friends sharing a couch or they look exceptionally close today does not explain why they sneak into each other's hotel rooms or why cameras were placed in their rooms without their notice and Jikook had to walk in blindsided.

Jimins reaction was priceless.

You frankly don't need to see or hear them going out to restaurants to know something's up with those two. You don't.

Anyone who claims otherwise is just in denial.

Personally, if a Korean were to ask me about Jikook I'd say to them they are friends fuck off. If an Iarmy were to ask I'll say they are more than that. I see them for what they are and I celebrate them, I appreciate them, I love them and I support them. But I will protect them against anyone that posed a threat to their safety their well-being and their essence.

It's just the gay way.

And I feel this is often the conundrum people are faced with when it comes to Jikook. On one hand, they want to be celebrated- who wouldn't -but on the other hand their safety careers and lives could be as stake and they would want to protect that too.

And the best way to do that, if I were a company, would be to hide them in plain sight. Which is what everyone and their momma does with Jikook.

Jikook have not always been the creme de la creme of ships and hybe have not always used them as their go to fanservice ship. Granted fanservice is part of Kpop.

The Busan Brothers have split. The sun and moon duo blah- jikook don't nearly get marketed as a couple as much as other ships in bts to be frank. Editors have called Tae Kook romantic or a couple with chest in content, Sope get called couples almost everyday, they deliberately put members together to promote stuff because THEY ARE ALL THERE TO WORK.

This is somebody's business. They invest real money Into all of this. If ships were hurting their business and hard earned or borrowed money, they would dead that shit two dinosaurs ago. The fact they ain't said nothing means it's serving them. We are the puppets and they are the puppeteers.

They pull the strings and we go. Not the other way round.

As to whether they are doing this at the expense of Jikook, Jikook would be the best determiners of that. They have agency and in the past where they were "too young" to comprehend the consequences of their actions they had their hyungs to look at for them- hence all those tensions and allegations of members breathing down their necks.

Bighit was acting like Kris Jenner, encouraging them to strip and gyrate metaphorically for the cameras while they smiled all the way to the bank to cash out.

But it's 2022, a year where BTS have gone up against the government of Korea itsself and decided by themselves to call off any postponement to their military service and serve.

This is the same year you want to peddle the Hybe making Jikook do fanservice in their PRIVATE LIVES???

Girl BYE. Can't take you seriously.

I won't lie you lost me there.

WERE YOU IN THE FANDOM WHEN THEY ISSUED A STATEMENT TO THE EFFECT JUNGKOOK'S PERSONAL MATTERS IS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS DURING HIS ITAEWON SCANDAL??

What they do off schedule really is none of our business or company's. Just as you get to go off work and your boss don't follow you home. It's reasonable to assume same for these boys.

YOU DIDN'T SEE HOW THEY SAID JACK SHIT ABOUT TAE JENNIE RUMORS?

There's been so much history and so much growth and the boys have accumulated enough socioeconomic capital to be reduced to such nonsensical levels of ridicule and bad takes.

And I'm sorry but what do you mean Jungkook should back off Jimin sometimes??

THE ANSWER IS A GRAND NO.

Read my lips, NEEEEEEUUUUUUUU

They are two legal adults half way through and almost 30, who determine whom to give their time and energy to and they choose to do that with each other- Oh look, I found something. Respect. Have some. For them.

Jimin has been spending his time with various persons both in a professional capacity and non professional capacity and we should be grateful that he is a functioning human being capable of functioning outside his group dynamic.

Going solo is pretty scary and they are all transitioning well and adjusting well to it. That's all that matters. Let's be glad that in spite of their personal projects that they make time to connect with their members and keep the spirit of BTS alive.

Real heartache is them finding BTS outside BTS and forgetting how precious their friend group once was.

But I get where you are coming from. rather than try to manifest Jungkook out of the picture, try manifesting your fave into the picture and go nag them until they call him up m- don't worry I'll put them through when the call comes. Wink.

Jimin is an extrovert and honestly he is well adjusted. I don't think he needs much help connecting with ppl.

My good sis, let's just enjoy the breadcrumbs while we can, before Jikook officially ties the knot🤧

Once they do it's game over for you and I and all the jm side ships on the black ship market🥺

I wouldn't say the company want ppl to believe Jikook are a thing. They only want you to believe they aren't a big deal. It's called normalization. The oldest trick in the books.

I'm high on pain meds.

I made sense some where I hope. Deadass💀

[azzo0]

Lost

The following chapter is a snippet from Always

Summary: Bakugo loses to the new girl with a quirk like his own.

Yoshiko followed the girls outside the ground beta after they changed into their hero costumes. Yoshiko looked around her in awe. U.A. had so much more to offer compared to Isamu. She felt foolish to let herself fail last year. Not that it mattered anymore. She was here now.

"Hey, Akimitsu, what is that sunglasses thingy for?" Mina asked, walking beside her. Yoshiko snapped out of her awe-struck daze and looked at the pink girl.

"It's to protect my eyes from my explosions and smoke. I like to call it protective glasses...." Yoshiko explained. Her glasses were lifted to her head right now. She put it on when she was using her quirk.

"I like your costume!" Ochaco exclaimed.

"Thanks." Yoshiko smiled at the brunette. "I like all of your costumes too."

"It's nice to have another girl in the class," Yaoyorozu said. The girls hummed in agreement. Yoshiko looked at her costume. This girl was bold. There was no way Yoshiko could walk around with her boobs almost spilling out. But considering Momo's quirk, it had to be that way.

"That's ground Beta," Mina said as they stood outside the shut gates where the boys were already standing. Ground Beta was like a replica of a small city. Shops, tall buildings, houses, malls.

"That's fuckin' huge." Yoshiko gasped.

"It is," Mina replied. "Did you have similar training grounds in Isamu?"

"We had a lot of training grounds, but nothing this realistic," Yoshiko replied.

Yoshiko ran her eyes over the class again, recalling their names as she did. Her eyes locked with a pair of heterochromatic eyes for a second before they shifted to the angry ash-blonde who was busy shouting at Kaminari Denki. She felt bad for the poor boy who seemed to always be in the wrath of the Pomeranians yelling. She smiled and waved at Shinsou, who rolled his eyes at her. Finally, Aizawa walked in front of the class, clearing his throat to gain the attention of his students.

"This is like most of your regular heroes' versus villains training," Aizawa said, pushing his hair out of his face. "But with a twist. If you manage to tie this ribbon on your opponent, the person you tied it on can't move until their teammate comes and takes it off them. If you manage to put the ribbon on both of your opponents, you win. Simple."

"It's like freeze tag!" Kirishima exclaimed. Yoshiko had to force herself to look away from his costume.

"Sort off," Aizawa said. "We'll be drawing lots to determine the teams."

The teams were decided. Yoshiko was in team C, the villain team with Jirou Kyouka. The plum hair stood with Yoshiko, giving her a fist bump, which Yoshiko happily returned. Lots were drawn again to see which team would go against which. Team C was against Team F.

"Who's in team F?" Yoshiko asked Jirou.

"Bakugo and Shinsou," Jirou said. Yoshiko rejoiced because she got to go against her best friend, and they hadn't sparred in ages. Her second reason to rejoice was because she could beat the shit out of Bakugo for a valid reason. Yoshiko skipped over to Shinsou and grinned at the purple head.

"We finally get to go against each other."

"Dont expect me to go easy on you just because we're friends." Shinsou rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"I know, sleepy head," Yoshiko said sarcastically. Shinsou swung an arm around her shoulders and gave her a noogie, which the class watched with amusement.

"I'm going to beat the shit out of you, bitch." She heard a familiar voice from behind her. She turned around to see Bakugo scowling, burning holes into her with fierce crimson eyes.

"I'd love to see you try." Yoshiko made a face of disgust and walked back to Jirou.

The first match was team A against team I, which was Midoriya and Iida against Sato and Shoji. The rest of the class stood in the monitor room, watching the match. Yoshiko's jaw dropped when she saw Midoriya in action. He was unbeatable with all his quirks. The blush on Uraraka's cheeks didnt go unnoticed by Yoshiko. She noticed how close the two were when they played with Bear last night. She assumed they were a couple. They did look sweet together. Like two teddy bears.

Yoshiko saw Shinsou and Bakugo strategizing. A scowl was set on Bakugo's face, which Yoshiko assumed was permanent. Her best friend just listened to him, adding something of his own, which Yoshiko couldn't hear.

"Hey, Jirou," Yoshiko said, gaining Jirou's attention from the screen. "Our match is after this one. We should strategize too."

"Yeah, we should." Jirou nodded. The two girls walked outside the monitor room and sat on the steps.

"You have seen Shinsou in action, right?" Yoshiko asked the plum-haired girl.

"Yeah, a few times. But I've never gone against him."

"Okay. We'll have to be careful when we communicate." Yoshiko said, playing with the shite capture ribbon. "Because of the new support item, he uses. He can mimic anyone's voice."

"Well then, we should capture him first," Jirou said, twirling her earphone jacks around her finger.

"Yes. Your quirk helps you listen to sound and vibrations from far off, right?" Jirou nodded. "Okay, cool. We'll use your quirk to search for them and attack first. Then we capture Shinsou, which is going to be difficult because he might capture us before we get him. He's been training with Aizawa sensei."

"What about Bakugo?" Jirou asked. "His quirk is troublesome too."

"I can handle explosions." Yoshiko grinned.

"The thing is... knowing Bakugo, he'll want to attack first, too."

"Then it's just a race to see who attacks first. And we'll find them first because of your search abilities."

"Sounds good." Jirou gave Yoshiko a smile.

Jirou handed Yoshiko a noise-cancelling headset. "So you dont go deaf when I use my quirk."

Yoshiko took two grenades from her utility belt and gave them to Jirou, which she took with a confused look.

"They have my light inside," Yoshiko explained. "They explode on impact."

"Oh. It is similar to Bakugo's grenades. He stores his sweat inside."

"He uses them too?!" Yoshiko yelled.

"Yeah."

Yoshiko clicked her tongue and looked away. Everything about Bakugo seemed to annoy the fuck out of her.

｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡

The girls stood outside the gates, waiting for the gates to open so they could go inside. Yoshiko let her protective glasses drop to her eyes.

"Team C VS. Team F." Said a robot in the commentary. "Start!"

Yoshiko and Jirou ran inside and came to a skidding halt as Jirou inserted her headphone jacks into the ground and listened, closing her eyes. "They are straight ahead of us and are approaching fast!"

"Let's hide in one of these buildings!" Yoshiko exclaimed. "This way, we can attack them when they're looking for us."

"Alright!"

Yoshiko and Jirou entered one of the buildings and remained there as Jirou listened for sounds, crouching down. Yoshiko kept glancing outside the window.

"They're here!" Jirou exclaimed in a hushed tone. Yoshiko looked outside the window again to find the two boys looking around. Shinsou had his hands around his wrapping cloth, and little explosions popped from Bakugo's palms as he looked around with a frown.

The girls ran out of the building. The boys still had their backs to them. Jirou plugged her earphone jacks into the sound amplifier in her forearms and sent out a powerful sound attack aimed at Shinsou. Shinsou covered his ears and winced. Bakugo flew to the sky with his explosions and went after Yoshiko.

"Sorry big boy, I'm saving you for last!" Yoshiko exclaimed and dodged Bakugo's explosion.

"Fight me with your explosions!" Bakugo yelled. So Shinsou told him about my quirk? Well, they are in a team, so it was expected.

Shinsou had captured Jirou in his wrapping cloth and was in the middle of pulling her towards him. With Bakugo in the tail, Yoshiko flew to Jirou and threw an explosion at Shinsou, making him loosen the wrapping cloth. He wrapped it around Yoshiko's waist. Yoshiko tugged on it and pulled Shinsou towards her. In that instant, Bakugo grabbed Jirou and tied the capture ribbon on her forearm.

"Jirou!" Yoshiko yelled. Jirou mouthed a sorry. Bakugo flew off with Jirou and put her on top of a building so Yoshiko couldn't easily get to her. Yoshiko returned her attention to Shinsou and growled. She grabbed his face and punched his gut, followed by an explosion that sent Shinsou flying into a wall.

"Yoshiko!" Jirou exclaimed. Yoshiko was going to reply when she stopped. Jirou and Yoshiko wasn't on first-name bases. It was Shinsou's trick. Nice try, Toshi.

Bakugo threw an explosion at her, which she dodged with ease. "Fight me!" He roared. Yoshiko ignored him and flew to Shinsou, throwing another explosion at him. Shinsou remained on the ground, panting heavily. Shinsou's hands went to the wrapping cloth on his neck again, but she caught his wrists and heated her palms, making him wince in pain. She skillfully tied the ribbon around his leg.

"No use struggling, Toshi." She said.

Bakugo sent an explosion towards her, and she dodged, rolling away with Shinsou. With a grunt, she threw her tall purple friend over her shoulder.

"You're so short." Shinsou snorted. "Your legs might break."

"Oh, shut it. You lost to this short person." Bakugo came after her again, and she flew off far away. Shinso gripped her back to keep himself from falling. She broke the glass of a window and set a tired-of-life Shinsou down.

"Beat his ass, I guess," Shinsou said. "I'll go to sleep."

Yoshiko looked out of the window. She spotted Bakugo flying with the help of his explosions, looking for her. She wanted to remove the ribbon from Jirou first, so she could move too. But If Yoshiko flew to Jirou, she'd make noise with her explosions, which would gain Bakugo's attention. Yoshiko took the elevator to the ground floor and ran to the building where Bakugo had put Jirou. She stopped to take a breather and ran again when she heard Bakugo yell in the distance. Yoshiko took the elevator to the last floor and found Jirou looking down with a pout.

"Hey, Jirou!" Yoshiko exclaimed, running over to her.

"Akimitsu! What are you doing here? Did you capture Shinsou?!" Jirou asked as Yoshiko removed the ribbon from her arm.

"I did," Yoshiko replied. "We're after Bakugo now."

"You could beat him without me," Jirou mumbled.

"Nope. We're winning this together." Yoshiko grinned wide.

"I'm not good against that powerhouse, though." Jirou groaned.

"Oh yes, you are. I'll take on Bakugo. You come in for a surprise attack when I ask you to. Is that okay?"

"Sounds good. I'll be hiding somewhere near you guys." Jirou said and took the elevator. Yoshiko jumped off the building and flew to the ash blonde, who was standing on the road with a scowl, still looking for her. She landed next to him.

"Finally decided to stop running away?" Bakugo growled, sporting a smirk.

"Sorry, Bakugo, I tend to save the best bit for the last," Yoshiko replied.

Yoshiko attacked first, throwing a powerful explosion at him. Bakugo cancelled out the effect with his own explosions. He charged at her with a roar, but she dodged by flying behind him. Yoshiko formed a gun with her hand and shot out fast beams of explosions around Bakugo, making it look like gunshots. This was one of her ultimate moves, minigun. If she actually hit Bakugo with it, he could die, so she just destroyed the road around him, trapping him in a circle.

"Lame ass move!" Bakugo yelled. He flew to the sky and hit her with his own ultimate move. AP shot auto canon, a move in which he concentrated all his explosions to one point. Yoshiko skillfully dodged his attacks, scowling. Bakugo seemed to already have another version of each of Yoshiko's moves.

"I thought you were going to be some hot shit with your explosions." Bakugo landed in front of her. "But you're trash! I'm ending this."

Bakugo propelled himself in a circular motion with his explosions, getting ready to hit Yoshiko with his ultimate move, howitzer impact. Yoshiko, however, had other plans. She had been throwing her grenades around in random places while fighting him. Yoshiko kneeled down and put one hand behind her and one hand in front of her. With the front hand, she created extremely big and powerful explosions, an ultimate move she called a supernova. The explosion triggered her grenades, which also exploded, creating an intense blast wave immense amount of heat and light. With the hand behind her, she kept making small explosions, so that she could avoid the recoil of her own explosion. Yoshiko's muscles ached, but she was sure to win with this finishing blow.

The road broke to pieces and flew along with the wave of the explosion. She was a villain right now. She didnt care about the damage. That was Bakugo's and Shinsou's compartment to worry about, and Bakugo didn't seem to care about damage to the surroundings. Shinsou was locked up far away.

Once the smoke cleared, Yoshiko found Bakugo's back smashed into a wall, his mouth and nose bleeding. She spun the ribbon in her hand and walked to Bakugo with big strides.

"Is that hot shit?" Yoshiko smirked. "Or is your definition of hot shit something else?"

"I'm gonna fucking murder you!" Bakugo yelled in a hoarse voice. His face was covered in dust. He looked up at her with dangerous crimson eyes that matched the colour of his blood.

"Now, now, you're supposed to be playing the hero." Yoshiko wrapped the ribbon around his arm. She was going to tie it when Bakugo punched her glasses with full force. The glass broke and stabbed her cheek, causing her to wince in pain. She was lucky it didn't stab her eyes instead. In a second, he was straddling her. He took out a white ribbon from his pocket and almost tied it around her wrist.

"Jirou now!" Yoshiko screamed. Jirou came running from a corner and came to a skidding halt. She attacked the arena with a powerful sound blast. Bakugo rolled off Yoshiko and covered his bleeding ears, gritting his teeth. Yoshiko jumped up and tied the ribbon around Bakugo's neck, tying a perfect ribbon.

"Villain team C has passed the test," Aizawa said in the commentary.

｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡

Bakugo lay there with his ears aching and ringing. He couldn't move a muscle when she tied the ribbon around his neck with a sadistic smirk. He didnt have any power left to move. That blast from earlier had probably shattered his back. Anger bubbled inside of him.

He just lost a person with a quirk like his own.

｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡

[fmhiphop]

Melle Mel Expounds on Distaste for Billboard top 50 Rappers Targeting Lil Wayne

Billboard's selection of the top 50 Rappers has caused quite a stir. Given Melle Mel's current stream of public statements, he agrees on little regarding the ranking. Mel Melle is now headlining for his sentiments on Lil Wayne's Billboard rankings. Melle Mel's Previous Argument March 7 FM Hip Hop provided coverage of Fat Joe's and Papoose's response to Melle Mel's feelings about Eminem being in the top five of Billboard's top 50 rappers. Eminem was not the only one with whom Melle Mel had a problem. He seems also to take issue with Lil Wayne. The Art of Dialogue Hosts Melle Mel The Hip Hop forerunner(Melle Mel) appeared on a March 4th episode of the Art of Dialogue. During his interview, talks steered back towards the Billboard list. During the convo, Mel spoke on recent comments made by Lil Wayne, who took the number seven spot on the list. https://twitter.com/ArtOfDialogue_/status/1631814949738561539?s=20 Wayne also addressed the ranking recently. According to Wayne, he deserves the #1 spot. In the words of Lil Wayne, "I will tell you that I am a mutha f***** one. Everybody whose names you named also knows I'm number one. Go ask 'em." https://youtu.be/iXiEw1ocgiM That is a pretty bold statement. However, it was all in good humor. According to Wayne's earlier statement, this is about creativity and artistry, not competition. Mel's Response to Wayne While those listed before Wayne have yet to issue a response, more specifically, a reaction to Wayne's placement, Melle Mel has. Melle Mel has clearly indicated he doesn't think Wayne should even be on the list, let alone number one. Mel told Art of Dialogue listeners. "If you have five capable so-called great rappers on a panel, I guarantee you Lil Wayne would not be no.1." That's a cold statement. Lil Wayne, the Record Breaker Wayne is a clear success. Just like Eminem has proved this. And the fans love him, and they see greatness in him. According to Hip Hop Scriptures, Wayne showed greatness straight out of the gate. Hip Hop Scriptures notes, even Wayne's Debut Album "The Block is Hot" went double platinum after its release. https://youtu.be/c3Edt0jMolc In 2011, Wayne started making a name for himself as the record breaker. According to Billboard, "On September 17, 2011, Wayne did something no solo artist had done before. That week, he notched 12 concurrent singles on the Billboard Hot 100 — the single-most songs on the chart simultaneously by a solo act. Only the Beatles have had more singles on the chart simultaneously." In 2012, Wayne broke a record that the King of Rock and roll, Elvis Presley, set. And that is only a tiny snippet of Lil Wayne's achievement. What is Mel's Argument Mel's big point of contention was that Wayne couldn't be at the top because he uses auto tune. In Mel's words, "Lil Wayne's rap skills are questionable because people don't even know his real voice." Without a doubt, that is an interesting point to make. Does using auto tune exclude someone from being a rapper or even being seen as one of the best? That is the question. Not a Good Look for Melle Mel For many, these sentiments are coming off as mad rants. Mel came in at number 48, which makes it appear that his perspective is shadowed by a bit of jealousy. Is this the case? Well, that, too, is arguable. Mel's sense of distaste stems more from the source of the list. He outright discredits Billboard's credibility. In his sentiments, the idea that there are even 50 great emcees is ludicrous. And there is no denying he does have some valid points. But one can't help but wonder,  If Mel had made it in the top five, would this conversation be headlining news? Would this conversation even exist? The Facts Please There is plenty of support to prove that these artists have earned their spots as Billboard determines it. Of course, not everyone will agree with the ranking, but Billboard has specific criteria they used for their selection. Other than containing the set to a particular geographical location, the other factors of selection included: body of work/achievements (charted singles/albums, gold/platinum certifications), cultural impact/influence (how the artist's work fostered the genre's evolution), longevity (years at the mic), lyrics (storytelling skills) and flow (vocal prowess). This information was collected from existing data and more tangible factors the organization has accrued. Everyone has their own preferences. And everyone may disagree based on their proscribed determinants. The Bigger Question Eminem and Lil Wayne haven't been the only targets. Mel had a little something to say about Kendrick Lamar as well. While the focus has mostly been on who Mel believes shouldn't be on the list, we do have an idea of who he thinks should be, and Busta Rhymes got a mention. For now, one simply has to look at Mel's perspectives as that. He has a history in the industry, he's an icon, and he's got a right to his opinion. Written By: Renae Richardson Read the full article

[lossie92]

A snippet from an older WIP I started to work on again. Working title is Caught on the Hop.

-

A marriage hunt was an interesting way to guarantee peace, that's for sure 

It had been one of the Senju allied clans, the Hatake, who had suggested it shortly after the Uchiha and the Senju had finally signed the official treaty after months of gruelling negotiations. According to them a good hunt was a prerequisite of a good marriage, an exciting first step in a lifelong journey the partners were to embark on. It would also hopefully ensure the peace lasted as they argued the clans were surely going to think twice about betraying each other and breaking the treaty of the lives of their clansmen were at stake should a war break out anew.

Madara was rightfully sceptical about these bold claims. 

For one, the Uchiha didn't practice the hunts in the traditional sense – had never done so and weren't planning on changing that any time soon.

First of all, because per tradition the caught individual should join the clan of their captor and their clan never married out, only in, and second of all, because the idea of exposing their clansmen to the unnecessary risk of capture by potential bloodline thieves seemed like a tremendously bad idea. 

In their eyes forcing people into marriage through such means was also an outdated custom that should have been done away with in its current form long ago.

The way values of a proper bond were forced upon the participants, as if it wasn't supposed to be a partnership built on mutual trust and respect, but instead had all to do with establishing dominance over your mate had always grated on Madara as well. He wanted his wife to be his equal, not feel as if they were somehow inferior to him just because of their dynamic. 

As per tradition, the participants of the hunt could assume two roles, Chased and Hunter.

Only betas were allowed a true choice, able to be either as they pleased, while omegas and alphas were stuck as Chased and Hunter respectively. It created a clear power imbalance from the getgo and the fact the bond needed to be one-sided – the Hunter marking the Chased – for it to be considered valid didn't sit well with him either.

Alpha, omega, beta… Though these all made them different, they were still just human at the end of it. They all deserved the same level of respect.

The Hatake could say whatever they wanted, to Madara the whole thing seemed like a surefire way to start a marriage off on an entirely wrong note.

Nevertheless, he was willing to suspend his disbelief and give the hunt a chance if only because he was aware it would have left an unfavourable impression should the Uchiha be the only clan to opt out of it.

This was exactly how he found himself sitting high in the treeline, hidden from view by the foliage and a layer of genjutsu, on the day of the event as he smoked his kiseru and watched the crowd slowly gathering in the agreed upon starting point as he looked for someone he might be potentially willing to chase. 

So far he wasn't thrilled about any of his prospects. 

If he absolutely had to choose, he supposed the Hatake woman with her long silver braid, light green eyes, and vulpine face was pleasant enough to look at. He knew her name was Takara-san. She was the youngest child of the current clan head, a beta two years his senior and a good ninja with decent kenjutsu skills, supposedly proficient in welding her clan's famous white chakra and Raiton style jutsu.

In theory she sounded like a suitable match, but Madara wouldn't necessarily say he found himself wishing to be bonded to her or particularly excited about the idea of pursuing her. He appreciated a pretty face in his lovers like most people did – it was always a nice bonus, after all – and Takara-san was certainly a one-of-a-kind type of beauty with those sharp features and piercing eyes. However, good looks were hardly enough to sustain a marriage. The foundation needed to be much more solid and substantial if a bond was to survive the test of time.

He looked for potential competition too, of course, simply for the sake of precaution. So far though he was relatively sure that unless Hashirama were to compete – and he wouldn't since he was already a bonded man – no one here could match him in battle, not even close. By the virtue of chakra reserves alone he outpaced everyone by miles. A disappointment, truly, but hardly something he hadn't expected. 

It would make this whole thing exponentially more tedious and boring than it was shaping up to be, much to his annoyance.

Madara grimaced before taking a long drag of his pipe and forcing himself to relax. What he wouldn't give to be able to scrap the whole thing and go home to his tea and books…

He knew he couldn't do it. The Elders had explained to him in excruciating detail why it was of utmost importance to show appropriate respect to the other clans by participating in this circus and he knew they were right, though their insistence he take this seriously wasn't actually motivated by worry over what the other clans would think, but rather with the idea they could potentially see him bonded at long last after years of unsuccessful attempts to coerce him into finding himself a mate. As such, though he was committed to at least pretending to be part of the event, he was equally as determined to hightail it out of here should he not be able to find a suitable partner. 

Joke's on them for not specifying how much time he had to spend on acting as if he cared.

A smirk danced across his lips. 

They were going to be sorely disappointed when he returned spouse-less way before the hunt was called off, the old geezers, and he could hardly wait to see their faces. That should finally teach them about trying to force his hand. If they thought they could one-up him into marriage by playing on his desire for peace they had another thing coming.

It took another hour before everyone made it, with the last party to arrive being the Senju clan with a small Uzumaki delegation tagging along. 

Hashirama led his clansmen, four in total, and the Uzumaki into the clearing in the golden light of the setting sun, shortly before the official beginning of the hunt.

Madara's eyes widened slightly when he saw one particular person in the small group.

Senju Tobirama looked like he always did. He wore the same blue plated armour, metal happuri, and fur collar that had become an integral part of his signature look, and his face was fixed in the familiar scowl, his bottom lip jutting out ever so slightly in what, Madara thought with amusement, had to be the most adorable pout he had ever seen on a grown man. 

It figured Tobirama wasn't pleased about being here. 

Having worked with and talked to the omega on numerous occasions in the past few weeks alone, Madara was relatively certain their thoughts on the hunt would turn out to be similarly unfavourable, though in Tobirama's case it likely had more to do with the debasing nature of it and the fact if he were caught he would cease to be a Senju. Neither of which was a particularly appealing option, he imagined.

He hummed thoughtfully as he pocketed his now empty pipe and jumped down from his perch in the tree to join his cousins, his eyes focused on Tobirama all the while.

Uchiha Tobirama didn't sound half bad, did it?

[finitevariety]

sup this is me off anon (pirouettes) thank you so much for the reply!! and the snippets slash drafts especially were very yummy. its cool how seeing how like, rigorous the process is because it definitely feels super controlled while writing. and you want to talk more about your specific writing style that would be cool as fuck!! the two things that jump most at me when I read your fics were 1) dialogue and 2) the metaphors. how does all of that get formed?

hiiii

thank you! I feel like my writing process is less rigorous than the only way that I can get to a finished product. I have to sit and think for ages before things even begin to come together.

re: writing style, here are some rambling thoughts (and more screenshots lol):

It's so interesting to hear you pick out dialogue because I think particularly for fic I've been lucky--for example, I once got a comment that complimented me on using particularly Minnesotan phrasing for a Tom thing, when in fact it was a stray turn of phrase from my home country/area which happened to overlap with Minnesotan speech patterns.

Like I said earlier, dialogue is something that tends to come pretty quickly in the drafting process! Like, I just got through the first section of a chapter that was killing me because I wanted to show Tom thinking about shit without him really knowing what he was thinking about, so I had to meander around what he's doing, seeing, remembering, etc. instead of actually talking to anyone in the present. With dialogue scenes (including sex scenes, which for me are fairly dialogue-rich) it's so much easier to communicate someone's thoughts because they are also communicating.

For example, this is from a doc that is probably the next thing I want to write after bold and forth on (after a break for writing some original stuff for fun). I haven't touched it since I did my original 'stream of consciousness' plotting, but I bet when I write this in full the finished speech will be very similar to this:

Looking at it now, I can see some parts which are lazy--the 'paid a damn sight better' part is maybe something Tom would say, but there are things Tom could say here which feel more Tom--'you wouldn't be earning fucking Buffalo bucks, there'--and also reveal more about him and Greg--'maybe you could pay for your own fucking meal once in a while, you know? Stop gagging on gazpacho on my dime' (Greg: 'I thought it was a shot!').

I also, like I mentioned before, frequently read bits aloud. This is probably The Autism, but I like hearing words aloud and in a nice combination/rhythm, and creating something I enjoy is always the priority.

Sorry for the sidebar here, but it feels related: there's a lot in my writing that I'm surprised isn't offputting to more people, and as gratified as I am, I would keep writing it even if that weren't the case. Don't get me wrong, I'm a slut for external validation, but this is my sandbox and I'll piss in it if I want to.

Anyway, back to dialogue: I think for Succession I try to remember that whilst these people don't talk like real people there are a lot of hallmarks of real speech--lots of crosstalk and interruption, uhs and ums and uh-huhs, and certain specific fillers such as, for Tom, 'you know'. So, no matter what insane shit they're saying, I try to ground it in a little of that.

On insane shit, though: I have to chalk the imagery up to the way my brain works, which feels like a copout. I guess though the main questions I ask when writing/refining images are:

What would this scene look like if it were storyboarded? What do I want people to catch in the background? What do I want tight focus on? If the audience blurs their focus, what might the scene remind them of?

What would this character know about? What are they preoccupied with? It's important imo to make an image something that a character would conceivably think. So Tom is very fun to write because I feel like his brain follows the same grain as mine. This is not a compliment. Many of the images I use for him, especially for feelings shit, are rooted in flesh and violence because he is a character for whom self-knowledge is torture.

Can I push this further? Hey, what if I google around this to see if there's anything else I can fold in? For example, if I'm comparing something to a bug, I'm gonna find out about bugs first to see if there's a gross little detail I can shove in there. This connects back to the part above where I pointed out the 'damn sight better' opportunity. If I'm using an image, I want to avoid it feeling like boilerplate, you know?

Then, finally:

What can I get rid of? What does this image add? Are there explanatory phrases around the image that I can delete? If I'm asking you to come with me for 100k of nonsense, the least I can do is try to cut down on unnecessary bullshit.

Thank you so much for the ask and for the compliments. <3

[siriusly-sapphic]

#5 Hermione on the spectrum please!!!! ❤️

(In response to the WIP ask game previously posted)

Hi! yes I'm excited!

so this fic is a WIP because I won't post any of it until the majority is done. I've planned a longer multichapter than I usually ever write, it's like three chapters at the moment.

It's entirely made up of "Tessa is most likely autistic, has struggles, and projects these struggles onto Hermione". Like I literally started writing this after a particularly stressful dnd session where some communication issues became very clear and a little hurtful and I pretty much put Hermione in the same situation just a different context to like? Write the feelings off?

It's a cissamione fic because I like that ship for wholesome fics and also, as it is projection, I'd fucking love an older woman stepping in and telling me my feelings are understandable and valid even if they seem outrageous and over the top to others. I just want a Narcissa to hold me and tell me I'm not stupid for crying when plans change okay, that's all.

Snippet under the cut because it turned out longer than expected

“Where shall we sit?” Narcissa asked her, a hand covering the chatelaine on her waist and a gentle smile on her lips that Hermione thought was beautiful but unexpected. “Lead the way.”

Hermione’s instinct was to direct Narcissa Black directly to her favourite cafe, a muggle place just outside of Diagon Alley where they sold books and warm cups of coffee. That, however, could not have been what Narcissa meant with her question. She was a pureblood witch, and although Hermione was surprised enough to see her act so civil with Ollivander, or even Hermione herself, that couldn’t mean she would be okay having tea at a muggle establishment.

In Diagon Alley itself, though, weren’t many places Hermione felt comfortable sitting. Florean Fortescue’s, whom she had loved visiting on her trips to Diagon as a teenager, wasn’t there anymore. The Leaky Cauldron was always loud and annoyingly lit, plus the tables were sticky despite any cleaning charm used on them. Ron and Harry didn’t think that was true, but she knew better.

Hermione hesitated too long, she realised, when Narcissa raised an eyebrow.

“If I may be so bold, ms. Granger,” she interjected Hermione’s decision-making. “I asked you to lead the way to an establishment. Pick any place you want to have tea with me, regardless of what I might think of it. I know you well enough to have certain expectations around that decision.”

“I don’t know you well enough to know what your expectations of me are,” Hermione argued, not realising that that was not an augment to Narcissa’s statement. “How can I meet expectations I’m not aware of?”

Narcissa tilted her head curiously, but took a moment to consider her words before responding. “That is not how I meant it, Hermione,” she eventually stated, which did nothing to help Hermione until she continued speaking. 

“Given my history, I expect you were debating whether I would be bothered visiting a muggle-run establishment with you. For the purpose of clarity, let me assure you I would not be. There are no expectations for you to live up to, here and now. Take me wherever you please, with no mind to what you assume I want you to decide, or divert the decision to me.”

“Alright,” Hermione acknowledged, still internally worried about the decision that she recognised she’d made more important than it was, but her worries for now appeased by Narcissa’s reassurance. “There’s a tearoom a few blocks from the entrance to Diagon Alley.”

“Lead the way,” Narcissa told her, readjusting her sunglasses with a nod.

[therogueheart]

Since I’ve seen someone take a screenshot of this post, crop it out of context and try to accuse me of comparing what they did or using Buck’s situation to validate Taylor’s publicly;

(You can also see the post I made condemning what Taylor did, the one that prompted the baiting ask about Buck, here. You can also see my other post about why what Taylor did is gross as fuck and how Buck’s situation is nothing like hers here.)

I said it was a ‘dumbass’ thing to do because it was. In that actual real life situation, while all his emotions and reasons are valid, what he did could’ve had multiple consequences. Even Athena, who is notoriously lenient on Buck, pointed out to him that it was a stupid thing to do.

Eddie was considerate and gentle, but even he knew what Buck did could’ve had bold consequences. He understood why Buck was doing it and he was validating those factors, but he was also aware that it could’ve gone really wrong.

Nuance and critical thinking exist but some of you are literally incapable of it. I was even defending what Buck did and pointing how it wasn’t at all like what Taylor did (which is what the Anon was trying to imply.)

What Buck did was risky and stupid, but he had incredibly valid reasons for doing it. He was trying to save his sister from the armed, dangerous, abusive man who’d stalked her across America, stabbed someone, and had kidnapped her.

Taylor Kelly went along with sexual advances in order to trick Buck into unlocking his phone so she could gain details for her work. Just the most recent exhibit of her long, long line of manipulations. Especially in regards to Buck.

They are not the same and they are incomparable. That was the point of my post. You can’t just crop out the actual point of the point, share a snippet wildly out of context then try to act like my actual point doesn’t exist.

Buck has literally had multiple storylines now over five seasons that depict and challenge his habit of diving into things headfirst, usually without considering or actively dismissing the potential consequences.

I can recognise that, and the possible consequences of his actions, while simultaneously defending the fact that saving your kidnapped sister is nothing like flirting with a man to unlock his phone without his consent. When he’s literally fully conscious and all you have to do is ask him to load up the app.

I am the survivor of an abusive relationship. I’ve had not one but two partners access my phone without my consent. It literally made me shake and feel nauseas being painted out as undermining what happened to Maddie or defending what Taylor did. Miss me with that shit. I’ve been very open about how disgusting I find Taylor’s various actions and behavior.

[zet-sway]

14, 21, 23 for the fanfic ask meme

14. A fic you didn't expect to write

Vantablack, because it was spawned by a fanfic I didn't expect to read, specifically a scene where Thane drinks alcohol from a glass Shepard left a lipstick print on.

I read: 'Setting it aside for later in his mind for the lightless hours he spent alone with himself in the darkest part of the night'

I thought: 'Oh shit he's going to rub one out later.'

And then I wrote a oneshot lol

21. Most memorable comment/review

Gosh that's a hard one. I'm super blessed with great comments, it's so hard to pick favorites. I think I'd have to point at every comment on East by Evening. That fic is very self-indulgent and deviates hard from canon material in a way I've never been bold enough to do before. But the comments people left on it ;u; really made me feel like my vibes had been seen and validated.

23. How many WIPs do you have?

Entirely too many. I'll go down the major ones I guess.

Drunk Shep / Thane fluff and potential smut

Thane scares the shit out of Hackett

Tandem breathing desert fic

Standard maintenance part 2. It's cursed to never be finished omfg ITS A SEQUEL IM NERVOUS

Shep renegades the shit out of Thane

Thane being horny in a library

Chapters 4 through 6 of The Frozen Sea Yeah I have a bunch of content for this "cure keprals fic" but I'm a very nervous storyteller :C help me

Shepard fixes the galaxy map???????

The infamous car fic

And at least half a dozen more partially baked ideas just laying around as tiny snippets that probably don't count. But I save them all, just in case lol

[Questions here!]

[onlyhereforangst]

2020 IN WRITING

tagged by @indestinatus 💕

tagging whoever wants to go thru this journey with me & see their accomplishments in this terrible terrible year!

1. List of works published this year:

Oh god there’s a lot, like 70 total in just 2020. I’ll try to categorize them so this doesn’t get too long 😅but here’s a cut for aesthetic on your dash.

Sequels/Partner Fics: Risk It All (for @hellokaelyn), Finally Home (to Come Back), They Always Do & Could She?, Lucky Day & Completely Yours, Fiery Trance (Two Can Play series), Obsessed (Particular Taste), Soul (to Ignited)

Smut: My Turn (sequel to My Pleasure), Worth It, Maybe We Should, Make it a Double (also a fic request), Shall We (AU)

Fic Requests: Coffee Run, Hold Still, Typical, Deal, Needed It, I’m Home, For Science, Cry Me A River, From Your Dreams (AU), Crystal Clear, Tempt Me, Your Fault, Prove It, Silent Proclamation, A Hundred Suns (angst smut), Duly Noted

Stand Alones: No More, Never Let Her Go, Life is Fragile, Pandemics & Peach Drinks, To Need and Be Needed, Never Let Go, Coming Home, Priceless, Behind The Mask, Need a Hand?

Angst: My Daisy, Status Quo, Can I Stay, I Refuse, Deal

Series/Multi-chaptered: Back Off (Better Apart, Missed The Mark, Change Her Mind, But You Do, Layered Love), Electrified (Don’t Stop (Senorita)), Here By Faith, Forgive & Forget, Angstober ‘20 (Never Has & Never Will, Only In My Head, Long, Long Gone, Do Something, Take Care, Waiting to Burn, Survive the Hell, Find Her, Never Ended Well, At All Costs, One Thing Right, Stay Away, Echoed Back, Smart Man, Not Interested, Flake Again, Release, Slipping Away)

2. Work you are most proud of (and why):

Here By Faith mainly because of the topic. Pregnancy & Infant loss has been such a taboo topic for so long and something I have personal experience with so writing this was very therapeutic. 

3. Work you are least proud of (and why):

Shall We and only because I truly wanted way more plot in this and it turned out to be essentially just straight smut with a tiny bit of plot. But it is what it is 🤷🏻‍♀️

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing:

Ok I had 70 fics to choose from not breaking down chapters so I’m sure I’m missing something, BUT I do love - omg typing this out I realized it’s from a fic in 2019 so I can’t use iiiiiit 😩 ok so here’s a couple excerpts. I loved typing out this stream of conscious partner fics (They Always Do & Could She?):

They Always Do:

Yet this time, this time she didn’t have the chance to rebuild. Like a Trojan horse, he waltzed right up to her and slowly dismantled her defense. Joke by joke, smirk by smirk—Nick took each brick down with care. The worst part? It was so subtle, so thoughtfully done, she didn’t even notice it was happening. Didn’t see her chest being pried open, beating heart on display for him to see, and take. Never realized her greatest defenses were missing until it was too late.

That love- precious, fragile, delicate love- had managed to grow again. In her desolate, cold heart, Nick managed to bring to life an emotion she had long given up on. An emotion she was too afraid to ever feel again. Because with it came agony.

They leave, and you’re abandoned- picking up the pieces of a shattered heart.

When you love, you lose. Always.

Could She?:

But-

Even if that was love, even if he loved Ellie with his whole heart, his entire being. Was that enough? Was Nick enough? Was he deserving?

A resounding no clanged around his skull like a church bell in a Southern town on Sunday morning. He wanted to silence it, stop the shrill metal sound that started any time he pictured forever. Any time he truly thought he might deserve to love, even after all he’d done. After all the unimaginable things he’d done, the horrors he’d seen, the pain he’d caused. That bell sounded, loud and clear.

How did he deserve love when he couldn’t bear to love himself?

[...]

Could she love him despite all his misgivings? Could she love him even when he didn’t love himself? Could she love him when there was a risk he’d be taken from her too soon?

Could she?

Please love me.

But please be sure.

There’s been a couple of other inner monologues that I have absolutely loved (I like to think it’s semi my speciality? But maybe that’s super arrogant of myself?) but that’s a different post for another time.

5. Share or describe a favorite review you received:

I said it recently but I *love* when people pick out specific line(s) from my fic and choose to comment on those. More often than not it’s a line I was so proud of either prose-wise or foreshadowing-wise or whatever and I get literally giddy with excitement that someone not only noticed it but also loved it enough to comment on it 🥰but truly any kind of comment is dopamine-inducing 😉

6. A time when writing was really, really hard:

As some people may have noticed (& maybe not because I did still semi-run the other main ellick blog despite it) I was somewhat absent for most of the summer/fall. I struggled for the first time in my life with mental health issues, borderline depression after being in a shit work environment, an essential worker with a company that claimed to “care” about us, a community that I once loved but showed their true colors in the midst of the pandemic & election, add in a rough pregnancy & it was a recipe for disaster. I didn’t want to even move from the couch most days let alone write. 

7. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

I had a lot of fun writing short excerpts from different characters’ perspectives (Jimmy, Kasie, McGee & Gibbs) in my Angstober series & honestly wouldn’t mind doing that again!

8. How did you grow as a writer this year:

Honestly not sure, I think I’ve just generally grown as a writer - better descriptions & descriptors, better dialogue, better plots. But that could all be me seeing things 😂

9. How do you hope to grow next year:

I’d love to look into writing more seriously. My husband is convinced I could write an episode script or a novel, so I may look into trying my hand at that (even though I feel I’d be god-awful at it 😅)

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

Hmmmm I always appreciate the support I’ve gotten from the ellick fandom despite it being rough this year for us, wonderful people like @erinchristmaselvis, @thekeyboardninja, @hellokaelyn & @wanna-be-bold are always there to either hear me vent or cheer me on ☺️

11. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

Haaaaah yes. Lots of it (but I bet you can’t tell because I only add mini snippets so have fun finding those easter eggs 😏)

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Always, always, always write for YOU. Not for anyone else, the kudos, hits, comments, none of it. Write for YOU. And I say this as a reminder to myself as well, it’s so hard to get bogged down in that dopamine-induced craze we search for in recognition but it’s so important to not externally validate yourself rather internally validate yourself on baby steps of growth & accomplishment. 

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

LOL how about all my WIPs? All of those stories I started forever ago that people call me out on not finishing months later when I swear they’ve forgotten about them 😬

14. If you could recommend only one work from yourself published this year:

Hmmmm lemme pick one from each category because I’m indecisive 😉

Sequel/Partner Fics: Lucky Day & Completely Yours (the aaaaangst)

Smut: a tie between Maybe We Should & Make it a Double

Fic Request: A Hundred Suns (because I love me some angst smut)

Stand Alones: Pandemics & Peach Drinks (hahahaha because this was in an Insider news article at the start of the pandemic hahaha so on brand #2020)

Angst: My Daisy (I looooooove this one, but also all of the angst category lol)

Series/Multi-chaptered: literally not one of these is finished and they’re all heavy angst so take your pick 😂

15. Year word count: 103,050 in 2020 which seems like so little 😅

Here’s to 2021 being the year I finish WIPs! she says knowing she’s lying

[lostinfantasies38]

5 Questions for Writers

Thanks for this wonderful writer tag @serial-chillr​ !  Tagged by @pikapeppa, @theaiobhan, @fandomn00blr  

Sorry this took me so long to answer.  I had to scour all my work to answer a couple of these.

1. Do you have a favourite character to write? Who and why?

Shit, this is hard.  I love writing so many characters, but Alistair and Sirra are my favorites.  

Sirra is unique with her dwarven perspective, and that tends to bleed into the rest of her life.  She isn’t hardened by any means, but her worldview is admittedly different, though she always tries to save as many lives as possible.  The last thing she ever wants to be is the callous Carta bitch Orzammar labeled her.  But she is scrappy and feisty, an absolute badass in battle, and Ancestors help anyone who touches her friends and family.    

Alistair is fun to write because he is sarcastic and witty, a fierce warrior who will wreck shop on the field, but he’s so insecure.  His uncertainty and need for validation make him approachable and real.  I have so many feelings about this man - it's absurd.

2. Do you have a favourite trope to write? Or one you want to write?

GIVE ME ALL THE TROPES!!  I’m not sure if I have a favorite, per se.  I love them all and I am liberal with them, as anyone who has read my work will attest.  But I do love “friends to lovers,” “they were roommates,” and everyone’s favorite, “there was only one bed.”  

Obviously, now that I am looking at these, I think this speaks to my need for fulfillment in proximity within my own life.  There is intimacy inherent in sharing space with someone on the daily like ‘friends’ and ‘roommates’ and anytime you share a sleeping space with someone, even platonically, you form a bond.  How far that bond progresses is up to both parties, but it doesn’t remove the foundation that now exists for something more to grow upon.   

I write the things I lack, the things I want, the things that make me happy.  Because let’s face it - we all live vicariously through our characters.  

3. Share your favourite description you’ve written?

Fuuuuuck, this is hard!  I am a very descriptive writer.  But probably my Varric prompt that @somniaran sent me.  You have to read the whole thing, but it’s too long to post here, so I’ll link it.  Titled “Careworn.”

But here is a portion of Alistair’s memory of the fight with the Archdemon, from my Alistair/Rylie Trevelyan WIP.  In this story, Elissa made the Ultimate Sacrifice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lips crashed together and he pulled her as close to him as their armor would allow in a desperate final plea with each other.  Elissa leaned out of the kiss and stared at him with her pale blue eyes that reminded him of whitecaps on the ocean – washed out sapphire ringed with gray, wholly unique and captivating.

“Goodbye.” 

Alistair opened his mouth to argue with her again, but her thumb pressed against the pressure point in his neck that Zevran taught her during her assassin training.  His knees buckled and his vision darkened from lack of oxygen.  When he sank to the ground, Elissa finally removed her thumb, staring at him with a heartbroken expression before spinning on her heel to face destiny. 

He was so weak that he could only watch as the Archdemon lifted its head in a final challenge to the woman barreling down on it.  Alistair raked a hand along the gore-covered stone towards her and yelled hoarsely when she snatched a nearby sword.  She slid under the dragon’s neck with sword tip raised and cleaved it in half.  Elissa rolled out from under the mighty Archdemon and without hesitation slammed the blade through its head with an anguished shout.

Blinding light and heat filled the center of the tower, rapidly expanding to encompass the whole of the building.  Alistair could barely see her in the white-hot halo, but his tainted blood located her directly in the center.  She was the center.  She was the light.  A high-pitched keen rent the air, growing in intensity until it abruptly stopped.  All sound in the city was extinguished and an eerie silence descended. The light shattered without warning and the shockwave of searing heat sent him flying across the tower, knocking him unconscious from the force of his landing on the stone.  

4. Share your favourite dialogue you’ve written?

I have so many favorites!!  But most of them are spoilers of WIPs and I don’t want to give too much away on them.  So here is my favorite snippet from Sun Touched. Apologies if you are reading the story on AO3 and already know this segment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Who are you?  I specifically told Carroll not to let anyone cross the lake.  We are dealing with a delicate situation here. You must leave immediately.”

Sirra bristled and took a bold step forward.  “No. The mages are obligated to aid the Grey Wardens during a Blight.  I didn’t come all the way here to be denied men for the scourge that threatens us all.” 

The Templar narrowed his eyes, but didn’t speak. He simply appraised the dwarven woman whose fuse was as short as her stature.  “The Circle is lost. Abominations and demons roam the halls. We were overrun and not prepared for such an onslaught.  We’ve barred the doors to keep them out and are waiting for reinforcements from Denerim for the Right of Annulment.”

Alistair groaned and Leliana gasped at his pronouncement while Sirra huffed impatiently with her hands on her hips.  "Oh, for the love of all the Paragons!  What does that mean?”

Alistair snorted softly at her dwarven curse and murmured in her ear.  “The mages are probably already dead. The Right allows for the Templars to kill everyone inside to prevent abominations escaping and any mages that might be alive from becoming possessed.”

Sirra reeled back in shock, staring at the older Templar, as fury bubbled within her.  “They are mages! They have magic! They can’t all be dead! You locked them in there and left them to their fate like cowards!”  

A hush descended on the room and he opened his mouth to refute her and regain his authority, but she cut him off with a slashing motion of her hand, glaring at him in defiance.  “I’m going in and I will save them, which is what you should have done! And when I return you will aid me against the Blight or so help me, you won’t be begging the Maker to spare your life, you will beg me.  Is that understood?”

“I assure you abominations are nothing to scoff about.”  The Templar closed the gap between them and stared down at her imperiously, attempting to intimidate her.

Flicking her throwing knife into her palm, she tossed it casually in the air, catching it by the hilt with ease, a murderous glint in her dark gaze.  “Do I look like I’m scoffing to you? I have confidence in my abilities. You really should thank me for doing your damn job, but if that’s below you then at the very least, get out of my fucking way.  I have people to rescue.”

5. Scene you haven’t written, but want to?

I have a few AU ideas, which would allow for some interesting scenes/scenarios, but I’m keeping them close to my chest right now.  I don’t know that they will ever come to fruition, but if they do, I want them to be a surprise.  

 Thanks for tagging me, friends! Tagging forward to @bigfan-fanfic @ginnyq @darlingrutherford @ranawaytothedas @somniaran @jacklyn-flynn and anyone else who would like to play!

[jadeile-writes]

Let’s talk about my newest fic spree because I wanna

First Imma talk Zelda. Hazbin will be discussed after. I’ll bold the first line of it so it’s easy to skip there if you’re so inclined.

But Zelda now.

Nobody has actually expressed any concerns about it, but I’m going to imagine that someone is losing sleep over this because it makes me feel important and stuff. And by "it”, I mean the “Shiiiit, she’s jumping fandoms, she is definitely going to abandon all things Zelda now and Adventure Gone Mini will never be finished and also the fandom will probably somehow combust without her, halp!”

That’s a valid concern. That happens a lot with writers, fanartists, and other content creators (and non-creators, but that’s less panic-worthy for most people). So, let me reassure you: I admit I’m a lot less enthusiastic about Mini nowadays, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to abandon it this easily. It started as and still is a passion project, and I’ve actually managed to write it consistently for over a year now, which is unheard of with me.

I’ve admittedly occasionally considered taking a break from it, but I’m well aware that if I stop writing it for any amount of time, chances are I’ll procrastinate getting back to it until eventually it’s officially forever unfinished. I’m not willing to risk that, which was actually the reason why I stopped publishing a new chapter every two weeks and switched to three weeks a few months ago. That way my flagging enthusiasm got balanced by having more time to get it done without it being a chore. That works really well, too. I can certainly keep this up since it’s already a routine and I do actually know where the story is going and everything. All I need to do is write it. Sometimes it’s boring and uninspired, sometimes I’m hella happy doing it, but the bottom line is that I’m able to do it regardless of my mood for it.

I’m not sure if I’ll do the Mini sequel I’ve occasionally talked about in my comment replies. It may just be that I’ll sigh out of relief when I’m finally done with Mini and decide to simply let it go. I can’t say yet. I mean, the sequel wouldn’t be anything much anyway, just revisiting the characters and places, having Zelda drop by, a peek at Sidon’s magical training, stuff like that, probably in the form of drabble chapters. So it wouldn’t really be that hard to write, but I can’t estimate my inspiration for it at this point. We shall see. It’s still months away, since Mini is far from done.

I’m not sure if I’ll really get back to that Revalink fic I’ve advertised in my blogs here and at Ko-fi, even if I don’t yet actually feel like dropping it. I mean, it’d be a breath of fresh air anyway, since it’s a different ship and timeline (as in, before Calamity). So who knows.

I’m reasonably sure I won’t be starting any new Sidlink fics, though that’s partly because I’ve already explored the ship so thoroughly with the fics I have that it’d feel repetitive. So that’s one thing you shouldn’t hold your breath for. I’m sorry.

As for the fandom as a whole... There’s the sequel to BotW coming up, so it just might toss me right back into the fandom right when I feel like I’m done being super active here (for the record, I typically don’t really leave fandoms forever, I just stop being obsessed). So, there’s still solid hope for more BotW fics in the future. But for now I’m definitely only doing Mini, and then my other fandoms on the side.

Oh, speaking of that. Yes, I’m writing hella lot of fics for Hazbin Hotel, and it might feel like I’m neglecting Mini by using my time for these other fics instead, but that’s not the case. I still have my weekly regular writing hour dedicated to Mini alone; no other fic is being written at that particular slot of time, and Mini keeps being steadily written. The other fics are written at random times, and that time would not be spent on writing Mini even if I stopped writing the other fics. I’d probably just use that time playing Pokémon Sword instead or reading other people’s fanfics or watching youtube or something. So, no need for jealousy or worry there.

Now, let’s talk Hazbin Hotel.

If you’re following me on ffnet or AO3, or simply keep an eye on the new Hazbin fics in general, you may have noticed that I published the first chapter of Aceducation yesterday. The next chapter will be published tomorrow. Yay! And the last chapter will be up this Thursday. Excite!

I’m actually very proud of the fact that I got a grip and wrote the last chapter that quickly after promising I’d get it done soon.

...Yes, of course there is an ulterior motive for being so prompt about it.

And that motive is that I want to start publishing “Shit, the Radio Demon is a part of my afterlife”, or Afterlife for short, soon. I mean, since I plan on publishing one chapter a week, I already have a buffer of seven weeks at hand (yes, I finished chapter six today, so there is no longer an awkward gap between chapters there). That’s a long time to be used to write more, and also a long time for me to wait for my readers to catch up to the new stuff cause I’m excited about everything and I want you guys to see it : | So, I don’t want to wait any longer.

I don’t want to be wasteful about my general fic output by publishing all the fics at once, tho, so I needed to get the shorter fic, Aceducation, out of the way. That is, unless I wanted to hold onto it until after Afterlife was done, which would be months away with the once-a-week-and-over-ten-chapters schedule. Hence, suddenly a lot of motivation to get it done and published asap XD

Now, the question on your mind should be “Okay, so when do we get the first chapter of Afterlife?” And I have already decided on the answer: 6th of December.

Why that date? Multiple reasons. Starting with the fact that Aceducation will take until Thursday to be fully published, and I’m not publishing both fics at once. Secondly, since I update this blog on Saturdays, I want to hold on publishing the first chapter of Afterlife until after the next Saturday, purely so that I can officially put the posting date on the Update blog and post a spoiler snippet of the first chapter here before the actual publishing. Thirdly, and this is a long game reason, because of my Zelda epic, Adventure Gone Mini. I update Mini every three weeks on Wednesdays. Now, Sunday and Monday would be viable options for a weekly updating of another chapter fic, but I just don’t wanna. Tuesday is not an option, because then I’d be flooded with Hazbin feedback on Wednesday and that’d distract me from Mini (although that’s what I’m doing with Aceducation right now, ironically enough). Thursday I’ll be receiving feedback from Mini, so that’d be distracting me from Afterlife. But Friday works well long term, so Friday it is : D

If you feel like you can’t wait that long for the first chapter of Afterlife... well, I have it worse, trust me. I’m dying to post right this damn second XD That damn itch started the moment I finished writing chapter six today and was like “Huh, now I have seven consecutive chapters done. That’s seven weeks of content, and took me maybe two weeks to write. I now have seven weeks to write the rest of this fic, and obviously every finished chapter will bump that by one more week. ... ... why aren’t I already publishing the first chapter so that my future readers can start reading already agdakhdgkagdkga!!”

So yeah, I suppose that’s all I have to say. And this essay is about 1400 words long, which I would happily publish as a oneshot or a chapter if this was a fanfic. Can’t I stop being a writer for one damn second? Heh, see you around, my lovely readers!

[proxylynn]

Lynchtale: File Name Game of Death #3

Chapter 3: Know the rules, so you can break them.

WARNING: THIS IS A MATURE STORY THAT WILL HAVE BLOOD, GORE, PSYCHOLOGICAL SURVIVAL HORROR, HEAVY CURSING, AND LIKELY SEXUAL THEMES/BONING. I DO NOT OWN UNDERTALE, THAT BELONGS TO LORD TOBY FOX. I DO NOT OWN DEAD BY DAYLIGHT, THAT BELONGS TO BEHAVIOUR DIGITAL INC.. I DON'T OWN THE AU'S THAT SOME OF THE CHARACTERS COME FROM, THEY BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE CREATORS. I DON'T OWN THE IDEA FOR LYNCHTALE, THAT BELONGS TO PUNNYSIDEUP (AKA. SANSFULPUNS). WHAT I DO OWN IS MY SELF-INSERT OC ANOMALY LYNSIE AND THE LOVE OF FAN PARODY. IF YOU'RE STILL READING THIS, THEN CONGRATULATIONS ON EITHER BEING ONE WITH STRONG DETERMINATION OR AN ENDLESS WILL TO OVERCOME THE CHALLENGE OF STOMACHING WHAT I HAVE IN MIND. EITHER WAY, IF YOU LIKE THIS AND/OR MY OTHER CONTENT, SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. HAVE FUN SINNERS. ^_^

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Elsewhere: Killer Shack]

*CLANG-CLANG*

"Tra la la. The meeting will now come to order."

Wraith materializes and gets the other killers attention.

"As we have been doing for the last five feed cycles...Tra la la...We will now see if anyone has encountered the new Survivor. Show of hands?"

The room is very still. Till one hand goes up in a cocky way.

"YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING."

Trapper says bitterly.

"IF ANYONE SHOULD'VE GOTTEN TO HAVE A STAB AT THE NEW MEAT IT'S ME. I AM THE FIRST CHOSEN. IT IS MY RIGHT TO SPILL THEIR PATHETIC BLOOD UPON THE NEW HUNT."

This is indeed true. While not technically oldest killer, by place in time that's no doubt Plague as she's from a time between 1895-539 BC and by age that is up for questioning as time has no effect on them thus they haven't aged nor have they cared to ask what any of them were, but Trapper does hold the title of first taken by the Entity so he is the senior killer. In order of their arrival there was Trapper, Wraith, Hillbilly, Nurse, Shape, Hag, Doctor, Huntress, Cannibal, Nightmare, Pig, Clown, Spirit, Legion, Plague, and the latest one recruited being Ghost Face. But screw this seniority hierarchy bullshit! Legion's grin is wide, full of bravado, and no one likes it.

"Legion, is it true? Did you come across the human in your trial? Tra la la."

"ah, what's the matter? can't stand that it wasn't any of you that got to have fun with the new meat? well, suck it! that was one of the best hunts i've had ever! *manic laughter*"

Ghost Face creeps his way nearby.

"My my...Two of us now has had her all to themselves. Tell us, darling, how did it go? Was she as Wraith told us? How did you kill her? Details. They are important. Do share."

Feeling like the cock of the walk, Legion puts his hands in his pockets coolly.

"now i'm not one to kill and tell, but since you asked...i didn't kill her."

This gets some odd looks his way.

".........?"

"The Shape is right, deary. How did you not kill her?"

Plague asks legitimately.

"heh...i'll tell you, but i want something in exchange."

"✡⚐🕆 ⚐☠☹✡ 👍⚐☠❄✋☠🕆☜ ❄⚐ ✌💣✌☪☜ 💣☜ 🕈✋❄☟ ❄☟☜ ☜✞☜☼ ☝☼⚐🕈✋☠☝ ☹☜✞☜☹💧 ⚐☞ 👌⚐☹👎☠☜💧💧 ✡⚐🕆 ☝☜❄ ✌💧 ❄✋💣☜ 🏱✌💧💧☜💧📬" (YOU ONLY CONTINUE TO AMAZE ME WITH THE EVER GROWING LEVELS OF BOLDNESS YOU GET AS TIME PASSES.)

The Doctor remarks with a thought they all shared.

"trust me. the info i got is worth it. all i want is a gruesome gateau. and i know at least one of you still has one. you give me that, and i'll tell you every single thing that went down. every...last...little...detail."

"For the Entity's sake! Someone pay the man! I can't take this tease!"

Ghost Face is a needy one. But as a recently recruited killer, it's not like he had the item of request.

"How do we know what you have to say is worth it? For all we know, you're just playing us like a fox with a hare."

Huntress makes a valid point.

"fine. if you really need a sample...she helped me kill the other humans."

This little snippet of what he knew is just tempting enough to win over the majority.

"I shall deliver the offering to you after the meeting, dear."

Nurse says politely and Legion rubs his hands together deviously.

"alright. thank you kindly, lady. now gather round papa legion, kiddies, for i got quite the story to tell."

And he wasn't lying. Legion tells them everything. From her unique terror radius, to her resentment leading to betrayal, and her bizarre behavior before he stopped it from getting worst, to then letting her escape through the hatch. The only things he didn't mention are the small joke moments and the personal torture time. Somethings are just to enjoyed by the ones involved. Not like she enjoyed it. But he certainly did.

"T-This human is an odd one. They n-normally don't t-turn on each other unless w-we're going at them hard."

Pig stutters in thought.

"I'LL GIVE HER CREDIT. SHE DIDN'T STAND FOR THEIR BULLSHIT."

Trapper says with a smirk.

"Come on. she's just a messed up Human. quit sucking her dick like she's the god of all Humans."

Nightmare spats unimpressed.

"hAG thought human was she?"

Oh, Hag, you special bundle of try. Nightmare just glares and shakes his head, he's not one known for his patience.

"What do you think, Doctor? Tra la la."

"✋ ❄☟✋☠😐 ❄☟☜ 💣⚐☼☜ ✋☠❄☜☼☜💧❄✋☠☝ ✌💧🏱☜👍❄ ⚐☞ ☹☜☝✋⚐☠🕯💧 ✌👍👍⚐🕆☠❄ 🕈✌💧 ❄☟✌❄ 💣⚐💣☜☠❄ ☠☜✌☼ ❄☟☜ ☜☠👎📬 ✋❄ 💧☜☜💣☜👎📬📬📬⚐👎👎☹✡ ☼☜💣✋☠✋💧👍☜☠❄📬" (I THINK THE MORE INTERESTING ASPECT OF LEGION'S ACCOUNT WAS THAT MOMENT NEAR THE END. IT SEEMED...ODDLY REMINISCENT.)

"You mean the part where she was TURNING?"

That got them to look at Spirit.

"What? You can't tell me it's not OBVIOUS."

"*cough* Would you care to explain? *hack*"

Clown snarkily questioned through his smoker's lung-like coughing.

"I mean, I don't know if any of you remember, but I know the ENTITY likes to do things to the ones IT LIKES. You can't believe we LOOK LIKE THIS ON PURPOSE."

She brought up a good point. They didn't remember much about their pasts, but they knew most of them weren't as disfigured when they first were claimed by the Entity. Trapper didn't put the iron rods and hooks into his bones. Nurse didn't choke herself with a pillowcase over her head. Hag didn't cake herself in muck and deform her hands. Spirit didn't impale her body in shards of glass and she didn't sever her arms or implant a sword in one. Legion didn't merge with other people because they wanted to. Doctor didn't strap himself into his electroconvulsive gear to pry his eyes and mouth open, nor did he stream the wires into his bones. Wraith didn't lose it's form and identity because it felt like doing so. These were things the Entity did, taking what it knew of them and adding to them, sometimes as a punishment. Sure, other killers didn't go through such visible changes like them. Huntress and Clown only seemed to have blackened out eyes, like a creepy doll or a monstrous shark. Shape, Pig, Ghost Face, and Cannibal were unknowns as they wore masks and tended to don fully covering outfits. The hardest to tell if the Entity did anything to were Plague, Hillbilly, and Nightmare. All three were brought in with some sort of disfigurement so its really hard to say what was done to them if anything.

"SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS...THAT HUMAN, FOR WHATEVER REASON, WAS BECOMING A MONSTER?"

Trapper has a totally non-asshole sounding tone.

"That's my IDEA at least."

It is just an suspicion Spirit had and nothing concrete.

"...THAT'S JUST STUPID."

Never mind, Trapper is just an asshole.

"You shouldn't dismiss it so soon. Tra la la. Nothing is beyond reason when it comes to the Entity."

A very good point made by Wraith.

"✋☞ ❄☟✋💧 ❄☟☜⚐☼✡ ✋💧 ❄⚐ 👌☜ 👌☜☹✋☜✞☜👎📪 🕈☜ 💣🕆💧❄ ☼🕆☠ ✋❄ ❄☟☼⚐🕆☝☟ ✌ ❄☜💧❄📬" (IF THIS THEORY IS TO BE BELIEVED, WE MUST RUN IT THROUGH A TEST.)

Doctor being doctor, always wanting to experiment.

"..........?"

Good question asked by Shape.

"✋ 🏱☼⚐🏱⚐💧☜ ❄☟✌❄ 🕈☜ ✌☝☼☜☜ ❄⚐ ☼🕆☠ ❄☟✋💧 ☟🕆💣✌☠ ❄☟☼⚐🕆☝☟ ✌ 💧☜☼✋☜💧 ⚐☞ 💧❄☼☜💧💧 ❄☜💧❄💧📬 ☞☼⚐💣 🕈☟✌❄ ☹☜☝✋⚐☠ 👎☜💧👍☼✋👌☜👎📪 ☟☜☼ ☜💣⚐❄✋⚐☠✌☹ 💧❄✌❄☜ 💣✌✡ 🏱☹✌✡ ✌ ☼⚐☹☜ ✋☠ ❄☟✋💧 ����❄🕆☼☠✋☠☝🕯 👌☜☟✌✞✋⚐☼📬 ✌☠✡ ⚐☞ 🕆💧 ❄☟✌❄ ☝☜❄ ❄⚐ ☟🕆☠❄ ☟☜☼ ☠☜✠❄ 💧☟⚐🕆☹👎 🕆💧☜ ❄☟☜ 💧❄☼✌☠☝☜ ☼✌👎✋🕆💧 ❄⚐ ☞✋☠👎 ☟☜☼ ✌☠👎 💣✌😐☜ ❄☟✋☠☝💧 ✌💧 ✋☼☼✋❄✌❄✋☠☝ ✌💧 🏱⚐💧💧✋👌☹☜📬" (I PROPOSE THAT WE AGREE TO RUN THIS HUMAN THROUGH A SERIES OF STRESS TESTS. FROM WHAT LEGION DESCRIBED, HER EMOTIONAL STATE MAY PLAY A ROLE IN THIS 'TURNING' BEHAVIOR. ANY OF US THAT GET TO HUNT HER NEXT SHOULD USE THE STRANGE RADIUS TO FIND HER AND MAKE THINGS AS IRRITATING AS POSSIBLE.)

Toxicity works on both ends of this twisted game.

"What of the other Survivors, deary? Surely they won't let a fellow human go attacked for very long."

Crud, a flaw pointed out by Plague.

"*scoff* those idiots? after that trial and the stunt she pulled, they're going to be looking for reasons to let her get hooked."

A very sad but true fact stated by Legion.

"✌☹☹ ❄☟☜ 👌☜❄❄☜☼ ☞⚐☼ ❄☟✋💧 🏱☹✌☠📬 🕈✋❄☟ ☟☜☼ ❄☜✌💣 ☞🕆☼❄☟☜☼ ✋💧⚐☹✌❄✋☠☝ ☟☜☼ ✌☠👎 🕈✋❄☟ 🕆💧 💣✌😐✋☠☝ ❄☟✋☠☝💧 👎✋☞☞✋👍🕆☹❄📪 ✋❄ 💧☟⚐🕆☹👎☠🕯❄ 👌☜ ❄⚐⚐ ☟✌☼👎 ❄⚐ 💣✌😐☜ ☟☜☼ 💧☠✌🏱 🕆☠👎☜☼ ❄☟☜ 🏱☼☜💧💧🕆☼☜📬" (ALL THE BETTER FOR THIS PLAN. WITH HER TEAM FURTHER ISOLATING HER AND WITH US MAKING THINGS DIFFICULT, IT SHOULDN'T BE TOO HARD TO MAKE HER SNAP UNDER THE PRESSURE.)

Cue the dramatic evil music score followed by the rumblings of thunder and lighting.

"Oh man, this is gonna be awesome! That punk is going down!"

Huntress needs very little reason to hunt humans.

"oH! hAG have question!"

A simple one is the Hag, questioning things is her specialty.

"Yes? Tra la la."

"WhaT happENS when the hooman sNaps?"

Not a bad question really.

"The darling does bring up a fair point. If and when the human does crack, what then?"

As curious as he is, Ghost Face is a cautious one and thinks ahead when it comes to his methods.

"don't know. i didn't let things get that far. she was hurting herself to make it stop when i stabbed her."

The mystery continues to mystify.

"☟💣💣💣📬📬📬❄☟☜☠ 🕈☜ 👎⚐ ☟✌✞☜ ✌ 💧💣✌☹☹ 👍☹🕆☜ ✌💧 ❄⚐ 🕈☟✌❄ ❄⚐ 👎⚐ ✋☞ 💧☟☜ 👌☜👍⚐💣☜💧 ✌ 🏱☼⚐👌☹☜💣📬 💧☜☹☞ 🏱✌✋☠ 👎☜☹✌✡💧 ❄☟✋💧 🕯❄🕆☼☠✋☠☝🕯 👌🕆❄ ✋❄🕯💧 ☠⚐❄ ✌💧 💧❄☼⚐☠☝ ✌💧 ❄☼🕆☜ ☟✌☼💣☞🕆☹ ✋☠❄☜☠❄📬 ❄☟☜☼☜☞⚐☼☜📬📬📬✋☞ ❄☟☜ ☟🕆💣✌☠ 👎⚐☜💧 ✋☠👎☜☜👎 💧☠✌🏱📪 🕈☜ ✌☼☜ ❄⚐ 💣⚐☠✋❄⚐☼ ☟☜☼ ✌☠👎 ☹☜✌☼☠ 🕈☟✌❄ ❄☟✋💧 💧❄✌❄☜ 💣☜✌☠💧 ☞⚐☼ 🕆💧📬 ☟⚐🕈☜✞☜☼📪 ✋☞ 💧☟☜ 👌☜👍⚐💣☜💧 ✌☠ ✋💧💧🕆☜ ❄☟☜☠ 👌✡ ✌☹☹ 💣☜✌☠💧 👎⚐ 🕈☟✌❄ ✋❄ ❄✌😐☜💧 ❄⚐ 😐☠⚐👍😐 ☟☜☼ 👌✌👍😐 ✋☠❄⚐ ☟☜☼ ☠⚐☼💣✌☹ 💧❄✌❄☜📬 👎⚐☜💧 ❄☟✋💧 💧⚐🕆☠👎 ☼☜✌💧⚐☠✌👌☹☜ ❄⚐ ❄☟☜ ☼☜💧❄ ⚐☞ ✡⚐🕆✍" (HMMM...THEN WE DO HAVE A SMALL CLUE AS TO WHAT TO DO IF SHE BECOMES A PROBLEM. SELF PAIN DELAYS THIS 'TURNING' BUT IT'S NOT AS STRONG AS TRUE HARMFUL INTENT. THEREFORE...IF THE HUMAN DOES INDEED SNAP, WE ARE TO MONITOR HER AND LEARN WHAT THIS STATE MEANS FOR US. HOWEVER, IF SHE BECOMES AN ISSUE THEN BY ALL MEANS DO WHAT IT TAKES TO KNOCK HER BACK INTO HER NORMAL STATE. DOES THIS SOUND REASONABLE TO THE REST OF YOU?)

A general sound of acceptance is let out. It's settled.

"hey!"

Oh? Seems something is still on Legion's mind.

"let's get something straight before any of you get ideas when dealing with her. she's mine. so don't go thinking you can have any fun times with her."

This declaration gets their attention.

"Yours?"

Hillbilly is befuddled.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO CLAIM OBSESSION RIGHTS TO THE NEW MEAT?"

Trapper sneers.

"trying to claim? no. i already staked it. i sliced my name into her chest. that human belongs to me."

Obsession rights are not easy to get among killers. Currently, only three had them. Shape claimed the human named Laurie, Nightmare claimed the human named Quentin, and Pig claimed the human named Tapp. They were able to do this because they were brought here along with said humans. Sure, other humans have been brought from spots where the killers came from, but this didn't count as there is no direct affiliation. Legion would have to make a very strong case to pass this before the others.

"Did he just say...?"

Cannibal can't even finish.

"You cocky little shit!"

Ghost Face grabs Legion and pins him against a wall.

"What gives you the right to mark the human before bringing up your claim? Do you want me to kick your ass?"

Before things escalate, Shape comes and parts them from each other.

".........."

"But he broke the rules!"

"....."

Ghost Face huffs in annoyance and backs off, leading to Shape turning to Legion.

".........?"

"don't make it sound like something it's not. she's just a quirky human that happened to make killing more interesting. that's it. marking her was a heat of the moment thing. but i figured, what the hell, this might lead to more fun in the future. so i did it."

".............?"

"*scoff* please. don't give me that crap. if you three can handle your unwilling toys, then i should have no trouble with a plaything that actually will play back."

".......?"

"what? no, i'm not going to stalk her. why would i?"

"See?! He can't even fill the role! His claim for obsession rights are trash!"

Ghost Face is clearly sour over this as stalking prey is kind of his thing. Shape is also a stalking killer, as is Nightmare and somewhat Pig. Hell, nearly all of them were stalkers in some way or another except for a few that couldn't help but make very obvious noise without the help of add-ons to quiet them down.

"geez, man. what crawled up your dress to make you such a bitch?"

"This isn't a dress! It's a shroud! For the killer that needs concealment, but craves attention. Black fabrics help give cover, white glossy textures provide fashionable accents. The long jacket helps to keep the rest of the clothes dry as blood splashes with each stab of the knife."

"whatever, weirdo."

"Fuck you!"

Aggravated with the both of them, Nurse slaps them both on the back of the head as a ticked off mom would do.

"Both of you quit this nonsensical squabbling. Honestly...Half the time I cannot tell you apart from babbling children whining over who took the last cookie from the jar."

"But he..."

"No buts. What is done is done. If Legion has marked his claim, I think he should keep it."

Nurse's words take a few back, though none could see the cunning smirk hidden behind that clothe hood.

"What say you, little man? Can you show us that your bite is as strong as your bark and actually do as you claim? Or will you prove the naysayers right by continuing to boast like a pitiful whelp starving for attention?"

Legion snarls.

"i am so sick of everyone talking down to me like i'm some sort of joke. well, you know what? fuck you! fuck all of you! i'm just as ruthless as you assholes, if not more so! i don't need your stinking approval. that human is mine. and i'm going to show you all that i'm not to be fucked with!"

Legion shows that he's a mature person by storming out of there like a fed-up kid going to brood in their room.

"You didn't have to goad him like that. Tra la la. You know how unpredictable he can be."

Nurse shrugs dismissively at Wraith.

"Funny. Because he reacted just as I predicted. Like a child."

"N-Now that he's gone, c-can we discuss his claim p-properly?"

Fairly asked by Pig.

"IF THE RUNT THINKS HE CAN HANDEL THINGS LIKE A MAN, THEN FUCK IT. LET HIM TRY. IT'LL BE HILARIOUS WHEN HE FAILS. AND IT'S NOT LIKE IT'LL ITERFER WITH US IN ANY WAY."

Ghost Face is not taking this line of talk from Trapper well.

"You can't be serious? What if I went out and claimed a human as my obsession? How would you react to that?"

"I'D BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU AND TAKE YOUR OFFERINGS."

"But...That's hypocrisy! Why can he get away with it and not me?!"

Trapper growls lowly.

"FOR ONE, HE'S BEEN HERE LONGER THAN YOU. YOU'VE BEEN HERE FOR ALMOST THREE MONTHS WORTH OF FEEDING CYCLES WHEREAS THIS WILL BE HIS NINTH. SECOND, YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A TERRITORY WHERE YOU CAN CONDUCT YOUR BUSINESS. YOU'VE BEEN LOITERING IN ALL OF OURS LIKE SOME BUM. AND THIRD, IT'S NOT AMUSING WHEN YOU FAIL. YOU ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND ENJOY IT. HIM ON THE OTHER HAND...?"

Trapper folds his arms and shuts his eyes.

"LEGION MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY THE ENTITY, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN HE'S A NATURAL KILLER."

Ghost Face is confused.

"What do you mean?"

"*SIGH* IT'S LIKE SPIRIT SAID, JUST LOOK AT US. WE DON'T LOOK LIKE THIS FOR NO REASON. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO REFUSE THE ENTITY'S OFFER OF SERVITUDE. IT DOESN'T TAKE REJECTION WELL."

"*cough* Typical woman. *hack*"

Clown is glared at venomously by the females for that.

"MY POINT BEING, SOME OF US ARE HERE BECAUSE THIS IS LIKE A PARADISE. ENDLESS SLAUGHTER AND NO REAL CONSEQUENCES. SO YOU PROBABLY TOOK TO IT WITH NO ISSUE. BUT FOR THE REST OF US, THE ONES THAT SAID NO AT THE START...WELL...YOU SEE WHY WE THEN SAID YES WHEN ASKED AGAIN."

"But what does that have to do with him?"

"BECAUSE HE SAID NO TO ALL THIS. HE MAY KILL BUT IT'S NOT SOMETHING HE WANTS TO DO. HE HAS TO DO IT. HE HAS TO PROVE HIMSELF. TO THE ENTITY, TO US, AND HIMSELF. IT SHOWS THAT HE KNOWS HE CAN DO BETTER. I RESPECT THAT DRIVE EVEN IF HE'S A LITTLE SHIT. AND AS ENTERTAINING AS IT IS TO SEE HIM FAIL, I'D BE LYING IF I SAID I WASN'T LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING HIM SUCCEED."

This doesn't seem to help Ghost Face at all.

"So just because I'm new, good at my job, and like it, I don't get to have the same rights as that jackass? That's bullshit!"

"NOT TO MENTION, YOU'RE ALSO A WHINY LITTLE BITCH THAT PISSES ME OFF."

"Fuck you!"

The sudden sound of bone on metal bashes when Trapper rushes over and punches Ghost Face's face, knocking the shrouded killer across the room.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE, NEWBIE. YOU WANT RIGHTS? RESPECT? POWER? THEN FUCKING EARN IT! DON'T BITCH ABOUT LIKE YOU'RE ENTITLED. TAKE TIME TO PROVE YOU SHOULD AND THEN WE'LL TALK."

Ghost Face sneers yet relents...for now. He'll have to bide his time and find some other way to play things his way.

"Um...Other than this stuff, are there any other matters that need to be brought up? Tra la la."

Wraith queries to which Huntress raises her ax up high.

"Oh! I have noticed the signs of an upcoming Blood Hunt."

"Hmmm...Tra la la...This is twice now one has come around All Hallows' Eve."

"☟⚐🕈 ✌🏱🏱☼⚐🏱☼✋✌❄☜📬 💧☜☜✋☠☝ ✌💧 ❄☟☜ ☟✌☹☹⚐🕈☜👎 👌☹✋☝☟❄ ✋💧 ❄☟☜☠ ✌💧 🕈☜☹☹📬" (HOW APPROPRIATE. SEEING AS THE HALLOWED BLIGHT IS THEN AS WELL.)

This gets some odd looks from Plague and Ghost Face.

"I will explain. Once a year for two weeks worth of feedings, the Entity undergoes a purge. During this period, the Entity is infested with blight. The cankers bloom into a strange type of flower that spurts putrid nectar. A thick fluid that oozes like pus from infected wounds."

Nurse explains.

"YOU FORGET THAT IT'S ALSO THE TIME WHERE THOSE OTHER ASSHOLES LIKE TO MESS WITH US. FUCKING HUMANS."

Trapper spits venomously.

"How are the humans trouble during that time, deary?"

"✋☞ ✡⚐🕆 ❄☟✋☠😐 ✋🕯💣 ❄🕈✋💧❄☜👎📪 ❄☟☜☼☜ ✌☼☜ ❄🕈⚐ ☟🕆💣✌☠ 💣✌☹☜💧 ❄☟✌❄ 🏱🕆❄ 💣☜ ❄⚐ 💧☟✌💣☜📬 ❄☟☜✡ ☟✌✞☜ ☜☹🕆👎☜👎 🕆💧 ✌☠👎 ☜✞☜☠ ❄☟☜ ☜☠❄✋❄✡ ☞⚐☼ ✈🕆✋❄☜ 💧⚐💣☜ ❄✋💣☜📬 ❄☟☜ 👍☹☜✞☜☼ 👌✌💧❄✌☼👎💧 ☹✋😐☜ ❄⚐ 👌☜ ☜✞☜☠ 👌⚐☹👎☜☼ ❄☟✌☠ ☹☜☝✋⚐☠ ✌☠👎 ✌👌👎🕆👍❄ 💧⚐💣☜ ⚐☞ 🕆💧📬" (IF YOU THINK I'M TWISTED, THERE ARE TWO HUMAN MALES THAT PUT ME TO SHAME. THEY HAVE ELUDED US AND EVEN THE ENTITY FOR QUITE SOME TIME. THE CLEVER BASTARDS LIKE TO BE EVEN BOLDER THAN LEGION AND ABDUCT SOME OF US.)

That's something they weren't expecting to hear.

"✋❄ 💧☜☜💣💧 ❄☟☜💧☜ ☟🕆💣✌☠💧 ☟✌✞☜ 💣✌👎☜ 💧⚐💣☜❄☟✋☠☝ ☞☼⚐💣 ❄☟✋💧 👌☹✋☝☟❄☜👎 🏱🕆💧💧📬 ✌ 🏱🕆❄☼✋👎 💧☜☼🕆💣📬 ❄☟✋💧 💧☜☼🕆💣📪 👍✌🕆💧☜💧 🕆💧 ❄⚐ 💣🕆❄✌❄☜ 🕈☟☜☠ ✋☠☺☜👍❄☜👎 🕈✋❄☟ ✋❄📬 ❄☟✌☠😐☞🕆☹☹✡📪 ❄☟✋💧 🏱✌✋☠☞🕆☹ 💣🕆❄✌❄✋⚐☠ ☹✌💧❄💧 ⚐☠☹✡ ✌💧 ☹⚐☠☝ ✌💧 ❄☟☜ 👌☹✋☝☟❄ ✋❄💧☜☹☞ ☞⚐☼ ❄☟☜ ☜☠❄✋❄✡📬" (IT SEEMS THESE HUMANS HAVE MADE SOMETHING FROM THIS BLIGHTED PUSS. A PUTRID SERUM. THIS SERUM, CAUSES US TO MUTATE WHEN INJECTED WITH IT. THANKFULLY, THIS PAINFUL MUTATION LASTS ONLY AS LONG AS THE BLIGHT ITSELF FOR THE ENTITY. )

"Who's been blighted before?"

To this question, five hands are put up. Trapper, Wraith, Hillbilly, Doctor, and Huntress.

"*cough* To their credit. It's not like they haven't tried on the rest of us. *wheeze* Nurse nearly got the stuff but only was messed up a little bit. *hack*"

"I had a pumpkin for a head. I would not call that a little messed up."

So this is a thing. A thing that no one thought they'd picture.

"Should we tell Legion about this? The dear is also not one that knows of this event or it's hassles."

"NAH. HE'LL FIND OUT ONE WAY OR ANOTHER."

"With that said, is there any further business in need of addressing? Tra la la."

No one has anything further after all of that.

"Very well. Tra la la. Meeting adjourned."

*CLANG-CLANG*

With that, Wraith vanishes and takes its leave among the other killers.

[Elsewhere: Survivor Campsite]

"'ow she doin'?"

David asks Claudette and Quentin, both of whom are tending to Lynsie who inexplicably collapsed after returning from the last trial.

"It's odd. There are no signs of anything physically wrong with her. Yet she seems to be suffering from Hypovolemia, a state of decreased intravascular volume. This may be due to either a loss of both salt and water or, the more likely culprit, a decrease in blood volume."

Claudette's so smart. It's no wonder she's the top healer of the group.

"She mentioned that Legion 'ad a bit of fun with 'er. Probably roughed 'er up pretty good. But the Entity should've fixed that. Right? The damn thing always does when we finish trial."

"I was thinking about that..."

Now for Quentin's evil theory of the day!

"From what Dwight said, the Entity was turning her into a killer. And from what we've found in those pages of Benedict Baker's journal, the Entity will punish killers that either don't perform well or downright refuse it. I think this was her punishment, a small warning, for refusing the Entity."

"And just 'ow would the big nasty in the sky know that?"

"Because that son of a bitch is everywhere."

Detective Tapp joins in on the conversion.

"I've been looking at this place like I would a crime scene. Trying to make some sense of things. It ain't easy. But some things are and the Red Stain is one of them."

"'ow do you figure that, ol' man?"

"Boy, I will slap you if you call me that again."

David rolls his eyes.

"Now from what I've gathered, I suspect that the intensity of the Stain is directly linked to the range of the Terror Radius the Killer has, meaning that Killers with a shorter Terror Radius have a fainter Stain and Killers with a larger Terror Radius have a stronger Stain."

"Makes sense so far."

"I also suspect that the Stain works as means for the Entity to watch over the trials directly through the Killer's eyes. An indication of this being the case is the of that Killer ability Beast of Prey, as the Stain is gone because the Killer momentarily loses their connection to the Entity and is free to roam due to their bloodlust being so strong."

"So the moment her eyes made the Stain..."

"The Entity knew. Probably saw through Legion's eyes why it wasn't working on her. Nutty kid for thinking she could fight off something like the Entity."

"Then what do we do?"

A not wild Dwight appears.

"About her I mean."

The group looks at the unconscious member with uncertainty.

"As much as I hate to agree with Nea, she does make a point. If at any moment for any reason a team member can suddenly start attacking the team, that does make her a liable threat."

Claudette makes a point.

"But it wasn't for just any reason. She only snapped because she was angry. Angry that we didn't even treat her like she was on the team."

Dwight says somberly.

"*scoff* Severs you fuckers right then. It's about time there was somethin' to put douchebags in there place around 'ere."

Judgmental eyes are cast onto David.

"What?"

"You have an annoying habit of trying to fight the monsters."

"So?"

"You end up dying 96% of the time."

"'ey, you 'ave the respect my 4% chance of doin' anythin'."

"Maybe if it was actually helpful."

"Says the twat that spends 'is 'elpful time 'indin' in lockers."

"Hey!"

"Will you both shut it. You're bickering isn't helping anyone."

Dwight huffs and David mutters curses under his breath.

"So getting back to the point, we've covered the whole she'll hulk out when angry. But what do we do when she does get in smash mode?"

Quentin's age really shows sometimes.

"The kid makes a good point. A silly one, but a point none the less."

"Thanks?"

"But what do we do if she does become a killer? It's not like we can take down a normal monster."

"The same thing we do to every other monster..."

Nea shouts.

"Bash them over the head with pallets!"

Nea's guide to toxicity rule #1: If there is a chance to smack something with a pallet, do it!

"Yeah...No. That just pisses people off more."

"We're lookin' for ways to not make 'er mad. I think bein' bashed in the 'ead contradicts that."

Nea folds her arms uncaring.

"I don't care if it makes her mad. The goal is to make what's chasing you stop the chase."

"By pissin' them off even more?"

"It's called tactical frustration, dingus! You make the other person so mad that they want nothing to do with you anymore."

"So bein' a cunt?"

"Fuck you!"

"Fuck you."

*CROWS CAW*

Fluttering shadows morph from the trees and scatter across the ever glowing gloom of the sky. This garners attention above all other matters.

"The crows..."

"Damn it! The Entity was listenin'."

"It's always listening, dork. It just normally doesn't care about what it hears."

"It cared now."

Meg interjects.

"The real question is...Why?"

"In my experience, it's never a good thing for when a supernatural interdimensional elder god takes interest in anything human-related."

Ash rings in with blunt truth. When something beyond human understanding meddles in human affairs it rarely ends without great suffering of some kind. But who would suffer? One of them? All of them? Humans? Monsters? Who bloody well knows?! That's the terrifying aspect of it. Fate's unpredictability.

[Elsewhere: The Void]

My eyes slowly open to fog. Nothing but dark thick fog. The kind of fog that doesn't just blind you but fucks with your other senses. There's this weird floating feeling even though I know I'm touching the ground. Or what I assume is ground. It's something solid and I just choose to believe its ground because I don't want to think of what it could be otherwise. The air has no smell to it, it's dull and messes with my nose. It even has a faint charred smoky taste to it like you've just licked some burnt charcoal. And as for sound, there is none. There's nothing but this weird dead silence that is just eerie enough that I can sense something is around but again all there is quiet. Moving around to explore is not an option. Not that I can't move, I just choose not to because fuck you, I don't want to be automatically killed by unknown danger like the last time I went off into obvious danger zones.

[The Entity sees that you are learning, little worm. No longer running off into the unknown. Very wise.]

Well, that doesn't make me feel better about the situation.

"Look, I'm not gonna beat around the bush here. You can easily mess me up in ways I probably wouldn't begin to think of just for giggles and I'm not dumb enough to piss you off to do so. So in the bluntest way I can think of asking...What the fraggle happened to me and where/why am I here, oh mighty Entity?"

My attitude started to kick in near the end so I figured a little cuteness will keep me from being turned inside out or something else fucked up.

[My, the Entity forgets how bothersome you worms can be. It is no wonder why we do not speak so often. But it is understandable that a worm would be confused by what the Entity does.]

It is at this moment that I come to believe the Entity speaks in the third person and yet in a way that is still grammatically fitting. I guess ego is next to godliness.

[You, you odd and yet interesting little worm, are a strange creature even by what the Entity knows. The Entity has brought you here so that things would be...well...less of a hassle.]

"Sounds reasonable so far. Yet where is HERE exactly?"

[This is the Void. Or that is what you worms tend to call it. It is a different plane of existence. A place where the Entity stores the broken worms that are no longer of any use.]

I remember being told about this place. The Survivors that have given up and lost all hope end up here as they aren't useful food anymore. That explains the feelings this place is giving me.

"Wow. One trial and you deem me Void worthy? Must be a record."

This earns it a bit of a laugh.

[Amusing. No, little worm, you have not warranted a spot of permanence here...yet. The Entity has brought you here for two reasons. The first, to tell you of your role and personal skills in this delicious game. The second will come later.]

I got skillz!

[These skills or Perks are abilities that the Entity is generous enough to allow you to have. Each side is given three, so you worms are just as capable as the beasts. You may choose to share these perks with the other worms or keep them to yourself and hone them to make yourself better. The choice is yours and yours alone.]

So I can either be a decent person and increase the whole team's chances of living or I can be a dick.

[Your first perk is named after that clever move you pulled in the trial...Snowball's Chance.]

This orange diamond or square standing on its points pops up in front of me and it depicts a glob being thrown.

[Snowball's Chance: Activatable Perk. While within the Killer's Terror Radius and in a Chase for 45 seconds activates Snowball's Chance. Once Snowball's Chance is activated, you may be able to scoop whatever you can grab from the ground to throw at or away from the Killer. Choosing the away option will create a loud noise notification for the Killer at a distance of 10/15/20 meters and provides a helpful distraction provided the Killer goes for it. Choosing the at Killer option, if hit in the face, will momentarily blind them as well as stun them, whereas a normal body hit merely provides a stun. Snowball's Chance deactivates once it has been used.]

"That...sounds badass."

Honestly, it kind of feels like an RGP game where I made up a move for my character and some game developer thought it was just cool enough to put the character/move into their game. I'm a fucking nerd and love this shit! The image in the diamond changes to a pic of me crawling with a sneaky grin.

[The second perk is called...Skulker's Instinct.]

Sounds ominous.

[Skulker's Instinct: Always Active Perk. Years of isolation and distrust have taught you a thing about the benefits of paranoia. You crawl close to the floor instead of crouching, this prevents you from leaving Scratch Marks and gives you faster movement speed compared to crouching by 90/95/100%. This level of stealth allows you to avoid alerting Crows but does spook other Survivors if you bump into them, making them yelp and alerting the Killer. Also, if injured, you know better than to make a sound, you hold in the sounds of pain for the first time at least. Any future injuries will cause you to whimper.]

"I suppose that's fair. And I can be creepy as hell, so the random spooking seems about right."

[The third perk is quite delightful. It is called...Breaking Point.]

That one doesn't sound so good and the image of me looking unhinged doesn't help either.

[Breaking Point: Triggered Perk. Due to your mental toughness, you can handle most stressful situations that would cripple a normal person. But you are only human and even you have a limit where things start to get under your skin. The more your team screws around and the Killer attacks you or hinders your progress, the frustrating stress will begin to pile on until you can take it no longer. Resentment Tier I: Your annoyance level begins to grow, you are more agitated and on your guard. Your speed is reduced by 15% and preforming Skill Checks gets hard to do. Resentment Tier II: All effects of Tier I. The continued stress is not helping you, you can not trust your teammates with even the simplest task and the Killer is not making matters better either. Your frustration makes performing Skill Checks extremely difficult as you are not as focused. You aren't sure how much more you can take. Resentment Tier III: All effects of Tier II. You can no longer take it. Everyone is against you. They want you to die. You have no choice. You must kill or be killed!]

This has me disturbed, to say the least.

"Uh..."

[Which leads into your special ability. The Entity has dubbed it...The Anomaly State.]

"Special ability?"

[Yes, special ability. All Killers have one.]

I'm not liking this anymore.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...Whoa! I am no killer."

[Oh sure. And what you did to Jake was merely some aggressive affection.]

"I didn't want to hurt him!"

[Yes you did.]

"No. I didn't!"

[Yes, you did. You wanted to hurt him for disrespecting you and talking down to you like some lowly worm. And how dare he do such a thing. He does not know you or your hardships. He lived a life of wealth and comfort. How dare he talk to you like he is superior.]

I know what it's doing. It's trying to talk to me like it's on my side. Like it cares. Appealing to me to make me believe in this false sympathy. It is cruel and manipulative...I fucking hate that It's worming into my head!

[And Dwight...He thinks he is so clever, telling you bits and pieces but not whole truths. If he was not willing to tell you everything before, what makes you think he will tell you anything now? Now that he has seen the beast in you.]

It's getting to me. I'm growling softly and making fists.

[Let us not forget David. Surely even you can see that he is merely using you. Pretending to be interested in something more when all he wants is your body. Do you believe that he will remain friendly once he had taken what he has wanted?]

Stop it! Stop making so much sense!

[Face it, little worm. It is as you have always known. You can not rely on others. They have their own motives and desires. No one will help you out of innocence. There is always something others want from you and will do anything to get it. Even if those means include toying with your very heart.]

"And why should I believe you? You have your own motives too."

[That is true. Yet my motive is very clear and the Entity can not lie. The Entity gains no matter if the beasts or worms are successful. The Entity is neither your friend or foe, though you may believe otherwise.]

Damn it! I hate it when something obviously bad makes incredibly good points!

[Now, if you will allow the Entity to continue, the Entity will explain further.]

I bite my tongue. Nothing I say matters to this thing anyway. It's only humoring me for the time being.

[Each Killer has a very unique Power. Each is distinct and stands out from the others. You are no different...and yet you are. This is due to your soul.]

"My soul?"

[Yes. That soul of yours is not natural for one of your kind. It is...rather delectable.]

Creepy.

[But its oddness is why we are speaking and why the Entity sees fit in gifting you such rare power.]

Dare I ask?

"And what be this power that you would bestow upon me?"

It's freaky in how I can almost feel it smirk. The diamond thing changes to a gray square and now shows a split shot of my face. One side is normal. The other side is like Batman villain Twoface.

[Special Ability: Anomaly State. Upon Breaking Point's Resentment Tier III activation, you will undergo a notable mental breakdown and such a snap opens you up to the Entity. The touch of the Entity leaves burning scars and blisters of light. Is it a gift or a curse? That's up to you as you become the Corrupted Survivor. This tainted essence is always within you, giving off a radius that Killers can pick up on and use to track you down similar to the one you can hear to know when a Killer is close by. As the Corrupted Survivor, you only have one goal...Survive. Your team is a liability, holding you down and keeping you in harm's way. Killing them will increase your odds of making it out alive. The fewer there are, the fewer things they can get in the way of. These actions will please the Entity but the real Killer might not be happy about you stealing its prey. True Killers can still attack and kill you in this state, so even they are just another obstacle in your way. You can not kill a Killer. But you can incapacitate them for a short time and allowing you to finish what you have started. Taking down a Killer grants you immeasurable Bloodlust, making your movement speed increase to 10.0 m/s and letting you see the auras of any remaining Survivors for 3 seconds.]

Not gonna lie, that both is blood-chilling and thrilling at the same time.

[However...]

Oh?

[Just as there are ways to trigger this False Killer state, there are ways to prevent and reverse you back to normal. So long as your team performs as you think they should and do not mess up often, Breaking Point will not activate. If Breaking Point is activated and only at Tier I, the effects can be undone by your team avoiding injuring for 2 minutes or repairing 1 generator. If Breaking Point is activated and at Tier II, your team will need to do better by avoiding damage for 4 minutes or repairing 2 generators. If Breaking Point is activated and at Tier III, Anomaly State will activate. If Anomaly State is active, your team can try to revert you to normal by either proving their worth in doing tasks needed to escape or cause you enough pain to regain some clarity. Proving their worth can be done by restoring generators, healing teammates, hindering the real Killer, and unlocking the gates. Clarity through pain is done by blinding with flashlights, being stunned with pallet drops, being disoriented by firecrackers, and being stabbed by carried victims. If Anomaly State is undone, there is a cooldown time of 4 minutes before Breaking Point can trigger again. Killers can also use pain to revert you to normal, with enough damage from clashing with the real Killer you will be back to being just another piece of meat waiting to be hooked.]

The square thing disappears but not the imprint of what has just been told to me. I am now a living version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. At any point in a trial, I can be driven into such rage that I will start to kill my team.

[What say you, little worm? Do you like the gifts the Entity has given you?]

Don't be a smartass. This is basically a god you're dealing with. Pissing it off will only add more salt and acid to this wound I call existence. Though it could do without the condescending tone.

"Though I'm not sure why you've done so, I am flattered you've went to such trouble. Thank you, oh mighty Entity."

Why is it now that I realize I'm talking to a voice in my head? And why does it feel normal? I am strangely okay with this and I am not okay with that.

[Good. Very good. The Entity appreciates this version of you. Perhaps you are now more willing to play by the rules and will not have to be punished for very long.]

This confuses me.

"I'm sorry?"

[Oh, you will be. There are consequences for disobedience, little worm. And the Entity does not like it when others try to deny that which is meant to be.]

The ground beneath me rumbles for a moment before I lose my balance and end up impaled through the gut by something that has my heart stop. A spidery-like claw is jutting from my insides and weirdly enough there is no blood. Yet there is pain. Lots and lots of pain! My roar is harsh and hurts my throat. But the claw is merely the beginning. The ground pushes up more and more claws protrude out, making like I'm in the palm of a massive hand.

"Holy shit..."

The claws crush around me, twisting my torso to the side and pointing me up towards what I guess is a sky.

[You will be a good little worm and embrace the power given to you.]

"Yes! I swear I'll be good!"

The claws tighten, my bones ache in pain, and the claw coming out of me twitches slowly down to etch its tip against my head.

[And you will no longer harm yourself.]

"I promise! I promise!"

[Good girl.]

The claw's tip beings to force itself into my skull.

[While you do say the needed things, the Entity believes you should still learn from your defiance. It will be some time before your body regenerates the blood you lost during the trial and allow you to fully wake up. So till then, the Entity will happily make sure you know just how things work here. Your first lesson, what happens when you bring the displeasure of refusal and failure to please the Entity.]

It inches painfully deeper into my brain. My howls are deafening yet have no echo in this place, the fog damping all sound.

[Yes. Wail all you like. Suffering adds such flavor to the soul. And the fear...Tasty, tasty, beautiful fear. Truly it is the spice of life. You worms all taste so much better when you are afraid.]

This is merely the beginning of a very long and agonizingly drawn-out torture. Since this is basically my spirit/mind in this Void, any harm done is all going to further fuck over my mental health and probably going to make it easier to break when under similar stress. All I know is I'm not coming out of this unscathed.

(UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF TIME LATER)

With a loud gasp and violent bolt upright, I finally cast my eyes on something other than the claws of the Entity exploring new ways of doing awful things to me. My body is shaking. Ears ringing. And there's a searing burn coming from my chest. My senses are so dull that once I register that there's something on my shoulder I throw myself halfway across the camp in fear that the claws have come back and I hold myself in sheer fright. Of course that's not really the case. It was just David. Yet this does little to calm my panicking heart and rapid breathing.

"Whoa now. Take it easy, Luv. It's only me."

He takes a few steps towards me before stopping at the blocking arm of Jane.

"Oi, what's your deal?"

"Look at her. She needs a moment. Just give her a bit of space before you go over there."

He grumbles to himself but listens to the woman. Allowing me to regain some semblance of normality. My brain catches up to what is really around me and very slowly settles down from the adrenaline that comes from being fucking terrorized by the Entity for who knows how long. Speaking of which...

"H-How long?"

Did...Did my voice just crack? Geez, I'm messed up if I can't even control that basic function.

"How long what?"

Laurie comes near but keeps a fair distance from me.

"How long was I gone?"

This question has them looking at me funny. I don't like how they're looking at me.

"Gone?"

"Luv, you never left camp."

Granted, they have no clue what I meant by "gone". Still, telling me anything else like "we're not sure" or a number of trials that went by while I slept would be much better. Instead, this dumb answer feels like they're talking to me like a child and it pisses me off.

"Don't talk down to me and tell me how long I've been out!"

My head throbs, both in lingering pain and frustration.

"A while..."

Adam's input is made.

"At least ten or so trials past since you blacked out."

Okay, but what does that mean? A day? Two days? A week? Why haven't these numbnuts found a way to measure time?!

"Too long...Too god damn long..."

I move to stand but find my legs a bit wobbly. Claudette brings a medkit over.

"Try not to move around too fast or so much. You don't want to hurt yourself."

I huff a slight snarl.

"Don't waste that kit. Just teach me Self-Care so I can take care of myself."

Her face, among the others, is shocked.

"How do you know about...?"

"Your Perks?"

I cut her off merely to shut her up so I can explain. Otherwise, we'll be here playing 20 Questions till trial starts.

"I know your Perks. I know ALL of your Perks. It wouldn't let me leave without knowing everything. Forcing each and every bit of information you all failed to tell me so deep into my skull that I'm sure it erased what little childhood memories I had left to do so."

I point at her.

"Your three Perks are Botany Knowledge, Empathy, and Self-Care."

"I don't understand. We never told you..."

"Are you ignoring me or just stupid? It told me EVERYTHING. The Entity told me the things none of you ever bothered to. Like seeing Auras, Scratch Marks, Add-ons, Sabotaging Hooks, Cleansing Totems, and some weird-ass shit called the Bloodweb. Which, by the way, thank you all for being so nice in telling me. It really means a lot that you are all so nice and caring. Oh, wait, no you're not. You're all a bunch of bastards!"

My head pangs harder. A foreboding sense of dread tingles my spine.

"Easy now. Please calm down."

Dwight's voice seems almost distantly muffled in my ears.

"I know you're upset. But you don't need to get worked up over it."

This almost has me seeing red.

"Worked up? You haven't seen worked up. This isn't me upset. This is me after the Entity has had it's fun! Punishing me. Doing god awful things to me...Being killed by the monsters is a dream compared to the nightmare I suffered!"

Nea scoffs.

"Geez. Overly dramatic much?"

My eye twitches and the pain in my head is getting worse. I roar out in agonizing discomfort.

"Stop it! Stop pissing me off! I can't control the beast at Tier III!"

The mentioning of something like a tier gets attention. Though my throbbing head isn't helping me in trying to concentrate. Suddenly, mostly because the pain made my eyes shut, David surprises me by grabbing hold of my face and forcing me to lock eyes with him.

"Look at me. Ignore them, Luv. I got you. Block everythin' else that ain't me. Do that for me, Luv. I know you can."

His eyes. Dark brown and intense yet soft. Why can't I look away?

"That's my girl. Focus on this mug of mine and know it's gonna be okay."

It takes a moment before I regain the memory to blink. In this state, it's easy to get lost in those eyes of his. His smirk is also strangely reassuring.

"Heh. Trippy."

"What?"

"Did you know that your eyes change color?"

"Yeah. Not sure why or when it happens."

"They were kinda red-orange before and now dullin' to light brown."

"Normally they're ether light brown, hazel, light green, or some mix of those. Any other color is rare and just tends to happen."

He smiles.

"So...Feelin' better?"

"A little bit."

"Anythin' I can do to make that little bit bigger?"

I bite my tongue.

"Come on. You can tell me."

I start to blush.

"...Hug?"

He surprised yet I'm the one more shocked that he actually does it. His embrace has me feeling so weak. I tremble, wanting to give in and break down. To cry and let this pain out. But I don't. I won't let myself be so open. Not around them. Not even him.

"'ow about now?"

I just nod against him.

"Do you...I don't know...Wanna talk about stuff?"

[You may choose to share these Perks with the other worms or keep them to yourself and hone them to make yourself better. The choice is yours and yours alone.]

The Entity's words come back to me like a whisper on the wind. Part of me really wants to make them suffer as I have. But I don't want to be like them.

"Okay...But only because there's important stuff to tell you guys."

"Do you want me to stay by your side?"

"...Maybe."

He merely chuckles and musses up my hair playfully. While it is true, what the Entity said about him is something I've thought of when it comes to David's intentions, he sadly is the only one at camp I trust. That and he's not that bad of a guy to be around even if his flirting can get a bit tiresome.

With little coaxing, the others gather around the fire as I tell them what the Entity told me. I do my best to explain my three perks. Though it's the special ability that interests them the most. And can I blame them? Now they have confirmation that a team member can become a killer and attack them if things aren't going so well. It's a downright terrifying idea. One that I'm sure the Entity loves. Still, even though I am telling them these things, I refuse to share with them just how to use my perks for themselves. My faith in these people is nearly non-existent, not including David who's the one keeping me sane after all this crap. Plus, I'd rather understand these perks better myself before passing anything along to them. Frankly, the only ones they could use would be Snowball's Chance and Skulker's Instinct. Breaking Point would be useless to them as it serves no purpose other than to trigger my killer side which is exclusively a me thing. However, my reluctance to share my perks is not taken kindly.

"What kind of crap is this? You want us to share our perks but you won't share yours?!"

Feng beats Nea to the punch on being pissed off.

"I just found out about these things. Let me understand how they work."

"What's there to understand? You throw shit and you're stealthy. There. I did it for you."

Now Nea says her bit.

"If it's so simple then why can't you do it?"

Meg sticks up for me.

"Because fuck you, that's why."

"Cunt, would you shut up. Luv's not askin' for all our perks. Just one. And it ain't even yours."

David is right. I've only asked for one perk and it's Claudette's Self-Care. It unlocks the ability to heal yourself without a Med-Kit at 50% the normal Healing speed and increases the efficiency of Med-Kit self-heal by 10%, for Claudette herself this is 20%. I asked for this skill so that damage wouldn't bother me as much and trigger my killer side. But I guess assholes can't see the big picture what with their head being so far up their butts.

"Call me a cunt again, you Limey bastard! I fucking dare you!"

"And your lot wonders why the rest of the world hates ya."

I tug on David's ear and he whines.

"'ey, what was that for?"

"You don't need to keep throwing logs on her fire. Just ignore it and eventually the heat will die down."

He looks at me funny before draping his thick arm around my shoulders.

"Ah, Luv, 'ad we ever met outside of this place I don't think we'd go very far."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because you'd be tryin' to talk me out of fightin'. And me not bein' able to fight just ain't right."

I simply smirk.

"Fair enough. But...We'd still be cool otherwise, right?"

"A rockin' bird like you? Oh yeah. I'd be a right proper git to not be interested in keepin' you around."

"Heh. You're not such a bad bloke yourself, Scrappy-Doo."

"...I was goin' to say it's sexy when you use English, but you killed it by callin' me that cartoon dog."

"Yet the resemblance is uncanny."

"Hey!"

Oh right, Nea's still here and being annoying.

"Don't act like I'm not here."

"Nea, just stop it already."

Ace speaks up.

"The kid has a right to learn her skills before giving them away."

"Up yours, old man."

"Know what..."

Bill interjects.

"I seem to recall a time when you flat out told us to 'shove it' when we asked about your perks."

"Yeah...well...*scoff* Fine! Do whatever. I don't care anyway."

She storms away to be as far from the fire and me as possible without leaving the safety zone.

"Geez, she can be such a bummer for a kid."

Kate remarks as she tunes up her nice acoustic guitar. And that gets my attention.

"Um...Where did you get that from?"

She looks at the guitar.

"Oh, this? I bought it off the Entity."

I look at her funny.

"What?"

"Seems the Entity told up about the mechanics of trials but not the rewards for doing them."

Jake states with a tone that lets me know he's still ticked at me for getting him killed.

"What do you mean 'rewards'?"

Jeff clears his throat to get my attention.

"So the Entity told you about the Bloodweb, right? How that it uses Bloodpoints to get Add-ons and that you gain Bloodpoints during the Trials by performing certain actions."

Dear lord don't tell me it's another long as fuck exposition rant.

"Yeah?"

"Well, aside from Bloodpoints, there are two other forms of currency. Iridescent Shards and Auric Cells. Iridescent Shards can be used to bribe the Entity into gifting you a copy of someone else's perk but that's super expensive. Typically like 2,000 or 2,700 shards. Depends on the Entity's mood. Auric Cells are super rare and are a pain in the ass to collect, but they're worth it. With enough Auric Cells, the Entity will make things a lot more entertaining by letting us get new clothes and items that make living here just a bit more bearable. You get both these things in varying amounts as rewards for how well you did in Trials and you might not even know you have any if no one tells you about it, but you can check how much you have when you go into the Bloodweb."

I just stare at him and soak this in.

"And the cool part is, once you get these things, you can have them permanently. No need to re-get something if you've decided to change. Just think about it and pesto. New duds and stuff."

My brain is starting to fail at taking this information.

"You alright there, Luv?"

"Just...I can't seem to understand the logic of the Entity."

"Don't bother trying..."

Dwight chirps.

"We've been here for what feels like ages and we still have no clue when it comes to that thing."

"I just think it's a little weird. The Entity wants us to die so it can feed off of our souls. It wants us to be afraid of it and die. That's how it gets the best taste out of us. Yet it gives us a place to relax? Then grants us items of comfort? Granted, this is probably to make us last long as a source of food as the useless are sent to the Void. But still...If it can already pull people from different points in time and across other timelines, then why not amass a large city's worth of humans to compensate for any that break easily and not cater to the needs of said humans?"

I like to think this is a well thought out point. I mean, I don't understand beings of alternate realities nor do I claim to. But when I'm hungry, I don't go out to a restaurant and get only some water. Sure, drink enough water and eventually, you'll get full. Yet it's nothing compared to an all you can eat buffet. So why is it content with the few random stragglers that wander in? It doesn't make sense to me.

"It doesn't waste..."

Tapp mutters before hammering his fist into his palm.

"It doesn't waste us. It may feed on us slowly over time. But it will feed until there's nothing left. Like sucking the very last drops of juice out of the box."

"So then the longer we last and keep our hope up..."

Quentin needed to interject for some reason.

"The longer it can continue to feed on a smaller number of victims without too much effort or attention. Like a small-time crook getting away with petty crimes because of a larger more noticeable syndicate has the cops focus."

Could he not refer to his law enforcement career? We get it. You were a cop. That shit doesn't matter here, Tapp!

"You know, for a group of people that don't try to understand the Entity, you understand it more than you think when someone questions things."

Again, I like to think I make good points. And their expressions only further this thought.

"We can increase insights by exposing ourselves to lots of different ideas that might help us form new connections."

All eyes look at Nea who randomly spouted that rather insightful quote.

"What? I know shit too. Douche turds think I can't be smart or something?"

I would crack some remark if I gave a shit. Frankly, I'm sick of letting that bitch piss me off so easily. I should take the advice David and even myself gave earlier, ignore her. Ignore everything that ticks me off. I can't become a killer if I don't let things get to me.

"So..."

Claudette moves over to me.

"I know you told us how your perk works. But do you know if it's only applicable in trials?"

I merely tilt my head in confusion.

"Beg your pardon?"

"She means can you go nuts in camp."

Jake spits and I just shrug.

"No clue. As chatty as the Entity was, it didn't tell me that."

"Figures as much."

"Still, you can never be too safe. Best not get on my bad side."

Probably not the best thing to remotely joke about. Though David tries to play this tension off by yanking me into a headlock and nuggying me till I'm surly growling.

"Awww...Such a big bad killer you are. So threatenin' with that cute face."

"*snarls* Will you quit fucking with my hair?!"

"Oh? And what'cha gonna do about it, Luv?"

I bite his forearm yet he merely laughs. This leads into some mildly aggressive horseplay on both our parts. Despite the oddity that this interaction is it does serve to show that while I am now a threat, that it doesn't mean I'm not human. I'm still me. A nutty weirdo goon that got stuck here just like they did. They can die and so can I. We are all prey. My power in the grand scheme of things changes nothing.

Still, something feels uneasy. While things return to normal and the occasional chat, I get this odd sense of being watched. Well, a different one from the feeling of the eyes of the other survivors. No, this one feeling is off. Predatory. A feeling I once felt long before I had my trial. There's a monster in the woods. The question remains of who it is and why is it skulking around? Is it Legion? Did he come to see me squirm? Or is this someone else? Someone I haven't met yet? I have so many questions!

[Elsewhere: Survivor Campsite Woods]

He watched from his spot as he had done so for quite some time since that fateful meeting. He wasn't going to miss any chance to prove the others wrong. To show that he was worthy. And he was going to use the new meat to do so. His patience paid off this time, as the human was once more up and about after many hunting cycles of just lying still like a corpse. Luck was even further on his side as he intently listened in on their ramblings and learned that the others weren't that far off in their theories on her strange power. This human, if provoked enough, will become a killer just like him. The thought of seeing such a sight made him excited. Such a moment needed to be preserved for posterity. With some careful hand placement, he makes a bold move and readies the shot that will mark his road to respect.

*CLICK*

The small camera's flash was obscured but there was nothing to stop the shutter sound. A few of the humans picked up on it and dismissed it for normal odd noise. Though the new meat is less swayed to ignore the sound. Her eyes search for any hint of something different lurking in the foggy shadows.

lub-dub...lub-dub...lub-dub...lub-dub...

He could hear his heartbeat. Strange, as he didn't think he had a heart to begin with. One of the other humans pulls her attention from investigating further and a sudden thrill has him. He's never been caught before yet his stealth nearly failed him here. This was exciting. Turning the camera around, he looked at the image capture and smirked to himself. Yes...Things were going to be fun for Ghost Face.

[fmhiphop]

Melle Mel Expounds on Distaste for Billboard top 50 Rappers Targeting Lil Wayne

Billboard's selection of the top 50 Rappers has caused quite a stir. Given Melle Mel's current stream of public statements, he agrees on little regarding the ranking. Mel Melle is now headlining for his sentiments on Lil Wayne's Billboard rankings. Melle Mel's Previous Argument March 7 FM Hip Hop provided coverage of Fat Joe's and Papoose's response to Melle Mel's feelings about Eminem being in the top five of Billboard's top 50 rappers. Eminem was not the only one with whom Melle Mel had a problem. He seems also to take issue with Lil Wayne. The Art of Dialogue Hosts Melle Mel The Hip Hop forerunner(Melle Mel) appeared on a March 4th episode of the Art of Dialogue. During his interview, talks steered back towards the Billboard list. During the convo, Mel spoke on recent comments made by Lil Wayne, who took the number seven spot on the list. https://twitter.com/ArtOfDialogue_/status/1631814949738561539?s=20 Wayne also addressed the ranking recently. According to Wayne, he deserves the #1 spot. In the words of Lil Wayne, "I will tell you that I am a mutha f***** one. Everybody whose names you named also knows I'm number one. Go ask 'em." https://youtu.be/iXiEw1ocgiM That is a pretty bold statement. However, it was all in good humor. According to Wayne's earlier statement, this is about creativity and artistry, not competition. Mel's Response to Wayne While those listed before Wayne have yet to issue a response, more specifically, a reaction to Wayne's placement, Melle Mel has. Melle Mel has clearly indicated he doesn't think Wayne should even be on the list, let alone number one. Mel told Art of Dialogue listeners. "If you have five capable so-called great rappers on a panel, I guarantee you Lil Wayne would not be no.1." That's a cold statement. Lil Wayne, the Record Breaker Wayne is a clear success. Just like Eminem has proved this. And the fans love him, and they see greatness in him. According to Hip Hop Scriptures, Wayne showed greatness straight out of the gate. Hip Hop Scriptures notes, even Wayne's Debut Album "The Block is Hot" went double platinum after its release. https://youtu.be/c3Edt0jMolc In 2011, Wayne started making a name for himself as the record breaker. According to Billboard, "On September 17, 2011, Wayne did something no solo artist had done before. That week, he notched 12 concurrent singles on the Billboard Hot 100 — the single-most songs on the chart simultaneously by a solo act. Only the Beatles have had more singles on the chart simultaneously." In 2012, Wayne broke a record that the King of Rock and roll, Elvis Presley, set. And that is only a tiny snippet of Lil Wayne's achievement. What is Mel's Argument Mel's big point of contention was that Wayne couldn't be at the top because he uses auto tune. In Mel's words, "Lil Wayne's rap skills are questionable because people don't even know his real voice." Without a doubt, that is an interesting point to make. Does using auto tune exclude someone from being a rapper or even being seen as one of the best? That is the question. Not a Good Look for Melle Mel For many, these sentiments are coming off as mad rants. Mel came in at number 48, which makes it appear that his perspective is shadowed by a bit of jealousy. Is this the case? Well, that, too, is arguable. Mel's sense of distaste stems more from the source of the list. He outright discredits Billboard's credibility. In his sentiments, the idea that there are even 50 great emcees is ludicrous. And there is no denying he does have some valid points. But one can't help but wonder,  If Mel had made it in the top five, would this conversation be headlining news? Would this conversation even exist? The Facts Please There is plenty of support to prove that these artists have earned their spots as Billboard determines it. Of course, not everyone will agree with the ranking, but Billboard has specific criteria they used for their selection. Other than containing the set to a particular geographical location, the other factors of selection included: body of work/achievements (charted singles/albums, gold/platinum certifications), cultural impact/influence (how the artist's work fostered the genre's evolution), longevity (years at the mic), lyrics (storytelling skills) and flow (vocal prowess). This information was collected from existing data and more tangible factors the organization has accrued. Everyone has their own preferences. And everyone may disagree based on their proscribed determinants. The Bigger Question Eminem and Lil Wayne haven't been the only targets. Mel had a little something to say about Kendrick Lamar as well. While the focus has mostly been on who Mel believes shouldn't be on the list, we do have an idea of who he thinks should be, and Busta Rhymes got a mention. For now, one simply has to look at Mel's perspectives as that. He has a history in the industry, he's an icon, and he's got a right to his opinion. Written By: Renae Richardson Read the full article

[thesteamhat]

the making of Something Old, Something New TLDR: Paintings are Essays and stories of their own creation. This is how I Fan art. Fantasy Art is more than just dragons and wizards. I owe a lot of my integrity to the work of Wizards of the Coast. If you don’t want to read it, thanks for being an audience, if you like this piece as much as I do, maybe consider buying a print HERE So now and then, very rarely in recent times, you make the piece you are most proud of, what makes pieces like this, to you, so important is often they act like little essays of what’s going on in your mind captured in your visual artistic abilities. Firstly, I only found out I was a part of the @lightgreyartgallery Gallery, Link HERE  (<= CLICK IT, there are some AMAZING artworks in there and I am humbled and honored to be amongst some of them) about 20 days after I should have, I had roughly ten days to make this piece happen.  But this piece has been rattling around my head for a very long time, for multiple reasons I have wanted to paint my reimagining of Wurmcoil Engine for several months now, taking influence from Old Phyrexia moreso than it’s more smooth styles now, the old grimy exposed biomechanical monstrocities they were when they first struck fear into the multiverse of Mtg. And I have loved drawing gnarled monstrous teeth since I was like, 14 and found my first salvation from the Anime style black hole, with the work of Dave Allsop. The piece clicked after a while of me researching angels and their less common eldritch appearance, I love angel mythology because it’s some of the first cases when Fantasy Art as we first would understand it, was born, when artists, with patronage from the church, began to capture the more mythological visuals in a realistic believable way, these were the stepping stones towards imaginative realism, and with this classical painters began adding realism to images of the Minotaur and Gorgons. Naturally tribute goes to Frazetta and his pulp colleagues for making Fantasy Art a valid genre of Art, but Angels and Demons have their seats at some of the earliest forms of what we now know as fantasy art. In this there are many scriptures that make the ranks of angels far more than just winged humans, ranging to anthropomorphic shoggoths of wings and animals to 6 winged seraphim covered in eyes and the strange mechanical flying objects of the ophanim or thrones. In taking inspiration for these and looking up eldritch angels, finding the obvious references being made with the Eldrazi as they stretch between @bugmeyer art and the Angel Eldrazi of Shadows over Innistrad. Suddenly my speculative Vorthos fired up and I couldn’t stop thinking of this simple story I wanted to tell. So, there’s a fairly obvious storytelling theme a lot of my work recently, it’s an inevitable marriage of what I want to draw and paint from what’s inspiring me, and a drive to improve the storytelling purposes of illustration, there’s an easy way to tell a story visually and that’s through duality. Duality is simple, it’s a clear and obvious conflict presented to an audience, old vs new, mechanical vs natural, good vs evil, light vs dark or simple, Thing vs ANOTHER Thing that isn’t the first Thing: This was sort of struck on when I found the work of @gallerygerard and I was hooked, there’s a lot of pieces depicting smaller warriors facing off Balrogs or Giant Wolves and the narrative being presented is inescapable, so yeah, I wanted to be able to do that too. So this piece is definitely not the last of something like this I’ll do, I hardly think I’ve mastered the simple diorama of this at all, but this piece was definitely all because I started pushing for that. (also helps that I can make some money off designs like this because they make killer playmats.) So before I get to Magic and it’s influence on me... I need to talk about Paint. I am not a painter, every time I have attempted to mark a canvas or board with wet or traditional has failed horribly and I escaped to the confines and safety of digital from a young age, on the upside it’s definitely saved me a LOT of money avoiding paint, but truly, I never really have touched it all again. But then I gave a good proper look at the work of Ryan Pancoast, Steve Prescott and the Man who taught me about colour, Jesper Ejsing . I have SO much respect for their work, nothing comes close to how much a piece inspires me as seeing it in physical paint, there’s a strange sort of magic (hehe) with the bravery of what is being done with a brush to capture wholly what makes a piece unique when it’s literal material smeared, dabbed and layered on a canvas. I tried to capture this by making the design intricate and filled with visual eccentricity and natural texture, as well as using the literal shape of marks made to really push the values to try to tell a bolder narrative with this piece. I cannot list the ways I think I failed at this, but I only want to learn and keep practicing when a piece like this comes just a little close to capturing that magic. An additional mention on the artists above, the pure bravery of making work that looks so perfectly not of this world in an industry plagued by stoic realism is nothing but inspiring, I truly want to achieve as Elsing puts it: “a window looking into another world.“ Interestingly I struggle with fan art, every now and then there’s a thing I like at the time so I make something to celebrate it, I however often lose interest before making it an actually good ‘to my own standard‘. Magic allows me to still stretch my own creative wings, my own imagination being allowed to play amongst an established universe that no other Fan Art allows me to. Magic’s art direction told me it was okay to be a bit weird. It’s no secret that I aspire to work on Magic the Gathering art, to give contributions that could only come from myself and aren’t just attempts to be ‘that kid who makes art that looks like it was made by Prescott/Ejsing‘ so the eclecticism there, while attempting to learn the secrets their work holds and putting it into my work. I love the fact that through the years I’ve seen work come out of Mtg, that has truly allowed artists to put their own unique vision into a game with such a flowing world. To follow the gushing about Mtg, this card game has had a massive effect on my development, whilst it’s definitely John Howe’s Smaug to be the piece that opened a door to me to Fantasy Art, it was also a little card called Vizzerdrix from Starter, that fully made me fall in love with Magic’s art, that made sure that one of my aspirations would be to make art alongside pieces like it. Once I’d grown up a bit Magic’s art and art direction allowed me to discover artists, some already mentioned, that would show me how it’s done: Throughout my portfolio in the past I have made little attempts at the sharp lighting and texture of a Tyler Jacobson facet or the bold journey of colour through an Ejsing and the brave shape of a Raymond Swanland . And I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that Magic has taught me both a love of games and the value in just going outside and meeting someone new, and having a conversation with someone over our mutual love of slinging spells, beating people’s faces in with an array of creatures and the elegant game of drawing and flopping cards.  I love that whilst I needed it to be there for me, Magic was, from the fact that when I’ve been at my lowest darkest moments, I could go out and enjoy playing Magic with someone, to the marvelous time of becoming more aware of challenging myself with more diversity to my characters and worlds, Magic’s art and story seemed to agree. Thank you Magic. So here’s this piece, what I see as my way to pay tribute to 25 years (that’s almost my age) of Magic the Gathering, it’s only a whisper of it’s effect and influence on me whilst I am hoping it feels as awesome a piece as I feel it is right at this moment. This month is insanity for me, my participation in the Gallery is a true first, my partially developed tabletop game Disastles is making massive progress over on Kickstarter (please take a look at that HERE) and that product and the relationships it’s making are laying the groundwork for something to be announced in the near future which is literally a career moment for me. I needed to just talk about this exact moment in time and I am so happy that I have this piece that’s just a small snippet of my life where a lot is going on, as in every life, and it’s just (as Fantasy Art almost always is) a lot more than a monster fighting another monster. Thanks for reading if you did I tried to share a lot of my influences both for context but especially because if you like art, you owe it to yourself to know some of these names and see their work, I owe so much to them myself

[gayspacerockblog]

My Tragic Villain

This is a favorite snippet from my WIP, Burying Dragons. This is the first time that Skyren ”Sky” Penrose, as a young prisoner of Pravus, meets Donovan Fengrave. I didn’t want to go any further yet, because, well... spoilers, sweetie. She had seen the man from a distance, entering the stables numerous other times. It wasn’t until now that she truly saw him. He had a mess of dark red hair, the short curls tossed about like fire. He did not seem particularly tall or strong for a man. He coddled the horse with delicate, familiar hands, smoothing out the tangles in her white mane. It seemed to Sky that the man didn’t notice her at all, his attention focused on tending his horse. She was wrong on both counts, for he had seen her as soon as he entered the stables and that was not his horse. She realized her first mistake when he finally spoke. “Do you normally ignore the arrival of a King?” He did not look at her and spoke with the cunning taunt of a fox. She knew then who he was. It took only a moment of hesitation, during which she wondered how such fearsome stories can stem from such a simple person, before she stepped down from the bale and bowed her head. This was the monster she had been warned about? “My apologies, sir, I was only surprised. “ She spoke calmly, unsure of the right words to keep herself safe. “Sir is for guards and business owners, the proper address for a King is… Come now, you’re a smart girl.” He waited. She raised her head to him. He was looking at her now, with kind eyes and an unreadable smile. “Your Highness, sir. I mean your highness! I’m sorry.” She felt awkward and wished her mother was here, but she wouldn’t dare look away from a King to check. “Mhm, and you have not introduced yourself so am I to assume you are orphaned and nameless?” Though he spoke like a fox, the girl thought of him as a lazy fox if he was one at all. His interest in her was neutral, his demeanor almost sad under the polished surface, and she considered what he came here to reflect on. “Skyren Penrose. Daughter of Marlah Penrose of Vaesgard.” She recited the meaningless title with a confident stance. She was speaking with the man who gave her nightmares and it eased the fear off her shoulders to face him. He accepted the title with a smirk and a nod, motioning for Sky to come closer. Her feet moved forward before she could pause to consider his intentions, her confidence feeling almost reckless. She stopped a few steps away from Donovan Fengrave and hazarded a question. “Is she your horse?” She looked at him expectantly, ignoring the daring nature of speaking before being addressed. He hardly noticed the lapse in custom and had only pretended to care about the title with which she had addressed him in the first place. He had no interest in validation from a child, but the company was nice. His attention had returned to the pale mare, lovingly. “Perhaps, yes....” His mind wandered briefly before he turned back to Sky, eyes glazed over with a thought or memory. “Do you enjoy stories, Miss Penrose?” Her lips pursed to one side, hiding a smile with suspicion. In truth, Sky’s greatest joy was hearing the stories her mother would tell her. Stories of Vaesgard, of her father, or of the creatures that lurk in Asherah. A king’s story would surely beat them all and she tried to hide her eagerness. “What kind of stories?” The smile he gave was solemn and thoughtful. “The most important kind of story: a true story. Are you worried it will bore you? You’re welcome to return to your duties, I have my horse to converse with and perhaps she’d be more appreciative.”

He was sly and she sat on the nearest bale, ready to listen. He could tell he had the girl’s attention and it felt strange and comforting to be looked upon by eyes that held something besides fear, greed, and hate. It had been so long. “If I were to free you and your mother now, would you still listen to my story as a free girl?” He asked, almost daring her to change her mind.

She knew the question was provocative and she strived for a response that would hide the twinge of pain at the idea of freedom. “There is no story that could keep a freed slave from deserting her prison, your highness.” She spoke truthfully and without a flinch.   He raised his eyebrows at the bold nature of this small child. He was impressed by her and the faintest laugh escaped him. “Fair enough, Miss Penrose. In that case, I am privileged to have a contract for your attention.” She nodded and the breath she had held since her response released unnoticed. She maintained every ounce of composure she had built in approaching the King and she felt an exchange of respect between them.