#i'm not done with the chapter i only got through a couple pages today

[kelcemenow]

Drive Me Crazy - Chapter 1.

Pairing Travis Kelce x Reader

Words 682

Warnings Nothing at all!

Huge thank you to the Anon who sent this in! They had such amazing words to say about my writing which I massively appreciate and then to top it off, had an incredible request for me! I only have experience with mechanics in the UK, so I've tried my best with this one! "I just recently got interested in Travis K. X reader stories and wanted to let you know, I read all of yours as quickly as I could. They are so well done and I couldn’t help but laugh/giggle and feel through each word you typed out. You’re doing amazing and I’m so glad to have stumbled onto your page. If you have any space for a request, I’d be curious about what Trav would think about having a military (like fighter pilot) or engineer or mechanic girlfriend. I see a lot of stories with him paired with models/singers/social media individuals (which are phenomenal!) but just wondering how he would be with a more tomboy like girlfriend!"

CHAPTER 1

You wiped the beads of sweat from your forehead with the back of your hand, grabbing your water bottle with the other and slowly gulping down the cool liquid. Taking a deep breath, you closed the hood of the car and gave Jordan a nod of your head to signal that you were finished.

"Thanks, Y/N." He said as he made his way towards you, "I knew you'd figure it out."

"Don't sweat it. You almost had it, bro." You smiled, wiping your hands on the towel that hung from your waistband.

"You're the best." He grinned as he got into the car and started up the engine with ease.

The purring of the motor combined with the sounds of the drills and hydraulics pierced through your ear and although you were used to them, a slight headache was looming. You headed to the small garage office, massaging your temples on the way.

The office door was battered and covered in grease from years of being pushed open by dirty hands, and as it swung open, you were greeted by a smiling face.

"Hey honey!"

"Hey Dad." You said wearily as you pulled open one of the drawers of the desk.

"Oh dear." He groaned, "What's up? That Chevy pushin' against you?"

You shook your head gently as you picked up the bottle of Aspirin, "No, no...I finished it."

"That's my girl."

"Just...I didn't sleep great last night and I got a migraine coming on." You tipped out a couple of tablets into the palm of your hand before popping them into your mouth.

"I'll steer clear of you today then...I wouldn't want to poke the bear." He joked as he opened the door, disappearing onto the shop floor.

"Ha ha." You said flatly, swallowing the Aspirin with a mouthful of water.

The bell above the front door rang and you turned around, plastering a fake smile on your face.

"Good mornin', sir. How can I-"

"Yeah, can I speak to a car mechanic, please?" His eyes were stuck to the phone screen in his hand.

You quietly cleared your throat, clearing away your immediate frustration, "Well, lucky for you, sir, I am one."

The man in front of you looked up and paused, blinking a couple of times before his mouth dropped open, "Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am."

"Happens all of the time." Your lips curled slightly into a smile, "What can I help you with?"

His eyes darted across your dishevelled appearance, almost narrowing with curiosity as he looked at you. Your hair was pulled back and a colourful scarf was covering your hair as best you could. You were wearing one of your Dad's old band shirts, grease and oil stains adorning any space they could and your navy blue coveralls were pulled down and tied at your waist to relieve you from the blistering heat. You blew a rouge piece of hair away from your face and waited patiently as he reached for his keys and gently placed them on the desk in front of you.

"My uhh...car. I was driving down the highway and...it just-" He stumbled.

You slid the keys closer to you, "I'll take a look."

He ran his hands through his beard, "Thank you. And can I please apologise for what I said? Today is not my day and I just-"

"Honestly, it's really not necessary. Like I said, it happens all of the time. Mechanic isn't really a 'typical career' for a woman." You bent your fingers in the air as you spoke, reciting words that you had heard many times before.

The man exhaled a laugh, his eyes gentle yet piercing, "I gotta say, it's pretty impressive. I'm useless when it comes to stuff like this."

You smiled, an uncomfortable silence filling the room.

"So, if I could take your number and I'll call you later today?"

"Uhh yeah." He mumbled, jotting the digits down on the pad positioned next to your hand before turning back to the door. "And I'm sorry...again."

"It's fine..." You glanced down at the pad, "...Mr Kelce."

______________________________________________________________

I know I said that I was going to carry on with requests before diving into another series but this one was too good not to make into a little series so I'm doing it and no one can stop me! This first part is just setting the scene really so I hope I've piqued your interest! If you want to be included in my Taglist for any future chapters, just let me know!

Taglist @rd14 @dandelionwrites8 @keiva1000 @fantasywritersstuff @caelipartem @anacarangel @she-lives-in-her-dreams @kkrenae @kristencochefski1125 @countrygirl120983 @charmed2000 @nouis-bum @cixrosie @delicateearthquakellama @wordsaresimple-imnot @amylouwho9 @queenisa17 @talicat713 @luvvtrent @purecinnamonextract @savaneafricaine @caelipartem @beyxgrande @caitdaniels @ezgirl1108 @vir-tual @lightsoutstyles @macey234 @s294749w @kelcemesoftly @calirindo @livinginmyfantasies @bernelflo @secretmywritingfictionlawyer @killatravtramp @there-goes-thefighter @unicornblueberry @calirindo @tjkelce87 @kristinamae093 @kmc1989 @ajbird18 @triski73 @ctn26 @kgcaputo07 @abby-splace @bobthe-turmpetman29 @cedricbitch @jmamas92 @bellstwd @killatravsworld @marchmaiden @chimchimmarie @blackstabbath6 @fanficfanatic15 @jessiemariebarnes @mmb219 @vanwritesfan-fiction

[heliosthegriffin]

Shadow Knight and Magic Girls XX

Chapter 20

Ao3 Link

----

Jaune got into the car, pushing his scroll up to the front. "I need to get here." He pointed to an address on his scroll.

Miltiades, seated in the front passenger seat, looked at him miserably. "This is the fifth place this afternoon," She whined. "I'm bored!"

"We have ten more places to hit up before we're done."

Melanie tapped the steering wheel. "Are you going to tell us what you're doing?"

"Nope. Drive." The blonde said, leaning into the back seat, and counting lien out in the back seat.

Melanie felt a flash of annoyance, then sighed, taking off down the road.

They stopped at a local pizzeria place in a decaying neighborhood, Jaune got out went inside, a couple minutes passed by, and then he exited, carrying a couple boxes of hot steaming pizza.

"Alright, now, we go here." He pushed a box into Miltiades lap, while he started devouring a meat-lovers in the back.

"We're not just going on food-runs, are we?" Melanie asked.

"No." He said between bites. "I was coming here anyway, got hungry, and it'd be awkward to be the only one eating."

Melanie reached for a slice, taken extra care to avoid her sisters hissing swipes for daring to take her food. "Alright, where to next?"

They went to several more small business, all in similarly low-income areas, with Jaune repeating his actions, leaving the car, going inside for a couple minutes, then return back, and going to the next locations.

Eventually, they hit all the locations that he had on his list.

"That it?"

"For today, at least."

Miltiades let out a whoop of joy. "Yay! Now, we can do something fun! Ooh, how about the gun-range, or ice-skating?"

Jaune looked at the clock, then shrugged. He could spare an hour. "Sounds fun."

"Awesome!" Miltiades cheered, then tapped her red lips. "By the way, will you at least give us a hint to what you're doing?" She gave him a sly look. "Not paying off baby-mamas, are you?"

Jaune blushed. "No! Nothing of the s-sort. I'm just doing something like, uh, ever heard of putting a chip on every horse in the race?"

Melanie looked at him curiously. "Yeah, but what's that got to do with you?"

Jaune shrugged. "I'm just making a bet,"

"And, if you lose?"

He shrugged. "Oh well, then. Gambles don't always pay off, and I'll have the experience."

Melanie shot him a calculating look through the rear-view mirror, the lien he had stacked back there was gone. Well, not like she could say that Miltia and her had been more responsible with their money. Let him reap what he sows.

------

Where the Wicked Ones went

'Once upon time, there was a great king.

In his kingdom, he did not accept any wickedness, and He chased from his lands the wicked and evil ones with the endless power of the Sun, and those that stood against him and his mighty knights, they were like livestock to the slaughterhouse.

The ones who fled, left this world entirely, fleeing to the Other World.

A place of different time and space, but not separate from our own world. It was not above the world, or under it, but overlapped in places, with stitching vein, and scars covered with stones.

Those who fled into this Other World, they took a different name, different bodies, but their wickedness remained. As they spread across the Other World, they founded many different kingdoms, still practicing their evilness, while fighting meaninglessly and cruel wars between each other.

However, on weird days, under rare stars, they stop fighting and turn to gaze at the World. The World changed, covered with layers of fallen ages and cycles of ever turning light and darkness, and they still yet remember, and most of all, fear that the King of Seasons will find them.

Or, if not him, one with a spirit to succeed him. In their arrogance, though, they are soon to forget that fear. Quickly, they turn their attentions to back to each other, and occasionally, with a bit of foolish pride, venture forth into their former home.

----

Jaune turned the page, the story ended there. He closed the book.

"Are elves, real?" He mused.

"Of course they are!" A voice shouted next to him, making Jaune jump back a step. He turned to look at the short ginger next to him.

"Thanks, Nora. I really needed those minutes off my life."

"You're welcome!" She circled around him, looking at the book. "Why are you reading a cookbook? You know Renny is always going to beat you in a cookoff!"

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Shut up." He didn't needed to be reminded that Ren had magic hands, metaphorically speaking. Hopefully. He didn't want Ren involved in this whole magic business, he had a whole life of him ahead of beating the snot of people in the CKMC* to be risking life and limb.

*(Cross-Kingdom Martial-Arts Circuit)

Or at least, more than he would otherwise, but at least there were rules there.

Nora circled around him. "Wait, is this an elven cookbook?! Are you trying to cook for elves, or trying to cook elves?! If so, you may have a lead on Renny, as I don't think he has the heart to eat elf heart."

Jaune paused, looking at Nora. Despite his downright magical life, she still found a way to say the most downright weird things. Not that he'd have it any other way. "No."

"Oh," She paused. "But, what if-"

Jaune decided to end that train of thought, now. "No." Still, another person, who says something different about the cover. A idea sprang to mind. "Hey, read this off for me." Jaune pointed to a random sentence."

"I can read, no need to test me!" She squinted her eyes on the page. "Two egg, half cup of honey, a cup of milk-, Oh, are you making pancakes?!" Nora vibrated in places. "Never-mind, you're the best cook in the worlds!" She leaned in, whispering. "Don't tell Renny."

Jaune looked at the page. Not the same, what so ever. This was a paragraph detailing how a girl forged a sword from a shooting star and a matching shield too.

This likely meant that the book changed perception of whoever read it. What did that mean? ... Was he even reading anything at all, or was the book just having his mind fill in the blanks that he wanted to see. What in the world was this book? What was its purpose? Why did it do this, was it some kind of mind-eater thing, that fed off attention?

Maybe, he should get rid of it, or at least, copy what he finds out of the book, and cross-references it. So, that if he found something, a story that existed inside the book, one he had no prior knowledge of before he opened the book, he could know that, it at least wasn't making anything up.

He felt a pull on his sleeve, Nora was looking at him excitedly. "So, pancakes?" He looked at the book in his hand, then put it away, it could wait. "Sure, lets go get some pancakes."

She let out a cheer, jumping up and latching onto his back. "Onward, my mighty knight! To pancakes!"

Smiling contently, he started walking. "Ay, my great queen."

-----

Jaune opened the door for the twins into their home, a light sheen of sweat on himself, while behind him, said twins, shambled in like they were on the verge of passing out, heading to the shower.

"Good run, girls." He tried to sound encouraging, as he was taking off his fifty pound vest. Amber looked at the vest, then twins, then back at barely sweating blonde. "Those poor girls, how far did you make them run?"

"Not that far, just a light run, about ten miles or so,"

Amber sighed, she didn't even want to imagine running one mile, let alone at the intense pace he set. She threw a hot towel at him. "Get cleaned up, and I'll work on any knots who might have."

Jaune nodded, closing the door behind him, stripped his shirt off, and wiped off his chest and back. Then laid down on his stomach on a futon next to Amber.

"Been feeling any discomforts recently?" She asked, working on his right arm.

Jaune grunted, feeling a sense warmth go up his arm. "Not really."

"Good, don't be afraid to tell me anything, though. Even if you think it might be personal. Remember, I've already seen it all, you got nothing to be embarrassed about." Amber felt up his arm, it felt heavier, harder to massage, and looked at him surprised. "You gained more muscle?"

"I guess?" Jaune almost shrugged. "I've just-, oh. Yeah, the armor, the extra weight. It's pretty heavy, heavier than anything I wore before, despite how well it's balanced over me."

Amber let out a breath of disbelief. "You were already ready to compete in any inter-national team I can think of, and you're still growing? Thanks just plain unfair."

"Hey, I'll trade places if they want, then we can have a conversation about fairness."

Amber laughed. "Good point, I suppose, hard times breed hard men, and all that."

"Tell me about it, you should meet my grandfather."

The futon bounced a little, as someone sat right in front of his face, a someone with a pair of curvy, athletics legs, wearing a pair of short black shorts. "What's up, superhero?" Vernal asked him with a wink.

"Not a hero, if I'm getting paid for it."

"If so, most legends wouldn't count as heroes."

"Fair, enough."

A beat passed.

"You think about how you want to get inked, yet?" Vernal asked, curiously, looking at his back like a painter looked at a raw canvas.

Jaune had nearly forgotten about that, Big Bear did want him to get the clan symbol on his back. "I just figured I get the clan symbol."

Vernal looked at him harshly. "Don't be half hearted about this, this is a important piece of work that going to happen, and it's going tell the world about you. Think on it hard, this is something to define you to the rest of the world."

Jaune looked at her. "Woah, didn't think you had much about yourself besides ogling me."

Vernal smirked. "I don't just ogle anyone, just the finer pieces of art. Besides, you don't know all of me." She poked his nose. "I have all sorts of tricks that might surprise you."

Looking into her eyes, not to one to back down, Jaune gave her a smile. "You'll have to show me them one day."

There came a moment them looking at each other, with Vernal slightly flushing, looked away. "One day."

Amber sighed. "Please, no flirting while the doctor's at work."

"It's harmless fun, Am!" Vernal shot back. "Besides, you'll get your chance, later." The she looked back at Jaune. "Back to what I was saying, it doesn't matter what Big Bear wants on your back, it's up to you in the end. So, think about what you want the World to see back there."

"I ... I don't know, what it is, that I want back there. It's hard to think about something I can't see."

"Then, don't rush in. Wait, till you can see it." Vernal waved her hand over his back. "Me, though? I can see all the images in the world, and I can pen any of them, you want."

"What do you personally think would look good?"

Vernal sneered for a moment. "It's not about looking good, it's about the message. It can be the ugliest, bat-shit insane tattoo in the world, and still be a work of art on a living canvas, as long as its on the right person." Her arm made phantom motions over his shoulders, and Jaune briefly saw, among her many tattoos, a red-eyed Raven staring at him ominously. "I could ink almost anything here, something heroic, monstrous, or just strong-looking, but, in the end, it's up to you, and what you want it to be. What do you want to be Jaune?"

Jaune looked at the futon beneath him, thinking for a moment. What did he want to say to the world? That was a pretty deep question, or it felt like one. But, he wasn't one for deep thought, and found his answer quickly.

"Hopeful." Jaune said, his answer naturally coming off his tongue. "If I have to show anything to someone else, I just want it to give a bit of hope."

Vernal looked at him, surprised. Then looked at his bare back, her mind turning. "I can work with that," Then she got up, going to her room, the sounds of intense scribbling could be heard inside.

-----

Velvet stood in front of the mirror, anxiously looking over herself for any flaws in her appearance. Her ears twitching over head, hair shaking with it, hadn't even left her room, but felt like her heart was about to give from stress alone.

Looking over herself in the mirror, dare she say it, she looked cute. Wearing a simple brown and white dress that showed off her neck and shoulders, it felt a little daring, at least compared to her conservative normal outfits.

"Ah, look at my little bun-bun! Just the absolute cutest!" Velvet nearly jumped out of her skin at Coco's sudden remark. Turning around so fast that she nearly tripped over herself, she glared at Coco. "Don't scare me, like that!"

Coco shrugged, as she smugly looked at her. "What's a woman to do, not compliment you?" She pulled up her scroll, showing going through the pictures she had taken of her. "So, are you excited for your date?"

Velvet lost her steam, blushing fiercly. "Its not a date, Nora, and her friend, Ren, are coming along to. It's just a friendly outing." Her ears drooped. "He didn't even seem like he wanted to come."

"Vel, my baby-bun, no man, or woman, could say no to you!" Coco slid up against her. "Including me!" She said giving her friend a flirty smile. "Mr. Buff-tough, is just nervous, he's probably never even kissed a girl, so going out with you? It must be mind-blowing to him, and so what, if you have some tag-alongs? Make a polycule out of it, girl! That Ren chick is hot as hell, and Nora? I'd kill to be alone with her."

Velvet relaxed, feeling her heart-slow a bit. "Your way with words never ceases to make feel better. Also, Ren's a guy."

Coco froze, color draining from her face. "What?"

"Yeah, he's a man. With, a-ahem, the bits, according to Nora."

"Oh..." Coco looked at her Scroll. "I have some pictures to get rid of later. Enjoy your date, and if Mr. Moody gives you any trouble, call me, and I'll take care of him, got it?"

Velvet nodded, smiling. "I'll do that." Velvet chuckled, imaging Coco trying to brow-beat Jaune down, amused her. Though, she also couldn't see it working, she was pretty sure that if Coco tried to slap him, any part of him, she'd break her hand.

----

Getting off the bus, Velvet arrived at Vale's Historical Exhibits and Museum. She was surprised by how many people where flowing around the yard of the building, and was equally surprised to see the amount of couples here.

Looking up at the banner on the building, it explained nothing, just relics from Vales past wars when it was a series of squabbling micro-kingdoms. Though, she had to admit, there was a certain energy in the air that made her heartbeat faster, drew her attention towards the Exhibits.

A hand clapped her shoulder, making her jump in place. "Vel-vel!" She felt herself turn around, looking at the short ginger, who was unnaturally strong despite her size.

"Ha-hello, Nora." Velvet stammered out, she hadn't known Nora long, but the short and strong girl had quickly made a place for herself in her heart. Though, she wished she wasn't so forceful!

"Velvet, you're here! That means we can get this party started!"

Velvet nodded, Nora's energy starting to infect her. "Oh, everyone is else is here?"

"Yep! Jaune and Renny are off getting-, oh! There they are walking this way!" Nora pointed away from them, pointing to where the crowd was parting ways from two men walking towards them.

Looking at Jaune exit the crowd of people, or rather, the people rushing to move away from his unstoppable walk towards them, she paused, as something was off about him that took her a moment to figure out. His atmosphere was different, and it clicked.

He was relaxed, today he didn't have any tension about himself like he normally did, he was fully there with them. She gave him a shy smile, and he paused for a moment, before giving a calm smile back at her.

"So, what are we here to see?" Jaune asked, Ren following behind him like a remora fish.

Nora shot up. "I want to see the iron maiden and warhammers!"

The other three of them looked at Nora bouncing with excitement, Velvet didn't doubt for a moment they were going to see those exhibits.

"Sounds good." Jaune said, Velvet barely catching the concealed glee in his eyes.

"Don't try and touch them, they're artifacts and we're not here to get banned." Ren said strictly, though, Velvet noticed that he wasn't saying that just to Nora, as he made sure to give a look at Jaune. There was touch of humor in his voice, though.

"That sounds, great." Velvet found herself agree, she didn't have much interest in torture devices or weapons, but if she was with these three, she would be happy.

"So, we ready to go then?" Jaune asked.

"Yep!"

"As we ever can be."

"Yes."

Velvet felt a push on her shoulder, and looked back to she the ginger culprit, as she landed against Jaune, who caught her easily.

"Jaune-jaune, make sure you don't lose that, she's precious cargo!" Nora said firmly.

Jaune looked confused, then looked at the sea of people around them. "Oh, good idea." Holding out his arm to her. "Don't want to get separated."

Velvet looked at his out-stretch arm, noticing how his many-times thicker his arm was than hers, it almost made her feel like a child by comparison. As she linked her arm into his though, it made her feel secure too, that Jaune would protect.

In that sense of security, Velvet dared to pull herself closer.

----

Deep, deep into the mountains, away from the vices of civilization, in the bosom of mother nature. Where the fat of the land was thickest, and beasts that would rightly be called monsters roamed, a man with a glorious mustache led his disciples into the mouth of a dark, ominous cave.

He swung his axe down in front of the cave, spraying the blood of beasts off of his blade. Peter Port turned to regard his young students with admiration. When he first met them, they were unpolished, and aimless children, with nary a hope of a future worth living. But now? Now, they did not need to hope for a future, they could make their own!

They stood before him, bare chested and raw-muscles, covered in mud and filth from the world over, scratched, bruised, and likely had some broken bones that needed treated, but unbowed and unafraid.

Their leader Cardin had taken to wield the femur of a oxen creature they had fought, while Russel had made a pair of primitive stone axes during their camping adventures, Sky had his warpaint on and crude rucksack of javelins and his onyx-head spear, and Dove? He had a sling, which was good enough.

It was almost enough to make him shed a tear. Sucking in a deep breath, he bellowed out with enough power to rival a landslide. "Student!"

"Teacher!" They returned back, while not having the same power as their teacher, they equaled, no surpassed his energy.

It was time, Peter knew, they were ready. "My children, our final lesson is upon us! Soon, you will be men among men!|

They looked shocked at this news.

"But, Teacher!" Cardin interjected. "We've only just begun to learn! How can we be done?"

Peter sniffled a bit. "That, that is how you know, my child, that you know that you've only just begun to learn, that is the sign you've matured. That you understand that to be a man is to know there is always more to see, more to know, and more room to grow. So, that is why, it's time for you leave the nest and fly!"

They bravely held back tears. Manly tears. "Thank you, teacher. We won't forget our lessons." Sky spoke through his tears.

"You will be alright, my students. You are ready for your final test!" He swung his ax at the cave. "Be wary, though! This cave houses dangers you can't even imagine, but what you encounter inside, will change you forever, it will be your cocoon, one for your boyish state, to enters only to emerge as a man! Now go!"

With another sweep of his ax, he signal for them to run in. With a nod between the four young boys, no, the soon to be young men ran into their final trials of adolescences.

----

Humming to himself, a red-head man sauntered without a care around the back of the museum. A outfit and set of keys that weren't his adorning his person. He opened the backdoor and entered the storage rooms of the place.

Immediately his senses lit up, the feel of magic in the air, and not just from relics either. The ley-lines were practically clogged with power and that was great news! It'd make his goal all the more easy tonight!

Oh how excited he was, so very excited, and there was no-way he was going to be stopped. Not by those Maidens, and not by any questing heroes. Tonight was a new moon, that meant no locks on his power, and whole ley-line to use, oh, how rich was he going to be?

A door opened across the room, and elderly man exited, a janitor. The old man nodded at him, then peered at him curiously. "Are you a new hire? I know most everyone around here, and I don't recall seeing you before?" His voice was raspy, but friendly.

"I'm just a temporary-worker, no need to remember me."

"Oh, that's a shame, its a good place to work here. Maybe, you'll change your mind, once you get the feel of the place?"

The red-head paused, humming to him deviously. "You know what, I think by the end of my shift, they'll always be a piece of the place with me."

The old man smiled kindly. "That's good, sonny. Ah, I didn't catch your name?"

Tapping his head in mock-embarrassment. "Oh, how could I forget to introduce meself? I am the one, the only, Roman Torchwick." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a bone-chilling mask. "Hey, how do feel about presents, Mr...?"

"... Alans." The janitor said a second. He looked at the young man with concern, unnerved by his presence now. "What, what do you got there sonny, that don't seem right?" The bone-mask was strange to his eyes, and didn't seem to be capable of being made by any person.

Roman approached, Sam took a step back in fear, but in a flash of movement, he grabbed Sam's collar and forcefully put the mask on the old man. Sam's body contorted in pain, as if he wanted to have screamed, but couldn't, as the mask meld into his flesh. The old mans kind, bright eyes going dull and cloudy.

"Hmm, that was easy." He patted his newest servants head. "Good work, keep it up!" Then sauntered out, twirling another mask in hand.

----

Omake: Another build - Horse Arc(h)er

Jaune crept into his secret-shack, where he built and managed his gear, bruised and tired after another night of fighting shadow-monsters. He was so tired of this, they just seemed to keep getting stronger, and he stayed the same. He needed a equalizer for this mess, as it was only a matter of time before he got offed, either by luck on the monster side, or unluck on his.

Looking across his limited arsenal, he got to thinking. He looked over his plans and blueprints, but he had already tried them, or just too expensive or plainly impossible for him. He sighed, forehead against table.

In his childhood, Jaune liked to play knights with his sisters, even if it was him playing the princess in distress. It still was something he admired, the man with the sword, in the shining armor, on a noble and beautiful steed.

It was a shame though, that he couldn't get a suit of heavy-metal armor, or a sword that could cut shadow-monsters to pieces. A suit of armor would just give away his best defense against them anyway, not getting hit at all. Plus, he had done some research, and metal armor was good for turning away a blade, but actually made blunt hits worse, and the shadow-monsters were more than strong enough to tear apart cars, dumpsters, and metal railings, it wasn't really worth the effort.

His luck getting close was dice as well, as all it would take is one good hit to be dead and done with. Where as Jaune knew he would need to put sustained force on the bigger ones, while rolling the dice to dodge their strikes, not that he couldn't do it, but the thing is, chance adds up and eventually, he'd critically fail.

Still, a horse? That sounded nice, there wasn't a night that he didn't feel dead on his feet afterwards, so even just to lower his recovery time, well, that almost sounded worth it.

But, would that even work with hit and run still of fighting? The guns, well all he had was the shotgun, and didn't horses need to be trained to not get startled from shots? That didn't even bring up how he'd train one against getting frightened from the monsters.

Walking out of the shed, he needed some fresh air to think. Unconsciously, he ended up walking home. Stopping in the backyard, he saw his father, bow in hand and aiming at target. Jaune stood there for a moment, just watching gears turning.

His father let loose arrow after arrow in a stream of projectiles, it wasn't hard for Jaune to understand why his father was a former pro archer. All the arrows hit, tightly clustered around the center. Jaune felt a phantom feeling in his shoulder, rushing down his arms.

His father turned around, nearly jumping. "Son? What are you-, uh, why aren't you in bed?"

Jaune looked at the bow in his dads hands. "Can I, try shooting that?"

All confusion dropped from his fathers face, lighting up in joy. "WIthout question."

---

Across the dark streets of Vale, there came a sound, a sound that was forgotten to all, but the streets themselves. If there were thoughts in the cobblestone and concrete, this was a sound that would bringing them back a century, to when horses ran the streets. When carriages were pulled down the street, when horses carried passengers and messages, it was a sound of a different time.

It was the sound of hooves and horseshoes hitting stone, clamoring of nimble hooves hitting and pacing, as it raced down the streets. Ceaseless neighing, panting snorts and breaths, it was the sound of a large, powerful steed. No, not just one steed, but several. A rider changing steed regularly, ones he had stored across the city, as one became too tired from battle and the endless pace set by their rider.

Then it was followed, by another archaic sound, that of the endless stringing of a bow. All through out the night, outside on the streets was a shadowy rider, swaying over the back of a horse, never falling as he was aiming a mighty bow, firing tens of arrows every minute at some unseen quarry. Never seeming to run out of arrows, as on each horse were quivers of arrows lining the sides of the animals.

Beasts would pursue them, out from the shadows, the alleys, and forgotten corners of the city, only to pelted with a endless stream of arrows. Falling to the ground, finished off by being trampled by other monsters, or a horde of arrows ending them.

There was a new rider in town, and he was here to hunt the night away.

[gunnerkriggcritical]

also ive started rereading the series from the start :> so fun. i skipped a lot of whats in volume 2 because rhats the first physical copy i bought so im a bit bored of it but other than that its been so great :) i forgot about a lot of stuff that happened, like the camp they had (i loved that it was so funny). im in the equivalent of about volume 4 rn (my favourite <3) but online because i dont own a physical copy (i own 2, 3, and 8) which is harder for me to read but its worth it for my beloved. im super excited for the later part of 4 and 5 and 6 and stuff. those are my favourites ever i wish i owned them so badly (hoping to get them for my bday soon!!! super excited. i was struggling to think of birthday presents from my grandma because she likes getting me big things but this is good 👍). but yeah its super good. which volume/chapter/section of chapters is your favourite?? one of my favourite individual chapters is 34, faraway morning. :))

"Residential" is SO funny. It's such a great standalone chapter. I love the little moments in it, like the cow quietly saying "Get your hands off me," or Eglamore's exaggerated thumbs-up pose when he says "Alright, camping!" You have so much taste for volume 4 being your favourite. That was a phenomenal run for the comic; some of the very best chapters are in there, and some of Tom's best artwork too (the entirety of "Divine" looks insanely good). I really hope you get the other volumes for your birthday! Are you excited about the new collections being released?

I almost said the run of chapters from "The Coward Heart" to "Tall Tales" is my favourite, but that's like 20 chapters lmao. But there is some really, really good stuff in that era. "Faraway Morning" is SO good. I miss when there were standalone chapters like that. Hardly anything plotwise gets advanced, but it's a great glimpse into our main characters' states of mind, it's hilarious and the art is incredible, and reading through it is kind of like curling up under a blanket and drinking a cup of cocoa. It warms you through.

There are a lot of individual chapters like that in that era. I don't think a chapter like "Microsat 5" would happen today, for example. There would just be a couple of pages about them sending the satellite up and it would be done with. But instead we got a whole chapter about Annie's innermost thoughts and feelings, and insight into Tony, and some new information about who Donnie is, too. Same with "Divine," which tells us so deftly about how Annie, Kat, and Zimmy are feeling, indirectly through symbolism, implication, and Tom's masterful artwork. It seems every chapter back then, whether it was filler or crucial to the plot, did good work to flesh out Gunnerkrigg's characters and make them seem more rounded and real. I think that's why I like that era so much. Not only was the art really fun to look at, the world of Gunnerkrigg and the characters who populate it felt so human and fully realized.

I know I've answered this before, but I don't remember what I said, so I'm sorry if I give a different answer, lol. But I'm really not sure what I would say my very favourite chapter is at this point. "The Stone" is definitely up there. "The Coward Heart," "Fire Spike" and "Crash Course" too. There's so much to pick from. I truly love the comic so much and I'm glad you do too.

[endtown]

the amazing bear and nadine fic. chapter 1. 1,268 words.

hello all. it is kc. i was thinking earlier today about how much i miss writing the stupidest fanfic of all time without any kind of thought or planning like i did when i was 13. and i don't really involve myself in fandom spaces, so i decided.... why. not just do that for my ocs?

i'll update this post (or the next) with an actual summary when i come up with one, but i'm sort of just going with the flow for now. for the time being, i'll try to update this weekly or biweekly, and i have no idea where it will lead. so uh, feel free to leave suggestions and stuff if that's what ppl do.

anyways, enjoy!

It was normal for Bear to struggle with sleep. It was something that he usually didn’t mind, but the past few days, he had actually been resting well. So as he watched the clock on the wall, it all felt a lot more defeating than usual. Whenever he got more than one night of good sleep, there was always this small hope that maybe this meant things would just be better.

A naive thought, sure, but he couldn’t help it.

There was a typical routine that he went through when this kind of thing happened. Lay in bed for a while, hope to sleep, decide that wasn’t going to happen, and head into the little makeshift kitchen they’d set up in the library attic. There, he could listen to the radio and eat. Or read whatever book he was interested in that week. Or maybe, if he was feeling especially brave, even write in a journal. But typically, by this point, he’d given up. The goal was no longer to sleep, but instead, to pass the time before work.

After a bowl of cereal without milk, and some time spent listening to a man on the radio talk about the science of stars, Bear decided he was done waiting. It was a quick drive over to the only gas station in the town of Palmyra, leaving him 30 minutes early to open up but... Well, Bert wouldn't mind. If anything, Bert would go on some long rant about how Bear was one of the few in his generation with actual work effort, and whatever else older guys who were kind of balding liked to talk about.

(It was always something about "I wish my kids were this motivated." And Bear never said it out loud, but he wished sometimes that he wasn't.)

It was just him at this hour, Bert wouldn't show up for a few more. He had never minded opening the shop early, though. There was a sort of peace that came with the soft flicker of the lights as they turned on, the sound of a mop against the floor as he cleaned up, and the radio playing softly in the background.

Jean jacket always stays on at first, while he waits for the heat, but it's taken off and thrown over his chair behind the counter after a while. By the time the door is unlocked, he is stood in one of the aisles with a box of chips to unpack, dressed in simple jeans and a shirt. His boots were work boots, plain and simple. Only worn because they were borrowed.

It was early, meaning that aside from the occasional bell, there really wasn't much noise. At a certain point, Bear even decided to sit behind the counter for a bit with one of the books he was working through. This one, Lenny had promised, was a classic. The Outsiders. Just the right size book for a day like this one.

And while he can read through quite a bit, he certainly cannot read through the loud, obnoxious arguing that comes with a couple pushing in the doors at six, loudly insisting on including everyone in their debate. Well, everyone meant Bear, because who the fuck else was there to talk to?

(Passing cars? The only thing near the gas station was trees and the highway.)

The argument was over dinner plans, or something. He didn't care enough to try and work it all out, and instead focused on trying to finish the page he was on. But, mid thought, one half of the couple comes right up to the front desk.

"Can I get the bathroom key?"

Their hair is bright pink, matching nails and makeup. The outfit that they've got on is not only bright for a small town like this, but far nicer (and more revealing) than what Bear was used to seeing in town. It was funny, considering whoever they were with was dressed a lot closer to Bear. Except this guy's shirt had some kind of sports branding, while Bear's was basic.

And though he fumbles for a moment, that could easily be blamed on the time of day. Key is produced from under the counter, handed off, and pinky is gone. Bear doesn't have to look up to know that the guy, (a boyfriend? protective friend? general creep? he couldn't tell), had been watching the whole thing. With his partner gone, though, the stranger takes to finally looking throughout the place for something.

He comes up after a bit with some chips and a couple of energy drinks. The same brand Bear had at the beginning of his shift. The process of scanning them in is typical, reading out the total of around seven dollars to the guy, and waiting. Because the guy could just pay, and they could not deal with each other anymore. But of course not.

He pats his pockets, before groaning. "Fuck. I left Nadine with my fucking wallet." He mutters, and without saying much else, wanders off. There is another ring as the front door closes behind him, and Bear wonders for a moment if that will just be it. But the banging on the bathroom door and the yelling that follows is loud enough to be heard through the walls. So when the guy comes back in, Bear is not shocked to see how angry he seems.

"Have you got like. A fuckin'.... Extra key, or some shit? They won't answer the fucking door." And he wonders for a moment if the guy is worried about his potential ...whatever they were. But no, this is just pure anger. Bear doesn't get a second to even think before the guy is waving a hand in his face to make sure he's following along. So with a quiet nod, Bear produces the backup key. Of course.

It is an awkward walk out to the little bathroom they have set up, and Bear gives a gentle knock just to make sure he isn't going to open the door on anyone. But once again, nothing. The entire time, whatever this guy's name is, is muttering to himself about how much of a bitch Nadine was, and whatever else. It was less muttering, and more... whisper-yelling? Once again, making it hard to focus.

But Bear does get the door open. And inside? Yeah, absolutely nothing. Not even the original bathroom key had been left behind.

"THAT FUCKING BITCH STOLE MY WALLET!" Comes from behind him, making Bear jump just a bit, but it doesn't matter. It seems that interest has been entirely lost in the gas station worker, as the guy runs back to his shitty excuse for a sports car. Whatever he was doing, he was doing it without explanation and quickly. Well, as quickly as he could. There is two, three, four attempts to start the car before it goes. And then a few moments adjusting mirrors and settings before he finally drives off.

Bear is left with silence, again, as he watches the car disappear out of sight. Expression does not change, because not even an energy drink could perk him up to deal with shit like this. No, there is not a reaction from him until he hears a voice behind him.

"God. What a fuckin' loser."

And to his shock (dismay? he really didn't want to be in the middle of anything), he turns to see the pink haired stranger standing behind him, and in the middle of the tiny excuse for a bathroom.

Fuck this. He should've stayed in bed.

[stressedlawsecretary]

Today's Focus

05.09.24 - I am back at work after taking two days to travel for a concert. Frankly, I wish I was back home in bed being lazy rather than here. I suppose I always have time I can take, plus I only have two full weeks of work before a paid holiday.

Work - I mean...I have to clean out my inbox for sure. I remember something from my supervisor about needing to get a hotel and flight for a couple of my lawyers to attend a CLE, and I see a bunch of emails regarding that, so that's probably going to be the main thing I tackle today. I'm sure there are some efiles in there as well but I don't expect it to be very busy.

Background Noise - I'm back to binging YT, and will be doing a lot more of that while my dad is gone visiting his sister. I wanted to bring my earbuds on my car trip; the hope was that somewhere on the 4 hr round trip drive I could get through a nearly 2 hr podcast on SSSniperWolf's bad behavior but I forgot them and so I'm catching up now.

That is not to say that I didn't watch any YT; I did eight videos over the two days, and I kept up on my news program even while my hunny started Hades II to distract me.

Study - Well it's Thursday, so I suppose I should attempt to read some of the actual books I started and not just articles. I'm still counting pages instead of chapters though.

Last time I studied was on Monday, and I read like four random articles/press releases, four Horizon Post Office scandal articles, three pages of HR 5376, and the whole Wiki page for Adamson v. California. I continued to read the other couple of decisions & complaints I started, and I got more pages in, but I haven't finished them yet.

Extras - It is Thursday, so I do need to make sure the trash goes out to the curb; I kept up on the weekly chores so I don't have extras, but I do need to go grocery shopping because the last time I did it only took me to the day before the trip. Thankfully, I can do more microwave kinds of meals while dad's gone to give myself a break; it'll probably be one of the handmade pizzas my local grocer does for tonight. Two more episodes of Carranger; we did do three yesterday and have a total of five left so I bet I can finish the series on Friday. We're also about halfway through the first episode of The Tick, but also probably won't watch more because I'll want hunny to continue playing Hades II. Mini-essay was done quick today; I'm working on another longer one to post and hope I can write a lot when remote working tomorrow.

I'm going to finish my post today by sharing some of the pics/videos from the TWRP concert.

[mondaychildsworld]

I know the end - Joel x Reader

Previous chapter / Next chapter

Part Three / ?

Rating: M

Word Count: 5.3K

Chapter summary: In search of a vehicle you stumble upon some infected and learn some new things about each other. Reader patches Joel up and ✨✨✨!!

Warnings: Infected, (small) mention of drugs, swearing, some violence I guess, and some tiny tiny tiny amount of fluff (?!?!) (idek if thats a warning but here we go)

A/N: Sorry for taking soooo long! I've had two weeks of travel during the summer, started a full time job AND moving at the same time... Let's just say there hasn't been any time left for writing. I'm already sleep deprived lol. I've done some sporadically writing while I've had time to kill at airports and I've finally tied it all together! Enjoy!! It's definitely worth reading and you'll experience some feelings at the end, aaaah!!!

And here's my tiny taglist: @boofy1998

November 21st 2023

“Okay, so it shouldn’t be too long now!” Joel shouts as you find yourself and your companions on an old dirt road. Everything you see is still covered in white. It’s been better weather for a couple of days. The sun is shining and you’re in a better mood. 

“Yeah? You think we’ll be there today?” You ask and squint your eyes, raising your hand to your head to bring your eyes some shade from the sun. 

“Sure.” Joel simply says, but he doesn’t give you a look back. So kind of him. 

You’ve been hiking to Cheyenne for the last couple of days. It’s been going alright, despite everything. You’ve accepted the pain and the loss. It still feels like there’s a big hole in your heart. A piece of the puzzle to your soul is missing. But you’ve accepted that there’s no other option than keep going. It scares you even more to give up. You might not have anyone left to live for, but there’s got to be some sort of reason why you’re still here. Your time is not up. You know that this is not the end for you. 

Ellie puts on a mischievous smile and pulls up the book ‘No pun intended: Volume Too’. You let a small chuckle slip past your lips. Joel, who walks in front of the two of you, looks back and sees Ellie browse through the pages. 

”Oh, Ellie…” Joel starts with a sigh. The 14-year old has been reading from the pun book non stop, or kept asking questions only a FEDRA teenager would ask. She’s clearly smart, but there’s a lot about the world she doesn’t know about. She keeps being fascinated by just the smallest things. For example, could she not stop asking about how cool it was that you could go to the cinema, once you’ve stated that you often used to visit the movies. ‘You could buy popcorn?! Damn, what’s that like? I’ve never had popcorn’ she could say, and then tell you about the shitty movie night they sometimes could have at the FEDRA school on special occasions. You felt sorry for her, a kid not being able to grow up as one. 

“Who is the penguin’s favorite aunt?” she asks the both of you as she ignores Joel’s small protest. Her eyes darted between the two of you eagerly waiting for any of you to come up with the answer. 

“Oh I don’t know Ellie.” You say and your eyes and stare at the man in front of you, now walking backwards, waiting for the second half of the pun. He raises his hands as a way of surrendering to the question, he glimpses over to you and your eyes meet. You think you could see some sort of smile behind the scruffy beard and bushy eyebrows. He actually enjoys this, you think. He really doesn’t mind the puns, if you could guess. He tries to not show it though.

“Aunt-Arctica!” Ellie says with a big smile, laughs a bit and clutches the book to her chest. “That one’s good, right?”

Joel gives Ellie a quick, almost pained smile and hums something inaudible. He then looks at you again, for just a couple of seconds. It looks like he suddenly regrets resting his eyes on you and quickly looks back to Ellie again. 

“Next one Ellie?” You request another pun to keep your mind and eyes occupied on anything else than him. Because, of course, you have been looking at him, always walking in front of you. Not like there’s much else to do out here. He’s just a bit older than you, but surely still looks good. You’d guess he was very handsome when he was younger. Now he’s hiding all of that under a stern, unfriendly approach, very much directed towards you.

“Your wish is my command.” She says jokingly “So, how do you make holy water?”

You don’t know that one. Instead Joel’s face lights up, but he doesn’t say anything. 

“You know it?!” Ellie giggles loudly. 

“Yep, not gonna say it though.” He answers. 

“Oh no, no, no.” Ellie points at him with the book. “You gotta answer, because if I reveal the answer, you’ll only lie and tell me you knew it”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Joel says, jokingly defensive.

“Yes you would!” Ellie bites back. “Just say it!”

They continue to bicker about who’s going to reveal the answer to the pun as the dirt road makes a slight turn to the right and just there, in the far distance, you see it. You gasp for a second and then nervously look around y0u. They haven’t noticed. The city unveils itself in front of you. Far away, you can spot buildings and roads belonging to the city of Cheyenne.

“Guys!” You excitedly say as you try to gain their attention. But they’re in deep arguments about the pun. 

“Hey!” You try again. But with no response you reach out and lightly push Joel by his shoulder. He gives you that look again, but also looks a bit startled as to why you’re touching him. 

“Look.” You quietly say, now that you’ve gained his attention. He looks down at your hand, still on his shoulder. You quickly drop it and take a step back as he turns around to see what you’re wanting his attention for. 

“Well I’ll be damned.” He mutters and looks back at Ellie. “Welcome to Cheyenne.” 

After some time spent on foot towards the city you’re finally standing at the outskirts of the town. There’s abandoned cars all the way down Route 85 you just walked by. The whole way over here Joel had been holding a firm grip on his rifle. The lighthearted laughs and the kind gaze was completely gone. He’s now in a whole other mood. He’s on a mission, and his focus is now 100% on the plan of action for the town in front of you. 

“Hey, remember what I said?” Joel says to the group, and it seems more like a statement than a question. 

“Go through, be quiet, find a car and get out of here.” Ellie answers, pleased to show Joel that she’s able to listen, before she adds, ”Please can I use my gun?” 

Joel steps over a pile of metal trash that’s blocking your way into entering the town. Both you and Ellie follow. You can see that he considers Ellie’s request for a moment, and quickly settles for a positive answer, if you’d ask Ellie herself. 

“Sure.” He says as he reaches out a hand for you to grab, as you make your way down from the old scrap pile. “But only when I say so.”

You just give him a glare back, and let the silence speak for itself. You don’t need help over this little obstacle. Joel sighs and offers his hand to Ellie, instead of you. Ellie, who apparently liked you, takes up on your way of refusing help and jumps down from the pile by herself. There’s an awful lot of noise when little pieces of old junk follow her on the way down, metal slamming into the concrete ground. 

Joel squeezes his eyes shut and draws his hand back, now raking through his hair. Definitely annoyed. 

“Ellie! What did I just say!” He hisses before he looks around for any kind of movement from the silent city. 

“Sorry…” Ellie apologizes.

The silence is almost eerie. It’s like it’s too quiet. There’s no way this city is empty. If there aren't any humans that made up a safe camp in any nearby building, you wouldn’t be surprised to stumble upon one or two infected. You kind of hoped for the later, humans often meant more trouble. And you can’t always shoot your way out of trouble. Like last time. 

Of course, it’s also the humans who bring the silence. Not the other way around. Many of the infected can make an awful lot of noise. 

But this time you seem to be safe, as you slowly make your way into the city. The open view you had over the landscape slowly disappears as you make your way into the heart of the city, away from the interstates. You tightly cling to your gun. You’re nervous. But you would never confess it. 

Your eyes roam the streets for a car that isn’t burned out, has a flat tire or just looks like complete junk.

Joel leads the group further into the center of the town. You jump over the guardrail and start to miss the wide open space you just left behind. 

You glimpse over your shoulder and see Ellie walking as if you were out on a high school field trip. The nervous feeling in your belly does not give you the same easy going appearance. Maybe it’s because you’ve been out here for longer than her, or it is because you remember what cities like this might’ve looked like before. 

Cheyenne is that kind of city that isn’t huge, but still pretty large. You pass a couple of motels at the outskirts of the town. They look worn down and you don’t even want to know what could be hiding inside. You know all too well that places like that look very inviting when you’re tired, hungry and on the run from the mess that this world turned out to be. 

About half an hour later you’re way further into the town than you’re actually comfortable with. You’ve passed many vehicles by now, only to find most of them out of gas or with a flat tire, which doesn’t feel like a good sign. 

“I’m not feeling great about this.” You say after you checked another vehicle, which turned out to have a dead battery. 

“I know.” Joel mumbles. “But we need that car.”

There’s a wrinkle in between his brows. Worried. 

“Let’s have a look in here, maybe?” Ellie asks and gestures towards the supermarket on the next block. 

“You won’t find anything in there.” Joel says. 

“Especially not a car.” You add. 

You look up at the sky. The sun is going to set soon. This time of the year doesn’t bring you that much daylight. 

“I’m hungry.” Ellie simply states. 

Joel nods silently towards Ellie and then looks over to you. 

“If you want to, you can try out the rest of the cars down the street, and I’ll see if I can find her something to eat.”

You hesitate at his words, suggesting leaving you alone on the street. He must’ve seen how the idea he just proposed made you uneasy. 

“We’ll be in for just a few minutes, there’s probably not anything left anyway.” He speaks quietly, calmly. 

You nod, and watch them walk toward the supermarket while you continue to try out the cars on the street. 

The next couple of cars turn out to be a disappointment. Flat tire. Flat tire. Crashed. Broken windshield. Totally burnt out. Flat tire. 

But then you see a car a couple of vehicles away that actually looks promising. You look around, keeping a steady hand on the trigger as you slowly walk up to the truck and open the door. You take a few steps back and aim into the truck. 

Empty. 

You sigh with relief. The car looks way too good to have been standing here since the outbreak. Someone must’ve left it here not too long ago. 

You jump into the car seat and immediately start working on hot-wiring the car. 

You hear the engine kicking to life and you let out a happy shriek in the car, you’re just about to turn around and get out of the car to go get Joel and Ellie when you hear a loud crash. 

The smile on your lips suddenly fades away and is now turned into a frown. You turn your head towards the sound. At the same time you see shatters of glass on the ground, just outside the supermarket. And a body. There’s a body on the ground. 

“No!” You yell and throw yourself out of the car. It can’t be Ellie. It’s too big. Your heart sinks as you realize that it could be Joel’s body laying there lifeless on the street. That means that Ellie could be left alone inside. But not totally alone. Alone with a threat, even worse. 

You sprint up to the body and yell for Ellie at the same time. You draw your gun and as you are just a few steps away from the body, you realize it’s not Joel. It’s an infected. Shot in the head, blood pooling around the fungi covered body. 

You hear your name being yelled and look through the broken supermarket window. 

Your eyes meet Joel’s. 

There’s panic and fear at the same time as they’re determined. 

“Get the car!” He yells at you, and as you turn around and run towards the truck there’s gunshots. 

So much happens at the same time. Your pulse has skyrocketed in just a few seconds. You jump into the car and quickly reverse it back towards the supermarket. You need to get to safety. All of you. 

As you reverse back you keep looking into the rearview window. When you’re about halfway you see two people running out from the supermarket. Joel and Ellie… tightly followed by a bunch of infected. You don’t have time to count them, but it seems to be around half a dozen of them. 

Just as you slow down to let them into the truck, when they’re just a few meters behind, it happens. You feel something graze your shoulder. You turn your head and see how an infected is leaning into the car through the open window of the passenger seat. 

Panic sets in your body at once and you scream as you push the break down. The jaw of what once seemed to be a teenage boy clatters violently after your skin and flesh. You reach for your gun with shaky hands. 

“Help!” You scream as you accidentally drop your gun to the floor. You don’t have time to search for it now. The infected boy keeps crawling into the car through the window and you try to shove it back without getting bitten as you’re now pressed up against the door of the car.

A couple of seconds later the door opens abruptly. You nearly fall out but your back lands against something warm and firm. You see a rifle above your head as you try to grasp anything to hold onto. A second later the infected is shot and dead and you’re being roughly pulled up by strong arms. 

Soon you realize what’s happening. Joel pushes you back into the seat. He shot the infected and saved you. 

“Than-“ You start to thank him, but are abruptly interrupted by a gasp and some cursing from behind Joel. 

He turns around to face Ellie, who stumbles up behind him, white as a sheet. 

He raises his rifle and shoots off the infected that has now gotten uncomfortably close to Ellie. 

He gives her a worried look and tells her to get in the truck. She jumps into the backseat as he rushes to the passenger seat, still shooting at the infected closing up to the car. 

As soon as Joel has dragged the dead body out of the car and you all have taken a seat you press down on the gas pedal as hard as you can. The car speeds away quickly and you leave the scene behind. 

“What the hell happened in there?!” You exclaim and look up into the mirror, back at Ellie. She stays quiet, fumbles with the hem of her shirt and gives Joel a worrying look. She ignores your question and the looks you give through the mirror. 

You try and navigate your way out of the city, without stumbling upon even more surprises. That was a close call, for all of you. 

“Joel…” Ellie quietly says. You give them a quick glance through the mirror. He’s already leaning back to Ellie in the passenger seat. 

You make a quick turn to the left. The pressing silence in the car is obvious. You just escaped death yet another time, this wasn’t the end either. 

At the same moment you steer the car straight up the street you just turned to, you catch a glimpse of Ellie in the backseat. It’s for just a second, before she pulls her sleeve down again. But you see it. The bite mark. 

You freeze in your seat. Your knuckles turn white as your grip on the steering wheel tightens. Fuck.

“You’re infected.” You say with a shaky voice. “I’m so sorry Ellie, I’m so sorry but we can’t-“

Your voice breaks. You feel tears approaching and you swallow and try to gather your thoughts. Ellie is just a girl and her days are counted. 

“No.”

It’s Joel who speaks up. 

“Yes. You know how this will end.” You answer. 

“You don’t understand.”

“Yes I do. I’ve seen people getting bit before.”

He calmly observes you for a second. It’s frustrating how he doesn’t seem to even give Ellie some sort of reaction towards her new death sentence. 

“There’s no way out of this.” You continue. 

“Just drive.” He says sternly before leaning back again to Ellie. “You’ okay?”

His tone changes completely as soon as he speaks to her instead of you. They continue to mumble with each other for a minute. That’s when you decide that you’ve had enough. You’ve driven a couple of blocks away from the group of infected and decide that you’re at a safe distance. You push the break. 

“What are you doing?!” Ellie asks, frightened, holding onto Joel’s headrest as the car stops abruptly. 

“You’re infected and you two can’t continue to ignore that fact.” You say and cross your arms. “What the fuck is this?”

“Jesus, just-“ Joel says and rakes his fingers through his silver sprained hair. “Just move the fucking car and we’ll sort this out.”

“Please enlighten me, how do we ‘sort this out’ now?” You ask as you grab the steering wheel again. “She’s infected.”

“I’m not.” A quiet voice says from behind. 

“Ellie.” Joel warns her. 

You reluctantly start to drive the truck again, through the streets like they’re a maze to get out of this town. You did get a car, at least. Mission complete. In one way. 

“What do you mean Ellie?” You sigh. “I saw the bite mark.” 

“We should just tell her, Joel.” 

“Ellie! You agreed not to-“

“Yeah, I know.” She says. “But what if she just decides to, I don’t know, kill me in my sleep now?!” 

“She won’t.” He says and makes a distressed grimace before he covers his face with his large hands. “You know what, fuck it.”

He sighs and turns to you. 

“She’s immune.”

“Joel, that’s impossible.”

“It’s not.” He says. “I’ve… I’ve seen it.”

“What do you mean?”

Ellie leans forwards and pops her head between the two of you. She props her arms up on your seats. 

“I’ve been bitten before, but I’ve never turned.” She says and looks over to Joel. “He wanted to shoot me at first too but here we are, on this road trip towa-“

“That’s enough.” Joel chimes in.

Ellie puts her arm between the two of you, over the gear shift. It’s the opposite arm from what you saw in the mirror just a couple of minutes ago. She pulls her sleeve up and you glance down. It’s obviously a bite mark. It’s definitely cordyceps, but totally healed. Ellie’s left with only a scar. 

“Oh.” You say. That’s the only thing you can say. You’re shocked, confused and still a bit stressed out from the incident. Ellie rolls her sleeve down again and a silence falls over all of you as you drive your way out of town.

About an hour later you’re far away from Cheyenne. You had driven west, trying to stay away from the big roads. Ellie has fallen asleep in the backseat, mouth slightly open. 

There’s been nothing but silence between you and Joel since you found out about Ellie’s immunity. He’s been reading the map and pointing out which way to go. But other than that, you hadn’t spoken. 

“Joel…” You start, silently, to not wake Ellie up. You glance into the mirror but she hasn’t moved an inch. 

You get a grumpy humming sound as a response. 

“Why are you here?”

“What?” He answers, and sounds tired. 

“Why are you and Ellie here?” You ask. “It’s pretty weird, you’ve just showed up in the middle of the woods, with an immune kid?”

He’s quiet. 

“You show up with a teenage girl, who’s apparently immune? I know you well enough to know that this is not your style. You’ve given me such a hard time this week. So what am I supposed to do? Don’t you understand that I’m freaking out here?”

 Your rambling trails off. There are a few more seconds of silence before he speaks. 

“Don’t act like you know me.”

“Oh, so you’re still going to give me the cold shoulder? It’s not like I expected a warm welcome from you, but this? You’re just so unfriendly for no reason at all. I left my sister for dead about a week ago and you just shut me out, it’s like you have no empathy left in your soul.”

“I-“ He starts but stops himself, taking a couple of seconds to decide what to say or not. “I don’t… it’s complicated and I never asked for this.” 

“Yeah?” You ask. “Fucking complicated, no doubt about that.” 

He doesn’t give a proper answer, but you hear him grunt something you really can’t make out.

It’s dark outside. All you see is the stars scattered over the dark blue sky and the small road in front of you. Your eyes have been on the hunt for a good place to camp. At least you can sleep in the car now, as a backup plan.  

Your stomach rumbles a bit. You haven’t eaten since yesterday, since the supermarket visit hadn’t gone as planned. Joel looks out the passenger window. You’re stuck here together in the car, so you suppose that’s all he can do as he tries to ignore you again. He’s slowly scratching his beard with his hand. 

Suddenly he pauses and raises his hand up to the window. He points out in the dark at the same time as he finally speaks up. 

“Drive over there.” The tiredness in his tone is changed into something else, something more hopeful. “Old cabin.”

You slow down and turn to the right, into an overgrown dirt road. Once, it might’ve been covered by gravel. Now it’s barely visible. 

Now you see the small cabin too. It’s not big, but it looks sturdy, after all these years left abandoned. You pull up next to it and Joel looks back at Ellie, still asleep, before grabbing his rifle. 

“Wait here.” He says and his dark eyes meet yours. You just nod and feel the breeze of cold air finding its way into the car as he opens the door and leaves. You feel like shit.

He’s gone for a couple of minutes and you sit there frozen, the whole time. This whole situation is fucked up. You’re left in the car with a possibly, or possibly not, infected kid in the middle of nowhere. 

Soon Joel comes back and opens the backseat door next to Ellie but pauses and looks over at you for a second. He nods back towards the house to say ‘all good, let’s go’. Carefully he grips her shoulder and shakes her slightly.

You hear her mumble and shuffle out from the truck, with Joel’s arm around her shoulders as they make their way into the cabin. You sit silently in the car for a moment before you turn the engine off. The lights turn off and the backs of your two companions disappear just like your source of light. It takes a couple of seconds to get your eyes used to the dark. You take a deep breath and open the driver's door and step out onto the frozen ground. The flashlight blinks a bit as you click the power button and you need to firmly hit it against the palm of your hand before the flickering stops. The solid stream of light leads you up to the cabin, backpack slung over your shoulder. Your breath creates a frozen cloud in front of you as you exhale deeply before you enter the cabin. 

Once you’re inside, you can see that the cabin's layout is basically just one big room. The small kitchen is located in the right corner. It’s small and full of stuffed animals on the wall, hunting trophies. You suppose this cabin must’ve been an old hunting cabin. The room is sparsely furnished. A couch is placed in the middle of the room, with a small and dusty coffee table in front. Ellie is already fast asleep on the couch. On the wall next to the kitchen, a big fireplace dominates most of the wall, with a big head of a deer hanging right over it. 

In front of the fireplace you find a hunched down figure, which is Joel, trying to get a fire going.

You nervously look out of the windows, trying to make sure that no one, or nothing, followed you out here. You close the curtains and take a look in the cabinets of the kitchen but with no luck. They’re all empty of anything edible, but are stashed with some outdoor equipment, some plates, and a first aid kit, but it looks pretty beat up so you just suppose there isn’t anything of use in there. You sigh and awkwardly turn around to face the room. In front of the fireplace, in the cabin's only armchair, Joel  sits slumped down with his head down, focusing on his hands.

There’s no other comfortable place to sit, other than the floor. You consider going back out to sleep in the car, even if that’s an option you’re not too keen on.

Joel noticed your awkward stance in the kitchen and you caught his stare. His mouth is slightly open and his eyes look tired. He blinks a couple of times and then pulls out his sleeping bag from his backpack next to him, as if he could read your mind. 

“Take it.” He says and holds the sleeping bag out towards you, like a peace offering. 

You slowly walk towards him and the fireplace, not breaking eye contact. As soon as you reach out and grab the sleeping bag his attention goes back to his other hand. You glance down and see that he’s hurt. There’s a cut in the soft flesh between his thumb and index finger, and his knuckles are bruised. 

“Hey, let me help you.” You say as you bend down and try to grab his hand but he shoves your hand away and mutters something.

You take a step back and remember the first aid kit in the kitchen cabinet. You walk over there and open the door, grab the small back and start to dig through its contents. It’s mostly empty, but - bingo! - a roll of gauze bandage. 

Joel looks reluctantly at you as you bend down on the sleeping bag in front of him again. You give him a look and he sighs as he slowly places his hand in yours, which is already reached out for his. 

You take your bottle of water and start cleaning the wound and Joel hisses and drags his hand back a bit.

“I know something better.” He breathes out in pain. 

“There’s this bar cart…” He gestures behind him and you nod and walk behind the armchair. Against the wall there is indeed a small bar cart, mostly covered in old boxes for ammunition, a dirty old whiskey glass and some dusty old gloves, but on the lower shelf there are a couple of almost empty bottles. You grab a glass bottle with a clear liquid and open it. You sniff carefully and it’s clearly still pretty strong after all these years in solitude.

You walk back to Joel and bend down in front of him, again. This time you grab his hand and you pause for a second. This almost feels too intimate. You hesitate to continue and you’re once again faced with that awkward feeling you had in the kitchen before. Joel places his other hand on yours, and holds it tight with both hands. You look up and meet his gaze. You must look terrified, like a deer in the headlights. How did you allow yourself to get this close to Joel? How did he even allow it?! The man who’s been more hostile than gracious towards you - is now holding your hand in a way you’d never imagine. You wish you had gone back to sleep in the truck, or that your stash of pills wasn’t long gone. You wanted to remove yourself from the situation, or at least numb the anxiety in your chest. 

“It’s okay.” Joel assures and slowly lets go of your hand so you’re left with only the injured one, resting heavily in yours. 

You slowly start to dab the cut on his hands clean with the alcohol that you found. You clean his knuckles and can’t help but study his hands even more. They’re big, rugged and firm in contrast to yours - which are rather the opposite to yours. They might not be as smooth and pretty as they used to be, but now, compared to his, it doesn’t look like you’ve been through an apocalypse at all. 

“Fuck.” He grits his teeth and tries to stay quiet to not wake up the sleeping teenager on the couch. The alcohol must sting in the cut. 

You start to wrap the gauze around his hand and the cut once everything looks clean.

“How did you…?” You mumble as you secure the gauze, but you don’t let go of his hand. He doesn’t move either. You feel your pulse rise. 

“The glass door of the supermarket.” He mumbles and starts to stroke your hand with his thumb. The movement makes your skin tingle. But for him, it must hurt. Despite that, he keeps going. “Or the window, I don’t know.”

You just nod. You don’t know what to say. Or if you even can say anything. You’re terrified and totally consumed by his skin brushing against yours, and his honest, almost vulnerable gaze. 

“Look, I…” He starts but trials off just as Ellie mumbles something.

You both draw your hands back and your eyes quickly dart over to the couch. Ellie smacks her lips slowly and her mouth stays open just a bit, before she starts to snore.

The spot Joel’s thumb kept brushing at your hand suddenly feels cold. You shiver a little bit and almost feel caught in the act of something… Something you weren’t supposed to do. No, that was nothing. That was only an act of gratitude for patching him up. Nothing else. You didn’t even want it to be anything else, you tried to tell yourself. But somehow something had shifted in the air between the two of you. You had told him he had given you the cold shoulder, that he’d been nothing but unfriendly to you and maybe he felt ashamed of his bad behavior. You didn’t need to be friends, but maybe he realized that you at least could be equals.

You quietly slipped into his sleeping bag between Joel and the fireplace. You didn’t want to continue the conversation he started, didn’t want to hear what he had to say. You didn’t want to ruin this moment. You placed your backpack on the floor to use a pillow and slowly sank down, making yourself comfortable. You could hear the cracking of the fire and Joel’s steady breaths as you drifted off to sleep. The sleeping bag smells like dust, wood and Joel.

[n7punk]

What is my immortal?

Ohhhh boy. Ok. Sit down.

My Immortal (wikipedia page) is the most famous fanfiction of all time. Couple disclaimers: it's almost not well-written enough to qualify for trigger warnings, but it does touch on a lot of triggers that I won't list off here. It is also, theoretically, tangentially, supposedly, "harry potter" fanfiction. However, harry is now known as Vampire, hermione is now B'loody Mary Smith, ron is Diablo, etc. A lot of the characters are now vampires and everyone is "goth" except the characters the author doesn't like, who are preps and posers. Also in one of the author's notes I think the writer ("Tara") literally says she hasn't read the books and it's based off "the movie". So like, it's connections to harry potter are tenuous at best and I'm not recommending you read anything beyond the first paragraph anyway, just putting that out there.

It's first person, follows a self-insert OC, and is entirely a fabrication of the writer's indulgence. It's one of those things that has gone down in fandom history and most people have read the first chapter, but we hadn't read more (AN: I don't recommend you do) so we had a read in the group chat and I either lost braincells or gained code-cracking skills trying to parse through the misspellings (both accidental and purposeful). A lot of people think it's a troll fic (which like, yeah makes sense) but there's a case to be made for it being a young tween's idea of a cool and edgy story that she and her friend made up and don't understand why everyone is hating on. I also think the world is a more beautiful place if it's sincere. The writer has managed to remain anonymous and undoxxed, which I am VERY grateful for, for her sake, even if I do desperately want to know the "real" story behind it and how she feels about its meme-status. Many people have come forward claiming to be the author and having done it as satire, but every one of them was a lying poser and a prep.

Below the cut is the opening of the famous "first chapter" (which only has a few more sentences in it after this anyway) for your reading pleasure. You really don't need to read any more than that, this is the part that became a meme and it only goes downhill from here. Also, "AN" (or "A/N") is "Author's Note" and yeah people really did used to just stick them in the middle of a fic, at least bad ones.

Hi my name is Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way and I have long ebony black hair (that’s how I got my name) with purple streaks and red tips that reaches my mid-back and icy blue eyes like limpid tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Amy Lee (AN: if u don’t know who she is get da hell out of here!). I’m not related to Gerard Way but I wish I was because he’s a major fucking hottie. I’m a vampire but my teeth are straight and white. I have pale white skin. I’m also a witch, and I go to a magic school called Hogwarts in England where I’m in the seventh year (I’m seventeen). I’m a goth (in case you couldn’t tell) and I wear mostly black. I love Hot Topic and I buy all my clothes from there. For example today I was wearing a black corset with matching lace around it and a black leather miniskirt, pink fishnets and black combat boots. I was wearing black lipstick, white foundation, black eyeliner and red eye shadow. I was walking outside Hogwarts. It was snowing and raining so there was no sun, which I was very happy about. A lot of preps stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them.

[iamthecomet]

Hoot once again!

I‘m really glad to hear this. Our little ritual means a lot to me <3

I am so sorry for her, but very glad that she figured it out now. Growing up undiagnosed can be (and is most of the time) very traumatic

While I’m a bit younger, I still spent my entire childhood and half of my youth (I’m gonna pretend it has been only half of it so far cause whatever the fuck I had/have is most definitely not a joyful youth). So while I can‘t fully relate, I still kind of get it and can at least imagine how it must me for her

It‘s pretty hard to get an autism diagnosis, because it cannot be done by a regular psychiatrist (unlike ADHD for example, which is why I at least have that diagnosis already). In my area there is only one place where you can get a diagnosis and the waiting list is LONG (not the worst I‘ve seen so far but at least half a year, which is terrible if you need to get help as quickly as possible but you need a diagnosis to get any kind of help). But I’m working on it

Thank youuuu

I planned chapter 2 out yesterday

It ended up to be “only” 5 pages, but it has 39 panels (chapter 1 has 24 panels)

So I think I’ll still get more of the story across even though it seems to be one page shorter

I will most likely start working on it in November

Your day sounds pretty nice!

Today, I was really stressed and worried about something and I did it okay-ish, but I can‘t change shit anymore now anyways so I’ll have to stop worrying and just wait and see

I also had a doctors appointment to get blood drawn and tested (cause due to the meds I take I’m apparently at a higher risk of malnutrition/lack of some stuff) and it was literally the most pleasant doctors appointment I’ve ever had.

I was a too early (as always) and had to wait outside a bit because they were still on lunch break but I was let inside a few minutes earlier anyways and so I was alone in the waiting area. And the nurse was incredibly kind and nice (she had me lay down for it because she didn’t want to risk that I could pass out and then she let me take my time to get back up again). It was overall incredibly nice and I was done not even 15 minutes after my appointment (so none of that annoying waiting time that usually comes with doctors appointments)

I also wanted to mention this in the past days already but I somehow didn‘t haha:

So I saw Someone do OC-tober and I absolutely LOVED the idea! (I’m one of these people that just never really draws their OCs lmao)

So I put together a prompt list for myself and I’m really excited about it ^^

(I‘m also planning on participating in Ghosttober with my writing which is why I’m probably going to be a little stressed all throughout October which is why I’ll most likely start working on chapter 2 in November)

I once again truly hope that you had a pleasant day! ♥️

~ @owlishanon

I like our little ritual too! ♥ When my friend got her diagnosis she couldn't get it from a regular psychiatrist either. She also got her ADHD diagnosis a couple years earlier because that was much easier. Autism she had to take a handful of tests over a period of time to actually get the diagnosis. But she was 98% sure what it would be before she got it. So I guess it's a pain in the ass no matter where you try to get it. Hoping that you are able to get through that process soon and get the help that you need. I'm glad your doctor's appointment went well and was easy. That's such a rare thing. And that you had a nurse who was really accommodating and understood what you needed. I was wondering why you said you would work on chapter two in November, until I got to the end of your ask. There are A LOT of things going on in October. And it will be kind of nice to take a pause on working so hard on that and doing some other stuff. I'm really excited for kinktober/ghostober whatever we're calling it. I'm trying to get the first week written and ready this week so that it's less likely that I fall behind. We'll see how that goes. Day one is written and ready to go--so that's something at least. And OC-tober sounds SO cool. I'm excited to see what you end up doing with that. I'm sure that will be a lot of fun too!

[eddisfargo]

I posted 3,305 times in 2022

That's 1,882 more posts than 2021!

7 posts created (0%)

3,298 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@exponentiate

@bbauthor2

@luminarily

@testingcheats0n

@copyrightedpodcasts

I tagged 916 of my posts in 2022

#dracula daily - 233 posts

#ouat - 33 posts

#goncharov - 24 posts

#once upon a time - 22 posts

#psa - 17 posts

#queen's thief - 11 posts

#elon musk - 9 posts

#backreading dracula daily - 9 posts

#skipping the queue - 9 posts

#incredible - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i sometimes have like a dozen that are still sitting on my default new tab page just because i opened one and then remembered there's a tab

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Not a day will go by (9/?)

Hello my patient friends! Sorry for the wait! It won't be this long again (for real this time)! This is a Christmas fic for last year's Secret Santa, and I've given myself a deadline to finish it before this year's secret Santa. Specifically, I'm trying to finish before December 18, which is mine and @cosette141's birthday! Thanks so much to everyone who's still reading and leaving comments--they keep me going when my brain refuses to write! Thanks especially to @MotherKat for being the best beta EVER! I'm going all out in November, and I've actually already got Chapter 10 written!! So it won't be too long!

Tagging: @resident-of-storybrooke, @everything-person, @teamhook

AO3 Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9

Summary: He may not remember his present, but she doesn't know his past. If she did, she wouldn't have married him… right?

See the full post

19 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

#4

Not a day will go by (10/?)

OK, confession: I've had this one mostly-finished for a couple weeks. Nervous about it! Finally earning the M-rating, although it definitely goes nowhere near E. Not a thing I've done before, so your patience is appreciated! I'm really hoping I can finish the fic this month! Wish me luck! Thanks as always to @motherkatereloyshipper for her EXCEPTIONAL beta-ing, and for this BEAUTIFUL cover I just edited in! If you find any errors, they were probably my last-minute pre-post edits!

Tagging: @resident-of-storybrooke @everything-person, @teamhook

AO3 Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7 Ch 8 Ch 9 Ch 10

Summary: Hook gets a chance to get to know his wife.

See the full post

20 notes - Posted December 3, 2022

#3

Not a day will go by (7/?)

APRIL FOOL'S.

Get it? The joke is, you thought you were definitely not getting an update of this fic today, but actually YOU DID. The first of 2022 (yikes)!

But seriously, so sorry it took me this long! ADHD is apparently the boss of me much more than I would like. But I'm hoping to get back on--not nearly an every-day posting schedule, but definitely better than every-four-months.

Thanks a bazillion to @motherkatereloyshipper for coincidentally being awake at a million o'clock her time and willing to beta so I could post this on April Fool's!

Tagging: @resident-of-storybrooke   @everything-person @teamhook

AO3 Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 3 Ch 4 Ch 5 Ch 6 Ch 7

Summary: Captain Hook wakes up in a strange bed, next to a woman he does not remember. He finds nothing particularly unusual about this situation. But the woman seems to know him very well.

In Storybrooke, there’s only one surefire way to get back a lost memory. And it’s not going to work until he loves her.

See the full post

20 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

#2

My beautiful complete set, + a bonus first edition I got from a Secret Santa and the Spanish edition I’m working through! Somewhere I have the Vince Natale edition of The Thief, but I lent it to a student. I’d... better get that back before graduation, huh?

I think I might already have a somewhat more matched set in my classroom, at least part of it. I don’t mind whether I win or not, I just really wanted to share my beauties! 

25 notes - Posted April 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

My fellow Friends of Jonathan on the Discord were talking about who they picture when imagine Quincey P. Morris. There were many excellent answers, like Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, and Daniel Craig doing his Benoit Blanc accent. 

I apologize profusely but my answer is Doug Dimmadome, owner of the Dimmsdale Dimmadome. .

42 notes - Posted May 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[mcalhenwrites]

Now that Geckos is out, I plan to work on the side stories for a little collection of them. "Don't" and "Dancing Bones" will be edited, but I plan to post them online for free as well as put them in the story collection.

It'll likely only be an ebook, though, and it'll have a few more stories. That includes a finished version of "Late Returns" (what I've posted is only the first part of a WIP). I want to get back to Stargazers' Hill and the Warren/Henry story that isn't titled yet, but right now, Seasons has taken over my brain again. I'm editing and reposting chapters on AO3. I thought people might be upset that I was reposting it, but so far the reception has been kind. ;A; (I still feel bad somehow? But that's on me.) After publishing Geckos and having an amazing day in the next town over, the following day was... not so great. We had storms. I'm gonna be vague for location reasons, but I live in one of the towns hit by a tornado the other day. I saw a map of it, and uh, I could've seen the tornado out my bedroom window if it had hit during the day instead of at night where visibility is shit. And if I hadn't been huddled in the downstairs hallway with my cats and roommate. I was panicked about the weather all day, and that was worse because it was the anniversary of Andover 1991 (a tornado). I lived through that. Uh, very luckily I lived through that, it hit my neighborhood and was scary close to my house, to the point the sirens 50 ft away or so were drowned out by the sound of the tornado. We had no basement and no good inner rooms or closets in such a tiny house at the time. I've been through other tornadoes since then, but none were as terrifying as that one. Before the tornado and after the reminder that it was Andover 1991 aniversary... I also got an email that I didn't get a job that would've been good for my disabilities. Like, worked around it well and not been too straining on me. Plus I would've worked with animals. I'm struggling financially, so writing is the only way I'm getting any income - outside of crocheting, and I don't want to fucking do that for money. I want my hobby back. I want to make gifts. I want to make OC dolls. I want my limited physical spoons for crocheting to be for ENJOYMENT. Not so stressful it makes me fucking hate crocheting. Which... yeah, I'm kind of there again. That said, I have made a few book sales, but... Well, I'll keep trying. I've got other novels cooking. I'll double down my focus, maybe. I will sketch more. Maybe I'll reconsider using something like Patreon, which... don't love, but like. What can you love? Every site is screwing over creators in some way or another. :'( It's depressing, actually, bc I hop on facebook, and I can't see ANY posts of the people and groups I follow, but you know what I DO see? Fucking suggested pages for AI art. I really hope all the people who gentrified the tiny house movement get scammed into buying stupid fake tiny houses due to AI images and end up taking legal action eventually that helps to bring about the (hopefully inevitable) death of AI? I'm mean, but like, tiny houses and mobile homes and caravans and shit like that were houses before rich people decided they were cute and they went up to $200k-$300k. I wanted a tiny house bc I thought, "at least I might someday afford this" but nah. They took even that away. So enjoy your shitty "this is perfect for me" gushing when the fucking pillows are melted into the planks and the switches for the oven and stovetop are underneath the burners! Anyway! I should probably do more writing and take my anemic ass to bed soon. It's been... a shitty couple of days. I'm trying to be cheerful and remain optimistic and just boost Geckos, Automata... but eh. I'm also trying to survive when everything is against that. I had a suicidal thought earlier today that I should just gulp down all the pills I can get my hands on and be done with things. yay. (I won't. It was a passing thought. A desperate "oh god I can't afford to live and I should give up, I'm in my late 30s and nothing ever gets better" thought.)

[fenimores-book-nook]

>> Self care writing ~ Day 6 <<

November 21st, 2023, Tuesday

My Day so far: 6:30 am ~ Wake up, do some yoga, read the latest Heartstopper episode on Webtoon, get dressed for the day. 7:00 am ~ Leave for work, open the shop at 8, make some coffee for myself, shelf books, eat breakfast, do work around the store. 1:00 pm ~ Get off work, head to the library to do some writing. 1:57 pm, Now ~ Do some notebook-journaling and work on day 6 of self care writing. ;)

I haven't done much today other than work, unreasonably freak out over a Walmart order*, read, and write. :)

*I was trying to order The Hunger Games movies and I accidentally put curbside pickup which I did not want to do. So I was going to pass time at the library but when I arrived here, I got a notification saying that it's available for free shipping, so we're doing that instead. :,) It's kind of funny how antisocial and introverted I can be when I literally work in customer service. But it's fine. I still love my job.

What I have planned for the rest of my day: 2:15ish pm ~ Leave the library, grab some lunch, and head home to relax. At home ~ I want to do some more reading, hopefully get through *at least* two chapters of Iron Flame. I also need to keep reading my book club book since I'm only like one-hundred pages in (or less) and it's next week. But who are we kidding? I will probably end up reading The Baby-Sitters Club. I also would LOVE to finally decorate my room for Christmas but I've been lacking the motivation to do so. But who knows? Maybe I'll have a burst of energy to start it today. 6:00 pm ~ Leave again and head to my friend's house so we can carpool to a play that our high school is putting on. We graduated this year, but we always love showing our support for our friends and I also just love going to productions*. 7:00 pm ~ Watch the play. :)

*I've really realized how much I love going to different kinds of productions after graduating from high school. I've been to a couple of my brother's college concerts and a musical his college put on; and I loved all of them very much. :) Honestly, I think the realization really bloomed after I saw Hamilton in person. Which was AMAZING. I was so happy that I started crying when they started singing the opening song. :,)

So for now, I think I'll do some morning journaling prompts and call a break. :) (technically afternoon prompts but it's fine)

(pinterest, of course)

I'm grateful for my love for my hometown, it definitely wasn't always this strong, but it got there. For my two-day break from work this week. :) That I really enjoy doing my self care writings. The Hunger Games series, heehee. And for the magic of books that I'm in love with.

I have the intention for today to be a relaxing, yet productive day. I wanna get some things done (like I am right now!) but also be able to just relax too.

I want to be good to myself. Not make myself feel guilty for taking the time to rest, even if it means I don't get something done that I've been meaning to (I have time). For others, I want to be able to be a caring person that they might need. Even if it's in small ways.

I'm doing great right now! There is no need to compare different versions of myself, but what is important is to really see how far I've come and be proud of that. <3

~

Flash forward quite a bit! 11:48 pm, yep, it's a late night tonight. I came home from the play I mentioned earlier around 11. No, the play didn't go until then, I went with a friend and we ended up meeting another friend and just having our normal shenanigans. :) Which was quite a lot of fun. And the play. THE PLAY. It was just so incredible, I loved it so, so much. It was a reality show but with Greek gods. Pretty fantastic, I know.

Since it is almost tomorrow, I'm gonna jump to some night self care things, from the same one as before. ;)

I started decorating my room for Christmas!! And I got writing done at the library like I intended on doing.

How much I love the library and how I can spend hours there. <3

A bit about Greek gods. Like how Zeus and Hera were siblings but they were together. Eeshk.

I felt happy and sentimental.

Some lack of motivation and my I-want-to-live-in-a-cottage-in-the-woods-alone-part of me at some moments.

Putting too much trust into things at a certain time. It's okay. It doesn't mean I'm stupid or naive. I just care a lot and that's okay.

And of course fanart from pinterest of The Owl House, to say goodnight. (cuz they are the cutest & I love them)

Until next time,

Thalia <3

[dailyaudiobiblechronological]

10/9/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription

Matthew 12:1 - 21, Mark 3, Luke 6

Welcome to Daily Audio Bible Chronological I'm Jill. It's so great to be here, back with you on this 9th day of October. I am so grateful for this time, And I am so grateful. So listen, We are in the Gospels. We made it. We made it to the New Testament that was such a A long track, long journey and we are here and I Love  I love the Gospels. And so I'm going to jump in where we're at in the reading and just sort of savor these next couple of weeks or days, whatever we have together in the teachings.The words, the actions of Jesus, The story of Jesus. So today we're reading Matthew, Mark and Luke. We'll begin with Matthew chapter 12 versus one through 21, and then we'll read Mark chapter three, and then we'll jump over to Luke chapter 6. Matthew Chapter 12 verse one. 

Prayer

Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for Jesus. Thank you for his words that Cut deep and they transform us In a way that nothing else really can. And I pray that we would hear them In a way, we've never heard them before. That you would open our eyes to see, our ears to hear in our hearts, to receive in a way that we would be changed. I pray that we would not gloss over these words, we would sit with them.That we would meditate upon them and let them sink deep down into the cracks and the places of our hearts That just need repaired, that just need healed, that just need changed. We give you this week Of our lives In the word, in interaction with everyone we come to God, have your way in our lives. Lead us to the people That need to know, feel and experience your love. And let us be worthy Of the name Follower of Christ the believer. Salt of the earth and the light of the world, May We go out And light the darkness all around us. We pray this now in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. I'm Jill. We'll turn the page together tomorrow. Until then Love one another.

Community Prayer Line

Hey y'all, hey, it's Simone in Texas calling. This message is for Diana in Florida. For some reason I couldn't get into my DAB app for two days. I don't know what was going on, but I finally got in this morning and I'm catching up on the last two days. Um, let's pray. Our most gracious, wonderful and loving, Father, we thank you, Lord God, for the grace, the grace, and a new day your mercies, For a new day your everlasting love. When this morning I want to lift up my sister Diane In Florida, to you, Father God, I know exactly what she's feeling. I know exactly where she is, and I know her pain. It is all too familiar to be married to a narcissist. And in my case, with a victim mentality, everything was always About him, and never about the marriage that I asked that you would bring her comfort and peace during this time. I ask that you would give her the wisdom, the knowledge and the understanding as she walks through this process. God ask that she will give her peace in your heart. In her heart I pray that you will give her A peace that surpasses all understanding and God, I just thank you, even now that you are making every crooked path straight. I pray that you will help them to be able to come to a commonplace in a common ground via the Holy Spirit, because that's the only way it can be done. That you will just reach in and do surgery on her husband's heart, touch his heart touches mind and turn him towards you and give him a willingness to want to restore the marriage. God, we just thank you for being great and mighty and knowing you can do all things but fail in Jesus name. 

Salutations, my DABC family. It's his little songbird from Alberta, Canada, and I had called in quite some time ago asking for prayer for my sister-in-law, Wanda. She had been taken to the hospital for emergency surgery on her bowels Or her intestines, because they they twisted on her. And it was.Quite serious and she's been suffering with Crohn's all her life. Well Today is October 6th. And my brother's last day at work and and now he's retiring and she's still in the hospital. Oh, my  family.Could you please? Sorry. Could you please join me in lifting her up and asking Lord for For her healing. They still have one daughter at home out of four children. And We just want to see her home. We want to see her better. so if you would join me in this 

AKA Christian me I am.Calling in this prayer request for Diane in Florida. This is for your husband. For you to to pray for your husband. My God, in your infinite wisdom, I come to you with a humble heart seeking your divine intervention. For my husband, who is struggling with narcissism, you know the depth of his soul and the pain that he carries. Mayor loves. Surround him and guide him through this journey of transformation. Lord, I praise you for your beautiful Quality The beautiful qualities in my husband. You have gifted him with charisma, confidence, and strong presence. Let these qualities be used for your glory and to serve others with love and compassion. In the name of Jesus, I asked for the armor of God to be placed upon my husband. May he be protected with the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, The Belt of Truth, The Shoes of Peace. The Shield of Faith. The Sword of the Spirit. Let this armor equip him to stand against the temptations of this world. Father, I pray that you will soften his heart so that he may be more receptive to the needs of others. Replace this self focus with the spirit of empathy and the generosity. Guide him to recognize the value in you and not In the admiration of others, teach my husband Lord to surrender his pride and ego to you. May he learn the true worth comes from following you and your will and embracing your grace. Give him the strength to let go of self-centered thoughts and seek your guidance in all aspects of life. Heavenly Father I trust.In your power to heal and transform, I am grateful for your loving hand that is always guiding us. Thank you for working with my husband and for the beautiful person he's becoming through your grace. In Jesus mighty name, Amen. 

[hellbubu]

I’m handsome, tall, and rich

Chapter 13

Kakashi froze. He tried to think of an excuse.

"How did you know?"

"I've known for a while." Kakashi sighed. This whole affair got messier." Let's just go to the police station now."

Sasuke followed him quietly and sat tensely in the car. He kept his hands on his lap and his eyes glued to them as Kakashi drove them to the station.

Sasuke walked into the station to see Hinata sitting in front of an officer's desk. She was shaking and was wearing her pajamas. He rushed to her side, quickly pulling out a chair and sitting close to her.

Before Sasuke could ask her what happened, another officer ushered them into a dark room.

She sat down in front of a laptop with Hinata and Sasukw in front of her.

"The video I'm about to show you involves Uchiha Sasuke-ssi and Hyuga Hinata-ssi. Confirm it." She turned the laptop to them so that they could watch the screen.

A video of Sasuke and Hinata finishing getting ready for work. Luckily, they were both dressed. Hinata was sitting on the couch with Sasuke braiding her hair into a half-up braid.

"Yeah. That's us." Sasuke held Hinata’s hand as the video continued." Who took this?"

The video was now showing Hinata in the pajamas she was currently wearing. She had finished drying her hair before throwing the towel towards the lamp, covering the camera.

"There's no more footage after this part."

"What happens now?"

"The bastard who took these videos will be arrested right?"

The officer sighed, looking almost sad and disappointed." He's just going to get fined."

"That's not fair." Sasuke's voice was angry and tense." He clearly had malicious intent-"

"That's what the law says. It's upsetting but there isn't anything we can do about it." The officer crossed her arms.

Kakashi and Naruto walked towards where Sasuke and Hinata would be exiting, hoping to catch them before leaving and escorting each home.

They were too late. They could only watch and hear their conversation as they both walked out. "He only gets a fine! It doesn't make any sense."

“Find out everything there is to know about the camera guy.” Kakashi was still looking at the exit.

“What’ll you do with that?”

Kakashi’s face darkened.

Sasuke threw himself into bed. He had showered and changed into his pajamas after making sure Hinata got home safely. He looked at the ceiling as he let his thoughts wander over the past couple of days. Not just about Hinata, though, but about Kakashi too.

He had been acting weird. From meeting out of nowhere for nothing to being unnecessarily mean at work, nothing he had done was normal for him.” Bastard put me through all that because he knew.”

Sasuke sat up, knowing he wouldn’t get any sleep anytime soon. He went to his computer and started making a presentation. But before he finished it, he decided to update his CV. If he couldn’t convince Kakashi into letting him keep his job, he’d need the CV.

“I called you here today because I’m firing you.” Kakashi’s voice was stern and firm. His eyes looked straight into the other man’s.

“Who are you to fire me?” The man in front of him sneered.” Do you run the company I work for?”

“I do. ”Kakashi threw a business card to the table.” You’re an employee at Ukay and I’m planning on buying them out on the condition that they fire you, a criminal who’s been illegally filming women. Most recently Hyuga Hinata-ssi.”

The man visibly gulped.

“It’s obvious this isn’t your first crime,” Kakashi continued, eyes never leaving the man. Naruto took a step forward and placed a folder on the table before pushing it toward the man.

The man grabbed it and opened it. His eyes widened and he almost drop the whole thing when he pulled out the pages and realized what was on them. He looked up as Naruto hit play on an audio recording.

” I was also one of his victims. He set up a hidden camera in the room and recorded me in secret. I want him to pay for his crimes.” They all heard the testimony of a woman.

“You’ve been busy filming women and many of them are speaking up. I’ll find them all and file a suit against you.” The man looked down but Kakashi’s gaze kept burning holes in his skull.” That’s not all. You tampered with evidence, another ofence. You’ll serve quite a while.”

“How did you-”

“You may have been able to avoid paying for your crimes, but, unfortunately for you, you ran into me. I’m rich, persistent, and smart so you won’t get rid of me easily.”

“I’m sorry.” The man put his hands together and begged,” Please don’t do this, sir. Give me another chance. I’m young, I still have a lot to offer.”

“You’re unbelievable.” Naruto spoke up for the first time.” Think about how your actions affected all those women.”

“Even after you get out, you probably won’t find a job.” Kakashi stood up and left as the man begged.

“Did you get to work okay?” Sasuke asked Hinata, standing in front of the elevators.” I’m not worried, I just wanted to check up on you. Hit me up if you don’t feel like being alone in your apartment.”

“Hey! Sasuke!” Suigetsu rushed over.” What’s with you? You’re never this early.”

“I didn’t sleep last night.”

“Did your boyfriend keep you up all night?” Suigetsu spotted something from the corner of his eye and turned to look at it.” Hey, is that President Hatake?”

“ Eh? Sasuke?” Suigetsu turned around to see Sasuke no longer there and that the elevator was going up. He bowed shallowly and greeted his boss before turning back toward the elevators.

“Go ahead,” Kakashi told Naruto as the white-haired man from Sasuke’s team stepped off the elevator. Kakashi followed the man toward the team’s office from a safe distance. He peaked in and overheard the man asking about Sasuke’s whereabouts.

“I think I asked him to collect some data.” He heard team leader Uzumaki say, not looking up from her computer. He quickly took off towards the labs, hoping to catch Sasuke before something in one of the empty offices caught his eye. He went in just in time to see Sasuke duck behind a table.

Sasuke was avoiding him. He didn’t know how to feel about that. He didn’t know what to say or do, so he left. On his way to his office, he sent Sasuke a text:

We have things to talk about. I’ll see you after work.

“What?”

“What do you mean what?” Kakashi fixed his cuffs.” I said I liked him.”

“What’s with you?” Naruto asked once the person attending Kakashi stepped out of earshot.” A couple of days ago you were out for revenge.”

“I��ve always been attracted to him. Who wouldn’t, honestly?”

“Okay.” Naruto sighed.” What’s the plan now?”

“I’ll tell him.”

“Huh?”

Naruto was still confused when he drove Kakashi to one of the best jewelry stores in the whole city. He watched as Kakashi eyed all the pieces, not even looking at the prices.

Kakashi held a pearl choker necklace in his hands and Naruto wondered how he ended up there. What life decisions lead to him watching his best friend buy the man who lied about his identity a necklace so that he could ask the man to date him with the purpose of getting married?

“ Do you think he’ll like this one?” Kakashi showed him the necklace.

“Maybe you shouldn’t rush into things.”

“Who would reject me? I’m handsome, tall, and rich.”

“I admire your confidence but-”

“Wrap this for me, please.” Kakashi put the choker back in the box and handed it to one of the attendants.

Kakashi could picture it already. The lounge was empty, the lights were dim. Live music played softly as one of the servers handed Sasuke a bouquet of flowers and the other one placed a small cake decorated with flowers on their table. Kakashi would stand up and kneel next to Sasuke as he pulled out the velvet box.

“Sasuke, would you officially be my fiancee?”

“Is this how we’ll do this, sir?” The question broke him away from his daydream.

“Yes.” Kakashi turned to look at the server while still kneeling.” The moment you see me put my fingers to my forehead, you need to know that’s the signal.”

“Okay.”

Sasuke took various deep breaths as he walked towards the restaurant. Just looking at it from the outside made it seem like he’d stand out – not in a good way – with his black turtle neck and old dark grey blazer and matching pants. He was carrying a folder with his presentation and his black messenger bag.

He walked in, trying his best to fake confidence.

Kakashi was seating with his back to the entrance. He was already drinking a cup of tea. Sasuke walked towards him like he was walking towards his death, with slow measured steps.

“President Kakashi.” Sasuke let the man know he had arrived. The man stood up and turned to Sasuke.

“Please, sit.”

Sasuke walked to the vacant chair, and just as he was about to sit, Kakashi pulled out the chair for him. Sasuke turned to look at him and the man just smiled. He went back to his chair once Sasuke had sat down.

“Why don’t we order something first?” Kakashi grabbed a menu to hand it over to Sasuke.

“I’d rather not.” Kakashi paused. He knew Sasuke liked food. He knew Sasuke must be hungry from all the work he does. So, why?” I am very sorry for lying to you this whole time. Had I known you would’ve shown up that evening, I’d never had gone.”

” It’s fine. I didn’t invite you here for an apology.” Kakashi closed the menu.” I wanted to tell you-”

“Please let me finish talking.” Sasuke rose his voice just a little bit. He took an envelope from his bag and handed it to Kakashi, on it read “ Resignation Letter.”

“I- you mean- you’re handing in your resignation?” Kakashi looked at Sasuke incredulously.

“ All the things you did after finding out,” Sasuke paused for a second,” I understand. You want to fire me.” Sasuke sat up straight, finding confidence from deep within himself.” You have very valid reasons to hate me, but as an employee, I did nothing wrong. Please give me another chance.”

“Another chance? ”The night was not going how Kakashi had imagined it.

“Listen to my presentation, then make a decision.”

“Presentation?” Kakashi was surprised, he didn’t know if it was in a good or bad way, but he was surprised.

Sasuke grabbed the presentation and went over to his side. He handed it to Kakashi and started talking.

“Here’s a list with all the contributions I’ve made while working here.” Kakashi turned to look at Sasuke as he spoke, barely paying the – honestly, really well-made – presentation no mind.” You can fire one of your best employees for personal reasons and regret it or make me work like a dog until the day I retire.”

“That’s not what I called you here for.” Kakashi sighed and massaged his forehead with his fingers. Suddenly, music started playing softly and he spotted the servers walking toward them as Sasuke carried on with the presentation. He signaled the staff to leave, stopping only when Sasuke looked at him.

“As you can see, I’m a great employee.” Sasuke ended his presentation.” Will you still fire me just for revenge?”

“A presentation?” Naruto asked, disbelief clear in his voice.” For real?”

“Shut up.” Kakashi groaned.

“What did you tell him?”

“What’d you think I told him?” Naruto kept quiet, waiting for Kakashi to spill.” I told him I’d think about it.”

“ Why doesn’t he see me as a potential partner?” Kakashi ran a hand through his hair.” I’m handsome, tall, and super-rich. I’m everything other guys aren’t.”

“You lack one thing, though.” Kakashi turned to look at Naruto.” Charm.”

“What?”

“His heart isn’t beating for you, is it? There’s someone else.”

“ He said it’s over. That he’s with someone else.”

“It can take time for people to open up their hearts.” Naruto paused.” And the situation between the both of you isn’t ideal, even worse for a romance.”

“Huh?”

“To him, you’re probably just his boss. A very scary one who just tried to fire him. For revenge.” Naruto made a face.

“I’m sure you’re exaggerating.” Kakashi bit the inside of his cheek.” We had moments. I’m sure that counts.”

“You mean the fake moments?” Naruto placed his hand on Kakashi’s shoulder.” You should probably try to create genuine moments.”

“Genuine moments?”

Naruto could almost see the gears turning in Kakashi's head. He sighed internally.

Sasuke was staring at his ceiling, waiting for Kakashi’s call. He shot up as his phone buzzed. He reached for it hoping it was a call from Kakashi. But it wasn’t. Instead, it was a call from Anko.

“Cheers!”

Not an hour later he found himself in Genma’s restaurant, sitting with his friends. He had changed into a purple crop top, black high-waisted pants, and a black jacket. His phone buzzed and he quickly grabbed it.

“You guys keep eating, I’ll go get us more snacks.”

“And I’ll grab another bottle.” Anko stood up and followed after Genma.

“I’m impressed with those two.” One of Anko’s friends said.”They’ve been on and off how many times now?”

“Anko keeps breaking up and getting back with him.” Hinata whispered to Sasuke, but they both knew the whole table was listening in.” The worse part is that he’s okay with it. I don’t know which one is worse.”

“I honestly thought you two would end up together.” One of the guys said.” You guys had a thing, right?”

“First time I hear about it,” Sasuke said.

“What did I miss?” Anko sat back down.

“Nothing.”

“Anyways, are you two free this weekend? Wanna come on a trip?”

“A trip?”

“Genma’s TV program’s production is planning to film in Busan. I was thinking we could go with him.”

“I’m busy this weekend,” Hinata answered, not even thinking about it. She turned to Sasuke.” You?”

“Same.” Sasuke didn’t look up from his phone. The fact that Kakashi hadn’t reached out yet gave him anxiety.

“Sasuke, you’ve been checking your phone an awful lot.” Sasuke looked up at that.” Did you finally get a boyfriend?”

“Huh?”

“Please.” Anko laughed.” Sasuke’s standards are way too high.”

“Actually, Sasuke has a boyfriend,” Hinata spoke up before Sasuke could.

“Hinata, please.” Sasuke whisper-begged.

“ He’s handsome, extremely nice to Sasuke, and super tall. He also comes from a rich family.” Hinata turned to Sasuke.” Didn’t you mention you guys were going on a date this weekend?”

Sasuke’s cheeks and ears were red when Hinata turned to look at him.

“Hey, did you know Sasuke has a boyfriend?” Anko asked Genma as he returned with more food.

“Is it the guy from the concert?” Genma looked at Sasuke who seemed to be regretting all of his life choices.

“Yeah.”

“Why did you say that?” Sasuke walked beside Hinata on the way to the subway station.” Where will I get the handsome, supper tall, rich boyfriend? Bring him to me.”

“You already have him.” Hinata purposefully bumped into Sasuke.” Hatake Kakashi, your fake boyfriend.”

“What?”

“You could just date him for real.”

“He’s about to fire me.”

“If he fires you I’ll help you get another job. I’ll even ask father.” Hinata was about to continue but she stopped and narrowed her eyes.” I think I drank too much. Wait here for me. I’ll go to the bathroom real quick.”

Hinata closed the stall door and locked it. She was about to undo the button of her pants but stopped. Her heart quickened. She looked around, almost expecting to see a camera or a red light. She would wait until she got home.

Early in the morning, Sasuke was let into Kakashi’s office by one of his secretaries. He walked towards the desk and waited for Kakashi to finish what he was doing. Kakashi quickly put the documents away and turned to Sasuke.

“Didn’t get enough sleep last night?”

“What?” Sasuke then remembered Juugo asking the same question, not failing to mention that he looked paler than usual.

“You were confident last time, but know you look anxious. Afraid you’ll get fired?”

Sasuke visibly swallowed. Kakashi followed the movement with his eyes.” I’ll accept whatever decision you make.”

Kakashi pulled out Sasuke’s resignation letter and looked at it before ripping it.” You’re right. I can’t fire a good employee for revenge.”

“Thank you so much, sir!” Sasuke bowed.” I’ll work twice as hard from now on.”

“Good. See you after work, then.” Kakashi turned to his desktop.” I’m working on this new product.”

“After work?”

“Is that a problem? ”Kakashi turned to Sasuke.” Didn’t you just say you’d work twice as hard?”

“Of course. See you later.” Sasuke walked out of his office with a little skip on his step.

[everyonewasabird]

Brickclub 4.12.2 “Preliminary Gaieties“ part 2

Grantaire begins!

The first thing I’m getting from him--beyond the disenchantment with humanity and the sensation of perpetual body horror he seems to carry--is a horror of the way narratives are determined by victors who won by force.

He begins with a negative opinion of libraries, with all their books like discarded oyster shells. Surely not an opinion Hugo shares, but I hear from Grantaire a distrust of both egotism and narrative, along with the misanthropy.

Then, Floréal and her banker. She was a pretty grisette, living the life Fantine lost hold of--she had her flower pot, and she had what sounds like a more specialized form of sewing labor. Now she’s overjoyed that she gets to marry a banker, and Grantaire is disgusted by it.

It could be misogyny here. Just straight up incel vibes, “a pretty girl picked Him instead of Me, even though He was no great shakes either,” etc. etc.

But I think it’s not. Grantaire’s horror seems to me to be about the iniquity of someone having to be happy that they married an entirely unpreposessing banker, because it saved her from a life of poverty. Like Fantine and Cosette, Floréal has an aura of revolution--it’s there in her name (or possibly her nom de guerre, or possibly just what Grantaire has nicknamed her for this anecdote).

And her revolutionary aspects, and her freedom, were worth giving up (gladly! gratefully!) because the iniquities of the world made marrying some stupid banker something almost beyond the wildest dreams of a woman like her.

My sympathetic read of Grantaire here (who is always a little closer to the feminine end of gender stereotypes than he feels like he should be) is that he’s empathizing with the experience of the Floréals of the world: they deserved to have better wildest dreams. Fantine deserved better than being dumped by Tholomyès, yes--but she also deserved better than marrying Tholomyès.

But the narratives belong to the bankers, and so: Floréal got the happy ending Fantine didn’t. She “married above her station,” as they say. Hurrah.

Grantaire goes on to compare the banker with nations who conquer their neighbors simply because they have the power to, describing both as “eagles.” They conquer because they can, he feels, and it’s wrong. But the world is supposed to be happy about it anyway--because the narrative belongs to the victors.

I think we’re learning that Grantaire fucking hates Napoleon (even if he’s veiled about going around saying so), and that’s extremely valid of him. Which--people who know more about Gros should weigh in, but Grantaire did study art under the guy who painted This:

and I have a lot of questions about how that went.

What on earth does it signify that Laigle is also an eagle? He’s a Very different kind of eagle, given that he’s 1) extremely not a bonapartist 2) extremely not someone who goes through the world the way that banker does.

Eagle isn’t one of our uniformly negative animals--it can be used as a compliment, alongside lion; I think Enjolras gets eagled at some point. It may have some war-commander connotations, and Grantaire, unlike his friends, hates war even when it’s genuinely liberatory.

Still don’t know what Laigle has to do with all that, though.

From these very, very valid sympathies, Grantaire pivots to nihilism and hedonism and avoidance. His only solution to any of these problems is: “drink.”

He’s wildly upset because his friends are all maybe about to die, and he’s describing Revolution as the repetitive stage gimmick of an impoverished and uncreative God--though we’ll learn later, when Hugo describes the spring in the Luxembourg gardens (refuting Grantaire’s imagery very, very directly), that there’s nothing impoverished about God. And Joly’s idea (stated later) of the providential office of cats in rectifying the problems of the world (as revolutions do) will be much closer to this book’s ideas of Providence than Grantaire’s rambling about stage sets and cart grease.

Grantaire connects the idea of Great Events, like revolutions, with the idea of Great Men, and he’s fed up with both. And being anti-Great Man is one of our central themes! The book very much agrees with Grantaire that the Great Man is a bad model of how to run things.

But his problem with Great Men and Great Events is the wrong problem: he doesn’t like how disruptive they are, and he doesn’t like the idea that God relies on them like some kind of bad narrative hack.

But the Great Man is a misleading narrartive--maybe because, like the narratives Grantaire disliked above, they're the narrative the victors write.

Because: men of genius DON’T leap out of nowhere and change the world; the world was changed by a million hands over time, and the man designated Great sat up at the right moment, did some things, and then got credit for all of it. Revolutions AREN’T a day or two of violence that erupts out of nowhere as a cheap trick God uses to change things up--they’re the culmination of time, and the changing tides of history, and the long, sustained effort of unimaginable numbers of people.

We were talking in the discord about how Grantaire can’t imagine being a revolutionary without being an all-or-nothing, full-bore, 24/7 revolutionary. If he’s not Enjolras, he thinks, what use is doing anything? And that’s the problem here: he claims to prefer small works and small people and incrementalism, but he can’t see that the people around him, like Joly’s cats, are actually doing that. He hates Great Men, but he thinks the only alternative to them is an utter stagnation where nothing happens at all.

He doesn’t understand that the problem with Great Men (and Great Events) isn’t that they’re a stupid way for God to be running history--the problem with lone Great Men and lone Great Events is that they don’t exist.

[stressedlawsecretary]

Today's Focus

02.09.24 - Well I made it to Friday once again friends! This weekend there are no plans; we are chilling and watching tokusatsu and Ghibli movies and Batman. I am only going out to run errands and I'm even trying to keep those to mostly groceries. Next weekend is when we'll do stuff again.

Work - I literally didn't leave myself anything except a press release to read. So unless I need to draft something for SJC or work in NYM I'm free; I'm remote so I can't do mailings or printings or anything like that.

Background Noise - I start today with 120 on the Watch Later, which is still less than yesterday so we're going to celebrate the little accomplishments. I am remote working, so I will have the DVR on today, but I am also making a huge homemade dinner. This means I have more opportunity to watch YT than usual, especially because we moved take-out day to Wednesdays.

I got through like a dozen (12) videos yesterday I'm literally trying so hard.

Study - Friday is Wikipedia day, so I have my saved pages, the horror movie pages I have temporarily saved, and the pages on both my phone and tablet to work through. Additionally, I'll try to continue my deep dives: Emmett Till's murder, climate policy, Detective Scarcella's misconduct, and the Horizon IT scandal.

Not gonna lie I feel like I did good yesterday. I got through all the letters to the editor of Look Magazine after they published the confession of the murderers of Emmett Till; I got three (3) climate articles done, four (4) misconduct articles read, and a couple (2) on the Horizon IT scandal. I also read about seven (7) other articles, and three (3) chapters each of The 16th Round and A Short History of Paper Money and Banking.

Extras - I have to do the catbox, and all the stuff for the homemade meal, but other than that I'm just working through the cleaning list in my household diary. Dinner is meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and mushroom gravy; I'm going to post an essay to my Wordpress today, and make sure I write a mini-essay for FB. I want to do a lot of listing in between reading, and relax with hunny tonight with Dekaranger and Batman.

[canirove]

The Lord in Blue | Chapter 3

Author’s note: A very special guest today 😏 You just can't write a story about Mason and not have Declan being part of it 😅 I don't know if I got inspired by posting this chapter or what, but I've started to write some kind of spin-off with him 👀 We’ll see if I like the result. Also, I took a little licence with the book that is mentioned on this chapter, but it was the first thing that came to my mind 😂 Hope you like it and thank you very much for the support! 😊

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Masterlist

When I wake up, I'm back in my room. The sun is not completely out yet, but the light already hurts my eyes. And my head. Oh, my head. How I wish I was the lady from the painting. She doesn't have to worry about her head hurting like this.

The next morning I finally feel like a normal person, though one who doesn't want to think about what happened at the Summer Ball. About the Lord Mount I met on the road being Lord Mason Mount, my cousin's lover and the perfect man for me according to her. So I leave my room to go to the library. I need a good book to keep my head busy.

I spend the rest of my day in bed, sleeping, grunting every time a servant comes into my room to bring me food or something to drink.

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On my way there I cross paths with some of the ladies, who start whispering and laughing the moment they see me. I catch some of the things they say. "There isn't champagne on the countryside, she's not used to it." "She's too old for parties." "She just fainted to be the center of attention."

"They are just jealous, you know?" a male voice says behind me.

"What?" I say as I turn around to see who is talking.

"Yesterday you achieved everything they wish for and more. You got the Golden Boy's attention and he carried you on his arms like heroes do with the princesses in fairy tails."

"The Golden Boy? Who is that?" I ask, confused.

"Lord Mount, of course! Most ladies are here with only one goal: marry him." Lord Mount... carried me... in his arms. What? "They are always around him like flies around a big piece of shit. It's so fun to watch."

"Did you just call Lord Mount a big piece of shit?" I say, half shocked, half laughing.

"I've called him worst, my lady. Benefits of being best friends" he says while smiling. "I'm Lord Rice. We were about to be introduced the other night, but you were done with all of us and decided to end the day."

"Oh, I'm sorry" I say, blushing. "Nice to meet you, my lord."

"Nice to properly meet you, my lady. Now, tell me. Where were you heading?" he asks.

"To the library. I'm in need of a good book."

"Oh, books. I've always wanted to get into reading, but I get bored after just a couple of pages" he says while running a hand through his hair. He has such a beautiful hair, so fluffy. I am very tempted to touch it.

"If you get bored after just a few pages it's because you haven't found the right genre for you yet" I say. "I can help you if you are interested."

"I would love that" he says.

We walk together to the library, and he talks all the way there, once we are inside the room, and while going through all the shelves. But I don't mind it. I like hearing him talk, and more than once he makes me laugh.

"Here" I say, handing him a book.

"The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok" he reads.

"It's about a very famous Viking and his sons" I explain to him. "It has a bit of everything, I think you'll like it."

"Alright... I'll give it a go" he says. "What about you? What book are you going to read?"

"I'm looking for one I used to read a lot as a kid when I needed to get away from reality, but I can't find it anywhere" I say as I move to another shelf, still not being able to find the book I'm looking for.

"What is it about?" he asks. He's moved to a window, already reading the first pages of the book I gave him. And I can't help but stare at him for a bit. He's very handsome. Is there anyone ugly in this court?

"It's a long story, many things happen" I say, still looking at him. "But basically, it's all about two little men who carry a magical ring, and their journey to a volcano where they have to destroy it."

"Wait, what?" he says with a confused look, making me laugh.

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From that day on, Lord Rice and I start to go for walks through the garden, talking about his book or about the most random things, many of them about him and Lord Mount. Or Mase as he calls him. He apparently has gone on some business trip, and that's why I haven't seen him since the ball.

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"We do, my lord" I manage to say.

I'm sitting in the garden, enjoying the sun with my eyes closed while waiting for Lord Rice to go on our daily walk, when I notice someone approaching me.

"My lady?" I jump when I hear his voice. It's Lord Mount. What is he doing here? "I hope I haven't scared you, my lady. I just came back from a trip and Dec, sorry, Lord Rice, told me you usually meet here before going for a walk."

"Would you mind if today it was me who joined you?"

"I... Sure" I say.

"For me?" I finally have the guts to look him in the face. He's grown a bead since we last see each other at the ball. He was handsome without it, but now... Again, I feel myself blushing. Looks like that's all I do when I'm next to him.

We start walking in silence, both of us looking anywhere but at each other.

"I have something for you" he says after a while.

"The day before I left Dec told me you had been at the library together and that you weren't able to find a book about a ring and a volcano. Could it be this one?" he says, showing me a huge book that he had manage to hide somewhere, its title in golden letters.

"How did you know it was this one?" I ask, surprised that someone like him could know a book like that.

"The Lord of the Rings was one of my favorite books as a kid. When Dec told me about it, I instantly knew what he was talking about, so on my way here I stopped at a library and got a copy for you."

"I... I don't know what to say, my lord. You are too kind." He bought me a book. My favorite book. And he has read it as well. "Who is your favorite character?" I ask him. He gives me a little smile while he starts walking again.

"Am I too predictable if I say Aragorn?"

"You definitely are, my lord" I say, smiling back.

We spend the rest of our walk chatting about the book. About what we like and don't like, about who are the best characters, what we would do if we were them. We walk pass other lords and ladies who definitely are staring at us, but we barely see or hear them. It's just us.