#its a story about missed connections and what you do afterwards

[attractthecrows]

i think the main thing that bothers me about fanon families (because i am a picky pedant) is that for the most part, they ignore things like how said families would impact the characters and overall story. like it's one thing to add siblings and other random relations just for flavor, I can't judge there, I do it myself... but you gotta keep in mind how they slot in. who are these people related to? how are they similar? what are the common learned behaviors of the family - because they're there even if said character makes a purposeful break from said family - and how do they manifest? why and where is this person even involved in the story?

like don't get me wrong, this sort of playing around is a lot of fun. but it's fun (to me anyways) because people are so complex and there's so many facets to them, so there's all sorts of ways for their bonds with others to interact and add flavor to the plot.

[bullet-prooflove]

Welcome to Nightvale: Sean Archer X Reader

Tagging: @kmc1989 @to-grow-in-and-to-love @mandy426 @icefrye19 @toasted-stiletto 

Sean’s relationship with you starts because of a book.

You’re in front of him in the queue at the café in Med when it slips out of your bag and hits the tiled floor, the pages fluttering open, revealing an array of multi-coloured post its. You’re too busy ordering too notice. It’s when he raises to his feet after picking it up that he comes face to face with you.

You’re pretty, so pretty that Sean doesn’t expect it. His mouth goes dry for a second before he holds up your book.

“You dropped this.” He says shyly as he hands it back to you.

“Thank you.” You say as you take it from him and place it back into your bag. “I’m reading it for my book club.”

“Welcome to Nightvale huh?” He says as he tucks his hands into the back pockets of his jeans. “I’ve heard the podcast but I’ve never read the book.”

“The podcast is much better than the book.” You tell him as you wrap your hand around your takeout coffee cup and raise it to your mouth. “I can lend it to you if you want? Maybe we can talk about it afterwards.”

His cheeks colour as a smile breaks across his features.

“I’d like that.” He tells you as he gives his own order to the server behind the counter. “They have a live show coming up in June. I’m on the fence about going, I’m not sure how it’ll translate in the real world.”

“I’ve been thinking about it too.” You say as he waits for his coffee. “A lot of podcasts are doing it now, I kind of feel it’ll be like online dating, great in theory, disappointing in real life.”

He laughs then because yea, that’s kind of true. He doesn’t do apps but he’s heard the horror stories from the guys he lives with.

“Online datings not really my thing.” He confesses as he picks up his coffee and gestures towards a table. He expects you to make an excuse, a reason to leave but instead you slip into the offered seat and he finds himself sitting down across from you. “I’m not sure what you can learn about someone from an online profile. They don’t really give you the whole picture.”

“Or they send you the ‘whole picture’ once you’ve connected.” You joke and he blushes when he catches your meaning.

“Unsolicited dick pics are not my thing.” He tells you, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t even know how to get the right angle. There has to be an art to it right?”

You laugh then and it really is the loveliest sound.

“What is your thing?” You ask him and Sean shrugs his shoulders.

“Honestly I’m trying to figure that out.” He tells you, his gaze lowering to his drink as his thumb chases over the ridged cardboard. “I’m taking some time, trying to learn who I am.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” You ask him, your elbows coming to rest upon the surface of the table.

“Sure.” Sean says as he leans in close and the scent of your perfume floods his senses. It’s airy and light, like the first breath of spring on his skin.

“I know this looks all put together but I’m still trying to figure my shit out.” You says gesturing at yourself. “Truthfully I feel like we’re just all a work in progress.”

It’s the kindest, most insightful thing that anyone has ever said to him.

“Come out with me.” He says softly, his eyes meeting yours. “We can go see that show, bitch about it afterwards.”

You pause for a moment and he realises he’s been too bold, too forward. He draws away, but your hand captures his, thumb skating over the hollow of his wrist.

“I’d like that.” You tell him, the edges of your mouth tipping up into a smile. “Really I would.”

Love Sean? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[joelletwo]

that little robot manga...?

i forgot how to do a casual rec writeup so im gonna do a stilted one, because i'd like it if you read this comic and enjoyed it like i did.

format: charming Form-y and expressive art style. 140 chapters which are all very short and more following a flow of time than a plot. easy to lose yourself and read 50 of 'em in a sitting. i've heard.

story: oh this one's easy. android girl Alpha runs a countryside cafe in place of her owner while she awaits their return. um, well it doesn't seem like they will, but she's a longliving android, so she can keep waiting. um, but life continues and is never the same twice, so is she really waiting as she goes out and experiences the world and the things it can discover and share with her? well but she's running a cafe. that's always true

and that world is a post-cataclysmic japan of unshown cause, except "post" isn't really the right phrasing... the consequences reach far and long and the world continues to change around the remaining people as the years go by, continuing to change them in turn, and vice versa. the past is in living memory, witnessed and passed on in stories and missed, but adapted from, by humans, by robots, by machines, by wildlife, by the landscape itself.

and the story very skillfully presents the liquid boundaries between all those categories, and between past history and memories and living-gaining-losing present and the future coming to settle over you gently. the way that any of those can coexist, or come together to forge a connection, or just share a space for a moment and see each other before continuing on.

this is all very metaphorical but also literal. the existence of robots came, scientifically, from a culmination of human experiences of things like Sounds, and Feelings Of Striving Desperation. they're an achievement but not a means, an existence in themselves, a new Being that gets to experience the world in all its possible senses

a world the story isn't really interested in Solving or Explaining... just... showing, and having you along. life continues, life finds a way, life shrugs and says, "ah, what can you do."

it gets a little Existentially Dreadful............. or it flirts right on the boundary of it, but none of its chars are really big enough to worry about such things, even the ones who will be there long after everything's done. they're concerned more with meeting someone new, and making a little conversation for a minute.

you may notice me running on long... i feel like i couldnt say everything this manga's so concisely, understatedly doing in words if i tried for a year. i didnt even get to, the robots have to lesbian-make out to share memories but its really so charming that they do and get flustered about it and feel weird in their friendships afterwards, well what can i say about that. its all so matter of fact, this manga, it's not important, look, now there's a chapter about the sensory feel of sitting just-shielded-from a torrential summer downpour as it comes and passes.

to close out, here's a palette of words i wrote down as i went.

life continuing. life happening. persistence. independence. sensory. passerby-intimate. ponderous. contemplative. invites you to experience. communal. disappearing.

and then here's some more words and pictures so i can make a couple comparisons.

-

-

well........................................... this one feels mean of me to make bc i have admitted im unfair about the Attack Helicopter short story. i dont enjoy the experience of reading it i feel Confronted by it, in a really skillful but unpleasant way. but it was unshakeable while reading this to draw the comparison. the Embodying the overlapping identities, the somewhat enforced and fraughtly militarized way you go thru life as a human born in a State, the sensuality of doing so. <- its. i havent found a better way to say it. such a glancingly sensual manga. it's very into what it feels like to be in a Body.

and well ive always been glad something out there is doing what AH story is doing. so now im glad there's Two.

long sequence v

[...]

well so i said i picked this manga up because of the green-haired robot with a job and a cameras-that-look-like-eyes focus i wanted to compare to tama, aye...? i still have the Eye Posts deep in my drafts.....................

but i do love cameras as, theoretically, a way to get around The Hole!!!!! (take an objective snapshot of an experience to be able to share it with someone outside your perspective in place and time and brain and eyes) except it's not actually...? the gap still cannot be crossed and a photo only serves to highlight and intensify that...? no man ever steps in the same river twice for its not the same river and he's not the same man...?

um. thats all............................ end post........

[gettinshiggywithit]

Hhiiiii I love ur work !! Can I request for bsd poe with a s/o that's an artist and sometimes likes to draw scenes from his writings and shows him <333

!Poe With An s/o Who’s an artist!

Scenario:- poe with an s/o who draws

Pairing:- Edgar Allan Poe x gn!reader

Genre:- fluff

Type:- Headcanons

A/N:- Hiyaa anon! Thanks for the request! I hope you like it and if you feel comfortable please let me know what you thought abt it!

Poe may call himself a detective,but i think we all know that his ability to create worlds with words is what makes him special

When you first met and he found out you too were an artist(one of the drawing kind) he wanted to know all about your hobby

And naturally you wanted to know about his writing too,especially since it connected to his ability!

After a little time had passed and you’d grown totally comfortable with eachother,you openly shared your art without fearing judgement from either party.

One thing You loved to do was read poe’s work and then draw what had manifested itself in your mind as you read

And when you were done,youd ask him to take you into his story so you could both see how accurate youd gotten.

If you were spot on you’d jump and cheer and poe would find it totally adorable how such a simple thing brought you so much joy😭

But if you missed even a smol thing or if your rendition was completely different,youd want to figure out where it had gone “wrong”

And even though you strived for perfection in your art(its one of the many things you shared in common) poe would make sure to let you know that it was perfect as it was.

Sometimes you contemplated turning his stories into comics

It would be a way to combine both your skills!

And when you finally told poe he agreed (INSIDE,BUDDY WAS JUST WJSIEHEVWGAJBWBEBSBY-ed OUT!HE EVEN RANTED TO KARL ABT HOW HAPPY IT MADW HIM)

You both got to work on a story then

And when i say you both got to work,i mean he wrote it,then you both went and experienced it and afterwards you illustrated your adventure!

Obviously you gave your characters different names,but anyone who knew the two of you,knew that those characters couldn’t be anyone else other than you!

Poe loved that you were able to mix the things that made each of you happy,and he loved how easy it was.how natural it felt.

Poe may have had the ability to draw a reader into the world of a novel,but you were able to draw the world of a novel,out for a reader.

And although your talents were different while also being the same,they both meshed together perfectly.

Much like you had with him

please dont repost my work here as your own on any platform all rights belong to me except that of the characters used,their right belong to their respective owners.but these stories? mine.

feedback,likes,reblogs and comments are so very appreciated tbh :’)i hope you enjoyed and ill catch ya next time!

Comments & Reblogs w/ tags >>>>>>>>>>>likes please

Taglist open for anyone interested!

[ludinusdaleth]

i agree! it's very frustrating that so many people insist it's "ludinus is right, kill them all!" versus "they're all 100% good"

im glad to hear the support, anon. i feel like the cr fanbase has gotten more into theorizing & meta this campaign than last, which im deeply happy about, but i feel like it's come at a cost of not many actually.... analyzing well, beyond their own biases, which is vital.

something interesting to me is how i feel like the very story of c3 itself is partly about how vasselheim is so utterly focused on ludinus as a threat (which, he is undoubtedly one) that they have repeatedly enforced worse & failed in their efforts against him (literally occupying & preparing to obliterate marquet via airship just to get to him and getting eviscerated, kiro's rage about ludinus making her accuse orym of being with him which leads to our current mess). continually vasselheim refuses to assist or care for any other country or party that isnt wholly aligned to their goal. meanwhile in similar nature, the fandom is so completely sure that lud is a liar & a loser that anyone with an idealogy a few degrees south of his is seen as a threat instantly - the fanbase is so mad that this campaign is "anti god" that they're missing the most poignant pro faith statements characters have because they aren't paladins in shining armor plunging a spear into da'leth praising bahamut as they do so - but rather common-people as they try to embrace faith despite trauma & actual godkilling times. and it's at times frankly deeply uncomfortable, considering the characters deemed threats & whose views on faith have been cast aside have been deanna & frida (who have absolutely been treated weirdly to points of racism to their actors), & pagan natives oppressed by what matt outright stated were missionaries.

but in the same uncomfortability zone are people so consumed by their own personal biases with very obvious culturally christian religious trauma (i say this as someone with it too) that they cannot realize ludinus is partially metaphor for everyone who escapes christianity, thinks they're superior for it, but never for a moment unpacks the colonialist doomsday mindset that came with it. i admit i see this far less than the other side, so i dont see it as so much of a concern, but when i do it is unsettling - ludinus is so clearly showcasing far right tactics of alienation & preying on trauma to get people to join his cult, and real people are falling for it. matt has said that religion & art are connected & vital - when aeor fully stepped away from religion it became almost artless. you cannot strip something so important to humanity's core away because of your own experiences - your personal trauma is important but does not mean your bigotry or bias is justified and i feel that message is radiant in c3.

i think this campaign poses some of the most interesting questions on forgiveness & responsibility because, while it's impossible not to draw similarities in how mortals deal with religion, the exandrian pantheon itself cannot be viewed through our world's lens. the gods were warlords who nuked an entire city (that was fighting amongst itself!) to nothing because a few mages posed a threat to them. but afterwards they receded, & locked themselves away. what does that say about them? what does it mean now? do they deserve to be saved? does art surpass its creators? i want to explore these themes so much, and i love that campaign 3 is trying to in vibrant ways - i just hate that so few people want to embrace it & the changes to the fictional world that will come with it, because it's impossible to look past our own noses & embrace more than our own perspective even regarding fiction.

[destinyisall-tlk]

seven kings must die (personal thoughts/opinions)

i finally watched the movie and here are some of the thoughts i had about it. this will not be spoiler free. so if you haven't watched the movie and plan to, then read this after if you wish:

first and foremost, it wasn't a bad movie. i would give it an average rating of C+. there were a few things that could have been done better, and some of the pacing throughout the movie felt a bit off. i did find the first half of the movie a bit slow, but during the last part it did pick up and find its footing. that said, there are still a few questions i have, and a few things i wish weren't either rushed or explained more.

firstly, i am confused about the timeline and what the gap is between S5 and seven kings because i don't recall them mentioning how many years had passed. quite a few must have because osbert looked older. and i remember aethelstan saying he was sorry for his behaviour the past year, but surely it hadn't only been a year since the end of S5 to the start of the movie?

now onto aethelstan. obviously, he was being emotionally manipulated by ingilmundr and that was made clear. there are a few questions i had, like how long was the manipulation going on for? when did aethelstan leave bebbanbuurg and how did ingilmundr end up in his service (it could have been mentioned and i missed it). i feel like the most simple questions help paint a clearer picture, and those questions may not matter to other people, but i would of liked to have known more. and because some things weren't explained, it made the movie feel rushed. but i did like in the end how aethelstan realized he was wrong (although he could of done so earlier and not had aldhelm killed...), and went to correct his mistakes, and showed guilt for his actions.

onto the dane villain/leader - anlaf - he felt very lackluster to me. but then again, being another dane from iralnd coming to conquer is a hard path to follow after sigtryggr (just saying). i just didn't find him as a convincing threat. and felt he could have been stronger in terms of portrayal and character depth. which is why it probably would have been better as a season format than a movie.

moving to the character deaths. the saddest one by far was aldhelm. he truly did not deserve a death like that. and i felt it was more for shock value then to further the story, because afterwards nothing really happened. uhtred, finan and sihtric were shocked, but that's it. i'm not even sure if father pyrlig knew of his death, there was no mention of it. i just hated how he died and the reason why he did, but at least his with aethelflaed. ingirth's death, again, felt meh. i wasn't sad that she died, i had no emotional connection towards her character, so it wasn't upsetting for me. but i was sad for finan that he lost his wife, the part where he screamed out was heartbreaking. overall, her death felt like they needed to fill the movie death quota so they just picked ingirth.

the decision to have finan narrate was interesting, i enjoyed it. whether you think uhtred went to valhalla or he stayed and died years later at bebbanburg is something for the fans to decide, and adding the small touch of finan narrating aligns well with how the movie ended. speaking of the ending, it was bittersweet. i wasn't expecting them to show valhalla. what would have made it even better is if we saw more of the characters that had died throughout the show, that would have been such a special moment. to see young ragnar, sigtryggr, bloodhair, etc. the emotional impact could have been bigger if there were more characters. but i understand if scheduling was an issue and they couldn't get them. speaking of scheduling, i assume that is the reason why they changed the character who played edgaiu in season 5? it took me half of the movie to realize it was her and edward didn't re-marry...it's a shame because i did like the actress who played her in S5, but what can you do.

out of all the new characters, osbert was my favourite one. his screen time was here and there, but i loved him. clearly, him and uhtred get along well. but the inner part of me that loves to know more details wonders if they ever talked about how uhtred basically abandoned him in S3. and i was waiting for someone to mention hild, i would have thought either uhtred or osbert would have, purely because hild was the one who looked after osbert when he was young, or at least checked in on him from time to time. but no mention of hild which is incredibly disappointing.

which leads me to talk about the absence of some other characters - eadith, stiorra and aelswith (i know with eliza it was scheduling issues). regardless, if you think they would have contributed much to the movie in terms of story, it still would have been nice to get a mention. especially, stiorra. clearly she isn't bebbanburg, so where did she go? is she with another dane clan? is she with her brother? did she go to irland?. same with eadith and aelswith, where did they go?. eadith could have gone back to frankia. aelswith at the end of S5 said she wanted to stay at bebbanburg. but because there isn't any confirmation it leaves a bad taste for me. because you want to know (or at least, i do) where these characters are. it didn't even have to be a whole speech, just a sentence or two about where they are. it leaves blanks, and i don't like blanks that could have been easily explained.

overall, it is sad that we aren't getting any more new last kingdom content (unless there are spin-offs). it was a good movie to end an amazing show. do i think a season 6 would have been better, yes. but at the end of the day, i am just super glad they didn't ruin the show with this movie (looking at you teen wolf).

all i can say is goodbye to the last kingdom. i am so glad i found this little gem of a show on netflix. it has become one of my favourites. so thank you for delivering iconic characters, beautiful storylines/scenery and epic battle scenes.

destiny is all. ⚔️

[daysofourlivesrecaps]

Susan Banks (the cat)

I see that I’ve picked up a couple of actual followers — which is honestly a development that I never expected. Sorry that you just happen to have jumped on when I decided to hit pause on these for a couple of weeks. (I will be resuming soon though, I promise!) In the meantime, let me regale you with the cute story of our very cute cat, whom we named after a not-especially-cute Days of Our Lives character. This is Susan Banks.

She looks like this (and this picture doesn’t really do justice to her crazy novelty teeth) and speaks in the most comedically broad southern accent you’ve ever heard. Despite being EJ DiMera’s mother (the E is for Elvis!) and having a couple of other fairly grounded connections to fairly serious characters, she really gives the overwhelming impression of being a sort of throwaway joke. Because, in addition to the accent and the teeth, she’s a psychic. Mind you, this is the show that became infamous for its devil possession storyline in the mid-90s. So much so that they revisited that storyline with many of the same characters in 2021-22. Which gave Susan, despite her strong “12:50 sketch on SNL” energy, something to do in the story. So she was around a lot when I first started watching. Side note: Susan has always been played by the same performer who plays Kristen DiMera. That used to be Eileen Davidson, and is currently Stacy Haiduk.

When Stacy assumed both roles, she reportedly sat herself down in the makeup chair next to the guy who plays EJ and said “I’ll be playing your sister and your mother.” Which absolutely delights me.

So. Yeah. When the Devil came back to Salem for another crack at Dr. Marlena Evans’ immortal soul, Susan Banks caught on pretty quickly, being, as she was, a psychic. So Satan, using his Satan powers, sidelined her by transforming her into a small cat. No, seriously.

The incident in question only lasted about one episode, but Susan managed to bring it up regularly for months afterwards. You know that ol’ devil, she’d say in that hilariously awful accent, he turnt me into a li’l kittycat! This became one of those things we’d repeat from time to time in our household. (Don’t pretend you don’t have things like that in yours.)

Last December, they killed off Susan Banks. Well. Maybe. We never actually saw her body and I’ve read enough comic books to know what that means. But she was in a car that plummeted off a cliff and I’m almost certain the stock footage they used to depict this was the same footage they frequently used in Toonces, The Cat That Could Drive a Car sketches.

Also last December, we adopted this tiny kitten.

(Not pictured: the fact that she’s missing one of her back legs. I completely forget this most of the time, but you might notice it in subsequent pictures and wonder what’s going on. So I’m telling you: it’s that. She has three legs.)

It did not take us long to determine that, even though she wasn’t the same kind of li’l kittycat, Susan Banks was the perfect name for this little fellow. It would also be an excellent tribute to the now-definitely-for-sure-dead character from Our Stories.

Here are a couple of us together.

And here she is with the dumb picture of Stefano DiMera we put in our living room.

Sadly, we snapped that picture a few seconds too late, because she actually had per paw up on it briefly. Almost like she knew. (She doesn’t. She’s a cat.)

[misiwrites]

4KINGDOMS RE-READ ADVENTURE & LORE POST part 1

alrighty. i'm reading my own fic from the start for the first time. obviously i've reviewed each chapter as i've posted it but i got issues with reading my own shit so. anyway. i have baileys, i can do this

and since i'm posting about this story now anyways, and i'd wanted to make posts explaining the lore and the process of creating the universe, i thought okay, two birds with one stone, i'll do both! i can discuss relevant things one chapter at a time.

Chapter 1 (prologue):

not much to say about this. it's a tiny bit cringe but hey. a line that i like alert!

[…] with each new generation that the crowns were passed down to, the holy beasts' magic only grew stronger within the four kings. It was up to the individual nations and their flow of history, however, to define the line between humanity and divinity.

this, and the one thing i liked and even now like in this prologue is the way i ended it with "Perhaps this was all an act of ill omen befalling the four kingdoms – as the world created by the holy beasts was about to come to its end." because it's like, someone opens this 200k+ word fic, and the first chapter says that the world is ending. you just started. and it's saying that it's ending. in 200k words

Re: Chapter 1 - THE LORE! THE LEGEND! THE WORLD OF THE FOUR KINGDOMS! the prologue really breaks down the basics. it's a world with four countries. each was created by one holy beast. the countries are also shaped like the beasts, i traced the shapes from some illustration on google. the characteristics of each country are straight out of the wuxing concept and how the four symbols are connected to it. azure dragon represents wood, so the east is the greenest country. the wood element is connected to the direction of east and the spring season and so on and so forth. the basic building blocks for the world were really just handed to me by beyblade canon and i used them like legos.

Chapter 2: takao complaining about ralf & sneaking into kyouju's house to eat dem noodles

takao is so sassy towards ralf. but i guess he always is. good i nailed that from the first paragraphs

i clearly completely forgot that there are annual fencing tournaments. i went to change the month (moon) in stealth shhhh you saw nothing

the chapter is just a lot of exposition. i think i wrapped it up pretty nicely, IIRC it took considerable planning and reshaping to get an opening chapter that's somehow simultaneously concise and informative and fun. this basically lays down all the relevant information about takao in one go. he's so good at fencing he wants to learn sword fighting already, he doesn't care about formality, he misses hitoshi who left ten years ago, he likes to eat, ralf is there. and wants to go on adventures. a lot of things that will carry through the entirety of the fic. not bad

Re: Chapter 2 - THE LORE! THE MONTHS A.K.A. MOONS! these are literally just finnish translated directly into english. month in finnish is kuukausi, "moon season", but we talk about moons. "tässä kuussa" in this moon i did that, "ensi kuussa" in the next moon gonna go there. this is the reason i made sun and moon always capitalised, to make a difference. there's no such difference in reality in colloquial finnish btw

a complete guide for the good audience January: Heartmoon (tammikuu -- actually "oak moon" but, it's an etymology thing) February: Pearlmoon (helmikuu) March: Earthenmoon (maaliskuu) April: Glebemoon (huhtikuu) May: Sowmoon (toukokuu) -- this means sowing, but i afterwards realised a sow is like, a pig. so now the moon name is kinda. not what i wanted June: Summermoon (kesäkuu) July: Haymoon (heinäkuu) August: Harvestmoon (elokuu) September: Autumnmoon (syyskuu) October: Dirtmoon (lokakuu) November: Deathmoon (marraskuu) -- truthfully i'm not sure if this was deadmoon or deathmoon. i'll find out when a mention of it comes up December: Yulemoon (joulukuu)

Chapter 3: rei hangs out in a tower and finds out he's going north in two weeks. thanks for nothing olivier

i was surprised by how much good(?) exposition i put in this one too. the first sentence already establishes that rei wishes he was free but isn't. there's a pretty tight summary about him having a deity status that robs him of all agency. the first paragraph alone somehow manages to pack the information that the west is very industrialised and kind of bleak. i don't dislike this

mao hanging out there with galux at the start makes a bit of a false premise though. later on it becomes clear she's not there often at all and galux doesn't even appear ever since (note to self, it's her beloved little kittycat)

rei being snide about making olivier climb the stairs to the tower is pretty funny. also, rei saying how he would have preferred the south over the north. wow sweet summer child

Re: Chapter 3 - THE LORE! THE TIGER MAPLE PALACE! this palace causes me so much trouble like you have no idea. it probably shows a bit in the progession of the story that i don't fuckign know what it looks like. the layout is essentially copied from the forbidden city which is the old imperial palace in beijing, and the concept of it being divided into inner and outer court is IIRC from the twelve kingdoms, the series that this fic is mainly inspired by. originally i wanted tiger maple to be more of a, like, actual fantasy palace that defies the laws of physics, like in 12kingdoms the royal palaces have shit like top floors where the kings hang out somehow floating above the clouds. but i didn't think it through early enough and now it's more normal, i guess. the palace is surrounded by the gargantuan wall (which, by the way, was not mentioned in the first chapter so i guess i hadn't thought of it yet?) on three sides and by the tiger maple mountain on the fourth. it's lodged between a mountain range and in the middle of buttfuck nowhere. the good thing about it is that i've made it clear enough how the place is so big that i can keep inventing new locations inside the walls when i want.

Chapter 4: rei has a bad time travelling to the north, then has a good time being in the north, then has a bad time again

this chapter is longer than my small intestine. equally bumpy too

it's also weird to me now that i put two rei chapters in a row. i know this happens sometime later too but that would be a no-no to current me

mao having a wife moment in the beginning and rei not really appreciating it. hmm well i don't know how i feel about that. there's a very casual drop about her being his fiancee. this makes me feel like i started off writing them being closer than they ended up being later on. but. i'll take note of it

a lot just happens in here. i have no evidence but i can imagine this chapter being like a fucking trial testing readers' patience. i'd bet my left kidney that it's eliminated many.

rei and max meet for the first time and it felt very funny to me at the time of writing. well, i guess it's still pretty funny but kinda illogical in the "i wanted this to happen, so the characters are now gonna act like this" way. of course max would just fuck with rei first thing. not literally. in the prankster way.

a line that i like alert! kind of a fake alert because i went to edit it a little before copying it here. but you'll never know. you don't know what it said

I had assumed the sky to be void of all light, but as I now stood there staring at its upward depths, I saw a brilliant whirl of hues of purple blending in with the beautiful, velvety black. Against that glossy darkness shone the silvery crescent of the shy Moon, shrouded in a thin veil of clouds as if making a half-hearted attempt at concealing itself. The distant shine of thousands of stars dotted the arch of the sky and continued till the ends of the horizon, like gems embedded in fine folds of dark velvet.

really like this description of a shy moon half-heartedly hiding in clouds. that was good writing!

not doing a lore for this one because the chapter made me tired. i failed my own trial. oh but as like half-assed lore i can say that the ruins of the church that rei mistakenly calls a castle in this chapter is designed after the cathedral of my city. which is not in ruins. there's also no pool by it like in the chapter. but the environment, i based on my city. the north is meant to be a fusion of northern europe, italy, and the US, so it's easy to model resting palace (the capital) after the city i live in, because this place is old as dicks. and european.

this is part 1 of idon'tknowhowmany. depends on if i survive

[moosekateer13]

Chapter 7: Quarter To

1 month later…

Bass Concert hall

Radio Music Company Concert.

I am a little antsy seeing Jensen for the first time in 5 years. We haven’t talked at all since Jared and I broke up it was too painful. Both he and Jared insisted on me coming though. Everything is still fresh for my relationship. We also still have the looming threat over our heads. Noe thinks it is Gen that is behind all the notes and everything. I think she’s right but why though. When I met her, she was so kind to me. Wolf is in sheep's clothing and she has a ton of connections. Gen could easily get access to anything. Noe found out something chilling her biological dad owned the studio of the movie that she worked on with Jared. With the research, we’ve done. Gen didn’t grow up with her dad. Maybe he helped her with everything out of guilt since he was never there for her when she was a kid.

This concert is amazing Jensen and Steve have really done well.l I feel bad for not keeping up with him. It wasn’t healthy though for me to be around anyone close to Jared. Noe is the only one who respected my boundaries on talking about him. Well, until the threats came about.

“So this last song is for two of my best friends. A song about second chances it’s been a hard bumpy road for them. When you have a love like there’s it will always find its way back.” Jensen said with a smile.

I lean my head on Jared’s shoulder. He obviously knew about the new song. No wonder why they were so insistent on me coming.

The words are our story and it’s clear Jared helped him write it. Just when I thought he couldn’t surprise me he does it again.

We go to talk to Jensen after it’s over.

“That was amazing. Thank you for the song. I said as I hugged him.

“Thank you, sweetheart and no need to thank me. I’ve missed you we need to catch up. Double date at my brewery with Holy and me after this what do you say?” Jensen replied.

“I’ve missed you too. Jared and I would love you two to join you. I just need to make a quick trip to the restroom.” I said.

Relieved to see that it was empty I check the lock on the stall before I enter. 

I quickly wash my hands after I am done I am halted from my exit by a gun pressed to my back.

I look up in the mirror and see it’s Gen with a dark look on her face. It almost looks demonic. At the moment it confirmed everything. 

She won’t get the best of me I won’t let her.

“You leave Jared and you keep your life. If you don’t, you’ll die and don’t worry I’ll be there to comfort him either way.” Gen said.

“Gen you know you shouldn’t hold the gun so close to someone’s back because they can do this.” I replied as spun around and wrapped my hand around her wrist.

Applying just enough pressure on it to have her drop it to the ground.

While I’ve got a hold of her, I kick the gun into one of the open stalls

Afterwards, I sweep her legs out from under her. Gen falls backward with a hard thud.

“You sure are full of surprises. Go on Y/N shoot me. You know you want to after what I’ve done.” Gen taunts.

“You aren’t worth going to jail.” I said as I reached into my pocket for my phone to dial 911. 

“Before the cops, I have something to say. I can't believe you fell for those photos. Jared never cheated on you ditz. Those photos were staged he was drunk during the afterparty. So I did I took my chance to split you guys up. At least part of my plan worked you and Jared broke up. I really enjoyed seeing you fall afterwards too.” Gen said with a smirk.

 “You are just sick bitch.” I replied.

The sound of sirens alerts Jared to something that has happened here. He tries to get to me but the cops stop him.

After talking to the cops they hauled Gen off to jail. I’m finally able to run into Jared’s waiting arms.

“Darlin I am so glad you are okay,” Jared said as he gripped me.

“I am okay I can handle my own,” I replied.

I breathe a sigh of relief that this whole mess is behind us, and we can start fresh.

Epilogue

[naminethewriter]

Hurt No One Knew About Chapter Nine: Destination

Masterpost | First | Previous | Next | Ao3

Story Summary: Logan has been acting weird for the past few weeks and the others aren’t sure what to do about it. When Janus appears looking for Remus they strike a deal: He figures out what’s going on with Logan and afterwards they’ll help search for Remus.

Turns out the two problems are more connected to each other than anyone thought.

Content Warnings: Injuries, Fighting

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

Finally, the hallway up ahead opens into a room. If he had to walk much longer, Virgil would’ve screamed. He had lost track of time a while ago, not surprising in a long ass tunnel with no discerning features anywhere. But his legs are aching, so he can safely say that it took too long.

 The room he enters is round and unfortunately isn’t really decorated either. In fact, it’s empty. The only thing in here are more doors. One is directly across from him, closed off and no keyhole, with five crystals embedded in its frame, two on each side and one up top. One of the ones on the right lights up purple as he takes a step inside. The one on the top is already a deep blue. As he takes another step inside, there is a sudden, grating noise behind him, making him flinch and jump away. The hallway he came from is now blocked by a large metal gate.

 There are more doorways next to it, however. The one on the right is closed off, in the same fashion as the one he came from is now, but the three to the left are open. He contemplates if he should examine them more closely, but he doesn’t get the chance to think about it too long since Patton emerges from the one on the far left.

 “Verge!” he squeals, happily running over to give him a hug. Virgil is just able to observe the doorway being shut off like his own had before he has a face full of happy peppy Patton. It’s only then that Virgil realizes that he must’ve chosen the right portal back in the glowing room.

 “Hey Pat. You okay?”

 “For the most part, yeah. Are you?”

 “I’m fine. Nothing too crazy happened, Remus was just being a dick with his design of the place. He didn’t put you through too much, right?” The smile on Patton’s face is a lot more crooked than Virgil would like.

 “It wasn’t all that bad, just a bit mean.”

Before Virgil can ask for more details, Janus appears at the door right of Patton’s.

 “You two seem to have made it out without much trouble,” he comments, adjusting his gloves.

 “You don’t seem to have had a bad time either,” Virgil bites back. Janus rolls his eyes but before they get into a full-blown argument, Patton speaks up.

 “I’m glad you’re okay, Janus! Now only Roman’s missing.”

 “I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long,” Janus hums. “And I’m guessing he will be the last thing we need to find who we’re looking for.”

 “Would it kill you to be less cryptic?” Virgil groans.

 “Just look over there,” Janus says, pointing towards the first doorway Virgil had noticed coming in, the one with the crystals. Two more of them are glowing now, one light blue on the left, the other yellow and on the right, below the purple one. Only one remains dark, the one above the light blue. And if Janus is correct, then that one will be red as soon as Roman joins them.

 “Oh, they are so pretty!” Patton gushes and walks over to inspect them more closely.

 “Yes, and they are in our colors. With Logan’s on top.”

 “So you think he’s behind there?” Virgil asks.

 “It’s likely. I’m guessing we will be stuck here if not all of us make it through.” Janus turns to look at the closed off corridors. “And since there are five doorways here, I think the original design included Logan as a… guest. Like us.”

 “Then Remus prepared all of this in case the five of us ever came looking for him?” Patton hums, reaching out to touch the crystal in his light blue.

 “Better to not touch it, Patton. There might be more traps around,” Janus warns.

 “Right. Sorry.” Sheepishly, Patton retracts his hand and comes back over to them.

 “To answer your question: It’s possible. It also might be designed to work with however many of us enter. If it were only me and Roman, for example, I imagine it would be enough for the two of us to regroup here instead of having to leave again to get you as well.”

 “Why does he have to make this always so complicated?” Virgil huffs, fidgeting nervously in place. “I lent him my eyeshadow once and instead of giving it back to me directly he made me do an entire scavenger hunt. It took me hours.”

 “It’s a habit of his, indeed,” Janus agrees. He moves to say something else but stops when he hears footsteps approach. Roman must finally be joining them.

 The three of them stay still, waiting until the prince finally comes into view. When he does, they are all too shocked to move. His costume is cut in various places and his arms, legs and face are littered with bloody scraps that seem to have dried at least. His left arm looks the worst, hanging limply at his side with his sash wrapped around part of it.

 “You are all safe! Wonderful!” Roman smiles.

 “Shit, princey. Worry about yourself first,” Virgil murmurs.

 “What happened?!” Patton practically screeches, running over to Roman and fussing over him.

 Roman laughs weakly and lets Patton inspect his wounds. “Nothing much, just a few Vampire-Bunnies crowding me on a narrow path, but I managed to deal with them. It looks worse than it is, I promise.”

 “These still need to be cleaned!” Patton exclaims, holding out his hand to Roman, expecting him to summon the necessary equipment. Roman smiles sadly and pushes his hand down.

 “I’m afraid I can’t. We’re too deep on Remus’ side, it would take me hours to conjure one and there is a high possibility that there would be some… unwanted substances in there. If I had one tethered, it would be another thing, but I didn’t think of it, I’m sorry.”

 “No need to be sorry! I’m just worried, kiddo, but I’ll trust you if you think we can leave them like this for the moment.”

 “It’ll be like they never happened once we get back to the Mindscape, padre, I promise.”

 “Alright then.”

 While they’d been talking, Virgil had wandered over to them, trying – and failing – to hide his own worrying. Janus had watched them from afar at first but now his gaze is fixed on the door forwards, where the last crystal lights up red as Roman finally steps into the room proper.

 “As much as I agree that his injuries are worrying,” Janus speaks up, “I think our way forward just opened.”

 The others follow his gaze to the previously closed door which is now ajar.

 “Then let’s press onwards! We’ve made our dear nerd wait long enough,” Roman announces with renewed vigor, walking forwards.

 “Are you sure you’re okay?” Virgil asks doubtfully, noting his slightly hunched figure and barely there limp.

 “I’m good enough to keep going. We’re almost there, I can feel Remus very close by.”

 “… Fine. But you tell us if you need help.”

 “I will, Stormy Knight, I promise.”

 “Good.”

 Janus wants to kick them so they get a move on, but he knows better than to interrupt ‘bonding moments’ like Patton calls them. Speaking of, Patton is watching the scene with a fond look in his eyes that makes Janus want to be anywhere but here. He feels out of place, not that he would ever admit to it.

 “Let’s go,” he settles on saying, turning away from them. He needs to keep his eyes on the prize.

 “Yeah, let’s get Logan and go home,” Patton smiles and Janus grinds his teeth to not remind him of Remus. They weren’t here for him, Janus knows, but he is. And that needs to be enough.

 Janus takes the lead with Patton behind him. Virgil walks behind them, next to Roman, glancing at him every few seconds to make sure he isn’t about to pass out. Roman notices but lets it slide, instead choosing to focus on the room ahead.

 Summoning his shepherd hook, Janus uses it to carefully push the door open. It groans but gives, revealing a large room, lit by candles rather than the torches they have seen so far, making it a lot dimmer than before. But even in low light they can make out the central platform which is a couple steps higher than they are standing at the moment. Virgil is immediately reminded of his challenge not long ago. (He still can’t tell how long it’s actually been. For all they know they could’ve been here for days already.)

 On the platform is a large, four-poster bed. Said posters end in golden spheres on which four raven sit and stare at them. Lying in the bed, buried under a blanket, and supposedly sleeping soundly is a figure, though it is too dark for them to make out immediately who it is.

 Until Virgil’s eyes get used to the low light, that is. His brown hair is tussled and the glasses are missing, but he recognizes his missing friend instantly.

 “Logan,” he says quietly but still audible in the otherwise silent room.

 “Are you sure?” Patton asks, squinting to try and make out more details.

 “I’m sure. I’ve got night vision. Sort of.”

 “Why are we standing here then?” Roman pipes up, pushing past Janus. “Let’s wake him up.”

 “Leave him alone,” a new voice speaks up. Standing in a doorway off to the left they hadn’t noticed before, is a girl about sixteen years old. She stares at them with a scowl.

 “Lilith,” Janus says, breathing a sigh of relief. “Where’s Remus?”

 She jerks her head back, in the direction she came from. “Sleeping. After he lost connection with the Lo-bot he said that you would probably come by soon and that he would take a nap until then.”

 “Uhm, sorry to interrupt, but who are you?” Patton says with an unsure smile.

 “This is Lilith,” Janus introduces. “She’s one of Remus’ favored NPCs.” He turns back to her. “Could you get Remus for us, please? We’ll wake up Logan and then we can talk this out.”

 Lilith shakes her head. “I won’t get him. And you will leave them alone.” She walks across the room, to stand between their group and Logan. Now her red hair, tied into a ponytail, is visible. Her eyes are a dark color and she’s dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a light green pullover. Her lips are pressed together like she is trying to hold herself back from something. “Go back where you came from.”

 Janus, who had been very confident that she would help them without question, is unsure what to do. Instead, Roman steps up.

 “We came all the way out here to find them. All we want to do is talk. Why do you stand in our way?”

 “Because he does not want to see you,” she grits out and suddenly a wind picks up. The ravens flap their wings, cawing loudly. Black feathers fly through the air and Roman and the others have to raise their arms to protect their faces from the sudden storm.

 It takes but a few seconds for it to go quiet again. When the group dares to look again, the ravens are gone and Lilith stands there, a Warhammer in her hands.

 “Lilith, calm down,” Janus tries to persuade her but she’s rushing towards him before he even finishes speaking. Thankfully, he already had his shepherd hook in hand and manages to block the first hit. Roman immediately draws his sword and pushes Patton behind him.

 Virgil summons his weapon as well and a black scythe appears in his hands. Remus had always joked that he looks like death incarnate, so he gave him the appropriate gear. Virgil had found it unwieldly at first, but he quickly got used to it and now it’s a security blanket for him, just like his hoodie. For different circumstances, of course.

 He swings the blade towards Lilith, with no intention to actually hurt her but to get her to back off of Janus. Which works but subsequently leads to her going after him instead. She attempts to bring the hammer down on his head, but Virgil quickly steps out of the way and with a loud thump it hits the ground instead.

 “There is no need for violence, kiddo!” Patton calls out, peeking out from behind Roman. “I’m sure if we talk this out, we’ll find a compromise!”

 “I am not your kiddo!” Lilith growls, her eyes snapping towards the pair, a dangerous glint in them. She hefts the hammer up again and quickly closes the gap between them. Despite the weapon looking heavier than she does herself, she is lithe and fast.

 Patton lets out a startled squeak in surprise and another as he’s pulled away from Roman by Janus’ hook. The prince meanwhile redirects her attack to the side and tries to hit her side with the katana’s hilt, but she manages to dodge to the side with ease.

 “You better get something to defend yourself with, too, Patton,” Janus advises, keeping his eyes on Lilith as she and Roman duel.

 “Right.” Patton closes his eyes and concentrates on the weapon Roman had insisted on making him years ago. He did his best to protest but Roman would not relent. So, they had settled on a compromise. Patton would go Tangled style.

 “A frying pan?” Janus questions with a raised brow, his eyes flitting quickly between the object in Patton’s hand and the battle still going on. “Is that actually helpful?”

 “It is! Roman fortified it and the edges are quite sharp.” Patton motions around the pan, careful not to touch. “I’m quite good with it, if I do say so myself.”

 “Either way, it will have to do,” Janus says, voice getting slightly louder as he pushes Patton away from him, because Lilith managed to sidestep Roman and is coming directly towards them. She feigns a strike at him and as he raises his hook to defend himself, she instead ducks and sweeps his feet out from under him. Janus lands on his back with a loud thump and he groans weakly, not getting back up.

 Lilith uses that chance to target Patton who stares at her fearfully, pan hanging at his side, but before she can hit him, Virgil tackles her from the side, bringing both of them to the ground.

 “Would you just calm down?!” Virgil grunts, trying to pin her down. “How about we talk about this like rational people?!”

 “You have no right to talk to me about rationality, Anxiety!” Lilith spats, struggling to break free. Virgil catches her eyes for a moment and… are they glowing? He is distracted for just long enough that Lilith shoves him off of her and he hits the ground hard, his left hand twisting in a painful way. But before she can hit him again, Roman appears behind Lilith, grabs her around her waist and lifts her up.

 “Now, now, little lady,” he says, as calm as he can though he is struggling since this is already his second fight in only so much time. “I think we’re just misunderstanding each other here. I understand that you’re trying to protect those two, but this is the wrong way to go about it.”

 Lilith stills in his arms and for a moment Roman thinks that he managed to get through to her. His grip loosens just slightly, which is enough of an opportunity for her to ram her elbow in his stomach. He lets her go and falls to his knees with a deep groan.

 “Stop acting like you always know the right answers, Roman, you barely live in reality!” She grabs his shoulder and shoves him to the ground. Patton lets out a whimper as Roman hits the stone floor and Lilith’s eyes snap back to him. A grin spreads on her face as he looks mortified by the glow of her irises.

 “The last one standing,” she hums, walking slowly over to him.

 Janus is trying to get back up using his hook as support, but he is too far away to get between them again. Lilith passes by Virgil where she ducks down just low enough to pick up her hammer again that she lost when he shoved her. Virgil tries to stop her but as he puts pressure on his left arm to push himself up, it gives away under him and he lets out a pained yelp. Behind them, Roman’s limbs are protesting his every move and he struggles to not throw up.

 “How come you are always the last one standing, huh, Patton?” she asks, lifting the hammer onto her shoulder, as he takes panicked steps away from her. “How come everyone always comes to your rescue? How come they always take your side ovER MINE!”

 Patton’s back hits a wall, his pan abandoned on the ground. Tears are welling in his eyes, he has no idea what is going on anymore, but he is so, so scared.

 Lilith raises the hammer over her head, her glowing, orange eyes now the brightest light in the room.

 She brings it down. It’s moving towards Patton’s head quickly and he presses his eyes closed, raising his arms to protect his face. 

“Lilith! Stop!”

[channelrat]

Today I felt like talking a bit about Fei or the First Realm’s backstory. So, here you go!

As the name states, Fei is the ‘First Realm’. Because it kind of is, but also not really. It’s more of the first functional realm, the prototype that survived. The Realms were all created by someone known as Lady Feishire and her husband, Lord Gwenfurheir.

They spent many years trying to create a functional realm, over and over, before they finally created Fei. After that, they had an idea on what to do, so they created the other sixteen realms, and then created some other beings, the Primordials, to basically customize/decorate/inhabit the other realms while they worked on the newly founded First Realm.

Now, the First Realm, while it was functional and people could actually live on it and not die immediately, it was still just a prototype. Not the final draft or project. A simple prototype. So, there were many things wrong with it that the other realms didn’t share. The most notable was how unstable it was. Simply entering or exiting the realm was dangerous enough. You could disappear, lose a limb or even die just doing any of that.

It got to the point that Feishire and Gwenfurheir had to consider destroying it when an Immortal Blood, Alkor (if you remember him, how, give me your memory, he was mentioned, like, once), proposed an idea. His husband, a fellow Immortal Blood named Alisean, was very skilled in things like that. So, with some help from Feishire, Gwenfurheir, a few Primordials, and this branch of (technical) government (not really) known as the Primordial’s Council, they were all able to create Core Alisean.

They really did not feel like naming it so they just slapped ‘core’ in front of Alisean’s name and called it good. It’s like writers. Sometimes they just use song lyrics as titles and excerpts from the story for summaries (like me :D).

Core Alisean stood far above Concord Devata, a minor kingdom in Corelias. What it did was stabilize the First Realm, allowing safe entry in and out. The First Realm was connected with the other sixteen realms and, in the end, its termination was prevented.

Only a few years after its creation, however, Feishire consulted Alisean about creating a fail-safe that, should some threat attempt to come through, would shut down Core Alisean and cut off the First Realm.

Albeit a bit confused and slightly concerned, Alisean agreed and created a fail-safe. Nobody believed it would ever need to be used, but only half a year later, Feishire was found dead by Alkor, a quickly scrawled note informing them that a threat was soon to come for the First Realm and that Core Alisean needed to be shut down immediately.

Panic and chaos ensued after this discovery and Core Alisean was shut down not even an hour afterwards, effectively cutting off the First Realm from all the others. Unfortunately, while the main evil who was later to be discovered as Lady Esin, Queen of the Eclipse, was kept out by Alisean’s creation, she was able to sneak in one of her own. Stormwielder, who would spend the following centuries hunting down and killing any and all Descendants of the Primordials.

Core Alisean remains shut down until Their Watchful Gazes, the second arc, where it is reactivated briefly before being shut down all over again.

And, yeah. Fei’s epic backstory. All of this is necessary in order to understand the second arc, which I will be talking about soon. Thank you for reading this and I’ll see you next time (and I’ll probably be talking about the second arc) :D

I was given a beautiful and talented god and then they were ripped away from me 😭😭😭😭 feishire my beloved you will be missed 😭😭😭😭

I gotta say I love the lore it's so interesting to me it's like my own personal little dnd book I'm having the time of my life reading it thank you for sharing 💜

[fictionz]

New Fiction 2024 - August

"2 Machabees" ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

We did it! We're out of the Old Testament! Two and a half years and 75% of the Catholic bible complete! Now moving on to: Jesus.

"Helicopter Story" by Isabel Fall (2020)

Brilliantly done, and I'm the kinda dense that wouldn't get it in the first take so that's impressive that I could pick up what the author was throwing down. It's a shame the community couldn't be chill about it.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White (2018)

An absolute game changer. It's beyond a different lens of understanding. Everything clicks and Frankenstein isn't the same story afterward.

Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi & trans. Jonathan Wright (2013)

Now an assemblage representing the spirit of a place, that's an idea.

Return to Ghost Camp by R.L. Stine (1999)

I, er, huh. No connection to the previous Ghost Camp title, besides a camp as the setting, and a disconnected series of events. These books can get loose with plot but they need to make it up with more outrageous happenings.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko by Derek Tyler Attico (2023)

At first I wasn't feeling the childhood and teen years, but it's an autobiography, of course we need this. And now it's my favorite part. Understanding the man as we came to know him would require understanding who he was in the beginning.

Under the Magician's Spell by R.L. Stine (1996)

The magic of these books is in the bizarro places and monsters that make no narrative sense but make for interesting turns of events.

"For the Anniversary of My Death" by W.S. Merwin (1993)

Wave goodbye.

"Rootin', tootin', toil n' shootin'" by SERENDIPITEAart (2020)

Mashing up genres is the only logical course.

"Worry" by Kiana Khansmith (2024)

They grow up so fast.

"Harlot's Web" by Nicholas Gurewitch & Evan Keogh (2018)

Get the message.

Excuse Me Sir dev. Molly Moonn, Airdorf, Jesse Cox, Torple Dook, Trevor Henderson (2020) (missed this in June)

The mirror could have been the start of something great.

Ultimate Frankenstein vs Evil Necromancer dev. Polo Builder & Aedrine (2020)

The assembly process is as critical as the deed.

Poetry Frankenstein dev. DianeDesign (2023)

But does each new creation differ from its siblings?

Frankenstein Dating Simulator dev. GamerGirlNextDoor (2023)

The most obvious solution should always work.

Frankenstein Dating Simulator dev. lmurray045 (2024)

Always choose the beach.

Frankenstein dev. Unknown (1981)

Assembleman doesn't have the same ring, does it?

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus dev. willsmartin (2020)

Find me in pieces.

The Frankenstein Place dev. Mandy J Watson (2020)

You don't need to be going up there anyway.

The Ultimate Frankenstein dev. Obre (2023)

About time Elizabeth gets her video game due.

Volume 2 Chapter 2 (Frankenstein Remediation) dev. adamaboelmatty (2023)

Alternate tellings make us feel like we tried our best.

Return to Castle Frankenstein dev. SolarCompost (2023)

Very good vibe.

POV: You Are Felix DeLacey - A Frankenstein Story dev. camkins (2023)

Do you really think he would have chosen differently?

Dr. Frankenstein Creates a Dragon dev. hannahscholtes (2023)

That dragon wouldn't hesitate to burn it all down.

Frankenstein's Assistant dev. samanthag168 (2023)

Love a cute little pixel guy.

Frankenstein's Monster dev. dino niko (2023)

Give him a shot.

Frankenstein's Monsters, Inc. dev. Sam Atkins (2022)

Great tension in this monster business simulator.

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown dev. Eurocom (2006)

The more I ponder it the more I respect the decision to pick the funniest and smallest little guy and make him the star.

Trap dir. M. Night Shyamalan (2024)

Good instincts until it comes time to end the thing, then the explainer within takes over and drags it out.

Kneecap dir. Rich Peppiatt (2024)

It needs to get out of you in some way.

Eighth Grade dir. Bo Burnham (2018)

Part one of this month's teenage cringe. It's incredibly well done and ya gotta have the sense of humor about being 14.

A Place Called Silence dir. Sam Quah (2024)

A methodical approach to ruin.

Cuckoo dir. Tilman Singer (2024)

Ancient things are on the brain lately. Perhaps we need there to be ancient things beyond our control.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In dir. Pou-Soi Cheang (2024)

It takes the gritty martial arts drama of previous decades but throws in a high budget style we've gotten since the 00s.

Dark Feathers: Dance Of The Geisha dir. Crystal J. Huang & Nicholas Ryan (2024)

A bit disjointed but I dig its indie aspirations. It reminds me of a lot of smaller productions I'd see in the 80s and 90s.

Dìdi dir. Sean Wang (2024)

This movie's cringe goes hard and I respect it. Too real.

Frankenstein dir. Jed Mercurio (2007)

The bioengineering angle still feels like a stretch. An assemblage at the genetic level is just another genre altogether.

Depraved dir. Larry Fessenden (2019)

Better than anticipated, and a far more nuanced creature than most of the movies I watched recently.

My Penguin Friend dir. David Schurmann (2024)

I had a heck of a time trying to figure out who would be the main villain/obstacle.

Alien: Romulus dir. Fede Alvarez (2024)

Too many strings attached for it to breathe comfortably, but it has its moments.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs dir. Carlos Saldanha & Mike Thurmeier (2009)

I don't know that spinning off jokes from the first movie into their own movies was the right approach, but I applaud them for trying. And the cast sure starts to balloon.

Ice Age: Continental Drift dir. Steve Martino & Michael Thurmeier (2012)

The geography of the world is really all over the place.

Ice Age: Collision Course dir. Michael Thurmeier & Galen T. Chu (2016)

The formula is really stressing the limits by now.

Strange Darling dir. JT Mollner (2024)

It's designed to keep you guessing from the get-go, and it mostly pays that off. Just some motivation issues that tripped me up at the end.

Stream dir. Michael Leavy (2024)

Listen, Jeffrey Combs.

Whisper of the Heart dir. Yoshifumi Kondou (1995)

The drama Ghiblis are compelling. The pacing is ponderous and the hints of fantasy few, even though the setting is gorgeous in the Ghibli architecture sorta way. Spinning this off into another movie is even more compelling.

Blink Twice dir. Zoë Kravitz (2024)

Awful dudes being awful, but making it hard to watch was the idea. Should've been an Outer Limits episode #1.

The Wasp dir. Guillem Morales (2024)

You push and push and can't accept the fall.

Slingshot dir. Mikael Håfström (2024)

Spacemen sure do be succumbing to relationship angst. Should've been an Outer Limits episode #2.

Afraid dir. Chris Weitz (2024)

No hope at all, huh? Should've been an Outer Limits episode #3.

The Acolyte (2024)

Cowards. They deserved more than one season. The first season showed a potential that will seemingly now go unrealized.

Night Gallery - Season 3 (1972-1973)

Kind of fizzles out, and it sounds like things were crumbling by that point. But a few stories still had the gusto.

[denimbex1986]

'Andrew Haigh's film about loneliness has sensitive and fantastic acting and digs deep into both mind and heart.

'Will I ever find love?' is a question most people can probably recognize having asked themselves. At some point in their lives. Especially if you, like Adam in All of Us Strangers, have entered your 4th decade and still haven't met 'the special someone'.

A doubt that has the ability to produce and reinforce the feeling of loneliness and it is that nerve that director Andrew Haigh hits more than anything else with his film.

WOULD YOU SAY YES? Adam's loneliness is magnified and visually produced by his dwelling. He lives in a high-rise complex that is so new that virtually no one else lives in the property. Only one other man has also moved in, and after seeing each other from a distance, one evening, Adam's doorbell rings. Outside stands Harry, pissed off, yet charming – how can you be otherwise when he's played by Paul Mescal ( Normal People )?

Adam is conflicted with himself about whether to invite Harry inside, but ends up saying no. And then have doubts about whether it was a missed opportunity?

Still, a love affair slowly develops between the two. In a way that wrenches Adam out of the loneliness that has followed him closely since his parents died in a car accident when he was 12.

FANTASY OR REALITY? The grief over the lost parents is the film's second track. This is also where the film gets a touch of something supernatural or surreal. Adam goes back to his childhood home to pay a visit to the past and meets his parents there. The way they were in the 1980s, the age of the now grown Adam. That that layer actually works can only be attributed to Andrew Haigh's skill as a director. And then the acting strength of Jaimie Bell and Claire Foy. They play the parents with whom Adam has many conversations. All the conversations you can fantasize about having with them, you lose all too soon. In Adam's case, for example, what do the parents say about him being gay?

In the film, you are aware that it is a stretch of Adam's imagination, even if you can occasionally have doubts, and there are small hints of something supernatural, but just as he does, you almost hope that the conversations are real. That they are the release from Adam's solitary prison that he longs for, so that he can fully accept himself and his homosexuality and experience a connection with another human being.

THE ARTIST OF THE MOOD The film is very loosely based on the Japanese novel Strangers by Taichi Yamada, and it is primarily carried by its emotional moods. To let us feel them, Andrew Scott is an incomparable transformer. We feel exactly what state of mind he is in in the various scenes. And he has shown that Andrew Haigh masters moods in his films Weekend , 45 and the series Looking .

In addition, there is a sparkling chemistry between him and Paul Mescal, which becomes like a boyfriend you can only dream of. Tender, loving and sexy.

THE ETERNAL COMPANION The eternal companion through it all, however, is loneliness, which casts a constant melancholic and mournful glow over the story. I can't deny that a few tissues will be needed along the way, because All of Us Strangers might be the saddest movie you'll see this year.

On the other hand, it also feels like a soulful journey that rarely cuts deep, and the likelihood that the film will haunt you for a long time afterwards is high. It is an experience you should treat yourself to.'

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Definitely agree with you on the worlds end being better than hot fuzz and shaun of the dead. I think people find it disappointing because its the third of a trilogy and the first two set a tone - parodies of popular hollywood genres with some genuine emotion but mostly a focus on comedy. The worlds end places more weight on the emotion, so it loses some of the humour but imo it's definitely worth it because i dont think the film would've worked any other way.

Cool, genuinely glad to get this message and see I'm not the only person in the world with that unpopular opinion! I agree with you completely - it has a little more drama in with the comedy than the first two, but it still has a lot of funny moments in it. It's still firmly a comedy, and the comedic type of comedy, not one of those movies that's branded part of the "comedy" genre because that's the box where they put movies that aren't really anything else if they ever feature people having any fun. It is cool to me how all three of the Cornetto movies accomplish the goals of multiple genres - I once watched Hot Fuzz in the middle of the night while home alone, and the joke horror bits start to just feel like horror in that context. I had to put on an episode of 30 Rock after before I could sleep, same as I would with an actual horror movie.

I think all three movies are very good, obviously, but I know in general The World's End is considered the weak one and I just really like it, partly for reasons you described. I find the characters a little better drawn and more impactful, I get more invested in them than I do in the ones from the first two movies. The ending's weird, maybe goes a little over the top, but I still like it.

I do have a soft spot for that movie because I first saw it was in theatres with two good friends who now both live far away. In 2013 (sorry for responding to your message about a movie with a person story, I wasn't planning to until right now but it seems to be happening) me and my longtime best friend and two other guys had a nice sitcom-like friendship going for a few years. We had a regular pub where we met up two or three times a week and talk shit all night, and do stupid things together. I was moving a few hours away to do my last 2 years of university, and the night before I left my best friend was traveling for work so I didn't get to see him, but me and the two other guys in our group went to see The World's End in theatres. The three of us were all varying degrees of socially awkward and kind of relied on my best friend to facilitate normal social interactions, and without him, we struggled a bit with communication. But the least emotionally expressive member of our group was the one who suggested a cinema trip and picked the movie, and afterward I realized he knew what it would be about and taking us to see that was his way of saying he'd miss me.

Since then I've come back to my hometown but those guys are both gone - one followed his girlfriend across the country, one came with us to a wedding of our other friends in NZ, met an Australian woman at that wedding, and is now married to her and living in Australia. So I may connect with some of the themes of that movie (see I can talk about feelings on this anonymous Tumblr blog, but it's more difficult in real life), and therefore not be bothered by the layering of emotion.

Having said that, I think it's an objectively good movie that I'd rate highly even without a personal soft spot for it. If it loses humour compared to the first two, it's only a little bit, at the expense of better characters and a much stronger plot. I don't mean to denigrate the first two - they're all great. But the third's my favourite.

[bp-best-froggo]

Honestly that one post about Big Bob and his slug farm is such a great example about how confident is in its own world building and story telling. This whole story was explored in 5 events and in terms of plot, completely detached from one another.

You got Granis event, settings up the character. You got Fungimist, which gave a bit of an elaboration on where he want afterward. You got Twilight of Wolumunde giving more insight in Mudrock and hinting at her connection to Big Bob, same thing with Rewinding Breeze. And finally you got this small bit of information in Originum Dust about slugs serving as a base for painkillers and it... just all comes together. These events weren't even back to back, these concepts were explored in the span of over a year.

If they really wanted, they could have explained all of that in like 3 lines of dialogue from Big Bob. Just him explaining where he came from, what he's trying to do and where he's going with all of this. But they went ahead and said: "Actually, we will not explain this here. In fact, we will scatter call-backs to this character into future events and elaborate on him there. And we do not care if someone misses it, because the reader can connect the dots himself." And this is a very VERY good thing!

I mean, yeah, it basically boils down to "show don't tell", but they could have played it save. They just could have told, so everyone would have gotten the idea. They refused, they chose to show, even if you were not looking. In fact, I'm an idiot. If it were not for people on Tumblr pointing out these details, I would have missed so many of them.

I am so glad that Arknights does not care, if I get the point, because being able to miss these details - and by extend, being able to find them on your own - makes them so much more engaging. That and that we are able to gather these pieces of information from so many places - events, operator record, item description, base skills, even the modules!! It just keeps the game engaging, because I can go back whenever and read up on basically anything.

And by extend, that's also what I enjoy about Tumblr - because my dumb ass can count on any random guy to point out the stuff I missed (or I just simply didn't bother to read up on). And since everyone will focus on different aspects, just by virtue of, you know, being different people, I'm bound to learn something new, whenever I scroll over an Arknights long post.

[wrenreid]

Conflict of Interest

mature topics discussed in this story. all chapters in series masterlist!

content warning: talk of ‘cheating’, unprotected seggs, smut 18+ nsfw

Chapter Twenty-Three: Date Night 2.0

It’s been now been a month since the day Cat Adams nearly tore apart your relationship with Spencer. Things have been going pretty well since then, but of course there’s been some bumps.

It took you some time to be able to kiss him without the image of his lips on hers swirling through your mind. You hate that you were so affected by that stupid kiss, especially since you knew he did it to keep her satisfied for the time being. But you still hated how he seemed to nearly enjoy being lost in her for those twenty seconds.

Graduation is approaching faster than you’d like it to, but you’re still really excited. In exactly 73 days and 10 hours you’ll be officially finished with FBI Academy and ready to move on to the real thing.

Classes have still been going great; they’re getting harder of course, but as Spencer loves to assure you, it’s nothing you can’t handle. You’re glad to have him as a support system. And you’re especially glad things between the two of you have been bandaged up.

When the wound was still fresh, you didn’t spend the night with him at all. Of course, you still talked to him and spent some time together, but you took a step back and put some distance between you two. It wasn’t too bad either, it gave you some time to figure out your feelings about what happened that day, and it gave Spencer some time to do the same. Most importantly, it gave him time to cope with his emotions.

The three week alone time the two of you were able to have without each other actually helped a lot. Spencer started seeing his therapist again which made you really happy because he would be bettering himself for himself.

This week, the two of you have eased back into the normalcy you once had. You had dinner at his apartment yesterday and stayed after to watch a movie with him. There was even a little bit of making out during the scenes that didn’t peak your interests.

It’s been a month since you’ve done anything sexual, but it hasn’t really affected you guys all too much. Obviously, you miss the intimacy of that level, and you miss the cuddles afterwards, but it’s better to slowly go back to the way things were instead of jumping into it without thought.

Spencer’s been doing much better mentally since that night. He’s still bent over it, but you let him know that people can bend and not be broken. Because he is not broken. He has just been hurt too many times. He is still perfect in his own way.

Nina is relieved to see you guys doing better as well. You didn’t tell her everything about what happened, but you let her know enough so they could understand why you were so upset. She came back to your dorm room hours after you’d taken Spencer back to his place. It was around 9am when they came home to you curled up in your bed crying. You couldn’t help it, the tears just kept coming once you started crying again.

Spencer left for a case this morning, and you’re not sure when he’ll be back, but he’s continued to send you updates. Some of those updates include cute messages about how he’s thinking about you or how he wishes it was you he’d be sharing a room with instead of Alvez. You thought that was pretty funny.

You think that the bumps, or boulder (Cat), that your relationship ran into is starting to bring you guys closer. The distance that was put between you is fading, and is morphing into a new found stronger connection. It is said that distance brings fondness- maybe it’s true.

In fact, the two of you have become more open and honest with each other since the black widow tried to spin your relationship into her web then bite its head off. Honestly, a part of you likes that the smoothing of the relationship can be seen as a sort of ‘fuck you’ in spite of the spider herself. But that’s not the most important part of it all; the important part is that you two are making things work and are happy together. But the ‘fuck you’ is nice too.

After having dinner and game night with Nina and your other friends and fellow trainees, you lay in bed and read the latest update from Spencer.

‘Luke is snoring next to me right now, not how I would like to be spending this night. Wish I was next to you right now… or on top of you… or below… sorry. Too much?’

You laugh and shake your head as you read the text. Your face flushed with a deep shade of pink.

‘I’m sure Luke wouldn’t mind those positions if you just asked!’ you tease him. ‘I miss you too, goof. I’ll see you soon… I hope.’

He texts back a few minutes later, saying, ‘It shouldn’t be too long. Maybe I’ll be back Monday in time for class, or at least in time to see you after:)’

‘Looking forward to it<3’

You haven’t said “I love you” over text yet, it just seems to impersonal and too new for you guys. In fact, you haven’t said it a whole lot to each other since the first time a month ago. You’re not sure why. Maybe because things have been rocky or because you’re both scared if you say it too much, the phrase will lose its meaning.

Sunday passes way too quickly, and Monday rolls around. Spencer isn’t back for class which worries you, but after doing an assignment, you get a call that relieves your anxiety.

“Sorry I didn’t make it to class. We just landed in Quantico,” Spencer says on the other end of the line.

“No worries, love. I quite enjoyed the extra hour and a half of free time.”

“Ouch. So you didn’t miss me?”

“I missed you,” you say with a grin, “just didn’t mind not having to sit and hear a lecture.”

“What I’m hearing is you don’t like my lectures,” he says with a slight laugh.

“I do, I do. But sometimes it’s a little hard for me to keep my hands off of you, so imagine how awful it is to just be able to look while I sit there.”

You hear him cough and chuckle nervously. “Oh.”

You laugh softly, feeling pretty victorious in making your boyfriend nervous while he’s at work. “Anyway, what are you up to?”

“Well, I’ve got to do some paperwork, but I thought we could have dinner after?”

“Ooh sounds good. Your place?”

“Actually,” Spencer says, “I was thinking we could go out. Like on a real date.”

“Wait, really? What if people we know see us?” You ask.

“We could go to a restaurant in Fredericksburg.”

“You would drive all the way to Fredericksburg just to go on a date with me?” You chuckle softly.

“I would drive all the way to the Fredericksburg in Texas just to go on a date with you,” he said matter of factly.

You can’t help but smile. “Okay.”

“Plus, it’s only an hour, sweetheart.”

“Two if traffic is bad.”

“True. Either way, I’ll pick you up at 6.”

“Yes sir,” you grin widely, playing with your hair nonchalantly.

“Can’t wait. See you later.”

“Bye,” you say happily and hang up the phone.

“Was that a date in planning I heard?” Nina grinned from her bed.

“I suppose so,” you say with pink cheeks.

She wiggles their eyebrows at you. “Have you gone on a real date before?”

“Not outside of his apartment.”

“Ooh this is exciting!” She stands up, going toward the closet.

“What are you doing?” You breathe out a laugh.

“Helping you pick out an outfit!”

—

Your phone buzzes letting you know Spencer has texted you. ‘I’m in the parking lot:)’

Luckily, you’re just applying your non sticky lip gloss, and fully ready to go.

“I’ve made you beautiful,” Nina grins.

“I’d like to think my genes did most of the work,” you chuckle.

“Sure,” she teases. “I’m kidding. You’re gorgeous. Now go!”

You walk down the hall, purse in hand, to the elevator. It takes you to the first floor. Your heels click on the gravel as you walk to Spencer’s car.

He’s waiting for you with a smile, leaning against the passenger side door. He’s dressed nice, but then again he always is. He’s not wearing a suit jacket tonight, letting the button up show off his muscles.

“You look incredible, Y/n,” Spencer says, and his smile grows, as does yours.

“Thank you. You look quite handsome yourself,” you grin, tugging on his tie.

He opens the passenger side door then hands you flowers. “My lady.”

You laugh softly. “You got me flowers?”

“Well, I couldn’t go up to your door myself and risk people seeing me, so I’m compensating.”

“You very much are,” a grin takes over your features as you smell the flowers. They’re your favorites.

He helps you into his car, and even though you don’t need it, you appreciate the gesture. Spencer shuts the door for you before getting in on the driver’s side.

Looking down at the flowers in your hands and Spencer’s hand on your thigh, you sigh contently. “I love you,” you say, deciding the words aren’t just for certain times or special occasions. You can’t use them too much if it’s how you really feel.

Spencer takes his eyes off the road for a moment to look at you, his beautiful smile plastered on his face. “And I love you.”

You put your hand on top of his own and he turns his, holding your hand instead. The two of you stay like this and talk about whatever the discussion moves to as he makes the drive.

Finally, you arrive at a nice restaurant in Fredericksburg, Virginia and the two of you get out. You stretch your legs then take his hand in yours as he leads you to the restaurant’s doors.

The two of you are sat at a booth under glass ceiling lights that set a nice mood. Spencer orders your favorite appetizer, and you both place your drinks before looking at the menu.

Once both of your decisions are made, your orders are placed and you’re left to enjoy the appetizer.

“Thank you for this, really,” you say with a smile.

“The food, no big deal. My wallet will just suffer a bit,” he teases.

“No, the date. Thank you for tonight.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We’re not even halfway into it.”

You chuckle at him and nod. “Noted.”

The dinner continues and you suggest you can pay, but Spencer says that it was his idea so he is paying. You convince him to let you pay for dessert though.

You get back in the car, happily smiling at each other. “This was amazing,” you say.

“It was,” Spencer agrees.

He starts the drive back to DC. You rest your hand on his thigh and look out the window. Eventually, you toy with him a little, moving you hand up to his bulge, fingertips grazing over it lightly before resting back on his thigh.

“Whatcha doing there, baby?” He laughs a tad nervously.

“Just watching the cars go by,” you say, playing innocent.

He rolls his eyes, you can see it from your peripheral vision. You grin smugly.

A few moments later, you cross one leg over the other, causing your dress to ride further up your thighs. Your hand trails further up Spencer’s thigh as well.

“Dammit, Y/n,” he grabs your wrist, not harshly, but not lightly either.

“What’s wrong, Doctor?” You ask, batting your eyelashes up at him.

“Nope. Don’t do that innocent thing with me; I know you’re far from it.” He says, playing your hand in your own lap and trying to keep his eyes on the road.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I’m sure you don’t,” he huffs.

You pout, but keep quiet.

“What the hell are you doing?” He turns toward you.

You don’t say anything, just plop your underwear right into his lap with a teasing smile. “I was getting a little hot,” you shrug.

The bulge in Spencer’s slacks has grown a lot since you first got in the car. The look on his face is frustrated.

He takes a turn from the highway and ends up in the parking lot of a supermarket.

“What are y-?”

“Get in the back seat,” he commands.

“Hm?”

“Did I stutter, princess? Get in the back seat.”

You nod your head, heart beating fast and you take your heels off and crawl into the back seat. Spencer joins you after a moment.

“If you’re going to act like a slut, you’re going to be treated like one,” he says, pulling you into his lap. You straddle his hips, bare heat hovering over his crotch.

Your heartbeat can be felt all over your body, but more specifically in your core. You nod your head again. “Yes, professor.”

Spencer pulls you down by your throat to kiss you. His hand lingers there, squeezing gently. When that draws out a soft noise from you, he decides to add more pressure as he kisses you deeper. Your tongues collide as one and mouths move against each other’s with heat and passion.

It’s hot. Extremely hot. Everywhere. To try and get the friction you’re so desperately craving now, you roll your hips over his, bare cunt brushing his bulge.

Both of your moans fill the kiss. Your hands rest on his shoulders as you start moving your hips more to give yourself the pleasure you’re needing, but it’s not enough.

“Slow down there, darling,” he laughs softly, biting his lip as you brush against his crotch again. “You’ll get what you want if you’re a good girl. Can you stay still for me?”

You whine softly, but oblige.

Spencer smiles, lips trailing from your temple to your neck as he whispers naughty words to you. He sucks on the skin beneath your collar bone, biting it gently. You moan and try not to squirm under his grasp. “Fuck,” you breathe out.

He continues to leave love bites on your neck and shoulder as his fingertips trace circles down your arms then up your thighs under the dress of your skirt.

“Please, doctor. Please,” you whine, nails digging into his shoulders.

“Please what, baby?”

“Please.. I need more.”

Spencer smiles smugly and slips his hand under your skirt once more, this time dragging a finger between your wet folds and drawing out a sound from you. Deciding he wants to hear it again, he swirls his finger along your core. The moan that comes from your lips is heaven to his ears.

“Please,” you beg again, your voice a whisper in his ear.

Spencer wastes no time sliding one of his fingers into you, causing you to squirm. Your whines fill the car, but you need more. He pumps it in and out of you slowly before adding his ring finger. You roll your hips, riding his hand as he starts to finger fuck you slowly. It’s too slow for your poor heat that is begging for more.

Once he finally begins a pace you like more, he stops, drawing his fingers out of you and causing a sob-like whine to release from your lips.

He grins smugly once again when you ask “Why?”

“Be patient, princess. Can you do something for me?”

“Yes, doctor, anything,” you nod quickly.

“Awh, you’re so eager,” Spencer smiles, stroking your cheek gently. “Take off my belt.”

You do just that, happy to do as he asks. You slide it off of him then unbutton and unzip his pants too. Before you can slip your hand down his pants, he asks you to get off his lap.

You whine about it, but you obey.

“Take your dress off,” he tells you.

You look over at him with a slight smile and nod. “Unzip me?”

“Sure thing, baby.”

You turn your back to him and he carefully unzips the back of your dress, revealing your bare back.

“No bra or panties right now, huh? You are such a little whore,” he laughs softly.

“You like it.”

“No. I love it,” Spencer says.

You slide the dress off your shoulders first, then down the rest of your body. It’s a little difficult since you’re seated in the back of a car, but you make it work. Now, you’re completely naked in his car, and he’s way too clothed. He’s unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his upper body to you, but it’s still way too much.

He notices the stare you’re giving his crotch, and as if he can read your mind, he slips down his slacks.

“That’s still too many layers,” you whine.

“We’ll get there when we get there. Now take your rightful seat again please.”

You crawl back onto his lap, straddling his hips now completely naked.

“This is some sight, baby. You drive me fucking crazy.”

“Why don’t you do something about it?” You suggest, looking down at him with big, needy eyes.

“Oh, I will,” he says hungrily, gripping onto your bare thighs as he connects his lips with yours again.

The kiss turns heated once again and his hands find their way to your breasts, holding them and playing with them while he kisses you. He’s hungry.

One of his hands trails down from your chest to your core, sending goose bumps down your stomach that radiate to your entire body. His fingers find the bundle of nerves that want him so desperately. You jolt forward a bit as he plays with it, circling his fingers lazily.

A trail of curses leaves your lips as you break free of the kiss and lean your head on his shoulder. “Please fuck me, doctor,” you ask in such a needy whisper/whine that could almost send him over the edge right there.

Spencer slips down his boxers and you line yourself up with him before lowering down on his length. You moan right away, and so does he.

“God, you feel so good,” he says, biting his lip.

His hands rest on your hips as he guides your motions.

Eventually, you’re rolling your hips quickly, and he’s bucking his up. The noises of bodies colliding and moans and curses fill the car loudly.

You pull your head from the crook of his neck to look at him. He’s a hungry lion, and you are a vulnerable gazelle. He not only wants you, but craves you, needs you.

Spencer speeds up the pace, causing your legs to shake and whines to grow louder and louder.

“Fuck, Y/n, you’re so good, so wet,” he moans.

—

“Holy fucking shit, my legs hurt,” you breathe as you lean your head back against the passenger seat. You’re back in your dress that’s zipped up only halfway.

Spencer laughs softly, touching your thigh gently and massaging it. “You did amazing, sweetheart.”

“You are amazing, Spencer,” you say, turning your head to the left with a smile.

“I love you,” he grins.

“I love you too, sweet boy,” you reach your hand up to touch his cheek, thumb brushing over his skin.

The two of you take a few more minutes to breathe and bask in the post sex bliss before once again starting the drive to DC.

chapter twenty four

tags: @reidsprettygirl @reidsmilf @reidslovely @awhoreforspencerreid @sexualityisajoke @nomajdetective @kenreadsfanfics @calicocatty @hotchandspencearedilfs @kodiakwhiskey @rory-cakes @444verse @kbakery @crynroom <3