#lev from unwind

[trojan-horse-plinko]

Happy birthday, loser. (Book 2-3 version)

[itsatigersharkidiot]

Unwind Band AU news:

The first chapter of this AU with be posted…*drum roll…*

April 1st, 2024 at 2pm (MDT)

yayyyy!!!

[clawsdevour]

𓈒 ❀ᮬlev bf hcs

wc: 0.5k content warning: fluff, slight smut, aged up, post-time skip, not proodread, my shitty writing

₊ ˚ ⊹ ᡣ;.. 🐈‍⬛

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to hard launch you and post you all the time on his personal social media accounts with cute silly captions. Lev likes to do this to stop paparazzi from spreading rumors since he fears losing your relationship to stupid false gossip that's being spread around.

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to LOVE seeing you wear the clothing pieces he gifts you. He'd choose specific ones because he could see you wearing them. His sister Alisa would also love you as much as he does and also gift you luxury goods she thinks you'd like as well.

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to love giving you surprise hugs, especially back hugs. He enjoys seeing your shocked and surprised faces whenever his long arms wrap around you to pull you towards him

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to love eating the food you cook. He's a big back and an impatient one. When you're cooking in the kitchen, he'd walk by and whenever your back is towards him he'd snack on the ingredients and run off.

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to absolutely take you out to travel with him for his shoots. Especially since he doesn't want you to be away from him for so long, he also finds this fun, being with his soulmate in every other city or country. He loves exploring cute restaurants and cafes with you before his scheduled appointments.

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to always call you when he even just slightly misses you. You'd often answer his facetimes to him being in a chair getting his hair or makeup done. If you don't pick up, he's bound to text you multiple times. For example he'd text you like: HELLO?? WHERE ARE YOU?? I'M GETING MY HAIR DONE RN AND I MISS YOU :(((

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to completely wow over your parents due to his physical attributes. A tall half Russian man whose photo is all over Japan, for luxury goods. Your parents treat him like he's special until he opens his mouth. His silliness and humble personality completely loosens up your parents. Your parents definitely talk about how good looking and how his personality is so fun after he leaves.

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to have you bent over with the dress he picked for you to wear pulled up to droop down where your arch is. He's mumbling under his breath how good you look and how crazy he's gotten just looking at you while roughening up his pace even more.

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to be standing while he fucks you against the cold glass that on looks the whole city. His strong hands claw into you while he thrusts up. He enjoys looking at the prettiest view of them all, you.

-Lev, the type of boyfriend to bathe with you. He'd love to just sit with you in the tub and unwind in the warm bath while talking to you. He'd also shampoo and condition your hair for you. Under the sheets, he'd just love to spoon with you until you both snooze off.

masterlist here

[yokedtablet]

wrote something inspired by this pic by @absofus on twitter

mouth - sun

canon ellabs, straight up angst with a little bit of tenderness. touches on abby's trauma from the rattlers. wc: 619

Ellie’s bleeding. She is too. Too many places to count, wounds opened, re-opened, hatchwork across bicep and cheek. She used to know where all of her scars came from. 

Elle’s shoulders lean into hers. Not so much a hug as a collapse, not able to hold herself up anymore.

Abby’s too tired to fight. She never wanted to fight her. She just wanted to go. She wanted, maybe, for Ellie to get in the boat—a different boat, not hers, not with Lev—and trail at a distance. Maybe they would wash up on the same shore. 

Now Ellie breathes against her, her knife somewhere forgotten, water rushing sand to cover it quickly. It’s up to her waist and the tide is rising, cool and salty. Ellie’s practically in her lap, giving more and more of her weight, slick on her cheek from blood and something else, tank top soaking through. The copper stain swells.

Abby shouldn’t let her do this. She shouldn’t want to hold her, but her hands move of their own accord, around her back, finding tensing, aching flesh, pulling it against her own. Skin salt against her forehead and mouth as she tastes Ellie’s shoulder. She knows Ellie is no danger to her now. Not like this.

Ellie doesn’t cry, but her mouth moves quietly, opening and closing, gasping for air. Sucking it in until she can’t hold anymore. Not really meaning to, Abby finds a knot in her back between her ribs, and when she presses, Ellie sobs. 

Shudders. Sinks deeper, giving more, and Abby holds her closer. 

“I’m— I— I—” barely words. Trying to say—what, an apology? She’s sorry? She hates her? She didn’t mean to? 

“Just don’t,” Abby says, half to soothe, half to hurt—there’s nothing she can say now to undo this. 

Ellie pulls away from her, and this is the first time Abby has really seen her face. Tears wash blood away over freckles, and it’s worse than Abby thought, and she knows that Ellie is seeing her—sun-peeled skin, sunken cheeks, her hair, her fucking hair where they—

Mouth — sun?

Abby feels the sun, and it doesn’t hurt this time. It’s something warm and seeping, something that tastes metallic, moves against her lips, it’s Ellie’s lips, Ellie’s hands, Ellie’s weight pressing into her and not trying to drown her but trying to pull her up by anything she can hold onto. 

Abby lets her, lets herself feel this, doesn’t have the energy to fight it. Doesn’t want to. 

Ellie’s fingers roll through her hair, finding tension, finding give—they sink in and grab until her scalp stings and it’s just like how—

She yanks herself free. Gasps. “Don’t.” She doesn’t let go of Ellie or push her away. “Don’t ever do that.”

That tight knot in her chest threatens to unwind. She needs it there. Holds it close because it’s all she has. But when she kisses Ellie again, it softens. Only a little. 

Ellie doesn’t touch her hair. Hands dig into Abby’s shirt, rough, and that she can take. Make it hard touch. Make it hurt like it’s supposed to. They move more like fluid, more undone, Abby tugging her hips, moving up her sides, thumb sinking against softness that makes Ellie tense and then whimper like she needs it there. Ellie’s nails biting skin. 

They both lose it—first Ellie, then Abby, going still. Abby tries to find it again, but Ellie’s body is loose, cold, ungiving. They are both so, so tired. 

Ellie doesn’t complain when Abby carries her, like Lev, to the boat. Cradles her. Lets her slump down, facing away from him. Ellie watches, allowing. Easier, this way, with one boat, and now three of them, heading for land.

-----

Taglist: @gardengnosticator @smellslike-updyke @ellies-moth-to-a-flame @cinnamonstrr @elliemulate @arabellyn @abbysreal-wife @winestainedwhiskers @thenameissnix @enmauchimaki @rareanduselessbird @justanotherabbystan @glass-apothecary @hostileplanets (reply to be added or removed!)

[levandright]

hii!! hope you’re taking requests rn (if not, feel free to hs delete this ask) <3

what about idol!heesung x idol!leader!reader?? js some fluffy winding down content where they both relax for a day together after finishing up their leader duties 😔

A Pause In The Chaos

pairing : idol!heesung x idol!reader ୨ৎ content / warning(s) : fluff, est relationship ୨ৎ word count : 793 ・ archive

synopsis. after a long day of promotions, all you want is to rest with your beloved boyfriend. together, you escape into the quiet city night, finding peace beneath the stars and streetlights. lev notes : thank you for requesting <3 and oh my goshhh T-T this is so cute. hopefully i got your ask done well & you like it <3 finished this as soon as i could (pretty fast since i didn't have school when i wrote this)

being an idol was rough. you loved it, sure. but that didn’t make the job any less demanding, especially as the leader of your group.

after a long day promoting your newest comeback, all you wanted was to unwind, free from any thoughts of work. just as you settle in, your phone lights up with a message. seeing heesung’s name instantly lifts your spirits; he’s been just as busy, caught up with preparations for the romance: untold - daydream repackage, and it’s been weeks since you’ve seen him in person.

“y/nnie, are you free today?” his message reads.

you quickly reply, smiling at the screen.

“yes :) we just wrapped up for the day!”

a response comes almost immediately.

“perfect! we just finished too.” “you up to just hang out? no plans—let’s just do whatever we feel like.”

you smile, already feeling lighter.

“i’d love that.” “great! i’ll pick you up by the usual spot near your dorm ;)”

chuckling, you slip into comfortable clothes, pulling on a beanie and mask to stay low-key. in the living room, a few members lounge around chatting.

“y/n! heading out?” one of them asks, noticing you by the door.

“yeah, hanging with hee,” you nod, pulling on your shoes.

“be safe and have fun!” they call out, hoping your time together remains undisturbed by fans.

“will do,” you say with a grin, slipping out through the quieter exit.

as you approach a convenience store near your usual meeting spot, you catch sight of heesung’s familiar figure waiting for you. you break into a jog, grinning beneath your mask as you close the distance. noticing you, he chuckles and opens his arms wide, waiting.

you melt into his embrace, wrapping your arms around him and burying your face in his chest.

“i missed you so much,” you whisper, nuzzling closer.

he strokes your hair softly, a gentle hum of agreement. “i missed you too.” tilting your face up, he pulls down his mask just enough to place a tender kiss on your forehead. for a moment, everything feels right, the world reduced to the warmth you both share in each other’s arms.

heesung’s arms linger around you, both of you savoring the embrace. when you finally pull apart, he gives you one of his trademark smiles, the kind that makes you feel as though the world outside has faded into soft blur. with your fingers laced together, the two of you start strolling down the quiet city streets.

as you walk, the weight of the day’s stresses begins to lift, and conversation flows easily. you laugh, sharing funny moments from promotions, and he listens, hanging onto every word as though he hasn’t seen you in years. he shares his own stories, recounting funny moments in his practice sessions and the odd ways his members keep each other awake during long nights.

eventually, you make your way to a park. the swings creak softly in the cold night air, empty and inviting, lit by nearby street lamps that bathes the area in a warm, golden glow. you both settle onto the swings, and you kick off the ground. letting yourself drift back and forth. heesung does the same, the swing creaking in sync with yours. you exchange glances, both smiling feeling like kids again.

you talk about how much you missed each other and share how demanding everything has been, yet neither of you ever really wanted to trade it for anything else. there’s a bond, a mutual understanding in your shared love for performing and your quiet wish for more time together.

after a while, heesung suddenly stands. “stay here. i’ll be back in just a second, okay?” you watch him walk away with curiosity, but you keep swinging, letting the cool night air wash over you.

moments later, he returns with two corndogs and your favorite drink. he holds them out, grinning. “fuel for us hardworking idols,” he jokes, and you laugh, taking one of the corndogs.

the two of you munch on the food, quietly content in each other's company. there's no need for words. you simply enjoy the simple, comforting act of just being together, with the occasional nudge of his shoulder against yours. after finishing the food, you look up at the stars. heesung follows your gaze, his hand reaching for yours again.

“it’s nice, isn’t it?” he murmurs, glancing at you as you gaze at the sky. you nod, leaning your head on his shoulder.

under the soft light of the stars and streetlamp, with heesung by your side, everything feels peaceful and right. you breathe deeply, closing your eyes for a moment, letting yourself truly rest. knowing that even in the chaos of your world, you have this pocket of quiet with him.

perm taglist.@honeybelleee @honeychocos @manaah02 @kozumesphone (open!) requests. open!

©levandright

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

blorbo request: Lev from unwind? :3

[grover-underwoods-biggest-fan]

an unorganized list of my unwind hc’s 👍

Hayden is from california and has a faint valley girl-esc accent

Risa would teach the girls at the graveyard basic self defense

Connor absolutely loves pre war attitude era media (late 90s, early 2000s)

Miracolina is really good at braiding hair

Risa is transfem (she/they) along with ace and demi

Hayden is trans but because he’s like 6’2 and has that male jackass vibe no one really finds out

+ Connor only figured out because he’s had to drag hayden to sleep from the ComBom several times and hayden was being springlocked by the (probably homemade, unsafe) binder

Connor remains unlabeled

Connor just constantly smells like ax body spray. he also uses 3 in 1 soap even before he was signed to be unwound. just for the love of the game.

Una and Miracolina are actually besties. think spiderverse gwen stacey’s universe. Lev is gwen, Miracolina is peter, and Una is Cap. Stacy

Miracolina is actually such a horse girl. lev only indulges this

For halloween Risa, Hayden, and Connor they dress up as Hermonie, Ron, and Harry. Miracolina convinces Lev to go as Jason and Reyna.

+ Levs first halloween because his parents found it ‘demonic’

Miracolina has a subtle goth-esc aesthetic, and Connor iss grunge

Miracolina is actually a reader. she loves books, especially because the education is shit and she wants to learn

Hayden is terrified of scary movies. refuses to watch them. he also really like boxtrolls

Connor has a very teenage boy music taste. sumblimr. red hot chilli peppers. nirvana. weezer.

[julysn]

super stupid unwind headcanons

maybe i’ll make this match my theme… latwr

hayden overuses the “we’re not just sure, we’re HIV positive” joke from south park

lev is a tenor (coming from a retired choir kid)

connor reeks of axe body spray and sweat

sonia makes a mean casserole

sonia also makes a mean cherry pie

mai is a demigirl

bam listens to queen

risa would be totally into floral design

risa listens to kali uchis

[null1ty]

“What was his name?”

Lev asks.

“Or is it a she?”

this HAS to be one, if not my favorite scene from Unwind, ITS SO GOOD AUFHHH!!!!

Is there any unwind fans that like.. arent 20 year olds that read the book when it first came out?? Because i genuinely dont believe theres many fans that are similar in age to me that i can be friends with and giggle at little things like “nice socks” or make jokes abt clapping my hands together without sounding crazy 😭

[arcofacatboy]

Remember when, towards the beginning of Unwind, Connor sees a storked baby on someone’s doorstep?

Connor has just escaped the juvies less than 48 hours beforehand. Right now, his main focus is not getting caught by juvies and being unwound as a result. He has Risa and Lev to look out for - not that he knows either of them very well at this point - but his main goal, at this point, is saving his own skin (literally). Connor didn’t object when his classmate, and fellow unwind, Andy Jameson, sacrificed himself for him. It was implied in a Facebook post (all the way back in 2011!) that Connor and Andy were friends - and Andy was ultimately unwound because he saved Connor’s life. Andy is never mentioned again. Connor feels no guilt over Andy entering a divided state for him.

And yet, when Connor sees that baby on the doorstep, he panics.

It’s not like the general public in the Unwind Universe care about storks that much. Starkey was tormented by his status as a stork - everyone else thought he was a joke because of it, and he hated himself for that. Bam feels similarly, and is no stranger to becoming aggressive with those who try to belittle her because she was abandoned as a baby. No adults seemed to want to help them in this regard - they sent Bam and Starkey off to be unwound in the end, because their status as storks and the lack of affection from everyone in their lives came to be too much, and their anger was no longer contained and internalized. Bam lived - but Starkey ultimately died because he, more than anything, wanted to be something other than a stork to be unwound, who wouldn’t amount to anything.

But that’s not the point here, really. Connor doesn’t know Bam or Starkey, let alone that Starkey will die at his only remaining hand. He’s not panicking because someone he knows is a stork, and is suffering because of it. Someone he knew was a stork, and died because not a single person in his neighborhood cared about keeping him alive.

A baby was put on the doorstep of Connor’s parents. They knew why he was there - they had been storked, and they were now legally, and morally, obligated to take in the baby as their own.

But they already had a seven year old and a four year old! Two boys, no less! They had no need for a third son. Surely no one had seen them be storked by whatever irresponsible girl had gotten herself pregnant and given her baby up to good, hardworking people, who shouldn’t have had to bear the burden of her bad decisions.

Surely no one would notice if they just moved the baby to the doorstep of the neighbors. Surely they wouldn’t mind raising a son.

But no one said a damn thing.

Two weeks later, the baby boy showed up on the Lassiter’s doorstep - again.

He was visibly sick, so close to death that only then, out of pity for the infant, did the Lassiter parents take him in. He died in the hospital - most likely alone, having never known a world in which he was wanted. He never knew a world in which he wasn’t passed from porch to porch, doorstep to doorstep, suffering, alone and sick, because of the silence and apathy of everyone around him.

Everyone in the neighborhood came to the baby’s funeral, a funeral that was only held because it would have looked terrible for the Lassiter parents to not hold a funeral for the baby that died on their watch, and was technically their son. And they all cried. They knew they were all responsible for that baby boy dying, so they cried and cried, never admitting guilt, never admitting that one of them could have saved the baby’s life - and they chose not to.

Connor was only seven when the baby died. And yet, at sixteen, the death of the baby still haunts him. And here he is, face to face with the same situation. There is a baby on a doorstep - and the recipient of this precious gift is complaining about having to care for another unwanted child.

He remembers the death of the baby who could have been his neighbor, or his baby brother, if anyone around him had showed an ounce of compassion. A horrible thought strikes him.

This baby could suffer the same fate.

Connor is already so close to death himself. He could be caught by juvies at any moment. If he gets caught, Risa and Lev could die, too.

But, if he doesn’t act now, so could the baby.

So he goes to save her. He confronts the recipient of the storked child with no real plan. He just wants to save the baby. He can’t let another baby die because of human selfishness and apathy.

Risa steps in, making up a lie that she and Connor are the baby’s parents, and tells the recipient that she’ll take her baby back. Risa is furious with Connor, and chews him out. What could make him do a stupid thing like that? The three of them could be caught at any moment, and a screaming, crying baby isn’t going to make escaping persecution any easier.

But Connor couldn’t let Didi die.

Unwind came out in 2007 - it celebrated its seventeenth birthday last November. Unwind is now so old that, if it was a teenager, it couldn’t be unwound itself! So why bring up a well-known scene from the very start of the book.

Like the book itself, it comes back to Neal Shusterman.

@nealshustermanreal - remember what you wrote. While The Schwa Was Here might have been your first critically acclaimed book, Unwind is why you’re here today - why you are anything to anyone. And while all your books (that I’ve read) have complex themes of morality, like the anecdote I just mentioned above, remember that Unwind is what most people who know you, know you from. They know about Baby Lassiter, and they know about baby Didi. They know that silence, apathy, and complacency does more harm than good - they know that because of you.

And yet, here you are. People are dying in droves, and the people that aren’t dying are being injured, having their homes destroyed, being forced to watch their loved ones die, or otherwise being terrorized. Palestinians are dying. And yet, you wait over two months to say anything about it. You wait until your book tour, promoting a graphic novel you wrote about another genocide, is over. You send out an email quietly, an email that only those who are subscribed to your newsletter will see. And your statement seems to be an afterthought, squeezed between a paragraph on how you approach presenting your books on tour, and links to where you can buy a signed copy of your new, shiny graphic novel about genocide. And this is what you say.

Most of your fans, at least on this platform, know of this email. We’ve all seen it. But I want to focus on that last part.

“I’ve taken a stand - by refusing to feed that mentality. The situation is tragic for everyone. We need empathy everywhere.”

You are being selfish. You wish to try to see why both Israel is justified in their slaughtering of Palestinians, and why Palestinians don’t deserve to be slaughtered. This is not a topic in which you can have your cake and eat it, too. Either you support the country who has proven that they will continue to murder Palestinians, destroy every aspect of their culture, and bomb every place that Palestinians cherished and loved, or you denounce that. Your refusal to acknowledge that the citizens of Palestine are the current targets in a genocide, to acknowledge that Israel will call anything or anyone they don’t like “Hamas” to slaughter them without criticism, and to acknowledge that all of this was the result of Israel wanting to destroy Palestine does not paint you as someone who is refusing to feed a black-and-white mentality. It paints you as someone who, because they aren’t being directly affected by this genocide, doesn’t think it’s their problem. That, by definition, is apathy.

This isn’t a perfect comparison by any means, but.

You are leaving Didi to die.

[heliads]

REQUESTS OPEN OMG EVERYONE CHEERED. hi i was thinking.. what if… hmm.. what if.. guardian angel y/n x connor lassiter where in unwind instead of lev saving him after the happy jack explosion its y/n. (they kiss at the end PLEase)

ANYWAYS ILY u survived exams i’m so proud !

'angel ex machina ' - connor lassiter

masterlist

They find Connor Lassiter staring at a billboard. He’s slumped against a wall, eyes hollow and vacant, like nothing in this world could possibly be more fascinating than a couple hundred square feet of boastful advertising. The bright colors seem to laugh at him, tantalizingly out of reach from where he crouches now, separated from the rest of the world by the walls of a harvest camp.

We have guardian angels! Low prices, high protection! 

Even if Connor somehow managed to piece together enough cash for their exorbitant prices, it’s obvious that a guardian angel would be wasted on him. Connor is days away from his own unwinding. Not even a real guardian angel could pull him out now, let alone the vapid models in suits they’ve got bedazzling that billboard. Everyone knows you can’t actually hire a guardian angel. They just show up somehow, save your ass however many times you need it, then disappear. There, then gone. Intrinsically a part of your life, and then it’s like you’d never known them at all.

Guardian angels are extraordinarily rare. The closest Connor’s ever come to meeting one is hearing a story his dad used to tell, and even then, Kirk Lassiter had only briefly glimpsed one of his neighbors getting saved from a car accident by one of the angels. Not exactly a core memory for Connor. His mom had never seen one at all.

That’s the way it usually goes. There aren’t that many guardian angels in the world. Rare things, they are. Somehow, they decide that a person is important enough to save, and then they swoop in and do what they do best. That’s usually saving them from disasters– floods, tornadoes, you name it. There’s an iconic photograph of a guardian angel rescuing someone from a burning building that Connor sees annually in his textbooks; something about the wings silhouetted against the flames is irresistible to school publishers. Hayden swears that he heard about somebody who got a guardian angel to do their taxes, but Connor figures that’s another of the boy’s bad jokes. Guardian angels are for real problems, not tax fraud.

Hell, no one even knows what guardian angels look like. There are photographs, sure, but they always turn out strangely blurry, like when the sun’s too bright outside and all you can do is squint. Even the people who’ve seen guardian angels say that their memories faded oddly quickly after the incident. No one can decide if they look like people, if their wings always appear, if they’re even recognizable as guardian angels at all. The only thing the masses can agree on is that guardian angels do exist, and they’ll never be good enough for anyone.

Least of all Connor. He’s harbored a hope that he’d get to meet one at some point, obviously, everyone has. Imagining that you’d be important enough to warrant an angel sent to watch over you is everyone’s secret fantasy.

Connor’s a few hours away from getting unwound, though, so he’s pretty sure that dream will die like the rest of his:  unwanted, unclaimed, unfulfilled. He’ll go to pieces as yet another boy who dreamed of being great, another poor soul ignored by the angels. The only difference is that, unlike most of the teenage population, he’s not even mediocre enough to live past sixteen. He’ll be in parts by tomorrow. Then, who knows? Maybe his elbow will go to a kid worthy of an angel. Connor wasn’t, but maybe his unwound pieces will be.

Connor shakes his head slightly to rid himself of the thoughts. He’s not usually like this. He’s not a quitter. He’ll go under the knife protesting his unwinding. It’s just a little difficult to keep up the fighting spirit when he knows that at last, despite all his running and hiding, he’ll be unwound anyway. There’s no fighting the Juvenile Authority. All his great efforts just delayed the inevitable. It cuts him to say it, but it looks like they were right after all.

In an attempt to get his mind out of obviously dangerous waters, Connor rips his gaze away from the offending billboard and glances around him. Only now does he notice another future unwind drawing close to him. Connor stretches and stands, forcing the corners of his mouth to upturn slightly so Y/N, his closest friend here and only ally among the cops and lambs to slaughter, don’t think he’s totally deranged.

“What are you doing?” Y/N asks, coming to a stop by his side.

Connor shrugs listlessly. “Nothing. Drafting my will.”

With anyone else, he’d probably stay silent, but Connor learned a long time ago that trying to hold his tongue around Y/N L/N is a losing game. They met in the basement of Sonia’s antique shop, Y/N having arrived barely a few minutes after Connor and Risa. Talk about a coincidence. They quickly hit it off, and as proof of their friendship, they’ve even ended up at the same harvest camp after it all went south back at the Graveyard.

If Connor were trapped with anyone, though, he’s glad it’s them. Not even Hayden can make Connor laugh as much as he does with Y/N. They understand him in a way that no one else ever has. If he were feeling particularly stupid, he would call it love, but Connor knows better. They’re both about to get stripped to pieces. If he spills his guts now and they friendzone him, Connor will have ruined the best part of his life for nothing.

So he stays silent, and watches Y/N laugh at his joke. “I want your car after they unwind you,” they inform him. “Maybe even the house.”

Connor pretends to be outraged. “Both? That’s absurd.”

Y/N snorts. “Who else would you give them to? The tithe?” Then, in a quieter voice, they glance towards the billboard Connor was staring at, and add on, “Maybe an angel?”

Connor sighs. “They can’t sell real guardian angels. No amount of flashy billboards can hide that.”

Y/N nods. “You’re still tempted, though?”

Connor lifts a shoulder. “Who wouldn’t be tempted? The idea is great. I’d love for someone to save me right now. Or maybe just care enough to try.”

“I care,” Y/N offers.

Connor gives them a wry smile. “I know you do. But you’re stuck in the same mess as I am, so maybe I’ll hold off on believing in your escape plan until you’re out, too.”

Y/N looks at him for a second, too deep for Connor to understand, then cracks a grin. “You should believe in me, Lassiter. I’m tunneling out from under the dorms with just a spoon. I might make it halfway to Florida by the time we get the unwind order.”

Connor scoffs. “That only works in movies. You’d need a miracle to break through an inch of concrete, let alone all the way past the borders.”

Y/N smiles at him, a little secretively, a little knowingly. “I’m pretty good with miracles.”

“Sure you are,” Connor says, stretching his arms to rid himself of an unpleasant pinch in his muscles. “Any chance you can whip one up to save me from my impending doom?”

He isn’t expecting Y/N to respond, obviously, but when their face drops at the sight of something approaching behind him, Connor knows it’s not just from his lack of belief. “I’d have to make it quick, wouldn’t I?” They mutter under their breath.

Connor turns around to see a squad of Juvey-cops bearing down on him. He swears under his breath. “This is it, right? They’re going to take me away?”

Y/N’s face looks ashen and wrong. “I should have saved you. “

“We should have saved each other,” Connor corrects gently. Usually, he isn’t the sentimental type, but as the guards get closer, he can’t resist the urge to lean closer to Y/N and whisper to them, “Hey, I’m glad for the time we had, alright? It meant– It meant a lot to me. You know. If I was going to talk to anyone on my last day, I would have wanted it to be you anyway.”

Y/N sucks in a breath. “Don’t say that.”

Connor stares at them. “Why not? It’s true.”

Y/N looks like they want to argue– why, Connor isn’t sure, but the guilt in their eyes is like nothing he’s ever seen before– but before they can say a word, the Juvey-cops close in around him, cutting Connor off from Y/N like slamming a door in their face. They give him the usual speech about how it’s time for him to be unwound, but Connor can’t find it within himself to pay attention. It’s so typical of him, honestly, to be zoning out during what may be his last hour whole, but all he can think about is Y/N, who disappears into the distance as the cops drag him away, Y/N, who he’s now left here alone, Y/N, who will join him in this fate not long from now.

Connor doesn’t want to be unwound. Obviously. He doesn’t want this, and the sheer force of his not wanting overwhelms him as they lead him closer and closer to the doors of the Chop Shop. A crowd of other unwinds has gathered by the door; apparently the final moments of the Akron AWOL make for some good entertainment. The band is playing. Connor wants to run, run far and fast like he always does, but for the first time in his life he realizes how pointless it is. If he tried to flee, they would catch him. They would drag him back, and it would be like nothing ever happened. There is no way this day ends with anything but Connor in pieces.

Connor forces his legs to move him mechanically towards the Chop Shop entrance. Just before the darkness of the place swallows him whole, something tells Connor to glance over his shoulder one last time and he sees Y/N staring at him beseechingly. He doesn’t know how he’s able to spot them so easily in the crowd, but he can. Like he would know them anywhere. Like doing anything but looking at them is impossible.

Then the guards shove him into the Chop Shop, and Y/N is gone, replaced by the dark certainty of Connor’s unwinding. The hallway seems to stretch out forever, but before Connor can take even one more step, a few very confusing things happen all at once.

First:  there’s this shift in the air. Connor can’t describe it. It feels strange and wrong, burning on his tongue like electricity. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and Connor knows at once that something is about to go wrong.

Second:  the room erupts in fire and smoke. The bone-rattling boom of the explosion comes later, a little delayed, but Connor sees the white flash of heat and light first. He’s knocked off of his feet, and time seems to slow down. The entire world is gone, replaced only by Connor, floating hazily through the smoky air, and the blossom of fire around him, searing off everything else.

Third, and most confusing of all:  out of nowhere, Y/N is right in front of him. Y/N, yes, but Y/N different somehow. It takes him a moment to realize why. Their eyes glow white, brighter even than the explosion, and their skin is radiating off this cool, pearlescent light. He has no idea how they could have possibly gotten in front of him so fast. He has no idea how they’re seemingly immune to the heat and force of the explosion around them.

Y/N reaches for him, pulling Connor into their arms. Their head presses against his, and they whisper quietly, forcefully, “Be safe, Connor.”

The command reverberates through Connor’s entire body. He doesn’t even remember hitting the ground, and when the explosion clears, he’s– He’s fine, actually. Nothing hurts. When Connor stares at his body, he’s utterly unharmed. Not even a scratch on his skin. He is totally untouched by the explosion that has just decimated the entirety of the Chop Shop.

Connor looks around him and realizes that Y/N is sitting in front of him. They’re both on the grass outside the Chop Shop, although he doesn’t remember getting there. Y/N is unharmed also, although Connor can say for certainty that there is still something wrong about them. It takes him a moment to get his scattered thoughts in order, and then he remembers. Y/N’s eyes wink pearlescent at him from a few paces away, and he knows.

“You’re a guardian angel,” Connor stammers out.

Y/N nods. “I am.”

Easy as that. They say it like it’s nothing. Like Connor hasn’t just had his life saved by a supernatural being currently sitting criss-cross applesauce in front of him on the waving grass. He’s had a lot of time to wonder what it would be like to meet a guardian angel, but it never would have occurred to him that one would have been in his life this entire time without him knowing.

Connor stares unseeingly at them. Try as he might, he can’t force himself to believe that Y/N is anything other than, well, Y/N. His friend. His best friend. The person he’s been crushing on since they stumbled into him by accident in the dark of Sonia’s basement. He remembers the flighty beat of their heartbeat when they were in his arms then, and he remembers what it felt like when they embraced him again in the smothering heat of the Chop Shop inferno. All Y/N. All an angel.

“You were trying to save me,” he begins, then stops. That really sums it up.

“I was,” Y/N agrees. “It was always about you, Connor.”

The idea doesn’t compute to him. “Then why wait until now to save my life? Why not make sure the Juveys never found us out in the first place?”

Y/N tilts their head to the side, considering this. “The job of a guardian angel is to save their primary assignment, sure, but also to minimize suffering wherever they go. I knew the Chop Shop explosion would happen if I didn’t save you. This needed to happen so everyone else here could be rescued. Worse things would have happened if I didn’t interfere now. It may not seem that way, but it is.”

Connor can practically feel gears in his head spinning. “So you knew how this would end the whole time?”

“I knew the great catastrophes of your life,” Y/N corrects. “I knew many paths you could take. This was the big risk, though. I didn’t get to see any more after that. Now I know just as much about your future as you do.”

Connor whistles under his breath. “That’s comforting.” Then, a terrible thought occurs to him. “Wait, that means I was your assignment. Like a job? Were you ever really my friend at all, or was that just something you had to do to complete your assignment?”

Y/N rears back as if hurt. “I have always been your friend. Guardian angels aren’t supposed to ever reveal themselves. I was actually meant to never talk to you until I saved you.”

“What changed?” Connor asks. He can’t stop himself.

Y/N smiles softly. “I saw you. You looked like someone fun.”

“Someone fun,” Connor echoes. He tries to think about his life, if anyone could see that and decide he was someone worthwhile. Someone fun. Someone an angel could watch and want to befriend. A warm feeling blossoms in his chest. Pride, maybe. Or the realization that the one secret he’s been keeping may go both ways after all.

“Yeah,” Y/N says, growing a little embarrassed. “I like you. My bad.”

Connor laughs. “That’s not bad. I like you too, by the way. In case you didn’t see it when you were receiving visions about my life.”

Y/N’s eyes dart up to his. “Really?”

“Really,” Connor says. “What, you didn’t know?”

Y/N shakes their head. “Like I said, I could only see what happened to you up to the Chop Shop exploding. Everything after that is a mystery.”

“Well,” Connor says, drawing closer to them. “I’m glad I get to surprise an angel once in my life.”

Before Y/N can ask him what he means, Connor kisses them, and after a moment of shock, they kiss him back. He’s not sure if he’s the first person in the world to have kissed an angel before, but he wouldn’t mind having that accolade under his belt. Just so long as he gets to be the person to kiss an angel two times, or three. Or forever.

requested by @julysn, i hope you enjoy!

unwind tag list: @reinekes-fox, @locke-writes, @sirofreak

all tags list: @wordsarelife

[itsatigersharkidiot]

new crackship

lev calder from unwind and ponyboy curtis from the outsiders

ts is canon, change my mind

[hoorayiread]

Unwind, A Book Review

No one ever talks about stem cells anymore. Man, when I was in middle school, ethical debates on them were all the rage. People were fear mongering about people selling their aborted fetuses and whatnot. Stem cells are still around. No one cares anymore.

Coincidentally, that was circa 2007, which is when this book was first published (I'll spare you the math. I'm pushing 30 and still reading YA books). Unwind, by Neal Shusterman, takes place in a world where abortion is illegal, but as a consolation prize you can kill teenagers. Because 13 is the year children stop being cute little obedient angels. They get acne and opinions and its all downhill from there.

Well, according to this story's government, its not "killing," its "unwinding." You send your rotten little offspring to a harvest camp and they get chopped up into little bits so their organs can be sent off to transplant units. All very ethical. But our main characters, Connor and Risa aren't too terribly excited about getting cut up and make a break for it. And also Lev is there. Lev's weird.

So you might notice I'm back to reading some pretty dark and disturbing books again. This one was quite good, and I'm adding the sequel to my to read list. As it is a book for teenagers, this novel doesn't feel like it gets too dark, but it also doesn't shy away from its subject matter. This is especially true of the notorious chapter 61.

Apparently, some people had this as assigned reading in school, which feels like a very strange choice to me. For starters, it talks heavily about abortion and the anti-choice crowd do not come out looking like the good guys. I feel like this would lead to some very angry parents. Furthermore, one of the characters is nearly sexually assaulted, which could potentially be very triggering.

I also must commend the saterical take Unwind makes on the abortion debate. Even 14 years later, it still feels incredibly fresh. A little too fresh, actually...

[jessaerys]

finished book 2 of the unwind series and i think i'm tapping out i actively hated cam as a character and starkey was such a missed opportunity that was wasted on like marvel-esque levels of strawmanning. just absolutely shit run of the mill politics and not even in an interesting way. i somewhat liked miracolina but i find how shusterman writes girls to be incredibly grating, from the background airheads to the fact that in a series about troubled problem teens the two (2) main female leads happen to be very good well behaved girls. legitimately don't understand how this flew in the 2020s, if i didn't know when the were written i would've put money on these being from the 00s just based on the misogyny emanating from them WAIT LOL FACT CHECKED i was mistaken they are from the 00s. well at least that makes sense

i'm gonna leave it there and pretend connor and lev drove into the sunset together and had an ultimately tame romance that nonetheless gave boring goody two shoes connor an insurmountable amount of catholic guilt for fucking a 14 year old. i think that would make him way more interesting

[bookwyrminspiration]

New to unwind?

Indeed! I've just arrived and did not realize how many books are in the dystology. I've just finished book one, and let me say. Did not anticipate that ending.

Everything was wrapped up in such a way it could stand on its own; of course there's allusion to future plans, but the arcs of the characters could very well be left as they are. And given that there's multiple books in the series, that caught me off guard tonally as I was wrapping it up.

Especially Connor suddenly losing an eye and arm, and Risa being paralyzed. I do appreciate the disturbing aspect of Connor, someone who's been running from unwinding, ending up with Unwound parts against his will at the end. But I do think it was a bit too last minute to truly appreciate--at least in this book. Maybe they'll get into that later...?

I did like Lev's whole deal--the disillusion with faith that led him to fall in with the wrong crowd desperate to be part of something bigger than him again. It did feel like he wasn't really part of the group, though; which isn't necessarily a bad thing, just the way it was posed I thought it was going to be Connor and Risa and Lev. But it was more Connor and Risa, also Lev. (HUGE fan of Cy-Ty's story)

Then Risa. Maybe this'll change in future books, but I feel like she made the least impression on me? Which sucks, because I like her backstory--unwanted kid raised by the state, having to prove her life is worth something and coming up short. But while Connor had the fighter/reputation thing, and Lev had the tithe/clapper thing, Risa didn't really have an equivalent? but maybe that's a me issue

Anyway, I had fun! Didn't knock my socks off, but I'll definitely continue the dystology. I just don't know when I'll get my hands on the next one.

[squeakybit]

The DAMN Fam Spotify Playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/25JoiJWm91JmYrC2WM5ifA?si=OEMzJS7bSSmXGrskN56UxA

The DAMN Crew has a Spotify playlist that Freelancer (Lev) started during one of their classes and invited the others to add to it.

Lev added “Wasteland” from NEONIE first. They've always liked the music, but after the inversion the line “got my pack, my pride, my brothers” hit a little different. They wanted the guys to know just how much they all meant to them.

When told that this playlist was to unwind and just enjoy each other's vibe, Lasko was, surprisingly, the next to add a song, choosing Girl in Red, loving the carefree summer vibe. He'd listen to ”I wanna be your girlfriend” while grading papers or documenting notes in his guidance counselor cases. He used to picture Lev in place of “Hannah” in the song, especially when they started hanging out one on one. “I don't wanna be your friend, I wanna kiss your lips” when he added that song, a slight flash of those feelings returned, but with his new partner in the kitchen making them coffee, he shrugged it off. He just likes Girl in Red.

Gavin likes jazz. The slow smooth music and round vocals. It's classy. The song "Fly me to the moon” played in a movie he and Lev watched very early on in their relationship. His hand on their hip, their head on his chest, he listened to them hum along, and the moment had been so perfect. He deemed it their song. He'd drown himself in it if he could. The version by The Macarons Project is his favorite.

Lev added Can't fight this feeling anymore to the playlist, dedicating it to Huxley and Damien after they'd all watched Rock Of Ages together. Huxley finds it funny and a bit sweet, listening to it whenever he's at work and missing Damien. Damien is embarrassed, feeling called out, but will listen to it and fantasize being held by Huxley like that. (Happens fairly often in the bedroom)

Heaven by Julia Michaels was put in by Lev in honor of Gavin, and after he actually listened to the words, he rifted right in the middle of a crowded DAMN-owned bus and into the apartment where he saw the walking out of the bathroom and he picked them up off the ground in a hug and kiss.

Pure imagination by Kathleen it's a lullaby for caelum that Lev found sometime after the inversion and before Caelum returned from Aria. They put it on the playlist too listen to when they missed him with the determination to sing it for him if he ever had an emotional attack like that again.

Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots - The first song that Damien added to the playlist. He'd never say it to them but he loved TØP during adolescence, and only justified it by “well aren't we?” he says it's too relatable.

Centuries by fallout boy - Huxley added this for no other reason than immaculate vibes.

Warriors and bad liar by Imagine Dragons - Huxley added both of these to add some pump to his morning jogs. He loves Imagine Dragons and wants to get his friends into it.

I hear a symphony by Cody Fry - Lev added this song immediately after hearing it as a Spotify suggestion and got really emotional, sending a voice memo to the group chat, telling everyone to listen to the song and that they loved all of them.

Gavin added Immortal by Reinaeiry to the playlist after finding it coincidentally during an internalization of the Damn crew’s - particularly Freelancer’s - mortality. The lyrics made him cry, and he walked around the apartment parking lot around 2am while Lev slept soundly. These nights happened often as the years went on, but especially around each of their birthdays and he always feels guilty for feeling a littlesad while everyone else is having a blast.