#so like...maybe traum?

[melonisopod]

I'm reluctant to post my writing because I'm in this weird middle ground between "self-shippy bullshit" and "obsessively attempts to get as accurate a character reading as I possibly can" and the side effect of this is wanting to develop my OC and build on my AU...but backwards lmao.

[r18-g]

in the last 48 hours i pulled both johanna and bazett and i am. thrilled. i wonder if i can get caren too…

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

I feel like I shouldn't be surprised anymore that when they talk about 'perfect human' they aren't referring to like, physical perfection but I do still get surprised sometimes at how they jump to a more abstract definition so quickly without even acknowledging other versions

[muntitled]

Better Than Drugs

Pairings: Namgyu x Fem!Reader | Brief!Thanos x Fem!Reader

Summary: Reconnecting with your shitty ex boyfriend in the games.

Warnings: Language, Substance Abuse, Toxic Relationship, Male Manipulation, Coercion, Smut (+18) mdni, High sex, Dub/con, Choking, Exchange of Bodily Fluids, Unprotected Sex, Unedited (we die like soldiers)

A/n: literally no one will read this but I need him and I wrote this for me!

Being treated like a lamb being led to the proverbial slaughter in a death game sucked ass but seeing your ex boyfriend there sucked even more, somehow. From your vantage point perched on your bed tucked away from all the central conflict, you notice them talking about you again.

Call it past bully traum but you knew when people were talking about you and although you couldn't make out what they were saying, a part of you just knew...

Another vote had ended and Namgyu was still staring at you, his head bowed, chewing his fingernails. He was watching you, while you were forced to watch as democracy crumbled around you.

Your brain made you think Namgyu was perhaps berating you in front of his new friend. Bad-mouthing you to absolutely no end, perhaps saying what a lousy, uptight girlfriend you had been in the outside world. How you kept him from his habit. How you tried to force him into rehab countless times.

And so you shrink into yourself, squeezing yourself further into your bed, hugging your knees.

How were you supposed to know the conversation went nothing like how you thought it was going?

"We need to get her on our team," Thanos had said when the voting concluded and they were watching you pick at your roll of tin-foiled kimbap.

"She's already on our team," Namgyu muttered, more quiet than usual as he watched you through the corner of his eye. He didn't feel like eating. He felt like doing drugs. And fucking, maybe, but eating? It never occurred to him.

Without you to remind him to eat, and to actually take care of his bodily health outside of his substance abuse, he really was a mess.

"Oh yeah," Thanos muttered dumbly before turning back to his own food, "Kay, well, I need to sleep with her."

Namgyu didn't even look up from his food, still leaning against the metal beds as he murmured a quiet, "Nope." Popping his lip, extenuating the 'p'

Thanos himself was rallied into silence as Namgyu casually clicked his tongue before adding, "I called dibs on that bro," he steals another glance. You're searching your chest for a piece of cucumber that's fallen out of the kimbap

This unfortunately, zeroes his gaze in on your ample chest, miraculously squeezed into that tracksuit jacket. Now Namgyu was thinking about your tits while Thanos' head whips to the side, his brow lifted.

Namgyu couldn't take his eyes off you since the games began. Watching you during voting time had stirred up all kinds of lost emotions. The easy and almost thoughtless way you had pressed the blue button before tucking your hands in your pockets, never sparing anyone a second glance. He had to adjust the bulge forming in his sweatpant. If it weren't for him you might have continued to go amongst the games as an anonymous spectre, with that cash prize as your only goal.

"I didn't know we were calling dibs!?" Thanos stomped his feet petulantly, "That's not fair, man. Not. Cool."

"That's the point of dibs," Namgyu said, pushing his hair behind his ears as he continued to stare you down. "Who knows how long we'll be here?" As he watched you, he tilted his head downwards, causing a thick shadow to fall over his eyes as he watched you. He leaned against the railings of the metal beds piled up to the ceiling, watching you tuck your hands deeper into the sleeves of your sweater. Really fucking cute.

"B-But Homies don't call dibs on girls!" Thanos whines.

"Yeah," Namgyu nods, "but, I'm gonna need more than magic pills and a homie to get me through the night," He made a ring with his index and thumb finger, pinching his one eye shut as he spied at you through it, "She can help,”

Thanos was quiet, eerily so. Good things never happened when Thanos was quiet,

"Let's go over to her right now then. Since she's stealing my homie-"

That immediately snapped Namgyu out of his lust-filled gaze, promoting his shoulders to straighten as he tried to stop Thanos from taking another step towards you.

"Senorita-" he said in a singsong voice and you rolled your eyes as you saw them approaching. Namgyu walked behind like the shadow he always tried to be, with his hands tucked in his pocket. Your bed is relatively low to the ground and your heart stammered when both their shadows fell over you.

"Don't have any change," your eyes whipped to your ex-boyfriend before narrowing, "Or drugs. Sorry." you mustered a painfully sarcastic smile as you attempted to turn in another direction, hoping they might take the hint.

Thanos' teeth stretched as Namgyu swallowed thickly, watching you in that distinctly predatory way of his as he propped his forearm against the railing of the bed. You hate how both of them make you feel and your eye scans in vain around the premises, hoping someone might save you from the duo.

"Lemme make this quick," Thanos said with his drug addicted hand gestures. "My bro wants you and whatever bro wants-" he taps Namgyu's chest behind you- "Bro gets."

Silence passed with you staring deep into Namgyu's dark, almost sinister black eyes. You admitted that you were still painfully attracted to him. Knowing that he knows your body. He's already seen what hid under your blue tracksuit, it was dizzyingly sobering.

He still seemed so devastatingly sleezy it bordered on attractive, like he didn't care about what anyone really thought of him. It still brought an uncomfortable amount of attraction that you didn't really know what to do with. "No thanks," you said, bending your head to take a bite of the kimbap.

"Cunt." you heard him mumble under his breath. That caused your head whip up to glare at him.

"I'm a cunt because I'd rather not fuck a drug addict?"

"No," Namgyu shrugged, "You're just a cunt."

Your nostrils flared as something diabolical ignited inside you. Up until this point, fear had been the only emotion you allowed yourself to feel. The fear of dying to keep you alive. But right now, you're being plagued with another emotion and it's setting you alight with interest.

Your dating preferences were never orthodox. You knew you could never truly be satisfied with any other timid nice guy, and that's what drew you to him. You hated admitting to it but Namgyu calling you a cunt did more than irritate you, it ignited you.

"I'm not here to make friends,” You marvel now, in the tense darkness, how confident you had been then.

“How about a boyfriend then?” Namgyu asked and Thanos whistled lowly as he mutters a ‘nice bro,’

“How about choking?” You shot back, “I tried the boyfriend thing and he stole all my savings to buy drugs.” Namgyu’s jaw ticked and you can see his fist fold and unfold. Thanos’ commentary continues. ‘Shit boyfriend-’ he says under his breath.

“Don't be a bitch so early in the morning…” Namgyu says finally before turning his head, somewhat distracted, “Or at least I think it's morning. Hyung do you think it's morning-”

Thanos raised his hands, “Morning is what we make it in here, bro.”

“Leave me alone of I'll fucking scream.” you cut through all their useless chatter, letting a tense silence settle between the three of you. Eventually, Thanos reluctantly pulls Namgyu away. Murmuring a quiet ‘just take a hint bro.'

Soon, you were left in your bed but not without one more backwards glance from Namgyu over his shoulder. He wasn't done with you and that thought sat heavily on your shoulders until the robotic voice from unseen speakers made the countdown to lights out.

The very last thing you remembered, before the overhead lights were snuffed out, was his black, almond eyes still watching you from his bed.

The blue 'O' velcroed to your breast burns a hole through your conscience as your eyes flutter open in the middle of the night, really needing to pee. The prize money acts as the only source of gold light illuminating the hall while everyone else remains soundly asleep.

Life in the games was so much more stomachable during the day, but when the lights went out, you were forced to sit with your thoughts. That piggy bank didn't have money inside it, it held bodies, and the ghosts practically filled this room.

Still, you can't help but whisper to yourself, “I really have to pee.” The only thing stopping you from going to the bathroom is the gaze you knew would somehow find you from three beds over. Your ex boyfriend watches you, even when the lights go out.

Paranoia be damned.

Cursing softly, you maneuvered yourself to the ground. Trying to make the least amount of noise possible as you moved through the row of beds.

If you were being followed you'd never know. Everything was too dark but a part of you sighed as you reached the small arched doorway completely unscathed.

Almost unscathed.

Your heart hammers in its cage when you feel his heavy arm settle over your shoulders. Your mouth falls open but Namgyu is already banging on the arched door with a closed fist. You flinch with every loud, metallic hit.

The little window opens to reveal a triangle-masked soldier. He stands there emotionless.

“My girlfriend's on her period- she's bleeding everywhere. We need the bathroom.”

There is silence from the Guard who is clearly unimpressed. Just before the little window is about to slide shut Namgyu kicks at the door, “Hey! I wanna fuck my girl- if you want, we could do it out here?!”

You try to wrench yourself out of his grip, toilet be damned but your heart absolutely sinks to find the pink soldier opening the metal door.

Namgyu only twirls, pumping his fist before pulling you in his arms, biting back a smile.

“Can't believe that worked,” Namgyu says, with a raised eyebrow and a happy little shrug as he drags you across the threshold. The trip to the women's bathroom is relatively short as you writhe and fight in his hands. There's virtually no reason for the pink guard to think any of this was consensual but they kept their stoicism on their face as you reached the girl's bathroom.

“We'll be quick,” Namgyu assures the guard with a tight sort of smile before pushing you into the bathroom, and closing the door after himself.

You trip on your way running into one of the stalls and he watches you, biting his nail.

“This is the girls bathroom, or are you too high to notice?” You hiss absolute venom as he bites his fingernail.

“Nah, I'm sober right now, which means I need something to take the load off.”

“Cool. Use your hand,” you sigh from within the stalls before dropping your pants to pee. It irked you that he was standing there, on the other side… waiting for you.

You make quick work of it all. Wiping, flushing, and making a beeline for the sinks. He lets you wash your hands but before you make it to the door his arms are wrapped around your waist.

“Uh Uh,” he tsks, “No ‘i miss you’ kiss, huh?” He drags you into his arms, kicking and screaming as he swipes your brains from across your panicked face.

“Only competent boyfriends get kisses,” Despite the fuss, the door doesn't open. Those guards have quite literally abandoned you in here to fend for yourself.

“I can make it up to you,” he said, “I miss you really bad, baby,” Namgyu's pushing your back against the sink, stained with that sickening, pastel colour as he lowers his nose into the crook of your neck. You writhe as he breathes you in deeply, before sighing. His erection pressed against your thigh.

“Someone else could walk in here,” you cry, feeling a dampness seep out of you, wetting your underwear. Your body was being traitorous because it was enjoying feeling anything other than fear. It yearned for it.

“Sto-” you attempt to catch your breath as he gropes at your breasts from over your tracksuit. “Stop touching me-” you say despite your legs getting weaker and weaker.

“You don't get to touch me anymore. You lost that privilege when you stopped being my boyfriend.” He was so much taller than you when he stretched his hand across your cheeks, forcing your neck back to make more space for his lips. A moan nearly spills out of you.

His hands are trembling and his tongue swipes out to lick the length of your neck. To your shock and horror, you melt in his grasp.

“You don't mean that-” he whispers against your skin. “No one's gonna fuck you like I do-”

“No one's going to steal my money like you do either-”

His hand flies down to your throat, choking as he says through clenched teeth, “I told you I had a problem-” he squeezes and for the briefest moment, you see stars. “I needed help and you abandoned me, you bitch-”

“I didn't abandon you-” His lips are on yours, silencing you in one messy kiss that him forcing his tongue into your mouth.

“You gonna be good for me, Huh?’ He says, hoarsely, your eyes glare up at him.

“Leave me alone-”

“You know I love it when you try to fight back,” his mouth breathes against your hair, “You trying to get me riled up babe, huh?”

His fingers find the lining of your own sweatpants and your heart stammers as he turns to push your front against the sink. Your hand grips at the cheap plaster and you avoid your own traitorous reflection in the mirror, lest you find not only fear in your eyes, but lust

“You know how bad I've needed this- fuck,” his voice cracks when fumbles his cock out, grinding against your ass with his eyes closed in ecstasy and his mouth hanging open. Your finger curls around the sink as the first moan slips out of you. It had his eyes flying open to look down at you in amusement and awe.

“I knew you weren't a completely stuck-up bitch,” he says, pulling you up by the base of the throat, “I knew you still wanted me.”

“I don't,” you squeak out as he pulls down your pants.

“No- but your body does,” he swipes your underwear to the side.

Your body spasms as he roughly sinks his digits into you once before pulling out.

“You miss me real bad,” he brings your fingers up in front of your face and your heart drops to find the arousal webbing his index and middle.

He continues to swipe your arousal from from your ass to your puffy clit and the need wracks through your entire body, building as you arched your ass backwards against him.

His mouth is by your ear, breathing heavily as he lines his cock up at your entrance, already leaking precum, “I know I gave you hell when we were out there-”

“Hell doesn't begin to cover- FUCK-” he rams his cock into you. Positively brimming with need as his hips stutter against you.

“Y-ou stole my fucking savings for drugs-” you get the sentence out quickly before moaning into the air, as your boyfriend fucks out all the frustration he's been carrying, all the need and the withdrawal.

“And I ate you out as an apology-” He reaches his hand around to clamp down on the base of your throat. Your mouth falls open when he cranes our neck back, his eyes boring into yours. “Don't you miss it baby, don't miss having me inside of you?”

“Y-Your eyes are diluted-” you begin to say, utterly incredulous. “You're high right now!”

His hips thrusts in shallow, quick strokes. “And your pussy's wet, guess we're both fucked.”

Your pussy tightens around him like a long lost friend, it knocks you out how deeply you've craved him. Needing reprieve from all the fear. “You're squeezing around my cock, you fucking slut-” that nearly has you seeing stars. Your body spasms.

“That it…” he whispers, “Don't think I haven't forgotten the way you abandoned me out there… But in here,” your eyes roll to the back of your head, “You dont so much as fucking breathe without my permission.”

Your eyes squeeze shut as his cock hits that particular pillow of nerves inside you, nearly flipping you off the edge.

“Spit on my hand,” he says, an edge to his voice that let you know he was far too close. You forgot how messy things got when you had sex with him. How much of a mess he made of you.

You do it without thinking about it and his eyes widen as he presses that same hand to your clit.

“F-Fuck!” Your eyes are squeezed shut as he reaches around to rub you to your orgasm. His movements only fumble when his hips start stuttering.

“N-Need you to cum for me-” he breathes out. “I’m jittery- baby. I need it- shit-” you slip into your orgasm right in front of him, milking his cock for all its worth. “F-Fuck this is so much better than drugs,” he murmers, eyes rolled back as a drunken smile ghosts over his face. He's in complete and utter euphoria.

Two rough knocks on the door signal the need for your return but Namgyu's cock is still spilling ropes of his cum inside you and you're doing nothing but taking it.

“I hate you,” you breathe out, because it's true. If it weren't for him you wouldn't be here.

His breath is warm against your neck as he says, “I love you too.

© to @muntitled on tumblr; do not repost

[witless-winion1]

MY TOP THREE FAVORITE EPIC ANIMATICS THAT HAVE BEEN OPEN ON A TAB ON MY PHONE SINCE I WATCHED THEM

(Ranked by how much I’m going to scream about them, I guess.)

3. @laritamiauu’s 600 Strike (tumblr/YouTube)

THE SMOOTH ANIMATION. THE EMOTIONS. THE POV SHOT AT THE BEGINNING. THE FIGHT SCENE. THE WAY POSEIDON IS TRYING TO ESCAPE AND ODY IS DRAGGING HIM BACK. IT ITCHES MY BRAIN SO GOOOD

FUCK, LOOK AT THAT COLORING.

2. @neal-illustrator’s Just A Man (tumblr/YouTube)

Neal. I am never, ever, ever going to forgive you for adding baby noises.

the way he cares for the baby, bonds with him, holds him close and soothes him, sees his own baby boy in his arms…all the men watching, not intervening, even holding Astor’s mom back….the BABY SQUIRMING AT THE LAST SECOND AND HIM TRYING TO STOP IT WHILE ACTIVELY PREPARING TO DROP HIM…THE BABY NOISES

3. @kisu-doodles’ Mutiny (tumblr/YouTube)

I saw a lot of buildup/hype/process for this, and it still couldn’t soften the blow for me. This fuckin hurt. I mean…

the men caring for each other…being so sick with scurvy, traume and injuries aftermath of Scylla, starvation, LOOK AT THAT 9th ONE. The comforting among the suffering (🧜‍♀️), it hurts me so much. and then there’s the contrast of Eurylochus and being the only one to care for Ody…the part where he’s all homoerotic taking care of him, even though he was the one to deal him that blow…

he’s wiping his tears and checking him temperature. I WANT A RELATIONSHIP LIKE THIS GUYS

(k maybe not exactly like this but…yk.)

also the way EURY’S SMILING in that last panel, that’s where he says “we’re never gonna get to make it home, you know it’s true.” He’s trying to comfort Ody instead of confront him. I’m sobbing. Also in the fourth panel we can see that Eury’s also suffering from scurvy, on his shoulder/back??? Ughhhh

The sun god statue watching this shut play out is fucking MAGNIFICENT(ly horrifying). Not to mention Ody helping Eury back into the boat after the final blow. I’m sobbing I am a wreck. This is worse then that tragic boyfailure gay shish kebab couple, I think they’re called Patillies or something

(clears throat) so. Uh. Yeah. There are too many talented people on this earth using their talent for evil. And then posting the evil on tumblr. Thank you to the creators for these devastating pieces and for the frens with the patience to read this. Drink water

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook x Reader/ Yoongi x Jimin

𝓢𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓣𝓸𝓸𝓽𝓱 [Strawberries]

Yoongi and Jimin are each proud owners of hybrids, and these days, slowly falling in love with one another. And everything could be so perfect- if it wasn't for you absolutely resenting Jungkook- for no reason?

Tags/Warnings: Human!Yoongi, Human!Jimin, Rottweiler hybrid!Jungkook, Cat hybrid!Reader, Enemies to friends to lovers, mentions of past traume, some Yoonmin here and there oops, Main story focus are MC and Kook though

Length: 3.5k words

There is no taglist for this fic.

-> Masterlist

♥━━━━━━━━━━•.♡.•━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

Jungkook and Yoongi have been living together for years by now.

The older producer had taken the young dog hybrid in back when the system was a lot more complicated than it is now- requiring a hybrid to actually have an owner as a legal guardian in order to work anywhere, no matter in what field. And after getting to know the back then rather unsure dog hybrid, Yoongi had simply found it unfair that he couldn't proceed any sort of proper education for the kinds of jobs he was dreaming of. So he'd filled in the spot of a legal owner for Jungkook- giving the Rottweiler hybrid the chance to take those chances and make something out of himself.

And nowadays, he's happy- still staying in Yoongi's care, even though he technically doesn't have to with his own job. But he likes Yoongi a lot, sees him as a brother rather than just a friend who helped him, and Yoongi feels the same way. Living with him is comfortable, it's home- it's how he wants things to stay, maybe even forever.

But.. things have been changing, recently.

A couple of weeks ago, the sign stating that the house next to the human-hybrid home of the two was for sale got taken down, signaling that it was finally in the hands of someone new. This caught both their interests, as they watched over the next few days how furniture got delivered, old fences taken down and exchanged for newer one's, and how the overgrown garden in the backyard got finally mowed and put back into a more proper shape- though at the moment, still bland. And then, they moved in. The new neighbors finally showed up, and introduced themselves. Or rather.. one of them did the introducing, while the other simply glared from a distance.

Park Jimin is the name of the friendlier one, a dance teacher very well known in his profession, or so Yoongi had found out by googling his name that same day. The man with the soft facial features owns a hybrid- and from what Jungkook has seen, you're a feline hybrid, a cat with the softest tail he's ever seen. You're always wearing the prettiest, most princess-like clothing, bows and frills and delicate lace decorating all the sleeves and hems of your dresses and skirts. You're pretty, adorable really-

but you're not very friendly, at all, to put it mildly.

When Yoongi had visited Jimin together with Jungkook for a simple dinner (Jungkook has noticed right away that there's something going on between his owner and Jimin), and you had locked yourself into the bedroom the entire night, refusing to come out despite Jimin's constant tries to coax you out. It had made the young man a little uncomfortable, having constantly apologized for your behavior, despite Yoongi's words of comfort and that it didn't bother him.

Jungkook had felt a bit odd, that night. Maybe you were just a little scared? He knows from his job after all that some cat hybrids have a natural fear for dog hybrids that they can't control. Maybe you were one of those?

It took weeks for you to finally sit at the same dinnertable as Yoongi and Jungkook- tonight finally attending, though you glare at Jungkook across the table whenever Jimin isn't paying attention to you. And something both Jungkook and Yoongi notice is just the way the human cares for you.

You're absolutely spoiled rotten.

From getting endless treats and snacks before dinner was even on the table, to the glimpse Jungkook got into your room while passing by towards the bathroom. It's full of plush animals, white and pink furniture, a canopy bed with frills and lace and endless pillows and blankets. It's clear to both Jungkook and Yoongi that your behavior might not just be your own fault- but could also be the result of Jimin's clearly spoiling behavior.

You don't just look like a princess- you're clearly used to being treated like royalty as well.

And Yoongi just watches for tonight, not saying anything because he's simply not in any position to do so. After all, Jimin and him are really just getting to know each other at the moment- and while yes, there are some emotions growing between the two, it's not yet to the point where he'd say that he wants to jump into a relationship yet. And neither does Jimin.

And maybe that's gonna have to stay this way for a while longer- because if you and Jungkook won't get along, there's simply no way that Yoongi could ever be truly happy with Jimin.

♥━━━━━━━━━━•.♡.•━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

Jungkook is currently busy picking the strawberries from the bushes in his garden when he feels eyes on him, like lasers on the back of his head. One look over his shoulder confirms his suspicion- you're currently peeking over the fence of your own backyard, thinking he cannot see you. Your gardens are so close together that only a small fence really splits them apart, so he has to swallow down a laugh since you're not really being very slick with your blatant staring.

He stands up now, tail wagging in a relaxed, friendly manner, and at that you flop down from your tip-toe position, ears slowly moving backwards in a more defensive manner. "Do you want to try one?" He asks you, and you seem to take a breath to say something, before your eyes spot the ripe, red berry in the rottweiler hybrid's hand. It does look good- probably sweet, and fruity, and delicious- but your eyes keep snapping back to his face.

Maybe you really are scared of him? He feels his heart fall a bit. He really doesn't want to scare you.

"I'm not gonna do anything, promise." He tells you, slowly walking closer with the small basket in his hand. You're taking a step back, but you're also only doing that once- staying at the fence, just making a bit more space, it seems like. "Here- you can have those, and share them with Jimin?" He proposes, and your lips move into a slight pout as you clearly start to contemplate.

You're so cute- even more so up close. Jungkook hopes that you're someone who needs a bit more time to warm up- that you just have to get used to him, maybe.

"Jiminie!" You call over your shoulder, and moments later, the man in question looks out of the back door, greeting Jungkook with a wave and a smile. "Can I have the strawberries?" You ask, and Jimin nods, walking closer now.

"Sure. Are you sure it's okay for us to have them?" He says, a hand on your head making you instinctively purr- and simultaneously Jungkook blush a little, as he realizes his slight feelings of jealousy at seeing you so at ease with the older human.

"We have more to pick, don't worry! But you can have them! They're really sweet." Jungkook says, noticing from the corner of his eye how Yoongi seems to observe the interaction from behind the window.

"Alright then, Thank you." Jimin smiles brightly, before he looks at you expectantly- but you just take the basket without any words, observing the large berries in the basket. Jimin sighs- before he speaks again. "Oh- Yoongi, hi!" He beams, and at that you look up and at the man being greeted, who looks at you with a gaze that shows an entirely different form of expectation.

It looks more demanding than expecting, and you feel yourself shrink in on yourself a bit, ears tilting backwards.

"Jungkook cares for the plants pretty well. He puts a lot of effort into them." Yoongi says, not taking his eyes off of you- as if he's pressuring you with the info of his dog hybrid's hard work. You know exactly what he wants- but he's not your owner. He's got no control over you. So you simply stay stubborn, glaring at him- making Jungkook watch a bit uncomfortably.

"Ah- it's really fine. I get lazy with them sometimes, it's more like a hobby than anything serious." He tries to lift the mood a little, and Jimin nods, before he looks at you now as well-

"…thanks." You huff under your breath, before you quickly turn around with a red face. "Jiminie can you help me wash them?" You instantly ask, jumping a little as you make your request, and Jimin sighs a little, nodding.

"I'll be right with you." He promises, watching you run inside the home, successfully escaping the situation. "I'm sorry about that.." He mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck.

"She can't wash them herself?" Yoongi asks, facial expression a lot softer now.

"I mean she can- I just tend to do those things for her." Jimin says, while Jungkook walks off to pick the rest of the berries, Jimin looking after him for a moment. "She- ah, she comes from a pretty bad background, I'm just trying to give her what she deserves, you know?" Jimin quietly explains.

"I had a hunch." Yoongi nods, crossing his arms. "But don't you think you're spoiling her quite a bit?" He asks, and the younger man nods.

"I'm aware. But it's hard not to." He laughs. "I've gotten used to it. I don't really know how she'd react to change." He offers, and Yoongi shrugs.

"Well, things are about to change if you want us to get anywhere at any point." Yoongi says. "You know this won't work if she keeps her behavior up." He says, though his voice is gentle.

"I know. But it's hard." Jimin whines almost, looking over his shoulder for a second.

"Well, let me ask you this." Yoongi says. "Do you want this?" He gestures between himself and Jimin, and Jimin nods almost instantly. "Then let me help you."

"How?" He asks, unsure.

"Listen, Jungkook might seem like an angel, but he'd act the same if not worse than her if I was to treat him the same as you do her." The older man laughs. "I can help you with her. I won't take over as an owner, absolutely not- that's your role after all, and it's gonna stay that way." He explains to Jimin.

"Yoongi.." Jimin sighs, crossing his arms now as well, while he thinks for a moment. "Okay." He nods after a while. "I want this to work out- and I know, really, that I need to change how I'm doing things right now." He agrees.

"Alright." The older man smiles. "Then let's make it work. Hopefully she'll get over her hatred towards Jungkookie too." He jokes, though Jimin sighs a bit sadly.

"She really doesn't hate him, you know?" He offers. "She's just- you know, back at her first home, and in the shelter, she was bullied quite a lot. And the.. things that happened to her made her awfully defensive towards everything and everyone around her- and she just tends to lash out whenever she feels scared, or you know, upset. She used to yell a lot of mean things at me too, when she was younger and I had just brought her home with me." He explains, and Yoongi nods, now a lot more sympathetic.

"I see. It makes sense then that you've become so soft with her." He offers in understanding. "But Jimin, she's not the same girl you brought home all those years ago."

"I know." Jimin nods. "But it's hard to forget that." He admits, when suddenly, you squeak out, running out the door. "What happened princess?" He worries, as you look at him with wide open eyes, pupils tiny slits.

"There was a bug in the berries!" you yell, and at that, everyone laughs-

Jimin letting go of a big sigh, before he says goodbye to Yoongi to help you fight the evil insect.

♥━━━━━━━━━━•.♡.•━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

As part of Yoongis plan to make you grow more comfortable with both him and Jungkook, you've all decided to go on a vacation together. A camping trip- something everyone found a great idea, Jungkook all excited since he loves camping- though you had been way more reluctant, considering your fear of bugs and fire, and your distaste for long car rides and anything dirty.

But this time, Jimin had apparently put his foot down- because he'd informed Yoongi not even a day later that it was a great idea, and that him and you would definitely come along. What Jungkook however didn't knew until right now, is that he's gonna share a room with you-

alone.

"But she hates me!" Jungkook complaints, as he stands in the cabin Yoongi is currently unloading the groceries in. "There's no way she'll sleep in the same room as me." He huffs, and Yoongi sighs.

"Well, she has to learn. I already talked to Jimin about it-" He says, putting everything into a box that doesn't have to be stored in the fridge. "-and he agrees that he's spoiled her quite a bit until now. She needs to learn to be a bit more independent." He explains calmly, though he's internally very well aware of your distaste for his dog hybrid. He knows exactly why- but he also respects Jimin's decision to not tell Jungkook anything about your past trauma, claiming that that's something you need to tell, no one else.

And Yoongi agrees with that- but he also feels for Jungkook, who's been really trying to make you warm up to him. He already struggles to find friends due to his intimidating hybrid side and sometimes rather chaotic personality. Seeing you so defensive against him does clearly hurt, no matter ho much Jungkook tries to play it off.

But for once, Yoongi also wants to be a little selfish. He wants to spend time with Jimin, alone time away from you both, just to properly figure out where he truly wants this to go from here on out. It's why he's organized this trip in the first place. To find out if this could truly work out.

And he fears, deep down, that it won't. Because if you and Jungkook don't get along, there's no way Yoongi can ever be happy with Jimin.

A few hours away from the Cabin Yoongi and Jungkook are already setting up, you're pouting next to Jimin in the car, slumped down and with your arms crossed. "Making that face won't make me turn around, princess." Jimin says, voice light- but inside, he's torn. This is going to be tough for you, considering that you're gonna have to stay with Jungkook during the night- and the poor dog hybrid has no idea that you don't actually hate him. You don't hate at all, in fact.

Your defense mechanism when confronted with something you fear however, is to lash out. And that is most of the time taken out of context, making you appear rude and arrogant, when in reality you're just trying not to seem weak or vulnerable.

Because in the past, that would immediately make you the perfect target. Pushed aside and scolded for everything that wasn't ever your fault in your first home, used as a punching bag for other hybrids in the shelter later on, you had to somehow make up a tough façade so you wouldn't end up in those positions ever again. You learned to keep yourself safe by being the one who bites first- and it took Jimin years to truly gain your full trust.

He fears that that's all you can do though. That he's going to forever stay the only person of comfort for you.

And that's an issue. While he himself had been a bit defensive about his treatment of you with Yoongi, he knows that the older man is right. Jimin has been wrapping you in layers of bubble wrap, has spoiled you and nursed your bad habits into what they are today simply because he always saw the scared, shaking hybrid back at the shelter.

But that's not you anymore. You technically have no reason to be scared of anything anymore- but Jimin understands now, after talking numerous times about it with Yoongi, that he's partially at fault for your lack of social skills.

Jungkook had come from a good household- had been raised well, so Yoongi had never really experienced anything like Jimin did with you, but nonetheless, his advice still counts, and is still valid.

You need to learn at some point. You have to realize that there's nothing to fear anymore- and that Jungkook isn't an enemy ready to eat you alive in your sleep.

"Come on, stop pouting now, hm?" He tries, running a hand over your head once at a red light. You just look out the window. "Is Jungkookie that scary?" He asks, and you shake your head.

"He's dumb." You deny, putting your legs up and onto the seat.

"Hey.!" He scolds gently. "Jungkook isn't dumb. He's trying hard, okay? You could be at least civil with him, sugar." He tells you, and you sigh at that, leaning against the door.

"I don't want to." You say defensively, tail angrily flopping around. "You just say that because you wanna be with Yoongi." You huff.

"Partially, I admit that." Jimin nods. "But I also agree with him that you need to be nicer. Jungkookie is really trying to be friends with you, you know?" He sighs.

"I don't care.." You mumble to yourself, angrily looking out the window. You know that Jungkook isn't a threat- but he's still scary to you. He's tall, and a lot of muscle, and he's loud, and energetic, and just.. scary. Intimidating. Potentially dangerous. And that potential alone is enough to make you feel threatened.

Jungkook and Yoongi are currently ruining your perfect life you had with Jimin. So you've got enough reason to be absolutely pissed.

And so you refuse to exit the car in front of the cabin- rather taking a nap inside, until Jimin breaks through Yoongi's advice to just 'let you have your tantrum', unable to right away just let you be. It's unsurprising to the older human- so he doesn't really take it personally, letting him go out and talk to you so you finally come inside.

"Maybe she should sleep with Jimin tonight." Jungkook says, having rather reluctantly brought your luggage into your shared room with him.

"No, she's staying with you tonight, and that's final." Yoongi shakes his head, coincidentally saying exactly that when Jimin walks inside the cabin with you holding his hand. It earns him an angry glare from you, before you let go of Jimin to instead dash past Yoongi and Jungkook and into the room, door slamming shut. Jimin sighs.

"I'm really sorry about her." He shakes his head, sitting down and running a hand over his face. "Ah, this is so uncomfortable!" He laughs a bit, trying to lift the mood, as Yoongi sits down next to him, running a hand over his back.

"It's fine." He simply says, before he nods towards Jungkook, who reluctantly walks away after saying goodnight, opening the door to the dark room.

He gets ready for bed, but he notices that when he returns to the room after brushing his teeth and washing his face, you're still under the blanket in your day clothes, not having moved at all. Assuming that you're in one of your tantrums again, he quietly turns off the lights, and gets into his own bed across from yours, closing his eyes-

when he hears it.

Quiet sniffles, scent of distress coming from you filling the room. It makes him sit up again, eyes having adapted to the dark by now, a little light bleeding in from under the door as well. "You okay.?" He carefully and quietly asks, but you don't answer, instead simply curling up a little tighter. "You.. your bag is next to your bed-"

"Leave me alone!" You hiss, sitting up now and glaring at him with glossy eyes and a runny nose, tail angrily slapping around behind you. "This is your fault! Yours and Yoongis!" You snarl at him, and he's taken aback.

"What did I do?" He asks, unsure, and you scoff.

"You're taking Jimin away from me!" You say, new wave of fresh tears rolling down your cheeks. "He's gonna see how fucking perfect and nice you are instead of me, and then he's gonna bring me back to the shelter so he can be all happily-ever-after with you and Yoongi! Hope you'll be happy then.!" You growl, before you turn around and throw yourself down again, pulling the blanket over you before you quietly continue to cry.

Only now does Jungkook realize that Yoongi was right- you don't hate him. And you're not scared of him either-

you're scared of being left alone.

[professional-rat-eater]

Let’s just be super clear. If you ship Daniel and Armand and you genuinely believe it wasn’t a horribly abusive relationship, then you are reading their relationship wrong and you also believe there are circumstances where relationships between kidnapper/abuser and kidnapped/abused can work. Saying it’s just fiction doesn’t make sense because it still doesn’t exist there.

It’s not about the law, or what was common at the time. The relationship is believable. That definitely happened back in the 1970s. It’s not about whether it could have happened, because those relationships still happen in some places. But just because we don't want to use the medical term for the severe damage being done to Daniel’s mind, does not mean it didn’t happen.

There is no context that you could give that would make a relationship between a regular human (a deeply traumatised one) and a grown powerful abuser healthy. It does not exist, even in fiction. Daniel was an actual human and that isn’t how humans work.

Just call it what it is. If that’s gonna be your thing, be honest about what it actually is. If Daniel himself can acknowledge it, then you should be able to as well. It’s impossible to actually discuss these characters if people are just going to lie and purposely misinterpret them. Daniel’s trauma is literally the entire Devil's Minion thing and Armand is all that there's to it. If Armand isn’t an abusive creep, he is simply not Armand.

LMAO! So for anyone seeing this that didn’t see the post that provoked it, this is word-for-word a post I made about Marius and Armand’s relationship but with the names swapped out for Daniel and Armand.

Hey anon, these are not equivalent and I think you know that. Yes, I’m sure there more people like Daniel who were stalked around the globe by ancient vampires in the 1970s. Maybe there’s enough for them to start a support group for each other. And yes, you’re so right that this is exactly the same as real children who are groomed by real adults in the real world. What a fair and reasonable comparison to make that isn’t at all reductive to both DM and the character you’re trying to defend.

I know you probably think this is the call out post of the century but you’ve neglected to consider a pretty significant detail:

Virtually every Devil’s Minion shipper knows they’re toxic, much like Marius fans who understand him can admit to what he is. I know DM are toxic. If I knew Daniel irl, I would be telling him to get the fuck out of there. We all know Armand is evil and manipulative. It’s literally why we like him. I saw how pathetic and fucked up he was and was immediately enchanted by him. You see the difference between that and the specific Marius fans I talk about? We acknowledge exactly what Armand is and enjoy his character for it. We don’t pretend he isn’t a manipulative murderer. That’s (part of) why we like him. Of course that’s not to say there aren’t those who mischaracterise him too, but you responded to me so I can only speak for myself and what I see my mutuals posting about. I love Armand for what he is. All the good parts, all the bad parts, and that is literally all my Marius post was about. Holy shit. It was the singular point I was actually making. You were so close to getting it. I couldn’t give a fuck who your favourite character is, but quit pretending he’s not everything he is because you’re not a fan of him then. You’re a fan of a fanfic version of him.

I think I’ve probably posted at least a dozen times by now about Armand’s trauma shaping him into a monster, but you used DM so let’s go with that. You what’s particularly interesting about them? The many examples of Armand recreating behaviour Marius subjected him to with Daniel. The love bombing, lavishing him with gifts, being incredibly hot and cold with him emotionally, withholding vampirism from him and eventually turning him when he was dying. They’re a deliberate parallel!! Hello!? Terrible example to use!! It’s almost like traumatised people can in certain cases go on to recreate their trauma to try and make sense of it. You can also see this in Armand’s treatment of Claudia. They could’ve bonded over neglect by their makers and being turned young, but Armand decided to take out his trauma on her instead. I love how fucked up he is. Pretty much every Armand fan who gets him is the same. All DM’s existence proves is that Marius actually did deeply damage Armand’s ability to accept love and how he formed relationships, because he’s a fucking predator in multiple senses of the word. Whataboutism literally doesn’t change a thing. Armand could’ve gone after someone underage too and it still wouldn’t change anything about Marius. If anything, it would’ve reinforced it.

But notice how you were forced to acknowledge that Daniel was in fact a grown adult at the time? If he hadn’t been, the ship wouldn’t be nearly as popular.

Most. People. Don’t. Like. Pedophiles. You can’t be this much of a fan of one and be sensitive about it. I’m sorry to be harsh but it’s literally just the truth. Armand fans get enough shit from people who hate him, and it is only going to be worse if you like Marius. I’m not suggesting that’s okay or that I would dream of contributing to it, but it is going to happen more and more after s3 of the show airs. Prepare for that in whatever way is best for you.

You couldn’t even have your username attached to this. If you’re gonna go so hard to defend your favourite pedo, at least have some conviction about it. No one cares who your favourite character is. Well, I’m sure some people do but those people are weirdos and you should learn to ignore them. Love him as much as you want. I’m actually looking forward to seeing him in season 3, even if he is an utter bastard. Just either quit the mischaracterisation or suck it up and get on board with the fact that even in a fictional setting, and even in gothic horror, people do not vibe with pedophiles and they never will.

[zeravmeta]

i think its pretty funny that kadoc throughout traum is like "huh... maybe the reason all these enemy servants are going crazy and rebelling is because they're being influenced by their master since servants can ascribe those traits... it would certainly explain YOU and why all your servants are so weird guda" because he is so obviously coping with the fact that. no actually as a matter of fact servants are still people in and of themselves and it's guda specifically NOT being a mage or treating them as mere familiars that makes them so ride or die. even though kadoc does see servants as people more than simple familiars he still clearly thinks like a mage even if he isn't the same type of merciless monster that the average nasuverse mage is so as much as gordy finally has the chance to whine to someone about how uneducated as a mage guda is, i don't doubt that both of them 100% prefer guda being themselves instead of working as a mage

[mywritesaremylove]

Shock to the System

Mark Sloan x Female Trauma Surgeon (OC) Post Season 5 of Grey's Anatomy

Mark Sloan wasn’t a believer in fate. He was a believer in lucky timing, a killer smile, and the power of a great suit.

And today? Today was definitely lucky.

The woman at the coffee cart was alone, tapping a manicured finger on her phone while waiting on what looked like the most unnecessarily complicated order he’d ever heard. Cinnamon? Oat milk? A caramel drizzle?

He grinned.

She had long blonde hair tucked half-heartedly into a claw clip, a soft, oversized sweater hanging off one shoulder, and legs for days beneath fitted slacks. She looked like a lifestyle blogger wandered onto the Seattle Grace campus by accident.

Definitely not a surgeon.

Which meant she was fair game.

Mark stepped up beside her, turning on the charm. “You know, if your coffee takes longer than an appendectomy to make, that’s how you know it’s not really coffee.”

She didn’t even look up. “Or maybe it’s just how you know it’ll be good.”

His grin widened.

“I’m Mark.”

That got her attention. She lifted her head and pinned him with wide blue eyes that sparkled like mischief and caffeine. “Oh,” she said sweetly. “One of those.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Those?”

“You know.” She waved her hand lazily. “The ‘I’m Mark’ types. Strong jaw, smug smile, charming in a you-know-you-are way. Probably a doctor. Plastic surgeon? Definitely not pediatrics.”

Mark actually laughed. “Wow. That was… a disturbingly accurate personality autopsy.”

“I watch a lot of Dateline,” she replied breezily, accepting her drink with a smile. “Thanks for the diagnosis, Dr. Mark. Enjoy your lukewarm, personality-free drip coffee.”

She walked off without a second glance, sipping like she won the war.

Mark stood there, stunned into something dangerously close to impressed.

When he walked into the attendings' lounge forty minutes later, Mark was still thinking about her. Her voice. Her sass. Her mouth. What that mouth would look like saying his name—under very different circumstances.

Then Owen Hunt came in behind him and said, “Dr. Sloan, this is Dr. Cameron Blake, our new trauma attending.”

Mark turned.

There she was.

The coffee cart woman.

In scrubs. Hair pulled back properly. Badge clipped to her top. Looking tiny next to Hunt, but standing with the confidence of someone who’d held a heart in her hands and told death to wait its turn.

Mark blinked. “You’re Dr. Blake?”

She smiled slowly, like she knew exactly what was happening in his head.

“I am. And you must be Dr. Mark.”

Owen looked between them. “You two know each other?”

Cameron—Dr. Blake—sipped her coffee with that same smug satisfaction. “Briefly. He made fun of my order. I destroyed his ego. It was very bonding.”

Mark opened his mouth, but Hunt clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Play nice. She’s got trauma experience from Mercy West, Hopkins, and two years with Doctors Without Borders.”

Then he left them alone, because Owen had the social skills of a brick.

Mark turned to her, arms crossed. “You could’ve told me you were a surgeon.”

“You could’ve not assumed I wasn’t.”

“Touche.”

He leaned against the counter, studying her. She was shorter than he’d realized, but she carried herself like someone who didn’t need height to be commanding. She had this deceptive sweetness to her face—big eyes, soft voice, a smile that made people underestimate her right before she metaphorically (or literally) elbowed them in the ribs.

It was a thing. And now it was his thing.

“So, trauma?” he asked.

“Yep. Bleeding, guts, adrenaline. All the good stuff.”

“I usually try to put people back together without the guts.”

“Let me guess—boobs and butts?”

“Faces too,” he said, mock-offended. “I’m an artist, not a perv.”

She laughed, and it was a real laugh. Not polite. Not condescending. Just surprised and warm.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Dr. Sloan.”

Over the next week, Mark tried to get her out of his head—and failed spectacularly.

She was everywhere. In the pit, calling trauma codes with blood on her gloves and fire in her voice. In the attendings’ lounge, stealing the last clean mug and grinning at him like it was a game. In the OR board, somehow already on everyone’s radar for being good.

Bailey liked her. Hunt respected her. Callie said, “She’s a chaos gremlin and I adore her.”

Meredith, of course, said, “She’s like if Izzie had Cristina’s backbone.”

And that was the thing—she was soft and sharp, pretty and ruthless, warm and smart enough to see through every line Mark tried.

She didn’t avoid him. But she didn’t fall for his usual flirt-and-flatter routine either.

And that just made him want her more.

It finally came to a head on a Thursday.

They were in an elevator, post-trauma, both covered in blood. He had a tear in his scrub top. She had a smear across her cheek she hadn’t noticed.

Mark looked over at her and said, “You’ve got something…”

She turned her cheek toward him automatically.

Instead of wiping it with a sleeve, he used his thumb, brushing the streak gently. Too gently. It lingered a second longer than it needed to.

Cameron blinked.

“…Thanks,” she said.

He didn’t move back.

“You’re dangerous, Dr. Blake.”

“I’ve heard.”

“You pretend to be all sunshine and cinnamon. But you’ve got knives in your smile.”

“And yet you keep showing up.”

“Maybe I like the danger.”

The elevator doors opened. She didn’t move.

Then she leaned closer, just an inch. Close enough that he could smell her—coffee, shampoo, and adrenaline.

“I’m not interested in being another name in your phone, Mark.”

“What if I said I want to learn your coffee order instead?”

She stepped out of the elevator, walking backward.

“Then I’d say I hope you like cinnamon oat milk with a caramel drizzle.”

She winked.

Mark stood there in the elevator, watching the doors close between them with the slow grin of a man who’d just found his favorite challenge.

[curse-of-lauzarus]

Just for fun: Kannst du uns ein paar witzige crack pairs unter den OC geben und/oder sie in Teams/Grüppchen einteilen, wenn sie gemeinsame Eigenschafen/Hobbies haben wie z.B. "No sleep trio" oder "Forever single duo" etc? :') thx♡

Ohhh this sounds like fun 🤭✨

Grüppchen:

# The great bake off: Tyler, Vlad, Gus, Bell, Linnea

# „what do you mean there is no more coffee🤬/😭“: Atlas, Vlad, Irene, Theo

# bruises crewses: Atlas, Linnea, Gus

# Smokster 2000: Atlas, Vlad, Irene, Tay

# Lovingly hubbys: Theo, Bell

# Garden hoes: Oz, Bell, Vlad, Linnea, Gus

# GoVegan/Vegetarian: Lucy, Atlas, Oz, Arden, Gus

# Dead Girlfriend/Boyfriend society: Vlad, Irene

# Resting Bitch Faces: Vlad, Atlas, Kiiya, Gus, Tay, Theo

#Old Ladys Hobby lovers: Linnea, Vlad, Irene, Tay, Gus

Crack-Ships:

I give you one better 😂 eventuell fand ich die Idee ganz witzig einfach alle Charactere, welche sei dem Pairing „Yes“ angegeben haben auf einen Zettel zu schreiben und dann einfach dem Schicksal diese Aufgabe fürs Auge gedrückt 😂 und weil ich das ganze noch einen drauf setzten sollte (und es eine ungerade Zahl an Charakteren war kommt der kleine Traum noch mit rein 😂)

so here we go:

Linnea x Kiiya: ich geb den beiden 2 Stunden und Kiiya ist über alle Berge geflitzt während Linnea mit gebrochenem Herzen im Camp zurückbleibt. Auch wenn sie durchaus Dinge hätten, die sie verbinden würde, würde es auch auch sehr gravierende Dinge in ihren Persönlichkeiten geben, die dafür Sorgen würde dass das ganz schnell den Bach runter gehen würde 🥲

Oz x Lucy: joa joa vielleicht auf den ersten Blick ein sehr ungewöhnliches Pairing aber man könnte daraus sicherlich etwas interessantes draus machen 👀 die beiden sind zwar recht verschieden aber mehr so dass sie sich ergänzen könnten als dass sie sich an die Gurgel gehen würden.

Little Dream x Arden: oh boy… ehm ja… ich sehe einen Fehler mit der Idee den kleinen Traum mit rein zu nehmen aber …. Mmm auf den zweiten Blick maybe… nicht so schlimm wie man vielleicht danken mag? Idk ich kann leider nicht mehr sagen ohne zu Spoilern 😂

Tay x Vlad: Das ganze könnte wahrscheinlich am Anfang noch was werden mit den beiden aber je länger die beiden ein Paar wären desto mehr und mehr Probleme würden sich auftuen, welche ihre Beziehung strapazieren würde bis es auseinander brechen würde.

Irene x Atlas: another oh Boy 😂 ich glaube Irene würde Atlas mit ihrer Art konstant auf die Nerven gehen und jede Sekunde davon genießen während dieser sich fragt ob er es wohl bringen könnte Irene von der Treppe zu schubsen. A good old hate love would this be…

Tyler x Gus: das wohl einzige Pairing hier welches nicht von Anfang an zum Scheitern verurteilt wäre. Die beiden könnten sogar richtig harmonisch und cute werden 🥰

[suns-out-sleeps-in]

Listen I like Traum(a) actually for all it's flaws and frustrating battles but why was Mandricardo not included? He's part of the paladins story and it would have been great to see Besto Friendo's dynamic with everyone as our buddy.

Mandri being cautious and protective of Ritsuka while Kadoc is around

Mandri comparing his ruling style to Vlad, Konstantinos, and Charlemagne + being an adventurer like Don Quixote which brings out ALL of his insecurities which could lead to a heartwarming moment of comforting him like Atlantis!Mandricardo did for us so they parallel each other (I'm insane I know shut up)

Someone BESIDES Mash actually being worried about us getting kidnapped like to the point of trying to run off and 'storm the castle' as it were.

I know it's brought up but Astolfo and Roland actually seeing for themselves just how different Mandri acts with us. Seeing the meeker, softer Mandricardo than the little terror that they knew and teasing him about his feelings for us making him a better person than he used to be. Very 'old friends telling embarrassing stories to their friends' crush' kinda vibes (delulu I know but let me have my Mandri/Ritsuka moment)

Mandri and Bradamante angst PLZ that would have been so good.

OMG Mandri and Roland Angst! Especially after Roland sacrifices himself and maybe Mandri is given Durendal as a result of the sacrifice? Like Roland magically gifts Mandri Durendal like Hektor did in Atlantis?! And maybe Mandri is all confused like "why do I feel like something was lost to get this?" And UGH NO I WANNA CRY 😭 THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN WAY TOO MUCH

To bring things back up we could have a sweet moment when Vlad stuns himself and telling Mandri to look after '(Y)our Master' before collapsing. I can't tell if it would be sweeter to include himself in 'our' because Ritsuka is still his Master and considers Ritsuka closer to his child than his leader or if he emphasizes the 'your' because he doesn't know if he'll survive Kazliki Bey on his own body so he focuses on Mandri because he KNOWS Mandri will do whatever it takes to keep Ritsuka safe no matter what so that could give Mandri some extra worry and responsibility because of their promise to each other, man to man, pseudo father to pseudo son in law. (Yes I KNOW I'm delulu shush)

Mandri and Charlie having a moment post reveal of knowing they would do anything to help Ritsuka as Ultimate Friend Energy

Extra EXTRA delusional but maybe Mandri being with us when we face Kreimhild and seeing Siegfried have his romantic moment with her and we get Kadoc's disgust with Mandri's VEHEMENT embarrassment because he knows himself well enough that he would do the exact same thing if it was him and Ritsuka and just *dies* thinking of him and Ritsuka being married. (God I feel like @mako-neexu with how insane he makes me feel and that's coming from an edguda shipper but mandriguda is like my 2nd fave)

WAIT NO I'M SO INSANE ABOUT THIS but as Siegfried is rizzing up Kreimhild and explains to Kadoc and Mandri that Ritsuka knew if Kreimhild didn't immediately die Siegfried would fight with her against them, Mandri questions Ritsuka about it and a dialogue option could be 'wouldn't you do the same for the one you loved?' which insta-kills Mandri's sanity because he imagines Ritsuka(either F or M) in wedding attire (new mystic code maybe? hahaha jk not really) ((Habetrot Bride Senses LOCKED IN)) which spirals into domestic married life with Ritsuka until he finally gets triple-killed at the idea of Ritsuka saying 'i love you'.

It would be infinitely funnier if in the ensuing battle if you choose Mandri as a support or use your own that he has a 1 turn stun debuff of Charm until he kicks into gear in the 2nd turn and gets an unremovable strength buff for the rest of the fight. He could even have a little battle banner thing that basically says "Sorry Master! I got distracted! I'm good to go now!" before he dispels the charm stun and gains the strength buff for even more delusional hilarity.

The whole thing with Holmes and Moriarty at the end and maybe seeing Angry Mandri? Like he knows how much Holmes means to Ritsuka and Mash and once Holmes falls he turns to Moriarty and just full on rages at him. Oh I'd cry but it'd be so cathartic and good.

Also I know Moriarty is basically dying at the point but having someone besides Mash as a servant when we are at the bunker and basically just silently (or not 🤭) seething at Moriarty. Like literally a 'one wrong move and I kill you' kinda Angry Mandri idk if that's too ooc but God I would kill for that.

Funny thing is I started writing this as a confession to @grandorderconfessions before realizing I had too many thoughts about it so it's become it's own post. Like I said at the beginning I still enjoyed Traum for what it is but it did confuse me why it was focused on the paladins but Mandricardo was only briefly mentioned by Roland and Astolfo during the gala scene.

Just one girl's bonkers delusions of potential romance between the last hope for humanity and a sopping wet cat of a servant (affectionate).

[randomlywanderingmoth]

Part of the problem with Fate Grand Order is the core gameplay is fundamentally flawed, and it's very difficult to restore "a fun game" around a flawed core.

Quick and Buster and Arts were all interesting notions, and could have mapped into action gameplay (if we were to merge FGO's ideas with FSR's gameplay I would equate them to fast attacks, heavy attacks, and weaker attacks meant to charge your special bar, but I digress).

As it is, though, it just makes for unpleasant feelings in gameplay, demanding optimizations (I would point out that in the international release we only recently got the ability to combo all three together, and made Quick chains strong enough to consider independently). Those optimizations rise up around every aspect of the game; only a select few Servants have the ability to AoE without accessing their Noble Phantasm, and they haven't even made it to international. There's a wide range of Craft Essences, but only a few that ever matter. Creativity in builds is tamped down around increasingly narrowed build notions as the devs design with over-optimized teams in mind.

The end result is a game that, optimally, advises you to use your super rare fully powered optimized support, your friends' identically super rare fully powered optimized support, and a high power damage Servant, and repeatedly fire the damage dealer's Noble Phantasm to either clear waves or kill bosses.

Speaking of which, from a lore perspective, this is also completely messed up. By the lore of the Nasuverse, a Noble Phantasm is a Servant's super secret ultimate move, only meant for the final hour. This is fully incongruous with the gameplay, where you typically throw the same world-ending mythology-defining techniques three times in a row and call it a day. (Entertainingly, in the International release, we've also made it to Traum, where we see faceless Servants fire their Noble Phantasms like simple artillery, but that's its own commentary.)

Like, it's so effortless to imagine better systems than this! Servants deployed on a chessboard-like map, heralding back to the themes of Fate Apocrypha; suddenly we don't need anything as mechanically obtuse as Class Advantages when we could organically differentiate each Class by how they navigate the board or how they fight each other (Riders can leap over enemies like knight pieces in chess; Archers can attack at range without moving; Lancers do really well on Attack but have poor Defense; and Berserkers can be the units of terror that lore implies!)

Alternatively, the Grail Battlefronts we've already seen- rework the entire game to operate more organically like that; maybe Servants can use skills without entering combat, but it exhausts their actions. Then different forms of gameplay can exist beyond just "mulch the enemy"; like "defend this location" or "collect these resources" or "defeat This Particular Foe".

Or, even if we had to work with just the system we have! Change THAT! Rather than select three cards from a set of five, have it go down the list; each Servant gets One Action to either pick from "Quick, Buster, Arts, Use A Skill".

As for Servant Customization, walk it all the way back, all the way back up to the Attack/HP boosting. Make it so that players can individually optimize Servant performance in different ways- this Servant has better output in Arts, that Servant has higher Crit Star generation. And for folks who'd already spent their Fous, you could just say "right, so anybody with Fous spent can now allocate those points into these new Stats! No harm done!"

Of course, in order to do this, they would likely need to construct a whole new framework for their game, whilst preserving the progress people have made until now.

Then again, they are presently building castles in the sand during the rising tide with one hand and bandaging bullet wounds with the other, so maybe a long shot like that is what they need.

[ofstarsandvibranium]

To Have & To Hold: Part 3

Fandom: Marvel - Moon Knight (Mafia AU)

Pairing: Marc Spector x F!Reader, Steven Grant x F!Reader, Jake Lockley x F!Reader

Summary: To ensure you’re always safe even after his passing, your father, a mob boss, makes you marry his right hand, Marc Spector. You don’t necessarily hate Marc, but you don’t get along either. Therefore, this marriage of convenience may be a bit difficult for you.

Warning: explanation of DID -> mentions/implications of trauma

Series Masterlist

"Well that went well." Marc mumbles to himself as he drives back to his own apartment.

"Seems like she hates us," an English accent fills his head.

"She doesn't. She's just frustrated at this whole thing."

The accented voice scoffs, "Well yeah. Imagine hearing that not only your dad is dying but he's making you marry his right hand man who's a cold blooded killer."

Marc tightens his grip on the steering wheel, "I do what I have to so we can survive. You working at the museum was getting us nowhere."

"But we were living a normal life!"

"Look at us, Steven. Look at how far we've come! That's because of me!" He's huffing as he continues the drive home. He knows the things that he's doing isn't right, but he's only trying to keep them above water. Him and his system have struggled for too long. He knows Steven tried, but it wasn't enough.

The only person who knew about his condition was your father. Marc was fronting, beating down on some guy who owed your father money. He said something that triggered Marc, that truly hit him. Not physically, but emotionally. Mentally. He tried his best to not to let it get to him, but he couldn't. He was reminded of what happened to him...them. He was reminded of her. He couldn't shake it. He retreated and Steven fronted.

Your father and the rest of his men were confused as to why Marc was suddenly speaking in an English accent and seemed a bit distressed.

"The hell?" your father gestures for two men to take Marc's place and your father pulls Marc aside, "The fuck is wrong with you, Spector?"

"O-Oh, um, right, well. It seems Marc has, uh, hidden away."

"Hidden away? But you're right here." your father looked at him confused.

"No, no. Um, bollocks, how do I say this? Uh, we have DID, dissociative identity disorder. It seems Marc was distressed about something that poor fellow," he gestures over his shoulder to the guy getting beaten to a pulp, "had said. Shook him up, which means I come forward to protect Marc in a way. It happened due to traum-anyway," Steven shakes his head, "For the time being, Marc is out of commission and you have me."

Your father looked at him in shock, "How the hell have you managed to hide this from me? You've been working for me for years now."

"We're pretty good at managing it, but that bloke really hit a nerve."

Your father snorted, "Well, can you finish this job or..?"

"Oh no. Me, I'm a pacifist. Marc does all the," Steven lightly punched the air.

Your father pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fan-fucking-tastic." he let out a deep sigh, "Go back to the estate and wait for me there."

"Right. Sorry 'bout all this." Steven gave

He promptly got in a car and made his way back to the estate.

____________________________

Your father had requested your presence the next day. After a meeting with his lawyer, he gestured you in. Now you two are sitting on his couch, sipping a Jack and Coke.

"So how'd dinner go?" he asks you with a smirk.

You cock a brow at him, "Marc didn't tell you anything?"

He shrugs, "Just said that it went well."

You couldn't help but chuckle, "I wouldn't put it that way."

"Sunshine, did you give him a hard time?" he looks at you with a warning tone.

"No. Yes. Maybe?" You turn your body more towards him, "Dad, I was and still am a little upset about this whole thing! I don't get a choice here!"

He waves you off, "Honestly, more of a formality. It's not like I'm asking you two be in love and have kids. I just want to make sure you're both alright once I pass."

You scoff, "Marc doesn't need help, dad. He doesn't need anyone to care for him."

"Well it's nice to have a companion to support you when you're having a rough time," he sets his glass down on a nearby table, "Sunny, listen," he takes one of your hands in his, "I know you're a big girl, but I'm just worried something might happen once I'm gone. Whether it's another gang or just normal life struggles, the only person I can trust that will look after you is Marc. You don't have to love him. You two can have your own companions if that's what you want. But you two marrying each other ensures that you'll be okay."

Sure. Fine. Okay. You get it. Your dad loves you and cares about your safety, but-" But what if we divorce after you...you know?"

He pats your hand, "I have some things in place for that."

"Which are...?" you try to push him to explain but he shakes his head, "That won't be revealed until I'm dead."

You look at him deadpan, "You can't be serious."

He smirks at you, "Sunshine, I didn't get here by not taking things seriously. You know that." he stands and bends over to press a kiss to your head, "Marc will be arriving soon to take you to your charity meeting."

You look at him confused, "Why?"

"So you can get to know each other more," he waves at you, "Love you and enjoy the rest of your day."

You down the rest of your drink and stand from the couch, "Thanks. Love you too," you murmur as you collect your things and exit your dad's office.

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #345: Kriemhild

today on grailfinders, we’re getting close to the end of our traum(a), but before that, we need to get revenge! on what, you ask? doesn’t matter, I’m sure we’ll think of something in the planning phase. to help out, we’re gonna be making a build of Kriemhild, Siegfried’s wife and avenger. (a “kriembuild”, if you will)

Kriemhild is a Mastermind (mistressmind?) Rogue to be a cunning little cutthroat, as well as a Hexblade Warlock to steal her husband’s gold and sword and start lopping heads. whether the gold or sword is the hexblade in this situation doesn’t matter that much, either way it’s a magical lump of metal giving you power.

...are nuclear power plants hexblades? I’m getting off topic.

check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet here!

next up: waka waka waka waka

Ancestry and Background

once again, Kriemhild is Human, and with the variant rules that gives you +1 Intelligence & Charisma, as well as proficiency in Arcana (or maybe Nature? idk what skill would help you figure out your husband’s weak points), and the Lucky feat to forcibly re-roll a d20 that directly involves you up to three times a day. Kriemhild’s a schemer, and just like I said in the wodime build, sometimes you get to actually plan, some times you just have to pretend you meant for stuff to happen after the fact.

you’re a Noble of course, but we’re mixing it up and giving you proficiency in History and Intimidation. I hope I don’t need to explain that Kriemhild is scary. don’t cut her in line, trust me

Ability Scores

on that note, it’s no surprise Kriemhild’s Charisma is as high as it is- she’s scary, sure, but she’s also plenty devious and tricksy too. after that is her Dexterity. she wears like, zero armor for most of her ascensions, so good luck not getting hit. third is Intelligence for better scheming, and we’ll at least keep your Constitution positive so you can survive the occasional hit. just don’t go pissing off any gentleman inspectors. this does mean your Strength is a bit low, but it turns out that’s optional for wielding a greatsword, who knew? just drag it around til you need to murder people. of course, this all means we’re dumping your Wisdom score. berserkers, am I right?

Class Levels

1. Rogue 1: starting as a rogue gives you a lot of proficiencies, like Insight, Deception, Persuasion, and Sleight of Hand. you plan around people, and I don’t even know what proof “that Siegfried, and not Gunther, has taken Brunhild's virginity” (to quote wikipedia) would even look like, but you probably forged that. also, Dexterity and Intelligence saves, which is nice. you like fire, it would never hurt you.

if that’s not enough proficiency, you also get Expertise in two skills, doubling your bonus for Deception and Intimidation! you can also add a Sneak Attack to your damage while wielding a finesse or ranged weapon, though you also need either an ally standing next to your target or advantage to hit. it’s a bit situational, but an extra d6 is an extra d6.

also, you know Thieves’ Cant! it’s a language!

2. Rogue 2: second level rogues can make Cunning Actions- or, cunning bonus actions, anyway. you can dash, disengage, or hide as a bonus action, leaving your usual action open for anything you want, like murder! or planning murder!

3. Rogue 3: third level Mastermind rogues get a lot of stuff, including the full-class feature Steady Aim. if you don’t move before or after attacking on your turn, you can spend your bonus action for free advantage! just drag that big ol’ sword around and everything will work out eventually

but all that’s for later. for now, you’re a mastermind, which means you’re a Master of Intrigue- you’re proficient with even more stuff- the disguise kit, the forgery kit, one gaming set, and an extra two languages! you can also copy accents you’ve heard before.

also your sneak attack grows to 2d6. I’m probably going to forget to mention this every time, so just know you add another die every odd level.

if you’re eager to get to fightin’ you’re also a Master of Tactics, letting you use the Help action as a bonus action and at range! so I guess you’re not fighting with this, but every bit helps.

4. Rogue 4: use your first ASI to bump up your Dexterity. this’ll help you not get hit, and also use something small like a dagger. don’t worry, the sword is coming I promise. presumably your husband’s still alive at level 4.

5. Rogue 5: fifth level rogues get an Uncanny Dodge- if you get hit by an attack, you can react to turn a direct hit into a graze, only taking half the damage in the process. don’t die, basically.

6. Rogue 6: at sixth level you get a second round of Expertise, doubling down on Sleight of Hand and Arcana. forge gooder and remember how your husband can be killed. I’m sure that will never bite you in the ass.

7. Rogue 7: seventh level rogues get Evasion, so now your failed dexterity saves protect you as if they were successes, and your successes negate all damage!

8. Rogue 8: use your next ASI to bump up your Dexterity once again. not dying is a great strategy, keep it up.

9. Rogue 9: ninth level masterminds are Insightful Manipulators- if you spend a minute with someone out of combat, you can learn how their soft stats (intelligence, wisdom, charisma) or levels compare to yours, or you can even learn bits of their backstory or personality!

10. Rogue 10: tenth level rogues get another ASI, so start working on your Charisma. scheme better, and uhhh, this’ll help later too. that’s for later though.

11. Rogue 11: eleventh level rogues are a Reliable Talent, so now every time you roll a skill check you’re proficient in your roll will always be count as at least a 10. that means every deception check you have to make will always count as at least a 22 in total.

12. Rogue 12: did I say 22? let’s make it 23 by bumping your Charisma up to maximum with this ASI.

13. Rogue 13: thirteenth level masterminds can put a taunt on another party member with Misdirection- if you would take an attack while another creature is standing next to you, you can react to force said creature to take the hit instead. every good plan needs a scapegoat.

14. Rogue 14: at level 14 your Blindsense lets you detect invisible creatures within 10’ of you. I guess you could consider this the dragon sword helping out? it’s a little early, but at least it’s harder to get the drop on you now.

15. Rogue 15: with our last level of rogue, your Slippery Mind gives you proficiency with Wisdom saves. I wish it wasn’t so, but we don’t need any more warlock spells, and your levels have to go somewhere. what a shame.

on the plus side, your husband’s dead now.

16. Warlock 1: so, sorry about your husband, but on the plus side you inherited his Hexblade, so you get some Pact Magic out the gate! you only get a handful of spell slots, but whenever you cast something using your Charisma you can recharge the slot on a short rest!

speaking of spells, Eldritch Blast is a generic ranged option, Sword Burst lets you spin around and hit everyone, Wrathful Smite lets you add a little damage to your attack and frighten creatures who get hit by it (surprisingly effective against dragons btw), and Distort Value will make people care a lot more about some worthless rocks than they really should. yeah I’m giving you the rheingold too, it’s in your bond CE so it counts.

you’re also a Hex Warrior, so you can use your charisma instead of strength or dexterity to attack with a weapon chosen after each long rest. this doesn’t work with Siegfried’s sword yet, but we’ll get there.

for the time being, at least you can use Hexblade’s Curse on your next target, giving you bonus damage, an improved critical hit rate, and you regain health upon your target’s death, all for up to a minute, once per short rest.

17. Warlock 2: second level warlocks get two Eldritch Invocations, though we’re really only using one this level- the other is getting swapped out in a level anyway. Armor of Shadows gives you free mage armor on yourself for what is basically a permanent +3 bonus to AC while unarmored. ironically, your third ascension actually has armor, so this spell’s a bit late.

you also learn the spell Illusory Script, letting you write one thing but have it look like something else. I don’t think should really be part of Kriemhild’s kit, but it certainly fits the theme, doesn’t it?

18. Warlock 3: now that you’ve entered into the Pact of the Blade with an Improved Pact Weapon, you can summon just about any weapon you wish as an action and use charisma to wield it expertly. that being said, you can also turn a magical weapon like Balmung into your pact weapon.

of course, no matter what ability you use to swing it, a great sword will never be able to use your sneak attack, which is why you can also summon a Shadow Blade now. it’s a light weapon that deals psychic damage when it connects, but more importantly it has the finesse property. you can also summon it to your hand as a bonus action, and it lasts for up to 1 minute.

19. Warlock 4: now that your AC is decent enough and your Charisma is maxed out, use your last ASI to improve your Constitution for more health. you can also cast True Strike now, which is steady aim but worse, or use Crown of Madness to sow the seeds of war. if your target fails their wisdom save, you can force it to attack a creature of your choice, causing chaos and wasting its action. you also have to waste your action to keep the spell going, but rogues have tons of stuff they can do as a bonus action, so it kind of evens out.

20. Warlock 5: for our last spell, you can invoke the rheingold to Incite Greed, charming nearby creatures into congregating around you for up to a minute. they also have to repeatedly fail wisdom saves, but I’m sure it’s fine.

if that doesn’t work, you can always take the direct approach and use Eldritch Smite, burning a spell slot to add 4d8 force damage to your hit and forcing a save or knocking the target prone. this is actually a really nice way to knock a dragon out of the sky if you’re okay bending the rules to grab a bow, so I think our anti-dragon damage condition has been met by this point.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

with easy access to advantage and improved critical chances from your hexblade’s curse, Kriemhild is really good at dishing out critical hits, and thanks to sneak attack and smites, you can really capitalize on those to deal a ton of damage quickly.

you’re also great at sowing discontent in enemy forces, falsifying written orders and forcing them to attack each other with spells and misdirection.

on top of that, you make for a great party face thanks to your maxed out charisma, complete lack of critical failure on charisma checks, and expertise. you’re great at weaseling your way into a situation, then hacking your way back out.

Cons:

balmung is a greatsword, or at the very least a longsword. regardless, that fact seriously neuters the cohesion of this build. smites are nice, but you were already dealing way more damage with a regular dagger by this point. plus, being a sword prevents you from using ranged attacks, which are way more helpful when taking down dragons. basically if you play this build too close to character, it messes with the build mechanics and its flavor.

like mentioned above, your warlock stuff is cool, but it’s already outclassed by your rogue features by the time you get it at the end of the build. it’s a shame siegfried dies near the end of the nibelungenlied, because his sword would be way more useful early on.

every feature you have outside of your sneak attack is pretty situational, since a ton of it relies on fighting things that actually think. in fate and in history, this isn’t too much of an issue, but dnd has armies of undead, constructs, and wild animals that’ll shut down your provocations before they ever get started.

...ignore the fact that we've been infinitely more productive the two days ff14's been offline, that's a coincidence, I swear.

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook x Reader/ Yoongi x Jimin

𝓢𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓣𝓸𝓸𝓽𝓱 [Honey]

Your words can bite so hard, and your eyes can glare harsher than the sun- but there's a certain hint of sweetness hiding behind that armor you wear, and it sticks to Jungkook's heart like honey.

Tags/Warnings: Human!Yoongi, Human!Jimin, Rottweiler hybrid!Jungkook, Cat hybrid!Reader, Enemies to friends to lovers, mentions of past traume, some Yoonmin here and there oops, Main story focus are MC and Kook though, scolding, mild Angst but with happy end

Length: 3.6k words

There is no taglist for this fic.

-> Masterlist

♥━━━━━━━━━━•.♡.•━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

The next morning, you're almost entirely hidden underneath your blanket- a pile of cat, still visibly upset with the new sleeping arrangement even while unconscious.

Jungkook feels a bit bad- he wants to maybe help you feel at least a little more at ease with him, but he's got no clue what he could really do- so he just hopes that you somehow at least accept it for now, after realizing that Jimin and Yoongi will both not cave into your wish to sleep with your owner instead of the dog hybrid.

"Ah Jungkook. Good morning." Jimin greets him, and Jungkook's tail instinctively wags, making the human smile brightly. He's currently making himself some coffee while Yoongi is already sitting at the small table, browsing something on his phone before he locks it and sets it down.

"Is she up too?" He asks Jungkook, who shakes his head.

"I think she went to sleep late. She was pretty upset the entire night.." Jungkook mumbles, and Jimin sighs.

"Let's let her sleep then-" He starts, but Yoongi shakes his head, earning an almost pleading look from Jimin.

"No." Yoongi denies. "I don't care who wakes her up, but she's getting up. If she wants to sleep longer, she should've went to bed on time when everyone else did." He says, and even Jungkook now lowers his ears, feeling a bit bad for you. Yoongi is a bit harsh sometimes, and tends to be a little strict, but you're not used to that. It feels a bit much to dump that all onto you right away, in his opinion.

"..alright." Jimin sighs, running a hand through his hair, before he leaves to wake you up.

"Don't you think you're a bit.. too harsh?" Jungkook wonders, sitting down across from his owner and friend at the table. "I mean, she seemed really upset last night.." He says quietly, listening to some sounds coming from his shared room with you, presumably you getting up and ready for the day.

Yoongi doesn't answer, and so Jungkook just sighs to himself, awkwardly waiting for you to emerge together with Jimin- which you do, still visibly upset, practically hiding away from Yoongi's sight. Jungkook is convinced that at this rate, you'll just end up hating his owner more than him at the end of this trip- and he's not sure if that's gonna be any better for Yoongi and Jimin. After all, the plan is to just somehow get them all to at least tolerate each other- but he himself can't see that happening like this.

And it doesn't get better when you refuse to eat anything for breakfast, simply sitting next to Jungkook with your arms crossed and an angry glare. "You're staying behind if you refuse to eat." Yoongi threatens nonchalantly, and your eyes harden even further, ears pinned back.

"I'm not a child." You growl, causing Jungkooks skin to tingle from the amount of anger you radiate next to him, the air heavy with the scent of your fury. It makes him nervous, to say the least. He's always been pretty sensitive to other's feelings, after all.

"You're surely acting like one." Yoongi responds back with no clear emotion, as he looks at you. He surely has the looks to pass as a cat hybrid, even without ears and a tail- but you'd never accept him as one. He's a traitor, he's the main reason your perfect little world has tilted, he's the cause of you surely having to go back to the shelter soon, just because he wants to fuck your owner. And you hate it. You hate him.

"We can get a snack or something in the town though, right?" Jungkook says, trying to soothe the situation- something Jimin seems to pick up on, eagerly latching onto that chance of problem solving.

"Yeah! There's a mall in the town, we can surely eat something there." Jimin nods, not leaving Yoongi any chance to argue as he gets up and puts the dishes in the sink.- Jungkook rising from his seat as well to help and also escape the situation.

Well- this is certainly going to be an eventful day.

At the mall, the mood clearly lifts quite a bit- you're way too busy looking at all the displays and storefronts to really care much about Yoongi's sour attitude, which also has lightened partially due to Jimin's charming attitude towards him. It's a breath of fresh air for everyone- though Jungkook isn't sure when he was put on babysitting duty when it comes to you, trailing after you to make sure you won't get lost.

You don't really acknowledge him, and he's fine with that. All of it gives him a little bit of a chance to observe you more, and paint a clearer picture of you. Because he's convinced that you're not actually mean or a bad person- you're probably just worried, or scared. And he knows that cat hybrids tend to lash out when they feel threatened or cornered. He's seen it time and time again. And he hopes that maybe he can witness you opening up to him as well- one day.

Though right now, he's reminded of his own issues- as he walks past a small group of friends bunny hybrids clearly intimidated by his presence, something you look at from the side, before you search for a bottle of juice you want it seems like. You stand out amongst the people even though your outfit isn't all that colorful- but it's still just uniquely you, frills and patterns and bows all adorable on you.

Although your high heeled mary janes don't really help reaching his height at all, down the line. You're not even a hand-length taller than any of the bunny hybrids currently talking in a hushed tone with their large brown eyes staring at him, before they pass you, almost as if to escape. You look after them, before you take a small bottle of mango juice for yourself, walking towards the cash register- and he notices the way you now look back, as if to check if he follows. He does- though a bit slower now.

He doesn't really want people to think he's stalking you or anything.

His hybrid breed and overall appearance intimidates people a lot- mostly other hybrids, and he knows this, painfully so. He doesn't mean to come off as this- and in the past, he really tried to look as friendly as he could, with colorful sweaters and shorter hair to make sure his face would never be hidden from view. But he quickly realized that he can't change the way he's being perceived. He's always been the big bad dog- and that stigma will forever stick with him no matter where he goes. So he decided to be and appear the way he wanted to- got himself tattoos and started to dress in a more comfortable, though very dark style, while also growing out his hair.

But that doesn't mean it doesn't affect him anymore.

After paying for your bottle of juice, you stand in front of the small convenience store, the bunny hybrids still watching him with their intense looks, and Jungkook feels himself become overly conscious of just how many people are around him. It makes him nervous. Does he make others nervous too? How many people are looking at him right now, just waiting for him to make a mistake?

Suddenly, something cold hits his bare arm, once, then again. He looks to the side, spots the tips of your cat ears which ware turned one towards him, and one backwards towards the bunnies, though your eyes are simply looking to the side, as you hold out the bottle. "Uh.. for me?" He wonders, caught off guard, and you scoff, rolling your eyes.

"No, dumb dog-" You mumble, tapping your foot impatiently. "-open it. I can't." you admit, and only now does he spot the way one of your palms seems to be an angry red, probably from the force of you trying to unscrew the cap. He takes the bottle from you, opens it with ease, before he gives the bottle to you, cap still in his hand. You drink slowly, probably because the liquid must be pretty cold, a drop from the condensation on the outside of the plastic container falling right into your cleavage, and he averts his gaze in respect for you, instead noticing something else.

The bunnies are still looking at him. So is a young couple with a small dog hybrid child. But they're not looking at him with worry, or fear, or anything-

the bunnies seem almost shy now, watching him with sparkling eyes of wonder. The puppy hybrid laughs, the mother having a warm smile on her lips, her striped cat tail softly curling over her lap while her husband chuckles next to her. And then you clear your throat, before you hold out the bottle to Jungkook again- who screws the sap back on, and decides to hold it for you. You're not thanking him at all, and he doesn't expect you to.

He doesn't need you to.

Because he realizes what you just did. You didn't just demand him to open a bottle- you could've done that right after paying for the beverage, but you did it almost strategically in this rather open and exposed spot. To show off- to show that Jungkook isn't a big bad dog at all.

And as you walk back, he falls a bit into his own mind, thinking of how to repay you that act of kindness- because he's always been like that. He can't help but feel the need to not be in someone elses debt- something Yoongi has taught him not to do. You're just on your way back however, when Jungkook realizes something he didn't notice while he was stuck deep in thought-

you're no longer in sight. He can't see you- can't smell you. You've vanished.

And he's panicking, because in front of him, he can see both Jimin and Yoongi, who seemingly haven't noticed your absence yet, Jimin happily waving him over. Jungkook feels his heart drop- how is he going to explain that he lost you? "Where's-" Jimin starts, and Jungkook feels his tail lower down in shame.

"I don't know." He offers, Jimin's face clearly falling at that. "She was with me like- five minutes ago, I don't know where she went.." He admits shamefully, and Yoongi sighs.

"Let me guess-" He mumbles, looking over at his partner. "She doesn't have her phone with her?" He asks him, and Jimin shakes his head. "Great. Let's just sit down here on the side and wait. Maybe she'll find us soon." He suggests, while Jimin doesn't seem too convinced about that plan.

"No, I'll go look-" He starts, Yoongi holding him back by his hand, trying to tug him back to sit down next to him. "Yoongi-"

"If you run off now she's never going to find you." He offers. "She's an adult, not a child, Jimin. She can do this on her own." He explains, while Jungkook doesn't feel convinced. Sure, you truly aren't a child, and he doesn't view you as such, but the mall is still pretty big. And you're on your own. And yes- maybe he feels a bit oddly protective over you, considering you're somewhat part of the family- even if you try very hard not to. Jimin and Yoongi truly seem to get along very well, and clearly share an emotional connection, making it very obvious that the only hurdle right now is you and Jungkook trying to get along.

And maybe he's at fault too. If he was a soft cat hybrid too, or a cute bunny, or even a gentle bear hybrid, you wouldn't be so reserved and defensive. If he wasn't born as a dangerous dog breed, he probably wouldn't make you feel so intimidated.

Maybe if he was different, this whole mess wouldn't even exist.

♥━━━━━━━━━━•.♡.•━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

You actually didn't mean to get lost. You really didn't. After all, why would you? This is your personal nightmare, after all.

Being left alone has always been an issue to you. Maybe because it happened so much to you in the past that you now just felt this obsession with needing to latch onto things you want to keep, fueling your fear of abandonment even further over time. Maybe it's always been like that, and your overall reaction to it simply just changed. You're not sure. All you know is that you don't want to be alone anymore, and Jimin had been the soothing security for a good few years for you, your security in the fact that you'd never have to be on your own again. And now with Yoongi and Jungkook, that security is challenged- your happy little bubble about to burst.

Or maybe it already did, and he's just trying to find the best moment to break the news to you.

None of your thoughts want to make sense as you sit on the random bench in the mall, staring at the hem of your skirt. Your mind just wont clear up, nothing really offering you any comfort as you wait for someone to maybe come find you. Maybe no one will actually reach out to search for you. Maybe they're happy you're gone now. Should you just leave? You could just go to the next police station, they'd put you in a shelter in that case, and Jimin wouldn't even have to come pick you up. He could just say over the phone that he doesn't want you back, making the whole process a lot easier on everyone.

Jungkook is a nice guy. He's gonna fit right in with Yoongi and Jimin.

He really doesn't deserve the looks he gets. You've noticed that a lot today- the odd glances he gets thrown, as if he's a criminal on the loose, ready to stab someone at a moment's chance, when in reality, that dog could probably not even slap down a fly if he was asked to do so. He's so soft, and gentle, and a little bit sensitive- making you wonder if he ever really gets angry at all.

You know you get angry a lot. You know your tantrums are childish, but you can't help your reactions. You're not good at handling and controlling your emotions. You never learned how to do that- and you refuse to put any effort into it anymore anyways, because does it really matter?

Suddenly, someone walks past the bench you're sitting on, stands in front of you with his back turned facing you, looking around. You're watching him for a bit, crossing your arms as you get up to walk a bit closer, before you say anything. "You'd make for a horrible tracking dog, you know that?" You snap at Jungkook, who's ears turn around first, before his head whips towards you as well- tail beginning to wag as he realizes you've been finally found.

It's kind of cute.

What isn't kind of cute is the absolute bear-hug he tackles you with, holding you close for a good moment as if he'd just reunited with a long lost friend, while you lean back away from him, cringing at his overly happy attitude. "Don't run off like that!" He scolds, though there's no fire behind his words. Someone walking past chuckles at the scene he's spotting, and you push against the dog hybrid's chest to signal that he needs to step away a bit, which he does, apologizing under his breath before he smiles. "Let's get back to Yoongi and Jimin. They've been worried." He informs you, walking next to you as he leads you to where they both are sitting.

"Yoongi is gonna be fucking pissed seeing that you found me." You mumble, and Jungkook looks down at you, before he shakes his head.

"Yoongi is a bit.. bad with feelings, and he can be a little harsh with his words, but he means well." Jungkook tries to justify his owner's behavior. "He's really nice. He's just.. stressed because he really likes Jimin, and wants to work it out all by himself." he explains, walking next to you with his hands in his pockets. "He's always been like that. He feels bad when something fails that he's involved in, and then puts all the blame on himself." He shrugs.

"That's stupid." You mumble, spotting both of your owners on a bench in the distance.

"A little, maybe." Jungkook laughs. "But I'd say he thinks what you're doing is stupid too, so." He jokes, and at that you glare up at him, arms crossed.

"Well you're stupid too." You huff, while he suddenly grins down at you, a very interesting look on his face.

"And you're cute." He says, leaving you to stop in your tracks as your brain needs to process his words for a good moment, not having expected that. And you don't get much more time to really think about it when a happy Jimin runs towards you and embraces you in a hug, clearly relieved that you're back and not lost after all.

Though Yoongi doesn't look too impressed at all.

"What the hell was that?" He scolds as you're relieved from Jimin's hug, though you're clearly not just taking Yoongi's words without a fight back.

"Got lost, my god." You roll your eyes. "Sorry I got found, won't happen again I guess." You mumble, looking to the side, while Yoongi sighs.

"I sure hope this doesn't happen again at all." He says, walking closer to adjust your hybrid collar so that your tags are facing the front- the close contact making you inch back a bit on instinct, his hands stuttering a little because of that. "..don't get lost again, please." He mumbles, indicating that he was at least mildly worried- and you're just looking at the floor, pouting to yourself.

"..I'll try." You just say back quietly, causing both Jungkook and Jimin to laugh.

♥━━━━━━━━━━•.♡.•━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

Later that day back at the cabin you all share, it's clear that that little moment today didn't magically change anything. You're still picking a fight with Yoongi left and right, you're still awfully bratty and Yoongi keeps on scolding you while Jimin tries to keep things at least somewhat civil- but there's an odd lightness to it now. Like the bite behind your words- and also Yoongis- has lessened quite a bit now, no longer intending to hurt.

And tonight you don't argue at all about the sleeping arrangement- at least not vocally-, making it a bit easier on Jimin and Yoongi.

Though Jungkook notices how you're not sleeping, rather staring into nothingness while the entire room and cabin is drowned in darkness, your owner probably already asleep. "Everything okay?" Jungkook asks, and you hum an affirmative answer towards him- though he notices you're not very confident in your response it seems like. "What's wrong?" He now whispers as to not wake up your owners, as he sits up on his bed now, looking over at you.

"..nothin'. Go sleep, dog." You mumble, pulling the blanket a bit higher over your body.

"You know.." Jungkook starts quietly, sighing as he rubs his eyes. "..Nothing's gonna happen to you." He offers, and at that your eyes move to find his. "I know that you're scared-"

"I'm not." You respond.

"-that you're not scared then, but if you were-" He teases a bit, watching you roll your eyes. "-it would be for nothing. Jimin's not gonna get rid of you, Yoongi doesn't hate you, I don't hate you either." He tells you, and you sigh.

"..why not?" You mumble, so quiet he almost doesn't hear it. "Jiminie only pays attention to Yoongi now. He didn't even brush my tail before bed anymore, like he always does. He doesn't care anymore." You mumble, making you roll over to have your back facing Jungkook.

"What if I did it for you then?" He wonders, and you look over your shoulder with an irritated look. "I know it's not the same, but I can try." He offers, shrugging, while you sit up slowly now as well, watching him suspiciously.

"Why would you do that?" You ask, and he just leans his head to the side a little, his gaze now a lot more serious.

"Cause I know what it's like to be alone." He tells you. "I know what it feels like to have no one. And I don't want you to feel that when we're all here." He tells you, and you look down to the floor, oddly quiet now.

And it stays like that for a good moment, making Jungkook question whether or not you fell asleep while sitting- when you raise your face again, this time eyes glossy with emotions you won't speak of. And you don't have to.

Because the way you don't fight him as he walks over to hug you speaks louder than anything you could say to him. And tonight, you feel a little less lonely with him holding you. Tonight, you're opening up just a little bit. Tonight, you decide to cling to someone new-

Tonight, Jungkook get's a little taste of how sweet you can be, once you let someone in.

Sticky like honey, clinging to his skin.

…

"…if you tell either of those two about this I'll bite off your tail and boil it." You threaten against his chest, and he laughs, said tail wagging underneath the blanket you share.

"Of course." He chuckles, playfully petting your head. "Of course."

His cheeks almost hurting from smiling so brightly, as the sound of your purr fills the room.

[norbezjones]

Bez Reviews Independent Books #9: A + E 4Ever

Hey everyone!  I wanna do little reviews/writeups for the independently-published books I find on itch.io, and so, here I am.  I want to review one book every month or two (or quicker, if I’m lucky); it’ll get me reading more, and get authors who often go without feedback some thoughts on their work!  I think it’ll be cool for everyone!

If you want your book reviewed, the only requirement I have is that it’s hosted on itch.io.  Even if itch is just one of many places you can get the book, I want to review books that have a home there at least.  Feel free to get in touch with me with your books—I’m @NorbezJones on Twitter (I refuse to call it X), Bluesky, Pillowfort, Threads, Instagram, Tumblr, and Discord.

Looking forward to seeing your books! <3

__________

I’m finally back with lucky number 9!  Sorry I haven’t reviewed a book in a while (here is why).

Not too long ago, publisher tRaum Books got in touch with me, and asked if I want to review another book of theirs: A + E 4Ever, by Ryszard Merey (who also runs tRaum Books, if you didn’t know).  If that title sounds familiar to you, that’s because my first review of a tRaum novel was a + e (also by Merey).  A + E 4Ever is the graphic novel version of that story, which was actually released before the novel, even though the novel technically came first.

a + e was published in 2021, but Merey informed me that it was written in the mid-2000s; the novel was only published after Merey founded tRaum Books.  The comic (originally published by Lethe Press) came out in 2011, after the novel was written.  A + E 4Ever has just gotten a 2025 rerelease by tRaum, and it was this updated version they were asking me to review.

What tRaum didn’t know is that I actually got a copy of A + E 4Ever one or two months back.  Of course, the version I received was the 2011 one, so now that I was going to receive the new one, this became not just a review of one book (and to finally read it instead of leaving it in the “maybe I’ll check it out soon” zone), but an opportunity to compare the new & old versions of the graphic novel to each other.  So please look forward to the bout between A + E 4Ever (2025) & A + E 4Ever (2011). 

Like I said, A + E 4Ever is a graphic novel, and if you don’t know the story, it’s about two queer friends, Ash & Eu, as they navigate high school, relationships, and growing up.  For a full review of the story, you can read my review of the book.

Let’s start with the writing.  Now, you would think that, since the words on the page are the same as the book, there wouldn’t be much to comment on here.  However, the writing reads differently in a comic compared to a book, simply because of this: the constantly changing perspective.

Sometimes the book is from Ash or Eu’s point of view, in 3rd person limited POV.  Other times, it’s 3rd person omniscient, with an invisible narrator able to peek into our main characters’ heads and describe their thoughts & the situation.  In the book, the POVs transitioned smoothly via a page break or a paragraph divider.  In the graphic novel, this is not the case.

The perspective often changes between pages or panels without warning in the comic, and sometimes this came across as disorienting.  Other times it works fine, like when the omniscient narrator tells us things, and Eu & Ash are speaking to each other, narration & dialogue separated.  But it can also come across as strange.  I wonder if this omniscient voice is Merey’s, guiding his characters where they need to go.

Next, the drawing style (which reminds me of emo art from the early 2000s) in A + E 4Ever is, for the most part, grungy & imperfect, intentionally so in my opinion.  It serves to highlight the messiness of the story and the relationship between Ash & Eu.  That doesn’t mean the art can’t be beautiful, though, as it definitely can be and is.  The best parts of the book’s art for me are when the main characters are drawn in closeup, and when Ash’s dream sequences are illustrated, each part of the dream taking up a full page.

The style reminds me of manga sometimes, at least to my untrained eye.  Especially in the way Ash is drawn—every image of him looks like he’s the male love interest of a shojo manga.  Due to this, it’s easy to see why he’s seen as girlish by everyone around him.  Eu, on the other hand, looks like the protagonist of a shonen story, complete with having too many belt buckles (on her shoes, but STILL! /j *).

The graphic novel weighs heavily on the “novel” part of that description.  Some of pages have way more text than you’ll usually see in a comic.  This felt more “tell” than “show” to me, and was a lost opportunity to give art to some important moments.

On the other hand, the comic beautifully illustrate scenes that, until then, I’d only read in the book, emphasizing the emotions of the characters with every stroke of the pen.  What does loneliness in the spotlight feel like?  Well, something like this:

Sometimes, I liked the novel’s depiction better; other times, the graphic novel reigned supreme.  As an example, compare these depictions of the same scene:

And of the scene after it:

The graphic novel also illuminated some things I hadn’t realized from reading the book, such as the fact that the mysterious girl Ash dances with near the end is, in fact, Eu:

But it also withholds things that I’d read about in the novel, and would’ve like to see in the comic.  For example, we don’t really get pictures of Ash’s drawings, aside from the ones he does of Eu.  We’re told in the novel that he draws lots of angels & demons, and this is only shown to us through text in the graphic novel.

We also never see Eu’s drawings—the fact that both she & Ash make art is a key part of how they bond, and I’m sad that wasn’t fully represented in the comic.

Another thing not fully depicted is just how awful Ash’s home is—messy and smelly, with his room being an escape from all that disorganization.  We see it in the text, sure, but I would have loved to see it drawn out further, the chaotic state of the place on full display.

I could go on about other things I would have liked to see visually in the graphic novel, but I don’t want this part to go on too long, so I’m going to move on with other points.

All of A + E 4Ever shows a very thoughtful use of black & white space, in the art & panel work (we’ll get to the latter later).  Black around the panels is used to show loneliness, emptiness, darkness, the dreamspace, etc.  White shows transcendence, peace, the feeling of things being just right, etc.

The levels of gray on the pages (watercolor, perhaps? Or maybe copic markers?) add a level of depth to the art, and shows texture & color.  I think my favorite part of the penwork is the crosshatching that appears now & then; I’m a sucker for good crosshatching.  All in all, black & white (& gray) graphic novels can’t get much better than this.

Also, my favorite parts of the art?  The angry/eating faces (which are mainly Eu’s, but background characters & Ash get a few in there too):

Next, a look at the fonts.  There are several different fonts present, and each serve a different role

1. This one is used for the story & dialogue text:

2. This one is mainly used a characters’ inner thoughts:

3. This one is mainly used for chapter titles:

4. This one is mainly used for sub-headings within a chapter:

5. This one is mainly used for emphasis of dialogue:

Note that I said “mainly used” for the majority of those.  This is because sometimes, those fonts break the rules that were established and are used for other things.  I would prefer if there was consistency with how those fonts were used. It would read much easier.

You might also notice that some of those are not easy to read.  No issues with the 1st (mainly used) font, but the others can be tough.  Sometimes context helps interpret what’s being said, but not always.  The 2nd font (inner thoughts) is especially difficult to decipher, and I found myself squinting and bringing the book to my face quite a few times to interpret the words.

The 4th font (for subheadings) is the one I found the most readable overall (aside from the 1st font, I mean).  I noticed that it’s lighter in the 2025 update, which helps make it easier to decipher than in the 2011 printing.

Also, the 3rd font (for chapter titles) has a backwards “e” in it, which can also make it hard to read at times, unfortunately.  When reading the German quote (“Mein Gott, hilf mir diese tödliche Liebe zu überleben,” which translates to, “My God, help me survive this deadly love.”), I wasn’t sure at first if it was a different language, or if the backwards “e”s had finally gotten to me.

Finally, the panel work.  With so much text, the panels had to go the extra mile.  Because of this, the average panels per page was around 5 (with plenty of dialogue in them, sometimes in boxes, and other times floating free), but some pages had 7+ panels in them.  You don’t see much diversity in the panels’ shape, so it’s mostly the old reliables: rectangles & squares. 

What you do see a lot of, though, are borderless panels, and this is where things shine. 

There are lots of parts of the story that are told within the open space of a page.  Some panels are even the entire page itself.  Remember when I said the book thoughtfully uses black & white space?  The panel work is a big part of that.

In A + E 4Ever, panel borders are a suggestion, not a rule.  Often times, the lines don’t even connect, leaving the panel leaking into empty space.  It makes for a unique look, and fits our out-of-the-ordinary characters.

So, what has changed in the 2025 revised version compared to the original publication in 2011?  Ryszard Merey answers this question in a new page at the end of the 2025 comic, titled “ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-changes”:

“[M]y tweaks are rather random and not particularly conclusive.  They do not fix, update nor alter the book in any meaningful way—I neither can nor want to do that, being in such a different place from when I first made this, so why change anything at all?  Honestly, I don’t know, but I do feel a lil better.”

So, no revisions change the story or characters in a significant way.  However, it was interesting to see what characters changed in appearance:

What parts of the text got edited:

And what in the art got updated:

Also, the cover in the new version is more saturated compared to the old, and the new book is slightly bigger?  Perhaps so you can tell at a glance which version you have.  Or it could just be a printing error in my copy.

The last thing to discuss is the fact that this is (as Merey calls it) a “proto-trans” story, which is something I did not realize.  To quote the changes page:

“Why is this classified as a trans story when neither character comes out, is out, nor is the word trans used in the book?  Is a question that has been sometimes asked and my answer is, cause back then, us teen eggs didn’t have a fraction of today’s awareness, we floated, confused, desperate to connect with someone who also felt what we had no definitions for yet.  At least, I did.”

It's important to know that A + E, whether novel or comic, is a period piece, capturing life in the early 2000s, with its period-age music and MP3 players and emo/scene clothing.  That’s something I don’t think I emphasized enough in the original review.  Also, these teens are both Jewish, which affects their heritage, upbringing, and how people treat them.

Merey also states that, “[T]his was the book where I drew out my nameless feelings.” and tells us that he legally transitioned and changed his name.  I’ve also made a lot of art trying to process things I didn’t understand about myself yet, gender feels and all that.  So I can definitely relate.

As for the characters being trans, it makes perfect sense, but my trans-dar didn’t really go off when reading it, so it kind of surprised me (not that my trans-dar is very functional anyway).  I kind of pinned Ash & Eu as a rosboy & azurgirl respectively (likely because I have characters who identify with those labels), but perhaps there was more of a connection to transness than I realized.  Where’s the fanfic where they meet up ten years later and both have transitioned?  I’LL WRITE IT IF I HAVE TO, YOU BASTARDS! /hj /silly **

But it all raises one question: why was the book updated at all?  Merey states on the itch.io page:

“Originally published by Lethe Press in 2011 and called by one librarian “possibly the queerest thing [I’ve] ever read” this zine-like graphic novel was one of the first at the time to feature queer (undefined? proto-trans??) teenagers simply being themselves. As trans lit blossomed in the late 2010s, I wasn’t much concerned with keeping this story around, but in light of recent attacks on trans validity, and the steady pressure to sanitize queer media beyond that, I’ve decided to put this title back into circulation. So here it is, in all its janky, problematic glory: a messy traditional brush-ink and scratches late 90s high school slice-of-life following a foul-mouthed butch-in-waiting (?) and the prickly andro artkid she takes under her wing.” (emphasis added)

Merey also told me this in DMs:

“My contract with Lethe ran out for the graphic novel and I wasn't keen on continuing with them, so I (at first) thought I'd just let the graphic novel kinda quietly die. Especially with the more recent heavy attacks on the validity of trans identity in the US, I reversed that decision, because I think the GN is a good example of (they are not labeled as trans in the book as the word was not used at the time), trans coded teenagers in an earlier time, before internet influence.”

We need complicated queer stories more than ever, and I’m glad this book was brought back.

To conclude, A + E 4Ever is just as messy & queer as the book, and presents the story with a style that matches the tone.  I really like it, despite the fact that I had some negative points.  The art & panel work is great, and manages to contain the mountain of text within quite well.  I would recommend it.

But here’s a tricky question: would I recommend the graphic novel, or the written novel?  Personally, I lean slightly towards the graphic novel, simply because the art says a lot more to me than the written word does.  However, some may prefer the novel, with its more detailed descriptions of various scenes.  Regardless of what you choose, I can also see why the comic translated so easily into a novel, because with how much text there is, it’s already halfway there.

A + E 4Ever is currently available on itch.io, Bookshop.org, and Amazon!  Thanks for reading the review, and I hope you check it out!

* /j = a tone indicator that means “joking”

** Two tone indicators here.  /hj = half joking. /silly is hopefully self-explanatory, but just in case: it tells the reader that I’m being silly about what I’m talking about.