#until that last scene that threw me for a loop

[ennaih]

Every Film I Watch In 2023:

15. Broadcast Signal Intrusion (2021)

[fraugwinska]

all of these requests have been great! could i suggest Human Alastor/Unruly Reader? they have a little age gap where he’s in his thirties while they are in their early twenties. he puts them in their place by spanking them with his belt then fucking them? the daddy issues in me needs him to reprimand! 💛💛💛💛

Here you go, Anon ;> I hope you'll like your little #SlutSnack, as will all the Human!Alastor fans ;>

Lessons in Leather

"Say it again, sweetling."

He didn't give her time to get the words out, his leather belt whirring through the air with a whipping sizzle before it struck her already red cheeks again. The impact produced two sounds. The first one was a hard, sharp smack like a cracking whip as the leather hit her supple ass. The second noise came from the girl bent over his study as she cried out, mewling with pain and moaning from the pleasure alike at the force of the strike.

"I'm waiting, darling."

"I..", she whimpered, squirming as he looped the leather strap in between his hands, "I won't make a scene in front of your home ever again." She stayed obediently on the study desk, ass naked and wiggling. With his free left hand, he steadied her thighs and dug his strong fingers around her supple flesh. He spread her buttcheeks so that the tiny little entrance was spread open to his gaze, pink and tender with barely-used, delicate little muscles stretched into a virgin ring around that opening.

"And you will come only when I summon you. I will not be inconvenienced by a bratty child, will I?" He ran a finger, very carefully, along her rosebud. The skin there was hot, flushed and even damp with arousal and perspiration. It fluttered with need beneath his thumb, as if it was anxious, and his own cock throbbed within the confines of his breeches. A long time had passed since last he'd taken his pleasure so completely.

"I'm n-not...not a child."

He smiled darkly, at both the petulant tone of her voice as well as the fact that she had purposefully said it like that to provoke him. It was objectively on the borderline to outrageous, their little affair, Alastor knew it. She knew it too. But his sweet darling, more than ten years younger than him, had been persistent from the moment she met him in the little café where he always got his morning coffee. A new hire, a quick-witted, bratty little thing, with a sharp tongue and long, batting lashes. The younger fellas were all over her, but she only had eyes for him. And what started as a harmless flirt for the fresher batch of coffee soon became a dangerous game when she started appearing at his work and on his way home. Alastor was torn - she matched his own insanity in a beautifully twisted way, and even though he threaded dangerous ground when his eye was drawn by someone who proved to be this intrusive, given his nightly endeavors, he just didn't seem able to resist her.

"Running your mouth with attitude, my pretty, only means you need a harder spanking to get the message across, doesn't it? Very well then. No more little love-taps."

She swallowed as he let his belt slip onto the ground, his palm instead caressing her silken, creamy flesh, scattered with hot red streaks, and with an efficient little motion, he kicked her feet apart and pressed his hand on the arch of her back as he pulled his trousers open and released his painfully hard cock.

"You know the rules, sweetling. Good girls get fucked like good girls. And bad girls..." His voice was thick, deep and filled with lust as he rubbed his thumb against her unexplored hole until she was gasping and whimpering. "Bad girls get fucked here, darling."

His cock slid in between her cheeks and the moan that followed at the sheer vulgarity was long and loud and utterly delicious. His girl had been a virgin, and while he didn't take her the traditional way for a long time, he finally broke her in after the memorable tantrum she threw when she first came to his workplace. It was only fitting that her recent misbehavior, breaking the only other set boundary she unnervingly had pushed until today - following him to his home and disrupting his private space, including his nosey landlord - was treated the same way. Her little bottom was still untouched however, and the thought of the sensation of her tight, silken channel clenching and fluttering around his cock, squeezing him deliciously as he fucked her little asshole, was enough to drive him out of his mind with devious glee.

"Ala-Alastor!"

Slowly, teasingly he prodded her, working the tip of his cock into her tight, virgin entrance, lubricated nicely by both his thick precum and her dripping arousal. The puckered little rosebud resisted him for only a moment before her hole spread hesitantly to allow him entrance. He could see the strain as her ass was slowly but surely stretched around his girth, and he paused halfway in, enjoying the sensation of being buried inside of her, and the sight of her, shivering in embarrassment and lust.

"I've got you, sweetling." He murmured soothingly, stroking a hand up her back to grasp the long fall of her hair, pulling on it just enough that her back arched in the most delightful way. "Just relax, now. Show me you can be my good girl, just relax and take it, sweetheart."

His movements were slow and careful as he thrusted, and her little body shivered and jerked as he slowly began to fuck her in earnest. The girl was a wanton and cunning vixen hiding behind the facade of a naive bimbo of a girl, and she loved being fucked by him. Her brattish words failed her as her body betrayed her every time, responding so nicely to his lectures and punishments. Even now, her body was quick to adjust to the stretch and the friction of his cock as he took her ass, her hips moving and pushing back against him, greedy and almost demanding.

"That's it, pretty girl." Alastor rasped. "Look at you, taking my cock like a good girl. And good girls get to cum, don't they?"

"Y-yesss..." she moaned, his thrusts growing longer and deeper, and his cock swelling with the neediness and impatience in her tone. Alastor smiled wickedly, the fingers of his free hand reaching around her waist to dip into her swollen cunt, finding her wet and slick with her own juices, overripe, ready and waiting for his touch. He knew he'd make her cum soon enough, and the thought made his cock twitch in her ass as he started to circle her clit with strategic pressure, her breath coming out in stuttering gasps of his name as he worked her towards the precipice of her climax. But he also knew that just once wouldn't do. Alastor was nothing but a thorough teacher, and his little sweetling still had some lessons to learn.

[talleyuh]

just finished the bear season 3 and there is such a collective cognitive dissonance from everywhere from the writing of the show all the way to the social media marketing.

i know i’m biased because i particularly like syd and carmy together, but this season was strange but in different ways than the last season was strange.

not only does carmy take a backseat as a protagonist about halfway through, he and syd have hardly any scenes together, but i think the show almost suffers for it. this season was certainly funnier than the last, but the neil and ted fak got old and old fast. it certainly doesn’t help that even though carmy has a new arc every season, but he doesn’t take the lessons he should’ve learned into how he should act going forward. it’s stunting his growth and now that we have three seasons to compare to one another, it’s only more apparent.

we’ve already talked about how funny characters are stronger than comic relief characters and that’s essentially what the faks are. i really liked neil’s more vulnerable moments where he got to be taken seriously but it’s hard to take him seriously when all of his screen time is him doing stupid shit. also the hauntings thing? it really was not that funny.

also the show is making such an active attempt to rewrite its own history and i don’t understand why. so many little details that connect moments from the past and present to make up who the characters are and yet it’s kind of being thrown out the window.

claire being described as carmy’s peace threw me for a loop because he felt out of place in his own relationship. i think we all know the clip of carmy’s late s2 panic attack where thinking of claire and him together makes it worse but now we are given so many more scenes of when he was happy? what narrative are they trying to spin here? was carmy genuinely in love with claire or mostly disinterested, because it can’t be both.

even claire doesn’t seem interested in being with carmy at this point, and who can blame her?

her presence was just kind of weird to me, because she didn’t really interact with the rest of the cast until the 9th episode. i think her brief hospital scenes were to flesh her out more, but it’s really just creating vulnerabilities and revealing the seams. and because she’s never really been developed as much as everyone else in the series, we’re left with more questions. who was that in her bed? why was she never fired for insane medical malpractice? what is any of this for?

also a lot of the lighting this season has changed. i saw one user (can’t remember who but their post was super interesting) mention how much warmer and inviting the scenes with syd are as opposed to the coolness and almost detachment the scenes with claire were. except we see carmy in cool lighting a lot more this season.

i also wanted to add where carmy gets overwhelmed in the finale, thoughts of claire coming in with a violin sting like a horror movie doesn’t add to the narrative that they keep telling us. that’s another thing i noticed. they tell us how great claire was even though their time together hindered him being involved with his passions and his coworkers, but they retcon things and add scenes of them happy and have carmy tell us how amazing she is but they barely cared to show us.

a huge theme in this show is family and responsibility. and the scene where neil fak said claire could be the one to take care of carmy and vice versa really rubbed me the wrong way. first of all, i think it kind of supports the idea of codependency which isn’t great but i could be reaching. second, carmy isn’t really equipped to take care of anyone and i think the way he interacts with his coworkers when he’s frustrated is proof of that.

don’t get me wrong, i thought this season was amazing television, christopher storer is a brilliant writer and director, joanna calo really should helm more episodes bc ice chips was actually a perfect episode, and ayo getting the opportunity to direct tina’s episode was so amazing and i really hope i see her name in more directorial projects in the near future. but i think we’re getting a little lost in the plot here and losing sight of what the heart of the show is. the literal restaurant. and logically some of the decisions made don’t exactly hold up and i would hate to see this show fumble.

it can’t be a coincidence that so much of the show’s marketing is tied to carmy and syd and i think efforts to trick the audience are actually making the show suffer. or the increasingly less subtle decisions in the editing in the few scenes of them together? are you really gonna gaslight a whole audience for the sake of a misdirect?

[allmoshnobrain]

𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

part 31 of 35 | masterpost

word count: 3165 | ao3 link | fic's playlist

What was the point of resisting, anyway? I wanted nothing more than to embrace the tension that had been building up inside of me for months. Ever since he’d kissed me at Leanne's party, his lips had been nothing short of sweet. If Dave was like the moon, dark, deep, and captivating, James was like the sun; warm, calm, and comforting. I needed that sweetness. I needed that warmth.

✦ on this chapter: NSFW!!!, dave mustaine x female!oc, james hetfield x female! oc, oc is cliff's cousin, +18, language, slice of life, angst, mxf sex, unprotected sex

✧ bring back to you a piece of my broken heart, i'm ready to surrender ✧

The next day was a total whirlwind for the boys, just like the one before. Getting ready for the night's gig kicked off early; they had to settle into the hotel, run through the setlist, do the soundcheck, help setting up the stage and handling all the tech stuff. Luckily, I got the easiest part; while the guys tackled all the heavy lifting, Leanne, Pat, and I decided to wander around the city, soaking in the sights of Milan. I'd been to Italy a few times with my parents, but exploring the tourist spots without them was a whole new experience, fun in its own way.

And, you know, I was kinda relieved not to be hanging with James during the day. Thinking back to the heartfelt words and secret kisses we'd shared the day before threw me for a loop of emotions I wasn't totally ready to ride. I had no regrets, but I felt a certain guilt creep in - guilt for letting myself fall for him while my heart was still on the mend from my last breakup, guilt for giving in to my attraction while he was still tangled up with someone else. So, my plan? I thought I'd let him figure things out with Pat first, and then we'd see how the chips fell. Things had to get simpler one way or another, right?

As the sun dipped low, the three of us bounced back to the hotel to switch up and hit the concert scene. When we rolled in, spotting the guys was like searching for a needle in a haystack - backstage was a total madhouse, gearing up for the show kick-off. The gig itself was killer, as per usual. Post-show, we all huddled up in the dressing room, laughs and drinks flowing like it was nothing. I kicked back, grinning a bit, soaking in the scene. Seeing my friends so pumped was a blast, and being on this tour, witnessing the band's growth, was seriously mind-blowing.

I shifted my eyes away when a hand grabbed mine, and there I was, face to face with James, his hair all wet from just stepping out of the shower, wearing a mischievous grin on his lips.

“C'mon,” He gently tugged at me, and I blinked, a bit confused, but went along with it.

“James,” I chuckled, trying to figure out what was going on, as he started pulling me through the backstage maze. “Where are we headed?”

“Just roll with it for a bit, okay?” he said, his voice giving away the smile on his face as he quickened his pace. I chuckled softly, not sure how to react, but I stuck with him, his firm grip holding onto my hand. We strolled a bit more until we hit a pair of doors, which I knew would lead us outside.

“Okay, what’s your plan?” I giggled, slowing down as we stepped outside, the cool night air making my skin tingle. He stopped, turning to face me with a grin, resting his hands on my shoulders and giving them a gentle caress.

“I don't know,” he chuckled, his cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling as he looked at me. “I just wanted to be with you. Just you.”

I gazed at him, feeling my face heat up as my heart raced. He slowly caressed my arms, his hands sliding down until they found mine, his fingers weaving through mine as he drew closer. I sighed, my eyes fixed on his lips, savoring the smile that kept showing up on them.

Oh man, I really wanted to kiss him.

I sighed, looking up and locking eyes with his blue gaze, sparkling playfully like he could read my mind. My whole body warmed, a thousand butterflies in my belly when I realized he wanted some alone time, just us, away from all the noise and prying eyes.

"I know a spot," I whispered.

We strolled for a few minutes until we hit a bustling commercial street, packed with street food stalls, small bars, cafes, and clubs that pumped out various types of music. I'd wandered through there earlier with Leanne and Pat, picturing how lively it would get at night. I was spot on; even though it was a bit late, the street was buzzing with tourists and locals soaking in the scene.

“Didn't know you knew your way around the city,” James mentioned as we casually wandered down the street, blending in with the crowd, the tempting smells from food joints and stalls making my stomach growl a bit.

“I don't,” I chuckled. “I've only been to Milan with my parents once. I took a stroll with the girls around the city today, too. Figured you might have wanted to check out a bit of it.”

“You didn’t get lost, not even once. I didn't think you had it in you,” he mentioned, and I burst out laughing.

“I guess I picked up navigating on my own after living solo in LA,” I said, a wistful smile tugging at my lips. My stomach rumbled softly again, diverting my attention from my thoughts for a moment. “Hey, wanna grab something to eat?”

We hit up a few stalls, snagging more food than I thought I could handle, but, unlike me, James had a killer appetite. I grinned watching how pumped he was to dive into all those new foods; we sampled arancini, panzerotti, and capped it off with gelato, all while chatting softly about anything and everything. James's presence made it easy to shove aside, even if just for a minute, the waves of sadness that had been my company for the past weeks. It felt good being with him; in those moments, it almost seemed like nothing in our friendship had changed.

After we were done eating, we figured a leisurely walk along the street would be the move, soaking up the glow of the streetlights dancing on the canals as boats filled with tourists coasted by. Eventually, we hit up one of the boarding points and spotted a short line forming for one of the last boat rides of the night.

“Hey, wanna hop on one of these?” James asked, clutching my hand, eyes gleaming with excitement. I chuckled.

“Sure, why not? Let's give it a shot.”

We hopped in line and snagged a spot on one of the boats, big enough for around 20 people. Despite its size, maybe due to the time, only a handful of folks hopped on for the tour. We snagged seats at the back, soaking in the city views cruising by at an easy pace. I let out a sigh, feeling my cheeks warm when I noticed the heat of James's hand in mine, our fingers intertwined. I glanced up, my heart doing a marathon as I locked eyes with his gaze full of pure adoration; if this was the way we looked at each other, it's no wonder everyone noticed how much he was into me, how much I was into him.

We strolled back to the hotel after our quick tour, talking and sharing soft laughs. James slung his arm around my waist, pulling me close, but I was cool with it. I was happy — happy and at peace. So happy that I pretty much forgot about Pat's existence until we rolled into the hotel lobby and bumped right into her. Her eyebrows shot up in shock and confusion when she saw us coming in together.

She must’ve been up waiting for us — waiting for him . We didn't get a chance to compose ourselves, to hide the way our eyes lit up when we looked at each other, the smiles full of pure adoration plastered on our faces, our fingers tangled in a way meant only for lovers. We could only freeze, too perplexed, too intoxicated by each other's presence to do anything. I could see her eyes flitting from me to James, slowly catching on to the implications of what she was witnessing, before she hightailed it out the hotel door without saying a word.

“Shit... Pat, wait!” James let go of my hand, taking two strides toward her, but she didn't halt. He glanced back at me, concern written all over his face, and said, “I'll just make sure she doesn't get hurt. I'll be back soon. I promise.”

“Okay, just go!” I blurted out, my stomach churning, not out of jealousy or envy, but pure regret. I shouldn't have tagged along with James, shouldn't have tangled myself up in his relationship. I should've held back, but in those few hours, I was so damn happy for the first time in months that I completely forgot about anything else. A wave of guilt crashed over me, discomfort creeping up in my throat and stomach. Good Lord, what a shitty person I was. No wonder Dave had fucking left me.

I headed up to my room, hopping into the shower for a hot bath to ease, at least a bit, the whirlwind of regret swirling around me. Once I was done, I swapped clothes and flopped onto the bed, craving some solace in the cozy blankets. Nestling in a bed after a night on a rocking bus made me realize how damn tired I was; I dozed off soon after, slipping into a dreamless, deep sleep that at least offered a brief escape from my thoughts.

I jolted awake with the sound of insistent knocks on the door. I practically hurled myself from the bed to the floor with a grunt, my eyes still weighed down by sleep. As I staggered up, I checked the clock on the bedside table – 3:15 in the morning. It took me three tries to slot the key into the lock, but I eventually cracked the door open, a yawn stubbornly trying to break free.

“Hi,” James greeted me. He looked more wiped out than I did, dark circles under his eyes shouting that he probably hadn't caught a wink of sleep. “Hey, what's wrong with you?” he asked as I propped myself against the doorframe, appearing on the verge of collapsing.

“I’m sleepy,” I grumbled. “You woke me up.”

“Shit, sorry. Can I come in?”

I nodded, stepping back to let him into the room and closing the door shortly after. I went to the bathroom, turning on the tap to wash my face and brush my teeth, which helped shake off some of my sleepiness. When I returned to the room, I popped open the minifridge and snagged some water before joining James, who had settled on the edge of my bed.

“Are you okay? You look tired,” I murmured, my voice still raspy from sleep.

He nodded, seeming a bit out of it, running a hand across his face with a sigh.

“I broke up with Pat,” he mumbled, furrowing his brow and glancing up at me. “Just got back from the airport; she wanted to go back home. Lars is gonna murder me when he figures I blew part of our fee on her ticket,” he tried to make it sound like a joke, but I could tell he wasn't very thrilled about it either.

“Are you sad?” I asked, and he shook his head with a bitter grin, eyes dodging mine.

“If I admit I'm relieved, will you think I'm a scumbag?” he asked. I stared at him for a moment, my face warming when his hand sought mine, holding it gently.

“Then we're both scumbags,” I replied in a hushed tone, and he swiftly raised his gaze to meet mine, confusion tinting his blue eyes. I furrowed my brow, feeling a discomforting burn in my eyes as tears started to well up. “It’s just… I just screw everything up, don't I? First, my relationship, and now yours…”

“Don't say that,” he whispered, bringing one of his hands to my cheek, caressing the soft skin slowly before pulling me closer, his lips meeting mine in a kiss. I sighed, a mix of anguish and desire swirling within me as he pressed his body against mine. “Please, don't say that.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting out a small gasp of surprise when he held me tightly, laying me on the bed, his body over mine. I sighed, my heart racing as he kissed me, his fingers entwined with mine while he pressed my hand into the mattress.

“James…” I murmured, letting out a small moan. “James, I can't... I can't do this. If we go through with it, there's no turning back…”

“You think there's still turning back for me?” he whispered, hoarse, his lips moving to my neck, leaving small bites that made my body shiver. “I want you too much. I can't go back to what it was before,” I sighed as his kisses slowly traveled up my neck until he nibbled my earlobe lightly, whispering in my ear, “And I don't want to.”

I sighed as I felt his lips travel from my ear to my cheek, and then to my mouth. What was the point of resisting, anyway? I wanted nothing more than to embrace the tension that had been building up inside of me for months. Ever since he’d kissed me at Leanne's party, his lips had been nothing short of sweet. If Dave was like the moon, dark, deep, and captivating, James was like the sun; warm, calm, and comforting.

I needed that sweetness.

I needed that warmth.

I buried my fingers in his hair, pulling him closer as I kissed him back. He groaned, satisfied as I welcomed him, and let his tongue explore my mouth, his hands wandering under my shirt. I could barely think, just feel the weight of his body on top of mine. God, I wanted him so much. How long had that desire been growing inside me? I had wanted that, deep down, for longer than I would ever have allowed myself to think.

He broke the kiss, sitting back with his knees around my waist and taking off his shirt. I shivered, anticipation coursing through my veins, my whole body burning as we looked deeply into each other's eyes, both the same shade of blue. His blond hair fell over his shoulders as he placed his hands on the mattress, one on each side of my head. I traced my fingers over his chest slowly as he lay back on top of me, his lips crashing against mine as if he couldn't stand to be away from my kiss. He pulled down my pants, his hardness pressed against my thigh, a low moan escaping my lips.

No turning back, I thought. But I don't want there to be.

I unbuttoned his pants, quickly pulling them down. He helped me, pulling away from our kiss again as he removed them, and then his underwear; I blushed, a small sigh escaping my lips when I saw him naked for the first time, his slender body rising again over mine. He ran his thumb over my lip, slowly, and then moved his hand to my T-shirt. I lifted my torso so he could take it off. He caressed my collarbone as he looked into my eyes, my lips slightly parted as I felt my face heat up.

There was something strangely vulnerable about being naked in front of him; about letting him see me whole, about seeing and feeling his body for the first time. He looked at me, hesitant, as if asking for permission. I placed my hand on his shoulder, then brought it to his neck and pulled him closer. He kissed me again as he slid into me, slowly. I moaned into his mouth, feeling my whole body heat up.

He held onto my hair as he deepened the kiss, his tongue moving against mine as he moved inside me, at first in an agonizingly slow pace, but then faster and faster until he reached a steady rhythm. His kiss, so firm, became erratic as low, hoarse moans escaped from his lips. I breathed quickly as I felt pleasure fill my entire body, embracing him tightly, his large frame pressed against mine.

I wanted to melt under his touch, to become a part of him forever. I loved him so much right then that I could have died right there — and I would have died happily.

I moaned his name as I arched my back, pleasure and devotion filling my entire body. He pulled away from our kiss, panting as he gripped my waist hard enough to bruise my skin, pulling me closer so he could reach deeper inside me. It hurt a bit, but it was also so good that I couldn't even care. I felt the tension build in my womb, moaning loudly as he started moving even faster.

“James... I'm so, so close…” I half-moaned, half-sobbed, my legs trembling as I held onto his arms tightly, “James, oh shit, please, harder… ”

James closed his eyes, low moans escaping his lips as he lifted my legs, wrapping them around his hips, pushing into me forcefully. He buried his face in my neck as I dug my nails into his back, my whole body shaking as he moaned my name in my ear.

I couldn't hold back any longer; the knot in my belly unraveled in deep contractions that pulled him further inside me, devouring him completely. He shuddered, moaning loudly as he climaxed inside me, filling me up until there was nothing left, only our exhausted bodies, wrapped around each other as the waves of pleasure overcame us.

I let out a low sigh as he pulled out, lying on his back beside me, running a hand through his hair. I turned, lying on my side, watching his face as he looked back at me, his eyes out of focus as he tried to steady his breath.

“Can I crash here tonight?” he asked, breathlessly. The question caught me off guard, and I burst into a surprised laugh. I nodded, and he stretched with a grunt. “Oh, thank goodness. I'm so beat. C’mere.”

I chuckled softly as he pulled me closer, giving my cheek a light peck before pulling the covers over us. I sighed, realizing that I, too, was tired. I knew that soon I'd have to let myself process everything that had happened that night. That after feeling James's touch, after surrendering myself fully to him, the mourning for my relationship with Dave was about to get even more complicated.

Maybe I should've waited. Maybe I shouldn't have even hopped on this tour. But none of that mattered now, did it? I could figure out these feelings in the morning. Right now, all that mattered was the boy beside me, softly snoring as he held me close, the memory of his touch still vivid — and my heart, feeling more alive after being with him than it had in months.

✧ if you'd like to be tagged on the next parts, let me know and I'll add you to the tag list! ❤ ✧

tag list: @killazilla777 @whatsupvic @70srogah @genswine9

[fuckmeyer]

Come Nightfall deleted scenes: Hunting with the Boys

[in which Bells seeks answers about the Cold Ones...and the mysterious Sam Uley]

We jostled over steeper, windier, narrower roads until the shoulder gave us just enough space to park. Charlie slowed to a crawl and pulled over. For a moment, even the engine’s growl stood no chance against the sounds of the forest; the chirping, buzzing, the fluttering tree leaves drowned everything else out.

“Just wanna make sure you’re okay.” The crawl turned to a halt. Charlie jerked the steering wheel to twist the tires. The engine died. All of our silence got swallowed by the forest looming over us.

I looked at my father.

Yeah, the stress of chasing a serial kidnapper had put more salt in that salt-and-pepper hair, deeper wrinkles in his forehead. But I couldn’t help but notice that that the rings under his eyes had faded to a light lilac. How his thinned face looked slightly rounder.

I couldn’t help but notice how he had been humming most of the way up here. While we listened to golf on the radio.

Charlie was undoubtedly okay. For once, a plan I had had worked. That small lining of relief—despite the fear and anxiety and pain and danger and isolation—made this ugly foray into the paranormal world worth it. For now. And I didn’t have time to regret what could have been or what might be.

My loved ones were happy. Even though I didn’t live with him, Charlie and I still hung out Wednesdays and Sundays. I had balance.

It was enough.

“I’m okay,” I said as he got out of the car. “Just tired is all.”

“You talk to your doctor?”

“Yeah.” No. “They’re not gonna do anything until I’ve been on the new meds for a while, so.”

Charlie threw the driver-side door open. “Speaking of doctors,” he said, “we might wanna take it easy on Harry today, huh?”

“Sure, how come?”

“Just some stuff going on with his heart,” said Charlie. “He’s fine, but this isn’t gonna be some ten-mile hike like you n’ Jake are used to. Probably do a loop, check the traps, break at one of the stands.”

“I can circle back.”

Just as he got up to exit the car, Charlie halted and turned to me. “I want you to stick by us, Bells,” said my father, voice stern. “I mean it. Just last week we had another disappearance ‘bout twenny miles north of here. Better we stick together.” His door slammed shut.

I chewed the inside of my lip, not moving. “Megabear?”

The back door flung open and he poked his head in as he grabbed his gun case. “Could be, I s’pose. I’ll leave it to the forest rangers to decide. ‘Course if anyone’s gonna catch ‘em, it’s gonna be your old man and Harry. —You get something to eat this morning?”

Crap. I just made a sentimental speech about Charlie; now I had to lie to him? “Yeah, no worries. I got breakfast.” I struggled out of the passenger door to wheel around to the back. My bow case—or, really, Billy’s bow case—sat on the floor of the backseat. I wriggled it out and set it on the seat.

With his door still flung open, my father tossed something that crinkled across the seat. It hit the flat side of my bow case.

A granola bar.

When I looked up at him, he gave me a curt nod. “Have more breakfast,” Charlie gruffed.

He slammed the door shut.

*

“Your old man’s been on the bear’s path for over an hour, still hasn’t even taken the first shot,” Harry complained, breathless. “Can’t keep up with me like he used to, that’s for damn sure.” And this old man cackled.

We’d already set most of our stuff down in the clearing, opting to talk a short loop with our weapons while waiting for Charlie to get back. It made me nervous, thinking he was walking out all alone. But Harry had reassured me that Charlie “knew what he was doing.” So Harry and I stuck together, walking in silence.

“Just likes to be sure of his shot is all,” I said. Though I was sure the real reason had to do with tainting the meat by making two shots. He only said it a billion times. “One and done.”

It felt a little awkward, considering I’d kinda pissed him off last night at the fish fry.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” Harry chuckled. We faded into silence. Then, as if reading my mind: “About yesterday,” said Harry, and my heart sunk.

“Yeah. Uh. Sorry. I forgot that Sam and—er, I mean, I didn’t think—”

“I know you want to help,” he said, talking over me in a grizzled voice. I shut up. Harry cleared his throat and continued. “And the way Billy’s been talkin, you’d think the whole damn sky’s about to fall down.” My heart sunk. “But I just want you to rest assured, we’ve got everything under control. Okay?”

The unease filling my stomach like sand made my lips twist into a grimace. Why reassure me about something I’d never expressed worry about? “Yeah. Right. I just—if I can be of any help, in any—”

“Protecting yourself and others is what you can do to help,” said Harry. “We’ve got everything under control, but only if everyone works together to play their parts. You understand me?”

“Yes, sir.” No.

“Sometimes,” he said, “for the good of the community, we gotta stay disparate and isolated. We don’t want to appear too unified. It gives the opportunity for our enemies to get to know us. You understand?”

“Yes, sir.” No.

Was that to say that Sam was part of some disparate, isolated group, as I was? No, that couldn’t be true. Sam spent all his time with his second- and third-in-command, Jared and Paul. He wasn’t isolated like I was.

“You’ll have your chance to get to know everyone,” said Harry. “But for now, you know, we’ve gotta pick the right moments to help each other out. And we gotta think long and hard about who we choose to be around,” said Harry.

We looked at each other.

“I...don’t understand.”

“We pick up the scents of our loved ones,” he said. “That affects who the cold ones target.”

Oh. An icy anxiety gripped me. Still, I found myself blurting out “What?”, unable to finish my thought. “We—but—we’re with Charlie right now.”

“Charlie’s as safe as anyone could be,” said Harry. “We don’t need to worry about a veteran cop. Being the chief of the force means he’s less likely to be a target to anyone. He’s too visible. And a good shot.” Harry stared at me, as if hoping I’d jump in with another name. But I didn’t. So he did. “I’m talking about Jake.”

“J—Jake?” The defense came faster than my brain could think. “I—well, I always keep a knife on me. And we, we’re not, y’know—it’s not like we’re going vampire hunting or anything.” Where was this coming from? Why hadn’t Billy said anything to me?

“He’s a boy,” said Harry. “He’s young, he’s vulnerable, and he’s going off to college in a few months. We need to keep in mind that when we spend time with him, he becomes a target.” Beat. “And if you hang out with Jake...you can’t be around Sam.”

My heart sunk. Chills scattered slowly up the veins of my hand, my wrist. My fingers went numb. Why didn’t Billy mention it? “So when you say ‘we,’” I said as Harry frowned, “does that also inclu—"

“Shh. Hang on,” whispered Harry, clasping a hand on my shoulder to halt me. His eyes searched the area. With his free hand, he steadied his gun. His stalking steps were silent--even to my ears.

I froze. Fragments of my dream floated around my head and made me shiver.

Harry’s safety clicked off.

I pulled my bowstring back.

Threads of icy air that I had passed off as cold morning wind made my skin prickle at the back of the neck. The heavy unease that I had dismissed as uncertainty from last night settled like a huge stone in my stomach.

Vampire.

My grip tightened. I swallowed a shallow breath.

But the feeling wasn’t as acute. The smell didn’t permeate the air.

Whoever had crossed through here hadn’t done so recently.

“Hm.” Harry gestured for me to look at the ground, several paces from our feet. Still panting, he squatted down on the hams of his legs with a grunt. “Here’s what you’re looking out for,” he said, pointing to the ground.

I relaxed my grip, arrow unknocked. When I bent over him, Harry was tracing the deep half-moon divot in the soggy ground with his finger. Chills swept the nape of my neck.

My breath caught. Is that…?

“These kinda markers can be easy to miss, so be careful. It’s a footprint, see? The cold ones take less steps when they run. They don’t run like you n’ I do, see, they land more forward, on their toes. They’ll dig these deep sorta divots in the ground for leverage. See how this round part is facing us?” I nodded. Harry, breathing deeply, turned towards where we came from, and I mirrored him. “That’s its direction,” he said, pointing.

My veins iced over. The panic in my chest never rose above a simmer. The smell of vampire had become too faint to consider it an active threat. I frowned and turned back to Harry, saying as if it wasn’t actually a panicked confirmation, “Yeah, but they didn’t come through here today.”

“No, they’re not here now,” he said. “Musta came through ‘bout a day ago or so. See, the mud’s had time to set and dry.”

I nodded, turning back to the path we took anyway. As if we’d see one now, on this rare sunny day. I spun back around again to face him. “How d’you know all this?”

“I could ask you the same,” he said with a wry grin. “I saw you pick up on it. The smell.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, ignoring him. “You and Billy both…” I hesitated. It sounded accusatory: You and Harry both know how to track vampires. Why? How?

“For some of us, our relationship with the paranormal stretches way back,” he replied, arching a brow. “Reckon it’s the same for you.”

I looked back down at the ground, if only to look at something else.

Anything else.

Instead of concentrating on the horrific notion that I, like Caitlin and Billy and Harry, had always had a relationship with vampires.

Besides the thought being terrifying, it also meant that the last several months of Edward leaving meant nothing. It prevented nothing, solved nothing, did nothing. My relationship with vampires, with or without Edward, would always stretch out into the infinite.

That sucked.

Examining the half-footprint left in the dirt, it looked bigger than what I imagined Victoria’s footprint to be. “Who d’you think it is?”

“We’re working on it,” he said.

“You and, and Billy?” I said. Harry nodded. “And Sam?”

Harry side-eyed me but said nothing.

He told me we had to be an isolated, disparate community. If that were true, why did he keep saying “we”?

Why couldn’t “we” include me?

“Here. See. When we see these tracks,” he continued, pulling out a crumpled receipt and a pen from his shirt pocket, “you mark down the location. We have markers set up on Old Quil’s place that correspond to coordinates--coordinates are written on the markers. You remember that map we gave you last summer? You use that. Mmkay?” Harry did the same, clicked, the pen, put the materials back in his pocket. “Then we erase it.” His foot stomped into the sinking mud, then smeared the print with his boot heel. “Got it?”

If I ever wanted to be part of this “we,” it was clear that I had to know something. Provide something. Do something. I had to become too invaluable to ignore.

Not that I had anything worth of value. My bow skills were okay, and I guess the porcelain white-tipped arrows Billy gave me, like the knife, were presumably to fight vampires.

But who knew if the arrows were fast enough for them? Who knew whether I could hit a vampire on the move? Whether vampires could even die with human weapons in the first place, being so indestructible as they were?

Who knew if I would ever be good enough?

“Is it a girl?” I asked him. “The cold one?” Harry looked at me but said nothing, just gestured for me to walk back to the clearing with him. It felt awkward to talk about what I knew. As if it wasn’t the biggest secret of my life. “It doesn’t seem like it’s her this time. Victoria. I—” But I hesitated at telling him the truth, why I thought it wasn’t Victoria. The smell. The lights. All it would do was out me as a freaky human hybrid. “I dunno. The Cullens chased her into Europe several months ago,” I said, hustling to his side. “If she’s back, she’s probably looking for them. Or—me.”

“Doesn’t seem to be the motive,” was all Harry said.

I pressed on, desperate, at least, to be useful. “She has this neon green light power,” I said. “That’s how she lures her victims.”

Now Harry didn’t look at me. “I know.”

Where I hoped he couldn’t hear me, I sighed. I kept my eyes pinned on the trail as we walked, thinking to myself.

“Why can’t I?” I asked him. “Know.”

“Not the right time,” said Harry.

“But when is?”

“When I—we—say so.”

This would have to be my new project. Being valuable enough to be included. Learning enough information to—

“Whoa,” I said, gazing down at the huge paw print in front of me, like a gaping wound in the earth. The thing was massive! It was like if two of the biggest bears in the world got together and atomically fused themselves together into one giant— “Megabear.”

That made Harry swerve around. He never smiled. Never answered me. With that same firm, somber look, he went up to where I stared, frowned at the sight of it. Then he rubbed out the huge paw print with the heel of his boot. Fresh overturned soil erased the print.

He turned. “Better be getting back.”

“Aren’t you gonna write down the coordinates?”

“No need,” he said, and he didn’t speak again.

[tragedycoded]

heyyy, now that dmls is finally finished, I wanna ask: Was there anything you were forced to cut from it?? (And if so, can we see it??)

Leah! Hi! Thank you for the ask :> This turned into a giant post, I am so sorry LOL.

I'm going to show you something that was cut because I realized they were in a time loop midway through draft 4.

So ORIGINALLY, in March 1873, Sullivan and Hofer were afield (on a military operation that had them sleeping in bedrolls in the middle of nowhere.) Lon threw a note wrapped around a brick through Royston's window, only it wasn't Royston's window, it was his neighbor. Neighbor was like LON YOU FUCKING MORON and walked the note over to Royston, who came out on the balcony and provoked Lon into challenging him to a duel (we see him do this in January.)

I cut this chapter because I realized they were in a time loop as I was writing it.

The first half is whatever, it's Buck telling the story to Sullivan, who starts asking questions, and if I were going to show it to folks I'd have to run it by my roommate (my sensitivity reader) bc Buck is being mean/rude to Sullivan.

But yeah. Gott flat-out told Royston "Some of us remember" and I was like WHOA WAIT WHAT and just kept trucking. As one does. So this is alllllll just me letting them tell me/each other what the situation is.

It's not CANON because I haven't sorted out whose death would have caused a loop where they both were able to retain information without physical contact and also be cooperating. Possibly the second loop when Hofer was shot in the neck en route to Westerberg's cabin, but Sullivan still died in that run.

So I think of this as more like "Sullivan took over the Storyteller's little room outside spacetime and used it to conspire with Royston to get me to let him save Hofer." (Hofer died in draft 3.)

It will probably appear as a scene in the interactive novel, because the more I think about it the more I think they could have avoided doing this eight fucking times. If I get them cooperating sooner, then it doesn't make sense that Sullivan would be cross with Royston for so long that Royston has to follow him to Fort Cano. That's a Bad Ending. But we don't see why Royston always has to push Sullivan off the train unless they get a Bad Ending you can't just take my word for it so a;dfa;dkfa;dlsfk.

Anyway, I have for you today ~1100 words cut from draft 4. Sullivan starts out talking to Buck, who is relaying details of the fight, and he's had enough of Buck insinuating Royston has a deal with the Devil that lets him fight so well. (He doesn't. That's what 30+ years of honing a skill will do. That's why Buck is the best shit-talker in the midwest, he'd been doing it since the [redacted] Revolution.)

"Was it quick?" Sullivan interrupted.

He didn't want to hear anymore. Every other time he'd sat and had to hear it, he'd made himself listen all the way to the end, because he thought he might hear something different. Because he needed the confirmation that Royston was exactly the sort of man he thought he was. Every other time, he did not like the answer he received, or that he had to wait until Buck's story came to its final conclusion.

Sheriff Mason wasn't going to do anything different this time Buck told the story than he did last time. Lon Huston wasn't going to not die in the street after Arthur Royston sidestepped him, got behind him, and drew a line from the tip of his blade to Huston's heart. The man he loved wasn't going to find a way out of dealing with Lon Huston that didn't involve killing him.

Cole Sullivan loved a violent man. Cole Sullivan loved a man who figured, after the second one, that killing was getting pretty easy. After the third, he started getting paid for his talent.

Sullivan wasn't but eighteen when he killed his first man. Thought he was being transferred to the sharpshooter division but they'd snagged him for the cavalry instead, assigned him a black gelding named Coal and sent him to the French border. An Osage scout, couldn't have been any older than Sullivan was, and he'd hit him from 275 meters away without waiting to be ordered. If he'd waited any longer, the scout would have fired upon their point. The other men had drank to him that night, but he hadn't felt anything but numb, after killing his first man.

Couldn't figure how Royston felt amusement before killing a man, but Sullivan hadn't had to live Royston's life. Half of what he'd told him already, seeing how the men around him treated everything as an opportunity to bet money, he could only imagine what it had been like when he was wilder and less disciplined.

This time, Buck laughed and said, "Oh, yeah, Sergeant, it was quick."

"Took about ten seconds," Gregor added.

That was all he needed to hear. Sullivan couldn't listen to any more of this.

As the first sergeant marched out, Gregor sighed, "Don't worry, Buck, I'll listen to the rest of yer dang story."

#

The trooper went out the front door, because he was angry and hoping the walk from the bar to the boarding house's parlor would give him time to cool down. Wasn't wise, standing around long enough for Buck to say something insensitive, like he had last time.

The gambler went in the back door, because he always went in the back door, and because he didn't want anyone on the main street to see him entering the saloon. Was foolhardy enough, staying in the same area that the horse thieves knew him to operate.

Last time, Sullivan had stood in the parlor for nearly ten minutes before Gott found him, and offered to carry a note across the street to the saloon. Last time, Gott had let Sullivan into Royston's room to wait for him there. Royston had been offended, when she told him this. And she had told him he was going to lose a good man if he did not stop flaunting how little he cared.

Some of us remember, Mister Royston, she had told him, last time.

And that was when the gambler understood. They were doomed.

This time, they knew they would miss each other. They knew. When Royston realized he had missed Sullivan , he narrowed his eyes at Buck and ignored him. Chose, in front of Gregor and the dozen people who were in The Pig & Whistle on a Saturday evening in March, to ignore Buchanan God-damned Yeats. Rushed the length of the bar, out the front door, down the main street, to Hell with whoever saw him, and followed Sullivan into the boarding house.

This time, they had nothing left to argue about. Last time, they had had plenty to argue about. Royston had lied to him, last time.

When Royston burst into the parlor of The German House where he often found himself opening his eyes after dying, or thinking he was going to die, or screaming well on his way to dying, he found Sullivan standing at the window, hands folded behind his back, where Royston himself had often stood while waiting for him. The lightness of his footsteps told Sullivan who it was before he turned around, and when Sullivan did turn, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips, showed his teeth, just a flash, through the salted red of his beard.

"Are you well?" Sullivan asked, this time.

"You're not angry?" Royston asked, this time.

"Why would I be angry with you​​?"

"… because you were last time we were here."

"How much can you remember?"

Royston is fraught as he pins himself in place, tapping the energy out of the toe of his loafer.

"Not enough," he said. "No names—"

"Which you don't retain to begin with," Sullivan shrugged.

"Hey!"

Sullivan cleared his throat and bit back a smile. Royston melted.

"Only a vague recollection of their fields of study… no notion of where they came from…"

"What was your associate's name?"

"Who?"

"The one who goes to… shit!"

"You can't remember anything either. We're doing something wrong."

"We remember enough, and you… you're listening to me, things are changing. We can…"

"I forget when you're not around, it's as if I have to start all over when I see you again."

"We have made progress, Arthur. I've made inquiries, and Erik is asking old classmates from the medical college if the names are at all familiar. You will hear from your associate, and we will find the right path forward from there. I recognize it is… novel, working in a group—"

"Excuse you, I have worked in a group before—"

"I apologize, Arthur, I was—"

"Making a jest?" Royston purred.

"Well... a remark that was not critical."

"If I were to provide you the opportunity to repeat the remark uninterrupted, would you take it?"

"Gladly."

Royston held out an arm to indicate Sullivan had the floor.

"I recognize it is novel for you to work in a group, but I strongly believe the three of us can stop whatever is going to happen from happening if we work together."

"Now… remind me, by three of us, are you referring to your surgeon friend, or to Molly?"

"Oh for the love of Pete, Arthur, Molly is my horse."

//

Heyyyy tag list <3

@leahnardo-da-veggie @the-golden-comet @cowboybrunch @lychhiker-writes

@wyked-ao3 @saturnine-saturneight @gioiaalbanoart @jev-urisk

[jungkookjeon0007]

Nights in Vegas | CH. 21 (JJK FF)

☆ summary: When Olivia flies to Las Vegas for her first ever BTS concert w/ her best friend, she was expecting to make lots of unforgettable memories... What she wasn't expecting was to end up with the lead singer, Jeon Jungkook, knocking on her hotel room door only to find her in nothing but a towel. What will happen when the golden maknae wants to see her again? Will it lead to heartbreak, or a promising future for them both?

☆ pairing(s): jungkook x olivia.

☆ ratings: (18+) for detailed sex scenes + harsh language.

☆ genre: smut, angst, fluff.

☆ word count: 2.57k.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

He walked me over to the bed and laid me down gently. "Do you want me to get you wet first or go straight into it this time? I don't want to hurt you."

I smiled softly at his kindness, "No need to prep me baby, I am more than ready for you."

His eyes turned hungry and in a second, he was attacking my lips again. "I'm going to fuck you so good baby."

He was kissing and sucking on my neck as I let a moan slip out.

"I'm ready for you Kookie, please."

He smirked, "With pleasure beautiful."

He stood up from the bed, taking his shirt off and as he went to reach for his belt, I interrupted him, "WAIT!"

He looked at me in confusion, but that was soon replaced with a smirk when I continued, "Can I undress you the rest of the way."

"Of course. I'm all yours."

I bit my lip as I undid his belt and while looking up at him, looped my fingers under the hem of his boxers. I slowly slid his pants down, salivating as I was face to face with his huge erection. I palmed him through his boxers for a minute, then when I had him writhing under my touch, I pulled them down releasing his perfect dick. It sprung out, hard and on full display for me. The head red, leaking with pre cum and I couldn't help myself as I leaned forward and licked it off the tip. This caught him off guard and his breath got caught in his throat as he took a deep breath. I swirled my tongue around the tip of his member taking my time until I took him by surprise, taking his full length into mouth all at once.

"Holy fucking shit baby-" He moaned out and began breathing heavily. "You're so good at sucking my dick. Mmmmm."

I smirked, popping him out of my mouth.

I ran my tongue slowly up his shaft and once I got to the tip, I swirled my tongue around it again before pleasuring him with my mouth and hand in perfect sync. He reached down, grabbing a handful of my hair as he started thrusting into my mouth. My own saliva was dripping down my chin at this point, but I was not fucking stopping. 

We continued like this until his thrusts began to get sloppier and I could tell he was getting close, "Oh fuck baby, I'm so so close-"

He threw his head back and tightly shut his eyes as sweat was beading up on his forehead.

He moaned out again, "Oh, shit just like that. Please don't stop."

Never in a million years would I have stopped. Even though my throat was getting sore, I kept going until this man got his release.

A few moments later, he stilled his hips as I felt his hot cum shooting down the back of my throat. I swallowed every last drop as he snapped his hips, riding his high out completely before pulling his member out of my mouth.

He was out of breath, but pulled me up to him, and was caressing my skin. "That was so damn amazing baby. I swear to god. But, now it's your turn."

Before I could comprehend what he said, his hands found my button up shirt, tearing it open as the sound of buttons hitting the floor echoed throughout the room

I whimpered at the action as he kissed my neck. "Oops, sorry. I guess you'll have to wear one of mine now. What a shame."

I moaned when I felt him smirk on my skin, "Now, let's get these clothes off of you."

He stripped me down intoxicatingly slow then grabbed my boob, circling his tongue around my hardened nipple."I love your titties Liv, oh my god."

My head was thrown back as moans spilled out.

I wanted him so badly that I was beginning to ache between my legs. I rubbed them together and he must have known why because he looked at me, releasing my nipple. "Don't worry baby girl, I'll take care of that."

He quickly stripped my panties off, slipping his tattooed fingers into my dripping wet folds, and expertly rubbing my swollen clit. "Fucking shit you're so wet. I want to taste you so badly."

Holy hell. Since when did soft Jungkook become so dominant and vocal during sex.

I whimpered, laying my head on his shoulder as he continued rubbing me.I was a moaning mess and started begging him, "Kookie please. I'm begging you to fuck me, I need you."

He smiled. "Okay baby, all you had to do was ask."

He slipped his fingers out of my wetness, bringing them up to his mouth, and while maintaining eye contact, licked them clean. "Mmmm, you taste like strawberries and whip cream. So delicious."

I grabbed his face and kissed him harshly. Without a single word, he grabbed my hips,  turning me around so my back was pressed on his front. "Let's try a new position, hmm?"

I nodded as he whispered in my ear, "Get on all fours for me like a good girl."

I did as he wanted, crawling onto the bed on all fours. My ass was in the air and I looked back to see him ogling at me. "You know what? Fuck it."

In a second he was on the bed behind me and his hot mouth found my wet core.

"Holy shit." I moaned out.

I couldn't stop myself from being so loud as he was eating me out so fucking good that the noises alone from the contact was enough to send me into a frenzy.

My legs were shaking and I put my face in the sheets to hide my moans."Don't hide them baby. Let everyone know how good I make you feel."

With that said, he sat up and aligned himself with my entrance rubbing my swollen pussy with his member. "Remember, don't hide those beautiful moans from me, okay."

He slammed into me, "Oh fuck, you're so damn tight Liv. Mmmmm."

He was moving a little bit at a time and rubbing my ass gently to soothe me. A few thrusts later, he began to thrust harder and before long all you could hear echoing throughout the room was the slapping of skin and uncontrollable moans from the both of us.

"I'm so close." He moaned out.

"Ahh, fuck me too. Keep going, don't stop!"

He started fucking me even harder and before I knew it, the knot in my stomach finally snapped. I moaned so loud there was no doubt that everyone on this entire floor heard me. A few seconds after me, he was also coming undone, "Oh fuck baby, I'm-" And he started shooting his cum deep inside of me before finishing his sentence.

He rode out his high then pulled out as we both collapsed onto the bed.

. . .

[Jungkook's POV]

We laid on the bed until our breathing returned to normal, and stared at each other as she laid on my chest.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked softly.

"I spoke with Bang PD earlier about our relationship and how I wanted to continue being with you even when I go back to Korea. I told him about all the amazing times we've had together here, and how much I have fallen in love with you."

She sat up and looked me in the eyes."What'd he say?"

"He told me that he was glad I got to experience these things, that he would think about it, and call me back in an hour or so."

She smirked at me. "Ahhh, so that's why you had an hour or so before you had to do anything, huh?"

I smirked as my cheeks turned red. "Shut up." I playfully shoved her, planting a soft kiss on her cheek as she giggled.

"But to answer your question, yes. That's what I'm waiting on."

"Are you nervous about what he'll say?" I stared at the ceiling, thinking.

I'm actually not that scared, but part of me feels that he will put some type of stipulation on the relationship and have several rules that we must follow.

Just then, her phone ringing brought me out of my thoughts.

Olivia's side of the conversation:

"Hello?" "Yeah, I'm with him now." "Okay yeah sure! Let me just tell him and then I will meet you down there in 30." "Okay! I'll see you then! Love you too."

End of conversation.

"Who was that?" I asked curiously.

She put her phone on the table as she answered, "Lacie, she's wanting to go shopping and get some souvenirs for her family. I promised I would go with hero."

"Yeah absolutely! Go and have fun. I am just going to be relaxing here for a bit before the concert. I will have a car pick you up at 7 and bring you to the stadium, okay?"

She leaned in, planting a sweet kiss on my lips, "Sounds perfect, Kookie."

We started giggling until the air got serious the moment I received a text message. I leaned over on the night stand to check who it was, and was shocked to see Bang PD's name with a text message:

Bang PD: I will be calling you in about 10 minutes. I've made a decision and would like to talk to you.. Alone.

We both looked from my phone screen to each other. Alone... that made it much more serious.

"Hey. Jungkook, look at me."

I looked up at her with sad eyes thinking the worst but she grabbed my face and kissed my nose, "Baby, you don't even know what he's going to say. Before you start freaking out.. hear him out. You never know, his answer could surprise you."

I grabbed her wrist and held it as she continued to hold my face, "What did I do to deserve someone like you?"

I almost said it so softly that it was a whisper, but she heard me anyways. "You followed your heart and allowed yourself to do what you wanted for a change and I'm so proud of you."

"I love you." I stated as I smiled at her.

"I love you too baby."

. . .

Time skip

[Author's POV]

Olivia had just left to go with Lacie for the day, and Jungkook was straightening up his room. All of a sudden his phone started ringing with an incoming FaceTime call from Bang PD. Jungkook took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he answered the call, "Hello."

"Hello JK, how are you feeling?"

"Honestly I'm a bit nervous sir, but I will be okay."

"Right. Well, I am going to get straight to it if you'd prefer me to do that so we can get this out of the way."

He gulped harshly, "Umm, o-okay. I'm ready."

He was pouring sweat. Hot. Anxious. He even felt a little bit sick to his stomach. He didn't know what Bang was going to say, but what he did know is that whatever he says will determine everything for him and Olivia.

Bang cleared his throat, "Okay, so I definitely did a lot of thinking and weighed all options about how this could work for the both of you and I think personally that the only way this could work, is if she would agree to come to Korea with you so I can see what I think of the pair of you. She can stay at your apartment with you, as I think it's best and want to see how serious she is for you and how well you two do together. I know it's a lot, but that is what my stipulations are because too much lays on the line for you to pack up and leave her here while you're all the way in Korea. If something would happen to leak out and we weren't prepared to handle it... it could be a nightmare not only for you and the members, but for her as well and I definitely don't want that for anyone."

Silence.

Bang sighed, "I'm sorry that I had to come to this decision, but I truly think it's for the best. She needs to see if she can handle this life and see if she can be apart of your world before you guys try to be too serious. It can be a lot for some people and you at least need to let her make that choice for herself."

Silence.

Bang sighed heavily, knowing that this was a lot for Jungkook to process. They sat there in silence for a second until he spoke again. "Do you have any questions or anything? I don't want to be the bad guy here Jungkook, but you boys have worked so hard to build where you are in your professional careers. It's my job to protect you and be sure that you are taken care of."

Jungkook closed his eyes and let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in, "I-I guess I have no choice right? This is what I will have to do to be with her."

"I'm so sorry. I am just thinking about you boys. The possible outcomes of this going south if she doesn't come with you is very high. We can keep you both private in Korea so much easier and you'll be with her all the time at your apartment I'm sure."

"I appreciate you looking out for us Bang, truly. I just need to figure out how I am going to explain all of this to her. Hopefully she understands, I just hate to take her away from everything she knows including her family. Korea is a very intimidating place at first and I don't want to push her away."

"I understand completely. I really do, I spoke with a few of the trusted staff and they all think it's a good idea as well. You've worked too hard to let it all fall apart JK."

He nodded. "I understand sir. Thank you for at least trying for us and I will talk to her tonight to see what she thinks. Could I call you back to let you know something tomorrow?"

"Of course. Take all of the time that you need and if we are finished here, I unfortunately have a meeting that I need to attend. I will talk to you soon and remember to not be so hard on yourself about this or think the negatives."

"Thank you. I will talk to you soon."

They hung up the phone and Jungkook threw his phone on the bed beside him, grabbing his hair. He was feeling so stressed out and didn't know how to process all that Bang had just said. Of course he knows to be grateful that he even considered something as crazy as this, but never did he think he would have to ask her to move to Korea and change her entire life for him. So much to think about, so much to talk to her about and he was beyond exhausted.

He laid back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling. "How am I supposed to do this? I don't want her to leave me."

A tear rolled down his cheek at the thought and before he knew it, he was crying.

Tonight is going to be a very rough night.

[lavenderjewels]

JJK season 2 episode 21 thoughts! ✨

Went into this episode expecting the iconic “I am you” scene to be animated, left with two incredible works of art now ingrained into my memories (todo and takada-chan beating up mahito)

All this about Todo wanting to imitate All Might from MHA last episode, but I’m thrilled that the animators confirmed that Todo is actually living the magical idol anime dream that Gege Akutami initially was going to write before starting JJK. AND managed to make the volume cover I never really liked into a beautiful and hilarious moment 💗✨

Music / ost worked the entire episode and went silent when it was needed. Some of the previous eps had parts with their pacing or music that lessened the emotions of the scenes (e.g. right after Nanami died), but everything here flowed well!

As much as I like talking about JJK, sometimes, at my core, I just like watching a good and entertaining fight scene, and that was a majority of this episode until the end. It battle shonen’d in the best way a battle shonen can be. It’s a satisfying feeling to have snail mahito, a birthday, a magical girl segment, and a metaphorical rabbit wolf clashing of truths all in one fight.

The voice acting still amazing with every episode—Mahito and Yuuji being the highlights. I’ve said this a few times, but Mahito’s VA captures the (literal) childish personality and mindset of his character. Last episode, it was how he threw around and yelled at Yuuji like a kid throwing around a doll. This ep was along the same lines, with him immediately crying and throwing dirt at Yuuji. It’s not the exact same, since he is a curse, but it shows how he just came into being and was constantly learning and curious about the world. And the second Yuuji actually badly hurts him, stops him from running away, and repeats similar beliefs back to him, he breaks down. They really are the “same.”

Now Yuuji!!! His new conviction, if it can be called that, about being a cog made to kill curses until he’s worn out. Not exactly the healthiest mindset, but it’s an unsurprising progression after losing control of his own body/autonomy, losing his mentor and best friend (both figures of reassurance and hope), having his entire foundation for living and abiding by his grandpa’s dying wishes be challenged—all while needing to keep moving forward, to not fall into complete despair.

The voice acting in his speech back to Mahito sounded lifeless, but authentic to what he now believes. I appreciated how little the VA gave emphasis to any words and spoke it all in one similar tone. Some of the way it was spoken also sounded like it was affected somewhat by his mouth wound, which was a nice touch.

Manga spoilers for the points below‼️

Continuing: Yuuji’s new mindset is faulty and I love how much the episode shows the flaws of how Mahito and him thought, and how they’re both still incredibly young with their views constantly challenged by their new experiences. We get what’s supposed to be a cathartic scene of Yuuji killing Mahito and stalking him like a predator towards a prey animal, only to have the final killing blow be taken by Kenjaku, another predator (when your mom steals your deserved murder 🙄).

I’ve always appreciated how this moment was not presented as this great turn of beliefs that leads to success, and instead immediately gives him this unfulfilling and destructive outcome. Like, I’ll take Yuuji beating Mahito as a momentary win, but it’s not going to work out in the long run for himself or anyone. Which makes me interested in where his character is headed for the rest of the manga. There’s probably more to say with him regarding the story’s themes on strength/weakness, enlightenment, hunger, etc., but I love what we are given here.

His entire cog in a machine (of war) also reminds me of the series’ title emphasizing endless repetition of fights and everything looping (got the translation from the blog at kylescooter.com). JJK has constant examples and themes of past generation vs new generations, traditional vs unconventional, etc, but also repeating history and being stuck in the same ways. This post is already too long, but I wonder how Gege will conclude all this and if anything will change.

Said up there that there wasnt anything I disliked about the episode, but I do wish wolf Kenjaku was added! Not just because I adore the scene (for its imagery and hinting at them being related), but also because it would’ve been cool to transition out of that scene by having wolf Kenjaku show up.

Next ep will have Choso, the Kyoto school, Kenjaku, Uraume, and Yuki!! Also that Mei Mei scene which I am absolutely dreading.

Also the next ep preview with Kenjaku was fun

[waitmyturtles]

I was following Bed Friend, episode 4 right up until the second-to-last scene (although I think I can get my interpretation straight on it once I’m done writing) -- but anyway, that scene of Uea chatting it up with that dude at the bar threw me a bit.

BECAUSE, as yesterday’s reviews noted -- King was king in this episode. Catching Uea’s anxiety! Helping him to relax! The birthday cake! Uea’s SMILE at the birthday cake!

AND, AND: the “I”-speak -- King saying he doesn’t want to see his family because of his mom. Embodying what Uea can’t bring himself to do (yet). 

AND: King’s presence in the office. I’m here, Uea. Solid. You need me, I got you, and I’m gonna remind you. I can help hold you down when you need me.

AND: good god. The poisonous aftereffects of filial piety. The fact that Uea’s mom had to get his sister to get Uea home. TAKE A HINT, LADY. THAT MOM IS SUCH AN ABUSIVE JACKASS, FUCK HER (sorry for yelling), UGH. 

And the flashback scenes. AND the step-dad trying to talk to Uea. The lonely birthdays. GAH. My Uea. Families can really SUCK SOMETIMES.

This episode held a LOT, and I think with a touch more sophisticated writing, it would have held together better. Like I said, I think up until that drunk scene at the bar, we saw the emotional processing between King and Uea really get underway (and man, Net is acting the HELL out of King, BEAUTIFULLY). I can’t wait until Uea feels comfortable enough to confide in King. We see it getting there -- which is why that bar scene threw me.

But -- so now I’m wondering, because I’m processing while writing. Was that bar scene meant to indicate that Uea is still back-and-forth on his journey to healing? That he’s susceptible to relapse, to hiding away from King again while he’s getting closer to King? Maybe. In which case -- WOW. THAT’S actually sophisticated behavioral representation. I’m just not sure it was done quite right to close that loop.

But it’s a minor quibble. This was a wild, traumatic, and lovely episode all at once. King being Uea’s healer (and maybe even Uea being King’s healer, too)... the motif of softly blowing cool air on wounds. That was lovely. I’m fully invested in this show, although I’m concerned for the preview throwing in what might be yet another traumatizing character.

[concealeddarkness13]

WHG 20 Prompt 6 - Triel

This one is a little out of order, but I wrote this one first, so I’ll post this first. Triel’s scene with Asher makes more sense with this post! Tagging: @ratracechronicler (thanks for Atwater!), @maple-writes (thanks for Asher!), @pen-of-roses (thanks for Din and Silver!), @drabbleitout, @grailfish (thanks for Yuen and Razz!), @forthesanityofsome, and @pied-piper-of-hamlet! 4,800 words.

It was time to really start recruiting. I watched tributes for a while, and Yuen and Razz, District 2, caught my eyes. They seemed to be arguing, so of course, I walked over to listen closer.

They were both over by the knives, and I got to hear a bit first, since they were talking loud enough, lol.

Razz was trying to whisper. “Can you STOP fucking doing that?”

“Doing what?” Yuen looked unimpressed about it.

“You know what you’re doing.”

Yuen’s eyes went back to the dummy. “My aim is too good. I keep hitting the target.” Even though he hadn’t even thrown a knife.

“Well aim somewhere else then, shitwizz!”

I had heard rumors of what Yuen could do, and that Razz could see the timeloops, which fucking sucked for them. I wanted to get them both out and even see if Yuen could help with the plan.

I walked closer so I wouldn’t be talking too loud. “Do you need a chaperone, you two?” I smirked.

Razz stiffened, but Yuen just looked over at me, narrowing his eyes slightly. He snapped his fingers down by his side. Interesting.

“What’s it to you?” Razz snapped. Their eyes kept darting, and they couldn’t seem to stand still.

Yuen just turned back to the dummies and threw his knife way off target, having it clatter uselessly against the wall and down to the floor. “Well, I guess I suck at knives.” He was speaking too loudly. “Time to move on to something else.”

He started to leave, as if I wasn’t worth his time, so I had to let him know I knew more about him than I should. “You’d know all about time, wouldn’t you, Yuen? How many times have you looped just today?”

He tilted his head at me, and there was just a glimmer that he might have been impressed with me. “You have any idea how fucking crazy you sound right now, Triel Reeves?” Annoying, but I could hound him until he admitted it. He shoulder-checked me as he left, but he leaned in close. “Save the chat for later.”

Fine, I’d find him tonight. Razz looked pissed off, but they also left, so I just wandered off to look around again and check out the survival stations.

And just my luck, Din was at the fire-starting station! The Capitol desperately wanted to take her back, so I had to try to recruit her before they could take her back. I sat next to her and started working.

I glanced over at her. “The chariots were fun last night, right?”

“There is definitely an amount of joy to be had at disrupting the Capitol’s plans, yes.” She smiled and straightened, looking over at me.

“It truly is. And I have another way to disrupt their plans even more.” I eyed her, and she looked interested.

“Oh, that sounds exciting. By the looks of the way you’ve approached, you seem to already have an interest in me. I prefer Din to the full name they’re using. But I’m afraid I didn’t catch yours?”

I held out my hand to her. “My name is Triel. It’s nice to meet you, Din. I’ve heard you’ve been defying the Capitol, and I have a special interest in helping people who are running from the Capitol.”

“It’s lovely to meet you as well.” She shook my hand. “And well, my efforts have been less than successful.” She motioned around. “So if you have a better plan, I’m all ears.”

“I have led an escape before, and I feel more confident about my plans this time. I want to get as many out as I can.” I leaned in closer to whisper. “I have a teleportation device to help us get out, after I put on a distraction for the Capitol.”

She raised her eyebrows, staring at me in surprise. She stepped back, looking me over. “That’s a dragon of a claim.” Her eyes flashed gold, and I tilted my head at that. “This isn’t some trick is it?” She crossed her arms, setting her jaw. “I’m not going back to the temple to be their doll, I’ll take them all to the abyss myself first.”

Fuck that temple. “I can show you, if you’d like! I hate the Capitol, and they would want me dead if they knew my secret. I would never bring anyone back to them.”

“Show me then.” She still looked skeptical, but hopefully, this would help.

“Let’s go somewhere a little more private first, if that’s okay with you. I’d rather not show it off where everyone can see.”

“Only makes sense after all, lead the way. If you please.” She smiled and bowed her head slightly.

Wonderful! I led her up to the roof, where there was a nice garden and absolutely no cameras. The best place in the fucking Capitol. I touched my ear, and the teleporter grew into a small computer. Damn, Shine was the best. “Is there any place in particular you’d like to see?”

She stared at me with surprise and took a bit before she responded. “What are the limits on that?”

“This continent. That’s the only limit.”

“A library. A real one with books a records, and not one of the Capitol’s digital equivalents with everything censored to the abyss and back.”

I nodded. District 10. They had an underground library. I typed in the information. “It’s ready. Do you want to take my hand? We have to be touching so I can bring you too.”

She took my hand, and I hit the button, and here we were. Inside the underground library.

The guards stared at me, but they recognized me, so they didn’t say anything.

Din stared, but soon she hurried over to the books and looking through them. I let her look at them, not wanting to interrupt her joy. She eventually looked over at me. “This is incredible. How did you…where did you even get this technology? Why not just get everyone out now if you have that capability? Abyss, there’s so many ways that could be implemented to help the districts if you could make more. If you keep it out of the Capitol’s hands, they wouldn’t even stand a chance.”

Valid points. “I’m working on it. My engineer didn’t even figure out how to make it until this year, and they will be making more. If I let everyone out now, the Capitol would hunt us even worse than they will after the Games, and they would just take more victims into the arena in our places. That’s not any better.”

She sighed, not saying something for a while. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. Still, this is simply incredible. And this place is practically a scholar’s dream in this time. Most of these were thought to be lost and others they weren’t even records of. Promise me you can bring me back here and I’ll help you however I can.”

Of course. I nodded, saving the library in the teleporter. “I certainly will bring you back.”

Her eyes brightened. “Thank you!”

I nodded again. “And we can stay for a while too. They won’t miss us.”

Din laughed, her eyes wide. “I’d say you were sent by the veyrit if I didn’t know any better! Do you know this place well? Are there any discussions of magic or powerful beings? Oh, I wish I had brought a notebook with me this morning,” she mumbled the last part, searching her pockets.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have paper or pen. I smiled. “No, no gods sent me. There are discussions, but very sporadically, so as not to let the Peacekeepers know.”

“That’s fine, even just a few would be helpful as it is, given how limited the Capitol kept everything.” She kept reading books, and I just relaxed and chatted with the guards as we stayed away from the Capitol. Probably the best time I’d have today.

*

That night, Shine told me that Yuen and Razz left their suite and headed to the training area. The perfect time to talk to them!

I headed down to the training area, and of course they were arguing again. So, I just walked towards them and interrupted. “Is it a good time to talk now?”

Razz’s arms were crossed, looking like they wanted to be anywhere else, but Yuen looked over at me with a small smile. “About time you showed up. So you’re the mastermind, huh? I’ve seen your work, was looking forward to meeting the face behind it.” He was acting a lot different from this morning. “Thought you might have better luck with me there, though.” Razz snorted and rolled their eyes.

I hummed, looking him over. He didn’t look like much, but if the rumors were true… “The offer to escape the arena is for both of you.” I looked over at Razz pointedly. “I want to get as many people out as possible.”

“Yeah, well, I shouldn’t even be here in the place,” Razz snapped. “You can go ahead and let me die in there.”

Yuen shot them a glare and spoke before I could. “I imagine the offer stands for more than just an escape plan.” He kept his voice quiet.

I first responded to Razz, shaking my head. “I won’t give up on you that easily.” Then I turned to Yuen. “I won’t require anything from you. I do have some plans to mess with the Capitol afterwards, if that’s what you’re talking about.”

His smile was too giddy. “It’s the whole reason I’m here. But I’ll do what I can to make sure your plan for the arena goes as smoothly as possible. And that this asshole won’t try to fuck it up.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” Razz said. “King of do-overs.”

“It’s called utilizing your assets.”

“It’s called ruining my fucking life, you shitstain.”

“Some things are more important than one person’s comfort.”

“You think this is about comfort?! You are the entire reason that—”

Ok. This was not going to end any time soon. I stepped between them. “Can you explain what you can do? I’ve only heard rumors.”

They both looked back at me with wide eyes. Razz crossed their arms again and leaned against the wall, blowing hair out of their face.

“I’m a Looper,” Yuen said. “I an create a time loop at will, jumping back to any point in my life, and the rest of the world jumps with me. Can’t prove it to you, cause you’d never know.” He sounded like he had said it many times before. “My family was gifted by Father Time, our deity. My grandmother was a Hopper, and her great uncle before her was another Looper.”

He glanced at Razz, who was rubbing their temples. “Razzle over there is the only one in the world who can remember the time loops for some reason. I think they may come from a family that used to be connected to mine, but they were thought to be lost long ago so the teachings aren’t very clear.” He turned back to me. “Anyway, that’s why they hate me. We hadn’t even met before the reaping.”

But they had known the effects of what Yuen did, when no one else did. I understood their hatred. I nodded. “So you can make sure it goes perfectly?”

“Perfect is hard to come by, but I’ll make sure it’s as good as it can be. This time it’ll be more than five that make it out with you.”

The cocky little bastard. I blinked at that. “Huh. I would like to hope all my plans are better than that.” I sighed. “I will appreciate the help though.”

“You can’t help when the deck is stacked against you.” He looked up at the ceiling. “I can.”

I hummed, watching him carefully. How would he choose what was a mistake to fucking fix? He was strong, but if he just chose on his own, he could fuck up something that I wanted to happen! “You will tell me before you change anything. Just because it doesn’t look good doesn’t mean it’s not part of the plan.”

Yuen looked offended, but he was perfectly fine insulting me. He didn’t fucking look at me though, as if I was not worth his attention. “I don’t reset on a whim.” Razz snorted loudly. “Not when it’s important,” he added. “It’s better for intel to let a shitty situation play out for a little while. Unless my life is in danger. No loops if I’m dead.”

I shook my head. “You need to promise me. I need to be informed of any decision you want to make before you fuck with time.”

He nodded. “I don’t plan to do anything that’ll fuck up your mission. That’s not why I came here.”

“Yeah, you came here to fuck up my life,” Razz muttered.

“They can vouch,” Yuen continued without missing a beat. “Tell her how many times I reset the reaping to be here.”

Razz stayed quiet for a while, thinking. “Thirty-two, at least that I was sober enough to remember.”

What the fuck? And how many times would he loop the Games? But it would be better to have him on my side. I nodded. “Fine. I’ll trust you. Thank you for wanting to help.”

He smiled too giddily again. “Happy to help. Capitol is going to send in scouts in 2 and a half minutes, so better clear out if you don’t want to get questioned.” He headed toward the door, but Razz stayed behind.

They looked over at me. “You should’ve asked instead how many times you’ve had the conversation,” they said quietly. They started to follow Yuen out, but they showed me a three behind their back. Fuck. What had I gotten myself into?

*

The next morning, Chess saw Asher and mentioned that she had challenged him to a fight, and he had said some awful things to her. I had heard that Asher was a good person who tried to help others, and I wanted to recruit him, but Chess was scared of him. So I had to make sure he stayed away from her. But first, recruiting.

I found him at the edge of the training area, and I put on my best friendly smile and walked over to him. “Hello! How has your day been so far?”

He nodded, looking tired. “It’s…Well, it could be better right?” He held out a hand. “My name’s Asher.”

I shook his hand. “I’m Triel. A pleasure. Maybe I can make your day a little bit better.” I paused. He didn’t seem to be as awful as Chess described him, but I wasn’t about to not believe her about that. “There’s a plan to escape the arena without the Capitol’s permission.”

“Oh, really?” His hand fell to his side. “That’s possible?”

I nodded. “I’ve already done it before, and I have even better plans this time.”

“Oh, you’re that Triel.” He nodded. “I think I’ve heard of you. Why did you come back?”

I grinned wider. “To fuck with the Capitol even more by getting even more tributes out alive and to rescue someone I failed. Are you interested?”

He nodded. “If I can, I’d like to.”

Perfect! Now on to what I was here for. “Wonderful!” I clapped my hands. “I just have one requirement.” My smile fell, and I glared at him. “Stay the fuck away from Chess.”

He cowered back, ducking his head. What the fuck? Was I really that threatening? “I will.” He swallowed. “Is she okay?”

I sniffed, crossing my arms. “Why do you care? I heard what you said to her. I know she picked the fight, but you should have never said those things to her.”

He nodded. “I know, and I know nothing I do will take it back.” He swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

Then what had happened? And from what he had said, it sounded like he knew her before, and knowing anything more about her would help, since she didn’t remember. “You need to tell her that. When she’s comfortable being around you.” I sighed. “How did you even know all that about her? Have you met her before?”

“I will, and I’ll let her decide when, or if, she wants to speak to me.” He paused. “I haven’t met her before though, no.”

I frowned at him. How had he known about her insecurities then? But it wasn’t worth it to pursue that line of questioning. “She might punch you before she feels better.”

He nodded. “That’s…fair.” He paused. “I didn’t mean any of it, what I said. It…happens sometimes.” He looked up quickly. “Which doesn’t make it better, of course.”

So it was something that he couldn’t control? I glanced back at him. “Is that going to be a liability in the arena? I need to know so I can make plans against it.”

His shoulders fell. “I…I don’t know. I can’t say it won’t.” He sighed. “It snuck up on me this time, I haven’t been that way in a while but I can’t see the stress of the arena helping at all.”

“Then what can I do to help so it won’t happen? I want everyone possible to escape the arena. I won’t leave you behind, but I need to know how to protect the entire group and keep them together.”

He took a while to respond. “I don’t know if there is anything you can do, and you shouldn’t have to.” He swallowed, looking down. “I wouldn’t want everything to fail because of me. If something happens I won’t fault you for leaving me.”

I shook my head. No fucking way would I do that. “Shit, I just recruited you and you’re already telling me to leave you behind? I’m not doing that.”

He swallowed again, not able to speak right away. “I, I really hope I can keep it together.”

I would figure out how to help him. No matter what. I sighed, relaxing a little. “Let me know if you feel close to it. I’ll do what I can to calm you down. I’m not leaving anyone behind. Not again.”

He nodded. “That I can do. I’m usually better than this, so I hope I can manage.”

“I hope so too. I’ll warn Chess that you’ll be with us so she can avoid you if she wants to.”

“I won’t speak a word to her unless she says otherwise.”

She nodded. “Thank you. I need to go talk to some others, so I’ll see you around. I’ll find you in the arena.”

“Thank you, Triel.” He spoke quietly. “Good luck.”

For a dramatic exit, I smiled. “I don’t like relying on luck.” And I headed off to find my next recruit.

*

After lunch, I found Atwater alone and headed over to him with a smile. He was looking bored, as usual, and it would be a good time to explain the plan. And it was more fun to not really explain. “Hi! I know a good place to talk, if you’d like.”

“Alright. Damn this place here, then.” He followed me, so this was going great already!

I brought him up to the roof and turned to him dramatically with a smile. “Do you have any questions, or should I start explaining the plan?”

“I have many questions.” He smiled. “I don’t think any of them are relevant right now, or at least you don’t know what the weather’s like over the west coast right now, probably, so by all means, proceed.” He clasped his hands behind his back.

Ooh. That comment was perfect. I tilted my head. “Well, this would be a good demonstration for the plan. I have some teleporters, one of which will be with my crew just in case something happens. We’ll be using those to get out. But I can use one trip to check out the weather of the west coast. Would you like to come?” I held out my hand.

His eyebrows rose up, and he stared at me for a bit. “Alright, you’ve talked me into it.” He glanced at my hand. “Do you want me to hold that? You have no idea where mine’s been.”

“We have to be in contact to have you teleported too.” I shrugged. “You can hold my coat instead, if you want to.”

“Better than nothing,” he muttered and poked my shoulder. “Okay, now what?”

I touched my ear to expand the teleporter, and I put in a destination for Calloway Bay. We ended up on a nice beach with the ocean crashing just a few feet away. I gestured dramatically out at the ocean. “Here is the west coast.”

And he stared, blinking and turning in a circle and taking it all in. He actually looked surprised, and I couldn’t help but feel some pride from that. “Holy shit, this—this is Calloway Bay!” he yelled, and then laughed. Genuinely laughed. He stumbled over to the water line, grinning as the water hit his boots. After a while, he turned back to me. Both of our coats were blowing in the wind, and I couldn’t help but appreciate how dramatic it looked. “Remind me why this isn’t the extent of the plan? I mean. We’re miles from civilization. Free. That’s it.” He gestured to everything.

And damn, I would love to get back to the ocean, but this was more important. I stared at the ocean with a sigh. “If all the tributes just left now, there’d be no safe place for us from the Capitol. And they’d just take more innocents to die in the arena. And there are some who can’t leave yet.”

He sighed and hummed in response, nodding after a while. “How come?” I supposed about my last sentence.

“There’s a mentor I have to get out too, and the best time to do that will be after the Games. And some tributes will be safer to pretend that they’re dead so the Capitol won’t go after them as harshly as they normally would.” Like Chess and Ares and Din.

He whistled. “This is amounting to quite the shoplifting list. But faking deaths—that’s an oldie and a goodie.”

I nodded. “I’ve found the best way is cutting out the trackers and hacking or destroying the cameras around us.”

He scratched his beard. “I’m seeing it. Now, dead cameras can hide what you’re doing in a certain area, but then that gives the keyboard jockeys a pretty good hunch you’re in that area, so how will that work?”

“I have a hacker who will mess with the other cameras. Or we could just destroy as many of them as we can. And they’ll be focusing on something else. I have a plan to distract them.”

He crouched down and ran his fingers through the water. “Is there a subscription fee for VIP access to this level of the plan or is it more of an admin-only thing?”

I laughed. “I can tell you. I’ll be using the teleporter to show up in various places in the Capitol, when I should be inside the arena. Distract them from what’s going on in the arena. If you want in on the teleporting with me and causing chaos.” I grinned.

He made a face. “Starting to sound like effort again…” He paused. “Oh, speaking of me helping as little as possible, that tributes with the green hair’s coming with us, by the way.”

Chess. She had talked a little more to me, but she hadn’t agreed to the plan yet. I nodded. “I’d like to, but she doesn’t trust me yet.”

He pulled some seaweed out of the water and examined it. “Oh, my apologies—it wasn’t a suggestion. If it makes you feel any better, I don’t really have much of a choice in the matter either.” He paused. “She’s coming with me.”

That was perfect. I had seen her following Atwater around like a puppy. She seemed to think he was amazing. “I’m glad. She needs protection. I bet she likes you.”

“And hell if I know why. We’ll work on her standards after I finish teaching her to kill a man with her bare hands.” Said in such a pleasant voice. He was amazing.

I nodded and laughed. “That sounds like a good plan.” I knelt down, running my hands through the sand. I missed the beach and the ocean. “Do you want to stay here for a while?”

He looked longingly out at the sea. “If we’re not destroying the timespace continuum by doing so, then I don’t see why not…” I could feel his eyes begging me to stay.

I smiled and nodded. “We aren’t. Let’s stay here for a while.”

He nodded and wandered off to where the sand met the dirt and sat down, just staring out at the ocean, and I sat down too. It was so peaceful here. A nice break from stressing about this escape plan.

*

Shine helped Chess with her prosthetics and magic that night, and she agreed to be a part of the escape, so at least I would be able to make sure that she was safe. Everything was going well, but I knew by now that things never went to plan. I stayed up late, trying to make safeguards and back-up plans until Nesri finally pulled me away to sleep.

The next morning, there were a few more people I could convince. Asher had told Ares and Chess was talking with Steele, so we had a lot of tributes. From what I could tell, Silver still needed someone to talk to them, so I would!

I walked up to them early in the morning and got their attention and waved. They used sign a lot, so I would too. “Hi! How has your day been so far?” I signed.

They looked confused. “Loud. Everyone is too loud, especially the escort.”

Very true. The garden was a lot quieter. “Ah, yes. Do you want to go somewhere quieter?” I gestured for them to follow me and started walking towards the roof.

They followed me, thankfully. I turned back to them and waited until they looked at me after watching the garden with enchantment before I signed. “I also have a proposition for you. I am planning an escape from the arena, if you would be interested.”

They narrowed their eyes. “And the catch?”

“No catch. I just want to help as many tributes escape as possible. For spiting the Capitol.”

The nodded, relaxing slightly. “Do you have a plan for after as well? I-” They faltered. “I have people that I don’t want getting used or hurt because of my defiance.”

“There is a safe place I have that will keep everyone safe, and anyone you want to bring too. Or if that will not work, we can discuss different options.”

They nodded again, biting their lip. “Sorry if it seems I don’t trust you, but I want to know you have thought this through well first. And well, the nature of this place doesn’t lend itself to trust.” They shrugged. “What’s the chance of them finding out about this?”

“Not very high. I have a genius engineer and hacker who will keep them from learning any plans we have. And they will keep them from figuring things out in the arena. And I have a distraction to help too.”

“Have you told many others about this yet?”

I nodded. “Not everyone, but a few others I trust.”

The didn’t sign right away. They gave me a serious look, standing up straighter. “I’d like to help you, however I can then.”

“Recruiting is the most important, and I’ll let you know what else I might need. I have already come up with many plans for this, so hopefully I won’t need help, because that would mean all my plans have failed.”

They blew out a breath. “I don’t know how well I could help with recruiting, to be honest. But I can try. At the very least, I’ll keep people safe until you can get us out.” They smiled and held out their hand.

I smiled back. “I appreciate that. I want us all to get out safely.” I shook their hand once I was done signing.

“That’d be a nice change.”

I nodded. “It would. I have led an escape before, and I will do it again.”

They relaxed more. “That does ease my mind a little more.”

“Glad I can help.” I grinned. “You want to stay up here for a while?”

“Please? It reminds me of-” They faltered, smile slipping. “Something. I think.”

I nodded. “There are no cameras up here. We are safe.”

“Thank you. Really.”

I nodded and spent the time up in the garden with Silver, just trying to think through everything.

Later, no one else was interested in talking as the tension was getting worse the closer it got to the Games, so I didn’t have the chance to talk more. I could only hope that I could convince others in the arena.

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 18

Chapter 18: “Prepared”

Why.. why must everyone leave out Ray?? After my boy has done so much for you, ya’ll just don’t wanna include him in your little thoughts, despite saying “them” twice? RUDE, but THEM aka the fullscore TRIO aka Emma, Norman and RAY would not have been sneaking around mom’s secret room the first place.

Hahaa.. oh honey, you got a big storm coming.

Again, they’re damn lucky Phil showed the books to Emma instead of Isabella. Still believe mom would’ve got rid of those books once she realized the different morse codes.

Ray poking fun at Emma will always be one of my favorite things. Shame the anime cut this conversation a bit too short so we never got to see that snarky grin of his.

Say it louder Ray! Not that it really matters, since the possible threat of security in the secret room fell on deaf ears the first time two chapters ago.

The anime definitely handled this one moment better by showing how much lying and not having faith in Don and Gilda really affected Emma, whereas the manga showed her a little angry, which wouldn’t make sense all things considered.

I know Don’s feeling real sad and frustrated right now, but I like to believe he punched Norman for the lies and Ray for keeping the secret this whole time, especially on Conny’s shipment day. Emma is spared of a hard punch because.. main character. Or poor Don gets too emotional to continue. Or because he respects women. Take your pick. (Regardless, random head-canon that Don would make an excellent boxing partner for Barbara once they arrive in the human world.)

Kinda funny (in a sad way) that in the ch13 flashback, Emma stated she wanted to believe in her siblings no matter what, and now she’s sorta getting called out for not doing so? I know there were many reasons for telling them the fake story but sweetie, how could you forget something that’s so near and dear to your heart?

But I love her. I love her so much and how she doesn’t even hesitate to own up to her mistake and apologize to them.

Anyways, I dunno which version of Krone spying on the five I like more? but the manga version sorta takes a bit of the surprise factor away when she confronts the four of them (take a guess on who got left out) in the woods the following day just because you’re already aware she was watching them in this chapter.

The anime keeps us in suspense since we have no idea who is watching them, or some people (aka: me) might not even catch onto it at first. We get Ray looking back towards the house and being suspicious of something but we don’t learn what about until later in the episode. Also, I love how it’s him who realizes this because.. well, he always notices everything. 

The anime kinda threw me through a loop just now as I was trying to confirm some things. When Krone reveals she was spying on them towards the end of ep6, she says: “I saw it. I was watching the whole thing! Talking in the dinning hall last night, all of you!” but they’re clearly outside here in the scene above. I thought the anime’s take didn’t make munch of sense because of how Krone’s comment contradicts with where she saw them talking, but turns out I just had to back up a little bit in the episode. There is a brief moment we see the five kids inside the dinning hall from outside the house which could very well be from her eyes, so her statement is still valid here. (HOWEVER, why are they even outside?? Doesn’t Isabella lock the doors at night? Or is that only during shipments? I’m already forgetting.)

So I essentially rambled on for nothing right there, but what else is new. I also noticed these posts are becoming quite long these past few days and I sorta not really apologize for it. (I say “past few days” but in reality I’ve been writing these out at least five days ahead this entire time so far, hahaa...)

Favorite panel/moment:

*clenching my fist with tears in my eyes* OH so giving head pats to family is definitely a “like mother, like son” kind of gesture huh? Brilliant. I’m gonna go cry about it.

[eldritchsurveys]

1161.

Number of Movies/Documentaries I Watched in 2023: 226 Genre I Watched the Most in 2023: I... don't know. horror, probably. Mike showed me what I was doin wrong with using Lboxd so when I take this for 2024 I should hopefully have stuff like genre stats

1. Best Movies I Watched In 2023? >> from each month, one new-to-me favourite and one old favourite that I rewatched: 1. Hagazussa / Velvet Goldmine 2. Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. / Twelve Monkeys 3. Nanny / The Fly 4. Sugar & Spice / Dead Ringers 5. Rigor Mortis / Birds of Prey 6. Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse / Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story 7. You Won't Be Alone / Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey 8. Swiss Army Man / His House 9. In the Earth / The Woman 10. Perfect Blue / Silence 11. Akira / The House That Jack Built 12. Angel Heart (didn't rewatch a fave in December)

2. Movie I Was Excited About & Thought I Was Going To Love More But Didn’t? >> I wasn't exactly excited about Beau is Afraid but I definitely thought I would enjoy it more than I did. the first 20-30 minutes or so were pretty fun and weird but then it just... *longsuffering sigh* I had also hoped The Blackening would be a bit funnier than it turned out to be. still watchable and I'd still like more Black horror-comedies, but I definitely wanted more guffaws out of it. I'm not even gonna bother talkin about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania... (at least Kang was good) OH! Renfield! THAT'S the one I was excited for and heavily disappointed by. I knew there was one (also, Last Voyage of the Demeter. not at all my favourite year for Dracula movies, that's for sure)

3. Most Surprising (in a good way) Movie I Watched in 2023? >> I was surprised by both Akira and Perfect Blue because I just assumed they would be a bit inscrutable to me (when a lot of "buffs" speak highly about a work I assume it's some shit I won't understand), but they really drew me in. also surprised by Host (2020) which I'd assumed would be watchable but not really anything to write home about considering the gimmick. but they pulled that one off pretty well!

4. Movie I “Pushed” The Most People To Watch (And They Did) In 2023? .

5. Best Sequel of 2023? Best Ending of a Movie I Watched in 2023? >> Across the Spider-Verse and as for ending I'm just gonna agree with prev "can't beat a dancing naked man" (Saltburn) because that was pretty good

6. Most Action Packed/Thrilling Movies of the Year? >> the John Wick quadrilogy

7. Movie I Watched in 2023 That I Am Most Likely To Re-Watch in 2024? >> In the Earth, The Lodge, maybe Noroi? I might rewatch I Saw the Devil because for some reason I forgot a lot of that one despite enjoying it

8. Favorite Poster for a Movie I Watched in 2023? .

9. Most Memorable Characters/Talent of 2023? >> oof... can I just say Ben Wheatley (director) for talent because he really sucker-punched me with the two movies of his that I watched this year

10. Standout Writing / Directing of a Movie I Watched in 2023? >> obviously that goes to whoever wrote Call Girl Of Cthulhu

11. Most Thought-Provoking/Impactful Movies I Watched in 2023? >> The Vast of Night, Silence, Titane, Perfect Blue, Akira, Aniara. also 2001: A Space Odyssey except the thought it provoked was "why am I still fucking watching this" and the impact it had was "I'm annoyed to the point of anger and I have a splitting headache"

12. Movie I Can’t Believe I Waited Until 2023 To Finally Watch? >> Die Hard lmao. it was way more entertaining than I expected. also how did I go my whole life without ever learning that Alan Rickman was the bad guy in that also Battle Royale and ofc Akira

13. Favorite Scene From a Movie I Watched in 2023? >> oh man this is impossible, give me a break

14. Movie That Shocked Me The Most? (Because of a plot twist, character death, etc.) >> I didn't expect Swiss Army Man to be quite what it was (this is not a complaint, I loved it, but the whole farting business definitely threw me for a loop lol) honestly my bar for shock is seeing Oldboy for the first time last year having never had it spoiled for me and losing my whole ass MIND at the plot twist. nothing has come close to that since

15. OTP (One True Pairing) – You will go down with this ship? >> those two girls from Do Revenge

16. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship? >> the vampire family in Near Dark

17. Best Movie I Watched In 2023 That I Watched Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody? >> Noroi: The Curse but also The Adjustment Bureau was an incredibly solid and cute flick (both Sparrow's recs)

18. Most Exciting Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting? >> ooo let's see... well, I did rewatch The Neverending Story this year :p Rigor Mortis had a really memorable setting for me but I wouldn't call it exciting OR vivid. like, it was just an apartment building lol. it was just... I don't know. I can't explain it. it sticks in ya El Hoyo (The Platform), maybe? definitely an intriguing setup and setting there. A Field in England was literally just a goddamn field in England but man.... I also like the new worldbuilding ideas Hellraiser (2022) brings to the table.

19. Movies That Put A Smile On My Face/Were The Most Fun To Watch? >> Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Ref, Cocaine Bear, Sugar & Spice, Airheads, Polite Society, Totally Killer, Do Revenge, D&D: Honor Among Thieves, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Earth Girls are Easy, both Sister Acts, Call Girl of Cthulhu, Idle Hands, Van Helsing, and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. yeah there were a lot of these this year

20. Movie/Documentary That Made Me Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2023? >> Swiss Army Man and Akira, but also Velvet Goldmine, Do the Right Thing, Crooklyn, and Sister Act 2.

21. Hidden Gem Of The Year? >> not sure how to determine this

22. Movie That Crushed My Soul? >> [insert another snarky comment about 2001]

23. Most Unique Movie I Watched In 2023? >> so many of the movies I've seen this year were incredibly unique to me! let me see if I can find one I haven't already mentioned... ah yes, of course. how could I forget Mad God 💀

24. Movie That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)? >> I will refrain from mentioning That Movie again (although that is the true answer lol) and instead I'll go with... Lake Mungo bc I thought that was gonna be way more interesting than it was just based upon the fact that the tumblr girlies used to be all over that shit back in the day

25. Notable Mentions of the Year? >> some more movies I really liked that didn't get a chance to get mentioned yet: The Banshees of Inisherin, Baskın, On the Count of Three, Hell House LLC, Ringu, and Mad Max 2.

Bonus: Favorite Movie Moment?

Bonus: Five Movies I Am Anticipating in 2024? >> Furiosa, the Joker sequel, apparently there's a new Alien flick coming out? Dune Part 1 was Fine, I guess, so I might as well see Part 2 🤷🏿‍♂️ meh

[breaniebree]

Hi.

I am so fucking sorry if this is weird.

But I stumbled across ASC in one of my old SD cards and couldn’t resist seeing if you’d actually managed to finish that giant story - and apparently you did. Kudos to you.

When I first read ASC I was in a seriously (Siriusly, because that joke is obligatory at this point) bad place. COVID was still in its early stages, I was newly thirteen and had no idea who I was, my anxiety had reached a new high and my OCD ruled my life. I was literally scared to get out of bed and half the time I wouldn’t. I sanitized everything on sight and then some, and it still wasn’t enough to get rid of the crawling feeling inside me. I can now admit that I was depressed. And on top of that I was going through an identity/gender crisis and questioning my sexuality for the first time in my life, hating myself while at it - being an ally is one thing, but being an actual member of the LGBTQ+ community is quite another, especially when you live in an country where being gay isn’t even an option and your mother is homophobic af. Basically I was majorly fucked up.

ASC wasn’t some huge life-changing thing. It was just a random fanfic I found while scrolling through HP tags. I was intrigued, mostly, at this monster of a fic that was over two hundred chapters long, and since I was looking for free books at the time, I gave it a try. Finished the first thirty or so chapters in one sitting. And, once I got over my shock at the sex scenes (I’d never even been on a date and honestly my sexual awakening was partially triggered by this - I was like, ‘If the fact that these people shagged for hours straight, and my only concern is how possible it is to manage that position for any length of time, then I’m probably going to have to sit myself down for a soul-search’) and violent scenes (your mind is a terrifying place and I am sincerely thankful you aren’t planning world domination just yet) I was hooked.

I did comment every now and then, under varying pseudonyms - SavvySpirit was one, obviously. WarrioroftheWolves was another (thirteen-year-old me was obsessed with large predators, mainly since they were everything I wasn’t) and Raindrops & Flowers is quite possibly my least original name ever. There were a few other one-time names I can’t recall. But it was a brief respite in the craziness of ’20 and most of all it was something that was mine - to hold close to my heart, to hate when plot lines threw me for a loop, to cry over and giggle over and laugh over. I printed out the entire thing using my pocket money, in minuscule script and fitting eight pages per sheet, both sides. I think I reread that story at least twice a month - entire thing, back to back as I waited for the next time my parents would let me use the computer for longer than three minutes. I got attached to characters I barely gave second glances to. Viktor. Pansy. Dean. Padma. Mandy. Theo. Him especially, since I relate so much to him it almost hurts to see him hurt.

I stuck with ASC until around the time when Finn died and Ginny was put under bloodlust. I don’t remember exactly why I stopped checking for updates - maybe it was just a lack of time, maybe it was my refilling schedule coupled with my fear of humans. Maybe it was something deeper, who knows. But I stopped at one point and just reread (imo) the best bits every now and then.

I guess, story-wise, things got a little too real too fast for me. I’d known Cedric and Sirius was going to die, and Viktor’s death wasn’t as much of a shock as Finn’s was - because it was so unexpected and so out of the blue (I cried and screamed and cursed your name for thirty minutes straight after that last mo grá. Seriously, Breanie? You just had to go and ruin things just when they were getting good? I was looking forward to seeing Finn’s POV, and seeing them mature and fight over everything from Finn’s overprotectiveness coupled with Theo’s independence to shopping problems and flavours of ice cream, to see them go through troubles and overcome them both individually and as a couple. I was so freaking excited to see more of Tara and your take on a fairy realm, to see how Finn’s pseudo-immortality and Theo’s past demons would come into play. I wanted so much more development on Finn’s character, his flaws and quirks, his skeletons in the closet since we’d never really had his POV. I even had hopes of a storyline where Voldemort tries to get into Tara(because of the so-called immortality, duh) and gets horribly burned in the process. I wanted a Feo love child, dammit(Ciara would be such a cool aunt! And with the Weasleys and Blaise/Draco on one side of the family and Tiernan and the royal court on the other than kid would be the best protected, most spoilt kid in existence). I had hopes, Breanie. Dreams. And you destroyed them all with that single scene.) and so. Fucking. Tragic. And like ten chapters later you put Ginny under bloodlust where she hates Harry and wants to kill him (this was a seriously fucked up idea and I applaud your imagination. And sincerely hope you never become a investigator, because that would be scary.) and I read this bit with my heart in my throat because even if I don’t really like book or movie Hinny(Ginny seems too much of a side character and has so little personality, as I’m sure you know) but I adore fandom Hinny and YOU ARE NOT GOING TO RUIN YET ANOTHER OF MY FAVOURITE SHIPS IN THIS FIC DAMMIT but I chickened out and never read past that to see if she got cured. She did, right? She’s not dying slowly from poison in her bloodstream or anything? Right? Don’t correct me if I’m wrong though, I prefer to remain oblivious and happy in a world where nobody dies and everybody gets therapy.

But anyway, the point of me spilling my life story to you here was to thank you. You may not have intentionally made this fic for me, but it was a lot more effective than most of my therapy sessions since I could get my thoughts and feelings out in a roundabout way. ASC may not be a major part of my life currently, but it’s still a large part of who I am, and I am indebted to you for making this safe space. I turned fifteen and came out as panromantic/asexual. I turned sixteen and came out as a demigirl. I have career aspirations and I’m actually working on them. I’m working on long-term plans, which I never could’ve imagined having three years ago. And though I lost hearing in one ear last month, I didn’t consider ending things, not even once. Still haven’t. I have midterms but I’m not stressing myself to the max over them, and I actually have a social life now. And it’s not all completely thanks to you, but there is still a large part of my sanity that owes itself entirely to the fanfiction writers of 2020. And a slice of that pie is yours. So - thank you. For everything. You’re a truly gifted writer.

And before I forget - does Theo like, ever get closure? Hypothetically the fae have realm glasses. Which might come into use. Can fae get reborn? Just asking.

And does Zee ever date again? Like - I know Sirius was her person, but when the kids get older and she grows older…

One more question: how does someone like Delta turn out to be evil?! She was so freaking supportive when Hermione was researching human rights. Another question: Blaise survives, right? Because that guy is a riot. And another: I reread chapters 200-272 for this and realized that Finn just randomly carries around a pair of golden handcuffs? Like what was the story behind that. Did he get cornered one day and decide that ‘henceforth, I shall carry handcuffs’? And Crouch’s ‘wives’…do Millie and Hestia ever escape? My last random question: whatever happened to Arnold the Pygmy Puff?

Also is there any way I can send you a virtual fruit basket?

Hi, @savvyspirit

Wow! Thank you very much for sharing so much for me. I'm honoured my story had such a profound impact on you personally. Good for you for being honest and open with yourself about who you are. Nothing is more important. Thank you so much for sharing that my story helped you in a roundabout way. That's very cool to hear.

I understand that the story took a darker turn and did get too real too fast, but I do hope you go back to it now that it's complete and now that I'm finishing up the trilogy. Harry and Ginny are definitely getting their happy ending, that I can promise.

Finn was an important part of Theo's life and an important part of the story, but unfortunately he wasn't who Theo was meant to spend his life with. That's someone else and if you keep reading, I promise you'll see him much happier than he ever was with Finn. Yes, he does get closure. As to Zee, well... yes, she does find love (you have to keep reading to find out). Delta aka Belladonna was a lot of fun to have be evil the whole time and you learn more about her how and why as the story goes on. Blaise does survive and we get to know more about him too. Finn carried around handcuffs because he was part of the Royal Guard of Tara. Millie and Hestia do survive. Arnold is still around, promise.

Ha, as to a virtual fruit basket -- I'll take those in story reviews on Ao3 or ff.net please and thanks.

Thank you very much for sharing this with me and I sincerely hope you delve back into the world of ASC because I really do think it's worth it. Thank you!

[justfor2am]

hi my interview has been rescheduled once again because of course it is ^_^ nothing wants me to be interviewed ig ^_^ anyways 🥺😈🛒🎢✨💋🎶⛔🍦🌞💖💌❌🧐🦅👀🤗💞🧠🤩🤯💔🤭 for the fanfic writer asks or wtevr they're called??? didn't realize until just now u even rbed an ask game so apologies 🫡 side note the 💥 emoji is so fun . its just like 💥💥💥💥💥 yk??? also feel free to skip any of those i just threw down the ones i think would be most interesting but as usual there r many

i am manifesting an interview AND a job for u, get that bag king!!!

also waough ty for giving me an excuse to talk abt my blorbos 🥺🥺🥺

and ya 💥 feels like ur comboing someone really well in a fighting game, like 💥💥💥 K.O. yanno?

this is def gonna be a long one tho soooo the rest underneath the cut this goes lmao

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Anything having to do with touch. I'm a sucker for physical gestures, so anything that involves details like brushing someone's hair out of their eyes, hooking a tentative pinky around someone else's hand, it doesn't need to be overt to get me in my feels every single time.

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

Yes! I threatened a major character death in [though I've closed my eyes, I know who you pretend I am] late in the final (12th) chapter lmao

I knew that being that late into the fic most people would've forgotten what the specific tags were and even less would be willing to scrolling all the way back up to check lol

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

Like I said in the first Q, touch is a big thing for me. Eyes and anything having to do with vision also tends to be a big one, if you read a fic with both of those elements there's a decent chance I wrote it.

As far as overarching things, I prefer to write scenery over dialogue, and put a heavy emphasis on describing what the characters are feeling/thinking over having them verbally express it.

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

I wanna say my [detroit become human au] has shit hit the fan pretty quickly. The fic opens with the conflict and it takes a few chapters for the reader to get any context, but once you've got it, going back to the start just makes your heart break.

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

booo hiss grrr

no but actually uhhhhhh... I will say that when I've got a good idea rattling around in my head, I can churn out a fic for that premise very quickly. to the point that i accidentally wrote three chapters for one of my fics all within a day, because I'm unhinged like that

💋 First kiss fics. Love em or hate em?

LOVE but only if they're done right. I appreciate first kiss fics that aren't perfect or a little clumsy, but also i'm a sucker for those picture perfect moments too

🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

YA i do my best writing with some music on. I've been listening to a mix of things lately (Love from the Other Side by FOB, that new Shakira collab, and Flowers by Miley Cyrus) but i've also been looping my 14+ hour long exo playlist

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

I had a sculk!Grian fic from like, I wanna say October last year that I was 1k words into that just. Disappeared. No clue where it went or how I lost but, but in hindsight, it wasn't my best work.

I'm still a bit sad to have lost it, but considerably more proud of the things I've written since.

🍦 What’s the sweetest fic you’ve created so far?

I have come to the realization that I am horrible at writing fluff without some level of conflict within the fic. Whoops! Closest I've got is a [scarian sick fic] that I wrote recently lmao

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

Either while I'm at work when it's dead during the day time, or frantically at like, 11 o'clock p.m., there is no in between.

💖 What made you start writing?

Wayyyyy back when I was 12/13 I used to be big into rp, and I came into the realization that the rps I was doing could just as easily be formatting into fics.

None of those fics were ever published, but getting to learn how to edit and rewrite scenes that had been planned out with another person made me want to start creating stories of my own.

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

Love love LOVE comments and feedback. Literally getting a comment is like a serotonin boost directly into my veins to write more, esp comments that'll point out specific scenes or moments/lines they liked.

someone pointed out that they liked the way I described fresh hickeys like blooming violets and I haven't been able to stop thinking about that comment ever since.

❌ What’s a trope you will never write?

That's a good question.... I'm trying to think of one that isn't like, a blatantly obvious icky trope.

I'm not sure if it counts as a trope, but Y/N fics. Not only are their primary function to act as fan service, they end up coming off very RPF to me which I'm not a fan of.

Oh, also RPF. Any fic i write has to do 100% with the characters those people portray, not the real person.

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

Depends on the fic! For my [actor au] I've just been kinda flying by the seat of my pants, doing the occasional googling but not much. The opposite of this would be my [detroit become human au] where I literally rewatched jacksepticeye's d:bh playthrough and scoured wikis to make sure i'm describing androids correctly.

tl;dr: generally no, only as needed unless I get fixated on it.

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

Fly by the seat of my pants, but i'm trying to change this! For my multi-chaptered fics I've started actually planning out future events, and even for this one big one shot im working on, i've got an outline in the works.

...though generally, i don't plan. it's a bad habit.

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

GLADLY so speaking of that big one shot, it's going to be a boatem superhero au, i've started outlining it and getting my concepts together, i'm very excited for it!

here's a snippet:

It was fairly obvious that the Mayor had pulled some strings to get Scar to this stage; once a nobody vigilante who seemed more preoccupied with dazzling the camera over saving lives, Scar's public image had taken a hard left turn during the past few campaigning months.

The situation was more of an open secret— it was all too convenient for Scar, who practically lived in the Mayor's pocket, to be joining the city's most elite crime-fighting team.

it's VERY early in development so don't expect this one for a while tho

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

I'd say figure out your character's voice is a big one. It's easy to fall into fanon tropes and while they're fun, they can cause lots of warping in the way you write your own fics, which might make them sound off.

So look out for fanon tropes! Personally I've run into people who make Scar very sweet and innocent, to the point of dusting his hands clean of blame. It's an easy hole to fall into, and no one should fault a writer for falling into tropes.

There's a line to walk, and I find that watching content relating to that character really helps shaping that "inner voice".

Also, get someone to proof read your work who is willing to point out your mistakes. Editing/betaing is never meant to be a personal attack, but rather to make sure that the fic you present to the rest of the world is cohesive and clear.

💞 Who’s your comfort character?

Scar! He just gets me fr. He's one of my favorite guys to write because of how versatile and how much variety he has. He could be a silly salesman one minute, and a quietly scary assassin the next. Whatever the bit or joke is, he fully commits to it, often to the detriment of himself, but god does it make for good content.

Also he has a really good narration voice ok

🧠 Pick a character, and I’ll tell you my favorite headcanon for them.

(ty for the speedy discord reply lol)

Grian! my darling baby boy who has every mental illness ever

no but actually, i'd say my favorite grian head canon is anything having to do with him being an alchemist. i want that man brewing potions, getting blown up, and curing all his friends ailments with the most illegal looking brew you've ever seen in your life.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

Grian, mostly because he comes easiest to me! There's such a sense of endless potential when I get ready to write him, and like, idk what it is, but longing too?

We've been getting it pretty heavy w/ his whole "I Miss Mumbo" campaign but like, grian to me feels like someone who's always thinking about reaching a hand out, and pulls it back at the last second. It's very relatable.

🤯 What’s a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

Weirdly enough, it's fluff. I always feel compelled to write stories with some level of conflict or it's not "satisfying" to me. I love reading the genre, but for whatever reason when I write it, I get in my head about if it's "good enough" or not without conflict. I'm working on that lol

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

EDIT: so i misread this, you get fic recs as a bonus. my proper answer is: [my bad ending fae two shot], it will shatter you as it did me </3

i'm going to give two because i do what i want. the first being [It's Only Logical by TSTrashCaptain] which is a sanders sides fic that to this day, i can only dream of writing something so good. tw for themes of abuse and nsfw at times, but god. just reading the title again puts a knot in my heart in the best way possible.

now, this fic. [your heart rots in my hands by thepigeoncat]. this fic slaughtered me the first time i read it. i left a long ass comment on it. tw for major character death, but this is the perfect last life scarian fic.

it's beautiful, and tragic, and it makes me feel as though the world has truly ended /pos. please go read it.

🤭 Do you have a favorite tag to use when posting your works?

my favorite tag for when i post unbetaed work is "no beta we die like scar to the boatem hole"

as far as a REAL tag, hurt/comfort >:))

and my favorite one off funny tag is "i cannot emphasis to you enough how much blood is in this fic"

[fanfic writer emoji asks!]

[kar-a-kael]

Happy B-Day, Kabuto! In honor of this (leaped) day, I thought I might do a list of Early Kabuto Head canons that floated around the internet when he was just introduced. So much has changed in the last...20...years.

Kabuto with pink hair. In the very first fanart I saw of him, before there was any official color, people gave him really light pink, or sometimes blond, hair. Healer = pink, I guess?

Ninja info cards are common place. No one makes a comment when he pulls them out, or seems surprised that someone would be keeping tabs on the competition. Always wondered if there was a dropped card game because they never came back.

He really didn't know how to deal with Sound nins. I've always thought that a guy able to go toe-to-toe with Kakashi and re-map his nerves in 30 seconds probably wouldn't have problems with basic vertigo, but we didn't even know he was a spy until the end of the second exam! And even then, he insisted that the Sound-nin's threw him for a loop.

He really was a nice guy! What? Before we got the Orochimaru reveal, he seemed genuinely helpful to Naruto and co. And poor Naruto looked so sad when Kabuto dropped out! Kid took the apparent face-heel turn pretty well, all things considered.

Kabuto's eye power/berserker energy. They never really explained how he was able to freeze those random ninja. Looking back, it was probably some kind of 'killing aura', but he never uses it again, nor does anyone else that I remember. I always thought that this + Oro's comment about Kabu's 'old blood' coming to the fore hinted that he was a secret berserker that might snap or fall into blood-lust. But all his later powers build upon his abilities as a medic, rather than any hidden spy/eye powers.

Healing abilities. (not technically a headcanon) Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Kabuto is the first character we see using healing jitsu's. And until near the very end, I'm pretty sure he's the only male healer. I always thought it was interesting that it's such a gendered profession, yet its introduction is with the only male and only evil healer.

Kabuto's dad as Orochimaru's lead scientist. Does any one remember Kabuto's team leader/dad? He shows up in like...one panel, and might be the same guy who was mentioned as leader of the retrieval ninja who taught Kabuto to 'play with corpses'. For a while, there was a theory that one of Oro's background scientists in the anime was the same guy, but neither character ever got any depth or explanation.

Kabuto planned on betraying Orochimaru. Several points throughout the series there are hints that Kabuto finds his master's tendencies disturbing, to the extent that Oro seems to enjoy toying with his loyalty and almost expected the younger man to go through with his plan to kill Sasuke. Yet at no point does Kabuto actually go against his master's wishes. Unless...

Kabuto revealed himself intentionally. Surely you don't go to all the trouble of setting up a whole room of doppelgangers just to not kill your target. Unless you were intentionally staging a scene where you had the 'excuse' not only to save the kid, but also alert the authorities and give yourself an air-tight alibi for needing to pull back from your undercover mission. Sounds like exactly what a double agent might do...but no, he's actually Orochimaru's most fanatical servant, and never did a thing against him.

But, he's a nice guy, really! He saved Hinita. And then knocked out everyone in a non-lethal way. C'mon guys, he's totally a secret good guy! Or maybe had some more complicated plan. Look at those glasses. You know he's gotta be smart! Really!

There's probably a ton more early Naruto Kabu head canons that I'm forgetting. Maybe you remember ones I've forgot. (Please remind me) But it's fun looking back a how much the character has changed. Just imagine how different he could have been if any of these had turned out true.

But I guess he got his good ending either way! Happy B-Day, Kabuto!

[coffeecupandcorgi]

on repeat

i'm not great at doing tag games ahhh, but @dirigibleplumbing tagged me, so i'll give this a go -

Rules: shuffle yr "on repeat" playlist from spotify or etc. and post the first 10 tracks.

Manilla Road, "Necropolis" - the Seek & Destroy DJ Tanner must really dig this one because I've head him play it a few times now. K says the vocals sound like a sports announcer calling the Kentucky Derby lolol BUT i think they're cool. i mean, c'mon, they're absolutely giving severian in nessus in gene wolfe's shadow of the torturer-

Entombed in time without decay Never thought it would be like this It feels like I'm living inside a dream But my mind tells me I'm Lost in Necropolis, lost in Necropolis

-but also giving that couple making out in the pit of skulls, lost in an endless cemetery going slowly insane in the iron rose (1973)?? plus this album is from '83 & i feel like eddie munson definitely liked it.

2. Dio, "Holy Diver" - yeah, classic, guess this one is pretty self-explanatory... I did just read what's currently my all time fav ST fic, this time loop fic star of the masquerade by glorious_spoon, and eddie's fav track there is holy diver.

3. Steely & Clevie, Righteous Flames, "I Was Born To Be Loved" - idk I just freaking love this dancehall track from 92, heard it on the radio a while back and put it on my 'seattle wip' playlist, which I was listening to while noodling around with a post-u mich kj/owen story that alas has not materialized beyond a set up and a few scenes. it's always gonna be a kj and owen mood for me. :')

4. Kate Bush, "Running Up That Hill" - for a while in college @dirigibleplumbing played "wuthering heights" like everyday BUT somehow i never heard/took in "running up that hill" until i started watching Pose last year - when it plays at the end of the pilot !!! while that man is picking up angel !!! I just !!!! stay away from her, get a job !!!! anyway, also, max gender, is there a more gender-y song?

5. Afsky, "Tyende Sang" - more metal. first track i heard on Seek & Destroy that gave me a fanfiction oh. moment. like, we are no longer just doing fic research, we go here now.

6. HAAi, "Baby, We're Ascending" - this song is fine/fun, i threw it on a recent playlist so i'm hearing it a lot, but i loved loved loved HAAi's recent Resident Advisor mix & listened to it a bunch. tried to put it on during a philly wedding afterparty last spring but then it was TOO LOUD and we had to leave to the hotel. :(

7. Built to Spill, "Car" - I think this is my favorite track from their early 90s album There's Nothing Wrong With Love, an all time album which i also loved as a teen. good to sing along to.

I want specifics on the general idea I want to think what I should know Want you to do me what you show

gotta just absolutely belt it out. those lyrics are all caps in my head.

8. Sevana, "Lowe Mi" - this has been playing all the time on KEXP's saturday morning reggae show. it's super catchy.

9. Leonard Cohen, "The Partisan" - as previously discussed i love a good time loop story - it's maybe one of my favorite tropes?? the melancholy and bittersweet yearning can be so exquisite, it fully KOs me - anyway, this track is used so well in Palm Springs, under that slow-mo close up on Sarah while Nyles realizes he is big time in love and needs to get his shit together -

10. Florence + The Machine, "Morning Elvis" - this is my Grey's end of season 2 song for Izzy and Denny :((((( I guess 'cause "we are trying to make it through the devastation" vibes + Denny is from Memphis.

idk idk @katiewont, @rostovs, @zombiesassy, if u wanna-