#will come up. also there will be speeches by people you've never heard of and we're giving faculty members awards instead of congratulating

[inbabylontheywept]

I love your writing. It’s the type of writing that I love bc other than being easy to read, I admire it bc it accomplishes what I struggle with. It uses few words yet conveys across the idea efficiently, vagueness to its benefit.

Have you heard the phrase “I want to distill myself like poets do”? It comes from a tumblr post of someone trying to express the same thing as me rn.

Anyway the other part of what I wanted to say is that I’m autistic, and when I try to write, I always succumb to the urge to add as many details and overexplanations as possible to avoid being misunderstood. You’re autistic too, but your writing shines in doing the opposite, so I was wondering if you struggled with this too, and how you got better, or if your flavor of autism simply doesn’t manifest in this way and this isn’t a problem to you

Unfortunately, I do naturally tend towards condensed formats. So some part of this is just natural for me. If it makes you feel better, I tried several times to make serials while doing HFY and I never succeeded. I've also tried several times to write books, and I always just get kind of stuck. It's one of my big regrets, so if you have any experience in those, I'd love to hear it. Same from anyone else reading this, actually - if you've made the jump from short stories to long form, I'd like to know how you managed.

Still, despite it being a natural thing for me, I can give you three activities that I've done that improved my short story work very much.

First, improv classes. Attending them will help your writing in ways you will not believe, and also, as an autist, that shit's better than OT. My parents signed me up for some in the summer of my fifth grade year, and they were legit life changing. Way less social anxiety, better writing, I could sing their praises all day. If you do one thing on this list, do this.

Second, write poetry. I do not consider myself a poet, but I attend a weekly poetry writing club, and it has noticeably improved my prose. Find one and go. As you get better, try and constrain the poetry you write to things like rhyme and meter. Writing with artificial constraints is amazing for teaching people to be focused and direct.

And if you have room for a third thing, maybe try finding a way to do extemporaneous public speaking besides the improv. I grew up Mormon, which involves absolutely insane amounts of public speaking from an early age, but I also did stuff like that in middle school NAL and high school speech and debate. Those all helped. They were stressful, and not terribly fun, but they did help, and it's a good skill to have.

I love talking shop, so thanks for asking! And just to reiterate my request from before, anyone that's jumped from short stories to novel length works, please, tell me your secrets. Plz.

[tiamathh]

Compliments from the Universe

Note: From the universe and me to you, you're all doing so well keep it up and take care of yourselves! My Paid Readings have been reopened if you want to check them out there's only 17 slots <3

Masterlist | Paid Readings | Paid Feedback

Hi Pile 1! The universe is here to complement you on your ability to stay truthful and vulnerable even in situations that make you want to lie and avoid and run away. You embrace change and don't run from it which makes life a tad bit easier for you than others who keep trying to claw their way out of inevitable situations. You are courageous and beautiful and people want to court you or ask you out because of how fun and flirty you seem.

Fast paced those are the words that can be used for you, but in a good way of course you want something and you go for it, you don't wait for life to happen and life rewards you by keeping things interesting whether for good or for bad, usually for the good though. You're free spirited and have the ability to be alone and stay with yourself and your thoughts which is very tough for some people (me) to do, this ability of yours does not only make you very self aware but also puts you on a path to self actualisation and being the best version of yourself.

You're sensual and I heard the song "All I do is win win win no matter what" so you have that going for you, even if it seems like things are not going your way, you somehow still keep control of yourself and ground yourself till you end up making things happen for you. You do not go down without a fight and have a natural affinity towards healing. Your presence itself is like a bandage on a cut, warm and safe and protective.

Hello Pile 2 <3 The universe is here to give you your flowers for being someone who knows how to protect your peace, you have the ability to save up and aren't a big spender which also provides you with stability and a good eye for investments. You may be someone who starts a lot of projects and even though you may not see them through, you still use whatever you've learnt from the previous project into new ones, whatever you learn you never let go to waste and always carry it with you. You have the kind of speech which can pull people in, the way you talk makes people want to listen to you, not only because of your words but also your voice helps calm others down.

You're blessed with the ability to see through people's bs and save yourself and the people close to you from such individuals as well. You carry yourself with a lot of grace and poise and may be very lucky when it comes to finances but this is not all luck it's also based on how you work hard for whatever you have. You don't shy away from controversy or conflict either, you know how to fight and you'll do it if you need to.

You refuse to trap yourself within the conventionality of society and let yourself do what you want and live how you want, you don't fear judgement, the only thing you fear is not being able to experience life the way you want which is very commendable. You entirely understand the concept of living for yourself and not for anyone else which makes the universe give you what you want if you ask nicely.

Hi Pile 3! The universe wants to tell you that they're proud of how you are extremely firm when it comes to any decision you make and how you have the ability to balance rationality and emotionality and do them both justice whenever you make your decisions. You're someone who has grown into this role which is even more commendable because you were able to overcome your inability to make decisions and may have been wishy washy.

You have this feeling of restlessness and freshness to you, like the wind at the top of a mountain, filled with energy and gusto but just so refreshing. However, you know when to stop and stand still, you know when it is right for you to take a step back and self evaluate. You're someone who's very sociable and loveable, a lot of people are naturally drawn to you and you may be someone who steps into the spotlight with ease, you do not have troubles when it comes to mingling with people from any walk of life and could also have a lot of wanderlust within you which encourages you to experience new things and everything the world has to offer.

You're generous and willing to help anyone out especially when they're just starting out, I heard start ups so that could be important for someone. You have this ability within you where you are very good at laying foundations for anything, your foundation with your life and what you want to do itself is very strong and almost unshakeable and you may not experience a lot of tower moments in your life because as soon as you clock that something is not working for you or meant for you, you get rid of it yourself and don't force the universe to intervene.

DO NOT PLAGIARISE, REWORD, REPHRASE, REPOST OR COPY MY CONTENT all rights reserved @tiamathh

[hoseokslefteyebrow]

The Anomaly || JJK

Chapter 1: Alone

summary : In which you're isekai'd from your (own) parallel Jujutsu Kaisen universe to the canon universe.

wordcount : 2k

Pairing: Jujutsu Kaisen X Reader, eventually Character x Reader (idk who yet tho)

Masterlist | Next

You grimace as you open your eyes, slowly focusing on your surroundings. Your back is still throbbing. Your head actually feels quite peaceful. The light of the room is dim, and as your eyes focus, you notice the numerous seals lining the walls, stickered over one another. You're surrounded by candle lights. 

You've heard of this room before. You never expected to be the one in it though. 

" Ah, finally woke up from your beauty sleep? "

As you turn, you come face to face with your sensei, leaving you confused once again. He's seated on a chair, the back of the stool facing you as he's seated backwards. There's a casual grin on his face. He looks stupid. Like always. 

" Gojo sensei? " 

The last thing you remember is Inumaki not recognizing you, in fact, he even used his cursed speech on you, forcing you to sleep. Admittedly, it was one of the nicest naps you've ever had, but still. 

" Ah, Inumaki told me you were confused- he also mentioned you're Sukuna's best friend. It got us quite worried, considering you seem to know quite a bit about Inumaki. You even mentioned that he's your upperclassman. " 

You nod. You've got no idea on what to say. Yes, Ryomen is trouble. A little shit. Yet they were treating you like your best friend is some kind of horrible curse or something, worst of the worst. 

" What do you know about me? "

You blink. Is this a test? It had to be. 

" You're Gojo Satoru. You have both Six Eyes' and Limitless cursed technique. You're the first year's mentor- I'm one of your first years, actually. Uhm.... You lost someone you were close with once last year. We're close. In a respectful way. I see you like an elder cousin. " 

Gojo's eyes widen below his blindfold, completely taken by surprise. You knew of Geto? 

" How did he die? "

You tense. You hate that memory. Not to mention with how he's looking at you. He's mentioned that they used to be close. You found him at a bad moment, and helped him through it. 

" I killed him.. "

" What? "

Now it's Gojo's turn to be surprised. 

" I stopped the blood stream to his heart. I found you, just before you were about to end him. I could see it when I had arrived. You don't look at enemies the same way you looked at that man. You care for him. Jujutsu society was already asking a lot of you. I didn't want you to live with the guilt of having to kill someone you cared for. "

Gojo is eerily silent for a good moment. His six eyes aren't having issues. Your flow of cursed energy really is different. You're not from here. 

" You have a student ID right? What's your name? "

" Kamo Y/N."

You hand your student ID  to him. 

" Already a second grade student as a first year? Impressive. I take it you're from the Kamo clan? Or are you a foreigner with a similar last name as one of the three clans- You don't look like you're from around here. "

" No, I'm from the Kamo clan. My mother fell in love with a foreigner. "

" Blood Manipulation? "

" Water manipulation, actually. "

His eyebrows visibly raise beneath his brow. 

" I've never heard that before. What's that? I take it you can manipulate water, like the name intends? "

" Yes, I can. I can manipulate any body of water, and create or change the condensation of it. " 

" Including the blood in people their bodies. "

You cringe at his words. 

" Yes. "

It's not the favorite part of your technique, but it's definitely a part of it. 

Gojo sighs, sitting up straight as he contemplates on what to do. 

" Who's your mother? "

" Kamo Asuka. "

His eyebrows furrow. He's heard that name before, but he can't remember when. Your student ID is legit too. He sighs, getting up. 

" Okay. Something is definitely going on here. I've got no idea what, but don't worry, your sensei will look into it. " 

Hos previous serious expression is replaced by his easy going one again. He's grinning as he gets up from the chair, and unties you from yours. 

" Welcome back at school I guess. I'll be putting you in the girls dormitory for now. We'll introduce you to the rest of the class tomorrow. "

Soon enough, the both of you are finally leaving the room, and you're headed back to familiar grounds. 

To your surprise, he leads you to the exact dorm room you used to stay, but your eyes widen in negative surprise as you notice that it's empty. All of your belongings not there. Your polaroids aren't hanging messily over your wall, your clothes aren't messily stacked in an overfull laundry basket in the corner of the room, your books aren't under your bed, and your comfortable bedsheets which you sneaked in from home aren't on your bed. 

" You okay? "

He notices your expression. 

" Yeah, just... This is supposed to be my room. All my stuff is gone.... "

-

The night passes by, but you can't find it in yourself to fall asleep. You're just tossing and turning, and eventually, you finally get up, and make your way outside, towards the river. 

You're going to fix your back. You breathe in the cool night's air. You'd often sneak out at times like this, along with your best friend. You'd catch the bus that goes until 3 am to Shibuya, and pop by some 24/7 convenience store from time to time. 

You take out your phone, testing your luck. 

Kuna

I'm hungry

Tf you want me to do

Lets sneak off to the kitchens, I wanna bake cupcakes

No

Wait no I'm coming

I wanna spoon out the left over batter

U gotta share tho

No

You sigh as you look at the old texts. They're not that old, only from yesterday. By accident, you had woken up Nobara as well and together the three of you ended up baking cupcakes. 

It had been fun. 

You type a message. 

Hey, where are you? 

[ The number you're trying to reach is not in use. ]

Something really wasn't right, you really were somewhere you weren't supposed to be. 

You decide to just focus on the task ahead. Throwing the, currently useless, device in the grass beside you, you step into the shallow part of the river. 

Unlike most cursed techniques, you found yours pleasant to use. You didn't need to intent harm on anyone to use it. You also managed to master your reverse cursed technique. With enough water, you can heal injuries. 

You manipulate a bit of the river's water into the palm of your hands, allowing the water to encase your hand. The water is still cold, but that only makes you sigh in relief as you press your water encased hand to your back, the water lighting up as your abilities get to work. This was so much more pleasant. 

-

" Okay students,  meet your new, very awesome classmate, Kamo Y/N! "

Gojo is way to cheerful as he introduces you. 

Nonetheless, you smile politely as you slide open the door, and step inside the classroom. 

" Hi. Nice to meet you all, I hope we get along well. " 

You bow, finishing your introduction formally. 

This is not how it went when you introduced yourself back in your universe, but that was more than okay. 

A spark comes to life in Nobara's eye. 

" Another girl! This is great! Finally I'm not just stuck with these two! " Nobara cheers. 

Both men beside her grumble. 

Yuuji pouts. 

" Why, what's wrong with us? I thought you liked us. "

Megumi's mildly annoyed expression shifts soon enough, his focus now on you. 

" Kamo? "

He's always been sharp. He probably wonders why you're here when your cousin (Noritoshi) is in the Kyoto school. 

" Y/N isn't like our regular students, Megumi. She randomly popped up yesterday out of nowhere. She already knows you, but no one of us knows anything about her, thus far. " Gojo explains. 

Megumi's eyebrows furrow, as Yuuji gasps. 

" Out of nowhere? What if you're from a different universe? " 

You raise a brow. You hadn't thought about that. Had the cursed spirit you've been fighting really been strong enough to send you here? 

" Don't spout nonsense Yuuji-"

" I think it's actually a good theory. "

All four students turn surprised to their sensei. 

" Your flow of cursed energy is different. It's somewhat more peaceful, but it also feels like it doesn't belong here.- I forgot to ask you a bunch of questions yesterday actually, how did you end up here? "

He's leaning back against the desk, fingers on his chin as his expression is relatively serious. 

" I was fighting a cursed spirit. It was special grade. It popped up out of nowhere. It wasn't alone either. One went after me while the other went after Sukuna. The one that went after me was strong, and made me fall through some kind of hoop. I was supposed to fall in the river, but I ended up falling right at the entrance of the school, which is where Inumaki senpai found me. " 

Yuuji blinks, though his eyebrows furrow in confusion. 

" Sukuna? "

Yuuji can only hope you aren't referring to the very curse he hates. 

" Yeah, Itadori Sukuna. That actually reminds me, is he sleeping in late again, that he's not here? " 

All eyes blink at you in confusion. 

" Yeah, I actually forgot to ask about that yesterday as well. Is your Sukuna a student? "

Gojo seems confusingly serious about it. 

" Ah, yeah. He is. He's Yuuji's twin, actually. "

Everyone's eyes are wide open, and Yuuji's mouth actually falls open. 

" My- my twin?! " He calls out, visible distressed. 

You blink, wondering what you've said wrong. 

" Yeah? -"

" Ryomen Sukuna is the king of curses here. He's a very powerful sorcerer from the Heian era, back when the curses ruled. It took a lot to defeat him. And the sorcerers from back then couldn't even kill him. They cut up his 20 fingers and sealed them. "

You blink in surprise at Gojo's explanation. Before furrowing your eyebrows in disgust and realization. 

" 20? "

Gojo nods. 

" Our Sukuna had 4 arms. "

" Ew. "

" I can swallow his fingers. "

Now you blink at Yuuji. He blinks back at you with a bit of a dumb grin, Nobara cringes in disgust. 

" Ew. "

" Right! You get it, it's so unsanitary! "

She's definitely glad to have you. 

" But then, Sukuna's presence lives in you? " 

Yuuji nods. 

" Yeah. Don't worry though, I've got full control over him. "

This is all just very confusing for you. 

" Right. "

" Sukuna Ryomen as a student. I never imagined that- I take it his cursed technique is slicing in your.. Universe.. As well? "

Gojo seems positively interested. The possibilities of Sukuna being a student is amazing to him. 

You shake your head. 

" He doesn't have any cursed energy, actually. "

" What? "

" Yeah, he's free of it. "

Gojo's eyes widen. He only knows one person who was free from it. 

" Like-"

" Yes, like him. "

You flit your eyes over Megumi, who just seems confused. 

Gojo is only more surprised at this point.

" Okay... Well, enough of this. Let's turn back to class for now. We'll figure out how to get you back to your universe. For now, let's just focus on classes. This way, perhaps you won't fall behind. "

-

Taglist:

@luxylucylou

[waayfo]

To you, who have lost yourself:

aventurine x gn!reader. a/n : guess who just broke up w their first ever bf 🤓☝️ tags. light angst, (not rlly) hurt/comfort, breakups, mainly just aven’s letter 4u. might add p2 but idk

Everything went like a dream at first; everything tastes sweet, all of Aventurine's demeanor and words always leave an impression on your mind. He was born to be a gentleman, you think.

But you should know more than anyone, that every sweet attitude and speech is a trap. A trap that pushes you over the edge of a cliff.

The cliff is that will lead you to an endless darkness.

“You look breathtaking, Ves'tacha.” and his hand always guides you.

You always loved it when you woke up in the morning, and looked at him still asleep in awe. How can there be a human who looks so stunning?

Stroking his hair, you always say good morning as soon as you see him start to open his eyes. The birds are chirping, and you both are still rotting in bed.

But saying goodbye was never in your vision. The ‘in the end, everyone you’ve ever loved will became a lesson’ was never be your wish. But you can't deny that not falling for sweet words is a lesson for you.

“This is not your fault, but mine. I.. i just need some time alone.” you are now reluctant to hear the words that came out of his mouth.

“But not breakup!” You can’t help but try to hold back your tears. But all you heard next were excuses coming out of his mouth.

How many days have passed since that day? You don't remember it anymore. You start to overworking yourself to forget it.

Forgetting how to eat on time, and how you miss sleeping with someone in your arms.

That first week was like hell, all you remember is crying. Staring at the letter you were holding, you just listened silently to Topaz—your ex's friend—excuse herself.

You ignore the letter for eight days, reluctant to open and read it. Or maybe you are afraid that you will remember everything again?

Day nine, you try to read it. Aventurine's handwriting that you've been missing all this time is clearly visible on the letter.

The “For you, who have lost yourself” writing is clearly visible on the front of the letter, written a little large by purpose.

‘Dearest,

I hope this letter is delivered safely to you.

I don't want to take back my apology. I also don't regret knowing you all this time. I can be happy and finding out about happiness all this time thanks to you. I can feel what love is thanks to you. I can live and love this life thanks to you. The other side of my heart desperately seeking for you, but it’s all too late now..

I can’t change the fact that i’ve hurt you— someone who loved me, also who’s important to me.

After spending a lot of time thinking and asking Topaz for advice, I decided to write a letter of apology—or rather the words I wish I could have said to you sooner:

Your presence always brings calm to me. I don't know how I can describe all the things you make me feel. And you are appreciated, please remember that well. You must love yourself more than you love other people.

I’m very proud of you. You are enough just as you are.

And I never lie when I praise you. I never lie when I say 'I love you'. I didn't lie when I confessed my feelings to you at that time. I never lie about everything I do and say to you.

I'm sorry I couldn't say this sooner.

I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to tell you everything, especially my past.

I'm sorry for being such a coward hiding behind my words.

I'm sorry I didn't say this directly because I knew you would hate me

I’m sorry for all my mistakes.

It was while writing this letter that I realized the real reason I asked to break up; I want you to find someone better than me. Who doesn't just rely on his words even though he is actually a coward.

All my apologies are not enough to replace your feelings which were hurt because of my actions and words.

‘To love is to let go.’ That's the advice Topaz gave me. And it took eight days for me to understand it.

So please, find someone better than me.‘

[msfeaths]

TUTOR

warnings : none

pairing : peter parker (mcu) x reader

summary : when peter parker simply fell in love with you...

a/n : make any requests you want ! i'll be glad to do them if i can :)

The first time Peter Parker ever saw you, it was mid-february, when you juste came in and sat in the same classroom as he was. Professor Harrington introduced you as a new student, giving his speech saying people had to be nice.

Oh Peter wanted to be nice with you. But he immediately thought he would never had a chance. Of course, your hair looked so smooth, you seemed brilliant, and after a while he noticed the way this cute dimple would show up any time you smiled.. You were so pretty to his eyes, even too good to be true.

But you sat next to this other guy. Obviously you just sat at the first seat you saw, not knowing anybody. But he started talking. He was much more a talkative person as Peter ever would be, much more popular but also much more an asshole. And you noticed that quickly. Peter knew you did, because he kept observing you any time he had the chance, and he saw the way you'd back up a little when this other guy would talk to your face. The way you avoided catching his sight. You did stay in his friends group though, and that's what Peter didn't understand.

He was just thinking about it, at lunch, while Ned was telling him about this new game he cracked yesterday. "Hey, are you even listening to me right now ?" he asked, turning his head in the same direction Peter had. "Ah, I see" , Ned kept going.

Peter would sometimes - pretty often - daydream about how would it be to date you. Would you agree to spend lunch time with him and Ned ? Go to his place ? To hold his hand in public ? Or even kiss him ?

"Why don't you go and talk to her ?" asked a girl who was sitting at the same table. MJ constantly watched as Peter was almost drooling on himself just by seeing you.

"W-What ? Why would I go-" he started before getting cut off. "Come on, not to me" she answered. "You've been addicted to {Y/N} since day one". Peter frowned, denying, but he knew this could never change her mind. "MJ's got a point, dude. And maybe you have a chance with {Y/N}, who knows !?" Ned said and his friend immediately looked around to see if anyone might have heard. "Shh Ned are you crazy ?? And don't say stupid things like that.. Both of you". "Whatever", MJ replied, "But it seems like she wouldn't say no if you asked her to try a new friends group. Her's pretty lame".

Peter slowly raised an eyebrow and looked back at you, to see you walking in his direction. He was wondering, what was happening ? Were you actually going towards him ? You met his eyes and gently smiled, not really knowing how to act with him.

"Hi" you started when you reached his table. Peter looked at Ned who was way more excited to see you talking to him. He elbowed him so he could answer you. "Hum, h-hi ?" "Can we do anything for you ? Can Peter do anything for you ?" Ned immediately asked to help his friend. MJ rolled her eyes just by hearing the conversation.

"Yeah, actually" you smiled. "Mr Harrington told me to talk to you... It seems like you've been chosen to be my tutor. Im Y/N, by the way". You didn't really like asking for this - even though you did not really choose it - but Peter immediately nodded, shyly but still. "Yeah -yes of course no problem !" he replied. "Great ! Thank you. We can meet later at the library ?" you proposed. "The library is closed this week, what a shame !! Though, you should go to Peter's. The.. Temperature is great there. You know, to work..." Ned tried to keep going, making you smirk a little bit. You noticed how Peter's eyes suddenly became wide and the red colouring his cheeks. "Oh, well if you don't mind... You know what ? Just text me later today" you gave him your number under his flabbergasted eyes. He nodded and you went to class after smiling at him one last time. It is probably that exact smile that made him realise how screwed he was.

Peter did text you later that day, sending you his address and how to get there from school. You suggested to join him there at 6:00pm to what he agreed.

You arrived in front if his flat in Queens and called him so he could open, and there you were, on his dining room table, tons of books spread out next to you both. He spent a whole hour explaining all the little details that were important in every chapter that you've missed. Good for him, you were a fast learner, something that made him like you even more. He would ask you some questions to check if you were following, and you always were. That kept going until his aunt came back home. "Hey Pete, I've been trying to reach you out for an hour now and you- oh", she smiled widely, "Hello. Excuse me I didn't know you had company", she said, looking at both of you in turn. "May this is Y/N", he said, hoping she wouldn't say anything embarrassing. "Hi, I'm sorry I hope I'm not bothering. Peter is helping me with all the things I've missed at school. I'm a new student".

"No of course it's no problem ! I am always glad to meet Pete's friends. You can even stay for dinner ! Just make sure to tell your parents" she added and didn't wait for your answer before going to another room.

"You don't have to" Peter said, "Stay for dinner, I mean. N-not that I don't want you to stay, I mean you- I don't mind if you stay. At all ! It's just- ugh - if you have anything else to do, don't feel forced to stay here". You smiled at him as an answer before adding "I'd be glad to stay, I don't have any important plans".

So there you were, sitting at the small kitchen table with Peter and his aunt who had just ordered food, since the dish she started had burnt. It was simply pizzas from this place you didn't know, but Peter assured you they were the best.

"There. Start with this one, Joe's an expert at it". And indeed, you were surprised by the amazing taste of this basic pizza. Dinner kept going, and May wanted to know more about you, much to Peter's despair, even though he was interested by anything you were saying.

"From what Peter told me, you quickly made a name for yourself at school. Do you move a lot ?" she asked. "Yeah, actually. I've moved like, 12 times because of my father's job. I repeated a grade because of it" you answered with a sad smile. "Wait you're a year older ?" Peter suddenly said. "Oh no, I skipped a grade in primary school, so it's like it never changed". Peter nodded "Must be hard, I mean, moving all the time".

You looked at him quite surprised. People usually thought you were lucky because you were able to travel and meet a lot of people. Thing is, when you move that much, you don't really have time to get used to the place and make real friends. And it seemed like Peter guessed that. You liked the fact that he wasn't superficial, like a lot of people. So you smiled slightly, letting the cute dimple that he liked make its appearance "Kind of. But it feels like im gonna stick around for a while, this time". And you might didn't know, but at this exact moment, Peter never had been more thrilled.

[nannyan]

Okay so there are e few things in DSAF 2 in particular that I've wanted to ramble about for a while so this is kind of the start of that haha.

In this post I am going to talk a really little bit about one of my favorite scenes in DSAF because I've been meaning to for a while and I finally sat down on my ass to write this.

The scene in question being the one in DSAF 2 where Peter confronts you about what a piece of shit monster you are!!!! YAY

This isn't going to really be about the writing in this scene. Because I mean yeah we all know that it's amazing. That's pretty obvious.

Nor is it going to be about it in the context of the overall story - the little things it reveals and how it becomes infinitely more powerful and heart wrenching when you know the characters.

What I more so want to highlight is its placement in the second game itself, how that elevates it so much more. Because I've never really heard anyone mention this before and I've been thinking about it for a while.

I think the point at which this scene is placed is incredibly smart, and is part what makes it so memorable and effective.

And where is it placed exactly? Well right about in the middle of Dave's routes.

The purple guy is, dare I say, the most entertaining part of the first game. With his wacky antics and "Old Sport" this "Old Sport" that, he leaves and immense impression. He is most people's favorite part.

And upon meeting him again in the second game, with him giving you the same proposition - kill a few kiddins to shut down the restaurant and be a free man, you'll most likely accept. Because you want to see down what ridiculous path he'll lead you this time. So his is the first route you'll probably get to experience. Most players coming off of the first game will be fully expecting DSAF 2 to be more of the same - a silly meme game. And it really does present itself like that - when you open the game you are once again greeted with a music box rendition of a meme song. But this is also where you've fallen into the trap.

If you need a little refresher on what leads to Phone Guy's speech - you rig one of the suits full with silly putty, with the help of Dave, so that it fails with Jimbo the janitor inside, who is forced to wear it when you don't show up on time the next day.

Standard DSAF ridiculousness, you wouldn't expect less.

But what follows is one of the most raw and realistic scenes in this game (I'd even say the whole trilogy). Phone Guy goes in on you, hard. And you're kind of just forced to sit there and take it. Jack tries to lighten the mood with a few quips but Phone Guy doesn't let him. The game doesn't let you take this moment lightly.

There is a complete tonal 180. You go from watching Jimbo experience some VAST DISCOMFORT to being told, straight up, what a horrible person you are. And that whiplash kind of takes you out of it. Personally it reminded me of being a child and getting scolded by your parents, for doing something wrong. It makes you feel uncomfortable.

Now I am not giving all the credit to the scene's placement. The writing is obviously doing the majority of the lifting. But I do genuinely believe if it was anywhere else in the game, in any other route, it just wouldn't hit as hard. From Dave's route, again, being the most probable one you'd choose first, to you being like deep to your neck in the Aubergine's ridiculousness and then being, suddenly, completely pulled out from that, and being hit by the weight of your choice. It is all just so perfect. I love it so muchhh

[lunarw0rks]

Through The Ashes | Chapter Seven

Summary: You've been given an offer to join the 141 Task Force. Upon taking it, you find yourself ensnared with the mysterious masked man who won't take his eyes off you.

Warning(s): explicit content (18+), PTSD themes, canon-typical violence, slight gore, mentions of trauma, references parental death, grief, hurt/comfort but also hurt/nocomfort

A/N: should I write an epilogue? (not proofread) | Word Count: 3.2k

꒦꒷ MAIN MASTERLIST ꒷꒦ GHOST MASTERLIST ⋆ ⚘ 🕊 ˚✧ ₊˚ʚ prev. chapter | next chapter // requests | ao3 | playlist

Loose Ends

You dig out the packet from your pocket and slide it across Price’s desk.

“It’s all in the form, Sir.”

He takes it and flips through the pages, skimming the highlighted parts. “Stress leave? You’re sure about this, Private?” He flicks his eyes back up to you and raises a brow.

“Just a few months, until I can figure out my options. And I don’t want anyone to know about it, I don’t want it causing a fuss.”

“I understand.” You nod, relieved for it to be approved. You head for the door and place your fingers around the handle. You’re stopped by him speaking once more.

“You’ve done good work around here. I’m sure you’ll make a good decision.” You flash a friendly smile at Price, and then exit his office.

You’re happy to be back at the Safehouse where your career in the 141 first started, even though it came with plenty of ups and downs. 

El Sin Nombre is in custody, Hassan is dead. For the first time in months, the roster is clear—a perfect time to slip away.

—

You’re sitting in your barrack, gazing out the window at the secluded country around you. You yearned for the blissful ignorance people carried every day. The horrible things you and your coworkers see and protect everyday citizens from—it does something to you; it makes you look at things differently, even the beautiful scenery around you.

As your eyes are glued to the sky, the enjoyment is null. Your ears fill with the screams of innocents you heard in Chicago over and over again. It’s been a persistence ever since you returned, during any moment of solitude.

You needed out—a few months, maybe a year, and you’d be back in duty. Or maybe, you fulfill your contract and retire early.

A rapid set of knocks stirs you out of your thoughts, making you look up at the culprit. It’s Soap, leaning on the doorframe with a look of unease written on his expression.

“Price wants you. Something about that bastard Graves.” Before you can question it, he zipped down the hall to the meeting room.

Graves? As in, Philip Graves? He was presumed K.I.A. It’s always one problem after another, never seeming to end.

You stand yourself up and quickly follow in Soap’s footsteps, taking your usual spot next to him. Price barely waits for you to be seated before he begins his speech. His brows are tightened, his face is carrying a tension worse than when El Sin Nombre went silent.

“Graves' whereabouts are somewhere stateside, and he’s working with the Russians running some sort of Task Force of mercenaries.” You nearly fall out of the seat with the force of the shock. Russians? How has he flown under the radar so long?

Ghost shifts in his seat a bit, and his eyes grow cold. “Soap killed the bastard himself, how is that possible?”

“He’s had a plan in the works for months.” Price adds. “We need to stop his convoy coming in, and evacuate the civilians nearby.”

Goddammit. The last thing your psyche needed was more casualties weighing on you, especially in the hands of a traitorous con artist like Graves.

“We’re leaving the day after tomorrow. Stay sharp out there.”

—

Ever since the meeting about Graves, you’ve felt half-in-half-out. He was supposed to be dead, dead and gone, but he’s not. And now he shows up and has some malicious plan to get back at your team.

You must not have noticed it until now, but you’re spacing out again for God knows how long. You snap out of it, and force your hands to continue stapling the papers in front of you. You look over, and Ghost stares briefly, before his gaze goes back to the straight ahead. If anybody knows how you feel right now, it’s probably him.

“Forgot these.” He places a stack of folders down in front of you. You can tell he’s trying not to mention the obvious, not that he would anyway.

There’s no turning back now—you’ll be gone in a few days anyway.

“Ghost.”

“Yeah?” He halts, turning to face you.

“How do you do it? That… way about you? You just… Shut everything off and keep working.”

He almost scoffs right through his mask, leaning a hand on your desk. “I don’t recommend it, Sergeant.”

“Then when does it stop? The things that keep replaying in your head?” Your question hangs in the air a few seconds, before you continue your ramble. “I can’t see past it—the lies and the violence, and the way we all just avoid it.”

He steps a little closer, leaning down to meet your eyes. He knows that feeling all too well, but he’s learned to mask it.

“If you keep thinking like that, it’ll swallow you up. You’re a good soldier, better than most of the muppets I’ve seen. You know that, right?”

You’re fiddling with the paper in your hands, trying to deflect some of the feelings you’re having right now. You press your lips into a line, and nod your head. His words meant more than most.

“You’re not planning on jumping off a cliff, are you?” He asks, letting out a dry chuckle. “Don’t tell me it’s something terminal, either.”

You can’t control the smile spreading on your face. It was not the line you were expecting to lighten the mood, but it worked nonetheless.

He reaches out a fist and gives your chest a few knocks right over your heart. “Feels pretty sturdy to me. You’ll be ‘right.”

Saying thank you would be pointless. He’s not a man of many words to begin with, especially not words of appreciation. You outstretched your arms and gave him a brief embrace, as if to let yourself say goodbye to him without the pressure of figuring out what to say. You debate on even telling him you’re going away.

It’s an unexpected move on both parts, but he doesn’t jerk away from you like he did last time. Instead of pulling away, he places his palm on the back of your head, giving it a gentle clasp.

You both pull away, and he looks as if he doesn’t know what to do with the affection. He loses his eye contact, and his inelegant demeanor returns.

“Felt more like a goodbye… We’ll need you out there when we hunt that bastard down.”

“I wouldn’t miss that for the world.” You reply, almost boastfully. After a seconds pause, you bite the bullet. “I put in for some leave, not sure how long, yet.”

He’s less shocked than you expected him to be, but given the way you vented maybe it isn’t.

“I’ll pick up the slack while you’re gone. But then I want you back bright and early, five-o-clock sharp.” His words lighten, having an edge of humor to them. Then again, he could be serious and you wouldn’t know.

You crinkle your nose to stifle a laugh, finishing sorting the papers that you have procrastinated on for months. You place the boxes under the desk, and then move onto the next batch. You’ve expected him to be gone by now, but he isn’t.

“Before you go—” Ghost speaks from the entrance of the room, as if he stopped in the middle of stride. His eyes look soft again, and they’re scanning you like they’ve done a hundred times.

“—we should have a round together.”

—

The tires screech to a stop on the pavement, jerking all of you around with force. Door opens, and you and the others pile out, guns drawn and ready.

“I want everyone to evacuate civilians first.” Price commands, standing in front of the group.

“Go in pairs and take one building each. Direct them to the triage center down the road. Graves’ll destroy anything to prove a point, so get the hell out of there.”

You follow Ghost, who’s the first person to your right. Your feet pound as you both bolt up the road. You claim the first building, which is some sort of an office, but the structure looks ancient. He smashes through the glass entrance and steps inside. The flashlight attached to his barrel is the only thing allowing you to see ahead of you.

You turn off and check the lower level, but it’s clear.

“Anyone upstairs?” You shout, since he’s sure to hear you through the thin walls.

“Clear.” His voice echoes down the stairwell.

You meet him outside, waiting to regroup before you move onto the next building. The next one is further up the road—a hotel closed for construction. This time, you take the lead, bursting through the door.

There’s a few employees that you usher out of there, directing them to the triage center. There’s no time to answer their frantic questions, anything could happen in a matter of minutes.

“Convoy is a few miles out. Make sure you’re out of there before then.” Price chirps through, only heightening your apprehension to get through this operation. You rush up the flights of stairs, sweeping each vacant room for anyone. “We’re heading down to the triage center. Both of you meet us there.”

After checking the rooms, you take the elevator back to the ground level, meeting up with Ghost once more. “Upper level is clear,” you say, in between catching your breath.

“Dining hall is the last area. Let’s sweep it before we’re sitting ducks.”

You reach the dining hall, which seems to be the area under remodel. Tarps are spread over the missing pieces of the roof, but you can still see the stars glimmer through the gaps. Pieces of drywall are peeled away, and there’s equipment still left laying askew.

You search through the entirety of it, but it’s as empty as the upper levels.

When you pass by the bar alongside Ghost’s eyes don’t leave the path in front of him.

As you’re both nodding to one another, signaling that it’s time to go, your radio chimes in. It gargles for a while, as if it’s struggling to receive the message at the right frequency. You furrow your brow and press the button, “Repeat that again, frequency is shot.”

Ghost stops in his tracks as he listens through his own, trying to pick out any words or phrases in case it’s an important callout. He shakes his head and pulls out his walkie-talkie, which is also emitting the same error.

He gives it a few smacks and curses when it doesn’t work. He keeps it in his grip just in case it works again, but motions his head in the direction of the door. “Let’s get out of here, I don’t like this.”

“Good to see you boys again.” The glitched voice emitting through your wire stops you dead in your tracks. You place a hand on Ghost’s shoulder, yanking him into a stop so you can hear it further.

When he does, he sprints to the other side of the large room, checking the entrance and windows for any sign of hostiles.

You look at him wide-eyed, as the line goes dead again. Graves had patched into your frequency and clogged it so you couldn’t reach your team. Whatever he was planning before, it’s here now and there’s no time to stop.

Your earpiece unexpectedly picks up the frequency again when you reach the middle of the dining hall. It gargles out a few words that you can’t understand, and then it emits a high-pitched shriek so boosted it makes you keel over and rip it out.

Ghost moves quicker than before, as your hurried steps try to catch up with him, your boots echoing with each careful stride—as if to not get your foot caught in any of the uneven patches of flooring.

The glass on the chandeliers began to rattle, as did the glassware packed away in boxes. You felt the floor vibrate, and the tarps over the exposed drywall began to whoosh. The electricity flickered as a loud whoosh of a jet passed overhead. The lights exploded into sparks, making you cover your ears for cover.

You had no time to get any closer to the door before the force of a nearby explosion knocked you to the hard ground. The world around feels like it’s been tilted on its axis, and your vision is doubled. You see Ghost already scrambled to his feet, and he’s outstretching his hand to help you up.

You reach for it and just barely brush against his fingertips. When you’re too sluggish, he clasps your upper arm and jerks you toward him, just barely getting you upright.

Another jet passes overhead, the sound of the engine fills your ears once more. When another bomb drops, it’s closer than the last. You knock into one of the pillars, losing your balance again. A clamorous groan of the building causes him to lose his grip on you, and you’re knocked down again, fading in and out of consciousness.

Ghost ripped himself away just as the already fragile structure began to crumble. He covered his head as the blast proceeded, gathering himself when the destruction came to a stop. Ghost coughed away the dust and stumbled through the dimness of the large space.

“Where are you?” He rasped as he felt around, gripping onto one of the pillars still standing.

He climbed through a gap in the boards, looping through one of the neighboring rooms to locate you. His heart skipped a beat when he saw you—draped across the floor with rubble surrounding you—illuminated only by the night sky, its radiance shining through the faulted roof.

Your foot was pinned by a piece of cement, rendering it unusable.

He throws his radio onto the ground and is by your side in a second, knelt beside you. When you finally come to, you try to move, but your foot is pinned completely.

“Don’t move your feet.” He spouts in a low tone, looking around the room for anything he can use to jack it up, but everything nearby is smashed to pieces.

Your eyes dart around the room to assess the damage, but you can’t crane your neck enough to see it all.

Finally, he finds a board to shove some of it away enough. He grabs your calf and pulls your foot out from under, but it’s completely limp. You can’t feel any of this, as if you’re under anesthesia, which is both a blessing and a curse.

You swallow, giving some saturation to your dry throat. “How bad’s the leg?” You murmur, unable to see what kind of deformity he’s tending to.

“You’ll be alright, need to find a way out.” He crawls back to your side, looking every which way as if an exit door was going to appear out of thin air.

He intertwines your hand, attempting to hoist you up. “Lean on me,” he says unsteadily. You can’t use your weight at all, or move for that matter—almost immediately dropping back to the ground.

A sharp, shooting pain runs up your backbone, making you wail in agony. His hands hasten around to find the source of it. Your excruciation is like someone running a knife along his skin. He knows that sound all too well.

He turns your torso, revealing the source of it—shards of metal plates embedded deep within your spine, and it’s been bleeding this whole time. He masks his panic as best as he can, but his silence is every answer you need.

“I can’t feel it anymore…” You whisper, now unable to move anything in your lower half.

The marble floor you’re limp upon is slowly becoming covered with your blood, seeping into the grout and cracks of it. You’re losing too much, too fast—and there’s nothing he can do to stop it.

You feel each breath turn into an irregular wheeze with an increasing amount of seconds between each of them.

Ghost shifted the position you were in so your head was hiked onto his thigh, having no choice but to look up at him. You rest your palm on the ground beside you, using the last of your remaining energy to trace the pattern of the marble.

He stops your hand and clenches it, halting your twitching. He moves his other hand to your hair and holds onto the side of your head, not breaking eye contact with you for a second.

“We should get that drink, Sergeant.” He speaks softly, his eyes wrinkling over the weight of his own words.

You titter at his words, allowing them to distract you from the despondency of the situation you’re in. There’s nothing you can say to him that won’t fissile into the air—the silence is loud enough to fill those gaps in.

Ghost is mirroring what he did when his mother passed, cradling her as if he could nurse the wounds away. He recalls the same way her eyes were washed over with emptiness, no longer hosting any soul in them.

The way your chest rattles, the crimson seeping through the cracks of your skin and leaking onto his clothes—it’s a familiar sorrow.

He leans down and presses his lips to yours after the labored breaths stopped—something he didn’t have the courage to do when you were right in front of him nearly everyday. It was not the lustful, craving kisses you two shared, it was a kiss expelling the torment causing his heart to flutter.

“Ghost? How copy?” His walkie that he tossed chimed, finally coming through clearly. They were minutes late—minutes that they could’ve helped you.

“Ghost, what’s your status?”

He didn’t dare take his eyes off your lifeless body, only wanting to savor the last bits of warmth your skin still had. His lips left yours, quivering in a way that hadn’t since he was a tormented child—something he’d never openly express to anyone.

He removed your head from his thigh, then placed your hand down gently, rising to his unsteady feet.

He looked down at the blood coating his hands and the fabric of his trousers, the way it ran down his fingers and onto his sleeve—it made his skin crawl.

“Ghost, do you copy?”

His head pivots to the radio on the ground. His lip tightens in frustration when he hears the callout. The emotions he’s having all stewing inside him all at once—it’s too much.

He picks up the radio and projects it onto the ground, hearing each piece of it shatter at his feet.

His fists clench at his sides as he looks at you one more time, with you remaining in the same limp position he left you in. The sounds of your agony echoed within him, the feeling of your skin turning cold when he sat there long enough, the fabric of his balaclava now saturated with his own tears.

“I’m sorry.” His words felt void against the emptiness of the degradation surrounding him.

It was a phrase he uttered to you multiple times before,

a phrase he’d never be able to tell you enough,

a phrase you’d never be able to pardon him for again.

[Alternate Ending]

TAGLIST: @neoarchipelago @ghostlythots @gothgirl6-6-6 @cloudyyjanee @ladyelissarose @almightywdm @glitterypirateduck @brokenghostgirl1 @a-jupiter-n-mars-blog @liliumbosniacum (IT WONT LET ME TAG SOME OF U GUYS SORRY)

[sakebytheriver]

Community is a Chekhov play and the gun that foreshadows the ultimate tragedy of the Greendale study group is in the Dean's first speech with his missing card,

"Many of you are halfway through your first week here at Greendale, and as your dean, I thought I would share a few thoughts of wisdom and inspiration. What is community college? Well, you've heard all kinds of things. You've heard it's a loser college for remedial teens, 20-something dropouts, middle-aged divorcees, and old people keeping their minds active as they circle the drain of eternity. That's what you heard... However, I wish you luck! ... Okay, you know... Oh-oh. Okay, there's more to this speech. There's actually a middle card that is missing."

That middle card is Community's equivalent of Chekhov having a character hold a gun in the first act. The card is never found just the same way the study group never really escapes Greendale as anything but what the dean describes them as in his speech, the missing card is their potential, lost to time, lost to incompetence, lost on the Greendale campus never to be found again. Troy never really graduates instead becoming the epitome of remedial teens running from the world by literally floating through it on a boat, Britta remains stuck at Greendale a twenty something dropout unable to get a degree but also unable to leave and in the original draft of the pilot the dean even adds an aside that the dropouts are "crawling their way back to society" an acomplishment Britta never reaches by the end of the series, Shirley never becomes more than a middle aged divorcee with a husband that came crawling back only to leave her once again losing herself in Louisiana to play nursemaid to a man she just met, and Pierce dies the same way he lived depressed, gross, broken, and alone. Jeff, Annie, and Abed don't have equivalencies in the speech that appears in the pilot, but Annie is given an aside in the original draft in the same moment as Troy, being labeled "a young person who couldn't get into a university" and she never does make it to a real university. In the end, Annie and Abed are the only two given endings that can be read as happy, she leaving for the FBI Academy and he leaving for film school in Los Angeles, the only two able to escape the Greendale purgatory for supposedly greener pastures, but Annie's ending is to become a cog in the system, a cog that would have happily sent her younger self to jail for the rest of her life for an addiction beyond her control finally reaching the lofty goal she thought she must reach as the small overachiever Annie came to Greendale as, finally able to grow up and be a big girl. Maybe her ending was happy or maybe it was just another form of corruption. Perhaps Abed Nadir is the only one whose ending is truly everything he ever wanted, but he goes to film school alone, he reaches his dream far away from all of the people who loved him, the only people who ever loved him, Abed Nadir ends the series the same way he entered it, the same way they all entered it, alone. And of course, Jeff Winger, the man who wanted to stay at Greendale for the shortest timeframe he could possibly achieve is now stuck there, dedicated his life to teaching there, to fixing the broken school that somehow fixed him and broke him even more left watching everyone else leave him behind.

The missing card, the one that could have told them all what they could be, what they could have acheived at Greendale is never found, but it comes back in the third act in the form of Season 7, the cutaways the group comes up with in the finale of what their season 7 could look like, the missing potential that notecard used to have now inside they're own minds and as Jeff pulls the trigger, fires the only bullet left in the chamber and begs the others to please just stay with him, to stick around and make the idealic season 7 he has created in his own imagination, the gun backfires and explodes in his own hand as reality comes crashing down to steal that last bit of hope he had left

"The plays that Chekhov wrote were not complex, but easy to follow, and created a somewhat haunting atmosphere for the audience."

This quote from Chekhov's wikipedia stands out to me in a way that perfectly describes a modern sitcom and I feel it especially fits with the atmosphere Community created. It was funny, it was broken, it was irreverent, and it was goofy, but it's a show that has haunted me for years, has haunted the entire fanbase for seven years demanding a movie until the powers that be finally gave in

E. J. Dillon thought "the effect on the reader of Chekhov's tales was repulsion at the gallery of human waste represented by his fickle, spineless, drifting people" and R. E. C. Long said "Chekhov's characters were repugnant, and that Chekhov revelled in stripping the last rags of dignity from the human soul".

And these quotes, while they were striking at Chekhov's work in a disparaging way, they just make me think of the characters from Community. Is there a better description for the Greendale 7 than a group of fickle, spineless, drifting, repugnant people stripped of their last rags of dignity? Chekhov was known for being able to capture the specific sadness of an ensemble of depressed codependents trapped in the utter monatony of a working class sedentary life and his popularity was credited to his, "unusually complete rejection of what we may call the heroic values." There are no heroic values in any of the Greendale 7, they are a group of flawed indivudals who come together to create a flawed Community. The Greendale 7 don't have a perfect happy ending, the last moments of Community don't fall into place the way you want a feel good sitcom about a group of friends to end. The ending is bittersweet and broken, a show that shambled on for more seasons than anyone ever believed it could hemoraging cast members along the way feeling like it had died many years before it actually ended, but Abed delivers a speech about the nature of TV and you're crying and you're smiling and when they all leave for the last time with a tight hug that feels like the earth is shattering you're launched into one last self aware fourth wall breaking gag that jolts your emotions before credits roll and they're the last credits that play for the entire show and you don't know if that was an ending or if you should wait for something else.

Virginia Woolf mused on the unique quality of a Chekhov story in The Common Reader (1925):

"But is it the end, we ask? We have rather the feeling that we have overrun our signals; or it is as if a tune had stopped short without the expected chords to close it. These stories are inconclusive, we say, and proceed to frame a criticism based upon the assumption that stories ought to conclude in a way that we recognise. In so doing we raise the question of our own fitness as readers. Where the tune is familiar and the end emphatic—lovers united, villains discomfited, intrigues exposed—as it is in most Victorian fiction, we can scarcely go wrong, but where the tune is unfamiliar and the end a note of interrogation or merely the information that they went on talking, as it is in Tchekov, we need a very daring and alert sense of literature to make us hear the tune, and in particular those last notes which complete the harmony."

Community ends not with a bang but a whimper and a broken note that makes you question what happens next, where do they go from there, what scene fits here in the script, is this truly the end or just where the writer put down his pen. It's a Chekhov play written in six seasons and soon to be a movie

In the end, the tragedy of Community is literally written on the cards

[pascaloverx]

Invisible Bonds: The Power of Destiny

Author's Note: This fanfic contains possible strong language and explores themes of unconventional love. The relationship between the protagonists will be handled with sensitivity, without explicit scenes.

preview chapter two

*pictures credits are not mine, credits belong to their owners

Chapter One

You woke up feeling discouraged, but with a hopeful feeling that things would get better. How could you not feel hopeful when the love of your life is about to marry an incredible woman?

"Darling, Taehyung called to let you know he'll be waiting for you at the beauty salon. He said you'd know which one. He also wanted to remind you that he remembered to pick up the tuxedo and the shoes. He asked you to call his friend about the wedding rings." Your mother shouted from downstairs, and you felt the urge to never leave your bed again. How could you be a bridesmaid in a wedding you theoretically should prevent? But then again, who are you to go against the dictates of destiny?

Your mother came to visit you this weekend because Taehyung considers her a second mother, and she's thrilled to see her heart's son getting married. She has already given up of the ideia of you getting married.

You shout back that you're already getting ready to meet the groom. Damn, you had forgotten to call Taehyung's childhood friend, Jungkook. You haven't met him in person, but you've heard the guys talk a lot about him. And by guys, you mean the college friends you met through Taehyung: Jin, Namjoon, Yoongi, Hoseok, and Jimin. The lilac dress that the bride has chosen for all the bridesmaids is so delicate that you feel like you shouldn't even take it out of the closet. You quickly slip into it and fix your hair within minutes. Why take your time when you're not the bride, right?

Finishing getting ready, you search for Jungkook's number on your phone. You wonder why you volunteered to help with this wedding and why, out of everyone, you ended up with the task of calling this guy. The phone rings and rings, but no one answers. When I call again, he finally picks up. His voice is hoarse; it feels like I just woke him up. Oops...

"There better be a good reason for calling me this early in the morning then..." He says in an almost rude tone. You wonder if there's a way to slap someone through the phone. Perhaps in the future, there will be.

"Good morning, Jungkook. I hate to break it to you, but as an adult, you should've been up hours ago. My name is (Y/N), and I'd like to know if the wedding rings and their bearer will be here on time for the wedding." You reply, trying to be as patient as possible, but honestly, you're furious. Always having to deal with other people's issues.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have a beautiful voice? Ever thought about becoming a singer or a voice actor?" He says while you can hear noises in the background, a woman murmuring something. He's too busy getting romantically involved with someone to remember to be a good friend, how wonderful.

"Instead of trying to flatter me, make sure you're here at the agreed time and with the rings. If you want to invite your company to come along, feel free. But know that if you mess something up today, I'll be your particular nightmare." You say as sternly as possible. You even slow down your speech in the last part to appear more intimidating.

"If this is your way of asking if I'll be accompanied today, the answer is no. As for the rest, I'll do exactly as you asked, if you promise to reward me at the end of the night." He says, trying to be seductive. You prefer to pretend you didn't hear that proposition.

"I'm sorry to burst your fantasies, but I don't plan on getting involved with anyone. You can pretend that I'm saving myself for my other half." You reply firmly, putting an end to any further advances.

"Believing in soulmates is for fools. I bet I can convince you otherwise at the wedding." You don't even know the guy, but you're already envious of his arrogance.

"Listen, I have things to do and can't waste time. I expect to see you in a few hours, appropriately dressed and with wedding rings in your pocket." You say firmly, ending the conversation and hanging up the phone.

You descend the stairs, seeing the table full of food that your mother is packing for you to freeze and eat during the week. You thank her and let her know you won't be able to have breakfast together. She says she doesn't want to inconvenience you, knowing that Taehyung needs you. You nod in agreement and give your mother a goodbye kiss. A few minutes later, you're finishing up the last details at the reception hall. Of course, you had already organized things at the church. Everything is going as planned. You arrive at the beauty salon where the bride and groom are getting their skin and hair done.

"I was starting to miss you. You look breathtaking." Taehyung says as he gets up from the chair where he was finishing his makeup. He looks so radiant, as if his smile could light up the world. It heals me even as it hurts. He isn't my soulmate; God knows he never thought of me romantically, but I simply love him.

"Look who's talking. Haewon is going to feel incredibly lucky when she sees you walking down the aisle like this. Although, she looks stunning. I sneakily peeked because I thought you'd want to know." You say as you adjust Taehyung's tie.

"I'm so nervous. It's worse than that time we were at a concert, and I got called up on stage to sing. I don't know how I'm going to walk down the aisle and wait for my future wife patiently." He says as you lock at each other. It's not romantic, but it's a moment of tenderness. After all, he is my best friend, and he's getting married.

""Taehyung, today you embark on a new chapter of your life, and I have no doubt that your love story with Haewon will be as magical as the bond that you guys already share. No nervousness in the world will ruin your moment." You say, trying to be as positive as possible.

"You always know what to say. I love you, you know that?" He says, hugging you.

"I love you too, now come on. We have a beautiful wedding waiting for you, and it's not nice to keep the bride waiting." You say as you send a message to the driver, letting them know Taehyung is ready to go. According to the schedule, Haewon will be making her grand entrance in about ten minutes.

The journey from the salon to the church takes about five minutes. Up until now, everything has been going perfectly. Right now, Taehyung is surrounded by friends and is nervous. Not because of the bride, but because Jungkook hasn't arrived yet. That idiot.

You knew you shouldn't have trusted him to get the rings. You can't believe he's going to mess everything up in the end. And just as you lose patience completely, Jungkook walks into the church. At least, you think he's Jungkook. I must admit he looks elegant, almost like he stepped out of a movie. He arrives with a smile, as if he's the main attraction.

And suddenly, you feel it—a suffocating sensation as if the air has been sucked out of the world. A pain in your chest so immense that it makes you stumble, clinging onto Taehyung for support. Then you notice Jungkook doesn't seem well either. Damn, this can only mean one thing. As your body collapses to the ground and your consciousness fades, amidst people shouting and lifting me to call for medical help, you feel something inside you that only soulmates feel for each other. You can't believe that out of all the people in the world, your other half is Jeon Jungkook.

[hua-fei-hua]

20 questions for fic writers

tagged by @justpastsaturn~!! man it's been a while since i've partaken in something like this lol

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

63! 64 if you count the random anon one i don't technically write but for which i do overly-elaborate html for a friend. and um. a lot more if we want to also count each chapter of the single-ship ficlet collection works i have as a separate work ehe.

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

heh. 772,261 words since june 2016. C:<

3. what fandoms do you write for?

these days just genshin, but in the past i did jjk, bnha, soul eater, flip flappers, and attack on titan. a number of years ago i also had a fma fic up on ffn, but i deleted it and never ported it to ao3. should still be on my google drive, though.

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

//HEAVY SIGH.

sparklers (BnHA), 939 kudos

Orchid in Bloom (BnHA), 476 kudos

the diner at the end of the night (JJK), 474 kudos

Fermata (BnHA), 413 kudos

Veneer (BnHA), 368 kudos

5. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

i do!!! mostly it's bc i have can't-shut-up disease, but through the years, i've also found it to be a really good community-building exercise!!!! i'm not the type of person to get involved in fandom discord servers, so i've come to really treasure the friendly environment the comments section of a wip can foster, as well as the friends i've made because of it~

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i am actually a hardcore happy-ending person myself, so pretty much all of them end with some sense of hope. there's a kagerou days au i wrote for bnha back in the day, though, so i guess time looping to die for one another infinitely counts here.

7. what is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

tbh i have a hard time quantifying the happiness of all the different endings i've written, esp since it's been years since i've written simple self-indulgent "and then they all lived happily ever after the end" kinds of endings ahahaha,,,

8. do you get hate on fics?

no but someone impersonating me left a hate comment in my name on a fe3h byleth hannibal au back in may 2021. that was crazy i hope ao3 user dikhotomia is living their best life writing whatever the fuck they want after that incident.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

i wrote exactly one (1) explicit fic which was literally just a 16k word sex scene bc the logical endpoint to xiao genshinimpact's character arc is that he needs to get fucked. i don't make the rules. outside of studying blorbo, though, i don't really feel any compulsion to write smut

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

nah. i'll write fusion aus, where cast a goes into setting b and may or may not try to retell the story of canon b, but i like to put the "transformative" into "transformative works" in those situations, to the point where people sometimes can't tell what story i'm basing the narrative off of LOL

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not to my memory or knowledge, no.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

yes, several times!! mostly back in my bnha days, where i had one fic (partially) translated into chinese and russian, a different fic reviewed and fully translated into chinese; going even farther back, i also once had a query to translate one of my snk fics into french, but i never really heard back from that person so i assume that one fell through.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

i'd say yes. there's the aforementioned fic i do the overly-elaborate html for, but also back in high school, a couple friends n i sat around my computer between rounds at a speech tournament and took turns turning one of my kouhai's scripts into a bnha fic that kept on going off the rails bc i implemented a "no backspacing" rule and once our turn typing was over, we had to have our hands-off the computer until it was our turn again.

14. what's your all-time favorite ship?

let's just cut to the chase and make this post timeless: i like it when a ship is basically just MONSTER x MONSTER FUCKER. if not on a literal level, then a spiritual/metaphorical level! bonus points if both parties think the other person is the monster fucker!!!!

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

well i actually recently decided to let go of zenith, so i don't really have any "i wish i could finish this" thoughts abt it anymore tbh... i think abt finishing my html sanitizer 2.0 so that i can post the notes for it more conveniently though lol

16. what are your writing strengths?

heh. bitches love my characterization. and imagery/use of metaphor!

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

SOMEONE will probably snipe me if i say poetry, but i still find my poems to be rather stiff and overly-literal, so i still consider poetry to be a weakness of mine. and fight scenes. DEFINITELY #1 weakness fight scenes.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

for a word here or two there, i don't mind as long as it's culturally appropriate. (you will pry my dearly beloved "aiya" out of my cold dead hands) like that's just how people talk in real life. for longer sentences or conversations, then i'd like it if there are translation notes left somewhere. at the very least, i'd kind of like a narrative or aesthetic reason if the meaning can't be parsed from context alone.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

pokemon, if we're counting my being five years old and unaware of what fanfiction is! otherwise, attack on titan or my little pony.

20. favorite fic you've written?

tbh i try not to play favorites w/my fics anymore, since if a darling of mine doesn't get the attention i think it deserves, i end up having a tough time getting over it emotionally, which has sometimes led to unnecessary bitterness and resentment towards the fic or even fandom/community itself.

tagging~ @kanonavi, @cadriona, @tempests-bards-and-birds, @followerofmercy, @chickycherrycola, and anyone else who might feel like it hehe

[alegacyofmonsters]

Legacies 1x03 Rewatch

Haven't even made it past the Previously On ... and I'm already rolling my eyes at Alaric's speech to Hope. Like how did the writers think yes, let's sprinkle this all in so heavy handed but next season, when it's his blood daughter doing all that and more, let's have him sit silently and coddle her and force her murder victims to be nice. The character assassination -

I can't be the only one who does not give a fuck about the flashbacks over the season. Like not a single one is memorable except the Ben/Jen ones. I forget they exist and I really don't care.

My chain spell potential. Wasted.

No but why is Lizzie actually so nice to Penelope in the beginning?? Like last episode, she's willing to go along with Penelope's ideas and this episode, of all the people in the room, she's the one to say why Penelope's absent? I know Josie said she used to have a crush on Penelope but GIRL GET UP.

"If it pleases the court." Is this and 4x12 foreshadowing Lawyer!Lizzie? Because if so, I'm down for it.

"If anyone should take the blame, it's Josie." "WhAt?" I mean, look. Did Lizzie need to point it out? No. Bitch move. But it literally is because of Josie. How is she gonna stand there and pretend like it wasn't.

"I promise I'm not gonna betray you by being friends with Hope (who I made you believe hated you and did some fucked up things to you)." The very next morning:

"You only play by the grown-up rules when you don't need something from me." Get him again Hope!

"Baby, I'm a loser, yeah, yeah, yeah." as Lizzie stares at Hope's ass. I can read between the lines.

"Litter, weeds, graffiti." And then they immediately forget about weeds. Like they split into two groups and not a soul went to weed??

"I love trash. As of this moment." "Your sister's kind of a dumpster fire." HOPE. I SEE YOU. I SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU.

"Daddy's girls." Said the pot to the kettle.

"You run, I run. Period." BRING RAFAEL BACK TO ME ALREADY. THE JOKE ISN'T FUNNY ANYMORE.

"She hates me, doesn't she?" "I don't want him to hate me." Tethered.

As much as I hated it, I miss Kaleb's stance on supernatural-human relations. I hate that it just went away. It made him into a villain-like character, but damn it, it was interesting. Why did Legacies let all their interesting plots go in favor of "immortal man dies again" "the girl who grieved grieves again" "girl who ran runs again"??? I would have rather seen Kaleb start a small sect of students who believed in his idea that supernaturals were better than humans than listen to Josie whine about how she wants to leave again because people don't like that she murdered them for a season and a half.

No because fuck MG and Connor for that one. I will never understand the absurd Lizzie hate in S1. It reads like a bad fanfic where they layer on the abuse to set the tone but it also is wildly unrealistic and not based on anything.

PEDRO! (Side note: Had a dream last night where J*lie appeared to tell me there was a spin off about Pedro coming and I just told her everything she did wrong)

Enough time has passed. Emma and Alaric should've ended up together.

Call him a bitch, Lizzie. You know you want to.

"Hope and Josie are all sisters in solidarity." Baby, just say your crush is picking trash with someone else.

"But as I was walking home, I did the work and I dug deep." I want to give you a hug.

"She has a point." This is gonna be a real controversial opinion here but I think Emma was more of a mother figure to Lizzie than Caroline was.

"People disappoint." "When I let my guard down, people disappoint." How did I not see what they were setting up from the beginning.

Lizzie sacrificing herself for all of Mystic Falls who had done nothing but treat her like shit really get glossed over

"We've known each other over a decade and anytime you get the chance, you poke." Maybe because you've been spreading rumors about her and bullying her since you were eleven?? She heard that shit??? God, I can't stand Josie's fake innocent act.

"I can heal it." BUT YOU CAN'T HEAL THAT BEAUTY OF A SHOE HOPE.

"Sir, we've already taken your money twice." Landon's so soft.

"I just think that that's making me a little bit nauseous." It's called jealousy.

"MG has the impulse control of a pre-schooler." That's such a nasty thing to say about your "best friend" who has diagnosed ADHD?? Open a fucking book.

"He also always goes for the wrong girls." Yeah, you're gonna tell me that wasn't a shot at Lizzie? The one girl MG goes for repeatedly??

"Lizzie has dibs" and mind you Lizzie just arbitrarily decided to try and crush on him

"She always has dibs." So is it canon that Lizzie called dibs on Penelope then?

"Lizzie's sensitive." IF I SPEAK -

"That's why she's extra testy lately." No I'm pretty sure that's because in the last 48 hours, she's been assaulted several times, you've been lying to and gaslighting her, and her father's been a giant hypocrite. But sure. She's not there to defend herself, so keep going.

Jeremy really just showed up once and never again, huh?

Josie feels it when Lizzie is attacked by monsters but not when she uses black magic?

Dana and Penelope would have been best friends and she should've been in the Dana x Josie AU.

"I had to ask the honorable -" Blah blah blah. I'm really finding it hard to fall for the nice guy act this time around knowing what he does at the end.

Standing there silently while Kaleb talks all sort of misogynistic shit on Lizzie. Ooh if I could reach through a screen -

"She didn't. I did." ... okay?

No because Rafael losing Cassie and Hope losing Landon at the same time would have hit hard. And what if I just rewrite Legacies myself? Like damn.

I love that they just leave Lizzie on the floor. Like not a soul even holding her hand as she whimpers in pain. Wow.

Alaric jumps in front of Hope like she wouldn't just wake up a Tribrid if the gargoyle had got her. You're telling me this man was ready to die if his research was wrong just so she could stay human?? I'm not buying it.

"Me being the evil one in this scenario?" and I know she was flashing back to eleven years old hearing Josie make all the witches laugh at her for being a villain

"These secrets are gonna tear us apart." If only she knew.

"In their minds, we're the villains because we won't give them what they want. We don't even know why they want it." Oh the Dark!Josie foreshadowing.

Me, trying to listen while also trying to jam out to Raign.

"I had the kitchen make these. Your favorite. Brownies." "Someone else's baked goods?" Oh Hope was throwing shots and I didn't even know yet.

Also Lizzie's favorite isn't brownies. It's key lime pie. She says so later in the season. Get it to-fucking-gether, MG.

No because Dana running into the Salvatore School to deface it, finding out about the supernatural, and turning THAT into a plot would have hit so good.

[itsclydebitches]

The thing that gets me about the 'Remember her message' crap is like... Remember what? Her message wasn't some inspiring speech or moral lesson, it was essentially saying "Shit is going down, here are people who know more. And Ironwood is a bitch ass mother fucker.". What, does Winter think people will forget the important details?

Though Ruby's message is definitely generic, I personally have no problem with that. Generic can be great when it plays to a genre's strengths and the audience's expectations. Ruby does spend the second half of her broadcast asking the people not to panic, telling them to pull together, and reassuring them that they can in fact beat Salem. On paper, it sounds like a pretty solid speech that, yes, is worth keeping in mind after she's supposedly perished and things have well and truly gone to shit. Hell, part of what Ruby asks is that the people of Remnant keep moving forward even if Atlas falls, with the implication being that she may die too, but they should heed her warnings even if she's no longer around to remind them. The scraped epilogue shows the people doing just that.

The problem—multiple problems, really—is that this message within RWBY's specific context is nonsensical. I spoke a lot about this back when Volume 8 first aired, but it's worth repeating in light of the epilogue. Ruby's speech is heard as one unbroken transmission, yet Ruby skips over a ton of crucial information, implying that the people of Remnant have heard it off screen... yet, given how this is written (both that unbroken stream + they have literally one shot at this message with Penny buying them time), that's simply not possible. Ruby admits that the Maidens and the Relics sound insane, but she never told the people what those are. She reassures them that Salem can be beaten even though she can't be destroyed, but she never tells them that she's immortal in the first place (which is HUGE given what went down with both Ozpin and Ironwood). Ruby announces that Ironwood can't be trusted, but provides no reason or evidence for why that's the case. She further tries to provide reassurance by saying that they must be a threat to Salem because if not, she would have attacked long before now, but that's another huge, baseless assumption. (Plus, the viewer knows there's no in-world weakness that Salem is hindered by, one that Ruby is strategically alluding to. She just didn't attack earlier because the show didn't start earlier. Salem, as a character, waited around for Ruby to grow up enough to fight her.) Perhaps most damning from our perspective, Ruby talks big about stopping Salem without once even considering how they might beat her, let alone coming up with a viable plan to present to the people.

In short: she's pulling an Ozpin. Ruby knows that saying, "Our enemy is immortal and we have no idea how to stop her, but you should keep fighting anyway!" is a very bad gamble, so she doesn't lie exactly, but implies that she has a much better handle on the situation than she actually does. She is, on a literal level, doing precisely what Ozpin did to the girls except on a world-wide scale. And unlike Ozpin who at least offered information that made sense to people based on what they already knew, Ruby references things on the fly that are either a) meaningless to the people or b) entirely unpersuasive. This is a kid who hacked every screen in the world to say, "Hi, it's me, someone you've never seen before. An entire kingdom is about to fall to grimm, but it's okay! See, everything bad that's ever happened in history, from those grimm to the White Fang to random crime around Vale, is all orchestrated by a woman named Salem. We can't beat her, but we can totally beat her. How? I won't say. Also, a world leader is evil now. How do I know this? I won't say. Also also, "maidens and Relics." Don't worry if those words don't mean anything to you. So see? If you just band together everything will be fine!"

And then the world... did that, with the side benefit of not panicking and drawing grimm like everyone agreed would happen back in Volume 7. But that's a writing decision entirely separated from the reality RWBY's built. From the perspective of Remnant, Ruby's speech is unsubstantiated nonsense. At best it comes across as a conspiracy-theory obsessed child playing a prank. At worst it's panic-inducing without providing a shred of explanation or reassurance. If there was ANY consistency in the show the girls would arrive in Vacuo to find the majority of the people going about their daily lives because... wait. You actually thought we were going to listen to you when you spouted all that ridiculous stuff? Meanwhile, a handful of believers are now ready to fight ... because they think Salem can, in fact, be beaten. She's an enemy, yeah? We're brave! Let's go kill her! All Ruby would have done is put those people in the same position they were pre-Volume 6, with information they probably should have been able to use to figure things out (how is Salem still around after centuries if she's not immortal?) but more likely they just jumped to the easiest, most reassuring conclusion. You said there was an evil lady controlling everything, but that we could beat her. So... let's go beat her? And Ruby is standing there, sweating, because oh yeah, she has no idea how to beat Salem. She is ACTUALLY speed-running Ozpin's choices except she pulled the entire WORLD in instead of just a few, choice hunters already committed to half the fight and instead of damning her for that like Ozpin was the show goes, "Yes. This was a lovely message worthy of murals in her honor."

So Ruby did have something akin to an inspiring message alongside the "Shit is going down, others know more, Ironwood is an asshole" spiel. But it's only an inspiring message when removed from eight Volumes worth of world-building and arcs that show precisely what happens when people do this. In that light, Ruby's message isn't inspiring at all, it's just another lie undermined by her giving no explanations and no proof that she can back up her reassuring claims.

[useless-catalanfacts]

As you've discussed in your blog there's a distinction between Catalans and Valenciansin terms of identity, is there also one for Balearics?

(Sorry it took me a few days to answer, I've been very busy lately and I didn't have time to write a long post.)

First of all, I wouldn't quite say there is a distinction between Valencian and Catalan identity, because for many there isn't. For many Valencians, it's obvious that Valencians are part of the Catalan Countries, but there are right-wing groups who try very hard to push the idea that they're completely different, ignoring uhhh.... All of history, language and most of culture, and basing on pseudohistory, a handful of dialectal/accent differences and mostly a lot of Catalanophobia and Spanish nationalism/supremacy (some of this groups are openly fascist/neo-nazi). I know you're simplifying in order to ask the question, but I just wanted to make it clear.

For those new to the argument, I'll link to a previous post talking about Blaverism (the right-wing movement to consider the Valencian Country separate from the rest of the Catalan Countries, only a region of Spain, justified with conspiracy theories that contradict every serious historian and linguist):

To answer your question: in the Balearic Islands, it hasn't really happened. Technically it exists, it's the posture known as "neogonellisme", but it's soooo small that most people have never heard about it, and very often (as we'll see below) it's imposed from outside of the Balearic islands. In the (extremely few) cases where people from the Balearic Islands have defensed this, it was always Spanish nationalists who wrote exclusively in Spanish (mostly Antoni Alemany). When there's people in the Balearics who want to distance themselves from the rest of the Catalan Countries, it's usually just Spanish nationalism with Mallorcan regionalism, not an indentity in itself (like the now dead Centro Cultural Mallorquí and the still "active" Grupo d'Acció Baléà, Catalanophobic groups created by copying the Valencian blaverist groups).

I've only heard of the existence of these groups years ago when I was doing research into Blaverism, but I've never heard any Balearic person consider that their language isn't Catalan or that they're culturally something else. I know many Mallorcans, some Menorcans and an Eivissan and I think they'd be surprised to hear about this micro-movement.

However, right-wing Spanish groups are trying to push this idea there, since the "divide and conquer" strategy kind of worked in the Valencian Country. For example, the conservative politician Pablo Casado (of the PP party, he's from Castille) went to the Balearic Islands and gave a speech saying "what you speak in the Balearics isn't Catalan, you speak Mallorcan, Menorcan, Ibizan and Formenteran". Basically, this dude who doesn't even speak the language comes to tell us what is it that we speak lmao, but not only that, he says that each island speaks a different language! If I hadn't heard him on the news and knew about the Blaverism he's trying to copy, I would think this was made up as a joke. Sadly, a few time later, the Spanish so-called "left" wing party Podemos also copied this idea and tried to pass a law saying that Catalan in the Balearic Islands from now on should be called "Balearic". Both of this things were widely mocked, of course, since they don't make any sense and everyone considered them ridiculous.

So yeah, the idea exists, but it mostly comes from Spanish people who don't even speak the language and who try to convince us of it for purely ideological reasons, not because they actually believe it's something different. However, very few people actually believe it or defend it so it's basically seen as a joke, unlike Valencian Blaverism which is a bigger movement and well-organised in neo-nazi or philofascist organizations that have even attacked people for it and often get books banned for being written in "Barceloni", have prohibited Catalan TV and radio stations in the Valencian Country, etc., as we explained before.

[nate-windsor]

the tidbits.

NAME: Nathaniel Windsor NICKNAMES: Nate AGE: 30 BIRTHDAY: April 27, 1994 OCCUPATION: currently unemployed NEIGHBORHOOD: Echo Acres SPECIES: werewolf, beta (born) LENGTH OF TIME IN LUNAR COVE: 5ish weeks

the bio but in bullet points.

triggers: reform camp, death, parental death and alluded to emotional abuse, violence, substance use, assault

Nate was born the only child to Margarget and James Windsor, a surname with a generational history in politics and positions of authority in Southern California. As you can probably imagine, there was a lot of expectation that came with that.

Nate was not the little baby prodigy they were hoping for: too curious, too outspoken, too "soft". He struggled to reconcile the son they wanted and the one that he was, and as a teen, he was shipped off to a reform camp to be straightened out.

Surprise, it was not at all like an extended summer camp, but rather a place intended to strip him of all the things that made him him. It was here, though, that he met @skyecarrington. Skye helped him, along with others, escape the camp. But when faced with the choice of setting off on his own or returning home, he chose home. Still, Skye gave him his number and told him to call if he ever needed anything

Upon Nate's return home, he did his best to go through the motions and be the Windsor heir that everyone expected him to be. He studied poli sci, he volunteered, he made speeches and earned the public's adoration. As it turned out, he was really good at charming people. It served him well.

He was super not interested in politics, though. He wasn't really interested in the future wife his mom had picked out for him either. So it was nothing short of fate when he met @daphnebishop. For him, he would have sworn it was love at first sight. She was bold in all the ways he'd been malleable, she was living color to his black and white life.

His parents hated it, of course. They did what they could to break them up, but no dice.

Eventually, they were married. It was the best time of Nate's life. He blossomed under her love, the kind of unconditional thing he should have always had and never did.

But good times never last and when Daphne learned of her sister's death, the real divide began. He lost her day by day to her obsession for answers he didn't believe she'd find. His parents were on him hard to rein her in and he begged her to just let it go.

But instead, she let him go. He woke up one morning to divorce papers and a sudden reappearance of that black and white life. He would be ashamed to admit that he lost himself in the heartbreak. For two months, he was little more than a recluse. He drank away his feelings, he didn't leave the house except to get more alcohol. It was during one such trip that he was jumped in an attempted mugging. When it became clear it was a 'him-or-me' situation, a shard of broken glass aimed at just the right spot saved his life.

It had unknowingly triggered a werewolf curse. The morning after the next full moon, he awoke naked in the middle of a field, dried blood under his fingernails with only bits and pieces of memory from the night before. Something told him to call that number Skye had left him with all those years ago. He'd heard about his death, had even mourned him in private. But still, something told him to call. Imagine his surprise when Skye picked up.

After brief discussions, Skye convinced Nate to come to Lunar Cove. He promised he would find what he needed there. And Nate, with nothing tethering him to California, and a desperate need to understand what was happening to him, made the move.

Now, he's just trying to figure out what life even is now.

the headcanons.

Nate can play the piano and sing surprisingly well. He also taught himself a little bit on the guitar through youtube videos, but he's way less practiced with that

You'll probably never see him in a t-shirt. For as down to earth as he is (especially if you've ever met his parents), he still dresses expensive. He loves long-sleeved dress shirts and button downs with the sleeves rolled to the elbow. But often, he'll add a basic little baseball hat to his outfits which really throws off the whole thing in an awww he's trying kind of way

....I felt like I had tons more hcs to add here when I was stuck at work all day and now that I'm here, I have zero thoughts. Soooo this will be updated!

[windvexer]

Hello Chicken! 🐓 Often people list meditation as a "foundamental skill you need to have before starting to do magic / witchcraft". Do you agree? And also, what do you think are some of the other skills needed? Thank you for your time.

It's the year 1525 and you caught Old Lisbeth muttering to herself in the woods again. After much pressing she finally reveals to you that when she sleeps a fairy man named Grisbone takes her to a strange hill which has a hidden door. Together, they go inside the hill and feast on food, and when she wakes up she can hear the trees talking to her until the moon turns dark.

Old Lisbeth tells you about the Black Book and the loving affections of the Devil King, and how sweet the wine is, and how strange and lovely all the pale folk are under the hill.

You want to talk to plants. You want the Pale Master to give you a familiar friend, who will go out and steal cream while it's still inside the cows. You want to sign the Black Book and dance until dawn. You ask Old Lisbeth to teach you how to do all these wonderful things.

"Very well," she says. "I will go down to the hill tonight and ask Grisbone if you too can join us. When I have the answer, I will return to you."

You stay up all night, sick with worry. What if you are denied passage? What if you will never listen to the whispers of the plants, or know the companionship of wee devils who grant wishes?

Finally, morning comes. You finish your chores in a rush and fly out the front door, anxious to meet Old Lisbeth. She motions for you to join her in the woods.

"I have my answer from the folk under the hill. You may join us in our dances and feasts, and you may sign the Book. But first, you must complete a trial."

"Yes!" you exclaim. "Anything."

"First, you must wait for five hundred years for Swami Vivekananda to give a speech in Chicago."

"Who? What's Chicago?"

"Chicago won't exist for a couple of hundred years. Don't worry about that. A man from the East will give a speech, and then Americans will become very interested in meditation."

"Americans?"

"Never mind that. What matters is meditation."

"What the hell is meditation?"

"I have no idea. I've never heard of it before in my life. Anyway, just wait until the year 1960 or so until it gets really popular in a secular way, to the point where it's so stripped from its religious and cultural roots that people start to believe it's a universally necessary practice and start applying it to totally unrelated spiritualities."

"Okay, so I have to live for five hundred years until something called meditation gets really popular in a place that doesn't exist yet? And then I can meet the Lord of the Hill?"

"No, then you have to start meditating. You have to get really good at it."

"But you just said that witchcraft is a totally unrelated-"

"Well, you're not allowed a familiar until you do so."

"So... anything else?"

"Yes, you've also got to learn visualization and energy work."

"What the fuck?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Honestly, I thought they might have been making up some of these words."

"Did you have to do any of this?"

"Of course not, it doesn't make sense. I was churning butter one day and praying, and I saw Grisbone and he took me under the hill, and when we came back I had finished churning the butter. That's how I got started."

"So why can't I do that?"

"Because in the year 2007 someone will make a website called Tumblr, and people are going to start making up a lot of rules about witchcraft. And the gods and spirits feel so bad about how ridiculous those clown fools will look that they decided we had better start changing witchcraft now, so in half a millennium when people say meditation is a fundamental skill of witchcraft the spirits won't weep in despair."

[nannyan]

DSAF 2 Ramble No. 2!!!

And it is once again about Phone guy's speech because aaaavabhj

This time I wanted to ramble a bit about how sound and music are used in this scene to help build it even more! Obviously the tracks aren't game original but I think they're used really well!

(I might be reaching with some stuff but ahh who cares I just really love this scene so I want to talk about every aspect of it loll)

As the sound of screaming guests and Jimbo's unfortunate circumstances subside you are left in total quietness, as Phone Guy tells you to come with him. But when the scene transitions the Freddy's music doesn't start back up, as it usually would. It's just you and Phone Guy in total silence. And even as he starts speaking to Jack, there is still no sound. Gone are his perpetual "uh" and "um"s. It remains that way for the first lines of his monolog. And this sudden absence of any sound catches your attention and sort of sends the subconscious message of" Hey this is something important, pay attention.".

Only as Phone Guy says that you're a predator, does the music come back on. But it's not any of the usual you'd hear. It's a track you probably haven't heard before in the game and the only way I can describe it is: It creates tension. And this tension keeps building and building, with Phone Guy talking about the Christmas presents that will never be opened because of you. Jack, as he's been kind of doing this whole time during this scene, tries to defend himself, trying to lighten up the situation with his little quips.

But in response the music abruptly stops. There's sort of a release of tension but it also feels like the whole game, not just your boss, is telling you to cut the shit. Look at what you've actually done.

As Phone Guy starts telling you about those 10 parents, of those 5 kids you and Dave murdered, how he's had to lie to them, that he doesn't know what's happened to their children. How he's had to attend their funerals, an ominous piece starts playing in the back, emphasizing more just how serious this situation is. You are a murderer and there are people who now have to suffer because of you.

Finally, as you move towards the end of the conversation, a piano + this droning sound are added into the mix. And this is just the cherry on top.

To me this track creates this feeling of a horrifying realization - the type of situation where something feels wrong, and after mauling over it, your brain finally, slowly, starts realizing exactly what is causing that feeling.

That's what Phone Guy is kind of going through. He asks you if you feel any remorse for what you've done. Even the tiniest bit. He already has an answer in his head but despite everything he wants to hope that maybe, just maybe, there is something good in you.

And the track here isn't so much used for a horrifying realization but more so a horrifying confirmation of his suspicions, because no matter what Jack says, you both know the truth. And from here on out it highlights Phone Guy's growing distain and disgust towards you.

You are a monster.