#writer wednesday week 26

[rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me]

yippee ki-yay, it’s valentine’s day!

Howdy! This is simple, I promise, and not nearly as scary as you might think, I’m really not trying to stress anyone out, this should just be something fun and easy to get some extra writing practice and bring the fandom writers together. So I’m gonna lay out the rules and explain what’s going on, and then y’all are free to go crazy!

Below, you’ll find a list of 26 prompts relating to Valentine’s Day and other similar topics, so your first order of business is to pick a prompt or two, or three, or five, I’m not your boss, that’s up to you - but just pick a prompt from the list!

Write something. Draw something. Plan something. Just make something. Make something with your chosen prompt, featuring any character, any ship, anything at all you want, just as long as it’s an Outsiders-focused piece.

Once you’re finished with your masterpiece, post it, mention me, @rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me, and tack on the tag #yippee ki yay valentines

And that’s all! Plain and simple, easy peasy, nothing to sweat about. Now for another important piece of information.

This event will run from today (the 13th) until mid-next week on Wednesday (the 21st).

Feel free to do as many or as few as you want!

☆ - corny valentine’s stuffed bear/other animal

♡ - “Hold on. They broke up with you?”

☆ - baking together

♡ - “Wanna be my Valentine?”

☆ - valentine’s chocolate

♡ - “I love you.”

☆ - long distance valentine

♡ - “This holiday’s the worst.”

☆ - being bothered by an ex-lover

♡ - “Did you just…kiss me?”

☆ - secret admirer

♡ - “You didn’t need him/her/them anyway.”

☆ - exchanging love notes

♡ - “Did you wanna dance?”

☆ - cooking dinner for their loved one

♡ - “God, you’re gorgeous.”

☆ - offering a cheesy bouquet of flowers

♡ - “You gonna kiss me or what?”

☆ - being mistaken for a couple

♡ - “It’s not much, but I got you this.”

☆ - love confessions

♡ - “You look good. Got a date?”

☆ - first kiss

♡ - “You- you did all of this? For me?”

☆ - forcing their s/o to watch a sappy movie

♡ - “I could marry you right now.”

[onlydylanobrien]

Striking Actors Say They Won’t Cave to Studios’ Holiday Threat

With over 100 days on the picket lines, striking actors like Dylan O’Brien, David Hyde Pierce, and a certain Succession star are standing strong

BY KALIA RICHARDSON I OCTOBER 28, 2023

Dylan O’Brien talks to Rolling Stone writer Kalia Richardson at the SAG-AFTRA picket line on October 26, 2023, in New York City.

As a SAG-AFTRA member for 14 years, Teen Wolf’s Dylan O’Brien can’t help but feel irritated that the strike has no clear end, and he sympathizes with the actors juggling multiple jobs while running to auditions several days a week. As O’Brien walked in circles, picket sign in hand, in front of Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery’s New York City offices Wednesday, he reflected on the WGA’s successful deal with the studios after striking for around five months.

❝They’re putting people out of work; they have been for four months now,❞ O’Brien tells Rolling Stone. ❝It’s fucking embarrassing, and they’re multibillion-dollar companies. It’s classic corporate greed. It’s a joke. So, I would be embarrassed to not be out here.❞

Source: rollingstone.com

[steddieunderdogfics]

Here is our schedule for the next two weeks! There will be separate posts for each individual day as well with a little more information on what they mean!!

SCHEDULE FOR JANUARY 15TH - 28TH

CHALLENGE MONDAYS | MON - 1/15

Find fics from September 2022 (either started in or completed in September 2022)

TUES - 1/16

regular fic recommendations

WRITER'S WEDNESDAY | WED - 1/17

Writer's Spotlight on @pearynice

THURS - 1/18

regular fic recommendations

FRI - 1/19

regular fic recommendations

THEME WEEKEND | SAT 1/20 & SUN 1/21

Theme is: Fix it Fics, Season Rewrites

CHALLENGE MONDAYS | MON - 1/22

Find fics with approximately 1,000 - 1,500 hits

TUES - 1/23

regular fic recommendations

WRITER'S WEDNESDAY | WED - 1/24

Writer's Spotlight on @kkpwnall

THURS - 1/25

regular fic recommendations

FIC FRIDAYS | FRI - 1/26

Personal recs and our next schedule announcement!

SAT 1/27 & SUN 1/28

regular fic recommendations

--

Know a fic that deserves extra love? Submit through our asks or the submission box! Suggest challenges, nominate an author for the writer's spotlight, and vote on our next theme here.

Want to be tagged in the new challenges and themes? Reply to this post!

[kamisamahajimemashita]

KamiHaji-Week 2023

When:

August 21 (Monday) - August 27 (Sunday)

Special blog for this event:

Event Tag:

#KHW2023 (please use this tag as one of the first 5 tags in your post!) Because the tumblr tag search system can be glitchy, you can also add a tag of this blog within the post by using the @ symbol and put this blog’s name behind it. Example: @kamihaji-week

Prompts:

Monday, August 21 Character - Day

Tuesday, August 22 Promote your (favorite) KH blog/website Day

Wednesday, August 23 What if...

Thursday, August 24 Something old, something new 

Friday, August 25 Fanfiction and Doujinshi Day

Saturday, August 26 Akura-ou Day

Sunday, August 27 Free Day

The submit button on the KamiHaji-Week blog will become active on August 7 and will remain active until september 4, 2023 for this event.  When you use the submission form, don’t forget to mention your (user)name!

For more information about this year’s prompts, click on the link below!

The Prompts for KamiHaji-Week 2023

Please read the rules if you want to create NSFW* works for this event or if you have posts that hold a link to such content!

August 21: Character - Day This day is all about the characters from the Kamisama Hajimemashita (Kamisama Kiss) series. You can post anything character related during this day. Even though Akura-ou has his own day, if you fancy this demon you can use this day to create a post about him as well.

August 22: Promote your (favorite) KH blog/website - Day You can use this prompt to promote your blog or website. Or someone else's blog or website. But the condition is that the blog or website must contain at least 50% or more content about the Kamisama Hajimemashita series!

August 23: What if... Perhaps you have been thinking about the effects it could have had on the series if certain events would not have happened. Or maybe if certain events would have been different. On this day you can post anything ‘What if...’ related. 

August 24: Something old, something new Maybe there is and old piece you made that you want to re-do now that you've grown and have aquired new skills, perhaps. A comparison post between your old and new KH works. or... You can take this literally and use this phrase or the meaning of it in a story...

August 25: Fanfiction & Doujinshi Day Please read the rules regarding submitted fanfiction work! You are a writer and/or comic artist and you want to share your Kamisama Hajimemashita fanfiction or doujinshi's. Or you want to share your favorite fanfiction and/or doujinshi's of this series. You can do so on this Fanfiction and Doujinshi prompt day. (an age rating regarding the content must be mentioned in your post!) (G, PG, PG-13, R, M, MA)

August 26: Akura-ou Day The famous recurring day of the KamiHaji-Week event. It is starting to become a real tradition. On this day you can post anything related to Akura-ou and of course his human character: Kirihito.

August 27: Free Day A free day on which you can post anything KamiHaji related. Don’t forget to tag your submissions with  #khw2023

*NSFW means ‘not suitable for work’ and stands for posts that hold mature content

[myloveforhergoeson]

That's All She Wrote - Chapter 26

Chapter Index

Find me on wattpad + ao3!

Chapter 26: Original Prankster (2.7) ~ 11K

Waiting for the day to be over just as soon as it began was excruciating. 

From the moment Roxy woke up, her mind was already on the evening since she and James had made plans to spend some time together to wind down after their busy work week. The band had been so caught up in recording a new song Gustavo had written, “Big Night,” which he only felt was perfect enough to release the previous day after about a week’s worth of producing sessions. 

Not only had that been getting in their way, but Jo and Kendall had a strange face-off with Jett and the New Town High publicist a few days ago. Apparently, the publicist had tried to break up the young couple so the media could think the two show co-stars were together and boost the show’s ratings. Roxy got an earful about it from both Kendall and Jo, then unexpectedly a bit from Jett at the pool the other morning, so her free time to spend with her boyfriend had been filled up by others using her as a space to vent.

It’s not like I never see him�� Roxy’s mind wandered as she and the boys finally returned to their apartments after work. They’d technically been together all day at school and Rocque Records, but when she and James split off from Carlos, Kendall, and Logan, her stomach filled with butterflies at the door to 2-H. But this is far different.

   Though he might have thought he was good at hiding his emotions, Roxy could tell James had also been a bit antsy throughout the day, be it from wanting to get out of Mrs. Collins’ boring lecture on chemistry or the relentless five-hour dance practice Gustavo had put him and the band through. In class, she could feel his leg bouncing up and down at the desk beside hers, the rough material of his blacked-out jeans gently scratching against the skin of her calf. Then, at work, he complained far more than usual about Big Time Rush’s strict training schedule and the minute the clock struck six, he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the booth where she was testing out a few new melodies. 

To know he wanted to spend time with her just as badly as she wanted to spend time with him sent another bout of fluttering through her chest. 

This is what having a boyfriend is supposed to feel like…

They’d been together almost all of three weeks and not a day had gone by without a similar jittery feeling. James didn’t have to tell her how much he enjoyed being with her, she could just feel it any time they were around each other. His longing glances toward her through the glass in the studio when the band was recording, the eagerness with which his hands would seek out hers when they walked side by side, each and every time they kissed… Everything was just perfect.

Roxy couldn’t be happier. 

Tonight was no exception, even as they popped open the door to 2-J - Mrs. Knight’s rule - and plopped down onto her couch. 

As the writer snuggled into her boyfriend’s side, she picked up the TV remote and turned the device on, absentmindedly scrolling through the guide to pick something to watch. Though, admittedly, if James kept rubbing circles onto her hip with his thumb as they cuddled, she hoped they wouldn’t be watching whatever she picked out for that much longer. 

“Hmm,” The girl sighed, pressing the downward-facing arrow on the remote over and over again until the TV guide landed on the CW channel. “I don’t think I saw this week’s new episode of New Town High… We were too busy in the studio.”

New Town High aired on Wednesday nights, which was awfully inconvenient for the writer considering that was the night Gustavo tended to hold her back after work to get some songwriting in. Between watching her friend’s show or furthering her career, it wasn’t very hard for Roxy to prioritize her job over TV, even if she hated the position her producer put her in. 

Those same nights, Big Time Rush kindly waited around for the pair to finish their work in order to carpool home together, but she knew they secretly enjoyed their free time at Rocque Records. They took advantage of the sweet employee break room Gustavo had set up, filled with comfy couches, a TV, a foosball table, and a small kitchen she and Carlos had accidentally destroyed with a coffee maker their first month in L.A. 

Kendall never missed an episode of New Town High, even if it meant watching Jo’s character, Rachel Blesse, and Jett’s character, Drake Steele, get into a world of supernatural trouble. So, Roxy knew James had likely already seen the episode if Kendall had it on while they waited after work. Whenever her boyfriend was bored, he certainly let her know it, which is exactly what she was banking on to decompress after their long day. 

And, just as she suspected, it took less than five minutes for James to seize his window of opportunity. Gently, he reached up and traced his fingers down the chain of her necklace, slightly grazing her collarbone before leaning in to place a few kisses on her cheek. It was funny sometimes, how predictable he could be, but Roxy loved it all the same as she let him work down her neck while she pretended to watch the show. 

Eventually, though, she found herself twisting around in his arms to bring her lips to his, pushing him back into the couch’s cushions as she leaned further in. She felt him smile beneath her, which made her stomach flip into a fit of somersaults while she ran a hand down his solid chest. 

 In turn, James’ hands made their way from her cheeks down to her hips, dragging Roxy over into his lap as he continued his onslaught of kisses. That little move almost sent his girlfriend into cardiac arrest, weighing the pros and cons of closing the connecting door to 2-J for the evening, before an unexpected honking sound blasted through her speaker system.

The suddenness of the loud noise caused her to jerk a bit on her boyfriend’s thighs before her eyes shot open. Of course, at the most inopportune time, the stupid show she had put on that was supposed to be the background to their evening together created a beautiful set of lyrics weaving through her mind. 

“Shit…” Roxy mumbled against James’ cheek, forehead falling to his shoulder in defeat. Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

In an instant, his hands vanished from her body. While she hated it entirely, she was thankful that if something were actually wrong he would be accommodating. 

When she pulled her head from his shoulder, she ran the lyric set through her mind once more to make sure she didn’t lose it, while James sat frozen still under her, hands shot into the air like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t be red-handed. 

It would be nearly impossible to rip herself away from this perfect moment if his eyes kept searching her face for any further explanation, so she let her gaze flit to the kitchen counter behind her. Earlier, she had set her book down there and now it was calling her name as the lyrics kept playing over and over. 

“Um… Everything cool?” James asked her, confused tone making her feel horrible for interrupting their little moment. “If that was too much we don’t have to-”

“Oh!” Roxy felt herself cut him off. “No… No, it’s not that…”

James lowered his hands once he understood he wasn’t the issue. “But?”

He was so kind and patient without even realizing it, helping her work through the tangled mess of thoughts in her brain. 

With a big sigh, Roxy turned again to look at her songbook, “But, uh…”

Her gaze turned back to him again, then to her book, then back to him. 

“Babe?” 

Now another thought raced through her head: Can he feel my heart stop every time he calls me that?

After another deep breath, she managed to put her dilemma into words. “Remember that song I had you write in my book a few months ago? The one in the Pontiac?” 

She watched as his eyes flickered to the upper left, attempting to retrieve an insignificant memory from what felt like forever ago, though eventually, he nodded.

“The sound of the horn it…” Reluctantly she picked her hand up off his chest and circled it a few times, trying to pick out the right way to phrase exactly what she wanted to say. “I’ve got a lyric idea I think I should write down so I don’t lose it but I really, really don’t want to stop.”

After a moment of quiet contemplation, James began to shake with laughter once he understood the situation his girlfriend had found herself in. It caused her to smile a bit too, slightly bouncing as she still sat on top of his legs. 

“Well, lucky for you, I do value my career quite a bit… How about you write your idea down and we can see what happens from there?” 

I have the most understanding boyfriend in the world.

Reluctantly, she gave him one more quick kiss before pulling away, practically running over to her book to expel the words circling around.

Everybody knows what I want ya,

If you want me, baby, show me,

Roll the windows down, let your hair flow,

Let it all go, tonight

And just when she was ready to stand back up and leap back into James’ arms, the notes he had scribbled out for her almost jumped straight off the page. Blur melody… Song 2? What did I mean by that?

Certainly, that needed to be taken care of first, so she dragged herself into her room to grab her guitar and amp to work that out as quickly as possible. 

***

Roxy hadn’t meant to get lost in her writing, but when she felt the couch shift beside her as James stood up to get a glass of water from the kitchen, she noticed the clock on her TV stand’s brilliant blue numbers.

It’s been two hours? 

Looking up from where her nose had been buried in her journal, she watched her boyfriend cross the room and step into her kitchen. He hadn’t said anything at all, which was so incredibly out of character for a guy like James, and an apology for the interruption hardly felt like enough from her for ruining their night together. 

Absentmindedly, she strummed out a few minor chords on her guitar to reflect her agitation with herself for letting the time get away from her. 

From the kitchen, James continued to silently sip his drink, though Roxy could feel his eyes on her as she scanned over the notes she had written down in her journal. Compared to the script James had written the words down with ages ago, her writing was much harder to read; It was easier to figure out exactly what she had wanted out of the verse he had copied down for her than anything she had written out over the past few hours. 

The swooping, bold lines of the pen illuminated his words clearly, even though most of the letters were connected through incredible cursive strokes. Next to it, her chicken scratch looked almost intelligible. 

“Your handwriting is so pretty, James,” felt like an appropriate comment to make at a time like this, though she spoke the words more into the notebook than to her boyfriend as she traced her finger over the first line he had written. “I actually think you’re the only person besides me who’s ever written in one of my songbooks… Isn’t that cool?”

Back before she was writing for Big Time Rush, focusing all her time on trying to write some originals for Brand New Day with Mag and Dani, she never let either of them put anything down on any of her journal’s pages. 

Maybe she liked James a bit more than she had realized, even all the way back then. 

When James didn’t respond, she finally dared to glance his way to find him making his way back over to the couch with the glass in hand. Making sure to set it down far away from her book and amp, the long-haired boy fell down right next to her on the couch and gave her a small peck on the cheek. 

What Roxy didn’t realize was this kiss was simply a distraction; James had swiped her red pen off the table. Then, while she was busy swatting him away and telling him she needed to focus, he caught her journal as well, jumping up and running back over to the other side of her apartment. 

She was barely able to shout out a small, “Hey!” and untangle herself from the guitar strap slung around her shoulder to chase after him, watching as he flipped to the very last page of her songbook and scribbled out a message. 

By the time she had made it over to him, the damage had been done. More of his gorgeous handwriting had graced the pages of her book, so could she really be all that mad? It’s not like she didn’t mind him touching it, but the thought of him reading some of her journal entries from before they were together…  Yikes.

Shutting the pages with a crisp snap once she stood across from him, James held the book and pen far above his head, blocking out some of the soft rays from her kitchen lights. Now she’d certainly never get it back if he wanted to play that game.

Why do I like tall guys again?

Last resort, Roxy batted her eyelashes a few times, glancing down at her shoes before looking back up at her boyfriend with a pretend pout. That had worked last week when she had convinced him to buy her some ice cream after work, but this time, he let out a soft chuckle and shook his head, continuing to hold the book up. 

He’s becoming immune…

Now on her tip-toes, Roxy let out a few more unkind words of protest as she reached up to try and grab his arm, but it was no use. James was too busy laughing at her feeble attempt, waving the book around whenever she came close.

“I’m gonna need a little more than that, babe…” He shared, followed by a loud, exaggerated kissing noise. 

With a huff, “Jerk,” she gently reached out to cup his cheek, pulling him down into her to give him exactly what he had asked for. 

When James didn’t immediately hand the book back to her, probably too busy trying to figure out if he could con more kisses out of her, Roxy impatiently crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the tile, waiting for him to return it. 

Then, the moment the book was back in her hands after their little exchange, Roxy hurriedly flipped to the back, oddly excited to discover just what he felt the need to add to her blank sheets. 

Right in the middle of the last page, the bright red ink of her favorite pen jumped out at her, and James’ scrawl elegantly addressed her:

Songbird - Don’t ever stop writing songs about me.

Within seconds, Roxy recognized the faint heat creeping up the back of her neck, quickly shutting the journal and sending the cover flying into James’ arm. “That’s not a lyric idea!”

“It can be if you work a little bit of your writer magic,” He teased, running a few fingers down her arm before grabbing her free hand and bringing her back over to the couch so she could continue to work.

“Bold of you to assume this one’s about you,” Roxy shot back, adding in just a dash of side-eye. The first verse she had written months ago hadn’t been, but this new one… It was tough for her to write a romantic song and not think about James. “But, no, I don’t ever plan to stop.”

Now it was her turn to render him speechless, basking in the way she had caught him off guard before they reached the couch to cuddle a bit more before he had to head back to 2-J for the night. 

Roxy had earned a kiss on the head from her boyfriend at her words before he let her go to place her guitar and amp back into her room, inspiring one more short line for her new song.

You drive me crazy, but you know that

“Hey,” She thought aloud, once she had finished writing her new idea down. “Wanna have a picnic before work tomorrow to make up for the time we missed out on tonight?” 

James’ reply was immediate, though a bit garbled as he called from her bedroom. “Sounds fun! It’s been a while since we hung out in the park.”

While Roxy had been thinking about doing it at the pool, his suggestion to have it at the park instead was more than stellar. Her mind was already racing with all the cute little finger foods she could put together with the contents of her fridge and she was pretty sure she had a checkered blanket tucked somewhere in her closet.

By the time James had reemerged, he was about to add something else to his previous statement, but Mrs. Knight called his name from down the hallway. 

Curse his stupid curfew!

Not that he’d had one before they started dating, so she did bear some responsibility, but it had certainly put a damper on their planning for the next morning.

“I’ll text you in a bit, okay?” He said, glancing at the connecting door of their apartments. It was never a good idea to keep Jennifer Knight waiting. “Thanks for tonight, babe. See you in the morning.”

As he kissed her, she let out a soft, “Goodnight,” and just like that he was gone. 

For a moment, she wondered if James’ parents would be more lenient about their relationship if they were still living in Minnesota. He’d mentioned his dad once or twice, so she didn’t know how strict he would be and the only thing she knew about his mother was that she was very protective of who her son dated. 

Am I the kind of girl you take home to your parents?

Dak Zevon certainly hadn’t thought so, but then again, he hadn’t thought that much of her at all. 

Once Roxy relished in that painful thought for a moment, she trudged into her room to get ready to go to bed, one resounding thought standing out in her mind. 

James Diamond is the kind of boy you take home to your parents.

He was funny, sweet, and ever so handsome, with a special sort of boy-next-door charm which meant moms probably went just as crazy over him as their children did. Dads on the other hand…

Shutting the lights off, Roxy managed to crawl into bed, fingers trailing over the necklace her father had given her for her birthday and heart skipping a nervous beat when she realized, I still need to tell Dad we’re dating.

***

The following day, James and Roxy’s picnic date had been just what the two needed. 

Warm Los Angeles sun raining down on them, delicious food, the outdoorsy atmosphere of the park - Everything was exactly as it should have been, right down to Roxy glancing over to her date, finding herself nearly getting lost in his hazel eyes when she leaned into him and vaguely shared, “For dessert, I thought we could…” Of course, James knew exactly what his girlfriend was insinuating, moving toward her as well before his phone’s text tone went off. 

While Roxy thought nothing of this, continuing her motion, her lips ended up falling onto his soft cheek as he mumbled out, “Maybe next time.”

That sent her heart sinking straight into her stomach as she watched James hop up from the blanket and sprint off toward the hotel. Next time? 

From the other side of the green park field, she noticed another speeding figure, Logan judging from the lab coat he was wearing, making the same beeline for the Palm Woods. 

“It’s time! It’s time, James!” He screamed, nearly catching up to his long-haired friend, knocking over her basket beside Roxy with his feet and completely stepping over the plates she had prepared for the picnic. 

Lap now covered in vegetables, she thought about catching his leg to trip him, but settled on, “What the hell, Logan?” as her friend grew farther and farther away. 

No explanation from either of them, though it was something they were clearly in on together, Roxy couldn’t help but grow just a bit annoyed at her boyfriend. Did she deserve to be so easily tossed to the side? Maybe after her actions last night. But James not even wanting to kiss her? That was a whole new level of worry settling in her chest. 

Slowly, Roxy picked the carrots and celery from her jeans, thoughts flickering back to what Logan had told her about James’ last serious relationship. One month. And for us… It’s been three weeks.

She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but she was panicking just slightly. 

At the very least, she’d have to take the boys to work in about an hour, so she could probably do some sleuthing then. However, if it was something the rest of the boys knew about and something James didn’t want to talk about, she wondered if Logan would share it with her. Since she was still fighting with Camille, in the event of a worst-case scenario, she’d need all the support she could get from him.

Placing the plates the studious boy had crushed when he had trampled her nice spread down into the picnic basket, Roxy tried to push the thought out of her mind. Just because she was shaken up after her last relationship had put her through the wringer didn’t mean she needed to be worried about this one. She trusted James, completely and the course of their relationship was, so far, out of this world. She had nothing to worry about except quieting the doubts clouding her mind. 

I don’t write during our time together too often… Right?

Buzz buzz

A text message from Kelly caused Roxy’s phone to vibrate in her back pocket.

K: No need to worry abt work 2day

K: Time off 4 u n the guys

K: Njoy!

What that was all about, the assistant had no idea despite remembering leaving Rocque Records yesterday with so many points written down on her boss’ to-do list. Roxy, however, wasn’t interested in arguing with Kelly. Any days off were appreciated, and now she could spend some time in the park to herself, connecting with nature to clear her mind while her boyfriend was off doing who knows what. 

Just as she had given up piling everything into the large picnic basket beside her, Roxy let her back hit the blanket, staring up at the smoggy California sky. There were a few puffy clouds, nothing big enough to block the sun, and a handful of birds making their way through the open space. 

She nearly felt comfortable enough to nap, and that could certainly quell the anxiety pounding through her body, but she heard someone call her name, pulling her out of her relaxed state.

“Katie?” Roxy said, shooting up into a sitting position. 

From the path a few feet away, the young Knight was storming over to the writer, face scrunched up in anger. “Your boyfriend is being a misogynistic jerkwad! Fix him!”

In response, the teen blew out a large huff of air. “He’s what? Have you tried talking to your brother about it? He’d definitely be willing to kick some sense into James.”

“I can’t!” The girl replied, reaching for Roxy’s hand and tugging at it to pull her to her feet. “Kendall is the king of the misogynistic jerkwads.”

Forgetting how freakishly strong Katie was, Roxy was easily hauled to her feet and was now being guided toward the Palm Woods. “Um, I’m going to need some background here, Katie.”

“We need reinforcements.”

“Like?”

“You know who.”

Now that they were cutting into the hotel’s back staircase, Roxy was able to dig her heels into the ground at the statement, fighting back as best she could against her friend’s kung-fu grip. “I can’t see her right now!”

“You can, and you will,” Katie affirmed, ascending the stairs to the second floor, not letting go of the writer. “We’ll pick up Jo first if it makes you feel better, but we need Camille. She’s the only one who can get through to Logan!”

Instead of fighting back against the stubborn young girl as she continued to drag her up the stairs, Roxy chose to focus instead on Katie’s hot pink watch as it circled her tiny wrist. She and Kendall were more alike than the two chose to admit, down to their flannel fashion choices and digital timepieces. If she needed help taking on her brother, Roxy would be a bad friend not to help her out. 

With a sigh, the assistant finally relented. “Fine. Only because I care about you and I hate that the boys have you this worked up. But if Camille utters one word about James I'm out.”

“Deal.” Katie agreed before the pair collected both Jo and Camille from their apartments.

The rundown she gave the three of them was quite convoluted, and she was very emotional about the entire situation which made it that much harder to understand. Though, eventually, the teens caught on to what she was saying. Admittedly, it was hard for Roxy to concentrate, standing so close to Camille and all, but for now, she tried to put aside their argument for the sake of the greater good.

As their young friend explained, the boys had invented a game in middle school in which they would launch into an intense prank battle one day out of the year to win a giant crown they had constructed in one of their art classes. Not only did the four of them take the game incredibly seriously - which now explained why James had run away from her so easily earlier - but they had an entire book chock full of rules to ensure everyone played fairly titled Lord Prankerton’s Book of Rule. 

Rule number one: If ye is pranked, ye is out. The last man to go unpranked becomes Lord High King and wins the crown. 

Rule number two: No girl shall play.

At this point, Katie had listed off every single rule in the book and completely lost the other girls, but the sentiment remained the same. Big Time Rush didn’t think girls were as good at pranking as guys were - A fact that would soon be remedied by all the schemes cooking up in Roxy’s head.

While she was no prankster herself, her father had been the exact same age the band currently was when he began raising her. She knew the ins and outs of whoopie cushions, fake vomit, and plastic spiders all because she had been subjected to it while she and her dad were growing up together. 

If the boys wanted to be boys, that was fine with her, they would just have to be cool fighting fire with fire. 

Once Katie’s long-winded explanation had finished, she determinedly shot off toward the lobby and almost left her companions in the dust. 

The three girls stood awkwardly on the fourth-floor landing, all-knowing every bit of the drama unfolding between Roxy and Camille.

Well, this is uncomfortable.

“Look, Roxy, I’m-” The ravenette tried, reaching a hand out toward the songwriter.

“We better follow her,” Roxy cut Camille off, wanting to solve one problem at a time today. 

Glancing between her two friends, Jo elected not to jump in at this time. Being caught in the crossfire alone was scary, but if she took one of their sides right now, that would only end in a bigger friendship blowout. 

Without waiting for a reply, Roxy trailed after Katie, not bothering to see if either of them would join her while she pulled out her phone to text the other girls at the Palm Woods for backup. She had already experienced enough anxiety for the day, she didn’t need Camille making it any worse.

Just as they reached Katie at the front desk, the assistant noticed Kendall, James and someone in a bear costume enter the front doors. The three were commenting on each other's items - Kendall, a pillow and a bottle of honey, James, 6 cartons of eggs and 24 rolls of toilet paper, and again, the bear, voice sounding very much like Carlos’. 

“What’s this about girls not being good at pranks?” The girls new to the game chorused in sync, not even planning such a powerful opening line. 

It certainly caught the boys off guard, stopping them in their tracks. 

“Never said that!” Kendall fought back, tone slightly cautionary. “I just said it could get ugly and girls could get hurt.”

“So you’re saying girls aren’t as tough as guys?” Three new voices asked - The Jennifers inserting themselves into their conversation. 

I love that they’re always on their phones…

“Kendall, you’ve hit me over the head with a metal horseshoe. I fell down a well and had a concussion for three weeks.” His assistant fought right back, feeling the presence of the Jennifers boost her confidence as the girl’s numbers grew. 

While she spoke, James gave her a sorrowful smile, waiting for her to finish before asking, “Babe, have you seen the bear standing next to me? This competition gets scary.”

Roaring the most obviously fake roar any person in a bear suit had ever managed, Carlos attempted to frighten the girls in front of him to no avail. 

“Sounds to me like you guys are scared of getting your butts beat by a bunch of girls,” Camille bit, taunting their opponents just a bit. 

They were already playing the game, the boys just didn’t know it yet. 

With a snap of her fingers, Camille summoned the rest of the girls in their class to her side, proving the power of strength in numbers. 

Thank goodness I had everyone's numbers saved from sending out the dance invite.

That move certainly intimidated the boys, causing Carlos to tear off the bear's head and cry, “What? Eleven against four? Yeah, that’s fair.”

“We’re in!”

An unexpected amount of other male individuals from their class had now joined the conversation as well, which, to the best of Roxy’s knowledge was unplanned. It looked like this was turning from a prank battle into an all-out prank war. 

Quickly, James counted out all the newcomers who were planning to aid their cause, announcing they were still one short.

And of course, at just the right time, Jett Stetson swooped in to save the day with a curt, “I’m in too.”

He and Kendall shared a look akin to the ones Roxy was sharing with Camille at the moment, but his presence made it a fair game, so the blond had no room to argue. 

“So be it!” Kendall declared in a poor, but funny attempt at an old English accent, “As reigning Sir High King Lord of the Pranks, I now declare this a megapranketition!”

The opposite team had been so distracted in figuring out their numbers, that none of them noticed Katie duck away from Roxy’s side and tie three of the newcomer’s shoelaces together. 

The boys won’t even know what hit them…

***

Thirty minutes into the competition, Roxy hated to admit it, but her friends had been right, things were getting ugly.

Reportedly, Logan had already pranked himself before the game even began, but the girls weren’t sure if the band had been lying to them to keep them off their tails.

Then, all three of the Jennifers were taken out with “free chapstick samples” which turned out to be glue sticks with fake labels. This left an uneven playing field, so each of the sides needed to do everything they could in order to get ahead. 

Many attempts had been made, cans of silly string emptied, and plenty of balloons blown up just to be popped seconds later, but nothing seemed to be working for anyone. 

Katie, Camille, Jo, and Roxy had been laying low, leaving plenty of handcrafted glitter bombs and rubber snakes around the hotel without capturing any victims, until Guitar Dude hopped out of one of the planters in the lobby. He had wanted to scare them with a terrible song about pranks, but, in turn, Camille had smashed Guitar Dude’s guitar over his head thanks to a move she learned when trying out for the part of a rockstar’s girlfriend. 

Does a song even count as a prank?

Now, the girls were back on top, and Roxy still had so many Oreos with the filling scraped out and replaced with toothpaste to offer up to anyone passing by, she was starting to forget about all the anxiety from the morning. 

She only felt it spike again when Katie dragged them up to the second floor to show off something she had been working on in anticipation of this year’s day of pranks - A little thing she dubbed the Pie-A-Pult.

By itself, the large metal contraption was insane. The mess of silver poles, duct tape, and wheels was quite a sight, but once Jo and Katie placed the large pie crust filled with lemon meringue on the end, Roxy decided she was staying as far away from the machine as possible. It just felt like bad news; Nothing she needed to involve herself with this early in the game. 

Since it was so large, they were having trouble getting it from Katie’s room to the hallway, even with the four of them working together. 

As they pushed, Katie explained her master plan. 

Well, kind of. 

The four had caught onto Kendall, Carlos, and James following them around for some time now. So, really, the words they were saying were all a guise for their real trap: Emotional manipulation.

Katie had baited their trap, starting off with, “The guys get off the elevator to rush to the apartment for shelter, they’ll trip on the wire Jo set up and get a face-full of creamy defeat!”

Still holding some of the clear fishing line she had swiped from her dad, Jo held her hand out for a high five, which Katie eagerly returned. 

There was almost something poetic about two of the most important girls in Kendall’s life teaming up to take him and his friends out; Roxy was so ecstatic to be a part of it. 

Normally, when she played team games when she was younger like tag or soccer at recess, she was always so caught up in making sure she was doing the very best she could so her teammates wouldn’t think she was pulling them down. That contributed to the lack of fun she had, but now, she felt like she was on top of the world working with her best friends.

Maybe, when this is all over, it’s time I had that talk with Camille…

“Boys are stupid!” The actress giggled, adding a bit of emphasis on that last part to rile the three up even further. 

With a wicked smile, Roxy did her best not to look in the direction in which the girls knew they were sneaking up on them, “Now all we have to do is hide and watch the show.”

What the boys didn’t know, was that Camille had graciously volunteered to sacrifice herself for the good of her team. 

Predictably, they just knew the band would rely on scare tactics to take the girls out, considering they had preached over and over about not wanting anyone to get hurt. When they inevitably jumped out, Camille would pretend to trip the wire, get blasted with the delicious pie filling, then use her glorious acting skills to fake cry and lead the boys to the park where a massive girl ambush was waiting. 

Once Roxy had finished speaking, she paused to give the boys time to formulate their counter-plan and thought about how Camille had selflessly agreed to take one for the team. When her eyes flickered over to the actress, Camille winked, right as the four heard a chorus of “Boo!” from behind them.

Pretending to be startled, the girls let out some particularly ear-splitting fake screams, and Camille - Queen of acting cues - stumbled backward onto the line Jo had set. 

In a breathtaking arc of delicious, homemade perfection, the pie launched into her, resulting in a sticky, lemony mess mixing in with Camille’s hair, makeup, and clothes. 

For the boys, they deemed this to be a moment of celebration, for the girls, they faked shock and despair while waiting for the real prank to begin. 

Loud, obnoxious sobs mixed into the other team’s cheers, drawing out any chance they had to praise each other for a job well done before Camille took off running down the hall to lure the boys into the trap the other girls were setting up at the park. 

That, paired with two fake-upset girlfriends and one fake-upset little sister was enough to pull at James and Kendall’s heartstrings. 

Roxy did feel slightly bad for crossing her arms as she stared her boyfriend down, watching as his eyes widened in shock once he registered her feelings. But, she reminded herself, all is fair in love and war.

“We told you that pranking was dangerous!” Carlos told them, sensing the mood shift in the hallway and seemingly unaffected by the dirty looks from his friends in front of him. 

“Well, does your Lord Prankerton say you’re not allowed to make sure someone is okay?” Jo snapped back, tone of voice rising with each word out of her mouth. 

She is one hell of a convincing actress.

The three boys glanced at each other before James sighed, “No… He does. It’s called the Logan Amendment.”

“Time to put that to good use then, James,” Roxy warned, trying to copy Jo’s acting technique.

“Let’s go!” Kendall finished before Katie could cut in with her own comments, tossing an upset gesture toward the hallway Camille had run down. James and Carlos were simply at his mercy, following the frontman in the direction in which he was rushing. 

At that moment, however, Roxy had forgotten all the progress she had slowly been building back up with Camille that day. Despite her great plan for the victory of the girl’s team, Roxy still had to watch her boyfriend hurry down the hallway, concern gracing his handsome features, toward the girl he had kissed three weeks ago. 

Sure, they were friends and Roxy knew that, but did Camille need three people to go check up on her? Wouldn’t Carlos and Kendall do? 

Jealousy knotted her stomach at the thought of James and Camille being anywhere around each other right now - Especially because Camille and Roxy hadn’t spoken about the kiss at all. 

But, even that made Roxy feel terrible. She didn’t control James, and she certainly wasn’t going to dictate who he was allowed to hang around or talk to. Considering that exact same thing had happened to her in her last relationship, she knew what it was like to be on the opposite side of that kind of jealousy. 

The thought of being anything like Dak makes me feel sick…

“Roxy! Aren’t you coming?”

Jo’s voice snapped the writer out of her head, though the nauseous feeling creeping up her throat remained. 

It was hard to swallow the bitter bile back down with a smile, but the writer did her very best, “Yeah, of course, I’ll meet you at the park in a second.”

The two remaining girls nodded before running down the pie-soaked path Camille had made through the hotel to meet the rest of their team. 

But, even the sight of her friends dashing off in pursuit of prankdom glory didn’t inspire the writer to move an inch; She was too busy trying to tackle her nausea and the dark little voices in the back of her head telling her James was getting bored of her, just like Dak had. 

“No, no, no,” Roxy whispered, hoping that saying the words out loud might help combat the negative thoughts swirling around her brain. 

Slinging her black mini backpack off her back and setting it down in the middle of the hallway, the writer hastily sunk to her knees before digging through the contents of her bag. 

James ran after Camille because he’s a good, loyal, caring friend. That’s part of the reason I like him. 

She pushed past her wallet, keys, Rocque Records ID badge… Just how much stuff did she have in here?

He’s not bored of me, he just ran off from our picnic because he was excited about the competition.

At long last, her hands brushed the familiar, cool leather of her songbook and practically ripped it out of the pouch.

I will not let my unwarranted anxieties and jealousy get in the way of our relationship. 

While it was easier said than done, as Roxy flipped to the back page to read the message her boyfriend had written to her last night she finally found a little bit of peace. Eight little words. That was all she needed for now; proof everything was going to be just fine between them. 

Someone cleared their throat behind her and when the girl turned, she saw a sharp-dressed businessman paused in the middle of the path she was blocking, eyes wandering around the mess she had made of the hallway with the Pie-A-Pault. 

With a sheepish smile, Roxy shot back up to her feet, pulling her bag with her. “Be sure to watch your step… And maybe not mention this to Bitters if you don’t mind?”

The look he shot her told her that was quite a mighty request, yet the man said nothing and continued on his way. 

It didn’t take the writer much longer to scoop up the pie tin laying on the floor a few inches away from where it smacked Camille, careful not to get any of the meringue on herself in case anyone thought she was pranked as well, and shoot off toward the park. The remaining girls on their team were all hiding in different spots around the grassy area to ambush the boys after the actress’ fake crying led them right into the heart of their trap. Roxy was supposed to cover the north exit closest to the hotel; hopefully, she would arrive just in time to see Carlos, James, and Kendall’s defeat. 

When her legs traveled as fast as they possibly could, landing her directly in the spot her friends had asked her to stand, Roxy came upon a very different scene from what she had been imagining. 

By now, she figured at least one of the three of them would be out of the game, but Jo, Camille, and Katie had cornered the boys into the center of the park. All around them, their female classmates circled like hungry vultures, though remained a safe distance away in case the boys had any tricks left up their sleeves. 

Big Time Rush were pleading for their lives, steps away from getting on their hands and knees and begging the girls to spare them. That’s certainly a side of them I’ve never seen before.

“They look so cute when all hope is lost!” Jo mused, turning to her friends with a Knight-like smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. 

Though that was a slightly scary statement coming from the blonde, Roxy couldn’t help but agree. Victory was so close the girls could almost taste it. 

Her band helplessly huddled together, linking their arms to form an indestructible chain as they stood back to back, ensuring no one could be taken out from behind. That little move didn’t do them much good, however, considering their opponents had them surrounded on all sides. 

“Ready, aim…” Katie directed, handing the prank rule book off to Camille as she stared her brother down. The beat of silence hung in the air for a moment, it seemed as though all movement in the park had ceased, while everyone waited for her final command. 

A command that never came, as Gustavo Rocque came barreling into the open space to yell at three-fourths of Big Time Rush. Under one arm he had Kelly’s leather ledger tucked away, while the other was furiously trying away on her Blackberry. “Dawgs! I’m Kelly today - long story - So… Studio, now!”

Studio?

“Human shield!” The boys chorused upon seeing their boss. That was certainly a new turn none of the girls had been expecting. 

Katie’s final call of “Fire!” echoed throughout the park, just as the boys pulled Gustavo in front of them, turning him every which way as their producer took the full force of the lemon meringue pie barrage. 

While his screams were normally legendary, the small yelps and shrieks the producer let out with every hit from a brand-new pie almost made Roxy pity him. She certainly thought he deserved a fraction of this assault after the way he usually treated the boys, but it was jarring to watch as hit after hit after hit landed, leaving Gustavo’s top half completely covered in the yellow, whipped mess. 

I hate to think of what would happen if Kelly had shown up.

That thought was enough to make Roxy keep hold of her pie, and of course, the prospect of still having a job tomorrow morning if she didn’t throw something at her boss. 

Unfortunately for her and the rest of the girls, the producer-turned-human-shield had kept the boys perfectly safe. There wasn’t even a lick of cream covering any parts of their bodies as they shoved the man to the side once they were a safe distance away. With a few winks and waves, the boys wasted no time sprinting back to the Palm Woods to continue their hijinks, no doubt off to set a whole new wave of traps to look out for.

“We were so close!” Roxy cried, though she did attempt to place the pie tin behind her back so none of the other girls would notice she didn’t throw it. “How can we get them to congregate like that again?”

She had a few ideas to bring up to her classmates to try and get the boys out of the game once more, but she felt the tin be ripped from her hands by someone behind her.

“Roxy!” Camille shouted, alerting the writer to the danger of whoever stood behind her. “Run!”

In a flash, the girl took Camille’s advice, nearly twisting her ankle on the wet grass in the process. While it had helped her in a pinch, Roxy certainly wasn’t going to be able to outrun the pie she saw flying towards her when she checked over her shoulder. A splash of red hair filled her field of vision when she glanced upward, Tyler playing for the boys, letting out an evil laugh. 

Just as Roxy thought she was done for, she whipped her head back around to find Camille in front of her, “Move!”

Wordlessly, the actress reached both her hands out and grabbed Roxy’s arm before roughly yanking her to the right. Though, thanks to her unsteady balance, Roxy managed to stumble, sending her right into the grass below.

She felt everyone's eyes on her, much like getting an idea for the song in the studio and having the entire band watch her write, as the stinging feeling in the palms and knees she had used to break her fall subsided.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Roxy asked once she realized the pie hadn’t hit her at all, lifting her head to look at her assailant as she weakly pointed in his direction, “Get him!”

Everyone took off after the young boy, a few still toting extra pie trays around to use as their weapons, save the one girl who was no longer in the game. 

Slowly, Camille squatted down to help Roxy off the ground with shaking hands. “Are you alright? I didn’t mean to pull that hard I swear!”

The panicked way in which she spoke rang in the writer’s ears. They were still on bad terms since she had kissed James, but Roxy certainly didn’t want Camille to be afraid to talk to her. Just the notion of someone she cared so much about fearing her… 

Shaking the thought out of her head, Roxy accepted the help with no push back even if it left her alone in the park with someone she had been trying to avoid for weeks. “Don’t worry about it. I know you were just trying to help.”

Once the girl was back up on her feet, with no sign of other pranksters in her line of vision, she faced her friend, watching as the slow breeze blew some loose curls over Camille’s shoulder. There was no question after the alarm in the actress’ voice, Camille had been hurting just as much as Roxy was - Something the girl had failed to consider altogether, too wrapped up in her own feelings. 

Eyes slightly glancing downward, Camille bit the inside of her cheek before asking, “Can we just-” but stopped in the middle of her statement to shake her head. “Never mind.”

There was a beat of silence before Roxy cleared her throat, feeling her chest tighten before saying, “No, it’s alright. Go ahead.”

Around them, the park activities had gone back to normal. Couples on walks, kids flying kites, moms gossiping under the shade from the large trees… All was as it should be, except for the two girls struggling to find the right words to even speak with each other after their first real fight as friends. 

Camille’s brows shot to her forehead like she hadn’t expected Roxy to give her the time of day, but the writer kept her mouth shut, needing to hear just what the other girl wanted to say to her.

“There aren’t even words to begin to tell you how sorry I am for what happened,” Camille settled on, though Roxy found it tough to concentrate on her words with her friend’s top half completely covered in pie. 

The day Camille had kissed James, Roxy had felt a pain secondary only to her first heartbreak. However, she had masked it quite well, focusing on confronting Camille on what she had done to Logan and not how it had damaged their own friendship. 

“I’ve played hundreds of different characters, memorized their lines from hundreds of different situations but nothing I can come up with is remotely close to the apology you deserve.”

It had taken James and Logan hours to make up after the entire ordeal, which was crazy to Roxy, but their bond was nearly unbreakable. She felt the same about her bond with Camille but had been far too stubborn in admitting her feelings to herself; They had let this fight drag on for far too long. 

“I’ve lost Logan’s trust, his friendship…” Her voice broke as she brought the heel of her palm to her tearful eyes. “And, Roxy, I’m terrified of losing ours.”

The writer felt her bottom lip quiver. “Do you know how much it hurt to find out my best friend kissed the guy I had been into for months and didn’t even have the guts to tell me to my face? You sent James instead!”

“Yeah, but Katie-”

“If it hadn’t been for Katie, I suspect you might not have told me at all, Camille.” Voicing feelings Roxy could barely admit to herself was beginning to feel cathartic and she made a mental note to take Katie out for ice cream later once the whole prank ordeal was finished. “I miss feeling like I could share anything with you and seeking you out first in a room full of people and texting you every single day, but that doesn’t change what happened.”

At her friend’s confession, Camille took a few steps forward and crushed Roxy in an unexpected hug. She was shaking, the writer could feel the tremors throughout her body, but Roxy instinctually wrapped her arms around Camille’s waist anyway, lemon meringue be damned. Even if her words had been harsh and they were the truth about how she had been feeling, that didn’t warrant Camille to be in such pain either. 

“I’ve been a terrible friend, Rox, you don’t deserve that,” She whispered into Roxy’s shoulder, continuing to hold her. 

Since her emotions had been flowing freely through her words, it was no surprise to the assistant when she muttered, “I don’t… But you don’t deserve a terrible friend either. I’m sorry I didn’t come to check on you after your breakup. We should have gone through that together.”

 To Roxy’s surprise, Camille stopped shaking for a moment, then laughed her beautiful laugh right into the girl’s ear. “I’m trying to apologize to you, don’t turn the table!”

“But it’s true,” Roxy defended, feeling a bit of the actress’ contagious smile creep onto her face. “I’ve spent too much time mulling over and hiding my own emotions, I neglected to think about yours.”

“So where does that leave us?”

Camille’s question was earnest, raw, and almost pleading, pulling her cheek off her friend’s shoulder as she anxiously awaited her response. 

Taking a deep breath, the writer basked in the citrusy scent of the filling now staining her top. “Hopefully ready to put this all behind us, as long as we promise to always stay honest with each other going forward.”

It didn’t take long for Camille to raise her right hand, sticking her pinky out toward her best friend. “Promise!”

After Roxy locked their fingers together, it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from off her chest. Camille was integral to her journey in Los Angeles, and the only thing more painful than the mess they had been through was the absence of her best friend in her daily life. 

“Are you free tonight?” Roxy asked, excitedly bouncing up and down on her heels now that they had talked through their issues. “I have so much to tell you.”

“Eee!” Her friend squealed back, breaking their hug only to grab Roxy’s hand and lead her back toward the Palm Woods. “Finally! I’ve been dying to catch up. Let me check with my dad and see if you and Jo can sleep over tonight. I’m thinking pizza, PopTiger poster clipping, and I just got my hands on the new Tuesday the 17th.”

“The one starring Jacksen Paradeki? Oh, my God, Camille, I’m so in love with him-”

Shhhhh!

Roxy stopped dead in her tracks, smile fading from her lips as a cold, slimy substance connected with the meringue covering the front of her chest, mixing with the already uncomfortable fabric of her shirt. 

In front of the two girls stood Katie Knight, bandana strapped over her little forehead and thick streaks of eye-black staining her cheeks, wielding two aerosol cans full of neon silly string. 

“What was that for?!!” The writer questioned, looking over her shoulder to see if Kendall, James, or Carlos was sneaking up on her and Katie had misfired. “I’m out! How are we supposed to get the guys now?”

As she tried to wipe the sticky mixture off of her clothing, Roxy slowly realized: Katie doesn’t make mistakes.

Flipping one of the cans and blowing on the nozzle as if she were in an old Western movie, Katie tucked them into her back pockets, offering nothing beyond, “You forget this isn’t a team game... I will be Lord High King of the Pranks!” before running off to destroy her next target. 

“Jo!” Camille cried, remembering the other part of their trio as she watched the young girl scurry off, before grabbing her phone. “We left her all alone with that little traitor…”

Buzz buzz

The pair shared a look of dismay at the text tones on both of their devices going off at once. 

J: Sandy, Mandy, Aino, and Priya are out. 

J: That leaves Roxy, Katie, and me now.

C: might want to think again

R: I’m out too

R: WATCH OUT FOR KATIE!!!!

C: she betrayed us!

While there were no messages from Jo for quite some time after, it did allow Roxy and Camille enough of a break to head up to their apartments and rid themselves of prank remnants. 

Just as Roxy was throwing her possibly ruined clothes in the wash, her phone went off again and she jumped at the opportunity to read the quickly incoming messages.

J: I’m out! UGH!!

C: katie get you too? or one of the boys?

R: That girl can be so nasty.

R: I respect the dedication tho

J: NO! By BITTERS!

R: My bad. Got some dude in the hotel involved with one of our pranks accidentally

R: Snitch

J: Buttt, Carlos and James are out too. It’s just Kendall, Katie, and Bitters left. 

R: Sooo unfair! I didn’t know Bitters was playing. 

R: But that might have been good for him, I had some nasty stuff planned

C: like what lol? 

R: Secret. Might need to use them next year ;P

J: You two might want to head down to the lobby… I think the final showdown is gonna happen there

J: Also, Roxy, James is looking for you. Looks like he needs some cheering up

C: awww, too cute

R: Thanks! Be down asap

Just the prospect of seeing her boyfriend after about an hour apart thrilled her, as silly as that was. After all the drama and emotions swirling around inside her mind today, all she wanted was a great big hug and some comforting words from James. 

She practically bounced down the stairs, feeling much better after untangling the pie filling and silly string from her hair and changing into a new outfit, to find most of her friends gathered around the Palm Woods lobby waiting for the competition to be over. It appeared that most of the folks who had gotten out early on were gathered in the back of the lobby though Jett, Tyler, and Guitar Dude filled some of the spots up front. From the girl’s side, the Jennifers and Camille were huddled together, whispering about something she couldn’t hear. Beside them were Carlos and James, covered head to toe in silly string, suggesting they had succumbed to the same fate as their assistant at the hands of the cunning Katie Knight. 

Attempting to pick some of the sticky pink and yellow string out of his clothing, James had his eyes cast toward the floor. The slight pout on his lips almost made him look just like a fashion model and a faint bit of electricity buzzed down Roxy’s back as she walked over to him. 

Without saying anything, she simply helped him brush all of the string to the floor - Bitters could worry about that later if he wanted to be a surprise player - before settling down in his lap.

All the other seats are taken… Where else would I sit? She thought, ignoring the way Camille glanced her way and waggled her eyebrows. 

“I’m sorry about the crown,” She told him, draping one of her arms around his shoulders. “But now you’ve got a whole year to plan your revenge!”

It was hard for her to bite back a smile as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer. 

Slowly, he pressed his lips to her cheek and his gloomy disposition disappeared entirely. “It’s alright… Mostly. I’m just glad we’re back on the same side again.” 

Lowering her voice, Roxy leaned into his chest, “Let’s team up for the next one then. Your superior pranking knowledge plus my…” 

“Toothpaste Oreos?” Her boyfriend joked, bouncing his knee a little bit to pull a laugh out of her. “Glitter bombs?”

“Exactly!” 

As James opened his mouth to respond, Kendall came barreling into the lobby from the pool, finding all of his friends visibly pranked and ready for the competition to come to an end.

He carried two colorful water guns, and judging by the smell emanating from them they were full of something positively nasty. The entire air of the lobby changed as he counted everyone in the room, realizing a few people were still missing. “Who got you?” 

Though his question was directed at Carlos and James, Roxy couldn’t help but join as they chorused, “Who do you think?” 

Little footsteps hitting the hotel carpet alerted everyone to a newcomer on the opposite side of the room, and immediately, Kendall got his answer. There appeared Katie, silver and black seltzer spray bottle in her hands, ready to fire on her own family at a moment's notice. 

“Still think I can’t handle ye day of pranks, big brother?” She questioned, curling her fingers down on the trigger. 

At the sight, Kendall lowered his spray guns, once again donning his terrible old English accent and casually sauntering toward her. “Lord Prankerton would be very proud of you, baby sister,” he drew his weapons once more, “but this battle’s not over!”

“Yes, it is!” Someone cut in from behind the front desk, Bitters popping up into view. This caused a bit of a stir from the teens, considering he hadn’t made it clear he had been playing from the very start. 

There’s gotta be a rule in the book against this… 

When the murmuring died down, the man continued, “Because if either of you make another mess, I will pull off the ultimate prank: I’ll close the pool for two weeks!”

“Ugh, what a tool,” Roxy found herself whispering to James, causing a snicker to escape his lips. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by the hotel manager’s unnecessarily loud evil laugh echoing through the room.

It didn’t take long for the Knight siblings to come up with a solution, however, as the two of them locked eyes with a subtle nod. Bitters was too occupied in executing his evil plan, he didn’t see the two of them look toward their friends, to make sure everyone was on the same page. 

Simple enough, Roxy figured, nodding toward the frontman. Even if he punishes us, seeing Bitters get pranked will be so worth it. 

Kendall and Katie thought so too, opening fire on the unsuspecting man and drenching both him and the front desk in the rotten substance and seltzer combination. That was enough to drive anyone mad, especially the irate manager, who quickly recanted his threat and ran off into the backroom to hide from the Knight’s relentless assault. 

All the cheering coming from the lobby couldn’t have helped Bitters feel better either, but it was a more than satisfying conclusion for all of the other players. Lord Prankerton would have been proud to see it. 

Taking a few moments, the cheering eventually died down as the smell of rotting dairy filled everyone's noses. 

Disgusting. Roxy thought, though it was easy for her to burrow into James’ neck and take in the sweet spice lime of his cologne. 

From there, it was easy for the group to come to a consensus and choose their winner - The siblings who had saved the day of pranks. 

***

Kendall and Katie had chosen a Star Wars theme for their coronation ceremony by the pool, which, as James explained to Roxy, was the right of the competition’s victor. 

Sweet enough to play along after finally managing to scrub all the jelly out of her favorite orange top was Jo, who was happy to wrap her hair up like Princess Leia and place the original handmade crown on her boyfriend’s head. 

In the time it took to prepare for the ceremony, Logan and Carlos had been hard at work making a second, identical crown, which the makeshift princess also presented to Katie while a fanfare of medieval horns played from the band’s boombox. 

Did both of them mean to dress like Han Solo?

Both Knights brought a finger under their nose as Lord Prankerton’s salute, before walking down the path lined with their friends and other competitors they had beaten as cheers and applause filled the open space. 

To her left, she heard James and Logan solemnly swear, “We’ll get him next year,” only able to imagine what the future would hold for her and the band. 

Originally, they had planned a big poolside party to celebrate, but Bitters had stayed true to his threat to shut the area down for a few weeks - Not that any of them minded. 

Once the ceremony came to a close, James threaded his fingers through Roxy’s, guiding them back into the hotel and away from all the noise of the silly string fight breaking out. 

“I told Katie not to hand out her extra cans…” Roxy mused, swinging their arms back and forth as they walked, “And I’m certainly not helping her get that gunk out of her hair! It took me forever after her attack.”

Opening the door to the stairwell for his girlfriend, James smiled at her comment before asking, “Are you free tonight? I feel sort of bad for ruining our picnic earlier.”

Pausing, that comment almost shortwired Roxy’s brain. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for, James. I ruined our date last night, so we can call it even.”

She tried to brush off her statement with a dry giggle, pulling on his hand to bring him to the second floor before realizing she hadn’t actually answered his question. 

“But, no, actually I’m booked! Camille and I finally made up, so we’re going to have a sleepover tonight.” Roxy tugged on his arm again, though now, it was to check the time on James’ brown watch. “I’ve still got some time though, so let’s go back to mine. We’ve got a phone call to make!”

Heading their way down the hallway their apartment’s shared, James squeezed Roxy’s hand a bit tighter, “We?”

“Yup! Even if you lost the prank competition today, I think you’ve won a phone call to my dad to tell him that we’re dating.”

His next words came out a stutter as Roxy fished her keys out of her bag to unlock her apartment door, “I-I’ve never…”

Cocking her head, she guided him inside and flipped the lights on as she waited for him to finish his statement. 

“I’ve never had to tell anyone’s parents I was their kid’s boyfriend before…” Not even concerned by the prospect of having to tell Declan Somerset he was dating his daughter, James fell back onto the couch, a goofy grin splashing across his features. “You really want me to tell him? Like, really, for real?”

“Yes, like, really for real!” Roxy echoed, flopping onto the cushion beside him and unable to stop herself before saying, “Because we’re really for real… Right?”

Since she had taken care of her fight with Camille, it was finally time to put some of her insecurities about her relationship from earlier to rest. All her cards were on the table, now it was up to James to see how he was willing to play them. 

And he wasted no time leaning over to give his girlfriend a series of kisses before breathing out, “Of course we are, Roxy.”

All Roxy could manage was a shy, “O-okay. Good. Just checking,” before pulling her phone out of her pocket. Though she and her dad called every few days, it was usually in the mornings when they were both getting ready for work. Hopefully, there wasn’t a football game tonight and he wouldn’t be concerned if she sent him a FaceTalk request so late in the evening. “Ready?” 

“That depends.” James cooly replied, running a hand through his long hair. “On a scale from 1-10, how likely is it that your dad might fly out here and kill me for dating his one and only daughter?”

[viola-ophelia]

Announcement: TURNsgiving Week 2022! 🍁🦃🍂

Hey TURN fandom! I, Cat aka @viola-ophelia​, am running a TURN Week in the last week of November, starting on Thanksgiving day (Thursday, November 24th)! This will hopefully be a fun chance for you to get some creative inspiration and to share what you create - fics, art, meta, graphics, anything! - with the fandom! :) 

Dates: Thursday, November 24th to Wednesday, November 30th, 2022 

How it works: There will be a fun, thought-provoking theme for each day of TURNsgiving! (I will post individually about each theme very soon in more detail, and again a week beforehand as a reminder about the deadline!) The themes can be interpreted any way you want, and all types of creative output are welcomed. :) When you post what you’ve created to Tumblr, please use the tag #turnsgiving2022 so I (and others) can see it and share it! 

Themes: 

Day 1 (Thursday, November 24) - TURNsgiving Day! Get inspired by the season and create something autumn or holiday-themed... bonus points if it’s as chaotic as the infamous Townsend family Thanksgiving! 

Day 2 (Friday, November 25) - Favorites! Share something about your favorite character, ship, episode, season, and/or theme. 

Day 3 (Saturday, November 26) - Loyalists vs Patriots! Share your thoughts and/or create something about the age-old debate! 

Day 4 (Sunday, November 27) - “What If?” Share something about a character, ship, or part of history that you wish had been in TURN, but wasn’t! Or get inspired by how history might have played out differently if something (big or small) was changed in the TURN canon. 

Day 5 (Monday, November 28) - Rewrite History! Share your favorite AU, and/or if you have a TURN or American Revolution OC, share them with us! 

Day 6 (Tuesday, November 29) - Hot Takes! Let’s have a (friendly) debate! Is there something that you wish TURN had showed differently? What would you have changed about the show if you were a writer? Are there any popular opinions within the fandom (or among historians) that you disagree with?

Day 7 (Wednesday, November 30) - Memes! This fandom needs more crack content - I want to see your best TURN memes!! 

^ This is me convincing everyone to rally for this and put out some great content. Just kidding lol, it’s totally optional, but I do hope for at least a bit of participation! I’m definitely planning on doing at least a couple of the days myself. 

Anyway... mark your calendars for the week of the 24th, and if you have any questions, suggestions, concerns etc., feel free to @ me or DM me at viola-ophelia! And remember, the hashtag is #turnsgiving2022! 

[beardedmrbean]

MILAN (AP) — Amanda Knox faces another trial for slander this week in Italy in a case that could remove the last legal stain against her, nine years after Italy’s highest court threw out her conviction for the murder of her 21-year-old British roommate.

Knox, who was a 20-year-old student when she was accused along with her then-boyfriend of murdering Meredith Kercher in 2007, has built a life back in the United States as an advocate, writer, podcaster and producer — with much of her work drawing on her experience.

Now 36 and the mother of two small children, Knox campaigns for criminal justice reform and to raise awareness about forced confessions. She has recorded a series on resilience for a meditation app and has a podcast with her husband, Christopher Robinson, and an upcoming limited series on her struggles within the Italian legal system for Hulu that has Monica Lewinsky as an executive producer.

Despite a definitive ruling by Italy’s Cassation Court in 2015 that Knox and then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito did not commit the crime, and the conviction of another man whose DNA was at the scene, doubts persist about Knox’s role with the victim’s family and the man she wrongly accused.

That is largely due to the slander conviction for wrongly accusing a Congolese bar owner in the killing, which was confirmed by the highest court in 2015. That conviction was only thrown out last November, based on a European Court of Human Rights ruling that found Knox’s rights had been violated in a long night of questioning without a lawyer and official translator.

Even now, Knox isn’t sure that a not guilty verdict in the new trial, which opens Wednesday in Florence, will persuade her detractors.

“On the one hand, I am glad I have this chance to clear my name, and hopefully that will take away the stigma that I have been living with,’’ Knox, who did not respond to an interview request, said on her podcast Labyrinths in December.

“On the other hand, I don’t know if it ever will, in the way I am still traumatized by it,” she said. “I am sure people will still hold it against me because they don’t want to understand what happened, and they don’t want to accept that an innocent person can be gaslit and coerced into what I went through.”

Knox said on her podcast that she expects to testify, but her lawyer said she is not expected in court for opening day.

The Kercher family lawyer, Francesco Maresca, said the high court’s exoneration did little in his mind to dispel doubts following Knox’s conviction by a trial court and two appeals courts, the first confirming her sentence of 26 years and the second raising it to 28 ½ years.

“This trial never ends,’’ Maresca told The Associated Press, obscuring “the memory of poor Meredith, who is always remembered for these procedural aspects and not as a student and young woman.”

Among his doubts, Maresca cited Knox’s confused retraction of her accusation against Patrick Lumumba, the owner of the bar where she worked part-time, and the verdict in Rudy Guede’s conviction for killing Kercher that maintains that the Ivorian man did not act alone.

Now 36, Guede was released from prison in 2021 after serving 13 years of a 16-year term handed down in a fast-track trial. Guede was recently ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet and not leave his home at night after an ex-girlfriend accused him of physical and sexual abuse. An investigation is ongoing.

Knox’s new trial will admit just one piece of evidence: her four-page handwritten statement that the court will examine to see if it contains elements to support slander against Lumumba. Despite having an ironclad alibi, he was held in jail for some two weeks before police released him. Lumumba has since left Italy.

Two earlier statements typed up by police that Knox signed in the early hours of Nov. 6, 2007 that contained the accusation, and were considered the most incriminating, have been ruled inadmissible by Italy’s highest court.

The four-page letter, which she wrote in the same 53-hour span of questioning over four days starting Nov. 5, reflects someone in a state of confusion, trying to reconcile what police have told her with her own recollections.

“In regards to this ‘confession’ that I made last night, I want to make clear that I’m very doubtful of the verity of my statements because they were made under the pressures of stress, shock and extreme exhaustion,’’ Knox wrote.

She referred to police statements that she would be arrested and jailed for 30 years and that Sollecito was turning against her.

Lauria Baldassare, an Italian lawyer who founded the Innocents Project, said the topic of wrongful convictions in Italy is starting to “create social alarm as it assumes important dimensions.”

He cited 10 cases of defendants being paid damages for wrongful convictions over the last decade, but said they faced difficulty in escaping the stigma of their initial guilty verdict — much like Knox.

“There is still part of the public opinion that does not accept the Court of Cassation’s decision, and these debates become a sport,’' said Baldassare, whose organization is independent from the Innocence Project that Knox works with. ”Italy does not have the maturity to accept an exoneration, because social prejudices are stronger than the finding.”

[lovebugs-and-snakecharmers]

LBSC Sprint Challenge - April 2023

The LBSC Sprint Challenge is now open for writers and artists! The prompts are:

1. Luka loses his wedding ring and is panicking about where it could be. A week later he finds it at the bottom of a bag of apples. 2. Who needs blind dates when you can have blind weddings? 3. Daddy Luka letting his daughter(s) play with his hair 4. Marinette asking Luka how she looks and Luka's brain short-circuiting so bad he says something stupid (source) 5. (see social media prompt below) 6. Wildcard - pick any of the prompts available from our sister blog, @mlweeklyprompts, or any previous challenge prompt.

You have until Wednesday, April 26 to complete your 3 15-minute sprints/45 minute art sprint and post the results. Once you’ve completed the sprints, you have 24 hours to edit (which can include some new writing to smooth transitions and make it feel complete, and whatever work you feel appropriate to get your art to a state you consider ‘finished’).

Please note you may sprint in the language of your choice, and you can either translate the final fic before posting, post it in the original language, or both as you choose. You can join us on the LBSC discord or sprint on your own! Just be sure to tag @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers in your final post so we will see it and reblog it. The rest of the rules can be found here under the cut.

Rules!

We’ll post a beginning and end date to the challenge, and a prompt.

Writers, If you choose to participate in the event, write for that prompt in up to three 15 minute sprints. No writing outside the sprints until you have completed all three! After the 3 sprints are complete, you have 24 hours to edit (which can include some new writing to smooth transitions, etc). You can also choose to break that 45 minutes up differently if you find a different split works better for you.  After those 24 hours, post what you’ve got. Tag your posts with @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers so we can reblog it to the LBSC blog. If you post your work on AO3 or somewhere other than Tumblr, you can leave a link in our ask box or in the appropriate discord channel so we can be sure to promote it. After the designated challenge end date, we’ll compile a listing of the submissions and post it to the LBSC blog.

Feel free to sprint in whatever language is most comfortable to you! You can post it in your own language or translate it before posting, or both!

Artists, you have 45 minutes to sketch and 24 hours to do any cleanup or coloring you’d like to complete. You can split your 45 minutes up however you like, or not at all. There’s no requirements on your finished piece, just aim for whatever goal seems challenging but achievable to you.  Tag your posts with @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers so we can reblog it to the LBSC blog. If you post your work on Instagram or somewhere other than Tumblr, you can leave a link in our ask box or in the appropriate discord channel so we can be sure to promote it. After the designated challenge end date, we’ll compile a listing of the submissions and post it to the LBSC blog.

If you’re wavering as to whether or not you think you can accomplish anything in 45 minutes, we really encourage you to give the challenge a try. You may be surprised what you can do! Feel free to join us in the discord linked above so we can encourage and cheer you on.

Obviously, this has to run a bit on the honor system and we won’t be tracking your times, but please do your best to honor the spirit of the challenge! If your sprint fic becomes an Entire Thing (these things happen sometimes) and you want to continue it, feel free! However, please still post whatever you’ve got after your 3 sprints with the tag. No fair busting out a fully polished fic or art without showing us what it looked like at the challenge stage!

We want to keep this a positive space and event! This does NOT mean that you can’t write or draw anything critical of a character or episode, but it isn’t the space for character bashing or hate either. Please keep the characters in character and save the more speculative work for another time. NSFW sprint works are permitted but must be tagged appropriately (please use “NSFW LBSC sprint challenge” for easy filtering on the blog) and with appropriate warnings.  (More FAQ about the process here)

This is a Lukanette blog and a Lukanette event, so while Lukanette does not need to be the main ship, it needs to at least be included or referenced and considered endgame (in other words, they don’t have to be together by the end of your work, but the intent is that they’re headed in that direction). The decision about what qualifies for reblog rests solely with the LBSC moderators. If a piece hasn’t been reblogged within a couple of days, either the mods felt the piece didn’t meet the criteria or it was simply missed; you are welcome to reach out in the asks to inquire which. There are plenty of other spaces out there for other ships and OT3s, and people are welcome to use the challenge rules and prompts to write for their own ships! They just won’t be reblogged to the LBSC blog, and we ask that you please not use the event tag (a modified form is fine - “InsertAlternateShipName sprint challenge” instead of “LBSC sprint challenge,” for example).

Happy sprinting!

[greazyfloz]

THIS WEEK SCHEDULED CONTENT

/ What I'm working on :) MAY 22-28

note: Only posting what I for sure will be posted. If it is not scheduled I put an estimate date, check back again for times if you see an upcoming post you are interested in reading for the time :)

-Also I have close to 100 requests in my inbox, so to try and get them out as quickly as possible but still good quality, so I will pick the requests that have a lot of detail of what you want to see, current event scenarios, I either think of something immediately for or was already thinking of. I was going in order by date, but some I get writers block.

SCHEDULE:

Monday (22):

Lust of Love (Blanks Series) - 3pm EST - Whole series list here

Wanna Try - Part 3 (T.Z) - 12pm EST - Other parts on his masterlist

Fluff w/ Andrei Svechnikov - 1:15pm EST

Smut w/ Clayton Keller - 2pm EST

Smut w/ Andrei Svechnikov - 4:35pm EST

Wanna Try - Part 4 (T.Z) - 9pm EST

Lust or Love (Blank Series Chapter 4) - 7:30pm EST

Tuesday (23):

Lust or Love -Chapter 5 - 2:15pm EST

Smut w/ Mackie Samoskevich - 5:30pm EST

Smut w/ Mark Estapa - 6:30pm EST

Angst w/ Andrei Svechnikov - 8pm EST

Wednesday (24): TBD

Lust or Love - Chapter 6 - 1pm EST

Angst w/ Quinn Hughes - 3:30pm EST

Lust or Love - Chapter 7 - 5:30pm EST

Smut w/ Luke Hughes - 6:15pm EST

Angst w/ Nico Hischier - 7:15pm EST

Thursday (25): TBD

Friday (26): TBD

Saturday (27): TBD

Sunday (28): TBD

CURRENTLY WORKING ON:

(No particular order)

Love or Lust - Chapter 8+

Nico Hischier + Jack Hughes Smut

Quinn Hughes Smut

List and Schedule is subject to change. -More will be added as I work through them and schedule posts :)

[greypetrel]

WIP (almost) Wednesday!

Tagged by @shivunin (thank you! <3), I could wait a hour to post it and make it a WIP Wednesday but I'm bound from here to finish another prompt, SO.

Tagging @melisusthewee (beating you on time for once) and @star--nymph. Again, don't worry if you want to ignore this! And if you're not tagged but would love to: say Friends and enter (and consider yourself tagged).

So, it's been a hectic week work-wise and I don't have much new to show, so I'll go for the list as well...

Dragon Age:

- Home Was Never on the Ground: AKA the Monster Fic. I'm slowly making my way up Chapter 26, I'm being slower because this is following an idea that got discarded by the writers but that I found cool. I just need to cause an explosion and convince Aisling to please wait before pestering Solas with much overdued questions, and maybe I could edit and post it.

- DadWolf AU: I'm writing here and there, but I'm containing myself if not for prompts. I would really like to make this more structured than not Monster fic, and before starting I want to have the full picture outlined. The thing that I'm still mulling over is the villain: I'd love to just... Keep Corypheus away and make it more a "Mages vs Non-Mages" thing as in DA2. I just need to settle all the pieces of the puzzles together and it's where we're getting quite different from the game. Solas is in the open with people close to him (Varric knows he's the DreadWolf, Aisling and Dorian got told when they got big enough, Malcolm knew as well and I suppose the other Hawkes too), the main issue will be the Venatori trying to get their hands on Fen'Harel Orb. Again, I still need to pin point some things but we're getting there, I have a rough outline.

- DA2: I've been pondering over whether to make an anthological AO3 collection of DA2 ficlets. Which may even bring me to write more about it without prompts, but take this with a grain of salt. I add below a stamp of a WIP I've been working on and I am stressing over. Following @ndostairlyrium (tag! You're it! AH!) suggestions over colouring and trying to put it into practice. Picture me screaming internally and I may or may not have done the shading twice. (and using too many levels forgive me Ali for my colouring loco)

Originals:

- The Last Bacchae: It's been THE YEAR since September, but I'm finally -hopefully- getting my shit together and going forward with Chapter 6. It's an urban fantasy, main character Seren litterally stumbled over Dionysos (THE Dionysos) and got a contract as an intern Bacchae. Her family may not be entirely happy about it. Chapter 6: we're camping at Hephaistos' house, he's of course extremely happy to have 4 of his siblings around and 2 mortal teens there (he's the only one who cooks, go figure). Right now Seren is making friends with him on being two grumpy introverts, good at their passions enough to result annoying for all the family. You could read it here if you're curious: @thelastbacchae

- Till Queendom Come: I blocked myself writing a chapter which was honestly more than I could chew. I have primary sources I'm following, but between the crippling doubt over whether I'm reading them good and the extreme unpleasantness of this particular bunch of research... I'm kinda blocked. I'm slowly making my way up and I miss 5 pages to end this chapter. Still I'm quite tearing my hair off over it and crying because half of the time I feel like I'm the wrong person to write this story, the other half I'm quite in love with it and want to go on. Busy period doesn't help. I'll get there... Slowly.

[jllongwrites]

The New Hampshire Writers’ Project (NHWP) and WKXL, Concord’s talk radio station are presenting a special collaboration the week of July 24 through July 28 — “New Hampshire’s Author’s Week.”

Each morning Ken Cail will host an NHWP member author on Ken Cail & Company, the station’s popular morning show. Each conversation will explore the respective author’s style, genre, inspiration, a glimpse into their lives, and a sneak peek at new releases and award-winning books. Each episode will air from 8 to 9 am during the morning commute. Episodes will also be available on demand through the station’s website.

Banner%20Two.png

The line-up is:

Monday, July 24 th, R.W.W. Greene, accomplished science-fiction author. His latest book, Earth Retrograde, Book II of the First Planets, will be released in October 2023. Rob’s interests are nearly as fascinating as his books, ranging from collecting old typewriters and keeping bees.     

Tuesday, July 25th, Christina Holbrook, an author whose debut romance novel, All the Flowers of the Mountain, is set in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The novel won an IPPY award and the Colorado Book Award earlier this year. Her latest book, Table for One, a collection of short stories is being released next month.

Wednesday, July 26 th, Cynthia Neale, author of historical novels, cookbooks, essays, and screenplays is currently engaged in a book tour for her latest historical-fiction novel, Catharine, Queen of the Tumbling Waters.

Thursday July 27th, Dan Pouliot recently launched his first book in the young adult supernatural fantasy series, Super Human. The books explore the relationship of fears, desires, expectations, our subconscious on human potential.

Friday, July 28 th, David Moloney released a fiction novel that provides a portrait of nine fictional corrections officers in a NH jail, as only a former worker in a NH Department of Corrections could tell it.

Listeners can tune in on 1450 AM, 103.9 FM in Concord or 101.9 FM in Manchester or listen to the LIVE stream on the website at www.nhtalkradio.com.

"We at WKXL are beyond thrilled to be partnering with the New Hampshire Writers Project for ‘New Hampshire Author's Week!’ This collaboration has given us the opportunity to shine a spotlight on our talented local authors and provide them with the platform they truly deserve,” said Catherine C. Martinez, General Manager of WKXL. “For 77 years, WKXL has been dedicated to delivering local news and uplifting the voices, talent and small businesses of our community. Together, let's inspire and uplift our local literary voices too!"

“The WKXL Author Series is a wonderful promotional outlet for our NHWP members and their books! Ken Cail is an incredibly talented and personable host and interviewer, who has the ability to create a heartwarming and insightful human story with his conversation. WKXL and Ken Cail are giving NHWP's authors an opportunity of a lifetime. What a great way to reach new readers and inspire new authors,” said Masheri Chappelle, Board of Trustees Chair, NHWP.

[loserdiaz]

I posted 4,550 times in 2022

470 posts created (10%)

4,080 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@swiftiediaz

@monsterrae1

@paqerings

@lostinabuddiehaze

@swiftiebuckleys

I tagged 2,329 of my posts in 2022

Only 49% of my posts had no tags

#eddie diaz - 362 posts

#evan buckley - 357 posts

#buddie - 339 posts

#911 fox - 213 posts

#scheduled - 194 posts

#911 on fox - 184 posts

#evan buck buckley - 161 posts

#911 spoilers - 158 posts

#buck x eddie - 141 posts

#buddie fic - 135 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#and like maybe they can tañk about feeling inadequate as parents and how to deal with thar and stuff bc god knows those two are traumatized

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i can't stop thinking about photographer buck so...

It’s mostly a joke, when Eddie first mentions photography to him. Buck's editing a photo on Lightroom on his phone between calls, a photo of Eddie and Chris at the beach.

It's beautiful and Eddie loves it. Buck took it without them even noticing, the photo being even more special that way. Eddie is laughing at something Chris said, they're both wet from playing on the ocean and they have sand on their arms, hands and shoulders. The sun shining down and making the both of them look golden. The rays of sunshine forming almost a halo around them— the waves at the back making the picture even more breathtaking.

Eddie's half joking, half serious, when he tells Buck to buy a fancy camera to take pictures with.

He didn't think Buck would actually listen to him.

Next thing he knows, Buck's instagram becomes full of digitized film pictures of the 118, their family barbeques at the Grant-Nash's house. Pictures of Chris and Eddie at the beach, of Jee playing at the park, of Maddie laughing at one of Chim's jokes. A lot of pictures of Eddie, too.

Pictures of Eddie, of him rolling his eyes with a hand held out and half covering his face. A picture of Eddie mid-way through a laugh, an easy smile on his face.

And he swears, never before a camera has made his stomach do back-flips the way it does when Buck is trying to take a picture of him.

“I swear, I’ll break that thing if you don’t get that out of my face,” he snaps at him. They're in Eddie's kitchen and he's trying to follow a recipe Linda sent him last week, Buck being an enormous distraction and not helpful at all.

"I like capturing people in crisis, Eddie." Buck smirks, all smug and teasing. Eddie kinda hates him a little bit.

Except for the part where he doesn't hate him at all.

Buck grins, bright and unapologetic and Eddie loves him. So much he aches with it.

"Yeah, okay. Whatever." Eddie rolls his eyes, trying to suppress the fond smile that it's already forming on his face.

Later, he'll see the picture Buck takes. Eddie will be covered in flour, it'll be everywhere. In his arms, his clothes, his cheeks. The kitchen around him a mess of ingredients and half ass attempts at a meal. Eddie looking down with a small, shy smile. The warm, almost orange glow of the kitchen light making him look all soft and golden. Later, he'll see that picture and will think oh.

Oh.

He sees me the same way I see him.

Oh.

1,101 notes - Posted November 1, 2022

#4

Buck making dinner for his husband & their son! I will never be over this scene i swear

1,329 notes - Posted September 19, 2022

#3

THEY'RE SO HUSBANDS SHAPED

1,654 notes - Posted September 26, 2022

#2

insp

the balcony scene™ literally was:

buck: 🥺🥺🥺

eddie: kidding, i love you. marry me. pls don't be sad.

1,673 notes - Posted January 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i love you fic writers, i love you appreciation posts for fic writers, i love you rec lists, i love you seven sentences sunday, i love you wip wednesday, i love you fics who make me smile and giggle at 3am, i love you fic writers in general, i love you readers who leave kudos and comments, i love you creators who make art inspired by fic, i love you creative wonderful people who make fandom a better experience.

1,721 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[kamisamahajimemashita]

KamiHaji-Week 2022

When:

August 21 (Sunday) - August 27 (Saturday)

Special blog for this event:

http://kamihaji-week.tumblr.com/

Event Tag:

#KHW2022 (please use this tag as one of the first 5 tags in your post) Because the tumblr tag search system can be glitchy, you can also add a tag of this blog within the post by using the @ symbol and put this blog’s name behind it. Example: @kamihaji-week

Prompts:

Sunday, August 21 Character - Day

Monday, August 22 Promote your (favorite) KH blog/website Day

Tuesday, August 23 What if...

Wednesday, August 24 Something old, something new 

Thursday, August 25 Fanfiction and Doujinshi Day

Friday, August 26 Akura-ou Day

Saturday, August 27 Free Day

The submit button on the KamiHaji-Week blog is also active as of today and will remain active until september 4, 2022 for this event.  When you use the submission form, don’t forget to mention your (user)name!

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For more information about this year’s prompts, click on the link below!

The Prompts for KamiHaji-Week 2022

Please read the rules if you want to create NSFW* works for this event or if you have posts that hold a link to such content!

August 21: Character - Day This day is all about the characters from the Kamisama Hajimemashita (Kamisama Kiss) series. You can post anything character related during this day. Even though Akura-ou has his own day, if you fancy this demon you can use this day to create a post about him as well.

August 22: Promote your (favorite) KH blog/website - Day You can use this prompt to promote your blog or website. Or someone else's blog or website. But the condition is that the blog or website must contain at least 50% or more content about the Kamisama Hajimemashita series!

August 23: What if... Perhaps you have been thinking about the effects it could have had on the series if certain events would not have happened. Or maybe if certain events would have been different. On this day you can post anything ‘What if...’ related. 

August 24: Something old, something new Maybe there is and old piece you made that you want to re-do now that you've grown and have aquired new skills, perhaps. A comparison post between your old and new KH works. or... You can take this literally and use this phrase or the meaning of it in a story...

August 25: Fanfiction & Doujinshi Day Please read the rules regarding submitted fanfiction work! You are a writer and/or comic artist and you want to share your Kamisama Hajimemashita fanfiction or doujinshi's. Or you want to share your favorite fanfiction and/or doujinshi's of this series. You can do so on this Fanfiction and Doujinshi prompt day. (an age rating regarding the content must be mentioned in your post!) (G, PG, PG-13, R, M, MA)

August 26: Akura-ou Day The famous recurring day of the KamiHaji-Week event. It is starting to become a real tradition. On this day you can post anything related to Akura-ou and of course his human character: Kirihito.

August 27: Free Day A free day on which you can post anything KamiHaji related. Don’t forget to tag your submissions with  #khw2022

*NSFW means ‘not suitable for work’ and stands for posts that hold mature content

[kitewithfish]

Wednesday Reading Meme for 10-26-22

What I've Read - Omega Required - Dessa Lux (aka, fanfic writer Dira Sudis) - Werewolf Omegaverse m/m arranged marriage romance novel- I bought this in 2018, read 25% of it and then never picked it up again, because I am a fool. I finished it this week and I found the main couple really quite charming.  Beau wants to be a werewolf doctor to humans, Rory ran away from home at 16 with an older man who promised to take good care of him and has some major trauma around sex. It's careful to show Rory's recovery, tho it's a romance novel so he's improving on a pretty brisk pace. Beau is used taking care of only himself and not asking for help so he makes some fairly stupid (but very in-character!) mistakes around his new job. The resolution is sweet and generally hits the points that think a thoughtful romance ought to. I am probably going to read other things Dira has written - this series has a couple of other books, and this is hitting a self-indulgent spot for me. Good world building around how werewolves would function in the open in the modern world.

Wife to the Marines: A Military Reverse Harem Romance by Krista Wolf (reverse harem het romance, straight woman with three straight men) - Well, this book had some great elements? The sex was fun, the character dynamics were a bit spare (perfectly fine for this genre) but what was there felt engaging, the plot was brisk and both acknowledged the silly elements but made them feel emotionally true to the female lead's internal life. I finished it and at the low price of $1, I feel like I got my money's worth. I have definitely paid more for worse. 

But, oh man, I am too queer for this book. I am just too dang queer for this book. I literally picked this up because I was curious about the reverse harem romance sub-genre (aka, straight woman with multiple male partners, yay!) and wow, this is just - like, do gay people exist in this world? Do ace people? Polyamory is briefly mentioned but not actually engaged with at all, so functionally, nah. Because I just cannot imagine a world where queer people exist and these men are making the life choices they are making about committed relationships to other men, and having sex with the same woman in a committed relationship, and then like, just not talking about the fact that you are in a queer poly relationship. It's just, like, the most hetero and monogamous take possible on a very queer, very poly relationship. It's almost as if it's a het romance where the dude just happens to have three bodies? It's so fucking weird to see a book go so far out of its way to frame this as hetero brothers-in-arms who love each other? Like, the intense military friendship that is actually a romance in disguise is literally a gay cliche - this one is ours, straight people. 

Also, massive trigger warnings for eating disorders shit (the woman is a trainer and runs a youtube channel where she makes "health food" recipes, constantly breaks food into good or bad categories, calorie counting, talks in detail about the weight loss plans of her clients, none of it needed) and also, uh, military kink?  using the American invasion of Afghanistan as a neutral-to-justified backdrop for a personal vendetta? (Dudes, is it gay to avenge the death of your boyfriend's brother under the cover of a legitimate Marine mission while you lie to him and keep him out of the loop, safe at home with your other shared boyfriend and girlfriend?) This was a compellingly written novel full of sympathetic depictions of people who I would not ever want to have a drink with!

What I'm Reading

A Taste of Gold and Iron - Alexandra Rowland - A re-read for my book club. So sweet, so queer, so fun. Deeply good worldbuilding.

Thrawn: Treason - Timothy Zahn - Getting fun and brisk with this one! 55% in.  Hunting Towards Heartstill - Blackkat - Star Wars Clone Wars Cartoon au - marriage of convenience, fake marriage, Mace Windu/Cody - Slowing down because we're crash landed on an abandoned Sith planet and I'm watching Mace be annoyed at Anakin and, well, he's very annoying! I'm going to try and buckle down and get some more under my belt so that I can actually just get past this part. I got stuck here last time too.

Stay With Me, Go Places - cac0daemonia-  https://archiveofourown.org/works/39540420 - "After months of living a quiet, peaceful life on Ryloth, Waxer and Boil must don their armor again. What begins as a rescue operation in conjunction with a bounty hunter becomes a journey that the Force itself seems to have a hand in." - I am really enjoying this ongoing series, the Reconstruction Corps AU, which posits that a fairly minor change in the Clone Wars plot around the clones control chips allowed the Jedi to stop Darth Sideous and save the galaxy and allow clones like Waxer and Boil to retire to little backwaters and build themselves a community. 

What I'll Read Next

2312 - Kim Stanley Robinson - Book club pick, long one, too! Bought it since we're probably splitting it up over six weeks Library books: Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield Maul: Lockdown - Joe Schreiber  The Whale Rider -Witi Ihimaera  Tiger's Daughter - K Arsenault Rivera  Riot Baby - Rochi Onyeuchi The Silence of the Wilting Skin - Tlotlo Tsamaase  An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon

Libby:  Truth of the Divine - Lindsay Ellis Devil House - John Darnelle   

[josiebelladonna]

i’m omnivorous, mostly out of obligation because i’ve had anorexia nervosa which has scarred my digestive system out of sporadic deprivation. if i never had it, i would have gone vegetarian, no question about it.

i’m a fucking artist and writer with extensive background in earth science, nuclear science, and mechanics. my dad’s dad (my grandpa) had two doctorates, one in nuclear science and the other in mathematics—he and i were really close when i was a kid so naturally i picked all that shit up. in terms of math, though, i got as far as vector calculus and i tanked it.

i was an engineering student before i became an artist. hated it hated it hated it, such that it quite literally almost killed me. (it was a combination of being hastily whisked away to school so soon after my parents split, almost dying in a fire, being almost homeless and surrounded by resentful family who would’ve let me starve to death if they had their way, my high school doing fuck all to prepare me, just not being respected, and gen ed classes constantly getting in the way).

i’m a chick who can weld. and solder. and play with wood—as in timber.

i built a formula car from the ground up.

i got on tv when i was 9–my dad and i built a trebuchet for the science fair one year but we didn’t win because we couldn’t showcase what it actually did. the night of, we did, though, and we lit up the whole gym. after… 15 or so minutes, this young woman and a boy with a tv camera came over to me for an interview for a children’s science show on pbs kids (back when they had that).

i’m a singer: got my start singing to myself out in the yard, and then i took choir when i was in elementary school. i started again when i was a teenager and i was in drama club but i was singing to more rock n roll and metal than show tunes, though, because i’m a contralto (not a lot of those in theatre—everyone is either a soprano or a mezzo) and i literally hate my voice, like… who would want to hear me singing? i feel like i can’t carry a tune and i’m not cut out to be on stage. anyway, my biggest influences for singing are chris cornell, billie joe armstrong, trent reznor, eddie vedder, and amy winehouse.

i was born during the waco crisis—i remember that, the oklahoma city bombing, and columbine like how anyone born from 1997 - 2000 remembers 9/11.

i wrote my first short story when i was 6 years old, my first novella when i was 13, my first comic at 14, my first novel at 23, my first novel trilogy (with illustrations) at 26, my first full-length comic at 27, and a million word work at 28.

been reading since i was a toddler.

i can speak nine languages (english, french, german, italian, spanish, latin, danish, russian, and some japanese—i’m teaching myself portuguese right now).

i started making my stupid, butchered-manga, who-would-want-these-in-their-house cartoons when i was 13 while i was bored in class during finals week, the wednesday before christmas break.

i’m into fashion but i’m also a minimalist: jeans and a t-shirt is sometimes all you need.

i’m the first woman in my family to have a background in stem, and the first person to have that plus a background in art as well as having written a book (my grandpa came close to this: i don’t think he’s written a book, at least not from what i remember).

i’m a hockey player, and a baseball player. never broke a bone in my life, though.

i’ve fired a gun—even a shotgun.

i don’t drive, though. at least not legally. i can drive, and probably could in a pinch, but i would run the risk of getting pulled over.

i like watching formula one, cycling, baseball, football, tennis, and swimming.

i’m 41% french and belgian, 32% scottish (you would never guess it, though: i grew up thinking i was native american), 16% irish, 10% scandinavian, 2% portuguese, and 1% baltic.

i’m a blood donor—became a member of the gallon club before i turned 21.

i met and partied with tool when i was 5 years old. i met tony stewart when i was 6. i was mutuals with chris cornell the last three years of his life—he followed me on my now-defunct twitter account before my 22nd birthday. joey belladonna talked about me a couple of days before my 27th birthday. alex skolnick told me he loved me a couple of weeks before my 28th birthday (and the week before my stepdad passed; the night before is when i called alex handsome and it made him blush—for valentines day last year, i made him the cartoon that started it all wouldn’t you know). the trouble twins- i, i mean, eric peterson and steve di giorgio shared art from me this past winter when this whole house literally felt like a freezer.

i don’t have a “real” job, and, on one hand, i do not get the fascination with it—especially since i associate said fascination with apathy of the worst kind—but i also do because you aren’t seen as some freaky, freeloading, panhandling, incompetent dolt, a bump on a log, and a complete waste of space, and you’re taken 1000x more seriously when you do have one.

someone please explain to me what “being proud of your differences” means because i don’t. i’ve never had a popular fic (or popular anything). i’ve never had a “tribe” (pretty sure that’s just a bullshit myth). i’ve entered my art in contests and have gotten more rubbernecking and wide-eyed “are you sure you wanna do this???!!” from assholes in the art world than actually winning or even being acknowledged. i’ve talked about my hopes and dreams, things i want to do, only to have someone chime in with “well, honey, you need money first” or talking me out of it in some way. i’m just really uncomfortable thinking about all of this, too, like why do i have to gravitate towards all of this. and i don’t feel special or interesting for any of it, either, like it’s all just… things that have happened to me. nothing to write home about, like i don’t understand how being unique is a good thing in my eye. i genuinely want someone to explain to me what “being proud of your differences” means because i just find it completely baffling.  i’m supposed to be proud and confident? how?

[amltdaily]

I posted 47 times in 2022

21 posts created (45%)

26 posts reblogged (55%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@jamesrodayrodriguezpresents

@levy-tran

@blogger360ncislarules

@romancemedia

I tagged 34 of my posts in 2022

Only 28% of my posts had no tags

#a million little things - 29 posts

#gaggie - 4 posts

#interview - 3 posts

#admin post - 2 posts

#dj nash - 2 posts

#season 3 - 1 post

#season 4 - 1 post

#allison miller - 1 post

#video - 1 post

#bts - 1 post

Longest Tag: 23 characters

#a million little things

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

5 notes - Posted March 21, 2022

#4

A Million Little Things‘ endgame is in sight.

TVLine has learned exclusively that the ABC drama’s creator, DJ Nash, is crafting the series’ upcoming fifth season as its last.

ABC is not commenting for this story, but we’re told the decision to bring the show to a creatively satisfying conclusion was made mutually between Nash, the network and ABC Signature/Kapital Entertainment. (Here’s a list of other TV series we suspect are heading into their final seasons.)

A Million Little Things‘ Season 5 renewal last May came down to the wire, despite the fact that the Season 4 finale ended with a doozy of a cliffhanger involving James Roday Rodriguez’ cancer-battling Gary.

“There’s no question we were a bubble show,” Nash acknowledged to TVLine at the time. “But everybody creatively at ABC was so supportive and wanted to see [a fifth season] happen. And we knew that if it didn’t happen, our fans would be like, “You can’t end a series like that!”

In Season 4, A Million Little Things averaged 4.1 million total weekly viewers and a 0.7 demo rating (with Live+7 playback) — down 20 and 30 percent from its Season 3 tallies. Out of the eight dramas ABC has aired last season, it ranked No. 6 in audience and tied for fifth in the demo. It did, though, enjoy the second-best DVR bump of any ABC series.

5 notes - Posted August 22, 2022

#3

6 notes - Posted February 7, 2022

#2

Our time with the Friends of Jon is drawing to a close.

A Million Little Things will end with its upcoming Season 5 , ABC announced Monday, confirming TVLine’s exclusive report from August.

The final season will premiere on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 10/9c.

“I know seeing this show end may be sad for many people (especially my mom who watches live every week), but I always knew I wanted to follow these friends for five seasons and leave them when the time was right,” series creator DJ Nash said via statement. “When we started making our show, I never could have imagined this incredible community of ‘Millionaires’ who would come together and not only watch, but also share with each other their personal struggles, their pain and ultimately their true grit. I am both honored and humbled by all of it and am so in awe of the incredible actors, writers, directors and crew who lend their talent to make our show.”

He continued: “I am also so grateful that ABC now makes mental health awareness one of the top issues for which it advocates. [Executive producer] Terrence [Coli] and I can’t wait for the Millionaires to watch what we have planned for our final season.”

In Season 4, which ended with a cliffhanger involving the health of James Roday Rodriguez’ Gary, A Million Little Things averaged 4.1 million total weekly viewers and a 0.7 demo rating (with Live+7 playback) — down 20 and 30 percent from its Season 3 totals. Out of the eight dramas ABC aired last season, it ranked No. 6 in audience and tied for fifth in the demo. It also had the second-best DVR bump of any ABC series. 

6 notes - Posted November 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

17 notes - Posted May 13, 2022

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