#(long story how it all connects but that's where the change in scheduling started)

[isfjmel-phleg]

😱

[caitified]

Can you write a story where reader is Caitlin’s little sister by a couple years and Caitlin is like really protective of her scaring of her gfs of anyone she talks to. But reader meets Kate when she starts at Iowa and Caitlin introduces them. They hit off and start secretly dating because reader doesn’t want Caitlin to mess it up for. Though Caitlin accidentally finds out and is shocked because her best friend is dating her little sister and she doesn’t know how to react because yes it is her best friend but it’s her LITTLE sister.

little sister

kate martin x reader

warnings:none

it started off like any other day at carver-hawkeye arena. caitlin had invited you to visit campus, eager to show you around her home away from home. as her little sister, just a couple of years younger, you were used to her protective streak. it had always been there, from high school basketball games to family gatherings. if someone so much as looked at you the wrong way, caitlin was quick to step in.

“you’re gonna love it here,” she said as she led you through the athletic facilities. “but, you know, stick to hanging out with me. college guys are the worst, and the girls here… they’re intense too.”

you rolled your eyes, laughing softly at her overprotective tone. “relax, cait. i’m not here to date anyone.”

caitlin grinned, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “good. keep it that way.”

when you entered the gym, caitlin waved someone over, her face lighting up. “oh, perfect timing! you’ve gotta meet kate.”

you turned to see kate martin jogging over, her blonde hair pulled back into a loose ponytail, her smile warm and easy. the second your eyes met, something shifted. there was a spark, an instant connection that made your stomach flip in a way you hadn’t expected.

“hey, nice to meet you,” kate said, extending a hand. her grip was firm, her touch lingering just a second too long to be casual.

“you too,” you replied, trying to keep your voice steady.

caitlin launched into a conversation about practice schedules and team dynamics, completely unaware of the way kate kept glancing at you. every stolen glance, every brush of fingers as kate passed you the basketball—it all left your heart racing.

over the next few weeks, you found excuses to visit iowa city more often. you told caitlin it was because you wanted to spend time with her, but the truth was, you were coming for kate.

kate, who would text you late at night with jokes or stories about her day. kate, who would pull you aside after practices to chat, her smile making you forget the world around you. kate, who kissed you for the first time one evening after a team dinner, when the two of you had stayed behind to clean up.

“i shouldn’t,” she murmured, her breath warm against your lips as her eyes searched yours. “caitlin would kill me if she knew.”

“she doesn’t have to know,” you whispered, your voice barely audible.

kate hesitated for only a moment before leaning in, her lips soft against yours, her hand cupping your cheek as if you might disappear if she let go. that kiss changed everything.

you and kate began stealing moments whenever you could, sneaking out for coffee or sitting together in her car, talking about anything and everything. she told you about her dreams, her worries, her life before iowa, and you opened up to her in ways you hadn’t with anyone else.

“you’re amazing, you know that?” kate said one night as the two of you sat by the river, the moonlight reflecting off the water.

“you’re just saying that,” you replied, a soft smile tugging at your lips.

“no, i mean it,” kate said, turning to face you. “you’re smart, funny, kind… and you make me feel like i can be myself.”

your heart swelled at her words, and you leaned in to kiss her, the world fading away around you.

but no secret stays hidden forever.

it happened one night after a game. caitlin had invited you and kate back to her apartment for dinner, and as usual, you and kate had found a quiet moment alone. you were standing in the hallway, your hands tangled together as kate leaned down to kiss you.

“what the hell?” caitlin’s voice made you both freeze. you turned to see her standing there, her face a mix of shock and disbelief.

“caitlin—” you started, but she held up a hand.

“are you two… are you kidding me right now?”

kate stepped forward, her voice calm but firm. “caitlin, listen. i care about her. a lot. this wasn’t something we planned, but it’s real.”

caitlin’s jaw tightened, her protective instincts kicking in. “she’s my little sister, kate. my little sister. and you’re my best friend. how am i supposed to deal with this?”

“by trusting us,” kate said simply. “you know me, cait. you know i’d never hurt her.”

the tension in the room was thick, but slowly, caitlin’s shoulders relaxed. she looked between the two of you, her expression softening just a little.

“this is gonna take some getting used to,” she admitted, running a hand through her hair. “but if you make her happy…” she trailed off, sighing. “just don’t make me regret this, okay?”

you and kate exchanged a relieved glance before turning back to caitlin. “we won’t,” you promised.

caitlin shook her head, a small smile tugging at her lips despite herself. “you two are lucky i love you.”

kate reached for your hand, intertwining her fingers with yours as caitlin walked away, muttering something about needing a drink.

“well, that went better than expected,” kate said, her voice light but filled with relief.

“i think she’s warming up to the idea,” you replied, squeezing her hand.

kate leaned down to kiss your forehead, her smile soft and full of love. “we’ll figure it out. together.”

maybe more of this..

[beefcakekinard]

i really think maddie and tommy could be really good friends. like at first their shared connection is buck - and that's a strong starting point, they both love this golden retriever of a man, and they both think he deserves all the love a person could possibly fit into their life! maddie is generous with the baby stories, which buck finds generally distressing, but tommy just eats them up, he's totally enamoured and it becomes really clear to maddie that tommy really wants to know all of buck that there is to know.

one evening maybe they're over at maddie and chim's for dinner and they've finished eating, they're both watching chim and buck chase jee around the backyard - tommy makes a comment like "howie's such a great dad" and maddie thinks, not for the first time, how nice it is to talk to someone who knows them as howie and evan. so she asks tommy if they can do lunch sometime, just the two of them.

lunch is fun. maddie is kind of surprised by just how much tommy makes her laugh; buck goes on all the time about how funny he is, but they've never spent time together outside of a group setting, where tommy is less naturally chatty. he has a dry sense of humour that more than once startles her into laughter, and they're having so much fun that it's so easy to decide to extend lunch into coffee at a place nearby.

relatively recently, tommy has been brought into the fold of buckley sibling trauma, and when she brings up her parents in some way, he gives her his condolences for daniel's loss. she immediately gets choked up the way she always does when this subject comes up, from the tenderness of a wound left raw and ignored for so long, but she breathes through it and thanks him, sincerely. she tells him that it's nice to be able to talk about daniel again, and to get to finally share him with evan. tommy's so open and easy to talk to, and doesn't push or pry. he says that he knows how it feels growing up with parents who aren't able, or willing, to give you what you need. when she eventually changes the subject, he goes along with it easily.

anyway, they have a really good time. i think they have a lot they can connect about, and their personalities mix in a really fun way! lunch becomes a semi-regular thing, as much as they can manage with their schedules. maddie gets tommy into the bachelor - he gets her into his favourite movies. in no time at all they have their own jokes and references. they fit naturally into each other's handpicked families like they were supposed to be there all along.

[ale-xiaeleven]

Between us, where there's nothing but love

A short fic with no warnings.

The rain was falling softly, a rhythmic patter against the windows of the small Barcelona apartment. Alexia’s soft breathing was the only sound inside, her chest rising and falling as she lay next to you on the couch. You watched her sleep, the serene expression on her face bringing a small smile to your lips.

It was moments like this that reminded you of how far you both had come. It hadn’t always been easy—loving someone in the spotlight never was. But for all the challenges, there was always this: the quiet, tender moments when it was just the two of you.

You could still remember the day you first met her. It was at a friend’s gathering, a casual dinner where you had no idea you were sitting across from one of the world’s best footballers. Alexia had been kind, almost shy, a contrast to the image you later learned the world saw. There was an instant connection, one that neither of you could explain.

Over time, that connection deepened. It started with coffee dates and long walks through the city, where conversation flowed effortlessly. You learned about her childhood, her love for the game, her fears and dreams. She listened to your stories with equal interest, making you feel like the most important person in the world.

But there was always something unspoken between you, a tension that neither of you dared to address. It wasn’t until one night, after a particularly grueling match, that everything changed.

You were sitting together in her car, parked outside your apartment. The city was quiet, the streets nearly empty, and Alexia was staring straight ahead, her hands gripping the steering wheel.

“Do you ever think about…us?” she asked suddenly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Your heart skipped a beat. You had thought about it, more than you cared to admit. But hearing her say it out loud made it real, undeniable.

“Every day,” you confessed, your voice trembling slightly.

She turned to look at you then, her eyes searching yours. “I don’t want to lose you. I don’t know what I’d do if I did.”

You reached out, placing a hand over hers. “You won’t. We’ll figure this out, together.”

That night, you kissed her for the first time. It was soft, tentative, a question more than a statement. But as soon as your lips met, everything fell into place. It felt right, like coming home.

From that moment on, your relationship blossomed. You learned to navigate the challenges—her busy schedule, the media scrutiny, the fear of being exposed. There were tough days when the weight of it all seemed too much to bear. But through it all, there was love. Pure, unfiltered, unwavering love.

Now, as you watched her sleep, you couldn’t help but marvel at how lucky you were. Alexia stirred slightly, her hand reaching out instinctively, finding yours and holding it tight even in her sleep. You leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

No matter what the world threw at you, you knew you could handle it, as long as you had her. Because between you, there is nothing but love.

And that is enough.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Production timeline anon back again. Clarifying its one person sending this I guess. Its been a few years since I left the film industry but still have friends in it so keeping it on anon. Also this ended up long and messy so sorry about that.

Writers room starting about three months before filming is a perfectly normal timeline for network television. In recent years a lot of behind the scenes content has mentioned that scripts are done before filming starts, but all that comes from shows made for streaming, or miniseries or shows that work in release schedules that are longer than a year. That is not how network television works (and is closer to the way films do things than regular tv).

To begin with tv shows working on a year long schedule simply dont have the time to do full scripts and pre production before filming. There wouldn't be enough time to finish post production before the season needs to release.

When tv writer rooms officially open it is not to start writing scripts. They spend a good amount of time preparing things before: making sure everyone is on the same page about the story, deciding what the story will be for the new season, making sure they connect plots left open previous season, list all roles that need casting, list locations that need scouting and sets that need to exist, do lots of research. In general they want an outline and lists of everything that will be necessary first.

Only then they start working on scripts. And it is still a while before they have them written. For heavily serialized shows like iwtv writers will start with an outline of where in the story each episode starts and ends. Then break down each episode, do scene outlines, decide what needs to appear in one episode for the next to make sense, basically weave the whole story. Or in the case of iwtv choose which pieces of the puzzle go where. Only then they start writing scripts. Episodes will be split between the writers in a way that spreads out the work among them and plays to their strenghts. Basically episodes get assigned to whoever gets the written by credit but they will still have active support of the rest of the writers room throughout the process.

With 3-4 months between writers room starting and filming starting there is no time to finish full seasons before they film. And thats on purpose because all departments are building on each other's work. For example production design team needs to know what sets and locations are needed. They might know about the important ones early on but not everything. So they will start set design and location scouting for the big ones before writers room but need the season outline to know about everything else. On the other side writers need to know how the spaces will look like before they make certain decisions about scenes. With casting big new roles might be cast in advance but smaller ones need the season outline before casting so that happens in parallel to writers room.

With all that tv shows will start filming with a few scripts, enough to give everyone a headstart on whats being filmed and finish the rest during production.

The other big reason is that tv is a moving thing all through the process. Writers are on set to see if things actually work on camera, and if they don't they will rewrite in the moment, but that creates abutterfly effect on later episodes, so not having everything finished allows them to write considering changes. They will also write knowing what decisions actors are making, how spaces look on camera, what things cant be done within budget, etc. Its just easier to write as they go.

Iwtv has the advantage of working with a full series outline (and we know Rolin Jones has written scenes for future seasons already) so casting for major roles probably happened before writing started. But also we know things like the theater set was being prepared for a fire before those scripts existed so they definitely work in a network tv schedule.

The tldr is filming will definitely start before scripts are ready but that is normal and wont delay the release.

Thank you so much for this (very detailed, love it!!!) explanation and outline!!!

Much appreciated!!

[ahgasegotarmy116]

He Doesn't Deserve You | A Jeon Jungkook Series | Chapter Five

Summary: Taehyung gets careless and breaks your heart yet again. Pairing: Noona reader x Jeon Jungkook (She's 28 and he's 22) Word Count: 4.7K~ Warnings: Implied yändere and mentions of signs of trauma because of it. (nothing too extreme) a/n: It's taken me so long to get this chapter out I'm sorryyy but I hope it was worth the wait! Thank you so much for your continued support on my stories and I hope you'll look forward to the next part!

Jungkook's visit last week really had me thinking about the choices I make on the daily. 

I stopped stressing about what Taehyung might be doing when he's away and started thinking about ways I could improve myself.

It wasn't anything major but I wanted to take baby steps.

For instance, setting up a schedule for when I wake up and always making sure to not stay up past midnight. Along with promising myself to at least sit and write for a couple of hours per day but also taking breaks when I felt I needed to. I would come back though and finish only when I was satisfied and came to a proper stopping point.

Implementing these little changes in my life has worked wonders on my confidence and peace of mind. I feel like I'm accomplishing something and getting some sort of fulfillment in the day to day which I haven't been able to say for the past few years.

I guess all of this can be chalked up to Jungkook. 

I know I'm ultimately the one who's implemented these things into my life but if he hadn't given me that push, I don't think I would've ever gotten to even see these small victories.

While I'm in the kitchen pouring myself a cup of coffee I hear a faint chime on my laptop and I smile knowing exactly who it is.

'Good morning Noona, did you sleep well?'  I read from the all too familiar jkjkjk.97  and smile seeing that my suspicions were correct.

'I slept like a baby, who knew going to bed before dawn would do wonders!'  I send back and when I try to stand up to walk back over to the kitchen I'm met with another email popping up from him.

'That's good! I'm happy to see that you're feeling a bit better these days :)'  he sends and I smile at the fact that he's just as eager to reply to me. It's been like this ever since that day he dropped off my groceries. He would send me emails first thing in the morning almost like clockwork.

I'm surprised that he manages to keep a similar schedule to mine but I don't really know what he does most days except work. 

I know he works at the grocery store but it seems to me like he's always working at odd hours. Most days even well past closing so it's got me thinking about what else he could possibly do for a living.

It's none of my business but I can't help but be curious about it since when I ask him how his day went, he usually says he's still working even though it seems like he's been working since dawn. 

I really want to ask him but I don't want to pry. He seems like the kind of guy that keeps to himself and open up when he's ready. 

I'm just hoping that there will come a day where he'll trust me as much as I have grown to trust him.

My thought process his interrupted by the sound of keys jingling in the door and my heart sinks to my stomach when I'm brought back to reality.

"Hey baby" Taehyung greets while taking off his shoes. It's Saturday so he doesn't have work which means he might be hanging around here for a while before no doubt heading out again. 

"Hey" I respond quietly, feeling as though I'm retreating back into myself, not really being able to relax until I know what kind of headspace he's in.

"Where's my welcome home kiss from my gorgeous wife?" he asks while walking over to where I'm sitting at my desk. He leans down and kisses me on the lips, moulding his mouth against mine while I crane my neck up and return the kiss, placing a hand on his cheek to keep him connected.

"Welcome home" I let out after he pulls back, panting slightly as he nudges his nose against mine before standing up straight again. "Have you been up long?" he asks, him having gone out late last night and surprisingly turning up here again bright and early.

I hum in acknowledgment, "I've been waking up earlier these days so I can get a jump start on my writing and trying to go to bed earlier" I respond while watching his back as he walks over to the kitchen.

"Oh really? How's that going?" he questions, pouring himself a cup of coffee and walking back into the living room, waiting patiently for my answer. 

"Well it's been nice to implement a bit of a routine since my days and nights have kind of been all over the place for a while. Plus, I feel like this story is really coming along. I even started mapping out ideas for the next book in the series!" I say and he looks at me as if he's almost falling in love with me again, making me shy under his gaze.

"That's amazing honey. I feel like I haven't seen you smiling like this in a really long time. Looks like all you needed was a little discipline to really get your life back together huh?" he say while giving me a knowing look, cocking his head to the side and letting his eyes roam my body for a second. No doubt looking at the faint bruises he'd left from last week.

"I guess so" I say, awkwardly rubbing my bicep where he had grabbed me. "How are you feeling?" he questions, coming a bit closer and ghosting his fingers over the marks. "I'm fine, they don't hurt as much anymore" I say, slipping my arm out if his grasp.

"That's good, I'm sorry I got a little rough with you. I was frustrated with some work stuff and I took it out on you. That wasn't fair of me" he apologizes while brushing the hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear. "It's okay" I say quietly, looking down at the floor to avoid his gaze. 

"No, it's not okay" he says tilting my chin up and making me make eye contact.

"I haven't been treating you well and I wanna make it up to you" he says, caressing my face with the hand that he used to tilt my chin up. "Okay" I whisper as he leans down to connect our lips again but before they're able to touch his phone rings. 

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone and the name Tiffany flashes across the screen with a kiss emoji at the end, giving me a name to associate as to why he's actually never home. 

"I've gotta take this" he says and I nod my head to show I don't mind even though my heart is breaking more and more with each ring. He gives me a quick kiss to apologize before answering the call and walking into the kitchen. 

I take that as a sign that he'll be leaving for the night again and head into the bathroom since it's the one place he won't question as to why I've shut him out. I close the lid of the toilet and cover my ears so I can't hear him but curiosity gets the best of me and I hold my breath to see if I can make any words out despite my whole motives of coming here in the first place.

"No I ca-. Well I just got here I-. Okay, okay fine I'm coming. Let me just come up with an excuse to tell her and I'll be there soon. Okay? Alright, love you too. Bye" I hear him say and he ends the call. I cover my mouth, trying to stop any sounds of heartbreak that might come out and listen as he walks down the hall to our room. 

"Y/n? Honey where are you?" he asks, barely bothering to look for me. "I'm in here" I say, turning on the sink to drown out the sound a bit to prevent him from hearing how wobbly my voice sounds from the emotions I'm trying to keep at bay. 

"I've gotta head out for the day but I'll be back tomorrow night. You gonna be okay?" he asks as if he cared about me. "Yeah I'll be fine don't worry, I'll see you then" I yell above the sound and he says a quick goodbye through the door in return and leaves soon after. 

Once I hear the front door close I let some of those choked sobs go.

He's never been that obvious before. Does he just not bother to hide since he sees that I don't question him about it? I don't even know why I still care since it's very clear that he doesn't care about me.

At that I look at my phone and see that there's another email from Jungkook that came in a little while ago which gives me motivation enough to dry my eyes and get myself together so I can head back out to my laptop and get lost in this safe haven we've created for each other. 

'Did you forget about me already?'  he questions, seeing as it has taken me a while to respond. I couldn't risk doing it and Taehyung finding out about us. Even though there is no 'us' when it comes to Jungkook and I, unlike that Tiffany girl he just left me for today.

'I'm sorry Taehyung came home. He just left though...'  I send and get a response back immediately, seeing he's been waiting for my response.

'Are you okay? Did something happen?'  he asks and I smile at the thought that there is someone out there that cares enough to ask. 

We've been emailing each other everyday since he came over and I've opened up to him a bit more about my relationship with Tae and he's been really good at just letting me talk and just being there for me. Always talking me through things and helping me process no matter if it's problems with Tae or even other more mundane things like writer's block. 

He's just there, no matter what.

'Can we meet up today?' I type out but hesitate, letting my hand hover over the mouse. 

Watching, waiting, worrying about if this would be a good idea but before making that decision myself I accidentally hit send when I try to put my hand down to rest it on my lap. 

"Shit" I say out loud but before I can figure out how to unsend the message I get a response back. 

'Sure :) Did you want to meet at the Blue Pearl? Or should I come over?'  he asks and I hold my breath, weighing the pros and cons to this whole situation and decide to just say fuck it and do what I want for once. 

'Can you come over?'  I send and close my laptop, too nervous to look at his reply. "What the fuck am I doing inviting a younger guy to my apartment when my husband is gone? What am I doing?" I say out loud and pace back and forth until I hear the chime come from my phone this time. 

'Be there soon :)'  "I'm fucked" I admit out loud before running around and quickly getting myself and the house ready.

 ~~~~~

A rhythmic pattern of knocks plays and puts my mind at ease while I walk towards the door and open it. 

"Noona!" he greets with a smile before giving me a hug that catches me off guard making me take a step back to help me stay balanced. "Thank you for coming" I say while returning his embrace and letting go a second later so I can step aside to let him in. 

"Are you okay?" he asks after having taken off his shoes and taken in my form to what I don't realize is to look for any signs of harm. "Yes I'm fine" I say with a sad smile yet know for a fact that even if I try to deny it he can read me like a book. 

"Then why were you crying?" he asks, looking at my red eyes and flushed cheeks. "I heard Tae talking to one of the girls he's cheating on me with" I mumble and at that Jungkook takes my hand and leads me over to the couch without saying a word.

"He didn't even try hard to hide it. Like he has a stupid kiss emoji next to her name and everything. He had only been here for like twenty minutes tops before he left" I spill out. He keeps a hold of my hand, looking down at it while I let out all the things I've been holding in. 

The worries, the doubts, the fear, the stress. I don't know when it started and I can't figure out how to make it stop. 

"I don't know what to do" I admit, looking down at my lap, watching as the tears fall from my eyes and onto the fabric of my jeans. 

"Do you want me to be honest and tell you what I think or do you want me to just listen?" he asks, rubbing circles on the back of my hand. "Be honest?" I pose almost as a question, knowing this is the ugly truth I've been hiding from. 

"Can you tell me more than one reason as to why you should stay with him? Besides him being your husband" he asks, sitting silently and waiting for me to respond, giving me time to think it through but when I shake my head he goes forward with posing his argument. 

"If you can't manage to come up with a reason as to why you should stay with him then what's keeping you from leaving? I know you said that you're scared and you don't know what to do but the fact that you're not doing anything is hurting you more than if you decided to leave him" he states, I just nod my head and listen, letting him say his piece.

"He's hurting you. He's hurting you physically" he says while ghosting his fingers along the bruises that run up my arm, "Mentally" he continues brushing the hair off of my face and rubbing his thumb up against my temple "And sexually" he finishes, taking note of the hickeys and the way I flinch away from him when he tries to lay his hand on my neck. 

"That's just how Taehyung is, he likes things rough" I say, making excuses for the marks that are clearly beyond rough sex. 

"But do you like it?" he questions, catching me off guard with an intimacy of the question. "He keeps me satisfied if that's what you mean" I answer curtly, hoping he'll take that as an answer. 

"That's not what I asked. Do you enjoy the way he has sex with you? Is that how you want to have sex?" he continues, not backing down from getting an answer out of me. I look up at him to see if he's seriously asking me that question and all I can see is a serious expression on his face.

"I don't mind it" I say, dancing around my answer. "Noona" he warns in a tone of voice he's never used with me, catching me off guard. 

"N-no. No I don't like it. It's too rough for me and I don't like it" I admit. He nods, casting his eyes down as if he's lost in thought before asking his next question. "Have you ever told him?" he questions and I shake my head only to realize moments later that he can't see me. "No I haven't told him" I respond quietly and he nods again before looking back up at me. 

"Why?" he asks and I'm left with one answer. "Because I'm afraid of what he might do to me if I say no" I explain. "I figure it's better to say yes and take it instead of saying no and having him force himself on me" I cover my mouth not realizing the fact that I said the thing that I was even too afraid to admit to myself.

"Has he ever forced himself on you?" he asks while clenching his jaw, clearly upset at the thought. "I didn't tell him no but I tried to make him see that I didn't want it but he didn't care to pay attention" I answer, getting rid of the filter seeing as it won't do either of us any good if I were to hold back. 

"That's one of the many reasons that you shouldn't even be with him anymore" he starts, his whole body tense, anger just bubbling under the surface. "You shouldn't have to be with someone you're scared of. I just don't kno-" 

"That's just it, you don't know. You told me that before, that I shouldn't be with someone that I'm scared of but you just don't get it. You've never been married. You've never had to deal with struggles like this. You make it sound so easy, that I could just leave and never look back but it's not that simple" I spout off, defending myself and my decisions. 

"Noona I just want to he-" "I know, I know" I say cutting him off but gaining a softer tone at the end, shrinking back into myself, ridding myself of my defensive behavior. "I'm sorry Jungkook, I shouldn't have said that. I asked you to come over and then I just yelled at you and I just..." I trail off, hating myself for doing that to him.

He tilts my head up and looks at me, studying my features and I cast my eyes down, too nervous to maintain his strong gaze. "Look at me" he says in a soft tone but I keep my eyes down, focused on my hands that I have balled into fists. 

"Look at me, please..." he whispers and at that I decide to do as he says and I see how his eyes have glossed over, the stars in them wavering. "He doesn't deserve you" he whispers cupping my face, running his thumb along my cheekbone to brush off a tear that I didn't even realize had fallen. 

"I don't know what to do" I let out in a choked sob, letting the tears that I've been holding in fall, never letting myself cry enough to feel better. He pulls me in and I latch onto him, burring my face into his shoulder as he holds onto me tighter, further showing me that I'm safe with him. 

"Whatever you need I'm here for you. Just tell me what to do and I'll do it" he says, the deep rumble of his voice brings me comfort. "I-" I start but cut myself off with another sob. "It's okay, just let it all out" he says and cling to him harder. 

After having sat there and cried with him for what felt like hours my sobs slowly die down to sniffles and my breathing patterns return to normal. "You okay?" he questions, more so asking if I had finished crying versus how I'm feeling about my current reality. I nod my head but nuzzle in closer to him, not wanting to let go just yet. 

"What's wrong?" he questions. "I don't want you to see my face" I complain into his shirt and he laughs at (from his perspective) how adorable I am. "Aw come on why not?" he chuckles and I nuzzle my face into his neck, making skin to skin contact without paying any mind to it. "My face is probably all red and my eyes are puffy from crying" I mumble against his neck. 

His body goes stiff but I don't take too much notice and move a bit closer to him, not realizing how I'm making him feel and only realize it after he clears his throat a few times. "Is something wrong?" I ask finally taking in how uncomfortable he seems. 

"No, nothing's wrong I just- no it's nothing" he says trying to backpedal out of this. "It's obviously something if you're reacting like that" I press, wanting him to be as truthful with me as I have been with him. 

"I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable" I say, pulling away from him. "No! Noona no, it's just that. Your lips were on my neck and you were really close and..." he trails off, hoping that's explanation enough. 

"I didn't even realize I was doing that, I'm sorry..." I trail off as well, hating that I made this situation even more awkward than it already is. "It's okay Noona I just, well I just want to make sure we don't cross a line and it was making it hard for me to do so" he explains.

"What do you mean by that?" I ask, wanting to know exactly what he's thinking. "It's just, well you're married and I think you know that I'm attracted to you by now so it was just making it hard for me to think straight" he admits and I nod my head and look down at my lap, not really knowing how I'm supposed to respond. 

"I hope this doesn't change things between us. I really do want to be your friend but I understand if I've made you uncomfortable. I just thought you should know" he finishes and waits with bated breath for my response. 

"Would things be different?" I question, not fully asking the question since I'm not sure if I want to know the answer. "Would things be different if what?" he presses. "Would things be different if I wasn't married?" I ask and I close my eyes, scared of seeing his reaction. 

"You can't just ask me that" he says and I look up at him to see his face turned away, showing how pink the tips of his ears have gotten and how his jaw is clenching. "Why not?" I press, needing to know based off of the kind of reaction he's giving me. 

"You don't know how hard I've been holding myself back" he says and tongues his cheek, making me widen my eyes at the motion. "Holding yourself back from what?" I press further, needing to know what's running through his mind right now. 

"From kissing you" he says, finally looking back at me, making eye contact before his eyes flicker down to my lips. "I-" "I should go" he says, cutting me off before I can say anything further. "Wait, no you don't have to go. I'm sorry" I say, trying my best to keep him here. I can't let him just run off after a confession like that but he's giving me no other option as I watch him stand up. 

"You have nothing to apologize for Noona. I shouldn't have said that. I do have to go though, my family is waiting for me back at home" he says and I widen my eyes, never having heard him talk about his family as of yet. 

"Family?" I question, my curiosity peaked. "Yeah I live with my mom and my three siblings" he says while walking over to put his shoes on. "Three?" I question and he nods his head not bothering to give me much more than that. 

"That's a topic of conversation for another time though" he says after he stands back up from tying his laces. "Oh okay" I say and hug myself, providing myself some comfort, hating to see him rushing out of here already. 

"They really are waiting for me. My mom has to work tonight so I'm stuck taking care of the kiddos" he says, giving me a soft smile before turning to open the door and I follow behind him. 

"Let me know when you get home okay?" I say, leaning up against the door frame. "I will" he says and reaches out to pull me in for a hug, accepting it right away. 

"I still want you in my life so please, don't disappear" I mumble into his chest and he hums in acknowledgment. "You can't get rid of me that easily. Not after I fought for that title of best friend" he says pulling back and looking down at me fondly and I smile back up at him before he places a hand on the side of my neck and leans down to place a kiss on my forehead.

"Bye Noona" he says, giving me a soft smile. I smile back up at him and return his sentiment before he turns to walk away.

I watch as he goes, waiting for him to get in his car where he looks back up towards my apartment, not expecting to see me waiting for him but smiles when he does. I smile back and wave and watch as he pulls out of his spot and makes his way out of the parking lot. 

"I'm really fucked" I mumble to myself and turn to walk inside my apartment. 

"He gets more and more handsome each time I see that young man" Mrs. Mitchell says, making me jolt back from the scare of being caught. 

"Mrs. Mitchell we didn't-" I start but she waves me off. "You don't need to make excuses to me love. Like I said last time, I wouldn't blame you if you did" she says and places a hand on my arm, noticing all the mixed emotions I have written all over my face. 

"Why don't we change the subject and have you sign those books we had spoken about the other day" she says, turning to walk towards the stack she had waiting by her front door like she had told me she would. 

I smile at her enthusiasm for my writing and and am thankful that she doesn't address what had happened between Jungkook and I anymore. 

"There you go" I say putting the cap on the pen and handing the last book back to her. "Thank you dear! The girls are going to love these!" she says placing the books back in their place. "Girls?" I question, chuckling at her reaction, so happy a simple thing like this could make her happy. 

"Yeah! The other women in my book club. I recommended your books to them and they've been begging me to get them a signed copy from you ever since" she says, turning back to face me. "Well I hope they enjoy them!" I reply happily, embarrassed still that woman of their age are reading it but thankful nonetheless. 

"We're all meeting together here next Sunday so maybe if you're not too busy writing you could stop by and have tea with us. I just know they would love to meet you!" she says, practically glowing with excitement. 

"I'll have to get back to you on that one but it sounds lovely" I smile, my heart swelling at the thought of meeting some of my readers. "Wonderful! But I'll let you get back to your day dear. Make sure to set aside some time to take care of yourself and relax tonight okay? You deserve it" she says placing a comforting hand on my arm before we both go our separate ways. 

As I close the door behind me I'm met with that all too familiar chime and I walk over to my desk, this time a bit more tentative than before, being nervous as to what I might find from my familiar friend jkjkjk.97

Home :) is all he sends but I decide to respond, nervous of the result if I don't, scared that he might shut me out or fade away.

Have fun with the kiddos tonight! And thank you for coming today, it really meant a lot to me  I send back, hoping to make things sound normal.

Anytime, let's see each other again soon. Okay?  he asks and I can tell he's waiting earnestly for a response. 

Okay. This time at The Blue Pearl so we can say 'Hi' to Rae. I miss her :(   I say, hoping that he won't take that as a way of me keeping him from coming over when I really do miss Rae. 

The Pearl it is! Goodnight Noona he says, ending the conversation early tonight, no doubt having a lot to do to manage three kids for the night. 

Goodnight Jungkook  I send and close my laptop, vowing to do as I had agreed upon and take the rest of the day to take care of myself. 

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[silent-browser]

*sigh* oh the tragic romance of a merfolk x human story. Neither can be with the other without giving up something important. Usually fins for legs. Also usually their entire family to simply love and exist with this person in a different biosphere. Rarely legs for fins if we wanna go a reverse little mermaid here.

But what if it was different. And no one had to give everything up. And maybe yandere. With a bit of soulmate shenanigans thrown in for flavor.

Imagine if you will, a walk on an empty beach. Headphones in, listening to your favorite song and sining along. Kicking up sand and the smell of the ocean air. Just minding your own business and having a good time by yourself.

Or so you think. Because not far from where you are walking a single quiet audience member hides behind some rocks, wondering why your song, your human song, sounds so similar to their soul song.

The song that they would normally perform for other merfolk in hopes of attracting their perfect life partner. But they had never garnered any attention for it.

So how did you, a weak and squishy human get them so immediately. No creature had ever been so close to repeating his own soul song back to him. And with your own little twist too. Human words and slightly different notes in his soul song. Your song. Our song. He soon found himself refering to it in his mind.

It takes a while of them impatiently waiting for your return and slowly learning your 'walks on the beach' schedule for them to finally make their move.

On the day that changed the rest of your life, you were simply walking along and humming softly to your favorite song once again when you heard the most fantastic voice start to follow along the melody with you. They matched your tone and moved their voice in such a way that it felt like an instant musical connection.

They were worried that you would stop and run away when they started but tried not to let that fear taint their song. If you ran further inland they would have a very hard time following you. Not impossible but certainly difficult. So they took your continued humming as a good sign and continued.

They began to dribble their emotions into the notes. The lonelyness. The fear of an uncaring ocean. The rush of affection they felt when they first heard you singing. The need to see you. Hold you.

Slowly, what started out as a dribble became a riptide of intense emotions they never knew they were capable of feeling. Longing. Jealousy. Want and need so powerful he felt like he would wear out his voice singing it all. By the time he stopped he was mortified that he put all of that on you. And before the first courting gift too! He suddenly felt awful. He gutted his soul when he never ment to and you weren't even singing anymore. What if you didn't want them? What if it was all too much for you? What if you left and never came back!?

You were stunned. Breathless. The emotion. The raw intensity. No words were ever sang and yet the song resonated in the very depths of your being. You felt intimidated to ever even think of humming ever again after that impromptu masterpiece. You wanted to respond but couldn't find the words to, much less the notes like they had. So you instead made your way to the shore where the music seemed to come from and searched. Looking for this person who simultaneously swept you off your feet and explained their life story in one song with no words.

Two star crossed lovers. Separated by the sea. One filled with obsession. The other with curiousity. Both wish desperately to meet and yet both are not quite ready. How strange that love can both bind and seperate. How strange indeed.

Idk where to go with this so no continuations for this one unless I suddenly get inspired. Also the end feels really jarring to me. Mostly because I originally intended for this to continue but I couldn't come up with anything so I just cut it lose. I hope you like it none the less.

[thelordofhats]

Dullahan as Heathcliff’s EGO

There’s two parts to this post, more or less: the first is the in-setting evidence that this could be the case. Honestly, this is the less interesting part of this to me, but I think it’s important to lay out why I think it’s possible. The second is about what this tells us about Heathcliff as a character.

There’s Canto 6 spoilers, obviously, but this is also just going to be long enough that it’s just polite to insert a cut, so here we go.

Supporting Evidence

First up, we have seen, both with Philip in LoR and Dongrang in Canto 4 of Limbus Company, that the EGO a person manifests and what they look like as a Distortion are connected—they’re going to use the same visual language. The Crying Children still has the fire and statue theming of Philips unnamed incomplete EGO, and when Dongrang manages to undistort, Farmwatch has the same hat, horns, and, well, farm imagery that his distorted form had, just not as a weird monster this time.

Wild Hunt Heathcliff is not the exact same as Erlking Heathcliff. Besides the obvious fact that he’s waging his war on Wuthering Heights instead of Himself as a Concept, you have visual differences like the eyepatch, Wild Hunt having an Iron Maiden instead of a coffin, and most importantly, a different mount. Where Erlking’s Dullahan is a straight-up headless horse (I say, as though that is a normal thing), Wild Hunt’s Dullahan is, as best as we can tell without the head, some sort of wolf creature—clawed feet, a different tail, that sort of thing. Which is, as you’ve probably already guessed, reminiscent of Distorted Heathcliff. And I don’t think that that’s a change that Project Moon made for no reason.

The other big piece of supporting evidence is in Wild Hunt Heathcliff’s UT3 story (well, stories), in which he reflects a bit on the whole “commanding the dead” thing he’s got going on now. Specifically, the fact that it just sort of happened. He didn’t schedule an appointment with Dead Corp to get hooked up with their sweet necromancy tech, it was just a thing that he became able to do. Now, we *could* say this is some wholly unexplained thing, but come on. This is Project Moon. They do not toss out massive no-reason plot holes at us. Of the framework we’ve been given, EGO is the most logical explanation for how this happened. Especially when you consider how it lives up for him ~*~thematically~*~

(Oh, but before I move on to that—Bodysack, like all of the Base EGOs, is manifested with the help of Mephistopheles. I don’t think we should necessarily think of it as being in the same progression, although it does fit with the coffin/iron maiden)

Character Themes

Or: What does this tell us about Heathcliff?

Well, first I have to talk a bit about EGO in general. Hitting the ignition point, where you get the Carmen Chat, requires Desire and a Will to see those desires out. Non-capitalized ego, if you will. Philip’s desire to stop feeling inadequate, Xiao grief (I know this is a bad summary of Xiao but this isn’t a Xiao essay), Dongrang’s need for More (please refer to Xiao parenthetical, substitute Dongrang for Xiao). Manifesting EGO instead of distorting is about Self-Acceptance and Self-Control—Philip was keeping it together (sort of) until he started denying his inner drives to Oswald and pretending that that wasn’t something he felt. Xiao went “yes, I am being selfish and have selfish desires, but that doesn’t mean I have to be a bad person”. Dongrang stopped being “Dongrang, Who Denies All” when he admitted “You know what, I’m a selfish piece of shit, and I’m going to embrace being a selfish piece of shit”. EGO does *not* require you to be a good person!

For Heathcliff, that desire is, as you saw on his bat, REVENGE. He’s spent a lifetime hurting, and there is a part of him that he’s been storing up all of that hurt, holding onto it, and nurturing it into a Grudge. He wants so very, very badly to be able to hurt those who have hurt him. But it’s not the only desire within him—his love for Cathy is also a powerful motivator.

In Canti 6, faced with truly losing Cathy with absolute heartbreak, we see REVENGE become his only pillar. He desperately needs to take out this pain in *somebody*, and it doesn’t really matter who. He’s ready to give in to it all, lose control, and blindly lash out at his surroundings until Wuthering Heights is reduced to rubble around him. Possibly on top of him—he does not care. And so, he Distorts.

Wild Hunt Heathcliff has taken the reins of these impulses, instead of letting them drive him blindly. He wants to make those who hurt him suffer, but he does so with his eyes fully open, ready to be patient to maximize the pain he inflicts—maiming Gregor, the mountain of corpses in his wake, letting the Heights organize one last stand against him, a grand banquet. And it is through this self-mastery that he gains the means to make this suffering he inflicts last beyond the grave—to bind their souls in his service, so that even as they despise him and curse him, they are nonetheless bent to his will. He has manifested Dullahan.

To Wild Hunt Heathcliff, suffering is the base state of the world. Any moment of comfort, respite, or tenderness is ephemeral, a momentary shelter against the rain that will inevitably be lost. He has rejected Cathy’s love entirely, not because he does not love her, but because he does not believe in love as being a solid, real thing. Not like hatred is. Hatred is forever. You can *rely* on hatred. And if you are able to find satisfaction in being hated, to drink deeply from that spiteful well, you’ll never go thirsty. No, you’ll live in a veritable land of plenty. A miserable, bitter land of plenty, and you’re going to be a miserable and bitter fuck, but at least you’ll have the satisfaction that the people who hate you died mad and continue to be mad. That’s the core of Dullahan,

The third act swerve of this essay is that I do not think that our Heathcliff is going to be able to manifest Dullahan, because he isn’t that person anymore—the path that leads there has been closed to him. Hindley and Linton are dead, and he has bigger concerns right now—the bat no longer says Revenge, it says Remember. The revenge pillar is the one that crumbled, so he is—unsteadily—driven more by his love for Cathy right now. If he continues in this path, his EGO (and come on, we *will* get to see the full EGO for everyone eventually) is going to be something else entirely. Some similar motifs, of course, but taken in a new direction. Hopefully a healthier one!

And I think that’s really neat!

[smehur]

Drarry Fic Recs #3

Storm in a Teacup by @faith2wood

For reasons he'd rather not think about, Draco is obsessed with Potter's hair. This cannot end well.

It seems I can't put together a rec list without at least one story by Faith Wood. This one's soft in all the delightful ways I came to expect from the pen of my favorite author, with a sharp little pang of uncertainty that made it all the sweeter, and possibly the best-executed piece of dialog across all my reading. A beautiful fic that I'll be going back to over and over again.

Two Houses by @tackytigerfic

Two households, both alike in... meddling Floo connections, apparently? Draco Malfoy is a highly professional and well-respected Ministry official, with a demanding schedule, a loving son, and—through no fault of his own—a faulty Floo connection that keeps regurgitating the Minister for Magic through his fireplace.

I already gushed about this story on here, but I'm going to do it again. It'd be impossible to overstate how much I loved it. From the world-building surrounding the two magical estates, sprinkled with a wealth of delectable little details, to the delightfully mature and tender romance. Slow burn in 11k? I didn't think it could be done either, but here we are. There was this beautiful scene where Harry said that being around Draco is restful. What a perfect word! It captures everything I enjoyed about this fic: the warmth and the contentment and the unwavering certainty that everything would work out. What a joy to read!

everything you could ever want by @eleadore

Coming back to Hogwarts has given Harry more time to reflect than he really wanted, and he's learned he never quite stopped being the envious little boy in the closet. Wanting and wanting, never to have. If what Harry wants is pain, who better than Draco Malfoy to provide?

Oh, man. Where do I even start? Talking about this fic feels a bit like talking about a a close friend: no matter what I say, I know I won't do justice to just how much it affected me. It charmed me, and tugged on my heartstrings, and it still has a grip on my imagination. Reading it was like falling in love: first, with the reticent, stopped-up Harry bursting with passion he's unable to express or act upon; and then, even harder, with the portrayal of Draco, whose thoughts and feelings we can only guess at till the very end. And even then, he doesn't speak: his answer is in the sweep of his lashes. Ahhh. Such beautiful prose and stunning characterization. Bewitched, bothered and bewildered, I stay.

crawlin' helpless on the floor by @stationintern

It doesn't take much to torment a man when he's three broken contracts away from being out of a job and down a newspaper.

What a lovely little gem of a fic! Astonishing, how much atmosphere and feeling it delivers in less than 2k. A unique idea too (at least in my reading so far), that Harry and Draco as adults (and friends) might start a business together - and that it might not work out. Incredibly vivid, captivating, and rewarding. 10/10 will read again.

Like This and Like This (Dreams of Lace) by @primavera-cerezos

Harry gets an accidental peek. He can’t think of anything else.

Soft and sweet, and sizzling hot. I'm not sure I entirely buy a Harry who gets confused and clumsy to the point of losing his language when confronted with Draco's charms, but it's so much fun to read and this fic pulls it off perfectly. Draco wearing lace underwear is canon for me now.

That Old Black Magic by @bixgirl1

Centuries ago, marriage contracts were the norm — ready-made alliances between families, expected and complied with, without complaint. But norms have a way of changing, and when a long-dormant contract flares to life, Harry has to navigate an unexpected splintering of the path he'd thought would be easy after the war... with Draco Malfoy.

I'll be honest - I picked this up to see if a much-recommended author of some of this fandom's classics could sell me a trope I dislike (in this case, arranged marriage). And the answer is a loud, enthusiastic YES. Lol. I was sold on it within the first half of the first chapter. The premise is incredibly contrived, but the story built on it is so strong and compelling that I just didn't care. The pacing is phenomenal and the sex scenes are to die for. This is a whole new level of erotic prose for me; an amazing achievement, to have so little repetition, to infuse every encounter with so much energy and passion, even though it's a long story with many an encounter. It's just ridiculously good. I couldn't put it down and I'm already tempted to pick it right back up again.

I love this fandom. ❤️

[ripplestitchskein]

I just saw the funniest thing about Stolitz and it really reinforced my belief that people just cannot handle the long period between episodes indie animation requires. They just cannot make connections for that long and their own personal expectations and imaginings of what it should be have too much time to percolate. As a recent comer to the HB fandom who watched the entirety of the series in a single afternoon and skipped the Pilot because it’s not canon I am having a completely different experience. I attribute this mostly to the Pilot, as that seems to have colored peoples opinions of Stolas and subsequently Stolitz in such a wild way and they had to sit with that characterization for so long they just cannot fathom that the story is playing out much differently than the Pilot set up. And yes a year is a long time to sit with expectations of a show direction and a characterization I won’t fault them for that.

“They turned Stolas into sad clown boy”. “The show is all about Stolitz relationship drama now”.

Did we watch the same Season 1, Episode 2? Because our first “real” introduction to Stolas is immediately good dad, sad owl boy, relationship with Blitzo. The first episode sets up the current state of the Blitzø/Stolas relationship, sets up the business and overall character dynamics but doesn’t really give us any information on their backgrounds or current emotional states. It hints at a few things coming up, a few things to look into further but nothing beyond surface level. As you’d expect from a first episode. The 2nd episode shows us that some major things were gonna be exploring are Blitzo and Stolas, Stolas and his family situation, Blitzo’s history as a clown and why he hates Fizzarolli bot so much, the Moxxie/Millie dynamic and brief brushings on Loona and how Blitzo interacts with his employees, but I’d say we actually get more information on Stolas and Stolitz earlier on in the show than we do anything else. It was setup from the beginning that these were all major premises we were going to explore and….WE DO. We start the season that way. We end the season a little further down the road but still focusing on those basic things setup in the first two episodes.

I see a lot of criticisms of the writing but from my perspective, watching them all in a row the writing is pretty spot on in terms of set up, change, payoff. And the structure is exactly what we expect for a multi season show. They introduce Stolitz at one point in their relationship in S1 Ep 1, and by Ozzie’s we have a very clear change that was progressed through the other episodes of the season. That same narrative thread, introduced at the beginning of the show is carried through into S2 and the underpinnings of reactions we saw in S1 episodes 1 and 2 are revealed throughout, we now see why Stolas and Blitzø react the way they did in S1Ep1 via the storytelling in S2Ep1 and the structure of those two being the first episodes of their respective seasons is exactly what a writer should do. They feed into each other perfectly. A person watching only those two episodes would have no trouble filling in the rest of the seasons or the story at large and that’s exactly what a serialized writer should do. The show didn’t change anything midstream, it didn’t shift plot points, it very clearly setup these pins to knock them down as we go on. Fizzarolli backstory? Done. Blitzo’s relationship with Millie and Moxie had several episodes of exploration, we see a bit more about Loona and Blitzo and Stolas’s marriage drama is the main catalyst for overall big drama and they are exactly where they should be if you are plotting this out using a three act structure for a television format.

Things are REVEALED they aren’t changed, and while real life concerns and schedules and business things do affect how episodes get released or how things play out or which characters are available to appear, not knowing any of that background until AFTER I had already watched the show I’d say the writers are doing a pretty remarkable job keeping the flow, of developing the characters and relationships and paying off what they setup waaay at the beginning 3 years ago when they released eps 1 and 2. They’ve also done a great job of giving every character a little moment to shine even though, as they established in episodes 1 and 2, the main focus is on Blitzø, Stolas and how their relationship is the catalyst for everything. That it’s why I.M.P does what it does.

I highly suggest people watch it from start to finish without the Pilot, or at least just the first two episodes and S2 Ep 1 and take into account what is shown and setup at the very start versus the story we are currently at and I really think it will show that nothing has changed, the story is progressing as it should, at the pace it should, and that the characters are growing and changing as they should based on the things that have occurred.

[duhragonball]

Daima 4: Chatty

I wish this guy was a cereal mascot, because you know his cereal would be awesome.

Last time, Glorio brought Goku and the Supreme Kai to the Third Demon World, but they got in a barroom brawl on their first night there, and Goku beat the patrons up so badly that they decided to steal Glorio's plane for revenge.

This situation is a lot like what happened in Episodes 3 and 4 of Dragon Ball GT, which sees Trunks' spaceship get towed away by the Imeckian authorities. But that's where the similarities end, and I think it's worth examining the differences to see what works and what doesn't.

Okay, so let's do a really quick recap of the Imecka storyline from GT. The GT crew is forced to land on Imecka to make emergency repairs, only to discover that Imecka is a hypercapitalist dystopia. They decide to stay with their ship because they can't afford the hotel, but the ship is impounded, because the planet's ruler, Don Kee, depends on trapping offworlders on his planet to maintain his financial empire. For some reason Pan insists they try to take back the ship without using their super powers, only to finally change her mind in Episode 5. Goku wins easily and they force Don Kee to return their ship and cancel all the debts owed by his citizens. Also, they meet Giru on Imecka, and Goku finds out he can't teleport in his child body.

I don't want to spend a lot of time griping about GT, but the main issue with the Imecka storyline are that it really doesn't have enough story to be a three-parter. Pan's self-imposed pacifist run feels like it was only designed to fill time, and the heroes keep forgetting that they can fly. When Goku finally does use force, he really only has to fight one major opponent, and it's a pretty quick battle. Meeting Giru was the most important thing that happens, but they could have encountered him literally anywhere else and it would still work. And Goku not being able to teleport seems like it ought to be a problem, but we never see a time where he couldn't just use flight or super-speed instead.

So how does Daima deal with this same setup? Well they start walking. Glorio doesn't even try to find the guys who took his plane, so I guess he figures it's long gone. In GT, the gang happened to show up just in time to see their ship being hauled away, and it needed repairs, so at least they knew no one would fly away with it. But I guess whoever took Glorio's plane flew out of town, so there's no way to catch up, even if they knew which way to go.

This seemed kind of strange to me at first, until I realized that Glorio doesn't need the plane quite as badly as the GT crew needed their ship. The GT guys were traveling from planet to planet, but Glorio's just escorting Goku to see King Kadan. He's already made it to the Third Demon World, so he can make the rest of the trip on foot. It's just going to take a lot longer this way. The Supreme Kai, is more concerned about how they're going to make the return trip, since they'll definitely need the plane to get back to Universe 7. But that's still a ways down the road. Glorio can only suggest that he'll figure out something later, but for now all they can do is head for the next town.

Actually, this is a nice way to showcase the characters and their differing motivations. Glorio's mostly annoyed by the inconvenience of the whole thing. Anyone who's had a car stolen or towed knows what he's going through right now. But in terms of his mission, he's basically where he needs to be, which is the Third Demon World. He's behind schedule, but he's still on his home turf.

The Supreme Kai is the one worried about their return trip because he's not on his home turf. He only came along because he wants to know more about King Kadan's plans for Goku, and Degesu's connection to King Gomah. He wants to know how they're getting back to Universe 7 because he kinda sorta runs the place and he can't afford to get stuck in the Demon Realm forever.

Then there's Goku, who's more care-free than the others. He does care about the mission. He wants to rescue Dende, restore himself and his friends to normal, and defeat King Gomah. He also cares about the plane. I think this is important because in GT it often felt like Goku hardly seemed to care about anything that much. But in Daima he's just as upset about the plane theft as the others. But he doesn't let it worry him for long. For Goku, there's no point worrying about the way home until they've finished their business in the Demon Realm. He'll worry about it after he saves Dende and clobbers Gomah, and not before.

All Goku's concerned about right now is getting to the good part, so he suggests they just fly to where they need to go. They can all fly under their own power, sure, but Glorio reminds Goku of the thicker air in Demon Realm. We saw this slowed down Goku's movements in the previous episode, and Glorio also explained that he couldn't fly the plane too fast in the Demon Realm atmosphere, because the wind resistance would tear it apart. Similarly, Goku could fly here, but he'd have to work a lot harder to do it, and he would wear himself out covering the distance they need to go.

And that might not be a big deal, except we've already established that this is hostile terrain. There's bandits and rowdy bar patrons and planejackers and that was just the last episode. They can't afford to fly long distances and then stop to rest.

Even so, they do fly a little, because there are big canyons with that Sea of Darkness thing below them. So you really can't go anywhere in Demon Realm without some sort of flight ability. But a big monster attacks Goku from out of the Sea of Darkness, and Glorio has to fight it off in mid-flight, which just goes to show how treacherous this place can be. We're used to characters zipping all around the world in Dragon Ball Z, but that sort of thing just doesn't work in Demon Realm, at least not for the kind of power level we're seeing in this show. Maybe Jiren or Beerus could fly around without a problem, I dunno.

Anyway, this is a really great way to change the playing field for this show. It took a few episodes to set it up, but it makes sense. This feels like the sort of flavor that early GT was going for, but could never quite pull off. That's because GT never seemed to establish how or why the characters would be less powerful than they were in Z. Goku was de-aged, yeah, but he and Trunks could still fly and turn Super Saiyan. Pan was a little kid, but she was still much, much stronger than anyone in O.G. Dragon Ball. So you kept getting episodes where they just acted like they couldn't fly or turn Super Saiyan, without ever explaining it.

What we're seeing here in Daima is a lot more like Krillin and Gohan's situation on Planet Namek. The boys could fly and shoot energy blasts, but they knew if they did that stuff, they would be detected by the bad guys' scouters. Then the scouters got destroyed, and they were a little safer, until it turned out that Vegeta had learned to sense ki the same way they could. So when Krillin took Gohan to meet Elder Guru, they had to travel slowly. Then as soon as they picked up the pace, Vegeta sensed their location immediately and came after them.

It also helps to introduce new characters like Glorio to the mix, since you won't be beholden to the established rules for the major characters. Daima has to nerf Goku and the Supreme Kai, but Glorio's a brand new guy, so he can be exactly as powerful as they need him to be, no explanations necessary.

It also helps to add new gimmicks to the story to make up for the powers you take away. Eventually, Glorio, Goku, and the Supreme Kai find this general store in the middle of nowhere, and they get some food. Glorio inquires about buying a new plane, but the couple who run the place don't have a plane, so they sell him a "Sky Seed" instead. There's a cute scene where they haggle over the price, but I don't want to get too bogged down. What I want to talk about instead is the other stuff for sale in this store: Medi Bugs.

So there's a display in the store that's just a bunch of wooden barrels filled with dead bugs. Gross, but they actually have special properties. There's one kind called the Revive Bug that works like a Senzu bean, but that's just for openers. There's Achichi Bugs for burns, Zutsu Bugs for headaches, and Beaut Bugs for silky smooth skin.

I can only assume that these are going to come in handy later in the show. Someone will get a really bad burn, and they'll eat a bug to fix it. Glorio will get a headache while filling out the paperwork to make the return trip to Universe 7, and that Zutsu bug will save the day. In episode 32 or whatever, Vegeta will take a self-care day and eat a Beaut Bug to enhance his skincare routine.

Oh, there's also a Join Bug that you cut in half and give to two people, and they fuse together. So we've already got fusion set up for down the road. Goku marks out for this, because I think he senses what we do: there's going to be a battle later in this show that's challenging enough that we need fusion to deal with it.

And you know, this might be another point in favor of the whole "Damia is a GT remake" theory. I don't buy it myself, but I can't quite dismiss it either. Maybe they came to Toriyama with a basic layout of GT story beats and he said "Yeah, we can do fusion near the end of the series, but we should lay the groundwork for it and build up to that moment." I don't think anyone really questioned GT Vegeta getting the Fusion Dance right on his first try, but it still would have been a bigger moment if they had been setting up for Gogeta instead of hotshotting it the way they did.

Anyway, Goku begs Glorio to buy him dead bugs the same way I used to ask my mother to buy me Transformers at Target. Then they head over to use the new Sky Seed Glorio just purchased.

Okay, so the Sky Seed is that Q-tip looking thing you may have seen in the closing credits. The guy who sells them has a whole routine he does to launch them, with a wizard robe and a megaphone and everything. But it's basically just a missile. There are plants in Demon Realm that make these Q-tip-shaped seeds and when you rip off part of one end, they launch into the air with tremendous force. The Supreme Kai has never heard of this, so about halfway into the flight he asks Glorio how he's steering the thing, and he explains that he's not. It's just a projectile, which means they need to fly off of it before it crashes.

This seems kind of silly, but it helps. The Sky Seed takes them "120 kilos" closer to where they're going. I don't know if that's kilometers or not, but that's pretty impressive. That's like an hour on the highway in a car, and it only took a few minutes. Glorio estimates it'll take half a day to get to the next town, and Goku suggests flying under their own power from there, and using the Revive Bugs to recover stamina. That's a pretty good plan, except Supreme Kai and Glorio don't want to eat bugs. Also, I would think Goku would want to save those Revive Bugs for a big fight, but he's bored with all this traveling.

Along the way, Goku asks Glorio about the Demon Realm's Dragon Balls, since Piccolo had mentioned there was a set here back in Episode 2. Glorio tells him that there's only three Demon Realm Dragon Balls, and you don't have to find them because everyone already knows where they are. Each one is located in one of the three Demon Worlds, rather prominently on display. The problem is that you can't take one without first defeating the Tamagami guardian who protects it. This was all arranged by Neva thousands of years ago. And no one has ever made a wish on these Balls, because the Tamagami are incredibly strong and have never been beaten. Well, maybe someone managed to beat one or two, but no one's ever made a clean sweep, that's for sure.

So this makes Goku all excited, because he's a rowdy boy and he loves fightin'. He wants to clobber the Tamagami and get the Dragon Balls just for the fun of it, but the Supreme Kai reminds him that they're here to save Dende first. But Glorio thinks this might not be a bad idea. Suppose Dende gets killed, or they can't rescue him. If Goku could defeat the Tamagamis, he could use the Demon Realm Dragon Balls to rescue Dende, then they could use the Earth's Dragon Balls again and restore their bodies to the proper age.

Goku's thrilled to have any excuse to pursue this plan, but after Glorio says it, he has this weird staredown with the Supreme Kai, who doesn't seem to be convinced. He's been suspicious of Glorio from the beginning, so maybe we're beginning to see Glorio's ulterior motive starting to take shape. Officially, he's here to bring Goku to defeat Gomah, but maybe he really wants Goku to defeat the Tamagamis.

I'm not sure what the implications of this would be. For example, let's say Goku wins and makes his wish. Do the Tamagami reset and then someone else would have to defeat them all over again to make the next wish? Or would the Tamagami be gone forever, allowing the Demon Realm Dragon Balls to be gathered and used by anyone who can find them? It might alter the balance of power in the Demon Realm, which is probably why Neva stayed behind and set up the Tamagamis in the first place.

But on the other hand, I'm glad we're already talking about Goku fighting these big unbeatable guardians. I mean, they're all over the opening and closing credits, so I was pretty sure it would come down to this anyway, but it's better to confirm it early on and give the audience something to look forward to. Episodes 3 and 4 haven't gotten a whole lot done, but they have been steadily filling up Goku's dance card. He's gotten into several skirmishes just walking around the Third Demon World, and we already know he'll be doing some fusion and fighting Gomah, and all three Tamagamis. Oh, and he fights Vegeta a little in the opening credits, so if they want to do another Goku vs. Vegeta fight on top of the rest, I'm down to clown.

In the next town, Goku and pals find the villagers being hassled by King Gomah's royal goons. They're here for the classic evil tax collection bit, but with a twist. They've put magic collars on everyone so they can't run away, and they also have a device that drains the life force out of people. So if you can't pay the tax, which King Gomah has increased from 1 gold piece to three, then you lose three years of your life for each gold piece you can't pay. There's an old man who can't afford to pay, and losing nine years of his life will kill him, so he's kind of fucked. Just as Goku decides to intervene...

This character shows up. She throws a "Wasabi bomb" at the guards, but it's a dud, so she just ends up running away. She's got a taser, too, but that doesn't do much good, so just when it looks like she's captured, Goku jumps in and goes to town on all the guards. Not just any town. Goku Town.

So this fight scene kicks ass. The barroom fight from the last episode was pretty sweet, but we've already topped it. The bad guys are more evil and better armed, so it's even more satisfying when Goku clobbers them. Also the choreography is just gorgeous. Goku's swinging the Nyoibo around like a maniac, bouncing off walls, doing all sorts of flippy shit like an indy wrestler with nothing to lose, and it really reminds me of Goku invading Red Ribbon headquarters way back in the day. If the rest of the series is anything like this, then we are in very good hands.

And to turn back to GT Episode 4 for a moment, this is what Goku could have been doing in that show, except he just... didn't. Because Pan told him no. For no apparent reason. So it's refreshing to see Daima Goku charting a very different course. Glorio also told Goku to stand down, but at least he had a good reason. They were having a hard enough time as it was without revealing their presence to King Gomah's men. But Goku had all he could stands, and he couldn't stands no more. He had to jump in and kick ass. He had to. That's who he is.

I think Dragon Ball Super kind of created this version of Goku who kind of didn't care about what was happening. I'm not sure it was intentional, or if it's even present in the text, but the fans got really fed up with "Stupid Goku," the version of Goku who didn't understand kissing, and constantly had to have the plot explained to him. DBS Goku was pretty lackadaisical about the Tournament of Power, and recruiting Frieza, and promising to bring Frieza back to life to get him to join the team. I would occasionally defend DBS Goku, but usually the best I could come up with was that he really didn't have much of a choice in these scenarios, and he was just refusing to stress out about things he couldn't control. Fans wanted him to stop Grand Zeno from erasing universes, but how could Goku do that?

Well, you can certainly argue that maybe the writers should have thought of that before they came up with the story. The gods in Dragon Ball Super were too big to stop, so it left Goku in a position where he didn't have much agency. Grand Zeno saved him from Beerus and Champa, Grand Zeno saved him from Zamasu, and Android 17 just happened to win the Tournament of Power and make the one wish that wouldn't get everyone erased. You know what? Dragon Ball Super kind of sucked.

Daima gets it right. Glorio knows the smart play is to keep quiet and let the injustice play out, but Goku doesn't care. The Turtle School taught him to use martial arts to help the weak. And Saiyans aren't much for hiding, and Goku's no ordinary Saiyan anyway. He came here to wreck Gomah's shit. If clobbering Gomah's men attracts Gomah's attention, then good, it means the fight will come to Goku that much sooner. If Gomah sends more troops after Goku, then the fight will be that much more fun for Goku.

Maybe King Kadan didn't understand what he was getting into, but Goku's the Legendary Super Saiyan. You want stealthy heroics, go call Batman or whatever. But don't drop a war machine in your backyard and then complain about the noise.

Anyway, when the dust settles, Goku's like "Oops, I didn't meant to kick this much ass. Sorry!" and they have to run out of town. Glorio's annoyed that Goku's made himself a fugitive on top of everything else, but before they can discuss it further that girl from earlier shows up and unmasks to reveal... a girl?

Well, it's the girl we see in the closing credits, so I'm glad we finally got her on the board. I'm pretty sure her name is Panzy, because that's the title of the next episode.

[rubyfoxfyre]

Hi!! I am a big fan of Chalastor and love reading fics about them. I saw that you’ve created some but I kinda don’t know where to start? Do I start with Riddle of Magic? That’s what I thought but then I saw you created other works so I was wondering if they were connected in some way?

Hello! Thanks for your question! 🍷

Regarding my works, I really prefer to let fans interact with them however they want to - you can either read Riddle of Magic as its own story with no engagement to the other shorts, or you can take every story I produce as something within a shared multiverse. A #riddleverse, if that sounds interesting!

One of the critiques I've seen for Riddle is that it's desperately long - as of this post it is the longest Charlastor story on AO3 by over 150,000 words.

What can I say, there's a lot I wanted to explore with these two hahaha!

I definitely understand such a saga could be intimidating for someone just wanting to settle in for a quicker read! If I had to recommend a reading list incorporating all of my current fanfics, it would probably be this one (if you preferred to go for some kind of larger, unified narrative):

So the Rumors Say

On Beetles & Boundaries

Redemption, Or Something Like It

The last short in this anthology is the prequel chapter/short story for the Riddle of Magic novel (lol it's so long, my goodness), and there is a side story for that series as well. I would recommend reading ROM before the spinoff miniseries, since Relative Horizons features a particular version of Charlie and Alastor who play their own part in ROM, but it's your choice how you want to engage it - reading the short story on its own won't spoil anything.

But if you want to read Riddle of Magic on its own and skip the other works (which aren't necessary reading to understand that plotline), you can read the series here!

There's a couple more short stories I hope to squeeze in before I have to pivot to my original manuscript White Soul, but we'll see what the future holds for my schedule. At this point, I still work full-time while writing is on the side. Will something change? Who knows?

✨Please stay tuned! ✨

[atwooozi]

gojo x reader

Chapter 17: Stay With Me

summary: Over pizza and a lighthearted TV show, Ai notices a rare vulnerability in Gojo that draws them closer. As the night progresses, the two share quiet moments, from sorting through photos to watching a bizarre horror movie.

genre: modern AU, slice of life, comedy, eventual romance, eventual smut, some angst

A/N:

Hello again! We're actually getting to a point where I need to start writing up some fresh chapters. The ending for this half of the story is in sight but we still need to connect everything to make it work if that makes sense. I'm really excited and proud of what I've created and to those who are reading it thank you for following this story like you have.

The song for this week's chapter is iconic if you love city pop. It's called 真夜中のドア/Stay With Me by Miki Matsubara . Whenever this song comes up for me on shuffle I always find myself a bit nostalgic but happy. I feel that while we don't know much from Gojo's perspective the lyrics kind of capture what he's thinking.

READ ON AO3

When Gojo had come back from the gym, Ai and Geto were sitting in front of the TV with a pizza box in between them, watching Takeshi’s Castle. Ai looked towards the door when she heard it open and she smiled Gojo’s way, giving him a small wave. 

When Gojo opened the door, he looked somber–if Ai hadn’t seen it herself, she wouldn’t have believed it. As he entered, he looked as if he was carrying the world upon his shoulders, but when he noticed that someone was there to welcome him home, it was as if he had become weightless. Ai wasn’t so deluded as to think that it was only because of her presence–after all, his best friend was there, in addition to a warm meal. 

Ai also had days when she would come home to her apartment after an especially hard day of work, and at those times she likely looked similar to Gojo—longing to be greeted by someone as she walked through the door. But unlike Ai, Gojo always had to be “on”. No one cared if Ai seemed quiet or sad, but what would people say if Gojo stopped wearing that same smile, day in and day out?   

“Satoru, come eat while the pizza is still hot,” Geto called out. 

Gojo threw his gym bag off to the side and plopped himself in between Ai and Geto with a smile. 

“How many people have made it so far?” Gojo asked as he looked up at the large TV in front of them. 

Ai smiled as she watched Gojo and Geto, listening to them quietly talk about the show while she chewed on her slice of pizza. Gojo’s hair was still damp, and he had changed into more casual clothes. He seemed much more relaxed than she had ever seen him before. It made her heart feel warm. She wished she could take a picture of him at this moment and save it forever

“Ai-chan!” 

Ai jumped a bit when she heard her name. 

“W-what?” Ai huffed, she felt her cheeks flush.

“Do you want more?” Gojo asked with a smile. “I’m pretty hungry.” 

“Go ahead.” She waved her hand at him and shifted her attention to the TV.

⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺

Geto had left first, he said that if he didn’t leave any sooner than he did he’d end up sleeping there, and while he usually would he had some commitment in the morning that he couldn’t miss.

Ai wasn’t sure why she stayed. Maybe because she didn’t want to imagine Gojo alone with that sad look on his face. There wasn’t any other reason for her to stay otherwise so she was helping Gojo put away the pictures that she assumed Tsumiki had pulled out earlier that day.

“Those kids…” Gojo sighed as he collected some photos. “They just leave a big mess and leave.” 

Ai giggled as she handed Gojo the pile of photos that she picked up. “You call them kids but they’re only six and eight years younger than you. Technically they’re adults.”

Gojo snorted. “How adult were you at twenty?” 

Ai pursed her lips in thought and laughed. “My mom still schedules doctor appointments for me sometimes,” she admitted. 

“Exactly.” Gojo smiled gently. 

They continued to sort through the photos silently. Unlike other times when Ai would be alone with Gojo, she didn’t feel as anxious. There was tension there regarding where they stood, but the ease between them at the moment overpowered those underlying anxious feelings. For the first time, things felt comfortable, even if things weren’t clearly defined for them yet.   

“Hey Ai,” Gojo called out to her. 

Ai felt her heart jump. Gojo had called her by her name countless times now, but he dropped the honorific and without the usual bratty tone of voice it felt almost too intimate. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to run or collapse on the floor right there. 

“S-Satoru…” Ai cursed at herself for stuttering but did her best to remain cool. However, when Gojo cracked a smile at her stutter she wanted to smack him upside the head. 

There was a moment of silence between them and it made Ai want to scream. Just when she thought she could feel comfortable Gojo pulled the rug right out from under her. It was as if he knew just when to push her buttons. 

 “Part of me wondered if…” Satoru hesitated for a moment, thinking of how to phrase his words. 

Ai glanced up at him, waiting for him to continue, but his eyes flicked away from her own.

“A part of me wondered if when I came back you’d be gone.” His voice was barely above a whisper. 

There was a vulnerability in Satoru’s voice that she had never heard before. She almost felt like it was something that she wasn’t supposed to hear. She wondered how Satoru felt that night at karaoke or even when she left him at the train station…it made her heart sink. 

“I’m sorry,” Ai said in a soft voice. 

It didn’t even sound like her own. If she had heard it played back to her she would have a hard time accepting that such a sad sound had left her mouth. The sound wasn’t what she was ashamed of. She couldn't care less about that. She was ashamed of her pitiful apology. He had tried to bear his heart to her time and time again, but she pushed him away each time. She had been so frustrated that he wouldn’t open up to her, but she was the reason they were that way, and all she could say was “I’m sorry”. 

Satoru smiled down at her and gently ruffled her hair like he had many times before. Ai lifted her eyes to meet Satoru’s gaze and felt the tears well up behind her eyes as he looked at her with such undeserved tenderness. He slid his hand to cup Ai’s chin, his thumb idly rubbing against her bottom lip, which parted for him easily. 

Satoru’s eyes dropped to Ai’s mouth before speaking again, his voice falling into a low, quiet, but relaxed tone. “There’s nothing to apologize for.” 

Ai nodded her head silently. She didn’t agree with him, but she wasn’t going to beg him for forgiveness. He just wasn’t that type of person. Instead, she chose to enjoy his presence, he felt like an anchor which was funny since all of her anxieties seemed to stem from him, but in this moment, he grounded her.

“I’m glad I’m here,” she whispered. “With you.” 

Satoru’s smile softened, a warmth illuminating his features as he leaned in to press a feather-light kiss against her forehead. “Stay with me a little longer.” He murmured, his words laced with sincerity. 

And so she did…

⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺ ‧ ⨯. ⁺ ✦ ⊹ . * ꙳ ✦ ⊹⨯ . ⁺ ✦ ⊹ ꙳ ⁺

Ai was wearing a pair of Gojo’s shorts and a T-shirt. Even his casual clothes were expensive just by the way the material felt against her skin. She had a sneaking suspicion that the shirt she was wearing could cover at least half of her rent if not all of it. 

She sighed and sat down on Gojo’s plush couch, cozying up against the arm of the seat. She wanted to take up as little space as possible. The whole situation filled her with anxiety, so the smaller she could make herself, maybe the easier she could disappear. They hadn’t done anything wrong. They didn’t even kiss, but the intimacy of it all weighed heavily on her. Despite not crossing any physical boundaries, the emotional walls had started to crumble. 

“You okay, Ai-chan?” Gojo asked as he came out of his bedroom with a blanket. 

Ai flinched when she heard her name but nodded. “Mhm.” 

Gojo pursed his lips and gave Ai a skeptical look as he plopped himself down next to her. 

“You sure?” He asked teasingly as he leaned his face in closer.

“Yes,” Ai pouted as she tried to shrink away from him. “Do we have to sit like this?” 

“What do you mean?” 

Ai frowned at Gojo. “You have this big couch and you’re practically on top of me.” 

Gojo broke into a smile and laughed. “You don’t want me on top of you, Ai-chan?” 

Ai’s face flushed and she looked away from Gojo. “Just move over, Gojo…” she muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest.  

“Satoru,” he corrected as he gave Ai some space. 

Ai relaxed some when Gojo eased off of her. She watched as Gojo scrolled through a list of movies to pick from. He looked so at ease as if this was a regular day for him.

“Do you like scary movies, Ai-chan?” Gojo asked suddenly, breaking the silence. 

Ai thought about it some and shrugged. “I don’t hate them.” 

Satoru grinned. “Then we can watch my favorite movie.” He turned to the screen, hitting a button on the remote. “If you get scared I won’t laugh at you too much.” 

Ai rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the screen. “Your favorite movie is Human Earthworm Four?” 

“It’s good!” Gojo insisted. “Have you seen it?”

Ai sighed as she wondered what she had gotten herself into. “I couldn’t even get through the first one. It was so gross.”

Gojo busted out laughing, his laughter filling the room and washing away whatever tension that remained. “It’s not that bad!” he teased, giving Ai a playful nudge. “This one is more of a romance, anyway.” 

Ai gave Gojo a skeptical look. “I can’t even tell if you’re being serious or not.”  

Gojo grinned mischievously and pressed play. The opening credits rolled, and Ai could already tell that it was going to be a memorable night at least. She stole a glance at Gojo, who was leaning back comfortably, looking far too pleased with himself. 

“I’m serious, Ai-chan. This movie is a masterpiece,” Gojo said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. 

Ai sighed, she really couldn’t tell if he was messing with her or not. “Fine, I’ll give it a chance, but if I have nightmares I will never forgive you.” 

Gojo chuckled and draped the blanket over both of them. “Deal.”

As the movie progressed, Ai found herself inching closer to Satoru despite her best efforts to stay composed. Human Earthworm 4 was even more grotesque and bizarre than Ai could have imagined. Now and then, Gojo would lean in to whisper to her to see how she was holding up, and if anything that put her more on edge than the movie ever could. 

At one particularly tense moment, Ai flinched and grabbed Gojo’s arm without thinking. He looked down at her hand and then back up at her face, a smirk playing on his lips. “Scared, Ai-chan?” 

Ai quickly pulled her hand away, her cheeks burning. “No! I just–you said this was supposed to be a romance.” 

“You need to learn some patience, miss.” Gojo teased as he gently took her hand back and held it in his own, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Just watch, I’m here with you.” 

Ai’s heart raced, but she didn’t pull away this time. Instead, she did her best to focus on the screen, trying to ignore the warmth that was spreading through her at the simple gesture. She felt like she was in high school all over again with how shy she was acting over something so simple as holding hands. 

The movie ended with a bizarre twist that left Ai more confused than anything. She turned to Gojo, narrowing her eyes at him. Was this truly his favorite movie? 

“How can you call that a romance?” 

Gojo laughed as he looked over at Ai with tender eyes. “You didn’t see the love story? It’s all about connecting with someone despite their circumstances.” 

Ai shook her head in disbelief. “You’re insane…I must have missed that part when they revealed the human earthworm babies.” She couldn’t help but break out into a smile. “But…thanks for sharing that with me.” 

“Anytime, Ai-chan,” Satoru said softly, his tone suddenly more serious. “I’m really glad you stayed.”

Ai glanced up at him, she felt that anticipation build up within her again. “Me too, Satoru.”

They sat there for a moment, just looking at each other, the mood shifting to something more intense. 

Then, Gojo broke the silence with a playful grin. “So, you ready to watch Human Earthworm Three? They make more sense this way.”

Ai groaned and threw a pillow at him. “Absolutely not!” 

Gojo laughed and held up his hands in surrender. “I was joking. No need to get violent, Ai-chan.” 

Ai huffed, settling back against the couch. She looked over at the goofy man who sat next to her and couldn’t help but smile. Oddly, she found herself feeling more relaxed than she had in a long time. Maybe it was the exhaustion from the long day that was hitting her, or maybe it was how at ease she felt with Gojo. Either way, her eyes grew heavy, and she started to drift off. 

Gojo noticed and gently adjusted the blanket around her. “Sleep, Ai-chan.” 

She mumbled something incoherent, already half-asleep, and Gojo smiled softly. He rested his head against hers, letting the sound of her gently breathing lull him into a more relaxed state. 

For the first time in a long time, Gojo hadn’t felt that loneliness that he had become accustomed to. As Ai slept beside him, he promised himself that he would do whatever it took to keep this feeling alive.  

[inception-bigbang]

Inception Big Bang 2024

Schedule/Rules/Guidelines/FAQ

Sign-ups May 13-20 Author summaries due May 29 Artist claims start June 1 Pairing announcement June 15 First check-in July 1 Second check-in July 15 Posting date July 31 August 11

A Big Bang is a fandom event where authors and artists work together on a two-part project. When signing-up, authors submit a summary of the fic they’ll be working on during the event, as well as the rating and relevant tags. Fics are later claimed by artists during two rounds (if needed) of fic claims.

(Details below the break)

For authors:

Your final piece should be:

an Inception fanfic 

written for the Big Bang (no reposting of old works)

at least 1500 words

Other than that, we are open to all ships and gen stories!

IMPORTANT: During sign-ups and fic claims the authors are anonymous. This keeps things fun! We want artists to choose based on the fics alone. Don’t make posts that give away which fic is yours. After claims talk to your artist! Keep each other updated - the best thing about a fandom Bang is working with each other!

Frequently asked questions of authors:

1. How much do I need to write before signing-up?

We recommend writing a summary of your story, the rating, and a couple relevant tags. Remember, what you submit is what we send to the artists! Make it easy to understand your story.

2. Can I change my mind about my submission?

Before fic claims you can send us updates or even send us a different story altogether. All’s fair.

After fic claims, any big changes should be discussed with your artist. You cannot change the rating from G, T or M into explicit. If you believe your fic might go down that road submit the tag before fic claims.

3. Can my fic be a crossover?

Sure!

4. Can it be a continuation of an older work?

Yes, as long the original fic’s name is not included on new piece and the part submitted for the Big Bang has never been shared anywhere else before. Big Bang projects are secret until the reveal date.

5. Can it be OT3 / Major Character Death / Kink ?

Sure! Just keep in mind that the more specific your work is, the harder it may be for one of our artists to connect with it. This is true for anything you may come up with - crossovers, PWPs, squeamish themes, you name it. We encourage creativity! But use the appropriate tags when you send us your summary and consider being flexible if our artists might have a hard time with that one.

6. Can I submit multiple stories?

Nope!

7. Is there the possibility of my fic not being claimed?

We work with artists interested in all different kinds of fics! We also have very cool and open-minded pinch-hitters. In our recent years all fics were claimed.

That being said, yes, there is the possibility. It ties back into the OT3 / major character death / kink topic – the more specific your work is, the harder it may be for our artists to connect with it. Also, the harder it may be to actually depict the story. Be considerate of our artists when picking the fic to submit for the Big Bang.

8. Can I sign up as both author and artist?

Of course! Just make sure you have the time and resources available to fulfill all the roles you choose!

For artists:

You will be choosing one (or more!) fics to make art for. Between fic claims and the final posting date you and your author will have one and a half months to work on your collaboration.

Your piece should be:

Art drawn or painted, including digital art

Photo manips

Original music

Gifsets (if you’re making them! don’t steal gifs)

Fanvids of at least 45 seconds

Physical crafts like sculpture, knitting, and embroidery

If you want to create something we haven’t mentioned here, check in with us first, but chances are you’re fine. As long as it's something you can submit within the deadline it’s fair game.

Frequently asked questions of artists:

How do claims work?

We will make an anonymized master post of all the story summaries available for the Big Bang. To make claims on them, send us an email with your top 3 picks. Fic claims happen on a first come first served basis so try to respond as soon as you can. If needed, we will have a second round of claims.

2. I'd really like to participate but I'm not sure of my availability - can I still sign-up as an artist pinch-hitter?

Absolutely! We can always use an extra help. If you sign-up (only) as a pinch-hitter we will contact you after both rounds of fic claims, or later in the event if we’re needing back-up.

3. Can I sign-up as both artist and author?

Of course! Just make sure you have the time and resources available to fulfill all the roles you choose!

Most asked question for everyone! XD

Panic time, I won’t be able to make the deadline! What now?

Hey, it’s okay! Life happens, we get it. But keep us updated. Send an email to inceptionbang@gmail.com or drop a message to @stormofsharpthings.

We can work out extensions, or if you can’t complete your piece, we can talk to pinch-hitters. It’s okay, really, as long as you let us know what's up!

[applesandbannas747]

If you lost all of the stories you’ve ever published on ao3 and were only able to recover five, which stories would they be, and why? (Top five across the board, but top five fence fics would be cool too) 📚✨

I completely welcome you to write a novel length answer 📝✨

okay HOW did I never see this one? This is such a fun and mean question!!

In no particular order:

Fairy Bound - this is my only current Artemis Fowl fic, but it's one of my favorite things I've ever written because it's everything I want in a series that was long finished when I wrote it. It's the ending and conclusion I wish the characters got (and I'm disappointed severely with the new canon material). It's also just full of tropes I love and has moments that have a soft spot in my heart. I also know it's meant as much to a good number of people in the fandom as it has to me, so it would be missed if it were lost

Truths - this took the cake for longest work I'd written for a long time before being dethroned, and it was a really cool experience to write. I think the Truths series was the last I wrote as I posted, which was really fun because some comments helped shape it if I remember correctly. It's where I really fleshed out a lot of my ideas about Fence and the characters and was a huge milestone in my writing abilitiy--it really helped me to improve in a lot of ways, and I think it was a milestone in my Fence era as well. I connected with a lot of people during its run that I've longsince lost contact with but will always love, and it's another one that people tell me from time to time really means something to them, which makes me love it extra for that--I don’t know, connection? And of course I used a lot of tropes I love and built up a lot of headcanons and lore that I still carry to this day!

Trouble - man this is where Eugesse started, and I can't abandon it even if I'd change so much about it if I wrote it again. I love a lot of moments from this fic and I indulged so much in building the Labaos and learning how to code to make text messages--it was a fic filled with so many firsts! But I also assumed it would be a fic filled with a lot of lasts--I truly didn't intend to write Eugesse again until we had more content on him because this was back during The Great Hiatus (but boy am I glad I didn't stick to that 💀💀💀)... So the iea with Trouble was that it got to be paced weirdly because there were so many moments, beats, and tropes I wanted to hit with Eugesse and this was my only chance, so I needed to fit them all in. So while this is the only fic I debated over including on this list because I think it's the weakest one here in terms of writing, it will always hold a special place in my heart, and it means a lot to me.

Promised Things - how could I not include the Things to Hold Onto series? In a very literal way if my house were burning to the ground, the physical bookbound (!!!!!) versions a friend made and sent me would be top priority after living things. This is another fic that I really strove to improve my writing with, and it's significant as well because it was the fic I wrote after an autistic meltdown over the ARC of Striking Distance I read, after which, I felt sick and conflicted whenever I thought about writing for Fence because the thought of adjusting my characterizations to fit canon made sent me spiraling. So I took a break and wrote a couple novels, including one that took the plot of an au I'd been looking forward to writing (if you're wondering when this 'break' took place, it was March-July 2020; I had enough backlog that there was never a break in my posting schedule to reflect the break I took in writing). But do you know what I found? I was more miserable not writing for Fence than anything, and even while I was actively writing novels in NaNoWriMo challenges, I found myself sneaking in writing time for Fence anyway--for Promised Things, specifically. And I found my love of Fence again through it, which sounds like such a conceited thing to say lmfao but I love who I thought the characters were and writing this fic helped me start to accept that it was okay to still write them the way I saw them. So on a meta level, this one means a lot to me. And on a writing level, I'm proud of the detail I put into it and the planning it took. Pull up any chapter in this series and I could find the day of the week it took place on. I've not quite achieved this level of detail since. It also got a lot of editing to improve it as we went along, and I'm happy with how it turned out and proud of the work that went into it. And, yeah, I'm lizardbrained too and the fact that this one got WAY more love than I ever expected in any way does (positively) effect how I see it. So this one's getting saved lol

Breakable Things - to this day, this fic is one of the stories I am proudest of, and I think it's a strong piece of writing in terms of character development. It was a long redemption arc for Jesse and I worked really hard on making it a successful one--and it is the number one fic I've had people tell me I won them over with Jesse in, so I like to think that it was a successful arc XD I've always said that in this series, Seiji and Jesse both grew up in hell, but they both view Jesse and Jesse only as the monster--and in Promised Things, we get Seiji's point of view, and Nick's, who is seeing through the damage done to Seiji and seeing a monster in Jesse through it. Which made writing Breakable Things so fucking fun because Eugene's the only perspective that doesn't cast Jesse as the villain. And, yeah, Jesse sees himself as a victim and likes to throw himself pity parties, but under it all, it's not Seiji he blames for anything, it's not his dad, it's hardly even Nick. and we get to see that in this fic and see how the damage he caused is just as real as before, but that his pain isn't less than Seiji's. And more than any other character in the series, Jesse works to confront the truth of who he is and figure it out and improve, a lot of the time, alone. Seiji fell into a situation that naturally healed him. Jesse dove head first into one that was intended to break everyone--but he was also put on an edge that Seiji wasn't, and that made all the difference. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about Jesse and I had a lot of fun trying to redeem him/show his side and contrast it with Seiji's without making it feel like I was trying to tragic-backstory his ass out of accountability for the shit he did. Also! I wrote bits of this fic in tandem with Promised Things--any major scene with Jesse, I either had notes for Jesse's side, wrote Jesse's side right after, or even wrote Jesse's POV of it first, which was an interesting way of writing a sequel that I've never done any other time.

[den-kunn]

Raycoon Lore

because I will never finish the fics I have for him.

- × - Basic Data - × -

Timeline: Inception (combination of 1st and 2nd)

Set: After Shao Kahn's invasion (MK3)

Involved Characters: Dennis "Raycoon" Raymond, "God of Thunder" Raiden, "God of Wind" Fujin, Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Commander Hotaru, The Senate.

Additional Info: Alternative Universe, Implied Character Death, Backstory, H/C, M/M, Reboot, Self Insert.

The story begins with Den waking up inside a pool in the Temple of Water, Chaosrealm. He suffers a slight amnesia as he follows a bright orange light, growing slightly conscious when he comes out, noticing his clothes are damaged and his body feels different. Nonetheless he ventures outside the temple asking for help, where he comes across a group of soldiers not so far away. Den approaches the soldiers carefully but stops the moment they draw their weapons at him, speaking japanese. He attempts to communicate but is interrupted when the soldiers surround him and knock him out.

Den wakes up in a prison cell, attempting to gather his thoughts until his memories begin to return, wondering what happened to himself as the guards take him to court.

He's given two translators, for hearing and speaking, while the gods of Orderrealm and Earthrealm join the trial. Den is charged of disrupting the guardsmen's mission and trespassing, sentenced to death by the Senate, until Fujin protests and Commander Hotaru intervenes. Hotaru suggests to keep Den alive as a test subject to develop a cure for chaos, explaining it could protect the citizens of Seido and possibly get rid of Chaosrealm entirely once and for all.

The trial changes in favor of Den staying in Earthrealm with the condition of sending him to Orderrealm regularly for examination and experimentation. Raiden signs the contract and both gods and the chaosrealmer are free to leave, not without putting an electric collar on Den.

The first week consists of Den getting to know the gods and their responsibilities. They ensure Den will be safe as long as he does what the scientists want.

The first examination is a checkup to gather every single detail of him, trying a few some tests to determine approximately his old human resistance.

The second week is about Den learning how to get used to live with Raiden and Fujin, how to keep himself busy as well as helping around the temple. It isn't until he watches Raiden and Fujin spar that he wants to train as well, noticing his body is weak and bringing up it could benefit both himself and the researchers.

The second visit to Orderrealm is a short one about getting samples.

Training starts in the beginning of the third week but is Fujin who wants to be in charge of it. It's evident Den is frustrated with his lack of progress through the week as Fujin wants to take things as slow as possible. After Den meets with Raiden during meditation, he starts to develop some feelings.

The third day of examination is about testing Den's regeneration, instructing him with the knowledge of the guardsmen who faced other chaosrealmers.

Fourth week is a more productive one as Den has motivation after the examination, asking Fujin to make his training harder to continue testing his new abilities. Throughout the week, Fujin is worried Den might feel bored of only talking with him and Raiden, so he brings Kung Lao to help him during the training.

Den instantly bonds with Kung Lao during and outside of training, both realizing they have some similarities that connects them, causing Raiden to get a small hint of jealousy.

In the fourth day in Orderrealm, Den is required to give more tissue for testing, amputating a whole arm and leg (which he immediately regenerates) and is later told next week he only has to sign up his weekly attendance.

Once he returns, the gods offer Den a training schedule involving Fujin, Raiden, Kung Lao and Liu Kang, which the chaosrealmer accepts.

As the week progresses, Den begins to feel comfortable around the gods and seeing them as friends instead of power authorities, acting more like himself.

Kung Lao introduces Liu Kang to Den and the shaolin duo teach and bond with Den, telling stories about the Mortal Kombat tournament, causing Raiden to supervise them (as well as teach Den about the history of the shaolin). Liu and Lao immediately notice how Den looks at Raiden.

During the checkout of the fifth day, Den overheard some of the scientists talk about doing tests with his brain tissue, leaving him worried.

Throughout the first days of the sixth week he has been distracted, thinking if the test could leave some permanent damage (as he never once tested if his head could regenerate) or straight up kill him. Growing fond of the friends he made these past weeks, he fears he could lose them forever after that test, getting increasingly anxious as days pass.

The last day before the examination is when Den's worries were clouding his judgment. Thankful he was alone that day, he tried to get his mind off it, being unsuccessful. At the verge of panic, he spots a familiar figure outside, meditating. It takes Den some time until he finally decided to approach Raiden to talk, hoping he would understand his situation and his worries. Assured everything will be alright, Den feels slightly less anxious.

In the sixth day of examination, Raiden takes Den to Orderrealm himself and insists on watching the procedures, stating it's his right as his god to know what is being done to him.

The checkup goes as usual up until Den is strapped to a chair. He struggles once he notices the machines approaching his face, making loud noises which the chaosrealmer tries to cover from.

Raiden asks what test will they perform on him as Den begins to visibly panic. Some of the scientists call the guards once Raiden demands an answer, which they later respond with brain examination.

Seeing Den in such amount of distress is what drove Raiden to completely overcharge the energy until the electricity was fried, leaving the entirety of the district without power. The god quickly releases Den from the room and both exit the laboratory, but they're quickly surrounded by the seidan army. Leading them is Hotaru who tries to persuade Raiden into giving Den back to the realm, reminding him of the deal they made, which Raiden complains the tests could've killed Den.

Hotaru, astonished by Raiden's boldness, reminds him the specifics of said deal, which makes the god furious. Attempting to keep a cool head, he realizes the consequences of fighting Orderrealm could be catastrophic, so Raiden did what first came to his mind: flee with Den to Outworld, where he releases the chaosrealmer from the collar with tracker, and both go into hiding.